Chapter 93: Golem

C-calm down! My skill list looks pretty intimidating now, but that’s all there is to it!

I hope everything’s fine… Let me check. Huh? First up is the [Eyes of Chaos and Death], a skill that seems to come with becoming the “Apostle of Chaos and Death” Job. Its effect allowed me to apply abyssal magic more easily to those I gazed upon. At level 0, it was a 1% increase after staring for 10 seconds, with a maximum increase of 10%.

It seemed that both the increase value and the maximum increase went up as my level rose. I’ll have to make active use of this.

Then there was [Divine Power Descent], another skill that allows me to bring down a portion of the power of Lady Yifa, the “Goddess of Death and Chaos” onto myself. Its effects include boosting all my stats and enhancing abyssal magic. It felt somewhat like a milder version of [Dragon Force], but the difference here was that I could use it at will, even if I was not close to death. The flexibility is a significant benefit.

Well, of course, there were constraints when it came to such powerful skills. Once I use these skills, there’s a real-time cooldown of one or four days in-game time before I can use them again. They certainly don’t allow excessive spamming.

“Hmm, I had a different purpose in mind… Well, never mind. Now, where’s [Healing Magic] …?”

Huh? What’s this? The list of available skills doesn’t include [Healing Magic]! What’s going on here? Before my job change, “Apostle of Chaos and Death” was at the end of the priest jobs category!

Could it be that acquiring [Healing Magic] is difficult for an undead like me? Just like it was with [Light Magic]. If that’s the case, this job change could be a major failure…

“No, could it be this one…?”

However, I stumbled upon something strange in the list of skills that I could now acquire. It seemed incredibly suspicious, but it was probably a skill related to the [Healing Magic] category.

“[Soul Magic] …?”

Although the name was unfamiliar and confusing, I decided to take a closer look at the details of the skill. According to it, damage to the body also damages the soul, and [Soul Magic] was a method to heal that part of the soul.

Unlike [Healing Magic], which instantly restores physical health, this [Soul Magic] seemed to heal the soul gradually over time. However, it compensated with a greater overall healing capacity and the ability to cure status ailments. There were pros and cons, I suppose.

“Well, this won’t tarnish my image!”

I had always wanted to remain a “Mage”, but the need for a healing option led me to choose the priest-like job. The job title itself didn’t sound very priestly, but on top of that, it offered the perfect spells for someone like me, well-versed in many evil arts. It did require a hefty 10 SP to acquire, but there was no reason not to get it!

――――――――――

You have acquired the [Soul Magic] skill by consuming SP. 

Newly learned “Minor Soul Heal” and “Poison Heal” spells. 

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Minor Soul Heal and Poison Heal, huh? It seems like the basics of healing physical health and treating status ailments. Considering how many monsters are capable of poisoning, these spells should come in handy in various situations.

Now, the bone remodeling, evolution, job change, and confirmation of new skills have finally come to an end. Unexpected things happened along the way, but they all turned out to be in my favor, so I’ll take it as a win.

Alright, it should be about time for everyone to return. Once someone gets back, I’ll take a break too. With everything that’s happened, I’m feeling a bit drained. Besides, a logout was necessary to organize my thoughts.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

I logged back in. My head had calmed down after taking a break. However, I couldn’t help but think that the evolution and job change this time around were nothing short of irregular. From now on, I intend to stick to my original playing style as an Abyssal Mage.

“Hey! Back already, brother?”

“Yeah.”

It was Jigoro who welcomed me as I logged in. It seemed like the others had already returned. Iris was admiring Karl, and Ruby was engaged in a light sparring session with Genjuro. Wait, is Ruby perhaps leaning toward that side too?

“Ah, it’s Isam,” Ruby said.

“Well then, I suppose your practice is over?” Gnejuro added.

Seeing me return, the two of them paused their training. I felt like I was intruding, and I apologized.

“Now that I’m back, let’s set off… Iris?”

“Oh! Yes!”

“Grrrr…”

Iris had been engrossed in petting Karl, completely unaware of my return. Upon hearing my voice, she turned around in a fluster. It seemed she had been engrossed in petting Karl.

Not only was she gently stroking Karl with her numerous tentacles, but she had also produced a brush, which she was using to groom him. Karl appeared to be enjoying it too, and as Iris reluctantly withdrew her tentacles and the brush, a sense of disappointment crossed his face. I felt a slight sense of unease about the surprising intimacy that had developed between one of my companions and my familiar in my absence, but we started our exploration.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

We descended the stairs—or rather, walked down the stationary escalator. When we first got on, I thought it might start moving, but that didn’t happen. It seemed like the power in this ruined city was dead.

Actually, what was more peculiar were the “Ancient Travel Tower” and “Ancient Springs” teleportation devices that continued to function until now. They were relics of the same civilization, but perhaps they had undergone special preservation processes to maintain their functionality.

After walking down the escalator leading underground, we arrived as expected in an underground city. However, the preservation here was close to the worst imaginable. Every store was in shambles, with signs peeling off as a matter of course. Some places had entranceways and ceilings that collapsed, making it impossible to enter.

“Huh! Everyone, something’s coming.”

As we observed the dismal surroundings, Ruby quickly sensed something approaching. Now, what would be the first thing to appear in this underground city?

“A-A robot?”

Emerging from around the corner of the corridor was a cylindrical object—or, to be precise, a cylinder standing about one and a half meters tall, smoothly gliding across the floor. It was immediately apparent that it was a robot, as a portion of its surface armor had peeled away, revealing complex inner machinery. This was turning out to be quite an unexpected turn of events.

As the robot turned toward us, it began to flash its sensors and corresponding lights positioned on top. After a while, the lights settled on a fixed red color. I had a bad feeling about this.

“Beep… Detecting the presence of monsters. Starting with elimination.”

“!?”

A mechanical, lifeless voice echoed, and then the upper section of the cylindrical robot silently unfolded. From there, a small gun emerged! It seemed my bad feeling was quite accurate.

“M-Magic Circle Activation! Holy Shield!”

Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka!!!

I anxiously watched as the sound of bullets being deflected by the Holy Shield I hastily activated resonated. Alright! It seemed that the firepower wasn’t enough to break through the Holy Shield spell, which brought me some relief.

“Gouooo!!”

Perhaps realizing the ineffectiveness of the bullets, Karl let out a furious roar and charged towards the robot. I worried about his safety, but my concerns were unfounded. Karl’s tough scales repelled the bullets as if they were nothing more than pebbles.

“Gaaaah!”

With the force of his charge, Karl swung his arm. His claw, resembling a short knife, didn’t just cut through the robot’s armor effortlessly; it sent the entire body flying.

The robot spun in the air, scattering sparks, and slammed into the wall with a loud crash. Hmm, since he became a lesser dragon, hasn’t Karl’s fighting style gotten rougher?

“Grrrrrr♪”

After destroying the robot, Karl returned to me in high spirits. He emitted a purring sound, almost like a form of affection, while rubbing his head against me.

“Hahaha, he’s still a spoiled little one at heart, isn’t he?” 

“It seems so.” 

I gently stroked Karl’s affectionate head, and he closed his eyes, clearly enjoying the attention. Oh, there, there.

“While it’s nice to pamper him, maybe we should finish the skinning first?” Ruby said.

“Hmm? You’re right.” 

Oh dear, I almost got lost in petting Karl. Just as Ruby had mentioned, let’s get the skinning done first.

Approaching the robot, which still intermittently emitted sparks from its damaged parts, I thrust my skinning knife into it. However, the resistance I felt was unexpected.

“Hmm? It’s not piercing through?”

The skinning knife was a must-have tool for players that allowed them to turn defeated enemies into drop items by stabbing them. It had negligible direct attack power but was invaluable for being indestructible and able to pierce the corpses of any monster. So, why wasn’t it working now?

“In that case… Let’s use [Appraisal].’”

I decided to try the [Appraisal] skill. I usually do this before battles, but Karl’s eagerness to fight the robot caused me to forget this time.

――――――――――

Security Golem α Model – Quality: Scrap, Rarity: C (Common)

A mass-produced Golem developed for the purpose of maintaining security. It’s heavily damaged and won’t move in its current state.

――――――――――

A Golem! While it’s a common sight in a world of swords and magic, upon seeing the results of my [Appraisal], I was more astonished than excited about the fact that a Golem existed.

“This… Could it be that this robot, I mean, this golem, is treated as an item!?”

In the past, I had casually used [Appraised] in the corpses of monsters. Back then, their levels, race, job, and skills were displayed, just as they were when they were alive. However, the [Appraisal] results for this robot, now identified as the “Security Golem α Model”, were identical to those of an item.

In other words, the “Security Golem α Model” was not a monster. Moreover, given the description and the quality marked as “Scrap”, I speculated that it had been treated as an object like an item from the beginning, which might explain why it couldn’t be skinned.

“No, considering it was an artificial golem, treating it as a monster might be the strange part. But more importantly… can we create something like this ourselves?”

And this fact piqued my curiosity. If Golems were artificial creations, then surely the players could produce them themselves. It appeared that Golems were quite common in this city, often used for guarding the underground streets. If that was the case, there might be hints about their creation method waiting to be uncovered.

Searching for the method to create Golems became one of my goals for future exploration!

“Isam, what’s going on?”

“Oh, I’ve made quite an interesting discovery…”

Beep… Clank… Beep! Beep! Beep!

When I was about to tell Iris about the results of the [Appraisal] and the predictions that could be drawn from them, a warning sound began to blare, one that I felt I had heard somewhere before. It seemed to be coming from the ceiling, likely broadcasting from the speakers in the underground streets.

“Monsters….B-B-B-B-Beep… I-I-I-I-I-Intrusion-n-n-n… R-R-R-R-epeat-t-t-t-t…”

Furthermore, in sync with the warning sound, a mechanical voice that closely resembled what the robot had emitted became audible. It also seemed to be malfunctioning due to age, but its message was clear. It appeared that they had identified us as a threat.

“R-R-R-R-R-Repeating… monsters inva-a-a-a-a-ding… B-B-B-B-Beep… Re…tre…at… To sa….fety…”

Finally, after leaving what seemed like evacuation instructions, the warning sound and announcements came to an end. Clearly, the wear and tear from age had taken its toll, preventing a smooth broadcast.

“However, this broadcast means…”

“Yeah… they’re coming, brother!”

In response to Jigoro’s cheerful voice, the sound of something like wheels rolling from deep within the underground passage became increasingly clear. Just as the broadcast had stated, it seemed that forces had been dispatched to eliminate us, the invading monsters.

“Good grief, it seems we can’t escape a battle, whether it’s above ground or underground.” 

“Ho-ho-ho! That’s just fine! That’s just fine!” Gnejuro added.

“G-Grandpa is sounding like an evil governor…” Ruby said.

“Hahaaa! Let’s have some fun wrecking havoc!” Jigoro said.

“L-Let’s do our best!” Iris said.

“Gruooooooooooooo!”

Along with our chatter, we quickly readied ourselves for combat as the enemies drew nearer. And just like that, we found ourselves entering the underground city and immediately facing off against a legion of Golems.