Chapter 22 - (Chapter 76): ZuluYear 7442, Month 6, Day 4
I think we"ve already proceeded about 1Km from where teleported. Up until here it"s been a straight path with nowhere to get lost. I wonder what part of this is a "dungeon"? When I"m thinking things like that we finally arrived at a split path. One of them is a wide cave that continues ahead. The other one is a narrow cave with a width of about 2-3m that bends to the right.
"From here on out, thinking about the possibility of shifting positions in the chance that we run into a power enemy, I think we should just keep going on the wide path for today but how about?"
I tried asking Zenom and,
"I guess so. Either way we"ve put a time limit on it for today so there"s no need to overdo things. I agree with Al. Let"s continue ahead like this."
and replied with that. If I can get Zenom to agree with me then it should be fine. Continuing after Zenom,
"What should we do about the string? Judging from how things look here I don"t think it"s necessary but.."
Yeah. It"s true it doesn"t like we need it here? Thinking that I was about to reply and,
"Just in case, I think it would be a good idea to prepare the string. There might be another forked road right away beyond here."
Ralpha said that. What the, she"s acting strangely cautious. However, there"s no problem with being too careful.
"I guess that"s right. Since it"s still our first time, let"s proceed carefully here. If we don"t need it then it"s fine if we just return to collect it again."
After I reply like that and Zenom quickly started looking for an appropriate rock to tie the string to at the split paths. While Zenom was tying the string to a rock I tried using Identify to look down the narrow path but I didn"t see anything particularly suspicious, I only saw that there was a curve a bit over 10 meters on the left.
After the preparations were done with the string we continued advancing ahead cautiously again with Zulu and I at the front.
During the period we added to the string five times there were three split paths. We continued moving forward while picking the widest paths of the cave. In terms of traps there was one pitfall but it was fine since we skillfully noticed where it was. It"s a bit difficult that you can"t tell it"s there unless you notice the small differences on the ground. Unable to imagine what kind of traps you might run into while slowly moving forward wears away at your nerves.
Incidentally, we collected the gnoll spears again and stuck it into the ground near the pitfall like before so it should be relatively easy getting back.
We continue ahead more.
There"s yet another split path. This time it"s split up in three directions like a crossroad. Other than the front wide cave the other two paths are somewhat narrow caves.
However, other than just the crossroad we found another thing different from the forks until now. On the side of where the paths split there was 30 cm diameter or so normal rock but that rock had a string tied around it. The string is the same type of cotton string we"re using but it doesn"t seem to be a new one.
"What do you think?"
I asked no one in particular.
"If you think about
it normally then a party of adventurers other than us would be ahead of this."
Zenom replied.
"But, this string is considerably dirty. It"s questionable whether that party of adventurers is still alive."
Zulu replied while crouching down and observing the string.
"Then it"s decided. Let"s try following this string. If they"re wiped out then we might be able to get our hands on their equipment."
Ralpha makes a suggestion that you wouldn"t think she"s an ex-high school girl. Well, I was thinking the same thing but if they were wiped out then I think we would run into the corpses of humans or non-humans, I wonder if she"s fine with that? Also, it"ll be like grave robbing but I wonder if that"s fine. Though it is one of the objectives in the dungeon.
"Alright, then let"s follow along this string. If it goes well then just like Ralpha said we could get our hands on some equipment."
After I said that and everyone started proceeding down the cave that breaks to the right following the old string. The string continues without breaks.
Since there"s a string I think it"s okay to believe there wouldn"t be any pitfalls below it. When I tried saying that Zenom said,
"No, I don"t think we can let our guards down. It"s also possible to think that this string itself is some kind of trap. I think we should proceed carefully just as we have until now."
and replied with that. It"s true that"s the case. We brace ourselves more than ever and sharpen our senses as we move ahead.
We continue past several corners and follow the string along split paths. It"s long. An hour has already pa.s.sed. I think we"ve proceeded for about 1 Km? During this time other than our footsteps and voices from talking occasionally there"s almost no sound. Occasionally we can hear something like a small scream echo through.
Come to think of it, it seems that there"s a large scale tunnel like this underground but I don"t see anything like air holes or ventilation. I wonder where the air is coming from? Suddenly that thought crossed my mind.
I think about such things that don"t matter for now (no, it does matter though) as we continued moving ahead and I can tell there"s a somewhat large room at the end of the cave. At the break of the cave about 30 m ahead it seems that other than the floor the walls and roof have disappeared. The string continues into that room. I somehow have a bad feeling. I think I should stand at the head here. I gently increase my pace and stand at the front. With a simple gesture I give out instructions to follow after me.
I use Identify and look at everything that I can within my field of vision (even if I say that it"s just a big larger than the cave). I can tell there"s things that appear to be rocks and a wall further in. The roof is also a bit higher than the cave but not too far to be seen.
I sweep over my limited field of vision carefully with my eyes. And, I"ve found something artificial in the right corner blocking my vision of the cave wall. I reflexively Identified it.
It seems to be a sword.
【Broad Sword】
【Iron】
【State:Good】
【Manufacture Date:9/6/7440】
【Value:97500】
【Endurance:480】
【Ability:100-150】
【Effect:None】
It"s something made about two years ago and you could say it"s reasonably new. Is there anything else? I look around even more carefully. I see something long and thin.
【Spear】
【Oak Wood.Iron】
【State:Good】
【Manufacture Date:30/3/7441】
【Value:45800】
【Endurance:324】
【Ability:50-160】
【Effect:None】
I couldn"t see anything else from where I"m standing. In order to open up my field of vision I need to move even further in. However, if I move ahead I might run into the opponent that made the owner of these weapons so they can never hold them again. If possible I"d like to Identify that opponent. If it"s a monster then it might be a powerful opponent. Hmn.
However, even after holding our breath and slowly moving forward nothing seemed like it was going to come and attack us. I wonder if there"s already no living creatures in this room? I want to consult with Zenom but it would be bad to make a noise. It"s possible that it just still hasn"t noticed us yet. I quietly turn around and after looking at Zenom, Ralpha, and Zulu I nod. After facing ahead again we start moving ahead slowly again.
I wonder how many minutes it took for us to move a few meters. Sweat is gathering on my forehead from how tense I am.
Every time my field of sight opens up I use Identify more. After all it seems to be the remains of what used to be adventurers. And the presence of a creature clearly different from that.
I can hear a small sound almost like a heavy bag is being dragged along. The one making the sound still hasn"t entered my sight. I get angry at myself wondering if I should use Identify when I see it at a time like this or just use a spell to attack it right away.
If the corpse is remaining then if it"s immediately after death I can identify it just as it was when it was living so I should probably attack first here.
I quietly take my left hand off of the fore-grip of my bayonet and relax so I can use a spell at any time.
I move my feet as I slowly move forward. There"s already only about 10 m until the room that"s in front of my eyes.
Though the range I can see has stretched out quite a bit from the 2 m or so width of the cave I still can"t see the walls of the room in front of me. It"s probably about 50 m in depth. Since I don"t know the distance to the walls on both sides I can"t just blindly freeze everything either. If my sight doesn"t pa.s.s through once then I can"t use dirt or ice.
I don"t know if it"s my imagination but the sound seems like it"s getting louder.
I don"t know if it"s getting louder because we"re approaching it or it"s approaching us or both though. I wonder if this is the type of sound a monster makes when it moves? If that"s the case then it"s movements might be dull. No wait, it would probably be better to think it"s normally dull but gets faster when in combat. And going off of the sound it"s probably pretty large. It"s definitely not a small monster that walks on two feet like goblins and gnolls.
Another 5 m to the exit of the cave. I can still hear the sound but it also sounds like it"s getting farther as well. It"s hard to tell. My field of sight has gotten a lot wider. Other than the first two there"s other weapons and shields laying around. But, I don"t see anything like corpses or bones anywhere. I wonder what this means? Were they eaten?
While gradually moving forward I noticed it. There"s a bit of a rotten smell. I guess it"s the smell of the owners of the equipment laying around. In the edge of my increased sight I can see the walls on the sides finally. It"s a room that"s around 50 m in every direction I guess. It"s considerably large. As a bonus what was making the sounds entered my sight as well.
On the right side of the large room there"s a large 3 m long or so caterpillar like monster and it"s trying to move further into the large room. Since it has that large build, I think it can probably endure one or two hits of a spell just like the Horned Bear did. I hesitated for a moment but I quickly activated the spell. It"s the spell {Audible Clamor}.
Since it"s a caterpillar I though it"s movements would be dull. I made the noise in a place a bit away in order to keep its attention as far away from over here. Along with the activation of the spell there was a loud rupturing noise almost like when the tire of a car goes flat further in the large room. Simultaneously I noticed the movements of the monster get faster. It"s surprisingly fast. If we were to run we would be faster but it"s faster than I imagined.
Since I made a loud noise I guess the three behind me were surprised, they all held their breath but it seems they immediately noticed the caterpillar running further into the room and each of them prepared their weapons but aren"t moving yet.
I think it took about 6-7 seconds for the caterpillar to move further into the large room where I triggered the sound. If I have that much time then it"s plenty to open the Identify window and check its HP while preparing the next spell. It has about 150 HP. Next I used {Lightning Bolt}. The electricity released penetrated the caterpillar. I promptly fired off {Flame Arrow}. A bundle of five arrows of fire fly off towards the caterpillar, otherwise known as Scavenger Crawler.
The arrows of fire pierce through it"s skin that looks like it"s made of green rubber and it seems to have burnt the surrounding areas. It seems I fired them off into it"s a.s.s but it properly did damage. In the Identify window it"s HP has gone to -23. It"s still not dead but it"s a serious injury on the verge of death. The Scavenger Crawler is just convulsing. Before it dies I guess I"ll read out the Identify window.
【Male/4/9/7423 · Scavenger Crawler】
【Condition: Shock Wound, Burn】
【Age: 19 Years Old】
【Level: 13】
【HP: -23(151) MP: 26(26)】
【Strength: 10】
【Speed: 8】
【Dexterity: 25】
【Endurance: 55】
【Special skill: Paralysis】
While I"m at it I"ll open the Special Skill Paralysis as well.
【Special skill: Paralysis(Scavenger Crawler); There"s a sharp thorn on the end of the eight feelers of the outer structure of the Scavenger Crawler and the end of those feelers are always wet from mucus secreted from the thorn. Any living creature up to 200 Kg without resistance to paralysis will immediately be violated by the paralysis and have all other voluntary motions than swallowing and breathing obstructed. The effects of the paralysis last the same amount of days as the level of Scavenger Crawler but it"s possible to offset through the level of victim. However, it will still last for at least one day. Nevertheless, if the level of the victim exceeds the level of the Scavenger Crawler by more than 10 levels then they will not be effected by the paralysis. Also, if their weight exceeds 200 Kg, it requires an additional 10 seconds per 10 Kg of weight for the paralysis to take effect. In order for the victim to recover from the effect of the paralysis prior to the duration of the effect they must either use a potion to remove paralysis (limited to magic potions) or use detoxification magic. Furthermore, since the paralysis special skill of the Scavenger Crawler is not a poison but rather closer to a magic effect, in order to resist it either an ability that provides resistance to paralysis or resistance to magic is necessary.】
From just a glance it seems to be a pretty dangerous opponent. I think it would be best for our sake to finish it off right away but after looking around the large room there doesn"t seem to be any other monsters than this one. Since I have some room here I should try experimenting. I sent a {Stone Arrow} flying. Along with a popping noise the arrow of stone stabbed into the Scavenger Crawler"s body. It"s HP went down to -34. Hmm. This time I try using {Ice Arrow}. It"s HP is -43. So this one does more damage huh. I wonder if {Air Cutter} can cut through it. HP became -49. This one"s no good.
With how thick it"s skin seems to be I doubt any gravel-type magic that fires off stones would do much damage. It"s probably no good if it isn"t at least an arrow-type. The Scavenger Crawler should completely die in another 6 points of damage. Among the arrow-types {Flame Arrow} did the most damage. It was about 15 damage per arrow. I wonder if the damage is greater because it"s Fire-type? Well whatever. I"ll quickly finish it off. I dealt the final blow with the spell {Flame Arrow}.
After confirming that it"s condition has changed to Death in the Identify window, I take a breath.
Before I tell Zulu to go and gather the magic stone, I told everyone to carefully move ahead.
During that time I tried opening the sub-window of Identify.
【Scavenger Crawler; A species of the Crawler race. Length 3m all around. Lifespan is roughly 50 years. Produced from eggs. It"s always giving off a rotten smell and moves on multiple legs. After paralyzing their prey with the eight feelers, they wrap their prey up in a coc.o.o.n and preserve them. They use the large pair of jaws on both sides of their mouth to chew their prey. There"s countless saw-like teeth on both sides in their mouth and they grind down their prey before eating them. They can detect sound through the ear holes on both sides of their body and can detect visible light through the two slug or feeler-like eyes on their head. They have no sense of smell. They go into heat once in a coupe of years and after breeding with the opposite s.e.x lay up to 10 eggs. During the six month period until the eggs hatch the parent stays near the eggs in order to protect them. It prefers tainted meat but in order to secure food for the future it will actively attack other living creatures. After paralyzing the prey it ferments them in the coc.o.o.n made of string from it"s tail then feeds on them.】
I got a feeling of unease when I was reading the Identify window for the Scavenger Crawler"s race. Ah, not in the details of the window itself. In any case, there"s no choice other than to put off the feeling of unease for now. Let"s quickly gather the articles of the deceased, take the magic stone and say goodbye to this place. I"m innocently missing the sun. It"s a bit early but I think we should already turn back for today.
After I instructed Zulu to gather the magic stone we started gathering the equipment scattered around the large room. There"s four iron swords and three spears. Two round shields made of wood and iron that are around 40 cm in diameter. Also, seven of what appears to be knives. It seems that all other organic materials than the metal and wood portions were melted in that things stomach. There"s not even a single leather glove left.
The weapons aren"t particularly rusted so you could probably put them up for sale just as they are. Since this large room is pretty dry. However, it"s not a good idea to directly fight against a Scavenger Crawler. If it weren"t for magic then let alone a hard fight we could have easily taken the paralysis and been done in.
Well, the experience was huge though. It was a bit over 7,000. I got about 3,800 from the group of gnolls this morning and about 180 for the two goblins I killed. It"s huge that I was able to earn close to 11,000 experience. It"s enough to start laughing. If we keep up like this and earn the same amount of experience once again then I"ll level up.
Zulu finished gathering the magic stone. It"s one with a diameter of 3 cm. The color is slightly grey and it has a value of about 5,000. It"s not much at all. Even though the Horned Bears had a value of close to 100,000.
Putting aside the Scavenger Crawler since we obtained a bunch of equipment I declared that this was plenty for today.
On the way back without any particular problems we were able to return to the teleport crystal. Just in case I checked it but the incantation still hadn"t changed from "da.ri.o.fu". Suddenly, I was interested in what would happen if you left someone behind but I realized that at most the incantation would change and nothing else so after confirming everyone had grabbed on to the crystal rod we teleported.
The time was still just past noon. In order to sell the equipment we found for money we went to the blacksmith. We were able to sell the swords for around 500,000 Z each. The spears were about 200,000 - 250,000 Z. The shields were 300,000 Z. In total it came out to sales of 3,260,000 Z. We made a killing. I gave Zenom and Ralpha a bonus of 100,000 Z each and in addition give Zulu the money for his inn and we split up until dinner for today.
After we split up from Zenom and Ralpha, I went to eat lunch with Zulu. Since we did so well I splurged a bit and added the pork skewer option to our lunch set. Zulu was extremely grateful but I interrupted his words and said.
"You know, Zulu. It"s fine. It"s true I bought you as a combat slave. That"s why there"s no mistake I"m your master. However, that"s because, I bought you because I definitely knew I needed you. That"s why, just eat your meals boldly. If I had no intention of properly looking after a slaves meals then I wouldn"t have bought one in the first place."
Somehow I can"t explain it properly.
"Thank you very much, master. But I am the second son of a commoner and it"s not like I was officially made into a squire. It"s true that I haven"t missed out on training with the sword since I was a child. However, when I was captured in the battle a while back, my older brother was able to return when his ransom was paid but I had given up right from the start. That was quite literally, I felt I was happy just to be alive. Ah, it"s not as if I resent my older brother. I just gave up thinking that this was my fate. I thought for sure that I would end up having to fight Devas or even the people from my own village as a war slave."
What is it? A story of his origins?
"But, after being sold to a slave trader on the battlefield I was pa.s.sed around and came to this Baldukk. If I was brought into the battlefield then I thought of rampaging as much as I could. I thought I would make a it a brilliant end at least. However, it won"t go that way in Baldukk. There"s a dungeon in the Kingdom of Devas as well. It"s called the Dungeon of Benkelish. Do you know of it?"
"No, sorry. I don"t know it."
"I see, well it is a dungeon in a foreign country after all, it"s not unreasonable that you wouldn"t know of it. However, the dungeon of Benkelish is famous for the mortality rate of combat slaves that challenge it together with adventurers. I heard that they are often used as shields against monsters or depending on the case as lures. That"s why I thought that would be the same in Baldukk. I thought I would definitely end up being left to be eaten by a monster in the place of the one who buys me in the underground of Baldukk."
".."
"But, I was lucky being purchased by master. You prepared a high-quality sword for me and even have prepared armor. Not just that but when I thought I would always be at the front in the most dangerous place, I was properly allowed to change positions. Just before that caterpillar monster I was surprised that master stayed at the front. Even though you don"t know what is waiting, even though it seemed like a frightening large room, master took on the most dangerous position himself. It was so surprising that I couldn"t close my mouth."
I didn"t bother turning around every time so I didn"t know.
"And by using that powerful magic in succession you defeated the monster in no time at all. Master, please tell me. Why was I purchased? I think that with master"s ability then you could enter the dungeon all on your own. That seems to be the strangest to me."
"..Just like Zulu worried about several times, it"s not like my mana is infinite. There"s a limit to the things I can do myself."
"However, I feel that master could take on dozens of knights all on his own..."
"Yeah, if the situation allows then I"m sure I could do that sort of thing as well. If they come at me several at a time or if it"s an area like in the dungeon where there"s not a lot of s.p.a.ce for movement. However, it"s impossible in an area outside or a large room like the one today. And just like I said eventually I"ll run out of mana, it"s not like I can swing a sword forever as well. I need to eat as well and if I don"t sleep I won"t last a whole day I"m sure."
My ability to go through consecutive battles is just as I said but if it was just at a level of 100 or so people outside then I could bury them in dirt or other things probably.
"..It"s true, that is just as master says. I just said taking on several dozen knights, though it went in a slightly different direction than what I suggested but...No, I feel that the thing that I was saying while small was understood from the response just now."
Most likely, what Zulu wanted to say was as long as I make proper preparations and remain careful then at the very least couldn"t I take on any monster on the 1st floor. I wonder what I was going for hopping on Zulu"s figurative example and then intentionally responding to it in a different direction? But, you know, it"s hard to say to your own slave that the reason you bought them was because you wanted a human shield. No, it might be fine even if I say it though. Somehow I don"t want to.
However, to the first serious question and expression Zulu has shown me I want to respond as honestly as possible.
"Zulu. Could it be you"re worried that you"re just baggage that"s in the way? If that"s the case then throw away that way of thinking right now. It"s true that if you were to fight head on you probably wouldn"t even be able to win against Ralpha who"s woman. But, so what about that? Will you forever be unable to win against her?
And even if you can"t win against her directly with a sword then isn"t it fine to just find something else you can win with? Do you intend to spend the rest of your life with only as much ability as you have now? If that"s the case then you would have made me your owner waste his money. Well, if that"s the case then it"s simply the fact that I don"t have an eye for people though."
Zulu was looking at the food on the table while listening to my words but he properly looked at my eyes while responding.
"You must be joking. I"ll prove to you that I was a cheap purchase."
"Yeah, that"s how it needs to be. We"ll enter the dungeon again tomorrow morning. For today eat properly and rest."
I grin then smile and said while bring the pork skewer to my mouth.
After finishing our meal I told Zulu that we would all be meeting for dinner at the restaurant we ate breakfast at and handed him his bag before I left the store.