But Iz had never said that Kanzaki Rei absolutely had to create some kind of original spell or cultivation method.
He had only told Rei to think.
Rei murmured quietly to himself,
"A mage's professional principle… is the exploration of the Origin."
[Void Realm (LV: 152)]
This Second-Tier Mana Enhancement Technique had already reached Level 152.
Void Realm couldn't benefit from the threefold proficiency bonus granted by Multi-Casting, nor could it level up through killing monsters or similar methods.
However, it could be practiced anytime.
The only problem was that the proficiency required to level up Void Realm seemed far higher than ordinary spells.
Which was why it was still only Level 152 even now.
Rei roughly estimated the amount of mana within his body.
Approximately 2.3 million.
In truth, once it surpassed 2 million, Rei had already felt as though he had reached the limit. Yet Void Realm was still continuously raising his maximum mana pool.
But having that much mana was practically useless.
With the spells he currently knew—even if he poured additional mana into them to increase their power—casting every spell he knew in a single burst wouldn't consume even ten thousand mana.
And the mana consumed like that would recover within a single breath.
Mana capacity was supposed to be the greatest concern of a mage.
But in Rei's case, it had become something he didn't need to worry about at all.
After finishing his stretches, Rei took out the basic knowledge book he had borrowed from the library before going to bed.
He slowly reviewed information that might be useful tomorrow.
As he read, drowsiness gradually crept over him.
…
A dreamless night.
Early the next morning, Rei followed his usual routine and bought a copy of "World-Shocking News" from the street vendor who sold information.
But the moment he saw the headline printed on the page—
Rei's pupils shrank.
[World-Level Shock: Seventh-Tier Dungeon Subjugation Expedition—Entire Adventurer Parties Wiped Out! Is the End of the Rulen Continent Approaching?!]
Entirely wiped out?
What kind of nonsense was this?
Iz and the others were that strong—how could that possibly happen?!
Rei hurriedly read the rest of the article.
But after quickly scanning the entire report, his teeth clenched tightly.
"Damn it."
"Clickbait headline… you deserve to die."
[The adventurer parties Boundary Dragon, Ash God, Bloodfiend, New Dawn… and others have been confirmed completely wiped out.However, several of the most elite adventurer groups are still continuing to push deeper into the dungeon…]
The wiped-out parties mentioned above did not include Iz's group.
Iz's adventurer party was called…
Legend.
A simple, unadorned name.
Yet one that perfectly matched their status.
Iz had once mentioned that the name had actually been registered by someone else before. Many people had wanted to claim it…
But on the day Iz went to register their adventurer party, another lone adventurer happened to be at the guild counter canceling their party registration.
And the name they canceled was—
Legend.
Originally, Iz hadn't planned to take that name.
But after hearing it become available, he discussed it briefly with Akasei.
And in the end, they settled on the name that the party still used today.
"…At least they're safe for now."
The danger of a Seventh-Tier Dungeon far exceeded Rei's imagination.
He hadn't expected that so many teams would be wiped out on the very first day of exploration.
According to the article, every group participating in the expedition had been one of the continent's top-tier adventurer parties.
Yet they had died so easily… on the very first day.
Rei's fist slowly tightened.
"Iz… you'd better really be stronger than them."
Rei let out a long breath.
There was no point in being anxious here.
Understanding the world.Strengthening himself.
Those were the only things he could do.
Thinking that, Rei prepared to head into the Adventurers' Guild and start today's work.
But as he turned his head—
He saw a blank divine statue.
"Rain Town doesn't have a church or a dedicated shrine."
"If believers want to pray, they can only worship at the blank altar."
That was what Kumironi had told him.
Clatter—
Clatter-clatter-clatter—
Suddenly, behind Rei, a recklessly speeding cargo carriage rushed past.
Boom!
As it passed by, a heavy thud echoed along the road.
A large object had fallen from the wagon.
A fully formed altar with a sculpted deity landed squarely in the middle of the street.
Some gods possessed form.
Some gods were formless.
Yakaticto belonged to the category of gods with form.
The deity had a specific appearance and distinctive ornaments—all of which had been recorded in books, almost as if someone had truly seen the god in person.
The statue lying before them…
The four-leaf clover earrings hanging from the ears, the strange coin clasped in the hand, and every intricate detail of the clothing—
All matched the descriptions of Yakaticto recorded in the books.
The moment people on the street saw the statue—
They fell silent.
Then suddenly, as if driven mad, they rushed toward the altar.
Like lunatics throwing money away, they began tossing silver coins and copper coins toward the statue without hesitation.
Rei glanced at the wagon disappearing into the distance.
It seemed that was the cargo it had dropped.
Hey…
You didn't even notice something that huge falling off your wagon?
Although there were no official shrines in public spaces, that didn't prevent residents from ordering personal altars to place in their homes.
Watching the townspeople scrambling to worship Yakaticto, Rei couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Are people really this crazy about worshipping gods?
Rei stood at the side like someone watching elderly people scramble for free eggs at a supermarket promotion, quietly observing them for a while.
Then…
He slowly stepped into the crowd.
And dropped one gold coin.
He clasped his hands together in front of his chest and assumed the posture of making a wish.
"Yakaticto… if you truly can hear my prayer, then please protect Izparut and the others and bring them back safely."
After tossing in that single gold coin, Rei didn't bother checking whether someone would pick it up—or whether it would actually be reclaimed by some unknown divine force.
He simply turned and walked toward the guild.
Would praying to a god actually work?
Rei didn't know.
He just… wanted to pray for Iz and the others' safety.
"Ah~!"
"Little Rei, come here, come here!"
The moment he entered the guild, Shirley waved him over energetically.
Rei walked over curiously.
"Oh my… yesterday a huge number of new commissions suddenly came in. We're almost running out of adventurers here."
Rei glanced toward the commission board nearby.
She wasn't exaggerating.
The board was completely filled.
With her hands clasped together, Shirley looked at Rei with a pleading expression.
"Little Rei, Rain Town doesn't have that many high-level adventurers. Now that Iz and the others have left, we might not be able to clear all these monsters for the time being."
"If we just leave them alone…"
Rei nodded.
"Mm. I understand."
Oh~
So she wanted him to help clear the monsters.
Previously, Iz and the others had been here.
Now, it was his turn.
But if he left one day too…
What would they do then?
Rei found himself genuinely curious.
They couldn't rely on passing high-level adventurers to handle their commissions forever.
"Alright, let me take a look."
"But Sister Shirley—if there aren't any strong adventurers around, how do you usually deal with situations like this?"
There really were a lot of commissions.
Subjugation requests for wild monsters had increased drastically.
There were quite a few Second-Tier Lords, and Third-Tier Lords were piled up as well.
Rain Town had only a limited number of Level 3 adventurers.
In truth, a Level 3 professional didn't even need to risk their lives exploring dungeons or hunting wild monster lords.
Even in the royal capital, they could easily find respectable jobs with good income and live comfortable lives.
Of course…
That also meant that if they did choose the life of an adventurer, they could earn far more money.
Shirley sighed.
"If we don't have enough adventurers to help, we can only request assistance from the Kingdom. They'll send a subjugation force to help clear the surrounding threats."
That answer was perfectly reasonable.
Rain Town belonged to the Kingdom of Loren, which was apparently a fairly powerful kingdom on this continent.
To be precise, Rain Town was part of the territory ruled by Lord Leander. Under his domain were more than a dozen towns like this one, as well as two medium-sized city-states.
Even without requesting help from the kingdom, the territorial lord would likely handle the threat eventually.
Shirley continued,
"However, starting last night, quite a few adventurers have already been heading this way…"
Rei tilted his head in confusion.
"Heading here?"
"Mm… according to the kingdom's weather forecast, a Monster Tide is moving in this direction."
"So adventurers chasing the tide for the huge rewards have been following its path."
"They'll probably choose Rain Town as their base."