Chapter 502 - Chapter 446: A Light Warm-up on Day One
To put it simply, all the Stone Golems in the passage were tilled by Pan’s Mithril Hoe… We’d lure one, Seth would receive it, and while Pan tilled it, the next one would come… This repeated, and Bell-buchou and I had no role to play at all. There were no self-destructing Commanders either.
“Ryu!”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
Pan returned as if saying, “I did it!” so I stroked his head and praised him. Bell-buchou and Seth were surprised by Pan’s strength and his Mithril Hoe, but since it’s normal for us, I’ll just gloss over it.
“Shall we start with the closest room?”
“Haa… yes, alright.”
We cautiously opened the door, expecting more golems inside. There was no reaction from Presence Detection, but it was pitch black and we couldn’t see anything. I cast a Light Spirit’s light, sent it near the ceiling to illuminate the entire room, and stepped inside… It seemed safe, so I called everyone in.
“This floor seems to be a blacksmithing workshop, doesn’t it?”
“So it appears. With so many blacksmithing facilities, it must be a multi-purpose facility, not just for mining.”
“I wonder if they’re processing ores mined underground?”
The classroom-sized room contained two Ancient Magic Hearths, which I had seen before, and a full set of blacksmithing tools.
“It’s similar to the workshop on the island.”
“Yeah. It’s exactly the same, except for the furnace. Ow, ow, ow!”
As Mion and I were talking, Sweee suddenly tugged my ear. It seems she found something?
“What’s wrong?”
“No, just a moment…”
With Azure-san behind me, I followed Sweee’s lead. I thought it was just an ordinary wall with nothing special, but then,
“~~~!”
Sweee pointed at a spot just about knee-high. Come to think of it, in places like this…
“Ah, this is it. Slide up… There. An Emergency Magic Crystal Stone.”
“““What?!”””
Not only Azure-san, but Bell-buchou and Seth were also surprised. Mion and I had used the same thing in the Large Transfer Room on our island. However, since this Magic Crystal Stone was small, it seemed to be for this floor.
“Can I try it?”
“Of course!”
Azure-san replied immediately, and the other members had no objections. I wondered if this would restore the lighting here. Probably.
“Oh!”
As I poured MP into it, the lighting returned, as expected. I thought that if it was just this, a Light Spirit’s light would be enough, but then,
“Woof!”
“Huh? Leda?”
Looking towards Leda, who had suddenly barked, I saw that a small workbench-like object in front of her had begun to glow.
“Leave it to me!”
Seth readied her greatshield and stood next to Leda. As the light subsided,
“Hmm, Brother. It seems ingots have been transferred.”
“Huh?”
Seth lowered her greatshield and beckoned everyone over with an amused expression. Approaching it, I saw five ingots on the workbench. All of them looked like Magic Steel.
“Shou-kun, can I move those ingots? I think there’s a Transfer Magic Circle underneath.”
“I see. Seth, let’s move those.”
“Understood.”
As we worked together to remove them from the workbench, we realized that it wasn’t a workbench at all, but a platform for transfer. A Magic Steel magic circle was perfectly embedded in the surface of the platform. As Azure-san said, it was indeed a Transfer Magic Circle.
“Ah, I knew it. Shou-kun, can you analyze it for me?”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
Azure-san could probably do it himself, but maybe this was for skill experience? I hadn’t used the Magic Analysis skill much since acquiring it, so I performed it, trying to recall how. The Magic Analysis skill successfully leveled up to 4, and I used Appraisal again.
[Transfer Magic Circle (Reception Only)]
Accepts inanimate objects placed on it from a corresponding Transfer Magic Circle by infusing MP.
However, if there are obstacles on the magic circle, it will not activate due to safety concerns.
Individual ID Number: EB37F548-1457-449E-BA2F-365FA19A026D.
Component Magic: Positioning, other unknown.
Current Unique Identification Number of Designated Space: 250D345D-6566-47E3-9458-A30705F3E425.
“Um, it’s a Transfer Magic Circle, but it seems to be for reception only.”
“Mhm. So, the sending side must be somewhere else. Probably in the basement of this tower?”
It seemed like a place that would use the transferred ingots to create products here. Since Magic Steel was being sent… was it a facility for making magic tools?
“Brother. The speculation can wait. Let us check the remaining rooms.”
“That’s right.”
“Okay. So, shall we quickly move on to the next one?”
“Sounds good~.”
I wanted to see this entire floor today, but I wonder if we’ll have enough time.
…
…
…
The rooms on both sides of the first passage were all similar blacksmithing workshops. Opening the door at the end of the passage revealed a path leading left and right, and stairs going up and down.
““Bow!””
Leda and Roy quickly went to guard the left and right passages. Meanwhile, Lupi and I approached the stairs, and…
“It looks like an emergency staircase.”
“Indeed, movement by Transfer Elevator would be the main method.”
“But it seems you can access areas beyond the first floor’s passage from here.”
Bell-buchou peered down the descending stairs from behind Seth. Like the passage, it was illuminated by light, and after descending a short distance, there was a landing, where it turned and continued.
“What do we do?”
“Hmm. Shall we explore the other parts of this floor first?”
Just in case, I asked the guests for their confirmation.
“Yeah, sounds good~. Oh, this isn’t the end for today, is it?”
“No, of course not.”
The plan was to continue at the same time tomorrow, Tuesday. Wednesday would be a break because of Bell-buchou’s live stream, and then we’d resume on Thursday.
“Then, Brother, which way shall we proceed?”
“I feel like it’s the same either way, so let’s go right. We’ll loop around and fill out the entire floor.”
“That’s right. If we understand the layout of this floor, we can imagine what the other floors are like too.”
There were no objections to that.
“I’ll stay at the rear, just in case.”
“That’s helpful.”
And so, we went around, defeating Stone Golems and checking rooms, but they were all similar blacksmithing workshops. The presence of reception-only Transfer Magic Circles was also the same, as was the transfer of ingots when mana was supplied to the Emergency Magic Crystal Stones.
“This entire floor seems to be dedicated to blacksmithing.”
“It appears so.”
If this floor is mainly a blacksmithing workshop, then there must be furnaces below. In that case, I’m curious about what’s above.
“Hmm. I would like to continue either up or down, but…”
“It’s almost time,” Mion said. As she said, it was already half past ten. Staying up late for a training camp might be standard, but we’re going swimming tomorrow, so I should go to bed early…