Bloody Bats.
They were C-Rank monsters that mainly lived in dark places and attacked animals, other monsters, or humans to suck their blood.
Each one was not particularly strong, but they were quite agile and traveled in groups of dozens, making them extremely troublesome to deal with.
Lloyd extended an arm toward the flock of Bloody Bats flying his way. At once, the wingbeats that had been agitating his ears stopped.
He had sealed the Bloody Bats' movements with Telekinesis.
But that was not all.
-Screech!?
-Screech!
The Bloody Bats' wings and bodies began twisting all at once.
As though they were being wrung out like laundry.
CRACK.
The Bloody Bats screamed and struggled against the pain of their bones and muscles twisting, but it was useless.
CRACKLE.
In the end, the Bloody Bats could not hold out for long. Their entire bodies folded, and they fell to the ground.
At the same time, messages appeared before Lloyd's eyes.
[Bloody Bat defeated.]
[Bloody Bat defeated.]
.
.
.
[Level increased.]
[Received 6 stat points from leveling up.]
[Bloody Bat Tooth x23 acquired.]
[C-Rank Magic Stone x6 acquired.]
[Bloody Bat Wing x15 acquired.]
[Vampiric Core acquired.]
After defeating dozens of Bloody Bats, Lloyd gained three levels at once.
"E-Every time I see it, Leader's Telekinesis is a-amazing. To kill that many monsters in an instant!"
Vector spoke with admiration from beside him, but Lloyd wore a displeased expression.
"I only intended to twist their necks slightly...... I am still using too much force needlessly."
However, it was much better than before.
At this rate, it would not take long to recover his old sense.
'By the way, to think a Core would drop in a place like this.'
Lloyd looked at the bead red as blood.
A Core that could be fused with a weapon, armor, or accessory to enhance it.
It was one of the rare items that did not often appear in Instant Dungeons.
'Vampiric......'
Lloyd opened the information window for the Vampiric Core.
[Vampiric Core - C-Rank]
- Weapon Fusion available.
- When fused with a weapon, restores a set amount of the wielder's vitality by absorbing the target's vitality with each attack.
It was not bad.
But that was all; he did not have high expectations.
No matter how rare it was, it was only a C-Rank Core.
There was no way its recovery amount would be high.
'Well, it is still better than nothing. The question, then, is an Enchanter?'
Even in his original world, fusion could only be performed by Enchanters with the Enchant skill.
In other words, without an Enchanter, even the rarest fusion materials were useless.
'Hmm. But this world has the disciplines of Magical Studies and Alchemy, so it may be possible......'
Perhaps this world had techniques similar to the Enchant skill as well.
Lloyd decided that he would look into it once they left the dungeon, then resumed exploring.
***
Had it been about two hours since they began exploring the dungeon?
Lloyd was beginning to tire.
Psychic abilities such as Telekinesis consumed a considerable amount of mental energy instead of mana.
'Hmm, but I am not tired enough to get a nosebleed yet......'
As he considered exploring the dungeon a little longer, Vector asked in a worried voice.
"L-Leader, are you all right? You do not look well."
"I'm just a little tired."
Vector knew well what it was like to accumulate fatigue from the overuse of abilities, so he was worried.
"T-Then would it not be better to return quickly?"
"I'm still fine."
"B-But......"
No matter how many times Lloyd said he was fine, Vector could not stop worrying.
At that, Lloyd let out a low sigh and took a Return Stone from his Inventory.
"You are right. It would be better to rest before fatigue leaves me unable to move. As you say, we will return now."
With that, Lloyd used the Return Stone.
However, the Return Stone did not activate.
Instead, a message appeared.
[Return Stone cannot be used while in combat.]
The message saying that he was in combat meant a monster was nearby and targeting them.
Lloyd quickly raised his sword, looked around, and shouted.
"An enemy!"
Vector also raised his fists and watched their surroundings warily, but no enemy was visible nearby.
"I-I cannot see anything......"
Before he could finish speaking, a giant lizard that looked very much like a chameleon revealed itself.
It was the first-floor boss, the Giant Chameleon.
The instant it revealed itself, it swung its long tongue like a whip.
WHIP—.
Perhaps it intended to target Lloyd first, who looked relatively frail compared to the large, sturdy Vector.
The creature's snake-like tongue flew low, aiming for Lloyd's leg.
Lloyd leaped into the air, swung his sword, and cut off its tongue.
-SKREEECH!!
The Giant Chameleon screamed in pain and hid itself again.
"Tch, it hid."
Blending into the surrounding background and hiding itself while waiting for an opportunity.
That was its hunting method.
"......By now, its severed tongue will have regenerated."
Another of its traits was remarkable regenerative power. As soon as its tongue regenerated, it would attack again before long.
That would be the opportunity.
The creature could not conceal itself while attacking.
"I-If Sister Hye-mi were here, this would be easy."
Vector muttered regretfully.
Her precognitive ability would make it easy to find the Giant Chameleon's location, certainly......
But they were in combat now.
There was no need to think about what-ifs.
"Focus only on the battle now."
"Y-Yes!"
As soon as Vector replied, the Giant Chameleon revealed itself.
At the same time, it began attacking.
Its attack method was similar to before, but it was much faster.
So fast that Lloyd did not even have time to use Telekinesis.
'If only I could stop its movements for even a moment......'
At that moment, Lloyd remembered a skill he had briefly forgotten.
'Mad Dragon's Intimidation!'
It was a skill with no mana cost that could paralyze opponents below S-Rank with a 100 percent chance.
The stun lasted only a few seconds, but in a situation like this, that alone was enough.
Lloyd immediately activated the skill.
As expected, the Giant Chameleon that had been clinging to a pillar and attacking became paralyzed all over and stopped moving.
'Now!'
Lloyd used Telekinesis to begin twisting its body.
CRAAACK.
As befitting a boss, the creature's body was quite tough.
Tougher than steel.
"Just a little more......"
Perhaps because he had pushed himself to use Telekinesis while exhausted, blood ran down Lloyd's nose.
"L-Leader! Your nose is bleeding......!"
His head grew dizzy, and his vision began to blur.
The aftereffects of draining his mental energy had begun to appear.
However, he could not stop here.
Five seconds passed. The paralysis wore off, and the creature began struggling.
-Screech!!
Even as it screamed from the pain of its twisting body, the Giant Chameleon struggled to escape.
'Tch, now that it has started moving, this is getting harder.'
Lloyd wrung out every last bit of his remaining mental energy and twisted the creature.
Just as he had done with the Bloody Bats moments earlier.
-S-Screech......
The Giant Chameleon's body, which had been struggling and groaning in pain, soon went limp.
No living creature could survive with its entire body broken.
Not even a monster with great vitality.
[Defeated Giant Chameleon, the first-floor boss of Monster Tower.]
[Received 30 stat points from leveling up.]
[A-Rank Magic Stone acquired.]
[Chameleon Armor acquired.]
[Skill Book 'Mimicry' acquired.]
'Armor and a Mimicry skill? Let us see......'
Even though he was overwhelmed by fatigue to the point that he wanted to lie down immediately, Lloyd was curious about the armor and skill, so he opened the item window to check them.
[Chameleon Armor]
- Increases resistance to all attribute magic by 20 percent.
[Mimicry - A-Rank]
- Mimics the surrounding background to conceal the user perfectly.
(Its duration and cooldown vary according to proficiency.)
- Current Proficiency: 0
- Mana Cost: 30
- Duration: 2 minutes
- Cooldown: 30 minutes
'The skill aside, the armor will be useful.'
For a Boxer, who was particularly vulnerable to magic, the Chameleon Armor would be essential equipment.
Lloyd took out the Chameleon Armor and handed it to Vector.
"You use this. It is armor that raises magic resistance."
"I-Is it all right for me to have it? It is practically the same as if Leader defeated the boss alone......"
Vector looked apologetic because he thought he had not been of much help in defeating the Giant Chameleon.
"I was planning to equip you anyway. Equipment you need happened to drop, so it worked out well."
"T-Then I will accept it gratefully."
The instant Vector received the armor, dizziness and nausea washed over Lloyd at once, making his body stagger.
It was because he had overexerted his mental energy.
Vector supported Lloyd and asked in a worried voice.
"A-Are you all right? You look very tired......"
"Do not worry. I will be fine soon if I return and rest a little."
Perhaps because he was still young, his recovery ability was remarkable.
After getting a little sleep, he would be fully recovered.
"I'm tired, so let's head back now."
"Yes!"
The two used a Return Stone to leave the dungeon and return to their room.
Waiting for them was Martin, who looked thoroughly sulky.
The moment he saw Lloyd's face, Martin asked loudly.
"Young Master Lloyd!! Why did you leave only me behind!?"
It seemed that he felt quite wronged that Lloyd and Vector had entered the dungeon without him.
"By the way...... Did I not lock the door?"
"Yes, it was nearly a disaster. Miss Anna almost discovered this dungeon door."
"Is that so."
"Is that so!? Did you not say the dungeon was a secret to me? I was guarding here to make sure no one could enter, just in case......"
Pointing with his finger, Martin spoke again in an aggrieved voice.
"Then why did you take only that guy into the dungeon!?"
"Vector will soon become my knight too."
"Pardon? That slave?"
In an instant, Lloyd's eyes turned cold.
"Vector is not a slave."
"I-I apologize."
"Enough. I want to rest now, so go."
"Yes, please rest."
In truth, Martin wanted to ask further why Lloyd had gone into the dungeon without him, but it was no longer the atmosphere for it.
Judging that now was the time to retreat, Martin bowed and left the room.
"I-I will go too, so get plenty of rest, Leader...... No, Young Master Lloyd."
After Vector left the room, Lloyd was alone. Unable to overcome his fatigue, he threw himself onto the bed.
Then he fell asleep just like that.
***
Two months passed quickly, and the day of the monster subjugation Lloyd had promised Count Bled was finally near.
"I-It is finally tomorrow."
"I am somehow nervous."
"There is no need to be so nervous. We only need to do as we always did in the dungeon."
Monster subjugation sounded grand, but their opponents would be no more than Goblins or Orcs.
They were easy opponents compared to dungeon monsters.
"T-Then should I just kill more monsters than the others?"
"Yes, but do not show all your abilities. It would be troublesome if you stood out too much."
However, Vector tilted his head with an expression that seemed unable to understand.
At that, Lloyd explained in a way Vector could understand easily.
"If you draw too much attention, troublesome things happen. We got entangled with the Institute for that reason too. So only show that you are a little stronger than the others."
Only then did Vector seem to understand. He nodded and replied.
"A-All right."
It was then.
Anna flung open the door and entered, speaking in an urgent voice.
"Young Master Lloyd! T-This is terrible! The monsters are suddenly coming down from the forest!"