~ I have added this Fanfic to my Patreon. If you'd like to read advanced chapters, feel free to check it out!
~ I'm planning to increase the number of advanced chapters to +18 this weekend!
~ I've edited some of the previous chapters to remove anything you might consider "cringe" or "unnecessary." I'll continue reviewing them from time to time!
~ Very soon, we'll return to releasing two chapters daily, including bonus privileges for Power Stone contributions!
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"Ah screw it." He decided. Reaching out, he removed the four pictures and placed them back in the order that had been popularised in the anime. Seiryū in the east, Suzaku to the south, Byakko in the west and Genbu in the north.
As he pressed the cut-out block with Genbu on it in place, the lock started making noises, like that of gears turning. Issei stepped back cautiously as the box sank into metal housing before the doors creaked open inwardly, darkness hiding the room within.
"And that really builds up my confidence." The Sekiryūtei muttered uneasily. He perked up as another window popped up.
As a result of a specific action, you have gained the skill [Puzzle Solving]!
[Puzzle Solving] (Passive) [LV1, 00.00 EXP]
Puzzles, riddles, tricks and traps are the enemy of any dungeon explorer aside from the monsters that dwell within the dungeons. While traps aren't covered, puzzles, tricks and riddles should be easier to solve with this skill. Any mystery devised by mortal minds can be solved therein.
- Passively adds 5 to WIS.
- Passively raises the chance of solving a puzzle by 10%.
- Passively raises the chance of solving a riddle by 10%.
- Passively raises the chance of solving a trick item by 10%.
"Useful." Issei commented before squaring his shoulders and walking through the doorway, the doors clanging shut behind him.
As soon as they did, torches mounted on the walls started to catch afire, more eerie green flames dimly illuminating a corridor that was sloping upwards, with roughly hewn pillars spaced evenly along the walls.
For some reason, he had a bad feeling about this, so he walked softly near the wall to his right and strained his eyes to try and spot any enemies that would appear ahead of him.
He paused after about five minutes when he heard a rattling noise coming from up ahead. Peering up, Issei's eyes widened before he dived to take cover behind a pillar. Just in time, as a massive rattling wheel with several ratmen inside it sped past, rolling over where Issei had been just a short moment ago.
"Did I just barely avoid getting run over by the world's biggest hamster wheel?" Issei forced himself to ask aloud, as if to confirm the absurdity he had just witnessed. There was the supernatural, and then there was the plain weird.
Advancing up the path again, Issei dodged two more supersized rat wheels that tried to crush him. It was actually fairly easy to avoid them, as the loud rattling sound they made as they trundled down the sloping corridor was very obvious.
Eventually, he made it to the top and peered around. Seeing no sign of any more wheels of doom, he advanced into the room ahead and stopped. Ten Clanrats stood guard in the room, armed with crude spears and shields. Careful examination of the room showed that there was no sign of any other traps or hidden guns in the room, nor were there any large areas that were hidden by boxes or furniture.
In other words, an area he could cut loose in.
Clanrat LV10
[Hired Help]
Clanrat Claw Leader Vrrkin LV12
[Squad Leader]
Interesting. So one of them was stronger than the others and was the leader. Based on the actions of the Ratmen in the past, the leader would send the others to fight Issei first before reluctantly fighting himself.
Deciding to take advantage of his new [Ambushing] skill, Issei carefully manoeuvred himself around the seemingly randomly patrolling ratmen until he was behind two who were chittering to each other in that odd language of theirs. He flipped down his hood and attacked, beheading one of the ratmen and seriously wounding another. The wounded ratman screeched in agonised fury, alerting the rest of the rats to Issei's location.
You have slain a [Clanrat]! You earn 125 EXP!
"Man-thing! Kill-kill!" Vrrkin ordered. Unlike the rest of the Clanrats, he was equipped with a serrated sword that dripped a foul-looking black ooze to the ground. Issei resolved to not get cut by it.
Evading a spear thrust, the Sekiryūtei swiped the wounded Clanrat with his [Rapscallion Wave Blade], finishing it off before chopping at a spear that came at him from the other side. Fighting against polearm weapons like this was seriously hard. He had to dodge or block every single blow with his swords or armguards to reduce the damage he took from the blows to less than 10 HP pet hit, which left him with few chances to attack. He did manage to make the occasional attack though, thanks to his longer arms and height, and the numbers of Clanrats thinned.
Once the last one fell, Issei was down seventy HP and facing the leader of the squad of ratmen, Vrrkin. Now that Issei had the chance to look at him closer, he wished he hadn't. His eyes were red and froth was spilling out of his ravening maw as he cackled.
"Man-thing foolish. You should have killed Vrrkin when you had the chance!" the ratman sneered, "Now you shall die on the Sword Eater!"
"That name is lame." Issei deadpanned.
With a shriek, the ratman lashed out with his sword, forcing Issei to parry it with his steel sword. He was glad he had done that with the ordinary sword rather than the [Rapscallion Wave Blade] as the muck that Vrrkin's sword excreted started eating into the blade, rusting it.
'Crap!' Was all Issei could think as he dodged and blocked with his rusting sword. He had to do something here! He couldn't lose his swords like this!
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