Chapter 286: The Secret Magic Tower
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 286: The Secret Magic Tower
When Broken Bow opened his eyes, Black Spear would take over. When Black Spear opened his eyes, Broken Bow would set his hands to work. The humans, too, were sitting on the floor, dozing off. The Orcs from the South and the shamans from the Land of Glory who had come with them began setting up simple tents, while the Great Tribe Leader sat and continued to watch Broken Bow.
“Rest is important.”
Even the dependable Earth Wave nodded and found a spot to one side. The 75th wave, the 86th wave… by the time nearly a full day had passed, the 132nd wave was beginning.
“Groooowwwl!”
“Screeeech!”
“So noisy… I can’t sleep. I should have been the one fighting on this floor…” the Werewolf muttered jealously. Choi Eunju looked at me and spoke.
“Honey, shall I prepare breakfast?”
“Yes. Please…”
Choi Seulgi turned to me and said.
“This is ridiculous… The quality of these chimeras is lower than I thought. Is this Isaac guy all talk?”
“I don’t think so. The pace is actually slowing down, which probably means the quality of the chimeras is improving. And it’s genuinely amazing that a single human could create this many. Even if he made chimeras 365 days a year, it would be hard to produce this quantity.”
The proof was that chimeras we hadn’t seen before were now beginning to appear. Not only were they larger, but their hides were thicker. Each and every one of them looked formidable. As time passed, the number of them decreased, but the quality of those that did appear was much higher.
- Not bad, challengers. But in the end, you will be defeated. It would be wise to devise another method.
An arrogant voice echoed through the chamber.
But nothing changed. Black Spear and Broken Bow continued to take turns, methodically picking off the chimeras, while the other Green Skins and humans sat and replenished their stamina. Around this time, I found myself wanting to join in. I wanted to move my body, and more importantly, though it wasn’t much, everything they were killing felt like experience points.
Every little bit adds up. For all I knew, Broken Bow and Black Spear might be approaching their next rank-up.
More time passed.
Broken Bow’s hands also began to slow.
The absurd thing was, it wasn’t because he had reached his limit.
Even after resting with Black Spear, he would quietly rise and nock a series of arrows. After firing several at once, Broken Bow would silently eat or relieve himself, and Black Spear would resume hurling his black, magically-formed spears.
It was because a single arrow, a single spear, was no longer enough to finish off the enemies that were appearing. A little more time passed, and the intervals between their attacks grew even longer. Finally, Broken Bow looked over at us and spoke.
“Hmm… They’re not coming out anymore. I can’t sense any presence.”
“…”
The roars of the beasts, which had been constant until now, had fallen silent.
‘Endless and infinite chimeras,’ my ass…
The implication of the chimeras no longer appearing was painfully obvious. Choi Seulgi voiced my thoughts.
“Looks like he ran out of his stored supply. Stupid Isaac.”
“…”
“Yeah. I think you’re right.”
I had truly believed they were infinite. In fact, the strategy guide I’d read in my past life had said that an endless stream of chimeras poured out, and I had taken it as gospel.
But…
Thinking about it rationally, there was no way they could be infinite. Isaac was human, after all. Of course, he was a disembodied consciousness now, but there was a limit to how many chimeras a single individual could create. He may have spent his entire life making them, but that was it. At most, he could create six a day. To make a chimera, you needed materials, and to get materials, you needed time. He also had to consider quality, so ordinary magical beasts wouldn’t suffice.
Unless it was confirmed whether he could go outside or not, it was right to assume these were chimeras he had created during his lifetime.
To sum it up, his life’s work had completely vanished with that final wave. Utterly and completely…
“Hah… How empty he must feel.”
As a fellow magician, Choi Eunju expressed her sympathy for Isaac.
It was then that a faint light began to emanate from one side of the cave. With no more chimeras left to emerge, the summoning circle must have automatically deactivated and transformed into a portal to the third floor.
- Y-You… have overcome the t-trial… Not bad… challengers.
A voice echoed at the same time, but anyone could tell it was utterly dejected.
In truth, what he must have been aiming for on this second floor was none other than trust and cooperation. The trust that the offense party would eventually return, the trust that the defense party was holding the line, the beautiful picture of them deactivating the summoning circle by collecting tricks one by one while hunting chimeras—he must have envisioned it all. The process of the defense party passing the tricks they found to the offense party could have been a magnificent scene, and he was likely anticipating the moment the magicians would cooperate to neutralize the summoning circle.
But in this gruesome scene, nothing of the sort could be found.
There was no room to even step, thanks to the mountain of chimera corpses. Some were stuck to the walls, others lay collapsed with holes riddling their bodies. Only after Goff and the Minotaur Earth Wave cleared away the bodies before them did a large summoning circle become visible. Seeing how far we had to walk to reach it, I wondered how he had even created this space.
“An interesting trial. An endless swarm of chimeras. If Black Spear hadn't been with me, I might not have been able to hold them off.”
“The same goes for me. Broken Bow, it would have been impossible alone.”
They were exchanging heartwarming words of praise.
From amidst them, Goff slowly began to speak.
“I think I understand what this trial meant.”
“…”
“Hmm?”
“Trust and cooperation.”
The same, but different.
“Even if I, with my great stamina, had charged ahead, I could not have blocked such a force all at once. Broken Bow and Black Spear must have also felt the limits of their stamina as they continued to hunt.”
“Of course, Goff.”
“It was certainly not easy.”
“It was possible because we could take turns and replenish our stamina. This is cooperation. Entrusting the work to one side while the other rested—that is trust. I feel like I understand… what the Archmage Isaac was trying to tell us.”
“Hmm… Indeed…”
At Goff’s words, the Werewolf Silver Fang also nodded.
“Haha. Is it not similar to the Great Tribe Leader’s exam? The Great Tribe Leader’s exam was the same. If all the Green Skins had not combined their strength, we surely would not have overcome it. Perhaps the message he is trying to convey is…”
The Werewolf stealthily began to glance toward the humans. All the chieftains nodded.
Trust and cooperation.
They were undoubtedly thinking about trust and cooperation with humans.
It was, of course, a good thing that they had reached such a wonderful conclusion.
That was why I couldn’t bring myself to say, “That’s not it.”
“Interesting, Isaac. I wonder what awaits us next.”
As the humans and Green Skins began to throw themselves into the summoning circle one by one, Choi Seulgi and I met eyes.
“What should we do?”
“Do what? Their reaction is better than expected. Just let them keep rolling with it.”
“Hmm…”
Come to think of it, that seemed like a good idea. Right now, the Green Skins were filled with trust for the Archmage Isaac. I’d heard a saying somewhere: First, become famous. Then, even if you take a shit, people will cheer for you.
Isaac’s current situation was exactly that. From now on, no matter what he did, Goff was certain to assign some profound meaning to it. Since the original goal was to make them have a positive impression of the dungeon, there was no longer any need to worry about the scent of danger or the looming fear of death.
Just maintaining the current state would be enough to yield a good result.
“You’re right.”
I nodded and threw myself into the summoning circle with Choi Seulgi, and we were immediately greeted by the sight of the third floor. Before us was a scene of complete ruin. A door on one side was shattered, and it looked like the Green Skins had gone straight up.
“Ahem… Seulgi, what was this trial?”
“The third floor was… a duel, I think? I remember it being a team battle against magic soldiers created by Isaac, and the side with the majority of wins gets to advance. Originally, you’re supposed to destroy the soldiers simultaneously to silence them completely, but… looks like they wiped them all out in one shot. He won’t be able to repair and reuse these…”
There were clear signs that the Minotaur Earth Wave had smashed them to pieces. Their lesson from this was undoubtedly something like, “We are strong even alone,” or perhaps, “We die together.”
Just then, a loud noise came from the floor above.
KWWAAAAAANG!
KWWWWAAAAAAAANG!
“Let’s hurry up.”
We immediately ran upstairs. What we saw was Goff slamming his fist against a blank wall. With every punch, a deafening roar echoed as the wall began to chip away. Seeing me staring at Goff with a dumbfounded expression, Broken Bow spoke with a welcoming look.
“You’re late, Blood Dagger. Hahaha. While you were dawdling, Earth Wave already cleared the third floor.”
“Hmm… I could tell from the traces. But… what is going on here?”
“Ah. The Archmage Isaac told us to find a way out of this empty space. Goff is currently pounding on the wall, saying he must forge his own path. Is this not a dungeon that teaches many lessons?”
That’s not it…
Contrary to my concerns, the surprising thing was that the wall was actually breaking.
“Kuuuuuooooooh!”
Goff looked quite cool, roaring as he hammered the wall.
KWWAAAAAANG!
CR-CR-CRACK!
KWWAAAAAANG!
“This must be what it means to forge a man’s path…”
Absolutely not. That was just simple vandalism. And yet, the dungeon wall was crumbling. The entrance to the next floor slowly began to reveal itself. I had never imagined such a method would actually work.
“Magnificent.”
Everyone was applauding Goff. Even the humans were rubbing their eyes and clapping. Just as the moment was about to become truly heartwarming…
- G…o… y…ou…
“Hmm… It seems he is trying to send another message.”
- G…et… o…ut… n…ow…
“Is that so… Indeed… Archmage Isaac. I have met a human I can respect.”
But for some reason, I was growing uneasy.
Finally, a moment later, as everyone was listening intently to his words, a voice filled with rage burst forth.
- Get out! You demon-like bastards! Get out of this dungeon right now, cough…! Y-You villains! G-Get out right now! Quickly! Right now!
“…”
- GET OUUUUUUUT!!!
He had finally snapped.