That's a pretty nice ride, Bazelph.
Oh, of course. I'm the golem I trained.

　My buddy, Battlegolem Gladius, who took the form of a steel brown bear, was designed to be easy to straddle on his back, and yet it was also uneven, so as not to spoil its beauty. Bazelfr's nifty plan.
　So now Bazelph and I were riding back to back on the back of Gladius, who was moving at a steady pace, and his speed was about the same as a horse.
　Our speed is about the same as a horse. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.
　But after all, dwarves are not good at riding, or perhaps Bazelph was proud of it, but his voice trembled as he said it.
　I couldn't help but chuckle.

'Can I skip a bit?'
Oh, yeah. Do as you please. Just go easy on the guy.

　I couldn't help but laugh out loud at Bazelfr's pitiful trembling voice.
　Anyway, I let Gradius canter with me.
　It's still as fast as a horse, and although it's better than a horse, it shakes terribly.
It can't compare to the comfort and convenience of a hovering carpet, but that's about as close as you can get.
　Gradius' primary use is in combat.

"It'll take some time, but we'll take it slow.
Oh, oh. So, suit yourself. I'll tell you the truth, it's a big help.

　I had returned Gladius' speed to his normal pace, and Bazelph was blatantly relieved.
　Now we were heading back to the great tunnels of Megolaus, from the nearest town where we had jumped at the Town's Gate.
　The last time Aria was with us, we used the hovering carpet, so the journey was a very short one.
　But this time, let's go slowly and without haste.
　That's right, let's go slowly this time, let's just enjoy this magnificent view of nature that spreads out around the city road!

　　　　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.

　Of course, I'll be in the mood for gawking until we arrive at Megolaus.
　I rode into the tunnels with Gradius on my back, and just like last time, I kicked away the skeleton soldiers that swarmed around me with a storm of mana bolts.
　I'm going to have to wait until I'm at the top of the mountain to find out what's going on.
　We're going to take our time to defeat the vicious boss monsters that live there.

"It's not too late to turn back, eh, Bazelfr?
Nonsense. Don't you wish to witness the first battle of my trained gladius?
You're risking your life for that?

　The boss monster I'm about to fight is a really dangerous opponent. He's only 6 levels ahead of me, so I'll have to concentrate on the battle. I can't afford to worry about Bazelfr's problems.

''Of course!　You can't leave me out of this.
Huh. You really are a master blacksmith.

　I said no more. I drew on Bazelph's manly spirit, his blacksmith's spirit.


　And--
　We have reached the deepest part of the Great Megolaus Tunnel.
　Digging through the tunnels, we found ourselves in a huge natural cavity, a space so large that a nobleman's house could be completely filled with it.
　It's a large space that could easily fit a nobleman's mansion.
　There was a huge demon cowering there.
　If I were to describe it in one word, it would be the skeleton of a dragon.
　However, it was not a corpse. This thing was a longstanding undead monster.
　Its name is a bone dragon.
　We climbed off the back of Gradius and faced the boss monster.

"But it's so big...

　Bazelph gasped at the hulking figure, which was evident even as he curled up and cowered.

'Stay back, Bazelph. More. No, more. It's still dangerous there.

　I ordered Bazelph to drop down to the tunnels and never to enter the cavity.
　In the meantime, the Bone Dragon woke up.
　With a frightening, hair-raising groan, it slowly wakes its massive body.
　A black haze erupting from its entire body is a miasma.
According to the information in the strategy book, the miasma is damaging to anyone below level 10 just by touching it, and inhaling large amounts of it will cause death.
　How powerful it is!
　What a horror!
　However, there is another real threat that the Bone Dragon has to deal with.

''Gee--Gigaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

　The bone dragon opened its jaw gate and roared.
　At the same time, the density of the miasma spewing from his body increased.
　And then the ground inside the cavity began to change.
　As soon as the miasma rose here and there, skeleton soldiers crawled out from the bottom of the earth.
　What a horror-like scene!
　The troublesome part of this boss monster is that it has to take out the armies of skeletons that he generates, while I am forced to deal with them.
　It's a difficult enemy for me, as I don't have a party together - but right now I have a gladius, trained by Bazelfr for me.

'Gladius, protect me!

　Under orders, Gladius begins to move.
　The brown bear-shaped battle golem stands against the army of skeletons that swarm around it, and fortunately it clears the way for it to hit, perfectly protecting me.
　The way it doesn't even bellow, but just silently wields its steel claws, I even feel a certain professionalism in it. How reliable!
　That allows me to focus on attacking the bone dragon itself.

"Shi-ha-ah-del-el!

　He chanted a spell and completed the Shade III, a dark attribute attack magic.
　A huge sphere of darkness condenses and strikes the bone dragons from the front.
　The impact blows the miasma haze of miasma around him away.
　But that's all.
　I'm sure you'll be able to see that not a single crack has appeared in the boss monster's skeleton.
　The miasma that once blew away the miasma began to shake again from his entire body.

The miasma begins to shake again.　Aren't dark-attribute attacks not effective against the undead!
Shut up and watch.

　I cast the next spell and attack the Bone Dragon with Stone III.
　The storm of stone pebbles created by the spell struck the dragon of bones.
　This time the effect was immediate, and the bone dragon's skeleton shattered in many places.
　I fired another Stone III in rapid succession, smashing his massive body into pieces.

Oh. Oh.... that's great!　It's working this time!　Keep it up, Magnus!

　Bazelfr, who was watching behind me, shouted out with pleasure.
　The Stone III, which also has a striking attribute, must have looked effective against this boss monster.
　However--



　The Bone Dragon roared.
　The miasma erupted like a black pillar of fire.
　Then what?
　His bones, which had been shattered and scattered on the ground, gather together as you watch.
　They merge into a single, separate skeleton.
　It is regenerated as the new - second head of the bone dragon.

"Bah, this is ridiculous.... He's immortal........

　Bazelph is aghast.
　But I calmly and calmly chanted the following spell.

'Si ha a del el!

　It's Shade III again.
　The reason it didn't fire is not because I listened to Bazelfr's advice, but simply because this magic is classified as a so-called great magic that cannot be fired continuously.
　Once you use it, you can't use it for a while. We at the academy knew this rule from experience, but the "strategy book" calls it "Recast Time".

　The second shot, Shade III, hit the bone dragon.
　The second shot, Shade III, struck the bone dragon, blowing away the intense miasma it was clad in for a moment.
　The miasma is still intact, and the miasma is quickly regained.

The mea culpa of the mea culpa is a waste of time.
Just let me handle it!

　The miasma is a miasma that has been reintroduced by the Bone Dragon, and I shouted backwards as I stared at it.
　The miasma is a miasma that can only be used for one reason: to keep the miasma in check.
　The bone dragon struggled, but its skeletal structure began to shatter and regenerate, sprouting a third neck and more arms.
　It became more and more vicious.

''Gigaaaaaaaaaaaa!

　All three heads opened their jaw gates and breathed out a dense black miasma breath.
　There is no way for me to avoid this widespread attack.
I'm going to raise my magic power to resist and at least reduce the damage.

It's not a good idea to go to the beach.

　Agony leaks out of my throat.
　But I endured it. Even though I couldn't match up to a bone dragon, I had a high level, doped to the limit, and most importantly, the rank A equipment on my right hand, the Guardian Angel's Ring, saved me.

"Shi-ha-ah-del-el!

　On the counter, third time's a charm, Shade III.
　It hits the bone dragon directly, but it still doesn't shatter its skeleton (body).

'What in the world are you thinking, Magnus!
'Hmm. Squint and look closely, Bazelph.
M...?

　That's right, there's no way a bone dragon's skeleton (body) could be shattered by Shade III.
　The miasma is a magic that deals damage to the MP rather than the HP of the opponent.

　The miasma that Bondragon had been clad in was waning without a trace.

　The miasma was on the verge of depletion after summoning an army of skeletons, spending more MP by regenerating and transforming my own body, and being hit by my Shade III.
　After a series of Stone III attacks, I hit my fourth Shade III, which is a no-go for me.
　The miasma haze of miasma has been completely ripped away from the bone dragons.
　The miasma is no longer able to summon another skeleton soldier, nor can it regenerate its skeleton.

　Me, I won.

　It generates a large number of small fry monsters as its cronies, and no matter how much damage it takes, it immediately regenerates its own HP and transforms into an even more vicious form, and it's level 34 - how do I defeat such a troublesome boss monster?　
While reading the strategy book, I had come up with a tactic that would drain all my MP.

　I won't stop firing the Stone III until the Bone Dragon is destroyed.
　He couldn't even breathe out the miasma breath and rushed at me with his massive body in a fit of anguish.

You can't have the same amount of time and energy as the others. It's only a demon's wisdom.

　I laughed and leisurely retreated into the narrow tunnels.
　Naturally, he was too big to follow me into the tunnel.
　It had no choice but to perish before I could fire the Stone III out of the tunnel.

　I was left with a large amount of experience and drop items.