Yujun Didn't Hesitate

Yujun drank the demon's blood without a moment's hesitation.

A salty tang lingered on his tongue as the blood slid down his throat, and the reaction came at once.

The skill had evolved again. He hadn't eaten a Fruit of Evolution, so he had only been aiming for a rise in rank; he hadn't expected the skill itself to evolve. A wide grin broke across Yujun's face. Life often refused to go the way one wanted, but a curveball like this was more than welcome.

Single Flash would drastically amplify the power of his swordsmanship. He couldn't have asked for better.

When he opened his status window, he found that the abilities tied to swordsmanship—or that he could graft onto it—had multiplied.

His close-combat abilities performed exceptionally well, and their ranks were high. Pour Chaos into the blade on top of that, and the result would reach a level magic could not hope to match.

So magic's pretty much taken a back seat.

He had no intention of neglecting magic, but against a truly powerful enemy, using nothing but the sword might well be the more efficient choice. His body itched. He wanted to try Single Flash, yet there was no suitable opponent.

Nor was this the end. He still hadn't used the Transcendent Stone.

He drew out a level 600 Mythic ring—the Ring of the Lord of Impartial Judgment, an item transferred from No-Pay Casual Gamer's inventory. With gratitude in the gesture, Yujun stroked the ring.

"I'm counting on you."

He couldn't say whether any such being existed, but he offered a prayer to the god of luck all the same, then rubbed the Transcendent Stone against the Ring of the Lord of Impartial Judgment.

In that instant, brilliant light wrapped the ring, and the Transcendent Stone vanished without a trace.

The options tied to the attributes of light and darkness had vanished, and what remained was broader, more encompassing. That alone made any explanation of the gulf between Mythic and Transcendent unnecessary. It would only wear out his mouth.

Yujun was thoroughly satisfied. With this, he possessed two level 600 Transcendent items.

Time to head out.

He used Flash once more and returned to where Paranet and Manuela waited.

"You're late."

Manuela scolded him.

"Am I?"

"Yeah. Really late."

"I had some business."

"You didn't steal items out of a warehouse, did you?"

"That too. I also straightened out some brats who talked back, and I gave the king a hand."

"......Huh?"

"Anyway, a lot happened, so don't pry. It's a pain."

Yujun and his companions set out at once. There was no reason to linger in the Underground Kingdom any longer.

Their destination was not a dungeon near the kingdom, but the Jhorhen Mountain Stronghold, which had been turned into an iceberg.

It is strange, though.

No matter how powerful his Blizzard Storm might be, an entire mountain remaining frozen solid for days on end was past strange. It was downright bizarre. Something else had to be on that mountain.

"Master. But what if there is nothing at all? Might it not simply be that your magic was too powerful?"

At Paranet's words, Yujun shook his head.

"That's not it."

"Why not?"

"If Blizzard Storm worked that well, I could wander the Continent casting it everywhere and turn the place into the North Pole. Or the South Pole."

"The South Pole? What is that?"

"A place that's absurdly cold. Anyway, even if a fire breaks out, the forest restores itself thanks to the System. Ice on a mountain that refuses to melt at all, for no reason whatsoever, doesn't make any sense."

He had heard it from several players ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the way out of the kingdom: the iceberg hadn't changed in the slightest.

No way I'm not going.

As it happened, the kingdom and the Jhorhen Mountain Stronghold weren't far apart.

I've got a feeling.

He had a hunch there would be some unusual event waiting.

"Manuela. No visions this time?"

"No. I can't do that very often to begin with."

"You seemed to be doing it pretty often lately."

"That's true, but... I don't know why either. I've been prophesying at an abnormal rate. Even more since you showed up. No—more precisely, since I ended up on the same side as you?"

"Yeah?"

Perhaps Manuela, too, had been affected by his luck stat. Her prophetic visions had ultimately worked in his favor, so it was entirely possible luck had played a part.

They talked as they ran, and before long the iceberg came into view.

"......It's real."

Manuela stared at the frozen mountain, dumbfounded. He had expected a measure of exaggeration, but the sight was exactly as it had been before they left.

Paranet spoke.

"What manner of wonder is this, Master?"

"That's what we came to find out."

Even at blazing midday, beneath a sun beating straight down, the iceberg's ice showed no intention of melting.

"I fear the climb alone will prove an ordeal."

"We can fly."

"Ah...?"

"And what about me?"

"You climb. Build a little strength on the way."

"......Pardon? You jest, surely? Pray behold this frail ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠body of mine. I absolutely cannot climb that."

"Frail where? You've got no fat on you, that's all. The rest of you is nothing but thick bone."

Paranet stood taller than Yujun, and he was enormous. He was no longer the scrawny Paranet of the beginning.

"Even so... going alone would be lonely. I may not look it, but I am rather susceptible to loneliness."

"......You can just use Space Movement. Are you an idiot?"

"Ah. That is true."

Paranet laughed awkwardly and scratched his head.

Yujun and Manuela cast Fly and rose to the summit of the iceberg. He had told Paranet to wait below and use Space Movement when given the signal.

At the top, players still stood frozen in death—bandits, to be precise.

"They're still like this."

"You did that."

"Oh. Right."

"I've thought of something."

"What now?"

"You think any of the bandits might still be alive? Like people frozen solid?"

"I doubt it," Manuela said, answering him. "Blizzard Storm doesn't just lower the temperature. Huge chunks of ice come crashing down, so their bodies would be smashed to pieces first, wouldn't they?"

"What about the ones whose shapes are still intact?"

"They must have been lucky."

"Fair enough. There do seem to be a lot fewer than at first."

"How many were there?"

"The bandits you can see now are nothing but the tip of the iceberg. The iceberg's bandits are the tip of the iceberg."

"......You're making a pun, aren't you?"

"You got it."

Looking immensely pleased with himself, Yujun rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Now that we're actually here to look, though, I don't even know where to start."

With no other choice, he summoned Tapagol.

"Tapa—"

The moment he appeared, Tapagol clapped a palm over his own mouth.

"Doing it again?"

"I apologize. I believe I shall be capable of proper restraint next time."

"What. You weren't doing that on purpose?"

"Absolutely not."

"Tapagol. You sensing anything strange on this mountain?"

"I will confirm."

Tapagol dropped to one knee and set a hand against the ground.

"That must be cold..."

At Manuela's worry, Yujun shook his head.

"He's a golem."

"So he doesn't feel pain either?"

"Obviously. You're a witch and you don't know that?"

"......Tapagol isn't an ordinary golem. I only wondered."

Tapagol certainly differed from ordinary golems in a great many ways. He could speak, for one, and though he was small most of the time, Gigantification swelled him to the height of a skyscraper. He used to give the impression of a robot, but lately his tone and manner of speech had grown steadily more human.

More human is probably for the best.

If he kept on like this, perhaps even Tapagol would develop something resembling flexibility.

Just then Paranet crossed the distance by Space Movement and appeared directly at Yujun's side.

"I have arrived!"

"I didn't even give you coordinates, and you hit it exactly?"

"You and I are connected, are we not, Master? Wherever you may go, I am confident I can find you."

The words and manner were no different from usual, yet for some reason they raised goosebumps on his skin. How terrifying would Paranet be, turned loose as a stalker? It was an immense relief that the fellow was a summon.

The party split up at once and set to searching.

Yujun closed his eyes. The senses he spread wide caught no trace of another living thing. The aftermath of Blizzard Storm must have been tremendous.

Not even birds?

Birds existed in the Underground Kingdom as well. Yet over the iceberg alone, none flew.

Because the temperature dropped?

He kept searching until the day darkened, and came away with nothing.

"This is the first time we've gone this long without something turning up."

"At this point, Master, might there truly be nothing at all?"

"......Hm."

If his belief that something was here proved to be a mistake, then this phenomenon had been created by the power of the skill alone. Honestly, he found that difficult to believe.

That was when it happened.

Vmmm.

A faint vibration rose from his inventory. An inventory with no physical form, vibrating? It sounded absurd, and yet Yujun genuinely felt it. He opened the inventory.

Huh?

There really was an object giving off the vibration. He reached in and drew it out.

It was not the Synchronization Marble, but the Earth Dragon's egg he had obtained after killing the Earth Dragon—more precisely, the egg dug out of the ground with Paranet's help.

Not even sure it's an Earth Dragon's egg...

For the first time in a long while, he checked the item's information.

The egg's options were unchanged.

"What is this thing?"

"Oh? Is that not the Earth Dragon egg I discovered?" said Paranet, who remembered his own exploits and achievements with uncanny precision.

"Yeah. It is."

"Well now. It seems the hour of hatching has come at last."

"The shell's cracked, just a little. Even so, hatching ought to take a while, right?"

"And yet it keeps moving, does it not?"

"Guess it wants out."

"Should we not help it out?"

"And if it dies? Say you'll take responsibility, and I'll smash it right now."

"That is somewhat..."

"You don't touch items like this on a whim."

Meddle without cause, and he could end up paying for it. The very fact that its identity was unknown already marked it as a fine item, and its grade was Mythic.

"All we have to do is bunker down."

"Bunker? It does sound rather like a person's name."

"Oh, sharp. You're close."

"Heh heh. Is that so? It seems even I am achieving what one might call growth."

"Yeah. Where I used to live, there was a werewolf named Bunker. The word comes from him."

"Aha, so that was it... No, wait. I heard the world you lived in was peaceful. Did you not say that only humans lived there? How, then, a werewolf...?"

"Wow. You really are sharp."

"......Have you been deceiving me?"

"Yep."

"......"

"You even realized I lied. This time you actually were sharp."

Yujun held the egg and shifted it this way and that. Depending on where he stood, the strength of the vibration changed. Having found a hint, he wasted no time and moved to the spot where the vibration felt strongest.

"I think it's telling us to go down."

"Let's hurry."

At Yujun's words, Manuela nodded and pressed him on.

"Why are you so excited?"

"I want to know what's going to come out."

"I'm not giving it to you."

"I know. I only said it because I was curious..."

They came down from the summit. The path was ice and the slope steep, so caution was warranted, but every one of them possessed an astonishing physique. Even without Fly, the descent was no great difficulty.

Vrrrm. Vrm. Vrm.

The egg's vibration grew fiercer the farther they went. Yujun stopped.

"Something's off."

"What is?"

Manuela asked.

"The Underground Kingdom doesn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seem to have anything to do with the Abyss. This is an item we found in the Abyss. So why is it vibrating?"

"Isn't it because we're underground? Earth Dragons don't keep a lair high in the mountains or on a cliff the way other dragons do. They live on flat ground."

"Hmm."

For the moment, they kept descending wherever the egg led. He didn't forget to put on the Eagle Eye Scouter and cast a search spell.

Then, at a certain moment, a cave entered Yujun's sight. Shards of ice were piled across it, blocking the way, but he knew at a glance that this was an entrance.

He walked the slick ice to the mouth. The massive chunks sealing it posed no real problem.

Boom!

Yujun settled the matter simply, smashing them apart with his fist, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and strode into the cave.

The Unidentified Egg, taken in the Abyss from a hidden burrow after he killed the Earth Dragon. When it hatched, something formidable would probably appear. Even setting that aside, though, there was clearly something else. No dragon thrashed this noisily before it hatched.

This isn't something moving inside the egg. The egg itself is vibrating.

The odds were high that something waited in the cave as well, and not only within the egg.

His heart quickening, Yujun advanced into the dark of the cave.