Chapter 168: Great Demon Realm (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 168: Great Demon Realm (3)
Adventuring was a job that involved entering a labyrinth, hunting monsters, and gathering mana stones. Ordinary people believed that battling monsters was the greatest hardship involved in this career. But when you actually asked the adventurers themselves, you got completely different answers. There was the absence of light, not being able to sleep when you wanted to, food that tasted like animal feed, sexual frustration, getting stained in sweat, and dirty beds.
"It's not as bad on the lower floors where the expeditions are shorter. But the higher the floor, the more difficult adventurers say these things become."
"Hmm, I see."
"Yes. They say it's normal for large clans, starting from the seventh floor on, to take two to three months off after a trip into the labyrinth."
As someone belonging to this occupation, that made perfect sense to me. But... so what? What was the point, on the afternoon of the twenty-second day, of bringing up this topic during mealtime right when I was about to take out some jerky? Raven wouldn't be talking about this for no reason.
"If there's something you want, just say it."
When I shot her a look that told her to get to the point, Raven answered with a voice full of determination. "Let's eat something decent today. Not dried meat, but a meal that uses fire."
Huh, so that was her objective. She sure was a wizard. She could have just said that she wanted to eat something tasty today.
I thought about it briefly and then answered, "Okay, sure."
"You may be the leader but you should still take everyone's opinions into—Wait. I beg your pardon?"
"I said yes."
"Oh, really?" Raven's eyes widened. It seemed she expected to be rejected.
Well, I was sure she knew what an unreasonable proposal she was making. This wasn't the fourth floor. There, we cooked our meals every day and sometimes even ate grilled meat preserved with magic, but the fifth floor's Great Demon Realm had an open-world structure.
"Can we really?" she asked. "If the smell spreads, there's a high chance that we won't even be able to eat it because of the monsters."
"You... What is it that you want?"
"I-I mean... I've thought about it, and I think I can solve the smell problem with magic." It seemed like this was what she had wanted to get at from the start.
Anyway, when the decision was made to cook food, Ainar, who had been nervously eavesdropping on the conversation, let her mouth fall open in shock. "So this is a wizard..." She seemed to be impressed that Raven had gotten my permission with just a brief exchange.
Now that we're on the fifth floor, I'll need to improve on this too.
I had actually already been thinking about this. The total length of our expedition was now about a month. I needed to take steps to manage the team's stress levels. People tended to get prickly when they were sensitive.
"Then, Miss Karlstein, please let me know if you need water or fire."
"Umm, then can you light a firrre?"
"Is this enough?"
With that, our party's official chef, Missha, started cooking with Raven's help. The menu was tomato stew with lots of meat.
"Delicious again! Missha! You should marry me in the future!"
"What are you talking about, Miss Ainar? Miss Karlstein will be living with me."
"Um, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it, but both of those options arrre kind of..." Missha trailed off and glanced at me.
While the others were eating, Mr. Bear and I stood guard. But by the time the three of them emptied their bowls, not a single monster had appeared.
"Hmm, it really doesn't smell. What kind of magic is this?"
"I applied an air control spell and a combustion spell. It gathers the scent in one place and burns it."
"Hmm, I see."
Mr. Bear was delighted, marveling at the fact that it was possible to have a decent meal on the fifth floor. I felt the same way. To be honest, I was sick of jerky.
"Okay then, you two can eat. We'll stand guard now."
Soon, the two of us sat down and helped ourselves to the stew. As we were a barbarian and a macho man from the Black Bear tribe, five minutes was more than enough. No monsters appeared while we ate. It wasn't just because of the effectiveness of the odor-removal magic, either.
The overall number of monsters has decreased.
I had been getting this vibe for the past few days, but the number of monsters on the fifth floor was much lower than in the game. Of course, I had a guess as to why.
Fucking clans.
In the Great Demon Realm, monsters spawned from mirrors located in each unique zone and were then released into the canyon. However, the clans had monopolized those areas to hunt the monsters as they spawned, so fewer monsters inevitably crawled out of their respective zones.
Well... thanks to that, I managed to find this early.
I glanced at the moss growing in the corner of the path and smiled. It was different from the other moss we'd passed by. Its color was half red and half green, and a batch of black moss the size of a bead formed at the point where the two different kinds met.
The problem is how to make this look natural...
While I was thinking this, some monsters appeared straight ahead: eight rank-six Hell Hounds. They were basically wild dogs the size of tigers with four eyes. As a bonus, their bodies were completely engulfed in black flames.
"Grrrrrr!"
"Prepare for battle."
Since we'd hunted more of these than we could count over the past few days, we jumped into the fray without needing to coordinate. It took about ten minutes for us to wrap up the battle.
"So, are we going further down now?"
Raven asked what our plan was, and I thought it over for a moment. There was still a long while before it would be time to make camp. How could I get them to stay put here without making it seem strange?
Welp, if it weren't for that scent-hiding spell, we would be stuck here fighting monsters right about now.
While I was biting my lip in disappointment, the black moss on the corner of the road disappeared.
...Huh?
It was almost as if something invisible had picked it up.
It's already here?
I quickly gave orders. "Raven, I think there's something here with us."
"Sorry? What do you—"
"Cast a detection spell."
Was this a side effect of being stalked by that masked assailant on the fourth floor? Raven didn't hesitate to cast based purely on my hunch. "Dire Tanib Karsachi." Waves of mana rippled out in a circle. Raven's expression soon grew serious. "There is something. It's in front of us."
"Um, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it, but both of those options arrre kind of..." Missha trailed off and glanced at me.
While the others were eating, Mr. Bear and I stood guard. But by the time the three of them emptied their bowls, not a single monster had appeared.
"Hmm, it really doesn't smell. What kind of magic is this?"
"I applied an air control spell and a combustion spell. It gathers the scent in one place and burns it."
"Hmm, I see."
Mr. Bear was delighted, marveling at the fact that it was possible to have a decent meal on the fifth floor. I felt the same way. To be honest, I was sick of jerky.
"Okay then, you two can eat. We'll stand guard now."
Soon, the two of us sat down and helped ourselves to the stew. As we were a barbarian and a macho man from the Black Bear tribe, five minutes was more than enough. No monsters appeared while we ate. It wasn't just because of the effectiveness of the odor-removal magic, either.
The overall number of monsters has decreased.
I had been getting this vibe for the past few days, but the number of monsters on the fifth floor was much lower than in the game. Of course, I had a guess as to why.
Fucking clans.
In the Great Demon Realm, monsters spawned from mirrors located in each unique zone and were then released into the canyon. However, the clans had monopolized those areas to hunt the monsters as they spawned, so fewer monsters inevitably crawled out of their respective zones.
Well... thanks to that, I managed to find this early.
I glanced at the moss growing in the corner of the path and smiled. It was different from the other moss we'd passed by. Its color was half red and half green, and a batch of black moss the size of a bead formed at the point where the two different kinds met.
The problem is how to make this look natural...
While I was thinking this, some monsters appeared straight ahead: eight rank-six Hell Hounds. They were basically wild dogs the size of tigers with four eyes. As a bonus, their bodies were completely engulfed in black flames.
"Grrrrrr!"
"Prepare for battle."
Since we'd hunted more of these than we could count over the past few days, we jumped into the fray without needing to coordinate. It took about ten minutes for us to wrap up the battle.
"So, are we going further down now?"
Raven asked what our plan was, and I thought it over for a moment. There was still a long while before it would be time to make camp. How could I get them to stay put here without making it seem strange?
Welp, if it weren't for that scent-hiding spell, we would be stuck here fighting monsters right about now.
While I was biting my lip in disappointment, the black moss on the corner of the road disappeared.
...Huh?
It was almost as if something invisible had picked it up.
It's already here?
I quickly gave orders. "Raven, I think there's something here with us."
"Sorry? What do you—"
"Cast a detection spell."
Was this a side effect of being stalked by that masked assailant on the fourth floor? Raven didn't hesitate to cast based purely on my hunch. "Dire Tanib Karsachi." Waves of mana rippled out in a circle. Raven's expression soon grew serious. "There is something. It's in front of us."
"Is it a person?" I asked, pretending not to know, and Raven cast Track Down instead of answering.
Whooom!
A cluster of lights appeared and began to stick to the air like clay. Before long, the lights faded, and the figure of our invisible guest was revealed.
"...Hmm?"
It was a squirrel the size of a six- or seven-year-old child. It was sitting curled up in front of the moss, gnawing on the piece of black moss with its front teeth.
"Kyuu?" Sensing our eyes, the squirrel cocked its head.
"Oh...! I-It's cute!"
"It looks delicious!" Missha and Ainar both exclaimed at the same time.
Raven let out an excited shout of her own. "It's a Mila Roden! We have to kill it right now!"
So you know how rare it is to run into this guy.
"Ahh, right... it's still a monsterrr..." Missha raised her sword with a somewhat sad look on her face.
On the flip side, Mr. Bear loaded his crossbow with a bolt faster than ever. It seemed more than one of us had recognized this creature's value. "We're lucky, finding a Mila Roden on our first expedition."
"W-Wait. Distortion! I haven't used a distortion spell yet!" Raven stopped Mr. Bear and quickly cast a spell. It wasn't just any distortion spell, but a high-ranking one. Now, when we took down the targeted monster, there was a higher chance that the corpse would remain intact.
"Kyu, kyuut!" As soon as it was struck with the distortion magic, the Mila Roden went into a frenzy. Perhaps it was an instinct imprinted in its DNA. Most of its ancestors would have been killed in the same way.
"Abman!"
Just as I shouted, the crossbow fired. However, as one of the few herbivorous monsters in the labyrinth, the Mila Roden managed to avoid it with quick movements. I immediately dove forward and grabbed it by its tail.
"Pii! Piiii! Piit!" The creature struggled and let out a scream. This felt a lot like I was hurting an animal but, well, what could you do? This was the law of the jungle.
Slide.
Just as I was reaching my hand out with the intention of squeezing its skull, Raven stopped me. "Wait! Can't we keep it as whole as possible when we kill it? I heard its skin is sold at a high price."
Spoken like a true wizard who sought the most sensible course of action. I obediently agreed and grabbed the Mila Roden by the neck and tail to secure it in place. "Missha."
"Uh, huh? D-Do I have to do it?"
"Your sword is the thinnest."
Ainar used a greatsword, and Mr. Bear's arrows were too big. My mace wasn't even worth mentioning. And since this creature was still a monster, it would be hard to kill it cleanly with a regular knife.
"Stab it in the forehead."
"Ugh..." Missha seemed reluctant, but in the end, she pulled out her sword to give the creature peace.
"Kyuu..." The Mila Roden went slack like someone had pulled its plug. I gulped and counted the seconds.
One, two, three...
This was usually the amount of time it took for monsters to turn into light after dying.
"Bjorn! It's meat!"
The body did not disappear.
The rank-seven Mila Roden, a squirrel that carried a mirror on its back, was categorized as a rare species along with the Mimic because it was ridiculously hard to encounter one.
"Is it a person?" I asked, pretending not to know, and Raven cast Track Down instead of answering.
Whooom!
A cluster of lights appeared and began to stick to the air like clay. Before long, the lights faded, and the figure of our invisible guest was revealed.
"...Hmm?"
It was a squirrel the size of a six- or seven-year-old child. It was sitting curled up in front of the moss, gnawing on the piece of black moss with its front teeth.
"Kyuu?" Sensing our eyes, the squirrel cocked its head.
"Oh...! I-It's cute!"
"It looks delicious!" Missha and Ainar both exclaimed at the same time.
Raven let out an excited shout of her own. "It's a Mila Roden! We have to kill it right now!"
So you know how rare it is to run into this guy.
"Ahh, right... it's still a monsterrr..." Missha raised her sword with a somewhat sad look on her face.
On the flip side, Mr. Bear loaded his crossbow with a bolt faster than ever. It seemed more than one of us had recognized this creature's value. "We're lucky, finding a Mila Roden on our first expedition."
"W-Wait. Distortion! I haven't used a distortion spell yet!" Raven stopped Mr. Bear and quickly cast a spell. It wasn't just any distortion spell, but a high-ranking one. Now, when we took down the targeted monster, there was a higher chance that the corpse would remain intact.
"Kyu, kyuut!" As soon as it was struck with the distortion magic, the Mila Roden went into a frenzy. Perhaps it was an instinct imprinted in its DNA. Most of its ancestors would have been killed in the same way.
"Abman!"
Just as I shouted, the crossbow fired. However, as one of the few herbivorous monsters in the labyrinth, the Mila Roden managed to avoid it with quick movements. I immediately dove forward and grabbed it by its tail.
"Pii! Piiii! Piit!" The creature struggled and let out a scream. This felt a lot like I was hurting an animal but, well, what could you do? This was the law of the jungle.
Slide.
Just as I was reaching my hand out with the intention of squeezing its skull, Raven stopped me. "Wait! Can't we keep it as whole as possible when we kill it? I heard its skin is sold at a high price."
Spoken like a true wizard who sought the most sensible course of action. I obediently agreed and grabbed the Mila Roden by the neck and tail to secure it in place. "Missha."
"Uh, huh? D-Do I have to do it?"
"Your sword is the thinnest."
Ainar used a greatsword, and Mr. Bear's arrows were too big. My mace wasn't even worth mentioning. And since this creature was still a monster, it would be hard to kill it cleanly with a regular knife.
"Stab it in the forehead."
"Ugh..." Missha seemed reluctant, but in the end, she pulled out her sword to give the creature peace.
"Kyuu..." The Mila Roden went slack like someone had pulled its plug. I gulped and counted the seconds.
One, two, three...
This was usually the amount of time it took for monsters to turn into light after dying.
"Bjorn! It's meat!"
The body did not disappear.
The rank-seven Mila Roden, a squirrel that carried a mirror on its back, was categorized as a rare species along with the Mimic because it was ridiculously hard to encounter one.
"Haha, we caught a very rare monster thanks to you, Mr. Yandel. Do you have experience with these, Mr. Urikfried?"
"This is my first time seeing one, too. That's how rare it is."
Mr. Bear had been active on the fifth floor for a long time, yet this was also his first time hunting one of these. Well, considering the monster's nature, that was understandable. It was a pacifistic monster that could conceal itself at all times. To add to that, when detection spells were cast around it, it refused to even step within range. It was a monster that you could only encounter with god-like luck—assuming you didn't know about the black moss.
If you just wait here and use a single detection spell, you can always find one.
Of course, that was easier said than done. It took me over a year of being stuck on the fifth floor to learn this method. This was a game full of hidden features. I had looked through recorded playthroughs with the conviction that there might be a condition for making the Mila Roden appear, and I noticed the moss disappearing from the map in one of the recordings. At the time, I thought it might be a bug.
This sick game...
I soon confirmed it wasn't a bug but a hidden feature. If you ran a detection spell as soon as the moss disappeared, the chances of a Mila Roden appearing were 100 percent. Of course, whether the distortion spell succeeded or not was another matter entirely.
"I guess this is beginner's luck. Even the distortion spell succeeding is—"
"It's high-rank distortion. Not just distortion."
"Oh. Right, high-rank distortion..."
In the game, the success rate of using distortion magic on a Mila Roden was 20 percent. Even a high-rank distortion spell had less than a 30 percent chance of succeeding, which was why I thought we would have to catch at least three or four before we managed to preserve one.
"Anyway, could you hand it to me?" asked Raven.
"Do you know how to butcher it?"
"I did this every day during my apprenticeship."
The limp corpse was quickly dismembered into leather, intestines, and bones by Raven's butcher knife. Her technique was much faster and more sophisticated than Rotmiller's.
Wow, experts are on a whole other level.
"But what's expensive about this guy?"
"Its hide is in high demand because of its rarity, and its tendons are used as magical ingredients. But... its real value lies elsewhere." Soon, Raven cut out the mirror attached to the skin on the creature's back, marking the end of the butchery process. "It's this mirror."
"Mirror?"
"Yes. It can't be taken out to the city, but it can be very useful here." With that, Raven explained the purpose of the mirror in detail. I watched her do so, pleased.
Is this why you need a wizard in your party?
Things had become much easier for me. In the past, I had to explain everything from A to Z myself. Whew, could I finally live like a normal barbarian?
"But you also have good instincts, Mr. Yandel."
"Huh?"
"There's no way you sensed the Mila Roden's presence." Raven shot me a strange look but seemed to let this pass without getting suspicious. Since she herself recently went through something similar on the fourth floor, I guess she thought it wasn't impossible that I managed to do the same. That was that.
"So, how do you use it?" In the game, you simply equipped the mirror to the wizard and pressed a button. So, how did it work in real life?
"Um, I'm not really sure, either. That wasn't written in the book. Maybe injecting some mana into it would work?"
"...Try it. Oh, but before that, cast a binding spell first. Just in case."
"Good idea." After casting the binding magic, Raven held the mirror and closed her eyes. It seemed she was pushing mana into it, but as a barbarian with no aptitude for mana, I couldn't sense anything special. We waited for a while, when—
Flash!
Suddenly, the mirror engulfed us in a radiant light. When I came to, instead of a labyrinth filled with darkness, we were standing at the top of a wide wilderness.
[You have entered the Mirror of Fire.]
"Everything has changed, like a rift!" was Mr. Bear's impression. However, this place was completely different from a rift. To start with, there was no guardian or final boss, and this place didn't take the form of a dungeon. This was just an open-world structure crawling with monsters.
"Go somewhere else, barbarian. This is our clan's territory."
In other words, this zone was the world beyond the mirrors that all of the clans were camped outside of, snatching up all the monsters as they spawned.
"Bjorn! Monsters are coming in from all sides!"
"Prepare for battle!"
[Field Effect – The Hidden World has activated. The drop rate of mana stones has significantly increased. The drop rate of essences has slightly increased.]
Let's get just two essences—no more, no less.
"Haha, we caught a very rare monster thanks to you, Mr. Yandel. Do you have experience with these, Mr. Urikfried?"
"This is my first time seeing one, too. That's how rare it is."
Mr. Bear had been active on the fifth floor for a long time, yet this was also his first time hunting one of these. Well, considering the monster's nature, that was understandable. It was a pacifistic monster that could conceal itself at all times. To add to that, when detection spells were cast around it, it refused to even step within range. It was a monster that you could only encounter with god-like luck—assuming you didn't know about the black moss.
If you just wait here and use a single detection spell, you can always find one.
Of course, that was easier said than done. It took me over a year of being stuck on the fifth floor to learn this method. This was a game full of hidden features. I had looked through recorded playthroughs with the conviction that there might be a condition for making the Mila Roden appear, and I noticed the moss disappearing from the map in one of the recordings. At the time, I thought it might be a bug.
This sick game...
I soon confirmed it wasn't a bug but a hidden feature. If you ran a detection spell as soon as the moss disappeared, the chances of a Mila Roden appearing were 100 percent. Of course, whether the distortion spell succeeded or not was another matter entirely.
"I guess this is beginner's luck. Even the distortion spell succeeding is—"
"It's high-rank distortion. Not just distortion."
"Oh. Right, high-rank distortion..."
In the game, the success rate of using distortion magic on a Mila Roden was 20 percent. Even a high-rank distortion spell had less than a 30 percent chance of succeeding, which was why I thought we would have to catch at least three or four before we managed to preserve one.
"Anyway, could you hand it to me?" asked Raven.
"Do you know how to butcher it?"
"I did this every day during my apprenticeship."
The limp corpse was quickly dismembered into leather, intestines, and bones by Raven's butcher knife. Her technique was much faster and more sophisticated than Rotmiller's.
Wow, experts are on a whole other level.
"But what's expensive about this guy?"
"Its hide is in high demand because of its rarity, and its tendons are used as magical ingredients. But... its real value lies elsewhere." Soon, Raven cut out the mirror attached to the skin on the creature's back, marking the end of the butchery process. "It's this mirror."
"Mirror?"
"Yes. It can't be taken out to the city, but it can be very useful here." With that, Raven explained the purpose of the mirror in detail. I watched her do so, pleased.
Is this why you need a wizard in your party?
Things had become much easier for me. In the past, I had to explain everything from A to Z myself. Whew, could I finally live like a normal barbarian?
"But you also have good instincts, Mr. Yandel."
"Huh?"
"There's no way you sensed the Mila Roden's presence." Raven shot me a strange look but seemed to let this pass without getting suspicious. Since she herself recently went through something similar on the fourth floor, I guess she thought it wasn't impossible that I managed to do the same. That was that.
"So, how do you use it?" In the game, you simply equipped the mirror to the wizard and pressed a button. So, how did it work in real life?
"Um, I'm not really sure, either. That wasn't written in the book. Maybe injecting some mana into it would work?"
"...Try it. Oh, but before that, cast a binding spell first. Just in case."
"Good idea." After casting the binding magic, Raven held the mirror and closed her eyes. It seemed she was pushing mana into it, but as a barbarian with no aptitude for mana, I couldn't sense anything special. We waited for a while, when—
Flash!
Suddenly, the mirror engulfed us in a radiant light. When I came to, instead of a labyrinth filled with darkness, we were standing at the top of a wide wilderness.
[You have entered the Mirror of Fire.]
"Everything has changed, like a rift!" was Mr. Bear's impression. However, this place was completely different from a rift. To start with, there was no guardian or final boss, and this place didn't take the form of a dungeon. This was just an open-world structure crawling with monsters.
"Go somewhere else, barbarian. This is our clan's territory."
In other words, this zone was the world beyond the mirrors that all of the clans were camped outside of, snatching up all the monsters as they spawned.
"Bjorn! Monsters are coming in from all sides!"
"Prepare for battle!"
[Field Effect – The Hidden World has activated. The drop rate of mana stones has significantly increased. The drop rate of essences has slightly increased.]
Let's get just two essences—no more, no less.