After finishing our break, we packed up the table and other items and readjusted our equipment.
Since it had been a while since our last fight with an ogre, a slight sense of anticipation and anxiety welled up within me. I wondered if he would actually show up for us.
"Well, now that the cleanup is done... are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm good."
"No problems on my end either."
"Then let's go before anyone interrupts us."
With that, I slotted a Core Crystal we had picked up along the way into the depression in the door. I could have just used a crimson gem to rent the space, but since we were here, I figured I’d have the Big Ogre act as our san... practice partner. It’s better to have an actual opponent, after all.
The door opened slowly once the Core Crystal was in place, welcoming us into the room.
"Since this is a different dungeon, its movement patterns might be different from the one we fought before, so let's stay sharp."
"That's a possibility, certainly. It won't hurt to be cautious."
"Right, let's be careful."
After a final confirmation, we stepped into the dim interior.
There, I spotted a shadow looming in the center of the room.
"Oh, he's here."
I couldn't help but let out a small exclamation of admiration. Lately, even when I went to see him, he hadn't been showing his face... Seeing him looking healthy after all this time, appearing with such a dignified presence, was actually quite moving.
Yuji agreed with my sentiment while providing instructions for our preparations.
"That said, we need to secure a light source first. Daiki, help me set up the lights. Hiiragi-san, please handle the illumination with your magic."
"Roger."
"Leave it to me."
I pulled the lights out of my Spatial Storage and, careful not to get too close to the ogre, began setting them up around the perimeter with Yuji. Meanwhile, Hiiragi-san used her light magic to place multiple light sources until the entire room was illuminated.
Thanks to that, the once-gloomy room was transformed into a brightly lit space. I had a feeling the ogre was squinting as if it were too bright, but it was probably just my imagination.
"Alright, preliminary setup complete."
"With this much light, we should be fine."
"If anything, I feel like I might have made it a bit too bright."
With our preparations ready, we approached the ogre with our weapons drawn.
Once we reached a certain distance, the ogre began to move and let out a Roar, just like the ones before it.
"As noisy as ever..."
"True... I suppose it's meant to be intimidating, but I wish he'd keep it down a bit."
"You two, this is no time for jokes. Look, the summoning has started."
While cautioning us as we traded quips, Hiiragi-san pointed toward the ogre's feet.
"...Huh? Aren't there more than usual?"
"You're right. Before, they matched our numbers... Do the specifications differ depending on the dungeon?"
"We haven't fought them enough times to know for sure. Maybe there's some kind of condition?"
A total of six big bears were summoned along with the ogre's Roar. Was it an allocation of two per person?
"Anyway, the mystery-solving can come later. It looks like they're ready to go."
"True, let's focus on defeating the enemies in front of us first."
"Right. So, how are we splitting the roles?"
"Let's see..."
After a brief discussion, we quickly assigned our targets before the enemies could make their move. Hiiragi-san would handle the ogre, while Yuji and I would take care of the big bears.
"Alright, Yuji, let's clean up the big bears quickly. Since there's more of them, it'll be a pain if they scatter."
"Yeah, let's finish them before they spread out."
"I'll take the ones on the right. Yuji, handle the left."
"Got it."
After our quick briefing, Yuji and I closed the distance in an instant toward the big bears. Thanks to the fitness test the other day, we had a better grasp of our current capabilities, making our approach significantly faster than before.
Unfortunately, that meant my timing for the transition into an attack was slightly off, and my precision suffered. I definitely needed more practice in this area.
"One, two, three... and done."
"Finished over here, too."
"For now, I guess it went as planned. Even so..."
"It wasn't exactly a passing grade, though."
In less than thirty seconds, Yuji and I had decapitated all six big bears. We had attempted a mock version of high-speed combat as a test, but our lack of practice was obvious. While our attack speed had increased, our precision was lacking.
While reflecting on the fight, we turned our attention to Hiiragi-san.
"Hmm, it looks like Hiiragi-san is struggling a bit too."
"It seems like she's treating it as a trial run, but the fundamental issue is a lack of experience with this speed..."
Hiiragi-san was fighting the ogre in a tentative manner. She wasn't counterattacking; instead, she stayed within the enemy's attack range and dodged the ogre's strikes at the last possible second. However, her dodging distance was much larger than necessary. Clearly, practice was the only way to fix this.
Still, now that we had identified the issues, I wanted to wrap this up. I called out to her in a voice just loud enough to be heard without being a distraction.
"Hiiragi-san, we're finished over here."
"Okaay, just a moment. I'll finish this up soon."
Answering me, Hiiragi-san used a backstep to leap away from the ogre and gain some distance. The ogre didn't pursue her immediately; instead, it just stared at her, maintaining the gap.
The expression on its face was no longer that of a dignified, powerful master of the floor waiting for a challenger. Instead, it looked like a creature certain of its own defeat, desperately searching for an exit. Given the massive gap in our abilities, I suppose that was only natural. The ogre in our usual dungeon had even gone so far as to leave an offering and vanish before we could even fight it.
"Anyway, I'm sorry, but I'm going to end this with the next move."
With that murmur, Hiiragi-san closed the distance in a flash. Her charge speed was significantly faster than before.
Before the ogre could even react, she swiftly drove her spear into the center of its chest.
"Gugah!?"
The ogre let out a short scream as its chest was skewered, then it slowly fell onto its back. The expression on its face looked almost peaceful, as if it were feeling a sense of liberation... though that was probably just my imagination.
Leaving behind an indescribable aftertaste, the battle with the ogre ended.
Where the corpses of the ogre and the big bears had vanished, several drop items were left behind. Not every monster yielded loot, but the results were quite good. After all, defeating the ogre for the first time in a while had netted us a high-grade recovery potion. We didn't need them for ourselves, but they were useful as an excuse if we ever needed to heal a serious injury for a relative or friend.
If I used an unregistered recovery potion of unknown origin when I had an obligation to report such things, it would turn into a major incident.
"Let's see. A recovery potion, bear meat, and a skill scroll... Not a bad haul."
"It's a great bonus before our main objective."
"True. So, Kokonoe-kun, what's in the skill scroll?"
"Wait a second... Oh, it's a winner. It's a 'Cleansing' scroll."
When I checked the drop, I discovered it was a Cleansing skill scroll, which still traded for exceptionally high prices. I couldn't help but grin. While skill scrolls were generally expensive, demand was heavily skewed by popularity. The utility of Cleansing had been widely recognized since the early days, and its value had only increased, currently reaching the seven-figure range.
Since we had been rushing to get here and avoiding monster encounters, our total loot was lower than usual, but this single scroll was enough to cover the profits for the entire expedition.
"Cleansing, huh? That's a hit. Since our goal was just to get to the 29th floor, I wasn't even thinking about profit... This is a real windfall."
"Yeah, it feels like an unexpected prize."
Hearing the appraisal result, Yuji and Hiiragi-san smiled as well. Of course, compared to our previous overnight trip, it was still a modest amount.
I put the collected drop items into my Spatial Storage and finished the post-battle cleanup. And then...
"Alright, shall we get to today's real objective?"
"Yeah."
"Right."
"Then, first... let's set up some anti-snooping measures."
I took out some alarm-equipped sensors from my Spatial Storage and attached them to both sets of doors. If anyone tried to open the gates, a loud alarm would blare throughout the room.
Installing the sensors was a simple matter of sticking them on, so we quickly moved to the next step.
"Next is preparing the targets... Here, you two."
"These are... we just inflate them, right?"
"Yeah. Punching balloons I bought online."
"Punching balloons, huh? With this design?"
"Haha."
I handed them the air-filled punching balloons I’d taken from my Spatial Storage. They were the self-righting type that popped back up when hit. They had been on sale for a clearance price, so I had bought about ten of them in bulk.
As for the characters printed on them... well, I chose to ignore that. All that mattered was whether they could serve as targets.
"Anyway, let's hurry up and inflate them. We don't know when other explorers might show up."
"I guess so....By the way, Daiki, where's the pump? You're not expecting us to do this by mouth, are you?"
"Well, we probably could with our lung capacity, but that would be a hassle... Here."
I pulled manual air pumps from my Spatial Storage and handed them to Yuji and Hiiragi-san.
Then I pulled out one more thing: an electric pump and a portable power station.
"...So you have an electric one, too."
"It's just a cheap one I bought with the balloons. It's only slightly better than manual labor, though..."
We split the work and started inflating the balloons. Normally, an electric pump would be faster, but when explorers were the ones doing the work, the math changed. Yuji and Hiiragi-san moved the pump pistons at high speed, and the balloons inflated before my eyes. Their speed was clearly superior to the electric pump I was using. I realized I’d need a much more powerful industrial pump for it to be worth the effort.
Regardless, we managed to inflate all the punching balloons in about ten minutes.
"Alright, all of them are ready."
"Daiki, that was actually pretty exhausting."
"Yeah, that was harder than fighting the ogre."
"Haha, sorry, sorry. Anyway, let's get them set up."
Ignoring their complaints, I carried the inflated balloons and arranged them near the center of the room at irregular intervals. It was a bit tricky, as I didn't want them too clustered or too spread out.
Once the placement was finished, our preparations were complete.
With the targets in place, we checked our equipment and had a brief meeting. We were about to engage in our first real high-speed combat training. We had tried it briefly against the ogre, but our lack of precision was a concern; without coordination, we risked accidents. At these speeds, a head-on collision or a stray blade hitting an ally were very real dangers.
We decided to start at our usual coordination speed and gradually ramp it up.
"Let's start at about ten or twenty percent faster than usual. We'll work on getting used to the speed while identifying any issues that crop up during high-speed movement."
"Good plan. If we jump straight to maximum speed, we might not be able to react."
"I agree. After trying it against the ogre, I think doubling our speed all at once would be too much."
Since we were in agreement, we designated one punching balloon as the target and began coordinated attacks at a slightly elevated pace. Yuji acted as the primary attacker, while Hiiragi-san and I focused on support and feints. We started with weapon-only coordination, as adding magic support seemed too complex before we had a handle on the physical movement.
With weapons aimed at the punching balloon, we began our high-speed combat training at Yuji's signal.