CH 140

The overall structure of the dungeon doesn’t change on the seventh floor.

But one change catches my eye. Now there are stones of various sizes on the ground. It’s not enough to really make it hard to walk, but enough to be noticeable. We’re going to have to be careful about that when running around monsters.

There don’t seem to be a lot of monsters here either. Did someone pass by here before and take them all out? This place is completely silent, except for our echoing footsteps.

I get a bit worried and look at Hikari, but she’s still focused and looking around cautiously.

That makes me feel a little relieved, but I also get the feeling that she’s more focused than usual. It also feels to me like she’s doing it unconsciously, so she might get tired without even realizing it.

“Sera, if we find a place where we can rest, let’s stop there and have lunch.”

I think Sera is also concerned about Hikari, and she finds a nice place for us.

I prepare our food while everyone rests.

We didn’t even find any monsters, but I’m still tired. Ahh… This warm soup feels really nice, and hits my empty stomach really nicely.

I turn over to Hikari, but she’s not eating frantically like she usually does, she’s chewing everything carefully. Something feels strange about her.

“We didn’t find any monsters. Does this floor just not have a lot of them in the first place?”

“I don’t know. Maybe another party has been through here. Or maybe we’re just picking the right paths to avoid monsters without even realizing it.”

Sera’s thinking the same thing I am.

Usually we’d be happy about not coming across any monsters, but I want to take down one or two for meat. Although I’m fine with not coming across any goblins or anything like that.

I haven’t used Map today. I’m not even using Presence Detection in all directions, only the back.

Even using it on the back probably isn’t necessary, but I’m taking this opportunity to practice.

“There’s no point in thinking about it. Let’s just make sure we’re careful.”

After this break, we resume our exploration with Hikari leading the way.

I tell her to be careful not to lead us around in circles. I know I’m probably being annoying, but I can’t help but be worried.

Mia laughs a little, and Sera looks at me with a sort of tepid expression. Am I worrying too much? It’s hard to strike a good balance.

We keep going for a while, until Hikari suddenly stops and carefully approaches a corner.

I feel an urge to check Presence Detection, but I don’t. I want to see if I can feel anything without it, but it turns out I can’t. I don’t know if it’s because of the skills, or because I never had that ability in the first place.

Hikari tells us via hand signals that there are two monsters.

Mia won’t attack this time. Sera is going to support Hikari, but it’s going to be mainly Hikari who fights.

She makes magic energy flow to her knife, and once she’s ready, she jumps out.

Sera follows her, with Mia and I right behind her. We’re all holding our respective weapons, just in case there’s a surprise attack.

We see blood snakes slithering this way, completely undisturbed by the stones in their way. We have to be careful about them though, because stepping on one in a weird way could lead to a sprain.

Hikari moves forward without looking down, but she avoids stones like she can see them anyway.

She passes by a blood snake with a streak of light. The knife is too small to cut off its head, but it leaves a deep wound.

Blood gushes out, and the blood snake shrieks and rampages, but it’s not too long until its movements become slower, and they eventually stop completely.

Hikari doesn’t check this one, instead going straight for the other blood snake. Rather than continuing to push forward, it stops and swings its tail, probably because it saw how easily the other one went down.

Hikari starts swinging her knife and accelerating even more.

The blood snake is caught off guard and doesn’t have enough time to compose its posture. It’s stabbed below its throat, and the light vanishes from its eyes as it stops moving.

I’m pretty sure that’s where the magic stone is. I’m guessing destroying it means instant death.

I check it, and see that I was right, the magic stone is broken. I can’t use it like this.

“I’m sorry, master.”

Magic stones can be sold, and I’m collecting them too, especially to use with alchemy.

“Don’t worry about it, that was the most reliable way to take it down. Let’s worry about the quality of materials if we have the leeway going forward.

But remember, safety first. Monster materials and magic stones can be replaced, but you three can’t.”

I need to make sure she understands this. I’d be a little disappointed if we were talking about rare materials, but there’s no need for her to put herself in danger for them.

There’s no need to think about that unless we can easily defeat monsters. The orclord was half roasted too, so it’s not like I don’t have a history of wasting materials. Yes, we were lucky to be able to salvage so much meat back then. And the magic stone was fine too, although I sold it.

I store the blood snakes in the Item Box. We’ll drain their blood when we get back, or later when we camp. I don’t think it’s a good idea to do that in the middle of this path, because other adventurers might think something happened if they saw it. Then again, doing it later when we camp might end up being the same.

We take down five more blood snakes before we reach the staircase to the eighth floor. I take out the magic stones and stuff them in the Item Box without taking them apart.

We’re camping near the staircase today, and we need to prepare for tomorrow.

In a way, this is where it really begins, so we need to make sure we’re well rested.

And it goes without saying that Hikari’s mood has improved.