Obtaining Maximization (2)
“…I can't see a thing.”
The temple's interior was swallowed whole by darkness.
“Figures. No luck there.”
I let out a sigh as I watched my torch die out in an instant.
Any source of light inside this temple got sucked into the black void as if it had fallen into a black hole. Lighting magic, torches—forget it. None of it stood a chance.
Instead of relying on your eyes, you had to push your senses to their absolute limit and feel your way forward. That was why this place was called the Temple of Sense.
Not that I need directions.
As they say, an empty cart makes the most noise—all that imposing, awe-inspiring scale was nothing but bluster. All you actually had to do was walk straight ahead.
Clearly, whoever built the place had designed the interior to sprawl like a maze on purpose. Because no one in their right mind would try to navigate a pitch-black labyrinth by feel alone. It was meant to scare you off before you even started.
Well, that's why it's never been looted. And why it's mine for the taking.
Wooooom!
A violent gust of wind slammed into me, as if the temple itself was telling me to turn back. I raised an arm to shield my face and pressed on.
[You who have entered this temple—do you not value your life?]
[Any intruder who dares enter without my sanction shall suffer the Punishment of Agony. Feel a thousandfold pain from the smallest wound, and die writhing in torment.]
The voice boomed through the temple, thick with fury—and then silence fell.
What a stingy old bastard.
How precious could a few scraps of treasure possibly be, that a dead man goes to such lengths to keep his descendants from inheriting so much as a crumb? People back in the day were miserly to an absurd degree.
I clicked my tongue and kept moving.
Fweeeeek!
At the same time, something rose from the floor with a skin-crawling shriek.
“A spike trap that springs when you step on the plate. Classic.”
A trap. I stepped onto the spikes like it was nothing, and the pointed steel bent and buckled, unable to withstand my defense stat.
KRAK!
Anyone else would have died the instant those spikes touched them. Even the slightest graze would have delivered a thousandfold agony—a sensation like taking a nuclear bomb head-on with your bare skin.
But for me, with a defense stat that pierced the heavens? Not applicable. Pain is something you can only feel when your body takes physical damage—and when not a single scratch can be laid on my hide, where exactly would the pain come from? All I could do was laugh.
A little farther on, another sound reached me. Something like a weapon being loaded.
Psshusshuk!
Dozens of something struck my body. I brushed them off like dust, gave a casual swipe of my hand, and kept walking. Arrows, apparently.
“Child's play.”
I tossed them carelessly to the floor and moved on.
How far had I come?
THOOM! THOOM!
The ground began to tremble, slowly, like an earthquake was rolling in. I stared into a single point in the darkness as if I'd been expecting it.
There you are.
Red eyes glittered in the pitch-black gloom. The thing guarding this temple—a golem.
GRUOOOH!
With a monstrous roar, those red eyes came charging at me at alarming speed. In stark contrast, I just sauntered forward, hands buried deep in my pockets.
KU-BOOM!
Moments later, a thunderous impact rang out—and I felt something like a tickle on my body. The golem's attack, no doubt about it.
“Good hustle, kid.”
Normally the momentum would have sent the blow back into the golem's own body, but this temple's golem was immune to all forms of attack. In other words, neither of us was getting hurt. Not it, not me.
KU-BOOM! KU-BOOM!
“Gah—take it easy, will you? That tickles.”
I couldn't help laughing at the golem's relentless assault. It felt like being forcibly tickled by someone—because its attacks couldn't come within a mile of matching my absurd defense stat.
Back in the game, this guy was the scariest thing around.
Looking at it now, it was practically giving me a free massage. What a sweetheart.
Then a thought occurred to me.
Is this really okay?
My conscience stung a little. The proper way to do this was to dodge the traps, fight through the golem, and earn your prize. But was it really fine for me to waltz in with my hands behind my back and walk off with the Wish, like I'd just stepped out for a stroll?
The answer came immediately.
Oh, absolutely.
“Finally here.”
I reached my destination without much trouble—a chamber radiating the only bright light in all that black darkness. I stepped inside without hesitation, and the shadow that had engulfed everything gave way to radiance.
“Found it.”
And there it was—the very Wish I'd been searching for, right before my eyes. It wasn't even hidden away. It was simply sitting on an altar. Its creator must have reasoned, surely no one will make it this far.
I reached out slowly, as if touching something sacred, and the brilliantly glowing orb drifted into my body.
A warm energy began spreading through my chest, and before I knew it, both body and mind felt at ease. It was like a quiet word of comfort—you've been through so much to get here.
…I didn't actually go through much, but.
When someone offers you comfort, there's no reason to refuse.
**
The way out of the temple didn't take long. I'd simply sprinted straight through the traps and the golem's blows, after all.
Even so, the temple was enormous, and by the time I emerged outside, the sun was already hanging low.
“Wait long?”
I descended the temple steps. Seina had been wearing an expression of pure boredom—until she spotted me and broke into a smile.
“Any later and I was coming in after you.”
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. If I hadn't sprinted, things could have gotten very complicated.
“Hey, Gerard. Something about you feels… different?”
I flinched. She'd noticed the change—in what, a couple of hours? Of course. Wolf senses didn't miss much.
“Different how?”
Still, I had no intention of telling her about the Wish just yet. If the chance came later, she'd figure it out naturally. So I played dumb.
“Hmm, I can't quite put my finger on it. Did you get even more handsome or something?”
Seina said it with the grave expression of someone wrestling with a deep philosophical problem, and I couldn't hold back a snort.
“Anything happen while I was gone?”
The Rania Forest was a place where all manner of bizarre things occurred—the temple at my back was proof enough of that.
“Nothing, apart from all the trolls.”
I nodded, reassured.
“Seina, can you find the nearest troll?”
“Of course.”
“Lead the way. There's something I want to test.”
“Sure. It's right over there—straight ahead.”
Seina pointed behind me.
I turned my head, and sure enough, a troll was lumbering toward me, dragging its massive bulk along—not far off at all.
Time to see what this thing can do.
I squeezed my eyes shut and poured every ounce of my focus into the muscles of my legs.
“Maximization.”
My eyes snapped open and I kicked off the ground. Instantly, it felt as though time itself had begun to crawl. With every stride, the scenery tore past in blurred streaks.
GRUOOOH!
In the blink of an eye, I'd closed the distance to the troll. It spotted me and immediately swung a huge fist. The old me couldn't have reacted to that speed in a hundred years.
But the moment I locked my senses onto that fist—
I can see it.
The attack slowed to a lazy, syrupy crawl before my eyes. I tilted my head just slightly, and the troll's fist whisked harmlessly past my ear. Drawing my strength up into my arm, I drove it straight into the creature's solar plexus.
WHAAAAAM!
The impact split the forest, and the troll went flying backward, slamming into a tree in an undignified heap.
Whoa.
I stood there gaping at the spectacle, mouth hanging open in a daze.
The power to push any human sense beyond its limits and unlock a transcendent level of focus. That was the Wish—Maximization.
Say your work was a full week behind. Maximize your concentration, and you could clear a week's backlog in a single hour. Physical ability worked the same way. A journey that would normally take over an hour could be covered in about ten minutes with your muscles maximized.
Still, better not overuse it.
There was a risk to match the power, of course. Since it involved focusing on one single thing with superhuman intensity, chaining it back to back might well drive a person insane—or turn them into an idiot. Using it in careful moderation was the key to avoiding that particular disaster.
Well, I'll figure out the fine details later. Time to head back.
Having felt Maximization's power firsthand, I turned back toward where I'd left Seina.
“!”
The moment I arrived, my pupils blew wide open.
“Seina!”
She lay crumpled on the ground, limp and lifeless. I sprinted to her side, heart hammering.
What the hell happened? Had I picked up some poison in the temple without realizing it? Or had someone attacked her while I was away?
Every terrible possibility flashing through my mind, I lifted her head into my arms.
“Ge… Gerard…”
Seina called my name in a voice barely above a crawl.
GRRRRRUMBLE—
“…I'm hungry.”
“…….”