Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 7: Gamble.

[Yes]

[ -- had joined your party. (3/4)]

''Oh, you already have partied with someone else?'' 

''Huu~!''

''It's Ariel.'' I respond.

''That's impressive, my lady. Ariel won't usually stick with someone like this.''

''Don't call me 'my lady'. Aurora.'' I narrow my eyes. ''You have [Inspect] too.''

''Understood, Lady Aurora.''

''...''

This guy...

''Anyway, what's your relationship with Ariel?'' I ask.

''...I don't know, Lady Aurora.'' It replies after a pause. ''She was with me when I woke up here a long time ago.''

''How long?''

''...Very, very long.'' It looks up at the ceiling. ''More than that, Lady Aurora, would you like to listen to my story?'' 

The skeleton brings the old chair and gestures for me to sit.

''By the way, are you a male or female?'' I ask, walking towards the chair and then sit down.

''I think I was a male, although my memory is still fuzzy.'' He stares at the bookshelves and replies. ''But don't worry, that instinct doesn't exist in me anymore, else I wouldn't have been so calm facing a fair lady such as yourself.''

Ew, go away. You talk like Chloe.

''Do you have clothes?'' I narrow my eyes.

''I do have a spare robe, Lady Aurora.'' He reaches for a black robe sitting on one of the bookshelves. After dusting it a few times, he puts it on the table. ''Please use it.''

Nice, now I'm not an exhibitionist anymore.

''Thanks.''

Hm, this one is pretty comfortable... But I can still use some underwear. Well, I guess I don't have such luxury.

''Now, speak.''

''As I've said before... I woke up in this place, not knowing who I was, not knowing what was going on outside, unable to escape...'' He fiddles with his robe. ''I just want to get out, Lady Aurora.''

He looks straight at me, and eyes meet 'eyes'. The light in his sockets seems calmer than ever.

''...And how can I help?''

''During the time I was confined here, I experimented.'' He walks over to the entrance. ''With how this particular barrier works.''

thud

He punches the entrance, and strangely, his fist collides with seemingly nothing, sounding a loud thud reverberating through the room.

''Physical force cannot break it. There's a possibility that I'm just not strong enough though.'' He says calmly. ''So I tried blasting it with mana, but still no luck. I tried [Teleportation] as well.''

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''How did you know that you had that skill in the first place?''

''I just knew. I can remember things like the system, skills, and general knowledge, but never specific things.''

''Hm... Continue.''

''Teleportation failed. This barrier prevents any interference in space-time from the inside.''

''Do you know why only you are locked in here?''

I saw earlier that his state was [Bound], whereas mine is still [Normal], so he's the only one, not to mention Ariel, who by the looks of it has flown in and out of here many times.

''I honestly have no idea.'' He shakes his head.

''So again, how can I even help you, then? I don't know magic.'' I raise my eyebrow.

''...The barrier has been here ever since I knew it. And every long-running barrier needs an energy source, a magic core.''

This one I know.

''You want me to destroy that core?''

''Not necessarily so, the core should be attached to a magic formula, you just need to disconnect its energy to said formula.''

''Where is the formula located?''

''I've had Ariel scout the interior of this cave, and apparently, it's inside a cavern at the end of this cave.''

Bet he had to ask myriads of questions to get that information from Ariel.

''It's not so simple, isn't it?''

''...Yes. According to Ariel, there is a golem guarding the formula.'' He turns to Ariel. ''And behind the formula is a [Epic] grade gauntlet, Lady Aurora. That would be the treasure that I told you earlier.''

''A [Epic] gauntlet...?''

''That's right, Lady Aurora.'' He turns back to me. ''It's one of the many named items that anyone can view their information on without using [Inspect].

''I see.''

''Hmm... Excuse me for being rude, but you don't seem to know these common bits of knowledge?'' 

''Consider me a newborn baby when it comes to knowledge regarding this world.'' I shrug.

''I see. I won't pry more into it, then.'' He nods. ''Back to the topic, Lady Aurora. Please do check out the item yourself, and then you can decide if you want to help me or not.''

''...Let me think.''

...No, there's simply not enough information to decide right away. 

''Fine, I'll go see.'' I stand up. ''Ariel, guide me.''

Climbing the stairs again, I can hear the skeleton's joyful voice sounds behind me.

''Thank you, Lady Aurora!''

''Ariel, are there monsters here?''

''Hu.'' She shakes her head.

''How about traps?''

''Hu...!'' This time she nods.

I immediately stop moving and scan around the interior of the cave carefully.

''Hu! Hu!'' Ariel points forward aggressively.

''No traps here?''

''Hu.'' She nods.

''...''

Not letting my guard down, I begin to follow right behind Ariel. She certainly seems to know where all the traps are, I can see her dodging various triggers from time to time, both the obvious ones and the not-so-obvious ones, truly a lifesaver. 

[Skill proficiency achieved a certain level]

[Skill: Night Vision Lv.1 has become Lv.2]

Okay, thanks.

But now that I think about it again, what's the whole deal with me not being able to see the [Help] function? Is it glitching?

Hmm... I'll have to ask that skeleton about everything regarding this world later.

''Phew...'' I let out a small sigh.

...And now that I've calmed down a bit, what should I even do in the future? Even if I were to survive this forest and get out to a potential civilization outside, there would be no horror stories - My source of entertainment for me to watch anymore. There's no Chloe as well. It's only been a day or so, but I miss her already.

But according to Chloe's ramblings about transmigration stories, some have managed to get back to their worlds, so let's set my goal to 'get back to Earth' for now, I suppose.

As I am thinking that, it seems like we've finally reached our destination.

''Hu.'' Ariel points to the large entrance in front of us.

Looking to the left, I can see another path leading to this entrance as well. So the two paths from the earlier fork all lead to this one? What's the point then?

Anyway, peeking into the entrance, I can indeed see a giant yellow golem with a red core on its chest standing before a glowing dark purple magic circle of sorts, in the middle of which is a medium-sized blue crystal-like rock, which is probably the core.

And I assume the gauntlet on the stand there is the item?

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Gauntlet of Severance

Enable the user to modify the range of one
skill according to the amount of mana used.

Cost: 1.5 MP/ 1 meter extension.

Duration: 5 seconds.

CD: 10 seconds.

When Equipped: +0.2 STR.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, wow, that is impressive. I can't even imagine how easy it would be to ambush an opponent with this, even if the activation cost is a little bit high.

Now, onto the golem.

[Inspect].

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: --              

Race: Guardian Golem                    Title: --

Level: 15 

HP: 60/60                    MP: 43/43

STR: 4.0                     INT: 5.0

AGI: 3.0                    STA: 7.0

Skill: [Pain Immunity Lv.10],
[Status Condition immunity Lv.10], [Acceleration Lv.4],
[Detection Lv.3], [Smash Lv.2], [Self-destruction Lv.1].

State: Dormant.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That one is pretty strong... Wait.

[Detection: Enable the user to sense nearby physical changes. Range: 50 meters] [Rare]

''!!''

The golem's core flashes bright red and the giant begins to move. Each of its small gestures makes loud creaking noises, like a rusty old machine.

And it turns right toward me.