Eminira Dungeon Again (5)
The next day, when we entered the 10th floor, we found ourselves at a cliff.
Beyond the bottom of the cliff, a large lake spread out, and even from here, we could see fish leaping into the air. Their jumping power was impressive.
There was no descent path on the cliff.
It seemed the Golden Wings used ropes to descend. There were sturdy stakes to hook the ropes onto and climb down.
Since the ropes couldn’t be retrieved, they would just leave them, but apparently, when the next group arrived, the ropes would have disappeared.
"This is our time to shine.” Said Hamilton, so when I asked what they would do, he said they would make stairs.
But I asked, "Instead of stairs, could you make a slide?"
When they asked what a slide was, I drew it on the ground and explained.
"You mean sliding down by using the slope? Understood.” Hamilton nodded, and he made it using earth magic.
When I tried to go down,
"Wait. Let me go first. If it's safe, you can come after.” Brother Gerald said and slid down.
After Brother Gerald safely reached the bottom, I hugged Atre and slid down together.
Waiting at the bottom, Brother Gerald said,
"This is fun. And we got down in no time." Looking very pleased.
"Usually, getting down this cliff is quite a struggle, but we made it down in a flash."
"I suppose we could do it with ice magic too, but it would be cold.” Said Linka and Allie.
We discussed making a seat-shaped box with ice, putting a wooden board on the bottom of the ice box, and sitting on it to slide down. We would need to prepare enough wooden boards for everyone, but it might be safer than descending on a single rope.
They said they would try it next time.
Everyone slid down the slide aiming for the lake. Our target here was the fish in the lake, and apparently, there were no traps on the way.
The lake was very large. It took about 20 minutes to run around it, so it was probably about 5 to 6 kilometers around.
In the lake, fish about the size of trout with sharp 10cm-long horns on their heads were leaping about one meter high. They were monsters called Turuf.
For each Turuf defeated, one Turuf horn would drop on a small island (the safety zone) in the center of the lake. Once 500 Turufs were defeated, a bridge to the safety zone would appear.
When I asked if other groups came, they said we wouldn't encounter others while we were here.
Apparently, there were probably multiple similar lakes on this floor, and adventurers were assigned separately, according to the Adventurers' Guild's understanding.
The men of the Golden Wings pulled out small crossbows from their magic bags. I guess it was easier to use bows than swords here.
The knights seemed to be planning to defeat them all using magic.
I tried targeting the Turufs with Water Shot, but it was surprisingly difficult.
By the time the magic reached the spot, the Turuf would already be elsewhere.
It seemed I had to aim at close range to hit them.
When I moved close to the edge of the lake and rapid-fired Water Shots, I started to hit them.
But still, it was only about once every five shots. It was difficult.
However, thanks to the adults’ efforts, we apparently reached 500 kills in less than 30 minutes.
A bridge was now extending to the small island at the center of the lake.
We gathered the Turuf horns scattered across the island.
They were lighter than iron—what kind of metal could it be?
When I asked Brother Gerald, he said it was stainless steel.
So this world had stainless steel too.
Since it rusted less easily than iron, I imagined it would be in high demand.
While we were picking up the Turuf horns, the bridge disappeared.
I asked Meyer, who was beside me, what we would do next, and he explained that now a monster fish called Squa would attack us with ice magic.
While we were on the island, all the Turufs in the lake would transform into Squa.
We had to defeat 1,000 Squas—each about a size larger than a Turuf—to create a bridge to the opposite shore.
Each time we defeated a Squa, a rectangular stainless-steel plate measuring 40cm long × 15cm wide × 1cm thick would stack up on the opposite shore.
And the signal for the attack to start was when we had picked up all the Turuf horns.
If we left some horns behind, we could rest a little longer.
When I asked, "Can't we use earth magic to build a bridge?"
They told me that if we made a bridge to the other side before defeating the Squas, it would collapse.
We could not proceed until we defeated the Squas.
We mostly finished collecting the Turuf horns and decided to rest when there were just a few left.
Now, it was time for an all-out battle.
We spread out evenly around the island and prepared to attack in all directions over the lake.
The Squas would jump from the lake and fire ice balls during the moment they were in the air before diving back into the lake.
Their jump height was about two meters.
The ice balls varied in size, from ping-pong balls to tennis balls, and would fly at us from all directions.
While dodging the ice balls, we had to defeat the Squas.
Our method for fighting was to build walls 1.5 meters high.
Some of the ice balls could be avoided, allowing us to attack from behind the walls.
Since the wall was taller than me, it was hard to see the Squa.
Was there a better way?
What about attacking from a 2-meter-high observation platform?
I suggested that we use earth magic to create 2-meter-high observation towers and attack from there.
I also asked them to build railings up to thigh height in front, so we wouldn't fall off.
For me and Canal, the railings would be about waist height.
"If that's the case, wouldn't it be faster to make the wall 2 meters tall and wide enough to walk on top of?" Hamilton said.
Camuela and Hamilton built a wall all the way around the island, wide enough for us to walk on.
They even installed stairs in various spots.
"With this wall, we can look down on the Squas and aim our attacks more easily."
"At this height, almost none of the ice balls will hit us directly,"
Said Meyer and Wilson, who were standing near me, clearly pleased with the setup.
What do you think about this chapter?
