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Davion was right.
Inside the six bricks that had sunk into the ground, instead of a passage to another area, a long staircase leading down to the basement unfolded.
A long, dark staircase.
Nubes asked cautiously.
"Are we going... down?"
"Why else would we have come?"
"Isn't it too narrow and dark?"
"Nubes, are you scared? Right now?"
"Y-yes."
An overly honest coward, Nubes Arbo.
"It can't be that bad, right? It's supposed to be the place where the founding king kept the stones he cherished. Let's go down, Nubes."
"Okay... I understand."
"Liber, turn up that magic lantern a bit. Nubes hates the dark."
"Okay. I'll lead the way then."
Like someone dressed as Indiana Jones, Liber led the way down the stairs.
Followed by Davion, Latia, and then Nubes, they began to descend the stairs.
After a long time, they arrived at a wide, rectangular space.
"They dug out such a big cave deep underground?"
"It's hard to call it a cave. It's almost as big as our gym, isn't it?"
That's when it happened.
Thud, bang.
A huge stone door blocked the staircase Davion's group had descended.
"Huh?"
"What!"
And.
Whoosh.
The underground cave began to vibrate.
Whoosh.
Bright light shot up from the floor.
"It's a magic circle!"
"A warp magic circle?"
In an instant, white light filled their vision, and they couldn't see anything.
A moment later.
The white light began to fade.
And a vast prairie unfolded before their eyes.
Nubes asked.
"Wh-what happened?"
"We warped here on a warp magic circle."
"Where is here?"
"I don't know."
Latia, who was looking around, suddenly looked up at the sky.
"Hey guys... wasn't it night a moment ago?"
"Huh?"
Now that she mentioned it, it was too bright around them.
Looking at the sky, the sun was high in the sky.
"Where on earth are we?"
"Liber, didn't you have any information about this kind of thing? Didn't that book mention anything else?"
"No, it didn't."
"Ugh... damn it. Where did we warp to? Let's find a road first."
Nubes, who was looking around, asked.
"But which way do we go? It's a prairie in every direction."
"First."
Davion closed his eyes for a moment and manipulated his mana.
Earth magic from the four elements.
Thud.
The ground rose up, creating a large pillar of earth.
"Okay, everyone. This is the starting point. Let's widen the search area based on this. Liber, you have a compass, right?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I brought it."
"Let's go east first."
Liber listened to Davion's words and thought about something for a moment.
"No, let's go south."
"It doesn't really matter, but why?"
"I remember reading in a book a long time ago that King Erium first encountered the Stone of Enlightenment by the southern lake when he was young."
"We don't know where south is from here. South here could be north down there. And west over there."
"That's true, but since we don't know anything anyway, going south might be..."
"Really? Then let's go south. We have to go somewhere anyway."
That's when it happened.
Caw!
A loud bird cry was heard from the sky.
Caw!
A huge shadow passed over Davion's group.
"What's that sound? Is it a bird? What kind of bird makes such a loud noise?"
Liber, who looked up following the sound, shouted in surprise.
"Eek! Everyone! Run! It's a wyvern!"
Looking up at Liber's words, they saw several wyverns circling overhead.
Wyverns, monsters so large that people who saw them for the first time mistook them for dragons.
Facing the sun, they flapped their huge wings and looked down.
"Liber, stop."
"Why! I told you to run, Davion!"
"This is a prairie. Do you think you can run away from a wyvern?"
"Then what should we do?"
"We have to fight."
Nubes, hearing Davion's words, took out a large shield.
Latia had already put on all eight mana amplification rings and was glaring at the sky.
Davion also took out Ferrarius's gauntlets from the pouch on his waist and put them on both hands.
"Fight? You guys? With a wyvern?"
"It's better than turning our backs and running away in this field."
"I-I guess so?"
Liber began rummaging through the backpack that Nubes had taken off.
Then he took out something that looked like a long pipe.
"What's that?"
"A gun!"
"A gun?"
Davion looked at the object Liber was holding with surprised eyes.
A long steel pipe with a handle and even a trigger attached.
Complex and chaotic patterns were engraved on the handle.
'It's a real gun?'
It was the first time he had seen such a thing since being possessed into this world.
Latia also looked at the object Liber was holding, curious.
"A gun? What's a gun?"
"You'll see!"
Whoosh.
This time, Liber unfurled a long leather strap.
Several black and round iron balls were attached to the leather strap.
Liber inserted one of the iron balls into the hole in the front of the pipe and aimed at the sky.
With the scientific technology of this era, it was impossible to manufacture guns using gunpowder.
At most, they could only shoot large cannons using gunpowder.
Even then, the accuracy and power were terrible.
But a gun?
Davion was curious about the power of the gun Liber was holding.
"Let's signal Liber to attack first! Latia, gather as much mana as possible!"
"I'm already doing it!"
"Liber! Attack first!"
"Okay! Davion!"
Liber manipulated his mana.
The mana that flowed out of his heart gushed out through Liber's palm.
And that mana was absorbed back into the complex shapes engraved on the handle of the gun.
A moment later.
Click.
Liber pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The muzzle spewed red fire.
But the bullet only cut through the air in vain.
It was unclear whether the gun's accuracy was poor or whether Liber had aimed wrong.
But the effect was great.
Startled by the loud noise, the wyverns scattered busily in all directions.
Then, with their angry claws forward, they began to fly towards Davion's group.
"Of course!"
Latia shouted as if disappointed.
But Davion's thoughts were different.
The speed of the bullet he had just shown.
It looked no different from a real gun.
'He's carrying something amazing. Did his family make it for him? Or did he import it from somewhere?'
Even while thinking about useless things, a powerful wind magic was rising from Davion's hands, sharpening its edges.
Swoosh, swoosh!
Davion's wind element magic flew towards the wyvern.
Whoosh.
The surprised wyvern twisted its body to the side to avoid Davion's wind element magic.
But.
Boom.
Latia's fireball, which flew in afterwards, hit its wing head-on.
Whoosh.
Latia's fireball, filled with strong mana, succeeded in setting the wyvern's wing on fire.
While the panicked wyvern struggled, wildly flapping its wings.
Bang!
Liber's gun spewed fire once again.
This time, the iron ball accurately pierced the wyvern's body.
Screech!
The wyvern screamed in pain and began to fall to the ground.
An exclamation escaped Davion's mouth without him realizing it.
"Oh, that's amazing?"
Liber was also excited and shouted loudly.
"Bullseye!"
Davion shouted.
"We have a pretty good combination! But now we each have to take on one! They seem even angrier now. Latia! Can you do it?"
"Of course!"
"Nubes, if any wyverns come close, protect Liber!"
"Okay!"
Davion's wind element magic continuously cut through the air.
Screech!
Screech!
The wings and legs of the wyverns that failed to avoid it were neatly cut off.
Boom.
A wyvern that was directly hit by the pillar of fire Latia spewed fell to the ground, scattering black smoke.
Bang!
The muzzle of Liber's gun spewed fire again.
"Huff, huff. How many are there?"
"It looks like more than ten?"
"Goodness. I've taken down more than ten wyverns!"
Davion slowly took off Perseus's gauntlets and said.
"Liber. The only one you took down was the one you pierced through the body at the beginning."
Latia also came closer and added.
"Even that one was already out of its mind from my and Davion's continuous attacks."
"What! What! Anyway, we fought together! We're a team!"
"Okay, okay. By the way, where on earth are we? The first monster we met after warping was a wyvern."
"But something's a little strange, isn't it?"
Davion approached the wyvern's corpse.
"Did wyverns always look like this?"
Latia, who followed, also tilted her head.
"Oh? Now that you mention it. The shape is a bit unique? I read in a book that it's similar to a dragon, but smaller than a dragon and doesn't have front feet."
Liber also rushed over urgently.
"Oh? This isn't a wyvern. Look at this. Instead of being covered in scales like a dragon, its wings are covered in feathers? Bird feathers."
Liber grabbed a feather and tried to pull it out.
But the feather remained stubbornly in place.
Latia said, looking at the wyvern's head and tail.
"This definitely isn't a wyvern. The head is a bird's head, but the tail is a fish tail. Wyverns aren't birds or fish. They're closer to mini-dragons."
Davion also nodded.
"We must have mistaken it for a wyvern because of its long neck and hard-looking shell, like a snake. Look at this. The long neck is also covered in scales? Like a dragon. The huge size too."
"We couldn't see it clearly because they were facing the sun."
"Yeah. Anyway, what's clear is that it's not a normal bird. So it's definitely a monster."
Liber quickly took out a notebook and began to redraw the corpse of the wyvern that wasn't a wyvern.
"I have to record this. It might be a completely new monster that hasn't been reported yet."
That's when it happened.
"Eek!"
Nubes, who had belatedly come to examine the wyvern, screamed.
"What's wrong?"
"E-eye! It opened its eyes!"
"What?"
Flap.
Liber, who was drawing, was so surprised that he fell on his butt.
Latia quickly manipulated her mana.
The wyvern, which had come back to life, flew into the sky.
The wings that had been burned black had already returned to their original beautiful state.
Latia had already completed a fireball.
But Davion raised his arm and blocked her.
"What?"
"Wait. I don't think it's going to attack us."
"What?"
The other wyverns that had died and fallen elsewhere also began to revive one by one and fly into the air.
But they only circled in the sky, and didn't seem to have any intention of attacking Davion's group.
The same movements as before Liber fired his loud gun.
Davion carefully opened his mouth.
"Could it be that they won't attack us unless we attack first?"
"What? What kind of monster is like that in the world?"
"It doesn't even look like any monster we know. Now that I see it up close, the colors are brilliant."
He hadn't seen it when it was in the sky because it was facing the sun.
But looking at it on the ground, colorful and beautiful feathers covered its wings.
Liber also agreed.
"Yeah. Monsters are usually all dull colors, right?"
Davion's group stood there watching the sky for a long time.
"Anyway, I don't think they're going to attack us. Those birds or wyverns. Let's get going now."
Davion took the lead and started walking.
"This way is south, right? If we don't get back soon, the academy will be in an uproar because the four of us are missing. We have to find a way to get back somehow."
Latia hurriedly followed Davion.
"That can't happen! What if we get demerits! The midterm is right around the corner."
Liber followed behind them.
"Latia, are demerits the problem right now? We don't even know where we are?"
Latia turned her head sharply and glared at Liber.
"You crazy! Who's fault is it that we came all the way here!"
Liber pretended to wipe away sweat that wasn't even there.
"Ah, sorry. Let's go quickly. We have to find the Stone of Enlightenment. Ahahaha."
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