Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 169

Burning (1)

The world beyond the mirror.

A hidden field similar to Larkaz’s maze.

The difficulty level here is quite high right after entering.

That’s because monsters come pouring out of nowhere.

“Bjorn! Here they come again!”

Just when we think we’ve fought them all, they come again.

Their scale is completely different from before.

8 Flame Wolves, Level 7 beast-type monsters.

5 Salamanders, Level 6 nature-type monsters.

And 3 Redwoods, Level 5 Plant-Type monsters

“Raven, how long till the magic?”

As I shout, a blue light bursts from Raven’s wand.

“Nara Brizianu Tun!”

Level 5 Area Freezing Magic [Ice Rain].

Known in-game by its English name, Blizzard.

Whoosh!

The gray clouds in the sky rained down sharpened ice spikes.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

More than half of the monsters are destroyed by a single spell.

Of course, Level 5 monsters were still unscathed by this wide-area attack.

“Behel—raaaaaah!”

Combining [Wild Burst] and [Gigantification].

Thanks to my increased threat level, monsters gather around me without needing to do anything.

This is why, in this place, a tank is as important as a mage.

[Gaaaaaah!]

Blocking the whip-like branches of the Redwood with my shield, I focused solely on defense.

The so-called Barbarian Turtle mode.

With [Swing], I could probably take out one of them on my own, but…….

It’s better to conserve soul power.

Because the threat level drops once [Gigantification] wears off.

“Take care of the Salamanders first!”

While I was dealing with the three Redwoods, our mage prepared magic for the next wave.

So, it was time for the other dealers to shine.

Roar!

With Mr. Bear’s ranged support, Aynar and Misha began to seriously take down monsters.

It took them less than three minutes to clear the lesser mobs.

‘With two melee fighters, mob clearing is fast.’

Afterwards, the five of us joined forces to defeat the Level 5 monsters.

However, there was no time to rest.

“…Here they come again.”

Monsters appeared right after finishing one battle, with a scary sound.

We repeated this process over and over, fighting about ten more battles.

“Mr. Jandel, I’m running low on magic power.”

Raven’s magic was down to less than a third after using wide-area magic spells liberally.

Of course, it wasn’t a big problem.

The initial waves were almost over.

“Don’t use offensive magic anymore, just provide support.”

“Understood!”

After that, Raven used her remaining magic power to either curse the enemy or buff the team.

By that point, my [Gigantification] also ended.

It seems that Mr. Bear, who had been firing a lot of explosive arrows, is also running out of soul power.

“Bethel—raaaaaah!!!”

As it became harder for the three of us to perform, the importance of Aynar and Misha, the melee sister duo, grew.

Indeed, the consistent DPS is always melee.

“Wooooo!! This is exactly the kind of battle I wanted!!!”

Aynar’s excitement reached a fever pitch as she faced down countless enemies.

As a Barbarian, a race of combatants, her excitement actually helped her.

‘Did she always fight this well?’

Despite her rough handling of the greatsword, she dodged everything that needed dodging.

It’s like she’s on some kind of stimulant.

‘Well, she said she trained in swordsmanship there, …….’

Her combat sense seems to be even better than Misha’s.

Anyway, as the battle was nearing its end, we changed the formation.

“Abman, now send that guy over here!”

Our team’s tank, the Iron Guardian, Shortened to Ung.

[Uung-!]

Even Ung, who had been protecting the rear ranged fighters, joined the front line, bolstering our strength.

Really, it seemed like everyone was at their limit.

The mage’s magic power has completely run out, cutting off even the support.

Crack! Crack! Whoosh!

Maces and swords and giant crossbow bolts.

For the first time in a while, I’m pushed to my limits, clearing out the remaining monsters with mere physical attacks, no skills involved.

“It seems like it’s finally over…”

I smashed a flaming skeleton with my mace and the battle was over.

Hundreds of magic stones scattered on the ground.

“But, were the magic stones always this dark in color?”

“It’s due to the characteristics of this space. The density is about twice as high.”

In other words, a doubling event is in effect.

It took Raven, with her dwindling magic power, several minutes just to collect them.

Oh, and there was also an essence.

“I saw it! It came out from the place where the creature with human heads hanging all over it died!”

“You mean the Headhunter.”

A level 7 undead monster of the flame type.

So, we coolly discarded it.

Though consuming it might be somewhat useful…

Now that we’re hunting rank 5 monsters daily, there’s really no need to consume this.

“Uhm, discarded…?”

Aynar looked at me with eyes full of longing, like a child who just dropped their candy.

Still, it’s a no-go.

Persistent.

“It’s not good for you. So, even if it’s disappointing, let it go.”

“Alright!”

Picking up just anything could lead to the need for removal later, unnecessarily costing more money.

I wonder if she felt bad about throwing the loot away.

“But why don’t we put it in a test tube and sell it?”

Aynar, with a moment of eureka, suggested a new idea.

Our mage had already sorted it out.

“That won’t work. Anything below Level 6 wouldn’t even cover the cost of the vial. Plus, I heard we can only take one item out of here.”

“Eh? Only one item? What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know why. But I heard that items obtained here can only be taken out using ‘distortion’ magic, and only one item is allowed.”

If Raven hadn’t known, I would have had to explain this characteristic of the field.

“We must be careful what we take with us. Not just the essence… I’ve heard there could be incredibly rare items here.

“Rare items…”

I had already decided what to take with me.

But my curiosity was piqued.

Could there be someone who knew about that item?

After inquiring further, Raven indicated that was all she knew, drawing a line there.

“Finding information like this is difficult through books. And that’s what I was told in the first place.

Well, after the fifth floor, it’s classified as advanced information.

Even minor achievements are treated as intellectual property and are not easily shared.

Some clans won’t even let you mention your work in the Labyrinth.

No wonder she was so focused on the Rift Chronicle.

“Everyone rest for now. I’ll keep watch.”

We took a break after the intense battle, assessing our current situation.

“Raven, how long will it take for your magic power to fully recover?”

“If I meditate or sleep, 12 hours. Otherwise, it could take a whole day.”

“I see.”

This is also why it’s said that melee fighters are more favorable than mages on the 5th floor. Mages take a considerable amount of time to recover their magic power.

“From now on, save your magic power unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Are we continuing the exploration like this?”

“It’s not easy to get here. We should explore as much as possible. We might even find that rare item you mentioned.”

“That does make sense. We don’t know when we’ll be able to come here again…”

With that, the matter was settled.

After replenishing our stamina for 15 minutes, we resumed our exploration.

It was a forced march, but no one complained.

After all, we had already seen the deluge of magic stones and essences.

“I can finally hold my head high in front of my wife”.

Mr. Bear was beaming.

Despite everything, he’s quite the family man.

“Abman, do you detect any portals nearby?”

“Over there, very faintly in the distance.”

In a field where compasses do not work.

I used the Scout’s ability to find our way.

“…If you’re going the opposite direction, why ask?”

Because the place I want to go is in that direction.

Of course, I couldn’t say that.

“That portal is likely to be an exit. Going in the opposite direction might lead us to something.”

I added a flimsy rationale..

But since it wasn’t incorrect, I quickly gained Raven’s support.

“Ah! Right. I read there’s a portal inside the mirror.”

Ah, that’s why it’s good to have a character who’s smart.

“Well, let’s go then.”

Day 22, around 7 PM.

The day is almost over, and we have about a week left.

If we want to make the most of it, we need to hurry.

****

The Mirror of Fire.

There’s a unique feature in this field.

It takes a day for monsters to respawn.

As a result, places where hunting has been completed temporarily become safe zones.

It’s a fortunate aspect in many ways.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t even be able to sleep properly with hundreds of monsters swarming us constantly.

[Defeated the Hell Guard. EXP +4]

[Defeated the Gremlin. EXP +2]

[Defeated the Doom Warrior. EXP +5]

[Defeated the Chaos Bug. EXP +2]

[Defeated the Doomflame Fairy…]

After three days of battling various monsters that we couldn’t hunt before due to the control of certain clans, we finally left the starting point, the wilderness.

The progress was much slower than I expected.

‘The map is large, but there are just too many monsters.’

Once a battle starts, its noise attracts nearby monsters.

Of course, it’s better than the very beginning when they swarmed us from all sides.

Now, we only need to be mindful of enemies coming from the front, and we could retreat if necessary.

However, as the forced march continued, both our stamina and MP ran low, and the speed of our hunt slowed down.

There were a few times when we were in danger.

Eventually, we had to take regular breaks.

‘Still, the rate at which we’re earning magic stones is insane.’

 

It’s no wonder I called this place the Burning Zone.

Large-scale battles utilizing magic.

Plus, the double magic stone event.

Now that I’m here, I’m starting to feel like I’m actually making money from the magic stones. Up until now, all the big gains I got were from looting equipment from plunderers.

“Hunting is really all about the mob hunts.”

Day 26, morning.

After finishing camping, we officially entered a new field.

The Burning Forest.

True to its name, the trees are engulfed in black flames, burning 24/7.

However, the damage from the flames is minimal.

The trees are well spaced apart, and they’re covered with [Cold Blood], which increases their resistance to flames.

There are three reasons why I chose this place.

First, it has the lowest combat difficulty.

“Hmm, there’s not much here?”

“Yeah, I was a bit worried, but this seems easier than the previous place. There aren’t even any rank 5 monsters.”

While there are many monsters, they’re all Level 6 and 7.

Of course, easier means less rewarding.

But heading in other directions towards the Ashen Mountains and Lava Lakes would be too challenging for us.

The Altar of the Dead, where the portal is, doesn’t offer much either.

In that sense…

Secondly, we need something to make our future explorations easier.

An item hidden in the center of the Burning Forest.

With it, the next time we come here, it will allow us to tackle other fields, as well as enter the island on the sixth floor.

“Don’t let your guard down too much. We don’t know what might appear.”

I issued a warning out of habit, but once we entered the forest, I sped up two.

Given we spent more time than expected, we weren’t sure if we arrived in time.

“Nyang, All the trees here are burnt.”

“Let’s rest here today.”

After a day of continuous combat and movement, we set up camp as the day ended.

And the next morning.

‘Finally, it appeared.’

We encountered a monster.

“Alluva! What’s its name?”

“Uh, that is… I don’t know either.”

Even Raven, who had spent her life buried in books, didn’t know the name or level of this monster.

A monster that exists solely in the Burning Forest.

A rare monster that even the clans controlling the 5th floor’s connected fields might encounter once a year if lucky.

[Growwwwwl-!]

A Level 5 rare species, Bertas.

The third reason I chose the Burning Forest.

“Bethel—raaaaaaaah!”

This creature is a guaranteed drop for an essence.