Several minutes after continuing our exploration.
We encountered a Boulder Zombie, a rocky undead with a recommended defeat level of 27. We defeated it in a similar manner to the Chained Skeleton, and Shuna's level increased to 24.
However, a new problem emerged.
"Sorry, Zeros. My MP is almost depleted from that last fight..."
"It's okay. That's why I bought these potions. Here."
I handed Shuna a potion while reassessing our situation.
The MP cost of skills varies slightly with level and other stats, but for Shuna right now, a Magic Missile imbued with Holy Attribute consumes 75 MP. Shuna's current maximum MP, including the increase from leveling up, is 168. The potions we bought restore 100 MP per use. Together, that's 268 MP.
Considering the boss's traits, including a safety margin, we need to ensure she can cast it at least four times, which requires a total of 300 MP. This means her base MP needs to be at least 200. That's why our target level is around 30.
As I calculated, Shuna finished drinking her potion.
"Thanks, Zeros. I think I can still fight."
"Good. Let's keep going at this pace."
After confirming our status and taking a short break, we resumed our exploration.
After several more hours of exploration, with appropriate breaks and regular use of potions to manage MP, both Shuna and I had leveled up to 27 and 26, respectively.
We were making excellent progress. Shuna seemed astonished at her rapid leveling.
"It feels like a dream. It took me months just to reach level 20..."
A dream, she said. In a way, my situation is also like a dream. Having reincarnated into the world of Creon, a game I played extensively in my previous life, and growing steadily, still felt somewhat surreal.
(Well, no point dwelling on that.)
Shaking off those thoughts, I used my Search skill, which I activated periodically.
"Search."
With a skill level of only 1, the search radius wasn't very wide, but it still covered several tens of meters. Thanks to this skill, we managed to find and defeat solitary monsters thus far.
But this time was different.
There were more monsters detected by the search.
Additionally, there was another issue—
"...Hmm. We're surrounded by a horde."
"Eh? Is that safe?"
I reassured the anxious Shuna.
"Don't worry. There are five ahead, which is a bit many, but only two behind us. With your remaining MP, you can still cast Sacred Cannon twice. We can handle it."
"I see. So we don't have to fight them all at once..."
"...No."
"Huh?"
I recalled the dungeon map from my days playing Creon and a particular strategy. If safety were the only concern, we could retreat and deal with the two behind us quickly. But there should be a small chamber ahead. Utilizing its terrain, we could efficiently take down specific types of monsters.
Judging from the search results, the incoming monsters match those specific types.
"Let's make use of this opportunity. Our levels have increased, so why not take a stand in that chamber and fight them?"
"But there are seven of them, right? I'm not confident I can escape if things go wrong..."
"Don't worry, there's a way to take them all out without much risk. But only if you're up for it..."
Time was short, but I didn't want to rush her decision. As I waited silently, Shuna looked at her staff and murmured softly.
"If it were '...' they wouldn't retreat here, would they?"
"Hm?"
I couldn't quite catch her words, but she seemed to have resolved something within herself. With determination in her eyes, she looked straight at me and spoke firmly.
"Alright. Let's do it, Zeros."
"Great, it's settled then."
And so, we prepared to face the horde of monsters in the chamber ahead.