Data.54 – Old Bowman, With a Goat

“Mehh!”

Mister White Goat rammed into another monster, diminishing its own HP.

When there were enemies coming from different directions, I couldn’t kill them all at once. And so the goat would get excited and attack them…

Maybe I should try and heal it. It’ll be over if it dies.

“Mehh!”

But as I thought this, a white aura began to appear around the goat.

It was a different aura than when it charged.

At the same time, I could see a rippling effect appear at its feet, like droplets on a watery surface.

What is this…?

“Ah, its HP is recovering…!”

Mister White Goat’s HP gauge was completely full again.

And Garbow, who had taken a little damage as well, was also healed.

So it was a wide-area healing skill.

The ability to heal multiple people at once was a valuable skill to have in any game.

Especially late-game in RPGs. You might not stand a chance if you don’t have such a skill.

“Maybe you’re stronger than you look? Mister White Goat.”

“Meehhh!”

Said the goat confidently.

And then as if to further prove his point, he displayed a number of other new skills.

He seemed to recover MP when eating grass that grew in different corners of the ruins, and upon finding walls that looked like they would be impossible to reach, he would climb up and retrieve items.

He could walk through narrow paths and pull levers to open doors as well.

While the goal was to escort the goat and keep it alive, it seemed like there were also a lot of areas where you wouldn’t be able to get through without it…?

Well, in my case, I could use my range in order to solve most of the problems. And I’m sure there were other players who could also solve such problems without the goat.

Also, it had surprisingly high defense ability.

It wouldn’t die from just one punch from a Golem.

It only charged into enemies when it was strong, and when its HP was low, it would run away and focus on healing.

So it wasn’t acting recklessly.

However, it still took a little damage when it attacked.

And so ideally, it would wait behind and heal me and Garbow when we needed it…

Well, humans shouldn’t be so egotistical as to force their ideals onto animals.

Mister White Goat wanted to fight too.

“Now, we’ve gone down a lot of stairs already. Surely the next one should take us to the 10th floor?”

“Mehh!”

Mister White Goat seemed to agree.

What if it really did understand what I was saying?

Besides, it kind of seemed like the goat knew the layout of the dungeon.

“But now that I think about it, this is where its friend, the black goat, lives. So it’s no wonder that it knows…”

“Mehh!”

Yes, the white goat did know.

In front of the staircase that led to the 10th floor, waited three ‘Metal Golems’ that were different from any of the Golems we had encountered up until now.

They were like mid-bosses before the main boss.

Upon seeing this, I went as far back as the straight passage would allow, and readied my bow.

Nothing but Sky Tear would be able to pierce such a hard-looking Golem.

Garbow could charge and use Red Meteor, but I was a little afraid of the Golem’s power.

Due to past experiences, I was not one to underestimate them.

I would rather chip away at their health from far away.

“Sky Tear!”

I shot at the first Golem.

They had cores inside of their chest, and if you pierced through it, you could take them down in one hit.

I succeeded on my first try, and the Metal Golem vanished.

At the same time, the remaining two recognized me as an enemy, and started to move.

However, as they were now made of metal, they were even heavier.

And so I was sure that Sky Tear’s cooldown time would end before they could reach me.

There was enough distance between us…

“Meehh!”

“Huh? It’s going to charge at this distance!?”

Mister White Goat began to run towards the Metal Golems.

But these were two Golems were much stronger than the previous ones. Surely it would be killed if attacked by both…!

“Garbow! Help him!”

“Gar! Gar!”

Garbow activated Ocean Sphere, shot past the white goat, and then unleashed Red Meteor at the Metal Golem.

The sharp ringing of metal hitting metal echoed through the ruins.

But the Golems were tough. While they took damage, it was not enough to sink them.

However, one of them now had its core exposed!

“Burning Arrow! Rapid Fire!”

I aimed at the core and shot a series of explosive arrows.

While destroying the cores meant killing the Golems, they were not necessarily brittle.

If anything, they may be harder than the rest of the body…

I continued to shoot arrow after arrow and somehow managed to take down another one.

There was only one left now…

“Gaaarr!!”

Garbow had been blown away.

While it had good physical defense, it wasn’t high enough to resist the impact of a punch.

And then the Golem started to swing at the goat.

It would be crushed if I didn’t do something…!

—Beep! You have acquired the skill ‘Drill Arrow.’

◆ Acquisition Reason

‘The arrow that stands on stone.’

Killing multiple stone-type enemies with arrows.

◆ Drill Arrow

Unleash an arrow with an arrowhead that spins like a drill.

Effective against rock and machine type monsters.

It’s been a while since I last acquired a skill like this.

And just in time!

“Drill Arrow!”

Kiririri…Shu! Kyuuiiin!!

The arrowhead rotated rapidly as it pierced into the right side of the Metal Golem’s chest. And then it dug deeper and deeper in.

And in just a few seconds, the Drill Arrow shot out the other side.

So it had easily pierced through that steel body…

Now all of the Metal Golems were defeated, and no one stood in our path to the 10th floor.

“Couldn’t they just make those three Golems the boss…?”

“Mehh!”

The white goat replied energetically.

Well, maybe they were.

Maybe the only thing on the 10th floor is the black goat? And just taking the white goat there means I finished the labyrinth?

But if that’s the case, then what is the requirement for getting the reward?

As I wondered about this, we reached the 10th floor…which was a great hall.

It looked like it could be a boss arena…

“Meeeh!”

The white goat started to run towards something. A black goat…

“Buuoo…?”

“Meeh!?”

…A black goat’s head was on a human body. It was a Baphomet demon.

Mister Black Goat had fallen to the dark side…!

Was this…a surprisingly cruel end to the story?

“It looks like Old Black Goat has studied black magic too much, and he himself has turned into a demon…! But he might return to normal if knocked unconscious! Please help me fight!”

“Okay… You can talk!? Mister White Goat? Why didn’t you talk before…”

“He has the demon and beast attributes. If you have skills that are effective against them, use them!”

He ignored me…!

My honest question…!

C-calm down… These kinds of surprises were common enough in this game.

Besides, Baphomet was a famous demon.

But if it was put here as a boss, it won’t be weak.

And this was a great hall. There were no obstacles to hide behind or high platforms to shoot from.

Perhaps I could use Floating Cloud, but Baphomet had wings.

While I wasn’t sure if this story made any sense, I wouldn’t let my guard down during this fight…