021-040 · 023-ch19

Chapter 19: About Magic Swords

　Next, to introduce some other weapons, I bring several of them outside. Some of them would cause serious trouble if I used them inside, after all.

"First up, this one. It's just an ordinary sword, but if you put even a little magic power into it──"

　Flames erupt from the straight sword the moment I draw it.

"A fire-attribute magic sword, I guess. It probably has a fire enchantment on it. There was someone in the front-line explorers who could use bestowal magic, right?"

　>>That cheerful older lady

　>>Older lady...

　>>Someone who casts bestowal magic on allies while also fighting herself

　>>Seeing people like that, you really realize how hardcore the front-line group is

　I'd researched famous explorers on the surface for a short period, and the shopkeeper at that buy-back place had told me some things too. It's important to know what kind of people are out there.

"It's the permanent version of that. This sword over here has a lightning-attribute enchantment."

　

　Sheathing the flaming sword, I draw the next one. It's hard to decide whether to call it a katana or not. It's not made in Japan, after all.

　Well, I give a demonstration swing of the sword as well, and finally, there's one more weapon I want to introduce.

"Alright, everything I've introduced so far is the first type of magic sword—or rather, what I call magic weapons personally."

　>>Magic weapons?

　>>I guess the weapon itself is using enchantment or something

　>>A weapon with enchantment in it

　>>So you're saying there are magic swords that aren't that?

　

　I pick up the last one I brought out. A sword with a plain, unadorned scabbard.

"Magic weapons—that is, weapons with permanent enchantments or bestowal magic. Or weapons that have the properties of bestowal magic themselves. So then what are magic swords and magic spears? Well, here's my answer to that."

　I draw the final sword. Its blade is neither the steel color of a sword, nor the color of monster bone, fangs, or shells.

　It glows with a deep blue—the color of magic power.

"A sword with concentrated magic power. That is a magic sword."

　Just from drawing it from the scabbard, the pressure is incomparable to the magic weapons I showed earlier.

"I don't have many of these magic swords either, since they're quite rare. But I understand their general performance tendencies. These magic swords with concentrated magic power have absolutely insane performance as pure swords. Sharpness, durability, and so on. On the other hand, they don't have buff-type effects like magic weapons. They're just abnormally excellent as swords. That's what these magic swords with concentrated magic power are."

　>>Hooooooooooly crap

　>>It's just beautiful

　>>How can something with such a simple scabbard look so mystical?

　>>So magic weapons with buff effects versus magic swords purely enhanced by magic power, huh

　>>Which one is stronger?

　I see. Which is stronger. I have top-class examples of both types, so let me answer based on that.

"Personally, I prefer the one with concentrated magic power. But if someone without enough skill were to use one, I'd say the buff type—magic weapons—would be better."

　That's the reasoning behind it. The viewers ask in the comments. Of course, I intend to explain.

"When you get to the lower parts of the dungeon, enemies become incredibly hard, period. On top of that, they have special abilities. In the world beyond this dungeon as well, there are plenty of guys who are simply hard, fast, and strong. You could say hardness is a given. So when thinking about fighting them, the one that works better is the concentrated magic power type—the magic sword."

　In reality, when I defeated the boss at the very bottom of the dungeon, the Gatekeeper, I used the magic sword with concentrated magic power.

"The buff effects of magic weapons... well, ultimately, they're things you could manage without—they compensate for parts that the user's technique, fighting style, or skills can already handle. Ah, that's a good analogy... computers might be close."

　>>Computers?

　>>Close?

　>>Performance differences, or something?

　>>Idunno...

"Magic weapons are like computers with all sorts of features. Watching videos, editing them, creating CG, running websites... well, I'm not that knowledgeable about computers, though. Meanwhile, magic swords are like computers purely specialized for raw computation speed. They don't have various features, but the computation speed is seriously insane. And when you get down to it, if you asked which one can reach greater heights, it's the magic sword. Ultimately. Of course, there are magic weapons with special strengths like the weight-changing one I showed earlier, but when you can use one to its full potential, the magic sword's attack power and sharpness are things magic weapons can't match. On the flip side, buff effects like those of magic weapons can often be managed without them, depending on the user's own movement."

　At the extreme, combat is about how to kill the opponent. That's all there is to it. When you think of it that way, magic weapons that support you in various ways versus magic swords specialized in lethality. Burning blades, lightning-wreathed blades, blades that weigh ten times normal—they're useful for wearing down opponents and dealing damage steadily.

　But if you want to reliably finish off an opponent, sharpness that can cut anything is enough. And effects that don't reach the opponent, no matter how many you have, are nothing but useless.

"So for that reason, magic weapons might be better for the viewers, but if I had to choose one, it'd be the magic sword. Well, using both appropriately would be best, though."

　>>If you just have one weapon that works, that's good enough

　>>Since it has sharpness that can kill even hard monsters, the rest depends on the user, I guess

　>>In that sense, skilled users would use magic swords

　>>For people whose skills are kinda meh, having magic weapons lets them do more, which is nice, I suppose

"Well, actually magic swords are quite rare. Seriously, you can't find them. That just means they have high rarity, though. ...What do you think these would sell for on the surface? Not just this one, but the flame sword and lightning sword I showed earlier too."

　Suddenly curious, I ask that. I learned from selling things on the surface the other day that dungeon-produced materials fetch quite a price. These were items I brought in as payment for gathering food ingredients and the like; it wasn't a massive amount, but they told me it was too much. Dungeon-related things are probably pretty inflated, I suppose.

　

>>Weapons with amazing dungeon-produced sharpness also fetch pretty high prices


>>A sword that came out of a treasure chest on the front lines the other day went for about 10 million yen, I think


>>Since magic weapons don't appear in the deep layers yet, weapon prices aren't that inflated at the moment


>>Weapons made from processed monster materials can be stronger than weapons from dungeon treasure chests. That kind of weapon can go for tens of millions in some cases


>>Magic wands have clear performance differences, so those can occasionally go up to hundreds of millions


>>Right now on Japanese dungeon auction sites, the most expensive weapon is a staff from the front lines that's gone up to 120 million yen. That's crazy, man. Bids from a few people in top guilds, I guess


>>Hundreds of millions... even explorers couldn't just drop that kind of cash...


>>In America, there was a magic staff that went up to 5 million dollars the other day


>>America has big money moving. Like with sports, sponsors pay big money so the auctions are crazy too

　

"Whoa... that's insane amounts of money changing hands."

　When I went into the dungeon, I sold multiple weapons and monster materials and got something like 70 million yen? Well, back then the buying and selling of dungeon items wasn't established as a system yet, so there were probably fees involved, but still, the market must have risen significantly.

　Well, the reason explorers spend huge amounts on weapons is obvious. Using weapons they spent that money on, they can earn even more. Of course they'd spend big.

"Well, if an exceptionally high-performance weapon shows up at auction, just think to yourselves, oh, so John's doing something again."

　If that much money is moving, the attention on me, who's advanced further than anyone, will probably rise unnecessarily, which gives me a slightly unpleasant feeling. But well, I don't go to the surface, so it should be fine.

　

>>Huh, you're actually going to list it!?


>>Really!?


>>If you list it, it's going to cause a huge commotion, you know?


>>It'll probably have an insane price attached

"Well, I'm just saying I might list it someday. If I need a lot of money for something. Well, of course I could earn enough with dungeon materials too, so it's possible I won't need to sell weapons, you know?"

>>Well, of course


>>But just that alone would move related companies' stock prices, probably


>>It'll be quite a commotion—no, not quite, I think it'll be an insane commotion, so please be careful


>>These days, even TV talk shows regularly talk about dungeons, after all

"Heh... seriously, huh. If I go to the surface, I'll probably get targeted in weird ways... better lock up."

　I muttered that without thinking, so I say it as a joke.

>>Lock up...?


>>What are you going to do there?


>>Meaningless~lol


>>Nobody's coming lol

　I still remember being attacked on the upper layers the other day. There are probably opponents who target you like that. Fools always exist. People who don't understand the meaning of touching the current me.

　Well, if that happens, I'll just keep holing up in the dungeon.