Chapter 161: Process of Growth
Chapter 161: Process of Growth
As we walked on, a series of complex, tangled paths came into view. I proceeded slowly, carefully tracing each path one by one, feeling as if I were untangling a knotted skein of thread. Before I knew it, the caravan had passed Point 5 and was entering the area corresponding to Point 6.
“Geez, Ahn Sol. Stop fiddling with that. Do you like it that much?”
“Hehe. I can’t help it, it’s so nice. Do you like your earrings too, Unni?”
“…Yeah. They’re nice. I feel a little lighter, too.”
I could hear Lee Yoojung and Ahn Sol chattering behind me. The party members who hadn’t received any items were following along quietly, but those two couldn’t seem to hide their excitement. Only Hayeon, sensing the mood, kept her mouth shut. Still, I didn’t try to stop them. Obtaining two pieces of equipment from the prosperous era of the ancient Hall Plain was certainly an encouraging development.
According to my research, the ancient Hall Plain was a continent where magic had developed to an incredible degree. In terms of pure magic, its level was likely far beyond what we had now. Of course, with modern knowledge from Earth, we were creating and developing amazing new spells recognized as “settings,” like “Applied Magic Circuits,” but those were merely additions. I was confident that the foundational magic of the past was of a higher level.
The items we had just acquired were proof of that. It wasn’t that we couldn’t create magic equipment in the present, but crafting items of this quality was a distant dream. At best, we could only create things with similar effects; in terms of performance, the gap was enormous. This was why Users were so desperate to explore ruins. Excavating ruins offered the highest chance of obtaining equipment from the ancient Hall Plain.
In any case, you could say Ahn Sol was the one who really hit the jackpot. The fact that it was exclusive to Priests was a bit of a shame, but there was nothing I could do about that. The description I’d read with Third Eye included the message: An item devised and created in a temple for priests, who were vulnerable to close-quarters combat or surprise attacks, during the age of the ancient Hall Plain. Whether it was made that way because it was designed for priests from the start, or as a minimal safety measure in case the orb was stolen, I couldn’t know. But since we had it, there was no problem using it efficiently.
Before long, we had fully entered the area of Point 6. The undead had vanished after Point 5, but we couldn’t let our guard down. From here on, undead far more powerful and dangerous than the ones we’d faced before would appear. If we were unlucky, we might even run into another lich like the one we met at the entrance to the Blue Mountain Range.
Some time had passed since we left Point 5. As I was constantly scanning the area with Sensing, I suddenly felt a strange sensation at the edge of its range. It felt as if my Sensing was being devoured by something. I stopped in my tracks and signaled for the party to halt.
“Did you detect something?”
I shook my head at Ko Yeonju’s question. About 200 meters ahead, there was an area my Sensing couldn’t reach. That meant there was some kind of wave blocking magic power, like a barrier or something similar. The only way to find out was to get closer and check with Third Eye. I slowed our pace and began to move forward again. The others must have read my serious expression, as I could hear them preparing themselves.
After walking for about eight minutes while remaining vigilant, a large, circular clearing came into view up ahead. The entrance to the passage limited our view, but I could still guess that it was wide enough to be a plaza.
And in the center of that plaza, a black, malevolent energy was settling over it in billowing clouds.
“That’s a murky aura, enough to make you shudder.”
“If we go in there carelessly, it might be like that other clearing…”
The rest of the party frowned at the sight. The aura was so thick that even when I instinctively focused my magic power to enhance my vision, I couldn’t see through it. I took a breath and immediately activated Third Eye. As I peered inside, a low groan escaped my lips. Within the black smoke, a massive horde of monsters was swarming.
I held my breath for a moment before speaking quietly.
“I think there’s a trap in the plaza. It’s still not showing up on Sensing, but seeing all that murky energy gathered there, it won’t be easy. We have two choices here.”
“Go in, or go around.”
The perceptive Ko Yeonju immediately caught my meaning. I nodded at her answer and turned slightly to face the party.
“Just as User Ko Yeonju said. We can either break through head-on and smash the trap, or we can turn back and find another path, even if it takes more time. If anyone has a good idea, please speak up.”
No one in the caravan said a word. A few glanced at each other, while the rest wore expressions of deep thought.
In the first run, we had chosen to go around. The reason I’d come this way despite that was because, according to my route calculations, it would drastically shorten the path to our final destination. Detouring might take dozens of minutes longer, but if we could pass through this area and the passage visible in the distance, we could significantly reduce the time it took to get past Point 6.
“……”
But no matter how long I waited, no answer came. However, everyone was looking at me with determined eyes. Among them, many seemed to want to press forward or trust my decision. In the end, the final decision fell back to me.
I answered by calmly drawing my sword.
*
“Hoo, hoo. Are they finally all gone?”
“What… what the hell were those things…?”
“…I think so. They were on a level you wouldn’t expect from ordinary skeletons.”
After the grueling battle in the clearing, the party members collapsed to the ground, their faces etched with exhaustion. Watching Ahn Sol scurry around busily healing everyone, I calmly caught my breath as well. As expected, the difficulty had clearly ramped up after Point 5.
Having chosen a direct assault, we entered the clearing after a brief moment to regroup. As soon as we stepped inside, the energy in the clearing began to react violently, swirling around us before being sucked toward the center. Or perhaps it was more like it was being absorbed into something.
Just as I’d predicted, a horde of undead was gathered within the malevolent energy. It was a skeleton legion composed entirely of Skeleton Knights, Skeleton Soldiers, and Skeleton Warriors. Individually, they weren’t much, but perhaps because they had absorbed the evil energy that filled the clearing, each one radiated a formidable aura.
We maintained a strict formation against the tide of enemies surging toward us. The formation nearly broke a few times, but Vivian’s timely support just barely kept them from breaking through. From the front line, I controlled the wave of enemies coming at us, but their numbers were so great that some inevitably slipped past the sides.
There were moments of crisis. Ahn Hyun and Lee Yoojung fought well, but after holding on for a while, they were wounded by a Skeleton Knight’s Bone Sword, putting the mages and priests in immediate danger. If our line had collapsed then, it would have been a disaster.
But at that moment, Ko Yeonju, our keeper, stepped forward in earnest and protected the ranged Users. Once a member of the Ten Strong joined the fray, the situation began to ease, and the others stubbornly rose again after receiving healing from the priestess. There had been several dangerous moments, but everyone fought with all they had. I could have made things easier, but I could not keep stepping in forever. I no longer wanted to be overly protective merely because they might get hurt.
So, I forced Lee Yoojung, who was sprawled on the ground, to her feet and began to lecture her. I’d been meaning to have a word with her ever since the fight with the Blood Golem.
“The line is breaking because you keep trying to push forward. What’s the point of advancing in a defensive formation? Don’t you know that when a gap opens and you get surrounded, it just gives them more angles to attack you from?”
“Ah, Oppa, it’s just… that Skeleton Knight was so tough, I wanted to take it out first. I saw an opening…”
“Oh, really? And what about the Skeleton Soldiers all around it? You wouldn’t have even broken through; you would’ve been stabbed and killed on the way. If User Shin Sangyong hadn’t secured the area with Gust of Wind right then, it would’ve been a catastrophe. What’s the use of wearing earrings that widen your field of vision if your body still doesn’t follow? If you focus on just one spot like that, you’re bound to get hit from the side or behind unless you have eyes back there.”
“Ugh… I’m sorry, Oppa. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Yoojung lowered her gaze, her face crestfallen. I left it at that with her for now and turned my attention to Ahn Hyun. He had just finished being healed and was rubbing his stomach. When our eyes met, he flinched. He’d been pretending not to listen, but it seemed he’d been watching me scold Yoojung. I clicked my tongue and decided to leave him be. It was true he’d almost been overrun, but at least he had been faithful to his role. His skills were simply not yet enough to hold his ground.
After I finished my round of scolding, Ko Yeonju, who had been leaning quietly in a corner, approached me.
“Hoho. Are you done lecturing everyone?”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d rephrase that as ‘advising.’”
Ko Yeonju snorted at my words. Then she continued in a low voice.
“They were quite formidable for simple skeleton-type monsters. I suspect it has something to do with them absorbing that energy.”
“My thoughts exactly. They didn’t seem to have any special effects like regeneration or curses, but it was as if their class as undead monsters had been elevated.”
“Hmm. A class increase, you say. That’s certainly possible. For now, they were just skeletons, so we could handle them even with a higher class, but if an undead like a Death Knight, a Lich, or that Blood Golem we fought earlier were to absorb that energy…”
“It wouldn’t be easy. In any case, we had no choice but to enter this time, but if we find any of them roaming around, I’ll give it some thought. We might be able to ambush the tougher ones or hit them with a preemptive strike to deal some damage before the fight begins.”
“So you’re determined to fight, no matter what. For the record, evasion is also an option.”
Ko Yeonju chuckled and patted my shoulder. I shrugged and turned around.
The mages, having expended an enormous amount of magic power in the last battle, were meditating with pale faces. Vivian wasn’t quite as drained, but she had her eyes closed and a slight frown, having focused on maintaining the formation. I gave the party enough time to recover, then clapped my hands a few times.
As if responding to the sound, the mages who had been deep in meditation slowly opened their eyes. Now that we had obtained most of what we could from the Cave of Screams, we needed to finish the assault quickly.
*
We left the clearing where we’d fought our toughest battle since entering the Cave of Screams and entered the passage on the opposite side. As we continued, we once again came across a series of branching paths, which confirmed my suspicions. If we had chosen the detour, we would have entered this area through one of these many forks.
It was around the time I figured we had left Point 6 and entered Point 7. There, we clashed with another group of undead. This time, it was a group of ten Skeleton Knights, and just as Ko Yeonju had worried, their eyes all glowed with that same murky energy.
Of course, this time I was able to spot them from about 150 meters away, so we were well-prepared when the battle began. Vivian, Jung Hayeon, and Shin Sangyong unleashed a torrent of magical attacks as if on cue. The ones hit by the spells quickly mounted their ghost horses and charged.
However, it wasn’t a massive horde like before. And since we had already taken down four of them before they even reached us, dealing with the remaining six wasn’t too difficult. The four that rushed me and the two that charged Ahn Hyun and Yoojung—one for each—amiably laid themselves down on the cold floor.
Only after one more battle did we finally find a room similar to the one we’d discovered back at Point 5. It wasn’t a secret room, but it was tucked away in such a remote corner that if I hadn’t remembered it, we might have walked right past it.
To get straight to the point, we found something there as well. The haul consisted of 800 gold coins, some jewels, and a single bracelet. Converting the jewels to gold, they were worth over 2,000 gold, meaning we’d gained nearly 3,000 gold from a single room.
The others were unimpressed by the gold coins. It seemed that after seeing so much gold from the Chaos Mimic, this amount didn’t excite them. There were Users out there who would tremble at the thought of not having even 10 gold, so seeing their reaction felt a bit pathetic. I scraped up every last coin and stuffed it all into my pack.
The bracelet was the only thing that drew any interest. Using an Item Appraisal Scroll, I confirmed it was a Bracelet of Recovery (Bracelet Of Recovery: Allows the user to cast one recovery spell on themselves per day). Since it could only be used on oneself, I thought it would be best to give it to one of the melee fighters who often got injured in battle.
I briefly debated between Ahn Hyun and Yoojung. However, I decided to give it to Yoojung, whose reach was much shorter and whose risk of injury was higher, rather than Ahn Hyun, who had obtained a Rare Class and could function as a tanker. Of course, Ahn Hyun needed it too, but with a focus on survival, it seemed better for Yoojung to have it.
After quickly distributing the equipment, I calculated the remaining distance. We were nearing the end of the Cave of Screams. Once we got out of here and passed through Points 8 and 9, we would soon reach Point 10, where he was waiting.