WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Alyo

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◈ Surviving as a Warrior in a TRPG World ◈

Chapter 30: Secret (3)

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"You arrogant bastard...!! My servants, protect me...!!"

The mage called the remaining Rat Men over to surround themself, then began chanting another spell. Bruno raised his shield and slowly started up the stairs.

"I'll hold them off, so stay close behind me!!"

Only an experienced shield Warrior could say something like that. Reassured by Bruno's dependable declaration, Jensen and Gerik followed close behind without a word.

Before long, another heavy Magic Missile shot forward and struck Bruno.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!!

"Urk...!!"

Magic Missiles crashed into the tower shield, and heavy impacts echoed across the square.

Even though the steel shield blocked the spell, the impact was no joke. A groan slipped from Bruno's mouth.

"Is that all you've got?!"

It hurt, but it was nothing Bruno couldn't endure. He pretended to be calm as he taunted the mage.

Having felt the power of Magic Missile firsthand, Bruno charged forward with his shield raised.

Kyaak!!

As the two Warriors rushed in, the Rat Men guarding the mage let out savage shrieks.

Their bodies were bleeding all over from blocking arrows for so long, but they paid it no mind and bravely charged down to stop the two Warriors.

"Gerik!! Go right!!"

Bruno proposed blocking the left with his shield and clearing a path with his mace.

Gerik had fought in step with Bruno long enough to learn his rhythm. Instead of answering, he pressed close to the right and took the same position Kagosh had held.

Bang!!

"Woooaaah!!!!!"

A Rat Man half-ran, half-rolled down the stairs and crashed into Bruno's shield. The tremendous impact slammed into Bruno, but he gritted his teeth until his gums bled and endured it.

While Bruno, forced back five or six steps, grappled with the Rat Man, Gerik swung his longsword and drove it into the charging Rat Man's back.

Thud! Thud!

Jensen kept firing quarrels without pause to support them. Thanks to that, no additional Rat Men charged in, preventing Bruno from being knocked down the stairs by the impact.

"Just a little farther!! A little more...!!"

Two Rat Men remained, but they had spent a long time blocking arrows bare-bodied right in front of the mage. Their wounds were far worse than the others'.

They were little better than straw dummies at that point, so Bruno encouraged his companions and tried to close in on the mage.

Only about ten steps remained. Pressured by their dogged advance, the mage broke out in a cold sweat and desperately repeated the chant.

Screech!!

Perhaps to protect its master, the last Rat Man tried to charge Bruno from the right. This time, Gerik rushed in to block it and protect Bruno.

"Oleum sparge... fundamenta cadant..."

"Got you...!!"

Only the final two steps remained. Bruno could finally drive his mace into that damned spellcaster's skull, and his breathing grew rough.

Bruno raised his mace and took a large step forward. At that moment, a brown sphere shot from the tip of the mage's staff.

Splat!!

The sphere struck the ground near the step Bruno was about to set foot on. Slippery liquid immediately spread out from that point.

Slip...!!

"Urk?! Aagh?! Ugh!! Uwaaah...!!"

Bruno stepped onto the final stair and was caught off guard by the slickness, unlike anything he had ever felt before.

Like someone slipping on winter ice, Bruno flailed about comically, trying somehow to keep his balance.

"Ugh!?"

His efforts were useless. Bruno finally went sprawling and began slipping and rolling down the stairs.

The sound of heavy metal and stone colliding rang out in every direction.

Thud!! Crash!! Thud, thud!!

The weight of Bruno's huge frame, nearly 190 centimeters tall, and his heavy armor combined with gravity to deliver an unimaginable impact.

The pain was so immense that Bruno could not even groan properly as he rolled down the stairs again and again.

"Ugh... Ngh... Ghk...!!"

After tumbling down the stairs for some time, Bruno's neck had suffered too much impact. His body trembled as he groaned, then he died.

"Bruno!!"

When even the veteran leader died, a cry of grief burst from Jensen, who had been supporting them with ranged fire from the rear.

Gerik did not feel particularly attached to Bruno, so he ignored the death, quickly finished off the Rat Man badly injured by the volley of arrows, then kept an eye on the mage's spellcasting.

'Some kind of slippery oil?'

Having watched Bruno slip from behind, Gerik quickly understood what trick the mage had used.

Rather than rush forward and follow in Bruno's footsteps, Gerik picked up the tower shield Bruno had dropped while rolling down the stairs and advanced slowly.

"Y-you bastard...!!"

The mage had already used most of the high-level spells and had only a couple of low-circle spells left. With every servant dead as well, the mage had no way to stop Gerik, and panic appeared on the mage's face.

"Magic Missile!!"

Desperate to stop Gerik somehow, the mage cast the first-circle spell Magic Missile at him.

Gerik had already seen Bruno block the spell. He tucked himself deep behind the tower shield, protecting his vital points as he blocked it.

Thud, thud, thud!!

The spell battered the tower shield with vicious impacts. Even with the shield blocking it, Gerik gritted his teeth at the enormous force passing through it.

"Haa... Haa... Just a little more...!!"

Turning back now was not an option. Gerik desperately climbed the stairs, leaning against the tower shield.

Magic Missile struck the tower shield about two more times after that, but Gerik somehow endured them all.

"N-no...!!"

Gerik finally made it up the stairs. The mage stood before him, holding up the staff and trembling. Ignoring the mage's curses, Gerik raised his longsword.

"I... I... Dawn Mage Tower...."

"Enough. Die!"

With every memorized spell used up and no way left to stop Gerik, the mage tried to use their background to threaten Gerik and somehow avert the attack.

Gerik remembered Wilber and Olin, who had died miserable deaths at the hands of the Rat Men. Ignoring the mage's words, Gerik swung his longsword.

Shhk!!

A sound slightly different from when he had cut off the heads of monsters echoed through the square. It was the cleaner sound of skin tearing.

At the same time, Gerik saw the mage's head flying into the air, staring at him with a look of shock.

"Huff... Huff..."

Gerik had finally killed the formidable enemy that had threatened his life. The tension left him, and exhaustion rushed in all at once.

"Hey! Are you all right?!"

Gerik dropped to one knee and leaned on his longsword to rest. Jensen, the only surviving companion, hurried over and asked after him.

"Whew... Whew... I'm just tired. I'm not hurt."

Gerik had mostly attacked openings created by Kagosh and Bruno instead of fighting Rat Men head-on, so he had not even suffered a minor injury.

"Are you all right, Jensen? They seemed like companions you'd been with for a long time."

Gerik showed concern for Jensen instead. Jensen looked bitterly at the dead companions and spoke.

"...That's just how this line of work is."

Jensen said he had always expected to part with companions this way someday. He bitterly added that the others had likely felt the same.

"Let's take the loot. The living have to live."

Like the battle-hardened adventurer he was, Jensen quickly set aside his grief and turned to profit.

Gerik of the past would have shuddered at Jensen's cold-blooded attitude. After several merciless experiences, though, Gerik understood an adventurer's way of life to some degree and did not blame him.

"This bastard wasn't carrying much."

"The intruders probably forced the mage out of the workshop suddenly."

Jensen took a spellbook with spells written inside, a staff, and a rat skull giving off an ominous aura from the mage's robes.

"...This doesn't look like an ordinary item."

The rat skull was made of purple crystal. Blood-red rubies were set in its two eye sockets, and it looked quite valuable.

"Hm...?"

Jensen's expression subtly changed while turning the skull over to appraise it.

"What is it?"

"I still... need to appraise it a little longer. Just wait."

Jensen looked slightly dazed while closely examining the crystal rat skull. Gerik felt uneasy, but had no authority to stop Jensen from appraising it, so he left him alone and used the status window to appraise the other two items.

'Only a 2nd-circle mage?!'

After checking the spellbook, Gerik was shocked to realize that the mage he had killed was no more than a low-circle mage.

There were not many spells in the book either. The mage was unimpressive even among low-circle mages, yet had displayed such power. Gerik truly realized how far above others mages stood.

'This is crazy... Even with Rat Men as servants, can a 2nd-circle mage really put that much pressure on us...?'

Setting aside his disbelief, Gerik picked up the mage's staff and appraised it through the status window.

[Apprentice Mage's Staff]

『Type: Staff』

『Grade: High (Green)』

『Effect: First-circle spell memorization slots +2』

『Note: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step! With this staff, you too can become a future archmage! - MegaMagic, the legend behind over 90,000 successful mage exam candidates! -』

'...No wonder a low-circle mage kept firing Magic Missile over and over.'

Gerik had picked up some basic knowledge about mages through playing a Tabletop Role-Playing Game. Appraising the item let him understand why the mage's first-circle spell slots had been abnormally numerous compared to the number of second-circle spells.

"...Jensen?"

After appraising the two items, Gerik called to Jensen, who was still holding and examining the crystal. Jensen, who had been blankly staring at it, looked back at Gerik in surprise.

"Are you still appraising it? Let me see it too."

"Huh?! Do you really need to...?"

When Gerik asked for the crystal, Jensen looked displeased and tried not to hand it over.

"That item is partly mine too. I'm not saying I'll take it. I just want to examine it, so why can't I?"

"Um...."

There was nothing wrong with the kid's words, so Jensen looked reluctant.

Jensen had also learned through the fierce battle that Gerik was incredibly skilled with a blade. Unable to threaten Gerik, he had no choice but to hand over the crystal.

『Take... my hand... I shall... grant you power...』

The instant Gerik picked up the crystal, an unknown being whispered to him, sending a chill down his spine. The whisper meddled with his mind and told him about its power.

'Wild Rat Men... can be summoned and controlled? And this power can be strengthened through an altar too...?'

Footnotes:

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