Chapter 6 - Boss Fight Encounter
The sounds of wings flapping and a blade swinging through the air echoed throughout the area.
“Echo — Lunar Bright Steel!”
Fighting a particularly large bat monster, its body abnormally large and almost as big as her, Mary eventually overcame it by hacking off one of its wings and stabbing it in the heart. Its pained screech as it died caused her to feel slightly guilty about its death until that feeling was washed away by the disgust of a spray of blood getting all over the front of her clothes.
“Yuck.”
“While there are daily life spells that would be useful for this situation, it’s best to preserve your energy for any upcoming fights. Plus, this is a good incentive to avoid blood splatters in the future.”
“It’s sticky and warm!”
“I’m quite aware of the sensation, having experienced my own share of monster blood. At least you’re not trapped inside the stomach of a hell fiend or crushed underneath the weight of a titan beast. Experience will be your teacher, and lessons that you can safely walk away from are the best ones to learn from.”
Mary still felt squeamish even as she rubbed away the blood that splattered against her bare skin. There was nothing else she could do for her clothing, however, and the sensation of dried blood was something she had to get used to for now.
“I can’t wait for this quest to be over.”
“Once you receive your commission fee, you should think about investing in some essential commodities such as clothes and a new weapon. That rusted sword of yours is basically worthless in anyone else’s hands. The only reason I’m even allowing you to continue using it is that you’re mostly wielding it as a conduit for your spells instead of an actual bladed instrument.”
“So a magic wand?”
She heard him sigh heavily. “An apt description, as painful as it is to hear you say it aloud. Even though there are swords that have been created with some level of magical affinity for users who combine swords and magic, calling that trash weapon of yours a magic wand is the same as calling a blade of grass a deadly weapon.”
The conversation came to a halt as she finally reached the end of the corridor, emerging into a large circular room with a single pedestal standing in the middle of the chamber. Seeing that there were no monsters in sight, Mary warily began to approach the pedestal and noted several more scripts engraved on the sides.
“Looks like there’s more Belskrit here.”
“Well, let’s see what it says.”
Both of their curiosity was piqued at this point, and Mary hurriedly complied by moving closer to read the words aloud.
To think that it has been so long since I returned home. BEL is no longer the magic god, and not even his closest confidants know where he currently is. Choosing his successor and then disappearing, what exactly is that man thinking? Why would the Magic God need to leave his nation and cut off all connections to his social circle?
I believe that there is a good reason behind his actions, and I fear that it is something that may affect all the inhabitants of this world. But what can I do? I am trapped in this hellhole separated from the outside world. Only through the All-Seeing Observation Lens can I observe the present world in this place cut off from time. And yet, even that is not enough to find out where BEL is hiding.
The handwriting was erratic near the end of the passage, and Mary could almost feel the emotions that were inscribed in the words written by whoever was here.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“What do you think this means, Text?”
“I’m not certain, but there are a few things I can guess from these words. The first is that the writer might be a former follower of BEL, something that I suspected since reading the earlier words on that wall.”
“He seems confused about learning of BEL’s disappearance.”
“There are many theories about why BEL left after appointing ABEL as his successor. Some believe that ABEL actually killed BEL for his title and position, and that his disappearance is actually due to her hiding his death from the public eye. Another theory is that after he picked his successor, BEL left to go on a spiritual journey to learn about the meaning of life. Others believe that he ascended to a higher plane and escaped this bounded world to travel into the infinite beyond. Regardless, there’s no definite answer that I can give you at this point in time.”
“What about this part regarding the All-Seeing Observation Lens?” Mary asked. “Do you have any idea of what it is supposed to be?”
“I’m not sure,” Text admitted. “From these words, it sounds like a tool that allows someone to observe outside the Tacit End Ruins. Its grandiose name implies that the scope and range of its observation must be formidable, although still not enough to track down a god in hiding. But that puts into question exactly where this All-Seeing Observation Lens is supposed to be.”
His words caused Mary’s eyes to naturally move toward the pedestal.
“Could this be it?”
“Maybe,” Text replied. “Try and see if you can find some sort of interface.”
Mary looked all over the pedestal, but except for the Belskrit words carved onto the topmost surface, it appeared to be a smooth object all around.
Left with no other option, Mary figured that touching it might do something and placed her palm directly onto the top of the pedestal.
A holographic screen appeared before her.
Enter Password: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
She blinked. “Well, that did something alright. Now the only thing stopping us from proceeding is figuring out what the password is.”
“Do we really have to figure it out? After all, our only objective is to transcribe the scripts here and bring it back to the Adventurer Guild. You already did so, there’s no need to continue onward.”
“You have a point,” Mary admitted. “But if you ask me, the only reason I need to continue is that I want to.”
Text seemed resigned to her decision. “If you say so. Although, there’s not much we can do if we cannot figure out what the password is. However, since this pedestal appears to be some kind of terminal, maybe we can see if there’s a clue lying around that might tell us the password.”
“A clue?”
“The weakest link in almost all forms of cybersecurity is the human element. Let’s imagine that this so-called All-Seeing Observation Lens works like any other terminal. If it is some kind of tool that requires an operator, there has to be a contingency in the event that the operator is unable to access the terminal. What if they forget the password after several years of not accessing the terminal, or what if a different operator needs to use it? In such an event, there has to be a way for someone to either obtain the password or bypass security without needing it.”
“So how would I get this clue?”
“Try inputting a password and see what happens. Even if you get it wrong, they might give you a prompt that will allow you to change the password. And if that doesn’t work, I suppose that means there’s not much else we can do here.”
She wasn’t sure exactly how she was supposed to input a password, but when Mary tried to move her palm a transparent keyboard suddenly appeared in front of her. EIther it sensed her intentions or she unknowingly used some kind of hand gesture to make it appear. Regardless, Mary randomly inputted several words into the terminal to see what would happen.
Password Incorrect
Password Incorrect
Password Incorrect
And finally, something happened.
WARNING: Number of Failed Attempts has Triggered Security Measures
The sound of rumbling was her only warning before a hole opened up in the ground and a large lumbering form began to emerge from its depths.