Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: An Event Has Occurred
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Spell Crafter Association basement.
In truth, the scenery wasn't all that different from upstairs.
Rooms divided off, stacks of scrolls everywhere you looked.
'The difference is probably just the monsters locked up down here.'
...Though that alone was enough to change the whole atmosphere.
Walls of iron bars, monsters bound inside.
Clina gazed at the various monsters as she explained.
"These are monsters captured from the Tower. It's not easy to take them alive, but there's no such thing as impossible when it comes to magic."
"I see."
"Some of them are even from floors 11 and up. In cases like that, folks like you, Nuada, capture them for the Association."
"Does Lady Clina capture monsters herself sometimes?"
"Oh no... These days, I don't even enter the Tower."
"You've given up climbing the Tower?"
"Yes... Haha. Magic has no impossibilities, but I do."
Clina wore a complicated expression. Regin, who wasn't particularly curious anyway, lightly changed the subject.
'She got badly hurt by a monster on the 10th floor and shifted her focus to research. I've already heard her side story, so I know.'
Instead of Clina's personal history, Regin opted to hear about the experiments.
It was better for checking if anything had changed from the game.
"Alright, Clina's explaining things well, so I'll go take a look over there for a bit."
"You're going to check the scrolls Alfson made?"
"Yeah. That guy's always showing me some astonishing scrolls. Regin, spellcrafting's still new to you, so it's better if you stick with Clina's explanations. Stay here."
As the conversation dragged on, Nuada pointed to one side and walked off.
Alfson, the grand master spellcrafter recognized even by the Spell Crafter Association.
He was heading off to see the scrolls Alfson was experimenting with.
"Alfson's scrolls are amazing, but don't worry. The one I made this time... isn't bad either!"
Regin stared wordlessly in the direction Nuada had gone, so Clina hurriedly continued.
"I'll show you. As I mentioned earlier, it's a scroll with amplification on a Rank 2 Fire Magic spell..."
Clank. Clank.
An iron cage holding a single hobgoblin.
Clina stepped inside, scroll in hand.
Regin stared intently at the hobgoblin's rattling chains as it shifted.
Places frequented by people like this inevitably skimped a bit on security.
And those tiny oversights piled up until they sparked a major incident.
'Come to think of it, the game had lessons like that.'
Regin sharpened his senses.
Yes.
This Association always triggered an event once.
Guaranteed, the first time you set foot inside.
"Rip the scroll like this...!"
It was the moment Clina went to tear the scroll.
"Argh!!"
Grrr—!!
A sharp scream pierced their ears.
They whipped their heads around to another cage.
'...Wasn't it this one?'
Regin watched as a black creature burst from the cage Nuada had passed by.
'Damn...!'
He'd figured the hobgoblin might act up.
Why? It'd been squealing all suspicious-like...
That's why he'd been watching this side, sticking with Clina just in case.
...But why this guy, of all things?
Grrr—!!
Hellhound.
A monster from as low as the 6th floor.
'Fuck. How is that even a dog? A wolf would look cute next to it.'
Slash—!!
"Grraaah!!"
It rampaged, slashing with fangs and claws.
Of all the Association events, the most annoying one had triggered.
* * *
'Of all the...'
Monster escape and assault.
One of the random events that hit the first time you entered the Association.
Play DAT thinking it's a normal game, and this is where you get blindsided.
You might face a monster before you've even learned to fight properly.
'If it had to happen, it should've been the hobgoblin.'
His expectation of it escaping hadn't been prediction—it might've just been wishful thinking.
He didn't even want to imagine the damage if a hellhound started bounding around.
"Urgh! Everyone, fall back! Those who are okay, help the injured!"
"...Yes!!"
"No melee! The moment those claws sink in, your muscles tear apart!"
This was why hellhounds were such a pain.
Mages were the physically weakest class around.
You could brawl a hobgoblin, but not a hellhound.
Melee? No way. Your flesh would shred in seconds.
Spells were out too.
"Clina! Don't use a spell scroll!"
"...What?!"
"Chain explosions! You forget where we are?"
"...Oh!"
Nuada yelled urgently at Clina, who had a spell scroll aimed at the hellhound.
'Magic's no good.'
Regin's view caught the countless scrolls scattered around.
Scrolls that triggered on contact with magic. Even one going off wrong...
'The whole building blows.'
Why even the sage Nuada hesitated to act.
...Grip.
Fire Bow.
Nuada had formed a flaming bow of mana but couldn't loose the arrow.
'He could one-shot it if he hit, but the hellhound's too fast to nail easily.'
Everyone kept their distance, retreating, but the hellhound never stopped moving.
"Don't show your back!"
"Yes...!!"
"It's darting around now, but it'll go for anyone who turns first! I'll bind it soon, so..."
Nuada directed the Association members.
Straightforward approach.
Like a feral dog... it wouldn't charge anyone meeting its eyes.
Nuada began casting binding magic with his other hand.
'Rank 2 binding magic. That should pin even a hellhound.'
Regin watched, thinking: Just hold till the cast finishes... as long as no one turns their back.
"...Hyaah!!"
Whoosh—!
That instant.
The hellhound zipping every which way closed in on a researcher.
"P-Please, spare me!"
"...!!"
The researcher screamed and turned to flee.
...That idiot!
"Clina!"
Thud—
The problem: Clina was in the researcher's path.
Trying to dodge him, Clina tripped and fell.
Grrr—!
The hellhound's gaze locked on Clina.
"Cover your neck!"
"..."
Hellhound charging at Clina. Her body froze stiff.
Her neck exposed, defenseless.
The moment its fangs neared her throat.
Crack—!!
"Regin!"
"...Urgh!"
Not Clina—Regin groaned.
"...Your arm okay, Regin!"
"Yeah, Master! As you see, it's fine!"
What the hellhound bit wasn't Clina's nape...
It was Regin's forearm.
Answering Nuada's distant shout, Regin said he was fine.
His forearm was wrapped in leather scrolls.
'...Guard your arm against guard dogs.'
Three layers of scroll-wrapped arm guards, no less.
The second he'd spotted the hellhound break free, he'd bound his arm with Clina's scrolls.
Its fangs tore desperately into mere leather.
'Just waiting for the bite pattern, you punk.'
A game where ignorance gets you killed.
But DAT was also one where knowledge meant survival.
In-game, you couldn't wrap your arm, so someone sacrificed or you did.
But this wasn't just the game.
Regin had improvised arm guards on the spot, and the beast thrashed its head, oblivious, jaws clenched.
"...Tough bastard!"
Grrr!!
Its fangs pierced deeper through the scrolls.
'Even better.'
Yes.
He knew this pattern from dying to it countless times.
"You... once you bite, you don't let go, huh?"
Grip!
Regin stared the hellhound down, tensing his arm hard.
Trait: Tenacity.
Dog instinct or its own trait.
Either way, exploitable. Now it was fixed on Regin's arm.
'The so-called Regin-style bad dog fix.'
No such thing as a bad monster in the world.
Because monsters that bite people get erased from it.
Regin planned to make this hellhound the same.
"Master!"
"Got it!!"
Pew—!
An arrow finally flew from Nuada's hand.
Fire Bow. The Rank 3 magic launched.
Splatter, whoosh—!!
Grrraaah!!!
The hellhound shrieked. Flames spread from the arrow's impact.
'Not yet!'
Crunch—!!!
Only now did it release Regin's arm to flee.
Regin didn't miss, yanking the wand from his thigh and jamming it deep into the wound.
Don't ignore the wand.
Muttering briefly, Regin watched it crumble to ash.
Had he not killed it, he'd be the dead one.
* * *
"To think it didn't die in one shot... Tricky power control."
"You were probably worried about burning me too. Plus minding the scroll explosions."
"Sorry, Regin."
"It's fine."
"...And well done. Sticking that wand in the opening."
Nuada looked at Regin after confirming the hellhound dead.
His face showed surprise.
Power control strained in a mana-limited space—and Regin covered the gap.
"Ev-everyone okay?!"
"Stop spacing out and move the wounded upstairs! Grab every healing scroll and use 'em!"
Only after seeing the hellhound's ashes did the members stir.
'Frustrating in-game why they panicked like that... Hoo. Honestly, not incomprehensible now.'
A beast.
No, something worse.
Regin unwound the shredded scrolls from his arm.
'Damn. Still stings.'
"You okay?"
"Yeah, no life-threatening wounds."
"Your arm's shaking bad. Hold on... Light's Respite!"
Nuada approached and chanted; light swirled over Regin's arm.
Rank 3 healing magic, mending most wounds in one go.
But—
Tremble—
"Not pain tremors, huh."
"..."
"Yeah. First time facing a Rank 3+ monster, so tensing up's natural."
Regin's arm still shook.
Just as Nuada said.
Not from injury.
'I could've died.'
In-game, carelessness killed him early on plenty.
This event claimed lives often too.
'Even prepared as I was...'
Seeing the hellhound up close, he realized he was no different from the members.
And he hadn't even climbed the Tower yet. These littered it.
...No Nuada once he entered.
As Tower dread he'd ignored surged—
"...Well done."
"..."
"Thanks to you. Subduing the hellhound without casualties."
Nuada met Regin's eyes and continued.
"The members were careless, sure, but no one expected it dodging the binding magic. The Tower throws variables like that daily."
"I know."
"So you need to handle days like today. Slack off, and you die."
"..."
"Strength comes in many forms, but yours is rare. You said you want to climb the Tower, know this whole world?"
'That resolve just shook.'
Regin stayed silent, so Nuada smiled warmly.
"I can see you walking that path."
"..."
"I can pass it on without worry."
"...Thank you."
"No. We should thank you. Wouldn't have been odd for a few to die today. Everyone owes you."
Nuada helped Clina up and headed upstairs.
Left alone, Regin mulled it over.
'...Walking that path, huh.'
A hollow laugh escaped.
He'd considered not climbing. Middle Street had decent jobs.
'But how long could that last?'
Two years tops. This was DAT's most peaceful era.
Regin steadied his breath, rubbing his bracelet.
'Infinite Inventory.'
Chewing on fear, he realized.
Can't avoid it? Overcome it.
And to conquer all fears.
"Keep it safe. Ketchup Thief II."
Half-assed prep wouldn't cut it.
Regin stowed the hellhound's mana stone and bones in his inventory.
By the time others returned, it'd look fully burned away.
* * *
Next day, Master Nuada's house, 2nd floor.
Uncountable books and magic tools lined the space, dominated by a massive statue.
"We'll start the succession once Manannan arrives, but first, a word."
Succession rite.
Fancy name, but basically a job change system.
"No regrets on your choice?"
"No."
"Good. Hearts waver, but choose you must. Hope you don't regret it. Especially..."
Nuada's gaze shifted to the bundle beside him.
"The spell crafters prepared a separate gift. They'd be disappointed if you switched now."
The support bundle handed out post-rite.
Thicker than Regin remembered.