I was sitting beside Lyra, watching her make similar bombs that the Evilus were using during the great conflict.
"You sure they won't blast on our faces…" I asked as her hands skillfully created a bomb.
"Who do you think I am? Both of you had better watch carefully and learn, it might come in handy later."
"You are a person of many talents, aren't you? Thanks to you, we learn how to win a game of poker."
"Of course, as I always say—" "Learn everything and use everything, turn your wisdom into a weapon." Ryuu completed Lyra's words, observing Lyra's hands putting together the last bomb.
"Exactly, and the first batch is complete!" Lyra threw her arm up, stretching her body. "Now, we just need to test them." Lyra looked at the only people present in the room, that is, me and Ryuu; the rest of the girls had gone out already. "And I have the perfect people for the job."
She handed us a bag filled with newly crafted bombs and looked up. "Now, go and test them out for me. Lord Astralis, Lady Gale." Her voice dripping with slight sarcasm as she teased us.
"Why don't you go yourself, Lyra?" Ryuu asked the same question I had in mind.
"Well, you see, I am meeting up with Finn later for some serious steamy adult talk and stuff." She stated her reason.
"You sure talking about finances, a steamy talk? Anyway, Ryuu, wanna go to the dungeon?" I asked Ryuu, who seemed to have thought the same, ignoring Lyra's words completely, and nodded her head gently.
"Yes, it's been a while since we went to the dungeon alone."
"Oh? Is our little Lion missing her alone time with Arin?" Lyra teasing worked, making Ryuu turn red slightly, her glare settling on her, "Lyra! It's nothing like that!"
"Really, are you sure?" Lyra dug at Ryuu again, clearly enjoying her reaction, maybe trying to compensate for Kaguya, who was not present at the moment.
"Yes, I am sure! Now, Airn-san, let's go!"
"Wow! Ryuu, you don't have to push me, I will walk!" But my words fell on deaf ears as Ryuu kept pushing me, maybe in an attempt to dissuade her embarrassment.
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Our way down the dungeon was pretty easy; our target was the 19th floor. It was spacious enough for us to test out the bombs without fearing getting caught in the resulting explosion.
"This is the nineteenth floor, also known as the Large Tree Labyrinth." Ryuu started explaining as we walked further in. And I observed that the floor, walls, ground, and the ceiling are made out of wood, making it seem like the inside of a giant tree. Instead of phosphorescent light, radiating moss grows across the floor and gives off blue light.
Seeing me staring in wonder, Ryuu further explained, "The floors from 19th to 24th contain a large amount of unexplored areas and a large variety of insect-type monsters. The plant diversity on these floors often provides ingredients used to make healing items, which results in many resource-gathering quests being issued for this area. The 24th Floor is at least half the size of Orario, and there are rare trees that produce valuable gems, which Green Dragons guard, the strongest monsters on the floor."
"Green dragons, huh?" I spoke, recalling the information Eina had told me. A dragon that protects a treasure tree. It has the potential equivalent to a Level 4 adventurer and is the strongest monster in the Large Tree Labyrinth. Though that monster rarely appears on this floor. But is more common on the 24th floor.
"Yes, although they are strong, I do not think we would have any trouble dealing with them," Ryuu said in an assuring tone.
"You are right." With Ryuu being level 5 and me a pseudo level 6, we won't have any problem with any monster on this level. "Then let's look for some good targets for these bombs on," I suggested.
"Yes, let's do that, Arin-san." And so we started finding some strong monsters to test these bombs on.
"BUUUHYYYAAA!!" And it looks like we didn't have to wait long, as A giant boar roared and charged at us. Ryuu and I quickly sidestepped, easily avoiding the charge, which would have been a difficult thing to do for a level 2 adventurer.
"Ryuu!" I signal her with a shout, "I got it!" Came her reply as she threw a round, yellow-ish ball at the monster. The boar turned around to find a ball flying straight at its place. The boar tried to move, but I used my wind magic to put pressure on the monster and keep it in one place.
BOOOOMMMM!
A loud explosion resounded, and a big blast of fire engulfed the whole body of the monster. With no way to escape, the boar could only struggle helplessly, and after a short while, the dust and the explosion settled down.
We could only see ash left behind by the Boar monster, with no sign of life.
"This is stronger than what I expected," I spoke quietly, which Ryuu's sensitive ears caught.
"Yes, I was only expecting it to damage the monster somewhat and not completely kill it."
Ryuu and I kept looking at the place where the explosion had happened, and just when we were thinking of moving on ot our next target—" Help!!!" A desperate scream interrupted the atmosphere. Ryuu and I looked at each other and sprinted towards the place the sound had originated.
Shortly after we started sprinting towards the place, we saw a group of 4 people running towards us. They were all hurt pretty badly, bleeding from all over their bodies. Their clothes and gear were in a tattered state, a horrifying expression donning on their faces.
"This way!" Ryuu called out, and all four of them stopped near us, but before we could treat their wounds, the male adventurer in front grabbed my collar, his eyes bloodshot, his voice hoarse and craking as he spoke.
"We need to get out of here!" he yelled, "There is a troll on this floor!"
"What?! Why would it be here?!"
"GUUUUOOO!!!" Instead of getting an answer from the injured adventurers, we get the living proof of the monster they spoke about.
Yes, A troll, which usually exists in the lower levels, but was standing in front of our very eyes. Its massive hulking frame, casting a shadow on the dungeon floor, its body was bloodied red; it was hard to tell whose blood it was, his own or the adventurers it must have killed.
It was not just a normal troll but a mutated one.
I quickly threw some high-health potions towards the injured adventurers. And position myself between them and the troll.
"You need to get out of here, tell anyone you encounter on your way to evacuate as well!" I commanded, Ryuu and I decided to hold off the troll until they escaped.
"W-we understand!" the hald dwarf woman in the group spoke, and before they started running away.
The monster, seeing its prey trying to escape, lunged forward with surprising speed for something so massive. Its enormous hand stretched out like a grotesque claw, reaching for the fleeing adventurers with deadly intent. I moved instantly, intercepting the creature's path and bringing my blade down in a clean arc that severed its arm at the wrist.
I expected the troll to stumble back, buying us time while it regenerated—the standard behavior for these monsters. But what happened next surprised me.
Before the severed hand could even hit the dungeon floor, I watched as flesh and bone began reforming at the stump. Not the usual slow regeneration I'd read or heard about from Eina, but an instantaneous reconstruction that defied everything I knew about troll biology. Within seconds, the creature had a fully functional hand again. My surprise made me freeze for a moment, which was enough time for the monster to get its initial target.
"I won't let you!" As I was about to conjure flames to block the attack, Ryuu intervened, her sword deflecting the troll attack. I also conjured wind before Ryuu and pushed the monster back as much as possible. The troll was indeed pushed back, but it didn't fall, nor were there any scratches on its skin from the intense winds, or if there were, then they were already healed.
But fortunately, that bought enough time for the injured adventurers to run away. Now it was just Ryuu and me.