Chapter 257: Light
『Here comes the problem now. 』
『And what is that? 』
『Which one is better, pretend to be a mage, or pretend to be a swordsman? 』
『Pretend…? 』
Khan seemed confused when I asked him what to do.
『If you’re going to use magic, then shouldn’t it be a mage? Well, considering your physique, that is. There hasn’t been any spirit around you until now, right. 』
『…Physique. 』
Why didn’t I think of asking Van for a specific physique when they were deciding on my appearance back then…?
Even Retze, who looked just like any average guy, is taller and more muscular than me. No, it’s actually suspicious that I look two years younger than my age in terms of height and muscles. My hair and nails grow, so I’m probably growing too in that aspect too, but why do I feel like I’m not getting any bigger?
I’ve been drinking milk every single day, you know…!!
Ahh, but Khan’s right, I’ve been so focused on dispersing the spirits that I forgot to stick a few of them beside me. I can’t use the excuse “I’m possessed by a spirit, you know~” to explain why I’m stronger than I look. Ah, no, I have one chance to make this right since they hadn’t been aware of me until now.
When Glasses’ gaze shifted elsewhere, I sneakily used that chance to summon one wind spirit and one light spirit toward my shadow. I have two spirits, so I chose the smaller ones compared to the spirits possessing Dean and Chris, and also tinier than Az.
I make sure mine matches the attributes of the white snake spirit possessing Glasses. My sword is the one I bought in the fortress city, and it’s made from steel blended with magical ore, so I’ll pretend to be a swordsman for now. If necessary, I’ll also copy the spells casted by Glasses.
My magic is patterned after the spells casted in games that I played back in Japan after all. Whenever I practice, the spirits heavily influence my moves, so recently, I’ve been trying hard to use a light spell only whenever I’m reading a book or doing some work. Well, I’ll probably get scolded if I use that sort of magic spell, though.
If worse comes to worst, I can also pretend to be Ruf passing by, but everything must be hassle-free as much as possible. And Dinosso and the other guys, just think of it as our usual sword practice, alright? Back when they told me off, I still thought that I was wielding the sword normally, but now I realized just how much of a mess I was back then.
Anyway, just as I expected, 【Search 】spotted a huge hole in a relatively open space, and it looked like it dissolved into the floor. The area seemed pretty roughed up. He must’ve casted magic in the narrow space, because the walls on both sides have places that seemed to have been gouged out, the ceiling was cracked, the floor became gravel — even I, a noob, can’t overlook these traces…
Glasses cast a light spell as he scrutinized the damage done. Hey, if you can use a spell like that then just use it from the start, will you.
「Iscal-dono, how long can you use that spell? 」
「If I don’t use any other magic, then it will be around one day and two hours. As you can see, light spirits do not dwell here and we do not have enough light source for them to recover. 」
Iscal answered Butler’s query. I’m not sure if he’s answering frankly, or he’s leaving some leeway for himself in his response, but his reply is way too short for me to get anything out of it!! Can’t you just keep on pouring mana to the spirits to make it work…?
There’s the nonexistent monsters that should’ve appeared by now on this 20th level, plus things that shouldn’t have been here and yet were left behind.
There is an elevated protrusion alongside the wall about a meter taller than any other part. People could stay there keeping watch through the night. Tools and baggage, except for those that were probably worn, were left lying there. Adventurers do leave their heavy loads here when they go hunting on this floor, but not like this. It was a terrible sight.
「The campfire has already gone cold… 」
Glasses remarked while touching the ashes.
A water flask that’s supposed to be worn at all times, a cup, bags that had been left opened with the contents scattered about. Generally, folks who go into the Labyrinth would pack up their things as soon as they’re done using them so that they could quickly move if something happened. And yet, everything here had been left as they were here — the cup was lying on the ground with some half-eaten jerky — it was a total mess.
Add to the fact that it felt as if nobody returned here for a long time.
「Iscal, I have a question. I know the Guild is against disclosing information about the adventurers, but this is an emergency. Is there anyone who can See spirits among those who went below the 20th level? 」
Dinosso’s tone is harder than usual.
「There aren’t, as far as I know. There were two among the adventurers of the fortress city, but one of them was recruited by Amadeo’s party and is currently traveling northward with them, while the other one is in hiding because he found it too troublesome. It would have been better if we were able to contact them privately and secretly give them the commission, but… 」
Glasses answered his question.
「I see… 」
Dinosso answered shortly then he fell silent.
If the adventurers can’t See then they were probably possessed. It’s said that it would be harder for spirits to possess people with strong will, but what if they had been weakened in some way? Both the heroes and Rosa’s clan are a huge nuisance.
「Nine people… Two parties, no, three, huh. One of the parties should be a pair of a woman and a man. The four-people party probably has a mage or a shaman among them. 」
Retze said after quickly going through the contents of the bags. Amazing, he knew all of that in just a short time?
By the way, according to Glasses, there are a total of 30 people divided into ten parties that have advanced beyond the 20th level. Only one party among them requested permission to go beyond the 25th level.
「They’ve come this far, so it must be Jasmine and her husband. They’re skilled, cautious adventurers who compliment each other well, and they work great as a pair. 」
Glasses said while staring at their things.
「If there’s a mage, then it should be Vix. He accepted a commission from a foreigner party to guide them and also help them hunt — something terrible must’ve happened, huh? 」
The leader (I still don’t know his name) of the other party asked while his eyes darted between Dinosso and Glasses.
「It seems like the hero casted an advanced, but unnecessary magic, causing a large number of black spirits to be born. Perhaps there might have been multitudes of them, and there’s also a possibility that an unusually huge spirit had turned black. And since there are no animals here that they could possess, they must’ve resorted to cannibalism, or perhaps they tried to merge with the monsters, but couldn’t because they were already defeated. Normally, it’s hard for spirits to possess beings with strong willpower, but… 」
Glasses hesitated.
The adventurers gulped and paled as they took a step back. Oh, so rather than weakening their target, maybe it’s also possible to overwhelm and possess through sheer numbers?
Ahh, I’m going to be crushed…!!! — The memory of seeing the multitude of black spirits for the first time in my mountain home as they pushed the glass windows flashed through my mind.
Where did the monsters and animals in the Labyrinth come from? Well, some of them migrated from their usual habitats, but according to what I’ve learned in the library, there’s a stream of teeny tiny spirits underground, and whatever falls into it gets spit out inside the Labyrinth.
They’d end up swallowing a lot of those tiny spirits while splashing and tumbling around, resulting in the formation of magic stones in their bodies — or so it said.
But I can no longer say I’m a mage or I’m a swordsman given the situation, huh. I had to pull the black spirits apart from their targets as soon as possible or else it’ll be a disaster. Ack, I just finally joined the party, but it seems like I have to go masquerading as Passerby Ruf and really go solo at this rate..!! Ah, no, wait a sec, maybe I could just join Dean’s party as Passerby Ruf?
Alright, alright, I got this.
NEXT CHAPTER
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I Got Transferred in the Middle of a Mountain
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