Seeker 87

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Chapter 87. Second Day Of Exploration On The 9th Floor

We're on the 2nd day of exploring the dungeon's 9th floor.

We continued to make steady progress toward the southwestern edge.

Our first battle of the day was against 3 Gargoyles.

Which we easily defeated without taking any damage. 

But our 2nd battle posed a greater challenge.

We encountered four Flame Skulls.

Four flame skulls, it's known as the most formidable monster formation on the 9th floor. 

As usual, Yuzuki unleashed her ranged magic attacks, while Kazane-san and I engaged in close combat. 

Although all four flame skulls focused their attacks on Kazane-san, delivering 5 magic attacks, it didn't pose a significant problem.

After the battle, I proceeded to heal as usual.

"Ouch~! Did all four of them concentrate their attacks on me? Daichi-kun, please heal me~! Onee-chan is in pain and dying~!"

"Alright, alright, Kazane-oneechan, I'll heal you right away. How much HP do you have left?"

"Well, I took four hits... so it's 58/120. Ahh, half of it got depleted. But I managed to dodge one of the attacks, at least."

"If it weren't for the Anti-Magic Ring. It could have been dangerous. With that much damage taken, I suppose it's this way... [Ground Heal]!"

I directed higher-level healing magic toward Kazane-san. 

A more powerful magic than [Earth Heal] descended upon her, completely healing her injuries.

"Wow, I got fully healed in just one shot! Amazing, [Ground Heal]!"

"The healing efficiency is quite good. But since it doesn't see much use, I sometimes think it was a mistake to acquire it."

"You worry too much. Thank you as always, Daichi-kun."

Kazane-san, whose wounds have healed, smiles at me.

Her smile is too angelic. I love it.

The skill I acquired at level 25, [Ground Heal], is an enhanced version of [Earth Heal]. 

It lacks the paralysis recovery effect of [Gaia Heal] but provides a significantly larger amount of pure HP recovery, with moderate MP consumption.

Comparing these three healing spells:

[Earth Heal]: MP 4, Recovery Coefficient 1.3

[Gaia Heal]: MP 8, Recovery Coefficient 2.0, Paralysis recovery

[Grand Heal]: MP 6, Recovery Coefficient 2.6

It goes something like that.

The recovery coefficient is an indicator that represents the magnitude of the recovery magic's effect, and multiplying it by the caster's magical power gives an approximate amount of HP recovered.

[Grand Heal] has good cost performance, as you can see.

In addition, I judged it worthwhile to acquire it because it is useful for large recovery in critical situations.

However, in reality, situations that require this magic rarely occur.

Since it is magic I don't have much opportunity to use it, I sometimes think it would have been better to acquire other skills.

"But the effect of the Anti-Magic Ring is quite something. With it, Kazane-san's magic defense is almost on par with ours."

"That's right. Yesterday, Kazane-san took about 25 points of damage from [Fire Bolt] by Flame Skull, but with this feeling, she would only take about 15 points with the anti-magic ring equipped. A 40% reduction is significant. Buying it was the right decision."

As Yuzuki approached me, I absentmindedly stroked her head and replied.

"Nhehe~!" Yuzuki's cheeks loosened, and she was delighted as she enjoyed being petted.

Until yesterday, both Kazane-san and I had Anti Poison/Paralysis Rings equipped on our fingers, but now we wear a new item called the anti-magic ring instead.

We spent our last 500,000 yen to purchase two of these items, which get sold at the armory for 250,000 yen each.

This item has the effect of increasing magic defense by +20.

As expected, it significantly reduces the magic damage received by the wearer.

By the way, Yuzuki doesn't have one because we didn't have enough money.

Due to priority issues, Yuzuki, who naturally has a high magic defense, was put on hold.

With the power of the anti-magic ring, we could reduce the danger and resource consumption of exploring the 9th floor, and we proceeded smoothly toward our destination.

After progressing for about 3 hours one way, we arrived at what seemed to be our destination point.

It was an ordinary dead-end corridor with nothing remarkable.

I placed the pendant we found in the 7th floor treasure chest there and waited for a while.

Then... rumble rumble rumble...

The stone wall in front of the dead-end began to move by itself.

The centrally split stone wall opened like a sliding door, dividing it left and right.

What appeared beyond it was a passage that led further ahead.

When I looked at Kazane-san and Yuzuki, their eyes sparkled.

Their eyes conveyed the desire to proceed ahead.

Of course, we didn't come this far to turn back now.

Choosing not to proceed because it's risky is a choice we abandoned more than a month ago, even before entering the seventh floor.

After all, Seekers in the early days of the dungeon always fought against unknown territories like this.

Caution and cowardice.

Bravery and recklessness.

Positive and negative values are side by side.

I nodded to my two companions, then confirmed that the Pearl Of Return was in Kazane-san's [Item Box], and we proceeded through the passage that appeared beyond the stone wall.