First dungeon

This is the first time I entered a dungeon since coming to this world.

It has been 1 year and a half.

It took quite a while.

I honestly wanted to challenge a whole lot of dungeons as soon as possible.

But a mage apprentice challenging a dungeon solo and then getting surrounded by monsters…just thinking about it gave me the chills.

It feels as if my wish has been granted and I am a bit moved.

"This is impressive…" (Makoto)

"Uwaa, so pretty." (Lucy)

Lucy continues after what I voiced.

A while of advancing after that plain entrance into the cave, there was now a dungeon where the floor, walls, and ceiling were made of crystal.

I imagined a dark cave, but my expectations were betrayed.

A dim light was being released from the whole dungeon, and it made for a mystical sight.

"Hooh, this is artistic." (Fujiwara)

You find this rare as well, Fuji-yan?" (Makoto)

"Yeah, the normal dungeons give out a more creepy atmosphere-desu zo. That isn't bad either though." (Fujiwara)

This is my first dungeon, but it seems we have stumbled upon a rare one.

"This place must have been made by a strong mage. The enemies that appear are all magic creatures." (Nina)

"Hm? Magic creatures?" (Makoto)

That's troubling.

Magic creatures are just as the name states, beings created by magic.

The famous one is the Golems.

Magic creatures have high magic resistance.

"Will my magic work…?" (Makoto)

I feel like I won't be able to deal any damage to magic creatures.

"Makoto, cheer up! I will blow them up with my magic!!" (Lucy)

"Lucy's magic inside a dungeon…that sounds trouble." (Makoto)

I feel like we are all going to be burned into a crisp.

"What's with you! I am trying to console you here." (Lucy)

"Now now, calm down." (Fuji-yan)

Fuji-yan mediates.

"Ah, enemies have come." (Nina)

Nina-san points.

Humanoid wood monsters were coming from that place.

"Wood Golems?" (Makoto)

"Right. From the information we gathered before, this dungeon seems to be their nest." (Nina)

"If it is wood, we can burn them with fire! It is my time to shine." (Lucy)

"Oi, idiot, stop." (Makoto)

I covered the mouth of Lucy who was winding her arms and began chanting.

"Hngh?! What are you doing, Makoto?" (Lucy)

"It looks like Nina-san will be defeating them for us." (Makoto)

"Fufufu, you two can take it easy-desu zo." (Fujiwara)

"Here I go~." (Nina)

While we were talking, Nina-san jumped out, and lunged into the group of monsters.

Did she just jump around 10 meters without a starting run?

"Nina-san, amazing…" (Lucy)

Lucy had her mouth wide open.

Nina-san does a roundhouse kick.

A *bang!* sound like that of a car crashing was made and the golem was sent flying.

The golem that was sent flying hits the wall and scatters into pieces.

The enemies don't just stand there waiting to be defeated.

They surround Nina-san as if trying to suppress her.

Well... It looks like she doesn't need our help.

"Hah!" (Nina)

Nina-san steps on the ground with spirit, and *boom!* something like a shockwave spread to the surroundings.

The surrounding Golems are blown away.

"Hm? is that Earth magic?" (Makoto)

It looks to me that Nina-san is combining her physical techniques with magic.

"Eh?! That's magic?" (Lucy)

Lucy lets out a surprised voice.

Why is the mage not noticing?

"Nina-san can use chantless magic too…" (Lucy)

Looks like she is receiving a shock.

I don't think you need to mind it though. I should correct it.

"Nina-dono isn't doing chantless magic, you know", but Fuji-yan said it before me.

"Eh? Really?" (Lucy)

"By doing a specific action, the spell automatically activates -that is the result of her training. Her stomping the ground makes a shockwave." (Makoto)

"That's exactly right. I am impressed that you know." (Fujiwara)

Fuji-yan says with admiration.

I am a mage after all. I thought one could tell just by looking, but…Lucy-san didn't seem to have noticed at all.

"T-Then! Can I imitate that?" (Lucy)

Is she thinking she can reduce her 3 minute chants with this?

"Then, can you clad yourself in fighting aura?" (Makoto)

"…Eh?" (Lucy)

Swordsmen and brawlers call Aura what we mages call Mana.

They are apparently covering it on their bodies or weapons.

Intermediate level and above swordsmen all use it, so Jean must have been as well.

I explained that to Lucy.

"Jean's wind blade was the same type." (Makoto)

"Eh? That wasn't a weapon spell?" (Lucy)

"That's also a kind of magic." (Makoto)

Rather than magic, it is more like a technique that uses fighting aura though.

"Nina-dono practiced the same technique tens of thousands of times under a magic brawler master, is what she grumbled once." (Fujiwara)

"Figures. The difficulty of obtaining skills that are both physical and magical doesn't fall behind to that of magic." (Makoto)

"…I-I see." (Lucy)

You can't just take an easy path, Lucy-san.

I wanted to become a magic swordsman, so I investigated that area pretty well.

What I learned was that if I were to use fighting aura with my mana amount, I would run out of gas in 5 minutes.

I learned that I could enhance my body to be able to at least swing a sword if I were to clad myself in fighting aura, but I gave up on using it in that way.

"I am done." (Nina)

5 minutes.

With the unmatched power of Nina-san, the Wood Golems were all broken to pieces.

"That's crazy." (Makoto)

So this is the power of a Silver Rank.

"Nina-san, that was amazing." (Lucy)

Lucy claps.

"Good work, Nina-dono." (Fujiwara)

"This much is easy." (Nina)

Nina-san didn't even break a sweat from this.

"These guys get remade by the dungeon, so after a while, they will come out again. We should advance quickly." (Nina)

"I feel like we aren't needed here?" (Makoto)

"Now now, don't say that. There might be another enemy here." (Fujiwara)

"I wonder…" (Makoto)

Dungeons are simple and are normally one way.

There's tunnels here and there where monsters come out.

An infinite wave of monsters?

Nina-san easily deals with them, but there's quite the numbers.

Just in case, I generated water with the Spirit Magic that I obtained recently, and tried attacking, but the effectiveness of the attack against the enemies was bad.

Rather than 10 Ice Arrows, a single kick of Nina-san was faster.

"This would have been impossible for Makoto and I." (Lucy)

"Right. I can't defeat them with my magic, and you cannot shoot consecutively, so we would have been overwhelmed by their numbers, and lost." (Makoto)

Let's take that as a lesson for the future.

"The numbers are ridiculous though." (Lucy)

Lucy who is not really doing anything seems to be bored.

"Making these many golems and controlling them would require quite a lot of mana. There's the chance that what's serving as the power source of this dungeon is quite valuable." (Fujiwara)

Fuji-yan seems to be having fun.

"Nina-san, how far did you investigate?" (Makoto)

I speak to Nina-san.

She has just defeated a group of monsters.

"There's a flight of stairs going down further from here, so until there." (Nina)

And just as she said, there were big stairs going down just at the end of this pathway.

The stairs continued on for quite a while, but enemies didn't appear in the middle.

After reaching the end of the stairs, we arrived at an open space, and we could see a big door.

Looks like we are close to the deepest part of this facility.

"The problem is the thing that's in front of the door." (Makoto)

"Right." (Fujiwara)

The alarm of Detection has been noisy for a while now.

There was a monster as big as the Griffon of before lying down there.

"Chimera…?" (Lucy)

Lucy mutters this.

A giant beast is lying there.

Has two heads, a lion and a goat, and has a tail with the head of a snake at its end. The fur on its whole body is a deep gray.

It looks like it is sleeping, but it feels like it might wake up the moment we get closer.

A gatekeeper protecting the door I suppose.

It seems like this guy is also a created magic creature.

"How about we try fighting it for now?" (Nina)

Nina-san has no hesitation.

"Now now, wait. I will check the monster with [Appraisal] first." (Fujiwara)

"It does look strong. Fuji-yan, please do." (Makoto)

"Leave it to me… Fumu fumu, it looks like it is a Chimera indeed. Its weakness seems to be Fire." (Fujiwara)

"My time to shine!" (Lucy)

Lucy suddenly got her energy back.

"Also, it seems like it was born 10 years Before the Salvation Era-desu zo. Quite the long living monster." (Fujiwara)

""Eh?!""

Lucy and Nina-san raised voices of shock.

"Ooh…a monster of 1,000 years ago. That would have been dangerous." (Nina)

"Wait, isn't this bad?" (Lucy)

Nina-san and Lucy were getting agitated.

"Lucy, what's so bad?" (Makoto)

"Is that monster strong, Nina-dono?" (Fujiwara)

The Isekai duo don't understand.

"Goshujin-sama, in the dark times before the Savior liberated this world 1,000 years ago, the monsters were a lot stronger than the ones now. You know that, right?" (Nina)

"I have heard about it." (Fujiwara)

I know that too.

"The monsters from that time were more vicious because of the influence of the Great Demon Lord, and it is said that the elves and humans of those times were stronger than the swordsmen and mages of now." (Nina)

"In other words, this guy has been living since before those 1,000 years, so he must be quite strong, huh. How strong compared to a normal Chimera?" (Makoto)

"It is said that the monsters 1,000 years ago were 3-4 times stronger." (Nina)

"Doesn't that make them fall into a completely different classification then?" (Makoto)

Those times a 1,000 years ago were way too dangerous.

"I have heard stories about veteran adventurer parties getting wiped out thinking it was a normal monster but turning out it was a monster of 1,000 years ago." (Nina)

"What should we do? Give up and leave?" (Makoto)

I honestly don't want to push it too much.

"No, let's go", Nina-san proposes.

"Nina-dono, is there a chance to win?" (Fujiwara)

"Those kinds of monsters mostly cannot move from in front of their 'gate'. If we cannot match it, then we can run away." (Nina)

'Hmm', Fuji-yan nods.

"I have an item called Escape Card that lets us move out from a dungeon. When it gets dangerous, let's run away from the dungeon." (Fujiwara)

"I see." (Makoto)

Sounds safe then.

"I will provide support to Nina-san then. XXXXXXXXXXX [Water Overflow]." (Makoto)

I use Spirit Magic to generate water.

[Water Current].

I control the generated water and create a giant water ball.

The downside of this is that it is considerably slower to activate magic compared to if I were to use my own mana.

"You should begin chanting your Fire Magic too, Lucy." (Makoto)

"Got it." (Lucy)

The last time, if the magic of Lucy didn't hit Griffon, we wouldn't have won.

I feel like this time around, the attack power of Lucy's magic will be important.

"Ah, also, Fuji-yan, I am counting on you with that if push comes to shove." (Makoto)

"Understood-desu zo." (Fujiwara)

We have prepared a secret move of sorts this time around.

It is nice to have several extra things you can do with more party members.

"Then, I will be going first." (Nina)

Nina-san approaches the Chimera with light steps.

I follow after her a bit behind.

Fuji-yan and Lucy are staying close to the stairs.

Lucy is chanting.

The Chimera slowly stands up.

As expected, it wasn't sleeping.

It is the gatekeeper after all.

"Go!" (Nina)

Nina-san closes the distance in an instant and releases a kick onto the Chimera.

A heavy *pang!* sound was made, but the Chimera simply staggered a bit.

As if paying her back for that, the Chimera swings its forefoot, and Nina-san evades it while going 'wawa!'.

[Water Magic: Ice Arrow].

I shoot magic to hinder the Chimera.

*Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!* All shots connected.

But…

"It had no effect." (Nina)

Nina-san scratches her cheek.

The Chimera didn't even avoid my spell.

It reacted as if saying 'was there a mosquito?'.

Damn it, it pisses me off.

After that, Nina-san goes around to the back and the side of the monster to attack it, but the Chimera had no openings.

The goat, lion, and snake heads were always on guard.

"Hmm, it really is a lot stronger than the regular Chimera." (Nina)

Nina-san takes a bit of distance and says this with a troubled expression.

"Really?" (Makoto)

"I can defeat a normal Chimera with my kicks, but this one isn't faltering." (Nina)

"It doesn't even care about evading my magic…" (Makoto)

I haven't mastered the use of Spirit Magic at all yet either.

"Hm! As expected, you guys can't do anything without me!" (Lucy)

I hear the voice of Lucy.

Looks like she is happy that her turn has finally come.

"Oi, help us out here too, Lucy." (Makoto)

"Leave it to me! [Fire Magic: Fire Arrow]!" (Lucy)

"Is it really an arrow…?" (Fujiwara)

I heard the mutter of Fuji-yan.

It was too thick to be called an arrow, it was more like a fire pillar, and it headed towards the Chimera.

The Chimera didn't show interest in my magic, and yet, it avoided this one.

The fire pillar hits the crystal wall and the fire spreads in all directions.

Fire of varying sizes rained…on the Chimera…and Nina-san and I.

The Chimera raised an annoyed 'grrr!', but we didn't have the leisure to mind that right now.

"Wawawa!', Nina-san runs around.

See, this is a trouble... Well if she doesn't cast a fire magic that will greatly trouble us.

I immediately go behind Fuji-yan and Lucy.

Nina-san was already closeby by the time I noticed.

The Chimera isn't chasing us for some reason.

It might be getting cautious of the fire magic of Lucy.

It takes 3 minutes to activate again though.

"Oi, Lucy." (Makoto)

"E-Eh?" (Lucy)

The mage that had made the fire spread everywhere tilted her head cutely.

This girl… Hahh...

"The magic of Lucy-dono has impressive power. Nina-dono, are you okay?" (Fujiwara)

"It really caught me by surprise." (Nina)

Nina-san doesn't seem to be angry, and instead is laughing.

"I-I'm sorry", even Lucy apologized for that.

"Well, let's be careful next time. It looks like the crystals of this dungeon repel magic." (Makoto)

"It would be dangerous to shoot in numbers." (Fujiwara)

"What should we do…" (Makoto)

Looks like we don't have any moves in the current situation, so let's move to the next one.

"Fuji-yan, please do that." (Makoto)

"Oh, that? That was fast." (Fujiwara)

"No point dragging it." (Makoto)

"True. Then…" (Fujiwara)

Fuji-yan pushes his right hand out.

"[Storage Magic: Take out]." (Fujiwara)

At that moment, water gushes out from Fuji-yan's right hand like a waterfall.

The amount cannot even be compared to my Spirit Magic.

The floor visibly filled with water.

Filled to the point that it reached all the way to our knees together with the Chimera.

When I asked Fuji-yan before 'How much water would you be able to store in your Storage Magic?', he said 'I could easily store a 50 meter long pool'.

When I heard that, I thought 'this is it!'.

"The magic of Goshujin-sama is impressive', Nina-san says in admiration.

"Even if there's no other way, would you use such a forceful method?', Lucy says amazed.

"You think up interesting things." (Fujiwara)

"Gotta do all you can do!" (Makoto)

I am the weakest mage apprentice after all.

The shine of the crystal walls and ceiling reflect on the surface of the water and are creating an even more fascinating sight.

The Chimera was glaring at us a few ways away.

You been Ignoring me, since our battle huh...

Now try to ignore this!

[Water magic: Serpent Water]

Turning the water into a Snake shape.

Lucy, Nina-san, and Fuji-yan look at me in admiration.

Ohh... Running away?

Sensing the danger... The chimera tried to run away.

I blow him up with my magic.

*pang

Ehh? It's still alive?

So instead of finishing him.

I just simply restrain his movement.

"Oi, Lucy cast your spell and make sure to hit this monster."

Hearing me that Lucy start casting her spell.

Finished her casting she aim it at the chimera.

But... She missed, so she cast again.

Thankfully this time, she hit it with her magic.

And the chimera cried in agony.

'Guee!' a painful scream came out from the Chimera, and it collapsed.

"D-Did we defeat it?" (Lucy)

"Wait, I will use [Appraisal]." (Fujiwara)

Lucy and Fuji-yan run towards us.

"Umu, it is dead. Great job, everyone." (Fujiwara)

"Well, it is easy-peasy with my magic." (Lucy)

"It will be great if you can control your magic more."

"Ugh." (Lucy)

"You do miss every 1 out of 2 times." (Makoto)

"Ah, shut up! It did end in a hit, so it is okay." (Lucy)

I have a strong feeling of having forced it to hit, but fine, it ended well, so let's leave it at that.

"Well then, let's go!", Fuji-yan is pumped up.

"If it is a facility from 1,000 years ago, maybe it has strong weapons?" (Makoto)

Honestly, I am also a bit excited.

This place gives me the feeling of a hidden dungeon.

We decide to gather the materials of the Chimera later, and proceed to the door.

The door is made of thick iron, but it wasn't locked, so when Nina-san pushed it, it made a heavy sound as it slowly opened.

"Looks like a laboratory." (Makoto)

On the other side of the door, there were old shelves and machines we don't know what they are for here and there.

They were all rusted and were worn-out from weathering.

The mountain of riches that I was expecting!…that kind of development didn't happen.

"What, this is boring~.", Lucy complains.

"Now now, we might actually get something nice if we dig around. How is it, Goshujin-sama?" (Nina)

"Hmmm, I gave a cursory glance and I didn't find anything that could be worth that much." (Fujiwara)

He is probably using [Appraisal].

Fuji-yan is looking around.

Too bad.

Looks like it was a miss.

Well, there's no way something as nice as getting gold and treasures would happen from a dungeon we found by luck.

"Hey hey, it goes even deeper." (Lucy)

Lucy who had no interest in the laboratory had gone alone to check deeper.

"Oi, don't move alone. It is dangerous." (Makoto)

"It is okay. We defeated the gatekeeper, so there should be no monsters here." (Lucy)

"The people that say those kinds of things are the first ones to die, in movies." (Makoto)

"Movies?" (Lucy)

I will have to teach Lucy the importance of death flags at a later time.

"Ooh, it looks like this is the power room of the dungeon." (Nina)

Seems like Nina-san had gone with Lucy because she was worried about her walking around alone.

I apologize for our child.

"Hooh! Power room?! If it is the power source of this artificial dungeon that has been active for 1,000 years, it should be quite the amount of energy." (Fujiwara)

Fuji-yan shouts in excitement.

"Goshujin-sama, there's an incredibly big magic crystal here." (Nina)

Nina-san reports.

She is a good duo with Fuji-yan.

"Fuji-yan, did you find anything worth?" (Makoto)

By the way, I am walking at the back with [Detection] on.

I closed the iron door so that monsters can't enter, and I am checking if there's any monsters hidden, but right now it doesn't seem there's any problems.

"T-This is incredible! To think a magic crystal this big existed! It is an amount that would be able to cover the whole energy used in Makkaren!" (Fujiwara)

Looks like we have found something of worth.

I should go and check it out too.

"Wow, I haven't seen a magic crystal this big even in the elf village. Ah, it prickled me." (Lucy)

"L-Lucy-sama? It would be best not to touch it carelessly…" (Nina)

"Hoooh, if we bring this back, Makkaren will be reborn. But how did a gigantic natural magic crystal—waaaaaaaaaah?!" (Fujiwara)

"Goshujin-sama?!" (Nina)

"Fujiyan-san! What's the matter?" (Lucy)

Eh?

"Fuji-yan, what happened?! Woah, this is impressive." (Makoto)

When I entered the room deep inside, there was a magic crystal bigger far bigger than the Chimera, shining in seven colors…moving slowly.

Why is a crystal moving?

"We have to run away quickly! We have woken up something unbelievable!" (Fujiwara)

Fuji-yan is ghastly pale.

"What's this, what's going on?!" (Lucy)

Lucy is panicking as usual.

"…" (Nina)

Nina-san has positioned herself to protect Fuji-yan.

I also run close to where the 3 are.

"T-This is bad-desu zo. This is bad-desu zo…" (Fujiwara)

"Fuji-yan?" (Makoto)

I spoke to my friend that is muttering over and over.

The seven colored magic crystal slowly stretches up, and then, it pulsates as it changes form.

"H-Human?" Lucy says with a trembling voice.

The seven colored magic crystal changed to a giant humanoid shape.

The giant eyes look down at us.

A shining giant that is one size bigger than the Ogre I fought before was looking at us and…smiled.

Ah…this is a bad pattern.