NOVEL FROG [16] : A Day in the Life of Dungeon Explorers
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"Sword Princess" Ais Wallenstein.
The person Bell Cranel, the future protagonist, admires.
It was because of meeting her that Bell Cranel awakened the abnormal skill "Single-Minded Pursuit."
It was also thanks to Single-Minded Pursuit that he managed to evolve from Level 1 to Level 2 in just one month.
"But that's all in the future. If I remember correctly, Ais is still Level 1 now, and only 7 years old!"
Thinking about this, Mika's thoughts began to wander.
"I wonder if there's a chance to meet her in the upper levels? After all, the upper levels aren't that big!"
As they pondered various possibilities, Mika and his two companions quickly returned to their home in the western part of the city.
"Welcome back."
Before the three could reach the front door, Yahweh had already run out from the house.
After looking over the three of them, Yahweh suddenly chuckled and said, "It's great that you're not injured."
"Not only are we not injured, even if we were, you wouldn't be able to see it. After all, we have Orario's strongest healer, Airmid, with us!"
Unlike Mellie, who calls herself 'Orario's future strongest mage', Airmid has already become Orario's strongest healer after awakening her magic 'Dia Fratel'.
"I guess that's true!"
Lightly tapping her own head, Yahweh smiled and said, "You must be tired after a day of exploring. I've already prepared the bath for you, go ahead and soak."
"Thank you, Yahweh-sama!"
Hearing Yahweh's words, Airmid and Mellie's faces lit up with happy smiles.
After a day of dungeon exploration, the three's bodies had been drenched in sweat countless times.
Add to that the dust from the rocky paths, and Airmid and Mellie had been longing for a good bath.
Watching the two quickly rush into the house, both Mika and Yahweh smiled.
Then, the two walked back home while chatting.
"I remember Yahweh-sama was planning to celebrate, right? Why don't we go out to eat today? The three of us made quite a profit today."
"Is that so? I knew you three could do it. In that case, let's go to 'The Benevolent Mistress'. It's close to us too."
"Then it's settled."
...
"Cheers!"
They clinked their glasses together and drank the contents in one go in a joyful atmosphere.
"Ahh, that feels good!"
Leaning back in his chair, feeling the pleasure of drinking after a bath, Mika let out a contented sigh.
Looking at the unfamiliar ceiling, squinting his eyes, Mika savored the moment.
Listening to Mellie constantly recounting their dungeon experiences to Yahweh, Airmid's timely interjections, and Yahweh's exclamations and laughter.
A smile also appeared on Mika's face.
This was the life he pursued.
After savoring for a while, Mika curiously looked to the side, surveying the tavern.
The Benevolent Mistress.
The tavern opened by Mia Grand, the retired captain of the Freya Familia. In the future, this place would be a den of hidden dragons, concealing many strong individuals with unknown pasts.
And they're all cute girls too.
But now, those future waitresses haven't appeared yet.
Actually, that's not quite right. There is one person - the cat-person girl, Anya.
Mika hadn't noticed her at first, until a regular customer called out her name.
He didn't expect her to already be at The Benevolent Mistress at this time.
Shaking his head, Mika brought his attention back.
"What's wrong? Are you tired?"
Seeing Mika leaning back in his chair without saying anything, just listening to their conversation, Airmid asked with concern.
"How could I be? Don't forget, we received your magic treatment before we came out."
Because Airmid's magic had the effect of restoring stamina, and she needed to use magic frequently to train her magical power, Mika and Mellie often received Airmid's treatment during this period.
And before they went out to celebrate, Airmid had also used magic to restore the three's stamina.
"But while the body can be restored, mental energy can't be recovered so easily."
Hearing Airmid's stubborn rebuttal, Mika smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
"That's good then."
Seeing Airmid's pouting face, Yahweh and Mellie sitting opposite laughed.
After a light chuckle, looking at Mika, Mellie suddenly asked, "By the way, I haven't asked how you're doing with your new weapon, Mika?"
"New weapon? You mean the greatsword? It feels pretty handy."
Earlier, when they were choosing weapons, Yahweh suddenly said to let the three of them choose an extra weapon each, to train their skills with new weapons.
According to Yahweh, swordsmanship was just the basics.
She told Mika and the others not to always walk the path of swordsmanship just because they learned sword techniques.
They should try to find weapons they like and suit them.
This way, they could develop better.
Moreover, with their foundation in swordsmanship and the support of breathing techniques, Mika and the others could quickly catch up to their current sword skill progress with other weapons.
As the saying goes, master one, master all.
Cold weapon techniques all have similarities.
Besides, as a small but high-quality elite Familia, while Mika and the others might not become true all-rounders, they should still strive to develop as hexagonal warriors.
This way, they could make up for the disadvantage of having fewer members compared to other Familias.
So, under Yahweh's request and considering her future development, Mellie, who wanted to become a mage, chose to learn staff techniques.
Airmid, wanting to complement the team's response capabilities, chose to learn spear techniques.
According to her idea, as a healer, she didn't rely heavily on staff quality, so she could completely use a staff made into a spear.
She didn't want to just be a healer protected in the middle by the other two.
As for Mika, being the close-combat fighter, he ultimately chose a greatsword and a one-handed shield.
He chose the greatsword to increase weapon damage and inherit the weapon left by his father.
The one-handed shield was chosen because as the front-line fighter and the only male in the Familia, Mika naturally had to take on the role of the vanguard.
He needed to become a shield, protecting the two behind him.
Considering that a proper shield would be too cumbersome, Mika chose a one-handed shield, and one that could be combined with a gauntlet at that.
As for whether the corresponding techniques were too niche?
They could just ask Yahweh about that.
With her around, what kind of technique couldn't be created?
Sure enough, as Mika expected, in just one day, Yahweh had sorted out the techniques the three needed, and they were tailor-made, with a body adaptation rate of 120%.
However, due to the short time, except for Mika who was progressing well with the new weapon as it was also a sword, Airmid and Mellie had just started and hadn't reached the level where they could use them in the dungeon.
"Just being handy isn't enough, you three still have a lot to practice!"
Sending the food from her plate into her mouth, Yahweh revealed a blissful smile.
For her, nothing in the human world attracted her more than delicious food.
"Don't worry, we won't slack off."
Using his fork to roll up some food and stuff it into Yahweh's mouth, blocking her words, Mika responded with a grin.
"But, this means our lives will be very busy from now on."
Exploring the dungeon during the day, honing new skills with Yahweh at night.
If it weren't for Airmid's magic to restore stamina, this would seem impossible to achieve.
Which means...
"We'll be counting on you from now on, Airmid!"
Looking at Airmid beside them, Mika and Mellie said in unison as they came to the same realization.
---
The busy life began from this point.
As newcomers to Orario, the three who were unfamiliar with this dungeon continuously learned.
They gained knowledge about various aspects of the dungeon and honed their various skills.
In this busy life, although Mika and his companions were working very hard, they also felt genuine joy.
This feeling of constant improvement was irresistible to them.
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
...
Walking at the front of the team, Mika, fully armored and with a greatsword on his shoulder, carefully observed the surrounding environment.
On his left arm, a round one-handed shield was embedded.
And at his waist, a longsword was hanging.
Although he was full of openings as he moved forward, if they truly encountered enemies, all these 'openings' on his body would instantly become deadly traps.
After a month of battles, Mika had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Both his swordsmanship and breathing techniques had grown by leaps and bounds this month.
Especially his breathing technique - Mika's Water Breathing had now reached the level of 'Total Concentration Breathing: Constant'.
This meant he could maintain the breathing technique state 24 hours a day.
This level was also the minimum standard for becoming a 'Pillar', the strongest combatant in the Demon Slayer Corps.
Airmid and Mellie behind him had also reached this level.
At this moment, Airmid wielding a spear and Mellie holding a staff were following right behind him.
After a month of battles, the three's proficiency with their new weapons had caught up to their former swordsmanship level.
After all, with the guidance of Yahweh, an all-rounder, the progress of the three was beyond what others could even imagine.
However, among the two, Mellie had made the most progress.
She had awakened a new magic.
...
『Dream Prison』
· Mental Magic
· Makes the enemy's consciousness immerse in a dream, unable to distinguish between illusion and reality.
· Dream Manipulation
...
When Mellie's magic awakened, Mika could clearly sense her disappointment.
Although this magic was powerful.
It was completely different from the magic Mellie had imagined.
The mage Mellie wanted to become was like Riveria, who could manipulate powerful magic and annihilate all monsters before her with a wave of her hand.
Mika agreed with Mellie's imagined image.
After all, he had also wanted to become such an existence back then.
Although the fantasy was beautiful, reality was harsh.
Looking at the dejected Mellie, Mika finally promised her that he would definitely find a world where she could learn magic to fulfill her dream of becoming a mage like Riveria.
Only then did Mellie come out of her depressed state.
And after accepting her magic, the clever Mellie quickly mastered her magic completely.
She gradually developed many ways to use it.
...
"Stay alert, there are monsters ahead."
Walking in the passage, although nothing could be seen yet, Mika was already fully aware of the situation ahead.
And this was all thanks to his ears.
Hearing Mika's warning, Airmid and Mellie quickly entered a battle-ready state.
Passing through this passage, a slightly spacious rock chamber appeared before the three.
And in this rock chamber, dozens of Killer Ants were occupying the area, blocking the path to other passages.
"Tch, although Killer Ants are group monsters, this number is too many."
Staring at the Killer Ants ahead, Mellie seriously asked, "What should we do, fight or retreat?"
"Let's fight! It's a good chance to try out Mellie's newly developed magic technique."
Knowing that Mellie had developed a new technique, Mika said seriously.
"Then let's do it!"
Waving the staff in her hand, Mellie's lips curved slightly upward.
"Charge!"
Looking at the group of Killer Ants ahead, Mika put his shield in front and quickly charged forward.
With Mika's rapid pace, his body directly rushed into the monster group.
With the momentum from the charge, the Killer Ants right in front of Mika were directly knocked flying.
"Water Breathing, First Form, Surface Slash!"
As soon as Mika stopped after rushing into the Killer Ant group, he swung the greatsword in his hand in a 'Surface Slash'.
In the dungeon environment, where he needed to be mindful of his companions, the technique Mika used most often was this Surface Slash.
Because of this, he had honed this move to be incredibly sharp.
"Water Breathing, Eighth Form, Waterfall Basin."
Following closely behind Mika, Airmid wielding her spear leapt into the air, performing a 'Waterfall Basin' from above into the Killer Ant group.
Mellie, on the other hand, remained in place, standing her staff in front of her.
"Immerse in the dream!"
Unlike the power of magic, the incantation for 'Dream Prison' was only an ultra-short incantation magic.
According to common sense, the power level of magic is related to the length of the incantation.
The longer the incantation, the stronger the magic.
And the length of incantations is divided into ultra-short, short, long, and ultra-long.
If judging solely on the strength of the magic, Mellie's magic should at least be a long incantation magic.
But there are always exceptions.
Like Mika's magic, the first two stages had incantations, but the third stage didn't.
As for the reason, of course, it wasn't needed.
Self-combustion had replaced the effect of the incantation.
And Mellie's magic had a similar principle.
The strength of Mellie's magic was determined by her mental power and her dream weaving ability.
mental power is mana.
Moreover, the most important thing was the dream weaving ability.
If the dream weaving ability was poor, the upper limit of this magic would be very low.
This was also why Mellie's magic incantation was extremely short.
As Mellie's magic activated, countless petals began to float in this rock chamber.
And as the petals fell, six Killer Ants suddenly attacked their companions, killing six unprepared Killer Ants instantly.
This was the new application Mellie had developed.
By making the monsters immerse in dreams, she could control them to attack.
At this moment, in the eyes of the monsters immersed in the dream, what they were killing were Mika and Airmid, not their own kind.
As for those falling petals, they were bait released by Mellie to make it easier for enemies to fall into the dream, a product of the dream.
"As expected of a genius who wants to become the strongest mage, simultaneously operating the dreams of so many monsters, making them accurately kill other monsters, what a terrifying control ability!"
After slaying the Killer Ants around him, looking at the Killer Ants fighting their own kind, Mika couldn't help but exclaim.
It was only at this moment that Mika truly realized Mellie's talent.
"Mellie has always been this excellent."
Although Airmid's voice was calm, the pride in her tone was undisguisable.
"I accept your praise."
Controlling the Killer Ants to kill each other, experiencing a different kind of mage experience, Mellie's face was full of smiles.
Under the powerful strength of Mika's team, there were soon few Killer Ants left in the rock chamber.
Just as the three were about to finish up, footsteps sounded from the passage they had come from.
Attracted by these footsteps and worried about unexpected situations, all three immediately raised their vigilance.
As the footsteps grew louder, two figures soon appeared before the three.
It was a combination of one adult and one child.
Although there were differences between fantasy and reality, Mika still quickly recognized the two.
The newcomers were none other than the strongest mage of the Loki Familia, 'Nine Hell' Riveria, and the future 'Sword Princess' Ais Wallenstein.