XV

Dungeon

『S-Day +99』

『Dungeon Guild – Guild Leader's Office』

“Explain to me exactly why you went and killed the 3rd son of the Vaticania family?” asked a very strong looking man.

A few seconds after I placed the heads of the bandits and spoke with the receptionist at the counter, a group of guards surrounded Alicia and I. What had surprised us the most was that the guards spoke calmly and without hostility. I nearly did not take notice of them because 「Vigilance」 did not go off. They eventually talked us into speaking with the guild leader and lead us into his office where we sat now.

“Well, you can ask the witnesses about it, but those 3 men violated the sacred law that even the gods adhere to of not cutting in line. Ever. When we… encouraged them to move to the back, they simple drew their weapons and attacked us.” I truthishfully reported.

“There was no choice but to kill them. We had to protect ourselves after all. Self-defense.” Alicia added in, also truthishfully.

“Do you not understand the severity of this issue? You murdered-” started the guild leader.

“Killed, in self-defense, there is a difference.” I interrupted the man.

“You both killed him and two of his party members. This is a serious problem. The Vaticanii family is the patron of this city, if the name was not evident enough.” despite the calm demeanor of the guild leader, he was very upset and quite nervous for some reason. “They will want your heads for this insult. And since neither of you are registered to the guild, we can offer no protection. It would be best for both of you to leave this city.”

“Not possible, we came here to train within the dungeon. We will not be leaving anytime soon.” Alicia spoke obstinately, I agreed with her.

“Are there no rules protecting non-members from actions by guild members?” I asked, annoyed that we would be blamed for some idiot's actions. “If members are allowed to threaten and/or attack non-members, then it is no wonder the Ossians are winning this war and why we were forced into this world. Useless people are too scared to fight monsters that they would rather harm other humans.”

“It's disgusting how cowardly you barbarians are.” Alicia added.

“Are you a guild leader or just a puppet for the Vaticanii? Do your job.” I ended up antagonizing him in an attempt to snap him out of being a god damned pissant.

It took some time, a few hours of bickering, but he finally did find his balls. He ended up relenting on allowing us to register with the guild. Mostly because of Alicia. I am not sure, but I think she threatened him a few times.

The registration portion was done in the guild leader's office. The appraisal plate that the guild leader had was a stripped down version of the one I had used before. It simply showed our names, affiliation and rank.

Name:

Naoki Kuroba

Affiliation:

Kuroba Clan

Ranks:

Mage Rank: Level 5 – Sorcerer

Adventurer Rank: Level 2 – Explorer

Alchemist Rank: Level 2 – Analyst

Apothecary Rank: Level 1 – Potionist

Name:

Alicia Tachibana-Kuroba

Affiliation:

Kuroba Clan

Ranks:

Mage Rank: Level 5 – Sorceress

Adventurer Rank: Level 4 – Wayfarer

Even if we are unaffiliated or registered with guilds, we still gain rank… somehow. My adventurer rank has not changed, but Alicia outranked me as she was much better at stalking-

《!》

-as she was much better at exploring and mapping out areas.

We are also the same mage rank, which means she managed to learn other types of magic. Though I have not seen her using any magic other than her floaty swords. Not only that, her name shows up as 'Kuroba' meaning we really are married.

Holy shit, I have a wife… 2 wives? Oh damn, what does that mean for Saya and Illyria? I need to get some rings.

Afterward, we were guided back outside to the reception counter to learn the functions of the dungeon. It happened to be the same receptionist we had met that was tasked with giving us the information. Since we were already at the counter when the guards showed up to interrupt us, we were allowed to be placed in the front of the line. We did not jump the queue. We simply resumed our queue. Everything was coptic.

“Is coptic the right word?” I asked Alicia.

“Copacetic.” she corrected me.

“Close enough.”

Before the receptionist started with the dungeon introductions, she gave us 3 silver denarii for turning in the bandits. Since they actually were related to a strong family, I did not press the issue. But 3 denarii for 3 bandit heads was bullshit.

“N-now for how dungeons work,” began the receptionist with a hint of nervousness, “no one knows who built it or when, but it has always existed since before the tribes had unified. Ancient magics allow the dungeon to function deep underground. Walls that are damaged will repair over a short period of time. Air and water flows to ensure life can be sustained.”

She droned on and on about how every thing works and how everything is organized. The walls cannot be replicated as there are no visible runes or any obvious magic which can be detected. Only an assumption that it is a magic-sustained wall. This also includes the floors and ceiling.

There are 20 levels or that is to say there are 20 types of dungeons which may or may not have multiple floors. It is divided into 2 types of 10 each: Labyrinths and Mazes. Even though it basically means the same thing. Behind the reception counter were 4 rows of multiple panels, 2 rows were labeled I-X. The numbers were also either lit or unlit. Lit meaning there were active creatures roaming around and unlit meaning it was devoid of anything.

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

☠

☠

☠

☠

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

☠

☠

☠

☠

Beneath the numbered panels were panels that would show an image if a dungeon was active. The images were surprisingly modern and showed the various types of creatures that were inside the dungeon. The receptionist had no idea how it works as it 'has always been here'.

Levels I through IV are a single corridor type. Each corridor leads to a main room which contains a magical treasure chest. Monsters and ossians spawn at random. Levels V through VIII uses split corridors that lead to a single treasure room. The lengths of each split corridor varies and can wind around using bends and inclines. Level IX increases the number of corridors and adds a lower floor. Level X was 3 or more floors. No one knows as it is the most active and dangerous of the labyrinths.

Mazes are more interesting as I-V were a single floor, which gets larger with successive levels, that had dead ends and multiple treasure rooms. Level VI increases by 1 floor and VII by 2. Levels VIII, IX and X remain fully unexplored and have an unknown amount of floors. Monsters have been known to create nests or even bases in random areas and dead ends.

There are also 'safe rooms' which have various amenities to take refuge in, but because it is a favorable location, many monsters and ossians make us of it as well.

“When sir adventurer comes across a treasure chest, it is advisable to not make any attempts to discover its secrets. There is a magic that causes harm to those that do so.” warned the receptionist.

The treasure chest was described as providing random loot when one places their hand to be identified. It made me think of the Synthesis mechanic of our Grimoire.

I want to attempt to discover its secret.

When she finally finished explaining everything to us in excruciating detail, of which I was pretty sure I dozed off for a bit, we finally decided on entering a dungeon. As it so happens, Labyrinth Level I blinked on. We managed to get priority to explore it.

She handed me a small wooden card with a [I] on 1 side and the dungeon guild's insignia on the other. This was our permission token to present to the guards to enter the specified dungeon level.

Interestingly, no one has made any mention of my gun. Despite my crossbow causing people to flip their shit, no one cares about firearms. Or perhaps they thought it was some kind of magic.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Dungeon Hall』

Alicia and I left the lobby where we had entered. Instead of heading up toward the surface, we turned going down a long corridor. We passed through guarded doors which lead into a long corridor which lead to guarded doors which lead to another corridor to another guarded doors.

“How long have we been walking?” I asked no one in particular.

“Awhile, but I guess it makes sense. Have to prevent things from getting out.” Alicia answered as we continued walking.

As we passed each guarded door and corridor, we noticed that there would be peddlers squirreled away to the sides in the nooks and crannies of the corridor. It was wide enough for large groups of people to walk in without impeding others as well as having space for people to set up stalls.

Weapons, armor, magic stones, food, potions and even slaves were being peddled by hawkers. We would also pass the occasional adventurer group. Some were cheerful and some were gloomy. I think the coolest group we passed was a contubernium of 8 legionaries with blue shields. They looked pretty badass.

Once we passed through the main corridor, we found a very large chamber. In the center was a large fort called a castrum. Instead of wood, stone was used for the walls, towers and barracks. The chamber was lit by a mixture of magic stones, torches and bonfires. The scent of smoke and meat filled the air.

A few legionaries could be seen patrolling the top of the walls and inside the towers. 4 towers were placed at each corner of the castrum. Stationed inside the castrum was a centuria of soldiers, about 100, but had the capacity for a cohort, between 300-500. Only soldiers of the 13th legion were permitted entry.

Outside the castrum, adventurers and soldiers gathered and had tents and other amenities constructed. Drunks could be heard excited about their spoils while dead bodies were being mourned. Adventurers and soldiers alike practiced formations and drills. A few places had monsters being butchered and cooked…

“That pig monster over there… I think that's an orc. They are eating ossians. Fucking gross.” I whispered to Alicia when I saw an orc being spit-roasted.

“T-that isn't a… *hic* an orkoss,” interrupted a drunken man who happened to overhear me somehow. “You can't eat an orkoss! Pfft hahaha. That *hic* is a scrofoss and it is delicious!” the drunkard then staggered toward the pit roast.

After wandering a bit around the area and finding someone sober, I was able to find out the direction of our labyrinth. We managed to find the corridor to our labyrinth which was guarded by 2 men and, after presenting the token, was permitted to enter. The token was confiscated by the guard, presumably to return to the guild.

Our first foray into a dungeon begins now.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Labyrinth I』

Alicia and I passed through the doors which were promptly closed behind us. The corridor was dimly lit from torch sconces that were used by previous dungeon crawlers. We passed artificial obstacles in the form of narrow archways and wooden gates that were constructed to limit whatever spawned from attacking the doors. When we made it to the labyrinth proper, we noticed a few things.

The labyrinth was wide, very wide. I tried walking from 1 side to the other and counted about 10 meters. At least 3 cars could fit side by side by side. The height was… indeterminable. When I used my flashlight to see the ceiling, I could barely make it out. I was tempted to use my drone and find out, but I did not want to risk damaging it.

“Let's not draw this out, onii-chan. Once we clear this place I have something to tell you.” Alicia pulled my attention back to our mission.

We passed various things on the floor and walls. Bits of rocks and stones littered the ground, probably from earth mages. Small scraps of metal and splintered wood probably came from armor and weapons. Blood stains dried since long ago. All of this was illuminated by our flashlights.

When we reached a bend and could no longer see into the distance, we took caution. My back set against the right wall as I peeked my head around the corner, but saw nothing. We continued on.

We repeated this for a few minutes until we started to smell something. It was the putrid smell of something rotting.

“Over there.” Alicia pointed with her flashlight.

It was a small body on the opposite side of our wall. We saw some odd things moving around the body, but it was unclear what it was until we moved close to it. The body was childlike, probably a goblin or something. Its flesh was mostly gone and some of the bones were wearing away. The reason for it was probably due to the weird shit that was eating it.

Little blobs of breast implants were busily squiggling atop the corpse. There were 3 blobs of varying sizes. The largest was roughly the size of a soccer ball while the other 2 were the size of a softball and tennis ball. All 3 were a transparent green color and had a lumpy looking core inside their bodies. It looked just like a green mizu shingen mochi (raindrop cake). Next to the large one were little clumps of what looked like green fish roe.

A few flashes of light came from Alicia's camera. They paid no attention to us as they continued eating. Since they were preoccupied and did not seem bothered by our presence, I reached out and poked the small one on its side. It wobbled and pulsated a few times, but made no other reaction and remained in place.

I reached out once more and pinched it lightly. When it did not react, I fully palmed it. As I squeezed the blob, I noticed that it did not give off any slimy residue. The larger one glistened with slime, but I think that was due to it laying eggs or something. The blob was really soft and smooth and it reminded me of something, but I could not put my finger on it.

“Onii-chan, stop molesting the monster blob.” Alicia said, rudely.

Since the blobbies were not hostile, we left them to their devices. There were still things we needed to do. We came across more blobs and decayed corpses, but there was nothing else noteworthy.

The further we ventured into the labyrinth, the more lit it became. Faint light from 「Glow Stones」 were attached to the walls and gave off a bit more light than with just torches alone. Off in the distance we could hear something. Footsteps mixed with some weird grumbling voices could be clearly heard.

They saw the movement from our flashlights and their footsteps hastened. When they got into visual range, we could clearly see what they were. Goblins. Ugly little things that were less than a meter tall. We counted 5 charging toward us wielding small knives and spears and clothed in animal hide.

When they got into attack range, I launched a 《Wind Blade》at the lead goblin. The attack was only strong enough to deliver a slash onto the chest of the goblin. Alicia anticipated my target and launched a magic dagger onto the left goblin. Both fell forward causing a 3rd goblin behind them to trip. The last 2 goblins stopped their charge as the saw their comrades fall.

Alicia launched 2 daggers. 1 at the 3rd goblin and 1 at the 4th goblin while I sent a 《Wind Blade》 at the last goblin. When all 5 were on the ground, we stood still listening to any sounds of other monsters. No other sounds could be heard aside from some heavy breathing from the surviving goblins.

2 of the goblins hit by my wind spells were still alive, but just barely and 1 goblin attacked by Alicia was still alive. Our flashlights were fixed on the bodies as we approached with caution. Because it would be a cleaner kill, I asked Alicia to use her daggers to finish them off. Each one was stabbed in the neck or throat except for 1 that was not as injured.

The last goblin only had a leg injury from my wind spell. It had attempted dodging the 《Wind Blade》 only to have its leg cut just above its foot. However, the creature was no longer able to move as the force of the wind pushed it against the wall.

“I want to examine it.” I said to Alicia. She wasted no time and used more magic daggers to pin it to the ground. Into each shoulder and ankle.

“Gobu! Gaba gobu!” screamed the goblin in goblinese or some such garbage.

“Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?” I asked the goblin.

“Goba glabo!” the goblin screamed again.

Just as the book I had borrowed from whoever it was that had the books on ossians described, goblins were gross looking. They had either sand, gray, or green colored skin. Their limbs were lanky and thin, but very muscular in its thinness. Longish ears with large earlobes that seems to be adorned with earrings and gauges. Even its long nose had piercings. It is possible the more or more elaborate adornment meant a higher status.

Their scent was pungent. It gave off a smell that was reminiscent of a bag full of wet, week old gym socks. The smell also reminded me of a bag of flour thrown into a compost pile and left to ferment. It was overpowering and yeasty. Simply disgusting.

The mouth was large and wide with sharp, pointed teeth. I took the weapon laying next to the goblin which was a short spear with a sharpened piece of scrap metal tied to the end. With the spear, I placed it in its mouth and attempted to break one of its teeth. The goblin screamed in pain as I unsuccessfully tried to break off a tooth.

Probably not shark-like.

Lastly, the skin was thick. Using the spear to prod the body, it felt leathery and greasy. It took effort to drive the spear into its body. That explains why it was able to not be affect by m 《Wind Blade》. There was probably a natural or unnatural resistance toward certain spells. After more screaming, the goblin died.

“So what the hell kind of reference was that?” Alicia asked, once the goblin was confirmed dead.

“I liked that movie. It was one of the first ones I watched when I was living with my grandparents. Can you believe that town still had a VHS shop?” I answered her.

“That movie is older than we are.” she said while looking around the area.

“Is the area clear?” I asked Alicia, changing the subject.

“Yup, there's nothing else around.” she replied.

“Alright, this is a good time to take out our Gri… oh.” I saw she had her Grimoire already summoned and was using a couple of magic swords to drag a body to copy. I did the same, but used the spear.

〈Copied: Corpse – Goblin Male +5 Skill Points〉

〈Copied: Weapon – Goblin Spear +5 Skill Points〉

After I had copied the goblin, I put away my Grimoire as it was a bit too dark to see. Even though it has the ability to just float in the air, it was still annoying trying to turn the pages or to even have it sit still while I try placing something on it. I also did not want to sit down on the floor as who knows what has been soaked in it. The rest of the goblins was to be left where it was, but before I could step away, Alicia stopped me.

“Wait, there's the thing I want to tell you about,” Alicia came up to me and began to whisper in a low voice as if there would be eavesdroppers, “you see onii-chan, there's something you need to know. The thing is… I-”

☘ ☘ ☘

『Vaticano – Imperial Villa』

Saya and Illyria had spent most of the morning instructing the villa servants in collecting and labeling the various cuttings of the vineyards and plantations. With their tasks delegated to the servants, both girls awaited in the bedroom. Saya wore Naoki's headphones and was busily listening to music while Illyria was browsing through a spare tablet given to her by Alicia.

When the day passed, it was time to bathe.

“Sister Saya, master will not be here tonight. We should take this opportunity to cleanse ourselves.” Illyria approached Saya with a long, thin object in her hand.

Saya looked down and saw the small object and agreed. She turned and walked into the bath with Illyria following behind. After fully undressing, both girls cleansed their bodies using Naoki's body wash and shampoo before soaked in hot water. The water relaxed their bodies.

When they had finished soaking and removing themselves from the bath, Saya climbed atop a stone counter. As she lay on the counter top, Illyria poured and massaged warmed olive oil over Saya's body. Illyria's hands caressed every part of Saya's body to leave no area of skin uncovered.

Illyria then nudged Saya's legs apart. Her hands reached between the young girl's legs and gently touched her labia. This drew a slight moan from Saya as she remained still. Illyria saw that Saya was now ready and took the small object she had carried with her. She placed it against Saya's skin and looked at her face.

“Ready sister?” Illyria asked, to which Saya had nodded.

Quickly, Illyria squeezed the tool and moved it away.

“Ow!” shouted Saya as she felt the pain of the tool.

Illyria ignored her and repeated what she had done. Every bit of unwanted hair was removed from Saya with the tweezers that Illyria held. Her pubic area and around her anus, her legs, her arms, her back and her face all had hair removed.

When Illyria had completed her task, Saya washed her body with hot water then with cold water. The hot water washed away the oil and any blood that may have seeped out while the cold water dulled the sting of having her hair plucked. Illyria then waited atop the counter for Saya to do the same to her.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Labyrinth I』

“I've killed people before.” Alicia completed her confession after that weird interruption.

“I saw, it was cool how you launched a dagger into their throats.” I said while trying to avoid stepping on the goblin corpses.

“No, I mean I’ve killed 18 people and that includes the 2 upstairs.” she said that casually despite the nervousness in her voice. “That's only part of what I wanted to talk about. It's about our Grimoire. I found something I think we could exploit.”

As she said this, she took her Grimoire and pulled me in close. She also did this bullshit thing of using a bunch of her magic daggers to hold up her flashlight so that we could see. The Grimoire was flipped to the 「Conversion」 tab which showed the same description I have already seen before.

Able to convert items into stored Mana.

Able to convert stored Mana to Skill Points.

Able to convert Skill Points to stored Mana.

Or maybe not. I only looked at it once and lost interest in it when I had seen what the 「Shop」 had offered.

Was that first option always there?

“Okay, so you have to make 「Conversion」 active to make it work, otherwise it will just attempt to copy whatever you drop. I’ve already tested the mana to skill points and vice versa, 1 Skill Point will give you 100 stored Mana while 1000 stored Mana will give you 1 Skill Point.” as she explained so, she picked up a goblin corpse with her magic swords and placed it atop the open Grimoire.

It was identical to the copy process as the body was broken down and absorbed into the Grimoire. When the 5 minute conversion process ended, a prompt appeared.

〈Converted: Corpse – Goblin Male +25 stored Mana〉

“If you remove clothing and armor, you can maximize how much stored mana you can get. If you convert while it's still wearing it then it will convert it as a singular thing and not add any extra mana. Watch.” she took another corpse, but this time stripped off the piece of leather that was being used as armor as well as an iron dagger.

〈Converted: Leather Scrap +1 stored Mana〉

〈Converted: Fur +14 stored Mana〉

〈Converted: Weapon – Iron Knife +5 stored Mana〉

“I don't really get the scaling, but I tried other things like water. It takes about 4 cups of water for just 1 mana. Same with rocks, dirt and other things like that. A human corpse gives 100 mana.” she looked at me waiting for a reaction.

“So why did you not tell me this before and what it has to do with why your kill count is higher?” I asked her.

“I thought you knew. I also thought you might be upset that I've been killing people left and right.” she explained and waited for my reaction. When I only stared at her waiting for her, she continued. “Like a week or two after we robbed the combat instructor, a bunch of praetorian guards tried sneaking into the apartment. I just happened to come across them when I was doing my scouting thing and killed them when they drew their swords.

“The other 9 people were just random assholes that thought they could rob or kidnap me or some shit. So yeah, when I needed to get rid of their bodies, I came across the conversion mechanic.”

“Oh okay. So… wow.” I said, surprised at this confession, “you could have told me about the people trying to kill us.”

“Eh, not really a big deal. You make enemies, I clean up. I’m such a good wife,” she smiled, “so be sure to take care of me on-ii-chan~.”

We finished off the last goblins and continued inward, toward the treasure chest at the end of the labyrinth. We came across more blob creatures and saw them either bouncing or wriggling to move around. I took one that was not moving and stabbed it. Alicia did the same. We did this a few times each.

〈Copied: Corpse – Slime +5 Skill Points〉

〈Converted: Corpse – Slime +25 stored Mana〉

Stabbing the slime had caused it to release its liquid which was very slimy. It had the viscosity of thick syrup or thin honey. The aqua limus I had was much thicker than this, so I think it might have been boiled down or perhaps it thickens over time.

I did not want to waste the battery life of our flashlights so we ignored the rest of the slimes and finished the dungeon.

The magic treasure chest was fairly large. At least twice as large as my magic chest. It was elaborately adorned with engravings and looked very sturdy. We had already been warned not to mess with it so we just followed the instructions of how to operate it.

The instructions was simple. In front of the treasure chest was a square in which we place our hand. When the treasure chest 'reads' our hand, it will determine what loot we get. The square felt like parchment, similar to my Grimoire page. Could it be related?

I went first and placed my hand within the square. 5 minutes passed before I heard a 'click' sound. The top was able to be moved and opened. Inside was a single magic stone. A mosaic patterned 「Distortion Stone」. Lame. Alicia did the same, but instead received a cheap looking bow.

I also want to tear this thing apart and find out how it works.

“I want to figure out how this thing works.” I said to Alicia.

Before we ended our dungeon crawl, I decided to figure out how this thing works. I took out a small knife and started prying around the edges. It did not seem to be made of wood, but it did feel like it. It was tough and rigid, probably made of stone or corundum. Since it seemed to be a single solid piece, I moved over to the square with parchment like material. The moment I slid the knife at a corner a warning was triggered.

《《《!》》》

I have never felt this before. My heart was beating a kilometer a minute. My palms grew sweaty. I felt panicked. I needed to get away from this thing.

That felt… wrong.

“What's wrong?” Alicia asked, noticing my reaction.

“W-we need to leave. Let's not mess with this thing anymore.” I tried to calm myself as we turned to leave.

Although we were both disappointed at our loot roll, we at least learned something interesting. Finished with our first dive, we returned to the surface. My body, though, was still trembling.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Vaticanius Villa』

Inside a room were 2 people. A young girl and an older man. The man had an imposing appearance as he sat in his seat. He stared at the young girl who stood before him.

“Tell me everything about how my son was murdered.” said the man.

The young girl shivered in fear at the man's voice. She spoke, telling the man everything she had witnessed.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Dungeon Guild – Taberna』

It was already pretty late when we came out of the dungeon. While the sky was still lit, it would only be an hour or so before it grew dark. Alicia and I decided to stay in the hotel like place above the 「Dungeon Guild」.

We would certainly draw attention if we were to take an extravagant room so I decided to take the extravagant room. It was the only type that had a private bath. Being near goblins and touching corpses was disgusting and I needed to be clean.

There were different types of rooms to choose from as the building was quite large. There was a common room which was the cheapest and shared with other people and a private room that had little amenities. There were various private rooms that would scale up in amenities with our room being the most costly.

Our room was the most expensive at a cost of 5 gold aureuii per night. It, disappointingly, only had a single person bath. This meant that Alicia and I could not fool around in the bath like we like. There were also prostitutes available, but Alicia made sure I would not get one.

When we were climbing the stairs to our room, 1 of the prostitutes had approached me. Alicia cut her off using 3 daggers pointed at her neck, 5 swords floating nearby were trained at her face and 2 spears aimed for the eyes.

“Never. talk. to. him. again.” she warned the prostitute.

Within a blink of an eye, the weapons disappeared as if they had never existed and we went into our room.

Alicia went to take a bath first while I checked my Grimoire for the updates I had missed while inside the dungeon.

「Quest Complete:【Travel to Vaticano】 | Information: Visit the Dungeon City of Vaticano. | Rewards: 1,000 stored Mana, 20 Skill Points」

「Quest Complete:【Underground】 | Information: Enter the Dungeons below Vaticano. | Rewards: 10 Mana Stones (Synthesis Required)」

「Quest:【Subjugation I】 | Information: Kill ten of the same creature. [4/10] |

Goblin: [2/10]

Slime: [4/10]

Rewards: 5,000 stored Mana, 100 Skill Points」

Whoops, should've killed the other slimes.

Achievement:

Human Slayer:

Killed 2 humans +20 Skill Points.

Goblin Slayer:

Killed 1 goblin +10 Skill Points (First of its kind).

Killed 1 goblin +1 Skill Points.

Slime Slayer:

Killed 1 slime +10 Skill Points (First of its kind).

Killed 3 slimes +3 Skill Points.

Health:

912↑/1000

Stamina:

239↓/1000

Mana:

645↓/1000

Life Force:

599↓/1000

Stored Mana:

1,281

Strength:

29

Intelligence:

35 → 36

Precision:

37 → 38

Wisdom:

36 → 37

Dexterity:

31

Willpower:

27 → 28

Endurance:

36

Perception:

39 → 44

Toughness:

31

Charisma:

33

Resistance:

30

Luck:

68 → 69

Health Recovery:

11

Stamina Recovery:

11

Mana Recovery:

35

Life Force Recovery:

11

Skill Points:

2,358

Status Effects:

Fear (mild)

In less than a month, my attributes have grown quite substantially despite not putting in any Skill Points. Because of that terrifying incident with the treasure chest, my Perception made a large jump of 5 points. There has been no noticeable change in my mana regen despite putting points in Mana Recovery. And my damn Stamina disappears quickly any time I move.

As much as I want to use more Skill Points in my attributes, I feel I need to get as much as I can. I believe once I hit the 50's rank it will become more difficult to naturally increase it. Skill Points and stored Mana is what I want to increase the most. Tomorrow we will continue grinding the dungeon. I just have to be more careful.

The 'Fear' status shows that I am still a little freaked out from that treasure chest. I have no idea what kind of magic is being used on that thing, but it most likely has a ton of security enchantments. A hot bath will help clear my mind.

Last thing I wanted to do was check the 「Conversion」 mechanic. I took out a grain sized 「Mana Stone」 from my rucksack and dropped it on the parchment. It started to copy the magic stone.

〈Converted: Magic Stone – 「Mana Stone」 +5 stored Mana〉

It was a miniscule amount, but I had over 10,000 of these. They were pretty cheap from the magic stone dealers, but I have no idea where they come from. With this alone, I could get a new box of bullets.

I then tested a normal sized 「Mana Stone」

〈Converted: Magic Stone – 「Mana Stone」 +1000 stored Mana〉

Okay, holy shit.

I could totally exploit this.

☘ ☘ ☘

『North of Tiberalis』

3 days after Naoki's transport had departed, the main caravan lead by Veronica left the city. The line of wagons and carriages had drawn the attention of every person that had witnessed the spectacle. From a distance, a small group of men carefully watched the caravan.

“30 guards, adventurers by the looks of their armor.” spoke a man to the others around him.

“Only 30, could they be elites? With that many wagons, they would need more to defend. It is probably a trap.” replied another man, letting the others know of his concerns.

“Even so, we have more horses.” replied the 1st man. He looked to another man within his ranks and gave an order. “Send word to the boss, we will attack when the prize reaches the farmlands.”