Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 484
Chapter 484: Pilgrim (2)
My opponents were four grown men with stats higher than mine. I felt a spike of anxiety since I was used to handling monsters and plunderers with my usual stats and skillset, but it turned out I didn’t need to worry.
This is easier than I thought?
Maybe things would have been different if I’d had to fight them with my bare hands, but now that I had a proper weapon and shield, coming up a little short in specs was no longer a huge issue for me. I was honestly used to unfair combat since I kept running into monsters like Amelia back when I was low-level.
Clang!
If the enemy attacked you, then block with the shield. After a successful series of blocks, an opening to hit them back would eventually reveal itself.
Whack!
I swung my mace down on the soldier’s head. Now, it was another one-on-one.
“…P-Please don’t kill me.”
This young-looking soldier had been sitting in the safest position the entire fight, and after sensing their imminent defeat, he tried to run away. His teammates who had placed their trust in him would surely be disappointed. I lifted my shield like a frisbee and threw it as hard as I could.
Whack!
This was a skill I liked to call Shield Arrow. I’d practiced it quite a bit when I was low-level since I wanted to have a long-range attack, but I rarely had the opportunity to use it.
Thud!
The shield struck the soldier in the head and sent him sprawling. I ran over and pinned him to the ground.
“L-Let me go! L-Let go…!” He struggled against me as hard as he could, wild with panic.
“I want to ask you something.”
“Y-You think I would ever answer someone like you—Gah!” He choked on his next breath, sputtering as I ground my fist into his solar plexus. With a cough, he finally started to settle down.
I moved us to a secluded place where we could have a discussion, then proceeded to dig up whatever info I could. First, I had to ask my most pressing question.
“What is this place?”
“Wh-What do you mean…?”
What do you mean, what do I mean? I’m asking because I genuinely don’t know.
“Just answer me. What is this place?”
“…The Pilgrim’s Cave.”
Hm, but this is clearly the Crystal Cave?
“Then what is your goal?”
“To catch the pilgrims that are running away and bring them to justice—”
“Stop yelling. You’re hurting my ears.” I continued to bombard him with questions and he supplied me with the answers I wanted. I also made sure he told me the absolute truth, and whenever he did tell me a lie, I forced him to own up to it and give me more accurate information. In the end, I got a few new pieces of information to consider.
Observation ten: there were more pilgrims aside from me. We apparently totaled four altogether, so that meant Erwen, Versyl, and Ainar were all in a similar situation to me.
Observation eleven: the pilgrims’ goal was to activate the Witch’s Altar hidden inside the cave. That had to be the condition for clearing this level, and even if it wasn’t, the altar would be the best place to meet up and join forces with my teammates anyway.
Since this is basic information that even these weak soldiers know, I’m sure everyone will be able to find out about this independently.
Of course, I had to figure out where exactly the Witch’s Altar was. However, I had one theory as to where it might be the same place where our raid took place. The dark zone in the heart of the cave.
The place where Gabrielius, the first adventurer to step foot in this labyrinth, had a monument built in his name.
If there was something hidden in this cave, it had to be there.
…Otherwise, they wouldn’t have made us start from the outskirts.
At last, I was able to piece together the gist of this special event.
The Rock Desert, the Goblin Forest, the Den of Beasts, and the Land of the Dead—each of the entrances in Pilgrim’s Cave were connected to the four areas on the second floor. Not only that, but each of us must have been sent to a different entrance and, thus, had to fight our way to the middle to join forces.
The center has to be where we’ll fight the boss. That, or it’s where a new phase will begin…
How did this event even trigger in the first place? Was it because there were only four of us present when he moved on to the next phase? No, that couldn’t be the case. There were quite a few times when I’d had a character die halfway through the raid, leaving only four of us to defeat the Lord of Terror.
…I should worry about what was different this time around later. Right now, I need to focus on clearing the event.
With my interrogation finished, I took my leave.
***
As any real gamer knew, there was nothing more exhilarating than trying to clear a level on the first try. I knew that feeling all too well.
Step.
But that was when you were gaming. Now that the game had become my reality, things were completely different.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.
My heart was practically pounding out of my chest. I couldn’t afford to drop my guard, not even for a microsecond. There was no room for that oh-so-familiar thrill here. All there was was a chill creeping up and down my spine and a thought that ate away at me.
I can’t make a mistake.
I needed to beat this event, and I needed to do it perfectly. This wasn’t a game, where I could respawn or start over. In this world, there was no such thing as second chances.
[You have killed 10 soldiers. All of your stats have risen by +1.]
[You have killed 15 soldiers. All of your stats have risen by +1.]
[You have killed 20 soldiers. All of your stats have risen by +1.]
[You have killed…]
As I continued to make my way through the cave, I hunted soldiers in groups of fewer than five to whittle away at their numbers, and I sensed my stats gradually increasing in return.
Every time I kill five of them…
I couldn’t tell exactly how much my stats were rising, but I could tell that they were, at the very least.
Since I don’t know when the boss will show up, I need to raise my stats as much as possible before then.
Part of me wanted to focus on hunting as many of these soldiers as I could to raise my stats, but in the end, I figured I should prioritize making my way to the center.
That was the most rational course of action.
I can’t rule out the possibility of a time penalty either.
Dungeon and Stone wasn’t a kind enough game to provide you with both a way to become strong and plenty of time to do it.
…If there’s extra time after I get there, I can go and hunt, but right now, I need to move.
I continued to make my way toward the center, focusing on making good time rather than hunting.
…It has to have been at least seven hours by now.
That meant it was time to update my information.
Observation twelve: waiting for the labyrinth to close wasn’t a viable escape plan. If it were, the labyrinth would have already closed, and we would have returned to Dimension Square. Yet here I was, still trapped in the cave. That realization only brought on another layer of anxiety.
…This isn’t like a Rift where you’re trapped inside forever if you don’t escape before the labyrinth closes, right?
That was another possibility that I couldn’t completely ignore. However, there wasn’t much of a point in dwelling on it when I couldn’t exactly do anything about it.
“A pilgrim!”
Suddenly, I heard a cry further down the path. I couldn’t even see them yet, so how were they able to spot me? Despite my confusion, I hurriedly prepared for battle, but to my surprise, no one came toward me. Instead, I heard them running further away.
“Catch them!”
“Damn servant of that filthy witch!”
Only then did I realize. There was someone else nearby.
Step.
Well, I wasn’t just going to sit here, then. I raced after the soldiers.
Ainar? Versyl? Erwen? Who is it?
While I wondered who the soldiers were chasing, I spotted a group of them in the distance, their backs facing me.
…So all the soldiers nearby teamed up here.
There were a total of nine of them, and together, they were blocking someone in on all sides. The person surrounded by all those soldiers was none other than Versyl Gowland.
“D-Don’t come closer! Don’t do it!”
Versyl trembled all over as she waved a bone wand through the air. As a warrior, I felt embarrassed watching her. Did she want to get attacked, acting so pathetic?
The soldiers must have felt the same way, as they didn’t budge.
“What are you doing?! Get her!”
“Hyaaah!” In the end, Versyl wasn’t able to defend herself and was quickly overpowered by the soldiers.
That girl… how did she even make it this far in one piece?
I had no idea, but there was no time to ask questions. The soldiers forced her to her knees, ready to slit her throat. They must have had orders to execute us on the spot.
Damn it. Nine is a bit much…
Sadly, there was no other option. I couldn’t just watch her die.
Whack.
Without any further deliberation, I threw my mace at the head of the soldier standing at the back of the pack.
“It’s an ambush!”
As soon as I killed one, all of their eyes snapped to me. Well, there was no point in trying to be stealthy anymore. “Behel—aaaaaah!” With no other options, I lifted my shield and ran right at them.
“What are you doing?! Hurry, go and get—!”
After all, how could I ever save her if I just tiptoed my way over to them?
“Ugh!”
My biggest advantage lay in the soldiers I’d killed along the way. I shoved my way through the troops using my newly-acquired Strength stats and threw myself into the center of the group where Versyl was kneeling, still on her knees.
Stab!
I had just enough time to shield her with my body before a longsword sunk deep into my side.
“M-Mr. Yandel?”
“…Save the hellos for later.”
The soldiers I plowed through to reach her had already gotten back onto their feet, blocking the path yet again. In that case, the first thing we needed to do was get to a better location. Without my usual high Physical Resistance stat, we had no hope of winning if we ended up surrounded.
“Hold on.”
“Huh? A-Ahhh!”
Versyl clung to my neck in surprise as I picked her up. I then ran straight back the way I came, barreling through the soldiers with my shield.
Shank.
However, even as I sprinted forward, I felt a sudden searing pain in my thigh.
Stab!
That goddamn spearman.
I used my mace to break off the shaft of the spear embedded in my thigh, allowing me to quickly break through their defenses and get Versyl out of there.
But I won’t be able to get far on these legs.
Well, at least now I wouldn’t have to worry about protecting my back. I hurriedly set Versyl on her feet and positioned her behind me. The soldiers continued to march toward us in a straight line.
Because of this narrow passageway, only three soldiers can step forward and attack us at a time.
Even so, they had a total of eight soldiers left.
…The odds aren’t great.
I’d already been stabbed in the side and the thigh. My body was slowing down as the pain and exhaustion mounted. Plus, if this fight continued for much longer, there was a chance that other soldiers would hear the commotion and run over to provide backup.
Clench.
I lowered my center of gravity, getting into a fighting stance as I gripped my weapon and shield in anticipation of a grueling battle ahead.
[Versyl Gowland has cast Rising Flesh.]
…Then, suddenly, I felt my wounds heal.
Rising Flesh was the rank-seven monster Dark Worshipper’s active skill. Yet somehow, Versyl Gowland was casting it.
…What is this?
How was a wizard using a skill from an essence? This was my first time ever seeing such a thing in all my years of playing Dungeon and Stone.
However, we had more pressing matters to deal with before I could satiate my curiosity.
With this, things are different.
I had only one question for Versyl right now. “Versyl, how long until you can use that skill again?”
“I should be able to use it one more time after three minutes.”
“Great.”
My injury had been neatly healed, and if I got injured again, I could recover in a mere three minutes’ time. In other words, I could now fight them much more aggressively.
Step.
I rose from my crouch, no longer taking up a defensive stance. Then, putting all my strength behind it, I ran forward with a swing of my mace.
Wa-blam!
Although I suffered several minor injuries by attacking them more recklessly than before, I was able to win the battle.
[You have killed 7 soldiers. All of your stats have risen by +1.]
Once I’d killed seven of them, the remaining two fled. I didn’t even bother chasing after them.
“M-Mr. Yandel…”
“…Let’s get out of here first. Before they call for backup.”
“Ah, all right!”
We stole the armor of a soldier who was similar in size to Versyl and took a shield for her as well before quickly changing locations.
[Versyl Gowland has cast Rising Flesh.]
Now that we were somewhere safe, we could finally talk.
“What happened? How are you able to use an essence skill?”
“I don’t know either. From the moment I opened my eyes in this place, I was just able to naturally use it… It’s strange. It feels almost like I have a new body part attached to me. I’m probably the first wizard in the world to ever experience something like this.”
Hmm.
Well, I didn’t need much more explanation than that. Versyl, who kept on babbling, eventually read the room and cleared her throat in embarrassment as she stopped.
“Oh, don’t mind me. That’s not important anyway. But aside from that, there is another skill I can use.”
“What is it?”
“From what I can tell, I’d say it’s Fairy Tale.”
Fairy Tale was a Gnome’s skill. It created an invisible barrier within a three-yard radius. So that was how Versyl had managed to make it all the way here-she had a skill that let her hide in plain sight.
Did they try to make things fairer by letting wizards use skills?
That seemed plausible enough. Wizards had no hand-to-hand combat experience, so it made sense that there would be a balance patch to compensate for that.
“I almost died. I guess I must have run out of Soul Power? While I was resting, I suddenly ran into soldiers… and after I was spotted, I wasn’t able to hide myself again.”
“Where did you start?”
“…What?”
“Didn’t you look outside the cave at the beginning, before the barrier closed?”
“Uh… sorry. I immediately panicked, so I didn’t check.”
“Oh… really? Well… that makes sense. It’s not that important. But did you find out we needed to head to the center anyway and make your way here?”
“What?”
“…Huh?”
Versyl and I both tilted our heads in unison.
“Did you not… purposely head toward the center?”
“This… is the center…?”
So she just ran away blindly.
She’s lucky to have run into me, I guess.
“…But what happened to you, Mr. Yandel? You were able to defeat nearly ten soldiers on your own back there. And where did you get that equipment? I couldn’t even recognize you at first!”
Once she was done filling me in on her own experiences, Versyl then started to pepper me with questions. In return, I told her everything I had gone through thus far.
The story started when I first opened my eyes.
My skills were sealed, my stats were sealed, and my equipment disappeared. I realized that we were “pilgrims” after overhearing a conversation between the soldiers before the barrier broke. I also got a glimpse of the world outside the cave’s entrance and saw what looked like the Goblin Forest, so I concluded that my comrades had started at different ends of the floor as well. Realizing that I could understand what the soldiers were saying, I decided I needed to capture one and learn more information. However, before doing any of that, I ran away.
Twenty minutes in.
I realized that the monsters were on our side. And after watching the soldiers chasing after me fight said monsters and try to find me, I realized that they thought the cave was dark.
Thirty minutes in.
Knowing that I needed more information before I could do anything, I hid behind a bright crystal to ambush my pursuers. After eking out a win against the three soldiers, I looted their equipment to improve my chances in future battles.
Forty-five minutes.
I continued to ambush any soldiers I saw until, finally, I was able to capture one alive and interrogate him. I obtained all sorts of information and figured out what we needed to do. It seemed that our goal as pilgrims was to activate the Witch’s Altar hidden in the cave.
Two hours.
To get stronger, I killed any soldiers I came across on my way to the center, determining that we needed to all gather there as soon as possible since there was a chance this place had a time penalty.
Around seven hours.
“And that’s where you come in. Got all that?” I sighed. That should be everything.
“All right, then, let’s get going. We need to hurry to the center since that’s probably where the Witch’s Altar is.”
But Versyl didn’t follow me when I started to walk. Instead, she just stood there, staring blankly at me. “Did you… know about this all in advance?”
“Huh?” What was she saying? If I had, then we wouldn’t be in such dire straits in the first place. “Of course I didn’t.”
“Then how did you know all of that…?”
What a ridiculous question.
…Isn’t she a player too?
Why was she acting so amazed by some basic logical deductions?