Scrael’s with me today, and I should go when I’m alone. Or maybe it’s a bad idea to go solo.
“There’s something wrong with whoever made this place. Who’d make something like that in this endlessly gray building?” I wondered aloud.
“Gimmicks are to be expected in a castle like this, but they have no consideration for people who’d actually live here,” said Scrael.
We continued complaining about this floor. Every floor had its inconveniences, so I often complained to my companions whenever I went dungeon diving with someone else. The designs for these places really didn’t make sense, and this floor was as if it was made for the sole purpose of getting people lost and trapped inside. It probably didn’t even have the facilities to defend against invaders.
“Meeew...” growled Carbuncle.
I felt a presence behind us. I’d always thought sensing the presence of others was an ability that only existed in battle manga, but I’d learned how to do it through leveling up and going through Sensei’s rigorous training.
Scrael had probably learned it long ago though. She’d already turned around to see what was approaching.
Behind us was a Backstabber, a sword-shaped monster that appeared in the Infinite Gray Castle. About seventy centimeters long, it had a core stone embedded in the handguard. It was a vile creature that would emit a purple aura whenever it detected Divers, and it’d lunge at them from behind.
The Backstabber began to exude its purple aura (this purple had nothing to do with lightning). But just as the monster looked like it was about to lunge at us, Scrael made a move.
“This one’s easy,” she said as she instantly closed the gap, went behind the Backstabber, and grabbed it by the hilt.
The Backstabber struggled to get free from her grasp, but she held on tight. It was odd seeing a sword squirming around, but these things could also fly at people, so there was no point in questioning that.
“What are you gonna do with it?” I asked. “I usually beat them with magic.”
“This,” she said, then she casually slammed the Backstabber against the stone wall.
“Whaaat...”
Flabbergasted, I watched her as she repeatedly slammed it several more times. It was a surreal sight. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of swordsmanship in her swings. I almost felt sorry for it, but then I remembered it was a monster.
The Backstabber’s blade eventually shattered, and its core stone rolled across the floor.
Raising her fist, Scrael said, “Victory.”
“That was kind of cruel,” I said.
“This is the easiest way to do it.”
“Maybe you’re right. You can avoid touching the blade that way too.”
This place was full of monsters based on weapons and armor, perhaps because of the environment. Maybe the key to beating them was simply to swing them around recklessly like Scrael had just done.
Scrael’s long ears twitched, then clanging noises could be heard from down the passageway.
“They must’ve heard the noise,” she said.
“I wonder how. They don’t have any ears,” I said.
We already knew what was coming our way. They were a familiar sight in the Infinite Gray Castle: Living Armors. Lots of them. Even from a distance, I could see there were around ten of them. They hobbled toward us, their movements ungraceful since nothing occupied the interior of their armor. It was like a scene from a horror movie, but they weren’t strong at all, so there was no need to worry. I absolutely hated when they pretended to be normal armor and jump scared people though.
These things were annoying because I had to use magic to defeat them. There were quite a lot of them, so I prepared to cast a spell. But then I heard something.
“Mew!” yelled Carbuncle as it jumped off my backpack. It unleashed mana from its forehead, making a crackling noise as it emitted a field of purple electricity all around it. A moment later, lightning bolts shot out from the electricity field toward the Living Armors.
The Living Armors tried to evade the attack, but there were too many of them packed in the passageway. They were struck by the lightning blast and reduced to heaps of scrap metal all at once.
“Oooh,” said Scrael.
“Whoa, I’ve heard it can reflect magic, but this is my first time seeing it shoot magic on its own.”
Being able to use such powerful magic without incantations was super convenient. I could cast spells without incanting myself, but it was far less powerful that way, so I usually used incantations.
Carbuncle looked at me with a self-satisfied expression. I reached out to pat its head, thinking this little critter had quite the personality, but it leaped onto my arm, clung on with all four limbs, and sucked on my finger as usual. It reminded me of those videos on YourTube and TikTak where cats hung on to their owners’ arms and didn’t let go.
Scrael gave me a dubious look. “What...is it doing?”
“Replenishing mana, I think. It’s been sucking my mana since we first met,” I explained.
“It’s kind of cute.”
“It’s cute and all, but yeah...”
It might seem cute, but it was draining my mana. It was kind of brutal when you think about it.
I let Carbuncle recharge its mana for a while, then I collected the core stones with Scrael.
Suddenly, I realized something. “I haven’t been useful at all so far, have I?”
“We’re still on the easy floors,” said Scrael. “There’s nothing for you to do yet.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Just rest. Every Diver knows you should let mages reserve their energy on the early floors,” she insisted.
“I know, but still.”
It didn’t feel right that there was no opportunity for me to shine. I didn’t want her to think my existence here was pointless.
A while later, something happened on the floor after the Infinite Gray Castle, the Yellow Wall Vestiges at depth level 20.
“Get away. You creep me out. Come back when you get some eyelids,” I said to some Hypno Eyes as I shot my water gun filled with Kinkan anti-itch liniment at them, making them sizzle and fall to the ground.
Suddenly, Scrael froze.
“Scrae? Did you get hit by their hypnosis wave or something?” I asked.
I’d heard of people falling asleep where they stood because of it, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“No, it isn’t that,” said Scrael.
“Oh? Something else, then?” I asked, then I turned toward Carbuncle and said, “Oh, can you handle those ones over there?”
“Mew!” replied Carbuncle, then it went off to defeat the remaining eyeballs.
Scrael nodded softly, then said, “Can I ask you for a favor?”
“What is it?”
“I want to stop by the next safe point,” she said.
“Sure, but if you wanna rest, wouldn’t it be better to go a little further? The next stop is pretty small. Or are you not feeling well?” I said.
“It’s not that, but I can’t wait that long.”
“Why not?”
“W-Well...”
Scrael fidgeted, her face red. She seemed embarrassed about something. I was relieved to hear she wasn’t sick, but I wasn’t sure what the issue was.
I asked her again, then she looked down as she mumbled, “I...need to relieve myself.”
“Oh! Okay! I understand! Sorry about that! That makes sense!”
“Jeez, quiet down!” shouted Scrael, looking embarrassed.