Chapter 56
"Is it really floating?"
"Y-yes, it is."
Quite literally so.
The altar was truly floating, hovering above the ground.
A flying altar.
A description without an ounce of falsehood.
"More than an altar, it looks like a coffin."
After briefly freezing at the bizarre sight, I approached the altar and examined the surroundings with magic vision.
I thought there might be some magical effect, but no particular magic seemed to be cast.
"Could it be a mechanism similar to the Floating Island?"
"An Abyss-specific law?"
The undiscovered ruin I had encountered before was similar.
Just as the specific law of mana absorption was maximized through the magic circle, the current academic theory—according to the training center—was that the Floating Islands were created by the floating phenomena embedded in the Abyss’ mana flow.
"But only this is floating though?"
Rei objected while scrutinizing under the altar.
She seemed to be checking for invisible supports.
Finding nothing, Rei performed the same inspection above the altar.
"It really is floating."
But Rei didn't give up.
Like a cat rather than a lion beast-folk, she raised her guard to maximum and rapidly tapped the coffin with quick arm movements that made a shh-shh sound.
The very definition of kitty punches.
"R-Rei, that's enough..."
Worried she might activate some mechanism, Leaf tightly gripped her staff.
Naturally, she'd already summoned Undine to respond immediately to anything that might pop out.
"Leaf, don't worry. If something were to happen from that, it would've already—"
Woooong—!
As if waiting for my words, the altar began resonating.
"Roman...!"
Speak of the devil.
I quickly deployed Axis while wrapping an arm around Leaf's shoulders.
Rei also wrapped herself in silver mana, preparing for impact.
In the tense atmosphere, we continuously watched our surroundings.
"...Nothing's happening?"
"Yeah."
We lowered our guard and approached the coffin.
We could tell some operation had started from the faint light appearing, but nothing followed.
"Maybe we need to offer... a sacrifice?"
Bong-sik had called it a device that gave power in exchange for sacrifices.
When I muttered this, Rei responded as if finding it quite reasonable.
"We don't have anything to offer right now though?"
"We do."
Ourselves.
I drew the dagger from my belt.
As I was about to lightly cut my fingertip to draw blood, Rei grabbed my wrist.
"I'll do it. Beast-folk heal better."
Saying that Rei snatched the dagger from my hand before I could react.
Did she just… pickpocket me?
I was freshly reminded that this small girl was far stronger than me.
"No need to make too big of a wound."
"Isn't it better to do it properly?"
Saying that, Rei gripped the blade with her palm.
The blade cut her palm and blood flowed.
Rei let the dripping blood fall onto the altar.
Making a face as if she felt more pain than the injured person, Leaf fidgeted with a potion she'd produced from somewhere.
She looked ready to rush in and treat the wound as soon as Rei withdrew her arm.
How much blood had flowed?
Like a sponge, the altar absorbed every drop of Rei's blood until it finally showed a change.
"Rei, back up."
Mana spread out.
As I pulled Rei back, Leaf quickly applied the potion to Rei's palm and wrapped it in bandages.
"This would heal quickly without all that."
"...But it might leave scars."
At Leaf's sincere concern, Rei scratched her cheek as if ticklish and obediently offered her hand.
While they did this, I spread a barrier and prepared to use Blink at any moment.
Mana from the altar covered the sealed room.
As if preparation was complete, a hazy illusion rose above the altar.
It was in human form.
Then, a voice echoed.
[To the next pilgrims.]
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
"Hmm?"
All three of us exclaimed in unison.
It made sense.
Though the resonance clearly followed a completely incomprehensible language system, the intent it carried was distinctly imprinted in our minds.
Just as we couldn't read the text on the door, we should naturally be unable to understand the voice's meaning.
The voice conveyed its next meaning as if directly conversing with us.
[Do not be alarmed. Though our languages differ, communication of hearts does not rely solely on sound.]
So the voice is merely a medium, directly transmitting the will itself?
"C-could it be a Minstrel?"
One of the mage classes that implements mysteries through sound and melody.
They say skilled Minstrels transcend language barriers to understand the meaning contained in voices.
Could it be similar to that?
As we speculated about the phantom's identity, its voice continued.
[Our world found no answer. In the final moment, all we could do was engrave our traces like this, to be passed on to the next time. Thus, we pray that what we could not achieve might be accomplished in the next round.]
It was like a Zen riddle, making us wonder if the meaning was being properly conveyed.
Not just me, but Rei too furrowed her brows in confusion.
Surely Leaf too...
No, hers was different.
Leaf's expression was unlike mine and Rei's.
An expression of empathy. It was only possible by understanding part of the meaning in those words.
I observed Leaf rather than the altar.
Just what is Leaf?
Why did she notice this wasn't just a ruin but a tomb, and know its structure?
This chain of questions pushed aside even the voice from above the altar.
My consciousness returned to the altar when his words reached their conclusion.
[I hope your answers lie at the end of your pilgrimage, here we pass on our legacy.]
"Oh, finally coming out?"
Rei, who'd been openly bored with the incomprehensible riddles, brightened and shrugged her shoulders.
Like a child eager to unwrap a present, Rei rubbed her palms together.
Since Rei gave blood, that legacy should go to her.
Well, it didn't matter.
We could switch users among ourselves depending on the relic’s abilities anyway.
Rei wasn’t the type to be stubborn about such things either.
[From now on, the air itself shall support you.]
Mana swirled.
Mana realigned around Rei, forming something.
It was a magic circle.
The magic circle formed with Rei at its center activated immediately.
"E-eh...?"
While Rei stammered, neither Leaf nor I could find the chance to intervene. Mana seeped into Rei’s body.
The absorbed mana created blue patterns on Rei's white legs.
"What is this!" Rei shouted reflexively.
She must be feeling it too.
The flow of external mana burrowing into the body, like when I open my pact seal to draw out mana.
From experience, it felt quite alien at first, making your skin crawl.
I accepted it willingly, moved by finally gaining mana to survive in this world, but for someone who had already built their own mana as a mage, it must feel quite repulsive.
That guess proved correct.
Rei reflexively raised her mana against the alien sensation.
"Stop! Rei! Just accept it!"
Anything else would be fine, but not Argentooth.
Magic Breaking.
That might break the magic circle itself.
Then, the reward would just vanish!
At my shout, Rei squeezed her eyes shut and turned off her mana.
The mana flow momentarily stopped, resumed, and instantly climbed to Rei's thighs.
The mana patterns stopped there.
Patterns resembling both wind and waves filled Rei's legs.
As the light from the magic filling the secret room began to fade, those patterns dimmed.
When the seemingly endless light finally went out, Rei's legs had returned to their usual white.
"Phew... it's over?"
Seeming quite tense, Rei exhaled her held breath and moved her legs.
She was completely fine.
"A-are you okay?"
"Y-yeah. I actually feel lighter, if anything?"
Rei stretched her legs in place.
After moving around, Rei bounced on the floor.
"Huh?"
She floated.
She was floating.
Rei stood in midair.
Using air as footing.
Isn't this Geppo? Levitation? Air walking?
"Can you walk too?"
"Yeah, should be able to."
Blue patterns lit up in Rei's legs with each step in the air.
The legacy must be a bloodline inheritance.
Usually, bloodline inheritance passes through lineage, but I've heard it wasn’t uncommon for master-disciple relationships to pass it on too.
Just as Hecate inherited Devil Magic through her bloodline, Rei received a magic inheritance from that altar through some means.
"How fascinating. Seems quite versatile too."
"This thing uses more mana than I expected," Rei said after landing.
"And compared to Roman's spatial movement, this is totally inferior."
Rei pouted while saying this.
...Should I give her a good flick on the forehead?