The Golden Experience Point [Part 1]

Chapter 186: "Tectonic Shift"

"From Blanc's story, it was at... I think it's around here."

Normally, during this period leading up to the event, I should have been extremely busy setting the stage for retaliation against the Portree Kingdom.

Initially, I was determined to beat them up myself, because it was as if they had suddenly punched me, even though I had done nothing to them.

However, when I opened the door, I found that the other party had attacked me in retaliation for the attack by the bandits. The other party, however, was Lyra, my sister.

I hesitated to attack myself, partly because I was wary of the enemy's artifact, but also because I was somewhat aware that I was the one who had caused Lyra trouble, and my will to kill was weakened.

Having suddenly found free time, I heard from chatting with Blanc through friend chat that there seemed to be a creature named 'Newt'.

Thinking it might be a good opportunity to search for a dragon, I decided to take Sugaru and fly out. Literally.

"Ah, is that the river?"

At a distance where the shadows of the city began to appear in my [Demonic Eyes], I noticed a river flowing below. The river was quite wide, making it seemingly impossible for a humanoid creature to cross it alone.

The area around the river was dense with vegetation, but a bit away from the road, there were sparse plants, and rocks were exposed.

Blanc had described it as a wilderness, but it could be described as having a mild desert climate. When people think of deserts, they often imagine vast sandy landscapes, but I've heard that in reality, there are more rocky areas. The surroundings were lush only along the river.

Taking advantage of this, something resembling fruit trees or barley was cultivated, but now it was covered in blackened charcoal. It didn't seem like an environment for slash-and-burn agriculture, but sometimes NPC thinking is hard to understand.

"There seems to be something in the river."

"That seems to be the case. From the glow of LP and MP, it seems to be an insignificant monster. Is that a Newt?"

During the day, Rare covered her entire body with wings.

[Demonic Eyes] and [True Eyes] can be set to exclude oneself, and since activation is centered around oneself, it is possible to confirm the outside of the wings without any problem. On the other hand, [Magic Link] relies on the line of sight, so it cannot be activated in this state. If an attack is needed from here, I would have to rely on Sugaru.

"Alright, let's land."

Confirming that there was no one else around, I descended.

The surrounding towns had been destroyed by Blanc. If anyone was there, it would only be players aiming for the dungeon. The location of the dungeon is well known, and players who come all the way to the river off the main road should be few.

Having landed by the river, there was no reaction from whatever was in the water. It felt more like a dull sensation, rather than being unaware.

"Is it non-active?"

<Non-ac...?>

"Non-active. It means not active, so it's an enemy that won't initiate an attack on us. You don't need to remember that word." (T/N: in the japanese she said it in english)

Since the movement of mana in the water is different from the air, the figure is not completely invisible, but it is very difficult to see. Also, with [True Eyes], only a vague form is visible.