The Event Dungeon (2)

"Hah! Let's see what you've got!"

A new enemy called the Iron Golem had appeared, and Jigoro charged at it without hesitation. As usual, I silently strengthened him with 【Enchantment】. Apparently, his Agility had become sufficient after his evolution, so he had asked me to strengthen his Strength and Dexterity instead. I did as he asked and enhanced him.

Jigoro leaped at the Iron Golem and drove his fist into it. The golem raised its arm at its sluggish speed and blocked the blow, but Jigoro's fist sank into the arm with a violent metallic clang, leaving a dent in it.

"Hohoh? It's quite powerful, just as its appearance suggests."

"That is partly thanks to my equipment. I obtained that equipment through my brother's prowess."

Jigoro's assault did not end there. He narrowly dodged the iron fist swinging down at him, moved around behind it, and drove a low kick into its knee. Another ear-splitting metallic clang rang through the Dungeon, and the knee bent in an unnatural direction.

The Iron Golem lost its balance and fell facedown. It tried to somehow rise using both hands, but Jigoro was not about to let it. He climbed onto its back and repeatedly hammered his fists into it.

"It's tough, but it's way too slow!"

The iron body apparently could not withstand the barrage of blows, each of which would probably have killed me instantly. The Iron Golem was crushed by Jigoro's overwhelming strikes. I had provided some support, but the fight ended with me doing almost nothing. I would like to be more useful next time.

"You destroyed its body with almost your bare hands. Impressive... In terms of attack power, you would probably be comparable to Sean."

"Jigoro's movements are efficient, too. I want to fight him."

The PK duo watched Jigoro with admiration. Seeing the strength that had allowed him to crush the body of the Iron Golem, a mass of iron, seemed to stir their blood as professionals who hunted the strong. Even if no damage would be dealt, don't challenge him during the event—especially not while we're clearing the Dungeon.

Incidentally, Sean is a member of 'Persona' who wields a greatsword and wears a lion mask. At first, I thought his name was read 'Shishishi,' but he asked us to read it as 'Sean.' According to him, "There are four 'shi's, which makes 'shiyon,' and you make that easier to say as 'Sean.'" Seriously, that's way too elaborate and hard to understand!

Putting that aside, Jigoro is one of the two strongest members of our clan precisely because he combines attack power comparable to the most powerful member of 'Persona' with martial skill and that incredible speed.

"When you say you destroyed its body, does that mean it's possible to destroy its core as well?"

"Rather than saying it's possible, targeting the core is the standard approach. It's an obvious weak point, and damage to the body is repaired over time by magic power supplied by the core. More importantly, it takes considerable attack power to destroy a mass of metal."

Targeting a weakness is the most basic principle. I would do the same without hesitation, and besides, the strange thing was being able to punch a mass of metal to pieces in the first place. In our clan, could Jigoro, Genjuro, Eiji, Cal, and Sei while merged with a familiar manage it?

Our clan had only around twenty members, including familiars, so only about a quarter of us could pull off what we had just seen. And being capable of it did not mean it was easy. Jigoro had done it effortlessly, but thinking about it that way made it clear how difficult it really was.

"Congratulations on your victory. Since you successfully destroyed its body, a particularly good item has dropped."

While we were talking, Sebastian had already finished looting the corpse. He held something out to me, and I saw that it was the spherical object embedded in the Iron Golem's chest. What in the world was this? I decided to use 【Appraisal】 immediately.

――――――――――

Golem Core (Large)　Quality: Acceptable　Rarity: S (Special Grade)

The core that serves as the heart of a Golem. This is one of the larger varieties.

It is created by combining rare materials with a magic stone as its base.

When installed in a suitable body, it can be reused to create a loyal Golem.

――――――――――

A Golem Core! Did this mean we could easily create a Golem by using it? This had to be an item Iris and Shiitake would absolutely want—especially Shiitake. Apparently, she had been going to the event area every day, so perhaps she was desperately collecting them.

I hadn't heard a word from her, either. If she had just contacted me, I could have helped gather them...

"What other items can drop?"

"The drops differ depending on whether you defeat the Golem by destroying its core or by destroying its body."

"What do you mean?"

"In the former case, the metal ingots that made up its body and fragments of its Golem Core drop. In the latter, a Golem Core in good condition, like the one we obtained this time, drops."

"In addition, when the core is destroyed, metal is guaranteed to drop, though the amount is random. The fragments appear to be rare drops."

I see. The drops changing depending on how an enemy was defeated was nothing new. If we wanted metal, we could target the core, and if we wanted a core, we could destroy the body. Even if we wanted a core but lacked the firepower to destroy the body, we could make do by collecting fragments.

"Fragments... We could probably turn them into a core with 【Alchemy】."

"Heh heh, you know your stuff, don't you?"

"Of course I do. I can use 【Alchemy】, after all."

"There aren't many mages who can use 【Alchemy】, but it's not as though none exist."

I learned that among Humans, a mage's role was generally to attack and support with magic, while 【Alchemy】 was left to production specialists who focused on alchemy. In my case, I had only learned it after reading a book, and recently I had been neglecting it. There was no real need for me to do it myself when I had a skilled alchemist among my companions.

It would be a shame to let such a useful Skill lie dormant, so I decided to start practicing it little by little. There were probably medicinal herbs in the event field as well, so perhaps I would give it a try after all this time.

"Hey, brother! Quit talking and let's move on!"

"Hm? Ah, right."

Prompted by Jigoro, who was eager for another fight, we resumed clearing the Dungeon. Surely the enemies would not always appear one at a time, nor would they all be Iron Golems. Well, who knew what would come out next...?

◆◇◆◇◆◇

――――――――――

Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.

Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.

Your 【Intelligence Enhancement】 level has increased.

Your 【Mental Enhancement】 level has increased.

Your 【Space-Time Magic】 level has increased.

You learned the spells Compression and Self-Time Control.

Your 【Space-Time Magic】 has reached its growth limit. SP is required to break through the limit.

Your 【Void Magic】 level has increased.

You learned the spells Create Magic Weapon and Elimination.

Your 【Void Magic】 has reached its growth limit. SP is required to break through the limit.

Your 【Enchantment】 level has increased.

Your 【Talisman Arts】 level has increased.

Your 【Magic Circles】 level has increased.

Your 【Appraisal】 level has increased.

Your 【Assassination Arts】 level has increased.

――――――――――

Only Golems appeared in the Dungeon. The most common were Iron Golems. Next came Steel Golems, followed by rare Golems made from metal imbued with an element.

However, there were an astonishing variety of types. Their forms and sizes differed from individual to individual. There were giant types like the one we had fought at first, mannequin types almost the same size as ordinary Humans, animal types such as wolves and bears, and, among the rarer varieties, palm-sized bird and insect types.

The size of the Golem determined the size of the core obtained from it. So far, the largest one was the first core we had obtained, the Large variety. Below that were Medium, Small, and Tiny, making four types in total. When creating Golems ourselves, we would apparently need cores of the appropriate size.

Between this place and Spear Rock's Lucky Mine, I had been encountering robot-like things rather often lately. Was this the heavens' way of telling me to create an army of robots?

Putting aside that pointless fantasy, fighting had raised my level and taught me new spells. Compression was the first offensive spell in 【Space-Time Magic】. It compressed and crushed a spherical area centered on the specified coordinates. Perhaps because it consumed a great deal of magic power, it activated quickly and had fairly high power. It was easy to use, so I would probably rely on it more often from now on.

Self-Time Control was more unusual. It reduced the time required before Skills and the like could be reused. When I first heard that, I thought it might be too powerful, but it was not quite that convenient. Activating it gradually consumed magic power while making the passage of the required reuse time only slightly faster.

In other words, activating it did not let me immediately use a powerful Skill like 【Dragon Factor】 again. Moreover, I could not use other magic while it was active, and the speed at which time passed increased by only about ten percent, making the difference practically negligible.

...Perhaps I could use it before heading out to explore if I had a Skill that would soon become available again. Frankly, it was not something I could use during battle.

【Void Magic】 had gained two more spells as well. Create Magic Weapon was a spell that used magic power to create a weapon from nothing. There was a list of weapons that could be created, and I would choose one from it.

However, the weapon's attack power depended on the user's level and 【Void Magic】 level, and it was overwhelmingly inferior to equipment made by a production-class crafter. Using a weapon created with Create Magic Weapon as my main weapon would therefore be reckless. It might be useful in a pinch, though.

The final spell, Elimination, was... to put it bluntly, a self-destruct spell. It consumed all of one's magic power and apparently annihilated everything in its area, enemies and allies alike. Since it caught one's allies in the blast so thoroughly, it could only be used in a situation where defeat was certain, with the resolve to go down together.

In my case, I might survive using it once thanks to 【Will to Live】. But with barely any Health remaining and all my magic power gone, what could I possibly do? If anyone caught in the blast survived, or if enemies remained outside its range, certain death would await me.

Everything except Compression was difficult to use! Still, they might not be completely useless under specific conditions. Would I be able to master them...?

"There were treasure chests, too, so we made quite a profit. Even splitting it five ways, the returns were better than hunting players."

"If PKing were more profitable, this game would turn into a dystopian wasteland."

I answered Usuba's complaint with a wry smile. Apparently, Usuba rarely visited fields or Dungeons. When I asked how he made ends meet, he said he supported himself with the rewards from assassination and sabotage quests offered by certain NPCs.

Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered seeing a post on the forums saying that Usuba had been with an NPC merchant at the event where Iris and Shiitake had received awards. That must have been one of the connections he had made through commissioned work.

"I can't be certain without the map, but this looks like the deepest point, doesn't it?"

"Yes. The boss awaits beyond this door."

"The door's design is the same as before."

The door before the boss was apparently always the same. It was convenient for those clearing the Dungeon, since it made the route easy to understand.

"The boss information is..."

"Wouldn't hearing that make it boring, brother?"

"...In that case, you don't need to tell us."

"Understood."

Jigoro opened the door with that characteristically Jigoro-like reasoning. I told Sebastian, who had been about to say something with a resigned air, that there was no need. I had wanted to hear the information myself, but I gave up on learning it. Usuba cackled at the sight of me, while Akane drew her weapon and took up a fighting stance.

I had no idea what would appear, but with this group, breaking through should be easy. All right, let's do this!