“What the hell is this?” Lulune mumbled with a hint of disgust as the wall, too, started healing itself.
Regeneration…Aiz silently watched the fleshy mass exhibit a self-regenerating ability just like the Dungeon’s, and she thought about what it meant.
“We’re pressing on.”
The party pushed through the greenish territory at Asfi’s command.
The putrid, lingering scent took its toll on the animal people in the party. No one could hide their fear at this point.
A mysterious green space had suddenly appeared in the Dungeon. The fact that this was unexplored territory weighed on them with each heavy step deeper into the ominous atmosphere of this Irregular.
“Hey, mind if I say something scary? If all these twitching, wiggling bits are the gross guts of some monster…we’re literally walking right into the belly of the beast, right?”
“Oi!” “Cut it out!” “Keep your thoughts to yourself.”
Lulune’s terrifying offhand comment stirred up a storm. Everyone agreed on one thing: there was no evidence to support her theory. At the same time, the tension that had been hanging over Hermes Familia suddenly lost its edge. Aiz listened to them bicker and kept her eyes open. She noticed something strange in her peripheral vision.
Flickering light illuminated the space.
It was dim, not much stronger than a candle. And climbing the walls and ceiling were wilting flowers.
Flowers. Vivid red flowers.
Aiz frowned.
“A fork in the path…It appears that the maps we have won’t be of much use any longer.”
They had traveled through the exceptionally dim passageway for several minutes.
Asfi came to a stop at the intersection. The hallway diverged into four directions: left, right, straight ahead, and up.
Apparently the green walls created a whole new layout within the Dungeon. Although the outer walls must have butted up against the Dungeon, the inner passages intertwined like plant roots in the ground. Their path was about to become much more complicated.
Aiz was caught off guard, unsure how to proceed. Asfi, however, addressed their chienthrope.
“Lulune, make a map.”
“Gotcha covered.”
The leader’s voice was calm, cool, and collected. At her behest, Lulune opened her pouch and took out another sheet of paper and a red-feathered pen—the same kind that Aiz carried—and set to work.
First, she established their entrance point and traced the route taken thus far by using the size of her steps as a reference. She traced the twists and turns of the pathway with astounding accuracy.
In a word, she was a cartographer.
Aiz peered over Lulune’s shoulder with visible shock.
“Amazing…You can draw maps.”
“Oh? It’s not a big deal. Sure, I’ll take praise from the Sword Princess any day, but…I am a thief, after all.”
A quiet giggle escaped her lips, and she blushed, but her hands never stopped moving. Aiz acknowledged the girl possessed a skill she did not have while watching her hand-drawn map take shape until it finally reached their current location.
Map data were available for adventurers to use at the Guild nowadays, so they enjoyed the ability to prowl wherever they wanted in the Dungeon without the fear of getting lost. That was all thanks to the brave people who had been exploring the Dungeon since the Ancient Times. They went into the unknown and put their lives on the line with no prior knowledge, pioneering the main routes through each floor and eventually mapping out every detail.
Aiz and other adventurers were able to enjoy a wealth of map data only thanks to the hard work of their forebears. As proof, the Sword Princess herself had no clue how to make a map or where to start. She was certain the other adventurers—with the exception of cartographers who went into unexplored areas to collect geography data to sell—didn’t know what went into making maps, either.
For the first time in her life, the idea of exploring unknown regions made a chill run down her spine.
She had been so focused on fighting that she had forgotten the true purpose of adventuring. It was her occupation, and yet missing such a key piece of the puzzle gave her pause.
At the same time, she held a tremendous new respect for Lulune.
“You’re…very good…”
“Ah-ha-ha, if you knew how many times Lord Hermes has taken me outside the city into some old ruins or through dark caves, you’d know why. I’m used to this kind of thing.”
Asfi gave the order, and the party proceeded down the right path. Meanwhile, Lulune busily updated her map as Aiz watched with interest. The chienthrope recounted some of her experiences with her god, grinding her molars at the same time.
Checking passageways one by one, Aiz and Hermes Familia made their way through the skein of this complicated new labyrinth.
Despite being fully engrossed in her cartography, Lulune didn’t forget to drop crystal shards she’d collected on the eighteenth floor every so often to mark their path. That way, they would always be able to retrace their steps.
“I hate to say it…but it looks like the trap items and camouflage we bought in Rivira won’t be much use.”
“You got a point there…Eh?”
It went without saying that there were no monsters inside this place, so an unnatural silence hung in the passageways. Just as members of the party were beginning to think they were overdue for a discovery of some kind, they stumbled upon one.
Unnaturally scattered piles of ash littered the floor right in the middle of an open passage.
“Dead monsters?”
“Yes. It appears so.”
There were no magic stones to be seen in any of the piles of ash, but Asfi was quick to find a drop item.
“How would that get in here…?” Lulune wondered out loud.
Asfi answered that question as she drew a shortsword from its sheath.
“If my theory is correct, a group of monsters capable of penetrating the ‘gate’ made it this far…and were slain by something else.”
Hearing that, the atmosphere around Hermes Familia drew taut once again. Aiz and others quick to connect the dots were already preparing their weapons as they searched for the slightest sign of trouble.
Monsters strong enough to tear a hole in the fleshy wall that barred their way to the pantry—were now no more than piles of ash. They had been stopped in their tracks.
Asfi directed her team to cover the more vulnerable party members in the rear. Everyone’s senses were on high alert, muscles tensed.
The adventurers focused on every detail around them in the dark openings, the path ahead, and the path behind. As for Aiz…
…She was the only one to look up.
“—Above.”
The sounds of shifting armor and fluttering fabric swept through the party like a wave as Asfi and the others looked toward the ceiling.
Guided by Aiz’s voice, they spotted in the maddeningly dim light many large slithering bodies.
The monsters crawling across the ceiling far above their heads had richly colored flower petals, and several were leaking mucus.
A maw opened to reveal rows of jagged fangs—and the meat-eating plants dropped down a moment later.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
Roars like broken bells assaulted them from every direction as Asfi shouted:
“All units, attack!”
Dodging the falling creatures, Aiz and Hermes Familia charged into battle.
“Levis, we have intruders.”
A man’s voice sounded in an open chamber bathed in ominous red light.
“Monsters?”
“No, adventurers. I knew they’d come,” growled a man dressed in white after the red-haired woman, Levis, asked for confirmation.
The two of them stood still even though many people dressed in robes hurried about in the vicinity. The people appeared to be concerned about the presence of adventurers, call
ing out to one another on the verge of panic.
Levis glanced at them for a moment, unamused.
“A midsize party…They appear formidable.”
A bluish white liquid membrane in the shape of the moon covered a nearby flesh wall. The battle between plants and adventurers was reflected in its shiny surface.
Levis showed no interest in the display—that is, until a beautiful swordswoman with blond hair and golden eyes appeared. Her eyes flared.
She stood up with a start from her seat on the floor. “That’s Aria.”
“What?”
The woman’s whisper got the man’s attention.
His lips twitched in confusion as he realized that Levis’s green gaze was glued to Aiz.
“The Sword Princess is Aria…? Impossible.”
“Oh, she is.”
The short, red-haired woman stood, acting like a completely different person. Her demeanor itself had become ferocious.
Like a hunter on the cusp of a kill or a messenger from hell set to unleash a calamity, her overwhelming presence was cold as ice.
She glared at the girl reflected in the liquid membrane.
“I’m going. Separate Aria from the rest.”
“…Fine.”
But the woman hadn’t waited for a response. She already had her back to him, heading deeper into the chamber.
Illuminated by the bloodred light, the woman’s ferocious visage melted into the darkness.
A fierce battle raged beneath a bluish white flower blooming on the ceiling.
The monsters charged into large shields, launching their bodies like battering rams. They hurled their whiplike roots at magic users mid-spell, only to have them swatted away by adventurers in the formation’s center. As the enemies aggressively targeted the casters in the rear of the formation, it took everything Hermes Familia had to hold the monsters at bay. The two sides were evenly matched in a one-step-forward, one-step-back clash of steel and fangs.
“Lulune, where are their magic stones?”
Among the party facing an unknown opponent, the first to get a good grasp on the situation was Asfi.
Fending off multiple enemies with her shortsword, she cut deep into their large bodies whenever possible.
A series of broken howls drew the attention of the other creatures directly to her. However, none of the monsters could land a hit as Asfi jumped and spun between their attacks as if she were light as a feather, causing them to roar in frustration.
“Um, should be in their mouths!”
Lulune fended off her own attackers with a knife not much smaller than her leader’s sword. She hollered the intelligence she had acquired during the attack on Rivira as loud as she could.
“Their mouths, you say,” said Asfi with her eyes focused on the chin of a nearby monster. She deflected one of the whips with her cloak and produced a vial of dark-red liquid from her belt holster.
She flung it straight into the monster’s open mouth in one swift motion—BOOM!
“ah!”
The explosion going off in its throat prevented the beast’s scream from ever being heard. Its magic stone caught in the blast, the predator fell to the ground in a heap of ash.
A special hand grenade that could only be created by an item maker: Burst Oil. Producing it required materials not found inside the city—Asfi had created this potent item using the flower called an obia flare that grew only around the volcanoes on the mainland’s northern regions. One vial, filled with the red liquid that only Asfi could manufacture, was powerful enough to instantly reduce middle-level monsters to smoldering cinders.
Using the powerful items that she designed specifically for herself, Asfi took down one beast after another.
Her allies had adjusted to their enemies’ movements and charged as one, slaughtering the plant monsters within their reach.
“Are you okay?”
“I-I’m fine!”
Aiz had fallen back to the rear of the formation to protect the vulnerable magic users. Any enemies drawn in by the presence of magic energy were laid low immediately.
The prum girl blushed as she looked up at Aiz, but the blond swordswoman was more focused on watching Asfi in combat.
She’s very strong, Aiz thought as her eyes followed the item maker’s white cloak dance while its owner attacked. She fell back to the rear guard as well after learning the monsters targeted people with high Magic, since there was no reason for her to fight alone in the front. Not only was she responsive to her comrades’ plight, but her ability to calmly assess the battlefield and make quick decisions was also head and shoulders above the rest. Aiz couldn’t help but be reminded of her own commander, Finn, as she watched her work.
Thanks to the war tiger’s timely cover, Asfi caught the longsword a supporter tossed toward her and jumped into point-blank range of a carnivorous plant. Striking its head, she sent the beast flying backward.
“Only a few more to clean up…”
Throwing the longsword back to the supporter, Asfi surveyed the battlefield.
She saw Lulune deliver the final blow to the last monster. Her knife pierced its magic stone, turning the creature into a small pile of ash. “Whew,” the thief muttered as she retrieved her knife and rejoined the party.
“If we keep cool during the fight, everything turns out okay, eh?”
“I was concerned when our attacks weren’t getting through…but yes, I can work with these results.”
Lulune did not have good memories of the battle of Rivira, but she was able to regain her confidence thanks to having strong allies at her side. Asfi was concerned about expending too much Burst Oil but was satisfied by how the battle turned out.
The supporters were surprised to see the rich colors of the magic stones but quickly did their jobs and collected the items. The party was on the move once more.
“You mentioned them before, but I’d like to confirm. That was the ‘new species’…?”
“Hard as a rock, damn fast…and a whole mess of ’em. They’re seriously a pain.”
“Sword Princess, if you have any other information pertaining to these unidentified monsters, would you mind telling me what you know?”
“Understood.”
Asfi and Lulune had a short conversation before including Aiz and asking her to share information. She started by saying that blunt force had little effect on them. These carnivorous plant monsters had a lower resistance to sharp weapons and pinpoint attacks.
Next, she confirmed that they responded to Magic and would immediately attack the source.
The party made sure to stay at full attention, constantly scanning their surroundings even as they listened to Aiz’s soft voice.
“…One more thing. They might prioritize attacking other monsters.”
To be more accurate, Aiz had witnessed this behavior only in the caterpillars she had encountered in the Deep Levels. While Loki Familia’s adventurers had been trying to escape from a horde of them on the fifty-first floor, the monsters had ignored them and instead devoured a group of black rhinos that appeared in the hallway. Even now, she could clearly recall every detail.
Although the same behavior had yet to be confirmed in the flower monsters, the two shared the same type of magic stone. Therefore, Aiz thought it was a good idea to inform her allies.
“Cannibalistic monsters? That’s pretty rare.”
Lulune lifted her head from the map she was still sketching. Asfi remained silent but adjusted the silver frame of the glasses on her face.
She then offered an explanation as to why.
“There are two main possibilities as to why one monster would attack another.”
Asfi held up one finger.
“The first is a sudden fight. Either by accident or coincidence, one beast takes an attack from another and strikes back out of revenge. Some have seen this happen in swarms as well.”
Aiz nodded in understanding as Asfi held up a second finger.
“As for the second,
some monsters develop a taste for magic stones.”
The tone of her voice changed as if she was getting into the main point.
“By devouring the magic stone of another, the abilities of the feeding monster will increase in much the same way we receive a Status update.”
“Enhanced species…”
“Indeed. Monsters that consume a large amount of magic stones acquire abilities that are a cut above their original power.”
Aiz’s quiet voice filled a small pause in Asfi’s explanation.
Monsters were born with strong instincts similar across every species. One such instinct was a natural aversion to infighting. However, every so often individuals able to transcend those instincts appeared.
While adventurers gathered excelia to improve their Status, these exceptional monsters adopted a dog-eat-dog policy, consuming others of their kind to strengthen themselves.
In time, they became enthralled by the powerful sensation that eating a magic stone provided. They ended up wandering the Dungeon, craving the stones that lay inside their bestial kin. The ones that became too strong drew the attention of the Guild, who would issue a bounty. Then extermination squads moved in.
“The most well-known of these would be the Bloodstained Troll—a truly ferocious beast that slew many adventurers and hotheads who could only think about money. Even the elite parties called in were wiped out.”
“Oh yeah, I remember that…Took five top-class adventurers to kill that thing, right?”
“Yes. The fact that Freya Familia was successful in the extermination is still fresh in my memory.”
It was for Aiz as well. She remembered when stories about the Troll took root in Orario.
The Bloodstained Troll, a beast that became so powerful that the Guild couldn’t classify its Level, was only an example. Studies found that monsters needed to consume only five magic stones before their increase in power became apparent.
“So what you’re saying is that this new species goes after other monsters to eat their magic stones?”
“That’s my theory, yes. It’s appropriate to believe something has driven them to cannibalism. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there was a great difference in strength between individuals during that battle.”
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 3 Page 11