Chapter 590: Boss Run (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 590: Boss Run (3)
A Guardian essence had two characteristics. The stats it gave were 1.5 times higher than one you would get from a regular monster, and it allowed you to use all the active skills an ordinary version of that monster would be able to use.
However, in the Gap of Light, one of the rifts of the fifth floor, the Guardian Hell Giant Herja's essence was a little different from the others.
"Alright, Emily... If you've rested enough, try using it."
Under normal circumstances, she should be able to use all three active skills of the rank 4 monster Cyclops. However, the essence of Herja only had one active skill, and it wasn't even a skill a regular Cyclops had either.
[Amelia Rainwales has cast Wave Connection.]
A faint line connected her body to mine as soon as she used the skill. It was a connection line that was only visible to the ones affected by the skill.
Its effect was simple.
[Amelia Rainwales has cast Power of the Abyss.]
The connected individuals could share skills.
A black veil of light appeared around my hammer.
I've researched this essence a lot.
It may seem like an extreme cheat skill, but I learned the truth after researching it for a while. It wasn't a cheat at all.
Well, except for a few situations, that was.
Vwoosh!
The black light gathering around my hammer dispersed. Amelia had deactivated her skill.
"...It uses too much Soul Power."
"How much?"
"I won't be able to maintain its strongest state for even a minute."
It had a similar penalty to Self-Replication: its MP usage was immense.
"Then can you use it a different way this time?"
As I signaled for her to proceed, Amelia closed her eyes and took a moment to meditate.
There were three different ways of using Wave Connection.
The first method was sharing one's skills with an ally like what she just did. It was a support-type move.
And the second way...is to use it like the boss does.
It was an offensive tactic, where you connected to an enemy and used it against them. Even the Hell Giant we just fought had a pattern where it connected me to itself before using destructive area-of-effect attacks multiple times in a row while handing off the handicap to me.
Well, since there was no one else around us and we attacked its eyes as soon as it tried to do that, we were able to avoid it without much trouble.
Anyway, that's a pass.
Since Amelia didn't have any self-destruction or harsh area-of-effects, that method didn't apply to her at all.
So finally, there was the last method.
[Amelia Rainwales has cast Self-Replication.]
[Amelia Rainwales has cast Wave Connection.]
Using the skill in a utility-type way to buff her summons.
Honestly, this was the proper way of using Wave Connection. It was a great benefit to be able to hand off a handicap to an enemy and use a skill from their position, but that method only fit the monsters who had an absurd amount of MP. Wave Connection truly shined when it was used in this way instead.
"Really...the soul consumption has returned to normal. Just what is this combination?"
I mean, this was just natural to me as a gamer. A wizard would have talked about mental wave connection or side waves or some other weird hypothesis, but I only knew the results I obtained after countless hours of research and experimentation. When using Wave Connection on a summon, it would counteract the MP increase. Oh, and naturally, a clone was considered a summon as well.
"With this...many more strategies are open to me." A veteran in combat, Amelia immediately noticed the worth of her new skill. "But about the passive ability...the one called passive skill in your world. I haven't heard anything about that yet."
"Ah, do you not know about Cyclops?"
"It's not a monster you often see... You're the odd one for knowing the characteristics of all these creatures." Amelia seemed embarrassed by her insufficient knowledge, pushing her feelings of awkwardness onto me.
"Here, put this on. You'll know what the passive ability is when you do." I smirked and took out the item I could just barely afford before coming here.
Amelia looked at it, a little confused. "This..."
An eye patch—the ones known to be worn by pirates.
***
[One-Eyed activates. Your dynamic visual acuity increased by +200. You can now see the unseen.]
***
After my duo raid with Amelia ended, I continued to go around into the different rifts while changing up my party members. The tank could do their job in any setting, but that didn't necessarily apply to damage dealers. The core of Dungeon and Stone was compatibility. Some enemies were impossible to defeat if you weren't compatible with them, and on the other hand, some enemies were very easy if you could get a favorable matchup against them.
Not using everyone here would also be a waste.
As the expedition group was made up of the elites of the palace, I could find all the individuals I needed from among them. When I needed a priest, I could take an archbishop-level priest with me to command as I wished, and if I needed rank two fire magic, there was always at least one wizard who could fill that role.
Now I get why there wasn't an entry limit.
This labyrinth had either solo or two-person rifts, but it also didn't seem like it was constructed in a way where two people could clear all of them. It seemed to have been built in a way where it encouraged hundreds of people to come in at once and for the rifts to be cleared by the ones most suited to take them on.
But it's still a bit of a shame. Even while defeating the fifth-floor Guardians like this, I'm wasting so many essences.
In the cases where I could take a wizard with me, we could store them in a magic vial, but I needed to abandon them for the rest.
Even the cheapest essence here would fetch about a few billion stones...
Of course, the thing I was most regretful about was Ainar. Although it wasn't her graduation essence, there was an essence here that would be perfect for a spearman to use.
Unfortunately, the boss wasn't so easy that I could solo carry the raid, so I had to give up taking her with me.
Still, I was satisfied with this expedition since I was able to get Amelia the essence she needed which would have been tricky to obtain in the real rift.
Since it's practically a graduation essence for a Clone Thief, I won't need to make her eat the alternative one...
I once more felt how absurd Basement Floor 1 was. It operated on a completely different axis compared to everywhere else in the labyrinth. I had seen countless new things after coming here, and the gains I made were difficult to quantify. Just what was this place?
"Really...the soul consumption has returned to normal. Just what is this combination?"
I mean, this was just natural to me as a gamer. A wizard would have talked about mental wave connection or side waves or some other weird hypothesis, but I only knew the results I obtained after countless hours of research and experimentation. When using Wave Connection on a summon, it would counteract the MP increase. Oh, and naturally, a clone was considered a summon as well.
"With this...many more strategies are open to me." A veteran in combat, Amelia immediately noticed the worth of her new skill. "But about the passive ability...the one called passive skill in your world. I haven't heard anything about that yet."
"Ah, do you not know about Cyclops?"
"It's not a monster you often see... You're the odd one for knowing the characteristics of all these creatures." Amelia seemed embarrassed by her insufficient knowledge, pushing her feelings of awkwardness onto me.
"Here, put this on. You'll know what the passive ability is when you do." I smirked and took out the item I could just barely afford before coming here.
Amelia looked at it, a little confused. "This..."
An eye patch—the ones known to be worn by pirates.
***
[One-Eyed activates. Your dynamic visual acuity increased by +200. You can now see the unseen.]
***
After my duo raid with Amelia ended, I continued to go around into the different rifts while changing up my party members. The tank could do their job in any setting, but that didn't necessarily apply to damage dealers. The core of Dungeon and Stone was compatibility. Some enemies were impossible to defeat if you weren't compatible with them, and on the other hand, some enemies were very easy if you could get a favorable matchup against them.
Not using everyone here would also be a waste.
As the expedition group was made up of the elites of the palace, I could find all the individuals I needed from among them. When I needed a priest, I could take an archbishop-level priest with me to command as I wished, and if I needed rank two fire magic, there was always at least one wizard who could fill that role.
Now I get why there wasn't an entry limit.
This labyrinth had either solo or two-person rifts, but it also didn't seem like it was constructed in a way where two people could clear all of them. It seemed to have been built in a way where it encouraged hundreds of people to come in at once and for the rifts to be cleared by the ones most suited to take them on.
But it's still a bit of a shame. Even while defeating the fifth-floor Guardians like this, I'm wasting so many essences.
In the cases where I could take a wizard with me, we could store them in a magic vial, but I needed to abandon them for the rest.
Even the cheapest essence here would fetch about a few billion stones...
Of course, the thing I was most regretful about was Ainar. Although it wasn't her graduation essence, there was an essence here that would be perfect for a spearman to use.
Unfortunately, the boss wasn't so easy that I could solo carry the raid, so I had to give up taking her with me.
Still, I was satisfied with this expedition since I was able to get Amelia the essence she needed which would have been tricky to obtain in the real rift.
Since it's practically a graduation essence for a Clone Thief, I won't need to make her eat the alternative one...
I once more felt how absurd Basement Floor 1 was. It operated on a completely different axis compared to everywhere else in the labyrinth. I had seen countless new things after coming here, and the gains I made were difficult to quantify. Just what was this place?
After meeting the old vampire, the thoughts constantly filled my mind whenever I wasn't keeping active. A silver ocean, the rainy season, dimensional collapse, the village chief, Hamsick... I repeated the things I remembered in my mind to not forget them and constantly went over them to see if I missed anything.
Hah, what's the point of thinking so hard about them?
But it always ended with frustration.
I stood up, leaving my clearing the mind rest session there.
"Even if you say that, the fourth floor is forbidden to you. It's too dangerous."
In front of the fourth-floor rift Guardian Kalpion's statue, I could see Raven trying to dissuade an adventurer.
His name...
What was it?
Everyone just called him Big Hammer.
Anyway, he was a pretty famous rank 3 adventurer in the city.
"Can you reconsider it one more time? This is an essence I need."
I could immediately tell that it wasn't the experience or getting a speedrun record that he wanted. He really just needed the essence like he said.
"No, even if you say that..."
"This may sound presumptuous, but I say that you don't know my true capabilities, Ms. Golden Wizard."
"Are you saying that my assessment is wrong?"
"Haha... Not at all... I'm just asking for a way to prove myself. To see if I truly have the qualifications or not."
Even while Raven sternly tried to stop him, the man's will didn't seem to bend, and she let out a sigh at the predicament she found herself in.
After watching the scene as an outsider, I stepped forward. Technically, I was the one who passed off this annoying work to her in the first place.
"If you want to take a test, I'll give you a hand," I offered.
"Baron Yandel...?"
The man seemed to be caught off guard for a second by my joining the conversation, but then he nodded, seeming to conclude that this was better. "Then I'll be in your care." He looked at me aggressively as he raised his Big Hammer.
You know, I haven't even said what the test would be.
It wasn't completely unexpected, however. It was common sense at this point that adventurers were all hot-headed. Plus, this was easier for me too.
"Um...Mr. Yandel? You don't need to waste your strength just for me..."
What was she talking about? "I'm not wasting my strength."
"...Pardon?"
"I'm stopping time from being wasted." I activated Giantization and looked down at him. "Tiny."
With that one word, our duel began.
However, the guy nicknamed Big Hammer was sturdier than I expected, and this extended the spar for a while until around the fifteen-minute mark.
"It's my loss..."
He wasn't able to do any damage to me, but after being flung back with every swing of my hammer, he finally accepted defeat.
"It seems I was being too greedy," he conceded. "It's a shame, but I'll give up trying to attempt the fourth floor."
Even though he had tried to pressure Raven that much, he was pretty graceful in his defeat. It may be an odd look, but macho men always accepted the results of pure strength.
After meeting the old vampire, the thoughts constantly filled my mind whenever I wasn't keeping active. A silver ocean, the rainy season, dimensional collapse, the village chief, Hamsick... I repeated the things I remembered in my mind to not forget them and constantly went over them to see if I missed anything.
Hah, what's the point of thinking so hard about them?
But it always ended with frustration.
I stood up, leaving my clearing the mind rest session there.
"Even if you say that, the fourth floor is forbidden to you. It's too dangerous."
In front of the fourth-floor rift Guardian Kalpion's statue, I could see Raven trying to dissuade an adventurer.
His name...
What was it?
Everyone just called him Big Hammer.
Anyway, he was a pretty famous rank 3 adventurer in the city.
"Can you reconsider it one more time? This is an essence I need."
I could immediately tell that it wasn't the experience or getting a speedrun record that he wanted. He really just needed the essence like he said.
"No, even if you say that..."
"This may sound presumptuous, but I say that you don't know my true capabilities, Ms. Golden Wizard."
"Are you saying that my assessment is wrong?"
"Haha... Not at all... I'm just asking for a way to prove myself. To see if I truly have the qualifications or not."
Even while Raven sternly tried to stop him, the man's will didn't seem to bend, and she let out a sigh at the predicament she found herself in.
After watching the scene as an outsider, I stepped forward. Technically, I was the one who passed off this annoying work to her in the first place.
"If you want to take a test, I'll give you a hand," I offered.
"Baron Yandel...?"
The man seemed to be caught off guard for a second by my joining the conversation, but then he nodded, seeming to conclude that this was better. "Then I'll be in your care." He looked at me aggressively as he raised his Big Hammer.
You know, I haven't even said what the test would be.
It wasn't completely unexpected, however. It was common sense at this point that adventurers were all hot-headed. Plus, this was easier for me too.
"Um...Mr. Yandel? You don't need to waste your strength just for me..."
What was she talking about? "I'm not wasting my strength."
"...Pardon?"
"I'm stopping time from being wasted." I activated Giantization and looked down at him. "Tiny."
With that one word, our duel began.
However, the guy nicknamed Big Hammer was sturdier than I expected, and this extended the spar for a while until around the fifteen-minute mark.
"It's my loss..."
He wasn't able to do any damage to me, but after being flung back with every swing of my hammer, he finally accepted defeat.
"It seems I was being too greedy," he conceded. "It's a shame, but I'll give up trying to attempt the fourth floor."
Even though he had tried to pressure Raven that much, he was pretty graceful in his defeat. It may be an odd look, but macho men always accepted the results of pure strength.
"Whoaaaa!"
"His Lordship won!"
Once our spar came to a close, the spectators that had gathered around us cheered, but I didn't feel flattered.
I'm really not doing damage anymore.
Such was the sorrow of the tank that I'd been feeling more and more often these days. After eating the essence of Bellarios and obtaining the Wall of Aegis as well, I had become multiple times stronger than before, but my damage was still—
"Mr. Yandel," Raven called, "may I speak with you for a moment?"
"Oh ho ho, you don't need to thank—"
"Ah, thank you for the fact that you wasted fifteen minutes on something that could've been sorted after five minutes of talking?"
"Uh..." My mind went blank for a second.
Raven smirked to signal she was joking. "It's fine, so follow me. I did have something I needed to tell you about." After walking with her for a moment, she used voice control magic.
My expression turned serious at that. "Is this a secret that needs to be kept?"
"Eh? No, it's nothing like that...but I don't know. I think it'll be best if you decide, Mr. Yandel."
"Continue," I said, leaning down to match her small height so I could listen closely to her.
Raven slowly began to talk. "As you know, since I acted as something like an examiner, I had a lot of opportunities to hear what happened inside. So I got to learn this..."
Get to the point.
Before I could even say that, Raven summarized, "Duke Cambormere doesn't say anything anymore."
"Doesn't say anything?" Wasn't that how he usually was?
"No, I'm saying he really doesn't say anything," she clarified just as I was about to ask that question. "Nothing about his bloodthirst or anything."
"Ah..."
"Now, when someone goes in, he just charges them with red eyes...but it's strange no matter how I think about it. At least after you came out from the rift, Mr. Yandel, he at least said something."
My hand that had been wandering came in and rested on my chin as my mind wandered deep into thought. "Truly..."
That was a bit suspicious. I also found it a little odd how the old man who seemed normal at first ended up being consumed by madness so suddenly. He had maintained his mind for over three hours with me.
Raven said something wizard-like as she looked up at me. "No change occurs in the world without a cause."
"Then what is the reason the duke suddenly changed?"
It was something a barbarian could never answer, not even after thinking over it for a hundred days. For a gamer, however, it was a different story. I could think of a potential reason for it almost immediately after hearing what she said, honestly.
"In truth...my mindlessness from before is beginning to return."
If the fact that the old vampire was sane of mind was considered an error from the labyrinth's perspective...
A hotfix...
That error could have been patched in real time by someone who controlled the labyrinth.
***
There were twenty-seven Guardians from the first- to fifth-floor rifts along with fourteen unconfirmed Guardians in the same category as Duke Cambormere. That made for a total of forty-one Guardians. Although it seemed like a tough boss run at the start, after diligently fighting through them, we finally came to the final one.
Only one more to go...
Only one fifth-floor rift Guardian statue remained.
By the way, because the rift this guy appeared in was unique, I wasn't compatible with it. That was why I had pushed it off until the end as well.
Dozens of lights had lit up already, but since the stone door still showed no signs of moving, I let out a sigh.
Looks like we really do need to clear all of them for something to happen...which means we need to defeat this one as well. Still, since two people can go in at once, I think this is doable...
I had even thought about the choice of not attempting this one, but there wasn't a suitable substitute. Because it was a boss fight, a tank was crucial, but there wasn't anyone who could fill my spot. Well, I could probably find someone if I looked around...
But none of them are reliable compared to me.
In that case, it would be better for me to go in, which meant that I now needed to think about who to take with me.
Erwen this time as well?
It was an easy choice. She was practically a cheat, and truthfully speaking, after Raven, Erwen was the one with whom I had raided the most statues.
I took the wizard for the easy rifts to get the essence, and the difficult rifts were mostly with Erwen, not counting a few specific exceptions.
...No.
I shook my head. The boss we were trying to defeat in this rift wouldn't be defeated with pure power alone.
Then what about Amelia? She's not a bad choice either...
Ainar seemed more suitable than Amelia for this one, though. She had lost a bit of presence due to her decreased Aggression, yes, but I couldn't ignore her characteristic luck.
Tap.
However, if I wanted luck, there was an even better person right here in front of me.
"Get ready. You're going in the rift."
The moment my order was given, he looked at me in shock.
"Eh? Me? Wh-why...?"
It was the paladin of the Reatlas Church, Sven Parav.
"Whoaaaa!"
"His Lordship won!"
Once our spar came to a close, the spectators that had gathered around us cheered, but I didn't feel flattered.
I'm really not doing damage anymore.
Such was the sorrow of the tank that I'd been feeling more and more often these days. After eating the essence of Bellarios and obtaining the Wall of Aegis as well, I had become multiple times stronger than before, but my damage was still—
"Mr. Yandel," Raven called, "may I speak with you for a moment?"
"Oh ho ho, you don't need to thank—"
"Ah, thank you for the fact that you wasted fifteen minutes on something that could've been sorted after five minutes of talking?"
"Uh..." My mind went blank for a second.
Raven smirked to signal she was joking. "It's fine, so follow me. I did have something I needed to tell you about." After walking with her for a moment, she used voice control magic.
My expression turned serious at that. "Is this a secret that needs to be kept?"
"Eh? No, it's nothing like that...but I don't know. I think it'll be best if you decide, Mr. Yandel."
"Continue," I said, leaning down to match her small height so I could listen closely to her.
Raven slowly began to talk. "As you know, since I acted as something like an examiner, I had a lot of opportunities to hear what happened inside. So I got to learn this..."
Get to the point.
Before I could even say that, Raven summarized, "Duke Cambormere doesn't say anything anymore."
"Doesn't say anything?" Wasn't that how he usually was?
"No, I'm saying he really doesn't say anything," she clarified just as I was about to ask that question. "Nothing about his bloodthirst or anything."
"Ah..."
"Now, when someone goes in, he just charges them with red eyes...but it's strange no matter how I think about it. At least after you came out from the rift, Mr. Yandel, he at least said something."
My hand that had been wandering came in and rested on my chin as my mind wandered deep into thought. "Truly..."
That was a bit suspicious. I also found it a little odd how the old man who seemed normal at first ended up being consumed by madness so suddenly. He had maintained his mind for over three hours with me.
Raven said something wizard-like as she looked up at me. "No change occurs in the world without a cause."
"Then what is the reason the duke suddenly changed?"
It was something a barbarian could never answer, not even after thinking over it for a hundred days. For a gamer, however, it was a different story. I could think of a potential reason for it almost immediately after hearing what she said, honestly.
"In truth...my mindlessness from before is beginning to return."
If the fact that the old vampire was sane of mind was considered an error from the labyrinth's perspective...
A hotfix...
That error could have been patched in real time by someone who controlled the labyrinth.
***
There were twenty-seven Guardians from the first- to fifth-floor rifts along with fourteen unconfirmed Guardians in the same category as Duke Cambormere. That made for a total of forty-one Guardians. Although it seemed like a tough boss run at the start, after diligently fighting through them, we finally came to the final one.
Only one more to go...
Only one fifth-floor rift Guardian statue remained.
By the way, because the rift this guy appeared in was unique, I wasn't compatible with it. That was why I had pushed it off until the end as well.
Dozens of lights had lit up already, but since the stone door still showed no signs of moving, I let out a sigh.
Looks like we really do need to clear all of them for something to happen...which means we need to defeat this one as well. Still, since two people can go in at once, I think this is doable...
I had even thought about the choice of not attempting this one, but there wasn't a suitable substitute. Because it was a boss fight, a tank was crucial, but there wasn't anyone who could fill my spot. Well, I could probably find someone if I looked around...
But none of them are reliable compared to me.
In that case, it would be better for me to go in, which meant that I now needed to think about who to take with me.
Erwen this time as well?
It was an easy choice. She was practically a cheat, and truthfully speaking, after Raven, Erwen was the one with whom I had raided the most statues.
I took the wizard for the easy rifts to get the essence, and the difficult rifts were mostly with Erwen, not counting a few specific exceptions.
...No.
I shook my head. The boss we were trying to defeat in this rift wouldn't be defeated with pure power alone.
Then what about Amelia? She's not a bad choice either...
Ainar seemed more suitable than Amelia for this one, though. She had lost a bit of presence due to her decreased Aggression, yes, but I couldn't ignore her characteristic luck.
Tap.
However, if I wanted luck, there was an even better person right here in front of me.
"Get ready. You're going in the rift."
The moment my order was given, he looked at me in shock.
"Eh? Me? Wh-why...?"
It was the paladin of the Reatlas Church, Sven Parav.