Level Eater-Chapter 132: Dungeon Level 3 Strategy Start
Dungeon level 3. At this level, the number of deaths among challengers increases.
However, most of those who died were due to dungeon traps due to lack of caution, so if one is careful enough, an adventurer with a reasonable level of experience can overcome the dungeon.
Therefore, dungeons at this level are called the gateway to success for beginners in the adventurer community, and it is only when one can clear this level that one is recognized as a full-fledged adventurer.
This time, Tatsuro and his team, who had experienced dungeons in grasslands, forests, and deserts, were now standing alone on a very high rocky hill.
Perhaps due to the high altitude, it was difficult to breathe, and although the temperature wasn't below freezing, it was cold enough that they couldn't wear short sleeves.
When Tatsuro looked around, he saw that there was no way to go down, and they were surrounded by steep cliffs, and from there downward there were chains extending from stakes stuck deep into the rocky mountains. It seemed like the only way to get down the mountain was to climb down.
When Tatsuro peered down from the cliff to see how high the mountain was, he found that the bottom of the valley was too far away to see anything.
"This is another amazing place. You can't see the bottom at all." (Tatsuro)
"Eh? Which one... hmm, hmm?" (Ai)
|Skill Far Sight Lv.1 acquired.|
"Oh, I can now see a little further ahead! ...But I don't think I can see all the way to the bottom." (Ai)
"What do you mean you can now see what's ahead?" (Tatsuro)
"It seems like I've acquired a new skill called Far Sight." (Ai)
As the name suggests, it's a skill that makes it easier to see far away, but I still can't see down.
"How far do we have to go down?" (Ai)
"Well, we're not going to use chains to get down, so that's good." (Tatsuro)
As he said this, Tatsuro picked up a chain hanging down from near him and made a jingling sound.
As he was doing so, Cardina started to chirp and tried to let Tatsuro know what was going on.
Before Tatsuro could try to synchronize with Cardina's Dispel magic to see what it was, Nana firmly incorporated her intentions and told them.
"It seems like every few chains are missing." (Nana)
"Does it come off? By the way, what happens if it comes off?" (Tatsuro)
"Pewee!" (Cardina)
"She said the chain would break while they were descending and they would fall headlong.'' (Nana)
"It's another nasty trap. From now on, I'll investigate everything in the dungeon before using it." (Tatsuro)
When Tatsuro also explored the trap for his own learning, he found that not only the chains but also the stakes were not deeply stuck and cracked, so it was clear that the trap was dangerous unless he examined not only the chains but also the trap as a whole.
Also, the atmosphere was different from the previous lukewarm dungeons, which made him feel even better.
"There is no other way, so going down is probably the right thing to do, but how do you want to go down, Ai?" (Tatsuro)
"Me? Well then, I'd like to take the opportunity to ride on Jeanne-chan's back!" (Ai)
"Neigh!" (Jeanne)
"Leave it to me. She says." (Nana)
"That's right. We talked about that a little bit before, and she seems very motivated, so I'll let her do it." (Tatsuro)
"Yay!" (Ai)
Ai hugged Jeanne, expressing her joy, and Jeanne was happy to receive it.
Immediately, Jeanne enthusiastically transformed into her [True Form] and laid down with her belly flat on the ground so that Tatsuro and the others could ride on her back.
First, Ai climbed onto her back first, and Tatsuro climbed up while being pulled up from the front, while Nana floated up and sat behind Tatsuro and the others.
Nana told them that Cardina, being a bird type, would use her own wings to alert them, and after a word of thanks, Tatsuro immediately signaled Jeanne to depart.
Jeanne then stretched her arms out to the side to spread the skin membrane of her arms.
As the dragon power is put into her large wings, the huge body floats in the air, and with Tatsuro and the others on board, she flies over the rocky cliff and glides slowly downwards, circling the rocky hill.
Thanks to the wind magic that softened the air resistance, there was almost no turbulence, and Tatsuro and his team were trying to pretend that the flight was comfortable, but it was not to be.
About twenty meters down, Cardina chirped to warn them of the danger.
In response, Jeanne understood exactly what Cardina meant and increased her glide speed before Tatsuro could give her instructions.
At that stage, Tatsuro finally understood the situation.
"That's it!" (Tatsuro)
"Which one!" (Ai)
Even while Ai was responding appropriately with her spinal reflexes, it was attacking.
In a word, the monster was a sea turtle with wings for arms and legs.
Four of them seemed to be swimming in the sky, spitting out stone gravel from their mouths and showering them like bullets.
Leaving the aerial movement to Jeanne, Ai takes out her celestial bow on her broad back and counters with arrows of energy.
Then, Tatsuro spread his skill [Sticky Water] around them like a film to prevent the stones from hitting them, blocking the attacks that were flying toward them.
"That's right!" (Tatsuro)
"Aaaaaaah" (Ai)
"First one! Then the second one!" (Tatsuro)
At the moment when Tatsuro punches a hole in the [Sticky Water] membrane at the right time, Ai knocks down one, then two, flying sea turtles.
While he was distracted by the attack, Cardina sneaked up behind the remaining two creatures, instantly transformed into her true form, and cut off the head of one of them with her wings. While she grabbed the remaining one by the throat and brought it in front of Tatsuro, making it impossible for it to shoot stone gravel.
"Thank you. Cardina." (Tatsuro)
"Pewee!" (Cardina)
Tatsuro used [Level Eater] on the dying sea turtle, who was on the verge of death after experiencing strangling with exquisite force.
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Level: 12
Skills: [Flight Lv.1], [Gravel spitting Lv.3]
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(Since the level of [Flight] is low, it seems that it is not that good at flying itself. the turtle's own level is much higher than in the level 1 dungeon, even though it is still on the 1st floor.)
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Level: 12
Skills: [Flight Lv.0], [Gravel spitting Lv.0]
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"Okay. I got the skill level, so you can put an end to it." (Tatsuro)
"Pewee!" (Cardina)
Cardina heard Tatsuro's words and held out the turtle to Nana. freēnovelkiss.com
"Are you sure you don't mind if I take it again?" (Nana)
"Pewee!" (Cardina)
"I understand that it hurts to have to be stopped so many times, but Nana isn't the type to come forward and fight, so it would be better to earn experience points when you can earn it like this. That's what you are saying, right, Cardina?" (Tatsuro)
Nana seemed to be wondering if it was really okay or not, so Tatsuro followed up, and Cardina also gave a big nod.
Seeing this, Nana finally reached out her hand to the turtle and ended it with her [Dragon Drain] skill.
Nana then made a slight gesture as if she was thinking, and then spoke to Ai.
"Mother. Don't you have any weapons that I can use?" (Nana)
"Nana-chan? Hmm, I wonder if something happened. Hey, Tatsuro." (Ai)
"If it's a weapon. It looks like the species is a dragon, so if it's a half-baked weapon, it would probably break easily...I guess it's a dragon. Then maybe..." (Tatsuro)
"Father?" (Nana)
This time, Tatsuro had a thoughtful look on his face and was doing some sort of tampering with the system on Jeanne's back, who was still gliding, and soon after, he took something out of his [Item Box.]
"Huh? Isn't that the magic dragon's tooth? What are you going to do with it?" (Ai)
"This looks like something she could use. It's sturdy, it's made of dragon material, so it would go well with Nana, who is also a dragon, and it would be easy to carry." (Tatsuro)
Tatsuro selected a pair of teeth that were large enough to be easily held in a child's hand and took them out of the [Item Box] and handed them to Nana.
Nana held one in her right hand and one in her left hand, moved a little distance from Tatsuro and the others, and swung it around as if it were a dagger.
Even though she had the body of a small child, she had a high level of physical ability, and her body movements were quite impressive.
"With this, if you can get close to it or it gets close to you, you can attack." (Tatsuro)
"For a makeshift weapon, it looks pretty good." (Ai)
"Yeah, it looks like a piercing weapon, so it might be cool." (Nana)
After that, Nana thought about how to carry it around, and after talking with Tatsuro and the others, she acquired an [Item Box] and stored the Magic Dragon's Teeth in it.
After about an hour of gliding down the rocky mountain, while dealing with Patakame (named by Ai), a sea turtle-shaped monster with wings and legs that appeared every now and then, the ground finally came into view.
They were getting tired of just descending and defeating demons, so Tatsuro asked Jeanne to slow down the glide for landing with the feeling that they were finally going to make it.
Just a few dozen seconds before landing, Cardina alerted them to the situation.
At that moment, Jeanne stopped in the air and asked Tatsuro for his judgment.
"...Is this a trap?" (Tatsuro)
"A trap? Where do you find something like that?" (Ai)
"The whole perimeter of this rock hill seems to have a mechanism where if one puts your foot on it, a big guillotine-like blade pops out from underneath you from all over the ground. Finally, after reassuring us that we're on the ground, you've got to get serious, Mr. Dungeon, with the instant death traps." (Tatsuro)
"It's another bad-natured trap. So what are you going to do about it?" (Ai)
"It seems like there's nothing ten meters away from the rocky hill. Then Jeanne, I want you to land a little further down the road from here. Cardina, you're in charge of the details." (Tatsuro)
"Pewee!" (Cardina)
"Neigh!" (Jeanne)
So they landed far from the rocky hill and everyone managed to descend unscathed.
Then, standing on the surface of the ground that they had seen from the sky, they looked around again and saw a wilderness.
"Um… maybe this means we have to go on and on and on from here again?" (Ai)
"No, I don't think so. To us, it looks like an endless wilderness, but in reality, it comes to a dead end at 500 meters ahead. Hey, Cardina." (Tatsuro)
"Pewee" (Cardina)
"Ah, that's right. But if that's the case, I guess we can see the point to the next floor from the sky." (Tatsuro)
"Maybe there's some kind of trick." (Ai)
"Yeah, I think so too." (Tatsuro)
They had spiraled down the rocky hill in a circle and were looking 360 degrees from the sky. But it was hard to believe that they would miss such a conspicuous shining reservoir.
In that case, even before landing, Tatsuro had thought that it would be better to assume that there was something that couldn't be seen from above.
If so, what kind of mechanism is it? Unfortunately, they don't know much about it, so they have no choice but to walk around and look for it.
"Ah, that's what happens after all." (Ai)
"Well, it's not like we'll be walking dozens of kilometers, so it'll be fine." (Tatsuro)
And so, the search for the entrance to the next floor began.
First, Tatsuro asked Jeanne to transform to [Adult Form] and follow after her, which was already in a fixed position. Ai, Tatsuro, and Nana were behind, and Cardina was always on guard from above.
After walking like that for a while, Ai discovered something.
"Hmm? Tatsuro, what is that?" (Ai)
"Which one is that?" (Tatsuro)
"Look, there it is." (Ai)
Tatsuro looked in the direction Ai was pointing, but he couldn't see anything that interested him. So, as they all walked in the direction where it seemed like there was something, Tatsuro started to see it too.
It was a small, round button that was cleverly hidden in the same color as the surroundings, so you couldn't see it unless one looked at it closely, and it seemed like something would happen if one pressed it.
"If we press this, will the entrance to the next floor appear?" (Ai)
"Well, we don't have any other options, so I guess I'll just have to try. Well then, I'll be on guard with Cardina to make sure nothing happens, so Ai can press the button with Nana.'' (Tatsuro)
"Okay." (Nana)
"I understand." (Ai)
Tatsuro talked with Cardina eye to eye, and together they began to use Dispel magic to thoroughly investigate a wide area, including the underground.
Meanwhile, while holding hands with Nana, Ai reached for the button and pressed it without hesitation.
"... Nothing is happening." (Tatsuro)
"Hey, Tatsuro. Nothing is happening?" (Ai)
"No, you're awake." (Tatsuro)
""Huh?""
When Tatsuro pointed to the sky and asked the two of them to look, something huge was falling from above.
That one gigantic creature seemed to be a monster, and as Tatsuro and his team hurriedly distanced themselves from it, it fell to the ground with a loud roar.
"What is this? A meteorite?" (Ai)
"No. It's a giant turtle." (Tatsuro)
"Turtle?" (Nana)
"Turtle?" (Ai)
As if in response to Tatsuro's voice, a head suddenly sprouted from what looked like a huge rock, and thick limbs also jumped out and stood up.
"AAAAAAAAAA…………"
"Tatsuro! Look at his stomach!" (Ai)
"Is that...the entrance to the next floor?" (Tatsuro)
"Yes It's so!" (Ai)
Ai was the first to notice that every time the center of the turtle's belly moved, the glowing pool across the floors that she had seen several times before rippled, asserting its presence.
