You know what was nasty? A cold bony hand grabbing your leg, that was what. So naturally, what the hell do you think would be your first reaction? And no, I’m not talking about screaming. I don’t scream when I’m startled, just flinch.
However, in this case, I saw what grabbed me and stomped the shit out of it. Well, you see, the problem was, when you’re a Divine Master Magician with the strength of probably thousands of men, there were unintended consequences. This particular action bugged me—I wasn’t a protagonist, an idiot main character, or murderhobo. I was just a dude. A businessman. I was hoping to be that impossible, rare potion shop you discovered along your adventure, but you get the vibe that you shouldn’t try anything with this guy.
But no matter how hard I tried, I was constantly reminded that just because I chose the Potion Maker class didn’t mean the heroic strength granted to me by the system simply went away. The system suddenly responded to my line of thoughts, which actually pissed me off.
[You were not given this strength. You were born with this core but existed on a world lacking usable mana.]
Anyway, the ground cracked open, revealing a giant skeleton man thing, or rather what was left of it. Fortunately for me, everyone didn’t just stand there, and dashed out of the way. Eventually we found ourselves staring down into a pit. No, there were stairs. Some of the bones of the dead wolf skeletons fell onto them. The rest were pretty much obliterated by Wolverine, Milia, or fell to whatever abyss the floor below led to.
“Did we just discover a secret underground lair or a shortcut?” I wondered aloud. I turned to Harmony, who seemed to be composing herself. Ah right, until she learned of a technique to defend herself, she’d be essentially useless. Judging by the look in her eyes, the teenager realized it.
I gazed at Milia. She nodded. I walked over to Harmony and gently grabbed her hand. She blushed, obviously embarrassed about being treated like a child, but this was no laughing matter. An E-ranked dungeon was a cakewalk for everyone in here but her, but only because she was a literal beginner.
“Listen carefully,” I said, speaking as a thirty-three-year-old instructor. “Gather mana into your palm.”
A few moments later, her hand shone with dim blue light. “Unfortunately, you will have to chant the name of the spell, I think. Hell, I’m not sure if this will work, but you’re my disciple, so fuck it, we have nothing to lose if we try. Perhaps later, we’ll be able to afford proper instruction manuals and spell books.”
Harmony nodded, though her hand was beginning to tremble as she struggled to hold the mana. I couldn’t help but marvel at how difficult this ordeal seemed to be, yet for me, it was as natural as breathing. Wait… speaking of breathing. Shouldn’t she have some kind of technique?
“Alright, disperse your mana,” I said.
Harmony seemed to deflate, her hand dropping as she caught her breath. It was as if she had held something heavy for a long period of time.
“Milia, do you know of any kind of breathing techniques?” I asked.
Milia shook her head. “Magic use is natural for me,” she replied.
“In that case, we’ll have to just wing it,” I told Harmony. I explained modern-day breathing exercises to her, then had her practice for a bit. Sure, this training could be done later, but one thing I noticed in this dungeon was… how could I explain… well, the feeling of natural mana in the air. A dungeon served as a powerhouse of the stuff, and what better place could there be to hide her magician existence?
After half an hour of using the breathing exercise alongside her mana, Harmony was finally able to hold a charge without losing any focus. She wasn’t perfect, still had a long way to go, but breathing properly, and relaxing instead of straining, significantly improved things for her. Some of this, Milia already explained, but my less elegant, crude way of teaching, mixed with a few unnecessary corny jokes, got through to her.
“Now, with that mana, thrust your palm forward at your target and chant ‘magic bolt,’” I said. “This is just a basic spell, likely the first offensive attack any magician will ever learn.”
“I’ve… never heard you chant anything while casting,” Harmony said.
“He’s a special case,” Milia said. “Remember, you said it yourself. A master magician.”
“Oh! You’re right,” Harmony said, laughing. She softly facepalmed. “I’m being trained by a master magician. I should be grateful for this much.”
I sighed. “No need to lay it on thick. Anyway, repeat after me.” I charged mana and aimed it at a tree in the distance. “Magic bolt.”
I didn’t release the attack, because I knew goddamn well that I’d be taking out more than that tree. Also, I wasn’t sure how Milia would react to that. Holding back was a lot trickier than one might think.
Harmony did exactly as I asked. That was when the prompt popped into my mental sight.
[You have taught your disciple the Magic Bolt technique. Good work!]
[New special potion listing added, Potion of Water Breathing. Warning: this is a highly valuable potion. Magicians will likely do whatever it takes to extract this recipe from you.]
[Current potions available: Health Potion, Energy Potion, General Medicine Potion.]
[Special potions: Night Vision, Mana Core, Water Breathing.]
On her first try, she cast a baseball-sized bolt of blue magic, which shook the tree, but dissipated harmlessly off it.
I clapped. “Hell yeah, good job! Now you’re on your way to being a real magician.”
Harmony cheered, having finally done it! She finally felt like a real magician for once and the better she got, the more praise she’d receive from… No, this power was for protecting her loved ones. She did not have a stupid crush on her teacher. She certainly didn’t dabble with silly schoolgirl fantasies. She certainly wasn’t smitten nor secretly jealous of Milia.
Harmony was raised to be ladylike, and a leader in the event that her father had to leave again.
Ugh. Nate almost treated her like a kid, despite looking barely older than her.
The blue-haired girl sighed internally. She may not get to be romantically involved with the mystery man, she totally didn’t care, but he was much wiser than he gave himself credit for.
It made her angry whenever he demeaned himself. She sensed the same annoyance within Milia, which was why she couldn’t get angry at the dryad for accepting his courtship. She’d do the same thing in a heartbeat. No—she wouldn’t! She’d only accept the opportunity at becoming his student.
“Come on, let’s get moving,” I said. “You can shoot more skeletons for practice.”
“Make sure to leave her some targets, Woofy,” Milia said to the sunlight wolf.
He barked once, wagging his tail, tongue lolling out as he panted.
We descended, lower and lower until coming across what appeared to be a giant blueish metallic door. I tried to push it open, but it didn’t budge. Even with the full weight of my strength, it felt like solid steel. Before I could kick the damn thing, the sound of tapping to our right made me flinch first as it pulled my attention. I expected another horde of enemies or some trap shenanigans, but instead, I truly took notice of what manifested there. An aura-outlined white stone the size of a van. The tapping came from it hitting the roof as it hovered up and down. Beneath it appeared to be a flickering platform of light in the shape of an oval. I wasn’t sure if it was made of glass or pure magic, but I couldn’t take my eyes off it or the stone.
“Uhm, Milia, do you have any idea what that is?”
Milia shook her head. “No idea.”
“You, Harmony?” I asked.
Harmony also shook her head. “Is it safe to go near?”
Now, listen, if it weren’t for the power of magic, I would be taking my crew and getting the hell out of here as a precaution. Instead, I walked over to the floating stone that kind of reminded me of a giant peeled potato.
[You have found the Stone of Past and Futures. This is a message to the previous person who touched this stone two hundred years ago: You are not worthy to possess it. Normally, you would be considered for termination. Instead, you shall see despair. The future of this world.]
That was when my world went white. I found myself miles into a void and then staring down at moving images. It was a weird feeling, because my eyes were shut and holding onto the stone. I could still feel myself standing on the dungeon’s ground. This could be compared to one bizarre out-of-body experience.
I… saw the world on fire and a boy, perhaps nineteen or twenty years old, laughing wildly. Then the sound of roaring fires, like hell, plagued my ears. Then laughter followed afterward. He spoke, perhaps to something I could not see or to himself, because the psycho fuck seemed to have lost his mind.
“Burn, burn, burn, and let this world be reborn! Renew! All in my image for the better,” he laughed. “I’m your hero. I’m only doing what’s best for you.”
Then out of nowhere, a shadowy girl in a fancy dress covered in blood appeared at his side, also laughing. “I didn’t expect for that pill I made for you to have such an amazing effect. I’m… I’m even more in love with you than ever.”
I shook my ahead. So the world I got reborn into was going to be burned by two stupid ass kids. Great. The details of the girl might have been invisible, but her voice indicated youth.
“God, Jesus, someone, could you please consider firing this Wanda?” I thought. If she existed, she clearly didn’t give two fucks about this planet.
Even if she did call me here, wouldn’t the goddess simply send me back? I’d ignored all of the system’s pleading to get me into the hero class. And I would continue to ignore it.
[The future you’re witnessing will no longer happen, but it is unknown why. You may never encounter these people. But be warned, be extremely careful of—]
The image vanished and I was back in reality. A new message flashed through the prompt, almost like an afterthought of the rock’s creator.
[Perhaps there will never be someone worthy. But, you are just good enough for the spell to be lifted from the door. Be warned that within every hidden room awaits a special guardian, a normally optional challenge of the dimensional dungeon spaces.]
Suddenly, the stone shattered into crystal shards despite appearing to be made of solid rock. The shards clattered loudly, bouncing only a few times against the ground before vanishing. A large rumbling followed.
“Uh oh, I think it’s time to leave,” Harmony said, but she needn’t have worried. The door opened.
“To make a long story short, the rock showed me a future that’s no longer going to happen,” I said. “Some girl drugged the hero, he went crazy, killed many, and set the kingdom ablaze. The rock didn’t tell me why this future was cancelled, said I wasn’t worthy enough, but just good enough for me to earn the grandiose privilege of it opening the door. How kind.” My voice was a mix of annoyance, sarcasm, and tiredness. “It also said something about a special optional guardian inside. Whatever that means.”
Harmony gasped. “Aren’t optional treasure chambers a myth?”
“They’re usually nearly impossible to find, according to the rumors,” Milia said. “Not even dryads can easily locate them. They don’t respond to the earth.”
“Are we… going to go in?” Harmony asked. “It’s an E-ranked dungeon, but optional chambers may not follow the rules.”
“Yep, let’s go,” I said. “If you want. I’m too curious to leave without checking out something called a treasure chamber. Maybe I’ll find inspiration for a new potion. Or even a charm for Milia.”
Harmony pouted. Sheesh, kid, find a boyfriend already, I thought as I started toward the door. There was a slight moment of vertigo, as if we were transferring to another dungeon. In truth, I probably wasn’t too far off the mark.
We found ourselves in a room lit by several giant glowing crystals. At the far end of the large room sat a giant figure in a chair. A skeleton with a black crown and purple cape.
I didn’t feel a presence from it, but every fucking movie pointed to this guy waking up and kicking our asses if we weren’t prepared. Even Milia couldn’t take her eyes from the ‘sleeping’ skeleton. Wolverine growled.
By the king skeleton’s foot awaited a chest. However, around the room were many plants and a few short trees draped with fruit I assumed had to be poison enough to kill an elephant. No, I couldn’t prove that, but they looked like giant raisins. I hated raisins, therefore the fruit were bad. Sue me. I tried to analyze the skeleton, but the system gave no response.
“We’ll have to get within range of it,” I said. “But… this guy’s going to be strong. Harmony, wait outside.”
“No, I’m—”
“Do not argue with me,” I said coldly. “An optional guardian that laid dormant for who knows how long is going to be too much for you. He’s not bound by the effects of the dungeon. For your safety, I cannot risk having you in here. You will not be able to move when he exerts his aura.”
I stared at her for a long while until she finally gave in and left without another word. Perhaps it was a mistake to bring her to the dungeon in the first place. No, despite being seconds away from putting up a childish fight, she realized that there was no certainty that she’d make it out of this room alive in my voice.
I started toward the room’s boss. About halfway there, it did exactly as I expected. A fiery red glow lit in the eye sockets of the skeleton, and it quickly sat up as if being startled by an alarm clock.
“True hero… no, you declined that. Very well, humble potion maker and divine master magician, beautiful guardian of the land and goddess-born, and bold young sunlight wolf, I greet you,” the skeleton giant said, his voice powerful but ancient. Did I mention that he was about fifteen feet tall or at least looked so sitting down on a metal throne? Beside him rested a rusted giant broadsword. “You are aware that I am the optional guardian of this dungeon. The Skeleton King is an old title, but in my time alive, I ruled an empire.” He stood, grabbing his sword and pointing it at us. “Should you defeat me, you will gain access to this room and its treasure. Otherwise, die.”
[Enemy analysis.]
[Skeleton King. S-ranked demonic monster.]
[Boss fight begin.]
The Skeleton King suddenly vanished, then reappeared in front of me. He tossed the purple cape on his back into the air as he was a fucking badass and then grinned. Wolverine was the first to attack, unleashing his Sunlight Flash, only for it to do jack shit. The skeleton kicked my wolf…
I saw red, then my body almost moved on its own as I blurred into the skeleton king’s guard. With one hand, I slapped the sword to the side, the other, I plunged into its chest. But there was no core to rip out.
That earned me a backhand right into a pile of vines Milia caught me with. I noticed Wolverine was getting up from his own soft vine pile. The dryad summoned more, wrapping them around the skeleton’s legs, and then pulled, which forced him forward.
However, the tall monster twisted and slashed himself to freedom with the rusty sword, then he aimed a finger at me. I saw a bright blue light before the ball of magic raced toward me. Annoyed, with just one hand, I slapped it to the side.
The Skeleton King laughed. “There is nothing more terrifying than facing a divine master magician and a dryad at the same time. Both are children of divinity. However, I wasn’t granted the title Skeleton King for nothing. I waged war as a hobby.”
While he was having fun chatting about a dead past, I aimed a hand at his face and fired the Supreme Magic Bolt. It blasted him backward, but not to pieces. Of course, he wouldn’t be an easy one, and perhaps having an actually challenging fight meant discovering a potion that led to avoiding any future violence.
The Skeleton King lurched into the air and then came down toward Milia with an overhead slash. The dryad easily dodged. Sword light jolted from his rusty weapon toward her. Milia summoned her green mana katana and deflected the energy.
I took the chance to gather a chunk of mana, aimed my hand at the heavy ceiling above the skeleton king and fired. If my life were as easy as a cartoon, that would’ve worked. Instead, it hit an invisible barrier, dissipating harmlessly.
The Skeleton King laughed. “Ah, the old adventurer easy win technique, right out of every book written. Now why would you think I wouldn’t have prepared for that?”
Before I realized it, the skeleton basically teleported in front of me. My eyes widened and the Spartan kick connected and threw me across the room. I hit the solid stone wall. By the feeling of intense pain in my ribs, if they weren’t broken, they were certainly cracked. I grabbed a health potion from my pocket, downed it in one gulp and smiled as the pain vanished instantly.
I didn’t want to down another potion right after consuming one but fuck it. I’d work out the costs and logistics later. The energy potion had a tangy, sour flavor, kind of reminding me of a certain green energy drink from the old world. However, it did the trick. I felt fucking amazing—like I could run up the goddamn walls. Yeah, I was going to make a mental note to make damn sure kids didn’t get access to this.
I jumped to my feet and within a second, I was in front of the skeleton king. His attack on Milia failed as I punted him into the wall behind him.
“Yeah, it sucks getting knocked into a wall, doesn’t it? I’m sure even you can feel something. It may not be pain, but it will be a dig at your pride.”
I stepped toward him which, once again, was like an unconscious long leap. The skeleton, with his rusty broadsword in hand, swung, releasing more sword light. I easily dodged, balled my fist, and swung with all of my might at his head.
The skeleton didn’t make it easy. His eyes glowed brightly, and my knuckles found themselves connected to an air current. It blew me backward like a ragdoll. I landed on a hand, twisted and leapt back into the fray.
Despite my build, I moved like a viper. Flexibility, speed, and even a little foresight—I dominated the skeleton king at these things. Back on his feet again, he swung, but Milia’s vines caught his legs. Wolverine fired a Sunlight Flash at his back, sending the skeleton forward. Hand coated in mana, I balled my fist, and smashed it into the skull.
It shattered.
The skeleton exploded into a pile of dust and at last, the battle was over. I smiled at Milia and Wolverine.
“We really do make one hell of a team,” I said.
Milia walked over and kissed me. “Absolutely. Not many prefer the way of unarmed combat.”
I chuckled. “They shouldn’t if they’re fighters. As a potion maker, well… I wonder what Skeleton-King-grade bone dust is good for.”
Milia laughed.
“Is… it safe to come back in?” I heard Harmony call.
“You were watching the battle,” I said with a chuckle. She smiled sheepishly. “Come on in. It’s time we loot a king.”
End of Phase 2.
