Chapter 2: Item Conversion

Chapter 2:
Item Conversion

 

I HAD THE DAY OFF, so I took my time getting out of bed. When I awoke, I heard my father screaming outside.

“Nooooir! Come downstairs! Hurry!”

I grumbled and walked down the stairs. When I got outside, my father was standing next to a massive pile of Giant Boar corpses. He looked like he was in a state of shock. What on earth…?

“Did you hunt those, Noir?”

“Me? No. Maybe Tigerson?”

“He went to the shop early with your mother and Alice. I don’t think it was him.”

Which made Olivia the most likely culprit. I headed back inside and found her sipping tea in the living room.

“That was you, wasn’t it? What are you doing with all those monsters?”

“Ah ha ha ha! I killed a few too many. I figured I could use them to pay you back, considering the whole house thing and all.”

“Well, I can sell their parts in the shop, so I should thank you for that at least.”

But my father was acting a little bizarre. “Lady Olivia, leave it all to me! Noir, do you mind if I sell them to a friend?”

“Fine by me. Just don’t give away the farm.”

“I love you, my dear boy!”

Once he left, I asked Olivia something that had been weighing on my mind. “Are you planning to go back to the hidden dungeon?”

“Hmm. I’m kinda bored with it to be honest. You can do it for me.”

“All right, well, I’ll be off then.”

“Just promise you won’t do anything dumb, okay?” she said. “I’m gonna sleep all day.”

She was going to bed already? She must have been tired.

I changed my clothes and headed to the hidden dungeon, taking a moment to check my status.

 

Level: 182

Current Weapons: Two-Edged Blade (Sharp Edge, Good Luck); Piercing Spear (Piercing); Shield of Champions (Durable, A-Grade Fire Resistance, A-Grade Water Resistance, A-Grade Wind Resistance); Unnamed Mallet (Stone Crusher); Enchanted Bow of Progress (Enhanced Archery); Shockwave Morningstar (Shockwave)

Skills: Great Sage; Get Creative; Bestow; Editor; LP Conversion; LP Conversion (Money); LP Conversion (Items); Stone Bullet; Holy Flame; Lightning Strike; Thunderbolt; Water Drop; Icicle; Iceball; Blinding Light; Willowy Dodge; Power Slash; Swordsmanship (Grade C); Exploding Arrow; Throwing (Grade B); Jumping (Grade A); Alchemy (Grade B); Discerning Eye; Discerning Eye for Items; Variable Visual Acuity; Pocket Dimension (Grade C); Dungeon Elevator; Butchering; Exorcism; Excavate; Improved Lunge; Improved Side Step; Improved Back Step; Passive Defense; Magical Fusion; Deodorize; Lucky Letcher; Shoulder Rub; Night Vision; Tail; Headache Immunity; Poison Resistance (Grade A); Paralysis Immunity (Grade C); Heat Resistance (Grade A); Petrification Immunity (Grade A); Abnormal Condition Recovery (Grade C); Mental Status Effect Immunity (Grade C); Courage; Hearing Protection; Dancing; Diving; Zero Breathing

 

Had I become a skill hoarder? Looking at it all laid out like that made me wonder. I had 7,200 LP too. I’d also had S-Grade Archery at one point, but I’d Sacrificed it in the fight against the Death Chains to make myself stronger. I could have just made it again, but the thought of spending 3,500 LP was a little too painful. Maybe when I had more LP to spare, I’d reconsider.

I used my Dungeon Elevator to go straight to the fifteenth floor. Familiar cold air brushed against my skin. I was in a long, narrow room with gray walls and a dark gray floor. It was a very simple area. There had once been a big statue at the back, but it had been destroyed when I fought the Death Chains, revealing the stairs behind. Of course, the copy of my master that had been attached to the chains was gone too. I headed down.

The sixteenth floor looked almost stylish with its neat, brick-lined corridor. It was a straight shot, and I could hear a woman singing from the other end. It was beautiful, and when I listened, I realized it wasn’t just one voice. Several people were singing in turn.

“What is that song?”

I continued down the hall, wary that it might be a trap. Eventually, I found myself in a large room with four women. They were all wearing dresses and looked to be in their twenties. They all had similar features, but their skin colors were all different: light, dark, tan, and one with an almost blueish pallor.

The four women turned to me in unison, but I felt no hostility from them. Quite the opposite in fact. They all smiled at me.

“Ooh, a cute boy.”

“Come on, now, it’s rude to say that.”

“Yeah, he must be really strong to have made it this far.”

“We have a great deal of love and respect for you~!”

They almost sang rather than spoke. There was something odd about them, but my Discerning Eye didn’t work on them, which meant that they must have been created by the dungeon.

“If you would like to proceed beyond this point, you must pick one of us to come with you,” said the tan one, sounding relaxed. “We are the Four Siren Sisters. I am the eldest, and I sing songs of destruction.”

“I am the second sister, and I sing songs of healing.”

“I am the third, and I sing songs of protection.”

“And I am the fourth. I sing songs of encouragement.”

A familiar pattern. Any of them might betray me at any point, but considering how these things tended to go, I needed to pick one before I could go on.

“Then I’ll go with the third sister, since I’m the third son.”

Plus, protection definitely sounded useful. And I wanted to make quick, decisive choices instead of worrying about every little detail.

“Thank you for picking me. I shall sing my best songs of protection for you.”

“My name’s Noir. What’s yours?”

“I do not have a name. You may simply call me the Third.”

The Third? That sure had an awkward ring. I had to wonder if their personalities differed in any meaningful way. The others didn’t seem particularly upset that I hadn’t chosen them.

“We ought to get going. Sisters, it’s time for the song of farewells.”

“La la la la la la~!”

The three remaining sisters sang a stirring, up-tempo song. Their voices were beautiful. They stirred feelings of happiness, sadness, and pathos all mingled together. It raised my spirits. No wonder singers were so popular.

Maybe I should start practicing in secret.

As we moved on, I made sure to keep a half pace behind the Third, just to be safe. I would have been extremely happy if she turned out to be a nice girl, like Dory from the seventh floor, but there was still a good chance that she was an enemy. Suddenly, the passage became more complicated.

“Noir, I will protect you, so I hope you will return the favor.”

“I imagine I won’t be able to get to the next floor if I don’t.”

“You imagine correctly.”

It sounded like she knew where to find the stairs. Either that or she was the only one who could open the path to them. Maybe picking the sister who sang protection songs had been the right call.

“May your body become as hard as steel and sturdy as an ogre’s!”

Her voice was more than pleasant: I could feel my body growing stronger. That was pretty welcome.

We progressed down the corridor, turning here and there, until something clicked under my feet.

“Oh, no, don’t tell me…”

“Look.”

The Third pointed down the corridor, where bricks were peeling off the walls. They floated in the air, almost like they had a mind of their own. I was right—it was a trap! The hostile bricks hurled themselves toward us. Despite their vast numbers, every single one was aimed squarely for the Third.

“I’m going to die if you don’t do something.” Her tone was inhumanly calm, almost devoid of emotion.

“I’m not about to let that happen!”

I jumped in front of her and pulled the Shield of Champions from my Pocket Dimension. It was big enough that I could fit comfortably behind it while the bricks clanged harmlessly away.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, I am unharmed. Let us go on.”

We continued our search.

“So your protection song doesn’t have any effect on you?” I asked.

“None whatsoever. To make matters worse, I’m quite frail.”

It would be best to assume that even a single brick would kill her. I ran through several scenarios in my head, debating whether it would be more sensible to Bestow a skill on her to improve her defense or if it would be better to give myself something. I felt like it’d depend on the situation, although the ideal would be nice if things stayed more or less like this all the way to the stairs.

“Turn the next corner and go straight on. You’ll find a room. The stairs are hidden in there.”

“Are there monsters in there?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

In other words, best to assume the answer was yes.

There was an open space at the end of the hall, just as the Third had said. But there was no door, and the stairs were nowhere to be seen. It was just an empty space—well, aside from the bricks that started pulling themselves off the wall when we entered. It was probably the same kind of trap as before.

I moved in front of the Third to protect her, but in the end, it was unnecessary. The bricks flew past us and began to pile up in the entrance. Moments later, they had closed off the entire space. It looked like I wasn’t going anywhere until I cleared the level. Of course, I could always use my Dungeon Elevator if I needed to, but I wanted to wait and see what happened first.

Bang, bang…bang! Bang!

It sounded like something was attacking the far wall. The stones were sturdy, but it didn’t take long for a hole to break through. It was too small for a grown person, but it was more than big enough for a goblin.

Eight of them streamed in, one after another. They were all quite small, only around three feet tall, and holding equally tiny spears. Perhaps the weapons had been tailor-made for them. They immediately surrounded me.

“I see what you’re doing!”

I was a little surprised when I looked at their abilities.

 

Name: Goblin

Level: 16

Skills: Agility (Grade A)

 

They were just normal goblins, and really low-level ones for this floor of the dungeon too. They all had A-Grade Agility, and I guessed they were planning to use their speed to destroy the Third. It would be easier than defeating me, and it would likewise prevent me from reaching the next floor.

I executed the first strategy I came up with, using 500 LP to create the skill Stone Wall.

“Eeee!”

The goblins flew at the Third with their spears, and I acted quickly—manifesting a wall in front of her that was almost the same height as me. The goblins smashed into it head-first and fell to the floor. Things were off to a good start, but that wouldn’t be enough to protect her.

 

Stone Wall: Manifests a wall of stone in front of the user. Effect is temporary.

 

The size and strength of the wall depended on the user’s experience, magic reserves, and talent. I used Editor to make it easier to use.

Add “multiple walls can be connected to create a box.”

It only cost 600 LP, so I didn’t hesitate. After all, the goblins were coming at her from all sides.

“Crouch down, please!”

The Third did as I asked, and I quickly surrounded her with walls.

“Eek?!”

The goblins smashed into the stone box and tried to stab it with their spears, but it didn’t yield. I collected the spears from the fallen goblins. They turned on me next. Seemed they had some kind of decision-making ability after all. I fired off a Holy Flame and a Lightning Strike with one hand and swung my sword with the other—cutting down anything in close range. The goblins were nimble, so it took a while, but I defeated them without a scratch.

“Are you okay?” I asked the Third.

“Yes, I seem to be quite all right.”

As I wondered how to get her out of the box, the effect wore off and the walls vanished.

“I defeated the goblins,” I said. “Let’s look for the stairs.”

Admittedly, I wasn’t exactly sure how to do that. As far as I could tell, the room was empty. I peered through the hole the goblins had come through and saw another room on the other side. It was much the same as this one, and there was no sign of any doors or stairs in there either. The Third took that as her cue to squeeze through the hole.

“Things could get dicey in there,” I warned her.

“That won’t be an issue—because you’re coming with me.”

I followed her through the hole. The Third stood in front of one of the walls and looked back at me.

“The stairs are on the other side.”

“Of the wall? Should I destroy it?”

“No, no need. Open, o wall, let us through~!” she sang.

The lyrics were rather…literal. About twenty seconds later, the wall rumbled and opened up, revealing another small room. Ah, and there were the stairs to the next floor. I guessed there was some kind of trick, but surely I could have smashed my way through too.

“Congratulations, valiant one,” said the Third. “Good luck in the lower levels.”

“Thanks for all your help. What’s going to happen to you?”

“Nothing in particular. I will go on singing, as I always have. Just like this: Hurry on your way~! You don’t have all day~!”

“……”

She was treating me like a pest.

“All right, you don’t have to say it twice. I’m going. Goodbye for now.”

“Fare thee well~! And never come back~!”

Well, that stung. I’d actually kinda liked her! Although I supposed it had been a totally superficial relationship…

With her immense vocal talent to encourage me, I headed down to the seventeenth floor. Before long, her singing faded away, and the entire atmosphere of the dungeon changed.

For starters, it was so bright down here! And the sound of crashing waves was overwhelming. A sandy beach spread out before a vast ocean in front of me. Behind me was a huge green forest. I might as well have been on an island. The sun was even shining brightly overhead. If I hadn’t known better, I’d never have guessed that I was still inside a dungeon.

Considering Dory’s forest and the volcanic level, I really shouldn’t have been surprised anymore, but it was still awe-inspiring every time.

“I guess it’s a deserted island? I bet there are still monsters here. I should probably call it quits for now.”

My elevator skill registered the new level as soon as I set foot on it, after all. Thus, I used my Dungeon Elevator and left. Given how big this floor looked, it would probably take me a while to find the next set of stairs.

On my way home, I asked the Great Sage how I should go about it.

<Give yourself a skill that allows you to sense enchanted items, or obtain an item that possesses such a skill. Use that skill to seek the stairs.>

Enchanted Item Perception was pricey at 5,000 LP. I could have managed it, but I figured it would be better to find an item with the skill already on it. I could have just asked the Great Sage where to find one, but I wanted to avoid that if I could. My head was already throbbing, and if it was a high-grade item, I’d probably get a massive headache for my trouble.

 

***

 

The King of the School Year Competition was nearly upon us, with the invitational battle with our sister school soon afterward. I was feeling more enthusiastic about class too. Ms. Elena was instructing us in the schoolyard under the brilliant sun. Everyone was careful to stay hydrated to avoid heatstroke.

Ms. Elena looked down on us from her perch atop a wooden practice sword that had been thrust into the dirt. She really enjoyed having the high ground.

“I think you’ll find today’s technique useful against both monsters and human opponents. But to be honest, I’m not a fan.”

It seemed she thought it might be valuable for us to know, even if she didn’t care for it. She leapt off her perch, retrieved her sword, and pointed it at me.

“Stand in front of me and hold your sword.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I did as I was told. I felt like I’d been put in this position a lot lately. She held me at sword-point, and for some reason, I started breathing harder.

“You should use this technique between the middle and end of an encounter. Remember, you can always use it if things are going poorly. All right, Noir, give me all you’ve got. Attack whenever you see an opening.”

“You got it.”

I’d been training every day, I had a C-Grade Swordsmanship skill, and I had acquired quite a bit of experience in combat. Even if Ms. Elena came at me with all her might, I was fairly confident that I could hold my own. At least for a while. Just as I’d calmed myself down, Ms. Elena rushed me.

“Haaaah!”

There was such intensity in her attack. I needed to keep my cool—uh? Her move was impressive, but she stumbled as she dashed forward. She managed to recover her balance, but she still ended up down on one knee. Ms. Elena grimaced. Huh, it really was a mistake. I couldn’t let the chance slip by. I closed the distance between us, swinging my wooden sword down toward her neck.

“Wha—?!”

Ms. Elena exploded with force and slipped behind me. She had been waiting for this moment. And then—whomp!—a furious swing, followed by the chilly sensation of her wooden sword on the back of my neck. If it had been a real sword, I probably wouldn’t have had a head anymore.

“It…was a bluff,” I said.

“Exactly. It’s so cheap. I don’t use it. But back in my days as a mercenary, I saw plenty of people win like that.”

I’d fallen for it completely, so it was a little unsettling to think about how many other people had too.

“Even if you don’t use the technique yourself, remember that other people might. You’re vulnerable when you think your opponent is wide open.”

She had a point. There were many tales of strong fighters getting ahead of themselves and then losing. Creating situations like this made it easier to execute riskier moves too.

“It’s a cowardly move for sure,” said Ms. Elena. “And some people won’t approve. I won’t tell you to use it. But for the purposes of this lesson, we’re going to practice it, as well as some countermeasures.”

We split up into pairs and got started. As usual, I was paired with Emma.

“So which one of us will do the acting?” she asked.

“Would you mind going first?” I asked. “I want to come up with some countermeasures.”

“All right!”

Emma started to approach me, then clutched her stomach and crumpled to the ground. Well, that worked. I feigned a swing and Emma parried, countering my attack in one swift motion. She stopped before actually hitting me, so it didn’t hurt, but it did make me realize how hard it was to defend against that kind of attack.

“It’s hard to tell if someone’s acting, huh?”

“Yeah. It’d be really hard to tell in the middle of a fight. But you’d also have to be brave to try it.”

It would be best to save it for when you were at a serious disadvantage. It would also probably work better on a hotheaded opponent.

“My turn. Let’s do this.”

I charged in with my weapon held high. I deliberately exaggerated my movements, and Emma dodged me like a butterfly. I started panting and sat down on the ground.

“Haah, haah, I can’t go on.”

This was actually really embarrassing. You needed some acting skill to pull it off too. I planned to counter the moment Emma attacked, but instead, she dropped her weapon and embraced me tenderly…

“Nothing good comes from fighting. Let’s forgive each other’s transgressions and start again.”

“Emma…you’re right. And I just got something very valuable—LP.”

“Well, congrats.”

We joked around a bit, and it wasn’t long before I felt Ms. Elena’s bloodlust piercing straight through me.

“Excuse me, maggots! Do you find my class that dull?”

“O-oh, no…um… We have to replenish our life energy, so…”

“Oh, is that all? Well, I think your tanks should be full by now. Class, attention!”

Ms. Elena had a wicked smile on her face as she gathered the rest of the class around.

“You two are going to practice until the entire class agrees that your acting was perfect.”

“But…Ms. Elena…” we pleaded.

We’d never get to leave! Although I supposed it was our own fault for messing around.

It took us about ten times each before our classmates agreed we could stop. I wished I had the acting talent to fool Ms. Elena. At least by the time class ended, her mood seemed to have improved a bit. I took the chance to ask her about the upcoming King of the School Year Competition.

“Can you tell me anything about the enchanted item you get if you win?”

“Wait until the competition. You only get one prize, but there are several options to choose from.”

That made sense. An archer wouldn’t be very happy with an axe, after all. At least it was probably something good.

“Noir, remember that strength isn’t always physical. People who are strong in the traditional sense don’t win every battle. Never forget that.”

I burned her advice into my heart. Battle was never just a simple equation where the person with the highest level or most skills and experience was destined to win. Sometimes, the underdog could pull the rug out from under a certain victor. There were plenty of examples of people like that beating someone more objectively powerful. See, for example: my encounter with the Black Lancer in the hidden dungeon.

“Ms. Elena, have you ever defeated someone stronger than you?”

“You bet your ass I have. Who the hell do you think I am?”

Her fist flew through the air, stopping a hair’s breadth from my nose. I had no time to react at all! I was amazed at how quickly she moved. Even Leila, who specialized in hand-to-hand combat, would probably have struggled.

“It doesn’t matter if your opponent’s got you beat on level, skills, and experience,” she said. “You can’t let them beat you in here.”

She pointed at my chest.

“I won’t forget it!”

Ms. Elena flashed me a beautiful smile, like she was proud of me. I was so lucky to have her as my teacher.

 

***

 

After school, I headed to the guild hall with Emma. Luna was busy at the temple, so the two of us planned to take a request on our own. We’d barely even said hello when Lola gave us some great news.

“I’ve been gathering information on magical implements like you asked, and I heard something very interesting. Mr. Noir, are you familiar with Klaston Cemetery?”

“I’ve heard of it.”

Normally, people were buried by the church, but there wasn’t enough space for everyone, so several graveyards had been established just outside town. Klaston Cemetery was one of them.

Lola held up her index finger with a solemn look on her face. “Rumor has it that there’s an enchanted sword there.”

“Who put an enchanted sword in a cemetery?”

“No one knows. All they do know is that it’s sticking out of the grave of a fallen knight. I don’t know if it was enchanted to begin with or whether it transformed over time.”

I’d heard about that happening. It was rare, but there were reports that, when someone died with regrets, their swords gradually absorbed those emotions and became enchanted blades. I supposed their owner’s wishes kind of leaked out of their corpse.

“Ugh, that’s kinda creepy,” Emma said, taken aback by the awfulness of the idea.

Lola seemed to be against the idea of pulling the sword from its resting place too. “Honestly, I think it sounds ghoulish. I thought you’d wanna know about it, but you should give it some serious thought before you try anything. It could be cursed…”

In other words, that meant I should bring someone who could lift curses, like Luna. The trouble was that if I waited too long, someone else might try to take it.

“Why don’t we just go check it out?” I said. “I have a Discerning Eye, so if it really is cursed, then we can get out of there without touching it.”

“You’ve grown so brave, Mr. Noir,” said Lola.

“Have I?”

“You have. Of course, you’re still cautious, but you’ve developed a more…manly side. I like it!”

I felt a little embarrassed. I probably had the hidden dungeon to thank for my development. I’d started to really enjoy adventuring. Of course, I was still a chicken at heart, but maybe I’d developed a touch of boldness that helped balance it out.

“In other news, I have a message from Luna,” said Lola. “She wants to see you this evening. I think she wants to talk about something.”

“Got it,” I said. “I’ll go see her when we get back from the cemetery.”

As we left the guild hall, I checked in with Emma to make sure she wanted to come. She’d seemed scared, and it wasn’t like this was an official request.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “Of course I’m coming with you. But if it really is dangerous, let’s not push our luck, okay?”

“Of course.”

“Also, about Luna’s invitation… You’d better not go back to her place!”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I mean, this is Luna we’re talking about. If she wants to talk, it’s probably something serious.”

“Well, I sure hope so.”

I was curious about what Luna wanted, but I was more impatient to find out about this enchanted sword, so we hurried to the cemetery. I knew roughly where it was, so we didn’t get lost on the way.

The cemetery didn’t have a caretaker or anything. It was just a plot of land with a bunch of headstones. It almost looked abandoned, but it did have a fence around it, and families of the deceased came by periodically to grieve, so it wasn’t completely neglected. People often came by between morning and four in the afternoon to bring flowers, and it was around that time now.

“There are people here and there,” I said. “I wonder where that sword is.”

Emma looked around until something caught her eye. “Hey, isn’t that man looking at something?”

He had a sword at his hip and looked kind of rugged. It was hard to tell whether he was a civilian or an adventurer. There were monsters outside town, so it was common for people to carry weapons. He was looking down intently at a sword that had been thrust into a mound of earth. That had to be it.

“Let’s get a closer look.”

I approached the man as I observed the sword carefully. It looked a little old, but the handle was fairly clean. The strangest thing about it was the blade, which was marked with what almost looked like black rust. It spiraled around the blade like a black serpent. It was hard to believe such a pattern was natural, no matter how badly the sword had deteriorated.

“Are you adventurers?” the man asked.

“Yeah. We were curious about this enchanted sword thing.”

“Figured,” he said. “Looks like that’s it.”

Just to be sure, I used my Discerning Eye for Items.

 

Incensing Blade

Grade B

Skills: Slashing Blade; Poison Blade; Electrified Handle

 

It certainly had…personality. I’d seen that Slashing Blade skill somewhere before, and Poison Blade was pretty self-explanatory—it inflicted poison on anyone it cut. But the most curious skill was Electrified Handle. I investigated further, and apparently, it gave anyone who grabbed it an electric shock. The skill only affected the hilt, but the blade could still poison you. If you made one wrong move, you’d be in real trouble. Even worse, it could well be the kind of poison that damaged skin on contact.

The man put his hand on my shoulder. “I bet you wanna try pulling that sword out. Well, I’d recommend against it. Everyone who’s tried has collapsed on the spot.”

“You didn’t come here to try it yourself?” I asked.

“Nope. I just wanted to get a look at it. I’m not laying a finger on that thing. I don’t want to get cursed.”

Well, you don’t have to worry about that, because it isn’t cursed. Of course, I kept that to myself. Didn’t want to give him any ideas.

The real question was how I could pull it out of the ground. I could make my body able to withstand the shock or nullify the shock itself. I had C-Grade Paralysis Immunity, which I thought would probably work, but the operative word was “probably.”

Some manner of Thunder Resistance would also up my electrical affinity, and it might come in handy later.

Besides, destroying the Electrified Handle skill would cost 1,000 LP. I had no idea how much LP the sword would give me when I converted it, and I definitely didn’t want to spend more than it was worth. At least giving myself a skill had other benefits.

But which grade should I go for? S-Grade Thunder Resistance cost 2,000 LP, while A-Grade was 1,200. I decided to splurge on the S-Grade and went to grab the sword.

“Hey—didn’t you hear a word I said?!” the man demanded.

“Yeah, Noir!” Emma agreed. “You don’t know what might happen.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve already taken measures to protect myself.”

I steeled myself and gripped the handle. I’d probably have been fine touching the blade, given that I had A-Grade Poison Resistance, but I didn’t want to chance it.

“Ow…”

Even a resistance skill wasn’t always enough to completely nullify a powerful attack, but it wasn’t too bad. It did make me wince, but it was nothing I couldn’t endure. Although holding it for an extended period of time would be tricky.

“Y-you’re okay?!”

“Wow…but…”

They seemed both astonished and concerned. Time to find out how much LP I could convert this thing into. When I saw the number 2,300, I went for it immediately. The weapon vanished, and the man’s expression froze in horror.

“I-i-i-it disappeared?! It was a cursed sword, so you made it disappear to dispose of it, right? I don’t wanna get dragged into this! Sorry, but I’m out of here!”

He ran off. Talk about an active imagination. I couldn’t hold back a chuckle, but Emma seemed just as scared.

“We have to run. If it really was cursed, we’re going to be in serious trouble!” she cried.

“Don’t worry.”

When I explained the situation, she looked deeply relieved. It seemed she’d been genuinely concerned that I might get cursed. In the end, I was up 300 LP and I’d acquired a strong elemental resistance skill. I was glad we’d made the trip.

On a related note, even identical weapons were worth different amounts of LP, depending on their condition. For example, when I converted some lances with the C-Grade Dragon Killer skill, the ones in poor condition were only worth 500 LP, while the good ones were 1,500. If a weapon was in a poor condition, it was potentially more efficient to just wear it out rather than convert it.

We headed back to the guild hall. Lola seemed relieved when I told her I’d removed the sword. From there, I said goodbye to Emma and went looking for Luna. It was already dark.

“Hell yeah! Let’s get hammered!”

People were shouting and the main street was crammed full of people heading home from work. It felt kind of lonesome to walk through their midst. It was a strange sensation—feeling lonely in a crowd. Maybe loneliness was just more pronounced around other people.

As I looked up at the beautiful crescent moon, I decided to ask the Great Sage where Luna was. But before I got a chance, I saw a group of three young men accosting a girl.

“What the hell?!” one of them shouted. “You just elbowed me! That hurt!”

“It’s your fault for taking up the whole street,” said the girl. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

She was brave, and you didn’t see red hair like hers often. She had it tied up in pigtails with cute ribbons. It looked very stylish. She had a stunning face and a body to match. No one could argue that she was beautiful. She certainly left an impression.

The girl went to walk away, but the men tried to block her path.

“Stop right there! What kind of apology is that?!”

The girl sighed with annoyance and glared at them. “I’m just giving you what you deserve. Besides, you’re all way bigger than me. It’s on you to watch where you’re walking. Maybe you need to go back to elementary school, ’cause I don’t think you learned anything there. Besides how to be an overconfident jerk to people younger than you.”

She smirked, pleased that she’d gotten a rise out of them, and set off again. In my opinion, they could have resolved this if one of them apologized, but things had spiraled out of control.

The men exchanged a few short grunts. It was obvious to anyone watching what they meant. They wanted to teach this girl a lesson.

The three of them went after her, and I followed behind them. I wasn’t involved, but the possibility of them doing something awful meant that I couldn’t just dip out.

The girl left the main street and crossed a bridge into a more “adult” part of town. The area was frequented mostly by horny men and sex workers—it wasn’t exactly what I’d call a good area. The girl had a unique accent too. Perhaps she wasn’t from around here.

She pressed on into a less populated district. The men glanced at each other and smirked—this was the perfect place to attack. Especially when the girl left the red-light district and pushed on into the slums. It was a depressing place. The streets were dotted with people in ragged clothes, and no one paid any mind to what was going on there. When the men were confident no one was going to interfere, they started shouting.

“Hey, little girl, look who’s here!”

The girl stopped and turned around. She had a mischievous smile on her face. I wasn’t the only one who was surprised by that.

“What are you smilin’ at?!”

“Because this is my lucky day,” she said. “Some spineless scumbags finally got the balls to fight me.”

“Oh, I get it. You’re one of those… Tryin’ to bait us into attacking.”

He’d completely snapped. I used my Discerning Eye on the men and discovered that they were treasure hunters.

Some treasure hunters belonged to guilds, but plenty didn’t. Since they were so focused on finding treasure, they were a little different from your typical adventurer; some were so strong that a regular adventurer was no match for them, and these three were tough. They didn’t have any notable skills, but a normal person wouldn’t have stood a chance against one of them, let alone three. But then…why would any normal person pick a fight with these three guys?

“She must be really confide—wh-whoa?!” I gasped.

Turned out there was a reason for her confidence.

 

Name: Mira Santage

Age: 16

Species: Human

Level: 256

Occupation: Student; Treasure Hunter

Skills: Pocket Dimension (Grade S); Enchanted Item Mastery

 

Sh-she was unstoppable!

I was surprised to discover that she was a treasure hunter too, but she was even more impressive than the others. Her Pocket Dimension was massive. This was not good. I had to stop her.

“Um, why don’t you stop while you’re ahead?” I asked the men as I approached. “This is still a public street, and even seasoned fighters can get hurt in a spat.”

“Don’t try to stop us, kid. We don’t want to bully this little girl, but she’s too uppity. Someone needs to teach her how to behave.”

If anyone’s going to be learning a lesson, I’m pretty sure it’s you.

“You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, huh?” the girl, Mira, called out cheerfully. “But you should stay out of this. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna kill ’em.”

“You heard her, kid. We aren’t gonna kill her either, so keep your nose out of our business.”

Maybe the men were stronger when together or something? If that was the case, then I could understand their confidence. But if they were fooled by her looks, well…

I couldn’t tell which it was, so I decided to watch from the sidelines. The man with the strongest aura stepped forward, swinging one arm.

“Three men against a little girl would be embarrassing. I’ll make you revisit your lunch with a single punch.”

Ah… They have no idea how powerful she is, do they?

“Sorry, but I’d sooner die than let you lay a finger on me.”

Huh? That was when I noticed Mira was gripping a black ball in one hand. She hadn’t had it earlier, so she must’ve pulled it out of her Pocket Dimension. She took the peculiar item and threw it at the ground.

“Gah?!”

The ball bounced and hit the man in the stomach. It was obvious from his reaction that it had hit hard. Even more surprisingly, the ball mysteriously returned to Mira’s hand. It almost looked as though it violated the laws of physics. I took the opportunity to use my Discerning Eye on it.

 

Magic Ball

Grade C

Skills: +10lbs; Elasticity; Automatic Return

 

It wasn’t a very high-grade enchanted item, but it wasn’t a normal ball either. Not only was it heavier than it looked, it could automatically return to its wielder. And it threw well too. Suddenly, its strange movements made sense.

“Wh-what the…”

“I really don’t need to hear comments from the peanut gallery,” Mira said.

“Hnngh?!”

She threw the ball again, bouncing it off the ground and smashing the man under his chin. He crumpled to the floor, out cold, and the ball zipped back to her hand.

“Get her!”

The other two men abandoned their pride and charged in, but it was over soon enough. They both fell prey to the ball. Mira left them just conscious enough to drag their fallen comrade away. They really were trash for picking a fight with a girl, but they did earn some points for not abandoning one of their own. They probably weren’t rotten to the core.

Now Mira turned her interest to me. “You knew, didn’t you? That I would wipe the floor with them.”

“I wasn’t that confident, but I could tell there was a huge gap in ability.”

“You got a Discerning Eye, I take it? You better share some of your own secrets,” she said menacingly, gripping the ball. “It’s not fair that I’m the only one exposed here.”

I gave her my name, age, and that I was a student and part-time adventurer, but I kept my abilities to myself.

“We’re the same age, huh? Don’t gotta worry about being polite then.”

“You know, you’re a little scary.”

“Ah ha! I mean, I am strong! But don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. Let’s just talk. Ask me anything!”

“All right, then. How did you get so strong, Ms. Mira?”

“Good question. I guess it’s more like strength chose me.”

I wasn’t going to get anywhere like this. Mira’s eyes glimmered as she brought her face close to mine.

“Also, Ms. Mira?” she asked. “Oh, buddy, why so formal? I mean, we’re friends now, aren’t we?” Her pigtails swayed furiously, as if expressing her innermost feelings.

Friends…? When did that happen?

“You’re the first friend I’ve made in this town.” She flashed me a big toothy grin.