“Is this… is this the Luminous Dark Cave you were talking about?”
The day after the Sahzan Dam Collapse Incident.
Ena had asked me to help her with her training, so I agreed.
We were at a Level 108 dungeon called the “Luminous Dark Cave.”
It had a name that sounded like Sahzan came up with it, and by level alone, it was over thirty levels higher than Ena was currently capable of handling.
Even with the Ring of Mutual Love’s effects, I didn’t think it would be a problem, but Ena seemed a bit nervous.
“It’s okay. I’m with you this time, and Ringo and Mitsuki are watching over us.”
Our party for today consisted of me, Ena, Ringo, and Mitsuki.
Layla was staying home to guard the house.
Maki had stopped by briefly this morning, but she seemed busy with the aftermath of a certain Magician’s Guild incident.
“Well, gotta be filial while I can, right?”
I muttered that to myself, wondering what had prompted her visit.
As for Sahzan, she hadn’t shown up for a while, so I went to her room to check on her, but she didn’t respond at all.
It seemed she was still heartbroken.
Well, I’d left the aftermath to Bear, so that part should be fine.
“B-but, I investigated this place with Tiel-san before! The monsters here called Light Roots are immune to magic, and if they get close, they self-destruct, so they’re incredibly dangerous!”
Her words surprised me a little.
It wasn’t just about blindly fighting monsters; she had actually researched them.
This level of caution was unlike Ena, but it was likely Tiel’s doing.
However, her worries were unfounded.
“Oh, if you know about them, that’s good. I was actually planning for us to fight those Light Roots today.”
“L-Light Roots?!”
“Yeah. But like I said, you don’t need to worry too much. You might be scared at first, but we’ve already figured out an easy way to beat them.”
“Really?”
“They were actually famous as XP-grinding monsters in the game.”
Hearing that, Ena finally seemed to relax, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Still, I was surprised Ena asked me for this.”
We’d had a similar conversation right after defeating the Demon Lord, and we’d both agreed that power-leveling wasn’t ideal.
While it might be fast to level up by easily defeating enemies with foolproof strategies or the help of strong allies, it often hindered the development of crucial Player skills – the actual techniques needed for combat.
“Ah, well, that’s because…”
At my words, Ena looked down slightly.
“At first, I thought I wanted to get stronger slowly… but…”
“But?”
When I prompted her to continue, Ena vehemently shook her head.
“N-no! I-I just really admire strong people!”
Her answer didn’t really make sense, but Ena tried to cover it up by leaning closer.
“M-more importantly, what is this foolproof method? Is it like wearing light-attribute armor to negate damage…?”
“Unfortunately, no. The Light Root’s self-destruct magic, ‘Shiny Rain,’ is attribute-less.”
“For a Light Root, it’s Shiny Rain?!”
“That’s just how the world works, my dear.”
I thought it was more how “Nekoneko” worked, but it was about the same in this context.
“Then, um, maybe it’s weak to a specific element, so we can beat it with magic?”
“Wrong again. They have a trait that reduces any magic, including non-elemental, to 1 damage, so that’s difficult.”
“W-well then, maybe we can attack from afar with a bow before it notices us…”
“That’s a valid tactic, but they self-destruct if they take even a single hit, so you’d have to defeat it in one shot.”
“M-mmph. Then, um…”
Ena began to ponder charmingly, but unfortunately, time was running out.
“Well, let’s save that for later. It wouldn’t be training if it was too easy from the start, and we need to prepare the area first.”
“Prepare the area…?”
Ena tilted her head in confusion. I looked over her shoulder at Mitsuki.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
As if she understood, Mitsuki moved closer to me without a word.
Feeling reassured by her presence, I scanned the cave.
Conveniently, no Light Roots were currently spawned.
“Alright, first, we’re cleaning this cave! We’ll lure the monsters other than the Light Roots into that area!”
With that, I pointed to a hollow in the corner of the cave.
And so, the first task of the day.
The cave’s major cleaning began.
“T-they’re really all gone now…”
A few minutes later, Mitsuki and I had successfully removed all monsters except the Light Roots from the immediate area.
The monsters in this dungeon couldn’t climb ledges above a certain height, so by luring them into a specific location, we could isolate them.
Of course, this required the skill to capture and move enemies without killing them, so it was knowledge of little use for actual gameplay.
However, due to the “Nekoneko” system, only one group of monsters could spawn from a single point at a time.
This meant that if we could isolate enemies without killing them, we could neutralize the corresponding spawn point.
This left only the two “Light Root only” spawn points in the dungeon active.
With this, we had created an environment where we could endlessly farm Light Roots.
“Get ready, Ena. The real training starts now.”
“Y-yes!”
“Then, first…”
Spotting a Light Root that had appeared at the perfect moment, I intentionally made noise as I approached.
The Light Root, sensing me, spun around.
It turned its plant-like face towards me, began to glow white, and then…!
“Kyaa!”
From its entire body, it unleashed a shower of light in all directions.
The lines of light emanating outwards were spectacular in a way, but anyone facing this without prior information would be in for a shock.
It was impossible to visually avoid the seamless shower of light.
This would have been impossible not just for players, but even for Mitsuki, with her god-like reflexes and physical abilities.
Naturally, I had already retreated out of range before the light reached its zenith, but a first-timer likely would have been bathed in the light without understanding what was happening.
“…Ah.”
And then, the Light Root continued to spew its shower of light for about ten seconds. At the end of the magic, it transformed its body into light and vanished.
Incidentally, when a Light Root died from self-destruction, neither experience points nor Elements were gained.
Furthermore, the experience points from monsters other than the Light Roots in this dungeon were very low, making them barely worthwhile even if they were caught in the self-destruct blast.
It was a meticulously designed, typically “Nekoneko” unpleasant feature, as if to ensure players wouldn’t gain any undue advantage.
Well, that didn’t matter.
I explained the purpose of today’s training to Ena, who was standing frozen after being caught in the self-destruct magic.
“Today, Ena, I want you to learn the technique of avoiding that self-destruct magic, Shiny Rain, and attacking the enemy.”
“C-can that even be avoided?!”
“Yeah. Just watch.”
Saying that, I casually approached another Light Root that emerged from a different spawn point.
As before, it turned towards me and began to glow white.
Last time, I had retreated, but this time was different.
Confirming that the Light Root had fixed its direction, I stepped forward.
The target was about three steps forward and two steps to the right, from the very edge of Shiny Rain’s effect range.
“S-Soma-san!?”
Immediately after, the Light Root emitted a powerful glow.
A shower of light erupted outwards from it.
Of course, it rained down on me as well.
“Be careful!”
Ena screamed, but I waved back, indicating I was fine.
In fact, I had plenty of room to spare.
“Eh, eeeeeh…”
Seeing me, Ena’s voice took on a peculiar tone, whatever she was thinking.
At first glance, Shiny Rain seemed to have no blind spots, but that was only visually.
Naturally, the lazy “Nekoneko” staff wouldn’t put hit detection on every single beam of light.
In reality, the graphics and hit detection were barely related, and this particular skill had sparse hit detection areas. If you knew where these were, you could avoid it without taking any damage.
“For the first few seconds, this spot is safe, so if you stand here, the attack won’t hit you. A good landmark is the initial flash of light; remember it’s about one step to the back-left from where it lands.”
“No, no, no, no! You’re getting hit! You’re getting hit, Soma-san!”
“Ah, no, I mean…”
Looking down at the beams of light passing through my body, I scratched my head.
It seemed Ena still didn’t fully grasp the difference between attack effects and hit detection.
Sighing internally, I continued.
“Anyway, from here, you need to approach in an ‘S’ shape…”
The areas with hit detection for this skill changed over time.
In response, I took the first two steps at a run, with a gap of about half a second, then walked five steps in a half-crouch, waited there for two seconds, and then dashed as if being chased!
I deliberately took three steps away from the Light Root, then quickly reversed, moving sideways as if passing through a narrow gap. Finally, I jumped over the attack hitting my feet and lunged in front of the monster.
Then, looking at the Light Root’s strangely charming yet hateful face up close, I brought down the Fire of Sh onto its weak point, its head.
“If you attack its weak point like this, Ena, you can probably defeat it in one hit.”
Its entire HP was depleted in a single blow, and the Light Root slowly began to dissipate into light particles.
“Fuwah…”
Ena let out a sigh of amazement, as if she had witnessed something incredible. But it wasn’t over yet.
I nudged the Light Root, which was starting to turn into light, and moved to where it had been standing.
“Also, don’t let your guard down just because you defeated it. Even after a monster dies, its magic may continue. You need to quickly move to a completely safe zone, like where the Light Root was. That’s what counts as success.”
Once the magic subsided, I slowly walked back to Ena and explained this.
Ena looked at me with a complex expression, a mixture of awe and fear.
“Soma-san, you really are amazing! B-but, this feels a little too advanced for me. Maybe we should start with easier monsters…”
“It might be difficult to learn, but some dungeon bosses use skills with the same area of effect. Knowing how to avoid it then makes a huge difference. Even for just gaining experience, defeating them before they self-destruct is the most efficient method around here.”
“I-is that so…”
Ena seemed to be pondering my words.
Suddenly, a figure appeared behind her.
“…I’ll do it too.”
“…Eh?”
It was Ringo.
As if to tell Ena she wasn’t alone, she gently placed a hand on Ena’s shoulder and spoke.
“…I think that dance is weird too. But I’ll do it. Even if it’s difficult, until I can.”
“Ringo-san…”
Moved by the unexpected appearance of her comrade, Ena’s voice choked up.
But what was she talking about with “dance”?
“Indeed, mimicking those peculiar movements may prove challenging. However, despite how eccentric it may appear, his combat techniques are reliable. I hadn’t considered learning combat from someone else at this late stage, but today’s training should be quite productive.”
Then, Mitsuki appeared on the other side. She had already drawn Moonshadow and was in a combat stance.
“…We are still… weak. But I believe we can become stronger.”
“Everyone… I… I’ll do i—”
As their words moved Ena and she was about to voice her determination,
“Simultaneous pop?!”
An unwelcome interruption shattered the moment.
From both remaining spawn points, Light Roots appeared almost simultaneously.
It was unfortunate, as she was just starting to get motivated, but I hadn’t even explained the movements yet. She wouldn’t be able to practice if they appeared now.
“Damn it! For now, I’ll…”
I cursed and prepared to deal with them, but someone moved faster.
It was Mitsuki and Ringo.
“Bad timing. Please come back later.”
Mitsuki closed the distance with a jump and bisected one of the Light Roots,
“…Obstruction.”
The remaining Light Root was instantly incinerated by Ringo’s lightning strike.
It was a swift kill, leaving no time for them to unleash Shiny Rain.
“…………Eh?”
The two returned, offering their hands to a dumbfounded Ena.
“Come, let us strive together.”
“…Let’s… try… together?”
Seeing this, Ena,
“…Yes. Let’s work together.”
She took their hands with a strangely soot-stained face.
“Kyaaaah!!”
“Ena!”
Ena’s scream, likely not the first of the day, echoed through the cave.
Ena had failed a movement and been caught in the Light Root’s self-destruct.
“Are you all right!?”
I rushed to Ena, who had been blown back and fallen. She was already trying to use a Potion on herself.
“Ahaha. I failed again.”
She forced a smile, but her expression was pained.
After that, Mitsuki, with her exceptional combat sense, had succeeded in reaching the Light Root on her first attempt.
Ringo, though she struggled a bit more, showed surprising speed of comprehension and succeeded on the fourth try.
However, Ena couldn’t succeed even after ten or twenty attempts. She was repeatedly struck down by the Light Root’s self-destruct magic, falling to the ground countless times. In the game, this skill, jokingly referred to as “Shiny Rain (Physical),” was an attribute-less physical attack, meaning there were no effective countermeasures if you were hit.
Even though her defense was enhanced by the ring, and she wouldn’t die from Shiny Rain, the pain must have been considerable. I had learned to avoid Shiny Rain because I didn’t feel pain in the game. If I were Ena, I would have given up long ago.
“H-hey, Ena. You know, you don’t *have* to do this, and if it’s not a good match for you, maybe you should just give up…”
Seeing Ena’s pained state, I attempted to call off the training, but Ena shook her head.
“I-it’s fine! Next time, I’ll do it properly!”
“N-no, but…”
Why was she trying so hard?
But before I could continue, Ena, finished with her treatment, gripped her dagger and stood up again.
“Ehehe. Please watch, Soma-san. Once I master how to avoid that light, I’ll defeat these monsters one after another, and level up like crazy! Then, once I get stronger like that, I can finally let Soma-san return to your original…”
“Ena?”
I’m sure Ena was about to say something important then.
But before she could, a new Light Root spawned.
“This time, for sure!”
As soon as she saw it, Ena’s expression changed, and she began her tenth, or perhaps even hundredth, attempt.
“Ena!”
I instinctively called out to her as she ran towards her back.
Just before diving into the range of Shiny Rain, Ena glanced back for a moment, and I shouted:
“–Give it your all!!”
A simple, unpretentious phrase.
But the moment she heard those words, Ena’s face seemed to break into a smile, a smile from the bottom of her heart.
“…Got it.”
It was Ringo’s voice.
Shiny Rain began.
Her initial positioning was fine.
She was right in the center of the safe zone.
Then, after a brief pause, Ena started to move.
First, the initial movement, a run, three steps forward.
“Yes!”
She took one more step than the usual two. This extra step seemed to be working to her advantage. Initially, the difference in stride length created a subtle distance difference, but Ena was gradually correcting it with her own adjustments.
After a brief pause, she bent down and moved forward. It was important not to rush here.
“Good, good.”
Ena advanced, carrying our expectant gazes. After the second movement, she waited in a crouched position. Wiping the sweat from her tense face, she leaped!
“Watch out!”
I shouted involuntarily. The angle of her movement was slightly off.
But Ena, sensing this instinctively, corrected her direction mid-move. She skillfully changed her trajectory, ran, and after a brief charge, reversed direction!
“Ngh! Did she do it!?”
The timing, which had caused so many failures, was perfect this time.
Though surprised by the absence of the attack that usually hit her body, Ena didn’t stop. She ran straight towards the monster, which had seemed so close yet so far. She dodged the final obstacle with a jump, one she had practiced countless times when no pop-ups were occurring, and…
“Go!!”
Finally, she leaped directly in front of the Light Root.
There was no time to spare. Without a moment’s delay, she thrust her knife into the Light Root’s face and, as if body-checking it, pushed her way into the space where the Light Root was…
“…Ah.”
When the shower of light subsided, Ena stood there unharmed.
Approaching Ena, who looked as if she couldn’t comprehend what she had just done, I spoke first.
“–Congratulations, Ena.”
The moment I said it.
Ena’s face crumpled, and
“O-whaaaa!”
With the same momentum, Ena launched herself into my chest.
“I did it! I finally did it!”
“Yes. You did wonderfully, Ena. You tried your best.”
“With this, by learning this, I can defeat them and level…
Ena’s voice faltered, unable to continue.
Gently comforting her, I said the words I had been thinking about.
“Well then, as a reward for your hard work, Ena, shall I give you a treat?”
“R-reward…?”
Ena asked with anticipation, her tear-filled eyes looking down shyly.
Smiling fondly, I continued.
“Well, ‘reward’ might be an exaggeration. I was thinking of teaching you something Ena has been wanting to know all day.”
“Me? Um, what was it?”
Perhaps due to everything that had happened, she had already forgotten.
With a wry smile, I revealed the answer.
“Of course, it’s the easy way to defeat Light Roots.”
“…………Feh?”
Immediately after.
“Dodging Shiny Rain is useful, but if you want efficient hunting, this is the way to go… What’s wrong, Ena?”
I demonstrated the easy foolproof method from the game days (hitting a Light Root with a knockback-effect magic from a distance while it’s activating its self-destruct magic, causing it to be caught in its own blast, and since it counts as dealing 1 damage, experience is gained) using a Petit Explosion. Perhaps the tension had snapped, and Ena collapsed on the spot, bursting into tears.
I considered saying something about her unexpected reaction, but before I could, Ringo and Mitsuki approached Ena.
“…Cheer up. Don’t give up.”
“Let’s give up. That’s just how it is with that.”
Encouraging Ena gently, as if they were best friends of ten years, the two spoke.
Sensing the deepened bond between them, I nodded approvingly.
–And so, the day’s training concluded with great success.
This was an Ena-focused episode that wasn’t in the original plot.
This is Ena’s last hurrah… No, Happy New Year to Nekoneko.
