Deeper Dive in the Second Floor

Yeah... sleeping next to those two might be the end of me. It's difficult in many ways.

On the first night, Licia and I took turns to watch Claire just to be safe, so I didn't enter such a deep sleep, and the situation ended up not being so bad.

However, tonight I was much more relaxed, and the same must've been true for the other two since multiple times I woke up in an awkward position, grabbing or touching something.

While I wouldn't normally complain about that, it was a little stressful to imagine the worst-case scenario of one of them also waking up only to see the same scene. 

I'd be fine on the couch now since I don't think either of them is untrustworthy in that sense, so I don't get why they were both so adamant about the three of us sleeping together again.

Still, I wanted to follow Claire's advice and make both of them as safe as possible, so I went along without imagining it would turn out differently from before.

Surprisingly, I think I managed to sleep and recover way better last time compared to this one.

The self-control needed was insane, and it definitely took its toll.

Maybe this was some sort of punishment that they came up with.

Although... once it was time to leave the bed, I had as much of a hard time.

Seeing the two girls I spent the night with being touched by the light of the day as the sun was rising touched my heart a little.

I couldn't help but admire the sight.

Even though it made me feel like I had both won and lost in a bunch of different ways.

Still, I had to keep going, so after breakfast, we headed back to the Dungeon again.

I had already told Sam and Roy that someone else was going to join us, so when we reached the dungeon, Claire greeted them.

Claire: " Hello, I'm Claire, Licia's sister, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Sam: "Nice to meet you, Claire!"

Roy: "We're glad to have you join us. Miwen told us you are really strong."

Claire: "Is that so? He told me the same about you guys."

After greeting them in front of the Dungeon, Claire explained her Gift to them.

Although I had her lie about it too.

Especially the growth potential that it had. This wasn't as important for someone besides Licia and me to know about.

Sam: "So what are our objectives for today?"

Miwen: "I wanted to level up, it would also be nice for Claire and Licia to level up too..."

We needed to get stronger for the Events, and getting level-ups was the easiest and quickest way, especially considering how my Gift works.

Sam: "Oh, are you close to it?"

Miwen: "Somewhat. But I believe we should be able to go deeper on the second floor this time since Claire is with us."

Sam: "Wow. You trust her quite a lot, huh?"

Hm... It was true that she earned some of my trust. We ventured into the Dungeon and we also spent peaceful nights together.

But what I trusted more was her strength.

Miwen: "If she's on the team I believe we should be able to hunt any normal monster on this floor."

Roy: "Well, if we couldn't win a 5-on-1 then that would be shameful..."

Miwen: "I'm not sure... if they are a Superior or Noble Monster, then that's different."

Although Licia and Claire are very strong, I wouldn't want to face that kind of monster at such a high-level disadvantage.

Sam: "But those are rare so no need to worry so much, I can protect you if you're scared you know?"

Licia: "I'll also protect you if it comes to it, Miwen..."

Claire: "You need fret not, no enemy may stand against you as long as I'm on your side!"

Roy: "Leave it to your big bro, if anything happens I will wipe the entire floor for you."

Somehow it ended up with everyone treating me like a little kid.

I understand that this being just the second floor, it was still somewhat safe, but I rather not start developing the wrong attitude so soon, as it can be costly in the future.

And also, my biggest worry was Licia and Claire getting hurt.

Claire is even more confident than Licia, and while they have the strength and experience to support that confidence, I can't help but think they'll surely want to try a tough battle, even if the risks are high.

Still, without any consideration for my opinion, the team decided to proceed while babysitting me.

Not that I minded their teasing too much, if anything, I was glad that everyone was getting along well, even if at the cost of my non-existent reputation.

My personal goal was to defeat the floor boss in the remaining time until I had to choose one event, and for today, I wanted each of the [Citizens] of the kingdom, me included, to get one level up.

We killed many monsters during this fight, but they were mostly goblins and hobgoblins since we didn't go too far away from the settlement on the second floor.

Even at low levels, around 4 to 5, the hobgoblins were a pain to deal with.

Their arms are bigger than the goblins, and they are also stronger, so even when they carry a weapon such as a club or a sword, they still manage to maintain equilibrium and speed when attacking.

Every time we had to face a one-on-one with them, it was a proper fight, with highs and lows, that required attention at every turn, or else, the result could go either way.

During our party, only Sam and I could match their raw strength, but Licia and Claire made up for that with technique, and so, as long as there wasn't too high of a level difference, they managed their enemies just as much as we did.

Claire was doing especially well, her skills with a sword seemed incredibly refined.

Although Licia was also doing pretty good. It was probably just a matter of Claire's being more visually appealing.

Hers looked like the product of intensive training, while Licia's seemed more improvised depending on the conditions she found.

Although different, both were respectable.

We progressed a little further, and then we reached the point where we were forced to leave last time.

I noticed that both Claire and Licia managed to level up, so Sam and Roy should at least be close to theirs.

However, since they aren't subject to the experience sharing we have, it could be that they still had to reach that level, so before heading deeper, I decided to ask them.

Miwen: "So, how's your progress?"

Roy: "I got to level 4 just now."

Sam: "Me too, it was faster than I expected to be honest..."

Interesting, I hadn't thought about this, but since Claire, Licia, and I count as only one when it comes to experience, this party basically only had 3 people, so indirectly, they were also benefiting from our condition.

Miwen: "I see... we still have quite some time, so, do you wanna go deeper?"

This was a little risky since generally, the deeper you go through a path, the harder it gets.

The monsters that are further away from the bigger concentration of humans tend to survive longer, so they are able to raise their skills, kill other monsters or adventurers, and get even stronger.

So, when it comes to rushing levels it's best to go as far as possible, but it also poses a challenge.

Sam: "I think we could go deeper, but if we see something like that Hobgoblin Lord, we'll retreat ok?"

Roy: "Nah we can totally take him on now."

Licia: "I don't think so... What do you think Miwen?"

That was a hard call.

Consider Licia and Claire, even if it was level 7, we probably could do it, but we would risk getting heavily injured.

Miwen: "We could win but... I don't believe it's worth the risk."

Licia seemed to approve of my answer.

It was good to get a veteran like her to agree with my opinion.

However, Claire and Roy didn't seem as happy, but since Sam also agreed with me, we were in the majority.

Still, we kept raiding the dungeon and eventually found our last challenge for the day.

Two hobgoblins of unknown level were carrying a sword each.

Close to them, two cloaked goblins.

They seemed to be similar to the ones from the last time, and without knowing their levels, this situation could be dangerous.

Claire: "The hobgoblin on the right is mine. Lici- Err... Sis, you take the one on the left, ok?"

Licia: "Sure Sis!"

Claire remembered to be a bit more friendly to her "sister", and Licia seemed to be enjoying this situation quite a lot.

It was the same for me. Her honest try at deception was too fun to turn away from.

Miwen: "If that's the case, Roy and Sam can take the cloaked one on the right?"

Sam: "Probably, yeah."

Roy: "Fair, but if it gets tough be sure to call for help before it's too late alright?"

With our targets decided, each of us engaged in battle against our opponents.

I thought the monster I was facing was going to be a mage, so I tried to close the distance as quickly as possible, but to my surprise, he was actually an assassin, hiding a dagger under the cloak.

Although slower than a hobgoblin, its level had to be high, as no one other goblin I faced today was so fast.

It was a very surprising attack, but I managed to dodge it by the skin of my teeth.

I wanted to finish him quickly to help the girls, so I went on the offensive and used all my speed to close the distance once again.

However, I saw a smirk in him, and as he raised his hand, he cast a wind blade, like what happened to Roy back then.

This one was especially deceptive... 

If not for the fact that Roy had also fallen for something similar, I would've probably been hurt there, but I managed to stop and roll to the side.

And as expected, an invisible blade left a deep cut on the ground right next to me.

I ended up in an awkward position to counterattack, but since my reach was longer than his, once we started to trade blows, the advantage was mine.

Under close distance, he also didn't have time to prepare his magic attacks, so I managed to eventually stab his neck, ending the fight.

The corpse of the Goblin that should be in the ground disappeared, and a wind mana orb was left behind.

His dagger also stayed, so I took a tip from Licia's book and took it as loot.

Roy and Sam seemed to be doing fine, so I decided to go and help either Licia or Claire, whoever seemed to be having more difficulty with their enemies, but...

To my surprise, they were not fighting one-on-one against their opponents, instead, they did a beautiful team-up.

They were able to cover each other, and when Claire managed to disarm an opponent, Licia would follow with a precise strike.

The two hobgoblins fighting them just kept swinging their sounds desperately as the two of them complemented each other's momentum and forced their opponents into their rhythm.

When the last strike came at Licia, she blocked the swing, and Claire took the opportunity to stab the monster.

Once this monster was down, the other didn't stand a chance.

It was quite amazing they had managed to synchronize so well. Their opponents looked like sitting ducks before that.

And so, before I could snap out of their show, the dance had ended, and only the corpses of the hobgoblins were left behind.

Once it finished though, the two seemed a bit out of breath, so it might've been harder than they made it seem.

Claire: "Good work!"

Licia: "I'm glad we managed it."

It was truly a spectacle.

Miwen: "When did you guys get so good at fighting together?"

Licia: "Well... we just knew what each one had to do and trusted each other to do it, I guess..."

Claire: "From our last expedition in the dungeon I knew from watching that this girl could keep up with me so..."

In such a short amount of time...

Licia had already proven that she could work together with others quite well when she came up with that strategy for us to defeat the Goblin Lord of the first floor together, but with someone with as much experience as her, it was another level entirely.

Almost as if natural, the two veterans seemed more coordinated than the rest of our party even though we were fighting together for longer.

It made me want to see them fighting together more, but I had leveled up, and it was getting somewhat late, so it was better to leave since we had accomplished our objective for the day.

Before going home though, we stopped at the Dungeon Office to trade the loot acquired.

Sam and Roy managed to get $15 each for their monster cores.

While Licia, Claire, and I got $45 total for the monster cores we found. Add to that the Wind mana orb from the goblin I defeated, and a grand total of $81 was acquired by us today. It's not something we can expect every time, but the dungeon loot was starting to look really good.

Even then, the biggest progress we made today was in relation to our levels, if we were to continue at this pace, then surely the [Events] wouldn't pose a threat.