We descended the stairs to the 48th floor and took a brief rest before resuming our exploration. Drawing from our recent experience, we walked with heightened vigilance, scanning not just the trees above but the ground beneath our feet as well.
Still, enemies that move underground... I wondered if there were any detection magic or skills out there, like vibration sensing.
"It’s tough, trying to sniff out enemies lurking under the dirt," I muttered.
"Yeah," Yuji agreed. "If they’re in the trees or hidden in the grass, I can sense them even from a distance. But once they’re underground, there are so few clues to work with."
"Indeed," Hiiragi-san added. "We can see the signs right before they strike, but that means we only know they’re there at the very last second. At this rate, no matter how strong a defensive perimeter we build, an enemy could easily infiltrate our base camp before we even realize it."
Faced with the sheer nuisance of subterranean foes, we felt the urgent need to acquire some kind of detection skill. Up until now, we’d managed with the natural sensory techniques we’d honed during Genya-san’s training, but we realized we had to consider magical or skill-based means to spot things beyond our natural perception.
After all, it’s not like I can see ghosts or anything.
"This time it can't be helped, but once we get back, we need to address the issues we’ve found as quickly as possible..."
"Agreed. This dive has really highlighted where we’re lacking."
"High-speed combat, base creation skills, and detection capabilities... we have a lot on our plate," Hiiragi-san noted.
While the mounting list of challenges weighed on our minds, we maintained a tight perimeter and continued our search for the stairs.
Ten minutes into our trek across the 48th floor, we ran into a mixed group of fourteen monsters—a combination of Squirrel?, weasel monster, and Badger? types. Combat began instantly. It was an insidious lineup, designed to pry open any gap in our defenses with a mix of ambushes, sniping, and distractions. Fortunately, their coordination was still clumsy, making it easy enough to exploit their lapses and take them down one by one.
"Yuji, take the weasel monsters. I’ll handle the Badger? ones."
"Got it... You okay on your own?"
"I’m fine. I got the hang of their rhythm in the last fight."
"Understood. I’ll take care of the Squirrel? snipers, then," Hiiragi-san said.
We split up and moved to intercept. As I’d told Yuji, I already knew what to look for, so handling the Badger? monsters wasn't an issue. While staying alert for movement from the other two species, I watched the soil intently. I spotted a very faint ridge—a slight swelling of the earth—forming a line that traced the path a Badger? was taking. They likely had to move close to the surface to prepare for their lunge.
That said, the swelling was so subtle that it would be incredibly difficult to spot while fighting alone or in a small group. I only caught it because I had allies I could trust completely with my back, allowing me to focus entirely on the ground. In any other situation, the best a person could do would be to react to the signs of an immediate attack.
"And that’s the last one!"
"Gyuh!?"
I finished off the fourth Badger? and scanned the area to see if Yuji or Hiiragi-san needed a hand. I quickly realized I needn't have bothered. They had already wiped out their respective assignments.
Well, we’d fought these things enough times during this expedition that we were well-acquainted with their patterns.
"Good work, everyone. Looks like we cleared them out without any trouble."
"Yeah. The combination looked nasty on paper, but they weren't working together well enough to be a real threat."
"Look at it the other way, though," Hiiragi-san interjected. "If they ever do get their coordination down, they’ll be a nightmare. Sniping during an ambush, followed by high-speed distractions to prevent a counterattack... just describing it makes me shudder."
"No kidding," Yuji and I muttered in unison.
Precisely because they weren't coordinated, we had been able to divide and conquer. If they had been acting as a single unit, focusing on individual targets would have been much harder. Imagine being flinched by a Badger? bursting from the ground, only for a Squirrel? to fire a perfectly timed shot the moment you’re off-balance, and then having your footing disrupted by a weasel monster the moment you try to dodge... It was almost too much to deal with.
"A-Anyway, let's grab the drop items and move on. Looks like a decent haul this time."
"R-Right."
We set about collecting the loot. Our haul consisted of three core crystals, one skill scroll, and a magic item.
"Hmm. This skill scroll is for 'Digging'..."
"As in, just digging a hole? Not making tunnels?" Yuji asked.
"Looks like it. Apparently, it lets you dig with the same level of effort regardless of the soil type. Once the proficiency goes up, at least."
"The same level of effort... You mean even if it’s packed clay, you can dig through it like it’s loose sand?"
"Probably."
It was useful, in a sense, but it felt more like a civil engineering skill than anything else. Still, I felt a certain "romance" in the idea. With high enough proficiency, maybe I could build a secret base inside a mountain or behind a waterfall?
Wait. If you’re a high-level explorer, couldn't you build a pretty impressive secret base all by yourself?
"..."
"Hey, what’s up, Daiki? You’re staring at that skill scroll like it’s a long-lost treasure."
"Eh? Oh, no... I was just thinking I might actually want this skill."
"You want it? It’s a Digging skill, man."
"Yeah, well... I don't know, I just felt the romance of it..."
"Romance?"
Yuji gave me a look of pure skepticism at the word, so I sheepishly explained the application I’d just thought of. As I spoke, his eyes widened.
"Oh! I like that! I like that a lot!"
"Right!?"
I hadn't expected such enthusiastic support; I’d been half-prepared for him to laugh at me. But the excitement in his voice made my own spirits soar. Secret bases really were the peak of romance!
As we got worked up talking about it, we realized that the Digging skill was a perfect match for my Spatial Storage.
"If we have your Spatial Storage, we can dispose of all the excavated soil without leaving a single trace!" Yuji exclaimed.
"Which means we could build a secret base that absolutely nobody would ever find!"
"Exactly! The most annoying part of digging is figure out where to put all the dirt. If that problem is gone, a real secret base is actually possible!"
"Hell yeah!"
" "Alright, let's do it! Let's build a secret base!" "
Perhaps it was the stress of the expedition finally boiling over, but the two of us were completely swept up in the dream of construction. However, we weren't the only ones present.
A sudden impact rattled our skulls. Hiiragi-san’s frigid gaze fell upon us, her voice dripping with ice.
"You two. It’s wonderful that you’re excited, but this is a dungeon. We are in a forest filled with enemies. Could you save this conversation for the surface?"
" "We’re sorry." "
Hiiragi-san had bonked us both with the butt of her spear. Despite her expressionless face, she radiated an aura of pure exasperation. Yuji and I bowed our heads in a flash, offering our apologies.
That was bad. Thank goodness Hiiragi-san was staying alert, because we’d completely lost ourselves in the secret base talk.
"Now that we’re done with the drop items, let’s move. We’re running out of time."
" "Y-Yes, ma'am!" "
Without looking back, Hiiragi-san led the way. Yuji and I followed at a trot, wearing identical sheepish grins. Our secret base planning would have to wait until we were home.
We’d lost a bit of time to our daydreaming, but about thirty minutes into the 48th floor, we found the stairs leading to the 49th. We had fifty minutes left until our scheduled retreat. This was actually going to happen.
We descended the stairs and stepped onto the 49th floor.
"We actually made it this far in time."
"Yeah. I honestly thought it was a lost cause when we started... but clearing floors 43, 44, and 45 so quickly really saved us."
"It did," Hiiragi-san agreed. "If we had struggled to find the stairs back there, we never would have had enough time for this final push."
Standing on the threshold of the final floor in the 40s, we all felt a touch of sentimentality. The goal that had seemed so out of reach was finally within our grasp.
Still, now wasn't the time to relax.
"...Alright, let's stay sharp until the end. If we don't find the stairs before our time is up, we’re turning back immediately. We can celebrate once we’ve actually reached the 50th floor."
"Right. It’d be a tragedy to trip at the finish line because we got cocky."
"Then let’s move. Every second counts. We can rest after we reach our goal."
Picking up the pace, we began our trek across the 49th floor.
Five minutes in, a Monkey? swung down from the trees to attack. It was wielding a weapon that looked like a club, suggesting it had far more stopping power than the small animal types we’d fought before.
"A Monkey? this time. And it’s armed."
"Careful. That weapon gives it a lot of reach. And keep an eye out for ambushes; don't let it distract you."
"Found one," Hiiragi-san said. "There’s a Squirrel? hiding in the branches over there, waiting for its shot."
So the melee fighter draws the aggro while the sniper takes the kill?
"I’ll take the Monkey?," Yuji said. "Daiki, you handle the Squirrel?. Hiiragi-san, please keep watch for any other hidden enemies. If any show up..."
"I’ll handle them," she finished.
"I’m counting on you. Let's go, Daiki!"
"On it!"
Leaving the perimeter to Hiiragi-san, Yuji and I closed in. My part was over in a heartbeat—a single throwing dart was all it took—so I mostly ended up watching Yuji’s fight.
The Monkey? seemed visibly shaken when I neutralized its backup so quickly. However, realizing it couldn't flee, it put its entire weight behind a massive overhead swing of its club.
"Whoa!?"
"Ki!"
Yuji sidestepped the blow. The club slammed into the dirt where he had been standing a split second before, the impact making the ground tremble and leaving a massive crater behind. That was a terrifying amount of power. One hit from that would be devastating.
However...
"That might have been dangerous if you’d actually hit me."
"Gi!"
The Monkey? scrambled to recover for a second swing, but Yuji was faster. He stepped into its guard and cleanly took its head before the monster could even move. He hopped back to avoid the spray of blood as the head tumbled across the grass. Despite the victory, Yuji held his zanshin while looking down at the kodachi in his right hand with a frown.
Did something go wrong?
"Good work, Yuji. What’s up? You look like you’ve got a bad taste in your mouth."
"No, it’s just the sensation of the cut... It felt like there was a lot more resistance than usual."
"...So that Monkey? was tougher than it looked?"
"Either that, or its fur is specialized for absorbing shocks."
In other words, the Monkey? was an opponent with high attack power and high defense—essentially a tank.
"Looks like that’s it for this encounter. No other ambushes," Hiiragi-san reported.
"Wait, they really attacked with just two of them?"
"So it seems. Maybe it was... a reconnaissance in force?"
Looking back at the patterns from the last few floors, an attack by only two monsters felt intentional. It made me suspect they were testing us, just as Hiiragi-san suggested.
Which likely meant there was a full mixed-species squad waiting for us further ahead. The high-speed weasel monsters for distraction, the Squirrel? snipers for support, the Badger? types for underground ambushes... and the defensive Monkey? types to hold the line. As a tactical unit, it was remarkably balanced. If they ever managed to coordinate properly, they would be a formidable force.
"If all the species we’ve seen so far team up, we’re in for a rough time."
"Yeah. If that Monkey? joins a mixed group, we’ll be pinned down by the front line while the others pick us apart," Yuji noted.
"I wonder... maybe the lack of coordination we saw before was because they didn't have a leader. Could the Monkey? types be the commanders?"
Hiiragi-san’s theory made sense to both Yuji and me. A defensive frontline commander who could hold their ground while directing subordinates to create openings. And once an opening appeared, the Monkey? had the raw power to deliver a finishing blow that could crater the earth.
If that was the case, the next group we ran into wouldn't just be a mob—it would be a disciplined squad.
"Ugh, things had to get complicated right at the very end..."
"They’re a nuisance, sure, but they aren't invincible. We just have to do what we’ve been doing—strike fast and take them out one by one before they can coordinate."
"Exactly," Hiiragi-san said. "If the coordination is the problem, we just have to prioritize the Squirrel? snipers and the Monkey? leaders. Once the lynchpins are gone, the rest will fall apart."
"I mean, you’re right, but still..."
I scratched the back of my head and let out a small sigh. It seemed like a confrontation with a major threat was practically guaranteed now.
I guess the dungeon isn't going to let us have it easy until the very last second.