Elixir Human: Terror in the Depths
I'm a man that's good for the body—I became an elixir human today. I don't know about anything else, but the effects of the Mukhyul Spirit Chamber seem to have doubled. Maybe it's influenced by my [Forest] skill? They called the [Black Fruit] an elixir... I wonder how it works. Does elixir flow through my blood now? Should I tell Ms. Larirure?
"Liruriru Lariru♪" Ms. Larirure hummed some unknowable tune as she walked ahead. They say dwarves love to sing... Is her own name her favorite melody? Even in this stuffy place, she seemed excited—yeah, definitely a dwarf.
"A mining date..." Or not? She giggled "huhu," lost in some ecstatic fantasy. I could see her ears burning bright red from behind. Gotta stop relying on her so much. She warned that lanterns might cause explosions with monsters around. Better hold off on [Fireball]. I have the Metal Mimic... but that's it. No time to try [Enhancement]. If my weapon shatters, I'm screwed—and I blew 30 GP on Spellrise book pages already. That's a huge drain. They're supposed to be semi-permanent, but why does Fate Goddess keep testing me like this...? Still, summoning gold endlessly would crash the economy. No, my summoning skills are already broken enough...
"This is an iron vein." Ms. Larirure rubbed the exposed ore with her finger. "Watch your eyes," she warned, then swung her shovel wide. Bam! Iron ore chunks broke free with a thunderous crack. Nothing like I'd imagined... just looked like rocks. We loaded them diligently into the cart I'd dragged here.
"Do we have to keep hauling this up and down?"
"There's a receptionist near the elevator—just hand it off there."
The cart brimmed with iron ore. I gripped the handle and lifted with gusto. Thank goodness—I could manage it! Touched by Ms. Larirure's thoughtfulness in preparing a two-wheeled version for beginners.
"Light, right? It's got lightweight magic on it."
".....Does this build strength?"
"You'll toughen up going back and forth. I played like this at five."
Of course, I added silently, without any lightweight magic back then—and felt a pang of sadness. Am I worse than a five-year-old dwarf now? Elixir energy flows in my body—shouldn't it help? But I've never acquired skills naturally. So even if the elixir's working, no new skills from it. ....Means I can't tell if it's applying, and I sure can't test it by drinking poison.
"Huff... huff..."
After three round trips, I collapsed in exhaustion. It wasn't that heavy, but not weightless either. Zigzagging up and down the paths wore me out fast.
"Humans have no mana, so nothing to be done."
".....What does mana do for that?"
"Basically, mana lets you strengthen your body through training. Without it, humans hit racial limits from the start. No mana control means even trained stamina caps out."
"H-how much?"
"Dwarves crush iron ore by hand at seven."
So diligent training might get me to dwarf-six-year-old level. Still, I need stamina or I'm done for. How do humans even survive like this? No wonder they hole up in their kingdoms.
"Quest seems done—now what?"
A bit bummed it earned less than my booze sales. Better spend the day brewing if I want real money. No bowls needed—just fill the clean Metal Mimic (chamber pot). Using a chamber pot as a food bowl feels weird, but it's clean...
"Might as well hunt gems or rare ores while we're here." She told me to memorize the path so we wouldn't get lost, and we began exploring the mine. One shovel swing carved out huge chunks of earth. Another split rock and crumbled walls. Tapping lightly first to check the bedrock—total pro.
"Tch, nothing worth grabbing."
"Go deeper?"
"Can't hurt."
Digging diagonally down slowly, we hit occasional caverns. Worm or centipede tunnels, probably. How does this vein not collapse? How many holes are there?
"Ooh, amethyst—lucky!"
Ms. Larirure yanked out a purple amethyst raw stone like pulling a radish. Minerals veined out everywhere. Is that normal? Staring in awe at the glowing ones—she said they absorb mana underground.
"Minerals grow soaking up underground mana. Some dwarves raise them like houseplants. Takes ages, so ornamental only."
This world has magical minerals too. Better leave some, she implied. I tried pulling one—didn't budge. Knife scratches? Nope. Just bagged it obediently. Still, fascinating every time. Can bugs really carve tunnels like this? The floor especially—polished smooth and flat like machined.
While admiring the melted-looking floor, Ms. Larirure gathered gems. Gold flecks mixed in with the sparkling stones—jackpot. I tried standing with my bag—heavy as lead. She ended up carrying it as we pressed on.
"Place this big, maybe we're the first to find it."
"Not that deep, though?"
"True."
Smooth walls, smooth floors... In the dark, I'd glimpsed minerals carved like the rest. Tapped one curiously—it popped off.
".....Huh?"
Reaching for the fallen ore, something caught my eye. Flashlight revealed a small hole. Inside, a shriveled worm corpse, carved like mineral, rotting. Chill crawled up my spine. Ms. Larirure, fixated on ores, missed it in the dark. But this was wrong. No bug-chewed feel.
"Ms. Larirure, something's off—"
[Mantra · Incantation] skill activates.
───I receive the thought [I'm hungry].
───I receive the thought [I'm hungry].
───I receive the thought [I'm hungry].
"Urk...!" An unidentified voice boomed intensely in my head. This is how it works? Isn't that messed up? The ravenous hunger echoed so strong my latent empathy reacted. Headache throbbed. Faster, more frequent now. Ears rang, drowning out sound. Plugging one ear, I finally saw Ms. Larirure staring.
"Do worms carve caves like this?!"
"....No, not this smooth. But mine worms are the only ones here."
Damn, thoughts won't connect—it's still coming, getting closer. I grabbed her hand and ran. Predictably, yanked off balance and fell. She scooped me princess-style, ditched the bag, and bolted. Toward the open tunnel, a vast cavern emerged. Voice faded; ear pain eased.
"Shit..." Wiping ear blood, I pressed my hot forehead. Worst skill added to the pile. But inversely, danger sensor? Useful.
".....Ms. Larirure?"
She held me silent. Looking around, a wrecked shelter. Déjà vu paled my face. Structures gnawed round. Ground spoon-scooped. Cave like ice cream scooped—round hole.
"What the—"
Ms. Larirure scanned in panic. Dim shelter lit by wall lamps. Elevator shaft gouged from below.
"....A-any other entrances?"
"Usually one—elevators everywhere else. Others from monsters burrowing."
No big entrances but our wasteland entry. She said kobolds, gnolls dig; worms, centipedes too.
"Thought it was old miner paths at first."
Like the worked path at entry. But tiny compared to recent smooth ones.
"Big monster...?"
She guessed underground dwellers surfaced—hit dungeon, woke giant. But dismissed it. Never seen marks like this in dwarf life. Human traces, no bodies. White Ant raids left messes.
"Guess: monster burst out. Probably that big hole opposite ours."
Pointed to matching hole. Man-made vs. not—clear difference.
"Attacked, they fled."
She rubbed polished floor—no debris.
"Tried elevator..." All died, she grumbled, deducing curtly. Clean-severed shaft—sliced illusion. Magic leaves mana; monsters get resisted.
"So adventurers had no choice but instant flight."
"What monster?"
"....."
"Ms. Larirure?"
Turned—her frozen. I followed gaze slowly. Oily black oozed down wall from our entry, wriggling. Earthquake eyes, she grabbed my collar, leaped.
"[Earth Shatter]—!!"
Shovel slammed ground—boom boom slashes hit black liquid. But burst like balloon on contact, attack gone.
"Why's a Magic Palace monster here!!"
Screaming, she sprinted opposite. Head exploded with [I'm hungry] again—I flipped Spellrise book.
"Page 1! [Fireball]—!"
Aimed fingertip, blasted black oil. Heat incoming—pop! scattered, dodging flames. Reformed pudding-round, bounced on floor. Fireball hit rear wall—boom! mine shook. Ceiling crumbled, entry tunnel collapsed. Hole punched, light poured. Monster embedded in wall. Teleport? No—trajectory carved rock, new hole.
This guy's it! Dust fell on it; floors gouged on touch.
"Goddamn slime!"
Her despairing yell. One arm me, one shovel—smashing ceiling, walls, floor full throttle. Blinding speed. To ease burden, I clung her hand via gripped collar with both arms. Mismatched fanfare burst.
Slimes are terrifying monsters!
Invisible transparent slimes, wall-fused slimes.
Slimes rival ogres—mindless, pure predation!
Most dangerous: 【Black Pudding】—black slimes.
Caution, Hero—abnormal phenomenon!
Constellation Ticket x1 granted!
Released arm, snatched ticket, bit it. She called it "slime"—Magic Palace monster. Goddess: abnormal "Black Pudding." Pudding-shaped, black—apt name.
White Ants too, now slimes?! Fantasy slimes are weakest, foot-tripped fodder. Why terror with total-dissolve acid?
Constellation [Whipping■Girl] flashes.
Gender Swap usable now...? (Slight TS.)
Duplicate skill exists!
Skill rank rises.
[Gender Swap][Castable]
—Usable by touch.
—Transforms target's gender.
"This is insane."
Bam— She pulverized wall roaring ahead. Adventurers, miners turned at sudden arrival. I yelled for her.
"Slime!!"
Chaos—rout began. But ahead, runner vanished ankle-down. Ankle dropped mid-stride. Blood flowed post-vanishing; hole screamed what happened.
Deadly Slime, mid-high slime 【Black Pudding】 appears!
Physics immune, lightning resistant—swift killer. Caution!
Status popped with silent vanishings, no screams. Rock shaved soundless; only her ragged breaths echoed dark. Darkness-fused hunter rampaged.