Chapter 148
Gumi Slime.
“The demon on Quratar’s 23rd floor is the Gumi Slime. It is weak to fire, wind and water magics. It doesn’t have a resistance against any magic. It uses earth area of effect magic, but it doesn’t seem to have any resistance to earth magic.”
We arrive on the 23rd floor.
Sherry gives us a briefing.
“The Gumi Slime? That’s nostalgic.”
“It’s difficult to fight because it’s resistant to swords and spears. It will also absorb a person into it, and the absorbed person will suffer damage when it is attacked, unless it’s a magic attack.”
“Can you melt it away?”
“Yes, and it needs to be defeated before the absorbed person is digested.”
It’s a troublesome demon that I’ve encountered before.
Since I’m on the 23rd floor now, they will be Lv23 and stronger than last time.
“Demons other than those one the 1st floor can appear outside?”
“If there is a village near the labyrinth then only the demons on the first floor will appear outside, that’s because there are lots of people nearby, and the demons won’t need to move far from the entrance. They also won’t be very aggressive. Demons from the 12th floor will show up if there isn’t many people nearby, and they’ll travel further from the labyrinth. Demons from the 23rd floor will come out if there is nobody nearby, and they will travel long distances and aggressively attack people for food.”
That happens?
I understand that a labyrinth eats people for food. So that’s what a labyrinth does if there is nobody nearby?
It sends out stronger demons to travel and attack people.
There were Gumi Slime’s near Vale. They must have come from a long distance.
It didn’t seem like it was unusual, and the route was patrolled.
It seems like a nuisance.
“Roxanne, can you find a group that just has one or two of them for us to fight?”
“I think so.”
I’d like to set the skill of Jobless to one of the Gumi Slime’s weaknesses, but I won’t be able to change it for a while after I set it.
Basic Earth Magic will do for now as the skill of Jobless.
Earth magic is the weakness of the Clamshell on floor 22, and the Kettle Mermaid on floor 21 in Quratar.
We could keep hunting here until breakfast, but the hunting speed might not be that good.
The Gumi Slime has a lot of weaknesses, just not Earth magic.
We’ll fight to test it out a couple of times, and then we might go to Haruba.
The first time you encounter a demon you should be wary, but I’ve fought a Gumi Slime before, and I’ve already experienced Lv23 with the Scissor Lizards.
There shouldn’t be a problem.
Roxanne guides us to a place with three Gumi Slime Lv23.
It’s a nostalgic gel demon.
There are no other demons either, so each vanguard can take one on.
As expected of Roxanne.
Four people start running at once.
I use Lava Hell, the combination of earth magic and fire magic, and then run after them.
The Gumi slimes didn’t use their area effect magic before the vanguards met them.
The three vanguards confronted the three Gumi Slimes.
Roxanne easily avoided the body slam of the Gumi Slime.
Vesta drove both her swords into the Gumi Slime.
“It really doesn’t feel that effective.”
“Don’t worry about attacking it Vesta, concentrate on defense and evasion.”
“Yes, I think so too.”
Vesta nods to Roxanne’s opinion.
Though it’s possible to evade even if you aren’t focusing on it if you’re Roxanne.
Since Miria has the Estoc of Petrification, she should attack it.
The skill will work even if the damage doesn’t have much effect.
A magic formation appears under the Gumi Slime on the left.
Did it try to use area effect magic or regular magic? I don’t knw, because Sherry cancelled it.
The Gumi Slime in the center shakes wildly as it attacks Roxanne.
Roxanne sways and parries it.
“I did it, desu!”
The Gumi Slime to the right is petrified.
The slime becomes hard.
It has a strange shape like it’s defying gravity, probably because it was petrified in the middle of an attack.
It seems the petrification skill does work like normal.
Miria moves around the back of the petrified demon, and attacks the demon in the center.
I destroy the Gumi Slime with magic.
After the Gumi Slime that had become a stone, I defeated the other two as well.
The combat time was longer than it was with the Scissor Lizard, but that’s probably because Jobless’s skill was earth magic.
That will be the standard as we move up in floors.
If both the Scissor Lizard and Gumi Slime appear, I can only focus on one.
“Roxanne, was the Gumi Slime going to absorb you?”
“Yes. You need to be careful not to be absorbed.”
Sherry asks Roxanne after the combat ends.
Was it that thing where the Gumi Slime shook wildly?
Is that how it absorbs you?
“It’s good that we could experience that right at the start. With this, I think we’ll be fine on Quratar’s 23rd floor.”
“Yes. I think we’ll be alright.”
I said to Roxanne after she had confirmed the smell of the surroundings.
Are you checking to see if there’s an easy fight nearby?
It’s good.
Roxanne picks up a slime starch and passes it to me.
“It seems we’ll be able to fight against the Gumi Slime.”
Sherry’s approval gives me peace of mind.
“Starch, desu.”
Miria and Vesta also bring slime starch.
You remember the name because it’s used to fry tempura?
If fish are involved, you are strong.
Slime starch doesn’t seem to be a rare drop since three were left behind.
After putting them in the box, we head to Haruba’s 23rd floor.
We’ll explore until breakfast, and then enter the labyrinth again later.
The opponents are Scissor Lizards.
Earth magic is the Scissor Lizards weakness.
Ma Bream from the 22nd floor’s weakness is also Earth magic, so Haruba’s 23rd floor is a floor which is relatively easy to fight on.
Since the demons become more powerful on the 23rd floor, this is welcome.
We should be able to adapt to the upper levels relatively smoothly.
Though the Scissor Lizards have gotten stronger, I’ve gotten stronger as well with my earrings and saint spear.
We can fight without a problem.
The 23rd floor is fine.
Our party will be fine even if we go up a few more floors.
Our levels started rising again too.
By evening, I became Explorer Lv46
For an Explorer, it’s easy to notice that your level has increased when you use your item box.
Explorer reached Lv45 several days ago, but Lv44 was a long time before that.
The time it took to pass Lv45 was quite short.
With the stronger Scissor Lizards, the experience must have gone up as well.
If not, it would have taken longer to reach Explorer Lv46.
I can’t hope that the level will go up every day, but it should go up easier for a while.
My level became difficult to increase at Lv40, and Roxanne’s slowed down at Lv30, so I think the next wall will be Lv50.
That’s good.
Since Explorer Lv50 is the condition for Adventurer, I can switch to Adventurer when Explorer stops at Lv50.
Roxanne’s level went up yesterday.
Roxanne is Beast Warrior Lv32, Sherry is Master Smith Lv35, Miria is Assassin Lv21, and Vesta is Dragon Knight Lv30.
Roxanne became Knight Lv33 yesterday, and I changed it in secret with Beast Warrior Lv32.
It has not gone up yet since I switched it.
Sherry became master Smith Lv35, so my worries about smithing are becoming less and less.
If she fails in the crafting on a new piece of equipment, we can re-try it reasonably soon.
We should succeed.
Of course, Miria’s Assassin went up because it’s level is still low.
I think petrification may have occurred more often this evening?
Maybe it’s my imagination?
You can consider that Vesta is full-fledged now because she made it to Lv30.
She is a reliable vanguard.
There is a sense of security that you get standing behind the giant Vesta as she wields two swords.
Demons appear, and four people start running.
One Scissor Lizard, and one Ma Bream.
I use double earth magic, and start running as well.
Roxanne and Vesta face the demons.
Miria goes to the side and attacks the Scissor Lizard.
Sherry arrives at the same time, so we don’t get hit by area effect magic.
I also caught up after shooting magic.
I attack Ma Bream with the saint spear.
I attack it from Vesta’s diagonal so I don’t interfere with Sherry.
I don’t know if attacking with the saint spear will decrease the amount of times I have to attack with magic.
Sometimes it’s not enough.
I’d rather do it than not though.
I need to keep training.
“I did it, desu!”
The Scissor Lizard became petrified.
It’s petrified with it’s scissors raised.
Is it easier for Miria to petrify things?
All attacks concentrate on Ma Bream.
Ma Bream was defeated with [Sand Ball].
Saint spear is put away in the item box, and Durandal is pulled out with [Character Reset].
My MP was getting low.
I’m the only one attacking the Scissor Lizard.
The lizard is killed from the continuous attacks from Durandal.
I defeated it with no trouble because it did not move.
“I’ll be fighting with the sword Roxanne, so lead us to a place with just a few demons.”
I remove the earing of offerings, and take out my sacrificial misanga.
It’s troublesome, but I have to think of safety.
I don’t want to regret it later.
I make my sixth job Warrior as well.
“Um, I’ll tie it on.”
“You will? Then please tie it to my wrist.”
I specified because Roxanne might try and tie it to my ankle.
I hold out my right hand, and the sacrificial misanga gets tied on.
“I’m glad to help, Master.”
“You’re always useful Roxanne, Thank you.”
“Thank you too.”
Roxanne ties it on as she checks the smell of the surroundings.
When she finishes tying it, she leads us off.
When we follow her, a group of one Scissor Lizard and one Ma Bream appear again.
Everyone begins to run.
Vesta stood in front of Ma Bream.
I come from the side and use [Rush] against Ma Bream.
It’s quite cramped in the cave with four vanguards.
With me using Durandal, and Vesta swinging two swords, it’s almost impossible to fit.
So we are guided to a place with few demons.
I could pass the Sacred Spear to someone, but it would be a waste to remove Roxanne from the front line.
Miria has the Estoc of Petrification.
Vesta is the Lv30 Dragon Knight.
So I just decided on Roxanne guiding us somewhere with few demons.
If there’s not many demons, there’s less chance I’ll be attacked.
If there’s just two, I can fight safely from the back, like with the boss.
Ma Bream first, and then Scissor Lizard are killed.
After another group, Durandal is removed.
I can absorb a considerable amount of MP from one Scissor Lizard.
Even if there isn’t many, I don’t need to fight much.
“Can you take this off?”
“Um, can Sherry do it?”
“Ok, Sherry, can you remove this?”
“Yes.”
Are they taking turns?
I hold out my right hand, and the sacrificial misanga is removed by Sherry.
After that I equip the earrings of offerings.
It’s still troublesome.
After recovering MP, we’ll make this the last bit of exploration for today.
We are hit by area of effect magic.
A Scissor Lizard stayed behind to shoot it, so Sherry’s spear did not reach it.
The area of effect magic isn’t dangerous, but it’s painful.
If it’s used more often, or the damage becomes large, we’ll have to make counter measures. If it stays like this, it’s fine.
It’s not a problem, but it’s not light enough to ignore either.
It’s just annoying.
There’s no problem if it’s not fired in rapid succession, and we defeat a demon.
A Ma Bream is defeated, and the Scissor Lizard comes forward.
It can’t fire in rapid succession like this.
The Scissor Lizard that came forward is petrified, it and another Scissor Lizard are defeated, and an Rtoll Troll is defeated last.
I treated everyone as they collected the items.
Vesta still doesn’t need much treatment.
Does she have low sensitivity to damage?
It’s troublesome to treat everyone separately, but it can’t be helped.
It could be serious if I don’t stop to treat everyone properly.
It’s a good thing to do.
There are some plans for medical treatment too.
Tomorrow is the day the clothes I ordered are ready.
We should train immediately.
A waterfall awaits me.