ED: We have a new full-time translator for this series (Rihn), who’ll be taking over after Google Translate. I’ll just be doing the editing going forward, but on the other hand, we’ll finally get a proper release schedule. (Edit: We didn’t)
Translation: Zioming
Editor: Zioming
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Chapter 80 – Guardians and Treasure
Q: Why didn’t Jin just kill Akatsuki?
A: Because it wouldn’t be good for Dora’s education to kill a person from her home town in front of her.
Q: So, you won’t kill him no matter what he does?
A: No, not at all.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
We kept walking through the dungeon while talking, but since there were no traps, and no monsters, the dungeon-feel of the place was squarely at zero. After a good while, we finally reached the first guardian’s location.
“Oh, we’re here. This is the first room with a guardian.”
“Master, what’s a guardian?”
“Oh, didn’t I explain it before? A guardian is a monster placed in a specific location, to act as a guard. Like the area bosses in Estia’s dungeon. If it’s guarding a door, you have to defeat it before it can be opened.”
“That sounds about right. But it still feels a bit pointless, seeing as you can’t even enter this place to begin with.”
Looks like Mio’s poor opinion of this dungeon is already set in stone.
“Jin-sama, are you going to defeat the guardian?”
“Hmm? Yeah, let’s go with that. …They placed it here, even though there’s already a barrier, so I’m actually pretty curious about what’s inside.”
“Can’t you just check with the map…?”
“Nope, that’s a last resort. It’s a treasure, after all. It would be a shame to spoil it.”
Basically, I’ve already decided not to look for treasures with the map. If there is a trap, Alta will warn me anyway…
On that topic, there are several guardians, but we already identified the one guarding the core, so we can leave that one for last.
There’s a large iron door leading to the room with a guardian, and there’s enough space to fight inside. As for the status of the guardian itself:
Orichalcum Golem
LV100
<HP Auto-Recovery LV10> <Hardening LV10> <Gatekeeper LV10>
Note: A golem made with Orichalcum. Extremely hard.
That note, …talk about self-explanatory. Basically, it’s a 2-metre-high brass-coloured golem. Apparently the legendary metal orichalcum, that it’s made of, is brass-coloured. In short, It looks like a crudely-made humanoid-shaped stack of rocks. (ED: According to wiki, Orichalcum is ‘sometimes interpreted as referring to a natural alloy of gold and copper’. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, and is also gold-ish in colour)
And as for its skill composition, …it’s defence-oriented no matter how you look at it. Although there aren’t that many skills, their levels are high, making it pretty hard to crack. Even more so, with Orichalcum being naturally resistant to magic.
But the biggest problem with guardians is that they don’t leave a corpse behind when defeated, meaning, we won’t get any orichalcum as loot. Talk about a waste!
Orichalcum
Note: A legendary metal of the highest physical and magical hardness.
“Guardians always leave a drop item in place of a corpse. Looks like the drop rate for this thing was set to be pretty low, but… Well, whatever.”
After crushing the Orichalcum Golem with a single belly-bunch, I explained, while picking up the item it dropped. In theory, it should have been a rare drop, …so much for the probability theory.
Still, it being a legendary metal, I was afraid that my Soul Blade – Incomplete [Tangerine] would break if I slashed at it, so I decided to punch it instead. It turned out to be surprisingly brittle though.
“Hah, …you wouldn’t even tell it was a mid-boss, watching the fight…”
“It was an excellent blow. Simply wonderful.”
“I didn’t even get to support Jin-sama…”
I entered the room → Approached it with a ‘Flash Step’ + ‘Acceleration’ combo → An instant kill with a single belly-punch. The ‘extremely hard’ part made me punch it first, to test things out, but to think it would just end like that. I’m not even gonna’ comment.
“T-that’s way too strong… To think Master was actually this powerful…”
Ah. Mikazuki, who I totally forgot was also watching the fight, became shocked. Well, no other way than to accept it now.
“So, what now?”
“Kyu~! The body~!” (ED: I think she was sad the corpse disappeared)
The door in the back of the room opened when I defeated the golem. Since there was a guardian in front of it, then, naturally, there should be a treasure inside. Or rather, I wonder if there actually will…
Behind the door, there was a small room with a treasure chest inside. So, now you’re going to act like a proper dungeon, huh?
“Then, I will open the chest.”
Maria declared before doing so. I already confirmed with the Map that there weren’t any traps, but she still insisted on it. So overprotective… I wonder if it has something to do with her being a ‘Hero’?
“Jin-sama, please take a look.”
After opening the chest, she handed me the contents.
Skill Orb (Dragon Strike)
Note: An orb that lets one acquire the ‘Dragon Strike’ skill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘Skill Orb (Dragon Strike)’. That was the name of the treasure the golem was guarding. After confirming with Alta, it seems to be an item that lets one acquire the skill when they use it, just like the name implies.
“Now that’s an interesting item! This place is finally starting to feel a little game-like!”
“But, according to Jin-kun, items can’t have skills, right…?”
As Sakura correctly pointed out, skills can only be learned by living beings and monsters. So, how exactly does one put a skill inside an orb?
A: A Skill Orb is made with a Soul Crystal, like the one Master already has. Although it’s a pseudo-soul, it’s still treated as a living being, and as such, can be used to hold and transfer skills.
The ‘Soul Crystal’ in question is a drop item we got after defeating the 40th floor boss in Estia’s dungeon. It’s supposed to be able to give life to an object, but I didn’t think it could be used like this.
Plus, the existence of this Skill Orb is proof that there were other people who knew about skills before we came to this world. Perhaps, it was the former Dungeon Master of this place, the person who created the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area. Maybe we can learn more from the Chieftain, once we return to the mansion. (ED: Being able to see stats and skills is also one of Jin’s cheat abilities. Regular people only know about magic being a thing, since it can be easily demonstrated, and about Blessings being given to heroes summoned by the Goddess)
“Since Master has a Soul Crystal, he can also create a Skill Orb, right?”
“Even so, there’s probably no reason to make one. It doesn’t do anything that Master’s ‘Give and Take [Power of Life and Death]’ can’t do.”
“Ah, you’re right. It can do much more than that…”
As Mio and Sera noticed after listening to Alta’s explanation, it’s a neat little item, but given all the functions of ‘Give and Take [Power of Life and Death]’, it’s of little use to our group.
“So, what kind of skill is ‘Dragon Strike’? If it can strengthen Jin-sama, I’d like him to use it…”
Maria became overprotective again (omitted).
“But, considering its name and the place where we found it, shouldn’t it be a skill exclusively for Dora-chan…?”
“No, not necessarily, Sakura-sama. It sounds more like a skill for killing dragons.”
“I see…”
Let’s look at the skill’s description for now.
Dragon Strike
A Dragon Newt-only skill. Allows one to charge ‘Draconic Magic’.
“Hmm, it looks like it’s a skill to increase the power of ‘Draconic Magic’. Like, the more you charge it, the stronger it will be.”
“Ah, did you take it already? Still, this place is becoming more and more game-like…”
“You’re right… I wonder, was its creator also a reincarnated person…?”
“Maybe.”
Since we already have Tiramisu [Dinosaur Girl], it wouldn’t be that strange for another person from Earth to reincarnate as a Dragon Newt. Still, it would have been nice if they at least left some information behind…
“Kyu~? Can Dora have the Dragon skill~?”
“Sure. …Actually, can you wait a moment? I’ll use it to make more skill points first.” (ED: The level of each skill is based on actual skill points; 1-10 skill points = LV1; 11-30 = LV2; 31-60 = LV3; and so on, meaning, you only need a single skill point to use a skill at LV1; Jin can convert skill points of other skills at 5:1 ratio, but only into skills he already has)
“Kyuu. Okay.”
“Why do you want to make more skill points…?”
Sakura asked, while tilting her head. If it can only be used by Dora, it doesn’t really matter how many actual skill points there are.
“I’m going to copy the ‘Dragon Strike’ skill, so that I can return it to the orb later.”
“I’m sorry… I don’t follow…”
“Hmm, are you going to put the Skill Orb back, Master?”
“Yep, Mio guessed it right.”
After investigating the orb, it looks like I can add and subtract skill points from it with ‘Give and Take [Power of Life and Death]’.
“But why? It’s not like Master to put the treasure back, right?”
Sera asked, confused. …Do I really look so greedy?
“Well, I think this Skill Orb is meant to be used in case of an emergency. You remember what Alta told us, right? The barrier will only go down when the Dragon Newts are on the verge of dying out…”
“So, it’s an emergency measure in case of a dragon attack?”
“Maybe. I think the creator of the Hidden Area already planned for a Dragon Newt to one day enter the dungeon, when the barrier goes down due to lack of power.”
That’s why the dungeon was set up in a way to not be accessible under normal circumstances. Or, in other words, the condition for entering the dungeon was set to be the near-extinction of the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area. But leaving it without a Dungeon Master is still against the rules…
“Hence, if we take the orb, it will go directly against the wishes of the previous Dungeon Master. To be honest, I don’t really like the way they did things, but given that it’s supposed to be used in case of an emergency, it would be a waste to just take it. Still, not collecting the rare skill is not an option, so I’ll just put it back afterwards, as a sort of a compromise.”
I can see now how the previous Dungeon Master was trying to protect the Dragon Newts as a whole, and not just specific individuals, proven by the fact that the weapons left inside can only be used at the cost of sacrificing most of their people. (ED: ‘Dragon Newts’ literally translates as ‘Dragon Race’)
To be clear, personally, I’m against it, but I’m not going to go as far as to ruin their plans. As such, I decided to go with the half-hearted approach of saying: ‘I’ll take the skill, but put the item back in its original state afterwards.’
“Now, let’s give the ‘Dragon Strike’ skill to Dora.”
“Kyu~! Yay~!”
After transferring the skill, I replaced the skill point in the Skill Orb, and put it back in the treasure chest. As you might expect, the Orichalcum Golem is still gone, but will it re-spawn?
A: No, it won’t. The Orichalcum Golem was originally a measure against people who would enter the dungeon due to unforeseen circumstances. Were the barrier to go down due to lack of power, it would also stop working.
Ah, so it’s a safety measure against people like us. Certainly, it being destroyed would usually be tantamount to the Skill Orb being taken, so there wouldn’t be much point in it re-spawning. Well, I’m not going to go to the trouble of remaking it, so let’s just leave it at that.
“Now then, let’s take a look at the other rooms.”
“Kyu~! Let’s go~!”
“I want to defeat the next guardian.”
“What are the other guardians even like?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To sum it up, both guardians were Orichalcum Golems, and both treasures were Skill Orbs. I think they’re cutting way too many corners here. Still, it let me get my hands on two more skills, so it’s not like I’m not going to complain.
And these are the skills we found in the orbs.
Dragon Killer
A Dragon Newt-only skill. Increases ‘Draconic Magic’s power against dragons.
Dragon Scales
A Dragon Newt-only skill. Reduces damage taken from ‘Dragon Breath’.
(ED: As a reminder, dragons use ‘Dragon Breath’, while Dragon Newts use ‘Draconic Magic’, though they effectively do the same thing)
They are both skills only Dragon Newts can use. Obviously…
As a side note, Maria and Sera defeated a guardian each. They were both instant kills.
Since there was only the last guardian left, we proceeded towards the last boss room.
“There’s only the final boss left, but will it also be an Orichalcum Golem, like the previous ones?”
“Let’s hope not.”
“Kyu~. Right~?”
If they reuse the Orichalcum Golem for the last boss as well, I’m taking all the Skill Orbs.
As we were talking, we arrived in front of the final boss room, so I checked its status.
Original Dragon Newt – Replica
LV150
<Draconic Magic LV7> <Flight LV10> <Body Strengthening LV10> <Gatekeeper LV10>
Note: A monster imitation of the original Dragon Newt.
(ED: Different spelling than the Chieftain’s species – Dragon of Origin. That one was lit. ‘Root Dragon’)
Hah, I’m so glad it’s not yet another Orichalcum Golem. Also, you’re either an original, or a replica. Make up your mind.
Other than that, why doesn’t it have the ‘Dungeon Rule’ skill, like the final boss of Estia’s dungeon?
A: It’s due to a cost difference, ‘Dungeon Rule’ is much more expensive.
Meaning, they were cutting costs again. …There were no monsters, other than the guardians, on the way here either. It’s a very eco-friendly dungeon. Well, I guess, from the very beginning, then never intended for this place to function as a regular dungeon.
“So, who wants to fight it?”
“Kyui~! Dora wants to fight~!”
Since she just got three new skills, she probably wants to try them out.
“Well, it’s fitting, right? For Dora-chan, who’s a Dragon Newt, to beat the final boss of the Hidden Area’s dungeon.”
“I already tried my strength against a guardian, so I’ll leave the final boss to Dora-san.”
“Sure, it does feel right to leave it to her. So, Dora, will you fight it alone?”
“Kyuu, Kyu~. Hmm. Fight with Sakura.”
“Eh…? With me…?”
Sakura got surprised when she was suddenly called upon. Actually, I’m also curious why she chose her.
“Kyu, Kyukyui. Because, Sakura doesn’t get to fight.”
“Now that you mention it, I also haven’t seen Sakura fight lately.”
“Well… It’s true that I haven’t fought for the past couple weeks… Not since the dungeon’s 50th floor…”
Sakura replied, looking embarrassed.
Basically, Sakura doesn’t like to fight. From the start, she only decided to fight in order to get strong enough to defend herself, and since she stabilised lately, both in terms of status, and emotionally speaking, she had no reason to fight any more.
“If you think about it, it was more weird for Sakura, who doesn’t like to fight, to keep fighting by our side all the way through the dungeon…”
Certainly, she participated in all the fights, except for the first 10 floors, where we all held back, since we were training the newcomers at the time, and the floors 31-40, which were just too much for her to handle. (ED: The graveyard area) She never once said she didn’t want to fight (except for that one time with Kusakabe). (ED: The summoned Hero they met in Estia)
“That sounds about right. Can you tell us why, Sakura-sama?”
“That was… to be together with Jin-kun…”
“”Eh?””
Mio and I both exclaimed.
“I… I wanted to stay with Jin-kun… I wanted to continue our journey together… Since Jin-kun wanted me to fight as well, I defeated those monsters… You needed a mage to help you fight in the dungeon, so I did…”
Thinking back, I don’t recall Sakura even volunteering to take part in a fight. Still, she kept fighting by my side when I was an Adventurer in Kastal, and when I was an Explorer in Estia.
“Perhaps, were you pushing yourself all this time? Did you not fight since Estia, because you overworked yourself back in the dungeon?”
It would be a major problem if I was forcing someone to fight against their will. That would go against my basic principles.
“No, it’s not like that… I don’t like fighting, but it’s not like I absolutely hate doing it…”
“I see, that’s a relief…”
Looking at her expression, I don’t think she’s been pushing herself. Whether it’s a good thing, or a bad thing, Sakura seems to have gotten used to fighting monsters over time.
“However, after the dungeon, there were mostly individual fights… Since other people wanted to do it, I didn’t want to take their place… So I ended up lagging behind…”
After Estia’s dungeon, we mostly decided who will fight by the rise of hands. Naturally, Sakura never did.
“I see. I think I understand now, but please don’t push yourself. If you don’t want to fight in the future, please feel free to tell me.”
“Yes, I will… Thank you for worrying about me…”
Still, I didn’t realise it was so important for Sakura to stay together with me. …No, I think I already knew deep inside, since our very first talk in this world.
“So, basically, Sakura-sama likes Master so much, you can’t stand not being together with him, right? It’s love, right? …But then, wouldn’t that make Sakura-sama the main heroine?”
Mio said something stupid again, while joking around.
“Well… I certainly like Jin-kun, but I’m not sure if I have romantic feelings for him… I’ve never been in love. I’m not sure about my feelings, since I’ve never felt like that before…”
“S-Sakura-sama, that’s just too sad…!”
Mio was in tears, due to all kinds of things coming to light.
You wouldn’t think we were standing in front of the boss room, given the atmosphere. Still, isn’t it high time to go back to the main story?
“So, Sakura, how about fighting together with Dora this time?”
“Kyu~, Kyuo~? Sakura, fight together~?”
Dora kept looking at Sakura with sparkling eyes. It’s way too powerful.
“Well, I can’t refuse Dora-chan if she asks like that… I thought I should participate in a battle soon, so it’s just right… Thank you, Dora-chan.”
“Kyu~! You’re welcome~!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Sakura and Dora finished their preparations, we finally entered the last boss room. On a side note, the rest of us also went in, but we aren’t going to take part in the actual fight. If we’re in the way, we can always just leave with ‘Portal’.
The ‘Original Dragon Newt – Replica’ is, …way too long of a name to say each time, so I’ll just call it the ‘Last Boss’ from now on. Anyway, the Last Boss was waiting in its human form in the middle of a 100-metre-long square-shaped room. It looks like a tall woman. The room is pretty large, and it’s a Dragon Newt after all, so maybe it’ll transform…
By the way, the final boss room is located in the very centre of the barrier surrounding the Hidden Area. Well, to be more precise, the room with the core, that the Last Boss is guarding, is in the actual centre. Additionally, the Chieftain’s mansion is located right above the core room. I guess the previous Dungeon Master had a habit of keeping all the important things in one place.
“Dora-chan, let’s do this…!
“Kyu! Un!”
After entering the room, Dora rushed straight for the Last Boss.
“Kyu~! Fire~!”
“GYUOOOOO!”
*loud explosion*
As she approached, Dora cast her ‘Draconic Magic’, but it was met with the Last Boss’ own fire breath, causing a big explosion in the middle, where the two collided.
By the way, didn’t the Last Boss just say something? …It didn’t get translated by Sakura’s ‘Connect’, so maybe it was just an angry roar. I guess the default is not to give dialogue options to your dungeon’s final boss.
“Kyu~i! E~i!”
“GYUOO!?”
Dora, who didn’t seem to get slowed down at all by the breaths’ explosion, approached the Last Boss, and swung down her battle staff. The Last Boss crossed its arms in front to try and block, but it couldn’t kill the momentum and got blown away.
“GYOO!”
“Kyukyu~! No can do~!”
Having landed safely, the Last Boss tried to pay Dora back with a kick of its own, but she easily caught it with her shield. Far from being blown away, she didn’t even move from her initial spot.
“Kyui! Ei!”
Dora tried to push the Last Boss back with her shield, but it just jumped back. …It’s pretty light-footed, all things considered.
“I will support you…!”
Sakura cast several ‘Light Balls’ from ‘Light Magic’ and ‘Dark Balls’ from ‘Dark Magic’, sending them all towards the Last Boss on a curve around Dora.
“GYUUU !?”
The Last Boss tried to dodge, but it couldn’t track all the alternating spheres, and got hit by several of them.
Both ‘Light Ball’ and ‘Dark Ball’ are low-level magic spells, so they don’t do much damage, but they are useful in that they can be remotely controlled, and are easy to use in large quantities. It looks like the two agreed to leave the leading role in this fight to Dora, while Sakura supports her from the back with low-level magic spells.
“Kyu~! Eat this~!”
Dora unleashed another breath with her ‘Draconic Magic’, but this time, the Last Boss was preoccupied with Sakura’s magic, and failed to counter in time, letting her land a direct hit. Good job you two!
“GYURIOOOO!”
“Kyau!? Kyah!?“
Before the explosion subsided, Dora got blown away by a tail that suddenly emerged from inside of it. It looks like she defended herself with her shield though, so the sneak attack didn’t work.
After the explosion finally subsided, what appeared was, obviously, the Last Boss, which transformed into its dragon form. It didn’t strictly resemble any dragon species, like a Flame Dragon, an Abyssal Dragon or a Golden Dragon, but rather looked like a really big, round dragon. No, let’s put it this way. It looked as if the Feather Dragon, that Dora transformed into, got enlarged several times to make it even more grand. Its whole body was covered with silvery-white hair, and it had 3 pairs of bird-like wings, plus it shone brightly, causing a halo to form around.
“It’s very pretty.”
“It almost looks divine, doesn’t it? It kind of resembles Dora-chan, so, will she also eventually look like this?”
“If she does, it would be hard to keep using her as a pillow. …Maybe as a bed would work instead.”
“Looks like Master will view Dora as bedding, no matter what happens…”
“Or, was it as a pet…”
Pets in bed… those are ants, right? (ED: As in, small animals. No good way to translate this)
While we were talking about some random stuff, the Last Boss charged towards Dora. Looks like it’s about to release another ‘Draconic Magic’ attack.
“Kyu~! Kyu~! N~! N~!”
“GYURYOOOO!!!”
“I won’t let you…! ‘Ice Wall’!”
Dora groaned, the Last Boss roared, and Sakura protected Dora with a magic spell. The Last Boss’ ‘Draconic Magic’ is pretty powerful at level 7, but it was still completely blocked by Sakura’s ‘Ice Wall’.
“Kyu~! Kyu~! N~! N~!”
“GYUOOOOOOO!!!!”
The Last Boss kept its fire breath going, trying to break through the ‘Ice Wall’, but it still showed no signs of cracking. The breath started to weaken after a while, and just as it was about to stop, the girls counterattacked.
“Dora-chan…! Now!”
With Sakura’s words, the ‘Ice Wall’ disappeared, making it that there was now nothing in between Dora and the Last Boss.
“Kyu~! Special Fire~!”
*even louder explosion*
Immediately after that, Dora released a powerful ‘Draconic Magic’ attack, much stronger than all her previous ones. That groaning before, was likely her, charging its power with ‘Dragon Strike’. After the sound finally stopped, and the explosion cleared, the Last Boss disappeared without a trace. At the same time, the walls of the room, that haven’t been affected at all by the previous fire breaths, were now all burned by the power of this charged attack.
“That’s some serious firepower.”
“Dora-chan, wow…”
“It’s already plenty powerful, and that’s with Dora’s suppressed stats. I wonder how powerful it will be at her full strength.”
“Right? And Dora-chan’s ‘Draconic Magic’ is only at level 5 now, so there’s still plenty of room to grow.”
It’s already this powerful with just ‘Draconic Magic LV5’, ‘Dragon Strike LV1’, and status suppression. When you max all of these out, it will surely be terrifyingly powerful. (ED: In case you forgot, Jin intentionally limits everyone’s stats, to be roughly those of their enemies, to let them train better during fights)
While we were giving our impressions, the door at the back of the room opened. There should be the dungeon core inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“We did it…”
“Kyui~! Kyuo~! So much fun! Master, praise!”
“Okay, well done Dora. You too, Sakura. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Kyu~! Yay~!”
I complimented Dora and Sakura when they returned. Dora hugged me, so I stroked her head.
“Yes… So, what will Jin-kun do next…? There’s a dungeon core, so, will you become the next Dungeon Master…?
“No, I don’t plan on managing this dungeon. I’m just gonna become the Dungeon Master for a moment…”
“Um, come again?”
Mio picked up on my particular wording.
“Well, since we’re already here, I’ll temporarily become the Dungeon Master in order to re-spawn the guardians and the Last Boss. I can’t just leave the final boss room empty like this. Afterwards, I’ll relinquish my control over the dungeon core, and it will be exactly like before we entered.”
“So like: ‘remember to clean up after yourself, once you’re done’.”
“Precisely. It will be ‘cleaner than when we first used it’, or something along those lines.”
“I think I saw that written in the school’s girls’ bathroom once…”
“There was one in the boys’ bathroom too.”
After answering Sakura and Mio’s questions, I took everyone into the dungeon core room.
“It looks like the treasure chest rooms.”
“Yep… They are cutting corners again…”
The inside is virtually identical to the rooms where we found the Skill Orbs before. The dungeon core in the middle is visibly smaller than the one in Estia’s dungeon. I think it’s about a third of the size. It seems that the difference in size directly corresponds to the difference in performance, so, in that regard, one could say that this dungeon’s core is even smaller than a third of Estia’s. (ED: Again with comparing sizes…)
“Then, I’ll become the Dungeon Master.”
“Oh, Mio-chan also wants to become a DM~!”
“No, it will be faster if I do it myself.”
I registered as the new Dungeon Master by touching the core, like I did in Estia. I didn’t feel any new information flowing into my head, probably because it was already my second time. Looking around, it doesn’t seem like the previous DM left any information behind in the dungeon. …A shame.
Using Dungeon Master’s privileges, I re-spawned the guardians, and the Last Boss. I also gave the Last Boss the ‘Self-Destruct’ skill. That one’s a must. Once I was done, I relinquished my control over the dungeon, so that the next person that touches the core can become its new master.
“Okay, that’s it for now.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Jin-sama.”
“That’s it for this dungeon. It’s almost noon, so should we head back soon?”
“Yes.” x5
“Kyui! Yes~!”
As I was about to leave, I suddenly recalled something, so I decided to make sure.
“By the way, Mikazuki, you won’t tell anyone about what happened inside, right?”
Mikazuki, who followed us into the dungeon, barely said anything, all the time we were inside. Well, she was probably just too dumbfounded by what was happening around her.
“Well, honestly, I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of me, I almost felt like I was dreaming. Is this normal in the outside world…?”
“Master was just showing off. It’s not normal. By the way, please don’t tell anyone about it.”
“Yes. I don’t even want to imagine what the consequences would be if the people in the village found out.”
Mio advised the seriously shaken Mikazuki. Well, if you see the dungeon, that’s the cornerstone of the entire Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area, get conquered so easily, it’s only natural to get shaken. Also, it seems she didn’t even know about there being a dungeon here to begin with…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once we exited the dungeon, we decided to go back to the Dragon Newts’ village. There were other sightseeing spots that Dora recommended, but I decided to put them on hold, since they wouldn’t be able to beat the dungeon anyway. Instead, we decided to implement Mio’s food-culture hazard plan.
“You really were serious about this thing?”
“Of course! It’s #8 on my ‘Top 30 things to do after coming to a fantasy world’ list! Plus, this place with its completely underdeveloped food culture is a perfect hunting ground, …I mean, the perfect place to make it happen!
She just said ‘hunting ground’. This girl. Well, considering the meat skewers incident, it probably isn’t far from the truth…
“But, what exactly will you do? Will you distribute meat skewers like before?”
“*tsk* *tsk* *tsk*. I won’t do the same thing twice. Naturally, I will grasp the Dragon Newts’ stomachs with an entirely new dish!”
“*drip…*”
“Mikazuki, that’s dirty.”
“Ah, I apologise.”
Mio’s declaration was apparently reason enough for Mikazuki to start drooling again. Looks like there’s one Dragon Newt whose stomach was already captured right here.
“Specifically, we’ll be setting up food stands! We’ll be serving food, but only to those who have already been tamed! By doing it this way, I will gradually teach the tamed Dragon Newts how to cook, until I take full control of the entire Hidden Area!”
Mio finished her long-winded speech with a proud look on her face.
“Isn’t that just a hostile takeover?”
“You betcha! If it works, even more people will come to us.”
“Not sure If I really want them too…”
It’s no longer a food culture hazard at that point, it’s a food culture invasion. Not to mention, the Dragon Newts have barely any resistance against delicious food, so it will be super effective. Looks like the number of people who will ask to be tamed will increase again…
“So, Mio-chan… what kind of food will you serve this time…?”
“Good question, Sakura-sama! The goal this time is to make a dish using only the Hidden Area’s own ingredients. For the meat skewers, I used seasoning and sauce I had on hand, but this time that’s not allowed! I want to make a dish that can be reproduced with just the things found in the Hidden Area! A local speciality dish made with local ingredients by yours truly!”
“Yeah, Mio seems much more hyped than I originally expected…”
The Dragon Newt’s Hidden Area, …it’s done for.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Status:
Dora
LV63
Skills:
Martial Arts: <Martial Arts LV5> <Staff Mastery LV10> <Shield Mastery LV10>
Magic: <Magic LV5> <Draconic Magic LV5> <Original Spells>
Techniques: <Techniques LV3> <Compounding LV6>
Body: <Body LV5> <Body Strengthening LV10> <Charge LV10> <Roar LV10> <Flight LV10> <Bite LV10>
Other: <Luck LV1> <Dragon Strike LV1 new> <Dragon Killer LV1 new> <Dragon Scales LV1 new>
Equipment: ‘Ruler’s Staff – Replica’, ‘Shield of Justice – Aegis’
**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Author’s Note: I’m currently working on a side story after a long while. Not sure when I’ll be able to publish it. Claude will appear in it, but he’s not the main character. More of a supporting role, I guess.
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