Chapter 4:
Our First Dungeon
The day of the Hobgoblin Raid was upon us.
We were at Garrus’s smithy to pick up my scabbard.
“Took you long enough. Have a look at this.”
Oooh! So this is my scabbard?
The scabbard was made of darkened leather with elegant coloring. Some would say it was on the plain side, but I thought Garrus’s handiwork made the scabbard look tastefully understated.
“Teacher.”
Right. Easy now…
Fran stood the scabbard up in front of her and slowly slid me inside. I reached the tip of my blade with a satisfying pop.
Ooh…
It felt super comfy. Almost as comfortable as my old pedestal. The pedestal was a kind of stationary scabbard after all.
Aah…
I couldn’t help making sounds I reserved for when I entered a hot bath. The feeling was truly delightful. I never knew my blade longed to be encased within a scabbard. I really appreciated Garrus’s workmanship because the fit was accurate to the inch. It was like sleeping in a fluffy bed that molded itself to your body. I was content to stay in my comfy scabbard forever.
You’ve outdone yourself, Garrus. I think this is your masterwork.
“Hahaha, I’m glad you like it.”
“You look pleased, Teacher.”
Of course! This is a fine scabbard, this is.
“It ain’t no ordinary scabbard either.” Garrus smiled a cheeky grin and put his hand on the scabbard. “Didn’t feel right to give an enchanted sword a regular scabbard, so I fitted this one with a bit of machinery.”
Really? You’re the best, Andre!
“Andre? Who’s that?”
Sorry, I got a little excited.
Machinery in the scabbard? I couldn’t see it from where I was sitting.
“You see this metal latch?”
“Yeah.”
“If you pop it right here—”
The scabbard snapped.
“It split down the middle.”
“That’s right. It’s a simple mechanism that’ll allow you to unsheathe yourself without the little lady having to reach for you.”
I see. That’s really useful. Sheathing myself is just as easy too.
I manipulated the latch with Telekinesis and the scabbard was back to its original shape.
Convenient.
“Ain’t it? Trust me, getting the mechanism to work while maintaining the scabbard’s integrity was a pain in the ass!”
Even Garrus’s scabbards were top-notch. I expected nothing less from a blacksmith of his caliber.
Thanks for the gear, Garrus.
“Of course. Now go out there and kick some ass! Oh, and bring back some good materials, if you find any. Kinda doubt it since it’s a newly-minted dungeon and all, but you never know.”
“Newly-minted dungeon?”
“I assume it’s new anyway. You didn’t know about this?”
Fran shook her head. I had no idea how dungeons were formed either.
“Dungeons spring up all over the place as trials for mankind created by the Chaos God.”
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
“Chaos God? Not Dark God?”
“I guess you’re not clear on that distinction either. Let me explain.”
And so Garrus began his lecture on the world’s mythology.
“Put simply, our world was created by eighty-eight gods. The strongest among them are called The Ten.”
The Ten were the gods of the sun, the silver moon, the ocean, earth, fire, storms, the forest, and beasts. They created the world and the life which inhabited it.
The god of the dead created the Great Wheel of Reincarnation, and upon it the world was built.
The seventy-eight children of the gods begat many things in the world their parents had built, and so the world grew.
“Children of the gods?”
“That’s right. The most famous ones being the Smith God and the Sword God. There’s the God of Darkness—not to be confused with the Dark God—and the God of Cooking.”
Finally, there was the God of Chaos, who threw the world into, well, chaos. But Garrus maintained that it was a necessary evil to keep balance in the world. Without chaos, stagnation would soon follow. The world needed to be kept on its toes to grow.
We understood that fact firsthand. Trials were necessary to grow stronger, like Fran did the other day with the goblins. The God of Chaos was a good god, then, difficult as it was to imagine.
“What about the Dark God?”
“The Dark God used to be the God of War. He attempted to take over the world in a clear abuse of his power, so the other gods had to step in and stop him. It’s said his remains are so filled with hatred that his corpse cursed the creatures around it. That’s how we got Demonkind.”
“I see.”
“People say that the God of Chaos creates dungeons as a trial for the people. In them are servants of the Chaos God called Dungeon Masters. Their entire purpose in life is to spread chaos.”
Dungeon Masters, of course. I wondered if they had crystals in them. They would certainly have a ton of useful skills.
“There’s a hypothesis going on that a dungeon is created from a gem called the Core. A Core will latch on the first organism it sees and turn that creature into a Dungeon Master.”
“So there are weak ones and strong ones?”
“Yeah. The difficulty level of a dungeon is determined by its Dungeon Master. The less intelligent a creature is, the easier the dungeon is to conquer.”
“Are there any weird Dungeon Masters?”
“Well, we’ve had dragons, orcs, wolves, and cockatrices. Anything could become a Dungeon Master as long as it was alive.”
“Even people?”
“’Course. We’ve had a few confirmed sightings of humanoid Dungeon Masters in the past.”
A manmade dungeon sounded dangerous.
“I’ll admit we all need trials to grow stronger, but at times I feel like they’re a bit much.”
People who lived near the dungeons died after all, and there probably weren’t enough adventurers willing to throw themselves into their depths.
“Anyway… Rare monsters roam the dungeons. They’d make a decent meal for any adventurer.”
The dungeons weren’t all bad of course. Some adventurers saw them as a legitimate get-rich-quick scheme. Not surprising, since they usually contained a treasure hoard.
“Not to mention the enchanted gear you can find in some of those treasure chests.”
I couldn’t imagine what sort of magic the stuff we’d find there would have. I couldn’t wait to head out!
“If they found weapons strong enough to wage war with in those dungeons, they’d put us blacksmiths out of business,” old Garrus complained. “It doesn’t look like I have to worry about that with this new dungeon though. The older a dungeon is, the stronger the stuff you find in them.”
“’Kay.”
We’d wasted enough time by now. We hurried to the guild to attend the raid briefing, after which we would head out to the dungeon en masse.
“Morning, Nell.”
“Oh, good morning, Fran!” Nell replied to Fran’s greeting with a chirpy voice. She was oddly friendly for some reason. Fran told me they had met in the bathhouse the other night and had gotten along. I could imagine Nell going on about her day at work and Fran silently nodding along to it. Still, I was happy to see Fran making friends when she was so reserved most of the time.
“Good luck out there, Frannie.”
“You got it.”
“I know Donadrond’s going with you but be careful out there. Our usual roster of high-rank adventurers aren’t here today. We had to send out our reserve squad.”
“High-rank adventurers?”
“Yes. We have many A- to C-Rank adventurers, but they’re out investigating a disturbance in the Demon Wolf’s Garden. They’d be able to handle this type of situation in a jiffy, but you know the circumstances… The A-Rank in particular is in a whole other dimension. She’d be able to take care of a weak dungeon in no time flat.”
“She?”
“That’s right. Amanda, A-Rank adventurer and ace of the Guild of Alessa.”
Interesting. Hitting A-Rank was difficult enough, but to think a woman could do it… I’d like to meet her one day.
“Not to mention the Knight Brigade ignored our request for aid.”
“Ignored?”
“You heard me. Ignored!”
“But they’re the Knight Brigade.”
“Right?! What are they even good for if they won’t lend us a hand in taking down a dungeon!”
So much for my expectation of pure and chivalrous knights…
“Their lieutenant is the worst! He’s the son of a nobleman and he’s as snotty, stingy, and mean as they get. I think he has a grudge against adventurers. I wouldn’t be surprised if he overrode the Knight Captain’s authority in this case.” Nell was getting angrier with the noble jerk with each passing moment. Her face twisted with murderous intent, and her low mutterings sounded like the incantation of a curse. She suddenly noticed Fran was still there and snapped back to her cheery smile.
“Ahahaha. Oh dear… The panic must be getting to me. Forget what I just said. Please?”
“Will do.”
“Thanks. You be careful about him though. He won’t be getting in the way of our raid today, but you’re going to have to deal with him eventually.”
“’Kay.”
Other adventurers had filtered into the guild hall as we spoke with Nell.
Didn’t know we had so many members.
There were more than fifty of them. I had never seen so many adventurers in one spot since I got here.
“They’re not that strong.”
Donadrond’s the strongest of the bunch.
The C-Rank adventurer also acted as an instructor to the newbies. There were other C-Ranks in the mix, but no one objected to Donadrond’s leadership.
“What’s a kid doing here?”
Someone objected to Fran’s presence, however. She stuck out like a sore thumb in the hall filled with hardy adventurers, so I’d expected one of them to point out the little girl in the room.
“What do you think you’re doing with that sword?”
A short young man confronted us. His features were so boyish I wondered what a kid like himself was doing there. His armor was still in perfect condition, making the fact that he was new all the more obvious. He looked like a G-Rank, but everyone here was definitely F-Rank and above.
I doubted he’d give the goblins much of a fight. Sure, his stats were slightly better than your garden-variety goblin, but the difference was microscopic. He probably ranked up by doing delivery quests in town. His Sword Mastery 1 was a dead giveaway he’d never been in a real battle. The guild must be desperate if they were letting adventurers like him participate.
“I’m going to exterminate goblins with him.”
“The fate of Alessa hangs on this raid! Kids like you are just gonna get in the way, so go home! What is the guild thinking?”
The boy looked very upset. Fran maintained her cool and ignored him.
“Did you hear me?”
“What?”
“Come on. You’re not supposed to be here. This isn’t a game.”
The prospect of fighting actual hobgoblins in combat probably scared the boy. As it should—they were much stronger than he was. As such, he tried hiding this fact by lashing out at anyone who appeared weaker than he was.
The surrounding adventurers reacted to the scene in different ways. Some thought it was funny and looked on, while some ignored us completely, and other wished the boy would shut up. The argument, if you could call it that, must’ve looked like a schoolyard squabble.
“Hm.”
“Damn it, stop moving!”
Fran avoided the boy’s attempt to drag her out of the hall with a quick sidestep. I thought about telling her to give the kid a break, but none of the adventurers seemed to raise their voices. Many of them were probably seething on the inside, but their comrades held them back.
“Hey, stop!”
“What—”
“Is that the—”
Rumors of Fran’s accomplishments against Donadrond and the goblin horde had been circulating around the guild. Unfortunately, not everyone understood the importance of information—like this boy, for example, and the adventurers who began yelling at us to stop.
“Pipe down, you brats! You’re both getting in the way, so drop out! There’s still time for you to do delivery quests!”
“I-I’m no delivery boy! I’m an F-Rank adventurer!”
“You’re fresh out of G-Rank! You’re just as weak!”
“I’m still an F-Rank. I have the right to participate in this raid!”
“I’m an F-Rank too.”
“What?”
The man looked surprised and looked down on Fran. He hadn’t expected her to be a legitimate adventurer.
“Gyahaha! If punks like you are F-Rank, that makes us S-Ranks!”
“Are you sure they’re F-Rank? They’ll promote anyone nowadays.”
“What’d you expect from a bunch of Dungeon Scavengers?”
I understood from their tones that they were mocking adventurers in general, but I didn’t know if Dungeon Scavenger was meant to be an insult. Considering mercenaries were the hyenas of the battlefield, I guess it took one to know one.
“I only took this job to tide me over till my next one, but if it’s this easy to rank up, maybe I’ll keep at it!”
These guys were former mercenaries too. From what I’d heard, there’d been a war with a neighboring country which ended faster than expected. Many mercenaries were out of a job when that happened.
I looked at their stats and confirmed they were nothing to write home about. These guys were full of hot air.
“Hehehe. You got something nice on your back there.”
“Oh? That looks like an exquisite sword.”
“Give it here.”
I was so flattered they had noticed such a fine specimen as myself, and I’d fully expected one of them to reach out their hand. I didn’t expect them to lack all sense of the impending danger.
The boy who had picked a fight with Fran had fled, the hairs on his neck standing on end. That was a good reaction to Fran’s clear broadcast of her intent to kill.
On the other hand, the third-rate mercs were still reaching out their hands with a dirty look on their faces.
“Hm—”
“That’s enough!”
Donadrond stepped between Fran and the mercs just as she was about to make her first move. He gave all of them a good beating.
“What the hell do you morons think you’re doing?! We’re heading out soon!”
“W-we didn’t…” The men cowered as Donadrond’s intimidating presence bore down on them.
“Don’t think you can talk yourself out of this one. I saw every bit of what happened. If you kill enough goblins out there, I’ll think about letting you off!”
Fran lost all interest in the three men and backed off, dissipating her intent to kill. We’d better lay low the rest of the day.
The boy complained to Donadrond about Fran.
“Sir Donadrond, you saved that girl and she didn’t even thank you!”
“Hah! Why would she? It wasn’t her I was trying to save.”
“What?”
“Can’t afford to lose manpower before a big battle.”
“S-Sir?”
How dangerous did Donadrond think Fran was? She wouldn’t start chopping people up who were on her side just because they pissed her off. At least, I didn’t think she would. Besides, there was always Healing Magic.
Then again, they might be traumatized by the experience…
“Hm?”
Nothing. Let’s go whoop those goblins good.
“Of course.”
Donadrond assembled the adventurers for the briefing. It was an assembly in name only, since the adventurers just gathered around Donadrond in no actual order.
He proceeded to explain the mechanics of a dungeon. He began by explaining our roles and general battle strategy.
“I’ll give you the basics of how a dungeon works since this is going to be the first time for a lot of you. Veterans, consider it a review.”
There were many low-rank adventurers here, us included. None of us had ever set foot in a dungeon, so I at least was grateful for the basic lecture.
For starters, we were told not to destroy the dungeon core so we could use it again in the future. The Dungeon Core was the heart of the dungeon—destroy it, and the dungeon died with it. That included everything in the dungeon, from normal monsters to Dungeon Masters. However, the Core was protected by a powerful barrier, so only an incredibly powerful attack would be able to destroy it in the first place.
The Dungeon Core was connected to the Dungeon Master. Killing the DM would result in the Core going dormant. Other than that, the result was the same as destroying the Core, so the monsters within the dungeon would die out too.
An injection of mana into a dormant Core would allow humans to use a dungeon for a limited amount of time. Items and monsters would begin populating the dungeon again, which was the chief use of dungeons to begin with. That was why it was crucial that we only killed the Dungeon Master while leaving the Core intact. The Guild would then maintain the dungeon by culling its population of monsters and killing the Dungeon Master whenever it spawned.
“However, we’re working under special circumstances this time. Worst comes to worst, you’re allowed to destroy the Core. Just remember we’re here to capture the dungeon.”
Two hours had gone by since the adventurers left the city of Alessa.
“The goblins are coming!” the guard cried out. The guildsmen were in the middle of building a simple encampment with the materials they had brought. The goblins paid no heed and came pouring out of the mouth of the dungeon. We, who were out on patrol, rushed back, and not a moment too soon.
“Teacher, look.”
They haven’t finished building the base yet. It’s an all-out melee.
The adventurers were caught in a fierce battle with the hobgoblins. I couldn’t even launch an explosive fire attack without causing casualties to our side. The adventurers had all rallied around Donadrond to defend themselves.
“Let’s go.”
Yeah. We should cull the hobgoblins here before heading into the dungeon. I won’t be able to sleep at night if the adventurers got annihilated.
“But Teacher, you don’t sleep.”
It’s a figure of speech!
Fran drew me and charged ahead. We needed to save the newbies before they were slaughtered. Fran cut down every goblin standing in her path. They couldn’t see us since we were coming in hot from behind them.
“Weak.”
Hobgoblins aren’t so tough by themselves.
The hobgoblin we had just killed had the following stats:
Name: Hobgoblin Swordsman
Race: Fiend
LV: 8
HP: 69; Magic: 28; Strength: 39; Agility: 25
Skills: Intimidate 1; Evasion 1; Sword Arts 1; Sword Mastery 3; Command 1; Explosiveness 2; Cooperation 2; Spirit Manipulation
He was weaker than the Goblin King I took down some time ago. However, these guys had the Cooperation skill, which made them much more dangerous in large numbers.
The mercenaries who had been creeping on Fran before the raid lay motionless on the ground. The countless dents in their armor were a clear indication that they were beyond saving. That was what happened when you recklessly fought enemies without good coordination.
Fran never noticed the corpses. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had forgotten their faces by now.
“Haa!”
Take ’em down!
Fran slashed me through the air and launched an invisible Aura Blade toward the unaware Hobgoblins, killing an entire crew of them. The adventurers thanked her, their voices dripping with confusion and awe.
“Th-thanks!”
“That little girl is as cute as she is strong!”
“Huh? Who are you talking about?” The boy we had quarreled with earlier was among them. “N-no way!”
He was actually putting up a decent fight. The shock of seeing Fran was so great that he almost got killed however. Fortunately, an older adventurer saved him.
Most of the C- and D-Rank adventurers were close to the cave entrance, creating a lack of strong adventurers at the base. The hobgoblins picked up on this and began ganging up on Fran since she was their biggest threat.
“Big haul.”
They’re laying off the newbies and coming right at us.
I held back on crystal absorption. People would start talking if they noticed all the hobgoblins Fran had killed were missing their crystals. I settled for absorbing the crystals of the ones whose skills I wanted. That shouldn’t raise any suspicion.
They should be all right now. You wanna go to the dungeon?
“Yeah.”
No one would be able to see me absorb crystals in the dungeon. Moreover, we’d be able to hide the evidence by stowing away bodies in the Pocket Dimension.
Hobgoblins were crowding the cave entrance by the time Fran got there.
“I guess the info was right.”
Dungeons came in many different variations, the Cave Type being one of them. They weren’t known for having many traps, but they had plenty of odd structures like anthills in exchange.
One of the mages had sent their familiars to scout the cave in advance, and they found no traps inside. Considering the goblin population, traps would’ve made it hard for them to get around. It didn’t have any trap rooms either.
Trap rooms came equipped with special force fields that prevented movement or healing. If you had the misfortune of walking into one, it could be the end of you. Fortunately, the scout mages had confirmed there were none in this dungeon.
It was great news for us. We were free to go berserk without worrying about traps.
Let’s go!
“Yeah.”
Woohoo!
Fran jumped over the towering meat wall that was the adventurers crowding in front of the cave. Donadrond couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw her jump through the air. Or maybe he was looking up her skirt… He better not have.
“Is she using Air Hop?! That’s a Sky Knight skill!”
Uhh, maybe we shouldn’t have done that…
Sky Knight? That sounds like an advanced Class to me.
Sky Knight… The name itself told me it was strong, but how strong? We were going to have to hold back on our aerial maneuvers from now on.
“Too late for that, Teacher.”
Yeah… It is, isn’t it?
Fran had a point. This situation was bound to happen again, so there was little point in hiding it. We may as well use it to our heart’s content.
“We need to kill goblins now.”
Right. You’re absolutely right.
“Use your magic, Teacher. I’ll take care of the stragglers.”
Got it.
Fran used Float to further increase her altitude. When we got high enough, I rained down Tri Explosion on our enemies. The explosion blew away most of the hobgoblins who were covering the entrance. The blast wasn’t as impressive as the one I had used on Donadrond, but it was enough to kill the weaker hobgoblins.
Fran landed and began swinging at the stragglers.
“Sonic Wave!”
A Level 5 Sword Art, I unleashed a shockwave toward the horde of hobgoblins and blew them away.
“Now’s our chance.”
“Wait! It’s dangerous for anyone lower than D-Rank to enter the dungeon!”
We knew that, which was why we charged ahead, so that no one would get in our way. It was a good thing the hobgoblins were keeping Donadrond and his crew busy.
“Damn it! After her!”
“Yes sir! I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep at night if that little girl died in there. I mean, she brought it upon herself, but—”
“That’s not what I’m talking about, you dumbass!”
“Sir?!”
“If we don’t go after her, there won’t be anything left for us to kill!”
“Sir, you’re kidding…”
“Did you see that Air Hop she pulled? You better get over her looks, kid. She’s an adventuring prodigy wearing the skin of a little girl!”
The guild’s policy on raid rewards were as follows: The guild would collect the materials from the fallen monsters and sell them off. They would then distribute the money equally to participating adventurers, after fees and profit of course.
However, any materials an adventurer put into his item bag was the property of said adventurer. The more monsters an adventurer killed, the more money he would ostensibly acquire. This incentive worked quite well. However, it came with the risk of an adventurer abandoning their position, like we were doing right now by charging right into the dungeon.
“Teacher.”
My God… LOOK AT ALL THE EXP!
The dungeon was a buffet of hobgoblins.
“Take care of it.”
Oooh, you can count on it! FLARE BLAST!
Level 1 Flame Magic, the spell shot out a concentrated ray of flame at a target. The area of effect wasn’t particularly large, but its destructive capacity was much stronger than regular fire magic.
The spell whined before blasting its beam. It pierced through some of the hobgoblins, while the remainder were blown away by the explosion. It was very effective in the confines of a cave. Fran charged through the hobgoblin horde and pressed forward.
We had some money left over for a Return Feather, so let’s see how far we can go!
“Haa!”
“Aaah!”
Fire Javelin!
I used the spells that were faster to cast to keep the hobgoblins at bay. Fran cut down the ones who were lucky enough to get close. We had great synergy.
We didn’t keep all the goblin remains for ourselves, though. We left some for the guildsmen who would eventually make it through here. There was no need to be greedy and get on their bad side. Besides, I didn’t want to hit the storage limit for my Pocket Dimension since that would suck.
But we made sure to keep the corpses of the ones whose crystals I had absorbed. If the monster had a useful skill, I would absorb its crystal, then quickly stow it away in the Pocket Dimension to hide the evidence.
We prioritized taking down the black-skinned High Hobgoblins on the occasions we ran into them. They had more or less the same skills as regular hobgoblins, but I got more crystals out of them. They were like bonus treats.
Singling out enemies while fighting them proved to be good practice for the Split Thinking skill since I was now able to cast two spells at once. Casting two spells at the same time required an enormous amount of concentration, so I was going to have to practice to get the most out of this powerful skill.
Hahaha! Fire Javelin!
Ten flaming spears pierced through the hobgoblin horde.
“That was amazing, Teacher.”
You can do it too, with some practice.
“My head hurts when I do.”
Split Thinking overuse caused migraines, it seemed. It put tremendous strain on one’s brain.
Really? Mine doesn’t. Oh, wait, I guess I don’t have one.
I couldn’t feel pain, so headaches were a thing of the past, and I got amazing mileage out of Split Thinking because of that. Having the Mage skill helped too.
“I’ll shoot for casting weaker spells when I’m fighting.”
And I’ll try to cast two different spells next time.
“Good luck.”
You got it.
We weren’t lacking for target dummies right now, that’s for sure.
Nothing stopped Fran’s charge to the heart of the dungeon. I used Echolocation to get an image of the lay of the land, but the image lacked detail since it was only at Level 1. We supplemented the information by using Presence Sense, Tremor Sense, and Thermal Vision to figure out the number of hobgoblins left.
“Teacher, there’re stairs here.”
I guess there’s a second floor.
The second floor looked akin to the first floor, the one difference being a greater population density of hobgoblins.
Nice. They made it easier for me to farm skills.
“Good training dummies.”
Fran was already in battle mode. She might have started seeing the hobgoblins as little more than walking EXP dispensers. At some point in our raid, the hobgoblins began running the second they saw her. News travelled fast in the goblin cave. It was no use, however, since she chased after and cut them all down from behind.
I wondered how far this cave went on. The second floor seemed wider than the first.
There’s an opening up ahead.
“Yeah. I’m picking up a lot of activity.”
Is it a boss?
We inched closer until we came to what looked like a hall. There were actual floor tiles instead of dirt, and the interior changed significantly from the natural cave. We carefully peered in.
That’s a big boy and a big girl…
The room was filled with close to fifty hobgoblins. In the center of them all were the two goblin rulers: the Goblin King and Goblin Queen.
They reminded me of the Goblin King I had killed in the Wolf’s Garden. The goblins would huddle around their leaders in the event of an invasion. We were going to have to take down both King and Queen during this raid.
The Goblin Rulers weren’t much different from kinsmen. Their stats were higher, and they had plenty more skills, but that was about it. They were as tough as the Area 3 monsters of the Garden. If we didn’t get sloppy, we should be able to take them down in no time.
Let’s go, Fran.
“Yeah!”
We’ll start by thinning them out.
We shot our spells off before they could notice us.
Flare Blast!
“Flare Blast.”
And another! Flare Blast!
We used our spells to open a way to the King and Queen. Fran lunged forward and danced through the startled hobgoblins.
Keep going! Take the Rulers down!
Or so I thought…
Huh?
“They’re dead?”
We reached the center of the room after crossing the sea of hobgoblins to find the burnt remains of the King and Queen. Our distraction turned out to be a direct hit.
I…guess we won?
The surviving hobgoblins were scattering to save their lives. The battle was over before it had begun.
Does that mean the quest is over?
But there was still more to the cave.
Or not…
“There’s more ahead.”
Yeah. We haven’t seen the Dungeon Master yet.
Neither the King nor the Queen was the Dungeon Master. If one of them had been, all the remaining monsters would’ve died with them.
“Let’s keep going.”
Yeah!
We rushed to the end of the second floor where we found a door waiting for us. The door was made of metal and was an imposing three meters tall.
“Big door.”
Is this the Boss Room?
An aura of intimidation emanated from the door, repelling us from even opening it. There was something behind it for sure.
Have the Return Feather ready just in case.
“’Kay.”
I pushed the door open with Telekinesis and it made a heavy creaking noise. There was a wide opening in front of us, but was there nothing here…? No, I could feel the presence of a small monster. Maybe an insect type.
Stay on your guard.
“Of course.”
Suddenly, the door slammed shut. We would have to beat the boss before we could leave.
I thought there weren’t supposed to be any traps here.
“Are we locked in?”
Just stay calm, Fran.
“I know. I’ll just have to kill everything in sight. No problem.”
I had to hand it to her: She had nerves of steel.
“What’s that noise?”
Something’s coming.
The droning noise came from a blue-shelled ladybug monster. It had horns sprouting from its head and was the size of a baseball. Behind it were creatures that looked like giant isopods, which made for a disgusting bunch.
Name: Army Beetle Leader
Race: Insect
LV: 5
HP: 8; Magic: 18; Strength: 4; Agility: 22
Skills: Wind Magic 1; Summon Minion 5; Command 1; Cooperation 1; Acid Fang
Name: Army Beetle
Race: Insect
LV: 2
HP: 6; Magic: 5; Strength: 3; Agility: 20
Skills: Harden 1; Acid Fang
Name: Army Beetle Medic
Race: Insect
LV: 4
HP: 10; Magic: 10; Strength: 1; Agility: 20
Skills: Healing Magic 2; Acid Fang
Name: Army Beetle Shooter
Race: Insect
LV: 4
HP: 3; Magic: 11; Strength: 2; Agility: 20
Skills: Wind Magic 3; Acid Fang
They were weak but numerous. There must’ve been upwards of a hundred of them. The leader even had a summoning skill to boot. If we didn’t kill it fast, they’d easily overwhelm us by a sheer force of numbers.
“This looks fun.”
Fran was already on the road to becoming a Blood Knight. She lunged, taking as much pleasure in the fight with the disgusting bugs as if it were a dance. I used Telekinesis to slow the bugs down. I could hold them in place since they were small enough. If they had been bigger, it would’ve been much more economical to blow them all away with a well-placed spell.
“Haaa!” Fran pierced their crystals as I nailed them in place. I had never seen these monsters before, so I decided to keep about half of the materials we’d gained.
The Shooters were a real annoyance with their Wind Magic. Thankfully, they only had a limited amount of casts thanks to their low Magic value. They were more of a distraction than a real threat.
The Leaders kept summoning bug after bug which proved to be a boon for us. We were able to level up Wind Magic, Harden, Summon Minion, and Cooperation while getting my fill of crystals at the same time.
Thirty minutes later…
I felt the presence of a person from behind the door.
“Damn it! It’s locked!”
I guess Donadrond was here.
Oh well, time to end this.
“Goodbye, bonus stage…”
I know. I’ll miss it too.
“It was good while it lasted…”
It was time for extermination. We launched fire spells and Sword Arts one after the other. It took no more than five minutes to wipe out the two-hundred-odd bugs that had spawned in. Our Wind Magic was now at Level 7 as a testament to how many bugs we’d killed.
Huh, the door’s not opening.
The door remained shut as Donadrond kept banging on it. However, a door on the opposite side of the chamber opened.
“Such strong mana.”
This is…a C-Rank monster… No, maybe higher.
The Gluttonous Slimelord had had the greatest mana signature I’d encountered up till now. Whatever was behind this door clearly outclassed it.
This is a new dungeon. What type of monster could produce such mana?
“I’m getting excited.”
Wait. Whatever it is, this thing’s going to be a legit threat. Let’s get you ready before we go in there.
I buffed Fran with Regen to give her constant healing, along with a Resist All spell to increase her resistance to everything. I gave her some stat-increasing buffs too, just to be safe.
And we’re good. Let’s go.
“Yeah!”
What awaited us beyond the door was a well-furnished room which looked nothing like the cave we’d been spelunking in.
“Hello there, and welcome! You’re our first guest since the opening of this dungeon! Come in, come in!”
A suspicious-looking man floated in the middle of the room. His skin was black like tar, and he had wings and horns. He looked intimidating, to say the least. The demon’s cheerful attitude detracted from his fearsomeness however.
Let’s get Identify out of the way…
Name: Daemon
Race: Lesser Demon
LV: 30
HP: 1,900; Magic: 2,409; Strength: 720; Agility: 675
Skills: Dig 3; Dark Magic 4; Intimidate 4; Transport 2; Fear 4; Sword Arts 5; Sword Mastery 5; Abnormal Status Resistance 7; Earth Magic 7; Climb 1; Poison Magic 7; Mana Barrier 6;
Black Magic 10; Cooking 1; Dark Up; Dark Immunity; Night Vision; Mana Regeneration; Insubordination; Tough Hide; Magic Up (Small); Strength Up (Small)
Extra Skill: Skill Taker 6
Title: Devil Count
Equipment: Enchanted Steel Longsword
Details: A monster unique to the Dungeon environment. Usually summoned by Dungeon Masters. A loyal subject of the Chaos God, it is immensely powerful. Has been granted additional powers by the Dungeon Master that summoned it.
Crystal Location: Heart
A devil…
He’s strong. I’d never seen a stat go above 1,000 before.
Dark Magic: An advanced form of Black Magic. Manipulates darkness, shadows, poison, and death.
Fear: Inflicts the Fear status on anyone who sees its form.
Mana Barrier: A barrier which absorbs physical and magical attacks in exchange for mana.
Skill Taker: Steal skills which meets its requirements.
Even his skills were nothing to be scoffed at.
Be careful, Fran. He’ll kill you if you let your guard down!
“I know!”
I was full on mana from the earlier goblin and army beetle crystal buffet. I could use all my skills and spells with reckless abandon. Even then, I knew this was going to be a difficult fight. The demon was just that intimidating. I had Return Feather on the ready just in case of emergencies.
“Haha! What a motivated little girl! Wonderful! I won’t have to hold back on you since you made it this far!”
“Stop talking and kill her, Daemon!”
Huh? Was that a goblin on the other side of the room? It seemed different from the goblins we’d encountered so far. It could talk, for one…
Name: Rare Goblin
Race: Fiend
LV: 11
HP: 25; Magic: 131; Strength: 12; Agility: 13
Skills: Dig 2; Summon Minion 5; Staff Mastery 2; Mind Reading 2; Trainer 2; Vigor 1
Title: Dungeon Master
Equipment: Oak Staff; Leather Rope; Bracelet of Sacrifice
He was weak, but he was definitely the Dungeon Master. Was the glowing thing in the wall behind him the Dungeon Core then? We had reached the final room of the dungeon it seemed.
I couldn’t get over how weak he was. Did he really summon that demon? I could understand if he summoned other goblins or army beetles, since they were weaker than he was. But a full-blown demon? Was it because he was a Dungeon Master? It would’ve made more sense if he had a Demonology skill or something but Identify showed he didn’t.
I also felt sorry for the fact that he didn’t have any skills to manipulate the dungeon, since the Core was responsible for Dungeon Creation.
“Shut it! I’ll take care of the intruder, so don’t get in my way!”
“Damn it. I thought I was lucky after using all my Goddess Points to summon an insanely strong Daemon, it gives me lip instead! And now it wants to play at being a Melee Class when it’s obviously a mage!”
That was a little ham-fisted, but thanks for the explanation. The Insubordination skill explained why the devil didn’t merely obey his summoner’s orders.
“How did this intruder pass through our elite guard?!”
“They were probably killed. They’re only goblins, you know.”
“You think the superior race of goblins would lose to a bunch of humans?!”
“That’s what I was hinting at, yes.”
“Shut up! Just kill them!”
“You don’t have to tell me. It looks like I’m in for a fun fight.” The Daemon drew his sword. “He won’t shut up till I kill you. Ready?”
He lunged toward Fran.
“Raaah!”
“Haa!”
Their swords clashed.
“Hah! What a fine sword! Didn’t think it’d last this long!”
Name: Enchanted Steel Longsword
Attack: 561+450; MP: 56; Durability: 1000
Mana Conductivity: C
Skill: Returning Shadow
His sword’s Mana Conductivity was impressive; it pushed the sword’s attack power over 1,000. The skill Returning Shadow made it so his sword always returned to his hand, even if he threw it. It was a good thing I buffed our attack power to over 500 before the fight. I might have cracked during our first clash otherwise.
“You have excellent swordsmanship! But how about this?”
“Huh?”
He disappeared the next moment before reappearing behind Fran.
“Ah!”
What…?
Oh no!
He lopped Fran’s left arm clean off. There was blood everywhere, and she almost bled out. I quickly reattached Fran’s amputated arm to her stump with Telekinesis and cast Greater Heal as fast as I could. Recovery Magic 1 had the ability to reattach limbs, so unwanted amputations were no problem.
“Oh? You have Telekinesis and Healing Magic?! Hah! That’s crazy! You a Spellsword?” The demon laughed as we stared at him in silence.
What was that?
He had disappeared and reappeared behind her again.
Fran, are you okay?!
“I’m…fine!”
“Look alive, little girl!” The demon disappeared once more and slashed from behind us.
“Ngh!” Fran anticipated the sneak attack but barely blocked in time.
“That was good! You’re a fast learner!”
He disappeared, that much was clear.
But how did he do it? Teleportation? He didn’t have anything like that in his skills. Which left either Black Magic or Shadow Magic…
“Raagh!”
“Ha!”
I was right. His shadow became charged with mana when he disappeared, then he’d reappear out of Fran’s shadow. The spell allowed him to move between shadows. Now that we knew what we were dealing with, we could formulate a counter. Should be easy enough considering how predictable the pattern was.
“Haha—gah!”
“You’re getting sloppy.”
“Urk… Good job! You saw through my tricks, eh?”
Damn it. I missed. My blade, charged with Vibrofang and Advanced Poison Fang, only grazed the demon’s side.
“What’s this? I’m poisoned? I didn’t think anything could get through my Status Resistances… Impressive!”
His chattering was annoying!
The poison only ticked away at his health. His resistances were too high for it to have a significant effect.
Fran, go for his weak spot.
“Yeah.”
He was still underestimating us, to our great advantage. He didn’t know about my sentience either. I had to lay low and not make any grand attacks; I was strictly on support duty.
“Haaa!”
“Hyahaha!”
Their swords clashed again, and I caught something glowing out of the corner of my eye. Hobgoblins were coming out of the light source, four of them in total.
“Go, my minions! Kill the intruders!”
It was the Dungeon Master. Having hobgoblins interfere now would be quite dangerous. However, the hobgoblins only looked at Fran and the demon, unsure of what to do.
“What are you doing?! Go!”
The Dungeon Master’s command forced the hobgoblins to march to the battlefield.
“Stay out of this!”
The demon cut two of them down with his sword, while Fran hacked through one of them.
“Wh-what are you doing?! They’re on your side!”
“I won’t let these idiots ruin my fun!”
He blew away the remaining hobgoblin with a sphere of dark energy. The Dungeon Master looked pitiful as he trembled with anger and humiliation.
Fran and the demon’s battle continued. The sound of their clashing swords rang through the room louder than before. Fran was clearly the better swordsman, but the demon brushed off most of her attacks and swung his sword in a show of might. Agile speed clashed with brute strength, creating an odd stalemate.
But Fran was at a clear disadvantage. All the demon had to do was land one blow to kill her.
“I’m having so much fun! We’re evenly matched, that much is clear!” The demon disengaged his blade from mine and jumped back. What was he planning? “But we need to finish up at some point! I’ll start by taking your powers!”
“Huh?”
No! He’s using his Extra Skill!
“Hahaha! It’s over! Skill Taker!”
The demon laughed and thrust his hand forward.
Urgh! He got us!
The demon hadn’t used his skill-stealing skill so far, so I didn’t know what form it was going to take. I thought he needed to be in close quarters, or that it had a long cast time. The skill was too strong not to have a complicated requirement. I never expected it to be useable at a distance!
The skill seemed to have worked, judging by the loudness of his boasting. Did he steal Fran’s combat ability? He better not have stolen Sword Mastery or Sword Arts. I already maxed them out and I’d have to relearn them if he did! Worse, Fran wouldn’t be able to fight if she lost Sword Mastery!
Get ready to use Return Feather if you have to!
“Right!”
We kept our eyes trained on the demon for the slightest change in behavior. But the demon stood still with his hand thrust out. It didn’t look anything was happening to Fran though.
…
“…”
Huh?
So…Fran, how do you feel?
“Fine?”
“Damn it, it failed!”
I didn’t know how it failed but that was good to know. Were Fran and I a special case? I supplied most of her skills, meaning most of her skills came from her equipment. Maybe that was why Skill Taker was ineffective against her. If anything, he should’ve cast Skill Taker on me.
“I failed to take your skills, so take this from me instead! Dark Bolt!”
The demon regained his posture and shot a Dark Spell at us. It took the form of a swirling vortex which left fissures in the ground, like a drill. His stats were more suited for ranged magical combat, so he was getting serious now.
“Ha!”
It missed Fran completely.
“Take this!”
“Whoops.”
“Damn it!”
The spell was as destructive as it was predictable, especially for someone like Fran who had gone toe-to-toe with several hordes of goblins by now. For all his might, the demon lacked combat experience. It was understandable since the Dungeon Master had only summoned recently.
“Dark Spear!”
Fire Wall!
“Dark Blast!”
“Too easy.”
“What?!”
I expected underhanded spells from the Dark Magic spellbook, but the demon opted for one-hit kills instead. Fran was still at a disadvantage because of the power difference though. She was barely able to scratch him, while one hit from him was all it would take to kill her.
Fran became quieter than usual. She knew she had to focus to take this menace down.
Should we escape? No, it was too early to call it quits. Granted, we had done enough to prune the population of goblins to stop them from invading the city. The C- and D-Ranks would take care of the cleanup. But what should we do about this demon? It was the one thing standing between us and capturing the dungeon. Even if we were to escape, I’d like to deal enough damage to it to give Donadrond an easier time.
“Black Bomb!”
“Nope.”
“Aaargh!”
Frustrated, the demon began peppering the entire room with spells. The Dungeon Master shrieked and dove for cover to save his life. It was a good thing we were the only ones in the room, otherwise the explosion of spells may have agitated some high-rank monsters out on the field. We only had the Dungeon Master to worry about, and he wasn’t much of a problem anyway.
Hang on a second…
I just had a revelation.
This guy’s just a regular monster.
I remembered Donadrond’s lecture about dungeon mechanics, specifically about how the Dungeon Master was connected to the Core. Killing a Dungeon Master would have similar effects to destroying the Core, one of which was the annihilation of all monsters living in the dungeon.
Which means if we kill that goblin, this demon will die with it.
“Fire Arrow.”
“Wha—hey! That’s not fair!”
The demon hurried to protect the Dungeon Master from Fran’s spell.
My calculations were correct. The Dungeon Master had a Bracelet of Sacrifice on him, but that only meant we had to kill him twice. The Dungeon Master couldn’t control the demon, but the demon protected him anyway because of his desire to survive.
“Heh.”
“You punk, I’ll get you for this!”
Fire Javelin!
“What the hell? I didn’t even hear her incantation!”
That was because I was the one casting it.
“Fire Arrow.”
Tri Explosion.
“Fire Arrow.”
Flare Blast!
One explosive spell after spell covered the demon’s body.
“Urgh!”
“Aieeee!”
The Dungeon Master wasn’t dying, despite being caught in the blast. The demon couldn’t afford to move from the Dungeon Master, making him out to be a sad punching bag.
“You idiot! I told you we should’ve used the room before this as our battlefield!”
“Sh-shut up! This room would be defenseless without you here!”
Thank God the Dungeon Master was an idiot. We chipped away at the demon’s health, though his Mana Barrier proved formidable. We’d be the first to run out of mana at this rate.
Fran, change of plans.
“Got it.”
I kept up my barrage of double-casting spells as Fran chanted the incantation of the wind spell she had just learned: Level 4 Wind Magic, Sonic Shot. Put simply, it enabled the user to launch a projectile at high speeds with the power of wind. You could manipulate the angles slightly too.
“I’m ready.”
Go for it.
“Ha!”
Fran counted and flung me into the air.
Woohoo!
I accelerated with the help of Sonic Shot. I banked to the right of the demon and went straight for the Dungeon Master.
“Is that Wind Magic?! Smart, but I won’t let you!”
The demon couldn’t move since Fran continued targeting the Dungeon Master with her spells. Still, he reached out his right hand to swat me away. I was fast, but the demon had no problem seeing me. He failed in his attempt to deflect me, however.
“Wha—gah!”
I went along with the wind channels before using Telekinesis to make a sharp turn. It had been a while since my last Telekinetic Catapult. I stabbed the defenseless demon right in the chest and charged straight through. I amplified my blade with my remaining mana and was ready to fly away just in case the attack didn’t work.
“Gah…”
That did it…
I suddenly realized that he had managed to get his left hand between me and his body. If I hadn’t charged my blade with enough mana, this would’ve been the end of me. The demon was defiant to the very end.
“Hurk…”
I had completely cut into his crystal and absorbed it.
“Gaaah…”
The demon roared before falling to the ground, dead.
You have obtained 40 EP.
Nice! I expected no less from a demon’s crystal. My crystal counter was at 2699/2800 before, and now it was at 3199/3600, marking a 500-crystal increase.
“H-how did you…?”
The Dungeon Master watched in shock. He’d just seen his unbelievably strong demon get killed by a little girl, so I could sympathize with him a little. Still, it was bad practice to sit defenseless in the heat of battle.
“Ha!”
“Gaaah!”
Fran wasted no time in throwing out an Aura Blade to lop the Dungeon Master’s right arm off. The arm fell to the floor, the Bracelet of Sacrifice along with it. Just as the Dungeon Master was screaming in pain, Fran mercilessly cut off his head. He may be a Dungeon Master, but he was still a goblin. He was no match for the raw force of Fran’s Aura Blade. The brightly glowing Dungeon Core suddenly dimmed.
And that was it.
Is something supposed to happen now…?
“Teacher, did we win?”
I think so, yeah…
I expected something theatrical to happen when we killed the Dungeon Master, maybe an earthquake or something. But nothing happened. We’d killed the Dungeon Master, right?
Either way, we should try leaving the place. All the remaining monsters should be dead by now.
Oh, is the Daemon’s body still there?
I expected the Daemon’s body to turn into sand and was relieved to see it was still in one piece. That would’ve been a waste of materials. We decided not to take the Daemon’s corpse, however. We could’ve used the materials, but I felt bad for the Guild for rushing ahead. It would’ve been difficult to hide the corpse because of the Dungeon Core system anyhow.
Anyone could use a dormant Core. Touching it would reveal the list of monsters that had populated the dungeon before its capture. The Daemon would be on that list of monsters should anyone want to reuse the Dungeon, so, as much as I wanted to take the Daemon’s materials, we’d have gotten found out no matter what. There was no need to raise further undue resentment.
We were going to have modify the Daemon’s body slightly before letting the Guild have it though. I blew up his chest with an Explosion and left a big hole where his crystal should be. If anyone asked, Fran could simply say, “I accidentally destroyed his crystal in the fight. The corpse is all that’s left.” Fran could say she took the crystal for herself, but I was sure some of the adventurers would complain about her taking too much. We didn’t need any of that to go on. Some of them weren’t going to buy it no matter what, but oh well. Good luck proving otherwise.
We kept the sword though. We might be able to fence it for good money. Alternatively, we could break it down for materials. We took the Bracelet of Sacrifice off the Dungeon Master’s detached arm as well. It might come in handy at some point.
“We won.”
Fran pumped her fist in the air in a show of victory. We played dirty, but she looked happy that she won anyway.
Fran has leveled up!
Fran has leveled up!
Fran has...
Fran gained eight levels from that one fight!
I’d worried she wasn’t going to get any EXP since I dealt the killing blow to the Daemon, but it still counted since she was my User. That also probably wasn’t the first time someone killed a monster with a throwing weapon. We managed to win because the Dungeon Master was so weak. Fran gained a total of thirteen levels since she had charged through the dungeon. What a windfall!
The door rumbled, signaling that the seal was now broken.
“Little lady! Sound off if you’re still alive!”
“What the hell! That’s a Daemon!”
“Are you actually serious?”
Having captured the dungeon, we were on our way back to the city. The adventurers looked as exhausted as they were pleased. We lost ten adventurers today but were fortunate the situation didn’t devolve into a calamity for the city.
The guildsmen were happy we had killed the Dungeon Master when we did, since that caused all the dungeon monsters to die out. They were even happier that we didn’t hog the Daemon’s remains; that was a biggie. Daemon materials had higher value compared to monsters of the same threat level since they only spawned in dungeons. The EXP you got from them was also on a different level. They made for good money, provided you didn’t get killed in the fight.
Donadrond lectured us for about an hour when he found us. The image of a champion of the guild scolding an innocent beastgirl was as comical as it was tragic. Fran would’ve sulked at me if I had laughed, so I managed to keep my steely composure. The lecture would’ve gone on for longer if the boy who had argued with Fran hadn’t stepped in. He’d survived, unlike the mercenaries, and was paying her back for saving his life.
He’s a good kid.
“You’re not gonna fool me that easily.”
Yeah?
“You didn’t get yelled at. No fair.”
Now, now.
“I took the brunt of it.”
I said I was sorry.
“Then I want beef.”
Okay.
“Roast beef.”
Sure.
“Steak kebabs.”
You got it.
Fran was becoming quite the glutton ever since she sampled Earth cooking. She could have as much as she wanted so long as she’d stop pouting. It’d make for a nice celebration, since she killed a monster that was above her weight class. I was ready to cook her anything she wanted.
Before we reach town, I should take a look at my stats…
The following were my stats before the raid:
Attack: 392; MP: 1650/1650; Durability: 1450/1450
Evolution: [Rank 7; Crystals: 2699/2800; Skill Capacity: 62; Free EP: 9]
And this was after:
Name: Teacher
User: Fran
Race: Intelligent Weapon
Attack: 434; MP: 2050/2050; Durability: 1850/1850
Evolution: [Rank 8; Crystals: 3199/3600; Skill Capacity: 70; Free EP: 49]
Skills: Identify 7; High Speed Self-Repair; Telekinesis; Telekinesis Up (Small); Telepathy; Attack Up (Small); User Status Up (Medium); User Recovery Rate Up (Small); MP Up (Small); Skill Capacity Up (Medium); Identity Protection; Bestiary; Skill Sharing; Mage
Many of my skills had leveled up too. The Hobgoblins and Army Beetles had a ton of skills I could absorb. The Wind Magic I only got a few hours ago was already at Level 7, having gone up by six levels in one day. Sword Arts went from 7 to 8, and Sword Mastery was now at 9 with Abnormal Status Resistance at 3 and Earth Magic at 5. The list went on.
I got a bunch of new skills from the dungeon as well. The ones that seemed particularly useful were: Dark Magic 1; Mana Barrier 1; Black Magic 2; Trap Sense 1; Dark Up; Dark Immunity; Mana Regeneration; and Insubordination. Mana Regeneration would particularly allow me to recover my mana just by equipping it. There was the extra skill, Skill Taker, to boot.
I didn’t know what to do with the 49 EP I had on hand, since I wanted to strengthen everything. I could up Sword Arts, Sword Mastery, and some Magics… I had Dark Up now, so maybe I should invest my points in Dark Magic… Summon Minion looked like fun… Then there were Instant Regen and Abnormal Status Resistance which I had foregone earlier. Or maybe I should just dump it all into Skill Taker? There were Superior Skills to worry about now.
Also, Fran was now at Level 25. She had gained eight levels from killing the Daemon since she sucked in all the EXP instead of sharing it with a party.
Name: Fran
Age: 12
Race: Beastman; Black Cat Tribe
Class: Spellsword
Status: Contract
LV: 25
HP: 193; Magic: 127; Strength: 140; Agility: 146
Skills: Goblin Killer; Calm Mind; Expert Carver; Determination; Sense of Direction; Night Vision
[NEW] Insect Killer; Demon Killer
Titles: Veteran; Disassembly Expert; Healing Mage; Skill Collector; Fire Mage; Master Chef
[NEW] Insect Killer; Big Fish Eater; Dungeon Raider; Demon Killer
Insect Killer: Kill 300 insect types in one battle. Unlocks the skill Insect Killer.
Big Fish Eater: Defeat a foe who is above your weight class. Life +20; All Stats +5; slightly increases growth rate.
Dungeon Raider: Kill a Dungeon Master or destroy a Dungeon Core. Increases life and mana regeneration while in a dungeon.
Demon Killer: Slay a demon. Unlocks the skill Demon Killer.
Big Fish Eater? Here was another unlocked title. It was about as strong as the Veteran title which increased Fran’s stats even more. She could probably take on Donadrond now. It was scary how fast Fran grew! Although, admittedly, part of it was my fault.
Fran had ambitions, but I doubted that she would ever get cocky. Still, I had a feeling she would want to go to even more treacherous territory soon. I had better support her as much as I could!
To that end, we held an emergency meeting over which skills to level up.
What do you think we should level up, Fran?
“Sword Arts and Sword Mastery.”
That’s what I thought.
Using magic effectively was difficult. But she’d be able to turn the tide of battle so long as she had her sword. Her sword being me, who took pride in having high Mana Conductivity and MP.
Are you sure about this?
“Yeah.”
All right.
I spent 6 EP to bump Sword Arts and Sword Mastery to Level 10.
Sword Arts is now Level 10. You have unlocked Blade Arts.
Sword Mastery is now Level 10. You have unlocked Blade Mastery.
Sword Arts and Sword Mastery are now at Level 10. You have unlocked Elemental Sword.
Blade Mastery and Blade Arts were clear enough, but Elemental Sword? The skill used magic to apply an element to a blade. We’d have to use it to see how it worked.
Now it was time for Skill Taker:
Skill Taker 1: Choose a Level 1 skill with Rarity 1 or lower to steal. Has a 50% chance of success. Can only be used once per target. Cooldown: 1 day. Effective range is skill level in meters.
Skill Rarity—that was new. Identify only revealed a skill’s level up to now.
I’d be able to collect even more skills with this on. Stealing a target’s skills also made for good utility, and I could finally get something out of fighting creatures which didn’t drop crystals—humanoids—now. I could take their skills instead.
But a 50 percent success rate didn’t inspire much confidence. It might not be worth the attempt in the heat of battle. I mulled over it until I remembered I could consult Fran. What would she think of this?
Hey, so about Skill Taker—
I explained the gist of how it worked.
“Sounds good.”
You think so?
“It’s an Extra Skill. That makes it extra powerful.”
Okay. I’ll level it up.
I followed her lead and got it up to Level 2.
Skill Taker 2: Choose a Level 2 skill with Rarity 2 or lower to steal. Has a 60% chance of success. Can only be used once per target. Cooldown: 2 days. Effective range is skill level in meters.
Sixty percent at Level 2? Well, let’s see how far we can take this, Skill Taker! It took 3 EP for every level of Extra Skill. I was down to 16 EP, but I had no regrets.
Skill Taker 10: Choose a Level 10 skill with Rarity 10 or lower to steal. Has a 100% chance of success. Can only be used once per target. Cooldown: 18 days. Effective range is skill level in meters.
I had to wait eighteen days between each Skill Taker use. I needed to think about how I was going to make it viable. We had two attempts between Fran and me, so I supposed we could afford to be more lenient about using it. The only thing left to do was to look up the Rarity 10 skills. Would they show up on Identify if I leveled it up? This skill would be broken if it could actually take Extra and Unique Skills.
I couldn’t wait to use it. Not now though, since I was surrounded by my guildsmen. Maybe bandits would come and assault us; not that there were bandits stupid enough to attack so many adventurers at once.
The trip back to the guild was uneventful, but the guild itself was filled with cheer. The adventurers’ faces were lit up with the joy of victory and getting paid.
“Come with me, little lady.”
“’Kay.”
Donadrond led Fran to the Guildmaster’s office. The adventurers we passed by weren’t surprised to see this; they knew she had contributed the most during the raid. There were rumors regarding Fran’s ability floating about the guild, but now there was hard evidence to convert even the most doubtful of skeptics.
“Nice. She must be getting a bonus.”
“She did turn things around for us. Couldn’t believe it at first.”
“She saved my life!”
“How is she so strong at that age?”
“She’s a monster. An absolute monster.”
“Wonder if she’ll join our party.”
“God, Fran’s so cute.”
Fifty percent were thankful, forty percent were jealous, ten percent were scared. That last guy though? He creeped me out.
“Hello, Fran. We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Hey.”
“First, you have my thanks. You averted what could’ve been a disaster for the city. And to think there was a Daemon in that dungeon… It would’ve killed more of our members if we had carried out our original plan.” The GM gave us a businesslike smile. Unlike Donadrond, we couldn’t let our guard down around him. He seemed to suspect us of foul play.
“It was reckless of you to charge ahead like you did. However, it did end up saving us, so I will let it slide this time.”
He’d decided not to take disciplinary action against her after weighing out multiple factors.
“I’ve taken a look at the Daemon corpse you brought in.”
Donadrond must’ve shown him.
“It was a B-Rank monster. Did you really kill that thing by yourself?”
“Yes.”
“If so, that would make you an A-Rank adventurer.”
I was happy for the compliment, but A-Rank quests were notorious for being dangerous.
“I got lucky.”
“How do you mean?”
We wanted to defer our promotion for the moment. So, we told him the truth.
“I see. So you distracted it by attacking the Dungeon Master and killed the Daemon while its guard was down…”
“The Dungeon Master was dumb.”
“I still find it odd that it didn’t die instantly. But, moving on to the matter of the Daemon’s carcass…”
“Yeah?”
“We’ve determined the cause of death to be a sword through the chest. Now, how many people do you think can penetrate a demon’s mana barrier?”
“I dunno.”
“Of course you don’t… No matter. Now, my real question.” The GM sighed before looking right at her. “What happened to the Daemon’s crystal core?”
“It’s gone.”
“You must understand…that demon cores are of extremely high value. Even the government wants them.”
“Right.”
“You really don’t have it?”
“It no longer exists in this world.”
Because I absorbed it.
“Oh, fine. I believe you.”
We weren’t technically lying so I guess we were in the clear…
…or so I thought.
“Hold on! Are you really going to let her get away with that?!”
The door slammed open as an intruder barged into the Guildmaster’s office. The intruder was a fat, unhealthy-looking man who somehow still managed to fit into his silver armor.
Who was this? I’d never seen him before. I barely registered his presence, though he had his equipment to thank for that.
Name: August Allsand
Age: 29
Race: Human
Class: Fighter
Status: Normal
LV: 30
HP: 108; Magic: 99; Strength: 52; Agility: 45
Skills: Acting 1; Singing 1; Riding 1; Deception 1; Royal Etiquette 4; Sword Mastery 1; Calculation 1; Sociable 2; Poison Resistance 1; Poison Knowledge 2; Herbology 2
Unique Skill: Essence of Falsehood 5
Title: Viscount; Lieutenant of the Knight Brigade
Equipment: Mithril Longsword; Silver Plate Mail; Red Lion Cloak; Ring of Presence Concealment
The fat man was all over the place. He was Level 30, but his stats were as low as an E-Rank. His skill collection was just pitiful. He probably got Sociable through being a noble. And his Sword Mastery was at Level 1? He was supposed to be the Lieutenant of Knights!
“Let her get away with what, Sir August?”
“You said it yourself. A Daemon’s crystal? You’re going to let that girl walk out of here with a demon crystal?!”
“I see. You must understand that the guild allows adventurers to keep the materials of whatever they could gather for themselves. If there were a crystal left for the girl to keep, then it is well within her rights. Further, she could have picked the Daemon clean of materials by the time Donadrond found her, yet she chose to share her spoils with the Guild. She has been very gracious.”
“Hogwash. She could keep all the hobgoblin materials for all I care. But high-rank Daemon materials are a different matter entirely. She cannot have them!”
The materials were worth much more than I thought. Was he going to try and take them back now?
“That girl committed an act of insubordination by abandoning her post and acting on her own! She broke the chain of command! Do you think she still has the right to claim her reward after such a crime?!”
“Goodness. If we took disciplinary action for the slightest deviation from a spoken command, we’d have to flog the entire guild. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an adventurer who didn’t ‘act on his own’ in such a situation. If you happen to know one, I’d love to shake his hand.”
“I guess that’s the most I can expect out of the lower classes.”
“I’m afraid our rough-and-tumble members are in a different class from you dainty knights.” The GM was smiling, but he wasn’t entertained. I was afraid he’d begin chanting a kill spell any second now. The tub of lard seemed oblivious, and I wondered how thick his skin must have been to not notice such clear, murderous intent.
“Hmph. Let me do you a favor. I’ll have you know that that girl is lying to you.”
Yikes. Was this his Unique Skill?
Essence of Falsehood: See through a target’s lies. Makes it difficult for others to see through User’s lies. Makes it easier for others to believe in User’s lies.
The perfect skill for the conman, dictator, and cult leader. The skill was powerful, but somehow this regional knight lieutenant was the one who possessed it. I lamented the waste of its potential. Either way, a skill was only as powerful as its user, and he seemed determined to find us out. His next statement however, made me befuddled.
“She said she destroyed the crystal earlier, but that’s a lie! She’s definitely hiding it somewhere.”
Uh, no, that part was true. We really did destroy it.
“Even if that were true, she still has the rights to it.”
“Well, she should have her rights revoked for bearing false witness! Who knows what else she’s hiding.”
“It really got destroyed.”
“She’s lying again.”
What the hell was this guy saying? He had Essence of Falsehood, so he should know she was telling the truth. Wait… That was it. The man was infamous for having Essence of Falsehood, and for overusing it. So, when he accused someone of lying at this point, people thought it was mere slander.
Right now, though, it looked like he was trying to entrap Fran.
“Huh?”
Fran, just stay quiet for a while.
“Okay.”
Your move, big guy.
“We are not in a court of law. I was only talking to her privately. Is it a violation of the law when guild members share a joke with each other?”
The GM was defiant. He hated August so much that he actually covered for us. I love you, GM. Go for it!
“She lied to a nobleman. That is a crime in and of itself.”
“I repeat, she made a good-natured jest. I haven’t been informed of this new law against jests.”
“Regardless! I don’t trust her. Where is she from? Have you asked her that? What if she’s a spy from another kingdom? I motion for her belongings to be confiscated! Do so, and I’ll overlook this slight against my name!”
What was he talking about? Confiscate her belongings? I’d like to see you try, Pork Roast!
“What are you talking about?”
“You adventurers neglected to contact the Knight Brigade and went on the raid by yourselves. You must’ve wanted to keep all the goodies to yourselves. Dirty adventurers! Give us the Daemon materials and I shall forgive you.”
“Excuse me. We made sure to contact the Brigade before the raid. We even contacted the Knight Brigade on the very day of the raid.”
“Hmph! More lies! In any case, give us half of today’s rewards, all the Daemon materials, and that girl’s belongings.”
“Half of the rewards and all of the Daemon materials? The Knight Brigade has no right to any of it when you didn’t even partake in the battle.”
“You didn’t contact us! I know how greedy you adventurers get. When you were out raiding the goblin’s nest for treasure, we were protecting the city!”
“Heh. Big talk for ignoring our request to join the raid.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
So that was it. The knights had conveniently ignored the guild’s plea for help because they were afraid of the hobgoblins. Now they wanted the prize knowing the disaster had been averted. He was as dirty as they got.
“I’ll start by taking your sword. Did you steal that too? Give it here.”
The fat bastard approached us.
“Should I cut him?”
Wait, let’s see how this works out.
I was itching to let loose on the guy myself.
“The Knight Brigade has no authority over the Guild. You expect us to hand over half the rewards our guildsmen risked their lives for?”
“I’m only taking what’s rightfully mine.”
My God, this guy was full of it. Even the GM was oozing murderous intent at this point. He put on a mild-mannered smile and I wondered how he refrained from just killing the man. It was very impressive.
“Sign this contract. You just need to put your signature here and we can begin collecting our materials.”
“Has the rest of the Brigade been informed? Does the Captain know about this?”
“Of… Of course.”
“Then you wouldn’t mind if I scheduled a meeting.”
“Uh, there’s no need for that…”
“That’s for us to decide.”
The wind was blowing a different direction now.
“Do you have any objections to a civil conference?”
“How dare you insinuate that I’m lying? Th-this is unacceptable! I’m leaving!”
Bullseye. The fat noble’s stammering betrayed his sham. He was trying to embezzle large amounts of materials by coming here without telling the Knight Captain.
Let’s try it.
What, you ask? Skill Taker, of course. He had an interesting Unique Skill, so the time was right.
I’ll try it first.
I targeted the Unique Skill. This skill would be impossible to use without Identify. Not even the Daemon himself had Identify, now that I thought about it. The Dungeon Master said he got lucky; was that why he had such an odd skillset? Starter skills were randomized, sure, but did the Dungeon Master forgot to give the Daemon Identify? That was a possibility.
“This isn’t over!”
Oh, couldn’t let my mark get away.
Here we go—Skill Taker!
It worked, though I still hated the fact that there was no indication of the skill working. I filched Essence of Falsehood 5 right off him. Now I understood the real terror of the skill. It took all levels of a skill right off a target. You could become immediately powerful if you took a high-level skill. However, it was registered under my own skills, which meant I couldn’t share it with Fran. The opposite was true as well, so we’d have to coordinate next time.
“Skill Taker.”
Fran took her turn as the fat man stormed off, and it worked as well. She took the highest of his remaining skills, which was Royal Etiquette 4. Hehehe. If only I could see the look on his face when he noticed he was missing his two best skills!
“Teacher, we did it.”
Yep. We got the good stuff too.
“Can I cut him now?”
Why do you wanna cut him so much?
“I hate him.”
My little girl was becoming more and more dangerous by the day. I doubted Royal Etiquette would help with her manners.
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“Who was that?”
“The Lieutenant of the Knight Brigade of Alessa, who is also the son of a nobleman. A brute, really. He’s only stationed there because of his family’s money, which makes him difficult to deal with. He was promoted last year, and he’s been throwing his weight around ever since. The entire city hates him. I will say this is the first time he’s attempted something this preposterous with the guild though.”
“We should file a complaint.”
“To the Brigade? I’m afraid it won’t work. They’re under his family’s thumb. Not surprised, considering how terribly they brought up their son. He also has a skill called Essence of Falsehood which allows him to see through people’s lies, but it’s absolutely wasted on him.”
“He’s weak, but he made Lieutenant. Is money all you need?”
“Take it up with the government. He may be weak, but he’s at a pretty decent level. Apparently, the nobles form parties with hired knights who then kill monsters for them. That way they can level up without ever lifting a finger.”
Literal power leveling. That explained his lack of combat skills. He was a Level 30 knight with zero combat experience.
“I’ll kill him next time.”
“Please don’t. And don’t worry, the Lieutenant may be a brute but the Captain himself is a decent person. I’ll talk to him about this.”
“All right.”
“Thank you. You see, if you did anything to the man, the Guild would be blamed for it.”
A bit selfish, but it was fair enough. I didn’t think we would ever be good friends with the Guildmaster, but a transactional relationship worked just as well.
“Again, thank you for the Daemon materials. You’ve done the Guild an immense service.”
“No problem.”
“So, are you sure you don’t have the crystal with you?”
Oh, come on, GM!
“I jest.”
“That was close.”
“Why?”
“I was about to cut you.”
“Heh, that’s why I’m terrified of you… Take care if you run into that man again. He’s been known to defraud people with his skills.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Well, if you say so.”
“Can I go now?”
“Yes. Thank you for your time. Oh, and one last thing.”
“Hm?”
“Go to the receptionist for your Rank Up.”
“Again?”
“Yes. You took on and killed a Daemon all by yourself. It would be silly to keep you at F-Rank. You’ll be promoted to D-Rank next.”
“Not E?”
“You’d be at C-Rank if it were up to me. The other branches didn’t approve of it though.”
Of course. A rookie adventurer killing a B-Rank Daemon all on her own? What kind of adventure novel was this? Being promoted to D-Rank was more than enough.
“Okay. I’ll go to the reception.”
“Please do. You can take your reward money while you’re at it. With your bonus, too.”
“Sure.”
The other adventurers buzzed with excitement when they heard of Fran’s promotion. It was the fastest promotion in the history of the guild, from newbie to D-Rank in just three days. They were betting on whether she would get a promotion, bonus points if she skipped a rank entirely. The crowd roared when she did.
“Haha! You made me double rich, little lady!”
“Damn it! I lost!”
“Wahahaha!”
“How’s about a drink?”
“She’s underage, moron!”
“I’ll take it.”
“Yeah? That’s great!”
“We’ll treat ya to some apple juice to start!”
Fran was officially D-Rank, a solid intermediate adventurer. I wondered if I should reveal myself to the adventurers. We might run into a situation like this in the future, and it wouldn’t be out of place for a D-Rank to have a magic sword. She could tell them I was an enchanted sword which got stronger by absorbing crystals. It’d make things a lot easier for her.
But the part about being an Intelligent Weapon… I’d have to talk to Garrus about that. Most of our guildsmen had assumed Fran hid the Daemon crystal, so it wouldn’t be too much of a problem. The story only changed from “I took the crystal” to “my sword ate it.”
Good thing we didn’t get greedy with the Daemon carcass. Everyone had gotten bonuses because of it. We should treat the hall to drinks today too. No faster way to build rapport than a mug of beer.
“Today’s on me.”
“What?! We can’t let a little girl like you treat us!”
“It’s okay. I got my bonus.”
“High roller!”
“I’m not high.”
“Hahaha! You’re somethin’ else, little girl!”
“Yes! Time to make up my losses with drink!”
“Bwahahaha!”
We spent 100,000G on drinks that day…
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