Chapter 17: The Long Road to the Imperial Capital – 05
After effortlessly clearing out numerous Minotaurs on the first and second floors, we advanced through the third and fourth floors, annihilating the Manticore, a lion-headed beast, with the same ease. By the time we reached the fifth floor, we had taken down a Wyvern and pressed on without a moment’s rest until we arrived at the mid-boss room.
Before the heavy stone door, Larni spoke, sounding a bit underwhelmed.
“Hmm, this feels too easy. What was the mid-boss on the fifth floor again?”
“It’s the Metal Beast,” Mariane, our information specialist, replied smoothly. “It’s a four-legged beast-type Golem. It has high physical defense and moves quickly. Being a Golem, it’s resistant to magic, making it a tough opponent. Its weak points are the joints, and the usual strategy is to take out its legs to defeat it.”
Larni twitched her ears and shrugged. “But it’s a physical type, right? Then it should go down in one hit from Soushi.”
“That would be the case. Although it’s a large enemy, there’s no way it can withstand a blow from Soushi’s mace.”
“Right. If there are multiple, Soushi can just step forward and take them out. But I’d like to leave one alive, if possible.”
Larni patted my shoulder. Well, considering I had barely participated in the minor battles, I was grateful for that suggestion.
“Understood. Let’s go with that. Now, let’s enter.”
With me leading the way, we stepped into the boss room. The space inside was vast, about the size of a soccer field.
As we arranged our formation, the boss appeared.
Standing over two meters tall, the Golem resembled a feline creature, its entire body covered in a dull metallic sheen. It had sword-like fangs in its mouth and claw-like blades on its forelegs.
Three of them emerged, all appearing to be standard bosses.
“Alright, bring it on.”
I stepped forward and activated my Provoke skill. The three Metal Beasts charged at me as if repelled.
The first one spread its forelegs wide, attempting to slash me with its claws. I met its attack with my raised mace. The steel foreleg crumpled like paper, and with a swift return strike, the mace crushed its head as well.
The second one tried to bite me from the side, but that was a grave mistake. My mace swung with momentum-defying force, smashing into its side, and the Metal Beast’s head exploded as if it had turned to liquid.
Seeing the first two destroyed in an instant, the last one hesitated, pulling back just in time to avoid my attack. Its movement resembled the Honshin skill, but what was more impressive was its judgment. Though it was a Golem, it seemed to possess a high level of intelligence.
“Wow, it really goes down in one hit. Alright, Soushi, the rest is up to you!”
Larni, Karma, Mariane, and Sakurahime rushed past me to the front.
As the Metal Beast braced itself, the backline unleashed a barrage of magic attacks, but it skillfully dodged most of them. Still, a few spells landed, inflicting damage that gouged its surface.
Karma and Sakurahime attacked from the front and sides. The Metal Beast dodged Karma’s great sword, but Sakurahime’s naginata struck its foreleg. At the moment of impact, the tip of the naginata seemed to split, likely due to the effect of the Phantom Blade skill. Three deep gashes appeared on the Metal Beast’s foreleg.
The Metal Beast seemed to falter for a moment but retaliated with its opposite foreleg, aiming to slash Sakurahime.
“Not so fast!”
Karma intercepted the claw with her great sword, pushing back the foreleg with sheer force.
Seizing the moment, Larni’s Mithril Sword sliced through the joint of its hind leg. The Great Severance and Vital Strike skills worked wonders. Mariane targeted the opposite joint, and while she didn’t manage to sever it, it seemed she had inflicted the Action Stop effect.
“I’ll take the head!”
Karma’s great sword came down in a powerful strike, cleaving the head of the immobilized Metal Beast, bringing our first A-Rank mid-boss battle to a close.
Three treasure chests appeared, all silver, containing two Orichalcum Ingots and a silver bracelet with the effect of Agility +3.
“I apologize, but I need that high-level Agility for myself,” I said, and without hesitation, they agreed.
The issue was that I no longer needed the Pearl Ring, which had the overlapping effect of Agility +2…
“Let’s discuss who will wear this after dinner tonight,” Sfenia said, her demeanor unusually intense. Freinir, Larni, Shizuna, and Karma nodded seriously in response. Mariane, having already received the Agility +1 ring last time, seemed unconcerned.
It would likely end up being a lottery again, but it was impressive that we could enjoy such moments while tackling an A-Class dungeon.
The next day of our expedition began.
Sfenia was in a good mood right from waking up. It seemed she had won the lottery the previous night, and I couldn’t help but notice her wearing the new ring on her left ring finger, which piqued my curiosity.
I wasn’t sure how rings were regarded in this world, but asking about it felt like digging my own grave, so I refrained. Interestingly, Mariane had also subtly shifted her ring to her left ring finger.
Now, onto the dungeon.
On the sixth and seventh floors, we faced the Ogre Adept wielding a great sword, followed by the Titanoboa, a massive boar, on the eighth and ninth floors, and finally, the Small Dragon on the tenth floor.
This was similar to the first five floors of the Foundation of the Royal Family, but since they were all physical types, there were no issues with Soul’s Guidance. The Ogre Adept appeared in groups of ten or more, but Sfenia, Freinir, Shizuna, and Geshura handled about ten of them with their First Strike skill magic attacks, leaving little for the frontliners to do.
Thanks to the Titanoboa, we amassed a large quantity of high-quality meat, causing the beastfolk Larni and Karma to rejoice. I also confirmed that Sfenia, the Elf, was wearing a delighted expression.
The boss was two Freezing Lizards, a rare boss from the C-Class dungeon.
These ice-element giant lizards posed no problem since we had already fought them. I was astonished when Sfenia’s advanced fire magic, Flare Circle, nearly obliterated one of them in an instant.
“I believe it’s largely due to Soushi’s Vessel of the Commander effect. From what I remember, Flare Circle has never been this powerful,” she explained.
If this is related to the leveling up of the Vessel of the Commander skill, its usefulness might exceed our expectations.
Both treasure chests were silver, one containing Elemental Silk and the other an Orichalcum Ingot.
It felt oddly like Orichalcum was accumulating too easily… as if I were being urged to hurry to the Dwarven village.
“Hey, Soushi, do you think we can push through five more floors today?” Larni suggested as we exited the boss room and entered the safety zone.
Considering it felt like we had only spent four to five hours, it was indeed possible time-wise.
However, looking around at the members, I noticed that Shizuna and Sakurahime seemed a bit fatigued. They were still not quite ready for A-Class dungeons, so it was understandable.
“No, since it’s our first A-Class dungeon, we should proceed with caution. The difficulty could spike significantly from here on out.”
“Right… Safety first is important, and I want to enjoy that meat tonight, so it’s better to take it slow,” Larni seemed to have picked up on Shizuna and Sakurahime’s condition and immediately began preparing for our camp.