Chapter 673 - The Arrival of the Party
"—Aaaand with that, good evening, everyone! Hope you're all doing well!"
"Yes, good evening."
"Good evening!"
"...Is thatわざとらしい greeting really necessary every time?"
After spending some time in the atelier—eighty percent training in Magic Craft, twenty percent dealing with Nia—I took care of my studies and dinner in the real world. Time flew, and it was now just before 8 PM.
As usual, we weren't at the clan home. Under the cover of the virtual world's long night, the full roster of the Azure Sky Clan, myself included, had gathered at our rendezvous point at the southern edge of the city.
Only two people returned my rough, off-the-cuff greeting with polite and energetic replies: my master and my number two junior. The rest consisted of a single annoyed mumble from a low-energy Tetra, who may or may not have just woken up, and a wry smile from Sora-san next to me, who saw right through my casual act.
What a diverse and wonderful group. No matter where we head, there's no way our journey with these members could be anything but fun. And in terms of combat power, we can go anywhere without a problem.
That said, by process of elimination, I'll be taking on the role of guide.
Sora-san, our clan master, will be in command during battles. Tetra would adamantly refuse, and if I left it to Ui-san, we'd lose too much time to her calming presence. It would be too much of a hospital pass to just say, "Okay, you're up," to the remaining member, Kanata. So, it's really down to one choice.
We have a pretty serious lineup of all-stars, but they're mostly close friends. To show my commitment to this group, I'll gladly and casually take the lead.
"Alright, we don't have time to mess around, so let's get—hey, you, stop looking unnecessarily apologetic. Just showing up and making time for us is worth a standing ovation, so hold your head high—and with that, let's head out!"
"Okay!"
"Fufu… okay."
"What's with your energy level…"
"Ah, haha… He's often like this before an adventure."
Setting aside the black-clad boy who still seemed a bit sleepy, our time to take a high school student out to play is limited now that school is back in session.
Apparently, a ridiculous new norm is spreading where top-tier players prioritize Arcadia over their studies or work, but Sora-san and I have chosen the arduous path of balancing both, the double-line勢.
I have no intention of grinding away the time I dedicate to reality. Therefore, time is precious.
—Then, it's your turn, my 'wings.'
"W-Wow…"
Only one person here hadn't seen my already-publicly-known Tamed Beast, Sapphire, the Stardust Dragon. While enjoying the sense of peace from Kanata staring blankly at the massive creature emerging from the shadows and spreading its great wings…
"Alright then, let's go—This is the Azure Sky Clan's first-ever grand expedition."
From my spot on its back, beside the shining 'azure' on its neck, I beckoned my comrades.
And so, our journey of several hundred kilometers would be a super-fast express ride, blasting past and skipping over the conventional wisdom of 'expeditions.'
◇◆◇◆◇
In Arcadia, 'gimmick dungeons' are a rarity. In other words, most dungeons in this game are simply about 'advancing down a path and defeating enemies.'
In a normal game, such a design might be criticized as 'monotonous,' 'lacking variety,' or 'lazy,' but this is Arcadia, the god-tier game.
First of all, the sheer spectacle of seeing the breathtaking environments directly creates an adventure that never gets old. And since the variety of enemies, including bosses, is practically limitless, there's infinite variation even without elaborate gimmicks.
Besides, when I say gimmick dungeons are rare, that's only in proportion to the total number of 'dungeons,' which easily exceeds several thousand. There's no room for complaint.
Anyway, one of the foremost examples of such a rare gimmick dungeon is none other than the lair of a 'Great Spirit.' To be precise, it's not an instanced dungeon but an environmental feature on the field. However, due to its scale and difficulty, it's collectively referred to as a 'domain.'
Previously, I challenged the stronghold of [Epel, Great Ice Spirit Guardian], the [Eternal Ice Peaks of Extreme White], which was also one of these 'domains' with gimmicks related to its traversal.
The fool who charged in solo without any research was left dumbfounded, thinking, What is this humanity-rejecting domain? But as it turns out, it was the fool, not the environment, who was deserving of my exasperation.
And so, a little less than seven hundred kilometers south-southeast of the player city, the Safe Area, we arrived in just over an hour thanks to the Sapphire Express at full speed. This place—
The lair of [Rapharn, Great Spirit of the Rushing Waters] is also one of those 'domains.'
"—Whoooa… What is this… what is this place? The very definition of mystical."
At the bottom of a river flowing through a small forest.
It was a scene where unreality—fantasy—reached its peak. We dove into a 'crack' that gaped open in the water, and found ourselves in a limestone cave that existed partitioned off by a wall of air.
A faint blue light illuminated the space, though there was no apparent light source. Thanks to the super-vision unique to virtual world avatars, securing a line of sight was no problem. The only difficulty in proceeding at the moment seemed to be the countless branching paths visible right from the entrance.
Ah, there was another problem—or rather, two people having problems.
"Uh, um… you guys okay?"
When I turned around, I saw four soaked figures standing there—no, correction.
"N-Not…"
"…okay, it seems."
""………………""
Only two were standing just fine; the other two were currently down for the count. They didn't even have the energy to answer my question, lying prostrate on the ground together.
Ha, seems they split perfectly along gender lines. Kanata's being counted as a boy, I presume.
As for what happened, it was simple. They were probably done in by the non-stop, no-brakes aerial journey exceeding five or six hundred kilometers per hour, topped off by a dive from the air into the water, which was the final straw.
I had connected them all with my convenient 'shadow threads,' which also trigger a transport effect along with the contact effect, and placed the four of them under the protection of [Luna Nobody, Guardian of the Shimmering Moon], but… well, for a first-timer, it can't be helped.
Incidentally, Sora-san is more than used to this, and the [Sword Saint]-sama, who has mastered superhuman mobility on her own, was completely unscathed. As expected of her.
Well, anyway.
"Hmm… Can't be helped. Let's take a short break before we start exploring."
"Could you perhaps have come to that conclusion before gallantly diving into the river?"
As I murmured this while observing the two groggy members—the one who, as soon as we arrived at one of the points marked on the map data I'd received as payment from the [Screen] herself, had succumbed to curiosity and thrown himself into the water with almost no hesitation—a somewhat chilly gaze pierced me.
Sorry about that. The moment I confirmed the river wasn't too deep and saw no fish in the clear water, the excitement that had been building up during the long journey just burst—
"…Haru."
"Yes."
"You're excited, aren't you?"
Yes, absolutely.
This is an adventure with my own party. It would be a lie to say I wasn't fired up to the max.