The Adventurer Threshold

The Turtle Monster and the werewolf-like Etoroki were both high-threat creatures.

Strong enough to scatter a band of ordinary adventurers without breaking a sweat.

The Turtle Monster's shell could shrug off steel swords and axes, and its sheer bulk enabled devastating area attacks.

If it retracted its head and limbs and started spin-dashing, you were looking at a total party wipe without countermeasures.

The Etoroki possessed terrifying regeneration. Its dangerous claws could shatter swords, and paired with its fangs, offense and defense were one and the same.

Unless you could weather its onslaught and dish out damage faster than it healed, taking it down was impossible.

Above these were the dangerous monsters that upper-tier adventurers faced… One-Eyed Giants, lesser Dragon species, and the like.

These two were a perfect benchmark for our current strength.

The lucky part was that we had experience fighting both.

We knew how to deal with them. We knew their patterns.

Finn sprinted ahead first, daggers in both hands, carving gashes across the Etoroki's entire body to hamper its movement.

She'd gone for the tendons in all four limbs, but its tough fur and muscles blocked her, and she only managed to wound it.

The Etoroki shrugged off the injuries and counterattacked. Finn danced back toward the entrance in a series of quick steps.

"Stay put by the entrance. Get caught in this and you're dead."

"I know. I'll keep out of the way."

"Good. Obedient kid."

Finn said that half-jokingly, then received Elza's blessing and headed back in.

Orleans and I sat this one out in the rear. Anything else would just get in the way.

It looked like Finn would pin down the Etoroki while they took out the Turtle Monster first.

Her speed was beyond even the Etoroki's ability to catch; she dodged every attack, countered, and kept its attention locked.

The Turtle Monster had high durability but almost no regeneration.

Leaving the Etoroki for later, which would regenerate indefinitely unless you destroyed its heart or overwhelmed its healing with raw firepower, was certainly the rational call.

No matter how hard that shell was, the Sealed Sword Grungaus Azu wielded rendered it useless.

Each swing carved a slash into the carapace.

The Turtle Monster groaned in pain. Judging by its reaction, the damage was reaching deep beneath the shell.

Then Alexia's magic hammered it at close range.

The massive body bucked and writhed under the onslaught.

The floor shook with every impact.

"Amazing…"

"Everyone has grown even stronger than before."

"They have. I didn't expect this much."

The Turtle Monster flipped over, belly exposed. Azu drove her sword in.

She'd used the Apostle's power. A massive crack split the shell.

That was the finishing blow. The monster's form faded away.

Now only the Etoroki and Finn remained, squaring off head-on.

Finn was unscathed, but her breath was running ragged; she pulled back hard to recover.

Her shoulders rose and fell as she steadied her breathing.

Meanwhile, the Etoroki's wounds closed up.

"Seriously, monsters are cheaters. A human would've died a dozen times over."

Having caught her breath, Finn tapped the toe of her right foot against the floor, griping about the Etoroki's toughness.

Elza gave a wry laugh.

"That's just how it is. That's why all humanity can manage is to develop areas where monsters are scarce and barely secure a foothold."

"Isn't that because whenever a strong adventurer who can actually handle it shows up, they get leashed and kept from going outside?"

"Everyone values their own safety. Besides, once those people are gone, you get pushed out anyway."

"You talk like you've seen it happen."

With the Turtle Monster down, Azu and Alexia joined in, surrounding the Etoroki four-to-one.

At that point, no amount of regeneration would save it.

All the other three had to do was pin it down while Alexia finished her incantation.

Unlike before, Finn was here too, so the Etoroki's physicality couldn't overwhelm them.

… Which made me wonder, just how strong had the Spartian Warrior Commander been? He'd fought an Etoroki one-on-one on even terms without relying on evasion like Finn.

"Done."

Alexia's spell obliterated the Etoroki before it could regenerate.

A treasure chest appeared in the center of the room.

"Let's see."

The greatest pleasure in this tower: the moment of opening.

Inside were a fist-sized fruit and a smallish shield.

"Isn't this… a World Tree Fruit? I've never seen one in person."

"What's it do?"

"Eat it and you'll recover from the brink of death. As long as you're alive, anyway… It won't cure disease, though."

"Huh."

Something you rarely saw even at auction.

Adventuring was dangerous work. If you got your hands on one, it made sense to keep it rather than sell.

A consumable every bit as rare as Silver Peaches, just in a different way.

I'd have to think about whether to sell.

With Elza around, serious injuries were manageable, but there was always a chance Elza herself would get hurt.

I stashed it in the bag for now.

"And a shield."

A shield made from turtle shell, by the look of it. Fairly small.

Ignoring weight, it would fit Azu or Orleans best.

"A shield would just… slow me down."

"Fair point."

Azu's fighting style used her agility and evasion as her shield.

Her sword form was modeled after the Ash King's, and it never used a shield.

Though monster-slaying had made her stronger than she looked, stopping a monster's blow head-on would still be difficult.

Alexia might manage it, but…

"I don't need a shield either. Close combat means swinging this with both hands."

"Then I'll take it."

"Elza's probably the best fit."

Alexia passed, so Elza claimed it.

With Elza's raw strength, she'd make the most of it.

If Orleans or Yohane ended up needing a shield, something had already gone very wrong.