It Has Its Own Advantages

“Brother! What do you mean by that!? Is the dungeon master here!?”

Barkal asked.

“B-brother, I can’t see it with my eyes!”

Serena asked.

It was nice to see her trying hard to become part of the ‘Barbarian Adventurers’.

But, as expected, I wished she wouldn’t copy the speaking style… No, whatever, it’s fine now.

“Look around you.”

At my words, Barkal and Serena started scanning their surroundings.

The corpses of dead goblins and the crude structures they had piled up. The two didn’t seem to notice anything strange, but the anomaly began to appear gradually.

“D-Dmihtan! Mushrooms are starting to sprout from the bodies!”

It seemed that Serena, who was at least smarter than Barkal, had realized.

Everywhere around, there were goblin corpses. Mushrooms began to bloom from those places.

* 〈The God of Propagation and Spreading, Pangus, blesses this place.〉

A line of text appeared before my eyes. At the same time, the mushrooms that had sprouted from the corpses began to burst open.

From the ruptured mushrooms, yellow spores leaked out. The spores started to gather toward the body of the goblin lying at the very center.

― Krrr…

At last, the goblin that had fallen rose to its feet. Its body was covered in mushrooms, and its size was enormous compared to a normal goblin.

〈Dungeon Master〉

Minion of the Fungus God

In the world of 《Dungeon God》, there were more gods than you could count with both hands.

Some gods governed inorganic matter, and there were also gods of ‘molds’ like mushrooms.

That is the god named ‘Pangus’.

“Mushrooms on the body of a dead goblin…”

“Kahaha!!”

Seeing the goblin that had grown larger than himself—no, the ‘dungeon master’—Barkal burst out laughing.

“This means I can kill a goblin twice! I’m lucky!”

So that’s what made him so happy, huh.

* * *

The dungeon master, the minion of the Fungus God.

Though it had appeared together with the text saying ‘Blessing of Pangus has descended’.

‘This guy is weak.’

Honestly, it was obvious. This was an ‘Iron-ranked dungeon’. It was the place where only newly formed adventurer parties would come.

Compared to the ‘Scar Claw’ I saw at the coming-of-age ceremony, this was an opponent on a completely different, much easier, level.

If there was a problem—

“Uwaaahhhhh!”

Fwoosh!

“Argh, my eyes!!!”

The mushrooms all over its body weren’t just decorations.

When Barkal brought down his axe, the mushrooms on the monster’s body were torn and began to spray spores everywhere at once.

That’s why you mustn’t use bladed weapons against the ‘Minion of the Fungus God’.

An easy way to deal with it is with ranged attacks.

Or magic.

Or a cleric’s purification.

None of which we’ve got?

What to do? If we could just defeat the ‘dungeon master’, our job from the Adventurer’s Guild would be over.

But I can’t think of a way to defeat the ‘dungeon master’.

“M-may I…”

At that moment, Serena stepped forward.

“I’ll handle it.”

“Female warrior! Are you trying to steal my glory!?”

“Barkal, wait. No matter who kills it, the credit belongs to all of us.”

I calmed Barkal and focused again on Serena.

“Do you have a way to handle it?”

“I do. I can use healing magic.”

Healing magic.

The bread and butter of clerics.

Whether you have it or not entirely changes the ease of a dungeon crawl.

But—

“Can you only use it on yourself, like most prayers?”

“… Yes.”

I knew it. She could only use the magic she learned on herself.

Apparently, it was some kind of promise with her god, ‘Liberas.’

“If you can only use it on yourself, how do you intend to solve this?”

“I’ll rush in and kill the dungeon master myself.”

“Did you not see it spraying spores?”

“Even so, I can kill it.”

That was a completely reckless method.

“Please, let me use this method. I want to show I can be helpful!”

Helpful, she says.

“So please, don’t fire me! This is my last chance…!”

All this for an iron-ranked dungeon? I wondered if it was worth risking one’s life like this, but I guess she had her own reasons.

Well, who doesn’t have a story? Barkal set out to find his brother, and I’m also not exactly average.

― Krrrrk…

While we were discussing what to do about the ‘dungeon master’, more goblin corpses around us began to rise.

It seemed the spores spread by the ‘Minion of the Fungus God’ were sticking to the corpses and multiplying.

“Thrag, my word! The number of goblins we can kill is increasing!”

“Serena, we’ll take care of the surroundings.”

I drew the ‘Blood-Colored Awl’ and continued,

“If you insist on doing it, I won’t stop you.”

With those words, I swung the ‘Blood-Colored Awl’ at the goblin corpses that were stumbling toward us.

Though they were moving with mushrooms, when I slashed the goblins, a handful of blood spurted out.

Ugh, it’s even warm.

I grimaced, feeling disgusted.

“Kaha, one more goes down, oh Thrag!”

Barkal didn’t care about the blood covering his whole body.

Rather, he seemed overjoyed that he could kill the already-dead goblins again, swinging his axe all over the place.

Madman.

Now I see why Thrag chose him as an apostle.

“Haaaah!”

Meanwhile, Serena charged at the ‘dungeon master’, the Minion of the Fungus God.

Fwoosh!

The Minion of the Fungus God released spores.

But Serena didn’t hesitate, hurling her body straight into the cloud. Those spores couldn’t control living things, but they were certainly poisonous.

“Khak!”

As expected, she coughed up blood.

Wasn’t this dangerous? I started worrying—

Serena’s body began to shine faintly. Healing magic.

“Uwaaahhhhh!”

That’s right.

She was neutralizing the damage from the poison with ‘healing magic’ as she charged in.

What an insane method.

“Got you!”

She finally reached the ‘Minion of the Fungus God’. Now what would she do?

“Haaaah!”

Guillotine choke, again.

Look at this crazy woman.

But with all sorts of ‘buffs’ cast on her, the guillotine choke she used was nothing short of a killing technique.

With a crackling sound, the Minion of the Fungus God’s body started to fracture.

Is she really going to tear it apart? Well, if you’re going to be crazy, at least be a victorious crazy!

“Ah!”

Serena, who had been about to tear the ‘Minion of the Fungus God’ apart with her guillotine choke, let out a gasp.

It wasn’t hard to see the reason.

“T-the blessing!?”

The buff spells she had cast at the dungeon entrance—their blessings had ended.

Was it because of that?

The cracks that had been forming in the Minion of the Fungus God’s body seemed to be fading away.

Was it too overwhelming for her?

No, actually, the real problem is that this monster was being torn apart bare-handed in the first place.

“Barkal, take care of the rest.”

“Thank you, brother!”

What’s he thanking me for? As I half-ignored Barkal’s words, I started to sprinkle the blood contained in the ‘Blood-Colored Awl’ into the air.

* [Using the Curse of Boiling Blood.]

Time to use the ‘Curse of Boiling Blood’ I received from Thrag before.

Of course, the target wasn’t me.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Serena’s eyes flashed red under the ‘Curse of Boiling Blood’. At the same time, she let out a bizarre battle cry.

Thudthudthudthud!

With the guillotine choke, she kept tightening the Minion of the Fungus God’s body.

Her grip was so strong, the body actually caved in.

‘Curse of Boiling Blood.’

This authority, the reason people believe in Thrag, had such enormous power that it became a hot topic in the 《Dungeon God》 community from its first appearance.

During its duration, it grants terrifying strength.

Normally, this power can only be used by those who have faith in Thrag themselves.

[Curse Mastery]

– You may bestow a held curse upon an opponent.

But thanks to necromancer’s basic trait, the impossible was possible.

Crash! Splat!

* The dungeon master has died.

Eventually, unable to withstand the pressure, the Minion of the Fungus God exploded in half. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

Somehow, I shuddered to think what it would have been like if that authority had been used on me.

There is, however, a drawback—even while the ‘Curse of Boiling Blood’ is active, the recipient experiences an incredible euphoria and loses control of their emotions.

“Dmihtan, brother! Did you see!? I did it! See, you need someone like me in your party!”

Once its effect is over, the user experiences an unbelievable fatigue and a massive drop in strength.

“Hngh…”

That’s what people call ‘post-nut clarity’.

“Please don’t fire me… This is my last chance…”

Serena, who had been rushing forward, suddenly crumpled to the ground at the end of the curse’s effect.

The stat boost is massive, but the risk matches it.

Still, seeing how well it worked in this situation brought a smile to my lips.

Given the situation, not just Serena but also Barkal—who is superhumanly strong by nature—could be given the curse to help us through tough spots.

Maybe it’s a bit of a balance breaker, but does that matter?

A necromancer born in a barbarian tribe. That’s where I stand.

Honestly.

I deserve at least this much of an advantage.

* * *

After the dungeon master died, the dungeon began to collapse. Of course, we used the portal that appeared and exited the dungeon.

We had only been inside for a few hours, but the outside air felt incredibly fresh.

“Hey…”

On our way back to ‘Iushil’, where the Adventurers Guild was. While we were riding in the carriage, Serena’s voice came from the luggage area.

“I was honestly really helpful, right?”

Was the ‘Curse of Boiling Blood’ still not over for her? Her shameless attitude almost made me laugh.

“Barkal.”

I called out to Barkal, who was on the driver’s seat with me.

“What is it, brother?”

“What do you think about accepting her as a new companion?”

Barkal answered without hesitation.

“She is a warrior. A warrior can be trusted to watch your back!”

Yeah, Barkal didn’t seem to disagree.

“Serena, I know it’s a bit late but welcome to ‘Dungeon God’.”

Kudangtang—!

As I spoke, I heard a loud crashing sound from the luggage compartment.

“Th-thank you! May the blessing of Liberas be with us!”

* * *

Having safely returned to ‘Iushil’, the adventurer party ‘Dungeon God’ went straight to the Adventurers Guild.

I approached the clerk and showed the loot we gained from the ‘iron-ranked dungeon’.

The token of Pangus and a mana stone left behind by the dungeon master, the Minion of the Fungus God. Those were more than enough to prove we cleared the dungeon.

“And also.”

I took out another mana stone and showed it to the clerk.

It was the mana stone from ‘Scar Claw’.

“I’d like this one appraised as well.”

Thanks to the money I’d gotten from robbing fake merchants, I had some spare cash so I hadn’t had it appraised earlier, but this is how an adventurer’s routine usually went.

You risk your life in a dungeon, get mana stones, appraise them, sell them for money. That’s the adventurer’s life.

The clerk took the ‘Scar Claw’ mana stone, nodded, and said,

“B-but you’re already back? Even for an iron-ranked dungeon, it usually takes at least a day…”

“It was a dungeon below our level. Don’t you see this axe!?”

At the clerk’s words, Barkal brandished his axe.

The clerk was startled by the imposing weapon, grabbed the mana stones, and disappeared inside as if running away.

“Barkal.”

“What is it, Dmihtan!”

“I think the blade of your axe is a bit worn.”

At my words, Barkal started examining his axe-blade.

“T-that can’t be! My Erindal is tough!”

Erindal.

If you gave it a name, you should probably be inspecting it more carefully.

Of course, we didn’t get the ‘Rune of the Abyss’ this time.

It was just a lower dungeon, only iron-rank. If you could get a ‘Rune of the Abyss’ even in a place like that, 《Dungeon God》 would’ve shut down long ago.

“The appraisal is done on your mana stones.”

The appraisal went by in an instant.

“First, this mana stone is E-grade.”

The first mana stone the clerk showed was the one dropped by the Minion of the Fungus God.

Mana stones are divided into seven grades.

Lowest grade is F,

Highest grade is S.

There are a few special cases, but mostly the grades go like this.

“It’s E-grade and not very pure… If you sell it to the Adventurers Guild, we can give you 20 silver pieces.”

The cheap inn where Barkal and I had been staying cost 7 copper pieces per night.

Ten copper was roughly equivalent to 1 silver, so the amount wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t especially attractive either.

“Sell it.”

There’s nothing else to do with it. I decided to sell it immediately.

“And about the other mana stone you handed over…”

This time, the clerk showed the ‘Scar Claw’ mana stone.

“This is a Special Grade C mana stone, which makes it difficult for our Adventurers Guild to handle…”

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

Barbarian Party!!!

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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