Growth (2)
"Today we are again conducting an expedition in the Mutan Colony dungeon."
"Again? Hah~ How many days has it been since you started tackling that place?"
"Exactly one week today."
"A week..."
"....."
Montblanc folded his arms as the fairy reported. Thanks to that gesture, her chest stood out even more, and the fairy's gaze naturally drifted toward the valley between her master's breasts. Even though she was a fairy, she was still a woman.
"Has the dungeon not been cleared yet? You've been clinging to the Mutan Colony for quite some time."
Montblanc's voice carried a trace of disappointment.
The disciple Chae Gillard had praised him as exceptional. No matter how high the recommended level was, staying in a single dungeon for a week without returning to the city made him seem incompetent.
Only then did the fairy snap back to her senses and shook her head in reply.
"That is not the case. The dungeon was already cleared three days ago."
"Really? Then why are you still there?"
"I believe it is for the fairy's own growth. The archer fairy does not have a high level or grade."
"That's true. Hah~ How interesting."
Montblanc nodded with a snort, the disappointment that had lingered in her voice now vanished.
Expeditioning for growth was only natural. But dungeon expeditions were grueling work, and normally one could manage only two or three runs per day. One had to pace one's stamina, and above all, since dungeons were places where death could come at any moment, the best condition was required.
Yet Alan and his party were different.
Once they entered, they rarely came out. They only left when their bags were overflowing with monster loot. The moment the bags were emptied, they would dive straight back in.
They repeated the dungeon expeditions multiple times a day, and not just any dungeon, but one with a high recommended level.
Even Montblanc, who was 233 years old this year, had never seen such single-minded determination.
'So there really is something to it.'
When Chae Gillard praised Alan, he had said that Alan was grasping something invisible.
'What could that be?'
Montblanc had become curious about the secret that allowed Alan and his party to repeat dungeon expeditions every single day, unlike other masters. Perhaps the invisible something Chae had mentioned was related to that.
"What do you intend to do?"
"For now, leave them be. If they want to keep farming the dungeon, let them. And tell them to return to the city in four days. There is something I must command them to do."
"Yes, Master."
The fairy bowed her head to Montblanc, turned, and walked out. She moved slowly, thinking perhaps her master might call her back, but Montblanc did not call her until she reached the door handle. Disappointed, the fairy let her shoulders droop.
*****
"Uwaaah—! Uooooooogh—!"
"Pathetic creatures!"
Abraham activated his [Provocation Shout (Lv.20/General)] skill, and five white Mutans let out cries as they charged at him. A relentless barrage of wooden clubs rained down on his square shield.
A loud explosion rang out. But Abraham, who had grown at an unbelievable speed over the past week, did not utter a single groan as he endured the Mutans' attacks.
"Haaat!"
Kanisia burst out from Abraham's right side. Her rare-grade lance was wrapped in her white mana. When she thrust the lance, the tough hide of the Mutan tore with surprising ease. The Mutan struck in the left armpit screamed.
Even monsters possessed traits and skills just like masters and fairies. If one were to classify the white Mutans as 4-star monsters, their traits would be [Long Fur] and [Tough Hide].
[Long Fur] increased the evasion rate against physical attacks, while [Tough Hide] raised defense against physical damage. Judging purely by the trait setup, they were hard-counter monsters for the close-range class.
Yet even those traits of the white Mutans were useless against Kanisia.
Kanisia's class, [Power Lance], was a hybrid class capable of both physical and magical attacks. Without mana on the lance it dealt physical damage, and with mana it switched to magical. To the white Mutans, Kanisia was their natural enemy.
"Kaang—!"
"Master, be careful!"
"Don't worry!"
At that moment, a fiery fireball flew toward Kanisia from beyond the white Mutans. Abraham had warned her, but his master had already known of the fireball's existence.
She had expected it to come at any moment, having experienced countless ambushes.
"Kwaang—!"
Kanisia skillfully used her [Power Lance (Lv.21/General)] skill to intercept the fireball. The fireball exploded above the white Mutans' heads and scattered sparks downward. The white Mutans, whose fur caught fire, screamed and rolled on the ground to put out the flames.
"Yap!"
Oralisa, who had been stealthily running along the treetops like a forest fairy, fired an arrow. It was her [Invisible Arrow (Lv.10/General)] skill. The arrow hidden in the darkness was invisible, just as its name suggested, and it pierced straight through the neck of the [Red Mutan (★★★★★)] that had fired the fireball.
"Koooook—!"
The red Mutan, which had been about to scream, had its neck pierced by the arrow and could not finish the cry. Although it was a 5-star monster specialized in magic, its body was weaker than the white Mutans, the lowest rank in this dungeon.
"Ooooogh—! Uooooooogh—!"
When the red Mutan, a lieutenant-class monster, died, the surrounding [Brown Mutans (★★★★)] became enraged. They chased after Oralisa who had killed their red comrade.
"Yap! Yap! Yap!"
Oralisa fired arrows at the brown Mutans from the treetops, but the arrows did not pierce their fur or hide. The brown Mutans had lower attack power than the white ones but overwhelmingly higher defense. Oralisa's arrows, still at 4-star level, could not reach them.
"Eh? Eh? I'm in trouble! Master! Save Oralisa like a white horse-riding prince!"
Despite the dangerous situation, Oralisa playfully requested support. But she did not need it. The one who had already rushed forward was not her, but the fairy.
"Haa... I told you not to move alone, Oralisa."
"Screech—!"
A blue line was drawn in the air. The line grazed the necks of the brown Mutans, and soon the monsters' heads fell to the floor.
Instead of the white horse-riding prince, the white horse-riding princess had come instead.
At that sight, Oralisa pouted her lips.
"Uuu! I asked Master to save me! Haa?! But if it's a yuri with Aquaril... it might not be bad?"
"I refuse. And Master is busy, so he cannot come to save you."
Aquaril, who had reacted seriously to Oralisa's joke, shook her head with a stern expression. Then she ran toward the multicolored Mutans and swung her sword. The Mutans screamed and fell.
After having cleared the Mutan Colony dozens of times over the past week, the monsters were no longer a challenge for the party. They could predict every move of the creatures even with their eyes closed.
While the party members were mopping up the Mutans, I was engaged in a one-on-one duel with a black-furred Mutan that was three heads larger than me.
This was the boss monster of the Mutan Colony, the [Black Mutan (★★★★★)]. According to the system, its grade was 5-star, but because it had received the boss monster effect, it was far stronger than other 5-star monsters. Perhaps it should be called 5.5-star grade?
"Kuoooooogh..."
"Hey. Are you scared? Why are you backing away? I'm right here. Hurry and swing your fist."
"Kuo, kuoooooogh—!"
When I thrust my face forward to provoke it, the black Mutan that had been retreating swung its pot-sized palm. Thwack! The boss monster's palm struck my cheek. The force was overwhelming, and I staggered.
"Huu... It stings. [Heal (Lv.17/General)]. Then it's my turn?"
"Kuoooooogh—!"
After healing the wound on my cheek with the healing skill and raising my fist, the black Mutan swung its palm again as if there was no turn for me.
I quickly dodged the attack by dashing forward and grabbed the black Mutan's waist. Although it was almost twice as large as the other Mutans, I could not fully wrap my arms around its waist, but it was enough.
"Hup!"
"Kwang—!"
"Kuoooogh—!"
I lifted the monster using all the strength I had been sucking on Oralisa's breasts and slammed it into the ground. The black Mutan, whose head hit the hard floor, groaned. I quickly climbed onto its head and spread my hands toward its eyes.
'[Firefly (Lv.20/General)].'
And my ultimate skill unfolded!
A small swarm of light gathered in my palm and then poured toward the black Mutan's face.
...... Kuek—?
The black Mutan, which had tightly shut its eyes against the blinding light, braced for the coming pain. But when nothing happened after a long wait, it tilted its head in confusion and opened its eyes.
"You are really amazing that you don't change no matter how many times I hit you."
The Firefly skill only had the effect of floating small lights that emitted light around. It was a skill occasionally used in the dark dungeon to facilitate smooth expeditions. Of course, it had no physical or magical attack power.
But as the level increased, the brightness of the light rose, allowing it to be used to trick opponents in this way.
And our boss monster, the black Mutan, had always fallen for this tactic every time we fought.
Until the dungeon reached full saturation, we had to remain trapped in the limited space of the dungeon, and since dying caused a completely new individual to be reborn, we could not learn through combat.
In a way, the dungeon monsters were truly pitiful beings.
"Puk—!"
"Kuo, kuooo—! Kuoooooogh—!"
"Huuuueh!"
When the black Mutan had tightly shut its eyes, I drew my sword and thrust it straight into its mouth. It hurriedly closed its mouth and clenched its jaw to block the sword from entering, but I did not stay still either. I pulled with the strength I had been sucking on Oralisa's breasts and pushed the sword into its mouth.
The black Mutan's bite force was considerable, but my downward pressing force was no less formidable.
"Puk—!"
"Kuo, kuooooo..."
Eventually the sword broke through the black Mutan's teeth and entered its mouth. I felt the sensation of flesh being torn, and I swung the sword sideways.
The sword came out after cutting through the teeth and cheek flesh. The black Mutan, which had been panting roughly, soon left behind a medium growth stone and closed its eyes.
"It's over?"
"Thank you for your hard work, Master."
Kanisia and Aquaril approached. I picked up the strength growth stone that increased strength stats and turned around. Blood was everywhere on the floor, and countless Mutan corpses lay scattered.
"You all worked hard too."
I encouraged the party members. Despite fighting dozens of Mutans, we only had minor scratches, and no one was seriously injured.
When we first began the dungeon expedition, everyone had struggled greatly. From the outside, it looked like a dungeon, but inside there was a dense forest that reminded one of a jungle. The hot and humid weather had been gnawing at our stamina.
Since we were fighting on their home ground, it was only natural to feel the strain. But as we continued the dungeon expeditions and fought more and more Mutans, we gradually began to adapt to this place.
Moreover, we ate five growth stones every day to raise our stats, so the party's power grew rapidly. In the end, on the third day of the dungeon expedition, we succeeded in defeating the dungeon's boss monster, the black Mutan.
"How many growth stones did we get?"
"Eleven. Ten are medium, and one is upper."
"Oh! Upper! Nice."
In a C-rank dungeon, both medium and upper growth stones dropped. Naturally, the drop rate for upper growth stones was lower than for medium ones.
"Here."
"Then you have collected six upper ones?"
Kanisia handed me the upper growth stone. Upon checking the information, it was a growth stone that increased HP stats.
The owner of the upper growth stone was decided. It was me.
Upper growth stones could be used once the owner reached 5-star. Currently, among the members of our party, I was the one closest to 5-star.
'My level... is 76. Not bad.'
In one week I had gained six levels. The higher the level, the more experience points were needed to level up. It was not a bad growth rate.
Of course, from the perspective of a former ranker from my previous life, it was quite slow. But this was not the real world, was it?
Even this was a sufficiently satisfying growth rate.
"We have picked up all the growth stones, so let's get out quickly. We will farm again, right?"
"Hmm..."
Although Kanisia spoke cheerfully, she was secretly checking my expression. Her gaze was saying that dungeon expeditions were boring.
Except for sleeping time, almost all the time over the past week had been spent on dungeon expeditions. She had even eaten meals inside the dungeon.
She followed my words without complaint, but she could not help being bored.
"No."
"Huh? No? What do you mean no?"
"Today we are returning to Littleberry. Go, clean up the loot, and rest for a day or two."
"Eh... really?"
"Yes."
"Yay! What are you all doing? Let's go back quickly!"
Kanisia, who loved it so much that she jumped up and down, was overjoyed. The fairies had not said anything, but their faces brightened.
Seeing how happy they were, I felt good too.
'Anyway, Oralisa needs to level up.'
From the battle just now, Oralisa had reached level 60. She was ready to grow into 4-star (★★★★). Since raising stats with medium growth stones was the same whether at 3-star or 4-star, I would immediately raise her grade.