Chapter 239: Stronger Than Anyone 4
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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Han Se-ah has heroically sacrificed herself to defeat the Demon King.
While waiting for Antenor's lightning magic lecture to end, I decided to grab a beer at a nearby pub.
I snacked on jerky and cheese, glancing at the lab's entrance, which showed no signs of opening soon.
Looking at her stream, she had a lot of viewers. She couldn't just turn it off.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om
So she continued streaming.
"Hehe, I can't suffer alone! Listen up if you're after advanced magic!"
-Should I return in about 30 minutes?
-Not exactly in 30 minutes, but checking every 30 minutes might be smart.
-Still, mastering advanced magic should take at least an hour, right?
-Well, I'll just assume I've learned it and I'll just come back when she starts using it.
-How was today's stream? Is she done now?
She had no plans to stop streaming.
As time passed, first an hour, then two, viewers began to lose interest in Han Se-ah and started discussing magic among themselves.
I opened another tab and took a sip of my drink.
Time flew, and by the time Han Se-ah, having finally learned the magic, left the lab, it was early morning, with the moon about to set.
Not the sun, but the moon.
"Welcome back, Hanna."
"Roland, you left me behind..."
"I can't learn magic, can I?"
Han Se-ah, looking like a zombie after starting work on Friday and leaving on Saturday, limped out.
We took a carriage back from the tower at dawn.
This meant we couldn't enter the tower today.
For Han Se-ah, it meant logging out and resting, but our companions wouldn't consider entering the tower after she spent a night learning magic.
As adventurers, they had to be careful with their lives, kind or not.
"Hanna? You're just getting back now?"
"It must have been because it was advanced magic... Let's start exploring tomorrow and rest well today."
"No, I'm fine..."
"No, you're not. Even as a senior mage, Hanna, you need proper rest."
The stream showed she had paused Antenor's lecture to spend the day outside and then came back, unknown to her companions.
After staying up all night in the Magic Tower to learn advanced magic, a remarkable feat, they couldn't ask Han Se-ah to risk her life on high-altitude mountain climbs.
They insisted on her resting, dragging her by the arm.
Katie and Grace supported her while Irene calmed her as if she were soothing the temple's orphans to sleep.
Watching them, I decided to head to my bedroom too. Even though staying up all night to surf the web might be okay for a healthy body, I thought a nap wouldn't hurt.
Of course, the internet cut my nap shorter than expected, but that's just how it goes.
The black harpies still kept their distance, allowing her to quietly regenerate mana until they neared the harpies' nest.
She could have attacked them, but since the mana stones would fall off the cliff, she chose not to.
Indeed, when I used to play RPGs, I'd wait for flying monsters above cliffs to land before attacking.
It's frustrating to watch even a small reward vanish before your eyes.
"We won't make it in a day, so let's sleep in the next cave and proceed tomorrow."
"In the next cave? That quicker than I expected."
"If we bypass the next cave, the one after is too distant. Running into other adventurers becomes a hassle. In the marsh, we could use Hanna's magic to fortify our position and monitor the slowly approaching undead, but the terrain changes beyond here."
As we traversed, we spent the day near the 42nd floor.
According to Grace's memory, the caves were sparser on the route to the 43rd floor.
Unlike Han Se-ah, who struggled to recall locations even with a minimap, Grace remembered the cave locations and distances between them well.
Following her lead, we found an unoccupied cave.
We had been concerned about running into other adventurers, especially after spotting signs like campfire smoke along the way, but, luckily, we run into no one.
As we neared the top levels, we rarely encountered other adventurers.
We saw signs like campfire smoke or battle marks on the cliff paths, but nothing more.
"Ah, there it is. At the next fork, we'll head down and take a quick detour along the side path."
"You mean past that rock?"
"No, it's further down. The cave entrance is cleverly hidden in the rock's shadow, making it hard to spot."
Even with harpies flying overhead, we could easily ignore them as we discussed our route, focusing on the ridge to our right.
All I noticed were grey rocks, and Katie focused on the large rock, while Grace examined the shadows beneath it.
The cave entrance was indeed well-concealed by shadows, a curious feature given the tower's constant climate.
Following the gentle trail downwards, we encountered a bridge leading to the side ridge.
Perhaps it was built by traders from another world visiting the stone dwarves?
"The harpies come closer when we cross here."
"But they don't attack? I thought I'd get to see Hanna's magic again."
The harpies seemed curious as we crossed the unstable bridge, yet they stayed out of arrow reach.
Using alchemical flash or explosive arrowheads might bring down a few, but the mana stones would fall into the abyss, and the scouting black harpies would quickly be replaced, making it as futile as tossing gold into the wind.
After a brief hesitation, the black harpies flew away, allowing us to cross to the next ridge and quickly enter the cave.
Irene immediately started a fire and searched for a place to set the pot.
"Hanna, can you even out the floor so we can light the fire?"
"Sure."
As Han Se-ah evened the surprisingly rough cave floor with earth control, the viewers expressed their amazement.
-Wow I want to learn advanced earth magic too
-This stream proves people don't change easily
-Is there a streamer who baits with the stream title, huh?
-Se-ah, it's time to update the stream title. Latecomers just end up cursing in here
-You say you use advanced magic now but you're just tilling the ground again?
"Ah sh*t, if anyone clipped me using magic earlier, just share that!"
Well, we'll reach the nest by tomorrow, so there'll be something to show the viewers.
