Earth Dungeon 56.1

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Chapter 56.1. Water Source

Moving away from the Amatsugahara Corporation headquarters and heading northeast, that's the Arakawa River. Over the past 20 years, the forest has expanded, and the river has grown wider. While it's not the Yellow River, it's three times wider than it used to be. The absence of embankments in the direction of Takenotsuka is due to a major dungeon disaster. The lack of a dam might also contribute to this.

Forests, plains, and vast rivers. And monsters too.

Monsters gather in search of water. Monsters don't require survival food. They eat and drink water and eat food. However, they don't excrete waste, and won't die even if they don't drink or eat. When the country was functioning, captured monsters could be kept in a cage for a month, still lively, recovering from minor injuries, and staying healthy.

They're beings that deviate from Earth's life principles. Yet, they eat and drink. They attack each other and seem to form a pyramid of the food chain.

While they're said to mimic life, it's all a mystery. If defeated, their bodies and equipment remain. If a dungeon is conquered, only the core remains. They never grow attached to humans. They're humanity's enemies, an enigmatic presence. That's what monsters are.

These monsters gather around water sources. Perhaps they're programmed to mimic animals in this way, congregating at watering holes.

All sorts of monsters.

Among them, the strong drink water boldly, while the weak hide and drink.

Monsters that drink water boldly are the issue. They generally emerge from dungeons born near water sources. They possess sturdy bodies and exceptional magical power to drink water from the water source.

A young girl stood in such a water source, at a corner of the Arakawa River's plain. She has sparkling, lustrous semi-long black hair, gentle eyes, a petite and well-formed nose, cute lips with a cherry blossom hue, and a petite and lovely facial structure. She was Amano Shizuku.

Before her stretched out a riverbank. The riverbank beyond the plain gets covered with gravel on the ground, large rocks scattered here and there, and decayed dead trees left untouched, perhaps brought down by the current from upstream.

And merfolk were strolling around. Their bodies were covered in scales, and they had finned feet that slapped the ground as they walked. They wielded tridents with tips split into three, and their bulging eyes moved about.

"Sahuagin. They command water magic, and their scales are as hard as iron. They're skilled with spears and possess high physical abilities. They can jump higher and are quicker than frogs. A formidable and powerful monster ranked D. When considering whether it's easier to fight a Goblin Knight or a Sahuagin, the answer is a Goblin Knight. As for the distinctive feature of Sahuagin, they never stray far from water sources. If enemies of that level were roaming, the military would move first, making it troublesome that they are limited to water sources only. Truly well-considered existence, isn't it?"

[Seems like a design to keep humans away from water sources. What a cruel story.]

The astral Sakimori uttered that and clicked his tongue at the malicious design of the enemy. It's natural to hesitate to defeat them if they only appear at water sources. Sahuagin is subtly powerful.

"Nevertheless, D-rank opponents are not a match. The composition of Sahuagin is different from Goblins. Goblins always bring archers as long-range support, but Sahuagin can handle water magic, so they don't need that. Instead, there's always a Sahuagin Leader. The leader's rank is C. Even though the strength isn't that different. It's likely due to their leadership."

[I'll reject the claim that their strength isn't that different.]

A 100-unit ruler's words can't be trusted. In response to my words, Shizuku-san smirked with a small mouth, finding it amusing.

"If it's you, Sakimori-san, you can defeat them without approaching. However, I plan to fight the Sahuagin Leaders in this whole area repeatedly, earning stat points through adversity growth. So, this time, I want to fight."

[What about your true intentions?]

"Summer is already ending. And since it's turning into autumn, I want to fight with all my might."

So, that's the real reason. Well, occasionally, it's fine. Shizuku probably wants to move her body to the fullest once in a while.

[Well, no humans will come here anyway. Give it your all, Shizuku-san. But what about weapons? Won't you use the Goblin King's sword?]

"Sahuagin are quick and use magic, so if they surround me, the Goblin King's sword won't be enough. So, I'll procure a weapon locally."

There are so many weapons lying around, after all. Shizuku coldly glanced and changed her gaze into a forward-leaning posture.

"The goal is to defeat 50 Sahuagin Leaders. Alright then, here I go."

Circulating fighting spirit within her body, Shizuku kicked off the ground and sprinted through the low grass of the plain. The grass rustled, making a sound as she swiftly covered several dozen meters. Approaching the idle Sahuagin, she advanced with purpose.

Sahuagin quickly noticed the presence of the approaching girl and took defensive positions, spears poised, forming an arrowhead-like formation with the leader at the center. Shizuku calmly observed as all the surrounding Sahuagins adopted the same formation.

"Sahuagins always take the same formation before engaging. Next, the 2 rear guards will chant water magics. The chanting takes about five seconds. The front liners will charge while assessing the enemy's response. [Charge]."

[Charge]

[Charge]

The 2 front liners bent their waists, thrusting their spears forward like missiles. Stirring the wind, they charged while Shizuku stopped, watching the approaching Sahuagin.

"One step forward."

Seeing Shizuku stop, Sahuagins adjusted their trajectory slightly. Their spears thrust, but with a step forward, Shizuku caused their two spears to intersect with a clank behind her.

"Predictable movements, well done."

Seizing the arm of a Sahuagin on her right, she tripped its feet off the ground, pushed its head down, and slammed it onto the ground. Then, she grabbed the spear thrown into the air and drove it into its head.

"Three steps backward."

With light steps, Shizuku retreated as the spear swiped past her horizontally. She grabbed the spear and pulled it towards her.

Thrown off balance and evading the attack, Sahuagin stumbled forward towards Shizuku. It looked like it was about to step back, but its eyes widened. It lost strength, and it fell backward.

A large hole opened in its back, and blood spurted out with a significant amount of water.

"[Water Gun]. The trajectory of the attack was just as expected. This should be no problem."

Shizuku, who had already anticipated the trajectory of the released water magic, used the fallen Sahuagin as a shield to dodge. This attack has a pattern as well.

With a sly smile on her cute face, she picked up the fallen Sahuagin's spear and sprinted forward again.

Stepping forcefully and accelerating, she closed in on the Sahuagin Leader. Sahuagins were about 2 meters tall on average. The leader was a head shorter. Probably around 160 centimeters.

However, its body was more robust than other Sahuagin. Its scales were lightly thin but harder than iron. Regular bullets would bounce off, and even armor-piercing rounds would only embed into its body due to fighting spirit or magic, increasing its defense.