Chapter 33
Now, there are various things I'd like to analyze, but first I'll take a short break, then head to the sewers' lower level—now called 'Forgotten Underground Cemetery.'
A cemetery, huh? In stories, aren't the monsters that appear in graveyards invariably Undead? And yet, the entrance was guarded by a Ratman. What could that mean?
I'll put those thoughts off for later. Let's observe the cemetery first. When we descended the stairs at the entrance guarded by the Ratman Generals, we emerged into a pitch-black passage. The floor was paved with stone, and the walls had shelf-like recesses packed tightly with white skeletons.
Judging by how carelessly they were buried, these were probably the corpses of the poor. Namu namu.
"Whoa, it looks like we can harvest these bones."
"Hmm, I feel uneasy about taking the bones of the dead home."
Ruby said it with genuine distaste, but apparently these bones could be harvested and taken home. From my perspective, this place was a treasure trove of materials, but Genjuro seemed to have some resistance to grave robbing.
It would be foolish to start a fight over something so trivial, so let's refrain from harvesting them. Namu namu once more.
"Wait, enemies!"
It seemed Ruby, at the front, had spotted some enemies. Honestly, surely I could have been granted a little time to think about the bones without punishment. Regardless, time for an Appraisal.
――――――――――
Race: Ratman Warrior Lv. 21
Job: Warrior Lv. 1
Skills: 【Gluttony】
【Fangs】
【Swordsmanship】
【Spearmanship】
【Axemanship】
【Vitality Enhancement】
【Strength Enhancement】
【Defense Enhancement】
【Agility Enhancement】
Race: Ratman Mage Lv. 23
Job: Mage Lv. 3
Skills: 【Gluttony】
【Fangs】
【Earth Magic】
【Fire Magic】
【Dark Magic】
【Intelligence Enhancement】
【Command】
――――――――――
Three Ratman Warriors and one Ratman Mage, huh? The warriors are specialized in physical combat, while the mage is specialized in magic.
A knight who can use both physical attacks and magic might be stronger one-on-one, but when specialists band together, I think this arrangement is more troublesome. As expected, this won't be easy!
"Juju!"
"Jugah!"
Oh dear, we've been spotted. So much for a surprise attack. In that case, we'll meet them head-on.
"Diamond Magic Array, Remote Activation: Silence!"
"...!?"
The first thing I did was use the new Curse spell Silence to seal the Ratman Mage's magic. The Underground Cemetery is quite cramped, and if magic were used here, even Jigorou and Genjuro would have trouble dodging it.
So why not stop him from using it in the first place? Silence prevents its target from using magic for a certain period. It's similar to Void Magic's Magic Jamming, but while Magic Jamming affects allies and enemies alike, Silence can seal only a designated target, though it has a chance of failing. This is overwhelmingly more convenient.
"Heh, too easy!"
"Hah!"
Jigorou and Genjuro are each fighting a Ratman Warrior one-on-one. It seems the two of them have the upper hand. Jigorou is in the same level range as them, but Genjuro is winning with ease despite not having undergone his second evolution yet... As expected of the real-life cheat-code types.
"Ruby!"
"Leave it to me!"
Meanwhile, Iris and Ruby seem to be fighting a Ratman Warrior together. Their basic strategy is for Iris to capture it with her tentacles while Ruby slashes it apart with her dagger.
However, if you get distracted by annoying Ruby, Iris's wooden mallet and hatchet will come at you, not to mention her magic—which, while weaker than mine, is still dangerous. What a brutal combination.
"I can't let myself lose. Diamond Magic Array, Remote Activation: Ice Circle."
Next was a new Water-Ice Magic spell, Ice Circle. This spell rapidly lowers the temperature within a designated area. Its range is somewhat short and its area a little narrow, but remote activation makes that completely irrelevant.
The temperature doesn't drop to absolute zero in an instant, but after casting it fourfold, it should have fallen to several dozen degrees below zero. Just as expected, the Ratman Mage fell to his knees, his entire body trembling.
"You look cold. Then I'll warm you up. Diamond Magic Array, Remote Activation: Lava Shot."
As the kind person I am, I used Lava Magic's Lava Shot to warm up the Ratman Mage who looked so cold.
It would be easiest to understand this as a shotgun version of Lava Bread. Five lumps of lava, each slightly smaller than those fired by Lava Bread, fly out. Since I cast it fourfold, twenty shots went flying.
"......!"
Every shot hit the Ratman Mage, who was unable to move from the cold, and I succeeded in thoroughly warming him up. Well, it looks like it felt so good that he ascended.
"Putting jokes aside... that's that."
I dealt the finishing blow at almost the same time that Iris and Ruby's team defeated their Ratman Warrior. Very good!
As for the drops, they were pretty pathetic. We got some rat hides of slightly decent quality, some incisors, and iron weapons that were just a little better than the starting equipment carried by the Ratman Warriors. The experience was delicious, though.
Come to think of it, the Ratman General's drops weren't anything special either. As a rule, we share all the drops once, then have the people who want them discuss who gets what.
Naturally, the person who deals the finishing blow has priority. So the items belonged to Genjuro, but he said he didn't need them and told us to take them.
Well, the drops were an axe and armor. Iris ended up taking the axe because she could use it for logging, but we discovered that nobody wanted the armor.
Thinking about it, Jigorou, our vanguard, wears light equipment, while Genjuro has an exoskeleton, so putting armor over it would apparently get in his way. Naturally, the other three have no use for it either.
Its performance is actually quite good. Apparently, the lower its wearer's vitality becomes, the higher its defense rises. The reason Genjuro became absurdly tough toward the end was apparently the effect of this armor.
So it became Genjuro's property. Surely it'll just clutter up his inventory. It is a good item, but the unlucky thing had ended up with the wrong owner.
Anyway, back to the matter at hand. We won the first battle in the Underground Cemetery, but we learned that the enemies were quite strong. We'd better proceed carefully.
◆◇◆◇◆◇
――――――――――
Your Race level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your Job level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
【Staff】 level has increased.
【Mana Control】 level has increased.
【Earth Magic】 level has increased.
【Water-Ice Magic】 level has increased.
【Fire Magic】 level has increased.
【Storm Magic】 level has increased.
【Tree Magic】 level has increased.
【Lava Magic】 level has increased.
【Sandstorm Magic】 level has increased.
【Smoke and Mist Magic】 level has increased.
【Lightning Magic】 level has increased.
【Explosive Magic】 level has increased.
【Enchantment】 level has increased.
【Magic Circle】 level has increased.
【Curse】 level has increased.
【Trap Magic】 level has increased.
【Archaeology】 level has increased.
【Linguistics】 level has increased.
【Appraisal】 level has increased.
【Assassination Arts】 level has increased.
――――――――――
Mapping of the Underground Cemetery's first floor is complete. Whew, that was tough. We walked around for a very long time, after all. Along the way, I appraised the murals and grave goods in the Underground Cemetery bit by bit, so my academic skills went up considerably as well.
It turned out to be a very old cemetery. We didn't obtain any information about the state of the world at the time, though. Still, a sewer larger than the city above, plus an Underground Cemetery... There must be some kind of secret hidden in Fars.
We also fought a considerable number of Ratman-type monsters. I'm at the point where I don't want to see another Ratman for a while. ...Though they are unavoidable opponents as long as they live in the sewers.
After walking through every corner, we discovered stairs leading to an even lower level. It seems the Underground Cemetery is far from over.
We also encountered moving Skeleton-type monsters several more times. They were weaklings, but their Magic Bone drops were greatly appreciated. Since we had obtained them by defeating the monsters, Genjuro didn't object to taking them home.
We also came across an interesting moving Skeleton. It was still a weakling, but it was this sort of creature:
――――――――――
Race: Bone Wall Lv. 16
Job: None
Skills: 【Defense Enhancement】
【Bone Absorption】
【Night Vision】
【Status Ailment Immunity】
【Light Attribute Vulnerability】
――――――――――
As its name suggested, it was a wall made from countless bones. Weak. It was weak, but it was a monster that would serve as a useful reference when creating Undead with Necromancy in the future. Maybe someday I could gather a ridiculous number of bones and make a Bone Castle!
Anyway, it was about time we headed home. After one battle after another, my mana was running low, and our items for healing the vanguard were nearly depleted. We should probably withdraw here.
Everyone seemed to agree, so our first attempt at conquering the Underground Cemetery ended here. I don't know how deep it goes, but I'm definitely going to conquer it all the way to the end!
◆◇◆◇◆◇
We retraced our steps and returned safely to the laboratory. Whew, I always feel more relaxed here.
Normally, Jigorou would go hunting as soon as his mana recovered, but there was something we had to do. We had to prepare for tomorrow. Each of us had to design a dungeon according to our own preferences, decide what kind of boss it would have, and submit it to the goddess who had commissioned us.
Iris, Ruby, and Genjuro had already submitted theirs, while Jigorou and I had not. The reason mine wasn't finished was that I had been leveling in preparation for today and hadn't had time, while Jigorou was apparently the type to put troublesome matters off. I know I haven't submitted mine either, but Jigorou, won't the goddess get angry with you?
So, what kind of dungeon should I make? Obviously, one packed with Undead. I'll raise the difficulty and go all-in on my personal tastes.
"Let's see... What? Dungeons have Construction Points? And dungeons have a preset difficulty, displayed as a recommended level. The Construction Points granted change depending on the difficulty, too."
It seemed that dungeons were built by allocating something called Construction Points. The higher the difficulty—in other words, the recommended level—the more Construction Points were granted. The initial levels of the monsters that appeared also seemed to change with the difficulty. They would probably be around the recommended level.
"There's no problem going all-out on the interior, but changing the traps or the monsters that appear causes the points to increase or decrease, huh?"
For example, making the dungeon interior look like a cave or like the corridor of a luxurious castle didn't consume any Construction Points. That was simply a matter of which stage you chose.
However, setting the monsters that appeared or strengthening them consumed points. Conversely, each recommended level had an initial level for the monsters that could appear, and making monsters below that level appear left a few points to spare.
There were also Elite Monsters that were guaranteed to drop a treasure chest. They consumed a tremendous number of points, though.
"The dungeon has default settings for its size, the number of treasure chests, and the grade of their contents. Changing those affects the points, too?"
The more I increased the dungeon's size, reduced the number of treasure chests, or downgraded their contents into cheap prizes, the more points were consumed. The reverse was true as well. Adding complicated puzzles to doors to make them open and close also consumed points. Naturally.
"Players who are more than five levels below the recommended level can't challenge it? Raising the level brings the top players rushing in, while lowering it turns the place into a training ground where only beginners gather, I suppose."
Players five or more levels below the recommended level couldn't challenge that dungeon. This was important information.
We had accepted a commission from the goddess, and we needed to showcase our monsters to the second wave. To do that, we'd need a spectacle of high-level players being mowed down. We'd have to choose either the highest difficulty or the second-highest.
That meant I should choose the highest difficulty. So, what kinds of Undead could I deploy at the highest difficulty?
"High Zombies, Ghosts, Skeleton Swordsmen... and various others. So, monsters around levels twenty to twenty-five?"
I see. The highest difficulty was equivalent to the 'Forgotten Underground Cemetery' we'd just been challenging. The default area was narrower than the first floor of the Underground Cemetery, though, so in terms of difficulty, that place was probably harder.
Hmm, I completely understood the specifications. Then let's get started on construction. The plan was to showcase Undead to the fullest while placing traps designed to kill first-time challengers. However, I wouldn't make them too unreasonable. It would be pointless if nobody reached the boss room.
Put this here... Oh, I could place this one here. And a hidden treasure chest here... Yes. Anyone who searched carefully could find it. A booby trap would be effective here. Oh, if I leave this here... Heh heh, it'll be fun when they fall for it.
The interior was complete. I used every last point. I could proudly say it had turned out exactly according to the concept. There was only one choice for the boss I'd put in.
"Yeah, it's great! It has a nice horror vibe. Is this finished...?"
"Hmm? I need to decide on a name for the dungeon?"
A name, huh? Hmm, what should I do? I didn't want the dungeon to be outmatched by its name, but I didn't want people to look down on it, either. All right, I've decided!
"'Cursed Tomb Tower,' then. Submit it."
The level-25 'Cursed Tomb Tower.' That was the name of the dungeon I would rule tomorrow for a single day. Come, players, and dare to conquer my dungeon!