Volume 4 Chapter 4 Valley of Trials – Second Floor
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
This is the second floor of the Valley of Trials dungeon.
The first floor, guarded by the Naga, looked like a stone temple, but the second floor? A total flip──designed like a natural limestone cave.
icicle-like stalactites hang from the ceiling, while countless sharp stalagmites sprout from the floor.
The only thing that feels manufactured is that it’s all made of transparent crystal.
Every few meters, a glowing stalagmite pierces the air, making the whole scene feel like a whimsical, arbitrary fantasy.
It’s like… someone just threw in whatever seemed game-like.
If the guy who made this dungeon is Uno, I’d say he’s got the chops to be a decent game designer.
Stepping just beyond the safe zone of the stairs, I do a Radar Scan.
Looks like there are about 30 of those Pixies.
Normally, they just hang out motionless in the shadows of the stalagmites, but every now and then, they dart around at high speed like they’ve remembered something.
Too fast to make out clearly, but when they flutter, they resemble huge moths──bigger than those dumb, oversized ones I saw in the countryside as a kid.
A single target isn’t too much of a strain on my Recognition Obstruction skill.
I might be able to handle 2, but any more than that, and I’m not sure I can take the strain.
Grouping up is the easiest way to get spotted through Stealth.
Even if it’s a quail, once it’s in a flock, you’re swarmed with countless gazes that break through your skill and expose you.
I don’t even want to think about a flock of high-level Pixies.
The real challenge of this floor is how quickly you can wipe out the Pixies.
Once battle starts, they’ll call for backup.
If you don’t take them down quick, their numbers just keep growing, and before you know it, you’re overwhelmed by a barrage of magic and wiped out.
They’re resistant to spirits and magic, but being small, their HP isn’t much.
A party with some muscle could probably muscle through, but if you exploit their weakness to fire, it looks like it could be an easy clear.
Just pound away with fire-based area magic, that’s the trick.
If you’re a Novice with attack magic, you could even use disposable magic items as a substitute.
As long as you’ve got the gold, this floor should be a breeze to conquer.
I don’t have any fancy, expensive items stashed away, so getting through this floor means one thing: sneaking past everything with Stealth skill.
I fall back to the stairway──the only real safe zone──and start piecing together a plan.
If only the pixies would split up and wander off on their own, it’d be a breeze.
But from what I’m seeing on Radar Scan, a few packs are huddled up together.
This would be way easier if there were safe zones scattered along the path or something.
I sweep the map with Radar Scan, scouring every twist and turn.
Up till now, all I could do was sniff out monsters with this.
But thanks to racking up skill proficiency, I can use it to scan the floor’s actual layout now, too.
With enough skill mastery, tricks like this really aren’t hard at all.
Feels like this is the first time since coming to this world I’ve got something that actually counts as a cheat.
…But nah, this isn’t really a cheat, is it?
As long as someone grinds up Stealth skill while staying low-level, they could tackle high-rank dungeons on their own, too.
I’m not special.
I keep Radar Scan running, creeping along, heart pounding at every flicker of pixie movement.
Minutes crawl by.
And now──it all clicks into place.
In my head, I’ve got a perfect 3D map of this whole floor.
None of the spots count as truly “safe,” but I spot a few blind corners where things might not see me right away.
My only option is to rest up and recover MP in those little dead zones and carefully move from one to the next──but yeah, that’s a lot harder than it sounds.
I run a mental simulation, sneaking along my brain’s 3D map one step at a time.
The rule: if more than 3 pixies pile into my location, that’s it.
Game over.
After a bunch of trial runs, I’m barely managing a one-in-3 success rate.
Not having any MP recovery items… That’s rough.
Depending on how the pixies move, I could run out of MP partway through.
That’d be the end.
If only I had MP potions──or some gear with a constant MP regen effect──this would be a whole lot less stressful.
And if I could just meditate on the move, that’d fix it, but nope──meditation locks out all my other skills.
That’s the snag.
Huh?
Who decided you’re not allowed to use other skills while meditating, anyway?
Not to brag, but I used to ace note-taking while half-asleep in class.
People can pull off way more than you’d think, if they really try.
So let’s do this.
Juggling Stealth Skill and Meditation Skill at the same time?
Please──that’s totally doable.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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