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Volume 2 Chapter 14 - Wasteland Trap

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Having descended to the 16th floor, Allen looked around.

The earth was reddish brown, as if it had been baked by the scorching sun, and there were countless stones the size of a pinky finger to the size of a fist lying around, as well as withered grass and bushes no taller than Allen's knees in places.

There were also boulders that were more than twice the size of a person lying around, and some of them were huge monoliths in the shape of rock mountains that were well over 10 meters tall, so it couldn’t be said that there was no place to hide, but even so, the visibility was much wider than before.

Such a wasteland was the terrain of the 16th to the 20th floors.

“Aah, if the monster in this terrain is like the data says, no wonder they call it a scout killer.” (Allen)

Allen muttered to himself as he finished observing his surroundings. Although it was Allen's first time coming to this floor, he had grasped the situation to some extent from the knowledge he had obtained in the Guild's reference room.

Because, it was precisely that knowledge that made him give up on going here as it was too risky.

Among that knowledge was what was called the scout killer on this 16th to 20th floor wasteland.

Of course, it didn't mean that scouts could easily be killed on these floors, but it meant that their role as scouts was almost meaningless.

The role of a scout was extremely important in an adventurer party. The scout's role was to follow up on things that weren't straightforward battles, such as spotting monsters, choosing routes where they wouldn't be found, and disarming traps that couldn't be avoided.

This required a good knowledge of the dungeon's terrain and monsters, and most of the adventurers in the Guild's reference room were acting as scouts.

Its value was such that it was said that having a skilled scout gave a higher survival rate than having a first-class swordsman, but on the other hand, the reality was that the number of such scouts was by no means large.

Especially when it came to young adventurers.

Generally speaking, the image of an adventurer was one of bravely fighting monsters. This tendency was especially strong among people who became adventurers because of their aspirations.

From such people's point of view, although they understood that the role of a scout was important, they themself did not want to play that role.

In fact, it was this role of scout that Allen played most often when he was called upon to assist other parties.

Allen had the fundamental knowledge drilled into him by a male scout in a party led by a hero egg who employed Allen in the past, so it may have to do with the fact that he had a certain amount of knowledge and skill though.

Although scouts had such an important role to play, things were a little different in this wasteland.

First, when it came to detecting enemies, visibility in this wasteland was quite wide. As long as you don’t go out of your way to walk near the large boulders where things can hide, anyone can notice monsters' approach.

Next, in regards to traps, although there were standard traps such as pitfalls, there were no traps that could be life-threatening between the stairs that connected the floors.

This meant that most of the roles that scouts had to fulfill had almost disappeared in the wilderness.

But that alone wasn’t enough to warrant calling it a scout killer. The biggest cause was...

“Oh, so that's the biggest trap on this floor, huh?” (Allen)

Allen looked up and saw a bird monster flying far above.

The monster's name was Alarm Bird. It resembled a condor with its bald head and black and white feathers, and it wasn’t that large, only about 1 meter long.

It never descended below 50 meters from the ground, and it didn’t have any means to attack from long distances, so it couldn’t attack by surprise or directly, but it was the monster to be wary of the most in this wasteland.

At the same time that Allen spotted it, the alarm bird also seemed to find him, it flapped its wings as it approached him.

When it reached the sky above Allen, the alarm bird began circling.

As it continued to capture Allen in its sharp gaze, the alarm bird opened its mouth and tried to vibrate the air in its chest.

But it was not to be. Because a stone the size of a fist flew and hit it directly in its bald head.

With its wings still spread ungainly, the alarm bird’s body fell to the ground.

Carefully watching its state, Allen confirmed that the alarm bird had fallen on the ground, completely still, and when he was convinced that he had defeated it, he threw away the stone he had been holding for a follow-up attack just in case.

“Hmm, like the information said, it can be defeated with one hit. But it's pretty far, and the target is small, so it seems like it’ll take a lot of skill to target it with a bow or magic. Back then, if I had forced myself to come here, I wouldn’t have any way to deal with it and it would probably have summoned monsters.” (Allen)

While making such an objective judgment, Allen went past the alarm bird and moved on.

This alarm bird was the reason why these floors were called the scout killer. When an alarm bird discovered an enemy, it flew around in the air above them and raised its voice to summon other monsters.

Surrounded by monsters that have gathered from the surrounding area, a hard fight was inevitable. In other words, this alarm bird could be said to be a trap that summons monsters.

Of course, it would be possible to deal with it if you defeated it before it could raise its voice like Allen did just now, but bringing down the alarm birds flying around high in the sky was not so simple.

At the very least, you need a way to attack from long distances in addition to the appropriate skill.

Of course, there were some scouts who possessed such skill, but their number could not be said to be large.

The most likely case was a person who originally used a bow for hunting or other purposes becoming a scout, but few of them would be skilled enough to hit an alarm bird flying high in the sky.

Alarm birds were such troublesome opponents, but they weren't such a big enemy for the current Allen.

After all, he could defeat them just by throwing a stone he picked up somewhere. Since arriving on this floor, Allen had never used magic or even touched a weapon.

Allen moved down the floors smoothly without anything happening. As expected, in the wasteland with almost no cover, Allen was unable to avoid being seen by the alarm birds flying above.

However, since he had avoided all other battles, Allen was satisfied that he had done the minimum job as a scout.

“Still, it finds enemies and calls for allies, isn’t this guy more of a scout?” (Allen)

Allen let out a small breath as he looked at the alarm bird lying on the ground.

A thought popped into his head that maybe they were called scout killers in that meaning. It was too long ago to be sure though.

Allen had already reached his goal of reaching the 20th floor. Although he still had time to spare, Allen had no intention of going any further.

Because Allen's only knowledge of Lilac Dungeon he had crammed in his head was only up to the 20th floor, and with limited time, he was not about to go into a floor he had no prior knowledge of.

“Now then, I guess I'll go back. This seems perfect for Iseria's training, and considering I was able to prepare the lesson in advance, it was a good decision.” (Allen)

Allen muttered and was about to turn back when a small party of several adventurers appeared in front of his line of sight. Allen promptly hid behind a large boulder.

Then, while hiding, Allen carefully checked the adventurers and twisted his face in disgust.

“Geh, it’s Lionel? So unlucky.” (Allen)

Allen let out a deep sigh as he looked at Lionel, an adventurer with whom he had a lot of history, and decided to keep hiding and let them pass.

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