Magic Warrior Chapter 18 (Patreon)

Treasure Chest

It was a treasure chest.

In the middle of the clearing, surrounded by various shelves, was a large, beautifully crafted box with gold work. If it was not a treasure chest, then what was it?

Mirell-san was checking to see if there were any traps in the box.

"No traps. It's unlocked. I'll open it."

We open the treasure chest and find an identical ornate treasure chest, only a little smaller.

Again, after checking to make sure there were no traps and no locks, he opened it. Again, it contained a treasure chest that was one size smaller.

--Matryoshka!

"...what's this?"

Mirell-san was puzzled, apparently this was the first time even an A Rank adventurer had seen this pattern. Ten times she repeated it.

The contents of the box, which at first was too big to wrap in her outstretched hands, turned out to be a palm-sized treasure chest.

"One gold coin..."

The last small box contained the same gold coin that Claire and I had found, and Gina-san, Alphos-san, and my father all looked at each other in disappointment.

Mirell-san, apparently annoyed, kicked the chest.

What? Something reflected on the floor when the box shook?

"Mirell-san, is there anything in the gap between the box and the floor?"

"Hmm? I don't think there was anything in the box.

Mirell-san is shaking the treasure chest. He seems to have noticed something.

"I think I can push it. Help me."

"Why don't you just take out what's inside?"

Dad said, and he and Alphos-san took the empty box out, and Gina-san and Mirellle-san started to push the box as hard as they could. It was quite heavy, but I joined in to help, and little by little the box moved.

When we shifted the box a little, we found a hollow under the place where the box had been and a treasure chest the same size as the gold coins had been placed there. It seems it was this box that the light reflected off.

"So the whole top is fake?"

I heard Alphos-san blurt out. Either way, with the weight of this box, I think they were going to have to open it all up and take it out.

After Mirell-san examined it, we opened the treasure chest. The gold coins seemed to be crammed into a small box.

"There must be about 30 gold coins alone."

"Well done Mina-chan."

"There were also some rings in the box. I will appraise them later."

Alphos-san praised me.

If I have the [Appraise] skill, I can examine the abilities of equipment and tools in exchange for magical power.

He said that it was not a skill that could appraise living creatures, such as humans and monsters. If you don't have the skill, you can ask the Adventurer's Guild or an appraiser to check them for you, or you can use a Magic Item, which grants the skill of appraisal, as a substitute.

Adventurers who have reached the point where they could no longer be considered novices often have those magic items. They were not very expensive.

Alphos-San and the others were beaming, knowing that they had earned more money than they had expected, even though they had been prepared to work for free.

We explored the dungeon like that. Unfortunately, there was only one treasure chest.

"The next room is the last."

"I wonder if there is a boss."

"If it's a dungeon, there's bound to be a boss."

Alphos-san and the others chatted comfortably. It seems that in this world, it was normal to have a boss at the end of a dungeon.

The word "dungeon" implies a boss. The boss is part of the dungeon.

...or something like that.

On the other side of the door was the largest clearing we've seen so far, a door could be seen at the end, and in front of it was a floating suit of armor. It was dark-colored plate armor, and the slit in the helmet where the slit meets the eye was glowing. In the right-hand of the armor is a glowing sword, and in the left-hand armor is a large shield.

That was probably a living armor. Similar to a Living Statue, this armor is powered by magic and is much more powerful.

It should be a little over level 50, I think.

"Mark, take care of Mina-chan!"

Alphos-san, who had entrusted the other two as vanguard until now, moves forward. I wondered if it would be too hard even for Gina-san, who could take out a barghest with a single strike.

Mirell-san, who had only a dagger and a bow, was not a good match for a monster with high defense, so they switched places.

When Gina-san slashed the Living Armor with her two-handed sword, the Living Armor protected itself with its shield, and Alphos-san took advantage of the opening to strike with his spear from behind Gina-san, in a position that was a blind spot for the Living Armor. The spear seemed to have an attribute, and the tip of the spear was covered with cold air.

As soon as the Living Armor was hit from the blind spot and lost its position, Gina-san brandished her sword. Magic flowed through the sword and the blade burst into flames.

For a moment, it looked like a magic sword, but it seems to be a type of weapon classified as a Magic Item.

Having a method of attacking with an attribute was an adventurer's trump card against an opponent difficult to fight without attributes. However, it may not be so much of a trump card for high-ranked adventurers, who demand a variety of fighting styles.

The high-pitched sound of metal clashing with metal echoed. The Living Armor skillfully manipulates its sword and shield to defend against Alphos-san and Gina-san's coordinated moves.

"Keep it up!"

""Oh!""

"Tornado Arrow!"

At the signal, Alphos-san and Gina-san split to the left and right, and Mirell-san fired a storm-covered arrow.

Living Armor quickly caught the arrows with their shields.

The arrows seem to be filled with tremendous magical power and do not stop there!

A cracking sound is heard and the shield cracks. Living Armor stiffens at the blow.

"[Smash]!"

"[Pierce]!"

Alphos-san thrusts a spear from the left, and Gina-san brandished from the right.

The shield was shattered by the follow-up blow of the hard-hitting Smash, and the spear that entered through the gap cut through the armor.

The living armor was still moving. The light in its eyes was almost flickering.

Both [Smash] and [Pierce] were basic skills that could be used from the very beginning of the game. [Tornado Arrow] would have been learned at the intermediate level of ranged techniques.

This was a type of skill that had an attribute attached to it.

Although it resembled a magic sword, the effect it exerts was completely different, with the disadvantage that the skill's attribute would always be taken into account when calculating the damage. This means that a [Tornado Arrow] will be less effective against monsters that have wind resistance.

Even if the magic sword remained activated, it was possible to freely switch whether to put the attribute on the sword at will.

The game calculates the damage caused by the magic sword with its attribute, the damage caused by the weapon without its attribute, and the damage caused by the weapon's original attribute, to produce the highest damage. In addition, the damage could be further boosted by matching the weapon's original attribute and the magic sword's attribute to the same attribute.

Even though they are A Rank of adventurers, they fight with basic skills. I guess that means they have no need to use big skills.

"Since it's a good opportunity, why don't you try it with Mark and Mina-chan?"

"Experience is important."

Alphos-san moved back, Mirell-san agreed, and Gina-san was taking on the slower-moving Living Armor attack.

Power leveling, huh?

...Power leveling was the act of leveling up at an unusual rate while being protected by a strong person.

In some games, power leveling could be considered a breach of etiquette, as it could easily interfere with players playing normally, but in [SeveChro], there were many hunting grounds with large fields and instance dungeons that could be entered by parties, so it was not a particular problem. I guess there would be no instance dungeons in this world, right?

Of course, I did not know if power leveling was possible in this world.

"Mina, can you do it?"

"Yes!"

"Mina, attack from the right."

I grabbed the iron sword as my father seemed willing to try. Although the movement was slowing down, the left side with the weapon was more dangerous, so my father seemed to be in charge of that side.

I move forward and switch places with Gina-san to attack the Living Armor with my father.

He dexterously defends himself against Living Armor's attacks. The sword seems to be a Magic Item sword, judging from the faint magic power on it. It was not so impressive compared to the wind and fire weapons, but it looked similar.

I took the opportunity to slash at it from the right side of its torso.

--It was so hard!

I heard the sound of metal hitting metal, and I felt as if no damage had been done.

My hand was numb... well, my weapon was simply an iron sword, after all.

I tried to aim at Alphos-san's cut, but I couldn't get a good hit.

I think I could cut with [Magic Sword], but I wondered if he would allow me to use it...

I glanced at my father, but he didn't seem to mind that I hadn't done any damage. Would it be okay if I think of it as practicing against a scarecrow?

It was just for practice, but after fighting for a while, Dad's movements were getting better and better. I wondered if his intuition from his adventuring days had returned. Gradually, his attacks alone began to inflict damage.

"Mina-chan, why don't you use your skills?"

"Maybe, she couldn't use it, she has little experience in actual combat, after all."

"She should have enough skill to beat a Living Statue, right?"

Alphos-san looked at me smiling.

Hmmm...does Alphos-san seem to have figured out that I beat it?

Well, I did tell them honestly how I beat it in the first place.

I glanced at my dad, and he turned to me and nodded. It meant I could use it, and he didn't seem to have any intention of forcing me to hide it from Alphos-san and the others.

I put the iron sword back on my hip and readied my wooden sword. It would be bad for my father to break the iron sword while training.

I readied the wooden sword and concentrated on manipulating magic. This time it was easier because the monster's attention was on Father.

"[Buio Spada]!"

I decided to attack with a wooden sword cloaked with the dark attribute, since it seems to be a dungeon of light and the weak point in the game should be darkness. The wooden sword was covered with a black cloud-like substance, and black lightning crackled.

I barely felt the impact of the cut as I slashed through the Living Armor.

I knew the speed and movement habits of my opponent from the prior engagement. Turning around, it tried to slash me down from the head.

However, before it could, the Living Armor, which was cut in half, crumbled into pieces and stopped moving. well, when the wooden sword became a magic sword, it could slice through stone and steel as much as I wanted.

"I didn't expect it to be this strong..."

Alphos-san and the others froze in amazement. I thought that my father might be grinning because of the successful prank, but he froze with them.

...eh?