33. Crab Hunter

“Alright, crabs!”

『Ooh, crab! Those are the tasty ones!』

Glory’s Steps was currently exploring the Third Floor. Along the way, we had encountered a group of Giant Crabs—four of them, to be precise. They were common monsters on this floor, but to us, they were also delicious prey.

“Tort, Shiroru. Don't let your guard down, even if you’re used to fighting them,” Rei warned.

“Yeah, I know.”

『Understood!』

I’d gotten a bit carried away and started frolicking. Just as Rei said, carelessness was the enemy. Even if we were familiar with how they fought, one hit from those massive pincers would result in a nasty injury.

That said, as long as we stayed sharp, Giant Crabs weren’t particularly scary. During our first encounter, Sally was the only one capable of landing an effective blow, but now we had Shiroru’s lightning and my own magic.

Sally finished off one Giant Crab with a preemptive strike from her Flame Whip. Shiroru followed up by blasting another with lightning. It wasn’t enough to kill it instantly, but it clearly dealt significant damage.

I circled around behind the giant crab that Rei was keeping busy and placed my hand against its sturdy shell.

“Dehydrate.”

I cast my newest spell. As the name suggested, its effect was dehydration—a rather brutal bit of magic that stripped the moisture from anything the caster touched.

The biggest advantage of this spell was its ability to deal guaranteed damage, even against hard, armored targets. Dagger users like me usually struggled against sturdy foes like Giant Crabs, making this an incredibly convenient tool for such encounters. The fact that its mana consumption was modest for its power was another plus.

However, it wasn't a very popular offensive spell. The main drawback was the requirement of physical contact. Pure mages like Sally generally avoided stepping into the fray to touch their enemies.

To be honest, I hadn't even learned it for combat; I’d picked it up for cooking. I’d been wondering if I could use it to make dried fruit or jerky. Unfortunately, I hadn’t had the chance to test those theories yet, but I definitely wanted to try when I had some spare time.

While I was lost in thought, the Giant Crab—now parched and shriveled from the dehydration—succumbed and vanished. Against a Giant Crab, the process took about five seconds.

It looked like Shiroru and Sally had finished off the remaining crabs as well. The fight was over in a flash. While it cost some mana, Giant Crabs were easy marks for us now. Mil and Halfa, however, looked a little disgruntled.

“I didn't even get a turn,” Mil complained.

“Me neither. My arrows just bounce off,” Halfa added.

Giant Crab shells were notoriously hard. If you slashed at them poorly, you’d just chip your blade. Unless you had no other choice, it was safer to avoid using swords entirely. Halfa had her Singing Magic, but since we didn’t struggle to kill them, there wasn't really a need for her to use it. Consequently, whenever we ran into a pack of only Giant Crabs, Mil and Halfa ended up bored.

“But you both love eating them, right?” I asked.

“Well, yeah. They are good eating,” Mil admitted.

“They’re delicious,” Halfa agreed.

Exactly. One of the drops from a Giant Crab was its meat. Usually, they just dropped their shells, but occasionally they’d leave behind a leg. Those legs were packed tight with meat, and they were incredible.

The preparation was simple: either boiled or grilled. It was also great to flake the meat into a barley porridge made from a stock of the shells. Everyone loved it, but Shiroru and I were particularly fond of it.

Lately, just spotting a Giant Crab was enough to make me salivate. I really had to focus, or I’d be a mess before the battle even started.

『Tort, I found crab legs! Two of them!』

“Thanks, Shiroru. I think our stockpile is getting pretty big.”

Since we’d been focused on the Third Floor recently, my Storage Ring was starting to fill up with crab legs. Because they were so large, even a single leg provided a substantial amount of food. We wouldn't be running out of crab anytime soon.

“Alright, that’s that. Sally, how’s the exploration going?” Rei asked.

“Give me a second… Right. If we head back to that last junction and check the other passage, we should be done with this area.”

In our search for the Prayer Stone of Benevolent Rain, we were combing through the dungeon using the map as a guide, but we hadn't found any hidden passages yet.

We had, however, found quite a few treasure chests. Most adventurers took the shortest route through the floors, meaning any chests that popped along those paths were quickly claimed. On the other hand, very few people bothered to explore the dead ends, so chests often remained tucked away in the corners of the map.

Following Sally’s lead, we retraced our steps and took the other fork in the road. We proceeded down the unexplored tunnel without incident—we didn't even run into any monsters—and reached the end. Tucked into the dead end was another treasure chest. Our luck was holding.

“A magic tool! Please let there be a magic tool inside!” Sally prayed.

『I want food! Tort, make food come out!』

Sally I could understand, but Shiroru was being unreasonable. I was the one opening the chests, sure, but I didn't get to decide what was inside.

I quickly checked for traps. It was a gas-based one—the kind that turned into a real headache if you messed up. I had everyone step back while I covered my face with a cloth and got to work. Though, with a trap of this level, I didn't think there was any risk of me failing.

Everything went smoothly. I disarmed the trap and picked the lock. Inside were…

“Magic scrolls, huh?”

There were two of them. I used my appraisal skill and found that one was Ice Coffin and the other was Decomposition.

Ice Coffin was an intermediate-tier water spell that trapped enemies in a sarcophagus of ice. We decided Sally would take that one. When it came to items that improved combat capability, our party’s policy was that the person who could best use the item took it immediately to boost our overall strength, rather than worrying about individual buyouts.

As for the other scroll, Decomposition, it was a Dark Magic spell that caused the target to rot. Wounds inflicted by decay were difficult to heal, even with magic. It was a nasty spell usually employed by demon-type monsters, and it was a pain to deal with if an enemy used it on you.

However, as a player-usable spell, it was honestly a bit underwhelming. While it hindered healing, the raw damage output wasn't that impressive. If you wanted to kill something, standard attack magic was much more efficient.

Furthermore, if you used it while hunting monsters outside of a dungeon, it would ruin the materials. Since monster parts were a primary source of income for adventurers, that was a dealbreaker.

Because of that, Decomposition was one of the most unpopular spells in existence. There were almost no human casters, and the Mage Guild didn't even bother stocking the scrolls.

But for me, this spell had potential. I mean, if it caused things to rot, that meant that if I could control it precisely… I could probably use it for fermentation, right?

I think I just found my chance to start making fermented foods!