Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: 43. Orbis Tower (1)
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1.
One of the things the Mystic Gate era changed was the competition among adventurers.
“In the past, it wasn’t easy to encounter strong monsters.”
In the past, adventurers competed over a limited number of monsters.
For example, if a Junior Balrog appeared in Sleepywood Forest, swarms of adventurers gunning for the Junior Balrog Hunter title would come charging in.
“But now, you can see them anytime.”
The Mystic Gate era was different.
Just by crossing a Mystic Gate, you could encounter monsters that were hard to find in Maple World—not to mention ones no one had ever seen before.
Adventurers didn’t care what monsters lay beyond the Mystic Gates.
“So there’s no need to fight each other.”
Of course, they still competed over the Mystic Gates themselves, but it wasn’t as fierce as before.
And unless it was some extraordinary circumstance, there was virtually no competition at all.
It was an era of peace among adventurers, and they each tried to enjoy that peace in their own ways.
They avoided clashing with one another, and even when they did compete, they tried to keep it civil.
“But if it’s Aran’s item, that changes everything.”
However, in the face of the name Aran, that era had no choice but to fade away for a moment.
Every adventurer flocked to the Elnas Mountains.
And they engaged in brutal competition.
It wasn’t just petty mind games.
“Damn it, everyone run! Those bastards are out to kill us all!”
In the snow-covered Elnas Mountains, a sudden bloodwind began to blow.
Aran’s item was worth that much.
To the point where they’d resort to any means necessary to eliminate the competition.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason for the bloodwind.
“Goddamn Elnas Mountains. I heard the rumors, but I didn’t think it’d be this bad!”
The Elnas Mountains had always had an unusually high proportion of criminals among its adventurers.
The mountain range’s brutally harsh environment made it ideal for criminals to hide, and above all, the Cygnus Knights—who enforced Maple World’s laws—rarely set foot there.
For criminals, it was the perfect hideout.
To them, Aran’s item was one thing, but the adventurers coming for it made for fine prey as well.
An environment ripe for bloodwind in every way.
“Boss.”
Of course, there were exceptions.
“Was Elnas Mountains always this quiet of a place?”
Having left Magatia and entered the Elnas Mountains, El Pam’s party was enjoying days more peaceful than ever.
“How could it be?”
Naturally, it wasn’t due to good luck.
“It’s because the leader’s no joke.”
It was all thanks to El Pam—thanks to his abilities.
Truth be told, it wasn’t anything special for El Pam himself.
“There’s no better place for quiet travel than Elnas Mountains.”
“Huh?”
“Snow leaves tracks, but the nonstop snowfall makes it perfect for covering them up.”
He had experience.
“So there’s no better place to flee than Elnas Mountains.”
*It was the same back then.*
El Pam had survived in the Elnas Mountains before.
It hadn’t been easy.
*At least this place was decent for escaping.*
What had chased the fleeing El Pam into the Elnas Mountains was an astronomical horde of monsters.
Days where even a single wrong breath could mean death.
“Now it’s even easier.”
“Even easier?”
“Adventurers hunting other adventurers are stirring up all the noise for us.”
“Ah.”
“They’re turning themselves into bait for the monsters.”
To El Pam—with all that experience—the current Elnas Mountains was a laughably trivial stage.
Of course, to El Pam’s companions, it was a realm beyond comprehension.
“As expected of the boss.”
And one they didn’t particularly need to comprehend.
“Thanks to the boss, we’ll reach Elnas Market nice and easy.”
For the companions, all they had to do was enjoy it.
El Pam responded to their words.
“I have no plans to go to Elnas Market.”
“Huh?”
Everyone was stunned at that.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Wait, aren’t we heading to Elnas Market?”
The Elnas Mountains had originally been territory ruled by Lion King Ban Leon’s kingdom.
But after some incident centuries ago, Lion King Ban Leon had effectively abandoned his influence over the mountains, turning it into a lawless stage for outlaws.
Even outlaws needed a market, though.
That was Elnas Market.
The market located in the Elnas Mountains—the only one currently.
It was also the only peaceful place in the range.
Because if the market turned chaotic, no one would use it.
Even the Elnas Mountains’ outlaws abided by the rule of not drawing weapons in Elnas Market.
That was why every adventurer was currently making for Elnas Market.
El Pam’s companions had naturally assumed it was their destination too, so no one had bothered asking where they were headed.
But it wasn’t?
“We’re heading for Orbis Tower.”
“Orbis?”
At El Pam’s words, their stunned looks shifted to ones of understanding.
“Well, Orbis might actually be safer right now.”
Orbis.
The city floating high above the Elnas Mountains—known as the city in the clouds.
A must-stop for every airship crisscrossing Maple World, the gathering point for them all.
It was that advanced.
At the same time, it was safe in ways the Elnas Mountains couldn’t compare to.
“And all the adventurers these days are going there.”
Its greatest draw: it was the fastest, safest way for Maple World adventurers to reach the Elnas Mountains—by going through Orbis.
Of course, safety came at a price.
Airship tickets from Maple World started at ten times the cost of ship fares, at minimum.
Most adventurers couldn’t even dream of affording it.
Yet most heading for the Elnas Mountains still took airships.
The reason was simple.
“Trying to get to Elnas Mountains from Nihal Desert any other way is pure insanity.”
Other routes weren’t merely difficult—they were on another level entirely.
In any case, Orbis was currently far safer than even Elnas Market.
“And you can zip right over using the portal in Orbis Tower.”
In particular, the lofty Orbis Tower linking the Elnas Mountains and Orbis allowed for instant travel via portal.
That alone drew adventurers to Orbis time and again.
Finding it wasn’t hard, either.
“Ah, there it is.”
The tower connecting the Elnas Mountains and Orbis had presence enough to be visible from virtually anywhere in the range.
Even through blizzards.
Adventurers in the Elnas Mountains often used Orbis Tower as their guiding landmark.
“It’s insane.”
Such dizzying height.
“I heard back in the day, you had to climb that tower to reach Orbis?”
Even more dizzying: past adventurers had actually climbed it—that towering behemoth.
It was madness.
The record for the fastest ascent was thirty-nine days.
The absolute fastest. Some perished after climbing for over a year.
All in the past, of course.
“Good thing they discovered the portals.”
After portals were found in the Orbis Towers, almost no one attempted such folly.
“Better to bite your tongue and die than climb that thing.”
“Damn right. Might as well drown at sea. Nothing left to find up there anyway.”
It was grueling enough on its own, but Orbis Tower adventures had wrapped up centuries ago.
Not just talk.
The Adventurers’ Association had stated it outright.
No new mysteries left in Orbis Tower—don’t attempt reckless climbs.
That was why anyone who tried was labeled insane.
“Too bad.”
“Huh? Boss, what do you mean?”
That was why.
“We’re about to become the insane ones.”
The moment they heard El Pam’s words, everyone froze solid.
“B-Boss?”
Dibo was the first to snap out of it, his voice trembling as he spoke.
“You’re saying... we climb that?”
“That’s right.”
“No, why the hell...?”
The question that followed.
Truth be told, it was a pointless one.
Everyone knew.
No excuse he could give would make climbing Orbis Tower reasonable.
That was what made it insane.
If there was a reason—or value—worth the climb, no one would call it crazy in the first place, would they?
“We have a wall to overcome.”
“A wall? What wall?”
“The wall of the 5th Circle.”
But in the instant El Pam spoke those words, everyone’s expressions changed.
Their faces hardened colder than the blizzard ravaging Elnas Mountains.
More precisely, they couldn’t even form expressions.
Including Dibo, no one grasped the meaning right away.
“......The 5th Circle wall?”
“Exactly. To overcome the 5th Circle wall, we have to climb that Orbis Tower.”
The moment understanding dawned, shock filled every face.
It couldn’t be helped.
Overcoming the 5th Circle wall—countless adventurers had poured their efforts into it.
No, efforts didn’t cover it.
Some had staked their lives.
Yet failures were beyond count.
El Pam’s companions—including Dibo—were no different.
Honestly, they’d been worried.
That El Pam would reach the 5th Circle while they remained stuck at 4th.
That they might have no choice but to leave the party.
But now, El Pam was offering them a way out of that worry.
Normally, you’d dismiss such talk as a con. Overcoming a circle wall came down to innate talent and heaven’s blessing—nothing else.
No one could force you past it.
But El Pam was different.
He always turned the impossible into reality.
This time was no exception.
So no one raised doubts.
On top of that, there was this thought.
*If it’s Orbis Tower, nothing would be surprising.*
Something in Orbis Tower that defied Maple World common sense—something that might let them overcome the 5th Circle wall.
“Boss.”
By then, not a soul had complaints left.
“Let’s get going!”
2.
Orbis Tower.
The Adventurers’ Association had this to say about that towering, colossal spire.
[Orbis Tower climbs are absolutely not recommended for adventurers below 4th Circle.]
Only those 4th Circle and above should even attempt it.
Two reasons.
[Reason one: the environment is extremely harsh.]
Orbis Tower was a tower, plain and simple.
Its interior environment was nothing like the outside.
No proper vegetation could grow. No rivers flowed.
A fatal blow to survival.
Food and water were essentials.
And climbing Orbis Tower took a minimum of several dozen days—up to a full year in the worst cases.
Making supplies all the more critical.
[Reason two: the Stone Ball monsters that appear are extremely tricky.]
Naturally, the interiors teemed with Stone Ball monsters.
Shaped just like their name—stone spheres—ranging in size from human-head-sized to torso-sized.
Deceptively troublesome foes.
Being made of stone made them incredibly hard to destroy.
They were also insanely heavy.
A rolling Stone Ball was a terrifying attack in itself.
[Stone Balls use magic.]
Some even cast spells.
Firing searing beams or freezing ones.
Hence the names: Fire Stone Balls or Ice Stone Balls, depending on their magic.
Their most frustrating trait?
[No magic stones even when defeated.]
Unlike other monsters, zero rewards.
The main reason adventurers shunned Orbis Tower.
Catching a thousand—or ten thousand—Stone Balls offered zero benefit to an adventurer’s career.
Any adventurer facing them showed no enthusiasm.
“Come on!”
El Pam’s party was different.
They brimmed with vigor like never before.
“I’ll take it!”
“It’s mine!”
“Back off! I’ll handle this!”
“Out of the way—I can smash that with my fist!”
To an excessive degree.
A sight you rarely—if ever—saw.
Perhaps unprecedented in the entire history of Orbis Tower.
Utterly beyond norms.
The simple reason El Pam’s party was so eager to hunt Stone Balls ahead of everyone?
“No, I said I’ve got it! What kinda main dealer lets the support steal kills? It’s mine! They’re all mine!”
“Hey! Share the kills! What good’s reaching 5th Circle if it’s just you?”
El Pam’s party believed that climbing Orbis Tower—hunting Stone Balls—was the path to overcoming the 5th Circle wall.
“Boss! We’ll take care of them all! Stay back!”
They had every reason to throw themselves into Stone Ball hunting.
El Pam said nothing to his companions’ display.
*Hundreds of thousands of Stone Balls wouldn’t make a dent in overcoming the 5th Circle wall.*
A utterly futile endeavor.
By all logic, if Stone Balls alone could do it, there’d be no adventurers below 5th Circle in the world.
*What we need is the secret space in Orbis Tower. The Mystic Gate there.*
El Pam knew exactly one way to overcome that wall.
*The Elija that appears there.*
An Elija—the monster now extinct in Maple World, impossible to find elsewhere—could be hunted there.
He’d learned of it purely by chance.
El Pam had heard the tale.
Fugitives fleeing monsters had climbed Orbis Tower, stumbled into a secret space, escaped through the Mystic Gate within... and encountered an Elija no one had seen in ages.
He’d heard it from a dying comrade.
That comrade had told him something else too.
*Eat that thing’s horn, and you’ll overcome the wall.*
Elija’s horn had let him breach the 5th Circle wall.
Truth be told, El Pam had wrestled with a dilemma there.
*An Elija has two horns.*
Meaning only two could overcome the wall.
Stone Balls were irrelevant anyway. No need to hunt them.
But El Pam saw no reason to say so.
*No point stopping them from gaining combat experience.*
It would help them.
Oblivious to that, El Pam’s companions hunted Stone Balls with unprecedented zeal.
Engaging in meaningless slaughter.
“Yeah, boss!”
At least, that’s what it seemed.
“T-This... power’s surging up!”
Until Dibo spoke those words.