Dungeon Trap

Traps were the scariest feature of a dungeon. In some instances, the traps were lethal. Fair Scope was the best countermeasure against traps. This is a gadget that detected traps by perceiving the flow of magic. As most traps in the dungeons use magic, the Fair Scope can detect more than 80% of the traps. However, the detecting range was somewhat narrow, so in order to progress smoothly, experience or information was needed.

As they quickly breezed through the floors, the Knights could only focus on guiding them. However, Commander Meld strongly admonished them; They were not to move about randomly in places that haven't been confirmed for traps.

"Alright, you guys. From this point on, not only will there be other types of Magic Beasts, but they will work together to attack us. Do not get careless just because it had been easy so far! The training for today will end after we clear the 20th floor! Get fired up!"

Kazuto and other had stopped to rest for a while. Today, kazuto was a little impressed by hajime's tactics, so sometimes he let injured monsters get near hajime which helped him in gaining experience.

During the rest, many students in the class had noticed an important detail today and to say they were surprised would be an understatement. Kazuto, who always had an indifference face smiled when Shizuku was staring at him which caused her to remember yesterday night and blush a little. Not only that, Kaori and Hajime were also acting a little differently. Many girls in the class were looking at both Kaori and Shizuku with a knowing smile on their faces.

The party continued to explore the 20th floor. Each level of the dungeon was several kilometer square. It would normally take dozens of people up to one month to map out all the unknown areas. Currently, up to forty seven levels have been mapped properly, so it was not that easy to get lost. There was also little concern that they would get caught in traps.

The innermost room of the 20th level had a very complicated geographical feature. The walls were protruding like a stalactite cave and icicle-like rocks formed around the room. The stairs to the 21st floor were just ahead of this room. If they reached that point, the training would be done for the day. In ancient times, they were able to wield teleportation magic, but in this current age, such means were impossible. They had to head back the old fashion way. The party relaxed slightly, since the walls were protruding they couldn't spread out and had to advance in a column.

At this time, Kazuto, Kouki's party and Commander Meld whom were at the front stopped. The surprised classmates also got into their fighting stance with confused look. Clearly, they encountered some Magic Beasts.

"They're camouflaged! Make sure to pay attention to your surroundings!"

Commander Meld advised them. After that, the wall suddenly rose and discolored. The body that was camouflaged was now dark brown, and the creature that appeared stood on two legs. It raised its chest and started to pound on it like a drum. It seemed like a Gorilla-type Magic Beast with chameleon's camouflage ability.

"They're Rockmounts! Be careful of their arms, they are strong!"

Commander Meld's voice reverberated in the cave-like room. The Rockmount beside Kouki's party threw itself at them. Ryutaro's fist was able to reflect the powerful arm of the Rockmount. Kazuto, Kouki and Shizuku tried to surround the beast, but they could not get into position due to the influence of the terrain.

When the Rockmount felt that it could not get past Ryutaro, it bent its body downward and inhaled a deep breath. After that…

"GuGaGaGaaaaa——!!"

It let out an intense roar like this, which caused the whole room to shake.

"Gu!?"

"Uwa!?"

"Kya!?"

A shock ran through their bodies, it did not damage them, but paralyzed them instead. This was the Rockmount's unique magic[Intimidating Roar]. The roar carried a magic that caused temporary paralysis.

Kazuto and vanguards took the roar almost point-blank, causing them to freeze momentarily. The Rockmount took this chance to slip to the side. It lifted a boulder and threw it at the rear guards with a beautiful shot-put throw! The rock flew over the vanguards, towards Kaori and the rest.

Kaori and her teammates readied the magic staves in their hands to intercept the boulder. There was not enough room to dodge. However, the moment they were going to activate their magic, they froze when they noticed what was thrown them.

The boulder that was thrown at them was in fact another Rockmount. As it neared Kaori's group, it did a stunning rotation and spread its arms out. It almost seemed to be calling out to Kaori as it performed a Lupin Dive.⌈3⌋ Strangely, its eyes were bloodshot and its breathing was rough. Kaori, Eri, and Suzu unintentionally screamed and stopped their magic.

"Hey! What are you doing? This is a battle!"

In a hurry, Commander Meld leapt out to intercept the Rockmount that was swooping down fast. "S-sorry." The girls apologized like this, but the negative feeling was still there. Their face had turned pale.

There was a youngster who got mad at such a situation. It was our hero, Amanogawa Kouki.

"*******... You dare treat them like that... I won't forgive you!"

Kouki seemed to have misunderstood the girls' disgust as fear for their impending death. 'You dare to frighten the girls like that!' Kouki got a little angry due to his misunderstanding. His Holy Sword seemed to shine in response to his feelings.

"Myriad of Soaring Wings, Reach the Heavens, [Soaring Flash]!"

"Ah, you idiot, stop it now!"

Ignoring Commander Meld's voice, Kouki brandished his sword over his head and swung it down in one motion. His chant had made the sword emit an intense light, and the slash released a blade of light. Drawing a curve, the light bisected the Rockmount without encountering any resistance. The blade of light continued on until it destroyed the wall beyond.

Debris lightly fell from the damaged wall. Kouki exhaled and gave the girls a sparkling smile. He had defeated the monster that scared them. It's alright now! Commander Meld approached him with a smile and smacked him.

"Ow!?"

"You fool. I understand how you feel, but you shouldn't use a skill like that in such a narrow place! If the tunnel collapsed, what are you going to do?"

Facing Commander Meld's vehement rebuke, Kouki could only lower his head. The girls approached him with a wry smile and tried to comfort him. At that moment, the collapsed wall caught Kaori's attention.

"...Eh? What is that? It's sparkling...?"

Hearing this, everyone looked at the wall Kaori was pointing at. Blooming on the wall were minerals that radiated pale light. It was like a crystal covered in indicolite. The girls were enchanted by the beautiful sight of the crystals.

"Hoh~ That's Grantz Crystal. One this big in size is rare."

When talking about Grantz Crystal, it was an ore that looked like a jewel. The crystal did not have any special effects, but its gorgeous and sparkling appearance was popular among the ladyship. Rings, earrings, pendants, and other jewelries processed from these crystal are very well received. It was one of the top three choices as proposal rings.

"Lovely..."

Hearing Commander Meld's simple explanation, Kaori's cheeks blushed. She looked at hajime, which was not noticed by anyone except for Shizuku and Kazuto but they didn't do anything.

"If that's the case, we should retrieve it!"

The one who said that and abruptly moved toward it was Hiyama. He approached the wall that was embedded with Grantz Crystal, and climbed up with sounds of tiny rocks falling. Commander Meld shouted in panic.

"Hey-! Don't just do what you want! We haven't confirmed if it's safe!"

However, Hiyama pretended not to hear and finally arrived in front of the crystal. Commander Meld chased after Hiyama to stop him. At that moment, one of the knight finished his analysis with the Fair Scope. And then his face turned pale.

"Commander! It's a trap!"

"Tsu!?"

However their warnings came a little too late. The moment Hiyama touched the Grantz Crystal, magic circle started to spread from the crystal. The trap was set for people who became so fascinated with the crystal that they would touch it carelessly. Beautiful mushroom tend to be poisonous. It's the way of the world.

In a blink of an eye, the magic circle spread throughout the whole room, and it gradually became brighter. It was like a replication of the magic that summoned them.

"Withdraw! Get out of the room this instant!"

At Commander Meld's command, everyone started to run towards the exit... but they weren't fast enough. When the light filled the room, everyone momentary felt a floating sensation. Following that, they were slammed onto the ground with a thud.

Everyone let out a groan due to their sore butt, Kazuto looked at the surrounding, most of his classmates were stroking their butt. Commander Meld, the knights, Kazuto, Kouki, and the vanguards quickly stood up and observed their surroundings. Seems like the magic earlier was a teleportation magic. A magic that the modern day mage couldn't even use was casted with ease, the magic from the Age of God was truly worthy to be called a cheat.

They were all transferred onto a huge bridge made of stone. It was about hundred meter in length. The ceiling looked to be about twenty meter tall. There was no river underneath the bridge, there was only a bottomless abyss. If they fell, it would probably feel like falling into hell.

The width of the bridge was about ten meter, but let's not say the handrails, even the edge was rounded. If you slipped there would be nothing to grab on to, and you would fall head-first. The group was right in the middle of the bridge. On both sides of the bridge, they could see a stairway that led to the upper level. After confirming it, Commander Meld issued the orders with a grim expression.

"You guys, get up immediately! Go towards the stairs. Hurry!"

Hearing the thunderous orders from Commander Meld, the students who were on the ground got up immediately. However, the dungeon's trap was not only at this level, it wouldn't let them escape so easily. Magic Beasts emerged from the magic circles that appeared on both sides of the bridge. A huge Magic Beast appeared on one side of the passage. The other passage had a large amount of monsters.

At this time, Commander Meld stared at the huge Magic Beast with blank expression, his mumbles was transmitted loud and clear.

"This couldn't be... a Behemoth...?"