Chapter 50


    <strong>Companions (4)</strong>


    Skills are, of course, very important when looking for colleagues.


    But there are virtues that are just as important.


    Reliability, for example.


    In other words, can they be trusted?


    Of course, when things go smoothly, this isn''t much of a problem. You can just band together andugh, <em>hahahoho</em>.


    But what if they dont?


    When the worst happens, can you trust them with your back?


    Maybe it''s not a matter of trust, it''s a matter of nature.''


    This is the part that you cant find out just by re-reading the application letter a few times, or after a few meet-and-greets.


    Human nature is hidden deep within.


    And I fervently hope that we do not ever need to show our true natures to each other.


    Because thatd be for the best of us all.


    "No matter how many times its been, I just can''t get used to the stink of this ce! Ha ha ha! Hey, Dwalky, you alright over there?"


    " Please don''t talk to me ugh  hurk!"


    I turn my gaze away from the nauseous form of Dwalky, and nce around for a moment.


    The ce where I currently am is on the second floor, essible through the portal in the eastern area of the first floor, the habitat of the de wolves.


    The Lair of Beasts.


    As can be inferred from the name, its a ce where mainly beast-type monsters appear.


    And that''s why it stinks so badly.


    That too, a very dense smell.


    "Rotmiller, are you alright? I heard you have an olfactory essence?"


    "Thank you for your concern, but Im fine. This isnt my first or second timeing here."


    "Right."


    Is this the true form of somebody in his eighth year?


    Just looking at this uncle somehow gives me peace of mind.


    Ill have to nose in a bit more to understand him better.


    "By the way, when will our wizarde to his senses? I need to go make some money "


    Misha Karlstein.


    She shows no empathy for the suffering of her colleagues, and only cares about her own interests.


    While Im about to add this sentence to her character evaluation in my head, I freeze.


    Am I not the same?


    "Dwalky, calm down. How much of our time are you going to waste?"


    "Right, right. If you cant even handle something like this, you''re no adventurer. Wizard! Grow up!"


    As soon as I say a word, Misha, whos next to me, immediately jumps on the bandwagon with a high-pitched tone.


    But Dwalky shows a rather unexpected reaction.


    "Thats right. Now I must act like an adult."


    Uh, is that how hes taking it?


    To be honest, I thought he''d make some stupid excuse. Or maybe even get angry.


    "Lets go."


    "Hah, but are you okay?"


    "Of course, its tough. But even though its my first time, even though Im a wizard how pathetic would it be if I became a burden to my teammates?"


    "I, uh, I didnt say you were a b-burden"


    While Misha is embarrassed by the unexpected apology


    Dwalky, getting up from the ground with a pale face, mutters sadly.


    "I cant besmirch the honour of Baron Martoin."


    " Hey! You''re pretending to be a noble again!! I won''t be scammed anymore!"


    "Ha ha ha! Let''s go. Im really okay, now!"


    Seeing him so cheerful as if its all been a lie just now, Misha bursts into anger as if shed been cheated once again. And finally, we slowly start moving.


    "From here on, everyone, please follow my steps. Although it looks t, the terrain is filled with pits."


    "Pits? Im looking, but I can''t see any"


    "Theyre usually filled in with trash, so its hard to tell them apart. So you could easily fall into one If you dont take care where you step."


    " Rotmiller, I will trust only you."


    The Beasts Lair is a canyon terrain.


    The narrow path is lined with high cliffs on both sides, and any adventurer passing by must find their way by wandering through the cliffs tangled like a maze.


    There are no traps, but the role of the scout is more important than in the Goblin Forest.''


    For reference, the monsters that appear are de wolves, wall mole rats, sabre tigers, werewolves, and vulkars, and most of them live in the caves on the cliffsides.


    Itsmon for adventurers whore here mainly to hunt, to enter a cave and fight a group of monsters.


    But our purpose is to go to the third floor, so we pass on it.


    You have defeated a giant de wolf. EXP+1


    You have defeated a sabre tiger. EXP +2


    You have defeated a werewolf. EXP +2


    You have defeated a wall mole rat. EXP +1


    As we move quickly while hunting only the monsters roaming outside the caves, the timees to take a break.


    Three hours left before the start of the second day.


    [20:58].


    Although the entire day has been invested in travelling


    Without Rotmiller as the scout, it wouldve taken twice as long to get here.


    "The entrance must be narrow, so thiss be a good ce to camp."


    We clean up the den of a wall mole, and start preparing our camp.


    The dwarf, Rotmiller, and Misha.


    We have three adventurers with years of experience, so the preparations take barely an eyeblink.


    Even the wizard, whos had no presence so far other than creating drinking water, shines at this time.


    "Since theres rm magic, one person on watch should be sufficient."


    "Why do we need somebody on watch?"


    "Dwalky, it''s not because I don''t trust you, so get any strange ideas. As you know, monsters arent the only ones to be wary of in thebyrinth."


    To be a proper adventurer, you need to be on the lookout for other adventurers, whore the same as you, more than monsters.


    "The first watch goes to Rotmiller, whos worked the hardest today, and well take turns from then on in this order"


    "Wait, I dont have to stand watch?"


    "Leave this to us, and rest."


    The wizard is excluded from the night watch roster.


    Not because were particrly concerned about his weak stamina, but because this is the custom.


    Adventurers are big fans of grant honours ording to ones merits[1], and the rm magic is enough topensate for a watch shift.


    Well, actually, the custom came about naturally from trying to please the wizards.''


    Anyway, its unbelievablyfortable to have stand on night watch only for two hours.


    Sleeping six hours a day?


    Compared to when Id been in a two-person team, its almost like heaven.


    Of course, the downside is that the number of people to share the loot has increased, but its a more than fair trade-off because we can now hunt more and stronger monsters.


    "I, the great wizard, Reol"


    "Stop mumbling and wake up, wizard!"


    " Slurp, is it morning already?"


    "I don''t know if it''s morning, but I''m sure it''s time to wake up."


    Day 2, 5 am.


    The first night that Ive been so worried about, passed by without a hitch.


    The rm magic detected monsters four times, and a group of adventurers approached the campsite when it was the dwarf''s turn, so all of us had to wake up together


    That was all just par for the course.


    "Dwalky mustve adapted too by now, so Ill speed up a bit from now on."


    "Hmm, but theres no need to be in such a hurry, is there?"


    "Itd be convenient for camping if we arrive on the third floor as early as possible."


    From the second day onwards, we reduce the chatter as much as possible and focus only on travelling. Of course, monsters block our way every few minutes, but


    Its a wee sight.


    You have defeated a half-moon rock bear. EXP+1


    You have defeated a wall mole queen. EXP+1


    You have defeated a blood de Wolf. EXP+1


    I suppose Ive hunted all the ninth ranked monsters in the Beasts Lair?


    Because this is my first sojourn here, the experience points are piling up fairly quickly. Of course, I dont have some kind of HUD with an exp bar.


    If I count the monsters I''ve hunted so far


    Only forty.


    If I do get the proper bonuses for killing a high variant guardian, its forty-four.


    Theres still a long way to go before I can reach level four.''


    As the level goes up, the required experience increases explosively.


    For level two its six, for level three, thirty, and for level four, a hundred and fifty.


    Of course, its not a continuous geometric progression by a factor of five, but its safe to say that the level of difficulty is even higher than that.


    If the monster goes up by one rank, the count increases by +1, but even with that, once youve run out of monsters you can reasonably hunt, its no longer a matter of supply and demand.


    Tch, it''s not like I''m in a hurry to level up right now.''


    Im level three right now.


    Meaning I can absorb up to three essences.


    In other words, I still have an essence slot left.


    Of course, Im not expecting another essence toe out before I hit level four.


    [Dungeon and Stone] isnt as kind a game as that.


    Why did I have to y a game like this


    Such regrets well up in my heart, but what can I do?


    The me of that time, whod felt the more joy the more difficult the journey, had been a top-notch pervert.


    "Well now slow down. From here on out, only higher species will appear, and the number would also increase dramatically."


    As we trail after Rotmiller for about half a day


    The terrain, or to be precise, the colour of the cliffs, starts changing.


    From reddish brown to ck.


    Is this the end of the second part?''


    No rank nine monsters appear anymore.


    Still, no one, including me, is too nervous.


    "Even if its a higher species, on the second floor, that just means rank eight!"


    Our team is rank seven on average.


    And we have people whove been active on the third floor for a certain amount of time.


    Well, I myself am a rookie


    But Im an exception because I''ve seen it all in the game.


    "By the way, did Bjorn say he hasnt been to the third floor yet?"


    "Yes, so?"


    Thinking she might be trying to start up an argument, I answer in a stern tone, but Misha sounds genuinely admiring.


    "Great. It took me a year just to get to the third floor!"


    Well, that just makes me ufortable.


    " I just got lucky."


    It''s not a topic I''d like to talk about at length, so I try stalling, but then the dwarf also joins the conversation.


    "One year to the third floor? So how long did it take you to get to the fourth floor?"


    "Um, two years? I think it took about that long."


    "Ah, just like me."


    "Yieesh! Im suddenly feeling a little embarrassed! Even though Im your senior, team leader, youre already sixth rank!"


    "But instead, you were born into a good family, Miss Karlstein!"


    "Yieesh! I told you, dont bring up my family!"


    As the conversation lengthens and theres a sign of another quarrel starting up, Rotmiller, whod been looking for the way forward, intervenes.


    "Both of you, stop."


    His voice, his tone, and his expression are the same asst time.


    But why do I feel hes more annoyed thanst time?


    Hey, hes working hard on his own, so its too much to have to calm people down whorezing around in the back, is that it?''


    But I dont pay much thought to it.


    You have entered the Pilgrims'' Path on the third floor.


    It was a little past noon on the second day.


    ording to Rotmillers wless guidance, we entered the third floor.


    It was a bit disappointing that I couldn''t hunt a few more reasonable rank eight monsters in the Beasts Lair


    Because not all of them appeared regrly on the second floor.


    I''ll get another crack them someday.''


    Shaking off my remaining regrets, I focused on our current situation.


    "Rotmiller! Get out of the way!"


    The ce where I was now, was on the third floor, the Pilgrims Path''.


    It was along the route from the Beasts Lair to the Steel Rock Hill''.


    And upon arrival, we encountered two seventh ranked monsters.


    "Dwalky! Use corrosion magic!"


    Entity name: irontro''.


    You could easily visualize them as wild boars with steel tusks.


    Only, they about five times the size of a wild boar from Mount Jirisan in Korea.


    Reol Webb Dwalky has cast the eighth grade curse magic, [Corrosion].


    While Rotmiller, who entered the portal first, retreated to avoid the monsters


    Dwalky immediately cast a spell.


    And in tandem, the dwarf and I dashed forward to block one each with our shields.


    <em>ng!</em>


    A heavy shock hit me from the front.


    If it were the old shield, it wouldve gotten crushed the moment it met the charge.


    Like the dwarf''s shield was, over there.


    Hikurod Murad has cast [Emergency Restoration].


    "Bjorn? Whyre you suddenly looking at me like that?"


    "No, Im just not being jealous."


    I really wasnt.


    If you use a hard shield in the first ce, you don''t have to fix it every time, right?


    "Whats that, all of a sudden? Anyway, Bjorn! Don''t even think about pushing them away, just dont get pushed back!"


    "You dont have to spell it out loud, I already know!"


    Irontro''s active skill is Counterweight''.


    It has the effect of knockback immunity.


    It was also the same essence that the dwarf had.


    Hikurod Murad has cast [Counterweight].


    Did he even have a conscience?


    A crazy wild boar with that kind of a skill was charging straight at me, and this dwarf bastard was nagging me about not getting pushed back?


    The anger inherent in the barbarian body surged up once again.


    Was that why?


    "Behel-raaaaa!"


    Instead of waiting for the rest of the teammates to attack, I swung my mace and smacked the irontro on the jaws.


    <em>Cra-ack!</em>


    At that moment when the steel mrs that had already been [corroded] were shattered without resisting


    "Essence, here Ie!"


    Without my permission, Misha stepped on my back and leapt high, stabbing a dagger deep into the irontros head.


    You have defeated an irontro. EXP+3


    One down.


    I thought of dealing with the other one as well, but stopped and watched for a while.


    Dwalky was casting magic.


    One of the few offensive spells he had.


    Reol Webb Dwalky has cast the eighth-grade attack magic [Ice Lance].


    A skewer of ice flew and pierced into the irontro''s stomach.


    If hed aimed at the head or the heart, it wouldve been a one hit kill, but


    Id have to give him some detailed feedbackter.


    <em>Whoosh!</em>


    The battle ended with Rotmiller approaching the copsed Aiantro, and firing a bolt into its forehead from the crossbow in his hands.


    Of course, no essence dropped.


    Well, that wasnt what was important right now.


    There was a monster right in front of the portal''


    Some bastards might be lurking nearby.


    Editor''s Notes:


    [1]  (lit. awarding paddy fields), investigate and rank ones merits, small andrge, and reward ordingly.


    We''re changing to using capitalized forms for skill names. Previous chapters would be retroactively updated in due time.