Watching everyone enter the portal of the inverted pillar—something they had named themselves—she tried to calm down and took a deep breath. Sitting at the center of the place she created, she observed how everyone now appeared in a luxurious hall.
'So this is where they wanted to go.'
Sisaka had managed to come along. After seeing them leave somewhere in that carriage, the moment Aoi entered first, she used her spiritual construction magic to create a very small zone and placed herself inside. Its name was spiritual zone. Inside it, her presence was completely erased for fifth-circle mages, and for sixth-circle mages it became harder to sense—this was why she chose Aoi.
After that, she simply observed and used her magic to make that zone invisible in order to slip into Aoi's pocket. The rest of the time she used to suppress her presence even further. This ability was developed thanks to the training Enrico recommended before being trapped in the barrier.
'I really need more training with him.'
The training she did was exactly to create a mana zone. For that, Enrico recommended infusing magic into her body, forming an aura, and expanding it little by little until creating a mana dome. Inside that dome, she had to maintain it constantly for two whole days while thinking of an ability to place inside the zone.
'I never thought my magic could adapt to specific moments.'
Thanks to this training, she understood that her magic could not only build things—it could adapt to something as long as she forced it to go through extreme difficulty, like going two days without eating or drinking.
"Good thing that letter had more."
Fortunately, in Enrico's letter, he gave her a second magic tip: she could use her magic to feed herself with her own mana by constructing fake food. According to what he mentioned in the letter, mages could use their mana to nourish their bodies, but that was only possible with certain magics.
'An example would be water magic, or mine.'
As long as she imagined it, her magic would create it—but with limitations. The stronger her creation, the harder or even impossible it became to make. And another downside was that this food wasn't very good, since it had no real taste; it was like biting into the air.
'The good thing is that it works even if I need to eat double to get the same amount I usually eat in a day.'
Now she only had to wait until the battles started, because then they wouldn't be able to send her back.
'It seems they're fine for now.'
In her vision, Enrico was beside Yumeha having a conversation. What he was doing—something Sisaka could not hear due to the distance—was asking for information about the Yokai Yumeha managed to create in those two years.
"Summons are Yuki-Onna and Byakko. As magic forms: Aka-Oni, Karasu-Tengu, and Jorōgumo."
"So it was five…"
"If you're worried, master, know that I trained a lot with them. So rest assured—each summon is a magic I pushed to its limit."
She didn't want her master to be disappointed, so she trained extremely hard over the last two years. She nearly died fighting her own summons one-on-one and all together too. Enrico nodded, touching her shoulder.
"I would never be disappointed in you."
"Thank you, master."
Swallowing hard, she straightened up with pride. No doubt he was the best for her.
"One more thing—you pushed them to the limit when you were fifth circle, but don't forget you're sixth circle now, so your limit has increased."
"Sorry, master, I almost forgot… I got excited that you returned."
"Hahaha Don't worry, I understand—my return made everyone excited."
"That's right, master."
She nodded quickly while he placed his hand on her head for a few seconds before walking again.
"Come, we need to follow Emperor Renzou."
"Certainly, master."
The two walked behind Renzou along with Rina. Aoi followed behind them with her mother guarding their rear, while Raizen and Aina covered the left side, and Takeshi the right. Each one guarding the possible blind spots.
'Dungeon of the Sky, one of the six great Dungeons that never disappear, with enormous rewards.'
In the original story, this was one of the few arcs Kai did not participate in. In fact, none of the main characters participated, and that made him like this part of the story for one simple reason.
'The ones who appeared in this arc were the main villains of a specific cult. I liked how the author showed their powers and the threats they posed inside this dungeon.'
[Me too. I was surprised when I saw it for the first time.]
Those villains came here to capture and use one of the six strongest third-rank Nartheis of the era. Their leader managed to handle that level because he was an eighth-circle mage.
'If I don't let him use this dungeon, he won't get the item that would help him reach the ninth circle, hehehe.'
[How evil… but honestly, he deserves all misfortune in the world.]
"Why hasn't any Nartheis appeared yet, father?"
Rina, beside Renzou, had a confused expression as they passed the tenth hall identical to the previous ones. That was very strange to her.
"That's because we're looping through the beginning."
"What do you mean?"
Now she really didn't understand what was happening. If they were going in circles, why did her father—who already knew this—keep following the same path?
"It's to receive a healing, Rina."
"Ketsumei… wait, this dungeon gives healing at the beginning?"
Enrico nodded. This part of the dungeon offered healing to injuries and mana, but they had to walk twenty minutes without encountering any Nartheis. There should already be Nartheis in the area, but Renzou placed barriers on every door of the halls leading to their locations.
"So if my father is doing this, it's because he'll recover more mana than he used."
"Exactly, daughter. When it ends, I'll have seventy percent of my mana back, and I haven't used it earlier because it can only be used twice per portal opening."
Since they hadn't conquered the dungeon yet, this healing had a limit, so Renzou decided to use it only when Enrico came, ensuring they had a healing source if needed. With a small smile, Enrico looked at Rina, who was excited by her father's strategy.
'And the best part is that these barriers of Renzou will last for a long time, so we'll be able to heal.'