Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: First Encounter #2
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Hermit knew a lot.
"Even the two of us should be able to handle the guardian on the first floor of Mischianic University. Hell, it might even be better with just two."
"What do you mean, better with two?"
"The guardian on the first floor of the university is an artificial construct made with magitech. It has a magic circuit that boosts its power based on the number of people it encounters, so it conserves mana more efficiently that way."
"Ah! I get it perfectly!"
"A four-man party is harder for it to deal with than a three-man party, and a two-man party is even easier than a three-man party."
Ah... I kinda get what she's saying.
There are games where the boss difficulty scales with the number of entrants.
Does Night Diver have a system like that?
No, not that I know of.
We approached the room where the leader was holed up.
The door was massive and imposing, clearly no ordinary thing at a glance.
Drurrruk-!
Hermit yanked on a round lever-like handle, and with a metallic clunk, the heavy door groaned open.
"...Got it! Newbie! Hurry inside! It's gonna close soon!"
We rushed into the room with the massive stone door.
Kuuuung-!
The door slammed shut behind us.
Feels like our retreat's been cut off.
"It's pitch black in here. The air feels chilly too."
Hermit shone the torch around.
Thanks to Ashibar's blessing Black Eye, I could relatively easily make out the interior of the room.
It was as wide as a decent-sized park.
Bookshelves stuffed full of books towered on both sides.
A maze of books.
That's how I sized it up.
"This is the Mischianic University library. That guardian up ahead used to be the librarian and watchman: Golem – Logos."
Where Hermit's finger pointed.
There stood a structure at least two meters tall.
One hand holding a book, the other a sword—it reminded me of Lady Justice.
Squeak-squeak.
Clank, clank.
The statue-like figure slowly moved, emitting dull sounds.
[Intruder. 2 people. Annihilate. Activate.]
Squeak, squeak, tatatata-.
Golem Logos charged at us, sword in hand.
I shoved Hermit aside and dodged to the side myself.
Whoosh, kwaaaang-!
The sword it had raised high slammed into the floor, cratering the marble.
Getting hit by that sword wouldn't just cut you—it'd crush you.
"So, Hermit! What's the plan again?"
"Buy me time to chant my spell! Your speed's about on par with Felix, so if you just focus on dodging, you shouldn't get hurt!"
Hermit explained simply—but—
Whoosh, whooosh-!
Dodging these attacks nonstop, each one powerful enough to pulverize my body if it connected, required way more skill than I'd imagined.
'Pre-level-up me would've gotten smashed ages ago.'
Ashibar's Black Eye and Sister Germain's "beer mug training" helped a ton.
The blessing let me move freely even in the dark room.
And the training with Germain let me focus without wasting concentration.
"At this rate, I could do this all day."
Whoosh, whoosh-.
I dodged the thrusting sword to the side and rolled backward to evade the overhead chop, gaining confidence.
But then, a problem arose.
[Target. Change.]
The statue that had been fixated on me now turned toward Hermit, who was kneeling in the corner, muttering her incantation.
"Hey! Hermit! It's coming for you!"
"La. Dartamento. Calivark—."
My voice didn't seem to reach Hermit.
No choice.
Shring-!
I drew a throwing knife from my belt and hurled it at the statue.
"Over here! Look at me!"
Shook, pak-!
The knife embedded in the statue's face.
You'd think a throwing knife wouldn't do much to something that hard like stone.
Pajik, craaack-.
Shatter-!
But surprisingly, it worked?
Maybe this old hunk of junk had some loose joints!
"See? Machines need a good whack!"
My glee didn't last long, though.
Because tentacles burst out from the shattered head of the statue.
[Annihilate. Anni-an-an-annihilate. Annihilate─. Annihilate─.]
—Waluwalu-!
Squirm squirm squirm-.
Tentacles sprouting from its head, spewing eerie words like a broken radio.
I've seen all kinds of shit in my life, but this feels straight out of a nightmare!
"Hermit, how much longer?!"
Hermit still didn't respond.
And to make matters worse, sizzle— the Ether Torch by her side was flickering out.
Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place—my hackles stood on end.
"Flames of foreboding—."
Hermit rose, gripping her staff.
Strange blue tattoos like circuit patterns lit up on her face.
Her hair shimmered silver too. This was no ordinary situation.
Pak-!
I ducked behind a thick bookshelf for now.
The next instant, gray flames erupted from the tip of Hermit's outstretched staff like a flamethrower.
Kwaaaaaaaa-!
Roooar-!
Gray flames?
Is that even possible?
Whatever. The key point was that her flames started incinerating everything around.
Chiiiik-. Bubble bubble-.
Books burned to ash, the floor melted into boiling lava, and the golem lost its majestic form, melting like ice cream in the blazing sun.
—Aaaaagh!
The tentacles parasitizing the golem flailed, screeching ear-piercing screams.
It slithered out of the golem like a hermit crab shedding its shell.
Pak-!
The thing leaped up, aiming straight for Hermit's face.
"Not on my watch!"
I quickly flung another throwing knife.
Shook, pak-!
It whizzed past Hermit's nose, pinning the tentacle to the wall like a nail.
Clang-!
The next moment, the tentacle jittered—spewing countless motes of Ether.
Gems and books burst out too, sparkling.
"Got it!"
Joy surged through me.
Then—thud—Hermit collapsed.
"Hey! You okay?!"
I rushed to her side.
As I tried to prop her up—
Chiiiik-.
"Ah, hot—!"
Her body was like a red-hot frying pan. No joke—her skin felt like boiling oil!
Why?
Side effect from that gray flame magic?
"...S..."
Hermit weakly raised a hand.
Now I saw: her hand was burned to her staff, fingers fused to it.
She pointed the staff tip at the tentacle corpse.
"...S... Scroll. Return Scroll..."
"Got it! I'll check!"
I scanned the debris from the tentacle.
[+ 1,000,000 Ether]
[Rare – Double-Edged Sword Engraving Scroll acquired]
[Return Scroll acquired]
[Sapphire Gem acquired]
"Here it is! The scroll!"
Flutter-.
I swept all the loot into my Black Satchel.
Then grabbed a Return Scroll and headed to Hermit.
One Return Scroll.
One escape portal nearby for one person.
"Hermit, you go first."
She wasn't in any shape to reach the portal.
I pressed the scroll into her hand.
She opened her mouth to say something—
"...E... Torch."
Her tongue must be dry—hard to make out.
But she's talking about the Ether Torch, right?
"Got it. It'll go out soon. Don't worry. I'll be right behind you."
Tear-.
Relieved by my words, she tore the scroll.
Shimmer-.
Hermit's form faded away.
"So that's how you use it."
My turn now.
I picked up the fallen Ether Torch from the floor and glanced around.
Killing the leader monster must've done it.
The boss room door, previously sealed tight, swung open on its own.
I slipped through the gap and headed for the exit.
Saruk-.
In the end, the Ether Torch went out.
A creepy sensation wrapped around my body along with the darkness.
Wriggle wriggle-.
Like tiny spiders and ants crawling all over me.
Even into my nose and mouth.
'So this is the "Night."'
How do people survive here without an Ether Torch?
An hour of this itchiness and I'd go mad.
This moment made it crystal clear just how insane my mentor Estelle was to live in a place like this.
I stood before the exit magic circle drawn on the wall.
Click, clack-.
Click-.
The sound of shoe heels echoed.
I turned—several figures stared at me from the darkness.
"...Rendo."
"...Shando?"
"...Rendo!"
"...Mm...."
Not tentacle monsters.
Then who the hell...?
I wanted to ask but held back.
People swarming in the "Night" can't be normal.
Gotta escape quick.
[Would you like to return?]
Whoooosh, pfoook-!
Something sharp pierced my gut like a spear.
"Ugh!"
When I came to.
I was lying by a riverbank.
A cold moon hung over the river.
I knew this place.
"Sabrannik? You here?"
Breathing hurt.
Looking down, arrows were lodged in my chest and stomach.
The chest one was blocked by my Wooden Armor, but the gut shot got through.
"Fuck, that hurts like hell—. But it missed my heart. Lucky. Keh heh...."
Did those bastards I just met shoot me?
Good thing I escaped through the portal. If I'd dawdled—
That's when.
Slither-.
Something crawled toward me from across the wet river.
[My name is. Derjurak. Palabradike. Sabrannik─.]
"Sabrannik, send me home. My stomach hurts too much."
A skeletal serpent body.
Its eyes fixed on my gut.
Then it nodded.
[Severe poison. Critical wound. Danger. Fortunately, I have a good blessing for you.]
Serpent's Blood Lv.1
Blood flowing through your veins carries poison. Greatly increases poison resistance.
[Ten million Ether.]
"...Don't have it. Not even half."
[Then give me an egg.]
It nodded toward my Black Satchel.
Wants a familiar egg?
Looks like a snake, so yeah, eats eggs.
But it was hard-earned by me and Hermit—kinda wasteful to just hand it over.
"...Any other way?"
Even I thought I was being a picky customer.
What if Sabrannik got mad?
But Sabrannik was more patient than expected.
[Child, then give me a gem.]
Gem! That I got.
I pulled out the Sapphire Gem from killing the tentacle.
A fist-sized blue gem.
[Oh ho, would you look at this sly python.]
A familiar voice rang out.
I turned—Ashibar, holding his own severed head, was watching us.
Seeing him here was both welcoming and surprising.
Two idols at once?
Is that even possible?
[—Old ghost—.]
Tssrrrrr-!
Sabrannik openly bristled, rattling his skeletal scales at Ashibar.
Scary!
Ashibar, meanwhile, casually chewed on a tentacle.
[Rookie, Sapphire Gems aren't the highest value, but this python loves shiny treasures. You might haggle a better deal!]