Winter Sword (3)
Winter Sword (3)
"Payment received."
"U, uu...."
Credit was impossible.
Horrified by the amount that wouldn't come out even if she emptied not just the pouch she brought but her bank account too, Emilia stared at Dojin with trembling eyes.
Feeling that gaze, Dojin thought there was no helping it and paid in her place.
Previously, Lastina had said she wouldn't sell if Dojin paid instead, but even she couldn't just keep an item worth that much money displayed like a sacred idol, so she silently accepted the check.
"Tea, teacher... thank you...."
"No big deal."
Having received the sword, scabbard, and certificate, Emilia looked up at Dojin with half-teary eyes.
A Platinum Coin—to her, who'd lived in the countryside, it was something out of a fantasy. After all, just holding one Gold Coin there got you called rich.
A Platinum Coin worth the value of a hundred Gold Coins? She'd never even seen one in a picture. Never imagined she'd see one in her lifetime.
"By, by the way! Why is this so expensive!?"
"Hoo, is that meant to insult me?"
"Not insulting, but... twenty Platinum Coins is kinda—way too much, isn't it...."
Once again, Emilia shot Dojin a pleading look asking for some backup. Dojin let out a light sigh and played along.
"Yeah, back in my day, it was like one or two Platinum Coins."
"That's 'cause your weapon was just a slight tweak on an existing one I handed over, whereas this lady's I forged from scratch, y'know?"
"...My weapon was secondhand?"
"It was an heirloom from the start, wasn't it?"
Only then did Dojin realize the secret behind buying such top-tier performance for a bargain price, letting out a small gasp as he glanced at Emilia.
It was unavoidable. Well, fortunate for her at least. Better than owing a bank, right?
But that was just Dojin's perspective. For Emilia, who now owed him the equivalent of thousands of Gold Coins, her heart was anything but at ease.
"...I'll definitely repay this debt someday."
"Work hard."
"Well, if, if I can't pay it back with money—there's always the option of paying with my body...."
Emilia said that while sneaking a glance at Dojin. With her libido so rampant she'd dive into a masturbation trance at the crack of dawn, this was a subtle signal aimed at him.
But Dojin heard her words and started seriously calculating her body's going rate.
"Hmm... A pro whore's worth one Silver Coin per hour, and a hundred Silver Coins make one Gold Coin, so... roughly 200,000 times oughta cover it with your body."
"...Huh?"
"Factoring in 365 days a year, that's daily for about 500 years. Wow, 500 years..."
Even for immortal long-lived races like elves, that wasn't a period they could easily pull off. And this didn't even factor in food, clothing, or shelter—plus with inflation, it'd actually take thousands of years and still not be paid off.
"I, I'm not worth that little!"
"Nah... you're the one who said you'd pay with your body. Even if some weirdo rich guy shells out Gold Coins for your one night, that's like one or two days at best...."
"I'm not selling—! I said I'm not!"
As Emilia shrieked and flailed, Lastina watched from behind the counter, frowning as she glared at the two.
"Take your lovey-dovey spat outside... You gonna leave now? I'm beat—gonna have to crash for days."
"Ah, yeah. Sorry."
Hearing Lastina's warning, Dojin and Emilia cautiously stepped out of the building. The moment they did, they heard the door lock behind them.
Wondered if she was gonna masturbate again like last time, but then came the sound of her crawling into bed and snoring soundly, confirming otherwise.
'She really was wiped out, huh....'
Well, duh—forging a sword that heavy without magic active? No need to spell it out.
As he stared back at the Workshop, a burning gaze hit him from behind.
"...Teacher."
"─I know, no need to say it."
Dojin smirked as he turned to Emilia. In stark contrast to her sword embodying winter, her eyes blazed hotter than anything.
It was only natural. She'd gotten her very own sword—one that was stunningly beautiful and ornate to boot.
If she said she didn't wanna test it in real combat right away, Dojin would've been the one pissed off instead.
Sword wielders had always been that kind of creature.
"You wanna go for it?"
Emilia flashed a grin so wide it bared her teeth and nodded vigorously.
Dojin looked at her, then turned and headed straight for the Dungeon.
Common knowledge: monster levels explode in power every five floors.
Thus, unlike adventurers divided into four broad stages, monsters are split into ten ranks.
And in most fights, a lower-rank monster can't beat one above it.
'And that makes this... insanely disadvantageous for adventurers.'
Up to the 50th Floor, adventurers level up a total of three times.
But monsters level up nine times.
Sure, adventurers get huge growth bursts per level-up, so it's not like one side's strictly better... but monsters definitely have the edge.
While adventurers have one big growth spurt then taper off, monsters just keep steadily powering up.
In short, the higher the floor, the tougher it gets for adventurers to handle monsters.
...Or it should.
"Kyahaha!"
Watching Emilia massacre monsters with her Winter Sword, that thought starts evaporating fast.
This was the 42nd Floor. Just two floors up from her usual hunting spot, but for Emilia—whose record was the 30th Floor—that was a whopping 12-floor leap.
Yet she was rampaging like a maniac, not giving a damn.
The 42nd Floor's monsters—the Ogres and Salamanders she'd first faced at the festival—swung their weapons at her.
"Come at me—c'mon!"
Emilia faced the Minotaur's massive axe blade head-on and swung her Winter Sword.
If it'd been her old Greatsword, the impact would've chipped the blade or sent it flying from the lighter weight compared to the axe.
But not this time.
The instant her swung Winter Sword was about to connect, Emilia dismantled the magic on it with freakishly nimble fingers.
The weight vanished, turning it impossibly light—and thus accelerating to unbelievable speeds—before the weight slammed back in.
A weight even Emilia's Super Strength couldn't lift easily, meaning it was transcendent.
Transcendent (weight × speed) = transcendent destructive power.
The insane physical weapon smashed into the monster, and their tough scales and hides started bursting open like overinflated drums—pop pop!
Once the kinetic energy wrecked the monster, Emilia agilely removed the weight again with startling quickness.
'Now I get why Lastina didn't mention this....'
Even though the weapon allowed this usage, she hadn't said 'cause it wasn't meant to be used that way from the start.
For a Level 1 like her—even a superhuman—she'd never have imagined her own weapon could handle that.
"...You good?"
"Hah-! Tea, teacher-! Ar, arms...."
"Here."
Dojin did the same. He handed water to her, kneeling on the ground and sweating bullets.
Her trembling hands couldn't even grip the lightweight canteen and dropped it straight to the floor.
"Hek, fe, feed me...."
"Jeez, what a princess."
Grumbling that, he picked up the canteen from the floor and poured it straight into her mouth—glug glug—and she started recovering her stamina, panting heavily as she rehydrated.
And so, even with her superhuman strength and stamina, a few swings were her limit.
Swing with weight removed for acceleration, then restore weight mid-motion?
Sounds like an invincible, ultimate attack with no counters. But hey, no such thing as a free lunch.
Transcendent destructive power meant transcendent recoil—and that was too much even for a Level 3's physical specs.
"How's it feel swinging it?"
"...Arms feel like they'll rip off, legs are jelly. One tiny slip and my shoulder's toast?"
She said it super casually with a beaming grin—like, what's the big deal?—and shrugged.
"That edge-of-your-seat thrill? Love it."
Muzzle the beast's claws, slap chains on it called martial arts... but a beast's still a beast.
Means it suits 'em best to go all-out with their raw physical prowess.
"Alright then... call more right away?"
"Huu... you gonna be okay heading back?"
"Piece of cake."
Of course, this floor's monsters were dangerous for Dojin too. But guys have always been the type to bluff in front of a girl, right?
Even Dojin, whose skill had neutered his libido, couldn't shake off that 20-year ingrained habit.