Vortex (8)
Toltpier’s dungeon was enormous. The entire mountain was the dungeon itself, so anywhere you climbed and stabbed the ground counted as part of it. Naturally, there were countless entrances. The one Barzet had chosen was one people rarely used. In fact, there were no traces of human presence at all. I had to admire how he’d managed to find a place like this.
“At a glance, entering here puts you far from the central area, so the others have no reason to bother with it.”
“Besides, the dungeon’s barrier is the same no matter where you enter.”
I ran my fingers over the barrier for a moment before glancing at Barzet. He stood with his arms crossed, perfectly still. A short while later, one of his companions returned.
“Barzet. No one’s around anywhere.”
“Understood.”
The reconnaissance confirmed there were no signs of people nearby. That settled it. Barzet approached the barrier and pulled a magic tool from his coat. It looked like a key. The moment he pressed it against the barrier, there was a heavy click. The tool slotted in perfectly. He turned it, and the barrier unlocked—a clean five-by-five-meter opening.
Having dispelled the barrier without issue, Barzet said, “Let’s go.”
I stepped inside with Jerry, Leon, Noa, Ferant, and Raizel. Muran and Chris had stayed behind at the inn. I’d considered leaving Noa with them, but he was a second-circle mage now. If I was going to lock him up somewhere safe to raise him, I might as well keep him chained to the workshop until he hit fifth-circle.
Once we were all inside, Barzet lingered by the entrance for a minute. Exactly sixty seconds later, the barrier sealed shut again.
“Good.”
After confirming no one else was slipping in behind us, Barzet’s face lit up with fierce satisfaction. “From here on, we head straight for the deepest part of the labyrinth at full speed.”
“Understood, Captain.”
We now had a strict time limit. The moment the barrier surrounding Toltpier’s dungeon was unlocked with a magic tool, its once-solid structure loosened. It would be far easier for others to break through, and there was no way the beastmen, the Magic Tower, or the imperial mages would miss that opening. The dungeon would likely be fully accessible within a few hours. That meant we had to clear it before anyone else arrived. To be honest, if we clashed head-on with the other factions, we’d be badly outnumbered.
Toltpier’s dungeon followed the classic labyrinth pattern. Barzet clicked his tongue.
“Form up.”
The biggest headache with labyrinth-style dungeons was the narrow passages. You couldn’t make full use of your numbers, so maintaining proper formation was critical. With his long mercenary experience, Barzet clearly understood that.
I took the lead position alongside my companions. As the only fifth-circle (well, sort of) mage in Barzet’s group, I was the most efficient person to handle any sudden crises. It only made sense for me to stand at the front.
I walked forward with my senses sharpened, ready for an ambush.
———.
A faint tremor in the ground made me frown. This was…
Thud.
Something massive dropped from the ceiling ahead. It was a gigantic iron ball.
“Uwaaaaah!”
The mercenaries screamed as the iron sphere that completely filled the passage came rolling toward us at terrifying speed. They scattered in panic, fleeing backward.
I scratched my head. Who installs something like this right near the entrance? These things are supposed to go in passages with no escape route if you want them to be effective.
Rumble.
I summoned a wooden giant scaled to fit the tunnel as closely as possible. The giant, wedged tightly in the passage, braced its stance. The iron ball slammed into it an instant later. The wooden giant was pushed back, cracking and splintering, but the tunnel itself remained undamaged. It must have been magically reinforced. A mere rampaging wooden giant wasn’t enough to break it. Besides, if they hadn’t set up traps like this, people would just dig straight down and clear the dungeon vertically. It was a sensible countermeasure.
The wooden giant, shoved back roughly five meters, slowly began pushing the iron ball forward again. I followed close behind it and spoke to Barzet.
“Your mercenaries really don’t have a shred of loyalty, do they? They all ran off.”
“A mercenary’s loyalty is about keeping contracts, not dying together when things get lethal.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just call them back already.”
“What the hell is this pathetic display, you idiots! Get back here and do your jobs!”
“See? I chose well when I hired them, didn’t I?”
“I’m already feeling like this was the best decision I’ve made all year.”
After pushing the iron ball a little farther, we reached a fork in the path.
“Which way?”
“Left.”
“So we’re sticking to the left-only rule.”
“In a maze, the most dangerous thing you can do is wander around randomly.”
I shoved the iron ball down the right passage and continued down the left. A mechanical creak answered our footsteps. Something that looked like a human-shaped doll stepped into view.
“Automatons. Figures, coming from an alchemist. Even the dungeon guards are on another level.”
“Prepare.”
At Barzet’s command, the mercenaries readied their spells. Multiple elements tore through the air. The automaton didn’t collapse—it charged straight at us. The mercenaries fired again, but every spell scattered harmlessly. It clearly had some kind of magic resistance.
Against this type, physical force was the simplest answer. Swordsmen truly were the best counter.
Shing.
A blade left its sheath. Leon dashed forward lightly and swung his sword in a clean diagonal arc. The automaton split in two and collapsed at an angle.
I clapped. “Sir Leon, you’re surprisingly useful.”
“Now you won’t be able to call me a paladin who only drinks milk.”
“True, true.”
Another fork appeared. Once again we took the left path. As we walked, a new dungeon guardian emerged.
Grrrl.
A chimera whose entire body burned with flames drooled hungrily.
I shielded my eyes from the blazing creature that lit up the dark tunnel and muttered, “Was Toltpier’s dream to become a dungeon master or something?”
“What are you talking about now?”
“Just look at the setup. Iron balls, automatons, chimeras. It’s like he studied every dungeon cliché in existence.”
Barzet answered my question with a shrug. “Didn’t I tell you? Toltpier is a man who carried his childhood dream with him his entire life.”
So the Peter Pan theory was real. Well, he was an eighth-circle archmage. At that point, this level of eccentricity was almost charming.
Fire, huh. Common sense said water-element attacks would be effective, but magic had long since moved past simple natural affinities. That kind of primitive approach had been obsolete for ages.
Devouring it with the flames of predation seemed perfect. I shaped a mouth and teeth onto the lantern flame. Just as I prepared to hurl it and gave Jeogyeng a mental command—
Barzet stepped forward. A swirling stream of water spun in his palm. He flung it outward, and the rotating water followed his gesture, gathering momentum until it became a full vortex. The water whirlwind engulfed the flaming chimera and spun violently. The creature was gradually crushed, compressed by the immense pressure until its entire body shattered. Finally, the broken chimera collapsed to the ground.
Barzet watched it fall and said flatly, “Simple.”
As expected of a fully matured fourth-circle mage. A chimera was nothing to him. Come to think of it, couldn’t he have handled that iron ball by himself earlier?
I licked my lips. I wanted that vortex magic. Actually… my water element’s trait was “Change.” If I did it right, maybe I could copy it?
I turned the spell over in my mind, trying to figure out how to recreate it. The conclusion was that I couldn’t do it yet. I’d need to reach a higher circle first. What a shame.
I scratched my head and picked up the pace. We needed to clear this labyrinth quickly.
And then—
Thud.
Right on cue, something dropped from above. This time it was a steel golem. Before I could even think Iron ball, automaton, chimera, and now a golem? and before Barzet could react, a flaming bullet shot from Jerry’s hand. It pierced straight through the golem’s head and melted the metal. The construct kept moving. Another shot rang out—bang!—and melted its core. This time it stopped completely.
Jerry stood before the fallen golem and dusted off his hands. The band of flame that had wrapped around his fist vanished.
Even though all Jerry ever seems to do is light cigarettes, he’s a fully matured fourth-circle mage. It wouldn’t be strange if he broke through to fifth-circle at any moment.
As he walked past the golem, Jerry called out, “Let’s move.”
“Understood.”
Barzet gave a casual reply and followed after him.
While walking beside Barzet, I replayed the earlier scene in my head. The moment the golem appeared. The element that had briefly formed and then vanished in Barzet’s hand. It had definitely been fire. Did he have dual aptitude for both water and flame? He was far too talented to be rotting away as a mercenary. If he’d received proper training, he probably would have reached fifth-circle years ago.
…….
I shook off the chain of thoughts. Something about it bothered me, but now wasn’t the time. Dungeon exploration came first.
After walking a while longer, a massive cavern opened up before us.
“A lake?”
The enormous space looked like an underground lake. We eyed the body of water in the center warily for a moment before cautiously approaching. There was nothing there—no monsters, no guards, no traps.
Barzet spoke. “Looks like a rest area.”
“He even made a shelter? This guy really went all out.”
The whole layout made it painfully clear just how much Toltpier loved dungeons.
“Which way now?”
Eight passages branched off from the lake. After a brief pause, Barzet pointed straight ahead. Better to follow a set rule than waste time agonizing over every choice.
We decided against resting and immediately continued our exploration. That was when a powerful wave of mana swept through the entire dungeon.
“It’s begun.”
Barzet quickened his steps. I hurried after him. Now that the barrier was down, it was a race against time. Whoever reached the deepest part of the dungeon first would win. To come out on top, we needed to move without hesitation.