Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Chapter 177
============================================================
Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Chapter 177
42. Dragonlands (3)
The pure white space was fairly wide, but it was far too small to contain the area I had explored on Earth.
It was about the size of a soccer field, with a height of 40 to 50 meters.
In the all-white space, all I could see were the entrance we had come through, one door leading to who knows where, and a device in the center that appeared to be a controller.
"Adrian, come here."
Blake called out to me as I stood still, blankly looking around.
His voice was full of curiosity there seemed to be something unusual about the controller.
I rubbed my temples.
Then, forcing down the emotions that had welled up, I walked over.
"What do you think this device is for?"
I examined the controller with the Myriad Mirror.
[????? / Relic]
-No information found in the Online and Lucas Library databases.
-Analysis of the era suggests it is an item from the Mythic Era.
-It has the function to absorb and store Mana or Divine power, and is expected to unleash extremely powerful supernatural abilities using the stored energy.
-A magic circle connected to this artifact is spread across the entire space, taking a form designed to amplify signals.
-This artifact is operational with no signs of damage, and manipulating it is highly likely to reveal its purpose.
-Red Mithril 72%, Orichalcum 11%, tourmaline 7%, quicksilver 4%, ??? 4%
Even Grand Duke Lucas doesn't know much about items from the Mythic Era.
That's why the Holy Sword, one of my current weapons, felt this way when I first found it too.
For 11% of a chunk of metal that looks to weigh hundreds of kilograms to be Orichalcum that's an unimaginable amount.
It meant at least dozens of kilograms of Orichalcum were included.
Just selling that alone would cover a decent-sized nation's annual budget.
'This is the first time a question mark has appeared on a material.'
And on materials, the Myriad Mirror, which could distinguish even Mythic Era materials like Red Mithril or white metal with near-perfect accuracy, had failed to identify 4% of it for the first time.
'If it has a function to store energy, it would need a medium to store it in.'
That 4% question mark is probably an energy-storage medium like a mana stone.
The most valuable mana stone in this world is the dragon heart.
In the Mythic Era, where monsters were everywhere, obtaining a dragon heart probably wasn't hard, so maybe something even greater than a dragon heart lies dormant in there.
"Well, it looks like it belongs to the Heavenly Tribe. Seeing how it absorbs not just Mana but also Divine power."
"Well, you can tell just from the atmosphere of the facility. An all-white space on every side a place that would make the demon race feel nauseous."
I told him about the materials that made up the controller.
"So we hit the jackpot, huh. But from what I can see, this facility itself is no ordinary thing. I've never seen a whole facility giving off the vibe of being a single artifact before."
He might know more about Mythic Era artifacts than Grand Duke Lucas does.
That could be considered a privilege of his, since he has the authority to move freely even in the Dragonlands.
"For now, we could make a fortune just by dismantling this controller and selling it."
At my words, Blake let out a snicker, as if asking what was wrong with me.
"An artifact is most valuable when it stays in the form of an artifact. We're not scrap dealers why would we dismantle and sell it? Especially when it works this well?"
Fair point.
Besides, he's the kind of person who readily gifts dragon byproducts to someone he's just met he's hardly short on money.
What he wanted was a Mythic Era artifact, not raw resources.
Letting out a dry laugh, I asked him with a serious expression.
"Then may I investigate this artifact in detail?"
"Sure. I'll leave it to you."
I approached the controller and placed my hand on it.
A hologram rose up, displaying the following message.
[The device's energy is fully depleted. It will take 90 days to fully recharge.]
[Due to aging, this device can operate for 2 minutes and 8 seconds per 24 hours of charging.]
The amount of ambient Mana this artifact is currently absorbing is absolutely terrifying.
If it's this intense in the Mana-dense Dragonlands, it would likely take even longer to charge in an ordinary city.
"For a mere illusion spell, the efficiency is way too poor, isn't it?"
Of course, since that illusion magic is close to completely real, it's not just some ordinary illusion.
But an artifact that takes 90 days to charge for a mere 3 hours of operation goes beyond common sense.
Then again, Mythic Era artifacts are complete over-technology even by current Rondel standards.
I wondered if pouring my own Mana into the device would speed up the charging, but I dropped the idea.
Given the amount of Mana the device was absorbing, it seemed unlikely that no matter how much I poured in, it would make much of a difference.
"Huh?"
I fiddled with various things to figure out its exact purpose.
Then, when the hologram displayed a new image, my eyes went wide.
[1][2]
Beneath the numbers 1 and 2, two spheres floated they were the images of Rondel and Earth.
How many people from Earth would have a perfect grasp of the planet's entire map?
And yet, this Earth was shown in perfect form.
My own memory of it is hazy, but on this map, I couldn't feel a single hint of dissonance.
Countries with complex shapes like Indonesia or the Philippines, the countless islands off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula it was a perfect form that would be hard to recreate even if I combed through my memories.
What this meant was...
"Earth's data was already input from the start?"
That means Earth isn't some completely isolated place it's a location that Rondel is aware of.
Well, considering the matching constellations between the two worlds,
and the fact that people from Earth like me, Grand Duke Lucas, and Benjamin exist in Rondel, there's no way to think anything but that the two planets are somehow connected.
Thanks to that, I began to think this device wasn't just showing simple illusions.
After that, I kept poking at various things.
"It's so unfriendly couldn't there be at least one instruction manual somewhere?"
The controller was purely a device for manipulation; nowhere did any explanation of how to operate it exist.
It felt like playing a game without a tutorial, I suppose.
As I kept fiddling with this and that...
[With current charge, you can transmit to Zone 2 for 2 seconds. Begin transmission?]
When I touched the globe, the above message appeared.
I hesitated for a moment, but then, with a firm expression, I touched the message window.
And then.
-Whoosh!
In an instant, the surrounding scenery changed.
The house on Earth where we'd been staying until just now came into view.
"Huh? Son?"
Whether she'd been crying because I disappeared all of a sudden, Mother, her eyes swollen, looked up at me with a startled expression once again.
I spoke to her.
"I'll definitely come back."
"Wai "
And then I returned to the pure white space.
It seems the 2-second transmission time refers to the time spent on Earth, after all.
"Adrian! If you're going to do something, you should say so! You scared me!"
Blake protested to me, looking flustered.
But I could only stare at him with a dumbfounded face.
"This... it seems real."
"What?"
"I don't think it's an illusion."
At that, Blake and Arcia's eyes went wide.
"You're saying we actually visited Manuel's homeland?"
At their reaction, I nodded vigorously with an elated expression.
"I don't know the principle, but that's how it appears."
"You thought this was an illusion too, didn't you? Why did you suddenly change your mind?"
"Of course, I can't be 100% certain. But the circumstances point that way."
At my words, Blake looked puzzled and pointed to the door we'd come through.
"I kept sensing the presence of that door even while on Earth, though?"
"What if only our bodies remained here and only our minds crossed over?"
"Only our minds? For something like that, the sensations I felt there were far too vivid."
"Some ghost-type monsters have no physical form yet still exert physical force. It's not an impossible story."
A Lordmaster's control over the body is so outstanding that even if the mind crossed to the other world, he might still have been perceiving his body here.
In fact, Arcia and I didn't sense any door at all.
"Isn't that just your wishful thinking?"
"Considering the amount of energy this artifact uses, that's not surprising at all. It only lasted two seconds, but the energy consumed in those two seconds was on par with my total mana reserves. Enough mana to run over a dozen 9th-circle spells simultaneously."
"Hmm, the energy consumption is certainly excessive."
Even the Myriad Mirror seemed to share a similar view to mine.
[Dimensional Transference Device??? / Relic]
It was only an incomplete hypothesis, but Blake let out a deep sigh at my words.
"If what you're saying is true..."
His expression darkened.
The reason was clearly that he was thinking of Grand Duke Lucas.
For one, this device isn't a complete dimensional travel apparatus.
It only lets you visit and come back.
But even that alone would have done much to ease the Grand Duke's longing for home.
Then perhaps he could have lived a life more for himself, rather than one devoted entirely to research.
His reaction made me somber as well.
Somehow, I feel like Grand Duke Lucas suffered every hardship there was, and I'm the one who gets to enjoy all the sweet parts.
"I wish I'd found this a little sooner."
Just as I felt sorry toward Grand Duke Lucas, Blake also felt sorry toward him.
Even if this device couldn't fully return someone to Earth, a genius like Grand Duke Lucas would have found some way to make good use of it.
Perhaps he could have even returned to Earth through it.
"If that's the case, I'll have to think carefully about how to use this. It's a far more remarkable object than I expected."
I couldn't help but nod at his assessment.
After that, I kept fiddling with various functions, but aside from being able to select the destination from Earth, I couldn't find any special additional features.
"What exactly was this facility for?"
"Who knows? We might find the answer if we look around more."
I took my hands off the controller.
Then a question suddenly crossed my mind...
"If it drains mana at this rate, won't the dragons notice?"
At my question, Blake told me to wait a moment, stepped out through the entrance, and returned before long.
"Nothing seems wrong from the outside. I don't think using this device will get us discovered from outside."
A Lordmaster sensitive to energy would know, so I accepted it.
I felt greatly relieved.
This was a connection to home I'd obtained by whatever means I couldn't let the dragons take it away.
"And besides, even if they knew, they wouldn't bother to move."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Dragons are far more indolent than you think."
"But didn't they show up to fight every time the demons descended?"
"That's only because dragging things out would make the situation more troublesome. Even then, only the dragons who lost at rock-paper-scissors step forward."
Somehow, my image of dragons is shattering.
"The only time dragons act proactively is when a hatchling dies. Your nation's ancestors experienced that wrath firsthand."
"Ah..."
There was once a time when the Croysen Empire and the Kingdom of Rhinehearts were bound together under the name of the Kingdom of Calvados.
That nation was famously destroyed in a single day by a dragon's wrath and now it turns out it was because of a hatchling.
"Now then, shall we leave this place and take a look over there?"
Blake pointed to a door other than the entrance.
That door was bigger than the one we'd come through if anything, much bigger, not smaller.
Arcia and I nodded in agreement, and Blake hummed a tune as he took the lead.
The device the Myriad Mirror had arbitrarily named the 'dimensional transference device' was impressive, but it wasn't the kind of artifact Blake had originally wanted.
What he wanted was something an individual could carry and use, like my Holy Sword.
"Traps?"
"I don't see any."
"Good. Then shall we open it?"
And we moved on to the next room.
What appeared next was a place far more expansive than the previous room.
However, the scenery there was completely different from what we'd expected.
"What is this?"
What spread out before our eyes was a forest.
A forest that felt like the Garden of Eden come to life.
Trees laden with fruits hung here and there, a crystal-clear stream flowed endlessly, and animals I'd never seen before frolicked through the woods.
It was a place of picturesque beauty.
Who could have imagined such a place existed underground?
"The energy radiating from the fruits scattered throughout this forest is anything but ordinary."
"What do you mean?"
"They're all elixirs. And every single one is a supreme-grade elixir. I suspect this place was something like a recovery chamber for the Heavenly Tribe."
I swallowed dryly at Blake's words.
When it comes to representative elixirs, there's the Dragonheart, but since no one has ever eaten one, let's skip that.
If you were to name the finest elixir recognized in Rondel, it would be the Dragon's Gallflower.
Its root looks like a mandrake, but with white leaves and red fruit, the Dragon's Gallflower bears two to three fruits at a time.
And I've heard quite a few tales of knights who ate that fruit and became Aura Masters.
To think even I and Arcia have never tasted so many elixirs like these.
"Would we be able to benefit from eating them too?"
"You two would benefit as well."
"What kind of effect?"
"Your Mana and Aura reserves will increase, and you'll take a step closer to the next realm."
"But you can't leap past a realm?"
"That's impossible unless you eat a Dragonheart. Still, just that alone is a tremendous effect. And since my long lifespan is thanks to the elixirs of the Dragonlands, you'll also see great results in extending your lifespan and preserving your youth."
I was impressed by the lifespan extension and youth preservation, if nothing else.
Plenty of people would kill for just that.
'If I use these elixirs well, I can dramatically raise the quality of my subordinates.'
Then I looked at the unfamiliar animals frolicking all around.
Their common trait was that they were all adorable.
"They're sacred beasts. Creatures you can often spot deep within the Dragonlands."
But Blake didn't place much significance on the animals.
"At most, you could tame them and keep them as pets. That one over there that looks like a puppy transforms into a wolf when its master is in danger. It sounds impressive, but its combat power is only about three ogres' worth."
That alone is plenty impressive, though?
After all, even High Knights couldn't take on an ogre alone without Vanguard equipment.
Wouldn't they be the best guard dogs for protecting a home?
I need to take a few of them back.