The corpse golem patterns were simple.
Firing body bombs at distant enemies and dragging nearby enemies and devouring them, all with hundreds of arms sprouting from his entire body like tentacles.
«¡Bjorn!»
Hearing Ainar's worried scream, I kept my distance.
If I got close enough, I wouldn't be designated as a target for the corpse bomb, but...
Then the target will change to the mage.
Hit!
He had to buy time somehow, at least until the mage came to.
I had to pull aggro on my own.
Hit!
Every time a bomb corpse flew, I rolled to the side to increase the distance and crouched behind the shield to protect myself from acidic bodily fluids.
And, after doing this about three times,
«Iherno Heindar.»
A baptism of flames appeared. Fortunately, the wizard seemed to have recovered. I didn't have to look back to confirm it and focused my attention solely on the corpse golem. With the screams of hundreds of people, the corpse golem's body was on fire and its shell had begun to fall off.
My original plan of playing tug of war with him by narrowing the distance and then backing away to hug the monster's body with a torch had been completed with a magic spell.
[The outer skin of the corpse golem has been nullified].
But the smell of a rotting corpse burning was too much for her.
Unhappy!
I heard another round of vomiting behind me.
Por favor, recover pronto...
Whatever. He didn't need a magician anymore.
«Ainar! That's enough. Come to my side!»
I immediately called Ainar.
The corpse golem was a rank 7 monster, but as long as its skin had been peeled off, it was a monster that two barbarians could overcome.
«¡¡Kwohhhh-!!!»
Its enormous shape had shrunk noticeably, and was now only about three meters in diameter. When all the piles of animated corpses were burned and melted down, only their iron bar-like skeleton remained. It moved with a crunch.
He had entered Bone Golem Mode.
«¡Kyaaaaah!»
Due to the weight reduction, his movement was much more agile. I shouted as I used my shield to block the golem's arm from swinging violently.
«Porter! You help too!»
«I must protect Lady Raven».
Damn everything, I thought.
That's what I thought you'd say. Just wait, I'll make sure I earn the price for my hard work right now.
Hit!
I jumped high and hit the upper part of the monster's body with the mace.
There was a thud, but that was it. The ribs were so hard that only a small piece of bone splintered. But now I just had to repeat it.
«Ainar! Aim for the chest!»
«Okay!»
Ainar and I attacked the corpse golem's ribs, giving and receiving aggro back and forth.
After about forty blows, the ribs that were previously as hard as walnut shells opened, revealing the «nut» inside. It was the essence of mana, the vital point of golems.
¡Crujido!
After breaking the core with a mace, the corpse golem stopped moving and disappeared like a light.
[You have killed a Corpse Golem. EXP +3]
The reward was a fist-sized mana stone, suitable for a rank 7 monster.
«Oh!! How many loaves are these...?»
Ainar, who was admiring the size of the mana stone, suddenly froze. This was because the reward did not end with a single stone.
¡Whoom!
A halo of black light shone softly in the air.
«Bjorn, is this...?»
I nodded my head slightly.
It was an essence.
***
The Rift was no different from a hidden treasure.
Elite monsters that did not appear in the normal field were precious opportunities for scouts who are prohibited from receiving more experience points, not to mention guardian loot.
The main thing was that the rate of fall of the essences here increased exponentially.
Actually, from the point of view of probability, it is strange that an essence has only appeared now...
«What are you going to do?»
I organized my thoughts at Ainar's question.
The essence belonged to us by right. We had practically defeated the monster alone, and that was the promise in the first place.
However...
«...»
Originally, I was looking for two candidates.
The regenerative power of the demon of death, the strength of a chimera wolf. Both were the essence of an 8th rank monster.
However, in the midst of that goal, the essence of a corpse golem had emerged that only a rank 7 elite monster in the «Bloody Citadel» could obtain.
The difficulty of obtaining this rare essence could not be matched by the other candidates...
But it was too early to be happy about it. The penalty for this item was as severe as its unique effect.
[Golem Corpse]
Pain resistance +70
Bone strength +55
Poison resistance +12
Strength +15
Perception -5
Appetite +9
Weight +21
First of all, the basic statistics were suitable for tanks.
Decreased perception would affect the body's visual acuity and speed of judgment, and the body in general would become clumsier.
But at the same time, the other statistics increased a lot.
The «Bone Strength», which affected both defense and physical endurance, was +55, and the «Weight», which affected hitting and blunt damage in the game, was +21.
The «Pain Resistance» would also be very useful in reality, and the «Appetite» was a statistic that would be 100% useful with the «Strength» and the «Poison Resistance».
But...
[Special:]
(P) Acidic Fluid – Blood becomes acidic.
(A) Explosion of flesh – A powerful explosion of a body part.
Active ability was the only flaw.
«Flesh Burst» boasted great damage, but used the character's HP as a cost.
Could he use only passive skills?
Sealing a skill in the first place wasn't just a huge loss...
But, by consuming this essence, every time you were injured, the durability of your equipment would be drastically reduced since your acidic blood would permeate the equipment.
«Uf…»
From the outrageous cost of the potion to the cost of the equipment, it was an essence that was both useless and not.
Normally, when this essence appeared, he would give it to the NPC he was carrying to abandon it. It was a waste to throw it away, but too doubtful to feed it to the protagonist.
The essence you consume at first has to be discarded one day, so taking it now wouldn't be a bad idea...
«Let's save it for now and treat the dwarf first».
Even if there was no owner, the essence persisted for 30 minutes, so there was no need to make a hasty decision. You could even reach an agreement with him.
After passing such judgment, I turned to the back and witnessed a scene that was nothing short of a disaster.
Had the porter given him a potion? The dwarf was wallowing from the pain of the potion, and for some reason the mage was half wallowing in her grave.
«No steel tea».
His name was... Tarzine? This rude escort bastard stood in our way when he hadn't done anything in all this time.
Shit, what did we do?
«Why is it like this?»
When I asked from afar, the doorman responded,
«He is suffering a rebound from using too much magic.»
Rebote, eh ...
It appears to refer to a «circuit break», a condition that sometimes occurs when a throw fails. Looking closer, he was literally vomiting blood, not just his dinner.
Unhappy!
Is it because of using magic in the middle of a stomach ache from the smell?
It was ridiculous from my point of view, but this was definitely plausible in Dungeon and Stone.
Unlike other games where cause and effect were very clear, in this game, a seemingly insignificant «cause» could threaten your life.
«Are you going to still stand there? It would be better to move her outside first».
«...Please take care of the dwarf here.»
After escorting Raven and the dwarf to the underground prison and waiting a while, their condition began to improve.
The first to wake up was the dwarf.
«What a shame... Thank you. We would have had problems if it weren't for you two».
«I'm glad you're separated.»
He had no reason to act with humility. Nothing was going to come back to me for it.
It was true that I had made a great contribution, and taking advantage of this, I planned to raise my salary. For that, it would be better to inflate our worth.
«If it weren't for Ainar, you'd already be dead».
«I know. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but as soon as I saw the monster, my body froze. I thought I had seen everything I could see in this world until now...»
Once again, I realized that this place was real. If this were a game, we would have had more than enough manpower to kill that monster, but for psychological reasons, these people had almost been killed by an intermediate boss who wasn't even a guardian.
«But what happened to this lady?».
«Apparently, it's a rebound. He took a potion, so he'll get better soon».
After taking the potion, the magician, who had gone from vomiting to screaming, came to her senses only ten minutes later.
«I have caused an inconvenience».
He opened his mouth pretending to be fine, but he no longer had an aristocratic atmosphere around him. The corners of his mouth and neck were cracked from vomit and blood, and even his fine blonde hair was loose and dirty. His shiny robe was also a mess from rolling on the floor so much.
«We take care of the corpse golem».
«Yeah. I know. Thank goodness I cast that spell, although it took its toll on me».
Was this the custom of all scout bastards? Mention your own achievements without saying thank you?
If I didn't say anything here, I knew that raising my salary would be impossible. I needed to receive confirmation.
«We have saved you both. It can be said that this is more than a person's part of responsibility. Do you agree, magician?»
«...I agree».
Raven nodded as if she didn't want to admit it. It seemed like it was quite embarrassing that the two barbarians she had been ignoring in her heart had accomplished such a great feat. To be honest, it really hit the nail on the head, but leaving some room at this point would help with negotiations.
«Of course, your magic was excellent. For such a strong flame, you've tried too hard for the good of the team».
«I did, but... So what do you mean?».
A part of the rodeos,
«We will take the Rift Stone.»
Essence, numerical object, Rift Stone.
One of the three guardian loots. The first time I asked them, they frowned upon us, called us greedy, and said they didn't need two barbarians.
But now, it was different...
«...»
There was just an awkward silence.
I waited patiently without insisting.
The basis of the negotiation is waiting.
«I accept. If it weren't for this barbarian lady, he would be dead».
So I would return the favor? The dwarf first expressed his statement.
However...
«I do not agree.»
Raven wouldn't allow it so easily. However, that does not mean that there was no concession.
«But if the Rift Stone comes out, at least I can give you an equal chance».
Simply put, it meant it would give us a chance to bid.
It was a little disappointing, but it was true that his role in this mission was vital. I knew I had to be satisfied with this, especially since there wasn't much time left anyway.
Next, the next point of the debate.
«Oh, and there was an essence».
«Essence? Could it be that the corpse golem dropped an essence?»
«That's right.»
The dwarf and Raven dropped their jaws, not expecting something so difficult to obtain to appear.
«Amazing. It seems like you haven't gotten an essence yet, but to think you got this one like the first».
«I have heard that the essence of a corpse golem is too limited for even the Scout Guild to understand its abilities».
Raven said that the essence of a corpse golem is rarer than that of a guardian.
The thirst for research in his eyes was an advantage. I finally took out the proposal that I had kept strictly secret all this time.
«You can change it to the guardian essence if you wish».
«Excuse me? But I'm not sure the guardian will give us an essence...».
Raven interrupted his words with a strange look. Judging by his looks, he liked my suggestion.
«I will take that risk».
«Okay then, that's fine with me. I don't know about other explorers, but I'm more interested in the corpse golem. Although I didn't know this would come to light...»
The negotiations ended.
***
«Miss Raven, I heard that wizards cannot absorb an essence. Will you give that essence to that porter?»
«No, the essence alone is worthy of study».
Raven pulled a test tube from the bag onto the carrier's back. This was one of the reasons why wizards were cheap characters.
Even if they did not absorb it directly into their body, they could carry the essence out of the labyrinth.
However, they needed to prepare one thing.
«Oh! Did you bring a test tube? I have heard that it is an exorbitantly expensive item».
«...I only have one too.»
In fact, if you put an essence below rank 6 in a test tube, it was almost impossible to even store the real one. However, Raven seemed to place more value on the corpse golem essence.
¡Whoom!
As Raven recited a spell, the essence was absorbed by the test tube.
Carefully, he wrapped the box twice and stored it tightly in his backpack.
«Then let's get out of this terrible place».
«I've been waiting for you to say that!»
We climbed the sticky staircase and moved quickly along the water pipe. The only monsters that appeared were skull and dead rats. There was a nauseating smell, but nothing compared to where the corpse golem was.
After traveling for about 30 minutes, we arrived at our destination.
«I'll go up first».
There was a staircase beyond a rusty iron fence that we kicked down. When I climbed it, a spacious stone chamber stretched out before me.
Breathing in the fresh air as much as I could, I checked what was around me.
«It doesn't look like a gargoyle statue, what is that?».
«Since I don't perceive mana, it must be just a sculpture».
Intimidating demonic sculptures were everywhere.
And there was a floor full of human skulls...
«There must have been a lord's castle right above this. If it hadn't collapsed, I would have been able to investigate inside...»
As if he didn't feel how creepy this place was, Raven licked her lips as if she felt sorry for him.
«Just as I heard. It has the typical pattern of a religious installation. However, hiding it underground means that this belief did not fit with the social sentiments of the time. For example, an evil god».
«Ya veo».
The dwarf was frightened by Raven's too unnecessary explanation. I spoke briefly and returned their vigilance before the speech went on too long.
«Why don't we stop chatting and get ready?».
Actually, I said it to myself too.
And the last chapter of the Rift, the «Demon Worship Room», was not a place to be taken lightly...
«Bjorn, I have a bad feeling about this.»
...Especially for an unfortunate bastard like me.