We only learn what that crystal tree is the next day, past noon.
Before that, since I have nothing to do, I just start preparing for our next incursion in the dungeon.
I actually wanted to look after Hikari, but I was kicked out because I was too restless. But I had to get myself busy, or my thoughts would be pulled in a bad direction.
And just as I’m having lunch and cooking with the castle’s cooks, Chris brings me news.
“Van tree? Probably?”
“Yes, grandma heard it from Suiren. And apparently Suiren was told about it by the demons.”
The ‘probably’ part comes from the fact that it has the same crystal appearance as van trees, but a completely different effect.
“Yes, van trees have the effect of sucking vitality, but apparently they don’t render someone unconscious and unable to wake up.”
Van trees originally grew in a region of the dark forest, and they were worked into magic items that repelled or weakened monsters.
But even those just sort of stopped existing at some point, and only their appearance and effect are known.
“So we still don’t know how to wake them up…”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”
“It’s not your fault, Chris. More importantly, what should we do? We’re stumped without knowing how to treat them.”
I’ve already tried to make an item to remove status effects, but it didn’t work.
“But elixir…”
That thought crosses my mind, but is there even enough holy tree fruit to make multiple elixirs?
At the same time, we’re not solving anything at this rate.
Can the three of us even continue advancing through the dungeon without the others? Despite the trouble we found on the eighth floor, we managed to get through it because there weren’t any monsters.
Even if we try asking for backup, no one can go to the eighth floor now.
Alfriede and others tried, but they couldn’t get that door open again.
“…Maybe I should see what the ninth floor is like.”
If I check Map right after arriving, I should at least be able to see how big it is, and if there are any monsters.
It would be great if I learned more about it from Alzahak. Or if he left more information about the dungeon with Yuini.
“Complaining isn’t going to get us anywhere.”
“Sora?”
“No, I’m just talking to myself. For now, I’ll just go there and check. It won’t hurt to at least see if we can or can’t advance.”
“…Then I’m going too.”
“…It might be dangerous, you know?”
“All the more reason why you shouldn’t go alone. And if nothing happens, we’ll be right back, won’t we?”
When Chris gets stubborn, she really doesn’t budge. There’s no point in trying to talk her down…
“Then let’s call Sera too. We don’t know what she might say later when she finds out we left her out.”
She might not care about that actually, but she’ll definitely get mad about Chris being in danger.
She said she was going to train with the royal guards and Sirk, so we tell her why we’re going, and ask her to come along.
“So it’s just to see how it is?”
“Yes. When it’s time to actually go, we should do it early in the morning.”
That’s assuming the ninth floor of the dungeon is on the same time cycle as the rest of the world.
That’s been the case so far, but we won’t know if the ninth floor is the same until we actually go there.
I’m hung up on that because of how much easier it is to walk during the day than the dark of the night. Magic items help, but it’s still more difficult.
“Then I’ll go have a look.”
I go down the stairs and step into the ninth floor, and what I see in front of me quickly changes.
It’s not like anything is attacking, I’m just surprised to suddenly be in a forest.
I call for Map, and use Presence Detection along with Magic Energy Detection. And this time I also use Space-Time Magic to make time around me flow slower.
Using its full output and stopping time completely is tough on my MP, so I’ve been adjusting that.
First, let’s infuse Map with magic energy to enlarge it, and check for monsters.
This floor is narrower compared to the last one. It should take us about three days to get there if we walk straight to the exit. That’s counting a nice rest at night, of course.
As for monsters… I don’t know if there are any, but I do pick up reactions. There are about ten of them, and they’re not so much presences, as they are reactions of strong magic energy.
They feel very similar to the magic energy reactions from elves like Chris.
“Are they friends or foes…”
There aren’t many of them, but we don’t know who or what they are.
Also, there’s a good amount of space between trees, relatively speaking, so we should have plenty of space to walk. Although I think I’ll have to make the golems smaller if I summon them.
“Let’s go back and report for now.”
I check the reactions on Map one more time, and go back to the stairs, where Chris and Sera are waiting.
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Thanks for the treat.