"...Kinda bored."
"Mmm..."
Asher and Mica were sprawled out on the elevator's floor. While it certainly beat the ordeal of hopping down to the 1st floor and walking through tens if not hundreds of miles of staircase down to their destination, the elevator was, though quick, not fast enough to cover the extreme distance.
"Stop complaining, ya twerps."
Olfred muttered before returning to refining his core.
"...Yeah, not another word after dying your hair blond."
Alea pointed out.
Though Asher had regrown his hair over the course of the two years after he cut it from his Ascetic Ceremony, he had decided to dye it blond because...
"I needed to stick out less."
...Or that was what he claimed. The real reason was he spilled some dye onto his hair while he was making a potion and couldn't get it out, so he decided to just dye it.
"Ugh, whatever."
Asher fiddled with his tied-up blond hair and wondered how Alea managed to get it into such a perfect ponytail.
Currently, everybody was doing their best to pass the time as the entire elevator ride was supposed to take 7 or more hours.
Each floor was a dungeon of varying sizes, with some being larger than others, and there were 80 floors to descend through.
To say the very least... it was awkward.
The elevator itself wasn't very big, only being around 10 square meters, and these people were all together in the enclosed space—
"...Agh! Who farted!?"
Asher freaked out when an inevitable aroma entered his nose.
"You did."
"I know when gas escapes from betwixt my cheeks. It wasn't me!"
"Then who?"
"Mica thinks Olfred is looking suspicious."
"What? Me? Oh please, I have enough muscle control to make sure I don't fart in a closet like this."
"Closet!? How is this a closet?? And would someone do something about this smell!"
"You sure it wasn't you?"
"I swear on my life!"
"Hey! Stop shaking it!"
"The rope's gonna snap—!"
**
Asher POV
Floor 81
"I saw it."
"No way, the king of Sapin?"
"Yes."
"Getting stepped on by his wife?"
—UAAAAKKKK
"The man's a simp."
Unfortunately, the stink bomb that someone dropped didn't go away for a long while. We also almost snapped the supporting cables because we kept shaking the thing.
Only by some blessed miracle did we manage to make it all the way down to the bottom.
—KIIIIKKKKK
In any case, after spending time in the elevator together, we ended up growing somewhat closer, going from strangers to casual acquaintances. To celebrate, we decided to do an international pastime, aka gossiping.
I personally liked Mica the most. She was older than me by a few decades, but I suppose her mental age and personality were around mine. Playful and mid-twenties. After that was maybe Bairon. He was a prick, but he was fun to tease so long as I didn't get hit.
Next was probably Olfred. He seemed like a seasoned soldier, but he knew how to get along with people and was more than willing to converse. The dwarf was friendly most of the time, but he was also guarded like he wasn't willing to let any relationship advance past a certain point. It was easy enough to get along with him, but it was also kind of onerous in a way. It seemed he and Mica had a friend/hate relationship.
Last but not least was Varay. She had been mostly quiet, only speaking occasionally, and when she did, it was cold. Still, she made for an okay conversation partner. It was just that she rarely responded, so she was more like a listening partner. I tried talking with her a couple times, but she either stayed silent or answered with the bare minimum.
We were all supplied with similar armor with slight variations. Mine was lighter, with bare minimum platinum-colored light armor. It was made out of a solidium alloy or something like that. Anyways, although I was a conjurer, my fighting style was quick and physical, so I had requested for the armor to be made for an assassin rather than a conjurer.
So, my armor ended up looking to Aya's. Still, I had to admit it looked a bit funny on a 10-year-old. I mean, a kid my age would be in a hoodie and sucking on a juice pop.
"Ah, did you hear about the—"
—KYAAAAK
"...Mica thinks these things are kind of annoying."
"Indeed..."
Once arriving at the 81st floor, the group moved through the dungeon with little to no delay. The theme of the 81st floor was ants. Giant, killer ants of various species and, perhaps due to their size, their screeches were awfully audible. Their screeches of death that is.
Anyways, just as Bairon said, no premade adjustments for teamwork were necessary. Everyone working on their own was enough, and if by minuscule chance cooperation was necessary, the endless vats of experience backing each of the members allowed for seamless collaboration in attacks or defense.
This allowed them to mow through the dungeon with ease, slaughtering anything that stood in their way.
"... I've heard the princess of the elves has begun attending Xyrus Academy?"
"Word travels fast."
"It's the land of Sapin where there are more humans than there are homes. Word travels more than the wind."
Olfred's description hit home. Sapin was overpopulated, and that was one of the primary motivators of the war against Elenoi—
—KIIIIIKKIKIKKK
... I'm the damn narrator, you can't interru—
—KYIKKKKK
How in the—
"Ah, there's the boss."
...And so, the newly found Companions arrived before the boss of the dungeon. The queen of the ants was an S-ranked mana beast; however...
—KIIiiiiikkk
...With restraints of plants and earth and the weight of gravity to hold the queen down, spears of lightning, ice, and pure mana skewered the head, thorax, and abdomen; the mana beast was killed before it could even try to spit acid.
With a final hurrah, the once-proud ant queen screeched before succumbing to its wounds and collapsing, yellowish-green blood oozing out of its openings, new and old.
It was easier than it would've normally been since the queen was conveniently about to give birth.
"That's taken care of—"
—Thud thud thud thud thud
At that moment, the dissonant sound of several bodies falling to the ground rang out. Then, Aya snickered as she trotted past.
"Jeez, you kids are so riled up that you didn't bother looking up."
Looking up, the Companions could see several holes in the ceiling from where ant knights had come from.
"...Well, how 'bout that."
Olfred muttered before sending a wave of magma to eat up the eggs.
*
After wrapping up the extermination, we entered a stairwell that opened up on the cave's far wall.
"...Dammit, why's it getting colder?"
Bairon's observation was a precursor of what was to come.
The theme of the 82nd floor was a frozen wasteland, and it was currently afflicted by a major blizzard... go figure.
As per the theme, thematic monsters also showed up.
From yetis to frost golems to wendigos to even ice monkeys (I don't know if they're actually called that, but that's what Alea called it before summoning a plant to skewer it).
"... It's like it's winter down here."
For me, it was a magical sight. On Earth, the skies were too polluted for the production of such clear snow. We had some snot come falling from the sky every now and then, but a white winter was unheard of in my day and age.
But, it seemed I was the only one who appreciated the frozen scenery.
"Thanks, captain obvious."
Bairon spoke as he threw on a fur-lined coat over his armor.
Even for the mages, the snot freezing cold from wind chill, piercing gales, and subzero temperatures was too much to handle.
"...Wait."
Thunderlord paused and then pressed his fingers over his eyelids.
"...Shit."
Bairon was technically high ranked enough in the nobility ladder that he could appoint ranks beyond captain if he so wished to and, by tradition, the words of nobility had to be "honest." Nobility weren't supposed to ever lie as they were supposed to be the embodiments of a perfect human.
"Does that mean I'm a captain now?"
"You better take this to your grave..."
Bairon looked like he was in agony over his error.
"Well, looks like you're ranked in two different armies now."
"Yep. Oh, on your left."
Conjuring a sword made of plants out of thin air instantaneously, Alea's blade stabbed the yeti. Bright blue blood bubbled from the wound.
"...Yetis travel in troops."
The revelation of an entire troop of 26 angry yetis surrounding us made us quickly assume a defensive circle formation. Yetis were AA-rank monsters, and a count of this many was equivalent to at least 2 S-rank mana beasts.
"...Go!"
With Varay's shout, who had become a kind of de facto leader despite her silence, we burst from out of circle formation and began slaughtering the yetis, 3-4 each, in our own ways.
Taking advantage of the camouflage that came with my armor, I activated Shade Steps and disappeared into the winter hellscape.
—Kruk kru?
—Kreu!!
The yetis made confused sounds after being unable to detect my presence anymore. Combining Shade Steps and other stealth skills that I'd been taught, I created a new skill called Absolute Concealment.
By limiting my breathing, silencing my movement, using a concoction of various herbs to slow my pulse, and Shade Steps, I could become virtually undetectable by any physical or magical sense. Except if they could see me, of course. The only one who could stop that was Aya.
Speaking of Aya, she was the one who had provided the formula for the potion and quite literally everything other than Shade Steps.
Anyways, I activated Materialization to summon a light-yellow blade of mana, being careful to create disturbances in mana in several different directions to hide the fluctuation of mana I was making.
Taking the opportunity, I dashed through the snow. I hopped onto the yeti's back, silencing it before disappearing into the blizzard again.
—Uaaak!??
—Roaa!
Making noises, the remaining 3 yetis fired Ice Cannon from their mouths, creating trails of ice wherever the light blue ray of light passed through.
Silently making my next move, I decided to take advantage of the yeti's confused states.
Stealing a weapon off the yeti corpse I just killed, I stabbed the oversized knife into the back of a yeti. It wasn't enough to kill it, but it was enough for it to point a finger at another yeti.
—TRUAAKK!!
—HURRARRR!!
Enraged by the potential betrayal and the death of their comrade, the 3 yetis began arguing amongst themselves. Exploiting this, I stole a few more weapons. I slashed at a few yetis, injuring them, all the while completely undetected.
"3... 2... 1..."
It was then a yeti pushed another yeti.
"...0."
And that small action sparked a war, causing the yetis to start fighting amongst themselves. The strategy worked since they were in a state of frenzy from the chaotic movement of mana around them and the mysterious deaths of their comrades. Plus, they weren't very intelligent, to begin with.
As they scuffled, I made the mana fluctuations come closer to put the yetis in further panic and confusion.
Soon enough, a singular yeti stood atop the corpses of its brethren, bloodied in both its and its former comrades'.
It was... perfect.
Pulling out Elegy, I conjured a longsword and dashed, cutting off the leg of the yeti and then.
The beast fell onto its side, kneeling in a way.
Standing in front of it, the mana beast's black eyes stared into mine, the slight glisten in its eyes asking for mercy.
However, I coldly swung my sword, severing its head.
A perfect execution.
I had killed far too many in my past life to care about killing in this one.
"...All done!"
After creating an azure bloodbath, I turned back to report, but everyone was gone.
"Huh?"
Then, I felt a sudden influx of mana from my belt.
Pulling out a communication scroll, a message was scrawled over the parchment.
[Cave. Northwest.]
Below that was another line, or lines, of text.
[Asher, we've decided to move camp first, so please head northwest from your current location. We've set up our base in a cave. You should be able to tell it's ours by the torchlight.]
And further below that was another.
[We're in a cave, northwest.]
And yet another line of text.
[The camp's set up northwest from where you're at. It's in a cave.]
It seemed every member of the party left a message.
[Head northwest. Look for a cave.]
[Southeast, 1,0]
[Wu tur]
"...Hm?"
I stared at the message.
Wu tur? ...Water?
Who needs water? Just eat some snow.
I ignored the last message and started walking northwest, looking for the cave.
After a bit, I got another message.
[Hunngri]
...What? Hunngri? Hungry?
Who was sending these?
I looked through the messages again.
The first was probably from Bairon. Sharp and concise writing of a seasoned soldier. The second was from Alea who's writing was suspiciously similar to OFM... anyways. The next one should be from Varay, then Olfred, and Aya who writes messages like these in code. [1,0] denotes the opposite of what's in the message.
So that means the last few ones are from Mica.
"..."
I looked with a look of pity.
Is she illiterate?
Then, another message wrote itself over the scroll.
[Hooree]
Hurry?
"Shit, is something going down?"
I quickened my pace, feeling for any mana signatures. It turned out that was impossible as the entire snowstorm was infused with mana.
Still, I managed to find the cave.
"Is something wrong with Mica?"
Was the first thing I said when I entered, brushing off the snow that piled on my head.
"...Oh, you're here. Nah, she's fine."
Alea nodded as she pointed at Mica.
"She just found out how communication scrolls work, so she's been spamming random words."
"So, she isn't in need of water, food, or my presence?"
"No, no, she doesn't need those..."
Alea looked with pity at the dwarf, who was happily writing something else into the scroll.
"...She just needs help."
I nodded and started taking off some armor.
"Who doesn't?"
Varay then appeared from deeper inside the cave and quickly issued commands.
"We're going to depart and take care of the boss. Bairon and Asher, stay here and keep guard."
"Understood."
Bairon nodded, and the rest quickly gathered themselves.
Filing out, I was soon left with Bairon.
Sitting down on a log, I bundled myself up into a blanket and started boiling some water. The newfound warmth and comfort made me almost forget about the frozen hellscape outside.
After a while, Bairon spoke.
"...Was that necessary?"
I turned over to the blond man. He was objectively good-looking, but his permanent scowl made it hard to appreciate it.
"Was what necessary?"
"The way you killed the yetis."
"Ah..."
It seemed that the noble didn't approve of my methods.
His disapproval wasn't confusing, though, since what I did could be considered evil from a different perspective. What I was doing was manipulating my enemies to make them fight each other. It could even be seen as cowardice.
Still, those were my methods now.
I shrugged.
"Whatever it takes to win."
Still, those were my methods now.
I would've definitely run in there and fought them all myself in the past. Back then, I was still a kid who had only ever fought in the controlled environment of duels. However, after training and combat experience, I now knew I should prioritize efficiency and effectiveness in real battle.
"All's well that ends well."
Bairon was quiet for a while, like he was thinking before scoffing quietly.
"What flawed logic."
"Oh?"
Bairon looked at me with strange eyes. Like he was looking at... a pitiful child.
"You would commit any atrocity for the sake of your goal? Even killing hundreds, if not thousands and other unspeakable evils?"
"... That's right."
"How could you..."
Contrary to the stereotype, it seemed that Bairon had a strong sense of value for life and justice. Chivalry maybe? Perhaps it was because he was a knight, or maybe... that's just who he was. Underneath all his hubris and haughtiness, he was a good guy.
Or maybe I was completely in over my head, and he was just testing me.
In any case, I responded how I usually responded to the question.
"If you find it so questionable, ask the masters you serve the number of lives that were lost in their little turf war with the elves."
"..."
"Saying that the ends don't justify the means is just idealistic talk coming from naivety."
"What—"
"I know it doesn't seem right in the moment, but is it really worth it to be perfectly morally just all the time? Especially when there are times when you could do so much more when you bend the rules a bit."
"...So where do we draw the line?"
I fell silent.
Indeed, by my logic, the line and such things became dependent on my own subjective opinion.
After thinking, I decided to just go with this.
"In the end, we all make choices. How we're going to kill that enemy, how we're going to lead the troops, how we're going to interrogate that prisoner, and so on. It's our responsibility to live with the consequences."
We both fell silent.
I didn't really want to continue the conversation, and it seemed Bairon had even less intention to do so. So, I decided to turn in.
"...Well, I'm going to sleep a bit. Wake me when you need me."
I got up, but before I could hit the sack, I heard someone call my name.
"Oi! Asher!"
It was Alea. She and the rest were covered in purple blood.
"You killed it already?"
I turned in direction and grabbed some towels.
"Hehe, cool, aren't I?"
"Yeah, yeah. Awesome. Wipe yourself off, or you'll get a cold."
"Huhu, I can't get sick."
Alea, on a high, laughed as she reached for the kettle.
"Achoo— AGH!"
But she sneezed while pouring it and got some of the boiling liquid on her hand.
"Lol."
**
3rd Person POV
—In the end, we all make choices. It's our responsibility to live with the consequences.
Bairon mulled over the words.
Asher was right and Bairon had been testing him, but the answer he had received was nothing like what he had been expecting.
He thought the kid would say something closer to his brother's answer, that everything was fine so long as they won because they won. That no matter what they did, so long as they won, it was all okay.
However, the answer Bairon received was far more... learned.
Responsibility.
It was a more powerful lifestyle where one took responsibility for their actions.
This wasn't going to change Bairon, not at all. The chances of a few words actually changing someone were extremely minuscule, especially someone rigidly brought up as a household heir.
They were even less likely to be sowed as seeds.
But that didn't mean it wouldn't do anything.
Like how the flap of a butterfly's wing could cause a hurricane on the other side of the world, the singular small gust of wind could change the course of the grand cumulonimbus.
A/N: So this part of the Arc will be trying to balance Asher's effect and impressions on the Lances with action scenes of them powering through the dungeon.
The arc is honestly a ton of exposition and I hope I can get through it quicker.
Anyways, I rewatched Infinity War and Endgame the other day.
It was both better and worse than I remember.
Regardless, thanks for reading!
Rua