Volume 9 Chapter 2 Part 1 (1/2)
”Hey, Tiera. You don't look too well, is everything alright?”
”I'm fine, I just had some trouble sleeping.”
The next morning, s.h.i.+n and Tiera b.u.mped into each other as they left their respective rooms, and s.h.i.+n inquired about Tiera, who looked less lively than usual.
Her answer also felt less energetic than normal.
s.h.i.+n thought she might have been sick, but Kagerou, ever present at Tiera's feet, did not seem to be worried.
a.n.a.lyze would not display small changes in one's condition, but, if Tiera had been pus.h.i.+ng herself, Kagerou would have reacted in some way, so s.h.i.+n chose not to pursue the matter any further.
Tiera headed to the bathroom before breakfast. When she came back, she looked the same as always.
”Andyou're here in the morning too.”
”Pii!”
s.h.i.+n's eyes were pointed at the fluffy, red ball of feathers, baby Kagutsuchi, as he spoke. Roasted fish just out of the oven lay on the plate before the bird.
As s.h.i.+n and the others started eating, baby Kagutsuchi started pecking away at the fish too.
The fish was much more than baby Kagutsuchi's size seemed to allow, but baby Kagutsuchi ate until the fishbones had been picked clean.
Baby Kagutsuchi gave a small cry while patting its stomach, which had become rounder than before.
”Truly a delicacy, he says.”
Mitsuyo translated Kagutsuchi's cry while she was eating in a slower, more polite manner.
”Kuu, ball of feathers, acting so high and mighty.”
”PYO!?”
Maybe because she didn't appreciate Kagutsuchi's att.i.tude, fox-mode Yuzuha tried to push down its head with her paws.
Surprised, Kagutsuchi dodged the sudden attack at the last second and raised its small wings to intimidate the opponent.
”Pii!”
”Kuu!”
A bizarre battle had broken out in the middle of the table.
”What are those two doing?”
”Who knows? Playing with each other as ent.i.ties related to the Ley lines?”
Watching the fight out of the corner of their eyes, the group continued eating their meal.
The bout between Kagutsuchi and Yuzuha was concluded with a lightning bolt from Schnee.
”By the way, Mitsuyo, are you Kagutsuchi's caretaker?”
”I'd love to say no, but yes, I pretty much am. In theory, it's a task that rotates between Munechika, Tsunetsugu, and me. But rather than that, that's a rather familiar way of addressing me, without honorifics or anything. It is true that we requested for your help, but it's quite irritating to be treated as inferior.”
”AhI'm sorry. A long time ago, when I was discussing battle strategies with my comrades, we called you without honorifics, so”
Having been programmed with the movements of martial arts masters, the Five Supreme Blades were not opponents beginners or players with just some experience could hope to handle. But as they were ultimately programs, even their refined movements contained patterns.
At the time, s.h.i.+n studied these movements and s.n.a.t.c.hed victory by a hair. As they had met and fought many times, he ended up talking to her with familiarity.
”You look younger than the other two, so maybe he felt closer to you?”
”Hey, Filma!”
s.h.i.+n reprimanded Filma because Mitsuyo seemed to be sensitive about her appearance. But Mitsuyo herself did not seem to care much.
”..well, that's fine. I remembered you after all, so I'll let you call me as you like. I'll address you the same way though. That's fine, right?”
”Yeah. call me what you want.”
”By the way, there was something I wanted to confirm, may I?”
”Hm? What's that?”
”What you did to Munechika yesterday, can you do it to other Supreme Blades too?”
Mitsuya probably referred to s.h.i.+n's reinforcing of the Mikazuki Munechikahe possessed.
”I can do the reinforcement itself. But in regards to Juzumaru Tsunetsugu, I acquired it in a slightly different way, so I don't know if the consciousness transfer can be done.”
”I see. If you can, then it's alright.”
Mitsuyo did not add anything after that. ”Lend me your reinforced Oodenta Mitsuyo”, or ”I will be coming with you”s.h.i.+n was expecting a development like this, so he was a little taken aback.
After breakfast, s.h.i.+n and his group headed to the shrine. At the entrance, Munechika and Tsunetsugu were already waiting.
”Sorry, did we make you wait?”
”No, we just arrived as well. Then let's enter the dungeon immediately. I shall show you to the entrance. Follow me.”
The group followed Munechika inside the shrine.
When they arrived in front of the crystallized Kagutsuchi, Munechika turned around.
”We will be transported to the dungeon from here. Are you ready?”
”No problem. Anytime you want.”
s.h.i.+n nodded firmly to Munechika's final confirmation.
As they had little information about the dungeon, they could not prepare for specific situations. s.h.i.+n's item box, however, included enough supplies to handle any kind of situation.
Concerning recovery items, each member's item box had been provided with a sufficient quant.i.ty.
Tiera couldn't use the item box, so she carried items in card form in a pouch at her waist.
”I'm counting on you.”
”Pii!!”
”Kagutsuchi wishes you fortune in battle too. Come back in one piece, you hear.”
Munechika replied in a clear, powerful tone to Tsunetsugu and Mitsuyo, who would stay in the shrine to protect it, and baby Kagutsuchi, who couldn't fight for itself.
”Leave it to me.”
Her answer did not contain the slightest hint of worry.
”Kuu.”
”I'm sorry Yuzuha. You're the only one that can help with Ley lines right now.”
Because of s.h.i.+n's group's entrance into the dungeon, the miasma that had swallowed Dojigiri Yasutsuna could have had unfathomable effects on the Ley lines inside the dungeon.
Because of that Yuzuha, who, like Kagutsuchi was capable of influencing Ley lines, would stay outside.
Influencing Ley lines was also possible inside the dungeon, but rather than inside a warped dungeon, staying in Kagutsuchi's shrine would allow them to influence the Ley lines from a safe location.
s.h.i.+n promised the unhappy Yuzuha to brush her after coming back, then walked towards Munechika.
”I shall start the transfer then.”
As Munechika's spoke, the scenery before s.h.i.+n and his group blurred.
Compared to teleportation using the crystal stone or the one at Bayreuth, the transfer was completed after a slight feeling of intoxication.
”It's hot.”
The instant after they transferred, a sauna-like heat attacked the party. Sweat would start trickling even without doing anything in particular.
For a dungeon located in a natural cave, its insides were extremely wide. 2 parties could be formed within it without problems.
Thanks to the wide s.p.a.ce, it was not necessary to pay special care to the fumes of hot steam spouting from the walls, boulders, and ceiling.
Because of the white steam generated in the already humid cave, the temperature was very high. The steam could also come from the floor too, so they had to proceed with care.
s.h.i.+n was protected by powerful gear, but he didn't feel like trying to see what would happen if he was. .h.i.t.
”Uuh, I feel sick”
Different from s.h.i.+n, who was disconcerted by the heat and humidity, Tiera was holding her hands over her mouth, unsteady on her feet.
s.h.i.+n had just felt a slight disorientation from the transfer, but the effects appeared to have been greater on Tiera. The sweat on her forehead was not just from the heat.
Next to Tiera, Kagerou was crying out, worried.
Schnee cast Heal on the pale Tiera and gently rubbed her back.
”I too felt a kind of intoxication. Let's take a small break, just in case. Tiera, are you alright?”
”Yes, I feel much better already.”
Her complexion seemed to look a bit better, perhaps because of Schnee's Heal.
After generating a barrier skill to guarantee their safety, all party members took a relaxed posture.
”We didn't feel like that when we used the crystal stone. Munechika, do you know what the reason could be?”
”I don't know for sure, but it could be the miasma. Even a weapon like me felt a little uneasy. I imagine that human types like you are more heavily affected.”
Everyone thought that the cause could be the miasma, but no one knew why Tiera was the only one to show such a strong negative response.
For 15 minutes they talked while waiting for Tiera to recover.
Tiera announced that she felt better, and Schnee also confirmed that she had recovered enough, so the group resumed the exploration of the dungeon.
Fuji's secret dungeon was officially named ”Depths of h.e.l.lfire”.
According to Munechika, as the name suggests many fire-elemental monsters dwell in it; without resistance to fire, just being inside the dungeon would gradually sap one's energy.
”We could cut off the heat with a barrier, but moving will be troublesome.”
Dungeons where simply walking makes your HP decrease are truly harsh.
As s.h.i.+n's experience told him, item usage increased and in some cases, MP management became more difficult too. There were possible countermeasures, but if one wasn't of high enough level struggling was inevitable.
”We don't know what could happen, better be fully ready.”
s.h.i.+n took 7 cards out of the item box. They were all the same: when materialized, a bracelet adorned with red gems appeared. It was the Enra Bracelet, an accessory that nullified fire-elemental damage.
”To think that it would affect even me.”
”You're in human form, so I suppose the item identifies you as human too?”
s.h.i.+n answered to the surprised Munechika. It was possible to apply external options to weapons, so that might be the reason why this was possible.
”It's fantastic that not only it stops damage, but blocks the heat too. If our hands slipped because of the sweat it would be a problem.”
Filma spoke while lightly wielding her sword. In the game, sweat wouldn't weaken the weapon's grip, but now that was a factor to think about.
”But isn't it a bit of shame for you, s.h.i.+n?”
”What is?”
Filma seemed to have come up with something and whispered it into s.h.i.+n's ear.
”If the heat continued, the sweat would have made Schnee's clothes see-throughright?”
”That's ridic.wait, they don't work like that, probably.”
In the game, armor would not get ripped or broken even if drenched or attacked. But things were different now.
Schnee was now wearing Ancient-grade gear hand-made by s.h.i.+n, the Moonlight Silver Maid Uniform. Whether it would become see-through or not was unknown, but it wouldn't be strange if it stuck to her skin and accentuated her curves.