Chapter 28: Fountain of Blessing (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 28: Fountain of Blessing (2)
As I approached the fountain, Yernil, acting like an expert on these blessings, offered some advice.
“If you put your face in the water, you’ll hear a god’s voice.”
“A god’s voice?”
“Yes! He told me that since my archery skills were excellent and my body was agile, he would grant me Triple Shot.”
“...”
That didn’t happen in the game.
There was no god’s voice, not even in the narration. Instead, messages like these would pop up:
[Yernil has used the Fountain of Blessing.]
▶Class: Archer
▶Weapon: Bow
▶Proficiency: Basic
▶Stats: Strength (0), Agility (13), Wisdom (0), Health (0), Dexterity (2)
[Yernil has learned ‘Triple Shot’.]
I guess the game-like interface and reality are a little different, huh?
But that only made me more interested in the fountain.
I wasn't expecting to get a skill, but I thought I might get one step closer to the Labyrinth's secrets.
Specifically, about the ‘gods devoured by the Labyrinth’—a mystery that was never fully resolved even in the game.
Will I find anything out?
I plunged my head into the fountain.
Disappointingly, no god spoke to me.
That was because the God of Wisdom, who grants magic to wizards, wasn't here.
Instead, a message appeared before my eyes.
[You have used the Fountain of Blessing.]
▶Class: Wizard
▶Weapon: Turn-Based Hourglass
▶Proficiency: Novice
▶Stats: Strength (0), Agility (0), Wisdom (15), Health (0), Dexterity (0)
What is this?
*
The Fountain of Blessing evaluates your proficiency with your currently equipped weapon.
For example, Aimus Renick is proficient with ‘Fists’ and a ‘Greatstaff’.
But when he put his face in the fountain bare-fisted, he didn't receive any skills.
That was because his Agility was too low.
This time, however, he tried it with his iron staff and obtained the Smashing Gaia skill.
So what about me?
My weapon is a magic wand.
It should have been.
In the game, if you held a wand and clicked on the fountain, a message saying ‘No acquirable skills available’ would pop up, and that would be it. But...
My weapon is the Turn-Based Hourglass?
Is this some kind of brutal truth?
Something like, ‘The weapon you've used to overcome adversity wasn't your wand or your tactics, but the fluke of the hourglass’?
Honestly, I have to admit it's true.
But if the hourglass is judged as a weapon, and my stats are high enough...
Does that mean I can get a skill for the hourglass?
Yernil’s Triple Shot is a skill she can use when a bow is equipped, and it fires three arrows in succession.
Aimus’s Smashing Gaia is a skill he can use with a greatstaff, and it can shatter the ground to knock down enemies.
So, would the skill I learn be one I can use when I flip the hourglass?
As if on cue, a message appeared.
[Wisdom exceeds 10.]
[You can select a Novice Hourglass skill. Choose one of the following.]
① Direction Adjuster: You can move the hand and arm holding your wand or staff without consuming Action Points. However, your body and the wand cannot physically interact with other objects.
(This is a passive skill with no cooldown and is always active during your hourglass turn.)
② Time Trader: Consume 1 second of the hourglass’s time to remove 1 minute from a specific skill’s cooldown or 1 minute from a negative status effect’s duration.
(This skill can be activated during your hourglass turn. Once activated, you can trade up to the full 60 seconds. Cooldown: 1 hour.)
③ Memory Book Editor: During your turn, you can open your memory book and swap spell slots. Swapping one slot consumes 1 Action Point.
(This skill can be activated during your hourglass turn. Cooldown: 1 hour.)
④ Mind Controller: Consume 2 Action Points to issue a command to a party member of a lower level than you, regardless of their trust. If the command goes against their disposition, they will carry it out but enter a temporary state of ‘Madness’.
(This skill can be activated during your hourglass turn. Cooldown: 1 hour.)
Wow, what the fuck is this...
My head was spinning. All four skills were absurd.
Especially the last one, Mind Controller. At this point, aren't I just the Labyrinth Master?
It drives them into a state of madness?
It's basically designed to let them plead, ‘I don’t remember due to diminished capacity,’ isn't it?
“...”
I'm running out of breath.
Because you can't breathe underwater.
Should I come up for air and go back in?
No.
Frankly, these options didn't require much thought.
Let's eliminate them one by one, starting with the least useful.
Number 4. It's basically an inferior version of the hourglass's extended functions. I can already give orders to Yernil. The Mind Controller skill can force commands against her disposition, but the penalty of driving her into madness is too great.
This trait might be more suitable outside the Labyrinth than in combat. But since I just managed to clear myself of the possessor suspicion, I'd rather keep a low profile out there.
Number 3. In the game, you couldn't touch the memory book during combat. According to the lore, swapping spell slots in the memory book requires significant concentration. So, being able to swap slots is a clear advantage, but...
Right now, the number of spells I have is the same as the number of spell slots, so I have nothing to swap.
Number 2. The higher the tier of magic, the longer the cooldowns become. So much so that a ‘Long Rest’ is often required. Therefore, accelerating skill cooldowns is a useful skill in the long run. It also seems decent for removing debuffs.
But do I need it right now?
No.
In the Labyrinth's Abyss, you can acquire low-level skills even at high levels, so it won't be too late to learn Time Trader when I actually need it.
That leaves...
Direction Adjuster.
A skill that lets me move my arm during my hourglass turn.
The fact that I wouldn't have to waste Action Points on adjusting my aim is a significant merit, but if the idea I have in mind is possible...
[You have learned the skill ‘Direction Adjuster’.]
Let's run a little experiment.
“Phew!”
When I pulled my head out of the water, Yernil and Aimus were staring at me with wide eyes, right beside me.
“Caleb! I thought you were going to drown!”
“Are you alright?”
“Um... Yes.”
I took the wand from my belt.
“I’m fine.”
I flipped the hourglass.
And...
Flick!
When I ended my turn, Yernil’s hair tie came undone.
“Huh?”
Her hair billowed out as if caught in a gust of wind. Seeing the bewildered look on Yernil's face...
It works.
I was now certain of a crucial variable for my future strategies.
“Let’s go.”
I picked up Yernil’s hair tie for her.
*
Undead Back Attack.
In zombie movies these days, all the zombies run, but our Back Attack is old-school.
“Groooan...”
Following him from behind, I felt like a parent who had sent their child to school alone for the first time and was secretly trailing them.
“Uwaaargh!”
But he was a talented zombie, uncannily good at avoiding traps. His current reaction was a signal that he’d found one.
“Let’s follow Back Attack’s steps.”
We formed a single file line, carefully stepping only on the spots Back Attack hopped on, like crossing a stream on stepping stones.
Of course, the one who found this task most difficult was me.
Yernil, with her insane agility, could probably just jump over the entire trap zone in one go.
Aimus, as a disciple of Kalung, also crossed with ease, but if I wasn't careful, I wouldn't just cross the trap zone, I'd cross the River Styx.
“Phew.”
But I made it through safely.
We continued tracking Back Attack like this.
For how long?
Until Back Attack stopped.
Just like right now.
“Uwaaah?”
After tracking him for about four hours, he suddenly came to a halt.
Then he started spinning in place like an anxious dog that needs to go.
“Uwaaargh!”
Next, he dropped flat on the ground, slapping the floor with his palms and gnawing at it before looking up at me.
“Grrr...?”
“Alright. Let’s stop here.”
“Why is Back Attack acting like that? Is his soul under here?” Yernil asked.
“Looks like it. I’m about to tell you all an important secret. You can’t tell anyone.”
“A secret?”
Aimus and Yernil’s eyes widened.
“There’s an inter-floor space beneath us.”
“An inter-floor space?”
“Are you talking about the 1.5th Floor?”
Yernil looked like she was hearing this for the first time, but the monk already knew.
“I heard about it back when I was an adventurer. That there are inter-floor spaces between the Labyrinth’s levels. Apparently, some adventurers have stumbled into them by accident.”
I see.
It's not strange for people in this world to know about the inter-floor spaces. After all, other possessors besides me must have known about them.
They probably farmed a few things there, too. Though it seems they never found the Sanctuary.
“But I don’t know how to get in. Is there a way from here?”
“Yes.”
There are a few ways to enter an inter-floor space, and this is the simplest. Plus, it drops you right in front of the Sanctuary.
I plopped down on the spot.
“We sit and wait.”
I had Yernil and Aimus sit down as well, one in front of me and one behind, each three meters away.
“We just have to sit?” Yernil asked.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Two hours.”
“Two hours!”
Yernil was horrified.
“What if a monster attacks us while we’re sitting here?”
“Then we fight. And then we sit for another two hours.”
“...No way.”
“You can’t lie down or move. You have to keep your butt glued to the ground and stay perfectly still.”
“Ugh...”
“Caleb. If we do this, can we get down to the 1.5th Floor?” Aimus asked.
“Yes.”
He seems to be wondering how I know this.
It’s possessor knowledge.
...I could probably say that out loud and it wouldn't matter.
Because I swore an oath under a lie detection spell at the magic university, firmly planting in everyone’s mind that I am not a possessor. And the original owner of this body, Caleb, was someone who partied with a possessor, the Fox Spirit Maiden, and explored the Labyrinth.
It wouldn't be strange for me to have a possessor's knowledge of the Labyrinth.
But there's no need to go around advertising it, so...
“I was a Labyrinth adventurer before I came to Sohen. Far to the east.”
I offered that as an explanation.
“So that’s where you gained this knowledge.”
“Aimus!”
Yernil suddenly got the monk’s attention and shushed him, glancing at me.
She had an expression that seemed to say, ‘Don’t bring up his tragic past.’
Yernil.
To be honest, I don't really know that past either.
*
“Caleb. I have a suggestion.”
All of a sudden, Yernil raised her hand with great solemnity and presented her opinion!
“How about we go find the treasure chest first!”
“No.”
“Yes, sir...!”
As soon as I shot her down, she quickly lowered her arm.
Yernil probably thought that since the beeping of my compass was much louder than before, the treasure chest must be nearby, so we should explore there first.
Who knows? Maybe we'd find a useful item in that chest that would come in handy on the 1.5th Floor.
Her idea wasn't bad.
And it was true that the treasure chest was nearby.
But it's better to find the treasure chest last, if possible.
Why?
Because the treasure chests the compass finds have a high probability of giving an adventurer exactly what they need.
For example, what if we messed something up during Back Attack’s resurrection and the resurrection scroll was ruined?
Then there's a high chance a resurrection scroll would appear in the treasure chest.
So, for now, let's leave it as an insurance policy.
“Are you bored?”
I asked Yernil. While her lower body was staying put as instructed, her upper body was twisting and squirming with boredom.
“A little. You and Aimus are holding up so well.”
Well, as for me...
I'm busy planning future strategies.
And Aimus is a monk.
“I’ve done this kind of training many times at Dalai Mountain,” he said.
“And once you’ve raised three kids, you’ll understand what a blessing it is to just sit still and do nothing, Yernil.”
I suddenly remembered the day we brought the monk to our dorm for a sleepover.
When he left his house, I saw it.
That incredible sense of liberation blooming on his face!
An irrepressible smile that kept creeping up the corners of his mouth, an expression he couldn't control.
Fucking freedom!
I could almost hear his inner scream.
I doubt even Yernil, after paying off all her debt, could be that happy.
“But if you’re a monk, why did you get married?”
Yernil started a conversation.
“It’s not a very interesting story. My wife was originally a part-time counter receptionist at the Adventurer's Guild,” Aimus said.
“Since I was a third-rate monk who couldn't use a single skill, everyone looked down on me and didn't want me in their parties. It was really hard to find a party, but my wife took good care of me.”
Somehow, she always managed to squeeze Aimus into decent parties, persuading reluctant party leaders by reminding them of their own beginner days.
But Aimus never lasted long in any party, and by the seventh time he was kicked out, he couldn't even lift his head at the counter, overcome with humiliation and shame.
I got kicked out of another party. I'm so sorry. Could you possibly find me a new one?
He muttered self-deprecatingly.
He said he was sorry for causing her trouble because he kept getting kicked out for being incompetent.
And then, she...
‘Then how about you form a two-person party with me here, instead of in the Labyrinth? I won’t kick you out... ever.’
She had shot that flirty line at the monk, as if it were a joke!
“The way she smiled then was so lovely.”
She had seen the good in Aimus, who kept challenging the Labyrinth despite being kicked out every time. The two grew close quickly, got married, and had children. Three of them, in fact.
She was also the one who helped him form the Back Attack party.
“Even after all that, our party ended up disbanding again.”
“...”
“I had retired.”
Aimus fiddled with the pendant around his neck.
“And when I decided to enter the Labyrinth again this time, my wife must have been very anxious. She gave me this. I think she bought it from some snake-oil salesman. She said it was a protective amulet that would save me if I was in danger in the Labyrinth.”
She must have given it to him when she came to see him off in the Adventurer's Guild lobby.
“She’s the one who let me come here, even though I told her I wouldn't take any of the money from this adventure. Because she knows the sense of debt I feel towards Back Attack.”
“...”
“Raising kids, we get tired and fight sometimes, we bicker and squabble, but we’re still happy. I have no regrets about becoming a monk who broke his vows.”
Aimus smiled, still toying with his necklace.
“So I have to make it back alive.”
Hah. Goddammit.
This is why I hate having a middle-aged head of a household in my party.
Should I have picked that noisy Paladin Lizard instead?
Brother Monk...
That's such a clichéd death flag! Why are you making me so nervous?
Rumble!
“Oh!”
Suddenly, the stone floor around Yernil began to move.
“Caleb!”
“Stay still.”
Near the Sanctuary, there's a hidden staircase leading to the inter-floor space. If you sit on it for two hours, the staircase automatically opens.
I didn't know the exact location of the stairs, which is why we sat three meters apart, and it turned out Yernil's spot was the lucky one.
Krrrr!
Just like how the Labyrinth's structure changes when you clear an exit room, the walls near Yernil retracted and protruded, and the floor shifted and sank. And what appeared at the end was...
“A staircase!”
A staircase leading down to the 1.5th Floor had appeared.
“Let’s go.”