Episode 43.12

"Now then, Lecan. Let's hear your questions first."

"Yea. Take a look at this."

Lecan took the <Talisman of Dark Demon> out and showed it to Shira.

"Oh my. Did you plunder that?"

"My duel opponent suggested a rule for the winner to take one thing off the loser."

"You won big."

"Yea. It's thanks to your advice. But that begs a question."

"Hee?"

"You said this when I told you I was gonna duel a proxy of Fotos's heir. Be wary of Grace Gear."

"Did I really now."

"You told me that I could have died if they somehow brought out a Grace Gear on the level of <Ring of Undying King>. So you advised me to end the duel quickly."

"I've been wondering, you sure have good memories at times."

"But there's no way this kind of Grace Gear are commonplace."

"Of course not."

"Yet you warned me to be careful of <Ring of Undying King>-like Gear."

"So?"

"You. You knew House of Fotos had this thing all along didn't you?"

"Hee."

After sounding like she was impressed, Shira quietly sipped her tea for a while.

Lecan waited for Shira's reply in silence.

"Think it was about 200 years ago. House of Fotos raided a noble household that had <Talisman of Dark Demon> and plundered everything they had. Hence I had an inkling the talisman was probably still in Fotos's possession even then."

"I see. So that's why. By the way, this talisman's activation spell's apparently in ancient language."

"What's the activation spell again."

Lecan put away the talisman in <Storage> before replying.

"<Gaspario Raaf>."

"Ah, indeed. That is an ancient language for sure."

"According to Norma, it means <O Time, stop moving>."

"Oh, that's a good translation. It's limited to living beings however."

"These things are unlike any other Grace Gear. The pattern engraved on <Ring of Undying King> looks quite similar to the one on <Talisman of Dark Demon>. And that's not all, both of those items have the same smell to them. Not sure how to describe it, just that these two items are cut from the same cloth. Are there other items like this in the world?"

"Hmm. I'd like to tell you go find that out yourself here, but I still owe you a debt after all."

(A debt?)

(What's she talking about.)

(Ah, I see. Vurs magic stone huh.)

Lecan handed over Otherworld Dragon, Vurs's magic stone in exchange for her repairing his broken <Shield of Wolkan>. However, Shira said that the magic stone was worth so much more than that. To that end, Shira regards it as a debt she owes Lecan.

Shira wrote down something on a piece of paper and handed it to Lecan.

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka.com >

Ring of Undying King - Dungeon Daina Floor 100

Talisman of Dark Demon - Dungeon Waad Floor 120

Necklace of Wind Princess - Dungeon Tsubolt Floor 150

Diadem of Divine Rotwood - Dungeon Palcimo Floor 151

Orb of Dark Emperor - Dungeon Yufu Floor 1

Amulet of Annihilation Spirit Bug - Dungeon Finkel Floor 180

Leg Band of White Devil - Dungeon Egis Floor 140

"These are all Grand Dungeons. Hm? I don't see <Dungeon of Ocean> though."

"I don't know what's in there. It probably still hasn't been dropped yet."

"Hou. So, what are these anyway."

"Researchers at Wapud Kingdom call them <Ancient Grace Gear>. However, subsequently I don't think that's an appropriate name for those Gear."

"What do you call them then."

"<Genesiac Grace Gear>. Although it's not like I've told anybody else about it. You're the second person who knows that name after me."

"What does this <Genesiac> mean."

"It means genesis, the beginning. These Grace Gear are items that can only be obtained by defeating the very first Grand Dungeon bosses."

"Hou. Why do <Ring of Undying King> and <Talisman of Dark Demon>'s activation spells in ancient language."

"That's because those Grace Gear initially manifested in this world during the age of ancient language."

"What?"

"Where do you think treasure chests come from?"

"The thought never even crossed my mind."

"They come from another plane not of this world, a plane I call <Domain of Gods>. <Domain of Gods> has the powers but not the shapes. Those powers take shape when they fall into this world, shapes appropriate in the world they've fallen into. Thus how they assume the forms of treasure chests, armors, jewels, and activation spells in the language of that world."

"Way too complicated for me to swallow."

"The activation spells were in ancient language because those gear fell during ancient times. Had they fallen today, those spells would be in modern language."

"Ah, I see. So that means other countries also got these <Genesiac Grace Gear> too then."

"Dungeons whose floors exceed 100 exist in other countries. But they are not Grand Dungeons. Therefore, you cannot get <Genesiac Grace Gear> in those dungeons."

"Hm? Aren't all dungeons that got more than 100 floors Grand Dungeons."

"That classification is just for the sake of convenience. Say, Dungeon Yufu would fall out of Grand Dungeon title if we go by that classification."

"I don't get that too. Are you saying Dungeon Yufu only has one floor in total?"

"Oh, didn't you know. There's only one floor in the entirety of Dungeon Yufu. It goes on from the entrance to the deepest part."

"Hou. But why do Grand Dungeons only exist in this country."

"In ancient times, when the numbers of humans were far fewer than today, there was only one country. That country was located in what became of Zaka Kingdom today. Grand Dungeons were created by the mages of ancient times. Hence the reason why they only exist in Zaka Kingdom."

"What the. Grand Dungeons were created?"

"That they were. The method as to how has been lost to the passage of time however."