[Name: Yamel]
[Mage (1st Advancement) Lv.11]
[Abilities 2/2]
-Scorching Heat. Mana.
[Caravan Master of the Yamel Caravan]
[Must properly transport the ‘treasure’.]
‘A 1st Advancement Mage.’
Compared to an adventurer’s Status, his was extremely simple.
Instead, there was an extra line that seemed to describe either his actions or some kind of objective.
Even that alone made it easy enough to guess what was going on.
‘A treasure.’
And what came out of the Caravan Master’s mouth was similar.
“It seems the seal has come undone.”
“What?”
“......Count Dalant entrusted me with an item to deliver to Edelin. Because of its Mana, it was sealed, and Mage Rene assured me it would hold until we reached Edelin. But judging from the situation now, apparently......”
I did not understand most of what he was talking about,
but not so little that I could not grasp the situation.
“......What kind of item is it that it attracts magic beasts?”
“That, I do not know either.”
“What?”
As Kane frowned,
Caravan Master Yamel pulled a small box from inside his clothes.
It looked valuable at a glance.
The lid had been sealed on all four sides,
but one corner had been torn slightly open.
“I think it may be because this corner was damaged......”
“No, if it was that important, you should’ve kept it somewhere safer!”
“......I do not know when this was torn either. And I cannot simply tamper with it further.”
I watched the exchange between the Caravan Master and Kane,
then quietly raised my hand.
“May I check it?”
At that instant,
the Caravan Master’s gaze sharpened.
“If you touch the seal......”
“I only need to touch the box. I have a somewhat unusual ability.”
“......Is that so?”
The Caravan Master still looked suspicious,
but when he nodded,
I carefully placed a hand on the box and activated my Trait.
HUMMM.
[Box Containing a Sealed Ability Stone]
-An Ability Stone modified and enhanced to attract nearby magic beasts and monsters is sealed inside.
-Box damaged (Seal 5% released).
* Monsters sensitive to Mana are highly likely to sense the existence of this box.
The instant I read the description,
I could not help freezing.
“......What is it?”
“What’s wrong, Char?”
Countless thoughts flashed through my mind.
In the end,
I chose to tell them honestly.
“Can you trust what I’m about to tell you?”
“Why would I have any reason not to trust you now?”
Only after hearing that assurance did I explain what I had learned about the box.
The moment I finished,
their expressions turned strange.
“Hah......”
“Caravan Master, then His Excellency......?”
The Caravan Master sighed,
while Kane looked stunned.
“Has His Excellency still not let go of his desire for revenge?”
“......I thought it was a gift meant to put the past behind us and build friendly relations with Edelin...... Apparently not.”
The two of them seemed to know the background,
and accepted the situation far more easily than I had expected.
“What will you do?”
“......This is a disaster. Whether we deliver it to Edelin or not, something terrible will happen.”
“Caravan Master......”
“Kane, what would you do?”
“......As always, I will simply follow your decision, Caravan Master.”
The Caravan Master gave a bitter smile at that.
He seemed to think for a moment,
then shook his head.
“No. This will not do. We have to throw it away.”
“What?”
“If we deliver this to Edelin and its true nature is exposed, both I and the caravan members will be killed. But if we fail to deliver it, Count Dalant will kill us instead. We are trapped either way.”
“Did His Excellency abandon you, Caravan Master?”
“......That is the only conclusion I can reach. In that case, it would be better for us to simply start new lives in Edelin. We will leave this behind here.”
I nearly applauded the Caravan Master’s wise decision.
If I had not remembered the Quest.
‘No!’
My mind spun frantically.
Then,
an idea suddenly came to me.
“I have a better option. Would you hear me out?”
“What?”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“......Very well. Speak. I will listen.”
The Caravan Master did not look particularly enthusiastic.
“How about going to Edelin after earning yourselves some merit instead? If you plan to settle there and start over, wouldn’t that be better?”
“How?”
His eyes widened at what I said next.
“It’s simple. Why not take this to Edelin exactly as it is and tell them the truth? That place you came from......”
“Dalant.”
“Yes. Tell them Dalant was plotting against Edelin, and that this is the evidence.”
“Hmm.”
“Wait, Char. Are you saying we should keep carrying this dangerous thing and continue taking risks? While sacrificing caravan members?”
“There’s no need for that. Now we know the cause.”
“What?”
“We can carry the box ourselves and travel some distance behind the caravan. Wouldn’t that keep the caravan safe?”
“We?”
“I’m not confident I can handle it alone. Captain, come with me.”
Kane and the Caravan Master both let out hollow laughs.
“I appreciate the offer, but Captain Kane is in no condition to fight right now......”
“There’s the Ability Stone that dropped from the werewolf. Captain Kane can absorb it.”
“......What?”
Both of them stared at me in surprise again.
“How do you know what Ability that Stone contains? And I have not even fully recovered from my injuries yet.”
“More importantly, we do not know whether Captain Kane has the aptitude to accept it......”
“He can. I know.”
I had finally seen Kane’s information earlier when the two of us caught the staggering Caravan Master together.
[Name: Kane]
[Greatsword Warrior Lv.19]
[Abilities 2/3]
-Regeneration. Defense.
[Escort Captain of the Yamel Caravan]
[Yamel’s trusted retainer, with absolute loyalty to the Caravan Master.]
And.
“Captain Kane can absorb one more Ability Stone.”
“You can really determine something like that?”
As expected,
the Labyrinth residents here had no way of knowing how many Ability Slots someone possessed.
“I’ll return what you said to me earlier. Why would you have any reason not to trust me now?”
Naturally,
I had already checked the Ability Stone left behind by the werewolf too.
[Moonlight’s Blessing]
[Strength +9, Vitality +10, Agility +9, Physical Resistance +4, Magic Resistance +3, Mana +3]
[While the moon is out, all physical Stats increase by 10. All recovery abilities increase by 10. Reason becomes slightly clouded.]
Ten did not sound like much.
But it applied to every Stat.
In other words,
not just physical abilities such as Strength, Vitality, and Agility,
but Mana and the Resistances as well.
It would give even a Novice physical abilities exceeding those of someone with a 1st Advancement Class.
And on top of that,
it increased recovery abilities.
‘This is way too strong for a red Ability Stone. Is that why it has a penalty?’
And even that penalty amounted to nothing more than having one’s reason ‘slightly’ clouded.
It was the kind of Ability Stone any warrior would covet.
‘Even looking at it again, what a waste.’
But I had things to do.
“Absorb the Ability Stone. Once the sun sets, Captain Kane and I will fall behind with the box. How does that sound?”
“Why are you going this far?”
Obviously because of the Quest.
“I was thinking that you, Caravan Master, might reward me appropriately for my contribution.”
At my answer,
the Caravan Master, whose expression had remained stiff throughout the conversation,
finally gave a small smile.
“Very well. I will reward you properly. Just make sure you come back alive.”
And with that,
our plan was decided.
***
Before night fell that day,
there were two more attacks.
One by a flock of birds.
One by a swarm of snakes.
Both were attacks by ordinary animals accompanied by a few magic beasts,
but we dealt with them without much trouble.
Naturally,
I gained no experience.
Then the sun set.
“Shall we go?”
“Good.”
Kane began falling behind the caravan with me.
“I’m counting on you, Captain.”
“Of course. Naturally.”
Kane’s complexion was improving in real time after absorbing Moonlight’s Blessing.
As he was now,
perhaps he could even take on two werewolves at once.
‘There can’t possibly be anything stronger than that.’
I had spent the entire day thinking about it,
but I still could not come up with anything better than the idea that had struck me on impulse.
Surely Floor 2 of the Labyrinth would not keep producing enemies capable of troubling a Labyrinth resident close to Level 20.
Looked at that way,
it was an excellent plan.
That belief vanished in less than an hour.
“Behind!”
“Uaaaargh!”
FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM!
The fire spear I had used to drive off the swarm of bees during the day spun wildly,
knocking away the rats charging at us.
There was not even room to think about applying spear arts or anything else.
Rats,
bees,
and snakes surrounded us on every side.
‘What the fuck is this?!’
Naturally,
none of them was individually threatening.
There were simply an absurd number of them,
pouring in without end.
‘They aren’t even attacking each other. They’re only coming after us.’
After seeing the Ability Stone’s effect,
I had assumed the magic beasts were simply being drawn to it.
But this—
‘Something is controlling them. Definitely.’
There was no other conclusion I could reach.
“Hold out!”
CRASH—!
“Even in the Magic Beast Forest!”
CRASH—!
“The number of beasts.”
CRASH—!
“Has to.”
WHAM—!
“Have a limit!”
CRASH—!
Kane’s argument made sense.
Unless animals were somehow spawning endlessly out of nowhere,
there had to be an end.
The problem was that,
unlike Kane, who seemed to recover his stamina even as he swung his sword,
I was tiring rapidly.
“Uaaaargh!”
FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM-FWOOM!
Keeping my spear wrapped in flames as I defended every direction
was draining my Mana just as quickly.
‘This won’t work.’
I would not last.
I had to find whoever was controlling these things.
The Demonized Human.
I knew that,
but among the animals filling every direction,
I could not see anything that stood out.
Eventually.
“Fuck this!”
Acting on instinct,
I hurled the sealed box deep into a distant part of the forest where fewer beasts were visible.
“Char!”
Even as Kane shouted in surprise,
my attention remained fixed on the flying box.
‘It’ll show itself. I know it will.’
If some other magic beast or animal ate that Ability Stone,
everything would be ruined.
Even in Labyrinth City,
you could erase an absorbed Ability Stone,
but you could not extract it intact again.
‘Can the Demonized Human control even the instincts of the animals it commands?’
That was the thought behind my action.
TAP.
ROLL, ROLL.
The box rolled across the ground.
The instant I sensed the attention of the beasts surrounding us shift toward it,
I wondered,
‘Was I wrong?’
Then.
From the forest on the opposite side,
I saw a shadow rushing straight toward the box.
“Kane!”
“I see it!”
Kane overtook me while we charged at the same time.
Then he collided with a humanoid monster dressed in filthy rags, its hair wild and tangled.
CRAAASH—!
GRAAAAAH!
Snake eyes.
Scaled skin.
Lizard legs.
A lion’s tail.
Bear claws.
A grotesque creature that looked as though pieces of various animals had been fused onto a human body.
With the box right before it,
the monster repeatedly collided with Kane.
CRASH—! CRASH—!
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH—!
There was not the slightest trace of technique in its movements,
yet it fought Kane almost evenly.
‘Damn it!’
I had thought about this during the day too.
What would have happened if this had been an ordinary Quest rather than a Perfect Clear?
Most likely,
after helping Kane and the escort group repel a reasonable number of attacks,
the Caravan Master would have thrown away the box and that would have been the end of it.
‘Then the Demonized Human would’ve appeared, taken the box, and disappeared.’
In other words,
I had brought this trouble on myself.
This was the hurdle I had to overcome.
Simply praying for Kane to win would be idiotic.
‘I’ll finish it!’
WHOOSH—!
I poured as much Mana as possible into Volante Footwork and accelerated violently.
Still charging,
I gripped my spear and took my stance.
THUD-THUD-THUD.
HUMMM.
I focused on the force of my charge
and the vibration of the spear,
gathering every bit of power I could.
THUUUD.
I measured the distance near the creature and planted my lead foot.
Enormous weight settled into that step.
That weight transformed directly into force,
then exploded from the spearhead together with my Mana.
“Die!”
CRAAASH—!
[Resonance Spear’s Level has increased......]
[Volante Footwork’s Level has......]
Even without the System messages,
I could feel that this single strike was every bit as powerful as one of Kane’s.
CRUNCH.
The creature’s hand,
covered in snake scales and tipped with bear claws,
snatched the shaft of my spear.
SQUELCH—!
Even so,
the remaining force still drove the spearhead into its flank.
But it did not look fatal.
‘Damn it......’
Just as despair hit me,
GRAAK!?
FLASH.
SLAAASH.
The snake eyes and tongue that had been spewing hostility toward me
were suddenly split in two.
Behind the severed body,
Kane stood holding his silver greatsword.
“Good work, Char!”
RUSTLE-RUSTLE-RUSTLE.
WHIRRRR.
CRACKLE.
At the sound of Kane’s voice,
the beasts that had been pursuing us scattered all at once.
[Combat Ended]
[Demonized Human defeated. Contribution: 33%]
[A large amount of experience acquired.]
[Level increased.]
My experience gauge shot up to nearly 100% in a single burst,
and my Level rose.
The maximum amount of experience obtainable from a single battle.
At the same time,
GLITTER.
TAP.
A fingernail-sized red crystal and a fist-sized ‘orange’ crystal fell from the Demonized Human’s body.