Chapter 30
“Ah.”
As Carpe checked the notification window, she too understood the situation.
Scenario event.
The current situation indicated an event crucial for the progression of the scenario.
“Hoo, here we go.”
The graveyard NPC named Geass was destined to die as part of Carpe’s “Artifact of the Mad King” quest.
Approaching the fallen Geass, he struggled to speak.
Cough, cough. “They’ve noticed our presence. Please take this.”
Struggling, Geass reached into his pockets, retrieving a small shard of a bead and a talisman.
“This… This is my last… Please, heed Arkram’s will…”
Plunk.
Geass’s arm, strained from the effort, fell limply to the ground.
And then, his body faded into gray and disappeared.
Ding
[Purification Crystal Shard]
[Category: Quest Exclusive]
[Fragment of a purification artifact shattered by invaders. Contains a faint purification power.]
[Arkram’s Token]
[Category: Quest Exclusive]
[Usage Restriction: Archmage]
[Key to obtaining the Mad King’s artifact. Cannot be used by those unworthy.]
As Carpe accepted the two items, the quest refreshed once more.
[Artifact of the Mad King (2)-3]
[Forces hostile to Arkram have launched an attack. Retrieve the artifact before they destroy it.]
[Success: Obtain the Mad King’s artifact, progress to related quests]
[Failure: Mainstream cancellation, Arkram-related quests nullified, quest failure upon death]
“…”
Carpe quietly stowed the two items in her inventory and rose from her seat. Her expression was somewhat stiff.
-It’s just a game, mate. Simply an NPC dying to progress the story. Don’t get too immersed.
“Yeah? Oh, of course. It’s just an event that happened while progressing through the game’s story, right?”
They had only exchanged brief conversations twice.
It was almost comical to use the term “immersed.”
So.
“Dare to covet the artifact?”
The anger she felt now was simply righteous indignation towards those who dared to target what rightfully belonged to her.
Carpe admonished herself thusly.
Setting off from the cabin, Carpe raced back to the pit.
“Here we are.”
Seeing the boot prints right in front of the pit, Carpe chuckled. They hadn’t been there when she first investigated the area.
“They’ve blatantly marked the entrance for me to find.”
But should she just jump in like that?
As Carpe hesitated, she slipped one foot into the pit, and a notification appeared.
[Event Dungeon ‘Ruana’s Pit’ discovered.]
[Dungeon Grade: ???]
[Entry Restriction: Archmage]
[Event-exclusive dungeon. Failure to clear within two hours will result in quest failure. The dungeon will convert to a regular one after clearing.]
[Do you wish to enter?]
It’s a good thing she didn’t recklessly jump in.
Nodding her head, Carpe approved the dungeon entry.
“I’m entering.”
As she confirmed entry into the dungeon, a two-hour timer appeared in one corner of her vision.
Swoosh.
The sensation of being sucked in engulfed Carpe’s entire body, and when she regained consciousness, she found herself in a dark cave.
Ding.
[Area filled with the aura of death. Monsters of dark, magic, and undead attributes are greatly enhanced.]
[Visibility is restricted due to an unknown energy. Stats are significantly reduced.]
As soon as she entered the dungeon, Carpe was bombarded by a storm of debuffs. She almost reflexively spat out curses, but before she could, her body began emitting a faint light.
[Purification Crystal Shard exerts a faint purifying power.]
[Visibility slightly restored. Stats slightly recovered.]
The subtle light surrounding Carpe acted like a torch, illuminating the interior of the dungeon. The slight restoration of visibility likely meant just that.
-As you’ve read in the quest window, this quest ends if you die even once. Never let your guard down.
“Of course.”
Summoning her shadow companion, Carpe opened her status window.
First things first, she needed to see how much her stats had decreased.
Ding.
[Name: Carpe]
[Level: 14]
[HP: 1010/1010]
[MP: 285/285]
[Strength: 1(+36) Agility: 1(+46)
Stamina: 1(+33) Dexterity: 1(+37)
Magic Power: 1(+33)]
-Distributable Bonus Stats: 69
Titles (10)
-Three initial ones, plus nine others.
[Archmage]
0-Star - Celestial Lord (Regular)
[Skills](Unlocked plus 4)
10-Star - Unlock Lv. 14
[Archmage Skills]
0-Star – Repetition Lv. 14
-Distributable Bonus Skill Points: 39
“It’s quite a drop.”
Her stats had previously risen to over 40 due to title effects, but now they were in the 30s.
Calculating, she realized that all her stats had decreased by exactly 7.
“The penalties are substantial. Perhaps investing some bonus stats would be better.”
Until now, she hadn’t bothered to distribute additional stats because she could breeze through battles without them, but this dungeon was clearly different.
-Not a bad idea. There’s no need to save them forever.
Since stats distributed once in the Lasae system couldn’t be reverted, stat allocation required careful consideration.
One wrong move could turn a hero into a weakling in an instant.
Of course, this didn’t apply to Carpe, who had the best strategy guide at her disposal.
-Usually, magic-based users follow one of three stat trees.
First is the artillery type.
As the name suggests, it focuses solely on firepower and prioritizes burst damage.
-It’s the most popular and powerful tree. Allocating stats is easy. Just dump everything into magic power and dexterity. It’s a ratio of 3 to 1.
“Dexterity? Why dexterity?”
-No matter how powerful your magic is, it’s useless if it doesn’t hit. Dexterity affects accuracy.
“I see.”
And the second type was the balanced type.
-This is usually not your typical mage, but rather a specialized class like a battlemage. That’s you.
Of course, you could go for the artillery type tech tree with the Warlock Lord class as well. Other magic-based classes could unleash devastating firepower that you couldn’t overlook.
However, the Celestial Lord deemed it too wasteful of Carpe’s physical abilities.
-It’s better to maximize your combat sense in this direction. In this case, allocate stats at a ratio of 2 to 1 for magic power and dexterity… But do I really need to explain?
“Huh? Why are you suddenly talking like this?”
-No matter how much I talk, you’ll just do what you want anyway. You’re such a casual gamer.
“…How do you see me?”
While Carpe was mostly driven by fun, she didn’t go overboard with the game’s sensitive aspects like stats.
-Oh, I don’t know. Just allocate your stats as you please. As long as you don’t do silly stuff like an all-vitality mage, you can cover it up with items anyway.
“Oh! An all-vitality mage?”
-…I’ll kill you if you do that. I’ll curse you to death!
After temporarily deciding to allocate stats after facing monsters inside the dungeon, Carpe proceeded slowly.
“But, brother.”
-What?
“You mentioned there were three types of magic users, right? What about the remaining one?”
-It’s the specialized tech tree I took, but you don’t need to know about it. Because it’s not something you can just choose to do.
“Huh? Brother, you were a mage?”
-Didn’t I mention it?
“Not at all.”
Come to think of it, aside from knowing that Celestial had regressed, she had no memory of how he had survived, what kind of player he was in Lasae.
-…Well, I’ll tell you later when the opportunity arises. Let’s focus on the dungeon for now. Hurry up.
As they moved forward, they encountered the first monster before long.
Thud. Thud.
Approaching Carpe with a rattling sound was a skeleton, just like the ones she had been seeing outside the pit. However, unlike those outside, this skeleton held a sword and a shield in its hands.
<Enhanced Skeleton>
Above its head, the name appeared in red.
“It’s in red.”
In Lasae, depending on the level difference between players and monsters, the names of monsters appeared differently. If the level difference was minimal, they appeared white; if the monsters were higher level, they appeared red, while if they were lower level, they appeared gray.
So, the Enhanced Skeleton before her was significantly higher level than Carpe.
“Fire Arrow!”
As a means of suppression, she activated her magic.
Of course, since no monster had ever withstood Carpe’s suppression before, the term “suppression” wasn’t quite fitting.
Kwaaang!
“Huh?”
-Oh ho.
And now, for the first time, a monster managed to withstand Carpe’s suppression.
No, it went beyond that…
“It blocked?”
Surprisingly, the Enhanced Skeleton raised its shield and blocked Carpe’s magic.
-It can block too. It’s not like it’s Hellfire or something.
“Well, that’s something.”
She cast the spell again, but once more it was blocked by the shield.
Instead of struggling with this, Carpe decided to switch tactics and swiftly ran towards the skeleton.
But…
“Huh?!”
A sudden arrow flying from behind the Enhanced Skeleton interrupted Carpe’s advance.
Twisting her body to dodge the arrow, Carpe glanced behind the Enhanced Skeleton.
<Enhanced Skeleton Archer>
Another skeleton had appeared, aiming at Carpe.
“Wow, they’re teaming up?”
-These guys have good balance, don’t they? One tanks while the other deals. It’s like a mythic-level monster raid against Carpe! Take heart, boneheads!
“Brother, whose side are you on?”
As Celestial said, it was indeed a sturdy combination.
Magic was blocked by the shield, and approaching was hindered by arrows.
“To break through this… No, there’s no need to rack my brains. Brother, do we have dismemberment in Lasae too?”
-Dismemberment? What’s that?
“Dismantling limbs or equipment. It could be useful if it drops weapons like items.”
-You’re asking for a lot. But to answer your question, yes, we do. Of course, you can’t just break everything you want, only specific parts or equipment.
“What about shields?”
-Obviously.
“Okay.”
While figuring out how to break through that combination could be entertaining in its own way, every second counted now.
She had wasted enough time wondering what the priest who had entered the pit earlier was up to.
“When the body’s not well, the mind suffers.”
-…Isn’t it the other way around?
“By the same logic, if your DPS is lacking, strategy is necessary.”
Dealchickn.
Nothing beats mashing DPS buttons in an RPG.
“Invest 10 stats in magic.”
[Magic increases by 10.]
“Fire Arrow!”
Kwaaaang!!!
This time, a much louder explosion than the previous Fire Arrow erupted. Although the Enhanced Skeleton managed to block it with its shield, the shield looked considerably worse for wear.
“Invest 10 stats in magic.”
[Magic increases by 10.]
“Fire Arrow!”
Kwaaaang!!!
And once again, with the reinforced Fire Arrow, the shield of the skeleton finally shattered.
While skeletons didn’t have expressions, Carpe could vividly feel their confusion.
Celestial sighed.
-…Whoever planned this dungeon will be sweating bullets when they see this. They probably didn’t design the dungeon pulling all-nighters for this scenario.
“I know, right! Fire Arrow!”
After that, it was one-sided.
The Enhanced Skeleton, whose shield had been sent flying, was engulfed in flames and vanished in just two Fire Arrows. With the tank gone, the archer’s aim wavered.
It’s natural for accuracy to waver!
“Gotcha!”
Closing the distance, Carpe pulled out a sword from her inventory and swung it.
The skeleton archer, unable to shoot arrows, couldn’t put up proper resistance and fell.
[Ding.]
[Level Up! Bonus stats awarded.]
[You’ve reached level 15. As a reward, one ‘Beginner Skill Pack’ is added to your inventory.]
Once again, the moment of “Repetition” arrived.
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