Advice from the player perspective often serves as an early warning. Sometimes, encountering mist walls or hidden passages relies entirely on their distant pointing fingers and messages – truly the ultimate method for map exploration.
Therefore, even when facing the weakest beginner dungeons, Frieren would observe carefully. It was still early anyway; the other groups would likely need some time to pacify their respective caves. She could take her time.
From the player's perspective:
Sure enough, several death replays showed players burning to ashes in the traps. However, later messages indicated others had cleverly disabled the mechanisms, clearing the path. This was what Frieren needed to see. It wasn't a particularly difficult puzzle, just requiring careful observation of the surroundings. The messages themselves were also worth noting:
[Why are there skeletons throwing fireballs?]
[I can be set on fire, but they aren't weak to fire? This isn't fair! Dammit! Argh!]
[Go straight ahead, then trigger the mechanism. The boss room is at the end, not too hard, doesn't have many moves.]
[The difficulty is in clearing the area.]
[Don't rush around corners. If it's a blind spot, assume there's an enemy.]
[Finished it in a few tries. Just a starter zone in the Weeping Peninsula.]
[Remember to pick up some Grave Glovewort, you can use it to strengthen Spirit Ashes.]
...Nothing particularly noteworthy. Based on experience, Frieren judged it to be a small-scale dungeon with limited areas to explore. Conversely, she hadn't collected much of the mentioned "Grave Glovewort."
So, Spirit Ashes could indeed be upgraded. She had heard of Spirit Tuners before, though unfortunately, few remained. Perhaps she could find one later at the Roundtable Hold. Since upgrade materials existed, it indirectly confirmed the reward would be Spirit Ashes. That being the case, a thorough search was in order.
Time to move out.
The silver-haired girl drew her Brass Shield.
Her caution, combined with formidable strength, gave the monsters no chance for ambushes. Even the flame-spewing devices couldn't harm her in the slightest; she dodged them easily, and the fragile skeleton soldiers typically shattered with a single blow. Throughout the dungeon, she used the Demi-Human Queen's Staff to cast her sorceries – it felt much better. Using local casting implements was definitely the way to go.
"A pity," she mused. "There are no strong enemies to test the staff's greater potential. Can't judge much right now. Hopefully, the Zamor Ancient Hero later on will let me see the staff's limits..."
Frieren advanced, sniping targets one by one with magic. Some weaker skeletons crumbled simply from a shield bash.
The gathering took time. Although she possessed an "auto-loot mod," it required lingering in place for a moment, as its effective range wasn't very large, and she wanted to avoid missing anything.
Melina, in her spirit form, occasionally pointed out paths or gave warnings. The two worked together seamlessly. Earlier, Melina might have urged her onward, but now she had adapted to the Tarnished's completionist style. Ah well, she thought, as a Finger Maiden, I might as well follow her and see more of the grandeur of The Lands Between.
After a while, a large door came into view. The palpable aura and the numerous messages before it indicated the boss room.
Frieren leaned down, carefully examining the information...
In Melina's eyes, the Tarnished's perception was incredibly sharp, always able to find treasures hidden in obscure nooks and crannies, almost like she could predict the future. Melina was no longer surprised by it. Perhaps that's why she adopts this thorough style? It's a fitting ability.
"How is it? Anything special about the monster ahead?" Melina asked.
"Its appearance is rather unique, I suppose? Let's make this quick; this battle wasn't part of the original plan."
Frieren pushed the door open.
Only then did Melina understand what "unique appearance" meant. The creature before them was tall and slender, wielding a twinblade in each hand. Its entire body was pitch-black, like a shadow standing upright.
Its name was indeed [Cemetery Shade], and its aggression was palpable. It locked onto Frieren with killing intent almost the instant she entered.
The monster dashed forward like an arrow, its dual-wielded twinblades descending from above—
Clang!
With a sharp crackle and a shower of sparks, the Brass Shield effortlessly blocked the Cemetery Shade's attack. The powerful rebound force sent the creature staggering back, nearly losing its footing. Frieren had relied purely on her shield counter technique; she didn't even need to parry.
"A bit weaker than I expected," Frieren murmured.
Hearing this, the Shade burned with fury. Did that mean it wasn't even worth her full effort? What did she take the prime killer of this labyrinth for? The Cemetery Shade had guarded this place for years, teaching countless intruders a lesson, ensuring the tomb remained eternally silent. Today would be no exception; it had to wash away this disgrace.
Swoosh!
It swung the dual twinblades like a hurricane, prioritizing speed, attacking relentlessly from every angle. Against a sorcerer, pursuit was key; letting her gain distance would be disastrous.
However, it hadn't anticipated the silver-haired girl switching her staff's magic from Glintstone Pebble to a Carian Slicer-like blade of pure energy, which she suddenly swept horizontally.
The light blinded it first!
Almost simultaneously, the exquisitely fast blade sliced through its body. There was no pain, only the unexpected sensation of the world spinning. Had it been defeated just like that?
Frieren remained vigilant after the attack; the Shade's magical signature hadn't vanished. It was forcing its body to stand, clinging to existence.
"Rooaaar—"
"It seems you have some resilience, but you're too fragile."
The silver-haired girl casually leaned aside, dodging the thrown twinblade. Though it was a spinning projectile, her Brass Shield deflected it precisely, without hindering the even larger shard of glintstone coalescing in her hand, shining brilliantly. Rumor had it that among glintstone sorceries, there existed Great Glintstone Shards – with enough mana, a qualitative transformation was always possible.
The next moment, the massive glintstone shard crushed the Cemetery Shade, erupting in a thunderous explosion that completely obliterated the monster, leaving not a single trace behind.
Only then did Frieren lower her staff.
The test went reasonably well. Using a native casting implement allowed her to achieve a qualitative change purely by channeling enough mana. At the same time, a sum of Runes flowed into her possession.
As usual, she had Melina help her level up, investing points into Intelligence, and this time allocating some to Faith as well. After all, she would definitely need to incorporate Incantations later; her stats absolutely couldn't lag behind.
Obtained Spirit Ash [Lhutel the Headless], one of the "Legendary Ashen Remains."
The notification panel made Frieren's heart stir. Such a high rating? Finally, she could remedy the awkward lack of high-end power within her Spirit Ash army and provide support in large-scale battles.
Description:
[Spirit of the leader of the Mausoleum Soldiers, a headless knight.]
[Wields a lance imbued with Death and can throw spectral lances.]
[Lhutel sacrificed her life defending her soulless master.]
[After the soulless demigod was granted rebirth,]
[She was given the reward of returning to the Erdtree as a hero.]
The description was as vague as ever. For instance, who exactly was the "soulless demigod"? But it didn't matter; as long as it was usable.
The addition of Lhutel gave Frieren's Spirit Ash forces a commander, allowing her to deploy them with more confidence. This way, she wouldn't always need to keep them with her, which often resulted in excessive force for smaller encounters. Instead, she could deploy them to support large-scale operations.
Coming early isn't as good as coming at the perfect time, the silver-haired girl thought, nodding with satisfaction, her mood greatly improved.
Time to head back.
As she emerged from the underground tomb, she cast Soul Heal. Under the widespread radiance, the numerous skeleton soldiers completely dissipated. Monsters wouldn't spawn here again for a long time.
____
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