Episode 28.12 (2/2)
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The door was opened with a bang.
”We're back, Nark-san!”
”We have returned.”
”We're back.”
All five came inside one after another. The three <Grindam> members looked awfully cheery. Arios is all smiles. Lecan has his trademark sour-look as usual, but he doesn't look to be in a bad mood.
”Nark-san. We finally did it.”
”Did what.”
”We broke through floor 94!”
”What.”
”I sure am hungry. Do you have got food left?”
”Y-yea. Oy! Nell! It's mealtime! For five!”
”I hear you.”
The five toasted with white wine.
One bottle of white wine was just enough for five cups.
One toast was not enough, they did another two after.
Three cups of wine disappeared into their bellies each in no time at all.
”Nark-san. Breaking our floor record is nice and all, but we've got something even better.”
”Hou?”
”We got five drops of Grace Gear.”
”Oh! Congrats.”
”How much do you think they fetched?”
Which means they've gone to the trading corner.
”Beats me.”
”It's one platinum coin and two big gold coins.”
”Heeeeh?”
”Awesome, right? Every one of us got two big gold coins and five gold coins. Three toasts are nowhere near enough.”
<Dungeon of Swords> is ill-suited for beginner adventurers.
Partly because of the tough upper floors, but the biggest reason is its income sources.
White Spectres don't have any part that can be sold. So your main source of money is magic stones, and the content of treasure chests. Since potions are often kept for personal use, your earning ultimately depends on the quality of weapons that get dropped.
But treasure chests don't drop often on upper floors. The drop rate gets better the deeper you go down. And those treasure chests contain better weapons the deeper you go down. By the later ends of floor 90s, you can sometimes find weapons that fetch one platinum coin or more in chests.
But getting your hands on Grace Gear means you have to beat magic beasts holding those gear. Naturally, the beasts bearing strong Grace Gear are tough customers.
As such, it's customary to retreat whenever you first reach a new deeper floor and find the enemy tough, then you have another go at it after some time.
When you're looking to earn income, you climb up a few floors above your deepest one and go around rooms there defeating magic beasts until you get weapons with good graces.
Yet these five managed to obtain Grace Gear worth more than one platinum coin on top of breaking their deepest floor by two levels. That is truly a shocking wonder.
Joy and relief swelled up as Nark came to himself from the shock.
<Willard> wasn't a liar. They're a genuinely competent party.
He's still unconvinced about them having been to this dungeon before. But that doesn't matter anymore.
Nark and Nell got roped in as things got more lively.
Several bottles of liquor got emptied.
Nark's worries have been completely blown away.