Chapter 45
The Mithril Golem charged toward Felicia.
I immediately stepped between them and readied the Flamefang Sword.
"Over here!"
I brought the flame-wreathed blade down on its right arm.
CLANG!
I had poured more mana into it than before. Even so, the blade only scraped the silver-white surface slightly.
"Damn...!"
A powerful shock ran back through my arm.
The Mithril Golem turned toward me and swung its thick arm sideways.
It was fast.
I lowered my body, and its massive arm swept over my head.
"Magic Bullet!"
Three of Felicia's Magic Bullets flew in from behind and struck the same shoulder in succession.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The wounds were gradually adding up, but they were all shallow.
"I'll try again!"
"Yes!"
I closed in from the front.
This time, its left arm came crashing down.
I slipped to the side and slammed the Flamefang Sword into its knee.
CLANG!
As expected, it bounced off.
Almost its entire body was equally hard.
The moment I turned around, its silver-white fist was bearing down on me.
"!"
I was too slow to dodge.
I raised my left arm.
THUD!
"Gah!"
My body lifted off the ground, and I was sent flying several meters.
I slammed into the stone floor on my back.
"Allen-san!"
"I'm... okay."
The moment I tried to get up, a sharp pain shot through my side.
"Damn..."
I hadn't taken the fist head-on. The Black Steel Lizard light armor should have reduced the impact, too.
Even so, that was powerful.
Felicia fired Magic Bullets in rapid succession, keeping the Mithril Golem away from me.
I sat up.
I could keep fighting like this.
But there was no need to push myself.
I opened Membership.
【Full Recovery: 100P】
I used it without hesitation.
【Your injuries and fatigue have been fully restored】
【Balance: 35,165P】
The pain in my side disappeared.
The fatigue that had built up from fighting since morning vanished from my back and arms, too.
"Allen-san?"
"I'm fine. I've recovered."
"That's a relief..."
I stood up and readied the Flamefang Sword again.
My body was back to normal.
But that alone wouldn't be enough to win.
The Flamefang Sword could barely cut it, and even Felicia's compressed Magic Bullets only scraped its surface a little.
There had to be something.
Something that let a golem move.
I opened the Unique Skill Purchase menu.
One name in the list caught my eye.
【Mana Detection: 5,000P】
A Unique Skill that let me sense mana.
The Mithril Golem wasn't a living creature. And yet it was moving.
If mana was what powered it, maybe I could learn something.
"I'll buy it."
【You purchased Mana Detection】
【5,000P spent】
【Balance: 30,165P】
My senses shifted slightly.
The view before my eyes was the same, but I could sense the mana flowing from the Mithril Golem in front of me.
Mana spread thinly through its arms, legs, and torso, circulating throughout its body.
But one spot was clearly different.
Deep in its chest.
The mana was concentrated there far more strongly.
"Felicia-san!"
"Yes!"
"It's in its chest. Mana is concentrated deep inside!"
"If we destroy that?"
"It might stop moving!"
The problem was that its chest looked like the thickest part.
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia fired a compressed Magic Bullet at it.
THUD!
The surface of its chest was scraped slightly.
I slammed the Flamefang Sword into the same spot.
CLANG!
It left a mark.
But it couldn't reach deep into its chest.
"If only we had more firepower..."
I looked at the Flamefang Sword.
This sword used my mana to create flames.
When I fought the Sword Saint, I had increased its power by using Mana Control to gather the flames around the blade.
In that case, I just needed to increase my mana itself.
I opened Membership.
【Major Mana Boost: 1,000P】
I had over thirty thousand points.
I didn't have to buy it just once.
"I'll buy it five times."
【You purchased Major Mana Boost five times】
【5,000P spent】
【Mana +900】
【Balance: 25,165P】
The mana within me increased all at once.
My original base mana was 198.
Adding 900 to that made it 1,098.
Felicia and I were Sharing, so a tenth of it, 109, would be transferred to her. Even so, the mana left in me was on a whole different level from before.
"...Amazing."
I could tell for myself.
The amount of mana inside my body was completely different from what it had been just moments ago.
"Allen-san!"
I heard Felicia's voice.
"What is it?"
"My mana suddenly increased, too."
"It's because of Sharing."
Before, she'd received a tenth of my base mana of 198.
Now it was a tenth of 1,098.
The amount of mana transferred to Felicia had increased considerably, too.
Felicia tightened her grip on the Silverwood Staff.
"I can do more now."
A blue-white Magic Bullet appeared at the tip of her staff.
Not just one.
Two, then three... Five Magic Bullets floated around Felicia.
"You can make that many at once?"
"I can now!"
Along with the increased mana, she had Mana Control.
The Silverwood Staff also helped her channel mana quickly.
The Mithril Golem started running toward us.
"Felicia-san, aim for its chest!"
"Yes!"
She pointed her staff at it.
"Magic Bullet!"
Five blue-white lights shot out one after another.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
They all focused on the same spot on its chest.
Their power and speed were completely different from before.
The silver-white surface was scraped away, and the Mithril Golem tried to protect its chest with its arm.
"I can keep going!"
Magic Bullets floated around Felicia again.
This time, they were already tightly compressed.
"Magic Bullet!"
More slammed into its chest.
CRACK!
For the first time, I heard a different sound.
A crack had appeared in its chest.
"Allen-san!"
"I see it!"
I kicked off the ground.
The Mithril Golem swung its fist.
It was just as fast as before.
But I wasn't tired now, either.
I slipped to the side and poured mana into the Flamefang Sword.
WHOOSH!
"What...!"
Flames erupted with a force that surprised even me.
It was completely different from the Flamefang Sword's flames before.
I used Mana Control to compress the flames around the blade.
Not spread them out.
Make them thin, sharp, and close to the blade.
The center of the flames began to glow white.
I aimed for one spot.
The crack Felicia had made in its chest.
"Haaah!"
I thrust the Flamefang Sword in.
GRRRRIND!
There was strong resistance.
Even so, this time it didn't stop.
The blade slowly pushed farther in.
"It's in!"
"Keep going, Allen-san!"
I poured in even more mana.
The compressed white flames burrowed into the crack.
I used Mana Detection to search inside its chest.
I was almost at the place where I sensed the strongest mana.
I pushed the sword in farther.
THUNK!
The resistance changed.
The tip of the blade touched something hard.
"Here!"
I put all my strength into it.
CRACK!
Something broke.
At the same time, the mana circulating throughout the Mithril Golem's body became badly disrupted.
It raised its fist.
"Allen-san!"
I pulled out the Flamefang Sword and leaped backward.
But the fist never came down.
The Mithril Golem's arm stopped halfway.
Its silver-white body swayed.
THUD!
It dropped to one knee.
Light leaked from the crack in its chest, and its enormous body toppled forward.
RUMBLE!
The chamber shook.
We waited for a while.
It didn't move.
Just then, a display appeared.
【You acquired 8,000P】
【Balance: 33,165P】
【Total P Acquired: 85,375P】
"Eight thousand..."
Eight thousand P for one monster.
More than any monster we'd defeated before.
"Did we defeat it?"
"Yes. We did."
"We did it...!"
Felicia sank to the floor.
"I used up too much mana, as expected."
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. But even I was surprised by those Magic Bullets just now."
"I didn't expect the Flamefang Sword to change that much, either."
If my own mana increased, then Felicia's mana increased through Sharing, too.
And I had Mana Control, while Felicia had the Mana Control I granted her.
I felt like I understood a little more about how to use Sharing in this fight.
I approached the fallen Mithril Golem.
"I wonder if I can put this in Storage, too."
"If it fits, it should be worth a fortune."
"I'll try."
I touched its huge body.
The next moment, the Mithril Golem disappeared.
"It fit..."
"We'll have to apologize to the people at the dismantling station again."
"They might really get angry with me this time."
That's when it happened.
Rumble, rumble...
"What is that?"
I looked toward the far end of the chamber.
The stone wall was slowly moving to the left and right.
It was the same thing we'd seen on the tenth floor.
A small room appeared beyond the wall, with a large blue-white glowing stone in its center.
"It's a teleportation stone."
"So there was one on the twentieth floor after all."
We approached it together.
When I touched it first, the teleportation stone glowed brightly.
Felicia touched it right after me.
Now we could come directly to the twentieth floor next time.
When we reached the tenth floor, I never imagined we'd make it this far.
But now the path continued beyond the twentieth floor.
"Next is the twenty-first floor."
Felicia looked at the stairs leading deeper in.
"That's right. But let's head back for today."
"Yes. And we have a huge amount of materials, too."
All the many monsters we'd defeated today, and the Mithril Golem.
And we still had more than thirty thousand points.
I returned the Flamefang Sword to its sheath.
I can still get stronger.
Total P Acquired: 85,375P