Today as well, we were exploring the 27th floor.
For breakfast we had the cabbage rolls I had preprepared. However, both Hati and Groot weren't satisfied with the cabbage rolls I'd had in stock, so unfortunately, I had to hurriedly whip up some miso grilled orc general bowls. And with that, the food that I'd prepared had finally run out. I only had some rice left. Leaving Razsegath aside, the stock held up pretty well against the huge eaters, Hati and Groot.
And so, I would be cooking again for lunch.
After finishing the meal and taking a break, we once again started through the forest. According to Hati, we'd be seeing the floor boss before the evening, though. The 26th floor had the S-ranked vaasuki, so there shouldn't be anything weaker than that.
'I wonder what kind of monster will come out this time... Well, either way, I'm not going to be fighting anyway. As if I would stand a chance against an S-ranked monster.'
"I sense one. Well then, I will be off."
'Ahh, looks like there's a monster.'
Hati took no time at all to beat down a troop of wild apes. After that, Hati, Razsegath, and Groot all took turns defeating the monsters we encountered. And I did my best retrieving their dropped items, yeah.
While we were proceeding further into the forest, everyone's gut alarms rang, and it was time for a meal.
"I don't have any more prepared stuff left, so I'll start cooking now. Just wait a bit." 'Something that I can make in a flash... yeah, let's make a stamina stir-fry bowl.'
Still, it was great that the food I had prepared lasted so long.
Since we were already in the 27th floor, there were no other adventurers around, and that fact was a huge saving grace.
'Now that I can afford to freely use my skill, let's do just that.'
I bought green garlic, tare to flavor the grilled meat (roasted garlic flavor) and white sesame seeds. 'If you're using it in a stamina meal, then I recommend making sure the tare for the meat is also garlic flavored.'
Then, I brought out the magic stove from my Item Box. I wavered on whether to use orc general or bloody horn-bull for the meat, but I went with bloody horn-bull in the end. Both beef and pork work in this dish.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
First, slice the bloody horn-bull meat thinly into pieces about the size of a mouthful. Then coat with the tare and massage the flavor into the meat.
Cut the green garlic into lengths around 4 cm long.
Oil up a heated frying pan, and quickly cook the bloody horn-bull meat. Once the color of the meat changes, add in the green garlic and keep cooking.
When the green garlic has wilted a little, mix in some of the tare sauce. While stirring the sauce in, give the meat and garlic in the pan another quick sauté to finish it off.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
For Hati, Groot, and Razsegath, I molded the rice in a deep dish before topping it with lots of the stamina stir-fry I made. After spreading the white sesame seeds on top, the dish was complete.
"It's done..."
When I placed the dishes in front of them, they all greedily dug in.
"This tare mixed into the meat is delicious. I feel like I can eat an unlimited amount of this."
'Hati, I know you said that, but try to keep yourself in check, okay?'
[Kkhhhhh! This salty-sweet tare is irresistible!]
'You get it, Razsegath! That tare's delicious, isn't it?'
[This tare goes super great with the meat Groot is gonna eat a lot!]
'I see I see, so Groot understands this taste too, huh?'
"More." [More!] [More.]
It was the usual for Hati and Groot, but even Razsegath wanted another serving.
'Wait, huh? Was the garlic a bad idea? Did I just increase their appetite...?' While I was wondering that, I served everyone a second helping.
'I should also start on my share while everyone's eating. The salty sweetness of the garlic flavored tare pairs so great with the rice...'
The fragrance of the white sesame seeds I'd spread around on top was also serving as a good accent to the dish.
'Stamina stir-fry bowls really are just awesome for when you want to eat something hefty. Yeah, yeah, this is great.'
I had thought I might have served myself a little too much, but it was gone before I knew it. Just when I was taking a breath after gulping down some of the bottled tea I had stored in my Item Box, I heard Hati and Groot's voice.
"More." [More!]
The garlic flavor must have boosted their appetite, since there was a whole chain of "more"s after that. I had thought that the rice I had made would last for another meal after this, but it was completely finished off.
After fitting in a small after-meal break, we once again set off through the forest. My three familiars safely disposed of any monsters, and I picked up their drops.
Then, finally...
"That must this floor's boss." Hati informed me, and I hid behind a tree before taking a peek.
'W-What the heck is that...?'
It was probably a little larger than a lion. The body was also lion-like, but the tail was that of a scorpion's, and was raised up like one as well. It had a strange head: it was like an old human man's head. And lastly, I could make out its mouth, split almost from ear to ear, forming a creepy grin.
Just looking at that repulsive grinning face gave me goosebumps.
When I tried appraising that bizarre monster...
[Manticore]
An S-ranked monster.
'A manticore? I'm sure I've heard of that before... If I remember correctly, it's a legendary beast that eats people... W-Well, either way, that thing is no good. Its face is so gross. Too gross. I can tell that thing will be haunting my dreams already.'
"That's a manticore... Hati, are you gonna be okay?"
"Of course I will. I have fought a manticore before. Those things are pretty sly, though. They will do things like pretend like they are weakened, only to stab you with their tail to finish you off when you get close. So great care is needed in those situations." Saying so, Hati turned around to face Razsegath and Groot.
"Razsegath, Groot, the manticore is both fast and sly. We will land a preemptive attack and then try to finish it off quickly."
[So just as usual, then. Let's do it!]
[Hey hey, what does 'sly' mean?]
'It was too complicated for Groot, huh?'
"Sly means that it's really sneaky and cheats. See that monster, it will do things like pretend it's weak, only to attack you when you get close and let your guard down."
[Hmm, so it's a bad monster. Groot will try hard to beat it!]
Filled with fighting spirit, all three of my familiars turned to face the manticore.
*Plort* *Plort* *Plort*
Groot unleashed its Acid Bullets, but the manticore agilely dodged them.
*Thudsshhhh*
A large hole was opened in the manticore's flank. It looked like Razsegath charged through it.
'Oh manticore, know that you aren't only facing one foe.'
"Ghgueeehhh!!" The manticore let out a cry to the heavens.
*Zlsshhh*
Hati released a Rending Claw from his right front leg.
'Ugh...' The manticore was cut into small pieces and died.
'I probably shouldn't be the one saying this, but you guys just have no sense of mercy, do you?'
After the manticore disappeared, I went to pick up its drops. It dropped a large magic stone, its pelt, and a poison needle.
"Now then, let's go down."
"Yes, let us."
Quickly finding the teleportation circle, we proceeded to the 28th floor.
"Whaaaat?! This is the 28th floor?!"
The 28th floor was a swampland.
We were standing on a wooden pathway that was placed over the swampland. The pathway itself was around 1.5 meters wide, and stretched off endlessly into the distance.
"So we should follow this path, right...?"
"Indeed. However, we will also be more easily attacked by monsters. Which means as long as monsters as strong as me are not around, this is a trial that we can easily pass."
'Really what is up with this dungeon? Is every dungeon this mean-spirited in its construction?'
When I asked Hati, apparently all dungeons were just about the same in this aspect.
"As one would expect though, a swampland floor like this is rare."
'Ahh, thought so. There's no way you'd be able to pass through this place without this path unless you could fly like Razsegath or had a boat. But it's also like you're asking to be attacked.'
Just like Hati said, we'd be sitting ducks for monsters.
"Still, this place really is full of water..." Hati said, his voice dripping with dread.
Ahh, right. Hati hates water...
"It would be best to put this place behind us as fast as possible. I will be running through the night this time." Apparently Hati wanted to get out of here badly enough that he was planning to run through the night.
"I can still kind of see since it's only the evening, but are you sure you're okay moving once it's dark?" 'As it is now, it's still possible to see since it hasn't gone completely dark yet, but once it does, he won't even be able to see the path. Won't it be dangerous...?'
"There is no need to worry, I can see in the dark. Moving at night is but a simple task."
[I can see in the dark, too.] It seemed like both Hati and Razsegath were fine in the dark.
"But won't it be tiring to move all night?"
"Hmph, I am not so soft as to be crippled by one all-nighter."
[He's right. I've gone as long as three days straight just flying.]
Apparently, they were fine in terms of stamina, too. It was probably going to be impossible for Groot to stay up all night, so I would probably have to have him sit in my bag. And if that was the case, wouldn't I be the biggest problem?
At the very least, I would have to make sure I wasn't shaken off by Hati during the night; if I were to fall off here, that would mean falling somewhere into a swamp.
"Before we go, first is food."
[That's right. I'm hungry.]
[Groot is also hungry...]
'They say that, but there's no way I can just take my stove out here... With its weight it would definitely fall through the floor.'
"Hurry up. I want to eat quickly and start moving." It seemed like Hati just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.
'Hmm... what should I do... I know I thought I would never feed them pure food from my world again, but maybe I should just give them some side dishes from my Online Supermarket this time... Since it will be better for them to be energetic if they're going to be running through the night anyway. And it'll also be safer since they'll be fighting monsters along the way. Okay then, let's just get some side dishes for now. It should be fine as long as I don't feed them wagyu steak or anything like that.'
I opened up my Online Supermarket and started scooping up any dish that caught my eye: yakitori, karaage, beef croquettes, shumai dumplings, spring rolls, sweet and sour pork, roast pork cutlet, and kalbi beef bowls. I selected the food focusing on meat as the center of the meal. When I served them to my familiars in dishes, everyone greedily started eating.
As for myself, I was having some fresh chirashi sushi and a salad, since all I'd been having lately was meat. Once Hati and Groot were satisfied after several more helpings, mealtime was over.
"Well then, let us go."
[Master Groot is sleepy.]
'Ahh, thought so. Groot does get sleepy after every meal.'
Groot would always fall asleep really fast after having food.
"Groot, get in the bag and go to sleep."
[Got it!] Leaving those words behind, Groot slipped into my bag.
"You, get on my back. Make sure you hold on tight."
"G-Got it." I got on top of Hati's back and made sure to get a good grip.
"Ah, right. Do you need light?" While we were eating the sun had set, and now the surroundings were completely black. Right now, our only source of light was my flashlight. However, I could get more sources through my skill if it was needed. 'If I remember correctly, I should be able to buy a lantern type LED light. And there should also be other varieties of flashlight available as well, if memory serves.'
"No, light is unnecessary. If we make it brighter, it would be like we were calling the monsters to us."
'Ahh, that's true, isn't it?'
"I will be erecting a barrier around us, and another one around Razsegath."
[Sure, thanks for that. If that's the case, I'll scout on ahead and get rid of anything that's in your way.]
"Please."
[Yeah, you can count on me.]
Just like that, we stepped foot into the dark nighttime swamp area.
We, who were walking down the built wooden pathway, were quickly accosted by monsters.
It was a pair of monsters, one a frog around 30 cm large, and the other a flat fish that looked like a monkfish. They jumped out of the swamp at us, but thanks to Hati's barrier, they were repelled. The frog was called a swamp frog, and the fish was called a swamp fish. They were both weaklings, so we left them alone we couldn't be bothered to defeat every single one of them.
It seemed that Razsegath, who went on ahead of us, was fighting, as I could hear sounds every once in a while. They probably dropped items, but the situation being what it was, I'd already given up on retrieving any of them. 'Well, I've already gotten more than enough on the floors before this, anyway.'
I was looking forward to the floor boss' drop, though.
During our journey, Razsegath, who was ahead of us, took care of all the attacking monsters. There were also places where the pathway cut out, or where it was made out of rotting wood that seemed like it would break, but Hati dodged all of that.
We blitzed through the floor at an incredible speed in the middle of the night. By the time the sun was rising again, we were already close to the floor boss, according to Hati.
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"The path around here looks solid, so let's break for food now."
"Yes, that is probably a good idea."
[Ohh, finally, food!]
The place being what it was, I could only use the smaller portable stoves, so something that could be quickly made would be better.
'Let's just make steaks for everyone, they all like it anyway.'
Once the wyvern steaks were cooked up, I woke up Groot and we all ate.
Right from breakfast, everyone was gorging themselves on several steaks. I couldn't really stomach steaks so early in the morning, so I ate something else. I used the black bread to make a ham and egg sandwich that I ate with coffee.
"We have made a lot of progress towards the floor boss since we have been moving all night. At this rate we should see it before noon."
'How quick.'
"We are going to defeat the boss quickly and move on to the next floor."
'Wow, Hati really does just want to get out of here.'
[Ahh, right. I kept getting attacked by creepy monsters like huge fish with beards and slimy snakes. They weren't much, but I couldn't take how they looked...] Razsegath said with a disgusted look on his face.
'So the bearded fish is like a catfish, and I guess the slimy snake would be an eel?' While we headed for the floor boss in this swamp area, I came to understand what kind of monsters Razsegath was talking about. As we proceeded along the path, a huge catfish jumped out of the swamp and tried to eat us with its huge open mouth.
"Woahh!"
*Thudshhhh*
Before the huge catfish even got to us Razsegath opened up a hole in its body.
[It's this thing, right here. There were so many of them during the night.]
'Just like Razsegath said, that thing is creepy.'
Even though it looked like a catfish, its mouth was filled with sharp teeth.
[There was also that.]
When I followed Razsegath's line of sight prompted by his words. I saw a long and thin snake-like monster raising its head to attack us with a round mouth that was packed full of layers of sharp teeth.
'This one's huge too...' It did in fact look like an eel, but more like a lamprey eel than anything else.
*Thudshhh*
The lamprey eel was also charged into by Razsegath before it got to us, and its body was torn into pieces.
"This one was all over the place at night, too."
'Yeah, Razsegath's right. They're creepy as hell.'
After that, we would periodically get attacked by the same two monsters, and Razsegath would defeat them every time. As for Hati, he didn't try to fight, as it seemed he was concentrating on getting out as fast as possible. And since we were putting a priority on speed, Groot was staying in the bag.
We proceeded quickly, and just as Hati said, we reached the floor boss before noon.
"That must be the floor boss." Hati looked forward.
Ahead of us was...
"Th-That? I-Isn't that too big?"
It was a crocodile that was at least as big as a tour bus. When I appraised it...
[Gustav]
An S-ranked monster.
'Of course this one would also be S-ranked, since the two floor bosses before this one were also S-ranked. Still though, that thing's huge. Can we actually fight that?'
"Great, let us go."
[Yeah! HYAHHAAAHH!!]
[Groot will fight too!]
'Wai-! Hu-! Wait a second!!'
'Hey! I'm still on you!!'
"H-Hey, Hati! I'm still riding you!!"
"I could leave you here, but you will be attacked by monsters. Also, despite that thing's looks, it is fairly fast. You will be eaten if you are alone."
'Ghh... Just spare me getting eaten, please...'
"F-Fine! Let's just go!"
After hearing me say that, Hati ran off towards Gustav, and jumped onto its back.
"Razsegath, this thing's hide is tough! Aim for its eyes!"
[Got it!]
Gustav raised its head and tried to bite Razsegath, who was flying around it. Even I could hear the sound of its teeth hitting each other with every chomp.
Hati, who had jumped onto Gustav's back, fired Wind magic at the monster's head.
*Fwoosh* *Fwoosh* *Fwoooshh*
"Gooooghhh!"
Hati's Wind magic cut deeply into Gustav's head.
"Razsegath, now! Aim for the eyes!"
Five pillars of ice with pointed tips appeared around Razsegath.
*Thunk* *Thunk* *Thunkthunkthunk*
The pillars of ice stabbed into Gustav's eyes one after the other.
"Ghgooogghh!!" Gustav thrashed around. I clung onto Hati for dear life so that I wouldn't be thrown off.
"Ah, Groot?!"
Groot smoothly moved near Gustav's mouth and went inside it.
"Ghgoooghhh!!"
*Bangg!*
After another cry out of the rampaging Gustav, it stopped and fell over, no power left in its body. I thought I could hear sizzling sounds, when a hole opened up in Gustav's belly. From inside the hole, Groot popped out.
[Uhmm, Groot went inside the belly and went pew pew lots!]
'So Groot went inside its stomach and sprayed Acid Bullets everywhere? Yeah, I get it, since even strong monsters can't train their innards. Acid Bullets from inside its stomach... by some meanings Groot would be quite the villain.'
"An acid attack from inside it, huh? It was an enemy, but even I am feeling sorry for it."
[Man, acid in its stomach... You're real cruel sometimes, you know that, Groot?]
Both Hati and Razsegath started muttering quietly.
'*Cough* You guys shouldn't be talking.'
"S-Groot, well done."
[Eheheheh] Groot seemed happy about being complimented, as it jumped into my chest.
After Gustav disappeared, I found it left behind its hide and a huge magic stone, as well as a fang and its spine.
After picking up those drops, we went to the only piece of dry land on the floor, that was placed behind the boss.
"Well then, let's get moving."
"Indeed."
Letting some magic flow into the circle, we teleported to the 29th floor.
"Right after a swamp, it's this..." What lay before our eyes after teleporting was a wide desert.
"This dungeon's layout is quite interesting..."
'Hati, don't just tidy this all up by saying it's interesting. After a forest, it's a swamp and then a desert? Each right after the other? That's way too harsh, man. Not only that, but they're all filled with high ranking monsters... And it's really hot.'
The heat of the sun beat down on me relentlessly. It would be obvious if one thought of this as a desert, but this place was actually a dungeon. I had no idea how it worked out like this, but there was even a sun in the sky.
"This place is quite hot..."
[So hot...]
[It's hot...]
All three of my familiars were shriveling in the heat.
"I will be erecting a barrier around us all. By doing that I can shield us from the heat somewhat."
"Huh? Really?"
"Indeed. I cannot do anything about the sun's rays, but inside the barrier it should become somewhat cooler."
'Ohhh, man barriers are super nice.'
"However, this heat is still significant. Do not expect it to suddenly become comfortable. Just think of it as being better than making do without."
'I see. Hati's saying that it'll still be pretty hot even with the barrier, so for now let's hydrate before setting off. Oh, maybe having some sports drinks or something to try and prevent heatstroke would be best.'
I opened my Online Supermarket and bought a large amount of water and sports drinks. Since there didn't seem to be any way to defend against the sun's rays, I also thought it would be best to put on a hat or something with a hood. When I checked, there was something perfect in the listing: a UV parka with a hood. It was perfect for my purposes, so I bought it as well.
"It looks like Hati's barrier will relieve the heat a little, but we should still hydrate ourselves before we go so that we don't succumb to the heat."
I served everyone some sports drink in a dish.
I also put on the parka I bought, and downed some sports drink myself.
"We are going to go straight for this floor's boss again."
'Yeah, this place seems huge, too...'
There was only sand, sand, and more sand as far as the eye could see. It was probably the safest option to go straight after the boss by relying on Hati's powers of presence perception, just like we'd been doing up until now.
"Areas like this get scarily cold at night. At any rate, we have to hurry. Hey, get on."
'Ahh, yeah I thought it would get cold in the desert. The best thing to do here really would be to listen to Hati and just get on.'
And so I did as Hati said and climbed onto his back. Groot was inside my shoulder bag, and Razsegath was flying around us as a lookout.
We put all our efforts into one thing getting through the desert.
"Hey, something's coming at us."
When I looked over to where Razsegath was facing, I saw many reddish black dots.
"What the heck is that...?" As I was staring, the reddish black dots grew steadily closer.
When they were finally within sight range, I gawked at their forms. "...I-It's a swarm of scorpions..."
A swarm of almost a hundred of those scorpions that seemed to be over a meter tall were fast approaching us.
"Hm? Those are sand scorpions, are they not? If those are here..." Suddenly, a huge scorpion the size of a car appeared from the sand in front of us.
"Woaahh!!"
"As I thought. However, something like you will not be able to stand in my way. Fool."
*BOOooooOOooomm*
Lightning Fell on the huge scorpion.
'Ah, it's dead. What kind of monster was it?'
[Giant Sand Scorpion]
An A-ranked monster.
It was done in by one shot from Hati, but the scorpion was an A-ranked monster.
'Wait, what happened to the army of scorpions? Weren't there like a hundred of them? 'When I looked over to where the swarm last was, they had scattered and were running.
"As long as we defeat the one controlling them, those scorpions will not attack."
'I see.'
After the giant sand scorpion disappeared, I picked up its drops, a magic stone and a poison needle, and put them in my Item Box.
We once again started off through the desert.
Hati, who was running, suddenly stopped.
"Gyuuooohhhh!!!" Around ten meters ahead of us, a huge earthworm-like monster burst out of the sand.
"W-What the hell?!" When I appraised it...
[Sandworm]
An A-ranked monster.
The sandworm raised its head, opened its round mouth with several layers of sharp teeth wide, and made like it was going to eat us.
[I'll get it!!] Razsegath said as he charged into the sandworm.
*Thudshhhh*
"Gyuoooohhhh!"
*Thudddd*
The sandworm Fell over with a new hole in its body.
[Hehheh, one worm cooked and ready.]
'Cooked and ready? Razsegath... Well, whatever, you killed it.'
The sandworm dropped its magic stone and a sharp tooth. Having retrieved those, we started traveling through the desert again. While we traveled, we were attacked by giant sand scorpions and their armies as well as sandworms several times, but each time Hati and Razsegath beat them down completely.
Groot must be weak to heat, as it had spent this entire time asleep in my bag.
"The sun is setting. Moving through the desert at night is not smart. Let us make camp around here."
At Hati's suggestion, we decided to set up camp. As the sun set, the heat reversed and it started to get colder and colder. As I had suspected, deserts at night got frighteningly cold.
"Just as it was during the day, having the barrier around will help defend against changing temperatures a little, but outside the barrier it will be frighteningly cold. Due to that influence, even the inside of the barrier will be cold, although it will not be as bad as being outside it."
'So we have to prepare ourselves for at least some degree of cold, huh? If that's the case...'
I opened my Online Supermarket, and bought everything that looked like it would defend against the cold. They carried pocket heaters, thick underquilts and comforters, blankets, and even thick sweatwear, so I bought them for my own use. It would have been best if they had a down jacket or something, but in the end that was too much to ask for.
I laid out a larger amount of cardboard since the area was so sandy, and then I put down the thick underquilt. On top of that, I put out both mine and Hati's futons. Then I added blankets and comforters.
"I'll cook food, so while you're waiting go sit in the futons, it's cold."
When the veil of darkness descended, it became colder and colder just as Hati had said it would. My breath came out in white wisps. As a defense against the cold, I put on the thick sweatwear I bought over the UV parka I was cloaked in. It didn't look great, but it was better than being cold.
'Great, now let's start cooking. It'd be nice to make something quick, but... Ah, let's make bell peppers and beef rice bowls. I can just use the tare they make for that and it'll be easy. But then I'll need to steam some rice, too... When it comes to something simple but still filling, it really does have to be rice bowls... And I have to think of tomorrow's meals too, so I definitely want to make extra rice. I have lots of rice that I haven't cooked yet, so for now let's just steam some rice.'
Washing and soaking the rice was a bit of a waste of time so I shortened the process by using warm water. With the magic stove, I used all four burners on it with clay pots to steam rice. While that was happening, I bought the ingredients I would need for the dish with my skill.
'It's just peppers and bamboo shoots boiled in water, right? I'll also need the bell peppers and beef tare and... when it's this cold I should also make a soup, huh?' I bought some freeze-dried egg soup.
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First, cut some bloody horn-bull meat into thin strips, and do the same for the boiled peppers and bamboo shoots.
In the meantime, the rice I'd been cooking was thoroughly steamed, so I shut them clay pot and all into my Item Box. With the burners free, I use them to make even more rice, and continue making the bell peppers and beef.
Oil up a heated frying pan, and sauté the bloody horn-bull meat until it changes color. When that happens, add in the peppers and bamboo shoots and continue cooking. Then, throw in the store-bought bell peppers and beef tare and mix it in well amongst all the ingredients while continuing to sauté the pan, and the dish is complete.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
For my familiar's portions, I molded the freshly cooked rice into a deep dish before piling on lots of the bell peppers and beef to complete the bowl. At the same time, I also served the egg soup.
"Everyone, it's done."
All three of them happily chowed down on the meal, which was giving off steam into the air. They even gulped down the egg soup.
"This hot drink really hits the spot given this cold."
[Yeah, it's really warming up my body.]
[It's so good.]
Thanks to Hati's barrier, the temperature hadn't dropped below zero, but it really was cold. As soon as I recognized the cold, it Felt even colder, and I couldn't suppress a shiver.
'Let's eat while I'm still feeling a little warm. Man, the thick flavor of the oyster sauce's umami is irresistible. The peppers and bamboo shoots also give the dish a really good snap. This is really prodding my appetite. Drinking the egg soup is also really relaxing, and it really warms up the body...'
After Hati and Groot had multiple extra servings and were satisfied, I finally caught a breath.
I talked with Hati while enjoying some after-meal coffee. "Hati, how long until we see the floor boss?"
"This floor is large. We might somehow be able to get there by the evening the day after tomorrow, I think. But if the sun sets then we have to worry about the cold. Depending on the situation, we might have to delay fighting the boss until the next day."
'What Hati's saying is correct. With the day being as hot as it is, and the nights being this cold, the difference in temperature is too severe. Just that is more than enough to shave away at our stamina, but if the fight were to drag on and the sun were to set, then... We're able to be like this somehow thanks to Hati's barrier, but even inside it's only about 1 or 2 degrees. Thinking about the cold, it's way too dangerous to be fighting once it gets dark. And since that's the case, it's obviously way safer to fight the next day instead.'
"Well, we can only decide that kind of thing once we actually get near the floor boss, anyway."
"Indeed."
That day, we all slept huddled together. Hati seemed to have taken a liking to the blanket, so he slept with the blanket on top of the underquilt. Groot was sleeping soundly in between Hati and I. And Razsegath was fond of the pocket warmer it seemed, so he was sleeping with one of the adhesive ones attached to his stomach. I attached one of the adhesive ones to my back and slept using Hati's stomach as a pillow.
Just like that, we spent our first cold night in the desert huddled together.
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Day dawned on the desert floor.
For breakfast, I fixed a simple bloody horn-bull steak bowl for everyone else, and for myself, using store-bought seaweed and fish, I made a small rice ball. After hydrating thoroughly using sports drinks, we once again started traveling through the desert.
Just like yesterday, we were attacked by sandworms and giant sand scorpions with their armies in tow, but we defeated them all, collected their drops, and kept moving.
We broke for lunch in the middle of travel, and I made a refreshing grated radish-flavored pork steak bowl and I splurged on some slightly expensive ice cream using my skill to serve as a dessert.
"Ohh, this thing is cold and delicious! I was just about fed up with this heat, but this helps."
[So cooold, it's bringing me back to life!]
[It's cold and sweet and delicious. Groot wants to eat more!]
Everyone was silent because of the heat, but it seemed like they recovered some of their energy after eating the cold, sweet ice cream. After a small post-meal break, we once again set off through the harsh desert.
[Some sort of huge snake monster is coming,] said Razsegath, who was keeping a lookout. Following Razsegath's line of sight, I noticed a huge snake about 3 meters in length slithering sideways at us.
[Death Sidewinder]
An A-ranked monster.
'An A-ranked monster, huh?'
[I'll do it!!]
*Zshhh*
The death sidewinder's head flew off. Razsegath let loose with Wind magic and cut it off, it seemed.
"Ohh, nice work, Razsegath."
[Heheh, it's not that hard.]
The death sidewinder dropped a magic stone and its venom sac, as well as its skin. I picked them up and stuffed them in my Item Box. From then on, we moved ever forward through the desert while defeating attacking giant sand scorpions and their armies, sandworms, and death sidewinders while picking up their drops.
After once again camping through the cold desert night, we once more made for the floor boss while defeating monsters and collecting drops.
"I sense a strong presence coming from ahead of us. It is probably the floor boss. We arrived earlier than I thought we would. There is still some time before sunset. Let us continue on and fight the boss now."
Just as Hati finished saying that, the floor boss showed itself.
"Guoohhh!!" The sand gathered together and formed a humanoid monster that looked to be 20 meters tall.
[Giant Sand Golem]
An S-ranked monster.
'After the 26th, 27th, and 28th floors, of course this one would also be S-ranked...'
"Razsegath, Groot, let us go."
As if answering Hati's call, Razsegath's body glowed a burning red as he wrapped himself in fire. Groot, who was in my bag, also jumped out in response to Hati. Of course, I retreated to the back.
[Rahahahhh!! I'm going in!]
*Thudshhhh*
Razsegath, wrapped in Fire magic, charged into the giant sand golem. He opened a hole in the thing, but... sand shifted and gathered immediately, and closed it up.
[Huh?] Razsegath charged into the giant sand golem once more.
"Razsegath, there is no point! That thing is made of sand. The hole will just fix itself!"
That giant sand golem was just a moving pile of sand. Even if it lost parts, it would just fix itself immediately.
'True, like this, Razsegath's attack where he charges into things is probably not really useful here.'
"Water! Luffy, soak Crocodile in water!" I yelled. 'Sand that's taken on water won't move or repair itself like dry, smooth sand.'
[Got it! Water, right?]
[Master got it!]
Both Razsegath and Groot released Water magic at the giant sand golem. Once the giant sand golem was thoroughly soaked... "Hati, hit it with your Lightning magic!!"
"I know!"
*Boomm!!* *Cracklecracklecracklecrackle*
A flash of lightning struck the giant sand golem's head.
"Ghghaaaaahh!!"
*Thhuuuddd!*
The giant sand golem Fell over, throwing up sand. I lost sight of everyone in the cloud of sand.
"*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* Hati, Razsegath, Groot, you guys alright?!"
"Hmph, of course I am!"
[Yeah, I'm fine!]
[Master Groot is here!]
The sand settled down, and I could once again see everyone. They were covered in sand and had turned a little white by it.
"Ahahah, everyone's white, all covered in sand!"
"Mnn, you say that, but you are too."
'Oh, I am.' I jumped to shake off the sand that I was covered in. Hati shook himself until he blew it all away, Razsegath performed airborne acrobatics to shake his off, and Groot sort of rippled the surface of its body, repelling the sand.
While we were ridding ourselves of the sand, the giant sand golem disappeared. And as for the dropped items...
A huge-ish magic stone, as well as five diamonds of varying sizes. As expected of an S-ranked monster.
[Master there's something here.]
It seemed like Groot found something. I approached Groot, who was bouncing up and down. There, I found a treasure chest, half buried in the sand.
"Groot, well done."
[Eheheheh]
For now, I appraised the treasure chest.
[Treasure Chest]
A treasure chest that has been set up so that when opened, it will spray out poison gas, and right afterwards will release Wind magic.
'Oh, it's poison gas again. Looks like the treasure chests here all have that, huh? Don't know whether to call that mean or what. I mean, it's gotta be okay to have a non-trapped treasure chest every once in a while, dungeon, know what I'm saying?
This treasure chest uses Wind magic right after the poison gas, right? So that means it's either to spread the gas around, or something like a wind cutter... Given this dungeon, it might actually be both. Well, whatever. Now then, let's open this thing.'
*Klichak* *Creeeeaaaakkk* *Psshhhhhh*
As soon as I opened the treasure chest, it sprayed out a reddish black gas.
"*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*"
While I was choking on the large amount of gas, gusts of wind were raised.
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
Blades of wind were deflected by my Perfect Defense.
'Hahh, so it was both. Alright then, what's important is what's inside. What's inside, I say!'
Peeking into the treasure chest, I saw a necklace, a cloth bag, and also a gemstone. I appraised each one...
[Necklace of Antidotes]
A magic item that nullifies any and all poisons.
[Magic Bag (medium)]
A magic bag as large as twenty large jute bags.
[Yellow Diamond]
A yellow diamond cut into a large teardrop shape.
'...Hmm, this is kinda... I don't need this necklace since I'm protected with barrier. And this magic bag (medium) is useless, since I have an infinite Item Box. W-Well, I'll probably just sell this stuff, but I can just think that over at my own pace once we go back up.'
"Hey, are you done appraising? Let us leave, quickly."
"Coming!"
Using the magic circle drawn on a rock to move, we teleported to the dungeon's lowest floor, the 30th.
The 30th floor, which we were teleported to, was a semicircular room surrounded by stone walls. It was around 300 meters in diameter.
Across the room from us, was a huge blackish rhino-like monster with a horn. It was around the size of a large trailer.
"Grruoooaahhhh!!" Its cry made me flinch.
'What the heck is that...? All the bosses up until how have been straight-up monstrous, but this thing's on a whole other scale...'
"That is a behemoth. Everyone, proceed with caution."
That was indeed the behemoth, just as Hati said.
'But still, why are we already in the boss battle? I'd thought we'd be moving towards a boss through a huge floor like we'd been doing all this time. It's like, "You should have told me earlier that we'd just be flung at the behemoth!" That kind of feeling. Isn't this exactly the time where we should have beefed up with food from my world? Goddammit, there's no helping it now.'
The behemoth that was facing us raised its leg like a bull and seemed like it would charge us at any second.
"It comes."
"Grruuooooaaahhhh!!"
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
After the behemoth raised an ear-shattering cry, it approached us, its footsteps shaking the earth.
"Razsegath, Groot, listen well! Both physical attacks like tackles and magic attacks do not work very well on behemoths. However, "very well" does not mean that they do not work at all. You only have to hit it with something strong enough that it cannot defend against. At any rate, focus on attacking. Do not let up until the behemoth falls over, understand? Attack!"
[Just attack, no matter what, huh? That sounds just fine, let's do it!]
[Groot will also go pew pew a whole lot and get it with Water magic too!]
All three of my familiars moved towards the behemoth.
*Doonnggg*
[Woah! Crap... this stupid thing's way too hard!]
Razsegath wrapped himself in Lightning magic and charged in but was denied by the behemoth's tough hide.
*Plort* *Plort* *Plort*
[Huh? It's not melting!]
Groot used its specialty, Acid Bullet, but while it did make a sound and there was smoke, it did not eat through the behemoth's tough hide, and it seemed like the boss didn't receive much damage at all.
*BooOOOooomm!* *Cracklecracklecracklecrackle*
*Zzsshh* *Zzsshh* *Zzsshh* *Zzsshh* *Zzsshh*
Hati hit it with both Lightning and Wind magic continuously.
"Grrh! Grruuooohhh!!"
The behemoth shook its body, unsettled, but it didn't seem to have taken too much damage.
"Razsegath, Groot! Do not stop attacking!!"
[OKAY!]
[Got it!]
*Thssshhh* *Thssshhh* *Thsh* *Thsh* *Thsh*
Razsegath used Ice magic and shot spiked pillars of ice at the behemoth. However, the ice pillars were turned to shards by the toughness of the behemoth's hide.
*Plort* *Plort* *Plort* *Plort* *Plort* *Plort*
Groot continued to hit the behemoth with its Acid Bullets, and it was soaked in a huge amount of acid, leaving the behemoth smoking.
*Zzshhhhh*
Groot hit the behemoth with a Water Cutter on a part that was smoking due to the acid.
"Grruuuoohhh!!"
The tough hide of the behemoth, which had up until now been denying all the attacks from Hati, Groot, and Razsegath, snapped open. The behemoth showed its rage by shaking its head and front legs.
"Its breath! It is going to use its breath!!" Hati noticed first and warned everyone.
Looking at it, the behemoth's mouth was shining red. 'Shit, that's bad! I'm right in the middle of that breath's path!' I immediately jumped away from where I was and distanced myself from the breath's line of fire.
"Ghruuuaaahhhhhhhh!!!"
An extremely hot blast of fire was released from the behemoth's mouth. Just like a flamethrower, the fire released from the behemoth's mouth was tremendous. Even I could feel the heat from where I was, which was quite far away.
Once the behemoth's breath stopped, Hati immediately threw out some orders. "It seems like the parts of its hide that have been hit with acid are weaker! Groot, keep soaking it in acid! Razsegath and I will attack the parts that have been covered with it! Let us cut this behemoth apart!!!"
[Yeah!!]
[Groot will go pew pew lots!]
After quivering intensely for a small while, Groot became large and then, it started to shoot an extreme number of Acid Bullets at the behemoth.
*Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew*
And towards that behemoth that had been covered in acid...
*Zzshh* *Zzshh* *Zzshh* *Zzshh* *Zzshh*
*Zzzsss* *Zzzsss* *Zzzsss* *Zzzsss* *Zzzsss* *Zzzsss*
Hati and Razsegath let fly with their Wind magic. The behemoth was cut apart.
"Grruaahh! Grruuuooahhhhhhh!!!" The behemoth let out an agonized cry, but Hati and Razsegath didn't stop. They hit the thing with Wind magic over and over.
"Groot, hit it with your Acid Bullet!!"
At Hati's command, Groot shot another huge batch of Acid Bullets at the behemoth's large body.
*Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew* *Pew*
"Gruuooohhhh!!" The Acid Bullets that Groot shot entered the wounds caused by Hati and Razsegath, and the behemoth's cries echoed even louder.
*BOO-ooommm* *Cracklecracklecracklecrackle*
Bluish white lightning crashed onto the behemoth.
*Thud...*
Hati's Lightning magic became the finishing blow, and the behemoth Fell over sideways.
[We did it! We won!] Groot expressed its joy by bouncing on top of the behemoth's huge body.
[Yahhoo!! We beat the behemoth!!!] Razsegath was happy enough to be doing spins and loops in the air.
"*Snort* Hmpf. Of course we did." Hati looked really smug.
"Ohhh! You're all amazing! You just defeated one hell of a monster. You guys really are ridiculously strong."
This really was amazing. I was wondering how they'd manage to defeat that monster of a beast, but I guess with their powers combined even a behemoth isn't a real threat. Or rather, by the end there, everyone was just beating on the behemoth as hard as they could with no mercy. I actually felt a little sorry for it.
'Well, seeing as how it's a dungeon monster, I guess it's supposed to be defeated anyway, I guess. Oh, the behemoth disappeared. I wonder what it dropped... Huh, there's an absolutely gigantic magic stone, a hide, and also... some sort of really shiny decorated large treasure chest?'
I tried appraising it.
[Dungeon Boss' Treasure Chest]
A treasure chest that rarely drops upon defeating the dungeon's boss.
It wasn't trapped.
'Oohh! So, treasure chests even drop when you defeat a dungeon boss, huh? Even though it's a treasure chest. And it's not even trapped! How nice! Let's see... gotta hurry up and open this thing.'
There was a single sword in the chest. When I took it out...
"Woah! This sword's really heavy..." For now, I appraised it.
[Magic Sword Caladbolg]
A magic sword imbued with Lightning magic. Made of adamantite.
'S-Some kind of ridiculous thing just popped up... yeah. I-It's a magic sword? And even made out of adamantite?! Awawawawawa... W-Will this create a huge fuss if I let it out into the world? F-For now, let's just shut this in my Item Box, yeah... Hm? What? This treasure chest isn't disappearing. Ah, it must be because this treasure chest is also a drop item; what with the goldwork and gemstone decorations, this has got to be pretty expensive too.'
"Hey, I am quite hungry over here."
[It's true.]
[Groot is also hungry!]
I hurried to store all of the behemoth's drops in my Item Box, and then turned to face everyone. Groot was now back to its original size.
"You're hungry? But won't another behemoth pop up or something?"
"A dungeon boss does not come back that quickly. From my experience, there are some differences between dungeons, but at the very least it will not return for a week."
'Hmm... I see. Yeah, he would know about this, being over 1000 years old and all. Wait, that's all well and good, but how do we get back up? Do... do we have to go back the way we came?'
"Hey, Hati, how do we go back up?"
"Just like we have been doing, if you put magic into the round pattern we can go back to the surface."
'I see, so on the lowest floor you get teleported back to the beginning, huh? That's good. It really would suck if we had to go back the way we came.'
"Hey, food is more important right now, hurry up."
'Fine, fine. Looks like everyone's more hungry than usual, huh? Something that I can make quickly, right? Uhhh... I have rice... oh, don't I still have some shredded cabbage left over from when I was pre-cooking everything? If that's the case, I can make that. Salted onion-flavored pork bowls using store-bought salt tare.'
First and foremost, I bought the all-important salt tare with my skill.
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Oil up a heated frying pan, and quickly grill some thinly cut orc general meat. Once the color of the meat changes, add in the store-bought salt tare and continue cooking while mixing the tare so it coats the meat.
Pile and form the rice, and then lay a bed of shredded cabbage on top of that. Then, top with a generous serving of the meat.
It's also a good idea to add white sesame seeds or black pepper to your liking.
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"Here you go, eat up."
When I served the food to my three familiars, everyone wordlessly started scarfing down their food. They must have been quite hungry. Everyone finished quickly and immediately asked for more, so I quickly cooked another batch for them.
[Ohhh yeah! I sure ate!] With that line, Razsegath lay down with his limbs spread wide.
It seemed like Hati and Groot were still not satisfied. 'I should eat too.'
The salt tare and pepper in the dish was working, but I wanted an even larger kick of spice, so I added some black pepper on top. Using the black peppercorns that came in a grinder I bought before, I ground pepper into my bowl.
*Chomp*
'...Yeah, it's great. This store-bought tare is so good! There's also the acidity of the lemon, so I can down the whole dish feeling refreshed. I could just make this tare myself, but it's really hard to get the ingredients in times when I have no money so the store-bought stuff like this is really convenient... The taste isn't even all that different. It's true that it really depends on taste, but the store-bought stuff is basically never outright bad.'
"More!" [More!]
Ahh, yeah, yeah. With that, I was made to cook up many more servings for Hati and Groot.
"Whew you two sure ate a lot, Hati, Groot."
"We did just fight a behemoth."
[Groot went pew pew lots, so Groot was really hungry...]
'Certainly. Not to mention the fact that it was already evening when we left the 29th floor.'
"Let's rest a bit then go back up."
"Yes, let's."
'...Whoops, oh my. Razsegath's already sleeping since he finished earlier.'
"Ahh, Razsegath's already sleeping, it looks like; he must have been tired."
"If that is the case, then why not spend the night here and go up tomorrow? This is the lowest floor, so nothing other than the dungeon boss should appear. And now that the behemoth is defeated, this entire area is basically safe."
'If that's the case then it might be a good idea to spend the night here. Looks like everyone's tired, too.'
"Then let's do that. I'll spread the bedding, so wait a little."
That day, we spent the night on the lowest floor of a dungeon. According to Hati, there was no danger, so thanks to that I managed to get my first peaceful night's sleep in a while.
The night was over, and it was finally time to return to the surface. For breakfast, I ended up cooking dragon steak since Hati said that he wanted to eat it. Even though it was morning, I couldn't resist and had my fill of it. It was truly delicious.
After a post-meal break...
"I guess we should go up now."
"Indeed."
Razsegath hugged onto my head from behind, Groot was nestled in my arms, and I was straddled on top of Hati. Taking the formation for teleportation, Hati empowered the magic circle on the wall with his magic.
After a moment's floating sensation, we found ourselves in a four-tatami room with rock walls on top of a magic circle drawn on the floor.
"Where's the exit...?" I had Hati stoop so I could get off.
"I have seen this before. In these cases, the exit opens when we get off this design."
When I did as Hati said and stepped one foot off of the magic circle... The rock walls opened with a low rumbling sound. Everyone left for the outside.
The first natural sunlight in ten days shone down on us.
"Now then, let's go back to the inn." I had asked to keep my room before I went down into the dungeon, so it should have been fine. When we exited from the door...
It seemed like we came out of a door next to the normal dungeon entrance. And of course, there was a huge crowd of people around. The soldiers that were guarding the dungeon entrance as well as the adventurers that were lined up to enter the dungeon were all staring at us with their mouths agape.
'I'd really appreciate it if you all didn't stare so much, though...'
I was hit by a really intense desire to run away.
'The smartest thing to do here would be to just hurry up and leave, right?'
"Let's go," I said that to Hati and Razsegath, and had Groot enter my bag before trying to walk off towards the inn.
"W-Wait a second!" One of the soldiers at the entrance tried to talk to me. "Y-You, why did you come out of there?"
'Uhhh, that's...'
"Obviously because we defeated the behemoth on the lowest floor."
'Ah, it's obvious you shouldn't have said that, Hati! In these cases, you just have to lie and get through the situation!'
Once Hati uttered those words, everyone started making a huge fuss, as if we'd poked a beehive.
"A-Anyway, just get a guild employee here!"
"No, it needs to be the guildmaster!"
"That's right, get the guildmaster!"
"Hurry, hurry!"
'It's looking like... I won't be able to leave until the guildmaster comes... I mean, when I try to leave, the soldiers tell me to stay and everything.'
After a while, I heard a familiar voice.
'"Hajimeee!"
'Elrand, I wonder if you would refrain from calling my name in such a loud voice, please?'
"Hajimeee!" Elrand was waving his arms while calling out to me in a loud voice.
"Hahh, hahhh... I knew you could do it, Hajime!!" Elrand excitedly grabbed my hand and started shaking it fervently.
'Ah, wait, Elrand, you're hurting my hand.'
"But not being able to see Razsegath was a little... I tried to go down the dungeon several times, but..."
'Huh? You tried to do that? That'd just be annoying though.'
"The sub-guildmaster was really firm about stopping me so I gave up on that, though."
'The sub-guildmaster? That kinda chubby balding old man? Good job, Sub-guildmaster!!'
"Anyway, I want to hear all about this so let's hurry up to the Adventurer's guild. Now, let's go, hurry!"
In the end, we weren't allowed to go back to the inn, and were instead taken by Elrand to the Adventurer's guild.