by Fujino Omori
“Oh, am I getting in the way, Small Fry?”
Mr. Welf had been watching us talk in silence but chooses this moment to jump in.
Lilly isn’t too fond of Mr. Welf already, but her chestnut-colored eyes went ablaze after being called “Small Fry.”
“Lilly is not Small Fry! Lilly’s name is Lilliluka Erde!”
“Okay, pleasure to meet’cha, Li’l E.”
“…Lilly doesn’t care anymore. It’s pointless!”
Mr. Welf bends over and sticks his toothy grin in Lilly’s face like he’s making fun of her, which I’m pretty sure he is. Lilly lets out a small “Humph” and looks the other way.
He doesn’t seem to mind Lilly’s reaction; on the contrary, he looks like he’s enjoying it…I don’t have a good feeling about these two from here on out.
“…Well, um, Lilly. I know it’s a little late, but I’ll introduce him. This is Mr. Welf Crozzo. He’s a smith belonging to Hephaistos Familia.”
Lilly should at least know Mr. Welf’s full name, so I tell her. I wanted to tell her earlier this morning when we were on our way to meet up with him, but her mood was so bad it just didn’t seem like the right time.
And Mr. Welf already knows Lilly’s full name, so there shouldn’t be a problem.
I wasn’t expecting any kind of response, and Lilly is looking the other way anyway—
“Crozzo?”
Lilly’s body shakes as if she’d been slapped in the face the moment she hears Mr. Welf’s family name.
“Huh?” The sound escapes my mouth before I knew it. What’s with that reaction?
“The cursed house of magic swordsmiths? The noble family of smiths that fell into ruin?”
Magic swordsmiths…?
Even more than that, what does she mean by “noble family of smiths”?
I turn to Mr. Welf in confusion and look for answers.
His playful grin is gone; a sour face has taken over.
“Ah, um…Crozzo?”
My eyes jump back and forth between them, Lilly in shock and Mr. Welf with an irritated twitch in his eye. I have to break this uncomfortable silence, so I ask him about his family name. Lilly’s eyes go wide as her face snaps right to me in surprise.
“Do you not know about them, Mr. Bell…?”
“Eh, well…No, I don’t.”
What reason is there to say anything else? I shake my head no.
“Long ago, the Crozzo family was granted noble status by a king for the magic swords they forged. It’s said that the only thing they made was magic swords…tens, hundreds of thousands of them.”
“So that means…?!”
“They were the masters of the magic sword, the symbol of their time. Some claim that their magic swords were so powerful that they could ‘set fire to the ocean’…”
Lilly pauses for a moment and looks up at Mr. Welf.
Her fingers curl; she looks like she’s building up courage to say something difficult.
“…But one day they fell out of favor with the king. They lost their noble status and their house fell into ruin…”
Lilly speaks as quickly as she can. What kind of face am I supposed to make now? I try to keep my expression as neutral as possible as I look over to Mr. Welf.
He scratches the back of his head for a few seconds, his hair wavering back and forth. Then he lowers his hand and waves, a forced smile on his face.
“…Well, that’s not important right now, is it? We’re here to crawl the Dungeon, aren’t we? Right?”
“Ah…y-yes.”
Mr. Welf’s slightly higher gaze falls on me as he tries his best to change the subject.
He takes the weapon resting on his shoulder, a surprisingly wide-bladed longsword with incredible reach, and thrusts it into the ground.
I give him a quick nod as Lilly takes a step back, like she’s waiting for something to happen. She looks up at him, her penetrating gaze looking for anything unusual.
“—?”
“Hm?”
Crack! All of us hear it at the same time.
We freeze for a moment. The three of us have spent enough time in the Dungeon to know exactly what that sound means.
A monster is being born from the dungeon wall.
“W-woah…!”
“…Big one.”
“An orc, for sure.”
All of us respond as our eyes seek out the source of the noise. It doesn’t take me long to find a massive crack in the wall.
Another series of cracks echoes through the room as a thick brown arm forces its way out.
Pieces of the dungeon wall fall to the ground like bits of a broken eggshell. A huge chunk crashes to the ground as the monster’s right arm blasts through, followed closely by the beast’s head and torso.
“BUGGIII…ooOOOHHHH…!”
Announcing its birth to the world, the orc fully emerges.
I’ve never seen an orc birth before…
I clear my throat to steady myself. Large-category monster births are quite a sight.
The only word I have for seeing the dungeon wall crumble like that is “overwhelming.”
The monster falls onto all fours as it lands with a loud crash. Slowly but steadily, it climbs to its feet.
“…It ain’t over. This is why the Dungeon is so scary from the tenth on down.”
Crack, crack, crack! Sounds keep coming from the dungeon walls. Now the sounds are echoing from every direction in the room, and monsters are right behind them.
Many adventurers have reported that monsters will suddenly emerge in large numbers in the same room, starting around the tenth floor of the Dungeon.
The walls basically fall apart as the room is inundated with monsters. A “monster party,” that’s what this is called.
They are, of course, very dangerous. Especially if you happen to be in the middle of the room when it happens, since you’ll be surrounded in no time flat. I take a step back, a dumbfounded smile on my face.
“There is no reason to panic. There is no fog in this room and it is very wide. There’s little chance of being surrounded and we can retreat to the tenth if necessary.”
Lilly speaks calmly as she adjusts her backpack with a small sigh.
She has traveled with many battle parties, and this isn’t her first trip to the eleventh floor. Her Status might be far below ours, but she knows what she’s doing.
I take a quick look behind me and see the stairwell right there, just as Lilly had said. A little of the tension gone, I take a deep breath and survey the room.
“All right, I got dibs on the orc.”
“Eh, are you sure?” My eyes pop open at Mr. Welf’s declaration.
Orcs are extremely strong. If a Level 1 adventurer, or even a Level 2, takes a direct hit from one of these monsters, that person won’t be getting up for a long time.
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 yo
u 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 silenc
e, 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.