Chapter 333: Treasures from the Dungeon
For now, I start appraising the items displayed on the walls one by one. Perhaps because this is the first layer of the dungeon, I don’t find anything particularly useful.
The taxidermy specimens are just that—stuffed animals—and the flashy sword is merely for show, made of nothing but ordinary steel. Among the potions, there are some basic potions mixed in, but most of them are just murky water.
“Looks like a bust,” I mutter.
“Such a shame,” Rio replies.
“Well, it is the first layer, so I guess this is to be expected.”
That said, we’ve only been exploring for about an hour. This layer is indeed vast, but I’m hopeful that we might stumble upon some treasure by the end of the day.
“Let’s move on.”
With that, we continue our exploration of the first layer. Despite it being the first layer, we find ourselves going up slopes and down stairs, making for quite a bit of vertical movement.
After having lunch, we finally arrive at a room at the bottom of a long slope.
“It doesn’t seem like there are any traps, but there’s something in the center of the room,” I observe.
“It looks like a sword, but what could it be?” Rio wonders.
“And it’s floating,” I add.
The room is slightly smaller than a typical classroom, not much different from the other rooms we’ve encountered. In the center, about a meter off the ground, a naked sword floats. Its blade is approximately 70 centimeters long, unadorned, resembling a standard double-edged sword.
“Whoa, seriously?” I exclaim, disheartened by the appraisal results. Just when I thought we’d finally found a decent treasure, it turns out to be a monster from the dungeon.
“…What’s wrong?” Rio asks, turning to me.
I share the appraisal results with her, and she observes the enemy in the center of the room with keen interest.
“Wow, so there are non-animal types too.”
＝＝＝＝＝
Name: None
Species: TYPE 2016
Description: A weapon-type (sword) monster created by the dungeon.
It hovers in the air and mercilessly attacks intruders.
Status: Normal
Status: HP 26432
MP 8321
Strength 25870
Vitality 20984
Agility 17432
Dexterity 2654
Mental Strength 25
Magic Power 6311
Luck 1
Skills:
Water Magic, Fire Magic, Earth Magic, Wind Magic,
No Magic, Lightning Magic, Ice Magic
Slash Resistance, Blunt Resistance, Piercing Resistance, Destruction Resistance
Water Resistance, Fire Resistance, Earth Resistance, Wind Resistance
Lightning Resistance, Ice Resistance
＝＝＝＝＝
Its stats exceed twenty-five thousand. This could potentially be a more troublesome enemy than those we’ve faced so far… But seriously, what does “strength” mean for a sword? I suppose it could be interpreted as cutting power or attack strength.
Moreover, it has a wealth of resistance skills. The enemies we’ve encountered until now didn’t have these, so the additional resistances might indicate that it’s quite sturdy.
“But our objective remains unchanged, right?” Rio states.
“That’s true.”
Rio extends her palm toward the room from outside. A Spatial Isolation Barrier is instantly erected around the sword, but I wonder if it will react differently than the animal types we’ve faced before.
“Alright, let’s go.”
After confirming there are no other traps, I step into the room. The sword, trapped within the barrier, attempts to point its tip at us but, of course, cannot move. As I approach, I take a moment to observe it closely. It seems that the monsters here are all rather dim-witted.
“I can sense magic power coming from the hilt,” Rio notes.
“Is there a power source?” I ponder.
Unlike the animal types, the sword is small enough that it’s easy to discern where everything is located. Indeed, I can feel magic power emanating from the hilt.
“Could you release the barrier around the hilt for a moment?” I ask.
“Sure, but what are you planning to do?” she inquires.
“I just want to check a few things.”
The blade, including the guard, remains covered by the barrier, while the hilt is left exposed. As I grip it firmly with both hands, the sword begins to thrash about, but it’s not too violent due to the barrier.
“Hmm.”
I create a platform of the barrier in mid-air and land on it, then ask Rio to remove the barrier surrounding the sword. Its thrashing becomes more intense, but it doesn’t require much effort to keep it subdued. As it seems to attempt to activate magic, magic power swells from the center of the hilt, but since I’m gripping that part, I can easily disrupt its magic activation. It appears that a Magic Crystal is embedded within it as a power source.
It seems manageable with one hand, so I hold the sword in my right hand and pull out the remains of the dungeon monsters we’ve defeated from the Dimensional Box with my left.
When I swing the sword, it cuts through the remains more easily than I expected. With its high strength, it seems to have a decent amount of attack power.
“Hey, not bad,” Rio comments.
Hearing her response, I begin analyzing the power source located in the hilt. As I gradually channel magic power into it, the sword’s movements become even more frantic.
I carefully divide the magic power I’m channeling, probing its details. The magic power spreads from the embedded Magic Crystal, giving the impression that it’s what animates the sword.
When I try to extract the magic power from the Magic Crystal using magic manipulation, the sword’s movements indeed start to slow down.
“Has it calmed down?” Rio asks, noticing my relaxed demeanor.
I nod and hand her the sword.
“The magic power is drained. Is that why it’s not moving?” she speculates.
“Seems like it.”
After observing it for a while, I place the dungeon-born sword monster into the Dimensional Box. It’s not a weapon per se, but I’ve acquired a weapon nonetheless. They called the robots Golems, so perhaps I could refer to this as a Golem weapon.
“Now, what else is here?”
As I survey the room again, I spot a pedestal in the corner. On top of it, a flat object is leaning at an angle.
“It looks like a tablet placed on a charging dock,” Rio remarks.
“Indeed. And I bet if we take it, a trap will activate,” I reply.
As I shrug, Rio nods in agreement beside me. The traps in this dungeon are notoriously vicious. Despite my weariness, I appraise the tablet-like object.
＝＝＝＝＝
Type: Tool
Name: Information Terminal
Description: A terminal that grants access to various information about the dungeon.
Quality: S
Affix: None
Creator: –
＝＝＝＝＝
“It’s really a tablet,” I exclaim, surprised.
“It’s not just a lookalike?” Rio asks.
“It seems we can access dungeon information.”
“What? That’s amazing!” she exclaims.
“I definitely want to take this home.”
I have no idea how much information we can access, but it seems worth the risk of navigating the deadly traps.
“It’s just the right time, so let’s take this with us today.”
“Sounds good.”
“Then I’ll go first.”
Rio opens a spatial rift right next to the pedestal and steps inside. Crossing dimensions consumes magic power, so the destination is close to the entrance of the dungeon.
Since the mechanism connects through the pedestal to the outside of the room, I shouldn’t have to worry about this room being flooded with traps immediately. Given that it’s at the bottom of a slope, I anticipate some sort of poison or similar trap might flow in.
“Alright.”
Steeling myself, I grab the tablet from the pedestal and leap into the rift. Just as the rift closes behind me, I think I hear a distant clank, the sound of a trap activating.