ALLEN: AGE 12
MAY
Master Keel.
We've finished bringing in all the luggage.
Thanks. Good work.
Well, that was fast!
Guess you won't have any problem handling the house chores.
A job well done!
Aw, she's so cute!
Tee-hee! Why thank you!
She's part of Allen's talent.
Nice. Seems like our new living arrangement will work out.
Oh, I see.
I will fill in my father's shoes, and make sure our family has a place to call home again!
Keel dreams of restoring the Carnels to nobility.
Supposedly, a royal messenger promised that would happen
after he served 5 years on the frontlines.
But that seems fishy.
I better check it out.
Okay! Time to conquer this B-rank dungeon!
Yeah!
EPISODE 15: CONQUER THE DUNGEON
Y'know, this doesn't seem very different from the C-rank dungeon.
But the monsters inside here should range from D to B rank.
Plus, there are poison and arrow traps.
We should take a Panacea ahead of time.
Bleh, gross!
I can't get the taste off my tongue...
Awesome. Hawkins should come in handy here.
Is everybody ready to go?
I hear that only a fifth of challengers manage to clear this dungeon.
So we gotta take it seriously!
BIRD C
I choose you, Fran!
Let's move out!
Okay!
Yahoo!
T-t-t-treasure chest, baby!
Wait, Keel!
It's obviously a trap.
Good point.
Maria. Go have a look, would you?
As you wish.
Open sesame.
What an unpleasant surprise!
It's a mimic!
So no treasure?!
Maria! Psychokinesis!
As you wish!
Death to you!
Death to you! Death to you! Death to you!
YOU HAVE DEFEATED 1 MIMIC
YOU HAVE EARNED 20,000 EXP
She beat it!
Whoa...
Mimics are B-rank monsters, right?
This is huge!
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
TYPE: SPIRIT
RANK:
NAME: MARIA
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
BUFFS: INTELLEGENCE+50,
ENDURANCE+50, PHYSICAL ENDURANCE
ABILITY: PSYCHOKINESIS
Maria with enhanced stats can beat
even a B-rank monster using only half her MP!
Easy as pie!
Look! It's a treasure chest!
MITHRIL HALBERD
It's a mithril halberd.
I bet we can get upwards of 50 gold coins for this.
Seriously?!
Let's keep it up!
Huh? Huh? Huh?!
Are you back with us?
Did I get hit by a sleep trap or what?
You should've listened to me and taken a Panacea earlier.
No matter how awful it tastes.
Nah. I didn't take one on purpose.
Time to investigate.
Maria!
You called?
First, let's review what happened.
We were riding on Fran through the dungeon and triggered a trap.
What's going on with him?
This happens all the time.
Just leave him be.
That's right.
Okay.
Guess we're stuck here for awhile.
Krena. Will you spar with me?
Sure!
Say, Maria. What was going on just before I fell asleep?
Fran stepped on that tile over there, and then a bunch of white gas came out.
What happened after that?
All the Frans fell asleep.
What about everybody else?
They were fine.
And me?
Out like a light.
So, the sleeping trap didn't work on the others because they had taken a Panacea.
What made me wake up?
I used a Garnish on you.
Oh, the item that comes from Mapo's ability.
You were awake within a few seconds.
Good to know.
Looks to have a range of five meters.
It's not making me sleepy.
Yep.
The garnish must still be in effect.
Yep, yep.
Fran fell asleep, but you didn't.
Yep.
We should check what happens to my other summons.
Yep, yep.
Eggy.
Cobble.
Ta-dah!
I've figured it out!
Figured what out?
Up until now, all my grass-type summons produced recovery items for HP and MP,
so I had an inkling of what would be next.
But now I'm sure of it! Garnish is a status-recovery item!
Sleep traps are guaranteed to work on animal-type summons,
but they have no effect on grass or spirit-types!
Man, they made this too easy!
Well, congrats.
OOHRAH!
AW, YEAH! I DID IT!
Amazing!
Way to go, Dogora!
You've figured out how to use your Skill?
I sure did! And it packs a wallop!
Finally! I can use Skills!
HP:
MP:
ATTACK:
ENDURANCE:
AGILITY:
INTELLIGENCE:
LUCK:
SKILLS: WAR AXE
FULL MIGHT EXP
AXE MASTERY
EXTRA: HEART & SOUL
Wahoo!
Woop, woop, woop, woop!
Wow, his skill EXP really did go up!
Congratulations.
Allen!
If you're finished investigating, let's go back to dungeon crawling!
I wanna bust out my Skill!
Okay! Let's do it!
After two months of dungeon crawling over the weekends,
we finally did it.
We reached the last floor of the B-rank dungeon.
There it is. The B-rank boss monster of this dungeon.
I think it's called a Huge Boar, right?
Yeah. One step up from a Great Boar.
Makes sense.
Looks like a bigger and meaner version of the boars we hunted back home.
No better boss for a dungeon filled with beast monsters.
Anyways, I'm not worried about our chances
NAME: KEEL
AGE: 13
TALENT: CLERIC
LEVEL: 37
HP: 475
MP: 899 +300
ATTACK: 358
ENDURANCE: 505
AGILITY: 575
INTELLIGENCE: 793 +300
LUCK: 723
SKILLS: CLERIC (3)
HEAL (3) EXP: 380/1,000
SOLIDITY (3) EXP: 310/1,000
FAITH (1)
SWORD MASTERY (3)
EXTRA: GRACE ENERGY
EXP: 12.350/100,000
NAME: DOGORA
AGE: 13
TALENT: AXE USER
LEVEL: 37
HP: 816 +300
MP: 440
ATTACK: 1074 +300
ENDURANCE: 708
AGILITY: 448
INTELLIGENCE: 298
LUCK: 484
SKILLS: WAR AXE (3)
FULL MIGHT (3) EXP: 186/1,000
AXE THROW (3) EXP: 102/1,000
RESOLVE (1)
AXE MASTERY (4)
EXTRA: FULL BLAZE
EXP: 46,630/100,000
based on these stats.
Everyone raised their skill levels
to 3 over the past two months.
NAME: KRENA
AGE: 12
TALENT: SWORD LORD
LEVEL: 37
HP: 1520 +900
MP: 586
ATTACK: 1520 +900
WISDOM (1)
SPARRING (2)
EXTRA: PETIT METEOR
EXP: 57,430/100,000
ENDURANCE: 1068 +900
AGILITY: 1027 +900
INTELLIGENCE: 606
LUCK: 735
SKILLS: SWORD LORD (3)
SLASH (3) EXP: 252/1,000
AIR SLASH (3) EXP: 285/1,000
TOUGHNESS (1)
SWORD MASTERY (5)
EXTRA: LIMIT BREAK
EXP: 46,630/100,000
NAME: CECIL GRANVELLE
AGE: 12
TALENT: WIZARDESS
LEVEL: 37
HP: 637
MP: 1069 +600
ATTACK: 406
ENDURANCE: 664
AGILITY: 628 +600
INTELLIGENCE: 1470 +600
LUCK: 592
SKILLS: WIZARDRY (3)
FIRE MAGIC (3) EXP: 690/1,000
EARTH MAGIC (3) EXP: 690/1,000
I always thought Summoner was special
for the buffs that I get from my creatures,
but it turns out everyone has similar skills.
TOUGHNESS
+900 TO 4 STATS
WISDOM
+600 TO 3 STATS
FAITH
+300 TO 2 STATS
RESOLVE
+300 TO 2 STATS
And they level up so fast in normal mode!
Dammit! They're bound to outpace me!
High Protect.
I'll start us off.
Flame Lance!
BEAST D
Teddy, get out here!
Use your once-per-day awakened skill:
Devour!
Krena! Dogora! You two fight the boss!
Flame Lance!
On it!
Have a taste of my Skill!
Full Might!
Air Slash!
Now, Krena! Strike its vitals!
Right!
Slash!
YOU HAVE DEFEATED 1 HUGE BOAR
YOU HAVE EARNED 24,000 EXP
All right!
Nicely done, Krena!
You took down that B-rank monster like it was nothing.
Those Sword Lord skills are deadly!
High Heal.
Thanks, Keel!
Treasure chest spotted.
Look, it's a silver chest!
SCARLETITE KNUCKLES
What is this?!
Knuckles made from scarletite, which is harder than mithril.
That'll fetch a couple hundred gold coins at the market.
A couple hundred, you say?!
Big money, woo!
Big money, woo! Big money! Join me, Krena!
He likes to say it's for his family, but I think he just really loves money.
Big money, woo! Big money!
A real money grubber. Or rather, money preacher...
Join us, Dogora!
Big money, woo! Big money, woo!
It didn't take long to clear our first B-rank dungeon.
Thank you, oh Lord!
They've really toughened up!
Considering how strong they are, normal mode is nothing to laugh at.
Yet the fact humanity is struggling against the Demon Lord's army,
just goes to show how powerful the monsters are.
I have to make sure everyone reaches a high level before we graduate!
Myself included!
MARIA
TYPE: SPIRIT
RANK: C
HP:
MP:
Attack:
Endurance: Ability:
Agility: Psychokinesis
Intelligence: Awakened Ability:
Luck: Poltergeist
ALLEN: AGE 12
JULY
Over the past month,
I've sent my creature brigade
to fight in the B-rank dungeon,
successfully farming 34,760 C-rank magic stones and 425 gold coins.
I put in a request for 310,000 D-rank magic stones by using C-rank ones for seed money.
The quest limit is 50,000 per month, understand?
We used our treasure funds to buy new equipment, including:
a cart that makes travel to and from the house easier,
and a magic-operated clock to keep track of time during dungeon crawls.
As for the end-of-semester exam...
Yay!
Hoorah!
...everyone passed, miraculously.
Sweet!
Easy.
ALLEN: AGE 12
EARLY AUGUST
Come August, we had conquered our second B-rank dungeon,
and the academy went into summer break for 2 months.
Whew, that was a long flight! I'm home, fam!
Huh?
Isn't that Allen's voice?
Oh, nice to see you Mr. Gerda! It's been a long time.
Uh, ah, er, um, eh, der, duh....
How did you get here?!
Well, I'm actually still in Academy City,
but I'm speaking with you through my bird, Poppo.
Does that make sense?
Yeah.
And you can see us through him, too?
What a strange power.
Hey, Big Bro!
Yo, Mash! You're looking great!
I've got something for you.
A letter!
I'll read it!
There's some from Krena and Dogora, too.
From Krena?
Well, shucks. Too bad I can't read...
I'll read it for you later.
How nice. It's great to hear you're all getting along.
The things you can do with your talent just get crazier and crazier, Allen!
No fair. I didn't get a talent...
You went to the Appraisal Ceremony, huh?
Yeah. But she came up talentless.
Too bad.
But guess what, Myulla?
It means you're samesies with Mommy and Daddy!
Yay! Samesies!
Oh, get this, Allen!
Exciting news! I'm going to be the chieftain of a new frontier village!
We'll be moving in April of next year to start breaking ground!
That's amazing! Congratulations!
I'm taking my family there, too. Same with Dogora's family.
Let the others know, would ya?
Will do.
Mom and Dad are well into their 30s now.
It's the perfect time to start a new chapter of their lives.
Well, Dad, you better start learning to read and write if you want to be a good chieftain!
Allen! You little stinker!
Same goes for me, huh?
I see. You met the Carnel boy, eh?
Yes. Tensions were high at the start.
But Keel became a good friend after we talked it all out.
We've been taking classes and exploring dungeons together with him.
Well, I guess I don't need to worry if you're vouching for him.
Except for one thing...
Hm?
Keel apparently met with a royal messenger
who promised to reinstate the Carnel family if he serves five years in the war effort.
A royal messenger?!
Have you heard any rumblings about that among the court, Viscount?
No.
In which case, the royal messenger could be making false promises.
Reinstating the Carnels to nobility is feasible. His Royal Highness could make it so.
However... if Keel has the talent of a Cleric, then this is likely to be a scam.
Why is that, milord?
Any who return from the war alive are guaranteed to receive special treatment,
which is why many nobles willingly send their children to the frontlines.
Except they are keen on having someone with a healing talent nearby to keep them safe.
Serfs and commoners with healing talents are usually employed
to help the sick and injured within the kingdom, so there are few on the frontlines.
To an extent, the elves of Rohzenheim help us to make up the difference,
but they cannot operate individually for various reasons.
This makes Clerics especially valuable,
leading many to be exploited and worked to the bone as personal healers for young nobles.
Worked... to the bone?
Nobles forge secret pacts among each other
to keep these Clerics at the frontlines even after they finish their compulsory service.
It's so bad that some supposedly never return except in coffins.
And you're saying that will happen to Keel?
Carnel sent Keel away the instant that he learned of his talent, yes?
That indicates to me he planned on using the boy as a tool eventually.
My God. That's absolutely heinous.
But now it all makes sense to me.
After Keel became a commoner, the royal messenger tricked him into joining the war effort.
That's the most likely explanation, right?
I imagine so.
But what's their endgame?
How does this benefit the royal messenger?
Or is there another mastermind pulling the strings behind them?
Despite his greedy habits, Keel's a good guy.
He's only trying to save enough money for his family to live comfortably
during the 5 years that he's on the frontlines.
I'm not gonna let them exploit him.
Viscount Granvelle. I have an idea.
Let's hear it.
I'll take the direct approach and ask the King about this myself.
Hold on! Listen, Allen.
Would you be willing to let me handle this, instead?
Huh?
The royal messenger fooled Keel by claiming the Granvelles set his family up, right?
I can't sit and do nothing while they drag my name through the mud like that.
All right.
Thank you, milord.
We won't be going to the frontlines for some time yet.
So I'll leave it to you.
Our party got more time to go dungeon crawling over summer break,
and eventually, we conquered our third B-rank dungeon.
Here you are. Your updated adventurer cards.
Thank you, ma'am.
They're B-rank?!
Aren't those students?
No way!
That's crazy!
I expect your party will attempt to clear an A-rank dungeon next, but I must warn you.
About what?
There are very few adventurers who explore the A-rank dungeons
due to the overly formidable boss monsters on the last floor.
Since they may contain traps of an unknown nature,
I recommend you review the available documentation carefully.
All right.
For suitable gear, I recommend you participate in the auctions held by the Adventurer's Guild.
They have auctions?
Yes.
You can earn good money by putting your own item drops up for auction,
or you can participate in the bidding to obtain rare items instead.
A-are there any MP recovery rings?!
Uh, I'm sorry. As far as I know, they don't have any of those.
I have heard of HP recovery or poison resistance rings showing up on rare occasion.
I see.
Figures it wouldn't be that easy.
But these auctions do sound like an event with a lot of potential.
Hey, Allen. What's the plan?
Wanna tackle an A-rank dungeon? Pronto?
You know it!
It's down to busines as soon as we review the details and get the right equipment!
Allen! Wake up.
Oh, good morning.
Not much of a "morning" when we're underground like this.
Ugh.
I sent Hawkins scouting all night while we slept, but no sign of the finish line.
These A-rank dungeons are way too big.
How many days have we spent on this floor alone?
Three. No, four?
Man, I hate camping. I wanna go home.
Maria. Did any monsters attack us?
A few, but I killed them all.
Great.
I guess we must've slept through it since Wally didn't need to use his Explode Skill.
Up and at 'em!
Let's rock!
Two Orc Kings and one Cylcops, dead ahead!
Dogora! Better not screw up this time!
Yeah, I know!
B-rank monsters don't spook them anymore, huh?
Charge!
Slash!
Full Might!
Flame Lance!
That's that!
Dogora?
Yeah, I'm almost done!
Sweet! I beat it!
Look out!
Dogora!
They disappeared!
Not good. That was a teleport trap!
Tele-what?
They got sent to a different part of the dungeon!
I really wish it had been anyone but them!
Krena! Take out the cyclops!
Roger that!
I'll create as many Maria cards as I can.
And summon them!
Here I am!
Take these Frond of Life and Seed of Magic items,
AWAKENED SKILL (FROND OF LIFE)
RESTORES 1,000 HP FOR ALL PARTY MEMBERS
WITHIN A RADIUS OF 50 METERS
AWAKENED SKILL (SEED OF MAGIC)
RESTORES 1,000 MP FOR ALL PARTY MEMBERS
WITHIN A RADIUS OF 50 METERS
then go find Cecil and Dogora!
Okay, Master!
Nice work!
Come on! Let's go save them!
We won't find them by rushing around recklessly.
I already have my summons searching for them.
Damn!
Flame Lance!
Dogora!
I just used my last healing item.
Oh no! Let me check...
I'm out, too.
Poltergeist!
Whoa. That was sick.
Dogora?!
Are you all right?
I found them!
Really?!
Thank goodness...
Maria! We're on our way!
Help will be here soon.
Just stay here for now.
I'm too tired to move, anyway...
No choice. We'll just have to beat these monsters and hold out here.
Krena, Keel! Hang on real tight!
Fran! Use Fleetfoot!
Holy crap!
Take that!
Crap! Knowing where they are doesn't help when the maze is so complex!
Dogora! Cecil!
Don't you die on me!