Chapter 110 - Baby Barbarian (3)

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The third day had only just begun when we left the Glacial Cavern and returned to the Crystal Cave.

We'd had our share of headaches, but the gains from this rupture were beyond imagination.

Jenssia's equipment. Mister Bear's five million Stones. And even the yeti's and Guardian's Essences.

It was an absurd haul for clearing a first-floor rupture. Our five-person party hadn't earned even two million Stones in two months on the fourth floor.

'Motherfucker.'

It struck me all over again. I really did have to go through some fucked-up shit to get this lucky.

SLASH!

Misha cut down an approaching razor mane wolf with her newly acquired sword, then exclaimed in admiration.

"Whoa!! What is this sword? It's amazing, nyah!"

She would have killed it in one hit either way, but apparently even the feel of the strike was different.

"I'll need to have it appraised to know the details, but there's a good chance it's a Numbered item."

"A N-Numbered item? Th-then isn't this worth a fortune, nyah?"

I couldn't help laughing at her flustered expression. And it wasn't just Venomous Viper's Fang. The light leather armor I'd given her along with it was expensive, too. It was made from wyvern leather, a tier-two material.

'With this setup, she should be fine through the fifth floor.'

It felt like I'd crossed something off my to-do list. Her early-to-midgame build was complete now, so she'd more than pull her weight for a while without any further upgrades.

"Are we going to the second floor now, nyah?"

"That's the plan."

Misha and I followed the compass onward. We'd accomplished what we'd entered the Labyrinth to do, but letting the remaining time go to waste would be a shame.

'We don't have a Scout... but with any luck, we might manage to reach the third floor.'

Anyway, Misha handled all the monsters we encountered along the way. With one new sword and a huge boost to her stats, she needed to get used to how everything felt.

"Um, Bjorn? I think I've got the hang of it now, nyah."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh... well... Never mind, nyah. I'll keep killing them, nyah. But I'm only asking just in case... You're not doing this because you can't be bothered, are you, nyah?"

"... Are you doubting me?"

"N-no, nyah! Absolutely not, nyah! How could I, nyah!"

Her perfectly reasonable suspicions aside, I helped Misha train while enjoying a leisurely walk. The new sword was one thing, but she needed to get used to her Essence abilities, too. Watching her filled me with satisfaction.

'I really didn't expect the Guardian to drop an Essence.'

For a frost build, a lycanthrope Essence was every bit as good as a yeti's.

[Lycanthrope] Rank 7

Agility +10, Cutting Force +12, Cold Affinity +15, Cold Resistance +10, Physical Resistance +7, Fighting Spirit +10

For starters, its stats included Cutting Force, a key stat for swordsmen. And its Passive Skill was downright broken.

(P) Blood of Frost - Multiplies Cold Affinity by 1.5.

A 1.5 multiplier to Cold Affinity. Not only would it shine increasingly in the late game, it also synergized well with the yeti's [Cold Concentrate]. The same went for its Active Skills.

(A) Shatter - Slightly increases damage dealt to enemies with the 'Frostbite' status and greatly increases damage dealt to enemies with the 'Frozen' status.

There was no need to explain how useful that was, so moving on.

(A) Fortitude - Removes incapacitating statuses.

Though its high Magic Power cost was a drawback, [Fortitude] was another great skill, drastically improving the survivability of a damage dealer vulnerable to crowd control.

'More importantly, with this, she won't need to invest so heavily in Mana resistance.'

Normally, she would only have been able to choose one of those skills... but what Misha had absorbed was a Guardian's Essence. Not only could she use both skills, its stat bonuses were also roughly 1.5 times those of a normal Essence.

"Try attacking somewhere other than a vital spot."

"Uh, they still die in one hit, nyah..."

"Then why not punch them?"

"All ri... Huh? They still die in one hit, nyah!"

I smacked my lips as I looked at the razor mane wolf she'd frozen solid with a single punch after using [Cold Concentrate]. Was it because they were rank-nine monsters? They turned to light and vanished before she could follow up with [Shatter], so she wasn't getting any proper practice.

"We'll have to do the rest upstairs."

"... I have to keep doing this upstairs too, nyah?"

Tsk. Trying to get off easy, was she?

"As I keep telling you—"

"I know, nyah. The easy road is the slow road, right, nyah?"

Uh, well... yes.

When I was left speechless, Misha smiled and took the lead. Only the tip of her tail was swaying, so she must have been quite pleased.

'... If I ever do something wrong, pretending to lose an argument should smooth things over pretty easily.'

I mentally added rule thirteen to my Misha instruction manual and followed her as she bounded ahead in high spirits.

Time passed, until roughly seven hours had gone by since we'd left the rupture.

'We should be reaching the Dark Region about—'

I stopped.

WHOOOOM!

The ground trembled faintly, and the crystals embedded in the cave walls began to glow brilliantly. Their light changed color, too—from a soft purple to an intense red.

'I expected it, but they really did summon it.'

It meant a Floor lord had been summoned on the first floor.

* * *

"It's nothing. Keep moving."

"What do you mean, nothing, nyah? I've never seen anything like that in my—"

"Someone just summoned the Floor lord. It shouldn't affect us, so don't wor—"

"Whaaat? The Floor lord, nyah?!!"

Ow, my eardrums.

Had the Floor lord we'd encountered on the third floor left her traumatized? Misha clung to me, practically having a fit. There really was no need to be that startled.

"Misha, calm down."

Unlike the one on the third floor, the first-floor Floor lord was docile. For starters, once the third day had passed, it had a chance to appear whenever five or more people gathered in one place...

And summoning it didn't close the portals or change the monsters that appeared on the floor. Most importantly, while Riakis would roam the entire map slaughtering everything until it died, this one simply vanished quietly if the raid failed.

"Th-then we're safe, nyah?"

"Yes, so relax."

Once I calmly explained the situation, she let out a deep breath and regained her composure, apparently relieved. But had curiosity blossomed now that her anxiety was gone?

"But who could've summoned it by mistake, nyah? Everyone knows not to travel in groups of more than five here, nyah."

"Who knows? Maybe it wasn't a mistake."

"It wasn't a mistake, nyah?"

I merely shrugged and said no more. Given the circumstances, it was most likely the person who'd bought the first-floor Floor lord strategy from me in the community... but I couldn't exactly tell her that.

'Impatient bastard. They would've only had about two weeks to prepare.'

Hmm... Or did that mean they weren't impatient, but had enough resources behind them to acquire everything in that time?

'With any luck, I might find out who that player is.'

I continued onward, resolving to look for rumors about a clan or party that had successfully hunted the Floor lord once I returned to the city. It was a journey that made me keenly aware of Rotmiller's absence.

'Tsk. Who knew it'd take almost an entire day?'

After wandering here and there with nothing but the compass's bearing to guide us, we reached a second-floor portal. For the record, I'd chosen the southern one, leading from the ghoul district into the Land of the Dead.

「You have entered the second floor, Land of the Dead.」

Black earth, wet and muddy. Visibility that was exceptionally poor even for the second floor. And a banshee's screams providing background noise.

"It's been a while since I was here, too."

For some reason, nostalgia welled up the moment I set foot on the ground. Aynar and I had smashed skeletons together, pounded away at a deathfiend, roamed around having fun, then run into that psychopathic bitch and nearly fucking died...

'Motherfucker.'

Was it the memory? My good mood abruptly evaporated.

"Ugh, this place gives me the creeps every time, nyah. I'd much rather go to the Stone Desert, nyah."

"We don't have much choice without Rotmiller."

We'd been in the central area, so we could have gone anywhere, but there was a simple reason I'd specifically chosen the Land of the Dead. Of all the second-floor regions, it offered the easiest route to the third floor. We might wander a bit near the end, but for now, we only had to head north.

'Besides, since it's just the two of us for once, we should summon and kill a Death Knight while we're here.'

I didn't particularly need its Essence, but since it was difficult to hunt with five people, I'd decided to grab the EXP now. Outside a few ruptures, you couldn't encounter one until the sixth floor.

'It's a rank-six monster, so it'll also be a good test of how much stronger she's gotten.'

Of course, we'd have to finish Misha's training properly before summoning it.

"Let's get going."

Heading north, we quickly left the area inhabited by rank-nine monsters such as skeletons and ghouls. Had it been about five hours? Before we knew it, the damp marshland had given way to hard stone.

["GWOOOOOARGH—!!"]

Soon, deathfiends appeared. The bastards known as "newbie shredders" were roaming in groups of four, as befitted the third day. Back then, Aynar and I had struggled like hell just to kill one.

'Well, now they couldn't beat me to death even if I wanted them to.'

Deathfiends specialized in defense and regeneration. They did summon ghouls, but rank-nine monsters weren't going to do any damage to me. In short, they were the perfect targets for Misha to test her new skills on.

"I'll keep their attention, so don't worry about anything. Just focus on trying out your new abilities."

"Got it, nyah."

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

As soon as I activated [Wild Outburst], the deathfiends watching us from the edge of the torchlight charged with hideous screams.

["GWOOOOOARGH—!!"]

I blocked two of their charges with my shield, then stepped aside to let another pass. As for the last one...

BAM!

I just let it hit me because dodging was too much trouble. Perhaps because this was the first rank-eight monster I'd ever successfully hunted, a strange emotion washed over me. Once, even one of them had overpowered me.

["GWOARGH?!"]

I put some strength behind my shield and shoved, sending the deathfiend bastards sliding helplessly backward.

"Are you ready yet?"

"All ready, nyah!"

Having finished her enhanced [Cold Concentrate], Misha swung Venomous Viper's Fang.

CLACK!

The deathfiend blocked it with its shield-hand of bone and muscle, but that didn't do it much good. A single basic attack froze its shield-hand all the way up to the elbow.

「Misha Karlstein has cast [Shatter].」

When Misha swung her other sword at the part afflicted with the 'Frozen' status, it shattered to pieces and scattered across the ground.

["Gwo... argh?"]

Because it was a Cold wound, even [Body Preservation] couldn't regenerate it. The deathfiend merely looked confused, as though it couldn't feel any pain. Still, it seemed to sense the danger instinctively.

「Deathfiend has cast [Call of the Dead].」

With all four using their summoning skill at once, a full forty ghouls crawled out of the ground. Of course, that didn't mean much, either. The body their claws had once torn open so easily was now covered in a raitinium breastplate...

["Grrrr...?"]

And my higher Physical Resistance had made even my bare skin pretty tough. Honestly, even when I simply let them hit me, they almost never drew blood. When they did, the ghouls' hands melted, since the bastards were hopelessly weak to acid. And all the while, my wounds were rapidly closing...

"Bjorn... what kind of... monster are you, nyah?"

Calling a person a monster. Hiding my pride, I answered in a grumbling tone.

"Stop watching and hurry up and finish them off."

At this rate, once my build was complete, she wouldn't even treat me as a person.

* * *

We continued training as we traveled north. As a result, Misha developed a feel for how frozen something needed to be to count as 'Frostbite' or 'Frozen.' She also completely mastered [Fortitude] after we encountered a chimera wolf with an incapacitating skill.

"Hmm, I'm not sure, nyah. It just worked when I sort of tensed up really hard, nyah."

Once she'd learned how to use it, I advised her to save it for when she really needed it, since it consumed a lot of Magic Power. If she ran out, she wouldn't be able to use [Enhancement], [Poisoning], [Shatter], or anything else.

"Do I look like a little kid to you, nyah?"

... I wasn't wrong, though. She'd only had two skills until she reached level four. She probably never ran dry, even without bothering to manage her MP.

'... I could tell her a hundred times and it wouldn't help. She'll have to experience it herself to learn.'

So I kept pushing the pace of our hunts. Every time, she insisted she was fine and used her skills without restraint, until she finally ran out of Magic Power.

"... This feels really strange, nyah. My body's not tired or anything, but... it's like I'm empty inside, nyah?"

"Didn't I tell you to pace yourself?"

"... I thought this much would be fine, nyah."

With Misha out of MP and it getting about time for a rest anyway, we set up camp. We found some ruined building remains with a wall, lit a campfire, and took turns sleeping. How much time had passed?

"Hahaha, is that really true?"

"I'm telling you, my friend."

I heard voices from about twenty or thirty meters away. At first, I thought they were just passing explorers, but when the conversation continued, I figured they'd settled down without realizing we were camped nearby.

'Well, it's almost time to wake Misha anyway. No need to go over and tell them to fuck off.'

With that somewhat generous thought, I was quietly passing the remaining time when...

"By the way, this barbarian bastard really is dead to the world, isn't he?"

"Keep it down. You'll wake him."

"Let him sleep soundly. That body's worth a pretty penny, isn't it? He should rest while he still can."

I heard something I couldn't simply ignore.

SNOOOORE!!

Now it was clear: a baby barbarian was sleeping among a pack of hyena-like explorers.