Translator: Charlotte　Editor: Weasalopes

When I left the hall and went back the way I came, something was different.
Floating Bombs appeared from out of nowhere.
Well, there weren"t that many of them, and Obsidian and Jean took care of them on their own.
Although I did try to do as much as I could at the front.
The same was with Senki.
Ninetails just ran away.
Although Ninetails only did it to find a better spot to support me from.

I wanted to see how Jean would do after the Cla.s.s Change.
Honestly, I didn"t really see a difference.
Well, it would come to me eventually.

Anyway.
I arrived at the treasure chest room.
It definitely felt like a trap.
But it was the only way forward.
I had no choice but to open it.

Having said that… I had no idea how to open it safely.
I didn"t have any skills to detect traps.
I felt like Lambda had one of those skills.
But even if I knew a skill to detect a trap, I would have to use it on the trap itself.
I had a bad feeling about that too.

I tried a lot of different things, and ended up just tying a rope around the treasure chest.
The lid was on the top of the chest, so I just tied a rope around that.
Here we go…
I pulled.
The floor collapsed with a loud noise.
But not straight down.
The floor collapsed in a downwards slope.
I used【Flashlight】to look down the hole, but all I could see was dust.
I couldn"t see anything.

「Air Current Control!」

If it was dust I was dealing with, I could forcibly blow it away.
I pulled air from deep inside the hole.
I unexpectedly was still able to breathe relatively normally.

When the dust was gone, I peeked into the hole one more time.
There were stairs.
Small rocks were scattered everywhere.
I found the treasure chest.
But it was empty.
A trap, huh.

But what for?
I overlooked that point a bit.
I fell straight into another trap
As soon as I went down the stairs I had to deal with it again.
Yeah…
Another Monster House.

And there was a monster I"d never seen before.
Let"s see…

Skeleton Soldier　Lv.2
Monster　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Land　Dark Attribute

There was one skeleton that looked bigger than the others, but it didn"t look too special.
The rest were normal skeletons.
I really didn"t feel like fighting them.

But what numbers, what density…
It was a fight that was definitely going to get out of hand.
I held both tonfas and ran into the front.
My aim was to help Senki guard the stairs.
But I still couldn"t descend.
They kept coming.
I couldn"t advance and let them surround me.

「Gravel Blast!」

The skeletons covering my vision were blown away in an instant.
About half of them were taken out instantly.
Although, I didn"t know if I could say I "killed" them. They were already undead.

The ones that were still "alive" were quickly taken care of by Senki, Obsidian, and Jean.
Ninetails shot b.a.l.l.s of light from behind me.
Great.
I had a good feeling about the fight.

When we managed to get a little more ground, I decided to change my strategy.

「Fire Storm!」

I hit them with a【Fire Magic】spell.
Looked like it worked well.
Too well, almost.
A single spell took out all of the skeletons.
What?

I used the spell one more time, and all the bones on the ground were cleared away.
The only one remaining was the Skeleton Soldier.
Its HP bar looked like it was about to fall to zero, but it was recovering at an amazing speed.

I won"t let that happen.

I rushed at the monster.
The monster swung something like a sword down at me, but I dodged and used my tonfas to hit its head.
Its skull broke.
The wisp inside its skull was scattered by the force.
Next.
I stuck my other tonfa into its ribcage, and used a lever action to break it open.
The other wisp in its ribcage disappeared.
The fight was over.

《Summon Monster『Ninetails』Level Up!》
《Please put 1 point into a desired stat.》

Ooh.
I thought it was a bit early, but I understood why when I saw Ninetails"s MP bar.
It was a bit hard to tell how much support Ninetails was doing.

The stat that went up during the level-up was INT.
I put a point into SPI.

Ninetails　Red Fox Lv3→Lv4 (↑1)
DEX　9
AGI　20
INT　20 (↑1)
STR　9
VIT　9
SPI　19 (↑1)

Skills:
Bite　Evade　Dash　Predict Danger　MP Regeneration [Slight]　Light Attribute

Ninetails was growing nicely.
It would take a while for me to line up the stats nicely though.

Some of the monsters were reduced to ashes, but from the ones that were still lying around I got three Magic Stones.
A pretty small number, considering the size of the pack I just too out.
And that was with【Disa.s.sembly】working its magic too…

I kept going into a hall.
The hall had four exits, each leading to what I presumed to be smaller rooms.
There was also a big gate in the middle, but it was sealed shut by magic.
The exit?
Well, I could leave it for later.

I checked out each of the smaller exits to see what was in them.
As long as Ninetails didn"t freak out, it would be alright.
Yep. It was as I expected.
The four exits led to four empty small rooms.
Unfortunate.

My only option was to tackle the big gate in the middle.
Alright.
Let"s see…

I used【Unlock】to open the gate.
But I got Senki to actually pull the gate open.
A weird stench filled the air.
A burnt kind of smell.
I kept going.

The path forward had stairs going upwards.
Something was burning at the top of the stairs.
I got Obsidian and Jean to take the lead, and I followed along with Senki.
Ninetails gracefully stayed on Senki"s shoulder.
Smart.

It looked like Jean and Obsidian were taking out some monsters on their own.
There were quite a few Gremlin bodies scattered on the stairs.
Too many, actually…
It wasn"t Jean and Obsidian.
It was the work of other Summon Monsters.

I ran into Adele and Irina.
Obsidian and Jean returned to my shoulders.

「Huhhh?」

「What brings you here, Keith?」

I was just about to ask the same thing…

「What a coincidence.」

They were already in a union and were exploring before me.
Wait…
Does that mean the floor trap resets itself?

I listened to their story and realised that that wasn"t the case.
They went in a different branch, but it led to the same place.
I didn"t expect that

「Well, I guess that just means we can save the trouble of exploring.」

「Or it just means our whole trip was a waste of time.」

「Don"t say that…」

I calmed down the two of them and we returned by the way I came.
Although for them, I suppose they were continuing forward.

We formed a『Union』and had a conversation in whispers while we kept going. We mostly talked about Jean.

『I would definitely have gone with poison!』

『Yeah, but monsters with attributes are pretty good too.』

『That"s just because you have a viper!』

Yeah.
It wasn"t a fight, but it was clear that their preferences were different.
I was struggling to decide too just a short while ago.

『Keith, which of your Summon Monsters do you think will get a Cla.s.s Change next?』

『Helix, I guess? Pretty soon, too.』

『Although it is difficult for Helix to shine here…』

We kept talking while we walked.
The horde of skeletons I ran into earlier was starting to revive.
It was just one skeleton though.
It was demolished by Senki in mere moments.
How cruel.

The trap didn"t go back to the way it was.
We kept going up the stairs normally.
Even the hall where I saw the Gozu and the Mezu was empty.
Well, that was boring.

The collapsed ceiling that was blocking my way back earlier wasn"t there anymore.
We kept going.
We met some Gremlins, but there weren"t too many of them, and we easily took them out.
No problems.
Obsidian, Jean, and on top of that, Adele and Irina"s owl and bat made for a wonderful team.
We could calmly leave all the fighting to them.

『Oh yeah, did you get to fight a Gozu or a Mezu?』

『Yes.』

『They were strong!』

A Wood Golem stood next to Irina.
A viper was coiled around its neck.
Adele had two wolves with her.
They had a Wood Golem to act as a tank, so I was sure they would do fine.
And with all the other Summon Monsters they could overwhelm any foe.
Although I hadn"t seen them fight in a while.
We didn"t run into any tough monsters on the way to the main cave.

We exited the branch and entered the main cave.
It was wide enough for three parties to fight side-by-side.
It would make for pretty easy fights.
We headed towards the next branch.
It was the branch closest to W2 from where I entered.
But the branch was like an intersection.
I went west.
Adele and Irina went east.

「They can"t smell anything, so we should be alright.」

Adele confirmed that we were treading into unexplored territory.

「Well, see you later.」

「You want to race?」

「Adele, I don"t think it"s the time for that.」

「We"ll probably meet up in the village at the latest.」

Yep.
That much was certain.

I decided to reorganize my team a bit.
I recalled Jean and summoned Goki.
Goki and Senki were pretty good together.
I also recalled Ninetails and summoned Rig.
Senki was taking all the beatings against the Gozu and the Mezu.
If Rig could take some of the beatings for Senki, that would be nice.

「Geheh!」

「Gishii!」

Well, they seemed as happy as always, but their grunts still sounded off.
Rig said nothing, and crawled on Senki"s back.

It was a good idea.
I soon ran into Kobolds.
And quite a few of them too.
With Rig on his back, Senki could go wild.
It looked like a dam broke somewhere in Senki"s mind.
Although somewhere in me I had faith that Senki was still controlling himself to some extent.
Obsidian was the same as always.
Obsidian"s strategy of dealing attacks from the ceiling did not change.
My conquest was going smoothly.

I was starting to worry that I was going in a loop.
And I had a feeling I would have to fight another Gozu and Mezu soon.
I used【Sense Magic】to look for a hidden exit, and used【Unlock】when I found it.
What was inside?
A hall.
There were no exits except for the one I came from.
It was also a bit wider than the last one.
And, of course…

Gozu　Lv.4
Phantom　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Land　Fire Attribute

Mezu　Lv.4
Phantom　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Land　Fire Attribute

What?
I had a feeling they were stronger than last time.
Did they have a higher level?

「Physical Enchant: Fire!」

I ran into the front.
I kept preparing to cast my next spell.
It was going to become a close-range magic fight.
The two monsters did the same.
My answer was this:

「Physical Enchant: Fire!」

I strengthened Goki.
I was sure they were pretty strong.
They were at a higher level, too.
I had to do everything I could do tip the scales in my favour.
It was a sound strategy.
There was no time for doubts.

「Gigigii!」

「Gehe!」

I could get a decent idea of how the pair was doing from just their screams.
They were having fun.
I dealt with the Mezu on my own again, and had the opportunity to test out a few things.
First, the Weapon Arte【Counter】.
I could use it.
But I had to look for a chance to use it.
It was easy for me to see through the Mezu"s attack patterns.

I also knew that the moment I could get it to release its staff, the battle would be won.
All I had to do was focus my attacks on its wrist.
But the punishment would be harsh for missing.

There was worth in testing it out, though.
I only grasped a tonfa in my left hand, and left my right hand empty.
I was planning to do a throw.
The Mezu stared straight at me and rushed at me.
It was easy to read what it was going to do. All I needed to do was trip it a little.
The tonfa came in handy just for that.

I was attacked again by my bad habit.
Yes, that bad habit…
I was starting to have fun.

The Mezu sent its fists at me time and time again, and I ducked to dodge it each time, before countering its attack.
I grabbed its legs and threw it onto the ground.
I kicked it while it was down to prevent it from getting up.
I enjoyed myself for a while.
Although I was worried about how slowly the Mezu"s HP bar was falling.

「Volcanic Shot!」

I felt like I had to do some real damage soon, so I started using attack spells.
At the end of the day, I had to win.
I stopped having fun and got serious.

I used all the physical enchant spells I knew on myself.
I used【Lower ATK】and【Lower DEF】on the Mezu.
But even then, the Mezu was still stronger.
I had no choice but to slowly acc.u.mulate damage on it while I dodged its attacks.
And its attacks were pretty brutal too.

I looked over at my other Summon Monster.
They had already taken care of the Gozu.
Senki was sitting down on the Gozu"s body, watching me.
Senki kept himself busy by trying to wrench the Gozu"s fork out of its hand.
How relaxed.
Well, whatever.
He deserved a break.

I finally took out the Mezu.
One final jab to the belly with my elbow.
Or maybe it was the【Stone Bullet】I fired at about at the same time?
It didn"t matter.

《【Wind Magic】Level Up!》

Great.
It was a good fight.

The Gozu and Mezu disappeared.
Their weapons disappeared along with them.
Senki freaked out a bit upon realising that the fork he had been trying to grab for so long just disappeared.
I gave a small sigh.
Senki wasn"t the brightest.

But I saw that they did leave something behind.
Hmm?

【Material】h.e.l.l"s Latch　Part　Grade C+　Rarity 5　Weight 4
The latch for the Gate of h.e.l.l. It is made of evergreen oak wood.
Very durable and hard.
A mature piece of wood that has been tested by h.e.l.lfire.

What?

《【Appraise】Level Up!》

Ooh, that was nice.
But…

What?

I decided to leave it for later.
For the time being, I kept going.

There were no traps or hidden exits in the hall.
In other words, a dead end?
There was nothing I could do.
I started headed back.

I arrived at the main cave.
I could see the branch Adele and Irina went into in front of me.
I decided to explore another branch.
There were two still other branches left.

According to Irina, she first went into the second branch from W2.
I headed towards the two branches we hadn"t explored yet.

But I soon had to deal with another intersection.
I took the path going west.
Why? Because I saw people"s shadows in the path to the east.
It was a natural choice I didn"t even have to think about.

Actually, I wasn"t too sure about that.
But I decided to call it fate.

Anyway.
I was already expecting monsters to come out, when I ran into Goblins.
I felt like I had heard about this branch of the cave at the meeting.
So, it"s already been explored…

Well, there was no harm in proceeding.
I had plenty of time.

Oops.
Looked like I made a small mistake.
I was too late to the cave. All the monsters were already gone.
Unfortunate.

I kept going.
The road was slightly inclined downwards and twisted left and right.
I felt like I was heading underground.

I finally reached a hall, but it wasn"t a Monster House.
I used【Sense Magic】to look for a hidden exit, but I didn"t find anything.
There weren"t any Gozu or Mezu too.
Did I make a mistake somewhere?

It luckily wasn"t a dead end, and the next hall was more normal.
I ran into a Gozu and a Mezu.

Gozu　Lv.1
Phantom　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Land　Fire Attribute

Mezu　Lv.1
Phantom　Enemy Target　Active
Battle Position: Land　Fire Attribute

What?
What was with the low level?
I had no idea what was happening.

But I did have a good idea of how to fight them.
My MP bar was still at 60%.
More than enough.
As long as I didn"t get careless, I would be fine.

《Summon Monster『Senki』Level Up!》
《Please put one point into a desired stat.》

They were definitely weaker than the Lv.4 ones.
But they were still strong, stronger than even an Orc Leader.
I took some damage, but it wasn"t anything major.

Well, leaving that for later…
Senki had been doing a lot of work, it was about time for him to gain another level.
Senki probably took some damage, but with Rig acting as his body armour, I wasn"t worried.
I was glad to see Senki growing nicely.

The stat that went up with the level-up was SPI.
Strange…
Senki"s lowest stat went up.
I decided to put another point into DEX.

Senki　Beast Ape Lv6→Lv7 (↑1)
DEX　11 (↑1)
AGI　20
INT　6
STR　25
VIT　25
SPI　6 (↑1)

Skills:
Punch　Kick　Throw　Block　Evade　Climb　Throw

I wanted to see Senki grow stronger, but I had to keep in mind that Senki was using throws a lot too.
I was sure that points in DEX would come in handy.
A Cla.s.s Change for Senki, huh…
Just thinking about it got me pretty excited.

Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human　Male　Racial Lv13
Job　Summoner Lv13
Bonus Points Remaining: 10

Skill Sets:
Staff Lv11　Punch Lv8　Kick Lv8　Joint Lock Lv8　Throw Lv8　Evade Lv8　Block Lv8　 Summon Magic Lv13　s.p.a.cetime Magic Lv6
Light Magic Lv7　Wind Magic Lv8 (↑1) 　Earth Magic Lv7　Water Magic Lv7　Fire Magic Lv7　　Dark Magic Lv7　Ice Magic Lv5　Lightning Magic Lv5　Tree Magic Lv5　Dust Magic Lv5　Lava Magic Lv5　Steam Magic Lv5
Alchemy Lv6　Pharmacy Lv5　Gla.s.smaking Lv3　Woodworking Lv4
Synergy Lv10　Appraise Lv10 (↑1) 　Identify Lv10　Discern Lv3　Cold Resistance Lv5　Grab Lv7　Horsemanship Lv7　Precise Manipulation Lv9　Jump Lv4　Heat Resistance Lv4　Climb Lv4　Dual Wield Lv6　Disa.s.sembly Lv6
Physical Reinforcement Lv5　Mental Reinforcement Lv6　Speedcasting Lv8　Spell Effect Amplification Lv4　Spell Range Amplification Lv4

Equipment:
Kaya Wood Rod x1　Kaya Wood Tonfa x2　Enraged Pickaxe+ x2　Silver Necklace+　 Snow Leopard Push Dagger x1　Gale Tiger Push Dagger x2　Snow Leopard Bagh Nakh x1
Wild Horse Leather Armour+　Snow Ape Armguard　Wild Horse Boots+　Snow Ape Leather Helmet　Rabid Horse Belt+　Rucksack　Item Box x2

Items:
Survival Knife　Woodworking Set

t.i.tles:
Old Summoner"s Pupil
Guardian of the Forest
Man of the Middle Path
Spell Glossary

Monster Summons:
Volff　Grey Wolf Lv2　Under Death Penalty
Zangetsu　White Horse Lv1
Helix　Hawk Lv7
Obsidian　Mystic Owl Lv1
Jean　Black Bat Lv1
Jericho　Wood Golem Lv6
Goki　Demon Lv6
Senki　Beast Ape Lv6→Lv7 (↑1)
DEX　11 (↑1)
AGI　20
INT　6
STR　25
VIT　25
SPI　6 (↑1)
Skills:
Punch　Kick　Throw　Block　Evade　Climb　Throw

Rig　Slime Lv5
Bunraku　Wood Puppet Lv4
Mumyo　Skeleton Lv5
Ninetails　Red Fox Lv3→Lv4 (↑1)
DEX　9
AGI　20
INT　20 (↑1)
STR　9
VIT　9
SPI　19 (↑1)
Skills:
Bite　Evade　Dash　Predict Danger　MP Regeneration [Slight]　Light Attribute

Heather　Fairy Lv3