Hell Mode: Volume 3, page 25
Thus, the development of Rodin Village kicked into high gear, proceeding in a way that threw all convention out the window thanks to the aid of Allen’s Summons.
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At the end of July, Krena had somehow managed to pass her general education exam. Everyone shared her sense of relief, as they had witnessed Allen tying her down to a chair and forcing her to study all too many times. It was clear to all that she had zero motivation to do it herself.
By now, the three transfer students had finished going through the requisite number of Rank B dungeons and finished their first Rank A one. The Rank B ones did not take all that much time, thanks to the maps Allen had in his grimoire. Even these three were surprised at how little time it had taken.
At the same time, Allen, Krena, Cecil, Dogora, and Keel had finished clearing their fourth Rank A dungeon. All that was left was to use the summer break in the coming two months to complete one more elsewhere within Ratash. They had already decided which dungeon they would go to.
The group was still in the middle of mastering their Extra Skills, which turned out to be as much a mental effort as it was control over one’s MP. However, there was no way for a third party to aid them in any way—they all had to work on mastering their skills by themselves.
Since April, the development of Rodin Village had gone smoothly. The villagers had finished clearing away every last tree within the area earmarked for the village and had moved on to erecting a wall before the great boars migrated in autumn. Even now, the Beast Cs were being a huge help by carrying logs and digging holes with their snouts. In order to make the most of their two years of tax exemption, the serfs planned on completing all the necessary infrastructure so that each family could begin to focus solely on farming.
Today, Allen and Krena had been summoned to the headmaster’s office once again. The same thing had happened last year, so Allen had forebodings about today’s business. When asked, Carlova confirmed that the other members of their party were permitted to attend as well, so the eight of them headed to the room together.
“Sir? I’ve brought Allen’s group,” Carlova said, knocking on the door.
“Mm, come in,” a voice replied immediately.
The door opened. Next to the headmaster stood a familiar figure who turned around as the group entered. “Hey there, Allen. How’ve you been?”
Allen bowed courteously. “If it isn’t Lord Helmios. I’ve been doing wonderfully, thank you for asking. It has been a while indeed.”
“Aww, we’re close, aren’t we? You can drop the ‘lord’!” the Hero replied, flashing his beautiful white teeth.
“I’m afraid that’s not a very appropriate way of addressing the esteemed Hero,” Allen said, bluntly rebuffing Helmios’s overfamiliar attitude.
There was not enough sofa space to seat all eight members of the No-life Gamers plus Helmios, the headmaster, and Carlova. Therefore, they decided to sit at the round table instead. Upon settling into his chair, Helmios turned to smile at Allen. Allen made a pointed effort to ignore him.
“Headmaster, may I inquire what is the purpose of today’s visit?”
Here’s hoping this conversation is short and sweet so we can still make it in time for today’s dungeon rounds. I mean, I’ll probably say no to whatever the headmaster’s going to ask anyway.
“Well, I brought you here to invite you and Krena to take part in the Martial Arts Tournament in October.”
I knew it. He called us in for the same thing last time. Looks like he’s doing it before summer break this year. Last year, it was right after we got back from the break when we’d cleared our first Rank A dungeon.
“Krena would be more than happy to participate, but I will have to decline,” Allen said point-blank, earning him a curious look from Sophie.
“May I ask why?”
“Well...I suppose it is mainly because I have no reason to show off my power.”
“I see. Would I be right in assuming Princess Sophialohne has told you about the Sovereign of Spirits?”
Did he arrange for Sophie to join our party so I’d hear that story? No, I don’t think he has that authority. Ah, was it the other way?
“Yes, sir. I hear he is someone who talks a lot in his sleep.”
Helmios choked on his saliva, revealing that he likely shared the same impression as Allen. Both the headmaster and Sophie smiled wryly.
“We do not fully understand the meaning of the prophecy, but it seems clear that your power will be instrumental in saving our world from the Demon Lord. This is why we very much want to know what you, as a Summoner, are capable of. It can be said that showing off your power here is for the sake of the world. Would your answer remain the same even in light of this?”
Oh? The headmaster’s changed his approach. And he just mentioned the Demon Lord by name. He didn’t bring it up at all last year.
“I’m afraid I beg to differ in opinion.”
“How so?”
Allen proceeded to explain that the strengths and weaknesses of his power could not be properly understood within the short time frame of a few tournament matches. To avoid creating misunderstandings and let people properly understand how he could be a key asset in the fight against the Demon Lord, he would have to be entirely transparent about every last thing he could do. And there was a huge disadvantage to doing so.
“What kind of disadvantage?”
“This knowledge could also fall into the enemy’s hands.” And I’m still very much in the middle of developing my character. What if the demons think, “This guy is dangerous. We should snuff him out now before he gets any stronger”? I don’t want to go around with a target on my back.
Although Allen had provided what he thought was the most reasonable reason for turning down participating in the tournament, he did not actually know how extensive the Demon Lord Army’s intelligence network was.
“Hm... That may be true, but would it not be difficult to fight the Demon Lord Army while continuing to hide your powers?”
“Oh, no, I don’t plan on holding anything back once I’m actually on the battlefield.” It’s just that I’m not revealing my powers this time because I don’t see a need to. It’s as simple as that.
“So you insist on not participating?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You said last year that you weren’t interested because there was nothing to gain.”
“Well...pretty much.”
The headmaster sighed, then signaled Helmios with his eyes. The Hero fiddled with something on one of the fingers on his right hand, which fell onto the table. Allen followed it with his eyes until it stopped spinning and revealed itself to be a ring.
“Oh gods! I can’t believe I’ve gone and dropped my precious MP Recovery Ring!” Helmios cried in an exaggerated manner before hurriedly retrieving the accessory and putting it back on his finger. Pretending to not notice Allen’s gaze, he continued, “What a relief. Whatever would I do if I broke this ring that Rohzen made for me as a reward for saving that squad of elves? I’ve got to take better care of it.”
“It’s ‘Lord’ Rohzen to you,” the headmaster corrected under his breath.
Ignoring him, Helmios pretended to have remembered something. “Speaking of which: Allen, I heard you were looking for something in the dungeons. I’ve cleared quite a few dungeons in my time. You want some advice?”
“I’m fine, thank you.” Look at him acting so smug.
“Okay, if you say so. By the way, I don’t know what you’re looking for, but just saying, you won’t find MP Recovery Rings in a Rank A dungeon. Not even the Rank S one.”
“Huh? How can you be so sure?”
“That’s a secret. You’re not telling me anything, so why should I tell you anything?” Helmios pouted childishly.
I had a feeling he’d say that. He really knows how to push my buttons. So, what? Did he come just to brag about his ring? I don’t think that’s it.
“Oh, don’t glare at me like that. Okay, I’m a nice guy, so I’ll tell you. Dygragni can’t make MP Recovery Rings, period. It’s an issue of compatibility.”
“And you know this because...?”
“He told me himself. He said he might be able to make them after he becomes a Minor Deity, but it’s beyond him at the moment. Too bad, right? Oh, and you might be able to get your hands on orichalcum weapons if you try really hard, but I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Meruru’s eyes became as wide as saucers upon hearing that Helmios had met with Dygragni directly. Her surprise spoke volumes about what a privilege such an audience was.
Helmios must have gotten my information from the Adventurer’s Guild. This world seriously doesn’t understand the idea of client confidentiality. Hmm, but...
“What do you mean you don’t recommend it?”
“You’ll be going as your party of eight, right? If you enter the Rank S dungeon the way you are now, even if you don’t all die, you’d still lose a few people and be forced to turn back.”
Helmios sounded certain of what he was saying. During this conversation, he had already finished peeking at the No-life Gamers’ stats.
“What are you getting at, then?”
“I’ve talked it out with the headmaster here. The winner of this year’s tournament will get to fight me instead of Dverg. If you beat me, I don’t mind giving you this ring.”
I see. Assuming that this self-proclaimed Hero isn’t lying, the only ways of obtaining an MP Recovery Ring are to beat him or to make the elves indebted to me and press the Sovereign of Spirits for one. Which way is more certain? ...No, in situations like these, the smart thing is to go for both.
His party members watched him, somewhat surprised to see him taking so long to make up his mind. Finally, Allen spoke up.
“If I’m to participate, I have two conditions.”
“Let’s hear them.”
“First, Krena’s been really looking forward to fighting Lord Dverg. Please let that fight go on as usual. Is Sword Lord Dverg coming to Academy City this year?”
“Mm-hm, he sure is. The plan is to let him fight with the runner-up of the tournament,” Helmios confirmed. “What’s your other condition?”
“I want to check if that ring is the real deal.”
“Sure. Here you go.”
Accepting the ring that Helmios handed over without a second thought, Allen put it on after he depleted his MP by using multiple skills.
Whoa, it’s recovering one percent of my max MP per second. Okay, I really do want this. I can use it to earn more Skill XP, and I also don’t have to worry about running out of MP in battle anymore.
“Interesting. So you have a way to gauge how much MP you have.”
What?! Oh...well, I guess he can have that tidbit. He did give me pretty important info, after all.
“I’m not sure I follow, but at the very least, this ring does seem to be real.” Allen took the ring off and returned it to Helmios.
The headmaster, who had remained quiet this whole time, spoke up. “So, is this enough of a reason for you to participate in the tournament?”
“Yes, sir,” Allen nodded. “Please secure a place for me in this year’s tournament. By the way, am I allowed to bring in whatever weapons and items I want?”
“Of course. You have two months till then, so make all the preparations you desire.”
So recovery items are allowed too.
“Thank you, sir. I will do my best.”
And so it was decided that Allen would be taking part in this year’s Martial Arts Tournament at the Ratashian Academy.
Chapter 15: The Martial Arts Tournament (Part 2)
And so Allen decided to participate in this year’s Martial Arts Tournament. After he won, he would fight Hero Helmios in order to get his MP Recovery Ring. Allen was not someone who would expose his powers for no reason, but if there was a reason, he would not hold back. He resolved to use every means at his disposal to beat the Hero black-and-blue in front of the visiting aristocrats and foreign dignitaries, and thus seize the all-important ring.
“So yep, I’ll be in the tournament two months from now,” Allen said, kicking off the party’s regular meeting at their base.
“Can’t say I’m surprised,” Cecil sighed. “So, what’re you going to do? Can you really beat the Hero?”
By now, Cecil had gotten used to this mercenary side to Allen. However, his opponent-to-be was the Hero, the man said to be humanity’s last hope. He was the one who had reversed the Alliance’s decades of consecutive losses and helped regain large swathes of territory. Understandably, Cecil was having difficulty visualizing Allen coming out on top of this encounter.
“The way I currently am? Probably not. So that’s why I’m thinking of going out and doing my own thing next month, during summer break.”
“What?! Explain,” Cecil demanded, sensing that Allen was dead serious about beating the Hero and had come up with another incomprehensible scheme to do so.
“I’ll be gathering magic stones not only from Academy City, but all over Ratash. I’ll also be actively searching for all the best items that can be had.”
In order to raise his Summoning to Lvl. 7 by the end of summer break, Allen needed a mind-boggling amount of MP. He could gain MP from Seeds of Magic, but to make them, he needed Rank D magic stones. He had been gathering as many Rank D stones as he could at Academy City for quite a while now, but at the current pace, the soonest he would reach Lvl. 7 was next year.
Thankfully, there were several cities the size of Academy City within Ratash. He planned on traveling between them multiple times via magic ship, keeping the same request for Rank D magic stones active in all places at any given time. While the Adventurer’s Guild in one city would be in the middle of gathering the stones for him, he would go to the next city to make the same request, and so on and so forth. This way, he would be maxing out the number of magic stones the entire country could gather for him.
Guess I might as well request Rank E and C magic stones too, while I’m at it. After all, I have no idea when I’ll get the opportunity to do something like this again. Okay, let’s aim to gather one million of each rank.
Allen currently had plenty of money in his pockets—to the tune of 28,000 gold coins—so he was considering seriously stocking up on magic stones. He had heard that the monsters on the battlefield were all at least Rank B, so this seemed like a good opportunity to build up a cache of the lower-ranked stones.
And of course, if he came upon valuable items on his travels, he would make sure to procure them as well. The hope was that there would be at least one orichalcum weapon available for sale somewhere in the country, but Allen knew his chances were not high. Instead, he would be focusing his search on accessories, such as rings that boosted a stat by at least +500.
“What should we be doing in the meantime then, Lord Allen?” Sophie asked.
“The way I see it, you have two options,” Allen replied. “So, I want all of you to talk it out and decide which you prefer.”
The first option would be to stick to their original plan and make for a Rank A dungeon outside of Academy City. The three new additions to the party had only finished clearing one Rank A dungeon so far, so their second would be this one located elsewhere in the country.
The second option would be to help the newcomers go through the remaining three Rank A dungeons in Academy City.
Allen reassured them that either way, he would be providing them with all the Summons they needed—if they lost any, he would send more during his time on the ground in between magic ship rides. It was only he himself who would be absent on these dungeon runs.
Dogora crossed his arms, frowning in thought. “I see... Well, I don’t see any reason to deviate from our original plan. Since summer break is the only time we can clear a Rank A dungeon in another city.”
His logic was sound, so everyone else expressed their agreement with him.
“Thank you for allowing us to join all of you for your fifth and last Rank A dungeon,” Sophie said appreciatively. “However, Lord Allen, what are your thoughts on what Hero Helmios said? Are you truly considering challenging the Rank S dungeon?”
Helmios had said that if the No-life Gamers were to attempt the Rank S dungeon in their current state, they would suffer casualties and be forced to give up along the way. Everyone looked at Allen with worry in their eyes.
Now that I think about it, it probably isn’t a coincidence that the Hero made contact with us now of all times. We’re currently on track to finish our fifth Rank A dungeon and about to start considering heading to the Rank S one. Not that we know where it’s located, though.
At first, Allen had thought Helmios had come to Academy City simply because he was curious about Allen’s abilities, but he now realized that it was entirely possible the Hero had also come to dissuade him from charging into the Rank S dungeon so soon.
“In any case, we’ll first focus on completing all five Rank A dungeons. Then we can sit down and talk about what to do after that. How’s that sound?” Allen offered.
There was no need to make a decision now. With the addition of the new members, it would still be quite some time before the No-life Gamers could enter the Rank S dungeon. By that time, Allen’s Summoning should have leveled up, giving him access to even more Summons and thus more options.
“Fine with me,” Cecil agreed. “But what will you do about the dungeon requirement, Allen? You’ll be the only one who’s lacking the last dungeon.”
“Oh, there’s no need to worry about me. I’ll find time and follow after you guys.”
Allen could map the dungeon his friends were going through by Sharing the vision of one of the Summons with them. With that map in hand, he could then ride Bird C, activate Idaten, and then rush through in the blink of an eye.
“All right. So, we’re still going to Feldora, right?” Keel asked for confirmation’s sake.
Feldora was a fortified city built on the northern border of Ratash in order to fend off invasions from the Empire of Giamut. Several dungeons could be found within its walls, some of which were Rank A. Though not quite on par with Academy City, it was still a rather lively city with a sizable population. It had its own Adventurer’s Guild branch too, so Allen would be able to meet up with the rest of the party whenever he dropped by to pick up magic stones.
