Chapter of Ancient Labyrinth, Episode 3: Fun in the Ancient Labyrinth

Wridra’s black blade slowly passed by overhead. However, the speed of the blade didn’t seem to match the force of the swing. Sure enough, I felt cold sweat erupt from my body as it passed by me.

“Haha, ha... That swing could have killed a pile of Koopah in one swoop, huh?”

“Nonsense. Those tadpoles are not worthy of being considered my opponents. Let us speed things up now, shall we?”

I was standing face to face with Wridra for some reason, without slowing our advance through the corridor the whole time. She wasn’t fighting her hardest, of course, and it was likely just a game to her. Even so, my mind and body were already screaming for mercy. How odd... I thought we’d decided to take our time and enjoy the sights as we made our way inside. On the other hand, Marie was leisurely observing the rooms and sculptures, and Wridra joined her in exploring our surroundings whenever I was out of breath and resting. Monsters popped out occasionally, but they immediately fled when they felt the intense pressure from the sparring between Wridra and me.

Is it just me, or am I the only one working really hard?

“How rude. I’ve been busy raising my skill, too. See? Look.”

“Something’s moving on the ground... Ah, is that a stone spirit?” There was something block-shaped there, and the stones in question clinked together as they lined up and stacked on top of each other. Their coordinated movements served as proof that Marie had been improving her Advanced Labor skill.

“See? I’ve been making an effort, too. It’s already up by two levels, and your... Wow, your one-handed sword level is up by three!”

“Hmm, it seems you can handle more. You have been lazing about with that sleepy look for far too long. It is about time for you to train seriously.” I cocked my head. How was Wridra able to see my stats?

“Why’d you grant her permission to view my stats, Marie?”

“I didn’t think it would be an issue. We may not be in a party, but we’re all friends here.”

“Indeed. And even if something happens to you, you would merely wake up in Japan again.” Wridra laughed aloud, but I didn’t understand what exactly was funny about that.

“Well, it is time to let out my frustrations of being unable to ride the shinkansen... I mean, it is time to show you my gratitude for everything you do and train you properly.”

Yeah, she totally just let her real thoughts slip out just now. I would’ve preferred not to hear that. In any case, I was surprised by how quickly I was improving. It went without saying that the stronger the opponent and the harder the training, the quicker skills leveled up. Wridra was purposely coming at me with murderous intensity to make the training all the more effective... I hoped. The other merit here was that I didn’t really have to deal with pain or fatigue because I was in the dream world. I was at a high level to begin with, and my physical abilities were pretty high as a result. Despite being drenched in sweat, I only felt slightly tired. But I wanted to take a rest soon... I tried to find an excuse to take a break, when the opportunity soon presented itself.

“We’re lucky the other teams rushed ahead. They left the treasure boxes unopened.”

““Treasure box?!””

I was relieved to find that I’d succeeded in distracting them. I didn’t lie out of a desire to get some rest. I pointed down the dark corridor, where a treasure chest could be seen just sitting there. It was rectangular with a curved top, the kind that was typically seen in video games.

“Those types of treasure chests are actually the most dangerous. You should check above...” Wridra walked over to it without listening, and in that moment, something came down from the ceiling... Then went flying away with a flick of Wridra’s tail with a whack! It was several times bigger than a Koopah, but I didn’t see anything.

“I see it is locked... Hmm, it would be faster to simply break it.”

“It might be booby trapped. Let me take a...”

Bam! Bam! Crack! Pew! (The sound of a poison needle breaking and flying away)

Wow... She really just broke it open...

I supposed it couldn’t be helped, with an Arkdragon roaming in the labyrinth. This was pretty much expected, and I was just glad she wasn’t running around on a rampage. Dull-colored coins and a jewel rang out as they scattered on the ground, and we all looked down at them at once.

“Wow, look at that. Umm, could it be some ancient currency?”

“Huh, those coins are pretty old. Lemme take a look.”

Oh, this is...

Marie handed me a coin, which was much weightier than I had imagined. I wasn’t too interested in money in this world, but I felt myself grow sweaty just holding it in my hand. I poured some water from my bottle onto it and rubbed it with my sleeve. It wasn’t the best way to clean something like this, considering it could leave scratches, but I just wanted to test it out on one coin. The piece shone brilliantly from the illumination provided by the light spirits, and Marie’s eyes widened.

“This is definitely a gold coin. And the color tells me it has a high purity. It’s really old, but it doesn’t look like it was used, and it seems to be well-preserved.”

“You mean this is gold?” I placed it on the girl’s palm, and she exhaled with surprise. It may not have been so impressive to a dragon, but it was to us. Gold was valuable in this world, too, and it was something that all women seemed to admire. Wridra stared at us for a moment, gave the impression that she was about to say something, then closed her mouth.

“Hm...? Well, we might as well take these. By the way, did you see something like jewels rolling away in that direction?”

“I don’t know where it went. Wridra, can you open the next one properly?” We split up to find it, then discovered it stuck between the stone paving. Wridra picked it up between her fingers.

“Hmm, this one may actually be more valuable. It seems to be enchanted with a magical effect called Replica. This is quite an old spell.” According to her, Replica would allow you to copy the target’s color and shape when used. The catch was, it didn’t work on creatures, or anything with magic powers. I wasn’t sure how it would be useful, but it may have come in handy someday. I was about to graciously put the gold coins and the jewel into my bag, when the elf girl spoke.

“Don’t you think it’s strange? This place was discovered a good while ago, but no one checked the treasure chest near the entrance.”

“Now that you mention it... I understand the current raid party is in a hurry, but the preliminary party before that should’ve been checking every corner.” I looked at the gold coins in my hand. There were about twenty of them, and their notable weight told me they had a high gold-to-filler-metal ratio... but was it really gold? How would I have been able to check to make sure? After considering it for some time, I lifted the jewel we had just found earlier.

“...Activate Replica.” A beam of light extended from the jewel and hit the gold coin. It made some clicking noises as it analyzed the target it was to copy. Then it made a high-pitched beep, and the words “Cannot be copied” appeared above the jewel. Essentially, that meant the coins weren’t “objects.” So then, what were they? In that moment, they seemed to detect the shift in mood and changed forms. Slender legs sprouted out, and the coins fell away from my hand, one after the other. The sensation of their little legs and the sight of them pouring off of my hand made my skin crawl. A chill went running down my spine.

“Eeeeeek...!”

“Eyaaaaaah!” Marie and I scrambled away from the fake coins, then clung to each other in a fluster. I could feel her heart pounding against me, and my own probably sounded the same. They fled into crevices while emitting a dull glow and disappeared from sight in no time.

“Gff... Gaha, hehe... Ehehehe!” Wridra stood at the corridor, clutching her stomach and bent over laughing.

“Y-You knew, Wridra! And you just watched!”

“Ah, I have no idea what you are talking about. And do not forget, I am not a member of your party. Children of men, you must be vigilant at all times when proceeding through the labyrinth.” She looked at us with a serious expression, but she was covering her mouth with her hand. She was obviously hiding the smile she couldn’t contain.

“...You’re the one who opened the treasure chest.”

“I did not open it. I poked it, and it broke. You two are the ones who picked up its contents.” It was hard to take her seriously with her stomach trembling as she spoke, but she probably didn’t say anything because it was harmless, so I couldn’t be too upset about it. I turned around to find the fake coins merrily returning to the damaged treasure box.

Ah, I get it.

They infiltrated the unsuspecting victim’s bag by pretending to be a coin, then pilfered something from the bag to return to the treasure box. Which meant that the jewel that was in the box may have been someone else’s treasure at one point. As I looked at the glint in the jewel, my eyes widened a bit.

“Oh, this thing might be really valuable.”

“Why is that? Because it could find out whether something is actually a creature or not?”

“No, not that. Because it could duplicate even things as valuable as national treasures. Isn’t it pretty incredible if you think of it that way?”

The girl let out a surprised “Ah!” Even if the jewel wasn’t worth much now, it could become priceless someday.

“I’m actually glad those weren’t real gold coins. We could’ve wasted this Replica effect on just gold. That was a close one.”

“It’s kind of scary to think about. Okay, let’s put it away and keep it safe for now.”

And so, we obtained the rare jewel with a Replica effect. We wrapped it with a piece of cloth and tucked it away. Marie and I exchanged smiles, acknowledging that this was the first loot we had found together. Meanwhile, the man who had appeared while we were waiting for our turn outside was rummaging through his pockets in search of something, but we were completely unaware of this event.

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The fragrance of tea filled the air as I began pouring the hot water. The tea set I arranged with our expensive tea leaves was rather cheap, but I wanted the focus to be on the flavor this time. A fire lizard was curled up on the pavement, and it blinked its beady eyes when I placed the kettle on top of it. I whispered that it could keep sleeping for a little longer, and it began nodding away drowsily again. I’d heard the labyrinth could get chilly, so it may have been a good idea to consider preparing warm food. It was a good thing I had brought camping equipment in my bag. The thought crossed my mind as I carried the tea set over to Marie, who was waiting with a book in hand.

“I’m glad there was a convenient room for us. It even has a table, too. Maybe whoever used to live here sat on that chair and elegantly read books like you are now, Marie.”

“That person must have had a very comfortable life. I’m sure we’d get along.” The robed girl paused and turned around. It seemed this place was once some sort of study. The shelves were full of various books, and they were in good condition thanks to the preservation effect applied to the shelves. They were valuable books from ancient times, but it was too difficult to take them with us, so we decided to take a break here and enjoy a meal while reading.

“It’s nice that there isn’t much dust here, either. Maybe there’s something in place here to keep it clean and circulate the air, considering how tidy it is.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. The ancient arts were very adept at that sort of thing. Especially when it came to ventilation―oh, thank you. I feel so spoiled, sipping tea while reading a book.” I placed a cup of tea next to Marie as she read. Light spirits illuminated the room so our eyes wouldn’t be strained from the reading.

“Don’t worry about it, you’re working. Be careful not to spill.” The girl looked up in response, and then her face loosened into a smile. I recently came to the realization that she liked being taken care of, and she already knew that I liked to take care of people. She tugged on my sleeve, which I interpreted as her wanting me to sit next to her. Well, we did tend to spend a lot of time being touchy with one another. I accepted her invitation and sat next to her, finding her watching me with her big eyes.

“So, what are you reading?”

“Umm, this is a study on the origins of magical primeval creatures. They say the current time is the era of humans, but a long while ago, it was the era of monsters. It was also called the era of night.” She asked me if I knew about that, and I shook my head. She seemed happy to have the opportunity to teach me and spread the big book open so we could both see.

“A long, long time ago, there was only night in the world. Creatures had white bodies, and they were physically very weak.”

“Huh, it was always night? That must have been nice for sleeping.”

“Oh, but if you sleep so much, you’d probably end up losing your eyes.” We chuckled. I was always the one reading to her, but she was the reader this time. Maybe that was why she seemed so happy. She picked up her cup with thin, pale fingers and took a sip. Just seeing her like that made me feel fortunate, for some reason. There was a luster to her silky white hair, and her striking purple eyes turned toward me. It was odd how much joy I felt from knowing she was enjoying a drink I had made for her.

“Yum... It’s sweet and fragrant. I just might forget about the ancient labyrinth staying here. This reminds me of being in your room.”

“We were lucky to find such a comfortable room. Let’s have some of the sandwiches I brought. Wridra, please come take a seat so we can eat.”

“It is about time!” The black-haired woman who had been surveying the shelves whirled around to face us with incredible speed. It was strange how light her movements were, despite the dress-shaped heavy armor she was wearing. But when she sat down in front of us, the chair creaked under the strain.

Seeing this, Marie commented, “I imagine your husband must be very strong, Wridra.”

“Indeed, he is frighteningly strong, though I do not know where he is off frolicking at the moment.” She spoke as if she was stating the obvious with her first statement, then made a scowl with the next. We couldn’t help but laugh, and I placed some bundles on the table as she urged on. A row of sandwiches was laid out on top of it. The red, green, and yellow ingredients between the white bread were appetizing to behold. I’d taken a tip from convenience stores and stuffed each sandwich with plenty of ingredients, and they turned out looking pretty good. The girls looked delighted, too.

“Wow, the vegetables make them look so colorful and pretty! And they smell so tasty, too.”

“Ahh, white bread! How luxurious. Mm, they do smell good, indeed.”

Marie was used to from our breakfasts, but fine-grained white bread may have been a rare treat for Wridra. I distributed some sandwiches, and then we all put our hands together and said, “Itadakimasu” in Japanese.

“Oh, there’s no crust on the bread. And it’s a bit thinner than usual. Is it to reduce the overall thickness even with all the ingredients used? Well then, let’s see how it tastes...” Marie and Wridra each held a sandwich with both hands and took a bite. They bit through the soft bread easily, and its fragrance filled their senses. The cheese, ham, and vegetable sandwich made a crisp sound as they ate, and they were certainly enjoying the texture.

“Mmm, the fresh veggies have such a nice texture. Hehe, the tomatoes are really good!” The two looked at each other with smiles, their eyes twinkling with delight. The flavor of cheese, presence of meat, and crispy texture made for a wonderful light meal. The savory taste of cheese deepened further as they continued to chew.

“Ah, this is too much. The texture and flavor are truly enjoyable. Not to mention the quality tea... Mm, such a refined flavor.” She took a sip of the aromatic tea, cleansing her palette as she did so. This allowed her to enjoy the flavor of the sandwich all over again as she took another bite. Suddenly, I remembered I had some condiments in my bag and took them out.

“This one is salt, and the other is pepper. Use however much you want.”

“You really are so considerate. Here we are, in this dim labyrinth, but I feel like we’re at a restaurant.”

Now that she mentioned it, this place did have that sort of vibe. We were surrounded by knickknacks and ancient furniture, and the warm lighting was definitely reminiscent of restaurants. The elf girl was full of smiles as she ate, and the books she’d selected had been moved to the edge of the table before the meal began. It seemed her appetite for food was stronger than her thirst for knowledge.

“What is this yellow thing? Oho, it’s quite rich. And with a hint of sweetness... Ah, this is wonderful.”

“That’s an egg sandwich. And this one’s the tuna sandwich you like, Wridra. They’re both pretty popular. Guess you can never go wrong with the mainstream ones, huh?” Marie and Wridra’s hands reached over and grabbed some tuna sandwiches and removed them from the case.

Wha? Gone already? I sat dumbfounded for a minute and watched the girls stuff their faces with joyous vigor. They sprinkled some pepper on their sandwiches, giving the flavor even more depth. Hmm, maybe tuna is popular in this dream world. They seemed to be big fans of the rice balls, too, so maybe they liked flavors that had a slight fattiness to them. Seeing them enjoying the food so much was making me want to eat, too. Still, it made me happy to see them so happy. The food wasn’t anything special, but their uninhibited joy was quite heartwarming.

“Whew... Delicious food and aromatic tea... I can hardly believe we are in an ancient labyrinth.”

“Yeah, it’s got the same charm to it as a room at a fancy restaurant. It might even taste better than usual here.” They continued chewing and nodded in response.

“I think so too. I was nervous at first, but I’m surprised by how much fun we’re having.”

“Agreed. Although I had nothing to fear, this place reminded me of my past, and conversing with you two has been quite entertaining.”

That’s a relief. I was glad they could now understand how fun labyrinths could be. I firmly believed adventures were nothing to be afraid of, and that they should be enjoyed wholeheartedly. After pouring more tea, we could spend time reading the books in the room, checking each other’s status screens, and getting some post-meal rest. Resting properly was important for digestion. I thought Wridra would’ve been bored in a place like this, but she seemed curious about the Magic Tool’s construction and started disassembling it to see how it worked.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, but please don’t break it,” I told her.

“Nonsense,” she shot back.

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Bzz, bzzzz, bzzz...

Within the heavy sound of white noise, a woman’s voice could be heard. There was frustration and pain in her voice, and it was clear even without visuals that she was covered in sweat and dirt.

“Ahhh, they’re dead! Damn it, damn it! This is Andalusite. We’re abandoning our position and retreating! Hey, put up an anti-physical barrier! Prepare a reflection spell to fend them off for as long as possible! You there! Don’t break formation without permission!” The man who had answered the comm link message had grown haggard just listening to the audio. He had finally arrived at the entrance, but the thought of the woman he had nearly professed words of love to being eaten by monsters was nothing short of a nightmare. But no, this wasn’t a dream. Reality was far more horrifying. Grasping the Magic Tool with a white-knuckled grip, he shouted back.

“Riiing... Bzz... This is Bloodstone. We’re coming in to provide backup for your retreat. Whoa, what’s going on here? They’re swarming all over the place like a bunch of piranhas.” Somewhat dumbstruck, he stared at the herd of monsters running around before him. He had no idea how they could come out of this situation victorious. Returning to his senses, he spat out his orders to the rest of his team. “Get working on the door! Quickly! There’s no time to waste. Start casting a huge explosion spell. I don’t care if their position gets caught up in the blast radius. We’ll activate the explosion at the same time they start retreating. Just do it!”

“Bzz... Roger that. Let me know once you finish casting the spell. We’ll rush out as fast as possible. Everyone, know that to stop running means death!” The group alongside the wall let out a collective shout of affirmation, as if this would be their last breath. The mass of monsters pushed forth like a surging wave, seeming as though they were trying to drown out the adventurer’s wills to survive. Just then, one of the men shouted, eyes wild with fear.

“A-Ahh, aaahhh! D-Demon! It’s a demon! That thing with the black horns! That’s what’s bringing out all these monsters!” He was able to catch a glimpse of it because the ceiling had turned completely red. The magic that had been weaved to summon the crimson flames was done so with no regard for the protection of the rest of the raid, and it had been cast with hopes of relying on miracle resurrection spells afterwards. It only took a mere tens of seconds to cast, but corpses were piling up in the meantime.

The barrier they had put up earlier was their last line of defense, and the woman at the head of the bloodied group shouted, “Forget the countdown! Cast the spell as soon as the incantations are done!”

“Get ready! Don’t falter! Run, run, ruuun! The door will be sealed off in thirty seconds! Run with everything you’ve got if you don’t want to die!”

The hall changed suddenly and completely. The sight, which was as if the sun had come crashing down into the world, was one nobody present wanted to witness ever again. Those who happened to run faster than the others who fell behind were the fortunate ones. The former were allowed to survive, while the latter would evaporate or get eaten by monsters. Those who were moving at an in-between pace were engulfed in flame, rolling on the ground until they died. The quickest adventurers stumbled over each other trying to escape with the smell of their burning friends in the air. Anyone who turned around and witnessed the horror taking place behind them had all emotion wiped from their faces. Wails of grief filled the air, joining into a chorus of sorrow. They had realized the woman who had tried so hard to lead her team to safety had been left behind, and the man who loved her had leapt into the fire after her. There was nothing they could do. Nothing but cry as they pushed the door closed, sealing the hall behind them. A hot rush of air erupted as the door closed tight with a heavy thud, and the survivors stared at the door in stunned silence. That was all they could do.

Flames roared in the room behind the door like a furnace. It would continue to burn until all the oxygen inside was depleted. The countless monsters became reduced to black, round husks. The only ones left standing in that room were the man and woman, who were facing toward each other. Only the hems of their clothes had been burned, thanks to the barrier put up by the woman with hair like fire, but she didn’t have much power left in her. She weakly uttered, “Why?” sounding like she could disappear at any moment. The man watched his surroundings as if he was observing the sunset, then replied.

“I still haven’t heard your reply. If you keep withholding your reply after I told you how I felt about you, you’d own me until I die, Dula.” He shrugged, and the woman named Dula blinked.

“...You dummy, you came in here just to ask that? Well, I’m going to keep withholding my reply.”

“Hey, come on now. Are you really gonna let me burn to death while this is left unsettled?” Seeing the hint of anger in his face, the woman replied with a relaxed smile.

“I want you to keep holding on to me forever. Don’t ever let me go, Zera.”

The moment he heard those words, it was like the woman who had been trained to be a soldier had been reborn as an innocent maiden. She didn’t pull away when he reached out for her, and she closed her eyes with a smile as his hand touched her cheek.

Before he knew it, she was in his arms.

Before he knew it, their lips were together, their bodies holding onto each other tightly.

As he stared into her steel-colored eyes, the desire to prevent this beautiful woman from dying burned deep within Zera. The emotion all but burst from his chest, flaring even stronger than the flames around them.

Could the monsters keep emerging endlessly? The sudden question had come when he noticed the figures at the corner of the room. Some of them burned to death the moment they appeared, but they continued appearing endlessly in the gradually dying flame. But he already knew what to do. A wild grin indicative of his fierce battle instincts spread across his face.

“I’ll show you my trump card to commemorate this moment.”

“Commemorate? Oh, you mean us finally getting together? I don’t suppose you’re talking about flowers?”

“Close enough. This is a technique passed down the Thousand House bloodline.” He gave a determined smile, then moved away from the woman he loved. Turning toward the black mass moving toward him, he shouted as if to burn away his soul.

“Here... goes... Wide-range dire magic... Thousand Burst!!!”

His call was answered by a storm of destruction that filled the hall.

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I wrapped the tea set with cloth so none of the dishware would chip, then placed them into a box one by one. I had regained much of my vitality thanks to the long rest we had taken. Although, to be honest, I had basically just been training along the way without getting into any real battles. I turned around to find Marie debating on whether to put the books back on the shelves or take them with her. She seemed even smaller than usual, holding the large books, and I spoke to her softly.

“We can relax in this room for the rest of the day if you want.”

“No, that’s okay. We’re not too far in from the entrance, and we could always come back later. I’m sure there’s a boss or some big enemy if we go further in. That sounds more exciting than staying here.”

Yeah, Wridra and I felt the same way. I turned on the three-dimensional map to find that the raid parties were concentrated at the central and western sections, so we decided to take the eastern route. There were points of light near us too, but it was possible that they didn’t find anything noteworthy, because many of them were pulling away from the rest. The only thing was, they were moving much slower than I’d expected. I’d figured they were just taking breaks as they went, like we were.

“Oh, if the others are also taking their time checking the area, they might take all the valuables before we get to them.”

“Hm, it seems there is no need to worry about that. Hah, hah, these Magic Tools are as entertaining as movies. This is quite the spectacular imagery.”

“Huh? Did you say something, Wridra?” When I asked, she only smiled and told me not to worry about it. Well, our stomachs were nice and full, so it was about time we headed out. We hadn’t even found a single magic stone yet, after all. The three of us yawned in unison and left the rest area together.

Now, it was time to resume the exploration of the labyrinth. We obviously couldn’t see the sun from inside the dungeon, so we weren’t sure what time it was. Besides, there were no clocks in this world, so no one could accurately tell the time here. However, I happened to have a pretty sharp sense of time. This was because I needed an accurate internal clock so I wouldn’t oversleep and be late for work... Wait, that’s actually kinda sad.

Anyway, I figured it was a little past four in the afternoon. In other words, it had been about two hours since we had lunch. Those two hours were very hard for me. As one might expect, this was because of Wridra’s training. The sound of steel clashing with steel rang out. Sparks flew from the sword as if it had been struck with a bullet, illuminating my haggard expression for a split second. I didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened if I hadn’t parried that swing. The woman opposing me stared at her sword as it vibrated from the impact, then turned her sharp, obsidian gaze toward me. I wondered if the slightly ominous air about her was because her sense of bloodlust was getting riled up from combat.

“Hmm, not bad. It appears you are quite accustomed to speed. Perhaps because you are always scurrying and hopping around.”

“Y-Yeah, though I don’t like how you made me sound like some sort of bug.” Somehow, I managed to reply with some measure of calmness as I wiped the sweat on my palms onto my pants. It seemed some testosterone-driven part of me wanted to prove something to my trainer.

The piles of dust on the ground were the monsters I had defeated earlier. Wridra gave me additional training whenever I took out a monster with ease. So kind of her... or maybe it was some sort of hazing ritual. She pushed me to the absolute limit each time, so as soon as I heard the clink of her sword getting fully sheathed, I would collapse to my knees. The scene made me half expect her to say some cheesy one-liner.

“I’m impressed, you raised two whole weapon levels in this short time frame. Wait, stay seated. I’ll wipe you down so you don’t catch a cold.”

“Thanks. To be honest, I’m kind of surprised it was only two levels.” It just went to show just how dense the training had been. I was considered high level in this world, but my vision was blurring from concentrating too hard for too long. Suddenly, a water bottle appeared in front of me. Looking up, I saw Wridra standing there with her waist-long black hair and a smile on her face.

“You are unconsciously beginning to learn how to handle condensed time. You may soon learn a new secondary skill.”

“Condensed time?”

Marie and I cocked our heads at the unfamiliar term. I’d heard that professional athletes could secrete adrenaline and enter a state of heightened senses, so maybe this was something similar. If Wridra said so, maybe I really would be able to learn a new secondary skill. I took a gulp of water and felt it soak into my tired body. As I took my prolonged rest, I heard some clinking noises next to me. The blocky stone spirits seemed to be doing some sort of coordinated exercise as Marie worked on raising her skill level too. To be honest, I was pretty envious that she got to train while taking a leisurely stroll through the labyrinth.

“How are things going for you, Marie? Has your Advanced Labor skill level gone up?”

“Yes, it’s at 14 now. I think it’s increasing pretty quickly. I’m not getting tired at all thanks to the staff Wridra gave me, so I feel like I could keep going forever,” she replied as she wiped the sweat from my forehead with a piece of cloth. This girl and I had been working on increasing our skill levels since we first entered the labyrinth. Our skill levels were different from our class levels, and represented our proficiency with things like swords and magic. Their effectiveness increased the more their levels went up, and their maximum value was capped at one’s class level. I was a level 72 Illusory Swordsman, so I had some ways to go to max out my level 52 One-Handed Swords skill. “It would usually take several days to make this much progress. It’s all thanks to my lack of fatigue and the fact that the spirits have been very cooperative.”

“Hmhm, this is because my support provides a boost to your mental fortitude and magic power. Use it well and strive to become a wizard someday.” Marie nodded. It seemed she yearned to become a wizard, the highest rank of the Sorcerer’s Guild. So, I would do whatever I could to help her. I drank down the rest of my water, and we started walking deeper into the labyrinth. The corridor, which had been a straight path until now, began growing more complex, with several stairs leading downward. Luckily, our map had kept us from getting lost. We could see the three-dimensional map with the Magic Tool Aja the wizard had given us, so we could easily tell how to move forward or head back. We arrived in front of a large door, and I placed my hand upon its surface.

“I have a feeling there will be enemies in here. Big doors like this usually have strong enemies behind them.”

“Hmm, is that some sort of rule? Labyrinths come in different shapes and sizes, but they do have a common basis. Like how they circulate energy to maintain their functions.” I wasn’t really sure what she was talking about. Leaving the analysis for Marie, I had to figure out a game plan for when we did run into a powerful opponent. Wridra watched silently, as she always did at times like these. It wasn’t that she was too lazy to join in; this was the arrangement we had decided on earlier. She was extremely reliable, but we wanted to learn to handle ourselves without her.

“Marie, I think you should focus on defense rather than offense. Don’t forget that those Koopahs we’ve been facing were technically strong, too.”

“Yes, maybe I can use the stone spirits for defense. I can change their size, and I’m sure they’ll be very durable if I use Wridra’s staff.” I didn’t know they could be used like that. But what sort of shape would be ideal for defensive use? The first things that came to mind were castles and fortresses, the kind one would see in movies about war in the Middle Ages.

“Would it be possible to give us an advantage with height and an enclosure?”

“Oh, giving us height is an interesting idea. Let’s give it a try.” She uttered an incantation and swung her staff, and the stone spirit that looked like a brick with legs grew bigger, eventually becoming big enough to shake the ground. It turned into the size of a light automobile, and Marie and I were taken aback.

“Wow, look how big they can get! I didn’t realize my magic had been amplified so much. It’s about five times bigger than before.”

“Indeed, I increased the initial amplification, so you can use even low-level skills in combat. You will be able to do this much on your own someday.” Interesting. I was told that Wizard’s Guidance was active only while she was holding the dragon’s staff, but it seemed it worked even when her level was low.

“This is amazing. It looks really heavy and durable. Can you change its shape, too?”

“I just need to change them back first. Just like... this.” She knocked her staff against the ground, shrinking the stone spirit back to its original size, then changed it to a cylindrical shape. The transformation took about thirty seconds, which was about the time it had taken for the creature to reach its maximum size. Due to its size, it was pretty entertaining watching it expanding so quickly. And because of its weight, it seemed the spirit couldn’t be moved freely once this skill was activated. The two of us looked up at the stone object, deep in thought.

“It feels like this could be used for all sorts of defensive purposes, but... I think the safest approach would be to connect a few of these and make a platform for you.”

“Hmm, but I wouldn’t want to face any sort of long-ranged attacks like arrows. Maybe I should construct an enclosure like a house around me. But adding holes for windows might be too complex.”

An enclosure of stone walls on all sides... The only catch was that an arrangement like that would be too heavily focused on defense and would make it hard for Marie to contribute offensively to the battle. I pictured a stone castle, trying to figure out what would be the most effective method to meet all of our requirements. A shape that was simple, yet specialized for defense...

“Oh, I know.” It came to me, and I presented the idea to Marie. She was surprised at first, but as I explained my reasoning, her purple eyes softened into a smile.

Creeeaaak...

We opened the heavy door and entered the wide room to find multiple white eyes glinting in the darkness. They stared at us for a moment before letting out a screech, and then monsters emerged from the hole, one after the other. I couldn’t see too well in the darkness, but I figured there were probably about twenty of them. Assuming there were more monsters hiding, their total was probably double that. They must have heard Marie’s incantations, because they began noisily rushing toward us. If we didn’t act quickly, they would surround us in all directions and start taking bites out of us in no time.

“We can turn the tides if you hold them off for three minutes.”

“Got it. This can’t be any harder than Wridra’s training.”

“Well said. If you have energy to spare, I will train you more thoroughly afterward.”

Oops, I shouldn’t have said that.

I moved forward to face them head on, and they changed the trajectory of their charge toward me. They were mostly Koopahs, from what I could see, but there were bigger shadows among them in the back moving more slowly than the rest. The monster in the lead of the pack had its head impaled in the blink of an eye. I had kicked off of the stone paving and activated Over the Road, taking out the creature in an instant.

The monsters weren’t the only ones surprised. My eyes bulged slightly as I felt my blade cut through the monster like I was splitting a watermelon with a kitchen knife. I didn’t realize how much easier things were with a higher weapon level. Feeling gratitude toward my teacher, I decided to focus on being a professional watermelon splitter. But it just so happened that I didn’t need to concentrate that hard. Fortunately, my Reprise skill let me repeat a specific movement, and I had the attack pattern for defeating Koopahs saved in its memory slot. I just had to move to their flank to deliver a killing blow, so I just had to maneuver into the correct position to execute it. I teleported from the flank of one creature to another, then another, making them drop dead in mere seconds and sending the rest of their group into a panic. Their wedge-shaped charging formation broke apart, each of them scattering in all directions. Their speed was greatly reduced right away, and I managed to stop the immediate threat to Marie.

“Wow, great job! It looks like all that time you spent in labyrinths by yourself paid off.”

“Yeah, it sounds pretty sad when you put it that way. I’ll go ahead and reduce their numbers, then.” I was still a bit tired from the training, but the increase on my weapon levels was clearly effective. And because of the low intellect of our opponents, they were easily fooled by the illusions I sent out toward them. They came charging at me in a massive heap, but cutting them down from the side was an easy task. Suddenly, I heard a sharp whistle from Wridra. It meant Marie’s preparations were complete. I may have been able to keep going to take them all out, but this was our first coordinated battle. I activated Over the Road, positioning myself to execute the plan we had discussed beforehand.

“Can I start?”

“Go right ahead. Our Koopah friends are waiting.” I nodded toward the monsters, which were wildly attacking the illusions I had left as bait. Then, Marie’s call toward the spirits rang out in the hall. She raised her staff, her face appearing calm as she diligently chanted the words for her spell. We’d decided on this plan in a short time frame, so there was a good chance it would’ve gone wrong. In fact, the improvised spirit magic was far more likely to fail than succeed. Despite this, Marie was able to stay calm and composed, thanks to the reassurance that came with knowing Wridra was protecting her. A heavy tremor shook the hall, and the Koopahs screeched in confusion. When they turned around, they must have seen the stone spirit growing bigger by the second.

“Ah, you formed them seamlessly even on your first try. Meticulous as always, Marie.”

Two walls were formed on either side of me, both about the same height as me. The walls extending in front and behind me looked like a labyrinth had been created inside the labyrinth. Despite being in a large, open room, we now only had to worry about what was in front of us. That wasn’t all, of course. The monsters gnashed their teeth as they leapt into the pathway. Seeing this, I leapt toward the back side. Some of them were slammed into the walls as their comrades pushed from behind, but they politely proceeded through the path without slowing down much. The moment they stepped on a colored block, the ground erupted with a bang! This was a trap Marie had set up with her spirit magic, enchanting the block-shaped stone spirit with an explosion spell. Traps like this using spells weren’t all too uncommon, but this type of terrain made them far more effective than usual. When used in such a narrow area with walls on either side, the power of the explosion was increased even further. The cluster of monsters received the full brunt of the damage, unable to resist the force from below, and were sent flying into the air.

Schwing! Schwing! Schwing!

The airborne Koopahs wriggled their legs helplessly, but they were severed in half by my sword before they could make their landing. By the time the monsters in the back stepped over their fallen comrades, I had already backed up to make more distance between us. There were, of course, many more unused magical traps waiting for them.

“As I thought, it’s easier for me to support you rather than trying to deal damage myself. I think next time, I could improve on this concept even more. Maybe I could make a sort of maze instead of a straight pathway.”

“I’d rather you didn’t, because I’m afraid I’d get lost myself. But sorcerers really are the stars of battle, huh? They’re really good at controlling the tides of the fight.”

“Hehe, I guess you’re finally realizing the extent of my skills. Oh, the one in the back stopped moving. Maybe I’ll add a magical trap right where it’s sitting. It’s so satisfying to cast spells with this terrain, because I basically can’t miss.”

Wow, she has no mercy! It was a bit hard to keep up with explosions going off all around me, but I was all for it. We finally put our Mind Link Chat to use and reduced the enemy numbers one by one. By the time the monsters realized they couldn’t win, it was already too late. There were magical traps cutting off their escape routes.

In the end, they couldn’t manage to destroy the pathway Marie had summoned. The huge, advanced form of the Koopah was dazed from getting blown up by several of the magical traps, and a light spirit unleashed an attack spell from above, incinerating the creature’s entire body. The High Koopah still tried to press forward, but triggered another magical trap, which seemed to finish it off. It fell back onto the ground with a thud, thrashed around for a few moments, then turned to dust.

Huh, she defeated a High Koopah almost entirely by herself. Those things must’ve been about level 50 or so.

“You can come out now, Marie.” I knocked on the wall behind me, and it bent out of shape, revealing a robed elf and Wridra. We both smiled wide, then slapped each other’s hands for a high five.

“How many levels did you get, Marie?”

“Hehe, two! And my Advanced Labor went up by three. Looks like my support counted towards gaining levels, even with the party penalty. It’s a good thing I was using the skill that increases my experience gain, too.” She spoke a bit quickly, her face flushed with excitement. The happy look on her face was likely from the pride she felt from a legitimate fight, rather than the leveling trick we had used before. Though, I wasn’t sure if our method this time counted as legitimate, either. The girl scanned the hall, and her eyes widened.

“Ah! How many of them were there? Look at all the mounds of dust.”

“I think there were thirty-four of them, including the reinforcements. This room isn’t that big. I’m surprised by how many of them there were. Maybe there was a hiding spot or something in the back.”

I couldn’t blame her for being surprised. The mountains of dust collapsed as Marie dismissed the stone spirit walls. The scenery was completely different from when we had entered, with pillars of black smoke rising from the dust piles. Marie gripped her staff with both hands, the gravity of her feat starting to sink in. Just then, a hand was placed upon each of our heads. We looked up to find Wridra smiling happily as she ruffled our hair.

“Hah, hah, that was quite creative and effective. It was hard to believe it was your first time, with such accuracy and coordination. You both pass with flying colors.”

Her expression was like that of a teacher praising her student, and it made me feel somewhat embarrassed. I’d been a working adult for many years now, but I never thought I’d be so happy to receive praise from someone. The three of us laughed together for some time, then headed toward the door in the back.

There were small rooms along the way that seemed to be resting spots. Marie was getting fatigued from using her low-level skill despite the assistance, and we decided to put our adventure to a halt. The light spirit wasn’t quite as bright as before, and we quickly prepared our sleeping arrangements in the small resting room.

We did pretty well for our first day. We could’ve enjoyed it even more if it wasn’t Monday tomorrow. As those thoughts crossed my mind, I felt something poke my forehead. I looked up in the dimness to find Wridra peering at me with a mischievous look in her eyes.

“You seem to be forgetting something you need to do before going to sleep.” With that, she pointed at the Magic Tool on the table. I nearly asked her what she meant, but then it hit me.

“Oh, they know our location.”

“Indeed. If you go to sleep like this, you will vanish from the map, and the higher-ups supervising you will grow suspicious. Here, I have come to mostly understand how it works, so I shall help you.”

I wondered what she meant by understanding how it worked. I watched Wridra curiously. She picked up the Magic Tool and turned on the three-dimensional map. She moved her finger toward a point of light and touched the one that represented our position, and then the image wavered.

“Oh, did you just move our position?”

“Indeed. It seems you are quite sharp when it comes to matters involving information, coming from the realm of the other.” She snapped her fingers, and the map disappeared.

Now we could sleep in peace. I thanked her, and she smiled, telling me not to worry about it. I looked over to the side to find Marie was on the verge of nodding off. She must’ve been really pushing herself, being in the unfamiliar environment of the labyrinth. And yet, she didn’t complain even once, which was commendable. I placed a blanket over her as she sat there, then led her over to the sleeping area. She sleepily tugged on my top, then snuggled up against my chest like an adorable cat or a young child. I opened the blanket so Wridra could also join, but she softly declined.

“I have mentioned this before, but I must return to my main body on occasion to share the information I have obtained. You two can enjoy your time alone tonight.”

“Oh, right. But are you going to walk back from here?” The dragon shook her head. She waved her hand, and a black smear appeared on the wall. It seemed she was able to create a secret escape hole even from ancient labyrinths.

“I shall come back tomorrow when that staff returns. Until then, young one.” She blew a kiss at me, and I felt my cheeks grow hotter. With her young and attractive appearance, she could portray sex appeal with such simple gestures.

“Well, good night, Wridra. See you tomorrow.”

“Yes, good night. You were quite skilled with the sword today.”

“You too,” I uttered, and she flashed me her beautiful smile. I didn’t expect to feel lonely from being apart from her for just one day. She waved her hand, and I watched her go with heavy eyelids.

Good night, and see you tomorrow.

The blanket had become nice and cozy, the warmness inviting me toward a comfortable sleep. Marie was resting her head on my shoulder, and I closed my eyelids to the sound of her breathing lightly.