Chapter 140, Rarity and Explosion

Translator: Barnnn

 

Tomorrow, they would reach the ninety-third floor, the halfway point of the current Dungeon run. When Ize heard the name of the Mystic Beast waiting there, her face lit up.

 

“The Melt Toad?”

“That’s right.” Wardon nodded. “The strongest of the Toad family, but…”

 

He let the words hang and smiled at her.

 

“But…?”

“Its meat is even better than Silk Toad.”

“Uooohhh!” Ize cried.

“No way! We’re DEFINITELY eating that!” Hal said.

 

Beside them, Fieda nodded in agreement, his eyes holding a spark of anticipation.

They had already tasted Milk Toad in Jasted and Silk Toad in Speraniessa… and now came the Melt Toad.

Silk Toads, found between the fortieth and fiftieth floors, appeared often enough that the supply was steady, though they still sold out quickly.

Melt Toad, on the other hand, lived only on the ninety-third floor, an A-rank area. Its meat was so rare it hardly appeared in the markets at all. Legendary was not an overstatement.

Ize clenched her fists, her eyes burning.

 

“My mouth is already flooding!”

“Oh, no…” Hal grumbled, “now we’re seeing a Mystic Beast as nothing but meat.”

“That’s how you always see them,” Fieda retorted, though his statement was softened by the pleased stroke of his goatee. He proceeded to ask, “So, what’s it look like, anyway?”

“About the size of a bear, but pretty quick for its bulk,” Wardon said.

“Venomous, lashes its tongue like a whip, and can crush you with a stomp after it jumps,” Volhelm added. “Its movements are erratic, so close combat is tough.”

“What about elemental resistance?”

“Fireproof. Not sure about cold.”

 

Fieda nodded as the A-rank adventurers shared what they knew.

 

“If cold works, I’ll hit it with ice,” Hal said. “I’ll have to appraise it just to be sure.”

“Fair enough.” Fieda nodded. “Ize, you keep the venom and its movements under control.”

“Got it.”

“You’re going after it alone? That’s a bit…” Volhelm started.

 

Hal and Ize exchanged matching grins.

 

“We’re not being reckless, mind you,” Hal preemptively corrected him.

“But it tastes better if we hunt it ourselves,” Ize added.

 

Fieda muttered something under his breath but didn’t object.

 

“If it gets dangerous, step in,” he told the others.

“Of course,” Volhelm said. “You’ve got a long way ahead; we’re not letting you get hurt here.”

 

At that, the three bowed, expressing their thanks.

 

◆

 

Hidden under Stealth, the trio watched a Melt Toad through gaps between the trees.

 

“Venomous, fireproof, tongue attacks… matches the info,” Hal murmured. “No sign of cold resistance. Ice could work.”

“I’ll open by weakening it with Detoxify and Cleanse,” Ize said.

“Which part of its body is the most vulnerable?” Fieda asked.

“Either the leg joints or the throat,” Hal replied. “Throat’s easier to hit, but can we get it?”

“Ize, can you bind its mouth?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then the throat it is.”

 

Both Ize and Hal turned to Fieda, giving him a serious look.

 

“If you can’t manage it, signal the others. And remember, if ten minutes pass, they’re coming in regardless,” Fieda reminded.

 

Fieda glanced at Hal’s hands and smiled faintly.

 

“All right… If you see an opening, exploit it.”

“Sure thing!” Hal replied, giving a thumbs up.

 

Following that, Ize nodded, her face bright with eagerness.

 

◆

 

With the Melt Toad’s every movement, its slick hide caught a dull gleam of light.

The trio spread out slowly, fanning around it into position.

From the corner of her eye, Ize watched Fieda at the far end of the arc. Three fingers rose on his left hand.

 

Three…

Two…

One!

 

“Hah!”

“Detoxify! Cleanse! Shadow Bind!”

“Detoxify successful! Stamina down thirty percent! Here we go!”

 

They broke cover in a rush, spells and steel flashing.

The Melt Toad recoiled in confusion, then steadied, its huge frame quivering as it prepared to fight.

Fieda was already right in front of it, his sword flashing in a ruthless arc, cutting deep into the thick root of its leg.

 

“BUGYAAAAAA!” The Mystic Beast bellowed.

“Hah!”

 

Thud! Thud!

 

Hal’s ice lances slammed into the exposed belly one after another.

 

“Cleanse!”

“Down to half!”

“Incoming!”

“Ize!”

 

She cast Cleanse again, draining more of its strength.

With a guttural roar, the Melt Toad opened its mouth wide — wide enough to swallow a man whole — and lashed its tongue at her.

The Beast clearly knew who was manipulating the shadows to restrict its movements, and it wasn’t about to let her keep doing it.

Watching the tongue close in, Ize smiled faintly. Fleet Foot sharpened her vision until the strike seemed to crawl toward her.

 

Whump!

 

The tongue struck only dirt; its target had vanished.

Then, in the next heartbeat, Hal charged in and slashed at the thick muscle with his sword, severing it.

 

“RAAAHHH!”

 

Then, he hurled an ice blast into the open mouth.

 

“BYAH!!” The Melt Toad gave a warped, pained cry. It stumbled back before Fieda slid under its body.

 

“Shadow Bind!”

 

Ize’s perfectly-timed magic lashed around the Toad, pinning it in place.

 

“Haaah!”

 

Fieda’s blade drove deep into its throat.

 

“And another one…!”

 

Hal followed, plunging his sword into the belly wound.

The Melt Toad gave a final muffled cry, shuddered, and vanished.

 

“Aww, yeah!!”

“Meat!?” Ize ran over, eyes shining.

“Ah, there it is,” Fieda said.

“Wow! It’s huge!”

“With that big a Beast, of course we’d get big cuts,” Hal said.

“The Magicite’s huge, too,” Fieda remarked, lifting a crystal half the size of his fist. “But of course you two only care about the meat…”

“”Obviously!”” they replied together.

Then, Ize asked, “How many skewers do you think we could make?”

“It’s so big, maybe we should roast it whole,” Hal said.

“Oh, that’s a good point… Can you try appraising it?”

“Already did. Says it makes excellent jerky.”

“Jerky… I doubt we’d have any left by the time we NEED to dry them…”

“Oh, don’t kid yourself, Ize. You’re not THAT big of an eater.” Fieda chuckled at the thought of the two tearing through the entire haul. “Ah, the others are here.”

“Don’t make it look too easy!” Wardon called.

“Didn’t even take five minutes,” Volhelm said.

“For the record, even A-ranks would normally take ten,” Gruash added.

 

All things considered, the veterans’ words could be considered praise.

 

“Having both light and dark magic really makes battles a lot easier. I’m jealous,” Gruash muttered, looking down at Ize, who was carefully packing away the meat.

“I’d say your magical skills are at a pretty unfair level yourself, Gruash,” Volhelm remarked.

 

At his words, Fieda and the other two tilted their heads. Since the start of this expedition, Gruash had only occasionally swung his sword and rarely joined the fighting directly. They still had no idea what his skills actually were.

Feeling their stares, Gruash raised his hand. A small sphere of energy spun rapidly above his palm.

 

“This is my skill.”

 

The trio exchanged baffled looks. Whatever that sphere was, its purpose was not immediately apparent.

 

“And… what does it do?” Ize asked.

“It explodes,” Gruash said simply.

“Huh?”

“What!?”

 

Ize and Hal, who had been leaning in to examine the sphere, jerked back in alarm.

 

“Uh, you know what, I’m curious. Could you show us?” Hal pressed.

“I could, but it’s VERY loud.”

“I’ll block the sound with Stealth,” Ize offered. “What’s the blast’s sound range?”

“About a kilometer. So if I were to strike something… that tree over there should suffice.”

“That’s… rather wide. Give me a moment.”

 

Gruash nodded at Hal’s request but warned of the skill’s danger.

Once Ize completed her sound-suppression Stealth field and gave the signal, Gruash stepped away from the group, taking position before the tree he’d indicated.

 

“Power in my hand, shatter the core of that which I strike.”

 

His low chant drifted back to them. The sphere in his palm shot forward at high speed, touching the tree.

And then…

 

BOOOOM! CRACK! SNAP-SNAP-SNAP!

 

“Kyah!”

“Whoa!”

“Ngh…!”

 

Even without the sound, the blast’s impact made Ize, Hal, and Fieda flinch and hunch their shoulders.

The two other A-rank adventurers, who had clearly known what to expect, merely shuddered in silence.

When Ize opened her eyes, the tree’s center had been blown to powder, its upper half reduced to a scatter of splinters across the ground.

 

“Whoa…”

“Terrifying…”

“Does this work on Mystic Beasts, too?” Fieda asked.

“It does. Unless it’s a massive one, a single hit will do. Even that Melt Toad earlier could go down in one shot, depending on where it’s hit.”

“And the MP cost?”

“Fairly high. At that size, I can fire about ten a day without weakening the blast. Any more, and I’d have to reduce the power.”

“I see.”

 

While Ize and Hal were content to be impressed, Fieda pressed for more details, and Gruash answered without hesitation. Many adventurers guarded the secrets of their skills, but he seemed unconcerned.

 

“It’s not worth using unless the target is overwhelmingly strong, but it’s undeniably effective,” he concluded.

“You’re being too modest, Gruash,” Volhelm said. “During the Deluge, we wouldn’t have made nearly as much progress without you.”

“Being able to take down more than ten large Mystic Beasts a day is a huge advantage,” Wardon added. “Saves stamina, MP, and time for everyone else.”

 

The two, who had fought alongside him, praised Gruash without reservation.

 

“Almost makes our Hero skills seem not so overpowered anymore,” Hal joked.

“Agreed,” Ize chuckled.

 

Wardon proceeded to clap Gruash’s shoulder repeatedly, making the latter look mildly annoyed — though he also seemed a little pleased.

 

“Now then, Ize?”

“Yes, Hal?”

“Any more meat nearby?”

“About a kilometer ahead.”

“Shall we resume the hunt, then?”

“Let’s.”

“You heard her, Leader. Well?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re going.”

 

Now that they knew the Melt Toad’s general strength, they judged that just the three of them could handle it easily.

That left only one obvious course of action: turn every Melt Toad they met on the way to camp into chunks of meat.

 

◆

 

“That was an amazing haul! Having someone with Perception makes things so much easier,” Volhelm said.

“Seven Toads in just one day… you really are meat-obsessed,” Wardon grumbled.

“I was thinking of asking for a small share, but… never mind,” Gruash started and promptly stopped, cowed by Ize and Hal’s sharp glares.

 

Unlike Gruash, who lived in Speraniessa, Ize’s group would rarely have the chance to come here going forward. As such, there was no way he’d get a share of the rare meat — and even if circumstances were different, the odds weren’t in his favor.

Tomorrow, they would retrace their path to the ninetieth floor, where the Portal Room was.

Another purpose of this round of Dungeon crawling was to finalize their approach to the Sooryab operation. They’d already decided on the broad strokes during the trip here, so the return journey would be spent working out the finer details.

After this, Wardon and Volhelm would head to Sooryab ahead of the rest; their parties’ members were likely already there. Neither group had a light-elemental mage, so their role would be to guard one — either a light mage or a water mage with holy water applications — for the deep-layer battles.

 

“…And that means we’ll be ensuring the safety of you to — Ize and Hal,” Gruash said.

“I’d love it if you dressed the part of high nobility,” Volhelm added cheerfully. “You could even go back to black hair.”

“Wait, would that be… safe?” Hal asked.

“Black-haired nobles are seen as non-combatants,” Gruash explained. “If you look like someone to be protected, no one will assume that you’re a Hero, even if you use powerful magic.”

“But if you’d rather stay disguised, that’s fine too,” Volhelm said. “But since you’ll be surrounded by A-ranks, you might attract jealousy. Looking like a noble will cut down on most of that.”

“Also, it’d be better to introduce yourselves as being from Lazulseed rather than this kingdom’s nobility.”

 

Hal and Ize nodded solemnly. If word spread that they were connected to Gruash’s group, the cover story of them being nobles would be all the more believable.

 

“All right. We’ll un-dye our hair before we reach Sooryab, then,” Hal decided.

“Speaking of which, it’s been almost a year since my last haircut,” Ize mused. “I should find someone to trim it.”

“You’re cutting your hair?” Gruash asked.

“Just a little, if I can find someone willing. Though I wonder if nobles dislike having their hair cut…”

“I can call my personal barber.”

 

Hal glanced at Gruash, reminded that there was, in fact, a black-haired noble right here.

 

“He’s under a confidentiality contract,” Gruash added. “Your identities will be safe. Should I arrange it when we return?”

“Yes, please. For both of us?” Ize asked.

“No problem.”

“”Thank you!”” the two said in unison.

 

Gruash nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Fieda.

 

“While we’re at it, we should tidy you up as well.”

“…What? Why?”

 

Caught off guard, Fieda blinked at him.

 

“You’ll be disguising yourself as their attendant or guard, won’t you? You should refine your clothes and appearance accordingly.”

 

In that moment, Fieda sincerely wished he had never asked.