Chapter 19 - A Cliffside Tour Straight to Hell
“—And that’s how I ended up at the third stage.”
The buff old man, once I got him talking, wasn’t unfriendly, just fatally taciturn. After somehow prying the location of the required materials from that muscle-bound statue, it turned out I could get them in the third area I had just unlocked.
So, I decided to dive right back into soloing for the first time since this morning… and, hmm, well, this is…
“Sora would be in tears again.”
The area was called the ‘Cliff Road of the Sky Bridge’—and the other side of the transfer gate was the top of a sheer cliff where fierce winds raged. I can’t even read this area name. How are you supposed to pronounce this thing?
…Wait, this is no time for jokes. What ‘sky bridge’? This is just the edge of a cliff. The path is less than a meter wide.
I could vaguely sense their intention to provide a variety of adventures and battles, but aren’t they ramping up the danger a bit too fast? You don’t try to kill the player with the terrain on the third stage.
“Fighting bird-type mobs on this kind of footing is…”
The required material is called a [Glowbird’s Tail Feather], so I assume that means they’ll show up, right? These so-called Glowbirds. This is a bit risky… scratch that, it’s tough. No, it’s impossible. I can’t even get a proper foothold, so my throws won’t have much power.
By the way, the first thing I did when I got to this area was check below the cliff, but it was impossible to even estimate the altitude.
To be specific, it was a sea of clouds… The only way in and out is the transfer gate, but does this mean we’re not near any cities? The terrain is just too treacherous.
“I’ll just have to believe there’s some way to deal with this.”
If it doesn’t work out, well… I can think of it as practice for falling from a great height. Damn, ever since that boar pancaked me, my fear of death has been getting numb.
For now, judging by the terrain, this stage should be a single path. A complex labyrinth of sheer cliffs wouldn’t make any sense. If I’m careful not to misstep and die instantly, I should be able to reach the goal… I hope.
“Anyone with a fear of heights would be totally stuck here. The grotesque scorpion was bad enough. I wonder if there’s a way to skip stages…”
No point just standing here frozen. Guess I should get going.
Fortunately, with my acrobatics-boosted stats, I’m confident in my agility. A little accident here or there won't be enough to make me fall to my death.
“…Why do I feel like I’m setting up a death flag every single time?”
Muttering to myself, I took a step onto the unreliable footing.
◇◆◇◆◇
“Oh?”
I didn’t feel like sprinting on this terrain, so I proceeded cautiously for a few minutes—and then something caught my eye.
“Could it be… no, it definitely is.”
On the cliff wall side—the very rock face I was using for support—a part of a foreign object with a clearly different color and texture was exposed.
Its color was a dull blue—that was probably the blue iron ore I was looking for.
“Finding it right on the path probably means it’s a common, low-rarity ore.”
It wasn’t in a spot I couldn’t reach, so it seemed I’d be able to mine it without any problems.
“Alright then…”
I summoned the pickaxe that had been graciously lent to me when I accepted the quest. `Quick Change` is seriously amazing; it works not just for weapons, but for all equipment, including armor.
Now, I’ll wind up—
“Don’t use any unnecessary force.”
As if to crumble the area around the target,
“Just swing it randomly!!”
Isn’t that mining explanation a little too vague, buff old man?!
But it seemed that for game purposes, that was good enough. After swinging the pickaxe rather haphazardly two or three times, a dull blue chunk fell from the rock wall with a clear thud.
“Alright. That’s one… It’s bigger than I thought.”
What rolled to my feet was a chunk of rock about the size of a shot put ball. It looked pretty heavy. I wonder if my carrying capacity can handle it.
“It would be better if my equipped items and inventory were separate… right, looks like it’ll be okay for now.”
Most games I knew of had separate weight limits for equipped items and inventory, but Arcadia applied a single total value.
In my case, that meant the combined weight of my straight sword, my great axe, and all the loot I’d gathered on my adventures so far would be counted against my limit… yeah, the great axe was entirely to blame.
This game probably wasn't designed with the assumption that new players would use large weapons.
I had no idea what the intention behind such a design was, but in the early stages, before you’ve gained enough capacity from leveling up, it was difficult to even wear armor while wielding a large weapon, let alone anything else.
I wanted to expand my capacity quickly and at least put on some armor so Sora wouldn’t give me the side-eye for being so ‘frail,’ but we’ll see.
“I guess I can find the iron ore like this, but the bird is the real problem.”
I hadn’t been in this area for very long, but it felt like I should have had at least one encounter by now.
At this rate, it was just a clifftop hike. If you ignored the fact that one misstep meant death, it wasn’t so bad… Damn it, my sense of the value of life is fading. The death penalty isn’t light, so I need to stay on edge.
And so, after proceeding along the cliff path for a while longer—
“…Here it comes.”
A cry resembling a kite’s echoed without warning. It reverberated through the gorge of cliffs rising from the sea of clouds, making it difficult to pinpoint its location.
My trademark mobile combat was impossible on this footing. With my back to the wall, I drew my straight sword and assumed a defensive stance, waiting for the attack—and it came.
“From below…!”
The assault came from below—bursting through the sea of clouds. I reflexively swung my sword at the object closing the distance before I could even get a good look at it. With a great flap of its wings, it put some distance between us.
“A Glowbird, huh… seriously, you’re way overgrown.”
As I took in its full form, those words escaped my lips.
Its body was blue. Compared to its two pairs of four large wings, its slender torso made its silhouette look more like a butterfly than a bird.
What was most remarkable was its size. Including its long tail feathers, which were more than double the length of its body, it had to be well over three meters long. The wingspan looked even wider.
“Isn’t that a bit too big…? And this is a common enemy?”
As I stood there stunned, the great-winged bird opened its yellow beak and let out a threatening cry—then, in the next instant, it closed in.
“Tch!”
It closed the distance, about to strike with its talons or sharp beak—or so I thought. In an incredible feat, the Glowbird maintained its flight using only its lower pair of wings and slammed its upper pair into me.
“What kind of bird even does that?!”
I never expected it to use its wings—the very lifeline of an avian creature—as its main weapon. I hastily prepared to intercept the massive wings that approached with a terrifying WHOOSH.
I was panicked, but my reaction was in time. The blade, clashing in a counter-like motion, cut into the blue wing… but it didn’t cut?!
“It’s so hard?!”
A loud metallic clang rang out as the straight sword and the great wing were mutually repelled. Thinking it impossible, I looked closer—and saw a ‘hand’ reminiscent of a wyvern’s, complete with a thick claw, in the middle of the wing’s upper edge.
“Damn, this is a pain to fight!”
I was given no time for lengthy complaints as another wing attack came from the opposite side. I moved to intercept again—I’m not gonna make it!
“`Quick Change`!”
In place of my repelled right hand, I summoned the great axe to my left. I hastily protected myself with the axe head, which was incomparably larger than my sword—
“Ngh…!?”
That wasn’t a bundle of feathers! It’s too heavy! I blocked the direct hit, but my health took a huge hit… huh?
“Tch—This is bad!?”
As if swept by a broom, my body was pushed aside by the force of the wing. I was on a cliff path. If I stumbled in the wrong direction in a place like this…
“Hyuh…”
The feeling of the ground disappearing from beneath my feet.
—Huh? Seriously? For real? …Eh?
“Whoa, wai—”
Swept away by the wing and thrown into the air, my body, after a brief moment of floating—
“Tch… Dammit, aaaaaahhhh?!”
—began to fall. With no time to even glare at the Glowbird that screeched a triumphant pyoo-hyoro above me, I was pulled down by the weight of my great axe and swiftly swallowed by the sea of clouds.
“Not… yet!”
I’m not dead yet. I don’t know how this stage is structured, but being above the clouds means there should be a bit of time before I’m splattered on the ground, the final destination of my fall.
In a normal game, death is usually a certainty the moment you fall. But this is Arcadia. If it meets my expectations, it should properly smash me onto the ground and finish me off!!
“Then—!!”
My first attempt at a two-dimensional solution for a situation like this—stab my sword into the wall to break my fall.
I used `Quick Change` again, swapping the great axe that was hastening my demise for the straight sword. My vision was near zero in the thick clouds, but since I fell straight down from the cliff’s edge, it was easy to aim for the rock wall rushing past me.
Suppressing my pounding heart and desperation, I forced myself to pull back while upside down—
“HRAAAGH!!”
Perhaps it was a surge of adrenaline, but the thrust I unleashed from a position where I couldn’t even get a foothold was, if I do say so myself, a critical hit.
The blade slammed into the rock wall with great force, embedding its tip firmly—and a split second later, it snapped with a scream-like metallic shriek.
“Tch… DAAAAAMN IT?! Of course it would hate me if I keep doing stuff like this to it, AAAAAAHHH!!”
My fall didn’t stop as I let out a cry of profound agreement with the buff old man’s “your beloved sword hates you” theory.
Damn, would it have been different if I had some kind of piercing attack skill…? No, that break was definitely due to a lack of durability. Even if it had stuck, it probably would have snapped anyway.
Fortunately, it seems weapons and armor don’t disappear even if they break. Apologizing to the straight sword, now a pathetic sight with its blade missing from the middle, I stored it in my inventory.
“Seriously, my bad, my beloved sword…………… wait, huh?”
This is taking a while. How long am I going to fall… or rather, how long am I going to be in these clouds? I feel like I’ve already fallen over a hundred meters, but there’s no sign of the clouds breaking.
I really don’t get it now. What kind of terrain is this?
“…Could this be that thing?”
A sudden suspicion led my thoughts to a hypothesis—and before I could examine it, a foreign object flew into my monochrome white vision.
It was a strange sight that could only be described as a “stone net.” Countless stone bridges, each a few meters wide, intersected to form a coarse spiderweb-like net.
“—Whoa, that was close?!”
For just a moment, my eyes were captivated by a sight I’d surely never see in the real world. Naturally, one of the stone bridges was rapidly approaching before me.
On instinct—or rather, reflex—I summoned the great axe. To escape the falling trajectory that would graze the edge, I slammed it sideways against the side of the bridge.
“Ow, that hurts…!”
This time it didn’t snap like the straight sword, but a severe shockwave shot back into both my arms.
Fortunately, I managed to get my body out of the way, but the numbness in my hands was terrible. I returned the great axe I almost dropped to my inventory—crap, what do I do now…?
The web of stone bridges continued downward in tiers. I’d survived the first crisis, but if another bridge on a direct collision course appeared, my avatar would be shattered in an instant.
“…………I could just give up, you know.”
As I threaded my way through the coarse web with mysterious good luck, I muttered, having run out of options.
Thinking normally, this situation was hopeless. Logically, I was done for… This was the part where I should just give up, close my eyes, and resolve to “not fall next time”—but,
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure—and I decided I’d give it my all…!!”
Next impact. Thirty meters until I intersect with a bridge on a grazing trajectory—twenty, ten… Roar, my acrobatic AGI!!
“Ngh—!!”
Fighting against the gravity pulling me down, I forced my body upright, twisted, and flexed—slamming the soles of my feet against the side of the stone bridge.
“Agh… Next!!”
I ignored the HP bar that had vanished by a good twenty percent and the intense numbness in my right leg that made it feel like everything from the knee down was gone.
I deliberately shifted my trajectory and aimed for the next foothold—the stone bridge one level below—and made impact.
“Agh, that huuuurts!!”
My left leg was seized by a numbness that was almost pain, but the feeling in my right leg was slightly returning.
I still had HP left—I’m not dead yet!!
Third tier, fourth, fifth… I gradually redirected the momentum of my fall sideways, turning collisions into landings.
The shock lessened with each impact, and the damage decreased incrementally—but the next one would be my limit. If I died from this, well, can’t be helped!!
Final push-off. My target was not the edge of the bridge, but the very center. If my legs couldn’t withstand this landing, I’d explode and say goodbye!!
I clenched my teeth, crushing the fear I had been avoiding, and used `Quick Change`—summoning the great axe and slamming it down on the stone bridge with all my might at the moment of impact.
A deafening crash, a stupidly massive shock that made stars dance in my vision, shot through my body—I was blown back by the recoil, thrown, tumbled, and finally, spread-eagled, I looked up at the web of stone bridges and,
“………………I can be forgiven for saying this… I’m amazing.”
In the corner of my vision—I looked at the HP bar that had held on by a mere sliver, and completely drained, I muttered those words.