Chapter 11 Exploration Part ②
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
We climbed to the next floor. As always, she took point—smooth, steady steps hugging the wall until the corridor curved. She leaned to peek.
A Goblin’s head popped out of the shadows.
She snapped back. **Lonisera** flared midair—three sharp bursts. The Goblin jerked in three places and crumpled before it could scream.
Two more lunged from behind it.
She had no footing midair. Her shots went wide, more reflex than aim. One slammed into her chest, the other clamped onto her thigh and dragged her down.
”—Hii!”
They hit the ground in a heap. Hot snorting breaths, claws scrabbling, grimy tongues sliding where they shouldn’t—
I struck before thought even formed. My fingers punched through one’s eye and wrenched. Something hard gave way; warmth slicked my palm. I ripped it off her and slammed it down. Its spine cracked like ice on stone.
The second froze. She kicked free, heel slamming into its ribs hard enough to send it flying. It hit the wall—she was already there, stomping its skull flat before it slid down.
She stood shaking, breath ragged, yanking her gear back into place like she wanted to rip it off instead.
”I’m fine!!” she snapped, back to me.
”…Yeah. Sure you are.”
”Why do both Mimics and Goblins try to lick my boobs… why.”
”Well, I mean… they are pretty impres—”
”…Hah?”
”Nothing.”
Cold sweat trickled down my spine. She hurled the Mana Stone at me without even looking. Probably didn’t want it in her Inventory. Fair enough.
”Want me to take point?”
”No. I. Will. Lead.”
”…Got it. I’ll stay close.”
I started seriously thinking about picking up **Mobility Boost** just to keep up with her.
* * *
The next floor blurred past. Goblins appeared; she didn’t hesitate. Lonisera barked—four clean hits in four shots, six Goblins scattered before they could react. A seventh froze mid-charge, eyes glazed.
”…Did you just use **Charm**?” I asked.
”Yup. Tried that trick you showed me. Super handy.”
Charm—mind-control from her **Sex Sorcery** tree. Supposed to fail sometimes even on Goblins. She hadn’t missed once. I’d fail thirty percent.
She carved through the floor like a buzzsaw. Spot a Goblin, Charm it, finish it. Sometimes she made them thrash, wrecking their allies, then shot the whole group before they recovered. Her control sharpened with each kill.
Before I realized it, we were at the stairwell. She hadn’t missed a shot.
”…I didn’t do anything this floor,” I muttered.
She just shrugged. “Your level’s higher. You don’t need to.”
Still. Watching her efficiency spike like this… it felt like fading out of the party.
”What level’s your Sex Sorcery now?” I asked.
”Only just started using it. No way it—wait.”
Her eyes widened. “No way… it’s maxed already.”
”That’s not even fair.”
She just grinned and upgraded it to **Sex Sorcery II** on the spot. Then, first Goblin she saw, she hit with a new spell. It shriveled in an instant, like every drop of moisture got ripped out.
**Energy Drain**. Same spell I used—but hers hit like a lightning strike.
”Oh, I can feel the Mana filling me up!” she cheered.
”Yeah… probably stealing their life force. Might even heal you.”
”When I use it, it’s nowhere near this strong,” I added, smashing a sneaking Goblin’s skull with my **Warhammer**.
She blinked, then sagged. “Yeah… sorry. Again.”
”It’s fine. We’re a party. We back each other up.”
”…Next time, I’ll be the one who saves you,” she said softly.
”You already have.”
Her answering smile was bright enough to sparkle. And then she went right back to annihilating everything, Energy Drain topping her off every time. If she ever learned the area-type version… she might clear the post-30th floors alone.
The catch: high magic defense would shut her down. That would be my problem to solve. I’d redraw the schematics for her Arcane Gun as many times as it took.
—
We descended. This was where we’d once stumbled straight into a Monster House.
”Time for revenge,” I muttered.
”…Revenge, huh,” she echoed quietly, her face tightening with that solemn look she got when she was trying to hide nerves.
Last time had been a disaster, all because of a trapped treasure chest. Neither of us had **Thief** skills, so now the rule was simple—if **Appraisal** marked something as trapped, we left it. Disarming needed rare metals like **Mithril** and **Orichalcum**, and buying them from the merchant guild was less painful than trying to make them. I’d learned that the hard way.
”How’s your status?” I asked.
”HP full, Mana full, motivation full!” she chirped.
Good enough. She cut through more Goblins in clean bursts, Energy Drain or Lonisera shots dropping anything that wandered too close.
Then she froze, flashed me a hand sign: trouble ahead.
I crept up. Bigger Goblin, fully geared—**Goblin Commander**. And behind him… a whole squad. The dungeon had apparently saved up everything from the last few floors just for this.
’What’s the plan?’ she mouthed.
’Charm the Commander. If that fails, Charm the armed ones. Any unarmed rushers, shoot.’
’Sounds like my style.’
’Just don’t let them touch you. If they swarm, it goes bad fast—especially if one’s a suicidal **Explosion** type.’
’That’s horrifying…’
’Exactly why we kill the Commander first. Tanky, high stats all around, low magic defense.’
’Got it. I’ll start with Charm.’
I rolled my shoulders. My Warhammer felt solid in my hands. If Charm stuck, we’d crush them. If not, I’d pin him down until she thinned the mob. Either way, this would clear the thorn stuck in her heart from last time.
So yeah. We were doing this.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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