CH 123

We’ve made it to the third floor, and this is where we’ll be camping today, in a dead end to be exact. This is normally not recommended, because it leaves us with no way out if monsters appear, but we’ve decided it’s better this way because our party is small, and there’s a chance that we could be attacked from multiple directions otherwise.

Only two people will keep watch at a time. We could have only one person so everyone slept more, but there’s always a chance that they wouldn’t be able to deal with whatever comes to attack, or even fall asleep.

I start wondering if I can fortify our position with Earth Magic, and I guess I sort of can. I can’t use dirt from the dungeon as is, but if I spend more magic energy to refine and maintain it, it’s possible to build defensive walls.

Then I start thinking that I might as well block out the entire passage. I could probably do it with a few mana potions.

But in the end, I can’t build something on a scale that would actually be helpful for our defense, so I abandon this idea.

We start a fire, eat, and two of us go to sleep right away without chatting for a bit first. We’re in for the long-haul, so resting is also work in a way.

The crackling sound coming from the fire echoes in the quiet dungeon. It’s actually a quiet sound too, but it seems louder when it’s the only sound I hear.

I’m standing watch with Mia. It looks like a poorly balanced combination at first, but I have skills. This way, Mia can go to sleep if she can’t stand to be awake anymore.

“How was exploring the dungeon today?”

“I’m tired. But I feel like I’m a bit, just a bit, more confident. I guess.”

Mia can fight goblins and wolves one on one. She didn’t finish them, but she definitely held her own. I’m sure knowing she can keep up with a wolf’s speed gave her a boost in confidence. Hikari and Sera are actually faster than wolves, so Mia was probably used to that level of speed before encountering a wolf anyway.

We keep talking, and I see her get drowsy. She’s trying, but she’s starting to doze off.

Ah, it’s no good. I keep talking to her to help her stay awake, but eventually she can’t even talk properly and is knocked out. Fell asleep sitting down.

That’s not going to be good for her body, so I help her lay down.

By checking Map, I can see that there are clearly less monsters here now than during the day. Some don’t even move. I guess their activity dies down during the night too. I figure it will be the opposite for undead type monsters.

But it’s not like monster activity has stopped completely, so we still need to be at least somewhat alert.

Maybe other people use the monsters to tell the time. Or maybe there are actually less monsters at night because they’re hunted during the day.

I think back to the monsters we fought since we reached the third floor.

Goblins appear on this floor. Sometimes, but rarely, there will be a fighter or a mage mixed in those groups, but most of the time they’re hunted the same way as the ones on the first floor. What needs special attention are those mages. We have to be careful not to let them use magic. Hikari and Sera can use throwing attacks, but I asked them not to so Mia can practice her Holy Arrow.

We’ve come across four mages so far, but she only used Holy Arrow once. Or rather, she only completed it and fired at a monster once.

The other times her concentration was broken halfway through, or she stopped it because she thought the monster was about to attack her. I’m sure she’ll be able to activate it on the spot once she gets used to it, but it’s still hard for her.

Trisha was teaching her, but she can’t quite get it. From what I can see with Magic Energy Detection, it feels like she still can’t control her magic energy very well.

Mia can use her magic if she’s calm, so I guess it’s just a matter of doing it until she’s used to it and her concentration won’t be broken. The problem is all in the time between starting to cast a spell and the spell being activated.

I asked her if she can’t use it without an incantation, like with Heal and Recovery, but she says she can’t. She says she doesn’t know why, but she feels she can’t do it, at least not yet.

◇ ◇ ◇

The next day, Mia apologizes profusely when she wakes up. I just tell her not to push herself too much.

We camped on the way to Majolica, but we were pretty relaxed then. And of course, the same can’t be said for the dungeon.

Hikari and Sera are in front, but it’s hard for Mia not to be nervous. Walking around feeling nervous the whole time, something I’m sure she’s never experienced before, and having to fight monsters on top of it must be pretty tiring for her, even if she doesn’t notice it.

Hikari and Sera saw this coming, so they’ve been giving her advice.

After a while, we find the staircase to the fourth floor, and take a break before we go down.

The fourth floor is a wolf floor. The difference between this and the second floor is in how many appear at the same time. Before, we used to encounter two or three, but now they walk around mostly in packs of five.

We come across a wolf wandering around alone, probably because it lost sight of the others, and packs with more than five, but those are rare.

That said, it’s still not a problem. Did they actually overlook two of them on purpose so they would attack Mia? I try to step in and help, but they urge me with their eyes to stop.

I do just that and just watch Mia, deactivating the magic barrier for now.

The necklace I gave her before is broken, and I still haven’t given her its replacement. I talked about it with Sera before, and she told me that Mia would probably rely on it too much, so she should go without it for the first few floors.

Mia’s equipment is good too, so maybe it will be good for her to feel what it’s like to be attacked.

Yes, I know, it’s kind of rough.

Mia moves her staff skillfully, and that combined with her footwork restricts the movements of the wolves.

She’s moving around in a way to make it so she doesn’t have to fight both wolves at the same time. She can’t land the decisive blow, and she’s attacked by the wolves a few times, but she doesn’t waver. Mia just grits her teeth.

This goes on for about ten minutes, until one of the wolves goes down to a clean hit from Mia’s staff, and the other is finished by Hikari after being blown away.

Mia lets out a sigh of relief and crumples to the ground. There’s sweat on her forehead, and her cheeks are bright red. But she has a proud smile on her face.

The other two approach her. Are they congratulating her? No, they’re pointing out things she did wrong and giving her advice. Mia is listening with a serious look on her face.

I don’t quite find the right words to say, so I just tell her she did well. But that’s enough to make her happy and bring a smile back to her face.

That night, we find the staircase to the fifth floor. It’s relatively close to the last one.

But we’re not going down today. We move to a place a little far from the staircase, and set up camp. I haven’t heard of monsters moving from floor to floor, but adventurers might come through here.

I thought about using the device on the fifth floor and going back to the city, but we’re advancing faster than I expected, so we’re going to stay here to get used to camping in the dungeon.