Chapter 115 - Ais: Craving Snacks!
In the end, Luke and Ais were unable to find the rare species' dropped item.
Maybe it was really bad luck because, during their search, they didn't find any remnants of destroyed dropped items.
"Alright, we can't waste any more time. We need to get to the shelter on the 24th floor before nightfall."
Having not found it for so long, Luke was pretty sure that the Bloody Hive didn't drop any material. Feeling that enough time had passed, he called Ais to prepare to leave.
The final verdict was that no item/material was dropped, which relieved Ais, though she felt somewhat disappointed for not gaining any profit, but she was no longer blaming herself.
"Okay, let's go."
After adjusting her clothing, Ais followed Luke towards the shelter.
As they passed through the area littered with magic stones from the Deadly Hornets, not only Luke but also Ais sighed.
Such a fortune just lying there, who knows which group of adventurers would benefit from it next – the thought alone made them feel sorry.
Although they weren't particularly focused on money, it didn't mean they liked to waste it.
Every time they encountered such a situation, Luke and Ais would consider the idea of bringing a supporter.
But that was just a thought. They couldn't even find a new teammate, let alone a supporter.
Scattered on the ground were not only magic stones and dropped items but also parts of monster corpses.
When Luke first entered the dungeon, he was puzzled by the fact that monsters turned to black smoke and dissipated after death.
It wasn't that monsters turned into black smoke upon death; rather, it was Luke himself who caused it.
Normally, monsters would leave behind corpses. There are only two scenarios in which a monster's body dissipates.
One is when the magic stone inside the body or its corpse is shattered or extracted, causing the monster's body to turn into black smoke and disappear.
The other scenario occurs frequently with Luke and Ais.
Excessive damage, also known as 'overkill'.
This phenomenon generally occurs when high-level adventurers attack lower-level monsters.
Simply put, it's when a monster receives damage in an amount equal to or even exceeding the level of its magic stone in one go, causing it to dissipate just like when a magic stone is destroyed.
...
Following the official route of the 24th floor, Luke and Ais, near a fork in the way, found their destination, the shelter marked on the guild-provided map.
Using Ser-Veresta to slice through a huge tree in front revealed a very spacious hollow space.
This hollow space is one of the shelters recommended by the guild on the 24th floor.
The area of the hollow space was comparable to a large hall.
Around it, one could see some small white flowers and leaves, along with a sprinkling of herbs.
Three meters above, the dome-shaped wooden structure was covered in 'light moss' emitting a blue-green light.
"Let's drink some water and rest a bit first. You must have used quite a bit of magic reserve and stamina by using the third stage of 'Ariel'."
"Let's have dinner after I finish setting up this place."
Entering the hollow space inside the tree, Luke handed his backpack to Ais, asking her to sit aside and rest.
Shelters exist on every floor as a relatively safe place to rest and recover.
Each dungeon floor has a very large area, and the further one goes down, the larger it becomes.
With such vast areas, naturally, the density and refresh rate of monsters vary accordingly.
Shelters are placed in areas with low monster density and refresh rate, akin to a mini-safe zone; thus, they are also called rest areas.
However, the safety of this place is not absolute, as there is always a small chance that monsters will spawn nearby.
So, Luke still prioritized destroying the terrain a bit to ensure that no monsters would respawn nearby for a certain time.
Then he would check for any wandering or hidden monsters nearby.
After completing these tasks, he and Ais could relatively relax and spend the night here.
Luke had done these tasks before, so he quickly finished them and returned to their resting area.
Ais was resting near the entrance of the hollow space and handed him a water bottle when she saw his arrival.
"Luke, have some water."
"Oh, thank you."
Taking the water bottle, Luke sat down next to Ais.
He took his backpack back from Ais's arms and asked, "How did it feel to use your magic today?"
Ais gently shook her head upon hearing Luke's question.
"Same as usual, the third stage of Ariel can't be fully controlled."
The third stage of the magic 'Ariel,' was developed by Ais after she became Lv4.
Although it was powerful, she couldn't master it well.
A lot of magic and mental energy was wasted in the process, causing the power of the third stage to decrease.
Today, at the last moment of killing the Bloody Hive, the bursting storm was proof of Ais's inability to master this magic perfectly.
Recalling the scene of Ais using Ariel before, Luke was about to speak when he saw her sneaky behavior.
She was tearing open a biscuit pack she had sneaked out of the backpack while Luke was away, planning to put it in her mouth.
Slap!
Luke slapped Ais's hand irritably and took the pack of biscuits back.
"You're not allowed to eat snacks before dinner; Riveria specifically told me so."
"Uh…"
Having the biscuit taken away made Ais very unhappy.
She touched her hand that was slapped away and puffed her cheeks out in anger.
"Luke, you're bullying me, you bad person."
Facing the 'fierce' glare of the kuudere girl, Luke was not shaken and re-packed the torn biscuit back into the backpack.
"The bad person here is Riveria; she specifically reminded me to let you have proper meals even in the dungeon."
"If you want snacks, wait until after dinner. You can have them after the meal."
"But, but, I won't be able to eat them after dinner."
Pat!
This time Luke gently patted Ais's head.
"Then if you eat snacks now, you won't be able to have dinner, right!"
"Uh…"
Ais, holding her patted head, felt somewhat unconvinced.
"I can still eat dinner after having snacks!"
Seeing the stubborn look on Ais's face, Luke couldn't help but sigh.
"Since you said you can still eat, then I'll believe you for once."
Luke's words brightened Ais's eyes, and she eagerly extended her hand.
"So does that mean I can have…"
Slap!
"Since you can eat both, you should have your dinner first; the quantity is the same anyway, so let's follow Riveria's advice and eat dinner first!"
"Eh?!?!"
Ais pulled her hand back again, feeling from heaven to hell, and reluctantly looked at Luke's backpack behind him.
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