Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: 11. First Collaboration (2)
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There was nothing special about the dungeon entrance itself.
After descending the stairs, the dark path split into two branches.
Brian's group, who had followed hesitantly, hurried into the right path as soon as they came down.
"Mr. Ian!"
Helena spoke up, tense yet strangely excited.
"Yes."
"I'm worried about one thing!"
"What is it?"
"Um... won't it be dangerous in clothes like these?!"
At McDullin Abbey, Helena had worn plate armor.
A design that only covered essential areas like the chest, arms, shoulders, and fronts of the legs.
But now, she was dressed in a black nun's habit.
A slightly modified version of the standard design by the tailor—form-fitting yet stretchy, with a long slit in the skirt for easy movement.
But the real key wasn't just the ease of movement.
"Those are enchanted."
"...Pardon?"
"Nye?"
"Yes?"
All three reacted with surprise at once.
"...Did you really think I'd just throw some cheap cloth outfits on you and send you into battle?"
"Y-Yes! Honestly, that's exactly what I thought!"
"You're being too straightforward lately. I like it, though."
Vivian glanced down at her own clothes.
She was wearing the white mage's robe tailored for her.
"Vivian's is the same. Grade 4 hardening and environmental adaptation enchants. Tougher than most plate armor."
"......"
Iris alternated her gaze between Helena and Vivian's outfits.
"Grade 4 enchants at the temporary hero stage... The captain called you an impressive manager, but you're no ordinary person."
She must not have been told that I was the former 1st Hero Party manager.
Or maybe she was told but didn't know.
"How strong is grade 4?!"
Iris took over the explanation.
She pushed up her glasses with a smug air, eyes sparkling—she seemed to love explaining things.
"Enchants start at grade 9, the lowest, and quality improves as the number drops. Prices skyrocket exponentially. So grade 4 might sound mid-tier, but in reality, only official heroes—C-rank or higher—can even consider it. And two of them? That's top-tier C-rank."
Helena and Vivian looked down at their clothes with newfound appreciation.
Helena suddenly raised her weapon and asked,
"Th-Then, maybe these too...!"
She held a kite shield and mace.
Nothing special about them.
"No, not those."
"I see!"
Vivian had gotten a good one as a casual gift from the tailor, but I had no intention of investing in gear from the start.
Skill had to come first.
Still, safety first, so the clothes were top-notch.
"Alright, let's go."
"Yes! Oh, sorry! I held us up! If we don't hurry, they'll beat us to—"
"Don't worry about that."
"Pardon?"
"We might arrive late, but the magic stones are ours for sure."
And the artifact too.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The dungeon's paths formed an 'A' shape.
Each party started separately and met at the end.
A large stone door marked the joining point, beyond which lay the boss room.
The first party to arrive could open the door and fight the boss, but that wasn't the key here.
You couldn't kill the boss without meeting specific conditions.
Ian knew those hidden conditions, while the opponents almost certainly didn't.
So Ian proceeded leisurely, deploying only Helena—like Vivian's first dungeon—to help her adapt to real combat.
Strong alone, even stronger together. That was his philosophy.
"Vivian, practice that spell you can't quite do yet from the back."
"Got it."
Iris asked questions politely, without getting in the way.
She was curious by nature, like a scholar, and having lived mostly in labs, the fieldwork fascinated her.
Ian could sense her careful respect, so he answered as best he could.
Did all heroes train like this? Why was Ian special? What varied between dungeons? And so on.
No reason to mistreat someone who might invent warp portals.
Meanwhile, Helena handled all the enemies.
A wooden golem stood before her, one Ian had warned her about.
Taller than Helena by half her height, it fought by morphing wooden limbs into human-like polearms.
Helena didn't need to fight fancy like Vivian.
Just block and exploit openings.
Ian expected her to leverage that miracle of protection.
One condition, though.
The wooden golem swung down its axe-morphed arm at Helena.
Shield raised, she watched the motion to the end.
Just before the axe blade hit—
Now!
She activated protection at the perfect timing.
-Boom!
Blocked, the golem bellowed and toppled backward.
Helena deactivated and rushed in to finish it.
Vivian hadn't mastered her new spell yet, so Ian taught Helena a special trick.
Activate protection only when needed, deactivate immediately after.
Not much of a technique, but freely toggling it conserved mana and bothered teammates less.
Helena advanced faithfully to Ian's teaching: "Block, then strike."
-Boom!
Just striking the protection made the golem lose balance and fall.
This was the talent Ian saw in her.
The innate miracle of protection.
An unreasonable rebound that disrupted the attacker's stance.
This is...
-Boom!
My talent...
Every time a golem stumbled on her protection.
Every time she crushed foes so easily.
Every time she unleashed the talent Ian discovered.
A hot emotion surged in her chest.
This is what Ian saw in me...
Proving her worth, showing her talent.
Etching deeper that Ian recognized her—and recognizing her own value.
Helena turned, catching her breath.
Iris was scribbling notes in awe.
Vivian grunted, still struggling with her spell.
Ian watched Helena with a satisfied smile, nodded when their eyes met.
"Well done. Just keep it up like that today."
"Yes! Thank you!"
Helena pressed on.
Soon, two wooden golems appeared at once.
Helena stayed calm, coolly assessing them.
Calm to an extent that surprised even her.
Two targets... Different weapons. One short sword. The other a long spear.
Don't get complacent with simple block-and-counter patterns.
Constantly analyze foes and self.
She recalled Ian's advice.
Combat is won in your head first...
The reach difference meant a timing gap in attacks.
Negligible, anyway.
Just keep protection up and block calmly one by one.
Ian said stick to the basics, but no.
She wanted more.
To do better.
Today was no different.
Hard work wasn't enough.
She had to excel.
And today, she felt she truly could.
"Hya!"
Helena rolled between the two golems.
Closer to the short-weapon one.
Both swung immediately.
Crouched, she raised her shield and timed protection perfectly.
-Kaboom!
As both struck and toppled,
She rose, smashed one with her mace, then slammed the kite shield's bottom into the other.
-Crunch!
Block together, end together.
The mental flow became reality.
"Hoo, haa..."
Breath ragged.
Not from fatigue.
From joy.
Elation, confidence, indescribable happiness filling her heart to bursting.
Helena turned to Ian.
His face showed slight surprise.
Not just met expectations—surpassed them.
She could tell.
"Iaaaaan—!"
"Why are you charging agai—oof!"
Helena lunged impulsively, throwing herself at Ian.
"H-How was that?! This is it! This is what you expected from me! Right?! Right?!"
"Not exactly a tackle, but... yes. Honestly, that was way beyond my expectations."
"Waaah—!"
Ian recalled Vivian's first King Slime fight.
Drawing the slime horde by running, then standing still to target the nucleus.
Helena closing the reach gap by sticking close and resolving both at once.
Both far stronger in real combat.
Maybe he should retract calling Helena slow on the uptake. He pondered seriously.
A very pleasant dilemma.
Meanwhile, Vivian felt a twinge of unease.
*
"Looks like we got here first?"
Eileen said, standing before the large stone door.
Brian, Dominic, and Claudia flanked her.
They'd reached the boss door without much trouble.
Claudia glanced at the path Vivian's group should take and shook her head.
"Even if they're good, just two people. No surprise."
Two versus four.
Numerically double, but teamwork amplified it far more.
Brian clicked his tongue.
"Tch. Truth is, that weird maid crushed us back then. Not like that Vivian bitch did anything."
All agreed.
Thinking of that maid still made them want to wet themselves.
Vivian evoked some lingering fear too, but less so.
No one wanted to remember their pathetic state, so they blustered tougher.
"What the hell happened with you guys?"
Even the manager got no straight answers.
"Ah, just bumped into an old acquaintance and said hi."
Dominic brushed it off.
"Whatever it was, no incidents... That Ian guy's scary."
"Just some manager trash..."
"Sorry you're the same trash. And he managed the 1st Party? Famous for bad reasons too..."
"Why's a guy like that here? Probably got fired for being useless."
"Sigh... Never mind."
They'd cleared faster than the opponents, so the manager held her tongue.
Brian boldly opened the stone door.
A vast cavern revealed itself, with the boss monster in the center.
A massive wooden golem over twice a sturdy man's height.
"...What?"
The problem: five of them.
"Wh... why so many?"
"Don't golem dungeons usually have one boss?"
"H-How should I know? Guild surveyors weren't even sent before we took the commission."
"Five or whatever, take 'em one by one."
Brian stepped forward confidently.
The others were rattled but shared the sentiment.
They were temporary heroes, soon to be D-rank.
This was E-grade; Vivian was fresh F-rank by comparison.
Four positioned against five giant wooden golems.
Dozens of minutes later.
"What the... these things won't even scratch!"
"You casting spells right?!"
"Shut up! You're just weak!"
No matter how they fought, the five bosses took zero damage.
*
As the A-shape suggested, a connecting midpoint existed midway.
Usually overlooked—empty.
But Ian knew the hidden path there.
Destroying its barrier stone was required to damage the boss.
A B-rank hero could brute-force it maybe. Below that? Impossible.
Ian tapped the floor center with his foot.
Vivian and Helena mimicked, having heard from him.
Iris, clueless, watched the trio tap comically.
"What's this... some ritual?"
"No. This dungeon..."
"Ah! Found it!"
Vivian shouted.
Her taps echoed hollowly.
Ian stomped hard; the floor caved, big enough for one person.
"I'll go first. Follow."
"Wh-What is this?"
Iris adjusted her glasses in bewilderment.
"Hidden path. Can't clear without it."
Ian dropped down casually.
Helena, Vivian, Iris followed.
Narrow passage for one at a time.
"How do you know this, Mr. Ian?!"
"Yeah, guild said they didn't even know."
"Hm... Lots of experience exploring similar dungeons."
Memory Correction recall, but not a lie.
He'd cleared plenty of hidden dungeons like this.
The path widened into a round chamber.
A fist-sized, uneven gem embedded in the floor center.
Iris asked,
"What's this?"
"Barrier stone for the boss monsters. Pull it like this..."
Ian yanked it; the faint glow vanished.
"Now we can clear the dungeon."
"Oho... Wondering the magical principle... If not rude, could I...?"
"Take it."
No monetary value.
Ian had no interest in researching; needed labs anyway.
Useless to him.
Might spark Iris's inventions, so he handed it over gladly.
"Thank you! I'll report your contribution to the imperial mage corps!"
"No need to go that far..."
The group pressed on to the path's end: another stone door.
Beyond: the boss cavern's side entrance.
"Five of them?"
"And huge! The dungeon's final foes!"
Brian's group teetered on collapse before the five wooden golems.
Ian pondered briefly.
Combat ineffective. No way they'll clear now. More training...?
"Mr. Ian! Like before?"
"I'm ready."
"Hm... One condition."
They'd practiced and bonded individually, but no teamwork drills.
Time for their first real cooperation training.
"Truth is, Vivian could wipe those five solo. But then what's the point of teaming up?"
"Right!"
"So synchronize and fight together."
"Synchronize... you mean?"
"Hm... Never tried, but..."
Vivian and Helena exchanged glances, then looked to Ian.
"We'll do it!"
"Yes."
Ian says, they obey.
No doubts.
First time, but not clueless.
Ian had drilled theory: positions, actions in combat.
"I'll lead!"
"Okay. Stay safe, Helena."
Vivian scanned the cavern first.
"...Pretty dark."
Not as bad as the King Slime room, but dim.
"I'll light it."
Vivian raised her staff.
*
Brian's group wearied against unyielding foes.
When Vivian's party emerged from the cavern side, they thought it a trick of the eye.
A door there?
How'd they get through?
All judged them useless from then on.
Had they come sooner and teamed up, no one would've gotten hurt.
What could Vivian do here?
As they sneered and plotted escape—
Vivian raised her staff.
A massive light bloomed in the cavern center.
Blindingly bright, enormous.
Toward the dazed four barely holding on.
Helena and Vivian strode forward steadily.