Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party: Volume 7 Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Color Illustrations

  The Newest Member of the Arrivers

  The Princess’s Legion and Plan B

  The New Arrivers

  The Steady Advance of the Princess’s Legion

  The Arrivers and the Great Mountain Dragon

  Though the World Wasn’t Kind to Her

  The Renewed Party Takes Shape

  The Princess’s Legion and Floor 21

  Sortie to Floor 21

  Light and Shadow

  A Fated Showdown, a Fight for Revenge, and an Impossible Dream

  To True Belonging

  Afterword

  About J-Novel Club

  Copyright

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  The Newest Member of the Arrivers

  Fame, fortune, magic, wisdom... Endless treasure and bounty lay within the otherworldly depths of the land—depths yet to be conquered that beckon people with the intangible power of curiosity. Be it in the name of hopes and dreams or greed and self-interest, adventurers from all walks of life risked everything to challenge the dungeons.

  One of many daring groups was the Arrivers, our party who once held the remarkable claim of being the closest to actually clearing a dungeon. We disbanded after losing Jin in action, and though we’d somehow managed to pull ourselves back together since...we were still down a party member.

  In the search for a new one, we’d run afoul of Tyrant Princess Leyfa. I’d borrowed the power of the Headhunter’s name to resolve the situation—or so I’d thought. Then I found out that my childhood friend, Miya, had joined Leyfa’s party and caused another stir. Leyfa’s attendant Sofie was kicked out in the process and left to wander the streets, so I’d decided to invite her to join the Arrivers just minutes ago.

  Now that we had a full party again, we could finally get back to making progress in the dungeon! Of course, things never go that smoothly. As always, we were in the middle of confronting the problem at hand...

  “I know, I know,” I said. “I can imagine how you all must feel right now. It’s perfectly understandable to be apprehensive...”

  “You went and decided this all on your own again. You could’ve given us at least one word of advance notice, you know?” Erin sighed, half-irritated and half-exhausted.

  I understood where she was coming from, of course. Had I been in her shoes, I would’ve felt the exact same way. As for what I’d actually done to make her so unhappy...

  “I know. I’m sorry. That’s why I’m consulting you guys now. Okay, yeah, it’s kind of completely ex post facto... Sorry. I shouldn’t have decided that Sofie should join on my own.”

  I was being scolded for making the all-important decision of recruiting a new member all on my lonesome. And I completely deserved it. After losing Jin, we were a team of five. I couldn’t just bust through the door declaring I’d found our newest member when I wasn’t even the party leader, and that’s not even broaching the fact that the newest member in question was an enemy until very recently... It’d be weirder if the rest of the party weren’t a little miffed.

  For now, I kept my head lowered to express my contrition, but I didn’t regret what I’d done. Leyfa had given Sofie the boot and she’d had nowhere to go—it was my one and only chance to recruit her. There wasn’t time to ask her to wait while I discussed things with the rest of the party. If I’d let the opportunity slip past me, she would’ve disappeared to who-knows-where. I couldn’t just let her go like that.

  “I’m afraid even I have to side with Erin on this one. This is the second time you’ve acted completely on your own, Note,” Roslia threw in.

  The first incident in question was my going to confront Leyfa solo. Since I couldn’t reveal my connection to the Headhunter to just anyone, I’d been forced to enact my plan without the rest of the party. They forgave me under the extenuating circumstances, but this was my second offense now. And it was an entirely different matter with a new member involved.

  “I do feel bad about it,” I said.

  “I don’t trust you at all...” she mumbled.

  “You don’t either, huh, Roslia?” Erin asked.

  “Absolutely not. It’s Note we’re dealing with here. He’s definitely going to do it again.”

  “I really am sorry...”

  It was pretty terrifying to have the normally bickering duo gang up on me... It was like they’d united against a common enemy (that is, me).

  “If the other members are against it, then you don’t have to let me join...” Sofie quietly mumbled, breaking her silence. “I can just leave...”

  We’d returned to HQ straight from Leyfa’s place, luggage and all, but Sofie was still in the dumps. It was hard to see the confident knight who’d once served under Leyfa in her. If someone had told me that this was Sofie’s true nature, I would’ve believed them. She meekly listened to Erin and Roslia’s objections without raising a word in her own defense.

  “Hey, don’t be like that! We need you in our party, Sofie,” I assured her.

  “It doesn’t seem like they really want me here, though...”

  “They’re just saying that, you know? Erin and Roslia are really all for you joining us...aren’t you?”

  “I’m against it. You know she worked for that nasty princess. We can’t trust her.”

  “I’m against it too. After she kidnapped Neme and attacked you, I can’t say I think much of her.”

  “They’re...just saying that?” Sofie murmured with a confused look.

  C’mon, ladies! I get how you feel, but take a hint!

  Sofie was a lot more vulnerable than I’d previously believed—especially right now, after being discharged by a master she’d devoted herself to. I had to pick my words carefully or risk breaking her altogether.

  “Sofie knows what she’s done. And she’s sorry about attacking me and all that, right?” I asked, turning to her.

  “I mean, I suppose...” she mumbled.

  “See?”

  “Let me ask her this, then,” said Erin. “If the princess wanted you to bring her Note’s head right now, would you attack him?”

  “If Princess Leyfa so ordered, yes.”

  “She isn’t sorry at all!”

  Hey, Sofie, I thought we were friends! She answered without missing a beat too... Damn. I’d known Sofie was loyal to a fault, but I was really hoping she’d deny her attachment to Leyfa in the moment, even if it meant lying.

  “What do you think, Force? You’ve been quiet this whole time.”

  Backed into a corner, I turned to Force for a lifeline. As the leader of the Arrivers, his opinion carried more weight than the rest of ours. If he agreed to this, it’d be closer to a done deal; and if he disapproved, then I’d seriously have to rethink my options.

  “As long as she can get us closer to clearing the dungeon, I don’t care if she’s an enemy or downright evil. She’s just gotta be strong.”

  “I’m weak,” Sofie countered. “I just lost to an adventurer named Miya...”

  “Miya? As in Note’s childhood friend?” Force asked. “If you lost to someone like that, then I don’t have high hopes.”

  “Your standards are just warped. Miya’s plenty strong,” I argued.

  Miya was a top-class adventurer—one of the best in the country. She hadn’t made much of a name for herself because she kept her skills hidden, but her skills alone made her extraordinarily powerful. Force... Force was just that much stronger, so comparing her to him wasn’t fa
ir.

  “What about you, Miss Neme?” I asked, turning to the final member of our party.

  Honestly, I was expecting our tiny party priestess to be opposed to it. Sofie had kidnapped her, after all. She’d been treated well while she was held captive, but I could still understand not wanting to call her former abductor a teammate all of a sudden.

  “Neme has no objections. Since you brought her here, Note, she must be trustworthy! So if it means we can get back in the dungeon soon, then she’s welcome in my book!”

  “Neme!”

  “That hurts, Note!”

  I was so overjoyed that I’d swept her up into a hug without thinking. It was just so lonely having everyone against me! I’d thought no one was on my side, but here I’d had an unexpected supporter all along. I should’ve known I could count on Neme. I’d actually spent more time with her than any of the other Arrivers since joining the party. She was a good friend to me. I should have opened the discussion by talking to her first.

  “Must be nice getting a hug like that... Maybe I should agree with him too.”

  “Casually thinking of betraying me, Erin? I’m disappointed.”

  I ignored the two girls bickering behind me. Seriously, why were they even fighting? They could at least try to be friends when they were on the same side.

  “So for now, it’s two against two. Count me neutral,” Force said, summarizing the discussion before things got any more complicated.

  The situation seemed oddly familiar. Hadn’t we gone through this exactly when Roslia joined the party? Back then, Force and I were for, while Erin and Neme were against and Jin was the neutral party.

  “I guess we’ll have to decide the same way...” I sighed.

  “I was just about to suggest that myself,” Force agreed.

  We were apparently on the same page. I could tell we were thinking the same thing by the look in his eyes.

  “What do you mean by ‘the same way’? Do the Arrivers have an established way to settle things like this?” asked Erin, none the wiser to what we were talking about.

  “You know,” Force said, turning to her, “there’s only one way for a dungeon party to settle things, isn’t there?”

  “Do you mean—”

  Force answered before she could finish, “It’s time for a dungeon run.”

  *

  Back when we were debating about whether to let Roslia join the party, we’d taken her for an excursion to test her abilities. That was how she’d become our sixth member, and we were going to give Sofie the same test now. As soon as she was completely recovered, the lot of us set off for the dungeon.

  We were currently on floor 5. It hadn’t been that long since I was last here. The memories of it were still fresh in my mind. This was the wasteland floor where Roslia and I had babysat the Ultimate Invincible Partyz back when we’d first returned to Puriff.

  Sofie had only cleared through floor 4 with Leyfa’s party. An early floor like this was no match for the Arrivers, but since it was as far as Sofie could go, it was the best we could do to test out her talents. The monsters here were pretty basic—your average beast, bird, and humanoid-type mobs that were commonly found on the surface.

  Of course, the dungeon versions were much stronger than their surface counterparts, but there was nothing particularly devious or tricky about handling them. As long as you kept an eye on their numbers, it would be a simple, straightforward fight. And yet...

  “It’s impossible. I don’t think I can live up to your expectations.”

  Sofie sounded defeated from the get-go. How should I put this? It was like her thought process had gone totally dark. Like she was a completely different person without Leyfa around. Her encounter with Miya may have had a hand in crushing her confidence, but I was really starting to worry about her.

  “Is she going to be all right? It doesn’t seem like she’ll be able to handle being in the Arrivers...” Erin muttered, nervously watching on as well.

  “I hope so,” I replied earnestly.

  I was the one who’d recommended Sofie, after all. I’d fought with her twice, and I could read her threat level thanks to Enemy Search. I knew she was much stronger than your average adventurer, so all that remained to be seen was how much of that strength she could bring to bear in battle.

  “Your battle style is knight, so you’ll be okay fighting alone, right?” I asked.

  Knight was generally a well-balanced role. Knights specialized in both offense and defense, and while they couldn’t recover like paladins, they had abilities that helped them excel in individual combat. We would’ve had Roslia tank if we were testing a rear-line candidate like a mage, but Sofie was a front-liner herself. The plan was to send her in solo.

  “Yeah,” she replied.

  “Then we won’t help even if you’re in danger!” Roslia taunted.

  “So be it if it’s my fate to die here. It was a miserable life anyway...”

  “Hey, at least jump in to help her if she’s in danger! And you, Sofie! Don’t be so quick to accept death!” I yelled.

  There’d be no end to this conversation if we kept at it, so I figured it was time to get things started. I activated Enemy Search to locate some monsters. The floor was pretty vast, but there were plenty of mobs around. I spotted one instantly and ran toward it alone, then used Bloodlust to draw its attention.

  Now I just had to lure it back to my party. Once Erin and the others were within sight, I signaled them. Sofie seemed to understand the gesture—she was to defeat the monsters I brought her way. The moment I passed by her, she drew the rapier at her waist and charged straight at the beast.

  “Six Thrusts!”

  I knew this move. (She’d used it on me before.) Her silver blade darted through the air toward the hound-like monster in multiple strikes. She landed a stab in each of its front legs and eyes, then two in the snout. And when she was done attacking, she deflected the charging hound to her right.

  With nothing to kill its momentum, the beast went sliding headfirst into the ground. It had suffered a heavy blow, but it was clinging to life. Using the last of its strength, it let out a loud, echoing howl—a signal. The number of hostile presences around us suddenly increased. It was the start of a so-called chain battle that this floor was notorious for. Monsters began streaming toward us. Sofie now realized what she was up against.

  “There are so many of them...” she muttered.

  “Please defeat them all,” I said.

  “All of them...?”

  Her dim eyes darkened even more. We couldn’t have her giving up so easily. The Arrivers sought to clear a dungeon that no one had ever conquered before. She’d have to take down a lot more than what floor 5 had to offer along the way.

  “Hahh...” With a heavy sigh, Sofie adjusted the grip on her rapier and ran the hound on the ground through to finish it off. “I’ll do what I can.”

  She then turned to the monsters coming at her and let fly a high-speed thrust.

  “Next!”

  After she felled a second and third monster, more began swooping down from the skies. They were avian monsters resembling falcons, and they dive-bombed Sofie with razor-sharp talons.

  “Hyah!”

  She thrust again, this time for a raptor’s midsection. The bird evaded it at the last second, crying out once as it circled overhead and tried dive-bombing her again.

  “How annoying...”

  With that, Sofie stabbed her rapier into the ground and let the raptor come at her without any show of defending herself. Its talons dug deep into her face.

  “Sofie!” Roslia yelled in spite of herself.

  It was clearly a direct hit, but Sofie proceeded to grab the falcon by its leg and slam it into the dirt with all her might. She then snatched up her rapier and skewered the bird on the ground.

  “I can handle this much,” she said...her voice and her face completely unaffected. There wasn’t a single scratch on her, much less any sign of blood.

&nbsp
; “What the...”

  Sofie answered everyone’s surprise by saying, “I have the Iron Wall skill. An attack of this level would never hurt me.”

  Even as she stood talking to us, monsters assailed her one after another. She made no effort to fend off their attacks, yet she was completely unharmed. She didn’t even look like she was in pain.

  I suddenly found myself recalling that rainy morning Sofie assaulted me. I’d nailed her with countless Palm Shots, but aside from reacting to the sheer force of the blows, she hadn’t shown any sign whatsoever that they affected her. So that was thanks to her skill eating all of the damage from my attack, huh? I’d been worried that I’d forgotten how to use my arts or something, but it all made sense now.

  The monsters seemed to realize their attacks weren’t working on Sofie and switched to keeping their distance from her. She swiftly dispatched all the stunned monsters, reducing their numbers by the minute.

  “It’s a solid fighting style,” Force muttered. I had to agree with him.

  The Arrivers had always been a fairly aggressive party. Force and Jin were frontline fighters, and our rear-line mage was attack oriented too. Even Roslia, our paladin, had the extremely powerful Holy Sword Fractus at her disposal. She was only playing up her defensive powers to fill a void in our party. But now Sofie had appeared with a naturally tanky fighting style. Her sword skills were vastly inferior to Force’s, but her ability to tangle with multiple monsters and walk away unharmed was incredibly useful. And Iron Wall wasn’t the only skill she had...

  “Fuerte-Tierra-Cárcel.”

  I could instantly tell it was spirit magic from the way it sounded. The monsters that were fleeing from Sofie were immediately enclosed in a prison made of rising earth. Sofie then went around harvesting kills while they were trapped.

  “Was that spirit magic?” Erin asked her.

  “Yes. I can use spells of the earth element.”

  Spirit magic was extremely conducive to frontline roles. It had the potential drawback of being strongly influenced by the surrounding environment, which limited its strength and usefulness in certain situations, but there were other benefits. The actual magic of so-called spirit magic came from the contracted spirit. The caster merely channeled some of their power by offering up magical energy in exchange. This made it easy to cast spells while doing other things (like swinging a sword), and it didn’t require any study of arcane formulas like regular magic did. Both had their advantages, but spirit magic had more benefits for up-front fighters.