Chapter 111 - The Legacy They Left Behind

Under normal circ.u.mstances, Isaac would have preferred to calmly take in the fruits of his victory, but right now clearly wasn't the best time. During his battle with Baihu, he had noticed the thousands of black monsters charging at the site of their battle from all sides. After all, it wasn't like they attempted to hide - it was basically impossible to miss them.

Thankfully, due to the blizzard, none of them had managed to approach too closely, and those that had had been torn to pieces by the icicles and rock shrapnel mixed within. Yet again, mother nature had had his back, enabling him to completely disregard the monsters' existence. Now, however, the blizzard was slowly settling down.

With a slightly pained expression, Isaac hastily approached the massive tiger corpse and stored all of it in his inventory. It had yet to turn into dust, as he hadn't extracted the magic stone.

'If I wasn't so exhausted and the situation wasn't so dire, then I would take my time with this, but now…'

He could only regretfully sigh as he rushed past the approaching monsters with incredible ease. On the way, he cheekily put a few individuals of each species into his inventory - he wouldn't just let such a great opportunity pass by this easily. Usually, he would have fought these variants to his heart's content, studying them in detail, but this far into the dungeon, it would be nigh braindead to do so.

The normal variant monsters weren't the problem, the variant Monster Rex was! If the dungeon could produce these black, stronger versions of regular monsters, then it would be foolish to assume that it couldn't do the same with floor bosses - and Isaac was even certain of this, beyond the shadow of a doubt, thanks to the first few volumes of the DanMachi novels!

Baihu had forced him to break through his current body's limits, so a stronger Baihu would absolutely obliterate him. He would still be able to escape by either blurring his existence or teleporting away, but a fair one versus one battle? There was no chance at all of that happening. He might be able to kill the beast, by unfairly assassinating it, but he didn't want to do so.

As he was charging to the nearest staircase leading to the 61st floor, he used a bit of his focus to support his body's regeneration manually. First and foremost, he stopped any more Ichor from escaping his wounds. Sadly, the blood that had already touched the ground couldn't be recovered, as the dungeon had fully absorbed it, like a parched wanderer in a desert that had been offered a water flask.

The tension slowly subsided. If he had just relaxed for a single moment, if he had stood still for a fraction of a second… even if he had directly attacked Baihu's physical body and therefore rooted himself into place… then he would have died. Any simple attack of the beast would have destroyed his body, he was certain of that. While he had behaved like a battle maniac earlier, upon reflection, he couldn't help but smile a little wryly. It had truly been close...

'I really need to upgrade my weaponry, I can't delay it any longer. Had I had a decent bow and some resilient arrows, then I could have killed this cat with a single shot.'

While chuckling silently, he couldn't help but chide himself for his failure. Ais had even repeatedly warned and advised him, but he simply hadn't had the time to--- no, that was just an excuse. He had chosen to not have any time left to upgrade his equipment. While some matters definitely had been unavoidable, he would have easily been capable of sparing a few hours, or even more than that. Still, he had been so obsessed with the rush of researching and growing stronger that he had put off such a fundamental issue.

When he finally arrived at the staircase that he had sent Titania to, he immediately saw the shivering Demi Spirit peeking out into the 62nd floor. Worry was plastered all over her face. It was clear that close to an hour of being exposed to intense battling had taken a toll on her, as she had been constantly on edge. Ultimately, none of the black monster variants had charged up the staircase, as they had all been focused on him, and she had been perfectly safe. Still, the earth had trembled unceasingly - first, due to the battle, then later, due to the dungeon being provoked by his Ichor.

Smiling amusedly at her behaviour that was akin to a scaredy cat, he rapidly approached and soon came to a stop right in front of her.

At first, she recoiled in shock, but when she realized that it was him, she beamed delightedly.

"Master! You're back!"

But soon, the relieved joy on her face got replaced by an awkward expression. Hurriedly, she averted her eyes, not sure how to react.

"Umm… your clothing…"

It was then that the battleworn Isaac finally took a closer look at the state of his clothes and armour. Up until this point, he had mostly been focused on picking up his loot, storing interesting specimens for the future and healing his body. He had also taken a glance at his mana reserves - 65 percent of them had been consumed by his first Monster Rex battle.

When he saw that most of his armour had been shredded into pieces, in a state far beyond any repair, and that his tattered clothing was just barely covering a very small total surface area… an embarrassed cough escaped his mouth. Quickly, he pulled out another set of clothes and changed into them at a speed that made it seem instantaneous. As for his armour pieces… yeah, he would just have to buy new ones.

In an effort to gloss over the fact that he had just committed a blunder, he mentally praised himself for his decision to buy multiple sets of clothes. After all, one never knew when they would get destroyed, so having more than just a single set had definitely been the right choice. It was just a shame that his gambeson and pants were a little bit more unique and expensive, so for now, he could only replace them with some of the cheapest but most comfortable clothes that he had gotten his hands on in passing before.

"What happened? Did you win the battle, master?"

Also adamant to change the topic, the eager Titania brought up the question that had been on her mind ever since the blizzard had died down. Even with her various Magics, she wouldn't have been able to last long against that force of nature. Aside from that, the opponent would most likely have been able to crush her easily with physical force alone. Had he truly triumphed over such a beast?

With a small smirk, Isaac nodded, then he walked even closer to her, causing her to freeze up a little instinctively.

"I did. I'll show you the spoils of the battle later, there is not enough space here. Anyway, it is time to return to the surface. I accidentally poked a hornets' nest and will have to make myself scarce for a bit."

Glancing at the rapidly approaching hordes of black monsters that continuously got closer to the staircase that they were standing on, he teleported the two of them into one of the Loki Familia's empty training courtyards.

About one minute later, a massive black tiger that sported white stripes finally arrived at the site of the battle that had finished not too long ago. It stood still, its mind blank because it couldn't detect the one that it was supposed to kill anywhere in the vicinity. Another minute or two later, the dungeon slowly stopped trembling, and the ground underneath all of the various black monsters opened, absorbing them back into where they had come from.

Nobody on the surface, or even in Rivira on the 18th floor, noticed this disturbance, as it had taken place so deeply underground that it could barely be felt anymore once the tremors travelled through all of the floors in between.

-----

In one of the Loki Familia's training courtyards, Isaac was enjoying Ais' lap pillow with closed eyes and a relaxed but tired smile on his face. The golden haired beauty was caringly stroking his hair, simply enjoying the moment.

If there was one thing that was odd about this peaceful scene, it was that the two of them were seated on Titania's back. Still, compared to before, the massive Demi Spirit had grown a lot more accustomed to her role and didn't freeze up in fear anymore. Well, not entirely, at least. She managed to distract herself by curiously sizing up her surroundings. Actually, she was tall enough to look out of the courtyard, if her monster half was included. In an effort to avoid getting noticed by anyone not in the know, she kept relatively low and only peeked over the edge, quickly hiding again whenever anyone even gazed into the direction that the courtyard was in.

This was the first time that she had left the dungeon, so everything was new to her. The most sophisticated work of architecture that she had ever seen before was the pathetic little hut that Revis had somehow put together. A breathtaking, enormous building complex like the Loki Familia's Twilight Manor shocked her to the core - she had never even imagined buildings like this in all her handful of years of life! She was like a young child that had gotten an opportunity to look at a real castle for the first time. Her eyes were sparking with fascination, and due to this, she almost completely forgot about the two terrifying existences currently making use of her as a sofa.

Right after Isaac had returned, he had felt the exhaustion catching up to him. If Ais hadn't been there, he would have had to put in significant amounts of effort to even stay on his feet. Thankfully, due to being very accustomed to each other by now, she instantly noticed that he was basically running on fumes and had grabbed him before finding a comfortable resting place for them. Needless to say, that hadn't been very difficult.

Now in the safety and comfort of his loved one's embrace, Isaac finally found the time to gaze at the system notifications that had appeared back when he had put the finishing touches on his newest Magic.

[ An unnamed Magic has been obtained. ]

[ Unnamed Magic: Creates the magical construct of a laser cutting device, which can be powered by the user. Will require 50% less focus and be twice as stable if activated via the chant.

Chant: As of yet undetermined. ]

[ Your new Magic is currently nameless and does not have a corresponding chant. Please choose a name and a chant for your new Magic. ]

[ Three Magics have been obtained. The limit of the Falna has been reached. ]

[ Divine Falna detected. Previous limit does not apply.

Current limit for Skills and Magics: 5 each

Cost of acquiring further slots: 5,000 AP per slot ]

[ You have created a never-before-seen Magic.

Hidden Path 'Pioneer' has been unlocked.

Related achievements have been unlocked.

1,000 AP rewarded. ]

[ Quest 'Create one never-before-seen Magic.' completed. 100 AP rewarded. ]

There was a lot to unpack here, first of all the matter of one only being able to acquire a limited number of Skills and Magics. Isaac hadn't had any idea that this was the case previously, which caused him to highly appreciate that his Divine Falna came with two extra slots each. After all, whenever he created a new Magic, it would automatically appear in his Falna - unless he went out of his way to prevent it from doing so, which would be a hassle.

If there hadn't been a way to circ.u.mvent the limit, then his maximum growth in all aspects would have become heavily restricted. He would have even had to think about tossing aside the Falna completely once he reached the realm of deities properly. It was no wonder why no gods that he knew of made use of this blessing - or rather, the Divine Falna. It wasn't just because they didn't want to join the camp of a primordial god, it was also because their growth would be very limited. For mortals, the Falna provided a path to grow incredibly strong in a short amount of time, but the upper limit of this wasn't actually all that high. Sure, for people from Isaac's past world, it would still seem like the realm of gods and superhumans, but compared to the actual deities that walked the land here, and their far superior powers, it was nearly nothing.

The second matter, and the one that stood out to him the most, was his new Magic. His brows furrowed a little - partly due to amus.e.m.e.nt, but mostly out of annoyance - when he saw that this time, chanting would provide him with even more bonuses. What had given him the biggest headache before was the stability of his new magical constructs. Now, he was offered a helping hand. He could even set the chant of this unprecedented Magic to be a single letter if he wanted to!

Admittedly, it was a tempting offer. Still, Isaac chose to lock the chant, just like all the previous ones. It was a matter of principle - he wouldn't walk back on his words only because his path would be easier should he choose to do so. Additionally, would he truly be in full control of his Magic if he relied on the laws of this world to support him with training wheels? Absolutely not!

He didn't bother to waste too much time thinking about this issue and quickly focused on the more important matters. This time, he had created an entirely new Magic. As such, not only did he gain a small amount of AP - which was appreciated - he also got the right to name it.

Thinking back to his pleasant stroll through the dungeon earlier, he heaved an emotional sigh. Today really was full of naming opportunities, wasn't it?

Contrary to what had happened back with the newly encountered monsters, he deliberated about his Magic's name for a long time. Well, it wasn't really that long, just a couple of minutes. At first, he considered whether he should follow the more mystical path that his other two Magics complied with. Still, he ultimately discarded this train of thought and settled for the more minimalistic one. What use was there in grandiose titles if they barely got across what the actual use of the Magic was? Sure, the name shouldn't be too simple, or even misleading, but there was no need to make it needlessly complicated. One should be able to figure out the essence of the Magic with a single glance at its name.

[ Laser Cutting Construct: Creates the magical construct of a laser cutting device, which can be powered by the user. Will require 50% less focus and be twice as stable if activated via the chant.

Chant: As of yet undetermined. Locked.

Cost of disabling the lock: 25,000 AP ]

Complacently, Isaac nodded to himself. The name wasn't a travesty, and it was quite simple. It was exactly what he had set out to do. On a side note, he would probably be notified by the laws of this world if someone else ever created a Magic that was quite similar to his own.

Lastly, there was the matter of a new Hidden Path getting unlocked. So far, there had been four: King, Family Man, Revolutionary and now Pioneer. Were they only ways for him to obtain more potential achievements to complete? He truly couldn't say, but knowing himself, he could make a few guesses. Still, he simply didn't have enough information at the moment to be able to say anything for sure. Ultimately, his only option was to be patient - all would be revealed in due time.

With a refreshed sigh, he opened his eyes and looked directly at Ais, who had been absentmindedly staring at him. The two both quietly smiled at each other for a while, before Ais broke the silence. A slightly pouting expression had stolen itself on her face.

"What do you plan to do today? Will you finally go visit Goibniu's workshop with me?"

Slightly embarrassed, Isaac's smile turned awkward and he hastily cleared his throat.

"Ahem. You said you would bring the kids into the dungeon soon, right? I will contact Fels in the meantime. After you're back, I will take you up on that offer. You're right, my equipment, in all aspects, has been sorely lacking for a while now. As for the rest of the day, I will probably give the kids some pointers. Didn't Loki say that she would assemble us all in the evening? I'll definitely attend that meeting."

Hearing him admit his faults, Ais felt vindicated, and her pout transformed into a smug smile.

"Alright, it's a date."

-----

About half an hour later, Ais left for another training courtyard, to go about accompanying the students and subordinates - except for Titania, who was still performing the duty of a faithful sofa.

With a reluctant sigh, Isaac sat up straight and took out the Occulus from a pouch at his waist. Before his battle with Baihu, he had stored it into his inventory, to avoid it getting harmed. As far as he could tell, he hadn't been contacted in the meantime.

Effortlessly, he inserted some of his mana into the small ornate and crystalline ball, only enough for an audio connection to be established. His skeletal acquaintance didn't need to know about his new servant. Also, he didn't have the habit of wasting his mana when it was neither necessary nor desirable. This wasn't a video chat with his beloved, after all.

"Fels, can you hear me?"

A few seconds of silence later, a surprisingly clear, epicene voice came from the ball in his hand. None of the expected static or slight distortion inherent in electronic communication was present.

"I can, Mr. Blackshaw. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

As he had already mentally prepared everything that he wanted to say, Isaac rattled off his list.

"Because I need to acquire some funds, I would like to exchange some drop items and magic stones with the Guild later, in large quantities. Also, I made it all the way to the 62nd floor today, and would like to report the discovery of multiple new monster species, all the information about them that I managed to obtain, as well as the names that I have chosen to give to them. Are there rewards to look forward to for my achievements?"

Very quickly, Fels' reply arrived.

"I will visit your cell after your daily food is delivered. Please exchange the drop items and magic stones with me at that time. As for the new information that you mentioned, I am all ears and will note it down. After you are finished, I will sum up the rewards for you."

Now that he had been given the green light, Isaac unhesitatingly divulged a large amount of observations of the Glacier Territory. When his words came to an end, he patiently waited for Fels to respond - only to be met with close to five minutes of silence. A slight frown formed on his lips and he was about to speak up when the friendly skeleton's voice finally could be heard again.

"Excuse the wait, Mr. Blackshaw. Lord Ouranos has just ordered me to provide you with some confidential information. Please keep what I am about to tell you to yourself, or at least don't let it spread too far!"

Just these words were already enough for Isaac to get a pretty good idea of the situation, and a wry smile played across his lips. After agreeing to the terms, he didn't interrupt Fels because he wanted to know the exact details.

"The truth is that the Zeus and Hera Familias ventured far deeper into the dungeon than what is publicly known. Their actual floor record is the 85th floor. The monsters that you reported to have discovered have already been named by the members of those two familias. The Chenoo that you described fit the image of the Blizzard Maneaters, the Boreal Mimics the White Goos, the White Rakshasas the Snow Yetis, the Glacier Golems the Ice Rocks, the Nykar the Ice Kelpies, the Woolen Terrors the Big Mammoths, the Yuki-onnas the Snow Women, the Zimsmoks the White Dragons, and lastly, the Monster Rex Baihu the Monochrome Tiger."

Hearing all of this, Isaac's right eye twitched in disbelief and he couldn't help but curse the Zeus and Hera Familias in his mind. The names that they had chosen were not the absolute worst, but they clearly were extremely uninspired! He was now almost certain that the most horrifically bad names that he had encountered had originated from these two gods' familias…

'You're lucky that you're dead, or I would give you all the lecture of your lives.'

-----

"HACHOOO!!!"

A loud sneeze escaped a white-haired old farmer. The straw hat on his head almost fell off. With conflicting emotions, he looked into a certain direction.

"Grandpa, are you okay?"

The worried voice of a boy that was on the cusp of turning into a young man entered the old farmer's ears, causing him to clear his throat, wipe away some snot and turn around. With a bright grin, he patted the boy's head and ruffled his white hair.

"Never been better. Somebody was probably just talking about me. Maybe it's a beauty that was reminiscing about our youthful trysts back in the day?"

For some reason, an excessively cold shiver ran down his spine at this thought, so he shook his head in an effort to get rid of the feeling. With his calloused hands, he grabbed a few seeds from one of the pouches at his waist and put them into the boy's palms.

"Anyway, you know what to do, right? Just like last year, plant them with ten centimeters gaps in between."

By now, spring was about to arrive, and the first vegetables could be planted again. Although technically speaking, winter wasn't over yet, the worst had already passed long ago, and this year's cold season had been an especially mild one.

"Leave it to me, grandpa!"

With a bright and pure smile on his face, the boy happily got to work in the fields.

Staring at this grandchild of his, the old farmer heaved a somewhat reluctant sigh.

'It is already almost time, only nine more months are left. This will be the last spring that we will be able to spend together. I really don't want to leave, but this is for the best…'

With a doting smile, the grandfather banished these thoughts from his mind and joined the boy in the fieldwork.