kscans

Chapter 673 - The Arrival of the Party

"—Alright, everyone, good evening and hello!"

"Yes, good evening."

"Good evening!"

"…Do we need that deliberately formal greeting every time?"

After killing time in the atelier with eighty percent magic craft training and twenty percent dealing with Nia, and then finishing up my studies and dinner in the real world, the time flew by to just before 8 PM.

As usual, we weren't at the clan home. Under the cover of the long night's darkness in the virtual world, the full roster of the Azure Sky clan gathered at the southern end of the city, our meeting spot.

To my casual greeting that served as a starter, I received polite and cheerful replies from my master and junior number two, followed by a single annoyed mutter from a low-energy Tetra, who may or may not have just woken up. Plus one wry smile from Sora-san next to me, who saw through my half-heartedness.

Such a variety of personalities, it's quite wonderful. No matter where we go, there's no way a journey with these members could be anything but fun. And in terms of combat power, we can go anywhere without a problem.

And so, by process of elimination, I'll be taking on the role of facilitator.

I'll leave the in-combat command to our Clan Master, Sora-san. Tetra would flat-out refuse, leaving it to Ui-san would result in so much feel-good vibes that time would melt away, and telling the remaining Kanata, "Alright, you're up," would be too much of a killer pass. So, it's really a one-man race.

They're a seriously impressive group, but hey, they're practically all family. To show my own commitment to this circle, I'll gladly take the lead and keep things lighthearted.

"Alright, we don't have much time to waste, so let's get going—hey, no need to look unnecessarily apologetic. Just having you make time to come is worthy of three cheers and a big welcome, so stand tall—and with that, let's head out!"

"Okay!"

"Fufu… okay."

"What's with this energy…"

"Ah, haha………… Before an adventure, he's pretty much, uh, like this."

Setting aside the low-energy, black-clad boy who still seemed a bit sleepy, the time I can take the high schooler, whose classes have resumed, out to play is limited.

Apparently, a ridiculous common sense is spreading in the world where top-tier players prioritize Arcadia over their studies or work, but Sora-san and I have chosen the path of the warrior, balancing both our daily lives.

We have no intention of grinding away the time we have for reality. Therefore, time is precious.

—In that case, it's your turn, my 'wings.'

"W-Whoa…………"

Only one person here hasn't seen the already-publicly-revealed tamed beast, Sapphire, the Stardust Dragon. While enjoying the harmony from Kanata, who was staring blankly at the massive body that emerged from the shadows and spread its great wings…

"Alright, let's go—it's the Azure Sky clan's memorable first expedition."

Next to the shining 'blue' on its neck, I invited my comrades from atop its back.

As for the several hundred-kilometer journey, we'll be skipping it at超-high speed, a super express that kicks the common sense of 'expeditions' to the curb.

◇◆◇◆◇

In Arcadia, 'gimmick dungeons' are rare. To put it another way, most dungeons in this game are simply 'proceed down the path and defeat the enemies.'

In a normal game, this design would likely be met with harsh criticism like 'monotonous,' 'lacks variety,' or 'lazy,' but this is a god-tier game, this is Arcadia.

First of all, the sheer impact of directly seeing the magnificent landscapes creates an adventure that you never tire of, and the variety of enemies, including bosses, is limitless, so there's infinite variation without needing to overcomplicate things with gimmicks.

Besides, when I say gimmick dungeons are rare, that's only in comparison to the total number of 'dungeons,' which easily exceeds several thousand. There's no room for complaints.

Anyway, the prime examples of such rare gimmick dungeons are none other than the lairs of the 'Great Spirits.' To be precise, they're not instance-based dungeons but environments on the field, secret places collectively called 'Domains' based on their scale and difficulty.

Previously, the place I challenged, the stronghold of [Epel, Great Ice Spirit Guardian], the [Eternal Ice Peaks of Extreme White], was also one of these 'Domains' with a gimmick related to its traversal.

A fool who went on a solo突撃 without any research was left dumbfounded, thinking, 'What is this human-rejecting domain?' but as it turns out, the one to be dumbfounded at was not the environment but the fool himself.

And so, about seven hundred kilometers south-southeast of the player city, the 'Safe Area.' After a journey of just over an hour on the Sapphire Express at full speed, we arrived here—

The lair of [Rafan, Great Spirit of Sudden Water], is also one of these 'Domains.'

"—Whoooa………… What is this… what. The epitome of mystical."

At the bottom of a river flowing through a certain small forest.

This was the height of unrealistic (fantasy), yet it didn't feel unnatural. Diving into a 'fissure' that opened up in the water, we found ourselves in a limestone cave, separated by a wall of air.

There was no apparent light source, yet a faint blue light illuminated the space, and thanks to the super-vision unique to virtual world avatars, we had no trouble seeing. The only difficulty in proceeding at the moment would be the countless branching paths visible right from the entrance.

Ah, there was another difficulty, or rather, two of them.

"Uh, um… you guys okay?"

When I turned around, I saw four people standing there, just as drenched as I was—no, correction.

"N-Not okay…"

"Doesn't look like it."

""………………""

Only two were standing there looking fine; the other two were currently down for the count. They didn't even have the energy to answer my question, and were lying on the ground together.

Haha, they've split neatly by gender. And Kanata is presumed to be a boy.

What happened was simple. After a non-stop, no-brakes aerial journey at over five or six hundred kilometers per hour, they were probably done in by various things, and then finally gave out after going from the air to the water.

I had connected a convenient 'shadow thread' that could also generate a transport effect along with a contact effect, and brought all four of them under the protection of [Luna Nobody, Guardian of the Shimmering Moon], but… well, it can't be helped for their first time.

By the way, Sora-san, who is completely used to all this, is fine, but the Sword Saint, who has mastered superhuman mobility on her own, is completely unscathed. As expected of her.

Well, anyway.

"Hmm… can't be helped. Let's take a short break before exploring."

"Could you have perhaps come to that conclusion before heroically diving into the river?"

And so, as I muttered while observing the two groggy members—as soon as we arrived at one of the points marked on the map data, the payment received from the one and only Screen, I gave in to my curiosity and threw myself into the water almost instantly. Now, a rather chilly gaze pierced me.

I'm sorry. I confirmed it wasn't that deep and didn't see any fish in the clear water, and at that point, the excitement that had built up during the long journey just burst—

"…Haru."

"Yes."

"You're excited, aren't you."

Yes, absolutely.

It's an adventure with my own party. It would be a lie to say I'm not completely hyped.