Chapter 54. What It Means to Climb the First Dungeon (1)
How much time pa.s.sed? When I noticed Ellos" message that he arrived in front of the door, I was dripping with sweat.
[Thanks for waiting, friend.]
"Nah, I didn"t wait that long."
[I"ll make a party right away.]
When I found the party Ellos made and tapped it with my finger, the scenery warped. In front of me was Ellos, who I now saw for the first time in 4 years.
"Ellos!"
"… Who are you?"
Ellos had grown a lot since the last time we met. His slightly frail body now had muscles, and his pretty boy face was a lot manlier. If I were to bring him to Earth, he could even debut as an actor straight away.
However, Ellos was tilting his head as he was staring at me.
"Sorry, but this party is already full. Can you look for another…?"
"I"m Kang Shin. What are you saying?"
"Hahaha, you kid… Eh, you have the same voice!"
Ellos" expression went stiff. The shield warrior behind him, who I believed was named Paul, stepped forward.
"No way, the monster from back then became this handsome? What did you pick up and eat?"
"Well I did technically pick and eat things, but…"
Handsome? He was flattering me too much. It was simply a monster becoming human again. Taking out Flesh Golem"s Giant Toe from my inventory, I placed it in Ellos" hand and said, "Here"s a reunion gift, Ellos."
"Eck? What"s this, a toe? Eh, an install item? How creepy!"
I got the reaction I wanted and was satisfied. I then looked at Ellos" companions. There was Paul who I met on the 5th floor and a woman I had not seen before. If my memory served correctly, there should a man named Celtine… Eh? He wasn"t here?
"What happened to Celtine?"
"He died. It was a heroic death in battle against dozens of invaders."
Ellos" calm expression while talking about the death of his comrade gave me chills. Ellos then showed a bitter smile and tapped my shoulder lightly.
"Don"t worry about it. The moment we became warriors, we prepared ourselves for death. He used his life to protect everyone. Even though he"s no longer here, he lives on in our hearts. I decided to honor his death by chasing the invaders away from our continent."
"If you"re okay with it, I won"t say anything."
"Yeah, thanks. Anyways, it"s great meeting you again, Shin. The aura coming off of you surprised me. I had heard the rumors, but you really were a Hero."
"Sorry, but I don"t really know about that Hero thing, though I"ve heard it a lot."
I proceeded to shake hands with Paul, then faced the woman standing behind Ellos. It was my first time meeting her. She was a beautiful woman with deep-violet hair which was tied down, and a pair of calm eyes matching her hair"s color. She wore light clothing that made it easy to move, had a large bow in one hand, and wore a quiver on her back. Strangely, a silver ring on her ring finger stood out.
I looked at Ellos. He was also wearing a ring on his ring finger.
"So this is your fiancée!"
"Oh, you"re unexpectedly not dense. Right, this is my fiancée, Baruela Atuna. Isn"t she pretty?"
"h.e.l.lo, I"m Baruela Atuna. I"ve heard a lot about you from Ellos."
Baruela put her free hand (sorry, but it looked frail) on her chest and lightly bowed. At her formal greeting, I couldn"t help but return the same greeting.
"We"re both from the Resistance Army."
"Well done, Ellos. You managed to s.n.a.t.c.h up a beauty like her…"
At my words, Ellos made a dumbfounded expression.
"You"re one to talk. You have the undivided attention of the crown princess, who"s famous even throughout the First Dungeon."
"If you"re talking about Palludia, I can only be disappointed in your eye for people…"
At that moment, an area became warped and four dungeon explorers appeared. Ah, two of them were faces I"d seen before. One was the long-eared woman, who I now knew to be an elf, carrying a bow and quiver like Baruela, and the other was the rapier warrior woman who said I had a cute face. Even after all these years, the two of them had the same faces. I knew elves lived for a long time and aged late, but I was shocked the rapier warrior didn"t change at all.
However, I had never seen the other two before. They were both extremely beautiful. One of them had a shield long enough to cover her body entirely, and was about 175 cm.
She had pink hair that curled down her shoulders, and had moist, pink eyes that were strangely charming. However, the way she held her shield or the way she trembled like a baby deer unlike how mature she looked, both looked somewhat familiar.
Where did I see her before…? Ah!
"Ah, it"s Miss Shuna! You became so pretty!"
"H-h.e.l.lo, Crown Prince-nim! I-It"s an honor. Crown Prince-nim is really handsome too. … Uuu, what do I do, I talked to him. Ludia, I talked to Crown Prince-nim!"
"Why do you only recognize Shuna!? I"m the one you have friended!"
When I was exchanging greetings with Shuna, Palludia, who was standing next to her, hit me. Because it was within my expectations, I blocked her with my arm. Seeing Palludia rolling on the ground in pain, I felt very satisfied.
Although I didn"t recognize them, I realized who they were when I saw the other two. If four people from Luka continent were here, Palludia and Shuna would naturally be among them. I was simply embarra.s.sed to face her. That"s why I acted that way.
Palludia got up, holding back her teary eyes. She was vastly different than before. 4 years ago, she was a little kid who had not even been 140 cm, but she had now become a fairly tall, 170 cm lady.
Her once child-like, twintailed blonde hair was now flowing down to her waistline, glistening a l.u.s.trous gold. Her sapphire eyes were deep, like they contained countless years. Furthermore, her white skin looked smooth enough that water droplets could flow down seamlessly. She had a not too large and not too small nose, which a sculptor seemed to have devoted his heart and soul to creating. Finally, her moist lips glowed with a peach-like light pink.
Her appearance was terrifyingly beautiful, to the point that it seemed to suck in anyone that laid their eyes on her. It was the type of peerless beauty that I never would have imagined myself seeing. If anyone with a weak heart was watching, his heart would undoubtedly stop at this breathtaking beauty. Just what did she eat for 4 years to grow so much? I couldn"t believe my eyes.
Wait, no. I remembered Shina saying that people from Luka continent had a sudden growth spurt. Although I had not paid much attention to it before, Shuna and Palludia were both from the Luka continent. I couldn"t believe my stupidity. So that"s why Palludia was saying she wasn"t a little kid.
That said, it was slightly iffy to say she was fully grown. As her robe that stuck to her figure showed, her chest area was more or less the same. Had they not fully grown yet? Or was that how they were when they were fully grown? If I were to make a hasty judgement, she was like Yua!
Of course, even without much of a chest, her slender arms and legs, and elegant curves made her figure extremely charming. However, I did not say any of this out loud.
"Ahahaha, you grew a lot. In height."
"Why is that the first thing you say, you O… Or… Orc?"
Although her beauty made it hard for me to stare at her, I remembered the Palludia from 4 years ago and barely met her eyes. At the same time, Palludia, who was looking at me from head to toe, made a blank expression.
"Y-You, are you really Orc?"
"No, I"m not Orc, but I am Kang Shin. You still say rude things so easily."
"… I-It really is you."
Palludia was frozen in place like she was. .h.i.t by an ice magic. For some reason, Shuna, who was standing next to her, kept covering her face with her shield. I turned to face the rapier warrior, and asked.
"Did they eat something strange while growing up?"
"Ahaha, Crown Prince-ssi is the bad one. I heard stories, but what happened to turn you into such a… Mm, how fine. My eyes weren"t wrong. Wow, look at this toned chest."
"Um, can you not approach me? Also, please stop touching me like that."
When I asked her as I slowly backed away, the elf archer pulled the rapier warrior by her ears and pulled her away. As I thought, all elves except Loretta knew manners!
"W-Wait. Don"t you have anything else to say? To me!?"
After finally snapping out of her frozen state, Palludia asked me. It seemed she only grew up in appearance, as her way of talking had not changed in the slightest. If she didn"t open her mouth, she really was like a princess from a fairy tale. How unfortunate.
Looking at her, I tilted my head.
"Mm… Like what?"
"A-A lot! Like how much you wanted to see me, or how much prettier I became!"
"Mm? Well, I did wonder how you were doing occasionally, and I do think you became really pretty. But what about it?"
Palludia became silent. Her face was bright red to the point I was afraid it would blow up. What should I do about this awkward atmosphere? Did I do something to irritate Palludia again?
Then, I suddenly remembered. The Headband of Wisdom I got from the 19th floor"s named lizardwoman! I had planned to give it to Palludia. Hoping it would ease her anger, I took out the Headband of Wisdom from my inventory. When she saw it, her eyes became wide as she asked.
"W-What"s this?"
"An accessory. I happened to pick it up. I thought it"d suit you well. It"s a gift. You know, a reunion gift."
"G-Gift?"
Palludia"s face became redder than the Headband of Wisdom. Did I do something wrong again!? Did she hate headbands? I thought it was perfect for her cla.s.s, since it raised magic and intelligence. I didn"t understand where I went wrong.
Even so, when I put the headband in her hand, she calmly took it and slowly put it in her hair. Mm, it seemed she didn"t hate it that much. When I smiled with satisfaction, Palludia covered her face with her hands.
"Uuu, y-you"re just, Orc…!"
"Ellos, he…"
"Don"t say it, Paul. Don"t say it…"
Eh…? This was different from the reunion I imagined… Looking at Ellos and Paul shaking their heads as they looked at me and silent Palludia, who was still looking down while covering up her bright red face, my mind fell into chaos. This, did I need to use Orc Lord"s Warcry? Seeing that Baruela-ssi seemed fine, I went and talked to her. She simply covered her mouth with her hand as she snickered. After hearing what I said, the other party members looked at me with cold eyes and each said a word.
"Fool."
"Idiot."
"Crown Prince-nim is stupid."
"Uuuu… you stupid Orc."
"Hey, I"m not stupid anymore! My intelligence is above 20 now! I"m not an orc either!" Unable to figure out just what I did wrong, my mind fell into chaos yet again.
Edias continent, Luka continent, and two more from Pilos continent. A total of 10 people including myself stood in front of the 25th floor"s door. Other than Baruela, who replaced Celtine, all 9 members were the same as 4 years ago. It didn"t feel different in particular. Ellos seemed to have thought the same thing, as he only made a short speech as the party leader.
"Don"t think it will be as easy as it was 4 years ago. I"m sure you"ve all had your fair share of experiences as you climbed to the 25th floor, but Floor Master battles only get harder. This was especially true for the 20th Floor Master, Lizard Knight. However, I believe that with the members present, it is fully possible to defeat the Floor Master within 5 tries."
He was blabbering some weird things.
"Five tries? Wouldn"t it be hard to succeed in five tries even if we know the strategy beforehand?"
An axe carrying warrior from Pilos continent said with a bitter smile. Although he wasn"t that close to me, it seemed the two people from Pilos continent kept in touch with Ellos. It was why they could meet us here today. However, he was blabbering even weirder things.
"Haha, but this time, we have Crown Prince!"
"Ah, right, Crown Prince."
"If we clear it within five tries, we can really jump ahead of others."
"Huhu, we are so bad ourselves."
The other party members began blabbering. Everyone was only saying things with an overwhelming sense of defeat. I thought this was a dream team of sorts, but what was this feeling of helplessness!?
"Ellos, is the 25th Floor Master hard?"
"I hear it"s a Giant Ghoul."
"So this is where he appears!"
Was he trying to vent his anger for being unable to appear in the Event Dungeon? At my shout, the other party members tilted their heads. I figured I would only receive looks of envy if I told them about the Event Dungeon, so I didn"t.
"As you can expect from what you"ve been experiencing since the 21st floor, tons of zombies are said to appear. Since Miss Palludia, Mitarus" priestess, is here, we won"t have to worry about being infected, but be sure to have Holy Waters handy in case something goes wrong. Also, the zombies are known to act without set patterns so always stay on your guard and help each other out. Paul, Miss Shuna, can I trust you two to tank the Giant Ghoul?"
"Leave it to me!"
"Yes, blocking is one thing I"m confident in!"
I didn"t know about Paul, but seeing Shuna, who was an untrustworthy little girl just 4 years ago, now nodding her head confidently with her slender figure and curly pink hair, I did feel rather touched. However, her eyes still had a hint of uncertainty… Ah. When she met my eyes, her face became red, and she dropped her head. It was rather hurtful.
I thought I wasn"t ugly enough to hurt anyone watching anymore… What was it? My face? But mother said my face took after hers and was very handsome…
"Shin, you."
"I"ll take care of the minions. I don"t need support so you guys can focus on the Giant Ghoul."
"H-How rea.s.suring."
Ellos seemed a bit taken back by my confident speech. Everyone else showed signs of anxiety, but Palludia was silent unlike herself 4 years ago. Rather than having no complaints, it seemed she respected the name I had built up.
"There must be a reason you"re called Crown Prince. You better do your job properly."
"You better heal people properly too."
"Hmph! I"ll be focusing on the tanks, so don"t you get hurt while you"re distracted!"
"Miss Palludia, how cute. Huhu."
"I agree. How cute. Kuku."
"W-What! Why is everyone snickering!? Look away!"
Just what was cute about Palludia there? I could only see her acting grumpy… These guys, as I thought, they"re all weird!
"Today, we"ll focus on getting used to the Giant Ghoul"s habits and skills. We want to avoid dying without any gains. Let"s do our best. I believe in everyone"s ability that helped us climb to the 25th floor."
With that, Ellos looked at me. In response, I confidently nodded my head. I mean, I could kill it alone, so why wouldn"t I be able to kill it with 9 other people?
"Then, let"s go in!"
Ellos opened the door to the Floor Master. What greeted us was a large graveyard.
Chapter 55. What It Means to Climb the First Dungeon (2)
"Kuk, I heard Fields get created from the 25th floor onward. It was true…!"
"Field?"
"I"m talking about that graveyard! It"s the optimal environment to power up undead monsters."
The instant the words left Ellos" mouth, dozens of hands began to pop up across the graveyard. These guys had clearly seen some horror movies before. Palludia didn"t seem to want to let it happen, as she took in a deep breath and yelled.
"O Mitarus of justice and love, shine out with holy brilliance in this evil place!"
The image of her holding her staff and chanting with her silvery voice complimented her appearance, making her look even more beautiful. As I was thinking this, the graveyard, which was darker than usual boss rooms, possibly from the effect of the so-called field, became brighter. The majority of the zombies popping up from the ground screamed like vampires that just saw sunlight and returned to the ground. Palludia looked at me and shrugged her shoulders.
"Huhu, how was it?"
"Mm, I don"t know how to describe it, but it was cool."
"Uu, Uung…"
Palludia flinched at my compliment. Wasn"t that what she expected? Girls were really complicated…
"The Giant Ghoul is appearing! Paul, Miss Shuna, please!"
"We"re going!"
"Y-Yes!"
Palludia and the other magicians struggled to keep up with the dozens of zombies popping out of the ground like daisies, while a gurgling roar rang out from deep inside the graveyard. I first called Peika.
"Peika, we"re going to take care of all the zombies. Can you do it?"
[Leave it to me, Master! … I"m going to need a little mana, is that okay?]
"Take it!"
[Okay, Chain Lightning!]
Immediately afterwards, Peika"s body shone and a nearby zombie was swept up in lightning. The lightning then bounced to another zombie near it, then bounced again to other zombies in its surroundings. Strangely, although the lightning was changing its target continuously, it was not losing energy, but gaining it.
The chain of lightning continued endlessly. It finished off each zombie in just a few seconds and bounced to the next one, expanding further outward. It was like a huge net had been cast over the graveyard. It went without saying that it caught the party members" attention.
"W-What"s this!?"
"Is it lightning magic? But we don"t have a lightning magician in our party!"
"No, this is elemental magic. Crown Prince-nim has a lightning elemental."
Oh right, the archer from Luka continent was an elf. When I glanced at her, she gave me a courteous bow in return. Eh, wasn"t she acting differently than before? She was courteous before, but I could feel awe and respect from her this time.
[Master, this won"t harm allies!]
"Allies won"t be harmed, so charge at the ghoul!"
"Ah, everyone, the zombies" feet are tied. Now is our chance!"
At my shout, Ellos directed the party members. Paul and Shuna were already heading towards the ghoul with their shields. Ellos and the other damage dealers followed soon after. The Giant Ghoul that was slowly making his appearance seemed to have become angry at his minions being slaughtered, as he let out another roar and fully revealed himself.
Unlike the zombies, he had an entirely hardened body. His steel claws shone with a malicious gleam, and his two large eyes showed clear hostility. Slightly over 4 meters tall, the Giant Ghoul came off as incredibly intimidating. In truth, I only remembered ghouls as being frail crybabies. I hoped the Floor Master Giant Ghoul would be a bit different.
"E-Eit! You stupid monster, come attack me!"
It wasn"t a line from a cartoon for little kids. It was Shuna using Provoke.
"Eit, Eit!" The sight of Shuna pushing on the Giant Ghoul"s legs with her large shield was slightly mismatched with her mature appearance. It was cute. However, the Giant Ghoul seemed to have thought differently, as he lifted his leg and tried to stomp on Shuna. In that instant, Shuna"s eyes sparkled as she tilted her shield slightly. It looked like she had her own way of dealing with it.
I then turned to face the zombies. Peika"s lightning net had already killed several hundred of them, but more were coming out.
[Master, these guys keep popping up! I"m annoyed!]
"They"re really like c.o.c.kroaches. Let"s split the work, Peika. You protect the long-ranged damage dealers and healers."
I playfully spun the spear in my hand twice, then aimed it forward.
"I"ll protect the guys facing the ghoul. Tempest!"
"Kuooooo!"
"Crown Prince-nim, do you not need any a.s.sistance?"
After I had turned dozens of zombies into pieces of flesh, the elf archer asked me respectfully. Behind her, Baruela was also looking at me. I also saw Palludia glancing at me. You focus on healing Miss Shuna!
I took out a low-grade Mana Potion and put it in my mouth.
"You can focus on the Giant Ghoul. Peika will protect you perfectly, and I won"t let the zombies near the other party members."
"I understand."
After asking Peika to protect them, I shot forward. Seeing the newly popped up zombies heading toward the damage dealers and tanks, I shouted.
"You half-rotten corpse b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, come fight me!"
[You used Provoke. You draw nearby enemies toward you.]
"Guooooo…"
"Human, arrogant, human…"
"Guoooo…"
"Living, human…"
My mid-rank Provoke succeeded in drawing the zombies" attention instantly. These c.o.c.kroaches were crawling out of the ground even now. Letting out a deep breath, I charged straight forward.
"Haaaaap!"
The zombies that collided with my spear and armor exploded and flew back. The unintelligent zombies continued to flock to me like moths to a flame, and subsequently were blasted into pieces. After I cleared the zombies in a straight line to the Giant Ghoul, the number of zombies seemed a lot lower.
"Amazing. It"s not just his elemental…"
"Crown Prince… So that"s why they call him Crown Prince."
"… O Mitarus!"
The two archers were talking about me instead of shooting out their arrows, but when Palludia chanted her spell, they snapped out of it and began attacking the Giant Ghoul. Of course, I didn"t really mind no matter what they did.
"The Giant Ghoul is attacking with his claws!"
I heard Ellos" voice echo across the graveyard. At the same time, an air-severing swoosh rang out. When I turned to face the direction it was coming from, the Giant Ghoul was swiping in a cross with both his arms. Poison seeped out from the tips of his claws and tried to envelope the party members. With shocked expressions, they quickly ran around to dodge it.
"Nice, we dodged it!"
Hey, don"t be so proud after dodging such an easy attack! Ah, a follow up!
"PAUL!"
"Cough, I"ll be going first."
Saying the same thing he said 4 years ago, Paul disappeared. He was the first to die 4 years ago, too! What was this feeling of deja vu? That guy, wasn"t he just weak? How could a tank be so slow? Also, why be a tank if you"re going to die in one hit!? Countless questions and annoyed screams resounded in my mind.
"Miss Shuna, will you be fine on your own?"
"Don"t… kyak, worry!"
Although the scream worried me, Shuna was holding her ground, possibly thanks to that blessing by her family"s guardian G.o.d. Since I couldn"t run to help her at the moment, I set my worries aside. I decided to first focus on taking care of all the zombies.
"Ah, I"m using a lot of potions today."
That said, the 300 gold Double Potions were truly delicious. While I was at it, I put one hand on my waist and made a refreshing expression like I was filming a sports drink ad. While I was having my fun, the nearby zombies jumped at me with their claws and teeth. The result was as expected. Their claws and teeth shattered without even leaving a scratch on me.
Even so, I couldn"t just forgive the perverted zombies for trying to bite my neck. I kicked the zombies here and there. Even my kicks could instantly kill these weaklings.
"Eh, was Crown Prince-nim a tank?"
"He"s so strong."
"He can fill all roles and even wields an elemental. He really is…"
[It"s because he"s my Master! Isn"t he cool? Isn"t he awesome!?]
Peika had joined the party members before I noticed and was bragging about me. There was no problem since she turned the zombies around them into ashes, but it was embarra.s.sing, so I hoped she"d stop.
"O benign Mitarus, become one with my allies!"
Palludia"s holy chants were especially effective against undead monsters, and had the effect of weakening them. More importantly, it healed Shuna, who was blocking the Giant Ghoul"s attacks with difficulty, and even recovered her stamina.
"Thanks, Ludia!"
"Focus on your opponent! Reinforcements are coming!"
"Warriors, attack! The ghoul"s attacks are blocked. Now"s our chance!"
"Kuooooooo!"
Being in a party raid felt refreshing. Warriors shouted, healers chanted, and party leaders endlessly gave orders. I even felt a bit nostalgic as I remembered our raid from the 5th floor.
Of course, that was the past, and this was reality. Before I even noticed, two more people had died.
It was the rapier warrior from Luka continent and a swordsman from Pilos continent. It was just shameful.
"Kuk, the ghoul is too strong! We can"t even let him scratch us!"
"Miss Shuna, Miss Shuna!"
"Yes, I"m blocking it!"
The surviving warriors dodged the ghoul"s attacks with their lives on the line, and Shuna was running around, trying to block the attacks with her large shield. Although she tried her best to draw his aggro, the Giant Ghoul became enraged and changed his target once a damage dealer hit him even once. In that sense, it was more intelligent than any of the Floor Masters from before. He made it much harder for the tank to keep his aggro.
I reached the conclusion that everyone except Shuna would die if this continued.
"Ellos, switch!"
"Yeah, switch! …Switch?"
I held up my Black Earthen Spear and swung it horizontally with great force. With Extending Spear, the spear"s range instantly reached 5 meters, and the zombies in the radius of 5 meters all died in a single swing.
"Everyone, go protect the long-range damage dealers. I"ll handle the Giant Ghoul."
"What? Wait, Shin."
"Make use of what you can. Level-up takes priority over your pride, right?"
At my words, Ellos shut his mouth. He must have realized…
That I was extremely disappointed in my party members.