Episode 236: Changes in Magical Power
“Well, that’s that. If you want Magic Gems, I’ll give you what we’ve collected. Rudra, the luggage.”
“Yes.”
The large man called Rudra lowered the bag he was carrying and took out a small black box from inside.
“Eh? Is that okay?”
Yuma was surprised that Anik was so willing to give them away, but Anik smiled cheerfully and said, “It doesn’t matter.”
“After all, we wouldn’t use them even if we had them. We could sell them if we could return alive, but I wonder if we can…”
Prompted by Anik’s gaze, Rudra opened the lid of the small black box he had. Inside were various sizes of gems.
All of them were Green Magic Gems.
“One Green Diamond, three Emeralds, and four Jades, huh… Not bad, old man!”
When Akito praised him, Anik chuckled, “Hyah, hyah, hyah.”
“Even so, what do you plan to do with the Magic Gems? Are you going to sell them after returning to the surface?”
“No, I’m going to use them.”
Anik showed interest in Yuma’s matter-of-fact statement. “Hoh.”
“You still have undyed Mana? To enter this Dungeon in that state, you’ve got some guts.”
Yuma glossed over Anik’s admiration with, “Well, something like that.”
Yuma received the Green Magic Gems from Rudra, thanked Anik and the others, and left.
◇◇◇
“Undyed Mana… Is that true?”
Rudra muttered suspiciously, while Anik stroked his white beard and replied, “I can’t believe it easily.”
“Rashi.”
When Anik called, a small girl came running up, bouncing as she said, “Yes, yes.”
“Observe those three and report back. I’m curious about them.”
“Yes! Got it~”
Rashi saluted playfully, turned on her heels, and chased after Yuma and the others.
“Well then, shall we go to the next floor?”
Between the towering trees, a large cave leading to the lower floor opened its mouth. Kaira’s Seeker squad led the way, followed by Anik and his three members.
And then, the 265th floor…
“Haaah!!”
Rudra’s fire-clad axe, swung down, crushed the head of a giant ant.
The other Peacock King (Mahamayuri) members were not to be outdone. The slender Charitali wielded a water-clad spear, and the insects around her were sliced apart one after another.
Furthermore, the pale-skinned youth Aarsh disassembled his metal club into three parts.
The separated clubs spun around in the air, rotating at high speed as they headed towards the Monsters. When they collided with a beetle the size of a light truck, they discharged violently, burning the insect’s body.
The beetle sputtered smoke and lay down on the ground with a thud.
While the Peacock King (Mahamayuri) members were defeating the Monsters, Anik walked leisurely through the dangerous forest with his hands clasped behind his back.
A swarm of eerie flying insects attacked, but Anik didn’t panic.
He took the fan from his sash and flicked it lightly. Ten decorative feathers flew out one after another, heading towards the insects in the sky.
The decorative feathers swirled in a spiral, tearing apart the bodies of the winged insects.
Anik looked at the falling Monsters with a cool face. It would be easy to break through this floor as well, he thought, when Rashi came running from beyond the dense vegetation.
“T-Terrible, terrible!!”
“What is it?”
Anik looked at Rashi with a puzzled expression.
“I was observing those three, and Mitaka-kun is strange!”
“What’s strange about him?”
Anik frowned as he asked.
“He drank all the Magic Gems I gave him, all at once!”
“What!?”
Even Anik’s eyes widened in surprise at this.
“He drank all the Magic Gems I gave him!? Combining those eight should have resulted in a Mana Index of over four thousand… There’s no way he could absorb something like that into his body.”
Anik fell silent, touching his beard. Instead of Anik, Rudra opened his mouth.
“So, was there any change in Mitaka? If the Magic Gems weren’t absorbed into his body, his magic power wouldn’t have increased.”
“That’s it, that’s it! Everyone, see for yourselves!”
The four were urged by Rashi and, while perplexed, made their way to Mitaka and the others. What they saw there was an unbelievable sight.
“That is—”
Mitaka Yuma was fighting with a long-handled hammer-like weapon.
A swaying, transparent sphere was wrapped around the head of the hammer.
When he hit the sphere against an ant Monster, the ant’s body easily burst apart. The same was true for large beetles.
He swung the hammer, destroying the opponent’s head with a single blow.
“That’s… Vacuum Magic!”
Anik couldn’t help but exclaim. The other Peacock King (Mahamayuri) members stared at the scene before them, speechless.
When Mitaka held out his hand, a powerful Wind Barrier was created, blowing away the gliding winged insects.
When he swung the hammer, a Tornado over ten meters high occurred, lifting the insects into the sky.
“This is amazing. His magic has clearly become stronger… It seems he really did absorb the Magic Gems.”
It was only natural that Anik was astonished.
It was surprising that his Mana Index was over four thousand, but it was unheard of not to convert Mana into Magical Power in this large-scale Dungeon Conquest.
It was like going to the battlefield empty-handed, without a weapon.
If someone actually did that, they would either be crazy or have Mana that exceeded common sense.
Anik watched Mitaka Yuma’s battle in silence, thinking about such things.
◇◇◇
“Alright! We’ve pretty much cleared out the Monsters around here.”
Yuma put down his Pickel and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Rui and Akito also finished defeating the Monsters, took a breather, and put down their weapons.
“Not bad, Yuma! Wind Magic is working well enough.”
It was embarrassing to be praised by Akito, but Yuma was aware that his Wind Magic had become stronger, so he scratched the tip of his nose and replied, “Well, yeah.”
“It seems Kaira-san and the others are also progressing smoothly. Let’s join them and leave this floor.”
Following Rui’s words, they were about to go to Kaira’s location when they were called out from behind.
“You guys seem to be doing pretty well.”
“Anik-san.”
Yuma stopped and turned around. Anik was accompanied by four men and women, and had a cheerful smile on his face.
“I’ve seen your fighting. It’s still rough around the edges, but it was a wonderful Wind Magic attack.”
“Yes! It’s thanks to the Magic Gems I received from Anik-san.”
When Yuma thanked him, Anik laughed cheerfully, “Hyah, hyah, hyah.”
“How about it? From here on, why don’t you come with us? It would be reassuring to have you guys by our side.”
At that suggestion, Yuma exchanged glances with Rui and the others. There was no particular reason to refuse, so Rui and Akito nodded slightly.
Yuma turned back and looked at Anik.
“I understand. Let’s go together.”