The Forgemaster tightly clutched the ingot in his hand.
The fact that the Forgemaster’s face had gone completely blank worried the Cabinet Secretary.
“It’s fine. You’re right. All I need to do is start learning again. Then, what are you doing here?”
“What am I… you… Ah, forget it. That undead king has left this city. We’ll be holding a Council meeting tomorrow, and I came to get you. Also, don’t interfere with the runesmiths.”
“Is that so… I understand. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The Cabinet Secretary still felt uneasy, but he could not bring himself to show it.
Fatigue of the body translated to fatigue of the spirit. The Forgemaster would probably recover after a good night’s rest. After forcing himself to accept that explanation, the Cabinet Secretary returned home.
However, the next day, he learned that the Forgemaster had disappeared with the ingot.
2
It was said that there were three trials along the way to the former Royal Capital of the Dwarves.
The first was the Great Rift.
Needless to say, one could not cross it on foot. Of course, one could also look for a way around it, but that increased the chances of encountering monsters. The monsters who lay in wait within such terrain were a fearsome threat to the Dwarves.
It was very difficult to evade an ambush launched by monsters who could sense the footsteps of their targets and attack from underground. One false move might lead to being swallowed and digested. In addition, there were monsters who could launch psychic attacks and deliver lethal blows while the minds of their victims were still confused.
In places like these, humanoids like humans, Dwarves and Elves were little more than prey animals.
While the safest way across would be to take the overland route which cut across the mountain range, that path was still dangerous even for surface-dwellers. One had to worry about being attacked from above by creatures like Perytons, Harpies, Itsumades, Gigant Eagles and other monsters, as well as large flying animals. Since humans had small cones of vision above and below them, a moment’s carelessness might lead to missing an ambush from above, which in turn contained the risk of being slain in one blow.
Thus, merely crossing the Great Rift was a trial in itself.
Because of that, the Dwarves had built a city nearby and raised a suspension bridge. Once the bridge had fallen, nobody would be able to cross, and the Great Rift would serve as an impassable barrier to protect the city.
Now that the suspension bridge had been cut by the Quagoa, the Great Rift was an imposing challenge.
However—
It did not bother Ainz and his company at all. After all, the use of the [Fly] spell rendered it a trivial obstacle.
Then, there was the second trial — the land of molten magma.
This sea of scorching heat shone with blinding radiance. It was an extremely dangerous region where inhaling a single lungful of searing air could char one’s lungs within the chest.
The reason why lava could flow uncounted kilometers beneath the earth was most likely because this world was a magical one. There were naturally-formed portals which were close to [Gates] in power, and they joined the magma flows of this region to those of a distant region.
Amidst this searing ocean lurked the reason why this place was considered a trial.
That would be the monster who swam lazily through the scorching sea.
It was a gigantic monster over 50 meters long, which resembled a fish. To be precise, it resembled an anglerfish. However, it did not have a lure on its head, but a tentacle which substituted for hands. It could seize a distant foe and deposit it into the monster’s oversized jaws.
Its skin was sturdy and tough, and it grew scales like a normal fish, but their toughness far surpassed that of even orichalcum.
Many monsters grew very powerful because they lived a long time. These individuals were famed as superior specimens, and in many cases they would be classified as a different kind of being from their parent race. This monster had completed a specialized form of evolution, and it had become a unique being, found nowhere else in the world.
And so, these were the three rulers of Mt. Rappaslea, as linked by the [Gate]—
The Phoinix Lord, who ruled the sky;
The Ancient Flame Dragon, who ruled the earth;
And the La-Angler Lava Lord, who ruled the underground sea of magma.
If ranked by the adventurers’ difficulty estimates, the master of the molten ocean would score around 140. In all likelihood, one would not survive combat with it.
Fortunately, it was poor at engaging terrestrial targets. One would not be attacked if one stayed out of the magma. However, the road to the Dwarven Royal Capital ran along a narrow, unsteady path that was only a little higher than the sea of molten rock below it.
Quite a number of Quagoa had fallen into the magma during their invasion. Unable to withstand the superheated air which blew up from below, their bodies trembled, which sent them plunging into the sea of molten rock.
However—
The crossing posed no problems for travellers prepared with fire immunity and flight magic. They flew through the air, far above the reach of the La-Angler Lava Lord, and neither party realised the presence of each other.
Thus did Ainz and his company cross the sea of magma.
The trials until now had been easily overcome with flight magic, so it was hard to consider them trials. However, the final trial was a challenge in the truest sense of the word, being a long, twisting and branching series of caves.
It certainly qualified for the title of ”labyrinth”.
Still, that alone would be too easy to count as a trial. There were no monsters in this area, so as long as one spent time on making a map, one could eventually overcome it. And if that were all that were to it, then it would only qualify as a trial to those who lacked food and water — or, in other words, those with limited time.
Yes — there was another reason why this place was considered a trial.
This area was filled with vents which spewed plumes of volcanic gases at regular intervals, and there were places where the gases collected. In other words, it was a hellish area of invisible, fatal poison, lashed by fierce winds.
There were several routes which led to the exit, but there was only one which did so and also avoided the gas. Even that route might end up being filled with gas if one did not traverse it quickly enough.
Even the use of the [Fly] spell — which had trumped every challenge thus far — would only allow them to scrape along the ceiling. The sprayed gas would fill even the air up there with poison as well. At most, all the spell would do was allow one to avoid the areas where the gas had settled and collected.
However—
Ainz and the Guardians had adequate countermeasures against gas-vector attacks, so it posed no problems to them. Rather, the only one who might be affected by gaseous attacks was Gondo. The undead had their immunities, and gases which did not inflict acid or fire damage would not harm them at all. Aura had a magic item which surrounded her in a bubble of fresh air, so mere gas counted for nothing against her.
In other words, as long as Gondo was protected by magic, he could walk safely through the billowing vapors of death.
And so, the three trials — terrain hazards which were deemed impassable to those without preparation or prior knowledge — were easily conquered by Ainz and his party.
Ainz’s spell — the [Bless of Titania], which told its userthe best way through a dungeon — slowly faded away. That was either a sign that its duration had expired, or that its purpose had ended.