Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~

Having acquired the necklace, a universal key to all the locks in the dungeon—

"Oh, we have five minutes left. Alright guys, let's not waste this chance, and get to mine orichalcum. Never waste a chance."

After all, they'd achieved their primary objective, that was pushing Cecil to level 99.

In five more minutes, they would be teleported out. So Allen decided to spare the rest of the duration on orichalcum ore. So far, they'd already acquired three chunks of them from the coincidental found and the one they stole from the shop.

"Ah, that would be really great."

Habarak was quietly watching from everyone behind, and immediately perked up when the name of orichalcum came up. With the pickaxe on his shoulder, he dashed for an orichalcum vein.

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.

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Allen and Merus were both swinging their pickaxes as well, mining the orichalcum ores, when the scenery around them suddenly warped.

"We got a nice haul. Thanks. I can now smith new weapons and armaments with ease."

"Why thank us? If anything, we're grateful that you accompanied us on our campaign. And of course, we'll be looking forward to new equipment."

"That you can be rest assured."

The orichalcum ores they'd obtained overall were as big as balance ball size, weighing approx 100kg. Allen and Formar each carried one of the ores to the Habarak's atelier.

"Well, now what's the next plan in your gourd? Or are we returning back to Space-Time God?"

Cecil inquired. As having reached the milestone of level 99, she was probably planning to return to resume the trail of Space-Time God.

"Ah, yes. First, give your body a rest. Then you can head for the trial, and we will be visiting Academy Town."

"Oh? Aren't you going to help out Brave-sama?"

"We will, but we got this necklace now, you know....I will explain when we have our meals. Could you come with us too, Habarak-san?"

(He's really like one of those uppity uncles, full of positive energy.)

Habarak had already turned in his blacksmith mode, and was just rolling a towel around his head when Allen called him out.

"O-oh, yeah. Just a minute, let me just throw them into the furnace."

Habarak responded, moving to throw the ores of orichalcum into the furnace. It's a must step to make smithing easier and that requires the ores to be in the furnace for 24 hours at least.

The disciples around acted on his words, and also began to push rest of orichalcum ores into it.

Allen and other members split their way from there, and turned for their respective male and female bathroom in the base, washing away the grime and dirt acquired from their 24 hours campaign.

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.

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Allen and Luck took the lead in arriving at the dining hall, and the long haired members-Cecil, Sophie and Formar—followed at a delayed pace.

"I am so sorry. Ain't you too, Mutton?"

«Indeed. I am all melted jelly from hunger.»

(Heh, he sure is keeping the Great Spirits still in summoned state. He would have long squandered the fuel if he was still at 1 star.)

As if it was a given, Luck had casually been keeping the essential great spirit Mutton around—something that was only possible now that he was at 5 star, while also holding the blessing of god.

"Ahaha, my bad. Those dumb disciplines didn't even keep in mind that Orichalcum needed more fire, instead they set it lower."

Habaraka said, rubbing the back of his hand as he approached.

While Allen was watching Luck and Moutton banter, it seemed Habarak had just finished disciplining his apprentice craftsmen. He also appeared to have taken a bath, as the flushed old man plopped down into the seat directly across from Allen.

Once everyone had gathered, food began to be served one after another.

"Thank you for gracing us with all the boon, Spirits."

Sophie, who had always taken the lead in offering prayer since the academy, offered a prayer for the meal before taking a bite.

"So, what are we doing next?"

Luck asked, holding his wooden plate with both hands and drinking the soup as if he was pouring it in. Having been freed from the 24-hour alcohol ban, Habaraka also set his cup of spirits down on the table.

"We're going to send Cecil to the Space-Time God for her trial, then we'll head to help with the Hero's Trial. It's a waste to keep this Earthen Hold as just an equipment when it unlocks all the keys to the Earth Labyrinth."

"Are you saying we'll be going to Earth Labyrinth? But... doesn't that mean all of us will be leaving here?"

"That's right. Well, since Habaraka-san is going to stay behind, we are still strapped for mineral shortage. So, I'm thinking of asking General Zaurere on the surface to lead a golem squad to help with collecting ores."

(And speaking of, there were words about the Soul Rite festival. Great Spirit God has already given his words for the reward, but it would be better to grasp the schedule soon.)

Allen started explaining his following plan.

Cecil would continue to take on the trial of the Space-Time God, Desperado, and acquire the remaining two rewards too; divine skills and sacred artifact.

Then they'd the plan to join Hero Helmios in his trial, but Allen believed the more they didn't make use of the Earthen Hold, the more it would be a pity. Without it, they wouldn't be able to collect the "Orichalcum Ore."

"Hmm," Habaraka nodded, as if agreeing. "So, you're saying we'll ask General Zaurere to lead the golem squad?"

"This is my idea so far. Since there are no more Spirit Beasts, they would be able to gather orichalcum and other ores from the dungeon, while Habaraka-san can focus on crafting weapons and armor."

"But since it wouldn't be possible to reach the 80th floor for them, they'll focus on collecting treasure chests from the boss rooms and the treasure vaults, right?"

Cecil chimed in, adding some details.

"That's right. If we send about ten people who have advanced to at least 4 star, we should be able to gather the ores. Plus, if we get our hands on the Magic Disc expansion terminal, it'll help strengthen Alllen's Army."

Magic Disk Expansion Terminal was an item to open more slots on the reverse side of the Golem User's Magic Disk which would allow them to insert more stele. And for Golem Users, the number of stele slots were incredibly important.

Meruru had acquired Magic cube with 30 stele slots, and Admiral Garala had already opened 20 slots. Rest of the members in his party also had opened at least 15 and above slots.

And now, after their four dungeon campaigns, they have obtained five «Magic Disc Expansion Terminals.»

(Earth Necklace sounds like a good trigger for many things, also allowing dwarves to continue basking in Earth's Labyrinth's blessing.)

After clearing their objective, Allen had an inkling why the Earth God, Gaia, had hinted Cecile should be able to level up. It seemed Gaia wanted to strengthen the connection between the dwarves and himself by linking the rewards from the Earth Labyrinth.

Once they'd bring down the Demon King, Earth God's contribution would surely come up as one of the factors that supported them in their endeavour, and once the words spread around, dwarves' faith would further solidify.

With there being as many as 255 pillars of god, it was inevitable that they must assertively put themselves in light, or they would lose their godhood. But directly influencing should be a no-no, as that would probably summon the displeasure of Creation God.

After finishing the fruit water in his cup, Habarak spoke up.

"Great, that will lower the load on us fer real, Ain't anything better than to strike after all."

The Earth Labyrinth wasn't only abundant with orichalcum, but also ores like adamantite, steel, and mithril. While Allen's group didn't need anything other than orichalcum, these other ores could help strengthen his army. Habaraka would also have more room to practice, allowing him to craft even more powerful weapons and armor.

Unlike Allen, Habaraka seemed to have no interest in the gods' motives; he was simply focused on what he wanted to do.

"Well then, let's take the day off and start tomorrow."

Ensuring there was no opinion about the plan, Allen called it a day.

The next day—

Allen and his group first made their way to the divine territory of Space-Time God, where they said their goodbyes to Cecile. Afterward, they traveled via the Dragon God's village and returned to the surface, heading toward the Academy Town.

(Alright, time to rise into the sky and look for General Zaurere.)

Typically, it was a simple matter of using the Bird E to activate its special skill «Hawk's Eye», however others wanted to see the progress of the development, so they all decided to fly high into the sky together.

From a height of about 100 meters, they surveyed the situation of the Academy Town below. As they took it all in, their voices echoed in excitement.

"Whoa, things are really shaping up!"

"Yes, it looks like the town is already finished. Right, Formar?"

"Yes, I believe it's largely thanks to the efforts of the elves from Rosenheim."

"Hey, I heard you, alright? Our village's dark elves should've put just as much effort too."

"What's this? I heard the dark elves from my village have been working hard too!" said another voice.

"Let's leave it at that. I think they said the city will officially open on the 1st day of the 10th month, right?"

(Only 12 days left until my 17th birthday.)

I guess, boasting is really a universal thing, huh? Moreso when you have royalties of each tribe at one place. Allen's mind wandered around as the cacophony of the group echoed around.

The Academy City of the Latash Kingdom had grown to twice its original size. The project had started because Allen had proposed that the Latash Academy City would feature two dungeons: one that grants an additional talent and one that could increase a person's stars up to four.

This was an initiative to revise the current educational system—that students should go through job transfer—so that the military force could gain further assurance before they head for Demon King's Army.

Albeit, since it takes time to change jobs, the current three-year curriculum wouldn't be enough to meet the demands.

A shift to a four- or five-year curriculum was necessary, and to accommodate all the aspirate students from all over the world, the current size of the academy was simply not sufficient.

It seemed that in just six months since Allen had made his proposal at the Five Continent Alliance Conference, much of the development had already been completed.

(Well, we've also invested 100 million gold coins in development. Peromas did all the heavy lifting here though, but anyway, the outer walls are exactly as requested.)

The outer walls, which were formidable enough to resemble a fortress, were a request that Allen had made himself.

This Latash Kingdom Academy Town, which houses job change dungeons, was humanity's beacon of hope. So they'd to make sure the academy town saw past the war with the demon king.

The Academy Town, spanning over 100 square kilometers, boasted outer walls that were 30 meters thick and over 30 kilometers high.

The magical trains were running around, connecting the old and new town. They also had two large-scale magical water purification facilities, capable of handling even the imperial capital's load, to ensure that no sewage flows into the rivers.

"The church and adventurers' guilds are here too."

Being natural with far-sight as an archer, Formar remarked, spotting several Elmea Church and Adventurer's Guilds.

"The town is too big to make-do with just one of each after all. This much is required to keep the congestion at bay. —Oh, found General Zaurere."

Developing the Academy Town was too tall of a task, even for the Allen Army with its plethora of spirit and golem users. Hence they'd been having Elmea Church, and Adventurer's Guild helping out too, aside from the help of each representative in the five continent alliance.

Using the hawk's eye skill of the summoned bird Bird E, Allen noticed General Zaurere in the central square of the newly developed area, where he was directing the golems.

Allen and his group flew toward the square, and spotted that the workers at the plaza were on their way to erect some sort of statue.

(Huh? What's this about?)

Not wanting to disturb the ongoing work, they landed a little away from the scene on a newly paved stone path that still looked untouched by many people.

Allen hurled his gaze at the bronze statue as it was held by golem at the foundation, and was being slowly carried over, seemingly to erect it.

"Allen-sama, what is that?"

"What the... How did it come to this? Why is it... my...?"

In unison, Sophie and Allen's voice echoed in the area, however the others were too focused on carefully setting it in place to notice them.

"That's our Supreme Commander Allen-sama's statue! Handle it with care!" With his face back facing toward them, General Zaurere shouted loudly as he directed the operation.

T/N - Heya everyone, it has been a while since the update had been quite unacceptable. I hadn't meant to, but a sudden situation messed up my schedule. A close relative went through chemo, but to no avail, and after a few months of struggle, they passed away last month. The mourning lasts for nearly two weeks here, and I just found myself back recently.

Either way, I should be maintaining a healthy schedule starting today. Presumably at a quicker pace.