Futuristic Weapon

The Hermes Familia showcased their strength until the party reached the 24th Floor. Just like they said, they lied about their levels being only at Level 1 and Level 2 and Asfi just being a Level 3.

Aside from that, their teamwork was very polished and it was very obvious that they had been doing this for a long time now. Everyone was very proud of Asfi's ability to create items when she showed a Molotov-like potion that strengthens fire magic multiple times.

While Ais was amazed, the trio was not so much and all of them thought that if they asked, Kisuke could probably whip out a fricking magic rocket launcher or bazooka in just a few hours.

"Say... Shouldn't we ask something like that for real? He'll probably make it without question." Aika whispered to the other two.

"More than make, I have a feeling that he already has something like that somewhere in his inventory," Sona replied while fixing her glasses and thought about what they could do with it.

"I'm asking senpai for one once we return." Koneko, on the other hand, finalized her decision thinking how fun it would be to blast monsters with it.

"What are you whispering, you three?" Ais asked in curiosity.

"Nothing. We're talking about asking our Captain for some gifts." Sona answered.

Although a very weird time to talk about gifts, Ais accepted her answer and said, "Is that so? Let's go. We're near the northern pantry."

The party went on and found a parade of at least a hundred monsters which was an irregular occurrence on this floor, "What should we do?" Lulune asked while having a nervous expression. No matter how good their teamwork was, there was no way for their Familia to take on that many monsters.

"Leave this to me," Ais said to everyone as she jumped down on the clusters of monsters.

"Wait!" Asfi tried to stop her, but it was already too late. Contrary to her expectation, though, Ais annihilated all the monsters only a few minutes later and the whole Hermes Familia were gobsmacked, "So this is a top-tier Adventurer from a top-tier Familia... Amazing." One of them said.

"We aren't even needed here, are we?" Another one said and nobody could deny his claim.

The Hermes Familia soon recovered their bearings and proceeded with their objective and navigated through the floor to reach the northern pantry which was the nearest pantry to the monster outbreak.

Once they reached the only path leading to it, they were shocked to see a green wall of what seems to be plant-like matter was blocking their way, "Lulune, is this the correct path?"

Lulune checked her map again in panic, "I-It should be. I picked a path that led to the pantry. There's no way something like this should exist."

Asfi thought for a moment before facing her comrades, "Falgar, Thane. Take the others and split into two groups. I want you to search the area but make sure to come back if something irregular happens."

The Hermes Familia searched around to look for another path but failed to do so and decided to retreat for a bit and rest, "So this is what is it..." Asfi muttered as she looked at the green wall.

"Asfi?" Lulune asked.

However, it was Sona who continued her words, "If the pantry is the food source of the monsters and the way to it is blocked, it's only natural that they would look for another one... Hence, mass migration which can also be called a monster outbreak if one is not aware of the truth."

"Correct. The monsters, without a choice, have to move using the paths that the Adventurers use and that resulted in casualties."

"Even if you say that, Asfi..." Lulune then looked towards the wall, "What's behind this wall?" Lulune asked.

"We'll know once we're inside. We already identified the cause of the monster outbreak, we only have to solve this wall's existence and we'll be free to go home."

The party then broke through the wall and found the original path towards the pantry, however, everything in it was already covered by the similar material as the wall, and a few seconds after everyone entered, the opening they created already closed as if a wound healed in an instant.

"The wall..." Some of the Hermes Familia got worried but Asfi reassured them, "It's not like we can't get out. All we need to do is open a hole again."

"Hey, can I say something scary?" Lulune caught everyone's attention while she was kicking the newly 'healed' wall, "If this disgusting jelly-like wall is a huge monster, wouldn't it mean that we're travelling inside its stomach?" She ended her sentence with a disturbing laugh.

"Hey!"

"Stop that!"

"That's not a laughing matter!"

The party continued their journey and soon discovered that their map was already useless because they encountered multiple fork roads that shouldn't exist.

A quarter of an hour of moving through maze-like terrain, they finally found something different and those were monster ashes, "Is this a monster carcass?" A bulky man from Hermes Familia approached and inspected it.

Asfi also approached and confirmed his guesses, "Most likely this monster was able to break through the wall and was killed by something after coming all this way. That's strange..." It was strange because they haven't encountered a single thing that could kill monsters.

However, it was this instant that Koneko suddenly shouted to everyone, "Watch out! Above us!"

Everyone looked up and saw plant type monsters dropping down from the ceiling with their fangs bearing towards the party.

"Everyone! Prepare to fight back!" Asfi commanded.

It's also at this moment that the trio showed their abilities for the first time. Aika made her first move and instantly reappeared in front of the incoming monsters. With a single wave of her sword, she instantly turned two of them into ashes.

During this time, Sona shouted, "Their magic stones are inside their mouths. Hitting it with a ranged weapon is your best bet. It's also better to use a sharp weapon instead of a blunt weapon if you want to attack its body. And most importantly, it's attracted to magic! You can use magic stones to dictate some of their movement!" As she mouthed all of that, she started using her bow to take down some of the monsters too.

The whole Hermes Familia was shocked at their sudden change. All this while, they thought that they were only an unnecessary addition in this party and could potentially drag everyone to danger as they were only Level 2.

But the moment Aika made her move, they thought that they too, just like them, were hiding their real levels.

Comment section

Alexander: Hmmm, Koneko with a rocket launcher. I really want to see that. It's bound to be an awesome sight to behold.

28th00: Kitten Cannon, an old flashgame that fits for her rocket launcher! Also, people in this world are stuck in that xianxia cultivator mentality of "Level = Power" and nobody can fight someone above that level… But they rush to level up with D-C level in their highest stats… I still say a single gamer would roflstomp this setting with absolute disgust at that mentality.

Goyya: The rocket launcher will definitely make an appearance later.