“Then I guess you could even die when you're exploring a dungeon?”
“It's possible.”
After listening to Rumi and Nide's conversation, Hegel grinned toothily.
“However, if it's monsters of this level, there's prolly no reason for me to die.”
Hegel personally held great belief regarding the armor. With materials that couldn't be made without superior Handicraft skills, it was armor that couldn't even be imagined by Blacksmiths of low caliber.
A work of art that could supplement a swordsman's slightly lacking defenses because of the focus on attack!
A properly made Bantis Armor Set was over 5 thousand gold for one set. Although it was heavy, it had more than 5 or 6 times the defense of normal armor. Meaning he wouldn't die, even from considerable damage.
Armor at a level where tolerable arrows or swords would just bounce off!
What swordsmen could call their dream was full plate armor. The armor Hegel had equipped was an item of first class, that had even been rigged with magic resistance. The handicraft or ornaments, even the form could be called a work of art without shame — it was that beautiful.
The best product that neared perfection!
Not only did the durability barely drop, for swordsmen, there was no better item than this.
On the 2nd basement floor, adult Kramanoims appeared.
However, it was just that their bodies were a little bigger. Their actual attack power was similar. A monster that had no development despite growing up!
Except, the dose of poison the monsters spat out had built up by quite a lot; for a party that didn't have a Priest, it couldn't be anything but hard work.
“Shit.”
Hegel was covered in revolting paralysis saliva. He couldn't help but have a bad mood from fighting while getting hit by yellow spit.
Since Swordsman Bella was weak, if she got paralyzed by the adult Kramanoims, she could only die shortly.
Since his other party members didn't consider themselves combat-related, there was no helping it — Hegel had to take on the role of the meat shield.
“Damn it. Why are these dirty monsters appearing.”
Hegel's mail and shield were covered in saliva. Of course his equipment was getting dirty, but even a disgusting smell was coming off. Since he was equipping accessories that had outstanding magic and poison resistance, he was still able to move his body vigorously, but if it were someone else, they would have lost their ability to fight.
“Barrage!”
Twitter shot forth arrows like a shower, and the others were pouring attacks as far as the bounds of their mana would allow. The Thief Nide lured the Kramanoims as he walked with an elaborate step and landed. If not for the extremely Thief-like quick movements that drew their attention, the Kramanoims would have charged the other party members.
Even so, Hegel was surrounded by Kramanoims with no place to run.
“Damn it. I didn't want to use my top skills in a place like this…”
Hegel snuck a quick glance at the other party members, then put the Longsword he'd been using in its sheath and pulled out a ponderous Mace.
Generally, the Mace was a weapon with an incredibly powerful striking power. Although Swordsmen mastered the Sword as their Profession, they acquired weapon skills of the Spear and Blunt Weapons separately at the same time. That was because the defense of the armor that Swordsmen used in fights was so impressive, it became efficient to use a Spear with a pointy tip or a Blunt Weapon.
Rupture's Mace!
It was a weapon worth 680 thousand Won (~$680) in the cash trading market.
As an Option, it could spread a violent shock, even if it was blocked by a shield the destructive force penetrated through armor unhindered, so it could blow people away with strength alone.
Granted, it was hard to handle because it was short and heavy, but it was the best method when fighting monsters that had high Health and didn't die easily.
“Hyaa!”
As he changed his weapon and raised it, a powerful, imposing aura surged out of Hegel's body. Perhaps it was a characteristic of the Mace itself, but his Fighting Spirit was enhanced and the monsters were intimidated.
Hegel didn't miss the opportunity to take advantage of the Kramanoims' dulled movements.
“Earth Wave!”
With great strength Hegel smashed the ground using the Mace, the earth rumbled and trembled.
The bodies of the Kramanoims within the 7 meter radius turned to grey light due of the shockwaves.
The area of effect skill demonstrated by a Swordsman of over level 300 by overdoing it, that destructive power!
“Flash of Fighting Spirit!”
The Hegel who broke through the blockade hunted the Kramanoims as if he was slaughtering a flock of sheep.
Although he also had the help of the other group members, he was the leading player who hunted the most monsters.
Even so, Hegel didn't seem like he was satisfied.
“Damn it. If the Earth Wave's skill proficiency was even a little higher, it would have made at least half of them unable to fight in one hit…”
Even with the lacking skill proficiency, it was good enough to transfix Bella or Rumi.
“A level 300 Swordsman sure is strong.”
“I only saw 'em on broadcast all the time, but I've never seen one myself. But just as they say, it's like they were born to fight — they're incredible.”
A Swordsman's attack power was to the point of inducing awe.
After they finished taking a short break, they headed to the 3rd floor basement.
“Haha. If old Kramanoims show up, this'll be a really good dungeon.”
Hegel lead them with confidence.
However, starting from the 3rd floor basement was not as they had expected. A damnable labyrinth blocked the way in front, and there was no end to the traps.
Something charming like arrows flying from walls! They stepped on the ground and had their feet sink right in, and were ambushed by venomous snakes. Thief Nide dismantled the traps and hunted the snakes, but they were delayed by a lot of time.
And then, in a moment while they were advancing like that!
Rumble!
A big boulder was rolling towards them from an alley they had passed.
It filled up the entire passage. The boulder that rolled forward without even a corner to escape out of.
“Run!”
The party that had seen the big boulder that was rolling forth behind them ran for their lives into the dungeon.
“We don't know what might be in front!”
“Better than being crushed and killed by the rock.”
“The passage was getting narrower!”
Rumble!
The passage became narrower and narrower, so the big boulder was wedged in between the walls. The walls were considerably ravaged, and although it was a boulder that had rolled all the way here, it finally stopped..
“What a relief.”
“Are we saved by this?”
There wasn't any time to nonchalantly express happiness. Thief Nide knew from experience that in cases like this, even greater crises would come find them.
Nide hurriedly opened his mouth.
“Hey, guys.”
“Hm?”
“There's three things of bad news… there's really bad news and less bad news. And there's also one piece of unlucky news.”
Selsia beamed a smile. After repeatedly doing only boring hunting every day, experiencing this kind of dungeon exploration was very exciting for her.
“Tell us the less bad news first.”
“Ok. That's that our way back is blocked. And the really bad news is, that we don't know what kind of traps there are in the place where we're standing.”
“Traps, you say?”
“Just now, I tried using my Trap Seeking Skill… this entire place is lit up by traps, blue light, so by the way, I think it'll be better to stay put.”