by Yuu Tanaka
“Grr!”
“Kaka!”
“Gyan!”
His senses must have been sharpened, too. He cut down Jet, who was trying to ambush him from the shadows.
Jet! Get out of here!
“Arrf…”
Jet lurked in the shadows with the remainder of his strength. The enchanted sword let out a shrill clang as it came down on rocky ground. He might have been powerful but he still couldn’t get to Jet in the shadows.
“Reverse Undead!”
Jean’s voice boomed in the silence. The high rank Nether Magic spell could destroy any undead short of a high level one, but—
The Skeleton Knight’s magic resistance must have gone up, too. He didn’t make any attempt to dodge the spell.
“Kuh! My spell didn’t work!”
“Haaa!”
“Kakakaka!”
The bone knight paid no heed to Jean’s attempt at his unlife. Fran was his sole target. He knew who the real threat was.
But was that his only reason? The Skeleton Knight looked furious to me. Was he angry about us killing his beloved horse? Could an undead feel emotions? Thinking back to Jean’s skeleton butler, Bernard, it must have been so. The high-rank undeads seemed to retain a bit of their hearts.
I also understood why he decided to use the potentially fatal Unleash Potential. He was prepared to die to avenge his beloved horse.
“Haaa!”
“Kakaka!”
The unleashed power of the Skeleton Knight was overwhelming. Each of his blows hit as hard as a Sword Art, all of them too fast for the eyes to follow. Jet was down, and Jean’s magic wasn’t effective. The Skeleton Knight’s onslaught continued like a storm, his mind set on killing Fran before his life ran out.
His attacks weren’t flailing slashes, either, which was the most terrifying point. We could find no gaps in his offense.
Fran continued to dodge would-be fatal blows by a hair’s breadth. Her eyes hadn’t given up. She was still looking for a way to turn this around.
I hadn’t given up, either.
We’ll use Skill Taker!
“Hm!”
I had initially planned to save it for the Dungeon Boss, but we couldn’t afford such a luxury at a time like this. Fran would use her Skill Taker so I could save mine. I had another card up my sleeve, anyway.
The main issue was we didn’t know whether he would lose his buff if we took away Unleash Potential. If his status advantage didn’t go away, there would be no point in stealing the skill. But taking away another skill wouldn’t cover our stat difference, either. Our only viable option was to steal Unleash Potential.
Go for it!
“Haaa!”
“Ka?”
Fran used Skill Taker. My goal was to bring his stats down to their previous values. If it worked…
The skill you targeted is an Extra Skill. Extra Skills cannot be targeted. Capture has failed.
The announcer’s voice echoes through my head. You never told me that!
“Kakkaka!”
“Kuh! Where’s the skill?”
It didn’t work!
“One more time… I can’t cast it!”
The failure still counted to her usage of Skill Taker. She was unable to use it now, too.
Maybe I should use mine… But even if I did take some of his other skills, it still wouldn’t cover the difference in power.
Time to use the ace in my sleeve.
Fran, we’re going to do that!
“Okay! Let’s go.”
I poured all my remaining EP into Advanced Sword Arts and boosted it all the way to Level 5.
We had thought of this plan on our way here. This would be our ace in the hole against a particularly strong opponent. By leveling it up to 5, we would catch him off guard.
“Haaa!”
“Ka, ka?”
Fran’s movements changed. They were more precise now, her understanding of the blade having deepened.
I felt the Skeleton Knight’s confusion at Fran’s sudden jump in skill. They were evenly matched just moments before.
Based on our experience, a three-level difference in skill was impossible to ignore. A four-level difference allowed Fran to be skilled enough with the sword to overcome the stat difference.
The knight’s movement slowed down, and whether it was from surprise, confusion, or a malfunction caused by this new element, I didn’t care.
That wasn’t all. My body felt oddly light, and it felt like Fran was moving much faster.
Was it because we leveled up Advanced Sword Mastery? Was Fran’s body stronger now that it was optimized to her skill with the sword?
Was it because Fran was also feeling this new rush of energy?
Never mind the details.
We could win now.
This was our last and best chance!
“Take this!”
Fran used the Advanced Sword Art, Impact Slash. It was a side slash so powerful that we were stunned after using it. We had put all our energy into this attack: Fran with her Focus Mana and my Overboost by way of the Mage skill. The sheer power of this attack would be enough to exceed even the unleashed Skeleton Knight.
Giiiin!
But the bone knight dodged our most powerful attack.
What a monster! He might be weaker in terms of strength but he was definitely still faster. We would be forced to take his counterattack now that we were wide open.
At least, normally we would.
We’re not done yet!
“Hm!”
Sorry about this, Fran.
“It’s okay!”
Because Impact Slash caused you to twist your hips by ninety degrees, it was a move that left you wide open to attack during the recovery.
I used my charged up Telekinesis to stop Impact Slash midway. This would cancel the recovery time immediately after the skill. However, all the force that would’ve been dissipated into a would-be target was now concentrated on Fran’s arm.
As a result—
Rrrip!
The sound of breaking bones and tearing muscles echoed loudly.
God, it was a horrifying sound! Made worse that I was the one who brought this upon her!
But I still had to add salt to an already terrifying wound.
Fraaaan!
“Aaaaargh!”
Fran unleashed a Sword Art with all her might while holding back the intense pain. She used the Heavy Slash, the first Art she ever learned. I used Mage to charge the skill up with mana to increase its speed. The dreadful sound of breaking bones came from Fran’s overexerted arm but we couldn’t hold back now.
We had to finish this.
The Skeleton Knight had yet to regain his stance from our initial Impact Slash.
“Aaaah!”
“Kakkaaaaa!”
This bastard! He was still reeling but he was able to move his skull back by a few inches. I wasn’t going to be able to reach him!
Was there no way to close this distance? Then I had it!
“Uooooh! Change Shape!”
I activated the skill I had just learned, Change Shape, with all my heart, hoping that it would be enough to reach the Skeleton Knight.
My blade thinned and then lengthened; I was now more of an estoc than a longsword. It took 200 MP to transform myself. That was too expensive – although I was grateful at the moment!
“Kaaaa!”
The skeleton was helpless now. I sliced his skull clean in two, and with it I felt the response of a crystal.
“Ka, ka…”
The bone knight stopped. His hollow sockets continued to glare at Fran.
“Kakakakaka!”
His body crumbled into pieces as he let out something that sounded like a disturbing laugh. A human skeleton lay in his place, making it look like our battle was little more than a hallucination. The bones still felt haunted, and I expected nothing less from a B-Rank monster.
“Urgh…”
Fran held her arm and cru
mpled up. Her whole body was locking up from the crushing pain.
I’ll heal you now, Fran! Greater Heal!
“Are you alright?”
“Woof!”
It was a difficult fight, but well worth it. I got three hundred crystals, Sense Jammer, Automated Magic Strike, Control Undead, and Magic Resistance. All useful and versatile skills.
And then there was the Extra Skill, Unleash Potential. Seeing how it brought the Skeleton Knight back from the brink of death, I would reserve this skill for that purpose.
Still, the effects of the skill changed from user to user. Did that mean Fran and I would have different manifestations of it as well?
I wanted to experiment with it but it carried the cost of depleting your life for its duration, not to mention the additional cost. With a twenty-four-hour cooldown it didn’t look like I would be able to test this any time soon.
Does it still hurt?
“I’m… fine.”
Are you sure?
“Yeah. I’m good.”
“Arf?”
Jet started licking Fran’s previously battered arm. He was worried, too.
“Thanks.”
“Arf!”
Fran fluffed up Jet’s head. Seeing the peaceful scene finally allowed me to accept that the battle was over.
Jean collected the skeleton’s bones.
Can you still use those?
“These are very valuable as a necromancy catalyst. Retrieving these leaves us very much in the green. Mwahaha, I thank you!”
I could use all the potions I wanted now.
“And what of the sword and armor?”
What do you mean?
“I have no need for the sword so you may have it. In exchange, I don’t suppose you’d mind if I took the armor and mantle. Orihalcon is a highly prized material among mages, and I might be able to find a use for this Nether item.”
I don’t mind, but are you sure?
Jean was our client so all drops were rightfully his. I was very grateful for the offer.
“Still, your movements were amazing towards the end. Did it have something to do with that blue light?”
Uh, blue light?
“Indeed. You and Fran were wrapped in a faint blue light, as if your mana was coming together.”
I didn’t notice at all. I can’t think of why that would be.
I doubt it happened because I leveled up Advanced Sword Mastery.
“Is it? To me it looked like you were being linked with magic. I thought for sure mana had something to do with it.”
Linked with magic?
Was it because of Skill Sharing and her User status? I don’t think that’s quite right.
“You and Fran are under Contract, are you not? That is what I speak of. A Contract is one of the stronger connections. I would not be surprised if entering a contract with an enchanted sword such as you would bring about mysterious magical powers.”
The Contract that bound us to each other so long ago had that kind of power?
I still didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t even know how to activate that blue light to begin with. Jean didn’t look like he had a clue, either.
I charged some mana while thinking of the Contract but nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Maybe we would figure it out in one of our fights in the dungeon.
Chapter 6:
Ghost King
Thirty minutes had gone by since our battle with the Skeleton Knight and we still hadn’t left the room.
We had decided to take a break since the previous battle took a lot out of us. Fran and the rest were sitting down as they drank potions to recover their mana. I was recovering as best I could; my durability had been depleted by half. My MP was also below 500. Going deeper into the dungeon would be difficult.
Jean had summoned a Skeleton with Blacksmith abilities to repair Fran’s armor. He even had Mana Spheres ready. The necromancer was thorough for sure.
Fly had, of course, gone on to scout ahead.
I looked over my new skills. Unfortunately, none of them increased my combat ability by leaps and bounds. They were all at Level 1, after all. At most, I could probably work something out with Unleash Potential.
Our encounters in the dungeon were paying off, though. Fran had gone up by three levels and Jet by five. That was enough to bump their fighting prowess by a significant amount. The fierce battle with the Skeleton Knight had also given Fran some hands-on combat experience. Her fighting ability had definitely gone up.
“So good.”
“Munch, munch.”
“Indeed, this is also delicious!”
I had cooked up some special fried chicken for the starving trio. I guess fried monster would be the appropriate term, since I used monster meat. I hadn’t come across many fried foods in this world. There were pan-fried foods, but I hadn’t seen any with a crispy batter. It might not even exist, actually. Jean had been surprised when I first presented the dish. The mountain of deep-fried, crispy goodness was gone in a near instant.
We gave the leftover bones to Jet. He gobbled them down, satisfied.
“It seems Fly has found the door… Mwahahaha! Straight to the dungeon core!”
“What about the boss?”
“Hold on… Hm!”
After his shrill laughter, Jean suddenly winced.
What’s wrong?
“I lost contact with Fly.”
“Did it get killed?”
“It appears so… No fear, I know the exact path to get there. I shall take point.”
The monsters on the way to the deepest section of the dungeon weren’t that different from the ninth floor. If anything, they were easier now. We could go all out since we knew the end was coming, and we didn’t have to feel shy about using up all our items, either.
We reached the boss room in less than a shake.
“Behold! The door to the boss room!”
A stone door, more lavish and intricate than all the previous doors, stood in front of us. After three days of exploring the dungeon, we had finally reached our destination.
“Is there a boss and a Dungeon Master behind this?”
“Fly couldn’t get a reading off it, but yes, they’re definitely there.”
The boss was definitely going to be a problem but it didn’t end there. The Dungeon Master would be quite strong, seeing that it was a product of this dungeon. We were dealing with something that used B-Rank monsters.
“We must prepare.”
What do you propose?
“Mwahaha! I shall use my final trump card! I don’t want to use it since it costs too much, but we must be ready for the worst.”
Jean was right. We had to prepare as best we could, too. But how should we go about it?
“Should we level up some skills?”
That’s what I had in mind, but…
I had 25 EP left on hand. I had to think about this so they wouldn’t go to waste.
I don’t know which of these would be useful. I’ll have to see how the battle goes to decide.
It wouldn’t be funny if we panicked and leveled up a skill that would prove useless in the boss fight. We didn’t know what we were dealing with. Being careful with our points was the best we could do.
“Teacher, Fran, there are some things I want you to take out of storage for me.”
What is it?
“You can start with the pendant.”
Pendant? There were a lot of those. We took out all the pendant-like items for the time being. Jean picked one out of the pile and gave it to Fran.
“This is the one. Carry it with you.”
Woof, it looked gross! The pendant had a realistic carving of a zombie on it. I did remember putting that away into Fran’s storage space.
“It is a Sacrificial Effigy.”
This thing?
Wasn’t it for cursing your enemies or summoning zombies?
“Ha ha ha! I’m sure you have your doubts. I thought of the same thing,
in fact. I only bought this because I thought it was related to necromancy.”
I mean, look at it.
“Still, it is quite the potent charm.”
According to Jean, the pendant was able to take a single hit that was delivered to its user. Furthermore, it only activated if the damage dealt was on the heavy side. That really was nice to have.
Thanks.
“Indeed. We’ll also need this and this and this and—”
“What?”
“You need all the charms you can get. Take it with you.”
He gave us about ten more charms, not that I felt magic from any of them. We got peace of mind from them, at least.
“I need to prepare as well.”
The next item on Jean’s list was a long, rectangular chest. It was one of the biggest items in our inventory.
Paper seals covered the chest, making it look like a sarcophagus. Jean started casting the incantation while forming symbols with his hands to undo the seal.
With this strong of a seal, I couldn’t help but wonder what amazing tool must have been in the box. We looked on with interest as Jean pulled out an ominous-looking staff adorned with a skull. Yikes. Now that right there was a necromancer’s staff. Even its handle looked like it was made from a spinal cord. It fit Jean’s look perfectly.
It didn’t look like imitation bone, either. There was a sinister quality about the staff that made your skin crawl. Wielding it seemed enough to cast a curse on you.
Name: Unknown
Cannot be identified.
Hm? I couldn’t Identify it?
“Bwahahaha! This is my special staff! You cannot use any ordinary Identify on it!”
“Why not?”
“This staff is called the Blessing of the Nether Lord. A Named Item I found in a certain dungeon.”
Jean told me how the stats for the staff were so high that a regular Identify wasn’t able to penetrate it.
So about that staff’s powers—
“Kukakaka!”
I was just about to ask Jean about his staff when a loud human-sounding cackle cut me off.
!
“?”
What? Where was that voice coming from? I thought the staff was calling out to me, but Jean looked equally surprised.
“Kukakaka—”
There was something about the voice that disturbed the mind. Hearing it was enough to make me feel depressed.
