Arifureta [Vol 1] Chapter 12 – Path of Escape (1/2)
“d.a.m.n it, why isn’t it there&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;”
It has been three days since he killed the Talon Bear. Hajime had been searching for the route leading to the upper floors and had already finished exploring eighty percent of this level. Eating the Talon Bear caused his status to jump again, and there was no longer anything that exists on this level which could threaten Hajime now. This allowed him to hasten his search of the vast area in a quick pace, but despite that, nothing was found.
No, it is wrong to say that nothing was found. More precisely, it is the path “upstairs”, the path “downstairs” had been discovered two days ago. The Dungeon’s structure which consists of many floors will definitely have a path leading up, but no matter what he did, it simply couldn’t be found.
Furthermore, ignoring the strange dungeon, the method of directly creating a path upstairs through trans.m.u.tation had already been tried. In the end, no matter it was upwards or downwards, he found out that after advancing a certain extent, somehow the walls become unresponsive to trans.m.u.tation. There were no limits as to how much he trans.m.u.ted within the level, but it might be covered in some sort of protection in regards to upwards and downwards. This 【Orcus Great Dungeon】 is a dungeon created since ancient times, and full of mysteries. It is hardly surprising.
That’s why, he could only honestly search for a path up, but a decision has to be made should the path not be found. That was, to dive even deeper into the Great Dungeon.
“&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip; Dead end huh. The branches have all been searched. What the heck is this. Sigh~”
Hajime let out a deep sigh while resigning himself that a path up couldn’t be found. Then, he headed towards the room where he discovered the stairs leading down two days ago.
That staircase was extremely poorly constructed. It might be more accurate to call it an uneven hill road rather than a staircase. From that point on, there were no longer any Green Light Stones, plunging the area ahead in complete darkness and oozing an ominous aura. It was like looking into the mouth of an enormous monster. The feeling of “It’s impossible to leave once you’ve entered’ naturally arose.
“Ha~! Bring it on! Whatever it is, if it hinders me, Kill and Devour.”
Hajime snorted at himself for thinking as such, the corners of his lips curving into a fearless smile. Then, he stepped into the darkness without any hesitation.
This level was very dark. It’s natural for an underground dungeon, but all the levels that he had been to so far had Green Light Stones, and though those levels were dim, it was not so much that he couldn’t even see ahead. However, it seemed like this level did not have any Green Light Stones. Stopping for a little while, Hajime was expecting his eyes to somewhat get used to seeing in the dark, but no matter how long pa.s.sed, there were no differences. As a last resort, he took out the Green Light Stone to serve as a lamp from the improvised backpack he made with trans.m.u.ted wires from the Talon Bear’s fur.
Bluntly speaking, possessing a light source in the darkness is equivalent to suicide if there were magic beasts around. However, since he wasn’t able to even move on without this, Hajime could only take the plunge. As such, he couldn’t advance with his right hand occupied, thus attaching the stone to his left elbow which was missing its forearm.
After progressing for a while, noticing something s.h.i.+ning within the pa.s.sageway, Hajime raised his awareness to the maximum. Advancing while staying hidden under the shadows as much as possible, he suddenly felt an unpleasant presence from his left. He instantly jumped back and pointed the Green Light Stone towards the presence. There was a gray lizard approximately two meter in length stuck to the wall, glaring at Hajime with its golden eyes.
Those golden eyes flashed momentarily and in the next instant&h.e.l.lip;
Along with a cracking sound, Hajime’s left arm began to petrify. The petrification immediately spread to the Green Light Stone as well and within seconds, there was a creaking noise as it completely shattered. With the light source gone, darkness set upon the area once again. The petrification of his arm was already encroaching his shoulder.
Hajime clicked his tongue and took out a bottle of sacred water from his holster; which was made from wires of magic beast fur, and drank it in one gulp. As expected, the petrification came to halt, and the petrified part returned to normal in the blink of an eye.
“How dare you do this!” While cursing inwardly, he took out a 【Flash Grenade】 from his waist pack and tossed it towards the golden-eyed lizard. At the same time, over in the darkness, those golden eyes started to s.h.i.+ne once again. Hajime didn’t appear to care as he instantly retreated from the area by using 【Ground Shrink】.
Then changes appeared on the boulder behind where Hajime originally stood, and subsequently, it crumbled as if it has been weathered. It seems to possess considerably powerful Evil Eyes of Petrification! In RPG terms, this is probably a Basilisk.
While thinking of such things, Hajime pulled out Donner and held it up before his eyes, s.h.i.+elding his closed eyes. And “Bang!” The surroundings was bathed in an intense light, painting their vision with light.
“Ku-ua!?”
Perhaps it had never experienced such an intense light up till date, the figure of a disoriented Basilisk emerged in the darkness. Hajime fired without hesitation. The tremendous power hidden within the bullet without aiming, bore into the Basilisk’s head and pulverized its skull, completely ravaging the insides. The bullet pierced through the head left a deep hole on the wall and “Shuuu~”, leaving behind the sound of burning rocks.
As a result of the electromagnetic acceleration, the location that was struck was emitting high temperatures. This is probably the power of the Tauru Ore which strengthens when heated.
Hajime while still keeping a lookout on his surroundings, approached the Basilisk, quickly tore off its flesh and retreated from that location. As expected, it is impossible to leisurely eat when faced with such a situation where he was practically blind. For now, Hajime chose to continue exploring.
～～～～～～～～～
Hajime kept walking in the darkness. Despite feeling as if he had continuously searched for several tens of hours, yet the staircase leading down was still nowhere in sight. Along the way, he has defeated many magic beasts and collected many ores and it was gradually becoming an inconvenience to carry. Thus, Hajime decided to construct a base.
After finding a suitable spot, he place his hand on the wall and began trans.m.u.ting. There wasn’t any particular problems opening up a hole in the wall, and he went even deeper into the pa.s.sage. Hajime continued to trans.m.u.te and a six tatami s.p.a.ce was formed. ⌈1⌋ Then, taking out a bluish-white crystal the size of a basketball from his backpack, he attached it to a dent in the wall. What was taken out, was the G.o.d Crystal. He also set up a container below it to collect the droplets of water.
By the way. Hajime named the G.o.d Crystal as 【Potion Stone】, and the Sacred Water as 【Potion】. It is indeed a representation of restorative medicine in games, but due to the vast differences in effects, it is rather pathetic for it to be simply called a potion.
“Well, then, time to eat.”
Hajime took out the meat from the container (made with trans.m.u.tation) in his backpack. Using 【Lightning Clad】, he cooked it evenly. Today’s menu included: Whole Roast Basilisk, Whole Roast Owl; which fires its feathers like a shotgun, and Whole Roast six-legged Cat. With no seasoning.
“Itadakimasu~” ⌈2⌋
While eating with munching sounds, pain began to gradually course through his body. That is to say, his body has been strengthened. If that was the case, it means that the magic beasts here possess strength equal or higher than that of the Talon Bear. The combination of the dark environment and unique magic will definitely prove to be a problem. But Hajime’s true feelings were that, as long as a shot from Donner hits, everything will be smashed into smithereens.
Hajime continued to eat while ignoring the pain and drinking Sacred Water. The continuous pain starting from the phantom pain had made Hajime extremely resistant to pain.
“Chomp, Fu~u. I’m done. Now then, my status&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;”
While saying that, Hajime took out his status plate. Hajime’s current status is&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;
Nagumo Hajime 17 Year old Male Cla.s.s: Synergist Level: 23 Strength: 450 Vitality: 550 Resistance: 350 Agility: 550 Magic Power: 500 Magic Resistance: 500 Skills: Trans.m.u.tation [+Mineral Appraisal] [+Precise Trans.m.u.tation] [+Mineral Investigation] [+Mineral Separation] [+Mineral Fusion] • Magic Manipulation • Iron Stomach • Lightning Clad • Divine Step [+Aerodynamic] [+Ground Shrink] • Air Claw • Night Vision • Presence Perception • Petrification Resistance • Language Comprehension
There was a substantial rise just as expected. Even the number of skills in the skills column increased by three. Looking around carefully, he could certainly see further into the surroundings as compared to before. It appears to be the effects of 【Night Vision】.
Since the magic beasts of the abyss had faint presences, it is incredibly advantageous in this level. ⌈3⌋
Lastly, was the literal skill. Regrettably, Basilisk’s unique ability was 【Resistance】 and not 【Petrify】. “Evil Eyes of Petrification! Sounds kind of cool&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;” Hajime was slightly disappointed.
Then, Hajime began trans.m.u.ting to replenish his consumables. Creating even a single bullet required immense concentration. At any rate, it is an ultra precise product. The rifling carved on Donner was meaningless if the size was not a perfect match. The amount of compressed explosives permit no room for errors. Therefore, producing a single bullet took nearly thirty minutes. Even he himself considered it a job well done and was amazed by the display of extraordinary strength by humans facing death.
Although it was time-consuming, its power was undisputed and since he could also greatly increase his proficiency of trans.m.u.tation at the same time, there was nothing to complain about. Thanks to his skills, removing the impurities within the minerals has become an easy task, and conversely, even fusion could be easily done. In reality, Hajime’s trans.m.u.tation skills now is comparable to the top Synergists of the Kingdom.
Hajime kept on trans.m.u.ting silently. Besides, he has only descended one level. It was impossible to estimate how much deeper this abyss stretches. He planned to set out to search immediately after finis.h.i.+ng trans.m.u.ting for the sake of returning home even a little bit earlier. There was no point in lingering around. In the lonely abyss, the G.o.d Crystal’s pale light illuminated Hajime’s resolute expression, who is just beginning his Dungeon capturing journey.
Other than using trans.m.u.tation at his base to replenish his consumables at times, Hajime was constantly on the move. Taking a short rest during his search of the vast dungeon, he have no idea how long had pa.s.sed. With help from 【Night Vision】, he no longer had to worry about the darkness and with 【Presence Perception】, he was able to sense any magic beasts within a ten meter radius. Hajime advanced his search quickly.
Then, the stairs leading to the lower floor was finally discovered, which Hajime unhesitantly descended.
On this level, the ground was entirely covered in tar like a sticky swamp. Since it stuck to the legs, it was dreadfully hard to move. Hajime frowned as he used the protruding rocks or 【Aerodynamic】as footholds and began his search.