Chapter 236: Stronger Than Anyone 1
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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As we energetically discussed the advanced magic of the genius porter mage hero streamer Han Se-ah, we recovered our strength and retreated in good spirits.
"Goodness, those harpies really know how to cut off our path."
"After dodging the caves, we should learn magic to deal with them all before moving on."
As we approached the summit, the harpies, who had been fluttering about, suddenly brought rocks from their nest and completely collapsed the cliffside path as if following orders from within.
To reach the harpy nest, we had to almost cling to the collapsed cliffside like the protagonist of an action game, moving sideways for nearly 300 meters.
It was impossible to move sideways along the cliff while hundreds of harpies flew about.
The mountain ridges were so steep that they could be called the Blade Mountains, and there was no way to traverse the pathless ridge.
With Han Se-ah and Irene lacking the physical strength to climb over the cliffs, we had no choice but to mark it on the minimap and retreat, promising to return.
"The harpies weren't using magic or alchemy... Do you think it's related to the dwarves?"
"Probably? It might be a special ore that only comes from those high peaks."
"We should go to the dwarf village on the 41st floor and ask around. They might know something, judging from how they call them 'flappers.'"
Even the rocks the harpies grabbed from the clouds were more like bombs than ordinary stones.
If they had just thrown ordinary rocks, we could have ignored them and pushed through, but the moment they fell on the path, they caused effects reminiscent of something from a science fiction movie, completely reshaping the mountain range.
In short, due to the disadvantageous matchup against flying monsters and the perilous cliff paths of the high-altitude terrain, we couldn't take shortcuts and had to proceed with the story from the beginning.
Of course, the paths inside the tower would probably be restored in a few days, but there was no reason to stay in the cave waiting for that.
It would be more convenient in many ways to just turn back and try the proper way than to struggle unnecessarily for shortcuts.
Thus, we are in a cave on the 42nd floor, not the harpy's nest on the 43rd.
"Should we visit the dwarf village on the 41st floor first, or head straight to the 40th floor?"
As Irene murmured while preparing late-night soup over the campfire, we had to reconsider our priorities in the face of the unprecedented collapse of the cliffside due to the harpies' exploding rocks.
If we planned to learn magic, it would be best to go to the city's magic tower and find Antenor first.
However, we couldn't just go to a high-level mage and ask them outright without any compensation, so if we were to prepare a reward, we had to go to the dwarven city.
"Oh, thanks for the soup. Hmm... since we're already down here early, how about visiting the underground city?"
"I think it's better to meet Antenor first. We can't prepare without knowing what he wants."
As Grace and Katie disagreed, sharing Irene's hearty soup, Irene, as always, simply smiled gently as if to say she would follow along.
So, to maintain balance, I remained silent.
It means leaving it up to the leader of the party to make decisions and proceed.
-Please learn some magic, you level 4 bag carrier
-Why are my supply bags just walking around here?
-You have nothing to do, so go do some side quests. What's with these useless rocks anyway?
-Watching the stream, I feel like I'm going to turn into a soup addict. Is this even normal?
-Harpies have evolved into bombers, and you're talking about food now?
At this point, not only Han Se-ah, who had broached the subject and was now surrounded but also the other party members were left bewildered.
"How could the Flutterers use Vacuum Stones?"
"Could it be the city of Granny Pipi?"
"But the city of Granny Pipi isn't a place the squishies could have visited and returned from so quickly, is it?"
"But the squishies wouldn't know anything about Vacuum Stones!"
"Right, they were squishes who saw our essences for the first time."
Regardless of our reactions, the chatter among the stone dwarves, loud as rolling stones, was quite serious.
After all, it was about a rock capable of obliterating everything within a radius of several meters, so there must be some extraordinary story behind it.
How could such a dreadful object be just another stone lying around in the local hills?
Just dropping a rock on the heads of adventurers would be enough to kill them all.
"Excuse me, Elder Bobo, what is a Vacuum Stone?"
"You saw the red rocks, that's the Vacuum Stone. It's not something the flutterers use..."
"Yes. When it touched the path, it completely collapsed the surroundings. Its power looked terrifying, so we retreated."
"Hmm? Terrifying?"
Picking up on the intriguing keyword "Granny Pipi," and while the others were busy eavesdropping, I cautiously approached Elder Bobo to ask.
Elder Bobo immediately responded.
The discomfort at the mention of the harpies' nest in the high mountains and the harpies dropping red rocks on the cliff path was evident in Elder Bobo's reaction, making a grinding noise like stone being chiseled.
He throwing a puzzled question as if to say what was there to fear.
"You guys are squishies, aren't you? Why are you afraid of Vacuum Stones?"
Humans and harpies are squishes and Flutterers, respectively, but the stone beings refer to the red rock as the Vacuum Stone.
The explanation from Elder Bobo, who appeared to be the most intelligent among them, followed.
The Vacuum Stone, as its name suggests, is a special ore that creates a vacuum around it.
It emits magical waves, humming as it entirely dissipates the cliff path.
However, it wasn't something that could be thrown at people like a bomb, as we had thought.
"So, it's like dynamite for mining, but it doesn't harm people?"
-LOL, got scared and ran, but it doesn't work on people?
-But still, if the path collapses, everyone dies, so running makes sense.
-Yeah, no need to accidentally fall off the cliff and hit reset
-If it's a rock that only destroys rocks, can it be used for hunting golems?
-Whenever something new appears you guys always want to go back to use them
As Han Se-ah said, it was something that 'only' ground up the surrounding soil and rocks.
After all, how could these tiny stone dwarves have cleanly ground the inside of the mountain range and created cavities hundreds of meters high?
It must have been possible because of some sort of tool.
Surely the stone dwarves didn't do the foolish work of grinding it out by hand, stitch by stitch.
They're a kind of craftsman race somewhat similar to dwarves, not a mad race that clears the land for their city with their bare hands.
