Chapter 27: Fountain of Blessing
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 27: Fountain of Blessing
The side effect of a Status Effect Duration Reduction Scroll.
After a certain amount of time, the user is afflicted with the ‘Drowsiness’ status effect. And after a little more time, they fall asleep.
Just like Caleb right now.
The adventure was temporarily on hold.
The party began to set up camp.
Crackle, crackle.
Yernil crouched by the campfire, looking down at Caleb lying in his sleeping bag.
She felt a considerable amount of guilt.
It was a good time to recall the foolish words she had spouted in the lobby before entering the Labyrinth.
When Caleb had asked if she was nervous, how had she replied?
‘I’m not nervous at all. We’re only going to the 1st floor, right? I’ve been there before. I had nothing back then, but I just did as you said and made it out alive. It’ll be even simpler this time!’
If any veteran adventurers had overheard, they would have snickered. They’d probably have had a conversation like this:
Look at her. She says the 1st floor of the Labyrinth is simple.
Is she a high-floor adventurer?
Nope, just a kid who’s been to the 1st floor once. This is her second time.
She’s out of her mind.
Yernil’s face grew hot with shame as she recalled the moment.
What had she done during this battle?
When that incredibly suspicious wizard woman had run over asking for help, Aimus had blocked her path to prevent her from entering, and Caleb had aimed his wand and sternly shouted at her to get lost.
What had Yernil done then?
Nothing.
To be honest, she hadn't understood why Caleb was being so wary.
Instead, these thoughts had been swirling in her head:
Caleb. May I offer an opinion? I think we should accept that wizard. She came here alone, bleeding profusely; I don’t think she’s lying. We might run into the 2nd-floor party, too. Let’s let her in and proceed as a party of five!
The only reason she hadn't voiced those stupid remarks was because she was timid.
How foolish!
What was worse was the moment the party was attacked.
What was Yernil doing when the wizard cast a spell disruption on Caleb?
Again, nothing!
Unbelievable!
Frankly, she hadn't even properly grasped the situation.
She had been convinced that the four enemies charging from the front were the four-person plunderer party from the 2nd floor.
With such a powerful common enemy right in front of us, why is this wizard attacking Caleb?
She had frozen, experiencing a sort of cognitive dissonance.
She shouldn't have.
Aimus had to handle the front line, and Undead Back Attack was of little help, so it should have been Yernil who protected Caleb from the spell disruption.
Dereliction of duty.
That was a fair way to put it.
The moment the spell disruption was cast, Yernil should have dealt with the wizard somehow and saved Caleb.
But in reality, she had ended up receiving help from Caleb yet again.
In terms of incompetence, she was similar to Undead Back Attack…
Huh?
Wait a minute.
‘Am I similar to Undead Back Attack?’
To Back Attack, who couldn't even communicate and did nothing but chew on hair?
Yernil found herself making a shocking comparison.
It was the match of the century.
Undead Back Attack vs. Yernil.
1. Are they helpful in defending the rear?
Back Attack: No.
Yernil: No.
A draw.
2. Were they helpful in the subsequent battle?
Back Attack: No.
Yernil: Hit the Dwarf Puppeteer with an arrow.
Yernil wins by a narrow margin.
3. Are they helpful to the adventure?
Back Attack: Tracks souls and avoids traps to find the way.
Yernil: Failed to see through the combat doll, nearly wiping out the party with the false information that there were only four enemies.
A landslide victory for Back Attack.
Unbelievable!
Then, the final question.
4. How much do they cost the party to maintain?
Back Attack: Nothing at all.
Yernil: Eats and sleeps.
Back Attack wins.
The final result is 2 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. Undead Back Attack is the winner!
Slap!
Aimus, who was standing guard, turned to look at Yernil at the sudden loud noise.
She had just slapped both of her own cheeks.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just trying to get a grip!”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve become worse than a corpse…!”
“What are you talking about…”
Yernil’s eyes widened with determination.
In this very moment!
Someone had died on the 1st floor of the Labyrinth.
It was the weak and soft-hearted Yernil of the past.
The newly reborn Yernil is a much more cunning and agile, true ranger!
Just let someone try to approach!
Just let them get caught!
I’ll shoot them on sight! For real!
No more mercy!
Man or woman, young or old, injured or alone, it doesn’t matter! If Caleb considers them an enemy, I won’t even let them get close…
“Yernil.”
“Gah!”
Yernil jumped, startled by Caleb suddenly speaking to her.
Caleb was awake.
And it seemed he had seen the fearsome expression on the face of the reborn Yernil.
“Why are you glaring like that? Did something happen?”
“…N-No! Go back to sleep!”
“It’s fine. I’m okay now.”
Caleb sat up and pushed aside his sleeping bag.
“Let’s get moving again.”
*
While I was asleep, Yernil and Aimus had taken care of the plunderers’ corpses and belongings.
“What should we take?” Aimus asked.
The human warrior’s steel heavy armor was practically scrap metal, with flesh seared onto it. It would still fetch some money, but we left it behind due to its weight. We decided to take only a few pieces of equipment, like his two-handed sword, helmet, and gauntlets.
From the Dwarf Puppeteer, we took just one big item. Even a puppeteer with nothing to his name has a combat doll core, which is quite valuable. I pulled out the fist-sized, glittering core and put it in my bag.
The dwarf had been carrying the wizard woman’s bag, and when we opened it, we hit the jackpot.
Along with five healing potions, we found two pretty useful consumables.
[Raise Dead Body Scroll]
[Cooldown Reduction Elixir]
Next.
I picked up the magic wand the wizard woman had used and examined it.
[Sally's Magic Wand♥Psycho]
It seemed she had carved it onto the end of the wand herself. You wouldn't normally know without an item appraisal, but seeing as she named it ‘Psycho’…
“Move with an unseen hand.”
That’s right. When I tested it, it produced psychokinesis.
So now I had the basic wand supplied by the magic university, the Lightning Shock wand I bought myself, and this psychokinesis wand.
That made three. I wasn't going to become a wand collector again today, was I?
“Let’s put everything the canine beastfolk had on Back Attack.”
His build was about right, and since Aimus had killed him cleanly, his equipment was barely damaged.
We took the beastfolk’s flexible light plate armor, boots, leather gloves, dagger, and bombs.
I would hold onto the dagger and bombs, and we needed to equip Back Attack with the armor, boots, and gloves…
“I’ll do it!”
Yernil suddenly shot her hand up.
*
Something’s off about Yernil!
Why is she so tense and wound up?
After struggling on her own to somehow dress Back Attack, she started moving with incredible diligence whenever something happened.
“Caleb, you rest in the back!”
When goblin trash mobs appeared, she would force me to rest and take the lead, firing arrows relentlessly.
“You just woke up. What if you use too much magic and collapse again!”
She had her reasons, I guess.
“Caleb! Give me your bag, too! I’ll carry it for you!”
“No, you don’t have to go that far…”
“Whoa! That was close!”
She darted in front of me like lightning and fired an arrow at a mouse scurrying 30 meters ahead.
“Phew. It was just a mouse. I heard a noise.”
Seriously, Yernil, you’re scaring me.
“Look out!”
This time, she grabbed me and leaped, sending us both tumbling to the side with a crash!
“What are you doing!”
“Something flew down from above! A trap, maybe!”
“It’s a bat,” Aimus said, pointing to two bats flying away behind us.
First a mouse, now a bat?
“Aah!”
Yernil’s head snapped up again.
What now?
“I hear a beeping sound!”
“Beeping? That’s usually a trap or a timer bomb…”
“Watch out!”
Before I could finish, Yernil tackled me, forcing me to the ground. She lay on top of me, pulling my head tightly into her embrace.
“I can’t breathe!”
“Huh?”
“Calm down! Even if it is a trap or a bomb, if only you can hear it, it’s probably not near us.”
“Caleb!”
She let go of my head and looked up.
“Now that I look, the beeping is coming from you!”
What?
Wait a minute. Could it be?
I took the compass out of my bag.
“That’s it! It’s coming from here!”
Even though she said that, I couldn't hear it, so I pressed the compass right against my ear and focused.
Beep. Beep.
“You’re right.”
“The sound is coming from here! Right?”
An immense sense of pride washed over Yernil’s face.
“This compass is from Professor Meldini. He said it would find a treasure chest.”
“A treasure chest?”
Aimus showed interest as well.
“Yes. If we follow the direction the compass is pointing, we should find it. But…”
Hearing a sound from the compass was good news, but if the signal was this weak, it was still quite far away.
“Let’s focus on saving Back Attack first.”
We had a lot to do on this adventure.
“And Yernil.”
I needed to have a word with her.
“It’s good that you let me know you heard a sound, but you don’t need to overreact to every little noise.”
“Ah…”
“If you react to every mouse footstep, it’ll slow our progress down too much.”
“I’m sorry…”
Yernil’s head drooped.
What is going on with her?
Did she feel indebted because she hadn't done much during the fight with the plunderer party?
“Yernil.”
“Yes.”
“Just keep doing what you’ve been doing. You’re doing more than enough.”
“But I didn’t catch the combat doll, so I gave you the wrong information that there were only four of them.”
Yernil said, looking ashamed.
So that’s what was bothering her.
“If you heard the footsteps of four people, then that’s what you should have reported. It was my misjudgment, not a failure in your information gathering.”
“…”
“Let’s go. From now on, just tell me if you hear something.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t have to mention anything too trivial.”
“Like mouse footsteps?”
“Yes.”
“What about a goblin shaman’s voice?”
“Not necessary right now.”
“The sound of water?”
“You don’t have to report every little thing like that… Wait. What sound of water?”
“I hear water trickling. Like a stream or a fountain.”
What?
“Where is it!”
That was actually important.
“Let’s stop by there first.”
*
The Fountain of Blessing.
In the game, this was how certain classes like rogues and warriors acquired skills.
According to the lore, skills weren't just about superior athleticism or weapon techniques, but a kind of superpower.
Take the rogue’s Leaping Ambush, for example. Instantly teleporting behind an enemy isn't a conventional, physical movement.
In the lore, skills are like blessings bestowed by the gods.
Just as a wizard’s magic comes from Wizus, the God of Wisdom.
Long ago, many other gods existed, but they were all devoured by the Labyrinth. They became a part of it, sharing bits of their superpowers with the adventurers who travel through it. Those are skills, and this is the place to acquire them.
“A fountain.”
I walked up to it and took a closer look.
In the center of a large, circular fountain six meters in diameter, a stone statue depicting the upper body of a male lion rose up.
A sparkling purple waterfall poured from the mouth of the three-meter-high lion.
“Well done, Yernil.”
I turned to praise her, but…
She looks so proud.
Yernil was grinning with immense satisfaction. I had no idea why she kept glancing at Back Attack, though.
“You two, would you like to receive a skill blessing from the fountain?”
It didn't apply to wizards, but the other two could learn skills here.
“I’ve encountered fountains a few times, but I’ve never received a skill,” Aimus said.
The reason was his low Agility and high Strength. To acquire a skill, your stats have to support it. And one more thing.
“You’ve never tried it with an iron staff, have you?”
The fountain analyzes weapon proficiency.
It looks at the weapon held by the adventurer seeking its blessing, evaluates their proficiency with it, and if their stats also meet the criteria, it grants a skill.
“That is true, but…”
The monk held his iron staff, looking unconvinced, but I was certain.
Brother Monk.
Your base Strength is 15.
And monks already have basic proficiency with greatstaves.
All he had to do was stick his face in the fountain.
“…!”
Aimus’s shoulders twitched as he submerged his face in the fountain’s water as if diving.
The skill was entering him.
What would he learn?
The monk’s level was even higher than ours, a whopping 11.
It was probably because he had a lot of experience, even if he had only ever explored the 1st floor.
If he had put all those stat points into Strength, he could have gotten a Tier 2 staff skill with his current 20 base Strength, but unfortunately, Aimus had put some points into Agility and Health as well.
Health wasn't exactly a waste of stat points, but the Agility was a bit of a shame.
It couldn't be helped.
Not everyone could have a perfect min-maxed build like Yernil (a term from TRPGs for distributing stats purely for efficiency). This wasn't a game, after all.
Then again, if he invested a bit more in Agility, he could pick up a Tier 1 fist monk martial arts skill like ‘Strange Evasion’…
Hmm.
Would that be bad?
I wasn't sure. With new builds, if they succeed, they’re revolutionary; if they fail, they’re just a messy hybrid.
“…”
The monk lifted his head.
“A skill really did appear.”
Aimus had 15 Strength, 3 Agility, and 2 Health.
The skill he learned was probably…
“Smashing Gaia.”
Good. Just as I thought.
“Now you try, Yernil. Put your face in the fountain.”
Yernil approached with a nervous expression.
Thanks to defeating the plunderer party, both Yernil and I had leveled up.
We were both level 6 now.
Yernil’s Agility was 13.
Go, Yernil!
“Hooo!”
Yernil took a deep breath and plunged her face into the water as if diving.
“I-I learned it!”
A moment later, she emerged with a very flushed expression.
“I learned a skill.”
She said, looking incredibly proud.
“Three-Point Shot!”
Now, Yernil was truly reborn. Have some confidence, Yernil!
“Caleb, you should take a look, too,” Yernil suggested, gesturing toward the fountain.
“Wizards can’t get anything from here.”
Why was that?
Was it because Wizus, the God of Wisdom who bestows magic, wasn't devoured by the Labyrinth?
Was that why he distributed magic directly through Memory Book contracts?
“You never know, though.”
I was curious.
In the game, you just clicked on the fountain to learn a skill. If there was only one available, you learned it automatically. If there were two or more, you chose one.
I had no idea what the inside of the fountain’s water looked like, or what lay beyond it.
Should I take a peek?