Subterranean Fast-Track

Following the stone-built floor and the floor of exposed rock, the third level was a layer of earth.

The ground beneath our feet was covered in soft soil, and both the walls and ceiling were stained a deep brown. The passage was about three meters wide, with the ceiling reaching roughly the same height. It was quite spacious. White-Glow Stones peeked out from various spots in the walls, so we had no trouble with light.

However, this floor didn’t seem like it would be a walk in the park either; looking closely, I could see fairly large holes scattered here and there in the walls and the ground. They practically screamed that something was lurking inside.

Mia, who had been scanning the corridor intently, nodded to herself and spoke up.

“Hmm, I think I’m getting the hang of this, Sensei. Every time we go down the stairs, it’s like we’re in a completely different place.”

“Yeah, that’s a pretty accurate way to look at it.”

The environment changes with every floor, the monsters inhabit different areas, and even the vegetation and minerals produced are distinct. For a Transmutationist, it’s truly a paradise with no shortage of materials.

“Is the ‘hope’ you mentioned earlier the gathering of such materials, Sir?”

“That’s part of it, but there’s another important objective. Though, I’m still just figuring out the specifics.”

“I see…”

“Sounds like a lot of work. Well, I’m sure we’ll manage!”

“You think so?”

“Yep, totally! I’m sure you’ll be fine, Sensei.”

“Indeed, I agree. Besides, nothing can be accomplished if you don’t first believe it can be done.”

They were groundless words of affirmation, but they made me feel a bit lighter. Exploring the dungeon with these two might have been a stroke of unexpected luck.

“Charge—!”

“Koo!”

Perhaps bored with the adults’ conversation, the two little ones dashed down the corridor. They were promptly sent flying in unison by something like a long pole leaping out of a hole in the ground.

“Grave—!”

“Koo!”

They tumbled along and stopped at my feet. Their HP had only decreased by 1 each, so there didn’t seem to be any noticeable injuries. Given the gap in defense, they’d likely be fine at this pace for a while.

“Ugh, gross again! What is that!?”

“It… doesn’t seem to be a snake.”

“That’s an earthworm.”

What had lunged out from beneath the ground was a giant annelid, its body writhing and squirming. Its thick trunk was about the size of my thigh, and it had a repulsive hue, like exposed internal organs. I couldn’t see anything like eyes on its head—just a massive mouth lined with ring-shaped fangs. Honestly, it was an opponent I didn’t want to look at directly.

Just as I thought that, I remembered its specialty.

“Mia!”

“Huh? Got it!”

Following the girl’s gesture of blowing a breath through a circle made with her fingers, a large bubble appeared in mid-air. Immediately after, a mass spat out from the giant worm’s mouth slammed into it. The resulting spray hit the ground and walls, sending up thin trails of white smoke.

Digestive Juice.

In the game, it was a troublesome ranged attack that lowered the performance of weapons and armor. In reality, it felt like it would be even worse than that.

Realizing its attack had failed, the Giant Worm immediately tried to wiggle back into its hole. But just before it could, a whip sliced through the air and coiled around its trunk, holding it back. Yoru’s headbutt and Kuu’s mid-air flying kick exploded in quick succession. Letting out a shriek that sounded like stones grinding together, the Giant Worm collapsed to the ground. The Blue Slimes then piled on top of it, giving it a complete thrashing. In less than a few seconds, the monster that had attempted an ambush had been soundly defeated.

“Yay, another win!”

“Victory cry—!”

“Koo!”

When I touched the corpse to collect it, a Land-attribute Yellow Magic Stone and Worm Meat appeared in the list. The types of magic stones were spreading out nicely across the attributes, which was very helpful. As for the worm meat… apparently, it’s edible.

Once we defeated one, a winning pattern was established, making things easier. Lure them out with Yoru or Kuu as bait, evade the specialty, and launch a concentrated attack. Repeating this, we advanced rapidly through the corridor.

Just as I let my guard down, a swarm of rats lunged out of a hole instead of a worm. These were monsters called Needle-Tail Rats, and their tails were as stiff as wire. They were about thirty centimeters long and had a habit of gnawing on ores; apparently, the metal they ingest accumulates in their tails.

“Fall back, Sue, Rah!”

Slime types are resistant to impact, but they’re just water balloons in the face of piercing attacks. Paula, sensing the danger instantly, quickly pulled her two servants back. I could only be impressed by her sharp judgment. By the way, “Sue” and “Rah” were the names of the Blue Slimes.

Stepping up in their place was our new servant, the Giant Worm “Mee-kun.” He looks… well, like that, but it seemed useful, so I had asked Paula to use one. The Giant Worm’s Digestive Fluid landed right in the middle of the clustered Needle-Tail Rats, and high-pitched shrieks filled the air. Mia’s Fire Bullet also seemed to have increased in power, and the rats rolled around, engulfed in flames. It was a victory won through a perfect area-of-effect attack.

From the rats, we collected Fire-attribute Red Magic Stones and wire tails. The tails had the same strength as regular wire, so they looked like they’d be useful for many things.

Because this level was rather broad, it took nearly an hour to reach the stairs room. The large room before the stairs showed no sign of monsters, only about ten holes in the ground.

“They’re definitely in there.”

“Yeah, this is way too suspicious. It’s definitely a trap!”

“However, we cannot strike at them as things stand…”

Yoru, Kuu, and our enslaved monsters could probably enter the holes, but that’s the territory of a boss-class monster. I could only imagine a future where they’d be bitten or skewered to death. Even if we fired inside, with this many holes, the power would be dispersed and couldn’t be guaranteed.

“Then, how about luring it out with bait?”

“Eeeh, that’s dangerous!”

“Don’t worry, Mia. With you there, not a single scratch will be made.”

“Eh, me?”

Paula’s clever idea was the same strategy we used to defeat the Boss Bat on the second floor. We just had to put Kuu inside a floating bubble and send him out.

When the bubble with the bird-child inside reached near the center of the large room, a black shadow stretched out long from one of the holes. The Water Bubble popped, and Kuu, having evaded the initial strike, made a swift escape. The monster guarding the stairs room was an even more gigantified earthworm. Its girth was about the same as mine. Its length, just the part sticking out of the hole, was nearly two meters. However, this time there were no minions; it was alone.

“Alright, we know what it is. Now we just have to kill it.”

No matter how big it was, we were already well-accustomed to this opponent. As the Boss Worm lunged out, lured by Kuu in the bubble, and hit it one after another. Apparently, it was easy to hit because it was such a large target. After repeating this about ten times, the monster lost its strength and keeled over.

As a result of Eat, (Worm Drool) was equipped in Yoru’s weapon slot. Testing it out, it seemed she could fire off a small amount of Digestive Fluid. Yoru finally got her long-awaited ranged weapon! Well, I don’t think she was actually “awaiting” it.

The loot from the Boss Worm was a Yellow Magic Cluster (Small) and Giant Worm Meat. Since we were getting a bit hungry around now, we had lunch with the black bread and wine we’d brought as rations. We gave Yoru, Kuu, and Mee-kun the bat meat, and the slimes, Sue and Rah, were given the worm meat.

After redosing our set of enhancement potions, we proceeded further down to the next floor.

The fourth floor changed again, a layer like a dense forest where vines and tree roots crawled everywhere. What greeted us on this floor was, surprisingly, a monster that looked exactly like a human. However, its size was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. It looked like a young girl, with butterfly-like wings on its back that allowed it to fly freely. Its body flickered with light, and it also played the role of a light source for this floor.

“Whoa, it’s so cute! What is this?”

“Don’t let your guard down. Fairies may look cute, but they’re quite tough.”

They certainly looked like cute dolls, but their specs were quite vicious. Because they’re small, their physical attack and defense are almost non-existent, but in exchange, their magic stats are strong. Furthermore, their speed is high, and given their size, it’s difficult to catch them. And if you get pricked by the thorn spear they hold, you’re hit with intense itching. To top it off, their specialty is a nuisance that robs you of your sight for dozens of seconds if you take a direct hit.

I’ve listed all those things, but actually, they have a major characteristic that makes all of that a non-issue.

“Hehehe, look, look! Yoru-chi’s head! Ah, Kuu-chi too—the best!”

“I want to preserve this forever…”

“Hehe, it is very lovely.”

The point is that fairies are extremely friendly as long as you don’t harm them. One that had come fluttering over apparently took a liking to Yoru’s triangular, protruding beast ears and sat right between them. Then, leaning against an ear, it started laughing merrily. It was the same for Kuu; two fairies had nestled into the fluffy feathers of his neck and were laughing away. Those neck feathers feel incredibly good to the touch, after all.

After thoroughly enjoying the sight of the troubled Yoru and Kuu, we moved further in. There is actually one more type of monster on this floor, but they also just crawl leisurely along the walls and ceilings. Like the fairies, they won’t attack if you do nothing, but their appearance was, by contrast, poorly received. After all, it was a massive caterpillar, about fifty centimeters long. Moreover, the pattern was black spots on a green base. These were used as mounts by the fairies, and we occasionally saw scenes of them riding them to get somewhere.

It was good that we didn’t have to fight, but between Yoru and Kuu constantly being teased by the fairies and finding a beautiful spring along the way, it took about forty minutes to reach the stairs room.

Then, we faced a cold reality. It seems that in this dungeon, a peaceful resolution does not exist. Waiting for us in the not-very-large room covered in roots and vines was a fairy army riding caterpillars. There were five caterpillars and five fairies each. Separately, in front of the iron bars, a particularly large caterpillar and fairy could be seen. They were about three times the size of the normal ones. The Boss Caterpillar’s skin was a sickly, poisonous red.

“It looks like we can’t pass without a fight.”

“Uuuu, poor little fairies…”

“It cannot be helped. If they stand in our way, we must remove them.”

Fairies have high evasion, but fortunately, they stayed still until someone entered the room. In that case, we couldn’t miss the chance. Kuu, fluttering at the very edge of the entrance, unleashed the specialty that boasted the widest range and strongest power in our party.

—!

A floor covered without gaps by tree roots is definitely difficult to walk on. However, for a caterpillar with many legs, that’s a different story. And in a narrow space, the movement of many people would be restricted. But for a small fairy that can fly freely, it’s no problem at all. I think it’s a small room designed to take advantage of those strengths, but this time, it proved to be their downfall.

The feathers with pointed bases like darts went wild throughout the room, riding the gust of wind. In a space with no escape, the fairies and caterpillars were ruthlessly exposed to the feather attack. When the storm subsided, the only one barely still moving was the large caterpillar. The rest of the monsters had all lost their strength and were sprawled on the floor.

A Fire Bullet made a direct hit on the Boss Caterpillar as it tried to spit out sticky silk at the last second. The insect monster, weak to fire, easily overturned and breathed its last.

“Uuuu, I feel so guilty!”

“Don’t be so down. Once tomorrow comes… no, I can’t say for sure yet.”

From the fairies, we collected Light-attribute White Magic Stones and Fairy Dust; from the caterpillars, Earth-attribute Yellow Magic Stones and Silk Sacs. From the bosses, the usual magic clusters. I’m pretty sure silk thread could be transmuted from the silk sacs. They’re just regular caterpillars, not silkworms, though.

When I asked Yoru and Kuu, they said they wouldn’t eat the fairies. After they finished off the Boss Caterpillar, Caterpillar Thread was equipped in Kuu’s weapon slot. In the game, that was a debuff skill that lowered the opponent’s speed.

After hurriedly finishing the collection, we rushed down the stairs to escape our sense of guilt.

What awaited us on the fifth floor was a sight completely different from anything before. The white light pouring down was brilliant, no different from the surface. The ceiling I instinctively looked up at was unbelievably far away. And amazingly, there were no walls to be seen anywhere. No, if I squinted, they stood faintly in the far distance of my vision.

And in place of the vanished walls, a vast plain spread out before my eyes. Were the black masses here and there thickets of shrubs? If I had been brought here blindfolded, I’d never believe I was inside a dungeon.

Facing the wide-open space, I let out a deep breath from the bottom of my lungs. This was exactly the destination level I had been searching for. In the Palace of the Dragon Jade in the game, there were floors that were just incredibly wide with no elevation changes, making travel a hassle. Well, seeing it in person, the depth was even more than I expected.

I turned back to the stunned Paula and Mia, stretching my arms out toward the landscape overflowing with a sense of liberation as I spoke in a bouncy voice.

“Look! Here, we can build as many fields as we want.”

“…The ‘hope’ you desired was this vast land?”

“Hah?! Why on earth would you build a field in a place like this?”

“Because here, it is absolutely safe.”

To the two who couldn’t hide their surprise and bewilderment, I finally revealed my hidden objective.

“That’s why I’m thinking of building a place where people can live—a new village—right here.”