Why Are My Dreams Realistic?

Chapter 12 : The World Beneath Of The Unknown World : (part 2)

Death is an obligatory action against an enemy that walks on a wheel. Mechanicalized objects that we gain EXP from as we destroy and mutilate their organic fluidity that comes out of their body as we tear them. Flure and I had strolled around the left path for quite some time now. We’ve found a map of the whole place and discovered that we’re in an underground civilization.

The map structure was a maze. The air around us feels funny as we’ve reached the lower level. There’s this constant illusion that keeps appearing as if something is there. Sometimes, humans appear out of nowhere like ghosts, but as we interact, they will disappear like a fog. As this goes on, I've reached a sufficient level that has made me use different spells such as ‘Elemental Synthesis,’ ‘Elemental Manipulation,’ ‘Flame Manipulation,’ and many more that I deem useful in fights.

There were several skills I could use, such as this Milos Sword, which is still on its weak side. It has a passive component that I need to activate in order for it to be completely functional. There is a prerequisite for activating the passive embedded in the sword. According to the sword description, "the user must have experienced pain in which the holder of the sword must strike down the foe that threatens the person he cares the most." It was a strange necessity that required me to kill something that threatened our lives. I'm unsure whether there's anything here because only robots who give us double EXP dwell here.

However, this feeling of dread is swelling inside of us, and I’ve started to wonder whether Flure is an enemy or not. I'm startled just by his presence whenever he comes up to my side. I’m trying to repress that thought within me, but it seems like this feeling of dread has taken over me now that we’ve reached that certain part of the lower level.

‘ 彁: Lower Level.’

' 彁'is a null level hidden by magic at the remote corner of the map. Flure unexpectedly stumbled onto this location and shortly thereafter encountered an eighteen-foot-tall juniper-colored robot. It wasn't moving because we hadn't yet entered the room. Only through a layer of glass separated by a door can we see the robot. But then, seemingly out of nowhere, an illusion of a man appeared in front of the door, which was created with highly imbued magic sensors that would instantly open when it detected a person with a magical will.

The glass shatters as the door opens. A massive wave of colored magic shook the entire underground as the magic formed inside the door's core condensed and erupted. Unfazed by the tremor, the robot's eyes blazed a bright crimson as it surveyed its surroundings. The rocks were about to fall when they were abruptly stopped by a substantial layer of barrier enclosing the entire area.

“So that’s what #39bfh means,” Flure said as he looked at the other map where magic was constructed in the place and was mapped down where magic was highly saturated.

“What do you mean? "I asked.

Flure sat on the floor and grabbed the other map inside a small rift, where we stored the items we found along the way. He spread the maps on the floor and uttered a magic incantation. He put his hands on a stance where it emitted a pale light enveloping both of his hands. He placed his left hand on his chest and his right hand on the maps. He waved his right hand on the map and said, “Reveal your secrets.”

 [Visionarium illumenatum.]

 The map instantly emitted a bright light, revealing the secrets. The magic particles began to form, showing everything everyone could miss if we’d not known about it. Flure enchanted his eyes with the same magic to see further to the tracks on the map, and then he spoke of what he found on the map. “There seem to be multiple lights in different places hidden with magic. Should we go there? "He said.

I retracted the things we'd already done. We’re not even close to the maximum level yet, and we’re currently facing deep danger that might abruptly kill us. I closed my eyes and wondered what we should do. Then Atelier spoke.

- It would be funny if you defeated the robot first.

What do you mean?

- It might give you some experience. You know, preparation.

Ah. Okay, then.

I opened my eyes after that and gave my answer to Flure. “We can go over it once we defeat that one first,” I said as I pointed to the robot, who had deemed us a threat and began to condense the scattered magic particles all over the area, replenishing its core.

“Yep, we should. We don’t want that thing destroying everything around here," Flure said. The robot began to cast a magic circle that filled the room with a pale blue light from the runes it cast all over. It was still replenishing its core from the condensed magic, so before it attacked us, we attacked it first.

Within the wide array of spells I have learned, I enchanted my shoes and hands with astral propagation, proliferating my strength within a set time of five minutes. Flure also did the same with his own set of skills in light manipulation. With that, Flure burst forward, raising his sword to attack the core of the robot with a slash of his sword. I also did the same, creating a combination attack.

But with that combination, it didn’t even take damage to its core, as our sword just created a spark of magic around its blue flame core. It had already surrounded its core with a thick layer of barrier, making it impossible to destroy in the limited time we have.

[Fluemita]

A light burst forth in Flure’s palm just as we were about to land on the floor. It made a cracking sound as it hit.

“Wow! "I said. I was amazed that he had damaged the thick barrier of its core in such an instant that we’d failed to hit it with our sword. It didn’t take a genius and timid guy like him to actually do something so instant.

Then I got back up and charged forward, thrusting my sword into the core, where it simply bounced off. I continued hitting it without taking a break.

[Eightfold slash]

Next, with my sword now encased in an in-flux aura, I launched my attack into it. I sliced through the dense barrier surrounding it quickly with eight slashes. I then jugged backward approximately eight steps toward Flure, who was getting ready to attack.

I panted profusely. It was such a quick assault that my arms were already aching when I landed. For a brief duration, I relaxed. I took repeated deep breaths until I calmed down. When I was already starting to relax, Flure suddenly shouted.

“On your left, Mori! "Flare shouted as he warned me something. As I looked to my left, I saw a blue-pale magic circle cast on my face. I quickly dodged the attack with my instincts as it suddenly launched a high-speed projectile.

Then I saw the same thing with Flure and shouted. “On your right! "He then instantly shattered the magic circle with his sword.

“Now, what should we do, Mori? "He asked. As I approached him, I noticed a broad grin on his face.

“Are you having fun? "I asked, as I found it pretty weird for him to laugh in this situation.

“Huh, yeah! This battle is really fun! There’s a timer there, see? "He pointed to the top of the wall, where a timer was set for thirty seconds.

“Thirty seconds? Really? "I said. That timer was a death sentence, where the enormous magic circle was waiting to be cast and the other small ones were on the wall. The core of the robot is almost full; waiting for it means instant death because of how fast the last projectile it launched towards us means death compared to this large one, which would bore a hole in an instant.

“What do you suggest now, Mori? "He continued to ask me as I stared at the timer that only had twenty-five seconds left.

For some reason, I don't feel the adrenaline, even when the clock slowly expires. With just twenty seconds remaining, we are standing here waiting for something to happen. Then it dawned on me: why couldn't we just take it by the hand? Barriers, I remembered, served as a kind of protection against magic and other things struck by external forces.

Thus, at the fifteen-second mark, I approached very slowly, weaving around Flure, who took a seat and allowed me to do what needed to be done. Once I climbed the robot's body, I steered around the magic circles that were directed at me. When I finally arrived at the center, I casually grabbed the core like it was nothing. The magic circle instantly disappeared, and the robot’s power died down as I took its core.

“Huh. Neat," Flure said. It's like he already knows what I’m going to do. I jumped down, holding the core in my hands. I presented him with the core in my hands. He slightly snickered.

"So... that was such an easy boss,” I said. Considering how poor the core was, the boss seemed quite easy to beat. The barrier around its core was only strong when struck by a strong force; otherwise, it was feeble. It's upsetting when you realize that a barrier is useless when it isn't utilized properly.

ㄴ Congratulations! You have reached your maximum level.

Suddenly, that mechanical voice congratulated us, saying we'd reached our maximum level. There were fireworks in the EXP we gained as we defeated the robot.

ㄴ Mori: Level 30

ㄴFlure: Level 30

ㄴMirai: Level 28

ㄴLouis: Level 29

We were shown the level in such a beautiful way by the pyrotechnics. It created the light that radiated from it, which generated such things. Flure chuckled and added, "Huh, I guess we've won our little game, aren't we?"

“Yeah. Should we head back? "I asked him.

“Hmm… Sure! I can now finally say that I’ve defeated the two of them," he said. He stood up. He held out his hand for me and said, “Should we? ”

"Hmm! As I gave a nod. After placing the core on the ground to place it inside the rift, it suddenly disintegrated, leaving only a magic particle. "Wow," I exclaimed because of the magnificent light that emanated from it. As its magic particles dispersed in the room, it was quite a sight to behold. After that, we departed from the lower level and returned back to the location's starting point.

*****

Since we completed our task much sooner than they did, we arrived earlier than expected. However, midway through, the automated voice once again congratulated us, this time mentioning that Mirai and Louis had also attained the same level as us. We're the clear champions of the competition because we've advanced to level thirty. The status bar then displays a message.

ㄴ Message from your friend: “We’re near.”: sender-Mirai

Upon seeing the message, Flure grinned and remarked, "I am waiting for you, Mirai," while chuckling. Then, after half an hour of waiting, they finally arrived. As Mirai showed up, she had a slightly frustrated appearance, and Louis attempted to console her by saying something.

“So what’s up, Mirai?" Flure spoke in an obnoxious tone, exacerbating Mirai’s irritation.

"Gahh." With a sound, Mirai expressed her frustration. Louis and she both took a seat on the step.

“Don’t! "Louis said. He spoke with Mirai for another thirty minutes until her irritation subsided.

Mirai breathed deeply and slowly. Perhaps the shade of red on her face indicates her extreme frustration and that she was unable to control it. “Sigh~ Okay, you won. What do you want me to do?" She said.

When Flure heard that, his smile widened even further. He thinks for a moment before deciding what our reward would be for both of us. Then, after five minutes, he spoke, “Give me a day or two with Mori since you're hogging him too much, so we can have fun together. He said.

I was surprised to hear that the reward that Flure wanted was simply for us to play together. Although it seemed like a good reward, nothing didn't look like a loss. Mirai, however, was rather upset by it, but she immediately agreed to it. “Meh, okay, then. Do it.”

Everything appears to be fine after that. Flure was overjoyed that his request was granted, and Mirai also became more composed. Since Flure's prize also seemed like a reward to me, I did not ask for my reward, which they accepted.

“So? Haven't you found anything? "Louis asked.

“Well, I realize that I ought to have brought it up. Alright, so we used a magical map to locate concealed objects and then search for them before returning.” Flure presented three objects that we discovered, information on the underground society, a map showing the location of the exit that wasn't marked by the map we have, and a journal written by someone. “What about you guys? ”

"Huh. We only discovered a little bit of data regarding the other human civilization that is currently moving by a fortress. Do you want to know about it?” Mirai said while holding another journal.

Even though they consider it to be so little, we have discovered a lot of things. But really, it's plenty for me because I'm already in such a frenzied condition just by simply understanding and knowing about emotions.