"They're coming!"
At my call, my friends who had already formed a formation shifted into a more ready stance.
Dozens of Scorpion magical beasts came out of the big hole.
They were coming toward us, but as per our strategy, we didn't break formation and intercepted them.
It was common knowledge that fighting in formation rather than individually was better.
"Uaah!"
With a shout, Kurena's Greatsword slammed into the head of an oncoming Scorpion magical beast.
The head of the Scorpion magical beast dipped into the sandy ground, spraying bodily fluids.
"You have defeated 1 Rock Scorpion. You have acquired 24,000 Experience."
"It's a B-rank magical beast. They're small fry."
"I guess I'll just have to take them down at once."
"Ok, Cecile. Go for it."
I figured out the rank of the magical beast from the amount of experience they gave.
Tens of thousands of experience was a sign of a B-rank magical beast.
For my friends and I, who had hunted millions of magical beasts in the Rosenheim war, B-rank magical beasts were no longer a threat.
"Oh! Fumu!"
The giant scissor-like tentacles of a magical beast larger than the Scorpion we had been fighting against slammed into Dogora's large shield with an impact sound.
To protect our formation, Dogora tried to stave off the blow from the Scorpion magical beast much larger than others, but he was forced backwards, leaving a sly trail of sandy scaffolding in his wake.
"That's an A-rank. Dogora, hold it back for a while, please. Everyone else, target the small fries first."
Numbers were fundamentals of a battle.
While fighting a few dozen or so magical beasts, it is better to destroy the magical beasts that serve as small fries before defeating the big Boss, which will reduce the damage you receive.
"Hurry up."
When a magical beast reached A-rank, its power jumped dramatically.
With a wry smile, Dogora held down the Scorpion magical beast more than ten times his own size.
Then, yet another large Scorpion magical beast came out of the big hole.
"Kurena, here comes another one! What?"
"Caaaaassssss!"
Yet another magical beast of the same size as the one Dogora was holding down appeared, so I had Kurena deal with it.
However, one more magical beast that was even larger than the Scorpion magical beast that Dogora was holding back came out.
"This guy is probably a Floor Boss. We are fighting against a Floor Boss, but try to save your Extra Skills as long as you can! Oh, Dogora, you can use your Extra Skill anytime you want!"
As if remembering, I added.
"Ah? I know that!"
We had decided to save our Extra Skills as much as possible as a safety precaution in case we ran into some danger in the S-class dungeon.
Extra Skills had a one-day cool time and could only be used once per day.
We had just started hunting in the dungeon that morning, so we were going to fight a series of battles.
There were S-rank magical beasts on the 3rd floor as well, so we wanted to conserve as much as possible for that occasion.
As an exception, Dogora was the only one who could use his Extra Skill at any time, and Dogora was dissatisfied with that.
Kurena was given the task of dealing with the Scorpion magical beast of the same size as the one Dogora was holding down.
When we had almost defeated all the B-rank Rock Scorpions, I sent a B-rank Stone toward the magical beast that seemed to be the Floor Boss, which emerged from the hole.
Both Dogora and Kurena had their hands full trying to hold down the Scorpion magical beasts, which we believed to be of A-rank. The A-rank magical beasts were still a formidable foe for Kurena and Dogora.
Without using their Extra Skill, Kurena and Dogora had no way of defeating A-rank magical beasts.
"These guys are weak against Ice Magic."
(Oh, they have a weak attribute? That will be quite helpful.)
Cecile was checking the effectiveness of her different attributes of magic by comparing the amount of damage they cause.
The damage dealt by Ice Magic was higher then when she used other attributes.
"Okay. You guys defeat the one Kurena is holding back first. Sophie, Water Magic is closest to Ice Magic, so use Water Spirit Magic."
"Okay."
We were fighting against three A-rank or higher magical beasts, so we needed to reduce their number first.
I helped Dogora hold back his opponent while Sophie, Cecile and Formar helped Kurena defeat the Scorpion magical beast she was fighting.
(Should I set aside more slots for summons for times like this? No, now is the time to be patient, considering that this patience will lead to greater efficiency in the future.)
I could summon up to 70 summons at once, but I had restricted that number to 10 at that time.
To be able to farm Skill Experience faster, I had about 50 B-rank Fish in my Holder that had increased my [Mana].
(If I don't raise my <Summon> to Level 8 soon, we may not be able to cope with the Demons attacking us or with more pinch moments in the future than we are in now.)
During our climb of the tower, I chose not to summon too many summons, to farm more Skill Experience and to promote the growth of my friends.
My friends had been going to the dungeon with me since Academy.
We participated in the war in Rosenheim together and became much better at coordination and fighting.
But there was no right answer to the battle.
Even in what might seem to be the best way to fight, there were always better ways.
When my friends Talents and status changed, the battle formation that seemed optimal till that point had to be changed.
I had talked with my friends to ensure that we were always fighting at our best.
While I was thinking about that, we were able to defeat both A-rank magical beasts.
"No, it's pretty tough with just me healing."
"Well, I know it's hard on the healers, but it's just another practice. Kiel."
During the war, I used [Blessing of Heaven] like water, but I wasn't planning to use one until it was absolutely necessary in that fight.
It was important to store them for a day that they would be needed, and also because I could store them in my <Inventory> endlessly without any drawbacks.
I was only going to use [Blessing of Heaven] at the very last minute, but I intended to use [Mana Seed] like water, since I could just collect D-rank magic stones from the Adventurers' Guild.
[Mana Seed] restored the mana of all the allies by 1000 within a radius of 50 meters.
Thanks to that, Kiel's Recovery Magic was the lifeblood of the party.
"You have defeated 1 Death Scorpion. You have acquired 200,000 Experience."
"Okay, only one left now."
(It defeated 2 Mirrors but I was able to hurt it a lot as well.)
With my words, we targeted the last and largest Scorpion magical beast.
"Hey Allen, you don't think that big thing is an S-rank, do you?"
"No, that guy is a high A-rank."
I was assured that it was not an S-rank.
I knew that before we even started fighting.
"Well, yes. It is a lot weaker than Beebe."
Cecile, too, had no doubt when I said so.
The last Scorpion magical beast to emerge had cracks all over its sturdy-looking exoskeleton and was spewing bodily fluids.
It was injured because it was hit by B-rank Stone's awakening skill [Internal Reflection] three times.
It wasn't that smart as it tried to deliver a powerful blow, and at that time I ordered B-rank Stone to use [Internal Reflection].
Both Kurena and Dogora prioritize attacking where cracks had formed, so the Scorpion magical beast that seemed to be the Floor Boss plodded about with loud cries.
Sophie, Cecile, and Formar provided cover from a distance to prevent Kurena and Dogora from being hit by its large scissor-like tentacles and huge, taut tails.
As Kurena and Dogora protected the rear-guards, Sophie and Cecile protected the vanguards.
"You have defeated 1 Death Scorpion King. You have acquired 4,000,000 Experience."
On the cover of the Grimoire, a log of the defeat of the last magical beast, the Death Scorpion King, was displayed.
"Oh! We got a Medal. It's the Floor Boss after all."
"Oh! Great! Two hundred Gold coins!"
Keel, who was farthest behind, rushed to the Medal.
When everyone rushed to the spot where the Death Scorpion King had been defeated and turned into a glowing bubble, 1 A-rank magic stone and a Scorpion-patterned Iron Medal fell.
The S-class dungeon didn't leave behind any materials, just like the Academy City's dungeon.
If you defeat a magical beast, it will only drop magical stones, so if you need materials for a magical beast, you must defeat the beast outside of the dungeon.
It seemed that one Medal would always be available from the Floor Boss.
"One of these cost 200 Gold coins. No wonder everyone wants to go to the dungeon."
(If I want to buy all the Medals with Gold coins to go from 3rd floor to 4th floor, it will cost us 1200 Gold coins.)
"Yes. I think being here is going to change my perception of money. Well, I'm with Allen, so that might have already changed a long time ago."
I said sincerely, clutching the Iron Medal which was received by Cecile's satire.
"So are we going inside the cave?"
"No, Kurena. There doesn't seem to be anything in the cave."
I had already confirmed with B-rank Spirits that the cave was empty after the magical beasts had left.
"I see. Well, let's go to the next hunting ground!"
Kurena grabbed her Greatsword and huffed.
"Yeah, that way."
I already had my sights set on our next target as I had already sent B-rank Spirits on the next rocky mountain while we were fighting.
For that reason, it could be said that I hardly used any of my summons in that battle.
After recovering the magic stone and Medal, Allen and his friends headed for the next rocky mountain.
