Weāve made it to the third floor, and this is where weāll be camping today, in a dead end to be exact. This is normally not recommended, because it leaves us with no way out if monsters appear, but weāve decided itās better this way because our party is small, and thereās a chance that we could be attacked from multiple directions otherwise.
Only two people will keep watch at a time. We could have only one person so everyone slept more, but thereās always a chance that they wouldnāt be able to deal with whatever comes to attack, or even fall asleep.
I start wondering if I can fortify our position with Earth Magic, and I guess I sort of can. I canāt use dirt from the dungeon as is, but if I spend more magic energy to refine and maintain it, itās possible to build defensive walls.
Then I start thinking that I might as well block out the entire passage. I could probably do it with a few mana potions.
But in the end, I canāt build something on a scale that would actually be helpful for our defense, so I abandon this idea.
We start a fire, eat, and two of us go to sleep right away without chatting for a bit first. Weāre in for the long-haul, so resting is also work in a way.
The crackling sound coming from the fire echoes in the quiet dungeon. Itās actually a quiet sound too, but it seems louder when itās the only sound I hear.
Iām standing watch with Mia. It looks like a poorly balanced combination at first, but I have skills. This way, Mia can go to sleep if she canāt stand to be awake anymore.
āHow was exploring the dungeon today?ā
āIām tired. But I feel like Iām a bit, just a bit, more confident. I guess.ā
Mia can fight goblins and wolves one on one. She didnāt finish them, but she definitely held her own. Iām sure knowing she can keep up with a wolfās speed gave her a boost in confidence. Hikari and Sera are actually faster than wolves, so Mia was probably used to that level of speed before encountering a wolf anyway.
We keep talking, and I see her get drowsy. Sheās trying, but sheās starting to doze off.
Ah, itās no good. I keep talking to her to help her stay awake, but eventually she canāt even talk properly and is knocked out. Fell asleep sitting down.
Thatās not going to be good for her body, so I help her lay down.
By checking Map, I can see that there are clearly less monsters here now than during the day. Some donāt even move. I guess their activity dies down during the night too. I figure it will be the opposite for undead type monsters.
But itās not like monster activity has stopped completely, so we still need to be at least somewhat alert.
Maybe other people use the monsters to tell the time. Or maybe there are actually less monsters at night because theyāre hunted during the day.
I think back to the monsters we fought since we reached the third floor.
Goblins appear on this floor. Sometimes, but rarely, there will be a fighter or a mage mixed in those groups, but most of the time theyāre hunted the same way as the ones on the first floor. What needs special attention are those mages. We have to be careful not to let them use magic. Hikari and Sera can use throwing attacks, but I asked them not to so Mia can practice her Holy Arrow.
Weāve come across four mages so far, but she only used Holy Arrow once. Or rather, she only completed it and fired at a monster once.
The other times her concentration was broken halfway through, or she stopped it because she thought the monster was about to attack her. Iām sure sheāll be able to activate it on the spot once she gets used to it, but itās still hard for her.
Trisha was teaching her, but she canāt quite get it. From what I can see with Magic Energy Detection, it feels like she still canāt control her magic energy very well.
Mia can use her magic if sheās calm, so I guess itās just a matter of doing it until sheās used to it and her concentration wonāt be broken. The problem is all in the time between starting to cast a spell and the spell being activated.
I asked her if she canāt use it without an incantation, like with Heal and Recovery, but she says she canāt. She says she doesnāt know why, but she feels she canāt do it, at least not yet.
ā ā ā
The next day, Mia apologizes profusely when she wakes up. I just tell her not to push herself too much.
We camped on the way to Majolica, but we were pretty relaxed then. And of course, the same canāt be said for the dungeon.
Hikari and Sera are in front, but itās hard for Mia not to be nervous. Walking around feeling nervous the whole time, something Iām sure sheās never experienced before, and having to fight monsters on top of it must be pretty tiring for her, even if she doesnāt notice it.
Hikari and Sera saw this coming, so theyāve been giving her advice.
After a while, we find the staircase to the fourth floor, and take a break before we go down.
The fourth floor is a wolf floor. The difference between this and the second floor is in how many appear at the same time. Before, we used to encounter two or three, but now they walk around mostly in packs of five.
We come across a wolf wandering around alone, probably because it lost sight of the others, and packs with more than five, but those are rare.
That said, itās still not a problem. Did they actually overlook two of them on purpose so they would attack Mia? I try to step in and help, but they urge me with their eyes to stop.
I do just that and just watch Mia, deactivating the magic barrier for now.
The necklace I gave her before is broken, and I still havenāt given her its replacement. I talked about it with Sera before, and she told me that Mia would probably rely on it too much, so she should go without it for the first few floors.
Miaās equipment is good too, so maybe it will be good for her to feel what itās like to be attacked.
Yes, I know, itās kind of rough.
Mia moves her staff skillfully, and that combined with her footwork restricts the movements of the wolves.
Sheās moving around in a way to make it so she doesnāt have to fight both wolves at the same time. She canāt land the decisive blow, and sheās attacked by the wolves a few times, but she doesnāt waver. Mia just grits her teeth.
This goes on for about ten minutes, until one of the wolves goes down to a clean hit from Miaās staff, and the other is finished by Hikari after being blown away.
Mia lets out a sigh of relief and crumples to the ground. Thereās sweat on her forehead, and her cheeks are bright red. But she has a proud smile on her face.
The other two approach her. Are they congratulating her? No, theyāre pointing out things she did wrong and giving her advice. Mia is listening with a serious look on her face.
I donāt quite find the right words to say, so I just tell her she did well. But thatās enough to make her happy and bring a smile back to her face.
That night, we find the staircase to the fifth floor. Itās relatively close to the last one.
But weāre not going down today. We move to a place a little far from the staircase, and set up camp. I havenāt heard of monsters moving from floor to floor, but adventurers might come through here.
I thought about using the device on the fifth floor and going back to the city, but weāre advancing faster than I expected, so weāre going to stay here to get used to camping in the dungeon.