Chapter 4 Part 2
As we start descending to the second layer, a lush green forest could be seen.
“Eh, why?”
“Kurt already told us, remember? The Labyrinth is like an alternate dimension”
“That’s how it is”
It is not unusual for the surrounding landscape to change completely as the layers change.
“This is just the second layer after all. The one I have conquered ── no, from what I’ve heard, there are some Labyrinths where the entire fields are just magma”
“That’s…we can’t even walk on that in the first place!”
“It’s true. So you’re saying that no human can conquer it?”
I conquered it easily in my previous life.
It wasn’t particularly difficult.
To withstand the high temperatures, you only need to modify the magic for body protection.
Rather than that, in the Labyrinth where you could be thrown into the gap of the dimension if you let your guard down for a bit was much more troublesome.
The enemies I encountered were weak, so it was easy to get carried away and let my guard down.
It was difficult to return to the original space by interfering with the time axis every time I was thrown from one space to another in the dimension.
“All right, let’s continue on to the second layer”
“The deeper the layer, the harder it is to conquer the Labyrinth, right?”
“That’s right”
I nodded at Lara’s question.
“Will it be fine? Even on the first layer, I already had to give it my all…”
“Don’t worry. The way I see it, even if it’s just the two of us, we should be able to conquer the second layer”
From my point of view, the first layer and the second layer are too low level, and the two layers aren’t that much different from one another.
We made our way through the forest, taking in the scenery around us.
“Gather yourselves together in these hands, O flame. Be a spear, pierce the enemy and burn them!”
A crab-shaped monster, Crab, appeared and Marise unleashed her magic.
By the way…I basically left it to Lara and Marise to exterminate the monsters.
At first, they were stiff, but gradually they got used to fighting against monsters.
As I thought, they are talented.
However….
“What’s the matter, you two? You look tired”
“Haaa, haaa…I-I’m still okay. But I’ve never used so much magic before”
“I can still go on!”
Even so, both of them are panting heavily.
In addition to all of that walking, they are also consuming their magic power.
It can’t be helped.
“Let’s take a break here”
“I-Inside the Labyrinth?”
said Marise, with her eyes wide in shock.
“Is that weird?”
“Weird or not, I can’t stay calm when I think that monsters could attack us at any time…”
“It’s not unusual to take a break inside a Labyrinth. Sometimes it takes days to conquer a Labyrinth. Besides ── you don’t have to worry about the monsters”
I went to a slightly open area and cast a Barrier Magic, Holy Circle.
“I’ve now set up a barrier here to ward off evil things. The monsters shouldn’t even be able to find us”
“You just used difficult magic as easily as that, don’t you?”
“I’ve heard that Barrier Magic is quite difficult though?”
Lara and Marise were surprised, but after all this time, I no longer care as I already know that this world has low magic skills.
We sat down on the ground.
“Phew, I’m alive again”
Lara and Marise also sat in a circle.
A brief respite.
“Hmm…what’s that?”
Just then, suddenly, a glowing, palm-sized object appeared in front of the barrier and Marise noticed it.
“Isn’t that a spirit?”
“Spirit? Why is it here?”
“Perhaps it was drawn to my magic power”
Even so, this is unusual.
The spherical light came straight into the barrier and landed on the palm of Marise.
Holy Circle is a barrier that wards off evil things.
A spirit with no hostility can pass through like this.
“It’s cute. I had only seen spirits when I was little…”
Marise was gently stroking the spirit with her other hand.
“Spirits are born where there is plenty of magic power and magic elements. However, since there aren’t many magic elements in this Labyrinth, I guess only small spirits are born”
“As I recall, in places with more magic power, there are humanoid spirits as well?”
I nodded in response to Marise’s question.
It seems that the existence of spirits hasn’t changed since my previous life.
Just like Marise said, there are also adult-sized spirits.
To distinguish them from the small spirits, we call them the Great Spirits.
However, it is also hard to find them when they reach that stage.
Some people are afraid of the Great Spirits who look like them.
“Marise-chan, it’s not magic power”
“Eh?”
Suddenly, Lara interrupted.
“It’s not magic power, but Mana. To us, it’s magic power, but the spirits call it Mana”
“I-Is that so? Lara, you know it well”
Marise looked surprised, but Lara looked somewhat uncomfortable.
Hmm…she knows it very well.
As I recall, the issue of such a designation was that it is not well known.
“Even so…with our magic power, we are having a hard time defeating even one monster”
With the spirit on her palm, Marise let out a gloomy tone in her voice.
“That’s true. But Kurt defeated so many Lizardmen in an instant”
“Why is there such a difference between us and Kurt’s magic?”
They seemed to have doubts.
“If it’s a Lizardman of that caliber, both of you will be able to hunt it in no time, too. There’s no need to rush”
“The level I’m at now, it’s frustrating but I can’t be thinking that now. How do I unleash magic like you, Kurt?”
Marise got closer to me on her knees.
Good grief, I haven’t said I’d teach them magic yet.
But a little bit would be fine, probably. Besides, I’m also concerned about qualities like how quickly they can cope with what I’ve taught.
I replied as I pictured the scene where both of them were casting their magic in my mind.
“Hmmm, that’s right…why don’t you try to stop using the embarrassing chanting?”
“Stop chanting…? Are you telling us to unleash magic without chanting?”
“Yeah. When you get used to it, it’s easier”
“As I said during the entrance exam…only Kurt can do that!”
Marise reacted with a strong tone.
I looked at Lara, too, and she nodded her head in agreement, “Yes, yes”.
Why is that?
“It’s not that difficult to do it without chanting. Besides, if it’s chanting magic, the magic power will be fixed and inevitably not as powerful as it could be”
Chanting magic is a method that was prevalent before the magic revolution, where chanting would automatically construct the magic formula.
However, since the magic formula is automatically constructed, it is not effective for practical use.
Moreover, because you have to chant the incantations one-by-one, the deployment speed will be slowed down, too…it’s also difficult to make improvements to the magic formula in the first place, so the limits are quickly reached.
No matter how talented Lara and Marise are, if they keep this up, they’ll probably reach their limits soon.
“What have you two heard about chantless magic?”
“I heard that if you don’t chant, the magic formula will be constructed imperfectly and become useless”
“I also heard that you can only pour a tenth of the usual amount of magic power without chanting”
“What the hell?”
Seriously….
Why is it that the magic revolution didn’t happen at all?
Such a classic way of using magic.
If it was 1000 years ago, this would probably be a laughing stock.
“But how do we use chantless magic?”
“That’s right. You should be aware that your common sense is not the same as our common sense”
“Is that so? If it’s the current Lara and Marise, you’ll be able to use the chantless magic in no time. That’s right ── first, Lara”
“Eh?”
I got Lara to her feet and took her hands from behind.
“Ku, K-K-Kurt! What are you trying to do all of a sudden?”
“You’re shameless!”
“…What on earth are you two mistaking me for? Listen, I’m going to assist you now, so gather magic power in your hands”
“Um, like this?”
I felt the magic power gathering in Lara’s hands.
“That’s right. How do you feel now?”
“I feel…I feel like my hands are getting warm. And my heart is pounding. Ah ──”
A sound emanated from Lara’s mouth.
“What’s the matter?”
“Um, nothing…this is somewhat a strange feeling. I feel like I could suffocate when my chest tightens”
“No problem. That’s probably because your heart rate is going up”
“Maybe, but I think it’s because Kurt is holding my hands…”
I could see Lara’s ears gradually turn red.
Because Lara is leaning on me as if she were entrusting her body to me, I can feel the touch of the girl’s soft body.
Hmm…that’s right, this magic power is….
I see. I didn’t realize it when I first came to the Royal Capital and analyzed Lara’s magic power, but thanks to the small spirit, I remembered it.
But it’s unlikely that Lara will speak to me about it. Let’s not question her.
I continued, manipulating Lara’s magic power.
“Keep going and try forming the magic formula of Fire Spear in your mind”
“Hmm. Is this okay?”
“That’s enough. Keep your eyes open, all right?”
“Whoa!”
Lara was surprised.
That’s because a Fire Spear was shot out of her hand and landed on the ground.
“J-Just now! Even though I didn’t chant, a Fire Spear flew out!”
“That’s right. This is chantless magic. How was it?”
“The magic power gathered with a bang and also flew out of my hand with a bang!”
It’s a fairly abstract expression, but if she does it a few more times, she’ll get the sense of chantless magic.
That way, the rest will be quick.
“Kurt! Me too!”
“Mmm”
With the small spirit on her shoulder, I hold Marise’s hands from behind.
The smell of soap tickled the bridge of my nose.
It was the same for Lara, too, but girls really do smell good.
“Ugh…it’s my first time holding hands with a man…”
said Marise, blushing from the neck up to her face, but why’s that, I wonder?
── About an hour later.
I taught them chantless magic.
“Yaaa!”
“Haaa!”
The two shouted at the same time.
Of course, they didn’t utter the useless chanting.
A small Fire Spear was fired from Lara’s and Marise’s hands.
“We did it! We’ve succeeded for the first time without Kurt’s help!”
“But…as expected, this is all we could do, isn’t the chanting magic stronger in this case?”
Certainly, the Fire Spear that was released from both of them from before was more powerful and accurate, but to me, it looked weak.
However.
“That’s because you’re not used to it yet. If you practice a few times, you’ll soon get stronger with chantless magic”
“How soon will that be?”
When Lara asked, I crossed my arms and thought for a moment.
“About three days”
“Three days!? That fast!?”
“Yeah. It’s a longer estimation though?”
After hearing my words, their eyes sparkled.
Hmm.
At any rate, even if it’s just the two of them, I’m glad that they noticed the inefficiency of chanting.
“Well then, it’s about time, let’s get going. The second layer doesn’t seem particularly unusual, so let’s move on to the third layer”
If I carve up a weak monster and bring it back, I could probably make some money from it, too, but there’s no point in just making a small sum of money.
“Yeah!”
“Goodbye, Spirit-san. I’ll come here again”
When the barrier was lifted, the spirit that had been attached to Marise flew away.
