Earning money to pay off our debts has come to be called “training” for me and Solana. It is now the morning of the third day since I started diving into the combat level of the dungeon.
I am getting more and more efficient. Solana also praises me for having a solid foundation.
I’m glad that she had acknowledged the efforts I had made, such as my daily short sword training and my study by making use of Father’s notes. But when it comes to core strength, I think the leg training I did at my part-time job as wake-up caller helped the most.….
“Gaa!”
Now, I can face a kobold.
Its eyes were bloodshot, and the hand holding the dagger are limp. The low growl is likely to make me shiver if I let your guard down. It made me mercilessly realize that it is impossible to talk or reconcile with monsters.
It was supposed to be an opponent that could be defeated by now, but my breathing was disturbed.
“Fuu……”
I took a deep breath.
I don’t know about other adventurers, but I always feel the horror of monsters. “I’m afraid they’ll come out of the dungeon someday”—that’s the dread I always thought of.
Sometimes, I also think about it.
Why did God leave the monsters behind? Just to seal them away? Couldn’t he had just defeated them all?
There are many theories in the myths, such as “for the sake of the materials” and “not forgetting the art of fighting”, but I don’t really think that it was the reason.
Is it because of the monsters that Lu got sick?
Even Father, in the fight against the monsters he—
『Rion』
Solana’s voice came from the gold coin. I turn my attention back to the kobold. It hasn’t made a move yet. It just held a dagger at waist height and looked at me with warning.
“Guu……”
I stared back at the opponent that growls at me.
“Come.”
The opponent jerked.
—But a split second before that, I was already in action. It was an ahead and instant move. I leapt and closed our distance, immediately breaking through the opponent’s attack range. I pierced its throat with the blue crystal short sword.
The kobold instantly crumbled into ashes and dropped magic stones.
“My win….”
How many kobolds had I faced today?
When I came here, my breath was white, but now I was hot with sweat.
It’s time to take a break.
“I’m going to take a break.”
『I was about to say that, too. 』
I walk back to the relatively safe staircase. I sit down on the ground and count the magic stones I’ve earned. Today’s haul was 1 warg, 4 kobolds, and a few slimes.
Ouch. I felt a stinging pain when I touched my cheek. I’m bleeding.
“Maybe I went too fast.……”
On the first day, I fought one monster and then I took a short break. Afterwards, I fought again and took another break, such cycle went over and over again till I was at my limit.
—But there was one thing I didn’t expect. The purchase price of the kobold magic stone was lower than I expected. It was just a little lower than usual, but something bothers me. There are other dungeons, so it is inevitable that the price of magic stones will drop. Still, I just had a bad hunch.
So, in order to pay off my debt quickly, I had to increase the efficiency of my training further. That was why I did not take as much short breaks now.
From today, instead of going back to the safe zone, I decided to go around the dungeon once and then return to the surface.
| Skill, 『Sun’s Divine Protection』was used. 【White Flame】is executed. |
The ability, White Flame, enveloped my whole body. My tension eased and my fatigue faded away. It helped me conserve recovery potions and trained me in using magical power at the same time.
At that moment, a glint appeared at the edge of my field of vision. Solana jumped out of the gold coin.
“Are you hurt?”
The palm-sized Goddess sat on my shoulder.
I chuckled wryly as I put the lid on my water bottle.
“Just a little.”
White Flame healed my wounds quickly. Solana seemed relieved and her fairy-like form quickly returned to the gold coin.
『Muu! If I could just stay outside all the time, I would be able to protect you more. 』
“Haha……”
I’m grateful for her care.
Suddenly, I had an idea. For example, when a monster appears, I could unseal her and have her defeat the monster.
Solana seems to know what I’m thinking, she said,
『Of course that’s possible. Shall we do that?』
“Yeah….…”
Solana was excited, but I gave a half-hearted reply.
Well, I vaguely thought that it was not right. Even if it’s a borrowed strength, I want to make it real one day.
“First, I’ll become stronger.”
My breathing had steadied a lot, but I still wanted to rest. While resting, I ask Solana,
“Uhm, Solana-sa-, erm, what does it feel like…. being sealed?”
Oh, it was terrible. I was about to speak in formal tone again. There are times when I called Solana with “san” or some other honorifics, but every time I do, she gets annoyed and starts sulking.
『Well, how should I describe it….. Hmm, I guess it’s like climbing a high mountain. Do you know what it feels like when you climb a high mountain? Like how you feel the cold there and feel how the air is getting thinner.”
I’ve never really climbed a high mountain, but I’ve heard similar stories.
『It’s the same as that. The sealed space is getting colder and harder. I feel like I’m in a place I shouldn’t be. When I go out in my tiny form, I can postpone the restrictions a little, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are restrictions imposed on me. 』
“I see……”
『But I got to know it’s a very powerful seal…… So much that I didn’t think that even an awakened god will be affected by it. 』
Solana still has few memories to remember.
It seems that there are still many things that we don’t know about, especially on the seal that cover the world. Well, even the monsters of the time and the beings who led them remained hazy in detail.
――The Era of the Great Seal, the time when the gods fought monsters and sealed them away in dungeons.
That general plot is the roughly same.
『When I’m in the dungeon, I feel like I can remember something. 』
But Seal huh…..
My ability “Unseal” has the same letters. The only other skills I can think of that relate to seal are those used by priests who serve the chief god, Odis-sama, or the royals and people high above the clouds.
I tried asking the guild members about it casually, but the result was the same.
“……It’s better not to tell people too much about my abilities.”
I blurted out. Then I paused.
But then if I did that, it would make it even harder for me to reveal my skills to Lu or to my mother…
While I was conflicted, the staircase became noisy. It’s past morning, so the adventurers of the Eastern Dungeon must be coming down.
“It’s time to go.”
『Got it. 』
Not long after I had advanced further into the dungeon, the cold aura from the next monster caught my attention.
This time, it’s not alone.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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