Chapter 106: Adaptation 2
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
Join the discord! Here
The difference in difficulty between the 20th and 21st floors wasn't small.
Unlike the lone Orc Hunters, Moss Wolves, and Helmeted Deer, cave spiders and vampire bats move in groups of at least five.
With goblins and kobolds boasting numbers ranging from a dozen to nearly thirty.
In the absence of sunlight, one must rely on torches, magic tools, and spells for light.
One had to fight multiple enemies at once, and the uneven terrain added to the fatigue as well.
"Sigh... With this many, even goblins become a real nuisance."
"I had to maintain my shield spell longer than I thought. Did we underestimate them?"
I can block or deflect the Moss Wolves and Helmeted Deer, and Kaiden can handle them if they slip past me.
However, when facing over thirty goblins, no matter how much I try to shield us, their sheer number is enough to surround us.
We're forced to use protective shields and barriers to block their blind charges and venomous stingers.
With divine energy enveloping my shield, I stand as a sturdy wall, blocking one side of the battlefield.
Kaiden, on the other side, swings her sword vigorously, but the enemies still number over thirty.
But even with magic and arrows crisscrossing the air, and the thudding sound of hits against our shields echoing in the cave, the goblins, numerous as they were, couldnt harm our group.
We just feel more drained of our stamina and mana than usual.
"I'll gather the mana stones. Everyone else, take a moment to breathe."
"The uneven ground makes it difficult to swing. It's more tiring than I thought."
As I pick up the mana stones from the fallen goblins, Kaiden is the first to speak up.
The others follow suit, reflecting on the battle and their actions.
"When I turned off the light spell, aiming my magic became way harder. That's why I used up more mana than usual."
"Yeah. I didnt realize how much I relied on your light magic until I had to rely solely on that magical baton. It was much harder to hit weak points. I think some of my arrowheads got damaged because of that as well."
"If Roland hadn't bought that and we used a regular torch, it probably would have gone out during the fight, making things even darker."
Despite it being our first large-scale battle in one of the spacious areas of the cave, we identified our mistakes and areas of improvement quickly.
It was a testament to the quality of my companions and Han Se-ahs exceptional gaming skills.
Aside from the excessive drain on our stamina and magic, the group's overall performance in the battle was good, which lightened the group's mood.
-What the heck, all I heard was 'whoosh whoosh' and then it ended.
-Can't we adjust the camera's gamma setting?
-I asked for a dazzling performance, and they gave me one in total darkness!
-Mom, it's so dark in here that I can't breathe.
-Even creatures of the darkness would prefer a brighter place. Please turn on the light!
The only ones dissatisfied are the viewers who couldn't fully enjoy the battle due to the darkness.
Han Se-ah, struggling in this unfamiliar environment, set her camera controls to auto.
The viewers probably can't see due to this.
On top of that, because of the dim lighting, they couldnt even see the faces of our party members well.
They're just obsessed with women.
"What the heck? You guys missed my incredible moves? Seriously, it's only a little darker, how do you expect to get through the 20th-floor? At this rate, you might as well become goblin food."
Amidst this, Han Se-ah's murmuring, aimed at the viewers, could be heard.
Honestly, if she just acted cute, the viewers would flock to her, but I guess its also a talent to bicker like that?
After picking up the mana stone dropped by a goblin on the floor, I handed it to Han Se-ah.
As we go higher, the blue hue of the mana stone becomes clearer.
There are also rare mosses and mushrooms in the cave that can be harvested for money, but we don't care too much about that.
Well, it's just our first day in the cave.
As we get used to it, things will get better.
After catching our breath and checking our equipment, we filled our inventory with mana stones and continued on our way.
"...There, next to the stalactite, is that a vampire bat?"
"You have sharp eyes. Those creatures swoop down like birds of prey, scratching at your face and neck. If they do, you'll have to duck to dodge."
-That's not the kind of bat I was imagining.
-Even if Batman crouched down, he wouldn't be that big.
-The cave is such a tight space, why are the monsters so huge?
-Still better than spiders... I guess?
-Are we sure that jacked creature is a bat? Not a bat mutant?
Starting with cave spiders, then moving on to goblins in the open space, the third creature we encountered is a vampire bat that spans more than 2 meters when its wings are fully spread.
It isn't just a bat with thin wing membranes and a fragile body.
Living up to its monster title, its powerful fluttering wings could deflect arrows, and it had sharp, large claws that could sever human blood vessels.
If it came flying at you with all its might and body-slammed you, it could knock down a mage or priest with its muscular body.
Based on their appearance alone, these creatures looked less like vampire bats and more like the minions of a vampire.
Outside the tower, you would likely find such creatures lurking in sinister dungeons.
"Ah, shoot! The arrows!"
"I'll switch from light magic to offensive magic!"
Unlike the cave spiders, which only know how to jump from above, these creatures fly around persistently targeting people's necks.
They seem to have a basic level of intelligence as they're not aiming for my neck, protected by armor, but rather targeting the other party members with their fair, exposed skin.
It appears that being vampire bats, they instinctively know where vulnerable spots are.
Given the way they only aim for the neck, you'd think they had some relation to real vampires.
Because of this, Irene unfurls her holy spells, and Kaiden wildly swings her sword.
I've managed to swat down about three of these flying vampire bats with my shield as if they were mere wasps.
But, these creatures tend to swarm, filling the cave passageways to the brim.
"They sometimes tangle with each other!"
"Their wings are tougher than their bodies! Arrows can't penetrate!"
Grace's arrows bounce off the bat's wings or break upon contact.
Meanwhile, Kaiden, who's trying to swing her sword upwards in the cramped space, occasionally stumbles.
But thanks to Irene, nobody was harmed.
The vampire bats, whose wing membranes were durable enough to deflect arrows, couldn't endlessly resist the sword of a warrior skilled in mana.
One by one, they dropped to the ground, turning into stone.
Experiencing the vampire bats, the most formidable of the four types of monsters we've encountered in the cave, sweat poured down everyone's foreheads.
"Damn, are these really bats? Their wings are strong enough to repel arrows, and their bodies are so tough that they just shrug off my spark spell. It seems like we need to rely on offensive magic to deal damage here."
-Han Se-ah, just play the role of a porter... With your inventory, mini-map, and light magic, you'd be the best at it.
-A hero (Roland), a saint (Irene), and a porter (Han Se-ah) make up the team.
-Time to ditch that magic missile you've been using since the first floor. You've already killed two bosses.
-That porter sure talks to herself a lot.
The primary reason for Han Se-ah's excessive mana consumption was the grade of her magic.
This is because Han Se-ah hadn't acquired any new spells from the Magic Tower.
No matter how powerful a magic spell might be, it's natural that using a basic offensive skill learned on the first floor won't be effective up to the 21st floor.
After all, she's not a novel's protagonist who can become a magic missile master capable of shooting thousands of them.
"It's getting late. Let's start heading back. Hanna, you said you remember the way, right?"
"Yeah."
With that, we made our way out of the tower.
Up to the 20th floor, we pushed through rather easily with star power.
However, upon reaching the 21st floor, problems began to emerge.
Firstly, there's the issue with Grace's accuracy in shooting.
Her accuracy was bound to decrease in the dimly lit caves.
Especially when the vampire bats fluttered their large wings and flew above the light source; it was straining on the eyes.
Her primary role was also as the party's scout rather than archery.
Kaiden's issue is that her swordsmanship seems more tailored to battling humans.
It appears she learned her skills from the Northern Knights.
These skills, however, are not easily adaptable against monsters that crawl or fly in caves.
As for Han Se-ah, the issue is her low attack power due to her basic skill set.
It's quite ambitious to try and climb the 20th floors with only skills learned during the tutorial.
However, this would likely be resolved after receiving the rewards for gate and learning some new spells.
As for Irene, well...
The priestess of the party is less a combatant and more of an insurance to heal injuries and prevent death.
If her protective barrier remains intact, it's already worth the contribution of one, if not three members.
"Haah, when I get skill points this time, I have to learn magic first. But how come Magic Missile, which can shatter the skull of a moss wolf, can't break a bat's wing? I guess a monster's level indicates its strength rather than its appearance or name."
-Did you know in another world, a pigeon in an alleyway is stronger than the ancient demon Balrog*?
-If you're still using your first skills, you might want to switch it up.
-Aren't you still saving the skill points you got as a reward for the 10th-floor boss?
-Diligent in illuminating the mini-map, but too lazy to learn spells?
-Please tell me the next spell isn't Magic Spear, right?
Lying in bed and watching Han Se-ah's stream, it seems she also felt the limitations of Magic Missile.
A spell that'll work on the 21st floor, huh?
Maybe it's time to post a nice little story to read.
---
Visit freewe𝑏n(o)v𝒆l.𝑐𝘰𝑚 for the best novel reading experience