Becoming the Domain's Salt Emperor? What Random Bullshit Is This?
[zi-ultimate-flame-emperor123]: Long time no talk, and suddenly what the hell is this bullshit?
What the hell is this Salt Field nonsense? Has the Magic Tower Master finally lost her mind?
Right now, securing food to fill our bellies comes way before something like salt.
The most famous guy in the Shelter right now. No way I wouldn't know him. We were just talking about him with my comrades the other day.
I had no intention of refusing, really.
Thanks to these ticket dungeons lately, my comrades were even saying we might not need to push the deepest layers anymore.
One less raid team won't make a difference now anyway.
I don't know exactly what working at a Salt Field entails, but it has to be better than deepest layer raids.
So why the long buildup like this?
...No clue about anything else, but I had to secure days off, at least.
My joints are screaming they're at their limit...!!
I just want at least one day off a week... I'm not some heroic type who'd grind myself to dust for strangers in the Shelter whose faces I don't even know!
Hot springs?
Yeomje's mind blanked for a second.
His twilight years were meant to be spent in a hot spring city—that's why he'd rolled through every battlefield as a war mage up till now. If not for those damn monsters, he'd be lounging in a hot spring city for the rest of his life right now.
That dream he'd thought gone forever... was it coming back?
Yeomje's decision was instantaneous.
A chat message went up, spinal reflex-fast, bypassing any brain filters.
A few days later.
Joodak introduced me to a new person.
'He said this guy's gonna boost Salt Field output by dozens of times...'
And he's a Dimensional Transferee like me, to boot.
-Thump thump
Meeting another transferee for the first time has me hyped.
What kinda ability does he have?
Heart pounding, I waited at the Salt Field spawn point with the dwarf triplets for our new comrade.
"Hey, Dungeon Master. You sure this guy's really gonna revolutionize Salt Field production? Honestly, I can't believe it. Just patrolling this massive field takes forever."
No matter how you slice it with magic, evaporating seawater across such a huge area at once would be tough.
Screw up the firepower control or area settings with an AoE spell, and you'd burn the whole Salt Field to ash.
In the end, you'd have to wander around casting on each section one by one...
"Well, I don't quite buy it either, but if Joodak bro says so..."
"I've always wondered—why do you call Joodak 'bro'?"
Well... she's helped me out a ton from the start, and she's basically my mental pillar in this otherworld. Straight-up respect. My big bro.
When I explained that to Granite Fist,
"...That's not what I meant..."
"...?"
Mid-chit-chat, a glow gathered in front of us, forming a human shape.
"Looks like he's here?"
The arrival was a middle-aged guy in full-on "I'm totally a mage!" robes.
"O... ohhh!! How long has it been since I last saw the sky!!!"
The middle-aged man spread his arms wide, eyes closed, savoring the sea breeze like he'd reclaimed his freedom.
We let him enjoy it without interrupting until he seemed satisfied.
"Whew... sorry about that. Seeing the sky after so long just cleared my soul—feels so damn refreshing for the first time in ages... You're the Dungeon Master? That's one freaky mask you've got."
"Nice to meet you. Joodak told me about you. You're the Divine Eye Salt Emperor?"
"...Salt Emperor, yes, but not Divine Eye...? Isn't that the slippery elf's nickname?"
Just checking.
"Got it... anyway, nice to meet you. I'm the Dungeon Master! I heard you'd be taking over Salt Field operations."
"Yeah, that's the deal. I only know magic, so don't expect anything else."
"The day-to-day ops are getting handled by the newly set-up Salt Field Management Office anyway, so no worries there."
He's basically a figurehead, but he's the core of the whole thing.
"Um... one thing I'm curious about: I heard you can massively boost salt production, and it ties to your transferee ability..."
"Mm, that's right. Might as well show you."
Yeomje raised his staff toward the sky.
An invisible barrier-like veil spread out from him. It passed right through me and the dwarves harmlessly.
"See that?"
"Yeah, some kinda veil went by—what is it?"
"That's my transferee ability. Normally invisible, but I made it visible on purpose."
"Huh? So what's this veil do?"
No explanation, so no clue...
"This veil... is my 'Domain'. Inside it, I have absolute control. I can grasp all info within, and cast magic from anywhere in the range."
Whoa... this is straight-up Domain Expansion...
"Uh... how big's the range...?"
"Roughly from here to over there."
Yeomje pointed to a massive fireball floating in the distance.
Tiny from here, but factoring in the insane distance, its actual size was unimaginable.
Crazy... how huge is this Domain exactly?
"Hmm... and if I shrink the deployed Domain back down."
The veil contracted rapidly, forming a small orb in Yeomje's palm.
"Gasp...!!"
The dwarves next to me jumped in shock.
Something inside the orb spun violently, on the verge of exploding.
That's... mana?
"What do you think? That's all the ambient mana in the Domain compressed into one point. I can convert this mana clump to an element and unleash explosive firepower from that single spot."
"Whoa... firepower romance..."
I dig Sun Call, but ultimate firepower fantasy is irresistible.
Wanna see how strong it really is...
"Well, holding onto ambient mana does consume my own power, so I can't spam it forever."
Not absorbing mana, but using some kinda cost to contain it—can't do it infinitely, got it.
"Anyway, with my Domain, I can project exactly the right firepower across a wide area to evaporate seawater. Like this!"
The Domain expanded in a flash, hundreds of fireballs hovering over each section before slowly descending.
-Shwaaaa
The Salt Field seawater evaporated all at once. Yeomje staggered, looking drained.
"Ngh... yeah, max range magic like this is limited to two or three times a day..."
"H-Hey, Salt Emperor!!"
Granite Fist shouted, staring at one section of the Salt Field.
"Phew, no worries. This was daily routine back in the monster wars..."
"No, that's not it. What if you evaporate all the way to the settling pond? The impurities are mixed right in! Salt won't be usable like this."
"...You don't just evaporate and call it done?"
Yeomje didn't know the Salt Field's structure.