Chapter 33: Undead
I got rid of a large amount of clay and replenished my MP.
"Um, Doll-san?"
The one who brought up the question that everyone was curious about was, of course, Beth.
Well, it's understandable.
Beth was wearing a crimson robe adorned with intricate patterns, either as a magician's preference or because it had some magical effect, over the leather armor provided. And standing right in front of us was a woman dressed exactly the same.
She's giving us an intense glare with a more furrowed brow than usual, to say the least.
"Uh, how should I put it... With that skill of hers, when she changes her outfit, it seems to come with corresponding abilities or something..."
Please don't expect much from my explanatory skills.
I stuttered and clumsily explained to the gathered comrades about the ability I acquired through leveling up called "Costume Transformation," incorporating my own speculations.
Maybe if I imitate the attire of a specific job and transform, I can acquire some of that job's abilities to a certain extent?
That's what I thought, so at that time, I temporarily shrank Lina and made her disappear from sight, imagined Beth, and performed the "Costume Transformation," and then...
"I instructed them to launch a surprise attack when Laroque moves, taking advantage of the opening in the enemy's magic shield and circling around in the opposite direction to perform a magic attack."
That's what I told them.
By the way, I couldn't predict what would happen to the ceramic armor that Lina had been wearing when I transformed her into a smaller size, but it seems like it was automatically stored in my item box. It's convenient.
"You thought it through quite well," Karina praised.
"Can't you think about things other than perverted stuff?" Laroque-san, please stop. You had gained some favorability with me...
However, it seems that although she can use magic, the power of Lina's spells seems to be lower than Beth's.
"Can you use any other spells?"
"No, I can only think of 'Fire,'" Lina replied.
Curious, I used the identification skill on Lina to see.
Spell: "Fire"> The information is scarce. "'Fire' is a spell that magicians can use at Level 1," Beth said while pondering. "In that case, it means she becomes Level 1 in that job," Cecily tilted her head in confusion. "Since I can't see the level display, maybe there is no level to begin with..." I revealed my thoughts. "If that's the case, it could mean that she only possesses the abilities that come with that job's initial level," Karina nodded in agreement. "Even so, it's reassuring to have more members who can use magic." "Oh, Princess, is the first spell that priests learn...?" I voiced my idea. "The level 1 spell? It's 'Purification.' It's considered the basic duty of a holy person to cleanse the impurities of evil." "Can she become a priest too?" Cecily asked, so I let her "change clothes." I momentarily forgot that she would be naked. Why is everyone looking at me with condemning eyes...? Lina, dressed in attire similar to Karina's, looked at herself with a somewhat complex expression. "The armor doesn't fit..." Ah, especially the chest area seems loose. How are the sizes of equipment determined? Rather than transforming into a priest, I was more conscious of Karina, so maybe the sizes didn't fit Lina's delicate figure? It's a mystery. But it's not my fault, right? Such a waste of favorability... "Lina, can you perform purification?" "On Shiro's heart? It's impossible, isn't it?" Not that! Please, everyone, don't agree with that. Gathering myself, I had Lina try to "purify" the remains of an orc magic warrior. It didn't go as smoothly as Karina would do it. There were several moments when a faint light flickered, and then the orc's body gradually turned hazy, eventually transforming into a magic stone. At the same time, I felt a sensation of the barrier breaking along with a rumble, and the ground of the floor began to sink. We hurriedly collected the magic stone and rushed back to the entrance. Taking a breath, Karina explained to me the process of Lina's purification. "It's said that the higher the level of the monster, the more difficult it is to purify." I see. So, even though Lina has become a priest, she only has minimal power. I wonder if she can level up through gaining experience. Even so, it can reduce Karina's burden in purifying weak enemies. Although I feel like I'm consuming my MP to make Lina work, I don't know which option is more beneficial overall. *** Larouque found another treasure chest, unlocked it with her skill, and once again discovered some gold dust and gemstones. It seems like defeating the lord of the labyrinth guarantees these rewards. After that, we descended to the third underground level by lowering the rope. Well, even before landing, there was a disturbing atmosphere. This is... the stench of death. A chamber-like place formed by the collapse from the upper level. And in one corner, there's a cave leading to the labyrinth of this level. From its depths, numerous presences are approaching. "This is a group of undead," Larouk said before voicing the information she had scouted. I think everyone had already sensed it. In RPGs, it's a common occurrence, a type of moving corpse monster. Zombies, ghouls, skeletons, skeletal warriors, and such. They were slowly emerging from the holes, dragging their feet as if completely unaware. One after another, incessantly. How many of them are there? According to my mapping skill, I can only display the area visible inside the cave, but the red dots keep appearing beyond that range without interruption. Even from a distance, their decaying figures were obvious. They were like zombies. Larouk quickly shot an arrow at the one in the lead, but it remained firmly stuck in its head as it nonchalantly continued coming toward us. Beth unleashed a swirling flame with her area-of-effect magic. Some of them caught fire, but they continued walking, emitting only the foul stench of burnt flesh. She narrowed down the flames to increase their power, missing a few times, but eventually scored a direct hit on one, finally reducing it to ashes. However, it consumed a considerable amount of MP, and Beth was breathing heavily. Greon casually approached the zombies and swiftly cut off their heads as an experiment, yet they still advanced, trying to grab him. "Purification!" As soon as she said that, the zombies spasmed, ceased their movements, and turned into sand. "Thank you, Kareena-sama. You saved me," Greon turned around and thanked Kareena, who had followed behind him. "We can't afford to be surrounded!" Cecily's voice prompted us to back away to where we had lowered the ropes and form a semicircle formation. Since the enemy's movements were slow, we could escape. However, although the purification spell can be used in this way, its range is short, requiring close proximity. And it can only eliminate one at a time. I created a clay wall that surrounded everyone up to neck height, blocking the approaching undead horde. Both Kareena and Lina, who had just learned purification, used it to eliminate one zombie at a time. Those trying to climb over the wall were repelled by our frontline warriors' swords. It seemed endless. We were outnumbered, unable to defend against them all. "We're retreating! Beth, you go first, and provide support from above with your magic." Kareena issued instructions while continuously using purification. For the powerless Beth, climbing the rope took time. "Shiro, you don't need to worry about attacking, just make sure the zombies can't get in!" "Understood." I ignored securing my field of vision and quickly created a clay wall over four meters high, enclosing the area once again. It's tough, my MP is running out. There were already three zombies and ghouls that had entered. Karina and Lina purified two zombies, but the remaining ghoul, despite being pierced by Larouk's short sword, continued to attack. Greon kicked it down, but Larouk, who was only lightly grabbed by the arm, fell to her knees. Karina stood up and eliminated the one that Larouk had attacked. "Larouk!" Cecily embraced her, but her face looked pale and her pupils were dilated. "Is it poison?" "No, it's 'purification'!" Karina rushed over and chanted purification towards Larouk once again. A blue light slowly enveloped her body, and her complexion clearly improved. So, they can use it like this too. She also chanted 'healing' to restore her stamina. "...Ah, thanks, Karina-sama." "Undead attacks are said to be a kind of curse, so if we don't purify them, the fatigue is hard to recover from." At that moment, Beth, who had already climbed up, could be seen casting magic outside the wall from above. Beth's voice reached the party's minds directly. It seems to be a new skill or spell called "telepathy." (Zombies have gathered tightly around the wall and started climbing. Hurry up and come up!) "Larouk, are you okay?" "Yeah, no problem." Although she looked a bit exhausted, Larouk, whose complexion returned to normal, said that and equipped her short sword and backpack. She grabbed the rope with one hand and agilely climbed the steep slope while remaining vigilant of her surroundings. Next, it was my turn to climb after storing Karina, Cecily, and Lina, and finally, Greon climbed up. Once we pulled up the rope, Karina gave a signal, and I dispelled the clay wall and reabsorbed the MP. At the same time, the zombies swarming the wall rushed forward, attempting to climb the steep slope. The ground beneath them collapsed, and it seemed impossible for them to climb up, but they piled on top of each other, using each other as stepping stones, gradually making their way up. They're getting close. Beth fiercely unleashed flames, depleting her MP rapidly. Indeed, the leading group of zombies was incinerated, and the remaining ones slowed down. In that opening, we hurriedly returned to the crack in the Worm's exoskeleton. This is the narrowest point. Using the recovered MP, I built a clay wall here and finally took a breather.