"You joined a familia?!"
"What?"
"What?"
""WHAT?!""
I simply nodded to their questions.
"It's… impulsive to say the least. But, things just happened that way last night."
"—?!"
I could see a startled look on their faces before letting out a series of outbursts.
"Hephaestus… I didn't know she is like that."
The goddess said her line before everybody else followed.
"We should pay their familia a visit."
Excuse me, Rethusa-san. Why do you want to visit them?
"It's my fault…"
Why does Lante-san look so downcast and guilty?!
Realizing that a misunderstanding might have ensued, I further explained:
"Uhm. She showed me her work and let me forge last night. That's how I got into their familia."
"..."
"..."
"..."
All of their chaotic rants stopped at that exact moment. Ashamed, I saw some of them turn their faces away with a blush while the others kept their calm… with red ears that are not properly hidden.
Even Lady Artemis is such.
"So that was it. You joined out of your free will."
"That's right." I nodded.
"A celebration." Lante-san muttered with trepidation.
"Right!"
"It's time to splurge!"
I will forget that I've heard the last one. Rethusa-san is just as strict as Lady Artemis in terms of doing things, and one of them is her ability to conserve money.
"A celebration, it is."
With their captain's approval, we set off to a well-known restaurant.
*****
'His eyes resemble the stars.'
Only now did Artemis notice the significant change that Nobu underwent in a single night. As if something was unlocked, his connection with her was strengthened. She could 'know' about his current mood and emotions through it. Not only that, she could unleash an infinitesimal portion of her 'Arcanum' by answering his 'prayers'.
'Orion…'
She wasn't sure of it before. But now, she is. She did not develop in 'that direction' as of the moment. Still, just the thought of 'her Orion' being present gives her an overtly complicated feeling—one that she does not know how to process or respond to.
'My Orion.'
She is heading toward unknown territory. A place where she might not be able to come back. It is budding like a small sparkle in the night sky, but no one knows what would be resulted from it.
'I… him..?'
For now, she worked out on deciphering these feelings.
*****
Clang-!
Clang-!
My mind is empty. All of my willpower is concentrated on the piece of metal being hammered by me into shape. It looks jagged and uneven at first, but my precise strikes turned it into a smooth blade with the proportions that I want.
Sharpening is next.
While it is still glowing crimson, I placed it on the grindstone and placed the edge of my blade in it. My hammering made it so that it does not need sharpening, yet I still do it to achieve good work.
Pssshk-!
Shiing-!
Sparks flew as metals came in contact with each other. After doing this procedure, I gripped it with the tongs once more and submerged it in oil.
Hum-!
Fire emerged from the barrel as it combusted upon contact. The scalding heat is just right within my calculations. Since I did not have my equipment, I did cold quenching through the way of the ancient smiths.
A magic circle lit up in its center. It glowed blue as it absorbed the surrounding mana. But then, another change happened.
The air around the blade became cold. It quickly turned into crystals of ice before falling to the ground.
"Pretty sure that it was just
[Miracle Maker], the rare skill that I got the moment I had falna.
To be honest, I didn't understand the reasoning behind it, but I got the mechanics well enough. Simply put, it is an RNG passive skill. With luck, I can imbue a "creation" with additional ability. These abilities match my thoughts on how to improve it as well.
I made a total of fifteen swords in the past few days just to verify my initial guesses. One of them is made in pure mithril as well—the best metal found to conduct metal. A whopping four abilities, two embedded and two add-ons, are present in it. Made me question my nearly impossible feat of embedding a single magic circle in dir orichalcum.
No wonder I nearly screwed up. The toughness of that material alone is a problem, but there's also its mana conductivity, which is on very low levels.
It should be enough for my preparations.
"A watered-down storage device, rations, and spares."
One of my creations is a thin silver bracelet. It works on the same principle as the space pocket—converting the space on the bracelet with expansion magic, allowing a 7-by-7 storage in its place. I could only resort to smithing and not my usual magic tool workshop for this.
"To think that a few days would pass like this…"
In five days, I forged continuously. I tested several of my new abilities as well. One thing that I found out is that my [Child of Constellations] worked the best during the night—the time when stars could be easily seen. This led to me working during the night and resting during the day.
[Level 1]
[Strength: I0 > H131 Defense: I0 > I98 Dexterity: I0 > H102 Agility: I0 > I76 Magic: I0 > H138]
<
[Orionids]
-The brightest star unveils itself to the watchful gaze of others. Summons a meteor strike to the target.
Activation chant: "I shall not understand the irrationality, yet I ask thee. Illuminate the sky with thy light. Enth, Astrum.
<
[Miracle Maker]
-Enhances every creation.
-Provides guidance in creating new items.
-Additional abilities to the creations can be imbued by chance.
-Excelia gain will be increased during creation.
[Child of Constellations]
-Under the blessing of the starry sky, growth speed, magical abilities, and recovery are increased.
-Legends related to "stars" are strengthened.
A total of 545 points were added to my status. Even Hephaestus-sama got startled by my rate of improvement. This is the result of two absurd skills overlapping with each other...
Interestingly, this improvement is similar to how I improved using my cheat. No physical changes happened to my body whatsoever, but I felt the improvement. Some of my works were also sold, letting me earn my keep to buy potions.
Once I have the necessary equipment, I'll be making my own.
Clang-!
I placed my newly-created blade on top of the anvil. Once this cools down…
I'm going to start my first advent to the dungeon.
*****
The sea of stars twinkled beautifully. The brightest constellation visible to Gekai outshone the presence of any other stars.
Hephaestus glanced at the departing back of her newest familia member.
"Geez. Here I thought I need to remind him of things. He's really mature."
In the past few days, Nobu has had a peculiar schedule as opposed to the smiths in her familia. Instead of shutting himself inside the forge in Babel, he clocks out on time. He regularly visits the familia house as well as his guild advisor.
In short, he's a normal human being.
Aside from his status, what surprised her the most is the maturity unbefitting for his age. Of course, it doesn't mean that he's not completely mature.
For once, she had seen through his problematic mentality. He is still caught up in the past due to something. She deduced that it might be a traumatic event—something that shouldn't be brought up in any conversations.
Thus, she is planning to gradually provide guidance regarding it.
Then there are those "histories" that she saw. She doesn't know much, but she guessed that it is correlated to his traumas.
"It's going to be lonely again."
*****
Dungeon.
The most crucial location for Orario, the Dungeon City, to exist. It provides adventurers with higher-quality excelia as well as drop items. It is the golden goose that gives unlimited resources to brave adventurers.
Currently, I chose lighter armor to wear.
Breastplate, knee, and shoulder guards to protect me from unexpected attacks.
Armguards that could be used to parry.
Metal boots that could be used as a form of attack.
These three make up my equipment set. Of course, I have a rather big surprise hidden in my "wardrobe". It is an imitation of my main equipment back on Earth—also the reason why I could survive the dragon's onslaught while everyone else died.
At my waist, a sheathed longsword was hung.
It is not the dir orichalcum sword but the best creation that I had from a few days ago. It is only made of slightly rarer ore, yet it managed to acquire three additional effects from my [Miracle Maker] skill.
A light-attribute attack that takes the shape of a crescent moon.
An anti-magic property.
An attributeless enhancement that increases the effect of my [Robustness].
There's still the original magic embedded into it,
My luck must've been broken at that time.
My thoughts are halted once I passed through the entrance to the basement of Babel. A spiral staircase descends into the darkness, leading the adventurers to the 1st floor.
I tread on this path along with other adventurers. Unlike the ones outside, everyone here wore an air of seriousness.
"Damn it..! We're already here!"
I saw an adventurer carrying his comrade passed by us. Some good-willed ones helped him carry his injured friend into the medical camp present right outside the basement.
Blood was left on their trail. The smell of iron assaulted my senses. A sudden image popped up into my mind.
…
"You are interesting."
The dragon said before its claws tore through my body. The armor that I was wearing briefly halted its advance, only to be broken when a surge of mana ran through the claws.
I saw.
I saw.
It...
My body.
My legs.
My arms.
My blood sputtered out of the air.
…
"Fu…"
I exhaled in an attempt to calm down my beating heart.
It is not the time to be scared of those images. Right. I have something called falna now. Improving is much easier now. One day…
"I'll fucking kill him."
Muttering under my breath, I sprinted towards the 1st floor. It didn't pose any difficulty as my footwork is trained to an expert level. It is the key to me winning against one-versus-many fights in my memories.
I accidentally met gazes with some adventurers. They hastily averted theirs as a result.
Bloodlust.
That's right. With seven iterations of strenuous combat experience, my so-called bloodlust–malintent–is stronger than most people.
I'm sorry about that.
Soon, I reached a place without any people. Bluish rock walls are all over this place. A huge "pathway" is presented in front of me. Some sort of fungi also acts as a natural light source on the ceiling.
Krrr-!
An entity came out of the dungeon wall. With a dog head, it is over 120 centimeters tall. It doesn't have any weapons, but its sharp claws gave off a glint under the artificial light.
Hm…
Let's go first, then.
Tap-!
I made huge leaps one after another.
Shiing-!
Unsheathing my sword, I held it some distance away from my body; it is in a semi-diagonal position. After that—
Pssshk-!
I felt the sharp edge of the blade cut through the kobold's neck. The momentum from my charge and the rotation of my body gave it enough force to instantly kill it.
"It's… this?"
It is surprisingly weak. Even the goblins that I fought from the outside are way better than them.
Thud.
A few moments later, its corpse made a soft noise as it contacted the ground. Circling the tip of my blade, I easily carved its chest and reached out to the glistening transparent stone.
The moment it separated their bodies, it turned to black ashes.
"Magic stone…"
I picked it up before activating the magic embedded into my bracelet. A small black circle was made out of empty air. Inside it is nothing but darkness.
After dropping it inside, I closed it once more.
"I need to go further."
*****
"Huff…"
After what I consider a moderate exercise, I proceeded into the rock hallway. I am currently on the 4th floor.
The deeper I went, the more often monsters spawned en mass. Even so, they're still weak. Most of the monsters in here are Level 1, which explains everything.
"Around 365…"
I kept track of every single monster that fell from my blade. Though, I found out a disturbing fact.
How are adventurers not as rich as I have thought?
Keep this in mind. Someone like me could earn more than 10 magic stones per encounter. Subtracting the travel and resting time, there's still the possibility of making more than 5,000 valis every day.
Then again, this idea is hard to put into reality. Many factors could affect dungeon prowling. Being conservative is also the norm in this world.
People are not machines.
Surprisingly, I retained most of my energy. Perhaps, it is due to my trained body before I acquired falna.
I did not use any kind of magic; merely my physical skills are enough to overwhelm them.
"Finally…"
After descending into another pathway, I found myself surrounded by brown rocks. Green light illuminated the pathways present in this area.
Immediately, a horde of giant brown lizards emerged from the dungeon walls as if to greet me.
"Bite attacks… Not that bad."
One of them tried to charge at me with their mouth open. Using this opening, I pointed the tip of my blade in the direction of his approaching mouth.
Pssshk-!
A clean hit. My blade is long enough to pierce its brain, instantly killing it in one blow.
Three lizards circled me as I killed their companion. The one at my back charged at me.
Tap-!
I leaped into the air before initiating a backflip. Now, the tip of my boots is directed towards its head.
Puchi-!
The metallic boots dug deep into its head, turning its brain into mush. Green fluid stained my boots, but I paid no heed.
Pssss-!
I swung my sword towards my right. I felt the sensation of digging deep into its skin.
Bam-!
The final lizard tackled me, only to be met by my armguards. I caught its head and locked its mouth.
I was pushed back a couple of meters. The moment I regained my balance, I held it tightly in my arm before piercing its throat.
Blood filled my sight. When I searched for the one that I cut, I saw its bleeding corpse not far away from me.
After scanning my surroundings with 'correspondence', I took the magic stones, turning the corpses into black ashes. What was left are their drop items—a set of sharp claws.
Monsters and exploration.
This is what happens the most inside a dungeon. Ambushes are also frequent—be they monsters of fellow adventurers. I didn't experience the latter, but the former. The lizards that I dispatched at the entrance of the 5th floor are exactly like the ones on the 2nd-4th floor. They would suddenly appear on the ceiling before dropping down with a vicious attack. If not for my sensitivity to malintent, I would have had a harder time inside.
Hence, solo play is impossible on the deeper floors. Logistics and maintenance are one thing, but you wouldn't even be able to rest properly. Of course, I could rest everywhere due to my experiences.
"There are no spawn points."
I guess this dungeon doesn't have the convenient spawn point function that easily takes you to a certain floor.
Slowly, I trod my path. Sounds of fighting are present now and then, but I chose not to meddle with them. From the sounds of it, these parties are fighting well enough.
The 6th floor, 7th floor, 8th floor…
With my techniques and tactics, I didn't have any trouble as I passed through each floor. The only this is that the higher I went, the lower my errors should be.
By the time I felt my "boost" disappeared, I am now on the 10th floor. It has a forest landscape, with trees surrounding my position. White mist enveloped this area, blocking the vision of any adventurer on this floor.
"It's already daytime?"
With the enhancements from my skill, the lost stamina, Mana, and Mind (mental energy) I spent quickly recovered. In short, I am in my optimized for battle.
Sou-!
My ears caught wind of the movement in my back. Malintent is also detected by my senses. Without even waiting to see the attacker, I slashed diagonally, cutting down the mist along with it.
Kyuu-!
A dying squeal resounded moments after the sensation of cutting something. It is soft, unlike the previous monsters that I have encountered.
When the mist dispersed, I saw a bleeding white rabbit. It didn't take a while before it turned into a magic stone.
Just as I was about to pick it up, another small silhouette sprang up.
Sou-!
I thrust my blade into that position.
Pssshk-!
At the end of it, I found another white rabbit struggling to get out of it. Stimulating the magic in the blade, a small light ray shot out, creating a gaping hole in its body.
After collecting the two magic stones, I continued on my journey.
"It should be time."
Just as I had expected, an arrow was shot at my back.
Clang-!
It was deflected by the breastplate that I am wearing. I am pushed back by a meter or two before I was besieged by two human silhouettes.
Prompting the magic embedded into my blade, two swords are projected above our heads. They have the same design as my longsword, but they're all created purely by mana.
Sou-!
Sou-!
The two sword mirages descended into this place, piercing the two attackers who had already lunged at me. As they felt the pain in their chest, they lost their momentum.
Chills were sent down to my body—something brought upon by the incongruency of my body and mind.
In my mind, I am someone who fought hundreds of battles.
In reality, I am just a normal twelve-year-old whose hobby is innovating.
Even so—
Slash-!
The crescent light summoned forth by my strike decapitated both of them in one go. Blood didn't come flying across my face due to how burnt their muscles are.
"Huff… huff…"
A paralyzing sensation took over my body. My joints stiffened as the two bodies—now corpses—made a thud to the ground.
Their looks overlapped with the ones in my memories.
The independent Jujutsushis whom I clashed with died under the barrage of my magic.
The innocent people who are living their life who got it ended due to a supernatural phenomenon.
The sea of corpses all around the Magician's Association that was brought forth by the dragon's descent.
…
I have already experienced this so many times, so why now?
Irrelevant thoughts filled my mind. But, what was important is that…
"I won't falter."
I proceeded at the adventurer in hiding.
*****
An easy prey.
That was how they saw that adventurer. With strength that does not exceed Level 2, he is alone as he prowled into the dungeon. They first met on the 9th floor, when one of their friends—an appraiser—saw the unusual sword that he wielded.
"...Shit."
He saw how it easily cut through the Killer Ant's neck. A wave of light flew out of the blade's tip, eviscerating three ants in one go.
It didn't take long before the small horde of Killer Ants was mowed down by him.
"A magic sword."
"Huh?"
"That's a magic sword!" His companion bellowed.
Magic sword. Simply put, these are swords that are imbued with magic. Their raw power doesn't depend on the user but on their maker. The better the skills of the smith, the stronger the magic sword would be.
One major characteristic it has is its capability to cast magic without any preparation time. No chants are needed as all you need to do is will it.
Such items go for hundreds of thousands of valis at the bare minimum. If it has excellent performance, a few million valis would do.
For these people who want nothing but Valis, it is the best gold mine they could ever ask for—
A lone Level two, with nothing but a weapon and some items in his possession. He's also tired as he fought for hours.
Things should've been over in an instant. Yet—
Psshuk-!
What met their vision were their bodies. Moments later, their perception was cut off.
The others who are using the fog as a cloak notice this oddity.
Sou-! Sou-! Sou-!
A flurry of arrows shot from crossbows aimed at the person in the center. He was surrounded by many projectiles, leaving no blind spots behind.
Shiing-!
Shiing-!
Two bright flashes elicited their attention. There, they saw it. The curved light cut through the arrows from the tip to its end.
"Dividus Projectus." (Dispersed Projectiles)
A magic circle lit up behind him. Four red rays of light came out of it before it speeded through the mist.
'There.'
After deducing the position of the archers, Nobu led the rays of light in it.
Bam-!
Bam-!
Bam-!
Bam-!
Sounds of rocks exploding rang into his ears. Having roughly the same intensity as half a hand grenade, it is deafening to normal people.
By the time he reached the place, three corpses greeted his sight. One of them has a huge hole in their head, brain matter spilling out onto the floor. The other two had their heart and chest pierced, mangling their internal organs.
Such a disgusting sight did not make him flinch. He only froze briefly before finding the last attacker.
"H-h-h-h-h-h…!"
He was hyperventilating. His entire right arm was separated into his body, leaving a trail of blood. White fragments–assumed to be his bone–stuck out of it. The man's eyes widened as he saw the adventurer that they were targeting.
"Y-y-y-y–y-y…"
He could not even make out his words. His heart thumped loudly as he recalled the light that instantly killed his comrades.
The eyes of the murderer oozed out with unrestrained bloodlust.
"Coming at you with your defenses low… It worked again."
The future Nobus in his memories often did this to survive. He would not hesitate to let go of a small opening just so he could live. The ones in his memories did not have access to his cheats, which explains the desperation.
"This is displeasing…"
While uttering a complaint, he finished off the last survivor with a swift decapitation strike.
*****
My hands are slightly shaking. I felt slightly cold despite no wind brushing past my skin. I had killed them cleanly enough to not stain my outfit.
Just like the future I's.
Magicians do not kill each other due to an unspoken rule, thus most of my kills have something to do with Jujutsushis and other Superpower holders. It just happens. I shouldn't have had any intersections with them, but a single decision led to our clashes.
I am stained with blood in my memories.
'This isn't something… a normal twelve-year-old would do.'
My cheat is both a blessing… and a curse. If I cannot hold myself together, I am better off without it.
"Why did it sound so easy in fiction…"
The burden that came upon every cheat weren't stated in most works. I do wonder why is it like that, though.
I decided to check out the items that they have brought. A few thousand valis that weren't of any worth, several weapons, and so on.
"I'm breaking every single rule known to adventurers."
Desecrating the dead is an ethical taboo in Orario. It robs the deceased adventurers of their final pride and honor as they are devoured by the dungeon. Still, I say it does not apply to the adventurers just now.
"Huh..?"
A shiny jewel found itself in my hand. It does not have any transparent or translucent properties that most jewels have. It is similar to a magic stone, yet it is not.
"Interesting."
With 'Correspondence', I found out its information. More than 30 in Mohs score while having a 1,000 malleability score. What was interesting, however, is that it has a Mana Preservation rate of 89%.
Definitely a material for magic tools.
"One small step towards improvement."
I murmur as I set my sights on the higher floors.