Live Dungeon!

As his team continued their sweep through the eighty-ninth layer, hunting Fallen Angels and Eyene, Tsutomu supported his party with healing and buffs, all while keeping a close eye on how each member moved. His main focus, at least for now, was on Hannah, their evasion-based Tank.

During their previous excursions through the layers of Light and Darkness, Tsutomu had made sure to team up with everyone equally — including Hannah, who he did his best to keep alive with support skills. But when they faced the Winter General, he had not been in her party. Back then, unlike now, she had no option of retreating. In a boss battle where failure meant certain death, mindset changed everything. Especially for someone like Tsutomu, who very much preferred staying alive.

”[!”

Hannah zipped through the air, her form darting and weaving in three dimensions thanks to a [ enchantment. Tsutomu kept up, layering support skills from a distance — projectiles, manual placements, quickshots — whatever was needed. After some experimentation, he found that laying down persistent pick-ups in anticipation of her path worked best with her chaotic movements.

”…How do you manage to hit her so precisely?”

Leleia, who had been observing Tsutomu while waiting nearby, tilted her head with a curious frown. With the Shell Crab party disbanded, today was Diniel’s last day of tuning her new bow, and Leleia had left the remaining enemies to her so she could watch Tsutomu work. She had been quietly impressed the entire time. Not once had he missed.

”I’ve watched a lot of Hannah’s footage on the Pedestal, and I had the Dungeon Maniacs folks pull together every bit of data they could find on her,” Tsutomu replied, casually continuing his casting. ”I just lay down buffs at regular intervals where I predict she’ll go. Plus, Hannah loves [. She’ll practically throw herself at any blue aura she sees. So it’s not all on me. She’s doing half the work.”

”Still… I was struck by how many skills you could deploy during the group drills.”

”Healing and buff-type skills are a lot more flexible than offensive ones,” he explained. ”I can guide them mid-cast. Attack skills like [ don’t work that way — you cast them, they go off, that’s it. Seems like that’s just how the system’s built, regardless of Job.”

”…And you can hold a conversation while doing all this?”

”Yeah, I’ve gotten used to multitasking support and talking.”

Leleia could only respond with a vague, breathy ”Huh…”

Even as she watched, Tsutomu was calmly weaving skills toward Daryl, Hannah, and Diniel, perfectly timed, perfectly placed. On Leleia’s shoulder, the little Salamander twitched its twin tongues and bobbed its head as if keeping rhythm with some tune only it could hear.

”What about you, Leleia? How are things going with Diniel? Is the Attacker combo working out?” Tsutomu asked, noticing the gaze.

As if in response to the Salamander’s display, the small round Slime — the Undine — tried to climb onto Tsutomu’s shoulder, only for him to gently push it back into his right pocket. Leleia, watching this little drama, arched a brow. The Undine was not even angry, which surprised her.

”I can only wish she fought like this all the time,” Leleia said with a sigh.

”She’ll probably start slacking again once her bow’s calibrated,” Tsutomu replied with a shrug. ”She’s definitely the type who sees how much effort she can get away with.”

”I always assumed she’d make it into the main team, and I based my plans around that. But I still don’t understand how she can be that strong with so little motivation. I know she’s an Elf and probably has more combat experience than I do, but… I can’t help feeling frustrated.”

”Yeah, I get it. If there was some lazy bastard who’s a better Healer than me, I’d probably lose my mind.”

”…Tsutomu, that’s exactly how other Healers see you. Or rather, worse. And you still say that with a straight face?”

”Yeah, yeah… Anyway — time to gather the Magic Stones.”

Ignoring Leleia’s unamused stare — equal parts ‘you’re one to talk’ and ‘I can’t believe you’ — Tsutomu moved toward the glittering stones scattered nearby, ready to collect them. ȒἈ₦𝙤BÈ𝘴

”Hey, Teach! Still sharp as ever, huh?” Hannah said.

Tsutomu did not turn around. ”You were holding back at first, weren’t you? Trying to test me? That takes guts.”

”Wha — no way! I was just being considerate! I swear!”

”Sure you were.”

”Argh! Fine, whatever! I’ll go full power from the start next time!”

”Do what you want.”

Hannah let out a huff, stamping her feet in outrage before stomping off to collect Magic Stones of her own. Daryl, watching her go with a quiet laugh and both arms full of stones, could only smile at the usual spectacle.

”You’re looking solid out there, Daryl. Let’s keep that energy up for the ninetieth layer.”

”Yes, sir! Though… I owe a lot to this armor, too.”

The heavy armor Daryl wore — a striking mix of black and white — had come from a treasure chest on the eighty-fourth layer. Naturally, it was stronger than his previous gear. But as a Heavy Knight, Daryl had a Job-specific skill that let him feel far less encumbered by armor than others would. The same equipment that would weigh down Garm or Xeno to a crawl felt light as cloth to him.

Still, Daryl seemed convinced that it was the armor, not his own skill, that had earned him a spot in the main team. His confidence remained shaky.

”Sure, the gear helps,” Tsutomu said, ”but everyone had the same shot at it. Don’t downplay yourself. I picked you for a reason. Don’t make me regret it.”

”…But Sir Tsutomu, you’re not going to use that Black Staff, are you?”

Tsutomu blinked. ”Huh. You’re right.”

Daryl’s honest, blunt remark struck like a slap. Tsutomu remembered how Alma had offered to return the staff… and how he had declined. Telling someone not to worry about gear while avoiding using his own felt a little hypocritical. As he opened his Magic Bag so Daryl could drop in the stones, he paused, thinking.

”Hmm. Okay, this is gonna sound like bragging — mind if I indulge a little?”

”Please, go ahead.”

With a sheepish look, Tsutomu scratched his head, then continued.

”I’m sure that if I asked her, Alma would lend me the staff again. And yeah, it’d make Dungeon runs much easier. But… I don’t like the idea of that. Feels like if we made progress, people would just say it was because of the Black Staff. That kind of thing sticks.”

”Yes… I can see that.”

”But I guess I only feel that way because I trust in my own ability,” Tsutomu admitted, shrugging one shoulder. ”Even without the Black Staff, I believe I can manage just fine. So long as I still feel that way, I won’t use it… Though I’ll admit, part of it’s just pride. Doesn’t sit right with me, asking Alma for favors after all that we’ve been through. A petty sort of pride, maybe — but it’s there.”

He turned toward Daryl with a half-smile. ”What about you? Are you confident in your skills? Do you think you’re stronger than Garm?”

”Not at all!” Daryl replied immediately, without the slightest hesitation.

”…That was fast,” Tsutomu said, chuckling despite himself.

Daryl’s clean honesty was refreshing in its own way, and Tsutomu let the smile linger for a moment before continuing.

”In that case, it’s only natural to make up the difference however you can. You’ve got better gear than Garm and Xeno right now — maybe that’s enough to tip the scales in your favor. Not that it matters. What I’m trying to say is, the method doesn’t matter so long as you’re closing the gap. If you can say with confidence that you’re doing your best, then there’s nothing wrong with leaning on equipment. And hey, if it ever came down to it, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask Alma for that staff, either.”

Daryl gave a sheepish laugh and nodded. ”Yes, that makes sense. Thanks for saying that. But, uh… that really was just a brag, wasn’t it?”

”I did say it would be,” Tsutomu said, smirking. ”Not that it’ll stop Dungeon Maniacs from painting me as the next big-talking Xeno.”

He said it with a hint of self-mockery, but Daryl’s eyes lit up.

”Sir Xeno might talk big, sure — but he works hard to live up to it. And you, Sir Tsutomu, you’ve more than earned the right to be confident. I think you’re doing just fine. Anyway — I’ll go grab more Magic Stones!”

”…Why do I feel like I just got a pep talk?” Tsutomu muttered to himself, watching Daryl jog off in his bulky armor with a surprising spring in his step.

The current rule was the same as ever: the more Magic Stones collected, the better the lunch. As always, Daryl and Hannah were treating the task like a fierce competition, scouring the area for every last shard with the kind of intensity that would’ve seemed more at home on the battlefield.

In contrast, Diniel was seated casually on the base of a ruined statue — one that was not a monster in disguise. She crossed her arms, her usual look of disinterest unwavering. She tossed a single stone toward Tsutomu with a lazy flick of her wrist.

”Is your adjustment going well?” he asked, catching it.

”Just a double-check today. Everything’s been fine for a while now.”

”Good. Then try not to slack off too much.”

”Mm-hmm.”

And that was all. Diniel closed her eyes and leaned back, completely unconcerned, no longer even pretending to examine her bow. She truly was done for the day.

The new bow had already been fitted with experimental arrows imbued with Light and Darkness attributes — likely a test by the Guild’s research team. While the arrows were not particularly powerful yet, they were functional enough to be used in live combat, and Diniel seemed content to make use of them rather than go back to regular wood.

[So far, coordination hasn’t been a problem,] Tsutomu thought, glancing over at the others. [All that’s left is for everyone to study the Corrupted Shell’s patterns. Once we’ve done that, we’ll be ready.]

With that decision made, Tsutomu called off the rest of the day’s Dungeon exploration early. Instead, he gathered the party to review footage of the Corrupted Shell’s movements, displayed on the Monitors’ projection. They spent the next few hours sharing ideas and working out strategies as a group.

Of course, that did not mean much to Hannah, who struggled to retain information through words and footage alone. To help her, they had to reenact the scenarios directly — either in the Dungeon or in the training arena. Diniel, unsurprisingly, was less than thrilled at the idea and wore her exasperation openly.

And so, the party drilled their tactics again and again. At some point, entering the Dungeon had become the break rather than the main event.

Two weeks later, Tsutomu made it official to the team as well as the Dungeon Maniacs: they would challenge the Ninetieth Layer the following day.