Third Outer World Story Series: Pumpkin Sorcerer - Chapter 104

Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter

“Despite hearing about it, this turned out to be rather intense…”

“Right… I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”

In Lean Forest, Mizuki and Pumpkin had arrived at a structure roughly two days’ walk from Samsara Egg Village after summer had begun.

This structure was erected more than 500 years ago, according to information acquired by Crave and his team in the spring. It may have been some type of academic or research establishment. The excessive concentration of magic power prevented the examination of all but a few structures, however, most of the buildings had previously been examined.

“It’s certainly tough for an adventurer, let alone a normal human being…”

“I mean, it’s a fine line between you and me if we’re not careful.”

Mizuki and Pumpkin moved in the direction of a structure that had not yet been explored by Crave and the research team… where the density of the magic power was significantly high.

At first glance, the building resembled a dome, but there was no vegetation surrounding it—not even a weed—and there was occasionally a popping sound on the bare ground.

The weeds around the dome were probably too dense with magic power and withered by severe Magic Intoxication, and the pebbles were causing [Overburst], so the sound of something bursting could be heard from time to time.

Due to the high concentration of magic power in their bodies and their familiarity with magic manipulation, Pumpkin and Mizuki were able to sustain themselves, but they would need to be extremely vigilant when the density was this high.

Too much medicine was no better than poison; the same was true with magic power.

“Well, it’s in sight now.”

“It looks even worse inside the building…”

Here, with the entrance to the dome-shaped building surfacing in their range of vision, was the center of this high-magic power concentration zone.

“How’s your vision?”

“The sensitivity is turned down a lot, but it’s still hard. Give me a minute.”

Originally, e would have preferred to enter the dome straight away, but the Spalpkin race’s ability to perceive magic power as light presented a challenge in this situation. The inside of the dome still gleamed so brilliantly that its interior was blanketed in white, even though he had reduced the sensitivity to a degree he was conscious of.

“Ugh…”

“Don’t be so reckless…”

Pumpkin ensured a bare minimum of visibility by spreading his own magic power around to sweep away any nearby magic power that was not under control.

“Ughhhh… how about this!”

“Oh!”

In return for a somewhat narrower range of vision, Pumpkin deliberately loosened a portion of the barrier to allow the exchange and convection of his magic power with the adjacent magic power. But should carelessness were to be indulged, the surrounding magic power density would certainly erode instantaneously due to its excessive thickness.

With this, it was no exaggeration to say that his magic power was practically unlimited as long as he was in this high-magic power zone.

The source of this enormous magic power was obscure, therefore it was questionable if it was truly boundless.

Furthermore, since Mizuki was a spirit, a mass of magic power with a will, she had to be mindful of maintaining the boundary between herself and others, which was apparently a different challenge from Pumpkin.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Yeah. Shall we?”

Mizuki and Pumpkin then stepped inside the dome.

—————–

“Yeah…”

“There’s nothing here…”

They kept on walking inside the dome, yet nothing was to be found.

There were no window frames, floors, papers, or even dust in the environment, which was bleak and inorganic. The base, which was constructed of stone that resembled concrete, remained intact, but for a few spots where some type of magic had been applied and the effect had worn off.

It was a horror story at this point. Perhaps, like the weeds and pebbles outside, the concentration of magic power was so intense that it eliminated everything except for the places where preventative steps had been taken beforehand, but even so, it was horrifying.

“The only saving grace is that the density is so high that no one can take advantage of it.”

“I suppose. At the very least, I don’t believe any rational individual could utilize it.”

The two of them made their way around the dome, inspecting the remaining equipment and attempting to envision its application.

At this point, a pipe that had been treated to keep magic power out was in front of Pumpkin, along with a cock-like device connected to the outlet that had also received the same treatment.

Pumpkin began to wonder whether there might be experiments being conducted with magic power as he observed these things and recognized through Crave and others’ research that this was an academic and research facility.

In fact, this assumption may not be far off the mark.

“And this is it.”

“The magic power is gushing out of this place, so I am sure of it.”

A wall constructed of various stone types and a sizable devastation marks on the wall eventually appeared in front of them.

Even with the power of Mizuki and Pumpkin, the destruction marks were emanating magic power with such force and density that it sickened them.

“I can only presume that this used to be a magical power storage facility.”

“There is no question about that because the pipes from before are linked. Any idea why it broke?”

“All the small pieces of debris have been obliterated, so there are no specifics, but I think it was destroyed from the inside, not from the outside. The way the fractures are developed gives it that appearance.”

That was what Pumpkin concluded after a brief exploration of the fracture marks, and moved away from the crack.

It was likely that this magic power storage facility was accumulating magic power based on the same principle as the one in the basement of the Senkonoto Castle.

The magic power amassed here, however, surpassed the storage capacity, leading to internal pressure to destroy a portion of the outside wall, which then allowed the magic power that had been stored inside for many years to overflow.

The fact that magic power was still streaming from the fractures, despite it was unclear how long had gone since these marks were formed, was presumably caused by the property of this stone substance, which only allowed magic power to move in a specified direction.

“Hmm? Hey, Pumpkin. What’s that?”

“Which one? It’s too far away for me to see.”

Mizuki then pointed to the area inside the crack, but Pumpkin’s vision was so severely compromised that he couldn’t see what she was pointing at.

“Hmm. The dome’s center has what seems like a stone floating there.”

“A stone?”

“Yes. But it seems odd. I don’t feel unpleasant, but I do sense a strange presence.”

“Well… it can’t be helped. Shall I head over?”

“Be careful. I can’t go there.”

Pumpkin subsequently increased the strength of his barrier and went into the magic power storage room where a storm of magic power was blasting through the cracks to ascertain the identity of the stone Mizuki was referring to.