She looked at him with irritation and said that they couldn't get there yet. And there were two reasons for that.
The first was the castle's difficult location. To get to a castle high in the sky, you had to apply to the royal government and undergo a teleportation rite.
Allen thought it over. What kind of rite was this? In ZFO, you could just talk to an NPC and get teleported. Was she talking about that?
She told him that he didn't yet meet the requirements for the teleportation rite. It couldn't be completed if the adventurer was level 40 or lower. She met the requirements, but he was only level 24, so he was blocked.
He sighed heavily and asked whether there was such a restriction, then why had she invited him?
She exclaimed irritably in response that she wouldn't have invited him if she had known his level.
He decided not to dwell on it and asked about the second reason.
According to her, the two of them weren't enough to properly fight in this dungeon. They needed a tank that could withstand powerful attacks, and a healer for healing and buffs. Ideally, they also needed an attacker with high damage output. A sorceress like her mainly relied on area attacks, so it was hard for her to deal enough damage against a single boss.
So, right now, the main priority was to raise his level. She was in no hurry, so they could calmly work on it over the next three months.
He told her that this was a problem. She might not be in a hurry, but he was.
She asked what the rush was, and he told her that he intended to be the first in the world to reach level 999. He didn't have time to trip over such trifles.
Melissa said that it was certainly okay to dream, but realistically, his only option now was to level up to 40. Without the teleportation ritual, they wouldn't reach the dungeon.
He thought she was right. Completing the dungeon was entirely possible, but the level limit was a real problem, and the place was located at an incredible height. Even a wizard's flight magic probably wouldn't reach that high.
Then an idea occurred to him. He took a magic stone from his inventory and told her that even without the teleportation ritual, they could get there.
She asked how they would do it, and he decided to explain everything to her later. First, he had to test it.
He created a drone, inserted a magic stone into it, and Melissa was surprised, asking what it was. Did this thing run on magic stones?
He told her it was a magical instrument called a drone. He ordered it to fly to the castle, and when the drone took off, Melissa was amazed that it could also carry out orders.
"This is technology that does not exist in this world," he said.
She asked what other world he was talking about, and he told her not to bother her head with the details.
He began to observe the drone. Physically, it seemed like it could fly to the castle. The main question was whether there was some kind of barrier around the dungeon. It was already approaching. He held his breath, and when it landed on the ice without a problem, Melissa was very surprised. She'd had no idea that it was actually possible to get there without a ritual.
She asked whether he was going to build a huge version of this drone, then, so that it would transport them there. In that case, they should return to the city right now and gather a group.
He immediately rejected it. The two of them were enough.
Confused, she asked what about the rest of the group. He told her that they didn't need them. Honestly, he could handle it alone.
She asked where he got such confidence from, and he said he wasn't going to build a huge drone. The bigger it was, the worse the energy consumption would be. It was obvious that it would collapse before they even got there. Instead, they were using a new energy source, completely different from magic stones — and that energy source would be her.
A sorceress could use magic of different attributes. They would use it as energy.
Melissa didn't understand anything at all, and Allen decided to just show her everything. He created a basket and a piece of fabric and told her it was a hot air balloon, and that they would fly there.
He decided to test it out right away and told her to get in, and she asked doubtfully what she was supposed to do.
First, he told her to fill the balloon with wind so it would inflate. She did this, and the balloon rose. Now she needed to heat the air inside so they could fly. Anything that created heat would do, but a flaming hand was the best, because it used the least amount of mana. She used the spell, raised her hand, and he told her to hold it like that.
When they finally started to lift off, she asked him in surprise what was going on, and he explained to her that the balloon was rising due to the difference in density. They couldn't let the fire go out until they reached the dungeon. If the air cooled and the density changed, they would fall and crash to their deaths.
She clenched her teeth nervously and exclaimed that he should have told her about this earlier. If she spent too much mana here, she wouldn't be able to fight properly up there.
He told her it wasn't a problem. He'd handle the enemies in the dungeon himself.
But she didn't really believe him. He was only level 24, after all. She glanced down and noticed how high they'd already risen. After seeing him do something so incredible, a part of her began to expect a lot from him. If it was Allen, maybe they really could get through this dungeon.
Very soon, they found themselves in front of the gates of Crystal Sky Castle. Allen praised Melissa for her good work, since they'd gotten there without any problems. And she, who had kept her hand raised the entire flight, wasn't feeling her best.
There were quite a lot of people at the entrance to the castle, all because it was an open dungeon. If another group got through first, everyone else would be forcibly ejected and would have to start all over again. They decided to hurry, to make sure no one else took the jade dragon orb, and Allen suggested that they leave the regular mobs to the other groups and focus on completing the dungeon.
On the way there, she explained everything to him. This dungeon consisted of three floors, but Allen didn't let her finish, and asked whether, to move from the bottom floor to the middle floor, she needed to get three crystals from the rewards on this floor. Right?
She asked him in surprise how he knew this, and he replied that he would gladly tell her, but he couldn't just give the information away for free.
Melissa grinned nervously. He had just said the same thing she had said to him back then. She noticed that he was quite vindictive.
They suddenly stopped. Ahead was a huge minotaur, which had just encountered another group of adventurers. It was a level 45 monster.
Melissa decided to let it pass and suggested that they go to another floor, but Allen refused. The other floors took too much time. He was not going to give up the crystal here.
He ordered the adventurers to make way. If they were going to waste time on nonsense, maybe they could just leave.
One of them turned around and indignantly asked who he was to speak so arrogantly. And upon seeing his level 24, he burst out laughing and exclaimed, what kind of nonsense was he talking about? They decided to give in to this newbie and went their separate ways, for which Allen was immensely grateful.
The minotaur screamed furiously and charged, and Melissa worriedly told Allen to wait. Her mana hadn't recovered yet, so she wasn't ready for battle.
But Allen didn't care. He had his miracle weapon. He took out a sandworm magic stone and created a rocket launcher with 14,500 attack power and over 30,000 in bonuses. Melissa was simply shocked.
Allen slung the rocket launcher over his shoulder, aimed, and fired, causing a powerful explosion and a wave of heat that covered everyone around him.
That was how the bottom floor's minotaur boss was defeated, and Allen leveled up to 25.