Day 87 – Daytime, Grasslands

We are having lunch outside. Joining up with the Demon Scythes, who were out logging, on our way to the next Dungeon we decided to have a little luncheon. Even though their reset to 1 when we made an official contract, they’re already over level 40… So that’s why the monsters in the Demon Forest are so sparse, it’s the Demon Scythes! I won’t call them by name because it’s too long, but after being contracted, they evolved into a higher rank, and now they’re called 『Arch Demon Scythes』Their name got longer, and their blades got bigger and broader.turning into even more powerful and ominous higher-class reapers scythes, but here they are, munching on snacks… No, like, really munching. Even though they are scythes?

「This is the second one, next will be the third. But Pres and the others beat the floor boss on the 80th level yesterday, so we’ve got one more. That means we have two left. But it’s nothing but 80 floors plus, really deep, like, so deep it might lure weird people with pseudo profound quotes?」

(Jiggle-Jiggle)

More importantly, apparently, it’s lunchtime. Where did that peaceful atmosphere from earlier go? I mean, we were just having tea and eating manju, but Slime-san had shaved ice before that too, right?

I pulled out chairs and a table from the Item Bag, laid out a tablecloth, and served the three of them who were already seated and waiting. Being a master is hard work?

「Here you go~. Eating chop suey in the great wilderness of another world is kinda surreal, but since there’s fried chicken too, it’s fine? I guess」

「「Itadakimasu.」」

(Jiggle-Jiggle!)

The phrases 『Itadakimasu』and such have seriously caught on in this world now. Even the Orphans do it morning and night, and it’s apparently spreading through the town. It’s healthier to give thanks to food than to that old geezer anyway, so it’s no big deal. I mean It’s not like he gathered or cooked the food. What a shameless old fart!

Earlier, Slime-san was rolling around, struggling from eating too much Ice-element Dungeon Master shaved ice with syrup, but now it’s calmly enjoying chop suey. Looks like that didn’t actually do any damage. I mean, it ate manju afterward too?

The Dungeon Master who became the source of the shaved ice 『Ice Hydra Lv86』dropped 『Ring of Ice Mist – InT 30% UP, Water/Ice Magic (Greater): Ice Mist, Ice Pillar, Ice Mirage』 clearly an ice-focused piece of equipment. Definitely for Bitch Leader. 『Ice Mist』just like the name says, generates icy fog and boosts Water/Ice magic effects, making it a great combo with Bitch Leader’s 『Spear of Eternal Ice』And with『Ice Mirage』 for illusions and『Ice Pilllar』 to create shields and platforms, pairing that with the『Freezing Cold Array』 of 『Spear of Eternal Ice』would make it even stronger. Also, Bitch Leader’s women’s fashion brand is selling like crazy, so I can sell this off for a lot!

「Alright, should we start at floor 1 of the next Dungeon, look for secret rooms as we rush down to floor 80, and then begin the real exploration? Well, if the place starts to feel sketchy it would be best to start being careful around floor 75, but wasn’t this one overseen by Dancing Girl-san? What was it like?」

「Ordinary. Lots of dogs? Up to 80 is fine.」

Since dogs bite, I’ll prep some vinegar. But we’ve already defeated Orthros with two heads and Cerberus with three. By process of elimination, the Dungeon Master here should be a one-headed dog! That’s just a regular dog!

There were only a few respawns, so the upper floors were just a speed run, where we literally just ran through the floors. Even the mid-levels were basically speed-clears except for hidden rooms. The monsters in those weren’t much, and loot wasn’t great either. Most of the classmates already have gear better than the standard dungeon drops, so anything normal just becomes vendor trash. Only special dungeon gear matters. The stuff from the lower levels is usable, but we don’t have nearly enough of it. Let’s just hurry down.

If the monsters came in groups, I could just throw vinegar at them, but when the doggies charge in one by one, it’s faster to just smack them. Plus, if you don’t smack them quickly, they’ll bite you. I guess the Bitches who cleared this place just bit them to death before getting bitten themselves, but since they’re respawning now, we’re just going around smacking them again.

A pack of massive carnivorous beasts charging in, growling and leaping, their level 74 wild beast bodies enhanced with beast-class stats, turn them into a swarm of rampaging monsters. Normally, that wild animal ferocity and size would be intimidating. Normally, yeah? But I’ve sort of got used to getting bitten, so even when they go『GRAAAH!』 I just hit them? I mean, I have no idea what they are trying to say with that 『GRAAAH!』 anyway?

Back when I completely lost control of 『Magic Wrap』 and accidentally triggered 『Random Attack』 there was that phenomenon where enemies would vanish upon being hit. It had settled down lately, so I decided to test it again, and it seems that when 『Teleportation』and 『Atomic Manipulation』both concentrate into 『Staff of the World Tree』 the target I strike ends up vanishing. However, the MP cost is high, and the physical strain is intense. Honestly, slashing or striking is faster, and if I make them vanish, even the magic stones from『Hound Bite Lv 74』disappear too.

If they had cute puppy faces, I might feel bad hitting them. But they’re all snarling and drooling with murder in their eyes, so smacking them feels great. I mean, their name is 『Bite』and they are really keen to bite. These guys are violent hounds and not fluffable at all!

Beast-types with 『Coordination』 skills get really annoying at high levels. They use feints even though they’re dogs, and that’s just infuriating! Yeah, I can see it with Rajingan’s 『Future Sight』but it somehow pisses me off that they’re trying to trick me?

「You’re, late… Did, something happen?」

Armored Pres-san and the others look like they’ve been waiting a while. I guess it’s both because the experiment took longer than expected, and I since got pissed off at the feinting dogs and just kept smacking them. But seriously, the dogs all suddenly looked to the right like 『What?!』and I sort of also went 『Eh?』and looked too, and there they attacked. Damn, that really pissed me off! Yeah, I looked, okay!?

As we descend the stairs, I vent about how annoying dogs are. Judging by the side-eyes I’m getting, I was the only one tricked. I mean, with 『Spatial Awareness』 and 『Presence Detection』I knew there was nothing there, and I saw it with 『Future Sight』but I still turned! And that part that they even gave me those smug『What?』looks, despite being just dogs, is especially infuriating!

As we head down, I use 『Spatial Awareness』 and 『Presence Detection』 to scan the 75th floor. Looks like it’s going to be a large-scale group battle in a big hall. It’s the start of a strategic formation discussion (rock-paper-scissors) where losing is not an option!

After a harrowing, painstaking round of strategy, we end up in a square-box formation: me and Slime-san in the rear guard, with Armored Pres-san and Dancing Girl-san in the front. Don’t think too hard about how a square formation helps when there’s no one with a rear-guard class. If you win rock-paper-scissors, you’re in front! Yeah, I lost.