Chapter 68 - Guardian (1)

A bright and vigorous morning!

Wild Grylls

Day nine starts today!

└Heavenly Demon You're awake. What do you intend to do today?

└Wild Grylls First, I'm going back to yesterday's cave. I want to check whether the whole thing is orichalcum.

└Heavenly Demon If you find some, could you spare a little? Having a piece might not be a bad idea.

└Wild Grylls Of course, if you're the one asking. I'll give you a big piece.

└Heavenly Demon Thank you. While we're trading, I'll give you the fasting pills I prepared.

└Wild Grylls Thank you.

└Sword Masta Hard at work again today, I see. You seem even busier than I am.

└Wild Grylls Couldn't you get a job if you wanted one, Sword Masta?

└Sword Masta I could, but there's really no need, hehe.

└I'm jealous. Rich and unemployed.

└Isn't that what winning at life actually looks like?

└Some of us work our asses off, while others... Sigh.

└Obviously some noble born with a silver spoon, lol.

└Passing Dwarf Huh? What the heck. Another day's gone by. That stuff you gave me is orichalcum.

└Wild Grylls Real quick with the old news, huh? What time did you start boozing yesterday?

└Passing Dwarf Drank from lunch till evening. But what's in that fish? Eating it with booze made me burn up like crazy. Slept all day because of it.

Oh, right. The fish had contained an inner core. Heavenly Demon had explained that a fish with an inner core was both a spiritual creature and a spiritual elixir. It wasn't strange that eating one would give him a fever.

└Wild Grylls Happened to me too, but I was fine after sleeping it off for a day. Still feeling sick?

└Passing Dwarf Fine, except I'm bursting with energy. Thinking of going to the mines for the first time in a while.

Come to think of it, he was a dwarf. His image as a drunk was so firmly entrenched that I'd forgotten. Dwarves were a people of booze and mines. Having a drink after finishing work in the mines was a tradition. Hadn't someone said their squat bodies were specialized for mining, too? Something like that.

└Wild Grylls Might do some pickaxing myself. Got any tips?

└Passing Dwarf Don't put mana into your pickaxe. Could be mana-sensitive minerals around.

└Wild Grylls Is orichalcum sensitive to mana too?

└Passing Dwarf More like it has a ridiculously high absorption rate. Anyway, absolutely no mana.

└Wild Grylls Sounds like hard work already.

└Hard as fuck, lol. It's considered one of the world's toughest jobs for a reason.

└If the shaft collapses, you just die.

└Wild Grylls I'll just pick up loose stones, then.

└Anyway, you're still not dead.

└When's this bastard gonna croak, lol?

└Pretty tenacious, huh? lol.

└You staying alive all the time is getting boring~

└Wild Grylls Why, you little shits!

I started my day with encouragement both sweet and spicy from registered users and other forumgoers. Nothing like a cool glass of water and the fresh forest air to begin the morning.

And...

"Moo."

"..."

Coming face-to-face with a deer much taller than the barricade.

Lustrous blue antlers, snow-white hide, and eyes as clear as pristine river water. I stared blankly at the deer, then silently took a photo through the forum.

CLIP-CLOP! CLOP!

Fortunately, the blue-antlered deer fled the moment our eyes met. With light steps, it bounded over the barricade and ran away. Despite its striking appearance, it vanished almost immediately once it entered the forest.

'... Have I shrunk or something?'

Owlbears, fish, golden frogs, saber-toothed tigers, chickens, and now even deer. Every last one was abnormally huge. It made me wonder. I thought I understood how Gulliver must have felt entering the land of giants alone.

It was scary. Fucking terrifying, in fact.

Anyone know what this deer is?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a deer with blue antlers and white hide)

This guy greeted me as soon as I stepped outside the cave. Anyone know who it is?

└Heavenly Demon A beautiful deer. Those blue antlers are radiant.

└Slutty Princess They sure are. Just like my eyes.

└Heavenly Demon I shall bring down the banhammer.

└Slutty Princess I'm sowwy!!!

└Heavenly Demon Heh.

└Sword Masta If that isn't oppression, what is?

└Heavenly Demon Perfectly legitimate moderation.

└Sword Masta Look at that shamelessness...

└Starlight Lady I've seen that deer in a book. If my guess is right, it's a spirit deer.

└Wild Grylls A spirit? There are spirits too?

└Starlight Lady You didn't know? Where on earth have you been living?

└Wild Grylls I told you I came from another world...

Maybe I should've just said I grew up in some rural backwater. But then they'd have asked how I could use the forum. Better to save myself the trouble and say I came from another world.

└Starlight Lady It's easiest to think of spirits as living mana. Mana with a will of its own.

└Wild Grylls That's pretty abstract.

└Starlight Lady You remember the guardian you encountered at the beginning, Grylls?

└Wild Grylls You mean that enormous rock giant, right?

I still remembered it vividly: the rock I'd been leaning against coming to life. It had been so huge that a single step on me would have killed me instantly.

└Starlight Lady Nothing is certain, but naturally occurring guardians are believed to have spirits dwelling inside them.

└Wild Grylls What about that deer, then?

└Starlight Lady It's called a spirit deer because it looks like a spirit. Spirits can't affect living creatures. They're mana, after all.

└Wild Grylls It doesn't shoot lasers or anything from its antlers, does it?

└Starlight Lady A kick would probably hurt more than that.

└Wouldn't it go beyond hurting and shatter your bones?

└Grylls, why don't you try taking a hit? You've got a shield.

└Wild Grylls ...

└Starlight Lady You can ignore those idiots.

Being somewhere with absurd amounts of mana meant encountering all kinds of animals. This certainly was a fantasy world, but for me, it was dark fantasy. One wrong move could cost me my life. Would I ever get out in one piece?

'Never mind that. I need to stay alive first.'

Shaking my head, I headed up to the river to check what fish had been caught overnight.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

Exactly two fish were in the trap, both enormous. I gleefully hauled it in. Now this was easy pickings.

RUSTLE

"Hm?"

While I was retrieving the trap, I heard the bushes rustle. The sound came from right beside me, so I stopped what I was doing and went on guard. Sword and shield in hand, I kept a close watch on the direction it had come from.

"..."

Maybe it had been a false alarm; there were no more sounds. Still, I retrieved the trap without letting my guard down. With my life at stake if I made a single mistake, I couldn't help being jumpy.

'I'm near the river. I have to be careful.'

Plenty of animals would come to drink. There seemed to have been fewer here because of the golden frogs... but who knew now? I'd gotten quite a few of them killed, including their leader.

I returned to the cave, keeping watch over my surroundings the whole way. Nothing threatening happened on the trip back.

'I should bring the speed-sloth with me whenever possible.'

With that thought, I prepared breakfast. Roundfur woke up just then, too. I gave him one of the fish, after removing the inner core, of course.

'Come to think of it... hasn't he gotten bigger?'

I watched Roundfur happily eating his fish. He was wearing the jersey Slutty Princess had given me. It had fit him perfectly before, but now it was stretched to its limits. Either he'd gotten fat or he'd grown bigger. Or both. He was at a growing age, so I didn't worry about it.

'Bigger is better.'

Hadn't people always said size was king? That was good enough for me. Once he grew bigger than me, he'd be a huge help. Whenever that day might come.

'Will I escape the Forest of Four Seasons before then?'

Even if it was false hope, that was fine. Times like these were precisely when I needed hope.

I finished eating and cleaned everything up, my stomach comfortably full.

'I'll take Allfather's medicine and practice my cultivation method.'

I'd been practicing it consistently, focusing especially on the breathing method itself. Exercises to increase my overall lung capacity were the most effective.

'I should ask how to improve my lung capacity later, too.'

Only one task remained now: going to the orichalcum cave and picking up a few pieces. I'd memorized the entire route, so there was no chance of getting confused.

'As for Roundfur...'

He usually fell fast asleep right after eating, but not this time. He was watching me with his usual blank stare. Apparently, he had no intention of napping.

"Roundfur, no wandering off somewhere strange, okay?"

"Kyu?"

"Even if you see something tasty. Got it?"

"Kyu?"

"It's dangerous."

Roundfur tilted his head and made cute noises every time I spoke. Like the speed-sloth, he could mysteriously understand me, so surely he'd follow along nicely.

With breakfast finished, I started gathering my supplies. As always, there were my sword and shield, along with the extradimensional bag Allfather had given me yesterday. The bag held a crossbow and various other supplies, but I hadn't put anything fragile, such as the Elixir, inside it. It ignored the limits of space, not weight. Apparently, although the odds were low, items could sometimes collide and get damaged. So I put the Elixir and my emergency rations of fasting pills in a different bag.

The bag with my food and Elixir sat at my left hip, while the extradimensional bag containing my crossbow and other tools sat at my right.

'This is plenty.'

It was a little heavy, but well within what I could manage. The crossbow was an extremely useful weapon for someone like me, who had no other means of ranged attack.

With all my preparations finished, I put the speed-sloth on my back. Roundfur, still wearing his stretched-out jersey, urged me to hurry along. The way he bounced around was adorable.

"All right, all right. Let's go. But don't stray from me, okay?"

"Kyu!"

Unlike during the runaway incident, this time all three of us—no, one person and two animals—traveled together. Our destination was yesterday's orichalcum cave, which I intended to explore a little more. I had King Leor's gift, so I could use that.

'There wasn't anything dangerous in the cave yesterday, either.'

There were bats and snakes, but they weren't threatening. I'd brought Elixir just in case, and Roundfur could deal with them without me having to step in.

Retracing yesterday's journey from memory, I headed toward the orichalcum cave. The marks I'd made were still there, so it wasn't hard to find my way.

'The chicken and chicks won't show up, will they?'

I had no idea why there were chickens and chicks in the forest, but I needed to be careful regardless. Even the chicks were about my size, and the chicken was far bigger. Knowing the boundaries of their territory would make moving around easier, but that wouldn't be easy to figure out.

"Sniff, sniff. Sniff."

"Roundfur, that's yucky. Yucky."

Along the way, Roundfur stopped to sniff an odd-looking plant. It was a striking yellow flower that, curiously, glittered in the light. One glance was enough to tell it was advertising, "I'm poisonous."

I scolded Roundfur and took a photo of the flower through the forum. Things like this were best left to Allfather or Starlight Lady. There was no need to take a risk right now.

COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!!!

A thunderous crow rang out not far away. Apparently, we'd walked into the chickens' territory without realizing it.

"Kyuee!"

The moment Roundfur heard it, he rushed over to me in terror. Being chased by that flock of chicks seemed to have traumatized him. I stroked him to reassure him, then looked around. Nothing in particular caught my attention.

'There are feathers scattered around, though.'

Black feathers that I suspected had fallen from the chicken. It was so big that even a single feather was sizeable. I picked one up and put it in the extradimensional bag. It might come in handy later.

"We're here."

We reached the orichalcum cave without encountering any threats. Once there, I took an item from my regular bag: the crystal orb inscribed with a Light spell that King Leor had given me. I'd heard that tapping it a few times would activate the magic.

TAP TAP

I tapped the crystal orb a few times, just as King Leor had instructed, and something happened. The dim orb shone brightly, then the light actually floated into the air. The orb itself was still in my hand, but the light was above my head. What an amazing sight.

"Oooh!"

I marveled at the light bobbing overhead. Seeing magic for the first time in my life made me feel like a kid again. He'd said it lasted a full hour, so that was plenty of time to explore.

'Brighter than a torch. Excellent.'

With this, I wouldn't have trouble exploring even dark places. Excited, I entered the cave, with Roundfur trotting after me. Soon, we reached the slope leading down to the orichalcum cavern. The rope I'd set up yesterday was still there, and I carefully descended.

"Huh?"

As soon as I reached the bottom, something felt off. How should I put it? The rocks seemed arranged a little differently. A photo would have let me compare, but I didn't have one, so I couldn't be sure.

'Am I imagining it?'

I tilted my head, then looked around the still-glittering cave. Now that I had a light, I took pictures and posted them on the forum.

Orichalcum cave

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a cave full of orichalcum)

(Photo of a rock-shaped mass of orichalcum)

(Photo of orichalcum picked up from the floor)

Thoughts? All that glittering stuff is orichalcum, right?

└Heavenly Demon A beautiful cave. To think it's filled with true gold.

└Sword Masta It's really pretty. What are you going to do now?

└Wild Grylls Not sure. Pick up some pieces off the floor and explore, I guess? There's nothing particularly dangerous.

└Sword Masta Still, be careful. Man-made mines are one thing, but natural caves have lots of monsters.

Monsters, huh. I looked around at that remark. Other than small animals, including bats, there weren't any notable living creatures. What I could see was the full extent of the cavern, too. Still, I ought to stay alert.

└Passing Dwarf Damn. Makes me want to rush over there and start swinging a pickaxe, lol.

└Wild Grylls Wanna come?

└Passing Dwarf Once I finish all my booze.

└Wild Grylls So you're saying you're not coming, fuck.

└Passing Dwarf Why the hell would I go there? I'm not crazy, lmao.

└Allfather Fascinating, though. An entire cave made of orichalcum. Just what kind of place is the Forest of Four Seasons?

└Starlight Lady Could it be somewhere that experienced intense tectonic activity? Orichalcum only forms where mana is abundant.

└Allfather True, but there is definitely something there. Something generating extreme amounts of mana.

└Starlight Lady That's a plausible hypothesis. If even space is being warped, couldn't it surpass the World Tree?

└Allfather Perhaps. It seems further exploration is needed.

└Wild Grylls Anyone else not understand a word of that?

└Me!

└I dunno either!

└Lol, it's fine not to get it, lol.

└Let's Grow Trees There is only one World Tree in this world. The World Tree of Alvenheim.

└We know, so run along, knife-ear.

└Your whole race is only scraping by thanks to the World Tree~

└Let's Grow Trees So, have you received the World Tree's blessing? You haven't, which is why all you can do is sneer.

└Ha. Fuck, that's genuinely infuriating, lol.

└The fact that it's true and there's no comeback, lol.

World Tree, my ass. Exploring came first. I looked around every corner of the cave with Roundfur. Just what had happened to create an entire orichalcum cave here? I wasn't a scholar, or even someone born in this world. All I could really do was go, "Wow, neat," and move on.

'They said orichalcum absorbs mana well, right?'

I placed a hand on the floor and circulated the mana in my body. Soon, mana flowed out through my hand, and there was a flash of light. It didn't rise like a heat haze, though. Apparently, it really had been absorbed, because the floor glittered more brightly than before.

I was watching in fascination, my lips forming a little O, when it happened.

RUMBLE... GRRRIND

The sound of stone grinding against stone came from directly behind me. Startled, I immediately turned around.

"H-huh?"

A rock was moving. A rock made of orichalcum. The great mass of mineral shifted as though it were standing up, then rose proudly onto two legs. I stumbled backward as I watched it rise.

At last, the mass of orichalcum stood fully upright in a human shape.

WHIIIINE

A "guardian" had revealed itself before me.