Vol 5 Chapter 51

[ This is quite an obstacle. How do you plan to handle it this time? ]

At those words, Kapros withdrew his gaze from staring blankly and slowly looked around. A river of lava encountered underground where no sky was visible. There was no bridge, no means to cross, and the place he needed to go existed far beyond, unreachable even by jumping.

The method he could take here was...

"First, I should send the Aerial Servant."

While gauging the distance by moving the Aerial Servant's view back and forth, Kapros gave the order.

"Go fly."

After a faint whooshing sound, the Aerial Servant diligently flew forward following his command. Kapros closed his eyes and tried to focus solely on the Aerial Servant's view.

Flying as high as possible away from the lava, the Aerial Servant was able to approach the path on the other side in no time. The dark interior of the cave on the opposite side was just beginning to reveal itself through the shimmering sulfurous haze. Suddenly, he saw something like a flashing blue light there.

Just as he was about to mutter for it to speed up, thinking it could reach the other side with just a little more distance, suddenly an impact hit both his vision and mind simultaneously.

Thud!

"Ugh!"

Frowning as if he had hit something, Kapros made the Aerial Servant back away, but the front was still obscured by hazy heat waves, with no visible obstacle blocking the way.

Thinking it strange, he made it fly forward once more, but when he felt the Aerial Servant stop again with another thud sound, he was finally certain that something was amiss. It seemed as if some kind of invisible barrier was blocking the Aerial Servant's approach.

'How could that be? Blocking the wind?'

The essence of the Aerial Servant is wind, that is, air. Kapros couldn't understand this situation where the wind was being blocked in mid-air, unable to move forward.

He carefully tried to make it push forward with force, but the Aerial Servant couldn't advance any further no matter what. He tried making it charge continuously while moving sideways, but it was the same. When it reached a certain distance, the Aerial Servant inevitably stopped, unable to pass through that invisible something. He tried to look at the other side through the Aerial Servant while staying as close as possible to whatever was blocking it, but apart from the shimmering cave, there wasn't much to see.

After wandering around aimlessly for a few minutes, the hot reddish sulfurous smoke that had been rising cleared, making the view ahead a bit clearer. Taking advantage of that moment, the blue light he had briefly seen earlier was now clearly visible inside the cave on the other side. It was definitely a blue light, not something he had seen wrong.

Flash!

Only then could Kapros identify the nature of that light.

'That was the light detected by Detect Magic.'

Detect Magic is a spell that makes things hidden by magical power visible by illuminating them in blue when discovered. Although he couldn't see clearly, the fact that Detect Magic's blue light was definitely sensing energy and flashing blue made it certain that there was something tremendous hidden by magical power inside the cave.

However, just as he was trying to see it more clearly, the sulfurous flames and heat haze began to bubble up again, forcing him to give up on exploring that cave area.

"Aerial Servant, come back."

After recalling the Aerial Servant and opening his eyes, the opposite side, invisible from here, seemed endlessly far away. Sighing, he dismissed both the Aerial Servant and Detect Magic. Superior, seemingly judging it was now okay to speak, made the stick flicker with red light.

[ So you sent the Aerial Servant to scout. What did you see? ]

"It seems there's something incredible on the other side, but I can't tell what it is. The Aerial Servant was blocked by something and couldn't approach beyond a certain distance."

[ Oh... A magic barrier? Judging by the fact that it blocked a 6th circle Aerial Servant, it must be quite an impressive barrier. ]

A magic barrier? Is there such a thing?

"What's that?"

[ A barrier can be described as a kind of protective shield that a mage casts to prevent attacks or approaches from others. Once cast, it lasts semi-permanently, so it's often used to protect something precious inside. This barrier can be adjusted freely from easy to difficult conditions depending on the mage's will, so the method to pass through varies depending on the conditions of the barrier. ]

"For example?"

[ Well... Let's take an example of the most commonly used barriers. You could cast a barrier that prevents mages of lower circles from approaching using magic. Or you could cast a barrier that's impenetrable to physical attacks but passable magically. Of course, the opposite is also possible. Since you said your Aerial Servant couldn't pass through, we should assume that magic below the 6th circle can't pass through. ]

At these unexpected words, Kapros had to bite his lip, thinking he had been hit hard rather than feeling he had learned new knowledge.

A barrier at this point? And a barrier that can't be passed by 6th circle and below? The Fly spell was essential to cross this vast river of lava. But the Fly spell was only 3rd circle. In other words, it meant that a barrier that magic of 6th circle and below couldn't pass through could never be crossed while using Fly.

An image flashed in his mind of himself panting and flying, only to hit an invisible barrier and spin around like the Aerial Servant just now.

'Damn, then what am I supposed to do?'

Now that the obvious solution he had been counting on was blocked in an unexpected way, he felt like he was completely suffocating in this already hot place. As Kapros frowned and desperately sank into thought, Superior continued to speak.

[ But did you clearly see what was on the other side? The fact that a barrier was cast could mean that what's inside is that much more extraordinary. ]