Three Days

The night before Ais' short-term departure, Isaac chose to spend most of his time with her, sleeping comfortably in each other's arms. Still, before they went to sleep, he made a short trip and spent about one and a half hours on the fourth floor, finally finishing his exploration of it.

It had been many days since he started this task and he honestly felt relieved now that it was over. As he had stated before, from now on, he would only focus on finding the manmade labyrinth's secret entrances and slaying a few specific monsters. It was a far more exciting task than monotonously speeding through a floor and mapping every single nook and cranny of it, all the while killing whichever monsters he came across. By the end, he had even been in what he was tempted to call 'autopilot mode' - the amount of focus he had required for this simple and repetitive of a job was just that yawn-inducingly low.

At the time he teleported back to the tent, Isaac's Level 1 monster slaying achievement had progressed to 32,525/33,000, while his accumulated AP reached a staggering 48,541.

Sadly, these explorations would have to come to a halt for a short time. While Ais wasn't staying at the campsite, Isaac didn't want to leave it unsupervised. Just in case of an emergency, he always wanted to have one of them around. While his own combat prowess was still not enough to deal with the opponents they could potentially have to face down here, he could at least get all of these people to safety. Ais cared about all of them to a certain degree and he really didn't want her to get hurt. While saving them would expose one of the many aces up his sleeve to their enemies, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make. It wasn't a very big one, anyway. Sooner or later, someone would find out.

In all honesty, though, it was very, very unlikely for someone - anyone - to attack the campsite at this time. Only a year later would the antagonistic forces Isaac knew about start moving. While his intervention would surely speed this up significantly and would even lead to other, so far unknown enemies rearing their head, he hadn't made too huge of an impact at this point in time. Even the attention he had attracted so far was relatively minor. However, this would all change in the future.

-----

Contrary to Ais, who had given him a long and loving kiss when they were still in their tent, Tiona's way of bidding him goodbye attracted a lot more attention. While the whole expedition party was gathered and giving their strongest members as much encouragement as they could, she gave him a strong and hearty hug. Still, such a harmless and commonplace gesture was one that everyone had already grown used to, so besides a few people's slight envy, this farewell didn't drag any annoyances to Isaac's doorstep.

Right after Finn, Riveria, Gareth, Ais, Tiona, Tione and Bete had disappeared into a stairway leading to the 51st floor, it was time for the rest of the main force members to get to work. So even Isaac's student Lefiya, who he had grown somewhat responsible for now that Riveria wasn't around, went to the surrounding floors to amass excelia. With the protection of the others, she shouldn't be in any danger, so he didn't worry about her too much.

With that as a cue, the usual boredom set back in.

Everyone who stayed back got the opportunity to get some pointers from Isaac for a couple of hours, then their training session finished and it was time for lunch. After that, Isaac finally managed to extricate himself from the others and returned to his tent. Finally, he was alone.

For the past eight days, he had spent almost all of his time together with his supporter team or some other acquaintances. Although they wouldn't be able to tell, as he was extremely adept at masking his feelings, he felt a little bit strained after that long period of excessive, unwanted contact.

The others probably felt that he just wanted to take a bit of a prolonged rest after helping them out with their training for so long. Even someone like him was bound to get tired sooner or later, after all. Or maybe some of them were of the opinion that he must feel pretty downtrodden now that he won't have an opportunity to be with his beloved for a while. Still, it really didn't matter what exactly they thought was the case. The important thing was that nobody came to disturb him.

Being alone, for many people, made them feel somewhat suffocated and uncomfortable. They needed to spend time with others to truly feel alive. But for Isaac, this solitude was refreshing. Not having people around him all the time… was nice.

This was the first time since he had come to this world that he spent the majority of a day completely alone.

Still, with Isaac being Isaac, he wasn't really doing nothing. Unless he was with Ais, he would always find something to busy himself with.

At first, he had planned to experiment with his mana a little and maybe figure out a new Magic or two. Researching this world's magic was, after all, quite interesting to him. Still, he ultimately chose to not do so. It would just halt his progress as he couldn't increase the number of circulating mana drops while he used them to affect the world around him.

Because he was very close to achieving his short-term goal - adding all of his current mana drops to the circulating flow - he really wanted to get that out of his way first. If he had wanted to fully focus on efficiency, he might have decided on increasing his magical knowledge and then slowly, over the course of a few days, worked towards his goal. Because it would still be quite some time until Isaac's Magic stat would have an opportunity to increase, there was no need to hurry. In any case, Isaac, for now, didn't choose to follow the most efficient path.

Maybe a part of him really wanted to thoroughly relax. By trying his very hardest at mana cultivation. Which was anything but a walk in the park.

Unbeknownst to Isaac, a lot of time passed. He didn't even step outside for dinner and just sat cross-legged in his tent, with his eyes closed. His full focus was on the drops of mana circulating through his mental layer. By the time Isaac felt like he was close to another breakthrough, it was a little after 9 p.m. and Lefiya had just returned after a full day of work and merry interactions.

"Welcome back, Lefiya."

A slight smile spread across Isaac's face as he opened his eyes and looked at the visibly exhausted Elf. Her hair was still a little bit wet and she had changed into some clean and casual clothing. Judging from the pleasant smell accompanying her, she had just taken a bath.

Merely a few days ago, the shy little Elf had still reacted in a very reserved and embarrassed manner whenever she came across Isaac in such a state. After all, her imagination easily ran rampant. But by now, she had grown far more used to his presence and didn't let her mind wander too far. She didn't mind him seeing her in such a relatively vulnerable state anymore and didn't make a big deal out of it.

Lefiya showed a weak smile in response, while barely being able to keep her eyes open. With wobbly steps, she made her way next to him then plopped down and rested her head on the table, using her arms as a pillow. This table was just one of the many things Isaac had taken out of his inventory to transform this tent into more of a 'home'. Letting the supporters carry such luxuries with them would have been a complete waste of space.

"So… tired…"

Having used up the last of her mental strength to explain herself to him with two weakly muttered words, Lefiya promptly fell asleep in this somewhat awkward position.

'So fast!?'

Isaac truly felt a bit baffled as he hadn't expected her to doze off instantly. Why had she even walked over here, next to him, in the first place if she just wanted to sleep? A sigh escaped his lips.

As he didn't want her to feel horrible after waking up from a nap in a position as uncomfortable as this, he picked the delicate Elf up very carefully and tucked her in her sleeping bag. After having successfully dealt with the disturbance, he returned to his previous position and focused on his mental layer yet again.

A couple of minutes later, it was finally time. His mana channels felt painfully filled to the brim. He had just added the 4999th drop and let all of them complete a whole circulation. That familiar, throbbing headache had returned, seemingly warning him to turn back. Thankfully, he had experienced it all before, so he felt a lot less apprehensive this time. Although it would be quite painful to do so, adding another drop to the flow was the solution. There would be no negative consequences, he would simply overcome a hurdle if he could grit his teeth and bear with it.

Adding the 5000th drop was already difficult enough, but letting all of them complete a circulation through the entirety of his mental layer made him almost tear up from the excruciating pain. His entire body tensed up uncontrollably and his right eyelid twitched quickly and repeatedly. Thankfully, the pain was worth it.

The moment the circulation had been completed, Isaac was yet again able to sigh in all-encompassing comfort. Although he couldn't truly 'see' his mana channels, he felt them widen far beyond the point he could currently perceive. All of the pressure was gone and it felt like a shackle had come undone.

For a moment or two, Isaac simply ignored the system notification taking up part of his vision and enjoyed this feeling to the fullest.

[ Mana Cultivation - Foundation Establishment (H): Enables one to interact with their surroundings by using mana. Reduction in mana expenditure: 2% ]

It wasn't a major change, but it was still an improvement. While others might have gotten discouraged at the relatively minor pay-off for what they had just gone through, Isaac was instead elated. No matter how small of a step it was, he had still made progress. Why should it matter how little of it there was? Progress was progress.

After spending a couple of minutes inspecting his improved channels and the slightly faster flow within them, he finally began to add more drops yet again. This continued for a couple of hours, until about 3 a.m., when Isaac had finally added all of his 5330 drops. Nothing major happened at this point - but that wasn't what Isaac had intended anyway. His goal had simply been to catch up to his Magic stat's total and have all of his mana at his beck and call instantly.

With a small but satisfied smile on his lips, Isaac finally allowed himself a couple of hours of sleep until he would have to make it through yet another day of boredom.

-----

Valgang Dragons could grow up to 50 meters in length - if they stood on their legs they would be about 38 to 40 meters tall. They had fiery red scales and were, as the name quite obviously implied, of the dragon species. There were honestly not too many monsters or animals that were called a dragon that actually weren't one. In any case, the aforementioned Valgang Dragons were the ones responsible for the name of this thematic zone - the Dragon Vase. While their ridiculously powerful and accurate breath attacks were already hard to deal with, they were even relatively close to Level 6, making them anything but a cakewalk for the ones that managed to close in on them.

Currently, in an impossibly vast room whose 500 meter high ceiling and ground was made out of graphite, more than ten of them had surrounded a group of seven adventurers. To make things worse, a flock of hundreds of Ill Wyverns swooped in from overhead and constantly bombarded them with fireballs. The blueish purple wyverns were only three meters long if one took the tail into account, but their attacks packed quite a punch nonetheless. Even stronger Level 5 adventurers would be troubled by them - especially when they arrived in such huge numbers.

"I don't think we can hold out much longer!"

Even though he still seemed to be a bit relaxed, Gareth's voice had some urgency to it. With a quick maneuver, he expertly blocked two of the Valgang Dragons' breath attacks at the same time. He had deftly attracted their focus - truly an outstanding tank.

He didn't shrink back in front of the powerful impacts and wasn't even pushed back a full step, although the might of these breath attacks was enough to cut through multiple floors of the dungeon. Even his equipment only warmed up slightly, not in any danger of melting or getting too uncomfortably hot to wear or hold anytime soon. The Loki Familia had bought the best gear that money could buy, after all. It would be a shame if it got damaged by attacks of this caliber.

The tank's relaxed state might have caused an inattentive observer to conclude that this party was far from reaching its limit - but the mage's furrowed eyebrows and slightly pained expression told another tale. Riveria had fired off far too many area of effect Magics during these past few days and her 'mind' had started to bottom out. At this point, she could only prolong the time it would take until she passed out with potions, but she truly wouldn't be able to bear this headache and support the team with many spells for much longer.

This wasn't the worst of it, however. The Level 5 'kids' were battered and bruised all over and quite obviously weren't capable of continuing past this point. Monsters any stronger than this would wipe the floor with them. The sheer amount of monsters of equal or higher strength they had fought during this time was staggering. The only one in a slightly better state amongst them was Ais. Due to her Avenger Skill, the monsters of these floors, which had mostly consisted of dragons, weren't much of a threat to her. She was even far less exhausted than the others. But still, she knew that this was as far as they could go.

"You're right."

As if he had already expected for his staunch Dwarven friend to say these words, Finn smiled and nodded. During their last expedition, they hadn't even managed to make it far enough into the 58th floor to encounter a staircase leading to the 59th floor. This time, however, they could finally see one in the distance. With this knowledge, they wouldn't have to waste time mindlessly wandering around this floor anymore and could instead go there directly next time. After all, quite a few of the 'kids' would grow stronger shortly, which would enable their familia to catch up to the previous record.

The deepest floor that any familia had ever officially reached was the 59th. Both the Hera and Zeus Familias had made it there. According to their words, it was the starting point of the 'Glacier Territory', so they would be battered by the fierce cold while making their way across snow-covered glaciers, with the occasional difficult to spot frozen-over lakes breaking up the monotony.

Jumping from an extremely hot area right into a territory of freezing cold wouldn't be easy and they were currently anything but prepared for it. Next time, however, they would add the appropriate clothing and supportive items to their supplies.

"Alright, let's start to make our way back now. Sorry about this, Riveria."

Forcing a pained smile in response to her Pallum companion's apology, Riveria hastily recited the chant for one of her signature Magics, Wynn Fimbulvetr. A couple of moments later, an extremely cold blizzard struck all of the surrounding Ill Wyverns and Valgang Dragons, freezing them in the process. The sound of every last one of the annoying flying monsters dropping out of the sky and shattering upon impact with the ground was a somewhat relieving albeit terrifying melody.

When the party of seven finally started to head back the way they came, a slight smile played across Ais' lips while a hint of excitement sparkled in her eyes. Although she was about ready to keel over, Riveria didn't miss this and a wry smile stole itself on her face.

'Is she really that eager to return back to him? Well, they haven't seen each other for a few days… and it's young love…'

What the wise Elf didn't know was that this was only part of the reason. Sure, Ais had indeed been a little bit sad because she had been separated from Isaac for three days. But because they had been able to talk to each other via the system anytime they wanted, it didn't affect her too much. What made her so happy was the fact that one of her fears hadn't come true. It was already a little after 4 p.m. and in just seven or so hours, the cooldown period until she could yet again experience an episode of Isaac's past would be over. Initially, she had been somewhat afraid of missing that time by a couple of hours - but now she wouldn't have to wait any longer than the necessary minimum! She was truly relieved.

While the return journey would still be somewhat stressful and definitely not a fast one, it was always easier to retrace one's steps than to progress further within the dungeon. After all, unless a party was practically already at death's door, the dungeon wouldn't waste additional resources and deliberately spawn Monster Parties close to it. Well, of course that was only superstition, as nobody was really sure as to how the dungeon operated, but it certainly felt that way. Because their party still had a lot of fight in them, it was very likely that they wouldn't run into any significant problems on their way back. And in a truly dangerous situation, couldn't she just teleport them away? It would alert Bete to the existence of this ability, but that was a lot better than… well, dying.

-----

On the 10th day of the expedition, at around 9:30 p.m., the group of seven finally returned to the campsite. They were welcomed by bellowing cheers and loud applause. Without a moment of hesitation, the supporters on duty immediately got back to cooking and made them some food for a pretty late but hearty dinner. The entire group had expected them to return today, which was why even Isaac and Lefiya, who usually just spent the evening lazing around in their tent, were assembled out in the open with the rest of the expedition party.

Before Isaac was even given a chance to reunite with the happily approaching Ais, a blood-soaked, brown-skinned bullet was already charging at him with a speed far faster than anything he could react to. It crashed into him with a bit more momentum than he was comfortable with, so he stumbled back a few steps. Of course, it was Tiona.

While covered from head to toe in partially dried monster blood, with her usually already underwear-esque clothing partly ripped to shreds, Tiona gave Isaac a tight hug and nuzzled against his chest. She didn't care about her actions being highly inappropriate at all.

"I'm back. Did you miss me~?"

Isaac didn't bother to hide his exasperated and wry smile and tried to get her to let go of him - without any success. No matter how hard he tried to pry her away, she didn't budge in the slightest.

"I guess you could say it was a little bit boring without you around. But really, please take a bath before you hug me next time! I have to clean myself now as well, thanks to you…"

Completely ignoring his sour expression and the blame in his eyes, Tiona instead got even closer to him before looking up at his face. With a playful wink, she seductively licked her lips.

"Then why don't you come take a bath with me? It'll be fun~"

Before Isaac had a chance to do more than shake his head in response, Ais had already arrived, clearly a little bit annoyed at her friend's behaviour. Without standing on ceremony, she freed Isaac from the clingy Amazoness' clutches and - seeing that he was already dirty - gave him a hug as well, followed by a quick peck on his lips, making quite a few of the surrounding maidens' cheeks redden.

With an expression as naive and innocent as always, she looked up at him before speaking words nobody had expected.

"You can just take a bath with me."

A slight blush crept on Isaac's cheeks but before he even had the opportunity to let his thoughts get carried away, the killing intent and iciness he felt from Riveria's stare made cold sweat pour down his back.

'This wasn't my idea. I'm a good and proper son-in-law!'

As if she had heard his internal prayers, Riveria didn't let her piercing gaze linger on him for much longer. Instead, with a resigned sigh, she grabbed her staff and hit Ais' head with it. A painful and surprised yelp escaped the breathtaking beauty's mouth and she started to rub the spot that had been hit, feeling wronged.

While she was passing by him, Riveria glared at Isaac once again, clearly delivering a warning, before turning to the onlookers.

"It's time to stop these little games. Everyone, eat dinner, take a bath and then get plenty of rest. We'll have another tough day ahead of us tomorrow."

-----

About an hour later, Ais found herself wrapped in Isaac's warm and gentle embrace and lying in her sleeping bag. She was still unhappy with Riveria's interference and pouting to herself. In her eyes, there really was no problem with taking a bath with Isaac. Wouldn't they end up seeing each other naked sooner or later anyway? What was the harm in doing so a little bit sooner and bonding over a bath? Holding each other's naked body while indulging in a few kisses sounded… pleasant...

If Isaac had known that his pure Ais' thoughts had already been stained to such a degree, he would have probably lamented her rapid - albeit inevitable - loss of innocence. Still, unless he had wanted to lie to himself, he wouldn't have been able to deny that this knowledge would have made him a bit excited.