Sousetsuka

Chapter 248 Strongest Sage, Sells Materials

 

"Can I ask why it takes so long?"

"It's because all materials whose ranks are too high have to be assessed by the guild at royal capital. There were times where we couldn't purchase such mats, but apparently a company affiliated with the Second Academy has made it possible now... Recently, I heard the First Academy could handle it as well, but in either case, we still have to bring the materials to the royal capital."

...They'd get brought in to Second Academy even if I don't do anything huh...
I guess it's only natural considering there's not a lot of places that can process magic items in this current era.

The First Academy would probably take on that role within three year time.
After all, I've given the same textbooks as the Second Academy to the First Academy, and all the students there are of [Glory Crest] which is best at augmenting.
The First Academy has a better foundation to nurture a huge number of augmenters.

In the future, they'd probably be known as [First Academy of Augmenting] and [Second Academy of Combating].
I'd love for chantless magic to be popularized outside the royal academies, but that'd take some time.

"Well then, is this one fang all you will be selling?"

The amount huh...
Selling too much will make us stand out, but if it takes 10 days just to sell these mats, might as well drop a whole bunch.

Bringing the mats one by one and having each get transported would only inconvenience the guild and academies.
I also want to send lots of these mats to the students at the royal capital to help with their training.

"No, not just one. Hold on a bit."

I took some fangs out of Storage magic.
If the ones handling the processing are the First and Second Academies, I've got to prepare enough so they can familiarize themselves with these mats.

"...This much should be enough."

I put 150 fangs on the counter.
The split is to be 100 for the First Academy and 50 for the Second Academy... but how it will be in reality depends on the buyers.

By the way, the reason why First Academy got twice the fangs is simply because they have a lot more Glory Crest students, aka augmenters.
In sheer number it's actually way more than double, but since the First Academy was late to be introduced with chantless magic, presently, the Second Academy has slightly more [Capable] augmenters than the First Academy.

"...J-just how many are these!?"

"Exactly 150. You've got to have some extra if you want to process rare materials."

Counters found in ordinary guilds wouldn't have been able to hold all these, but this place gets lots of adventurers bringing lots of mats from the [Gambling Dungeon], thus the counters are all big.
As such, you can easily sell a huge number of materials.

In small guilds, we either have to bring split amounts multiple times, or deliver the mats directly to the warehouse.

"Some extra... This is in a whole another dimension you know!? These are all from floor 27 right!? I can feel real powerful presence overflowing from these mats you know!?"

"All of them are from floor 27. This is about one Monster House-worth I think."

"Floor 27's Monster House!?"

The receptionist leaped out in surprise when I said that.
...Ah. The transaction isn't progressing.

『This kinda takes me back...』

『The guild near Second Academy was like this too every day when the students just started learning chantless magic...』

『The staff there gradually got used to it and they stopped getting all jumpy at every little thing, didn't they.』

『Some receptionists still got surprised sometimes though. Mainly because of Mathi-kun.』

Ruli and Alma nonchalantly reminisced the past while I was talking to the receptionist.

...I'll have these two deal with selling mats next time.
Trying to sell something you don't usually handle is surprisingly hard.

The transaction proceeded in the meantime...
But we hit an unexpected roadblock at the very end.

"Then please show me your guild card."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Here you go."

I presented the Second Academy student ID.

Since we're still officially students, we're using Student IDs that also double as Guild Cards.
...Normally I can't register due to my age, but students of Royal Academies can use their IDs as Guild Cards.
Though since it's like a temporary registration, there's no rank attached to it.

Or it should have been...

"Ah, is this the Second Academy's Card?"

"Yeah. We're temporarily registered as students. Since we can't register normally at our ages."

"...That rule has been changed just a while ago. Students belonging to the Royal Academies are now permitted to formally register with the guild regardless of age."

The academies must have been notified of this change already.
And that'd be the end of it since only students would use Student IDs as Guild Cards, normally that is.

However... We're students only on paper. We barely ever attended the academy.
There were even times when we went out of this country.

...Of course we weren't aware about changes in rules.

"Which means, we can register here?"

"Of course you can, but it'll be treated as a new registration and you'll start from rank F... And a rank F adventurer selling these materials will draw suspicion and likely trigger an investigation. In which case, it will take more time..."

I see...

Yeah of course they'll get suspicious if some newly registered adventurers bring in these materials.
It'd be problematic if the guild ended up buying stolen goods or something, so I'm sure there would be such checks.

Now then, what to do here.
While thinking that, Alma speaks to the receptionist from behind me.

"No problem then!"






Previous Chapter

3



"I see that the song of the witch is of to your liking."

"Chaney. Is that true?"

"You mean whether it's a true story or not? Hmm, I wonder about that. After all, minstrels' songs have spices and flavors added to them for entertainment's sake. But it is considered a fact that such a country once existed, and that it was brought to ruins by an infighting between its princes. I can't say for sure if there's any more to the story however."

"The tale must be famous in this country."

"Yes. I think it's a well known legend on this whole continent. I have heard versions with radically different details, however the important characters all share commonality. In any case, the country was destroyed 300 years ago. No one really cares about its historical accuracy. After all, people would rather listen to curious, bizarre and mystical legends than the dull reality of true history."

It's a tale depicting the fall of a country.

There was once a country called Wapud.

It was a large and prosperous kingdom that had been around for a long time.

A king called Mahazar once ruled over the kingdom.

He was a wise king who led Wapud Kingdom to its peak of prosperity.

Under the reign of King Mahazar, a great majority of the continent was put under Wapud Kingdom's control, the country was flourishing, and the people never starved.

The knights were famed for their strength, never failing to foil invasions from any foreign country, and purging bandits in the country's highways.

The king had three great sons who got along well with each other, every one of them inherited the sagacity of the king. Everybody believed that no shadow would ever befall upon the country's prosperity regardless of which son succeeded the throne.

King Mahazar was of long life, and his sons eventually grew old as well. However, the king's three sons had two sons each, and every one of them inherited their fathers' qualities as they all grew up to be excellent individuals. All six grandsons deeply respected King Mahazar as well, as such, there was nary a worry over the country's future.

One day, one of the sons brought a lovely girl before King Mahazar. She was to personally take care of the king's personal needs. The girl was of humble origin, however she was wise, kind and an expert in healing magic. The girl devoted her all to keep the king's well being as she wholeheartedly served upon him.

The king loved the girl. He never granted her any political says, however he would answer to every need of the girl. The girl made one wish. In order to protect the king's life, she wished to learn magic skills and techniques under the most capable mages there were.

The best of the best of mages were invited to the royal palace to become the girl's tutors. Books were gathered up without regards to expenses. The girl eventually became the kingdom's best mage, possessing knowledge about life and death surpassed by none.

King Mahazar's three sons died of old age. At this point of time, the king rarely showed his figure before other people as he shut himself up inside his bedroom and issued imperial commands only through the girl.

Even the king's grandsons couldn't get an audience with the king. The grandsons felt lonesome about it while holding their suspicions. However, every one of the imperial edicts issued by the king was both appropriate and put considerations into the populace well beings, as such, the country never fell into disorder.

Everyone thought the kingdom would be forever prosperous.

One day, one of King Mahazar's grandsons broke the ban and went to meet the king.

What the prince witnessed was a mere shadow of the old King Mahazar as he had been reduced into an unsightly corpse with maggots gnawing on him, kept alive by a mysterious power.

Even with tears streaming down his face, the prince implored the king to tell him how he got to be like that.

The king spoke.

There was once an artifact left behind by the founder king deep in the royal palace. It was the magic gem of a mighty ancient dragon.

The girl who found out about the existence of that magic gem succumbed to her greed.

For the sake of preserving her beauty for all eternity and keeping her guardian, that is the king, alive forever, the two had performed a secret art. The girl who came up with the secret art at the terminus of her magic research had once given up on it since she couldn't obtain the necessary medium to perform the art, however, once she was aware of the existence of the ancient dragon's magic gem, there was nothing that could put a brake on her desire.

The secret art was performed. It succeeded on the girl, but failed on the king. Due to his advanced age, the king's vitality couldn't endure the severity of the secret art.

The king died.
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
However, the girl played her next card.

She used the magic gem of a lesser dragon to perform a secret art to resurrect the king.

The king was resurrected. As an existence that transgressed upon the providence of the world of men.

The king had turned into an abominable youma.

But even in his wretched state, the king was still a king.

He kept reading reports and issuing edicts that would benefit his country and people.

However as he couldn't let anyone see his figure, only the girl was allowed to have an audience with him.

The prince implored the king to issue a decree to eliminate the girl, but the king sorrowfully shook his head and told the prince that it was impossible in accordance to the oath.

The prince sneaked out of the castle before the girl could found out about his intrusion. The girl had a complete grasp over everything inside the royal palace and could move the royal guards to do her biddings. The prince would have died were he stayed in the palace.

The prince then went to the father of his mother, who was a high ranking noble and publicly announced the sad reality of their great king. In addition to that, he raised an army and made a declaration to kill the witch who was controlling the king and bring back the kingdom to the rightful hands of the living.

Two among the remaining five princes participated in this plan.

Yet the other three princes declared that they would protect the king and encamped their forces around the royal palace. The three princes had been bewitched by the witch.

A sad bitter battle began.

The two powers were equally matched, and the battle continued on, and on.

Eventually the country fell into ruin, and people began to starve. Yet the battle continued to ravage on.

Other countries even began to invade the kingdom from all directions, plundering territories left and right, and yet the princes continued their battle against each other.

And by the time all the lands but the royal capital had become the possession of other countries, the battle finally reached its climax.

The royal palace was burned down, the witch died in the flame.

However, the victorious prince also died from the wound he suffered during the battle.

By that point, all other princes had already left the world.

And thus, Wapud Kingdom was wiped off the map.

Leaving behind only the names of King Mahazar and of a witch, the root of the fall.

A witch by the name of Erushira.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 247 Strongest Sage, Brings in Materials

 

Ordinarily, one person takes charge of one selling counter... but there's two receptionists per counter here.
One person must not be enough to handle all the materials that get brought in here.

"We'd like to sell materials."

"Yes of course. Which floor are the materials from?"

The receptionist took a book titled 『Dungeon Material List (Iliad Guild)』 on her hand.
Looks like they've got fixed prices for materials gotten from this dungeon.
Nice and easy to understand.

"Floor 27."

"Floor 17 it is. You dived down quite deep."

The receptionist turned [Dungeon Material List] pages after I told her that.
Looks like she misheard.

"Not 17. It's 27."

I took out the fang of a monster we defeated.
It's faster to just show the real thing than trying to explain stuff.

"T-this is... I can feel tremendous power from this! I've been in charge of selling counter for years, but I have never seen something of this level! I can't believe unknown items like this could still be found on floor 17..."

"Like I'm telling you, it's floor 27. Not 『Seventeen』. It's 『Twenty Seven』."

"27!? But that breaks the deepest conquered floor record! I thought this material was something else, but to think it's from such a deep floor..."

The receptionist finally got it after I said [27] the fourth time.
...I thought she'd immediately realize that once she saw the monster's fang though.

You could only get materials of this rank on floor 17 if you beat the floor boss there.
That aside, what is this deepest conquered floor thing.

"...Deepest conquered floor?"

"It's the highest record for the deepest conquered floor of a dungeon!"

...Ah.
Right, I heard about it.

If I'm not mistaken, that [30-person Party that has received the protection of Magic God Gaias] conquered floor 23, which was the highest record in the current era.
That the name of a god being the same as my previous name invoked a weird sense of karma on me.

But that kind of record should be easily broken.
Even Second Academy students should easily shoot past floor 23 if they just get serious about conquering a dungeon.

Rather, since we've just conquered floor 27, does that mean it'll be the new record.

"Aah. The last record is floor 23, isn't it? Does that mean there's no material data from deeper floors then?"

"Floor 23 record is last year record, the latest one is 24 from just a while ago. The one that made the record was a six-person party from Second Academy... Though it's still lower than 27."

...Looks like the record had been broken already.

"Then since we've beaten floor 27 monsters, the new record will be 27 now?"

Rather, what should be done to classify a floor as [Conquered].
I feel like it should be when you beat the floor boss of that floor, but then it would have been impossible for Second Academy students to conquer floor 24.
While thinking that, the receptionist gives an explanation.

"To set a new record, you need to have a trusted observer accompany you as you beat 50 monsters on that particular floor. As such, even if you have truly defeated floor 27 monsters, it won't be recognized as a new record... If you wish to update the record for the deepest conquered floor, we will arrange for an observer, but it will probably take a month on top of all kinds of inspections... You also need to pay a fee of around 3000 elmi."

Looks like there's some bothersome procedures just to update the record.
On top of that, we've got to bring a drag [Observer] and beat 50 monsters while being observed.
...Is this some kind of punishment game or something.

There must be some incredible advantages with all these conditions attached.

"What's the advantages of holding this deepest conquered floor record?"

"Err... advantages?"
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Yeah."

"There is absolutely zero direct advantage. There is no reward besides for the materials sold to the guild as well... But setting a new record for the deepest conquered floor is said to be the highest honor to an adventurer!"

I see, honor huh.
Don't need that.

...Rather, since some Second Academy students set a record, those guys got through all these annoying procedures just to have it updated huh...
Yeah I'm not going to do something so annoying... Looks like there are adventurers who seek prestige among Second Academy students though.

And that's a good thing.
Some combatants in the past looked down upon those who sought strength for the sake of money or fame, saying such motives were [impure], but one's reason to become strong can be just about anything.
Rather, I'd like more people like that, so Second Academy can become an advertising board for chantless magic.

Once the talk about the strength of Second Academy became widely known, more adventurers might attempt to learn chantless magic.
Although the existence of chantless magic is gradually spreading outside the academy, people still look at it like a technology of an alien world.

That paradigm may start to shift once adventurers start learning chantless magic.
After all, their numbers dwarf royal academy students'.

...That said, I have absolutely no intention to be that advertising board.
I mean, it's a pain.

"Then we don't need this deepest conquered floor record stuff. Just purchase these materials."

"...I think you should receive the acknowledgment if you really can update the deepest conquered floor record, you know...?"

"We need to go through lots of annoying stuff while getting zero benefit just to update the record, no?"

"There may be no direct benefit, but it's the best possible honor and achievement to the party that managed to carry it out! You'll be offered a lot more important quests from big companies and the kingdom as well!"

I see.
The record is a pretty good thing for adventurers if they want to rise up in the world huh.

...But it's not like I'm trying to rise up in the world as an adventurer.
And I can just talk to the principal if I want to take on country-assigned quests anyway.

"We don't have time to do all that, so no thanks... and since you don't have data about these materials... Can you still buy these?"

Fangs of floor 27 monsters are probably among the highest class of materials you can get in this Dungeon City Iliad.
But materials with too high of ranks are harder to process.

If this guild cannot handle it, it's possible that they will refuse to buy these mats.

"Of course, we would be glad to take them off your hand! ...But it will take some time to assess them, so if you could please wait for about 10 days..."

10 days to assess them huh.

We're going to stay in this town for more than 10 days for the girls' training anyway.
As such, there's no problem with it.

But I'm curious about the reason for such a lengthy wait time...






Previous Chapter

1



Lecan arrived at town of Vouka quite late at night the next day.

The reason for it was because Golbul's guard station had still not finished assessing prices of the dungeon items he gave them when he dropped by in the morning. It took so much time since there were many dungeon items found only on deeper floors which rarely came by. In the end, Lecan only left Golbul town in the afternoon.

Fortunately, his regular inn at Vouka still had a vacant room left.

The next morning, Chaney's messenger visited. It was an invitation to dinner tonight.

Lecan realized his blunder at this time.

He hadn't taken a consideration dungeon items he'd sell to Chaney.

Dungeon items that Lecan wasn't going to keep had been put inside Chaney's <Box (Luuf)>. He was planning to sell them to Chaney then.

However, the Dungeon Guard captain laughed at Lecan when he told him that he got to floor 26. Lecan who felt a bit irritated by that ended up selling everything inside the Box.

Well, no point crying over spilled milk.

Lecan put all the dungeon items besides potions for his usage inside Chaney's <Box>.

He'd obtain similar or better stuff when he goes next time anyway. He doesn't feel bad selling them with that in mind. Besides, compared to the numerous items he brought from his original world, the loot this time weren't actually that good.

However, potions are a different matter.

He has tested Red and Blue potions on himself. He was surprised to see their effectiveness. However, small and medium ones were not that effective, even the large potions were not quite good enough for Lecan. Considering how dramatic the effect of small Red Potion was on the girl he met on the first floor, something felt a bit amiss.

That said, he's utterly fascinated by the immediate effect of potions. To be honest, these potions are so good that he no longer feels the need to learn under an apothecary.

However, he's not only learning magic potions from Shira, but also magic. Though it's not like Lecan knows any other mages in this world, there's no doubt that Shira is an extraordinary mage. That he could be her pupil is a pure good luck. Also, he won't know the advantages and disadvantages between potions and magic potions unless he actually gets wounded, suffers from sickness or runs out of mana.


<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
2



Tonight Chaney invited Lecan to an establishment that's quite different than the last one. It's an establishment where the majority of visitors are having a drink rather than taking meals. The furnitures and stuff are of high class, yet feel somewhat disorganized. And they're not in a private room, but a table located slightly in the back.

However, Chaney has completely occupied this table. It's quite far apart from other tables, and four Chaney's subordinates are standing guard around them, so other customers likely won't attempt to sit on this table.

"Congratulations for your safe return."

"I'm giving back this bag."

"Oh thank you kindly. Ooh. It's full of dungeon items. Would it be all right to have everything inside be sold to us."

"It's fine. But, I'd like to read the list of appraisal results."

"Of course, I'll have it prepared."

Chaney beckoned to one of his subordinates who then drew closer. Chaney instructed something in a low voice to the man, and then the man bowed once before going off somewhere with the bag.

"By the way, how far did you get to?"

"Got to floor 26."

"Floor 26! My goodness. And how was it?"

"It was a very pleasant dungeon to explore. The upper floors had too many rookie adventurers it was hard to go about, but the lower the floor, the smoother sailing it was. Enemies on floor 20 and below were where it got tougher. I plan to conquer the last floor the next time I go."

"Hoo! I do not really understand it, but I do know that's not something anyone can just claim out. How was the town like?"

"I got acquainted with the Dungeon Guard captain, nice fellow that one was."

"Ah, I'm glad to hear that. The Dungeon Guard Captain may hold low post and social rank, but he's the actual acting commander in the field after all. Did you not meet the knights?"

"No."

"Oh you were quite fortunate then. That place is truly a nice town if it weren't for the knights."

The food in this establishment is superb. However, it's a bit too refined for Lecan's taste.

Meanwhile, a man wearing frilly clothes showed up carrying a musical instrument in his hands, he sat near the wall and began to sing a song.

Must be a minstrel. Lecan has no idea what the musical instrument is, but it feels like he's seen similar looking instruments back in his original world.

The chatters among customers got one level quieter. Everyone is listening to the performance while chatting between themselves.

Lecan has no sense to discern whether a song is good or not, but it's clear that this man is quite an expert in his field. The way his fingers slide on the instrument's strings was quite enigmatic even for Lecan.

It got to the third tune while he was listening. Lecan's right eye opened wide when he listened to the lyric.

"Chaney."

"Yes, what is it."

"I'd like to hear the complete continuation of the song just now. What needs to be done?"

"Of course, tipping it is. If you'd please wait."

Chaney called his subordinate, instructed him something and gave him some money. If Lecan is not mistaken, it's one big silver coin.

The subordinate went along the counter and handed the money over to a man who appeared to be the barkeeper and they talked about something.

The barkeeper nodded, wrote something on a cloth, wrapped the money in the cloth, and he brought it to the minstrel on a tray.

And then the minstrel sang the continuation of the tale depicted in the third tune.







Previous Chapter

Chapter 246 Strongest Sage, Gets Back to the Surface

 

"Taking a rest is a part of training... I understand! I'll give it my all to take a rest!"

"...Uh, you don't really have to."

While we were talking, the Dungeon Elevator arrived at our floor while letting out creaking sounds.
...This thing is looking as worn down as ever.

I'd like to do maintenance on it before it breaks down for good, but we can't exactly tamper with a country-managed Dungeon Elevator without permissions.
I'll fix it if it does break when I'm around.

"Y-you really made it out alive! ...You've got all four with you, right?"

The operator shouted out as the Dungeon Elevator's door opened.
Looks like she thought we didn't survive.

"Yeah. All four are present. All in good health."

Then I point at the girls.
Of course all four of us are unscathed.
Rather, we barely engaged in battles to begin with.

"Surviving through floor 27... Did you manage to kill a monster?"

"A few of them yeah."

I showed her some of the materials from the defeated monsters.
Of course, I'm hiding the Floor Boss's mats. It'd be bothersome if they told us to sell them.

"A-as expected of a Second Academy student party...! I heard rumors about their strength, but I didn't know that they could go to such a deep floor!"

"Well, there are many kinds of Second Academy students out there."

The next strongest party of Second Academy after us can probably deal with Floor 27.
It'd be bad if they get in a Monster House without exclusive magic though, so I don't recommend it.

As we were conversing, other adventurers got in the elevator from other floor, so the operator stopped talking to us.
Usually people working on these types of field won't attempt to pry much about adventurers' hunts... Well, guess it's only natural that she'd get worried after seeing four young adventurers setting foot on Floor 27.

I mean, we even almost got stopped by a newbie-bullying adventurer (or really a guild staff member pretending to be one).

『This elevator doesn't seem to be doing too well...』

『Isn't it shaking more than when we got on earlier?』

Ruli and Alma started to worry about the elevator as well.
This thing looks like it's seriously nearing the end of its life...
The main magic circuit is fine, but the two adjacent magic circuits are probably busted.

It could probably go on longer if someone did maintenance on it, but if I leave this alone, it might go past the point of no return at the most inopportune timing.
...I should go tell the king through the principal about doing maintenance on it when I get time.
If some amateurs randomly tampered with the elevator after it broke down, it could end up becoming irreparable instead.

『...Let's just hope that it breaks at the right timing to get it repaired... This won't even last half a year if we're lucky.』

『By the way, what about when we're not?』
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
『It'd break down in about three seconds.』

In other words, it could go poof at any time.
The one silver lining is the fact that this Dungeon Elevator is a type that won't fall down to the last floor when it breaks, but only up to the next floor.
Otherwise, those who get caught up in it would fall down to Floor 100.

...While we were talking about that, the Dungeon Elevator arrived at the surface.
Looks like we would get through this without seeing the Dungeon Elevator gets broken.

『We got here somehow...』

『Yeah. We'd be better off if it broke right as it got to the surface, so I could repair it now and we'd have nothing to worry about from tomorrow on.』

We're heading to the guild while talking.
The dungeon elevator building has no counters for selling even though there are counters for taking guild quests.
They probably ran out of space to build the warehouse for dealing with that.

『It's kind of small.』

Alma muttered so as we went in the guild.
This guild is indeed smaller than the usual guild buildings.
...If we talk about space for adventurers that is.

『Since they don't have many quest counters here, a small enough space for adventurers must have sufficed. But talking about the guild as a whole, this one is actually quite big.』

『Eh, really?』

Ordinary guilds dedicate the majority of space for quest counters that are visible to adventurers.
Since such counters are available in the elevator area, they're probably not necessary here.

By installing those there, adventurers can take on quests while waiting for the elevator, it's only logical.

『Look at the mana reaction. The area for adventurers inside this building is only a tiny part. There's a lot more selling counters than your usual guild.』

I probe the surrounding mana reaction.
A reaction from the guild's gigantic building was reflected. It even extends underground.

『It's true! So huge!』

It's not like the guild has anything to hide from adventurers.
The majority of this building is occupied by warehouses.

A guild right next to the Gamble Dungeon probably gets loads of materials brought to it everyday.
This is a proof of how much mats can be gathered at the Gamble Dungeon.

In a world where Storage magic isn't widely known, the existence of a Dungeon Elevator in a dungeon greatly affects the amount of materials one can bring back.
And since people will gather in places where they can gather a lot of materials, the amount gathered only increases day by day.

That amount most definitely exceeds ten times the usual amount from ordinary dungeons.
In that sense, installing Dungeon Elevators in other dungeons will probably stimulate the economy.

I head to the selling counter while thinking that.








Previous Chapter

12



"The name's Doug. Captain of Golbul Dungeon Guard. Go ahead and take a seat. Is that bag all you've got on you? You're not carrying much. Is that a <Box (Luuf)>?"

"Need you really ask."

"Guess not. Now then, let's get down to business, so you went inside this dungeon five days ago, correct."

"Either five or six days ago."

In fact, Lecan thought that it had been seven days. He got to lower floors faster than he expected.

"Yeah, so you see. There were adventurers who were intimidated by you on floor 1 and 2 or at the stairways. Numbering in quite a few."

"I don't remember doing anything of such."

"Yep yep, of course you don't. I'm sure you didn't intend to make it like that. Nothing for you to gain doing something like that after all. But we got complaints about people getting attacked you see. We can't turn a blind eye to those, so we've gotta ask your side of story."

"Even if I did attack other adventurers, what's the problem. Murders or thefts inside a dungeon aren't counted as crimes, are they."

"Exactly. You're exactly right. But that doesn't mean that you can do anything you want. You come from afar, don't you?"

"Yeah. From the north."

"I knew it. So then, have you registered as an adventurer?"

"I have."

"Let me see your Adventurer's Badge."

Lecan pulled the right side of his coat with his left hand, put his right hand in, took the badge from <Storage> and handed it over to Doug.

"Copper? Hou, you registered just recently huh."

After jotting down what needed, Doug gave the badge back to Lecan.

"I dunno how it is at your place, but there's a lot of young ones at this dungeon, ya see. These lots gain experience on upper floors and slowly get better. Some of 'em gave up on being adventurers though."

Lecan listens to him in silent.

"The lord here wishes to create a place where those young folks could be safely get strong enough up to a certain point. As that will ultimately benefits the town. You get it right."

"Yea."

"And well, those young ones might be a tad spoiled, but they're really giving their all. Desperately doing the best they could as to not lose to the rivals all around them. In such a situation, an obviously veteran adventurer stuck out like a sore thumb among them, of course they'd gonna get worried. Like, 'what's this guy gonna do to us'."

"I see."

"I heard you leaped over some young adventurers many times over. On the stairways."

"Right, now that you mention it."

"A completely in-black, huge ominous, excuse me, it's how it looks to them, a huge ominous monster with flapping wings just flew over them, those young folks were completely terrified you see."

"Yeah I guess they would."

"You got it! Ah, here comes the skewers. Go ahead and have 'em. It's on me."

Steaming hot skewers letting out a really appetizing smell were put in front of Lecan.

"These look good. You have my thanks."

Lecan put the skewers in his mouth without hesitation. Finally, a decent meal after a long time. His whole body was ecstatic.

"Eh don't worry about it. Oh also, we got complaints about you threatening them to open the path."

"I thought it's a good etiquette to call out when you want to go pass by other people."

"Indeed as you should. But, here we have a mutual non-interference rule amongst inexperienced adventurers you see. They're gonna get suspicious about anyone who goes out of their way and approaches them, thinking you're plotting something. Well, that's exactly what we taught them to though."

"You're quite caring for young adventurers going into this dungeon huh."

"We totally are! I'm glad you understand."

Lecan slightly took a liking to this dungeon guard captain.

"And uh, this is hard to say, we also got reports about a huge black monster scattering lightning everywhere on floor 3 as it excessively hunted Ground Grazers (Ajazal)."

"I killed dozens of magic beasts on Floor 3."

"I knew it. No well, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Just that elderly mages also gotta make their living y'see. The third floor of this dungeon is an unusual hunting ground in that a mage can even go hunting solo, you see. So..."

"Got it. I will refrain from hunting magic beasts on floor 3 from here on."

"Real sorry about this! I'm just glad you're so understanding. And this one's hard to say as well. A certain group had one of their members suffered major injury because they were distracted by you when you passed by behind them during battle."

That's those adventurers' fault. However, Lecan pondered a way to save this captain's face.

"I wasn't aware of that. Are those adventurers still in this town?"

"Yeah, I also know their inn."

"Then if I could trouble you, please hand these over to them."

"Huh... Aren't these small red potions. And two of them."

"One is for the injury, and the other is my apology. I don't care how they're going to use these."

Doug stared at Lecan in surprise for a while.

"Man, yer' really a good guy. Alright! I will take care of these two potions. They'll get delivered to them tonight. Again, sorry about this. Now I can inform the young ones about you in good light. I'm sure they'll be relieved to hear it."

Lecan continued to chew on the skewers.

"Lecan. Are you staying long in this town?"

"No, I have work at town of Vouka."

"Is that so. That's too bad. This was your first dungeon exploration right?"
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Yeah."

"How far did you get to? Ah but, you don't have to tell me if you're not willing to."

"Floor 26."

"26! Haha. That's good. You got to floor 26 in five days huh. Moreover, solo on your first time. That's real good one! Absolutely splendid."

"Doug."

"Oh, what is it, Lecan."

"I've heard the lord here expects items acquired in this dungeon to be sold in this town if possible."

"That's right. Of course, this depends on the person in question. But this town's got a variety of craftsmen and merchants coming from other towns to buy stuff. Everything sells quickly, and at better prices than in towns with little demands."

"Does this guard station deal in it too."

"Oh! As you can see. You may not get the best price, but you can be at ease knowing that no one will try to trick you here. Above all, you can have items get appraised for free if you're selling here. Young folks learn about dungeon items while selling theirs here."

"I'm selling these."

Lecan put aside the emptied plate and placed the <Box (Luuf)> Chaney lent him on the desk.

"Oh. You sure? Much obliged. Could you take them out on this desk."

"Got it."

Lecan stood up, took away the skewer plate as to not dirty the dungeon items with his left hand, and hung the bag upside down before opening it.

Magic gems, weapons, armor, canes, accessories spilled all over in rapid successions loudly.

"Captain! What's going on here?"

Seemingly alerted by the loud sounds. Soldiers rushed to check the situation.

And they were taken aback by the unfolding scene.

Captain Doug was also gawking at the pile of dungeon items burying his legs like he had gone senile, but then he suddenly picked up a big sword on the desk.

"This is! This shouldn't have spawned unless you got to floor 25! Did you really reach floor 26. In five days? Solo? That's impossible. To begin with, there's no way anyone can explore floor 26 alone"

"Doug."

Lecan passed him the emptied plate. Doug received the plate with a dumbfounded look.

"W-what?"

"I'm staying at this town tonight. I'll be back tomorrow morning, have the money ready by then. And I've got a request."

"Request?"

"I'd like to buy a catalog with names of monsters that spawn in this dungeon. Tell me the shop."

"If you want a list of monsters that spawn on each floor, we have it here. It's for soldiers' usage, so it's not for sale. Don't worry about money."

"Thanks. I've got another request."

"Shoot me anything."

"Tell me an inn with good food."






[Episode 5 Golbul Dungeon] Finished/ Next Time [Episode 6 Legend of the Witch]




Previous Chapter

11



Two days later, Lecan arrived at Floor 26.

He decided to stop exploring at this point.

Reaching Floor 30 and beating the dungeon master in one day might be possible for him.

However, the enemies here had suddenly gotten tougher ever since he got to floor 21, and only got even tougher every time he went down a floor. It's a shame to end this in a hurry, such is Lecan's line of thinking.

There is no reason for him to reach Golbul Dungeon's last floor and conquer it in a hurry anyway.

He plans to savor it slowly.

Lecan made a safe zone by putting out a jewel with magic beast ward effect then he took out all the loot he had acquired and examined them.

There's more than 200 magic gems.

He has used several potions along the way here, and the remaining ones are 18 large red, 12 medium red, 25 small red, 15 large blue, 12 medium blue, 14 small blue, 11 yellow, 14 green, five bluish purple and two purplish red.

As for weapons, he's got 11 great swords, four medium swords, two daggers, eight spears, five bows and nine miscellaneous others.

Protectors, he's got nine shields, six non-full armor, and three non-full leather armor.

Canes, he got 28.

Accessories 31. Jewels six.

Lecan was surprised when he got jewels from non-rock type monsters. In his original world, jewels are gotten from rock-type monsters; the moment one is defeated, its magic gem will sometimes turn into a jewel. However, you get them from treasure chests in this world.

He didn't collect any material at all. Truthfully, he could have stripped them off before taking the magic gem if he didn't want to waste any, but he simply didn't have time. Besides, he didn't encounter a magic beast that would warrant him to do such. Though now that he thinks about it, he should have collected some materials from floor 21 on.

He detected mana from two of the great swords, and three of the daggers. They're probably enchanted with something. He put these enchanted weapons inside <Storage>. 50 of the bigger sized magic gems also get put away inside <Storage>. He also stored all the potions and jewels inside <Storage>.

All other things are going inside the <Box(Luuf)> Chaney lent him.

Thud, the <Box> swelled up the moment he dropped those items inside.

It stopped swelling up after a certain point.

With <Box>, you can tell whether there are stuff put in one by looking at this swelling.

Sorting out all these stuff took more time than he expected.

Lecan had a meal before heading back to the surface. In the end, he got to the <Ground Floor> without taking another meal along the way.

It's probably evening now. How many days have it been since he saw one. Looks like there's a lot of adventurers coming out of the dungeon at this hour. The people calling for materials to buy are noisy. The entrance section is deserted.

Lecan got out of the dungeon's exit. For now he's going to look for a diner somewhere and get something decent to eat.
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"H-hey you. A moment please."

A guard who was standing watch called out to Lecan.

"Sorry, but uh, could you come over here."

Since he can't really go against the guard, he follows after him.

Merchants who are looking to buy materials are flooding to other adventurers but none dares to approach Lecan when they see him getting taken away by the guard.

They soon arrived at the destination. Looks to be a guard station. It's quite a big building.

The inside is very lively. Looks like they're doing transactions of dungeon materials here as well. However, most doing the selling are young adventurers.

"Oy. That black demon king from the other day has come out. Where's captain?"

"I'll go fetch him!"

Before long, a man who's got quite a large build for a human of this world comes out.

"Oh, so you're the guy! Man, you're pretty big. I can feel tremendous strength emanating from you. That sword on your waist and your coat are quite something as well eh."

"Just spit it out if you've got business with me. I'm starving here."

"Ah, sorry 'bout that! Come inside for a bit. Oy, someone! Go buy some skewers."

"Yes sir, I shall go."

"Appreciated. Here's the money. Now then, black clothed adventurer-san, can you tell me your name."

"Lecan."

"OK then, Lecan. Come over here. I'll try to make it quick."







Previous Chapter

Chapter 245 Strongest Sage, Trains

 

◇

After some time has passed since they started training, when Ruli is running low on mana.
She looks at me and asks a question.

"What have you been doing, Mathi-kun? It kinda feels like some incredible mana is circulating around..."

"You can tell huh."

I stood up and replied to her.
I was doing my own training without using magic like the girls.

"This is meditation. I'm colliding mana inside my body to purposely put load on my magic circuit."
<TLN: Mistranslated as mana circuit in previous chapter.>

"Mana inside your body... Isn't that like what happens when you fail to control your mana?"

"Yeah. I'm intentionally making my mana run amok like when  you lose control of it... Though unlike natural Mana Frenzy, I'm making it happen uniformly in every part of my body, thus it's optimal for tempering magic circuit."

When you lose control of your mana, the remaining mana will run amok inside your body, damaging it. The phenomena is called Mana Frenzy.
Ruli surely never experienced Mana Frenzy that were too intense with her talents... but she must have had some light Mana Frenzies before.

Rather, it's impossible to use chantless magic without having your mana running amok once.
Everyone learns how to control mana after getting used to their mana going out of control.

By the way, Mana Frenzy cannot occur to a complete amateur as they're incapable of creating flows of mana intense enough to go out of control.
Mana Frenzy is like a mark of your ability to control your mana.

"Whole body Mana Frenzy... Wouldn't that be really painful?"

"Yeah. It's severe enough that the pain can't be compared to the real Mana Frenzy to those who aren't used to this technique... So I'd advise against doing this for you two. Worst case scenario, you could even damage your magic circuits."

Mana Frenzy is quite painful.
I mean, it's excess mana rampaging around into every nook and cranny of your body's magic circuit, of course it'd hurt.

There are some people who eventually pass out due to losing control of their mana from the pain and panic.
But it's very rare for anyone to even damage their magic circuit. I'm sure there's zero victim of that in the whole Second Academy.

It's because your body will automatically try to stop the Mana Frenzy as it begins during the early stage.
Since your mental condition isn't in a state capable of accelerating your mana during a panicked frenzy, it won't become bad enough to damage your magic circuit.
You've got to first have a calm and firm intention to control your mana, so it's only natural.

However, meditation is different.
Unlike Mana Frenzy, you clearly will the mana inside your body to collide with itself.

Hence, it's really painful.
Not just painful, if you make a mistake in the adjustment, your body's magic circuit may even get damaged.
As such, this meditation is only suited to those who have mastery of mana control and are used to pain.

Rather than training, this is maybe more like asceticism and penance.
Even I wouldn't have been able to endure it if I hadn't gotten used to pain in my past life.

"No err, not like we could even if we wanted to..."

Alma shot a mana-reinforced arrow at the dungeon's wall as she said that.
The mana put in that arrow had been reduced to 70% of the original.

"Me too, I'm already giving everything just to reduce mana consumption! ...But it really feels like it's decreasing slowly..."

Ruli ran out of magic stone along the way, so she's now augmenting multiple magic into one magic stone.
Of course, it's unusable as a magic tool... But a good practice for magic augmenting.

...Looks like Ruli has reduced her mana consumption to 60% of the original.
Although reducing to half takes time, these two have made a good progress.

On the other hand, Iris is...
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Au!"

Right as I turned my line of sight at her, she fell down the hole on the ground.

It seems like she's not doing too well like usual.
Well, I would have made her do this training a long time ago if it would net her a dramatic change in a short amount of time.

However... Her body carriage is considerably better than when she first started out.
The Iris right now should be able to hit 『Crash Grizzly』 once out of 20.

Before the training, that would have been impossible even after 100 tries.
This training may be comparatively fruitful.

"Alright, we should get back for the day."

Well, it's probably nighttime already outside.
It's important take a rest.

"Eeh! But it feels like I just managed to reduce my mana consumption! I've still got mana left!"

"I want to practice more myself!"

"Uh huh! And I finally don't fall down the hole as much!"

The three are still eager to continue their training, but once their mana quantity run low, the sensation of controlling your mana will change.
As these two still aren't used to controlling high-quality mana well yet, practicing when it's stable will net better result for them.

Though it's not like the side effect would be that bad even if they were to continue... But we need the most efficient way to get stronger if we want to have a chance surviving the battle against Grevil.
I won't let them train inefficiently on my watch.

"Taking the future into account, stopping now is best for efficiency's sake if we want to get stronger. Knowing when to rest is also a part of training."

I pushed the [Dungeon Elevator] button as I said that.
It should be coming in a little while.






Previous Chapter

8



Lecan went back to the stairway between floor 10 and floor 11.

Several adventurers were taking a break on the stairway here and there. At first he wondered what they were doing as he passed by them, but then he realized that he never saw a magic beast on the stairway. These stairways are probably safe zones.

He sat down on a spot without anyone around.

He has a jewel with the magic beast ward effect added on it in his <Storage>. He intends to eventually test out whether the jewel is effective in this world or not, but since he's badly starving right now, he just wants to get some rest on the stairway.

Lecan brought out food he stocked up inside <Storage> when he was strolling down Vouka Town. All of this food have long shelf lives. He took out water as well.

And started his meal.

Wonder just how long has he been in the dungeon.

In his former world, Lecan could oddly enough discern time to a degree even if he was in a dungeon. Since there were no day and night cycles nor changing seasons inside dungeons, it was completely just a hunch, but that hunch of his was pretty accurate.

Yet, since this is his first time inside a dungeon in this world, and he's being a bit too excited, Lecan is unable to grasp the passage of time at all. To begin with, a day in this world feels like it's a bit longer than a day in his original world. Therefore, his hunch isn't working too well.

Judging from the way his hunger feels, more than a whole day seems to have passed. But not two days whole. Sensation-wise, it should be over by half a day or slightly more but judging from the number of times he had to drink water to quench his thirst, it must be more than half a day.

He counts it as two days in his mind. It should only take half a day to go back to the surface from here if he doesn't engage any magic beast along the way. Since he has to be back at Vouka town in ten days, he's got three days left to delve the dungeon.

Lecan isn't looking forward to that.



9



Lecan does not know his parents' faces.

He doesn't even know whether he ever lived with them.

His memories during childhood are fuzzy and disorderly.

The only thing he remembers is the fright of being yelled at by adults and the pain of being kicked hard.

And that he was always starving.

Before long, he was put in a temple's orphanage.

Priestess and nuns who took care of orphaned kids were called <Loving Mothers> but they were very strict, snarly and did not have a shred of kindness.

The <Loving Mothers> taught him that all humans are beloved children of God, they're all equal before God.

However, there was no equality in the temple nor the orphanage. Feuds between people, hierarchies down to fine details, strained atmosphere, bullying and exploitations, and children being valuated as to whether they could be sold for a nice price or not.

Way later, Lecan found out that the orphanage was among quite the better ones, but at that time, he couldn't help but loathed it.

However when he thinks about it, the orphanage did give him a roof to live under, fed him, and even taught him reading and writing. It also taught him the harsh reality of this world. He was able to survive because of that, in that sense, they might have been truly <Loving Mothers>.

Once he had roughly learned how to write and read, he slipped out of the orphanage. And then he went on to almost starve to death. He miraculously made it out alive when he wandered inside a dungeon, and acquired a small amount of money. That was his first money.

The string of good luck continued and Lecan managed to not die. Then he grasped something akin to knacks about how to live off dungeons. Lecan continued to suffer abuses at the hands of men, but dungeons kept him alive.

Over the course of time, Lecan realized one thing. God's equality exists in dungeons. Dungeons are ruthless but never unjust. God probably created dungeons to make up for the lack of justice and impartiality in the world of men.

Just when was it. Lecan killed a rabbit that had oddly colored fur. Since he was starving, he barbecued and ate it inside the dungeon.

It was unbelievably good.

Later on, he found out that it was a rare type of magic beast, the meat was treated as a high class ingredient and sold for a shockingly high price.

He's not aware of any food better than that even now.

When Lecan eventually got strong enough, dungeons gave him everything.

Dungeons also laid out the foundation for Lecan to live in the outside world. The world of men was full of lies, betrayals and ill will like always, but dungeons had given Lecan the strength to smash all of that to smithereens.

Lecan continued to amass powers, he gained respects from big merchants and nobles alike. They would bow to Lecan, begging for his cooperations. If he participated in war as a mercenary, he was allowed to talk to high-ranking generals on equal grounds.

To Lecan, dungeons are the true <Loving Mothers>.

That's why, he couldn't help but be jubilant to see another world dungeon accepted him.

That day, Lecan saw an auspicious dream.


<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
10



Lecan grabbed the hand that was attempting to slide into his breast pocket.

He slowly opened his right eye and saw a thin man who was just skin and bones with a face fully covered in beard looking at Lecan's face from above with an expression of shock and terror mixed.

Other adventurers were together with their companions, but just this man alone was wandering aimlessly from spot to spot.

A part of Lecan that was awake grasped that fact. And when the man crept on Lecan and stealthily reached out his hand toward Lecan's chest, Lecan's defensive instinct kicked in and grabbed the man's wrist before he was fully awake.

Lecan saw a vision of what would happen afterward.

If he just puts more strength into his right hand that's holding the man's wrist, it will easily snap.

Lecan will then throw his backfist at the screaming man's face.

He won't put his full strength into the strike, but it'll be enough to smash the man's jaw. The man won't be able eat anymore. In other words, he won't survive.

Does this man have a potion. Most likely not.

The man will have to sell himself to obtain a potion.

He will work himself to death as a slave.

After imagining that far, Lecan was going to crush the man's wrist as he had visioned.

But he called it off.

Since he didn't want to bathe in the man's blood in his first night in another world's dungeon.

Lecan shut his right eye and released the man's wrist.

The man scampered away.

Lecan resumed to watch more pleasant dreams.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 244 Strongest Sage, Makes Practices

 

If you can maintain the strength of your mana with less mana, simply using magic like you always do will see its strength increased.
However, minimizing mana consumption is better suited for training than trying to increase firepower.

Since mana control is largely about familiarizing yourself with it, the more times you do it the better you are at it.

"I-I understand!"

"...How about you Mathi-kun, can you perfectly control your mana?"

"Well, I can use up to the limit of my current magic circuit. From there on is something to tackle on."

The previous me commanded mana whose quality far exceeded my current one.
As such, I've no problem with controlling it, familiarity-wise.

The training Ruli and Alma are doing to familiarize themselves with mana control is unnecessary for me.
...But magic circuit is another matter.
My body right now cannot completely control this mana.

The higher the mana quality you can use, the higher the load on your body's magic circuit.
To build a body capable of controlling my current mana, I need to temper the magic circuit inside it.

While the girls are training their mana control, I should do my round as well.

◇

"Eyy! ...I did it!"

"Me too!"

The two immediately got the knack.

They keep shooting magic and continue to decrease their mana consumption.
I can just leave them alone now, they'll get the hang of controlling mana sooner or later.

"What should I do while waiting...?"

Iris came and asked me while I was watching the two girls.

Iris cannot control her mana well indeed... But that's because she has her circumstances.

It's not like she can't do it. She was able to in the past.
However, her magic circuit was broken when she was caught in mana fusion reactor explosions.

Dragon's magic circuits aren't something easily repairable.
Her broken dragon's magic circuit hasn't been restored just because she's in her human form.

Therefore Iris can't be training to control her mana.
...Well in 20 years time, Ruli should be able to fix her magic circuit, and that much time is not particularly long to Iris.
She's got no choice but to abandon any hope of correct mana control until then.

That said, Iris has her own problem too.

"In your case Iris, training in mana control would be difficult since your magic circuit is broken. But you can train how you move your body, try practice swinging your spear around while leaping over that hole over and over."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
I pointed at a hole on the ground.
It's the sloppily constructed ceiling hole that I fell into.

It's 5 meter wide in diameter.
Iris and her leg strength should be capable of easily jumping over this much.

A chance to do these straightforward practices comes by surprisingly rare.
This is a good opportunity as any.

"I got it!"

Iris started to repeatedly leap over the hole.
Yep, this much is nothing for Iris.

But, the moment she swung her spear...

"Aa!"

Iris lost her footing and came crashing down the hole.
But since the Monster House had used up all its mana ealier, no monster appeared.

"T-this is difficult..."

Iris jumped out of the hole as she said that.
Then she resumed her training again.

"Au!"

Even though she fell many times over, she kept climbing out of the hole and continued her training.
Despite her looks, Iris is surprisingly assiduous.
...Though it may be because her sense of time is simply different since she's been alive for thousands of years.






Previous Chapter

7


The fourth floor was infested with Spider Monkeys (Rindou).

They weren't that big, but they formed groups of two and three.

Sometimes there were ever so slightly biggish Red Apes (Urd) mixed in as well.

The Red Apes on this floor carry wands with them, and shoot out fire magic. In Lecan's original world, magic beasts capable of using magic were very rare, and they were limited to magic beasts that possessed enormous amount of mana like dragons, as such, seeing apes using magic came as a huge shock to Lecan.

The fifth floor had giant bees as enemy. There were even less adventurers than ever on this floor. Adventurers who got stung by these bees got blue rash on their faces accompanied by spasms.

The sixth floor's enemy were long thin black snakes. These magic beasts are easy to kill, but since they're lurking in rock crevices inside dimly lit passages of cavern, detecting them is not a simple matter for adventurers with dull instinct. In addition, this snake's venom has no effect when it doesn't work, but when it does, that means instant death. Even Lecan felt slightly terrified by this. Though they're nothing to be afraid of for someone with Lecan's detection ability and nimbleness.

The seventh floor had White Revenants (Zaag). A great number of adventurers were present on this floor. Several adventurers will gang up on a slow-moving White Revenant .

If you think about it, you can just avoid floors with difficult enemies and go to ones that house easy to handle magic beasts instead, so of course it's only natural that there's a lot of adventures here. However, you cannot get magic gems from White Revenants. Wonder what they're fighting for.

The adventurers fighting on this floor have pretty weak offensive powers, they're taking quite a long time just to beat a mere Zaag.

Lecan killed five White Revenants (Zaags) and got two treasure chests spawned on him. Perhaps Zaags give out a higher chance of spawning treasure chests.

The eight floor was inhabited by incorporeal magic beasts. They probably belong to a type of magic beasts called <Youma>.

This Youma uses mental attacks through their cry, but it's utterly ineffective against Lecan. After several trials and errors, he found out that <Lamplight (Parm)> could kill it. When he saw a spell he learned could be used to kill his enemy, Lecan went on to decimate a huge number of this Youma in excitement.

He absorbed mana from the dropped magic gems.

The ninth floor's enemy was a type of wolves. They're bigger than Wood Wolves and have gray fur. Equipped with sharp fangs to boot, they're not a magic beast suited for beginners at all.

The tenth floor's enemy was Red Apes again. However, the Red Apes on this floor are much bigger than the ones on the first floor. And they carry clubs with them. There are also Red Apes that shoot out fire spell like the ones on the fourth floor mixed among them. On top of that, they're moving in a group of ten with fortified front and rear, they're also quite agile.

Adventurers who move in a group of two or three don't exist here on this floor. Most groups consist of five to eight people, some groups even exceed ten. The passages here may be far bigger than all the ones before them, but Lecan still wonders if a group of ten could even move properly in these passages, though maybe the Red Apes can.

The scenery suddenly changed when he got to floor 11.

Up until now, every floor was like a cave found in a rocky mountain, full of rugged rocks in every direction.

However, the ground on this floor has grass growing. The ceiling is pretty high as well, about ten steps high.

Pillars towering from the ground toward the ceilings are all over the place. These pillars are curved like old trees with holes on them.

The distances between each pillars are not set, some are five steps wide, some are twenty.

Through his <Life Detection>, Lecan perceives that there are magic beasts lurking on the ceiling, ground and the pillars here. However, Lecan has his attention directed at another spot.

Five adventurers are sitting around while having a meal in a slightly open space.

That reminds him, there's no shelters free of magic beasts in this dungeon. These adventurers are taking a break in a danger zone.

Carelessly approaching adventurers you're not acquainted with is supposed to be a bad thing, but he ended up doing it out of curiosity.

"Ooh, some real impressive one is coming here."

"Hey you, are you alone. Where's your companions."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Nowhere. I came here by myself from the start."

"What? Well I'll be. Can't believe someone soloed all those floors and got here."

That was when Lecan noticed small bags lying on the ground. Feels like a familiar scent is drifting from those bags.

"Are those, potpourris?"

"You betcha! By sheer luck, we managed to buy some high-class potpourris from Harrisbos Store at town of Vouka, ya see."

"The potpourris sold in that store are very effective and they last a year to boot."

"Don't go taking them off with ya now."

The adventurers laughed out.

Harrisbos Store.

That's one of the stores where they dropped off Shira's potpourris just the other day. Lecan doesn't recognize the potpourri bags put on the ground, some stylish looking patterns are sewn on them. Must have gotten repacked.

I see, if this is how these are used, it's no mystery they're sold out quick even at that price.

The potpourris have been placed on four points. This should keep magic beasts away and they can even get shut eyes now. Of course, these adventurers have <Box (Ruuf)> and only spread the scent around when they need it.

Lecan suddenly felt hunger.

"Sorry for the intrusion."

After apologizing to the adventurers, Lecan left the place.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 243 Strongest Sage, Teaches Magic Control

 

"So doing this increases your mana..."

"Well your magic control had been more than sufficient to begin with... This is like your bonus for overcoming many battles that were a good experience in term of battling, but netted you little experience point."

Ordinarily, using this method would result in them losing grips of their magic control after decimating just two Monster Houses.
Stuff that these two girls have done, like battling demons and going through intensive magic training, prevent that.

Magic training won't give exp, but it raises your level of magic control.
While fighting demons may be pretty good to garner experience in combat but the experience point gained itself is not that much.
We can use this trick to farm exp precisely because of that, their magic control did not match their small mana quantity.

"Alright, let's check your magic control."

"Yes!"

◇

"Let's stop here for now."

It's been a few hours since we started farming.
After decimating dozens of Monster Houses, I murmured that after checking Alma's magic control.

"My magic control isn't affected though?"

"It's only a bit, but your 『Wired Homing Enchant』 feels a bit different. You've still got room to increase your mana sure, but you'd get stronger if you stop now."

Then I bring them back toward the Dungeon Elevator.

In my previous life, some folks would raise their mana until they could barely control it, but doing that would stunt growth instead.
There's a huge difference between being able to somehow control your mana, to completely mastering it.

...Well, letting them experience these kinds of things themselves would be best.
We can practice right here and now since the farming this time ended without the girls using their mana.

This floor is optimal for training since there's no enemy here.

"Alright, we'll now train how to master your newly added mana."

"Master... Mana?"

"We can use our mana just fine now though..."

Ruli and Alma look confused.
Guess it's only natural since they've never gained so much exp in such a short amount of time before.

"How do you two feel when you're using magic now?"

"It's the same as before we farmed exp!"

"Me too, nothing's changed! ...But it feels like I've got a lot more mana I can use now!"

The girls looked satisfied as they declared that.
...Right now these two are barely able to use 30% of their potential mana though.

"You two can cast fireball spell right?"

"Un!"

"I haven't used it for awhile, but I don't think there's a problem!"

Fireball is the most basic of basic attack magic.
Even 『Monster House Annihilation』 was put together with fireball as the base.

Of course, casting fireball is utterly menial to these two.
Rather, there's probably no one in Second Academy who cannot cast fireball chantlessly.

"Then give it a try."

"Yes!"
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Gotcha!"

The two cast fireball.
Of course they managed to do it. They cast normal fireballs that flew toward the wall normally.

"Then try to cast the same spell again but decrease the mana used by 10%. Of course, keep the power as is."

"...Won't the power of a spell decrease if you reduce the mana consumed?"

"Sure, if the mana quality stays the same... Farming exp increases both mana quantity and quality. If you use magic like how you've always been, you're wasting that mana quality."

It probably hasn't set in to the girls yet since they only saw me decimating monsters, but the mana quality of these two is of an incomparably different level than when they first stepped foot here.
They should even be able to cast ordinary fireball with half the mana consumed now.

...By the way, the one with the best mana quality amongst us is Iris... But in her current state, she cannot makes use of it when she can't even fire the Dragon Breath.
Since it's greatly influenced by the damage on her wings, the only thing we can do to fix this is waiting.

"Makes use of high quality mana... How do you do that?"

"Simply by constructing magic like usual while decreasing the mana consumed. The knack is to focus on spreading the mana thin."

Then I cast fireball with less mana than usual.
It's still a far cry from my previous life, but my mana quality has considerably gotten better as well.

"Wow! It's true, the spell only uses up little mana!"

"So this is what happens when you have high quality mana!"

The fireball I cast was roughly the same as the one the girls shot out, but it only used only around half of the mana.
These two would not miss this difference with their mana detection.

"This is how you do it. It's easy to reduce mana consumption at first, but by the time you get to 80% of the usual amount, it will get harder. You want to eventually reduce mana consumption by half, but let's not go straight to half and start slowly."






Previous Chapter

6



Lecan was satisfied.

It was truly a worthwhile give and take.

Lecan got exactly the info he wanted from the boy. And the boy obtained a red potion he really needed at that moment.

You could say that it was an awfully convenient encounter for both of them.

Still, what a long stairway. It's not just long. The width is quite something as well. You could probably line up 20 people neatly here.

In such a huge stairway, you could see people here and there. The number is smaller than the number of people going from the surface to the first floor, and vice versa, but it's still a lot.

As such, Lecan is unable to go fast. Even though he himself is eager to get down asap.

Lecan was shocked when he arrived at the Third Floor.

--There's more than 20 people who posses mana here.

The girl that was given potion earlier was also a mana possessor, but including her, he only saw three mana possessors on the First and Second Floors.

He didn't carefully search in every nook and corner, so he might have missed some, but the number shouldn't differ too much.

And yet, he detected more than 20 mana possessors all within the range of his first detection here on this floor. There must be some kind of reason for this.

Incidentally, <Life Detection> is telling Lecan that there's a magic beast in front of him. Yet only rugged rocks are reflected in his bare eye.

Lecan kicked away that rock.

The sensation felt was not that of a rock getting kicked.

The rock crumbled flabbily as it turned green and flowed down.

--Hou. An amorphous magic beast huh. And it's even capable of mimicry.

He drew his sword and hacked off at this bizarre enemy.

He did, but the wound instantly closed.

The flabby magic beast swelled out and attacked Lecan.

This time he cut the enemy horizontally in half and jumped backward.

However, the two split parts immediately stuck together into one again.

"Fumu."

Lecan greatly jumped back.

And then the magic beast flopped around for a while before disguising itself into a rock once again.

Lecan made the plan to see how other adventurers deal with this thing.

Just right as there are two adventurers fighting nearby. One of them possesses mana.

He progressed through the winding path and stopped at a spot where he could barely see them.

The two adventurers were both women.

One of them is an archer. However, she fought not with her bows and arrows, instead she threw a rock at the flabby magic beast, dodged its charge, and then threw another rock at it.

The other woman is a mana possessor. She's pointing a short sword in her right hand at the magic beast from afar while chanting some kind of spell.

"...'s Power, descend upon us, manifest into the flame of rage, destroy our enemy. <Fire Arrow (Bayeaerts)!>"

A fireball got produced and flew toward the magic beast. Upon its impact, it flared up like an explosion, burning the magic beast.

The archer woman waited for the fire to die down and then take the magic gem out. It doesn't seem to have cooled down enough, but the glove worn on her left hand is probably heat-resistant.

"Hoi yo. The fourth one. How's your mana doing?"

"I'm feeling pretty good today. I think I can still shoot two more."

"Alright. Let's take a rest after the next one."

"Un."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
After listening in this far, Lecan fell back and took another path.

Apparently, the weird magic beasts on this floor can't be killed with a sword, but fire magic is effective.

That reminds him, there's a lot of mages on this floor. Physical attacks probably don't work on this magic beast, but magic works well.

Lecan put away his sword and took a pair of gauntlet in its stead.

<Thunder Dragon Gauntlets>.

It's a keepsake of an adventurer who fought together with him in the past. Since the size fits Lecan's hands, he's been keeping them in his <Storage> after that adventurer passed away, and occasionally use them.

After he put the <Thunder Dragon Gauntlets> on, Lecan searched for the next enemy with <Life Detection>.

This one is also mimicking a rock.

Lecan suddenly unleashed a straight punch with his right fist at the enemy.

Electric sparks scattered everywhere with a loud sound, and the magic beast evaporated in an instant.

<Thunder Dragon Gauntlets> have thunder dragon's bones fitted inside, striking with them while pouring mana into them will produce electric shocks. These types of armaments usually consume magic gems whenever used, but <Thunder Dragon Gauntlets> are extraordinary in that they get activated only by consuming the user's mana, and the strength of the electric shock can even change depending on the amount of mana poured.

Lecan grinned.

He got caught in the moment and ran around striking and killing many of these amorphous magic beats.

Small magic gems were left behind, but Lecan paid them no mind. He opened treasure chests whenever they popped up.

He killed a huge number of the magic beasts in a short amount of time, but he got tired of it thus he went down a floor.

He got one blue potion and one wand from treasure chests.

A long and thin treasure chest spawned when it was the wand's. It seems like the shape of these treasure chests change depending on the content.

Right before he got down the stairs, he bowed at the magic beasts he had killed, just like he did on all the floors before.

At that time, he caught a glimpse of the hooded mage's figure.

The face that was hiding under the hood was surprisingly aged.








Previous Chapter

Chapter 242 Strongest Sages, Goes Hunting

 

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

"GIIIIIIYYYIIIII"

The monsters that were getting roasted in the flame attempted to flee but there was nowhere to run.
As such these monsters will all eventually drop dead, and the mana released from them shall accumulate in us as experience point.

"T-that's kinda amazing..."

"First time I've ever seen monsters getting slowly roasted to death..."

"This is made possible thanks to the narrow exit and exclusive magic."

Though in this case there was no door to close, I just tossed the magic into a closed room through a hole in the ceiling.

"Exclusive magic... With how powerful the magic is, it must be quite complicated right?"

"Actually, it's really simple... And besides, you can take your time constructing it, wouldn't be hard then... Though, might as well use the time to learn other magic than something like this, let me do all the work. You can help out if the door gets broken down and the monsters are getting out."

Just letting loose firepower in a wide range needs not complex magic.
On the contrary, compacting firepower in a localized spot, and unleashing it in a short amount of time would require more mana instead.

The most time intensive part of this magic is the Constant value of simply pouring the required amount of mana into the spell formation.
Ordinarily, you'd make the formation so that mana can be poured shortly, but this magic sacrifices even that in pursuit of more performance.
It's a true exclusive magic.

"Alright, looks like it's over."

The flame died down while we were talking about magic.

Looks like all the enemy there has been nicely eliminated.
I get down to the artificial Monster House that's full of monster bones and put usable looking materials in Storage magic.

I plan to sell them at the guild later.
If we don't sell a number of materials after hunting in a dungeon, some people may start suspecting us.
Better bring back enough materials that makes us look like [We've hunted some].

Besides, dungeon materials are a resource to develop the country.
Second Academy students should be capable of processing these materials from Floor 27.

"There's so many mats everywhere..."

"Yeah. There's also the Floor Boss, and this and that too can probably be used in some ways... Guess I'd just bring them all back."

My mana is going to get used up for the exclusive magic anyway, might as well make use of Storage magic to the fullest.
We'll think about how to use them later and get everything here.

We can use those that can be used and sell that cannot.
If selling through normal channels looks to be bothersome, we can just send them to Second Academy through the principal.

After I'm done collecting the materials, I turn to Ruli.
This part is the most important point of this leveling up.

"Ruli, try augmenting this magic stone with 『Magic Light』 magic circle."

I hand over a very tiny magic stone to Ruli.

"『Magic Light』? ...Sure, but what are you gonna use it for?"

Ruli augments the magic stone with 『Magic Light』 with a perplexed look on her face.

『Magic Light』 is the most basic of all augment magic.
Its only usage is lighting up the surroundings.
It's not particularly efficient nor of any particular use.

Since the augmenting is simple, Ruli was done in a flash.

"Alright, so far so good."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
I turned on the magic light Ruli created.

"Um, yeah, I don't think I could fail at 『Magic Light』 though..."

"If your mana increased too much from exp farming, your magic control will start to go haywire. Easiest way to discern magic control's level is by looking at a completed magic tool. That's why I asked you to make one."

I observed the lines of magic circle carved in the magic stone while talking.
Yup. Nicely shaped lines that are neither too thick nor uneven.

"So that's how you measure the exp you gained..."

"Yeah. There are also other ways to directly find it out, but this one is quick and consumes little mana."

I took out a wooden stick from Storage magic while talking.

"Alma, shoot an arrow with 『Wired Homing Enchant』 at the tip of this stick."

"Gotcha!"

As Alma shot the arrow, I swung the stick.
Alma's arrow flew in accordance to the stick's movement toward the tip.

...Alright. No problem with Alma either.

As for Iris, this much exp would barely have any difference to her, so there's no need to check her up.
I myself know the state of my own magic control, no worries there.

Looking at this, the first one to reaches their limit is most likely Alma.
Since Ruli is better at magic control than Alma, the amount of mana she can control is probably higher.

"No problem with you two. Let's do this again after annihilating another Monster House... The ground has holes on them, be careful not to fall in one."

I kneaded mana near a door nearby to construct the Monster House Annihilation Flame magic.
Then I opened the door, hurled the magic inside and closed it again.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAA"

"GIIIYYIIIIIIII"

The monsters' screams of agony resounded inside.
I was planning to enlist the girls' help if the door got broken down... But this door has been properly reinforced.

Looks like those guys understood the importance of the doors attached on Monster Houses despite their sloppy works on the ceilings.
The door is nicely reinforced with dungeon-use alloy.
No need to worry about it getting broken down then.

"Man, this is easy peasy."

In my previous life, I never had the need to go to community farming spots like this one since I could get the exp I required just by hunting normally.
I created this Monster House Annihilation Magic to destroy Monster Houses in other locations.

Guess community farming spots have their own specific allures to communities.
No one is gonna come to this spot in this era though.






Previous Chapter

5



Lecan got down to the second floor.

It's another huge maze of rugged rocks, dimly lit.

Wonder if the dungeons in this world are all dimly lit mazes of rocks like this one.

In his original world, a dungeon could be a meadow, a forest, or a mountain depending on the floor. There were bright and dark floors as well. Of course there's no rule that states it has to apply to this world's dungeons as well. This kind of fresh experience regarding dungeons is interesting in itself.

That's fine and all but since the paths are narrow, it's hard not to bump into other adventurers here.

Lecan tries to take detours as much as possible but if it looks like it'll be too roundabout, he'll just run pass other adventurers. If there's no space to slip pass them, he will talk to and ask them to step aside for a bit.

This floor's magic beasts are Wood Wolves (Toruje).

They're magic beasts kept in Vouka Town to act as guard dogs. Since they're not that aggressive, Lecan doesn't attempt to strike them down unless they go at him first or get too close to him.

He ran into five Wolves that he had to kill. With the third one, its body suddenly disappeared, leaving a small odd box behind.

Lecan opened the box and found a light red colored small round thing inside.

He took it out.

It's only about as big as the length from the tip of Lecan's index finger to the second joint or so.

It's not hard. Neither is it soft. Pushing it with fingers deforms it, but loosening the grip turns its shape back. It's similar to some kind of egg he saw somewhere a long time ago. But it's swelling more than the egg in his memories. It's probably gonna break if he pushes hard. There's some kind of liquid inside it.

Lecan put it in <Storage> while wondering what it even is.

As Lecan ran toward the stairway leading down, he heard a scream ahead.

"Anyone! Please help!"

It was the voice of a man young enough to be a boy, Lecan grasped the situation after seeing the scene ahead.

A girl has passed out due to a wound she suffered. One boy is standing with a short sword in hand as if trying to protect that girl. A Wood Wolf growled in front of the boy before stooping down. A stance taken before leaping forward.

It's one big Wood Wolf. It size is more than twice of all Toruje he has ever seen.

That big Wood Wolf leaped toward the boy.

Right at the time, Lecan who had fathomed the situation made a single slash with his sword, splitting the huge wood wolf in two. The Wood Wolf disappeared, leaving a treasure chest behind.

The rushing Lecan made a u-turn toward the chest.

Opening it, he found one sheathed dagger inside.

The chest disappeared when he took the dagger out.

"T-thank you very much."

The boy gave his thanks.

Some magic beast seems to have grazed the boy's cheek, tearing two streaks of wound where blood is dripping out.

Lecan wasn't really trying to save this boy when he beat the Wood Wolf, but it's much better than being told of stealing someone's prey.

Lecan put the dagger in <Storage>. But since the boy was standing in front of him, he did so by slightly opening the left collar of his overcoat and putting it inside through the opening. Now the boy should believe that either there is a <Box (Ruuf)> inside his overcoat, or that the overcoat itself functions as a <Box (Ruuf)>.

Lecan suddenly recalled the weird light red round thing he got from a treasure chest earlier, and took it out before the boy.

"Oy."
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"Y-yes."

"What is this."

"Eh?"

"I'm asking you, what is this."

"T-that's a red potion. It's a small red potion."

"What is this for."

"Eh? You use it heal wound."

"Fumu. What other potions are there."

"Eh? Um err, there's three kinds of red potions, which are large, medium and small. It's more effective the bigger it is. Blue potions are potions that recover mana. This is also divided into large, medium and small kinds. There's also yellow potions. This potion apparently dispel abnormal status. And then there's green potions which are antidotes. These four are the potions that are being sold commonly at stores, but I have heard that there are other potions with unusual colors which have special effects found in dungeons."

"Do you have this."

"Eh? No, no way. We could only buy normal medicines at most. If we got a red potion as a drop, we would sell it."

"I see. Then use this."

Lecan tossed the red potion at the boy.

The boy reflexively caught it, but then he panicked.

"N-No! I can't, use such a thing."

"Not you. That woman."

The boy looked at the girl lying motionlessly on the ground.

The wolf's claw must have grazed her. There's three streaks of wound on her chest, with blood seeping out. Another three wound streaks can also be found on her pretty face.

"I-I understand. Allow me to use it."

The boy put on a face like he had made his resolve on something. Then he pushes the red potion onto the girl's mouth, but the girl doesn't seem like she'd even open her mouth.

The boy put the red potion in his mouth, and bites on it. Then he pushes his mouth against the girl's.

The girl's throat moved, gulping down the liquid.

The effect was dramatic.

The wound on her cheek disappeared. And the one on her chest gradually got restored.

--Hou. Even low ranked potions are this effective huh.

The boy seemed to be overcome with emotions, he hugged the girl while trembling.

"So you drink these potions huh."

"Eh? Oh no, if the wound is at one spot, sprinkling the potion over the wound directly is even more effective. But..."

"Got it. That's enough."

"U-umm."

"Hm?"

"What would be the compensation for the potion. What would you like me to do."

The wound on the boy with a resolute face has closed as well.

"I've got it already."

Lecan left the place after saying that.







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