[Ryuin Labyrinth, Second Floor]
"I don't have time for any goblin – nyah." Saying this, Vulcan advanced with her War Hammer and crushed the goblins.
The clothes she wore to explore the labyrinth were the same blacksmith overalls. The only difference was the large War Hammer and a big luggage backpack on her back.
"She's tough!" Aria exclaimed.
When a Goblin Mage set her on fire with a spell resembling a flamethrower, it had no effect on Vulcan, who emerged from the flames and even used the Goblin Mage's flames, murmuring "Enchanted Flames."
She simply dropped the War Hammer and, with her metal-gloved fist, punched the Goblin Mage's stomach, piercing through to the other side.
At the same time, the Goblin Mage began to catch fire – it was a green flame.
"Ah, what kind of skill is that?" Era asked out loud.
While cutting off the goblins' ears, Vulcan answered without turning: "It's an enchantment I got from my blacksmith skills – nyah. It lets me envelop different elements around my armor – nyah~"
"Ooh! A derived skill!" Aria said cheerfully upon discovering.
'Derived skill…'
They don't have a class per se, but rather a skill. Similar to unique skills. And, depending on the skill, it can have other derived skills attached to it.
Or so he assumed from the little he knew.
Well, it shouldn't be too far from that.
Speaking of derived skills, he felt he needed to use more Mage skills.
At the moment, he had only used ice-centered skills. He still had other elements like wind, water, earth, and lightning. Of course, he also had fire. But the effect was too great to use in such a narrow area.
'With my current power, wouldn't I cause a small flood if I used water?'
He felt it was better not to risk it.
The laws of this dimension were weaker compared to his original world and TSSDK. Precisely because of this, the degree of power he could use seemed even greater in this dimension.
Even while holding back, the damage caused was high.
Just yesterday, when he attacked a goblin with a fireball, it blasted a hole in the labyrinth's wall.
While he was thinking, an Orc came from an area and spotted them. Now it wasn't just Aria, who was a beautiful elf, but also Vulcan, who was a sort of half-human with tiger ears.
The two together made the Orc drool like a starving wolf seeing meat. The Orc's white eyes were almost heart-shaped.
Forming a staff through his ring, he used the Robe's skill 'Ice Shards.'
Like a jet blast, the shards shot out at high speed and hit the Orc's chest. In a matter of milliseconds, the Orc was turned into an ice sculpture, and as Tomoya didn't cancel the skill, it continued firing 5 shards per second, so the impact was so great that the Orc exploded into ice fragments.
[Level Up!]
[Magic Manipulation Leveled Up!]
[Ice Manipulation Leveled Up!]
[Elemental Mastery Leveled Up!]
Tomoya's first reaction was incomprehension.
Then, he pretended to be calm, as if everything was under control, while canceling the skill.
"That was… Fantastic – Nyahhh!" Vulcan exclaimed in a way that seemed even more surprised than Aria when she saw Vulcan attack earlier.
"Yeah, yeah…!" Aria nodded in agreement. She herself was struggling to react.
By the way, the wall behind the Orc also froze when the ice shards hit it.
From the Orc's fragments, even the sword was shattered.
'I'll have to seal this skill for now…' Tomoya thought.
This time, the pieces were so tiny that it wasn't even worth picking them up.
The effort of doing so would be better spent killing another Orc.
"But, tchah, nothing useful was left." Vulcan rubbed salt in Tomoya's wound by saying this.
"True." Aria agreed.
Tomoya: "…"
'Aria, I thought we were partners!' He thought dramatically.
Deep down, he didn't care that much. In the end, it would yield at most 3 gold coins.
"Let's go to the next floor." Vulcan said: "With Tomoya as support, we don't need to worry, even if we go up to the 5th floor."
"I think so too." Aria said: "Rank D monsters, maybe even Rank C, don't stand a chance against Tomoya."
They started walking.
From what he knew, the third floor was full of Ropers.
Ropers are extremely disgusting monsters, enemies of women.
They have a body resembling sea cucumbers with a single huge eye and tentacles on their head.
Another characteristic was that when their tentacles are cut, they release a sticky white liquid.
"By the way, Tomoya, that weapon of yours is different from yesterday's." Aria noticed.
"Well, it's different, but at the same time, it's the same." Tomoya replied, leaving her more and more confused.
The staff that the ring took the form of was like a twisted black branch with a sphere at the tip, surrounded by what looked like branches. It was very similar to a standard mage's staff, but with an appearance that made it seem like a rare item.
Instead of explaining, he made the staff take the form of a magic scepter.
"T-That is – nyahhh! That is… I want to study that – nyahhh!" Vulcan literally lunged toward him with outstretched hands.
Dodging, he looked at her as if she were a weirdo.
"Why did you dodge – nyahhh?" Vulcan seemed frustrated.
"Anyone would dodge if something like that happened." Tomoya rolled his eyes at her.
"I just want to see your weapon – Nyahhh. Let me hold it just a little. I promise to handle your weapon carefully – nyah!" She clenched her fist as if making a vow of trust.
Tomoya frowned. He felt like she was speaking with a double entendre on purpose.
"Let me see if I got this right." Tomoya asked slowly: "You want to hold my weapon, handle it, and promise to be careful?"
"Yes, yes – Nyah!" She nodded quickly.
"Okay." He agreed.
"Thank you~" She approached again, this time more cautiously. It was as if she were trying to approach a rabbit, afraid it might jump and flee at any moment.
"Here." Tomoya handed it to her while it was still in the form of a magic scepter.
However, the moment it left his hand, before Vulcan could get excited, the magic scepter dissolved in her hand.
'I knew it.' Tomoya sighed.
"…" On the other hand, Vulcan was petrified and stammered as she came to: "I-I swear I didn't do anything – Nyahh! I just, just touched it a little and… And, it just…"
"Calm down." Tomoya made it reappear in the form of a magic scepter: "*Sigh*, I kind of know why it disappeared. It's because the real body of my weapon is this ring."
He showed the ring on his right index finger.
"S-So it's not just a weapon that changes shape, but an artifact – Nyah!" Her surprise was evident on her face.
She reached out and grabbed his hand with the ring.
'Why do I feel weird with her messing with the ring on my finger?' Tomoya shook his head.
Aria, who had been silent, also approached to take a closer look at Tomoya's ring.
Two beautiful girls surrounding him to look at his ring and murmuring about how amazing it was, saying things like it's a rare artifact, etc. This wasn't a situation he wanted…
If he didn't know their curiosity was genuine, he would have stopped them already.
"Tomoya, want to sell this artifact to me? I'd love to study how it works – nyahh!" Vulcan's eyes sparkled like a child going to Disneyland for the first time.
"500,000 gold coins." Tomoya threw out an absurd price. It was meant to make her give up on the idea of buying his ring.
"500,000 gold coins… It's expensive, but I think it's worth it… Unfortunately, it's way above my budget – nyah…" Vulcan sighed regretfully: "I only have a little over 300,000 gold coins in my savings…"
"F-Five hundred thousand gold coins?!" Aria, on the other hand, had a very exaggerated reaction.
How could she not? Even a thousand gold coins, which she wanted to earn, was an astronomical amount; let alone 500,000.
"Well, I understand you think it's a lot." Vulcan said: "But, dear Aria, you need to understand – nyah – that if it's an artifact that can instantly take on weapon forms, how advantageous would that be? By the way, besides these two forms you've shown, Tomoya, is there another form?"
"Yes." Tomoya made it take the form of a War Hammer, then a Greatsword.
The greatsword had a dark blade and looked incredibly sharp. The War Hammer was even larger than Vulcan's and seemed powerful, with a black hammerhead with intricate details.
"I want that – Nyaahhhh!" Vulcan bit her thumb with desire as she looked at Tomoya's greatsword.
She wasn't the only one who couldn't hide her desire for Tomoya's greatsword; Aria had a look of adoration.
"In the end, this artifact of mine, although it takes on different weapon forms, still has a magical effect. It wouldn't be suitable for you." Tomoya said, making it take the form of a magic scepter.
"I understand…" Vulcan's tiger ears drooped.
"Do you want an artifact like mine that badly?" Tomoya asked.
Not only did Vulcan's ears perk up, but Aria's twitched as well.
"Of course – Nyah!" Vulcan nodded vigorously.
"Well, it's not impossible. Although it can't take as many forms as mine, for 100,000 gold coins, I can get one that can take the form of gauntlets and a War Hammer. Plus, it would be suitable for physical damage, unlike mine."
"I'll buy it!" Vulcan said quickly: "You can't go back on your word, if I said I'm buying, I'm buying – Nyah!"
After that, she started murmuring, already seeming to dream about the moment she'd get her hands on such an artifact.
Meanwhile, Aria's ears drooped again.
He approached her and whispered: "It's okay, when you become stronger, you'll be able to save up that amount and buy one from me that suits you. But first, you want a storage ring, right?"
"Yes!" She agreed loudly.
"Let's hurry – nyah – I can't wait to get out and buy that artifact!" Vulcan seemed eager to leave and purchase it.
Tomoya and Aria started following, with Vulcan in the lead.
In truth, he had no intention of exploiting Vulcan. The 100,000 gold coins from that world would only be worth 10,000 in the shop, and the artifact cost 9,500. In other words, as the middleman, he'd only profit 500 gold coins.
"Wait, Vulcan." Tomoya said: "Didn't you want to see Aria in action? Let her take the lead."
"That's true!" She agreed, stopping her walk with the War Hammer resting on her shoulder.
"Thanks, Tomoya." Grateful, Aria took the lead.
The second floor was only slightly more dangerous than the first. Soon they saw another group of goblins with a single Goblin Mage among them. There were six in total.
Aria started running toward them.
Only when she was very close did she use the 'Acceleration' skill and cut them all down before the Goblin Mage even had a chance to use a magic attack.
"She's fast, and that skill makes her even faster… However, if her weapons were lighter, she could perform even better – nyah…" Vulcan murmured softly with her free hand on her chin: "Besides the weapon, her equipment lacks flexibility. Some parts aren't working well…"
Leaving her be, Tomoya pointed the magic scepter at a certain spot. Soon a water arrow was created and fired.
In an instant, it traveled several meters and hit the forehead of an Orc that had just turned and spotted them.
The worst part was that it wasn't just a simple hole that opened in the Orc's head, but a gaping wound the size of Tomoya's fist.
'Yes, with my current equipment, my power has increased tremendously.'
The main factor was the special effects on his stats. Be it the increase in mana or even Mana Control. Those two greatly contributed to his increased damage.
"Tomoya is truly a powerful knight – Nyahh!" Vulcan exclaimed.
Aria, who returned, said: "Yes, enough for me to be very grateful for letting me be part of his group."
Hearing this, Vulcan nodded and became thoughtful again.
Meanwhile, Tomoya approached the Orc.
He cut off the ears with an ice blade, then sold the Orc.
[+2 Gold Coins]
Then, he went to the goblins.
After cutting off the goblins' ears, Aria piled them up for him, and Tomoya sold them in the shop.
[+3 Gold Coins]