Today is Thursday, so I have to attend a class in the morning and a different one in the afternoon. What a pain. At least I don't have anything tomorrow.
I get up early, proceed to get ready, then look at the small bead containing an entire wyvern on my desk. It's probably too dangerous to leave it here, right? I put it in my pocket, then glance at my sword. Is it possible for me to carry it like that too?
I pull it from its scabbard and put it down on my bed before trying to imitate the spell that Saorin showed me. Strands of my power attach themselves to the space around the sword, and slowly but surely, I manage to fold it, leaving behind a small bead. I grab it and inspect it. The magical threads, while a lot weaker than the ones Saorin created, are still perfectly adequate for an object as small as my sword. I'd probably struggle with bigger items, but I can fix that by training, and there's also the attunement process I'm going through.
Speaking of, I wonder when my body is going to start changing. How am I going to explain things to people I know if it changes a lot? I'll figure it out when I get there, I guess.
I grab the bead containing my sword an put it in my other pocket. Wouldn't want to get them mixed up. While I can sense what's inside by holding them, if I find myself in an emergency, I'd rather be able to immediately grab my weapon.
I wonder if I can put the beads in another bead? Maybe something to try later.
I figure that carrying my backpack using this magic would attract some unwanted attention, so I grab it the old-fashioned way and make my way to class.
I find myself unable to listen to the teacher. Too many questions keep bouncing in my head. How much is a wyvern's body worth? What kind of equipment can I get from wyvern parts? How expensive would they be to have made? Is it worth getting an armor tailor-made knowing that my body is going to change? If I don't change much, it'll still fit, but I don't know how different I'll look in a year.
I end up looking up specialized workshops where adventurers can bring monster parts to have them turned into equipment, both to get an idea of how expensive getting custom gear would be, but also to know where to find them.
I eventually manage to find a place where they offer to take in whole carcasses. If you need less materials than what you brought, you get a discount on the gear you buy based on how much of the monster you don't use, since the workshop then uses the rest to craft equipment that they sell to stores around the city.
That's probably my best option. Since they advertise that they take whole bodies, I won't be turned away even with something as big as a wyvern. They probably have a lot of storage space. And if I get a sword and some armor made, there will still be plenty of the monster left, so I might be able to afford the crafting costs.
It's decided. Since I have no classes tomorrow, I'll head to that workshop and see what I can get.
After my afternoon class, I head back to my dormitory where my roommates appear to be doing their usual activities. Andrew is on the couch playing on his portable console with the news playing on the TV. Cal is sitting at the table and reading a textbook. Anthony is in his room, visibly watching something on his laptop.
Normally, I would simply head to my room and find something to do there, but the news catch my attention this time around. The director of the NAA seems to be giving an interview, with the caption at the bottom of the screen stating "New raid on the Eternal City Dungeon approved by the NAA".
"... and that's exactly why this raid is needed. While we don't know what lurks in the depths of the dungeon, we can push back against the monsters that make their way to the barrier to prevent them from causing an invasion. I want to clarify again for the viewers at home: our goal with this raid is not to clear the dungeon. We're simply making sure that the situation within it remains under control."
"This announcement comes right after your previous announcement where you revised the dungeon's level from 110 to 120. Are these events connected?"
"Not at all. The level revision was brought about by improvements in our magic detection technology. A large part of the dungeon remains unexplored, and the furthest we managed to get a reading from before put it at level 110. With our improved range, we can now know that a deeper part of the dungeon is around level 120. It's perfectly possible that the level will be increased again in a few years as technology improves, since we haven't scanned the deepest parts of it yet."
Level 120? When I was a kid, everyone knew about the Eternal City Dungeon because it was the only level 100 dungeon in the world. A few groups tried to clear it over the years, but no one ever managed. Apparently, the deeper in you go, the stronger the monsters get, so they all eventually hit a wall and left, if they didn't get killed.
Our level system is a scale used to simplify how we understand the amount of magic in our body, with "level 100" being the highest anyone has ever reached. Whenever someone surpasses that level, the scale is updated, but that rarely happens. The dungeon being set at level 110 before and 120 now means that they found monsters in it that have more magical power than the absolute strongest adventurers in the world.
Killing them would definitely provide a major power boost to me, but I don't know if I could manage that just yet. It's probably too risky. Since the scale is exponential, even that wyvern probably only got me a few levels. Can Witches even go above level 100?
If I want to grow stronger, I'll have to be allowed in higher-level dungeons. I broke the law by entering the one that's still open on the university campus and got away with it, but I'll be caught sooner or later if I keep doing that.
Leaving the interview behind, I go in my room, grab my phone, and compose the number for the NAA. After going through a series of automated messages and selections, I finally manage to get hold of a human.
"Hello, you've reached the NAA, how can I help you?"
"Are you still looking for Aurora?"
"We most certainly are. Do you have any information to report related to this case?"
"I know exactly where she is, but I'd like to discuss this in person with people from the NAA. It's not information I can reveal over the phone."
"I'm sorry, sir, but we would appreciate if you could avoid wasting our time. We cannot grant a meeting to just anyone who claims to know where Aurora is. If you cannot tell me, I will end this call."
I should have expected that it wouldn't be this easy. However, weapons we purchase are registered to our adventurer file, and I know I left my broken sword there. They might have grabbed it, and I should be able to prove it's mine. I'll try that.
"The sword she was using was mine. You should be able to access my purchase history and confirm this. I let her use it because I knew her."
On the other end, there's a bit of silence before the person responds:
"Very well. Would you be able to come to our offices for 3 PM tomorrow?"
"Yes, I'll be there."
