Book 1: Chapter 73: Tranquillity and Numerous Level-ups

Book 1: Chapter 73: Tranquillity and Numerous Level-ups

"Grimsley!" Lone's shout reverberated through the smouldering wreck that was once a proud smithy.

He was met with no response so he rushed through the main forge and saw no immediate signs of his friend. Wasting no time, Lone rushed into the backroom that - thus far - he'd never been allowed to enter.

The room only contained a bed, a bookshelf that was empty and a rug, all of which were going up in flames.

"Waterball! Waterball! Waterball!" Lone put out the furniture, resulting in steam and smoke clouding his vision.

"Wind Blade!" Lone was thankful that he'd recently trained all of his crude magic spells to the point that they'd evolved into their regular versions. Not needing to chant lines of ancient magical text was beyond amazing.

His air magic spell cut through the smog, clearing a good portion of it as the wall to the bedroom was sliced open, giving the carbon monoxide-filled gas another escape route besides the door.

Now with the ability to see a few paces past his own face, Lone quickly noticed that he couldn't see Grimsley anywhere.

Panic spread across Lone's face. 'Where the fuck is he?! Did that cunt kidnap him?! I don't see why he would... He's a petty little weasel, but not a devious one. What reason would he have to kidn-... Is that a trapdoor?'

Lone could see some smoke trickling out from underneath the bed, and in lieu of that, his eyes honed in on the suspicious-looking floor.

With nary a scrap of hesitation, he stored the still-smouldering bed frame, removing it from the room. "There is a hidden door... You sneaky fuckin' dwarf."

Hope filled Lone's mind. He quickly noticed the lock on the hatch. There was no way that he was going to open that quickly, well, so long as he used... conventional means, which he wasn't obligated to do.

"Tail Spears." He cut the metal and wooden contraption to ribbons. The next moment he jumped down into the unknown.

'Fuck. I can't see a damned thing.' Lone quickly tried something that he honestly had no idea if it would work or not.

Putting his hand out, he attempted to store the black smoke that filled the room he was in. 'I can't use Wind Blade in here. I could aim at the wall upstairs, but here? I might fuckin' kill Grimsley if he's in here... I need the air in here to be clear... Even a flashlight wouldn't be much help. Every second counts if he's been ingesting this shit... Wait, will that work?'

Lone closed his eyes and focused his mind. He imagined the air in the room being clean and pure, free of smoke entirely and perfectly filled with that lovely gas that almost everything relied on: oxygen. Well, oxygen and nitrogen, specifically.

Item does exist on Altros.

The host has a great level of understanding of the item. 25,000 base MP cost. 12,500 additional MP has been consumed to compensate for the lack of the host's knowledge.

The host has insufficient MP. All of the host's MP has been consumed and the host's MP will be sealed for [10-hours] to create the item: [Clean Air In [This Room]].

No fanfare. No flashy magical light show. Nothing. The smoke just... disappeared.

Lone's head was throbbing and several notifications for skill level-ups were trying to impair his already blurry vision. Setting them aside like the earlier ones for his magic usage was a struggle, but he managed to do it after a second or two of concentrating.

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Lone tried his best to focus his eyes. Thankfully, it seemed that there were no fires in this room. Daisuke clearly hadn't found it, the incompetent fool.

The room only contained a bed, and, on it, was a young girl who had slightly sharpened ears and a stone-ish look to her hair, leading Lone to believe that she was a Stone Dwarf like Grimsley.

Collapsed over the girl's chest was the grizzled man that Lone knew as his blacksmithing master, a close friend, and - similar to Gilbert - something of a father-figure.

Head pounding loudly like a pneumatic drill, Lone rushed over to the two and slung one over each shoulder. It was hard to see since he kept squinting his eyes to aid with his migraine, but he was certain that he'd seen a slave collar on the girl's neck before her head had gone out of his line of sight due to being pressed against his back.

'Did Grimsley kidnap her from underneath that fuckhead's nose? Fuckin' solid job, Pal. Serves the cunt right. He'll pay for this.' Surprisingly, Lone's thoughts were crystal clear when they were filled with anger towards the current summoned hero of Milindo.

The room was quickly filling up with smoke again since the building above was still a blazing inferno, and Lone could feel his consciousness slipping.

Congratulations! the host's active air magic skill [Wind Blade] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2.

'As expected. Man, I was an idiot. Next should be the mental and physical pain resistances, right? I was able to ignore most of it due to the rush of saving Grimsley, but if I hadn't gotten knocked out, then wouldn't I be in, like, excruciating pain?' Lone thought as the next set of blue screens filled his sight.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 10.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 1.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 2.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 3.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 4.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 5.

'And round about here should be where my mana organs were on the brink of exploding,' Lone said to himself.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Physical Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 10.

'Thought so,' he smugly noted as his droopy face formed what could loosely be called a grin of sorts.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 6.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 7.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 8.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 9.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Poison Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Expert Level 4.

'So, was I tranqed or something? I was damn-near unconscious already when it happened, so who knows? I'm glad I got a level out of it at least,' Lone thought happily, seeing the silver-lining.

Warning! The host has been [Enslaved] to [Gregor Milatod] via a [Slave Collar].

'Huh. I get a warning for that? Warnings are fuckin' rare... I remember getting one back on the goblin island when I first overused my mana and when that first boar gutted me, but aside from that... Hmm... Something to think on.' Lone wasn't concerned by his slave collar. He had already proven that he could destroy such things with his Creation Magic's ability to alter things, so it was a non-issue in his mind.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 10.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Mental Pain Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Advanced Level 1.

'And that's it. No Basic Regen, huh? Guess the pain wasn't enough to spark another level up since I was out like a light and BR didn't level-up since it's already expert-rank and I didn't boost it with any mana,' he concluded. 'Well, may as well check if there are any new effects to MPR. It's the only skill that ranked up, but it did rank up twice, so, fingers crossed. Well, metaphorical fingers since I'm all chained up.'

Passive Skill: Mental Pain Resistance

A skill that helps protect the host's mind.

Reduces the effects suffered from overusing MP by 30% [+25%]. All mental pains will be weakened by 30% [+25%].

Cost:N/A Mastery:Advanced Level 1

'Nothing. Oh well. At least overexerting myself while creating shit won't feel like I'm having a fuckin' cardiac arrest anymore... just a heart attack,' he mused.

Lone then closed his eyes and simply waited. He'd make his next move when his, Grimsley and the girl's kidnapper stepped through the room's door.