「Now then, it’s finally the last desert floor. ……Although, it’s hard to believe this is a desert when it looks like this, right?」

「Guru~」

Rei murmured at the sight of the oasis before him on the 15th floor. Set gave a cry in agreement.

The day after the incident with Sky Bells at the guild, Rei, Elena, and Set had entered the dungeon again as usual.

「It certainly doesn’t look like a desert. That said.」

As Elena heard Rei’s words, she pulled down her cloak hood.

The next moment, the intense desert heat wrapped around her face and she soon put her hood back on.

「Temperature wise, it’s still a desert……or even hotter than the previous floors. Fortunately, thanks to the oases, water won’t be a problem.」

Elena glanced over at the nearby oasis as she said that.

In the previous floors, bottles of water were essential, but on the 15th floor, water could be found everywhere, so there was no need to worry about bringing water and carrying it around.

(Though that is still limited to those who are skilled or are lucky.)

Elena thought to herself as she looked at some bloodstains near the oasis.

「Anyhow, it will be hard for Set to scout from the sky with all the trees growing. Considering that, it will be better to walk together this time……are you fine with that, Set?」

Set gave a cry to say there were no problems while Rei and Elena looked over the oasis.

Set seemed curious about the floor, which seemed to be covered with lakes rather than oases, but he didn’t forget their purpose of entering the dungeon.

「But, Rei. With so much water around, I think it’s safe to say that there will be a lot of monsters on this floor? I heard that from Pleiades. In that case, I’m sure you’ll be able to find more new magic stones……」

「That’s true. That would be great for me……but is that okay?」

「I don’t mind. In the first place, clearing the dungeon is something of a side project for me, it’s not that urgent.」

Part of the reason they had gone to the dungeon was to look for a magic item that would allow long distance communication. But, for the most part, this was mainly a holiday for them.

Of course, for Elena, the longer she stayed in Exil, the more time she could spend with Rei.

Rei probably hadn’t realised that, but it wasn’t like he didn’t enjoy spending more time with Elena as well. Rather, he was quite happy with that.

「Well, looks like Elena is letting us do what we want. Right, Set?」

「Gurururu~!」

Set also gave a happy cry from being told he would be able to absorb new magic stones, strengthening himself, and eat the meat of unknown monsters.

As Elena watched on with a smile, she suddenly thought of something from the day before as she turned her gaze towards Rei.

「Rei, you haven’t absorbed the Cyclops’ magic stone yet right? I’m sure there will be plenty of places to hide around the oases. Even though we’re on a desert floor, the environment looks like this, so I don’t think any other adventurers will spot us.」

「……I see, that is true.」

Many trees grew around the small room and the oasis, which could be called a large lake. If they absorbed the magic stone in the more shaded areas, it was definitely unlikely for other adventurers to find them.

「It’s the magic stone of a Cyclops and is all but guaranteed to give something good. The only problem……is that there is only one. Anyway, let’s get a move on.」

Both Elena and Set nodded as they headed for an area behind a large tree.

Fortunately, with so many large trees nearby, they didn’t really have to look hard to find one and Rei immediately took out the Cyclops magic stone from the Misty Ring.

「……Should Set or the Death Scythe absorb the magic stone? Thinking a bit more about it, it should really be Set.」

「Guru~?」

Why? Set seemed to ask with a cry. After seeing the battle between Vihera and the Cyclops, Rei guessed that if the Death Scythe absorbed it, Power Slash would probably be upgraded.

Although he had reasonable mastery over level 2 Power Slash, it was a skill that specialised in boosting the power of a single attack, which wasn’t that useful to Rei.

It was true that the power of that single attack would be very great, but the moment it was used, it would cause him to freeze for a moment, leaving an opening. Above all, the kickback was also very heavy.

Because of that, Rei decided that Set, who was physically superior to him, should master such a skill instead.

Explaining that, Rei presented the magic stone to Set.

「Set has the Bracelet of Herculean Strength as well as his strong physical constitution. I think that a physical skill would be more effectively used by him, so he should absorb this magic stone.」

「Guru~……Gururururu~」

Looking straight at Rei, Set gave a short cry before gently picking up the magic stone in Rei’s hand with his beak and swallowing it.

The next moment……

【Set has acquired the skill 『Evil Eye Impact Lv.1』】

An announcement echoed through the minds of both Rei and Set.

「……Huh?」

「Guru~?」

The skill that was learned was so unexpected that both Rei and Set let out confused voices with tilted heads.

However, Rei immediately realised what the skill was and nodded his head.

「Evil Eye Impact……come to think of it, Cyclops did had the ability to release magic shockwaves from its single eye. ……I thought that Set would have been able to acquire a skill based on the Cyclops’ well known physical strength……」

Elena must have guessed what kind of skill Set had learned from what Rei said. She had a slightly surprised expression, but the next moment she started to smile.

Her smile seemed to say that the skill Set had learned was probably better than the physical power skill that Rei had originally been thinking of.

「Set certainly has strong physical attacks, even without using any skills. I understand Rei’s idea of wanting to strengthen that, but the magical shockwave attack is similar to what the Jewel Sniper used. Isn’t it a skill that is relatively easy to use? In terms of shooting out an invisible shockwave.」

「That is true, but I already have Wind Arrow, a long range attack skill that is hard to see. ……Well, the skill is still level 1, so it might not be that strong as well.」

Rei started muttering to himself when Elena tapped his shoulder.

「I can’t say that I’m good at wind magic and it is true that wind magic like wind arrow is hard to see, but its by no means invisible. And, if my thoughts are correct……Set, use the skill you just learned and aim it somewhere.」

「Guru~?」

At Elena’s words, Set looked to Rei for permission.

Seeing Rei nod, Set activated Evil Eye Impact at a nearby.

「Gururu~!」

The next moment after his cry, the tree trunk burst open.

Only the surface bark was destroyed as it fell to the ground.

It was about the same level of power as several wind arrows. But what surprised Rei more than anything else, and made Elena smile, was the speed at which it could be used.

Wind arrow required Set to create the wind arrows before shooting them. The process was similar for other ranged attack skills such as Water Ball and Ice Arrow. However, the moment Evil Eye Impact was activated, it immediately struck where Set was looking.

Compared to the other skills, it was only a few seconds of difference, but a few seconds in real combat was worth a lot.

「This……that was really amazing. I thought it would be like the Jewel Sniper’s attack based on its name.」

「That was what I thought as well when I first heard it, but with evil eye in its name, I didn’t think it would work like that. So Set tried it and this is the result.」

「Guru~?」

Is it that amazing? Set seemed to ask with a cry. Rei smiled and nodded at Set as he stroked his head.

「Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s still only level 1, so it’s power isn’t that strong. However, it’s strong enough to be used as a deterrent. The only thing left to check is its range. Set, why don’t you try using it on that tree over there?」

Rei pointed over at a tree 10m away.

「Guru~!」

Hearing Rei say that, Set immediately activated Evil Eye Impact. Then, as before, a shockwave was immediately generated, but its power was a lot lower. Previously it had been able to break the surface layer of bark off a tree, but now it could only make a slight scratch on the tree’s surface.

Rei went over to check the location of the impact before giving a small sigh.

This level of power wouldn’t be useful for long range attacks.

「If the distance increases, the power decreases proportionally. It’s not bad for close combat……but I would have liked Set to learn a skill similar to Power Slash.」

「Guru~, Gururururu~……」

Rei noticed Set bowing his head sadly and hurried shook his head before stroking Set.

「It’s not that bad Set, you don’t have to feel depressed. What skills we can learn are largely due to luck anyway.」

「Guru~?」

Really? Set seemed to ask as he looked up at Rei with round eyes. Rei nodded back.

Elena had just been watching on, but she spoke up to add onto Rei’s words.

「It might not be that effective at long range, but it can still cause a slight impact. It’s still a skill that can be used to distract the enemy, is it not?」

「That’s right, I was too focused on using it in battle that I didn’t consider its used outside of combat.」

Rei had an expression of realisation after hearing Elena’s words and they left the shade of the tree after absorbing the magic stone.

「Oh right, I heard at the inn that there is a place on the 15th floor where you can find fruits that sell at a good price. They also seem to be delicious to eat.」

At Elena’s words, the apologetic atmosphere between Rei and Set cleared up as they looked around.

In Set’s case, he was purely interested in finding the fruit, but in Rei’s case, he was grateful that Elena had changed the topic. He gave an appreciative glance towards Elena as he also looked around.

「Gururu~?」

Where are the fruits? Set seemed to ask as he looked around, failing to find any within his line of sight.

「There aren’t any near the entrance to the small room. Well, if you think about it, if its in a place where adventurers come and go, they would be picked almost immediately.」

「Guru~……」

Set gave a sad cry at Rei’s words.

However, he soon came to the conclusion that if there weren’t any here, they could still find more fruit further in. Tugging at Rei’s Dragon Robe with his beak, Set urged Rei to hurry up.

「Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to look around for a bit.」

Pulled along by Set, Rei and Elena started walking as they looked at the trees growing around the oasis.

「So, what kind of fruit is it? What does it look like?」

「I heard that it’s about the size of a human head.」

「……Really, that’s quite big.」

Rei, who had been imagining the fruit to be the size of an apple, raised his eyebrows as the sunlight beat down.

Rei and Elena were wearing the Dragon Robe and desert cloak respectively, so they didn’t mind the heat.

That said, Elena’s cloak was definitely not as effective as the Dragon Robe, so her tolerance was probably in part due to her inheritance of the Ancient Dragon magic stone.

(Is it like a coconut? Well, the image that comes to mind when thinking of coconuts is usually tropical environments and not desert ones.)

With that in mind, they spent the next hour or so searching around the oasis.

While continuing to search for the desired fruit, the didn’t encounter any monsters, despite the fact it was an oasis, a watering hole.

「Gururu~!」

Set suddenly gave a cry.

Rei and Elena turned to look over and saw a tree growing a short distance away. About 5m up the tree, there was a fruit roughly the size of a human head.

It had a green and blue mottled pattern on its surface and didn’t appear to be a fruit that could be eaten at first glance.

Seeing it, Rei involuntarily turned to look at Elena.

「Is that it?」

「Yeah. From what I’ve heard.」

「……It’s really that?」

He asked Elena again, but only received another nod in response.

「Gurururu~!」

Set suddenly gave a loud cry as he activated Evil Eye Impact. At the same time, the part connecting the fruit to the tree broke and the fruit started to fall to the ground.

「-!」

Rei dashed forward immediately and managed to catch the fruit as it fell.

************************************************

【Set】

『Water Ball Lv.3』 『Fire Breath Lv.3』 『Wind Arrow Lv.1』 『King’s Awe Lv.1』 『Poison Claw Lv.4』 『Size Transformation Lv.1』 『Tornado Lv.1』 『Ice Arrow Lv.1』 『Optical Camouflage Lv.2』 『Evil Eye Impact Lv.1』

Evil Eye Impact: Causes a physical impact at the location being looked at when the skill is actived. However, the power depends on the distance between Set and the target. The further away the target is, the less powerful it becomes. At level 1, even at its highest power level, it can only destroy the bark of a tree. However, the advantage of this skill is the instantaneous response from when the skill is activated to when the impact occurs.

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