Chapter 3: A Stone Best Left Unturned

01 — OP Equipment and a Full Stomach

The day after the hubbub at the Adventurer’s Guild, a grand procession was held to see off the knights. Crowds of people had gathered and they drowned their heroes in a cacophony of cheers. Much to the Valkyries’ and templars’ surprise, many of those cheers consisted of phrases like “Be as Sir Zombie,” or “Sir Masochist,” or even “Saint Weirdo.”

Lumina and her regiment spotted me from horseback, and with fearless smiles they departed from the Holy City.

“Man, I told them to knock it off with the nicknames,” I grumbled. “Oh well.”

I wandered around to a few places for food, then stopped by the Adventurer’s Guild to grab the provisions I’d ordered. After picking up the last of my supplies from the HQ dining hall, I made for the labyrinth.

Cattleya was standing in front of the counter, reading a book. “Good morning,” she greeted me. “Late start today?”

“Something like that. I was at the procession, seeing off the Valkyries.”

“Going back into the labyrinth, then? You’ll be back around the same time as usual, I assume.”

“No, I’ll be down there a bit longer this time. I hear the people around HQ don’t like me much, so I’m thinking about hiding out for a bit.”

“You know I can’t let you do something that dangerous.”

“But the only reason I even go back to my room is to sleep,” I argued. “And I’ve got plenty of food in my bag. I’m totally set.”

“I’m not worried about your nutrition, Luciel,” she sighed.

“I’ll be fine. The main chambers are perfectly safe from monsters once I take out the ones that are already there.”

“Conceit will get you killed.”

“That’s exactly why I’m going down there. I’ve made some potentially lethal enemies by getting close to the Valkyries. This way I can disappear and be safe.”

“Fine,” she conceded, “but I want to see you back up here at least once a week. The items you pestered Her Holiness for should be here soon.”

I wondered what they could be. My expectations were high, considering who they were coming from. “Got it.”

“Don’t die, okay?”

“Don’t worry, that’s my motto. I’ll see you in a week.”

“Be safe.”

I stepped down into the labyrinth and immediately cast Aura Coat, then made quick work of the first floor. By the time I reached the tenth-floor boss room, my stomach was calling for a lunch break. Seeing Lumina and the girls off had taken some time, so it was already the afternoon.

“I can’t believe I managed to run all the way here. Look at me go.”

I purified the room, had my meal and usual mugful, and went straight down to floor twenty after a short break.

“Dammit!” I winced. “Oh holy hand of healing. Banish the impurities before me. Purification!”

A large chunk of magic slipped away from me with the shortened chant, but the death knight was defeated all the same. When I did win against this thing, I won by a landslide. If I slipped up even once, though, things got messy. I had a long way to go.

“Phew, I’m starving. Think it’s dinner time.” I took some of the food I’d bought in town out of my bag. Then I realized it sure would’ve been convenient if I had stashed a table to eat at too.

Given the dungeon’s oppressive atmosphere, the warm meal soothed my soul. I’d made the right choice stocking up on food from several places for maximum variety. After supper and a few more rounds with the death knight, I was starting to get sleepy. I purified the boss room, cast another Aura Coat, and put some barrels of Substance X around for good measure before hitting the hay.

I awoke to an unfamiliar ceiling—wait, it was just the labyrinth’s. I shot up, but nothing had changed. The room was exactly as I’d left it. The only thing that shocked me was how well I’d slept in a place like this. On a cold stone floor, at that.

I glanced around the area, but there were no signs of any monsters, and I sensed nothing out of the ordinary. The purification from the previous night was holding. After a good breakfast, I fought with the death knight one last time, then began my exploration of floor twenty-one.

“Ghouls were bad enough, but now there’re mummies?”

Purification remained as effective as always, but these new enemies were a far cry from what I was used to. I was just about at my wit’s end, and the lower floors getting increasingly bigger didn’t help. Still, I carried on. It took everything I had, but just as my stomach began to growl, I finally finished mapping the floor.

“No traps, from the looks of it. Time to head back.” I quickly returned to the ascending staircase and set some Substance X down at the foot of it to see if the monsters would chase me. Lo and behold, none of them did. “What is this stuff?”

I stashed the OP liquid back in my bag and went up the stairs to the boss room, ignoring the undead now shambling towards me. Once I’d finished off the death knight yet again, it was lunchtime. Then I let him respawn so that I could tango with him one-on-one, no magic.

As long as the death knight didn’t reach my vitals or amputate one of my limbs, I was confident I could heal myself right back up. The pain was fine; welcome, in fact. I was used to it from my fights with Brod and it was an effective teacher. But when I thought back on the mutilated adventurers I hadn’t been able to heal the other day, I knew I had to draw a line somewhere. If things got dicey, I’d fall back on my magic, but only then.

Over the next two days, I completed my exploration of the twenty-second and twenty-third floors, in spite of the less-than-comforting monsters that stood in my path. And on the sixth day, marking a full week in the depths, I returned to the shop as promised. I didn’t want to add Cattleya to my list of enemies.

I emerged from the dungeon, and there she was in her place at the shop counter.

“I’m back,” I announced. “Here are the stones I got.”

“Thank goodness you’re all right. And good thing you came back early. I’ve got some weapons, armor, and other magic items for you.”

It appeared that I was a day off. I hadn’t checked the clock on my status screen, so I must have lost track of time.

“Was I only in there for five days? My internal clock must be out of whack. I guess it worked out for the best, though.”

After converting my magic stones to points, Cattleya explained the functions of each of my new items:

A familiar-looking mithril sword, sensitive to magic and especially potent against the undead when combined with holy magic, and a mithril spear with similar properties.

An evilbane shield: a dark magic-resistant shield infused with light and repulsive to the undead.

The armor worn by all paladins, imbued with light and resistant to dark magic. It was insulated against miasma, lightweight, well-ventilated, and allowed for a free range of motion.

Sage’s gauntlets, which reduced magic consumption by one-third and increased magic power by twenty percent.

A pair of misleadingly-named earth boots, which were in fact very light, yet harder than iron when infused with magic. A desperately sought-after item for any warrior.

An Angel’s Pillow, said to bring deep and peaceful slumber and soothe the fatigue of any user. The monster-repelling light magic waves that it emitted protected against nightmares.

“The weapons are one thing, but everything here is just incredible,” I breathed, ogling the gifts. “It’s all for me? Why is there so much?”

“Because people are expecting things of you,” Cattleya replied. “Although, if I’m being honest, part of it is because you’re the first healer who’s ever been able to equip these items in the first place. We’ve had them for ages, stashed away and waiting for someone who could finally conquer the labyrinth to claim them.”

“Couldn’t a paladin or templar use the evilbane shield or sage’s gauntlets?”

“Not exactly. There’s a particular prerequisite to using those.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, forget the details. Try them on, why don’t you?” she urged.

“If you say so.” I did as I was told.

“My, don’t you look sharp. I’m glad you’ve met the conditions to equip everything.”

“You mentioned that earlier,” I said.

“I did. One of the requirements for using these is having defeated over a thousand undead enemies,” she explained. “Another is having one of your skills above a certain level.”

How were those prerequisites being judged? Who was standing there with a gavel, deciding who could and couldn’t wear certain kinds of armor? Those were probably questions best left alone.

“Wow, that sounds tough.”

“So,” she said, changing the subject, “what are your plans for today?”

“I’m heading back down. But first, I’d like to buy as many throwing daggers as I can, please.”

“You worry me sometimes, Luciel,” she muttered as she handed me ten holy silver daggers.

“I’ll be careful. You know, the main chambers are oddly comfortable once everything’s been purified.”

“Now, that’s a discovery. Just stay safe. The smell of that place alone has caused too many casualties.”

“I’ll come right back if I start feeling unwell.”

“And I want to see you here again within the week,” she insisted.

“Roger. Could you thank Her Holiness for me next time you see her?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I’m off.”

“Come back safe.”

I jogged down to the tenth floor at a brisk pace, making swift work of the monsters along the way with my new equipment. That night, I made the boss room my bedroom, and the next morning I all but ran to the twentieth floor.

Out of all the items I’d received, my very favorite had secretly become the Angel’s Pillow.