Chapter 393: Alfia: Let's Go, Step Outside for a Bit! (Patreon)

The boulders, colored to match the canopy of the sky, twisted into grotesque colossi.

Some took human shapes. Others looked like Beasts.

They resembled stacked building blocks, or mountains that had stood up and begun to walk. Every one of them was a titan at least several dozen, even a hundred meters tall.

Riveria, Alfia and the others had followed the first stone giant that rose for a long while. Now they watched the rest gather across the grassland and merge into the colossi before their eyes.

[Guardian Pandaros]

[Colossal Tower Sylph]

[Water Serpent Barba]

[Giant Bull Quadratos]

It wasn't only the Loki Familia group. Freya Familia and Isagi's side ran into much the same thing.

Beneath the canopy of the sky, the colossi towered over the endless grassland, even more conspicuous than the hills had been.

Then came the clamor of battle, rising here and there across the plain.

Against bosses of this size, the fights were actually easier for Isagi's group now.

A huge body meant a slow body. Their destructive power looked terrifying, but if the attacks never landed, it meant nothing.

The battles were effortless.

The color on the boulders gradually dimmed and faded. Then the stones broke apart piece by piece and crashed back down onto the endless grassland.

Isagi and the others noticed something surprising.

The boulders didn't crumble into ash and vanish after their Magic Stones were taken out.

Instead, they started fitting themselves together again, one stone after another.

He'd assumed some new terrifying Monster was about to be born. It wasn't.

The stones simply formed a wide "staircase."

Or maybe a rainbow-like bridge.

It unfurled across the grassland and kept stretching toward the summit of the Crimson Mountains, the great peak that stood from earth to sky in the distance.

So that was how it worked.

Isagi had been wondering about it for a while. The Crimson Mountains at the end of his sight were just too tall, and climbing them would be a serious ordeal.

Of course, with Ais on his side they could simply fly up.

But for anyone who couldn't fly, climbing it on foot would be a hassle even for adventurers.

And the answer was this. Defeat the boulder bosses, use their bodies to build a "rainbow stone bridge," and walk straight up.

In that case, the rest was easy.

Isagi's party quickly settled into a rhythm that felt like "hunting." They searched the grassland for boulders and lit them up. Then they waited for the sky to shift colors and for the stones to turn the same shade.

The lit boulders combined into one huge boss after another.

Once a boss was defeated, its body became part of a bridge spanning the sky and running straight toward the giant mountain at the edge of sight.

They repeated this over and over.

Before they knew it, nearly a month had passed in the Dungeon.

Supplies were almost spent, so it was time to return to the city.

Before leaving, Isagi looked at the rainbow stone bridge, more than half built by now. He had a feeling that by their next visit, they'd probably be able to reach the inside of the Crimson Mountains.

Together with the girls, he sorted through the spoils.

Besides the assorted Magic Stones and materials, the most plentiful item was heavy stone tablets, one after another. Some bore murals, others writing. All of them were Plot Devices.

What struck Isagi as most outrageous was that some of the writing was in ancient Elf tongue, or in languages from the age of antiquity. It was Riveria who recognized them.

As an High Elf princess, she was highly learned and could even read the script of the gods, so she identified them at a glance.

There were parts even she couldn't make out. Those would need to be taken back to Elf scholars, or translated by consulting ancient texts.

Isagi didn't mind, really.

Although hauling those tablets back was admittedly pretty heavy.

The trip back passed without incident.

Two or three days later, the group returned from the deep levels to [Rivira] on the 18th floor, then rode the Elevator up to the city surface.

The weather was clear. The summer sun was almost too dazzling and hurt the eyes.

As always, they dispersed right there in Central Park.

The first thing to do after returning to the city was, of course, to go back to the Familia to rest, bathe and sleep.

And so…

***

When Isagi woke up, it was already deep night again.

Maybe because autumn was approaching, the heat of the day had turned into a slight chill by now.

Isagi checked the time. It was a little past two in the morning. The city outside the window was silent, and only the brilliant lights of South Main Street were visible, far in the distance.

Sleep wouldn't come back.

He lay in bed for a while, then got up, washed, and went downstairs to the kitchen to find something to eat.

The fridge held the girls' leftover midnight snacks, mostly fried chicken and curry. Isagi heated up the curry and stir-fried himself some rice.

Through the kitchen window, he saw that the forge workshop in the backyard was still brightly lit, with the clang of hammering coming from inside.

Cecil's still up, huh?

With that thought, he simply made several more servings of curry fried rice, loaded them into an iron pan, and carried it over.

Sure enough, the airheaded girl was still at the anvil.

But she wasn't alone. Two others were there as well: Ryuu and Alfia.

Isagi was a little surprised.

He'd figured he had made too much curry fried rice. Now it looked like it might not even be enough.

So he went back and made some more.

The girls didn't stand on ceremony. Seeing that he'd brought food, they picked up their bowls and started "fighting the good fight."

While they ate, Isagi learned why Ryuu was there. Cecil had suddenly dragged her out of bed to come see the "prototype" of her new equipment.

The Elf girl was about to hit Lv.8, too.

Naturally, her [Level Zero Armament] had been in the design stage for a long time.

Alfia, meanwhile, had happened to wake up. She'd just come out of the bath when she spotted the two girls sneaking around, so she'd tagged along to watch the fun.

Her own [Level Zero Armament] was still being designed.

But Alfia didn't really have a "concept" for it.

She'd barely used weapons before. She already needed special magic-tool gear just to limit her Magic output, and if she added a staff that amplified her own Magic, the result would be…

On top of that, Alfia's Magic seemed to be unusual, different from both Riveria's and Lefiya's. So before building her equipment, the most important step was actually "attunement."

Isagi didn't understand such technical matters, of course.

But that was what Cecil said.

When it came to her own field, the usually airheaded girl turned talkative, even a little "long-winded."

She talked about Alfia's situation, then moved on to Ryuu's new weapon.

Isagi just listened.

Then he noticed Alfia giving him a look.

It meant:

[Let's step out for a moment.]