Chapter 340: Three Minutes Is All We Need (4k)
“Dianna, summon the mana spirit.”
“Rose, protect yourself.” Dark stood up slightly and quickly said.
His voice was unusually calm, causing Dianna’s momentary panic to dissipate instantly, leaving only excitement.
She reached into her mana card deck and drew out a mana card, immediately summoning the mana spirit.
Rose stepped back slightly, though she appeared hesitant, her card-drawing technique remained steady.
Encountering a group of monsters in the dungeon was quite common.
Those who had properly considered things beforehand would generally be mentally prepared.
As for whether they would panic when actually faced with it, that depended on their individual mental fortitude.
Dark did not immediately summon; instead, he took a moment to look at Dianna and Rose.
The mana spirit Dianna summoned was indeed her favorite three-star mana spirit—the “Bear Spirit”!
As an undead creature, the Bear Spirit had immunity to physical damage, making it highly effective against monster groups that relied on claws and teeth.
It was indeed a very wise choice.
However, the mana spirit Rose summoned was one that Dark had never seen before, and it wasn’t one of her favorite rabbit-type spirits.
Dark had always thought she was hiding a rabbit nest…
But what she ultimately summoned was a pitch-black sphere.
Around the sphere, there seemed to be divine light flowing, and it had no other markings, making it impossible to tell if it was a mana spirit.
Rose seemed to notice his confusion and hurriedly explained, “It’s a ‘Mobius Worm,’ a three-star insect-type and psychic-type…”
“Mobius Worm?” Dark muttered to himself.
“Though I’m not entirely sure, but judging by its name, it should be a defensive mana spirit, right?”
Trusting Rose, Dark set his mind at ease and then carefully focused on the end of the tunnel.
In just a moment, the sound that required concentration to hear suddenly became much louder.
Now, it was clear that it was the sound of the monsters running.
When the first monster charged out from the right fork, Dark and the others finally got a good look at its appearance.
Sure enough, it was the same monster that couldn’t even defeat three familiars—a companion of the small demon dog!
“It seems to have a skill similar to ‘Call Companions.'”
Dark understood immediately.
Then, he patted the head of Deoxys beside him, stopping it from rushing forward.
“Dianna.”
After a soft call, Dianna immediately understood.
She exclaimed excitedly, “Bear Spirit, go!”
“Roar!”
The old-looking giant bear of light actually let out a thunderous roar, echoing repeatedly through the tunnel.
However, its display of power was not enough to repel the fierce demon dogs.
As the first small demon dog rushed out, followed by the second, third… within moments, over ten small demon dogs charged out.
Under Dianna’s command, the Bear Spirit lunged forward.
Even with its four limbs on the ground, it was still a three-meter-tall giant bear, towering over the one-meter-tall small demon dogs like an armored war vehicle, crushing them effortlessly.
Dianna’s excited eyes still held a hint of nervousness, but when the Bear Spirit, with unstoppable force, sent two small demon dogs flying, she clenched her fist tightly!
“Bang! Bang!”
The two small demon dogs crashed into the walls, their bones almost shattered, and they could not get up as they slid down.
But the other small demon dogs continued to attack fiercely.
They suddenly split into two streams, trying to avoid the front.
The Bear Spirit abruptly stopped, using one paw for support while the other pummeled the air.
The massive paw sent another small demon dog flying.
That small demon dog vomited blood mid-air and struggled after hitting the ground.
After losing three small demon dogs, the remaining ones successfully closed in on the Bear Spirit, jumping up and biting its body fiercely.
In an instant, several small demon dogs were hanging onto the Bear Spirit’s huge body, tearing and scratching viciously.
The Bear Spirit felt pain and roared angrily.
But Dianna’s mana flowed from her fingertips into the mana card, constantly monitoring the Bear Spirit’s status, and she found that its mana levels had not decreased at all.
Although the small demon dogs appeared fierce, they could not break through the defense.
But Dianna did not relax.
Professor Nina had taught them about the precautions when fighting in the dungeon during Beast Mastery class.
For beginners entering the dungeon, the most important thing was not the strength of the mana spirits.
Because their mana spirits were usually strong enough to deal with monsters like small demon dogs.
What they needed was courage and experience when facing monsters, and most importantly, proper mana allocation!
Magi had powerful combat capabilities when they had ample mana, but they also shared a weakness with mages—the lack of mana.
Especially after summoning mana spirits, if they weren’t careful and fell into a prolonged battle, the massive mana consumption to sustain the spirits could quickly drain them!
Therefore, the key to mana allocation lay in controlling and choosing the number of mana spirits to summon.
In other words, summon as few as possible, and if only one is needed, summon only one.
To accurately judge the strength of the monsters and send out mana spirits of corresponding strength, aiming to resolve the battle within three minutes, was essential for any magus.
So, in this situation:
The Bear Spirit standing firm was not enough; it needed to finish off the opponents faster.
…
Dianna observed for a while and suddenly shouted, “Bear Spirit, roll!”
“Roll” was certainly not an ultimate skill.
Rather, it was a simple command akin to “show your belly” or “extend your claws.”
“Roar!”
The Bear Spirit responded with a roar and then rolled onto the ground.
Its massive body, resembling a small mountain, instantly crushed the small demon dogs clinging to it.
“Aoow—”
The cries of the small demon dogs and the sound of bones breaking echoed simultaneously.
After rolling again, the small demon dogs clinging to the Bear Spirit’s other side were also severely injured.
Only a few managed to dodge in time, but they could no longer stop the Bear Spirit.
Seeing victory within reach, one of the small demon dogs finally turned its crimson eyes toward the seemingly helpless humans.
It bared its teeth, lowered its half-body, and with all its might, abandoned the Bear Spirit and charged at the trio.
“Deoxys.”
Dark released his hand from Deoxys’ head.
But before Deoxys could move,
Dianna, standing next to him, suddenly exclaimed excitedly, “I’ll do it!”
Immediately after, the twelve-year-old girl fearlessly stepped forward, her eyes flashing cold light. She raised her right shoulder, which had been slightly retracted, and seized the opportunity when the small demon dog leaped. Her right arm struck like lightning.
The fist wrapped in tender skin struck the small demon dog’s jaw fiercely.
“Aoow!”
After a pitiful scream,
the small demon dog’s jaw slammed into its upper jaw, nearly shattering its teeth.
Dianna, since enrolling, could no longer hide her innate strength.
The small demon dog was almost knocked unconscious by her punch!
“Phew!”
She stopped, retracting her fist.
Beside her, Dark’s eyes twitched.
“Dianna.”
Rose hurried over, lifting her fist to check quickly.
“It’s fine.” Dianna glanced indifferently at the blood on her fist, which was naturally from the small demon dog.
While Rose sighed in relief, she complained, “Try to do less of this. Girls’ skin is precious.”
Dianna patted her chest proudly, saying, “I have a special medicine at home to remove scars, so there will be no pain or marks.”
Rose’s words were choked back into her throat.
Following that, the Bear Spirit killed the last two small demon dogs on the spot.
Just as Dianna was about to recall it, Dark timely reminded her, “When hunting monsters in the dungeon, make sure they are truly dead. Otherwise, we might be ambushed when gathering materials.”
Although Dianna wasn’t particularly afraid of ambushes, she promptly issued the order.
The Bear Spirit swiped its paws, finishing off each small demon dog completely.
“Next, we gather the materials.”
Dianna nodded and recalled the Bear Spirit, then went with Rose to collect the materials.
The small demon dogs’ bodies were gruesome.
Dianna paid no attention, but Rose felt nauseous when the smell hit her, yet she persisted in extracting usable materials from the corpses.
After death, most of the monsters’ mana condensed in one of their fangs, but some also gathered in their claws or other parts.
Extracting those parts from the corpses was quite challenging.
Dark, having some experience in slaughtering chickens and fish, adapted well.
Dianna showed no discomfort at all.
Rose…
At the moment she cut off a part of one of the small demon dogs, she finally couldn’t hold it in and vomited.
Dianna was startled and hurried to comfort her.
Dark shook his head helplessly, put on gloves, and prepared to continue extracting the remaining materials.
But after Rose vomited, she insisted, “I’ll do it.”
Dark paused, then smiled.
…
One can be weak.
But one cannot lack resilience.
…
After collecting all the materials, they packed everything into a bag and placed it in Dianna’s backpack.
Her backpack, which had been full after lunch, now had more space, perfect for storing the materials.
Then, they moved to another spot to rest briefly, waiting for Rose to recover before continuing.
With the experience of dealing with small demon dogs, both Dianna and Rose grew more confident.
The three gradually moved further from the entrance, delving deeper.
During this time, they inevitably encountered more monsters.
Dark did not participate directly; Dianna mostly handled the monsters, and Rose collected the materials.
After an hour, their teamwork improved, and they collected plenty of materials.
Since they rested after each hunt, they didn’t feel too tired.
Seeing the two girls adapt to the dungeon’s rhythm, Dark stopped at a spacious area and summoned the “Trash Slime.”
Dianna poked the “Trash Slime” in Dark’s arms curiously, asking, “Are we starting to look for treasure chests?”
Dark nodded, “We came all the way here to the dungeon, and if we don’t find even one treasure chest, it feels like a wasted trip.”
“True.” Dianna nodded vigorously, strongly agreeing.
St. Maryan’s dungeon contained real treasure chests, not just “trash” monsters.
If luck was on their side, they might even find lost treasures from history.
Dark had been planning this from the start.
He had waited long enough.
“Shouldn’t there be any danger?” Rose worried, “Isn’t it written in novels that treasure chests often come with dangers? And good treasure chests are usually guarded by powerful monsters.”
Dark smiled slightly, “But this is a dungeon. Why do we come here?”
Dianna immediately exclaimed loudly, “To sightsee, travel, and have a picnic!”
When Dark and Rose looked at her, she stuck out her tongue and said, “To adventure.”
Dark sighed, “That’s true. But I hope you remember something else.”
“What?” Dianna asked.
Dark became serious, “Adventurers never take risks.”
“But you just said we came here to adventure…” Dianna protested.
Dark replied, “So ideals and reality often clash.”
Dianna covered her head, shaking her head forcefully, “My head hurts, I don’t understand.”
Rose put a piece of candy in her mouth.
Dianna chewed the candy, realizing, “I get it! Just like how I want candy, but I may not always get it!”
After a while, Dark said, “That’s right.”
…
In Dianna’s triumphant laughter, Dark drew “Greed II” from his mana card deck, reminding her, “Be ready.”
Next was the moment of miracles.
“In the name of Dark Demon, mana summon!”
With the completion of the usual summoning spell, the card of “Greed II” instantly released a faint blue light.
The blue light gradually intensified, enveloping the Trash Slime.
In an instant, the Trash Slime expanded and transformed within the light, changing from its original green liquid form to a blue-green jelly-like form.
“Poyo—”
Two-star mana spirit: “Greed Slime I.”
Ultimate skill: “Treasure Scent!”
“We only have fifteen minutes,” Dark quickly said, holding up the Greed Slime I.
Its jelly-like body trembled slightly in his palm, and its eyes gradually sharpened.
“Poyo!”
A short tentacle squeezed out from its body, pointing in a direction.
Dark’s lips curled upward as he immediately commanded, “Imp Beast, scout!”
