Chapter 41:

PlusFire vs. Kanabo Skeleton

Hour Empty Child


Clearing the floors within the dungeon, the PlusFire party has received a bountiful amount of experience points, netting a few levels at best. Along with the loot that they have received which have numbered already in the hundreds of thousands of jib, a smile was constantly plastered on Kudo’s face.

However, as they cleared many floors, slaying every monster that comes their way, a question was constantly floating around in Kudo’s head.

“Why does the Guidebook kept saying that the dungeon was incredibly hard?”

Kudo and Hinota were currently going down the staircase that leads to the next floor.

“Maybe we’re just too strong?” Hinota gave a simple answer.

“Still, this is kinda of a letdown. We’re already going down to the 39th floor.”

Kudo remembers the feats the ‘Dungeon Dwellers’ were so recognized for, and put on a doubtful face.

“I can’t believe that those 3 got so much recognition just by going down to the 40th floor. It can’t be that bad.”

“Well, maybe on the 39th floor we can finally get some action.”

Hinota responded, getting Kudo to put his fingers to his chin to think.

“Every floor before the 10th flight of stairs is the Boss Room. Inside that room, there’s a powerful boss that would be difficult to fight alone. A full party of Adventurers is necessary, as well as good teamwork and the synergy of their skills.”

Kudo explained the passage in his Guidebook, getting Hinota to nod in agreement.

“But so far, we faced nothing but easy monsters from the 9th, 19th, and 29th floors. It’s disappointing, to be honest.”

“Yeah. But we got lots of good stuff. We already have enough to pay for the 10% of the payment we have to give to the DCA.”

“Hehe, then let’s keep going! We’ll be sure to get some more if we push on through!”

“Yeah!”

The two broke into a run as they spotted the door that they saw after reaching to the bottom of the stairs.

Seeing the door in front of them, again, being quite ornated with gilded colors and exquisite markings, the two shared a nod before reaching to the handle, opening it with zest.

Light showered them, blinding their eyes for a few moments before their vision returned. They saw now that there was no light at all—only a dank-like atmosphere was the only thing remaining.

They saw what appears to be inside of a cavern. The stones that covered the area, however, had a fluorescent light that helped them see deeper into the cave. Several clear puddles of water were scattered everywhere, and with the stalagmites hanging from the ceiling, it gave a sort of natural splendor to the eyes.

“Wow… it’s beautiful,” Kudo commented as his eyes were beaming in astonishment.

“Now this is what I’m talking about. This dungeon should show these kinds of things more often.”

Hinota acted as if she was a customer who was finally satisfied with the service. However, she still showed the same kind of amazement on her sharpened expression as Kudo did.

“So this is the Boss Room? It doesn’t feel that way.”

Kudo tried to feel the air, making him feel somewhat serene despite the dank atmosphere.

“…Looks like it. Kudo, listen up.”

Picking up distant sounds, Hinota’s ears perked up and grabbed Kudo by the shoulder. Kudo looked back and saw Hinota’s sharpened scowl looking at him, making a shushing gesture at him. Kudo nodded, getting him to follow Hinota as they crept up along the boulders that laid there on the ground.

They darted around the large boulders, using them to hide their presence from any monsters that could view them as enemies. Their trained bodies that can withstand attacks were also trained to sneak, enough to even combat against a [Thief] or [Archer].

Time passed by slowly and their hearts were still beating fast. Kudo, not hearing them before, could finally pick up on the sounds as well.

Clanking, grinding, stomping sounds were scattered across the cavern, making them right on the edge of their nerves.

“Is that… iron? Heavy armor?”

Kudo answered with a whisper, knowing those sounds by heart as a blacksmith.

“Sounds like our enemy here favors heavy armor. Now ain’t that a surprise.”

Hinota’s tone carried a cold sass, scowling as she senses the danger of the enemy already.

“But still, this means that the enemy will be slow. If it was a fast one, it’ll be difficult to catch it in this terrain.”

Hinota commented as she steps on the small jagged ground. It was uncomfortable on her feet, constantly trying to balance it as to avoid putting pressure on her joints.

“Definitely, but considering the armor, we might not have enough Sharpness. Hinota, look here.”

Before they continued, Hinota turned back to face Kudo as he picked up his [Magic Bag], and took something out. It was a small ring, gilded gold with a small ruby in its center.

“It’s the 【Mega-Sharpness Ring】. It should give you extra Sharpness.”

“Oh, nice. You’re gonna put one yourself?” Hinota quickly puts on the ring on her right index-finger.

“Not exactly. I’ll be using the 【Fortified Wall Necklace】. I figured since I don’t have much sharpness as yours, I’ll up my defenses so that I can continue supporting you.”

“Good idea.”

Hinota nodded in agreement as she quickly turns and continued on her path along with Kudo who puts on his necklace.

After walking for a short while, Hinota finally stops. She makes the shushing gesture once more, and peered from the boulder they were hiding behind.

As her head rose from the boulder, she saw the being making the sounds.

Giant—a word that describes the monster perfectly. It was a giant armored being which the front of the face was shown. However, it showed no skin or muscle—only bones. It's darkened sockets had a small yellowish glow, and the bones were colored bloody red. The armor it wore was giant in mass, yet it moved like it was perfectly in synch with it. Along with the armor was a special weapon called a kanabo, studded with diamond-shaped black iron stubs embedded to a large club.

It moved slowly, like at a snail’s pace. It dragged the kanabo along the ground, causing the grinding sounds. Its metal continues to hit each other in a galvanized symphony, and its eyes continue to send mysterious chills down Hinota’s nerves.

“Hehe, a worthy opponent appears,” A fearless smile ran across her lips. Her sharpened glower became more furious, “I can’t wait to get its loot.”

“Hinota, you look even scarier… I love it!”

Kudo saw the expression and felt his heart taken away. Compared to Hinota, Kudo was enjoying this view more than the Boss.

“Admire me later,” Hinota took the compliment well. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, it looks really tough. We could always sneak past it since it’s so slow… but you won’t like that, will you?”

“I will be seriously disappointed in you if you make us do that.”

“Hehe, don’t worry yourself. I won’t.”

Kudo was the first to reveal his bastard sword—an improved sword that he has made yesterday with all his heart and soul.

“Let’s kill it and gain some nice experience points. Hinota, you take its attention—See those gaps in its armor? You don’t have to hit the armor at all. You can hit those gaps and deal damage directly to the Boss!”

“Got it,” Hinota nodded.

“Then I’ll jump in and distract it with my skills. Don’t use up your mana until we know how much trouble are we dealing with here. Check out its abilities, and see how much damage it does.”

Seeing the nod from her again, Kudo nodded as well. Hinota unsheathes her katana as well, gripping onto it with enough strength to break a boulder.

“Anything else?”

“Yeah,” Kudo added. “Don’t get hit by that kanabo.”

“Good plan.”

Hinota dashed from her location. She turned and ran towards the giant skeleton, and stopped right in front of its back.

The Skeleton boss felt her presence and slowly turned around—its eyes letting off a trail of gas-like yellow.

She positioned her body, the tip of her blade pointing backward. She inhaled a large breath within her chest and stomach, and finally lets it out.

“WRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!”

Hinota gave a powerful roar that echoed in the caverns, and from her mouth, various air waves that made the air itself distort in front of Kudo’s eyes reached to the Kanabo Warrior.

The Skeleton backpeddled, unable to handle the sudden waves coming at it. It swung its arms around, waving the kanabo with ease trying to get rid of it, but there was nothing to get rid of.

Hinota quickly gasped for air, and after seeing the skeleton trying to make sense of what is happening, Hinota took her chance. She positioned her katana and pushed herself off the ground.

Her flying body went at the body, angling her katana and sliced at the gap between the forearm and arm on the right side.

A crick sound was heard, and Hinota felt her arms receiving a strong shock that was sent to her nerves.

(It’s tough!)

She managed to land behind the skeleton as the boss felt the pain of receiving the cut, swinging around its body and tried to return to its stance from before.

Despite receiving the damage, the skeleton only opened its jaws rather creepily, aiming its yellowish sight on Hinota. It swung its arm upwards, bringing the kanabo to the sky and finally brought it down with force.

—*Boom!* The ground exploded upon impact. The blast sent the grounds’ debris flying everywhere, and the shockwave produced from that traveled far. However, Hinota jumped out of the way quickly enough, landing smoothly farther away from the skeleton.

“Ooh, pretty strong,” Hinota whistled. “Kinda makes me wonder HOW strong though…”

A crazy thought traveled in Hinota’s mind, making her form a devilish smile. She brandished her katana and waved it directly in front of the skeleton.

“Come over here, you big bucket of metal! I bet you can’t land one strike on my pretty face!”

She mocked the skeleton, showing off her splendor and bravery as she gracefully returns to her battle position. The skeleton looked like it was offended, putting its jaws together as if it was bearing its teeth.

He moved the kanabo to the ground, and dashed towards Hinota. Despite the huge size, its speed nearly matched with Hinota’s.

“Don’t disappoint me!”

Hinota does the same and charged right at the skeleton.

—*Clang!*

The two weapons clashed. Metal grinding against metal caused hot sparks to fly out as the two mercilessly grinded at each other. The Skeleton swung it mightily, but Hinota did the same. It was enough to send shocks to the skeleton’s body.

“Guess we’re equally matched,” Hinota smiled, clenching her teeth together in agony.

The two continued to strike each other’s body, trying to get the upper hand. Though the skeleton was trying to eliminate the threat in front of it, Hinota enjoyed herself in this brawl. Her arms felt numb, and her body felt like she was pushed to the limit, yet her graceful moves and swift strikes barraged against the now defensive skeleton.

(Amazing! Thanks to her 【Katana Mastery】, she really improved her fighting style! Not to mention… she just looks so cool!)

Kudo, being the support, surveyed the battle and could only come when he is needed. Yet, he was already enjoying the fight, feeling his blood boiling and his eyes showed glamor and amazement at his partner.

Hinota and the skeleton continued their dance of striking metals, despite the huge difference in size. But then—

“Ghh!”

Hinota grunts—her shoulder suddenly sprayed out blood.

“Hinota!” Kudo shouted, his eyes widened.

“I’m okay!” Hinota held her shoulder tightly. “I was just grazed!”

Hinota quickly backs away and spots the action that made her bleed.

It was the stud—from the kanabo. One of the studs suddenly shot out, making something like a metal pole which has a tapered tip. The skeleton’s kanabo then returned the stub back to its rightful place, but the skeleton was not done.

He swung the kanabo upwards and brought it down again on Hinota. She was about to block it again with her undamaged arm, but she notices that one of the stubs suddenly shot out again, and it was headed right for Hinota’s head.

Thanks to her quick reflexes and calm mind, she darts out of the way of the studded kanabo, making it crush the ground with enough force to break it apart. Another shockwave ensued, making Kudo feel it as he watched Hinota’s condition.

“Hinota!”

“Looks like it got a trick under its sleeve. Well, I got my own! ——《CrossShadow》!”

Hinota shot out her katana forward, and in an instant, her body glowed a glorious fire like her buff. The fire covered her entire body, and then in the next instant, the fire, in the shape of Hinota’s body, was released from her actual body.

The fire body took shape into its own person. It stood gallantly as the fire body had no face, and nothing but its body shape and katana was produced.

“Whoa…” Kudo, once more, was astounded by this beautiful image.

“Go, you beautiful creature! Attack!”

Following her order, the fire body positioned herself into a battle stance just like the real Hinota would. The katana that was glowing red with fire was then lunged at the skeleton.

The skeleton thought Hinota separated herself in two, and begun to attack it by swinging down its kanabo. However—

—*Shing!*

The fire body was too quick—it was practically weightless, so the attack to the gap in the neck broke through. Despite the weightless body, the katana made another crick sound be heard from the neck, notifying Hinota that it delivered a powerful strike.

The skeleton was damaged, but it still swung the kanabo down and crushed the fire body. Its body was merely made of fire, so it quickly dissipated the moment it was crushed.

“Haha, I love that skill!”

Hinota shouted as she recovered herself from the damage earlier with a potion. She discarded the potion’s waste and lunged herself right at the skeleton with the same speed as before.

The skeleton noticed her coming and swung its kanabo horizontally, but Hinota quickly jumped over it, and made her katana submerge itself in fire.

“——《Flaming Strike》!”

Hinota was about to slice vertically right at the gap in the neck again.

—*Krrk!* “Aggh!”

The side of her face was suddenly cut up. She saw that the stub from the kanabo on the side shot out, and it extended all the way to where Hinota’s head was. Luckily, it only grazed her face again, but the force was enough to angle Hinota wrongly, so she used the skeleton’s body as a kickstand to jump away.

“Stupid Kanabo skeleton!” Hinota cursed loudly as she landed, but as she raised her head up, she widened her eyes.

The skeleton charged way too fast for her body to keep up. It was about to swing its kanabo once more to Hinota before she could recover.

“——《Plus Chain》!”

The skeleton was suddenly encased with blinding white chains, stopping its progress towards Hinota. Hinota spotted Kudo behind the skeleton, making an effort to pull him back with his body strength alone.

“Hinota, get out of there!”

Kudo asked—no, demanded—that Hinota moves out, getting her to nod quickly and darted out of the skeleton’s path.

The skeleton struggled, trying to break off from the chain’s binding strength. It continuously squirmed, eventually having enough of it as the skeleton raised its body, grabbed hold of the chains, and tried to pull them apart, causing Kudo’s fingers to feel as if they were being pulled apart.

“Ghh, so… strong…!”

Kudo felt the pressure of the one binding the strong monster, but knowing that doing so will save Hinota, he bared it by gritting his teeth.

“Kudo! Give it a good debuff!”

“G-Got it…! ——《Minus Pulse》!”

Following Hinota’s plan, Kudo slowly opened up his hand, making sure to grab hold of his chains tightly enough. Several black rings appeared out of his hand, affecting the boss in front of him.

It was effective as for a moment, it stopped moving. But then, the skeleton’s vigor returned, now ferocious as it tried to pull apart the chains more strongly.

“Aggh! It’s still too strong! Could it be a defense down debuff?”

Kudo cursed his skill for not giving him a much clearer result, and had to guess which debuff it was.

The skeleton was finally able to pull the chains off from its body and pulled Kudo using the very chains he was using, swinging his body around like a rag doll.

“Ahh—Aaaaah!”

Cries of pain were heard from Kudo as he tried to unravel himself, but the centrifugal force caused him to lose his grip.

The skeleton lets go of Kudo using the centrifugal force, casting him aside like an actual doll and made him fly through the caverns at ridiculous speed.

Kudo was about to crash into a nearby rocky wall, where several stalagmites hang there with their tapered points. But before that could happen, Hinota ran up alongside Kudo and caught him by the arm. She used her own strength to pull away, eventually getting the both of them to land together safely—or rather painfully—on the ground, skidding off from it like a rock skipping on a pond.

The two eventually slowed down, getting themselves to get back up again, feeling dazed from the pain.

“Aggh, my feet hurts… I hate this place!”

Hinota commented as she had to run at full speed, ignoring the bumps that caused hell on her joints.

“Hinota…” Kudo breathed heavily, trying to recover from the damage. “I think I got an idea from that move.”

“Oh~ Tell me then,” The sudden idea got Hinota to be interested.

“Listen up…”

As the two whispered, the chain that was used before dissipated into the air, getting the boss to pay attention to the Adventurers. It spotted the two of them turning their gazes onto it.

Their dastardly smile and greedy eyes actually sent a chill down the skeleton’s spinal cord.

RAAAARRR!

The skeleton, however, brushed the feeling aside and roared for the first time. It grabbed the kanabo by the handle and ran after the two Adventurers.

“Oh, we got it good and angry now!” Hinota flashed a smile.

“Let’s try it! ——《Plus Pulse》!”

“——《Burning Soul》! ——《Enchant: Attack》! ——《Enchant: Speed》! ——《Enchant: Magic Attack》!”

The PlusFire buffed themselves up with their boosting skills. Several white rings have gracefully fallen over the party, and Hinota’s body combusted into a pillar of flames, finally letting herself out and changed her form to a fiery Hinota.

“And now… ——《Plus Chain》!”

A stream of white-colored chains were released from his palms. The chains, as if having a mind of their own, attaches their ends to Hinota’s body. Two chains connected to the back ball of Hinota’s feet, and two more chains connected with Hinota’s shoulders. The way they connected seemed like it became tangible to her skin, getting Hinota to feel no discomfort.

“So the chains can just stick to a body without any problems?”

“Looks like it! That works in our favor!”

Kudo flashed an excited grin as they see the skeleton already closing in.

“Let’s go!”

Hinota charges in with her katana angling to where the tip was right at the skeleton’s body. The two who charged towards each other then crashed—their weapons creating another shockwave of force.

However, despite the size, Hinota had no problems. Rather, she was the victor.

Thanks to her power-up, her strength increased exponentially, and considering that the buff from Kudo was an attack power boost, it was obvious that against the lowered defense skeleton’s kanabo would be countered—the force made it fly upwards along with the skeleton’s body.

“You ain’t so tough now! ——《Flaming Strike》!”

Her katana was once more encased with a fiery flame, much more powerful than the last time. Taking up the chance, she strikes against the skeleton’s stunned body with her fluid movements, having no difficulty in cutting apart its body through the gaps of its armor.

The skeleton roared in pain, feeling its body breaking apart thanks to the powered-up skill. The skeleton wouldn’t let it happen any longer as it recovered from the shock and swung down its kanabo right at Hinota.

But Hinota gave a sly smile as the stub was about to be released from the kanabo to Hinota.

Suddenly, her body was pulled—literally—away from the fight, causing the stub to hit the ground and eventually the entire kanabo crashed into the ground, causing another small shockwave. The skeleton shook its head, appearing to be confused until it looked up and saw something that even made the monster shocked.

Hinota’s body was swung around—the same action that the skeleton did to Kudo. Kudo pulled Hinota away by pulling her along with a circle, swinging Hinota around like a rope.
Kudo’s face was strained as he has to use every amount of strength needed to do this plan. His body felt like it will be torn off, but he kept at it.

Then—

—*Clang!*

Going back at the skeleton, Hinota sliced at the gap between its armor pieces once more, this time with more power from the centrifugal force. This strike caused the skeleton to nearly be blown back from the force, but it kept its ground and stood dauntlessly.

But she wasn’t done yet.

Kudo kept swinging, and as if forever in circular motion, Hinota sliced against the skeleton multiple times. Each strike was so powerful, a shockwave was produced and each time the skeleton’s body was pushed back to the brim of the caverns. Without stopping, Hinota gave precise blows to the skeleton’s body, and she made sure that she got every strike to count.
Kudo began to breathe haggardly. Seeing this, it was time for Hinota to finish this.

“Raaahh!”

Hinota, using the last bit of Kudo’s strength, ran across the walls with the help of the swing and jumped at the skeleton one more time. She raised her katana high, and for added measure, she turned the blade at the blunt edge.

“Stay down! ——《Flaming Strike》!”

Using the added force of the skill, her flaming katana landed right on top of the skeleton’s armored head.

—*BOOM!*

The katana made the skeleton’s body become enraged with a fiery explosion. The fire traveled through to the inside of the armor, using the helmet as the entrance. With the added force, the skeleton’s bony body inside the armor became enflamed, and its bones broke apart from the pressure.

The shockwave was enough to make the caverns shake with intensity. Kudo fell backward after his strength waned, falling right on top of the puddle and made a large splash. Kudo’s vision was blurry, but he could still see Hinota’s gallant figure stopping the skeleton once and for all.

The result of the large shockwave was the cloud of dirt formed from the impact. Kudo nearly choked on the dirt and coughed, pushing away the dirty air with his hand. He saw in the distance the armored skeleton on the ground. It was in pieces, both the armor and the skeleton’s body. The socket holes where the eyes of the skull wrapped within the helmet were no longer glowed the yellowish light.

“We-We did it!”

Kudo shouted, extending his arms upwards in a glorious victory pose. However, his arms felt incredibly heavy, along with his torso which was too heavy for him to bear.

He’s fallen to his knees and bended his body forward, finally caving in.

“Kudo! You okay?!”

Hinota ran up to him after seeing his downfall.

“Y-Yeah… I’m just a bit tuckered out.”

“You know, you’re implying that I was really heavy for you. That’s not nice,” Hinota crossed her arms, showing a disapproving expression.

“You’re not heavy—your warrior spirit was.”

“Hehe, nice one.”

Giving a wry laugh, Hinota smiled as she extended her hand towards Kudo, getting him to take it. After lifting him up, the both of them headed towards the downed skeleton, seeing the result of their combination move.

“To think that we were able to take it down like that. Hinota, we’re getting close to the realm of veterans!”

“That’s what I thought, too. Now come on! Let’s check the spoils.”

“Yeah!”

The two of them completely ignored the skeleton’s feelings as they searched through the corpse with no hesitation.

Eventually, they found an incredible item that they kept seeing this entire time.

“Hinota! Look! We can keep its kanabo!”

Kudo picked up the kanabo, eventually using all of his strength to carry it upwards to show off to Hinota.

“I didn’t think you got enough necessary [STR] stats for that, Kudo.”

Hinota laughed after seeing Kudo desperately trying to hold onto the kanabo.

“I-It’s just really huge! It’s not that heavy.”

“Hehe, let’s see how it is then. Check Item!”

—————————————————————————————————————
The Kanabo of Crushing Might
【Ancient】

Held only by the Kanabo Warrior, this weapon has crushed many adventurers apart. With its diamond studded iron, it's able to break any steel in a matter of minutes. It has an incredible enchantment where it can use the studs to extend themselves, causing immense piercing damage.

Attack: 528

Durability: 210/210

Requirements: [Lv-80] [STR-80] [DEX-60]

【Enchant Item】 [Stub Raiser]
—————————————————————————————————————

“Whoa, you’re right. It is pretty heavy.”

Kudo sees the stats and felt it himself in his hands.

“Hinota, this is an [Ancient] weapon! These things are rare!”

“Hehe, that proves that it’s a pretty strong weapon.”

“Then, you’re ready to continue onwards, Hinota?”

“Ah, well, I would like to recover a bit of my [MP]…”

Hinota said with a tired tone, however, Kudo tilts his neck.

“You can just drink from an Azure Potion, though.”

Kudo brought out his [Magic Bag] and pulled out a mysteriously blue-colored potion. Seeing that, Hinota instantly jumped up.

“D-Don’t make me drink it, please!”

“Your master demands you to drink it! NOW DRINK!”

“Who’s my master?!”

Before long, Hinota ran from Kudo, running around in circles as Kudo chased after her with a smile on his face, the Azure Potion being swung around in his hand.

“Just one sip!”

“Never!”

They kept screaming like that for several minutes.

Outside of the dungeon, the Dungeon Dwellers heaved a sigh, looking as if they have been completely defeated.

Their tired expressions, as well as their several scratches on their bodies, proved that they had a difficult time in the dungeon.

“Man, that 41st floor was no joke.” The [Archer] spoke loudly.

“The monsters are more difficult than before! All their moves were perfectly synchronized, and it feels so unfair how they can heal each other with their own spells.” The [Warrior] commented, feeling his body hurt more just from remembering it.

“But we at least got through it!” The [Thief] leader punched her chest in pride.

“But we didn’t manage at all on the 42nd floor, though.”

“Whatever! It’s progress!”

The [Thief] leader smacked the [Warrior] on the head to give him the confidence he needed. The [Archer] then remembered something.

“I wonder if the pretty girl and boy managed to get through?”

“Ah, that’s true,” The [Warrior] crossed his arms, looking upwards. “I never saw them before… you don’t think…”

“Ah, please don’t let my cute boy die!”

The [Thief] leader looked like she was about to cry. As the two party members had their sweat drop from their heads from that, they heard the doors opening from the Dungeon.

“Mmh? Ah! It’s them!”

The [Archer] shouted, getting the two others to look to see that it really was Kudo and Hinota finally getting out of the dungeon. Their bodies were slightly burnt, and they had several scratches, but in the end, it was their beaming smiles that caught most of their attention.

“Ah! Pretty boy!”

“W-Wait up, leader!”

The [Thief] went ahead of her group, getting the others to follow. They caught up with the PlusFire who were talking to the officer of the DCA.

“Good to see yo back after that! Have you prepared to pay your 10%?”

The officer shared a smile, thinking that they must have gotten something good.

“Sure do!”

Kudo answered with a bright expression and took out the kanabo from before. He had no choice but to drop the kanabo due to its heavy weight onto the table, causing a lot of noise which got the officer to nearly jump back from the sudden weight in front of him. Not just the officer—the Dungeon Dwellers widened their eyes after seeing that.

“T-This is… the kanabo from the 39th floor?!”

The officer shouted, his eyes widened as he looked at the expressions on the two PlusFire’s faces.

“Does this cover the 10%, sir?” Hinota asks just to be clear.

“T-This clearly overpays it! This weapon is worth a lot of jib!”

The officer shouted, seeing the kanabo for himself and seeing that it wasn’t fake. His voice was loud enough so that every other Adventurer would hear it, not just the Dungeon Dwellers.

“Then, if we overpay, would you like to buy this from us?”

“Y-Yes, please!”

Kudo mentioned, getting Hinota surprised.

“Buy it?”

“If we pay more than 10% with an item, they can buy it from us and subtract the price from that, giving us some extra jib.”

“Oh, good system,” Hinota clasps her hands together in a happy manner.

After selling the kanabo, the PlusFire were about to head home, but they were stopped by the Dungeon Dwellers with shocked expressions.

“H-Hey! How did you manage to get that kanabo?!” The [Warrior] asks with widened eyes.

“Yeah! Didn’t that kanabo belong to that Skeleton Warrior from the 39th floor? He’s really difficult!”

The [Archer] said, getting the PlusFire to look at each other.

“Yeah, we did,” Kudo answered.

“H-How can that be possible… we had to sneak past it since that’s how it is normally passed…”

The [Thief] couldn’t believe her ears, but then she asked again. “H-How far up did you go?”

“Mmh… I think it was around the 70th floors, right, Hinota?”

“On the 78th floor, no less.”

“Ah! That’s right, where the Lava Golems were.”

Kudo finally remembers, but the shocked expressions were left on the Dungeon Dwellers’ faces.

“It was pretty hot, even for me,” Hinota exclaimed. “They must have been pretty high-leveled.”

“Yeah, we just need to grind a bit on the lower floors in order to get higher than that.”

“Such a shame. I wanted to pass it all the way to 100…”

“Hehe, don’t worry about it, Hinota! We’ll get there soon enough!”

Kudo balled his hand into a fist, getting Hinota to smile and nod. Before long, they started to converse with each other as the Dungeon Dwellers listened in.

“We still got some nice equipment and items!”

“Can’t wait to sell them all.”

“Right! Let’s get to enchanting them and sell it at our stall!”

“Got it!”

Kudo and Hinota made their way to the inn so that they can sell the over-encumbered items in their bags. Meanwhile, the Dungeon Dwellers were left on their own, continuing with their shocked expressions.

“…You guys wanna take a break and see what they have?” The [Warrior] commented.

“Yes! Maybe the cute boy can give me a discount~”

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s possible, leader…”

Hitting the [Archer’s] stomach, the Dungeon Dwellers followed after the PlusFire, having excited expressions on their faces.

******************************************************************
So far, things have been successful! A good boss fight, and a good item!