Ossan Saikyō Chapter 4 Part 05
The next day, I finally headed to an E-class dungeon. I had already studied the guide, so all that remained was to see how it felt in actual combat.
The biggest question was whether I could clear it solo.
There were two E-class dungeons, but the one I chose first was about an hour outside the town, by a riverside.
When I arrived, I saw a mound of small river stones piled up like a hill, with a gaping black opening in it.
As expected, several adventurer parties were gathered nearby, but I ignored them and entered the dungeon.
Inside was a cool, humid space, and the walls looked like they were made of stacked pebbles.
After following the route on the map for a while, my【Presence Detection】reacted. It was the first basement level, and there were five enemies.
(E/N: fyi, for dungeons with underground depression, I'll use # basement floor and for the dungeons with climbing elevation, I'll use # floor, simple!)
E-class dungeons had the same five floors as F-class, but both the quality and quantity of monsters were higher. Right away, I was greeted by numbers.
The monsters that appeared were Fishmen, bipedal fish-like creatures with arms and legs. They were taller than goblins and carried short spears.
FUShUShUShUSh!
Noticing me, the Fishmen let out strange cries and advanced in formation. They seemed more coordinated than goblins.
As their spears thrust toward me, I swung my mace in a counter. Thanks to the【Whiplash】skill, my follow-through had become sharper, and in an instant, I shattered all five spears.
After that, it was just close combat. The Fishmen swung the shafts of their broken spears, but the moment they entered my mace’s range, their heads exploded.
If even the F-class Boss couldn’t withstand my blows, there was no way these small fry could.
They dropped mana stones and large scales. The scales looked almost like glass. I stored both and moved on.
Before reaching the stairs to the second floor, groups of three to five Fishmen appeared about six times.
Unless I got careless, I wouldn’t even get injured… though occasionally, a spear would pierce through my【Steel Body】slightly. Their attack power might be higher than expected. Of course, any wounds healed quickly thanks to【Regeneration】.
On the second floor, I encountered a party of four young adventurers: one man and three women. A harem party, I guess.
As I gave a small nod and tried to pass by, one of the older-looking women spoke to me.
“Coming this far alone… Did your wife run off on you or something?”
(E/N:Rude! DJT would definitely say "Quiet, pig*y!" if he heard this 😂)
“No, I just work solo. I’m not acting out of desperation.”
Though, to be fair, that comment wasn’t entirely wrong… at least in my previous life.
“Still, going solo in an E-class dungeon is pretty crazy.”
“Just assume I made it this far because I can handle it. Fishmen aren’t a problem.”
“Huh… you look like you’ve been stabbed a few times, but you probably have【Steel Body】. Guess you won’t die that easily.”
Behind her, the timid-looking man fidgeted nervously. Ah, this guy has it rough… Sorry for calling it a harem in my head.
“Well, up ahead you’ll run into Stone Tortoises. If your mace doesn’t work, just run. If they bite you, you’ll lose a leg.”
“Got it, thanks. I’ll be careful.”
Adventurers in this world really do seem pretty friendly. (E/N: sounds like sarcasm to me 😂)
Come to think of it, since adventurers in this world are chosen at random through Awakening, it’s not as though roughnecks automatically become adventurers, perhaps that’s part of the reason.
Continuing on the second floor, I soon encountered the Stone Tortoise, two of them at that.
Basically, they were large snapping turtles with stone-covered shells. They were slow, but highly defensive, and their necks extended suddenly when attacking, making close combat dangerous.
I approached head-on, used【Whiplash】to feint, and slipped to one’s side. As it fell for the feint and extended its neck, I smashed it with my mace. Its head exploded instantly.
I tried hitting the shell too, but while the stone surface shattered dramatically, it didn’t seem to deal much damage. Worse, the recoil on my arm was significant, so targeting the neck was clearly the better option.
When defeated, they dropped mana stones and fragments of their shells. The shells looked like tortoise shell… So where did the “stone” part go?
In any case, I cleared the 2nd floor without much trouble. I did get bitten once due to a mistake, but thanks to【Steel Body】, it was just a flesh wound.
By the time I reached the entrance to the 3rd floor, I felt my level had increased.
The 3rd floor apparently just had more Stone Tortoises, but my pack was nearly full, so I decided to stop for the day.
My current mace was already starting to feel insufficient. Since I was tackling an E-class dungeon now, it might be time to upgrade my equipment.
◇◆◇
Back at the guild, I sold my materials. The one handling it was that same blunt receptionist. Her counter was always empty… probably because people didn’t like her attitude.
But she did her job properly, so I didn’t mind.
“E-class fish scales and tortoise shells… all this, by yourself?”
She gave me a slightly suspicious look, but that was understandable. There didn’t seem to be any solo adventurers in Euron.
“Yes, I cleared up to the 2nd floor.”
“If I may ask, how did you defeat the Stone Tortoises?”
“I struck their necks from the side when they extended them.”
“…Ah, right… you have that skill.”
She didn’t say the name【Whiplash】, probably because other adventurers were nearby. At least she was considerate about that.
“Yeah, I managed on my own.”
Normally, one person would act as bait while another attacked from the side, that’s how they were meant to be fought. They were definitely troublesome solo.
“Sorry for asking unnecessary questions. Here is your payment.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, carrying that much money around — isn’t it inconvenient? From E-rank onward, you can deposit funds with the guild.”
Ah, there it is. The guide did mention the guild acting like a bank.
“In that case, I’d like to deposit it.”
“Then your adventurer card, please.”
After handing it over, she went to the back room and returned shortly after.
“I’ve deposited the amount to your card. You can withdraw it at any adventurer guild.”
“That helps a lot.”
Just like that, the annoying clinking coins were neatly taken care of. Even if she was blunt, she provided exactly the information needed. I had no complaints here.
After leaving the guild, I headed to the weapon shop before training.
◇◆◇
The weapon shop owner in Euron was a short but extremely broad man with a thick beard; a dwarf, just like in fantasy stories. His beard made his age hard to tell, but he was probably around my age or older.
“Ye want a mace heavier and sturdier than this?”
He looked me up and down while holding my mace.
“Ye look like ye’ve trained a bit, but ye probably can’t even swing this properly, can ye? What’s yer rank?”
“E-rank.”
“E? And ye’re using something like this? Swing it.”
He handed the mace back, so I gave it a swing. With【Strength】,【Stability】, and【Whiplash】, it felt incredibly light; it even cut through the air with a strong whooshing sound.
“Hoo… E-rank, huh? Got some story behind ye? Whatever. With that kind of strength, yeah, this would feel lacking. Come with me.”
Dwarves were supposed to be stubborn and difficult, but it seemed I’d passed his test.
I followed him into a storage area behind the shop. There was a forge next door, and the heat pouring in was intense.
“High-rank adventurers don’t use maces much, so I don’t stock anything too fancy. But these two should suit ye.”
He pointed to two maces: one with a spiked iron ball, the other shaped like a hammer.
I picked each up and gave them a swing. They felt about 50% heavier than my current one. The weight didn’t match the appearance; maybe they had dark metal inside.
Both felt good, but after a moment’s thought, I chose the spiked iron ball.
“I’ll take this one. I sometimes use thrusts too.”
“Yeah, makes sense. That’ll be 500,000 Rom.”
I paid without hesitation, and he gave me a strange look.
“Ye’re not gonna haggle?”
“I don’t bargain over something made by a craftsman.”
It wasn’t some grand principle… but it felt wrong to undervalue someone’s skill. Maybe it was a reaction to living in a world where people constantly tried to undercut each other.
“Hmph. Ye might go far. People who don’t haggle arr either fools who die quick or people with real presence.”
“Haha, I’m not confident about my presence, but I don’t plan on dying anytime soon.”
After thanking him, I left the weapon shop.
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E/N:
Funny thing about the Whiplash skill, it's meant for the enemy not for the user. Just search the meaning and you'll understand 😂!
Stay tuned!
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