Chapter 25 Guardian of the Third Floor
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
…… Test Dungeon, Third Floor. Sanada Yakumo……
I moved through the path inside the fake monster house, staying low and making sure not to make any noise.
The ceiling wasn’t high, but the path was wide enough that I didn’t have to worry about my leather armor or gauntlets rubbing against the walls like they did on the second floor.
After moving forward about five meters, I stopped just before what looked like the exit and peeking outside. I saw a small plaza.
There was a black gate at the back of the plaza, and several Kobolds were standing around it.
”Yes! Yes, yes, yes!” I cheered in my head, happy that it was the guardian’s room just like I thought.
But there are a lot of them. And that one over there…
There were five Kobolds. Four were normal ones, but one was a size larger and very muscular. I could see its six-pack even through its fur.
That must be the guardian. It looks strong, but it’s still just a Kobold. I can beat it.
My magic… I can still fire more than ten shots. I’ll use a surprise attack to lower their numbers and then use Physical Reinforcement¹ to finish it.
Luckily, the Kobolds haven’t noticed me since I’m more than ten meters away. I calculated my plan: if I thin them out with magic first, I can handle the rest with physical enhancement.
”Alright, let’s go!” I said to myself.
I decided to start the surprise attack and activated Physical Reinforcement.
I put my backpack down right there, jumped out into the plaza, and immediately fired my magic.
”Wind Cutter²! Wind Cutter! Wind Cutter! Wind Cutter! Wind Cutter!”
I fired five shots of invisible wind blades one after another. They flew toward the Kobolds, who were standing still in surprise because I appeared so suddenly.
Whine!
The invisible blades hit the chests and legs of two Kobolds, and the arms of two others. The large one in the middle—the one that looked like the guardian—didn’t get hit.
”Tch, was I too far away?” I said, clicking his tongue because he only stopped two of them from fighting.
I tried to fire again, but the guardian in the center—let’s call him the Kobold Leader—gave a command to the two who only had arm injuries. They immediately moved far out to the left and right.
At the same time, the Kobold Leader ran straight at me from the middle. The ones on the sides started running too, looking like they wanted to pincer me.
He’s fast!
Can I hit him?
”Wind Cutter!”
I fired a Wind Cutter at the Kobold Leader coming from the front, but he jumped diagonally and dodged it.
”Tch, fine then!”
I gave up on magic and held my Machete³ to fight back.
In the next moment, the Kobold Leader’s claws and my Machete hit each other with a loud clink.
Since his claw attack was blocked, the Kobold Leader immediately raised his other arm, but I kicked him in the front and blew him backward.
But as if they didn’t want to miss that opening, the Kobolds that were behind caught up and attacked with their claws from both sides.
I calmly blocked the attack on the left with my shield and fired a Wind Cutter at point-blank range at the Kobold on the right, and its head flew off.
Next, because its claws were blocked by my shield, the Kobold on the left moved closer to try and bite me. I swung my Machete down on its head.
Snap!
The Machete split the Kobold’s head, and the creature fell over on the spot.
Then I turned to face the Kobold Leader, who had fixed his stance after being kicked away.
Growl…
”Now it’s one-on-one,” I said, smirking at the Kobold Leader who was snarling with an angry face.
That must have made him mad, because the Kobold Leader closed the distance while faking left and right.
He tried to attack with his claws, but I blocked it with my shield this time. Urgh, that’s a lot of power.
If I hadn’t used Physical Reinforcement, I might have lost my balance.
With his attack blocked by the shield, the Kobold Leader raised his other arm just like before.
I acted like I was going to kick him again… but I stopped in the middle.
The Kobold Leader fell for the feint completely. He thought the kick was coming and stopped his arm for a second.
I didn’t miss that chance. I stabbed the Machete into the base of the Kobold Leader’s arm and twisted it.
Yelp!
The strength of the claws pushing on my shield went away because of the pain, so I pushed him back. At the same time, I pulled the Machete out of his arm and stabbed it into his throat, then swung it to the side.
Gush…
A lot of blood sprayed from the Kobold Leader’s mouth and his half-cut neck. He fell to the ground without any strength.
”You were strong, I’ll give you that”
His reflexes to dodge the Wind Cutter were good, but falling for a simple feint means he’s just a dog. His attacks were the same as a normal Kobold, and he didn’t even try to kick.
”Well, I guess that’s it.”
I ignored the Kobold Leader as he started to disappear into black mist and finished off the two that were still trying to get up in the back.
After I collected the Magic Stones⁴ from the leader and the others, I opened the copper treasure chest that appeared in front of the black gate.
”A magic book?”
Inside the chest was a book made of parchment, just like the Wind Cutter one.
The cover had unreadable letters and shapes on it, but the color was different.
”Red… does that mean fire magic? Well, I’ll find out if I use it”
I took the magic book out of the chest and opened it. The book immediately burned away in a fire that wasn’t hot and disappeared.
”Oh, Fireball!”
The magic that came into my mind was the Fireball spell.
That’s lucky. I’m glad I chose Wind Cutter back then.
Can I fight in a monster house with this?
”Fireball!”
I walked a little bit away from the treasure chest and tried using Fireball on it.
A ball of fire about the size of a basketball appeared in front of me and flew toward the chest at the speed of a slow throw.
It exploded when it hit the chest.
”I see… it’s slow”
Since I’m used to how fast Wind Cutter is, it felt really slow.
But luckily, the explosion looks like it covers about one meter. It stays burning for a long time, too. It will be good if the enemies are close together. Even if they dodge, as long as it explodes, it will probably burn them somewhere, so it’s a good distraction at least.
I watched the chest burning even though there was no fuel, and the fire that was still burning where it had splashed. I nodded, thinking it all depends on how I use it.
After about ten seconds, the fire went out, but the treasure chest didn’t even have a burn mark on it.
”Is it that ‘indestructible’ thing?”
In manga, treasure chests are often set so they can’t be broken.
I thought I could use it as a weapon and tried to pick it up, but it didn’t move at all, as if it were stuck to the floor.
”Well, I guess that makes sense.”
If people used a chest that doesn’t break as a shield, it wouldn’t be much of a test.
”Oh, that’s right. If I put in more Mana Capacity⁵, the power goes up.”
I remembered a part of magic I forgot because Wind Cutter was so strong. This time, I held my hand up and put in twice the Mana—the same as one Physical Reinforcement use—and cast Fireball.
A ball of fire that was bigger than a normal one appeared over my head.
”Good, good. Go!”
I made the fireball appear exactly where I wanted. I swung my arm down toward the chest.
The fireball followed my arm and flew into the chest.
A loud thump echoed in the plaza when it hit.
”The explosion is twice as big, and the fire is stronger too. I see, I see. This is useful,” I said, smirking as he watched the big fire.
It uses a lot of Mana, but if I can fire three of these from far away, I can burn a huge area like a napalm bomb. If I don’t mind using up my Mana, that is.
The next floor will probably have Kobolds again. There will probably be more of them, too. That means managing my Mana will be hard. By the way, after that Fireball, I only have enough Mana left for one Physical Reinforcement.
Yeah, I definitely won’t do monster houses. It’s safer to just hunt Kobolds in the paths using Wind Cutter and my Machete.
”Alright, let’s go to the fourth floor”
After I finished testing the new magic, I opened the black gate.
A path with stone walls, just like the third floor, was in front of me.
”Yeah, yeah, okay.”
I thought it would be a cave again. I walked through the gate as if I already knew what to expect.
I looked to the right and saw the Magic Circle⁶ was properly placed there.
”Well, I’ll do one fight and then go home.”
Since my Mana is low and it’s almost time to go back, I decided to walk into the main path just to check for Kobolds before leaving.
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Summary:
Yakumo reaches the third-floor guardian room and faces a muscular Kobold Leader along with four lackeys. He successfully defeats them using a combination of Wind Cutter and tactical combat. After the battle, he obtains a new Fireball magic tome from a treasure chest. He tests the new magic and decides to explore a bit of the fourth floor before heading home.
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Character Insight:
Yakumo shows significant growth in his tactical awareness, utilizing feints and managing his Mana Capacity more consciously. He displays a pragmatic approach to combat, prioritizing safety and resource efficiency over flashy victories.
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Behind the Scene:
This chapter introduces the concept of elemental magic colors and indestructible objects in the dungeon, common tropes in Japanese ‘isekai’ or dungeon-crawler light novels.
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T/L:
Notes:
• Yakumo – A 25-year-old human male. He has facial scars, stab wounds, and gunshot scars from his time in a war zone. He works as a school guard.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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