Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 4 (11 page)

Mr. Welf’s eyebrows sink, a grin back on his lips as he looks at the surprise on my face.

“Should be great news, yeah? The things are slow and stupid. Even I’m more than a match for them.”

Oh, so people can think like that…

Whether I’m still a novice or Mr. Welf is a daredevil, I’m not sure. But in any case, he seems to believe that an orc will be no problem. He takes a step forward, jerking his jaw in the direction of the beast.

Hephaistos Familia
might be a group of smiths, but they’re also very powerful. Warrior smiths, if you will. And Mr. Welf is no exception—although he claims it’s all just to get the Advanced Ability Forge. From what I’ve seen of his fighting style so far and what he did on the lower tenth floor, he won’t hold us back. He may be a Level 1 adventurer, but there’s no doubt he’s one of the most powerful.

“Mr. Bell, please fight as you like. Lilly will support the smith from behind. To be honest, Lilly would appreciate Mr. Bell checking on us from time to time.”

“Oh? What’s this? I thought you hated my guts, Lilly?”

“Of course Lilly does. But Lilly doesn’t want you to get in Mr. Bell’s way.”

Lilly grins at him, her eyes sparkling. I can only grimace at the look on her face.

She’s probably made this suggestion to give me a chance to try out my new Level 2 abilities. She’s determined that I’ll be okay on my own in this situation.

I’m not going to argue with her.

…And also, it might be a little reckless, but…

I want to test myself.

“Let’s get cracking! Before the imps swarm in, yeah?”

“You don’t have to tell Lilly twice. Mr. Bell. Lilly thinks Mr. Bell knows, but…”

“Yes, don’t worry. I won’t let my guard down.”

A chorus of sliding metal and snapping sounds surrounds us as we each arm ourselves for battle.

I do a few quick stretches, take a deep breath to focus, and charge into the fray.

“Hyyeeh!” “Hyyeegii!”

I race across the open plain, a swarm of imps heading right for me.

Mr. Welf has taken care of the monsters that we encountered on the way down to the lower eleventh floor. This will be my first actual combat today.

A small group peels off from the swarm and swoops down at me, all of them shrieking at the top of their lungs. It’s five on one for now.

I have no clue how many monsters are emerging from the dungeon walls. Loud cracks are still echoing through the room, and the imp swarm is growing larger by the second.

—For the first time ever, I dash toward them at full speed.

I lean forward while on the move.

The distance between us rapidly disappearing, I slam my foot into the ground and push off.

Dirt goes flying in my wake.

“—Hye?”

The imp flies up to my face.

No.

I
closed the distance.

This speed is no joke. The wind is whistling in my ears.

Even though I’m flying through the air faster than ever before, my senses are keeping up.

I take a swing at the imp in front of my face with the Divine Knife.

SHING!

“?!”

The imp’s head leaves its body and flies toward the ceiling.

About half of the accompanying imp swarm is distracted by their comrade’s flying head and by the arc of purple light that took it off.

Their surprise at the sudden turn of events opens the window I need to keep going forward and take on the rest.

Downward slash.

My body light as a feather, I weave my way from imp to imp like a lightning bolt through the sky. One of the monsters drops to the ground in pieces with every hit. I’m on to the next before they even knew what hit them.

It only takes one hit. Armed with my dagger and the Divine Knife, my black and white fangs, I tear through the imp swarm and leave a trail of bodies in my dust.

They’re so slow…Wait—

I’m taking the first strike. None of them have even tried to counterattack.

My enemies aren’t slow.

I’ve become so fast that—

They can’t counterattack!

I’ve changed. I’ve completely changed. Nothing’s the same as before!

So this is the true meaning of leveling up!

The goddess’s blessing!

“AAAAHHHHHHH!!”

“GAHII?!”

I land one of Aiz’s spin kicks square into the chest of an oncoming imp. It’s launched with the speed of an arrow off of my foot and straight into the dirt. After bouncing and tumbling a few times, it comes to a dead standstill and doesn’t move.

An imp swarm that once contained more than ten individuals is now completely wiped out.

“RWOOOOOO!!”

“!”

A new monster appears in front of me, howling.

It’s about as tall as I am. It stands on two short, stubby legs, but its two long arms end in a very deadly looking set of claws. Its back and arms are completely covered by a series of shells, almost like it’s wearing a suit of armor. The shell on its head comes to a point in front of its eyes, like it’s wearing a battle helmet.

Another one of the armadillo-like monsters emerges. The two of them advance on my position.

“Hard Armoreds.” They first appear on the eleventh floor.

I’ve never seen one before, but luckily I’ve got a monster encyclopedia in my head courtesy of Eina’s aggressive lectures. What did she have to say about these guys again?

Much like the killer ant, Hard Armoreds have very strong defense courtesy of their thick shell-like armor. However, their unprotected underbelly is very vulnerable to attack. Compared to the killer ant’s full-body protection, it’s easy to see where to strike…However, their Defense is by far the better of the two.

Out of all the monsters on the lower eleventh and twelfth floors, their Defense is second to none. In other words, when it comes to taking a hit, they can withstand more damage than anything else in the upper levels.

A Hard Armored is basically a walking iron fortress that can repel a dwarf’s attack with ease. It has often been said that a Level 1 adventurer doesn’t stand a chance against one of them in hand-to-hand combat.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that adventurers need Basic Ability levels ranging from
B
to
S
, in order to survive on the lower eleventh and twelfth because of Hard Armoreds.

“—HEH!”

Time stands still for a moment as we size each other up. The instant our eyes meet, we charge.

My powerful legs burst forward.

One of the Hard Armoreds curls his body into a ball and rolls at me with blinding speed.

That thick shell on his back is a very sturdy defense, but it can be a
powerful weapon at the same time. One of these attacks has enough power to plow through entire battle parties and send them flying. Nothing short of a powerful blow will bring them to a stop.

The rolling beast is practically a man-size boulder careening toward me. Covering the area between us in no time flat, I barely avoid an impact that would have sent me reeling for days.

I set my sights on the other one.

It’s still on its feet, so if I take care of this one first, then I can focus on the roller without having to watch my back.

“OOAAAHHH!!”

The beast charges at me, claws drawn and ready.

I bring my blades forward and hold my ground until the last possible moment—before jumping up and to the side.

“?!”

My body arcs just in front of the monster’s nose and eyes.

Unable to follow my movement, I completely disappear from its line of sight.

I’m in its blind spot, diagonally behind its head.

Bringing my knees up and flipping forward with the Divine Knife upside down in my grip, I slash downward.

“—GAAhhh?!”

The Hard Armored’s shell splits cleanly in two under the force of my attack.

—An opening!

The best Defense in the upper levels is breakable.

Rotating in midair, I catch a glimpse of the amount of damage I inflicted on the creature’s body and tighten my grip on the knife.

“ROOOOOOAAHHH!!”

The remaining Hard Armored has regained its balance and is rolling at me at full speed.

I curl my head under my shoulders and roll over my back as I land. The instant my foot hits the dirt, I raise my right arm and spin around to face the oncoming monster.

“Firebolt!”

An electric inferno roars to life.

Each bolt is louder, faster, and thicker than ever before. Violet light flashes over the beast just before the flames tear into it.

KABOOM!

The shock wave from the explosion blows past me, the Hard Armored’s burned body emerging from the smoke a moment later. Part of the shell on its back is completely gone. Other pieces fall off as its lifeless body collapses to the ground.

The completely exposed Hard Armored’s smoldering remains lie in silence, smoke pouring out from its mouth.

Even my Magic is stronger…

Watching the remaining sparks fizzle out, I bring my arm in front of my chest.

My power is on a whole other level. The scale is completely different.

It’s not just my Firebolt; I can’t deny that I feel like I don’t have full control of this power yet, but…

I’m getting closer, for sure!

I can see her in the back of my mind, one female knight.

The place I want to be off in the distance, behind that long, flowing blond hair, I’m closing in.

My heart is racing, pounding in my ears. I use all of my might to force myself to calm down.

“—ooOOHH!”

The roar of an orc caught me off guard and brought me back into the present.

Suddenly, Lilly’s words run through my head and I look in that direction. The noise leads my eyes to the spot where Mr. Welf and an orc are preparing for combat.

“Now that’s speed…”

Welf muttered under his breath.

He caught flashes of Bell’s attacks out of the corner of his eye.

Bell’s movements, reflexes, attacks, and Magic were all extremely fast to his eyes.

While he didn’t know where it came from, Welf realized why Bell had been described as a “rabbit.”

“Heh-heh-heh, don’t get flattened into a pancake by getting distracted. Mr. Bell will be very sad.”

“Li’l E, I’ve figured you out.”

Welf responded to Lilly’s words and gave a big nod to the girl directly behind him.

He didn’t turn around to face her, the reason being there was a large orc howling an ugly howl and charging right for them. It would be on top of them in moments.

Noticing Bell’s gaze, Welf flipped up his chin and grinned as if to say, “Quit checking on me.”

“All righty, then. Big piggy number two.”

His back to the body of the first orc that lay motionless next to Lilly, Welf swung his longsword up to rest on his shoulder.

“OOoooOOOOO!!”

Slam, slam, slam!
The orc took clumsy but powerful strides as it advanced.

The edges of Welf’s mouth curled upward as he took a few bold steps toward the monster.

“BUGURUAAA!!”

Seeing that its prey was in range, the empty-handed orc swung its meaty arm forward with all of its might.

Welf ducked under the reckless sideswipe without any hesitation.

Squatting as low as possible, left hand on the ground and right hand holding his sword against his right shoulder, Welf had the eyes of a beast not unlike the one he was about to strike.

Seeing an opening the moment the massive arm passed by him, Welf sprang forward and swung his thick blade at his target.

“—RAAA!”

The sound of steel through flesh. The blade hit its mark, slicing straight through the orc’s exposed stomach.

A dark greenish blood spraying from its wound, the sheer force of the blow threw the monster off-balance. It fell backward, slamming its head against the dirt.

“How’d you like that!”

Welf ran forward and jumped to the side of the orc’s head.

Grabbing hold of his longsword with both hands, Welf’s unblinking eyes locked onto the monster’s neck before he brought the weapon down in one fell swoop.

SHING-THUD!
The sound of the impact reverberated throughout the room.

“Li’l E! Next!”

“Already here!”

Leaving the headless monster behind, Welf turned in the direction that Lilly was pointing.

What greeted his eyes was the silhouette of another orc—this one carrying a landform tree club in its right hand. The beast was already dashing toward them. Welf clicked his tongue in frustration, but with his usual smirk still on his face.

“Well, isn’t that a pain in the ass!”

“Lilly is aware!”

Lilly circled around the dead bodies on the ground to get a different angle on the new orc.

She reached inside the sleeve of her robe and withdrew a bowgun, taking aim with her slender arms.

PING!
Her golden arrow pierced the beast’s shoulder.

“!”

The orc stopped in its tracks to nurse its injured shoulder. The eyes of its pig head narrowed, forgetting its original target—Welf—and finding a new one: Lilly.

There was a momentary pause.

Seeing an opportunity to attack the distracted orc, Welf took a step forward and planted his left foot firmly into the dirt.

His black coat rustling like smoke in the wind, Welf’s boot carved a new divot into the dungeon floor as he took another step forward.

“EAT THIS!”

The blade that had been resting on his shoulder carved a massive arc through the air.

All of the strength Welf possessed was focused through his right arm and into this single strike. It slammed into the monster’s body at full force.

The longsword hit the orc with enough force to slice it clean in half. The orc’s body flinched, but it was unable to cry out in pain due to the blood spewing from its mouth. The beast’s bloodshot eyes caught one last glimpse of its attacker before its body dissolved into ash on the spot.

Welf’s attack had cut through and destroyed the magic stone buried deep in the monster’s chest.

“Mr. Crozzo, we’re going to have a problem if you keep breaking magic stones! Mr. Bell and Lilly will make less money!”

“What’s done is done. Can’t be helped. Oh, and don’t call me that.”

He turned to face the girl who stood a good distance away with a slightly annoyed look on his face. She was always complaining about something.

“And what about my share, huh?” Welf retorted with a verbal jab at the prum.

Only specs of purplish ash remained on the grassy dungeon floor.

“…Mr. Crozzo!”

“What did I just say about that na—ahh…”

Just when Welf opened his mouth to yell at her, he realized why Lilly had screamed in the first place.

Two new monsters, smaller than orcs, had quietly snuck up behind Welf.

“Silverbacks.”

Muscular bodies covered in thick white fur, these monsters looked like massive wild gorillas. Their name came from a silver mane around their necks and the thick stripe of silver fur running all the way down their backs. The fur on their lower backs was long enough to look like a short silver tail.

Not too long ago, Bell fought one of these beasts during
Monster-philia. Along with the Hard Armoreds, they made the lower eleventh floor of the Dungeon an extremely dangerous place for Level 1 adventurers. While they didn’t have the orc’s size, they more than made up for it with power and agility. Fangs bared and muscles bulging, there was only one way to describe them: strong.

Welf turned to face these new attackers when suddenly,
THUMP
. A third silverback jumped down from a particularly large dead tree and landed between him and Lilly.

“…”

“Geeeh……”

“Shit,” he spat almost like a reflex.

They were ganging up on him. This was one situation that adventurers want to avoid at all costs in the Dungeon.

Fantastic…Like I’m solo all over again.

Feeling the sweat dripping down his brow, Welf took a defensive stance and looked at all three beasts in turn.

After being left out of other battle parties, he had equipped himself with as many potions as he could carry and ventured out into the lower tenth on his own…All the moments when he nearly died flashed before his eyes as he stared down the silverbacks.

I have to run, now…Dammit, I’m pinned down!

His body getting impatient as the monsters started closing in, Welf’s mind raced to find an escape route.

He estimated as he sized up his opponents that he was slightly more powerful than one silverback. However, that meant the moment he engaged one in combat, he would be wide open for the others to attack from behind. Catching a glimpse of Lilly’s startled face, he knew in an instant he couldn’t count on the supporter for any help.

I’m toast
, was the only conclusion he could come up with, but Welf chose to ignore it. Swinging his longsword in a wide arc, he brought it to rest on his shoulder before taking a step toward the closest silverback.

He decided to break through a point of their net. A strange pinging sound filled his ears. He would never get used to the tension that
came from being surrounded by enemies in the Dungeon, no matter how many times it happened. He braced his body for battle.

A perilous ambience surrounded them.

The silverback Welf was staring down glared right back at him, its eyes glistening in anticipation.

The monsters made their move as one.

A heartbeat later…

“—One, two, anddd!!”

“GehGOOH?!”

“?!”

Something incredibly forceful flew in from outside the net.

Bell had launched himself like a javelin, his fearsome kick catching the jaw of one of the silverbacks. Caught completely off guard, the beast’s head spun to a gruesome angle as it plowed into another silverback.

Welf and the other beasts stood in stunned silence at the sudden turn of events. Bell, however, drew his dagger from its sheath while still in midair.

“Mr. Welf!”

Ruby-red eyes meeting his gaze, Welf realized it was about to happen.

He leaned back as quickly as he could to get out of the way.

Not wasting any movement or momentum, Bell threw the dagger in his right hand with all of his might.

“GEH?!”

“—!!”

The dagger whizzed past Welf’s face and straight into the eye of the silverback behind him.

The beast reared back, screaming in pain. Taking that as his cue, Welf spun in place as he brought his own blade to bear.

The longsword cut a deep gash into the monster’s body.

“…”

The limp monster fell to its knees. Welf had come to a stop, blade still at the top of its cutting arc. Keeping the same pose, he looked back over his shoulder toward Bell.

Bell had just slain the second silverback and stood over their bloody, motionless bodies.

Welf stared at Bell’s back for a moment before grinning and returning his sword to his shoulder.

“I could really get used to this battle-party thing.”

The white-haired boy turned toward him, nodding in agreement with a big smile on his face.

“You are one fast dude, you know that? I didn’t even see you fly in.”

“I-I’m not exactly sure when I did myself…”

Our battle against the monster party finally over, the three of us are now taking a short break.

We’re still in the same room on the lower eleventh floor. The aftermath of our skirmish is scattered all around. Uprooted dead trees, divots in the ground, ash left behind by monsters’ bodies, even pieces of the dungeon wall are everywhere I look. It’s an absolute mess in here.

Mr. Welf’s longsword is back in its sheath and strapped to his back. He’s standing next to me with his arms folded across his chest as we talk about what just happened.

“This dungeon-crawling thing sure is easier when you’ve got a strong ally with you. ’Course I can’t rely on you always saving my ass.”

“I have a feeling that I didn’t slay as many monsters as I usually do.”

“That’s the good thing about being in a battle party. Your mind and body don’t have to work as hard, and you’re free to move however you want. Your allies cover your blind side.”

Mr. Welf is making some good points. Since he has more experience working in the Dungeon with a party than I do, I’m listening to every word.

“I thought we did pretty well, considering today’s our first day as a group. We’re not exactly reading each other’s minds, but our movements meshed…That’s all thanks to Li’l E.”

“Thanks to Lilly?”

“Yeah. Her actions seem minor, but she had a big influence. Alerting us to new monsters, keeping us from running into each other, she did a great job coordinating us.”