Volume 3 Chapter 9 (1/2)

We continued to progress through the dungeon at a pace superior to yesterday as the girls have managed to become comfortable walking on sand. This showed once again their talent as they had a good sense when it came to their own bodies. A person’s status was important, however having a strong understanding of your own body also important. This was something I am painfully familiar with as I was able to become a middle-class adventurer despite having a bottom tier status.

[Youya, Youya, yesterday the egg started to move!] (Luna)

[I see. If the egg is starting to move then it means it is about to hatch. Next is to place it inside the hot spring and our pet will be born.] (Youya)

[Looking forward to it!] (Luna)

Luna’s tail began to swing as she started humming. The egg in question was the Magic Egg that we had obtained back when we were in Greenwood. By maintaining skin contact aka warming the egg, the egg sucks the surrounding mana and the mana of the person in contact with it, feasting on the mana to grow. However, that wasn’t enough to hatch the egg. In order to hatch the egg, we’ll need to soak the egg in waters with high spiritual powers. In other words, we needed to submerge it in the hot springs at Flaregard which were one of their specialties. It was one of the reason why we had came to Flaregard.

(Note: I know that I translated the hatcing process differently in the past but I won’t be editing the previous chapters as I don’t have the exact chapters which I had mistranslated. I may get to it in the future but as of right now, I won’t. Speaking of mistranslations, I may have also mistranslated Youya’s name but I’m sure no one noticed that… I hope)

[It’s exciting isn’t it Luna.] (Til)

[Uhn. It’s our child, it will definitely be cute.] (Luna)

Luna and Til looked excited while Selene was smiling at the back, completing embracing her elder-sister role. Initially, Selene was merely following along with Til and Luna’s lively spirits however recently she began to become much more comfortable and begun acting out as their elder-sister.

Also, I’m relieved that Luna hadn’t mentioned anything about last night when she entered my tent as she managed to sneak in while me and Phil were performing our deed. We had deceived our way out of the situation but we were worried about leaving the situation as it was.

[I was worried about the encounter yesterday. Youya. Why didn’t you tell the girls in advance about the monsters and traps waiting for them in the desert? Are there any circumstances to do so?] (Phil)

It looks like nothing gets by Phil as she noticed even this small detail in less than a day.

[I was also worried about that. Youya-ojisama has an amazing wealth of experience of knowledge. Thinking about the situation yesterday, normally you would had been able to teach us all the dangerous aspects of a dungeon before we entered. This way you could minimize the risks involved in our adventure.] (Selene)

I vaguely smiled as Selene’s analysis was spot-on. Dungeons with special aspects to it such as unique monsters and traps were extremely dangerous. However, if you possessed information about them beforehand then the risk involved would decrease dramatically.

[It was to prepare you girls for the future and your ability to sense the impending crisis. Just as you said, having information about the dungeon before actually attempting it would be much safer as you would be prepared to act accordingly. However, this would hinder your growth rather than assist your growth. Even I wouldn’t have information about every single dungeon and monster in the world. If you do not possess the conscious of mind to keep calm even after getting caught in a trap, then somewhere down the line you would lose your life in unknown territory.] (Youya)

This was the reason why I had minimized the information given to the girls before entering the dungeon. A person is unable to become number one with just knowledge alone. By experiencing the viciousness and danger of monsters with your body and paying with your own blood, it becomes a better learning experience as compared to learning through words. By being overprotective, I would merely be impeding the girls’ growth. However there are still exceptions to certain situations. I will still be relaying information about important monsters and traps in advance so long as it is beneficial. For example: the Minotaur’s sure-kill attack. Without advising precaution against its high speed charge, then they could had very well be dead on the spot.

[I’m surprised. Youya may actually be an excellent teacher.] (Phil)

[I’m just used to it. Just how many adventurers do you think I’ve taught till this point.] (Youya)

At this point i’ve taught and helped honed countless adventurers. Even after meeting Phil and Leonard, I’ve been tutoring young adventurers when I was still an exclusive adventurer.

[I’m feeling extremely blessed right now to have Youya-ojisama as my teacher. I’ll definitely get stronger no matter what.] (Selene)

Selene clenched her fist.

The battle for her kingdom’s succession isn’t too far away from now. Even I wished to impart as much of my experience and knowledge to Selene as possible.

[It’s good to be motivated however let me tell you what’s your main flaw at the moment. Selene, you become too absorbed in a single thing and as a result, you neglect everything else that is happening around you.] (Youya)

I grabbed Selene’s shoulder, preventing her from moving as a large pitfall opened in the sand several steps ahead of us. It was a trap set to target adventurers whose attention is completely preoccupied with the heat, their consciousness becoming hazy due to the intense weather. A simple yet effective trap in such a large and painful desert.

[Remain alert about your surroundings even during a conversation.] (Youya)

[Yes. I’ll be careful from now on.] (Selene)

Selene nodded back to me in response.

Our destination is still a distance away, let’s continue on with our new-found motivation.

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We placed our backs together, trusting each other and removing any blind spots.

[Youya, our attacks won’t land if they continue diving into the sand!] (Luna)

[It’s too difficult to land an arrow or a spell like this. Ughh they are irritating.] (Til)

We were currently being surrounded by a group of 4 Desert Serpents.

They were also commonly known as Sandfish Dragons due to their smooth skin with a similar colour to sand, with a body similar to fishes and claws which let them move about as if they were swimming in the sand. Unfortunately for us, their skin allows them to camouflage into the surrounding, making it difficult to even spot them.

[Do not lose your focus. Even if we can’t land any damage on them while they are underground, they are in the same boat. They can’t land a critical blow so long as they are underground! They’re waiting for us to give an opening!] (Youya)

Desert Serpents were intelligent and cautious for a normal monster. By swimming around in groups and circling us, they are trying to open a gap in our defenses through intimidation and attacking only when an gap is opened. I began listening carefully as a large sound would be made whenever they jumped out of the sand.

The next moment, one of the monsters jumped into the air in my direction. It looks like it’s target was me. By stepping forward with a slight crouch, I dodged the monster’s charge as I drove my sword into its body. Together with its charge and my movement, the blade was slicing through its body with twice the speed. The sharpness of the black Magic Sword was also shown as the monster passed my body, with its body being sliced into two equal parts. However to my surprise, the monster continued to move even though its body was sliced into two, displaying tremendous vitality.

[This is the method to defeat Desert Serpents. You counter their rush with your own attack, if timed right, they can be easily beaten.] (Youya)

Attempting to chase the serpents when submerged in the sand only served to waste your own energy. The optimal strategy would be to counterattack the moment they attack.

[Uhn. Luna will try it out.] (Luna)

[Fufu. it’s stressful having to wait for the enemies to attack you know~.] (Til)

I’ll be sure to reprimand Til for her complaint later. As a result of the first attempt, the monsters’ attack pattern started to change. The Desert Serpents who were circling us dived deeply into the sand.

[One coming towards us! From below!] (Luna)

Luna with Presence Detection cried out detecting movement below us. If they are below us, then Selene should be the one to act.