Chapter 161: Even doing Overdrive with Vibration Magic while shouting This is the power of Hamon, I still can’t use it.
Day 51 – Daytime, Dungeon.
The 60th floor seems to be the last stop. However, this dungeon is the deepest one after the Great Dungeon. The dungeon master is going to be level 60 at the very least.
Since young dungeons have a low priority due to the low danger of overflow, that means that there are just that many deep dungeons, but there are unexpectedly many dungeons of over 50th floors.
At first, I was sent to a small dungeon, since its proximity to a village posed danger, but flooding it put a quick end to it.
All of the dungeons after that reached the middle stratum. And gradually, we are stopping making progress through them.
In the end, there is no conventional way to reliably beat the middle floors, that’s why it is still too dangerous for the girls to challenge the 50th floor. The boys aren’t going to risk that anyway. They immediately scram at the first sign of trouble, you know? Well, that’s the correct approach. That cowardice before the danger and animal-like instincts is something the girls need too. Although it would be a problem if they turned into geeks or idiots as well. I’d really hate that.
And so, it is the 60th floor, and so, it is the dungeon master 『Sand Giant Lv 60』, simply a giant made from sand. A mere giant who knows nothing but rampage about with its huge body. Looking at this, I guess it could’ve been fine to bring the pres and others along? But well, no, it definitely would’ve led to fatalities. No jokes.
Cutting down the slow-witted sand giant with Dimension Blade, I use magic to burn it, freeze it, splash it, shock it, Hold it and apply pressure, crush it with Gravity, and knock it away with Kyojitsu. Over and over, continuously? Even Armored Pres-san’s storm of slashes and Slime-san’s flurry of blows only scatters it, as the giant turns into a sandstorm and reappears again. Probably even Slime-san’s Predation won’t be enough to consume all of it, and it doesn’t look that tasty as well. It doesn’t die, but it has no『Immortality』skill. We simply aren’t dealing a fatal blow.
No matter how hard I search with Rajingan, I can’t spot a core. I also couldn’t find any hidden rooms or anything suspicious at all after scanning the room. It’s a lump of sand, it doesn’t even have a manaflow to it. That’s why there is no way to kill it.
If that was all, we could’ve easily escaped, but sand soldiers also emerge one after another, and no matter how many of them we cut, crush, burn, or destroy through any other method, new ones keep coming and coming. Well, they are also weak and slow. Utter trash mobs, merely puppets, that cannot be killed. However, that last part is the issue.
An endlessly growing army and its commander the Sand Giant, whom we have no idea how to kill or defeat.
And what are we going to do if we escape and they follow? Letting this outside will mean the destruction of the frontier, you know? Since it will be attacked by an enemy that can’t be killed. There is no way we can let an infinitely spawning enemy outside and there is no actual way to escape because we are encircled by a wall of sand.
Forcing our way out through the wall of sand just for them to follow after us would be the worst possible scenario. Armored Pres-san and Slime-san are going around, returning everything around to sand with a torrent of attacks, but the enemy horde just keeps reforming itself. Even though it’s just sand without a core or anything? And I sense no signs of it being controlled from somewhere? Since we can’t figure out the mechanics behind this, we can’t deliver a decisive blow, so we just keep endlessly killing them.
Trying to flush them with Water Magic did nothing, and I couldn’t fully burn them down with Fire Magic? Slash them to pieces along with the space itself, and they return to the original shape soon after? Vibrating them only made them lose shape for a short while? I keep trying every option one after another while reading my abilities, but I still can’t grasp their weakness. I don’t even understand the mechanism behind this yet. Isn’t this quite bad? There is nothing we can do? Wait? Is this a checkmate? Isn’t this impossible? No, seriously! Since there is no other option, I have to take a gamble.
「There is something I’d like to try? But I kind of suspect I won’t be able to move? Probably? Can I ask you to deal with that? Sort of?」
I don’t know if I will be able to do this or not, but supposedly there is no telling when a dungeon that grew over 50 floors will overflow? And what’s more important, this one absolutely cannot be allowed outside. Since if it does leave this place, there will be absolutely no way to stop it.
(Bounce Bounce!) (Nod, nod!)
No, Armored Pres-san, please reply with words properly? Well, certainly, talking in the helmet might be difficult, but even so?
Well, I got the okay in any case, so it’s alright. After all, they might be former, but I still got the approval from a dungeon emperor and a dungeon master. So such sand toys that have nothing but their immortality to them can be simply ignored. Infinite horde can keep infinitely respawning all it wants, it’s still not enough to even challenge them. After all the greatest and the most excessive war force said Bounce Bounce! and Nod Nod!
Sitting down in the middle of the swarm of sand puppets that keep on coming with no end, I focus and concentrate. I『Empty Mind』and『Apex Think』.
There are now only two possibilities I can think of, the first one is magnetic force. Since there is no flow of magic, perhaps it is some sort of magnetic life form? But there was no reaction from Lightning Magic? So something unrelated to the electromagnetic force.
That leaves only one possibility, the worst one. The sand pieces covering this floor are all core shards, all together forming a singular core. In other words, it can’t be killed unless every single piece of sand is destroyed. That’s the only thing I can think of.
Then, the option of trying it out doesn’t even exist, there is simply no way of killing it. We can cut sand all we want, but it will simply reassemble and make a new core. There is simply no way to destroy all individual grains of sand. After all, they didn’t melt even when I tried to burn them. So there is no means to do that. And since there is none, I don’t have any other choice, I have to create it.
There is a faint hunch, a slim possibility, and an enormous doubt.
This doubt was hanging on my mind for a long time, and after reading a guidebook on this world,『Study on Magic 』, I was finally able to turn my suspicions into confidence. This world had no such a thing as Vibration Magic.
And yet, my classmates had no problem learning it. Magic that supposedly doesn’t exist in this world. And as terrifying as it may sound, even the idiots managed to learn! Even though they are idiots! Since even the idiots could do it, then it should be possible for the people of this world, or even goblins and fish. Obtaining magic that doesn’t exist in this world.
Something that doesn’t exist in this world, yet possessed by even the idiots. Yes, as shocking as it may sound, but even the idiots had a tiny bit of modern-day knowledge! That was the most astonishing part!
That’s why they could use it. They were familiar with the phenomenon of vibration. They had an understanding of the physical vibrations and ripples. I mean, both the idiots and the geeks were shouting 『THIS IS THE POWER OF HAMON!』while doing OVERDRIVE, playing around with Vibration Magic? While I was getting scolded? I wanted to do that as well, you know? I got left out of the fun.
But well, we can’t use Hamon in any case, and the vibrations don’t work that way. But this gave me a hint.
There are Fire Magic, Ice Magic, and even their advanced versions, but no 『Temperature』magic. Then, it must be a sort of magic not related to heat. And because I had the knowledge of the relation between vibration and heat, I easily got 『Vibration Magic』.
If that is the case, then temperature magic is a vibration-type, and not a heating type, I mean, it can cool things as well? I mean, I’m sure even if I could produce heat through the effect of electromagnetic waves created with Lightning Magic, I probably still couldn’t get Temperature Magic.
Because Packing Magic became Holding Magic, it was a special sort of mana manipulation magic, that’s why I easily learned Magic Control and Mana Wrapping
Because Weight Magic turned into Gravity Magic, it was a special sort of gravity manipulation magic, that’s why I could get techniques such as Air Walk or Rush.
Because Movement Magic became Teleportation Magic. It was a special sort of space manipulation magic, that’s why I could get techniques such as Instantaneous Movement or Extreme Velocity.
In that case, what is Temperature Magic? What will it become? What type of manipulation is it? Since I got Vibration Magic, isn’t it a molecular or atomic vibration?
If it was because of my knowledge on gravity and space that I was able to obtain Gravity and Teleportation Magic, then Temperature Magic must also be coming from the knowledge on vibration.
Then, Temperature Magic must be a type of vibration manipulation magic. Then, it must be a sort of atomic molecular manipulation. Then, it should be able to increase and decrease the vibration of atoms and molecules. If I will be able to manipulate a degree of freedom of movement in molecules or their degree of vibration, then ultimately, it will allow me to cause nuclear decay, that’s just unbeatable. However, radiation also will be emitted during decay. Radioactive decay, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration, in any case, it will become a nuclear attack. That will be too scary to use!
However, not using it is fine, but being unable to use it is the worst. Being unable to use something that an enemy might use is the height of madness. To prevent others from using it, I have to be able to use it myself, and if the Sand Giant gets outside the frontier will perish. There will be no other choice but to completely blockade the frontier, sealing it here. Compared to that, nuking this dungeon would still be better. Surely, a great area of the frontier lands will die, but it will avert a total annihilation. At the very least, it will allow the people of the frontier to escape.
However, that is the last resort. The worst outcome. After all, I’m not that cornered, so I might as well take it easy and approach things calmly?
If these two said they can deal with it, then nothing will happen, they won’t allow it, then there is no chance of anything going wrong? So for now, it’s not the time to panic? After all, those two are going to rain utter destruction all the way until the final whistle sounds. Since I asked them, the match will endlessly continue until I give up. For real.
Fragments they may be, but being parts of the core it should be possible to destroy them, I should be able to destroy them. They must eventually disintegrate.
That’s why I grasp the sand forming the sand giant with Holding and raise the temperature, vibrate the atoms. It would be great if it causes thermolysis, but in the worst case, I’m fine with a nuclear decay too.
I『Empty Mind』and『Apex Think』. Using『Mana Mastery』and『Vibration Magic』I take full control of『Temperature Magic』in a fully focused state. After all, even if I sit on the ground without moving a finger nothing can threaten me? The masses of mobs can’t reach me, you know? Because there is nothing but sword flashes all around.
Yes, no matter where I look, there is nothing but sword flashes as far as the eye can see, the whole floor is filled with nothing but an infinite number of afterimages. No enemies in sight at all? But the enemies just don’t die, they simply and purely cannot be killed, and will endlessly keep coming. That’s why she keeps up the perpetual carnage, scattering them. A safety zone that is guaranteed to persist for the rest of eternity.
That’s why I slowly but surely keep shaking, slowly, without rushing I vibrate, and wait for the result at leisure. If it can’t be killed, then I just have to disintegrate it.
Too focused, I lost my sense of time, I wonder if it’s a side effect of Empty Mind? I lose perception of the flow of time, the speed of thought and the flow of time desynchronize, stop matching each other. Around me is still the same sandstorm, a sand storm that is minced before it gets to fully take form, scattered back into a storm of sand. Nothing but raging winds carrying sand, scattered by a tempest of steel.
An infinite army of infinite sand soldiers with infinite lives keeps infinitely spawning and gets infinitely crushed by infinite slashes infinitely scattering around. What’s the point of infinite lives and infinite numbers? They will only continue to be infinitely killed? You were too lucky with your opponents, you know? Those two can endlessly keep killing you. Their absolute attack power and absolute defense power draw a line, creating an absolute territory. Ah, which reminds me, let’s make kneesocks when we get back. Make them, and have her wear them, and having her wear them, do my best. The end seems to be near? It began to collapse, so I carefully suppressed it, without rushing, putting the skills of mana control to use.
Until it becomes a simple desert.
「Yup, looks like the dungeon died, so we are good, I guess? I think I disintegrated pretty much everything? There are no signs of movement too? Or rather, I’m hungry, so let’s go home? I wonder what time it is? Sort of?」
I’m so hungry. Is it that much past dinner time? Or maybe I used too much mana? I want to eat, but I also have to make Salisbury steaks. Just why did the steaks become the condition for overtime work? Like, the compensation for labor is labor? And the reward for labor is more labor? That sort of thing? An endless cycle of work? Or rather, isn’t it weird that the people who already returned to the inn are just sitting there with empty stomachs doing nothing? I mean, I will cook them, but even so…?