novelzi [338] 4.59 Ancient Lake VIII
[338] 4.59 Ancient Lake VIII
I cast a [Darkness] spell around Hank the moment the kill notifications finish up and I’ve allocated my new stat gains. He gives me a solemn look, but the visible relief he shows as the darkness feeds into his body and replenishes his stamina is a welcome relief to my eyes. To Chloe’s as well; she nearly tackles her father, only stopping at the last moment at his sudden recoil.“No, dear.” His breath is shallow and still pained. “Y– Your armor.”
“Are you okay?” she asks. “Should I heal you?”
“N– No, Chloe. I’m at my limit for [Light Intoxication]. Your healing at this point will only exacerbate things further.”
“But–” Chloe looks away. I’m sure it can’t be easy for her. I might not be particularly close to Hank, but he is her father and any child seeing her parent in such a state would feel that way.”
“Will it help if I carry you into the core chamber?” I ask. “I can keep this barrier going a good while longer.”
“T– Thank you, Sera. That would help.”
“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Chloe asks. “We could have–” The well of tears streaming down her face prevents her from finishing her sentence.
“It wasn’t bad until we made it into the–”
Hank’s voice is little more than a whisper before he finally passes out from exhaustion. At least his pulse remains strong. I don’t think he’s in any mortal danger, as long as he’s taken somewhere dark as soon as possible to recover. I convey as much to Chloe, though it does little to console her.
“I’m guessing it was the boss’s fire breath,” I say to a distraught Chloe. “He’d been pacing himself to handle the lava all throughout the day, but the sudden burst of light took him by surprise right when he’d lowered his guard.”
“Why–” Chloe clenches her fists. “Why this? Why here? Why now? And why him?”
I could answer those questions. Danger of a dungeon; we signed up for it, and we agreed to go down to the boss chamber, thinking we were prepared. Hank had succumbed to overconfidence after seeing our strength. I succumbed to hubris, not understanding the boss’s objectives and how its powers worked. I miscalculated how bad Hank’s vulnerability to [Light] magic is, and didn’t realize Golwyr’s breath would be imbued with both [Fire] and [Light] magic. He chose the class he did, because that’s who he saw himself as, and did so knowing full well the consequences and weaknesses he’d get with said choice.
All of those answers are correct and answer Chloe’s questions. None of those answers give her the comfort she truly needs right now. So I just lower my head and say nothing, letting my silent reassurance provide a hollow comfort as her father rests in my arms.
“We just can’t win, can we?” Chloe says. “Demons and giant monsters come to attack our homes. We go to dungeons to hone our power, and everyone around us pays the price. We commit ourselves to getting stronger to fight them off, and monsters in human skin come after our family. We try to rescue them and we’re attacked by people who didn’t have to spend so much time caring for and protecting their families. We don’t rise to the challenge, and then we all die because of all of the above. No matter what we do, we lose.”
“That’s how it is,” I say.
“But why, Sera? And why aren’t you more upset about… everything?”
“I’ve had more time to grieve my own losses,” I say honestly. Mom and… I still don’t think I can call him Dad anymore, but Theo. He made… mistakes, paid with his life, but he was still the man who raised me and for that, I’m grateful irrespective.
“I’m sorry, Sera,” Chloe says. “I–” She looks down toward her own feet.
“And I think it had to be us, Chloe. It might have been wrong for Hank to do what he did to us, but if he truly believed that he was acting in the best interests of humanity… Then would it not have been even more unethical to do what he did to someone else’s kids?”
“So… it’s okay for him to sell out his own daughter for the good of the world?”
“Because he believes in us,” I say. “I think that’s the single thread behind everything he’s done. He’s always believed in us and trusted that the two of us could find a path forward when hope seems lost and there appears to be no good future. He’s given us information as best he could and tried to do what he thought was right with what he believed at the time. Even now, he suffers through this nasty [Light Intoxication] all to help us clear this dungeon and get stronger, so we’re better prepared to take on Renault and the other Seraphina when the time comes.”
Chloe finally looks back in my eyes, then down at her father, resting in my arms in a bridal carry, then back at me. “Let’s just take the loot and then make our way to the core. I’ve got half a mind to destroy the damn thing just because standing here is pissing me off!”
I don’t think making such a decision in the heat of the moment is a wise course of action. Especially because destroying the dungeon is going to send us back outside at— I quickly check my phone— three o’clock, and very much still in the heat of the cloudless summer day. But I also think that pissing off Chloe further when she’s already agitated is an even more terrible idea. So I give a noncommittal acknowledgement of her words as I make my way into the dimly-lit core room.
Meanwhile, Chloe starts opening the three treasure chests, taking their contents and slipping them away one by one. The first of the three angers her, to the point where she visibly recoils as she picks the glinting circlet up. The second of the three puzzles her for a moment, before she slips it away with a shrug. The third and final of the items greatly excites her to the point where she’s smiling and carefree once more. Rather than going into the [Inventory] like the rest, it’s her [Wyvernscale Buckler] that exits stage right, to be replaced by a pair of silver-white bracers fastened snugly around her wrists.
Her ire extinguished by her haul, she moves toward us, stopping about ten feet away. She turns to the side before resummoning the circlet from before. Though her distaste is apparent from the brief grimace and the way she holds it at arm’s length, her foul mood doesn’t return before she slides it on the flat metal floor toward me.
[Inferniron Circlet], it reads, and then the System gives me the option to equip it.
Yeah, I can imagine a [Saintess] wouldn’t be too pleased with a piece of equipment whose name suggests it was forged with ‘infernal’ power. I actually don’t mind it at all. In fact, it feels rather warm and fuzzy. Considering that [Defier of Fates]’s most prominent skill is literally named after the Morningstar, it really shouldn’t have surprised me. But this is very clearly Hank’s equipment, and I’m not going to wear a piece of armor that makes my girlfriend hurt just to look at.
I go ahead and slip off Hank’s current circlet and slip this new one on him. He doesn’t rouse from consciousness just yet, but his breathing deepens and his pulse lowers to something more in line with where a healthy adult’s resting heart rate should be.
“Sorry, love. I know how much it doesn’t–”
“It’s fine. I can see how much it helps Dad, so I’ll just suffer it for his sake.” She sighs and turns to the side. Tension eases from her posture. “It’s the least we can do. Especially… after everything he’s done for us.”
I smile softly. Chloe still doesn’t approach, and when I look at her new toys, I can see why. Unlike with Hank’s gear, I do use [Artificer’s Glasses] to get some better information on exactly what Chloe’s new armlets can do.
[[Celesteel Bracers]: A pair of engraved silver bracers made of celesteel designed to be worn by a holy warrior. [Defense] +25, [Magic Defense] + 25, [Agility] +77. All attacks (including magical attacks) with the [Light]-attribute deal 20% more damage. All spells with the [Healing] modifier are 25% more effective and cost 10% less [Ether].]
“So, what do I get?” I ask in a low voice, not wanting to wake a now-deeply-sleeping Hank. “Unless the circlet was really for me and your father gets the other item.”
Chloe just rolls her eyes at me before handing me a silver ring. For a moment, I wonder if this too is made of celesteel, but instead, it’s made of a different material I’ve never heard of and definitely didn’t exist on Earth before the System arrived.
[[Ring of Replenishing Recoil]: A ring made of a chromasteel alloy with a glossy and iridescent sheen. [Magic Defense] + 15. Whenever the wearer of this ring takes damage, 10% of the damage dealt is converted to the wearer’s [Ether] pool.]
Well, that seems just about perfect for me. Who else but me is crazy enough to burn through [Ether] faster than a sailor goes through their drink, all while voluntarily signing up to tank enemy strikes with my face… and the rest of my body for that matter. Actually, come to think of it, this most recent fight against Golwyr might just be the first fight in a long time where I haven’t stepped right up to or past the precipice of death. Not since… Oh gosh… Maybe Serrena? Even then, I was still pretty beat, and only survived because she was testing us, rather than seriously challenging me to the death.
Yeah, this was definitely made just for me. Sorry, my old [Flawed Ring of Regeneration], but it seems that I have a new best friend. And perhaps I can learn how to cast this [Replenishment] spell down the line. The glyphs already look extremely complicated, nauseatingly so, but I’m not planning to die for a long time. And if I can get that number to 20 or even 15 percent at some point in the future, I’d be golden.
“Thanks, love,” I say as I replace one ring with another. “To change the subject. I know you’d mentioned that you were interested in smashing the core to this dungeon, and I have half a mind to agree; the Experience gains are likely to be substantial. However, I’m worried your father isn’t in any condition to handle several hours of direct sunlight, even with this new circlet helping him.
“That and, I don’t want to assume he’s the only person who knows about and is using this dungeon. Clara did tell us about that other one back in the middle of nowhere, which suggests that there’s some sort of repository of information being collected out there. And, well, I’m really not in the mood to make even more enemies than the growing list we already have.”
Chloe sighs. “Then I guess we will wait until he is. I don’t think he’s going to be asleep too much longer.”
‘Too much longer’ ends up being about two hours, at which point Hank rouses from his slumber, looks up at me, down at how he’s being carried, blushes slightly, then all but throws himself from my arm and onto the ground.
“Um… Sera.” He stares blankly at my still-outstretched arms. “I don’t think you’re supposed to carry anyone but Chloe that way.”
“Over the shoulder it is next time, noted.” I pull his old [Tenebrous Circlet] from my [Inventory] and hand it to him. “The dungeon saw fit to give you an upgrade. Was holding onto the old one for safekeeping.”
His hand rushes up to the new piece of headgear, then his eyes cross as he checks his [Status]. Finally, he breathes a sigh of relief as he takes the old circlet and disappears it in an abyssal-black portal.
“Hopefully this circlet will better protect me against fire in the future. Seems that this ‘inferniron’ substance is literally shaped in hellfire, and imbued with the elements of both [Fire] and [Darkness]. It also reinforces my [Darkness] spells and has helped purge my [Light Intoxication].”
“The two of us got our share of rewards as well.” I point to my shiny new ring.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Chloe says, though her tone suggests she’s unsure if she should be.
The whole ‘saintess’ thing still doesn’t sit perfectly well with objects forged of literal hellfire. Hopefully such predilections don’t start applying to me at some later point, considering.
“So,” I say. “Chloe has made her preference to destroy the dungeon clear. It’s currently just after five PM local time; there’ll be a good three hours until twilight. Will you be able to handle that much light between now and then?”
“I–”
“And don’t give us some crap about how you’re fine when you really aren’t,” I add. “That’s what got us into this mess, and why you’re currently so sick your own daughter can’t get within ten feet of you.”
“I– Yes, I think it would be best if we wait until sunset.”
We do. Two and a half more hours of smalltalk, before Chloe walks up to the icosahedral core and shatters it into myriad pieces. An overwhelming amount of [Ether] fills the room before flowing roughly equally into the three of us.
[You have shattered the core of dungeon N39842-W10216: [Ancient Lake]. Calculating rewards… Calculating…]
[Maximum [Health] increases by 250. Maximum [Ether] increases by 100. All major stats increase by 3. Experience needed to reach the next level set to 1. Calculating… 169,192 Experience granted.]
[Dungeon [Ancient Lake] will be permanently shut down due to loss of core. New dungeon parameters being generated… Outline generation complete… Level and Ether concentration of the environment measured… Time until new dungeon opening: [47:23:59:42]. Dungeon collapse imminent. Escape through established portal before…]
The System boxes grow fuzzy and indistinct before flickering out completely. Probably relying on some dungeon system process that ran out of backup energy. Dimensional sickness makes me hesitate about jumping through the portal, but the threat of countless tons of rock and goddesses know what else provides a more than compelling reason to do so anyway. Finally, the open sky and a bit of relative safety. Maybe even an evening without something trying to kill me. Wouldn’t that be hecking nice for a change?
[Level: 75; Experience: 9,197,069; To Next: 1]
[Current Stats: [Health]: 15,481 / 16,148; [Ether]: 11,845 / 11,929]
[Current Stats: [Strength]: 143; [Speed]: 146; [Vitality]: 174; [Mind]: 222]