34. Reconnaissance Mission (2)

The three of us were more in sync than I could have imagined.

I led, and the two of them assisted. Rosette and Chloe, like water and oil, were usually hard to get along. But unlike usual, I was in the middle of them.

Only Chloe had directly worked with me before. But through the Demon King hunt, I knew Rosette’s skills well too.

So, I was able to draw out the maximum potential from the two of them, who were burning with rivalry. I didn’t bother with unnecessary praise.

Instead, I made sure they stepped up whenever the situation called for it.

‘That alone was enough for them to follow my instructions well.’

They had someone they didn’t want to lose to right in front of them.

I intentionally regulated their performances. Unnecessary emotional expenditure would lower the probability of a successful reconnaissance. It was enough to stimulate each other moderately.

‘I absolutely have to succeed in reconnoitering up to the boss area. The badge tier is important.’

And so, we scouted from the outer village of the Dungeon towards the center without rest. Naturally, I took the lead.

My sense of Ki, maximized through Mana Heart Acceleration. I continued to find the safest route through the magic power lines drawn in my vision.

The two of them followed behind me, hurrying through the Dungeon.

However, the difficulty of the monsters appearing increased as we moved closer to the center. Rosette, who quickly flew up on her magic wand to scout the area, said,

“There are many ogre groups in this village! Among them, there’s a Stone Ogre that has been turned into a magical beast. There are many ordinary ogres as subordinates, and monster archers are also stationed here and there.”

“Stone Ogres are famous for being strong even among the Three Forms. Even if we can handle them with three people, it would be impossible to deal with that guy secretly and quickly.”

“You know it well, Chloe.”

Stone Ogre.

Ogres were already tricky monsters because of their large size and strength. Stone Ogres were even higher-level ogres with skin hardened like stone.

‘And it’s even been turned into a magical beast.’

It wouldn’t be as strong as the Chaos Ogre of the Second Form that appeared at the opening ceremony in the Colosseum. I certainly didn’t intend to waste time on that guy.

“Rosette. Can you raise the level of your stealth magic by one stage? And Chloe, immediately use a paralysis attack on the guy I point to, especially to paralyze his vision. Then we break through again!”

Blue Mana flickered from Rosette’s body.

Then, the area around the three of us shimmered like a heat haze. Stealth magic. Not only that, but she raised it to a higher level. She completely eliminated the human scent and Mana aura that magical beasts could detect.

It was a high-level magic that applied not only to herself but also to her party members.

‘But the downside is that Rosette can’t use other magic.’

Still, it was a high-level magic that was impossible with ordinary Third Tier magic. A look of surprise flashed across Chloe’s face for a moment. And her eyes sparkled.

She obviously wanted to play an active role too.

I raised my hand to calm Chloe down. It meant to calm down and lower her breathing even more. And I signaled that I would go in first.

Keureureureureung-

The surroundings were filled with the rough breathing of ogres. I jumped into the middle of the ogre group where I could feel a strong magic power.

Ogres weren’t known for being very smart, but the leader, the Stone Ogre, had placed them in just the right spots.

The surroundings were a destroyed village. It was a village that was somewhat more prosperous than a rural village. There was no blind spot of magic power in the middle of the central road of that village where the three of us could escape.

I pointed to the roof. There were subordinate monsters sparsely on the roofs of the buildings, but there were still blind spots.

I moved as carefully as possible above it. Usually, Mana users have their physical abilities doubled with the help of Mana. So, they can maintain a full sprint of an ordinary person for a long time.

But the speed at which the party was moving now was only about the speed of an ordinary person’s brisk walk. Instead, it added to the stealth.

I led the party along the path created by the blind spots on the roof.

A moment later. An ogre was seen below the building across the street. The Stone Ogre. It was the guy Rosette mentioned.

‘The boss’s subordinate magical beast. It’s stronger than an ordinary Third Form, so the magic power field is much denser.’

The world of magic power lines perceived by Reinhardt’s blood. Ordinary monsters had only a few thin lines wriggling around their bodies.

But magical beasts were different. The lines were densely packed together to form a kind of field. A magic power field that was wriggling in real time.

So, there was no blind spot in the magic power for the three of us to break through. But there was no problem. I pointed at him with my fingertip.

Then, I felt a subtle movement of Mana flying towards him.

“Keureureureuk?!”

The Stone Ogre was flustered. He frantically looked around. It was a natural reaction since he must have been temporarily blinded.

‘Chloe’s paralysis needle must have hit his eye.’

The paralysis needle that Chloe quickly waved her fan and shot out. The effect of the paralysis needle was certain. His magic power field was distorted by the momentary confusion.

And a blind spot of magic power was created for a very short moment. I quickly slipped through that gap. Without saying anything, Rosette and Chloe quickly followed behind me.

“Keureureureu-?”

The Stone Ogre made a sound again.

The paralysis must have worn off quickly. He must have felt a momentary sense of discomfort. But even if he looked around for a moment, there was nothing but his subordinates.

We were already in a place where his magic power field couldn’t reach. He couldn’t see us at all because of the stealth magic.

“Keureu… Keureu…!!”

So, the Stone Ogre soon regained his composure. He looked as comfortable as if the momentary blindness had never happened. He probably felt it was a momentary illusion.

‘So, there’s no need to raise the alert.’

That’s why I didn’t face him directly. All I needed to do was create a temporary gap in the magic power field. If I overreacted to him unnecessarily, it would only raise the alert.

If that happened, it would be impossible to secretly break through their increasingly dense formation.

“Good job, Chloe.”

Instantly, Chloe covered her face with her fan, as if embarrassed by my compliment. And Rosette, who couldn’t hide her expression well, looked surprised.

‘Rosette must know too. How great a job Chloe just did.’

Stone Ogre. As the name suggests, his skin was very thick. So, it was impossible to pierce his skin with an ordinary needle. Even his eyeballs were thick monsters.

But Chloe hit the eyeball with the paralysis needle at the exact timing.

A temporary wind-attribute alchemical transmutation occurred at the end of the fan. She waved the fan in that state.

As a result, the paralysis needle had both high accuracy and power. It was a very excellent alchemy skill.

Also, the power of the paralysis poison was also very exquisite. It was strong enough to break through the Stone Ogre’s defense and paralyze him for a moment. It was also short enough that he wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

‘That means she knows the characteristics of magical beasts and monsters very well. She must have adjusted the amount according to those characteristics.’

Genius alchemist. But that also meant that she studied monsters hard for battle. The two of them moved under my command.

The two rivals were stimulating each other while showing off their skills. Of course, it was very helpful to me.

The party stopped for a moment.

This mission was reconnaissance. So, even if we chose the shortest route, we had to record all the information about the appearing monsters and magical beasts as much as possible.

‘It’s already late afternoon.’

I quickly created a mud chair with alchemy. The three of us sat on the chair for a while to rest.

Chloe held the recording magic stone I handed her. She quickly checked the record and said.

“It’s a high-level reconnaissance record. The shortest route to reach the central area where the boss is. And the number of magical beasts and monsters that can be encountered on that route. Even the surrounding terrain has been checked and recorded.”

Chloe was right. As much as I could perfectly perceive the blind spots of magic power. I had the leeway to scout.

‘If I can identify the blind spots for sure. I could wander around the vicinity and scout as much as I wanted.’

So, the reconnaissance record stored in the recording magic stone was neat and tidy.

“In other words, it feels like we’ve carried out the mission according to the Dungeon reconnaissance theory written in the training textbook. It was a textbook reconnaissance that perfectly reduced all variables. At this level, it can be compared to the reconnaissance team of the Imperial Capital Guard, not the reserve squad.”

I glanced at Chloe’s eyes. It was the eyes of a merchant who coldly evaluated the value, not empty words. She wasn’t wrong.

The Dungeon of the Second Form, which had been territorialized by a magical beast. As the difficulty was high, reconnaissance was not an easy task. Usually, it was a task assigned to the reconnaissance team of the Imperial Guard or the excellent students of the Pantheon’s third-year reserve squad.

‘It’s not something that three Third Tier students can do.’

Rosette also said.

“That’s right. Actually, I didn’t think we would arrive near the Dungeon boss area without any problems. It’s all thanks to Yulian’s sense of Ki!”

“That witch is right. If it weren’t for the Count, we would have been discovered by a magical beast at least once. I also have a keen sense of Ki, but I can never perceive magic power like the Count. After all, Reinhardt… no. Yulian Count-nim must be special.”

“And Yulian did a really good job as the party leader. I wouldn’t have been able to lead like that. Even if I received the squad leader qualification.”

The praise from the two people who were evaluated as the best in the Pantheon among the representatives of the factions continued.

But I wasn’t so excited.

“It’s thanks to you two doing well. There’s no need to make a fuss.”

Agnes’s Rosary. That precious holy relic also prevented unnecessary arrogance. The mental stability effect was great.

‘It’s only the Second Form. And it’s reconnaissance, not hunting, so I shouldn’t be satisfied.’

I have to face magical beasts with much higher difficulty in the Autumn Nest raid.

We rested a little more.

Thanks to not fighting directly with the magical beasts, there was less mental contamination from magic power. Unlike me, Chloe and Rosette were starting to get tired.

“The additional evaluation is until tomorrow, so let’s enter the boss area tomorrow. We need to prepare for camping. Rosette. The recording magic stone.”

At my words, Rosette held the recording magic stone in her hand. Soon, she materialized the reconnaissance record stored in the recording magic stone with illusion magic. A map was created in the air.

“Even if we create a campsite in a place with as few magical beasts or monsters as possible like this, we don’t know when we’ll be discovered. This area is full of enemies no matter where you go. So, a luxurious shelter like yesterday would be impossible.”

The two nodded. A night to be greeted without divine power. In case of emergency, we had to evacuate along the safe route shown on the map.

In other words, we had to be able to run away at any time. There was no need to put effort into building a shelter. And we didn’t have the stamina to do so.

“That’s a bit disappointing. Yesterday’s shelter was very comfortable for being inside the Dungeon because the two of you worked hard with alchemy. It was good for spending the night.”

Chloe seemed not a little, but very disappointed. And Rosette’s body trembled. She seemed to have noticed the hidden meaning of the comfort Chloe was talking about.

“Eup… Evaluation. It’s during a mission, so that’s natural! We didn’t come here to play!”

The reason why Chloe was disappointed. That’s obviously because she can’t spend a hot night with me today.

“Anyway, let’s move. We need to build a campsite before the sun sets.”

The three of us got up again.

It was night.

The three of us lay down in the campsite.

“Ugh… My whole body is stiff.”

Rosette said. Rosette and Chloe looked very tired. The curse caused by magic power. On top of that, they entered a new Dungeon without relieving the fatigue caused by the power evaluation.

They had been scouting the Dungeon all day today. It would be stranger if they were okay.

Besides, the level difference of the shelters was also severe. If yesterday’s mud house was an inn. The current shelter was closer to a trench dug in the ground.

The space was large enough because the underground was dug widely with alchemy and magic. But still, there was no room to separate individual rooms like yesterday.

So, the three of us were together in one trench. A situation of mixed sleeping arrangements for men and women. The scent and breath of the opposite sex were felt closely.

But I calmly said without being conscious of it at all.

“The earth golems and spirits will take turns on guard duty. So, you can relax a little. Everyone should go to sleep quickly. That way, we can scout the boss area tomorrow.”

Saying that, I covered myself with a blanket and lay down. Both of them pretended to listen to me and closed their eyes and lay down.

But the night in the Dungeon was long. Chloe and Rosette didn’t seem to be able to fall asleep easily.