NOVEL NEXT Chapter XLII (42)- Dungeon Delving Preparations
Chapter XLII (42)- Dungeon Delving Preparations
After making some inquiries with the librarians, Kizu discovered that his divination book had been donated to the library two years ago. Approximately the same time that Aoi finally went on her cleaning spree in her dormitory. The faculty must have taken whatever they thought useful out of all her stuff and distributed it into their resources.
Kizu decided to wait a few more days for his blood to get completely back to normal before trying the divination spell out again. The last thing he wanted was to end up back in the infirmary. He avoided casting spells and even ate healthy food to help him recover blood. Not the bars and bloodfruits they fed him in the infirmary, he wasn’t that desperate, but healthier than his normal diet of cakes and sweets.
When the time finally came when he felt prepared for the divination ritual, he also still wanted another person beside him and Mort, just in case something still went awry despite his best efforts.
As a result, both Basil and Ione stood over him as he drew on the stone floor with chalk. Basil was startled at first, thinking that Ione was her sister, but soon relaxed when Kizu explained who she actually was. Kizu immediately had a suspicion about why Basil might not want to be around Sene, but decided he’d rather not know the details.
“So, this is where you always hide at,” Basil said, looking around Kizu’s study nook. “Cozy.”
“We’re just here to look after you if you faint?” Ione asked. She sat on his desk and watched while he finished with the chalk.
“Yes. Just summon something to carry me upstairs if I pass out. I don’t think I’ll be able to get up them alone if I’m low on blood. Not with my leg like it is.”
“Why ask two of us? You only really need one person.”
The truth was that he actually asked three people. But Harvey hadn’t shown up.
“It feels safest this way,” Kizu said. “The more people, the better.”
He set the divination book in the center of the chalked out ritual circle. Then he closed his eyes and set his hand on the chalk. Mort climbed down from his shoulder and joined him.
This time the ritual immediately gave him astral awareness. While not completely out of body like when he’d accidentally drunk Emilia’s wine, he still felt his awareness expand. Following the line of thread that connected him with his sister, Kizu could sense the wall muddling his detection of her. He slammed his consciousness into it. And, to his surprise, it actually collapsed on impact. It still felt extremely uncomfortable squeezing his consciousness through the hole he had punched in the barrier. It felt wrong. Like a brain scraping along ice alongside his head getting compressed. But the discomfort faded after only a few seconds.
Letting her link to the divination book guide him, he followed after the thread of connection as it spiraled downward. It was like dropping a fishing line into the deepest depths of the sea. Then its connection sprung taut.
He opened his eyes, suddenly aware of where his sister was. Almost seven kilometers below his feet.
It was probably a good thing that Roba had confiscated the key to the dungeon’s entrance. Otherwise, Kizu likely would have walked through the door at that very moment. She was so close.
“What’s up?” Basil asked, looking from Kizu to the door. “Why are you staring at that door?”
“She’s down there,” Kizu said. “My sister is alive in the World Dungeon.”
Basil chuckled nervously. “I mean, I doubt it. Most people don’t survive down there long. Even the most experienced delver teams only spend a week or two down there max. Monsters feed off spells. Mages don’t survive long.”
“Really?” Ione said. “When we went down there, we used spells just fine.”
“Wait,” Basil said. “You two went down there? Alone? And you’re both still alive?”
“We didn’t go very deep,” Kizu said. Nowhere near as deep as where his sister was.
Basil whistled. “Still.”
Ione sighed loudly. “What a pain. I really planned to avoid that place for a while too. But I suppose I can research some more magical creatures.”
“You’re not coming,” Kizu told her, baffled by her sudden volunteering.
“Yeah,” Basil agreed. “Why would he need you when he’s got me? I’m a thousand people in one.”
“What?” Kizu turned to face him. “You’re not coming either. I’m going alone. It’s stupid to try to join me.”
“And it’s stupider to go alone,” Ione responded.
“Remember how I just mentioned delver teams?” Basil added. “Well, there’s a reason there aren’t any solo delvers. They don’t make it far.”
Kizu was willing to bet that between his atlas and his amulet, he could make it further than any other delving expedition. But he kept his silence. Better to make them think they won the argument. The last thing he needed was one of them ratting him out to Roba. In a few days he would just leave without telling them. And it made no sense for either of them to want to join him down there. Besides, he wouldn’t be alone. He had Mort.
They started making plans around him. Ione sounded almost even excited as she talked about different dungeon delving equipment. It reminded Kizu that he needed to prepare himself. He still had no money to buy anything from the shops in town, but at least he could brew some potions first using Knoff’s supplies. And he needed to translate a few pages from his atlas. Learning the basics of Primordial was becoming a priority.
Thankfully, now that he successfully managed to puncture through the divination barrier, the spell didn’t take nearly as much of a toll on him as it had during his failed attempt. Or maybe he was just a stronger diviner and it used less of his blood now. Regardless, he was able to get back up the stairs alone just fine, albeit with a stiff leg.
Basil and Ione followed him, still making plans. He minimally participated in the conversation, his mind on other things. They even followed him up to the library and chatted while he worked on translating a few pages that he had copied a few days earlier. His initial thought was there was no better time than the present to get to work on the text. But that proved to be incorrect. If it wasn’t Basil asking about whether or not he preferred jerky over compressed rice, it was Ione showing him paintings and sketches from bestiaries about dungeon denizens. Even Mort seemed obsessed with getting his attention, constantly tugging on Kizu’s hair.
“Here,” Kizu finally said, passing his monkey to Basil. “Take him and you two go discuss it with him. He’ll relay what you said to me later. I’m fine with anything. I’m not picky. You both decide.”
One of the library assistants glared at him as his two companions noisily left the library. Kizu recognized him as Gob Lucas’ brother. The one that Harvey had accidentally insulted. Kizu gave him a little wave. The glare that the boy returned to him reminded Kizu of his own little brother.
Kizu finally got back to his work. He looked down at the three pages of words he had to translate by the end of the night. A wave of fatigue accompanied his examination.
He looked from the Primordial dictionary to the Gnomish one and sighed. This was going to take a while.