Episode 46.8

"Now then, high time to resume our expedition."

As Lecan said that, Jiza spoke.

"Ui. Take Boruk-chan with you."

"Eh."

Ui stared at Jiza with a look of surprise on her face.

"By Boruk-chan, do you mean the artificial Wrinkle Man, Obaba-sama?"

"It sure is. Haven't you seen it already?"

"I have not. The ban on Obaba-sama dungeon diving activity was instated before I was accepted into Magic Knights."

"Was it really now. Hold on a bit there."

Jiza produced a tiny doll from her <Free Box>.

It's a doll made of some sort of white metal.

Jiza held up her thin wand and recited a spell.

"By the names of Mazara Wedepasha and Yacklubend Tomato, Jiza Morfes commands you. O Clay Doll Boruk, on my decree, awaken from your transient slumber."

The doll emitted a dazzling light. Which gradually got more intense and bigger.

Jiza kept pouring in her mana.

A humongous amount of mana flowed unimpeded into the doll.

Jiza eventually stopped and just as the light subsided, a giant doll with a slightly bigger build than Lecan's stood there.

Its figure is that of a humanoid man with burly muscles. However, the entirety of its body is smooth and looks unmistakably not human.

Two emerald jewels are embedded on where the eyes should be.

It's got a nose and ears, but no holes on them.

The mouth part is modeled like a wide grin to instill a sense of ferocity.

"So that thing is the artificial Wrinkle Man."

Ui muttered.

"Now then, Ui. First, you have to learn the commands to order Boruk-chan around. Repeat after me now. Understand?"

"Y-yes."

"<Boruk, Commence Advance>."

"Boruk, Commence Advance."

"<Boruk, Terminate Advance>."

"Boruk, Terminate Advance."

Afterward, Jiza would teach Ui more commands such as Commence Retreat, Terminate Retreat, Commence Combat, Terminate Combat, Commence Decoy, Terminate Decoy, Commence Defense, Terminate Defense, Commence Offense, Terminate Offense, Commence Restrain, Terminate Restrain.

"That about covers it. Commence and Terminate commands basically come in pair, but if you command Boruk-chan to Commence Combat while it's in Commence Advance mode, Boruk-chan will terminate the Advance command on its own first. And yet if you command it to Advance while it's engaged in battle, it will advance forward while still in combat mode. Well, you'll figure it out as you go."

"Guide Jiza-sama, can I ask you something?"

"Oh my, Eda-chan. What do you wanna know."

"What's the differences between Commence Combat and Commence Offense?"

"Commence Offense will prompt Boruk-chan to definitely attack. However, Commence Combat may prompt it to wait for an opening, or defend allies instead. Boruk-chan is installed with advanced decision making functionality, you see."

"Hee."

"Commands like Commence Advance doesn't mean Boruk-chan will do nothing else but march forward. If the shaft is located diagonally to the right, it'll head there instead, and if there are humans or magic beasts straight ahead, it'll go there."

"What does decoy do?"

"Lures out and draws attention of magic beasts. Now then, Ui."

"Yes, Obaba-sama."

"Once you two are inside a shaft, give Commence Combat and Commence Decoy right away. Do that, and all the magic beasts inside will be focused to Boruk-chan. That's your chance to strike at them."

"Y-yes. But."

"But, what?"

"Is it really all right for me to use Boruk-chan?"

"Ui. How many people you were with when you conquered this floor per shaft?"

"Five in total."

"And that's the norm. Matching the number of people to the number of spawned magic beasts around these floors works nicely. Not even you can prevail alone."

"H-however, both Lecan-dono and Arios-dono did it."

"These two specialize in high speed combat. Which can also be said to Julius-chan and Eda-chan. Neither your equipment nor the fighting style you studied is suited for high speed combat."

"Y-yes."

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka.com >

(Hou. Good observations, Jiza.)

(Still, saying Ui isn't suited to high speed combat is something that mustn't come from us.)

(It coming from Jiza should appease Ui now.)

"Ui. Take Boruk-chan's hand."

"Yes."

Ui gripped Boruk's hand, then Jiza held her thin wand toward Boruk and poured mana into it.

She continued that for a while.

"All right. You've been registered as its Handler now, Ui."

"Handler, is it."

"Yep. And now Boruk-chan will only listen to your commands until its next reboot."

"Eh."

"Come now, command it to march into a shaft. Also, don't ever forget to keep your hand anywhere on Boruk-chan as you pass through the shaft. Do so and Boruk-chan will be recognized as your equipment, allowing you two to enter the shaft together."

"Yes."

Ui pointed at a shaft.

"Boruk, Commence Advance."

Boruk turned around and walked up toward the shaft. Its speed is slow yet powerful. Boruk and Ui went in their shaft.

As they saw them off, Lecan spoke to Jiza.

"By the way, there's no shred of resemblance to a Wrinkle Man, what part of that thing is a Wrinkle Man?"

"Eh? Doesn't it look like one?"

"Haven't you seen a Wrinkle Man before?"

"Well, Wrinkle Man does not spawn in this dungeon, so."

This elderly mage should have seen pictures of Wrinkle Man, no doubt. No, she probably saw one already and feigned ignorance here.

"Also, that thing's more metal than clay."

"I wasn't the one who came up with that. Go lodge a complaint to Yacklubend-shi if you have a problem with it."

"Got it. Forget I asked."

They got to floor 70 despite taking a long break this day. Ui would grip Boruk's hand whenever they <Warp> to next floors.

They arrived at floor 80 on the fourth day.

Ui has gained her footing in combat. Eda and Julius would often fall behind instead, and their armor would get new scratches and damage.