My opponents were four grown men with stats higher than mine. I felt a pang of anxiety as I was used to handling monsters and looters with my usual stats and skills, but it turned out I had nothing to worry about.
...Is this easier than I thought?
Maybe things would have been different if I had had to fight them bare-handed, but now that I had a proper weapon and shield, falling a little short on specs wasn't a big deal for me anymore. The truth is that I was used to unfair combat, since I ran into monsters like Amelia when I was at a low level.
Clang!
If the enemy attacks you, block with the shield. After a series of successful blocks, a gap would open to hit him back.
Hit!
I hit the soldier's head with my mace. Now it was another one on one.
«…P-Por favor, no me mates.»
This young-looking soldier had been sitting in the safest position throughout the fight, and after sensing his impending defeat, he tried to flee. His companions, who had placed their trust in him, would surely be disappointed. I raised my shield like a Frisbee and threw it as hard as I could.
¡Whack!
This was a skill I liked to call Shield Arrow. He had practiced it quite a bit when he was low level, as he wanted to have a long range attack, but rarely had the opportunity to use it.
Hit!
The shield hit the soldier on the head and caused him to fall. I ran towards him and pinned him to the ground.
«Let go of me! Let go of me...! He struggled against me as hard as he could, panicking.
«I want to ask you something.
«Do you think I would respond to someone like you?». He choked on his next breath, stuttering as he punched his solar plexus with his fist. With a cough, he finally began to calm down.
I took us to a secluded place where we could talk and then proceeded to find all the information I could. First, I had to ask my most pressing question. «What is this place?»
«What do you mean...?»
What do you mean, what do I mean? I ask because I really don't know.
«Just answer me. What is this place?»
«...The Pilgrim's Cave.»
Um, but is this clearly the Crystal Cave?
«So what is your goal?»
«Catch the fleeing pilgrims and bring them to justice...»
«Stop screaming. You hurt my ears». I kept bombarding him with questions and he gave me the answers I wanted. I also made sure he told me the absolute truth, and whenever he lied to me, I forced him to acknowledge it and give me more accurate information. In the end, I got a few new facts to keep in mind.
Observation ten: there were more pilgrims besides me. Apparently there were four of us in total, which meant that Erwen, Versyl, and Ainar were in a similar situation to me.
Observation eleven: the pilgrims' objective was to activate the Witch's Altar hidden inside the cave. That had to be the condition to surpass this level, and even if it wasn't, the altar would be the best place to gather and join forces with my teammates anyway.
Since this is basic information that even these weak soldiers know, I am sure that everyone will be able to find out independently.
Of course, he had to find out where exactly the Witch's Altar was. However, I had a theory about where it could be: the same place where our raid took place. The dark area in the heart of the cave.
The place where Gabrielius, the first adventurer to set foot in this labyrinth, had a monument built in his name.
If there was anything hidden in this cave, it had to be there.
...If not, they wouldn't have made us start from the outskirts.
I was finally able to reconstruct the essence of this special event.
The Desert of Rocks, the Forest of Goblins, the Lair of Beasts and the Land of the Dead: each of the entrances to the Pilgrim's Cave was connected to the four areas of the second floor. Not only that, but each of us had to be sent to a different entrance and therefore had to make our way to the center to join forces.
The center has to be where we will fight the boss. That, or is where a new phase will begin...
How was this event triggered in the first place? Was it because there were only four of us present when he moved on to the next phase? No, it couldn't be like that. On quite a few occasions a character had died in the middle of the raid, leaving only four of us to defeat the Lord of Terror.
...I should worry about what was different this time later. Now I have to focus on passing the test.
With my interrogation over, I left.
***
As any real player knows, there is nothing more exciting than trying to beat a level the first time. I knew that feeling very well.
Step.
But that was when you were playing. Now that the game had become my reality, things were completely different.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.
My heart was practically beating out of my chest. I couldn't afford to let my guard down, not even for a microsecond. There was no room for that familiar emotion here. The only thing I felt was a chill running down my spine and a thought that was corroding me inside.
I can not be wrong.
I had to pass this test, and I had to do it perfectly. This was not a game where you could respawn or start over. In this world, second chances did not exist.
[You have killed 10 soldiers. All your stats have increased by +1.]
[You have killed 15 soldiers. All your stats have increased by +1.]
[You have killed 20 soldiers. All your stats have increased by +1.]
[You have killed...]
As I advanced through the cave, I hunted soldiers in groups of less than five to reduce their number and noticed that my stats gradually increased.
Every time he killed five of them...
I couldn't tell exactly how much my stats increased, but they did, at the very least.
Since I don't know when the boss will appear, I need to increase my stats as much as possible before it appears.
Part of me wanted to focus on hunting down as many soldiers as I could to increase my stats, but in the end I thought I should prioritize getting to the center. That was the most rational course of action.
I also can't rule out the possibility of a time penalty.
Dungeon and Stone wasn't a friendly enough game to offer you both a way to get strong and plenty of time to do it.
...If I have time left after arriving, I can go hunting, but right now, I need to move.
I continued my way downtown, focusing on making good weather instead of hunting.
...At least seven hours must have passed by now.
That meant it was time to update my information.
Remark Twelve: Waiting for the maze to close was not a viable escape plan. If it were, the labyrinth would have already closed and we would have returned to the Plaza de la Dimension. Yet here I was, still trapped in the cave. Realizing that only brought another layer of anxiety.
...This isn't like a Rift where you get trapped forever if you don't escape before the maze closes, is it?
That was another possibility that he couldn't completely ignore. However, there wasn't much point in thinking about it when I couldn't do anything about it.
«¡Un foreigner!»
Suddenly, I heard a scream further down the road. I couldn't even see them yet, so how were they able to see me? Despite my confusion, I hurried to prepare for battle, but to my surprise, no one came towards me. Instead, I heard them running further away.
«¡Atrápenlos!»
«Damn servant of that disgusting witch!»
Only then did I realize. There was someone else nearby.
Step.
Well, then I wasn't going to sit here. I ran after the soldiers.
¿Ainar? ¿Versyl? ¿Erwen? ¿A quién?
As I wondered who the soldiers were chasing, I saw a group of them in the distance, with their backs to me.
...So all the nearby soldiers joined in here.
There were a total of nine of them, and together, they were blocking someone everywhere. The person surrounded by all those soldiers was none other than Versyl Gowland.
«¡Don't worry! No lo hagas!»
Versyl trembled all over her body as she waved a bone wand in the air. As a warrior, I was ashamed to see her. Did she want to be attacked, acting so pathetically? The soldiers must have felt the same, since they did not move.
«What are you doing?! Take it!»
«Hyaaah!» In the end, Versyl was unable to defend herself and was quickly overpowered by the soldiers.
That girl... how had she gotten so far from a piece?
I had no idea, but there was no time to ask questions. The soldiers forced her to kneel, ready to cut her throat. They must have had orders to execute us on the spot.
Damn. Nine is too much...
Unfortunately, there was no other option. I couldn't just watch her die.
Whack.
Without any further deliberation, I threw my mace at the head of the soldier standing at the back of the pack.
«...It's an ambush!»
As soon as I killed one, all his eyes were on me. Well, there was no point in trying to be stealthy anymore. «Behel-aaaaaah!» With no other options, I raised my shield and ran towards them.
«What are you doing?! Hurry, go get...!»
After all, how was I going to save her if I tiptoed up to them?
«¡Ugh!»
My greatest advantage lay in the soldiers I had killed along the way. I made my way through the troops using my newly acquired Strength stats and launched myself into the center of the group, where Versyl was kneeling, still on her knees.
Stab!
I had just enough time to protect her with my body before a long sword sank deep into my side.
«¿Sr. Candle?»
«...Leave greetings for later.»
The soldiers I passed through to reach it had already stood up, blocking the path again. In that case, the first thing we had to do was go somewhere better. Without my usual high physical stamina, we had no hope of winning if we ended up surrounded.
«Wait.»
«¿Eh? ¡A-Ahh!»
Versyl clung to my neck in surprise as I picked her up. I ran back the way I had come, piercing the soldiers with my shield.
Shank.
However, as I ran forward, I felt a sudden stabbing pain in my thigh.
Dagger!
That damn spearman.
I used my mace to break the shaft of the spear embedded in my thigh, allowing me to quickly break through its defenses and get Versyl out of there.
But I won't be able to get very far with these legs.
Well, at least now I wouldn't have to worry about protecting my back. I hurried to get Versyl up and placed her behind me. The soldiers continued marching towards us in a straight line.
Due to this narrow passage, only three soldiers can advance and attack us at a time.
Even so, they had a total of eight soldiers left.
...The odds are not great.
They had already stabbed me in the side and thigh. My body slowed down as the pain and exhaustion increased. Furthermore, if this fighting continued for much longer, there was a chance that other soldiers would hear the commotion and rush to provide reinforcements.
Apriete.
I lowered the center of gravity and got into combat position as I grabbed the gun and shield in anticipation of the grueling battle that awaited me.
[Versyl Gowland has released Nascent Flesh.]
...Then suddenly I felt my wounds heal.
Nascent Flesh was the active ability of the Dark Worshiper, a rank seven monster. Yet somehow Versyl Gowland was releasing it.
...What is this?
How come a mage was using an essence ability? It was the first time I'd seen anything like this in all my years of playing Dungeon and Stone.
However, we had more pressing matters to take care of before I could satisfy my curiosity.
With this, things are different.
Right now I only had one question for Versyl. «Versyl, how long will it be until you can use that ability again?»
«You should be able to use it one more time after three minutes».
«Genial.»
My wound had healed cleanly, and if I was injured again, I could recover in just three minutes. In other words, he could now fight them much more aggressively.
Step.
I stood up from my squat, stopping taking a defensive stance. Then, putting all my strength behind me, I ran forward with a stroke of my mace.
¡Wa-blam!
Although I suffered several minor injuries from attacking them more recklessly than before, I was able to win the battle.
[You have killed 7 soldiers. All your stats have increased by +1.]
Once I killed seven of them, the remaining two fled. I didn't even bother chasing them.
«Sr. Candel...»
«...Let's get out of here first. Before they ask for reinforcements».
«Oh, okay!»
We stole a soldier's armor that was similar in size to Versyl's and also took a shield for it before quickly moving.
[Versyl Gowland has released Nascent Flesh.]
Now that we were in a safe place, we could finally talk.
«What happened? How are you able to use an essence skill?»
«I don't know either. From the moment I opened my eyes in this place, I was able to use it naturally... It's strange. It feels almost like I have a new body part attached to me. I'm probably the first magician in the world to experience something like this».
Hmm.
Well, I didn't need much more explanation than that. Versyl, who was still chattering, ended up reading the room and cleared her throat in shame when she stopped. «Oh, don't listen to me. Anyway, that's not important. But other than that, there is another skill I can use».
«Which is?»
«As far as I can tell, I'd say it's A Fairy Tale».
Fairy Tale was the ability of a Gnome. It created an invisible barrier within a three-yard radius. This was how Versyl had managed to get here: she had an ability that allowed her to hide in plain sight.
Were they trying to make things fairer by allowing wizards to use abilities?
It seemed plausible. Mages had no experience in hand-to-hand combat, so it made sense that there would be a balance patch to compensate for it.
«I almost died. I guess I've run out of Soul Power. While I was resting, I suddenly ran into soldiers... and after they discovered me, I couldn't hide again».
«Where did you start?»
"...¿Which?"
«Didn't you look outside the cave at first, before the barrier closed?»
«Hey... sorry. I panicked immediately, so I didn't check».
«Oh... seriously? Well... that makes sense. It's not that important. But did you find out that we had to go downtown anyway and come here?»
"¿What?"
«…¿Eh?»
Versyl and I tilted our heads in unison.
«Didn't you purposely head towards the center?»
«Are you… what about the center…?»
So he fled blindly.
He was lucky to run into me, I guess.
«...But what happened to you, Mr. Yandel? You were able to defeat almost ten soldiers there alone. And where did you get that equipment from? At first I didn't even recognize you».
When he finished telling me about his experiences, Versyl began peppering me with questions. I told him everything I had experienced until then.
The story began when I first opened my eyes.
My skills were sealed, my stats were sealed, and my equipment was gone. I realized that we were «pilgrims» after hearing a conversation between the soldiers before the barrier was broken. I was also able to take a look at the world outside the cave entrance and saw what looked like the Goblin Forest, so I came to the conclusion that my companions had also started at different ends of the ground. Realizing that I could understand what the soldiers were saying, I decided I had to capture one and get more information. However, before I did any of that, I ran away.
Twenty minutes later.
I realized that the monsters were on our side. And after seeing the soldiers chasing me fight said monsters and try to find me, I realized that they thought the cave was dark.
Thirty minutes later.
Knowing I needed more information before doing anything, I hid behind shiny glass to ambush my pursuers. After defeating the three soldiers, I looted their equipment to improve my chances in future battles.
Forty-five minutes.
I continued to ambush the soldiers I saw until I was finally able to capture one alive and interrogate him. I got all kinds of information and figured out what we needed to do. It seemed that our goal as pilgrims was to activate the Witch's Altar hidden in the cave.
Two hours.
To make myself stronger, I killed every soldier I encountered on my way downtown, determining that we all needed to meet there as soon as possible, as there was a chance this place would have a time penalty.
About seven hours.
«And that's where you come in. Understood?» I sighed. That should be all. «Alright then, let's get going. We have to hurry towards the center, since the Witch's Altar is probably there».
But Versyl didn't follow me when I started walking. Instead, he stood there, staring into space. «Did you... know all this beforehand?».
«Hey?» What was he saying? If I had known, we wouldn't be in such a desperate situation. «Of course not.»
«So how did you know all that...?»
What a ridiculous question.
...Isn't she a player too?
Why was she acting so surprised by some basic logical deductions?