4. The Skeleton Soldier Receives a Request
I pondered for a little bit.
Would buying a chest with keys be profitable for me?
The blue one cost two keys, the yellow one cost three keys, and the purple one cost five keys.
'After using one key on the first floor, I have four left....'
I couldn't even buy the purple one.
"Do you not open the chest before giving it to me?"
"Yes? If I opened the chest for you, wouldn't I have to use a key myself? That is out of the question!"
CLATTER— CLATTER—
Shaking from side to side, the giant chest made a loud racket.
'Blue and yellow... I can open either of them, though....'
If I bought and opened the blue one, I would have one key left over. However, for the yellow one, I would have to use all of my keys.
"You never know what might be inside. Doesn't that actually make you look forward to it even more? Goods like these are not easy to come by! Do not miss this opportunity!"
The chest prattled on.
Clack, clack—
My jaw shook.
I was torn.
'Just how good of an item comes out of it....?'
Feirin's expectant expression when she opened the blue chest came to mind. My gaze turned back to the yellow chest.
'A chest more expensive than the blue chest, huh....'
If so, wouldn't an even better item come out of it?
My hand slowly reached toward the yellow chest.
"Oho... An excellent choice!"
My hesitating hand grabbed the chest. At the same time, the chest merchant burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! Thank you! Let us meet again next time!"
CLICK— CLICK— CLICK—
Three of the merchant's padlocks clicked open. It seemed he had immediately used the keys I paid him with.
Then again, I didn't physically open locks with a key myself either.
'Looks like he can open them from the inside too.'
FLASH—
Light obscured my vision.
The giant chest and the bundle vanished. As if nothing had been there from the very beginning, silence fell.
'Hmm... Does that mean you only get one choice....?'
It probably meant you couldn't buy multiple chests. After staring at the spot where the chest merchant had been, I turned my head.
The yellow chest sat there all by itself. Now it was time to check what I had bought.
CLICK—
The chest opened. I grabbed the item.
'Interesting.'
It was a necklace. The gem hanging in the center was shaped like a red heart.
['Heartbeat']
[Rare]
[Natural recovery when out of combat]
[Feel the energy of life flowing through your body. It will take a little time.]
'Does Rare mean it's a rare item? Natural recovery, huh....'
When my body was nothing but bones, would it be of any use? For now, I put the necklace on.
The necklace slid down between my collarbones, and the gem dropped inside my ribcage.
'It's almost like I have a real heart.'
At a glance, it might look that way.
Humans had their hearts on the left, but what did it matter if mine was in the center? I wasn't human anyway.
'Whether it's worth four keys... I'll have to use it to find out.'
***
CRUNCH—
An Acid Slime's core shattered into pieces and fell to the floor.
[Combat EXP acquired.]
[Lv5 (95%)]
The letters appeared and then grew faint.
'I've gone through almost the entire second floor.'
I mulled over my memories. I traced through the map I had drawn in my head.
I checked whether there were any rooms I hadn't visited.
'If I keep going forward, I should see the stairs.'
I checked my condition. Because of the Acid Slimes' mucus, small holes had formed all over my leather armor.
'Still....'
I was reaping the full benefits of Heartbeat's effect.
Before going to the next room, I waited.
My cracked bones slowly knitted back together. The thin hairline fractures drawn across my bones gradually faded away.
'Trading four keys for it was worth it.'
There was no need to press forward in a rush. Even if I suffered injuries, as long as I stayed alive, I was fine.
Once a battle ended, I waited until I recovered before entering the next room. My body could always be maintained in peak condition.
'The higher my level goes, the less EXP I acquire....'
Maybe that was why strong Challengers looked for the stairs right away.
They climbed as many floors as possible at a low level and leveled up all at once. Since leveling up healed you every time, as long as they could survive meeting strong enemies, they would be able to challenge the next room right away.
'Challengers are researching all kinds of methods too.'
Because the tower couldn't be climbed in a single attempt, all sorts of approaches were being tried.
It was the same for me. Experience was a precious asset.
'Let's not forget that.'
I moved on to the next room.
Just as I thought, it was the room with the stairs.
'It isn't much different.'
Right down to the spiral staircase and its exterior, everything was the same. There was no particular danger.
Finally, I was going up to the third floor.
Step— Step—
Treading on the stairs one by one, I climbed up. After circling around several times, the end came into view.
'Not here either, as expected.'
There were no stairs going straight from the third floor to the fourth floor. It might be a hasty judgment, but every staircase seemed to follow this format.
'Good....'
I opened the door and stepped inside.
Rattle— Rattle—
That wasn't a sound coming from my body.
Three Skeleton Archers, and one Skeleton Soldier in the center.
However, its size looked to be 1.5 times that of the other skeletons.
"Intruder...!"
The atmosphere was somewhat different. To call it a regular Skeleton Soldier, the equipment it held was unusual.
'It's almost like....'
Like the Skeleton Soldier Feirin commanded, it held a sword and a shield.
The condition of its equipment was clean. It was worlds apart from the sword and shield I had found before.
The sword didn't hide its sharp edge, and the wood of the shield looked as thick as if it were brand new.
The monster's head turned toward me. The archers nocked arrows to their bowstrings.
However, they didn't attack right away.
'They're different...?'
It was strange. Why weren't they attacking?
Of course, I had hidden my body behind a pillar as soon as I saw the bastards, but I shouldn't have been completely out of their line of sight.
"Death to the intruder!"
A gloomy voice rang out.
THWIP—
At the same time, arrows flew in. Having poked my head out from behind the pillar, I hurriedly pulled it back.
The arrows struck the wall and the pillar before falling to the floor.
'A command?'
Was that Skeleton Soldier giving commands?
It was strange for Skeleton Archers not to shoot their arrows right away. However, if that giant Skeleton Soldier was giving commands, the situation made sense.
"No one passes through this place...!"
Wasn't that just wishful thinking on that Skeleton Soldier's part? I had already seen Challengers who made it past the tenth floor.
If they could do it, I could do it too. Gripping my mace firmly, I ran to another pillar.
THWIP—
As if waiting for me, arrows flew in.
"Do not lose sight of him!"
What use was shouting that after they had already lost sight of me? Darting from pillar to pillar, I scattered the bastards' focus.
And then I closed in on one archer bastard that was turning its head back and forth.
Clack, clack—
The bastard clacked its teeth. It drew its bowstring, but it was already too late.
Swinging my mace wide, I smashed its ribs. With its bones shattering, the bastard pitched forward.
"Found him!"
The other archers drew their bowstrings.
Rather than hiding again, it was better to finish off one more bastard.
I ran toward the closer archer.
THWIP— CRACK—!
An arrow lodged into the chest of my leather armor. My body staggered from the impact, but it wasn't enough to knock me down.
From the single arrowhead that dug through my armor, one of my breastbones broke.
'An ordinary human would've collapsed from the pain....'
Yet I was a skeleton just like you bastards. What big deal was a crack in my bone?
I raised the mace high and brought it crashing down.
CRACK—
The crown of the Skeleton Archer's skull split open, and fragments fell away. Since blunt weapons were our weakness, I had to be careful too.
"Fall back!"
At the Skeleton Soldier's shout, the archer backed away. Raising its shield in front of itself, the bastard pressed in on me.
"There is nowhere to run...!"
I snapped off the arrow shaft lodged in my chest and pulled it out. Not because it hurt.
Because it got in the way of moving. Putting strength into my fingers, I gripped the mace firmly.
'It's no ordinary Skeleton Soldier....'
Skeleton Soldiers didn't give commands like that. Charging blindly toward Challengers without a single thought was their way of acting.
Yet that Skeleton Soldier was slowly pressing in on me.
I grabbed the skull of the archer I had just taken down. Although the crown was slightly cracked, it was fine to use.
As I ran, I hurled the skull toward the bastard.
CRACK—
When it swung its shield, the skull bounced off and shattered. Using that opening, I swung my mace.
However, the mace was blocked by the shield.
"Die, intruder!"
As the shield swept aside, its sword thrust forward at the same time. Before I could even block, the blade dug into the abdomen of my armor.
Had I been human, I would have spilled blood and guts and died. However, the inside of my armor was empty.
I had neither guts nor flesh to be torn up by a sword.
If I had muscles, I would have laughed.
Just like that, I grabbed the bastard's wrist. And I raised my mace high.
"Intruder...!"
"In the end, you are nothing more than a skeleton too."
I had thought it knew how to think. However, the bastard attacked me as if facing a human.
It simply moved in a slightly more complex pattern; it was no different from other Skeleton Soldiers.
Only I was special.
The only skeleton that thought and sized up its opponents was me, One Hundred.
CRACK—
With its elbow joint smashed to pieces, the bastard backed away. The Skeleton Soldier's arm and sword dangled beneath it.
Twisting them this way and that, I pulled the arm and sword out.
I held the mace in my right hand, and the sword in my left hand.
'Come to think of it... I can hold both weapons at the same time.'
Since I had learned both Blunt Weaponry and Swordsmanship, there was no problem.
THWIP—
An arrow grazed past the top of my shoulder. The Skeleton Archer I hadn't dealt with yet was nocking another arrow.
It seemed it had resumed attacking now that the Skeleton Soldier had backed off from me.
"Death to the intruder...!"
Holding up its shield, the Skeleton Soldier approached. Thankfully, it blocked the ranged attacks for me.
When I bashed with the mace, it was blocked by the shield. I thrust the sword toward its other side.
Since it only had one arm left, it had its hands full just blocking.
As I battered it repeatedly, my hands grew dizzyingly busy. My attacks landed all over the bastard's body.
CRACK— CRACK—
Shoulder, chest, jaw, pelvis.
Cracks formed across every joint.
'It holds out for a long time.'
Because I was pressed right up against the bastard, the Skeleton Archer only aimed its bow without releasing the string.
"Die, intruder...."
Did it even know what state it was in while saying that? Perhaps having reached its limit now, it couldn't even raise its shield.
Crossing my sword and mace, I sent the bastard's neck flying.
Its jawbone scattered, and I severed its neck bone.
THUD—
Its head bounced up into the air as its body toppled backward. I had no intention of standing around watching. Left all alone, the Skeleton Archer desperately released its bowstring.
Of course, it was meaningless resistance.
As soon as I dealt with the remaining Skeleton Archer, both my level and the level of Blunt Weaponry went up.
Glancing down, I saw that my breastbone had been restored. Thankfully, it looked like I could go to the next room without needing to wait.
[Defeated 50 Skeleton Archers.]
[Updating Skeleton Archer information.]
The skull icon blinked. I opened the Monster Compendium.
[3. Skeleton Archer]
[Race – Undead]
[Appearance Location – 2nd~5th Floors]
[Weakness – Blunt / Holy]
[The dead that know how to handle a bow. The more of them there are, the harder they are to deal with.]
Certainly, they were tricky enemies when there were many of them. However, they were on a level not much different from Skeleton Soldiers.
'Or else I've just grown stronger.'
As the letters disappeared, a newly added number caught my eye.
[5. Skeleton Warrior]
I turned my head and looked at the giant Skeleton Soldier.
'Skeleton Warrior... Is that a higher rank than a soldier?'
My class was Skeleton Soldier. If I raised my level, could my class perhaps change too?
'I'll have to consider all kinds of possibilities....'
I decided to keep carrying the sword the Skeleton Warrior had used.
I immediately headed to the next room. Passing through the passage and opening the door, I saw skeletons.
'Two Skeleton Warriors and one Skeleton Soldier....'
However, something was strange.
Even though I had entered, the bastards paid no attention to me.
"Why is a weakling like you on the third floor?!"
Shouting, a Skeleton Warrior grabbed the Skeleton Soldier's skull with one hand. The Skeleton Soldier thrashed about and grabbed the bastard's wrist, but it seemed unable to break free.
"Put me down!"
The Skeleton Soldier shouted, but the bastard didn't obediently listen.
If it were going to listen, it wouldn't have treated him like that from the start.
"You'd be finished in one hit...."
Moving its jaw as it mocked the Skeleton Soldier, the bastard turned its gaze. Had it only just noticed that I was here?
"It's an intruder!"
Its reaction was completely different from what it had shown just a moment ago. Just like the Skeleton Warrior I had seen in the previous room, its behavior was uniform and mechanical.
'And here I thought they were a little different....'
Seeing them bully the Skeleton Soldier, I had hoped they might be special skeletons. However, the sight of them approaching me now with their shields raised was deeply disappointing.
***
'How strange....'
Leaving the collapsed Skeleton Warriors behind, I was about to deal with the remaining Skeleton Soldier.
Yet why was this happening?
[Combat EXP acquired.]
[Lv6 (30%)]
'Why...?'
A question struck me. Even though a Skeleton Soldier was still left, what was the reason the letters had appeared?
And what was with a Skeleton Soldier trembling all over right before my eyes?
"You...."
After a long time, I used my voice. The Skeleton Soldier turned his head.
"Y-You're going to bully me too, aren't you!?"
"No. More importantly, there is something I want to ask."
Bully him—what meaning would there be in an action like that?
Smashing his skull to pieces would be another story, since then I would at least get more EXP.
"Wh-What is it?"
Clack, clack—
The Skeleton Soldier's jaw shook.
Was he scared? A Skeleton Soldier?
That was a strange thing.
"My name is One Hundred. Do you have a name?"