The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time
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chapter-10
A week after Vandalieu left, Cashew, leader of the『Wind Chasers』who had obtained the rights to explore the Dungeon first from the Adventurers’ Guild, entered said Dungeon with his companions in high spirits.
The prestige and advancement for their party that came with the rights to the first exploration were not the only reasons that they wanted it so badly. The treasures inside the Dungeon were a big draw for them as well.
The Ranks of the monsters that appear in Dungeons and the quality and value of the items that one could obtain from them are fixed to some extent. However, that only applies for Dungeons that have already been discovered and have adventurers enter them regularly.
The longer a Dungeon went with nobody entering and clearing the monsters out, the more the monsters multiplied and killed each other, increasing the levels of those who won such internal conflicts and possibly even increasing their Rank. This would make the Dungeons more difficult, but the value of the items inside would also increase accordingly.
This would be especially true of this Dungeon, as it was an unexplored Dungeon that nobody had ventured into. The first exploration of any Dungeon is a high risk venture, but one that yields high reward.For this reason, Cashew and his companions had checked their equipment and prepared for the dangers, while at the same time anticipating great rewards for their efforts.
However, what they found was disappointing. On the first floor, only Goblins appeared, with a few Goblin Soldiers and Archers mixed in. They lit their lanterns and proceeded with caution through the second floor, and it gave them no trouble. The third floor was a simple matter of watching their steps through the mud.
「Most of the monsters appearing are Rank 1. There’s the occasional Rank 2, but they’re few in number.」
「Isn’t this one of those low-difficulty F-class dungeons?」
Dungeons are Ranked by the Adventurers’ Guild based on their difficulty. This sets a standard for how many adventurers of the same class would need to form a party to clear it.
An F-class Dungeon is the easiest of Dungeons, a labyrinth used as a training ground for novice adventurers.
Of course, the rewards that could be harvested from such a Dungeon would be nothing but pocket change for Cashew and his companions, who were D-class adventurers.「But why have the Dungeon’s stairs turned into ramps? The hardest part about this Dungeon is getting up and down those.」
「Who knows? Maybe it’s to train your legs?」
However, once they passed the third floor, they no longer had the leisure to make such idle chat. As they descended into the fourth floor, they were forced to fight for their lives.
「OOOOOOOOOGH.」
「DIIIIIIIIIE!」
「Why are there Rank 3 Zombie Soldiers and Wraiths coming out all of a sudden?!」
「Cashew! There’s a Skeleton Archer aiming at us from further inside!」
「Hyiih! There’s even a Stone Golem coming this way!」
Up until the third floor, Vandalieu had cleared the monsters once, so there were few Rank 2 monsters. However, he had not defeated a single monster on the fourth floor.
In addition, the Stone Golems that Vandalieu had created to avoid traps had been added to the Dungeon’s repertoire of monsters.
And since Cashew and his companions did not possess the【Death Attribute Charm】skill, the Undead attacked them fiercely.
Cashew’s party, the『Wind Chasers』, were aiming for a promotion to C-class, so they had fought not only Rank 3 monsters but even Rank 4 monsters in the past, and they had even combined all of their members’ strength to defeat a Rank 5 monster on one occasion. They were veterans that would be able to defeat Rank 3 monsters, even if they were outnumbered two to one.
However, they were not strong enough to be able to continuously fight against an endless swarm of them.
「Shit! We’re retreating for now!」
Deciding to make a tactical retreat before sustaining too many losses, Cashew and his party returned to Terow and gave up on conquering the Dungeon on their own, joining forces with the『Steel Wings』and the『White Stars』before challenging the Dungeon once more.
With fifteen D-class adventurers gathered together, they were to get through the fourth floor without difficulty and barely managed to conquer the fifth floor. However, they fought an incredibly difficult battle against the Rank 6 Black Skull General and the ten Rank 4 Cursed Armors.
In the end, they were forced to retreat as well and the Adventurers’ Guild commissioned a C-class party for the first clearing of the Dungeon. However, those C-class adventurers were disappointed.
「I had high hopes since this was an uncleared Dungeon, but this is all we get, huh.」
They defeated the Black Skull General safely, but there was no treasure desirable for C-class adventurers in the treasure storage room; the items there were only worth loose change in their eyes.
The weapon and shield used by the Black Skull General was using a problematic Mana absorption ability during the battle, but they fell to pieces as soon as he was defeated, so the adventurers were unable to claim them for themselves.
Undead monsters have a higher chance to yield Magic Stones, but most monsters at Rank 4 and above drop Magic Stones anyway.
They would dismiss this Dungeon as a failure in their disappointment and put it behind them, but they would have never imagined in their wildest dreams that an infant who was not even an adventurer had ventured into the Dungeon and cleared it before them.
Afterwards, this Dungeon was classified as an E-class dungeon and the explanation given for the fact that powerful monsters had appeared below the fourth floor was that the Dungeon had simply been left alone by adventurers for too long.
And then the Dungeon was used to train new adventurers.
They were products carefully created by adding metal armor on the outer surface of a monster’s hide, but lined with soft monster fur so as to not damage delicate skin. In addition, the mana imbued in them granted all kinds of resistances, so even though they appeared to be thin, fragile items, they were actually sturdier than the average plate armor.
The blue high-leg leotard armor has a V-shaped split above the pointed crotch region, leaving the navel and important internal organs beneath it completely exposed. The chest part would probably only cover two-thirds of one’s breasts, and the back is also left bare until just above the buttocks.
The bikini armor is just as lacking in surface area. It also does not cover more than two-thirds of the breasts, and the bottom part is cut quite low, as if it has been taken into consideration that a beast-person with a tail may wish to wear it.
But unlike the swimsuit-like torso portions, the shoulder armor, wrist covers and leg guards are properly made. This imbalance causes the wearer to have an immodest appearance, though perhaps they would be a stimulating sight for anyone who sees them.
Though, this only applies if a woman is wearing it.
「It wasn’t anything to be concerned about after all.」
Vandalieu gave an earnest nod as he examined the high-leg armor and bikini armor before him.
Indeed, they were just suits of armor.
The high-leg armor housed the spirit of Sam’s eldest daughter, Saria. The bikini armor was inhabited by his second daughter, Rita.
Both of them were of marriageable age, and according to Sam, they were his two adorable daughters who took after their mother.
『…』
However, now that they inhabited these suits of armor, only these suits of armor could be seen, even for Vandalieu, who possessed an affinity for the death attribute.
However, since their spirits had the appearance of burnt corpses, this was probably for the better.
He had also said this when he had used his daughters to haunt these suits of armor to create Living Armors – Even though these suits of armor were very revealing, not even the tips of his Sam’s daughters’ pinky fingers would be exposed if they were to be inhabiting these, so there was absolutely no need to worry.
Even if one were to try to peek at their chests, they would see not cleavage, but the inner lining of the armor on the other side.
「Well, I guess it’s good enough that I’ve increased my number of Rank 3 allies. Now then, let’s get on with the experiments.」
With these words, Vandalieu began to pour an excess amount of Mana into Saria and Rita. The two of them soaked up hundreds of thousands, millions of Mana colored black with the death attribute.
『…!』
The two of them began to tremble, as if writhing in agony, but even after this continued for quite a while, there was no further change. When Vandalieu checked their statuses, neither their levels nor their Rank had changed. They were still a Living High-Leg Armor and a Living Bikini Armor.
Although for some reason, this process apparently felt pleasant for them.
「As I thought, it’s no good.」
He had tried the same thing on Bone Man and the others, but they hadn’t undergone any change… Though he did get the feeling that their bones were shinier and the cracks in them had disappeared afterwards.
But the Skeleton General and the Living Armors he had encountered in the Dungeon had become visibly stronger.
『Maybe you haven’t met the requirements for them to increase their Rank.』
「Requirements?」
『Yes, I’m not very knowledgeable about how monsters increase their Rank, but if it’s like how people’s Jobs work, I think there are requirements besides increasing their level.』
According to Darcia, Job changes sometimes required several conditions other than reaching a certain level. For example, even if an adventurer with the Apprentice Mage Job reached level 100, their skill with magic had to be of a certain standard to advance to being a Mage – to be precise, they required at least one skill at level 2 or above.
There are other examples that are not limited to skill requirements. A Job change to Knight requires one to be knighted and one must possess a magic sword in order to become a Magic Swordsman; certain ceremonies or prestige and possession of certain items could also be requirements.
Also, one needs to be a beast-man to become a Beast-fighter, a requirement that one must be born with.
Darcia’s suggestion was that perhaps there were similar requirements for monsters to increase their Rank.
「So then, that Skeleton General and those Living Armors had reached the required level to increase their Rank, but weren’t able to do so because they didn’t meet the other requirements. And then when I poured my Mana into them, those requirements were fulfilled and they increased Rank, is that right?」
『That might be the case.』
「I see.」
It did make sense now that Darcia said it. Goblins did not become Goblin Mages and then learn how to use magic; Goblins with talent for magic who then became proficient with it increased their Rank to become Goblin Mages.
In other words, there was no easy shortcut such as pouring Mana into the monsters to have them increase their Rank.
「Well then, if any of my Undead don’t increase their Rank after reaching level 100, I’ll try it out then. Saria, Rita, thanks for participating in my experiment. Make sure you practise using weapons with everyone later.」
As Saria and Rita were maids, they naturally had no knowledge about fighting. Therefore, it was necessary to have them undergo training so that they could learn the skills that they needed.
For that purpose, Vandalieu decided to have them choose weapons for themselves. As they were beginners, he had expected them to choose swords or spears, but…
『…』
Saria chose a halberd and Rita took a glaive. They were the items that they had discovered in the Dungeon, and though Vandalieu was unsure exactly what effects they possessed, they were considerably powerful Magic Items. However… he had the feeling that they were not exactly ideal for amateur fighters.
「Are you sure you want those?」
In response to Vandalieu’s question, Saria and Rita swung their weapons through the air and reassured him that it was fine. Perhaps it should be expected of Living Armors, but they were able to lift these heavy weapons in a way that they would definitely not have been able to do in their previous lives.
「If you say so, but if it’s too difficult, make sure you change to a sword or a spear. If you prefer heavy weapons, there’s a cudgel as well.」
As Vandalieu said that, the two of them happily (probably) began their training to polish their skills with Bone Man and the others.
It was a general rule that skills leveled up as one used them, so they were to make use of the fact that Undead needed no sleep or rest in order to carry out their training.
With that said, nobody present knew how to use a halberd or a glaive, not even Vandalieu, so the training simply consisted of trying swinging it downwards, stabbing it forwards like a spear and slashing sideways.
This was far less efficient than real battles, but being on a continuous journey while also constantly looking for sources of Experience Points such as Goblins and bandits would be too tiring for Vandalieu, even if the Undead could handle it. Also, he wasn’t particularly keen on contributing to the maintenance of peace in the country of Mirg.
「Well then, I’ll take care of these walnuts that we picked up yesterday.」
The sun was still high in the air and Vandalieu wasn’t feeling tired, so a nap could come later. Being the only one to slack off didn’t sit well with him either, so he began preparing some walnuts.
He had more than enough food, but having salt as his only option for seasoning was getting dull, so he planned to make sauce using the walnuts.
He had a vase full of walnuts that had been picked yesterday afternoon. They were still unripe and the fruit was still intact, so eating them as they were was out of the question. He spread them over the ground.
「They’ll need about a month or so, huh.【Decomposition.】」
And then he used death-attribute magic to speed up the decomposition process by a month. The unripe fruit turned black and muddy.
Washing away this decomposed fruit with spring water that he had used Golems to collect caused the seeds to come out. Peeling their shells finally yielded the walnuts, but he had to be careful not to be impatient and crush them by accident. If that happened, the broken fragments of the shell would become mixed with the walnuts and less of the walnut would be usable.
And so he used Earth Golems to cook them lightly, using a fire that he created by making Golems from firewood and having them rub against each other. Doing this made it easier to break the shells.
『Now all you need to do is split the shells with a knife once they’ve cooled down.』
So Darcia advised. As a member of a race that lived in the forest, she was knowledgeable about how to use things that the forest provided.
Vandalieu used【Heat Leech】to cool the walnuts down and then used his nails to split the walnuts. Darcia had told him to use a knife, but lately he had become able to grow his nails to a certain length at will, so he decided to put this ability to practical use.
「In the future, I might have to use these to fight or something.」
His late father had been a master of close-quarters combat, and had been good at fighting using his claws. Could this be a hereditary trait as well? As Vandalieu wondered this, Darcia opened her mouth as if she had just thought of something.
『Future, huh… Do you have something you want to become in the future, Vandalieu?』
「Future? I want to become a high-class adventurer, build up achievements and become a nobleman. And then I want to become well-known in society.」
『… The first part is childish, but I have to question the second part.』
「But that’s what I need the most, societal fame.」
Vandalieu answered her question while loudly splitting the walnut shells with his nails.
「When Amemiya Hiroto and the others are reincarnated here in the future, even if Rodcorte tells them about me, they won’t be able to do too anything reckless if I’m well-known in society.」
Vandalieu had recently come to realize that he had something in common with Amemiya Hiroto and the others – unable to return to Earth, they would have to live on Lambda until they died.
Even with cheat-like abilities, Amemiya and the others would not so easily be able to make the entirely of society their enemy. By being reincarnated here, they would have parents and siblings in this world. They would also likely find friends, and perhaps even lovers.
If Vandalieu was well-known in society, they would not be able to lay their hands on him carelessly, as that would cause trouble for their family and everyone involved with them. If Vandalieu was a nobleman, even more so.
「Mom, if I have political power and fame, society will become my shield.」
『Hmm, I think I meant something different with my question. If you didn’t have to worry about that Amemiya* person and the others, what would your dream be?』
TLN*: It seems I mistranslated Amemiya’s name. To be fair, it can be read in multiple different ways and there is no way of telling the correct reading unless the phonetic reading is given (which it wasn’t until this sentence). Both Vandalieu’s Japanese name and his doppelganger’s name are actually pronounced “Amamiya” – in other words, exactly the same. I’m going to leave Amemiya spelled this way to help differentiate (and continue italicizing it).Tap the screen to use reading tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.