Chapter 48

Chapter 48 Strongest Sage, Going Solo

"First of all, the place for pitching a Camp . . . . Basically you want a place like this one . The best one is the site left from a suppressed Monster House . But if you can't find that, the corner of a small passage is also a good choice . You basically want a place with a few blind spots and is enclosed . "

"You mean a place that's easy to defend right! But why Monster House?"

"When a Monster House summons monsters, the surrounding Magic Essence gets eaten up . Thus, it's easier to pitch a camp on the after-site of a Monster House by 2-7 floor than the current floor . "

"Does that Magic Essence thing hinder camp pitching?"

"That's right . Explaining what Magic Essence is would take too long . . . . Well, just think of it as something similar to mana . Mana tends to be thick at a place with thick magic essence after all . "

You'd have no problem using magic even without knowing those tidbits . 、

『Something something that summons monsters』 is good enough .

"And so, we're setting up our Camp here . Are you ready to make magic items?"

"Yes! I can't win on speed against Mathi-kun, and I don't know how to make magic circles, but I'll go at it!"

"Then you'll be fine . First, try making this . "

I take out an iron, turn it into a thin stake and put a magic stone on its tip .

"Yes!"

Ruli proceeded to make the same thing .

Since the shape is simple, she didn't have any trouble .

"This is called a Barrier Stake at its simplest form . Camp is a type of barrier magic so you basically use these for it . "

"Is barrier magic capable of defending against floor 10 monsters? I heard it was only effective up to floor 7 . . . . "

"Is that barrier magic you talking about a type of chant magic?"

"I haven't learned it yet, but yes it should be chant magic!"

" . . . . I think you'd better off forgetting common sense that involves chant magic . "

The current common sense is basically useless . Or rather, it's harmful .

"True, the difference between chant magic and Mathi-kun's magic is too great, it's like they're completely different things . . . . "

Mine's actually the common sense before I reincarnated myself though . . . .

Well, judging from the state of the world, that might have been a story from thousand years in the past .

"Well, you'll see for yourself whether it's effective or not once you try it . For now, drive those stakes on the ground with regular spaces between them . It may differ depending on the floor, or the stake's quality . . . . But having them in four corners of the room, three at the entrance and one at the center should be fine here . "

"We're putting the barrier on other places besides the entrance?"

"There are monsters who that can detect humans' mana through walls, it's a countermeasure for those type of monsters though there's probably nothing like that on this floor . Since Camp isn't a magic that shuts out monster's entry through the barrier force, but a type that prevent them from tracking you through the combination of detection and presence concealment . "

By the way, most monsters can't break through the boundary between floors, thus there is no need to block the top and bottom . Mostly .

"I've finished setting all the stakes!"

"Then let's activate it . Carve this magic circle in places besides the center and this one in the center . "

"It's not image, it's more like augmenting right . "

Ruli begins to carve the magic circles while saying that .

The central magic circle is complex, but the others one are not, the current Ruli can do it while speaking, no problem .

"That one is complex and hard to maintain, though not impossible . With magic circles, you can just make it again and duplicate the old one . By the way, the magic circles used are always the same, so you can set it up quickly just by changing the stakes . "

Barrier magic that isn't augment exists, and you can use that one even without Glory Crest, but it's not suited for Camp due to its stability and maintenance .

Camp's magic circles are quite special composite magic, making a new one from scratch is difficult even for magicians in my past life .

Well the ones I taught Ruli were the common ones with improvements on mana efficiency and concealment strength .

"I've finished carving the magic circles!"

"Now put your mana on the central Barrier Stake to activate it . The magic circle will take care of the rest like assembling the barrier and such . "

"Yes!"

Ruli put her mana on the central magic item and the barrier was build in an instant .

The barrier is invisible to naked eyes, so it just looks like the magic stones are shining, but it's clear as day through 【Passive Detection】 . Easier to see than even a crowd of monsters .

"Ooh . . . . So this is Camp . "

This isn't by chance, it's intended by design .

Make it harder for monsters, easier for humans . This is the concept of Camp magic .

"I can sense some kind of strange magic . . . . Is this Camp?"

It seems Alma's noticed Camp's reaction .

"Yeah . Let's give it a try . Alma, try to enter the camp . "

After Alma entered the Camp, I got out of it a bit and invoked 【Compulsion Detection】 on a monster beyond the wall to lure it here .

A Killer Dog lured by 【Compulsion Detection】 came in front of the Camp . . . . It's confused since it has lost its target .

The Killer Dog looks around restlessly but it doesn't seem like it can find us .

"Wha, it looked at us!"

"We matched eyes just now . . . . "

"But it didn't notice us right? This is the effect of Camp . By the way, Camp's magic circles have an effect that makes monsters consciously avoid going inside, so they can't enter by chance either . And seeing that the art is stable, this Camp will last half a day for sure . "

Afterward, it will depend on luck, but there's quite a good chance for it to last a day .

There is absolutely no mistake that it will last as long as I'm gone .

"Camp is amazing . . . . "

"Yeah . It's a very useful magic . . . . And now you two wait here . I've gotta go fetch some materials on the deeper floors . "

Ruli and Alma would probably be at the level of 『Better off being there with me』 in another month, but unfortunately right now they'd just be a drag .

However, the resources on lower floors are useful, so I'd like to take them now .

I can't take much alone, but there are things that are useful in small quantity too .

"Well, you can't go too deep when you're with us . . . . "

"By the way, Mathi-kun, how deep do you intend to dive?"

"Depending on the strength of the enemy needed for my need . . . . Think it'll be around floor 25 . "

"25!? Wasn't floor 23 the world record for dungeon diving!? And that was by a 30-people party who had received Magic God Gaias-sama's blessing! It's impossible!"