Chapter 741: The Journey for the Turtle Cave Key
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 741: The Journey for the Turtle Cave Key
“Hah… Special training, you say.”
We joined up with Alicia’s party, moving as one big group through the Guild and into the 4th Floor village.
And during that time, I naturally made some small talk with Alicia.
Chatting casually with her still made me a little conscious of my girls, but we were traveling together anyway. And we’d gone to the trouble of forming an alliance.
It wouldn’t be good for us to separate into ‘our party’ and ‘their party’ and only talk amongst ourselves, right?
If we did that, since our party has more people, it would just look like we were deliberately excluding them.
And while we were making small talk, the topic of our future plans naturally came up.
Even though the Arachne Clan knew they were being used by us, they had formed the alliance for their own purposes. Still, they must have been curious why our party discovered the Turtle Cave but wouldn’t be entering it for a while.
Well, it didn’t feel like Alicia was trying to dig for information; it seemed more like she asked out of pure curiosity.
And as soon as she heard my answer—“special training”—Alicia’s demeanor changed, becoming noticeably suspicious.
“What’s wrong?”
Even as I asked, I had a pretty good idea why.
It made sense, since there weren’t many things that would make the cool and straightforward Alicia—the polar opposite of Vanessa in that regard—react like this.
“It’s nothing.”
“What is it? This isn’t like you. Tell me.”
“…Don’t get the wrong idea, okay? It’s not like I have lingering feelings or anything, so don’t misunderstand.”
“I won’t.”
It seemed her feelings for me weren’t completely resolved, but then again, human emotions aren’t something you can sort out that easily.
It was only natural for even a down-to-earth girl like her to show this kind of reaction.
In fact, just the fact that she was talking to me like this already made her cooler than anyone else, I thought.
As I thought this and nodded, Alicia finally spoke.
“So, uh… about that special training. If you’re interested, want me to help?”
Special training from Alicia, huh.
Not bad. No. To be honest, I think it’s a pretty great opportunity.
She’s an executive of the Arachne Clan, one of the strongest adventurer clans, and when it comes to the Dungeon, Alicia knows it even better than Diana.
Besides, it seems she’s the executive in charge of adventurer training. She must have considerable know-how.
No. It wouldn’t just be ‘considerable.’ When it comes to fostering adventurers and improving their skills, she’s probably one of the top ten in the entire city, maybe even the world.
Special training from someone like that.
Other adventurers would probably pay money for the chance, wouldn’t they?
It’s to the point where that trio follows her to the end, even with those looks of death on their faces every day. And they’re actually descending through the Dungeon at nearly the same pace as our party.
…Thinking about it that way, those guys are really something else.
How are they keeping up with our party, which is decked out with cheat-level classes?
Anyway, because of all that, I seriously considered Alicia’s offer.
Seeing how she handles the trio, her training seems to be quite Spartan, but for me, with my cheat skill Healing Sex, stamina wouldn’t be a major issue.
Besides, I’ve even acted as a tank without a single defensive skill, so I’m confident I won’t cry out from any ordinary pain.
The only problem was whether I could be shameless enough to grow stronger with the help of a woman I’d recently dumped.
No. I mean, I know I’m thick-skinned, but still, this is a bit too shameless.
“Umm… I’m grateful, but…”
After pondering for a moment with my chin in my hand, I looked up at Alicia again.
And I could sense that I had more reasons to refuse.
First, the gazes of the trio from over Alicia’s shoulder.
The sight of them smiling bizarrely as if to say, ‘let’s die together,’ with a glint in their eyes, sent a chill down my spine, even though I’d been confident I could endure Alicia’s Spartan training.
And above all else, the gazes of my girls, sending an incredible amount of silent pressure.
Since I’d already rejected her, they probably weren’t worried about me cheating, but there was another problem.
Come to think of it, I’d promised to spend one-on-one time with each of my girls in rotation during my special training.
Accepting Alicia’s training would naturally mean that one-on-one time would be broken.
Of course, that alone time wouldn’t be a sweet, lovey-dovey date, but they were probably still looking forward to it quite a bit.
But if I broke that promise for the sake of being with another woman… even if the reason was ‘special training,’ it was as clear as day that my chances of survival would converge to zero.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass. You must be busy training those guys, and I’d feel bad taking up your time.”
“Hah. You punk. No need to be so considerate. Don’t refuse when this big sis is being so generous…”
Perhaps because I’d shown a hint of hesitation, Alicia gave a wild smile and slapped my back hard with her palm as she spoke.
Hey. Can you really say that after looking around?
You’re a skilled adventurer, aren’t you? You should notice the subtle killing intent in the air.
Or is she doing this on purpose, knowing full well?
“No. The fact that you guys followed us to get the penguin’s penis means your clan intends to entrust the exploration of the Turtle Cave to you, right?”
Of course, unlike us, they’re a huge clan, so it’s not like they’ll be the only ones investigating the Turtle Cave, but it was clear they would be the core of the operation. After all, Alicia was with them.
“Ugh… well, that’s true, but.”
“And for my part, it seems more efficient to have you guys search the Turtle Cave thoroughly.”
“Tch. Is that so.”
At my answer, Alicia clicked her tongue and kicked the ground as if to say it was no fun.
Hey. When you act like that, it just makes it look like you have lingering feelings for me, which will only make my girls more wary.
“Ah, then how about I just train you on the way to the ice cave? It’s not like these guys have much more to learn here anyway.”
Alicia hadn’t even given up.
Seriously. Why is she so eager to train me?
“Well, if it’s just that much…”
We had to be with her on the way there anyway, and my girls would be watching my every move, so there was no need to worry about being suspected of anything.
When I nodded, Alicia finally gave a satisfied smile.
And I immediately realized the meaning of that smile.
“Hyeok… hek… he-ek… Gack!”
How many battles had it been since we entered the 4th Floor?
As soon as the battle ended, this time too, without fail, my body was grabbed by the collar and dragged away the moment the fighting stopped.
And Alicia slammed her mask against mine as if she were giving me a headbutt.
Look. I get that communication is limited underwater, and that your party, without a mage, is more used to this method. But do you really have to headbutt me every time?
Besides, she was blushing strangely.
I mean, if we weren’t wearing masks, we’d be close enough to kiss.
“What are you spacing out for after a battle like this! You never know when another fight with a monster will break out in the Dungeon! It’s common sense to immediately reset your stance, survey your surroundings, and prepare for the next battle even after one ends!”
But despite her slightly flushed face, Alicia yelled at me in the strict voice of an instructor.
Hey. You grabbed me by the collar before I even had time to do that.
“Answer me!”
“Yes… ma’am…”
“That last battle was a mess, too! It’s good that your job makes you want to dodge attacks rather than take them, but trying to dodge even the hits you can afford to take is breaking your stance, reducing your attack opportunities, and dragging out the fight! Fight while taking the hits you can take! You said you’ve been a tank, didn’t you?! You should know how to take a hit skillfully! If you don’t, I can teach you with my own body…”
“N-No! I’m fine! The reason I was trying to dodge was… well, since we can beat the monsters at this level easily anyway, I thought I might as well use the fight to practice dodging…”
“That kind of soft thinking leads to carelessness and accidents! And if you make a habit of fighting like that, do you think you’ll be able to block properly when you need to? It’s important to build habits so your body moves without thinking! Don’t let your guard down and fight properly, even against small fry!”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
“Do it right!”
“Yes… Keok!”
Advice that came flying at me the moment the battle ended, and a final slap on the back.
That process had already been repeated so many times that my back was starting to go numb.
I’d clearly taken more damage from Alicia than I had from fighting the monsters.
“G-Guwon. Let me heal you…”
“Not yet!”
Seeing me like that, Leia approached with a worried expression to heal me, but Alicia stopped even that.
Healing every minor wound isn’t good for either of us.
My body can’t always be in perfect condition, so I need to experience fighting in such situations, and it’s also more efficient in terms of the healer’s mana management. That was Alicia’s reasoning.
Well, she had a point.
“Uut…!”
But no matter how right she was, it seemed my angel hated seeing me in pain far more.
She glared at Alicia with a resentful expression every time, but Alicia didn’t even flinch at my angel’s gaze.
It’s not easy to act like that while getting a look like that from my angel.
No. It wasn’t just Leia.
In fact, the backlash from my girls was no joke from the very beginning.
The mask-bumping conversation from before also happened because Alicia insisted that advice had to be given that way, even though I told her we could talk just fine using magic or spirits.
Something about how it’s more effective if she glares intensely and yells?
Her gaze was certainly intense enough to make an ordinary person piss their pants, but honestly, with her cheeks blushing, I don’t think it was very effective.
Besides, it just earned her a ton of backlash from my girls.
Still, since it was coming from Alicia, an expert in training adventurers, my girls eventually relented.
Even so, the feeling of killing intent piercing my body from all directions every time our masks bumped was something I didn’t think I’d ever get used to, not until this special training was over.
“L-Leia. I’m okay, really. Okay?”
Anyway, while calming down my angel who was glaring at Alicia, I desperately tried to show that I was fine.
It was Spartan, but Alicia’s special training was also far more beneficial than I’d expected.
At first, I’d actually wondered how helpful it would be.
That was because in this world, when your job level goes up, you naturally become able to move in a way that befits that level.
But once I actually started the training, I realized that wasn’t the case.
No matter how much your combat skills improve, in the end, you’re the one moving your body. It doesn’t just move on its own to fight for you.
This meant that making the right judgment for the situation was more important than anything.
And Alicia’s training was incredibly helpful because her method was to perfectly see those aspects of mine and point out my flaws.
If I had one complaint, it was that Alicia was a firm believer in stats.
Of course, it’s not like Alicia can see detailed stats, and she probably doesn’t even know they exist in the first place.
Still, through her long career as an instructor, Alicia seemed to have instinctively realized that in this world, you can build stats just by performing related actions.
That’s why her training method involved pushing people to their limits.
Things like, you have to take hits to increase your toughness, and you have to push your stamina relentlessly to increase it.
It’s not that it’s a wrong method.
The problem was that I didn’t need any more stats.
My stats were already so high that just by raising my Saint level, most of them would hit the level cap.
Of course, I couldn’t explain any of that, so I had no choice but to go along with Alicia’s methods completely.