WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Irevi
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Academy's Turn-Based Swordsman ◈
Chapter 116: Speed Run
──────
“Mister, I’ve been watching you. It looks like you’re about to buy up every antidote potion in the market. Is someone sick?”
“No one’s sick.”
I gave the merchant an appropriate smile.
‘Though there are people who’ll be sick soon.’
Then I packed the bundle of potions into my backpack.
Adeline and Luna stood beside me, each carrying a backpack full of the same potions.
The moment Enedor told me to bring him Dronium yesterday, I immediately understood what it meant.
‘A sudden quest.’
I barely managed to keep myself from smiling.
Since falling into this world, this was the first time someone had so openly asked me to bring them something.
I had deliberately avoided quests, but it would have been disappointing if there were no events like this at all.
The timing had worked out perfectly.
“That old man really is something. Thinking of sending someone else’s student into danger over a bit of ore.”
“It won’t be dangerous with you there, Instructor.”
“Well, that’s true.”
She ruffled my hair with a cheerful smile.
Ever since I declared that I would defeat the mid-boss after she returned from meeting Enedor, she had remained this excited.
Still, Dronium.
Dronium had existed in the original game as well.
It just was not a key material for crafting equipment, so my memory of it was vague.
Even so, the moment I heard the name, I could guess why that particular ore was needed.
‘Is it called a drone because it’s made from Dronium?’
The naming sense of developers desperate to force drones into their fantasy setting.
Yesterday, I had seen a drone blueprint in Enedor’s hand. He probably wanted to make one for Elia.
The eccentric craftsman archetype always acted like a tsundere toward their children. Enedor was probably following that cliché to the letter.
I did not know where Dronium could be found, but I had a rough idea.
The mid-boss room itself was the heart of the mine, where the richest veins had been extracted.
On the contrary, the farther one went toward the end of the mine, where the final boss room lay, the more barren the veins became.
In other words, Enedor had practically given me a quest to defeat the mid-boss and return.
There was no reason to hesitate.
I had to clear the dungeon anyway. If anything, I now had an excuse to bring the Empire’s greatest craftsman completely onto my side.
Just as we finished our preparations and were about to leave the market.
‘Huh?’
My gaze stopped at a leather stall in one corner of the market.
A palm-sized scrap of leather mixed among the others. A reddish haze rose from its surface.
‘That effect... I think I’ve seen it before.’
It was the same haze that had risen from metal when the Smithing ability was unlocked.
“Halibal?”
Leaving Luna behind, I approached the stall as though entranced and touched the leather.
I had never handled anything like this before, but for some reason, I could picture what might be made from this leather.
‘Could this be one of those specific materials?’
It was not large in either volume or area, but it looked suitable for making gloves or wrist guards.
It had not been fully tanned, and bits of animal fur still clung to it here and there.
“How much is this?”
“Hm? Wouldn’t you rather take one that’s already been treated?”
“No. I want this one.”
I paid for it without complaint and put the leather away.
‘It says weapon, but I don’t think it’s for my weapon.’
If it was for gloves, was it material for Ran’s gauntlets?
If not...
Still, it had to be something I needed.
It would be useful if I gathered it.
Still, I never imagined the Smithing ability would even grant an appraisal eye capable of identifying materials.
Now I had a reason to thoroughly marathon through every shop in every town I visited.
“H-Halibal! Wait!”
As we were about to leave Gravner, a familiar voice called out to us.
Elia came running over, out of breath, then immediately bowed his head.
“I’m sorry! You got dragged into this because of my father’s stubbornness. You don’t have to bring back that Dronium stuff!”
He seemed to think yesterday’s matter would burden me.
But I was happy about it.
Separately from that, I had thought something similar while overhearing Enedor yesterday.
I wondered whether I was ruining Elia’s life by getting him hooked on dungeon clearing.
Keeping this much distance would be better for both Elia and me.
“You don’t need to apologize.”
When I patted his shoulder, he took something out of his pocket and pressed it into my hand.
“It’s not much, but please take this instead.”
It was a pouch full of Healing Bombs, Bait Bombs, Reactive Bombs, and various other bombs Elia normally used.
The Bait Bombs in particular could draw monsters’ aggro, letting them serve as instant tanks.
I had been worried, but Elia understood his own strengths very well.
Instead of damage-dealing bombs, he had brought nothing but utility bombs. They were exactly what our party needed, since we already had more than enough damage.
“They’re still prototypes, so this is all I have. But I’ll make more by the time you come back.”
“I’ll put them to good use.”
Once I accepted the pouch, Elia finally nodded as if relieved.
Leaving him behind, we once again headed for the abandoned mine.
⁎⁎⁎
The sulfur smell greeted us as soon as we entered the abandoned mine.
We took antidote potions from our backpacks and drank them in one gulp.
The greatest difference between herbs and potions was that potions could be used preventively.
If one drank a potion beforehand like this, they would not become poisoned while its effect lasted.
The sharp medicinal effect spread through my entire body, driving away the sulfurous mist trying to seep into every corner of my lungs.
Of course, we still could not let our guard down.
We had yet to find the third egg, which must have regenerated after hatching yesterday.
So, this time, I planned to clear the dungeon with a different mindset.
‘Speed run.’
The moment I kicked off the ground at the signal, Adeline followed naturally.
Using mana, Luna slid along beside us as though she were skating on flames.
We had completed the map during yesterday’s scouting, so we headed straight for the first Demon Egg.
Kieeek!
Just like yesterday, a horde of Imps greeted us.
There were more than twice as many as before.
Normally, we would have had to enter turn-based combat again and deal with them one by one.
╔═════════╗
◈Abyss Core - Renee◈
╠═════════╣
▸ Equipped Shards: 16/16
◎ ◎ ◎ ◎
◎ ★ ★ ★
★ ★ ◆ ◆
◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
╠═════════╣
◎ = Green Shard III 5
★ = Black Shard III 5
◆ = [Dark Cloud]
◆ = [Black Cloud]
◆ = [Adamant]
◆ = [Hard Stillness]
◆ = [Self-Love]
◆ = [Biye]
╠═════════╣
▸ Stat Bonuses
Attack Power 1
Health 16
Defense 4
Critical Hits 23
Fluidity 26
╚═════════╝
Before coming here, I had removed half my Green Shards and filled those slots with Black Shards.
Adeline would handle all the damage anyway.
I launched myself at the Imps.
Slash! Slash!
Instant Kill, which had not activated yesterday due to my insufficient Fluidity, activated like lightning.
“Oh? Your movements are clearly different from yesterday.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Instructor.”
Being carried was not only useful against boss-class enemies.
The greatest benefit was being able to adjust every little part of my setup for convenience like this.
We comfortably dealt with the Imps and raced along the rails without slowing down.
At last, the first Demon Egg lay before us.
Luna raised her staff toward the mass of flesh spewing sulfurous mist.
“Fire Stratagem.”
Six purple flames rotated around her like satellites.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
They struck the egg in rapid succession, blowing the mass of flesh apart.
Screeeech!
The monster that had failed to hatch burst from within the egg with a dying scream.
The sulfurous mist that had filled the area grew thinner.
“Good. Next!”
The path to the second egg was not smooth.
A growl came from the darkness.
Grrrr...
One, two, three... more than ten pairs of red eyes.
A pack of Hellhounds.
They could not fly like Imps, but because they hunted in packs, getting caught in one attack often meant going to meet Miss Yudahee.
Imps did not trigger Instant Kill simply because my Fluidity was too low, but these things genuinely would not trigger it.
And we were standing on narrow rails.
The perfect place to be surrounded.
Adeline began stretching in earnest.
She seemed to think she would need to move seriously against them.
“It’s fine.”
I took out one of the Bait Bombs Elia had given me.
“That’s one Elia gave you earlier, right? What does it do?”
“Yes. Those things love it to death.”
I pulled the pin and threw the bomb into their midst.
Rattle...
Once the bomb stopped rolling across the floor, red smoke rose around it with a sssss...
Roar?!
Woof! Woof!
Grrr!
The Hellhounds’ gazes all turned toward the bomb at once.
A Bait Bomb was an item that maximized the demonic energy emitted by Shard fragments used in its construction without purifying it.
Monsters loved demonic energy so much that they could not help becoming addicted to it like a drug.
In the original game, Bait Bombs could briefly draw the aggro of even boss-class monsters, depending on Elia’s level.
Sure enough, the Hellhounds rushed toward the bomb, drooling as though they had tasted catnip.
“I see. The effect is certainly reliable.”
“They really are like dogs...”
“Their habits are similar, at least.”
This was our chance while they were gathered together.
Adeline’s sword swept magnificently through the air.
Booom!
The pack of Hellhounds, clustered tightly together, vanished into dust from a single blast of sword aura.
We ran down the clear path and reached the second egg. This time, Adeline easily destroyed it.
Only one remained.
We had searched every area scouted yesterday, but no egg had been visible.
Then I remembered there was one place we had not scouted.
The vertical shaft that had served as ventilation for the abandoned mine.
It was too high for us to bother climbing, and we had found the eggs before we could even consider it.
Normally, the mist should have been escaping that way, but for some reason, it was even thicker near the shaft.
“Up there? The smell is worse.”
“It’s the only place left. It’s where the sulfurous mist escapes, so it’s the perfect place for monsters to lay eggs.”
“You think so?”
Adeline focused strength into her thighs, then kicked off the ground and leaped upward.
Boom!
With a leap of faith, she easily cleared the rock wall dozens of meters high and waved down at us from above.
“I think you’re right. Come on up!”
Luna and I blankly looked at each other.
‘No, how?’
She could have brought us with her.
“...It can’t be helped.”
“Eek, eek?!”
I picked Luna up and began climbing the rock wall.
Luna buried her face in my chest, her cheeks turning red.
By the time I grunted my way to the top, the mist was far thicker than below.
Without the antidote potion, it would have been difficult even to breathe.
After walking for a long time through a passage barely large enough for one person, we saw the final third Demon Egg.
“Found it.”
Just as Adeline drew her sword.
Screeeech!
With a grotesque noise, the rocks protruding from the walls of the shaft began moving all at once.
“Huh. They weren’t statues.”
“You normally wouldn’t put statues somewhere like this.”
Gargoyles.
The stone-skinned, winged monsters glared at us with savage eyes.
There were around twenty of them.
The situation was far from good.
It was a narrow space with nowhere to stand.
Our opponents had the speed of Imps and the durability of Hellhounds.
At least they were not elite monsters.
“Damn it. Flying enemies are what I hate most.”
I agreed.
For a swordsman, aerial monsters, especially hard ones, were nothing short of poison.
In the original game, they could only be defeated with jumping attacks and jumping combos, but Arts often missed, making this section frustrating every time.
Of course, Adeline could simply fire sword aura and smash them apart, but if she misjudged her strength, there was a risk the entire shaft would collapse.
“It’s fine.”
“This time too?”
I reached into my coat again.
“I prepared for this.”
Who did? Elia.
I threw three bombs upward at once.
“Blow them up!”
At my shout, Luna launched purple fireballs as though she had been waiting.
Boom!
The bombs struck by the fireballs exploded in the air, scattering a sticky yellow liquid like a net.
Sticky Bombs.
Kieeek?!
The Gargoyles preparing to glide were drenched in the adhesive.
The main ingredient of Sticky Bombs was webbing with adhesive properties, spat out by the Human-Faced Spider and mixed with finely ground Shards.
Monsters did not leave materials behind when they died, but small amounts of byproducts, such as webbing they had spat out to attack while alive, could be collected.
The adhesive, strong enough to wrap even Senia up like a rice roll, instantly bound the Gargoyles’ wings and joints.
Thud! Thud!
“Huh?”
“They’re falling!”
The Gargoyles, their wings bound, began falling like flies.
Defenseless chunks of stone falling from the air.
They were perfect targets.
“Ha! This stuff is amazing!”
Adeline shouted in delight and swung her sword.
Luna and I added our firepower as well.
Crunch! Boom!
The Gargoyles shattered in midair as soon as they fell.
No matter how hard their skin was, it was no different from tofu before Adeline’s slashes.
Meanwhile, I did not miss the opening and charged at the egg.
“Luna!”
“Yes!”
Luna’s purple flames flew toward the egg.
At the same time, my sword pierced its center.
Shk!
With a bursting scream, the final egg shriveled up.
Almost simultaneously, Adeline cut off the final Gargoyle’s head.
“Is that it?”
That was when it happened.
Rumble...!!
As though responding to Adeline’s excellent revival flag, the entire shaft began to shake and roar.
Looking down the rock wall, the mist slowly began clearing from the distant darkness below.
The sulfur smell vanished as though it had been a lie, revealing the deepest part of the abandoned mine beneath the cliff.
An iron door that had previously been hidden by the mist was opening with a sound like nails scraping across a chalkboard.
The mid-boss room.
“Let’s go mine some Dronium.”
Footnotes:
“Meeting Miss Yudahee” is a Korean gaming meme meaning dying and seeing the game-over screen.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
