ch141-ch160 · 142-ch142
Chapter 142: Japan's Number One Skill
"I'll take this one."
"Be careful."
Kasumi-san cautiously closes in on the Sand Golem holding its 【Mimicry】.
The next instant, the golem is on its feet
"........."
Golems don't talk, but the sheer menace is something else.
GWAAN!—its upper body lurches.
It whips its arms from right to left with terrifying force; Kasumi-san backsteps a single pace and evades.
Then her naginata goes for the Sand Golem's right knee.
With a crunch like biting into a snack—zak!—the right leg comes away.
As the Sand Golem's stance collapses, down comes the naginata again—left leg, left arm, right arm—severing each at the root.
Only then does she plunge the blade into the back of the immobilized Sand Golem and bore a hole.
Out comes the magic stone—Sand Golem subjugation complete.
A golem keeps moving until its magic stone is destroyed or removed.
They don't seem to feel pain and thrash until the very end, so you can't extract the stone without first taking their limbs off like this.
(What a pain...)
No heart-equivalent organ, no brain-equivalent one either...
The joint where the stone connects is the leading theory, but bottom line: the only way to kill one is to target the magic stone.
"It was softer than I expected."
A Sand Golem this time, so it went down easy—but if it had been iron, could she have lopped the limbs off?
Even Kasumi-san would need 【Slash】 for that...
An enemy you have to spend MP on every single time, and extracting the stone is a chore too.
Try to push for Floor 40 the normal way and the MP runs dry...
"Sand Golems look fine as long as you watch for ambushes. Then next, I'll—"
Ah. I just thought of something interesting.
A Sand Golem crouching in its 【Mimicry】, visible a little way off.
Let me test something on that one.
I raise my visor and shut my right eye.
"Kyaa! Save that sort of thing for outside the dungeon..."
??
"That sort of thing" being... what, exactly?
Kasumi-san is squirming?
"That was... the 'Left Eye Gate,' wasn't it?"
Kasumi-san, snapping suddenly back to her senses, says.
"Right. I figured it might keep them from standing up."
I'd tried summoning the 'Left Eye Gate' directly above the crouching Sand Golem.
A summoned 'Gate' seems fixed in space—push or pull, it doesn't budge.
Even a 400-MP 【Charge・Spear】 left it unmarked, so nothing a mere golem tries will matter.
It doesn't even have the concept of moving to begin with...
I edge closer, and the Sand Golem starts wriggling—but it still can't seem to stand.
Time to take its limbs off while it's stuck.
Zak!—Kasumi-san was right; it's not as hard as I thought.
Even my un-enhanced jumonji spear sinks in easily.
Well, it is the weakest one.
At this rate Mud Golems look manageable too—but what about Stone Golems?
Once both arms and legs are off, I dismiss the 'Left Eye Gate' and pull out the magic stone.
Easy. I like it.
"Another brilliant idea. Truly as expected of you, Haruki-san. If this works, even metal golems won't be a problem among the mimicking type."
Sasa-Haru—
Praise received.
Golem placement comes in two kinds.
Golems crouched in the ground using 【Mimicry】, and golems roaming around.
It's the roaming ones that make camping dangerous.
The dungeon's idea of harassment, maybe?
"Shall we head upward for now?"
The 30s-floor terrain is 'mountains.'
The 'Gate to the Next Floor' sits at the mountain's summit, so climbing up means no getting lost.
We don't need to push for Floor 32 today, though.
Because after this we head back, and the 'Left Gate' is due to be set up on Floor 10—our progress gets reset for now.
"Let's get some experience fighting on the climb. I will keep watch by eye for golems using 【Mimicry】, but if your MP has room to spare, please use 【Scouting】 at regular intervals."
"Roger."
Up the mountain we go.
Dodging bulges in the ground and patches of odd color.
And surprisingly, that way there's hardly any fighting at all.
Maybe because it's only Floor 31?
By around Floor 39, the ground itself might be so golem-riddled in 【Mimicry】 that dodging becomes impossible.
Gold golem hunting might be better saved for there.
"Kasumi-san. 【Presence Detection】 has a hit. Looks like a roaming-type golem."
Fighting a few more mimicking Sand Golems on the way up, a reaction starts coming down from above.
Not that "something" here could be anything but a golem.
"Silver... isn't it. Iron... perhaps?"
Metal golems all wear the same dull silver; eyes alone won't settle it.
...Hitting it might not settle it either.
We won't know short of hauling it home and having Mia-san take a look.
"Shall I?"
By the rotation, it's Kasumi-san's turn.
She's clearly itching to fight—I'll leave it to her.
"Yes!"
If it turns dicey, I can always cut in with the 'Left Eye Gate.'
Short of super alloys or fantasy metals, there's nothing Kasumi-san can't cut, presumably.
On fantasy-metal golems: a 'Mithril' breed has been confirmed, appearing rarely among the Floor 40 boss room's entourage.
In Japan, only the SDF has ever found mithril golems, so they're all shipped off to research institutions—none ever make it down to adventurers.
"Hah!"
Somewhere in the middle of my musing, Kasumi-san sheared off one of the metal golem's legs and sent it sprawling.
Looks fine.
Fine it was—but extracting the magic stone was brutal.
Pulling a stone encased in metal out without breaking it? Not happening.
For metal golems, the ruling is now: attack from the very start intending to crush the stone...
"Heavy! I can't. ...Please."
"Heh. Leave it to me."
Kasumi-san—having hyoink-ed up the golem torso I couldn't budge—steps through the 'Left Gate.'
Gnnnrgh.
I should be able to lift it too if I fired both my super modes...
The metal golem's severed limbs alone must have weighed over a hundred kilos.
The torso alone is probably a good ton, I'd guess?
(And that 【Equipment Weight Reduction】 of hers, hoisting it like it was nothing—I can only call it a top-tier skill, you know?)
Metal golem downed too, so we decided to leave Floor 31 at that and return to Floor 1.
"Truly on your own?"
"Yes. There's still time, but Soushi may head back first... Kasumi-san, please check on how things look over there too."
One quick dash to Floor 10 to set up for the surprise.
Alone, I can use 【Presence Concealment】, and down to Floor 10 there shouldn't be any fights.
It's just before ten now, and the newbie training ends a little past eleven.
Alone, there's plenty of time.
"Understood. Be careful."
I shed the armor and switched weapons to the nagamaki.
Speed first.
︙
︙
Smacked down a Minotaur and came back.
The moment I return, I feel Kasumi-san heading for the warehouse.
"Oh, you've returned. The license is ready, so the training will be wrapping up as well. Let's go meet Natsukawa-san on the surface."
Looks like Soushi's side is finishing too.
The two of us head up to the surface.
"Good work at training. Your special skill is... actually, let's change venues first."
"Let's use the meeting room."
Abuse of official authority!
No—it's available for rent, so it's perfectly fine.
Soushi trails along, troubled look still on...
"Was it a dud skill? Like 【Gender Change】?"
Is he agonizing over turning into a girl?
Shubabababa...
"No... if it's a hit, it's a mega-jackpot, but I can't tell whether it's actually a hit..."
We reach the meeting room, and Soushi still looks stumped.
"May I hear it as well?"
Kasumi-san asks, half-hesitant.
"Of course! Please do—honestly, I'd rather tell you than Haruki!"
Addressed by Kasumi-san, he perks right up.
What an easygoing guy.
Well, the two of them look like they'll work as a party, huh?
"So? What is it?"
"...【Cooking】."
"Huh?"
Kasumi-san's and my shocked voices harmonized.
"【Cooking】—as in Ao-san's skill?"
"Amazing, Natsukawa-san! That's the 'Number One Skill in Japan,' isn't it!"
【Cooking】—the special skill of Kinoshita Ao-san, leader of Blue Ocean.
The skill of 'Japan's Number One Adventurer'—in other words, 'Japan's Number One Skill.'
"But it IS 【Cooking】. Does it actually work? I mean—is it even useful?"