Chapter 89: Clan Founding
Chapter 89: Clan Founding
The further down the path we went, the more the temperature seemed to rise.
At first, I thought it was just my excitement, but when I started sweating buckets, I realized that wasn't it.
“Isn't it getting hotter?”
“Mm. It's definitive proof that we're approaching the 2nd floor.”
Diana answered my question as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
So it's supposed to be hot. Is the 2nd floor a desert or something?
Finally, the end of the path came into view.
Seeing a dazzlingly bright light pouring out, I sprinted forward.
“It's hoooot!”
And that was the very first thing I felt upon stepping outside.
I couldn't believe it was actually a desert…
It wasn't the kind of desert with windswept sand you'd normally imagine, but more like the Grand Canyon from my original world.
So this is what Diana meant when she said we weren't prepared to fight on the 2nd floor.
It would definitely be tough to fight like this.
But even if we were to prepare, how would we do it? Magic, I guess.
When I looked back at the party, Sara and Leia were also struggling, drenched in sweat. But there was one person who looked perfectly fine.
I looked at Diana, the only one who seemed unaffected.
To say she was just used to it wouldn't explain why she wasn't sweating a single drop.
“Diana? Don't you have some kind of useful magic for a situation like this?”
“Why wouldn't I? Of course, I do. There is very little that is impossible with magic.”
“Then can you cast it for us now?”
“Hmm. My mana is still insufficient, you see.”
“For someone with insufficient mana, you don't look very hot.”
“My mana is so low that I can only manage to cool the immediate area around myself. If you wish to receive the benefits of my magic, you should try harder when it comes to raising my level.”
“That's impossible right now! Argh! If this is how it's going to be…!”
I walked up to Diana and threw my arms around her.
Whoa. What is this? The temperature around me dropped instantly, like someone turned on an air conditioner.
“Ooh. It's really cool. You were hogging this all to yourself? How cheap.”
But Diana, surprised by my sudden ambush, froze stiff and said nothing.
Instead, it was Sara who scolded me.
“Guwon! I know it's hot, but what do you think you're doing!”
“Sorry. But it's really cool. Here.”
I lifted Diana and tossed her to Sara, who caught her out of sheer reflex.
“Oh my, it's cool.”
“Right?”
“Hey! What do you think you're doing in a dungeon!”
Finally snapping out of her stiffness, Diana yelled and smacked me on the head with her staff.
“Kururuk?”
And as if they'd heard Diana's shouting, a few Orcs approached.
They were definitely a bit different from the 1st-floor Orcs.
For one, unlike the 1st-floor Orcs whose skin was close to green, these guys were more of a yellowish-green.
And their equipment looked incomparably better than what the 1st-floor ones had.
“So these are the 2nd-floor Orcs.”
“Ah, m-my apologies. I raised my voice…”
Diana seemed extremely flustered, perhaps having made such a mistake for the first time.
“No. It was my fault in the first place, so don't worry about it.”
Besides, now that we were here, a fight was inevitable. It was only a matter of when.
The number is manageable, too. Time to see how our current strength holds up against 2nd-floor monsters.
I activated Saint's Touch and quickly closed in on them.
I charged in, intending it as a surprise attack, but they calmly raised their weapons to face me.
They definitely handle their weapons more systematically than the ones on the 1st floor.
Should I say they feel similar to a Transcendent Species? Though it seems they don't have the same level of power.
They're a bit trickier, but this gap doesn't seem big enough to make most adventurers hesitate to move between floors.
Just as I thought that, the Orcs simultaneously raised their weapons with both hands.
Come to think of it, I heard even regular monsters use skills here.
I quickly got behind one of them and shoved it in the back.
And the Orc I pushed was torn to shreds by the energy waves unleashed from the simultaneously swung weapons.
This just goes to show that with overwhelming physical ability, there's a way to handle anything.
“Y-You guys! Your own comrade! Even lowly beasts have a sense of camaraderie!”
I don't know if they understood my words, but they seemed so flustered by their comrade's death that I could feel less power in their swings.
In the end, I was able to finish them all off easily after that.
Looks like our party is strong enough to handle 2nd-floor monsters after all.
“Diana!”
The moment the battle ended, without even thinking of harvesting the Magic Stones, I latched onto Diana.
“What are you doing! Get off me!”
Learning her lesson from before, Diana whispered instead of shouting, which was cute.
“Just a little longer. Let's stay like this. I'm dying from the heat.”
“Ugh.”
Diana, perhaps knowing how much I'd struggled in the heat, wore a complicated expression but didn't tell me to get off again.
After enjoying my living air conditioner for a moment, I finally felt a bit better and started racking my brain.
Recalling a survival documentary about the wilderness I'd once seen, I took several articles of clothing out of my inventory.
“Diana. Soak all of these for me.”
Unlike people just dropped in a desert, our party had a means of creating an infinite supply of water.
Wrapping the thoroughly soaked clothes around my body, I felt a little cooler.
Though I probably looked a little strange.
“Sara. Here, try it like me. It's pretty cool.”
“Y-Yes? But…”
Being a woman, she seemed reluctant to dress like this.
Sorry, but you don't have a choice. I can't be the only one looking like this. You have to look the same as me!
“We can't keep going on like this. We won't be here long anyway, so let's just do this together for a little while.”
“Ah, I understand. I suppose I have no choice.”
Persuaded by me, Sara reluctantly began to wrap the clothes around herself.
Even though she wasn't a front-liner, Sara's job was still physical, so it must have been hard for her to endure the heat.
Then I looked at Leia.
Her white priestess's robe was soaked with sweat, and she looked very hot.
Still, her white robe being wet and see-through was quite…
No, that's not it.
“Leia… you can just hug Diana.”
Since neither of them has a physical job, it shouldn't be a problem for them to stick together.
“Huh? But…”
“Go ahead. You must be hot in those clothes as well.”
Diana said it lightly, as if she had no particular complaints.
She freaked out when I clung to her earlier, though…
“Yes. Then, excuse me.”
And Leia hugged Diana from behind.
Diana's head happened to be right at the level of Leia's chest, further emphasizing her breasts, which were already visible through her wet robe.
Tch. That Diana. I'm so jealous. To be able to enjoy that holy ground with the back of her head.
But from Diana's perspective, it seemed to be a different story.
“Kyaa!”
Diana reached a hand back to identify the sensation on the back of her head.
After groping it a few times to check the texture, her expression began to sour.
“Wait a moment. On second thought…”
“Don't be cheap and keep the coolness to yourself. Share with at least one person.”
Anticipating what Diana was about to say, I cut her off.
“Ugh. For me to suffer such humiliation… If I just grew a little more, this much would be…!”
Nope. Based on my comparisons, you won't get that big even if you grow. Though yours are plenty big enough, of course.
Anyway, having finished our temporary measures against the heat, the party decided to look around.
The entrance we'd come down from on the 1st floor was a hole in what looked like a giant sandstone cliff.
“Diana, do you have any idea where this cliff might be?”
“Mm. I've never even heard of a cliff this large.”
A place this big would surely have rumors spreading about it the moment it was discovered.
Could it be that the map here is separate from the official route?
We walked around a bit, but the desolate desert landscape stretched on without end.
“Sara, see anything?”
“One moment.”
Sara made a visor with her hand and scanned the distance, turning in a full circle.
Then she looked back toward the cliff and froze.
“Guwon. Look at that.”
Huh? What? There's nothing but the cliff there.
But when I turned around, I immediately understood what Sara wanted me to see.
Carved into the cliff, like Mount Rushmore, was the giant face of an Orc.
It was so crude that you could barely make out the outline, and because it was so massive, we hadn't noticed it when we were up close.
“Then… does this mean we're in the middle of the Orc territory on the 2nd floor?”
Otherwise, that carving makes no sense. Just making it must have taken an incredible amount of time.
“Guwon. A horde of Orcs is approaching from over there.”
Sara said shortly after, pointing to another spot.
It seems this is definitely Orc territory.
I clenched my fists and said.
“How many are there?”
“Let's see... I think there are several hundred. Ah, is that a shaman riding that particularly large wolf over there? It's extravagantly decorated.”
“Alright. Let's bounce.”
I said without a hint of hesitation.
We only came here today to confirm if this was the entrance to the 2nd floor, anyway.
The party quickly returned to the cliff and re-entered the passage we'd come through.
“It's great that we found a new entrance, but unless we can pinpoint its exact location, we'll still have to break through the official route eventually.”
“Well, that can't be helped. This discovery alone is a sufficient gain.”
Yeah, I guess so, but still.
I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
Does Leia have to learn Protect after all?
It's about time we returned to town. How much longer until Leia learns Protect?
“Leia. What's your Priestess level?”
“I'm sorry. It's still 26.”
“Ah, no. You have nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault.”
I guess my disappointment was showing.
Showing that side of myself to an angel. I've still got a long way to go.
But as I thought, it seems impossible for Leia to reach the level needed to learn Protect on this trip.
Even though her growth is already plenty fast.
Leaving our disappointment behind, we climbed back up to the 1st floor, only to be greeted by the back of an Orc's head, prostrated on the ground.
I had no idea what was going on, but it was obvious what I had to do.
For it to be in such a perfect position.
“Shoot! The ball is my friend!”
I instantly dashed forward and landed a soccer kick on the Orc's head.
Come to think of it, there's something I've always wondered. If the ball is your friend, why do you always kick it? Is he a psychopath?
Anyway, the Orc clutched its head from the sudden attack and rolled on the ground.
First off, there are no other Orcs in sight.
Wandering around a place like this all alone... how reckless.
In that case, there was no need to draw aggro, but just in case, I hit it with Saint's Touch.
And under the continuous barrage of soccer kicks, the Orc couldn't regain its senses.
It's been a while since I attacked only with my feet. Brings back old memories.
I remembered the days when I was called Guwon of the Red Foot.
But despite taking a beating that would have finished off a normal Orc, this one endured and got back up.
Of course, getting up didn't improve its situation.
An arrow from Sara immediately flew at its head, and while it was defending, I tripped it again.
It's easier to stomp on it when it's on the ground, after all.
However, the situation took a different turn than I expected.
“Kkweeeeeeek!”
The Orc, tripped by me and falling flat on its face, grabbed its crotch and screamed as it rolled on the ground.
This reaction. It's a familiar one.
Just like when I used Penis Break on that Transcendent Werewolf…!
And then I understood what had happened.
With its 'thing' swollen from Saint's Touch, it had fallen flat on its face.
Not wanting to imagine anything more gruesome, I stopped stomping and started punching it to give it as peaceful an end as possible.
I've been using my fists more lately, so my Martial Artist skills related to punching are at a higher level anyway.
And so, the Orc met its end without being able to put up a proper fight.
To endure this long even with the whole party attacking... What an unlucky bastard, even when I was trying to let it go peacefully.
Then, I suddenly looked down at my fists.
Ah, I didn't turn off Saint's Touch.
I don't know if it really went peacefully after being hit repeatedly with Saint's Touch while face down, but the dead tell no tales.
I decided to quietly pray for its soul.
There's a Werewolf who went before you and suffered a similar fate. You two should get along.