Surviving With An Sss Rank Inventory

Surviving With An Sss-Rank Inventory Chapter 83

Episode 83

The group stayed in Ox to wait for Calliope.

Dio only left a warning to the group not to deviate too far from Ox.

Accordingly, everyone in the group took a break in their own way.

In Evelin’s case, her memories of her hometown were not that good, but they were not all bad.

There were adults who treated her kindly, and the peaceful village of Ox itself remained a place of memories for Evelyn.

With that alone, Evelyn was able to spend the free time Dio gave her in a meaningful way.

-Look at this! Pretty, right? All the flowers blooming around here are yellow. It was my favorite place when I was a kid!

-It’s Oncidium. I like it too.

Evelyn and Sepia went to various places in Oaks, where she had been traveling alone, and talked non-stop.

Evelyn and Sepia were happy just looking at the flowers blooming in Ox.

Ates not only constantly took care of the children, but from an early age, he also took on the responsibility of helping out on behalf of the village men who were busy with farming.

Things like drawing water or moving crops.

Ates may be doing it because he likes it, but if other people see it, they might wonder what kind of city person came out to serve in the countryside.

And Roberto…

-Did you hear what Spade said?

-You heard! He is the head of a famous count family?

-I guess he’s wandering around looking for a companion.

-Ha…how romantic it is.

It may not have been their intention, but the women of Oaks, who were instinctively attracted to him, created a lot of rumors about Roberto.

For some reason, Roberto seems more noble than Ates, the real duke’s master.

Because not only the village wives but also the women were interested in Roberto, Roberto went up to a nearby hill alone.

There, they say they practice the martial arts that Schuwald taught them, or something like that.

Anyway, Dio left his companions wasting their time and rested comfortably in the annex alone.

I never thought a quest that just requires waiting could be this sweet.

Dio spent his time falling asleep and waking up repeatedly, thinking about what to talk about when he met Calliope.

* * *

“D.I.O!”

Someone whispered to Dio, who was sleeping in the largest room of the annex, shaking him.

“D.I.O! wake up!”

“hmm?”

Dio opened his eyes, saw Evelyn waking him up, and slowly raised his upper body from the bed.

Dio, whose blurred vision returned, was able to see not only Evelyn but the rest of the party.

“what? “Why are you all gathered together?”

When Dio asked, Evelyn, who had woken him up, spoke on behalf of the group.

“Master….”

“I can’t hear you very well.”

“I received a call from my teacher!”

At Evelyn’s words, Dio, who was still half asleep, began to wake up.

“Who contacted you? No contact? how?”

When Dio asked again as if to confirm, Evelyn held out the crow hanging on her arm without answering.

Tsusut –

The crow’s body burned with a bright purple flame and instantly transformed into a crystal ball.

“Master sent a reply to my familiar. look.”

Evelyn said while showing Dio her familiar that had transformed into a bead shape.

Dio realized that this was a communication network used by witches and looked closely at the bead.

Inside the bead, letters floated that looked like someone had scrawled them, and Dio was able to immediately recognize the sentences they made.

[Come to the lake.]

Calliope’s reply, who must be at the lake near Ox.

Dio could tell that Evelyn quickly gathered the group as soon as she received the call.

‘Did you know we were waiting for you in the Ox? ‘But why is she calling us instead of coming herself?’

Dio was puzzled, recalling what the Oaks chief said about people not wanting to visit the lake.

However, since Calliope was the only one who would send messages through Evelyn’s familiar, it was difficult to suspect or ignore this.

Rather, I thought positively that it would be better than just waiting.

“Let’s get moving first. “Everyone follow me.”

Dio, who knew the location of the lake, took the lead and went out of the house.

The party also expected Dio to immediately go in search of the Witch of Balance, so they prepared accordingly.

Sephia and Roberto seemed to be looking forward to meeting the new seven stars.

On the other hand, Ates was different as he had not heard the truth about the power of the sun or the existence of the seven stars.

‘You say the witch is a helper… but she’s probably casting some strange hex on me, right?’

I was just nervous about the fact that I was going to meet a scary witch.

“I heard it would be difficult to get a reply.”

Dio quickly left the Ox and asked Evelyn.

“I know. “It’s my first time receiving an answer so quickly…”

“Something urgent may have happened.”

Dio thought that there must be a reason why Calliope had called them so urgently.

What is that urgent matter?

Is it related to the quest?

“Have you never been to the lake?”

“doesn’t exist. “I’ve been in a cave for two whole years since I left this area.”

Evelyn shook her head and responded to Dio’s words.

“I also don’t know what Master is doing in Oaks. “I knew you were going around the village…”

Evelyn had no particular desire to return to her hometown.

Evelyn was enjoying herself as the memories came back to her only now, but before she met Dio, she was busy with witch research.

Even though she knew that Calliope visited her hometown regularly, she did not bother to follow him.

Before moving to the cave, I stayed in Calliope’s house for several years, but I never left and I don’t even know where I am.

There was a reason Calliope preferred to wander alone in the first place.

‘It would be a waste of time if we guessed it ourselves. Anyway, we need to hurry.’

Dio was anxious on the inside, but even if he thought about it further, he couldn’t figure out anything.

* * *

[Entered the Lake of Topaz.]

Calliope has watched Ox for a long time.

Perhaps that’s why a lake not far from Oaks was named after her.

There is also an interesting tale about Topaz Lake, and it is a common story about a mountain spirit living there.

Roughly speaking, when a woodcutter drops an ax into a lake, the spirit of Sansing appears and puts the ax back in his hand.

The problem is that the ax that the mountain spirit took out was not a gold or silver ax, but an ax reborn from alloy.

‘Are you a blacksmith?’

The woodcutter who received the strengthened ax defeated the monsters and thieves invading the village and became peaceful or something.

Dio didn’t know how the tale was created, but he was sure that if the mountain spirit existed, it must be Calliope.

A setting that seems to have been created by the game company by imitating the tale of the mountain spirit and the woodcutter.

Of course, when I was a player, I did all sorts of things to the lake based on this story, but she never came out.

So, the established theory was that in order to catch the Witch of Balance, you had to encounter her on the street or in a village.

‘Now that it has become reality, you will be able to meet Calliope here.’

Quaaaaaa –

When Dio’s group arrived in front of the vast Topaz Lake, the water in the lake began to split.

‘It seemed like there was something underneath the lake.’

Although it was nothing compared to the sea, the eyes of the other party members, except Dio, widened at the strange phenomenon, which was like a miracle of Moses.

“Water on its own?”

“Huh! “Are you sure the witch is on our side?”

Artificially transforming a natural object, even a large lake like the ocean, is a magic that even the most high-ranking wizards cannot dare to imitate.

Despite Ates’ cries full of worry, Dio told him not to worry and pointed to the center of the split lake.

At the bottom of the magically divided lake was a beautiful garden made of coral, and in the middle of the garden was a huge mansion.

“Wow-”

Evelyn was also amazed as she looked at the beautiful and magnificent panorama, as it was her first time seeing it.

“Let’s go quickly!”

Unlike the other party members who were cautious, Evelyn, Calliope’s disciple, was simply happy that she had come to her teacher’s domain.

“Let’s go too.”

Following Evelyn, who was running ahead, Dio and his group slowly walked through the split lake.

Wooooow –

A blue curtain surrounding the mansion.

The shield, which seemed to be a barrier created by Calliope, opened a small gap as Dio and his group approached.

‘They know we came.’

When Dio and the others entered the shield, the gap closed again and at that moment.

Sigh-!

The waters of the split lake engulfed the mansion as if it were swallowing it up.

Fortunately, the curtain blocked water from entering and exiting, so Dio and his group did not get drowned.

‘Go away to the aquarium.’

After Dio gave a short review and confirmed that he had gained knowledge experience, he slowly approached the mansion and the door opened by itself.

Squeak –

The moment Dio leads his group and enters the mansion.

bang!

The door to the mansion, which had opened on its own, closed again in an instant.

* * *

A dark hallway lit only by orange candles.

Plop-plop-

Dio and his companions were moving forward along the hallway.

“It’s spooky, isn’t it? Maybe it’s because it’s inside the lake, but it seems cold…”

“Is that so?”

As Ates spoke, bending both arms inward, Evelyn spoke without empathizing with Ates’ feelings.

Not only Evelyn but also the rest of the party except Ates didn’t seem to think it was particularly cold.

‘Is it related to the power of the sun? Artes is not related to the power of the sun…’

Thinking of a plausible reason, Dio continued to move forward and eventually they were able to arrive at what appeared to be a huge main hall.

Hook –

When Dio’s group entered the main hall, the candles that were the only light lighting the area went out in an instant.

“What is it?”

“I can’t see anything!”

Complete darkness came upon the group.

The companions were embarrassed by this and started an uproar, but Dioman calmly gave instructions.

“Everyone light up.”

Hwaak –

Dio gathered the strength in his hands and radiated the power of the sun without even having to take out the lantern.

Then, the group followed Dio and each used the power of the sun to create light.

“What is it? “How do you light it?”

However, unlike the rest of the group, only Ates, who could not emit light, was on guard and shouted.

It’s as if I alone can’t see anything even though other people are clearly shining the light.

“Someone take care of him.”

At Dio’s words, Roberto grabbed Ates and calmed him down.

The dark room that the party has now come to is not an ordinary space where light is blocked.

This dark space, like the fantasy magic used by Kalfael, has special rules.

This means that only those who turn on the light themselves can see their surroundings, and those who do not can see nothing even if their surroundings become bright.

This is the basic skill of Calliope, the Witch of Balance, called ‘Dark Room’.

‘I had quite a hard time trying to attack this pattern.’

Dio remembered the first time he encountered the Witch of Balance.

In those days when there was no attack on Pentacle Castle, Dio could do nothing against Calliope.

You might be wondering why simply emitting light is such a difficult strategy…

‘It’s tricky in that it forces the opponent to emit light and restricts their actions.’

In other words, if you want to continue engaging with Calliope in this space, you must also pay attention to continuing to illuminate yourself.

Not only that, the range of light created is very limited.

Currently, the space visible to Dio is just a distance that only the surrounding party members can see.

The rest of the space was still pitch dark, and the meaning of this was clear.

Swoosh –

A shadow blade suddenly protrudes from the darkness.

Kaan-!

Dio, as if he knew this would happen, struck away the blade aimed at his face with his gauntlet.

The reason why actions are restricted and the background is colored in darkness.

This means that the conditions are optimal for the Witch of Balance to launch a surprise attack.

“I’ve already dealt with the power of the sun… That’s pretty good, isn’t it?”

An elegant voice heard in pitch darkness.

“Hello? You are the key?”

A woman who appeared, clearing away the pitch black… Calliope, the Witch of Balance, smiled brightly at Dio.

Survive as an SSS-level warehouse character