Chapter 110: Baby Barbarian (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 110: Baby Barbarian (3)
Right around the start of the third day, at 00:51, we left Glacier Cave and returned to Crystal Cave. We'd run into a lot of trouble, but the income from this rift was off the charts. Jencia's equipment, Mr. Bear's five million stones, and the essences of a Yeti and Guardian: As a reward for clearing a first-floor rift, we saw an outrageous profit. I had earned less than two million stones in two months with a team of five on the fourth floor.
Goddamn it.
I realized once again that I could only be on the receiving end of this kind of luck by going through all kinds of shit first.
Slice!
Soon, Missha sliced down a Blade Wolf approaching us with her new sword and exclaimed in admiration. "Ooh! What is this sword? It's so nice!" It was still the same one-shot kill, but apparently it had a different feel to it.
"You'll only know for sure after the appraisal, but there is a high possibility that the sword is a numbered item."
"A n-numbered item? Th-then isn't it very expensive?"
Seeing the flustered look on Missha's face, I let out an involuntary laugh. It wasn't just the Serpent's Fang. The leather greaves she was wearing were also high-quality equipment since they were made of Wyvern leather, a second-grade material.
With these specs, I won't have to worry about her until the fifth floor.
I felt like I'd finished a homework assignment. Since the initial and mid-level setup was over, she would now pull the weight of one person without any additional upgrades for a while.
"So, are we going to the second floor now?"
"We should."
I followed the compass with Missha. We had achieved what we'd entered the labyrinth to do this time around, but it would be a waste to spend the rest of the time messing around.
Although we don't have a scout... we may be able to reach the third floor if we're lucky.
Anyhow, Missha took full responsibility for the monsters we encountered on the way. Now that her sword had changed and her stats had risen significantly, she had to get used to her new abilities.
"Uh, Bjorn? I think I'm done now."
"Are you sure?"
"Uh... that... noooo... I'll keep going. But... I'm rrreally only asking this just in case, but... You're not letting me do all the work because you're too lazy, rrright?"
"...Are you doubting me?"
"N-No! Never! Why would I do that?!"
Missha's reasonable suspicions aside, I moved along at a comfortable pace and helped her with her training. Her sword was new, but she also needed to get used to her new essence. The sight pleased me.
I really didn't expect the Guardian's essence to come out.
When it came to an ice-type route, the Lycanthrope's essence performed just as well as a Yeti's.
[Lycanthrope – Rank 7
Agility: +10
Cutting Force: +12
Cold Sensitivity: +15
Cold Resistance: +10
Physical Resistance: +7
Fighting Spirit: +10]
It had Cutting Force, which was an essential stat for sword-type characters, and its passive skill was too good to be true.
[(P) Blood from the Snowfield - Increases Cold Sensitivity 1.5 times.]
Not only did that ability shine in the second half, but it also had good synergy with the Yeti's Cold Condensation. The same went for its active skills.
[(A) Ice Crush - Slightly increases the damage dealt to enemies in the Frostbite state, and significantly increases damage to enemies in the Frozen state.]
There's no need to explain that one, so pass.
[(A) Fortitude - Nullifies the Inability to Act state.]
Although it had the downside of consuming a lot of Soul Power, Fortitude was also a good skill that greatly increased the stability of damage dealers who were vulnerable to Cold Condensation.
Above all, with this, I don't need to worry about the Mana Resistance stat that much.
Originally, we should have only been able to choose one of these skills, but what Missha had absorbed was none other than the Guardian's essence. Not only could she use both skills, but its stats were about 1.5 times higher than normal essences.
"If possible, try to attack somewhere other than its vitals."
"Uh, but it still dies in one blow..."
"Then punch it instead."
"Ok—huh? It still dies in one blow."
I licked my lips at the sight of the Blade Wolf getting turned into an ice cube in one punch with Cold Condensation. Was it because it was a rank-nine monster? Before she could follow the blow-up with Ice Crush, it turned into light and disappeared, so Missha couldn't properly train.
"You can do the rest on the next floor."
"...I have to keep going?"
Tsk, who do you think you're trying to swindle?
"I repeat—"
"I know. The easy rrroad is the slow road."
Uh. Um... right.
After rendering me speechless, Missha took the lead with a grin. Judging by the gentle sway at the tip of her tail, she seemed to be having fun.
...If I ever do anything wrong, I'll just have to pretend to lose an argument to make her feel better.
Writing this down as number thirteen in the Missha Manual in my head, I followed the excited beastwoman. Time passed just like that, until it was about seven hours after we came out of the rift.
We should be in the dark area.
I stopped in my tracks.
Whooom!
The ground shuddered slightly, and the crystals embedded in the walls of the cave began to glow brightly. The color of the glow also changed from a soft purple to an intense red.
I expected this to happen, but it looks like it really was summoned.
This all meant that the Lord of the First Floor had been summoned.
"It's nothing, keep moving."
"It's nothing? I've neverrr seen anything like that in my life—"
"Someone just summoned the Lord of the Floor. There won't be any fallout, so don't—"
"What? The Lord of the Floor?!"
Geez, my eardrums. Perhaps the Lord of the Third Floor remained a point of trauma for her. Missha freaked out and clung to me. But there was no need for her to be so surprised.
[(P) Blood from the Snowfield - Increases Cold Sensitivity 1.5 times.]
Not only did that ability shine in the second half, but it also had good synergy with the Yeti's Cold Condensation. The same went for its active skills.
[(A) Ice Crush - Slightly increases the damage dealt to enemies in the Frostbite state, and significantly increases damage to enemies in the Frozen state.]
There's no need to explain that one, so pass.
[(A) Fortitude - Nullifies the Inability to Act state.]
Although it had the downside of consuming a lot of Soul Power, Fortitude was also a good skill that greatly increased the stability of damage dealers who were vulnerable to Cold Condensation.
Above all, with this, I don't need to worry about the Mana Resistance stat that much.
Originally, we should have only been able to choose one of these skills, but what Missha had absorbed was none other than the Guardian's essence. Not only could she use both skills, but its stats were about 1.5 times higher than normal essences.
"If possible, try to attack somewhere other than its vitals."
"Uh, but it still dies in one blow..."
"Then punch it instead."
"Ok—huh? It still dies in one blow."
I licked my lips at the sight of the Blade Wolf getting turned into an ice cube in one punch with Cold Condensation. Was it because it was a rank-nine monster? Before she could follow the blow-up with Ice Crush, it turned into light and disappeared, so Missha couldn't properly train.
"You can do the rest on the next floor."
"...I have to keep going?"
Tsk, who do you think you're trying to swindle?
"I repeat—"
"I know. The easy rrroad is the slow road."
Uh. Um... right.
After rendering me speechless, Missha took the lead with a grin. Judging by the gentle sway at the tip of her tail, she seemed to be having fun.
...If I ever do anything wrong, I'll just have to pretend to lose an argument to make her feel better.
Writing this down as number thirteen in the Missha Manual in my head, I followed the excited beastwoman. Time passed just like that, until it was about seven hours after we came out of the rift.
We should be in the dark area.
I stopped in my tracks.
Whooom!
The ground shuddered slightly, and the crystals embedded in the walls of the cave began to glow brightly. The color of the glow also changed from a soft purple to an intense red.
I expected this to happen, but it looks like it really was summoned.
This all meant that the Lord of the First Floor had been summoned.
"It's nothing, keep moving."
"It's nothing? I've neverrr seen anything like that in my life—"
"Someone just summoned the Lord of the Floor. There won't be any fallout, so don't—"
"What? The Lord of the Floor?!"
Geez, my eardrums. Perhaps the Lord of the Third Floor remained a point of trauma for her. Missha freaked out and clung to me. But there was no need for her to be so surprised.
"Missha, calm down."
Unlike the one on the third floor, the first floor's Lord was calm. The method for summoning it was based on probability—it appeared when more than five people gathered in one place after the three-day mark. Even after it was summoned, the portals to the second floor remained open and the monsters that spawned didn't change, either. And the biggest difference was that, once summoned, Riakis went around slaughtering everyone on the floor until he died, but this guy just quietly disappeared if the raid against him failed.
"S-So we're okay?"
"Yeah, so don't worry."
After I calmly explained the situation, Missha took a deep breath and regained her composure. But when her anxiety subsided, curiosity bloomed in its place. "But who the hell summoned it by mistake? Everrryone knows that no more than five people should be in the same spot down here."
"Well, maybe it wasn't a mistake."
"Not a mistake?"
I just shrugged and kept quiet. It was highly likely that the person who'd bought the strategy for dealing with the first-floor Lord from the Ghost Busters community was the one who had summoned it... But I couldn't just tell her that, could I?
What an over-eager one. They must have only had two weeks to prepare.
Alternatively, maybe they weren't impatient but had enough influence to complete all their preparations in that time.
I might be able to find out who that user is.
I decided to see if there was a rumor going around about a clan or team that had succeeded in hunting the Lord of the Floor once I was back in the city. Meanwhile, I was starting to once again feel Rotmiller's absence.
Geez, to think it took almost an entire day.
After wandering around with only the compass to guide us, we reached the second-floor portal. The one I chose was the Land of the Dead, which was connected to the Ghoul District in the south.
[You have entered the Land of the Dead on the second floor.]
Black earth soaked with moisture, exceptionally low visibility even for the second floor, and the screams of banshees serving as background music... for some reason when I set foot on this soil, nostalgia filled me.
"Long time no see."
It was here that Ainar and I broke some skeleton bones, beat Death Fiends into mochi, and met that deranged bitch and almost died.
Goddamn it.
Was it because I was being reminded of the past? I suddenly felt my mood darken.
"Ugh, this place gives me bad energy every time. I prefer the Rock Deserrrt."
"Rotmiller isn't here, so we don't have a choice."
Since this was the center of the map, we could go anywhere, but I had chosen the Land of the Dead for a simple reason. Of the second-floor maps, this was the one where it was easiest to reach the third floor. We'd probably get a little lost at the end, but for now, we just needed to go north.
Besides, it's just the two of us, so I should summon the Death Knight and kill it before we go.
I didn't really need the essence, but this monster would be hard to catch when there were five of us, so I decided to gather the experience points now. Aside from a few rifts, it was a monster you could only run into on the sixth floor.
Since it's a rank-six monster, I can test how strong she is now.
Of course, before I summoned it, Missha would have to complete her training.
"Missha, calm down."
Unlike the one on the third floor, the first floor's Lord was calm. The method for summoning it was based on probability—it appeared when more than five people gathered in one place after the three-day mark. Even after it was summoned, the portals to the second floor remained open and the monsters that spawned didn't change, either. And the biggest difference was that, once summoned, Riakis went around slaughtering everyone on the floor until he died, but this guy just quietly disappeared if the raid against him failed.
"S-So we're okay?"
"Yeah, so don't worry."
After I calmly explained the situation, Missha took a deep breath and regained her composure. But when her anxiety subsided, curiosity bloomed in its place. "But who the hell summoned it by mistake? Everrryone knows that no more than five people should be in the same spot down here."
"Well, maybe it wasn't a mistake."
"Not a mistake?"
I just shrugged and kept quiet. It was highly likely that the person who'd bought the strategy for dealing with the first-floor Lord from the Ghost Busters community was the one who had summoned it... But I couldn't just tell her that, could I?
What an over-eager one. They must have only had two weeks to prepare.
Alternatively, maybe they weren't impatient but had enough influence to complete all their preparations in that time.
I might be able to find out who that user is.
I decided to see if there was a rumor going around about a clan or team that had succeeded in hunting the Lord of the Floor once I was back in the city. Meanwhile, I was starting to once again feel Rotmiller's absence.
Geez, to think it took almost an entire day.
After wandering around with only the compass to guide us, we reached the second-floor portal. The one I chose was the Land of the Dead, which was connected to the Ghoul District in the south.
[You have entered the Land of the Dead on the second floor.]
Black earth soaked with moisture, exceptionally low visibility even for the second floor, and the screams of banshees serving as background music... for some reason when I set foot on this soil, nostalgia filled me.
"Long time no see."
It was here that Ainar and I broke some skeleton bones, beat Death Fiends into mochi, and met that deranged bitch and almost died.
Goddamn it.
Was it because I was being reminded of the past? I suddenly felt my mood darken.
"Ugh, this place gives me bad energy every time. I prefer the Rock Deserrrt."
"Rotmiller isn't here, so we don't have a choice."
Since this was the center of the map, we could go anywhere, but I had chosen the Land of the Dead for a simple reason. Of the second-floor maps, this was the one where it was easiest to reach the third floor. We'd probably get a little lost at the end, but for now, we just needed to go north.
Besides, it's just the two of us, so I should summon the Death Knight and kill it before we go.
I didn't really need the essence, but this monster would be hard to catch when there were five of us, so I decided to gather the experience points now. Aside from a few rifts, it was a monster you could only run into on the sixth floor.
Since it's a rank-six monster, I can test how strong she is now.
Of course, before I summoned it, Missha would have to complete her training.
"Let's go."
Moving north, we quickly escaped the area where rank-nine monsters such as skeletons and ghouls appeared. It took about five hours. The terrain changed from a wet swamp to hard stone.
"Kwoooh!"
Before long, a Death Fiend appeared. The so-called "newbie cutters" were walking around in groups of four since it was the third day. In the past, Ainar and I went through a lot of trouble just to take down one.
Well, now I have a body that won't die even if I let it get beaten to a pulp.
The Death Fiend was a monster that specialized in defense and regeneration. It summoned ghouls, but there was no way a rank-nine would be able to deal with us. To put it simply, these were the perfect opponents to test out Missha's new skills.
"I'll divert their attention, so don't worry and just focus on using your new abilities."
"Okay."
"Behelahhh!"
As soon as I cast Wild Outburst, the Death Fiend, who had been staring at us from the edge of our torchlight, screamed and charged.
"Kwoooh!"
First, I blocked two of them with my shield, then ducked and flung another to the side. The last one I let hit me because I couldn't be bothered.
Slam!
Maybe it was because this was the first rank-eight monster I had ever successfully hunted, but a strange feeling came over me. In the past, just one of them had been enough to push me back in a power struggle.
"Kuwogh?!"
But this time, when I put a little more force behind my shield, the Death Fiend bastards got helplessly flung away.
"Not done yet?"
"I'm ready!"
Missha finished casting Enhanced Cold Condensation and brandished the Serpent's Fang.
Khak!
It was blocked by a Death Fiend's shield hand, which was made of bones and muscles, but the attempt at defense was pointless. Its arm froze up to the elbow in one simple blow.
[Missha Karlstein has cast Ice Crush.]
When Missha swung her other blade at the now-frozen area, its arm shattered and scattered all over the floor.
"Kwu... ogh?" The wound could not be regenerated even with Body Preservation because it had the Cold attribute. The monster didn't even seem to feel pain, and only had a confused look on its face. It seemed to instinctively sense that it was in danger, though.
[Death Fiend has cast Call of the Dead.]
When the four monsters cast their summoning skill at the same time, the number of ghouls crawling out of the ground reached a whopping forty. Of course, this also didn't mean much. My body, which had once easily been torn up by their nails, was now covered in a breastplate made of lithinum. And with an added increase in Physical Resistance, even my bare skin was quite durable.
"Grrr...?"
I shed no blood despite the beating. And even when I did, it melted the hands of the ghouls, who were weak to acid. But my wounds quickly healed even in the middle of all that.
"Bjorn... are you... some sort of monster?"
How can you call a person a monster?
"Stop standing around and get rid of it," I answered in a grumble, covering my wounded pride.
Geez, once I was done with this build, she wouldn't even see me as a person.
***
After that, we continued her training while moving north. Thanks to that, Missha got a sense of how much she had to freeze something until it was affected by either Frostbite or Frozen. After running into the Chimera Wolf, which had a skill that allowed it to incapacitate its targets, she also perfectly mastered Fortitude.
"Um, well? I just put more force into it and it worrrks."
After she learned how, I advised her to only use it when absolutely necessary since it consumed a lot of Soul Power. If Soul Power ran out, she wouldn't be able to use Enhance, Toxin Bestow, Ice Crush, or anything.
"Do I look like a little kid to you?"
She was not wrong. That was because she had only had two skills even after hitting level four. She wouldn't have ever had to keep track of her Soul Power to avoid running out.
Even if I keep telling her this, it won't be as effective as letting her experience it for herself.
For that reason, we continued to push ourselves while hunting. As a result of constantly and recklessly using her skills, her Soul Power finally bottomed out.
"...It feels kind of strrrange. It's not that my body is tired or anything, but I guess it feels empty?"
"That's why I told you to ration your energy better."
"...I thought this much would be fine."
It was about time for a break, so we prepared our camp. We found a building with a wall, and while starting a fire there, we took turns sleeping. I wasn't sure how much time had passed when...
"Hahaha, is that true?"
"That's right, my friend."
I heard chattering from twenty or thirty yards away. At first, I thought they were just passing adventurers, but as I kept hearing conversations, I concluded that they had settled down for the night unaware that we were camping nearby.
Well, it's about time to wake up Missha anyway. There's no need to tell them to get lost.
I decided to be generous as I waited out the remaining time in my shift.
"By the way, this barbarian is sleeping without a care in the world."
"Be quiet. He might wake up."
"Leave him to sleep. That body of his is costly. He should sleep while he can."
I heard something I couldn't just ignore.
Honkkkkk!
As I took stock of the situation, it became clear that a baby barbarian was sleeping in a den of wolves.
"Let's go."
Moving north, we quickly escaped the area where rank-nine monsters such as skeletons and ghouls appeared. It took about five hours. The terrain changed from a wet swamp to hard stone.
"Kwoooh!"
Before long, a Death Fiend appeared. The so-called "newbie cutters" were walking around in groups of four since it was the third day. In the past, Ainar and I went through a lot of trouble just to take down one.
Well, now I have a body that won't die even if I let it get beaten to a pulp.
The Death Fiend was a monster that specialized in defense and regeneration. It summoned ghouls, but there was no way a rank-nine would be able to deal with us. To put it simply, these were the perfect opponents to test out Missha's new skills.
"I'll divert their attention, so don't worry and just focus on using your new abilities."
"Okay."
"Behelahhh!"
As soon as I cast Wild Outburst, the Death Fiend, who had been staring at us from the edge of our torchlight, screamed and charged.
"Kwoooh!"
First, I blocked two of them with my shield, then ducked and flung another to the side. The last one I let hit me because I couldn't be bothered.
Slam!
Maybe it was because this was the first rank-eight monster I had ever successfully hunted, but a strange feeling came over me. In the past, just one of them had been enough to push me back in a power struggle.
"Kuwogh?!"
But this time, when I put a little more force behind my shield, the Death Fiend bastards got helplessly flung away.
"Not done yet?"
"I'm ready!"
Missha finished casting Enhanced Cold Condensation and brandished the Serpent's Fang.
Khak!
It was blocked by a Death Fiend's shield hand, which was made of bones and muscles, but the attempt at defense was pointless. Its arm froze up to the elbow in one simple blow.
[Missha Karlstein has cast Ice Crush.]
When Missha swung her other blade at the now-frozen area, its arm shattered and scattered all over the floor.
"Kwu... ogh?" The wound could not be regenerated even with Body Preservation because it had the Cold attribute. The monster didn't even seem to feel pain, and only had a confused look on its face. It seemed to instinctively sense that it was in danger, though.
[Death Fiend has cast Call of the Dead.]
When the four monsters cast their summoning skill at the same time, the number of ghouls crawling out of the ground reached a whopping forty. Of course, this also didn't mean much. My body, which had once easily been torn up by their nails, was now covered in a breastplate made of lithinum. And with an added increase in Physical Resistance, even my bare skin was quite durable.
"Grrr...?"
I shed no blood despite the beating. And even when I did, it melted the hands of the ghouls, who were weak to acid. But my wounds quickly healed even in the middle of all that.
"Bjorn... are you... some sort of monster?"
How can you call a person a monster?
"Stop standing around and get rid of it," I answered in a grumble, covering my wounded pride.
Geez, once I was done with this build, she wouldn't even see me as a person.
***
After that, we continued her training while moving north. Thanks to that, Missha got a sense of how much she had to freeze something until it was affected by either Frostbite or Frozen. After running into the Chimera Wolf, which had a skill that allowed it to incapacitate its targets, she also perfectly mastered Fortitude.
"Um, well? I just put more force into it and it worrrks."
After she learned how, I advised her to only use it when absolutely necessary since it consumed a lot of Soul Power. If Soul Power ran out, she wouldn't be able to use Enhance, Toxin Bestow, Ice Crush, or anything.
"Do I look like a little kid to you?"
She was not wrong. That was because she had only had two skills even after hitting level four. She wouldn't have ever had to keep track of her Soul Power to avoid running out.
Even if I keep telling her this, it won't be as effective as letting her experience it for herself.
For that reason, we continued to push ourselves while hunting. As a result of constantly and recklessly using her skills, her Soul Power finally bottomed out.
"...It feels kind of strrrange. It's not that my body is tired or anything, but I guess it feels empty?"
"That's why I told you to ration your energy better."
"...I thought this much would be fine."
It was about time for a break, so we prepared our camp. We found a building with a wall, and while starting a fire there, we took turns sleeping. I wasn't sure how much time had passed when...
"Hahaha, is that true?"
"That's right, my friend."
I heard chattering from twenty or thirty yards away. At first, I thought they were just passing adventurers, but as I kept hearing conversations, I concluded that they had settled down for the night unaware that we were camping nearby.
Well, it's about time to wake up Missha anyway. There's no need to tell them to get lost.
I decided to be generous as I waited out the remaining time in my shift.
"By the way, this barbarian is sleeping without a care in the world."
"Be quiet. He might wake up."
"Leave him to sleep. That body of his is costly. He should sleep while he can."
I heard something I couldn't just ignore.
Honkkkkk!
As I took stock of the situation, it became clear that a baby barbarian was sleeping in a den of wolves.