Episode 101: The Golden Gargoyle
A golden rain was falling.
Gold nuggets the size of marbles were falling vertically at speeds greater than raindrops, piercing slender holes in the ground.
“〖Master Keen Hearing〗”
Yet, inexplicably, Fiss, who was running beneath the hail of projectiles, was dodging every single one.
She didn’t even glance at the sky, yet she was darting through the gaps in the rain with fine steps, as if she could see everything.
“(Hearing Enhancement is pretty useful, it seems.)”
That’s right, the key to her evasion was the enhanced concentration of her hearing.
She was pinpointing the location of the falling golden rain from the sound of the wind cutting through it, and making minute adjustments to her course.
Normally, it would be impossible to distinguish between countless raindrops, but Fiss’s sensory enhancement also includes an improvement in information processing ability.
Otherwise, her brain wouldn’t be able to withstand the rapidly increasing amount of information.
“Kikikikii…!”
Gritting its teeth at the sight was the gaudy, gold-plated gargoyle. It was the one causing the golden rain.
The gargoyle, which was more stout than a normal one, continued the golden rain while preparing its next move.
“Gikiiin!”
It poured a massive amount of 〖Mana〗 into the ground from its feet.
Then, several spots on the surrounding ground bubbled, rose up, took on human shapes, and turned their bodies to gold.
In a very short time, a total of four golden dolls were created. All of them were armed with spears and armor.
Controlled by the gold gargoyle, one of them charged at Fiss.
The golden rain stopped falling as if to avoid it, and soon a spear strike was launched at Fiss, who had entered its range.
Fiss dodged the attack, which was imbued with the momentum of the charge, by a hair’s breadth, and swung her axe blade at its torso as she passed by.
“Gigii!?”
The gold gargoyle’s eyes widened at the instantaneous destruction of the golden doll.
It hurriedly sent the other three golden dolls, but the result was the same as before.
The three golden dolls were successively cut down by the axe, which should have been inferior in reach.
“Gikii…!”
With no other options left, the gold gargoyle resorted to a powerful technique.
It planted the claw of its right arm into the ground and moved it as if scooping something up. Like scooping up water from the sea.
Immediately after, what it caused was a massive golden wave.
A large wave of pure gold with sharp, pointed tips surged up, trying to swallow the approaching Fiss.
“〖Physical Extend Leg〗”
However, she had already begun preparing her magic when the gold gargoyle planted its claw into the ground. So that she could deal with any attack that came her way.
That’s why she was able to avoid this attack by jumping.
〖Physical Extend Leg〗 is a magic that extends the legs, but if it is activated only at the moment of the jump, it increases the jumping power by pushing off the ground with the extension of the legs.
The higher-level versions of Extend magic cannot be used with the 〖Iron Man Attribute〗, but if the increase in output limit that comes with 〖Sublimation〗 is combined with Fiss’s leg strength, she can easily jump over a wave the size of a three-story building.
“〖Physical Extend Arm〗”
The moment the gold gargoyle moved its head to look up at Fiss, and the moment she swung down her extended arm, were simultaneous.
The two’s gazes met for an instant. The next moment, its head was split open by the swung down axe.
““Gegegyaa!?””
The gargoyles around them screamed. In fact, there were many gargoyles below the 〖Greater Beast〗 level in this battlefield.
They had been watching the battle from afar, but when the 〖Dire Beast〗 died, they scattered like spiders.
“Should we chase them?”
『Nah, they won’t give much 〖Experience Points〗, so let’s just ignore them.』
I answered as I walked out from behind the rock.
Fiss’s 〖Level〗 was already in the mid-fifties, so defeating 〖Greater Beasts〗 didn’t mean much anymore.
“…That cave, I can feel a considerable amount of 〖Mana〗 even from here.”
『Is that where the 〖Greater Beasts〗 were working?』
The battlefield was a plaza in the middle of the mountainside.
This plaza faced a cliff, and there was a rather large cave there.
When we came to this plaza, the 〖Greater Beasts〗 were being made to dig rocks in that cave.
“Probably, there’s a vein of ore.”
『I see, gargoyles’ staple food is minerals, after all.』
If that was the case, then a high-quality ore vein would be synonymous with a fountain of delicacies.
『…It’s almost sunset, let’s end our travel for today and explore this cave.』
“Well, if Kouya wants to.”
And so, along with Fiss, who had devoured the gold gargoyle, we entered the cave.
We were just one step away from the pointed mountain where the 〖Feral Beast〗 was supposed to be, so even if we took a little detour, our arrival wouldn’t be delayed much.
The inside of the cave was wide enough for me in my normal form to pass through.
A single path continued to the depths, but the minerals near the entrance seemed to have been completely mined.
“No way, there are so many Mana Crystals…”
As we went deeper, crystals began to protrude from everywhere.
The color was mainly a deep red, close to the color of wine I had seen in my previous life.
『The deep red ones are pretty high quality, right?』
While asking, I stored the Mana Crystals into 〖Weapon Storage〗, using them as makeshift weapons.
If I absorb them, I can recover 〖Mana〗, so I want to collect as many as I can.
“Yes, second grade.”
I don’t understand the grading system that Fiss is talking about, but it probably means they’re amazing.
The 〖Mana〗 capacity of Mana Crystals is determined by their color, but deep red ones are rarely found.
“Astonishing. If we have this much, we can live without working for the rest of our lives.”
『Eh, is it that much, the second grade ones?』
“Yeah. I only know of ones higher than this from records.”
『Heeh.』
So, the ones that are darker red are rare after all.
Even I, who had been digging through mountains in the Ferocious Beast Zone, had only found one.
By the way, I processed the one bright red Mana Crystal I found into a Mana Absorption Arrow.
If the deep red ones are second grade, then that one might have been first grade.
『Maybe this cave has first grade ones?』
“…I hope so.”
When she said that with a hint of expectation, Fiss’s tone of voice dropped slightly.
『Is something worrying you?』
“It’s not… but I can’t say it isn’t either. My parents died when they went to a deeper section than usual to collect high-grade Mana Minerals.”
『…Is it okay for me to ask?』
“It’s not something I need to hide.”
Was it just my imagination that her voice sounded flatter than usual?
“It’s a common story in the Mining City (Minefa) that parents who were miners died in an accident. It might be rare that both my father and mother died at the same time, but that’s all. Rather, I was fortunate to have been taught how to mine by my father’s colleagues, and I even had a 〖Physical Attribute〗.”
『…………』
“…It’s a dead end.”
While listening to Fiss’s story, the cave reached its end.
In the end, I couldn’t find any first-grade Mana Crystals within sight.
“After all, it’s no good to have strange dreams, it only leads to disappointment. Challenges are dangerous and adventures are reckless. It’s much safer, more secure, and happier to cherish what’s within reach and live a normal life, without aiming too high.”
I followed Fiss, who had turned on her heel, and headed for the exit.
As I was searching for words to say to her lonely back—
“That’s why this much is enough for my share.”
『Ah, you’re taking that back with you.』
Fiss picked up the fragments of Mana Crystals that I hadn’t stored.
Well, yeah. It’s not dangerous to just pick that up.
Having finished our exploration of the cave, we then ate the meat of the golden gargoyle and went to sleep.
Tomorrow is finally the decisive battle with the 〖Feral Beast〗, so let’s go into it with all our might.