A month had passed since Sol’s party had begun their dive into Abyss. During this time, Atriesta had fully outgrown its nickname as the Ruined Capital. Similarly, the cities being rebuilt all through the western expanse now had an established economy and could stand on their own. They were more than equipped to serve as bases for territory clearing and dungeon diving without needing to rely on facilities on the Floating Continent or other floating islands.
Progress into Abyss was going just as fast. Sol’s party had taken it easy at the start out of concern for Rosalind, clearing only two or three floors each day, but the more familiar they got with fighting in normal gear, the more they picked up their pace. Now, they blew through five or six each day.
Thanks to this breakneck speed, they had finally defeated the Floor 99 boss yesterday, called it a day, and returned today to tackle their very first triple-digit floor. They found it to be a space so enormous that they could scarcely believe it was underground and entirely devoid of the usual labyrinthian structures. The ceiling here was extremely high up, judging by how long it had taken them to descend the spiral staircase from Floor 99, and there were walls on their left and right within visual range, but there was no telling how far the path before them stretched into the darkness. Like all other floors, that path was lined by braziers that lit up when Sol’s party approached.
It was the first time they were seeing a dungeon floor that looked so much like a simple large room. But odd architecture aside, it was filled with the maximum number of monsters it could spawn. Unsurprisingly, the first fight set off a chain reaction that drew all of them over. It ended up being one big prolonged fight, with several mid-sized and three large monsters showing up, but Sol’s party handily dealt with everything without needing Luna’s help.
By this point, there was no territory on the surface that could pose a threat to their party. They could even wipe the floor with the united forces of several countries’ armies in their normal gear. They eclipsed even other members of Libertadores, some of whom had participated in the dungeon diving a few times over the past month, in not only individual strength but also teamwork.
Sol was saying, “I see, so there’s a possibility you won’t inherit Unlimited Sword Glint either...”
The party was now proceeding farther into the space that had been completely emptied of monsters. There wasn’t a single red dot on Player’s map, nor was Luna picking up any presences. Therefore, they had naturally started chatting to stave off the boredom. The current topic was the Crystanian royal family’s unique skill, which Sol had heard snippets about over the past month.
“Yes. And it worries me,” Rosalind replied, her small face scrunched up in a frown.
“There is no doubt she is the rightful successor, though,” said Rodem. “She was the only person with the right to inherit me.”
By now, Blue Water had come to see itself as a unique entity and Type Rodem, its vessel, was its body. It had been imperfect before, when it had dwelled inside the mind of its heirs and would invariably assimilate them into its collective consciousness. The problem had been especially obvious when the heir was too young to have developed their sense of self. This time, however, Sol had shown up and given it the ability to separate itself from Rosalind, and it was deeply grateful to him for it. Though a lot of this emotion came from Rosalind’s own father, it also was the general consensus of the collective persona.
The other thing that Crystanian royals inherited, Unlimited Sword Glint, remained a mystery, though. Custom dictated that the prince or princess who received the talent would get the throne, but in Rosalind’s case, everyone else in her bloodline had died before her twelfth birthday. That was why Blue Water had fallen on her before anyone knew whether she would inherit the family’s unique skill.
The likelihood was high, given that the previous heir was already dead and she was the only candidate. However, records showed a few instances where, under similar circumstances, Unlimited Sword Glint had not appeared for several generations. Therefore, Rosalind’s worries remained.
Unlimited Sword Glint was an extremely powerful skill and a necessary arrow in the arsenal of the kings who had maintained the Kingdom of Magic’s place at the top of the world until its demise two centuries earlier. They wouldn’t have been able to do so without a clear power that could crush the fighting spirit of hostile neighbors and discourage dissidents from forming within their borders, even with the counsel of Ruler’s Wisdom.
“You still have five years,” said Frederica, who had desperately wished to inherit Absolutus herself until she turned twelve. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Rosalind nodded. “I’ll do my best!”
Frederica had been more ambitious, as what had been on the line was a great nation still in its heyday, but she could understand how it felt to be a seven-year-old girl dreaming of becoming the ideal ruler but anxious about whether she could meet the conditions. It had been a very big blow when Frederica’s hopes had been dashed—not only because she had not gotten what she’d wanted, but also because the thought of inheriting a position beyond her station without being suitably equipped had terrified her. This was why, rather out of character, she had only managed to give Rosalind a platitude.
“I don’t think it’s something you need worry about,” said Rodem, who understood better than anyone else that this wasn’t something that could be resolved by doing one’s best. “Especially when you can pretend otherwise.”
“Oh, right,” said Sol. “I was surprised to learn it wasn’t actually unlimited, but how many do you have stored at present?”
“Roughly a hundred thousand.”
“So it’s actually ‘Hundred Thousand Sword Glint’... Nah, doesn’t roll off the tongue.”
Jokes aside, Unlimited Sword Glint was the ability to save up flying slashes and release them later at will. Of course, the process of storing them required an heir to actually swing a sword. This power that was described in history texts and war tales as a feat equal to an act of God was, surprisingly, the collective result of a lot of slow and steady hard work.
Then again, such trump cards were fine too. With enough preparation to use it when needed and the discernment to know when that was, even a card that wasn’t all-powerful could have as much effect as an ace. Case in point, Crystania had been seen by the world as the top of the Five World Powers until its encounter with Country Eater.
In any case, the flying slashes in question could be stored within Blue Water for following generations to unleash. That meant, thanks to the efforts of Rosalind’s ancestors, she could unleash a hundred thousand slashes even if she didn’t end up inheriting the talent. Because the kings and queens before her had also been able to do so when needed, the world at large was under the impression that all generations manifested this talent. With a hundred thousand in the quiver, pretending wasn’t all that difficult. There was one time when a neighboring country had been convinced that the Crystanian king at the time didn’t have it and saw it as an opportunity to attack but was thoroughly trounced, with the Crystanian king famously saying, “Only fools believe solely what they want to believe.”
“Unlimited Sword Glint is actually a really cool name,” said Reen, who was starting to be affected by Sol’s preferences. With the way he wordlessly nodded agreement, the two were starting to give off the vibe of a “two peas in a pod” couple of late.
“It was named based on the vision of what it was supposed to be,” said Rodem matter-of-factly. “And honestly, now that we are under Lord Sol’s wing, whether Rosalind inherits it or not has become rather inconsequential.”