BMFBR ~ 10

Chapter – 10

“After the Great Purification is complete, you will select elite individuals and head into the deepest layers of the sewers. Go and investigate the cause of this sudden Great Purification. If it was simply caused by waste accumulating to its limit, then so be it. But if some idiot damaged the sewers—and if that idiot is still breathing—you must track down the culprit and bring them in.”

This was the core of the matter! Uncover the reason behind the sudden Great Purification. Such was the will of the Marquis, the absolute ruler of Harundel. Should they fail to accomplish this, the mercenary guilds would face severe punishment.

“Well then. Now that I have given my orders, do your absolute best. You must not disappoint me.” 

With those final words, the Marquis rose from his seat.

Meanwhile, at the exact moment the Marquis was stepping out of the conference room…

Contrary to the absolute certainty of Knight Commander Ivan, who had claimed everyone would die, Tei—the reincarnator—stood atop a sparking, collapsed golem. In his hand, he held an object that shouldn’t even exist in this world: a monkey wrench. He let out a loud shout.

“This is what you call shock and awe, tech! You broke-ass, wretched losers, teeech!”

Why a monkey wrench? For what reason? And how on earth did he take down a golem? Furthermore, why was he adding “tech” to the end of his sentences?

To understand any of this, time had to be wound back a bit further.

“No, seriously, is this a sewer or a dungeon?” Tei muttered, his face a mask of sheer disbelief.

Why? Because there were just too damn many monsters. It was a stroke of absolute luck that he had mastered Soul Snatch necromancy; otherwise, he would have run completely out of mana, leaving him in a dire predicament.

“Dieeee!” 

“Kee-aaaah!”

Monsters called Hovidons charged forward. They were different from Ratmen—small, bipedal creatures that looked somewhat like wild boars. Dozens of them were swarming him all at once.

“Clinging Flames. Clinging Flames. Clinging Flames.”

Tei’s counter-strategy was simple: If you’re going to use numbers against me, I’ll just overwhelm you with volume!

Whoosh!

Dark red flames erupted, sweeping over the short, humanoid boar monsters rushing toward him.

“Kee-ahhk!” 

“Kee-eck!”

The Hovidons shrieked and rolled across the ground in agony. Watching this display, the imp, Glasya-Labolas, muttered in sheer disbelief. Since imps incurred a cooldown after casting black magic, she had plenty of time on her hands.

“Are you absolutely certain that is a bloodline ability? To cast black magic at such a ridiculous speed…” 

“Ah, first time seeing it? This is what we call ‘rapping,'”Tei spouted absolute nonsense.

Then, he resumed his rapid-fire spellcasting. The dozens of Hovidons that had been charging so fiercely were whittled down to fewer than ten by the time they managed to close the distance. And once they got that close, the moment they laid eyes on the imp Glasya-Labolas and the floating hellfire, their minds were instantly shattered by mental corruption!

Madness!

“Grahhh!”

 “Krat-chaaaa!”

Infighting broke out! With the remaining monsters thoroughly tied up and distracted, using Soul Snatch to pick them off one by one was child’s play. Having already repeated this process dozens of times since entering these sewers, Tei effortlessly slaughtered the remaining batch of tens of monsters.

Glasya-Labolas watched him and remarked, “How bizarre. For black magic to manifest without chanting the incantations…” “My bloodline ability is a bit cracked, isn’t it?” Tei replied.

The Hunter System allowed him to cast magic using only the activation word. In other words, the magic had been converted into a skill. That was why such a feat was possible. Unleashing a barrage of spells like a machine gun was an ability that ordinary mages or necromancers could never dream of mimicking.

“It is entirely different from High-Speed Chanting. Nor is it the release of a pre-stored spell.” 

“You actually know about stuff like that?” 

“I am a Butler Master who serves a personage of noble stature. Hmm. Yes… by human standards, your casting speed is easily at the level of the 6th Circle.” 

“Seriously?!”

 Tei gasped in genuine surprise. The 6th Circle? That would make someone equivalent to a Baron-class demon at the very least. A noble demon!

This girl… is she actually a much bigger deal than I thought?

“You’re being surprisingly open with me today.” “I have come to recognize you, my contractor, a little more.” “Well, thank you very much.”

With that, Tei scanned the scattered corpses and began to walk.

“Anyway, I was wondering why these guys were swarming us in such massive numbers, but it turns out they built their little village right here.”

Further inside, a crudely constructed wooden door came into view. Stepping past it, he saw what appeared to be Hovidon younglings and females. The reason dozens of them had charged out in a frantic frenzy was likely because they had spotted Glasya-Labolas, a demon. From their perspective, it must have looked as though a demon had come to obliterate their home.

Tei could understand their plight. But now that things had already escalated to this point, there was only one thing left to do.

“As.” 

“What is it? Have you perhaps developed sympathy for them because they are younglings?”

Ignoring Glasya-Labolas’s question, Tei got straight to the point. 

“Do you know any direct offensive black magic? Something like an Shadow Arrow. Teach it to me. I have plenty of soul fragments, so it should be fine, right?”

 “Of course it is fine. The spell I recommend is Hell-Mana Arrow. It boasts excellent piercing power. But why the sudden desire for that kind of black magic?”

“Because I need to do what must be done.”

To grant them a painless death. The younglings, and their mothers. Every single one of them. That was the only mercy Tei could offer.

Glasya-Labolas stared at Tei through her glasses with seemingly emotionless eyes before nodding. She pointed her finger toward a mother harboring her young. Then, she chanted the incantation.

“Hell-Mana Arrow.”

Soon, a dark red mana condensed at the tip of her finger. It immediately split into three distinct projectiles, flying forward like arrows. Both the mother and the younglings were pierced simultaneously, dying instantly.

[The Analytical Eye of Madness has been activated.] 

[You have learned the Magic Spell: Hell-Mana Arrow.]

“Have you learned it?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Then pray fulfill your task.” 

“Will do.”

Tei raised his staff. He then proceeded to completely exterminate every living soul remaining within the settlement of the terrified Hovidon monsters.

It seemed to have been a small community of about fifty creatures living together. Once every single one of them was dead, Tei heard a system message ring out.

[Through sufficient experience, your level has increased.] [Triple Class confirmed.] [The level of your first class, [Necromancer], has increased by 1.]

‘They weren’t kidding when they said that for dual classes and above, levels rise independently.’ Tei wasn’t flustered. It matched exactly what he had heard in his past life. It was common knowledge that if a person possessed multiple classes, their levels would increase sequentially.

Rather, what surprised him was the fact that he had hit level 2 so quickly. After all, increasing a level by even 1 was an incredibly grueling task. It only grew progressively worse the higher the level. In fact, even though Tei had successfully become a Necromancer, he had fully expected it to take a year or two before he would see a level up. To think he would level up already.

‘Well, I did kill a massive number of them.’ Since entering the sewers and being swept down to this underground depths by the sudden torrent, he had slain an enormous number of monsters. That was likely the reason behind this rapid level up.

[As a reward for your very first level increase, you obtain a skill for the [Necromancer] class.]

He decided to hold off on this for now. He could always claim the reward later.

As he was assessing his current status, his contracted demon showed a look of sudden surprise. “Contractor. Your stature has suddenly elevated. How on earth did you manage that?” “It’s my bloodline ability. The more living beings I kill, the higher my stature rises.” Tei altered the truth slightly to explain the Hunter System.

A look of astonishment surfaced on the intelligent, beautiful face of the imp. 

“Could it be… do you carry demonic blood?” 

“Who knows? But do demons even have that kind of ability? It’s news to me.” 

“Certain types of demons do possess such traits. I see. Perhaps there was a specific reason why I, of all beings, was summoned.”

 “A reason?”

 “Yes. Some fatalistic force may be at play. The Great Providence is something that even the grand gods cannot fathom.” 

“The Great Providence, huh…”

Listening to her words, Tei gathered the corpses and began stacking them in one corner. If left alone, they would rot, which would inevitably breed disease.

“But why are you organizing the corpses?” 

“I’m planning to use this place as a base. It offers a decent amount of natural defense, after all.”

 “True. That makes sense.” 

“Still, I seriously wonder how and from where these guys managed to crawl in and live down here…”

Tei finished gathering the corpses and immediately set them ablaze. By repeatedly casting Clinging Flames, the bodies burned down efficiently.

While overseeing the cremation, he scanned his surroundings and happened upon a primitive, makeshift blacksmith workshop. “These guys were even forging weapons and living here?” There was a furnace, and even an anvil.

“Small-type creatures often possess innate craftsmanship as a bloodline ability for survival. It is not an uncommon sight.”

 “First time hearing that.” 

“That is likely because you grew up in an environment deprived of proper knowledge.”

According to the imp’s explanation, the vast majority of smaller races were born with the innate ability to create things. For example, the goblin ability known as Gobleng was a bloodline trait that allowed them to extract ores and alter their shapes. Ratmen were similar, but their specific ability lay in fusing entirely different materials together.

And the Hovidons, surprisingly enough… Could actually transmute organic matter into inorganic metal. What kind of Philosopher’s Stone nonsense is this? Tei thought. However, they were incapable of creating metals above a certain level of hardness. At best, they could only manage copper.

“Ah. So that’s why Hovidons were treated like treasures!” 

 “Treated like treasures?” 

“It’s a well-known fact among mercenaries that discovering a Hovidon nest means making a fortune.”

 “The Middle Realm is quite an amusing place.”

Hovidons were a race that converted organic matter—meaning corpses and the like—into metal for their own use. And even raw copper chunks were worth good money, given how scarce and precious minerals were in this current era.

“Anyway, a blacksmith workshop… let’s see.” Tei walked over and squatted down in front of the anvil. He picked up a crude hammer lying nearby, which looked as though it had been fashioned out of lumped copper.

‘Crafting of the Maddened Touch Lv 1.’ He activated the skill. When he did, a notification appeared.

[Activating Crafting of the Maddened Touch.]

[Consume ‘Madness’ to imagine the item you wish to craft.]

‘Ah, what a nostalgic feeling. To think it actually works in a crude place like this.’ Tei smiled inwardly.