“Say, where’s my backpack?” Eating that tasteless mucus-like transparent liquid for three days straight made me sick to the point that the taste of the stale compressed energy bars was many times more enticing.

“Over here.” Her projection disappeared and the drone flew toward the back of the airship. “Well, to preserve all the things that got thrown out in that accident, I have been gathering them here as soon as I woke up.”

As the airship sat at a slight angle, a secluded area emerged underneath it. This space, where all the thrown-out things were piled, remained relatively dry compared to the dampness near the center of the pond. It was relatively secluded and offered a shield from prying eyes.

Unfortunately, most of the things here were useless, miscellaneous things…

“Where’s my gun?”

Among the piles of items, my gun was missing. Without it, I was as much as an armless chap, unable to kill anything except running. Still, if a grenade got thrown out instead, it might be fatal. Fortunately, they were secured inside the armory.

“It should be inside the airship somewhere. I’ll pick it up for you.”

The spherical drone that Lunaria controlled flew into the broken window of the airship. Meanwhile, I opened my backpack and took three energy bars and began eating them like there was no tomorrow. So tasty…

Moments later, she came back with the gun as well as several magazines. With what I stored inside my backpack, there were about one hundred bullets.

Next, we planned things from here on out.

There was a need for someone to watch the ship, but this place was fairly secluded thanks to the pond being surrounded by cliffs all around.

“My other half can stay here, but you have to take the drone with you for your own sake.”

“Uh-huh, that’s fine. But showing yourself upfront may incur unwanted attention, so you should hide inside my backpack.”

“I concur.”

“Ah, and I’ll name the drone as ‘Luna-1’ if that’s fine with you.”

“Suit yourself.”

After we reached a consensus, we left the airship behind in the hope of repairing it in the future. After all, traveling from the air was much better than walking on two feet.

I ran back toward the tent and found Spitzek still grinding various plants into a green powder on a stone bowl. Whatever it was, it seemed to be medicine or some sort.

“Hey, Spitzek,” I called out to him.

“Yes?”

“Are there settlements around here? You know, with people that look like me.” I pointed at myself. Since if there was a human settlement, communicating would be much easier.

“Like you? No… Never seen people like you… There is one settlement… I’m going there tomorrow to trade.”

“Really? Please take me there. I’ll be sure to compensate for all the things you have done to me.” I felt bad that I couldn’t do anything but sleep for three days straight.

To my statement, he simply responded, “Payment… has been accepted.”

“Huh?” I didn’t remember ever paying him anything.

“This… origin crystal.” He took out an elongated white crystal from his hand.

Wait a minute… I checked my pocket where I had stored that thing previously and was met with a sluggish cloth. He probably took that thing when treating me.

“All right. But in exchange, you have to tell me what’s the use of that thing.” I could ask Lunaria; she would usually answer me as long as I showed her that, but the more information the merrier.

“It’s magic and power…”

Slowly, he started enlightening me about things that I didn’t know exist in this world. Source level… People that wield source energy were called source users or source manipulators, and they were divided into two source paths: source evoker and source enhancer.

On the one hand, source enhancers, or simply enhancers, were those who strengthen their bodies using source energy, allowing them to possess incredible strength, defense, and agility. On the other hand, source evokers, or simply evokers, were those who emit source energy to the outside world allowing them to bend their surroundings to their will, possessing unfathomable powers.

Source crystal for them was something to increase their power, to get higher in their source level. I didn’t know that was a thing…

No, to think that such power even exists in this world… This world has never failed to surprise me, for better or for worse, I contemplated deeply.

Now that I thought about it, the wreckage that held me down in that airship crash was unlikely to be moved unless he possessed incredible strength.

And the reason for the question marks…

I checked on his status again and discovered several new things.

Spitzek Arhak

[…]

Source Level: Tier-2 enhancer | Tier-2 evoker

Source Element(s): ???

Vocation(s): [Shrouded Hand]

Stats:

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* STR: D (55)

* AGI: D (48)

* VIT: D (53)

* SRC: D+ (59)

* SPR: D- (44)

Accumulation Points: 62 [D]

There were some question marks even now, but I finally got the gist of how things work with the status screen. I had to possess the knowledge in question to be able to know.

Hmm… Was the source crystal that I stumbled upon when I escaped the reason why the insectoid monsters were so obsessed with chasing me? I held my chin in deep contemplation.

It was likely to be the case.

After that, I took some time inside the tent to digest the info dump that I’d just gained. It would be in my best interest to be able to wield such power and become a source user since only then would I be able to survive in this world. But such knowledge wouldn’t be free. Everything in this world had to be exchanged equally, and seeing that he liked source crystals, it would be better to gather some before asking.

“Okay. That’s my next goal, then.” I clapped my hands in enthusiasm.

“What do you mean okay? Why didn’t you tell me that you have that thing?” The drone snuggled out of my backpack.

“Well, I was exhausted and there was no chance.”

“Hrm… Let’s leave it at that, then. That source crystal is just to happen to be one of the main fuels for the airship,” Lunaria explained.

“I see one more reason to gather more. However, only strong monsters would have those like the mutant insectoid queen.”

But to kill stronger monsters you need power; to gain power you need source crystals; to gain source crystals you needed to kill strong monsters. It seemed to be an endless cycle that I didn’t know where to start, frankly.

Anyway, I had to go to a nearby settlement tomorrow since that was the topmost priority right now. Once I prepared accordingly would I be able to start gathering source crystals.

***

We began our journey to town shortly after the sun rose, walking up the creek — in the opposite direction of the crashed airship.

Traveling there was no issue, as this place was fairly safe, and there was Spitzek that knew this place like the back of his hand accompanying me. It felt like a walk in the park compared to my past experience.

“I’ll gather samples of the flora around.” The spherical drone that Lunaria controlled or “Luna-1” poked itself into the opening of the backpack.

It seemed that Luna-1 was equipped with a scanning sensor to gather various data. This could be useful to determine poisonous plants and things. I didn’t want to eat something that could kill me…

Nearly an hour later, a huge tunnel on an expansive hill was in view from afar. Spitzek said that once we were through that descending tunnel, the town would be upon us.

As we descended into the depths of the earth, a whole new world unfurled before my eyes. Rather than a simple cave as I’d initially imagined, it was a gigantic underground cavern. It was really, really wide, and the ceiling was almost as tall as a kilometer, enveloping me in an otherworldly ambiance.

To put the icing on the cake, at the center of the cavern was a giant, shining purple mushroom tree. I wasn’t kidding… I mean, you could even see tiny people walking below the giant fluorescent mushroom that easily rivaled that of the tallest skyscraper on Earth and had a minimum diameter of three hundred meters for the stem.

Unless I was unknowingly a giant, then it meant that the mushroom was just that big. Furthermore, it was emitting a cyan light that lit up the dim cavern. That and the composition of the rock walls or bioluminescent organisms living inside the cave made this not resemble your typical gloomy and dark cavern. It was more than sufficiently bright.

Spitzek stated, pointing at the settlement surrounding the mushroom, “That’s… the town.”

“Ooh. Does it have a name?”

“Aquarine… is its name. It’s also the name of… the giant purple mushroom you see there… It’s the one that protects us… from the approaching crimson fog.”

“Wow, cool. Um, are there places where people make machines— I mean, blacksmithing?” If anything, I never saw Spitzek use any kind of technology.

“Over there…” He pointed to the left side of the town, then switched to the opposite direction. “And that’s the market… I’ll be there… trading.”

“Uh-huh. So, this will be where we part ways.” Somehow, I was filled with a complicated feeling. It hadn’t been long since we met, but he was among the first ones that I communicated with in this world and my savior.

“May the spirit accompany you in your journey, lad.”

I gave him a nod and said goodbye before running toward the town with an excited feeling. This mystical town was unlike anything I had previously imagined.

Now that I was here, I wanted to imprint the scenery deep within me, and I couldn’t be more surprised. Houses with small dome-like structures stacked on top of each other were aplenty, along with various strange architecture. Small shining mushrooms intersected along the path like lamps. Truly a picturesque scenery that words alone weren’t enough to describe it.

Stranger still were the inhabitants. I marveled at the diversity of the humanoid beings that populated the underground town. Their appearances were as varied as the colors of a prism, their features unique and captivating. Most had the shape of bipedal animals — the like of lizards, owls, and many more — and they hustled and bustled. There were even some humanoid-looking people that appeared similar to humans but with distinct characteristics like tails and whatnot.

Then, to my shock, a giant hamster passed by me as it trotted slowly while pulling a wagon filled with strange fruits. Taking a deep breath, I held myself from moving much, simply eying the dude sitting on top of the hamster as though it was normal…

This wasn’t akin to a town in a fantasy world I had in mind, but it sure did have its own charm. My hands sweated from the intense sublime feelings raging within me.

Not dawdling further, I walked down the road to the location that Spitzek had pointed to earlier and soon heard sounds of metal hitting against metal all around. The place was filled with workshops and stores that sold all kinds of iron utensils and even strange devices.

Now, I couldn’t just trust anybody. It was stated that there was a possibility of an information leak, so I had to choose my words carefully. Not only did these people look strange and out of the ordinary, but there was also no guarantee that they would act human.

“Excuse me…” I checked into one of the stores, trying to first beat around the bush by dropping hints here and there. And yet, the owner had never heard of airships, let alone possess the technical know-how on how to fix them.

But I didn’t prevail and went around all the places I could find like a goose on the loose, asking about it similarly. Still, no useful answer so far. It wasn’t like they would know something like that when their technology varied greatly between the Iron Age to the modern — well, some of the things they used at least.

Who’s eccentric enough to make it in the first place anyway? I thought in indignation.

Even a person from another world like me had a hard time figuring out the heads and tails of the thing. While I could just recruit some people to help me since there was Lunaria to help give instructions, the risk was too big.

I let out a long sigh, all the while sitting in a corner of a certain brick-walled workshop. The time limit was ticking even at this moment, so I must find someone.

“Are you the strange one looking to repair an airship?” asked someone.

“Y-Yeah?” Huh, strange?

I turned my face upward and saw a female humanoid figure with pale skin, a pair of big eyes, and a pair of small red horns protruding on her forehead. Her long snowy white hair was braided, and her feet were unlike that of humans. Through her somewhat distinctive features, I was sure that she was naked if not for the animal hides covering her top and bottom… and the short fur growing from her body?

“Who are you?” It felt like I had seen her somewhere.

Hold on! Never once did I mention the word “airship” when asking around for capable craftsmen… Subconsciously, I had my right hand on the hilt of the gun strapped on my back while making sure I had a way out of here but decided to stay put in the end.

…Whatever. I might as well hear what she had to say first.

“Ah, sorry. My name’s Tuilë. Nice to meet you.” She raised her left hand, which was about twice as big as mine, to wave at me.