“What are you doing!”
Akito pointed his fingertip at the worm and unleashed Lightning. The worm, convulsing from the Lightning Strike, calmed down and stopped moving.
In that instant, Rui dashed forward and neatly sliced the worm’s torso in two with his Katana.
The worm’s long body rolled away. Rui rushed over and checked the severed end, spotting Yuma’s head a little further inside.
“Are you okay!? Yuma?”
“Ah, yeah… that was close.”
With Rui and Akito’s help, Yuma managed to crawl out of the worm’s mouth. He grimaced, his face twisting in disgust as he realized his entire body was covered in slime. “Ugh…”
“You shouldn’t fight strong Monsters, you need to run away,” Rui scolded, and Yuma pouted, “I know, but…”
“I was fighting some leech and earthworm Monsters when this boss-like thing showed up. I thought, ‘Maybe I can take it?’ and attacked, but… as expected of an Abyssal Monster. It was pretty tough.”
“Idiot! That’s not an Abyssal Monster.”
“Eh!? Really?”
Yuma’s eyes widened in surprise at Akito’s correction.
“It’s just a big earthworm! You should be able to defeat Monsters like that in your base state!”
“No, I almost had it! I learned a new way to use Wind Magic, and I was using it to make Holes in its body.”
Yuma showed his index finger to Akito and Rui.
As the two leaned in, peering intently, they saw a swirling, transparent sphere at the tip of Yuma’s finger.
“Hey, isn’t that… the Second Tier of Wind Magic, [Vacuum Magic]!?”
At Akito’s words, Yuma and Rui exclaimed, “Eh!?” and their eyes widened.
“This is the Second Tier of Wind Magic? What’s Vacuum Magic?”
“That’s amazing, Yuma! Being able to use Second Tier Magic means the Magical Power of the Green Magic Gem you absorbed exceeded 10,000!”
Yuma didn’t quite understand, but he nodded for the time being, “O-oh, is that so?”
“Can you make it bigger? If you master it, it’ll be a powerful weapon!”
Urged by Akito, Yuma puffed out his cheeks and said, “I’ll try.” He focused his mind on his fingertip and strained, “Gnnn…”
However, the transparent sphere didn’t change, remaining about the size of his pinky fingernail.
“Tiny!! There’s no way that’s useful!”
“S-shut up! I just learned it, so it can’t be helped!”
Yuma retorted, his face flushed. Rui, seeing this, said, “Now, now,” and calmed him down.
“It’s true that if your Wind Magical Power just barely exceeds 10,000, you might only be able to use a weak [Vacuum Magic]. But the fact that you can use it at all is important. If your Magical Power increases more, I think it’ll be plenty useful in actual combat.”
“Y-yeah, that’s right!”
Yuma looked at the sphere on his fingertip again.
If he could master this, it would become a pretty powerful weapon. If that happened, he wouldn’t have to use [Metallization] to conquer Dungeons as easily!
That’s what Yuma thought, but—
Two hundred and sixty-fourth Stratum.
“Aaaah!!”
Yuma was sent flying by a giant centipede, crashing to the ground and rolling.
“Ouch, ouch…”
As Yuma held his head and sat up, Rui, who had come to help, turned the centipede to ash with a brilliant strike.
“Yuma, are you hurt?”
“Ah, I’m fine. But these guys aren’t dropping any Magic Gems at all. At this rate, the power of my Vacuum Magic won’t increase.”
“Hmm, I guess there’s a limit to how many Magic Gems we can collect on our own. I wonder if Kaira-san and the others have picked any up? Maybe we can ask them for some.”
Yuma pondered Rui’s words. The purpose of this Dvarapala Conquest wasn’t to collect Magic Gems.
Searching for small Magic Gems took time and effort, so he didn’t know if Kaira and the others were collecting them in this dangerous Dungeon.
As they were talking, Akito interjected.
“Even if they did pick some up, they have no obligation to give them to us. How are you planning to ask for Magic Gems?”
Rui looked up, furrowing his brow.
“Hmm… say that Yuma’s Mana Index increased, so he wants Magic Gems…?”
“That’s a stretch~. There’s no way to verify if it increased or not. I don’t think Kaira-san will be convinced.”
He couldn’t think of a good excuse, but he decided to ask Kaira for the time being.
That being said, this was a Dungeon teeming with powerful Monsters. Yuma and the others continued to defeat the Monsters that attacked them until their numbers dwindled.
◇◇◇
“Good grief… the level of the Monsters appearing is definitely increasing. It’s getting a little tough.”
Akito complained as he pulled his spear out of a large beetle.
Yuma and the others had defeated the surrounding Monsters and were finally able to catch their breath. As he scanned the area for Kaira, he spotted her about a hundred meters away.
In a corner surrounded by forest trees, Kaira was with the Indian Seekers.
As the three were about to go to Kaira, they were called out to on the way.
“Oh, young ones. You’re all safe, I see.”
It was Anik. The four members of the Peacock King (Mahamayuri) were with him.
The four men and women’s battle suits were tattered, but Anik’s clothes were still clean.
He gave them his usual gentle smile.
“Anik-san, you’re safe as well.”
When Yuma asked, Anik let out his characteristic laugh, “Hyah, hyah, hyah.”
“I’m already old enough to die anytime, but it seems God hates me, and the Grim Reaper won’t come for me. So I’m still kicking.”
Anik laughed cheerfully, but his four attendants gave wry smiles with indescribable expressions.
“That’s right! Let’s ask Anik-san too.”
At Rui’s words, Anik replied, “What is it? I wonder if I can answer it.”
Yuma and the others explained that they were collecting Green Magic Gems and asked if Anik and the Indian Seekers had collected any.
“You’re collecting Green Magic Gems? We’ve been picking up anything that catches our eye, but we haven’t been actively collecting them.”
When Yuma asked, “Is that so?” Anik nodded.
“Well, this Dungeon Conquest isn’t for commercial purposes. Magic Gems wouldn’t be of any use anyway. Everyone is desperate to survive.”
Akito raised an eyebrow at Anik’s words as he stroked his white beard.
“But if you defeat Abyssal Monsters, your Mana Index should increase at least a little, right? Then you can increase your Magical Power with Magic Gems. I think there’s a reason to pick them up.”
Yuma recalled a past memory. When he heard about the Mana Wall from the president, he said that even if a person’s Mana Index reached its limit, it would continue to increase if they defeated Abyssal Monsters.
If that was the case, Magic Gems should be an important resource in this Dungeon with Abyssal Monsters, Yuma thought, but—
“It’s true that even for people who have reached their Mana limit, Mana will increase if they defeat Abyssal Monsters. However, it seems that there is a limit to that as well. In the end, it plateaus. The top-tier Seekers here are seasoned veterans. They’ve already reached their limits. That’s why picking up Magic Gems is meaningless.”
This was new information. Even Akito and Rui seemed to be hearing it for the first time.
“Although there are individual differences, it’s not like the Mana Index will increase infinitely by tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. If there was someone like that, they would be a true monster.”
Anik laughed loudly, “Hyah, hyah, hyah.”
Hearing that, Yuma thought. I’ve already exceeded that limit…