The stairs to the third floor were quickly found. anticipating this, Kazane was exploring near the stairs.
Both of us descended the stairs to the lower floor. It was a spiral staircase similar to the one we passed from the first to the second floor, winding around it time and time again, until finally reaching the third floor.
The view from the third floor was more or less the same as on the previous floors, but the vibe that Kazane was emitting was slightly different.
“From here on out, I’ll get serious. I might not be able to pay as much attention to the experience layout, so I hope you understand,” Kazane said.
“Understood,” the protagonist replied. Kazane looked imposing and wonderful. I decided to stop joking. Both of us continued towards the third floor. Meanwhile, Kazane glanced at her wristwatch.
“It’s almost five o’clock. It looks like Rokuyari was still in the dungeon this morning. What should we do? Do we explore a little more for an hour before heading back?”
“I can go on for longer. I still have plenty of MP, so if Kazane is okay with it, I’d like to keep going as far as we can.”
“So, shall we advance as far as we can together? ‘I won’t let you go today!’… just kidding,” Kazane added.
“…”
“Please, don’t stay silent! It’s uncomfortable like this!” Kazane protested.
Fine, it’s just that…
“Are you flirting with me? Is that your natural attitude or do you just like to toy with innocent guys?”
Effortlessly ignoring the charming onee-san with a devilish touch, I continued to move forward in the dungeon alongside her. After a while, Kazane reacted.
“Rokuyari, there are monsters. Three bodies.”
As usual, Kazane alerted me to the encounter with the monsters. Shortly after, three monsters appeared before us.
Although Kazane noticed the presence of the monsters earlier thanks to her [Perception] ability, the time difference was minimal. Unless it’s a truly perfect situation, it’s hard to time a surprise attack. But having this ability is definitely better than not having it at all.
Now, the monsters that appeared were a larger Hobgoblin and two smaller Goblins. In simple terms, it was one Hobgoblin and two Goblins. Undoubtedly, on the third floor, the mix of monsters was challenging. Both a “Hobgoblin” and two “Goblins” would pose a challenge in separate encounters on the second level. Even for Kazane, gathering them all at once would be a difficult task.
The three monsters lunged towards us through the cave-shaped tunnel. The two Goblins went ahead, followed by the Hobgoblin.
I readied myself as always with my spear and shield, prepared to face them. But Kazane took a slightly different stance. Armed with two daggers, Kazane briefly emitted a faint green glow and in the next instant…
“Wind cut!”
With her resolute voice, a crescent-shaped cut of bright green light was swiftly launched from the tip of her right dagger, directly hitting the Hobgoblin at the back, ignoring the Goblin that was coming ahead.
The Hobgoblin, with a deep wound in its chest caused by the spell, let out a cry of anguish. However, the two Goblins in the front kept advancing without flinching, heading towards us.
“Hyaaa!”
Kazane rushed forward and with her two daggers, she attacked one of the Goblins. The Goblin vanished in an instant, turning into a cloud of black smoke.
The tactic is to launch a magical attack from a distance and move in for a melee assault when the distance closes. It’s the same strategy that I was about to use with my “Rock Bullet” ability.
