The First Dungeon 1
When you hear the word dungeon, what do you imagine?
A person from Earth would imagine a tower that touched the skies, caverns leading to the abyss, or mysterious ruins.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, I’m fine.”
I told the worried Celica that everything is fine, and I stopped daydreaming and looked ahead.
There was a door.
A door that you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere on Earth. A big number “6” is inscribed on the door.
I look behind the door, nothing. I look around the door, nothing. There’s nothing but a front door alone in the grasslands.
“This is the entrance to the dungeon?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
… What is this, this feeling of disappointment?
Oh well, even if the entrance is like this, the inside is probably like that of a normal dungeon.
Since I don’t know what’s inside, I have to brace myself.
“What are you doing? If you are not going to go, this lady will go first.”
While I was in thought, Charlotte opened the door.
Something shiny and silver approached Charlotte.
My body moves forward unconsciously. I only noticed that I had moved after I caught the object barehanded.
“Nn? Uoo!? Damn, when did you!?”
“Move aside.”
I shove the surprised Charlotte behind me and activate [Detection] to confirm whether or not this arrow was shot by a person.
However, after I check the area, I can’t find anyone.
This was probably a dungeon trap.
What a trap… How many people have this trap killed?
“Mira, I will give you this. Everyone, stay behind me.”
I pass the arrow to Mira, and we all form a line, with me as the vanguard, as we enter the dungeon.
There’s a straight road leading in, but there’s barely enough space for a single person. There’s not enough room to swing any weapons around, so instead of a sword, I go barehanded for a while.
I don’t know why, but for some reason, there isn’t any light, and after the door shuts we’re wrapped in complete darkness.
It’s hard to see, but I think there’s a light about 20 meters ahead. I don’t know what awaits us there though, so I activate [Avoidance] and [Detection] and advance.
“There’s trap over there so be careful.”
We advance straight ahead while being careful of traps, and after a while, the narrow road starts to get wider.
Apparently, this is a mysterious ruins type of dungeon. When we make it to the wide room, we can see a light shining on a wall. It’s in my line of sight, so I’m not worried about it.
Right in front of the light is a small hole.
Probably the place where the arrow was shot from.
It was quite the distance, but the arrow still had enough force to kill at the entrance. Just how much power was this arrow shot with?
“The road goes two ways from here.”
“Which way should we go?”
I check both paths with [Detection].
There are many enemies on the right, but there is only a single trap. On the other hand, the left path has only 1 enemy, but there are a lot of traps.
Using [Detection] I can understand how many presences there are, the types of enemies, and the types of traps.
A good [Detection] skill is needed to find the hidden doors, treasure chests, and rare materials.
“Which way do you want to go, Sara?”
“Eh, I get to choose!? Then, let’s go right.”
“Nn, understood.”
Honestly, we would be fine whichever direction we went, so I let Sara choose.
There is still a single trap, so just like when we had entered, we walk in a line with me at the front.
Even though it’s only one trap, it’s a type that is easy to trigger. However, if you know the location of the trap, you don’t have to worry about it.
After we make it through the passage, we entered a room where there were 3 knights on each side of the room waiting for us.
“Mu, isn’t that a treasure chest?”
There’s a treasure chest located at the back of the room. Charlotte, who found the chest, tries to go before me, but I pull her back by the neck.
I think I heard the voice of a crushed frog, but even after that, I can’t allow her to move forward. I want you to endure, Charlotte. I tell everyone to look up without them walking in front of me.
Everyone looks at the collapsing ceiling.
After the ceiling collapses, countless corpses fall down.
Bones and other remains were scattered everywhere.
“Girls, step back.”
At my words, everyone falls back. I, on the other hand, walk forward into the room.
6 stone knights move at the same time.
I can’t use my sword this time, because it seems that my sword would break if I used it against them.
The Golem’s height is about 2 meters, and in the center of their forehead is a fist-sized blue pearl. Similar to the one we used for our horse golem, but the color is different.
I wonder if that’s the golem’s core?
If I get rid of that, will the golems perhaps stop?
I stab a golem through its left side to its bosom with my sword and take out its core. 5 to go. (Ed: I thought she wasn’t going to use her sword?)
The golem behind me wanted to smash me together with the golem in front of me, so I kicked the golem and jumped into the air. I smash the golem on my right side while I’m dropping, shattering it. 4 golems left.
I hit the golem on my left with my sword, using enough strength that it’s knocked back and collides with another golem. When the golems clash, their cores are destroyed. 2 more.
I quickly yank out the core of a nearby golem. There’s only 1 golem remaining.
This should be enough, right?
“Sara, Charlotte, I will hold it down. Attack it with magic. Mira shoot it with your bow.”
The remaining golem is sacrificed to raise the skills of the girls.
The two girls focus on their magic.
Charlotte starts singing something like “My…” and “Jet black…”. It smells of chuunibyou… Un, let’s just pretend that I didn’t hear that. Mira, please stop laughing. The person in question was serious.
“Flame.”
“Abyss!”
“Celica.”
“Yes!”
Celica jumps in, takes a big swing, and smashes the golem with her full power.
I hear a glass-shattering sound. It seems the golem’s core was scattered.
“Well done.”
The 4 that defeated a huge monster for the first time are celebrating.
Because there aren’t any enemies nearby, I leave the 4 to their celebrations and go to open the treasure chest in the back.
When I opened the chest, there were 3 potions inside.
– ? ? ? ? rank ?
? ? ? ? ?
After I took the potions out of the chest, I couldn’t see their effects.
I take a look at my skills and notice that I’ve gained [Discovery] and [Appraisal].
I probably can’t see the name and effects of the potions because those skills are still too low.
I looked at the girls statuses to see if they had gained any new skills. Mira go [Bow] and [Hawk Eye], and Sara gained [Detection].
Charlotte obtained [Magic Chanting]. This skill increases the magic power of the spell if you sing while chanting. It suit Charlotte.
I put the potions into the item box and look at the effects.
– Potion rank6
External wounds heal slightly faster.
As expected, the potions obtained from treasure chests are better than those in the store.
I collect the fragmented cores from the golems and check whether or not there is a hidden door in the room where the girls are waiting.
I looked for one for about 30 minutes, but I couldn’t find anything. I decided we’d go the opposite way this time.
“Horrible.”
Just like in the other room from a while ago, there are decomposing corpses scattered around.
The causes of death are all different though. Where the bone had all been scattered in the room before, the cause of these deaths was a single arrow stuck to the head.
“Wait here a minute.”
I determine the number and locations of the traps.
There are 10 traps altogether. Because all the bodies received an arrow and fell down, I’m able to determine that these traps are the same as the one from the entrance.
There isn’t enough space for me to unsheath my weapon.
I step on the nearest traps deliberately and catch the arrows that are fired at me.
Once the traps are triggered, they won’t fire again for a while, so this passage is safe.
At the end of the passage, I can see a room with an orc that is carrying a huge sword standing inside it. It seems the orc is protecting the stairs that lead to the basement.
When I notice that it won’t attack me even when it can see me, I think it’ll be safe unless I enter the room.
Now, what should I do?
Because there’s only one enemy, I can hold down the orc, and leave the attacking to the girls, but Celica’s hammer is partially damaged after the fight with the golems.
Without a doubt, it will break after only one more blow. It would be better not to use the weapons we bought at a store in dungeons of this rank from now on.
I can put it in the item box and repair it with the repair command, but it will still break immediately even if I repair it.
That means Celica will have to sit this fight out, and while I distract the enemy, the other 3 girls can attack from outside the room with their ranged attacks.
I bring the 4 girls in, and after I hand another arrow to Mira, I tell them the strategy. Celica was a bit depressed when she heard the strategy, but this is the only way.
The same moment I enter the room, the orc prepares the large sword and attacks while roaring.
This time I won’t use my swords.
While the orc rushes at me, I kick it lightly.
The orc is blown away and releases its sword from the impact.
“Flame.”
“Abyss!”
Sara and Charlotte attack the orc with magic.
However, the orc roars and deflects Charlotte’s magic. Sara’s fireball hits the orc, but he’s not injured, so I kick him again.
Is this orc resistant to fire?
“Sara, different magic.”
“Yes!”
I kick the orc another time, and while it tries to regain its composure from the impact, I pass the giant sword to Celica.
“Use this and be the vanguard with me.”
“Eh, oh, yes!”
I found a good weapon, so Celica can fight as well. The sword is really big, but it should be okay if she holds it in both hands.
“Abyss!”
“Wind cutter.”
Magic was released again, and the orc opened its mouth to roar and deflect the magic again, but this time, when the orc opened its mouth, an arrow pierced it.
The orc writhes in pain while the magic Sara had released cuts the orc, and Charlotte’s magic drills the flesh out from its chest.
“Yaa!”
Celica stabs the orc in its wound with the big sword.
If it had still been moving after this, I was planning to finish it off myself, but it seems the orc died after the last blow.
The growth of the 4 girls is faster than I expected. I’ll check everyone’s status.
Sara Lv27 Talent 9
Skills
– Magic “Fire” Lv8
– Magic “Wind” Lv3
– Magic “Water” Lv1
– Detection Lv2
Mira Lv24 Talent 9
Skills
– Magic “Light” Lv1
– Cooking Lv3
– Bow Lv5
– Hawk Eye Lv5
Celia Lv26 Talent 8
Skills
– Blacksmithing Lv5
– Hammer Lv8
– Avoidance Lv3
– Big sword Lv2
Charlotte Alister Lv20 Talent 10
Skills
– Magic “Darkness” Lv4
– Flight Lv5
– Automatic recovery Lv1
– Grapple Lv1
– Avoidance Lv1
– Magic chanting Lv3
Their levels are rising quite a bit.
At this rate, I can let the girls handle more of the work.
Although we’ve acted together up until this point, why have none of the girls learned the [Discovery] or [Appraisal] skills?
Let’s experiment with this a little.
“Umm, how do I dismantle this?”
“A lady like me doesn’t need to see the dismantling of this pig.”
That reminds me, what materials from the orc could I sell?
Let’s ask Maria. Ah, the magic tool doesn’t work in a dungeon. There’s no signal.
Can’t be helped, let’s stuff the whole corpse into the item box.
After I touch the corpse, it disappears, and I explain my magic to the surprised Celica and Charlotte.
While Celica was impressed, Charlotte didn’t seem to be that convinced.
Even after I had explained it, Charlotte didn’t look too impressed and started to look around the room.
After confirming that there was nothing in the room, we decided to head down the stairs.