Chapter 17
WITH THE IMPROMPTU salamander review complete, it was time for the party to press on. They shuffled through the area at the end of the first level, which was now coated in ash.
After a dozen or so meters, they came to a metal door. It was plain and unadorned, but when Cleos pulled the handle, it opened with a sound of a person sobbing. Passing through, they entered the second level of the dungeon. Unlike the prior cavern, this level was a large circular hall masterfully constructed from stone blocks. Thanks to Cleos’s special ability, the room was well lit—a far cry from its usual darkness. They could see more of the endless shelves arrayed throughout the room, their contents in perfect condition. They were arranged in lines from the center to a ring around the perimeter. A bird’s-eye view of the scene would’ve resembled a cross-section of an orange.
Mira, Cleos, and Hinata made their way through the room while glancing at the strange and incomprehensible specimens that filled the shelves. In the center of the circular room was a hole, roughly five meters in diameter. When they peered down into it, they could see a spiral staircase leading deeper underground.
The second level of the Wunderkammer was somewhat like the inverse of the Silver Towers—instead of rising into the sky, ring-shaped levels were stacked atop one another as they descended into the earth. Hinata followed the other two down the staircase, gazing at each floor with wonder and curiosity.
The combination of dim light and the strange oddities on display should have made for an eerie, ominous atmosphere. But thanks to Cleos, everything was clear and plain to see, making it feel more like a disorganized museum. His light also made it obvious where the monsters were located.
Huge Slimes stuck to the walls, Shadow Panthers hid in the gaps between the stacks, Strigoi Bats hung from the ceilings, and Armored Pythons patrolled the perimeters. Quite the array of monsters, now all nicely illuminated and revealed.
“Here’s a thought. Cleos, why don’t you show us your salamander? That way, we can compare,” Mira suggested, watching monsters from the top of the spiral staircase. “I’d say this is a perfect opportunity.”
“You want to compare?” As far as Cleos was concerned, he’d much rather see Mira’s. Begrudgingly, he thought it might be more meaningful that way.
Mira smiled. “I’m curious to see how much you’ve improved,” she said, egging him on.
Cleos’s hesitation was swept aside by a prideful determination. He nodded and took a step forward. “Very well, then. Leave it to me!”
Focusing on an open spot between the monsters below, he cast his summoning spell. Like before, the magic circle burst into flames, and a salamander emerged from the sparks. It was twice the size of Hinata’s, with powerful limbs and an unusually long tail. It was clearly well trained, with an emphasis on mobility.
Hinata gasped. “It’s totally different…” Unlike her own adorable salamander, Cleos’s was striking and dignified, and the stark difference left her reeling.
“It all comes down to raising and training. We just have to keep getting better,” Mira said, giving Hinata an encouraging pat on the shoulder.
“Right, got it,” Hinata replied, her tail raising as her spirits lifted.
“All right, here goes.” After listening in on their conversation with just a touch of envy, Cleos instructed his summoned spirit to start the battle.
Then, his salamander disappeared…or at least, it appeared to. Hinata realized that it had moved with such speed that she struggled to keep it in sight.
“Whoa…” The word slipped from her mouth. In only a few moments, Cleos’s salamander had already roasted, slashed, and defeated all of the monsters on one floor. Five monsters, gone in the blink of an eye.
“Now then, on to the next floor.”
At Cleos’s command, the salamander returned to his side and proceeded down the spiral staircase in the vanguard position. As the three followed, it cloaked itself in fire using its Flame Armor ability and charged into the next formation of monsters. Like a hunter, it pounced from foe to foe, leaving a trail of flames in its wake, spreading its bewitching yet terrifying inferno.
Huge Slimes tried spraying it with their digestive fluids, but the salamander burnt them to a crisp with a single puff of fire. Shadow Panthers used everything around them as a foothold as they attempted to evade, but they, too, were outmaneuvered and roasted. Meanwhile, Strigoi Bats tried attacking from the salamander’s blind spot, but they were struck down by its whip-like tail. The prized carapaces of the Armored Pythons were quickly reduced to ash.
The salamander’s flashy, efficient moves were truly a sight to behold.
“Oho, you’ve done pretty well for yourself,” Mira commented, looking slightly impressed.
“Pretty well”…? Hinata thought incredulously. How was that anything less than amazing?!
Cleos beamed with joy. “Thank you very much.”
Its task complete, the salamander was dismissed. Hinata watched it vanish, praying that her own little salamander could grow up to be like that one day. With nothing left to impede their progress, the three made it to the bottom of the spiral staircase soon thereafter.
On the bottom floor, there were neither shelves nor racks, just a large stone platform sitting in the middle of the room.
“Hrmm, this must be it.”
There was a small depression in the middle of the platform. Based on Solomon’s description, this was the mechanism that opened the passage to the deepest level of the dungeon. After checking it over, Mira fit the Firefly Ore into the socket. As she did, the ore’s pale glow slowly spread to cover the entirety of the stone platform. It continued onward, extending across the floor and coalescing into multiple lines of light that climbed the surrounding walls. Eventually, the light gathered, forming a glowing rectangle on one of the walls.
Oho, going all out on the presentation! Mira thought, watching the rectangle excitedly.
The entire second level of the dungeon began to tremble as the rectangle grew brighter and brighter, building toward a climax. Then there was a dull thud.
“Ahem. Mistress Mira, Professor Hinata…behind you.” Cleos smiled apologetically as the pair still stared at the shining rectangle.
“Huh?”
Spinning around, they saw a door-shaped hole in the wall. The light show had been nothing but a stunt.
Hinata laughed, and Mira gave the glowing rectangle a sour look before sweeping past Cleos and through the hidden door. They walked down a narrow corridor for about ten meters, then descended a staircase, which led to a large room. The surrounding walls were formed of large, roughly stacked stone blocks and the ceiling above was rough-hewn rock. Countless scars littered the flat floor.
The room was about twice the size of a school gymnasium, and at the far end was a large metal gate with two colossal knight statues standing to either side.
“Well, those are obviously going to move,” Mira said, putting a finger to her chin as she looked at the two statues.
“You are correct. First the one with the sword and shield will come to life, followed by the other with the halberd.”
“Hrmm. Knew it. Facing a new foe always gets the heart racing.” Mira daringly stepped forward. “This should be fun. I’ll handle this.”
“Of course,” Cleos replied, stepping back.
Even when she was Danblf, Mira preferred taking on new enemies alone so that she could better understand their behavior and characteristics. Despite the surge of nostalgia, he made sure to stay focused so that he wouldn’t miss a single movement.
“Keep a close eye on how she fights, Miss Hinata. It will offer us a glimpse into just how far summoning might take us,” he said, his face set more seriously than ever before. His own abject curiosity was unbridled.
“Y-yes, sir.” Taken aback by his unusual intensity, she nodded vigorously and stared out at Mira.
All right, so they’re basically golems, Mira thought.
Golems were resistant to fire, but after Hinata’s and Cleos’s displays, she couldn’t not summon her own salamander.
Decision made, the rest came swiftly. One of the giant knight statues broke its silence just as a magic circle sprang into being, and her salamander leapt out of the crimson flames. Mira’s salamander had a cracked black hide with crimson light seeping through the open spaces like magma. Scorching breath spilled from its mouth, and its limbs were thick and long. At first glance, it looked less like a giant lizard and more like a wingless dragon.
Before the magic circle had finished burning away, the salamander struck first with its thick tail. The statue took the brutal blow and rolled across the floor, sending shards of stone flying.
“B-bwhaaa…?” Hinata had been stunned before, but now all she could do was stammer unintelligibly at the sight. The power difference was too great. She had no possible frame of reference.
Meanwhile, the battle between the salamander and the colossus raged on. The knight statue regained its footing and charged with unexpected agility considering its stone physique. Each step shook the room and amplified its force. A wild swing of its sword was so powerful, it shattered the ground where it struck.
Despite wielding its colossal sword with skill, it failed to so much as graze the salamander. Agile as the stone construct was, the salamander was far more mobile. Using its powerful legs to leap into the air, the elemental controlled its trajectory by expelling flames from all along its body. Even without wings, it flew like some sort of nightmare on jets of fire.
The giant knight swung its sword, but the nimble salamander fine-tuned its approach, slipping through a gap and crunching its crimson-fanged jaws onto the statue’s arm. Despite losing an arm, the knight refused to give in. It tried to bring its shield to bear, but the battle was already decided.
Flames erupted from its shattered arm, growing in intensity until they blew the limb right off the statue’s shoulder. The colossus shuddered and then collapsed to the ground. But the flames didn’t stop. They spread across the body, destroying both the head and the torso as they consumed the stone in a hellish inferno. Eventually, even the legs crumbled, leaving nothing but a sword and a shield resting in a pile of ash.
Just then, a halberd’s blade pierced the billowing cloud of dust. The second knight statue was on the move. Despite the reduced visibility, the statue’s aim was true—but it didn’t meet its mark, as the elemental had already sprung back into action. The halberd gouged into the ground before it fell from the knight’s grasp and clattered to the floor. As the dust settled, the second colossus fell apart into six piles of burning rubble. The salamander landed squarely before Mira.
“Hrmm, well done.” She praised her mischievous salamander and reached up to pat the tip of its snout, eliciting a happy purr from the elemental.
“Simply marvelous, Mistress Mira! Always showing us new things!” Cleos exclaimed with the utmost joy as the salamander was dismissed.
Meanwhile, Hinata was left speechless. She didn’t even know what she was supposed to learn from the demonstration. It left a permanent impression in her mind, a new benchmark for her aspirations, a goal to strive for…
But she couldn’t begin to understand how Mira did it.
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