Immovable Barrier (2)

Under a contract we'd rammed through with nothing but money, I sat down with the adventure party to go over the particulars of the job.

Rodin, who had been listening in silence, echoed it back in a flustered tone.

"So... you're saying you intend to turn over every last peak in the Tyrell Mountains?"

"That's right."

Even I had to admit it sounded completely ridiculous. There was no helping it, though. Unlike Super Regeneration, that was all I remembered of the terrain where the Immovable Barrier was hidden. Somewhere on a peak in the mountain range... and it had probably been canyon country. If I went and looked around in person, I might get a feel for it — but at the moment, nothing else came to mind. Finding this Mystery was going to take far more grinding than Super Regeneration had ever demanded. The one small mercy, if it could be called that, was that the Tyrell Mountains were still a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠smaller range than the Luthers Mountain Range.

"If we assume we'll have to visit every canyon on every peak of the Tyrell Mountains, how long do you think it would take?"

Rodin let out a low groan before answering.

"It's so vague I honestly can't get a handle on it... but if I had to put a number on it, we'd be looking at two weeks at the very least, wouldn't we?"

Two weeks. The truth was, the whole thing was every bit as vague as he'd said. We'd only know once we actually did it.

Rodin opened his mouth again.

"Might I ask who you are, my lord?"

A client who'd dumped a fortune on the table out of nowhere and asked for a mountain guide. Of course he'd be curious about my identity. I gave him a suitably vague answer.

"I'm from a house in another city nearby. I'd rather not go into the details of my origins."

"...Then for what reason do you wish to climb the Tyrell Mountains?"

"There's something I'm looking for."

"Looking for what, exactly?"

"That's a bit difficult to say as well."

"Ah... I see."

A brief silence settled over the table. Judging by their faces, Rodin and his party hadn't expected a guiding job to look anything like this. They looked rather troubled.

I pulled a coin purse from my coat and laid gold coins on the table five or six at a time. Their eyes locked onto the pile growing there.

"I'll give you thirty gold right now as an advance. I know it isn't easy work, but the pay more than makes up for it, doesn't it?"

"..."

"If you still can't take the job, well, there's nothing I can do about it. So. Will you do it?"

Rodin hesitated, exchanging glances with his party, then finally nodded.

"Will it just be the two of you climbing the mountains?"

Rodin asked, looking between me and Ashel standing behind me. I nodded. He nodded as well and briefly introduced himself and his party in turn.

"I'm Rodin, leader of the Blue Fox Adventure Party. And in order from here: Arma, Lude, Bexter, Sien..."

Two men — one with sword and shield, the other with a spear — a woman carrying a bow, a woman with no weapons who looked to be a mage, and Rodin himself. Five in all.

The woman with the bow, the one called Sien, grinned as she stared at the gold piled on the table, then said with a smile,

"Honestly, there aren't any other adventurers around here who know the Tyrell Mountains as well as we do. You really came to the right people, young master."

"Look at that crazy bitch. Gold-drunk again..."

The man sitting next to her — Lude — muttered it under his breath, and promptly got smacked across the back. I gave them my name just as simply.

"Ron. This is Ashel, my escort."

"Yes. Well, we'll be in your care."

And so Rodin's Blue Fox Adventure Party accepted the job.

I could have left immediately, but they needed time to prepare, so we took one extra day. We agreed to meet the adventure party early the next morning in front of the city's eastern gate. There was no particular need for Varos to come along, so he stayed behind at the inn while only Ashel accompanied me.

"Let's go, then."

"..."

As I stepped out of the inn room, I could feel Ashel looking at me with a peculiar gaze. More precisely, she was staring at the bow and arrows I'd packed. The question in her eyes — why on earth are you bringing those — was easy enough to read, but I ignored it. Who knew whether we'd run into some unimaginable danger again, the way we had with Bellebagora? Even the slightest complacency could lead to death at any moment. Preparing everything you could prepare was the proper attitude for surviving in this brutal world.

"You've arrived."

We met the adventure party waiting at the gate and headed straight for the Tyrell Mountains.

The Tyrell Mountains. If you had to pick one defining feature of this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠range, it was that there were an enormous number of orcs. Orcs were common monsters you could find anywhere, but they were especially abundant here. Still, they topped out around level twenty, so there was no need to worry about safety.

A few hours after we'd started climbing, I — now possessing Super Regeneration — no longer ran out of stamina, and could keep pace with the adventure party for as long as I wanted.

And before long, we ran into a pack of orcs.

A guttural cry rose from the brush. Huge, green-skinned monsters burst out of the undergrowth, approaching with low growls. They looked exactly as they had in the game. Eight of them in total. Some carried rusted iron swords or spears.

"These bastards have lost their minds, coming this far down to hunt?"

Rodin and his party didn't hesitate. They stepped forward and started butchering the orcs. Those with blades and spears fought in front while arrows and magic supported from the rear. Ashel and I simply watched. With Rodin, who was over level thirty, among them, the fight was over in no time.

We took a brief rest and made small talk with the adventurers.

"Orcs are smarter than you'd think. Even seasoned adventurers can get herded and killed if they slip up. Those weapons the ones we just met were carrying? They originally belonged to other adventurers."

"I see."

I already knew that, of course. Orcs lived in tribal communities, so among monsters they were on the intelligent side. Since I was a good listener, the adventurers kept talking.

"Do you know how an orc Monster Wave happens?"

"It occurs when a mutated king appears, doesn't it? Rarely."

"Yes, so you already knew. Normally they're too vicious to gather in large numbers, but when a king is born they all unite under him and become an absolute catastrophe."

A Monster Wave. As the name suggested, it referred to a phenomenon where a massive horde of monsters came crashing in like a tidal wave. There were various causes, and one of them was the extremely rare mutant known as a King, born among monsters. Species that produced kings included orcs and lizardmen, among others. When a king was born, an overwhelming army of anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of monsters could form and invade human territory.

If it's an Orc King, ones over level seventy have shown up before, haven't they?

Anyway, those Monster Waves had been major events that occurred fairly often in the game's story as well.

We finished our rest and started moving again.

It had been nearly a week since we'd started combing the Tyrell Mountains. True to their word, the adventure party guided us to our destinations without getting lost. But even after searching several peaks and canyons, I still hadn't found the Mystery.

Even as I walked, I kept digging through my memories.

It was canyon terrain, that much is certain.

Not a narrow one — I remembered it being fairly wide, with relatively gentle slopes on the cliffs to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠either side. Not perfectly sure, though. None of the canyons we'd passed so far matched my memory. And what else had there been...

"A canyon."

Rodin said it as he looked at the scene coming into view ahead. This was the fifth canyon we'd encountered.

"..."

Wait. Hold on... Something about the shape of this canyon roughly matched my hazy memory, and I narrowed my eyes.

I was scanning the canyon, shifting my gaze quickly, when a commotion broke out around us. Orcs again. This time it wasn't a handful — dozens of them burst out, and Rodin and his party members frowned.

"...There's quite a few this time."

"They're still just orc bastards, no matter how many. One big spell, if you please, Arma."

As always, Rodin and his party prepared for battle. Still, with the numbers this high, their faces were tense. They always charged in first, as if determined to earn their commission... but.

"Ashel."

"Yes."

"Take them all out."

In a situation where something was on the tip of my memory, these orcs were a serious nuisance. At my word, Ashel drew her sword and swung it at the slowly approaching horde.

A massive blue sword-aura erupted from her blade, and the orcs' bodies were cleaved in two all at once. Rodin and his party, who had been about to join the fight, went slack-jawed at the sight.

"Uh, uhh..."

With the canyon quiet again, I kept looking around, pulling at my memories. Then something clicked, and I hurried off in one direction. Ashel followed behind me.

...That's it.

It was definitely around here. Just as I had when searching for Super Regeneration, I moved along the cliff face, examining it, then stopped dead at a certain point and looked up. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠convex cliff face high overhead, and a single tree standing alone at the edge. The footage of the player who had obtained the Immovable Barrier had definitely shown this exact composition.

"Ashel, smash this wall."

When Ashel destroyed the wall, rubble tumbled down in a roar and a passage appeared inside. An old stone staircase leading to a lower floor. Looking at it, I broke into a grin of pure joy.

Found it at last.

This was the dungeon where the Mystery of the Immovable Barrier was hidden. Rodin and the other party members came over, saw the entrance, and their eyes went round. I told them,

"Wait here for a bit."

Leaving them behind, I headed inside down the stairs with Ashel.

Holding the luminous stone I'd brought, we advanced through the dark passage by its light. Along both sides of the old, wide corridor that stretched in a straight line stood enormous stone statues, and Ashel looked them over with a slightly tense expression.

Dungeons were, at their core, artificial spaces created by ancient mages. There were traps, and sometimes guardians that protected them. But I wasn't worried, and kept walking forward. When I'd watched the playthrough video, this dungeon had, for some reason, already been broken — there were no traps or guardians or anything of the sort. There would be no danger until we reached the Mystery of the Immovable Barrier hidden in the innermost chamber.

When we reached the end of the corridor, a massive door appeared.

"...Hm."

I stopped at a distance. Right in front of the door leading inside, blocking the way, stood one of those same enormous stone statues that had lined both sides of the corridor.

That one's nothing special either.

It was a statue that wouldn't even move anyway, so I started walking again. Ashel could just smash it all and we'd go inside... wait.

...Why does that thing have a level showing?

Seeing the level floating above the statue's head, I sensed something was wrong and stopped again. Suddenly a blue light flickered in the statue's eyes. They snapped open, and it swung the spear it was holding.

A massive surge of blue energy roared past, grazing right beside me, and a chill ran down my spine. Then an inorganic voice flowed from the statue.

...What the hell is this? Are you kidding me?

Wasn't this supposed to be a dungeon with no guardians?

I looked down in confusion. Now that I looked, there were gouged marks like a line on the floor. Cross this and it attacks? Just like when I'd encountered Bellebagora, another unexpected situation left me speechless. We'd come all this way the hard way, and now this again?

A low rumble rolled through the corridor. Sensing that the energy pouring from the statue was no joke, Ashel's expression beside me went rigid. Looking at the level alone, it was far higher than Ashel's, so her fighting it was impossible. I thought to myself.

...Does Instant Kill work on golems?

That guardian was clearly a magic golem, created by magic. Technically it was closer to an inanimate object than a living being — whether Instant Kill would work was questionable. But I had no other options, so I'd have to at least try. Then again, it was a unique 10-star skill. Surely it wouldn't fail just because it was a golem?

I pulled out one of the arrows I'd brought, scraped my palm to smear blood on it, nocked it on the string, and took aim at the thing.

Ashel swallowed hard as she stared at the stone statue pouring out enormous mana from up ahead. If she went all out, could she win? She tried to gauge it, but she had no confidence. What even was this dungeon-like space supposed to be? And what was that monster?

She had considerable confidence in her own skill, and among her clan she'd always been called a genius — but somehow, traveling with the Seventh Lord, she kept running into opponents she simply couldn't handle.

"...?"

She suddenly looked to the side. The Seventh Lord had nocked an arrow and was aiming it at the golem.

When he released the string, the flying arrow struck the statue's torso and bounced off weakly. As she stared blankly at that, he muttered as if disappointed.

"I was trying to hit the head. Still a long way to go."

...What on earth is he doing right now?

A question rose as he seemed to be playing around, completely at odds with the situation. Then the Seventh Lord spoke again.

"Get lost already, you lump of rock. Stop blocking the path."

And at that same moment, the statue lost its balance and collapsed to the floor with a heavy crash. Ashel's eyes went wide with shock at the sight. The Seventh Lord slung the bow back over his shoulder and said,

"Let's go inside."

"..."

Ashel stared blankly at his back as he walked forward with light steps, then belatedly followed.