NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15
Chapter
Enok woke up as if dead, blinking his eyes blankly.
“You’re awake?”
Rionne, lying beside him, flashed a bright smile.
Even after just waking up, she had an astonishingly tidy appearance, not a single strand of hair out of place.
“Yeah.”
As Enok nodded and skipped off to wash up, Rionne skillfully set the table.
Once Enok finished washing up, it was meal time.
In an instant, the food on the table vanished, and Enok walked out, patting his expanded belly.
“Alright.”
Rionne stood up straight, ready for lessons.
But today, unusually, Enok asked the first question.
“Rionne.”
“Yes?”
“Can you merge with a spirit?”
Rionne blinked in surprise.
Her gaze naturally drifted to the fox above Enok’s head.
Did Undine tell him?
“Yeah, of course. Why?”
“I want to see.”
“Really?”
Is it that hard?
Rionne reached out her hand without hesitation.
“Undine.”
[I’m not a show-and-tell technique, you know.]
Undine landed on Rionne’s hand, grumbling.
Then—
Splash-!
With a flash of blue light, Undine’s form scattered.
Blue particles seeped into Rionne’s body, and as she opened her slightly closed eyes, she let out a breath.
“Whoo…”
At the same time, Rionne’s golden hair began to turn a deep blue from the ends.
It flowed like water, shimmering with an ethereal glow.
As if in response, spheres of water swirled around Rionne.
“Now, this is spirit merging.”
Rionne smiled, and Enok clapped his hands enthusiastically.
Thanks to the faint glow in Rionne’s eyes, she appeared remarkably mystical.
“Aside from the appearance, I should show you the abilities too, right?”
Rionne chuckled and spread her hand.
A sword flew from somewhere and landed in her grasp, twisting her waist slightly.
“Watch closely, Enok. This is a skill you’ll need to master someday.”
At the same time, Rionne’s arm moved.
The line the sword traced was a clean, straight line.
As the sword swung skyward, it connected the dots.
“Mm.”
Rionne nodded in satisfaction.
Woosh-!
All the clouds floating in the sky disappeared instantly.
“…?”
Confused, Enok tilted his head, unable to grasp what just happened.
What did she do?
He felt nothing, yet the clouds vanished.
And then—
Whoosh─────────
Suddenly, a torrential downpour rained down from the clear sky.
All the clouds had fallen.
Thanks to Rionne’s powers, Enok remained completely dry, but he felt a shiver that was hard to ignore.
“Ah…”
The rain fell, covering an area similar to that of a forest.
Right now, Rionne did nothing, but if even a drop of her will was imbued in this rain?
That entire area would be within the boundary of Rionne’s attack.
If she wished, an entire city would be swept away.
The phrase “not a single survivor” would be taken literally.
Enok’s body trembled lightly.
At the same time, a warm sensation enveloped him.
“Just as I thought, our Enok. Honestly, I didn’t think you’d feel anything here.”
[You’ve got some talent after all.]
As Undine, having released the spirit merge, chuckled, Enok briefly shrank back when their gazes met, but those feelings of fear melted away with a wave of emotional turbulence.
“Buzz off, annoying fly.”
[Wha—what…!]
Clutching Rionne, Enok grabbed the fox perched atop his head.
[Kyuu?]
The drowsy fox rolled its sleepy eyes open and locked gazes with Enok.
“Merge.”
[?]
The fox tilted its head.
“That won’t work?”
Enok glared at Undine.
Wasn’t she the one who said they could combine, being companion spirits and all?
[Well, can that happen logically? There has to be some basis for it.]
With a tone that sounded somewhat condescending, Enok felt a tad deflated and placed the fox back atop his head.
The fox draped itself lazily over Enok’s hair.
[First, give me a name. I’ve been watching you and you didn’t even think to name me.]
A name.
Enok turned his gaze to Rionne.
Her eyes sparkled playfully as they met his.
Enok made a decision.
“Eri.”
‘E’ for Enok and ‘ri’ for Rionne.
It was a simple name, and even Undine picked up on it immediately, snickering.
[…The crazy elf fanatic, Heavenly Death.]
Yet Rionne was overjoyed enough to beam with happiness.
“Oh my, does that make her your and Enok’s child? Eri, like daughter?”
“……!!”
A bolt of lightning struck in his mind!
Shock! Thrill! Ecstasy!
Having already thought of the grandchild’s name, Enok opened his mouth…
“Hoho, just kidding.”
The shock from such a height made the fall all the more intense.
As Enok stood there, frozen with mouth agape, a warm hand gently tousled his hair.
“I’m still happy. Thank you?”
“……”
“Enok?”
“…Yeah.”
Seeing Enok deflated made Undine’s lips twitch.
[Isn’t he going to get hit by a sword at this rate?]
*
The spinster, who had been crowing about being single, faced her reckoning while Rionne hoisted Enok into her lap, perched atop the sword, soaring through the sky.
“We’re going somewhere different today.”
“…Okay.”
Enok, still feeling the aftershock, nodded listlessly.
As he deliberately let his thoughts drift to another place, a sudden realization struck him.
Eri, spirit, dungeon, golem.
The flow of consciousness had led him to the conclusion: ‘What on earth do spirits and golems have to do with each other?’
Thinking about it, it was odd.
Why would a spirit suddenly pop up in a dungeon filled only with golems?
What connection could those two possibly share?
When he asked Rionne, she responded kindly.
“Not really related. Dungeons just tend to be like that.”
Don’t expect to find any context in a dungeon!
That was Rionne’s answer.
“Dungeons usually consist of a tangled mass of mana flows, so there’s much that doesn’t make sense logically.”
Considering the dungeon Enok just entered, it was actually quite tame.
A golem could suddenly be followed by a goblin, or an elf or human could emerge from the dungeon.
Or worse, it could just turn into an endless abyss!
“Ah…”
As Enok nodded, Eri let out a big yawn from atop his head.
“Hehe, now I understand why Eri is a fox.”
“Really?”
“Should I keep this a secret? You’ll find out when you meet them later.”
Meet? Who?
As Enok tilted his head in confusion, Rionne pulled him in a bit tighter.
“I’ll speed up a bit since it seems like it’ll be too late otherwise.”
At that moment,
Boom─────!
The sword sliced through the air, cutting through the walls of the sky.
It was a trivial matter that startled Eri enough to almost drop off.
*
As the sky started to tint a bit red, Rionne pulled out an ore from her pocket.
“Enok, do you know what this is?”
“What is it?”
“Mithril. A precious metal. It came from a naturally occurring dungeon, so its quality is probably far superior to regular ores.”
Mithril is classified as a rare metal, often revered as a super metal.
It excels in mana conductivity and is commonly used in magical potions and weapon forging, but its rarity makes it extremely costly.
“Well, it’s not as precious as it sounds, but there will be some pretty good weapons made from it.”
In a world where power is of utmost importance, mithril holds a position where if the superhuman wishes to obtain it, they likely can, but not without challenge—a feeling that it’s rare but not overwhelmingly so.
So Rionne was rather pleased with the find.
After all, if they created a weapon from some absurdly rare metal, Enok might encounter ridiculously powerful bandits once he eventually left the world.
“No weapons? I don’t use weapons.”
“There are many types of weapons, Enok. Not just swords and spears; there are also claw weapons.”
If Enok is using martial arts, something like claw gloves would be quite beneficial.
“Alright, we’ve arrived. Here we are.”
As the altitude quickly decreased, Enok surveyed the surroundings in awe.
“Whoa…”
The intense heat brushed against his cheeks.
A sea of fire surrounded them, painting the world in fiery hues.
Lava cascaded down alongside tall mountains, and steam engulfed the area, misting his vision.
Even while descending, sweat trickled down, but people lived here?
While Enok marveled, Rionne set him down gently on the ground.
“Enok, I have something to tell you.”
“Yeah?”
“Um… how should I put this? The person we’re about to meet is my close… should I say friend? Anyway, you get it.”
With Rionne’s unusual roundabout way of speaking, Enok blinked in confusion.
“I’m not close with them, but there’s a favor to ask… and even though I know it’s unlikely, please don’t say anything bad about them?”
That was a given.
Enok had sense; saying anything bad about Rionne’s friend…
“What’s up, what brings you here?”
Enok’s gaze swung toward the sound of the voice.
And he instinctively blurted out.
“A whiny little dwarf?”
Rionne’s face turned pale.
Noticing the discomfort, Enok corrected himself.
“Ah, the ore thief? Girly?”
“…You little brat?”
The identity of her friend was a Dwarf.