Chapter 283 - Staying Up Late Together
"—Hey, if it isn't senpai. What are you doing up at this hour?"
"…Right back at you. Staying up late? You self-proclaimed younger person, you."
It was the witching hour, when even the plants and trees were asleep.
After seeing off Iris, who had left with a 'see you tomorrow,' the double slap from reality had successfully chased away any hope of sleep. I'd returned to the virtual world, and two hours had already passed.
I wasn't in the mood to venture out into the fields alone, so I'd been wandering through the streets of the [Safe Area]—which eventually led me here, to the Eastern Round Table.
I hadn't come hoping to find someone to talk to; I was just seeking the comfort of one of the 'life-ruiningly comfortable chairs' here… but it seemed someone had arrived before me.
"It's not really staying up late. My active hours are basically at night."
The boy dressed all in black—Tetra—smiled faintly. He glanced over at me as I appeared, then returned to whatever he was working on, having taken over the large table for himself.
"Ah… Am I interrupting?"
A reversed sleep schedule isn't exactly rare these days. I had no intention of commenting on his lifestyle, so I just voiced my concern and turned to leave the Round Table for another spot—
"Not at all. Actually, this is perfect timing. If you're free, give me a hand for a bit."
…or I tried to, but he unexpectedly stopped me, leaving me a little surprised.
"I'm free, I guess… but what, you want me to keep you company while you chat or something?"
That was what I started to ask, but then I stopped.
From the looks of it… was he doing some kind of alchemy? Lined up on the table were all sorts of mysterious materials, along with a mortar, pestle, and other similar-looking tools.
I watched as Tetra casually tossed them all into his inventory and stood up, correcting my question mid-sentence.
"…Doesn't look like it."
"Nope. I just ran out of materials. I'm going to grab some, so could you help me out?"
"At this hour?"
"You're one to talk, showing up looking like you're ready to pull an all-nighter."
"…………"
These Arcadia rankers are all so perceptive it makes me want to sigh.
"…A title holder from Istia is asking me for help. What kind of hellscape are you planning on dragging me to for these materials?"
"It's not a particularly difficult dungeon or anything."
So it's a dungeon, not a field? That's pretty intense.
"You look down in the dumps. Moving your body around might cheer you up, don't you think?"
"…………Haaah… Alright, fine. I'll go with you."
Is this kid really younger than me?
He's way too considerate to be a 'kid'…
◇◆◇◆◇
"Hey, you, senpai (kouhai)."
"What is it, senpai?"
"'What is it'—my foot! You ask me to help and then stand back and watch? You've got it made, don't you? Huh??"
We had moved to a location southeast of the [Garden of Divine Creation]'s city district.
After crossing a forest and a plain, we'd entered a small jungle. Inside it was a dungeon—the [Poison Spring Respite].
I was being made to handle what I realized was my first combat experience in a forest environment almost completely solo. I directed my complaints at Tetra, but he just shrugged, unfazed.
"Can't be helped. Our combat speeds are too different. If I joined in, I'd just get in the way instead of helping, you know?"
If he had meant that I was the one in the way, it would have been war, but that didn't seem to be the case, so I bit my tongue.
Not that I was genuinely angry about this or anything, but still…
"I told you, I'll make it up to you. It's a hundred times faster to let you handle it, so I'm just asking you to do it."
"Sheesh… Are you really telling me an Eastern ranker has zero direct combat ability? I'm not buying half of what you're selling, you know."
According to him—'I'm a full support build, so I have no attack power or anything.'
Yeah, right. I've seen the post-war results. I know you took down a Southern ranker all by yourself in this last Four Pillar War.
"It costs resources to show off my tricks, you know. It'd be stupid to end up in the red while gathering materials… Well, just look forward to seeing them eventually."
"Yeah, yeah… whatever."
…I have to admit, I'm still a bit out of it. It might not be my place to say, but my responses lack their usual sharpness.
And it wasn't just my words that lacked 'sharpness'—
"You seem to be off your game."
"…A lot has happened."
So much, in fact. My build, things in the real world.
I'll deal with my real-world problems tomorrow, but as for my build, I might need a fundamental solution. The [Rocket] skill is fine as long as I don't touch it, but [Hare Real] is proving to be a bigger challenge than I expected.
"Hmm… If I can help, feel free to talk to me about it. Though when it comes to combat, our styles are probably too different to be of much help."
"Tell me about it. And speaking of styles…"
Although I'm the one who broke the norm, it seems 'aerial combat' didn't really exist in Arcadia before.
Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for individuals to establish their own temporary aerial maneuvers, but a build that was 'mainly aerial' was a different story.
Since there are probably no other players who have learned an aerial mobility skill similar to [Hare Real], there's no one I can ask for tips.
In the end, the only person I can think of who might be able to help is my master… I have a feeling Ui-san would solve it with her 'if it can be done, you can do it' logic again.
What even is that logic…?
—And so, as I juggled conversation and my own thoughts.
"That being said, even if you're not at your best, being able to move like that is more than enough by our standards as rankers."
I'd already cut down over a hundred of the 'amorphous monsters' that were relentlessly attacking.
Tetra was looking at me with an exasperated expression, but that was surely just empty flattery. These things were genuine small fry.
[Minions of the Poison Spirit]—snakes, bats, bees, scorpions, and others like spiders and frogs… The main enemies of this dungeon were hordes that attacked with a vast variety of individual differences, even among the same species.
Their true form was a sickly purple slime that mimicked all sorts of poisonous creatures. Like a certain samurai, these bastards came equipped with 'Physical Immunity,' a perfect counter to me.
…Are bats even poisonous?
"These are just cannon fodder. It's like a 1/100th version of the [Spiral Crimson Tower]."
"It's the sheer number that's dangerous for normal players. And you're comparing it to something insane."
Well, that aside, it's probably impossible for me to clear this alone as I am now. After all, they're immune to physical attacks… So why am I, a player with no magical attacks, able to deal with these slimes?
"'Sand,' 'Shadow'… Arcadia has a lot of unique magic attributes, huh."
"Maybe. There's 'Star,' too."
"What's that? Sounds ridiculously strong."
"It is ridiculously strong. The two users are right on top of your head, senpai."
"It's them…?"
—And so, the conversation continued.
The black aura enveloping the [Alv Quartz] I wielded was the reason I could fight my natural enemies. In short, it was a magic enchant skill.
A support skill that can be used on purely physical weapons to add a magical attribute—I don't need to tell you whose work this was.
"See, you're handling it just fine, so let's hurry up. Only the boss drops the material we need, so we're aiming for ten runs for now."
"Yeah, yeah… —Hey, hold on, what did you just say?"
"Watch where you're going. Here come some more."
"You little…!"
And for some reason, I just can't bring myself to hate him, which is what's so infuriating.
It seemed my all-nighter with my senpai (kouhai) was going to be a long one.
Should I mention that the author is low-key a fan of Tetra-kun? No? Okay.