Seeker 79

Test

Chapter 79. In Front Of The Gate

4 days after the day we first challenged the 8th floor, we had reached the end of the 8th floor.

We had reached the end of the eighth layer.

"So this is the gate leading to the boss room."

I murmured, looking up at the huge gate towering in front of me.

The great stone door was half of its area stained green by the spreading moss, and ivy.

Beyond this great door, the boss of the eighth level awaited.

There is a single pedestal by the gate, equipped with a blue orb.

When you put your hand on the orb, the great door opens.

"Hey, senpai. Can I hold my hand over the orb as a prank?"

"Don't embarrass me like that. You're an adult now, aren't you?

"I'm just an 18 years old, hot gal."

"Your choice of words is not that of a modern 18 years old.

"Daichi-kun, what should a 20 years old sister do?"

"Nothing. Just be normal."

"Boo, Daichi-kun, you're cold!"

"That's right, senpai. It's cold."

"Boohoohoo!"

"Yes, yes. You guys need to return your mental age to that of an adult."

Let's put aside these 2 children.

We had spent the past five days exploring the 8th floor and had arrived at the boss's room.

If we could defeat the boss, the forest floor would be clear.

We had to pass through to get the ticket to the next ruins floor.

The 8th floor of the dungeon, which involves fairies, is also on the ruins floor ahead.

In the past five days, we had all reached the 21st level.

Musou Daichi

Level: 21 (+1)

Experience: 37081/40935

HP: 120/120 (+5)

MP: 88/126（+26)

Strength: 21 (+1)

Endurance: 24（+1)

Agility: 18

Magic: 21（+1)

-Skills-

[Earth Heal]

[Mapping]

[HP Up (Endurance x 5)]

[MP Up (Magic x 6)] (Rank up!)

[Spear Attack Power Up (+18)] (Rank up!)

[Rock Bullet]

[Protection]

[Gaia Heal]

[Treasure Chest Drop x2]

[Three Strikes]

[Item Repair]

Remaining skill points: 0

Kodachi Kazane

Level: 21 (+1)

Experience: 38620/40935

HP: 90/90 (+5)

MP: 59/90

Strength: 18 (+1)

Endurance: 18（+1)

Agility: 30（+1)

Magic:18

-Skills.

[Dagger Attack Power Up (+12)]

[Mapping]

[Dual Wield]

[Presence Detection]

[Trap Detection]

[Trap Release]

[Wind Slash]

[Item Box]

[HP Up (Endurance x 5)]

[Three Strikes]

[Quickness.]

[Windstorm]

[MP Up (Magic x 5)]

[Dual Wield Enhanchement] (new!)

Remaining skill points: 0

Yuzuki Hotaru

Level: 21 (+2)

Experience:34142/40935

HP: 90/90 (+22)

MP: 150/195（+10)

Strength: 15 (+1)

Endurance: 18（+1)

Agility: 21（+1)

Magic: 39（+2)

-Skills-

[Fire Bolt]

[MP Up (Magic x 5)]

[HP up (Endurance x 5)] (Rank up!)

[Magic Up (+8)] 

[Burn Blaze]

[Monster Appraisal]

[Fire Weapon]

[[Treasure Chest Drop x2]

[Item Box]

[Flame Lance]

[Item Appraisal]

[Explosion] (new!)

Remaining skill points: 0

Do we want to challenge the boss here?

Do we challenge the boss at this point, or do we challenge the boss after raising our level?

Or, decide that this 8th floor is the end of our road and stop challenging the boss?

For a party of 3, the boss of the 8th floor would be troublesome.

They say some parties that cannot beat the boss even though all three members have reached level 25, and are well-equipped can't beat the boss.

When we challenge the boss. The boss' room's entrance door will get sealed, and we won't be able to escape, but Return Pearl is said to be effective.

If we challenge the boss and don't think we can win, we can escape and return home with it.

But that, too, isn't a sure thing.

If the situation is so critical that there is no time to use Return Pearl, we may get annihilated.

From what I saw of the boss data in the forest layer, we could probably beat them even with our current strength.

Although we are still at level 21, we have advantages that ordinary parties don't have, such as Black Clothes and [Three Strikes], and the fire attribute magic of the bow and moon is compatible with the boss monster.

Even if we take on the challenge in our current state, we should have no problem with the amount of MP remaining.

With this much remaining, it is unlikely that he will run out of MP during the boss battle.

So, what should we do?

My "we can probably win" is just that, "we can probably win".

"Kazane-san, Yuzuki. I'd like to ask you, after you've returned your mental age to that of an adult, do you think we should continue to defeat the boss?"

"Well, I can't say. I think we can probably win, but..."

"I think there were 2 Saber Tigers and 2 Madflowers. The boss monster has about 400 HP, right? I heard that the boss is like a powered-up version of Madflower."

"The Madflower has 450 HP. If we can kill it instantly as long as we can kill the cronies, I don't think we'll lose first."

"Kukuku. If that's the case, it's time for my new magic, [Explosion]! I'll show you how powerful it is to destroy even a swarm of Death Spiders with a single shot."

"And if we stack my [Windstorm] on top of it, we can probably take out 2 saber tigers, I'm sure."

We discussed this and that.

We agreed that we could probably win.

But then, Kazane-san muttered.

"But I don't think there's any need to rush if we've come this far; I think it's okay to raise our level to 25."

""Ah.""

Yuzuki and I voiced our sympathy.

I think that's right.

There's no pressing reason for this, and it's fine to take on the challenge after raising our level to the level cap.

Moreover, the list of skills we can acquire at level 21 onward has been updated, and several attractive skills have appeared.

For example, when I reached level 21, the list of skills available for acquisition looked like this.

-Skills that can be acquired (all available at 1 skill point)

-Weapons-

Spear Attack Power Up (+18) (new!)

Double Thrust (new!)

-Magic-

Ground Heal (new!)

Rock Bazooka (new!)

-General-

Strength Up (+1)

Endurance Up (+1)

Agility Up (+1)

Magic Up (+1)

HP Up (Endurance x 6) (new!)

MP Up (Magic x 6) (new!)

Stealth

Presence Detection

Item Box

Treasure Chest Drop x3 (new!)

Reinforced Accuracy (new!)

Reinforced Evasion (new!)

I think it's stupid and idiotic.

How could I get all of these new things by level 25?

I saved up my skill points when I reached level 20, and it turned out to be a great decision.

When I reached level 21, I immediately got [MP Up (Magic x 6)] and used another point to get [Spear Attack Power Up (+18)].

Now [Spear Attack Power Up (+20)] appears on the skill list.

Considering the pattern, this (+20) seems to be the upper limit of [Spear Attack Power Up].

I digress.

Anyway, all I can say is that the growth from level 21 to level 25 will probably lead to a considerable increase in strength for all of them.

The question is, how long will it take to get them to level 25?"

"Hmmm, they all went up one or two levels in one week this week, so two weeks shouldn't be enough to raise them another four levels. I think it will take a month or something like that."

"A month? I feel a little impatient, but I guess that's possible. If they said it would take years, I wouldn't like it."

"I can't say for sure without checking the experience table. Then, let's take the cheapest tile and raise it to level 25 on this floor."

""I agree~!""

So we decided to raise our level to 25 in the 8th layer and challenge the boss on the forest floor.

I don't think we were too chicken, but it was a death game.