Kays Translations

Chapter 257: Experiment in the Transfer Room

The leader brought Tauro into the transfer room, commonly called the rest room. Its white stone walls were identical to those of the room Tauro had seen in Babylon near the Royal Capital.

More precisely, the two rooms looked exactly the same.

“As you can see, it’s a large, rather barren room. I’ve heard that every rest room on the deeper floors has the same design.”

The leader gave a brief explanation after entering.

“It has the same layout as the room in the dungeon I visited before. Are all rest rooms identical?”

“I’ve heard that other dungeons use the same design as well. Supposedly, identical rooms are easier to visualize when performing spatial transfers. That conclusion is based on generations of tradition and research, so it’s considered reliable.”

“I see. If the room itself is easy to visualize, then the only things one needs to imagine are the desired depth and which dungeon the destination belongs to. That makes sense. Then let’s begin the transfer experiment. I’ll first try moving alone to a slightly lower floor.”

Before the leader could stop him, Tauro activated [Spatial Transfer] and vanished.

“By the gods! Was that [Spatial Transfer]? Tauro-dono disappeared instantly!”

While the leader stood stunned, Tauro found himself standing motionless in what appeared to be the very same white-walled rest room.

“Did [Spatial Transfer] succeed? The dragonfolk warriors are gone… I suppose that proves I moved, even though the room looks identical. Unlike using [Spatial Transfer] outside a dungeon, I barely felt any magical power drain. It hardly feels as though I activated the skill at all.”

With no other obvious indication of movement, the absence of the five warriors was Tauro’s only proof that the transfer had succeeded.

“I’ll check outside, just to be certain.”

Tauro spoke to himself and left the rest room.

Outside, the dungeon had mud-colored walls similar to those on the first floor, though not quite identical, and slimes were scattered throughout the passage.

A numeral had been painted on the wall.

2

“Two—the second floor. It worked. I’d better return to the others.”

Tauro went back into the rest room and used [Spatial Transfer] to return to the first floor.

“Whoa!”

The dragonfolk warriors jumped when Tauro suddenly reappeared before them.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. The experiment appears to have succeeded. Next, I’d like to test whether I can transfer everyone together. Is that all right?”

Convinced that travel between dungeon rest rooms was safe, Tauro proposed the next stage of the experiment.

“Y-yes, understood. Please take all five of us to a lower floor. What should we do?”

The leader and the other warriors looked uneasy about experiencing spatial transfer for the first time.

“Everyone, hold hands and stand on either side of me. Actually, forming a circle will make it simpler. All right—here we go.”

Once everyone had joined hands in a circle, Tauro activated [Spatial Transfer] while imagining a descent to a deeper floor.

“…?”

“…?”

“…”

As before, the identical white stone walls made it appear as though nothing had changed.

Tauro alone sensed that the transfer had likely succeeded, because this time he felt a noticeable drain on his magical power.

“Tauro-dono… did it work?”

“I believe so. I definitely felt magical power being consumed. Let me check outside.”

Tauro started toward the doorway.

“Please wait. To be safe, remain inside the room while you look out.”

The leader reminded him not to take unnecessary risks.

“Understood.”

Tauro nodded, approached the doorway, and peered outside without stepping through it.

As before, the corridor beyond had mud-colored walls.

Tauro had visualized a somewhat deeper descent, but transporting five additional people had apparently prevented him from going beyond the slime layer.

The leader leaned out beside Tauro to inspect the surroundings.

“This must be either the second or third floor of the slime layer. The mud-walled section extends only through the third floor.”

Tauro relaxed when the leader confirmed they were still on a shallow floor.

He had been nervous that they might have emerged somewhere too deep for the group to handle safely.

“Then let’s go to the place where the floor number is marked and confirm our location. I want to compare the magical power consumed with the distance traveled.”

Tauro suggested.

“Very well. The slime layer is safe enough.”

Relieved by the successful transfer, everyone left the room while chatting cheerfully.

“There are slimes, so this is definitely the slime layer. The magical power drain was larger than I expected, which made me think we’d traveled much deeper. Hmm? What’s that?”

Tauro pointed toward an unusual slime.

“It looks shinier than an ordinary slime… perhaps it’s a rare specimen. No—wait, I recognize it! Everyone, protect Tauro-dono! That’s a Slime Emperor!”

The leader shouted a warning.

The other warriors froze for only an instant before forming a defensive wall in front of Tauro.

“Tauro-dono, return to the rest room immediately! That monster should never appear in the slime layer!”

The panic of these first-rate warriors made the gravity of the situation unmistakable.

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