Chapter 63: Dungeon of the Rocky Mountain - Part 3
While on guard duty, the time for rotation arrived without any particular issues, and Chloe emerged from inside.
After exchanging positions with Chloe for guard duty, I entered the building, lay down on the bed, and quickly fell asleep.
Several hours later, we resumed our dungeon exploration and headed deeper.
The types of monsters appearing from the 11th floor, our current exploration location, had slightly changed.
"Isn't that a golem? But it looks a bit different from the one we defeated yesterday."
"You noticed well. It comes from this floor. It's a Firestone Golem. In addition to that, there are three types from this floor: 'Aquastone Golem,' 'Airstone Golem,' each with their respective elemental magic."
"Since they have names with attributes, do they use magic of each attribute?"
"Exactly. They manipulate magic corresponding to their names' attributes, making them more challenging than regular golems. But the method to defeat them is the same as with normal golems, so you'll be fine if you stay calm and handle them."
I said this to Chloe and decided to demonstrate my own battle.
This time, I faced off against the Firestone Golem.
Its magic was fire-based, and if the battle dragged on, I would end up being charred.
I provoked the golem by standing before it and seeing what magic it would use. It took the bait and unleashed its magic.
The power was as expected, and I quickly identified its core location. I cast a spell there, ending my first battle against the Firestone Golem.
"Well, that's about how strong their magic is. If you follow the method to defeat the regular golems without worrying too much, you should be able to take them down easily."
"I was a bit surprised by the magic, but I think I can manage."
Chloe watched my fight and confidently responded.
Afterward, Chloe tried battling an elemental golem on her own to assess its strength, and we continued exploring deeper.
"By the way, Jin-kun, they say you can mine ores here, but you're not interested in that?"
"Well, I could have mined if I wanted to, but I had plans to defeat the Gold Ingot Golem from the start, so I didn't buy mining tools to save on unnecessary expenses."
"I remember you mentioned a shop you wanted to buy from wasn't open yet. Is it still closed?"
"It might be a little while longer, but I don't really need it that much right now. While mining ores could yield gold, hunting monsters in this dungeon could be more profitable. If we had more people, we could divide the tasks."
During the game era, debates about whether ore mining or monster hunting was more efficient took place in various dungeons. The efficiency varied by location, and I knew that in the Rocky Mountain Dungeon, monster hunting was more profitable than mining.
"Also, since our goal for this exploration is to conquer the dungeon, we don't have time to mine ores along the way."
"That's true."
We discovered several mining spots along the way, but we ignored them all and continued our exploration.
Although golems were the primary adversaries, goblins, wolves, and other monsters occasionally appeared. Since I used magic primarily against the golems, I alternated with swordplay while dealing with the others, adding variety to our exploration.
"It's currently the evening of the second day, and we're on the 15th floor. We plan to reach the 20th floor by tonight, but conquering the dungeon seems tough this time."
"Indeed. Dealing with the golems, even if we defeat them quickly, has taken up a significant amount of time."
"Yeah, I didn't expect to encounter monsters so frequently."
While golems didn't appear as frequently in the game, this exploration was quite golem-heavy, including encounters with Gold Ingot Golems and plenty of golem materials. Overall, it wasn't a bad thing for our exploration.
"Well, I knew from the start that conquering the dungeon on this exploration would be challenging. But at least we've seen the results of our training."
"That's true. I realized how much my magic had grown by using it in battle for the first time."
"I also noticed my swordsmanship has improved compared to before, through actual combat."
Reflecting on these points, we continued moving forward without stopping.
Eventually, we reached the 20th floor's safe area a little later than planned and took turns resting.
"Good morning. Chloe, how was your guard duty? Did anything happen?"
The next day, I greeted Chloe, who was outside the building on guard duty.
"Good morning, Jin-kun. Nothing happened at all."
"I see. Well, if nothing happened, that's even better... Breakfast is ready, so eat quickly and let's extend our exploration time a bit."
"Sure thing."
After breakfast, we collected our magical tools and decided to go monster hunting near the 20th floor.
We continued hunting until around midday before returning to the 20th floor's safe area, satisfied with our progress. We then stepped onto a "transference floor" to return to the dungeon entrance.
"Jin-kun, in the previous dungeon, the transference floor was only deep within the boss room. Why are there multiple ones in this dungeon?"
"It's likely due to the difference in dungeon difficulty. The dungeon we explored this time has a higher difficulty than the previous one. That's why there are safe areas on specific floors, right?"
"Yeah, that was also odd. No monsters appeared there at all."
Those areas were said to be provided by the dungeon for our benefit. However, explaining this concept from the gamer's perspective in this world would likely make us seem foolish.
After leaving the dungeon, we called for the waiting coachman and decided to return to the capital city.