Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Drawing a Line (1)

But do I even need any colleagues?'

That had been the first thought thatd come to my mind when Ainar talked about leaving the party.

After all, I was now different from who Id been two months ago.

Now, I think I could even hunt a group of deathfiends all by myself.'

Id eaten the essences from a corpse golem and a vampire rift guardian.

My basic stats, including strength, had increased tremendously, and considering my new regenerative skills, it was safe to say that I was virtually unrivalled on the second floor.

There's nothing there that can stop me, Im pretty sure.'

Although I wouldnt be able to take any breaks.

Thered be nobody to turn to for help in case of an emergency.

But I still judged, objectively.

Even taking all of that into consideration, at my current level, a solo playstyle would be stable enough.

Of course, the third floor would be unreasonable.'

[Dungeon & Stone] is basically a game that forces party play. No matter how strong your character is, its impossible to be an invincible lone wolf, due to how the game itself is structured.

As such, party composition is crucial, and the higher you go, the more fatal would the absence of a specific position become.

For example, the Goblin Forest, where having a scout is essential.

Its an obstacle a barbarian in the tank' position cant overcome alone.

From the third floor onwards, the monsters also change in scale.'

After a lot of deliberation, I finally made my decision.

Id find a new colleague at my level.

If you couldn't find one, Id join a similar team.

And together, wed hunt monsters on a higher floor, and aim for the top.

It's more efficient than wasting time alone on the second floor.'

Of course, this would also be quite troublesome.

Id have to worry not only about the combat power and team composition of the party, but also about how to make sure that they were trustworthy.

Huff, where the hell can I find such people?'

It looked like this month would be pretty busy for me.

In fact, except for Erwen and Ainar, I didnt have a single acquaintance in this world.

"Keh"

As I poured down the rest of bear down my throat and was about to go up to my room

"Hey there, yes, you, barbarian! What do you think, brother?"

A party of adventurers, whod been chugging down alcohol at the next table for a while, called me.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you didnt hear? This young friend here has been saying some adorable things."

Well, it didnt look like they were trying to strike up a quarrel.

When I nodded indicating my interest, an adventurer in his mid-twenties explained the situation.

In short, it was as follows

Recently, thered been talk of a barbarian of liberty. Naturally, the adventurers had gotten excited hearing the story and started liberally slandering the guild.

But then a young adventurer had bucked the trend and praised the guild instead, asking the others how they could believe such nonsense.

The adventurers whod been listening had then started making fun of the kid, ridiculing him.

"So, I wanted to hear what you think. Whats your opinion? Do you think the guild is trustworthy, too?"

Fuck, say that earlier.

"If you think that, you might as well believe that pigs can fly."

"Ahahaha! I knew youd say something like that, brother! One look at your eyes is enough to tell that youve got your shit together!"

The man grinned like a cat thats got the canary.

But a young boy whod been crouching in a corner suddenly got up, face red.

"Wait a minute! Can you really call yourselves adventurers? Did you ever consider, without the guild, whod protect us in this city? You should be grateful instead!"

His outburst led to a spell of silence that lasted for a while.

But before long, everyone at the table burst into laughter.

"What? Grateful? Puhahahahaha!"

"You little punk! And you wonder why people treat you like a kid wherever you go!"Rread latest chapters at novelhall.com

Apparently, distrusting the guild was an ancient adventurer tradition, and you couldnt be called a full-fledged adventurer without it.

"You all, whats even the point of this? Wouldn't he realize it himself once he gets a little more life experience? That nobody can protect you other than yourself!"

"Keh, now that really strikes a chord!"

"Lets have another round!"

After the brief incident, the adventurers started drinking again.

I was about to leave, but the man whod spoken to me first approached me with a friendly expression.

"Im Hans."

"Hans?"

"Haha! Is the name too common?"

I couldnt really say, but it did seem that way.

The first man Id killed in the labyrinth had also been called Hans.

"I am Bjorn, son of Yandel."

"I see! It's fate that weve met like this, so if you arent too tired, why not join me for a drink? My treat, of course!"

Hesitating for a moment, I finally nodded.

Although Id eavesdropped on other adventurers before here and there, Id never had many direct conversations with them.

"So, what kind of trouble are you in, that youre drinking here all by yourself?"

Maybe I could get some unexpected advice, so I frankly lay bare my concerns.

"My team has disbanded and Im looking for new colleagues. But I don't know where to start."

Hans, whod been listening intently, went, Huh?' He tilted his head as if in puzzlement.

"If thats the problem, isnt it easier to just go to the guild?"

"The guild?"

"Haha! It's true that those bastards are hardly trustworthy, but shouldn't we use every available resource? Just how much money do you think they mooch off our taxes!"

Well, it certainly made sense.

Adventurers are inseparable from the Adventurers Guild.

In the game, itd been easy to find colleagues through the guild.

But

"Im worried whether the people I meet there can be trusted."

"Hahaha! It looks like you haven't used it properly yet? It's very different from how it used to be. Because thered been a lot of cases of betrayals in the past, its now mandatory to wear a video recorder."

Really?

Natural Regeneration +45[1], Strength +15, Agility +15, Magic Resistance +30, Physical Resistance +12, Soul Power +21, Mana Sensitivity +30, Dark Resistance +12, Solar Resistance -12

"Oh, but we really dont each other that well, right?"

"Alright, alright, pretend I never said anything."

"Oh, should I?"

Her voice suddenly became harsh.

Now that I remembered, she did have this kind of a personality.

Even though she kept calm most of the time, if somebody touched her pride, the arrogance buried in her bones would burst out and pierce the heavens themselves.

"No, how dare you think you can ask me to join a team with just two barbarians?"

To be honest, it wasnt two anymore.

One had resigned yesterday.

Of course, I had more sense than to say that out loud and turn the atmosphere any bloodier.

" That's why I told you to pretend I never said anything!"

"How do I pretend I didnt hear it when I heard it already?!"

No, is this worth raising your voice so high?

While I was pondering over how to react to this sudden burst of temper

"Haah"

She let out a long sigh, as if forcefully calming herself down.

"Mr. Yandel, even if its not me, if youre going to make such an offer to any other wizard, please make a team properly, first. Well itd be nice if everybody is level 6 or higher, and there should be a priest, too."

Motherf you dont say?!

If things had been going that good, do you think I wouldve come to offer you a spot?

"Yeah, alright."

Really, wizards were such snobs.

"Then see you later."

"Ah! Wait a moment!"

Raven caught Bjorn whod been just about to leave.

Because she remembered something shed been planning to ask.

"At the end! What was that? You know, you put something in the mouth of the vampire while he was stunned? I think I felt a flash of divine power "

It was a question thatd risen while shed been recording the past events, to pass on to her master.

What the hell had that thing been?

No matter how one looked at it, it wasn't something a level nine adventurer could carry around.

"Oh? No idea what you mean."

"Eh?"

"Didnt you see it wrong? It was such a crazy situation, after all."

"See it wrong? I couldn't have. I'm sure I felt ma"

"Sorry, have to go! Got some urgent business to take care of."

"Hey! Wait a moment! Wait"

Bam!

Bjorn slammed the door closed and left without saying anything else.

Huh, are you hiding something?'

Breaking her gaze on the door hed hurried through, Raven frowned and headed to her study room.

Once there, she pulled out a thick book from the shelves.

[Rift Records III].

It was a compilation of various recorded information on rifts.

Just like its plain title, the old book didnt even have the author's name written on it.

As a child, shed accidentally bought this book at the Free Market, and surprisingly, it contained knowledge that was not even recorded by the society.

"What page was the Blood Citadel on again? "

As she was flipping through the pages, her finger stopped at one place.

A map of the dungeon area.

The exact location of the hidden passage.

A page with advanced information about the Blood Citadel, such as how to obtain the Necronomicon' inside the demonic shrine.

Unfortunately, there were parts that were not readable.

Two of them.

[Tear of the Goddess]

Location: .

[Golden Mask]

: .

Two items, whose descriptions and locations had disappeared with the passage of time.

Shed gone through the rift with a fine-toothed comb to find them herself, but in the end she hadnt been able to.

Raven tilted her head as she again felt the taste of regret.

Wait, I think I've heard of the Tears of a Goddess somewhere

Where was it?

Trawling through her hazy memories, she pulled out a few books on religion and quickly flipped the pages one by one.

How long did it take?

Finally, her hand stopped turning the page.

[Tears of the Goddess]

A consumable relic of unknown origin.When destroyed, it has the effect of spreading powerful grace' on its location.150 years ago, during the Dimensional Collapse, Cardinal Androne had used all three to save the pope, and they've since disappeared.

"A holy relic?"

Amazed, Raven even checked the illustration drawn on the next page.

It was too early to be certain because shed only seen it from afar, but the shape and size seemed to roughly match.

Even the method of using it, and the effectiveness. It all matched.

""

Raven was feeling confused.

Just looking at the shape of things, this didnt look like some simple coincidence.

But if it wasn't a coincidence, then what?

How could a barbarian whod just become an adult know where the [Tear of the Goddess] was hidden, and even made a plan to use it right away?

Maybe, Mr. Yandel'

One possibility popped into her mind, and her eyes lit up as she gripped the book tight.

I'll have to check it out.'

No matter how long it took

Itd be worth it in the end.

Editor's Notes:

[1] This seems to be a typo in the raws as the chapter where Bjorn got the essence showed it at +40.

Thanks to ThatCoolGuy for commissioning the chapter!