Slime dungeon farming, round 1.
What I focused on most in round 1 was Lune's growth.
'I can't tell since no experience points show up.'
So I had to try multiple times and go through trial and error. Thinking of the first round as just getting experience, I swept through the dungeon.
Crack!
Lune struck down her staff on a slime I'd stepped on. Lune was now mechanically bursting slimes, and the 32nd slime had just died.
Munch, munch.
Lime crawled to my feet and started devouring the slime. Despite it being a big slime with a large size, Lime stuck her head in and swallowed the big slime's magic stone into her mouth first.
"You absolutely can't eat even one this time. I'll settle everything later and give it to you."
Gulp. Lime, her cheeks already swollen with a huge amount of magic stones, nodded vigorously. I checked the magic stones in Lime's cheeks, and Lime gulped them down, putting them in her belly.
'10 lowest grade, 3 low grade.'
Considering we'd killed about 30 slimes so far, the probability of magic stones dropping was roughly 40%.
'Seems monsters in free dungeons don't drop magic stones 100% of the time.'
Being able to run it 3 times a day with 100% magic stone drops would definitely be problematic. The daily limit or magic stones not always dropping was probably a kind of balance adjustment.
'Just being able to supply them stably is more than enough.'
So I needed to survey the dungeon first. I did a mid-point assessment when I felt like we'd gone about halfway through the dungeon.
'Lune's level is only 8.'
Considering I'd power-leveled her through 32 slimes, Lune's level rose really slowly.
Going up by 3 was definitely a good sign, but naturally, the higher the level, the more experience it required.
'Unless she can kill slimes on her own.'
"Kya, kyaaah?!"
Lune fumbled around dodging a big slime's attack. I caught the big slime in mid-air and slammed it to the ground, and Lune slowly stabbed the big slime with the tip of her staff.
"Ugh, ughhh...."
"Get used to it."
"S-sorry. This is my first time fighting like this...."
"Everyone's like that at first."
Embarrassingly, I was too. After rolling around for 3 years I got used to it like this, but at first I waddled around making all kinds of shameful displays.
'If Brug hadn't helped me, I really would've lived like a dog.'
A monster with innate 6-star potential who reached 5-star, and my life's benefactor. There's no way a guy like Brug would die, so I'd definitely save him and repay the favor.
For that, I, my dungeon, and my subordinates all needed to grow.
"Let's keep hunting. Lune, try bursting that one this time."
"Yes...!"
Lune gripped the staff tightly and stabbed the slime standing dumbly with the tip of her staff. The slime suffered then stopped moving, and Lune got startled instead and screamed.
"Master! I did it!"
"Behind you."
Gulp, gulp.
From behind the slime's corpse, two huge big slimes crawled toward Lune. Lune stabbed with her staff while frozen in place.
Squish!
She stopped one big slime's movement, but the other big slime aimed for Lune's side and opened its mouth wide.
"Where do you think you're going."
I stomped down on the big slime's maw with my foot. I accidentally stomped too hard with some anger mixed in, so the big slime burst.
"Ah...."
Lune let out an exclamation at my strength bursting a big slime with just one kick. Then she also gripped her staff and poked the big slime repeatedly.
"Master! I-I think I can do it!"
"Yeah. It'll take about 10 minutes."
Crack.
I stepped on the big slime, and Lune weakly shoved her staff into the big slime's body.
"...."
"What. I'm busy right now."
"...Yes."
This wasn't a situation to get held up by one big slime. I ordered Lime to autonomously follow behind us and collect magic stones, and I went with Lune to deal with the remaining slimes.
'Exactly 50 of them.'
Lowest grade magic stones obtained: 18, low grade magic stones: 4.
Lune's level had grown to 9 now.
Just 2 more times to go. I threw open the iron door before my eyes.
[Slime Dragon: A formless slime that took on the shape of a dragon. Looks like a worm.]
[Difficulty: ★★★, Lv.35.]
'I got a mid-grade magic stone after killing the slime dragon.'
I walked forward and stood before the slime dragon. The slime dragon, smaller than the one originally in the cave, looked up at me slightly from the front and crawled toward me hastily.
Thwack.
I whacked the back of the slime dragon's head with my staff. The slime dragon collapsed to the floor, and I stepped on the slime dragon's back with my foot and ordered Lune.
"Hit it until it dies."
"...Yes."
Lune struck down her staff at the slime dragon with a hardened face. The more strikes continued, the more Lune's hands became covered in the slime dragon's bodily fluids.
"Haa, haa."
Lune hit and hit again until the slime dragon showed no movement. Lune's arms were spasming, and the slime dragon died.
[Quest: You have cleared Sub-Dungeon-Slime!]
[Reward: Monster Summoning Ticket x1 (First time)]
"Lune, come here for a sec."
"Yes? Hyah."
I grabbed Lune's ear and checked her level. Lune's level was now 12. For one dungeon run, it was incredibly steep growth, but Lune's stamina didn't look like it could handle two runs.
"No, I can do it. Master...!"
"Throw a tantrum and there's no dinner."
"...Actually I'm at my limit. Sorry."
Lune obediently withdrew. I took Lune and Lime back to the cavity.
'One run a day is Lune's limit.'
Being an elf, she'd probably shoot a bow pretty well, but unfortunately we don't have bows. So for now she'd have to accumulate combat experience with blunt weapons.
'Worst case, I'll just dump magic stones into her.'
I didn't know how much the remaining two runs would yield, but the ratio would probably be similar to the first time.
After letting Lune rest on the bed, I newly formed a squad with Lime as the leader.
'I gathered only slimes that can evolve.'
Excluding ★ slimes, I assembled all slimes that could evolve under Lime.
★★☆☆, Lime, who first became my subordinate.
Two ★☆ that came from the first 7-roll gacha.
One ★☆☆ summoned with a monster summoning scroll on the first day.
And one ★★☆ summoned this morning.
Slime dungeon farming, round 2.
I planned to first turn the slime dragon (to-be) into a big slime.
'One free dungeon run fills it perfectly.'
If one creature monopolized 50 out of 51, excluding the boss, it could evolve immediately. 2 chances left.
First, to turn the ★☆☆ slime into a big slime, I stomped and beat slimes to knock them out.
Crunch, munch.
The future slime dragon eagerly devoured the slimes. The slime, whose level had already risen somewhat thanks to Lime's work, quickly reached level 14.
Gurrgle!
Level 15 with the slime dragon too.
The ★☆☆ slime achieved the evolution conditions: level 15 and devouring 50 slime kin. I evolved it into a big slime.
Round 2 results: 14 lowest grade magic stones collected, 3 low grade magic stones. A total failure.
'The first time just came out too well.'
So I needed to establish an average with the 3rd attempt. But I didn't want to make another big slime.
'I still have daily summon attempts left.'
Two from monster summoning scrolls, and five from ghoul summons.
I still had three summons left for today.
'Let's pull two more high ghouls.'
Since low grade magic stones were coming in better than expected, I had to use them. Using the 8 I'd saved up yesterday, the 23 I earned digging the cave, and the 7 I got through round 2, I summoned two high ghouls.
"Ah, the Death Knight is watching!"
'★★Gases, ★★Dases.'
This made Hases's squad two high ghouls and six regular ghouls.
And now the last gacha was the monster summoning ticket's turn.
'New monsters are always welcome.'
No way I'd get another slime, no way I'd get another ghoul. It was about time for a new monster to appear!
Tap tap tap.
This time I decided to trust myself. The monster summoning ticket had absorbed a musty smell, but surely nothing bad would happen from doing something like this.
"Let's goooo!"
The monster summoning scroll tore, and the effect of a 1-star being summoned appeared with the smoke I already knew well.
"Damn it."
Another 1-star?— just before despairing.
"....."
I cheered at the appearance of a completely new face that was neither slime nor ghoul.
"Oh my, who's the master who summoned me this time.... An orc?"
A woman with brown hair appeared from the mist. What was unusual was that while her body was definitely human, her arms weren't human arms but white wings with bird feathers.
A harpy.
"Hehe, well whatever. I'll trust and follow you. So what should I do first? Sing? Or hunt humans?"
"What to do? There's only one thing."
I grabbed the harpy's wing and pulled her down to the ground. Then I made her face bury into my crotch.
"Suck."
New prey was always welcome.