«I'm sorry I took up your time». When I came back, I started with an apology. That was because these guys didn't even know Dwalkie. It seemed natural to apologize because it had consumed exploration time for personal reasons. Of course, the reactions of my colleagues were considered.
«There is nothing to regret. How do you see us?»
«Yes, Raven is right. You worry about strange things. Any of us could be in that person's situation one day».
I don't think we should say something like that...
As I thought this to myself, Raven spoke to Mr. Bear on my behalf. «...Mr. Urikfried, could you please not screw up something like that?»
«Raven, you don't even believe in superstitions».
«Now I'm an explorer.»
«Oh, sure». Mr. Bear giggled and the heavy atmosphere lightened.
Did he say it on purpose to make a joke?
«What are you looking at?»
...Probably not.
Seeing the cheeky look in Raven's eyes, I chuckled and slowly got to the point. «Now. If you have all rested, let's explore the island».
It was time to start exploring.
The Island of Beginnings, Laemia, was the first island you reached no matter what route you took, but it was not only because of this symbolism that Laemia was called the Island of Beginnings. Here were basic materials for exploring the sixth floor, at least in principle.
«It has already been emptied».
Climbing to the top of a mountain located in the center of the island, we look around us with upset eyes. There was usually a special tree growing here. Its hardness was like that of grade 3 metal and it was light enough to float on water.
«Well, no matter how fast a tree grows, it won't fully grow in a month».
However, when we reached the top, the only thing greeting us were thousands of stumps. Well, it's not that there weren't trees grown to some extent...
«Most of these cannot be used.»
«Still, there are some who can. At least let's take this».
We soon took out the axes we had prepared, chose only those that were a size that could be processed into materials, and packed them into the subspace one by one. It took us about thirty minutes to do everything.
«If all goes well we should be able to take this amount back next month».
«Yeah. If there are no people then, like this time».
Ugh, it would be nice if the sixth floor was restored every month, too. It was disappointing in many ways. From the first floor to the fifth, everything restarted when the maze opened the following month, but not from the sixth. Here, time flowed in its own way, just as the marks engraved on that enormous rock were not erased.
«Wow, there's something written on the rock! It looks like a text... what does it say?».
«Don't you go to the holy land every day to learn to read?».
«Haha, I already quit a long time ago!».
Sighing briefly at Ainar's unnecessary joy, I approached the rock and read the words scribbled on it. Most of it was nonsense. So-and-so was here, please make me succeed, so-and-so I like you, etc.
It seems like people here do graffiti too.
I chuckled and looked away. Below stretched the immense sea. There may not have been many trees, but being so high, I could see the island that could not be seen from below.
«Ah, ésa debe de ser la isla Farune».
Farune Island was the second island located north of the Island of Beginnings. It was also the place we would go next.
«Abman, I'm just asking just in case but can you feel the location of the portal?»
«No, just the one on this island».
«Ya veo.»
When I nodded, Raven spoke as if to defend Mr. Bear. «Don't be so disappointed. It's because it turns out that this floor is very wide. I heard that if you approach the portal you can feel where it is again».
What disappointment? Unlike the lower floors, there wasn't much a guide could do on the sixth floor in the first place, especially right after entering.
«Anyway, since we have everything we need, let's go down».
Finishing my business at the top, I descended back to shore with my team and headed in the direction of the island we saw at the top. At first, the standard strategy was to make a boat on the Isle of Beginnings by rooting a few more trees.
But the general rule is to skip work with money.
So I took the ship I prepared out of subspace and floated it in the water. I purchased it with a portion of the amount raised from the funds shared as soon as the clan was founded. Although I had to spend most of the shared funds, if it weren't for the current situation, I would never have found it at this price. The timing was good in many ways. Trees purchased in the future could be used to upgrade the ship or sold as logs to purchase a better one.
«Bjorn... This won't go down, will it?»
Why you, we even floated a boat on the Gnome Tree and fished on it...Oh, the boat capsized then.
«Don't worry. I tested the performance in the city. It will be fine as long as we don't move too much».
«But... ack! Is shaking! Something is wrong with the boat! It's so different from last time!»
«That's because it was a lake then and now it's an ocean».
Actually, the biggest problem was that the boat was twice as small as the one we had then. Anyway, at the end of that commotion, we boarded the ship one after another.
«Now, let's set sail!»
As we practiced on the city floor, we rowed hard against the waves. That was because our ship had no sails. If I had bought one with a candle, it would have been too small for four people, and I didn't have enough money to buy a big one. There was always something romantic about rookie days, right?
«Do I think the ship is going backwards...?»
«You're wrong! Row harder!»
«One two. One two!»
There was a bit of trial and error as it was our first time paddling in a real situation, but as explorers who pushed the impossible to make it possible, we quickly got used to it.
«Oh, the island is getting closer!» It seemed like the content of the navigation stimulated her emotions because Raven reacted to every little thing, unlike herself. However, that lively mood did not last long.
It's taking much longer than I thought...
It didn't seem that far from the top, but actually paddling the boat, the speed was that of a slug. Or was I the only one who felt that way? To think that we would face a challenge so quickly after entering the sixth floor.
«Blargh.»
«B-Bjorn? What's happening?
«E-disease of movement...»
Bjorn Yandel was not made for the sea.
Seeing me half dying from dizziness, Missha asked worriedly: «M-dizziness? Doesn't that just happen in the carriage?».
I wondered how I could ask that, but it was probably my point of view. It made sense if you had only lived within the walls of a castle your entire life.
Raven also seemed to know this as a fact. «Cinetosis» refers to dizziness caused by a disparity between vision and the feeling of balance. It means it doesn't just happen in a carriage».
«Ah, I see...» Missha nodded with a voice that clearly didn't understand anything that had just been said. «No wonder my stomach has been nauseous before...».
Although Missha was better, the barbarian warrior by birth Ainar was worse than me. «M-move! Blargh!» Unable to row at all, Ainar grabbed the railing and began to empty his insides.
«¡Kyaa!»
«W-Stop! Miss Ainar! He can't move like that!»
He was vomiting so fiercely that his movements were shaking the ship from side to side. In truth, it was so violent that it seemed like the ship could capsize.
«¡Bleh, BLARGH!»
«¡P-Stop!»
Since the ship was too small to even stand and walk, there was no way to physically stop Ainar. Also, four people here didn't know how to swim. Excluding Erwen and Missha, no one knew how to do it. Since we were quite far from the island, even if I used Gigantization like last time, my feet wouldn't touch the ground.
Wait, isn't this a really dangerous situation, then?
When it occurred to me that this couldn't happen as a small incident, I quickly judged the situation and gave orders. «Raven! Knock her unconscious with magic!»
«¡Ah, cierto! ¡Seara Bayreon!»
«Uh, woop, huh...? Hnng...» Luckily, Ainar did not yet have a proper mana resistance setting, so he lost consciousness with a single stroke of magic.
«U-um, Sir... I think I'm going to die.»
«Uh, me too. I should do it too».
Unable to resist the furious wave that was Ainar, the team members were incapacitated one by one.
«Still, Mr. Urikfried is surprisingly norm-»
«...Bleghhhhhhh!»
«U-uh... El Sr. Yandel esta List-»
Of course it wasn't.
«Grrrrruhh!» I vomited as I grabbed the guardrail as gently as possible while someone sighed from behind.
«...Why isn't there a single normal person here?». Surprisingly, Raven didn't get sick.
***
The concept of the sixth floor was simple: Sail across the vast sea and pass several islands to head to the seventh floor. That is why a navigator on this floor was essential, specialized personnel who could steer a ship and record the sea routes and who had even consumed an essence to help with navigation.
Well, applicants for this will be in abundance as long as we have a proper boat, so there's no need to rush.
Coming down from the bow, I pulled the boat myself to head to shore and put it in subspace to make sure I couldn't lose it. It was a method that could only be used now as long as we handled a small boat. If we wanted to cross this damn ocean and all kinds of calm areas and seas of ice, there had to be a big boat.
That is the reason why a sixth floor clan is also recommended.
Since a boat was so expensive, exploring on a team scale on the sixth floor could only be a burden.
«Ugh, earth! Land!»
The sun was beginning to set in the distance. Arriving at Farune Island, we had a simple meal and immediately prepared to camp.
«To make the sunset look like this...»
«Honestly. For the first time today, I was glad I became an explorer».
Having only seen the sunset over the castle walls, seeing it over the mountains left a great impression on my companions. Actually, the same thing happened to me. Being on a sandy beach like this made me feel like I was on an island somewhere on Earth. However, I had never visited an island like this.
Why didn't I go sooner...?
For the first time I regretted having locked myself in my room to play. At that time, he undoubtedly lived in an even bigger world, without the walls of a castle.
«Ainar, veto to sleep. We will awaken you to the final».
«Can?»
«Yes you had a bad time...»
«Thank you, Missha!»
Giving Ainar, who had had a hard time due to dizziness, the last turn, the rest of us decided on the order of guard.
«I don't think we need to stay two at a time. I have heard that only monsters below rank 8» appear on this island.
«Okay. Let's take turns on our own and wake up others if something happens».
«Um, but if we're going to do that, why don't we sleep on the island we were on? There were no monsters there».
«At that time we didn't know it would take so long to arrive.»
«Oh... right.»
As the day was moderately warm, we just placed our sleeping bags on the sand and lay down, although we brought a tent because it rained often here.
«You are beautiful».
«Yes, you are right».
Looking at the Milky Way spread across the sky, we all agreed to look at the stars tonight.
«...My wife would have liked this too.»
«You say it like she's dead. I'm going to tell your wife».
«...What are you talking about? I just wanted to say that I'm sad to stop exploring! That's all!»
«Stop chatting and go to sleep. We will explore the island as soon as the sun rises tomorrow».
Was it because it was our first night on the sixth floor? Since we were restless, it took us a long time to fall asleep.
«I want us to take a look at the coast first before entering».
The next morning, waking up early, we cleared our camp and toured the island in a complete circle. Not for any great reason, I just wanted to see with my own eyes how different the game and reality were.
The island is bigger than I expected.
That's what I thought when we were halfway around the island.
«Oh, Bjorn! There's a boat there!»
We discovered a ship anchored on the shore. It was not up to par with a large sailboat, but it was still about three times larger than ours and had everything we needed.
«With this, the calm zone and even the frozen seas will not be a problem. Of course, it bears the owner's mark».
«Oh, does that mean we can't take him?». Ainar tilted his head with innocent eyes at Raven's explanation.
«Hey, barbarian. What are you doing now in front of our ship?». The owner of the ship appeared from inside the island. «No, wait a minute, are you the barbarian from before?».
«How long without seeing you». It was a face he remembered.