Live Dungeon!

The next morning was calm, with birds chirping in unison in the background. While everyone was enjoying Ollie’s home-cooked breakfast, Tsutomu suggested to Daryl what he had planned yesterday.

“She’ll be using her <<Dragon Form>>…?”

“Mm-hm. I don’t think it’ll work out unless she uses it in a real fight. So, what do you say, Daryl?”

Currently, the party had two Attackers and Tanks each. The composition split them into two pairs, with the evasion-based Tank Hannah working with the long-ranged Attacker Diniel, and the classic high-VIT Tank Daryl with closed-ranged Attacker Amira.

If Amira were to activate her <<Dragon Form>>, Daryl would naturally be the one in the greatest danger. She would target enemy monsters if they were still there, but once they were gone, she would immediately start attacking her allies instead. Besides, since she had finally corrected her self-centred fighting style, it would be such a waste for that flaw of hers to come back whenever she was in her <<Dragon Form>>.

As such, Tsutomu had deemed it necessary to make the decision based on Daryl’s input when it came to Amira using this particular skill. Daryl, hearing that suggestion, stopped eating and crossed his arms.

“Hmm… I do think it’ll be fine. Why don’t we let her try once, for starters?”

“I’m sure you’ll handle this just fine, Daryl,” Tsutomu said and nodded.

“He’s super tough, after all,” Hannah added.

“I will be fine, yes, but you remember that my gear is bound to take some damage, right?” Daryl promptly snapped back at the both of them.

Amira, grumpy at Daryl’s attitude toward this whole thing, pierced the yolk of her fried egg with her fork.

“Well, it’s a necessary sacrifice. I can just buy you a new set.”

“This isn’t exactly something you can just pick off a shelf, though…”

Daryl’s heavy armor set was quite expensive, being made not only with the latest crafting techniques, but also a wide range of materials from the current deepest layers of the Dungeon, the Volcano biome. Mid-tier clans could not afford to get their hands on even a piece of it, let alone three full sets that Daryl had as spares.

Daryl had also spent quite a lot of Gold on replacement tower shields and Potions — so much so that he did not want to even look at the grand total of it all. He feared that if he did look, he would be utterly crushed by its sheer emotional weight.

“Ah, Tsutomu. Mind if I buy more arrows?” Diniel spoke up.

“Go ahead. You still have Gold left over from before, yes? Feel free to spend it however you like.”

“Aye-yup.”

Diniel had also been investing much of her funds into arrows, but she did not seem particularly bothered by how much cash she forked out. Daryl was somewhat envious of how well Diniel could handle this.

Once everyone finished their breakfast, Ollie came over to clear the table, and Tsutomu stood up from his seat.

“All right, today and tomorrow are days off… So, get a good rest!”

“Aye-yup,” Diniel answered before anyone else, and proceeded to head to her room on the second floor.

“You bet I will!”

Hannah stretched a little while walking back to her room, seemingly exhausted from the Dungeon exploration over the past five days.

Tsutomu, Daryl, and Amira remained in the living room. Since Daryl had never worked as a member of a Clan before, he did not seem to know what he wanted to do on designated days off. And then there was Amira, starting at Tsutomu with excitement burning in her eyes.

“Uh… okay — Amira, Daryl. Do you two have anything planned for today?”

“Other than gear maintenance, nah, nothing.”

“S-same goes for me.”

“I see… Hmm, and Daryl, do you need some time to rest?”

“N-not at all! I’m perfectly fine!”

Daryl, having gone through three months of intensive training under Garm, seemed to not be tired at all after five days of Dungeon exploring. Amira, despite looking somewhat fatigued, was showing so a lot of fighting spirit in her scarlet eyes. So much so that Tsutomu knew she would not be convinced to take a break.

“So how about we go down the Dungeon this afternoon? To test whether or not Amira can use her <<Dragon Form>> in battle.”

“Ah, all right! I’ll help out!”

“Man, thanks a million.”

“Get some rest and make your preparations in the morning, then. I need to go out for some errands myself.” Tsutomu said to the two, put on a coat, and went outside.

Magic Stone exchange, replenishing supplies, window shopping, watching the Monitors — Tsutomu had so many things to do, even on his days off.

Left in the living room, Daryl glanced awkwardly in Amira’s direction, then as if to escape from her, made a beeline for his room to prepare his equipment. Seeing him leave, Amira looked to make sure that no one else was around, then pulled a wry, self-deprecating grin.

“…Sorry in advance if I end up killing you, man.” Amira muttered to herself.

――▽▽――

In the afternoon, Tsutomu and the two others went to the Guild and registered their party of three, then teleported to layer fifty-six. Once there, Tsutomu simply wandered around aimlessly; they were here to test out Amira’s <<Dragon Form>>, and all they needed were monsters to fight, so there was nowhere they needed to go in particular. Upon encountering a mob of Kungfu-garoos, Tsutomu told the two to get ready for battle.

“Now then, let’s get started.”

“Don’t blame me if he ends up dying, all right?”

“No worries. It’s not like you can actually kill him anyway,” Tsutomu said with a smile on his face while casting his support skills.

“…<<Dragon Form>>,” Amira commanded her skill while looking a little grumpy, ticked off by Tsutomu’s remark. White wings sprouted from her back, and then gradually turned red. Once they were fully formed, Amira immediately rushed at the Kungfu-garoos.

Daryl used <<Combat Cry>> to pull the aggro of all enemies, then as he felt Amira coming from behind him, he moved slightly to his side to get out of her attack range. The transformed Amira passed by Daryl’s side and proceeded to cleave one of the Kungfu-garoos right in half.

The sliced Kungfu-garoo instantly died, and light particles started dispersing from its body. The fresh blood on Amira’s face quickly evaporated as she swung her greatsword at the next target.

Amira in <<Dragon Form>>, with her AGI boosted with <<Haste>>, went on to kill more Kungfu-garoos with incredible speed. Tsutomu carefully observed the fight, feeling that it was almost like fellow monsters fighting one another.

The Kungfu-garoos were swift strikers themselves, and some were able to land some attacks on Amira’s shoulders and chest. She was not at all fazed by them, however, and proceeded to butcher more and more of them with her greatsword.

“<<Heal>>. <Haste>>.”

Tsutomu timed his placement-type skills to maintain Amira’s buffing effects and provide her with healing, and also helped up Daryl as the latter carefully positioned himself not to step into Amira’s attacking range. Before long, the mob of Kungfu-garoos was wiped out, leaving only their Magic Stone on the ground.

“Daryl, would you mind holding off Amira for a while? To prepare for times when I’m not able to use <<Medic>>, you see.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Amira’s pupils were now reptile-like, and she was not in control of herself. Daryl looked at her, and without faltering even for a moment, held up his tower shield to assume a defensive stance.

“GAHHHHHH!!”

Amira charged at Daryl, kicking up a cloud of dust along her way. Daryl defended himself with his tower shield, successfully blocking the horizontal greatsword swing, but the force of the blow was so great that he was forced to take a few steps back.

Daryl was blocking the ceaseless greatsword swings just fine, but all he could do now was stay on the defensive. Moreover, Amira in her <<Dragon Form>> did not seem to be tiring out at all — rather, her speed and power were rapidly increasing.

During his time with Garm, Daryl had also received some anti-personnel combat training. Since it had been just three months and focused mainly on the Tank role, however, Garm had gotten around to teaching only a single key point of it… which was about defending himself. To keep himself safe, and not let himself be killed by his opponent — that was the only key point of anti-personnel combat Daryl had learned from Garm.

The physical strength he had accumulated from his daily training of the basics, the defensive stance to take in anti-personnel combat, and the Heavy Knight Job’s naturally high VIT — with all those combined, Daryl was sure not to be defeated here… although he may not necessarily win, either.

“<<Defensive>>!”

Daryl kept on holding off the transformed Amira for fifteen minutes. Tsutomu provided no support during this time, meaning Daryl was surviving Amira’s attacks with only his own strength.

Figuring that he did not need to move much just to withstand Amira’s attacks, Daryl decided to use <<Defensive>>, a skill exclusive to Heavy Knights that dramatically boosted his VIT. Although it had the side effect of reducing one’s AGI, this skill was immensely helpful if used correctly.

As for Amira, she was now breathing heavily, seemingly about to exhaust her stamina. Daryl had worked up a lot of sweat and gotten his black hair all soaked, but he still seemed to have plenty of energy left.

With him able to take all of Amira’s hits with his tower shield, and the latter’s attacks being devoid of any thought and strategy, Daryl did not need to move even a step from his spot. The minimal need for movement also helped him to conserve his energy.

Fifteen more minutes passed, with Amira striking down any additional monsters that appeared during this time. In the end, however, she hit her limit and collapsed. Suffering recoil from the forced disengagement of her <<Dragon Form>>, Amira’s body turned red and started heating up. Tsutomu promptly poured some cold water on her to dissipate the heat.

“Good job, you two.”

“Whew… that was rough…”

Daryl, although managing to keep fighting for thirty minutes without support, was now sitting down on the ground, out of breath. Tsutomu cast <<Medic>> and <<Heal>> for him, then focused on cooling down Amira’s scorching body.

He used a magic tool that ran on Ice Magic Stones to restore Amira’s body temperature back to normal. Tsutomu then grabbed her by the shoulders and shook firmly. Before long, Amira’s painfully-shut eyelids started opening, and then she was able to sit herself up.

“…Is it over?”

“Yes. Your transformation ended after Daryl held you off for about thirty minutes.”

“What the hell…”

Amira looked somewhat apologetically at Daryl as the latter sat on the ground, trying to catch his breath. After a little break to rest Amira’s over-exerted body, the party proceeded to search for the Black Gate, without Amira using her <<Dragon Form>> to deal with the monsters along the way.

“There’s virtually no way for you to not have access to <<Medic>>, but in the off-chance that that happens… well, looks like you’ll be fine.”

“Y-yes. I think I’ll be able to handle her, somehow.” Daryl answered somewhat awkwardly, perhaps feeling uncomfortable to say that while Amira was right here with him.

In response, Amira shot Daryl an unamused look, spooking the latter quite a bit.

“Well, you actually didn’t die to my <<Dragon Form>>… That’s awesome.”

“Ahaha…” Daryl forced out a chuckle in the face of Amira’s stare, then looked in Tsutomu’s direction as if to ask for help. Tsutomu, having no intention to bail him out of this awkwardness, pretended not to notice.

“Well, I’ll be counting on you from now on!” Amira added and gave a deep bow.

“Ah, yes! Likewise!”

Daryl, confused as to how he should respond, bowed repeatedly, his black-furred tail standing upright all the while.

“Now it’s becoming hard to tell who’s senior to whom…” Tsutomu whispered to Daryl.

“D-don’t say that, Sir Tsutomu!” Daryl protested and moved in a little too close to Tsutomu, prompting the latter to nudge him away.

All the while, Amira only looked at them, her expression as if she was deep in thought.