Chapter 12
“PHEW… Well, that’s one down.”
At the top floor of the spherical temple, Mira opened the door to the crystal chamber and put her hand on the crystal. This turned the symbol on her hand into one of the three necessary to reach the final level. That was the main quirk of the sixth level: the key symbol for the crystal chambers would turn into those which opened the Great Temple’s doors, meaning that one needed to know the locations of both the key symbols and the Great Temple’s symbols. Unlike previous levels, only one person could go through at a time on this level. It was impossible to piggyback. Given the additional effort, one could see that the seventh level’s security was strict.
Furthermore, the time needed to clear the level had increased exponentially. Superior mobility was meaningless due to the mess of buildings. It was easy to get lost in the maze of streets, and even if one had memorized the entire route, they still needed to constantly check their position.
As such, Mira had begun her trek before noon. It was already eight p.m. by the time she had the first symbol. She’d made some detours along the way—stoking her adventurous spirit, practicing her kicking abilities—but collecting the keys and their corresponding symbols took six hours at minimum on this floor, no matter how much one rushed.
Common knowledge said each symbol took three days for the average adventurer party. Despite all her curiosity and detouring, Mira was still going extremely fast. Part of that was thanks to her constant use of Immortal Arts, but her stamina was reaching its limit.
“Argh, my legs are stiff. I can’t walk anymore…”
Mira sat along the white wall of the crystal chamber and sighed, massaging her tired legs. The lack of Pegasus on this floor was a real burden. But I was able to get the first symbol in one day, so I think that’s reasonable progress.
The sixth level was the most troublesome by far. It could take normal adventurers two whole weeks to clear it. This was because they’d have to move as a unified group, and they didn’t have access to Immortal Arts for movement, like Mira did. Furthermore, they’d have to exhaust their stamina on endless skeletons and take regular breaks, unlike this summoner, who made her dark knights do all the fighting. All of that time added up.
The first time I came here, I think it took a week. I’ve certainly gotten stronger.
Mira fondly recalled her first visit. This world wasn’t like a video game, where you didn’t have to worry about physical fatigue or food. Feeling a mix of exhaustion and pain in her legs, Mira laughed at how she’d once considered it fun.
***
“I must hold out a little longer…”
Monsters wouldn’t approach the spherical shrine, so it was a good place to spend the night. Regardless, Mira forced her exhausted body to stand up, dragged herself out of the crystal chamber, and left the structure. When she looked around, she noticed the shrine was built on a rather large site. She walked around and found that the backyard was perfect.
“I think this will do.” Mira summoned the mansion spirit behind the shrine.
She’d prefer to be able to sleep—and have her dark knights farm—in a place where more skeletons gathered. Unfortunately, the sixth level had few places where the mansion spirit could be summoned. The only other spaces large enough were far away. That said, her main goal was to use the mansion spirit as much as possible to induce growth. Not earning money in her sleep was fine as long as she was in a place that allowed her to level up her summons.
Summoning dark knight guards, just in case, Mira went into the mansion and took a deep breath, as if she’d just come home. “Ah, now this is comfort.” The mansion spirit’s power was mysterious; despite the interior and exterior being entirely different, it was just as calming as if she were in her own bedroom.
Mira surrendered herself to the feeling, stripped naked, plopped down in the shower room, and let the hot water wash over her.
“How soothing…”
Finally able to relax her exhausted body, she bathed in the flowing water for some time.
***
After a rather long shower, Mira put on a pair of panties and lay in her sleeping bag in the corner of the room.
“I wonder if there are any massage chair spirits out there,” she grumbled, rubbing her overworked legs while her body was still warm. Master Meilin had taught her that this could make a huge difference in how she felt the next day.
After massaging herself as instructed, she made a late dinner. Mira was in the mood for a hearty meal, so she cooked a thick cut of meat with salt and pepper. At the same time, she made a salad and got out some bread to go alongside it.
“Perfection.”
A lovely scent wafted up from the sizzling meat. Mira’s stomach grumbled like mad, so she picked at her salad and waited impatiently for the meat to finish cooking. Soon, she’d accidentally devoured the entire salad, and the meat was beginning to look just right.
“What luxury!”
Mira got straight to eating. When her teeth sunk into the thick, chewy meat, a relaxed smile spread across her face. She then put the half-eaten steak on a roll, made a special sauce by using the leftover grease in the frying pan and extra seasonings, and added some cheese to the sandwich.
“I’ve always wanted to try this. Behold, a steakburger!” Mira chomped on the steakburger with a huge smile, her dream finally coming true. “Mm, delicious!”
After a fulfilling dinner, Mira cleaned up and drifted off to sleep while reading the Encyclopedia of Skills.
***
Mira woke up to face her second day in the sixth level.
“Mm… Youth is a wonderful thing.”
She woke up at eight a.m., amazed to find that she was fully rested, thanks to either the massage or her youthful form. A slight pain twinged from her thighs down to her calves as she stood to walk a lap around the room, however.
“Muscle pain the next morning… That’s more proof of youth too.”
They said that as one aged, the pain hit later and later. She didn’t know if this was true, but she took the dull pain in her legs as proof of her youth. Though there was some pain, it wasn’t enough to hinder her movements.
After having a fruit for breakfast, Mira dismissed the mansion spirit. Her goal today was to get the second symbol.
As she looked around a little expectantly, she muttered, “Oh. Figures.”
It seemed the grounds around shrines really were safe. There were no signs of monsters having approached, and no magic stones littered the ground.
The sixth level spawned B-rank monsters. If she could get hundreds of magic stones from here, in one night, she’d be raking in the cash. While disappointed, Mira departed for her destination.
***
Given the muscular fatigue, Mira decided to go from the top to the middle tier without training her kicks this time. Shortly after noon, and just before her arrival at the middle tier, she deviated from her route slightly.
“Ooh, there it is. Now that’s a harvest!”
She jumped out of the corridor and ran through the air with Air Step. At the end of a long, disconnected corridor that seemed impassable, she reached a room overflowing with greenery. Indeed, this was one of the still-functioning facilities.
The room looked like a theater overgrown with grass and flowers, the center of which contained a single large tree. Red fruit hung from the ends of wide branches. This was the nameless fruit that had been selectively bred into what was now known as the Queen of Hearts, one of the Four Major Fruits.
Here, she again remembered her history-loving friend. Long ago, an adventurer had found this fruit and brought it back with them. A farmer cultivated and selectively bred the fruit under the sun. The result of their efforts was the Queen of Hearts, the ultimate fruit. At the time, Mira’s friend had told her the story while chowing down on the ancestral fruit from the dungeon—not that he could taste it, since it was in-game. The nameless fruit did have an effect, though: quick recovery from status ailments and a temporary increase in mana regeneration. Mira had even been given a few as a gift. She remembered how they’d both laughed over their shared desire to actually taste it.
When she opened her Friend List, that friend’s name came up white. That meant that he was still alive and somewhere in this world.
“I wonder if he’s already eaten one.”
Mira picked up a single red fruit and gazed at it nostalgically. Then, she grinned; she’d thought she hadn’t listened to him much, yet she remembered that time so well.
After putting the nameless fruit in her mouth, Mira puckered her lips with a frown and writhed in agony. “Nnnrgh! Too sour!”
The fruit was just big enough to fit in the palm of her hand, and the skin was like that of a peach. The flavor was akin to lemon, with the barest hint of honey, but it skewed heavily to the “extremely sour” end of the spectrum. It was like a drink you’d dilute with water, but somehow even more intense.
“This fruit is no joke. You can practically taste the wildness of it.” With tears in her eyes, Mira took another bite. “Aaack!” She writhed at the intense sourness but smiled nonetheless. The summoner looked like an old man drinking strong liquor.
Taking an interest in the harsh, vivid, yet addictive taste, Mira picked a few more to take home to Solomon and Luminaria.
***
She returned to her route and continued along at a good pace. Easily trouncing any skeletons that appeared, Mira stopped by still-operating facilities and collected several other kinds of rare fruit. After a little over four hours in the middle tier, she obtained the key symbol from the crystal chamber. Then, she headed to the middle tier’s spherical shrine and obtained the second symbol. By this point, it was already late in the evening.
One more symbol had been collected today, just like yesterday. “Well, that’s fine. All according to plan.”
The spirit mansion was summoned behind the spherical shrine, and Mira relaxed, making plans for tomorrow. Her third day on the sixth level would hopefully end with her having obtained the third symbol on the lower tier. If possible, she’d also like to start heading toward the Great Temple, if time allowed.
“Who came up with this awful structure, anyway?” Mira muttered to herself.
Key symbols and their corresponding shrines were positioned in opposite locations—north and south, east and west, and so on. And since key symbols overwrote each other, she couldn’t collect all of the key symbols first. As such, Mira had to go through many intricate routes in order to reach the seventh level.
After dinner, Mira flipped through the Encyclopedia of Skills as she rested in preparation for a new day.
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