NOVEL NEXT Chapter 60
Subquest.
There’s a wide variety of quests, from monster hunting quests to delivery quests and various errands.
The village I’m currently in is ‘Banhol Village,’ located on the outskirts of the ‘Berveia’ plains, the next stage of adventure.
This village is situated at the edge of the territory of the ‘Doal Kingdom,’ where Warrior Jeff belongs.
Despite being a small village in a rocky area, it was quite developed. The aesthetic beauty and visible sturdiness of the stone buildings rivaled those of the imperial capital.
However, the subquest I’m working on today here is…
“Miss! Just take this to that table over there!”
“Y-yes!”
Shwoosh!
While I was clearing the empty plates from the table, I hurried to the kitchen to grab a plate of food and beer before heading toward the table where the customers were sitting.
“Miss, you’re doing a great job. You’re an adventurer, right?”
“Hehe, our daughter is just fifteen this year, and she’s already off adventuring. That’s impressive!”
“N-no, not at all…”
Two middle-aged men sitting at the table I served laughed as they spoke to me.
Rain, they’re NPC uncles, not users. Don’t be scared.
With my face burning red, I fled toward the empty tables.
Shwoosh!
Most users skip quests that offer trivial rewards and only take on monster hunting side quests, but by doing various side quests, I sometimes gain useful information by befriending NPCs.
“… So, it’s not an exaggeration to say that our village lives off mining. We extract minerals imbued with magical energies, strong stones used for construction, and steel for making weapons and armor. Occasionally, we even find rare minerals like mithril that can contain powerful magical energy. Even Warrior Jeff’s armor is made from mithril produced in our village.”
“Oh.”
The name of Warrior Jeff, affiliated with the Doal Kingdom, came up again after so long.
His armor was made from minerals produced right here in this village.
Completing side quests, I could feel the joy of gradually discovering the detailed settings of this world.
“But all of these are mined with permission from the dwarves. You see those beautifully crafted stone buildings in the village? They were built together with the dwarves when this village was established. Many of those buildings are still standing after all these years.”
Dwarves. Beings that live for over 200 years, sporting thick beards and a love for beer, minerals, and construction.
They are one of the races adventurers can choose. While there are a few traveling dwarves among the NPCs, the presence of dwarf villages has not been apparent in users’ adventures.
I briefly thought of the cheerful dwarf from the hero party, ‘Ain.’
I shook my head to erase that image.
The jovial patrons at the tavern suddenly turned serious and casually remarked,
“I’m telling you this because you remind me of my daughter, but adventurers like you would be interested in equipment or minerals produced by the dwarves, right? If you become friends with them, you might get useful gear for your adventures.”
“Where do the dwarves live?”
“To enter any specific area, you’ll need their permission and guidance. You have to pass through a cave in the rocky mountains to reach the dwarf village in the basin, but that cave is quite complicated like a maze. Of course, there are other paths they know about, but anyway, to get there, you’ll go left after passing the northern rocky mountain pathway…”
He rattled on.
Since it’s a dwarf village interacting with humans, it seems they have opened a route for contact.
I briefly thought that users who chose the dwarf race might have an advantage, but according to him, the dwarves living in the village treat other dwarves just like any other race, not differently.
The advance parties only complete monster-hunting side quests that help with level-ups, so the knowledge of this area is likely advanced info that very few know before world-building enthusiasts enter.
“Thank you, sir!”
I jumped for joy at having received good information.
Thump thump!
I arrived at the entrance of the cave in the rocky mountains, as told by the NPC from the tavern.
Passing through this cave would lead me to the dwarf village.
This cave is probably a sort of test. It’s likely set up to assess the abilities of users wanting to enter the dwarf village. The system must have made it difficult for any specs below a certain level to enter.
[Entry level: 40]
[Normal Dungeon]
[Berveia Mountain Cave]
It truly is a proper instance dungeon. But at best, it serves a purpose as a basic dungeon or a passageway.
Standing before it, I neatly gathered my feet and leaped into the cave entrance.
Jump!
Whooooosh!
Along with the jump, a resonant sound confirmed my entry into the instance dungeon.
The surroundings weren’t too dark. Torches were stuck in the walls all around. Did the dwarves set these up?
After moving a certain distance, I came across a fork in the path. The structure of the cave was as I expected, a maze.
“Hmm…”
I stroked my chin, deep in thought.
The people of Banhol Village would ask for the dwarves’ guidance when visiting their village, but as an adventurer, I had to navigate this maze alone. It didn’t seem like there were any hints.
However, I knew one rule to pass through a maze.
No matter if it’s left or right, as long as you keep one hand touching the wall, you’ll eventually reach the end of the maze. It’s that simple.
Would this rule also work in this cave’s maze?
Let’s head right for now.
Thud thud!
After spending quite some time meeting dead ends multiple times, I finally reached the end of this maze, a large cavern.
High ceilings and a spacious area.
Across from the entrance of the cavern was a gigantic stone door that looked like the exit of the maze, firmly shut.
Around the edges of the cavern, piles of stones were stacked everywhere. How artificial?
Still, it’s just a normal dungeon. There likely wouldn’t be a named battle, but those stone piles are surely related to monsters.
“Oh.”
At the entrance of the cavern, I saw five platforms that looked like they could sink into the ground when stepped on.
A puzzle device set up by the dwarves? Could it be a structure that opens the door only by stepping on them in a certain order? Discovering the method to open the door by trying repeatedly would be the typical strategy. Or perhaps I might have missed a hint somewhere in the maze.
What if I fail to solve the puzzle? The stone piles in front of me would undoubtedly come alive. That’s a 100% certainty.
I grinned.
I thought I knew the identity of those stone piles.
Golems.
They always exist in dungeons set up like this.
So, there were two options: solve the puzzle or smash all the golems until none are left.
I chose the latter.
“Yah!”
Leap!
My body lightly jumped and landed on the center platform out of the five.
Click!
Rumble rumble!
With the sound of the platform sinking in, the stone piles around the edge of the cavern rose to become golems as expected.
They were only slightly larger than my body. There were three of them. Their HP was low enough that I could take care of them in one clean hit with One Flash.
It seemed that the order of stepping on the platforms was wrong. I failed to solve the puzzle. But my goal wasn’t to complete the puzzle.
Dancing lightly on the platforms, I started to tap dance.
Tap tap tap!
Click click click!
With each step on the platforms, more golems arose from all directions.
I didn’t stop tap dancing until all the golems in the cavern had stood up.
Thud, thud, thud.
Finally, all the golems arose, and the tide of rocks began approaching me.
Clang!
Only then did I stop tap dancing, draw my sword, and boldly shouted,
“Alright, bring it on!”
Rumble rumble!
Once I defeated all the golems, the exit of the cave opened.
Just as expected, I didn’t need to solve the puzzle.
The maze was basic, and the way out was a simple structure. To prove one’s strength or intelligence, they probably just wanted to see minimal capability.
Click!
“Haah.”
After finishing off the last group of golems with a final One Flash, I took a deep breath and sheathed my sword.
[One Flash (일섬)]
[Cooldown 1 minute]
[Invulnerable while casting]
[???]
It’s been over a month since I returned to the Continent of Astria, but I hadn’t felt that sensation of using One Flash again. Yet, I knew the conditions for unlocking its true power.
The day Seulbi fell, when I had used One Flash against the chimera at ‘Aspero’s Fortress,’ almost to the brink of death. It resembled the One Flash I had used before.
“It must be usable when HP is at rock bottom.”
The conditions are quite strict. Especially tough for me, who feels the pain.
During the early solo raid of Aspero, I took a hit from a desperation pattern area-wide attack, so I must have met the requirements multiple times. What I didn’t realize back then was that using One Flash as an evasion against the area-wide attack would have prevented the cooldown from occurring.
My unique ultimate move, which even pierced through the defense of the robust Area 3 Chimera, is hard to use intentionally. If I’m hurt, Seulbi gets hurt too. There’s a risk of ending up back in the hospital.
Still, it might work as an escape option in the worst case, or at least be able to deliver one final blow. After all, it’s better than having nothing.
And while defeating the golems, I was able to confirm one thing as a result.
[Drizzle Rain]
[Warrior]
[Level 40 (99.17%)]
“Oh.”
Just by going around once, my experience points skyrocketed. The mid-90% experience points jumped to just before leveling up.
It’s extremely rare to find monsters densely packed like this. The only other place might be the chimera breeding grounds at ‘Aspero’s Fortress.’ But those were gimmick-type monsters designed not to be caught, making them impossible to take down with a typical One Flash.
But the golems here could be taken down with a single One Flash at my specs. It was the perfect ‘don’t hold back’ spot, where I could gain the most experience points in the shortest time.
Chris, who’s been finishing up her tasks, will also ramp up her leveling from tomorrow.
I felt good about the unexpected results.
With a big smile, I stepped out through the open door.
I’ve found the perfect place to help Sister Chris level up!