Chapter 224: Arifureta (4)
Chapter 224: Arifureta (4)
~Mash B. POV~
[Tortus, Great Orcus Labyrinth, TF 80]
Exiting the room Yue soon asked in a confused tone about me saving her from the scorpion that pounced at us, "Why didn't you run? I'm immortal I – "
Understanding where she was going with this, I placed a finger stopping her as I spoke in a confident tone, "So what? I don't just abandon my comrades against a slightly stronger foe in front of me. Even if you are immortal it doesn't help to have someone to have your back occasionally?"
Patting her head something changed in her eyes and the way she looked at me. Looks like I made an impression as she uttered a small noise at that and nodded tearfully as I rubbed her head again.
But I prefer to give her the option to choose. Soon I asked in a curious tone getting her attention, "Alright Yue. I'm gonna offer you a choice. Do you want to come with me, or do you want to go back to your own country getting you to the surface if you want? Go wherever you want. No strings attached."
I genuinely asked since this is her life I'm messing with. I preferred if she made her choice, but she soon muttered her gaze downcast in a defeated tone, "I… don't have a place to go back to anymore…"
Yikes… sigh. Why do I have soft spots helping unfortunate girls?
Rubbing the back of my head I soon gave her an offer as she looked at me surprised giving her an explanation in a sheepish tone, "You could come with me? But let me warn you, it won't be easy. It's a new world, a new land, with its languages, a few too many. And you'll need hard work. But you could always find someone to love you here if you wish if you have any chances to be in this world?"
Yue gave it some thought before she started snuggling up to me as she said in a resolute tone, "I'll go with you."
I couldn't help but smile rubbing her head. Sighing out loud in a defeated tone I replied but my smile couldn't have been hidden, "Sigh… very well. Welcome aboard Yue. Now onward to the dungeon."
*Snap*
Snapping my fingers particles of my Authority of Gluttony, [Demon Beast Creation] resummoned my [Great Rabbit], [Black Serpent], and [White Whale] as I handed Yue a mental warding ring much to her surprise.
She had this shining eye looking at me asking in disbelief not sensing any Mana within my Demon Beasts in a stunned tone, "H-How did you make them? You didn't use any Mana how did…"
Smirking at this I guess having a conversation partner doesn't sound bad. And one that can keep up with me in the magical aspects of my knowledge explaining as much as I can promptly as I let my Demon Beast take care of the critters and store any materials in the process.
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[Tortus, Great Orcus Labyrinth, TF 100]
Having descended to the dungeon's final floor, with the boss room waiting for us housing a fearsome snake dragon resembling an Orochi from Japanese Mythos. But frankly, it did when it encountered my [White Whale] main skill [Mist of Annihilation].
Otherwise, it has been quite an interesting experience talking to someone who genuinely is interested in learning other forms of Magic. Honestly, it's a refreshing taste for me.
Seeing the final boss get killed that easily had a satisfying feeling of using my skills in this matter. But soon enough we finally descended to the final floor and subsequent reward room of the Great Orcus Labyrinth.
I couldn't help but grin. I was just a breath away from acquiring inorganic matter manipulation magic, and I couldn't wait to experiment with it.
Soon we reached the final floor as a Magic Circle appeared swiping my hands sounding a bit annoyed, "Yeah… I'm not in the mood for a magical backstory Orcus. So, let's skip to the good part, okay?"
Messing with the Magic Circle Yue inquired after exiting the magical circle tilting her head in a confused tone, "So who was the skeleton? And what was with the magic circle?"
I chuckled as I replied with a light shrug who the skeleton, we met in front of us in a calm tone, "That's Oscar Orcus, or at least what remained of him. He was a Liberator and the creator of this Labyrinth. You would've met his projection if I hadn't altered the magic circle. That, and I don't want it to mess with my mind. Nor listen to his backstory of evil god or save the world, blah, blah, blah… you know the gist of it."
She caught on quickly nodding in the understanding of my actions in a calm tone, "Oh, so that's why you fiddled with it."
I wasn't naïve. I knew she harbored some feelings toward me like how she harbored feelings for Hajime in the original series. However, I was pretty sure they stemmed from a white knight syndrome, not genuine affection.
White Knight syndrome is a type of mental disorder where one develops romantic feelings for another person who had saved or helped them in a significant way. And under these types of circumstances like Yue, I understand how it formed.
She had mixed up gratitude and love, and spending 300 years in solitude had taken a toll on her mentality. When I appeared like a shining light of hope, I brought light into her world of darkness.
I was leaving this world as soon as I obtained the Ancient Magic and kill Ehit. I didn't want her to form an emotional dependency on me. That's why I had been a bit abrasive, hoping it would repulse her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.
Sigh… Well, I'll think about it when the time comes. The last floor of the Great Orcus Labyrinth began as a simple room with a magical circle and a throne on which a skeleton had sat.
However, it didn't end there. Connected to this room was an actual dungeon floor a vast clearing with a large waterfall and a serene lake along with a cozy-looking cottage right next to it.
After Yue exited the room, I vanished from the magical circle, removing one of the greatest rewards one could gain from this dungeon. Messing with the Magic Circle I smirked taking off my Gamer Ring as knowledge of the Ancient Magic Skill entered my head. The knowledge from it allowed me to gain a new skill in the process.
[Ding!]
[You have gained the knowledge of the Ancient Magic Skill [Creation Magic]!]
[Skill Gained: [Enchantment Magic]!]
[Skill Gained: [Concept Enchantment]!]
Skill List.
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<Creation Magic> (Active) Lv.-
MP Cost: Varies
Description: One of the ancient magics originating from the "Age of Gods," which grants the ability to imbue magical properties to minerals, creating a new ore with special traits. It is the only form of magic that allows the creation of an artifact. The true power of this magic is the ability to manipulate inorganic material.
<Enchant Magic> (Active) Lv. MAX
MP Cost: Varies
Description: Enchant Magic, Augmentation Magic, or in singular and plural formats as Enchant/Enchantment, are all about the magical ability that allows the user to bind their Magic or mold a magical essence onto someone or something.
The process of Enchantment amounts to the user to adding their own Magic onto living or inanimate objects, thereby increasing their natural attributes; i.e. enchanting wood to make it stronger than steel, or enchanting swords into human beings with immense power.
<Concept Enchantment> (Active) Lv. MAX
MP Cost: Varies
Description: This type of Enchantment focuses on forging different types of attributes with other attributes, techniques, or people. The user can even perform soul-based enchantments, enabling the user to reinforce, weaken, or alter the inner workings of souls with enchantments.
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Bingo. With this, we began to see any treasures that Oscar had in his mansion. To which he had a lot of useful items even a few Divine Stones in his fault that I broke through his magical defenses.
Plenty of useful artifacts and ores are stored in my [GoB] further increasing my treasures much to my happiness. More stuff to research and metals to recreate.
Although with such a grand name as [Creation Magic], one would assume you would be allowed to create materials on a whim. However, in this context, creation refers to crafting, manipulating, and enchanting materials and items.
It wasn't something overly impressive, but the magic had its merits. It was an offshoot of matter manipulation magic, allowing one to manipulate inorganic matter. Thankfully the information upload came with a user manual explaining what each run, shape, and magical matrix did.
The information that was deposited within my mind not only allowed me to refine my already existing spells but also enabled me to develop potent spells centered around inorganic matter manipulation. Namely, my [Age of Babylon] with [Creation Magic] got a whole lot fucking scarier than it should be.
With [Creation Magic] those fantasy hard-to-reach ores in other worlds can be created here with no issues. Vibranium, Adamantium, Nth Metal, Adamainte, etc. Many ways I can exploit this skill in a variety of ways.
It's probably why it doesn't have a level cap to begin with. You can't improve what the power does only based on the user's imagination is the literal limit of this skill. Once again, I have broken the laws of physics.
With a sigh, I released my breath a sigh I didn't know I had murmured to myself in an excited tone, "Sigh… This is huge. I'll need to experiment with this to find its limits… and create an artifact that can wish me home."
With the materials, it's certainly possible. It'll need some testing to confirm its use but till then this was just a check completed from my to-do list which continued to grow seemingly endlessly.
It didn't take us too long to loot the treasures of this place baring it none for any future conqueror to have. Thank goodness for my [GoB] storing everything for me.
Seeing Yue looking down I couldn't help but ask in a curious tone what was going on with her mind, "What's on your pretty little mind, Yue?"
She sighed and returned her gaze to the waterfall confessing her voice filled with genuine concern about the future, "I'm afraid of what's waiting for me outside. My people are long dead and nothing and no one is waiting for me out there."
I paused as I listened to her words and reflected a bit. In some cases, me and her are the same in one way or another. It was then it dawned upon me that were pretty much the same we were both trapped and looking for our purpose and home.
I suppose with my bias of vampires I completely forgotten that small fact. Sigh… I need to work on my issues with my speciesism against Vampires.
Getting close to her I gave her a head pat and stood up providing some insightful advice from my personal experience in a soft tone, "So? Find a new purpose for your life. Restart your civilization, conquer the world, become a shadow ruler or something I don't care. Just don't dwell on something you can't change. Just look further into the future of what you want not what someone tells you to do. Follow the path you believe in and stay true to the very end."
Yue merely shook her head as a chuckle escaped her lips making me smile at her response to my advice in a cheerful tone, "Only you can say something so outlandish. Yet, with your own experience, I guess I should follow those words of advice huh Bastion-san?"
I chuckled lightly hearing her response offering her a chance to come speedrun the Labyrinths in a cheeky tone, "Hahaha sure. I'm gonna go conquer the rest of the Labyrinths. It shouldn't take more than an hour. Do you want to join me? Compared to this one, the rest of them are trash. Hardest labyrinth? Not anymore."
She looked at me again then grabbed my hand with a smile she said, "Alright lead the way."
After confirming the teleportation circle and Orcus Ring with us is safe to use we made use of it to exit this labyrinth. In a brilliant flash of light, we vanished from the lowest floors of the dungeon into the outside world next. Conveniently to the next Labyrinth containing the Ancient Magic [Gravity Magic].