Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Stone and Sculptor

Prim Proper, expert crafter, aspiring shopkeep, and all-around levelheaded adventurer, had at no point entertained any ideas about her own combat abilities. She’d started this game fully intent on merely working with trade and commerce, and had hoped to leave any sort of fighting to someone else. Even as a Berserker with an impressively high STR stat, she’d only really thought of the class as a way to expedite mining sturdy mineral deposits and ore veins.

Unfortunately, the enemy facing her did not seem particularly interested in her aversion to combat, slowly approaching closer as it watched her closely, tall greatsword held in front of themselves as it glimmered in the golden torchlight around them.

Her own equally massive weapon was extended in front of her, the hammer quivering in her hands as she tried and failed to subdue her own nervous shaking, backpedaling away from her enemy as she tried to come up with any way out of this encroaching fight.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to negotiate a compromise instead…?”

The statuary knight shook its head.

“…right, worth a shot at least.”

Her boot’s heel pressed against the barrier keeping her caged in, forcing her to quickly take a step forward as the heat sizzled through the leather, leaving a scorch mark against the material from where it made contact.

No quick way out of here, unless she felt like getting boiled alive trying.

The golem knight took her hasty rush forward as the start of their duel, rushing forward as their blade bared down on her like a jousting lance, barreling directly towards her neck.

Diving clumsily out of the way was all she could manage in time, slamming shoulder first into the hard floor as the sword sailed past her, close enough to take several hairs with it as it crashed against the unyielding crystal wall with a metallic clang.

She had neither Monica’s unmatchable speed nor Elise’s impenetrable defense, the crafter left with only normal human-level reflexes and stamina as she scrambled under the blow and behind the midboss, her hammer dragging behind her as she looked for any opening to use.

Her monocle popped out, using the free moment she’d gotten to try and download any info Study could give her while she could.

[Edifice of the Sun Knight] Lv. 29

Status:

HP: 250 MP: 0

STR: 50 DEX: 20

MAG: 0 WIS:0

VIT: 125 AGI: 20

LUC: 0

Skills:

Active: Blazing Sabre

Passive: N/A

As unexciting as imaginable, several stats left blank with only a single ability beyond simply slashing at her. Meaning no sudden changes in pattern or trick mechanics for her to worry about, as straightforward as a duel could be.

However, simple unfortunately did not translate to easy, the knight forcibly yanking their sword free of the barrier it had embedded itself deep within on their missed attack, the golden crystal healing the missing portion the moment the blocking item was removed.

She lunged in, trying to catch them on the back foot as they recovered, her mass of master-crafted iron swinging in from her right in a heavy two-handed swing.

The hasty swing gazed against their stone body as it dodged around the blow as best as it could, a measly few HP being peeled off as their health bar barely registered any damage at all even from a weapon as large as the knight’s entire body.

Retaliation was as swift as her own attack had been, an overheaded slam from their towering sword crashing down towards her like a bolt of lightning as she tried her best to block it with the handle of her mallet, the impact reverberating through her entire body as it still ate a decently-sized chunk of her own health, knocking her back and away as she skidded over the smooth stone.

Its bloated VIT was higher than even her STR was, making the attack that would have flattened something softer merely scratch the decorated outer layer of its marbled physique.

However, it hadn’t done zero damage.

“Counter!”

Her backwards momentum stopped instantly, the crafter unnaturally shifting directions as she launched forwards again, not even letting the knight’s swing complete as she rocketed back towards them.

She smashed into the gold-lined aggressor at full speed, hammer coming in even harder than before as her skill returned their attack back at them twofold, shattering a portion of their arm into dust, making just as much of a dent in their HP and body both.

Pain was a foreign concept to the animated guardian though, and even that wasn’t enough to deter their assault as they once more drover their blade home, slicing upwards towards as it carved a line through her jacket, burning away at her even more.

“Counter!!”

It was met with yet another returned strike as she swung the bludgeon down into it from overhead, regal white-gold helmet being caved in halfway as a considerable chunk of its head was obliterated on impact.

She was no tank by any means, but she was by no means a glass cannon either. Melee classes like her were gifted considerably higher base HP than those that fought from range, compensating for the increased risk of needing to get in close to enemies. She was no Elise, but it would take more than a couple blows to put her down.

On top of that, her recent skills only made this extended brawl even more in her favor. A big chunk of its VIT was instantly invalidated by her class skill, and each blow her personally enhanced hammer landed dropped it further and further still, every consecutive attack growing exponentially more dangerous as she pushed on, her wounds quickly stacking up.

Blood and rubble sprayed in equal measures as the pair laid into one another without abandon, the Berserker being carved like a piece of marble as she swung back stronger each time.

What had begun with her being afraid of a solo fight against the midboss had shifted into her slowly, gradually dismantling it piece by piece, chiseling away at the beautiful stone as it fought on, blind to its own injuries.

“Counter! Counter!! Counter!!!”

Her own HP drained lower and lower as she was chipped and beaten, barely even trying to dodge anymore as she hammered away at the knight, both sides being knocked senseless as they kept mindlessly throwing themselves at the other.

Even as she was eviscerated by repeated slashes, she only grew even more aggressive, eyes shining red with bloodlust as she kept swinging and swinging and swinging.

Chunks of gold and rubble sprayed out as she kept countering every attack the overwhelmed boss could manage, their beautiful sword snapping in half after repeatedly clashing with the oversized bludgeon, bits of it scattering over their arena as the rest of the sword and most of their arm followed after it.

Bits of them were excavated and carved off on every blow, soon denied even the means to hold their decorative weapon as their other hand was knocked off trying to defend themselves, counters turning to head-on attacks, the halfling mercilessly pressing her attacks harder as they lost the ability to defend themselves.

“Stoneshatter!!! Crush!!! Aha… ahaha!!!~”

She’d never actually fought something straight-on like this in one of these VR games before. Her forte had always been more passive genres like farming sims and strategy games, things much less fast-paced than an action game like this.

But this… nothing she’d done before had ever made her feel this alive.

The previously sane and levelheaded crafter cackled like a madwoman as she kept swinging down on what was left of the statue knight, barely recognizable anymore as a crater formed under them both, leaving not a single part of it intact in her berserk frenzy.

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Monica rushed down the hall as fast as she could, dragging Elise behind her as she struggled to keep pace with the speedy mage, Silk trailing along behind them.

“S-Slow down, what happened?”

“Prim got trapped alone with some… big knight statue thing when we went ahead, and I think she’s stuck in there…!”

“Stuck…? A-And you just left her?!”

“I couldn’t even get in, what was I gonna do?”

“W-What am I supposed to do then?”

I don’t know just… something defensive-y!”

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The three of them sprinted at full speed, slightly panicked at the thought that their poor crafter had already been killed while they struggled to get back in time, the distant golden glow of the torchlit chamber slowly growing closer and closer, the sounds of metal clashing and pained grunts echoing towards them as they burst through into the main chamber once more.

“P-Prim, we’re here, don’t-”

“We’re back to-”

Both of them skidded to a halt as they finally reached the scene of the trapped encounter, fully expecting a battered halfling Berserker to be desperately trying to stay alive against their own boss fight.

Instead, they arrived to the sight of their friend, bloodied and battered with barely a scrap of HP remaining, howling with laughter like a woman possessed, barely even standing as she swung down at nothing but dust again and again and again, in a crater as deep as she was tall.

Damage numbers reaching into the quadruple digits burst out from her chipped and dented hammer on every swing, showing no signs of stopping even with no part of the knight she’d been fighting remaining, the crystal wall having long since vanished along with it.

“...you, uh… you okay…?”

“Ahaha… aha!~”

“She seems, um… S-She looks like she’s having fun, at least…?”

“I… guess that’s better than finding her dead…”

They both stared blankly for a long few moments, not entirely sure what to make of any of this. Monica’s brow furrowed as deep as the crater itself, Silk sweat bullets nervously behind her, and Elise was left a bit red in the face as they all watched the carnage.

“Should we… stop her? Or just- wait, are you blushing? Really? Over this?!”

“What, n-no, I’m just... I’m just glad she’s-”

“Nope, nope, nuh-uh, not listening, not my business.”

“M-Moni, no, c’mon…!”

“Flash!!”

The newly concerned fox ignored the armored girl’s frantic explanations, lobbing a ball of harmless flame at their distracted companion, not wanting to get anywhere near the impact area of that hammer as it mechanically obliterated the previously beautiful temple chamber.

It struck her side like a water balloon, too preoccupied with her rampage to see it fly towards her as it knocked her head over heels into the side of her personal crater, hammer flying out of her hands and leveling another less-animated statue as its rampage finally subsided.

“Aha- gah! Who, whuh… o-oh, you two are back, I- haaa... -hadn’t noticed.”

“Yeah, you seemed a little busy when we got here. Good work…?”

Prim was an even deeper shade of red than their tank had been, suddenly realizing what they’d been doing the past several minutes, with an audience no less.

“Oh, um, well… I just barely managed, no worries, ehe…”

“…what was that you mentioned before? About being the sane and normal one?”

“What? I am!”

“Mmhmm. So sane people are usually covered in their own blood, then?”

“…oh shut up.”

She snickered to herself, sparing a few more Restores for the blood-soaked Berserker even as she refused to make eye contact with either of them.

“Blegh, I didn’t even notice how close I was to dying there… this whole fighting thing is a mess, no wonder I never gave it a shot before now.”

“Y-You picked the right class for it at least… it s-suits you…”

“…y’know, it feels less like an insult coming from you at least…”

Elise beamed just slightly as Monica and Silk glared blankly at the pair, leaving Prim to catch her breath for a moment after her first real fight.

Her menu gave a familiar flash, prompting her to flick it open as she gathered what little remained of item drops from her foe.

[New Skill: Merciless]

- Unlock: Kill an enemy after dealing over 5x its maximum HP as damage.

- Melee attacks restore 25% of damage dealt as HP to the user.

[New Skill: Bloodbath]

- Unlock: Use Counter 15+ times on a single enemy.

- All attack damage dealt is increased by the user’s percentage of missing HP.

- (A user at 10% HP would deal 90% increased damage, etc.)

...she couldn’t exactly point fingers at Monica getting labeled with “Sadist” and “Tormentor” now that she was getting assigned labels by the game as well.

Loud grunting from behind her drew attention from her new skills as she closed her menu, finding a grimacing, zero STR mage and a slightly less pathetic but no less unqualified spiderling, both doing their best to return her displaced hammer as the needlessly hefty iron scraped across the destroyed floor.

“Oh, right, thanks…”

“The fact you- haaa... -just threw this makes me even more scared of you, y’know.”

“Heh, not my fault you’ve got arms that scrawny.”

They blew raspberries at one another, Elise having come over as well as they helped Prim back to her feet, dusting (most) of the blood and dust off of her as she found her balance again.

“Well, you got another one of those in you?”

“Eh?”

Monica gestured at the massive door from earlier, now totally unbarred.”

“Right… well, guess I’m a little more confident about fighting now.”

“Y-Yeah, and I can count on you both if I m-mess something up.”

“You’ll both be fiiiine, now worries. You’ve got a pair of professional dungeon divers here to carry you, right?”

The fluffy spiderling scrambled up her chitinous robe, perching on her shoulder and flexing one of their stubby limbs.

“Chkchk!!~”

“See? No worries.”

The four of them clambered around the newly-made hazard in the middle of the room, all of them sharing a last glance at one another before Monica pressed her hand against the boss room door, whisking them away to whatever lay beyond.

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