Evil Avalon
Soft sunlight poured down, and as far as the eye could see, the area was covered with colorful grass and flowers. It wasn’t too hot or too cold, and a pleasant breeze brushed my cheeks—extremely comfortable.
This was a hilly area on the 25th floor of the dungeon. My little sister, who was sitting with her legs dangling over the edge of a chair placed atop one of the taller hills, stared blankly at the sky and muttered.
"Doesn’t that bird look weird?"
I followed the direction of her pointing finger. Something with large wings spread wide was circling above us, drawing lazy arcs in the air. It wasn’t unusual to see such a sight in a place with good visibility like this. The odd part was—
When it was at high altitude, it didn’t stand out, but now that it had descended to a few hundred meters above the ground, its overall size was easy to grasp. From wingtip to wingtip, it must have been at least ten meters across. In short, it was huge.
That thing wasn’t a bird but a winged-dragon-type monster called a “Giant Wing.” It normally flew much higher and rarely attacked adventurers… but it seemed to have decided we were prey.
Despite its size, its monster level was only around 24—meaning it wasn’t my enemy. With a resigned sigh, I reached into the pocket I had turned into a magic bag… ah, there it was.
Standing up with a grunt, I pulled out a small pure-mithril bow, hooked a metal arrow onto it, and aimed upward. Sensing my movement, the Giant Wing let out a high-pitched screech like ultrasonic waves and folded its wings, beginning to dive.
Its altitude dropped rapidly, and soon its huge beak and scales were clearly visible. The Giant Wing adjusted its posture, lining up its massive talons with my head. At that moment, I drew the string tight—
—THUD!
The arrow shot out with a violent sound. Ready to nock another arrow in case I missed or failed to kill it in one hit, I watched as the shot struck its skull perfectly. The Giant Wing fell backward into the flowers behind it, scattering petals everywhere as it turned into a magic stone.
Next to me, Kano—who had been staring wide-eyed at my archery—snapped back to reality, jumped out of her chair, and waved her fists excitedly.
"One-shot kill… that was amazing! Onii, can you teach me how to use a bow later?"
"It’s good to know the form, but rather than learning it the normal way, you should just learn the Bow Skill."
When activating a weapon skill, the body is forcibly moved in the correct, ideal way even if you’ve never handled the weapon before. Using that forced movement to memorize the feeling was the standard DunEx method.
Of course, just like adventurers who enter swordsmanship through kendo, it’s more reliable—though slower—to learn archery through actual archery training. But learning while fighting monsters suited Kano better.
While thinking I might recommend a job that lets her learn Bow Skill, I put my bow away. Kano brought over a block of meat weighing a few kilograms—the drop item from the monster.
After placing some paper plates on the nearby camp table, she slapped the meat down and inspected it from several angles before asking me:
"Hey, isn’t this meat way too small? That bird was like ten meters big, right?"
"Drop items are pretty random in size."
In DunEx, big monsters didn’t necessarily drop big items, and that seemed to be true in this world as well. Learning that only a few kilos of meat came from a multi-ton winged dragon, Kano guessed, “Then this meat must be really valuable.”
And there was another reason it was rare at this level range. Giant Wings usually soared several thousand meters high, out of range of arrows and magic. Unless you could use something like Fly, there was no way to hunt them. So you had to aim for moments like earlier when they descended—but such chances were extremely rare. Naturally, the drop item became hard to obtain.
Calling it “rare meat… premium meat…” Kano licked her lips and began tapping rapidly on her wrist device to research how to cook it best.
Lately, my sister had been growing more interested in various dungeon matters and hungered for knowledge and techniques. It was admirable—and good for her growth. If only she’d rein in her impulsiveness just a little…
As I watched her twin-tails sway happily, I leaned back to relax and look at the sky. Just then, the door of the small hut behind us opened, and a braided girl stepped out. When I glanced toward her, she nodded softly and smiled.
"Her complexion has returned completely. Recovery magic flows through her better now, so I don’t think you need to worry."
"I see. Then all we can do is wait for her to wake up."
We were talking about Lisa.
In the major incident at the Kinrankai clan party—instigated by Sanada in collusion with the Holy Empire—we were dragged into the chaos and, despite being battered, managed to repel Mikhail Maxim. We barely made it back alive.
But Lisa had pushed her strengthening magic and combat far beyond her limits. She never regained consciousness, so we took her straight to the 10th-floor healer, Obaba. Her muscles and nervous system, which were on the brink of burning out, had fully recovered—Obaba said her body was fine—but her consciousness still hadn’t returned.
She should eventually wake on her own, but there was always a chance of complications. We needed to apply recovery magic periodically, which required staying inside a magic field. So we evacuated to Arthur’s house on the 38th floor…
…but Kirigaya, Kirara-chan, and the other Kunoichi-Reds were guarding the entrance, and we got bombarded with questions. There was no way to talk calmly or rest there. So we came to this quiet, pleasant place where no one would come, built a treatment hut using Golem Castle, and set up here.
Arthur, by the way, stayed behind for “hospitality duty.”
In any case, things had been far too hectic. Lisa wasn’t waking up, but her condition was good. We deserved a moment to breathe.
Letting out a long sigh to release all the stress built up from the clan party, I noticed Satsuki, sitting on a round stool nearby, sighing with relief as well. Ahh… the sky was so blue.
Meanwhile, Kano—researching meat recipes while listening with one ear—joined the conversation.
"So Lisa-nee beat that Mikhail, right? What was it like?"
"Even if you ask me…"
Kano had seen the strength of Mikhail, one of the world’s strongest adventurers, and wondered how something like him was defeated. Knowing only the result, she was naturally curious.
I recalled the sight from just a few hours ago—the girl sleeping in the hut now, clad in black armor and magic, swinging her greatsword.
In DunEx, Lisa was known as the “Black Enforcer,” a title rooted in her tactics built around the top-tier job Dark Knight. She unleashed her full assortment of player skills, overwhelming the battlefield with massive mana and engaging in aerial combat.
After I briefly described how she cornered him while teleporting through the darkness, Kano’s eyes sparkled as she asked, "Do you think I could become a Dark Knight too?"
To which I firmly responded: "Don’t."
Mastering the tactics Lisa used would make one strong, but even in DunEx, only a handful of players could control them properly. And wielding high-density dark mana carried the risk of mental corruption—it was extremely dangerous. Lisa’s unconsciousness was likely due not to physical strain, but to the mental burden of dark mana. That was my one major concern.
When I listed all those drawbacks, Kano surprisingly gave up quickly and showed me her wrist device again. She had apparently looked into Obaba’s “Job-Change Crystals” and taken notes on everything.
Right now Kano had the advanced job Machinist, which allowed her to create golems and houses using available materials. Thanks to the huge experience she’d earned at the clan party, she had reached job level 10—the maximum—and could no longer learn new skills. So she wanted to change jobs to something better, if possible.
The device displayed her current stats, levels, and skills… and even at a glance, there were several things that caught my attention.
Satsuki, seeing the numbers, involuntarily gasped.
Kano going to Adventurer school with those numbers would be interesting. Hope she visits the school and shows off
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