CH 172

I start hearing a lot of chatter while I prepare breakfast.

It looks like they’re moving on to the eighteenth floor. I can see their reactions disappear from Map one after the other.

Tigerwolves appear on the eighteenth floor. They’re not easy monsters to take down, but the rewards match the trouble. Especially their fur, which is popular with people that are into that sort of thing.

The problem is how to take them down. It’s the whole reason why there’s still so much demand for them despite the fact that so many are hunted here in the dungeon. Yes, few people can take down tigerwolves while preserving the quality of their fur.

Of course, adventurers are very well aware of that, and try to fight with that in mind, but tigerwolves don’t make it easy for them. If you hold back, you can very well end up being the one who’s hunted.

And since most adventurers who can take down tigerwolves with the luxury of caring about that go to deeper floors, it’s rare for people to get their hands on good quality fur.

“So next are tigerwolves…”

Says Rurika, and it reminds me of our first encounter with a tigerwolf.

Even Siphon and his party, who we thought were strong, could only drive it back.

“Have you ever fought a tigerwolf, Sera?”

I ask after swallowing what’s in my mouth.

“Yes, they’re tricky.”

When she was just starting out, she was present during a tigerwolf attack in the dark forest.

There were three of them, and close to thirty people lost their lives, along with many wounded.

Of course, it wasn’t just the tigerwolves. A lot of those people weren’t used to fighting yet, and that played a part in the scope of the losses.

“I was still inexperienced too. They wouldn’t have gotten the best of me if it was today.”

Despite what she says, she looks unsure of herself. That’s rare.

Did they leave a strong impression on her because she encountered them so early? Tigerwolves might be more of a problem for her than she thinks. Not that I’m one to talk…

That’s probably one of the reasons why she hasn’t fought them since.

“It doesn’t look like it’d be easy to lead them into traps. We don’t know if we’ll be lucky enough to find traps that will work on them either.”

I’ve heard about that before. Using traps to hunt tigerwolves.

“The passages are pretty wide, but they’re still going to hinder movement a bit. Compared to stuff like a grassy field, of course. Isn’t our best option to use that against them?”

Asks Rurika. She’s probably picturing it inside her head.

Basically, the idea is to kill their strong point, their speed, and stop them from running around as they please. We also decide not to think about materials too much and prioritize just taking them down.

We finish having breakfast, and go down the staircase.

We see a crossroad as soon as we reach the bottom. We have three paths to choose from. I look at Map, and see there are parties to the right and front.

“Should we try the left?”

I want to fight tigerwolves while we’re here. And I want their magic stones too.

Hikari and Rurika take the lead with Sera and Chris behind them and Mia and I in the back. Basically, Sera and I are looking after Chris and Mia.

These aren’t like regular wolves. I don’t know if they can handle them.

Also, Sera is staying back too because I don’t know if I can protect the two of them on my own.

We advance for a while, and the two girls in front stop. I see Sera’s hears twitching too.

“Let’s wait a second. There aren’t any traps here, and it’ll be easier if it comes to us.”

And just like Rurika says, there is something in the middle of the curved passage in front of us.

We get into position to try to get a look at the center of the passage, but try not to stick too closely to the walls.

I’ve seen a wolf do a triangle jump off a wall, so I’m watching out for that.

I keep looking at Map, but the monster doesn’t budge. Is it actually sleeping?

We wait for a bit, and nothing changes. Should we keep going?

As the tension in the air reaches its breaking point, Mia stumbles a little and kicks a small rock on the ground.

It didn’t make a big sound or anything, but I see movement on Map. It’s moving slowly, but it’s getting closer.

“It’s coming.”

Whispers Sera with a stiffness in her voice.

It’s impressive how she can tell without a single sound.

Mia is gripping her staff tightly. What Sera said probably made her nervous.

Chris is probably feeling nervous too, because her expression is stiffer than usual.

The tigerwolf stops in the corner of the passage, right in a dead spot where we can’t see it.

It’s about ten meters away. If it comes at us at full speed, it’ll be here in no time.

I’m getting nervous too, now that I know it’s right there.

I don’t know when it happened, but apparently I stopped breathing for a bit, because I start suffocating and breathing heavily.

And as if that was a signal, the tigerwolf jumps out.

I rush to grab my sword and hold it ready.

First, Hikari throws knives to hold it back and Chris fires the wind magic she had already prepared, but the tigerwolf easily evades both. It’s still coming, it just changed its trajectory.

It breaks through the middle point and jumps towards Chris.

Sera quickly gets between them and puts her axes together to push it back.

It jumps back, and Hikari and Rurika attack it from both sides.

The tiger wolf lowers its posture to evade their attacks. It looks like it could block them with its claws, but it instead retracts its front paws and chooses to dodge.

Did it realize in a split second that their weapons are a threat? Especially Hikari’s which is properly infused with magic energy.

After that first strike, the tigerwolf starts moving quickly and leading us around.

We manage to surround it once, but it quickly shifts its movements and escapes while skillfully dodging our attacks.

Hikari doesn’t have the time to infuse her weapon with magic energy anymore, and is slashing normally. It’s mithril, but the tigerwolf manages to deflect her slashes pretty well.

Hikari is young and doesn’t have a lot of physical strength, and a dagger isn’t going to be as strong as a sword even if she manages to get close to it.

Still, I’m sure she would deal some damage if she managed to hit anything but its claws and fangs, but the monster knows that too. How tough are those claws anyway, if they can deflect mithril?

Hikari is getting frustrated. She is looking for an opening to use magic energy, but our opponent won’t give it to her.

It’s also dodging Rurika’s attacks. Avoiding fatal slashes and countering from time to time, which Rurika manages to hold back.

“It’s a pain.”

I agree with what Sera is mumbling.

I’m attacking too, but I can’t hit it. It dodges everything like a petal in the wind.

If I chase it too far it’s going to be hard to also protect Mia, so I can’t go any further.

Even when magic is fired at it from a short distance and it looks like it catches it off guard, it manages to dodge. Is it just that perceptive? Or does it have some sort of sensing ability?

One thing’s for sure, it’s faster than I thought.

I think it also understands what’s going on, because it doesn’t try to get close to me or Sera.

It just feels like it’s going to attack the two behind us the moment it sees an opportunity. Like it knows they’re the most vulnerable.

This isn’t good. We’re slowly being worn down.

We can’t find the right timing to fire magic because our allies are too close together, and Hikari and Rurika in particular are getting baited and moved around by its skillful moves. I think they’re slowly losing their luster.

“Big sister Sera!”

Yells Hikari as she holds a throwing knife, which she throws at Sera while matching the tigerwolf’s movements.

Is she crazy!? That thought pops into my head for a second, before I see Sera throw one of her axes at the knife.

They clash near the tigerwolf, and cause an explosion.

The sudden sound and blast wave make the tigerwolf lose its balance, and Sera runs towards it and swings her other axe down.

The tigerwolf shrieks while jumping back, and I see its front paw has a deep cut. Blood is gushing out without any sign of stopping.

It feels like it’s glaring at us with hate in its eyes. I guess that anger is making it lose its head, because it tries to run straight towards Sera and jump at her, but loses its balance when it tries to use its front paw.

Hikari doesn’t miss that chance, and quickly slashes its neck, ending the battle.