Chapter 50: Traps and Tricks

It's the second day of the Dungeon Investigation .

「Alright, we've broken through 5 layers . 」

Our group has already finished exploring four layers .

As for any problems: there haven't been many . Clad, most likely due to the effect of yesterday's defeat, has remained quiet . No, perhaps his silence is due to the shock of witnessing the spar between Fran and Amanda when he woke up? Well... It serves him right either way .

Still, Amanda's approach for 'training' was quite terrifying... The spar was fierce, and I could only witness Fran being beaten half to death too . When her side was practically gauged out my guts went cold... Not that I have any guts, of course!

There're many metaphorical expressions that use parts of the body, so it's quite difficult to use them for me who is inorganic . Still, that doesn't matter . The point is, I was a tad worried .

It was good that we were able to see the strength of an A Rank Adventurer firsthand, so while Fran was a bit vexed with the result, she doesn't seem to have started disliking Amanda . Rather than seeing her as an opponent who she narrowly escaped death from, it's more likely that Fran is viewing her as another wall to someday climb over . Testament to that is the sense of goodwill I can feel from her towards Amanda .

As for Amanda herself, it seemed that the spar from last night was satisfactory . She had lamented the fact that she could easily defeat common Adventurers simply by wielding a Whip, but with Fran's high prowess in evasive maneuvers and attack even she would be in danger if she relaxed .

It was because of this that the morning was noisy with her request to spar again... Even to Cruz and Frion, the spar between Amanda and Fran was like something from a different dimension .

They didn't particularly change their attitude towards Fran, but pieces of their actions and language indicated a slight feeling of awe towards Fran . With that, it seems that they've fully recognized her strength .

Surprisingly enough, something akin to kindness was even felt from Cruz . Perhaps he's finally realized that the one he lost to was Rank D? Or perhaps he's the type of person who would only accept another after measuring their strength firsthand . How manly, Cruz . However, Fran is off-limits!

Moving on, layers 1 to 4 didn't have any strong opponents and the traps were few, so we simply proceeded without pause for the most part . The Demonic Beasts themselves were Insect-type, so while it's a shame, I couldn't obtain any new Skills from them .

「Now, just a reminder, Trap Spiders will be appearing from now on . 」

「Nn . 」

「If we're surrounded it'll get troublesome, so be careful . 」

Becoming bound by thread is more than enough to lead to defeat — even if your opponent is weak .

「At the same time, the number of traps will increase . The Transition Traps are particularly dangerous, so prepare accordingly . Rather than focusing on the detection of enemies, I'd like to ask everyone with the Thief Job to focus on finding traps . 」

And so, with Thieves as the lead, we plunge into the fifth layer . In case of combat, Warriors step forward, with the Magicians providing support from behind .

The materials capable of being gathered from the Spiders, being quite strong for their rank, have moderate value . Their utility is also a part of that . However, they're weak to fire and burn up easily, so we'll be refraining from fire-type Magic as much as possible . Instead, Fran wields me .

Like this, traversing the 5th Layer can be done without a problem . Well, that's only to be expected with this much fighting power on our side .

However... We immediately encountered a problem after delving into the 6th Layer .

「Shit, e'en though they're jus' small fries!」

「They aren't falling, even with Spirit Magic...? This can't be!」

The Trap Spiders have suddenly become stronger . Not only their size, their increase in vitality is also plainly visible . Perhaps the deeper we delve, the stronger they will become?

After using Appraisal, I can only be surprised by their Name and Description .

『Fran, these aren't Trap Spiders, they're Trick Spiders, their evolution!』

At a glance, a Trick Spider only seems to be a large Trap Spider, but their contents are entirely different . They're the products of Highbreeds that have evolved, after all . The Threat Level of a single Trick Spider is E .

As for their Status, their offensive power is more than double what we've been facing thus far . Furthermore, they make use of Confusion Poison, and even have the Deadly Poison Fang Skill . It seems that the number of Adventurers who mistook them for Trap Spiders and attacked them only to lose their lives in the process aren't few .

「Gennell! What's wrong?!」

「I... I don't know... I've tried using an Anti-Venom, but it's not working...」

So someone got hit, huh... The Poison from Trap Spiders is very weak, so even if one swallowed a 5th Grade Anti-Venom it wouldn't be a problem . And so, mistaking the Trick Spiders for Trap Spiders, they must have continued fighting while swallowing low-class Anti-Venoms, thus falling prey to the deadly poison .

『Fran . These guys are dangerous . 』

「Nn . 」

When Fran takes even the smallest scratch, I immediately apply Antidote[1] — a technique that can even nullify Sovereign Poison completely .

「I-I'm saved!」

「Thank you very much . 」

「Nn . Trick Spiders . Strong Poison . 」

「Wha-! Trick Spiders?! Impossible! Did evolution occur?!」

In truth, Trick Spiders aren't supposed to be created in this cave . The strongest of this Dungeon's Demonic Beasts were supposed to be Trap Spiders .

However, if several factors overlapped then evolution, an occurrence surpassing one's expectations, can happen .

Those factors start with the birth of an individual too strong for its species . Although it is brought forth by the power of the Dungeon, there are individual differences between each Dungeon Monster . Demonic Beasts with more power than other individuals — sometimes labeled as Unique or Rare individuals — are more than capable of appearing .

And when a powerful individual is born, what do you think happens? It takes a monopoly of the food, forcing the weaker individuals to either cannibalism or starvation . There is the possibility of the strong individual to evolve after eating enough food... But there is also the possibility for a weaker specimen evolving through its survival and cannibalism .

There have been cases where both sides evolve only to eradicate one another, but there have also been cases where the evolved individuals live symbiotically, changing the entire Dungeon ecosystem .

Furthermore, there're cases where the accidental ingestion of experience-rich food, or external factors leading to evolution .

Well, in the case of a captured Dungeon, the latter two cases are pretty improbable .

「Damn, we were careless! Ms . Amanda!」

「I understand . Fran, will you be coming as well?」

「Nn . 」

That marked the beginning of a one-sided slaughter . In an instant, we began reducing the number of Trick Spiders that the Rank E Adventurers were having trouble with . In only minutes, the cluster of ~20 spiders transformed into nothing more than a pile of silent corpses .

「Fighting against small fries really is boring . Right, Fran?」

「Nh-nn . Fun . 」

「Oh, is that so? Well, so long as Fran had fun it's fine . 」

While Fran has an enjoyable expression, the rest of the Adventurers have looks of fatigue . Even Clad seems to be nearing his limit .

「Let's pull back to the 5th Layer! Those guys shouldn't follow us there!」

Unless they've overpopulated or received instructions from a Dungeon Master, Dungeon Monsters are restricted to their own Layer . And so, the Trick Spiders shouldn't be able to give chase after we reach the 5th Layer .

「If they're already breeding, this is pretty dangerous . 」

「We know already!」

「Fran, act as the rearguard . 」

「Nn . 」

「E Rank Parties, withdraw!」

「G-Got i- Gyaa!」

「C-Calm down! 'S just a scratch!」

「There're more 'hind us!」

「'S only one! Jus' don't make any noise!」

「H-Here they come again!」

Falling into a panic were some of Clad's party members from Roar of the Dragon . Not only do they not seem to be accustomed to being surrounded by Demonic Beasts, they've taken on the Status Abnormality: Confusion .

「Just wait a sec!」

「S-Shut it!」

Clad is just barely retaining his fighting spirit as two of his subordinates, ones who took a surprise attack from the rear, blindly ran towards the swarm of spiders ahead .

「Ah, wait! There're might be traps over there!」

And so, sure enough, by running into the area that the Thieves hadn't scanned yet they triggered traps .

*KYUIIIIIIN*

「That... Was that a Transition Trap?」

「Not good-」

With that, Fran disappeared .

I, who should have been in her hand, was left at the scene .

『Eh? Fran?』

「Fran!」

[1] Note that the 'Anti-Venom' used previously is actually '毒消し', which can be 'Antidote' as well . The reason I opted out of translating it that way is due to the fact that this Antidote is a Technique/Spell (アンチ・ドート) and is written in Katakana (i . e . it's literally pronounced as it would be in English: Anti・Dote) .

In English, Antidote doesn't have a space, pause, or seperater between Anti and Dote, so I can't make use of the '・' that I've been using to distinguish them . And so, instead of translating アンチ・ドート and 毒消し the same, I've made slight adjustments .

As for why I'm not making the Technique 'Anti・Venom' instead, once again, it's Katakana . I'd rather keep it as-is from the Raws than take creative privileges here .

If anyone has a better suggestion, feel free to mention it in the comments .