We didn't discuss the semantics of calling «cracks» the boss rooms we entered through the Guardians statues, but they weren't real cracks. He was pretty sure the wizards said something about how they couldn't find any native traces of a fissure portal in those portals or something. So I said yes. Furthermore, each of the portals here led to a strange room that was different from a crack and was directly connected to a single boss room.
But this is a real crack...
The portal beyond the stone gate that opened after clearing each stone statue was a legitimate rift portal.
I mean... basement floor 1 is also a floor.
The fact that there was a crack in the floor was not particularly strange. It was just that the village chief told me that he hadn't seen any appear after spending a lot of time here, and told me not to expect to find one.
But it is impossible for it not to exist.
I did not doubt the existence of the crack. There were cracks that opened only at fixed coordinates and not at random in the field. I also believed that the first underground plant was such a case.
«Be careful! If it absorbs you, we won't be able to go back».
«Aren't you done with wave analysis?»
As the magicians gathered around the portal to collect all kinds of data, I stayed at a distance and collected my thoughts.
Honestly, I was wondering if the cracks on the sixth floor and above were waiting for us...
First of all, the quiet speculations he had maintained turned out to be complete nonsense.
Well, I guess it's too early to rule them out...
There was a possibility that after passing through that portal, we would enter a random crack between those on the sixth floor and above.
...Well, it doesn't look like that's going to be the case.
My instinct as a player told me so. He told me that beyond that portal, there was a very high probability that it was just the single crack in Basement One Floor.
I sighed. Instead of feeling curious and excited to know what the crack could be, my emotions were dominated by worry.
This was different from the game. There were no retries. We would have to overcome this mysterious rift without information about its Guardian, the monsters we would face or the terrain we would fight on, on the first try.
«...¿Yandel?»
«Ah... Emily».
Amelia looked at my tense expression with concern in her eyes, but did nothing but give me a bottle of water.
Some time later, the meeting of leaders began and the magicians revealed the information they had obtained through their investigations. Ignoring the finer details, there were two main points of information.
«We did not observe any decrease in the mana density emitted by the rift portal. We say that the possibility of the portal disappearing over time is very low».
We had all the time we needed before entering the crack.
Which means we didn't need to immediately form a team to get into the portal. I was already expecting it, but hearing the magicians say it comforted me a little more.
«Our research suggests that up to five people can enter the crack at a time».
However, that part surprised me a little. Not the fact that the maximum number of people who could enter was five, but the fact that those magicians found out.
Was the investigation also capable of achieving something like this? I was pretty sure that wasn't possible in the game.
My mind was devoted to the question, and after asking them about their process in detail, I heard a decently fleshy answer.
«Well, there is a mural inside the stone door... After our research group investigated and debated among us, we came to the conclusion that the mural told us how many people can enter at once».
So the information was not learned by magic, but by mere guesswork.
«Of course... As this was a subjective and arbitrary interpretation, our research group fully recognizes that we may have given an incorrect interpretation and understands that you may be upset by it, and I ask for your grace in this case.»
«What the hell is this wizard talking about?»
«...Sorry?»
Oops, I ended up saying what I thought out loud.
The atmosphere cooled down immediately, but I didn't try to make excuses like saying I had expressed myself poorly. It wouldn't be too barbaric of me.
Anyway, the gist of what he was saying was that his interpretation could be wrong and he was trying to put up some insurance in case things went wrong.
«Then we will pause our meeting for a moment. I need to talk to the baron alone, could you leave us?».
The village chief understood the sign I gave him and dismissed everyone, and asked: «What do you want done?».
Just like when we began our research on stone statues, the village chief let me know that he would let me decide on all decisions regarding exploration.
«Magician theory makes sense, so I'm thinking about creating teams of five. Oh, of course, just in case, I'm going to create all the additional teams as well».
«Very accurate. So when I finish the selection, come and tell me...»
«Speaking of which, I want to ask you something».
When I cut him off and stared at him, the boss looked back at me. His eyes still scared me because I couldn't know what was going on in his head.
«Go on».
With his permission, I asked him directly: «Have you also thought about entering the crack?».
«The reason for this?»
Hmm, an awkward lie wouldn't get me anywhere, would it?
After thinking for a moment in my heart, I just gave my honest thought. «It doesn't matter if you die or not».
The perfect explorer.
***
First friend, first love, first breakup...
The memory of the first of anything always remains for a long time. For me it wasn't different either.
My first crack.
When I played Dungeon and Stone, I took entering the cracks as if I were going to eat my daily meals, but the memory of when I challenged my first crack was still clear in my mind.
Bloody Citadel, Glacier Cave, White Temple...
I entered the crack without gathering prior information. Although I cleared it as carefully as I could, 99% of the time I saw the end-of-game screen and lost my character, which I had cultivated so carefully.
Hammer dwarf, sniper elf, beast voodoo shaman...
Due to my lack of knowledge, this data disappeared in vain.
It's not that I wasn't disappointed to lose them at the time, but through those experiences, one thing became clear to me: It was natural to be erased when you were challenging a rift for the first time. That didn't apply when he was clearly beyond his means, of course, but...
Taking into account the difficulty of this first underground plant, I don't think we are overwhelmed at all.
Therefore, asking the village chief to join the expedition was an important request on my part. It would allow me to handle the powerful individual Jerome Saintred as I pleased.
«And more importantly, it will be a gain for you if you die», I concluded.
«...Not particularly a profit».
I said it while trying to hide my embarrassed smile, but I couldn't refute his response.
So was he refusing?
I was seriously considering whether I should drop the issue and start thinking about something else when he responded: «I will».
"...¿Which?"
«If you can fulfill a request of mine».
«Dimelo.»
Unexpectedly, the village chief's request was nothing special. And it was also very obvious what his true intentions were.
«Save some items and return them to me when you return to town.»
«...So you want me to give you Karui's Heart. Since you can't go with him using the Heretic Altar».
«Correct.»
It was one of the main features of the Heretic Altar. You needed to periodically visit the altar to record the equipment you had to revive with those pieces of equipment.
«Hmm ... »
«Isn't that an advantageous deal on your part?».
«Not especially», I said bluntly. «I wonder what you trust to ask me that».
The village chief let out a laugh that sounded much less awkward than in the past. «You are the one who gave the body of the expedition commander sent here by the palace to any monster just so that you could live. How could I not trust you?»
In other words, he was threatening to prepare me for trouble if I broke my promise. «I'll tell you this now, but this will be the last time your threat of mutual destruction works».
«Why is it a threat? I did not impose this promise on you. I only said what could happen if this promise is broken. If you don't like it, you can refuse».
Well... I guess it's true.
After losing any reason to refuse, I coldly ended the conversation. «...Then I will take you into account when forming the teams».
«Sure, but... Aren't you going to leave?».
«Because? I'd have to come back here to tell you anyway, so it would be a waste of time».
«...Do what you want».
With that figured out, I sat in my chair and contemplated who would be on the crack team.
I already have two people...
The boss of the difference y y y yo.
If the theory put forward by the magicians were true, it could lead to three more people at most. So who should I choose?
Taking a magician and a priest is just enough for the balance of the team.
The usefulness of a magician and the stability of a priest. With those two insured, we could at least be prepared for half of whatever came our way, and it wasn't difficult to decide who would be first.
«Gahuin Versilus». Let's take that old man for the magician position». The most powerful mage of the first expedition group, with whom I had some problems in the past.
«Hmm...» the village chief hummed. «That's a little unexpected».
«And why is that?»
As a pioneer of an entire field of study, Gahuin Versilus had spent his youth as a military magician. That's why he had a lot of experience in adventures, and his skills were also very impressive. I even heard that the rank one magic group I saw in the past started with that old man as the core.
«Honestly speaking, I thought you were taking that sorceress».
«Oh, you mean Raven?»
«Sí.»
In truth, Raven was among the finalists. He had a lot of information about the maze, and he was also skilled. Most importantly, his knowledge about the cracks in the labyrinth was probably greater than even that of the old man.
«We're not going in there to have fun. There is no reason not to choose the most skilled magician».
The village chief simply nodded. «So you appreciate her very much».
«...Did you even hear what I said?»
«You mean when you said it doesn't matter if I die or not?»
Every day he was more cunning and deceitful.
«And what about the other two?», he asked me when I didn't answer.
«I'm thinking about taking at least one priest».
Paladin Sven Parav was also on the list of candidates for this one, but I quickly ruled him out. The village chief and I would be enough for our first line. Considering only healing ability and usefulness, a priest would always be miles ahead in that than any paladin. Well, to be fair, I had that cheater intuition to compensate...
But it is useless if there is no other option we can take at that time.
Furthermore, more than the ability to sense danger, we needed the ability to go through it. It was a fact of life that from time to time you encountered a blocked path.
«If you're thinking about a priest, I know one who would be suitable for the role».
Intrigued, I asked: «Who is it?».
«The archbishop of the Church of Reatlas».
His reasoning was quite sound when he explained it to me, so I decided on the archbishop as our priest at the head's suggestion.
That left our last vacancy.
We need a damage dealer.
If the village chief fell during the expedition, only our mage would be left to deal damage. That's why we needed to reinforce our damage.
...No matter how I think about it, I can't think of a better alternative.
In the end, I decided on the last member, no matter how unfortunate the decision seemed to me.
«The final member will be my ally, Erwen Fornacci di Tersia».
However, among all the members of the expedition group, none came close to Erwen.
***
Preparing for the worst case scenario, I even divided the rest of the expedition group into teams of five. After doing so, the five members who would enter the rift first gathered together.
We needed to meet before the expedition started, right?
We won't be able to trade our members once we're in, so I need to evaluate it here first.
Depending on how they interact with each other, you may have to change the final alignment.
«I'm Eden Hesteia. I am a man with his flaws, but I have ended up as archbishop of the Church of Reatlas».
«Nice to meet you. I think this is the first time we've talked».
«However, I have heard a lot about you from Sir Parav, Your Honor. I will be in your care inside».
Surprisingly, I ended up getting a pretty good first impression of Archbishop Eden Hesteia. I had seen him practically squeeze Parav for everything he had, so I figured he would be an annoying old man.
«It's embarrassing, but I don't know much about the maze. I hope you can teach and guide me, Your Honor».
«That'll do. What are the divine spells you can use?»
«Haha, I'm sure I can use all the spells you know-»
«Oh, so you can use Star Genesis too?»
«...It seems like you know a lot about divine spells. Star Genesis will be difficult for me».
«Is that so? It's a shame. So what about Star Call?»
«Ah, that's possible».
With that, I began to properly interview the members, and came to the conclusion that the priest would not need to be changed. The archbishop was a very capable priest.
In any case, the magician was next.
«Gahuin, can you tell me all the spells you can use?».
Gahuin Versilus seemed upset, clearly wondering why he had to go this far.
«If we fail, the hundreds who follow us could all die», I pressed.
He let out a deep sigh and gave me an appropriate response. «It would take too long, so I'll just tell you the spells rank three and above».
«And the lower ones?»
«I can use them all. Except the unique magic».
Oh, that was pretty impressive.
Maybe it was because the palace chose only the best among the best for this expedition, but the level of our members here was quite high. Could this be considered a dream team?
I think we could do it...
Afterwards, Erwen, the village chief, and I also presented our own skills and helped others understand. We then took some time to formulate our position during the expedition and what we needed to take into account. Since the archbishop and Gahuin said they had no experience with small-scale expeditions in five-member teams, there were many things he had to teach them.
But we had no time limit.
We spent a few more days getting all the information into their heads, and I checked several times to see if there would be any problems with teamwork or not.
Finally, the day came when we finished the preparations.
«Come in first, Yandel. If the portal doesn't disappear, we'll follow you right after. And Thersia».
At Amelia's direction, Erwen asked: «...What's wrong?».
«If we can't follow you...»
«I know. I will take good care of the Lord».
«...Of course.»
Hey, who was going to take care of who?
As I smiled and said goodbye to my allies, the village chief approached me.
¡Vwoong!
We didn't know what kind of danger lay beyond that mysterious portal.
«Are you done here?»
But it was time to enter.
***
[You have entered the Third Records File.]
[Field-character effect is in effect.]