Chapter XLII (42)- Dungeon Delving Preparations
Kizu decided to wait a few more days for his blood to fully replenish before trying the divination spell out again. The last thing he wanted was to end up back in the infirmary. To that end, he avoided casting spells and ate the healthiest foods possible to help him recover his blood. Not the bars and bloodfruits they fed him in the infirmary, he wasn’t that desperate, but much healthier than his normal diet of cakes and sweets.
When the time finally came and he felt prepared for the divination ritual, he decided to reach out to his friends - in the end, it would be best to have another person there besides him and Mort, just in case something went wrong anyway.
As a result, both Basil and Ione stood over him as he drew on the stone floor with chalk. Basil had been startled at first, mistaking Ione for her sister, but soon relaxed when Kizu explained who she actually was. Kizu immediately had a suspicion as to why Basil might not want to be around Sene, but decided he’d rather not know the details.
“So, this is where you’re always hiding after class,” Basil said, looking around Kizu’s study nook. “Cozy.”
“We’re just here to look after you in case you faint?” Ione asked. She sat on his desk and watched while he finished with the chalk.
“Yes. Just summon something to carry me upstairs if I pass out. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it up alone if I’m low on blood. Not with my leg like it is.”
“Why ask two of us? You only really need one person.”
The truth was that he’d actually asked three people. But Harvey hadn’t shown up.
“It feels safest this way,” Kizu said. “The more people, the better.”
He set the divination book in the center of the ritual circle. Then he closed his eyes and laid his hand on the chalk. Mort climbed down from his shoulder and joined him.
This time, the ritual immediately gave him astral awareness. While not completely out of body like when he’d accidentally drunk Emilia’s wine, he still felt his awareness expand far beyond its usual limits. Following the thread that connected him to his sister, Kizu could sense the barrier muddling his detection of her. He slammed his consciousness into it. And, to his surprise, he broke through on his first try. Still, it felt extremely uncomfortable squeezing his consciousness through the hole he had punched in the barrier. It felt wrong. Like his brain was scraping along ice, and his head was stuck in a vice. Thankfully, the discomfort faded after only a few seconds.
Letting her link to the divination book guide him, he followed the connection as it spiraled downward. It was like a fishing line had been dropped into the deepest portion of the sea. Then, abruptly, the connection went taut.
He opened his eyes, suddenly aware of where his sister was. Almost seven kilometers directly below his feet.
It was probably a good thing that Roba had confiscated the key to the dungeon’s entrance. Otherwise, Kizu likely would have walked through the door then and there. She was so close.
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“What’s up?” Basil asked, looking from Kizu to the door. “Why are you staring at that door?”
“She’s down there,” Kizu said. “My sister is alive. She’s in the World Dungeon.”
Basil chuckled nervously. “I mean, I doubt it. Most people don’t survive down there for long. Even the most experienced delver teams only spend a week or two in the lower levels, max. Monsters feed off of magic. Mages don’t survive long.”
“Really?” Ione said. “When we went down there, we used spells just fine.”
“Wait,” Basil said. “You two went down there? Alone? And you’re both still alive?”
“We didn’t go very deep,” Kizu said. Nowhere near as deep as his sister had. “And…I had something that cloaked us.”
Basil whistled. “Still.”
Ione sighed loudly. “What a pain. I really was hoping to avoid that place for a while. But I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to research some more magical creatures. Last time was a bit of a bust.”
“You’re not coming,” Kizu told her, baffled by the implication.
“Yeah,” Basil agreed. “Why would he need you when he’s got me? I’m a thousand people in one.”
“What?” Kizu turned to face him. “You’re not coming either. I’m going alone. It’d be stupid to come with me.”
“Stupider to go alone,” Ione responded.
“Remember how I just mentioned delver teams?” Basil added. “Well, there’s a reason there aren’t any solo delvers. They don’t make it far.”
Kizu was willing to bet that between his atlas and his necklace, he could make it much further than the average delving expedition. But he kept his silence. Better to make them think they’d won the argument. The last thing he needed was one of them ratting him out to Roba. In a few days he would just leave without telling them. Honestly, it made no sense for either of them to be so insistent about joining him. He wouldn’t be alone, either. He had Mort.
They started making plans. Ione sounded excited as she put together a list of dungeon delving equipment they’d need. It wasn’t a bad list, and it drove home just how much Kizu still needed to do to prepare himself. He still had no money to buy anything from the shops in town, so he’d have to make do with whatever he could brew using Professor Knoff’s supplies. He needed to translate a few pages from his atlas, as well. Learning the basics of Primordial was swiftly becoming a top priority.
Thankfully, now that he’d successfully managed to punch through the divination barrier, the spell didn’t take nearly as much of a toll on him as it had during his first attempt. Or maybe he was just a better diviner than he’d been before and it used less of his blood now. Regardless, he was able to get back up the stairs just fine on his own, albeit with a stiff leg.
Basil and Ione followed on his heels, engrossed in their dungeon delving plans. He chimed in halfheartedly to the conversation, his mind on other things. They followed him all the way to the library and kept on chatting while he worked on translating a few pages that he’d copied from the atlas a few days earlier. He’d thought there was no better time than the present to get to work on things, but his friends soon proved him wrong. If it wasn’t Basil asking about his preference between jerky and compressed rice, it was Ione insisting he take a look at paintings and sketches from bestiaries on dungeon denizens. Even Mort seemed determined for a share of his attention, tugging incessantly on Kizu’s hair.
“Here,” Kizu finally said, passing his monkey to Basil. “Get him out of here before he causes a scene. You two discuss the logistics with him. He’ll relay what you said to me later. I’m fine with anything, really. I’m not picky. You both decide.”
One of the library assistants glared at him as his companions tramped out of the library. Kizu recognized him as Gob Lucas’ brother. The same one that Harvey had accidentally insulted. Kizu gave him a little wave. The look on the boy’s face reminded Kizu of his own little brother.
Finally, Kizu got back to his work. He looked down at the four full pages of words he’d have to translate by the time the library closed. Fatigue washed over him in waves, one for every page.
He looked from the Primordial dictionary to the Gnomish one and sighed. This was going to take a while.