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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The first floor of the hidden archive.
According to my memories, the first floor was a linear progression of battles, starting with weak monsters and gradually increasing in difficulty. A sort of relay training ground.
The final monster was a troll, a staple of fantasy settings, so it would be a bit tricky. But the first monster, if I remembered correctly, was…
“Johann! That’s a slime, right? I wonder if it’s squishy.”
“Maybe. But its skin might be irritating.”
Its internal structure was slightly acidic, so it would probably sting.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a slime…”
Karina murmured, seemingly reminiscing about her childhood.
Slimes… even here, they were the weakest of the weak. Even a child could defeat one with a stick.
Despite their weakness, slimes were surprisingly useful. Some regions even had slime farms.
…Perhaps I should acquire some slime extract or fragments for research.
Anyway, no one needed to step forward to deal with the slime.
It was too weak for tactical practice. The slime was bisected and vanished with each flash of Lewis’s sword.
An illusion, as expected.
“That was anticlimactic…”
“Don’t let your guard down. The next monster will be more troublesome.”
First slimes, then goblins, if I remembered correctly. We walked for another three minutes before encountering the next group of monsters.
Fifteen goblins. Four armed with crude bows, and six wielding clubs and chipped axes.
Too easy.
They weren’t a suitable challenge for team practice. Lewis dispatched them swiftly and silently.
As expected of the protagonist.
Pure swordsmanship.
We watched the goblin corpses fade away and continued forward. We would eventually encounter something that required teamwork.
The first real challenge appeared after we encountered a group of twenty orcs.
“Johann, there are a lot of them.”
“So many…”
“That’s a lot!”
“Twenty orcs… That’s quite a sight.”
“Lewis, focus on defense. Mages, chant simultaneously and fire in order. Viola, throw paralysis reagents at the orcs.”
“Got it!”
The mages chanted their spells, following my instructions. They were only fourth-tier spells, so the chanting was brief. A fireball, the size of a soccer ball, materialized in Elisa’s hand and flew towards the orcs.
The fireball soared through the air and struck the head of an orc that was about to swing its axe at Lewis.
A small explosion, and the orc stumbled. The other orcs, startled, backed away and looked at us.
They seemed to have realized who the greater threat was.
“Shuri, Martina, fire your spells at the orcs on either end.”
Prioritize the ones Lewis couldn’t easily reach.
Their spells flew towards the orcs. A faint wind blade and a crackling orb. Wind and lightning. The next spell was obvious.
“Elisa, drench them with water.”
“O-Okay… Water!”
A simple fourth-tier spell.
A basketball-sized orb of water materialized above Elisa’s head. As the lightning orb electrocuted one orc and the wind blade severed another’s arm, the water orb burst above them.
The drenched orcs looked around in confusion. Realizing they were unharmed, they roared and charged towards Lewis and Viola.
“Shuri, Lightning Bolt.”
“Yes!”
“Lewis, fall back.”
Lewis immediately jumped back.
The orcs charged towards us but were struck by the lightning orb before they could reach us.
“…Ugh, the smell.”
We all pinched our noses. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air as the orcs collapsed, electrocuted.
Why did illusions have such realistic smells?
Was it to make the experience more realistic?
“Elisa, Shuri, Martina, the key isn’t powerful magic, but using different spells in combination to effectively eliminate the enemy. Think strategically. Just throwing fireballs isn’t always the most efficient approach.”
“Yes!”
While fireballs were powerful, they were also easily countered. But the mages here tended to rely on them because of their raw power.
It was understandable, as it was rare for a party to have more than one mage.
And it was difficult for mages to use multiple elements unless they were exceptionally talented.
“They’re finally gone.”
We resumed our advance. From slimes to orcs, the monsters were gradually getting stronger.
What was stronger than an orc?
I didn’t remember the exact monster progression, so I continued forward, pondering the possibilities.
“Mister Johann! New enemies approaching! Werewolves!”
“W-Werewolves?!”
At Lewis’s report, I stepped aside and observed the approaching werewolves. They were definitely stronger than orcs.
Thirty of them.
That was more than I expected.
Was the difficulty scaling with our party size?
That damn attention to detail.
“Shuri, spray them with water. Elisa, freeze the water with ice magic. Martina, spray them with water again. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“O-Okay…”
“Understood.”
“Viola, throw paralysis reagents! Lewis, defensive maneuvers only!”
We were outnumbered, so we couldn’t afford a chaotic melee.
I watched them carry out my orders and placed my hand on Milia’s shoulder, who looked intimidated by the charging werewolves.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of them quickly. Crafting.”
I created a small wall to shield Karina and Milia, then stepped forward. Lewis couldn’t handle this many werewolves alone.
I glared at the werewolves slipping and sliding on the icy ground and used my skill.
“Crafting.”
Several blue stone pillars erupted from the ground, impaling the werewolves and creating obstacles.
Left.
No, right?
I quickly glanced at the walls of the hidden archive. Some of the agile werewolves were trying to flank us by climbing the walls.
“Shuri, Barrier! Elisa, spray them with water! Martina, freeze them!”
There was no reply, but Shuri, ever the reliable mage, immediately carried out my orders. With a scraping sound, a barrier appeared, and the werewolves slid off it.
Their ambush thwarted, they retreated, growling.
“I-I missed!”
She missed?
They were fast, Elisa’s spell hadn’t been able to track them.
“Reinforce the barrier! Hold them back!”
“Okay!”
“Viola, give me the paralysis reagents.”
“Here. I’ll cover you, so hurry.”
I coated my mithril shovel with Viola’s special paralysis reagent.
The yellowish liquid gave the shovel a disturbing sheen, but I didn’t have time to worry about aesthetics.
I charged towards the werewolves surrounding the mages.
A heavy impact on my arm.
The werewolf was at least 1.5 times larger than me, and the force of its blow pushed me back slightly. But it hadn’t dodged my attack.
“Crafting.”
A spike, like a crocodile lunging from the water, erupted from the ground and impaled the werewolf.
Even its tough hide couldn’t withstand that. I immediately thrust my shovel into its open maw.
It was a good thing it wasn’t real.
I looked away from the werewolf, its mouth split open like a villain from an old movie, and focused on the next one charging towards me.
It was trying to bite my neck.
“Crafting.”
The ground in front of me erupted into a field of spikes, riddling the werewolf with holes. It was still twitching, it had surprising vitality.
I decapitated the now-hedgehog-like monster and turned to the others.
“Lewis! Viola! Fall back! Mages, coat them with oil!”
Lewis and Viola retreated as the remaining werewolves, about eighteen of them, charged through the gap.
They were slower now, injured and slipping on the ice.
And they couldn’t avoid the oil the mages conjured.
The oil-covered werewolves stumbled and struggled to maintain their balance.
In that instant, a flash of steel, and three heads flew through the air. A swift and decisive move, befitting the protagonist.
“Mages, fire into the oil.”
“What? But the books will catch fire—”
“The Archmage who created this place would have accounted for that.”
“O-Okay! Fire!”
“F-Fire!”
Two fireballs, the size of soccer balls, flew past me, heating the air. They struck the headless werewolves and the ones still struggling to get up.
“That’s hot.”
It was hot enough to warm the library in early autumn.
We watched the impromptu campfire, catching our breath. As expected, the fire vanished quickly without spreading to the bookshelves.
“Reform and report any injuries.”
They approached me and reported their status.
A scratch on Lewis’s hand. A graze on Viola’s arm, which required a prosthetic replacement.
The mages had depleted a significant amount of mana but were otherwise unharmed.
“Dismantle.”
I dispelled the wall separating Karina and Milia. Milia rushed towards me, her face pale with fright.
“I was scared!”
“Alright, get off.”
She quickly let go and looked at me expectantly. She clearly wanted praise, so I patted her head and approached Karina.
“Karina, can you heal everyone?”
“Leave it to me.”
The veil fluttered gently.
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“Listen up. The next monster will likely be the last one on this floor.”
Recalling the increasingly difficult monsters we had faced, from slimes to werewolves and then two trolls, I looked at the noticeably wider passage ahead.
It was clearly designed to signal the presence of a powerful enemy.
“It’s definitely going to be a strong one.”
“We faced two trolls last time… I wonder what it’ll be this time…”
Lewis seemed worried. It was understandable, considering the unusually powerful monsters we had encountered so far. We would have struggled without Karina’s healing.
Prompted by Lewis’s comment, the others started speculating.
“Maybe an ogre? The only things stronger than trolls are ogres and drakes.”
“A-An ogre… C-Can we even defeat that…?”
“If you follow my instructions.”
“No matter what kind of monster appears, remember one thing. Don’t be afraid.”
I looked at each of them.
They nodded without hesitation.
“Then let’s go in… Milia and Karina, stay hidden in the corner.”
“Okay! I’ll cheer for you! Hee hee.”
“May Kalon’s blessings be with you all.”
Such a sweet girl. I watched them move to a corner and stepped forward.
As we entered the next area, an illusion began to materialize in front of the door leading to the next level, its size gradually increasing.
“Wow… amazing.”
“I’ve never seen such detailed magic.”
“But isn’t it a bit too big?”
…It was.
About 1.5 times larger than a troll.
I tilted my head, observing the forming monster.
This didn’t look good.
“Get in formation. Mages, prepare third-tier magic.”
As the mages began chanting behind me, the illusion solidified and roared.
“Huh.”
A two-headed ogre?
What did we do to deserve this?
I cursed the ancient headmaster’s apparent malice.
“This is bad.”
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