The after the Demon King army general was defeated was a slow one.
Especially when compared to the two days prior; both of them being filled to the brim with action.
Though it is good to have breaks, I can't help but feel jittery. Ready for more combat. And with how valuable fighting has been, my level skyrocketing from 7 to 20 in just two days, I didn't want a break.
I was making my way to the Guild after being called there, likely to receive a reward for defeating the general, on behalf of my party.
The stench of alcohol was noticeable before I even reached the doors.
I opened the doors to find adventurers celebrating. Lots of them. Possibly all of them from the town.
"You're here, Kazuma!" Aqua called to me, incredibly drunk, "Go and collect your bounty already! Everyone already has! Though I spent a lot of mine on drinks already," she admitted with a smile.
I strode towards the front desk, dodging drunk adventurers as I went.
Darkness and Megumin were already there, and turned to me as I approached.
"You're here, Kazuma! Quick, collect your reward," Darkness said.
"I waited really long for you Kazuma. Listen to me, Darkness is being really petty, saying it's too early for me to be drinking," Megumin claimed.
"Wait! It has nothing to do with being petty, that's not what I meant!" Darkness said, defending herself.
"Well," I began "if you want to drink; I won't stop you," Megumin smiled at this, "but know that drinking alcohol before you're 18 severely limits your mental development," I said.
I leant down close and spoke to Megumin quietly, "And between you and me, Aqua does drink a lot,"
She looked startled at this, so before she could question me, I approached the counter, Luna smiling from behind it.
"Ah Kazuma-san!" she began happily, "Here to collect your reward?"
"That I am, Luna. What do I get?"
"Then it's my pleasure to announce;" she began, her voice now loud enough for the whole Guild to hear, "that due to Kazuma-san's party, the Demon King army general was single-handedly defeated, with no casualties! The Guild recognises your achievement, and rewards you with the bounty prize of 300 million Eris!(~3mil USD)" she said as she presented me with a cheque.
I let out a low whistle.
"Well done Kazuma-san!" an adventurer cheered, "You saved us all!"
Many other adventurers chimed in their own support.
Well, before they get any bright ideas about me paying for them, "Alright everyone! A round of drinks, on me!"
If they weren't cheering before, they were now.
I turned back to Luna, "Thank you very much," I said once the crowd quietened, taking the cheque.
A cheque was great. It meant I didn't have to worry in the slightest of it being stolen, as now pretty much everyone knew who I was, and the only one who could cash it out, was sitting in front of me.
"No Kazuma-san," Luna said, award winning smile on her face, "Thank you,"
With those words spoken, she grabbed my collar and pulled me down into a short kiss.
The crowd cheered again, amusement now a part of the mix.
"Consider that my personal reward for you," Luna said after contact was broken.
I laughed. I couldn't help it.
Of all the things that could have happened, I can't say I expected that.
A couple of days had passed. Days I spent simply enjoying myself.
Well, that's not entirely true. I had put some work in too. Deciding what to do with my new fortune.
I had upgraded significantly, getting new armour, a high-quality bow, and new, enchanted sword, specifically, a katana.
The enchantments were straight outta Minecraft; Unbreaking and Sharpness.
Though it wasn't unbreakable, just significantly more durable. Like, it'd make lead nearly as strong as steel.
Those purchases had me out of 10 mil, so I still had a vast fortune.
I also found myself with a shitload of Skill Points. My increase in levels giving me another 26 of them to work with.
I invested in a few things.
I got 'Snipe', a bow skill where accuracy was determined by luck, essentially automatically making me on par with an Olympian in terms of skill.
From an Assassin, a class one step above thief, I had learnt 'Concealment', a skill that hid you not only from a target's awareness, but also their senses. This skill also benefits from a lot of the upgrades I put into 'Hide', which is excellent. I also learnt 'Back-stab', which, as you would think, increases your damage when attacking from behind. This also stacked with 'Sneak Attack', so I could dish out stupid amounts of damage when I'm hidden. The third skill was 'Dash', a skill that let me travel 5 metres in milliseconds. Very useful for losing pursuers or getting behind an enemy, though with the drawback of being hard to control.
For my sword, I learnt 'Advanced Swordsmanship', and 'Iaido', and 'First Strike'. The first being an upgrade to my ability to use any sword, while 'Iaido', the art of rapid sword drawing, was a skill specific to the katana, and increased the damage substantially. Iaido is a martial art from Earth. It involved smoothly and swiftly drawing one's sword, striking an opponent, cleaning the blood from it, and finally resheathing the blade.
And 'First Strike'. Once I saw it, I knew I needed it. 'Double the damage of your first strike in an engagement'. This, combined with 'Iaido', 'Sneak Attack', and 'Back-stab' meant that I'd probably be able to one-shot enemies that are much, much stronger than I am.
It was perfect to power-level.
With magic, the most important was; 'Elemental Manipulation'. A High tier spell, costing a massive 10 points, that allowed me to control the major elements independent of my body. All of the intermediate spells had been really simple attacks with the elements, like 'Fireball', spells that with my new skill, I could easily recreate.
I had spent the last couple of days seeing what new combinations became available. I could quickly generate, and shoot spikes of ice with pressurised bursts of wind, and make the afore mentioned fireballs. But my pride sat in something else.
A frag grenade.
Not a real one obviously, as I couldn't yet make explosives, but one that was still significantly powerful.
With my new-found manipulation, I could meld the dirt and sand I created together into a stone. A stone I could shape into a sharp, needle-esque shape. I combined a large amount of the stone needles with ice into a ball, which I filled with very high-pressure, highly combustible air and some liquor. I would shove a small twig in there with the stone needles, light it, then throw.
The resulting detonation, which I added to from a distance, was powerful enough to shoot the stone needles 5 centimetres (2 inches) into solid wood, in every direction.
It took me a full minute to make one, unfortunately, so I'd have to prepare them before entering combat.
But I was still damn please with myself about them.
I had also developed a liking for water and ice attacks. Unfortunately, I couldn't generate ice from a distance, but so long as I touch the water, I could move and expand the ice wherever I saw fit. My favourite attack was to have water come up from the floor in a tendril, continuously accelerating as it approached me from behind. It would pass just close enough to my hand to come into contact, where I would freeze the tip into a sharp point, and launch it into my target, at a speed I estimated approached 20 metres per second (72kmph or 45mph).
It was deadly. And also looked incredibly badass, which was great, in my own, incredibly unbiased opinion.
I had also learnt some 'Illusion' class spells. Things like 'Muffle', to make my footfalls silent, were very important in my eyes.
I was becoming powerful, and quickly.
But now, I wasn't sure where to go next.
I was contemplating staging the death of that Kyouya dirtbag, but it was too much a risk of being found out, before Aqua came to me with a request.
She wanted to take a quest, because she'd already managed to use up all her spending money, and wanted to earn more.
A quest, she had decided, was the best choice.
The first snow had fallen yesterday, and she came to me with a quest to hunt snow sprites.
Weak little monsters that yielded 100,000 Eris per confirmed kill.
It was said that each death brings spring a half day earlier, and is widely believed, which is the reasoning behind the high Bounty.
I was not, however, informed of the Shogun Warrior that spawns to seek vengeance on his fallen brethren.
"Where is your armour?" I asked, incredulous.
"It's still being repaired after fighting the general," Darkness answered.
"And after having it destroyed twice, you didn't think it was a smart idea to maybe, I don't know, buy a spare?"
"Don't worry, it's fine, the snow sprites won't attack us. It is a bit cold, but this is like a cold endurance contest and feels nice,"
"Oh my fucking god. And what's with all the bottles Aqua?" I asked as I turned away from the masochist.
Maybe the hot-headed perv was just hot-blooded in general.
"I'm gonna catch some! Then I can put 'em in a box to use like a fridge!" she said, seemingly pleased with her idea.
And it was a good one.
"Smart," I complemented, to which she preened, "Think I can have some?"
"'Course! We're in this together, so it's fine to share our stuff,"
Nice. Her attitude towards me is going well. And even if she hadn't given one to me, I would've just stolen it.
We arrived in a small field where the sprite presence was much more concentrated and began hunting them.
I cast a wide area 'Fury'; an illusion spell that makes creatures attack a target without fear for themselves.
I set the target as myself, and let the little snowball-like enemies charge at me, before swing my sword lazily back and forth, killing a couple dozen is just a second.
We worked quickly, killing many in just a few minutes. And by 'we' I mean; Megumin and I. Darkness maybe got three that she hit by mistake, and though Aqua caught nearly a dozen with an insect net, but it wasn't comparable to the near fifty Megumin and I had collectively.
And then it appeared.
A samurai in frozen white armour stood before us.
It was powerful, I could tell just looking at it.
"This is why people don't take quests in the winter! The Winter Shogun shows up if to many snow sprites die!" Aqua whispered to me.
"Can we kill it?" I asked her, returning my sword to my sheath to 'end' the previous engagement and get 'First Strike' back.
"W-what? No! Nobody's ever killed it!" she replied in a panic.
Hmm.
With some of my skill points, I had gotten an upgrade for 'Detect Enemy' in where I would have an estimate of how strong the enemy was, and with it I could see that even all four of us attacking it as we normally fight, we wouldn't stand a chance.
But how we normally fight isn't how we fight bosses.
We've got a few extra cards up our sleeves.
"We're fighting," I told my companions, which received determined nods.
"Darkness! Megumin! Distract it!" I called.
Megumin hit the Shogun right in the face with a 'Detonate' as Darkness rushed at it, sword ready.
"Aqua! Buff me!"
"R-right!"
Her magic washed over me, dramatically increasing my physical abilities.
I quickly cast and activated as many spells and skills as I had available that would hide me.
I made a 'Dash' to get behind the Shogun as it made its first move.
It swung its katana, at Darkness' great sword.
The sword that had easily withstood the blows of the Demon general shattered immediately.
I took this opportunity to strike, stacking as many of my buffs and skills as I could to increase the damage.
'Back-stab', 'Sneak Attack', 'Iaido' and 'First Strike' all came together for a single devastating blow.
I had aimed for its extended sword arm, and my blade connected with the centre of its bicep.
My sword nearly stopped in its tracks as soon as it made contact with the creature's armour, but I kept pushing. I put everything into the blow, and it cut in, carving through but being stopped once more on the other side of its armour, leaving my arms in tremendous pain.
I pushed more, but my weapon cracked, and broke, leaving me with just the hilt.
Though my weapon didn't make it, my attack was a success. The Shogun's arm fell, no part of the armour keeping his severed limb connected.
Fuck me, that sword was brand new too. At least I managed to 'disarm' him.
Ha.
The Shogun whipped around to face me faster than I thought possible, and went to cut me down using an arm that was no longer there.
I used its confusion to 'Dash' to Darkness, who had backpedalled once her weapon was destroyed, and pushed her down onto her back.
"Megumin! Explosion! Now!" I screamed.
"B-but-" she stuttered. We were much too close to it for her to use her 'Explosion' safely, only about 15 metres for the Shogun, and I knew it. I just had to hope I could keep us safe with my magic.
"DO IT!"
"Come forth in your destructive glory," she chanted, "Show thy power in smoke and flame! Rend this world, 'Explosion'!"
As always, the flash came first. Weaker than what I had seen her capable of, likely because of the shorter chant time.
I pushed on my mana as hard as I was physically capable, bending the world around us to my will.
The snow and earth stirred, shaping into a wave pointing our way, and compacting together until it became a brown stained wall of ice. The air gathered and hardened, making a layer of condensed air to act as a shield from the shockwave.
And it did, to some degree. Even with everything I put into it, the shockwave broke through and struck me, slamming my organs like I was being kicked full force from the inside.
With the shockwave passed, I focused on the fire, pushing it, bending it, turning it, anywhere but towards us.
The incredible power of Megumin's spell finished quickly, if not nearly as quickly as it had appeared.
I let it all go, and collapsed to my knees with an incredible exhaustion.
Fuck.
I had completely used up my mana before I had even started working on the fire.
And my body was deciding to remind me of how it felt to use my life source as a fuel for magic.
I fell further to my hands, another flair of agony shooting through my arms, and vomited, staining the snow with the newly made crimson content of my stomach.
"K-kazuma!" Darkness yelled as she got up from the snow, fear and concern controlling her voice.
"Aqua! You need to help Kazuma!"
Her voice was distorted, like listening from underwater.
Fuck me, everything hurt so much.
Even though it felt like my eyes were open, things were still going dark.
And then it was all gone.
My head cleared, my arms were fine, things were in focus, and my hearing;
"Ah! Kazuma-san,"
Was perfectly fine.
I sat on a non-descript wooden chair.
It was actually really odd. Even looking straight at it, I couldn't discern any defining features about it other than that it was wood, and it was a chair.
Anyway, this wasn't my first rodeo, I recognised the infinite black void and indescribably wooden chair.
I was back in the afterlife.
And the voice was;
"Eris-sama. Hello again,"
She looked a lot more regal than when I saw her as Chris.
She wore a loose white dress with a deep blue overcoat. The strange horizontal lock of hair remained, mocking gravity with its very existence.
Wait, why are her tits bigger?
She hummed to herself, disappointed.
"I had hoped Kazuma-san had forgotten who I was. How did you discover me anyway?" she asked, mock-annoyed.
Are they padded?
"A few ways," I began, "But first of all, what's with…" I trailed off, making a cupping motion over my chest.
Her face lit up like a traffic light, almost instantly taking on a bright red colouration as she spluttered, attempting to provide a reasonable explanation.
I snickered, then laughed fully as she spoke, it being 90% 'um's and 'er's.
"Relax," I said, trying to control myself, "You don't need to answer that,"
She finally removed her eyes from the floor and gave me a thankful look.
"And just so you know… I do prefer my women on the smaller side," I said, finishing with a wink.
"H-huh?! W-w-what a-are you s-saying?!"
I laughed, hard, nearly falling off my chair.
She was just too cute.
"I'm sorry," I wheezed, "it's just…" I trailed off, trying to control myself, "Your reaction is just so…" another snicker, "adorable,"
She glared at me, though most of the heat she probably wanted to put into it was still stuck on her face.
"Anyway, I figured out who you were with three things. Major one was; I already knew what a Divine Aura felt like," a look of realisation went across her face, "Second was your name. Chris is a Western name, but there is no 'Western' in that world. Plus, you didn't change it an awful lot from your real name. Finally; your face is literally on every coin in the world,"
"Oh, er, right," she said.
"Back to the real topic," I began, turning serious, "I'm dead again,"
"Huh? Er, yes, right," she cleared her throat, "Kazuma-san, unfortunately, you have died once more. You have two options now; go to Heaven, or be reincarnated in either this world, our your own. Unfortunately, you will not be able to return to the world you were once in-"
"What about a resurrection?" I asked, cutting her off.
"Um, well, because your body has already died, and is from a different world, the mana cost to resurrect you would be unfathomably high. Even the greatest magician in the world wouldn't have enough to resurrect you,"
Literally a moment after she finished speaking, another voice began.
"Kazuma-san! You need to come back! It's too early for you to die!"
It was Aqua. Her voice urgent and scared. She had been crying, it sounded like.
Eris looked speechless.
"Think a goddess could do it?"
"A-Aqua-senpai? Is that you?"
"Eris?" Aqua asked, incredulous, "What are you doing there? Kazuma, don't listen to this woman! She pads her boobs to seduce people into her following!"
"W-what?"
"Don't worry Aqua, I'm aware,"
"I d-don't!"
"you can bring me back,"
A white door smoothly slid out from the within floor, and I stood and approached it.
"See you 'round, Chris-chan," I said with a smile as I grabbed the doorknob.
"G-goodbye, Kazuma-san," she replied, face still red, as it had never had time to return to its original colouration.
"Try not to up here again, okay?" she said with a bright smile.
"Will do," I finished, opening the door and stepping through into the white void that lay on the other side.
Fuck, I forgot how damn cold it was.
My head, however, was on a soft, elastic, and warm material.
Oh? A lap pillow? Nice.
I slowly opened my eyes from my prone position on the cold snow, to see two terrified faces, belonging to Darkness and Megumin, and a less concerned, slightly smug Aqua, all huddled close over my body.
"Kazuma!" they cried as they realised my newfound consciousness, dropping down onto me and holding me tightly, as I enjoyed the feeling of Aqua's creamy thighs supporting my head.
"I'm sorry Kazuma!" Megumin wept.
Right. She was the one to kill me.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she cried, her arms moving around my neck.
Well, this'll be excellent for guilt tripping.
I extracted my right arm from under Darkness and wrapped it around her slim shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
"It's alright," I whispered to her, "I'm fine; see?"
"I… I killed you," she said with disgust. Disgust aim solely at herself.
"You didn't. It's okay. It was me who told you to do it, and I'm fine now," I said in an attempt to comfort her, holding her tighter, "Everything's okay Megumin, it's alright,"
She quietened, whimpers and sobs turning slowly turning into sniffling.
"Thanks for the res Aqua, and fuck, remind me to never get on your bad side Megumin,"
Megumin giggled quietly.
There we are.
God, her bitching had been getting annoying.
I slowly pushed myself up to a sitting position, moving my right arm around the waist of Megumin, who was still firmly attached to my chest.
"So, what kinda bounty did that dude have? Musta been pretty big if he'd been stopping adventurers from taking quests every winter,"
Aqua nodded.
"He had a bounty of 200 million,"
Nice.
I'd probably levelled a good bit too.
I dug into my pocket to retrieve my Adventurer's Card.
Level 27
Nice, another 14 skill points.
With all the skills I had gotten, I had been back at zero, so it was nice to have some spare again.
I needed some recovery stuff. And boosts for my magic and defence. I wasn't particularly interested in a repeat of what just happened.
I went to stand, but a certain young woman was making it difficult.
"You gonna let go?"
At a headshake from her, and an eyeroll from me, I gestured at Aqua and Darkness with my arms, asking for a helping hand.
With their help, I got to my feet, Megumin still attached to my chest.
"At least go on my back you little gremlin!"
We strode into the Guild hall.
Megumin was on her feet again, thankfully, after having 'regained her strength', and there was 'nothing else, okay?!'
I walked to the front desk, where Luna was working with my party in tow.
She looked up as we approached.
"Afternoon. I'd like to turn in our quest, and another bounty,"
Her eyes widened, "Another one? For what?"
"The Winter Shogun,"
I lifter the severed arm of the Shogun for her to see.
Fortunately, the arm I had removed, along with the sword in its grasp, had survived Megumin's attack.
The rest of the body wasn't so lucky.
"You… I jus- How did… What?!"
"We killed the Winter Shogun. I believe there's a bounty out for it, yes?"
"Uh… Yes, there is. I'll have to verify the defeat of it from your adventurer cards," Luna said.
"Megumin?"
She presented her card to Luna, who began examining it.
"Um, Megumin-san has defeated 29 snow sprites, but she was not the one to land the killing blow on the Shogun,"
Really?
But who else would have-
Ah, right.
I did put a lot into keeping the fire away.
"Try mine," I said as I fished it out and handed it to her.
After a moment, she confirmed my suspicion.
"Y-yes, Kazuma-san is recognised as having defeated the Winter Shogun, as well as 23 snow sprites. I-I will begin writing the cheques for the bounty. If you two," she said, gesturing at Aqua and Darkness, "would present your cards, I will collect your quest rewards too,"
127,200,000 Eris, as the girls decided that dying netted me more than half the bounty. Not bad for a day's work.
And I wouldn't have to spend it all on getting a new sword either.
I looked at the Shogun's pale katana, attached to my hip with a simple strap.
It was longer than my previous weapon, nearly as long as my legs were, a bit over 75 centimetres (30 inches), yet slightly lighter than my last sword was.
I honestly liked it. The extra reach it gave me was excellent, and without becoming more unwieldy, thanks to its decreased weight.
It had no sheathe and glimmered softly in the filtered sunlight. And though it was coloured brightly, it gave a sense of darkness, of foreboding.
It was a blade that had taken countless lives.
And now it was mine.
Spoils of War for the win baby!
"I don't know why they let you tag along, dead-weight,"
The Guild hall went dead silent.
"Would you be kind as to repeat that?" I asked the man, tone dangerously dark.
"I can say it any number of times. You mentioned a luggage carrying quest? In a party full of high tier Jobs, can't you take on higher quest? You're the dead weight holding them back, aren't you?" he accused, his party mates laughing with him, while some of the wiser members of the guild attempted to warn him.
"Ahh… I see," I said with a voice of false realisation, "You're interested in witnessing the first-person perspective of an execution," I said as I stood.
"Here you go then,"
All that was heard among those in the guild was the gentle click of my sword full sheathing.
The only thing seen was the violent shivering of the man in front of me.
He swallowed once, and a stream of blood trickled down from his throat, originating from a hair-thin, 10-centimetre long, horizontal cut along his throat, just below his Adam's apple.
A single, perfectly precise strike, completed in milliseconds.
"Just so you know; that 'Carry Quest'? We're escorting a Royal Transport, carrying 200 million Eris. 200 million in bounty payments, for yours truly. 200 million, my party and I earnt after we single-handedly defeated the Winter Shogun," I carefully explained to the terrified man.
"Of my party, I have the highest wealth, I have the most versatile skill set, and I have the highest Level. If you think that I, or someone else in my party doesn't belong there," I leant in so we were only centimetres apart, "You can take that up with me,"
I leant back.
"Do you understand?"
A terrified nod.
"Good," I finished, finally releasing the hilt of my sword and retaking my seat.
I returned to my meal, and finished it, uninterrupted.
Another week in this strange fantasy world passed.
A few things happened aside from my normal training and experimentation.
First, I got bored of Shiro, so I broke it off with her, but still left myself the option of returning if I felt the desire to, and second, I met up with Chris again.
It was more of a social meet than anything, though I did learn a couple new thief skills too. She complained a bit about how she had been saddled with Aqua's duties, and I rented about how Luck was the most powerful stat.
She seemed very pleased with that, judging by the recent increase in my luck stat.
Eris-sama rewards her favourites, it seems.
But now, I wanted more money to spend. The escort mission wasn't for another while yet, so I was running low on funds that I could use freely.
"Let's go to a dungeon,"
"No thanks," replied Megumin immediately, attempting to escape.
I caught her sleeve, "And where do you think you're going?"
"No! I don't wanna go into a dungeon! I won't be able to use 'Explosion' and I'll barely get to use 'Detonate' either. The only thing I'd be able to do is carry luggage! Don't make me useless!"
I gave her a flat look.
"I believe your exact words were; 'I am willing to carry the luggage or anything when exploring dungeons! Please don't throw me away!'"
She looked startled at having her words returned to her.
"I do keep track of promises like that Megumin. You can't get out of this,"
At seeing her defeated face, I comforted her, "Don't worry, you only need to come to the entrance, I'll take it from there,"
"Huh? You sure you don't want me down there?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, I've got it covered,"
"Wait, you're going solo? How are you-"
"I've got it covered, don't worry. I got the 'Detect-' and 'Disarm Traps' skills, and all my stealth skills, so I'll be fine,"
The skills were dependant on both Luck and Agility.
My Luck was already god (ha) tier, and my Agility has increased pretty significantly from using 'Dash' frequently.
I wonder if it was even possible for Eris to fail a 'Stat Check' for anything? With probably as close to perfect luck as you could get, I couldn't imagine it.
I looked at Darkness, who was polishing her newly returned and repaired armour enthusiastically.
"Erm, please wait a while more. My great sword broke during the fight with the Winter Shogun. I've ordered a new sword, but it will take some time to finish. I can't be considered a combatant right now."
"You were never a real combatant, so that's not a problem,"
She choked, but I ignored her, instead turning back to Megumin.
"I'd like to head off in about an hour or so, so grab what you want to get ready please,"
An hour and twenty minutes later, the four of us were on our journey towards the dungeon.
Another hour from then, and we arrived.
A solidly built cabin lay on the side of the well beaten path, a hand painted sign next to the door read 'Refuge'.
Just behind the cabin lay an abyss.
A cave that hit a darkness so absolute, that nothing could been seen further than a metre within.
We had arrived at Keele's Dungeon.
It is said that a long time ago, there was a genius Arch Wizard named Keele who fell in love with the daughter of a noble clan.
The wizard who devoted his whole life to the mystic arts and had had no interest in love, fell for the woman with his first glance, during a stroll through the streets.
Of course, this love couldn't bear fruit.
After all, the difference in status decided many things in this world.
Including love.
The wizard who understood this well, worked even harder in his magic training and research in order to forget his aching heart.
As the years went by, he eventually became the most powerful magic user in the nation.
He didn't hold back in his gifts, bringing happiness to the country through his use of spells, and was praised by all.
And so, the wizard was invited into the King's castle, to a banquet that was held in his honour.
The King wanted to reward the wizard, and was willing to fulfil one wish of the wizard, without restriction.
The wizard said he had a wish that would never be fulfilled.
What the arch wizard Keele wished for, no one knew.
It's only known that after this, the Arch Wizard kidnapped the daughter of the noble clan, built an incredibly dangerous dungeon, and was never seen again.
The dungeon is quite simple, and well explored, though through its magic nature, it kept generating both monsters, and hidden wealth, attracting both beginner and experienced adventurers alike.
"Alright," I said as I turned to my party-mates, "I'm going alone from here. Shouldn't take me long, I'm just doing some reconnaissance, so I should be back in an hour or two,"
"Are you really going solo? It's preposterous to challenge a dungeon by yourself," Darkness argued.
I rolled my eyes, "You have no weapon, and your clanky armour would attract every monster in the dungeon. She," I pointed at Megumin, "can't attack in most circumstances without alerting every monster in a 3 click radius, and she," I shifted my finger to Aqua, "is a walking undead-magnet. I stand a much better chance going solo, thank-you-very-much,"
They begrudgingly agreed and I headed for the dungeon.
Before I entered, I used some 'Illusion' magic to give myself night-vision.
God damn 'Illusion' is the shit.
Why fight your enemies when you could trick them into fighting each other?
I stepped in. The previously infinite black of the cave now appearing as light as day.
I descended the stair that had been placed in the past by previous adventurers slowly and cautiously. It had been some time since it had previously been explored, and so new traps had almost surely been generated.
There! A ping going off in my head similar to 'Detect Enemy'. A tripwire, thin as spider silk lay just above the step after next.
I stepped over it, wary for follow-up traps. It's what I'd do, so I was cautious of the possibility. Lure someone into a false -sense of security by placing a much more obvious, though no less deadly trap, and following it immediately with a much more thoroughly hidden one.
I was pleased to find nothing. If I was to be going up against someone like myself, I'm none too certain I could win.
After a few more minutes traversing the stairs, I reached the bottom.
Oh. A decaying corpse.
Sucks to be you, I guess.
A hint of movement had my eyes snap back to it.
Is it becoming an undead, maybe?
It stirred more, so I stepped up, unsheathed my sword, and swiftly drove it through its head.
I resheathed my sword and began my exploration.
I made sure to explore every path as I went, not willing to leave something behind when enemies could be hidden within.
I came across some small monsters occasionally.
Green and humanoid, like goblins, but smaller.
Gremlins, if memory serves me correctly.
Very weak, and able to spawn in areas of even slightly above average magical concentration. They were very limited in intelligence, and were rarely found in groups larger than 3. No useful drops and provided a piddling of experience.
The very definition of a Trash Mob.
I dispatched them quickly, and moved on.
I was about 30 minutes into my exploration when I heard a great, deep rumbling.
From behind… and above?
The stairs?
Better to keep clear for a while then. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I continued for a while longer, before I came across a room with a chest sitting in the centre.
Very convenient.
Even if not for my 'Detect Enemy' skill, I wouldn't have trusted it.
Almost definitely a Mimic.
I grabbed a small rock from the floor and tossed it near the chest.
Immediately, the 'chest' moved. It opened, revealing rows of vicious teeth, and lunged at the rock I tossed, pulling it off the ground and into its mouth.
Called it.
I activated my stealth skills, including my 'Chameleon' illusion spell, to make myself essentially vanish from all forms of perception.
I crept behind the Mimic, which had returned to its original state, and attacked it.
With all the skills I had to increase the damage when I first attacked, I killed it instantaneously.
From the, admittedly oversized, cut I had made, out spilled some jewellery.
How had it survived? Even the rock that had just been consumed was nowhere to be seen, and yet these rings and necklace were perfectly intact after who knows how long?
Wait, maybe…
I picked them up, slowly placing one of the rings, a simple silver band, on my finger.
I felt a surge of heat from within.
Not painful, but present.
Going with my intuition, I called forth my magic and summoned a flame, and instead of a small, hand sized flame, I was met with an inferno.
They were enchanted.
I quickly off the ring.
Though it may be powerful, I didn't know exactly what effects any of these items had. Though they could be positive, it could also be incredible negative, and I wasn't willing to take a chance like that without having them appraised first.
I placed them in the coin-pouch I had at my waist and continued my exploration.
I was coming across a strangely large amount of undead. They seemed to wander in every room and hall now, and all heading in my direction. It concerned me, because they shouldn't normally be able to spawn in such quantities.
Something had to be causing it.
That's when I heard it. An awful, terrible sound.
"Kazuma-! Where are you-?" Aqua called.
From within the dungeon.
Stupid fucking whore had followed me.
Fucking undead magnet here is why there's so many of these stupid zombies.
I couldn't help the growl that escaped me when I reached my conclusion.
I slipped into 'Incognito' (what I was now calling all my sneak related spells and skills), and moved quickly towards her voice.
"Kazuma-!" she yelled again.
I dropped my skills, now standing behind her.
"Yes, I'm Kazuma," I answered.
She screamed in shock, jumping half a metre into the air.
"D-don't sneak up on me like that!" she demanded upon seeing me.
"Why are you here Aqua?"
"Um, well, I thought that, because I'm a goddess and all, I could help you out! But then near the bottom of the stairs, all these rocks started falling from the ceiling! I ran all the way to the bottom, but the rocks had closed off the path, so I couldn't get back out again!"
"You set off the trap, and got us both stuck in here,"
"Yeah! So then I decided that 'I might as well find you' so that you could get us out, and I could help you out!"
My gaze was steadily becoming darker.
"S-so it's really a win-win, right?"
"You're a fucking idiot,"
She looked a little startled at the harsh response.
"You know there was a reason I didn't want you down here, right?" I asked, voice rising, "It's because you fuck everything up!" I yelled at her.
Cool, nice and harsh, and there are the tears, perfect.
I pulled up a face of shock.
"No Aqua, I didn't mean that! I'm sorry Aqua..." I said with a regretful tone.
"No," she said, crying softly, "Your right. All I do is mess stuff up for you…"
"No Aqua," I said.
Alright, some contact support.
I stepped up to Aqua, moving my arms around her and holding her tight.
"You're not useless. You defeated the Dullahan just a week ago remember? You returned me from the dead just a couple days later. Don't listen to me… I was angry and… it wasn't right for me to take it out on you,"
I spent a few more minutes holding her before she responded.
"Thank you Kazuma. For everything,"
I squeezed her once more, before slowly letting her go.
"Anytime Aqua, anytime. Let's keep going,"
She nodded and grabbed on to my hand, following along behind me.
Just keep on building it. Not too long and she won't be able to live at all without being beside me.
"There's undead here," Aqua warned.
Hmm, I'd already killed everything.
"I've already taken them out. You say there's more?"
She nodded, "Yeah, definitely. Just past that wall,"
What could it be?
We rounded the corner, and there sat a simple bed, table and chair.
A not quite man sat on the bed.
It was a completely skeletal body.
"Morning," it, he said, "first time we met. I don't know what time it is outside, should I say 'good evening' instead?"
He paused, and then continued after a moment's reflection, "I am Keele, creator of this dungeon. I kidnapped the daughter of a noble; an evil wizard,"
He went into his backstory, but to be honest, I didn't really care, so I didn't listen.
I tried not to yawn as his story finished and he gestured at another skeleton that lay in the bed.
"And so, I have a request for that lady over there," Keele said, "Could you send me to the other world? This lady should have the power to do so,"
"Oh," I finally contributed, "Could you direct us out before she does? The front door kinda collapsed,"
"Of course," he said.
He waved his hand and the wall behind his split apart, revealing another set of stairs.
Nice.
I gestured to Aqua to continue, and she began casting.
"Aqua spoke to Keele a little about some random shit that I tuned out, and then finally cast.
"'Sacred turn undead'!"
"Nice, let's head back up,"
Aqua nodded, a bittersweet smile in place.
Seems that Aqua, a goddess, connected with an Undead.
How ironic.
Though I kinda expected something of actual interest to happen.
Eh, whatever, I got some magic jewellery, so I'm happy, and a bunch of that dead dude's wealth.
What a weird day.