Drawing a Line (1)
But do I even need any colleagues?'
That had been the first thought thatd co to my mind when Ainar talked about leaving the party.
After all, I was now different from who Id been two months ago.
Now, I think I could even hunt a group of deathfiends all by myself.'
Id eaten the essences from a corpse golem and a vampire rift guardian.
My basic stats, including strength, had increased trendously, and considering my new regenerative skills, it was safe to say that I was virtually unrivalled on the second floor.
There's nothing there that can stop , Im pretty sure.'
Although I wouldnt be able to take any breaks.
Thered be nobody to turn to for help in case of an ergency.
But I still judged, objectively.
Even taking all of that into consideration, at my current level, a solo playstyle would be stable enough.
Of course, the third floor would be unreasonable.'
[Dungeon & Stone] is basically a ga that forces party play. No matter how strong your character is, its impossible to be an invincible lone wolf, due to how the ga itself is structured.
As such, party composition is crucial, and the higher you go, the more fatal would the absence of a specific position beco.
For example, the Goblin Forest, where having a scout is essential.
Its an obstacle a barbarian in the tank' position cant overco alone.
From the third floor onwards, the monsters also change in scale.'
After a lot of deliberation, I finally made my decision.
Id find a new colleague at my level.
If you couldn't find one, Id join a similar team.
And together, wed hunt monsters on a higher floor, and aim for the top.
It's more efficient than wasting ti alone on the second floor.'
Of course, this would also be quite troubleso.
Id have to worry not only about the combat power and team composition of the party, but also about how to make sure that they were trustworthy.
Huff, where the hell can I find such people?'
It looked like this month would be pretty busy for .
In fact, except for Erwen and Ainar, I didnt have a single acquaintance in this world.
"Keh"
As I poured down the rest of bear down my throat and was about to go up to my room
"Hey there, yes, you, barbarian! What do you think, brother?"
A party of adventurers, whod been chugging down alcohol at the next table for a while, called .
"What do you an?"
"Oh, you didnt hear? This young friend here has been saying so adorable things."
Well, it didnt look like they were trying to strike up a quarrel.
When I nodded indicating my interest, an adventurer in his mid-twenties explained the situation.
In short, it was as follows
Recently, thered been talk of a barbarian of liberty. Naturally, the adventurers had gotten excited hearing the story and started liberally slandering the guild.
But then a young adventurer had bucked the trend and praised the guild instead, asking the others how they could believe such nonsense.
The adventurers whod been listening had then started making fun of the kid, ridiculing him.
"So, I wanted to hear what you think. Whats your opinion? Do you think the guild is trustworthy, too?"
Fuck, say that earlier.
"If you think that, you might as well believe that pigs can fly."
"Ahahaha! I knew youd say sothing like that, brother! One look at your eyes is enough to tell that youve got your shit together!"
The man grinned like a cat thats got the canary.
But a young boy whod been crouching in a corner suddenly got up, face red.
"Wait a minute! Can you really call yourselves adventurers? Did you ever consider, without the guild, whod protect us in this city? You should be grateful instead!"
His outburst led to a spell of silence that lasted for a while.
But before long, everyone at the table burst into laughter.
"What? Grateful? Puhahahahaha!"
"You little punk! And you wonder why people treat you like a kid wherever you go!"
Apparently, distrusting the guild was an ancient adventurer tradition, and you couldnt be called a full-fledged adventurer without it.
"You all, whats even the point of this? Wouldn't he realize it himself once he gets a little more life experience? That nobody can protect you other than yourself!"
"Keh, now that really strikes a chord!"
"Lets have another round!"
After the brief incident, the adventurers started drinking again.
I was about to leave, but the man whod spoken to first approached with a friendly expression.
"Im Hans."
"Hans?"
"Haha! Is the na too common?"
I couldnt really say, but it did seem that way.
The first man Id killed in the labyrinth had also been called Hans.
"I am Bjorn, son of Yandel."
"I see! It's fate that weve t like this, so if you arent too tired, why not join for a drink? My treat, of course!"
Hesitating for a mont, I finally nodded.
Although Id eavesdropped on other adventurers before here and there, Id never had many direct conversations with them.
"So, what kind of trouble are you in, that youre drinking here all by yourself?"
Maybe I could get so unexpected advice, so I frankly lay bare my concerns.
"My team has disbanded and Im looking for new colleagues. But I don't know where to start."
Hans, whod been listening intently, went, Huh?' He tilted his head as if in puzzlent.
"If thats the problem, isnt it easier to just go to the guild?"
"The guild?"
"Haha! It's true that those bastards are hardly trustworthy, but shouldn't we use every available resource? Just how much money do you think they mooch off our taxes!"
Well, it certainly made sense.
Adventurers are inseparable from the Adventurers Guild.
In the ga, itd been easy to find colleagues through the guild.
But
"Im worried whether the people I et there can be trusted."
"Hahaha! It looks like you haven't used it properly yet? It's very different from how it used to be. Because thered been a lot of cases of betrayals in the past, its now mandatory to wear a video recorder."
Really?
Thered been nothing like that in the ga.
"Trust and go check it out. Whatever you're worried about, won't happen."
Since he said so, it might not be a bad idea to visit once.
Next morning.
Waking up with a slight hangover, I headed straight to the tower.
"You cant enter without a visitors pass."
Aren't you supposed to ask first if I have one?
It was annoying to start off the day with an episode of racial discrimination, but once I showed the card Raven had given , the staff let in without saying anything else.
Ding!
And I soon arrived on the 31st floor.
Once I set foot into Raven's private lab, a far more bustling interior than two days ago was there to greet .
"Oh, are you here already?"
It seed that a lot of books and docunts thatd been cluttering the space had been cleared away, but in their place, the room had been cramd with grueso-looking devices.
" Where are you going to use this?"
I pointed out the one that looked the ghastliest, and asked what it was to be used for.
"Its nothing special, its just a magic tool that makes it easier to collect blood."
Her answer was a double surprised.
The first surprise was that it wasnt intended for crushing peoples skulls. And the second surprise was that this savage-looking instrunt was a magic tool.
"Then, you ready?"
" I dont think so, um, not yet."
"Eh, you serious? Cmon, co here."
" Fine."
At first, I was half suspicious and half worried, but surprisingly, all of the diagnostic tests using the magic tools turned out to be quite humane.
Not only that, the process was so quick that it didn't even take long to finish.
But looking at the results
Theres nothing I hadnt already figured out while I was stuck in prison.'
"First of all, theres no significant variance compared to other guardian essences. Oh, do you know what I'm talking about?"
"I know."
Essences dropped by guardian monsters have two characteristics.
First of all, the basic stats are 1.5 tis higher than the essence that the monster would normally drop.
"You know, it might be better to just see for yourself."
Raven showed a piece of paper that summarized the stats of the vampiric essence, which shed estimated using the various magic tools.
It didn't really an much.
As expected, instead of hard numbers, the paper had rough guesses like (high), (dium) and (low) written on it
Whereas I myself was able to calculate the exact numbers, by multiplying the stats of a normal vampire by 1.5.
[Vampire]
Natural Regeneration 45[1], Strength 15, Agility 15, Magic Resistance 30, Physical Resistance 12, Soul Power 21, Mana Sensitivity 30, Dark Resistance 12, Solar Resistance -12
So might think the stats too low for a level 5 monster.
Thats definitely true, from a certain perspective.
The corpse golem essence, which is only rank 7, gives much higher stats of 70 pain resistance and 55 skeletal density, in comparison.
And even these pitiful stats are what you get after multiplying by 1.5.
And yet
Natural regeneration, magic resistance, physical resistance, soul power, and mana sensitivity'
Different stats have different values.
Even in the ga, these precious stats tended to be low on average.
Because if you could stack them high, a monster would be born.
"This isnt my first ti thinking this, but, Mr. Yandel, youre really very lucky. Even a regular vampire essence is rare as hens teeth, but you got one from a guardian."
In fact, lucky wasnt enough to describe it.
Guardian essences of the fifth rank or higher could even be treated as essences that let a newcor graduate into an expert.
It definitely wasnt sothing you were supposed to get in the early ga.
"If youve taken it all in, check this, too. In case you don't understand, I've put together all the characteristics. Therere four in total."
Suddenly, the corners of her lips curved up.
"Four"
Thats the second characteristic of a guardian essence.
Normal essences bestow only two skills: one passive and one active.
But essences from a guardian are different.
(P) Dark Origin Resist death as long as your heart is intact.
Theres the basic passive skill, of course.
(A) Mark of Sacrifice Temporarily increase your physical abilities based on the number of marked beings within a certain radius.
(A) Eternal Life Temporarily gain a significant increase in regenerative power based on health lost.
(A) Master of Blood Temporarily absorb one of the target's skills when directly drinking their blood.
And alongside that, all possible active skills are attached.
Originally, to get [mark of sacrifice], youd need to eat a yellow vampiric essence, and to get [master of blood], youd need to eat a red vampiric essence
But a guardian essence bypasses all that.
Even though its tough to acquire them, theyre worth it.
Now that I've got this on top of the undying imprint, is it safe to say that Im done with the regeneration side of things?'
This was so incredible growth rate, even for a ten-year pro at the ga like .
While feeling satisfied by myself, I heard Raven talking.
"Okay then, this is all for today. Thank you for taking the trouble. Co back for the next check-up anyti next week, at your convenience. Ill be here, anyway."
"What else is there to check?"
"Whatre you talking about? We need at least ten more surveys before this essence data can be registered officially with the society."
I see.
"I asked because I didnt know, so dont be angry."
"Im not angry. Anyway, I'm going to check on the corpse golem essence when I have the ti, so don't even think about running away."
" Got it."
Id been pretty much naked during the examination, so I put my clothes back on.
But before I had to leave, I had one more question.
"Raven, do you have any plans to enter the labyrinth in the future?"
"Well? Probably not for a while why?"
"Oh! Wouldnt it be better to go together with people you know?"
Although I tried to act cool, she seed to see right through .
She grinned as if I was being an idiot.
"Oh, but we really dont each other that well, right?"
"Alright, alright, pretend I never said anything."
"Oh, should I?"
Her voice suddenly beca harsh.
Now that I rembered, she did have this kind of a personality.
Even though she kept calm most of the ti, if sobody touched her pride, the arrogance buried in her bones would burst out and pierce the heavens themselves.
"No, how dare you think you can ask to join a team with just two barbarians?"
To be honest, it wasnt two anymore.
One had resigned yesterday.
Of course, I had more sense than to say that out loud and turn the atmosphere any bloodier.
" That's why I told you to pretend I never said anything!"
"How do I pretend I didnt hear it when I heard it already?!"
No, is this worth raising your voice so high?
While I was pondering over how to react to this sudden burst of temper
"Haah"
She let out a long sigh, as if forcefully calming herself down.
"Mr. Yandel, even if its not , if youre going to make such an offer to any other wizard, please make a team properly, first. Well itd be nice if everybody is level 6 or higher, and there should be a priest, too."
Motherf you dont say?!
If things had been going that good, do you think I wouldve co to offer you a spot?
"Yeah, alright."
Really, wizards were such snobs.
"Then see you later."
"Ah! Wait a mont!"
Raven caught Bjorn whod been just about to leave.
Because she rembered sothing shed been planning to ask.
"At the end! What was that? You know, you put sothing in the mouth of the vampire while he was stunned? I think I felt a flash of divine power "
It was a question thatd risen while shed been recording the past events, to pass on to her master.
What the hell had that thing been?
No matter how one looked at it, it wasn't sothing a level nine adventurer could carry around.
"Oh? No idea what you an."
"Eh?"
"Didnt you see it wrong? It was such a crazy situation, after all."
"See it wrong? I couldn't have. I'm sure I felt ma"
"Sorry, have to go! Got so urgent business to take care of."
"Hey! Wait a mont! Wait"
Bam!
Bjorn slamd the door closed and left without saying anything else.
Huh, are you hiding sothing?'
Breaking her gaze on the door hed hurried through, Raven frowned and headed to her study room.
Once there, she pulled out a thick book from the shelves.
[Rift Records III].
It was a compilation of various recorded information on rifts.
Just like its plain title, the old book didnt even have the author's na written on it.
As a child, shed accidentally bought this book at the Free Market, and surprisingly, it contained knowledge that was not even recorded by the society.
"What page was the Blood Citadel on again? "
As she was flipping through the pages, her finger stopped at one place.
A map of the dungeon area.
The exact location of the hidden passage.
A page with advanced information about the Blood Citadel, such as how to obtain the Necronomicon' inside the demonic shrine.
Unfortunately, there were parts that were not readable.
Two of them.
[Tear of the Goddess]
Location: .
[Golden Mask]
: .
Two items, whose descriptions and locations had disappeared with the passage of ti.
Shed gone through the rift with a fine-toothed comb to find them herself, but in the end she hadnt been able to.
Raven tilted her head as she again felt the taste of regret.
Wait, I think I've heard of the Tears of a Goddess sowhere
Where was it?
Trawling through her hazy mories, she pulled out a few books on religion and quickly flipped the pages one by one.
How long did it take?
Finally, her hand stopped turning the page.
[Tears of the Goddess]
A consumable relic of unknown origin.When destroyed, it has the effect of spreading powerful grace' on its location.150 years ago, during the Dinsional Collapse, Cardinal Androne had used all three to save the pope, and they've since disappeared.
"A holy relic?"
Amazed, Raven even checked the illustration drawn on the next page.
It was too early to be certain because shed only seen it from afar, but the shape and size seed to roughly match.
Even the thod of using it, and the effectiveness. It all matched.
""
Raven was feeling confused.
Just looking at the shape of things, this didnt look like so simple coincidence.
But if it wasn't a coincidence, then what?
How could a barbarian whod just beco an adult know where the [Tear of the Goddess] was hidden, and even made a plan to use it right away?
Maybe, Mr. Yandel'
One possibility popped into her mind, and her eyes lit up as she gripped the book tight.
I'll have to check it out.'
No matter how long it took
Itd be worth it in the end.
Editor's Notes:
[1] This seems to be a typo in the raws as the chapter where Bjorn got the essence showed it at 40.
Thanks to ThatCoolGuy for commissioning the chapter!
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