A Commonplace Story Of Overpowered Sorcerer

Rio, Liselotte, and Aletia were staring at the scene before them dazedly. The sun was shining brightly.

Of course, they were still underground, so it couldn't possibly have been the real sun. There was a giant conical structure hanging high above the ceiling, with a dazzlingly bright orb hugging the cone's bottom side. The reason their minds had instantly thought of sunlight was not only due to the light and warmth, but also because it had none of the artificial quality present in lamps or fluorescent lighting. The light felt like real sunlight and was very different from the fake sunlight in some of the floors they had visited.

The room they were in was about the size of a baseball stadium, with the wall in the far back completely covered by a waterfall. Water poured out of a small opening in the ceiling and fell into a river below that flowed further in, passing through a cavern on the far wall. The rush of falling water created a refreshing breeze that blew pleasantly across their faces. Upon closer inspection, Hajime discovered that there were fish living in the river too. It was possible the fish had followed the river's current and traveled there from the surface.

A short distance from the river was a miniature farm. There didn't seem to be anything growing there at the moment. Next to the fields stood a cozy-looking barn. Though it seemed empty, it was clear with the supply of water, fish, meat, and vegetables present that one could cook anything they were so inclined to. The entire room was covered in greenery and there were trees scattered about the area.

It was a surreal sight for them because they'd been accustomed to the bleak and despair-inducing atmosphere of the depth of the labyrinth. It was like an entirely different world. An oasis amidst the dry and hot desert, so to speak.

Finally, their gazes stopped at a building. The rock that the house was carved out of appeared to be some kind of white limestone. It gave off a very clean look.

Liselotte and Aletia turned at Rio, asking his opinion about their next action silently. He was the strongest and the leader of their group after all.

"Let's enter the house. I don't feel any danger from it."

"Understood."

"...Yeah."

Liselotte and Aletia replied readily and waited for Rio to lead in the front. Rio smiled wryly when he saw the girls' behavior, but he immediately went to the house. It was three stories tall and well ventilated throughout. They entered the house and found another one of those light spheres was hanging from the entrance's ceiling. The light was a bit too dazzling for everyone, who'd spent a great deal of time surrounded by darkness.

They decided to start by exploring the first floor.

There was a thick rug laid out next to a fireplace, a living room furnished with sofas, a kitchen, and even a bathroom. Interestingly enough, the place appeared brand new. Though they found no presence of other people, it seemed obviously lived in. The appliances and furniture hadn't seen use in quite some time, but it was clear their owner took good care of them. Rather than an inhabited dwelling, it felt more like a house someone simply managed. Rio calmly advanced since he knew that there was no danger while Loselotte and Aletia warily followed after Rio deeper into the house.

After a while, they found themselves standing outside again. There was an oval-shaped door that led to a backyard of sorts that contained a lion statue. The lion's mouth was open mid-roar. Next to the statue was a magic circle. Although Rio already knew what the lion status actual use was, he still experimentally poured some mana into it, and hot water jettisoned out of the lion's gaping maw. Rio nodded at that. Apparently, lion fountains were a staple of high-class places no matter which world one was in.

"This is basically a bath, isn't it? Perfect, it's been a while since I last took the proper one." Liselotte smiled happily. Until that point, she had never had the luxury to have a proper bath. She used the magic circle to pour out some more water and lightly wiped her face down as a temporary measure.

Meanwhile, Rio watched the pool with a pensive look. Just like Liselotte, he had never had a proper bath since he dived into Great Orcus Labyrinth. Although he created a makeshift bath in their short term bases as they dived further in the labyrinth, that wasn't enough to satisfy him. He had been influenced by the students' Japanese culture, and like all them, he came to love baths. He was going to take a nice long soak and cleanse himself properly.

Standing at Rio's side, Aletia was watching his thoughtful expression and seemed to catch his thought. She chimed in with her opinion on the matter.

Rio turned at Aletia and pondered his answer carefully. He could imagine his awkwardness if he took a soak together with Aletia. Though she was legal, her body wasn't unfortunately. Furthermore, he didn't want to get assaulted by a horny vampire when he wanted to enjoy his long bath.

"...I'd prefer to relax alone for a bit..." Rio replied calmly, rejecting Aletia's dangerous offer.

"Muu..." Aletia was playfully kicking around the water. She pouted unhappily at his rejection.

Their examination of the lion statue complete, the pair made their way up to the second floor. There they discovered a library and a workshop of some kind. But the bookshelves and the door inside the workshop were all locked. Well, Rio could open them forcefully, but he didn't want to break something when he knew that he could open it later. so they weren't able to do a thorough examination of the rooms. After that, they climbed the stairs to the third floor and saw a single room set in the back.

There was nothing else on the floor. As Rio pushed open the door, he saw an eight-meter-long magic circle inlaid on the floor that had some of the most complex and subtle inscriptions he had ever seen. The circle's design and layout were so detailed that it wouldn't have been an exaggeration to call the whole thing a work of art. But what caught his eye most was the person sitting in an ostentatious chair right next to the circle.

Said person was clearly dead. The corpse had already decayed until nothing but bones remained, and it was clothed in a grand robe of black and gold. There was not the slightest hint of dust or grime anywhere on the robe. The impeccable cleanliness of the corpse made it seem more akin to a haunted house prop than something actually scary.

It was splayed out on the chair in a relaxed pose, with the skull's empty sockets staring down at its own figure. Almost as if the person it had once been had simply sat down there and died that way. The skeleton and magic circle were the only objects in the room.

Rio knew whose skeleton it was...

"Oscar Orcus..." He muttered the name of the skeleton's owner. Looking at the remains of the Synergist of the Liberators, Rio felt sad somehow. He could feel Oscar's loneliness as he died alone in this place.

He changed his mind the next moment. If Miledy wasn't as annoying as her novel counterpart, he wouldn't mind to treat her with respect. However, if she was still the same annoying Miledy from the canon, Rio wouldn't mind to guide her soul to pass the river of Styx to meet up with her long-departed comrades as soon as possible.

"So, what's this magic circle about?"

Liselotte's curious voice returned Rio's attention to the present. He shifted his gaze from Oscar's skeleton to her. Simultaneously, Aletia also projected her curiosity only with her gaze. For someone who rarely displayed her expression on her face, she had very expressive eyes.

"Only one way to find out," Rio replied curtly. He knew what would happen if he stepped into the magic circle. He was curious whether he would receive Oscar's Creation Magic, and if did, would it be different from the Creation Magic he created from Skill Creation? This mystery piqued Rio's interest. Hence, he volunteered readily.

"Are you going to check it out directly? Won't it be dangerous?" Liselotte asked him fretfully, but Rio waved her worry easily.

"Nothing will happen to me. Don't worry."

"Okay... be careful."

Rio calmly took a step forward. He didn't forget to deactivate his Imagine Breaker before stepping into the circle. When he reached the center of the circle, the entire room was filled with bright yellow light.

Rio closed his eyes, unable to handle the intensity. A second later, it felt as if something invaded his head, and he began seeing flashbacks of his time in the abyss, starting from when he fell all the way up until he assisted the girl in fighting the Hydra.

The magic circle still glowed faintly, filling the room with a mystical light.

Rio silently gazed at the figure, waiting for something to happen. Finally, the apparition began to speak.

"I congratulate you on overcoming my trial. My name is Oscar Orcus. I am the man who created this labyrinth. I suppose to the world I'm known as a maverick."