Chapter 9: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger
Under the crushing pressure of a life-and-death battle, Ronan calmed down. His mind became clearer than ever before.
Throw the short sword and force it to block!
His body suddenly faltered. His right foot slid half a step, his shoulders dropped, and his balance gave way on purpose. To the War Shadow, it looked exactly like Ronan had finally made a mistake because of pain and exhaustion.
As expected, the enemy took the bait!
The War Shadow burst forward the moment it saw the opening. It rushed in low, then sprang up at the last moment. Both claws shot forward together. One came slightly higher than the other, but both were aimed straight at Ronan's throat!
"Ha!"
Ronan roared and snapped his right arm up with all his strength. He did not try to stop the strike head-on. Instead, he swung across it. The rough, broken short sword slammed into the incoming claws from the side with a harsh metallic crash, knocking them just far enough off line to keep them away from his neck.
The moment the claws were pushed away, Ronan moved.
He pushed off hard and threw himself backward. His upper body leaned hard away from the War Shadow as he pulled out of its close range. At the same time, his wrist flicked.
The broken short sword left his hand and shot straight at the monster's face.
He did not throw it to kill. He threw it to force a choice: block, or keep chasing.
Everything happened exactly the way he wanted. The War Shadow crossed its claws in front of its face and knocked the flying short sword away!
Clang!
The broken blade spun off into the dark. But that tiny movement was all Ronan needed.
In that single beat, while the monster was busy blocking, Ronan opened the gap again. His heels scraped across the stone as he steadied himself. His torso straightened. His right arm came up. He pointed his index finger straight at the mirror-like disc in the center of the War Shadow's head.
Now the distance was almost nothing. It was too close to miss.
"Burn!"
The spell landed before the War Shadow could move again. Fire burst across its upper body at point-blank range. The flames rolled over its shoulders, chest, and face in one sweep, and this time its claws had no room to rise. It could not cut the magic apart in time. Orange-red fire spread across the black body and clung to it.
"Burn!"
Ronan stepped in with his front foot and fired again before the first blast had fully died down.
"Burn!"
Then the third shot came right after it, stacked on top of the first two while the monster was still trapped inside the flames.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The three bursts slammed together and rose higher, swallowing the dark body from head to toe. Firelight flashed across the stone walls and lit up the whole room for a moment before slowly fading.
When the light died down, only black ash remained. The sharp smell of burned flesh and scorched stone spread through the silent room. Ronan was the only one left standing.
As the battle ended, he could not hold on any longer. The strength drained from his legs. His body shook once, then he fell backward onto the ground as if every bone in him had come loose.
The hard, cold floor slammed into his back, but even that was not as painful as the torn wound in his left arm. He breathed heavily. Every breath pulled at the wound and sent a sharp stab of pain through him. Every exhale came out rough and uneven, carrying the smell of blood.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
His breathing echoed through the empty room, rough and broken.
Sweat had already soaked through his shirt and made it stick to his skin. It mixed with the blood dripping from his left arm, forming a dark red puddle on the floor beside him.
He was alive.
The pressure leaving his body did not bring relief. Instead, weakness and dizziness rushed in all at once. The edges of his vision started to darken. After a while, the pain and exhaustion eased just enough for him to think clearly again.
Ronan gritted his teeth and forced himself to sit up.
Crackle—
He looked at the pile of burning ash and took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves that were still tight from the fight. He pressed his right hand against his chest and felt his heart pounding against his ribs.
Then he let out a long breath.
"I won."
Special Individual [War Shadow] vs. Ronan Veyr
Winner: Ronan Veyr
"Damn it. This is only the 6th floor. How can something like this appear here? Was Lord Ouranos's prayer useless?"
"What the hell... this is too strange. I was already being this careful, and I still ran into an abnormal situation on the 6th floor. The 6th floor!"
Just thinking about it made Ronan shiver. A cold feeling crawled up his spine.
He could barely imagine how terrifying the high-level adventurers in the deep floors must be. To him, the people who could keep exploring down there despite all that danger had to be monsters in human form.
Compared to them, he still had a very long way to go.
There was a gap in combat experience, but also in mental strength and will.
"Phew..."
The battle had ended a while ago, but every time he thought about how close he had come to dying, a fresh wave of cold sweat broke out across his back. His heart started pounding again.
Leaning against the cold rock wall, he winced and started wrapping his bloody left arm.
"This Healing Bandage... it's been sitting in my bag for three or four months. I didn't think I'd really need to use it this soon."
He smiled bitterly. He remembered buying it, and how that playful saint had suddenly turned serious while teaching him exactly how to use it. In the end, her warning had proved right.
Using the first-aid basics he knew, he awkwardly but carefully wound the bandage around the wound. A faint herbal smell rose from it. Every time the cloth pressed against the torn flesh, a pained sound slipped through his teeth.
After finishing with the bandage, he pulled an expensive glass bottle from the pouch at his leg. He worked out the cork and drank the sea-blue liquid inside.
[Name]: High Potion
[Origin]: Orario · Dian Cecht Familia
[Effect]: Restores a large amount of stamina and greatly reduces fatigue. Its healing effect is almost like magic, but the recovery is not instant. It can heal deep cuts, stop bleeding, and mend broken bones, but it cannot regrow missing body parts.
[Description]: A sea-blue liquid stored in an expensive glass bottle. Price: 50,000 Valis. An essential item for Dungeon exploration.
The liquid slid down his throat. It barely had any taste, but a warm, powerful force soon spread from his stomach through his entire body. The sharp pain in his left arm began to fade under the combined effect of the bandage and the potion. The strength he had lost slowly started to return, like dry ground finally getting water again.
"As expected of a High Potion. The effect is amazing. It's worth the 50,000 Valis."
As his condition improved, the tension in Ronan's body loosened. Then another kind of pain hit him.
The pain of losing money.
"I really took a huge loss this time!"
His equipment was in terrible shape. His armor had taken heavy damage, his left gauntlet had been pierced and would need major repairs, his short sword was ruined, and even his leather armor had been torn open in several places.
Most importantly, he had used up an expensive High Potion and one of his rare Healing Bandages.
Once he added everything together, the loss was nearly 100,000 Valis.
"100,000... how many days am I supposed to spend hunting monsters to make that back?" Ronan's heart ached. Then he shook his head. "Forget it. Staying alive matters more. If it weren't for this 49,900-Valis light armor, I'd be dead by now."
He lowered his eyes to the scarred but still sturdy black armor and felt more and more satisfied with the expensive piece of gear he had found.
"It was worth the money!"
After this fight, if anyone dared to say that "armor is useless," he would slap them and tell them to try walking into the Dungeon with nothing on.
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
He tipped back his canteen and drained the last of the water in one go. The cold liquid felt wonderful against his throat.
"Alright, time to see what kind of reward comes after a disaster like this. I hope it helps cover part of the loss."
He pushed himself to his feet and walked toward the ash left by the Special Individual.
Then he froze.
Right in the middle of the ash lay a treasure chest, shining with an expensive golden light.
"Holy...!"
"A treasure chest!"
"I hit the jackpot."
After everything that had happened, Ronan could not keep a straight face anymore. A huge grin spread across his face.
But that joy only lasted for a moment. His habit of staying cautious kicked in immediately. He snapped his head up and checked every tunnel around the room to make sure no one was there. Only after confirming that did he rush forward, throw open the chest, grab everything inside without even checking it, and hide it close to his body.
Then his eyes shifted to the ash piles left by the ordinary War Shadows.
"Wow! It really is good luck after disaster!" His eyes lit up as he pulled out three sharp claws from the ash. "War Shadow Claws!"
"Three of them... that's 150,000 Valis! Not only did I recover my losses, I even came out ahead! Did my luck finally change?"
However, while he was putting the claws into his bag, his fingers touched something strange in the ash left by the Special Individual.
"Wait, what's this?"
He brushed away the ash and found a pitch-black claw.
Unlike the normal War Shadow Claws, which had a cold metallic sheen, this one seemed to swallow light. It was as black as ink, icy to the touch, and gave off a faint chill.
The moment Ronan looked at it, he remembered how the monster's claw had cut through his Burn spell. His heartbeat sped up again.
Could this be a rare drop, something like a weaker version of a Juggernaut's magic-breaking claw? It can't be on that level... but maybe the principle is similar.
In other words, the way it worked might be similar, but compared to a true magic-breaking claw, its power was probably far lower. It might not even count as high-grade gear for a Level 1.
But Ronan was not disappointed.
His instincts told him this thing might turn out to be a huge surprise.
After all, he had never heard of a Level 1 weapon that could interfere with magic like this.
He carefully put it away and hid it on his person. After cleaning up every sign of the battle as much as he could, Ronan left the area.
Even though the potion had eased his injuries and he could technically still fight, Ronan chose to leave early. He had always preferred caution.
He checked his brass pocket watch. There was still an hour left before sunset. Not many adventurers were heading back yet, so the path was not crowded.
Following his usual safe route, he soon returned to the plaza beneath the Tower of Babel.
"First I'll exchange the drops for money. Most of what I earned today will probably end up going to the healer," he thought as he headed toward the crowded Babel exchange.
Clink, clink!
A small pile of gold coins gleamed on the tray.
"Here is your payment. Please check it."
"Thanks."
Ronan answered flatly and swept the coins into his pouch. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed several people near the entrance watching him.
He laughed inwardly, tightened his hood, and slipped straight into the crowd. After weaving through a few turns, he vanished.
"Boss, shouldn't we move? That kid just got a lot of money..." one thug whispered.
"Idiot!" the leader snapped. "That guy moves like he knows what he's doing. Who knows what he has hidden? What if he pulls out a Magic Sword? Do you want to die? Keep your eyes open. This kind of job isn't as easy as it looks."
"As expected of the boss!"
"The boss is wise!"
Ronan was used to people like that. Every newcomer got "educated" sooner or later near the exchange. After getting beaten a few times, they learned. He liked to call it "Orario bullying."
Leaving the exchange behind, he walked straight toward the northwest adventurer district. He stopped across from the Guild Headquarters.
A large white stone building stood in front of him, marked with a clear emblem.
Dian Cecht Familia Pharmacy
This was one of the city's top medical facilities, run by the Dian Cecht Familia.
Its god, Dian Cecht, was said to be a difficult old man. Rumor said he had been on bad terms with Lord Miach for a very long time.
Ronan pushed open the door. A mixed smell of herbs and disinfectant hit him at once.
"Welcome. How can I help you..."
A healer in a white uniform walked over.