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Chapter 26 – Sunken Utopia
After taking down the Sea Onis near the entrance, we entered the Dungeon.
【〈Sunken Utopia〉:《Recommended Level: 80》】
The Sunken Utopia was a Dungeon that contained a lot of dilapidated buildings and heaps of rubble.
The ground was covered in an ankle deep layer of water.
It had the appearance of a former city, like its name suggested, but this only increased the ominous and inhospitable atmosphere the Dungeon gave off.
There were even some headless statues half-submerged in muddy water.
“…..I heard that it was a creepy place, but it’s worse than I expected.”
Luce said nervously.
The objectives this time are culling the monsters and destroying the Mourning Trapezohedrons that were increasing the mana level of the Dungeon.
Then, after accomplishing those, meeting up with everyone else and taking down the Dream Lord.
All four person parties were instructed to follow the routes marked on the maps that were handed out beforehand as much as possible while exploring the Dungeon and completing their tasks along the way.
That being said, this Sunken Utopia was apparently not very well explored by other adventurers before this, so the map was pretty spotty.
That’s why making corrections on the map was also one of the assigned tasks.
“We’ve already discussed some of this in the carriage, but…..I was asked by Marquee Harden to search for the traitor if I take part in the Raid.”
As we were advancing in our exploration, I once again conferred with the others on what exactly we were here to accomplish this time.
If everything goes well, this will only be a normal Raid in a Dungeon with a somewhat high Recommended Level.
The reason why the Howlod Family was so involved this time was due to the Mourning Trapezohedron incident and the expectations that the other party who distributed those would somehow interfere this time as well.
There was a distinct need to act in accordance with the possible involvement of a traitor.
Even before we arrived, a couple of soldiers from the Howlod Family kept watch on the entrance for the Sunken Utopia.
It was to make sure that there were no adventurers going in or out from the Dungeon before the Raid started.
It was done as a precaution, since it would be a problem if there was another Wandering Lord incident like last time.
During the briefing before the Raid, it was said they watched the entrance for at least half-a-day.
In other words, to trigger a Wandering Lord they would’ve needed to slip in a small number of people into the Dungeon more than half a day before, survive within a Recommended Level 80 Monster Pool, and then watch out for the incoming Raid participants as well.
That’s something so unlikely that we don’t need to worry about such a possibility.
Therefore, what we need to watch out for is the possible traitors among the adventurers that entered with us circling ahead and setting some kind of trap within the Dungeon.
“So that’s why we will make all haste towards the Dream Lord, and once there, block other people from getting close. The Raid’s objectives like culling monsters, making the map, or destroying those crystals are very much secondary concerns.”
I pointed at the Dream Lord’s location on the map.
If we manage to lock the path leading to the Dream Lord’s room, then nothing problematic should be able to happen that could threaten the whole Raid with destruction.
If we manage to secure that position, then others shouldn’t be able to do anything questionable.
So far that’s something I’ve already explained to Celt and Mabel in the carriage and they already agreed to it.
That means ignoring the orders from the Guild, but we have a separate understanding with Marquee Harden, so we won’t be blamed for it after.
We can gloss over our action within the Dungeon anyway, so we don’t really need to worry about that point.
“That reminds me, did you manage to level up after fighting those Sea Oni?”
“No….sorry, I haven’t leveled up even once.”
“Well, they weren’t that high level and it’s hard to contribute much in your position as well, so it can’t really be helped…..”
I would’ve liked Mabel to level up once or twice, but it seems it wasn’t that easy.
If you want to raise your level as fast as possible, then rather than going for numbers, you need to focus on hunting higher level monsters, even if you have to take some risks.
That was an ironclad rule of Magic World.
One of the enjoyable part of Magic World was how you needed to balance efficient leveling with the possible experience loss you might get from the Death Penalty.
…..that being said, this world operates on a one life system, so you can’t really be too reckless.
“So we need to find monsters that we can easily dispatch with our current lineup…. That’s something that will mostly depend on what we encounter on the way, but we are also limited by time, so it’s not an easy problem. I guess we should advance while avoiding fighting high spawn rate monsters like the Sea Oni.”
While I was speaking I made a few corrections to the map.
“It seems if we go through that alley we will end up closer to our objective. Even if we get pincered in, we should be able to escape or fight back, so that kind of risk is more than acceptable….”
I turned my gaze to the narrow path between the ruined houses.
“….Elma-san, why are you making corrections for places we haven’t even seen yet?”
Mabel asked me with a confused tone after taking a peek at the map.
I nodded to her question.
“There are certain patterns and limitations on what paths a Dungeon can generate. Though it is random, it can’t generate inconsistent terrain and the Dream Lord’s room must be at least a certain distance away from the entrance. There are also patterns that it tends to lean toward.”
It’s a kind of puzzle in the end.
“If we have about thirty percent confirmed information, then another twenty percent can be mostly deduced. Good, we should be able to get there the quickest on this route. Or at least have a decent lead on other adventurers, so it’s unlikely we will get there too late.”
I unfolded the corrected map and showed the twisting and turning arrow signifying our planned route to Luce and the others.
We will need to correct the small mistakes after actually seeing what’s on the way, but there shouldn’t be any large ones.
“I-I see…..so if we go by this route, then it will be the shortest path to the Dream Lord, right….?”
Luce was looking at the map, seemingly only half-convinced.
“Even after you explained, I have no idea why you would be able to know that…..”
“I pity the fool that you are up against from the bottom of my heart…..”
Mabel and Celt said this with exasperated expressions for some reason.