After successfully annihilating the Marman herd.
We were on the lookout for the bandits, reaching the safety point on the last thirty-two levels.
"No, I'm sorry! Thank God."
An adventurer in front of him, sitting on the ground, says Nico laughing.
"I accidentally hooked up with that old crowd. I was going to shake off the tage in the right place, but you annoyed me. Oh, I'm Teto. As you can see, he's a bandit."
The bandit named him Teto.
To a slightly longer dark hair, he had a slightly higher voice, a neutral face and I was wondering which... from the name and tone he was apparently a boy.
Mid-teens, maybe? Younger than Cocor and Melina, you don't look so far apart from being old enough for me to be an adventurer.
I shake my head and answer.
"Don't worry about it. Adventurers are good for each other in trouble. I'm Alvin. Swordsman. This is Cocor the Cleric, Merina the Mage. We meet in this dungeon and we're having an extraordinary party."
"Heh, temporary? Well, that happens, doesn't it? And your brothers are strong. Could they all be solo enough to dive deep?
"I am..."
"I've been there a few times. I'm afraid of accidents, so I usually avoid them."
"Wow, I've never dived alone... yet"
Nevertheless, the two of us probably won't have a problem solo.
Teto says Nico.
"It's amazing just to be able to go with a demon mentor. Hey, even though it's a job not suitable for solos. The cleric's sister, that's right. It doesn't make sense for a recovery job to go solo and deep. But it's cool that you're a senior cleric. And your brother was someone you were used to, after all. There's only three of us, but it was a pretty high level party."
"If you ask me, I will."
Thanks to Cocor, the average level of this party is higher than mine.
Think about it, this may have been the first time I've been in a party longer than my height. Because I used to dive into weak parties and help them level up and all that.
I ask.
"Is that who you are?
"Hmm? That's right."
"What were you doing in a place like this?
"What, if you say banditry is what you do solo, it's decided. Crate fishing and occasional experience."
Teto says with a laugh.
Occupations displayed in the status change the benefits they benefit from depending on their type. For example, if you are a swordsman, the STR (muscle strength) increases among the parameters, and the attack power of the sword attribute weapon increases. If you are a magician or cleric, MP and WIS (magic) will increase, allowing you to use attack magic and healing magic.
If this is a bandit, AGI (Agility) increases, increasing the power of knives and sword-throwing weapons, as well as greatly increasing the success rate of unlocking items.
Crates contain something as good as deep, but are often locked for that matter. Since other professions had to rely on expensive unlocking items, more than half of the deep chests were in the exclusive state of banditry.
Profitability is expected without relying on drops, and quite combative, shaking it off with high AGI (agility) even when targeted by a large number of monsters. It was therefore said that banditry was the most solo-oriented profession. In fact, styles like Teto says aren't uncommon either.
"Me, even if it looks like this, it's pretty level. I can totally afford this kind of hierarchy."
"Sure, Marman was defeated normally, too."
Teto was in the fight from the middle of nowhere, but he also seemed to be proficient in handling swords and knives. I remember using a weapon that looked a lot expensive. I guess that's all you have.
It's just...,
"But why in this dungeon? I think there's a better place for solos..."
"Sort of. But places like that are popular, so the number of crates you can collect is limited. There are no people here, and even deep into small splits. It's an unexpected hole."
"Really?"
I'm convinced.
Even with the same solo, apparently things are different for swordsmen and bandits.
"I thought you had negative skills too."
"Negative skills? Oh, my brothers. Could you have come to believe that rumor?
"Rumors?"
"The boss here says he drops items that erase his skills. Haha, that's not true."
"What do you mean?"
Inquire like Melina is upset.
"I think I've confirmed the majority of the text here, but at least I don't think that interpretation is wrong. How can you say all that?
"It's easy. Because there is no precedent. I'm a bandit, so I'm pretty sure I'm familiar with the items, but I've never heard of any other similar items. Instead of items, skills and magic don't have that effect, do they? Assuming there was such an item, it would be extremely rare. I don't think I'm gonna drop it in such a small dungeon."
"… there are items that lower the parameters, and some buffs grant pseudo-skills like physical resistance penetration. No wonder there's the opposite."
"It's all temporary, isn't it? I don't think the item is going to be like that forever by messing with its status."
Teto says with a laugh.
"Maybe your sister was someone with negative skills? Then I'm sorry, but you shouldn't have any weird expectations. The three of us, no matter how high the level, the boss will be tough, and what if we turn back around here already?
……
Melina suddenly shut up.
It's about her. Rather than being in a bad mood, he probably thought it made sense what Tet said.
In the meantime, I open my mouth.
"Mr. Teto. I appreciate the advice, but we're gonna keep going."
"Hmmm...... why?
"We all dived into this dungeon for that boss drop. It's not something you can give up on that level of possibility."
Teto dilutes his grin.
"I don't think your brothers probably know... there's even forty layers of this dungeon. Naturally, the boss room is there too."
Forty floors.
That was a much deeper hierarchy than I had assumed.
Totally medium dungeon level depth. I can't dive very well in solo either, let alone be the boss, and at least I'm going to have to throw a party for four or more people in the same level band.
"No matter how high the level, don't think it's hard for the three of us. You should stop."
"Still... I'm not going to turn back. It was certainly a deeper hierarchy than assumed. So I don't know if I'm going to try the boss as it is on this adventure...... at least I want to go into the boss room and do enough to check the attributes and attack patterns. To challenge you in a complete manner next."
Looking back and forth, Cocor and Melina were nodding.
Even they won't want to give up this much.
"... hmm... are you really going to go?
"Oh."
"Ha... ok"
And that's where Teto gets up and says it doesn't look like he has a choice.
"I can't help it. Then I'll take you to your boss's room."
"Eh."
"Brothers, you're not mapping from here down, are you? I'll show you around. I've been there once, and I know the monsters that leave, so I can move forward efficiently. You don't want to wear it out before the boss, do you?
"It... helps"
"Fine. I just finished collecting the chests around here. Oh, yeah, yeah. - Yes, drink this."
So Teto takes four vials out of storage and gives them away.
There was yellow-green liquid shaking inside.
Sounds like some kind of potion...
"It's a potion that grants poison resistance. The one that can even prevent severe poisoning. There's a poison monster coming out of here down there, so use it."
"Well, if it's poison resistant, even my buff..."
"Your sister's going to use the MP, and if it's a buff, it'll cut right off, right? 'Cause I'll keep this for hours."
"I appreciate it... okay?
"Yeah. Apologies for bothering me"
Teto handed us the vials, one by one, and he took care of the rest himself.
Let's go.
We looked at each other and stood up.
I'm lucky, although I've been able to have concerns about the boss's hierarchy and drops. I honestly appreciated knowing where the roads and safe points were without mapping.
With that in mind, I have a poison-resistant potion...
"... Huh!?
Shortly afterwards, he fell to the ground.
I can't move my legs. I can't get up, I can't get my hands on it. All I could do was to a slight degree of humility, as if I no longer had a general feeling.
Confused, I only understood what had happened.
Because in the corner of my sight, I saw a letter for a moment.
State Abnormality: Paralysis.