Chapter 2:
Item Conversion
I HAD THE DAY OFF, so I took my time getting out of bed. When I awoke, I heard my father screaming outside.
“Nooooir! Come downstairs! Hurry!”
I grumbled and walked down the stairs. When I got outside, my father was standing next to a massive pile of Giant Boar corpses. He looked like he was in a state of shock. What on earth…?
“Did you hunt those, Noir?”
“Me? No. Maybe Tigerson?”
“He went to the shop early with your mother and Alice. I don’t think it was him.”
Which made Olivia the most likely culprit. I headed back inside and found her sipping tea in the living room.
“That was you, wasn’t it? What are you doing with all those monsters?”
“Ah ha ha ha! I killed a few too many. I figured I could use them to pay you back, considering the whole house thing and all.”
“Well, I can sell their parts in the shop, so I should thank you for that at least.”
But my father was acting a little bizarre. “Lady Olivia, leave it all to me! Noir, do you mind if I sell them to a friend?”
“Fine by me. Just don’t give away the farm.”
“I love you, my dear boy!”
Once he left, I asked Olivia something that had been weighing on my mind. “Are you planning to go back to the hidden dungeon?”
“Hmm. I’m kinda bored with it to be honest. You can do it for me.”
“All right, well, I’ll be off then.”
“Just promise you won’t do anything dumb, okay?” she said. “I’m gonna sleep all day.”
She was going to bed already? She must have been tired.
I changed my clothes and headed to the hidden dungeon, taking a moment to check my status.
Level: 182
Current Weapons: Two-Edged Blade (Sharp Edge, Good Luck); Piercing Spear (Piercing); Shield of Champions (Durable, A-Grade Fire Resistance, A-Grade Water Resistance, A-Grade Wind Resistance); Unnamed Mallet (Stone Crusher); Enchanted Bow of Progress (Enhanced Archery); Shockwave Morningstar (Shockwave)
Skills: Great Sage; Get Creative; Bestow; Editor; LP Conversion; LP Conversion (Money); LP Conversion (Items); Stone Bullet; Holy Flame; Lightning Strike; Thunderbolt; Water Drop; Icicle; Iceball; Blinding Light; Willowy Dodge; Power Slash; Swordsmanship (Grade C); Exploding Arrow; Throwing (Grade B); Jumping (Grade A); Alchemy (Grade B); Discerning Eye; Discerning Eye for Items; Variable Visual Acuity; Pocket Dimension (Grade C); Dungeon Elevator; Butchering; Exorcism; Excavate; Improved Lunge; Improved Side Step; Improved Back Step; Passive Defense; Magical Fusion; Deodorize; Lucky Letcher; Shoulder Rub; Night Vision; Tail; Headache Immunity; Poison Resistance (Grade A); Paralysis Immunity (Grade C); Heat Resistance (Grade A); Petrification Immunity (Grade A); Abnormal Condition Recovery (Grade C); Mental Status Effect Immunity (Grade C); Courage; Hearing Protection; Dancing; Diving; Zero Breathing
Had I become a skill hoarder? Looking at it all laid out like that made me wonder. I had 7,200 LP too. I’d also had S-Grade Archery at one point, but I’d Sacrificed it in the fight against the Death Chains to make myself stronger. I could have just made it again, but the thought of spending 3,500 LP was a little too painful. Maybe when I had more LP to spare, I’d reconsider.
I used my Dungeon Elevator to go straight to the fifteenth floor. Familiar cold air brushed against my skin. I was in a long, narrow room with gray walls and a dark gray floor. It was a very simple area. There had once been a big statue at the back, but it had been destroyed when I fought the Death Chains, revealing the stairs behind. Of course, the copy of my master that had been attached to the chains was gone too. I headed down.
The sixteenth floor looked almost stylish with its neat, brick-lined corridor. It was a straight shot, and I could hear a woman singing from the other end. It was beautiful, and when I listened, I realized it wasn’t just one voice. Several people were singing in turn.
“What is that song?”
I continued down the hall, wary that it might be a trap. Eventually, I found myself in a large room with four women. They were all wearing dresses and looked to be in their twenties. They all had similar features, but their skin colors were all different: light, dark, tan, and one with an almost blueish pallor.
The four women turned to me in unison, but I felt no hostility from them. Quite the opposite in fact. They all smiled at me.
“Ooh, a cute boy.”
“Come on, now, it’s rude to say that.”
“Yeah, he must be really strong to have made it this far.”
“We have a great deal of love and respect for you~!”
They almost sang rather than spoke. There was something odd about them, but my Discerning Eye didn’t work on them, which meant that they must have been created by the dungeon.
“If you would like to proceed beyond this point, you must pick one of us to come with you,” said the tan one, sounding relaxed. “We are the Four Siren Sisters. I am the eldest, and I sing songs of destruction.”
“I am the second sister, and I sing songs of healing.”
“I am the third, and I sing songs of protection.”
“And I am the fourth. I sing songs of encouragement.”
A familiar pattern. Any of them might betray me at any point, but considering how these things tended to go, I needed to pick one before I could go on.
“Then I’ll go with the third sister, since I’m the third son.”
Plus, protection definitely sounded useful. And I wanted to make quick, decisive choices instead of worrying about every little detail.
“Thank you for picking me. I shall sing my best songs of protection for you.”
“My name’s Noir. What’s yours?”
“I do not have a name. You may simply call me the Third.”
The Third? That sure had an awkward ring. I had to wonder if their personalities differed in any meaningful way. The others didn’t seem particularly upset that I hadn’t chosen them.
“We ought to get going. Sisters, it’s time for the song of farewells.”
“La la la la la la~!”
The three remaining sisters sang a stirring, up-tempo song. Their voices were beautiful. They stirred feelings of happiness, sadness, and pathos all mingled together. It raised my spirits. No wonder singers were so popular.
Maybe I should start practicing in secret.
As we moved on, I made sure to keep a half pace behind the Third, just to be safe. I would have been extremely happy if she turned out to be a nice girl, like Dory from the seventh floor, but there was still a good chance that she was an enemy. Suddenly, the passage became more complicated.
“Noir, I will protect you, so I hope you will return the favor.”
“I imagine I won’t be able to get to the next floor if I don’t.”
“You imagine correctly.”
It sounded like she knew where to find the stairs. Either that or she was the only one who could open the path to them. Maybe picking the sister who sang protection songs had been the right call.
“May your body become as hard as steel and sturdy as an ogre’s!”
Her voice was more than pleasant: I could feel my body growing stronger. That was pretty welcome.
We progressed down the corridor, turning here and there, until something clicked under my feet.
“Oh, no, don’t tell me…”
“Look.”
The Third pointed down the corridor, where bricks were peeling off the walls. They floated in the air, almost like they had a mind of their own. I was right—it was a trap! The hostile bricks hurled themselves toward us. Despite their vast numbers, every single one was aimed squarely for the Third.
“I’m going to die if you don’t do something.” Her tone was inhumanly calm, almost devoid of emotion.
“I’m not about to let that happen!”