I’ve faced death several times since coming to the dungeon.
It’s only been a month and some change, but I feel like I’ve faced death more times than I can count.
I must be going crazy, to still be coming to the dungeon.
I lost my left arm, and my right leg from the knee down is rolling in front of me.
During the battle with the warrior kobold, it cut my right leg off with its battleaxe, and bit my left arm off.
I can reattach the right leg, but my left arm is in its stomach. I could take it out, but it’s been made into ground meat.
I said I wasn’t thinking about quitting the dungeon, but I’m going to be forced to do it.
Furthermore, my future job prospects just sank. I might get employed to fill a disabled person’s quota or something, but I really should think about this stuff later.
I make use of my right arm, and crawl to my right leg.
Drinking a potion brought some stamina back, but if I don’t use Healing Magic quickly, I’ll die of blood loss.
I reach my right leg, push it into the wound, and cast Healing Magic.
Slowly, I imagine the nerves and cells connecting as I cast the spell.
As I do it, I look at the warrior kobold.
It’s supposedly dead, as its head and body are separate, but it’s still glaring at me. To be more precise, it’s its head that’s still alive. The body is still throbbing, but it’s clearly dead.
I don’t know if I should be impressed, but its vitality and stubbornness frightens me.
I sacrificed my arm to save my life, and blocked the battleaxe with my leg to cut its head. It was a desperate attack where I put it all on the line.
I wish that warrior kobold gave up too.
Without its head to give it orders, the body can’t move, but I’m still going to finish it off once I’m done healing.
My leg is almost reattached, but then I notice something different.
A black mist emerges, and surrounds the warrior kobold.
It looks like it’s eroding into it, and chipping away at the body. Once the flesh is all gone and only bones remain, it stumbles to its feet, and picks up its head.
It places the head where it should be, and moves smoothly like when it was alive.
I’m done healing my leg, and get up, feeling fed up.
I beat that thing by chance with a desperate attack, so I really don’t want to fight it again. Not to mention that I’m missing an arm. My chances of winning are slim.
I pick up my greatsword with the arm I have left, and face the skeleton warrior kobold.
◇ ◇ ◇
The warrior kobold became weaker when it was turned into a skeleton.
Still, its skill with its weapon easily exceeds mine, so even after using Trace to read its moves, I still had trouble dealing with it.
In the end, all I could do was execute a desperate attack.
It pierced my stomach with its hand, and as I vomited blood, I hugged it.
Then I mustered up the last of my magic energy to cast Healing Magic, dealing fatal damage.
The black mist gushed out, and despite it being just bones, I saw a satisfied expression on its face in the end.
Now it’s really over.
I get on my knees and vomit more blood. My stomach was pierced, and my organs took serious damage. And since I don’t have any magic energy left, my consciousness is just fading.
If I pass out here, I’m dead, but what should I do…
Suddenly it hits me. Could it be that the liquid I found yesterday is a miracle medicine that regrows arms and cures wounds in a flash? Considering its color, it could very well be.
I’m sure if I drink it, my arm will regrow with a silver color, and my blood will be replenished with a silver something.
I think I saw that in a manga.
I do my best to move my dull body, and take the medicine out of my Storage Space.
I open it in my mouth, and gulp the contents.
It tastes nasty, so I follow it up with ant queen honey.
And then my wounds… Stay exactly the same.
Of course. It couldn’t be that… Convenient?
My wounds don’t heal, but my magic energy does.
My fading consciousness awakens, bringing with it the pain.
I cast Healing Magic again, as I picture my body I traced before.
I get thirsty along the way, so I drink ant queen honey, bringing me more energy and making my magic even sharper.
It doesn’t take long until I’m done. The hole in my stomach is closed, and my left arm is back.
That was scary. I didn’t know that in addition to curing diseases, Healing Magic could also restore lost body parts.
…Could I become a doctor?
Not an official one of course, but maybe like that one with half his face a different color.
Maybe I’ll try that if my job change ends up not working out. I’ll keep that resolve in my heart.
◇ ◇ ◇
Once I’m all healed up, I collect the warrior kobold’s things.
It left behind its battleaxe and armor, but its body disappeared after turning to ash.
And in the armor, I find a yellow glass ball.
I pick it up, and after looking at it for a bit, it slowly shatters and disappears into my hand.
The battleaxe and armor go in my Storage Space, and after leaving the room, I register in the portal.
Then I go right back to the first floor.
As I watch the setting sun, I think about how tired I am.
I’ll have a drink before I go home. It’s okay once in a while.
I’m going to a bar alone, but the bartender should keep me company.
I’ll take the day off tomorrow, so it’s okay even if I’m hungover. I also feel like going to the dungeon every single day is too much.
And so, with the twentieth floor done, I head downtown at night.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next day, I get a message from my father saying ‘mom is in critical condition, come home right away’, and I go back to my hometown.
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High kobold soldier (unique)
(Nickname: Warrior kobold)
A rare monster that has a one in four hundred chance of appearing as the boss of the twentieth floor.
It is equipped with magic resistant armor, and a ‘tyrant battleaxe’. A powerful monster with knowledge of martial arts and weapon handling. It is stronger than the boss monster of the thirtieth floor, and anyone at the suitable level for the twentieth floor, which is ten, will certainly die. Certain death. Knowing when to quit is essential.
Skills: Martial Arts, Penetration, Shock Step, See Through, Spatial Grasp
Equipment: Magic mirror armor, tyrant battleaxe
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Haruto Tanaka (24)
Level: 16
Skills: Earth Magic, Trace, Healing Magic, Spatial Grasp, Toughness, Magic Energy Control, Physical Strengthening, Poison Resistance, Storage Space, See Through, Parallel Thinking, Sewing, Limit Break
Equipment: Agility bracelet, greatsword of fortitude, divine bird boots
Status: Fat (All abilities boosted)
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Impressive skeleton kobold warrior managed to reach his organs, thats a fuckton of fat
Maybe he could use the kobold armor for himself. Thanks.