Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: To the Dwarf Village
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Sub-quests.
They come in all sorts of varieties, from monster-hunting quests to delivery quests and all kinds of miscellaneous errands.
The village I'm currently in is 'Banhol Village,' located in the outer mountains of the Verbeia Plains, the next stage of my adventure.
It's a village at the very edge of the Doyle Kingdom's territory, where Warlord Jeph belongs.
Situated in a rocky mountain region, this village was quite developed for its small size. The aesthetic beauty and apparent sturdiness of its stone buildings were on par with those in the imperial capital.
And yet, the sub-quest I'm undertaking here today is...
"Miss! You can take this to that table over there!"
"Yes, yes!"
Scurrying away.
While clearing empty plates from a table, I hurriedly ran to the kitchen, picked up a plate of food and a mug of beer, and headed toward a table where customers were seated.
"You're working hard, miss. I hear you're an adventurer?"
"Heh, my daughter just turned fifteen this year, about your age. It's amazing you're already on an adventure."
"I-It's nothing, really...."
Two middle-aged men sitting at the table I was serving grinned and spoke to me.
Rain, they're NPC uncles, not players. Don't be scared.
My face beet red, I fled toward an empty table.
Scurrying away.
Most players skip menial errand-type quests with trivial rewards and only do monster-slaying sub-quests, but sometimes you can get all sorts of information by befriending NPCs while doing these miscellaneous tasks.
"...So, it's no exaggeration to say that our village lives off mining. We dig up everything from minerals with various magical energies to sturdy stone for construction, and even steel for making weapons and armor. Very rarely, we even find minerals like mithril that can hold powerful magical energy. The armor of the kingdom's Warlord Jeph was made with mithril produced in our village."
"Oh."
Warlord Jeph of the Doyle Kingdom, who had come to the Tower of Training. His name, which I hadn't heard in a while, came from the mouth of an NPC.
So his armor was made from minerals produced in this village.
I could also feel the fun of learning the detailed lore of this world little by little while doing sub-quests.
"But we can only mine all this because the dwarves allow it. You see the stone buildings in the village with their beautiful designs? They were built with the dwarves back when this village was founded. Even some of the really old buildings are still standing strong."
Dwarves. A long-lived race that lives for over 200 years. They have bushy beards and love beer, minerals, and architecture.
They are one of the non-human races that adventurers can choose. There were a few traveling dwarves among the NPCs, but no dwarf village had ever been revealed to players during their adventures.
For a moment, I was reminded of Ain, the cheerful dwarf from the Hero's Party.
I shook my head to clear the afterimage.
The tavern customer, who had been chattering excitedly, suddenly hardened his expression and spoke to me suggestively.
"You remind me of my daughter, so I'll let you in on something. Since you're an adventurer, you must be interested in equipment and minerals produced by the dwarves, right? If you get on their good side, you might be able to get some gear that'll help you on your adventure."
"Where do the dwarves live?"
"Anyway, you'll need their permission and a guide to get past a certain area. You have to go through a cave in the rocky mountain to reach the dwarf village in the basin, and that cave is a complex maze. Of course, they probably have other secret paths only they know about. But anyway, pass through the path between the rocky mountains north of the village, turn left, and..."
He spilled everything.
It seemed they've kept the route open since this is a dwarf village that interacts with humans.
I briefly thought that a player who chose the dwarf race might have an advantage, but according to him, the dwarves living in the village treat dwarves from other villages or wandering dwarves no differently than they treat other races.
Since the vanguard players only do monster-slaying sub-quests that help them level up, this was probably premium information that almost no one knew, at least until the lore enthusiasts reached this area.
"Thank you, mister!"
I bounced with joy at having obtained such good information.
I arrived at the cave in the rocky mountain that the NPC from the village tavern had told me about.
Passing through this cave would allow me to enter the dwarf village.
The cave was probably a kind of test, to see the abilities of players trying to enter the dwarf village. System-wise, it was likely set up to be difficult for anyone below certain specs to enter.
[Entry Level: 40]
[Normal Dungeon]
[Verbeia Rocky Mountain Cave]
It was definitely a proper instanced dungeon. Still, it was just a normal dungeon; it wouldn't serve as anything more than a passageway.
Standing before it, I demurely gathered my feet and leaped into the cave entrance.
Hop.
A resonant hum accompanied my jump, confirming that my body had entered the instanced dungeon.
It wasn't that dark inside. Torches were stuck into the walls all around. Were they set up by the dwarves?
After moving a certain distance, I came to a fork in the road. The cave's structure was a maze, just as I'd expected.
"Hmm..."
I stroked my chin, lost in thought.
The people of Banhol Village would be guided by dwarves when they needed to go to the village, but as an adventurer, I had to get through this maze on my own. It didn't look like there were any hints.
But I knew one rule for getting through a maze.
It's a simple rule: whether you choose right or left, if you keep one hand on the wall and keep walking, you'll eventually reach the end of the maze.
I wonder if it will work in this cave's maze?
For now, let's just keep going right.
Trudging along.
After a considerable amount of time and hitting more than a dozen dead ends, I finally reached the end of the maze: a large cavern.
A high ceiling, a wide space.
Across from the cavern entrance where I came in, there was a huge stone door that looked like the maze's exit. It was firmly shut.
Along the cavern's periphery, piles of rocks were stacked everywhere. They looked artificial.
It was just a normal dungeon. I didn't expect a named monster fight, but those rock piles were definitely related to monsters.
"Oh."
At my feet, just inside the cavern entrance, were five pressure plates that looked like they would sink if stepped on.
A puzzle device set up by the dwarves? Maybe it was a mechanism where the door would open if I stepped on them following a certain rule or sequence. The standard approach would be to try multiple times and discover the rule to open the door. Or maybe there was a hint in the maze that I missed.
And if I failed to solve the puzzle? Those piles of rocks in front of me would surely rise. I was one hundred percent certain.
I grinned.
I had a feeling I knew what those rock piles were.
Golems.
A dungeon with a setup like this was bound to have them.
In that case, there were two ways. Either solve the puzzle, or smash every last golem until none were left.
I chose the latter.
"Hyah!"
Hop.
With a light jump, my body landed on the center pressure plate among the five.
Click.
Rumble...
With the sound of the plate sinking, the piles of rock on the cavern's periphery rose as golems, just as I'd expected.
They were a little bigger than me. Three of them. Their HP was at a level where a single, solid Flash would take them down.
It seemed my first step in the sequence was wrong. I had failed to solve the puzzle. But my goal wasn't to solve the puzzle.
I lightly tap-danced on the pressure plates.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!
Click-click-click-click.
Each time a plate was pressed, golems rose from all sides.
I didn't stop tap-dancing until all the golems in the cavern had risen.
Thump, thump, thump.
At last, all the golems had risen, and a tidal wave of rock began to approach me.
Shing!
Only then did I stop my tap dance and draw my sword.
And I exclaimed gallantly.
"Alright, bring it on!"
Rumble...
Once all the golems were defeated, the cave's exit opened.
As I thought, there was no need to solve the puzzle.
The maze was basic and the way out was simple. Prove your strength or prove your wits. It must have been a way of testing for a minimum level of competence.
Clank.
"Hoo."
After taking down the last group of golems with a final Flash, I took a deep breath and sheathed my sword.
[Flash]
[Cooldown: 1 minute]
[Invincible during cast]
[???]
Since returning to the Astria Continent about a month ago, I hadn't been able to feel that same sensation of using the Flash of the past. However, I already knew the condition for unlocking its true power.
The Flash I had used in Aspero's Citadel when I was attacked by the chimera and pushed to the brink of death, on the day Iseulbi collapsed. It was very similar to the Flash I had used in the past.
"I'm sure it can only be used when my HP is at rock bottom."
The condition is extremely strict. Even more so for me, since I feel pain as it is.
During my early solo runs of Aspero, I used to tank one of the wide-area desperation attacks with my body, so I must have met the condition several times. The reason my past self didn't notice was probably that I used Flash to dodge the wide-area attack, so the cooldown wasn't up yet.
My own ultimate move, one that pierced even the tough defenses of the Sector 3 chimera, but it's difficult to use intentionally. If I feel pain, Iseulbi feels it too. One wrong move and she could end up in the hospital again.
Still, in the worst-case scenario, I could use it as an emergency escape or a final blow. In any case, it's better than nothing.
And, while grinding the golems, I was able to confirm one achievement.
[Drizzle Rain]
[Swordsman]
[Level 40 (99.17%)]
"Oh."
Just one run, and my EXP had shot up. My experience, which had been in the mid-90s, was now just shy of a level-up.
Places with such a high density of monsters are extremely rare. At most, maybe the chimera hatchery in Aspero's Citadel. But those are gimmick-type monsters designed not to be fought, so they can't be taken down with a single, normal Flash.
But the golems here could be killed in one Flash with my stats. It was, in a word, the perfect grinding spot. The place where I could gain the most experience in the shortest amount of time.
Chris, having finished her backlogged work, will also be pushing to level up starting tomorrow.
I was pleased with this unexpected discovery.
Smiling brightly, I stepped out through the open door.
I found a place to power-level Chris.