The Earth-san Has Leveled Up!

2-19. The 5th Floor and the 3rd Night

And so, around the time it passed 12 o’clock, they broke into the 5th floor.

The reason they judged this was because a group of four enemies appeared.

“Four enemies!”

“Nin nin!”

“Indeed!”

Suppressing the feeling of panic that the span from the 4th to the 5th floor was short, Meiko immediately entered combat mode.

The formation was Doll A, Doll B, the Pestle Rabbit, and the Tanuki.

Immediately, the Tanuki began casting buffs.

Lulu startled Doll A with her water arts, and Sasara knocked it back with her Slash Sword, then began engaging Doll A.

Meiko fired a fire bullet to knock the pestle out of the Pestle Rabbit’s hand, and at that moment, Lulu engaged the Pestle Rabbit with high-speed movement.

Lulu hooked the blade of her small sickle under the Pestle Rabbit’s jaw and lifted it into the air, then in that instant, splashed water on Doll B with her water arts to startle it.

Meanwhile, Meiko, having finished firing the fire bullet, immediately shot a water bullet at the Tanuki at the far back to restrain it, and then ran to engage Doll B.

Just as Meiko was about to engage Doll B, she made eye contact with Lulu, who had the Pestle Rabbit floating in the air.

Lulu made a “Nin!” gesture with her hand holding the ninja sword. At that moment, Doll B, which was about to engage Meiko, stiffened from water gushing out of the stone pavement.

Seizing the opportunity, Meiko slashed Doll B with her saber. She followed up with a knockback and combined it with her grimoire for a combo attack. Without confirming Meiko’s combat start, Lulu spun her body back and began a combo attack on the Pestle Rabbit, which had bounced off the stone pavement.

“Scatter shot incoming!”

The Tanuki, which had entered Meiko’s line of sight behind Doll B, fired a scatter shot of light right after the warning.

Meiko and Sasara dodged it by jumping sideways, but Lulu was delayed because she was in the middle of finishing off the Pestle Rabbit.

It hit her shoulder and side, causing her to lose her balance.

Instead of resisting the impact, Lulu deliberately fell onto the stone pavement, then spun back up.

In her spinning field of vision, she noticed that Doll B had targeted her, so she immediately moved away.

The katana that was about to slash Lulu’s back instead cut through the air, and Meiko slammed Doll B’s head with a grimoire attack.

Doll B’s body, slammed onto the stone pavement and bouncing, was pierced by Sasara’s saber, who had already defeated Doll A, and it turned into light.

At the same time, Meiko fired a water bullet, hitting the Tanuki’s face as it was about to cast a new spell.

The three of them, flooring combo after combo, wiped off the blood turning into light as they approached the remaining Tanuki.

This time, they defeated the Pestle Rabbit first, but Kachi-Kachi Mountain didn’t activate.

That was because Lulu had defeated it skillfully.

Kachi-Kachi Mountain can usually be canceled.

Also, Meiko and the others had discovered that the Tanuki had another trait.

If you hit it with a fire bullet, Kachi-Kachi Mountain would forcibly start.

The enhancement rate of Kachi-Kachi Mountain is high, and its speed increases to that of a normal dog, so in battles where they noticed this, it would have been dangerous if the water bullet hadn’t been reloaded.

Incidentally, Kachi-Kachi Mountain was also designed to drain the Tanuki’s life at a terrifying speed.

They defeated the Tanuki, which isn’t strong without its allies, with the three of them.

By this point, Meiko, Sasara, and Lulu had all been hit multiple times by the Tanuki’s light bullets, so there was no mercy. Well, they had already defeated the Pestle Rabbit multiple times, so there was no reason to spare the Tanuki.

“Lulu, are you okay?”

“Nya. It’s like getting hit by a basketball from behind.”

The difference in pain levels among people is due to differences in defense.

When hit by a light bullet, Meiko and Lulu felt about the same, while Sasara felt like her shoulder had been bumped.

“Do you need a low-grade healing potion?”

“No, I don’t need it.”

They had bought two sets of low-grade healing potions. Each set contains four pills, so eight in total. They had already used three pills in the brawl this morning, leaving five.

Since the low-grade healing potion can heal wounds down to the bone and minor internal damage, Lulu seemed to think she didn’t need it for something like this.

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Nya. If I push myself, it’ll cause trouble.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Exactly.”

Many Japanese people have a tendency to endure hardships, but that isn’t always a virtue.

Having lived abroad, Lulu understood the inefficiency of enduring more than anyone else here.

The fact that a group of four had appeared meant there was a safe zone around here.

The previous two safe zones were also near areas where the difficulty changed, so the three of them searched the area.

Then, they found a safe zone beyond a cave a little ways back.

This time, it was also a Japanese-style resting area, with enough space inside for several parties to rest.

The safe zone’s specifications were the same.

However, beyond the wooden fence in the garden was a cliff, with a dense forest below.

It was a pretty scary location, so they decided not to go near it.

After checking the safe zone’s specifications just in case, the three of them rested a bit before heading out to explore again.

They considered exploring the path they came from again, but this time they decided to do a preliminary exploration of the 5th floor.

This was because the group of four enemies, which outnumbered them, had been unexpectedly tough.

This exploration was also part of their training.

With a group of four, it became harder to completely dodge enemy attacks, and they started getting hit multiple times.

However, the defense stat seemed to be more effective than they thought, as even if Meiko and the others were slashed in the stomach by the dolls, they didn’t take much damage.

That said, if Meiko or Lulu were slashed in the face, it might be a different story, so they made sure to never get hit in the face or neck.

“Haah… so many enemies…!”

“Phew… Really. It’s not that we can’t defeat them, but it’s tiring.”

“The Tanuki is so mean.”

“Right!” “Totally!”

After defeating a group of two dolls and two Tanuki, Meiko and the others were breathing heavily.

Sasara wiped her sweat with her sleeve and used the Weapon Maintenance Paper they bought at the shop to care for her saber. This was also a consumable, but it would be foolish to skimp and let the sharpness drop, so they used it as needed.

As mentioned, the Tanuki was troublesome.

Up against three, it wasn’t so bad, but when outnumbered by a group of four, it became a very troublesome enemy.

It cast buffs on its allies and fired scatter shots of light from the back, disrupting Meiko and the others’ coordination.

The scatter shots of light were especially annoying; while the damage was low, getting hit would knock them off balance. While fighting enemies, they would get hit during those moments.

The buffs the Tanuki spread seemed to increase speed and durability, but fortunately, there didn’t seem to be a big change in attack power.

The buff increased movement speed by about double, so if it had also increased attack power, it would have been really bad.

They wanted to take out the Tanuki first, but the layout of the Infinite Torii Dungeon’s corridors made it difficult.

It was hard to get past the three-meter-wide corridor with three monsters to reach the Tanuki. Lulu’s high-speed movement might have made it possible, but if she got isolated and targeted, it would be really dangerous. Plus, all the combos starting with Lulu’s water arts would become impossible.

So, they had to thin out the front line while dealing with the Tanuki.

The encounter rate in the 5th floor was slightly lower compared to the 1st and 2nd floors, but the combat density was too high.

The remaining magic power, which they hadn’t been too worried about, became a concern again.

Ahead was the 6th floor, and Meiko was really worried that the enemies might increase to five.

Additionally, there was one more thing she was worried about.

It was about everyone’s clothes.

They had been hit multiple times by the dolls’ slashes and the Tanuki’s light bullets.

Yet, their clothes weren’t torn.

The light bullets were understandable, but it was strange that nothing happened after being slashed by the dolls.

In fact, Sasara’s jersey had been torn to shreds by the dolls.

If this state continued indefinitely, it would be fine, but if there was something like durability that decreased with each hit…

However, they couldn’t verify this during this exploration.

All Meiko could do was warn the other two to keep an eye out for any small changes in their armor.

The cave had also leveled up, and groups of three started appearing.

That said, groups of three weren’t too difficult for the three of them, so the cave became a more relaxing space compared to before.

After filling out the map to some extent, Meiko and the others returned to the safe zone area.

It was still only around 4 PM, so they had time, but fighting groups of four had left them a bit tired.

In front of the safe zone entrance, each of them trained.

Sasara and Lulu practiced sword fighting with wooden sticks they found nearby and fought imaginary enemies, while Meiko used her remaining magic power for [Synthesis Enhancement].

Since enemies also moved around, battles still happened frequently, but the encounter rate was slightly lower if they didn’t move.

During the re-exploration after finding the safe zone, a second dagger dropped from a doll.

Additionally, a Tanuki Ear dropped from the Tanuki. Apparently, this was the Tanuki’s rare drop.

The dagger became Sasara’s sub-weapon.

Meiko equipped the Tanuki Ear. Her magic power decreased by one point, but the effect was unknown. It seemed like something related to magic power had changed.

They also got another Rabbit Tail.

This was equipped by Sasara.

As the sun began to set, Meiko and the others entered the safe zone.

Immediately, each of them started their tasks.

Meiko used [Synthesis Enhancement] until her magic power ran out, while Sasara and Lulu cooked by the hearth.

Though “cooking” just meant grilling rabbit meat.

By the way, the Tanuki and Tsuchinoko also dropped meat, but they decided not to use it.

The Tanuki was one thing, but the Tsuchinoko might be poisonous, and they had plenty of rabbit meat, so they didn’t want to take the risk.

They could have used an appraisal orb to check, but they didn’t want to use it.

By the time the synthesis was done, the meat was also grilled, and the three of them had rice balls they bought earlier as their main dish for dinner.

After that, they wet towels in the water jug inside the lodging and wiped their bodies. Each other’s.

“Raise your arms!”

“Ah, not the armpits!”

“No! I’ll do it!”

“Such enthusiasm! But you can wipe your armpits and front yourself!”

“Hmph… Really no?”

“Too embarrassing!”

Perhaps because they enjoyed washing each other yesterday, Lulu started taking charge of body wiping.

She diligently wiped Meiko’s body and took care of her.

Meiko let her wipe her back but firmly refused the front.

It was too embarrassing.

That said, having someone wipe her back and neck felt nice. This was Meiko’s first time experiencing something like this at 15 years old.

When it was Sasara’s turn, Meiko gazed at the moon by the window.

Perhaps because they had washed each other yesterday, Sasara got the full treatment.

She held her head up high like a princess, but her face was bright red.

Finally, Sasara returned the favor to Lulu.

Lulu seemed to enjoy even that, smiling happily.

Meiko, a refined person enjoying the moon.

However, in her mind, the upbeat opening theme of a yuri anime was playing.

While it was still early evening on the surface, the three of them went to bed as soon as they finished their tasks.

They stuffed the rolled-up Tanuki fur into their backpacks to use as makeshift pillows.

The floor was just bare, but they couldn’t afford to be picky.

With Lulu in the middle, they slept in a line.

Just like last night, Meiko got up after a while and started [Synthesis Enhancement].

Magic power doesn’t over-recover, so if it fully recovers, it’s a waste not to use it. In their current situation, wasting four sets of [Synthesis Enhancement] that could be done at night could lead to death.

In fact, Meiko realized that thanks to last night’s efforts, they had been saved multiple times today.

If she hadn’t worked hard last night, they might have taken critical damage when hit by the light bullets. Maybe they would have been wiped out by the Cat Bat’s area attack.

“Thank you, Meiko.”

While doing the second set of synthesis, Sasara quietly thanked her.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

After all, she was synthesizing the kimonos and hakama they were currently wearing.

The synthesis emitted a bit of light, and even though she was being quiet, sensitive people might wake up.

“No, if I close my eyes, I can fall back asleep quickly. Please don’t push yourself too hard, Meiko.”

“Okay. Synthesis Enhancement doesn’t take too long anyway. I’ll finish it quickly and go to sleep.”

In fact, [Synthesis Enhancement] was a very quick process as long as you didn’t overthink it.

Meiko had already sorted the cloth and metal enhancement materials, so all that was left was to distribute them in order.

“Meiko.”

“Yeah?”

“…Thank you.”

It might have been a conversation on the border between dreams and reality, as Sasara immediately fell back asleep after that.

They had been climbing mountains and fighting from dawn to dusk, so it was no wonder.

Meiko felt that the second thank you wasn’t for staying up late, but for something else.

After finishing the synthesis and closing her eyes again, Meiko fell asleep while remembering the time she met Sasara by the riverside.

Sasara’s happy smile when she invited her to run together.