Chapter 6: Readying Perfectly
The commotion had ended, and now they were heading towards the guildhall.
People were looking at them with concern. Most of these are adventurers who were present at emergency in front of the town gate.
Kazuma and his party were walking while discussing strategies.
As for what happened after Dullahan left.
Few adventurers were yelling and insulting Kazuma for turning his back on his party member, but Kazuma explained that they should prepare before heading there.
I will leave the details to your imagination.
"There's no way we can level up high enough to beat the Dullahan in 6 days. We have to come up with some strategy to beat him. Do you guys know any weakness of a Dullahan?"
"Don't you know I am a goddess? We can purify that stinky undead with my magic. All undeads are weak to holy magic! Why aren't we going to his castle right now?"
Aqua spoke something stupid again.
Kazuma have to bear with her lack of intelligence.
Her intelligence won't go up no matter how much she levels up.
However, he has yet to search for a potion or something to boost intelligence, even if it boosts for a limited time.
"Excluding Aqua. Megumin and Darkness, don't you know any weakness of a Dullahan?"
Kazuma asked once again, but specifically to the chuunibyou loli-like mage and the masochist pervert, this time.
"If we can manage to grab his head somehow, we can block his vision and stop his movements. Actually, I should go there right now by myself. I am sure he just wants my body, I saw the lecherous look in his eyes when I was cursed."
Spoke Darkness, blushing and panting as always.
Excluding Aqua, who can't read the mood, can Darkness not understand the severity of the situation?
"Can't you understand the severity of the situation? This is a matter of life and death, and it's your life on the line!"
Kazuma exhaled and scolded Darkness.
"Why ask for his weakness when you have got an excellent arch-wizard who can cast explosion? Let's go near his throne room and blow him up right there."
Spoke Megumin, they are all in sync. She didn't understand anything from Kazuma scolding Darkness just now.
Kazuma was irritated.
A Dullahan appears because of a certain idiots' actions and curses Darkness to die in a week. Furthermore, he said that he'll free her if they make it to his throne room, but he isn't so sure of it himself.
He will probably end challenging them to fight instead of freeing her curse and letting them go.
This world seemed stupid and hilarious at first, but now it doesn't seem so innocent anymore.
Demon King and his army are no joke.
- Kazuma is now lost in thoughts of coming up with a strategy while walking.
A Dullahan, steal his head, try purifying him with Aqua's strongest holy spell, or blow him up with explosion...
What else is an undead or Dullahan's weakness? Can a certain weakness of undead carry on to a Dullahan, the strongest zombie type of undead?
Will information from his world come in handy here? He can't find an answer to that, unless he tries it on the subject himself.
He came up with some strategies with current information.
"We'll go with these strategies in order. Now, let's start leveling ourselves up. We'll try to do quests that are easy and provide us with experience points. We can eat high-quality food too, I suppose. I doubt leveling up will help much, anyways don't waste your points on stupid things and actually use them for the right skills once."
"I am sorry you have to go through all this because of me..."
"Not you, all the fault was mine."
Spoke Darkness, then Megumin with apologetic eyes and a frown.
"If you are actually sorry, then don't get me into trouble again."
...
A certain someone who could have been useful had completely slipped Kazuma's mind.
They had arrived at the Adventurer's Guild.
Standing in front of the bulletin board in the "bar", looking for the right quest.
Kazuma thought about accepting a dungeon clearing quest or quest to exterminate monsters that they can handle easily.
"Look, Kazuma, what about this one?"
Aqua pointed towards a certain quest.
'Exterminate horde of Unicorn Bunnies that has been spotted in the plains near a village. They may look cute from outside, but be wary, they are carnivores and will attack immediately if you get close to them. Reward for one unicorn bunny is 25,000 eris.'
That's the description of the request.
"How many unicorn bunnies will be there in their horde?"
"There will be approximately 50 or so."
Megumin answered Kazuma's question.
"Then, we aren't doing it. We are just four people against a large number of monster who travel in groups. We'll be wiped out if they attack all at once. Even if we use Megumin's explosion, only she will level up from it."
Kazuma spoke.
True, these monsters travel in a large group and are carnivores.
They won't be showing mercy. If they attack, it will be like a horde of zombies eating defenseless humans 'alive'.
Kazuma spotted a dungeon delving quest.
'A cave have been found near the town. It hasn't been fully explored. Spelunkers claim that there are a lot of monsters ahead of what's been explored already. The monsters seen until now don't seem very powerful. Please exterminate all the monsters inside and explore the cave. Reward for exploring the whole cave is 100,000, you may also keep the treasure you find. '
A dungeon with weak monsters will be the way to go.
- For an adventurer to gain experience point from monsters, they have to deal the last blow.
For a party of four members, they will have to take on monsters by themselves, otherwise they won't be gaining level as efficiently.
Dealing the one shot to monsters with Megumin's explosion most of the time don't give others experience points, but only Megumin.
Megumin is the highest level member in Kazuma's party.
Kazuma tore off the 'Dungeon exploring' quest paper.
"Wait, I won't be able to cast explosion magic in a dungeon!"
Megumin noticed what quest it was and shouted in disappointment.
"Then use actual spells for once. We are doing quest to level up for a purpose, we aren't doing this to earn money or something."
Restorted Kazuma.
Hearing Kazuma's words, Megumins started pouting like a child.
After a second, Kazuma spoke again.
"It seems others don't have any objections, then let's get going."
He first ate at the "bar" with the co, then headed towards the cave.
- Exiting the so-called guildhall, which has been called "bar" until now, Kazuma announced:
"I will go to my inn first to retrieve some magic tools and other things. Wait for me at the gate."
They simply nodded in agreement, and Kazuma put his words into action.
He may have a few thief skills that can be used in a dungeon, but been extra cautious isn't a bad thing.
The supplies he currently has consists of magic tools that will be useful either way.
It has potions and a quick barrier magic tools to protect against monsters, who know how deep is the cave is. It might even take a whole day or two to explore.
Most of these are one-time-use items, there aren't many expensive and powerful magic tools in the town of beginners.
Wiz's magic shop is out of questions. While she maybe has some good items, they are costly as well.
Kazuma and the co have left the town of Axel, and are now headed towards the unexplored cave.
They had asked Luna for extra information, and from what she said, the monsters inside this dungeon won't be so powerful, and the dungeon will probably not be too deep.
Now, all he needs to do is avoid hordes of monsters. Even if they unfortunately encounter one, they'll try their best not to 'die'. Kazuma has a magic tool up his sleeve for said situation anyway.
After this dungeon exploring, he tends to go on quests to level up certain party members, for example, a horde quest like unicorn bunny extermination for Megumin, and undead purifying for Aqua. Darkness and Kazuma can just kill big monsters or take on a group of monsters to level up.
The cave was quite far away from town.
It took more than half a day to arrive, and so it was mid-night right now.
Fortunately, Kazuma's supplies had food and other necessities. They don't have to worry about sleeping, eating and drinking.
He had bought food and water before leaving the town.
But, it was kind of a waste, there is a cabin a bit further from the entrance of the cave. It says 'Refuge'. It was probably set up by the spelunkers or the people who put the request on the quest board.
Kazuma made a disappointed expression after spotting the log cabin.
"Is a log cabin being near a dungeon, normal?"
Kazuma asked curiously.
"Yes, it is. It is made from the money of noble ruling the town. It is made so that adventurers can sleep in there in case they can't do so inside the cave."
Darkness explained. Kazuma didn't need such long explanation. All he needed was a simple yes or no. He isn't dumb to not know such a common thing.
When he went inside, it had a few futon-like mattresses at one corner and no bed. It was quite big and had just a few food supplies left.
After filling their empty belly, which was the result of walking kilometers, they agreed to sleep in the cabin and explore the cave tomorrow.
- The next day, they woke up on sunrise.
They stood before the cave they need to explore.
It was as big as the cave entrance of Black Fang. Imbued inside a hill, slope going downwards into the depths.
Looking inside the cave, it was pitch black. It felt like as if you are staring at abyss.
Fortunately, Kazuma had a lantern and tinder magic spell to be used as a light source.
He had heard about a spell called "Velo" which is a light bending magic that summons an orb of light around the caster.
Unfortunately, he hasn't encountered any wizard who can show him the spell and explain the concepts of it, or should I say, he doesn't know any mage other than Megumin at all...
Putting that aside, he dropped the sack containing item on the ground and opened it to double check his supplies.
"Alright, lets go in. We only have 2 lanterns that can be hooked onto your clothes. I will be taking one and Aqua or Megumin can take the other."
Kazuma stated.
"I don't need it, gods can see in the darkness as clear as day."
Aqua spoke proudly.
That's another one of her goddess traits, I suppose.
"Alright, let's get going. Again, don't do anything stupid. No explosions, no running into monsters and actually do something."
Kazuma spoke and pointed at them in order.
They didn't have any comeback.
Even after realizing their shortcomings, they don't try to fix them, a bunch of hopeless idiots.
Kazuma and the co now entered the cave.
-1 hour in
"This is it, there are no more markings. Ahead is the unexplored region of the cave. Be on your guard."
Kazuma warned the others.
The spelunkers had left markings, so that adventurers don't get lost.
"Until now, it seemed like some normal deep cave, but ahead it feels like a well-made dungeon."
Spoke Megumin.
The path ahead seemed like some kind of labyrinth.
"There could be traps ahead."
Darkness who has experienced the horrors of a dungeon spoke.
Eerie noises of a cave, surrounded by stone walls and cobwebs at every corner.
It was enough to give anyone chills.
Kazuma was on his guard, waiting for Enemy Detection or Trap Detection to ping.
Enemy Detection is a skill that informs the user of a monster in the vicinity. It can't be relied upon too much though, it doesn't tell the exact shape of the monster.
Trap Detection was the same, it can tell where the trap is, but not what it does. Kazuma also has Trap Disarm, which can disarm traps. The success rate of both depends on luck and agility.
Kazuma, Darkness and Megumin were walking casually yet carefully.
Aqua is out of the world, she is hopping here and there, like she owns the place.
The path is lit with blueish-white light from lantern as they moved through the cave.
"There don't seem to be any monsters..."
Darkness spoke with a frown, disappointed.
They kept walking for a few more minutes.
"Wait! Something's coming. There are dozens of them."
They all took their stance and got ready for battle.
Darkness and Kazuma had their weapons unsheathed already.
Megumin held her staff in both hands.
Aqua was behind them all.
When the monsters were near the light of the lantern, Kazuma could perceive its shape.
They were skeletons, a common type of undead.
They had weapons and armor.
Darkness and Kazuma were in front. They held their swords in both hands, ready to parry and attack.
Aqua and Megumin were support, ready to fire from behind and target the Skeletons who had bows.
"Just mere skeletons. I can take care of them myself!"
Aqua spoke haughtily.
"Don't, we need to level up too. I have a magic sword, and Darkness's crusader occupation can imbue holy magic on sword, can it not? We can deal with undeads too."
Spoke Kazuma calmly and collectedly, with deadpan expression despite the situation.
True, crusaders are holy knights who can imbue and release holy magic through their swords. However, their holy magic isn't as powerful as that of a priest or arch-priest.
Hearing Kazuma's words, Darkness was surprised and gave him an awkward smile.
"Eh, uh, I can't really imbue holy magic on my sword yet..."
Darkness said and let out a giggle from embarrassment.
Kazuma hacked and slashed the skeletons in front of him to vent his frustration.
Megumin also casted a few blades of wind and cut some skeletons in half.
In the end, they were just some skeletons. They can be easily broken, there isn't much need for a magic sword or holy magic to purify them.
The last of them were taken care of by Aqua easily.
She just chanted 'Turn Undead', and every skeleton in vicinity vanished into thin air after becoming small blue particles.
They weren't enough to level them up.
Kazuma and his party members are level 10 or a few levels above.
It wasn't so easy to gain level at this point. Mere common undeads won't be enough for them.
-1 hour in, since entering the unexplored region.
They encountered a few traps while walking. Some were detected by Kazuma, while some were barely avoided.
Until now, there were more hordes of common monsters like Gremlin, Skeletons, Zombies, Goblins and such. While they did encounter different monsters, they weren't showing up as often it would for a dungeon.
When the path had started to become maze-like, Kazuma started leaving marks to avoid getting lost.
It was getting worse and worse as they delved in more. It had just been 2 hours since sunrise, there is still a whole day left.
How deep is the dungeon? How strong the monsters ahead will be? Will they... come out alive? Kazuma or others don't have any answer.
Aqua is as cheerful as always.
Despite the monsters being weak, you shouldn't let your guard down.
"It's getting boring, let's get out, Kazuma."
Spoke Aqua.
"I don't know how long we have been here, but it doesn't seem so long. We came here to explore the dungeon and level up, so we'll do just that. We have yet to find treasure too, otherwise we are risking out lives in vain. The treasure money can be used to upgrade gear and all."
Kazuma explained.
Aqua expressions changed to a scowl.
"Then, let's eat at least!"
She spoke again.
"Well, I feel a bit hungry too."
"Yeah, we could take some time to rest, can't we?"
Darkness and Megumin added.
Kazuma sighed and stopped his movements.
He dropped the bag on the ground and opened it. He reached out to 4 small carved black cubes.
These were barrier cubes.
Kazuma put down each cube on ground in a square pattern.
Once he dropped the last cube, a glass-like barrier formed itself from thin air. It was big enough to fit all 4 of them inside. Its shape is a square.
The barrier could be interrupted from inside, but not outside. From outside, it was tough, but don't forget the fact that it's from beginners' town. It wasn't so tough to handle a full power blow from something like a Hobgoblin or Minotaur. It also has limited uses, and Kazuma has another set of cubes.
"There don't seem to be any monsters around, we'll take a quick rest, for now."
They all sat down inside the barrier, and Kazuma took out food and drinks from his supply bag.
Almost half an hour later.
Done sating their hunger and relieving their stress, they once again delve deeper into the cave.
Since entering, they have leveled up once, it is only getting harder to level up, and monsters aren't coming up often either, which is a huge problem.
A day later.
Having just the right amount of barrier uses and food, they slept and ate inside the dungeon.
They made it out of the dungeon after reaching the deepest part.
It wasn't very big, it took time because of traps and finding their way through the maze-like dungeon.
Dungeons are very problematic, having traps and different paths that lead to dead ends. If not careful, one can easy get lost and starve to death.
They didn't encounter very powerful monsters, except for the big horde of undeads and the lesser demon they encountered at the end.
The demon wasn't very strong, and was taken care of by Aqua easily.
There was no treasure in there.
When they got out, it was almost dawn.
Having no fatigue, as they had just woken up about 2 and a half hours ago, they immediately started heading towards the town.
"I want to drink, right now~!"
Spoke Aqua.
"This was my first time sleeping in the middle of a dungeon. The constant fear of high level monster breaking the barrier and..."
Darkness spoke then trailed off while breathing heavily and blushing.
Megumin, who is walking with them in the middle, lowered her pace until she completely stopped.
"I haven't been able to cast a explosion... My patience has reached its limits! I am casting explosion right now."
She's been like this since the time they ate in the dungeon.
Having being just awaken, she has full mana to cast an explosion.
She took her stance. Holding staff in both hands and aiming it towards a mountain a distance away from where they were.
"Now, you will truly witness the power of mountain-shattering explosion magic. Watch me as I turn that mountain into pieces!"
She spoke and was about to start chanting an explosion spell.
Kazuma and other were just watching her until now:
"Stop, cast it when we get to the town. We can use it to kill a horde of monsters in a quest we'll accept today."
Kazuma spoke casually.
"There's no stopping me now. I told you, my patience limit has been broken."
Megumin restorted.
Megumin had started chanted her magic.
"Stop or I will repeatedly cast 'steal' on you until your staff is in my hands. Steal also affects clothing."
Kazuma spoke once again casually with deadpan expression, his hand raised towards Megumin.
...
They could hear commotion from in front of the main gate of the town, Axel.
"Investigation is becoming a hassle, so I have come to wipe this town off the map."
A familiar, distorted and cold voice.
After word:
A rushed chapter.
I had some IRL issues, so that was one of the reasons fo this huge delay, yet short chapter. This is somewhat like my own story, since this chapter has little to no inspiration from any chapter from KonoSuba or any other anime, probably.
Since this is literally my own imagination, I had to think of conversations and twists. And yes, it's very disappointing. This is utter trash, in my opinion. When I neared 3k words, I just tossed aside the idea of twists and holding realistic conversations, and just wrote whatever came in my mind and rushed through the chapter.
There will be another chapter in the future where it will be mostly my story again, so I will try my best there.
Sorry for more spelling and grammar mistake than usual( I don't think I have that many mistakes in writing, but whatever). Again, it was rushed, I wanted to upload a chapter soon.
Btw, Kazuma forgetting about Wiz is a supernatural thing I had to make. He's a genius and his intelligence is comparable to Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, a character from a anime. just boasting :). I dont have the time to plan out the story in advance to show his intelligence, rip.
This chapter is like 3,464 words. The smallest chapter I will ever make, probably.
Title is a refrence :) I wanted Kazuma to say it himself but never got the right scenario... :(
If you know what's gonna happen in next chapter, I am sorry if you are disappointed. somethings won't make sense later on if I do everything my way.
「Thanks to reviewers:
Karim: "Thank you, please look forward to updates :D."
Guest(An interesting switch of events, Kazuma has an ace up his sleeve by the looks of it, an ace that begins with the letter W): "Unfortunately, I am not sure what "W" means. If it means Wiz, then I tried not to get her involved otherwise, it would have been a bit of disaster. I am trying to keep most of the story like KonoSuba(original)."
sanicraftprogamer: "What is "mama mama came on tv", very weird. Anyway, while he did train, I don't want to make him OP. It will become a disaster because I am trying to stick to the original story of KonoSuba. And don't worry, he will become OP later on. Chris is literally a goddess who takes her job as Goddess seriously. I don't think having love between a goddess and human a good idea. In case of Aqua, she chooses to remain with them at the end, and she's stupid as hell and not reliable and doesn't do her job carefully. A polar opposite of Chris. While I could change the whole story, I just straight up don't like Chris that much. I know it's selfish, but don't hate me for not liking Chris or "Chris x Kazuma"."」