Chapter 48 Strongest Sage, Going Solo

 

"First of all, the place for pitching a Camp.... Basically you want a place like this one. The best one is the site left from a suppressed Monster House. But if you can't find that, the corner of a small passage is also a good choice. You basically want a place with a few blind spots and is enclosed."

"You mean a place that's easy to defend right! But why Monster House?"

"When a Monster House summons monsters, the surrounding Magic Essence gets eaten up. Thus, it's easier to pitch a camp on the after-site of a Monster House by 2-7 floor than the current floor."

"Does that Magic Essence thing hinder camp pitching?"

"That's right. Explaining what Magic Essence is would take too long.... Well, just think of it as something similar to mana. Mana tends to be thick at a place with thick magic essence after all."

You'd have no problem using magic even without knowing those tidbits.、
『Something something that summons monsters』 is good enough.

"And so, we're setting up our Camp here. Are you ready to make magic items?"

"Yes! I can't win on speed against Mathi-kun, and I don't know how to make magic circles, but I'll go at it!"

"Then you'll be fine. First, try making this."

I take out an iron, turn it into a thin stake and put a magic stone on its tip.

"Yes!"

Ruli proceeded to make the same thing.
Since the shape is simple, she didn't have any trouble.

"This is called a Barrier Stake at its simplest form. Camp is a type of barrier magic so you basically use these for it."

"Is barrier magic capable of defending against floor 10 monsters? I heard it was only effective up to floor 7...."

"Is that barrier magic you talking about a type of chant magic?"

"I haven't learned it yet, but yes it should be chant magic!"

"....I think you'd better off forgetting common sense that involves chant magic."

The current common sense is basically useless. Or rather, it's harmful.

"True, the difference between chant magic and Mathi-kun's magic is too great, it's like they're completely different things...."

Mine's actually the common sense before I reincarnated myself though....
Well, judging from the state of the world, that might have been a story from thousand years in the past.

"Well, you'll see for yourself whether it's effective or not once you try it. For now, drive those stakes on the ground with regular spaces between them. It may differ depending on the floor, or the stake's quality.... But having them in four corners of the room, three at the entrance and one at the center should be fine here."

"We're putting the barrier on other places besides the entrance?"

"There are monsters who that can detect humans' mana through walls, it's a countermeasure for those type of monsters though there's probably nothing  like that on this floor. Since Camp isn't a magic that shuts out monster's entry through the barrier force, but a type that prevent them from tracking you through the combination of detection and presence concealment."

By the way, most monsters can't break through the boundary between floors, thus there is no need to block the top and bottom. Mostly.

"I've finished setting all the stakes!"

"Then let's activate it. Carve this magic circle in places besides the center and this one in the center."

"It's not image, it's more like augmenting right."

Ruli begins to carve the magic circles while saying that.
The central magic circle is complex, but the others one are not, the current Ruli can do it while speaking, no problem.

"That one is complex and hard to maintain, though not impossible. With magic circles, you can just make it again and duplicate the old one. By the way, the magic circles used are always the same, so you can set it up quickly just by changing the stakes."

Barrier magic that isn't augment exists, and you can use that one even without Glory Crest, but it's not suited for Camp due to its stability and maintenance.
Camp's magic circles are quite special composite magic, making a new one from scratch is difficult even for magicians in my past life.
Well the ones I taught Ruli were the common ones with improvements on mana efficiency and concealment strength.

"I've finished carving the magic circles!"

"Now put your mana on the central Barrier Stake to activate it. The magic circle will take care of the rest like assembling the barrier and such."

"Yes!"

Ruli put her mana on the central magic item and the barrier was build in an instant.
The barrier is invisible to naked eyes, so it just looks like the magic stones are shining, but it's clear as day through 【Passive Detection】. Easier to see than even a crowd of monsters.

"Ooh.... So this is Camp."

This isn't by chance, it's intended by design.
Make it harder for monsters, easier for humans. This is the concept of Camp magic.

"I can sense some kind of strange magic....  Is this Camp?"

It seems Alma's noticed Camp's reaction.

"Yeah. Let's give it a try. Alma, try to enter the camp."

After Alma entered the Camp, I got out of it a bit and invoked 【Compulsion Detection】 on a monster beyond the wall to lure it here.

A Killer Dog lured by 【Compulsion Detection】 came in front of the Camp.... It's confused since it has lost its target.
The Killer Dog looks around restlessly but it doesn't seem like it can find us.

"Wha, it looked at us!"

"We matched eyes just now...."

"But it didn't notice us right? This is the effect of Camp. By the way, Camp's magic circles have an effect that makes monsters consciously avoid going inside, so they can't enter by chance either. And seeing that the art is stable, this Camp will last half a day for sure."

Afterward, it will depend on luck, but there's quite a good chance for it to last a day.
There is absolutely no mistake that it will last as long as I'm gone.

"Camp is amazing...."

"Yeah. It's a very useful magic.... And now you two wait here. I've gotta go fetch some materials on the deeper floors."

Ruli and Alma would probably be at the level of 『Better off being there with me』 in another month, but unfortunately right now they'd just be a drag.
However, the resources on lower floors are useful, so I'd like to take them now.
I can't take much alone, but there are things that are useful in small quantity too.

"Well, you can't go too deep when you're with us...."

"By the way, Mathi-kun, how deep do you intend to dive?"

"Depending on the strength of the enemy needed for my need.... Think it'll be around floor 25."

"25!? Wasn't floor 23 the world record for dungeon diving!? And that was by a 30-people party who had received Magic God Gaias-sama's blessing! It's impossible!"





















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