kscans

Chapter 326 - The Tower of Four Sides

"—From here on out, we're gonna focus on gettin' Sora some 'experience.'"

"No objections."

"No objections from me."

"No objections here!"

"H-ah, u-um…………p-please take care of me…!"

And so, as the afternoon session—the real part of our expedition—was about to begin, Tiger Lucky stood with the black tower at his back and declared that 'guideline.' His reasoning was that rather than adding to my skills, which were already fairly developed, it would be more beneficial to focus on strengthening Sora, who was still in the process of developing with that thing. The potential for growth was greater.

Three immediate assents, and one flustered agreement. The proposal was passed smoothly, and the party leader nodded, then turned to face the dungeon we were about to challenge.

"This place is that type of dungeon too, but we're gonna focus on goin' through dungeons with elemental or magic-type bosses."

"To promote the growth of her [Anima], right?"

"Yeah. Each Anima needs different kinds of experience, but considerin' the nature and potential of that magic sword of hers… well, beatin' up on opponents that seem like a good match is probably the best way."

What do you think?—Sora-san, whose opinion was sought with a glance, nodded enthusiastically. His gaze then turned to me, and since I completely agreed, I nodded as well.

"Alright, let's go. Maru, Rinne, give 'em a quick rundown of this place on the way."

"Got it."

"Okay-dokey!"

◇◆◇◆◇

[The Tower of Four Sides]—its extremely simple dungeon format was a boss rush. Upon entering the tower, the first thing that awaited us was a square space, just like the exterior. It was a room just shy of complete darkness, with only blue lines of light running across the floor like signposts.

In the center of the room, where the blue lines gathered to form a magic circle-like pattern, a player had to stand—and then, in the four corners of the room, doors glowing with different colors would appear. Needless to say, a boss monster awaited behind each one, and by defeating all four, the magic circle would activate, opening a transfer gate to the main boss.

And so, the first one—enemy name: [Banning Horn, Blazing Horn]. To describe its appearance in one phrase, it would be a flaming unicorn. Its mane, tail, and even its hooves were made of flames that roared and spewed heat, and it rampaged wildly, leaving trails of fire wherever it ran. Its size was about that of a 'normal horse,' so it wasn't a particularly large target, and it was nimble. It also came complete with tricky moves like heat haze illusions and area damage from flaming dust… a truly boss-like boss, but—

"Haru!"

"Got it!"

Sora stopped its legs with her magic sword, and I finished it off with a slice to the neck from [Samidorizuki]. Game set. It put up a decent fight, but honestly, it wasn't threatening enough. The [Gemlant Quintesta] was much tougher.

Next, the second one—[Cascade Bull, Waterfall Twin Horns]. A minotaur, entirely blue, wielding a great axe with a blade of flowing water. I thought it would be a simple, strong, and tough power fighter… but it turned out to be a surprisingly skillful block of muscle, transforming the water blade of its axe for surprise attacks and summoning water-based fighting bulls to set on us—but,

"[Turm Riesig]."

Sora surpassed it in both power and skill, and after completely shutting it down, she sliced it in two. My assessment: 1/10th of an [Angalta, God-Wedge Sword-King] plus water magic. For us, who had just fought an armored knight that was far superior in every way, it was a lukewarm opponent.

Third—[Gran Replus, Earth-Hard Three Eyes].

……………………I don't get it, a dinosaur?

It was like a T-Rex with a really bad sense of balance, or a giant, ferocious dog's head attached to a frail dinosaur's body… a truly bizarre monster. And of course, true to its name, it had three eyes. Forgive me for this being a personal issue, but ever since I was little, I've had a tendency to be scared of 'three-eyed' characters for some reason. And I still carry that aversion with me to this day—so,

"[Kiraboshi]!"

I closed my eyes and carved it up.

Since I had already confirmed from the previous two that each one didn't have that much HP, I went all out from the start. The mysterious dinosaur-thing, which probably used earth-elemental magic or something, was sent packing with less than a minute of screen time. Sora was stunned, and Tiger Lucky smacked me on the head, saying, "What are you doin'," but I hope you'll forgive me. My trauma was suddenly triggered, and it surprised me…

And the fourth—[Fairloweez, Wind-Worshipping Four Blades]. A mass of wind depicted with the game-like visual of being green. Judging by the fact that its four floating blades closely resembled 'scythes,' its motif was probably the 'kamaitachi' wind weasel. Its fighting style was the simplest of the four, but it was also the most difficult. The main body, positioned in the center of the field, periodically blew gusts of wind to hinder the player's movement, while ceaselessly tracking scythes reaped the immobile prey. A real bastard of a strategy.

The scythes are instantly replaced even if destroyed, and if you try to hit the main body, you're forcibly pushed back by a knockback effect when you get within a certain distance. The pressure from the main body weakens when the scythes are regenerating, so the proper strategy would probably be to destroy all four blades at once to neutralize the gust, and then hit the core visible within the green wind during that opening. Or rather, doing that as a group would be the proper strategy.

"—[Tausend]!"

My Sora, of course, destroyed it all by herself.

…And so, in that manner.

"Hmm…"

"I know what you're thinkin', but you two are the weird ones here."

"I thought the same thing when I got hit by it in our duel this morning, but that [Kiraboshi] is really not human anymore. I'm looking forward to the video that's apparently going to be uploaded later."

"Hey, hey, Sora-chan, how many magic swords can you summon at once?"

"Um… right now, maybe around two thousand? Oh, no, I can't really control them all if it gets to that point, though…!"

Having trampled the four bosses, we were back in the first room. I let out a noncommittal sound, which prompted a retort from Tiger Lucky, and our party engaged in a tension-free conversation.

—I knew it, but this is too easy.

In the end, the only ones who had been on the front lines were Sora and me. Tiger Lucky and the others had been spectating while providing commentary on the scene… but well, this apparently isn't even a 'high-difficulty dungeon.' It's probably a mistake to compare it to the secret dungeons I've challenged recently.

"Well, the final boss has some bite to it. We'll join in too, but don't let your guard down and die."

"Oh, really? I'm looking forward to it."

To the strong enemy, of course, but also to the reward that lies beyond. Apparently, the completion reward for this dungeon is 'plain but useful,' and almost every player has benefited from it… come to think of it, I didn't get any completion rewards for the [Great Rock-Eating Hive] or the [Buried Labyrinth of Forgetfulness], did I? I didn't get one for the high-difficulty ones, but I will for the normal dungeon [The Tower of Four Sides]. Does that mean it's unrelated to difficulty? —Anyway,

"Alright, let's go."

"Okay!"

With Sora in tow, I joined the other three who were already standing on the magic circle, waiting for us. Sensing the challengers had assembled, the lines, which had turned from blue to red after the four bosses were defeated, shone even brighter—and the familiar sensation of teleportation filled my avatar.