Isekai Adventure in the Dimensional Cube

The battle ended swiftly.

In that ultimate storm of slaughter, not a single monster survived, all turning into a pile of severed limbs and carcasses, resulting in a grand victory for Reiger.

"What's wrong?"

Reiger returned with his rapier in hand, and upon seeing Rephia standing there in a daze, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"No, nothing!"

Rephia snapped out of it, shaking her head while hesitantly looking at Reiger.

"If there's something you want to say, just say it."

Reiger noticed Rephia's hesitation and thus uttered these words.

Rephia hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "Do you know Miss Ais, Mr. Reiger?"

Clearly, seeing the combat style of Reiger that was almost identical to that of Ais, Rephia started to doubt the nature of their relationship.

It even occurred to her that, not long ago when she and others returned from an expedition, Ais seemed to have noticed the newly joined Reiger, paying significant attention to him.

This made the elven girl inevitably become more curious, her gaze towards Reiger changing in flavor.

In response, Reiger simply raised an eyebrow, his expression one of amused inquiry, "Are you very interested in what kind of relationship Miss Ais and I have?"

Rephia nodded without hesitation at first, then immediately started shaking her head in panic.

"I'm just a bit curious, that's all!"

Rephia's face flushed inexplicably, looking a bit guilty.

Seeing this, Reiger chuckled and gave an answer to Rephia's question.

"I have asked Miss Ais for advice on magic and, by a lucky coincidence, learned a part of her swordsmanship techniques. Other than that, there is no other relationship," he explained.

Reiger's explanation not only failed to relieve Rephia but instead caused her to freeze in astonishment.

"Magic advice?"

Rephia was utterly confused.

"Correct," Reiger nodded, "I possess a magic spell that is roughly similar to your 'Elf Ring'."

"Ah," Rephia understood immediately.

But because she understood, she was even more amazed.

"Mr. Reiger, you possess a magic spell similar to mine?"

Rephia was extremely surprised and astonished.

"More or less."

Without saying much more, Reiger simply concurred with Rephia.

"So, Mr. Reiger, you've learned Miss Ais's magic?"

Rephia murmured, her first thought not about feeling a connection or revising her opinion about Reiger, who had a similar kind of magic, but instead it was an instinctive cry of envy.

Damn it, I'm so jealous!

Suddenly, Rephia cast an envious gaze at Reiger that seemed to verge on splitting apart.

"...Why couldn't Miss Ais have been an elf?"

Unable to learn magic restricted to her own kind, Rephia couldn't help puffing up her cheeks.

"Alright, let's move on."

Reiger couldn't help but give a wry smile, quickly changing the subject and preparing to move on.

"Wait a moment!" Rephia hastily called out to Reiger, saying, "We haven't collected the magic stones yet!"

Saying this, Rephia rushed over to the group that Reiger had defeated, pulled out a small knife she carried with her, and excavated a tiny crystal from the chest cavity of the shadow warrior.

That was a magic stone, a crystallization of magic power that could be retrieved from monsters in the underground city.

It could be used to create many incredible magic stone products. For example, the magic stone lamps placed in the fountain and lamp posts of the Twilight Manor's inner courtyard were made from these magic stones.

Due to its exclusive possession of the underground city, Maze City Orario nearly monopolized this resource. The city's guild was in charge of purchasing and then processed the magic stones into products that were shipped to other nations outside the city, thus garnering massive profits. This was why adventurers were so eager to explore the underground city, trading the magic stones they obtained from monsters with the guild for money.

It was said that the stronger the monster, the larger and more valuable its magic stone. Some of the spoils that Loki Familia brought back from the deeper layers on their last expedition included stones dozens of times larger than the one Rephia was extracting, each worth tens to hundreds of thousands of valis.

Compared to those, the value of the magic stone Rephia obtained from the sixth layer might not even reach a thousand valis.

However, even a small amount was still money, and Rephia diligently collected the magic stones, causing the bodies of the monsters that lost their stones (core) to rapidly lose pigmentation and disintegrate into dust.

This was the final fate of monsters that lost their magic stone (core); not even their bodies could remain, as if they had never existed, with only parts of particularly developed regions occasionally left behind.

These parts, known as drop items, could be used as raw materials for the creation of weapons, armor, and spiritual medicine. They could also be traded at the guild for money or sold to merchants in need.

Apart from magic stones and drop items, the underground city also contained special minerals, plants, and natural products with unique properties, and these were the spoils, the wealth, that adventurers sought when entering the underground city. Especially some of the exceptionally rare and valuable items could fetch a sky-high price on the surface, making one instantly rich.

It can be said that most adventurers delved into the underground city with the goal of striking it rich overnight. Familias like Loki Familia that focused on exploration also regarded these resources as critical for their operational finances.

The underground city was just such an incredible place, both a demon's lair and a treasure trove.

As long as one could make a name for themselves here and acquire some treasure, the news would spread across the world in an instant, bringing with them both fame and fortune.

Watching Rephia diligently collecting the magic stones and tossing them into the large backpack behind her, Reiger touched his nose.

He didn't dare tell Rephia that he had never collected any magic stones or drop items in the underground city before.

"Can I say I completely forgot about this?"

A certain young master, who dove into the underground city and couldn't wait to go on a killing spree, had never developed the habit of being "thrifty and manage the household."

Now, seeing Rephia so actively collecting Magic Stones, with her large backpack swaying behind her, Reiger couldn't help but speak up.

"How about I carry the backpack for a while?"

Upon hearing this, Rephia didn't hesitate to shake her head and refuse.

"Mr. Reiger is a front-line fighter, and even takes on the role of a middle guard. Your duty is to charge into battle and swiftly kill the enemy, how could you fight with such a big backpack on?" Rephia said seriously, "In the underground city, if there's no professional Supporter with the team, it's common for a rear guard who doesn't need to move much to double as a Supporter. Mr. Reiger, just focus on keeping watch."

The Supporter Rephia spoke of refers to someone specialized in recovering and preserving Magic Stones and collected loot.

These individuals are usually non-combatants with lesser strength, existing purely to free the adventurer's hands and bodies, so they don't have to fight while burdened with heavy backpacks or equipment.

There are some individuals in Orario with lesser strength who take on the role of a Supporter as a profession, getting hired by adventurers, while in powerful large families, it's usually the job of lower-ranked juniors or rearguards to temporarily act as Supporters.

Rephia was a rearguard, thus she had no intention whatsoever of letting Reiger take over the duties of a Supporter.

"But you're at a higher level than I am," Reiger emphasized.

"But I don't need to charge into battle, so it's all right for me to carry the backpack," Rephia uncompromisingly replied, "On the contrary, front-line fighters like Mr. Reiger absolutely shouldn't add too much weight to themselves. Please, don't fight me on this."

As for whether it's appropriate for a young girl to be running around with a backpack so large, Rephia didn't even mention it.

Even as a pure Magic Guide rearguard with limited close combat ability and physical strength, Rephia was a Level 3, second-rank adventurer; carrying a backpack was well within her capabilities.

"Alright then."

Seeing Rephia's unyielding stance, Reiger had no choice but to drop it.

Had it not been for the issue of it being difficult to explain, Reiger would have suggested placing the backpack into the storage space of the dimensional cube.

With the storage space, Reiger didn't need to worry about the burden at all.

Unfortunately, since that wasn't an option to discuss, Reiger could only watch Rephia collect the Magic Stones and continue bustling about with the large backpack.

"Okay."

After a while, Rephia ran back.

"Then let's go."

Reiger turned and walked away.

"Wait, wait for me!"

Rephia had to quickly catch up, temporarily setting aside another question that was in her mind.

But that question echoed in Rephia's heart throughout the day.

"He's a newcomer who had just recently received Magic Power, so why is Mr. Reiger so powerful?"

Watching Reiger's figure sprint ahead at full speed, plunging into the monster horde, the question persisted, undulating in Rephia's heart.

...

While Reiger and Rephia teamed up to fight and kept plunging deeper, unbeknownst to them, as soon as they left, the place where they had been fighting erupted with anomalies.

"Crack..."

It began with a soft cracking noise.

A fissure appeared without warning on the wall of the Maze, from which a faint luster seeped out.

"Thump, thump..."

It started to pulsate like a heartbeat, growing louder and louder.

This scene was not all too uncommon in the underground city.

Any adventurer had seen this phenomenon at least once or twice.

Because it signified that a monster was about to be born.

Yes, this was how monsters in the underground city were born.

They weren't creatures that had always existed within the underground city, but rather were nurtured and hatched by the underground city itself.

Like baby birds breaking out of their shells, monsters would regularly emerge from the walls of the Maze, ensuring the monsters in the underground city could never be entirely vanquished, with their numbers never decreasing.

This is also why the types of monsters appearing on each floor were usually fixed.

Simply because they were born from specific floors, belonging to certain species that, barring unforeseen events, would only appear in the places of their birth, never venturing to other floors.

Of course, this applies only in the absence of anomalies.

Exceptions always exist.

And now, an exception had just been nurtured on this sixth floor.

This was what was referred to as an abnormal situation.

"Crack crack crack..."

Amidst the enamel-affecting sound of cracking, the walls of the Maze began to break apart, allowing a giant figure to emerge.

Soon after, deafening roars filled the floor, causing a slight tremble in the Maze, as if blessing its birth.