Chapter 22
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 022
Chapter Title: Soulstone Engraving #1
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After Erdarri fled.
Clink.
Sir Saxon picked up a fist-sized stone from the floor.
"Gasp! This is a Soulstone!"
His pupils dilated hugely in the lantern light.
"To think I'd lay eyes on something this precious! Erdarri must've fled with his tail between his legs and forgot to grab this treasure! Hohohoho!"
"Old man, what's going on?"
The bounty hunter Double Sword, who had been on night watch, approached us.
The priestess Sister Ishtar, reeking of booze, came with him.
"Ugh, I was sleeping so soundly, and now you're ringing the bell like this."
Sir Saxon briefly explained what had happened.
Erdarri had been in the library, confronted me, dropped this Soulstone, and run off.
Double Sword let out a huge sigh of admiration.
"Chasing off Erdarri without shitting your pants? Newbie's got some real guts."
"Hehehe, in my line of work, all the gutless ones drop dead first."
"But this is gonna be a headache. The military's gonna turn the place upside down like they're hunting rats for a while."
"Upside down?"
"You never know if more Nightkin are hiding behind the Wall. They'll comb every inch, grab anyone who might've been in cahoots, and beat confessions out of them."
The word "in cahoots" brought Germain to mind.
"So, newbie, what was Erdarri after here?"
Should I mention Germain?
After agonizing over it, I decided to stick to what I knew for sure.
"He said he wanted to lop off my head and dig through my brains. When I flat-out refused, he said something about... Rapras? He wanted to take that from me."
"Rat'as!"
Sir Saxon bellowed.
Foam flecked his lips.
"As I recall, Rat'as is a Nardil word that broadly means 'soul,' 'life,' or its essence. In other words, Erdarri clearly meant to kill this kid!"
So the wicked demon spawn was after my soul after all.
That's when Sister Ishtar spotted the stone in Sir Saxon's hand.
"Oh, what's that."
"Yeah, a Soulstone. That wench dropped it. In this case, it rightfully goes to the kid. Here, this is yours now."
Clink.
A hefty stone chunk landed in my palm.
If I had to describe it, it was just a rock.
But flecks of blue and red light were embedded in it like grains, making it look anything but ordinary at a glance.
Erdarri and Sir Saxon had called it a "Soulstone."
And Soulstone was something I remembered too.
"Does this let you level up 'Engravings' or something?"
I recalled the Engraving Scroll I'd consumed recently.
「Double-Edged Sword: Engraves enlightenment devised by ascetic priests of the Chandra Cult onto the soul. Increases dealt and received damage by 10% each.」
This was like a game passive skill.
And in 「Night Diver」, Soulstones were items that enhanced those passive engravings.
"That's right. But on its own, it's useless—you need some carving first."
So it does need carving.
In my memory, a Soulstone gave 20 carving attempts, and every 7th successful carve raised the passive engraving's level by 1.
Like this:
「Soulstone +7」
「Double-Edged Sword Lv.2: Increases dealt and received damage by 15% each.」
"Oooooh!"
Just imagining it was thrilling.
"But kid, not just anyone can carve it. You need special tools and someone skilled at it. Well, with Hammer in your party, you'll just need the tools."
"Hammer knows how to carve these stones?"
"That guy's good with hammers in general. He does gear repairs too, right?"
Perfect.
This is why everyone sings the praises of connections.
"Hitting Erdarri on your first night watch—and living to tell the tale? Yor! I can't tell if your luck is good or bad!"
Hammer slapped my back.
His hearty kahaha laugh had me grinning too.
I showed the Soulstone to Hammer.
"Hammer, you can really carve this?"
"Oh, wanna carve a Soulstone? You could sell it for twenty million Ether easy."
Twent—!?
How many colas and chickens is that!?
"I'd recommend selling. Carving these ain't easy. Each hammer strike halves your success chance. First hit shatters it half the time."
Hammer strike halves success rate, sometimes shatters—
Just like the game.
That's why even a +7 was endgame gear.
'I only ever carved mine to +7 in the game too.'
I'd lucked into a straight +7 Soulstone and used it right up to the end.
Pushed further, and it'd shatter, so I stopped there.
"But using it yourself ain't bad either. Forecast says the sun's rising on 'Vulcanos Volcano' today—you can grab tons of carving tools there!"
"Oooh!"
Talk about lucky.
Sometimes things just fall into place.
With that vibe, we geared up to head out.
Yawning—must've overslept—Hermit poked my side.
"Newbie, heard something big went down yesterday?"
"Yeah, Erdarri tried to steal my soul."
"Your soul? What're you on about."
"He demanded my Rat'as."
"Rat'as means soul? Who told you that? La’tas does mean essence or soul in ancient Nardil, but in Erdarri tongue..."
Whoosh!
Hermit's face flushed red.
She glared at me.
"...You like 'em regardless of race if they're girls?"
"What're you talking about."
"Don't talk to me for a while, you perv!"
What perv out of nowhere.
Hermit's mood swings are wilder than a drought thunderbolt.
Felix warned us.
"No chatter in Vulcanos Volcano later. Lose focus, and even level 10+ explorers get shredded."
Such a stickler!
And so we headed for the volcano zone.
Shooooosh.
Parting the black mist revealed a scorching mountain vista.
Bubble bubble.
Lava boiled everywhere.
It was so hot sweat poured off us just standing there, but Hammer loved it.
"Whoa, check it. Landed right at the temple entrance. No hiking needed—straight in! Let's go, team!"
Halfway up the mountain loomed a massive temple.
Inside was cooler than the lava-boiling slopes, but still sweltering.
Bubble bubble bubble.
Lava surged through pipes and drains everywhere.
Hiss.
Furnaces spewed steam in all directions.
I chugged from my waterskin for no reason.
Hermit wiped sweat from her chin with her hand after drinking.
"Finally healed from full-body burns, now another hot spot. I want ice."
Ice?
After this trip, I'd buy ice cream by the campfire.
As I thought that—
Clank, click.
Metal sounds.
"Verdoras."
"Caligro."
Humans wielding spears and shields.
Or could you call them that?
Rock-hard scale skin, eyes blazing like fire.
"Yor, those are Stone Men. Tough as they look—blades don't work well, blunt weapons are better."
Hammer swung his massive hammer whoosh.
Crack—Stone Men shattered.
"Ooooh! Hammer, badass!"
+100 Ether
Stone Man's Fragment: A blackened, hardened rock chunk. It smells bitter.
I scooped up Ether and debris, stuffing it into my Black Satchel.
Hammer praised me.
"Whoa! That satchel's magic. But what're you doing with Stone Man rocks?"
"Idols might like 'em, so I'm stocking up."
Sabrannik came to mind.
That bone serpent liked gems, right?
Gems are rocks, and these are rocks.
Might like 'em.
Time to harvest gratitude rocks!
Then a sudden thought hit me.
"Hermit, what happened to that familiar egg we got?"
"Takes time to hatch. I'm gonna sleep with it clutched to my chest every night."
What, like a brooding hen?
In game, right-click and pets popped out.
Different here, but not weird.
"Newbie! Behind!"
Hermit yelled.
I whipped around, hurling throwing knives at the rock humans.
Swoosh.
Thunk! Thunk thunk!
Thanks to enhancements, they stuck in their tough bodies.
"Oh, headshots work great!"
By the time Hammer killed 10, I'd taken down about 3 Stone Men.
Not bad for one person's share, right?
But—
"One, two, three."
Swipe swipe swipe.
Slash slash slash!
Watching Felix effortlessly massacre Stone Men with light sword swings gave me a sudden pang of inadequacy.
He downed 30 while Hammer got 10.
"Hammer, you said blades suck against these rocks, blunt weapons rule. What's his deal?"
"Felix is gunning for Imperial Guard. Gotta perform like that."
"Imperial Guard?"
"Hit level 17, you qualify to leave the Wall and guard His Imperial Majesty. Qualification doesn't guarantee it, though."
Level 17? How much Ether just for levels.
Insanely expensive, no doubt.
Roving the volcanic temple, we spotted a corpse.
riddled with arrows.
Blood still fresh—recent death.
Hammer nudged it with his foot.
"Thief type. Not Wall expeditionary—Narakje's minion. And this oil on the arrows..."
Hammer unfurled his map with a swipe.
"Traps start around here. Step wrong, arrows fly. My map marks it trap zone."
Traps. Finally.
My real job: traps, locks, chests—not hunting.
Time to shine.
'So what do I do?'
Truth: Never disarmed a trap before.
Got lockpicking skill, but no trap detection/disarm blessings.
'Just pretend for now.'
I crouched, prodding the stone floor with a throwing knife tip.
Click—something caught, floor sank, revealing stairs.
"Whoa! Hidden stairs! That thief probably died hunting this secret path. Yor, you did it again!"
"Hehehe, basics!"
"My map doesn't show secret paths—usually three kinds! One: rooms with insane treasure chests. Two: trap-only rooms..."
Hammer shut his mouth.
"So what's three?"
"Insane treasures AND traps. This path looks like a three. Big rewards, bigger risks."
Hammer's hand on my shoulder.
"Yor, you up for it again? Lead the way."
"Ahem, one sec."
I headed to a corner.
And yelled.
"Ashibar! Sabrannik! Anyone, help!"
Needed trap detection/disarm skills.
Fast!
Shimmer.
Background darkened; I stood by a riverbank.
Bone serpent Sabrannik slithered slowly toward me from afar.
—My Blessed One. What is it?—
—If possible. Don't call me with that old ghost.—
Heard it a few times now—voice felt warmer.
Clink.
I pulled out fragments from slain Stone Men for Sabrannik.
"Can I buy a trap-related blessing with these?"
【…….】
—...Blessed One, I don't like just any rocks...—
"Really? Thought you'd like 'em—gathered 200."
【—But Blessed One. Your thoughtfulness touches me.—】
【—Just feed 100 rocks into my mouth.—】
Craaack!
Bone serpent Sabrannik gaped wide.
"Then I'll pick the tasty-looking ones!"
【—Yes.—】
Clink, clack, roll.
Eagerly, I shoved Stone Man fragments into the bone serpent's maw.
So, what happens now?