I Have Tamed a Spider Monster - Chapter 275, Chapter 276, Chapter 277

Dungeon Second Floor: Exploration of the Grassland Floor
Day two of dungeon exploration.
We decided to continue searching the Grassland Floor for now.
If nothing worthwhile shows up today, we’ll move to the next floor tomorrow.

According to Melanie, treasure chests are often hidden in wooded areas where trees cluster together within the grassy plains.
Since we’re focused on treasure hunting, we aimed to search those areas thoroughly.
However, finding treasure chests remained challenging.

“Honestly, this is impressive, you know? Gathering seven chests in half a day, including an iron chest—which is rare for this floor.”

“Even if I find chests, their contents are pretty underwhelming…”

“No, Lily. You’ve gathered some rather excellent items. While we’d need a detailed appraisal to confirm their effects, you’ve got several top-tier-looking potions and a magically imbued dagger. For most adventurers, this haul alone would be a small fortune.”

“But it’s not what I’m looking for.”

“Well, that’s true, but still…”

Sigh… Skill Crystals just don’t seem to drop.
Apparently, finding one on the second day is incredibly rare, so it’s no surprise that obtaining one is proving difficult.
After finishing lunch, we decided to keep exploring.

In the afternoon, we focused again on searching wooded areas.
We found a few more treasure chests here and there, but they were mostly wooden ones.
Rare chests were few and far between.

“… Wait, there are adventurers trailing us. What’s that about?”

“Oh, that? It’s likely because you’ve been finding so many treasure chests, Lily. They probably think you’re using some kind of magic item and are following you to uncover the secret.”

“Is using magic items a problem?”

“No, not at all. While indiscriminate summoning-type magic items are strictly prohibited, exploration-focused ones are perfectly acceptable. That said, I doubt using such items in this dungeon would even be worth the cost.”

Apparently, this dungeon isn’t very lucrative.
Even so, the adventurers following us dashed ahead into the wooded area as soon as we headed toward it, eager to claim it for themselves.
How bothersome.

“Lily, what shall we do? This makes treasure hunting impossible.”

“We’ll have to give up here. Let’s either search elsewhere or switch to monster hunting. I really hope we can get a Skill Crystal soon…”

Abandoning this wooded area, we moved on to another spot.
We encountered groups of goblins along the way and defeated them, but all they dropped were tiny magic stones.
As expected, no Skill Crystals.
When we reached another wooded area, we searched for treasure chests again but only managed to find a single wooden one.
The efficiency is disheartening.
We’ll likely head to the next floor starting tomorrow.

As for today’s treasure chest contents, they included two slightly rare-looking monster summoning cards, along with potions and magical tools.
Not exactly a jackpot.

----------

Dungeon Third Floor: Exploration of the Forest Level Begins
After two days on the Grassland Floor, we decided to move on to the next level.
From the second floor onward, we have to defeat a powerful monster known as the floor boss to progress. For us, though, such monsters are hardly an obstacle.
In fact, since there's only one of them, they’re even easier to deal with.
Talat immobilized it with his threads, froze it solid, and shattered it—it was over in moments.

Descending the staircase from the second floor, we arrived at the third floor: the Forest Floor.
While the second floor consisted mostly of open grasslands with occasional clusters of trees, this floor is dominated by dense forest, with only sparse patches of open ground.
It looks like moving around here will be a hassle.

“Lily, I’ve heard that treasure chests on this floor are often found in tree hollows or at the base of trees. Sometimes, they’re even hidden in bird nests high up in the trees.”

“So, should we just ignore the treasure chests up in the trees?”

“Not necessarily. Talat and the Kiblinki Saltas could easily search the treetops, couldn’t they?”

Oh, right.
I had one of the Kiblinki Saltas climb a tree and keep an eye out from above.
In less than ten minutes, we’d already collected three treasure chests.
According to Melanie, treetop chests are harder to find and are often left untouched because of the time it takes to climb.
The ones we found were iron chests, which could mean better loot.

We kept walking while searching for more treasure chests, and about three hours passed.
We managed to gather around 20 chests in total.
However, the frequent battles made progress slow.
The forest is crawling with wolf-type monsters, boars, bears, and other creatures you’d expect to find in a woodland environment—not to mention insects.

“As expected of the third floor, it’s hard to make any headway.”

Melanie said with a weary expression.
From this floor onward, monster loot started to improve.
However, rare items are still uncommon, and according to the Adventurers' Guild, the loot here isn’t particularly noteworthy.

“Melanie, isn’t there some kind of monster-repelling tool we could use?”

“If only! Unfortunately, dungeon monsters are immune to such tools.”

So that’s out of the question, too.
Looks like we’ll just have to push forward.

By the end of the day, we’d collected 52 treasure chests.
The contents were decent.
Getting 10 summoning cards was a highlight, especially since some of them can summon quite powerful monsters. That’s promising.
The rest of the loot? Well… let’s just say we’ll bring it to the Adventurers' Guild or the Trade Guild when we get back.

----------

Dungeon Third Floor: Exploration of the Forest Floor Continues
The next day, we continued exploring the Forest Floor.
By now, we’d figured out most of the hiding spots for treasure chests, so the collection process was smooth.
By noon, we’d already gathered 30 chests.

“This Forest Floor sure has a lot of treasure chests.”

“No, no, Lily. This is not normal. You’re definitely an anomaly.”

“Really? Am I, Melanie?”

“Yes, without a doubt.”

While I was feeling quite pleased with myself, Melanie seemed skeptical about how we were collecting so many.
It’s not like I was doing anything underhanded—we were simply searching tree hollows and treetops.
I think the difference lies in priorities; regular adventurers likely don’t bother checking such places.
In fact, the few adventurers we occasionally encountered were either hunting monsters or rushing toward the next floor.
Treasure hunting doesn’t seem to be a focus for most on this level.

“Well, putting that aside for now, are you not going to open those chests?”

Melanie asked, her curiosity evident. But I have no intention of opening them.
The fun part about these things is to collect a lot of them and then open them all at once.
When I explained this to her, Melanie looked as if she understood, but also didn't.
And that's fine, because that's what I want to do.

“The timing for opening chests doesn’t really matter. So, Lily, are we going to continue searching for treasure this afternoon as well?”

“Yes, let’s do that. We’ll move to the next floor tomorrow.”

“Understood. I’ll send three of my maids ahead to locate the stairs to the next floor. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

“Good. You heard the orders. Don’t let me down.”

“Understood! Leave it to us!”

Plum issued commands to her maids, who promptly disappeared into the forest to carry out their mission.
I assumed they had an agreed-upon rendezvous point, given Plum’s methodical nature.

We continued searching for treasure in the afternoon, bringing the total number of chests to 73.
Not bad at all.
Even Plum seemed exasperated by the sheer number.

“Lily, isn’t this a bit excessive? You’ve gathered too many chests.”

“I’m just finding them normally, you know. It’s not like I’m setting traps or using decoys.”

“Well… fair enough.”

“Anyway, let’s start opening them!”

I began with the wooden chests, which contained the usual assortment of potions and the occasional magic item.
Next came the iron chests, which yielded better loot, including summoning cards and magic tools.

Finally, I got to the copper chest—a rare find, as it was the first one we’d acquired today and the only one of its kind.
I silently wished for a Skill Crystal as I opened the chest.
A golden light spilled out. Could this be a jackpot?

“Inside is… Yes! A Skill Crystal!”

Sure enough, a genuine Skill Crystal was inside.
Melanie seemed the most shocked.

“A Skill Crystal!? Is it real?”

“I think so. Here, take a look.”

“Wait, you’re just handing it to me? Hmm… Yes, it’s authentic.”

“Yay!”

“However… it doesn’t appear to be the Magic Sewing skill we’re looking for.”

“Huh?”

“This Skill Crystal contains a unique magic called ‘Mist Magic.’ It allows the user to generate a thick fog so dense that even their own feet become obscured.”

Now it was my turn to feel disappointed.
So, it’s not the Magic Sewing skill after all.

“If you offer this to Marquis Vardmoi, he’d likely reward you handsomely. What is your plan?”

“Eh? Am I allowed to do as I please with the Skill Crystals?”

“Yes. While nobles typically buy them for large sums, the finder is free to use them if they wish. But in your case, Lily, you don’t particularly need a reward from the Marquis, do you?”

Well, I don’t have any specific rewards I’d want, but being told that makes me reconsider a bit.

After discussing it with the others, we decided that I would use the Skill Crystal.
It’s versatile for both offense and defense, and Plum already possesses this magic, so it made sense for me to take it.
I briefly considered giving it to one of the members of Wildcat Claws, but they didn’t seem keen on using a Skill Crystal for themselves.

While finding a Skill Crystal is exciting, it seems locating the one I want will still be a challenge.

Next: https://www.patreon.com/posts/117675535