"Let's go again today."
"Gyach."
"Gyagya."
"Purupuru." x2
I caught one more slime on my way back yesterday.
However, the newly caught slime is at its initial level, so if I make it into a GobGobSlaSla Club and attack with it, it might not be able to withstand it and could die.
Actually, it will die.
I don't particularly care if a few lowly creatures die, but if I have to replace them every time they die, my efficiency drops. A drop in leveling efficiency is unacceptable.
Therefore, I think I'll level up the slime a bit using the GobGobSlime Club first, then turn it into a GobGobSlaSla Club.
I'm pretty kind, treating lowly creatures so well. A model Monster Tamer.
"Goblins! Hug each other again today."
"Gyagya!"
"Gyach!"
Two goblins hugging is still disgusting as ever.
Well, I'm the one making them do it.
"Slime. Cover the goblins."
"Purupuru."
With this, the fearsome weapon that quadruples experience gain, the GobGobSlime Club, is complete... is what I'd like to say, but the slime I just caught yesterday at its initial level is covering the goblins.
"Not you. Go back to normal for now."
"Purupuru."
It's troublesome when orders don't get through properly. I guess I'll give them names.
A good name... Any name is fine for lowly creatures.
"You are Sla-One."
"Purupuru."
"You, who just joined, are Sla-Two."
"Purupuru."
Alright. That should work.
I could just call them Number One and Number Two, but if I just use numbers, it might get confusing when I add different types of monsters.
The goblins... I'll do them another time.
"Now, Sla-One, cover the goblins."
"Purupuru."
Sla-Two ruined the start, but the GobGobSlime Club is finally complete.
"Sla-Two. For now, just watch."
"Purupuru."
Well, if I don't give any orders, it'll probably just watch anyway.
And so I explored the second floor, and every time I encountered a goblin, I bashed it with the GobGobSlime Club, turned it into experience points, and just kept leveling up.
With quadruple efficiency, I gain experience easily. Plus, since my level has gone up, even running while exploring the second floor isn't much of a burden.
I can't run the whole time, but I don't get tired as easily. This is stamina I never would have had before becoming an explorer.
Even when running while holding the GobGobSlime Club, I only get a little sweaty after about 30 minutes, yet I'm still leveling up.
Thanks to that, my leveling efficiency keeps increasing, and my leveling pace is even better than yesterday. Probably, as my level rises further, I'll be able to level up while running the whole time.
In just two hours of exploring, I defeated 40 goblins, and my level reached 17.
"Status."
Status
Name: Sakura Kikyo
Class: Monster Tamer
Lv: 17 (Up 6)
HP: 46 (Up 13)
MP: 78 (Up 26)
SP: 13
Skills
Monster Taming 4, Monster Recovery 1
Tamed Monsters
Goblin Lv17, Slime Lv17, Goblin Lv16, Slime Lv13
Experience to Next Level: 138
First, I'll raise Monster Recovery. As it is now, I have to use Monster Recovery frequently, which makes MP efficiency poor. My MP isn't infinite either.
I'll put 6 points into Monster Recovery for now.
"That should do it. Status."
Status
Name: Sakura Kikyo
Class: Monster Tamer
Lv: 17
HP: 46
MP: 78
SP: 7
Skills
Monster Taming 4, Monster Recovery 7
Tamed Monsters
Goblin Lv17, Slime Lv17, Goblin Lv16, Slime Lv13
Experience to Next Level: 138
Now that Monster Recovery is level 7, 1 MP recovers 11 HP for a monster. It seems that each skill level increases the recovery amount by 1.
Normally, something like this would be a percentage. When a monster's HP reaches 500 or so, this is going to be tough.
Oh, but by then my MP will have increased accordingly. I guess it's not a problem?
For now, this much leveling for Sla-Two should be fine.
After this, I'll turn the GobGobSlime Club into a GobGobSlaSla Club and level up with quintuple experience.
"Sla-Two. Stick onto the GobGobSlime Club."
"Purupuru."
There. Level up smoothly and reach level 20—escape beginner level. I can already see intermediate explorer level.
If I'm a backline class exploring the third floor solo, I want to be level 25. Ideally, I'd like to raise it to 30.
The first two floors of the dungeon are a tutorial for beginners, but apparently the difficulty jumps sharply after that.
If you form a party of two or three with front and back line roles, the appropriate level for the third floor is 15. For solo play, a frontline class needs to be 18. A backline class supposedly needs 25.
However, one major obstacle stands in my way. That is the level 20 wall.
From level 1 to 19, the experience table increases by 10 each time: 20, 30, 40... The experience needed for level 19 is 190. Not too difficult.
So up to here is fine.
The problem is the experience needed for level 20. It jumps sharply to 2000.
Converting that to the usual 6 experience from a goblin, that means defeating 334 goblins. This is the main reason beginners are said to earn so little.
Even if you diligently defeat goblins on the second floor and pick up their 80-yen magic stones, people in parties can't earn much. Defeating 300 goblins in a day finally gets you 24,000 yen. Split in a two-person party, that's 12,000 yen a day. In a three-person party, 8,000 yen a day.
And defeating 300 goblins in a day is something only intermediate explorers above level 20 can do.
Unless you're solo, you might as well get a regular job.
And to make it worse, from level 20 onward, the experience table increases by 100 each time. So reaching level 21 requires 2100, and level 22 requires 2200.
Whoever came up with this experience table is seriously an idiot.
And I'm also an idiot for aiming to be a dungeon explorer, which is unpopular and said to be unprofitable these days.
"Gumu! Gumu!!"
"Hmm?"
I heard some noise, so I looked. The goblins completely covered by the slime were shaking their heads in distress, trying to tell me something.
What is it while I'm thinking?
"...Breathing!?"
Oh no! The goblins are suffocating!!
If they die, it'll be a pain to level them up again to restore their durability for use as weapons!
"Sla-Two! Don't cover the goblins' mouths!"
"Purupuru."
Sla-Two opened up space around the goblins' mouths, freeing them from breathing difficulty. They gasped for air and coughed heavily.
"You guys need oxygen and stuff. I didn't know."
I don't have any love or affection for monsters, but even I have enough heart to think that letting them suffocate is a bit much.
I'm not quite at the point of saying that lowly creatures don't need to breathe. I have a human heart too.
I'll be careful when using the GobGobSlaSla Club.
"Alright, you guys. Let's continue exploring."
I feel like I'm getting resentful glares from the goblins, but it's definitely not my fault. It's Sla-Two's fault for not thinking anything, right?