Wolves appear on this floor. There are no obstacles, and the paths are narrow. I say narrow, but theyâre about five meters wide, which still makes it a lot easier to fight here than in a forest. If we can match the wolvesâ speed, that is.
âMia, take a good look at how they move. Focus only on defending from their attacks.â
They attack by biting, slashing with their front legs, and tackling. Those are the three main attacks at least. But when people get distracted by their speed and panic, they end up misjudging how to deal with them.
If you stay calm and defend, theyâll come to attack. And if you donât get flustered and focus on blocking each attack one by one, itâs easy to defend against them if you focus on protecting yourself. Of course, Iâm talking about a one on one scenario.
However, our current foe isnât a wolf, itâs the maze of the dungeon. We just reached another dead end.
âAnd we got through the first floor so easilyâŚâ
Mia looks like sheâs about to crumple down. The other two also look tired, especially mentally.
âHow about we eat? Itâs getting to be lunchtime.â
I say while looking at a round thing thatâs about the size of the palm of my hand. There are marks positioned east, west, south, and north, and two needles, one big and one small. Itâs like a slightly oversized pocket watch.
The big needle represents hours, and the small one days. I made this so we donât lose track of time even in the dungeon.
Iâve heard from Leila that the special fields in every floor thatâs a multiple of five have a day and night cycle, but the others generally donât change.
Because of this, itâs common for people to lose track of time and not take breaks, and end up overexerting themselves.
Exhaustion lowers concentration and inhibits calm decision making. Itâs possible for people to completely freeze at an important time too, and suffer heavy damage because of it. Itâs important to rest when necessary.
âMaster, that is a wonderful suggestion.â
We move to a dead end and start cooking there, starting a fire to roast meat and warm soup. It doesnât take a lot of time, because itâs all already cut and placed in containers.
I also have baked bread in the Item Box, and since I put it in here when it was freshly made, itâs still warm. Just a bit colder than when I stored it.
âLetâs eat.â
Says Hikari while putting her hands together. She copied that gesture from me.
âWhat a strange place this is.â
I follow the smoke with my eyes as it goes up. It slowly rises all the way to the ceiling, and disappears as if being sucked in by it. What if I threw something there? It would bounce back normally, right?
âAnd we didnât come across any other parties.â
Says Mia while looking around. I guess the soup is helping her relax.
Apparently there arenât any people working on the upper floors. Map doesnât show me anyone.
Iâm sure itâs just a coincidence. There are others who come to this place from elsewhere, like Light Sword.
âIâm sure everyone is working deeper inside the dungeon. There are also parties who head to the exit to leave the dungeon too, so Iâm sure weâll come across someone sooner or later if we head for the staircases.
The floors from the first to the tenth are seen as beginner floors, and itâs rare for people who made it to the fifth floor to explore the ones that come before it again. Unless they are newbies who arenât too confident in their fighting skills.
However, since there are newbies in this city who register as adventurers, there are periods when people can be seen in the first handful of floors more frequently. Especially around the time when students of the academy start exploring the dungeon.
Some adventurers concentrate their efforts on harvesting materials from the field on the fifth floor too, and some focus on bosses and jump straight to the tenth floor to defeat them.
But sometimes, adventurers hit a wall on the eighth or ninth floor, because the amount of monsters increases. Or rather, the number of monster encounters increases.
This tends to happen a lot with people who come from elsewhere to challenge the dungeon. Especially since in other towns and countries itâs customary to form parties of around five people.
But there are ways to get around this. Some people hire guides or guards to push through, and Iâve even heard of adventurers who turn this into a business.
Basically, monsters that would otherwise be easily defeated become a problem when their numbers are increased, and it can become exhausting. Itâs actually easier for these parties to fight monsters from the eleventh floor on than the eighth and ninth floor.
Another thing. Hunting a lot doesnât mean much when the amount of materials people can carry back is limited. If parties donât have item bags or item boxes, theyâre better off going for higher grade materials than to collect a lot of the cheaper ones.
That means that even if they go to the eighth or ninth floor to hunt, theyâre going to end up with materials right in front of them that they canât hope to bring back. Magic stones are worth less when they come from low rank monsters too. They can be profitable if people collect a lot of them, but not a lot of people are so inclined.
And of course, there are people who want to become stronger as they go along, and they tend to look for like minded people and face the dungeon with more partners.
Thatâs how clans become bigger.
âHow far are we going this time?â
âUntil the fifth floor, as we planned. Then weâll stay there for a few days and come back. It would be great if there were medicinal plants there. We can head to the sixth floor if we find the staircase, but if we donât, weâll just use the device on the fifth floor.
It looks like I can sell my potions here, so thatâs going to be a way to raise funds. The problem is what Iâm going to say when I sell them. I canât keep using the excuses that theyâre family heirlooms or that I bought them along the way forever.
Should I say that a mysterious potion maker suddenly emerged out of nowhere and started making these? Or should I leave the city for a while to create an alibi?
âMaster, how much are you bringing back?â
Asks Hikari.
âThe Item Box can hold a lot more, so that wonât be a problem. I can store two or three hundred wolves easily. I think.â
I havenât hit the limit since I leveled up. I think its capacity increased again at level nine, but I donât remember hitting the limit at level seven or eight anyway. I guess I should check how much I can store, but can I even save up that much?
Sera looks exasperated, and Hikari has a sparkle in her eyes. Mia is focused on recovering her energy and doesnât really care.
âFor now, letâs just finish this floor before dinner.â
We rest for a bit after eating, and Hikari, Sera, and Mia work on a map. The dungeon changes at regular intervals, but a simple map is useful for making sure we donât accidentally end up going down the same paths multiple times.
I watch them work from a distance. If I try to chime in, I might accidentally blurt out the answers, so I restrain myself. If it was a more complicated floor, or one with stronger monsters, Iâd feel more inclined to interject.
After theyâre done, we leave. The map is simple, but pretty accurate from what I can tell. I guess they also talked about where we should go, because we keep going with no sign of hesitation on their part.
And so, after about two more hours, we finish the second floor without much issue.