Volume 6 Chapter 5
Volume 6 Chapter 5: The Hot Spring
Somewhere in the palace.
Surrounded by walls that shielded it from view, there lay a hot spring.
It was a large stone bath made from dozens of rocks, filled to the brim with milky white water.
Daisy and I soaked in it, enjoying the warmth and relaxation.
「This hot spring’s way richer in magical energy than the ones in the Human Realm, my friend.」
「Yeah. Parum said it’s fed directly from the source—pretty luxurious.」
Even in the Human Realm’s Spirit City, it was rare to bathe in naturally infused magical waters like this.
「I used to try making magical bath additives through alchemy, and lately the commercial guilds have started selling ‘hot spring powder,’ but… yeah, nothing compares to the real thing.」
Daisy scooped up water and splashed it on herself as she muttered.
「True. It doesn’t just feel like we’re recovering—it feels like our bodies are syncing, getting into perfect condition.」
Maybe it was due to being in the Spirit Realm itself, but—
—I definitely felt like my movements had become smoother.
When you’re constantly on the move, your body subtly misaligns over time. This hot spring felt like it was correcting that.
As I enjoyed the sensation—
「Hey, buddy… your clothes over there are glowing.」
Daisy swam over and pointed toward the basket holding our clothes.
Sure enough, it was glowing faintly.
That light was familiar.
「Oh, a level-up.」
Yep. The light of leveling up.
My skill sheet, tucked in my clothes pocket, was glowing.
Curious, I got out of the bath and pulled it from the basket.
It read:
【Condition Met — Underwater Movement Distance in Spirit Realm Achieved
Carrier Job Level Up Achieved】
【New Skill Acquired: Water Walk — Grade 1】
「Wow. Even here, your leveling speed’s insane, buddy.」
Floating on the water, Daisy chuckled as she watched.
「Well, it’s my first time in the Spirit Realm as a carrier. First-time experiences tend to rack up conditions.」
I read over the description of my new skill.
【Water Surface Step — Grade 1: Allows the user to walk on water for ten seconds per day.】
「Hey, that’s pretty cool, Daisy. I can walk on water now.」
It was a new type of movement skill—different in flavor from the ones I’d had before.
「Wait, didn’t you run across water back in your Dragon Knight days?」
「I did. But back then I was forcefully creating magic footholds and combining several skills. It was a pain.」
And doing that kind of skill-stacking took a serious toll on the body.
I’d been pushing it hard back then—but now—
「As a carrier, I don’t have to use such complex methods anymore. This is way more practical.」
「Yeah, simultaneous skill use tires the brain and takes effort. But with ten seconds… you could cover quite a bit. More than enough for practical use.」
「Exactly. I mean, I won’t be crossing oceans with this or anything, but it definitely expands my movement options. As a carrier, being able to go more places is always exciting.」
I’d already been thrilled when my transport bag got an upgrade, and now with this kind of movement skill… it was a fresh kind of happiness.
Seeing me smile, Daisy grinned back.
「You really are always hungry to grow stronger, buddy.」
「It’s fun when I can do more. Of course I’m hungry for it.」
「Haha, so you. I want to get stronger too… whoa—」
Mid-sentence, Daisy shivered.
「Huh? What’s wrong?」
「Ah—just that this hot spring makes my senses way sharper. It’s starting to tickle a bit—」
Just then—
「—Whoa…?」
Daisy’s body—specifically, the crystal on her chest—began to glow.
A bluish-golden light radiated from the crystal, wrapping around her entire form.
And then—
Pop!
With a soft burst of steam and light, she transformed.
When the smoke cleared—
「Oh my.」
A girl stood there, with yellow hair and the same distinctive Carbuncle crystal on her chest.
「—My friend, looks like my appearance changed to that of a human..」
It was Daisy. Same voice, as when she was in the beast form, but now coming out of a girl’s mouth.
「A Carbuncle’s human transformation, huh? Been a while since I’ve seen that.」
Carbuncles, like the dragons of Berzelia’s kind, are phantom beasts.
Which means, under the right conditions, they can take human form.
There are various conditions for Carbuncle transformation—
「This time, it’s probably from absorbing too much magical energy.」
「Yeah. I think during the Demon King War, I transformed a few times when we channeled rituals using your magic.」
「Right. It hasn’t happened in a while, though. Feels a bit embarrassing now.」
Daisy looked over her human body as she spoke.
It wasn’t something she showed often—nor did she like to.
So it really had been ages since I’d seen her like this.
「Can you move fine in that form?」
「Hmm…」
She dipped back into the water, then stood up again and moved her arms and legs.
「Feels fine. But now that I’m like this, I’ll have to stay in this form for a while to burn off the excess energy…」
「Right. It’s hard to switch back immediately.」
「Yeah. I can force the change, though—」
She placed a hand on her chest.
Light surrounded her again.
Her form shrank and began returning to her original Carbuncle state—but—
Pop.
With another burst of steam and light, she reverted to human form again.
「See? Just being near this high-magic water flips the switch instantly. And this is the Spirit Realm—magic’s dense everywhere. The hot spring just sped things up.」
Carbuncles and dragons transform differently. Dragons can switch forms relatively easily, but Carbuncles can’t.
「At this rate, I don’t think I’ll be able to go back while we’re in this world.」
「Then I guess you’ll just have to manage both forms depending on the situation.」
「Yeah. Once I let out enough energy, I can go back temporarily. And honestly, this body’s kind of convenient. The long limbs make it easier to handle equipment. Magic hits harder too.」
In beast form, Carbuncles are better at magical control. In human form, their magic becomes more powerful.
That seemed to apply to Daisy as well.
「Yeah. I think I’ll adjust your spear while we’re here in the Spirit Realm. With higher output, it’s a good opportunity.」
「Sure, I’ll leave that to you.」
Weapon tuning was Daisy’s specialty. No reason not to let her handle it.
「Roger that. Okay then… let’s enjoy the rest of this bath in my human form! It’s rare for us to soak like this together!」
「Yeah, let’s take it easy.」
And so we did—
Until Parum came to call us, and let out a surprised cry at the sight of human-form Daisy.
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