“Right.”
“――Ice Whip――”
At Aria-san’s voice, I lashed out with the Ice Whip without even checking.
The shriek of a beast reached my ears. Without turning my head, I scattered Ice Lances in the direction of the shriek to finish it off.
…Not being able to burn them is a pain, isn’t it? Because if I don’t destroy the corpses, I can’t tell immediately if they’re dead, and the feeling of having killed them is faint.
We had advanced to around the sixtieth floor of the dungeon.
I wonder how many days it’s been today? Aria-san is meticulous, so I think she remembers, but I wasn’t interested, so I didn’t count. If I were diving alone like before, I wonder if I would have counted properly…
But there’s no point in such hypotheticals. Because if there’s someone nearby who remembers, there’s no need for me to, right? I won’t be adventuring with anyone other than Aria-san anyway. I’m just here to kill Aria-san’s enemies.
Still, I’ve started to get used to fighting without fire. If I don’t know what kind of enemy needs how much power to kill in one hit, I’ll end up wasting shots.
I think I can put out a bit more power. At least for ice and lightning, I want more power than before.
Back when I had all attributes, my strength was being able to fight flexibly using all sorts of magic, but now that I have one less attribute, I have to fundamentally change my fighting style.
What can I do? What am I capable of?
What can I do for Aria-san?
Well, for now…
“――Digvolt――”
The Digvolt I unleashed traveled across the frozen stone floor and wiped out the surrounding enemies.
“It’s all beast-types, huh?”
“Indeed.”
After the battle ended, while watching Aria-san collect meat and Magic Stones from only the large ones, we engaged in idle chatter.
I can butcher too, but Aria-san is better at it, so I just watch. Kitty-chan doesn’t butcher at all, so she’s eating the meat from some suitable prey.
“Let’s eat too. Then we’ll take a short nap.”
“Alright, alright.”
This is the good thing about a small party. If we find a reasonably good spot, we can rest when we want and eat when we want. We can’t see the sun in the first place, so there’s no need to sleep all at once at night.
“I wonder what’s for dinner today~♪”
“Not going to help?”
“Aria-san, you’re quite the challenger, aren’t you?”
“I’m using organ meat today.”
Aria-san quickly gave up on making me help and started preparing to cook.
It’s been quite a while since we started diving into the dungeon, but we still have plenty of leeway, both mentally and physically.
We have Shadow Storage, so we don’t need to carry lots of luggage or food, water can be managed with Utility Magic, injuries and illnesses can be healed with Light Magic, and we can clean our bodies with [Cleanse], so we don’t worry about splattered blood.
But what’s really significant mentally is that we don’t have to worry about ingredients.
This time, it was freshly hunted liver boiled from water, with dried vegetables and beans added, seasoned with salt and a small amount of spices.
“It’s nutritious.”
“Well, I suppose so.”
The taste… isn’t bad. It could even be classified as human food. If Aria-san seriously focused only on nutritional value, she’d make us drink some unidentifiable gooey stuff. But…
“Why is it sour?”
“I added sour fruit to prevent scurvy.”
In response to my question, Aria-san showed me an unfamiliar fruit she took from her Shadow Storage, which she said keeps well.
Aria-san said that if you store liver in Shadow Storage for a few hours, parasites will die off and it can be eaten raw, but that’s impossible for me.
Aria-san isn’t fundamentally a bad cook, so why does she like to use such strange ingredients?
Aria-san cooks organ meat not just because she’s particular about nutritional value, but also because we get too much meat.
This is supposed to be a dungeon of humanoid beastkin-types, but the deeper we go, the fewer humanoids there are, and beast-type Monsters have become more prominent.
In short, it means we have an all-you-can-eat supply of organ meats that normally wouldn’t keep well. Though, Monster meat has too much Magical Element, so ordinary people don’t eat it much.
“…As I thought, a change is occurring in the dungeon’s ecosystem.”
Aria-san murmured this as if she had read my thoughts.
“You said that before, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I thought the humanoid Monsters had temporarily decreased, and the beasts that were their prey had turned into Monsters, but the beast-type Monsters have increased far more than I expected.”
Beasts prepared by the dungeon for the beastkin.
I think the dungeon extends parts of itself like roots to capture them, but since they were originally prey, the beast-type Monsters we encountered were mostly deer and boars, and even the ferocious ones were only around the level of dire wolves.
But, setting aside the wolf-types, can deer and boars defeat Orcs and Ogres, even if their numbers have decreased?
In reality, they are defeating them, so I suppose they can. Because of the Magical Element filling the dungeon, turning into a Monster should be relatively easy, but…
“Perhaps a powerful Monster is developing.”
Aria-san let slip.
“And it defeated the remaining strong beastkin.”
Responding to that, I begin my speculation.
A culling among Monsters began within the dungeon, and from that, an existence that stood head and shoulders above the rest was born. But it wasn’t one of the beastkin originally in this dungeon; it was a beast-type Monster.
That Monster, seeking stronger prey and Magical Element, advanced deeper, devouring beastkin and growing stronger.
“I sense something intentional.”
“…Is the dungeon’s will making it so?”
This time, Aria-san responded to my murmur.
“A new boss is necessary, isn’t it? I don’t know if it’s the dungeon’s will or a spirit’s will, but if so… a considerably powerful Monster is emerging.”
When I spoke of serious matters in a light tone, Kitty-chan, who had her eyes closed, twitched her whiskers, and Aria-san let out a slow sigh.
The dungeon is probably giving up on the beastkin and trying to change into a beast-type dungeon.
What a pain… There might be Monsters we’ve never seen before.
As I was thinking about such things, Aria-san finished cleaning up after the meal, called out to me, and lay down, snuggling into her cloak.
Like a cat…
“Let’s sleep soon. We’ll move as soon as we wake up. If that worst-case speculation is correct, there should be even fewer Monsters on the lower floors, so we should advance as much as possible now.”
“…Understood.”
Being able to immediately find an advantage even from the worst-case prediction is, well, a good thing, I suppose.
There’s an unknown enemy. I think we can beat most enemies, but the opponent might not be a straightforward one.
My power, no longer all-attribute, has decreased.
Before we reach the lowest floor, I have to find my own way of fighting.
Aria-san uses Light and Dark magic and has acquired the powerful ability called World Rejection.
So, what do I have?
“………”
I also took a spare cloak from my Shadow Storage, used it as a pillow, and went to sleep.
…It seems tomorrow will be tiring.
Normally, you wouldn’t be this relaxed after spending weeks in a dungeon.
Assassin (Rank 5), Magic User (Rank 5), Phantasmal Beast (Rank 6).
As expected, Utility Magic and Storage magic are essential for survival, aren’t they?