Dungeon of Fire - 7

We took a longer break at the second monster house.

Fortunately, we weren't severely injured—just dehydrated and feeling nauseous—so after resting, we recovered enough to move around again.

With help from other adventurers present, we fully recovered.

However, the poison gas... We quickly held a strategy meeting, but no good solutions came up.

We decided to retreat back to the relay point and rethink our strategy. The information we brought back was quickly disseminated to all dungeon challengers through official adventurers dispatched by the guild.

To be safe, we took a full day of rest. I spent the time polishing a wind crystal in my tent.

I'd been experimenting with this ever since before heading to Entsi, just in case it might come in handy.

The water crystal manipulates water flow, though its mechanism remains unknown. I thought it might also be able to control air. However, simply exposing a regular water crystal to the air caused it to deteriorate quickly and become unusable.

So I wondered if I could somehow channel magical essence through a degraded crystal, making it usable even in the air—but I couldn't make it work. This was the extent of my progress before heading to Entsi.

Since returning from Entsi, I've been writing my paper while also testing a method confirmed with Emma: attaching activated crystals to degraded ones for use.

I repeatedly experimented by applying this method.

As a result, I pressed a degraded water crystal tightly against a water crystal that had degraded in water, filled the gaps, and covered the activated water crystal with the degraded one.

The key is gradually shifting the magical essence to slightly activate the degraded sections.

At first, it was just a playful experiment, but to my surprise, it actually worked. This allowed me to create something like an air pump.

Although there's still much to verify due to significant performance variations based on craftsmanship precision, I've now acquired the ability to manipulate air.

Incidentally, I've named it the Wind Crystal.

Only my party members and Emma-san know of its existence.

We were gathered around the campfire, brainstorming solutions—but no good ideas were coming forward.

"In the end, is the best option just to blow them away using Taro's Wind Crystal?"

"But we don't know where the displaced air will go. And will it just vanish after being blown away...? There are too many unknowns."

"How about we just charge through using the magic tri-wheeler? Of course, I'll be the one driving!"

Clara seemed to really like the magic tri-wheeler. She kept wanting to drive it whenever possible.

"Uss."

Kenny was his usual self.

Our four voices echoed through the space. The relay point had grown quite quiet.

The dungeon quest, which seemed simple at first, dragged on longer than expected. The poisonous mist presented an insurmountable obstacle. Then there was the unknown final destination. And perhaps, adding to the difficulty, the magic stones found so far were all small.

People kept giving up on dungeon exploration, thinking it wasn't worth the effort. Now, only those like us who made it to the very edge, or true enthusiasts, remain. Before we knew it, even the guild personnel at the relay point had vanished.

"Taro! Think carefully, now. You're the strategist, aren't you?"

I'd somehow ended up as the strategist. Well, I wasn't exactly unhappy about it.

But I couldn't come up with any good ideas. Isn't there a quick way to solve this?

"Hey Taro, don't you have another one of those things with you?"

"I do have one, but it's not very powerful."

"Ah, right... I thought, since you can use two types of crystals at once, maybe you could use one to push the wind and the other to redirect it somewhere else? But that might be too hard?"

"Somewhere else... Was there really a place like that?"

I was just thinking the same thing, and Alex asked it aloud.

"There was one, just like this place—another Monster House!"

That was true.

But there was still a decent distance from there to the thick fog.

If we kept blowing wind from just before the second Monster House toward the point where the toxic fog was, and if the fog started drifting our way, we could redirect it using another wind crystal back to the Monster House. It'd be pretty exhausting, though...

"If we move it, it'll be fine for now, but if it returns to normal the next day, we won't be able to keep progressing."

"That's exactly why we should just try it and see."

"True, I don't mind if Taro can manage it... but it does seem pretty exhausting..."

Still, it's worth trying.

"Got it. Let's give it a shot."

—The next day, we arrived right at the intersection between the second Monster House and the corridor.

I'm not sure how far this will work, but it's worth a try.

Holding one wind crystal in each hand, I channel my mental image through them.

So far, the most effective approach has been to visualize and manipulate a bundle of air—this mental image is the easiest to control. Air and water are fluids, but whether an image that understands fluid dynamics or the nature of fluids can actually influence physical phenomena remains unconfirmed.

I can feel the wind beginning to swirl around me, activated by the crystals' effect.

Direct the wind to crawl along the ceiling of the passage filled with poisonous mist, steadily increasing its power. Continue using the magic stone for a while, but the usual white fog still doesn't appear.

It's fine—I'm not tired yet.

The amount of magical essence I can handle isn't much different from others'.

But I'm apparently more efficient at using magic stones and spells.

A few friends who are magic stone users all say the same thing.

I don’t quite understand it, but apparently they’re judging the degradation of the magic stones after use.

A strong wind was blowing inside the dungeon. Sand and small stones were flying around, just like a hurricane was being poured in.

"Ah! It's coming."

Following Clara’s voice, I looked in that direction and indeed saw something white and mist-like drifting over. I deactivated one of the two magic stones I had active, leaving just one running.

"Everyone, cover your mouths with cloth if possible—try not to breathe it in."

Each of them covered their mouths as I instructed.

We don’t know how effective it’ll be, but better than nothing.

I covered my own mouth while plunging the second magic stone into the flowing white mist, channeling the next image into it.

Suddenly, the white mist changed direction.

It flowed onward—and then fell into the second monster house.

The white mist was likely heavier than air.

That's why Kenny, being taller, had breathed relatively fresh air deeper inside the dungeon, which helped keep his symptoms mild.

Now, I'll use this property to eliminate the white mist.

The white poison flows steadily from deeper within the dungeon.

Sweat trickles down his forehead. Whether from exhaustion or the poison itself doesn't matter—there's no turning back now.

I kept sending the mist and wind onward without stopping.

How long had it been? I must have stood here for at least an hour.

The white mist was visibly diminishing.

"Taro, it's full already. We can't fit any more in....Are you listening! Taro!"

Alex's voice reached me. I replied by stopping the activation of the magic stone, delayed by a moment.

"Thanks, Kenny..."

I gave a faint signal, my voice barely audible.

Kenny placed a wooden lid over the entrance of the monster house. It was also made from collected scrap materials, hastily assembled. Soon, the entrance was sealed, trapping the mist inside.

I confirmed this and sank down to sit where I was.

My strength felt sluggish—maybe I inhaled some poison. Or perhaps I overused magical energy... My head ached.

"For now, the strategy was a success. We'll just keep an eye on things for a while."

"Yeah, I really wish we wouldn't be back to normal in just one day..."

That day, I returned to the first monster house and took a rest.

After sleeping for a day, I was completely recovered. As for the main issue—the poison-clearing area—it still hadn't returned to normal.

Immediately, I prepared thoroughly and set off toward the deepest part of the dungeon.

And finally, we reached the dead end. It was surprisingly narrow—just barely wide enough for Kenny to rub his head against the walls.

There was nothing there.

It was obvious to anyone that this wasn't the end. Where had that mysterious mist come from? Who had built this enormous cavern? And what exactly was the giant scale?

"Taro, do you know what's beyond this?"

"I'll check it out."

I press the magic stone lamp against the wall and activate the scanning spell. The result is...

"The walls are too thick to measure the exact distance, but there's a reaction from the magic stone... and also a reaction resembling that of a monster."

Well then, what shall we do now...

Isn't choosing to back down at this point kind of unrealistic?

There's definitely treasure right in front of me.

People who chase short-term gains ultimately end up losing out—such is the way of the world.

In that case, I should definitely prepare properly against the monsters.

"Tarou, if you were to break through this wall, what would you do?"

"I'd use burst crystals. Bury them in the ground and activate them all at once. That way, I can slightly blow away and soften the surrounding soil. After that, I could dig through it slowly and steadily?"

"I see, but that would be the same as alerting the monster ahead of us to our presence, wouldn't it?"

"What would Alex do?"

"If it were me, I'd just go all out and smash it to pieces. That way, we could launch a surprise attack, and if we're lucky, we might even damage the enemy."

That's crazy—only Alex could pull something like that off, right?

Alex continued.

"What if the enemy heard this conversation and did the same thing we just did?"

"Hey, that's a flag..."

That was the moment Alex made a face asking, "What's a flag?"

A vibration unlike any before surged through the air. An earthquake? No time to worry about that now!