Chapter 13
The next morning, Felicia and I were back at the Adventurers' Guild.
Today, we planned to thoroughly explore the third floor of the Western Dungeon.
There was a suitable request still available on the board.
【Delivery: Three Stone Lizard Scales】
【Location: Belgrant Western Dungeon, Third Floor】
【Reward: 18,000 Jenny】
"Shall we take this one?"
"We've fought one before, so I think it's a good choice."
We took the request form to the reception desk.
"The Stone Lizard on the third floor, right?"
"Yes."
"You went as far as the third floor the other day, didn't you?"
"We defeated one and came right back."
"In that case, it should be fine. Just don't push yourselves too hard."
"Understood."
We finished the paperwork and left the guild.
Today, I had the new Steel Sword hanging at my waist.
We'd brought healing potions and rope, too.
Felicia was wearing her leather breastplate and arm guards as well.
"We've got a lot of luggage today."
"I hope we'll have even more to carry on the way back."
"From the materials?"
"Of course."
"Then I'm all for it."
◇
We entered the Western Dungeon and made our way across the first floor.
Last time, we'd walked carefully, checking our surroundings, but I remembered the route fairly well.
Along the way, we encountered four Cave Bats.
"Magic Bullet!"
One of them fell to the floor.
I finished it off and moved straight on to the next.
Felicia aimed for their wings, and I landed the finishing blows.
It didn't take long to defeat all four.
【You acquired 20P】
【Total P Acquired: 2,350P】
【Your points: 240P】
We collected the four small magic stones.
"We were faster than last time."
"We know how they move now, too."
We passed through the second floor without any major problems, either.
We didn't encounter any Cave Rats and arrived at the stairs leading to the third floor.
"This is where it starts."
"Let's go."
We descended the stairs.
◇
The third floor.
Just as before, there were few magic lamps.
Today, we'd go farther than we had last time.
After we'd walked for a while, Felicia pointed at the ceiling.
"There it is."
A Stone Lizard was clinging to the ceiling, blending in with the rocks.
"Let's start with its legs."
"Please do."
Felicia pointed her staff at it.
"Magic Bullet!"
The glowing projectile struck its foreleg.
The Stone Lizard noticed us and ran along the wall.
"Magic Bullet!"
The second shot hit the same leg.
It lost its balance slightly.
I moved to where it would fall from the wall.
"Gah!"
I charged as it landed on the ground.
Last time, my sword had bounced off the scales on its neck.
This time, I aimed for the base of its leg from the start.
"Hah!"
Shhk!
"Gyaa!"
The blade sank deep between its scales.
The Stone Lizard twisted its body.
I pulled my sword free and circled around to its belly.
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia's shot hit it in the face.
While it was stunned, I thrust my sword into its belly.
"Gyaaa!"
Its massive body crumpled.
【You acquired 120P】
【Total P Acquired: 2,470P】
【Your points: 360P】
"This really is a good sword."
I looked at the blade.
It cut through much more easily than the sword I'd used before.
"It did cost nearly a hundred thousand Jenny."
"When you put it that way, it makes me want to take good care of it."
"I bought it to cut down monsters, you know?"
"I know, but still."
We collected the magic stone and scales from the Stone Lizard.
We needed two more scales to complete the request.
◇
We continued farther in.
The passages on the third floor were more complicated than those on the first and second.
There were dead ends, and the same-looking rock walls stretched on and on.
As we explored, Felicia came to a stop.
"Allen-san."
"Yes?"
"There are two ahead."
I peeked around the corner.
There were two Stone Lizards.
One was crouched on the ground, while the other clung to the wall.
"What should we do?"
"It'll be a pain if they come at us at the same time."
Felicia looked at the two of them.
"I'll hold off the one on the right."
"Will you be all right?"
"If I focus on one, I think I can keep it occupied for a while."
"Then I'll take out the one on the left as quickly as I can."
"Please do."
I drew my sword.
Felicia readied her staff, too.
"Here we go."
We sprang out.
Both Stone Lizards turned toward us at the same time.
"Gah!"
"Gyaa!"
The one on the ground ran toward me.
The other kicked off the wall.
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia's attack hit the one on the right in the face.
I headed for the one on the left.
The Stone Lizard swung its claws at me.
I dodged, circled around to its side, and slashed at the base of its leg.
"Gyaa!"
Its thick tail swept in from the side.
I ducked to avoid it.
"Allen-san, I'm fine over here!"
Whenever the Stone Lizard on the right tried to run along the wall, Felicia's Magic Bullet struck at its legs or face.
I charged at the one in front of me.
The Stone Lizard rushed toward me.
I shifted half a step and slipped inside its guard.
I thrust my sword up into its belly.
"Gyaa!"
I drove the blade even deeper.
Its massive body crumpled.
【You acquired 120P】
【Total P Acquired: 2,590P】
【Your points: 480P】
I immediately turned around.
"Felicia-san!"
"Over here!"
The other one was heading for Felicia.
"Magic Bullet!"
The shot struck its foreleg.
She fired another one.
"Magic Bullet!"
It hit the same spot.
The Stone Lizard's leg buckled.
"Please!"
I kicked off the ground.
I moved between Felicia and the monster and brought my sword down.
One strike.
Then another.
Finally, I thrust my sword into its belly.
【You acquired 120P】
【Total P Acquired: 2,710P】
【Your points: 600P】
"Whew…"
Felicia let out a breath.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. But two of them keep you busy."
"It helped that you kept one occupied."
"I focused more on stopping it from moving than attacking."
We put the magic stones and scales from all three into our bag.
That fulfilled the requirements for the request.
We also took some extra scales that looked like they could be sold.
"It's gotten pretty heavy."
"I'm still fine."
"I guess I didn't need to ask you, Allen-san."
We started walking again.
◇
After proceeding for a while, we came to a somewhat wider area.
"The ground's different here."
Felicia looked down at her feet.
Fine dirt was mixed in with the rocky ground.
I looked down, too.
"There are holes."
There were several small holes in the ground.
Just then, I felt a faint tremor beneath my feet.
"…Something's there."
"Huh?"
Thud!
"Whoa!"
The ground right beside us burst apart.
A black shape shot out.
I reflexively jumped backward.
Sharp claws passed right in front of me.
"What is that?!"
A monster the size of a large dog, resembling a mole, landed on the ground.
Long, thick claws grew from its forelegs.
"It's a Rock Mole! It burrows underground!"
The Rock Mole burrowed into the dirt again.
"I can't see it…"
I readied my sword.
Where would it come from?
"Allen-san, to your right!"
Felicia shouted.
The ground on my right bulged upward.
I moved to the side, and the Rock Mole burst out.
I dodged its claws and swung my sword at its body.
"Gii!"
My blade cut into it.
It wasn't as hard as the Stone Lizard.
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia's attack hit it in the back.
The Rock Mole tried to burrow again.
"I'm not letting you get away!"
Before it could disappear underground, I closed the distance and brought my sword down.
"Gii…!"
The Rock Mole stopped moving.
【You acquired 80P】
【Total P Acquired: 2,790P】
【Your points: 680P】
"It's a pain when they come up from underground."
"I wouldn't have noticed it either if the dirt hadn't moved."
I took the magic stone from the Rock Mole.
Its large claws looked like they could be sold, too, so I collected both of them.
"It's gotten heavier again."
"If it sells for a good price, I'm happy."
◇
As we continued farther in, we found stairs leading down.
Just before them stood a wooden sign that seemed to have been put up by the guild.
【Fourth Floor】
"This is it."
Felicia looked at the stairs.
I remembered what Claude had told us.
We shouldn't go below the third floor.
This was where the danger began.
"What should we do?"
I checked our supplies.
We hadn't used any healing potions yet.
We weren't injured, either.
We had plenty of time.
"Why don't we take a quick look?"
"Just a quick look."
"We'll head back if it looks dangerous."
"In that case, let's go."
We went down the stairs.
◇
The first thing I noticed when we entered the fourth floor was how dark it was.
There were fewer magic lamps than on the third floor.
We could only see a short distance ahead.
"I'll get the lantern out."
Felicia lit the lantern she'd bought yesterday.
The area around us brightened.
The passage itself was wider than the one on the third floor.
There were several large gouges in the walls.
"What's this…?"
Felicia stopped.
A monster lay dead a short distance ahead.
We approached it.
"A Stone Lizard?"
"It looks like it."
It was the same monster we'd defeated several times on the third floor.
Its hard back scales were badly torn, and there was a deep wound in its belly.
"Something must have attacked it."
"Those are some huge claw marks."
Similar marks were left on the rock wall.
"We should really just take a look at the entrance today."
"Agreed."
It was just after I said that.
A low growl came from the darkness ahead.
"Grrrr…"
"Something's there."
Two eyes appeared beyond the reach of the lantern's light.
Slowly, it emerged.
It was a wolf-like monster.
But it was a size larger than the Gray Wolves we'd fought so far.
Its fur gleamed like black metal.
"It's an Iron Wolf!"
"Is it strong?"
"It's completely different from a Gray Wolf!"
"Grrar!"
It leaped at us before Felicia could finish speaking.
"It's fast!"
I dodged to the side.
Its claws passed just beside my clothes.
It turned around quickly, too.
It immediately leaped at me again.
I swung my sword.
Clang!
"Tch!"
The blade slid off its fur.
"It's hard!"
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia's attack struck its body.
But the Iron Wolf barely slowed down.
"Can you aim for the same spot?!"
"I'll try!"
The Iron Wolf leaped at me.
I dodged and swung my sword.
Again, the blade slid off its fur.
"Magic Bullet!"
The first shot.
"Magic Bullet!"
The second shot.
It struck its shoulder.
"One more time!"
"Magic Bullet!"
The third shot hit the same spot, too.
Its metallic fur became ruffled.
"There!"
I charged in.
I slammed my sword into the same shoulder.
Shhk!
This time, it cut in.
"Grrraaa!"
The Iron Wolf thrashed about.
Its foreleg came swinging at me.
I twisted my body to dodge, then slashed again.
"Felicia-san!"
"Yes!"
"Magic Bullet!"
The fourth shot struck the wound.
The Iron Wolf staggered badly.
Its neck was exposed.
"Hah!"
I swung the Steel Sword through.
"Gyaow!"
The Iron Wolf fell to the ground.
I waited for a while.
It didn't move.
【You acquired 200P】
【Total P Acquired: 2,990P】
【Your points: 880P】
"Two hundred…"
"That's more than the Stone Lizard gives you?"
"A lot more."
And this was the first one we'd encountered after entering the fourth floor.
"Shall we head back?"
Felicia said.
"Yeah."
We took out its magic stone and collected as much of its fur as we could carry.
That was enough for today.
◇
We returned to Belgrant in the evening.
We presented the Stone Lizard scales at the guild reception desk.
"I've confirmed all three. The request is complete."
"Thank you."
The reward for the request was eighteen thousand Jenny.
After that, we had the materials we'd gathered today appraised as well.
Four small magic stones from Cave Bats.
Magic stones and scales from three Stone Lizards.
The Rock Mole's magic stone and claws.
And the Iron Wolf's magic stone and fur.
The receptionist finished calculating.
"We'll pay a total of eighty-six thousand Jenny for the materials."
"Eighty-six thousand…"
Felicia's eyes widened.
"The Iron Wolf materials are valuable. Its fur is in good condition, too."
Together with the quest reward, that came to 104,000 Jenny.
Split between us, we'd each get 52,000 Jenny.
"That's more than half the cost of the sword I bought yesterday…"
I murmured without thinking.
"And that's just for one day."
Felicia looked at her share, too.
"You really can make money on the fourth floor."
"Though I can see why it's dangerous, too."
Just then, a display appeared in my field of vision.
【Request completion confirmed】
【You acquired 100P】
【Total P Acquired: 3,090P】
【Your points: 980P】
"Nine hundred and eighty…"
"Your P?"
"Yes. It's gone up quite a bit."
"Shall we go to the fourth floor again next time?"
"Before that, let's find out a little more about the Iron Wolf."
"Agreed."
There might be other monsters we didn't know about, too.
We should gather information about the fourth floor before going back in.
◇
That night, I opened Membership at the inn.
【Your points: 980P】
【Base Abilities】
【Strength: 352】
【Endurance: 343】
【Agility: 393】
【Magic: 18】
I enhanced Strength, Endurance, and Agility six times each.
【You purchased Strength Enhancement (Medium) 6 times】
【Strength: 352 → 532】
【You purchased Endurance Enhancement (Medium) 6 times】
【Endurance: 343 → 523】
【You purchased Agility Enhancement (Medium) 6 times】
【Agility: 393 → 573】
【You used 900P】
【Your points: 80P】
I closed the display.
Tomorrow, I'd move around a little in this body before looking into the fourth floor.
Total P Acquired = 3,090P