"Terra, create a barrier. Don't block them directly. Rather, slant it in so that they are forced to fight one at a time."
"Yes!"
"Celeste, can you work up a wind current? Throw dust in their direction. It'd best if their visibility is broken."
"Creating wind!"
"Mikki, rather than trying to damage their spirit, just give them a feeling of hopelessness or something like that."
"Yes, Master!"
"Terra, hold them off, but allow one at a time for Lydia to cut down. If you get a cut, let me know, I'll heal you immediately."
"Yes!"
Using the map, I put us in a corner. Perhaps this would be a dangerous situation for other people, but with the ability to cast a Portal or use Return, this was fine for me. I had always read about those armies against a small group in a fort thing, so I understood that numbers were basically useless in a dungeon. After using barrier myself to survive impossible fights, I naturally would take advantage of Terra's powerful earth ability. We could literally shape the dungeon to our advantage.
Well, that was only because this dungeon looked like a dungeon. Some dungeons supposedly looked like forests with open skies. The same technique wouldn't work in one of those. The walls were brick and it had a dank moldiness to it. There was also a heavy theme on bars and chains. I didn't know what the kiosk room would look like, but I heard it looks like a torture room. I didn't bother with it because we had the portal ability. As for the murals, those were all drawn already in books. I was a little curious as to why this dungeon existed, but long-winded history books already had long discussed the nature of this dungeon and why it exists.
As for the kiosk room, I heard that in the great labyrinths, they charge people to use them. Truly, this is a place that tries to nickel and dime you. Since getting to the bottom of solving the curse lore proved impossible, that's why the dungeon exists in its current state. I wasn't so pompous as to believe I could solve what thousands before me couldn't. This was just a casual visit anyone hoping to earn some levels. Perhaps I would buy one of the books so I didn't have to pay a fee just to get into the kiosk rooms.
"Master, I'm injured!" Terra said.
After I scolded her for getting hurt on purpose or bugging me about trivial cuts while in combat, I knew that she'd only cry out if she was genuinely wounded. I didn't hesitate to provide her with proper healing.
"Miki, I'm going to switch you to Basic Magician so you can gain some levels."
"Okay!"
Miki had done her spiritual attacks, so there was no point in keeping her with that job. I was too worried about being overwhelmed so I only changed one person's job at a time, allowed the death of a few dozen monsters, and then switch to someone else. When the last monster fell, we had defeated nearly 100.
"Isolate the air, I don't want to attract any more monsters," I ordered Celeste, who nodded and immediately cast one of her skills.
Slave Master had gone up two levels. Slave Master was now 12. I ended up with Locate Slave and Increase Slave Experience. The girls already had increase slave experience as part of a curse. I wonder if this will be cumulative. As for Locate Slave, I had been waiting for this one for a while, so I was glad that I had it now.
As for the girls, Lydia's Scout ended up at 11. Miki's Basic Magician ended up at 10. Celeste's Master Wind Magician went up to 5. It was clear that Master Wind Magician leveled much-much slower than Basic Magician. Well, it was the difference between a final tier job and a starting tier job. As for Terra, her Earth Manipulator job only went up a single level. I really needed to get her some more jobs. It should be noted I left Faeyna in the party just to see, but she ended up getting none of the experience.
"Let's do the same on the next floor."