Chapter 169: Burning (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 169: Burning (1)
The world beyond the mirror was a hidden map like The Labyrinth of Larcaz. Its difficulty was quite high right upon entry because monsters flooded in from the start.
"Bjorn! Another wave is coming!"
As soon as one battle was over, another horde of monsters rushed in. The scale this time was on a whole other level. There were eight rank-seven beast-type Flame Wolves, five rank-six natural-type Salamanders, and three rank-five plant-type Redwoods.
"Raven, how long 'til the spell!?"
Just as I shouted that, blue light shot out of Raven's wand. "Nara Brigianu Toon!" This was the rank five wide-range ice spell Blizzard: Freezing Rain.
Crashhh!
Gray clouds formed in the sky above, and sharp shards of ice poured out of them.
Bang, bang, bang!
More than half of the monsters were obliterated with a single spell. Of course, the rank-five monsters were unaffected even by this wide-range skill.
"Behelahhh!"
Thanks to my increased Threat Level from Wild Outburst and Giantization, monsters flocked to me on their own. This was why a tank was as important as a wizard in this place.
"Gaaaaaa!"
Blocking the Redwood's stem whip with my shield, I focused solely on defense, also known as Barbarian Turtle Mode. I could take down at least one of them with Swing, but it was better to save my MP since my Threat Level would drop once Giantization ended.
"Kill the Salamanders first!"
While I was taking on three Redwoods, our wizard prepared a spell for the next wave. This time, it was the damage dealers' turn to play their part.
Clashhh!
Receiving long-range support from Mr. Bear, Ainar and Missha began eliminating the monsters in earnest. It took less than three minutes to take out the trash mobs.
Cleaning up trash mobs is quick with three close-combat damage dealers.
Afterward, the five of us teamed up to defeat the rank-five monsters, but there was no time to rest.
"...Another one."
No sooner did we finish the battle than another herd of monsters came looking for the source of the sound. We repeated this process over and over again.
After we had finished about ten battles, Raven said, "Mr. Yandel, I don't have much mana left." Raven was using wide-range spells without holding back, so her mana had been reduced to less than a third of her usual levels. Of course, that was no problem. The first wave was almost over.
"Don't use attack magic and just provide support."
"Okay!"
Raven's remaining mana was used to cast curses on the enemy or give the team buffs. My Giantization ended around then too. It seemed Mr. Bear, who had been firing explosive arrows, didn't have much MP left either.
"Behelahhh!"
As the three of us started to struggle, the importance of the melee sisters Ainar and Missha increased accordingly. After all, melee was the best way to deal average DPS.
"Oohhhh! This is the battle I wanted!" Ainar's excitement peaked as she dealt with our endless enemies. Like a true barbarian, who was deemed the warrior tribe, her enthusiasm was rather beneficial.
Was she always this good at fighting?
Although it looked like she was swinging her greatsword crudely, she still avoided everything that needed to be avoided. It was like she was fighting on crack.
Well, she did train her swordsmanship there...
Her battle instincts even seemed to be superior to Missha's. Anyway, the battle was approaching its end, so I changed up the formation. "Abman, now, send him this way!"
Iron Bear Iradun, Bear for short, was the team's tank assist.
Whoom!
Even Bear, who was protecting our long-range fighter in the back, joined the front line and lent us his strength. That was because it really seemed like everyone was at their limit now. Our wizard's mana was completely exhausted at this point, so even support had come to an end.
Crunch! Crunch! Whiiish!
Pushed to our limits for the first time in a while, we cleared the monsters with normal attacks that didn't involve skills—just a mace, sword, and giant crossbow bolts.
"Looks like it's over..." Once I finished it off by crushing the latest monster's flaming skull, the battle ended. Hundreds of mana stones decorated the ground.
"But were mana stones always this darrrk?"
"It's what makes this place special. The density of the stones is about double."
Simply put, a double event was at play. It took several minutes for Raven to collect the stones with what little mana she had left. Oh, and there was an essence.
"I saw that! It came from the guy wearing human heads on his body!"
"You mean Headhunter." That was a rank-seven fire-type undead monster. I coolly abandoned the essence. It could be useful if consumed, but now that we were going to hunt rank-five monsters every day, there was no point in taking it.
"Mm, we're leaving it...?" Ainar stared at me with obvious disappointment, like a child who had dropped her candy on the floor.
I told you no. Bad.
"It's not a good essence for you. So deal with it."
"...Okay!" Picking up just anything would end up costing you more money if you tried to erase it later. But perhaps throwing away loot bothered her. "But can't we just sell it in a Magic Vial?" Ainar shouted.
That particular suggestion was dealt with by the wizard. "No. Anything below rank six won't even pay for the Magic Vial. And on top of that, I heard you can only take one item from this place."
"Hm? Only one? What do you mean by that?"
"I don't know the reason, but the items obtained in here have to be distorted with magic to take out, and I heard there can only be one." That was a characteristic of this map that I would've had to explain had Raven not already known about it. "We have to choose carefully what we'll take with us. Essences are useful... But I've heard of some people finding a really valuable item here."
"A valuable item..." The item to take had already been decided, but that piqued my curiosity. Did someone else know about the item already?
I asked for more details, but Raven stopped me there, saying that that was all she knew. "Information on these things is hard to learn from books. I only heard about it from other people."
True, information on the fifth floor and above was classified as advanced. Even trivial achievements were treated as intellectual property and not freely shared. Some clans even prohibited their members from mentioning the work they'd done in the labyrinth. This kid hadn't been hung up on the Complete Book of Rifts for nothing.
"First, get some rest. I'll take watch." After a fierce battle, we decided to take a break. As we settled down, we took stock of our current state. "Raven, how long until your mana is fully charged?"
Well, she did train her swordsmanship there...
Her battle instincts even seemed to be superior to Missha's. Anyway, the battle was approaching its end, so I changed up the formation. "Abman, now, send him this way!"
Iron Bear Iradun, Bear for short, was the team's tank assist.
Whoom!
Even Bear, who was protecting our long-range fighter in the back, joined the front line and lent us his strength. That was because it really seemed like everyone was at their limit now. Our wizard's mana was completely exhausted at this point, so even support had come to an end.
Crunch! Crunch! Whiiish!
Pushed to our limits for the first time in a while, we cleared the monsters with normal attacks that didn't involve skills—just a mace, sword, and giant crossbow bolts.
"Looks like it's over..." Once I finished it off by crushing the latest monster's flaming skull, the battle ended. Hundreds of mana stones decorated the ground.
"But were mana stones always this darrrk?"
"It's what makes this place special. The density of the stones is about double."
Simply put, a double event was at play. It took several minutes for Raven to collect the stones with what little mana she had left. Oh, and there was an essence.
"I saw that! It came from the guy wearing human heads on his body!"
"You mean Headhunter." That was a rank-seven fire-type undead monster. I coolly abandoned the essence. It could be useful if consumed, but now that we were going to hunt rank-five monsters every day, there was no point in taking it.
"Mm, we're leaving it...?" Ainar stared at me with obvious disappointment, like a child who had dropped her candy on the floor.
I told you no. Bad.
"It's not a good essence for you. So deal with it."
"...Okay!" Picking up just anything would end up costing you more money if you tried to erase it later. But perhaps throwing away loot bothered her. "But can't we just sell it in a Magic Vial?" Ainar shouted.
That particular suggestion was dealt with by the wizard. "No. Anything below rank six won't even pay for the Magic Vial. And on top of that, I heard you can only take one item from this place."
"Hm? Only one? What do you mean by that?"
"I don't know the reason, but the items obtained in here have to be distorted with magic to take out, and I heard there can only be one." That was a characteristic of this map that I would've had to explain had Raven not already known about it. "We have to choose carefully what we'll take with us. Essences are useful... But I've heard of some people finding a really valuable item here."
"A valuable item..." The item to take had already been decided, but that piqued my curiosity. Did someone else know about the item already?
I asked for more details, but Raven stopped me there, saying that that was all she knew. "Information on these things is hard to learn from books. I only heard about it from other people."
True, information on the fifth floor and above was classified as advanced. Even trivial achievements were treated as intellectual property and not freely shared. Some clans even prohibited their members from mentioning the work they'd done in the labyrinth. This kid hadn't been hung up on the Complete Book of Rifts for nothing.
"First, get some rest. I'll take watch." After a fierce battle, we decided to take a break. As we settled down, we took stock of our current state. "Raven, how long until your mana is fully charged?"
"With meditation or sleep, twelve hours. If I don't get that, it'll take more than a day."
"I see." This was what I meant about melee damage dealers being better than wizards on the fifth floor. Wizards required a considerable amount of time to recharge their mana. "From now on, save your mana as much as possible."
"You're going to continue the expedition like this?"
"This isn't a place that's easy to reach. We should explore as much as possible. We might find that valuable item you were talking about."
"That is certainly true. There's no telling when we'll get to come here again..."
So that problem was dealt with. After replenishing our stamina for fifteen minutes, we resumed our quest. It was a forced march, but no one complained. They had already seen the amount of mana stones and essences that this place spat out.
"I'll finally get to hold my head up in front of my wife." Mr. Bear grinned from ear to ear. No matter what happened, he was a family man.
"Abman, do you sense a portal anywhere?"
"I can feel one faintly—it's very far away, over there." In this map where compasses did not work, we relied on our scout's ability to navigate. "...If you're going to go the opposite way, why did you ask?"
Because the place I want to go is this way.
Of course, I couldn't say that. Instead, I improvised a plausible explanation. "That portal is likely to be the exit. We'll have to go the opposite way if we want to find something."
Nothing I said was wrong, so I quickly gained Raven's support. "Ah! That's right. I read there was a portal leading out of the mirror."
Whew, this was why there needed to be a decently smart character on the team. "Okay then, let's go."
It was around 7 p.m. on day twenty-two. Since the day was almost over, we had about a week left now. In order to milk it to the bone, we had to hurry.
***
This map, the Mirror of Fire, had one distinct peculiarity: it took one day for monsters to regenerate. Thanks to that, the hunting grounds temporarily became a safe zone. This was fortunate. If monsters were constantly crawling out in the hundreds, we wouldn't have been able to even sleep.
[You have defeated a Hell Guard. EXP +4]
[You have defeated a Gremlin. EXP +2]
[You have defeated a Doom Warrior. EXP +5]
[You have defeated a Chaos Worm...]
[You have defeated a Doomfire Fairy...]
Killing monsters we weren't able to hunt before because of the control the clans had over their respective territories, we escaped the forest surrounding the starting point after three days. Progress was much slower than I had expected.
The map is sizable, but the main issue is that there are too many monsters.
Once a battle started, monsters in the surrounding area gathered thanks to the sound. Of course, it was much better than them converging on us from all sides like at the very beginning. Now, we only had to worry about our enemies coming at us from the front, and it was possible to retreat backward if necessary. However, as our forced march dragged on, stamina and mana bottomed out, and our hunting speed slowed. That led to a few dangerous situations. In the end, we had to take periodic breaks.
Still, the rate we're collecting mana stones is wild.
I didn't call this place the Burning Zone for nothing. With the ability to win large-scale battles using magic and a doubled mana stone drop rate on top of that, I started to feel like I was making money through mana stones after coming here. Before this, our jackpots were all from catching plunderers and obtaining their equipment.
Big battles are the best type of hunting, after all.
On the morning of the twenty-sixth day, after camping out in front of it, we officially entered a new area.
Whoosh!
The Burning Forest, as the name suggested, was engulfed in black flames that burned 365 days a year. However, the fire damage we suffered was negligible thanks to the trees being quite far apart from each other and Cold Blood raising our flame resistance. There were three reasons I chose this place. First, it had the lowest battle difficulty.
"Hmm, there's nothing special."
"Yeah, I was a little worried, but I think it's easierrr than the last area. No rank-five monsters, either."
Although there were a lot of monsters, they were just rank six or seven. Of course, easy prey meant fewer rewards. However, the Ashen Mountains and Lava Lake on the other side were quite challenging for characters of our level, and there was nothing to be gained from entering the Altar of the Dead, where the portal was.
Second, we needed to get something to make things more comfortable for us, an item hidden in the center of the Burning Forest. With that thing, it would not only be possible to clear the other zones next time, but we'd also be able to enter a certain island on the sixth floor.
"Don't get too relaxed. You never know what might show up." I issued a warning out of habit, but once we entered the forest, I sped up too. Since our trip here took more time than I expected, it was unclear whether we had arrived in time.
"The trees here are all burnt."
"Let's rest here for today."
After an endless, all-day cycle of battle and travel, we only unpacked our sleeping bags at our campsite when the day was coming to an end. The next morning, we encountered a monster.
It's finally here.
"Arua! What's this thing's name?"
"Uh... I don't know, either."
Only one of these existed in the Burning Forest—a monster that even Raven, who spent her whole life reading books, didn't know the rank or name of. A rare monster that even the clans who controlled the territories on the fifth floor may or may not meet once a year.
"Kwohhh!" This was the rank-five rare-type monster Berthas, and my third reason for choosing the Burning Forest.
"Behelahhh!"
This guy was guaranteed to drop an essence.
"With meditation or sleep, twelve hours. If I don't get that, it'll take more than a day."
"I see." This was what I meant about melee damage dealers being better than wizards on the fifth floor. Wizards required a considerable amount of time to recharge their mana. "From now on, save your mana as much as possible."
"You're going to continue the expedition like this?"
"This isn't a place that's easy to reach. We should explore as much as possible. We might find that valuable item you were talking about."
"That is certainly true. There's no telling when we'll get to come here again..."
So that problem was dealt with. After replenishing our stamina for fifteen minutes, we resumed our quest. It was a forced march, but no one complained. They had already seen the amount of mana stones and essences that this place spat out.
"I'll finally get to hold my head up in front of my wife." Mr. Bear grinned from ear to ear. No matter what happened, he was a family man.
"Abman, do you sense a portal anywhere?"
"I can feel one faintly—it's very far away, over there." In this map where compasses did not work, we relied on our scout's ability to navigate. "...If you're going to go the opposite way, why did you ask?"
Because the place I want to go is this way.
Of course, I couldn't say that. Instead, I improvised a plausible explanation. "That portal is likely to be the exit. We'll have to go the opposite way if we want to find something."
Nothing I said was wrong, so I quickly gained Raven's support. "Ah! That's right. I read there was a portal leading out of the mirror."
Whew, this was why there needed to be a decently smart character on the team. "Okay then, let's go."
It was around 7 p.m. on day twenty-two. Since the day was almost over, we had about a week left now. In order to milk it to the bone, we had to hurry.
***
This map, the Mirror of Fire, had one distinct peculiarity: it took one day for monsters to regenerate. Thanks to that, the hunting grounds temporarily became a safe zone. This was fortunate. If monsters were constantly crawling out in the hundreds, we wouldn't have been able to even sleep.
[You have defeated a Hell Guard. EXP +4]
[You have defeated a Gremlin. EXP +2]
[You have defeated a Doom Warrior. EXP +5]
[You have defeated a Chaos Worm...]
[You have defeated a Doomfire Fairy...]
Killing monsters we weren't able to hunt before because of the control the clans had over their respective territories, we escaped the forest surrounding the starting point after three days. Progress was much slower than I had expected.
The map is sizable, but the main issue is that there are too many monsters.
Once a battle started, monsters in the surrounding area gathered thanks to the sound. Of course, it was much better than them converging on us from all sides like at the very beginning. Now, we only had to worry about our enemies coming at us from the front, and it was possible to retreat backward if necessary. However, as our forced march dragged on, stamina and mana bottomed out, and our hunting speed slowed. That led to a few dangerous situations. In the end, we had to take periodic breaks.
Still, the rate we're collecting mana stones is wild.
I didn't call this place the Burning Zone for nothing. With the ability to win large-scale battles using magic and a doubled mana stone drop rate on top of that, I started to feel like I was making money through mana stones after coming here. Before this, our jackpots were all from catching plunderers and obtaining their equipment.
Big battles are the best type of hunting, after all.
On the morning of the twenty-sixth day, after camping out in front of it, we officially entered a new area.
Whoosh!
The Burning Forest, as the name suggested, was engulfed in black flames that burned 365 days a year. However, the fire damage we suffered was negligible thanks to the trees being quite far apart from each other and Cold Blood raising our flame resistance. There were three reasons I chose this place. First, it had the lowest battle difficulty.
"Hmm, there's nothing special."
"Yeah, I was a little worried, but I think it's easierrr than the last area. No rank-five monsters, either."
Although there were a lot of monsters, they were just rank six or seven. Of course, easy prey meant fewer rewards. However, the Ashen Mountains and Lava Lake on the other side were quite challenging for characters of our level, and there was nothing to be gained from entering the Altar of the Dead, where the portal was.
Second, we needed to get something to make things more comfortable for us, an item hidden in the center of the Burning Forest. With that thing, it would not only be possible to clear the other zones next time, but we'd also be able to enter a certain island on the sixth floor.
"Don't get too relaxed. You never know what might show up." I issued a warning out of habit, but once we entered the forest, I sped up too. Since our trip here took more time than I expected, it was unclear whether we had arrived in time.
"The trees here are all burnt."
"Let's rest here for today."
After an endless, all-day cycle of battle and travel, we only unpacked our sleeping bags at our campsite when the day was coming to an end. The next morning, we encountered a monster.
It's finally here.
"Arua! What's this thing's name?"
"Uh... I don't know, either."
Only one of these existed in the Burning Forest—a monster that even Raven, who spent her whole life reading books, didn't know the rank or name of. A rare monster that even the clans who controlled the territories on the fifth floor may or may not meet once a year.
"Kwohhh!" This was the rank-five rare-type monster Berthas, and my third reason for choosing the Burning Forest.
"Behelahhh!"
This guy was guaranteed to drop an essence.