TNG Vol. 23 Chapter 4 Part 4

Roughly four hours later, they stood before a large hall.

Just as Shin had felt, the dungeon’s scale was vastly larger than in the game.

Without the map function, who knew how long it would have taken.

They stopped at the threshold of the corridor to the hall.

“This screams ‘boss room,’ doesn’t it?”

Shin agreed with Milt, who had been peering inside.

“Hard to see it as anything else. I can already spot stairs beyond. Likely the type where, once you step in, you can’t leave until you’ve finished off what’s inside.”

Beyond the hall lay a passage, and past that, stairs to the next area.

The hall was a square, one hundred mels on a side. No monsters in sight, but in a place this blatant, something would happen.

“From what I know, it’ll either survive for a set time or defeat everything that spawns.”

“Same guess here.”

Assaulted from all directions, a party’s overall strength would be tested. They had managed to keep Retoneka out of most fights until now, but this time, they probably wouldn’t have that luxury.

“Before we go in, check your gear and items. Tiera, let’s top up your arrows.”

“Please do. I tried to be frugal, but they still ran out fast.”

Tiera’s arrows had been invaluable as they advanced through the labyrinth.

Thanks to her skill, she threaded shots cleanly between Shin and the others to strike the enemy’s rear line, fulfilling that role to perfection.

As the price for it, her stock had thinned, but the results more than justified the cost.

The ones with enhanced penetration had dropped the most, followed by the impact-boosted variant; after that came arrows imbued with various elements, in roughly that order.

The physically enhanced arrows were disappearing the fastest; partly because their martial skills were sealed, but mainly because of their sheer versatility.

Against anything other than spirit-type foes, a shot to the face could disrupt movements even without dealing serious damage, dulling the target’s actions. Tiera had used them less as a primary damage source and more to open lanes for her allies’ attacks.

“Everyone good on weapons? If anything worries you, say so.”

“I’d like a quick durability restore, just in case. It should be fine, but better safe than sorry.”

“Yeah. By design, yours takes the heaviest wear.”

Accepting 『Ordgand』 back from Milt, Shin checked how much it had worn down.

Their fighting style involved slamming into monsters’ weapons and carapaces, which sometimes abraded or dented the blade. The material quality kept visible deformation at bay for now, but the durability value had dropped on the readout.

Shin took a portable furnace from the item box, fed material into the weapon, and restored its durability.

It wasn’t a full recovery, but at ninety-five percent, it wouldn’t snap under anything short of calamity.

“Now, a little tweak to this one…”

Shin drew a thin, pale-green wristlet from the Item Box and began an enchantment.

Unworked, the wristlet bore no effects, counting as a mere ornament that only changed one’s appearance, so even if dungeon debuffs broke their equipment, it would remain.

When he finished, he handed one to each party member.

The enchantment raised a barrier automatically upon taking an attack. Whipped up on the side, its strength wasn’t stellar, but it would foil ambushes well enough. It was disposable equipment that would break after a certain number of activations.

Hearing the effect, Milt voiced a concern.

“If we’re in close quarters, won’t it trigger constantly?”

“I tuned it to react only to projectiles and magic. It won’t pop if you get punched or clubbed, so be mindful. It’s strictly anti-ambush.”

Just like the second floor where the Gigiratis appeared, ranged strikes from concealment were hard to catch mid-battle, doubly so when surrounded.

“Yuzuha, buffs please.”

“Kuh.”

Yuzuha’s tail shimmered with white light.

Even with their stats halved by the dungeon’s debuff, buffs from allies still applied.

The boost was far lower than usual, but, for Shin, it was precious.

The buff affected everyone except Schnee; her stats were already capped, so it had no effect on her.

“Let’s move.”

Fully prepared, they entered the great hall.

Schnee led, followed by Milt, then Tiera with Kagerou, Retoneka with Yuzuha, and finally Shin bringing up the rear. As soon as he stepped in, a wall rose where the corridor met the hall, sealing off their retreat completely.

The passage to the stairs for the next area did the same.

With every exit closed, the ground bulged. What emerged was a human skeleton in armor.

“So that’s why the floor here isn’t like the corridors.”

Unlike the stone-paved passage, the hall’s earth had simply been tamped down. They had expected something lurking beneath, so no one was particularly surprised.

As the skeletons surfaced, a counter appeared over the center of the hall.

The number read 100.

“Enemy count?”

“It’s not a time display, so likely.”

Even while talking, Shin and Milt pulled stones from their item boxes. Schnee also shifted into a casting stance.

They struck before the skeletons fully clawed their way out because one look told them the gear they carried wasn’t mere swords and shields.

Not ordinary skeletons—clearly upper variants—yet 【Analyze】 still only labeled them Skeleton, with levels hovering around 200.

Suspicious, yes, but there was no reason to hold back. Sensing their intent, Yuzuha layered a divine buff onto the stones in Shin and Milt’s hands.

“Take this!”

Shin’s stone smashed into a skeleton whose arms had just pushed its torso free of the soil.

Half-risen, it couldn’t move well and didn’t get its shield up in time; the skull shattered and the bones collapsed.

Milt’s throw pulverized another skull just as cleanly.

The overhead counter ticked down to 98. So it did mark the enemies remaining.

“Go.”

Next, Schnee rained fireballs down on every spot where an arm had punched through.

Explosions gouged the earth; bones scattered.

The count dropped to 95.

They kept blitzing the emerging arms with magic, whittling the counter to 80. It felt like whack-a-mole, if the moles were bones.

“When the count moves ahead far enough, a stronger one’s going to spawn, right?”

“Has to. This is too easy.”

Even as they bantered, neither Milt nor Shin stopped their hands.

At 70, something changed: a monster’s presence flared right beneath their feet.

“From below!”

Skeletal hands burst through the floor, grabbing for their ankles. A moment’s delay would have had them ensnared.

Hands kept clawing up underfoot to chase them; so Shin fired a skill to pulverize the skeletons along with the ground itself—

—but as if anticipating that, what thrust up wasn’t bone-hands but sword points.

(They read my intent? No, can they see us through the ground?)

The owner of the blade Shin dodged still had its head buried. Even so, its stabbing sword tracked him with uncanny accuracy as it whipped down.

Shin knocked the weapon aside with 『True Moon』 and plunged the katana into the floor as he unleashed a skill.

Super-vibrations of mana rippled out through the ground from the blade. Cracks radiated from 『True Moon』, and every underground reaction within a ten-mel radius winked out at once.

Sword/Earth combination skill 【Earth-Rending Tremor】. Fractures then raced through every skeleton in range, shattering them to bits.

Vibration worked wonders on monsters vulnerable to concussive force; against skeletons it was supremely effective.

Schnee froze the floor in sheets, while Milt pulverized swords and shields alike with martial techniques.

“Tiera and Retoneka look fine too.”

Tiera vaulted onto Kagerou’s back, breaking skulls one by one with precise shots while circling.

Retoneka, aided by Yuzuha, smashed skeletons to pieces with her hammer.

The count stood at 45. Below half, yet the monsters hadn’t changed.

—40, 35, 30, 25.

Skeletons fell in droves, the number shrinking apace.

If anything was going to happen, it would be at a clean threshold. Even as he culled the undead, Shin kept an eye on the counter.

The shift came the instant it hit 5.

A huge reaction, unlike any before, swelled directly beneath him.

He sprang reflexively. The ground erupted like a blast, dirt pluming to blind his view.

Before he could use 【Clairvoyance】 to peer through it, something tore the dust apart: enormous fangs.

“So the real fight starts now.”

Kicking off empty air with 【Flying Shadow】, Shin vaulted away, but the owner of those fangs chased him as if gravity meant nothing. Inside the gaping maw spun a spiral of teeth.

A worm-type skeleton, most likely. Shin recognized that combination of bulk and the helical fangs in its mouth. Knowing it, however, didn’t make it easy to deal with; he had no desire to dive into a grinder that could mince ore.

He triggered another skill and kicked off the air again; his figure split into three.

One Shin vaulted high over the worm skeleton; the other two veered left and right. The monster targeted the left and swallowed him whole.

“Bad pick.”

From beneath its clamped jaws, Shin drove a fist upward.

At the instant knuckles touched bone, a tremor surged through the entire frame.

—Barehanded martial skill 【Transparent Wave】.

The worm skeleton’s head snapped back; cracks raced from the jaw through the mouth and across the skull. For a moment it seemed about to disintegrate, but it whipped its lifted head forward and slammed it at Shin.

He kicked into the air on instinct. The skull itself grazed past, but he couldn’t quite clear the scything reach of the extended fangs.

“Guh!”

Shin crossed his forearms to block.

Bone creaked against bone as the fangs drove in, ramming his guard back into his chest.

Even as bones, the worm had mass to match its bulk. His makeshift foothold in midair couldn’t hold; the impact batted Shin away.

“Shin!”

Tiera’s cry reached him.

That strike had been its last, its fangs snapped, and the head shattered in the same breath.

With the skull destroyed, the body went slack and toppled.

Through the roiling dust, something soft caught Shin the moment before he would have slammed into the ground.

“Shin, are you all right?”

“Yeah, you saved me.”

It was Schnee who caught him. She wasn’t rattled; she understood that even if Shin was felled here, he wouldn’t truly die.

“(We’re fine here! More enemies are still coming, so watch your surroundings!)”

He sent word of his safety to Tiera—who was coughing in the dust—via 【Mind Chat】. The counter showed 4 remaining. If their guess was right, stronger skeletons were about to appear.

“They’re out.”

There were four signatures in the dust. What bothered him was that they overlapped in pairs.

Peering through with 【Clairvoyance】, he saw a full-armored monster mounted on an armored, horse-shaped skeleton.

Each pair wore dark brown armor, one wreathed in a red aura and the other in blue. They held round shields and lances in opposite hands, and their unhurried poise screamed veteran strength.

“Terror Knights.”

“So it isn’t strictly skeleton-type across the board.”

Terror Knights were closer to Dullahans or Living Armors than to skeletons. Naturally, as monsters they outranked the worm skeleton.

“If they target Tiera’s group, that’s bad. Let’s regroup.”

Would they go for Shin and Schnee, or for Milt’s side? Shin’s pair was fewer, but if the knights closed the gap, Milt alone would be in trouble. Yuzuha and Kagerou were both powerful, yet that very power made friendly fire a risk.

Perhaps realizing the same, the Terror Knights spurred their mounts through the dust, charging toward Milt’s team.

Milt and Yuzuha recognized them; Tiera and Retoneka could only tell that something dangerous was bearing down on them.

“Like hell I’ll let you!”

Shin released a ranged strike of light arts at the oncoming Terror Knights.

Like skeletons, they were weak to light and divine arts; a direct hit would leave a mark.

But his beam ricocheted off the red Terror Knight’s shield. Its face warped and melted, yet the knight himself seemed unharmed.

Running, Schnee cast water arts: icicles thrust up from the ground toward the knights. The blue one sprang from its saddle to evade and hurled its lance in midair.

“Why you—!”

Milt smashed 『Ordgand』 into the lance screaming through the dust, knocking it off course. In that opening, the red Terror Knight skirted the icicle field and closed on Tiera’s group.

Schnee dashed in on the red knight even as she cast; forcing it to detour had bought her enough time to catch up.

The blue knight engaged Milt.

Within the haze, lance and 『Ordgand』 threw sparks in furious exchanges.

Because the hurled lance was part of the Terror Knight itself, it could call it back. Even when it left its hand, the opening created was only a blink.

“Heavy!”

Both wielded weighty weapons. At a glance the clash looked even, but scratches kept multiplying on Milt. The debuff halving her DEX was finally taking its toll; her weapon control was losing crispness.

Shin struck from behind.

The blue Terror Knight still caught it on its shield.

『True Moon』 cleaved halfway through the round shield, but failed to sever it.

A heartbeat of deadlock. The knight whipped its arm and the recoil tore 『True Moon』 from Shin’s hand.

The blue knight leveled its lance at the now “unarmed” Shin—but Milt slammed 『Ordgand』 in, breaking its motion.

Ignoring the blade vanishing from sight, Shin lunged in and grabbed the knight’s arm, driving a prepared dagger into the armpit where the limb had overextended with the shield-swing.

“Blow away!”

Light flared from the dagger, and a like-colored radiance leaked from within the blue Terror Knight.

—Sword/Divine combination skill 【Purifying Single Slash】.

Hit with divine arts directly inside its body—its weakness—the knight convulsed violently.

Its lance clattered to the floor. Milt didn’t waste the stagger, she heaved 『Ordgand』 high and brought it down on the knight’s helm.

—Axe martial skill 【Rock-Crusher】.

Trailing a blue afterglow, 『Ordgand』 split the Terror Knight from crown to cuirass. Its cracked armor burst apart; its HP dropped to zero.

Glancing to Schnee’s side, he found the red Terror Knight barely holding off her attacks with a halved shield and a lance tip shattered to stubs. Its mount already lay decapitated.

Shin froze the red knight’s footing with a magic skill. The instant it lost balance, Schnee’s 『Blue Moon』 swept its head from its shoulders.

At last, the overhead counter flipped to 0.

They hadn’t slain the blue knight’s horse, but felling the rider counted as a kill.

The walls sealing corridor and hall sank away, revealing the stairs down to the next area.

“Man, that was rough.”

Milt, peppered with small cuts, walked over fanning her face with a hand.

“DEX really matters. I just couldn’t move my weapon the way I wanted.”

“Try having everything halved. Enemies I’d normally slice clean didn’t go down. Even just now, I meant to blast that Terror Knight apart from the inside, but it didn’t finish it.”

At their usual stats, he would have lopped off the shield arm along with the shield.

He’d accounted for the chance it wouldn’t go perfectly, so he wasn’t shaken, but fighting without his usual fluidity was still a pain.

“If we’re saying that, I couldn’t do anything at all,” Tiera muttered, a bit downcast.

Shin offered advice.

“Tiera, you should pick up a skill that affects vision. Today it was dust, but plenty of enemies use fog or smoke screens.”

“Easier said than done. Skills are precious, you know? It’s not like you just pick one up and—”

She trailed off, then knit her brows. “But this is you we’re talking about…”

“For now, heals and gear checks. Pushing straight into the next area like this would be reckless.”

“Seconded!”

The boss chamber counted as a safety area. They’d been trekking the labyrinth for hours and were mentally worn thin. They decided to rest here for the day.

𑁋

After the meal, Shin began inspecting everyone’s equipment.

Retoneka asked to observe, so he walked her through what to check; in turn, he asked how the Black Faction handled their maintenance.

It turned out there wasn’t much difference in method.

Once maintenance wrapped, the real lesson began. Since they had the chance, Shin proposed making something with a rare metal, and added that it was fine to decline. She’d said she feared holding a hammer; he didn’t expect her to overcome that in a snap.

“Well?”

“…I want to try.”

Her face was stiff, but the will behind the words felt genuine.

Shin held out a hammer he’d prepared.

She took a small, steadying breath and accepted it.

“Think you can manage?”

“Yes. I’ll be fine. Watching you and everyone else, I feel like I understand a little of what a blacksmith’s role truly is.”

No tremor showed in her hands.

Sitting Retoneka at the work table, Shin produced an orichalcum ingot.

“Orichalcum is hard to work without a flame charged with mana. Ideally, we’d have a mana furnace like the one we’re using now.”

“If it’s ‘hard,’ does that mean you can still do it without mana in the flame?”

“You can, slowly. You keep heating it for a long time, inching it along. But it takes ages, and the material’s responses aren’t consistent, which makes the work brutally difficult. Honestly, I can’t recommend it. You’d have to max your smithing skill and every related skill besides just to bring it up to a passable standard.”

“T-That’s…”

In the game era, maybe; in this world, it was essentially impossible. Such was the difficulty of handling orichalcum.

With a functioning mana furnace, however, the story changed.

“If you can use a proper mana furnace, the difficulty drops a lot. Still hard, but once you get it into a workable state, the rest comes down to the smith’s skill.”

“To the smith’s skill…”

Her grip on the hammer tightened. Watching her carefully, Shin explained the cautions for the work.

“When you strike the heated ingot, put mana into the blow. You can learn this with mana-control practice. Imagine storing mana in the hammer, then letting it flow into the ingot with the strike.”

The technique existed in the Black Faction as well; the question was how smoothly and efficiently one could infuse mana. That part only practice could solve.

“All right, I’ll lead—give me the backing strikes. It’s practice, so swing on your timing. Watch my mana flow and try to match it.”

“Understood.”

He set the heated ingot on the anvil and struck first.

Retoneka, who had been watching as if drinking in every motion, exhaled softly and imbued her hammer with mana. From Shin’s perspective it was clumsy, but in this world, being able to do even that was impressive.

Her hammer fell on the ingot. The sound was nothing like Shin’s.

Where Shin’s blow rang out clear and keen, hers answered with a harsh, grating clang.

“The way you charge mana, and the way it transfers—change just those, and the sound changes this much. What do you think? Keep going?”

Even after a single strike, Retoneka’s hands were trembling. Still, she didn’t say “stop.”

She nodded once; Shin silently returned the nod and resumed.

For a while, bright, bell-clear notes and dull, heavy thuds alternated from the forge.

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