Ｓｉｄｅ: Edward
We, Wing Crest, have been in the Krater Labyrinth since yesterday.
It seems that Yamato and the others have largely finished investigating the first and second floors, and have even advanced to the third and fourth floors. Because of this, information has been shared among hunters, and there have been a considerable number of them.
Still, according to what I heard at Krater’s Hunter’s Guild, there are few hunters entering the third floor.
Well, the Amazoness Queen is a monster that even high-class hunters using alloys would shy away from.
Not as a substitute, but the Saur species of the second floor seems to be defeatable by High Hunters who participated in the Allied Forces, and a fair number of them have reportedly been hunted.
This time, we will conduct our regular investigation, but our objective is materials from high-rank monsters.
Before we entered, Emperor Reinhardt told us that while Lapis Laz is used for crowns and royal regalia, he would like us to secure materials from high-rank monsters if possible.
Lapis Laz has performance that is a high-grade version of Jade Silver, and it rivals even Divine Metal, but it is a difficult alloy to handle because of that.
Wing Crest uses it as it pleases, but this is due to a developer’s privilege, as Yamato proposed it and I developed it.
The manufacturing method is kept secret by the Crafter’s Guild headquarters, so only a handful of crafters can make it even at headquarters.
Furthermore, my father told me that a contract magic called Temple Magic Pledging is used before production, so we can’t handle it without permission.
However, both Yamato and I don’t mind using Lapis Laz to make crowns and royal regalia.
I think using Divine Metal would be best, but on the continent of Philia, it can only be obtained by defeating monsters like the Orihalcon Puppet or Orihalcon Golem in labyrinths, so it’s not practical.
But Lapis Laz is an alloy of Magic Silver, Adamantine Steel, and Crystal Silver, all of which are produced on the continent of Philia.
In fact, Adamantine Steel is also produced in Amister, albeit in small quantities, so for the Federation Heavenly Empire, using Lapis Laz is the best option.
Ah, the Adamantine Steel mine in Amister is located in the Acelo mountain range south of the Ideal Mountain Range.
It was originally an iron mine, but it seems that Adamantine Steel was discovered in a newly excavated tunnel about five years ago, and since then, that tunnel has been prioritized for mining.
However, it seems that for every ton of iron, less than 20 kilograms of Adamantine Steel is produced.
Putting that aside, there’s no problem with using Lapis Laz, but while crowns are one thing, royal regalia is said to be a weapon, so monster materials will be needed.
Especially since the new nations of Amister, Torencia, and Granleev Duchy seem to want Celestial Globes, Magic Stones will also be necessary.
That’s why we are skipping the third floor and exploring the fourth floor.
“…I can’t see a thing.”
“We can’t see anything.”
Even though we’re exploring, we haven’t left the Safe Area yet.
As Yamato said, the fourth floor is literally the sea, and apart from the island where the transfer array from the third floor is located, there is no land to be seen.
“Even the Safe Area had no land. I never imagined that the Safe Area would be formed by a pillar-like structure extending from the sea.”
“I agree.”
Last night, we spent the night in the Safe Area of the fourth floor. As Mako said, there was no land at all, and a pillar about 3 meters in diameter extended straight up from the sea, with a circular Safe Area of about 100 meters in diameter formed around it.
Yamato and Flam dived, but they said they couldn’t see the bottom even after diving about 20 meters.
” ‘Mapping’. Nearly half of it is filled in, for what it’s worth.”
“It is. And isn’t this floor strangely wide?”
“It’s wide. Fortunately, the sun seems to be in the south, so we won’t be wandering aimlessly. But we might spend days just crossing this floor?”
I also looked at Yamato’s map, and it seems the transfer array from the third floor was on the north side.
We proceeded southeast from there and found one Safe Area to the southeast and one to the south, but we haven’t gone to the west or central areas yet.
Ideally, when traveling by ship, one needs to read the stars to know directions.
But we, amateurs with ships, can’t possibly read the stars.
The reason we were able to proceed without getting lost is that the sun didn’t move from the south.
Naturally, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
However, the sun within a labyrinth seems to be different.
The sun in the labyrinth is fixed like a lighting fixture and does not move.
It seems to be linked to the time outside, as its light weakens in the evening, completely disappears at night, and shines again in the morning, being at its strongest during the day.
The same applies to the moon and stars, but unlike the sun, they shine at night.
Their fixed positions seem to vary slightly depending on the floor.
The sun on this fourth floor is in the south, so I thought that if you can grasp the sun’s position, even an amateur can manage.
“Once the transfer array to the fifth floor is found, it will likely be ignored by anyone other than hunters who are there to hunt.”
“I don’t think there will be many hunters who are there to hunt.”
“Indeed.”
Yamato and Marina are saying things like that, but I’ve heard that even High Undines, Water Dragons, Hydragonews, and Hydragonians rarely dive and hunt in the sea.
Moreover, since many G-rank monsters appear here, it’s not unreasonable to suggest skipping it if the main forces aren’t present.
“Since the monsters are concentrated, we might skip some of the lower floors too.”
“Right. Even Yamato and Mako have to refrain for a while after diving for thirty minutes, so the burden on Flam is too great.”
That was also a problem.
The Engraving Magic called Ozone Ball, which Yamato and Mako use for underwater combat, reportedly carries a risk of death if used for too long, with a maximum of 30 minutes, or 40 minutes if pushed.
Furthermore, they said they need to wait an hour or two before reusing it, making it inconvenient in a floor like this.
However, Flam is an Ancient Undine, so if she dispels her human transformation magic, she can breathe underwater and has no time limit like Yamato and the others.
Therefore, this is almost Flam’s domain, but it puts a strain on Flam, so continuing to hunt here is problematic.
If monsters that Flam alone cannot handle appear, we can’t even provide support.
“I don’t know what the transfer array is like, but surely it wouldn’t be in the center, would it?”
“It wouldn’t be. And it’s unlikely to be in the north, so perhaps southwest?”
“That’s the most likely possibility.”
We’ve finished breakfast and are about to move forward. Since we don’t know where the transfer array is, we have no choice but to make assumptions and move.
As with other floors, but more so on this watery floor, we have to be more careful, as even a ship made of Jade Silver could easily sink.
“There are no landmarks because it’s the sea, but shall we aim for a place that’s the opposite of the Safe Area we found to the southeast?”
“That would be safer.”
“Right. We might be heading in the wrong direction, but we can’t move without deciding on an initial destination.”
That makes sense.
Now that we have a direction, let’s go.
We started the Hydro-Engine and steered the hull towards the location opposite the Safe Area to the southeast that Mako mentioned.
As expected from a sea floor, the encounter rate with monsters is not high, but G-rank and even P-rank monsters are appearing, making them quite difficult to defeat.
This is another reason why this floor is avoided.
“It took a little over two hours from the Safe Area to the southeast to the Safe Area where we camped. It will likely take about the same to our destination, so it will be tough for a while.”
“We can’t let our guard down in the sea.”
Indeed, maintaining vigilance in all directions, including underwater, for hours on end is incredibly draining.
“Here it comes. That’s… a Killer Whale.”
“Not again.”
Yamato says it as if it’s a nuisance, but we did hunt six Killer Whales yesterday, so they’re not unwanted, but not particularly needed either.
“It’s a pain, but we can’t bring it on board, so let’s hunt it quickly.”
“Yes.”
“Then I will go.”
This time, Lydia will go.
Since evolving into an Ancient Class, Lydia has gained aptitude in Water-attribute magic in addition to Ice and Earth attribute magic.
Furthermore, she has been granted Fusion Magic as her Innate Magic, making her Unique Magic considerably easier to use.
In fact, she’s been cutting down opponents with her Unique Magic, which fuses three elemental magics she’s attuned to.
The Unique Magic that creates a greatsword, or rather a large blade, with elemental magic is called Grand Sword by Wing Crest.
Whether it’s because it’s a combination of ice, earth, and water, or for some other reason, Lydia uses it with both of her swords, so she dispatches P-R rank Killer Whales with surprising ease.
“I’m done.”
“Then I’ll collect it.”
Mina used Telekinetic Magic to store it in her Inventory.
Ah, although items must go through one’s own storage to be put into the Inventory, we have a rule that hunted monsters and shared Union assets can be immediately put into the Inventory, so this is how it works among us, and it’s used similarly for other Raids.
You can check if it’s been put in by looking at the stat screen, so there’s no way to cheat, nor any reason to.
“This floor has many G-rank monsters, but quite a few P-rank ones appear too.”
“And there are many Anomaly Species. Since it’s a difficult floor to fight in due to being entirely sea, we can’t even use the tactic of dragging them onto land.”
Right.
Not just in the sea, but aquatic monsters are said to be equivalent to one rank lower when dragged onto land.
However, the only land on this floor, as far as we’ve confirmed, is the small island with the transfer array from the third floor, and it’s a Safe Area, so effectively, there’s no land.
Even if we lured them onto the ship, many large monsters are dozens of meters long, and doing so would just sink the ship.
Therefore, they feel more challenging than their rank suggests.
“This time we also hunted Sea Serpents and Great Blade Fish, and even Elasmosaurus appeared, didn’t they?”
Ah, yes, there were two of them.
Elasmosaurus is an Anomaly Species of the Plesiosaurus, which is a Saur species, and it’s P-I rank, the same as the monsters Flam mentioned.
They are not even 10 meters long, but they are fast, their fins are like blades, and they use their long necks and tails like whips.
Furthermore, they even spat out water-attribute breath, making it difficult to escape, let alone defeat them, without considerable skill.
There were other new monsters, but these were the only ones of P-rank or higher.
“There was an Amazoness Queen on the third floor, but perhaps there isn’t one on the fourth floor.”
“Perhaps. If we stay a little longer, a Fortress Whale might appear.”
Ah, that M-I rank monster.
Yamato and Prim hunted it effortlessly in the Solpre Labyrinth, so its impression is faint, but it was an anomaly species of the Fang Whale and was M-rank.
It’s used as the canopy for this Multi-functional Beast Carriage, but I completely forgot about it.
Was it an enormous whale, nearly 100 meters long?
The Fortress Whale didn’t appear, but after hunting a few more monsters, we arrived at our destination.
As expected, it was a Safe Area, but surprisingly, it was also a small island.
There was a transfer array in the center, so this is likely the entrance to the fifth floor.
After disembarking from the ship for the first time in a day, we decided to take a short rest before stepping into the fifth floor.
