Chapter 139: Awakening (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 139: Awakening (2)
[The Essence of an Ogre has seeped into your soul. Your Strength has increased by +140. Your Mana Resistance has increased by +80. Your Physical Resistance has increased by +40. All Tolerances have increased by +10. Natural Regeneration has decreased by -40. Cognition has decreased by -20.]
As soon as I opened my eyes, I checked my watch. Fortunately, little time had passed. I finished up and came out in a rush just in case, but, well. After watching my colleagues sleep for a while, I took out a knife. Then, as if sawing, I drew it over the back of my hand.
Slide, slide.
After pressing it into my skin and moving it back and forth about ten times, a single drop of blood flowed out. As I watched the wound fail to heal, I realized that my character build really had changed in an instant.
Squeeze.
I clenched my fist in the air. The change in my body was obvious, but not as stark as when I took the Orc Hero essence. I could understand why. The Vampire essence had disappeared, but the Guardian of Balance was still active.
I'll only be able to feel exactly how much my strength has increased after I go outside.
I took the time to calculate my gains and losses for a while, staring out at the other side of the torchlit passage.
An ogre, huh?
An ogre was a rank-three monster with stats and skills that made it every tanker's dream. However, its essence hadn't been included in my plan for my final build for more of a practical reason than an incompatibility issue. A rank-three monster was hard enough to take down as it was. Besides, out of the seven possible active skills ogres had, I had to make sure the color I wanted appeared. Not only was the acquisition difficulty too high, but in terms of defense alone, there was a rank-four monster called Steel Giant that was more practical than this one.
Instead, Steel Giant comes with the downside of not being able to use weapons.
In the end, it was a matter of strategy. Did you want to do more damage, or just focus on the tank? The difference in performance between the two essences was subtle, so in most playthroughs, I chose the extreme tank. I had decided that, considering the effort it took to find an ogre essence, it would make more sense to just develop a damage dealer instead. Indeed, this assessment had proven correct. As a result, I was able to open the original version of the Gate of the Abyss that no one else had reached.
But strictly speaking, ogres are better.
Being able to adapt your cultivation method was the beauty of this game, and also the sign of a skillful player. My final plan was never strictly 1+1=2, anyway. Aside from the core essence, everything else was up in the air. For each key role, I determined three or four candidates with similar performances, took the one that came out first, and moved on to the next. What I wanted was to clear the game, not to complete just one main character.
It's a little disappointing that it's not a yellow essence, but it won't change my entire cultivation strategy.
It felt too good to be true. I had exchanged the Vampire essence in anticipation of the Steel Giant, but what I had gotten was arguably far better than expected.
What are the conditions? With a Vampire Guardian essence, not only do I have the option of another guardian's essence, but I also get offered an upgrade that's two ranks higher?
It was an innocent question. As a gamer, curiosity welled up in me, but I forced myself to suppress it.
This should make it about 30 percent. No, maybe 40 percent?
Reconsidering our survival rate in light of this new development, I came up with a new, detailed combat strategy in my head. To raise the probability even a little more, what could I do at this moment?
...It would be better to take off my armor. There's no way he'll wait for us to get ready.
Like a swordsman sharpening his sword the night before a decisive battle, I refined my plans and looked for better options.
The Cognition penalty isn't as severe as I thought. If the Strength ratio is this good, I won't be pushed back in terms of brute strength.
The details of the plan began to fall together one by one to form a picture. However, the more I planned, the faster my heart pounded.
Thump!
The future was like broken glass. No one could perfectly predict how it would play out. No matter how thorough the plan was, countless variables were sure to pop up. From that moment on, I'd have to improvise everything, just like when the Lord of the Floor had been summoned.
Thump!
Because of that, was there anything else I could prepare? Was it possible that there was something about the situation I had misread? Like I was about to take a test that would decide my entire future, I worried over and over again without pause.
After a long while, Rotmiller woke up and quietly called my name. "Bjorn. Something is coming."
That meant that it was time. I hurriedly woke up my teammates and checked my watch. It was 9:47 p.m., about four hours since we started our break. In other words, about thirty-eight hours remained until the labyrinth closed.
"This is sooner than we expected. They must have a way to track us."
I let Rotmiller's words flow in one ear and out the other. I already knew that, and if there was information that I needed to commit to memory right now, it wasn't that.
So it takes four hours to get from there to here.
All the prerequisites for my new Plan A had been met.
Step.
Now I just had to throw the dice.
Trudge, trudge.
Steady footsteps began to ring out from the darkness. They came toward us like they were trying to strangle us—slowly and not in a rush.
Step.
It wasn't long before Vagos came into view. His companion was the poor man. The man must've been used to make another sacrifice because blood was dripping from his squinting eye.
"That's too cruel!"
"Why would he do that to his own teammate...?"
Everyone frowned at the bizarre sight, but I let out a silent sigh of relief. He'd left the priest at the portal. If they had come together, we would have had no chance.
Step.
Just as I was thinking this, Vagos stopped walking, leaving an appropriate distance between us. A heavy silence fell.
"What, you're all alive?" He laughed flippantly. This was far from the reaction I had expected. I wouldn't have thought it strange if he'd started stabbing my stomach right away. What was this? "I thought someone must have died because my strength suddenly returned."
Those words relieved all my unease. So that was why.
No wonder he's strangely calm.
He hadn't noticed yet. He thought that I still had the Restrained Wish in my stomach. After hearing that, it made sense why he'd think that one of us had died.
Reconsidering our survival rate in light of this new development, I came up with a new, detailed combat strategy in my head. To raise the probability even a little more, what could I do at this moment?
...It would be better to take off my armor. There's no way he'll wait for us to get ready.
Like a swordsman sharpening his sword the night before a decisive battle, I refined my plans and looked for better options.
The Cognition penalty isn't as severe as I thought. If the Strength ratio is this good, I won't be pushed back in terms of brute strength.
The details of the plan began to fall together one by one to form a picture. However, the more I planned, the faster my heart pounded.
Thump!
The future was like broken glass. No one could perfectly predict how it would play out. No matter how thorough the plan was, countless variables were sure to pop up. From that moment on, I'd have to improvise everything, just like when the Lord of the Floor had been summoned.
Thump!
Because of that, was there anything else I could prepare? Was it possible that there was something about the situation I had misread? Like I was about to take a test that would decide my entire future, I worried over and over again without pause.
After a long while, Rotmiller woke up and quietly called my name. "Bjorn. Something is coming."
That meant that it was time. I hurriedly woke up my teammates and checked my watch. It was 9:47 p.m., about four hours since we started our break. In other words, about thirty-eight hours remained until the labyrinth closed.
"This is sooner than we expected. They must have a way to track us."
I let Rotmiller's words flow in one ear and out the other. I already knew that, and if there was information that I needed to commit to memory right now, it wasn't that.
So it takes four hours to get from there to here.
All the prerequisites for my new Plan A had been met.
Step.
Now I just had to throw the dice.
Trudge, trudge.
Steady footsteps began to ring out from the darkness. They came toward us like they were trying to strangle us—slowly and not in a rush.
Step.
It wasn't long before Vagos came into view. His companion was the poor man. The man must've been used to make another sacrifice because blood was dripping from his squinting eye.
"That's too cruel!"
"Why would he do that to his own teammate...?"
Everyone frowned at the bizarre sight, but I let out a silent sigh of relief. He'd left the priest at the portal. If they had come together, we would have had no chance.
Step.
Just as I was thinking this, Vagos stopped walking, leaving an appropriate distance between us. A heavy silence fell.
"What, you're all alive?" He laughed flippantly. This was far from the reaction I had expected. I wouldn't have thought it strange if he'd started stabbing my stomach right away. What was this? "I thought someone must have died because my strength suddenly returned."
Those words relieved all my unease. So that was why.
No wonder he's strangely calm.
He hadn't noticed yet. He thought that I still had the Restrained Wish in my stomach. After hearing that, it made sense why he'd think that one of us had died.
Until he continued. "Oh, yeah. I guess you absorbed the essence of a Vaikundus?" Even in the midst of this, the guy presented a new possibility. I couldn't help laughing.
I didn't expect him to be an asshole.
The essence I had gotten was a whopping rank-three essence. Even if the eight of us had to share the stats because of Guardian of Balance, a Vaikundus's essence was nowhere near powerful enough to explain the increase we'd experienced. This guy must have realized that too. However, he'd already decided on the answer that he wanted and was looking for evidence to back it up. With that mindset, how could he reach the truth?
The Dragon Slayer, Regal Vagos.
I jotted down one more note about him in my head. Surprisingly, this guy was an optimist.
Perhaps my laughter seemed menacing, because his relaxed air vanished. "...Barbarian, you kept your oath, right?"
I stared at him silently, giving him a look that said, Do I even need to answer that?
It seemed that that wasn't enough for him, though. "The item, where is the item?" he asked again. This time, his voice was tinged with annoyance. Although he was trying to deny it because of the sunk-cost fallacy, he was slowly picking up on the fact that he may have been fooled. Finally, he asked, "...Did you use it already?"
"Oh, it wasn't intentional," I answered.
"...What?"
"I'm sorry. I was just bored so I messed with it, but it broke."
Despite my heartfelt apology, he shook like an aspen tree. He slowly came to terms with the truth. He had been fooled by the thing that barbarians, who only had honor, guarded and considered to be as precious as their lives: a warrior's oath. "I see you had no intention of keeping your oath from the start."
The prickle of murderous energy touched my skin. Like a K-Barbarian from Korea, I confidently straightened my shoulders. "I said I'm sorry—"
"Die."
By the time his voice reached my ears, the sword was already right in front of me. In a split second, he'd managed to shorten the distance by this much. I was only able to react in time because I had been watching his every move even while provoking him.
Slide.
I raised my shield. Not to block him, but...
Clang!
I slammed the sword aside with all my might. This was a countermeasure I had come up with while running battle simulations in my head during the time we had left. His was an arc sword. Trying to block it head-on would only pierce a hole in my shield.
"Dwalkie!" I shouted, and as soon as I used my excessive strength to push him away, the spell I had briefed Dwalkie on in advance fired.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-seven attack spell Cold Storm.]
Fortunately, it seemed that he had completed the spell while I was conversing and buying him time.
Shhhhhh!
Sharp ice shards swirled around and filled the passage. It was so cold that a chill shot through me, even as I stuck to the walls and stayed out of range. Ironically, at the end of the blizzard, I sensed a strange heat. It was obvious what it was without even having to look.
[Regal Vagos has cast Blast Furnace.]
This was one of the abilities of the rank-four monster Lava Giant—a buff skill that made him immune to Cold and Fire damage when activated and greatly increased the user's physique stats. I had been worried that this was outdated information from ten years ago, but it seemed he still had it.
Rip!
I tore a scroll open without hesitation. We obtained it after defeating one of the mini-bosses, Argos, and it should have been used to take down the Minotaur.
[The Flame of Greed has detected a Fire-type skill within its radius. Target locked. The Essence of the Lava Giant possessed by Regal Vagos will be sealed for forty-eight hours.]
The heat on the other side of the passageway stopped at the same time as the scroll burned away. Okay, one rank-four essence down. I wondered how the bastard was feeling now.
Shaaa!
Soon the blizzard freezing the entire hall lifted. The guy stood there perfectly unscathed without a hint of damage, behind a translucent black curtain reminiscent of a window.
"Is that all you've got?" The bastard looked at us with a mocking smile. That made sense if he thought that this surprise attack had been our finishing blow.
I never thought things would work out this well.
The skill he just used was Dark Veil, one that didn't exist on the list of essences Rotmiller had told me about. In other words, one of the unknowns I had been worried about had now been disclosed.
There are only one or two unidentified essences left.
Of course, he could have other numbered items, so I'd need to keep an eye out for them.
Whip!
Before I had time to get my thoughts in order, he shot toward me again. Just like before, I tried to hit the sword with my shield, but he was also an intelligent guy who learned from his mistakes.
Voom!
The shield cut through the air. The second I realized what was happening, I felt a slight pain and a foreign sensation in my shoulder.
Slice!
When I checked, I saw that the arc longsword that had cut through the lithinum shield like tofu had dug into my upper arm about an inch. As our eyes met, there was a bewildered look on his face. He had been planning to slice my arm off, but the sword had only cut in this deep. The reason for that was simple.
Pft, do you know what my physique stats are right now?
Ogres had the passive skill Ironskin, a skill with insane performance that doubled the user's physical resistance and quadrupled it for slash attacks. Since we currently had similar stats thanks to Guardian of Balance, it was only natural that I could withstand even a longsword made of arc.
Mm. I didn't mean to reveal this to him so early, though.
I had wanted to block the sword with a shield and hide my new abilities as much as possible until the exact right moment. However, at the level he was at, he might be able to infer what essence this ability came from.
Staring at the top of his burn-covered head, I made a decision to use the active skill that came with the red ogre's essence, along with the first proper attack strategy I had developed back when I only had Flesh Burst. I didn't know why the guy with the nickname Tyrant of the Forest had this for a skill name, but...
[You have cast Swing. The damage you deal with blunt weapons has increased significantly in proportion to your Muscle Strength.]
Well, as long as the effects were good.
Voom!
I swung the mace with all my might.
Until he continued. "Oh, yeah. I guess you absorbed the essence of a Vaikundus?" Even in the midst of this, the guy presented a new possibility. I couldn't help laughing.
I didn't expect him to be an asshole.
The essence I had gotten was a whopping rank-three essence. Even if the eight of us had to share the stats because of Guardian of Balance, a Vaikundus's essence was nowhere near powerful enough to explain the increase we'd experienced. This guy must have realized that too. However, he'd already decided on the answer that he wanted and was looking for evidence to back it up. With that mindset, how could he reach the truth?
The Dragon Slayer, Regal Vagos.
I jotted down one more note about him in my head. Surprisingly, this guy was an optimist.
Perhaps my laughter seemed menacing, because his relaxed air vanished. "...Barbarian, you kept your oath, right?"
I stared at him silently, giving him a look that said, Do I even need to answer that?
It seemed that that wasn't enough for him, though. "The item, where is the item?" he asked again. This time, his voice was tinged with annoyance. Although he was trying to deny it because of the sunk-cost fallacy, he was slowly picking up on the fact that he may have been fooled. Finally, he asked, "...Did you use it already?"
"Oh, it wasn't intentional," I answered.
"...What?"
"I'm sorry. I was just bored so I messed with it, but it broke."
Despite my heartfelt apology, he shook like an aspen tree. He slowly came to terms with the truth. He had been fooled by the thing that barbarians, who only had honor, guarded and considered to be as precious as their lives: a warrior's oath. "I see you had no intention of keeping your oath from the start."
The prickle of murderous energy touched my skin. Like a K-Barbarian from Korea, I confidently straightened my shoulders. "I said I'm sorry—"
"Die."
By the time his voice reached my ears, the sword was already right in front of me. In a split second, he'd managed to shorten the distance by this much. I was only able to react in time because I had been watching his every move even while provoking him.
Slide.
I raised my shield. Not to block him, but...
Clang!
I slammed the sword aside with all my might. This was a countermeasure I had come up with while running battle simulations in my head during the time we had left. His was an arc sword. Trying to block it head-on would only pierce a hole in my shield.
"Dwalkie!" I shouted, and as soon as I used my excessive strength to push him away, the spell I had briefed Dwalkie on in advance fired.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-seven attack spell Cold Storm.]
Fortunately, it seemed that he had completed the spell while I was conversing and buying him time.
Shhhhhh!
Sharp ice shards swirled around and filled the passage. It was so cold that a chill shot through me, even as I stuck to the walls and stayed out of range. Ironically, at the end of the blizzard, I sensed a strange heat. It was obvious what it was without even having to look.
[Regal Vagos has cast Blast Furnace.]
This was one of the abilities of the rank-four monster Lava Giant—a buff skill that made him immune to Cold and Fire damage when activated and greatly increased the user's physique stats. I had been worried that this was outdated information from ten years ago, but it seemed he still had it.
Rip!
I tore a scroll open without hesitation. We obtained it after defeating one of the mini-bosses, Argos, and it should have been used to take down the Minotaur.
[The Flame of Greed has detected a Fire-type skill within its radius. Target locked. The Essence of the Lava Giant possessed by Regal Vagos will be sealed for forty-eight hours.]
The heat on the other side of the passageway stopped at the same time as the scroll burned away. Okay, one rank-four essence down. I wondered how the bastard was feeling now.
Shaaa!
Soon the blizzard freezing the entire hall lifted. The guy stood there perfectly unscathed without a hint of damage, behind a translucent black curtain reminiscent of a window.
"Is that all you've got?" The bastard looked at us with a mocking smile. That made sense if he thought that this surprise attack had been our finishing blow.
I never thought things would work out this well.
The skill he just used was Dark Veil, one that didn't exist on the list of essences Rotmiller had told me about. In other words, one of the unknowns I had been worried about had now been disclosed.
There are only one or two unidentified essences left.
Of course, he could have other numbered items, so I'd need to keep an eye out for them.
Whip!
Before I had time to get my thoughts in order, he shot toward me again. Just like before, I tried to hit the sword with my shield, but he was also an intelligent guy who learned from his mistakes.
Voom!
The shield cut through the air. The second I realized what was happening, I felt a slight pain and a foreign sensation in my shoulder.
Slice!
When I checked, I saw that the arc longsword that had cut through the lithinum shield like tofu had dug into my upper arm about an inch. As our eyes met, there was a bewildered look on his face. He had been planning to slice my arm off, but the sword had only cut in this deep. The reason for that was simple.
Pft, do you know what my physique stats are right now?
Ogres had the passive skill Ironskin, a skill with insane performance that doubled the user's physical resistance and quadrupled it for slash attacks. Since we currently had similar stats thanks to Guardian of Balance, it was only natural that I could withstand even a longsword made of arc.
Mm. I didn't mean to reveal this to him so early, though.
I had wanted to block the sword with a shield and hide my new abilities as much as possible until the exact right moment. However, at the level he was at, he might be able to infer what essence this ability came from.
Staring at the top of his burn-covered head, I made a decision to use the active skill that came with the red ogre's essence, along with the first proper attack strategy I had developed back when I only had Flesh Burst. I didn't know why the guy with the nickname Tyrant of the Forest had this for a skill name, but...
[You have cast Swing. The damage you deal with blunt weapons has increased significantly in proportion to your Muscle Strength.]
Well, as long as the effects were good.
Voom!
I swung the mace with all my might.