YM778.TV (321) Transcendental shortcut
Chapter (321) Transcendental shortcut
“As such, we will be heading toward Minerva-sama’s dungeon.”
I explained the situation to Haru and the others.
Just in case, I asked if they knew the whereabouts of Nectar or Dragon Core.
However, Nectar was a dungeon clear reward and the Dragon Core was, as the old man told me, only obtainable by defeating the Demon Lord Dragon in the Endless Dungeon. Moreover, it seems that the chance of it appearing was slim.
That did not apply to Demon Lord Dragons in the wild and dismantling a wild Demon Lord Dragon would definitely give a Dragon Core.
But there has not been any eyewitness accounts of it in the wild.
That’s to be expected.
If there was a monster that can be said to be stronger than an Ancient Dragon, it wouldn’t end at just being a disturbance. It would be an issue of a great calamity.
The area around one such monster would be a no-man’s land where people won’t dare to approach.
“So what is Sheena No.3 doing now?”
I asked Pionia.
Sheena No.3 had collapsed on the spot. I hope she wasn’t having a malfunction.
But if that was the case, everybody wouldn’t be taking it so calmly.
“I found her illegally copying the Nyapiece DVD to lend to the Dark-Elves so I whacked her head and made her sleep.”
“Why did you do that!?”
“Stop illegal copies. Copyright is important. Copying endlessly and distributing it is illegal. The penalty is less than 10 years imprisonment, less than 1 million yen fine or both.”
“Isn’t that from the start of the DVD!? Japan’s law doesn’t apply to this world. More importantly, don’t hit her head. She’s already close to breaking down.”
“I hit her to make her sleep. A forced Energy-saving Mode.”
Ah to suppress her magical power consumption.
That’s such a violent method though.
“ … So how much more operation time does she have with this mode?”
“Her magical power consumption has become a third of its usual.”
… In other words, three times longer. Three months at best.
“Master, the sleep status won’t repair the deterioration of her parts. We are manufacturing new parts for her but please do not forget that we still need a new energy source for her.”
“I know.”
Daijiro-san has gone to Mallegory.
For now, I’ll head to the South dungeon first.
“Carol! I should just keep going straight?”
I returned to the Shiraraki Kingdom from Goats Rocky with Carol on my back and was running south at full speed. Haru was following behind.
The request this time. Although there would be no change in rewards depending on the time to completion, my goal was not the reward but only to meet the guildmaster.
And for that sake, I had to complete it as quickly as possible.
The detailed location of the dungeon was marked on the map but following the road would be a detour so I carried Carol on my back and ran off-road.
There were no markings at all so I didn’t know if I should actually be continuing straight ahead but ―
“Yes, it is fine. Ichino-sama, do you see a river in front using Hawk Eye?”
“I’ll check.”
I activated Hawk Eye.
I couldn’t tell when I was running on land but I could see the river when I was in the sky.
“Please run toward that river. The dungeon is beyond it.”
I continued running.
We quickly arrived at the river I saw from the air.
Naturally, there wasn’t any road across the land so there was no bridge either. Moreover, the river was in a valley so I could not even walk across it. It was a little far to run and jump across as well. I could if there were footholds in the middle but there weren’t any.
“Master!”
Haru called me.
“Yeah, we’ll proceed as planned!”
I replied and chanted.
“Tidal Wave and Diamond Dust.”
A combination magic of Water and Ice Magic.
The large water wave formed by my magic turned into an ice bridge. Well, it was a stretch to call it a bridge. It was more of a huge ice mound.
“Guu ―”
As expected, the magical power consumption for combining advanced magic was no joke.
The magical power consumed for magic fusion was not simply the combination of two spells. I didn’t notice it when I used fusion on beginner magic but this consumed similar magical power as when I used Boost Magic.
“Ichino-sama, here, a mana potion.”
“Thank you.”
I thanked her and drank Carol’s homemade mana potion.
After defeating the ancient dragon, Carol leveled up and became able to manufacture mana potions. Drinking the mana potion recovered my magical power slightly.
“Haru, be careful!”
“Yes!”
An ice mound would usually be too slippery to traverse on normally.
However ―
I took out a secret item from my item bag, a ton of anti-slip sand. If the ice was slippery, then I could just make the surface rougher.
I tossed it over the flat portion of the ice mound as centered as possible and used coin toss. The sandbag ruptured in the air just like how the Flock Boar exploded.
The sand scattered around the area.
“Carol, switch places to Haru! Carol, hold onto Haru tightly!”
“”Yes.””
I carried Haru on my back, and Carol clung to Haru.
No problem, Carol’s physical attack stat has become quite high so her grip on Haru has strengthened too. She won’t be shaken off.
I did a run-up and leaped all the way to the spot where I tossed the sand to.
If I failed, I would use Home Return to return to My World.
However, I’ll definitely succeed. I was certain of it.
“Sand Compaction!”
The Sand Artist skill, Sand Compaction.
The scattered sand on the ice compacted and formed a sure foothold.
And then, I leaped off again.
“All right, landing successful!”
That ice mound would probably melt after a few days.
We finally arrived.
There was a Shiraraki Kingdom guard post at the entrance of the dungeon.
In this country, all dungeons were under the management of the country so it seemed that there was no exception even in such a remote location.
“Stop! You require permission to enter this dungeon.”
The Shiraraki Kingdom soldier on duty called out.
“Can I enter with this request from the Mercenary Guild?”
I showed him the Mercenary Guild request sheet.
“Request sheet … oi, isn’t this a counterfeit? Otherwise, the time record is wrong. The date recorded is only just today … hn? Ichinojo … quasi-baron!?”
The soldier’s eyes turned wide after seeing my name written on the request sheet and he saluted me.
“My apologies. I didn’t know you were a quasi-baron-dono.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I am terribly sorry, as protocol, could I please see your proof of rank?”
“Does this suffice?”
I showed him the brooch that was my proof of quasi-baron.
“Thank you! Please pass.”
After receiving the soldier’s permission, we entered the dungeon.
I could hear the voices of the soldiers behind me.
They were probably getting in touch with the Mercenary Guild with a magical tool. Since there is the counterfeit skill, not only is it possible to fake documents, it is possible to fake brooches as well.
I guess that is the correct action.