by Yuu Tanaka
“What?”
Under normal circumstances, Shadow Magic could only be unlocked if you had the highest level of Dark Magic. Despite that, our Shadow Magic was already at Level 2. Another such oddity was Instant Regen without Regeneration. You only needed to look at our skill composition to notice something was wrong.
“I suspected you used some strange skill like Skill Taker to fatten your skill portfolio, but it seemed wrong to me. The cooldowns didn’t work out.”
Such perfect reasoning! Were we that easy to figure out with a little bit of knowledge and deductive reasoning? I’d have to be careful about Mystic Eye users in the future.
Well, no use hiding it now. We told Jean everything and asked for his help in gathering crystals. We would do most of the heavy exploration in exchange.
Jean’s response was a booming, “Agreed! Hahaha! All right then! So all I need to do is gather up the crystals which have the skills you don’t already have, yes? Then I just feed them to Teacher?”
“Yeah.”
“Worry not, for you are in good hands!”
He was as loud as he was suspicious but his necromancy was the real deal. He would prove useful in an undead dungeon.
“Also, I know of a monster who would have a skill that would be perfect for you.”
“Perfect?”
“Awoo?”
“Indeed. It is an undead monster, so there is a high likelihood of us running into one once we get to the floating island.”
Uh-huh. What’s it called?
“It is called a Mimic. An E-Rank undead monster.”
“Never heard of it.”
Fran shook her head along with Jet. I had never heard of it, either.
“As its name implies, it changes its shape and lies in wait for prey to walk past it. And then, it strikes. It isn’t particularly strong but you do have to watch out for its ambushes.”
So what skills does this Mimic have?
“It has the Mimic skill, of course. It also has an interesting skill called Identify Jammer.”
As its name implied, Identify Jammer disturbed Identify. It was weaker than Identity Protection, but when maxed out it prevented one from a lower-level Identify.
But we already have Identity Protection.
“Is Identify Jammer a good skill?”
“No, this is just the setup!”
Then why are you wasting our time…
“Because I felt like it!”
“…”
This was what we were dealing with.
“Now, now, if you’d just let me finish, you’ll see where I’m going with this. There is a D-Rank monster called a Counterfeit which is sometimes confused with the Mimic, as they look very similar. I recommend that you slay the Counterfeit!”
“Why?”
“Counterfeits possess a Unique Skill called Fake Identity. This skill does not block Identify. However, it allows you to create false information about your stats and skills!”
So you could trick someone into thinking you’re weak by purposely putting up small numbers?
“Yes, that is what makes this skill so deadly. In a way, it is far more powerful than Identity Protection.”
Identity Protection protected your information by preventing your opponent from casting Identify on you. Seeing as you had something to hide, your opponent would invariably become wary of you.
But what about Fake Identity? Showing your opponent false information would make them think that you had no reason to hide your stats. They would let their guard down and be easier to fight, provided they believed the false information. It was more useful in an info war.
“You could even pair it with Identity Protection. Even if anyone managed to get through your Identity Protection, they would still have to deal with your complete fabrication of stats and skills! A terrifying combination, indeed.”
“I see.”
“Identity Protection is also a Unique Skill. That means it can go up against most Mystic Eye skills such as my Soul Sight!”
“I want it.”
Yeah, we’re definitely gonna need it.
I was just in the middle of mulling over how we were supposed to ward off Mystic Eye users.
“Mwahahaha! Leave it to me. On my last expedition, I found an area where Counterfeits love to spawn!”
“Wow. That’s amazing.”
As expected of a Lord of the Dead! So dependable!
“Bark, bark, bark!”
“Hahaha! Don’t be so straight with me, now! You’re making me blush!”
Don’t let us down, Jean!
The necromancer was also very susceptible to praise. His pale white cheeks actually seemed to flush. He was always used to boasting so he wasn’t used to the idea of people complimenting him.
So wise and powerful and smart!
“Smart.”
“Woof.”
“Mwahahaha!”
With our encouragement, Jean puffed out his chest and let out a shrill guffaw.
Chapter 5:
Battle on the Floating Island
It was the morning after we agreed to take on Jean’s request. We had spent the night at the necromancer’s laboratory, and it reminded me of the first time I reincarnated into this world. Those early days of the pedestal had been filled with dread at the rustling noises of the beasts in the dark. Jean’s laboratory was more… intense.
Unpredictable ghastly howling. The odd explosion coming from the basement. Otherworldly presences passing through the hallway outside our door. I was amazed Fran could sleep through all of that.
For breakfast, we had a purple egg sunny side up with some blackish green soup on the side. We also had glowing mystery meat and a glass of blue milk. Jet was served the blue milk in a bowl which he lapped up, despite it tinting the fur around his muzzle. Fran stuck out her tongue to find that it was also tinted purple.
What scared me the most was how the taste wasn’t actually that bad.
We didn’t get any status effects after eating it, but was it really safe? My apprehension made me check Fran’s and Jet’s statuses five times that morning.
After breakfast, Bernard led us down two sets of stairs to Jean’s improvised laboratory. After seeing how well equipped his lab was, I uttered a quiet apology for calling it “improvised.”
“Aah, I see my cutting edge laboratory has astounded you!”
It’s amazing.
“Cool.”
“Woof.”
A giant pentagram was laid out in the center of the floor. A variety of tools such as sickles and rods hung on the walls. Flasks and mortars were arranged in an organized clutter. Poisonous herbs and ores peeked out of their respective baskets. A dubious-looking liquid was boiling away in a large pot.
Atelier was the better word to describe the look of Jean’s laboratory. It had the air of a workshop.
There was so much I wanted to play with! Like turning one of the flasks upside down, or that rainbow colored powder over there. What did that do? I felt like a nerd in science class.
Fran sniffed the air, and turned to look at one of the doors in the lab.
“What’s over there?”
“Has it piqued your interest?”
“It smells like blood.”
“Hahaha! The olfactory senses of a Beastman! My morgue lies behind that door. It is where I preserve all of my excellent corpses! That room over there is where I store my dangerous chemicals, and that room is where I carry out my dangerous experiments! I’ve reinforced it, of course. I tell you, I almost died the other day!”
A morgue? That shouldn’t have come as a surprise, considering Jean was a necromancer, but it still caught me off guard. Wait, did he say he almost died? Would we really be okay here?
“Now, on to our preparations. You have a Pocket Dimension so you can carry a massive amount of items, correct?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll need you to bring some materials I’ve prepared.”
“Sure thing.”
I guess we were on item-carrying duty. We would carry as much as Jean wanted if it was necessary to clear the dungeon.
Fran agreed, and Jean took out a myriad items from his storage space.
“We’ll need this, and this, and this one, too. We’ll need that one for sure. Wait, let’s bring these two along, as well. I’m not the one unloading them, anyway. Bernard, come. Right. And this one—”
Jean instructed Bernard to lay out the items he wanted on the floor. Before long, a small mountain of items had piled up.
Isn’t this a bit much?
There were bottles which looked like potions to devices that didn’t seem to have any specific use. There was a skull lamp and a zombie-shaped pendant, too. Were these really necessary?
Jet sniffed the item mound in curiosity.
Jet, no! You don’t know where that stuff’s been!
“Arf…”
Jean’s inventory might curse you if you so much looked at it the wrong way.
All right. We’ll split the load halfway between me and Fran.
“Okay.”
We spent an hour loading the mysterious items away, asking questions about what they were for and how to use them the entire time.
“Now we’re ready!”
Shall we get going?
“Finally.”
“Indeed. Come with me.”
Jean climbed up the stairs and exited his research lab. The only problem now was getting to the floating island.
So how are we getting up there?
“Teleportation?”
“Hmph! I am a necromancer. I do not use such boorish methods!”
Is he saying there are some spells in necromancy that would allow him to fly?
“Bwahaha! Watch and be amazed! Bernard, come!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Has everything been prepared?”
“To your specifications, sir. Right this way.”
Bernard led us to the back of the lab. There was a pentagram, ten meters in diameter, engraved on the ground. On it, crystals had been meticulously organized.
“Yes! Very good!”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Now, behold! The essence of my magic!”
He made a cross with his forearms and pointed it heavenward before beginning to cast his spell. The act would’ve been embarrassing to behold if a junior high kid did it, but Jean pulled it off perfectly.
“So cool.”
“Woof!”
I couldn’t argue with that if I wanted to. Jean maintained his pose throughout his chanting. Mana in the air started to glow and pulse, making him look like a true spellcaster.
“—”
“—”
The spell sure took a while, though. It had almost been three minutes since he began, and that was with Speedcasting. The amount of mana reacting all around us highlighted the greatness of this spell.
Another three minutes went by.
“Overspec Undead Summoning!” Jean shouted, and with it the grand pentagram glowed with an eerie black light. A glowing back veil, ten meters high, shot out of the magic circle, temporarily blinding me, Fran, and Jet. It was as if a wellspring of shining darkness had burst out of the earth.
“Mwahahaha! Come forth, my servant! Thy name is Andy!”
“Graaaargh!”
What the hell is that?!
“Wow!”
“Grrr!”
Something crawled out of the light. It was too bright to see, but the shape slowly rose out of the circle. Once the light had subsided, what we saw made us gasp with surprise.
Fran’s eyes went wide with wonder. Jet entered a state of alert. I was trying to recover from the initial shock.
The fruit of Jean’s summoning ritual was a giant skeleton monster spanning ten meters in length. It looked like a bigger, stronger version of the Lesser Wyvern I once fought. This skeleton must be a true Wyvern.
“Heheheh… Hahaha! Bwahahaha! Behold! And cower! In FEAR!!! Hack! Cough!”
Jean started to cough in the middle of his gloating. He looked exhausted, too, and perspiration had formed on his pale face. His desire to gloat was understandable, though. Jean had succeeded in summoning a strong Skeleton Wyvern. To top it off, the undead dragon looked absolutely killer.
Name: Andy (Overspec Skeleton Wyvern)
Race: Undead Beast
Status: Vengeful Spirit; Contract; Weakness Mitigation
Level: 30
HP: 1034; Magic: 433; Strength: 539; Agility: 431
Skills: Intimidate 6; Stealth 3; Identify Jammer 3; Fear 6; Regeneration 10; Mana Barrier 5; Poison Immunity; Toxic Fang
Its stats were much stronger than a Lesser Wyvern’s.
Overspec?
The spell Jean had cast was called Overspec Undead Summoning. I wondered what effects it had.
“Indeed. That is the status the spell imbues.”
This particular spell was unlocked upon hitting Nether Magic 5. It was a high-ranking spell, to be sure! Its effects were justly impressive.
Summoning an undead minion with this spell would give it a whopping increase in HP, Magic, Strength, and Agility. It also gave the minion the Weakness Mitigation status—which worked by softening blows to the creature’s weak spot—and increased its level of Regeneration. On the flip side, however, the summoned undead would expire after twenty-four hours. It was still well worth it, though.
“Would you like to try it as well, Jet?”
And how do you plan on doing that, exactly?
“Very simple. First, I’ll have you die—”
“Nope!”
Jet whined in fear. Would you please stop scaring my Direwolf? You can’t just talk about killing someone’s pet in that kind of businesslike manner! These necromancers, I swear!
“Are you sure? It won’t hurt, I promise. I won’t force you, all the same.”
Ugh… Can we just get going, please?
We hadn’t even seen the dungeon and I was already exhausted.
“In a moment. Bernard!”
“Your preparations have been made, sir.”
Bernard brought out three Skeleton Beasts, each half Andy’s size. They were called Winged Tiger Skeletons.
What are those for?
Were we going to ride them? I was pretty sure Andy was more than enough to accommodate Fran and Jean.
“No, these skeletons will act as a diversion.”
“Diversion?”
“Yes. I’m sure the dungeon has monsters protecting it from intruders, like the Skeleton Knight you encountered the other day. We could charge through the trash mobs and scatter them, but it would be a bone-breaking endeavor if we did that by ourselves. These Skeleton Beasts will go ahead of us and provide a distraction. Bwahahaha! Yes, yes, you may marvel at my infinite wisdom.”
I see. Having distractions handy was a good tactic. Jean might be dumb enough to fall for insincere compliments but his wits were indeed sharp.
Jean sent off the Winged Tiger Skeletons ahead of us and began mounting Andy, the Skeleton Wyvern.
“You must ride Andy, as well.”
“Hm.”
“There are plenty of mounting spots, just make sure you hold on tight.”
The creature was made entirely of bone, after all. Fran positioned herself between Andy’s wings and held on to a spinal column. Jet returned to her shadow. Jean took the head.
“Are we all ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we shall depart. Fly, Andy!”
“Grooooar!”
The wyvern spread its wings upon Jean’s command. It should’ve been impossible for it to fly with its skeletal wings, but gravity seemed to hold no sway over the giant creature’s body. Some kind of magic must be allowing it to fly.
“Bwahaha! Onwards to the Undead Lair!”
“Hm.”
Andy, Jean’s Skeleton Wyvern, was as strong as I expected. He exceeded the altitudes we had struggled to reach the other day with ease. The effects of
the cold air and strong winds were reduced thanks to Mana Barrier, which made for a comfortable ride.
“We’re so high up!”
Fran looked down at the distant earth with sparkling eyes.
“Indeed! Witness the earth and all the trash who inhabit it!”
“Yeah, trash.”
Fran! Do not call people trash! Call them ants, at the very least.
Then again, ants weren’t that better off, either.
“There it is!”
We broke through the clouds and saw the floating island ahead of us. There was no question that we were much closer compared to where we got yesterday.
The gigantic rock formation gently floated through the sky. The sight of it was enough to instill awe and wonder.
Whoa! It’s magnificent!
“Yeah!”
It looked just like Laputa! I almost cried!
Andy beat his wings, flying towards the floating island. I was still awestruck when I began picking up on the mana signature I felt yesterday.
The slapping winds suddenly came to a halt.
What was that?
“You felt it too, young Teacher? We’ve broken into dungeon territory, now!”
But we’re not at the dungeon yet.
“A dungeon is whatever locale ends up being affected by a Dungeon Core, regardless of whether it’s in the skies or wherever else.”
I see.
That explained the massive horde of monsters.
Monsters incoming!
“Those Bone Birds will harass us until we set foot on the island! The Skeleton Beasts have decreased their numbers but there are still plenty of them for us to fight!”
“What’s our plan?”
“Plan? Mwahahaha! The only plan worthwhile for these trash mobs is to attack them head on!”
“I see.”
Not ‘I see’! There’re still too many of them for us to be careless!
Entire flocks of Bone Birds came to stop our advance on the floating island. There must have been a hundred of them at least.
Fighting them in the sky is difficult enough, but we’d have to break our backs to face that many at once!
“You mean it’ll be a ‘bone-breaking endeavor’? Ahahaha!”
No! Now is not the time for lame puns!
“Hahaha! ’Tis a necro joke is all!”
I am going to hit this idiot!
“But seriously, those Bone Birds are much faster than Andy. Running away would be impossible.”
