"That's bad. If we find a powerful enemy, we'd die."
"Not quite."
"What do you mean? The mana recovery is slow." Akira frowned.
"It's slow, but our mana will still recover. It is better than none at all. Furthermore, with the world obsessed with balance. What makes you think this Tower is any different?"
"So you're saying we can survive despite this condition?"
"Yeah, this world is like a video game. If it exists, it's beatable."
Akira grunted in acknowledgement and opened her panel, "How are we going to beat the first floor though? It doesn't seem building a temple work. Where else should we build it?"
She has seen Shun building a temple with his magic, yet the progress bar didn't budge.
"There should be clues in the city."
Hunters recorded their experience inside a Tower to the public, and as a kid that is dying to enter it but can't due to his low level, he could only read these records.
As a result, he knew more about Tower than an average hunter.
If this Tower is no different than those records, then clues usually hide nearby or in a landmark.
With this place just a city surrounded by green field, it was like a beacon in the dark, screaming to get closer.
This city hides the clue required to build the temple.
"Yeah but we've walked around and didn't found anything interesting."
"Isn't there one?"
"The fountain..."
They walked to the fountain and observed its surrounding, hoping to find a clue.
"This is hopeless, Shun. Three hours in and we haven't found anything. All I found is this stuffed animal."
Shun paused what he was doing and looked at Akira, "What did you find from it?"
"It's a stuffed animal, what'd you expect me to find?"
Shun approached closer and opened his hand, "Can I check?"
"Sure."
It's a bear stuffed animal. It's soft and squishy, providing a sense of security and reduce stress. Good for children!
He squished a few times and noticed there was something inside. It doesn't seem like a voice bank as after thorough investigation with his hand, he failed to find any button.
He then poured a bit of his mana to detect any traps from the tiny bear.
"There's something inside, but we can't retrieve it due to explosive runes underneath the fabric. A single tear and it'll rip us apart.
"Where did you find it?"
"On top of a roof. It's something like that." She pointed at a nearby roof. There was a tiny crevice to the left that has a little bit of space there.
If one put a stuffed bear there, Shun would have hard time to notice it
"How did you even found it?"
"I have good eyes."
Shun didn't probe further and focused on the bear.
"What are you doing?"
"I'll try to disable the traps."
His grandma taught him a few useful tricks. Well, only limited to basics of disarming traps. If the trap is complicated than the one he was disarming now, he wouldn't be able to do it.
"Successful."
"That's fast."
He practiced disarming trap every day, after all. The school offered such a facility.
"Yeah, but I didn't completely disarm it, that'd need intermediate knowledge of runes. I only disarm a tiny spot that's enough for us to retrieve the voicebank."
He ripped the bear carefully, spread out enough to slipped in his fingers.
After retrieving the voicebank with slow motion, Shun let out a sigh of relieve.
Just then, the bear exude smoke through its orifices.
Without a second thought, Shun flung it to the air.
Around five meters away from him, the bear exploded into pieces and from the center of the explosion, it formed a tiny black hole. Its suction force pulled in the air greedily.
Despite the distance between them, Shun felt his body being dragged. He cloaked his feet with aura before stomping, penetrating the ground and burying his ankle.
He reached out to Akira as she was struggling to walk the opposite way. Akira noticed and grab his hand tightly.
The suction force became powerful that the paved path just below the black hole lifted. It got disintegrated by the gravity around the black hole, becoming atom in seconds.
Shun gritted his teeth. He looked at the ground.
If the suction force became powerful, the ground that his feet relied onwould also get devoured.
He thought of new plans, when all of a sudden, the black hole shrink within a few moments.
There was silence at this moment. He couldn't forget what he's seeing. The debris that's about to enter the void stay afloat, and the air felt tight and suffocating. The sun seemed sharper than before.
But the peace lasted short when an explosion burst out. Before it occurred, however, his instinct told him to run.
He pulled his leg and ran while holding her hand.
As he knew they couldn't outran the explosion, he crouched and touched the ground.
Activating his skill, he commanded the earth to encase them like a boulder. The inside was cramp and stuffy, but none complained.
The boulder trembled immensely.
"Will this hold out?"
"Just hold on!"
Shun pressed his palm against the boulder before applying aura as an extra barrier.
From the outside, the boulder was launched hundred meters away due to the explosion. When Shun applied aura, yellow glow could be seen around it.
Spending a good time in the air, the boulder finally grew bored and start to descend to what appeared to be a mountain.
Traveling at hundreds of kilometres, it crashed with a sound reminiscent of an explosion and formed a deep crater. A cloud of dust covered the entire area.
Inside, as the boulder crashed, both fell to the ground. Thankfully, due to a hunter's natural tough skin, they only get away with minor pain and injuries.
Thanks to the fall, they ended up in a rather weird position.
The boulder cracked open, revealing two people inside with the young woman on top of the young man, where his head was just between her hands and both were staring at each other directly.
With this distance, Shun could feel her warm breathing, and her beautiful silver eyes that hypnotized him for a second.
Both stared at each other for a few moments.
"How long are you going to stay like that?" Shun asked as he snapped back.
"Ah! Sorry!" Akira got up and sidestepped. Her face red as a beet as she fan herself with her hand.
Shun checked his mana and couldn't help but worried. He used most of his mana to escape that explosion, and if a fight break out, he would be no different than an ordinary civilian.
He must stay careful and avoid any unnecessary fights if possible.
"Shun, look."
He felt a tap from the side.
"What is it?"
Akira pointed her finger and he followed. The sight before him shocked him.
In the distance was a mushroom cloud rising, and below it was the city that has turned to rubbles.
However, once every few seconds, these rubbles would float and rebuild the city to its former glory.
At this rate, it'd take two days for the city to return back to normal.
"What's your plan now, Shun?"
They've been launched hundreds of kilometres away from their starting point. Going back doesn't necessarily mean a good thing, but staying in a foreign place held the same value.
"This place gives me the creeps."
"Well, let's listen to what this voice bank has to offer before we can decide on our next move."
'Thankfully, I store it in my inventory before the black hole appeared and threw a tantrum.'
Shun pressed a button and a voice of a woman came out of the voicebank.
"The night is the key, yet a dead end.
"As the Realm is your path, and your salvation. With the guidance may stray, and the truth dwindle.
"Seek the heavens, as upon a sea of stars are the answer."