Hidden Dungeon Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Overwhelming Skillset

The inside of the dungeon was surprisingly normal. The walls were made of brick and torches were mounted to them in set intervals. Thanks to that there were no problems in regards to visibility.
There was a labyrinthine feel to the corridors which made it easy to imagine someone getting lost in here.
 
"No point in hesitating, time to advance."

Just as I set out to move forward the gate behind me closed on its own. Uwa, that scared me... and right as I was about to pull myself together again――

『...Oh brave hero, you did well in coming here... I await thee on the second floor... There, I will... ...s my... ...to y......』

Huh? Suddenly a woman's voice came echoing from within. The last part was too quiet and hoarse to understand. A trap maybe? Readying my sword I moved on. When the corridor turned right I froze.

"That's... no way, right?"

What I encountered were three slimes sparkling in a golden tint. Slimes are no more than elliptical clumps of jelly 30 cm in width, but usually their color is turquoise or light green. There are also ones with a red shade, but they're rare in this region.
Gold slimes on the other hand barely exited on the entire continent. How did they end up in this place, and three of them at that?

"Chuppachoo"

One of them turned aggressive and spit out a yellow liquid. It was the kind that transmits diseases upon getting hit.
Without delay I dodged and slashed it with my sword. I wavered for a moment but managed to cut it in half. The other two I killed in a similar fashion. Slimes are generally the weakest monsters so even I can more or less handle them.

...Sure feels hot.
I felt a surge of strength go through my body. Seems like my level went up with that. I'll get it analyzed later. By the way, I'm just a level 5 small fry.

"I wonder if it's true that you can eat gold slimes as well."

Slimes are pretty useful in that they can be eaten after defeating them. Based on the things they ate up to that point their taste changes as well. There are even slime ranches.
I picked up a piece of the one cut in half and took a bite.

"So sweet!?"

Almost like honey, but even more refined... Without thinking I took a third, fourth bite. Before I realized it I had eaten an entire piece.

"Ah that won't do, I need to take some along for mother and Alice."

As for father... there's still that one story so let's not mind him. I put two gold slime bodies into my bag.
Thanks to the gold ones' low reproduction rate they're particularly valuable, so selling them should yield quite the sum. The first floor turned out to be full of these money fountains, but after killing four I gave up on carrying them all with me. My bag just got too heavy.
I spotted a staircase and proceeded downwards.

『...com... ...h...re......』

That voice again.
Even though it might be a trap I couldn't ignore it.
The second floor was full of doors leading to small rooms, but I was guided to a specific one out of all of them.


A thin, meager woman with white hair was hanging from chains in the very middle of the room. Each of the four walls had a round hole from which one of the chains extended. She was limp with no sign of strength.

"Still alive though... right?"

I approached carefully and addressed her while keeping several meters of distance between us. I saw her pale face but couldn't make out her age. What I could tell was that she would have been beautiful were she in perfect shape.

『...come, touch... my head...』

A cracked voice spoke to me. It felt like death would visit her at any moment.
Channeling my bravery I touched her head.

"Wha-?!"

Telepathy? In a single moment all the things she wanted to convey to me flowed into my mind like an avalanche.

Olivia Servant
Super Top Tier First Class Adventurer (Really?)

Looks like she played a major role in this country 200 years ago.
While on a walk she found the grotto on accident, figured out the fake wall, acquired the entrance incantation by deciphering some ancient texts written on a stone statue in the back of the grotto, and managed to enter the dungeon.

Eeh, so this Hidden Dungeon wasn't an unprecedented discovery after all, I'm the second intruder.
As for Olivia, when she defeated a monster in this room the trap activated and  turned her into this state. The astonishing thing is that she has been imprisoned here for as long as 200 hundred years. A gruesome story.

"I understand the general gist of things. One moment, I'll be cutting the chains"

『Stop, stop! These are cursed chains, don't do anything uncalled for!』

As if a connection was installed earlier I could hear her directly inside my head. Her articulation was fluent and full of spirit, but she herself had yet to show any facial expression or so much as move a finger. It appears her body and mind are cleanly split in half.

『These are cursed chains of death. Cut them and poor me will die.』

"Wait, then why did you call me here?"

『I've been looking for a conversation partner all this time, sending out my voice despite deeming it hopeless. And now someone actually came! Ah, it makes me so emotional I could cry.』

Which means the calling wasn't something I triggered by coming here, huh. So she's spent 200 years, every single day...

『But still, quite the promising sort, aren't ya.』

"My name is Noir. The reason I came here is to get stronger――"

I swiftly told her about my circumstances. Just like earlier her face remained still without even twitching an eyelid, yet her telepathic voice was full of vigor.

『Ain't that just great! Right as I was thinking about passing on my skills to someone~. I won't need them any more so you can have them. Just for a second, can you put your head against mine?』

"Like this?"

With a quicker heart rate than just a moment ago I touched her forehead with mine. This time I felt a heat wave wash over me like a tsunami. It felt as if my blood started boiling.

『Panpakapaa~n! Thanks to 「Transfer」 my skills were successfully imparted. A couple weren't compatible, but all the strong ones went over! And with this I can die in peace. Farewell~』

"Waitwait, it's still too soon to die!"

『Yeah, not dying. Was a joke~. I'll now explain the skills real quick.』

She went on to explain a bunch of incredible skills like they were everyday things.
 
 
「Skill Creation」
Freely create new skills at the cost of LP. Cost differs based on the desired skill. Originals are more expensive.

「Skill Bestowal」
Pass skills produced with skill creation on to other people and things. Different amounts of LP are used up depending on target and skill.

「Skill Edit」
Allows editing of anyone's and anything's skills. LP consumption depends on the content being edited.

「LP Conversion」
LP are restored in correspondence to the following actions.
- Enjoyment of a heartfelt, delightful meal
- Intimate behavior with the opposite sex
- Satisfaction of monetary and material desires
- Fulfillment of other desires and wishes (Prospering descendants included)

By concentrating on it the current amount of LP will show up in the back of one's mind.


Creation, bestowal, edit.
All of these are new to me. I wonder if they're uniques?

『Creation, bestowal and edit are pretty strong! Conserving your LP is crucial though.』

"The LP replenishing methods are all pretty wanton aren't they."

『Well, I've lead a delightful life in which I worked hard, lived in a nice house, enjoyed many hearty meals and had fun with a lot of good men, you see』

"So you were a bimbo."

『Can't deny that! But Noir, don't have it pile up, okay? When saving it's important not to stockpile it! Funny, eh?』

"Not exactly." 
 
『Uee-...』 　
(TN: A flat wordplay making use of saving's and stockpiling's shared pronunciation)  

『Anyway, how many LP do you have right now?』

When I focused on it a 『550』 came afloat in my mind.

『Not a whole lot after all. This way creating a strong skill won't be possible, but as a trial run try creating something.』

"What if I hit 0?"

『Death.』

Tell me something like that at the start.

"If I end up the man to exhaust all his LP and die you'll be the murderer held responsible."

『Not like you're that sort of man. Noir is the type that knocks on a stone bridge before crossing it but then doesn't walk over it anyways.』

"Ugh..."

『Aww I'm sorry, did that hit the mark? Aha-, well anyway, test the creation skill. Since it's your first time how about something like stone projectile?』

"I'll try."

I concentrated on creating 「Stone Projectile」
It said 『LP Cost: 50』 so I went for it.
Am I able to use it now? Let's see.

Dopang! Dokang!

A rock with a diameter of 20 cm shot out and collided with the wall.

"To think you can get a new skill just like that"

『Riight? Super convenient. By the way, how's your condition?』

"A tad languid, I think."

『You should go home and rest for today~. And make sure to come again! I'll be giving you some guidance on things - condition being that you call me master.』

"Master, I humbly beg of thee to treat me favorably on the next occasion as well."

『So heavy!』

"Since master is such a wanton woman I thought this much would be appropriate."

『Noir really knows how to spit venom...』

"Well then, I'll be back some other time."

Since my vitality wasn't doing too well either I did as I was told and exited the dungeon. On my way home I stopped by the church and asked a familiar, albeit dull, old mister to analyze my current abilities.

"What happened, Noir!? You've got some skills this old man has never even heard of, and wait, weren't you level 5?"

Turns out my level rose all the way to the 20s.
Gold slimes sure are tasty, in more ways than one.
  　   　
　
________________________________________________________________
 
Thanks for reading. Next chapter tomorrow. Special thanks to everyone pointing out typos and mistakes.

For context, "To knock on a stone bridge before crossing it" is a Japanese saying that describes an overly cautious person.

Previous Chapter || Next Chapter