kscans

Chapter 356 - The Lord of the Sacred Peak

"—Ah... s-sorry, a message...!"

In the middle of our ongoing training, which seemed to have no end in sight, a notification popped up in the corner of my vision with a light sound. Distracted, my concentration wavered, and my control over the magic swords faltered.

I hastily dispelled the flame swords, which had started to blur, and managed to avoid a major accident—I found myself reflexively bowing my head to my 'teacher' standing next to me.

"If anything, I think you should be proud of being able to dismiss them instantly without incident. This is a good time, let's take a short break."

She was a teacher who was strict, yet kind, yet still strict... but Hinayo would offer corrections and pointers, never scolding, only praising.

She wasn't just kind; she was the very model of the 'praise and nurture' type of teacher.

As always, she gave 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 secretly come to admire her since she started training me, and sometimes I'd find myself just staring at her blankly.

When a person who is the very picture of a 'composed adult woman' gives you a knowing smile, it's doubly embarrassing.

Prompted by her, I flusteredly opened the received message... and was greeted by a message from the expected sender, containing a perplexing request.

Following its instructions, I switched windows again, and the item inventory replaced the message screen—

"..................Wow."

A blinking, bright red weight icon indicated I had exceeded my carrying capacity.

And overflowing in the bag I shared with 'a certain someone' were heaps of materials with similar names like 'Snow—' and 'Ice—.'

"What's up?"

"Whoa, whoa...!"

—Suddenly, a slight weight pressed against my back.

Mi-na, who had been watching our training today as well, was peeking over my shoulder at the invisible system window.

And, of course, if she was being playful...

"Mm."

Ri-na, with a look that said it was only natural, also snuggled up—I'm honestly happy that they've taken a liking to me, but it's still so humbling, and a part of my heart still feels nervous.

Why did they take such a liking to me in the first place?

"Um... Haru seems to be out gathering materials, and he's asking if I could take one weapon out of our inventory because it's full."

"What's with that? He's so disorganized, just as you'd expect."

Mi-na said with an exasperated tone, but I wondered if I should defend him by showing her the mountains of loot, or by explaining that he carries around more weapons than the average person.

...The problem is, I don't think either would count as a defense.

I'd probably just be met with a different kind of exasperation. Just like how I was currently offering a wry smile.

"I mean, taking out just one weapon won't make that much of a difference, will it?"

Another exasperated sigh. Unfortunately, on that point, she was mistaken.

Feeling a little mischievous, I manipulated the inventory without answering her question. From the interdimensional bag that connected us across the distance, I pulled out my partner's weapon—

"Hyaah!?"

"...!"

The 'lump of iron' appeared at a higher position than I expected and fell to the training ground floor with a tremendous crash. Mi-na jumped at the tremor and the roar, Ri-na's shoulders flinched, and even Hinayo beside us blinked in surprise.

[Gravidon]—the problem child that took up several dozen percent of our shared inventory capacity all by itself, a weapon made by the Pyre Artisan that was... something else, in more ways than one.

"Eh..................eh, I don't get it, I don't get it, what is this, a joke weapon?"

"For a party trick...?"

"Um... for everyday use, I think."

"...He carries this around with him normally?"

All three of them couldn't hide their taken-aback expressions, but even Sora couldn't think of an excuse to defend her partner on this one.

"Huh? Is he an idiot?"

...And against Mi-na's merciless jab,

"Ah, haha..."

All I could do was offer a vague smile, avoiding a direct answer.

◇◆◇◆◇

"—Achoo!!"

A chill seeped into my skin, and I couldn't help but let out a massive sneeze. I'm grateful to Nia for forcing that expensive coat on me; I feel like I'm going to catch a cold in a virtual world.

And I'm also grateful to my partner for pulling that heavy weight out on her end. Now I can launch an attack on that thing without any worries.

—So, what is that thing, anyway? What kind of design sense...??

It had been a little over two hours since I started climbing.

After getting thoroughly fed up with the endless battles against wolves and snowmen, I decided to just go for the aerial route, figuring if I got shot down or died in an accident, so be it.

After carving a 'path' with my Rabbit Daggers and weaving through the anti-air barrage of the [Crystal Wolves] to reach the summit, I tilted my head as I looked up at the sky in the completely changed scenery.

Breaking through the haze of what could be clouds or fog, the open space was a clear sky, free of the blizzard. The summit, which must have looked sharp and pointed from a distance, was about the size of a 'small plaza.'

Beneath a cloudless sky, the mountain face glittered, illuminated by the slowly setting sun. A frigid field of ice, frozen solid.

In its center stood a great tree of ice—it had no leaves, but at its top, its countless branches spread out like a cup, forming a 'throne.' And on it, without even flapping its wings, it floated.

"..................A manta ray with wings?"

It is with sincere regret that I admit my vocabulary could not come up with a more accurate description.

A flat, large, diamond-shaped body, and a long, thin tail.

That characteristic silhouette could only be described as a 'manta ray'—though it had 'wings' instead of fins.

But that was only the overall silhouette.

A translucent, pale blue body, not quite white. Seeing its form, covered in feathers, no one would call it a fish.

Even more bizarre was its head, which had a gaping hole in it. Pulsating in the center of the hollowed-out circle was a blue light, like a giant version of that 'mysterious glowing orb.'

Seeing the countless extremely annoying enemies serving as its minions around it—I see, so in terms of category, this must be their boss.

"Ah... h-hold on a second?"

As soon as I stepped onto the summit, the pursuit of the wolves stopped cold. Perhaps annoyed at the intruder who was blankly admiring its form, the giant figure stirred.

—From the tip of its left wing to the tip of its right, I estimated it to be over twenty meters.

Was it a threat, or just a whim? The gust of wind stirred up by a great flap of its wings buffeted me, and I instinctively braced myself to avoid being blown away. A giant shadow fell over me.

The wind stopped. I looked up.

"Th-this isn't a raid boss... is it...?"

Displayed above its head was a five-layered health gauge. And engraved on the ornate status bar, a symbol of a boss enemy, was the name—[Epel, Great Ice Spirit Guardian].

The lord of the sacred peak, attended by countless ice spirits, looked down from its high throne with a gaze that needed no eyes... upon the tiny, uninvited guest.