Chapter 383 - Us (2)

"Mister!!"

I had just finished checking the Essence when Erwin appeared in the distance, leading everyone else over.

Apparently, they had gotten worried because I was taking so long...

Even though I had told them to stay put until I returned.

"Are you all done? You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

Erwin hurried up to me and looked me up and down with concern.

Amelia tactfully stayed back with the mage and navigator, far enough away that they couldn't hear our conversation.

But for some reason...

'She really wants to keep him alive if at all possible.'

Somehow, that was the impression her actions gave me.

Ignorance was bliss sometimes, I supposed. The more that guy learned about us, the less likely he was to make it back alive, so she was making sure he never heard anything in the first place.

She had probably realized that was also why I had made them follow so far behind.

'Anyway, judging by their faces, they have no idea Lee Baekho and the Scholar of Destruction were here.'

Fortunately, it seemed they hadn't disobeyed my orders to wait because they had sensed those two approaching.

Actually, in this case, should I be glad they had disobeyed? If a fight had broken out, even one more ally would have improved our chances. The field effect, Challenger, made running away impossible once combat began.

Erwin and Amelia were no longer people I had to protect at all costs, like my former companions. They were fighting assets who could pull their own weight in any situation.

"But... I felt mana coming from here on the way. What was that?"

Erwin asked cautiously, apparently having noticed the Mass Teleportation magic after all.

After a moment's thought, I evaded the question.

"Well, I'm not sure myself."

"Really? Well... I think I've heard that unusual mana waves occur periodically in ruptures and places like that."

As expected, Erwin accepted it without much question. She must have thought it was possible in a special field so little was known about. Or perhaps she simply believed, without a shadow of doubt, that I had no reason to lie.

Maybe that was why I felt a little conflicted.

But...

'This is still better.'

The Scholar of Destruction was the bastard who had killed Erwin's older sister, Daria. He hadn't merely scored an assist like the Clown; he had been directly responsible for her death. And telling her about Lee Baekho would inevitably mean admitting I had met the Scholar of Destruction too...

There was no need to shake her mental state when she was finally recovering.

'And if I'm leaving the Scholar out, there's no real reason to mention Lee Baekho at all.'

After Erwin and I exchanged a few more words, Amelia joined us with the navigator and mage. She asked without specifying what she meant.

"Schuitz, did you get what you wanted?"

"Yes, luckily."

I would leave it at that for now and tell her about the trade later.

* * *

Once the conversation was over, we resumed exploring. We had come straight here without visiting anywhere else, after all.

The other areas would be crawling with monsters. Some were ones I had yet to kill, and others had Essences that sold for a fortune.

And so...

I took the first step forward.

"I'll go ahead, then. Follow behind me."

Our hunting method was the same as before: I would clear the way, slaughtering all the monsters, while the others followed behind collecting magic crystals.

Only...

'I'll do some experimenting along the way this time.'

Now that I had a new Essence, I intended to test its performance as we went. My body hadn't adjusted to the increased stats yet, either.

'It really is rank-three. I can definitely feel the stat boost.'

The Deep-Sea Giant's Essence also included an unusual stat, making the unfamiliar sensation even stronger.

[Deep-Sea Giant]

Strength +55, Physical Resistance +35, Natural Regeneration +35, Mana resistance +35, Dark Resistance +55, Endurance +40, Adaptability +70

The Physical stats were evenly distributed at just the level expected of a rank-three Essence, and most were valuable ones. Still, they could hardly be called rare. Good as they were, they were stats easily found in most Essences.

Unlike Adaptability, at the end of the list.

'In the game, all it did was gradually weaken debuffs the longer they lasted.'

In reality, it felt a little different. Of course, that effect was surely still in place, but...

I walked on, step by step. Perhaps Adaptability was kicking in, because walking underwater had become a little easier.

It hadn't really restricted my movements to begin with, but now, unless I concentrated, I barely even felt as though I was underwater.

Well, it certainly wouldn't have been this pronounced if I had simply dived into the ocean rather than being somewhere with the special property of negating the water's effects.

'Now, shall I check the passive too?'

I used [Gigantification] to activate the passive I hadn't properly tested earlier. The Deep-Sea Giant's Passive Skill only responded to shapeshifting Abilities.

「The character has cast [Gigantification].」

「The character grows in size, increasing Threat stat and Physical stats in proportion to size.」

[Gigantification] increased my size by roughly 1.77 times and raised my Threat stat, which helped draw monster aggro.

「The character has used a shapeshifting Ability.」

「The effect of [Primordial Cells] halves the skill's Magic Power consumption and increases the highest stat to 1.5 times its value.」

The effect of [Primordial Cells] was added on top of that.

For reference, the highest stat in my build was...

「The power of the Transcendent increases the effect of [Primordial Cells] by 1.5 times.」

「The character's Strength increases to 2.25 times its value.」

That was one difference from the shield barbs I had so often built. Since I had slotted in an Ogre's Essence where the Steel Giant's rank-four Essence normally went, my Strength had somehow ended up higher than my Physical Resistance.

'Tsk. This will make it harder to unlock stage three of [Adaptive Hide].'

Of course, that was only for now. It wouldn't be a major issue for the finished build. Once I absorbed Bellarios's Essence, I could focus my stat grinding on Physical Resistance.

「Size increases in proportion to Strength.」

While I was at it, I switched [Transcendence] to active and tried using [Gigantification].

I lowered my gaze. Now I could look straight down at the roofs of the ruins I had needed to look up at earlier.

'I must be over six meters tall.'

I would have to measure myself properly when we got back, but that was my rough estimate. Even with the height reduction from the Gacha Bone Essence, I had grown far larger than before.

Despite that enormous increase in size, though, my Strength was about the same as before I used [Transcendence]. The 2.25-times Strength multiplier had dropped to 1.5.

'Still, all my other stats seem to have gone up across the board, so it's not a loss...'

The downside to using [Transcendence] as an active wasn't the stats, but the reduction in Magic Power consumption. There was a big difference between 75% and 50%.

'Well, with my current MP pool, I can keep [Gigantification] going indefinitely as long as [Transcendence] isn't active.'

In [Dungeon and Stone], MP regeneration speed was proportional to total MP. I was currently level seven and had scraped together plenty of Magic Power from various sources, so my MP pool was comparable to that of most supernatural ability users.

'Finally getting somewhere, huh?'

I maintained [Transcendence] to get used to my higher vantage point. Even underwater, there was something about the air six meters up that stirred a man's heart.

'... How big would I get if I removed the Gacha Bone Essence?'

It was still too early, but I pictured it anyway: myself using [Gigantification] after my base height increased from 185 centimeters to 225.

I couldn't say for sure, but wouldn't I be big enough to wrestle Riakis, the third-floor Floor lord, barehanded without looking out of place?

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

I kept swinging my hammer as I pictured that future. After all, [Transcendence] could only apply to one skill at a time. Besides, in my current state, killing things directly was about as fast as killing them with reflected damage from [Risk Taking].

「The character has cast [Swing].」

Any damage I took would regenerate immediately anyway, so I ignored defense and focused entirely on swinging my hammer.

「You have defeated a Riumobidic. EXP +6」

Monsters dissolved into light, helpless against the enormous Demon Crusher driven by my increased Strength. But as I spammed [Swing], I could feel my MP draining rapidly in real time.

And so...

「The character has cast [Soul Dive].」

I used my active skill—the one assigned to the green Essence out of the Deep-Sea Giant's seven actives, which included [Blade Torrent], [Source of Life], and the shapeshifting skill [Giant's Blood].

This skill was rather unusual too. Despite being an active, it cost no MP.

No, to be precise, it did the opposite.

I drew in a long, deep breath, and the hollow feeling inside me began to fill.

「Magic Power regenerates in proportion to Magic Power expended.」

An MP recovery skill that cost no MP. In exchange, it had a cooldown.

About thirty minutes in the game, if I remembered right.

It might not look like much, but it was an excellent skill. I could tap into it in emergencies, and it greatly reduced the time I needed to spend resting to recover MP while hunting.

'Above all, it counters that bastard...'

The Dragonslayer, Ligar Vagos. His Draconic Tongue ability, Silence of the Soul.

This skill would let me counter it. Even in Soul Exhaustion, a single use could bring me back to my normal condition.

'Then I'm more than ready now.'

I grinned as I smashed the skulls of the sea beasts swarming me from all sides. A vow I had once engraved in my heart came back to me vividly.

["Can you... win?"]

That day, when I had felt profound loss for the first time since waking in the body of a cold-hearted warrior, I had swallowed my helplessness and made a vow.

I would cling to survival with everything I had. And someday, when I no longer needed to rely on luck...

["We will meet again, dragonkin."]

I would hunt him down without fail.

CRUNCH!

At last, that time had come.

* * *

On our fifth day hunting on the Underground Island, I finished killing all the creatures whose EXP could only be obtained here. Even afterward, however, I kept hunting on the island.

There were plenty of islands outside still waiting to be conquered, but...

'The magic crystal earnings are pretty substantial.'

We were already in this special field, after all. Most special fields were as profitable as they were difficult. And for me, specifically, hunting here was easier than on the fifth floor.

'Still, I don't plan to waste time searching for rocky island events just to come back.'

Anyway, continuing to hunt at that breakneck pace let me see quite a few Essences. After pushing my luck a little further, I managed to fill one of our two test tubes with a rank-four Essence.

'It would've been even better if a Deep-Sea Giant Essence had dropped.'

A single rank-four Essence was plenty of profit, but I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. There wasn't just one Deep-Sea Giant on the Underground Island. There was a small chance of encountering more by wandering around, but none of those had dropped an Essence.

Really, that was only natural. Unlike the one in the underwater temple surrounded by a whirlpool, ordinary field mobs didn't receive a drop-rate bonus—

"Schuitz."

As I briefly reviewed the past few days, Amelia approached and sat down beside me. One look told me she had something to say.

She probably hadn't come to ask for a longer rest...

"The Labyrinth closes tomorrow."

Oh, so that was what she wanted to discuss. It was brief, as usual for Amelia, but the meaning behind it wasn't hard to grasp. Especially since she glanced at the sleeping navigator and mage as she said it.

"What are you going to do?"

A far more direct question than before. Apparently, my silence was frustrating her...

"The mage dies."

That conclusion, at least, came easily enough. I had never intended to keep him alive in the first place. Mages were too shrewd. Aloof and arrogant, they didn't forget grudges easily.

And above all...

"With the Magic Tower backing him, he'll be difficult to control once we're back in the city."

"I see. Understood. Then?"

Amelia glanced at the navigator again, and I immediately got to my feet.

Then...

WHOOSH!

Standing over the sleeping mage's head, I raised my hammer high.

I had been in this situation once before. When I had woken from a doze, Hans A, my overnight companion, had been looming over me just like this.

Oh, of course, he and I were different.

In that I didn't fail.

CRUNCH!

The mage's body went limp in his sleep, without so much as a dying cry.

"A-ahh!!"

The navigator jolted upright, apparently awakened by the sound.

Then...

"I-I'll keep my mouth shut for the rest of my life! I'll q-quit being an explorer too!"

He threw himself flat on the ground and lowered his head. Quite a bold move, considering the bloodstained hammer raised high in my hand.

'... It really would be a waste to kill him.'

I looked at Amelia. She said nothing, as though she would abide by whatever I decided, but deep in her eyes I could see that she wanted him.

And so...

"Emily."

"Go ahead."

"Can you keep a close eye on him so he doesn't try anything once we're back in the city?"

"You needn't worry about that."

"On what grounds?"

"I've already poisoned his food, and I've been giving him only a day's worth of antidote at a time."

Her words were utterly matter-of-fact, which made them all the more reassuring. The navigator, on the other hand, flinched violently, having had no idea his life was so thoroughly under her control.

"Eek...!"

Watching him, I gave it another round of thought and finally made my decision.

"Nguyen Rockrove, was it?"

"... Yes!"

"From now on, you do as she says. Understood?"

"Yes! Of course!"

A veteran navigator (unpaid) had joined the team.