Infinite Dendrogram: Volume 3

by Sakon Kaidou

  “Arms, I think?” I answered his question, not having much basis for it.

  Nemesis was both a Maiden and an Arms type, while my brother’s Baldr was a gatling gun. I didn’t know any Masters besides myself and him, so my answer was just a guess based entirely on the fact that both our Embryos were Arms.

  “That’s right,” Shu nodded. “Arms is the most common category in Infinite Dendrogram.”

  And my guess ended up being correct.

  “It’s also the most varied one,” he added.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The Arms category covers all sorts of Embryos. It’s not just weaponry like your greatsword or my gun — there are utensils like pots or lamps, and even artificial eyes and limbs that replace parts of the body.”

  “So there’s lots of strangeness in this category, huh?” I asked.

  “Yeah, there certainly is.” He momentarily turned silent, then seemed to remember something. “Still, I don’t think that any Arms is stranger than his.”

  Back then, I’d had no means of knowing what he was referring to.

  Gideon’s central arena was shrouded in silence.

  Not a single member of the audience seemed to understand what had happened.

  The only people who did were probably the ones on the stage, Figaro and Xunyu.

  “So this is the result of all of Xunyu’s groundwork,” Shu said.

  No — my brother seemed to understand it, too.

  “First, there was the ‘I won’t move a single step’ declaration,” he said. “It was actually meant only to make it not seem weird that Xunyu wasn’t using the legs.”

  One of those legs was now grasping one of Figaro’s lungs.

  “Then, there was the long-ranged barrage of supersonic attacks. It was meant to make it seem like the declaration was based entirely on confidence, nothing else. Figgy probably knew that it was just a bluff, though.”

  However, he still hadn’t been able to avoid it.

  “The Fu magic attacks were just used to position the Fus needed for the great spell that followed. That ‘Baolei’ elemental was just a momentary distraction. As for the great spell itself...”

  The skill that had used the hundreds of Fus littered all over the stage and created a pillar of fire strong enough to break the barrier.

  “‘Zhenhuo Zhendeng Baolongba,’ was it?” Shu continued. “From its power, it’s pretty clear that it’s among the strongest Master Jiangshi skills — probably the ultimate one. However, Xunyu used it to do nothing more but keep Figaro in place.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “The spell had both immense power and range. It would’ve damaged Figgy a lot, but he couldn’t escape to safety due to the presence of Xunyu’s arms. The rules prevent them from using accessories that negate instadeath damage, and that’s why he had to use an omni-directional defensive skill.”

  So it would’ve been over for him if he hadn’t used the special reward’s skill, I thought.

  “However, that was exactly what Xunyu wanted him to do,” said Shu.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Most powerful omni-directional defensive skills prevent the users from moving or using any other skills. That leaves them stiff and open to attacks, and Xunyu simply took advantage of that... just like planned.”

  So the jiangshi was waiting for that moment from before the fight even began... I can see where the nickname “Landmine” comes from.

  “But wait,” interjected Marie. “If the special reward’s skill’s effects are like you described, no attacks should’ve reached him, right?”

  I could see her point. After all, it was supposedly a barrier that protected from every direction.

  “Yeah,” Shu replied to Marie. “Attacks from the outside, at least.”

  Apparently, that was enough for Marie to understand everything.

  “So you’ve already figured what that ultimate skill does?” Rook asked my brother.

  “Yeah,” nodded Shu. “You seem to have guessed, too, Rook.”

  “It’s based on circumstantial evidence, though,” Rook said.

  Apparently, I was the only player here who was still lost about this.

  “Brother Bear, might you tell us what kind of attack could’ve given Figaro such a grave injury?” asked Nemesis, clearly as confused as I was.

  “It’s pretty simple when you observe,” said Shu. “Look. Figgy lost an organ and is hurt enough to spit blood, but there’s not a single scratch on his skin.”

  Though covered in blood that had escaped his mouth, Figaro’s equipment was completely intact, too.

  An attack that gouged out a lung would normally leave a hole in both apparel and the flesh.

  “Also, an ultimate skill is the culmination of an Embryo’s main trait,” he added. “You can figure it out from here, right?”

  “Oh, I see!” I cried.

  Ultimate skills were the greatest show of an Embryo’s dominant characteristic. It was safe to call them the crystallization of an Embryo’s and its Master’s power. Due to that, they were extremely varied, causing them to include oddities such as tornadoes of darkness and tsunamis of gold.

  With that in mind, I had to figure out what the culmination of Xunyu’s Embryo would be, an Embryo that had speed and range as its main traits.

  Its velocity had already broken the sound barrier, so it might’ve been safe to assume that the ultimate skill approached or surpassed the speed of light. However, superluminal velocity was an insurmountable barrier for anything that had the least bit amount of mass, so there was a limit to how great the speed could grow. But if such limits meant nothing for the Embryo, the culmination of speed and range would be something that was found in science fiction.

  “Warping,” said Shu.

  That was the only answer — a superluminal, super long-distance, ultradimensional movement ability.

  “Xunyu warped the right leg directly into Figaro’s body and tore out the lung,” he explained.

  Figaro’s equipment had prevented all outside influence from every direction. However, it had been able to do nothing against Xunyu’s ultimate skill. It was like a scenario in which a piece of paper had two points on it — A and B. Even if there was a circular barrier around A that prevented B from getting to it, one could simply bend the paper to make B touch A directly. Walls and barriers meant absolutely nothing.

  “If that’s how it is, wouldn’t it have been more effective to place a Fu in the body and blow it up?” asked Rook. “Also, instead of taking just one, couldn’t Xunyu have torn all the organs apart?”

  You have some freaky ideas, man, I thought.

  “The skill probably has limits that prevent such things,” said Shu. “Maybe it can only warp the Superior Embryo itself? Or perhaps the time during which it’s connected to the other side is very severe?”

  “I see,” nodded Rook.

  One of the duelists on stage, Figaro, finally began to talk.

  “A forced teleportation attack that goes straight into the body, eh? A true ultimate skill if I ever saw one.” The words leaving his bloody mouth made it obvious that he, too, understood the nature of Xunyu’s attack.

  “I’ve been waitiNg for you to stop in plAce,” said the jiangshi. “Though, hOnestly, it would’ve been better if you’d just leT my insult go to your hEad and chosen not to move. I’ve actUally fought some iDiots who lost like that! GheaHahAhah!” Xunyu’s laugh echoed throughout the silent arena.

  “It’s normally a super long-distance skill, isn’t it?” asked Figaro. “You sure went through a lot of trouble to make it viable in a duel.”

  “Well, tHat’s just how I rOll.” Just as Shu had said, Xunyu had been waiting for the right moment to use the ultimate skill.

  However, I was pretty certain that the jiangshi had intended to kill Figaro with every move that’d come before it. The supersonic nail attacks, Fu magic, Baolei, Baolongba — each and every single one of those would’ve instantly killed mo
st lesser creatures.

  The ultimate skill was but a trump card Xunyu kept for anyone who was capable of withstanding it all. And its effects were obvious. Figaro — though still alive — was greatly hurt.

  “Can he heal that injury?” asked Nemesis.

  “This isn’t just an external wound or a broken bone — he lost an entire organ,” answered Marie. “That lowers a person’s maximum HP, limits their movements, and continuously damages them... Not even magic would have an easy time healing that.”

  “I know that duels don’t allow them, but would an Elixir work?” I asked.

  “Elixirs don’t do much about injury-based status effects. To fix organ loss quickly, you would need a healing skill from a Superior Job. However, if normal healing is your only option, fixing it would take a long while. You might as well get the death penalty. Mind you, they’re fighting in the barrier, so that won’t be necessary.”

  From Marie’s words, it was safe to assume that Figaro wouldn’t be healed for the duration of the battle.

  “Wait. Why are they still not moving?” asked Rook, bringing that fact to my attention.

  Figaro’s lack of movement was likely caused by the injury, but I didn’t see a reason for Xunyu to become immobile, as well.

  “Is it a side-effect of the skill?” asked Nemesis.

  “No,” answered Shu. “Xunyu’s just being cautious.”

  “But why?” I asked.

  Figaro is completely cornered and... Oh, I see, I thought.

  “Xunyu’s being careful about the thing that Figaro has never yet shown in any of his many matches — his Superior Embryo,” said Marie. “He’s yet to use it in this duel, too.”

  Hearing those words, I nodded. Figaro still hadn’t used his Embryo, and if he did, he’d probably have a chance at victory.

  “But Figaro is using his Embryo,” said Shu.

  “Huh?” Nemesis, Marie, and I simultaneously expressed our confusion.

  “He is? Since when?” I asked.

  “Ever since the duel started,” Shu answered. “Hell, he probably used it in all his other matches, too. Guy’s not one to hold back all that much.”

  That was probably a fact that no one in the audience was aware of. Figaro’s Superior Embryo’s name and details were a complete mystery to everyone. And yet, he was always using it.

  “So, is he wearing it?” I asked.

  “That can’t be,” said Marie. “I’m constantly checking him with Identification, and I can assure you that everything he’s wearing and wielding is an item.”

  That made sense. Identification skills had no effect on Embryos, after all. If there was something that couldn’t be Identified, it would obviously be that, but Marie had said that there was no such item on him. Thus, it was safe to conclude that his Embryo wasn’t a piece of equipment. But in that case...

  “Then what is his Embry—”

  Before I could finish my question, the audience became astir.

  I hastily looked to the stage and noticed that something strange was happening with Figaro.

  He was still on his knees, but his apparel was changing.

  First, his coat was engulfed in light and vanished. Next was his light armor and the shirt underneath. Then disappeared the ten rings on all his fingers and even the hat that stayed on his head even as he fought at supersonic speed.

  All that was left were the leg armor reminiscent of a hakama, his greaves, and the swords in each of his hands.

  For a second, I thought that Xunyu was responsible for this, but the jiangshi seemed as puzzled as everyone else.

  Wait a second, isn’t that the same light that covered him when he changed in his waiting room? I asked myself.

  “Instant Wear,” said Marie. “It’s a skill that does exactly what it says — allows instant switching of armor.”

  I remembered the skill I had, but hadn’t used yet: Instant Equip. It allowed the user to instantly equip weaponry from the inventory, and I could only assume that Instant Wear worked the same way.

  “But...” I said.

  Figaro had used it to simply take the items off, instead of switching them for something else. Switching to better equipment would’ve made sense, but as things were, it looked like he’d only made it worse for himself.

  As just about everyone in the arena became confused, Figaro stood up. With his upper clothing gone, his toned chest was completely exposed. His skin and pectoral muscles did little to hide the fact that he’d lost his lung. The area had become unnaturally dark due to all the internal bleeding.

  “Was it tHat hard to bReathe?” Xunyu asked — not mockingly, but with genuine curiosity.

  Instead of responding, however, Figaro merely grinned.

  “GuesS this duel’s over, tHen,” Xunyu muttered before launching the supersonic arms again.

  However, again, Figaro deflected it with one of the swords in his hands.

  It was just like the start of a battle before Xunyu had used his ultimate skill. Yet again, Figaro was on the defensive.

  “Hm...?” I murmured.

  The sight made me puzzled. After all, it barely made any sense. The result of Xunyu’s attacks simply couldn’t be the same.

  Figaro had lost a lung.

  Sure enough, his movements were a bit duller, causing him to get a few scratches here and there.

  But in what world did it make sense for a person who’d lost a lung to just become a bit slower? It needn’t be said that it was a fatal injury. Though Masters were superhuman and could survive through it, it should’ve taken a huge toll on his mobility.

  Thus, I could only question why the injury had such a light effect on Figaro.

  “ShgHh!” Xunyu attacked with both arms at once while increasing their speed, causing them to become a blur, even with the barrier acting at its maximum.

  “■■!” Figaro released an inhuman sound as I noticed that his expression changed.

  He was now making the same berserker-like expression I’d seen him make in the crystal.

  “Physical Berserk,” said Marie. “That skill gives an immense bonus to physical stats while rendering the body uncontrollable and preventing the use of any other active skills. Is this really a good situation to use it?”

  “He nullifies the uncontrollability with another passive skill,” answered Shu. “The mad expression and the bloodlust might make you think otherwise, but he controls himself just fine. Also, he simply chose to focus on increasing his stats rather than using some tricks.”

  Indeed, Figaro was even faster than before.

  “Not a baD face you’re mAking, Figaro!” shouted Xunyu while launching those golden arms behind the Over Gladiator.

  Figaro momentarily looked behind him, then dodged one of the arms and charged at the other one. He didn’t deflect it this time — he actually hit it head-on.

  As a result, both Figaro’s sword and one of the Superior Embryo’s golden nails shattered into many pieces.

  As Xunyu became overcome with shock, Figaro used Instant Equip to take out another sword. What followed was another clash, and the result was the same as before.

  No — this time, both of Xunyu’s arms lost a metallic nail each.

  “WhaT did you dO?”

  I couldn’t help but relate to Xunyu’s confusion. It was very clear that the question wasn’t directed at the results of the Physical Berserk skill.

  What puzzled the jiangshi and me was the fact that, despite being weakened by the loss of a lung, Figaro had been able to damage Xunyu’s Superior Embryo, which he’d only been able to dodge and deflect before.

  I didn’t know how strong the skill was, but I couldn’t believe that a single power-up skill could turn the tides like this. Also, even before using the skill, he hadn’t really seemed to be behaving like he was severely injured. Which was made even stranger by the fact that he’d been weakened due to removing most of his equipment.

  Was he really weakened, though? I thought. “Hmm.”

  Do
es he have a skill that strengthens him when he unequips his items? No, he would’ve done it at the start, then. Still, it should be something that relates to the act of equipping stuff and...

  “Is something wrong, Ray?” asked Nemesis.

  “Hey, Nemesis,” I said. “Remind me how many equipment slots there are in Infinite Dendrogram.”

  “Equipment slots? Well, there’s headwear, upper and lower armor, innerwear... no, it doesn’t count. Then there’s the cloak, armwear, boots, five accessories, and weapons for each hand... That makes 13. No, special equipment like Silver makes it 14.”

  “What about Figaro?” I asked.

  “Our slit-eyed friend has skills that give him more slots. He had accessories on every finger and can clearly equip six weapons at once. There might be more, but I’d assume it’s somewhere around 25.”

  At this moment, however, he only had his lower armor, greaves, and a weapon in each hand, making for a total of 4.

  “Bro,” I said.

  “Do you address me bearing questions?” he replied.

  “What are the effects of the hakama and the greaves Figaro’s wearing?”

  “The hakama is called ‘War Might Cloth (lower),’ and it gives a bonus to STR, AGI, and DEX, while the greaves are a special reward called ‘Unbound Sabatons, Unchain’ and they give a large bonus to AGI and a resistance to movement limitations.”

  Equipment that strengthened him. A reduced amount of equipment. Increased fighting ability. An Embryo he’d been using from the start.

  And the thing Shu and Figaro had been talking about in the hallway. When all of that was considered...

  “...Oh, so that’s how it is,” I muttered. If I was wrong about this, him taking off his clothes would’ve been completely meaningless.

  “Bro.”

  “I’m listening.”

  I voiced my guess. “Figaro’s Embryo’s trait is ‘strengthening equipment worn inversely proportional to the number of items equipped,’ right?”

  My words made everyone except Shu look at me in surprise.

  “Why do you think that?” he asked.

  “Normally, you’re stronger the more items you have equipped, so if someone becomes stronger after taking them off, I can only assume that it’s a skill like that.”