Chapter 5:
Battle on the Floating Island
It was the morning after we agreed to take on Jean’s request. We had spent the night at the necromancer’s laboratory, and it reminded me of the first time I reincarnated into this world. Those early days of the pedestal had been filled with dread at the rustling noises of the beasts in the dark. Jean’s laboratory was more… intense.
Unpredictable ghastly howling. The odd explosion coming from the basement. Otherworldly presences passing through the hallway outside our door. I was amazed Fran could sleep through all of that.
For breakfast, we had a purple egg sunny side up with some blackish green soup on the side. We also had glowing mystery meat and a glass of blue milk. Jet was served the blue milk in a bowl which he lapped up, despite it tinting the fur around his muzzle. Fran stuck out her tongue to find that it was also tinted purple.
What scared me the most was how the taste wasn’t actually that bad.
We didn’t get any status effects after eating it, but was it really safe? My apprehension made me check Fran’s and Jet’s statuses five times that morning.
After breakfast, Bernard led us down two sets of stairs to Jean’s improvised laboratory. After seeing how well equipped his lab was, I uttered a quiet apology for calling it “improvised.”
“Aah, I see my cutting edge laboratory has astounded you!”
It’s amazing.
“Cool.”
“Woof.”
A giant pentagram was laid out in the center of the floor. A variety of tools such as sickles and rods hung on the walls. Flasks and mortars were arranged in an organized clutter. Poisonous herbs and ores peeked out of their respective baskets. A dubious-looking liquid was boiling away in a large pot.
Atelier was the better word to describe the look of Jean’s laboratory. It had the air of a workshop.
There was so much I wanted to play with! Like turning one of the flasks upside down, or that rainbow colored powder over there. What did that do? I felt like a nerd in science class.
Fran sniffed the air, and turned to look at one of the doors in the lab.
“What’s over there?”
“Has it piqued your interest?”
“It smells like blood.”
“Hahaha! The olfactory senses of a Beastman! My morgue lies behind that door. It is where I preserve all of my excellent corpses! That room over there is where I store my dangerous chemicals, and that room is where I carry out my dangerous experiments! I’ve reinforced it, of course. I tell you, I almost died the other day!”
A morgue? That shouldn’t have come as a surprise, considering Jean was a necromancer, but it still caught me off guard. Wait, did he say he almost died? Would we really be okay here?
“Now, on to our preparations. You have a Pocket Dimension so you can carry a massive amount of items, correct?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll need you to bring some materials I’ve prepared.”
“Sure thing.”
I guess we were on item-carrying duty. We would carry as much as Jean wanted if it was necessary to clear the dungeon.
Fran agreed, and Jean took out a myriad items from his storage space.
“We’ll need this, and this, and this one, too. We’ll need that one for sure. Wait, let’s bring these two along, as well. I’m not the one unloading them, anyway. Bernard, come. Right. And this one—”
Jean instructed Bernard to lay out the items he wanted on the floor. Before long, a small mountain of items had piled up.
Isn’t this a bit much?
There were bottles which looked like potions to devices that didn’t seem to have any specific use. There was a skull lamp and a zombie-shaped pendant, too. Were these really necessary?
Jet sniffed the item mound in curiosity.
Jet, no! You don’t know where that stuff’s been!
“Arf…”
Jean’s inventory might curse you if you so much looked at it the wrong way.
All right. We’ll split the load halfway between me and Fran.
“Okay.”
We spent an hour loading the mysterious items away, asking questions about what they were for and how to use them the entire time.
“Now we’re ready!”
Shall we get going?
“Finally.”
“Indeed. Come with me.”
Jean climbed up the stairs and exited his research lab. The only problem now was getting to the floating island.
So how are we getting up there?
“Teleportation?”
“Hmph! I am a necromancer. I do not use such boorish methods!”
Is he saying there are some spells in necromancy that would allow him to fly?
“Bwahaha! Watch and be amazed! Bernard, come!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Has everything been prepared?”
“To your specifications, sir. Right this way.”
Bernard led us to the back of the lab. There was a pentagram, ten meters in diameter, engraved on the ground. On it, crystals had been meticulously organized.
“Yes! Very good!”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Now, behold! The essence of my magic!”
He made a cross with his forearms and pointed it heavenward before beginning to cast his spell. The act would’ve been embarrassing to behold if a junior high kid did it, but Jean pulled it off perfectly.
“So cool.”
“Woof!”
I couldn’t argue with that if I wanted to. Jean maintained his pose throughout his chanting. Mana in the air started to glow and pulse, making him look like a true spellcaster.
“—”
“—”
The spell sure took a while, though. It had almost been three minutes since he began, and that was with Speedcasting. The amount of mana reacting all around us highlighted the greatness of this spell.
Another three minutes went by.
“Overspec Undead Summoning!” Jean shouted, and with it the grand pentagram glowed with an eerie black light. A glowing back veil, ten meters high, shot out of the magic circle, temporarily blinding me, Fran, and Jet. It was as if a wellspring of shining darkness had burst out of the earth.
“Mwahahaha! Come forth, my servant! Thy name is Andy!”
“Graaaargh!”
What the hell is that?!
“Wow!”
“Grrr!”
Something crawled out of the light. It was too bright to see, but the shape slowly rose out of the circle. Once the light had subsided, what we saw made us gasp with surprise.
Fran’s eyes went wide with wonder. Jet entered a state of alert. I was trying to recover from the initial shock.
The fruit of Jean’s summoning ritual was a giant skeleton monster spanning ten meters in length. It looked like a bigger, stronger version of the Lesser Wyvern I once fought. This skeleton must be a true Wyvern.
“Heheheh… Hahaha! Bwahahaha! Behold! And cower! In FEAR!!! Hack! Cough!”
Jean started to cough in the middle of his gloating. He looked exhausted, too, and perspiration had formed on his pale face. His desire to gloat was understandable, though. Jean had succeeded in summoning a strong Skeleton Wyvern. To top it off, the undead dragon looked absolutely killer.
Name: Andy (Overspec Skeleton Wyvern)
Race: Undead Beast
Status: Vengeful Spirit; Contract; Weakness Mitigation
Level: 30
HP: 1034; Magic: 433; Strength: 539; Agility: 431
Skills: Intimidate 6; Stealth 3; Identify Jammer 3; Fear 6; Regeneration 10; Mana Barrier 5; Poison Immunity; Toxic Fang
Its stats were much stronger than a Lesser Wyvern’s.
Overspec?
The spell Jean had cast was called Overspec Undead Summoning. I wondered what effects it had.
“Indeed. That is the status the spell imbues.”
This particular spell was unlocked upon hitting Nether Magic 5. It was a high-ranking spell, to be sure! Its effects were justly impressive.
Summoning an undead minion with this spell would give it a whopping increase in HP, Magic, Strength, and Agility. It also gave the minion the Weakness Mitigation status—which worked by softening blows to the creature’s weak spot—and increased its level of Regeneration. On the flip side, however, the summoned undead would expire after twenty-four hours. It was still well worth it, though.
“Would you like to try it as well, Jet?”
And how do you plan on doing that, exactly?
“Very simple. First, I’ll have you die—”
“Nope!”
Jet whined in fear. Would you please stop scaring my Direwolf? You can’t just talk about killing someone’s pet in that kind of businesslike manner! These necromancers, I swear!
“Are you sure? It won’t hurt, I promise. I won’t force you, all the same.”
Ugh… Can we just get going, please?
We hadn’t even seen the dungeon and I was already exhausted.
“In a moment. Bernard!”
“Your preparations have been made, sir.”
Bernard brought out three Skeleton Beasts, each half Andy’s size. They were called Winged Tiger Skeletons.
What are those for?
Were we going to ride them? I was pretty sure Andy was more than enough to accommodate Fran and Jean.
“No, these skeletons will act as a diversion.”
“Diversion?”
“Yes. I’m sure the dungeon has monsters protecting it from intruders, like the Skeleton Knight you encountered the other day. We could charge through the trash mobs and scatter them, but it would be a bone-breaking endeavor if we did that by ourselves. These Skeleton Beasts will go ahead of us and provide a distraction. Bwahahaha! Yes, yes, you may marvel at my infinite wisdom.”
I see. Having distractions handy was a good tactic. Jean might be dumb enough to fall for insincere compliments but his wits were indeed sharp.
Jean sent off the Winged Tiger Skeletons ahead of us and began mounting Andy, the Skeleton Wyvern.
“You must ride Andy, as well.”
“Hm.”
“There are plenty of mounting spots, just make sure you hold on tight.”
The creature was made entirely of bone, after all. Fran positioned herself between Andy’s wings and held on to a spinal column. Jet returned to her shadow. Jean took the head.
“Are we all ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we shall depart. Fly, Andy!”
“Grooooar!”
The wyvern spread its wings upon Jean’s command. It should’ve been impossible for it to fly with its skeletal wings, but gravity seemed to hold no sway over the giant creature’s body. Some kind of magic must be allowing it to fly.
“Bwahaha! Onwards to the Undead Lair!”
“Hm.”
Andy, Jean’s Skeleton Wyvern, was as strong as I expected. He exceeded the altitudes we had struggled to reach the other day with ease. The effects of the cold air and strong winds were reduced thanks to Mana Barrier, which made for a comfortable ride.
“We’re so high up!”
Fran looked down at the distant earth with sparkling eyes.
“Indeed! Witness the earth and all the trash who inhabit it!”
“Yeah, trash.”
Fran! Do not call people trash! Call them ants, at the very least.
Then again, ants weren’t that better off, either.
“There it is!”
We broke through the clouds and saw the floating island ahead of us. There was no question that we were much closer compared to where we got yesterday.
The gigantic rock formation gently floated through the sky. The sight of it was enough to instill awe and wonder.
Whoa! It’s magnificent!
“Yeah!”
It looked just like Laputa! I almost cried!
Andy beat his wings, flying towards the floating island. I was still awestruck when I began picking up on the mana signature I felt yesterday.
The slapping winds suddenly came to a halt.
What was that?
“You felt it too, young Teacher? We’ve broken into dungeon territory, now!”
But we’re not at the dungeon yet.
“A dungeon is whatever locale ends up being affected by a Dungeon Core, regardless of whether it’s in the skies or wherever else.”
I see.
That explained the massive horde of monsters.
Monsters incoming!
“Those Bone Birds will harass us until we set foot on the island! The Skeleton Beasts have decreased their numbers but there are still plenty of them for us to fight!”
“What’s our plan?”
“Plan? Mwahahaha! The only plan worthwhile for these trash mobs is to attack them head on!”
“I see.”
Not ‘I see’! There’re still too many of them for us to be careless!
Entire flocks of Bone Birds came to stop our advance on the floating island. There must have been a hundred of them at least.
Fighting them in the sky is difficult enough, but we’d have to break our backs to face that many at once!
“You mean it’ll be a ‘bone-breaking endeavor’? Ahahaha!”
No! Now is not the time for lame puns!
“Hahaha! ’Tis a necro joke is all!”
I am going to hit this idiot!
“But seriously, those Bone Birds are much faster than Andy. Running away would be impossible.”
Don’t you have any items or spells to keep them away? Maybe an anti-undead barrier?
“Why would I waste them on trash mobs such as these?! And an anti-undead barrier would affect Andy, so that is out of the question.”
Which meant charging through the flock was our only option. Dammit, I guess we would have to get violent!
“Andy! Play to your heart’s content!”
“Groaaaar!”
“Teacher.”
We have no choice! We’ll have to fight our way through!
“Awoooo!”
And so we began to charge through the Bone Bird flock that was blocking our way. They were individually weak at G-Threat. But they gathered around like clouds. No matter how many of them we cut down they just kept coming.
Still, we managed to fend them off with Andy’s Breath Attack, Jean’s spells, Fran’s blade work, and Jet’s Air Hike. One Bone Bird after another dropped out of the sky. It was a good thing there was nothing in the fields below. We didn’t have to worry about collateral damage.
“Reverse Undead!”
“Fire Arrow!”
“Grrr! Awoooo!”
“Groaaargh!”
And me? I had left Fran to fly around killing Bone Birds. Jean knew everything anyway. Might as well go all out.
Fran was using the Enchanted Phantom Augite Blade she filched off Gyuran. It was imbued with the Illusion Element, a subset of Light Element, which made it highly effective against undead.
I… didn’t like the idea of her using a blade other than myself. I hated it! It was the worst! I felt like a girl whose crush had begun talking to some hussy. My heart was broken into pieces.
Fran, I can’t believe you’re using another blade that’s not me! Are you sick of me? Is that it?
Now wasn’t the time to voice my complaints so I held it in… and took it out on those skeleton birds, instead.
C’mere bird brains, I’ll grind you into bone meal!
I took a sick kind of pleasure in this state to begin with.
I haven’t had a buffet in a long time! Time to fill my belly with crystals!
The swarm made it easier to get up close and personal. I cut each and every one of them as they came.
It’s a crystal festival!
“Hiss!”
“Caaaw!”
Not gonna work!
The Bone Birds tried to Intimidate me but it was to no avail. Their level of intimidation was far too low.
Gwahahahaha! Just stay still so I can eat your crystals!
It felt like I had become a crystal Viking.
After thirty minutes, we had broken through the great flock of Bone Birds and were now within arm’s reach of the floating island. It looked much more intimidating now that we were up close.
“Big.”
We’re finally here.
“No, not yet.”
What do you mean?
“You’ll know soon enough… Here it comes!”
Jean warned, pointing his finger at the mass of flying objects headed our way.
“They’re like Andy?”
“Hah! There is a similarity… but no! Andy is a skeleton of a great Wind Wyvern, while those flying bone masses were Lesser Wyverns! There is a huge difference in power!”
I identified them and found that their stats were weaker compared to the Lesser Wyvern I once fought. However, they were tougher to kill since they had the Regeneration skill. Not to mention there were about thirty of them in formation.
That wasn’t our only problem, either.
There was a big kaboom followed by something whizzing past us. It would’ve been the end of us had it landed a direct hit. I had to concentrate.
Whoa! Was that a cannonball?!
“Artillery from the floating island. They use live cannonballs so you can, with great care, capture and deflect them. You must focus your efforts on mounting our counterattack, young Teacher!”
Cannonballs. I didn’t know whether this world had gunpowder, but I was sure that you could replicate its effects with magic.
What about the wyverns?
“Leave that to me!”
“What about me?”
“Fran and Jet, you take care of the Bone Birds! We haven’t eliminated them all quite yet!”
“On it.”
“Woof!”
We had entered the second half of our landing campaign.
I defended us against the incoming cannon fire. At times I cut them in half, others I would deflect using magic. There were a lot of them with each volley; they must have lots of cannons lined up.
A volley of five came rapidly at us.
Flare Blast!
That was close. The spell had managed to deflect them to the side but if I had delayed even slightly, we would’ve taken a hit or two. My tactic worked this time, but we’d be in a dangerous position if the shelling continued.
Jean! How did you get through this last time?!
“I had the assistance of the Skeleton Griffon, Milco! Cannon fire was useless against Milco’s Wind Armor! We charged through the ranks and landed!”
So he bruteforced it! He hadn’t summoned the Skeleton Griffon, so I guess it was gone forever. Jean must have done an Overspec summoning.
“Gyooo!!”
Damn it, these Lesser Wyvern Skeletons were annoying! But I couldn’t do anything to them since my “hands” were full defending us against cannonballs!
They were fast, so fast that Jean had trouble landing a hit. Thankfully, a hit was all it needed to take them down.
Oh boy, this looks bad.
A wyvern had gone after Fran. It opened its skeletal mouth to bite her but Andy smashed it with his chin before it could get the chance. Good job, Andy! Half of the Lesser Wyvern flock was still flying around, however. We weren’t out of the woods yet.
“Thanks, Andy.”
Even with Andy’s strength, he wouldn’t be able to handle that many wyverns. He was beginning to get roughed up in spite of his Regeneration.
Jean, what the hell are we gonna do?!
“Silence! Be patient and let me focus!”
I turned to see Jean charging a softball-sized sphere with mana. The sphere was a special magical item made of undead crystal. It allowed its user to summon undead minions. Jean had called it a Summon Sphere. It was among the items he had us shove into our Pocket Dimension the other day.
Was this his ace in the hole?
“All right, it’s ready. Teacher, Jet, fall back!”
Got it.
“Woof!”
“Fran, you stay right there! Trust me on this one!”
“Hm!”
The way Jean put it made me worry even more. I was amazed Fran could nod in agreement!
“Mwahaha! Good answer!”
So, what now?
“Now is time for this! Andy, do it!”
“Groaaargh!”
“Whoa.”
He’s changing?
At Jean’s command, Andy’s bones began to shift. His skeletal rearrangement was accompanied by a dull grinding noise. The wyvern’s ribs and sternum rose to cover Fran and Jean. More layers of bone were added to provide protection for the people inside it.
His wings folded to cover his body, too; although it had no bearing on his flight since he flew with magic. Andy now looked like a skeleton ball with a wyvern’s skull peeking on top of it.
“Instant Summon!”
As we were still reeling from Andy’s transformation, Jean summoned something new. Instant Summon allowed its user to summon a part of a minion’s body for a short period of time. It was much weaker compared to a full summon, but the catalyst would suffer no damage even if the part of the minion were to die.
“A slime?”
Wh-what?! Damn it!
“It’s on our side! Just stay still!”
Jean had summoned a blood-red slime. I would’ve killed it if Jean hadn’t stopped me. The slime began crawling towards and covered our bodies.
Jean?
“It’ll be fine!”
Jean told us to stay still. Was this thing going to melt us? The undead slime called Undead Ooze assisted Andy in protecting us.
All this happened while Andy was still getting bombarded by cannon fire. He was still holding on somehow, though for how much longer I didn’t know. What on earth was Jean’s plan?
“Andy, you’ve done well!”
“Roar!”
“Now, do it!”
Upon Jean’s command, Andy turned around. His head was pointed away from the floating island.
“BLAAARGH!”
Andy loosed his charged-up attack. The bright beam of light painted a line across the empty sky. It took down close to thirty of the Bone Birds who had the misfortune of fluttering in the way. It was without a doubt the greatest display of force we had seen today.
Now a cannonball propelled by his breath attack, Andy charged towards the floating island, crashing through the bone wyverns which stood in his way.
“Mwahaha! Perfect, Andy! All according to plan!”
We’re going too fast!
“Unnh…”
G-forces pressed on Fran and Jean from how fast we were accelerating. Fran held on to Andy’s bones in a desperate attempt to stay in place.
Would Andy be all right after using such a breath attack? Andy’s mana began depleting, and fast. Undead sustained themselves with mana and would expire once their mana stores were emptied. Things didn’t look good for him.
Andy never ceased firing his beam, and because of it we were fast approaching the floating island.
Crash!
We felt a light impact which turned out to be the island’s wall. It was no match for Andy in his current state.
Jean turned to Fran before taking cover.
“Fran, be careful so you don’t bite your tongue off!”
“Mm!”
Kaboom!
“Hrrghh!”
“Ow.”
“Ruff!”
Whoa!
Andy the Cannonball had successfully crash-landed into the floating island and formed a giant crater.
Fran let go of the bone she had held on to during the crash and began dusting bone bits and pieces off herself. She would’ve suffered massive injuries if the Undead Ooze hadn’t absorbed most of the shock.
The crater creating impact proved too much for the Undead Ooze to handle. There was not much left of it now; its Physical Resistance skill was unable to completely nullify the shock of the impact.
Andy was in shambles and could not return to his original shape. His shell and crystal were both shattered. There were bits of bone around him, though I couldn’t tell if they belonged to our Undead Wyvern or not.
The only thing we could recognize was half of his skull.
After Fran and the others had crawled out of Andy’s remains, they went to his side to give him words of appreciation and thanks. That was the least we could do. His bones were already beginning to turn to dust.
“Andy, I shall never forget your loyalty.”
“Thank you.”
“Woof!”
That was a hell of a show.
“Groar…”
“I shall send you off myself. Rest in peace, friend. Ascension.”
Andy let out a final rumble.
Jean’s spell had a warmth which you would never guess came from a necromancer. The warm light shone out of the necromancer’s hand to envelop his undead comrade. Andy’s remains began shining and rose. His body began breaking down into shards of light which were then taken into the great sky.
It was a beautiful sight.
“Goodbye.”
Fran watched and waved her hand until the last of the light had gone.
It had been two hours since we landed on the island thanks to Andy’s sacrifice.
“I see it. There’s the entrance to the dungeon proper!”
We had passed a forest filled with prowling skeletons and zombies and were now in sight of some kind of ancient ruins.
Our trip through the forest had been uneventful. The monsters inhabiting it were weak, and although they could conceal their presence, they were nothing special. They weren’t much of a threat, even in large numbers. About the only noteworthy thing that happened was my getting excited during crystal absorption. Trash mobs as they were, I still got a significant boost to my crystal counter from their sheer number.
Jean had pointed to a small ruined building. Vines had crept all over it and the rock surface was covered with moss. No one had been here in months, if not years. It reminded me of the ruins surrounding my pedestal. My home had looked like a shrine, whereas this had a more temple-like feel to it.
At the center of the temple ruins was a stairwell leading down.
“Here we are! The last time I was here, just looking for this place had left me exhausted, but it is not the case today! Haha! We can explore to our hearts’ content!”
Anything we need to look out for? There must be dangerous traps around here. You said you had some secret plan the other night?
“I shall lead the way. You take care of the fighting.”
“All right.”
“Woof, woof!”
“Now, could you take out the first of the Summon Spheres?”
“Sure. This one?”
Fran took out a summon sphere which had the number “one” written on it out of her Pocket Dimension.
“Indeed. Hold on.”
Jean began chanting his summoning spell.
“Summon High Undead!”
The spell allowed him to summon a stronger minion at the cost of more mana.
He summoned a humanoid undead this time. It looked like a straightforward zombie, or perhaps an armored mummy. From a distance it looked like a brown-skinned, emaciated human being. It was even wearing fancy red clothes.
“Your name is Selkan!”
“Vargh.”
Name: Selkan (Custom Revenant)
Race: Undead
Status: Contract, Undead
Level: 14
HP: 69; Magic: 165; Strength: 33; Agility: 56
Skills: Regeneration 10; Instant Regen 4; Disarm Trap 5; Sense Trap 4; Dexterous; Enhanced Regeneration
“Heheh! I have prepared this Custom Undead for this day! His special abilities will serve us well!”
The Revenant was customized specifically to take point in a party. He had great regenerative ability in exchange for his weak combat capabilities. He would go ahead of us to spot traps and disarm them when possible. If not, he would go ahead and trigger the trap and act as our meat shield. He was as useful as he was pitiful.
“Bwahaha. Onwards, Selkan!”
“Vargh!”
Jean pointed Selkan to the entrance. The revenant proved his worth immediately. He could disarm most traps and the ones he was forced to trigger had little effect on him.
“Vargh!”
Spikes came out of the ceiling and stabbed Selkan. He wasn’t able to disarm this trap so he had to take its punishment. It didn’t take long for his Regeneration to trigger and soon he was back at full health. Jean covered for the mana cost of Regeneration so he was in no risk of running out. Selkan didn’t get lost either, since Jean had passed on knowledge of his previous run. He was doing good work.
We smoothly carried out our exploration, barely stopping at all. Fran and I took down whatever zombies that happened to come from behind. They went down before they got close.
So far so good.
“Yes, so far…”
There was a hint of worry in Jean’s voice.
What’s wrong?
“I was forced to turn back here last time because I ran out of supplies. I don’t know what awaits us in this hall.”
“Is there something in the hall?”
“It is something of a monster closet. Middle-tier monsters tend to spawn there.”
There was another staircase leading down at the far end of the hall.
We slowed down our pace. We had to take into account the chances of running into new trap and gimmicks, not to mention stronger monsters.
We started by entering the so-called monster hall.
Let’s start the battle with some magic.
“Hm.”
“Bark!”
And so, our annihilation began.
Tri Explosion!
“Fire Javelin.”
“Hell Storm!”
“Awooo!”
Our initial volley of spells took down a good thirty undead in the room. About fifty of them were left now.
But that wasn’t to be the end of it. One undead monster after another crawled out of the magic circle. Mid-tier armored monsters like the Zombie Soldier, Skeleton Warrior, and Armored Ghoul were thrown into the mix. Their armor increased their already ghoulish strength.
Let’s go!
“Hm!”
“Grrr!”
They were still no match for us. Fran found it much easier to fight monster hordes in a trapless room. Flame Magic was also particularly effective against the undead.
We took down all the undead after a good twenty minutes of fighting.
“Bwahaha! Splendid!”
That was easy.
“Super easy.”
“Munch, munch.”
Jet was chowing down as usual. Would his stomach be alright after eating zombies? If yogurt is slightly off milk then maybe…? The zombies did look a bit like jerky. No, it couldn’t be. Well, as long as Jet was enjoying his meal, then I was all right with it.
“Let’s take a short break here.”
I took a certain magical tool and passed it to Jean, per his request. It looked like an ordinary rock, but he said it was imbued with Cleansing Magic. When combined with Jean’s Necromancy, the Cleansing Rock set up a barrier that would send any undead that got near us to the afterlife.
We sat in the protection of the barrier for about an hour. It was now lunchtime, so I took out a serving of curry upon Fran’s special request.
“Mm. Supreme.”
I’m surprised you haven’t gotten sick of that thing.
She would compliment me on its taste despite having curry every other day. Her tail stood at attention which told me she wasn’t lying.
I offered Jean some curry, as well, and he enjoyed the stuff so much, he had three servings in total. Seeing the dark master of the undead mixing a plate of curry was a surreal sight to behold.
“Hmph.”
Fran, stop glaring at the magi! We still have lots to go around! You could afford to share a plate or two of your curry. My little girl tended to get aggressive when it came to food.
Jet was munching on the femur of a Lizard Skeleton he received from Jean. The density of bone made for a delectable chew for the Direwolf.
I asked Jean about necromancy since we had some downtime. I had learned from our experience with Amanda that asking an expert was more effective than researching the subject by myself.
“I applaud you for having curiosity and being forthcoming! Ask me anything you want!”
Jean was more than happy to tell me about his craft since he was a researcher. In fact, he needed no prompting and just spoke off the cuff about things I didn’t even ask. We learned a lot about necromancy as a result.
What surprised me most was the concept of a soul. I initially thought necromancy as a craft where one manipulated souls into inhabiting dead bodies and then controlled them. That was not the case.
In this world, only the gods had the authority to affect souls. Upon death, a soul would make its way to the Netherworld, home of the God of the Dead. This was why people of this world tolerated necromancy. Not to sound crass, but a corpse without a soul is little more than an empty shell: close to worthless now that a soul was no longer inhabiting it. Not everyone felt the same way, of course.
In any case, necromancy did not disturb the restful sleep of the dead, it did not manipulate souls of the dead into doing one’s bidding, and it certainly was not an evil, sacrilegious practice.
The Necromancy spell, Create Undead, could only control a corpse by imbuing it with a pseudo-soul created with mana. In that, it was closer to a golem than an undead proper. Necromancy awakened the memory of old spells and skills that a body still had in it. The body’s memory of its past life was what allowed it to move.
Massive accumulations of mana could have a similar pseudo-soul effect on a corpse lying next to some crystals. This was how undead came about in the wild, and they were just as soulless as the domesticated type.
There were special cases, however, like the Vengeful Spirit skill that Andy had.
When a creature is on the brink of death, it is overcome with the overwhelming desire to survive. This act of will is akin to a candle burning its brightest before it goes out. It is so strong that it binds a part of the creature’s soul with its crystal, creating a Vengeful Spirit when turned into an undead.
This was the reason why using Vengeful Spirits was highly recommended for Necromancers; they could be purified and ascend. It meant saving the lost souls who wandered the world holding painful grudges. Purifying a Vengeful Spirit meant one less threat to humanity. There were even necromancers who made the purification of spirits their mission, travelling from country to country.
“I never did care for people much. That is why I have them fight for me in exchange for purifying them. It’s a bit of a give-and-take, you see. Heh, I can’t believe any of them would thank me after I was done with them. Such foolishness! Hahaha!”
You say that, but you cast Ascension on Andy today.
Ascension was spell which cleared a soul’s conscience and allowed its soul fragment to ascend. It was the signature spell of Nether Magic, and I first read about in the Guild’s Reference Room.
The spell consumed a lot of mana to affect an individual soul. The spell was also known to reduce the caster’s lifespan if the soul bore a lot of resentment. In practice, Jean had not been in top fighting shape ever since we landed. He didn’t have to cast Ascension on Andy—the Bone Wyvern would’ve simply dissipated with time—and yet he did.
“H-hmph! A proper send-off was the least I could do for a loyal subject such as Andy. Do you have a problem with that?!”
“Nope. Good job.”
No objections here.
“Woof!”
“Y-you really think so?”
We shared a heartfelt moment together. Jean looked like he felt embarrassed for instigating it, though. He was blushing all the way to his ears. He changed the subject by talking about our next step in a loud voice.
“Aha-ahahaha! Now we can advance to the second floor!”
I decided to cut Jean a break and let the moment go.
Do you really have no information about the second floor?
“Not in the slightest!”
That wasn’t something to be proud of.
“But fear not! For I have a plan!”
“What kind?”
“This kind!”
Jean took out a familiar-looking Summon Sphere in response to Fran’s question. He must have a special monster ready like Selkan. I couldn’t wait to see what came out of it.
What’s in it?
“You’ll see… Heheheh… Now, make way!”
We backed off, and Jean started casting his summoning spell again.
“Summon High Undead!”
Jean’s undead summoning had become a familiar sight to us by now.
Something rushed out of the crystal. It was either mist or steam, I couldn’t tell. In any case, the summoning ritual produced a formless gas creature.
“A cloud?”
“Meet part two of my ultimate plan for dungeon domination! This is Fly, the Custom Gust!”
Name: Fly (Custom Gust)
Race: Undead
Status: Contract; Undead
Level: 7
HP: 22; Magic: 401; Strength: 8; Agility: 36
Skills: Dispersion 7; Cartography 6; Communication 3; Shadow Clone 7; Mana Absorption 6; Trap Sense 3; Physical Immunity
This guy was specifically tailored for exploration. He was a mist monster called a Gust.
Fran reached out to touch the fluffy Fly, but her hand passed right through him. Jet followed his master’s conduct and tried to bite into the cloud, but he might as well have been chewing smoke.
“Oooh.”
“Woof!”
They seemed to have fun with the necromancer’s minion, playing with the puff of white smoke. The heartwarming sight was almost enough to make you forget you were in a dungeon.
“Fly will chart the map with his Cartography and send it to us with Communication. We would be able to get a full map of the dungeon without lifting a finger! Mwahaha! My genius makes even my own hair stand on end!”
Exploration would be a cinch with Fly around. His mist form could get through every nook and cranny, and could immediately send the information he gathered to his master. His Shadow Clones also allowed him to cover a lot of ground at once. He was also hard to kill thanks to his survivability skills.
“Now go, Fly!”
Fly began splitting himself into twenty clones, all of them weak, but fighting wasn’t exactly their purpose, anyway. The clones began to quietly move out, and to the untrained eye, they looked like mist being blown about by the wind.
“And now we wait for the map information.”
And what’s our formation?
“Same as always. Selkan takes point. You take care of any long distance threats.”
“Got it.”
Fran hadn’t had her fill of battle yet. The trash mobs had been too easy for her. She puffed out her chest and pumped her fist in a show of enthusiasm.
“I couldn’t go beyond this floor last time. And I had Fly scout ahead, too.”
So you have the basic layout of the floor in your head?
I thought he said he didn’t know anything about this floor.
“I don’t. Fly wasn’t able to move past this area last time. I’ve made improvements to him so we shouldn’t have any problems now.”
“So you don’t know what’s ahead of us?”
“Well, I do know one thing. The Counterfeit you’re looking for spawns in the next area. That was what stopped Fly from advancing last time.”
Really? Nice! Now I’m motivated!
“Yeah.”
“Aroo!”
That was the entire reason why we came!
“All right, take this. Eat it before the battle starts.”
“What are these?”
“Mwahaha. These are my specialty Soul Potions! Drink it, and you will reduce the incoming damage of Undead types, and it increases your resistance to attacks such as Mind Control.”
That’s an amazing potion! It must be expensive, huh?
“’Tis nothing. You could find one in the marketplace if you looked hard enough. They go for 100,000G a potion.”
That’s expensive!
Should you really be handing expensive stuff like that out?
“It’s all pennies to me. Besides, the ingredients barely cost 20,000G!”
There’s a B-Rank adventurer for you, calling 100,000G pennies. But I guess the image of fast money was the entire reason behind dreamers becoming adventurers.
“I’ll take it then.”
“Use all the items I give you as you see fit. It would be to my disadvantage should we get separated.”
I was so happy we had a generous client for once. Still, I was a cheapskate by nature, and tended to end up hoarding most of my usable items. I was the kind of guy who would save the best healing items like Elixirs and Yggdrasil Leaves all the way up to the end of the game and end up not using any of them. Not that I would stick to that policy if Fran was in danger.
“Onwards!”
And so we made our way down to the second floor.
The entrance to the second floor was a long corridor. Countless half-visible shadows jumped around us as we walked down the long, narrow hallway.
This corridor was in fact our destination.
Among these spirits were Mimics, and we might run into its stronger cousin, the Counterfeit, in the mix.
Come on out, Counterfeit!
Thirty minutes had passed since we charged through the hallway.
Raaagh!
“Ooo…”
Dammit! That one was no good, either. What about you?!
“Ooorg…”
Still nothing!
“Wooo…”
“Ooo…”
This is getting frustrating! Which one of you is a Counterfeit?!
We continued to fight in the hallway. Spirit-type monsters like Wraiths, Ghosts, and Specters boxed us in from all four directions. Sometimes they would even come out of the ground and the walls.
I used Elemental Blade: Fire, just so I could deal damage to the spirits. This tactic would’ve been impossible if I didn’t have any mana.
We had increased the level of Mana Absorption earlier. The bodies of these Spirit monsters were composed entirely of mana, making them weak to Mana Absorption. We bumped the skill up to Level 3 for dual purposes of attack and mana recovery.
I was left with 1 EP now. The skill would come in handy during long fights so I considered it a worthwhile investment.
Add that to Elemental Blade and I was taking down these spirits with one slice. I was maintaining my 1500 MP no problem. Now we just had to kill a Counterfeit and take its Fake Identity skill.
Jean! Have you found any Counterfeits on your side?
“Not yet, no.”
“Are they even here?”
“I do not know!”
We’re only fighting out of faith, here!
“Woof, woof!”
Fran and the others had their hands full as well. Every Mimic could be a Counterfeit in disguise. I was on Mimic/Counterfeit-slaying duty so the others wouldn’t have to worry about breaking the Counterfeit’s crystal.
The Spirit Potion had been effective in shutting out the Mental Status Effects the Spirit types tended to inflict on their prey. They were little more than an annoyance now since their physical attack power was laughable.
Another thirty minutes went by. I was cutting down my umpteenth Mimic of the day when I felt a strange sensation.
What was that…?
The crystal counter went up by too much for it to be an ordinary Mimic. It felt like a stronger, higher-ranked Mimic.
I frantically reached for my skills.
Unique Skill Fake Identity!
The skill I had been working so hard to attain had now been added to my list.
I got it! I got Fake Identity! Finally.
“Excellent! Then our work here is done.”
Damn right it is!
“Finally.”
“Arf.”
Frustration had been building up for a while. Fran, Jet, and Jean took all their pent up frustration and unleashed it in the form of magic. The barrage of ranged magic annihilated everything in the hallway, and the stragglers were easily picked off with lower level magic.
The battle, which had been going on for over an hour, was over in an instant. We would’ve been able to clear the hallway in about five minutes if we hadn’t been looking for the Counterfeit.
“Hm?”
“Woof?”
I’m sorry. Please don’t look at me like that. I really wanted Fake Identity. We’ll just chalk it up to necessary struggle and be done with it.
“Congratulations, young Teacher.”
Thanks. I’ve already set it but how does it look? I’ve hidden my skills and reduced stats, but can you still see through it with Soul Sight?
I asked Jean to examine me with Fake Identity on. If it could fool Jean’s identification skill then it was good enough to fool the rest of them.
“Well?”
“Hmm… Yes, perfect. Your stats are about half of what they were before.”
“And the skills?”
“I can’t see the skills at all. You should put more thought into its usage, though. It would be much too suspicious for you not to have a single skill. You must craft your identity so that it won’t seem blatantly obvious.”
Yeah, I know.
What fake information should I put up? I could have some fun with this. Now, I could fool enemies into thinking, “Your power level is only at five? How weak,” and then going, “Actually it’s at fifty-three thousand,” after showing off our real strength.
Heheheh. We’re in for some fun times.
“Teacher, you’re being creepy.”
Back to clearing the dungeon.
We began to advance again with Fly taking the lead. Fly’s abilities were much more powerful than I thought. We were making our way through the uncharted second floor as quickly as we did the first. Moreover, we knew the exact location of every treasure box.
We had no holdups after the Spirit Hallway, and soon reached the second floor boss room.
Felling the boss only took us a few minutes. A barrage of Flame Magic made quick work of the giant Ogre Zombie. I got a decent amount of crystals out of it, too, making it quite the tasty meal. I had my points stored and was ready to invest.
The long-awaited system voice chimed in my head the moment I absorbed the Ogre Zombie’s crystal.
You have reached a new evolution level. You have gained 50 EP.
Yes!
Mwahaha! Now I could get even stronger! What should I level up this time? Then again, maybe I should wait until after we were out of the dungeon.
Name: Teacher
User: Fran
Race: Intelligent Weapon
Attack: 524, MP: 3000/3000; Durability: 2800/2800
Mana Conductivity: A+
Evolution: [Rank 10; Crystals: 4511/5500; Skill Capacity: 89; EP: 51]
Skills: Identify 7; Identity Protection; Change Shape; High Speed Self Repair; Telekinesis; Telekinesis Up (low); Telepathy; Attack Up (low); User Status Up (medium); User Recovery Rate Up (low); MP Up (low); Skill Capacity Up (medium); Bestiary; Skill Sharing; Mage
My Mana Conductivity had finally increased! I was getting closer to my ultimate goal. I got a new skill out of it, too.
Change Shape: Consume mana to change one’s shape.
Did that mean I could turn into another weapon? I would have to test it on the enemies we ran into after this.
Still, this raid was surprisingly easy.
Compared to the struggle to land on the island, the interior of the dungeon had been too lax… was I overthinking it?
We fought more zombies and skeletons on the third floor. There were more dangerous traps, but they were of no threat to us, thanks to Selkan.
We were going at a good pace with little to no time wasted.
Now we just had to look for Jean’s Ghost Eater. It’d be best if we could clear the dungeon, of course.
So what does this Ghost Eater look like?
“Mwahahaha! I haven’t a clue!” Jean exclaimed, puffing out his chest boastfully.
What? But I thought you wanted to capture it.
How could he not know when capturing the Ghost Eater was his entire reason for coming here?
“They say it initially looks like a normal zombie you’d find anywhere. But it is not limited to looking like that since it started eating ghosts. The Ghost Eater was a giant being the last time I saw it before making my retreat. I have no clue what it looks like now.”
Where did you see it last?
“In the forest above the dungeon. The Dungeon Master must have summoned it to chase me away.”
“You couldn’t beat him?”
“Indeed. I am not a powerful necromancer. I have thought of several anti-Ghost Eater measures, however. Not that it displayed its full strength. My minions were consumed by the Ghost Eater before I could bring my plan to fruition. A pitiful thing.”
It sounds strong.
We were dealing with a creature strong enough that Jean, a B-Rank master of necromancy, couldn’t defeat it even with preparations.
“Well, it’s all right if we can’t capture it. We don’t even know where that thing is. I had initially wanted it for the purposes of clearing this dungeon. I don’t need it anymore now that you’re here.”
So we don’t have to look for it?
“Indeed.”
It was easier for us that way. Looking for the spawn location of a single monster in this big dungeon was undoubtedly difficult.
“We’ll cross paths with it if the gods would have it.”
So we carried on deeper into the dungeon without stopping for detours.
Two days had gone by since we entered the dungeon. We had cleared the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth floors. We faced weak enemies all the way up to the sixth floor which made for perfect hunting grounds. I even had enough leeway to test out Change Shape.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t use it to its full potential as of yet. I could change myself into a spear, a shield, and other such instruments of war, but it was of no use to us at the moment.
First off, it consumed a huge amount of mana to get started. Further, maintaining the change drained even more mana. I only had Sword Skills leveled up, and I couldn’t change my size either to make a bigger weapon. There had to be a creative way of using this skill, but I couldn’t think of anything at the moment. I’d need to experiment with this, too.
Monsters began to spawn more frequently by the time we got to the seventh floor, and most of the hateful fiends came equipped with special abilities. Our fights started taking longer as stronger monsters were mixed in with the mob. D-Rank threats such as the Hellhound Zombie, Naga Skeleton, and Skeleton Dark Paladin started spawning on the ninth floor.
We wouldn’t have gotten this far if not for Jean’s preparations. The monsters were relentless in their assault, and letting our guard down was a sure-fire way of getting pummeled. Jean, who would purify and control his enemies, was as versatile as a Joker card in this Undead Dungeon. We didn’t get lost and were able to explore smoothly thanks to Selkan and Fly.
Jean’s cornucopia of items proved their worth many times over.
I never expected that the skull-shaped lamp was used to set up an anti-undead barrier. We were able to rest at night without worry, although the constant groans of the zombies outside the field was a bit disturbing. I was amazed at how Fran, and Jean for that matter, were able to sleep without a care in the world despite this.
Jean probably slept better between the two. Some zombies had approached the edges of our safety field while we were eating and Fran scrunched her face at the sight of them, adjusting her position so they wouldn’t end up in her line of sight. Jean, on the other hand, was completely unaffected and chowed down his food without pausing.
They were zombies, you know? Shambling corpses? They were rotten and strange fluids leaked out of their bodies. Jean was used to them since he was a necromancer by trade, but he still made me squeamish when he took a bite of his meat and said, “Those zombies look quite fresh.”
We carried on our trek of the ninth floor until we reached the boss room.
As it was with all the floors before this, the boss room was sealed off behind a great heavy door. We’d seen it many times by now. The layout of this dungeon was complex like a maze, but it consistently ended each floor with a boss room.
So that’s the ninth floor boss room.
The Ogre Zombie we fought on the second floor had been weak, but stronger monsters had protected every floor after that. The eighth floor had been guarded by an Elder Zombie Great Lancer, a magical spear wielding undead who had Advanced Spear Mastery and Advanced Spear Arts. His spear was able to deflect magic, and Fran’s health dipped below fifty percent for the first time since we got to this dungeon. We got Advanced Spear Mastery and Advanced Spear Arts for our troubles, at least. I might be able to debut my spear form sooner than later. Unfortunately, we got a little overzealous and destroyed the enchanted spear in the process. It would’ve fetched a fair price since it was a decently strong piece of enchanted gear.
“Are we ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Selkan, open the door!”
“Varg!”
Selkan slowly opened the heavy door. We started casting our spells in the meantime. By the time the door was fully opened, we let loose our barrage of magic into the room.
Flare Blast!
“Hexagon Tornado!”
“Hell Blaze!”
“Grr!”
The opening spell volley had become our standard approach. Our spells immediately went after the skeleton clad in golden armor who was standing in the middle of the room.
“Kakaka!”
The skeleton stood its ground, however, with no sign of taking damage.
The eighth floor boss had defended himself using his spear which had anti-magic powers, but the same could not be said for this skeleton. It didn’t even go into a defensive stance. Magic didn’t seem to affect it much, thanks to its high level of Magic Resistance. It stood intimidatingly after taking our spell barrage which destroyed its sixth floor cousin in one round.
Name: Legendary Skeleton Dark Knight
Race: Undead
Status: Guardian; Undead
Level: 24
HP: 1568/1693; Magic: 988; Strength: 637; Agility: 436
Skills: Sense Jammer 6; Sword Arts 10; Advanced Sword Arts 1; Sword Mastery 10; Advanced Sword Mastery 1; Regeneration 8; Automated Mana Strike 6; Abnormal Status Resistance 9; Control Undead 4; Necromancy 8; Mental Abnormal Status Resistance 9; Elemental Blade 6; Poison Magic 6; Magic Resistance 9; Dark Magic 4; Spirit Manipulation
Extra Skill: Unleash Potential
Title: Dungeon Guardian
Equipment: Enchanted Sword Death Gaze; Orihalcon Full Plate; Nether Mantle
The skeleton began moving slowly. The mere sight of him was intimidating, not to mention his massive amount of mana. This was a B-Rank Threat to be sure.
The skeleton was the same tier as the daemon we had faced. The daemon was the stronger between the two where stats were involved, but the skeleton definitely had more defense by way of skill selection.
Regeneration 8, Abnormal Status Resistance 9, Mental Abnormal Status Resistance 9, Magical Resistance 9, are you kidding me? It also donned an orihalcon armor, known for its high resistance to magic. Spells would be useless against it. It was without a doubt a deadly enemy.
However, Jet, Fran, and I weren’t scared. In fact, we had been waiting for this moment.
Hello again, bonehead!
“Time to pay for what you did to us in the skies.”
“Woof!”
This had been the Skeleton Knight which blocked our path on our initial trip to the floating island.
Heheheh. Finally, time for some payback!
Jean, this one’s ours. Back off.
“This is a difficult foe for me to face. I shall focus on healing you.”
The Skeleton Knight drew his sword as if understanding our desire to fight. It was as motivated as we were.
“Kukaka!”
“Hm.”
I guess his horse is a summon.
The Skeleton Knight swung its sword and immediately a magic circle appeared at his side. A Skeleton Horse galloped out of it, shrouded with purple mana. That horse had given us a lot of grief, too. We’d beat this dead horse yet.
“Brr!”
The undead horse stood on its hind legs and neighed. It was ready for a fight.
However, the Skeleton Knight showed no signs of climbing on his horse. It was obvious when I thought about it. We might be in a large hall but it still wasn’t big enough for a horse to run around in. He would immediately smash into a wall if he tried to run at full throttle. He had summoned the horse purely to bolster his offense.
“Grrr…”
Jet growled as he watched the horse. The horse had also locked on to Jet in return. They looked like they were talking to each other as fellow summons.
All right, you can take the horse, Jet.
“Don’t lose.”
“Woof!”
Fran and I turned our full attention back to the Skeleton Knight.
“Teacher.”
Yep.
Fran sheathed her phantom augite dagger. I had been flying around to my heart’s content up until now but we wouldn’t be able to beat the Skeleton Knight if we didn’t get serious.
Fran gripped me, assumed her position. Having her wield me just felt right.
“I knew it. Wielding you feels just right, Teacher.”
Hahaha!
I burst into laughter upon Fran’s sentiment. Fran and I were the perfect combination.
“?”
It’s nothing. Together we’re unstoppable.
“Of course.”
All right, we haven’t had a tough fight in a while. Let’s put our backs into it!
Yeah!
And with that, Fran leapt towards the Skeleton Knight.
She swung her sword, fully intent on ending the fight with the first strike. We already had our skirmish in the sky, after all.
But the Skeleton Knight proved to be a formidable swordsman. He parried Fran’s frenzied slashes while countering them with equally powerful strikes.
The two of them fell silent, the sound of clanging swords filling the large hall instead. Their duel was straightforward but anyone watching it would fall into captivated awe at the two non-human combatants.
However, Fran was the weaker of the two; her stats were much lower and they were evenly matched in the number of battle arts they had. With a little help from my support skills and magic, they were just about evenly matched.
There was also another reason why she was in a stalemate.
Our enemy had Sense Jammer 6, making us unable to spot its crystal location even when we had Mana Sense. I had wanted to launch a surprise attack using Telekinetic Catapult at first but that was not in the cards for us. I could use a chain of Catapults and hope to get lucky, but…
“Urgh! Ha!”
“Kaka!”
The Skeleton Knight’s title, Dungeon Guardian, was the real problem. Its health and mana would heal as long as he fought within the dungeon.
I didn’t want to blindly use a skill which greatly consumed my mana against an enemy with such great regenerative capabilities. Moreover, he might develop a counter to the Telekinetic Catapult if I used it too early. We were forced to whittle it down…
Another annoying move was Automated Mana Strike 6. As its name implied, it automatically attacks its surrounding opponents with bursts of mana. Seeing that it was automated, the Skeleton Knight’s movement had nothing to do with it. It was difficult to predict, and it often activated when we were off balance or trying to catch our breath. The damage was significant, too. It made Fran reel with the recoil, and she had already had several close calls that day.
We had leveled up Mana Barrier as a countermeasure, so damage wasn’t as much of an issue as before. Mana Barrier reduced the damage of other attacks, too, so it was much more worthwhile than I initially thought.
Still, all my saved up EP was steadily dropping.
How are you doing, Jet?
I looked over to Jet’s battleground, where he was getting pushed back. He and the undead horse were about evenly matched in terms of physical size, but the horse had had more combat experience. Jet tried to ambush the horse from behind only to receive a kick to the face which threw him across the room.
The horse had better regeneration since it was undead; it was able to recover quickly from most of its wounds. The horse was also highly resistant towards Dark Magic. Jet found it difficult to land a single hit.
Jet and the horse were going to take more time.
But we were really stuck in the same situation!
“Haaa!”
“Kakaka!”
Clang!
The fight must have been going for ten minutes.
Crink!
I heard the high-pitched echo of glass bells, completely unlike the clanging between steel and steel. The sound was apparently Fran’s Black Cat Protection activating. The Skeleton Knight’s sword, Death Gaze, had activated its latent power of Instant Death. The sound signified the protection of the Black Cat Armor.
Thanks, Garrus! We’ll see you in Ulmutt! The Black Cat set you made had saved Fran’s life.
But Fran was still at a disadvantage even with the Anti Death embedded in her armor. Our opponent was undead and didn’t know what exhaustion was. If this turned into a battle of attrition, we would lose body and soul.
Still, we hadn’t dragged on the fight this long for nothing.
Fran, it’s probably the head.
“Hm!”
I observed the Skeleton Knight’s movements even as I let Fran swing me around to try and figure out where its crystal was located.
There were some attacks he didn’t bother to deflect since he didn’t feel pain and could just recover from the damage. It was much more effective to launch a counterattack from that position. However, he would always block all attempts we made at attacking his head.
Which meant his head was the one part of his body he had to protect at all costs. Bad things happened if his head got busted open.
Your immortality will be the death of you!
“Haa!”
“Kakakaka!”
Our opponent was still a tough nut to crack. He wasn’t going to let us attack his weak point that easily.
The duelists became more intense in their defense and offense. Fran went on the aggressive, prepared to take a hit for an even trade. The bone knight focused on landing a counterattack as he started to solely focus on protecting his head.
“Hmph!”
“Ka!”
“There!”
“Kakkaka!”
The skeleton was now completely focused on Fran!
Jet!
“Growl!”
“Ka?”
Jet immediately responded and leapt at the Skeleton Knight from behind.
I had told Jet to hinder the horse’s movements since killing it proved difficult. He would wait for my signal and then hop over to our duel for an assist. He kept a close eye on both the Skeleton Knight and his steed for a chance to jump in.
Jet clamped on the Skeleton Knight’s right leg and locked him down.
“Now!”
Rraaargh!
Fran jumped towards the horse who was stunned by Jet’s disappearance. The Skeleton Knight was unable to help his steed as Jet had a strong lock on his leg.
“Brr…?”
I already know where your crystal is, buddy.
Fran pierced me into the undead horse’s neck.
“Brrrr!!!” The Skeleton Horse’s death cry was pitiful.
“Kaka!”
The Skeleton Knight tried in vain to reach for his dying steed. By the time he got to his horse, there was nothing left of it.
Now Jet could help us in beating this guy. It should make our fight easier.
Our chance to kill the skeleton knight had already presented itself. Who knew he would be in shock upon the death of his beloved horse? The Skeleton Knight stopped in his tracks, exposing his back to Fran.
“Teacher!”
I know! Take this!
It was finally time to use my secret trump card!
The Super Short Distance Telekinetic Catapult.
Yaaaargh!
No one could block a fully charged catapult launched from behind at this distance! Jet even had his legs locked down!
Even if you could somehow react to it at the last second it would be too late to dodge—or so I thought.
“Kakaka!!!”
Boom!
“Aroo!”
“Kuuh.”
“Guaah!”
I was seconds away from victory, inches away from penetrating the Skeleton Knight’s skull when it happened. Bright light shone from the knight’s body and blew me away.
Damn it, what happened?!
The sudden impact flung me all the way to the wall. I immediately looked around me to survey what had just happened.
Where is he… There!
“Kakakakaka!”
“Ah!”
Fran!
The Skeleton Knight, who was supposed to be locked in position, disappeared from sight. At least, he moved so fast that he gave the impression of disappearing.
He reappeared in front of Fran, who was sprawled out on the floor, a second later. Fran immediately reached out for her Phantom Augite Dagger but he knocked it out of her hand with one blow.
I flew towards Fran as fast as I could, the knight still carrying out his assault on her during my flight. Fran dodged by rolling on the ground but it was a matter of time until she got skewered by the knight’s sword.
Raaah!
Clang!
I clashed against the knight’s sword in the nick of time.
Such force! If I hadn’t used the full power of Telekinesis I would’ve been blown away again. Our clash would buy enough time for Fran to get back on her feet.
Fran jumped up, grabbed me, took a few steps back. I was back in her hands now, but that didn’t mean the skeleton had stopped his onslaught.
“Kaka, kakaka!”
“Kuh! Aagh!”
“Ka!”
“Wah!”
Middle Heal!
Damn it, Fran was getting pushed back! She was receiving more damage than I could heal through, her health fiercely dwindling. Her mana was decreasing too as the attacks pushed Mana Barrier to its absolute limit.
The Skeleton Knight’s strikes were incomparably faster than when we started, and each blow was much stronger because of it.
His Automated Mana Strikes got stronger to the point that Mana Barrier couldn’t brush them off.
What happened to have made him power up this much?!
Identify!
Name: Legendary Skeleton Dark Knight
Race: Undead
Status: Guardian; Unleash Potential
Level: 24
HP: 1229/1693; Strength: 637→1137; Agility: 436→1036
Uh, what? His stats got a huge boost all of a sudden. His Strength was over 1000! What were these hacks?!
Unleash Potential was written on his status. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the result of his Extra Skill!
Unleash Potential: Unleashes the potential of its user. Increased stat depends on the latent power of each individual user. Unleashing potential takes a toll on the user’s body and depletes health on top of requiring additional cost. Additional cost differs from user to user.
The Skeleton Knight’s health was depleting at quite a rapid rate, to be sure, but Fran might expire long before he did!
“Kakaka!”
“Ugh!”
Damn it, he was ridiculously strong! I felt like I was going to be knocked out of Fran’s hands just from blocking his attacks, which would have been the case had I not reinforced myself with Telekinesis.
“Grr!”
“Kaka!”
“Gyan!”
His senses must have been sharpened, too. He cut down Jet, who was trying to ambush him from the shadows.
Jet! Get out of here!
“Arrf…”
Jet lurked in the shadows with the remainder of his strength. The enchanted sword let out a shrill clang as it came down on rocky ground. He might have been powerful but he still couldn’t get to Jet in the shadows.
“Reverse Undead!”
Jean’s voice boomed in the silence. The high rank Nether Magic spell could destroy any undead short of a high level one, but—
The Skeleton Knight’s magic resistance must have gone up, too. He didn’t make any attempt to dodge the spell.
“Kuh! My spell didn’t work!”
“Haaa!”
“Kakakaka!”
The bone knight paid no heed to Jean’s attempt at his unlife. Fran was his sole target. He knew who the real threat was.
But was that his only reason? The Skeleton Knight looked furious to me. Was he angry about us killing his beloved horse? Could an undead feel emotions? Thinking back to Jean’s skeleton butler, Bernard, it must have been so. The high-rank undeads seemed to retain a bit of their hearts.
I also understood why he decided to use the potentially fatal Unleash Potential. He was prepared to die to avenge his beloved horse.
“Haaa!”
“Kakaka!”
The unleashed power of the Skeleton Knight was overwhelming. Each of his blows hit as hard as a Sword Art, all of them too fast for the eyes to follow. Jet was down, and Jean’s magic wasn’t effective. The Skeleton Knight’s onslaught continued like a storm, his mind set on killing Fran before his life ran out.
His attacks weren’t flailing slashes, either, which was the most terrifying point. We could find no gaps in his offense.
Fran continued to dodge would-be fatal blows by a hair’s breadth. Her eyes hadn’t given up. She was still looking for a way to turn this around.
I hadn’t given up, either.
We’ll use Skill Taker!
“Hm!”
I had initially planned to save it for the Dungeon Boss, but we couldn’t afford such a luxury at a time like this. Fran would use her Skill Taker so I could save mine. I had another card up my sleeve, anyway.
The main issue was we didn’t know whether he would lose his buff if we took away Unleash Potential. If his status advantage didn’t go away, there would be no point in stealing the skill. But taking away another skill wouldn’t cover our stat difference, either. Our only viable option was to steal Unleash Potential.
Go for it!
“Haaa!”
“Ka?”
Fran used Skill Taker. My goal was to bring his stats down to their previous values. If it worked…
The skill you targeted is an Extra Skill. Extra Skills cannot be targeted. Capture has failed.
The announcer’s voice echoes through my head. You never told me that!
“Kakkaka!”
“Kuh! Where’s the skill?”
It didn’t work!
“One more time… I can’t cast it!”
The failure still counted to her usage of Skill Taker. She was unable to use it now, too.
Maybe I should use mine… But even if I did take some of his other skills, it still wouldn’t cover the difference in power.
Time to use the ace in my sleeve.
Fran, we’re going to do that!
“Okay! Let’s go.”
I poured all my remaining EP into Advanced Sword Arts and boosted it all the way to Level 5.
We had thought of this plan on our way here. This would be our ace in the hole against a particularly strong opponent. By leveling it up to 5, we would catch him off guard.
“Haaa!”
“Ka, ka?”
Fran’s movements changed. They were more precise now, her understanding of the blade having deepened.
I felt the Skeleton Knight’s confusion at Fran’s sudden jump in skill. They were evenly matched just moments before.
Based on our experience, a three-level difference in skill was impossible to ignore. A four-level difference allowed Fran to be skilled enough with the sword to overcome the stat difference.
The knight’s movement slowed down, and whether it was from surprise, confusion, or a malfunction caused by this new element, I didn’t care.
That wasn’t all. My body felt oddly light, and it felt like Fran was moving much faster.
Was it because we leveled up Advanced Sword Mastery? Was Fran’s body stronger now that it was optimized to her skill with the sword?
Was it because Fran was also feeling this new rush of energy?
Never mind the details.
We could win now.
This was our last and best chance!
“Take this!”
Fran used the Advanced Sword Art, Impact Slash. It was a side slash so powerful that we were stunned after using it. We had put all our energy into this attack: Fran with her Focus Mana and my Overboost by way of the Mage skill. The sheer power of this attack would be enough to exceed even the unleashed Skeleton Knight.
Giiiin!
But the bone knight dodged our most powerful attack.
What a monster! He might be weaker in terms of strength but he was definitely still faster. We would be forced to take his counterattack now that we were wide open.
At least, normally we would.
We’re not done yet!
“Hm!”
Sorry about this, Fran.
“It’s okay!”
Because Impact Slash caused you to twist your hips by ninety degrees, it was a move that left you wide open to attack during the recovery.
I used my charged up Telekinesis to stop Impact Slash midway. This would cancel the recovery time immediately after the skill. However, all the force that would’ve been dissipated into a would-be target was now concentrated on Fran’s arm.
As a result—
Rrrip!
The sound of breaking bones and tearing muscles echoed loudly.
God, it was a horrifying sound! Made worse that I was the one who brought this upon her!
But I still had to add salt to an already terrifying wound.
Fraaaan!
“Aaaaargh!”
Fran unleashed a Sword Art with all her might while holding back the intense pain. She used the Heavy Slash, the first Art she ever learned. I used Mage to charge the skill up with mana to increase its speed. The dreadful sound of breaking bones came from Fran’s overexerted arm but we couldn’t hold back now.
We had to finish this.
The Skeleton Knight had yet to regain his stance from our initial Impact Slash.
“Aaaah!”
“Kakkaaaaa!”
This bastard! He was still reeling but he was able to move his skull back by a few inches. I wasn’t going to be able to reach him!
Was there no way to close this distance? Then I had it!
“Uooooh! Change Shape!”
I activated the skill I had just learned, Change Shape, with all my heart, hoping that it would be enough to reach the Skeleton Knight.
My blade thinned and then lengthened; I was now more of an estoc than a longsword. It took 200 MP to transform myself. That was too expensive – although I was grateful at the moment!
“Kaaaa!”
The skeleton was helpless now. I sliced his skull clean in two, and with it I felt the response of a crystal.
“Ka, ka…”
The bone knight stopped. His hollow sockets continued to glare at Fran.
“Kakakakaka!”
His body crumbled into pieces as he let out something that sounded like a disturbing laugh. A human skeleton lay in his place, making it look like our battle was little more than a hallucination. The bones still felt haunted, and I expected nothing less from a B-Rank monster.
“Urgh…”
Fran held her arm and crumpled up. Her whole body was locking up from the crushing pain.
I’ll heal you now, Fran! Greater Heal!
“Are you alright?”
“Woof!”
It was a difficult fight, but well worth it. I got three hundred crystals, Sense Jammer, Automated Magic Strike, Control Undead, and Magic Resistance. All useful and versatile skills.
And then there was the Extra Skill, Unleash Potential. Seeing how it brought the Skeleton Knight back from the brink of death, I would reserve this skill for that purpose.
Still, the effects of the skill changed from user to user. Did that mean Fran and I would have different manifestations of it as well?
I wanted to experiment with it but it carried the cost of depleting your life for its duration, not to mention the additional cost. With a twenty-four-hour cooldown it didn’t look like I would be able to test this any time soon.
Does it still hurt?
“I’m… fine.”
Are you sure?
“Yeah. I’m good.”
“Arf?”
Jet started licking Fran’s previously battered arm. He was worried, too.
“Thanks.”
“Arf!”
Fran fluffed up Jet’s head. Seeing the peaceful scene finally allowed me to accept that the battle was over.
Jean collected the skeleton’s bones.
Can you still use those?
“These are very valuable as a necromancy catalyst. Retrieving these leaves us very much in the green. Mwahaha, I thank you!”
I could use all the potions I wanted now.
“And what of the sword and armor?”
What do you mean?
“I have no need for the sword so you may have it. In exchange, I don’t suppose you’d mind if I took the armor and mantle. Orihalcon is a highly prized material among mages, and I might be able to find a use for this Nether item.”
I don’t mind, but are you sure?
Jean was our client so all drops were rightfully his. I was very grateful for the offer.
“Still, your movements were amazing towards the end. Did it have something to do with that blue light?”
Uh, blue light?
“Indeed. You and Fran were wrapped in a faint blue light, as if your mana was coming together.”
I didn’t notice at all. I can’t think of why that would be.
I doubt it happened because I leveled up Advanced Sword Mastery.
“Is it? To me it looked like you were being linked with magic. I thought for sure mana had something to do with it.”
Linked with magic?
Was it because of Skill Sharing and her User status? I don’t think that’s quite right.
“You and Fran are under Contract, are you not? That is what I speak of. A Contract is one of the stronger connections. I would not be surprised if entering a contract with an enchanted sword such as you would bring about mysterious magical powers.”
The Contract that bound us to each other so long ago had that kind of power?
I still didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t even know how to activate that blue light to begin with. Jean didn’t look like he had a clue, either.
I charged some mana while thinking of the Contract but nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Maybe we would figure it out in one of our fights in the dungeon.
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