Episode 466 The Sixteenth Layer of Jukai Dungeon

After returning to the ground, I went to the Adventurer's Guild and reported that I had defeated the Jabberwock, a named dragon.

Did you really defeat the Jabberwock?"

　Branch Manager Nozaki looked incredulous. The Jabberwock was a demon that was said to be impossible to defeat unless A-level adventurers teamed up to fight it.

　I take out the Jabberwock magic stone and urge the branch manager to check it. Branch Manager Nozaki, who has a talent for analytical magic, confirmed it.

It is indeed the magic stone of the Jabberwock. You really defeated the Jabberwock."

I have a shadow puppet. I didn't beat him alone."

No, even if we beat them as a team, this is still great."

　I gave the branch manager a few tangerines and then went back to the hotel and lay down on the bed.

Are you tired?"

The time we spent fighting was short, but it was kind of exhausting."

That's how nervous they were fighting."

'Maybe so. By the way, what are you going to do with Elmore's body?"

'We want to make the body capable of aerial maneuvering.'

　At first, Metis said he was thinking of increasing his speed. But with shadow puppets, he said, it is easy to increase power, but difficult to increase speed.

　If you increase the power, you can achieve a certain amount of speed, but it is impossible to increase the speed of neurotransmission or increase the speed of thought, as in "Weiten's Ring," so they say there is a limit to what can be achieved.

　So he consulted with Master Mitsuhashi, who told him that it is difficult to fight an opponent, whether human or demon, whose movements one is not normally accustomed to.

　This is where he got the idea for the body, which can move freely in the air, inspired by the gymnasts' performances.

　In order to do so, a device that allows the shadow puppet to move in mid-air must be built into its body. It seems that Metis intends to achieve aerial maneuvering by using metal with the three characteristics of , , and .

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But the properties of 'repulsion (earth)' and 'repulsion (water)' only work about five meters from the ground or water's surface.

'When fighting ordinary demons, I consider five meters to be sufficient.'

　But that did not mean that Métis had given up. He has been explaining the theory of spatial structure to Métis on his days off and other occasions, and he said he found something in it that he thought he could use.

　Part of the theory he heard from me was that if you pour magic power into a space and turn part of the space into a force field, you can use it as a scaffold. When Elmore actually tried it, something like a transparent board appeared in the empty space.

　I tried that too, but it didn't work. It seems to me that a living wizard would be better off collecting D-particles in the atmosphere to use as a foothold.

"Against giant demons, you're going to have to use life magic."

　When fighting giant demons such as the Jabberwock, they seem to have given up on the idea of close combat from the start. Metis explained it to me, but I still can't get an image of how it would be a shadow puppet that fights. I guess we will just have to see how they actually create and fight.

　The next day was a day of rest and relaxation, and the search for the sixteenth layer began the day after that. The sixteenth layer of the Sea of Trees dungeon is a wilderness of stone and whitish soil.

　Strong winds sometimes blow and raise dust as we move through the wilderness.

Ugh, dust in my mouth."

'It's a demon. A rock?　No, sir. It looks like a giant dung beetle rolling down.'

　A rounded dung beetle rolls across the wilderness. It is a sphere about two meters high. It is a wonder why it rolls, even though it is not on a slope.

　Elmore prepared the Geyborg he obtained from the Jabberwock, aimed it at the giant pit viper, and threw it. The Geyborg, thrown with Elmore's power, easily penetrated the giant pill bug and disappeared.

　The next moment, a Geyborg appears beside Elmore. This magic weapon seems to move instantaneously and come back when it penetrates an enemy by throwing it.

　With a single blow, the giant pillbug "Big Pillbug" was dead. It seems that Geyborg's attack is more powerful than it looks.

'The attack just now, I threw the projectile without pouring any magic power into it at all, and it penetrated easily.

There may be some special force at work here."

　Next, they encountered three big pillbugs, with Elmore defeating two and Tamegoro one. Tamegoro caught the big pillbugs rushing forward with his round shield and struck them with his thunder hammer "Mjolnir. The thunderbolt released from Mjolnir seems to have burned the big pillbug's brain.

　Further on, we encountered a desert wolf. It was a large wolf, about two meters long. When it attacked me, I cut it down with the spatial vibration blade of my "Crash Sword.

　At that moment, I heard a thumping sound inside my body. It was the first sound I had heard in a long time that raised the magic level.

The magic level that didn't go up when I killed the Jabberwock went up when I killed the Desert Wolf."

'You must have reached the point where you were on the verge of going up when you defeated the Jabberwock. So how old were you?'

Magic level 23.

　Some high-ranked A-level adventurers have magic levels of over 30, so this is still a long way off. However, the life magic that can only be mastered at this magic level is likely to be great.

　When they come near a rocky hill, they encounter a troll. It was a giant about four meters tall.

'May I test the power of Geyborg?'

I don't mind, but what are you going to do?"

I pour in enough magic power to use it on the "Protect Shield" and then throw it."

　Elmore grabbed the Geyborg, poured magic power into it, and threw it at the troll. At that moment, two alter egos of the Geyborg appeared and flew in the shape of forming a triangle, hitting and penetrating the troll.

　The troll has three holes in its chest, and the alter ego seems to have the same power. Elmore with the returning Geyborg looks convinced.

　I was able to confirm this by trying it out, but it seems that the amount of magical power poured into Geyborg determines the number of alter egos. While we were exploring the 16th layer, the end of the opening period of the Sea of Trees dungeon was approaching.