episode_0018
by fnovelpia‘What a disgrace….’
Savior seemed to think I couldn’t stand on my own, so she was supporting me with all her might.
I remained still, afraid that if I shrugged off her hand and walked on my own, Savior, who had helped me this far, would feel awkward. Then, the hot sun on my skin made me think of something, so I asked her,
“Um… how many days until the full moon, by any chance?”
At my question, Savior tilted her head as if asking why I would ask such a thing, then answered my question.
“Tonight. But why do you ask?”
I was momentarily surprised by her words.
‘If that’s the case, then tonight is the only chance to get it… And that place requires at least two people to enter… The trick itself is complicated, so going alone would be vague… Plus, I can’t clear the route where the key is by myself…’
I stared intently at Savior, who was supporting me with all her might beside me.
‘Right now, there’s no need to clear this… but before the 3rd exam, I can get something very useful… no, a cheat potion… But even if I have Lv.5 Heart Sword and can use Cetus-style Form 2… can I clear a place classified as ‘High’ raid difficulty…?’
“Savior, could you perhaps spend the night with me?”
Hearing my words, Savior looked at me with a disdainful gaze for a moment and clutched her body.
Unable to receive support from her two arms, I almost fell for a moment, but I used my staff to support my body and stood up.
“What in the world are you trying to do…?”
Savior, who had completely misunderstood, looked at me with an expression not much different from when she first saw me, but after pondering something for a moment, she sighed and said,
“I did make a promise… Alright… I understand…”
“No.”
“Hm?”
“Whatever is in your head, that’s not it. Don’t worry.”
I extended my hand to her, as if asking for help.
“I’m just trying to clear a dungeon, that’s all.”
‘It’s better to do it and regret it than not do it at all…’
***
Tap Tap
In the deepest part of the academy, the sound of dripping water echoed through the area.
That sound was the loudest there, but it was drowned out by something.
Squish squish
Now, the sound of two people’s footsteps began to echo throughout the area.
The old iron bars creaked in the wind, and rusty handcuffs indicated that the place had not been used for a long time.
“It’s surprising enough that a dungeon exists in the academy, but for it to be hidden in a place like this… I’ve never heard of it…”
Savior walked beside me, carefully examining her surroundings.
“Of course. This dungeon only appears when the full moon rises, and only for a very brief time.”
I flowed my magic, discovering the magic flowing from afar, and approached it.
As I approached the spot so quickly, Savior, who had been slowly observing beside me as if this place was strange, hastily followed me.
“Alright, Savior, from now on, you must forget everything you hear and see.”
“Hmm… Understood.”
She had looked at me with suspicion for a moment, but then slowly nodded, as if remembering what she had said.
Hearing her answer, I flowed just a tiny bit of my magic into the crack from which the magic was emanating.
Thump… thump… thud… thudding….
Then, the stones around it began to move slightly, and before long, they created a small hole, just big enough for a child to enter.
“Alright, let’s go in.”
I said to Savior and bent my waist to enter the place.
And behind them, someone was watching.
That someone quickly ran to the crack after we passed through it and managed to get inside just before it closed.
***
‘As expected, it’s not much different from in the game… which means the difficulty won’t be much different either…’
Before us, an atmosphere like a corrupted temple unfolded.
Where water should have flowed, red blood flowed, and all the surrounding stone statues were killing and torturing humans.
They all had sharp fangs.
‘Can I win this alone…?’
I sighed softly to myself and looked back at Savior.
“Savior, from now on, you mustn’t breathe.”
I said to her in a serious voice.
“For what reason?”
“Because we are about to pass through that place.”
I pointed with my hand to one of the two paths laid out before us.
One of the paths was made of ordinary wood, but the other was gushing blood like a waterfall.
And the door I pointed to was an iron door, gushing blood like that waterfall.
‘If I do nothing and only meet the conditions, I can face the boss directly for a decisive battle without fighting the soldiers… Of course, in the worst case, I’d have to face both that monster and the boss at the same time…’
“Can that choice be trusted…?”
“Yes, if we truly do nothing and just flow magic from the opposite side of that room, the monster lying in the room will not wake up.”
“Monster… you said…?”
I approached the door and gripped the handle, trying to open it.
When I opened the door, my hands were covered in blood, but I ignored it and pulled it open. Right before our eyes was the face of a gigantic monster.
It had a face like a wolf, but its body, which followed, resembled that of a muscular man.
The monster was lying on its back, showing us its face upside down, and Savior was horrified at the sight.
“How… how are we supposed to deal with this…?”
Savior whispered to me, seemingly afraid of the sleeping creature, and I answered her loudly.
“As long as we don’t touch it, meaning if we make no sound and just quietly flow magic, this monster will not wake up. After that, it’s simple. Just hold your breath and hide here. I’ll take care of the rest.”
I spoke confidently to her, and Savior could not stop me from entering the room.
“Whoosh… haah…”
‘In the game, it woke up even with just one tick of touch…. I really need to be careful…’
I took a deep breath and was about to step into the room.
“Wait!”
Savior stopped me just as I was about to step into the room.
“Savior, you also need to go to the opposite side from me and flow magic. Let’s go together.”
“No, no, that’s not it… That monster is sleeping… and this door is too small for it to pass through, right? So can’t we just attack from here and retreat repeatedly?”
Savior’s passionate argument, as if she were afraid to enter the place, rang in my ears, but I spoke to her as if she were pathetic.
“Then try using it. On this monster’s face.”
She hesitated for a moment, holding her sword, but then gripped it tightly again and unleashed a massive blaze at the monster.
However, the blaze was blocked at the doorway.
To be precise, the door absorbed all of her flames.
[Insufficient Spirit Power.]
[Insufficient Spirit Power.]
A blue window, still present, was before me.
‘This door absorbs all attacks… I tried to use a trick, but unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work… But clearing this dungeon should also solve the problem of human limitations..’
“Are you satisfied now? Then I’ll go first. Please follow.”
I stepped into the room and walked past the immediately visible fur of the creature, towards the stone on the east side that acted as a key.
Fearing that the monster might wake up from the sound of my staff tapping the ground, I tapped the floor with my hand, putting all my effort into deploying my magic.
Before me, as I advanced carefully, a blue stone was sparkling.
As I was about to infuse magic into the stone, a red light emanated from it, signifying that the other side was complete.
I happily placed my hand on the stone, but I felt something strange.
‘Things are going this smoothly…? I chose the riskiest route, yet I can go to the boss room without any cost…. Well, I’m in peak condition, so it’ll work out somehow… It looked easy in the video, after all…’
With that thought, I approached the giant door that had opened before us.
Looking to the other side, I saw Savior, her face pale, walking towards the door with me.
It seemed as if everything was going smoothly.
Until a familiar voice echoed through the underground.
“Screech!!!”
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the sky, and someone began falling from afar.
And she landed on the wolf-man’s back, rolling around before stopping in front of me.
Having landed in front of me, she looked at my face, then suddenly stood up and said,
“Yes! You, the rival of this Reaper! I was preparing a warp underground to go back, but who knew I’d enter such a strange place through a dog hole like this! But!”
‘I should have killed this bastard.’
I covered the Reaper’s mouth with my hand, stopping her from continuing.
But it was already too late, and a gigantic shadow loomed over us.
‘[Cetus-style Form 1] [Cetus-style Form 2]’
On my left, a gigantic wave, and on my right, a smaller but sharp wave, began to surge.
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