An Adventurer Mom, Who Awakened [Housewife] Skill Through a Login Bonus, Is Making the Most of Her Adventurer Life With the Weekly Flyers She Gets! - Chapter 25

“What monsters are we aiming for on the 19th floor?”

“Anything that appears on the 19th floor is fine. Just defeat as many as you can to farm experience.”

“Even the Paralyzing Brown Moths?”

“Yes, take them down without hesitation.”

The Numbing Brown Moth was a common low-tier monster found on the 19th floor.

As the name suggested, it was a giant, brown moth-type monster that carried paralytic poison.

Its appearance was gross and the experience points it gave were mediocre.

It hardly seemed like a profitable target.

“The real goal is the drop item from the Paralyzing Brown Moths:《Paralysis Powder》. We’ll use that to hunt Fleetfoot Rabbits.”

Fleetfoot Rabbits were trash mobs found on the 19th floor—essentially the weaker, lower-tier version of the Lucky Rabbits from the 21st floor. Their experience and drops weren’t particularly notable.

“Fleetfoot Rabbits? Not Lucky Rabbits?”

“According to parties who’ve actually fought on the 21st floor, Lucky Rabbits fight solo. On the other hand, Fleetfoot Rabbits usually appear in small groups and attack together.”

“Both of them are monsters that try to flee the moment you engage them. Especially the Lucky Rabbit—they’re so fast that even experienced parties can only catch them one out of every three attempts.”

Fleetfoot Rabbits, meanwhile, usually moved in groups of four to five.

While one Fleetfoot Rabbit only gave about a tenth of the experience of a Lucky Rabbit, if you took down four at once, you’d earn a little more than a third of what you’d get from one Lucky Rabbit per battle.

And since their defense and health were much lower, fights ended more quickly.

On top of that, they were common trash mobs—meaning you could encounter them frequently.

Defeating Fleetfoot Rabbits was more efficient than constantly chasing after Lucky Rabbits.

“…It’s not as bad as I expected.”

“Fleetfoot Rabbits are quick on their feet, but if we coat our weapons with Paralysis Powder, it’ll lower the chances of them escaping. On top of that, they drop an item called Speed Boots, which boosts agility.”

Agility is one of the key stats since it affects both attack speed and evasion. Speed Boots boosts agility alone, but its defense is lacking.

That makes it a bit of a niche piece of equipment.

“Rick’s strong point is his speed. I actually read something about that in the Adventurer Guild’s newspaper column.”

“You read the column?”

“It’s right next to the four-panel comic, so I glance at it sometimes. It said the best way to train someone is to focus on their strengths instead of covering their weaknesses. That’s why I think Rick should use gear that focuses entirely on agility.”

Kachua declared it with full confidence.

“I get it now. You’re planning to add the Agility Badge from the Trickster on the 19th floor too, so Rick can land the first hit before the enemy even gets a chance to react?”

“Exactly.”

The rare monster on the 19th floor was called the Trickster, a bird-like creature.

It was fast and used all kinds of support spells. Many adventurers struggled with it but both Og and Rick had enough speed to keep up.

The Trickster also dropped the Agility Badge, another item that increased agility.

The whole idea was to go all-in on speed, ignoring defense completely.

In normal dungeon runs, low defense could be deadly and directly tied to survival. But in the tournament setting, with a healer nearby, no one was likely to die.

That’s where this specialized tournament strategy came into play.

“We’ll never make the top eight unless we take a bold approach like this.”

＊＊＊

A month passed.

Kachua and the others spent their days grinding for experience, making the most of events like Meat Day, Fish Day, Herb Gathering Day and Triple Points Day.

And one month later, the team set their sights on the 18th floor, as the culmination of all their training.

They were after a specific material: Nightmare’s Mane, one of the ingredients for the Supreme Status Ailment Cure Potion.

The party had already reached the statue of the goddess on the 20th floor.

They had encountered the monster Nightmare before on the 18th floor, but it wasn’t just any enemy. Nightmare was a horse-like boss monster, known for appearing alone on certain floors and having a much higher level than regular enemies.

Boss monsters typically show up to block adventurers from progressing to the next floor.

However, the Nightmare spawns in an area slightly off the path to the staircase, so it wasn’t a mandatory fight.

In fact, Nightmare was widely known as a boss that should be avoided if possible.

Nightmare used a skill called【Curse of Death】, an instant-death attack.

There were ways to counter it—amulets to prevent instant death, resurrection spells or resurrection scrolls but if revival didn’t happen in time, the party could be wiped out in seconds.

The only sure way to win against Nightmare was to take it down fast.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more dangerous it became.

Rick, Og and Ann surrounded the Nightmare while Kachua and Laura stayed back, ready to revive anyone if things went south.

“Hey, over here!”

Rick drew Nightmare’s attention perfectly, giving Og and Ann the opening to strike.

And the result—victory for the party.

Kachua and her team secured the Nightmare’s Mane!

＊＊＊

On the day of the tournament, Kachua and her team made their way to the arena.

Over a hundred teams were reportedly competing in the C-rank bracket.

“Wow, there are that many C-rank teams?”

Kachua said in awe, and Rick explained.

“It’s a big tournament, so even teams from nearby towns are joining. If you win the tournament, you get promoted to the next rank.”

Maybe that’s why all the teams were fired up.

And then—

“Oh.”

“Ah.”

“Oh no..”

“Well, what a coincidence.”

“Those guys…”

“Ugh, it’s the loser team!”

Their first opponents were none other than former party members Saza and Lucy’s team.

Saza and Lucy looked at Kachua and the others with smug grins, certain of their victory.

“Well, if it isn’t you guys. I don’t know how you even made it to C-rank, but this’ll be a cakewalk.”

“Totally lucky for us, huh, Saza?”

The first match would be between Og and Saza.

Saza’s team was a large and well-equipped group aiming for the championship.

Kachua’s Gamma Team had only recently clawed their way up from F-rank.

Clearly, Saza’s team was saving their main fighters for later rounds and had chosen to send a newbie in for the opening match.

Saza looked at Og with complete confidence.

“So I’m fighting the mummy guy? Look, I’ll make it quick. Just surrender before you get seriously hurt. Not that anyone could tell with all those bandages covering you.”

Saza’s image of Kachua’s team hadn’t changed since they parted ways months ago.

Sure, their gear had improved a bit but both Og and Rick still looked slim and wiry.

Compared to them, he was convinced he had grown far stronger.

And back when Og was still in their party, he had refused to reveal his class no matter how many times he was asked.

Saza figured it must’ve been something too embarrassing to share.

He’s nothing special.

That’s what Saza thought as he underestimated Og.

But the moment the match began, at the call of『Start!』, Og closed the distance in the blink of an eye and grabbed Saza by the shoulder.

“…!”

A sharp pain, as if his shoulder had been dislocated, knocked the breath out of Saza.

He tried to shake Og’s hand off but despite Og’s slimmer frame, his grip didn’t budge an inch.

And just like that, Og used his overwhelming strength to hurl Saza out of the arena.

A complete and utter victory for Og.

Og’s class was Beast Warrior—a powerful special class that only beastkin could obtain.

He had closed the distance in an instant, giving Saza no time to even draw his sword.

Stunned by the first loss, Saza’s team quickly sent out a real contender for the second match.

Their next fighter was a ripped axe-wielder, brimming with muscle, but Ann narrowly pulled off a win.

“…?”

Watching Ann’s fight, Kachua tilted her head in quiet confusion.

Something felt off. It looked like Ann had deliberately made it seem like she just barely won.

“Was that Ann’s strategy to make them let their guard down…?”

Next came the third match—the center position.

Their fighter: Rick.

And his opponent—

“Ugh. You guys are seriously in the way.”

It was Lucy, seething with fury.