Chapter 85: Encountering Bloody Hive!
[Daily Mission: Reach the 22nd Floor of the Dungeon!]
[Completion Progress: 22/22]
[Mission Reward: 20 Diamonds]
The mission was completed, and the 20 diamonds were credited to his balance, bringing a radiant smile to Ethan's face.
For someone addicted to gacha games, drawing cards is irresistible, not to mention that Ethan had recently drawn a double jackpot in a ten-consecutive-draw.
If he hadn't run out of diamonds, he surely wouldn't have been able to resist drawing more cards.
'Buzz, buzz, buzz——'
However, just as he was basking in his joy, a buzzing sound came from all around him.
Following the direction of the sound, Ethan saw a swarm of 'wasps'.
But his gaze passed over these wasp-like monsters, eventually settling on the 'creature' behind them on the branches of a tree.
[Bloody Hive]
This is one of the more troublesome monsters inside the 'Large Tree Labyrinth', mainly because it is not an ordinary monster, but a 'special cluster of swarm-type monsters'.
This monster is not a single individual, but a 'hive'.
As long as the hive remains intact, it will continuously hatch a type of bee/wasp monster called 'Deadly Hornets'.
Especially since these Deadly Hornets hatch very quickly; one might have just finished off a batch only for a new one to be ready.
However, the Bloody Hive, while troublesome, also counts as a kind of 'special event'.
The main body of the Bloody Hive looks like a pine cone and hangs between the branches of trees, quite high off the ground.
Once someone approaches it, these 'wasps' will rapidly spray a highly sticky liquid around them, restricting the opponent's movements.
If the opponent is unlucky enough to get caught, these 'wasp-like' monsters will immediately swarm to attack, much like ordinary wasps from the outside world, besieging the opponent.
As the saying goes, 'even ants can bite an elephant to death'; even adventurers at levels 3 and 4 could fall victim if they're not careful.
In Orario, most adventurers choose to use magic to clear these swarms of Deadly Hornets.
Just a single wide-range magic can sweep these troublesome monsters away.
After all, although 'Deadly Hornets' are dangerous, an individual Deadly Hornet is not strong, especially under the assault of magic, which makes them even more vulnerable.
'Buzz, buzz, buzz——'
At this moment, because Ethan broke into their territory, these Deadly Hornets surged towards the boy as if they had received a command to attack.
"Gem Magic·Flame——"
'Boom——'
Ethan used another gem, and flames erupted instantly, burning all the Deadly Hornets to death.
"Projection Begin——"
'Swoosh——'
In his hands, a spear slowly formed.
Then, Ethan didn't use it directly but made a 'throwing' gesture.
The next second, he hurled it forward.
Powered by his strength, the spear was launched effortlessly, and then...
"Broken Phantasm!"
'BOOM——'
A violent explosion occurred, engulfing the Bloody Hive on the branch in the blast.
The Bloody Hive that troubled countless adventurers was effortlessly dealt with.
The entire process only cost Ethan a gem filled with his magic power and a bit of magic energy to project the spear.
Haruhime, standing by his side, had grown accustomed to such a scene.
She had been surprised several times before.
But, as she saw more and more, she got used to it.
Using 'gems' to cast magic, being able to conjure weapons out of thin air, she hadn't heard of any of these magics, but Ethan had them all.
"It's settled, Haruhime. Let's go back."
"Huh? Are we going back already, Ethan-sama?"
Haruhime, a bit slow to react, spoke up.
They had just reached the 22nd floor, hardly done anything but clear a few waves of monsters, and they were going back already?
"We have gained a lot today, and reaching this point just counts as a new milestone."
"Oh~"
Haruhime hadn't ventured into the dungeon much herself.
She only knew it was right to follow Ethan, not giving it much thought.
As for Ethan, the reason why he went through so much trouble to come here was to complete the mission.
Now that the mission was complete, there was no need to stay here any longer.
The most important thing now was to make money.
Once he had enough money, he could start the second step of his plan: under the guise of 'research', begin collecting magic stones in large quantities.
The amount of magic stones collected from venturing into the dungeon on his own was too small.
If he could reasonably buy them with money, that would be a lot better.
However, since the guild has always monopolized magic stones, Ethan needed a legitimate excuse for large-scale purchases.
Otherwise, it might cause some unnecessary trouble.
This is also the reason why Ethan wants to open up the business of 'Space Rings'.
"Ethan, it really is you!"
Just as Ethan and Haruhime were about to leave, a voice of surprise sounded from behind, and Ethan looked towards the direction of the voice.
Not far away, several figures were approaching him.
Ethan recognized the speaker: Tiona, an executive of Loki Familia, also known as 'Crusher' and a genuine Lv5 adventurer.
They had previously met during his training sessions with Finn, and given Tiona's lively personality, the two had become acquainted.
"Tiona-san, long time no see~"
Because he had been focused on the research of 'space ring' recently, he hadn't visited Loki Familia for the past few days.
"I thought I was mistaken at first, but it really is you, Ethan. Weren't you Lv1? How did you manage to reach the 22nd floor?"
"Well, I'm already Lv2 now, Tiona-san."
"Lv2? Really? Didn't you just arrive in Orario? How come you are Lv2 already?"
"Maybe I'm just lucky~"
"It took me almost two years to upgrade to Lv2 when I first became an adventurer."
As they talked, the other three people also came over.
One of them, resembling Tiona by about eighty percent and also an amazoness but with a much better figure than Tiona, was Tione, Tiona's sister.
She was also a Level 5 adventurer with the title 'Jormungand'.
Another was a blonde-haired elf holding a delicate staff, a Level 3 adventurer known as 'Thousand Elf'.
And the last one, whom Ethan was familiar with, was Ais Wallenstein, the princess of Loki Familia.
She was a Level 5 adventurer with the alias 'Sword Princess' and the holder of Orario's previous record of 'fastest to upgrade to Level 2', now broken by him.
"Tiona, this is~"
"Ah, Tione, how could you forget him? This is Ethan Starfall, from Freya Familia. He has received training and guidance from our captain before."
"Guidance from our captain?"
"Yes."
Tione looked slightly surprised and then remembered his face. Before, she didn't expect him to be on the 22nd floor, so she failed to recognize him.
After all, while the relationship between Freya Familia and Loki Familia was okay for now, they hadn't reached the stage of mutual guidance, let alone receiving teaching from their captain—a privilege that even within Loki Familia, few had experienced.
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