[Tower Dungeon Day 1]
(Dan Side)
After the strategy meeting, I headed to train, but along the way, I realized that I didn’t know our meeting place, so I went to look for Lady Lyncean.
The girls and the boys were assigned to different hotels.
As high-ranking nobles, Luc, Elina, and the others each rented their own accommodations.
Lady Lyncean disliked such an extravagance, so she opted to stay in the academy-provided hotel with other female students.
Intending to confirm our meeting place for tomorrow and ask if she’d like to go together, I looked for her. But despite searching everywhere, from the girls’ hotel to weapon shops, I couldn’t locate her.
“Could she still be in the meeting room?”
Just to make sure, I went back to the meeting room and knocked on the door.
–Knock, knock!!
“My lady, are you in there? There’s something I need to talk with you!!”
When I tried to open the door, I realized that it was locked.
Seems like she isn’t here. Just as the thought crossed my mind, the door unlocked, and Lady Lyncean opened it.
“Oh, you were actually here?”
“Yeah, sorry. My chest felt slightly painful.”
Her chest felt painful? As I looked at her face, I noticed her face was red.
“Are you okay? If you’re not feeling well, should I go fetch Professor Cirrus?”
“No, I’ll be fine after some rest. More importantly, do you need anything?”
“Oh, I just wanted to ask where our meeting place is for tomorrow.”
“The plaza in front of the tower dungeon should be good, at the time Luc mentioned earlier.”
As her attendant, I thought it might be a good idea to pick her up, but it seemed she didn’t need me to.
Maybe it was because I was weak…
Lady Lyncean had always been hardier than most men…
But now, she seemed a little… sexy.
No, it must be just my imagination.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“Yeah, sure.”
With Lady Lyncean deciding to take some rest, I went back to the hotel where I was the only boy staying.
The next day, I arrived at the plaza in front of the tower’s dungeon around noon, finding all our team members gathered except for Luc.
“Now everyone has gathered.” Professor Cirrus remarked upon my arrival.
Was Luc not coming? Realizing my confusion, Lady Lyncean pointed upwards.
When I looked up, I saw Luc floating in the air.
“Mr. Deskustos, we are ready to delve into the dungeon. Your command?”
“Eh~ what a pain. Let’s just go~.”
Without an ounce of motivation, Luc floated over to the entrance of the tower dungeon and entered.
Professor Cirrus seemed irritated by his behavior, but the rest, myself included, didn’t find it strange, knowing that was just how Luc usually behaved. We all followed him into the dungeon.
Upon entering, the atmosphere changed completely.
The interior of the 1F just looked like your regular tower, but it was filled with eerie silence and tension hung in the air.
Ascending to the 2F, we were greeted by a rugged rocky area.
“We’ll climb as high as we can.”
With the unmotivated command, each of us began to fight the monsters.
Luc remained on his transparent cushion, seemingly uninterested in fighting.
I had hoped to see how he fought, so it made me feel a little disappointed.
“Aren’t there too few monsters here?”
“Yes, I think the same,” Professor Cirrus agreed with Elina’s words, tilting her head in puzzlement.
Lady Lyncean and Miss Anna didn’t seem to find it strange.
If you asked me, I’d agree that the number of monsters we’d encountered seemed a little lacking.
They had appeared in small groups, never large enough to pose a threat to us. The situation remained the same even after we reached the 5F.
“Strange. Something is definitely off here. Everyone, please stay alert.”
In this tower dungeon, a boss monster appeared in what was called the boss room every 10 floors.
Upon taking down the boss monster, you might start from the floor it guarded the next time you entered the dungeon.
You could start over from the 1F if you wanted to, but it wouldn’t be very efficient for leveling up.
Despite Professor Cirrus’s warning, we managed to climb up to the 10F safely.
“What could be happening?”
“Who knows, but I’ve leveled up,” I replied to Elina’s question.
My level had gone up despite the low number of monsters, so I found no problem with it. In fact, I felt it had made it easier to level up.
“Let’s proceed to defeat the boss monster. Is that okay with you, Professor?”
“Yes. The boss monster on the 10F is a hobgoblin, accompanied by a few goblins. You should be able to handle them without much difficulty.”
With Professor Cirrus’ permission, I opened the door to the boss room, and together, we all entered.
Luc remained on his purple cushion, showing no intention to participate in the boss battle.
“Let’s go!”
At my shout, Elina and Lady Lyncean got into action.
Lady Lyncean and I took the vanguard positions, while Elina and Miss Anna formed the rear guard.
The four of us worked together to take on the ten goblins, including the hobglobin.
“Freeze!”
Elina’s ice magic froze the goblins, allowing Miss Anna to finish them off.
As for the hobgoblin, Lady Lyncean kept it distracted, and when there was an opening, I seized the opportunity to deliver a killing blow.
“We did it!”
“Well done.”
At Professor Cirrus’s words of praise, I felt a sense of accomplishment for having conquered the 10F.
Luc didn’t contribute anything to the battle until the end.
“The dungeon’s level will increase from the 11F onwards! Brace yourself!” Professor Cirrus commanded. Upon going up, we found ourselves on a vast expanse of desert.
The monsters spawning here were sand golems, monsters made entirely of sand and impervious to sword slashes.
With her [Ice] magic, Elina would freeze their bodies, allowing the rest of us to destroy their magic stones—their cores—and defeat them.
Unlike the previous floors, we faced a challenging time here.
“Hmm. I suppose this is as far as their abilities can take them,” Professor Cirrus muttered to herself, seemingly convinced of something.
“Hey, Luc. You should fight too. We are barely holding on here, in case you didn’t notice.”
I wasn’t the only one spent; Elina and Miss Anna seemed drained as well.
Only Lady Lyncean seemed to have some energy left, but it didn’t change the fact that she was tired, too.
“Feeling tired?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“Then, let’s call it a day. Your level has gone up with all the golems you’ve just defeated anyway, right?”
“Huh? We’re going back already?”
“We’ve broken through the 10F. We can start again from there tomorrow. That way, it’ll be easier for leveling up. Am I right?”
Since Luc, our leader, had said so, I had no choice but to obey.
“…Alright. You’re the leader.”
When I agreed, Luc ordered us to withdraw.
The girls followed Luc without a complaint. Unable to shake the feeling that something had been off about our dungeon exploration, I approached Professor Cirrus.
“Professor.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“What are your thoughts about our dungeon exploration?”
“What… do you mean?”
“I felt something was off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Didn’t you feel the same?”
“Yes, but I can’t tell you. Seeing as some of the others have noticed as well, this will make a good assignment for you.”
“Huh? Assignment?”
“That’s right. You said you wanted to become stronger. However, you still lack the ability to see your surroundings. Someday, when you head into battle as a leader, that might prove fatal.”
See my surroundings? As a leader?
I had a feeling that the answer was closely related to Luc’s hint: “The desire to protect someone else.”
Check out my new series: The Commoner-Born Imperial General Officer Rises Through the Ranks by Crushing His Incompetent Noble Superiors.
Want more? Please consider supporting me on Patreon! Then you can read up to 15 advanced chapters!
2 thoughts on “SLO Chapter 103”