"Reina Feredis Aeglos. Daughter of the Aeglos family. The same Aeglos family that fell from grace."
The mood was all wrong! This was definitely Petra's fault!
"What do you mean?" Thankfully, Vera took the reins of the conversation while I tried to control my expression.
"My father headed an expedition into the deepest depths of the dungeon in Feind, trying to beat the deepest dive and come back alive."
Reina's eyes lowered as she gave a weak smile.
"Not a single one did."
She paused.
"My dream — no. My ambition is to do what they could not. I will conquer that dungeon and prove that they weren't wrong."
The words she said wasn't anything special. It wasn't exceptionally eloquent. No wordplay. No literary devices. Nothing. It was short and simple.
But it was her passion that resonated something inside me. There was a surety in her voice that inclined others to believe in her. It made those who could hear her feel the need to help her do it.
"But why did that make your family fall from grace?"
Vera's question was a bit out of place, but she had a point. Aiming to clear a dungeon was a dungeon diver's dream wasn't it? Would a bunch of dungeon divers dying for their dream really be ridiculed for it?
She smiled sadly. "Feind's dungeon culture isn't like the others. It's where ambitions go to die. There's no drive to dive, just a culture of complacency and mediocrity. While Lumisade's dungeon culture is not diving at all, Feind's is consistently diving up to a certain point. Diving deeper is discouraged and those who do are seen as stupid. Intentionally risking their lives for little return."
Ah. That explains things.
"Vera and I are aiming to be divers too. Well, I am. Vera's just along for the ride."
Reina looked at me, implicitly asking me to explain.
"There's a person I have to find, but I don't know who or where she is. But she's looking for me. Getting renown as a diver is the quickest way for my name to spread. Clearing a dungeon would make every single person know my name. I guess our goals coincide."
Reina nodded.
"If you want, we can do it together."
The rare serene smile on her face was all I needed for an answer.
After a slight pause, I changed back the topic. "What other takeaways did you get from today?"
She stopped for a moment as she took the time to think. "Our fight earlier today showed our limitations in a vs many situation. While Vera can initiate the fight with a massive attack, our follow-up isn't that good."
I agreed with her assessment. "Vera has to juggle all of area of effect attacks, buffs, and supporting us all in one. You're still a long way from learning any area of effect magic right?"
Reina nodded. "Yes."
"I can join Vera in a preemptive attack, but my area of effect magic in the middle of combat is basically non-existent right now. It's fine if we're in a situation where we can take our time, but I'd like for us to have something prepared in cases where we're on a timer."
"The best option we have right now is for the two of you to just do it."
"I think you're right. Vera and I need to increase our firepower for us to clear as many enemies as possible in an initial attack. Can you help us with a spell for something like this Petra?"
Thankfully, Petra was more than happy to help. "A quick fix is learning a combined spell."
We asked her to elaborate.
"You each cast a spell that complements each other and amplifies each other's effects. Like a wind and fire spell or something of that sort."
What she said seemed promising.
We finished up our discussion after a few more topics. Overall, it was a productive meeting. We ironed out our initial plan of action for the various situations we would find ourselves in during a dungeon dive.
I thanked Petra for her help and went back to my room to sleep. The dive took more out of me than I initially thought, to the point where I nearly conked out as soon as I hit the bed. As my consciousness faded, I couldn't help but think of Ilmarë's words.
It was the weekend which meant we had a free day. The last few weeks have been incredibly busy, busy enough that we haven't actually gotten a chance to explore Vier and everything it had to offer. Petra woke us up early for breakfast and we had a simple meal.
"I'm gonna go around Vier today. What about you guys? Want to come with me?"
Vera and Reina shared a look and Vera answered. "We will!"
She turned to Petra, "Petra! Any fun things we can do in the city? Show us around please!"
Vera brought out her patented secret weapon: puppy dog eyes.
An unbidden voice leaked out. "...cute."
"Yes, of course I can. Vier is the biggest city in the empire, the center of commerce and entertainment. A day is not even nearly enough to explore it in its entirety. I'd be happy to show you around. A good strategy in exploring the city is by focusing on one specific aspect like the food culture, theater culture, other entertainment options, the shopping centers, or the like."
Reina's look of surprise over Petra's passionate tone was a good way to start the day. I guess she didn't know Petra had that in her to be lively about something.
Petra covered her mouth as she realized she had let herself go.
I filled Reina in. "Just talk about something cute with Petra and she turns like that in an instant. It's like clockwork."
She let out a small giggle at that thought.
With Petra agreeing to take the role as our tour guide, we quickly set off for the city. Since our house was located an hour north of the academy which was also located north of the city, the city was actually quite a long distance away.
Petra brought out a carriage pulled along by a single horse mana beast named Snow White. True to its name, it was a pure white stallion reminiscent to snow. From what Petra shared, Snow White was Lady Artanis' personal mana beast in Lumisade. Petra had her brought here shortly after we arrived here. Since Lady Artanis hasn't left Forostar in I don't know how many years, Petra judged it better for Snow White to be with us instead of stuck in Lumisade just lounging around.
Petra drove us to the city. With Snow White being a mana beast, it took us only around an hour to reach the north gate of the city. Had it been a normal horse, it would've taken us an hour more.
The massive city of Vier was imposing at first glance with the massive throngs of people walking about. The well-paved roads were wide, allowing multiple lanes of carriages.
The city was a prime example of planned settlement. There was nothing here before the unification of the empire. Each kingdom had equal voice in the city's initial design. From what I knew, there was an initial disagreement on how it should look like. The four kingdoms couldn't come to a consensus that all of them liked.
Their solution to it carried the same philosophy as they did now. They just divided it equally. The north-western sector of the city belonged to Lumisade, the north-eastern to Feind, the south-eastern to Verge, and south-western to Edelasse.
With this meant each sector had completely different architectural designs. As we entered through the north gate, the wide main road showed this contrast perfectly.
On the left side of the road was distinctly beastmen favored architecture with the practicality of the designs and its wide halls. On the right side was elven-style structures that incorporated trees and nature with functionality. The contrast was staggering.
Crossing the road made you feel like you stepped into a whole new world. Honestly, it felt wrong to me. It didn't look good at all. Yes, there's beauty in contrast. Yes, contrast can emphasize certain oft-overlooked elements. But this was just too much.
Maybe the view from the west gate was better since both the north-west and south-west sectors were elven architecture and aesthetic. The difference between them was that Lumisade focused more on functionality whereas Edelasse focused more on beauty and aesthetics.
"So what's our first stop Petra?"
"Shopping center. There's a lot of cute stuff that can be found there. Plushies, cushions, pillows, sweaters, everything and anything that has potential to be cute! There's a specific store that I really love. We'll be heading there first."
Her words brooked no question and she did as she pleased. We couldn't even voice our dissent since she held the reins as she drove the carriage to wherever it was her favorite store was. Not that we had any in the first place.