The Observer (2)
After tearing the usable parts from the kobold corpse and tossing the rest aside, the body sank into the dungeon floor as if the stone itself were drinking it down. In its place lay a finger-sized scrap of metal. Magstone. A dungeon byproduct also called dungeon iron or labyrinth iron, and something merchants desperately wanted. This was exactly why slaves were being turned into disposable mercenaries and thrown into the dungeon. The ore was mainly used to reinforce ordinary iron through alloying, and because it reacted so sensitively to mana, it was a prized resource for knights’ and mages’ weapons.
“One of these should fetch at least a gold coin,” Rock said. Smiles broke out across his party members’ faces. Of course, once they split the proceeds it would only amount to a few silver each. Even so, if magstone kept appearing at this rate, they could pay off their debts and earn their freedom in less than a year.
Yet Rock handed the stone to Sezanne. The observers were entitled to seventy percent of today’s haul, after all.
The barbarian who had been wounded in the kobold ambush was patched up by the water priestess’s healing magic. Once the area was cleared, the party sat down to jerky and bread for a short rest. It was a surprisingly well-balanced group.
They fought five more battles on the second floor. People were injured, but no one died or was put out of commission. Eventually they reached the staircase leading to the third floor.
“Mage, do we qualify to descend to the third floor now?”
“Hmm. I haven’t been in the capital long, so I don’t actually know how big the gap is between the second and third floors. Still, judging by the difference between the first and second, pushing on to the third will be quite painful. Your firepower feels insufficient.”
“Then… are we on hold?”
At Rock’s question, Sezanne shot me a troubled glance. If she told them they needed more training before attempting the third floor, she risked earning their resentment. But if she gave permission and they died down there, the guilt would weigh on her just as heavily.
“How about we go down to the third floor together while we’re here?” I offered. Rock’s and his party members’ faces lit up at once.
“We’ll accompany you. After you fight the orcs directly, if it seems doable we’ll approve your certification. If not, you can spend another month training on the second floor. Sound fair?”
Rock and the others had no reason to refuse. Having observers present as a safety net made the attempt far more attractive. Besides, even if we had simply told them they weren’t ready, they probably wouldn’t have believed it. The only real way to make them accept reality was to let them feel it in their bones.
“All right. We’ll do it that way. If we can’t defeat the orcs properly, we’ll retreat immediately. Can you promise that?”
“Yes, Mage. We promise.”
Once everyone agreed with Sezanne, we began our descent to the third floor.
In truth, I was just as eager as Rock to see what lay below. I had never encountered an orc before. I was burning with curiosity about exactly how much stronger they were than goblins or kobolds. With Rock’s party acting as a shield, I figured I could fight them safely enough.
Rock’s heart hammered in his chest. Born to parents who made their living trading dungeon byproducts, he had nursed dreams about these labyrinths since he was a child. Stepping onto the final floor of the Aiparak Dungeon—the very place that had fueled those boyhood fantasies—filled him with an emotion unlike any other.
What will the third floor, where orcs appear, be like? They have to be strong. But I have my comrades and the observers with me! No matter what comes, we can win.
He repeated the words to himself again and again, trying to pump up his courage. Then he caught sight of an orc’s massive silhouette in the glow of a luminous stone and thrust his sword forward.
[Clang!]
“Damn it!”
His half-hearted thrust shattered against the orc’s stone axe. For an instant Rock froze, unsure what to do. If his spear-wielding comrades hadn’t blocked from the side, he would have died on the spot. As he fumbled for his spare blade, three more orcs burst out from behind the first. He was already struggling against one; the thought of facing four at once made his mouth go dry.
“Fire Bolt!”
The mages’ spells slammed into the orcs, but the beasts simply rolled across the ground to extinguish the flames, then charged the casters with rage-filled eyes.
“Hold them back! Ugh—”
He tried to step forward to protect the mages, but first he had to stop the stone axe crashing down directly in front of him.
[BOOM!!]
The orc’s monstrous strength pressed down on him like a collapsing mountain. For the first time, the true terror of death sank its teeth into him.
He had left the training camp with his friend Meisha and four others, forming this very party. Because his father’s shop had supplied their gear, they had suffered no fatalities while other groups bled. He had believed they could conquer even the third floor without losing anyone.
Now, failing to hold the orcs back, he realized how arrogant that belief had been.
“Ugh!”
When the burned orc turned its fury toward the mage and Meisha, Rock’s panic made him slip. A spear stabbed into his leg. Just as despair closed in on Rock and his companions, the observers finally moved.
The moment we reached the third floor I spotted four red dots converging on our position and immediately halted Yanne and Sezanne. When Rock’s party was subsequently ambushed by the orcs, Sezanne gave me a questioning look, clearly wondering how I had known.
“I can see them all. We need to help. These kids clearly aren’t ready for the third floor yet.”
I charged with my kite shield held before me like a battering ram. I trusted my buffs and enhanced physique, and the shield techniques I had learned in a medieval martial arts club back on Earth gave me confidence.
[BOOM!]
I rammed the shield into the side of an orc rushing the mages. The impact sounded like a tree exploding in a car crash. As the creature staggered, unable to regain its balance, I closed in and brought my mace down on its skull.
[Thud, crunch! Thump!]
The square weight on the mace head caved in the orc’s cranium. It never moved again. When I rose to face the next threat, one of the remaining orcs was already blazing from Sezanne’s magic. With two of the four dead, Rock and his party finally snapped out of their panic and drove the last pair back, eventually finishing them off.
“Th-thank you. If you and the warrior hadn’t stepped in, we would have been wiped out. It looks like the third floor is still too much for us.”
Rock, who calmly acknowledged their limits instead of letting bravado cloud his judgment, clearly had the makings of an outstanding leader.
“Your party is lacking in firepower. If your mages had used Fireball instead of Fire Bolt, you might have been able to handle it despite the difficulty. Save up and teach them Fireball first. Until then, remain on the second floor.”
There was nothing they could do but nod in agreement at Sezanne’s words.
As they turned to head back up, two more orcs appeared. Once again, without any warning from me, the party dispatched them cleanly. By the time we finally exited the dungeon, a day and a half had passed.
“We’ll keep the magstone. Everything else is yours. I’ll also write a conditional approval stating that once your mages can cast Fireball, you’re cleared for the third floor.”
“Really? Thank you!”
After submitting the conditional certificate to the guild in my capacity as observer, I stepped outside with Sezanne, who looked slightly disappointed.
“That warrior named Rock seemed like a decent sort. It’s a shame.”
“Yeah, I thought a free man like him would work out. For now, let’s check the request board and see if any decent warriors are looking for work.”
“I’m telling you, when those orcs charged us I really thought I was dead.”
“My hands are still shaking. Let’s drink to making it back alive!”
“No kidding. If that shield warrior hadn’t been there, all three of us would’ve been orc food.”
“But I heard observers usually don’t join the fighting. Was ours special or something?”
“Must have been. They even gave us all the byproducts except the magstone. Never heard of observers doing that before.”
“We got lucky with our observer. Let’s spend the next month saving up and somehow learn Fireball at the training hall.”
“Rock. I overheard—what was that observer’s name? We’re getting certified the day after tomorrow too. But if you ran into orcs, that means you went to the third floor, right? How?”
Since they hadn’t received certification to descend to the third floor yet but had clearly fought orcs there, members of other parties crowded around, burning with curiosity.
“The observers let us experience it firsthand. They said it would be safe with them present. After clashing with four orcs myself, I finally understood the difference.”
“Agreed. Three might be manageable, but four was impossible.”
“So tell us their names already!”
“Mage Sezanne and Warrior Jinu.”
The names of Jinu and Sezanne—who had escorted parties to the third floor and safely let them fight orcs—spread like wildfire among the mercenaries. Parties aiming for the third floor began flocking to the guild in droves.
“Unfortunately, you’ve failed. The third floor is still beyond you. You need more time training on the second floor.”
The parties who had rejoiced at drawing us as their observers struggled even against five goblins on the second floor, let alone the third. We issued failing marks and told them to try again later. Two days after that, the third party also failed.
Only now did I understand why the Mercenary Guild required observers before certifying anyone for the third floor. I also realized that serving as an observer was almost useless for scouting talent to recruit into a warband. You couldn’t poach anyone if the party fell apart. Since every trip into the dungeon ate up two full days, I informed the guild that I wanted to resign from observer duty.
But at their earnest pleading, I agreed to observe one final party.
The two mountain tribesmen at the front are slaves, while the Mori warrior and three mages are free people?
The Mori woman had probably purchased her freedom with coin. Still, with only one male among the mages and mountain tribesmen and four women total, I felt a twinge of worry for this group.
“Come at me! Hah!!”
Yet the Mori woman proved to be a warrior born. Shield and spear in hand, she practically soloed the centipedes and giant rats on the first floor, then stepped forward alone against the goblins on the second and hard-carried the entire run. With the mountain tribesman anchoring the front line beside her and the three mages hurling Fire Bolt and Fireball, they cleared the second floor with ease.
They possessed the strongest firepower of any party I had seen so far.
“We heard you two give tours of the third floor. What do you think? Are we ready?”
Knowing rumors about us had already spread among the mercenaries, I exchanged a quick glance with Sezanne. This group looked capable enough.
“Then let’s go down and give the third floor a taste while we’re with you.”
This was the first time since Rock’s party, so I was quietly looking forward to fighting orcs again. When three red dots appeared on the map, I assumed we would handle them without much trouble.
[BOOM! Bang!]
Once again the Mori female warrior surged forward, catching an orc’s stone axe on her shield. She deftly deflected a thrusting spear with her shoulder pauldron. Watching from behind, I could only admire her flawless technique.
After parrying the spear with her shoulder, she hurled herself forward and slammed her body into the orc. The muscular beast actually flew backward from the force. The mountain tribesman, who had been waiting for an opening, drove his spear into the creature’s belly and shoved. At the same time the Mori warrior thrust her own spear straight through the second orc’s head. The two of them had taken down a pair of orcs working in perfect coordination.
“All of you, come on! I am Meni of the Mori!!”
The Mori woman roared like a barbarian war cry. It carried no actual buff, yet it somehow lifted everyone’s spirits.
But Jinwoo quickly realized this was the worst possible move. On the map, more than a dozen red dots were now rushing straight toward them.
I shoved the curious Yanne and Sezanne behind the mages at the rear of the formation and raised my shield.