Chapter 95: Jammer Field

“Hmm, it’s not as good for practical combat as the normal [Healing Magic].”

Jigoro remarked after hearing my explanation about [Soul Magic]. Well, to be honest, he had a point.

Indeed, I had been thinking the same thing. Using the target’s own magic power to heal him, coupled with the slower healing rate, wasn’t very practical during combat. It would likely just confuse my allies if used in the heat of battle.

As for its usage, it would be best to use it during short breaks to simultaneously heal everyone and replenish their depleted magic power with the “magic array”, which was the martial technique of the [Staff Mastery] skill. It’s a bit different from what I had in mind, but if it helps conserve potions, it’s a good alternative. Yeah.

“Isam, have you finished collecting the golems?” Iris asked.

“Yes, I have. So….how does it look? Can we do it?”

My intention in asking was, of course, whether it was possible to create golems. I didn’t think we’d make the same thing, but I was eager to take on the challenge of creating golems. It’s only natural for a mage, right?

“Well, I can’t say for sure until I’ve examined it more closely, but I do think it’s possible. If I can get my hands on some specialized books, I’ll be more certain,” Iris responded.

“I see… I hope we find them during this expedition.”

Both Iris and I were increasingly making finding the method to create golems our main objective for this expedition. Our initial goal had been to defeat the boss here, but it was only natural that our curiosity about new technology took precedence, wasn’t it?

“For now, take a look at this,” Iris said.

“Oh, it’s a drone. And this one… is it called the β model?”

――――――――――

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

A mass-produced Golem developed for the purpose of maintaining security. It has the ability to fly.

It’s heavily damaged and won’t move in its current state.

――――――――――

The result of the [Appraisal] I performed on the drone I had pierced with my tail was as follows. Except for mentioning its flight capabilities, the text was the same as that for the α model. The shape and attack methods were completely different, though. Was this okay?

“I can put it in the inventory… right?”

“Yes, you can. As long as it’s destroyed, you can put it in as is. However, if it’s still operational, even if it can’t move, you can’t add it,” Iris explained.

It seemed that out of the three drones I had disabled with “Sand Wind,” one couldn’t be added to the inventory. It appeared that this particular one, despite being non-functional, hadn’t fallen completely silent. That seemed to be the reason.

It was understandable that living creatures couldn’t be placed in the inventory, but it was also a no-go for functioning golems. Well, when you think about it, it makes sense. After all, if it were actually possible, you could easily carry a substantial fighting force in your inventory by storing a large number of golems.

“That seems reasonable. Well then, let’s depart once we’ve retrieved them.”

“Yes!”

◆◇◆◇◆◇

“Hmm… So, the towering building at the center of the city is the administrative office, after all. To get there… No, it’s no use. I can’t read a part of the map.”

The underground city we were in seemed quite large, as we had discovered from the informational map on the wall we found during our exploration.

The “Ancient Ruined City” was broadly divided into four sections: the administrative district, the commercial district, the industrial district, and the residential district. The city’s center was the administrative district, while the remaining three were located on its outskirts. It appeared that this underground city was in the commercial district.

As for the issue of size, this underground area covered almost the entire commercial district. In other words, it boasted a quarter of the city’s total area. It was impossible to explore it all in one go.

Therefore, for this exploration, we decided to avoid detours as much as possible and prioritize our main goal, which was defeating the field boss. We’ll save searching for the creation method and hints about the golems for another time.

Previously, Jigoro had passionately argued, “It’s a given that the boss is always at the highest point!” So, for our short-term goal, we decided to head to the rooftop of the tallest building in the city’s center. However, when we tried to read the signs to find our way, they were quite old, and some parts had peeled paint, making it difficult to decipher. It seemed like we couldn’t simply proceed straight ahead.

Nevertheless, we had managed to partially figure out the route. Moreover, there weren’t countless forks in the path, so from there on, we could begin our usual adventure of feeling our way forward, so it wasn’t a significant issue.

“Guooon!”

“Persistent, aren’t they!”

The real problem was the intermittent attacks from security golems. Like the harpies, they were numerous, and their numbers increased with each assault. However, unlike those creatures, they were weaker, and there was an easy way to deal with them, so it didn’t drain our resources much. But one issue was dampening our morale.

“Ugh, seriously! Even after all this, it’s not giving us any experience points. It’s really not worth it!” Iris shouted.

Today’s most surprising discovery was that, even after destroying the golems, neither race nor job experience points accumulated. Presumably, this rule was in place to prevent players from continuously defeating the golems they created before repeatedly repairing them and easily leveling up. However, Ruby, who was on the verge of leveling up, couldn’t hide her frustration.

“Haha… But at least the skill levels increase…”

“Yeah, but still…”

The only consolation was that the skills did accumulate experience points with each use, allowing their levels to rise properly. Without this mechanism, everyone except Jigoro and Genjuro, for whom fighting is the ultimate joy, would likely have been discouraged.

“Twin Magic Circle Remote Activation, Black Thread. Thanks for the support while I was deciphering the map.”

“Looks like you know the way!”

Jigoro said as he smashed the golem captured by my black thread spell. There was a reason it took a little longer than expected to read the map.

It was because the inscriptions were in ancient text that could only be deciphered with the [Linguistics] skill. Furthermore, when we found the guide map, only I, with the highest level of [linguistics] in the party, could decipher it.

Just as I began deciphering, we were unlucky enough to be attacked by golems. I was ready to join the fight, but Jigoro insisted that I stay focused on deciphering.

I was sure his proposal came from his desire to find some enjoyment in battle, given his dissatisfaction with the weakness and fragility of the golems. Well, I could have taken screenshots and then started deciphering, couldn’t I? Even though I knew this, I continued with the map deciphering. I’m a man who can read the situation to some extent, after all.

When I started moving, everyone knew that the map that was inscribed on the wall had been deciphered, and the tension in the air eased tremendously. The battle wasn’t over yet, so they shouldn’t have let their guard down, but it couldn’t be helped. This was because of a certain spell I could use.

“Let’s wrap this up. Spell adjustment, Magic Jammer.”

“Gagaga… Gaga…”

“Gariri…”

“Beep…”

Through the use of a magic disruption spell known as “Magic Jammer” of the [Void Magic] skill, invisible waves spread out from me. Upon coming into contact with these waves, all golems came to an abrupt halt, regardless of their models.

Upon Iris’s investigation, it appeared that these golems were a type of magic tool powered by magic power extracted from magic stones. However, the “Magic Jammer” spell seemed to interfere with their operation.

Iris had found some references on a production-focused bulletin board regarding the effectiveness of the “Magic Jammer” spell against these magic tools and suggested I give it a try. Following her advice and actually testing it, the results were remarkable. Every golem within the effective range came to a standstill, leaving us free to deal with them as we pleased.

“Something like this appeared in that sci-fi VRS game Shii-chan used to play, right? Um, what did she say it was called?” Ruby said.

“By any chance, do you mean EMP… electromagnetic pulse attack?”

“Yes, that’s it! Iris, you sure know your stuff!”

Electromagnetic pulse attack… Indeed, the effect of the “Magic Jammer” spell on magic tools bore a striking resemblance to an electromagnetic pulse attack on electronic devices. So, when we will be creating these golems, we need to consider protection against this “Magic Jammer” spell. Even if these golems weren’t intended for combat.

“All right, let’s collect the wreckage and get going. First, we’ll continue down this corridor we’ve reached, and then take a left at the second turn.”

“Yes!”

“Uh okay.”

Some responded with enthusiasm, while others gave less spirited replies, but they all began the task of collecting the remains. For those who had no interest, putting in the effort to gather what seemed like junk might prove hard. However, I hoped they would persevere, knowing it was for the sake of my and Iris’s research. With that in mind, I started picking up the countless scattered components of the defeated golems.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

After repelling two attacks from security golems, we continued through the underground city, now reduced to ruins. We passed through sections where groceries and everyday items were gathered, as well as areas with restaurants and boutiques. Eventually, we arrived at an open area. While the location on the map had been fairly spacious, this was a grand square with a central artificial pond.

“Oh? Quite intricate stone statues.”

Genjuro remarked as he looked at the statue seated at the center of the circular pond. Indeed, the statues, meticulously crafted down to the smallest details, possessed a lifelike presence. The motif depicted a battle between five warriors and a dragon.

There was a fully armored human knight, a robed mage with a wide conical hat, an elven archer on one knee with a bow drawn, a dwarf carrying a massive shield and axe, and a dual-wielding beastman brandishing sharp fangs in a threatening manner. It was a well-balanced party consisting exclusively of humanoids.

In contrast, there was a dragon slightly larger than Karl. Its head resembled a menacing lizard with two horns, a row of dagger-like teeth, scales covering its body, sharp claws on its fore and hind legs, and a pair of wings with a membrane like that of a bat. In a word, it was a more streamlined, conventional dragon compared to Karl.

“Grururu?”

Karl observed his unmoving kin with a perplexed expression. Karl, those are stone statues, so they don’t move on their own, you know? But Karl’s gestures are cute, so it’s all right!

Examining the dragon statue more closely, I noticed what seemed to be some sort of tube deep in its throat. Presumably, there was a mechanism that could create the illusion of a “Dragon’s Breath” using water from here, although now it was all but dry.

If this fountain had existed in reality, it might have become as famous a tourist attraction as the Trevi Fountain in Rome; it has reached the level of art that people would pay to see.

However, my interest was not particularly directed toward the statues. This was because the map indicated that the path from here led to a section of the city filled with magic tools and alchemical stores on the way to the administrative building. We planned to pass through it today, but I wanted to get an idea of which stores were where and which ones might have potential treasures.

“Intruders detected. Intruders detected.”

“Start with the Elimination.”

At this time, security golems once again launched an attack. All of us, including myself, instinctively prepared our weapons but quickly relaxed. They were just ordinary small fries, as they had always been.

“…They have no sense of shame, coming back like this. Let’s finish this quickly. Spell adjustment, Magic Jammer.”

Naturally, I used the Magic Jammer spell. It wasn’t much trouble to expand its range to cover the entire square. Even with their numbers, as long as we had the Magic Jammer, these golems were hardly a threat!

“I can sense the activation of Magic Jammer. Deploy the resistance field.”

…. Or so I thought. But as soon as I heard the mechanical voice, about ten slender rods emerged from the dried-up pond at the bottom. From those rods, waves resembling the Magic Jammer emanated and collided with the waves I had unleashed, canceling each other out!

“W-What!?”

“Resistance field successful. Proceeding with jammer field deployment.”

As if mocking us, the mechanical voice outputted ominous words while we were left dumbfounded by the deactivation of the Magic Jammer spell. A jammer field? I couldn’t shake off this unsettling premonition.

“Threat level, 5. γ model, activate.”

At that moment, as the emotionless mechanical voice declared, we witnessed red light gleaming in the eyes of the statues positioned around the pond.