Rupegia

Chapter 66: Journey – Part 1

As soon as we wake up, we draw our weapons and get ready to fight. Gify pops out of existence, then I re-summon the Hollys and Shads, and we observe our situation.

We stand on a cobble floor, covered in shallow water that barely reaches our knees. A faint mist makes it difficult to see very far. Strange pillars of black rock dot the area.

I cast [Spirit Eyes] and see nothing. Neither does Alissa, Yunia, nor the summons detect any presence besides ours.

We start to relax and observe our environment with curiosity.

The air is chilly, the water has the salty smell of the ocean, the wind is weak and chaotic. The floor is definitely man-made, but the rock pillars aren't, or at least they don't look like it. The oddest thing is that we see light coming from above, but there's no clear source. It's like the entire sky is faintly glowing.

I tell a Holly to fly upwards, and it keeps going up forever. The atmospheric pressure also doesn't drop as it flies up, which implies something magical.

"Well… I'm a little disappointed, but also a little relieved," Hana comments.

"What are you talking about?" Roxanne questions.

She shrugs. "Thought the Dungeon Master was going to punish us, or something."

"You really think that there's someone controlling the dungeon?" I ask.

"Well, this is the tomb of a God-Ruler. They were known to be very prideful," Alissa says and puckers her lips while staring at me.

I cringe and awkwardly play with my tail. "I'm sorry. I didn't think that a humanoid or something with an ego was controlling it; I was imagining that it was more like a construct or something like Ted."

"It's better to not risk offending… whoever this Dungeon Master is," Lina says, and I nod.

Lina's Trivia: It's possible to engineer a dungeon in a way that you can control certain aspects of it. The person controlling it is colloquially known as the "Dungeon Master." Though it's possible that Legado has a Dungeon Master, the way that it's being controlled is much more mysterious than the norm.

"So… now what? Where do we go?" Ciel asks.

The water is perfectly still, the only disturbance is caused by us; the direction of the wind changes randomly; the mist prevents us from seeing that far; there's no sound coming from anywhere, except from us; there's no sun to follow; and the compass is not working, it's spinning around randomly.

I summon twenty small birds and have them fly as fast as they can in all directions.

"Now, we go anywhere," I say with a shrug.

"Pay attention to these rocks, they could mean something," Roxanne says.

"Right. I'll start drawing a map," I say and pull out some paper.

Lina raises the earth and creates a dry platform for us to stand on while I draw a map of the rock formations that the birds can see.

After a good half-hour, we notice something interesting about the map.

"There are fewer rocks in this direction," Lina says and taps the top of the map.

"Point of interest found, let's investigate," I say.

Yunia chants and casts [Ignorance] on herself. She's pretty good with the spell since it has no effect on us, but it does on my summons, though Holly is not affected by it.

I pull out the golems. Ted and Suzy will protect Alissa and Roxanne, respectively, while Jarn will protect our backs.

The birds eventually start to encounter the stone pillars again, which means that the area of interest doesn't go on forever.

I re-summon half the birds and map that area in more detail. In front of us, there's a circle half the size of Rabanara where there's barely any stone pillars, but they seem to be the only things that the birds have found.

"How curious," I comment.

"Get ready for trouble," Hana says, and we nod.

As we make our way deeper into the empty area, we start to feel tense.

Don't tell me that it's another of those damn mental attacks.

Alissa suddenly notices something and tells us to stop. A second later, we see a ripple coming towards us. There's something in that direction.

We stand still and wait. The ripple becomes stronger and touches us, distorting off our legs and causing a bit of turbulence on the water's surface.

Then Alissa sees it first. A four meters tall human-like creature. Its long legs have no feet, making it look like it walks on stilts. The legs are thick, but quickly become as thin as a sword near the bottom. Its large naked torso is of a man with the same dark color as the dark rock pillars around us. Its long arms hold a huge greatsword as tall as its own body, and it looks dangerously sharp. Its head is covered by a tightly wrapped dark cloth.

Holy fuck, that's creepy.

We start fanning out, not wanting to all get caught with a single swing of that huge sword.

It keeps slowly walking towards us. Its thin legs cause minimal disruption of the water.

Suddenly, it attacks.

Hana tanks the hit with her shield. It passes through [Wind Shield] and hits the metal, then she tilts her shield, and with the help of the golems casting [Telekinesis], they deflect the blade upwards.

"[Explosion]!" Roxanne casts, and the monster's head is blown off. Blood, brain matter, and bone fly everywhere, but thankfully, we are far enough away that it doesn't get on any of us.

Then the giant freezes on the spot, and we stand still, wary of any movement. Even though it should have fallen forward in that position, it still remains standing, defying gravity.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Yunia asks.

"Wait, let's observe it for a little while longer. It doesn't seem like we are in any grave danger against it," I say, and she nods.

The giant suddenly starts to melt into a black sludge, including the pieces that were blown off, which all quickly starts to gather around its sword and then forms into another of the dark rock pillars that we see everywhere.

"Considering how many of these pillars there are around us, I'm starting to get a little bit worried," I say and chuckle nervously.

"They didn't turn into these stilt giants when we passed near them, though," Alissa says.

"This area is special," Ciel says.

"I can feel it. There's a faint presence of Life in this area," Yunia says.

"I can't feel any sort of presence," Alissa says.

"Yes, the Life is in the area, not in the giants. They must be something like puppets," Yunia responds with a nod.

I start walking towards the pillar, and Alissa gets anxious. Suddenly, the pillar melts and starts to shift into the shape of a Stilt Giant.

"[Explosion]," Roxanne casts again, but with much less power. The Giant's face splits open, and a bloody mush of brain matter seeps out. Then the Giant freezes again on the spot.

I jump and glide towards it, then I slice its wrist off and the sword drops in the water with a small splash.

"Lina, crush the sword," I order.

She morphs her axe into a hammer and whams the greatsword's hilt. It immediately gets bent out of shape, but after a few more full-powered strikes, it breaks in two.

The Giant turns into a sludge that seeps between the cobble and disappears.

"How curious," I say.

"How creepy," Ciel says, and Yunia and Roxanne both nod.

We continue walking towards the center and soon meet another Stilt Giant. This time, it comes running towards us.

"Wait, it's not really coming towards us," Alissa says.

We stand still, and I notice that the Giant is going to pass behind us.

"Can it even see us?" I question.

"It doesn't seem so," Yunia responds.

The Giant suddenly stops beside us and swipes at me, who's at our right flank. I duck under the swipe, and Alissa fires a [Mana Arrow] at its brain.

The Giant freezes, and Aoi flies towards it, then she severs its wrist with her halberd, and Lina breaks its greatsword in two again.

"Odd behavior, I think we're missing something," I say.

"I'll pay more attention to it, then," Alissa says.

We soon meet the third Giant, and the direction that it's coming from coincides with the position of one of the rock pillars on my map.

It walks towards, and we don't attack, waiting for it to strike first. Then Hana tanks its swipe, and we easily dispose of it again.

"It attacks when a ripple reaches one of its legs," Alissa says.

"How peculiar," I say with a grin.

"Should we try flying with the dinghy, then?" Roxanne suggests.

"Lazy demon," Hana whispers.

"We'll test how the Giants react to it, but they are so harmless that I'd prefer to kill them for their 'Experience,'" I say.

"I'll use a Ring of the Servant, then. I'm not in need of any more skill points, for now," Yunia says, and I agree.

We enter the dinghy and slowly fly forward. I send a bird to the nearest rock pillar and watch it shift into a Stilt Giant after we get to about 100 meters from it. Then it quickly makes its way towards us.

Hana, Aoi, and the golems stay on the ground, waiting for it. Once it appears in front of us, it dashes towards the dinghy in a mad rush.

"AH!" Roxanne shrieks in fear and flies us upwards. The Giant suddenly stops and throws its sword like a javelin.

"Weepers' dream!" Yunia exclaims.

Ciel casts [Wind Hammer], Lina casts [Earth Bullet], and I cast [Telekinesis] at it. With an oddly large amount of effort, the sword is diverted.

Then the sword stops mid-air and black sludge gushes out of its hilt. It quickly takes the shape of the Giant while the one on the ground melts and seeps into the cobble.

"DOWN!" I order Roxanne, and we nosedive.

WE NEED SEAT BELTS!

The Giant instantly gains speed and falls towards us, ready to swing its sword at us.

Alissa fires an arrow into its brain, and we push it away with magic again.

Roxanne hurriedly lands in the shallow water, and Lina hops out, chasing after the sword, which falls near us with a loud clang.

Hana strikes at the sword with her war hammer, but the power of her attack isn't comparable to Lina's. The sludge starts to gather around the sword, but they break it before it has enough time to solidify.

"Well, I guess that means that we aren't allowed to fly," Roxanne says and sighs.

We decide to walk, so I store the dinghy back in my "Items." Thankfully, elves dislike getting their feet wet, so the boots fully protect mine, and the girls' perfect and delicious feet from the salty water.

A few more Giants come towards us, but Alissa easily pierces their brains, and we make short work of their greatswords.

"I leveled up," Alissa says.

"Nice. We'll level, too, soon enough," I say.

Then, after a long and boring march, Alissa notices a light source directly in front of us. I immediately summon a bird to scout ahead, and we increase the pace of our march.

The bird sees a lighthouse on top of a rocky island. They're both pale gray, like normal rock. As it watches, a white sludge seeps out of the cobble floor around the island, taking the shape of a pier. Then the pier gains the same color and texture as wood.

After that, more sludge rises from the floor and takes the shape of a ship with wings. It's long and thin, like a Roman galley. It has large wings positioned vertically, their span is around six meters tall, and they're bony, like a dragon's. The cabin is a wide tent with a small wooden tower reaching up from it. Behind it, there's a large mast with a single fastened sail. A large number of dim and small crystal lights hang loosely from the beams.

Then the boat gains color: its body becomes bright yellow, decorated with light blue lines; the wings become blood red; and the cabin becomes a deep purple. Finally, a rope trimmed with gold grows from the back of the boat and snakes its way towards the lighthouse.

After everything is done, the beacon of the lighthouse starts rotating.

"How curious," I say and smile.

Our increased pace calls the attention of a few more Giants that we easily dispatch, then we finally see the lighthouse in person.

Its beacon seems to be clearing the mist for a short distance around it, allowing us an unimpeded view of both the ship and the pier.

"Huh… that's a chimeric airship," Alissa comments.

"You've seen one?" Yunia asks.

"Only pictures in books."

We climb the pier and split up. Alissa, Yunia, Aoi and I will take a look at the ship, while the others will take a look at the lighthouse. Then Gify pops back into existence, now that we aren't in immediate danger.

We climb up into the ship, and I immediately get a Bazaar's vibes: colorful pots, crates that waft the smells of spices, beautiful tapestries, and numerous rolls of cloth, all tied down to the boat by ropes.

The other girls follow the golden rope and enter the lighthouse. Inside, they find a huge, floating, rainbow crystal brimming with light. They discover that the golden rope enters the crystal, and that gives me an idea.

We walk to the stern of the vessel and climb down the stairs into the hold. The air is stuffy, and the strong smells of spices irritates Alissa's nose. Then we see the golden rope and follow it deeper in.

Right in the middle of the ship, the rope enters a large green crystal, but this one doesn't glow. It's fixed to the ship by some sort of metal mechanism full of gears. I realize that these gears control the wings of the ship. So this must be the main "battery" of the ship and what makes it fly. The rope must be used to transfer mana to the crystal, like a fuel pump.

"This is the ship's core. If we can charge it, we can get this airship to fly," Yunia says.

"Any idea how much MP is needed?" I ask.

"A lot. Tens of thousands, if I had to make a guess."

I wince. "Ouch."

She nods. "Yeah. The lighthouse must have a source of mana if this golden rope came from the crystal."

The other girls climb a spiral stairway around the crystal and enter a room above it. Inside, there are a few large metal levers and some writing.

"Hm… wanna bet that the Giants will swarm us when we start the mana transfer?" I ask with a grin.

"That'd be a stupid bet," Yunia says.

Alissa nods and asks, "But can either of you fly an airship?"

"No…" Yunia responds and looks at me.

I snort. "Why are you even asking me?"

Yunia shrugs. "Who knows. Your world has some odd technology, maybe you'd know something."

I smile and shake my head as I say, "Well. In fact, there is something like airships back there, and I do know a little about how to fly one. But I'd be irresponsible if I said that this knowledge qualified me as an airship captain."

"Better than any of us, I guess," Alissa says.

"Well, I know how to fly," Aoi says and lifts a claw.

"You can act as an advisor, but you don't know how to control one, do you?" I ask.

"Oh, right. Roxanne and Ciel would know that better," Aoi says and nods twice.

"I just have a little knowledge about how they function," Yunia says.

"You both can advise him, then," Alissa says.

I sigh and shrug. "Anyway, let's go up top and see the bridge."

Roxanne and Lina try to decipher the controls of the lighthouse. Curiously, the plaques identifying each lever are written in Andraste. Hana and Ciel go upstairs to inspect the top.

We go up and enter the tent cabin. Inside, we see a fully-fledged magic tool kitchen, a magic tool bathtub, a low table, and a huge mattress on the floor.

"Our tent is better," Alissa says, sounding disappointed.

"Totally," I agree.

We climb up the ladder to the small tower and Aoi goes outside, then flies around it. At the top of the tower, there's a bunch of levers and a flight stick.

"Okay, I kind of have an idea how this thing works," I say.

"See?" Yunia asks with a smug grin.

"At least there's a control station. Controlling the [Fly] gem directly is so dangerous," I say.

"This looks complicated, though," Alissa says.

"Eh. Once you get used to it, you'll see that it's a better way to control vehicles. At least with this, you can limit the input so that you don't self-destruct with stupid maneuvers."

"If you say so."

The controls are rather simple. There are multiple levers, one for each function: controlling the power, up-down movement, sideways movement, forward-backward movement, controlling yaw, sail deployment, wing folding, and wing tilting. There's also a gyroscope, and a glass meter that says "power," which is currently sitting on "Empty."

"Actually, controlling all these levers will be annoying," I say and smile wryly.

"Use me through [Bind]. If we work in sync, then it might be easier for you," Alissa suggests.

Yunia raises an eyebrow but says nothing.

Lina and Roxanne quickly identify the correct levers to pull to charge up the ship, so we get ready for battle: birds will be patrolling around our position to spot incoming Giants; Alissa and Roxanne will stay on top of the lighthouse and attack from a distance; Gify will stay on the bridge to check power levels; the rest of the girls and I will fan out around the area to protect it; and the golems will support us in breaking the swords.

I summon three earth elementals, then I order both them and Lina to start forming small boulders with [Earth Wall] all over the battlefield. This will disrupt the Giant's senses pretty well.

I set up three [Gate] coordinates: one on the lighthouse for Alissa and Roxanne, another on the pier that the girls will use to retreat, and the last one on the deck of the ship.

"Alright. Alissa, turn it on," I order through [Bind].

Alissa pulls the two levers to the correct position, and a low rumble resounds through the air. The water was completely still, but now it's gaining a hint of turbulence, and small waves start to crash on the stone island.

Through a faraway bird, I see a frightening number of Giants slowly awakening.

First comes the stragglers. It requires little effort from us to kill them all and break their swords.

Then comes the first wave. We see their silhouettes first, slowly coming into view from within the mist. The Giants completely encircle us, walking towards us in an oddly synchronized manner. The ripples that they produce add to each others' instead of disrupting them, becoming small waves that crash against our boulders.

The waves reflect back and reach the legs of some of the Giants, who then rush forward. Many of them freeze midway, "killed" by Alissa's small [Mana Arrow]s or Roxanne's precise [Ice Lance]s. Those who survive, stop in front of the line of boulders and slash at nothing.

We charge forward and start butchering them.

Yunia eats an Eia pill and starts dancing between them. Even when they aim at her, their attacks always whiff through nothing. They are too simple-minded to counter her [Precognition], she's untouchable.

I step on top of the boulders to avoid creating more ripples in the water, but even so, they still manage to identify my position.

Their attacks are dull and simple, but if I get hit, it'll hurt like a bitch.

The second wave of Giants appears from within the mist, but we aren't even done with the first.

"DON'T HOLD BACK WITH YOUR MANA!" I bellow an order.

I use [Rush] to weave in between them, leaving a trail of blood behind me. Hana and Aoi burn everything around them with their fire breath, not actually killing the monsters, but definitely crippling them. Lina breaks their fragile legs, and then their swords, each with a single savage strike. Ciel chops off limb after limb, bathing herself in their blood. Yunia holds the arms of the Giants in place with [Chain Life], then severs them without any effort. Roxanne starts to aim [Explosion]s at their swords, heavily damaging them, even the ones still being wielded.

"You are now level 27," the announcer says in my soul space.

Gify, how much longer?

Gih.

Good, my mana is running low.

The third wave comes, and I change gears. "STALL!" I order and unsummon everything to recover as much mana as I can.

We switch to a more defensive style, using the boulders to confuse the Giants, then cripple them instead of killing. Alissa switches to normal arrows and aims at their joints.

"GOLEMS THROW ROCKS TO DISTRACT THEM!" I order.

They fire weak [Earth Bullet]s near the Giants, who respond with immediate counter-attacks towards each rock. With my gliding style, I'm the one who has the easiest time getting close to the Giants while also avoiding disrupting their ripples.

I use my tail to disturb the water beside me, making the Giant respond with an attack, which creates an opening. I lower my gravity with [Telekinesis], then I use my tail to launch off of the floor and spin to dodge the Giant's clumsy attack, which was caused by the ripple. My sword slides through its throat and paints my arm red. Then I use its shoulder as a platform to leap towards the next Giant.

I glide slowly and with patience. The Giants all move in a predictable pattern, so there's no need to rush. One-by-one, the third wave is stalled as I slice through throats and the other girls fight while retreating.

GIH!

"RETREAT!" I yell and land.

I open a [Gate] to the ship and cross through, then I open a [Gate] to the lighthouse, and Alissa and Roxanne join me. Finally, I open a [Gate] to the pier for the girls to retreat through.

Alissa and I dash towards the bridge while Roxanne goes downstairs to detach the golden rope.

We climb the stairs and get our hands on the controls. We both breathe in and calm our hearts, trying to match each other's rhythm and mood.

"Ready?" Alissa asks.

I chuckle and respond, "No, but there's no more time to waste. ENGINE ON!" I push the power lever up. The lights all over the ship turn on, making it almost shine like the beacon of the lighthouse.

"Engine?" Alissa asks as a wave of mana hits us. This wave came directly from the [Fly] crystal.

"Somet-…" My voice dies out as every Giant suddenly turns their head towards the boat.

"I'll go down and keep them away!" Alissa immediately reacts and jumps off of the bridge. I cast [Telekinesis] to slow her fall, and she gracefully lands, then she pulls out her bow again and rushes to the bow.

"Roxanne, come back immediately!" I order her through [Bind].

She responds with a huff as she pulls a lever that detaches the golden rope from the [Fly] crystal. Then she breaks into a desperate dash towards the back of the ship.

The Giants can be frighteningly fast, so much so that I have to summon an electric elemental to help keep them at bay.

I pull the lever to go up, and it starts to rise agonizingly slowly.

"No! Forward first! We need speed!" Yunia yells right after she teleports to the deck via [Gate].

FULL SPEED AHEAD!

I push the "forward" lever all the way up, and we all stumble as the ship instantaneously reaches its full speed.

Oops, this thing is fast!

The golems appear on the deck and start chanting [Earth Bullet]s.

Hana carries Ciel to the [Gate] while Aoi carries Lina. Then the golems finally appear on the deck, too.

Alissa and the electric elemental clear a path in front of us, then I spread out the airship's wings.

The force that the wings produce is so strong that the vessel creaks and protests, but it obeys, and the wings launch us upwards.

Hehe, as gentle as drag racing.

Gih.

I grab the flight stick and gently start to pull it back. The ship responds and we tilt upwards, giving us an impressive climbing speed.

I hear multiple dull "thunk" sounds coming from the bottom of the airship, then a few huge greatswords pierce through the wings.

"[Earth Bullet]," the golems calmly cast in unison.

"[EXPLOSION]!"

"[WINDSTORM]!"

"[EARTH BULLET]!"

"[EARTH BULLET]!"

"[EARTH BULLET]!"

I close the [Gate] and cast [Telekinesis] to push one of the greatswords away from us. Aoi spits a ball of fire that explodes near another, blowing it away. The electric elemental expends all of its mana to stun the Giants that were oozing out of their swords, then the elemental dissipates into nothing.

A storm suddenly blasts around us, pushing away any incoming greatswords. I take a glance at Ciel's MP and see that it's rapidly draining away.

Two Stilt Giants crash onto the deck, stopped dead by the [Mana Arrow]s in each of their brains. Lina and Hana take care of their swords before they can revive.

"BEHIND!" Roxanne shrieks and runs away from the back of the ship, clutching her head in pain from overuse.

Four Giants climb up the stern of the ship and throw their swords at us. I stop the first with [Telekinesis] and send it off the ship. Jarn receives the second with her body, which does no damage to her thick metal chest, then she throws it overboard. The third is stopped by Yunia's [Chain Life] before he can throw his sword, then he receives an arrow in the head from Alissa and falls backward over the edge. Aoi slams her halberd against the fourth, and it crashes onto the deck, then she grabs the greatsword and bends it with her bare claws.

"RAAAAAAH!" She roars like a barbarian as she blows fire onto the sword, making it glow red-hot, then it snaps in two.

Ciel stops her [Wind Storm] and falls to her knees beside Roxanne.

Alissa runs around the boat, looking over the edge and searching for enemies.

"CLEAR!" She yells after a full lap.

Ciel and Roxanne clutch their heads and sit down, then they each chug an MP potion.

The tenseness we've been feeling suddenly disappears, so I reduce the speed of the ship and level it off.

"VICTORY!" I cheer, and the girls join in.