"Maria?" - Garami

"Yeah. The infamous "Broken Nun"." - Black Bones

After the event with the train (good thing the vampire only KOed the drivers. I had no clue how to operate the train.) and some questioning by the local authorities (they sent some troops in the hope of catching the vampire), we went to a bar on the skeleton's tab. He had something to tell us. Or me, to be precise.

"I've heard about her. She is an incredible Bishop with some slight...personality problems." - Aino

Huh? What's that supposed to mean?

"She is... You know how nuns are described sometimes in hentai and such, right? Attacked by demons or other "unholy forces"?" - Aino

"Sorta." - Garami

"That girl is rumored to be wishing for such situations. To an incredible degree...." - Aino

I turned over to the skeleton and saw him nodding to this utterly impossible idea. Ehh...you guys are serious?

"And that sicko perverted nun's currently looking for the Princess." - Black Bone

What!? I've got a stalker!?

"That is not so surprising. Mistress Garami is a perfect assailant for the type of situation she wishes for. When you go only by the rumors about her." - Bloom

"Even when the real deal's a bigger wimp than you'd expect." - Aino

Shut up! Those creatures of the undead aren't scaring me that much anymore! I mean, when there can be someone as stupid as that vampire in their ranks, why should I be shaking in my boots for something like moving corpses? 

"But why did Master Bone travel to these Blastfields then? We were at the port town until recently." - Bloom

"I asked the people at the Union where you were and they told me your plans about going to the Blastfields." - Black Bone

"Then you ended up at that train. What a coincidence." - Aino

"Yeah. Thanks for the warning. See you-" - Garami

"Wait just a minute!" - Black Bone

The skeleton jumped out of his seat and did a dogeza on the spot. Good thing for him that there aren't many customers here, but the waitress is looking at you funny. Shouldn't you stop?

"Please! I beg of you! Please allow me to join your guild!" - Black Bone

...huh?

"Please! A Spectermancer like me needs allies to gather materials for creating undead, but nobody wants to play with me since there will be no drop-items from me taking the whole corpse!" - Black Bone

"...wait, what are you saying? So the tip about the Broken Nun was..." - Aino

"Oh, that's completely unrelated. That girl's bad news for anyone." - Black Bone

Great. That's making me feel better...

"Then why are you..." - Aino

"I'm asking anyone with a steady group to play with. Please, help me here! At this rate, I won't be able to keep playing the game!" - Black Bone

"...tell us the problem." - Garami

The skeleton (still kowtowing) told us his story. About how the skill of his main class, the [Necromantic Rites] skill of the Spectermancer class, required him to consume a whole monster's corpse to stock up on "Necromancy Counters". By using the counters, the skeleton can create undead to command by using Spectermancer-related skills such as [Create Undead: Skeleton]. 

The problem was that taking the whole corpse turned into a sour situation when hunting with other players. There would be no materials for them to gain, so the total income of hunts got reduced for them.

That, combined with the fact that the skeleton didn't have the AP to improve his offensive abilities, meaning he couldn't collect corpses that efficiently on his own, gradually made him incapable of catching up to the other players.

"But the latest event gave me the windfall of a lifetime. I obtained the [Lesser Undead Talent], got the Swarming Undead trait that improves my LP problems with the undead, and even obtained enough LP to start taking the Nether Caster class!" - Black Bone

"Then what's the problem? And you don't have a lifetime. You're a skeleton." - Aino

"...once you have been slapped with a bad reputation, it takes a long time to clear your name." - Bloom

And surprisingly it's Bloom who's sticking up for the skeleton! But it is kinda something she would do. Bloom was controlled by those bugs and performed crimes due to them, so she was in a similar situation to the skeleton.

"That's exactly the problem. Most of the players I know are efficiency idiots. And to add to the pile of bad luck, I'm sort of famous after I got placed on some list after the first event. Most people know me in one way or another. And not in any good ways. Most players don't want a resource-eater like me on their teams. So I thought that you girls were less strict on that part...?" - Black Bone

Yeah, we're not exactly the most game-obsessed group of girls out there. Can't blame him for thinking that about us. Not that there's anything to take offense from.

"...what else can you do?" - Garami

"Garami!?" - Aino

"I can at least give him an interview." - Garami

The skeleton perked up from that and started to explain his talents. While sitting in seiza. Hey, calm down already...

To give a quick summary, the skeleton has both the Lesser Water Talent and the Lesser Undead Talent. The latter was obtained from the event as he mentioned before, but his starter element caught me off-guard. To think there's an undead named "Black Bone" that didn't go for Death or Darkness as their starting element...

Other than the Spectermancer class he described, he also has Nether Caster. It's a "Book of Tradition" class that uses magic that originates from the Netherworld. From hell. Scary.

But Nether Caster is his second Sub Class. The first one is a class named "Angler". As one can guess, it's a class for catching fish. It's what you could call a "hobby class". Those are being looked down upon by the hard-core gamers. No wonder he couldn't find any decent playmates. 

Though, I'm not that against it. Bloom's Crime Caster class could be seen as a "role-playing class", making it have the same value as the hobby classes at first look. But Crime Caster allows us to participate in special quests, so maybe Angler and the other hobby classes can do the same...?

"Okay, you're hired." - Garami

"Really!" - Black Bone

"But on a trial period." - Garami

"Eh? I mean, yes, ma'am!" - Black Bone

"...oh. We are having him help with clearing the Dungeon quests." - Aino

"Mhm." - Garami

"...excuse me, ma'am. But I'm not confident I could defeat a Dungeon," said the skeleton while turning pale...er. The avatar developers in this game are awesome. They're capable of making a skeleton turn pale from fear.

"Not other Dungeons, but my own," I told the skeleton while showing him my new Portable Dungeon Terminal. I got it for free as part of the latest update.

"So this is how a Dungeon master does things! ...question marks?" - Black Bone

"That is the problem~. The Dungeon's status values are in an uncertain situation." - Aino

"The latest update removed something called "facility points". One used them to place facilities inside the Dungeon or to upgrade those status values. Now the Dungeon grows by clearing specific conditions instead.

"Now the Dungeon's stats only grows when it clears some special Dungeon-related quests. But after the update, the already-created Dungeons were given a free period of 3 weeks. Intruders can't enter during that time, plus it's easier to raise the Dungeon's status values during that time.

"That is why we went to this region. The Blastfields contain many different and rare items. Feeding the Dungeon these items are among the special quests that are only available during this free period. We want to harvest as many materials during this time to make the Dungeon ready for when the free period is over." - Garami

Phew, I talked a lot. Can I get something to drink?

"...having a Dungeon is more work than I imagined." - Black Bone

"And we expect hard work if you want to join." - Aino

"Yes, ma'am! However...my Necromancy Counters...?" - Black Bone

"We'll rotate on who gets the materials of the killed monsters. Harvested materials will go to the Fort if nothing else comes up." - Garami

"That is a fine plan." - Aino

"Phew. Finally someone with a big heart." - Black Bone

Even when my Karma's supposed to be the lowest of the low.

"Anyway, there are three areas I wanna look at," I told them as I opened a map of the area on the table. It's something I bought before we left the port town, as I've planned this excursion ever since we defeated that butterfly monster during the event and I got to know about the Dungeon update.

"This volcano here. Mount Blastuvious." - Garami

"What a bombastic name." - Aino

"That does sound like a place with explosively good materials." - Bloom

"And demons. Probably some heavy-hitting ones." - Garami

"Now that you mention that, the little black one on the train was one of your tamed creatures." - Black Bone

"On the same subject, punish Nyx for going AWOL on us back then." - Aino

Sorry, Nyx. I'll properly explain to them that you were unsummoned because I needed to bring out Nala...

"We're saving this for the third week. I have two other areas I wanna explore." - Garami

"Why the third week?" - Black Bone

"That is part of Garami's plan. We will challenge a stronger area each week so that we can gradually adapt to the Blastfields' harsh environment." - Aino

"Mhm. And here's the place we're raiding and destroying in the second week." - Garami

"So aggressive...? Hmm? Is the map damaged? It's all black here." - Black Bone

The section of the map I'm pointing at is almost scorched-black in color. There are also several crossbones and skulls marked there, plus drawings of houses. 

"It's a former urban area that the inhabitants had to let go of. Because of constant attacks from the undead." - Garami

"......" - Bloom & Aino

"D-don't look at me!" - Black Bone

As for why the undead could populate that area because there's no sunlight due to the ashes in the sky. The undead can walk around even during the day. 

 "Why do you wish to look for materials in that place? Did you not have a phobia for the undead?" - Aino

"It's not that bad... As for why this area, it's for revenge." - Garami

"That vampire noble got you that worked up. Now I get it. Those guys are masters of pissing people off." - Black Bone

"Poor Bones who have to suffer from mistress Garami's venting." - Bloom

"Yes, yes...hey!" - Black Bone

They're not completely wrong. I do want to vent, plus it's prolly not just me who's scared of the undead. I sure hope so, 'cause it would be extremely unpleasant if I was the only one...

In any case, the undead and their "terror strategy" would be a good addition to the Dungeon. As guards against proper invaders, not those fanboys. One of the new things added to the Dungeon is the possibility of adding a new line of monsters, or even a new sub-attribute, to the Dungeon if you offer enough items related to either one. 

Though, I'm planning on more than just "venting"...

"But starting from tomorrow, I've got plans for this place," I said as I pointed at a huge lake painted on the map. And not any normal lake either.

"...the "Lava Lake"? We are going there?" - Aino

"Yup. Just decided it." - Garami

"It wasn't your first choice?" - Black Bone

"Nope. But I changed my mind. Because I overheard that you can fish there." - Garami

"......huh?" - Aino, Black Bone, & Bloom

I wonder what lava fishies taste like. Prolly like charcoal.