The Max Level Hero Has Returned!
chapter-274

Physical aversion was a behavior brought about by common sense in humans. It was a behavior that usually made them feel disgusted by creatures with many legs such as cockroaches. Rinne, a non-human, was obviously different from humans despite having an ego herself.

At this point in time, it was safe to say that Rinne was like a human being when it came to having feelings and senses. But as long as her body was still made out of nonliving matter and machinery, Rinne was still a golem. Or perhaps, it was safer to say that her concept was more of a cyborg?

However, even if Davey said no, the disappointed Rinne still did not want to let the blood piece of flesh go. Since she was a golem and not a human being, the basic range of her disgust was on an entirely different scale from humans. That was why she smiled brightly at Davey while waiting for praise as she trampled on a large centipede with her bare foot.

“Sir Davey, is this monster called a troll?”

“That’s right. It’s a troll. But looking at the color of its skin, it’s not just a simple troll. I believe it’s an Armored Troll.”

This species was very slow yet still very tricky and difficult to deal with because of their skin, which was as hard as stone. Fortunately, their population was very small compared to the ordinary trolls, so they had never been a huge threat to humans.

“Quick analysis and link. Analyzing lifeforms in the surrounding. Multiple trolls have been detected.”

The moment Rinne finished speaking, countless trolls appeared from the gaps between the trees.

Shiiiiiing…

Rinne looked up at Davey with her lightsaber already pulled out. She said, “Sir Davey, Rinne will tidy them up.”

“No. If you deal with them one by one, then we’ll be wasting time on something completely unnecessary. Well, our destination is a lake, so…”

If that was the case, then it was more efficient for Davey to call for someone who was very much familiar with the water.

“Heed my call.”

[Slaimmy.]

Splash!!!

The water and moisture seeping through the cracks of the forest gathered in the air before Davey. Soon, the shape of a woman could be seen.

[Again! Again!!! Again with that strange name!!! Don’t call me by that vulgar name!!!]

Ignoring Water Spirit King Ellaim’s outburst, Davey just pointed at the trolls and said, “Clean them up.”

Dissatisfaction painted Ellaim’s expression as she began to shout again.

[Ha! If you think I would listen to you, then think again…]

“Well, I won’t force you to do it if you don’t want to. Let’s see, the summoning ritual for the Lightning Spirit…”

[I’ll do it!!! I can do it!!!]

Ellaim clicked her tongue, her momentum increasing rapidly and fiercely.

Ellaim was the Water Spirit King that Spirit Empress Yuriana, Davey’s spirit magic teacher, had signed a contract with. And from what Davey had learned from his teacher, Ellaim had a fierce battle of pride with the Lightning Spirit King, something that he had fully taken advantage of.

The trolls roared and screamed furiously the moment they saw Ellaim raise her momentum fiercely.

Looking at the trolls’ behavior, Ellaim’s expression turned cold. She was already angry after being teased by Davey, so the fact that the ugly trolls dared to scream at her made her think that even they were looking down on her.

[Impudent. Do you know who you’re screeching at, huh?]

Even if Ellaim was one of the gentlest spirits, she was a Spirit King. She wouldn’t take it lying down if someone dared to look down on her.

Shwaaaaaa!!!

Davey could hear something moving around them. Looking around, he noticed that dozens of trolls had already moved to surround him and Rinne.

Suddenly, the trolls suddenly shriveled up like mummies. It was as if all of the moisture from their bodies had been sucked dry.

Fwoosh…

Blood was a liquid that was part water. No matter how high the trolls’ regenerative abilities were, if the blood that delivered the nutrients all over their body had been sucked dry, then their regenerative abilities would be considered null. They would have no other choice but to die.

***

The Tionis Continent was different from modern Earth in many ways, and this very forest was a good example. Unlike Earth, there were many places, places near the borders of each nation that had not been developed yet, that were swarming with monsters. Of course, there were also many such places that were nowhere close to the borders. In general, these areas were usually those that remained out of humans’ reach.

Davey and Rinne walked leisurely along the forest that was filled with gigantic trees that were tens, perhaps even hundreds, of times larger than the size of an ordinary human.

“Sir Davey, Rinne has analyzed that ordinary humans will not be able to distinguish the difference between pork and trolls if we cover it up nicely.” Rinne looked back at Davey with a bright and clear expression on her face.

“I’ll make some for you later.”

“Sir Davey is very quick-witted. Rinne is very satisfied with this.”

Only after Davey promised to cook a troll dish for her later was Rinne satisfied, finally leaving the subject alone. Simply put, the brat did not really want to do anything with the restaurant business or something. She just liked the taste that she had sampled when gathering data earlier on. All in all, it could be said that it was because of her deep interest in food.

—You’re going to…eat trolls?

“Troll is a pretty humane alternative for meat, you know?”

Was there anything that Davey could not eat when it came to his survival? A picky eater would not be able to survive at all.

[Wait.]

Ellaim, who was leading the way while turning all of the trolls that came their way into mummies, raised her hand made of water and stopped Davey from moving forward. However, the blood that she was sucking from the trolls continued to rush into the opened bottle in Davey’s hands.

Since Ellaim was a Spirit King, she could easily extract the blood from the trolls’ bodies without leaving any wounds on their bodies and store it neatly. Still, there was plenty of blood being lost during this collection process.

In fact, with the blood of a random troll, Davey could already fill dozens of glass bottles that were larger than the palm of his hands.

This was all for the money. By handing over the blood of high-ranking trolls like the Armored Trolls to the Mage Tower or to any merchant store, Davey would be able to rake in a lot of cash.

Did this make Davey into a scrooge? Why would someone with lots of money like him care so much about it? However, nothing was more dangerous than reckless moneybags.

[There’s a weird curtain here. It’s a barrier.]

Hearing Ellaim’s warning, Davey reached out into what seemed like an empty space in front of him.

Ting…

The invisible barrier rippled with a clear sound once Davey came into contact with it.

“It’s good that you came here with us.”

The barrier did not prevent physical access. It would only appear and activate when someone went beyond it.

“It’s a barrier that shows the illusion of flowing water and forces you back outside.”

[It seems like you know it quite well.]

According to the Thousand-day Blacksmith Surtr, they had created a test to pick the right person to take the key that they had kept here. The problem was that the level of difficulty was higher than expected.

One would probably think that the gap between the mages of the past and the current mages would have decreased as time went by. But that was not the case at all. Well, it had now become a blessing in disguise for Davey. Thanks to its level of difficulty, others had not yet found this place.

“Let’s go in.”

From what Davey heard, there was definitely an intruder system alert. However, he did not care about that at all. He just continued to walk inside casually. Then, Davey stood in front of the space that he believed the barrier was at, clenched his right fist, and punched.

[Devil Ylgr’s Breaker]

[Pulverizer]

There was nothing better than using brute force to break the barrier in front of him. Davey even chose a very efficient and quiet method, a method that was completely unlike the one he had used to break the barrier that had protected the previous Elven Village located in the Moon Forest.

In an instant, a dark red energy appeared and surrounded Davey’s right hand. Then, his fist flashed and slammed down on the barrier. The attack was so heavy that anyone who saw it would feel like it would bend the very space around them.

Bang!!!

The space obviously looked empty, but something was definitely in there. Davey looked at the crumbling mana, the mana that collapsed from his devastating blow. Only after confirming that the huge barrier had been destroyed did he make his next move.

Although the barrier was no more, the forest remained relatively unchanged. However, whatever flow that the mana from the barrier had created was now gone.

[This is the scent of water. There’s water nearby.]

Ellaim, who was leading the way and dealing with the reckless Armored Trolls, looked strangely sulky after seeing that there were no monsters from beyond the destroyed barrier.

Just like Ellaim said, there was a lake not far from them. The lake wasn’t deep and its clear waters revealed the countless fish swimming within. Davey could look right through the lake from where he was.

“Sir Davey, Rinne thinks that there’s nothing here, though?” Rinne asked a question that was perfectly normal.

However, Surtr would not have whined and complained about the high difficulty of the test that he had set up if he had only blocked everything with a single barrier.

“Let’s go,” Davey said after staring silently at the water.

Then, Rinne lifted the hem of her skirt and dipped her feet in the water. The water level was low for an ordinary human, but it reached up to Rinne’s chest. This made it harder for her to move.

“Rinne evaluates Sir Davey’s personality lowly…”

“If you think that it’s unfair, then you can try and grow taller.”

“A very low assessment.”

Despite Rinne’s still expressionless face, Davey could not get rid of the feeling that she was feeling very indignant.

Davey continued to move forward until he reached the center of the lake. Then, he turned his head and called out to Ellaim, “If you please.”

[…Fine.]

Even with a very discontented expression on her face, Ellaim still created a flash of light that wrapped around Davey and Rinne. Then, Davey threw himself into the water and dived down to the depths of the lake.

When he touched the ground under the water, the space surrounding them suddenly twisted and turned. Obviously, the deepest part of the lake only reached up to his waist. However, once he completely entered the lake, the depths of the lake completely changed. The dozens of meters had suddenly turned into a great chasm.

Wrapped in the water droplet that Ellaim had created, Davey dived toward the depths of the lake. He left behind Rinne, who was busy looking around the lake as she followed him.

After landing softly on the lake bed, Davey tapped one of the numerous rocks that were scattered all over the place. He then said, “Rinne. Mankind’s savior.”

As if she had been waiting for Davey’s order, Rinne floated over and handed the rebar to Davey.

“Let’s break it down.”

This place did not hold much meaning anymore. After all, this space had already served its purpose.

***

The second barrier was a fluid barrier. Unlike solid barriers which maintained its shape regardless of what happened inside and outside, fluid barriers were less durable. However, their fluidity was superb.

This place had turned from a canyon into a lake after nearly 3,000 years had passed. When the barrier had first been created, there had been no water here. However, with water accumulating over time, it soon turned into a lake.

The fluid barrier had analyzed the changes in the surroundings before creating an illusion to match everything else around it. This was to mask the rock that Rinne had just broken apart.

A transparent space unfolded from the depths of the shallow lake as a bright light flashed in front of Davey. The light made it look like there was nothing in the lake.

—Goodness… I did not expect to encounter such a space here. What on earth did that human Surtr do after my death?

Perserque muttered in amazement after looking around inside the cave that was covered in green light. Her surprise was justified, since most of the ruins, including this one, were made after she had been cut down by Ares and the Divine Sword Caldeiras.

“Sir Davey. The mechanism is in front of you.” Rinne, who was smoothing down her clothes, blocked Davey.

There was nothing inside the cave at all. Of course, this could not be the only test that Surtr had created.

Then, Rinne continued, “It’s a mechanical device… It’s coming out soon.”

Davey silently picked up a stone from the ground and threw it across the cave.

Whiiiiir! Whiiiiir!!!! Bang!!!

A huge blade popped out of the empty wall, smashed the stone, and made the rocky pieces crash into the opposite wall.

“That firepower is no joke.”

In this place, there were not just one or two but dozens and perhaps even hundreds of secret and powerful traps installed. On top of that, the most dangerous thing was…

“Can Rinne break it down?”

“No. It’s designed in a way that the entire cave will sink and disappear if you break it down recklessly. Leave it be.”

Rinne tilted her head at Davey’s remarks. They could not ignore the mechanical devices but they also could not break them down recklessly. Otherwise, the cave would collapse. Did that make sense?

“Then, Rinne has a question. How are we supposed to break through?”

“We have to find the traps one after the other, avoid them, and break through the entire place.”

“Impossible.”

Davey nodded at Rinne’s blunt answer. The mechanical device was not alive. It also did not contain any mana. Because of that, it was very difficult to find.

“I need the power of the Wind Elementalist or a mage but…”

That was the best solution, but Davey had no reason to use such a method.

“How could Surtr, the one who created this, freely enter and exit this place?”

Rinne nodded as if she understood what Davey was trying to figure out. That was right. A switch should definitely exist somewhere in this place. Because of that, there was no reason for them to touch things that they did not need to touch.

These were the ruins that had been left behind by Davey’s teacher, his teacher.

“I have broken through this thing hundreds of times before. The mechanical devices are horrifyingly meticulous that it would take a lot of time to break through one alone.”

Creak, creak, creak, creak!

Davey explored the wall near him. Then, he touched its smooth surface and pushed it. And without any hesitation, he inserted his arm and twisted it from the dark hole that had appeared inside.

Clang!!!

At the same time, the traps that were being triggered to attack Davey stopped all at once.

However, Davey still stopped Rinne from trying to enter the mechanism that he had resolved in an instant. Then, he looked sharply at the depths of the cave.

At that moment, a heavy voice rang out as if it had been waiting for Davey to look over.

[Problem… You have proven yourself yet haven’t proven yourself…]

“Human.”

[…]

“What? Don’t do something unnecessary and block my path. Get out of the way.”

Davey was not the one who had made this dungeon, so he had to break through the traps one by one. This was because the Surtr who had made this dungeon did not know of his existence yet. However, Davey was already too used to this place.

Surtr had handed over most of the knowledge and know-hows of his legacies to Davey just in case. A test? Davey was not an idiot. He had already seen enough of that guy to know that there was nothing left to test. The only thing remaining was the old-fashioned and very familiar dungeon attack. Something like this…