CHAPTER XXIII

Portable lifting platform

"We need to climb up. Pannis looked at a dark hole with some confusion.

At this time, three days had passed since the five of them said goodbye to the fire elementals. The past three days have been extraordinarily smooth, with only one encounter with a monster, but the lone predator, who seemed to be very powerful, seemed to have just eaten enough, completely ignoring the five of them, and letting them pass not far away. After five days in the cave, the three girls of Nelly's adventure group understood why Pannis had said that fifteen days was a long time for them. Except for a few bizarre landscapes that can make people's eyes shine, other times, they are accompanied only by small caves, dark environments, unchanging passages, low domes, endless walks, and tense spirits at all times, a variety of factors are mixed together, making the girls' mood more and more depressed. The girls finally believed what Pannis had said before, that staying here for a long time could drive people crazy.

At this time, the girls stood in a cave forty meters high, lit the crystal energy lamp, and looked up helplessly at a hole with a diameter of three or four meters wide in the middle of the dome of the cave.

"This is the shortcut. Pannis explained, "Normally, adventurers will walk here if they return from the Frost Realm, just climb down the rope from above, but almost no one who goes to the Frost Realm does this side because it is too difficult to climb. ”

"What if we take a detour?" Catherine looked at the entrance of the cave, knowing that she couldn't jump straight up, and she didn't even think about climbing up the rock wall, "How long will it take?"

"If you take a detour now, it will take at least seven or eight days. Pannis shook his head and vetoed Catherine's proposal: "Actually, if you can go up, it's just a little troublesome." I'll go up first, and then I'll put the rope down, and you can climb up the rope. I'm mainly afraid that Vivien's strength won't be enough. ”

"Don't worry about me. Vivien took out a bottle of potion and said proudly, "I have a feather potion, and after drinking it, my weight will become very light within ten minutes, and I can climb up completely."

"Huh?" Lina curiously leaned over to Vivien's side to observe the potion up close, "I've never seen you use it, if I drink this, is it possible to jump on it directly?"

"Don't even think about it. Vivien shook her head hurriedly: "Only the mage drinks it, and other professions, even if the priest who also belongs to the spell-casting profession drinks it, it will not have an effect." ”

"Hey, it's useless. Lina sighed regretfully.

Catherine ignored the interaction between Lina and Vivian on the side, lowered her head and helped Pannis tie a thick rope with a length of 100 meters around her waist, and asked uneasily, "There won't be monsters on it, right?" ”

"Probably not. Pannis was not very sure and said, "But no one can say whether there will be monsters passing by." I'll go up first, and I'll come down if there's any danger. ”

"Well, don't force it. Catherine instructed: "If you really can't do it, come down and let's take a detour, safety is the most important thing." ”

Unaccustomed to turning his head away from Catherine's concerned gaze, Pannis pressed his hands and feet against the wall, as if glued to the wall, and crawled up little by little. Just climbed a few steps, jumped down again and said: "By the way, give me the resonance crystal I used last time, whether here or above, you must let the person on the other side know as soon as something happens." ”

"Wait, don't climb yet. Vivien put down her backpack and rummaged through it, "I remember taking it with me when I heard I was going to venture into the cave before I left." ”

"What did you bring with you?" said Pannis, pausing to climb.

"Good stuff, new product in mechanics. Vivien scratched her head suspiciously, "Where did I put it?" ”

"What the hell is it?" Apparently Catherine didn't know either, "What strange things did you bring with you?"

"Found it, Dangdangdang, try to make a crystalline mechanical lifting platform, a replica of the technology left over from the goblin civilization in the Second Age, with the reputation of a spar devourer. Vivien took out a square metal box more than half a meter long from her backpack: "Hey, why is it only half?"

"That's not a reputation at all, it's just a mockery of its large amount of crystal energy. Lina stood aside with her hands on her chest, and said expressionlessly: "And you don't remember it at all? When you sorted out your backpack before leaving, you couldn't fit it there, so you forcibly stuffed the other half to me." ”

"Really? haha, haha, I don't remember at all. Vivian looked around, but didn't look into Lina's eyes: "Speaking of which, I was really prescient, but fortunately I brought it, and it can save a lot of trouble." ”

"It's no use giggling. Lina rolled her eyes, took out a metal box that was exactly the same and slightly smaller from her backpack and placed it on the ground: "It's so heavy, it's solid." ”

"Pretty much. Vivien laboriously moved the large box directly below the hole above her head and adjusted her position: "Whew, it's so heavy, I'm tired." ”

"Your backpack ......," Pannis said thoughtfully, touching his chin, "with a floating circle embedded in it?"

"Hey, that's right. Vivian smiled proudly: "It's rare to see backpacks with more than three times the capacity on the market, mine is eight times larger, and it also has a floating circle embedded in it, although it is a little bigger, but it is absolutely easy to use." This was the first completed product in the Yara world to have a floating circle nested in a spatial expansion circle, and it was through this that I was invited to the top floor of the Tower of Stars. If it weren't for the complete lack of mass production, I would have been recorded in the who's who of the alchemy circle branch. ”

"It's really great to be able to nest two circles with completely different effects on top of each other. Pannis's appreciative tone was sincere: "Sure enough, it's a genius." ”

"Of course, sooner or later, I'm going to write my name into Yara's history with my invention, and I'm going to make Vivien's name sung by everyone like the heroes of a hundred years ago. Vivien was in a good mood, humming a song and opening the two dark compartments on the top and sides of the large box, and pulled out two spars cut into flat shapes and embedded them in.

"Wait a minute. Catherine looked at the spar on the box with an unkind face: "If I'm not mistaken, this is ...... A spar with a capacity of 5,000 terres, one piece is a thousand gold coins, and you still need to use two. ”

"Well, it's actually going to be four. Vivien immediately reacted, and Catherine's old mistake was repeated: "Big sister, this hedron was provided by my friends from the Mechanics Guild, and it was specially prepared for this lifting platform." ”

"Why don't we climb up. Catherine was obviously frightened by the four crystals and four thousand gold coins: "Even if it's for testing, it's ours if you save it, right?"

"Don't make a fuss, big sister. Vivian pressed her forehead with a tangled face: "People lent me this set of equipment just so that I could find a chance to help test it, if I haven't tested it, these spars still have to be returned to others, so you should die." ”

"Okay. Catherine gritted her teeth and turned around: "You can use it." ”

"Hee-hee. Vivien and Lina snickered at each other and grimaced at Pannis, before walking towards the smaller box.

"I'll help you move it. Pannis, seeing Vivien's struggle to move the box before, couldn't help but step forward and say.

"Nope. Vivian restrained the smile on her face, with a faint dissatisfaction in her face: "I do my own thing, and I still have no problem with this little thing." ”

Pannis's puzzled face cast a questioning look at Lina, but in exchange for Lina's casual twisting of her head, she had no choice but to watch Vivien struggle to carry the box alone.

Move the small box vigorously, place it directly above the slightly larger base, align it with the marked position, open the dark compartment on the top and side of the box, put in two spars of the same size, and close the secret door of the dark compartment, Vivien let out a long breath: "Okay, Catherine turn around, it's done." ”

Catherine turned around cautiously little by little, and found that she couldn't see the hedron anymore, so she asked weakly, "How do you use it?"

"Everyone, step back a little, a little more, hey, Lina, don't be so curious, you're not a cat, at least retreat five meters away. Vivien saw that everyone had exited the safe distance, so she activated the circle on the metal and jumped out of the safe distance.

With the activation of the magic circle, the surface of the dim box lit up with magical runes, forming many magic circles full of mysterious atmosphere. As the circle flickered, the box, which had not seemed to have a single gap, began to disintegrate on its own. With the sound of squeaky metal rubbing, the box below was the first to unfold, and the four walls were spread flat on the ground, revealing a metal cylinder with a diameter of half a meter in the center. The tiled walls continue to disintegrate, slowly folding and extending on the ground, forming a square base made of metal sheets six or seven meters long. After the base of the lower layer was formed, the box of the upper layer also began to change. The same four walls are unfolded, flipped from the bottom to the top, and are first connected into a square chassis with a side length of about two meters. The magic array on the chassis lit up again, the underside of the chassis was folded together, and the layers of metal pieces that were usually blocked inside the box and could not be seen followed the guidance of the magic array, automatically erected and connected in turn, and finally formed a metal space about one meter high on the chassis.

"It's done. All made of magic steel and star stone alloy, which is extremely hard and will not bend or break easily. The one-meter-high cylinder in the middle is the lifting system, which is made of alloy cylinders of different sizes nested one layer at a time. When raised, these cylinders are supported by crystal energy and stretch themselves from thin to thick, which can control the height of the rise. At the top is the place where the people stand, and there is the door. Vivien pointed to an object that looked like a doorknob at the edge of the upper metal enclosed space and said, "Now please come in." ”

Although she said please come in, it was tragic that Vivien found that even if she jumped, she still couldn't reach the doorknob, and jumped around on the ground in a hurry.

"Hahahaha. Lina smiled wickedly, stepped forward and touched the soft hat on Vivian's head: "Little sister, do you want big sister to help?" ”

"Go away. Vivien slapped her hand on her head: "What is this today, it's even more annoying than the tsundere last time." ”

"Lucky Emily, Mistress Emily. Lina stood on tiptoe, opened the door to the upper metal fence, and made a gesture of please: "Now everyone please come in, hahaha." ”