Death March — Fixed

“Tek here, there doesn’t seem to be a level cap in this world. But, a lot of people misinterpret it--because the Experience Points required for the next level increases exponentially.”

 

We’re not going to the usual Area -74, but Area -69, where the Cockatrices are, it is the Area neighbouring Area -109 which has the insects.

 

Come to think of it, I wonder what happened to the Fangs of Conflagration members who went down here to hunt Cockatrices.

 

I carried Mia in a princess carry as I ran from Area -74 to Area -69. When I tried to put her down, she seemed to be quite frightened by how fast I was running--her hands wouldn’t release me.

 

“F-Fast, you know? It’s too fast, see. Excessive speed is the cause of accidents, it’s dangerous, you know?” Mia finally gets down and speaks rapidly.

 

She must have been quite frightened; but she forgave me when I gave her a hug and apologized.

 

“Stone statue.” Mia seems to have noticed the surroundings.

 

“Well, judging from the appearance, it’s probably an Adventurer.”

 

A pony sized chicken-like Monster was pecking the stone statue. According to its information, the Monster is a Juvenile Cockatrice, and it is only around level 30.

 

It seems that Cockatrices feed on their petrified prey, as most of them are gathered around plants and Monsters which have been turned to stone. In this hall, there are several level 30 - 35 Juvenile Cockatrices, level 40 - 45 Adult Cockatrices--and a pair of level 70 Giant Cockatrices.

 

Before I begin leveling Mia up, I quickly kill the Juvenile Cockatrice and collect the stone statue--in case there is a way to remove petrification.

 

“Mia, do you have a spell that affects a large area?”

“Nn, Storm.”

 

I gave Mia a wand made from the World Tree, and she begins her chant. This wand has the best performance when enhancing Area of Effect Magic.

 

Mia’s Spirit Magic fills the hall and causes damage to every single Cockatrice in the room. Just one spell, however, decreased Mia’s MP by 30%.

 

The majority of the Juvenile Cockatrices are exterminated by Mia’s Magic, while the rest are dying. I quickly finish them off with Flexible Sword and store them.

 

The giant Cockatrice King and Queen start coming this way, their footsteps causing the ground to shake.

 

Mia looked up at me, “Tek.”

 

“I’ll eliminate them immediately.”

 

I quickly cut through their necks with Flexible Sword and store them. Since kitten-sized fleas evacuate the corpses before I store the, and they are jumping around, I exterminate them with Flame Storm.

 

When the flame reached the ceiling, an explosion occurred.

 

What?

 

I immediately cover Mia with my cloak and evacuate to the entrance.

 

“Mwu, hot.” she peeks out of the shadow of my cloak and looks up at me with dewy eyes.

 

“Ahh, sorry. I made sure to limit the power, but it seems that there were flammable gasses near the ceiling.” I apologized by stroking Mia’s hair.

 

There was a small pond filled with a tar-like substance in the corner of the room, the surface of which was bubbling, so the gas probably came from there.

 

***

A treasure chest appears where the giant Cockatrices died.

 

I’d heard that treasure chests could appear, rarely; but this is my first time seeing one.

 

Since there was a petrification trap on the chest, I had Mia evacuate a distance, and then I removed the trap. It wasn’t until after I used Cancel Magic that I realized that I could have just opened it from a distance with Magic Hand--the realization was a little too late.

 

Inside the chest there was money, jewels, and various Magic Tools. There’s only one weapon, a silver shortsword, and it can channel Magic fairly well. As for the Magic Tools, they’re an Insect Repellent Bell and three Ignition Rods; they look worn-out and are probably mementos of dead Adventurers.

 

I give Mia the shortsword, and put the rest into storage.

 

After this, we eliminate four or five rooms with Cockatrices, and Mia’s level rose by 4--Arisa would probably be annoyed if I told her that it only took 30 minutes.

 

There are numerous individuals among the Cockatrices that are relatively stronger, so Mia leveled quickly--and I got a lot of Cockatrice meat for Lulu to cook.

 

Now then, putting that aside, Mia was sluggish because of the sudden level-ups. I place down a Carved Seal Board so that we could come back here, and then I carried Mia back to the Villa. After she ate some sweets and drank water, she lay on the bed and fell asleep.

 

I decided to visit Mara and help with the construction of equipment for the girls. She barely notices when I teleport into the room, but when I clear my throat, she pauses from studying some blueprints.

 

“Master! These blueprints are awesome. I have finished the bases, and I need you to make the Magic Circuits, and double check that I got everything right.” Mara is almost bouncing as she grabs my hand and leads me over to the desk--she is incredibly excited as she shows me her creations.

 

For Pochi and Tama, there are shortswords which have Magic Circuits that allow them to increase in length, or in mass. It’s made from a modified version of the Shell Magic Circuit.

 

Mara stands next to me, watching in fascination as I tinker with the Magic Circuits and draw up blueprints for whip swords and other random weapons from my favourite animes.

 

We keep working until Mia wakes up.

 

Wishing Mara a goodbye, and thanking her for her good work, I go to Teleport to the villa; Mara rushes over and gives me a hug, quickly stepping back with a blush.

 

***

After thoroughly exterminating the Monsters in Area -109 and Area -104 until it was time for dinner, Mia has made it to level 40.

 

Once our objective has been met so we teleport to Bornean Forest, since all of the others are waiting.

 

“I’m back.”

“W-Welcome back!”

“Nn, Aze.”

 

Arisa and Aze are in the tree-house’s living room. Arisa is reading through a book on Magic, Aze is sitting on the couch across from her on another couch.

 

Aze was probably teaching Arisa.

 

“It looks like you’re working hard.”

“Uhhhhh?! Hey, wait Mia, what did you do?!”

“Nn.”

 

Aze, who doesn’t know what Mia’s level was a day ago, reacts normally--but Arisa, who knows that Mia has leveled up five or so levels in half a day, screams in shock.

 

“We eradicated the Cockatrices, and the Scorpion area deeper, and also the aquatic Monster area nearby.”

 

“Kuh, to be that much of a cheat when you seriously do power-leveling!” Arisa rolls her eyes.

 

Aze is looking at me with her head tilted--unfairly cute.

 

***

“Eh? Coffee?”

 

When I give her the cup, Arisa receives it while looking surprised. I take another cup from storage and hand it to Aze. I feel slightly mischievous, so I didn’t take out any sugar or milk.

 

“That’s right. Here you go too, Aze.”

 

Since the cup is hot, Aze slides her sleeves over her hands and picks the cup up. Aze draws her face close to the steam rising from the cup, she seems to enjoy the smell.

 

To prevent burning herself, she blows on the cup, but she overdoes it--and she swoons.

 

“Uu, it’s too bitter, I can’t drink it.”

 

After enjoying the cuteness of the teary Aze, I take out a coffee that I had diluted with milk and added sugar to it in advance.

 

Apparently this new coffee suited Aze’s palate more, and she drank it with a happy look on her face; saying, “I can drink this one”.

 

I took out the chocolate pudding that Lulu had cooked, which we ate for desert after a very nice dinner of Cockatrice meat. All of the girls loved the chocolate--Arisa ate so much that she got sick, and Lulu rolled her eyes and said that it was her fault for eating too much. I had to take out more, because all of the fairies peaking in. Aze munched the chocolate happily, leaving a slight mess around her mouth--I wiped it off with a finger, and she blushed a brilliant crimson, but she stuck out her small  tongue and licked it off my finger.

 

She was absorbed in the mood, and when she looked up, everyone was looking at her--she muttered something quietly and bolted from the room.