Step, step—.
After entering the building, I walked forward without hesitation.
Having come here hundreds of times while playing the game, I knew the factory’s interior layout by heart.
Our destination was the seventh basement floor of the abandoned factory, where the entrance to Dark City Dawnguard’s 【Hidden Dungeon II】 was located.
“Here it is.”
Before long, we arrived at our destination.
The corridor on the seventh basement floor connected to a pitch-black cave.
Fluorescent water flowed from the stalactites and lakes. According to the game’s setting, the cave had been severely contaminated by the factory’s waste.
“GRAAAAAH──!”
Just then, a chilling roar echoed from far away.
Sensing the ominous atmosphere at once, Adelia opened her mouth with a rather flustered expression.
“How did you find a place like this......?”
“I received a revelation.”
Revelation.
A prophecy delivered only to chosen people, including Swordmasters.
Hearing that word, Adelia pressed her lips shut for a moment before nodding.
Even if others might doubt it, she, who came from the sacred Goldheart Family, could not dare disregard a revelation.
All the more so because she believed me to be a Swordmaster.
Just as “benefactor” was a magic word for Lea de Karayan, “revelation” was exactly that for Adelia.
‘Anyway.’
Having reached that point in my thoughts, I glanced at the MP window again.
〔MP : 1/1〕
‘It takes around twenty-four hours for 1 MP to recover.’
In that sense, 【Soul of the Swordmaster 】 was a one-shot finishing move that could only be used once a day.
Considering Lost Elder’s world, where danger could strike at any time or place, that was an utterly insufficient number of uses.
It meant I had to save it for only the moments when my life was truly in danger.
Therefore......
“Adelia, take the lead.”
......Naturally, I intended to leave this dungeon raid entirely to our bus driver.
“......?”
Flinch—.
At that very moment, Adelia turned back toward me with a puzzled expression.
In a doubtful voice, she asked me a question.
“Wait a moment. Have I ever told you my name......?”
I hurriedly made an excuse.
“I received a “revelation” about that as well.”
“......Ah.”
Nod, nod—.
Adelia nodded as though she understood.
As expected, our “magic words” were remarkably effective.
***
Ding—!
〔You have entered Dark City Dawnguard : ‘Hidden Dungeon II’.〕
I followed Adelia past the cave entrance.
A notification appeared before my eyes.
Ignoring it and continuing to walk, the translucent window immediately disappeared.
“It is dark.”
Adelia, walking ahead of me, muttered while slightly furrowing her brow.
Just as she said, the cave’s interior was incredibly dark.
Only the fluorescent lakes and puddles of the same color faintly illuminated the surroundings.
Hummm—!
Adelia drew her sword and began channeling Aura.
Soon, a blue-green aura wrapped around her sword.
Her sword burned like a torch. Relying on that light, Adelia carefully advanced.
SKREEEE—!
How much farther had we walked?
We encountered the dungeon’s first group of monsters.
【Lv. 51】
【Lv. 52】
【Lv. 50】
SWIIISH—!
A forearm-sized “something” shrieked and flew at us with vicious speed.
I could not react at all to that lightning-fast movement.
“Hup!”
But Adelia was different. The moment she swung her sword, something rained down from the air.
THUD—!
SPLAT—!
I looked down at the ground.
Five or six Polluted Tinkerbells lay sprawled there in two pieces.
Adelia’s sword strike had cleanly separated their upper and lower bodies.
“I will continue forward.”
I nodded at Adelia’s emotionless report.
Of course, unlike my calm exterior, I was utterly flustered inwardly.
‘No, what the fuck? Why are they so fast......?’
Polluted Tinkerbell.
A Level 50-range monster born from illegal experiments carried out in the abandoned factory.
It was a monster that charged at the player and self-destructed. If you did not shoot it down first as Adelia had just done, it inflicted heavy damage.
‘In the game, I could react to them without much difficulty......’
But in reality, they moved too quickly for me to even dare follow with my eyes.
Perhaps it was because my Agility stat was only 1.
‘I need to improve my physical abilities as soon as possible.’
Just as I was thinking that to myself.
“Um...... Swordmaster?”
Adelia, who had been walking ahead, addressed me while carefully watching my reaction.
Before I knew it, my title had become Swordmaster, but anyway.
“I do not know whether it is appropriate to ask this in the current situation, but could you tell me what you thought of the sword I displayed earlier?”
It was a somewhat unexpected question.
Hearing it, I could not help but press my lips shut for a moment.
What did I think of the sword she displayed?
‘How would I know when I didn’t see anything......?’
All I saw was something flash, followed by the monsters being cut in half.
But I could not say that honestly.
All the more so when Adelia was looking at me with such expectant eyes.
‘Well.’
Nominally, I was in the position of giving this girl instruction.
After thinking for a moment, I simply spouted whatever came to mind.
“There was inner turmoil in your sword path.”
“......!”
“A sword strike born from a complicated heart can never be clean. So when you hold your sword, forget your worries and focus only on that moment.”
Adelia’s eyes widened.
“I will remember that.”
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
She seemed genuinely satisfied to hear my advice.
‘Hmm.’
Why was that?
A phrase I had once seen on the internet suddenly crossed my mind.
The saying that once you became famous, people would applaud even if you took a shit.
‘......She would be this happy even if I shat out of my mouth.’
The old saying truly was not wrong.
***
In most RPGs, you gained experience by hunting monsters. Once that value reached a certain threshold, you leveled up.
But Lost Elder’s growth system had a structure quite different from other RPGs.
‘Players can raise their stats through repeated actions or training.’
Of course, you could also level up by defeating monsters, but that was based on the setting that you gained “realization” through real combat experience.
Therefore, no matter how many times you hunted the same type of monster, your experience would not rise beyond a certain point.
‘It means simple hunting is meaningless in Lost Elder. You cannot level up through that method anyway.’
That was why my level had remained unchanged even after killing Human Butcher Barba.
Anyway.
The reason I was suddenly talking about this was......
Ding—!
〔Vitality has slightly increased. (1→2)〕
〔Strength has slightly increased. (1→2)〕
......My stats had risen as I walked through the cave’s rugged terrain.
‘My Vitality and Strength have already increased.’
In fact, muscles all over my body had begun to ache.
My legs trembled, and I was gradually becoming short of breath.
‘It has only been this much walking, and I am already tired.’
I felt so pathetic that I could almost pity myself.
Meanwhile, Adelia, who had cut down the dungeon’s monsters all by herself, had not shed a single drop of sweat.
“Phew.”
Halt—.
At that moment, Adelia stopped walking.
After taking a short breath, she shook the blood off her blade. Fluorescent mucus fell onto the stone floor in droplets.
Then, slowly raising her head, Adelia looked at the massive obstacle that had appeared before us.
“It appears that we are nearing the end of the cave.”
Rummmmble—.
A gigantic stone door, nearly ten meters tall, came into view.
Horrific murals had been engraved upon its surface. They graphically depicted the process of children being kidnapped and used as illegal experimental subjects.
It was an entrance I knew all too well.
......After all, this was the boss room of the current dungeon.
“Then I will go in.”
Adelia placed both hands on the stone door and pushed.
With a tremendous roar, countless clouds of dust fell from the ceiling.
GRRRRIND—!
The scenery beyond the entrance gradually began to reveal itself.
A cavern with an immensely high ceiling.
Faint moonlight shone dimly into the underground through the half-collapsed ceiling. The half-submerged floor glowed fluorescent green.
The factory’s steel-reinforced pillars barely supported the ceiling.
And at the exact center of the open space, a huge body radiating an ominous aura was crouched.
【Lv. 82】
FLUTTER—!
Translucent wings writhed beneath torn, frayed green rags.
Each of its six grotesque arms held a massive greatsword. Its bumpy, rough skin was scorched in filthy brown and fluorescent green.
Its appearance brought to mind an “Asura” from Indian mythology.
If this had been a game, the following boss name would have appeared above its hideous face.
【Peterpan, the Kidnapper of Dawnguard】
“Ah......”
Step back—.
At that moment, Adelia involuntarily retreated a step.
The pressure radiating from Peterpan was ominous enough to make even the Level 77 Adelia freeze for a moment.
Ding—!
〔Mental Strength ‘MAX’ resists the opponent’s pressure.〕
Of course, I was unaffected.
The passive effect of 【Soul of the Swordmaster 】 made me immune to every mental debuff.
I glanced at Adelia and opened my mouth.
“You have warmed up enough on the way here, have you not?”
“......”
“This is the final stage of the “training” I mentioned earlier. Can you handle it?”
Peterpan.
His familiar name might make him seem laughable, but he was considered one of the worst bosses in the main story.
His high stats were one thing, but his attack patterns were extremely troublesome.
If Adelia fought him in her current state, she would probably die seven times out of ten.
“Hoo.”
There was no way Adelia didn’t know that.
Powerhouses above Level 75 could grasp their opponent’s level at a glance, unless the difference in rank was truly enormous.
So she would know as well. Even if she fought Peterpan, she had little chance of winning.
SHIIING—!
Even so, Adelia pointed her sword at him without the slightest hesitation.
Then, she cautiously began walking toward him.
“If I can gain realization, I will challenge him as many times as it takes......”
CLAAANG──!
At that very moment, red sparks flew.
Peterpan, who had closed the distance to directly before Adelia’s eyes in the blink of an eye, had swung his sword.
Adelia instinctively blocked the attack, and her eyes widened.
“What......!”
The attack was fast and heavy.
Perhaps because of that impact, Adelia’s hand gripping the sword trembled.
But she had no time to catch her breath.
Six massive blades immediately swept toward her like a storm.
“WENDYYYYY─!”
WHIRRRR—!
Fluttering his wings, Peterpan leaped into the air and twisted his body as he unleashed sword strikes.
Against attacks that were far too swift for his massive body, Adelia desperately defended herself as she staggered backward.
The attacks she failed to block left wounds across her body.
Not even five minutes had passed since the battle began, but Adelia’s body was already covered in cuts.
‘As expected, this is too much.’
Right.
Peterpan was a far more difficult opponent than I had thought.
I had wondered if Adelia might gain realization through this battle, but at this rate, she would not last long before dying a pointless death.
......My decision was quick.
Having reached that thought, I immediately drew the trump card I had prepared.
‘You have worked hard, Adelia.’
I thought to myself as I watched Adelia struggle to fend off the attacks.
Just bringing me to the boss room meant that she had already done her part.
From here on, I intended to handle things myself.
SHIIING—!
I drew the Feather Sword.
The blade, which had no sense of weight at all, settled snugly in my hand.
Suddenly, my vision went dark.
It was not something I consciously did. Recalling the gust of wind from last time, I reflexively shut my eyes.
And then......
〔MP : 1/1〕
TICK—.
〔MP : 0/1〕
......For an exceptionally brief instant, explosive omnipotence wrapped around my entire body.