Dungeon Sherpa

The weak Sherpa, lacking endurance, couldn’t keep up with their dungeon conquest and dropped out. 

　While chuckling as she imagined Rowe failing, Berii spied on the presence of the young man directly behind her.

　Rush through the shallow and middle floors.

　That was the style of “Twilight’s Sword”.

　Nuuk, wielding the Gift of [Enemy Search], remained calm and collected.

　From the front, detect the signs of any monsters; if they were slow, ignore them and continue progressing. If it didn’t seem like they could be avoided, signal Berii and they would then both exterminate the monsters. 

　There aren’t actually many monsters faster than Adventurers.

　Labyrinths are mainly composed of passageways and wide rooms. This structure happened to resemble a flat ant’s nest. 

　The luminescent moss nourished by magic particles proliferated across the floors, walls and ceiling. Consequently, they could not help but tread on the moss. 

“After this we will be entering a room.”

　You pathetic Sherpa who has to give directions while running. 

　And you’re also carrying enormous weight. 

　You’ll soon be out of breath and crying for rest.

　At that time, I’ll tell you.

　–This sluggish Sherpa. You’re fired. 

　Thanks to this exploration method devised by the impatient leader Yuika, the time “Twilight’s Sword” needed to stay in the labyrinth was dramatically reduced. 

　Furthermore, this allowed them to extend their “Harvesting Time” on the objective floor, increasing both the amount of experience points and targeted drop items obtained. This raised the efficiency with which they were able to increase their party strength. 

　As long as Yuika is here, we can go anywhere. 

　And such a beautiful Yuika doesn’t need a man.

“Twelve monsters.”

　Nuuk’s warning arrived.

“Black Princess. They appear to be Apple Bees.”

“That’s a lot. Let’s defeat them.”

　Upon entering the room, red and black striped monsters were floating in a swarm. 

　They were literally the size of apples. 

　From a small pouch attached to his waist, Nuuk retrieved some round pebbles. 

“[Throw].”

　His thumb flicked the pebbles and the wings of some of the Apple Bees were crushed in an instant. 

　This was Nuuk’s main attack, finger bullets. He used his Gift, [Throw] to attack from medium range.  Against weak enemies he would use round pebbles, and against strong enemies he would use specially-made iron balls.

　As soon as he discovered monsters with [Enemy Search], he would snipe them with a finger bullet. 

　In the event where there were fewer enemies, he would have chances of breaking through without pause, but as expected, it was not possible for him to take down 12 enemies on his own. 

　It was only after three of their allies had been defeated that the monsters finally realised the room had intruders. 

　Their buzzing wings shrilled jarringly as the red and black stripes drew an arc in the air to approach them.  

“Ugeh, disgusting!”　

　Berii rushed in front of Nuuk.

　Each hand held in reverse grip a small curved sword that had been worn on her waist.

“Apple Bees discharge acid from their rears while retreating. Be careful.”

“-up! Don’t give instructions!”

　This Sherpa has too many things to say. 

　What’s more, he always looks as though he’s got a disgusting smile stuck on his face. 

　Berii boldly spun around, evading the enemy while at the same time releasing a slash. 

　She sliced one Bee and landed. She then placed her twin swords on the ground, and proceeded to draw a magic formation with her fingertips on her left and right thighs simultaneously.

“‘Winds Lull’.”

　Wind-type support magic – if applied to the legs, it increases your mobility, if applied to the arms, it increases your hand speed. 

　However, there are also disadvantages.

　This magic puts a strain on the body.

“Berii. Pace yourself.”

　Sure enough, she was warned by Yuika, but she was already in a warlike mood. 

　Not against the Apple Bees. 

　Against the cheeky Sherpa.

　-I’ll show you my power!

　With the movements of a wild animal, the Apple Bees were defeated one after the other. The synergy with “Winds Of Fortune”  allowed her to chase down the enemies like a gust of wind. 

“Fuuh.”

　After cutting down the last monster, she turned her head, the Sherpa she was trying to show off to wasn’t even looking at her. Instead, he was diligently retrieving the cores from the monster corpses. 

“It’s alright for you to ignore the smaller monster cores. It’s a waste of time.”

　At the Dungeon Oasis on the 19th floor, Yuika said to Rowe. 

“Understood.”

　Having said that, Rowe passed pebbles to Nuuk.

“…You’ve collected them.”

“Only the ones that are not cracked. Grinding stones takes a lot of time, I’m sure.”

　Nuuk said a word in thanks and straightforwardly received the pebbles.

　To dash through five floors in go, excluding Magikan, the three adventurers as expected, would have disordered breathing. Especially Berii, whose fatigue was easily visible from her eyes. 

　Yuika exhaled a small sigh.

“Rowe, pass a cure potion to Berii.”

　A potion that relieves fatigue.

　From inside his large rucksack, Rowe retrieved a small ceramic vial. Although there was sweat on his forehead, he didn’t seem to be out of breath. 

“Ho, Sherpa. You possess an interesting Gift.”

　Rowe’s hands stopped as he turned back awkwardly.

“…Magikan, might that perhaps be [Appraisal]?”

　From the Sage’s expression, he knew that his guess was not incorrect, and his face became sullen.

“If you don’t mind my asking, would it be alright to hear what Rowe’s Gift is?”

　Yuika asked a little reluctantly.

　As Adventurers, their Statuses and Gifts belong to personal information that should be protected. Asking about these details is nothing other than an act of rudness. However, it’s a different matter for people in the same team. Knowing each other’s capabilities is correlated with higher survival rates and lower casualties. 

　Moreover, Rowe was already a retired adventurer.

　With the existence of an Adventurer possessing the [Appraisal] Gift, there was also really no meaning in trying to hide.

　Rowe reluctantly revealed his Gift that had only been known at this point to some individuals like Gunji and Gima.

“I am only in possession of just one Gift.”

　That Gift being [Stamina Recovery].

　It was a passive Gift that did not require conscious activation.

“It’s simple, but as a Sherpa, it’s a treasure.”

“Sta, stamina… recovery”

　Berii, who was handed the cure potion, groaned in dismayed defeat. 

　Nuuk showed a look of contemplation.

“That is not a Gift that I have really heard of. But it would make sense that it exists…”

“[Strength Recovery] or [Magic Recovery] might be ones that are more well-known. “

　Rather than Adventurers, those were Gifts that monsters often possessed. 

“–Amazing!”

　Yuika praised without any reservation.

“If we don’t pay any attention, we might be the ones left behind.”

“Why would a Sherpa be taking the lead?”

　In response to Rowe’s retort, Yuika let out a rare laugh. 

“Until now, we’ve had to take into account the fatigue of the Sherpa and had no choice but to adjust our labyrinth progress speed. But if it’s Rowe, that no longer becomes a concern. It’s a Gift that’s extremely beneficial to us ‘Twilight’s Sword’.”

“Hi ho ho.”

　Magikan laughed bizarrely, and gazed meaningfully at Rowe. 

“Even if it is [Stamina Recovery], it’s not the case that it helps my wounds heal. If I don’t eat, I can’t exert any strength, if I don’t drink, I won’t be able to move. Don’t expect too much.”

　Rowe forewarned, but it seemed like the somewehat excited Yuika didn’t hear him. 

“Alright, the next Labyrinth Oasis is on which floor?”

“The 20th floor, but… it’s positioned a little off the main route. The one on the 24th floor might be better.”

“What kinds of monsters?”

　Sword Demon Edge, Sand Lizard, Slime, Poison Bat, Obsidian Wolf Dark Fang, and lastly, the Chimera. 

“Chimera? “

“A Floor Boss. It’s made a corner of the 23rd floor into its territory.”

　Occasionally in the labyrinth, monsters that normally inhabit the distant lower layers may suddenly appear. They are called Floor Bosses. 

　The recommended level for the 23rd floor of Tyros Labyrinth is 6. It is said that this level becomes about 2 higher with the added risk of a Floor Boss.

　But for “Twilight’s Sword” who had a party level of 12, this would be a battle that could be fought with ease.  

　No one panicked at Rowe’s statement.

“Chimera huh. Do you know where it’s territory is?”

“It has a chance of possessing a Gift. If we’re in a hurry, should we avoid it?”

“……Fumu.”

　Yuika nodded her head, but she seemed to be thinking entirely of something else.