Ch.48Upper Level – Communal Space (3)

Thud-!

The Lesser Dragon’s massive body stopped moving and collapsed to the ground as its inner core was extracted.

“Phew… that was exhausting.”

With the battle over and the tension released, I leaned back against the Lesser Dragon’s corpse.

‘Honestly… this wasn’t something I could have defeated alone.’

Perhaps I could have managed against it before it used its protective energy, but afterward, it would have been impossible alone.

By myself, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to complete my sword energy.

‘If this place has this level of difficulty…’

While I was worrying about the unexpectedly high difficulty, Lilly and Mochizuki Kitsune approached.

“Good work.”

“You worked hard too, Kitsune.”

“Both of you did well. Impressive that you managed to take down something like this.”

While Kitsune and I exchanged brief words, Lilly flew to my side and began touching the Lesser Dragon’s scales.

Though the scales had lost some of their power after the creature’s death, they still felt remarkably solid.

“These scales increase their hardness by channeling magical energy. So that’s how it formed an energy barrier around its body…”

“That’s why I want to take some. I think I’ll need proper armor soon.”

Until now, I hadn’t worn armor. There were several reasons, but mainly because I hadn’t found any armor I liked.

My mindset was that rather than wearing mediocre armor that restricted movement, I’d just dodge everything.

‘But I suppose it’s about time I started wearing some.’

There are limits to dodging, and with increasingly deadly attacks, I needed to prepare.

“But how do you plan to take this enormous thing with you? Even with dimensional storage… it seems difficult to store.”

“I’ll just butcher it and take the scales.”

Though my robe’s dimensional storage was spacious, the entrance was limited in size.

Besides, dimensional storage doesn’t stop time, so putting the whole body in might cause it to rot. Butchering was essential.

Fortunately, I knew how to butcher.

Slice, slice.

I separated the scaled hide from the Lesser Dragon’s body and divided it into manageable pieces.

I discarded any scales that were damaged or destroyed during the process without hesitation.

“This should be enough.”

After completing the butchering with reasonable skill, I stretched.

Though many scales were damaged from the battle and had to be discarded, the creature was so large that I could still collect what I needed.

“I haven’t known you long, but you seem amazing, Frey. You’re strong and knowledgeable.”

“What’s with the sudden flattery? That won’t make me send you back, you know.”

I tilted my head at Kitsune’s compliment, wondering if she wanted to return home.

However, my assumption seemed incorrect. I could see admiration in Kitsune’s eyes.

For some reason, there was also a hint of embarrassment.

“…That’s not it.”

“If you say so. Sorry for the wrong assumption.”

“No… it’s fine.”

After apologizing for the misunderstanding, I began taking camping supplies out of my dimensional robe.

“We’ll rest here tonight. Given the location, there shouldn’t be any threats.”

“Aren’t you going to collect the Orichalcum?”

Lilly pointed to the Orichalcum in the center of the cavern, suggesting we should secure it in advance.

Though it would certainly be reassuring to collect it now, there was a clear reason why we couldn’t.

“Ah, that’s what’s maintaining this cavern. If we remove it, the place will collapse soon after.”

For us to rest safely here, it needed to stay in place.

“Well, a cavern this intact couldn’t naturally withstand that huge Lesser Dragon thrashing around.”

“The energy emanating from the Orichalcum is definitely filling the cavern.”

This cavern was in a similar state to Melun’s Cave that we visited earlier.

While that place was sustained by a magical spring, this place had enhanced durability thanks to the Orichalcum.

The difference was that the other cave was maintained through coating separate from the spring, but this one wasn’t.

‘This cavern was designed specifically to not absorb the energy.’

It was partly designed to enhance the Orichalcum’s quality, but it was also just Vulcan’s hobby.

If he wanted to prevent theft, he could have simply locked a door, but instead, he set traps.

‘It’s like he’s saying “if you want to take it, prove yourself at the risk of your life.” What an exhausting hobby.’

At the same time, that personality trait might have been passed down to Arges, which is why he made a sword for me.

While I was thinking this, Kitsune looked at me with concern about the cavern collapsing.

“But… when we collect it tomorrow, won’t the cave still collapse? How will we escape…”

“Ah, don’t worry too much. I know the way out.

And after we enter the middle layer tomorrow, we’ll head straight down to the lower layer, so be prepared.”

Since there was nothing more to gain in the middle layer, we didn’t need to linger. However, the faster we moved, the greater the physical adjustment needed.

From that point on, Kitsune would need to focus entirely on mastering the barrier.

‘Still, she seems to have succeeded in maintaining the barrier, so it should be fine.’

She had mostly succeeded, including temperature control, so she just needed to master gravity control.

Though that was the most difficult part, the Kitsune I saw had talent, so she would likely manage without major issues.

“After you succeed with barrier maintenance, we’ll try casting it remotely on others later.”

“What? Yes, understood.”

This was something for the future, not immediately possible, but if she succeeded, it would be hard to find a better supporter than Kitsune.

After finishing preparations, I was about to sleep when a sudden curiosity made me look at Kitsune.

“By the way, why did you become an Apos Hunt member? I would have thought you could have stayed with your family.”

Kitsune’s family had traditionally led the fox clan, essentially making them nobility.

With her talent and skill to inherit the leadership position, there seemed no need for her to join the Hunt.

Of course, this was just my outside observation. Kitsune must have had her own reasons.

I could tell by how she froze at my question.

“Ah… that’s…”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”

It was just simple curiosity, and I had no intention of forcing her to reveal her past, so I backed off after seeing her reaction.

“I’m sorry…”

“What are you sorry for? Everyone has some difficult past.

Just tell me when you feel like talking about it.”

* * *

After another night in the mine, I stood in front of the Orichalcum, checking on the others’ status.

“I’m going to pull it out now. Is everyone ready to move?”

My companions each responded in turn.

“Don’t worry about me~”

“I’m ready.”

“Growl!”

Having received confirmation that everyone was prepared, I pulled the Orichalcum from its place and put it in my dimensional storage.

Rumble-

Immediately, the cavern began to shake and vibrate. A few stone fragments fell from the ceiling before it started to collapse entirely.

“Run!”

The path out was just as maze-like as the way in.

Real paths, fake paths, and traps. Distinguishing between them while the cave was collapsing was an extremely difficult challenge.

However, there was a veteran here who had been through this cave dozens of times.

“Take the left path!”

Finding this path was something I could do with my eyes closed.

“Now right!”

“The next intersection is all traps! Break through the floor!”

A route that would have killed a normal adventurer hundreds of times was quickly navigated.

‘I cursed Vulcan so much when I first had to find the escape route.’

I cursed him enough to probably extend his life by ten thousand years.

Without the knowledge from my possession, anyone thrown in here would likely never escape unless they were a regressor.

Moving forward and forward, the final intersection appeared before me. Tired from the endless paths, Kitsune asked me for directions again.

“Which way next?”

“There’s no path here! Just press against the left corner!”

I gathered Lilly, Kitsune, and Kirara and pushed them into the corner.

RUMBLE!!!

As soon as we huddled together, the ceiling collapsed. Only the spot where we were gathered remained intact.

“Phew… good job everyone. Pretty thrilling, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t start enjoying this kind of thing. It’s worrying.”

“I… I think I’ll die of a heart attack if I experience something like this again…”

“Growl…”

I thought it was like a mini-game once you got used to it, but I felt sad that no one agreed.