NOVEL NEXT Chapter 32
The damp wind crashed over me. Squinting, I looked around. I could see that the walls, filled with cracks, were encroached upon by wet moss in various spots.
A silence with no end hung in the air. The torches mounted on the walls flickered in the breeze, seemingly unable to conquer the darkness.
Looks like someone went all out. I had been wondering what Professor Ilian had been up to for the past month, and it seems she was busy creating a place like this. This location reborn from her hands had an ambiance that felt more like a labyrinth deep underground than a tower.
The path ahead was already littered with traces of destroyed traps. Clearly, the students had pushed through using brute force. I slowly made my way down the path. The heavy magical energy in the surroundings further deepened the labyrinth’s atmosphere.
After a while, I heard raucous sounds from beyond the walls. I followed the noise and came out to a wide open field. It was large enough to hold hundreds of people. Many were milling about there.
What were they waiting for? Carefully making my way through them, I soon discovered a path out of the field, only to find it blocked by two groups exuding massive magical energy.
They faced each other, poised for confrontation. The sounds that had lured me here were their fierce shouts at one another. As I approached slowly, it seemed they noticed me and halted their bickering.
To be honest, I didn’t expect the sixth floor to change this much.
Professor Ilian was smiling mischievously at me for some reason. Right now, I was just another participant, just like the folks right in front of me. If we were to judge by individual abilities, I’d probably be the weakest here. I guess Professor Ilian wanted to see me struggle amidst them.
But I doubt they saw me as just another participant.
I was the guide who brought them here, and an instructor holding the class. They were surely under that misconception.
So I needed to keep that illusion alive. I plastered a smile on my face and raised both hands over my head.
“Hello, everyone. Why are you still standing here?”
I took a quick look at the two groups.
One was made up of swordsmen. I had thought they would have pushed right on ahead. That’s what wielding a sword meant, after all. Yet here they were stuck at the early stages.
It must be due to the people blocking their way. Checking their faces, I saw they were gathered around several prominent families. I couldn’t see the core five that would normally lead them, and the rest remained to obstruct the path.
The muscle-bound man, who seemed the strongest among the swordsmen, spoke up. His face was practically buried in muscle.
“Yes, it seems someone needs to keep an eye on you all. But don’t worry, I have no intention of touching the treasure at all. So just focus on what you need to do and don’t mind me.”
It was a lie, of course.
But it was somewhat true that I didn’t plan to touch the treasure. If I had a chance to sneak it away, I would, but if not, there was no need to mess with it.
I still had five more years of this class to get through, and there was no need to start off on the wrong foot with others. To survive longer, it was crucial not to make enemies.
The muscle guy sighed. He pointed with his massive sword at the group blocking the path.
“These guys are blocking the road and not letting anyone through. I can’t just go kill them.”
“Hmm, you’ll have to overcome this kind of obstacle to obtain treasure. So, everyone, stay strong.”
I left them at that. There was no reason for me to mediate. I just planned to do my own thing. This place was more spacious than elsewhere, making it the safest bet. And there were plenty of people gathered here. It was my chance to start my hustle.
I staked my spot roughly in the center of the open field.
Dolls started popping out from my spatial pocket, setting up a tiny tent there. They formed a frame with their bodies and draped fabric over it — a very simple structure.
As I worked, many gazes turned my way. I smiled at them and hung up a sign in front of the tent.
[Ebron’s Doll Workshop]
Pride swelled in my chest. It was a sign that felt like an extension of myself, brought along from outside the university. To think I could display this sign again within the university, after putting it up when I intended to enroll. What a nostalgic feeling!
Now, my goal was to hang it outside once again. After graduating, I would confidently open my shop. No longer frittering away on the outskirts of slums, but heading straight for the imperial capital. That’s where I would carve my name.
As I was lost in that happy thought, several more dolls popped out of my spatial pocket. They were quite a variety — dolls specialized in first aid, ones inscribed with explosion spells, dolls for hospitality, and so on.
After setting those up against the tent walls, I pulled out a crafting table from deeper inside. It was a simplified model designed to make dolls, which I had brought with me for that purpose.
I had thought deeply about what kind of dolls I could sell, but the uncertainty of not knowing where I was left me without any concrete results. What I had displayed so far was for my own safety and convenience, not for selling.
What I needed was the senses from my past. That intense instinct to follow the scent of money. I stood in this spot to awaken that sense, which was buried under my former narrow-minded artisan spirit. For the past month, I had been working hard for this moment.
The theme of this dungeon devised by Professor Ilian was clear. As I had observed, it was a labyrinth. I would need to find hidden treasures somewhere. There would surely be numerous traps and monsters in the process.
So, what kind of dolls would be useful in such a labyrinth?
Dolls to step on traps? Ones to create safe spots? Ones to restore magic? Those were all fine ideas. As I took out materials from my spatial pocket, I sketched out blueprints for each of those.
But soon, I crumpled those sketches and tossed them aside.
They were just too obvious. Other mages must have similar means to substitute such functions. That meant it wouldn’t have much marketability.
So instead, I needed something truly groundbreaking, a product that could only be used here. With that in mind, I began to develop various prototypes.
While several clever dolls emerged, I still wasn’t satisfied.
How long had passed? Suddenly, a sound came. A peculiar whisper seemed to ring in my ears.
‘One dropout occurred, 200 remaining.’
Wow, did she set up alarms too? I hadn’t expected a dropout to happen so quickly. Some must be hiding their true abilities, yet here we were with someone dropping out in less than thirty minutes.
That probably meant the traps were particularly vicious. The dropout was a standard we had devised in discussion — about the point at which someone could die just by taking a single step further. Professor Ilian had mentioned she would only torment them up to that level. Those who dropped out would be plucked by her and thrown out.
The dropout was undoubtedly something all students would fear.
At that moment, a scent brushed my nose. The smell of gold. And at that same instant, thoughts began to spread.
Professor Ilian couldn’t kill these mages anyway. She would just torment them right before death. Those two groups outside were just confronting each other because they couldn’t kill one another, right?
So, what if I plucked them right before they were about to die?
I had heard of specialists who retrieved corpses in dungeons. How about I create a doll designed for just that — to retrieve half-dead folks and bring them back to life? What if I made a doll solely for that purpose?
I sketched out a design. What should it look like? A human? Nah. Bipedal form would be too disadvantageous in this labyrinth. Such a structure would place it in danger when it stepped on a trap, failing the goal.
Then perhaps an animal? Making it quadrupedal could do the trick. That form could be fast, and it might be stable enough to carry someone on its back.
But that was a bit bothersome. Too many sacrifices for that quadrupedal form. The biggest issue was that I could not guarantee the safety of the target being retrieved.
Unless it had a shell like my turtle. But the turtle would be far too slow for this, with insufficient stability to tackle traps. It was only specialized in pushing forward with overwhelming mass.
Then I’d need to give it more legs. Make it look like a bug. Suspend several legs and attach a large enough tube for a person to fit in. And if I layered all kinds of supportive magic on that tube, anyone inside could be safely protected.
Hmm, that could work. This seemed to have good market potential. So the important thing would be the materials to create that tube. It couldn’t just be wood if it were to hold all that magic.
As I rummaged through the materials I had brought, I spotted my turtle hanging at my chest. I gave it a gentle pat. My fingertips brushed against its shell.
Sturdiness? Check. Capacity for magic? Overflowing. This shell was just perfect for making that tube.
Can I just chip off a bit?
It seemed my turtle sensed its fate, giving a weak whimper. It was a response to my thoughts. No amount of whining would work.
Making the doll with that shell wouldn’t take long. After all, all I needed to do was maximize the material’s performance.
I initially created thirty in total. That was the result of trimming a layer off the turtle’s shell.
Now I just had to sell these.
“Hey everyone! How about getting an insurance doll before you explore the labyrinth?”
I shouted from in front of the tent.
In the short time I spent inside the tent, the atmosphere outside had grown very tense. Not just the swordsmen, but other mages were applying significant pressure to those blocking the path.
Why not hack away at them a little? Why were they just standing off? With thoughts like that, I smiled at those looking my way. I pulled out one of the prototypes I had made. It was a small, cube-sized tube that could fit in the palm of my hand.
“I’m sure you all heard the announcement earlier. There’s only one chance here. If you drop out, the opportunity to gain treasure will disappear far away.”
I tossed the small doll into the air. The tube expanded and transformed into a size large enough to fit a person. It had eight legs attached.
It displayed the internal magic circle by opening its lid and demonstrated how it could quickly climb along the floor and walls.
“This is exactly what you need, a retrieval doll. This doll hides in your arms, and when you infuse it with magic, it eats its owner and runs away. Right to me.”
I showcased the other dolls in the tent.
Those dolls mimicked a rescue operation as they took the one already inside the tube and pretended to perform first aid. The doll I had deliberately damaged was soon restored to perfect condition amongst their movements.
The retrieval doll, having journeyed around the floor to show its interior to the other mages, shrank back down to fit in my hand. I raised it high for everyone in the plaza to see.
The heavy atmosphere evaporated, leaving behind an awkward air. I continued to wave that retrieval tube around, promoting it.
Not long after, out from the swordsmen, one of them suddenly popped out. Wait, not one of them—a girl! It was the one I had seen earlier, who looked somewhat clueless. She slowly approached me.
As she reached for me, I was struck by a strong sense of déjà-vu. But I pretended not to notice and placed the tube in her hand. She brought her ring close to mine and exchanged points.
She examined the tube, rolling it around, before tucking it into her attire. After giving me a polite nod, she returned to her group of swordsmen. Who on earth was she? I stuffed that question away while smiling. Anyway, I made my first sale and took a breath of relief. I shouted joyfully,
Upon that proclamation, the mages started to gather around me. I had intentionally lowballed the price, knowing this would happen. At such a minimal cost, there was no reason not to grab at least one.
Thus, all the retrieval dolls I had made were sold. To them, it was a small amount, but when combined, it would certainly amount to a mountain of fortune for me. Right now, I had already earned 60 points from the initial 30 dolls.
This was already beyond the total value of my previous possessions.
This would also be the score I continued to accumulate until the end of the class. These dolls were single-use items. If anyone benefited from those, they would surely come back for another rental.
Of course, that depended on whether those dolls could return to me.
Just selling those would feel a bit lacking though. With that in mind, I also decided to introduce my other dolls. Though the response was less than stellar compared to the first round, some mages bought one or two just for the low price.
Then, the labyrinth began to tremble. At first, it was such a feeble shaking that I almost thought I was imagining it. But before long, the vibrations increased, making it nearly impossible to keep my balance.
I swallowed hard, fixing items inside the tent with magic. Once the trembling settled, multiple paths had opened up within this cavern. Other mages wandering the open field hurried toward them.
The swordsmen followed suit. The muscle guy spat on the ground and headed for the newly opened path. He glared at those blocking the way and said,
Every time I witnessed someone harboring a grudge like that, it sent chills down my spine. The truth was, the college environment wasn’t very advantageous for swordsmen. With the orders to not kill, it placed significant restrictions on those skilled at slaughter.
But even so, their strength was not something to be underestimated. From the corridors they entered, the sounds of blades cutting through air mixed with a chilling intent rushed forth. In that brief moment, they must have pushed quite far ahead.
As the swordsmen and other mages left, the cavern went empty, and no one remained. The mages who had blocked the path exchanged a few words before quietly starting to disperse as well.
It had been over an hour since I ascended to the sixth floor. The shift in floors was surely the work of Professor Ilian, who likely found the event rather dull. There was no way this labyrinth could change on its own like that.
Of course, I wasn’t planning to leave this open field just yet. Not until Professor Ilian chased me away. For the next 23 hours, I was determined to gather as many points as I could.