Chapter 556: First Clear (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 556: First Clear (1)
Bellarios—a rank-three monster that had the perfect magical defenses to make up for my sole weakness.
The base stats it possessed were as follows:
[Mana Resistance: +200]
Mana Resistance at a level that couldn't be found in any other monster, and...
[General Attribute Sensitivity: +30]
Water, fire, air, earth, and so on—no matter the attribute of the skill I used, this increase in sensitivity would increase their effectiveness.
And that's all.
Those two stats were the only ones attached to Bellarios. Honestly, if it had anything else, I'd question the dev's ability to design a balanced game.
Damn.
This wasn't the first time I'd had this thought, but I wondered once more what it would be like if that second stat were Resistance instead of Sensitivity. That said, Sensitivity was worth a lot and was a very important stat in this game, but that was only if I was building a Fire Barbarian or Earth Barbarian. I wouldn't get much use out of it as a Shield Barbarian.
The only skill it applies to right now is Storm Gush.
Eye of the Storm was classified as a wind attribute skill, and Origin was water. These two were affected by the user's Attribute Sensitivity, and they'd be more effective now that I had some to my name. But since they were skills I was going to erase later on anyway, this boost wouldn't end up making much of a difference to me.
...What's important are Bellarios's skills.
Although it was a shame that I didn't get resistance for both stats, I found I couldn't really complain when I remembered the skill I did get. Stats, after all, could be supplemented.
[(P) Circulation Loop—Whenever a monster of rank-three or higher dies within a set radius, your stats have a certain probability of increasing.]
And I had gotten a passive that happened to increase my stats.
In some ways, this ability was similar to the Manticore's Inheritance, which allowed the user to increase their stats by consuming mana stones, but the key difference here was this: Circulation Loop didn't have a limit. Well, because the probability of it activating took a sharp nosedive as my stats increased, I would functionally hit a ceiling at around a total of 400 stat points, but still.
[(A) Scales of Greed—When activated, you gain additional Mana Resistance relative to your base Mana Resistance.]
In the end, though, the active was the core of this essence.
I got +35 from Deep Sea Giant, +20 from Bayon, +80 from Ogre, +200 from Bellarios, +40 from erasing Inheritance, and then another +8 from going around eating those potions around that Rift... So that's 383 in total.
But that wasn't all. When you added an additional 30 percent from the Earth Dragon's Blessing on top of that 383 ...
A grand total of 497.9.
Regrettably, that number was just barely shy of five hundred.
However, there was a reason why Giantization was my main skill. Earth Dragon's Blessing hadn't even been part of my original Shield Barbarian build.
[You have cast Giantization. Your Threat Level and Physical Attributes increase in proportion to your increase in size.]
Even without using Transcendent Giantization or boosting my stats through Wild Outburst, my Mana Resistance would be over five hundred from this alone.
[You have cast Scales of Greed.]
As I activated my newly acquired skill, blue scales appeared over the thick skin I shared with my fellow barbarians.
"Oh! Bjorn is evolving into a Lizardman!"
Hey, don't insult me like that.
I looked down at my transformed body with a grin.
[Your Mana Resistance is over 500. All magical damage received will be reduced by 50%. All Physical Resistance stats will increase in proportion to the amount of magical damage absorbed.]
I had finally obtained Barbarian Dragon Mode.
Unfortunately, I barely had a moment to take the essence, use its skill, and admire my new state before...
"I truly congratulate you on your achievement, Your Lordship. However, I wish to continue with the mission at hand."
With those mood-killing words from Jerome, I stomped back over to the hunting grounds, huffing to myself. Everyone already knew that he was obsessed with the mission. It was a bit annoying, but considering just how good he was at his job, I decided to let it slide.
[You have killed a Bantao.]
[You have killed an Elder Wyvern.]
[You have killed a Fleetwonder...]
After all, the more rank-three monsters we defeated, the more we stood to gain.
Shaaa!
About seven monsters in, a halo appeared above my head and drew in the shining light of our most recent kill right before it disappeared. This was an effect that marked the activation of Circulation Loop.
[Your Mana Resistance has permanently increased by +1.]
[Your Natural Regeneration has permanently increased by +1.]
I'd seen this skill activate for Auyen multiple times already so I wasn't too surprised, but since I couldn't see the system messages, I couldn't tell which stats I got. We would need to make regular visits to the Magic Tower to check our stats and find out which ones went up.
Either way, I could tell that physical stats were the most likely suspects.
That one might have been just within range. Let's get a little closer.
Circulation Loop had a few activation conditions. When you were within one yard of the defeated monster, the increased stat had a high chance of being a physical stat, and if you were within five yards, it was totally random instead. If you were over ten yards away, research suggested that the stat was more likely to be related to your abilities.
Ah, of course, this research was all conducted by me firsthand.
"Stop! Squad Three and Temporary Squad Four will now switch places with Squad One and Squad Two!"
A short while later, the commander called out another order to the group. Relieved smiles danced across the faces of the knights who had been toiling away with me on the front lines, but I was an exception.
Ah... I just want to stay here and keep padding out my stats.
When would I ever get the chance to kill this many rank-three and above monsters en masse again? I wanted to grind for as many stats as I could while I was stuck working with this expedition group.
However, Commander Jerome sternly shut me down. "You may not know this because you have no experience leading an army, but rules are rules, Your Lordship. You need to follow them."
[You have cast Scales of Greed.]
As I activated my newly acquired skill, blue scales appeared over the thick skin I shared with my fellow barbarians.
"Oh! Bjorn is evolving into a Lizardman!"
Hey, don't insult me like that.
I looked down at my transformed body with a grin.
[Your Mana Resistance is over 500. All magical damage received will be reduced by 50%. All Physical Resistance stats will increase in proportion to the amount of magical damage absorbed.]
I had finally obtained Barbarian Dragon Mode.
Unfortunately, I barely had a moment to take the essence, use its skill, and admire my new state before...
"I truly congratulate you on your achievement, Your Lordship. However, I wish to continue with the mission at hand."
With those mood-killing words from Jerome, I stomped back over to the hunting grounds, huffing to myself. Everyone already knew that he was obsessed with the mission. It was a bit annoying, but considering just how good he was at his job, I decided to let it slide.
[You have killed a Bantao.]
[You have killed an Elder Wyvern.]
[You have killed a Fleetwonder...]
After all, the more rank-three monsters we defeated, the more we stood to gain.
Shaaa!
About seven monsters in, a halo appeared above my head and drew in the shining light of our most recent kill right before it disappeared. This was an effect that marked the activation of Circulation Loop.
[Your Mana Resistance has permanently increased by +1.]
[Your Natural Regeneration has permanently increased by +1.]
I'd seen this skill activate for Auyen multiple times already so I wasn't too surprised, but since I couldn't see the system messages, I couldn't tell which stats I got. We would need to make regular visits to the Magic Tower to check our stats and find out which ones went up.
Either way, I could tell that physical stats were the most likely suspects.
That one might have been just within range. Let's get a little closer.
Circulation Loop had a few activation conditions. When you were within one yard of the defeated monster, the increased stat had a high chance of being a physical stat, and if you were within five yards, it was totally random instead. If you were over ten yards away, research suggested that the stat was more likely to be related to your abilities.
Ah, of course, this research was all conducted by me firsthand.
"Stop! Squad Three and Temporary Squad Four will now switch places with Squad One and Squad Two!"
A short while later, the commander called out another order to the group. Relieved smiles danced across the faces of the knights who had been toiling away with me on the front lines, but I was an exception.
Ah... I just want to stay here and keep padding out my stats.
When would I ever get the chance to kill this many rank-three and above monsters en masse again? I wanted to grind for as many stats as I could while I was stuck working with this expedition group.
However, Commander Jerome sternly shut me down. "You may not know this because you have no experience leading an army, but rules are rules, Your Lordship. You need to follow them."
Yeah, I supposed if exceptions were made, more people would come forward to challenge his authority. Sensing there was no point trying to convince him, I turned around and tended to my disappointed heart.
Boom! Bang! Crackle!
When I left the stone gate behind and moved over to the bookshelves, I had a bird's-eye view of the battle unfolding below.
Vwoong!
The knights wielded auras of all colors of the rainbow.
Shaaa!
Heals cast by the priests brightened the battlefield, allowing the knights to fight without worrying about any injuries they might accrue.
"Ihilart Bendai Tiulon!"
Dozens of wizards used group spells in feats of overwhelming firepower.
In truth, they were the reason I had used the fountain pen early on to get the Bellarios essence despite planning to hold off on using it for as long as possible. It was to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
There are too many wizards here.
If they ended up becoming my enemies, I would have been screwed in my previous state.
But now... I'll be able to at least fight back a little.
I sighed. On that note, I really needed to give Amelia her next essence as well, but it was too much of a waste to use the last remaining charge of the fountain pen on that. Maybe I would just get lucky if I waited long enough.
"Mister, what are you thinking so hard about?"
"Why are you always so curious about what I'm thinking?"
"Ahaha... am I? Why am I...?"
"It's nothing..." I turned back to my task of removing books from the shelves, still lost in thought.
Finally, the time to switch rolled around, and around the time we would have needed to switch back, the day came to an end.
We repeated this routine a few more times until, before I knew it, it was four in the afternoon on our 114th day in the labyrinth, only around eight hours left before the rainy season began.
"...Commander, we've reached the final bookshelf."
The library would soon be fully cleared.
Honestly, even I was kind of shocked. I never imagined it would be possible to reach the last stage of the library in just a week. Our group had to stop at around the rank-three and rank-two monsters the last time we visited, and even that took a month. Their speed was on a whole other level from ours.
However, I did have some excuses for that. Their group's goal wasn't to hunt, but to clear the floor. Unlike us, who hunted as many rank-three monsters as we could, these guys only ever took out a single book from each row so they could keep climbing the shelves.
"You may all rest until new orders are given!"
The palace's army, which had spent the past week summoning and fighting monsters late into the night, was finally given a moment to rest as the mission was put on pause.
That, of course, wasn't the case for the leaders.
"Then we will begin our meeting."
While everyone else was splayed out and resting to recover their health and MP, the other leaders and I were gathered off to the side for a meeting. We all had grim looks on our faces.
I'd known from the start that the last few books would have rank-one monsters since Hamsick told me so himself. But these guys hadn't known that.
"We had our suspicions, but it seems rank-one monsters do in fact appear on the last bookshelf," the deputy commander, the one running the meeting, said cooly, though I noticed an ever-so-slight tremble in his voice. Not that that meant anything about our course of action. "Before anything else, I want to establish that the commander has decided that even if it means facing a rank-one monster, the mission will proceed as planned."
Yeah, I supposed if exceptions were made, more people would come forward to challenge his authority. Sensing there was no point trying to convince him, I turned around and tended to my disappointed heart.
Boom! Bang! Crackle!
When I left the stone gate behind and moved over to the bookshelves, I had a bird's-eye view of the battle unfolding below.
Vwoong!
The knights wielded auras of all colors of the rainbow.
Shaaa!
Heals cast by the priests brightened the battlefield, allowing the knights to fight without worrying about any injuries they might accrue.
"Ihilart Bendai Tiulon!"
Dozens of wizards used group spells in feats of overwhelming firepower.
In truth, they were the reason I had used the fountain pen early on to get the Bellarios essence despite planning to hold off on using it for as long as possible. It was to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
There are too many wizards here.
If they ended up becoming my enemies, I would have been screwed in my previous state.
But now... I'll be able to at least fight back a little.
I sighed. On that note, I really needed to give Amelia her next essence as well, but it was too much of a waste to use the last remaining charge of the fountain pen on that. Maybe I would just get lucky if I waited long enough.
"Mister, what are you thinking so hard about?"
"Why are you always so curious about what I'm thinking?"
"Ahaha... am I? Why am I...?"
"It's nothing..." I turned back to my task of removing books from the shelves, still lost in thought.
Finally, the time to switch rolled around, and around the time we would have needed to switch back, the day came to an end.
We repeated this routine a few more times until, before I knew it, it was four in the afternoon on our 114th day in the labyrinth, only around eight hours left before the rainy season began.
"...Commander, we've reached the final bookshelf."
The library would soon be fully cleared.
Honestly, even I was kind of shocked. I never imagined it would be possible to reach the last stage of the library in just a week. Our group had to stop at around the rank-three and rank-two monsters the last time we visited, and even that took a month. Their speed was on a whole other level from ours.
However, I did have some excuses for that. Their group's goal wasn't to hunt, but to clear the floor. Unlike us, who hunted as many rank-three monsters as we could, these guys only ever took out a single book from each row so they could keep climbing the shelves.
"You may all rest until new orders are given!"
The palace's army, which had spent the past week summoning and fighting monsters late into the night, was finally given a moment to rest as the mission was put on pause.
That, of course, wasn't the case for the leaders.
"Then we will begin our meeting."
While everyone else was splayed out and resting to recover their health and MP, the other leaders and I were gathered off to the side for a meeting. We all had grim looks on our faces.
I'd known from the start that the last few books would have rank-one monsters since Hamsick told me so himself. But these guys hadn't known that.
"We had our suspicions, but it seems rank-one monsters do in fact appear on the last bookshelf," the deputy commander, the one running the meeting, said cooly, though I noticed an ever-so-slight tremble in his voice. Not that that meant anything about our course of action. "Before anything else, I want to establish that the commander has decided that even if it means facing a rank-one monster, the mission will proceed as planned."
I'd expected as much, but there was a bit of a commotion from some of the other leaders.
"A rank-one monster... We are sure to suffer severe casualties."
"I am starting to wonder if this is worth all that."
I understood how they felt. It wasn't as if we hadn't gotten here without sacrifices.
"Commander, seven people have already been killed in action!"
Seven people had died in battle the past week. Six of them were warriors from the expedition group. One of them was a warrior from the Armin Adventurer Group. No matter how many priests we had, even they couldn't do anything when someone was killed instantly.
It also isn't rare to see severed arms and legs strewn around the battlefield now.
The last summoning book we used had two rank-two monsters accompanied by four rank-threes and all of us were fighting it together rather than in shifts like usual, yet even then, the number of limbs that had been ripped off during that battle had been over twenty. Thankfully, the priests had managed to reattach them immediately after the battle was over, but what would happen against a rank-one?
Clearly thinking along the same lines, one of the knights spoke up. "If we suffer any more casualties here, this could become a major loss for the palace—"
"Stop." Commander Jerome immediately cut him off. "This is a sacred mission given to us by the royal family of Rafdonia. Thus, we must do our duty. No matter the sacrifices that might need to be made on the way."
As we were an army with a strict hierarchy, Jerome's stern response shut the anxious knight right up.
The deputy commander quickly stepped in to resume the meeting. "Whether or not we will proceed with the mission isn't the topic we are here to discuss." Jerome had already decided we were going to fight, so there was only one other reason he'd call us over here. "We have identified seven monsters we can summon. Please feel free to share your opinions on which one we should fight."
We were here to debate which monster would be the best to face.
As the meeting began in earnest, many different opinions were shared, but I stayed quiet at first to hear the others out.
"I believe the Leviathan is the best choice. We are currently not in the ocean. As it is a monster who gets a significant advantage from its native habitat, I suspect that it will be easier to defeat on land."
First of all, Leviathan was the wrong choice. Although the logic was sound enough, we didn't have the team comp needed to defeat that particular monster.
"How about Tol-Lapupa? It's a monster that specializes heavily in defense, so if we invest time into preparation, we should be able to defeat it without taking much damage."
That was also a no. We had plenty of knights on our side, but in the end, wizards made up the heart of this group's damage-dealing forces. We would never be able to break through its shell with spells.
"I believe that the Kashan would be the best—"
"Well, I think a Ridger would be a better option than a Kashan—"
The leaders each offered their opinions and either supported or challenged the ideas of the others. Of course, every word out of their mouths was crap. Most people had never seen a rank-one monster in their lives and had only ever heard stories about them. They were essentially legendary, mythical creatures that most adventurers would only ever talk about in theory.
Am I going to need to step in?
Even though it was only in the game, I had plenty of experience defeating countless rank-one monsters. And frankly, from where I was standing, this meeting was pointless to begin with.
Just look at how this entire conversation was being framed—we were discussing which monster would be best to hunt to minimize the amount of damage we would take. None of them were entertaining the idea that we might fail. They truly believed that no matter which of the seven we summoned, we would be able to defeat it.
"Now that I think about it, you haven't said anything for a while, Lord Baron."
"...Are you talking about me?"
"Do you perhaps have an opinion to share?"
Ah, right. Honestly, I'd been about to speak up, and this guy had been kind enough to set the stage for me.
"I do."
The other leaders in the meeting seemed intrigued, their attention immediately snapping to me.
"If we are to summon one, it needs to be Kashan," I declared, cutting straight to the point. At my announcement, the eyes of the others lit up with interest.
"The Wolf of Prophecy?"
"So you are of the same opinion as me, Your Lordship."
Some seemed surprised while others looked pleased that I agreed with them. On the other hand...
"If you do not mind, could I ask you to explain why it has to be Kashan?" the highest-ranking wizard in the expedition group asked me. He stared down his nose at me with a look that suggested that he saw me as nothing more than a mindless barbarian.
This guy is the one who wanted to summon Leviathan.
The old wizard went on lecturing me. "Kashan is the monster with the highest attack power of all the monsters we've discussed. It is guaranteed to cause the most damage to our group."
Hey, don't act like you know everything just because you've read some books and can do some magic.
"However, if there is a reason you feel we need to choose Kashan over the other monsters, do tell. If you cannot convince everyone here—"
"I do have a reason."
"...Huh?"
I wasn't sure why this old man looked so surprised when he was the one to ask me to explain myself in the first place. "Tol-Lapupa, Leviathan, or whatever—none of those are options."
"...What do you mean?"
What do you mean, what do I mean?
"Kashan is the only one we have any hope of defeating."
The others were impossible for us to beat in the first place.
I'd expected as much, but there was a bit of a commotion from some of the other leaders.
"A rank-one monster... We are sure to suffer severe casualties."
"I am starting to wonder if this is worth all that."
I understood how they felt. It wasn't as if we hadn't gotten here without sacrifices.
"Commander, seven people have already been killed in action!"
Seven people had died in battle the past week. Six of them were warriors from the expedition group. One of them was a warrior from the Armin Adventurer Group. No matter how many priests we had, even they couldn't do anything when someone was killed instantly.
It also isn't rare to see severed arms and legs strewn around the battlefield now.
The last summoning book we used had two rank-two monsters accompanied by four rank-threes and all of us were fighting it together rather than in shifts like usual, yet even then, the number of limbs that had been ripped off during that battle had been over twenty. Thankfully, the priests had managed to reattach them immediately after the battle was over, but what would happen against a rank-one?
Clearly thinking along the same lines, one of the knights spoke up. "If we suffer any more casualties here, this could become a major loss for the palace—"
"Stop." Commander Jerome immediately cut him off. "This is a sacred mission given to us by the royal family of Rafdonia. Thus, we must do our duty. No matter the sacrifices that might need to be made on the way."
As we were an army with a strict hierarchy, Jerome's stern response shut the anxious knight right up.
The deputy commander quickly stepped in to resume the meeting. "Whether or not we will proceed with the mission isn't the topic we are here to discuss." Jerome had already decided we were going to fight, so there was only one other reason he'd call us over here. "We have identified seven monsters we can summon. Please feel free to share your opinions on which one we should fight."
We were here to debate which monster would be the best to face.
As the meeting began in earnest, many different opinions were shared, but I stayed quiet at first to hear the others out.
"I believe the Leviathan is the best choice. We are currently not in the ocean. As it is a monster who gets a significant advantage from its native habitat, I suspect that it will be easier to defeat on land."
First of all, Leviathan was the wrong choice. Although the logic was sound enough, we didn't have the team comp needed to defeat that particular monster.
"How about Tol-Lapupa? It's a monster that specializes heavily in defense, so if we invest time into preparation, we should be able to defeat it without taking much damage."
That was also a no. We had plenty of knights on our side, but in the end, wizards made up the heart of this group's damage-dealing forces. We would never be able to break through its shell with spells.
"I believe that the Kashan would be the best—"
"Well, I think a Ridger would be a better option than a Kashan—"
The leaders each offered their opinions and either supported or challenged the ideas of the others. Of course, every word out of their mouths was crap. Most people had never seen a rank-one monster in their lives and had only ever heard stories about them. They were essentially legendary, mythical creatures that most adventurers would only ever talk about in theory.
Am I going to need to step in?
Even though it was only in the game, I had plenty of experience defeating countless rank-one monsters. And frankly, from where I was standing, this meeting was pointless to begin with.
Just look at how this entire conversation was being framed—we were discussing which monster would be best to hunt to minimize the amount of damage we would take. None of them were entertaining the idea that we might fail. They truly believed that no matter which of the seven we summoned, we would be able to defeat it.
"Now that I think about it, you haven't said anything for a while, Lord Baron."
"...Are you talking about me?"
"Do you perhaps have an opinion to share?"
Ah, right. Honestly, I'd been about to speak up, and this guy had been kind enough to set the stage for me.
"I do."
The other leaders in the meeting seemed intrigued, their attention immediately snapping to me.
"If we are to summon one, it needs to be Kashan," I declared, cutting straight to the point. At my announcement, the eyes of the others lit up with interest.
"The Wolf of Prophecy?"
"So you are of the same opinion as me, Your Lordship."
Some seemed surprised while others looked pleased that I agreed with them. On the other hand...
"If you do not mind, could I ask you to explain why it has to be Kashan?" the highest-ranking wizard in the expedition group asked me. He stared down his nose at me with a look that suggested that he saw me as nothing more than a mindless barbarian.
This guy is the one who wanted to summon Leviathan.
The old wizard went on lecturing me. "Kashan is the monster with the highest attack power of all the monsters we've discussed. It is guaranteed to cause the most damage to our group."
Hey, don't act like you know everything just because you've read some books and can do some magic.
"However, if there is a reason you feel we need to choose Kashan over the other monsters, do tell. If you cannot convince everyone here—"
"I do have a reason."
"...Huh?"
I wasn't sure why this old man looked so surprised when he was the one to ask me to explain myself in the first place. "Tol-Lapupa, Leviathan, or whatever—none of those are options."
"...What do you mean?"
What do you mean, what do I mean?
"Kashan is the only one we have any hope of defeating."
The others were impossible for us to beat in the first place.