Chapter 169
Chapter 169
Chapter 169
"Austin, I'll leave it to you."
Before searching for Excalibur’s blueprint, I decided to summon spirits for more efficient quest progression.
There was no more efficient familiar than spirits on this 50th floor.
We needed the spirits' help to safely escape this vast forest and reach the lake.
"Just leave it to me."
Austin nodded, spread both arms, lifted his head high, and shouted.
"Now then, answer my call and emerge, my beloved spirits!"
Fwaaah-.
As Austin's greasy chant echoed, four spirits appeared with brilliant light.
Seiren, Vulcan, Titan, Zephyros.
Giant spirits in the forms of a mermaid, bull, golem, and eagle.
They were supreme-grade spirits of water, fire, earth, and wind respectively.
Each one was as large as a house, requiring me to look up just to see them properly.
So-yul looked up at the gathered giant spirits with sparkling eyes.
"You used to only be able to control one or two at a time, but you've grown?"
The hierarchy of spirits, excluding kings, is largely divided into four stages.
Lower, middle, upper, supreme.
Among them, spiritualists who could control supreme-grade spirits were extremely few at this point—countable on one hand throughout the entire Tower.
Austin was unquestionably the best among currently active spiritualists.
However, controlling supreme-grade spirits was still very difficult even for someone like Austin.
No matter how much aptitude he had for all four elements, simultaneously controlling four supreme-grade spirits was pushing it.
At most, he could control one or two at a time.
But the 50th floor was different.
"Regrettably, it's not growth. It's a temporary phenomenon due to the abundant spirit power on this 50th floor. Even so, I believe it will be sufficient to help the lady."
"Ah... yes."
So-yul instinctively took a few steps back from Austin, unable to help her reflexive rejection despite being familiar enough with his flattery by now.
Austin paid no mind to her reaction and continued commanding the spirits.
"Explore the vicinity and guide us toward the largest lake."
The supreme-grade spirits bowed to Austin and drew upon the surrounding spirit power to summon smaller spirits.
Shwaaaa-.
Small girl-shaped Sylphs and Undines, salamanders Casas and dwarf Gnomes.
Lower-grade spirits appeared one by one around the giant supreme-grade spirits.
Though they couldn't match the spirit kings who were the origin of spirits, supreme-grade spirits had enough power to command subordinate spirits.
They summoned hundreds of lower-grade spirits and spread them throughout the forest.
Austin smiled with satisfaction as he watched the spirits move smoothly according to the command structure.
"Hehe. It seems we'll be able to explore this floor quite comfortably."
With abundant spirit power here, the spirits' power was absolute, making this a dream stage for him as a supreme-grade spiritualist.
No fearsome monster or dangerous quest was frightening.
The other members of Reverse Heaven Society would also be able to climb more comfortably than before.
However, Seo-jin felt uneasy about such a smooth start.
"I wonder. Will it really be so...?"
In his life before regression, Seo-jin had joined the strategy team around the 60th floor.
As a result, he hadn't heard details about the 50th floor World Quest the strategy team had progressed through at the time, so Seo-jin didn't know much about this place either.
Moreover, there was no spiritualist in the strategy team back then, so he didn't know what effect this 50th floor's environment would have on spirits controlled by spiritualists.
"Please don't worry too much. Don't we also have the Homeostasis trait?"
"You should already realize that's not something to blindly trust either."
Of course, Homeostasis was a good trait.
Just in terms of environmental adaptation alone, it was the best ability.
Thanks to this ability, they could even partially use abilities from inside the Tower while outside it.
A truly tremendous ability.
However,
'This is also the system's blessing.'
There were many questionable aspects to rely on this alone.
Moreover, for Seo-jin and the Reverse Heaven Society members who had broken free from the system's blessing and reached a level where they honed their abilities on their own, this actually became a hindrance.
It was similar to how training wheels that were too high-performance made it hard to ride a two-wheeled bicycle.
Furthermore.
'This ability had little effect on natives or demons managing each floor.'
It only affected environmental adaptation and had no ability to gain favor from the natives living there or administrators.
As such, when entering a new floor, they had to be just as cautious as before.
Francesca asked Seo-jin while watching the spirits scatter in all directions.
"Leader, aren't you bringing out your summons?"
"Why would I when Austin has his spirits? Besides, the environment isn't good for bringing out undead."
Seo-jin raised his eyes to look at the trees soaring high enough to pierce the sky.
This 50th floor was a world abundant in spirit power.
Spirit power, along with divine power, was one of the attributes antagonistic to undead, so all undead-type summons had their stats reduced by about 30% on this 50th floor.
Of course, thanks to the Homeostasis trait, this didn't apply to Seo-jin's undead, but that was only an evaluation from a strategic perspective.
'The environment being poor is the same regardless.'
It was the same logic as Seo-jin not over-trusting the Homeostasis trait earlier.
If giant bone dragons or skeletons wandered around the forest, the spirits of this floor wouldn't like it.
Just like how monsters had swarmed when they turned on lights on the 37th floor.
Since they couldn't know what the World Quest entailed, there was no benefit in provoking the natives.
"Don't worry, lady. The leader's summons can rest comfortably."
"Oh my, really? Then I'll count on you."
***
Afterward, the group moved smoothly toward the lake following the guidance of the spirits Austin controlled.
Perhaps due to the abundant spirit power, powerful monsters were strewn everywhere, but thanks to Austin's spirits, there was no need to engage them at all.
They were slaughtered by spirits before even getting close.
Nam-gung Cheon expressed envy with a joking tone while watching Austin level up through automatic hunting.
"Should I have become a spiritualist too? This is totally easy mode."
To just sit still and supply mana while spirits automatically hunted.
He even felt somewhat disillusioned with the thief profession, which required running until his feet burned despite not being very strong.
Austin shook his head.
"It's not as easy a profession as you think. Rather, it's very arduous."
The hardships of the spiritualist profession were similar to mages, but more extreme.
Those with the relevant aptitude were even rarer than mages, and related items and artifacts were correspondingly more expensive.
Moreover, due to mana shortage and low hunting efficiency, it was a profession that had to suffer all kinds of hardships in the early climbing stages.
A lower-grade spiritualist was nominally a spiritualist, but closer to a servant serving spirits.
"Ah, whatever, whatever. I'm still envious."
"Really, grow up already."
That was when Reverse Heaven Society members were chatting about this and that while moving with the spirits' help.
Thud-.
"Hm?"
The Sylph that had been continuously flying through the sky and transmitting information to Austin stopped moving.
It wasn't just the Sylph.
The same happened to the Gnomes guarding against monsters while wandering around, the Casas burning enemies, and the Undines searching for the lake.
[......]
All the lower-grade spirits that had been chattering and fulfilling their assigned duties stopped moving simultaneously.
"Something's... strange."
Austin tilted his head as the lower-grade spirits broke free from control.
Austin's supreme-grade spirits commanding them were equally puzzled.
Spirits were part of a system that moved according to strict hierarchy.
As such, there were no cases of disobeying a superior spirit's orders.
So this phenomenon meant.
'A being superior to supreme-grade spirits intervened.'
When Seo-jin mentioned this, everyone was shocked and blinked in surprise.
"Surely not... a spirit king?"
"There's a spirit king on the 50th floor?"
Spirit kings were beings positioned at the pinnacle among spirits.
Though the 50th floor wasn't particularly low, it was too early for a spirit king to appear.
Seo-jin shook his head.
"It's probably not a spirit king."
If not a spirit king, but a being that could exert comparable power on this 50th floor.
'Vivian, Queen of the Lake.'
The being with the greatest influence on this 50th floor and the key to this World Quest.
Shshshsh-.
Following the lower-grade spirits, even the atmosphere around the supreme-grade spirits began to change.
The flow of spirit power gradually becoming difficult to control.
Austin hurriedly sent back the supreme-grade spirits.
"E-everyone, return quickly!"
If not careful, the unfortunate incident of temporarily losing ownership of the spirits could occur.
Additionally, if the spirits were reverse-summoned, that shock would be inflicted entirely on Austin.
If all four supreme-grade spirits were reverse-summoned, he could die from shock.
Shriiik-.
The supreme-grade spirits that had been wandering around the Reverse Heaven Society members all vanished simultaneously.
And immediately after.
Pop-.
With a strange sound, a fairy appeared from thin air.
A small spirit with wings that could fly freely through the sky.
[Ahaha! Humans, humans!]
A small boy-shaped spirit with an appearance straight from a fairy tale book.
He flapped his wings and spun round and round above the Reverse Heaven Society members' heads, then soon spotted Austin and his eyes lit up.
[It's you? The human who dared to control spirits near the Queen's domain!]
"......Who are you?"
[Me? I'm Pickle, the Queen's messenger. I came to warn humans who don't know their place.]
"......"
At just the word 'warn,' Se-yeon silently tightened her grip on her spear.
Then Pickle backed away and held his hand forward as if telling them to calm down.
[Whoa whoa, I said warn but you don't need to be too tense. You just need to quietly withdraw. Just don't come near the lakeside.]
"Sorry, but we have business near the lake."
Whether for the Excalibur blueprint or to progress the World Quest.
Approaching the lake, which was the foundation of spirit power filling this 50th floor and the center of mystery, was absolutely essential.
[Then you'll experience the Queen's wrath? Do you really think you can approach the lakeside without the Queen's permission? All living creatures and spirits of this land will be hostile toward you.]
Pickle covered his mouth and grinned.
"......"
Seo-jin didn't want that either.
Beating up monsters wouldn't be a problem, but if they fell out of favor with the native spirits, progressing the World Quest would become very tiresome.
Then So-yul stepped forward and asked.
"Is there perhaps another way? We may not look it, but we possess various abilities that could help the Queen. We could also solve concerns or problems. If you guide us to the Queen, we'll give you a reward."
[Reward? What kind of reward?]
"Well, magic stones or items? We also have delicious food."
[Hmph, I don't need such things. What I want is... you wouldn't give it even if I told you anyway.]
Pickle looked at So-yul and the other two for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.
[If you really want an audience with the Queen... there is another way.]
"What method?"
He raised one finger and spoke confidently.
[You need to gain the spirits' recognition. If you receive the spirits' recognition and are guided by them, you can approach the lakeside without great danger.]
At that, Austin's eyebrows shot up sharply.
"......Didn't your Queen just steal control of my spirits? So how are we supposed to gain the spirits' recognition?"
The best way to gain spirits' recognition was through contracts.
In other words, any spiritualist who could control spirits had already gained the spirits' recognition.
And Austin had been moving toward the lake guided by his contracted spirits.
He had been perfectly implementing the 'audience method' that the fairy called Pickle mentioned.
But to suddenly steal control of the spirits under his command and interfere, then brazenly call that an audience method.
What kind of tyranny was this?
When Austin asked back with dissatisfaction, Pickle stuck out his tongue and teased.
[That's for you to solve, why are you asking me? Bleh!]
"......"
Pickle was acting so annoyingly that he wanted to punch him.
Then, Nam-gung Rin asked as if another method came to mind.
"Do you perhaps mean to gain recognition from other spirits existing in the forest? By accepting their requests or solving their problems?"
At Nam-gung Rin's question, Pickle shrugged his shoulders.
[That method could work too. But would the forest spirits help you while going against the Queen's mood? It'll be extremely difficult.]
"Aha."
"Then, is this the Queen's will for us to prove our strength ourselves?"
Zieg stiffened his face while raising his large shield.
Pickle nodded readily as if telling them to try if they could.
[Try it if you can. As I said earlier, all living creatures and spirits of this land will be hostile toward you.]
At this, Nam-gung Cheon, who had been listening silently, opened his mouth.
"......This won't work, that won't work. Then fuck, what the hell do you want us to do? Huh?"
Can't use spirits, solving through requests won't work, pushing through with force is difficult. What can they do!
Pickle laughed even more provocatively at the irritated Nam-gung Cheon.
[You have to find the method yourselves. If you find a new method, I, the Queen's messenger, will personally guide you~ Though that won't happen~]
"This damn fly, come down here!"
Nam-gung Cheon swung his daggers wildly while throwing a fit at Pickle, who continued to fly above their heads acting cocky.
Seo-jin fell into thought behind him.
'It's a bit annoying, but in a way, it's natural that it's a difficult problem to solve.'
If Queen Vivian truly didn't want human approach, it was natural to give an unsolvable task.
Or it also meant only humans who solved this impossible task could approach the lake.
'I heard the strategy team before regression just pushed through with force.'
According to what he heard from Choi Gang-hyeon at the time, the strategy team that couldn't find another method went to the lake, beating up everything in sight, whether monsters or spirits.
Due to endlessly swarming monsters and spirits, plus illusion magic and barriers, it apparently took nearly several months to clear.
Seo-jin could also use such a method.
However,
'No need to take the hard road.'
Just as Pickle said, he just needed to pass through guided by spirits according to the 'audience method.'
By summoning his own spirit that wouldn't be affected even by Vivian's power, which was close to a spirit king's.
Having finished thinking, Seo-jin brought his hands together to generate a magic circle.
Tzrrrrt-.
A black magic circle summoned with lightning from thin air.
Then Seo-jin called the spirit's name.
"Come forth, Glize."