Chapter 11: Chapter 11: Dungeon O-S (4)

I reached out toward the flickering light behind the altar.

The moment my hand touched the distorted light in thin air,

“Huh?”

My vision changed.

The dark and stuffy underground vanished, and I suddenly found myself standing in a swamp filled with a stagnant smell and humidity.

And as soon as I realized this, a familiar sound rang out.

Ding!

【Hidden Dungeon Found!】

-You have followed the rumors in Gef City and discovered a horrifying truth!

-The ghost stories are real, and the culprits are followers of the God of Tainted Unity.

-Eliminate the Cultists to halt the weakening of the seal...or perhaps you could clear the dungeon itself.

-Either way, the Gods will reward your efforts.

“Wow. I finally see this.”

It was the notification that would appear when one entered a dungeon.

I’d never dared to enter a dungeon before, so I had never seen this in the three years it’s been around.

But was the system inflexible?

Despite having skipped the tedious processes and found the dungeon in an abnormal way, the same message appeared as if I had traced it properly.

Even if it was a standard message, it was still welcome.

As I was taking out the items I had prepared from my inventory with these emotions, Carla came in after me.

“Hic!”

“Are you still hiccuping?”

“I’ve almost stopped hiccuping now…”

Carla spoke as if she were embarrassed. Yet even amidst this, she calmly observed our surroundings. It seemed like she learned well at the academy.

The area where we first set foot upon entering the dungeon was a sort of safe zone.

Of course, we couldn’t clear the dungeon just by staying here. Sooner or later, we had to move… but before that, we could certainly prepare.

That’s why the standard strategy was to assess the surroundings here and make a plan accordingly.

Carla would know this, too. It was taught at the academy, after all.

I took out items from my inventory one by one and handed them to Carla, who was quietly gathering her mana beside me.

“There is no need for detection magic. Cancel it. Start by drinking this instead.”

“A potion? Isn’t it wasteful to start drinking enhancement potions already–huh? Another one? Two? Why do you keep giving them to me?”

“The effects of the potions will wear off eventually. Just drink another one when it does. We have plenty in stock, so just take them.”

The potions I handed to the startled Carla were, in order:

Physical Enhancement Potion, Sensory Enhancement Potion, Odor Removal Potion, Continuous Health Recovery Potion, and Continuous Mana Recovery Potion.

A combination that boosted the overall specs, allowed for avoiding ambushes, and sustained battle capabilities.

These were potions commonly referred to as the ‘meta set’ back in my gaming days.

However, this prioritized versatility.

Fine-tuning was required based on each dungeon’s specifics.

That’s why I took out a few scrolls from my inventory.

“Master? You can’t mean to use those scrolls too…?”

“You know them well. Activate all of them.”

“……”

Carla’s trembling hands reached for the scrolls to tear them… but she hesitated.

“Um… Master?”

“We’re wasting time. What’s wrong?”

“J-Just in case, you know, just in case… You’re not going to sell me off later when you run out of money, right? Right?”

“Huh?”

“But… isn’t it true? You said you were younger than me. You may look like a noble, but you said you’re not one…! What will you do if you run out of money by spending like this…”

“What are you talking about?”

Of course, I would never sell Carla. There was still plenty of gold stacked in my inventory.

But seeing her so anxious made me want to tease her a little.

“Obviously, if I run out of money, I’ll have to sell you.”

“Gah…!”

“But there’s no way I’m going to run out of money.”

“Wha–?”

Carla let out a puzzled noise and tilted her head.

I grinned, watching her platinum blonde hair sway in the wind.

“Listen, Carla, you’re my slave till the day you die. If you don’t want your remaining time as a slave to be miserable, stop worrying and just tear those scrolls.”

“Till the day I die…? Really? Hmmm. In that case, it would be rude for me to question your decisions any further.”

“???”

What was going on? Why was she happy about being threatened?

Whatever the reason, a newly motivated Carla started tearing one scroll after another.

Uhm. Uhm. Uuuhm.

Lightening, Haste, Invisibility, Eagle Vision, Shield.

Each one of these prevented us from sinking into a swamp, allowed us to make the first move, and enhanced our vision to increase our accuracy. The Shield was just a simple precaution.

I watched contentedly as multiple buffs were applied to Carla, taking the time to down my share of potions.

Fully buffed, Carla started moving around, casting simple spells to acclimate herself to the enhanced sensations.

Her expression was now noticeably serious.

People really do change when it comes to matters involving magic.

Lastly, I also tore a few necessary scrolls, completing our preparations.

It was about to begin.

Our first dungeon raid in this world.

The raid itself went smoothly.

Thanks to my exceptional memory, I vividly recalled the dungeon routes from my gaming days, even though it had been three years since I arrived in this world.

So, we kept running towards the boss, occasionally encountering monsters and defeating them, and then running again to defeat more monsters…

Who knows how many times we repeated this forced march.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Go, Carla! Fireball!”

“F-flames! Rise! Explode! Fireball!”

As if hopping across water, Carla, who was nimbly crossing the swamp, reflexively chanted her spell.

She had gotten used to casting it so many times.

Heat gathered on her ostentatiously gold-sparkling staff.

By the time the Big Mouth, who had been staring blankly from a distance, noticed Carla’s magic, it was already too late.

Big Mouth was a monster that couldn’t jump because of its abnormally large head. It could only waddle. It could even barely manage to change direction due to its body structure.

The targeted Big Mouth tried rolling to the side too late… and couldn’t entirely evade the spell, exposing the side of its head.

Kwaaaang!

“Kwaaaaah!!”

An explosion enveloped Big Mouth’s enormous head.

And then flames fiercely burned, as if white phosphorus had been sprayed.

Big Mouth tried to extinguish the flames by plunging its burning head into the swamp, but the fire didn’t subside.

Instead, due to its flammable mucus, the flames spread across its entire body.

“Kwaaaah….”

Eventually, one Big Mouth was engulfed in flames, slowly crumbling into a large pile of ashes.

“Ugh… No matter how many times I see it, I can’t get used to it. Sure, Big Mouth is weak to fire magic, but a fire that doesn’t go out even underwater…”

As Carla said, this was fundamentally impossible.

Fireball was a useful spell, not just because of its flames, but also because of the physical impact and slight knockback effects it had from the explosion.

Still, it was a low-level spell.

Even if Carla were a mid-level mage, how powerful could a spell she cast while running be?

However…

“Ring of Saturation, Necklace of the Fire Elemental, Bracelet of the Quick Strike. Add to that the hidden critical hits. That should be more than enough for a one-shot.”

“The efficiency still isn’t great, Master… I thought we were saving this for the boss monster.”

She wasn’t wrong.

The Ring of Saturation doubled mana consumption but increased the spell’s power by 1.2 times.

The Necklace of the Fire Elemental enhanced fire magic by 20% but also increased the mana consumption for all spells by 20%.

The Bracelet of the Quick Strike had an effect where it would automatically add pre-stored mana to the next spell.

Having been ambushed by Carla’s magic, which was amplified threefold, there was no way a medium-low-level monster like Big Mouth could withstand it.

However, H&A was a game that was extremely sensitive to balance.

There were no effects that were solely beneficial. Everything had its drawbacks.

Just like how my character, who solely focused on mage traits, was penalized by being unable to use magic due to mana insensitivity.

Equipment that boosted power was notoriously inefficient.

The standard approach was to use them only against formidable foes, but…

Such minor problems could be solved with money.

“Low on mana? Then, drink a mana potion. Ah, don’t worry about potion addiction. I deliberately bought high-quality potions that have almost no addictive effect.”

“Ughhh… More potions…”

“Oh, speaking of which, it’s about time to refill the buffs.”

As I pulled out not just the mana potion but also the buffing potion, Carla’s face turned pale.

“Wait a minute, Master! I can literally feel the potions sloshing in my stomach right now… You want me to drink more?!”

“Ah, don’t worry. Once you break the cycle, the efficiency drops significantly. Anyway, we’ll be arriving at the boss soon, so this will be the last one.”

As I ripped open the potion and brought it to Carla’s lips, she shook her head with a quivering expression.

“I can’t anymore…! There’s no way I can take in any more!”

“Don’t worry, you can fit it in. Stop talking and just open up.”

“Ah, I can’t… Gag…”

Come to think of it, she did overeat at the inn yesterday. Maybe she hadn’t fully digested it yet.

I felt a bit sorry, but it couldn’t be helped.

The initial plan for this raid was based on full buffing to begin with.

“Sigh…”

As Carla clamped her mouth shut, I patted her back and quickened my steps.

.

.

.

.

.

And as expected, we soon arrived in front of the boss.

“We’re going to kill it! We’re going to kill it, so I won’t have to drink anymore, right?! Please don’t stop me, Master!”

“Uh, sure.”

I said to Carla, whose belly had swollen noticeably.