Spatial Leap (5)
Damn. That's insane.
That was my brief take on Blood Arts, now that I'd finally used it properly. It had played out exactly as I'd imagined — but seeing it with my own eyes was something else entirely.
The synergy between Blood Arts and Instant Kill. Used like this, it was as good as an unbeatable area attack against most enemies — especially when they were packed together.
"......What the hell?"
She had been staring blankly at the Lance Fish sinking in a heap of corpses, then turned her gaze toward me. Her face made it obvious she had no idea what had just happened.
"D-did you do that? How did you even...... Is there some kind of deadly poison in your blood?"
The moment the words left her, she flailed in alarm at the blood drifting through the water around her.
"Ugh — aagh!"
What a performance. Once she realized nothing was wrong with her, she asked again, still dazed.
"This is fine for me, right? Huh? I'm not gonna die too, am I?"
I nodded. It wasn't poison. Only then did she look relieved.
"So what kind of magic was that, anyway? You never said you had an ability like that, damn it...... I thought I was actually gonna die."
Why would I bother telling you that.
I jabbed a finger downward, signaling her to keep moving. She nodded and swam on ahead. A faint mutter brushed past my ear.
"......So I wasn't even in any real danger back then? I made a whole damn scene all by myself? Ugh, so embarrassing......"
A few more of those grotesque fish had appeared at some point, gulping down the falling Lance Fish corpses. Those things were eating well today. We passed them by and followed her deeper still.
How far down have we come?
We'd reached a depth where almost no light filtered through. When I'd explored on my own, I'd never gone this far from shore, nor dived this deep. Thanks to Super Senses, my vision still wasn't a problem — but the pressure on my body was. Even if something went wrong here or there, I trusted Super Regeneration would patch me up on its own, but still......
How much farther is she going?
The woman swimming ahead showed no sign of stopping. Just as I was starting to feel my limit, the lakebed came into view. Not the floor of the lake itself, but a formation where a vertical wall had folded over into a gentler slope.
......!
And surrounding it, pointed rocks jutted up in dense clusters like stalagmites. Some of them curved sideways, resembling bamboo shoots — or enormous teeth. It was a strange, striking sight.
I braced a hand against the wall and stopped. She had already settled on the bottom, and she pointed at the rocks as if to say we'd arrived.
"This is what you meant, right? If we're talking pointed rocks, this is the only place around here that comes to mind."
It was probably the right spot. The location I'd seen in the playthrough footage had felt just like this. I couldn't imagine another natural formation this distinctive existing anywhere nearby.
Then there should be a cave around here too......
That was where the Mystery of Spatial Leap was hidden.
I signaled her. When I puffed my mouth into the shape of a cave, she seemed to get it immediately, shrugging as she answered.
"A cave? Beats me. But looking at this place, it does seem like there might be one if we searched."
She had a point. The field of pointed rocks was vast and uneven — plenty of room for a hidden entrance if you looked. I started to signal that we should split up and search, then stopped myself. If she found the cave first, she might wander in on her own and stumble onto the Mystery.
So I held up an open palm: stay put and wait quietly.
"What? You want me to just wait here?"
I nodded.
"What? Why? Aren't you looking for a cave entrance? I can help search too......"
I shook my head hard. I was asking, so just stay still.
She nodded with a faintly sulky look, as if she'd gotten the message. Then she muttered under her breath.
"It's not like I even care about treasure. Who does he think is gonna snatch it? Humans and their greed, I swear......"
She seemed to have gotten the wrong idea, but it didn't particularly matter, so I let it be. I started moving, weaving through the rock field to search.
I remembered the entrance as barely large enough for a single person. I checked the flat ground first, then worked my way around to the side, examining a section that dropped off in a steep slope.
Oh.
......Found it.
I cheered inwardly as I peered into an entrance tucked with almost artistic precision among the rocks. Without a shred of hesitation, I took the glowstone I'd tied at my waist, clenched it between my teeth, and slowly pushed myself inside.
The passage was so narrow that squeezing in was a real struggle, though not impossible. The water made it considerably easier.
How far did I go, pulling myself along by grabbing the walls with alternating hands? The farther in I went, the wider the passage grew, until I could move my arms and legs freely. Around then, a small side passage branched off — not ahead, but to the side. About the same size as the entrance I'd come through.
......?
I stopped, thinking it might be a fork — and immediately threw up Immovable Barrier.
A massive snake exploded from the hole like a thunderbolt, its gaping maw slamming into the barrier.
......Not a fork. Just this bastard's nest. Or its hunting ground, maybe?
The impact left it stunned, writhing as it recoiled. I put a drop of blood through it and snuffed its life out then and there. Ambush me and try to run?
There's all kinds of crap in here.
I continued down the path I'd been following. Would something even worse than that thing come bursting out if I kept going? The thought crossed my mind for a moment. But it didn't really matter. No matter how big whatever came at me was, killing it was simple.
Back when I'd been searching for my first Mystery, there hadn't been a single thing I could handle on my own. My physical abilities were still pathetic — but I'd gotten a lot stronger since then.
The passage bent partway through and continued upward for a long stretch. And when I reached the end, what appeared wasn't a monster, but the very thing I'd spent a week in this lake desperately searching for.
A space about the size of a small room. At its center, the pattern of a Mystery glowed bright violet from the floor.
A grin tugged at my mouth as I swam toward it.
The instant I touched it, the pattern blazed with light the way it always did, and poured into my body. I sifted through the information on the Mystery flooding into my mind, then tried it at once.
The moment I used Spatial Leap, I was already a short distance ahead.
Oh-ho......
So that's how it works? There were no particular visual effects, and like Immovable Barrier, it had no cast delay at all. The space was too cramped to test Spatial Leap properly, so I decided to head out for now.
I retraced the passage and emerged outside, where I spotted the woman swimming this way and that far above. I teleported toward her.
"......Eek!"
She froze, startled by my sudden appearance in front of her.
"Wh-what? Where did you come from?"
I pointed upward. She looked me up and down, her expression turning puzzled.
"......You want to go up? Did you actually find something?"
I nodded.
With that, the Mystery of Spatial Leap was safely in my hands.
Once I was back on land, I deployed the Mystery of Spatial Leap and tested the ability in detail.
The minimum conditions for a valid destination: it had to be within my line of sight, and there could be no solid obstacle along a straight path. Given that I'd been able to use the Mystery underwater, liquids apparently didn't count as obstacles.
The maximum range was a little over a hundred paces. I couldn't measure it precisely, but it seemed to be about a hundred meters. And more importantly, the ability was a charged type that stored uses.
Max Charges:3
Cooldown:10 seconds
Range:~100 meters
Condition:Line of sight, no solid obstacles
In other words, at a full charge I could use it up to five times in a row with no cooldown, and one charge restored every ten seconds.
I'd known Spatial Leap was this type of skill in the game as well, so that much wasn't surprising. I remembered the game version having a daily cap of ten uses, though — and that restriction didn't seem to exist here.
I looked up at the sky and used the ability again. This time I teleported upward, and for an instant my body hung high in the air. Activating Immovable Barrier in that state locked me in place, so I didn't fall — a perfect imitation of levitation. Immovable Barrier fixed the body at its current position, which made it possible.
So it can be used this way too.
I wasn't sure I'd ever need it, but there was no harm in learning a new application. Before I could fall, I teleported back to the ground and landed.
Spatial Leap, like Immovable Barrier, completely nullified whatever force was acting on my body when I used it. Even mid-fall, the falling momentum vanished entirely. With just these two abilities, I probably wouldn't die from a fall ever again.
I stood with my arms crossed, considering synergies with my other abilities, and more efficient ways to use this one.
A splash cut through my thoughts. The woman emerged from the lake, several large fish clutched in her hands, and strode toward me, shaking off the water.
"Hey. Let's go."
I'd told her to wait a minute, and she'd jumped back into the lake, so I'd been waiting — and now, out of nowhere, she wanted to go somewhere? When I looked at her without a word, she scratched her head and went on.
"I mean, well...... the sun's going down, so let's head back and have dinner together. You're not leaving right away anyway, right?"
"I was just about to, actually."
I'd found the Mystery. What reason was there to linger at this lake? I'd been planning to return to the carriage and leave as soon as day broke. At my words, she stuck out her lip.
"You're really gonna be that cold about it? I mean, you treated our gramps, and you saved me earlier too...... huh? So I'm grateful, and I want to treat you to a meal."
"There's no need. Let's just part ways here."
"Hey, come on!"
She bristled, then let out a sigh, and suddenly her expression turned serious.
"Can't you just come for a bit? Our gramps said he has something really important to tell you."
......Something important? What was that supposed to mean, all of a sudden.
Could it be about the Magic Tower Master of Seintea?
That was the only thing that came to mind. A man of his standing wouldn't waste breath on idle talk. I had no choice but to nod.
"Fine. Let's go."
Her face lit up.
"You should've just said so from the start. I'm starving, so hurry up. This fish is so tender it's unreal."
Whatever had her in such a good mood, she even started humming as she walked ahead.
"Hey, so what's your name?"
"Ron."
"My name's Anne, Ron. Remember it."
I'd already known — I'd heard the other Haerin and the chieftain calling her that. Humming all the while, I headed for the cave with her — with Anne.
"Ah, Anne. You're back."
When we arrived at the cave, the chieftain was standing at the entrance with his hands behind his back, and he greeted us warmly.
"You've returned so soon. I was hoping to offer you at least a modest meal before you left......"
I nodded and asked,
"I was told you had something important to discuss."
The chieftain tilted his head.
"Something important? I'm afraid I have nothing of the sort."
......?
I looked at Anne. She gave an awkward laugh and avoided my eyes.
"Sorry. That was a lie."
"......"
"You're already here, so just sit down and enjoy dinner, yeah? I'll grill the fish up nice and tasty in no time!"
She baited me with that?
I stared after her, speechless, as she bolted into the cave.