Hell Mode: Volume 5, page 13
Dogora’s Extra Skill, Heart and Soul, was currently the most powerful attack in this party’s arsenal. Even back when he was only a one-star class, this skill had enabled him to destroy one of Rehzel’s hearts when the rest of the party had struggled to even lay a scratch on the demon. On top of his class promotion, once Dogora found a better weapon, the damage that he would be able to dish out ought to be significantly higher than before. He just might become capable of killing a Demonic Deity in one strike.
Dogora stared at his hands, opening and closing them a few times before finally replying with a simple “Will do.”
“As for you, Keel, we’re going to get you more equipment that raises your Intelligence stat.”
“Sounds good, thank you. I don’t want Drops of God to fail again like the first time I used it on Dogora.”
Keel’s Extra Skill, Drops of God, resurrected the dead. It was Allen’s theory that the success rate of this skill was dependent on Keel’s Intelligence. As such, the way to maximize the reliability of this skill was, besides maxing the skill level, to wear equipment that gave the highest possible Intelligence buffs.
“Sophie—one day, you’ll become capable of manifesting spirits under your control. Please keep working on your ability to communicate with them in preparation for that day.”
“Understood, Lord Allen.”
The next time Sophie underwent a class promotion, she would become a three-star Spirit User, which would give her the ability to call forth spirits into the visible world. However, according to Spirit User Gatoluuga, the most powerful combatant in Rohzenheim, the spirits were fickle and thus very difficult to handle. The relationship between Spirit User and spirit was not one of absolute obedience, unlike that between Summoner and Summon. In fact, spirits were more powerful than Spirit Users, so it was more accurate to say that it was Spirit Users who were begging spirits for their aid.
Seeing that the conversation was about to wrap up, Cecil pointed at herself and asked, “What about me?”
“You don’t have to do anything special for now. Something may or may not come up later. Either way, just focus on raising your level and skill levels as quickly as possible. We’ll prioritize Keel when we see Intelligence-boosting gear, but once he’s got everything, you’ll be our next focus.”
“Okay, that’s fine by me.”
“Last comes me. I very much want to reach Summoning Lvl. 8 by the end of this year. After all, there’s no telling when war might break out again.”
The Summons at Lvl. 7 had been incapable of hurting Rehzel. And after the Demonic Deity transformed, he simply pretended they were not even there.
“Allen, there’s something that I’ve been wondering for a while: why’re you always so hung up on the Demonic Deities?” Cecil asked.
“Oh, did I not mention this before? I get the impression that killing Demonic Deities is part of my goal.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I kill a Demonic Deity, I level up right then and there, no matter how much more XP I need. Based on this, I’m thinking that Elmea wants me to kill more of them.”
After Rehzel died, Allen had received a level up notification that did not mention the specific amount of XP that he had gained. He had only killed one Demonic Deity so far, but was quite sure that any successive ones would also level him up, regardless of XP amount.
“Did you just casually refer to the God of Creation by name?” Cecil stared at Allen in disbelief. Similarly, the rest of his companions also stared at him in shock for a brief moment.
Allen, ignoring them, continued, “Conversely, it’s almost impossible for me to level up any further the normal way. That leaves me no choice but to prioritize earning skill XP.”
At his current level, he needed so much XP to level up that it would take forever simply killing monsters. Killing Demonic Deities was practically his only way to level up any further. In order to make it easier to kill the next one that he encountered, he was now focusing on raising his class skill levels.
“So that’s why you asked the Adventurer’s Guild for magic stones again this morning.”
“Yep. I heard that this city processes nearly as many magic stones as Dongbao. I’m gonna buy as many stones as I can, even if it raises their price on the market a little.”
When the No-life Gamers had visited the Adventurer’s Guild this morning, Allen had asked the staff how many Rank D magic stones he could request for at a time. The staff had replied that there was no upper limit, so Allen took out seven thousand gold, only for the staff to immediately backtrack and ask him to keep it to a thousand at a time. This was how Allen ended up making a request for a hundred thousand Rank D magic stones for a thousand gold this morning. The Guild had promised to have the order ready in five days.
“Um...”
“Allen, a moment.”
Keel was about to say something, but Cecil talked over him, so he drew back and let her talk. The rest of the Gamers also looked like they wanted to say something but sensed that Cecil was probably going to say it for them, so they stayed quiet.
“Yeah, wassup?”
“We’re all one party, right? I think it’s about time we stopped splitting what we earn from the dungeons.”
“What do you mean?” he asked. Allen had maintained the even split of loot this whole time because it was common sense for him to do so. It was the right thing to do both when dungeon crawling and monster hunting.
“We all understand that you need a ton of magic stones, and we know how much money that costs. So, let’s use everything we earn in the dungeons to buy those magic stones.”
Cecil went on to say that everyone in their party wanted different things, and it just so happened that the thing Allen wanted could be resolved with money.
“I like Cecil’s idea!” Krena chimed in.
Allen looked at his friends’ faces, and they all nodded back in turn. Seeing that, he bowed deeply and said, “Thank you very much, everyone. That would be a huge help.”
After this touching display of friendship, the meeting ended, and the No-life Gamers dispersed to prepare for their very first foray into the Rank S dungeon tomorrow.
Chapter 8: Admiral Garara and His Crew
“All right, let’s head out,” Allen announced before turning to his friend—the one with an impressive appetite characteristic of pubescent boys. “C’mon, Dogora, you full yet?”
Dogora cast a glance at his plate, then nodded. “Yep.”
After they had finished eating breakfast in a dining room devoid of both table and chairs, the No-life Gamers left their new home base. They were renting a prime property that was close to the Temple of Yanpany and large enough to house more than thirty people. The house that the party rented in Academy City had certainly been quite nice too, but this one here cost three times as much, with rent being thirty gold a month. According to the Real Estate Guild, the only listings that met Allen’s three requirements—close to the temple, the Adventurer’s Guild, and any shops necessary to everyday life—were large ones around the size of this property. When Allen saw the place for himself, he realized its size reflected just how large the parties coming to Yanpany to challenge the Rank S dungeon were.
Ten minutes of walking later, the Gamers reached the temple. It was packed with adventurers, so they lined up with the rest until it was their turn. They showed their invitation card to the same guard from yesterday, who let them through this time without comment.
The last time the Gamers were here, they had asked where the entrance to the Rank S dungeon was in this temple building. To alleviate the crowding, there were several rooms that served as points to send the numerous adventurers through to challenge the Rank S dungeon. Each and every room was spacious enough to comfortably hold far more people than just the No-life Gamers party.
The dungeon looks as crowded as ever. Well, the next floor is mainly just Rank B monsters, so even a party of all one-star classes with good equipment can still handle it no problem.
Allen had been told that there was currently no one in Ratash capable of stepping foot inside the Rank S dungeon; here, however, there were huge crowds of adventurers, with some sporting long ears that identified them as elves and others with short, stocky builds who were clearly dwarves. What’s more, they were all wearing high-quality equipment made of either hihiirokane or adamantite.
Even someone with a one-star Talent, once partied up with some others with two- or three-star Talents, would have no trouble clearing five Rank A dungeons. If a country were to get serious about clearing its dungeons, this would likely be the party composition it would have its adventurers aim for.
Then again, if the party steps on a teleportation trap and gets scattered, they’d very likely wipe. So they’d definitely need a Scout to help them avoid those kinds of traps.
Because more than ten adventurers were heading into the Rank S teleportation room at a time, the line was moving at a swift pace. It was not long before it was the No-life Gamers’ turn. They walked inside to find a familiar cube floating around eye level.
Huh, the same cubes? Do they control the dungeons on every continent?
“Greetings, No-life Gamers. I am Floor Operating System S108. Do you wish to travel to the next floor?”
It’s even got the same robotic voice.
They were currently still on the first floor of the Tower of Tribulation.
“Yes, please,” Allen replied on behalf of the group.
A split second later, the Gamers found themselves standing before an expansive grassy plain that stretched far as the eye could see. They were not alone, though; they could spot many groups of adventurers who had likely arrived ahead of them here and there in their vicinity.
“What the hell? Are we really inside a dungeon right now?!” Dogora exclaimed.
It’s just as we heard at the Adventurer’s Guild—everyone’s on the same server. There were multiple entrances, but everyone gets sent to the same space regardless.
In the Academy City dungeons, parties were sent to their own instances whenever moving between floors. Allen called these instances “servers” in his head. In the Tower of Tribulation, however, it was clear that all the adventurers traveling from Floor 1 to 2 ended up on the same server.
“All right, guys, give me a minute to assess our situation.” Allen sent out a Bird E and had it use Hawk Eye.
So this is an open plaza... And the other adventurers are being sent to empty spots around here.
The plaza was about a kilometer in radius, and the adventurer parties arriving after the Gamers were popping up in random locations here and there. Some of the parties who had arrived earlier had picnic sheets spread out on the ground and were eating or resting. Beyond the plaza was the vast grassland, on the other side of which lay a forest.
It’s so spacious here. And not surprisingly, I can’t see the ceiling. I’m gonna need some more time to confirm exactly how big this floor is. Hawkins, use Farsight.
By activating Bird E’s Awakened Ability, which gave it the ability to perceive all visual information in sight within a hundred-kilometer radius, Allen confirmed that they were in a seemingly endless green space expanding out from their current location.
“Are you serious?! This floor looks even wider than the first floor! In fact, it’s wider than the tower itself!”
Allen blurted out his thoughts in surprise, caught off guard by just how much bigger this space was compared to outside. Not only were there grasslands here; the plains were also framed by a luxuriant forest of towering trees.
No, that’s not right. It’s true that this is a massive area, but I see space being warped in places. The same power that prevented Hawkins from reaching the top of the dungeon tower is probably at work here. This is the Rank S dungeon, huh? Interesting.
“I heard you talking to yourself. Did you figure something out?”
“Oh, Cecil. You bet I did. Let’s call everyone over.”
Allen gathered his companions, who had spread out while he was occupied with his analysis. He then shared with them what he had just confirmed about the layout of the floor. When they had stopped by the Adventurer’s Guild before to put in an order for magic stones, they had asked the staff member for information about Floor 2, and most of the intel they received turned out to be correct. Besides getting a handle on the situation, however, there was one more thing that Allen wanted to confirm.
“So, that there is what we’re looking for, right?” Keel pointed at a cube floating in midair. Just that moment, a group of adventurers who had walked up to it just before disappeared.
“Probably,” Allen agreed. He then led his party over to it.
Sensing the group’s approach, the cube said, “Greetings, No-life Gamers. I am Floor Operating System S201. Do you wish to travel to the next floor? Or do you wish to return to Floor 1?”
Cecil frowned. “What’s this? We can already go to the next floor?”
This is also just as we heard. In this dungeon, the cubes that take you to the next floor are pretty close by.
Allen recalled Hero Helmios telling him that the cubes for escaping were highly accessible in this dungeon and that therefore, getting out of the dungeon was extremely easy. S201 had indicated that it was capable of sending adventurers both ahead to the next floor and back to a previous floor. This was going to have a major effect on how long it would take to clear this dungeon.
As I’d thought, there must not be all that many floors here. It was Floor 4 where Helmios gathered the gear that he equipped his party with, if I remember right.
“I’m kinda getting the feeling it wouldn’t take us all that long to clear this dungeon!” Dogora chuckled.
Rank A dungeons were quite large inside and had complicated paths. Getting through just one floor took a significant amount of time. Based on what the group currently knew, the Rank S dungeon’s layout seemed much, much simpler.
“Nah, I’m sure things aren’t that easy.” Allen shook his head. “But for now...Floor Operation System, please take us to the next floor.”
“Floor 3 it is. Please present three bronze medals.”
“We don’t have any.”
“Then, please gather three bronze medals.”
Allen’s conversation with the cube was cut short by the sudden approach of a group of around twenty dwarves.
“Yer late! Ye want me to leave ye behind?!”
“I-I’m sorry, Admiral! It’s my head; you made me drink too much last night.”
“Oho, so it’s my fault, is it, Pepeku? And don’t call me Admiral in th’ dungeon!”
“Oh gods... Admiral, could you not make such a fuss?”
“Shut yer trap!”
At the head of the group was a middle-aged dwarf wearing a pirate hat and another dwarf earnestly apologizing to him. The former’s voice carried so well that all the other adventurers in the vicinity looked over as well.
Meruru’s eyes widened. She pointed and blurted out, “Admiral Garara?!”
“Huh?” The man in the pirate hat looked over. “Well, if it ain’t Meruru! What’re ye doin’ in a place like this? And...”
As it turned out, Meruru and this dwarf knew each other. His eyes took on a doubtful glint, however, when he saw her among humans and elves, and he started walking over.
He’s much more a pirate than an admiral, if you ask me. Both in appearance and attitude.
“These are my companions!” Meruru told Garara with a cheerful smile.
“What’re ye sayin’? Ye know how valuable yer talent be, don’t ye? Meruru, there’s still space in me crew. Wanna join us?”
Apparently he was having trouble understanding why Meruru was in a party with humans. Despite Allen’s group standing right there, Garara invited her to his party as if it were the most natural thing to do.
So, he’s an “admiral.” They use a different military ranking system in Baukis, right?
Apart from language, many things were the same all throughout this world, including currency and units of measurement such as for weight, length, capacity, and time. The differences between the original systems were not all that drastic to begin with, but there had been a conscious effort over the past few decades—ever since the Demon Lord began attacking—to standardize everything. Having the same units of measurement eliminated unnecessary confusion when sending supplies to the front lines, while having the same currency made negotiations and trading much simpler. The Five Continent Alliance had spearheaded this endeavor in order to streamline the war effort.
One standardization that Baukis resisted, however, was changing the names of their military ranks. They argued that they had no need for military aid in the fight against the Demon Lord, and so kept their historic titles of admiral, captain, commander, and so on.
If I remember right, admiral is equivalent to grand marshal, right? What’s the top dog of the Baukisian navy doing here? Ah, does he love dungeon crawling like me?
Interrupting Allen’s unrelated thoughts, Meruru responded clearly, “I ’preciate the offer, Admiral, but I’m gonna clear the dungeon with my friends here!”
Admiral Garara’s companions—or more correctly, his subordinates—gave Meruru dumbstruck looks.
“What nonsense have ye lot been fillin’ Meruru’s head with?!” Garara roared indignantly at Allen’s group. “Did ye deceive her just t’make her join ye in challengin’ this here dungeon?!”
Allen stepped forward. “We didn’t trick her. And we’re serious about clearing this dungeon.” What even is this conversation?
“Did ye just talk back’ta me?! Ye got guts, boy, I’ll give ye that. Ye wanna do this the hard way?”
In response to Garara’s provocation, Dogora reached for the hilt of the greataxe on his back. Seeing this, the dwarves standing behind Garara wordlessly touched the magic discs hanging around their necks.
Fwum.
The magic discs shone with holographic geometric symbols that almost looked like characters.
Oh? Something’s showing on the slates slotted into their magic discs.
The dwarves’ reaction indicated that they had identified Dogora as an enemy. One who was standing farther back even barked, “Do you louts even know who we are?!”
