Chapter 166 - Beyond the Door
Sunday
“Are you going again today?”
"Apparently so."
Yesterday, Seth (Miki) and her group, who had headed to the ancient ruins beyond Amiera Territory, apparently opened the innermost door of the second floor and advanced to the third floor.
However, they struggled greatly with the many unfamiliar monsters beyond, such as the Nelfungus, a mushroom monster as large as Seth, and Mabul Caterpillars, an inchworm monster, and had to retreat.
“I don’t like bugs...”
"I'm not good with them either..."
Moreover, they were quite, or rather, extremely strong, it seemed.
Nelfungus scattered poisonous dust (spores?), and Mabul Caterpillars spat sticky threads... Sounded troublesome.
“Was Mithril found?”
"Yeah. But they said it was only enough to make one knife..."
Most of the mining points found were iron. Rarely silver. And very rarely Mithril, they said.
The discussion then shifted to needing to go to deeper floors, but also to thinking of countermeasures against the troublesome enemies.
Even so, the news about being able to mine Mithril was causing a huge stir... it seemed best to keep the island's Mithril mining point a secret for a while.
“I hope there aren’t any like that beyond the door.”
"Well, it wouldn't be surprising if there were."
After descending the stairs, to my left was that 'unlock code' door.
It was Sunday afternoon.
Now, to go beyond this door, but I shouldn't have heard that news beforehand. It's too late now, though.
Still, I had prepared thoroughly.
A ken-nata and Heal Potions were at my waist. A round shield was in my left hand.
The composite armor had also been repaired from the damage inflicted by the Red Armor Bear.
My mantle and boots, made from that Red Armor Bear's hide, were brokenly powerful, so my equipment should be more than enough to fight.
"Woof."
"Yeah."
Most importantly, Lupi was with me.
But what worried me was...
"~~~♪"
Sweee was sitting on my left shoulder, dangling her legs.
I asked her many times if she was really coming, but she patted her chest with her hand, signaling, "Leave it to me."
"If things get really bad, promise you'll escape, okay?"
"~~~♪"
This one actually gave me a thumbs-up...
Lupi is fine because she'll respawn at worst, but what about Sweee?
I remembered the time an orc almost gobbled a fairy, and I quickly shook my head.
It's not good to imagine the worst when I'm just about to start.
“Shou-kun?”
"It's fine. Alright, shall I open it?"
When I touched the door,
[Access of the Blessed Ones confirmed. Please enter the unlock code.]
"4725"
[Unlock code matched. Would you like to unlock?]
It's a good thing it was correct.
If I'd messed that up, it would have been a gag.
"Yes."
After answering, I pushed the door open with both hands... Hm?
"It's dark. Light."
I asked the Light Spirit, and as its light slowly illuminated beyond the door...
“Kya!”
"Seriously...?"
Clank... Clank...
Approaching me with slow steps was a skeleton clad in rags.
I never thought I'd be fighting undead here.
"Damn it. Do I have to push through with magic?"
There were at least five skeletons visible even in the illuminated area.
Their movements were slow and they looked weak, but the question was whether my ken-nata would even damage them.
"[Stone Projectile]!"
Normally I'd want to use Fireball, but since we're in an underground passage, I'll refrain.
The [Stone Projectile] scattered like buckshot, pulverizing the upper body of the leading skeleton.
"It seems okay if I crush them completely..."
Another skeleton approached, stepping over the one that didn't get back up.
This isn't infinite spawning, is it?
“Shall we retreat for now?”
"No, since we're here, I want to try out the ken-nata and round shield a bit."
The opponents are weak, so it feels like a chance to raise my Shield Skill.
The problem is how much I need to smash them...
"Lupi, I'm counting on your support."
"Woof!"
I wanted to create a one-on-one situation as much as possible, so I asked Lupi to hold off the rest. Then I just had to steadily crush them.
Drawing my ken-nata from its sheath and taking a stance,
"Alright, let's do this! Gueh!"
Just as I psyched myself up, Sweee pulled my pendant.
“Sweee-chan?!”
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
"~~!"
"Eh, a Spirit Stone? Ah, to the spirits?"
Even so, I wonder if relying on the Light Spirit and the Tree Spirit would really be enough?
Well, I'll give it a try...
"I need your support."
When I placed my hand on her and said that, my entire body, including the ken-nata and round shield, was enveloped in a faint green light.
This is a buff, isn't it?
I wanted to open the menu and check my stats right away, but the skeletons were already closing in.
"Sweee, stay in my hood!"
I told her that and stepped forward, delivering a diagonal slash!
Clang!
"Eh!"
With less resistance than I expected, I cut through the skeleton's clavicle and then cleanly split its ribs.
The dark magic stone near its center tumbled out, lost its color, and the skeleton completely fell apart.
“Shou-kun, that’s amazing!”
"Seriously. This Spirit's Blessing is strong, isn't it..."
"Woof!"
"Whoa, next one!"
This is already completely a grind-fest, isn't it?
...
..
.
"Phew, are they all dealt with?"
I wonder how many skeletons I defeated?
I stopped counting after 20, but despite defeating quite a number, my character level didn't go up.
My Shield Skill did reach 3, though... Are skeletons as weak as goblins themselves?
“Shou-kun, you were amazing!”
"Ah, yeah. I mean, the spirits were amazing, not me, right?"
That's right! Check stats...
As expected, [Spirit's Blessing (Light, Tree)] was written next to my name.
Was the MP consumption about 40%? I think there was consumption when I attacked or defended, so it felt like it decreased when I touched a skeleton.
"Thanks. I'm okay now."
As I said that, the faint light slowly faded, and my MP began to recover rapidly.
If I didn't have this mantle, it might have been tough...
"Woof."
"Thanks, Lupi."
Squatting and petting Lupi, I focused on Presence Detection... seems clear.
“I was surprised by the sudden skeletons.”
"Mion, your natural voice was so cute when you were startled."
“Uuu...”
Well, I was pretty scared too. If those were zombies, I would have screamed.
No, but if they were zombies, would they smell rotten? A rotten smell in full-dive VR would be tough...
"Even so, I wonder why they're skeletons?"
“Perhaps there’s a graveyard somewhere?”
"I see."
Being bones means it was a long time ago. But after the person who wrote that Record.
Or something happened after that person went to provide support...
Scattered bones, rags of unknown origin, and magic stones that had lost their color were strewn everywhere... It wasn't a pleasant feeling.
I'll try Appraising them, just in case.
[Skeleton Bone]
A skeleton's bone. Having lost its core magic stone, it has reached true death. Crafting: Can be used as a material.
"No, seriously, crafting with skeleton bones is a bit..."
The rags were just rags. The magic stones might be usable if purified, but for now, I have Ranziboa magic stones and such anyway...
"Nah, I'm wasting time. Let's move on."
“Yes.”
"Woof!"
"~~~♪"