v1c4 part2 (1/2)

“You never know what can happen in life. Half a month ago, I never expected to be here digging my way into a legendary labyrinth.”

Seran wore a headband with a luminescent rock placed into it as he was digging.

“After I swore to be a hero, I never thought my first task was to dig a tunnel.”

Kyle also had a band with luminescent rock strapped to his head.

The two used shovels to dig through the rocks and placed them in a wagon. Occasionally, they wiped their sweat away with the towels they had around their necks.

“You fools. You two of all people should not be complaining.”

Behind the two boys stood Ulza, also with a band strapped to her head. She was giving orders from the back as she checked the map. She was also using the help of the Earth Spirit Nome.

“I can’t believe I’m helping you guys… Hey! Seran! Don’t dig there! We haven’t hardened the surroundings! Kyle! Use Detect Magic once you finish hauling the dirt outside! Things might be misaligned!”

Detect Magic was a spell that detects magic power. The three used that magic to detect the power coming from the treasure inside, and adjusted their movements accordingly.

“I feel like Ulza is putting in the most work here…”

Kyle simply nodded to Seran.

“She’s a very serious person. She hates people who slack off.”

“Quit talking! Keep working!!”

“ Yes ma’am!! ”

The two decided it was better to not talk back.

The Sanguld mountains spanned an area as large as a small country. Kyle and his friends were deep in the mountains where n.o.body dared to travel. The mountains were like a staircase. The plateaus in between each step had goats grazing on the gra.s.s. The steep areas, however, were very dangerous.

Kyle was at the rear entrance. The real entrance of the labyrinth was on the other side of this mountain.

This area was also the closest to the treasures, and the perfect place to start digging.

Although if they decided to actually dig through the stone, it would take years.

This is where Ulza comes in handy.

Using the Earth Spirit Nome allowed her to make the stone into a softer dirt-like substance so it’s easier to dig.

At the same time, to prevent any avalanches, she hardened the surrounding stone and made it st.u.r.dy. Finally, by using the Wind Spirit Silfeed, they were all able to breathe without a problem even if they were deep in the mountains.

As a result, they were extremely efficient.

Kyle’s original plan was to fight at the arena to collect funds so he could buy magic tools that did what Ulsa was currently doing. Thanks to Ulza, there was no need for that anymore.

Kyle could have asked others for help or hired others, but he wanted to do it with as few people as he could. In fact, he originally planned to do it with Seran alone, but that would take much longer.

“Good work all three of you.”

Lize greeted the three as they walked out of the tunnel. She was in the middle of cooking something.

The base camp was right near the entrance of the tunnel and there were two tents.

Kyle, Seran, and Ulza were in charge of digging, while Lize handled the cooking and other miscellaneous jobs.

It’s been five days. They were getting used to this lifestyle.

“The laundry is all dry, and I’m sure you don’t want to eat in those clothes, so why don’t you all go change? The food will be ready in a bit. Oh, and I’ll wash the clothes you’re wearing now so just put them all together, okay?”

Lize was giving out orders and the three went into the tents to change.

“I’m so tired~ I can’t move~”

Seran was done changing.

“Keep it up, we’re almost there.”

“You too. Your legs are shaking.”

As Seran pointed out, Kyle’s legs were shaking. But he pretended that he was fine.

“My body is fine, but calling the spiritual apostles has drained me mentally.”

Ulza sat down and let out a sigh.

Using apostles differed from using contracts to summon the powers of the spirits. With the apostles, Ulza was able to give direct orders. For example, she could command the Fire Spirit Salamander to “light 100 candles individually.”

There are certain things each spirit can and cannot do, and depending on the level of the person using the spirits, the commands can be quite detailed. This is one of the reasons why spiritual magicians are still considered useful compared to the ancient magicians.

“It’s ready~”

Lize set out all the food in front of the three.

“I must say. Lize, your cooking skills are amazing. I’ve been on long journeys, but all the food outside the city tastes bland…”

Ulza seemed surprised.

There was a stew, grilled chicken, and fruit. All of it tasted quite delicious. The meals brought excitement every day for the three working in the mountains.

Ulza knew how to cook, but not in the wild like this. During her journey, Ulza normally ate preserved food.

“There happened to be a really fat bird so I used that.”

“Hmm…huh? This meat over here is different?”

“Oh that one is bear. I killed it just a while ago so that’s fresh as well.”

“When did you….”

Ulza was enjoying the meal, but the two boys just stuffed food into their mouths. The combination of exhaustion and hunger left them with no energy to talk.

Lize refilled their bowls as if it was a routine.

“How much longer do you guys have to dig?”

“Well, at this pace, we’ll be done by tomorrow or the day after.”

Kyle answered while drinking his after-meal tea.

The Detect Magic spell was returning very faint signals at first, but as they dug further, the signal strength increased.

“I see. Go take a bath once you’re done, and get ready for tomorrow~”

The bath was a little far away, and it was big enough so that several people could go in at once. It was a hot spring, but it wasn’t natural.

Ulza used the Earth Spirit Nome to create a crater and the Water Spirit Undeene to summon the spring water from below while Kyle used his fire magic to heat it up.

“I never expected to be able to take a bath everyday in the mountains like this. When I went to the mountains before, all I did was wipe my body.”

Lize stretched her body and relaxed.

Lize’s body showed the effects of her training. There was not a single bit of fat and her body was in a nice streamlined shape.

Her legs had just a bit of muscle, but it wasn’t too obvious. Her skin had a healthy tan and looked beautiful.

When she flipped over, her large a.s.s floated on the water.

“I’ve also been on a long journey. This was a long overdue bath.”

The elves were a delicate species, but Uzla was an exception.

She had a very balanced body. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s weren’t huge, but they had a beautiful shape.

If she was a statue, she’d probably be placed in some king’s room.

She rested on the edge of the bath, and tied her blonde hair. Her skin was white and glowing.

“I envy you.”

Lize had an average sized chest, but Ulza had a rather large one.

“Really? Where I grew up, those kind of hips are envied.”

“R…really?”

Thought Lize had an average chest, her hips were larger than most girls her age.

“Yeah, you look like you could rear a lot of healthy kids. Look at me….”

Ulza stood up, got close to Lize, and looked at her own skinny hips and small a.s.s.

“…The old women in our town tell me the same thing. But it’d be better if it was more like you Ulza-san…oh…a heart!”

There was a heart shaped area with darker pigmentation on Ulza’s white a.s.s.

“D…don’t say it. I don't like it.”

Ulza hid the scar by going down in the water.

Her face was bright red, but Lize thought it was cute.

They both laughed and Lize thanked Ulza again for the hot bath.

“I didn’t know magic could come in handy like this. I can’t use magic so I’m really thankful.”

“Don’t be. Besides, you killed a bear with your bare hands. That’s much cooler.”

Ulza got a glimpse of the bear carca.s.s before going in the bath. It was as big as two grown men and weighed as much as 7 or 8.

“I’m also in the midst of training, so it’s no big deal.”

“Training….for Kyle?”

“Eh?...Ah…yeah…I mean, this is the only thing I excel at so…”