Chapter 3: On the Road

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter — LNCrawler · All chapters

Chapter 3:
On the Road

IT WOULD TAKE US three days to get to Honest. There weren’t any particularly strict entry requirements—our kingdoms were on good terms with each other. There were occasional checks along the way, but Emma was the daughter of a baron, so everything went smoothly. Being a member of the nobility opened a lot of doors like that. Gillan had probably asked me to bring Emma along specifically to smooth our journey.

It’d take us two days to reach the Kingdom of Rosette. From there, we just had to get through one more town. Pretty soon into the journey, everyone was tired. The four girls had fallen asleep in the carriage, but it was already evening. If I slept now, would I be able to sleep again at night? It probably wasn’t such a terrible idea, even so. We’d be sleeping outside tonight and would have to take turns on watch.

The carriage came to a stop and Perrido, our coachman, opened the door. He was about the same age as my father.

“Noir, I know you wanted to sleep outdoors today, but are you sure about that?” he asked.

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem,” I said, stepping out of the carriage.

We were on a wide grassy plain, with nothing as far as the eye could see.

“Is it safe here?” I asked.

“Actually,” said Perrido, “it’s famous for its lions.”

I looked at him, startled, but Perrido just smiled at me warmly.

Well, sorry for freaking out about that, but I think it’s pretty serious!

“There are other options,” he said. “But this one is probably the best. You understand, right?”

“You mean there are monsters everywhere else,” I said.

He nodded. We couldn’t exactly rest easy around ferocious animals, but they were much less of a concern than monsters. Guess we’d be spending the night out here after all.

After dinner, we split into pairs to keep watch. Emma, Luna, and I all had Night Vision, so we each paired off with one of the others. I ended up with Lola, and we were scheduled for the third watch. For now, we lay down. Lola snuggled up against me. Her arms were shaking.

“I’m scared,” she said. “The lions…”

“It’ll be fine. We’ll work together, and nothing bad will happen.”

“I’d feel so much better if you held my hand.”

She was trembling, so I did as she asked, but Emma immediately came over to glare at us.

“You’re not seriously buying that act, are you? She’s not actually afraid.”

“But…” I said.

“No buts!”

“I really am scared!” Lola protested. “And you’re on duty, go do your job!”

“Ugh! Fine. But I won’t tell you if any lions show up.”

And thus Dark Emma was born. She took up her post, her hair blowing behind her.

Lola squeezed my hand tight. “I guess we’ll die together!” she said cheerfully.

Well, that might work for her, but I definitely didn’t want to die! I was a little anxious as I closed my eyes, but, as uncomfortable as I was, I fell asleep right away.

“Huh?”

I woke to something tapping on my head. Lola put a finger to her mouth to quiet me, and I strained to see in the dark. Everyone else was already up and gathered in close.

“Are we under attack?” I asked quietly.

“Yes, we’re surrounded,” said Emma. “We took out a pair of lionesses that approached, but there are a lot more of them.”

I got up right away and grabbed my sword. There were fourteen or fifteen other lions around us, all of them females.

“Lola,” I said. “If worse comes to worst, use this.”

Even Perrido was Level 80, which meant that Lola was the only one with no combat skills to speak of. I handed her the Blade of Divine Punishment. We could do this.

“Emma, Luna, and I will attack with ranged magic. Leila, you and Mr. Perrido keep guard.”

“Roger that.”

“No problem.”

At least the three of us all had Night Vision and could see our enemies clearly.

Emma used Wind Strike on the attacking lions, while Luna fired off rounds from her magical firearm, and I started throwing knives. My B-Grade Throwing skill helped out a lot with that. I nailed one of the lions right in the eyeball. They were easier to take out than I’d anticipated. Before we knew it, the fight was over.

Perrido tapped me on the shoulder.

“You’re strong, Noir. Your father was also quite the fighter back in the day, but I think you’ve nearly surpassed him.”

I definitely already have! I thought. But I didn’t say that out loud. Best to protect my father’s honor.

Perrido was smiling, but as I watched, his expression soured. “Something’s odd. There were far too many. Normally they only move in groups of five or six.”

Almost before he could finish speaking, his fears were confirmed. More lionesses closed in on us, and this time, they had a massive boss in tow.

The lumbering beast was much larger than any lion, and its tail seemed to be split in two.

“That’s a metal lion,” said Perrido. “It probably came here looking for females to mate with.”

“How is it different from regul—”

“Oh no, it’s coming right at us!”

There was no time to talk. The metal lion rushed us, and Leila and I sprang to the front of the group.

“Haaaah!”

“Eat this!”

Leila struck the creature with her fists while I used my sword. We did it! Or…so I’d thought, but certainty shattered as my blade bounced off the monster’s body. Looking across at Leila, I could see the same had happened to her. Its flesh was rock solid! There was no time to use Discerning Eye, but I realized it had to have a skill that allowed it to turn into metal.

“Look out!” I shouted.

The metal lion rushed on toward the other four. Everyone except Lola leapt forward to try to bring it down, but it outsmarted them all. It had to weigh several hundred pounds, but it flew through the air clean over the lot of them, landing straight in front of Lola. Was it targeting her on purpose?!

“Uh, wh-why me?”

“Grrrrrr!”

It swiped at Lola and its massive paw slammed right into her.

Everyone fell silent. I suddenly couldn’t stop thinking of the first time I’d met her, when she was testing me at the guild. I thought of how she always had a smile for me.

“L-Lola!”

“Aaaaah!”

Someone shouted, and a shadow moved quickly through the dark.

“Grmph?!”

The metal lion lurched back in pain, blood spewing from its mouth. I looked around to see who was responsible and standing next to it was…Lola? She’d dodged the killing blow and countered with the blade I’d given her.

“Somebody! Anybody! Save me!”

She might have been crying for help, but she was still fighting the creature off. She swung her blade again and the metal lion collapsed. How had that happened? Wasn’t it made of metal? Somehow, she must have produced enough destructive force to break through it!

“Huh? I beat it?” she asked, looking around with a puzzled expression.

She wasn’t the only one! As the lionesses retreated, Lola jumped into my arms.

“I was sooo scared!”

“Um, so about what just happened…?”

“The weapon you leant me saved my life!” she said. “It must be super strong.”

Only it wasn’t. The only skills on the Blade of Divine Punishment were Sharp Edge and A-Grade Wolf Killer. But lions weren’t wolves, and my sword had the same Sharp Edge, with no effect.

“Lola, hang on,” I said. “I need to use Discerning Eye on you.”

It revealed something absolutely shocking.

Name: Lola Metrose

Age: 16

Species: Human

Level: 15

Occupation: Guild Receptionist

Skills: Memory; Speed Reading; Superhuman Strength (Grade S)

The first two skills made sense. After all, she always knew so much, and she could read extremely quickly. But the third one?

“What is it?” she asked.

“Y-you have S-Grade Superhuman Strength…”

“I don’t think that’s very funny.”

“I’m not joking, it’s true.”

Lola seemed shocked; she’d really had no idea. She had always seen herself as weak and seemed happy with that role. Only Luna, who’d known her for a long time, didn’t seem surprised.

“You know,” she said. “You always were weirdly strong. Like when you caught that falling store sign with one hand.”

“That was just a freak accident,” said Lola.

An accident? Catching a falling sign single-handed sounded like a little more than that!

I told her about her Memory and Speed Reading skills, and she was pretty stunned by those too.

“It’s incredible to have S-Grade Superhuman Strength without even training,” I said. “Do you have any idea where it came from?”

“Well,” she said. “My father used to be an adventurer. Guild muscle, I think. And my mother had superhuman strength. They always said she was the second strongest in the guild…”

So it was all down to her incredible bloodline! Plus, she’d leveled up when she killed the metal lion, so now she was even stronger.

“I suppose you should quit your job as guild receptionist and become an adventurer,” Emma grumbled.

Lola shook her head. “Absolutely not! I like my job! And I like this uniform!”

It did look good—professional and serious in the front, but open and just a bit scandalously cut in the back. No one could argue that it suited her.

After that, things settled down a bit. Lucky for us, we got through the rest of the night without any more attacks.

The next morning, we got back in the carriage and headed to the checkpoint. Emma showed them proof of her status as a baron’s daughter, and soon, we were in the Kingdom of Rosette.

Perrido did a great job with the carriage. It made me wonder if it might be useful to pick up a Driving skill. Meanwhile, Lola was wrestling with what had happened the night before.

“You don’t have to force yourself to fight,” I told her. “We can handle things.”

“But I at least want to be able to protect myself.”

“Then you should keep that blade,” I said.

She could probably make better use of it than I could, but Lola seemed indecisive. She’d taken a liking to the weapon but didn’t like the idea of carrying it around. It was pretty large, and it didn’t it go with her outfit.

“What should I do?” she asked.

“What if I give you a storage skill?”

“Are you sure?!” she said. “This is why I love you, Mr. Noir.”

It seemed like the least I could do. I mean, Lola had done so much for me. A C-Grade Pocket Dimension would be more than sufficient, and it would only cost me 400 LP to produce the skill. The real question was how much it would cost to Bestow it on her. That was all down to her personal affinity. So I checked and, in this case, it would only cost 450 LP. That was a total of 850—hardly anything in the grand scheme of things. I gave her the skill, and she tried it out right away.

“You really do bring out the best in your friends, Mr. Noir. It makes my heart pound.”

“Just think of it as a thank you,” I said. “You know, for all the LP.”

“Right! But you must’ve used quite a bit just now.”

“Nah, it wasn’t that much.”

“Well, when we get to town, I’ll have to repay you,” Lola said, flashing her back to me.

The sight of her silky smooth skin made my heart thump. What did she mean when she said she would repay me? Lola was extremely bold, so it could be anything.

After that, my mind was in the gutter until we reached Landan, the town where we’d be spending the night. Still, we’d arrived a little earlier than planned and, as we got out of the carriage, the sun was still up.

“Noir, let’s talk to the guards.”

“Good idea.”

We went to present ourselves to the guards, but there was no one there. The only thing standing at the gate were two statues. Even more strangely, they looked like they were running from something.

***

Landan was right on the edge of the Kingdom of Rosette and was sometimes considered the gateway to our kingdom. The town had large outer walls and a single gate in and out to prevent monster incursions, even if the walls weren’t too high.

“Why are there no people here?” I asked. “And what’s with all these statues?”

“I don’t know, but a lot of them are carrying luggage…” Emma frowned. “Do you think the townspeople are eating?”

She sounded pretty certain. The people of Rosette were known to like their food, sure, but wasn’t it far too early for dinner? It was a pretty decent size town too, so it seemed unlikely that the entire population could have been wiped out by an enemy force without anyone noticing, leaving only these weird statues behind.

“Let’s take a look inside,” I said. “Carefully.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

Perrido and I were the first ones through the gate.

“There aren’t any guards inside either,” he said. “Maybe the town really was taken over? But then, wouldn’t an enemy force have guards stationed by the gate?”

“There are more of those statues inside,” I said. “Is this place usually like this?”

“This isn’t the Landan I know, that’s for sure.”

Something was clearly wrong, so we cautiously ventured further into the town. The statues really were everywhere—all ages and genders. Their faces were strained, and a lot of them looked like they were running. That was in pretty poor taste. Where had they even come from?

“I have a thought,” Leila said as she touched one of them. “What if these statues are the townsfolk?”

“Is that even possible?” I asked.

Even as I said it, I knew she was probably right. These people, if that’s what they were, were all running away with expressions of abject terror. Some were even reaching for their swords. What had happened to this town? Even the houses were full of these statues.

“In my country,” said Leila, “there’s a monster that can turn people to stone.”

“But can it turn several thousand people all at once?” I asked.

“No, of course not. That’s what makes this so scary…”

Could a whole pack of those monsters have descended on this town? If so, why?

Perrido frowned. “Perhaps it would be wise to report this to Honest first.”

I shook my head. “Hold on.”

If these statues really were people, I could read them. So I did. All of them, without exception, had the skill Eternal Petrification. That confirmed it.

“Is something wrong, Noir?” Emma asked.

“Hold on. I’m gonna try something.”

“Try what?”

These were exceptional times, so I explained the basics of my abilities to Perrido.

“Th-that’s the stuff of legend!” he stammered, wide-eyed.

“I just got lucky,” I told him. “One day I woke up and realized just what I could do.”

“He really does have an amazing son…” he muttered. “Go on. I won’t delay you further.”

I opened up Editor to investigate one of the nearby statues.

Eternal Petrification: Permanently petrifies the target.

No time limit. How horrible. I tried adjusting the phrasing, but it would cost a whopping 6,000 LP to break the skill. Surely there had to be something I could do!

“It costs a lot more than I expected. I don’t have enough LP right now,” I said.

“Then why don’t we all help you earn some more?” asked Luna.

It was a good idea. I was only a thousand short. Perrido was the first to volunteer.

“You can do that?! If there’s anything I can do, I will!”

“I’m not really sure you can…”

“I’m not good enough?” he asked.

Sorry, I’m just not into guys.

I found a building that looked safe so we could earn me more LP, but Lola stopped me.

“Wait. Can you make an Alchemy skill?”

I looked into it.

Alchemy (Grade C) — 800 LP

Alchemy (Grade B) — 2,000 LP

Alchemy (Grade A) — 4,500 LP

Alchemy (Grade S) — 8,000 LP

“I can manage a B-Grade version,” I reported.

“B, huh?” said Lola. “Grades A and S must be particularly powerful.”

I was curious what was so different about them.

Alchemy (Grade B): Grants the ability to combine suitable ingredients in a variety of combinations to produce novel substances.

Alchemy (Grade A): Grants the ability to combine suitable ingredients in a variety of combinations to produce novel substances. Further grants the ability to intuitively know if combinations will be successful.

With the A-Grade version, you could never fail.

“There’s a lot of trial and error with alchemy,” Lola explained. “You can waste a lot of ingredients.”

“Why would I need Alchemy anyway?” I asked.

“I remember an alchemist once made a potion that cured petrification. It could be mass-produced too. But he only recorded a part of his research…”

Still, there were several thousand people here. If curing just one cost 6,000 LP, we’d never help them all.

“All right, I’ll earn the LP to produce an A or S-Grade version of the skill. No, wait! What if…”

Why didn’t I think of it before? I mean, all we needed was the knowledge of how to make the potion. And I had the strongest possible ace up my sleeve in that respect!

Great Sage, how would you produce an item that cures Eternal Petrification?

Thank you, Great Sage, for your boundless knowledge!

So, how do I make it?

Great! I explained to the others how I’d found out the recipe and what we would need to make it.

“None of those ingredients are particularly rare,” said Perrido. “We might even be able to collect everything we need in town. There should be holy water at the temple, and the pills and spirit stones at the general store. We should split up.”

I had a Discerning Eye for Items, so I went with Emma to the store. And anyway, I’d used the Great Sage quite a lot. If I got a headache, I’d be more comfortable having her around.

“Hello!” Emma called out as we entered the store. “Oh. Sorry. I couldn’t help myself.”

“I know how you feel.”

We looked around, and Emma immediately found the spirit stones. “There are a ton of them too. How lucky!”

Spirit stones contained magic energy and had a boat load of uses. The larger ones were rare, but the small variety were easy to find.

“How should we pay for them?” I asked.

“We’re trying to save everyone in town, so maybe they’ll let this one slide?” Emma said. “If not, I can just pay for them later.”

“Sorry, but we’ll have to borrow these,” I said to the shopkeep, though he was frozen in stone.

Several drawstring pouches caught my eye, tucked away on the top shelf. They probably contained some kind of medicine.

“Noir, gimme a lift. I can get them.”

“Yes, princess.”

I knelt and helped Emma up onto my shoulders. Her thighs pressed against my face.

“I-I’m not too heavy, am I?”

“No,” I said. “You’re a lot lighter than you look.”

“Well that’s good—no, wait, what did you mean lighter than I look?!”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that. Could you hurry up and grab those pills?”

There was no way I was getting into that discussion. Fortunately, Emma grabbed the pouches and I helped her down. They were full of black pills roughly one inch in diameter. When I used Discerning Eye on them, I shouted with joy. Here were the Sustenance Pills we were after, and there were tons of them.

“I wonder what they’re made of…” I mused.

“I remember asking about it when I was a kid,” Emma said. “Apparently they’re made from monster excrement.”

“Ugh, I wish I could unhear that.”

“They gather the safe kind,” she said. “Though sometimes the human stuff gets mixed in.”

“Emma! Stop it. Please! I touched them!”

“Don’t worry, we wouldn’t abandon you over something like that.”

“A likely story! Why are you backing away?”

Emma giggled, and I decided to hold her hand later as my revenge.

At any rate, if even a small shop like this had the items we needed, I didn’t think it should be too hard to acquire the large quantities we would want to cure everyone. The only thing left now was containers. We needed something that wouldn’t leak, so I slipped into the living space behind the shop and collected the owner’s cups.

With everything gathered, we met back up with the rest of the group. The other four were already waiting with their various ingredients. Luna was carrying two buckets filled with water.

“Did they really have that much holy water just lying around?”

“There was more, actually. I can go back and get it if we need. Lucky, right?”

“You can say that again. Looks like we have everything. Now I just need to learn the skill.”

Since we already knew the recipe, the B-Grade skill would be more than enough. I went ahead and acquired it, then we laid out the ingredients. I focused my intent on producing the Stone Salve. There was a flash of light and, just like that, the ingredients vanished. In their place was a cup filled with liquid. It looked just like water, but I inspected it with my Discerning Eye and confirmed that it was Stone Salve.

“You did it! That’s our Noir!” said Leila.

“Wow, it really worked!” Emma said.

Everyone was smiling. We had plenty of ingredients left, so I made several batches. The only thing left to do after that was to see if it worked.

“Who should we start with?” I asked.

“Sir Noir, what about this person?”

Luna gestured toward the statue of a tall, muscular woman.

“She looks like she tried to fight while everyone else ran. She was frozen whilst swinging her sword.”

“She looks strong too.”

She had short hair and was swinging her massive claymore. The way she was positioned, she must’ve seen whatever did this. Even so, she had the courage to hold her ground.

“We could probably get some useful information from her. Any objections?”

No one said anything, so I went ahead and poured the Stone Salve over her head. About ten seconds later, she transformed before our eyes. The stone faded away, and her body returned to normal!

Finally, we were about to get some answers!