Every time I dream of something strange, I no longer dismiss it as normal. There is always something to it. The last time I had a strange dream, it was when I first met Galahad. It ended up with me interfering on the ninth iteration with his body.
Now that I dreamt of something along that level—again—I wouldn't disregard it.
First, it was the "distortion" produced by the grail. I could tell they were the same due to me directly sensing it. The next thing is Miku's voice. My enhanced memory allowed me to recall such things with ease. Matching that voice with the ones I know is easy.
Now, why was I summoned there?
Given I am already dead in that iteration, I could guess a few reasons why that happened. She might've attempted something similar to a "resurrection" magicka. It is a completely theoretical magicka which no one had ever done yet. Even Lord Nettesheim hadn't done it according to my current knowledge.
However, why was the grail involved in that magicka? Just because it has…
…
…miracles.
Miracles could make everything possible. It is the reason they are called as such. My interference on the ninth iteration is nothing short of "miraculous".
I continued deducing everything until the sun rose. My mind remained in an active state, continuously deducing the reason behind that dream.
"Fu…"
Even after being active for hours, I didn't feel drained nor fatigued. Just the [Proof of Combat] skill alone turned my recovery rate into something absurd.
Pop-!
Pop-!
After a round of stretching, I felt more rejuvenated.
Just like that, another day started.
*****
There are three things to be done after I woke up from the coma.
Production of magic swords.
Teaching the magicka system of my world.
Spending time with my two goddesses.
The same thing ensued until five days later.
'Today…'
I thought of the promised date with Hephaestus-sama. My mind floated in that direction. I could still react against the monsters who spawned around me, however. The dungeon hadn't sent its enforcers after me since I never broke anything. I did notice the growing numbers of monsters spawned.
Bzzt-!
This time, I didn't wear my combat suit—only my specially-treated magician's outfit. I wanted to feel how it was to fight like Suimei. He never wore any heavy armors compared to my habit of donning one.
The black overcoat and pants were created from one of the highest-grade spirit cloth. It is similar to Salamander Wool. The blessing imbued to it allowed the manipulation of light without any mediums. Although it is quite useless to me, it's not.
The amount of mystery imbued on this cloth is a lot. It is to be expected from higher-order beings such as spirits.
All that has to be done is to amplify the blessings, which was achieved through the Moiraie sisters' efforts.
Regarding them… I owe them a favor. That is no longer a matter of valis, but their goodwill.
"Hm."
Seeing a dozen minotaurs running in my direction, I summoned forth my blade, [Sora].
Shiing.
Upon unsheathing it, my body shot forward. The surroundings turned into a blur. I swung my blade several times. I merely felt minimal resistance as it passed through their necks.
Pssshk-!
Shiing.
I threw the bits of blood stuck on the blade before sheathing it once more.
Thud-!
The minotaurs' bodies fell to the floor lifelessly—their head separated from their body.
"Really…"
Snap-!
The magic stones containing a considerable amount of mana all flew on top of my hand. Consequently, their corpses turned to ashes.
"...I remember it."
I stored most of the magic stones saved for one. Examining the stored energy inside these magic stones, I remembered one of my experiements to turn them to one-time combustibles. The sudden release of this amount of mana would work akin to Black Flash. It could potentially create more than enough force to kill someone.
That was something I completed in my ninth iteration.
Crack-!
Crack-!
I tightened the grip over it. Cracks started appearing all over it. Small amounts of magical energy seeped out from it.
The moment I threw the magic stone, the cracks consumed it, resulting in a huge shockwave. A strong gust of wind came from it.
Bzzzzt-!
I saw something similar to enthalpy. The stored mana became unstable before being released on air. A blue glow accompanied this action. Blue particles akin to bits of glitters rained down in this place.
"Really… All I have to do is to develop…"
I saw yet another reason why I became strong enough to take on the eightieth floor alone. My technology progressed leaps and bounds with Gekai's abundant resources. The ten Sacraments in my world already had their owners. Mystical materials started to run out due to the impending Twilight Syndrome. Even with my cheat, I could only make the current Arbiter with it.
That mystical material is none other than palladium-orinite. It is a variant of the usual palladium that made it more conducive to mysteries and magical energy. It is the reason why Arbiter vastly stood out from the rest of the combat suits. I wouldn't have been beaten easily if I had it.
Thinking of this reminded me of the materials down the seventy-fifth floor. There is a crystal I called Frozen Night that allows for large-scale battlefield alteration. It could turn the surroundings' temperature to absolute zero. It was used on many interesting applications back in that iteration.
I cleared off my thoughts before I headed to the deeper floors. I didn't have Miku's assistance nor the suit, yet I could still handle things easily. My exhausted mind recovered at the same rate I consumed them. It showed how absurd this skill was once it became Rank D.
As far as I could recall, my skills went up to Rank A the moment I went up to level six. When I was about to reach level seven, my [Ubiquitous] reached Rank S. It is a completely different state where my usage of weapons is complimented by a strange power. It increased my capabilities to a huge degree, more so when I fought against Antares (Scorpio).
It proved how drastic the improvements brought by skills could be. As for magic… It is even more absurd.
Just like now—
Bam-!
The hordes of spartoi were burnt to ashes by the star's power. It is the swift-cast mode of [Orionids • Moon Hunt]. My level five status supported its full firepower, decimating these level four monsters in an instant.
"Things became more convenient… Is this how they feel..?"
Satoru-san always had this confident look whenever he went out for a fight. Though, I am aware that he seeks to be even stronger. The presence of Lord Nettesheim—Tengen-sama's friend—became his driving force. It constantly reminded him that he is not the strongest.
Thus, he was terrifying during those times. A constantly improving Satoru-san is the last thing his enemies would want to see.
Soon, I reached the fortieth floor. The monster rex, Udaeus, was eliminated by the Loki Familia during their expedition. I only encountered monsters after passing through.
Along the way, I tried a few dozen magicka. I refreshed my knowledge and experiences from the ninth iteration. It'd be a waste to let them collect dust without being used.
Suddenly, two presences entered my senses.
"...It's them."
I haven't come across them due to the sheer size of the dungeon's deep floors. Only now did I come across them.
Sensing the monsters on the way, I started casting. Tertiary codes manifested out of thin air before being converted to ice spears. They headed straight to the short magma golems.
After making another turn, I finally met with them.
"Sirius..?"
My gazes met with the familiar golden-haired girl. Momentarily, I recalled the times we fought together… and our final meeting.
"Ah..?!"
"Long time no see."
The surroundings fell to stillness. It is a tranquil and serene moment inside the dungeon where the unexpected could happen—
Growl-!
—such as monsters interrupting this moment.
"Pruina Arquus." (Frost bow.)
The tertiary numbers were converted to frost arrows. It possessed a greater spell than when it is cast without any chant.
Bam-!
Bam-!
Psst-!
The horde of monsters were obliterated immediately.
Adding liturgy to the programming magicka still works. I still couldn't fully encapsulate all the mysteries into those spells, hence a chant is still required. Although, its casting speed, allocation of perimeters, and the activation programs could be cast extremely fast at this moment. The same thing applied to the grand-scale magicka that I know.
My future self studied enough to convert them for [Hacker].
"Siriiiiusss!!!"
Tiona came rushing at me. I didn't choose to avoid her or anything. The force gathered by her charge could be nothing short of powerful. Even so, I held my ground. I watched her bury her face in my chest.
"I'm really not dreaming..!"
"...Tiona…san is still the same as always."
"You are the one who changed a lot!"
"..."
How sharp.
Even back then, her senses were sharp enough.
Tap-!
Tap-!
"...Sirius. You're really back…"
I met Aiz's golden pupils. It is filled with shock and astonishment. It is one of the few times I see her expressionless mask fall apart.
In other terms…
Gap moe.
'...I could see a pattern…'
Suddenly, her image overlapped with her version from the future. It is a far cry from her childish self. She has a sharp countenance and looks that contain bloodlust. Her mature self looks vastly different from her current self.
After all, she managed to control those black flames—a skill manifested out of hatred to monsters.
"Since when did you wake up?" She asked.
"Two days ago. Actually, I tried to find you and everyone else."
"...Alright."
Her gaze turned to Tiona who kept her close contact with me. Then, with another look of confusion, she turned her gaze to me. It is as if she's asking why I allowed such a thing.
I couldn't simply say that…
…
My future self is really something else. How did I end up with many girls..? I am aware of my stiffness in this regard, but to be able to have that kind of relationship is… something else.
Then again, at least, I am not dumb enough like Suimei who attempted to run away from his problems. He reverted her affection to Reiji… but it still failed miserably. They ended up together.
I have already taught Suimei not to do something like that a few times. Even Kazamitsu-san agreed with my opinion about it.
I ended up leaving Aiz midair. I never explained the reason behind my actions. By the time Tiona stopped hugging me, it had been more than three minutes. This awkward moment lasted exactly that long. Nobody spoke at that moment.
"You really changed… You're more approachable!"
"...I made everyone worry. Tiona-san can consider it as a form of compensation."
"You didn't see it like that, no?!"
Unsurprisingly, Tiona caught up to my abnormalities. I knew her from the ninth iteration, yet I am still surprised by her sharpness. Even without something like a connection between us, she was able to do this.
Was it a special magic or a skill..?
"...Perhaps." I replied. "How was the journey?"
"It's good. There are a lot of strong monsters."
"Yeah. Aiz couldn't control herself with the amount of monsters on the deep floors."
We started chatting about their experiences on the deep floors. I surmised they haven't reached the fifty-first floor yet. It was proven true when I heard how they retreated after the forty-ninth floor.
"Speaking of it… We didn't encounter the forty-ninth floor's monster rex. It was strange…" Tiona said. "Captain thought it was one of the Demi-spirits who did it so we ended up retreating."
We were only able to handle the two Demi-spirits on the Knossos due to the high-end powers at that time. There are more than twenty level fives and three level six adventurers who jumped on the Demi-spirits.
Finn-san is not the type to make a gamble after knowing the potential lethality of the enemy.
"Mn."
Just as Aiz agreed with Tiona's words, I saw her flash a curious look at me.
"Well, that was me."
""..?""
"I killed the forty-ninth floor's monster rex."