Isekai Grimoire System

Chapter III: The Cursed Cave Dungeon (VI)

Spread Anomaly, a dungeon mechanism accidentally triggered by Archie. The initial trigger is to open a secret room near the starting path, then kill all the monsters that spawn in that room; then, the mechanism will run immediately, making the spawned monsters increase in number and stronger.

Mechanisms like this were common in high-level dungeons, but it always maintained the possibility that low-level dungeons would also have them.

Monsters in dungeons have a thickness of Health Points that can be seen if one masters the "Eyesight" ability. It's a passive ability that anyone can learn, and Archie just learned it after taking a test at The Given.

“I need more attacks than Kane, who only uses two or three skills. Is it because this weapon is low grade?”

Archie muttered to himself after blowing away the monsters. His Eyesight saw their HP only decrease by 20% after receiving the attack.

[Ordinary One-handed Sword]

[Category: Spiritual Weapon]

[Rarity: Whitecaste]

This world has different types of weapons, like the one Archie is currently using. Behind her waist sheathed an ordinary sword he had bought today, and in his right hand, he was swinging a sword of the Spiritual Weapon category.

In contrast to Physical Weapons that anyone can see, touch, and use, in short, these are weapons commonly used by humans. Spiritual Weapons manifest from one's magic power or can also come from rare items.

Using or summoning Spiritual Weapons requires Mana Points. The higher the rarity of a weapon, the greater the Mana capacity used.

This is a strong reason why Archie thinks having a Grimoire is a hidden cheat. He doesn't need to use private skill points to get skills, but weapons in the Spiritual Weapon category are provided directly by Grimoire, not to mention that he gets additional skills from those weapons.

[Wind Slash [10s]

[Crescent Slash [R]

The skill has a cooldown of between 10 and 20 seconds, and Archie is learning to manage and calculate the timing of using skills and fundamental sword skills.

Another surprising thing was that Archie Shellford's body remembered his sword art very well. He, who had only minimal knowledge of swordsmanship in the previous world, immediately felt amazed by his own abilities.

“It seems that father taught me strictly, I can feel every swing of my sword stored their memories,” he muttered.

Archie sped away, crashing into the group of monsters that had just been knocked over. He could see the monotonous movements of the monsters, which made him able to make good decisions. The monster’s speed wasn't that fast, but it would definitely be seriously injured if he got hit.

One goblin jumped and slammed its stone club. Archie parried it quickly with his sword, the vibration of the two weapons made the goblin's body jerk, then Archie slashed the goblin in half.

Even though that one goblin was gone, there was still enough left for him to deal with.

He had already proven one of his crude theories—about the experience bonus gained from defeating monsters above his grade.

Furthermore, he wondered if the Spiritual Weapon also had the compatibility of a Grimoire. Would raising the compatibility level with the Spiritual Weapon increase its attack power? Will he raise his skill level or even get another new skill?

To find out, he just needed to keep using it.

“[Crescent Slash]!” Archie swung his sword, and a crescent-shaped trajectory of wind formed. The trajectory sped up and crashed into the group of monsters in front of it, sending their bodies flying and annihilating after crashing into the wall.

“UAAH!”

Archie heard a scream, and he recognized who it was.

Kane, just seen after his [Hiding] skill slip over. It looks like the monsters Archie defeated just now took him by surprise a bit.

"You're still here huh?"

It was a bit odd since he should be on par with monsters. In other words, he could easily deal with them and move on.

Or actually, that's what Archie thought from the start. They separated him from Layla and planned to make him die in the dungeon.

When Archie comes out of the secret room, he fights monsters that appear along the way, and if his theory is correct, these monsters should spawn again after some time has passed.

“Why does your face look so scared? I'm sorry but I'm not going to die that easily," said Archie.

“Listen…listen to me, boy. Another mechanism in this dungeon has been triggered, and that makes these monsters stronger,” explained Kane.

Even though Archie had the knowledge from the start and suspected it, he still listened.

What Kane said was right. Firstly, Archie realized the level of the monsters he was currently fighting was different from the ones he had fought in the secret room, and they had grown a bit stronger. But not so significant that Archie needs to struggle.

"I've defeated many of them, but… but, they are endless and keep chasing me," said Kane, who started to panic.

Archie doesn't need to confirm whether it's true or a lie. It could be that when he left, the monsters had respawned after being defeated by Kane, or from the beginning, Kane had only avoided monsters with [Hiding] skills or the like.

If so, what frightened him so much that he was completely cornered?

Several possibilities began to cross Archie's mind. Maybe Kane, who is in a Thief class, has difficulty fighting monsters in large numbers, or he cannot defend against monsters because he just randomly uses his skills.

If it's the second possibility, then Archie must hurry up and go after Layla.

"Oh, that doesn't seem necessary," Archie muttered.

As if already realizing something, Archie continued his footsteps. Kane hastily stood up from his thighs and walked scared behind Archie.

If you are an ordinary newbie, of course, this situation will be very dangerous. There are so many monsters, and a party's unpreparedness will only end in death. But it didn't matter to Archie; he just kept crashing every time he saw a horde of monsters appear.

Whether humanoid or hon-humanoid monsters, their highest level was only purple-level. Archie could see it through the Eyesight, which showed a purple aura around the monsters.

Like a gamer who is leveling in the early-game dungeon to have more mature preparation in the next area, that's what Archie is doing.