We stay the night after going down to the nineteenth floor, and continue.
I feel like the eighteenth floor was sparsely populated with monsters, but a tigerwolf attack while we slept would be terrible, so we decided to sleep after going down to the next floor this time.
Blue and his party were here too, but apparently theyâre not going to fight the boss. Theyâre going to hunt here, and then register the floor and leave.
He said they arenât confident or ready to face the boss room.
No one argued with him, probably because his fellow party members know heâs right.
The nineteenth floor has orcs. Rurika and Chris tell me they fought them a few times while doing escorting quests in the beast kingdom.
âBut youâve never accepted quests to hunt them?â
Theyâd probably be too much trouble for just the two of them.
We move forward in the usual formation while feeling nervous, but we have an easier time with them than with the tigerwolves.
It doesnât take us long to take them down. Chris and Mia are also actively using magic to get a feel for what itâs like.
âOrcs arenât that much trouble.â
Says Hikari.
She manages to infuse her weapon with magic energy while the orcs close the distance between them, so she cuts them with her full attack power behind her. This is because she is all too familiar with how much time it takes for an orc to get to her.
At first I wonder if she couldnât do that with tigerwolves too, but thatâd be hard.
âThe pressure is all different.â
She continues.
Rurika still isnât doing as well as she hopes. When the battle starts, her magic energy dissipates and her swords cut normally.
Still, mithril is very sharp. Even if a single cut isnât fatal, the damage keeps accumulating, and she can go for vital areas when she has an opening.
Chris doesnât have trouble firing her magic either. Mia is startled by their appearance at first, but gradually gets used to it and starts firing Holy Arrows. I get the feeling theyâre getting stronger too.
âItâs nice that theyâre easy to fight.â
Hikari looks satisfied as we take a break to have lunch.
It looks like sheâs able to use her new throwing knives well too.
âWhat do you think, Mia?â
âThey look scary, but theyâre easier to fight than tigerwolves. I feel like itâs easier to read their movements too.â
Mia is also feeling like she can fight better here than on the previous floor.
âJust donât get careless.â
âYes. We never know whatâs out there.â
It doesnât sound like theyâll get carried away or anything.
After having lunch, we come across a group of five orcs, but we manage to scatter them with a preemptive magic attack. Then everyone takes them out individually, and as their numbers go down, theyâre all defeated without much issue.
We change formation along the way, and I fight too.
I donât get experience when I defeat monsters, but I still get actual combat experience.
âChris and Mia are going to play a big part in the next boss battle.â
Of course, that doesnât mean Iâm going to sit back and watch.
The next boss is a kobold king, and itâs accompanied by kobold fighters, kobold archers, kobold guards, and kobold generals.
The biggest problem is the two kobold generals that are guaranteed to appear every time. Iâve heard the movements of the kobold army change with the commands of the generals. They get better at coordinating attacks, and some people say theyâre led like a group of knights.
And we canât forget the kobold guards. Their attack power is almost nonexistent, but they specialize in defense and can block all sorts of attacks with their shields. They protect the back row that lacks in defense, and prolong battles.
Should we focus on taking them down quickly? Or should we try to separate them?
âHow long can they block attacks? And how many others are with them?â
âShould we try an area attack at the start?â
Suggests Chris, and I nod.
âYes⌠Apparently the shields the guards hold are magic shields, so itâd be nice to check what their effects are.â
âMagic shields? You didnât read about those?â
âThey canât be brought back to the surface, so stuff like their abilities is a mystery. The reference book I read just said they defend against magic.â
âMaster, I want more knives.â
âAnd I want my spare axe. If I have to, Iâll throw it and keep the guards back.â
âAll right. Do you need anything too, Rurika?â
âHum⌠Iâm still not confident about infusing things with magic energy, so normal throwing knives, please.â
This was supposed to be a short break, but we start talking and lose track of time.
Weâll talk more about this when we actually get to the twentieth floor. For now, letâs keep moving.
It takes another day to find the staircase, and we donât see anyone in the safe area. Still, we canât not be careful.
Who knows when something might fly at us?
Dungeons can be annoying, in the fact that we have to watch out for more than just monsters.
Should we go back to the city to rest, and come back later?
I ask everyone, but maybe the incident on the tenth floor is still fresh in their minds, and we decide to rest here and then challenge the boss.
Name â (Sora Fujimiya ) / Job â (Scout) / Race â Otherworlder / No Level