The winged metallic beast, seeing as how its identity was already compromised, Ivan spent a few days remodeling it. Claire at his side was adorned with a newly enhanced maid outfit and her glasses, ready to hand him whichever tools he needed. It was often during this time that she and Yue fought over who would be making the meals for the day but that was a scuffle better left to them.
But seeing as how his 'construction' was more of a magical process she just ended up dabbing him every now and then with a towel to rid the beads of sweat. It has been three days since Ivan met with the class and subsequently reunited with Claire. She had assimilated into the group rather peacefully, with Felis being happy at having another person to dote on her and Ari having someone to look up to as a teacher.
That's right, in this short time Claire took a liking to Ari, deciding to take her in as her student to teach her the way of the maid. She muttered something about having enough faith but that was a conversation Ivan pretended to ignore. As for Tio and Yue, the former respected Claire because of her having the longest relationship with Ivan, a prospect that irked Yue quite a bit. Which ended up leading to this one-sided rivalry.
On a bright note, Felis had accepted his mining proposal. Agreeing to work in the dungeon as the guardian of the excavation machines. And thus Ivan officially dubbed her the guardian of floors 101 to 125, a small ceremony took place that day accompanied by grand foods and a firework show. After asking as to why she chose to work rather than explore the world, her answer was rather simple. She remarked that there would be no point in a journey if he and the others weren't by her side.
An answer that led Ivan to shed a single tear, moved by the pure emotions of his daughter. That night he pledged to protect her happiness, much to her embarrassment.
But speaking of embarrassing things, neither the hero party nor templar knights returned ever since that first encounter. Here he was expecting some sort of declaration of war or letter full of threats but none of that came. A bit disappointing but a matter he didn't trudge further on considering he didn't care too much.
"What do you think, Claire? Should it look like a dragon? Hmm, maybe a dragonfly… or how about a phoenix? Actually scratch the dragon plan altogether, I know Tio would be happy with it but who knows how much panic it would cause if people were to see a robot dragon flying around…"
Though the projects were a lot more grand compared to when she worked with him in the past, for Claire everything was relatively the same. She just bounced his thoughts back and forth hoping to make sense, which is when he ends up coming up with an interpretation completely different from what was being said but works nonetheless.
"I don't see the problem with a dragon ship… not that I know what a phoenix is. And a dragonfly seems like it wouldn't have much regarding capacity. I'm sure with Tio-san's permission a dragon ship would work just fine~"
Her response put Ivan into deep thought, in the end, it would be best to ask for Tio's opinion before he potentially incited another dragon hunt.
"Well, I'll go ahead and ask her when she and the others return from shopping. Alright, Felis! Let's go, it's about time I show you the plans of the mining operation." Ivan got up from his seat position using Claire who had stuck her arm out to pull him.
Felis, who was just sleeping not too far away, perked her ears up before stretching, grumbling before getting up from the floor herself. The three headed deeper into Ivan's atelier, taking the elevator once more to reach a new level. When the doors opened to reveal what this new floor held, the three stood and stared at the four large objects sitting in the middle of the room.
"Whoa! What is that thing? Ay, Father, is it a toaster like the ones in the kitchen but just bigger? It does have that shape…" Ivan's face only twitched for half a second listening to the misconception, shaking his head as the longer he looked at them the more he was feeling she was right.
The giant machines stood at seven meters tall, their square box shape clean without any groves. If not for the small wheels at the bottom one would have thought they were just large metal boxes. The funny thing about the wheels though was that the machines were designed to not use them at all, instead, they were intended to be propelled using spirit stone and gravity magic similar to the airship. So basically the wheels would only be useful in case of emergencies.
Enchanted with strengthening properties, properties that significantly reduced its weight, and just basic ones that kept it clean, these chrome boxes resembling ice resurfacers were mining machines that served the purpose of destroying anything they could find in the dungeon. The material they collected would then be automatically sorted from within as the machine determined what to keep and what to leave behind, then once it was full it would dock at a storage keeper before heading back out into the world.
Powered by mana crystals and the blood of its enemies, it was essentially a glorified Roomba that destroyed rather than cleaned. It being lifted by gravity magic made it possible to automatically ascend and descend levels of the dungeon, as such this was the reason why they were to be patrolling twenty-five floors at a time.
Felis stood next to one of the machines before asking who was going to be in charge of the others, that's when Ivan dropped the news of her potential siblings. Her expression of joy was enough to ease his concerns, initially, he thought she would be upset at the idea of his attention being potentially diverted even more so than it already was. But it turns out that she wanted to be a big sister, eager to prove her dominance over her siblings.
There was also the matter of being around beings just like her, while her family treated her just like everyone else there was an aspect within her that always reminded her of her differences. That being the monster part of her. But now that she was going to have siblings she could rest at ease knowing this wouldn't be a pressure she would suffer alone under.
Sure it may be a bit cruel to wish for someone to go through the same pain as her but there was also a comforting aspect to it as well. If her siblings ever became so scared of that side that they couldn't live normally she'll be there to support them. Laughing proudly as she showed them that maybe it wasn't that bad being a monster.
"Rumebuh, activate." Ivan projected his voice as the chrome box that sat on the flow slowly floated up by a few inches, blue light shining underneath it as it beeped a few times. Ivan nodded in satisfaction seeing this procedure, giving it a few orders before turning it back off. All he would have to do now is set up the storage depots on the 101st floor and mark the path for the machine to take.
Then, boom. A passive source of metals and resources to play around with and make new things. Though there was the problem that the floors of the true dungeon were about to become a barren desert, making it obsolete as a test set by Oscar to see who was worthy of his ancient magic. But hey, it was better to monopolize such a powerful magic anyways. Wouldn't want it getting in the wrong hands after all~!
Ivan wiped the grin off his face as he felt Claire and Felis looking at him, their looks becoming a source of his embarrassment.
He activated 'Treasure Trove' before one of the machines vanished from the room. The rest left behind as the prospect of activating all four on the 101st floor would indeed quicken the process, however, ruled out on the basis that it'd be impossible for Felis to protect them all if they traveled from floor to floor.
Ivan knew this lazy daughter of his would just lay down on the machine anyways until her ears or nose picked up the scent of a monster, which was why he particularly made the top of them soft with rugs. A gesture she was sure to praise him for.
Of course, this mining job wouldn't be a 24/7 activity, not that Felis needed sleep, food, or water. As with her mana crystal, all she would need is mana, but even with such an advantage working her all day every day would only result in her losing her mind. And so they made a schedule, eight hours a day minus the weekends. Ivan even gave her days where he would pay her back for the hard work, though with the business she had no need for money. In which case she was allowed to ask of him anyone request during those days, a deal she quickly agreed to.
With that settled it was time to go out and activate one, Ivan, Felis, and Claire went back in the elevator before selecting to go in the garage. Rather than using the entrance of the dungeon to descend to the 101st floor, they were just going to use the transportation circle Oscar had set in the Reisen Gorge that led to his lair. It was closer to them after all, not that it made any difference considering their way of transportation.
They sat in the airship before the garage ceiling opened up, Ivan latched a tether with a ring connected to his wrist as he pulled up on the stick. He had already spoken to the others about the plan to start the operation today so they wouldn't be surprised by their disappearance.
The ship floated in the air for a moment as they marked the path they were going to take to the gorge. Preferably they would take one that isn't right above some village or city unless they wanted to cause a panic. It was then that they finally set course for their destination, the estimated time of arrival would be about three hours so they had time to kill. Felis spent that time napping while Claire stood by Ivan's side the entire duration, chatting idly about small things like plans for dinner and their next course of action.
In any case, this was a good opportunity to get both Claire and Felis the Creation Magic from Oscar's magic circle. There was a low chance either of them had much affinity with it but it wouldn't hurt to try. Speaking of affinities, while the Holy Church templars or any of the students not showing up meant they could relax, there was still the matter of payment regarding Felis and Kouki's duel. Ivan had faith that the self-righteous hero would keep his word; however, to go this long without even a single word back was quite suspicious.
He relayed these concerns to Claire, who responded with the possibility that they just might be on a long expedition in the dungeon. A very plausible scenario, as Hajime had told him before that the group was approaching the 90s. According to his own experience, it was these last floors of the trial dungeon that took the longest.
It was just a shame that he'd have to wait on them to complete their side of the deal, he was very interested in documenting Felis' development.
"There it is…" Ivan muttered. Claire turned her direction from him before looking outside the glass display, Felis groggily following as she woke up the moment she heard his words. For Claire who had lived within the Kingdom all her life, the sight of the large and ravenous gorge was nothing short of otherworldly.
And with a squint, she was just barely able to see the Sea of Trees over the horizon. The impact was felt even larger by Felis, who had never even imagined sights as these existed. At least not from the comprehension of her life in the underground.
The airship came to a halt as it slowly descended toward the ground. It was a bit difficult to find a flat surface to land on but in the end, they found a site not too far from where Ivan remembered the magic circle to be hidden. Ivan walked up to an inconspicuous rock formation before flipping over a nearby stone, grinning to himself as he noticed the pattern transmuted into the earth. A little something he engraved to remind himself of the location.
Under the twos' stare he held a ring up to the stone wall, a magic circle appeared in the air before the wall started shifting. Seconds later the three were presented to a dark tunnel with not even the smallest amount of light.
Ivan laughed aloud as he felt Felis' tail entangle his waist, and in another moment a lantern appeared in his hand. The darkness swept away as the light poured into the hall. Seeing that the three looked at each other before nodding, taking a step in as they trudged forth to find the magic circle.
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"Here it is, just as I remember it~" After tens of minutes of walking and the deactivation of numerous traps they had finally arrived at the circle. The only casualty was Felis who ran on ahead because she was getting bored, which promptly resulted in her getting cut in half by a giant saw blade.
Since then she didn't dare take a single step in front of Ivan. On another note, it was pretty fun for Ivan to see Claire's horrified expression at the dismembered Felis. At least that created a topic of discussion, that being Felis' origins. It was a fascinating topic to Claire, but not so much to Felis who didn't want to hear about her developmental days
Something about 'that was so long ago, Father' or 'please don't tell embarrassing stories about my childhood without my consent.'
Ivan dusted off the debris from the magic circle patting his hand on it as he directed the other two into staying close to him so that they'll all fit.
A flash of light later and they all awoke to this scene of Eden, or at least that's what Ivan called it. The two girls gasped in amazement while running around this scene that mimicked the world above. Felis was less so as her bedroom was basically an imitation of this just more orientated on nature rather than survival.
That's when he gave them their little tour, showing them all the cool places he and Yue found while detailing to them of the events that took place on their journey. It was great to have a visual aspect to the story as it was easier to paint a picture in the girls' minds. After that little playtime was over the three became serious as they ascended to floor 199. Thorough Ivan was just acting along with the others, with his improvements this starter dungeon was nothing but a resource hub to him.
He led the two closer and closer to the 101st floor, allowing them to fight those monsters on the way there and only stepping in when they needed help. It was a fun learning experience for the two, especially Felis who had been dying for combat experience, not literally yet.
Their ascent was rather peaceful, it'd take a few hours to get to the floor they wanted but this was regarded as a bonding trip at the end rather than a business one. And with the appliances that Ivan always carried in his ring, food wasn't a problem either, of course, his ring had water as well.
If the scene of these three frolicking around were to be seen by the class of heroes he was sure most of them would attack him on the spot for playing around in an area they faced with each step possibly being their last. But in the end, why the hell would he care about their opinion?
"We made it~!" Their trip amounted to about twelve hours. Certainly, a record was broken that day. The three got to work on building the storage depot. And by 'building' it was just clearing out space for Ivan to plop it down in.
The large factory-looking thing stood tall with an imposing air, the lights on it flickering as it made beeping and whirring noises. All that was left was to set down the Rumebuh and clear out the monsters of the 101st floor, that way there wouldn't be any potential harm done to the storage depot while Felis was following the machine.
"All right, let's get to work!" Ivan was not in a rush to return home, in fact, he planned on staying the night here with Felis before heading back. He had created a rather hefty communication device so the two could contact each other from great distances, that being from the depths of the dungeon to the manor back home.
So for this night, Ivan and Claire joined the hunt.
That day the poor residents of the 101st floor had no idea what hit them. They were just minding their own business before three monsters showed up and wiped them from the floor. It was certainly a tragedy that once Ivan stopped and thought about how he felt bad for the little fellas, at least before reminding himself that it was these same monsters that tried to kill him on sight back then.
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Alright I got to be at work in less than an hour so I'm going to make this real quick. Hmm, I'm also going to have to fit reading into my schedule as well considering I have to catch up to the source material. Also, it's windy as hell today! Man I'm going to get carried away by wind the moment I step out... I have to walk to work too and there's a chance for rain today...
Anyways, thanks for reading today's chapter! You better have a great evening, and I'll see you all soon~!
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