Chapter 100
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Fragments of Memory
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"Let's sort out the situation first."
The alchemists' city, Hedravan, was a full twenty days away on foot.
"Twenty days... that's quite a haul."
"Exactly. Time isn't on our side."
The biggest issue was that the Blackout season would end in just under two months.
"We have to find this floor's stratum within that window."
The portal that appeared at season's end, leading up to the surface, spawned right next to the stratum. That meant they had to locate it within the next fifty-eight days.
The problem is, we have no idea where it is.
Like Orcutas Battlefield, the fields from the fourth stratum onward ballooned to sizes incomparable to before.
Travel times stretched out accordingly, and battles came thick and fast.
But the real headache right now was something else entirely.
"What is it? The purple mist?"
"Or the lack of mana?"
Eleanor and Aiden took turns asking, but Jun shook his head.
"Both are serious problems, sure, but the bigger issue is..."
Jun's grim expression had the others staring at him, tense in their own ways.
"We're out of food."
"...Huh?"
"What?"
Exactly that.
The rations stored in his dimensional bracelet had run dry.
"To be precise, we've got about two days' worth left. Not counting spices and such."
"Ah... yeah. We've been out on this mission for a good while now."
"Yep."
Jun had packed three months' worth.
Getting tangled in unexpected trouble on Orcutas Battlefield had burned through a hefty chunk.
"Potions and such are still fine... but food and water are the real crisis."
"There's forest nearby. Hunt some animals?"
"Not hard. But there's a catch."
Jun pointed to the alchemist's journal.
"Everything alive here is contaminated. By that purple mist."
A monster nearing four meters tall kicked off the ground.
"Maya!"
Aiden's shout had Maya blending seamlessly into her surroundings, vanishing in an instant.
Meanwhile, Aiden raised his Lusterblade to block the charging furry beast lunging at him.
Boom—!!
Sparks flew as Aiden's sword successfully parried the monster's claws.
The moment it did, Maya burst from camouflage, slashing across the beast's throat.
Grk—!
Its neck severed by Akander's Fang, the monster crumpled lifelessly.
"Whew..."
"Good work."
Jun's words from the sidelines earned a quick head-scratch from Aiden.
"That thing we just took down..."
"Yeah. Rabbit."
The four-meter-tall purple furball was, in fact, a rabbit.
"The one we ran into earlier today was a deer..."
"Tough bastard too."
The freak from the cabin—mutant by the journal's account—wasn't quite as bad, but still a handful even for Aiden solo.
"Silver lining: plenty to eat, at least..."
Maya was already butchering the monster rabbit.
Whether treated as wildlife rather than monster, it didn't particle away like mutants even after heart destruction.
"Leader. All done."
"Thanks."
With no ambient mana for spells, Jun couldn't contribute much to fights.
He had mana stones in the bracelet, but those were emergency reserves.
Instead...
"Perfect."
Gulp—!
Jun handled all cooking and crew care.
"Dig in."
"Itadakimasu!"
"You cook like a pro."
Sizzle...
The butchered rabbit tasted surprisingly good.
Rich umami from spices, perfect fire control.
Who knew that hellish training would pay off here.
This chef skill, which left the group raving, was honed on the surface before Blackout—bloody, sweaty desperation to avoid being just another low-rank mage.
Who'd have thought it'd shine like this.
"How'd you hide talent like this?"
"Wasn't hiding. Just bought time with cash."
"Hit us up more often from now on. Damn, this rib meat's unreal."
As the crew ate heartily, Jun—stomach adequately full—approached the rabbit carcass Maya had prepped.
"Blood's... decent amount."
Touching the neck, scales were already sprouting.
Mutation kicking in.
The price of eating rabbit meat.
"S-Sunbae... th-there're things growing on your head..."
"Pfft, hahaha!"
Eleanor burst into laughter at flustered Aiden.
Who could blame her.
Purple, fluffy rabbit ears had sprouted atop his head.
"What, ears like a puppy? Got a question. Mind if I test?"
"Y-Yes? What do you mean, Priestess Eleanor?"
"Hold still. Excuse me."
Aaah—!
Eleanor grabbed the fuzzy purple ear and yelled right into it.
"Gah—?!"
"It twitched! Real ears? Hahahaha!"
Functional organ, not just looks—Aiden clamping his new ears shut sparked another laughing fit from Eleanor.
"Hahaha! Ow, my sides!"
"Ugh... too much..."
"C'mon, I was curious!"
Jun chuckled at their antics.
"Hunting's good for now. Back to the cabin."
Time to recharge mana.
The alchemist's journal noted that consuming mutated animals caused mutations in the eater.
But the group already knew the fix.
Absorb pure mana. Simple.
"Let's see... distill the monster blood, add bedin herb, lone bell grass root, and..."
Couldn't rely on lab mana forever, though.
Jun had clocked the lab's mana saturation plummeting since day one.
Even so, can't hole up here indefinitely.
Most intel from the lab was already secured.
Next stop: alchemists' city.
"Key is overcoming this mana shortage."
Luckily, a workaround existed.
"Done."
Jun smiled at the result: blood from the giant rabbit corpse, blended with herbs.
"Never thought Potion Brewing would come in clutch like this."
Blue mana liquid sloshed in the cylinder.
"Call it 'Mana Fluid' for now."
A groundbreaking invention that'd cause a stir outside.
"Beating that guy to it, huh."
Supposed to be an NPC discovery.
Timeline said he'd arrived first.
Wonder how the story twists from here.
Overthinking a derailed plot was pointless.
Survival trumped nostalgia now.
"Anyway... mana supply's sorted."
Jun grinned at the sloshing Mana Fluid.
Not enough for spell spam like before, but basic safety nets were in place.
Over the next four days, Jun and crew hunted local wildlife, stocked Mana Fluid, and resolved food woes.
"Good thing the subspace is roomy."
The lab looked emptier by comparison.
Everything worth taking was tucked into the dimensional bracelet.
"Ready to head out?"
"This forest is no joke. City's gonna be hell."
"Routine mission, right?"
"Nah. This is straight-up stranded."
"Ahaha..."
The road to the city was straightforward.
Just follow the paved path.
"Well-maintained, too."
Aiden chattered nonstop, explorer's thrill in his step.
"Like streets near the palace. They paved those with stone too."
"Advanced era, apparently."
"That alchemy alone proves it. Mana Fluid? Never heard of it."
Aiden and Maya were clueless, but Eleanor grasped Mana Fluid's potential.
Hence her awe at its creators.
Grrr—!
Chatter halted for the occasional mutated beast ambush—dangerous, but...
Wind Cutter
3-circle spell
...magic resistance was low.
Facing these after orcs with their resistance feels refreshing.
Basic 3-circle spell, but Jun was seasoned at 5-circle now.
Power scaled dramatically.
Still not to underestimate.
Big bruisers bursting silently from brush were plenty threatening.
Limited mana meant no Scan, upping ambush risks.
"Skip the meat. Just drain blood."
"Got it."
Jun and Maya stayed busiest.
Eleanor, as priestess, had little to do; Aiden lacked non-combat skills.
Maya excelled at wilderness survival; Jun managed meals amid the bustle.
Snagged meat got salted, oiled, sugared into jerky in spare moments.
"...Why the stare? Hungry?"
"N-No. Just... anything I can help with?"
Jun met Aiden's gaze deeply at the question.
Why so on edge?
Aiden hid it well, but he'd seemed unstable since waking.
Like something chased him, itching for tasks.
"Hm. Slice some meat thin? Pinky-finger thick."
"On it!"
Aiden took Maya's chunks and sliced.
Sloppy at first, then uniform and faster than Jun's pace.
Something's off.
Brining meat, Jun kept eyes on Aiden.
That outer god encounter?
Jun knew why.
Game showed similar symptoms.
Lack of mental skills did this.
Years ahead, per canon: Aiden—no, Adrian—would face an outer god again.
Mental stats dipping triggered rampage event.
Not that bad yet.
Still, needed watching.
'I was angry...' he said.
Aiden distant from rage. Always soft smiles.
For him to face massive fury while asleep...
Probably that.
The founding emperor's memory.
What Aiden dreamed: surely fragments left by the first emperor.