Level Eater
Chapter 133

Tatsuro and his team found a point to go to the next level in the belly of the turtle-shaped monster, which looked like a giant rock when its head and limbs were retracted, and they were attacked by a yellow tongue that was unusually long and extended, although it moved slowly, perhaps because of its heavy shell.

Tatsuro and his team were discussing how to get in there while running away from it.

This was because there was a fear that if they killed that thing, the entrance attached to it would close, so they couldn't attack it as a prank.

"Hmm. I guess it's safest to turn it over and jump in with everyone." (Ai)

"It's the first floor of a level 3 dungeon, so I don't think that much is required of you, but I think I'll give it a try." (Tatsuro)

"What are you going to do?" (Ai)

"In the meantime, I'm going to use earth magic...!" (Tatsuro)

"What is that!?" (Ai)

"What is it!?" (Nana)

When Tatsuro tried to use earth magic to poke it from below and flip it over, the giant turtle realized that it couldn't defeat them with its tongue and rolled forward, spinning around like a piece with its belly facing up. However, it was spinning and approaching them at high speed.

Tatsuro is held by Ai, Nana is held by Jeanne, and Cardina escapes and ducks high into the sky.

After about three minutes of simply dodging, the rotation speed and movement speed decreased, and eventually it stopped completely and the turtle itself stopped moving.

Tatsuro wondered what was going on, and when he investigated the giant turtle using Dispel Magic, it appeared that it had spun around too much and passed out. (T/N: what kind of shitty turtle is this…?)

When Tatsuro told the people around him about this, they looked at the giant turtle, who had turned over and passed out with a stunned look on their faces.

"So if you keep dodging the tongue attacks and survive the last spinning attack, you can safely go to the next floor?" (Ai)

"If you don't have to defeat it and just run away, then the difficulty level is low." (Tatsuro)

"I think even an ordinary adventurer can do this." (Ai)

"Well, I thought it would be strange in terms of difficulty since it's level 3 of the dungeon, and it's the first floor, so it makes sense." (Tatsuro)

So Tatsuro and his team climbed up to the belly of the stunned giant tortoise, and since they were afraid of using the [Level Eater] to strangely interfere with the entrance to the next floor, they headed for the second level without doing anything this time.

Then they jumped out and found a scaffold of coarse mesh made of a plant-like substance, with clouds and open sky below.

It's about 10 meters wide, and a net of plants is stretched out in front and behind it.

Incidentally, the strength of the net seems to be quite strong as it supports even Jeanne's huge body, but it is fragile in some places, and if you step through the fragile parts, you can enjoy skydiving without a parachute. (T/N: You can only do this once in a lifetime, though I will issue a warning "DON'T TRY IT AT HOME!!!")

"This time, we are in a place where it was difficult to walk again." (Tatsuro)

"But, it's interesting because it looks athletic." (Ai)

While saying this, Ai was jumping up and down on the net.

Having fun is a good thing, Tatsuro was comforted by Ai's smile on the swaying net.

After debating whether to go forward or backward, they decided to walk forward, which is also the direction they were currently facing.

A few minutes after they started walking forward, Cardina's Dispel magic detected a monster's reaction.

"A monster has already appeared. Looks like it's the flying type again." (Tatsuro)

"We all have some kind of skill that allows us to move in the air, so they are not much of a threat, but for people who don't have those skills, this dungeon is troublesome." (Ai)

"These traps here and there also have a nice personality." (Tatsuro)

While saying that, Nana stealthily floated past a net with thorns of the same color as the surrounding area.

As she was doing this, the monster came from the side sky where there was no net, making the sound of insect wings.

It had wings like a bee, a human-shaped tin toy about 50 centimeters long on its upper body, and a large hammer about a meter long hanging upside down on its lower body, swinging vertically like a pendulum.

Then, three of those monsters came to the left and right, and they charged forward, trying to knock them out of the net with their hammers.

However.

"Jeanne, I'll leave the other side to you." (Tatsuro)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

Jeanne turns to the right and uses wind magic to manipulate the airflow and guide them towards Cardina and Nana.

Then, Tatsuro manipulates the airflow of the three bodies on the other side, directing them to go where is most convenient for Ai.

The monsters had no legs and their only means of transportation seemed to be flight, so it was interesting that they came to the places Tatsuro and Jeanne wanted.

First, two of them came in front of Cardina, but she transformed into her [True form] and jumped up ignoring the air currents with [Dragon Flight] then instantly turned around and kicked them in the upper body, destroying one with force, and cut off the other one with [Dragon Wing Blade] only at the joint between its wings and hammer, then lightly kicked it and rolled it in front of Jeanne.

Then, Jeanne raised her paw and stomped on it.

The remaining one of the three that appeared on the right side came in front of Nana as if sucked in. Nana sidestepped and ducked before the hammer hit her, and then she turned around behind the monster with her small body and poured dragon power into the magic dragon's teeth, one in her right hand and one in her left, and stabbed them into the tin toy's temple area at the same time.

However, it still started to move, so Nana drilled holes in the neck, shoulders, sides, and flanks on the left and right sides in quick succession, and finally destroyed the joint of the hammer by aligning the tips of the dragon teeth held on the left and right.

Then the movement stopped as if the power had been cut off.

(It seems the most effective way is to separate it from this hammer.)

As Nana calmly analyzed the situation, an announcement suddenly came to her ears.

|Skill Bite Lv.1 has been acquired.|

While Nana acquired an unexpected skill, Tatsuro and Ai were also able to safely take on the three monsters on the opposite side of Cardina and the others.

This time, it also served as a trial run for new equipment, so Ai released two spears with three ball joints from her celestial bow and pierced two of them at the same time with the conical tip made of energy.

And it didn't end there, the two monsters were stabbed from all directions and turned into ruins.

Then, the remaining one's wings were torn into pieces by the tornado created by Tatsuro using wind magic, and they fell to the ground. After coating it with [Sticky Water] to prevent it from going wild, he used [Level Eater].

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Level: 11

Skill: [Flight Lv.3], [Hammer Shockwave Lv.1]

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(They seem to exist only to fly in from outside the net that serves as a foothold and use the hammer to knock adventurers outside, forcing them to drop out. Maybe for the dungeons, monsters may also be a part of the raps. )

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Level: 11

Skill: [Flight Lv.0], [Hammer Shockwave Lv.0]

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After absorbing only the skill level, Tatsuro swallowed the black ball, and Cardina and the others came over as well.

When Tatsuro tried to hand over the monster, which had not been defeated yet and was entangled in sticky water and unable to move, to Nana, he was told that she had learned the ability to bite.

Since they had a good sample, they decided to have a look at her skills in person.

"Yes, sir!" (Nana)

"It's true. It looks like it's biting with two dragon teeth." (Ai)

"So, what difference does it make whether you have the skill or not?" (Tatsuro)

"I can't say for certain because it's still a 1st level skill, but I feel like once I get into the biting motion, my arm muscles are compensated and they become stronger." (Nana)

"By becoming a skill, it becomes more powerful." (Tatsuro)

"Because it's a simple movement, I think it could be useful in close combat if you raise its level." (Ai)

"Yes!" (Nana)

Nana was excited and used five bites to stop the monster, which also served as practice.

After that, Tatsuro collected a hammer that could be used as a weapon into the [Item Box] and took out the remaining magic stones, and threw them away.

Despite Nana learning unusual skills, Tatsuro and his team steadily avoided traps, and as they walked along, practicing their skills and new equipment on a tin toy-type monster, the Tonkachi-Mushi (named after Ai, because its wings are insect-like), they finally saw the end of the path of the net.

So they headed in that direction while increasing their speed, and although there was some decent ground there, it was a bit of strange-looking land.

It was a piece of land shaped like the rim of a magnifying glass, and the part where the lens fit was a gaping hole, empty, just an expanse of sky.

And if you look more closely down through the hole, you can see a small island floating in the sky about 20 meters below, and you can regularly see it through the hole, but the problem was that the next tier of points was set up above that small island.

"Even if you can't fly, you can still get there by jumping off the roof at the right time." (Ai)

"Yeah. But look over there." (Tatsuro)

"Is that a hammer bug?" (Ai)

"'Yeah, if they mess with you while you're jumping off, I don't think it would be possible for someone who doesn't have a means of flight." (Tatsuro)

Hammer bugs are always roaming around the floating island, and if you try to get close to it without protection, you will be blown away by its hammer and gone to the other world before you can get to the next floor.

However, they have plenty of ways to fly, so while they didn't know about other people, but it didn't seem to be a problem.

So, he immediately asked Jeanne to transform to her [True Form] and was thinking of going safely, but Tatsuro was tugged by Cardina by the sleeve.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Cardina?" (Tatsuro)

"Pewee!" (Cardina)

"She would like you to use Dispel magic to explore the area between here and the floating island: she says" (Nana)

"I understand…Ah. Isn't it impossible even if you can't fly?" (Tatsuro)

"What do you mean?" (Ai)

"It looks like there are several invisible stepping stones set up from here to the point that floating island regularly passes by." (Tatsuro)

Yes, it was here, at the last point of the second level of the dungeon, that even those who could not properly fly could reach the floating islets in reasonable safety.

If one investigates with Dispel magic, one can quickly find out where there is an invisible stepping stone, and since there is no wind, you can crush the remains of the hammerhead insects you have defeated so far into small pieces and scatter them downwards, and there you will find the remains of the monster to be visualized. (T/N: Like scattering paint around to find invisible objects)

There were also a surprising number of ways to break through, such as using earth magic to throw dirt on them, or if you could bring a long stick, you could poke and investigate.

"Well, there's no need to choose the straight attack method, but I'd like to try using the springboard method for practice. So, let's make it easy to figure out." (Tatsuro)

"Make it easy to figure out?" (Ai)

"Yes, it would be easy if I color it with dark magic." (Tatsuro)

"I have a feeling that's no longer the right way to go about it..." (Ai)

While ignoring Ai's tsukkomi, Tatsuro dyes the invisible stepping stone that he investigated during his exploration black with dark magic, and it is no longer just a stepping stone.

With that, Tatsuro and his team went down the platform without any danger, defeated the hammer bugs that came along the way, and entered the next floor.

On the next floor, they landed on a place with proper ground, but it also looked somewhat familiar.

"Is this a reverse version of the first layer?" (Ai)

"I know it asking us to go up this time, but maybe there are only two patterns, this one and the one we just did?" (Tatsuro)

There, the rocky hills that they saw on first floor were towering above them, and although the instant death traps around it were gone, even the position of the chain hanging from it was the same.

"Well, we'll understand once we break through here. Jeanne, can I ask you again?" (Tatsuro)

"Neigh!" (Jeanne)

"This time it's not gliding, it's climbing. Is that okay?" (Tatsuro)

"I'll help you too!" (Nana)

"Ah, please. If you're still having a hard time, I'll assist you with wind magic." (Tatsuro)

"Hmm, then it seems okay." (Ai)

Then Jeanne transformed into her [True Form], and once everyone was on top of her, she slowly ascended into the sky.