Chapter 356 - The Lord of the Sacred Peak
"—Ah… I-I'm sorry, a message…!"
In the middle of our ongoing training, which had continued for days with no end in sight, a notification popped up at the edge of my vision with a light sound. Distracted, my concentration wavered, and my control over the magic sword faltered.
I hastily dispelled the flame sword as its outline began to blur, managing to avoid a major accident. I reflexively bowed my head to my 'teacher' standing beside me.
"If anything, I think you should be proud you were able to dismiss it instantly without incident. This is a good time, let's take a short break."
She could be strict, she could be kind, but in the end, she was still strict. And yet… Hinayo would offer corrections and pointers, but she never scolded, only praised.
She wasn't just kind; she was the very model of someone who nurtures through encouragement, in the truest sense of the word.
As always, she offered Sora a beautiful, mature smile—it was easy to see why she had so many female fans.
"Aren't you going to check your message?"
"Ah… y-yes!"
I'd been secretly admiring her ever since she started coaching me, and if I wasn't careful, I sometimes found myself staring off into space at her.
She was the picture-perfect 'composed adult woman'—and when someone like that gave me a little smile as if she could see right through me, the embarrassment was all the more acute.
Prompted, I flusteredly opened the message I'd received… and was met with a perplexing message from the person I'd expected.
Following its instructions, I manipulated the window further, swapping the message screen for my item inventory—
"……………………Wow."
A flashing, bright red weight icon indicated I was over my maximum carrying capacity.
And overflowing inside the bag I shared with a certain someone was a mountain of materials with similar names, like 'Snow—' and 'Ice—'.
"What's up?"
"Whoa, whoa…!"
—Then, a slight weight suddenly pressed against my back.
Mi-na, who had been watching our training again today, peeked over my shoulder at the system window that was invisible to her.
And if she was getting playful, that meant, of course…
"Mm."
…that Ri-na would naturally snuggle up too. I was honestly happy they'd taken a liking to me, but I still felt a sense of awe, a part of me tensing up.
Why had they grown so attached to me in the first place?
"Um… it seems Haru is out gathering materials, and his inventory is full, so he's asking if I can toss out one of his weapons."
"What's that about? Just like him to have no plan."
Mi-na sounded exasperated, but I wondered if I should defend him by pointing out the mountain of spoils, or by explaining that he carries more weapons than the average person.
…The trouble was, I felt neither would serve as a proper defense.
He'd probably just be met with a different kind of exasperation. Just like me, with the wry smile currently on my face.
"Besides, will taking out just one weapon even make a difference?"
Another exasperated sigh. Unfortunately, on that point, she was wrong.
A little spark of mischief ignited in me, and I manipulated my inventory without answering her question. From the interdimensional bag that connected us across a great distance, I retrieved my partner's weapon—
"Hyaah!?"
"Ngh…!"
The 'lump of iron' appeared higher than I expected and fell to the training ground floor with a tremendous crash. The tremor and roar made Mi-na jump and Ri-na flinch, while Hinayo blinked in surprise beside me.
The [Gravidon]—a problem child that took up several dozen percent of our shared inventory capacity all by itself. An armament made by that 'Pyro-Artisan' that was… unique, in many ways.
"Eh… wait, what? I don't get it. Is this a joke?"
"For a party trick…?"
"Um… it's for, uh, regular use, I think."
"…He carries this thing around with him normally?"
All three of them couldn't hide the taken-aback looks on their faces, but in this case, even Sora couldn't think of an excuse to defend her partner.
"Wait, is he an idiot?"
…To Mi-na's merciless jab,
"Ah, haha…"
I could only offer a vague smile, avoiding a direct answer.
◇◆◇◆◇
"—Haa-choo!"
A chill seeped into my skin, and I couldn't help but let out a massive sneeze. I'm grateful to Nia for forcing this expensive coat on me; I feel like I'm about to catch a cold in a virtual world.
And thanks to my partner for pulling out that massive weight on her end. Now I can launch an assault on that thing without any worries.
—So, what is that thing, anyway? What kind of design sense is this???
It's been a little over two hours since I started climbing.
I was sick and tired of the endless battles with wolves and yetis, so I decided to just go for it and unlocked the sky route, figuring if I got shot down or died by accident, so be it.
Laying down a 'path' with my daggers, I weaved through the anti-air barrage from the Kristel Wolves and finally reached the summit. There, I found myself tilting my head as I stared up at the sky in the completely changed scenery.
I had broken through a haze that could have been clouds or fog, and emerged into a wide-open space where the blizzard had ceased, replaced by a clear sky. The summit, which must have looked sharp and pointed from a distance, was a space about the size of a 'small plaza'—hardly vast.
Beneath a cloudless sky, the mountain's surface glittered, illuminated by a sun that was slowly beginning to set. It was a frigid ice field, frozen solid without a single gap.
At its center stood a great tree of ice—it had no leaves, but at its peak, countless branches spread out like a chalice. And upon that 'throne,' it floated, without even flapping its wings.
"……………………A feathered manta ray?"
Regrettably, my vocabulary could offer no better description.
A flat, large, diamond-shaped body with a long, slender tail.
That distinctive silhouette could only be described as a 'manta ray'—except, of course, that it had 'wings' instead of fins.
Conversely, that was where the similarities ended.
Its surface was not white… but a translucent, pale blue. Covered in feathers, no one would mistake it for a fish.
What was even more bizarre was its head, which had a gaping hole in it. Pulsating at the center of that empty circle was a giant version of that familiar 'mysterious ball of light,' glowing blue.
Seeing the countless major nuisances attending to it like minions—I see. So, this must be their leader.
"Ah… uh… hold on a second?"
As soon as I stepped onto the summit, the wolves had ceased their pursuit. Perhaps growing impatient with the intruder who was just blankly admiring its form, the 'giant' stirred.
—From the tip of one wing to the other, I estimated its wingspan to be over twenty meters.
Was it a threat, or just a whim? Its great wings beat once, stirring up a gale. As I braced myself to keep from being blown away, a massive shadow fell over me.
The wind died down. I looked up.
"Th-this isn't a raid boss… is it…?"
Displayed above its head was a five-tiered health gauge. And etched into the ornate status bar that signified a boss enemy was its name—[Epel, Great Ice Spirit Guardian].
The lord of the sacred peak, attended by countless ice spirits, used its eyeless gaze to look down from its high throne… upon the tiny, uninvited guest.