Chapter 181: Familiar Taste 1
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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On the 36th floor, just below the 37th floor where I quit climbing the tower due to the filth.
"Skeletons ahead, fourteen of them!"
"I'll widen the ground for you, Katie!"
"Roland, you rest, I'll handle this!"
As soon as the monsters appeared, Katie, itching for action, drew her sword and dashed forward.
At the end of the narrow dirt path lay a vast paralysis marsh, and from it emerged Lizardman Skeletons, dripping with toxic mud.
The higher the floor, the more skeletons there were, increasing the difficulty.
More skeletons slowly emerged, their stark white bones emerging from the mud.
Slow they were, but with the undead's unique brute strength and stamina, if caught in their grasp, even steel armor would crumple, and leather armor would tear.
A horde of monsters capable of tearing a living person to shreds approached, yet Katie showed no sign of fear.
If the opponent was a monster capable of tearing people apart barehanded, Katie was a skilled swordsman capable of slicing through dozens of soldiers with just one sword.
"These guys, once you know how to fight them! They're nothing!"
"Are you okay?"
"Don't worry!"
Initially unable to shine against these bone monsters due to her non-blunt weapon, Katie now revels in the battle.
Her sharp sword strikes shattered bones and cleaved joints, causing the skeletons' limbs to fall off like broken toys.
True to her 4 swordswoman origins, Katie's swordsmanship improved rapidly.
Despite struggling initially against the undead due to her preference for a lighter, one-handed sword, she adapted quickly.
If I stepped in, I could destroy several at once with my increased divine energy, but since Katie was also part of our group, I couldn't solve everything alone.
As I stand guard behind the group, Katie single-handedly beheaded every enemy.
"Phew... It's easier to fight enemies that resemble humans."
"Right, these guys are harder to hunt with swords."
"Yeah. The knight swordsmanship I learned in the North was mostly designed for combat against humans."
Katie, unscathed and steadying her breath, conversed with Han Se-ah while collecting mana stones.
The viewers also began to chatter lively as they watched the beautiful young girl elegantly slash her enemies, a simple but visually appealing sight.
-She's really earning her stars.
-Just looking at her sword skills, she could slice up our party too, but whenever she opens her mouth...
-Ah, don't cry, our little troublemaker!
-At least she's not throwing a tantrum.
-Judging NPCs by whether they throw tantrums or not, lol, treating her like a real kid.
While pretending to be on the lookout and secretly watching the stream behind Irene, the rest of the party busily collected mana stones, and filled glass bottles with the paralysis mud from the marsh where the skeletons had emerged.
On the 36th floor, Katie dealt with the bipedal skeletons that walked like humans, while Han Se-ah and Grace handled the tough and slow-moving zombie crocodiles, ensuring a smooth exploration.
Even the sudden emergence of trolls was easily resolved with just one arrow from Grace, allowing uninterrupted progress.
The real challenge, however, was the increased number of undead.
The tough zombie crocodiles swarmed in such numbers that they could be described as a horde, inevitably prolonging the battle.
"...Disgustingly numerous. At this rate, I'll run out of arrows by the time we find the passage to the 37th floor."
"Zombie crocodiles, truly a nuisance..."
-Seeing these undead, I'm really tempted to become a mace warrior.
-Wouldn't it be better for our sanity to use a hammer or an axe instead of a sword?
-That's why Roland with his hammer, is the strongest.
-It's good that Han Se-ah learned some civil engineering, otherwise, they'd be stuck fighting in a tight space.
Despite being pierced by more than ten arrows, the zombie crocodiles slowly crawled forward, snapping their jaws against Katie's sword until their heads were severed.
When surrounded and in danger, Irene's protective shield completely blocked the crocodile's bites, allowing us to attack unilaterally.
However, this one-sided violence eventually became monotonous.
"Phew... No wonder most knights in the North gave up using swords when fighting monsters."
"Really? Even the knights abandoned swords?"
"Not the Frost Wolf Knights, but the knights from the neighboring domain, the Ashen Bears, I think? The knights tasked with subduing the mountain monsters mostly used axes. I remember visiting a blacksmith with my father and seeing piles of axes instead of swords."
Katie grumbled while cleaning the mud off her sword blade.
Irene approached her with small steps, delicately checking for any injuries.
Despite knowing the protective spells had kept the crocodiles at bay, she still seemed concerned.
The party, using the water conjured by Han Se-ah's magic to wash off the mud and gather mana stones, was about to move forward.
"...Wait, someone is approaching from behind."
It was Grace's soft warning that stopped the group's steps.
Meeting fellow adventurers inside the tower was an expected affair.
The tower's interior, contrary to its appearance, was incredibly vast.
It could take over a week just to navigate and find a passageway, yet most adventurers roamed similar areas.
The Magic Tower had already conducted studies on the distances between passageways, so there was rarely a need to travel far; most would simply change direction.
"...What do you want?"
"Heh, why so scared? We're just fellow adventurers."
But adventurers turning into robbers, preying on their own kind, was also a common occurrence.
Even with Irene, a nun, in our group, their eyes gleamed with greed, and they didn't seem likely to back down easily.
Even as Grace openly readied her arrow on the bowstring, the men just laughed.
Maybe it was the presence of four stunning beauties, apart from me, that clouded their judgment.
Or perhaps, they thought they could score big on the 36th floor, knowing the temple's influence spanned from the 31st to 35th floors.
Their numbers were large, possibly indicating they were planning an outright robbery.
"What should we do, Roland? They outnumber us."
"If they attack, get inside Irenes protective barrier."
Typically, parties don't exceed five members for profit, but they had an inefficient mix of five warriors and four archers.
Our group consisted of two front-liners, an archer, a mage, and a priest five in total.
Seeing four seemingly delicate beauties, they might feel overly confident.
In a world where mana exists and goddesses are real, to lower their guard because the opponents are pretty, makes me wonder are these guys even high level adventurers?
"Hey, I have a question."
"What? When you'll go to the underworld? Or how many clients your companion can handle?"
"...Don't you recognize me?"
Their failure to recognize me meant they probably aren't high-level adventurers.
Their response seemed almost comically clichd, reminiscent of something street thugs would say.
The robbers-turned-adventurers laughed heartily, coughing and sputtering.
Their display was so sloppy it was almost unbelievable.
Ive been in this world for 10 years, hustling as an adventurer all that time.
Despite traveling far and wide on requests, my base has always been this city of adventurers.
Ive completed merchant escort missions, collaborated with knight orders to subdue bandits near the city, and even ran around the city shouting with Han Se-ah after she joined this world.
A senior adventurer who saved citizens by leaping over buildings, known for being a blond, fair-complexioned handsome man, and having worn the same full-body armor for ten years by now, not recognizing me almost meant being a failure as an adventurer.
"Are you famous enough to be known? Or perhaps a noble? Judging by your looks, capturing and selling you might be more profitable."
"No matter... it's fine if you don't recognize me."
Even with my straightforward statement, their reaction indicated they probably weren't high-level adventurers.
It seemed they were hunters from around the 20th floor who had taken this chance to ascend higher, likely aiming for the substantial price difference between the equipment of intermediate-level and senior adventurers.
As I took a step forward, an arrow shot straight towards my face.
It whizzed through the air, sharply targeting my cheek, exposed by the absence of a helmet.
Thud-!
"Wh-What?"
"Poison arrow Ah, so they didnt prepare the poison separately but soaked it in a poison pool? These guys are somewhat cunning."
"Roland?! Are you alright?!"
Without any effort to block, the arrow harmlessly bounced off my cheek, leaving a sensation like a flick, accompanied by splattered fragments of the crushed arrowhead and a few drops of purple liquid that briefly obscured my vision.
I wondered why these guys had climbed all the way to the 36th floor.
Were they planning to use the poison from the contaminated swamp?
After all, a poison that could affect even a senior adventurer would be quite handy if applied to an arrow and directly injected into the bloodstream.
However, what they, and even my party, hadn't anticipated was the further strengthening of my body due to the holy powers I received from Ambrosio.
"Sh-Shoot, shoot them all! Just shoot!"
"Yeah, keep shooting, don't run."
It was as if my skin didn't even consider being pierced by attacks not infused with mana, almost like I was immune to such a simple assault.
At this point, only an equal in the senior ranks, fully infusing their weapon with mana, could potentially inflict a wound.
Then, an odd thought struck me, and I looked down.
The attackers had positioned themselves at a crossroads next to a poison pool.
Walking along the dirt path would turn me into a porcupine from the arrows, while the side was blocked by a deep poison pool that looked likely to submerge my lower half in its thick purple liquid.
It was quite deep, not just reaching the ankles.
I wonder, if I were to scatter the poison pool with my hammer, could I possibly capture them alive?
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