The Earth-san Has Leveled Up! - Volume 2 Chapter 18

Cave Area

 

Basically, what they do remained the same when they entered the 4 Floor.

 

Each person takes on one of three roles: main alert, mapping, and photographing, with the mapping and photographing person also proceeding with some caution.

 

Then, when an enemy appears, they immediately put down their backpacks and get into battle stance.

 

After a few rounds of combat, Meiko and the others found themselves in a cave.

 

It was a cave.

 

It was a cave that looked like a natural cave which had some human intervention.

 

From the outside, the interior was paved with cobblestones and lanterns.

 

It was about three meters wide, about the same width as the Torii path we had just walked down.

 

It was also about that high, so there did not seem to be much difficulty in fighting.

 

However, since it was a cave, the size did not always seem to be consistent.

 

“Are we going in here?”

 

Sasara said with some trepidation.

 

Ruru and Meiko seemed reluctant to go in as well.

 

Unfortunately, it was only a 15-minute walk from the bridge to this point.

 

If they could explore the forest area outside the Torii gate, they could expand their exploration zone as much as they wanted, but they got chills as soon as they entered the area outside the gate, and they did not want to go against their instincts.

 

“I guess we’ll have to go in. But look, the lanterns are lit.”

 

The lanterns standing in the cave were already lit, and there was plenty of light.

 

“Wow, I understand. Then, everyone, follow me, please!”

 

Sasara offered, placing her hand on her chest, but her legs were trembling.

 

Sasara was beginning to take pride in the fact that she was an apprentice knight and would protect everyone.

 

She had never heard of the term “Tank Profession,” and it was probably because of her spirit of being a lady that she had come to this way of thinking.

 

This girl was not just talking nonsense.

 

That’s why she declared that she would enter at the head of the line, but she was a bit weepy.

 

Meiko and Ruru did not go against it and followed behind Sasara.

 

“Maybe there will be some nocturnal enemies here, so if any of them look strong, we’ll run away at once.”

 

Meiko makes such an assumption only in a cave where no sunlight reaches.

 

After entering the cave and advancing 10 meters, the path gradually started to curve, and we could no longer see the light outside.

 

The lineup was a triangle formation, with Sasara in the front and the two in the back. The name of the formation is “I don’t like to be last because I am most afraid of the back”.

 

Sasara was in the lead, Ruru was behind and photographing, and Meiko was in charge of mapping.

 

After a while, they encountered an enemy.

 

It was a bat with the face of a cat with one eye.

 

Fortunately, it was just one.

 

“Let’s fight it.”

 

Meiko suggested, since it did not look strong.

 

Immediately ready for battle, Meiko set her magic on the grimoire.

 

But while she was doing so, the enemy made the first move.

 

 [biaaaah]. 

 

A cat bat hanging upside down on the ceiling made an eerie mewing sound.

 

The next moment, the three of them were swept backwards.

 

Fortunately, there was no wall behind them, but they all fell over.

 

Sasara and Ruru stood up, taking a defensive stance, and Meiko, who had fallen, choked on her own breath as she fired a loaded fireball.

 

The fireball flew through the cave, illuminating the cave in red light, and hit the cat bat.

 

 [Gaaaaaah! ] 

 

The cat bat, which had become a fireball, screamed and fell, jittering a bit before disappearing in a flash of light.

 

“Are you two okay?”

 

“Nya!”

 

“I’m fine, Meiko-san, are you okay as well?”

 

“I’m fine too. But still, what the heck is that enemy?”

 

The defense was paper-thin.

 

This was the first enemy in this dungeon that could be defeated with a single fireball.

 

But the attack was nasty.

 

Although it was not inhabited by a doomed scream, the normal cry was inhabited by what seemed to be a general attack.

 

It caused everyone to be blown about a meter and toppled over.

 

Meiko suffered a blow that was so disastrous that she fell over and slammed her back down on the floor. Her breath choked for a moment, but not to the point where it interfered with her actions.

 

Sasara and the others were able to quickly recover and get back on their feet, but it still hurt a little.

 

Meiko guessed that the attack would have been quite painful if they had not been equipped with enhanced equipment.

 

“I guess we’ll just have to take it down as soon as it appears.”

 

“But the attack came out so fast, didn’t it?”

 

“Can’t Meiko’s book set magic all the time?”

 

“Yes, I can. It is possible, but it’s quite difficult to keep it in the book without launching it.”

 

Meiko’s grimoire, as she just mentioned, could be put a magic on standby all the time.

 

But she had to control it to keep it from flying away, just like pulling on the rubber of a slingshot to keep it in place.

 

That’s why she didn’t do it in her previous explorations, but it might be necessary in the cave exploration.

 

Meiko explained this and then suggested.

 

“I’ll lead the way in the cave. If I make a mistake in maintaining the magic, and it goes off, I might hit the person walking in front of me.”

 

With that suggestion, the positions were switched.

 

Meiko immediately set two shots of magic in her grimoire and started walking.

 

There was one side effect here.

 

The fireballs set in the grimoire could be substituted for the torches.

 

Although the lanterns were originally quite bright, they inevitably cast shadows, so this made the three of them feel a little more secure.

 

While they had been chatting while exploring outside the cave, they were not talking much inside.

 

Ruru, who could no longer stand the silence, which consisted only of the sound of footsteps and the rustling of clothes, opened his mouth.

 

“I went to a limestone cave with my mom and dad once.”

 

“Oh, did you have fun?”

 

“Yes, I surprised my mom on the way there. I saw her hips right in front of me, so I hugged her.”

 

“Hmmm, was your mother surprised?”

 

“No, I was surprised, because before I knew it, I realized that I was following someone I didn’t even know.”

 

“Oh, is this a horror story?”

 

“Would you stop telling that kind of horror story in this situation?”

 

“Ah.”

 

Meiko, who had been distracted, fired a magic shot.

 

The magic standby mode had no resistance at first. It was as if the magic itself knew it would be fired soon.

 

But the longer the standby mode lasted, the more she had to focus her attention the whole time. The misfire now was, of course, because Ruru had distracted her.

 

“Sorry, misfire.”

 

Meiko apologized to the two as they rushed into battle stance.

 

“It’s hard work, isn’t it?”

 

“Well, this is also training. Maybe once I get used to it, it will become a good skill to use as a weapon.”

 

She set the magic again and listened to Ruru.

 

“It’s not a horror story, Desu. I just made a mistake somewhere. But the woman was so surprised that she cried because I startled her. She was on a tour with her friends, and I felt sorry for her.”

 

“No, it was probably a good memory, wasn’t it?”

 

“Yes, it was. But please don’t do that to me, Ruru-san.”

 

It was quite a rare experience to go on a limestone cave tour and be startled unexpectedly by a child I didn’t know at all.

 

At the same time, though, my friends will be telling me about it for the rest of my life. You were made to cry by a child in a cave, right?

 

As they continued on their way, Meiko soon had to launch another fireball.

 

This time, however, it was not a misfire, there was a cat bat on the ceiling.

 

The fireballs were aimed right at the cat bat and shot it down.

 

This time, they did make the first move.

 

After a while, they saw a hole in the direction they were going.

 

“I’ll scout it out!”

 

Ruru moved quickly, stuck to the wall, and peeked into the side hole.

 

“What!”

 

Ruru hurriedly back-stepped and came straight back towards Meiko and the others.

 

“Guh, there was a Doll in the dark, I was so scared!”

 

Meiko and Sasara looked at each other as Ruru reported with a shudder.

 

At any rate, the three of them went to the side hole area, prepared only for an immediate battle.

 

Then, they leaped in front of the hole, hoping to start the battle.

 

“”What?””

 

The side hole was about 3 meters deep.

 

A Japanese Doll was standing there.

 

The light from a lantern shaded the wall at the entrance of the hole, eerily illuminating half of its face.

 

The image was so terrifying that Meiko’s magic fired two shots at the same time.

 

The Fire Bullet didn’t hit, but the Water Bullet did.

 

Knocking back, Japanese Doll hitting the wall behind it hard and begins to move as soon as it rolled on the ground.

 

The Doll’s torso was severely damaged by the smashing, and its face is covered with cracks. Only its eyes were glowing red, and that was also frightening.

 

Sasara quickly put in a stab and turned it back to light.

 

“S, scary…”

 

Meiko said her thoughts as if to vent from her pounding heart.

 

It was better to put these things into words.

 

“Tsuchinoko desu!”

 

With a warning, Ruru swings her ninja sword.

 

Meiko, who had been distracted by the side hole, was about to be attacked by a Tsuchinoko who came out from behind the lantern.

 

Tsuchinoko opened its mouth to bite Meiko in the back of the knee, but was cut in two.

 

“Oh, sorry, thank you!”

 

“Nya!”

 

“It’s a nasty cave, isn’t it…”

 

The two nodded in agreement to Sasara’s words.

 

While the Japanese Doll was horrifying and cackling at full speed in the side hole, a Tsuchinoko attacked from the shadows behind them. It was very vicious.

 

“And yet, not only is the Tsuchinoko a thief, but she also attacks like this…”

 

“You are here, you thief,” Meiko muttered in her mind, and almost burst out laughing.

 

This cave was a straight path, and after a while they were able to go outside.

 

The only things that came out of the cave were a cat bat, Japanese doll, and Tsuchinoko, but not in groups of three, only two.

 

Meiko shot down the cat bats as soon as she found them, Sasara took care of the Japanese Dolls, and Ruru did a good job of finding the Tsuchinoko.

 

The cat bats dropped flying films and cat fangs.

 

The flying film was very compatible with boots and thimble gloves and was synthesized as soon as it was obtained.

 

The cat’s fangs, although small, went well with metal weapons.

 

From Tsuchinoko, they obtained a fine snakeskin.

 

This also worked well with boots and thimble gloves.

 

In general, the cave stage was scary with the Japanese Doll. The face lit by the lantern light was simply terrifying.

 

The second mountain was made to alternate between a mountain trail and a cave, starting with this cave.

 

There were occasional forks in both directions, and if I had not drawn a map, I would have certainly gotten lost.

 

The cave was frightening, but the mountain path was as beautiful as ever.

 

The natural breath of spring sunlight was dazzlingly shimmering, and the occasional cherry tree standing still had its petals fluttering in the air.

 

Meiko and her friends were so relieved when they stepped out of the cave and saw the scene filled with light.

 

It was a beautiful place, and Meiko and the others stopped to do some Winsta filming together.

 

Meiko and her friends were not military, they were 15 years old girls. They all felt that they would be crushed without this kind of fun during their long dungeon exploration.

 

In fact, shooting in the beautiful scenery kept the three of them highly motivated, even though it was their third day of dungeon exploration.

 

The red Torii gate still continued, under which Meiko and the others were engaged in mortal combat with the demons.

 

The density of the battle increased as the enemies were now organized in groups of three, and with it, the three’s combat skills and coordination became more and more advanced.

 

As Sasara and Ruru’s magic power increased, Sasara was able to incorporate slash swords and Ruru was able to incorporate high-speed movement into their tactics.

 

In the midst of all this, the Japanese Doll finally made a Rare Drop.

 

Japanese Doll’s Rare Drop was a dagger, not the 30 cm miniature katana that Doll carried, but a proper human sized dagger.

 

The length of the dagger itself was about the same, about 30 cm, but there was a big difference in the thickness of the blade and its construction.

 

Ruru was given this one.

 

Ruru was very eager to carry it, and since he was a NINJA, it was only natural that such a person should have more than one weapon.

 

Ruru quickly put it on the back of her waist, and the ninja sword and dagger became bunched together.

 

Meiko wondered if it would be hard to pull out, but Ruru expertly twisted her waist and pulled the sword out in one or two breaths.

 

Meiko was getting the urge to become an apprentice NINJA in earnest.

 

They also found a treasure chest, which contained a medicine for recovering from poison.

 

they bought some at the cat store, but there’s no such thing as having too many of them.

 

“The Tsuchinoko is probably poisonous?”

 

This stuff came out of the treasure chest, and as Ruru noted, maybe it was a possibility.

 

Fortunately, so far they were not bitten by a Tsuchinoko, but everybody recognized that they should keep that possibility in mind.