Chapter 176 - Chapter 156 Sleepless One Deep Underground
"Alright, opening it."
Yes. Please be careful.
I nodded, touched the door, and unlocked it with the unlock code '4725'. On the way back last time, I'd made sure to close it properly, thinking skeletons might come out if I left it open…
"Nobody here."
"Woof."
Lupi gave a reassuring woof. Indeed, there was nothing strange in my [Presence Detection] either.
~ ~ ~ ♪
"Alright, alright."
Sweee on my left shoulder gave a 'Go, go!' signal to advance. Does this one think I'm some kind of super robot or something…?
"Light."
After asking the light spirit for its usual auto-following illumination, I began to advance. The skeleton bones are gone… In a normal game, I'd just accept it, but in IRO, it's subtly bothering.
"Alright, today we go down."
I proceeded down the straight corridor, with an ascending staircase on my right and a descending one on my left. I went up the ascending stairs yesterday, had some things happen, and want to go back soon, but not today. I slowly and carefully descended the stairs, but detected no unusual presences. After descending one floor, just like when I went up, a corridor extended straight to the west…
"This way too, huh?"
An elevator, right?
"This one probably goes even further down."
Going up was fine, but going down feels heavy. I have a subtle bad feeling… I always imagine undead coming from under the ground.
"Woof!"
~ ~ ~!
"Alright, let's go!"
Worrying won't solve anything, so I might as well go quickly and see what's there. I pressed the single button, and it opened with the same sound as the one upstairs. There was no customary 'door opens, monsters appear!' scene; the elevator was well-lit with its own lights. And sure enough, the only button was for going down.
Shou-kun, the back might open again.
"Ah, that's right."
I don't know which side will open, so facing sideways is the right move? I'd laugh if either the left or right side opened…
Ding… whoosh!
came the sounds, and the door from which I entered opened normally. What a letdown…
"Hm? Is this a room instead of a corridor?"
The light spirit's illumination revealed what looked like part of a room. And then…
"Grrr…"
~ ~ ~!
Lupi growled, and Sweee hid inside my hood.
"Light!"
When I asked the light spirit to intensify its illumination, what was revealed was a huge number of skeletons… They were here too!
Shou-kun!
"Blessing!"
A faint light emanated from the Spirit Stones around my neck. Huh? Not just green, but a faint blue light too? Oh, thanks to the Water Spirit. My MP should be fine, right? Well, if they're just normal skeletons, they're fodder, so it's just work, but…
"Woof!"
"Ah, you're right."
Just as Lupi angrily told me not to let my guard down and I refocused,
"Kiiiiii!"
"Whoa!"
A ghost!?! I instinctively swung my Ken-nata sideways at the attacking entity.
"Oohh…"
My Ken-nata passed through as if nothing was there, but the ghost let out a death wail and vanished into particles of light. It's good that it worked, but that was probably because of the [Spirit's Blessing]. I continued to defeat the clattering skeletons approaching and the ghosts that slipped through them to attack.
Shou-kun, is your MP okay?
"Yeah. Still fine."
It's probably thanks to the Magic Wolf Fang Pendant I made the other day. My recovery hasn't gotten faster, but thanks to the increased max MP, I seem to be fine for now.
"How long is this going to last…"
Please consider retreating!
"Roger."
Infinite spawns aren't funny at all. Just as I thought that, the approaching ghosts finally disappeared, and the footsteps of skeletons also diminished.
"Just a little more!"
"Woof!"
The unpleasant sensation caught by [Presence Detection] was almost gone… huh?
"Lupi, watch out!"
A presence much denser than before was approaching. And then, heavy footsteps I could hear…
"No way…"
A visibly larger skeleton. It looked like its original height was almost 3 meters… Is it a Giantkin skeleton? In its hand was a longsword, and it was clad in Full Plate Armor…
[Skeleton General]
A superior species of Skeleton Knight. Its excellent swordsmanship in life has deteriorated due to the loss of its flesh.
"Whoa, whoa, jumping straight to a General is a bit much, isn't it?"
Swoosh!
"Ugh!"
I dodged the descending longsword and stepped back, sparks flying from where the sword struck the stone pavement. Thanks to its deteriorated swordsmanship, it was good that I could at least see its sword swings.
Shou-kun, you should run!
"It's fine, I can still do this. Lupi, please."
"Woof!"
I received MP from Lupi, who activated [Mana Aid], bringing me almost to full. If it's just one opponent, I should be able to fight it sufficiently with this. And then…
CLANG!
I parried a diagonal strike with my Round Shield.
"Hup!"
The SkeGen tried to block my Ken-nata's strike, and its left hand was shattered. Did this guy originally have a shield? Its hand movements were totally like it…
"Crap!"
Even with its hand shattered, it didn't flinch at all and swung its right-hand longsword horizontally. My Round Shield, quickly raised, took the full brunt of the attack…
WHAM!
I was sent flying, tumbling over and over until I finally stopped.
Shou-kun!
"That's way too much power…"
It doesn't actually hurt, but getting sent flying like that always startles me and makes me think, "Ouch."
"Grrr!"
~ ~ ~!
Lupi repeatedly hit-and-ran, targeting the SkeGen's legs, and Sweee cheered him on… Wait, did she fly out when I got sent flying?!
"Lupi! Sweee!"
I frantically got up and called them back. If I can just defeat that thing, then this might be a chance to try that. The SkeGen slowly turned back towards me, approaching with large strides. Perhaps because its left arm was missing from the elbow down, it seemed to lean slightly to the right…
"Woof!"
~ ~ ~
I confirmed that Lupi had returned and Sweee had hidden in my hood. I took a Magic Crystal Stone from my inventory and gripped it in my left hand. Carefully observing its stride, then…
"
I created a hole about 30cm square and 1m deep where its right foot was about to land. The SkeGen missed its footing with its right leg, stumbled forward, dropped its longsword from its right hand to brace itself, and its head was right in front of me…
"It's over!"
When I brought my Ken-nata down with a [Vitals Attack], its head shattered, and all its bones rattled and collapsed as if they'd lost their connections.
"Phew…"
[Character Level Increased!]
[Shield Skill Level Increased!]
[Spirit Magic Skill Level Increased!]
"Woof!"
~ ~ ~ ♪
You did it!
"Yeah. It was a bit of a cheat again, but I won, so it's fine."
The Magic Crystal Stone in my hand seemed to have used up all the MP I'd carefully accumulated. The Magic Wolf Fang probably ran empty too. The BP from my previous character level-up, I hadn't allocated it after all because of [Stealth], so I need to prioritize MP and put more into INT…