Seeker 24

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Chapter 24. The First Exploration Of The 4th Floor

After passing through the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors with the shortest route, Kodachi-san and I arrived at the fourth layer.

The scenery was the same as before, but the monsters we encounter were different.

The first group we encountered when we started exploring the 4th floor consisted of one goblin, one hobgoblin, one goblin archer, and one monster we had never seen before.

Even though it was my first encounter with a monster, I knew who it was from my preliminary investigation.

It looked like a goblin, but it got clad in a luxurious colored loincloth, had a skull on its head, and held a tin cane in its hand.

Goblin shaman is the name of the monster.

According to my preliminary research, this goblin shaman was the most formidable monster on the 4th floor, and I found this to be true when I fought it.

The monster swarm attacked us in a formation with goblins and hobgoblins in the vanguard and goblin archers and goblin shamans in the rear guard.

Kodachi-san first unleashed her first magic attack.

"We'll cut them down from the front - [Wind Slash]!"

The wind-attribute attack magic struck the hobgoblin in the vanguard.

Kodachi-san sprinted toward the hobgoblin with daggers in her hands to launch a follow-up attack.

That was Kodachi-san's signature pattern against the hobgoblins.

But...

"What? Kuh...!"

Before Kodachi-san could launch an additional attack on the hobgoblin, a fire magic attack came from the goblin shaman in the enemy rear guard.

Kodachi-san must have been alert, but she couldn't evade and get hit directly.

It should not have been a fatal wound.

However, it would have been extremely difficult even for Kodachi-san to avoid the magic attack, which had a fast bullet speed and a gentle tracking performance.

Kodachi-san loses her temper.

Then the onslaught of the hobgoblin attacked.

Kodachi-san had no choice but to prioritize her defense.

"Kodachi-san! Those bastards...!"

I attack the other vanguard monster, a goblin, with my spear and hit it, turning it into a magic stone with a single blow.

I got the result of my increased attack power.

The goblin archer attacked with a bow and arrow.

"Ugh...!"

I couldn't avoid it and got hit by an arrow in the abdomen.

The arrow that pierced me turned into a black haze and disappeared.

The leather armor's defensive capabilities also made it not much damage.

"-Wooooooooooooo!"

I charged toward the goblin shaman without care.

Kodachi-san seemed to have defeated the hobgoblin a little later, but at this point, I was faster.

But then, the goblin shaman unleashed its second fire magic.

The target was me.

I tried to defend myself with my shield, but I didn't make it in time and took a direct hit from a flaming bullet to the side of my head.

"Gghh ......!"

"Rikusou-san! This basstaarrdd!"

Kodachi-san sprinted forward and slaughtered the goblin archer with a single swing of his two daggers.

I also rushed at the goblin shaman and attacked it with my spear.

However, although this attack hit, it was not enough to kill the goblin shaman with a single blow.

It was after the goblin shaman used another fire magic to attack me that I could turn the goblin shaman into a magic stone.

After we had defeated all the monsters, Kodachi and I slumped to the ground.

"Hah, hah! Ugh, I'm hit! Rikusou-san, are you okay?"

"I got hit pretty hard. Wow, your HP is less than half."

"Oh, scary!"

A seeker whose HP drops below zero will faint on the spot.

If there are other seekers nearby, the monsters will attack them first, so the unconscious seekers won't get targeted (no such cases have been reported so far).

If their current HP falls below 0, it will become negative, and if it becomes negative by the same amount as the maximum HP, it will be a dead end.

For now, though, it doesn't look like that will happen unless we push ourselves too hard.

I have thought about this before, but after awakening to the seeker's ability, I feel that my fear of death is not so great anymore.

It's like, I'll be careful not to die.

I decided to use [Earth Heal] to heal Kodachi-san's and my wounds.

Kodachi-san was only hit once by a goblin shaman's magic attack, so she was completely healed with a single [Earth Heal].

But I, who had been hit twice by the goblin shaman's magic attack and once by the goblin archer's bow and arrow attack, was not so lucky.

Using [Earth Heal] once was not enough, so I had to use it a second time to recover fully.

As a result, my MP was down to (28/40) in one battle.

If it were a battle in the third layer, it would take two or three battles, and the balance would be such that one shot [Earth Heal] may or may not wear off.

"This is tough. Adding one goblin shaman changes the balance of the battle like this."

"The 4th floor, it's bad. We have to deal with that goblin shaman first."

"That's right. But Kodachi-san's [Wind Slash] can't take it down with just one shot, can it?"

"Yeah, that. One [Wind Slash] shot won't even take down a goblin, so it's hard to think I can take down a shaman with that. If I shoot two shots, though, I guess I can."

"Maybe I'll take [Rock Bullet] when I level up. But that would eat my MP anyway."

"Yeah."

Kodachi-san and I, both groaned and thought about it.

According to the dungeon information I found on the Internet, the summarized monster composition for the 4th floor is "the monster composition for the 3rd layer plus one goblin shaman.

It always includes one goblin shaman in the composition.

In addition, the monster composition of the 3rd floor is also fully present, making it an extremely vicious enemy composition.

"Should I stay on the 3rd floor longer to raise my level?"

"You might have to. I just got to the 11th level yesterday, so I don't think I'll be able to go up for a while. I'd like to have something decisive to do."

So, Kodachi-san and I decided to temporarily abandon our search for the 4th floor and return to the 3rd floor to level up.

However, news that could break this deadlocked situation came after the dungeon search that day.

It was past 5 pm.

I returned to the dungeon general building after I'm done my dive and noticed an incoming call on my phone.

I redialed the number and heard a friendly junior voice on the other end of the phone.

"Ah, Rikusou-senpai, hi! I have a favor to ask of you. It's called [Take me to the dungeon ♡]."

The junior employee at my part-time job says some unintelligible stuff to me.