Knowledge was a precious commodity for adventurers. That's why they didn't usually tell others about the experiences they had or the information they obtained for free. It doesn't mean that they were stingy or narrow-minded, just that that culture was naturally accepted in the world of adventurers.
Great Navigator Pikma, Limenin Abyss Seeker, etc.
The reason why these people were called the greats and were so renowned had something to do with that concept. It wasn't just that their achievements were amazing, but for everyone's sake, they shared the tricks and information they found without holding anything back.
Raven started talking as soon as we crossed the portal. «Alright, since we're in here, I'll briefly explain the Guardian we'll have to deal with-».
Short there. «You don't need to explain it to me».
«Hey? But didn't you say you needed me?» She seemed confused by my words. Did she think I needed her for her information? I noticed how her thin shoulders leaned back when I chose her for this mission.
«Raven, I need you for something else».
«...What is it?», she asked, sounding a little annoyed.
Since we had been allies for a long time, I immediately realized that I was only acting upset because I was embarrassed. However, I noticed that he got angry when I said the following.
«It's a chance to get a rank 5 Guardian essence. Obviously, we need to put it in a magic vial».
A cold voice echoed after a moment of silence. «What?»
I quickly added as if excusing myself: «And among the magicians I know, you are the one I can trust the most, Raven».
«...What are you saying? And what about Versyl Gowland? Weren't you very good friends with her? And I heard that she also acts as vice-captain».
«But trusting someone and trusting them to have my back are completely different issues».
«Hmm... ¿es as?»
Fortunately, Raven's expression lightened a little.
It was a rather curious question. I didn't care if others got mad at me, but why did she alone give me a chill? Plus, it was the smallest.
While I was distracted by that thought, Raven murmured as if logically connecting the dots: «Well, I can understand. Miss Gowland probably doesn't know your true identity. And that would make it difficult for him to act as he pleases».
Well, one thing I was sure of was that if they did one of those MBTI tests, I'm sure it would be a T-.
«Not like me».
Parpadee. «¿Eh?»
«No, that's how things are. Do not be mistaken. It's just... the truth, right?».
«Well... you are not wrong».
Versyl actually didn't know I was a gamer. Furthermore, since Verysl was a modern person, unlike other pureblood wizards, he was terrible at investigating. That, and that his way of seeing objects and situations was also completely different from theirs.
That was another reason I chose Raven. I only needed myself to get the player's perspective, so a native's insight into things was also necessary.
«Anyway, can I go to the main topic?»
«Of course», she agreed.
We stayed at the starting point to talk about the fight against the boss that was about to arrive. I was the one who talked the most, and Raven asked a question that I answered, which caused an exclamation on her part.
«I never thought such a method existed... Is it also the knowledge of your world?».
Strictly speaking, more than the knowledge of my world was the information I obtained after sacrificing my twenty years. After a moment of hesitation, I responded: «Something like that».
«For some reason... you just sounded insincere».
«What are you saying? I'm always honest».
«It's a relief to hear that. In any case... We have a lot of time here anyway, so tell me more about your world».
That was the request I received the moment I thought we should start entering. However, since I had received so much from Raven in my life, I found it difficult to reject her right off the bat. «That's not a problem... but so suddenly?»
«It's not sudden. I've been curious for a long time. But until now, the two of us had never been alone like this...»
Well, it was true that this would be a sensitive topic to talk about anywhere. That's probably why, even though he was curious, he didn't come up to ask me.
«Only for thirty minutes», I finally conceded. «People are waiting for us outside».
«Yeah, okay. Thirty minutes, then».
«So what's your first question?».
While smiling to provoke her, Raven asked her supposed question. «Internal combustion engines».
«...Eh?» The words I never expected to hear came out of his mouth.
«Since you have something like that, you can move big carriages without horses or mana, right? I'm curious to know how they work». When I didn't answer, he asked: «Don't you know anything about that?.. I'm pretty sure I remember hearing about it...».
Maybe because she was a magician? When I told Amelia things about modern times, we only talked about cool things, like the huge flying machines that flew through the air and the kings chosen by the people.
«It's not that I don't know them», I stammered.
«Oh, is that so? So please tell me. Tell me the precise mechanism of this internal combustion engine».
«Well... steam? Heat? Used to spin a wheel».
«...That's all?» The fervor in Raven's eyes cooled as she heard my response. I felt embarrassed for some reason, but I kept going.
«That's all. The details are special secrets overseen by the country. Normal people like you and me wouldn't know it in most circumstances».
If Hyeonbyeol were here with us, she would laugh and look at me with disdain. But who cared? Hyeonbyeol wasn't here. Just a naive native magician.
«To put it simply, is it like the magic of this world? Then I can understand it. Even the principle of the exchange machine that is the basis of mana engineering is not known to ordinary people».
Raven accepted it with a serious expression on her face and continued to question me about the modern world. I had noticed it from the moment he asked me about the internal combustion engine, but Raven actually knew quite a bit.
And he added: «It is a field that interests me a lot».
«¿In series?»
«Yes... I studied it later too».
«Do you study?»
«After meeting you again at that moment, I became more interested. Since he was part of the army, it was quite easy to get relevant information as well...»
I remembered that he was repelled by the idea of evil spirits and avoided conversations about the modern world, but I could see that he was more curious about it. That's probably why he brought it up as soon as the two of us were alone.
«By the way... it's about time».
«Ah, ¿ya?»
Raven seemed disappointed, but didn't try to force any more responses from me.
***
The essence of the Fifth Floor Crack Keeper was very scarce. Since twelve different cracks opened, it was more than a little difficult to obtain a specific essence. And honestly, Guardians essences from the fifth floor and above didn't even appear at auction. No one was trying to sell one, and even if they did, the palace would secretly take it from them before anyone could actually do so.
«Have you been here before, Mr. Yandel?»
«No, it's my first time. At least in this body».
«Yay...»
«Didn't I tell you it was the end? Focus».
After leaving the starting point, we arrived at the boss's room not long after.
¡Fwoosh!
A small fire crackled in the middle of a charred forest. I realized that the area surrounding the flame was the fifth floor Burning Forest crack boss room. Normally, you had to go through several Chapters putting out the flames in all directions before reaching this place, but here they had skipped all those annoying processes.
You just have to cultivate the experience.
The Guardians here were guaranteed to release an essence on top of that. Well, thinking about it, that wasn't really a significant advantage.
I'm honestly grateful that two people can break into the fifth floor crack.
The lower cracks only allowed one person to enter at a time, which meant that the essence could only be obtained if you were strong enough to face the boss alone. The thing was, most people didn't need the essence of a Guardian that they could defeat on their own, just like I didn't collect all those essences.
Hmm, theoretically, if a wizard got into all of them alone and defeated the bosses, he could contain them in magic vials to sell later.
Of course, that was only in theory, and the reality was easier said than done. It's not that there weren't wizards capable of taking on a boss monster, but for that to be possible, they had to have a huge power advantage over that particular boss. That didn't even take into account their personal expenses or the price of the magic vial they would use.
«What are you thinking?» raven asked. «You stopped moving».
«Oh, it wasn't anything important. Now I'm going to summon it, so get there. Also put on me now the spell I asked for».
«Okay».
After pushing that thought away, I approached the red-hot flame floating in the air and reached into it.
¡Fwoosh!
The flame emitted waves of heat as it danced dangerously when touching me.
[The Fire Lord Fianil has cast Ash Stigma. When the character uses an ability, they will take fire damage].
When the Fifth Floor Rift Guardian woke up, a gray stigma appeared on the back of my hand.
¡Flash!
The flame that swirled and grew took the shape of a creature. The Guardian of the Burning Forest, the Fire Lord Fianil, a rank 4 monster who had the proper designation of Lord of Lava.
This guy doesn't talk either.
In case there was any other difference, I didn't attack first and just watched.
¡Fwoosh!
His body was created solely of fire, and he wore a mask that only covered the top of his face. While the upper part of his body was similar to that of a human, the lower part looked like a genie straight out of a magic lamp, where only flames licked and swirled where his legs should be.
There was no difference in its external appearance...
After meeting Duke Cambormere that time, I always tried to start a conversation, but it didn't work this time either. And so, we immediately entered into battle.
Although this guy was in the middle range in terms of difficulty between the fifth floor cracks, if everything went as planned, there would be no problem. This was because he was no longer alone. I just needed to do my job as a tank.
The birth.
«¡Become-LAAAAH!»
I used gigantization and savage outburst to increase my threat level.
[Your threat level is above 500. All nearby monsters will prioritize the character with their attacks].
Combining them with the Aegis Wall, I acquired the Guardian's aggro, whose aggro was notoriously difficult to remove and maintain.
[The Fire Lord Fianil has cast Ash Servants].
It didn't matter if he used summons, attacks, or a unique trick when changing phases: I just had to take the hits and hold them, although I could use Swing after receiving Raven's power-up to try to do some damage.
It's necessary?
The damage was enough. Just as Bjorn Yandel had grown so much since his battle at the Bloody Citadel, Raven had also grown quite a bit.
[The Fury of the Forest is instilled in the Fire Lord Fianil.]
As the damage continued to accumulate, we finally reached the last phase of the boss.
«I'll say this now, but the last one will take some time».
«You can take your time. It's hot and we're doing well».
Bellarios' essence was the best against magic damage.
[Your mana resistance is greater than 500. All magic damage taken decreases by 50%].
By cutting the damage in half and reducing it even further with the Fire Orb, it seemed more like a sauna to me. Specifically, right now, it felt like 120 degrees to me.
«...You have become a monster, Mr. Yandel.»
Although it had been difficult for me to breathe for a long time, my ally's praise made my barbaric body dance.
While still keeping the boss monster's attention, Raven's spell finally ended.
[Arua Raven has cast rank three ice magic Blooming Snow Flower].
She was no longer the little mage who was barely able to use rank six solar magic in the Bloody Citadel. She was now the Golden Magician whose talent was recognized by the palace and had allowed her to obtain the position of vice-captain of the Third Magical Troops.
The nicknames given to high-ranking magicians are quite poetic.
As it was the first time I had seen her cast this spell, the effect of the spell, no matter how simple, burned into my eyes.
¡Flash!
First, cold air seeped from Raven's feet to freeze the ground around her.
¡Fweung!
And then, something translucent shot towards the boss like an arrow, pierced his body and disappeared as if it had never existed. But when he did...
The boss stopped moving.
The boiling heat disappeared instantly, and as a cold wind settled, Raven spoke.
«Mr. Yandel. Do you know why this spell is called Blooming Snow Flower?».
A calm but relaxed question.
However, Raven didn't give me time to respond and continued: «It's because the flower really blooms... From within».
The spell was activated at that moment, as if he had rehearsed it before.
¡Un crujido!
It sprouted from inside the body as dozens of icicles protruded from the chief's outer cloak.
«However. There's a reason it's a snow flower and not ice thorns».
This time too, as soon as he stopped speaking, the boss monster turned into flashes of light.
Seeing him, Raven smiled brightly. «What do you think? Doesn't it look like it's snowing?».
Oh. It was so obvious that he had prepared a script for all of this.
I thought about how I should respond to him before the appearance of the boss's final moment entered my mind. Suddenly, I thought about what I would have called this ability. Since he used magic to turn the body into spikes...
Transf-urchin.
Hmm, that didn't sound right.
Trans-Puffer-Form.
Yes, that sounded better.
***
After putting the Fianil Fire Lord essence into a magical vial, I went to challenge other fifth floor Guardians with Raven. While we were doing it, a kind of routine was created. After reviewing the raid strategy at the starting point, we always took about thirty minutes just talking. This was, of course, at Raven's request.
«I'm helping you, right? How about you stop acting like this is annoying?»
«Oho... Help? I don't think we have to think about it that way when we're-»
«What are we, then? Right now I'm not even a member of your clan».
There was nothing I could say to that. So I continued talking to her.
At first, Raven was very interested in modern culture, but as our routine progressed, she started asking more about me personally.
«And... what was your name?».
«Oh, didn't I tell you?»
«...You haven't.»
«Hansu Lee. It's Hansu Lee. It's not Hans, so please be careful with the pronunciation.»
«Han...shu...Lee.»
«Sure, that's fine.»
«What do you mean?»
Starting with my real name, he asked me about my family, my friends, what job I had, etc. There were also some heavy topics among them. After a brief summary of my personal relationships, our topic moved on to Dungeon and Stone.
«...So you have opened the Gate of the Abyss once?».
«Only in the game. And as soon as I opened it, they dragged me here, so I don't know what's beyond».
«...Wait. If you came here because you opened the Gate of the Abyss, what happens if you open the Gate of the Abyss from this side? So will you return through the Gate of the Abyss? To your original world?»
«Well... it's a possibility».
«¿A-ah? Ah... of the veo...»
«Let's leave our talk there. Let's get going».
After that, we entered the boss room and defeated him. Raven made a big mistake, so we were almost in a lot of danger, but luckily I was able to take the fight and come out safely.
...We have already defeated six.
They were fifth floor Guardians who had worried me quite a bit, but we were moving through them quite easily. Of course, we've also had some dangerous moments like before. However, perhaps because of all the things I had been through recently, none of them seemed particularly threatening to me.
«Mr. Yandel, if you are well, how about we enter the next portal?».
« ... ¿Hmm? »
«We still have some energy left. And we have also finished the transfer of information».
«Well, that's true...»
Something is wrong.
Raven's hurried tone raised my suspicions, but that was only for a moment, as I tapped her lightly on the shoulder. «Raven, I'm thinking about going with someone else from now on».
«...Sorry?»
«Good job so far. Go rest».
In other words, the Blood Citadel transport duo was here.
However, although she hoped Raven would be happy, her expression turned cold. «Rest? What do you mean? Are you abandoning me after all this?»
«...What do you mean by abandon?»
It's just that I didn't need a magician anymore. And there was no reason to put the essence of where it went in a magic jar.
«I expressed myself badly. So... If it's not me, who are you planning to come in with?».
I responded to Raven with a mocking smile and headed towards someone else. «Emily».
Amelia looked at me questioningly.
«Let's eat an essence».
It was time to feed him one.