“I have something to ask you two.”
I sit on a legless chair Aira brought out, and call my sisters-in-law, who were watching from afar. Both look apologetic, like they know what I’m about to say.
“I’m sorry brother-in-law, we didn’t trick you or anything, but…”
“I know. And Aira stopped it anyway, right?”
I look at her, and she has a big smile on her face.
“Yes. It was a test to see if you could switch to combat mode as you went about your daily life, master.”
“And?”
“You pass.”
“Thanks. So, I don’t intend to do anything to you, but can you explain what happened?”
I peek at the smoke, that is still unchanged.
This is strange, because it’s been almost ten minutes since the two smokes appeared.
“Takane, can you?”
“Okay. Shouta, let me ask this first. Do you know that it has been ten years since dungeons started appearing?”
“Yes.”
“A hundred new dungeons are born every year. This is a common misconception, but the total of dungeons is not a thousand, it’s eleven hundred. With me so far?”
“Yes. I heard from Ayane that sixty were found right away.”
“Yes. And a couple of weeks ago thirty more were found. But no matter how hard they looked, the remaining ten couldn’t be found. And if even my mother’s information net couldn’t find them, one possibility came to light.”
“…I see. And that’s…”
“Yes. At the bottom of the sea.”
Dungeons have always appeared mostly in the same places. The first five hundred appeared mostly in the middle of cities, and after that, they began appearing in harder to find places, such as mountains and ravines. It was speculated that another such change would occur in the eleventh year.
I started exploring dungeons three years ago. And when I was in school, I heard plenty of these things, along with things about the occult and conspiracies.
But whether it’s unexpected or an inevitability, dungeons are appearing at the bottom of the sea.
“Do you know why stampedes happen?”
“I’m pretty sure they happen when people don’t go into dungeons and hunt monsters for two or three months. I see, so it’s been almost three months. But why here?”
“Only my mother’s power can… I’m sorry, I don’t know much about it either.”
What is it? Does she have a skill or item that can predict it?
I’m curious, but I need to focus on what’s in front of me.
“Is extermination the condition to end a stampede?”
“It’s more about defeating a boss monster. The underlings lose control after that.”
There are no monsters left, so I guess it’s about that smoke now…
“Okay. Thank you for telling me.”
“Then we’re going to contact our mother. Tell us if anything new happens.”
“Be careful everyone.”
They head to the holiday house, maybe out of consideration for us. It helps, because I have to talk about skills.
But…
“It’s still not spawning.”
“Strange.”
“Did something similar happen during that great disaster nine years ago?”
“I wonder… I was looking into past stampedes as you fought the Krakens, and there were reports of rare monsters being defeated. However, there was nothing about what happened to their smoke.”
“Perhaps there was no one like master who timed it.”
“…”
“Even if there wasn’t anyone with Shouta’s Luck, the smoke itself should’ve appeared… But I guess no one’s gonna be watching out for that in the first year.”
As I think about that, Ayane jumps at me.
“Darling, why don’t we take the opportunity to hear about the skills you received before and after the battle?”
“Yeah, we’re curious about that too.”
“Yes, you left us hanging.”
“Oh? Did you receive good skills?”
The smoke is still billowing with no sign that it will combine or well up, so I guess it’s a good time.
I tell everyone about Acrobatics, Magic Energy Super Recovery, Automatic Mapping β, Hand of Sorcery, Holy Magic, and Time-Space Magic in turn. No one knows about Automatic Mapping β or Hand of Sorcery, and I haven’t used them yet either.
Aira tells me about Acrobatics. Apparently it’s related to Posture Control, and my sense of balance is improved when I use both. I’m going to have more opportunities to use them in aerial and underwater combat, so I’m glad to have these simple but useful skills.
And apparently the fact that I have Holy Magic is an issue in itself.
“I this is known, it might shatter the identity of the Saint. Master, let us tell no one.”
“My lips are sealed darling! But… What does it do?”
“Are you curious?”
“Very!”
Everyone around me nods, and I tell them about the one spell that comes to mind.
“Purification?”
“Does it cleanse evil things?”
“Wouldn’t that be crazy in the Youkai Dungeon in the second subdivision?”
“And the Ancient Battlefield Dungeon in the third, that’s full of ghosts!”
“Hn… Can it purify all that squid ink in the sea?”
“It would be useful if it could. That’s some persistent pollution.”
“But what about Space-Time Magic, Shouta?”
“Ah, that. Sorry for delaying this, but it can’t be used for anything.”
Nothing comes to mind, so I assume nothing can be done with Space-Time Magic at level one. Then again, the same goes for Law of the Void, so maybe that’s just what rare skills are like.
“Nothing comes to mind?”
“Yes. Not even faintly.”
“Perhaps… You do not have the stats.”
“My Intelligence is over twenty thousand.”
I heard Holy Magic demands a lot of Intelligence. Maybe something like Space-Time Magic that’s even rarer needs a ton.”
“I see… But still, maybe there are skills with no spells at level one.”
“Yes. We are still learning the possibilities of magic.”
There’s no need to worry about it if I can’t use it. And as I pat Ayane’s head to distract myself from it, I hear Enril.
‘Popo!’
Looks like something’s happening with the smoke.
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