"Hey," Ami called as she approached Van, who was walking deeper into the cave alongside Unicus and Arnolt.
"What's 'Hard Swing'?" she asked, drawing everyone's attention.
"...It's just the skill's name," Van replied casually.
"Then why did you shout it?" Ami raised an eyebrow.
"Because it has more strength that way," Van said flatly.
"Really?" she pressed, her expression skeptical.
"No, not really. I just like shouting it. It's the same effect either way," Van admitted with a smirk.
"Hmmm!" Ami pouted at his teasing.
Van chuckled internally as his thoughts drifted. '...Right. Shouting a skill name is just how Magus and I used active skills. It's not necessary; focusing intently works just as well. But for the residents of this world, their methods are different—they rely on calculations and precise manipulation of mana in their bodies to invoke a skill. Summoners, though, have it easy. They just communicate with spirits and give commands...Hmm...I wonder...'
Van's gaze narrowed as he opened his status window, scanning it thoughtfully.
'All my stats are sealed to 500. If worst comes to worst, I'll have to fight this enemy like this. But my Intelligence is at 50 now, and my Mana is at 200, thanks to the [Seed of Darkness] passive. Still, I haven't gained a single new active skill besides [Hard Swing] and [Summon] for the Guardian of Wind. So...'
...Could I learn a new skill if I mastered mana manipulation the way they do?
"Brat," Arnolt's voice interrupted Van's musings. "Who gave you that armor and sword? Really?" His single eye scrutinized Van with a sharp stare.
Van blinked, shaking his head to refocus. "Ah, a dwarf I came across gave them to me as a gift."
"Did he now...?" Arnolt's tone was laden with curiosity.
"Yeah," Van nodded. "He said they were just gathering dust, and I needed curse-negating gear. It worked out."
"Hmph. Just gathering dust, huh? And where exactly did you meet this dwarf?" Arnolt asked, scratching his beard.
Van hesitated. '...At a prison. I broke him out after getting thrown in myself for proposing to the Dwarven Matriarch. She was short but gorgeous. If she'd had green skin, she'd have looked like one of those goblin wives from comics. When I told him that after we broke out, he laughed for hours, then gave me the armor and sword as thanks for the entertainment. Called me a desperate idiot and left shortly after.'
'...Yeah, maybe I should keep that part to myself,' Van thought, shaking his head. 'I'll just be blunt with him and say I don't feel like sharing. Dwarves appreciate if you're straight with them.'
"I'm not comfortable sharing," Van finally said.
"...??????" Arnolt tilted his head, his brow furrowed, before narrowing his gaze in suspicion. "Did ya' fuck him for that armor and sword? Wouldn't be far-fetched," he asked bluntly, drawing everyone's attention.
"ARNOLT!! That's enough! He said he wasn't comfortable with it!" Unicus nearly erupted, glaring at the dwarf.
Van sighed, feeling their suspicious gazes burn into him. 'Right. However blunt you think dwarves are, they're ten times that.' He rubbed the places where his temples would be beneath his helmet. 'Maybe I should reveal a little to clear the misunderstanding...'
"I'm not comfortable," Van repeated, "but it's because it was a... uhm, a difficult time for me. We met at a prison," he emphasized.
"Ah, that explains it..." Arnolt clicked his tongue thrice, lowering his gaze in pity. "A dwarf's libido isn't to be underestimated when someone catches their fancy. No need to be ashamed, brat. We've all done shameless things for gold and armor. And in whatever prison you may have been, the sorest of the bunch are always located there." He shook his head solemnly, entirely misunderstanding.
"ARNOLT, STOP IT!" Unicus yelled, exasperated.
"Wait, that's not what I mea—" Van tried to explain, but Ami's sympathetic voice cut him off.
"Oh, Van..." Ami leaned into him, patting his armor gently. "You poor thing!"
"No, Ami, wait—it isn't like that, I—"
"Hmph. Might explain your shitty attitude, then," Savathon muttered, crossing her arms and looking away in discomfort. "I suppose I'll let you off the hook for your behavior earlier."
"You are misunderstandi—"
"I must apologize, then," Vaelthir interjected, his tone solemn. "I was insensitive with my insults and assumptions. Even if you are merely human, you deserve an apology." He nodded stiffly, avoiding Van's gaze.
Van froze as Sylva's pitying gaze softened, her eyes brimming with sympathy. '...Poor thing. To think he endured such horrors just for armor and a weapon... Pair that with being that womanizer's son... I suppose that's why he chases women. A desperate attempt to reclaim himself and forget the terrible acts forced upon him...'
"FOR THE LOVE OF—You're all SERIOUSLY misunderstanding somethin—" Van erupted, only to feel Unicus's firm hand settle on his shoulder.
"It's okay, Van," Unicus said gently, a soft smile on his face. Van turned to him, half-hopeful he'd finally clear things up.
"You don't have to share anything you don't want to. You're safe here... Relatively speaking, haha."
Van stared at him blankly beneath his helmet. '...Motherfucker.'
"Wait, so then, how old are you?" Sylva finally asked, recalling how young he had looked yesterday.
"I—"
"Shh!" Unicus hissed, signaling them to stop.
The group froze, hiding behind a large boulder in the suffocating darkness. Moments later, a figure emerged from the shadows.
A burning skeleton.
Unicus grimaced, his jaw tightening, his palm clenching into a fist.
"Unicus...?" Sylva murmured, noting his grim expression.
"Van," Unicus said after a deep breath, ignoring Sylva. "I want you to look." He gestured for Van to come closer, urging him to peek over the rock.
"That is the enemy," he said gravely.
Van narrowed his eyes, studying the figure.
'A flaming skeleton... Carrying... a wand?' His brow furrowed.
"That used to be a mage. A spellcaster," Unicus muttered.
"...You knew them?" Van asked, his tone careful.
"Her. Yes. I did..." Unicus admitted, his voice trailing off. The group exchanged pitying glances, but he quickly shook himself, his resolve hardening.
"When we were in this dungeon, we slayed hundreds, but they all reassembled themselves. Each piece was surrounded by flames, gradually rising and reconstructing the skeleton," he said briskly. "Afterwards, I ran it through my head thousands of times—how to beat them."
"So, how do we kill them for good?" Sylva pressed.
"My theory is we try to suffocate the flame. That mage once fired a water spell at... someone." He hesitated, his voice faltering before continuing. "It weakened the flame a little, but it didn't work. My guess is that water spells dissipate too quickly to snuff the fire entirely. So, our focus should be on taking away the air."
"I see." Savathon nodded, "In which case, I shall use my leather cloth to suffocate it!"
Savathon muttered to Unicus, earning a nod of approval.
"WARRI—" Savathon started to step out from their hiding spot, but Vaelthir sprang into action, clamping a hand over the dragonkin's mouth and squeezing his beak-like snout shut.
"Myoum Bastardm mwhatmwaremyou—" Savathon struggled against Vaelthir's grip, but the elf held firm.
"Shh." Vaelthir whispered, dragging Savathon back into cover just as the skeleton scanned the area, oblivious to their movement.
"Vaelthir...?" Sylva tilted her head, puzzled by his sudden action.
"Think about it," Vaelthir said, glancing at each of them before peeking cautiously at the skeleton.
"A mage controlling skeletons? What makes you think that taking one down won't alert the mage to our location?"
Van followed Vaelthir's logic quickly. The dragonkin's eyes widened in realization.
"We'd be overrun," Sylva whispered.
'...That elf has good intuition,' Van thought, his gaze shifting to a concerned Ami.
'I can't afford to be overrun. Not with her here.'
"... Right. I hadn't considered that," Unicus admitted, frowning deeply.
"It's fine," Vaelthir said calmly, releasing Savathon's snout.
"We have to stealth our way through. Find the source... It will be near impossible," Vaelthir said, addressing the group. "I suggest the thief and I handle it alone while the rest of you hold the fort here. We'll locate the mage, return to inform you of their position, and then we strike together."
He glanced around at the group, his tone calm yet confident. "As an archer with delicate, silent steps, I'm the most suited for this task. And the thief with us is likely specialized for stealth, correct?"
After a moment's hesitation, the group nodded reluctantly.
"...What if you run into trouble?" Unicus asked, breaking the silence.
"Then we will—..." Vaelthir began, but his voice faded into the background as Van turned his attention elsewhere.
The group continued discussing the plan, nearly ready to send Vaelthir and Ami off. But Van, recalling Vaelthir's earlier comment about the cave's fragile ceiling, fixated on the cavern around them.
'Caverns are delicate, aren't they...? Falling debris in caverns can also happen naturally, right?' he thought. Dropping prone, he pressed his helmeted head to the ground, tuning out the chatter around him.
His superior perception allowed him to focus on the vibrations within the cave. Two specific sounds stood out, faint but distinct.
One is the sound of multiple, light footsteps marching around the cavern, likely of the skeletons...
... And a crushing noise; of something falling and hitting the ground with a loud thud.
After a few moments, he opened his eyes, stood swiftly, and turned to face the group.
"...Then, miss, are you ready—" Vaelthir began.
"Wait," Van interjected.
"...What is it? We must not waste time," Vaelthir replied, his expression tight with urgency.
"I know." Van nodded before turning to Unicus. "Unicus, how many skeletons are in this cavern? A rough estimate."
"...Hm... Over a thousand. Maybe more," Unicus replied cautiously, the group exchanging worried glances.
Van's gaze shifted to Vaelthir. "Then there are likely even more in the deeper parts of the cave."
"Yes...?" Vaelthir questioned, tilting his head. "So...?"
"In a cavern this vast, debris naturally falls from the ceiling over time," Van explained, pointing upward. "Rocks, sometimes large ones. It's not uncommon for caves like this to have areas where debris accumulates. Who's to say some of those rocks haven't crushed skeletons, suffocating their flames in the process? If that's true, their forces would have gaps. Poor management, especially if someone invades. And with over a thousand skeletons here, it's likely several have already been neutralized this way."
Vaelthir narrowed his eyes, studying Van's reasoning. "You make a valid point," he admitted, though his tone carried a hint of skepticism. "But that's an assumption. How do you know those skeletons aren't retrieved and rebuilt just as quickly?"
Van gestured to the ground. "I don't. But I felt something—a heavy thud when I listened earlier. It could have been a falling rock crushing one of them. And if that's true, the mage controlling them can't manage them all at once. There are too many."
'He heard something falling...? Something even I didn't hear...?' Ami and Vaelthir both shared the same thought.
'Impossible...! He's talking out of his ass…!' Vaelthir thought, about to object, but then recalled Van's earlier prowess and reluctantly held his tongue.
Arnolt scratched his beard, frowning. "Hmm. So yer sayin' it's a gamble?"
"Everything in a dungeon is a gamble," Van countered. "But this one makes sense. If we test the theory, we can confirm if it works without alerting the whole cavern."
Vaelthir hesitated, pressing his lips into a thin line. Finally, he asked, "That's fine and everything, but what do you even suggest we do to test your theory, Hellix?" His tone remained sharp, skepticism and suspicion laced in every word. "If you're suggesting we mimic a collapse, then—"
"—I know," Van interrupted smoothly. "That skeleton would likely notice any attack aimed at the cavern ceiling—an arrow, a spell—and alert the nearby skeletons before it's crushed."
Vaelthir's eyes narrowed slightly at the interruption, but he said nothing. Savathon, arms folded, listened intently.
"Then..."
"Rather, we mimic the effect a falling boulder would have on the skeleton—just take away the air," Van suggested, his voice calm but deliberate.
"...But how?" Unicus asked, his tone tinged with both hope and uncertainty.
Van paused, deep in thought.
'It really is a bet,' he admitted to himself, his gaze lingering on Ami.
'We know nothing about the mage. Unicus was here, and he knows practically squat, except a theory. Considering even I was sealed, this mage must be incredibly powerful... But it's the best bet I have.'
He then murmured softly, "[Summon], come forth, Guardian of Wind."