Chapter 22: Underground Dungeon (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 22: Underground Dungeon (3)
Monsterology is a mandatory subject taught throughout elementary, middle, and high school.
It isn't a subject with its own exams, but anyone with their head screwed on straight wouldn't dare neglect it.
Even in modern society, where technological advancements allow us to predict when Gates will form, deaths caused by monsters are a constant occurrence.
It's something that happens from time to time, even in the capitals of developed nations.
No matter how many hunters, heroes, mages, and superhumans are stationed there, misfortune is unavoidable.
Much like knowing the Heimlich maneuver or basic self-defense, ordinary people who couldn't fight monsters needed to be well-versed in general knowledge about them to survive the misfortune that might one day befall them.
Grrrrr...
I remembered seeing the bipedal, muscular, dog-like creature in my textbooks.
“...Kobold Warrior.”
Kobolds, along with goblins, are known to be such weak(?) monsters that even an armed civilian could supposedly kill one.
However, even among such monsters, there were special individuals known as 'elite specimens,' famous for boasting far superior performance than others of their species.
The most famous and notoriously vicious of them all was the Kobold Warrior, which wielded a greatsword with ease.
Its rank was D+. If you were to ask if that made it an easy opponent, the answer would be, 'I have no idea.'
This was my first time facing a monster. A D+ rank meant nothing to me; until recently, I was just an ordinary person.
“Something like that showing up right from the start is a bit much.”
Despite the complaint that slipped out, every fiber of my being was already braced for a fight.
The Kobold Warrior was the same. It gripped its greatsword, poised to charge at any moment, heightening the tension.
“Weakness Insight.”
Whoosh— The moment I activated the skill, an intangible wave swept over the creature.
Just as I'd expected, the weaknesses the skill revealed were only the obvious ones for any living creature: the brain, heart, and lungs.
“So much for an Epic-grade skill...!”
Kuaaaaaah!!!
Seeing me stand still, the Kobold Warrior must have decided the probing phase was over, because it immediately charged at me.
The distance between us was short—less than thirty meters.
Even on two legs, a dog was still a dog, and it was much faster than a human.
The Deerhound, the breed with the fastest short-distance sprint, boasts a speed of 64 kilometers per hour.
Of course, that didn't mean the Kobold Warrior was that fast. But it was close, and in the blink of an eye, its greatsword was swinging at my head.
CRASH!!
The barrier and the greatsword collided with a deafening roar and a shower of sparks.
The creature clearly hadn't expected a barrier; the moment its attack was blocked, a look of bewilderment flashed across its face.
“Die.”
Before I knew it, my Wood Wand was aimed at its head.
A moment later, a magic circle glowing with red light appeared at the tip of the wand.
“Fire Spear.”
A straight, compressed blast of fire pierced the Kobold Warrior right between the eyes, incinerating its entire head.
Taking fatal damage, the Kobold Warrior collapsed, its scorched brains splattering across the floor.
“Hoo...”
Anyone watching would have called it an anticlimactic battle, over in the blink of an eye.
But for me, it had been a fierce struggle on the brink of life and death.
What if I hadn't cast the barrier the moment I saw it?
What if it could sense magic and knew I had a barrier up?
What if its first attack was a feint, with another one ready to follow?
What if my barrier didn't have enough magic to block its downward slash?
If even one of those things had gone wrong, I'd be the one lying on the floor right now.
The thought made cold sweat stream down my back.
“The magic consumption is insane...”
I'd poured too much magic into the barrier, and the same went for the Fire Spear.
As a result, I had less than half my magic left.
I had no choice but to dump my remaining magic into a barrier and take some time to meditate, absorbing mana from nature to recover.
Even with my buff for magic self-assimilation, recovering magic quickly without meditating was difficult.
I had absorbed a massive amount of mana with the resolve to die when I reached the 2nd Circle, but I couldn't risk that now.
I had to take it in slowly, little by little, only as much as my body could handle.
It would take about thirty minutes to replenish my magic. I ground my teeth at the thought of having spent so much energy on the very first fight.
Tiring-
[You have defeated the Kobold Warrior]
[First Kill Reward: 100 Coins]
“...They said this was a fucking dating app.”
I felt like the app's identity was getting more and more bizarre.
*
My exploration of the dungeon continued, mapping as I went.
And, of course, so did the battles with monsters.
Kieeeek!!!
A Poison Spider, a creature that melted its prey's limbs with acidic venom before devouring it alive.
Its rank was D+, same as the Kobold Warrior.
I had a tough time with it, as it shattered my barrier twice in a row with forelegs sharp enough to cut steel. But I seized the moment it spat its venom, dodged by rolling forward, and dove under it to unleash a multi-shot fireball.
True to its insect nature, it couldn't overcome its weakness to fire and burned to death, leaving behind a horrible stench.
[You have defeated the Poison Spider]
[First Kill Reward: 100 Coins]
This time, I only used thirty percent of my magic.
It was encouraging—a clear improvement from the last battle, where a single barrier and one attack spell had cost me more than half my magic.
Once the fight was over, a wave of extreme fatigue washed over me.
I quenched my thirst with some water, ate some chocolate for the sugar, and set off again.
They called it the 1st Layer, but true to its purpose as a place for sealing and storing the World Tree's holy relic, the path kept forking.
And with them came traps.
The first trap I encountered was a classic: step on a pressure plate, and arrows shoot out from the walls.
“Fucking hurts.”
The word 'classic' also means it's effective for a reason.
I did my best to dodge, but an arrow still lodged itself in my shoulder.
Fortunately, it wasn't poisoned.
After applying some basic first aid, I started walking again. For the record, mages can't use healing magic. That ability is the exclusive domain of priests.
Before long, the path split again.
This time, into three.
“This is driving me crazy.”
[Remaining Matching Time: 09:12:41]
About two hours had passed since I'd entered the dungeon.
Considering I'd already passed three forks in the road to get this far, you could say my progress had been pretty smooth.
But it was also proof of just how vast this dungeon was.
I had no idea how much time I'd have to spend just to clear the 1st Layer.
Of course, this wasn't the kind of dungeon with hidden treasure chests, so all I had to do was find the path to the 2nd Layer. The problem was, that path could have been down one of the forks I'd already passed.
“Does it make sense that she doesn't even know the layout of the dungeon she made?”
Truthfully, even as I complained, I knew I'd come here for my own growth, so wandering around as much as possible was actually for the best.
“Let's just keep going for now.”
I had the option of turning back to check the other paths I'd passed.
But that didn't seem like a good choice.
Just like there's a rule for escaping a maze—pick a wall, left or right, and stick to it—I figured exploring a dungeon wasn't much different.
I decided to press forward as far as I could.
“What's that...”
For the record, the torches lighting the dungeon corridors only lit up around me.
Meaning, the torches automatically extinguished as I moved away from them.
The range was about fifty meters.
This meant that, unless I was at a fork, that was the limit of my visibility.
And right now, something was emerging from the darkness fifty meters ahead.
“You've got to be kidding me.”
Krarararak!!
Kuaaaar!!
What appeared from the edge of the darkness were two Kobold Warriors.
No, to be precise, they were slightly different.
One of them held a greatsword, just like the one I'd fought before, but the other held a bow.
And my fears became reality.
Once they spotted me, they let out savage roars. Only the one with the greatsword charged.
The one with the bow, naturally, dropped to one knee and prepared to fire.
“They're fighting so fucking dirty!”
I had about sixty percent of my magic left. What was the best move?
To take out the swordsman while keeping the archer in check.
But that was easier said than done.
CLANG!
“Kuh?!”
The downward slash of the greatsword shattered my barrier.
It closed the fifty-meter distance in an instant.
Of course, blocking it wasn't the hard part. The barrier had shattered because I'd formed it with just enough magic to avoid waste.
But there was a problem.
Thwack-
“Fu-uck...!!”
The moment the greatsword shattered my barrier, an arrow shot through the opening and pierced my thigh.
If this had been a one-on-one fight, I would have used the opening when the barrier broke to incinerate its head, just like before.
But this was two-on-one.
A searing pain, far more intense than the arrow in my shoulder from the trap, shot through me.
Still, I had to move. As I faltered, the swordsman regained its footing and charged at me again.
'Barrier...!'
CRASH!!
The greatsword crashed down again, and the barrier shattered.
The problem was that I'd created it in a hurry, so it consumed more magic than I'd expected.
Pushed back by the force of its attack, I had unconsciously invested more magic into the barrier than before.
My momentary mistake left me flustered, but only for a second. This time, an arrow was flying straight for my face.
The arrow was already within arm's reach.
How much time did I have before it pierced my skull? 0.1 seconds? 0.01?
In this extreme situation, my thoughts accelerated.
There wasn't much time.
I gathered every ounce of my focus and concentrated on the barrier spell.
The basics of modified magic focus on simple changes in output, like firepower, range, and speed.
But what if I took it one step further?
Ting!
“Fire Sword.”
A sword of fire erupted from my wand, bisecting the greatsword-wielding creature.
The creature's bisected corpse and the arrow that had ricocheted off my barrier now lay scattered on the floor.
“...Hey.”
Krrk...?
I had altered the barrier's magic circle, creating a shield just large enough to cover the space between my eyes instead of my entire body.
The result was a drastic reduction in both casting time and magic consumption.
“Having fun shooting arrows from the back?”
It took me less than three minutes to finish off the remaining Kobold Warrior.