Sub-quests.
There are various types, from monster hunting quests to delivery quests and miscellaneous errand quests.
The village I’m currently in is ‘Banhol Village’ located in the mountainous outskirts of ‘Berbeia’ Plains, the next stage of adventure.
It’s a village located at the edge of the territory of ‘Dool Kingdom’ to which Warrior General Jeff belongs.
This village located in a rocky mountain area was quite developed for its small size. Especially the sculptural beauty and visible sturdiness of the stone buildings were no less than those of the imperial capital.
But, the sub-quest I’m performing here today is…
“Miss! Take this to that table over there!”
“Yes, yes!”
Pitter-patter.
I, who was clearing empty plates from the table, hurriedly ran to the kitchen to receive plates filled with food and beer, then headed to the table where customers were sitting.
“Miss, thank you for your hard work. You’re an adventurer, right?”
“Hehe, my daughter is exactly fifteen years old this year, just like you. It’s amazing to go on adventures already at this age.”
“I-it’s nothing…”
Two middle-aged men sitting at the table I served smiled and spoke to me.
Rain, they’re NPC uncles, not users. Don’t be scared.
I ran away towards an empty table with my face bright red.
Pitter-patter.
Most users skip miscellaneous errand-type quests with trivial rewards and only perform monster hunting sub-quests, but there are cases where you get various information by doing miscellaneous sub-quests and becoming friendly with NPCs.
“…So, it’s no exaggeration to say our village lives on mining. From minerals with various magical energies to sturdy stones used for construction, we even mine steel for making weapons and armor. Very rarely, minerals that can hold powerful magical forces like mithril come out too. Even Warrior General Jeff’s armor of the kingdom is made of mithril produced in our village.”
“Oh.”
Warrior General Jeff of Dool Kingdom, who came up to the Tower of Training. That name I heard after a long time came out through an NPC’s mouth.
So his armor was made of minerals produced in this village.
I could feel the fun of gradually learning about the detailed settings of this world while performing sub-quests.
“But we can mine all these only because the dwarves allow it. You see beautiful sculptural stone buildings in the village too, right? Long ago, when this village was founded, we built them together with the dwarves. Even quite old buildings still show off their soundness.”
Dwarves. A long-lived race living over 200 years. They have bushy beards and like beer, minerals, and construction.
They are one of the heterogeneous races adventurers can choose. There were some traveler dwarves among NPCs too, but dwarf villages haven’t appeared outwardly during users’ adventures.
The cheerful dwarf of the hero party, ‘Ein’, flashed through my mind for a moment.
I shook my head to erase that afterimage.
The tavern customer uncle who was talking excitedly soon hardened his expression and spoke casually.
“I’m telling you this because you’re like a daughter to me, but if you’re an adventurer, you’d be interested in equipment or minerals produced by dwarves too, right? If you become friendly with them, you might be able to get equipment that helps with adventures.”
“Where do the dwarves live?”
“Anyway, you’ll need their permission and guidance to enter a certain area. You have to pass through a cave drilled into the rocky mountain to reach the dwarf village in the basin, and that cave is complicated like a maze. Of course, they probably know other shortcuts too. Well anyway, pass through the rocky mountain path north of the village, turn left and…”
He spilled everything smoothly.
It seems they left the contact route open since it’s a dwarf village that interacts with humans.
I thought for a moment that users who chose the dwarf race might be advantaged, but according to him, dwarves living in villages treat dwarves from other villages or wandering dwarves no differently from other races.
Since advance parties only do monster hunting sub-quests that help with leveling up, this will be high-quality information almost no one knows until world view maniacs enter this area.
“Uncle, thank you!”
I bounced with joy at obtaining good information.
I arrived in front of the rocky mountain cave that the NPC I met at the village tavern told me about.
After passing through this cave, I can enter the dwarf village.
The cave is probably a kind of test. To see the abilities of users trying to enter the dwarf village. Systematically, it must be set up so that those below a certain spec have difficulty entering.
[Enterable Level 40]
[Normal Dungeon]
[Berbeia Rocky Mountain Cave]
It’s definitely a proper instance dungeon. But it’s just a normal dungeon, it won’t be more than a passage role.
Standing in front of it, I neatly put my feet together and jumped into the cave entrance.
Hop.
Woong.
With the jump, I could confirm that my body entered the instance dungeon by the resonant sound heard.
The surroundings aren’t that dark. Torches are stuck in the walls all around. Did the dwarves install them?
After moving a certain distance, a fork in the road with two paths appeared. As expected, the cave structure was like a maze.
“Hmm…”
I stroked my chin and fell into thought.
The Banhol villagers would receive guidance from dwarves when they need to go to the village, but I, an adventurer, have to break through this maze alone. There don’t seem to be any hints particularly.
But I know one rule for passing through mazes.
It’s a simple rule that if you keep going while touching one side, either right or left, you’ll eventually reach the end of the maze.
Will it work in this cave’s maze too?
Let’s keep going right for now.
Thump thump.
After facing dozens of dead ends spending quite a long time, I finally arrived at the end of this maze, a cavern.
High ceiling, wide space.
Across from the cavern entrance, I came in through, and there’s a massive stone door that looks like the maze exit. It’s firmly closed.
On the outskirts of the cavern, piles of rocks are stacked all around. Is it artificial?
It’s just a normal dungeon after all. There probably won’t be a named battle, but those rock piles are clearly related to monsters.
“Oh.”
At my feet as I entered the cavern entrance, there were five footpads that looked like they would sink in if stepped on.
A puzzle device installed by dwarves? Is it structured so that the door opens when stepped on in a specific rule or order? The orthodox approach would be to discover the rule for opening the door by trying several times. Or there might have been hints I didn’t see in the maze.
What if I fail to solve the puzzle? Clearly, the rock piles in front of me will rise. It’s 100%.
I grinned.
Because I seemed to know the identity of those rock piles.
Golems.
They’re always in dungeons with such devices.
Then there are two methods. Either solve the puzzle, or break all the golems until none remain.
I chose the latter.
“Yap!”
Hop.
My body that lightly jumped up and stepped on the middle footpad among the five.
Click.
Rumble rumble.
Along with the sound of the footpad sinking in, as expected, the rock piles on the outskirts of the cavern rose up becoming golems.
Their size is a bit bigger than my body. Three in number. HP level that can be handled if one Flash Strike properly lands.
It seems the order of the first footpad was wrong. I failed to solve the puzzle. But, my purpose is not to solve the puzzle.
I daintily tap danced on the footpads.
Pitter-patter!
Click click click.
Every time a footpad was stepped on, golems rose up one after another from all around.
I didn’t stop tap dancing until all the golems in the cavern rose up.
Thud, thud, thud.
Finally, all the risen golems, that wave of rocks started approaching me.
Ching!
Only then did I stop tap dancing and draw my sword.
And I shouted boldly.
“Alright, bring it on all of you!”
Rumble rumble.
When I defeated all the golems, the cave exit opened.
As expected, there was no need to solve the puzzle.
It was a structure with basic maze and simple exit method. Prove your strength, or prove your brain. It must mean to show minimum ability.
Click.
“Phew.”
I, who handled all the last golem groups with the final Flash Strike, took a deep breath and sheathed my sword.
[Flash Strike]
[Cooldown 1 minute]
[Invincible during casting]
[???]
Since returning to the Astria continent after about a month, I couldn’t feel that sensation of using the past Flash Strike again. But I already knew the condition for unlocking Flash Strike’s true power.
The Flash Strike I used when pushed to the brink of death attacked by chimeras in ‘Aspero’s Fortress’ on the day Lee Seulbi collapsed. It was very similar to the Flash Strike I used in the past.
“It must be usable when HP is at the bottom.”
The condition is very tricky. Even more so for me who feels pain as is.
During the initial solo clear of Aspero, I took one hit of the last-ditch pattern area-of-effect skill with my body, so the condition would have been met several times. The reason I didn’t notice back then was probably because I used Flash Strike to avoid area-of-effect skills, so the cooldown didn’t return in time.
My own finishing move that even pierced through the defense of tough 3rd area chimeras, but it’s difficult to use intentionally. If I hurt, Lee Seulbi hurts too. I might end up in the hospital again if I’m not careful.
Still, I should be able to use it as an escape in the worst case or as a final blow. Anyway, it’s better than not having it.
And, while handling the golems, I could confirm one achievement.
[Drizzle Rain]
[Swordsman]
[Level 40 (99.17%)]
“Oh.”
Just going around once, experience points rose tremendously. The experience that was in the mid-90% range was filled up to right before leveling up.
Places with monsters densely packed like this are very rare. At most, maybe the chimera hatchery in ‘Aspero’s Fortress’. But those are gimmick monsters made not to be killed, so they can’t be killed with one normal Flash Strike.
But the golems here can be killed with one Flash Strike at my spec. It’s truly a perfect ‘grinding’ spot. A place where you can gain the most experience in a short time.
Chris, who finished her backed-up work, will also push for leveling up starting tomorrow.
I felt good about the unexpected achievement.
Smiling brightly, I went out through the opened door.
I found a place to power level Chris unnie.