To rescue your teams, having the right skills was crucial. However, other qualities were just as important, such as trust. In other words, were they reliable? Of course, when things were going well, this wasn't exactly an issue. In that case, everyone could laugh, smile, and be happy. But what about when things weren't going so well? Whether you could trust your teams to have your back in the worst possible scenario was a whole other question.
It may not even have been about trust, but about his true character.
You couldn't know those kinds of things about someone no matter how many times you read their application or talked to them. A person's true nature was hidden deep within. I hoped we would never have to reveal ourselves to others. It would be best for everyone.
"No matter how many times I come here, I can't get used to the smell! Hahaha!" I laid. "Dwalkie, are you okay?"
"Please, don't talk to me!"
Stepping away from the nauseating Dwalkie, I quickly scanned my surroundings. I was in a section of the second floor inhabited by leaf wolves, accessible only through the eastern portal on the first floor: the Beast's Lair. As the name suggested, it was populated mainly by beast-type monsters, and that was probably why it smiled so bad. Really bad.
"Rotmiller, are you alright? I've heard you have an olfactory essence."
"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine. It's not my first time here."
"I see." Was this the leisure time of an eight-year-old explorer? This man gave me peace of mind just by looking at him. Although I had to keep a closer eye on this one.
"By the way, when is our magician coming to your Sensor? I need to go make some money..." Missha showed no empathy for her partner's suffering and was only concerned with her own interests. I was about to add another line of comment to the character evaluation tab open in my head when I paused.
Hmm, did I the same?
"Dwalkie, wake up. How much longer are you going to waste?" I snapped.
"Okay, okay. If you feel bad about something as trivial as this, you can't be an explorerrr. Wizard! Grow up!" When I fired off a word, Missha immediately nodded in a mocking tone.
However, after hearing this, Dwalkie only showed an unexpected reaction. "You're right. Now I must be an adult."
Was it always like this? To be honest, I thought she'd either make up some ridiculous excuse or get angry in return.
Dwalkie continued: "Let's go."
"But are you okay?"
"It's definitely not easy. But how pathetic is it to become a burden to my team just because it's my first time here and I'm a magician?"
«I didn't say you were a burden...» Missha was startled by the unexpected apology.
Dwalkie stood up, looking much more haggard than before, and murmured with a determined look: «I cannot bring dishonor to the name of Baron Martoin.»
«... Eeek! Are you pretending to be a noble again?! I'm never going to fall for that Maaas!»
«Hahaha! Let's hurry. I'm really fine now!»
Seeing him now happy, as if he had always been like this, Missha became angry, realizing that she had fallen for his joke again. With that, we began to move forward slowly.
Brown announced: «From here on, everyone follow me, please. Although it seems flat, it is a terrain with many wells».
Hikurod looked around. «Holes? I don't see any...».
«They are usually full of filth, so it will be difficult to distinguish them. If you walk without looking, it's easy to fall inside».
«...Rotmiller, we trust you.»
The Lair of Beasts had a canyon-shaped terrain with narrow paths and high cliffs on either side. Explorers crossing this map had to wander between the labyrinthine cliffs to find their way.
Although there are no traps, having a scout is even more important on this floor.
For reference, the monsters that appeared here were blade wolves, wall mole rats, saber tigers, werewolves, and vulkars, and most of them lived in caves in the cliffs. It was common for explorers whose main objective was hunting to enter a cave and sweep the monsters. However, our goal was to reach the third floor, so I passed.
[You have killed a Giant Leaf Wolf. EXP +1]
[You have killed a Saber Tiger. EXP +2]
[You have killed a Werewolf. EXP +2]
[You have killed a Mole Rat. EXP +1]
Moving quickly, we killed the monsters that hung outside the caves along the way and soon it was time for rest. There were three hours left until the start of the second day [20:58] We had spent the entire day moving around the map, but it would have taken us twice as long to get here without Brown, the explorer.
«The entrance is narrow. This would be a good place to camp», Brown agreed.
We cleared a mole rat's burrow and began preparing it as a base for our camp. Hikurod, Brown and Missha were explorers with years of experience, so camp preparations were instant. Even Dwalkie, who until now had made no contribution other than creating clean water, shone with his own light for them.
«Since we have alarm magic, one person should be enough for night duty», Brown said.
«Why do we need a night guard?».
«Dwalkie, it's not because I don't trust you, so don't be offended. As you know, you don't just have to be careful with the monsters in the maze». To become a real explorer, you needed to keep an eye out for your fellow explorers.
Hikurod offered: «Brown can do the first guard, since he is the one who has worked the most today, and then we can take turns».
«Wait, do I have to stand guard?» Dwalkie asked.
«Leave these things to us. Get some rest», Hikurod assured him.
The magician was excluded from the night guard. It wasn't exactly out of consideration for his weak resistance, but because that was the custom. Scouts awarded rewards based on merit and alarm magic was counted as a person's share.
Well, to tell the truth, this custom probably arose from having to adjust to the needs of a magician.
Anyway, having one person on call every two hours made the night incredibly comfortable. To think that I would sleep six hours... Compared to working as a duo, it was like paradise on earth. Of course, he had the disadvantage of having to share the same amount of rewards, but that was offset by hunting more and stronger monsters.
***
«I am, the great magician Riol...»
«Stop talking in your sleep and wake up, Magoooo!» Missha shouted.
«... Is it already daytime?»
«I don't know, but I know it's time to wake up urp».
Second day, 5 am. The first night passed without problems despite my worries. Alarm magic detected monsters four times during Hikurod's guard and once a group of scouts approached us, causing us all to wake up, but that was normal.
«Since Dwalkie has already adapted to the maze, we'll increase the speed a bit», Brown announced.
Dwalkie asked: «Should we hurry?».
«It is best to reach the third floor as soon as possible for camping».
Starting on the second day, we reduced unnecessary chatter and only focused on moving. Of course, every few minutes, monsters came to block our path, but this was welcome for me.
[You have killed a Moon Rock Bear. EXP +1]
[You have killed a Wall Mole Queen. EXP +1]
[You have killed a Blood Leaf Wolf. EXP +1]
At this point, he had killed all the rank 9 monsters in the lair. Since it was my first time here, my experience points accumulated quickly. Of course, it didn't have a separate EXP bar.
If I count all the monsters I've caught so far...
There were exactly 40 of them. If the bonus for killing high-ranking mutants and the bonus for killing guardians were added, it was 44.
I still have a long way to go to reach level 4.
As the level was leveled up, the accumulated experience points required increased exponentially.
Level 1 required 6 points; level 2, 30 points; level 3, 150. Of course, it didn't continually quintuple at each level, but the difficulty could be said to be even greater. It was only a +1 boost for a higher rank monster, but if there were no monsters that could be hunted, even supplying them became impossible.
Well... not that I was in a hurry to level up.
My current level was 3; It could absorb up to three essences. In other words, there was still room for one. Of course, I didn't expect another essence to come out before reaching level 4. Dungeon and Stone wasn't such a friendly game.
Of all the games, why did I have to play one like that?
I was beginning to regret my decisions, but to no avail. After all, I was the pervert who felt most alive the greater the difficulty.
«Everyone, get ready», Brown called. «From this moment on, we will see high-ranking species and their numbers will increase drastically».
It was after half a day of following Brown's line. The terrain - to be precise, the color of the cliffs - had changed from reddish brown to black.
Is this the beginning of the second half?
No rank 9 monsters appeared here. However, no one, including me, was very nervous about it.
«He's still just a rank 8 monster on the second floor!» Missha rumbled.
Our team had a mid-range of 7. Whatever team they were a part of in the past, they would have been active at least on the third floor. Well, I was a beginner, but it was an exception because I had been here numerous times when I played.
Missha added: «By the way, Bjorn, you haven't been to the third floor yet, have you?».
«AND?»
I responded stubbornly, hoping he would pick a fight, but Missha was really in awe. «Incredible. It took me a whole year to get to the third floor!».
It made me feel bad. «...I was just lucky.» I didn't want to dwell too much on this topic, so I responded evasively.
Then Hikurod entered the conversation. «One year until the third floor? So how long did it take you to get to the fourth floor?».
«Um, two years? I think it took me that long».
«The same as me».
«Eeek! That's not fair! You have less experience than me, but you are rank 6!»
«Instead, Miss Karlstein was born into a good family!»
«Eeek! I told you not to talk about my family!»
Feeling that the conversation was about to turn into another long argument, Brown stepped aside so as not to find his way and intervened. «Leave it both». It was the same voice and expression as before, but why did I notice that he was more upset this time?
True, if I had heard it while I was busy working at the entrance, I would have been pissed off too.
I overlooked it without thinking much about it.
***
[You have entered the Pilgrim's Way on the third floor.]
Shortly after noon on the second day, we entered the third floor after receiving the correct instructions from Brown. It was a little disappointing that he couldn't hunt many huntable rank 8 monsters in the Beast Lair, but they weren't just active on the second floor.
Someday I will have another chance.
Shaking off the disappointment, I focused on the current situation. «Rotmiller! Get out of the way!»
I was on the Pilgrim's Way on the third floor. Along that path, I found myself on Iron Rock Hill, the starting point connecting from the Lair of Beasts. As soon as we enter, we find two rank 7 monsters.
«Dwalkie! Use corrosion magic!»
It was easy to think that the Iron Troll was a wild boar with iron molars. It was about five times larger than a wild boar on Mount Jiri.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has released Rank 8 Corrosion].
As Brown, the first to enter the portal, dodged the monster and retreated, Dwalkie immediately cast a spell. Immediately afterwards, Hikurod and I lunged forward and each faced a monster with our shields.
Bam!
A strong impact was transmitted to the shield. My old shield would have dented at the moment of impact like the dwarf's did now.
[Hikurod Murad has launched Emergency Restoration.]
«Bjorn, why are you suddenly looking at me? I'm not jealous».
«Really. If you had used a hard shield in the first place, you wouldn't have to repair it every time».
«What are you talking about? Anyway, Bjorn! Don't push them away, just keep them from backing away!»
«You don't have to tell me twice!»
The Iron Troll's active ability was Balancing Weight. Its effect was Immunity to the Blow. This was also the essence that Hikurod had.
[Hikurod Murad has released Balancing Weight.]
Don't you feel guilty?
A wild boar cub with a main ability like this and a dwarf ordering me not to back down for one of them? The anger inherent within this barbarian body erupted. Maybe that's why, instead of waiting for the other team members to attack, I brandished my mace and hit the Iron Troll's jaw.
«Behell-ahhhhh!»
Kak kak kak!
The steel wheels that had been put into a state of Corrosion shattered in one fell swoop.
«Come to me, Esenciaaaaa!» Missha, who jumped onto my back without permission, stabbed a dagger into the Iron Troll's head.
[You have killed an Iron Troll. EXP +3]
It was already one for now. I was going to take care of the other one next, but I stopped to observe a little. Dwalkie was casting a spell, one of the few offensive ones he had.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has released Rank 8 Ice Spear.]
An ice spike flew towards the Iron Troll's stomach. If it had pierced the head or the heart, it would have been a one-shot death... But later he could give a detailed answer.
Stab!
The battle ended with Brown approaching the falling Iron Troll, holding a crossbow to his forehead, and shooting an arrow. Of course, there was no essence, although that wasn't something to worry about right now.
A monster right in front of the portal?
It looked like there was a son of a bitch nearby.