We step into the twenty-second floor, where zombie wolves appear. There are also reports of dark wolves, their superior species.
Fred told me about a time when he ran out of holy water here and had to hunt a dark wolf the hard way. He also said that’s why he was so upset about neglecting to prepare holy water that one time.
“I can see it. Time to intercept it, Sora.”
It sounds like Leila is having fun.
And she’s pushing me forward for some reason too. Some of the members of Light of Hope are being pushed too, and they’re all guys.
We look at each other, and it looks like none of us know what’s going on.
In the meantime, the zombie wolf is gradually approaching. It’s slower than regular wolves, so we still have time.
I unsheathe my sword and sprinkle holy water on it.
Zombies can be burned too, but for some reason, I’m prohibited from using magic. Yes, just me.
I can see it clearly at this point, but the first thing I notice is that something is flying away as it runs. Is that rotten flesh?
Then I notice the smell. It stinks.
I look to my side, and my eyes meet the eyes of another guy, whose face is pale and whose eyes are watering.
He looks like he’s about to throw up.
It might really happen if that thing gets any closer,.
Should we hold our breath and finish it quickly?
I turn to the side again, and see he’s made up his mind too.
We nod, lower our posture, and feel a strange feeling of unity.
Now!
…The moment we are about to step forward, a Fire Arrow is shot from behind us and burns the zombie in an instant.
I turn around and see everyone laughing. They’re happy because their prank worked.
“I figured experiencing it first-hand would be better than us explaining it. It stinks from this floor forward, so keep that in mind. It’s best to take them out before they can get close.
I guess experiencing it makes sense, but what about the holy water I just wasted?
“Ah, master, it’s easier if you have potions that mitigate the smell. I don’t think it’s possible to completely erase it though.”
Says Yor. Deodorant potions, right? The problem is that they would get rid of all smells, not just the rotting smell.
Should I drink one? I should!
I take one out of the Item Box, but then Hikari stops me.
“What’s wrong?”
“You don’t have to fight, so you don’t need to drink it.”
They’ll still stink if they get close, even if I don’t fight. You know that, right?
I look around searching for help, but everyone is on her side. Why?
“Hum… It’s because you’re cooking, Sora.”
I guess Leila has a point, smell is important for a cook. The tongue alone isn’t enough for the more subtle things. But that’s that and this is this.
I look at the bottle in my hand, but Hikari’s stare is hurting me.
What happens if you eat after drinking this anyway?
I ask Leila, and she says it dulls the sense of smell, but the sense of taste stays the same.
But she also says it doesn’t matter, because I need to be able to smell to cook.
If the person who drinks that can’t tell the smell, why not think of it as odorless food? It’s just a matter of how you feel about it, right? I see. No one’s with me on this one.
But Bloody Rose also say they’re not drinking it. They say it’s to get used to this environment, but is it really? The guys from Light of Hope are also looking at them like they don’t buy it.
Still, the ones in front (mostly guys), are told to drink it. That makes sense at least. I can’t imagine swinging my sword right in the middle of that stench.
Zombies are usually taken out from a distance with fire or either light or holy magic anyway. They’re relatively easy to deal with because most sorcerers can use fire magic.
There are some parties that don’t have that option, but they get through it with deodorant potions and holy water. Of course, even without holy water, destroying the core still works, but that means getting rotten flesh and fluids on their weapons, and that stinks really badly.
And those are the only two options, either use magic to destroy them completely, or destroy the core with physical attacks.
“Parties that can’t use magic, or rather, can’t use fire magic, have to be ready to lose money as they make their way through here and onto the twenty-fifth floor.”
According to Yor they also recruit temporary party members.
Also, zombie monsters’ magic stones are pretty good quality, so they go for a good price too. That also means some adventurers look for help from students of the magic academy.
Self-supporting students, and generally speaking, students who need money tend to join parties together like that. It’s a way for them to practice their magic too.
And it helps that zombies are slow and easy to defeat.
As for me, I’m walking slowly while watching the sorcerers take turns firing magic.
If I go too far forward I’m going to struggle a little with the smell, if we come across enemies grouped together.
In the twenty-third floor there are ghouls and their superior species revnight, and in the twenty-fourth floor zombie goblins and their superior species dark goblin. They go down without the chance to cause any danger.
The superior species dark wolf and dark goblin aren’t zombies, so they can be taken down with regular physical attacks, but they still have high resistance to them, so it’s easier to also fight them with holy water or holy magic.
Although they are superior species, we find more than one of each, but compared to the king monsters we fought on boss floors, they aren’t that strong.
Thinking back, it actually makes sense that people that can fight on this floor wouldn’t take a dark wolf very seriously.
But that doesn’t change the fact that it was careless.
