Chapter of Ancient Labyrinth, Episode 5: Amethyst Squad’s Formation

Labyrinth Raid, Day 2...

The oasis at the military post was enshrouded in the quiet of early morning. But a crowd was gathered at the tent that was bigger than the rest, where status updates, reports, and orders were being given out. When headquarters was busy, there was usually some sort of problem. The raid was moving slower than expected so far, and they had to report to the government with their plans on how to proceed. They would also need to relay the message to the teams working in the labyrinth right now. There was also another big problem.

“...Are they still separated in there?”

“We had to close the door and seal them off. There are too many enemies to send in a rescue team.”

The commander of the group, Hakam, let out a sigh of frustration at the wizard’s words. But he knew better than anyone just how difficult it was to rescue isolated soldiers. It was far more important to take down the boss of the current floor rather than thin out their forces by sending them in for rescue.

“Defeat the boss of the floor, and the entire area will become our domain. However, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to save them in time.”

“Indeed. We’ve only made about thirty percent progress so far, after all. In any case, Zarish and Gaston’s teams have been doing good work.” Aja the wizard deliberately changed the subject. Hakam realized this, but deliberately followed the change in subject. There was no time to dwell on matters that couldn’t be helped at the moment.

“It’s hard to believe, but maybe it truly is the return of the heroes. It’s no wonder you vouched for their abilities.”

“Hmph, some expensive heroes they are. I could’ve been happy about them without reservations if there weren’t issues with their conduct.”

Despite the criticisms, there was no one more reliable than those two in question. Zarish of Team Diamond, and Gaston of Team Ruby. They were like two charging spears that competed with each other as they tore through the ancient labyrinth.

Suddenly, Aja and Hakam noticed a small group of lights on the display moving around. The map of the ancient labyrinth was being shown in a three-dimensional display. Each point of light represented a squad member, and the information they obtained in their exploration gradually filled out the map. However, these particular points of light were far behind the rest.

“Hoho, they’ve finally awakened. That boy and his group seem to sleep quite well.”

“Sleep brings up a child well, they say... I envy them. Because of my age, I can’t help but get up at the break of day. How about you, Aja? ...No, I suppose I don’t need to ask.” The two smiled, finding a rare moment of comfort in the dreadful ruins. And so, the comparatively peaceful second day of the raid on the labyrinth had begun.

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We woke up, rubbing the sleep out of our eyes. The most obvious changes from when we had fallen asleep earlier in the real world were the pitch black darkness, hard ground, and warmth of the girl’s body next to mine... Actually, that part was the same. “yawn... S-Spirits of light...” Yawning as she called to the spirits, a dim light appeared at the tip of Marie’s finger. Her finger, which was partially transparent with light, poked at the air as if to awaken the sleeping spirits, and the light gradually grew brighter. “Mm, it’s nice and warm...” The girl muttered lazily, unable to remove herself from the coziness of the warm blanket. The light grew stronger yet, and once it reached an adequate level of brightness, Marie poked it one more time, splitting the ball of light in two. They flew around to each of the four corners of the room, illuminating the small room they had fallen asleep in the previous night.

“Good morning, Marie. Make sure you don’t go back to sleep.”

“My, I never thought I’d see the day when you would be saying that to me. So, when will Wridra be joining us?”

That was a good question. I think she said she’d arrive when we wake up... Oh, there she is.

A black stain appeared on the wall, gradually growing to the size of a person. It oozed out like viscous tar, and then arms suddenly emerged from its depths. The arms grabbed onto the walls on either side of the shape, then pulled out the rest of their body... Yeah, that was kind of creepy.

“Nyaaaaaa?!”

Marie trembled under her blanket, letting out a shriek that was surprisingly loud coming from someone of such a small stature. When the shadow glob vanished, the woman who appeared from it called to us with a cheery voice.

“Good morning, you two. And... what are you doing? It appears you cannot keep your hands off of each other already. Hmm, perhaps you intend to make me envious?” She blinked at us with a puzzled expression, but it was hard for me to respond while being held onto so tightly. I managed to lift one arm from Marie’s grasp and responded to the draconian.

“G-Good morning, Wridra. Nice day, isn’t it?”

“Don’t scare me like that, Wridra! How am I supposed to go back to sleep now?!”

Huh, so she really was thinking of going back to sleep.

It was actually kind of fun seeing her acting so scared. I wanted to watch a little longer, but the inside of an ancient labyrinth was neither the time nor place. Moving the blanket aside with a bit of hesitation, we started preparations to depart.

“So, how were your children doing?”

“They were the same as usual. Hah, hah, though caring for them was far more enjoyable this time around. I have been looking after you two children, after all.”

“What? You consider me a child too? I’ll have you know, I am over a hundred years old. I’ve lived far longer than even an elderly human.”

But maybe from the perspective of a dragon that had lived for thousands of years, we weren’t far off from a dragon whelp. Come to think of it, Wridra seemed to have a little less of an edge to her, with a maternal atmosphere within her external beauty. She touched the Magic Tool with her right hand, manipulating the light points that indicated our current position. This was a simple task for her, as someone who knew the ins and outs of magic.

“Okay, are you two ready? Let’s start day two of our raid.”

The girls raised their fists with an enthusiastic “Yeah!” and the moment I had been looking forward to had arrived.

I soon came to realize we had been descending for some time now. Perhaps back then, the ancient people used this floor as a living area. As we descended to the lower floors, there were less signs of people having lived there, and the atmosphere changed into that of a more typical labyrinth-like air. Unfortunately, this meant trouble for me. My sword master, Wridra, forced me to train with glee, and my skill levels increased in exchange for plenty of stamina. We stopped to rest whenever Marie wanted to inspect something as the sorceress of the party, and our exploration of the labyrinth progressed gradually. The girls joked with each other, talking about nothing in particular, and continued to descend even more staircases. Our surroundings were lit brightly by the light spirits, and three shadows wavered at our feet as our party walked on.

Then, we noticed something. There seemed to be something scattered on the ground up ahead, and the group stopped walking. It seemed to be someone’s belongings, and upon inspection, they seemed to be new, but with several holes punched through them. The objects on the floor seemed to be military rations that had been trampled under foot.

“Huh, I guess the raid party already got to this area.”

“They must have been in quite the hurry. Oh, look over there. There’s a door.” I looked in the direction Marie was pointing, where there was a door at a section of the wall that had been seemingly peeled back and laid bare. One peculiar note was that it was covered in black chains. The chains formed an octagram, with what seemed to be ceremonial ornaments adorning their apex.

“A hidden door. I wonder what these chains are for?”

“Hmm, it seems to have been sealed off by the powers of a priest. They were in a hurry, indeed. I can tell this was made in a rush.” Which meant they probably needed to seal it off in a hurry for a reason.

“I’d like to find out what’s in there. Oh, maybe we can check with the three-dimensional map on the Magic Tool.” I picked up the cylindrical object and activated it, using it to display our surroundings. We all peered in for a closer look to find only a small portion of the hall was being shown. The elf girl pointed, cocking her head with a puzzled expression. “The map isn’t filled out. It looks like they still aren’t done exploring this area.”

“Hmm, there are two points of light here. Maybe someone’s still inside.” The girl’s eyes widened and turned toward me, but I still wasn’t sure yet. It also made me wonder, did these lights only react to living beings?

“Maybe that door was sealed off because a powerful enemy appeared and they had to retreat?”

“Yeah, I wonder too. I’d like to fight it, if possible, and if there’s someone in there, I want to help them.” Marie gulped. We had been looking forward to fighting a powerful foe, but it seemed she couldn’t help being intimidated by the sight of the ominous, sealed-off door.

“Okay, let’s decide on what to do. What do you think, Marie?”

“...I’m sorry, but I’m not sure. I can’t imagine what could be awaiting us behind that door... but if we can, I want to help whoever is in there.” She squeezed her staff, looking up at me with a worried expression. Her slender shoulders looked as if they were about to start trembling any minute, but there was a surprising determination within her eyes. She would have thought about it a lot longer, had this been her old self. She believed everyone should fend for themselves, and she was the type to avoid confrontation. Maybe the influence of the movie we saw last night had changed her. Strangers were, by nature, strangers because you hadn’t interacted with them and had the potential to become friends only by making an effort to get to know one another. This was the lesson she had learned from the movie.

I stuck out my fist, and the girl hesitated for only a brief moment before forming a small fist with her hand and bumping it with a determined look on her face. Then, Wridra’s fist joined in from the side, our wills becoming one.

“Okay, let’s go check if they’re alive and execute a rescue mission. Our order of priority is our own safety, then theirs, and finally, to defeat our enemies. Is that fine?” They nodded.

Wridra the draconian was to watch over us as we had previously discussed. Marie and I would’ve preferred to complete the rescue mission without Wridra’s help, but this was no time to be picky about that. We held up the Magic Tool and pressed the red button. This would allow us to communicate with Aja, who was at the headquarters. White noise could be heard from the device, and then the link was established.

“This is HQ. What is it, my boy? Are you in trouble?”

“No, I just wanted to report that we’re about to start a rescue mission at the hall. But first, please tell us whether the two inside are alive or not.” There was a weighty pause. After some time, Commander Hakam’s voice replied instead of the old man’s.

“...That area is highly dangerous. There have been reports of demons that can spawn countless monsters. They’re estimated to be level 80.”

“Thank you for the information. Please, let us know whether they’re all right.”

Marie’s eyes widened at the commander’s words. A level 80 demon would be at least considered mid-rank, and it was likely to come equipped with special abilities if it could spawn so many monsters. This would make the expected difficulty much higher than we originally thought. We deliberated over how to proceed as we waited for the commander’s reply. Eventually, a croaky voice spoke up from the device.

“...They’re alive, but barely. A barrier has been protecting them.”

“I see. Then we will attempt a rescue, if possible.” I was feeling a little nervous, considering we were talking with people of such high ranks. As I prepared to turn off the switch, the comm link buzzed again.

“I almost forgot to mention, but if you’re going on a mission, you will be a part of the team even though you’re not from this country. We don’t intend on ordering you around or anything like that, but we will need to give your squad a team name.” Our eyes widened. Apparently, the teams were all named after some sort of precious gemstone. I pressed a finger against the hole on the receiver so they wouldn’t be able to hear us.

“I don’t know what to tell him. This is so sudden.”

“It doesn’t seem to mean much, so why don’t we just pick a random gemstone?” the purple-eyed girl suggested, and I looked at her, then mulled over the idea.

I guess I’ll pick a gemstone I’m familiar with, then.

“Then, we’d like to go with amethyst.”

“Very well. Team Amethyst, I pray for your success.” The elf had a clueless look on her face, so it seemed she didn’t know how I came to pick that one. Wridra, however, gave me a knowing grin, and I couldn’t help but turn pink despite my age. Suddenly, we got another transmission coming in. A voice desperately called out amidst the white noise.

“Bzz... Bzz... This is Bloodstone, I’m calling in place of our captain! I know this is asking for too much, but please, save Captain Zera!”

“This is Andalusite. Also calling in place of our captain. Sh-She... She helped me escape at the end! Please, rescue Captain Doula. She’s a truly kindhearted person!”

Marie tugged on my sleeve, and I nodded. That name, Zera, belonged to the man who had helped us just a few days ago. He was a kind and reliable man, which was perhaps why his teammate’s plea for help was nearly a desperate scream. The intensity of his emotions could be felt even through the comm link, igniting a fire inside my chest.

“...This is Amethyst. Roger that.”

I cut the link. Boy, hearing these stories really got me fired up. I thought I’d outgrown them around middle school, but it seemed I was still young after all. Something was smoldering deep inside me as I reached for the sealed door.

Clink, clink, rattle...

The chains broke into pieces and fell to the stone floor. We were surrounded by darkness, with a large door that had been sealed off standing before us. And now, the seal was being broken. We had requested Aja the mage to break the seal from above ground, and we would be facing off with a demon that was expected to be over level 80. Plaster and dust swirled into the air, as if to herald the countdown to our battle.

“I don’t know the situation inside the hall, so let’s come up with a strategy with the Mind Link Chat as soon as it opens. But we should prioritize our coordination, so I’d like to go with the same plan if possible.”

“Understood. Just say the word.” I turned around to find Marie with a look of determined energy, and Wridra was nodding behind her with a dependable air. Marie was referring to creating the enclosures with the stone spirits and efficiently taking down the enemies one by one. The shape of the enclosure would need to be determined after seeing the situation and enemy positions inside.

“Oh, depending on the circumstances, we might need you to use that empty secondary skill slot. Is that fine?”

“Of course. I’ve been saving it for exactly this type of situation.” Marie nodded confidently with soot staining her hair and cheeks.

The door began to open with a heavy creak. Light poured out from the hall, which was likely the remnant of illumination magic left by the previous raid team. As we stood staring, the entirety of what awaited us in the room slowly became revealed. The room was rectangular in shape, with its depth too far for the illumination magic to reach. The thick pillars were arranged in rows and supported a ceiling far above. Along the wall was a pile of monsters crowding atop each other in numbers too high to count. It was likely that under that pile...

“...There. Spotted two people; they seem to be holding up their barrier. A man seems to be unconscious and is being held up by a woman. Hmm, Marie, can you stand right around here? I want you to be near the exit so you can escape at any time.”

“Got it. Like we discussed before, we’ll expand our position bit by bit. Can you hold them off while I prepare our first fortification?”

“Roger that,” I replied to the voice speaking into my head through the Mind Link Chat, then began moving forward. How to put it... They were like ants swarming over honey. There was no point in trying to count the monsters that were crawling all over each other grotesquely. I was amazed that they managed to hold them off like this the whole night. The person putting up the barrier had to be extremely skilled.

I scanned my surroundings, then started things off by activating Over the Road five times. This skill allowed me to instantaneously transfer myself from one point to another, and it was highly versatile thanks to having no limit on the number of times it could be used. There were other restrictions as a trade off. There was a weight limit, I had to step on the ground with both feet, and I could only move to points that were within my field of vision. I made quick work of monsters that threatened to get near Marie. I had already memorized the position of their hearts and how to defeat them, so it felt like they were dying automatically as soon as I finished teleporting. The sound of monsters dissolving into a cloud of dust rang in my ears.

“They aren’t charging this way, so I think I’ll start pushing forward.”

“We don’t know when they might start swarming at us. Don’t do anything reckless, okay?” She said, but I thought I was most effective when I was being somewhat reckless. I mean, this was a dream world to me, after all. Getting hurt was no big deal, and I would just awaken in Japan if I did end up dying, but I supposed going back to sleep afterward would be kind of a pain.

The mountain of monsters still didn’t draw any closer, and only the ones that noticed us came running in order. These were still only level 40 or so, and I easily cut them down with one swing, thanks to Wridra’s training. I appeared at a monster’s flank, and before its marble-like eyes could focus on me, I buried my sword into its skull down to the halfway point of its blade. I gave it a quick twist, then pulled the blade back out. The creature’s belly flopped onto the floor before it could even make a sound. It seemed this would take a while, so I decided to memorize this motion with Reprise. Now I could instantly kill these monsters by cutting their heart or head.

One by one, monsters fell to the floor in a clockwise order. But of course, I would never be able to vanquish them all with this method. The objective wasn’t to defeat all of the small fries, but to draw out the demon that was hiding somewhere. And yet...

“Hmm, I have no idea where it is, and their numbers aren’t decreasing at all. Where could they be coming from?”

“Oh, that’s right. If there are more of them spawning, I should have tried to detect where they’re coming from. Can you take out about twenty of them so I can give it a try?”

Huh, that was a tall order after just telling me not to be reckless. Since I needed to defeat a lot of them, I swapped out some of the slots I had memorized with Reprise. It could hold up to about twenty, so I memorized several attack patterns for attacking from the front, sides, and back. Of course, I would be aiming for the heart or the head, where I could take out the enemy with a single strike. As soon as I met certain conditions of “distance” and “position,” I would attack automatically. The advantage of this was... Well, it took little effort on my part.

“A new monster appeared. Detected several creatures from the far end of the hall, behind the pillar.”

“Thanks. I’m all warmed up now too. How’s the situation on your end?”

“My first structure is almost ready. But since you seem to be holding up pretty easily right now, I want to start working on the next step, too. Is that okay with you?”

“Absolutely,” I told her. “Don’t mind me!”

I now had four tasks to handle. Protect Marie, defeat the demon at the end of the room, clean up the weak mobs, and rescue the two in the barrier that could break down any second. Well, it was definitely more interesting this way. The more impossible the task seemed, the greater the joy when accomplishing it. Maybe I was a gamer in that sense. Though, I didn’t actually play a lot of games in the real world.

“Well then, why don’t I work on two missions at once? Here I go.”

I was being careful not to make any noise before, but it was time to work up a sweat. I held up my sword and began walking forward without hesitation. Even now, I could hear the crash of monsters tackling the barrier near the center of the room. They seemed awfully riled up. They were so focused on their bloodlust for their target that they hardly noticed me approaching. But the tide was beginning to turn. I had walked up to them, cutting down each monster that entered my range of attack. I deliberately let them shriek out their death cries, and the others whirled around in my direction as if they received an electric shock. Watching the expressions on their faces, I slowly moved to the side. Even as they came swarming toward me, I had already memorized how to dispatch them with my Reprise skill. As long as I was careful about my positioning, the rest would be taken care of. Like I mentioned earlier, my instant movement skill, Over the Road, wasn’t without weaknesses. One of the drawbacks was that I could only travel to a point I could see, so I could have gotten into trouble if they were to surround me to the point where I couldn’t find a spot to escape to.

“I think I’ll slowly make my way around the outside.”

The reaction wasn’t too big at first, but as the mountain of corpses began to pile up, their attention was starting to focus on me. The sight of the countless eyes turning to gaze at me was... well, not too scary, actually. I could always jump away if I needed to, anyway.

“Ah...! Wow!” Marie couldn’t help but exclaim, seeing the enemies go down at a record pace. I created some illusions of myself whenever I nearly became surrounded, but my steady walk never halted. This was all thanks to Reprise, which had turned me into an automated Koopah killing machine, but it was also true that I was pushing myself very hard. It didn’t seem like I was expending any effort, but I could feel my vitality being sapped away. “This is... kind of eerie. Watching you is making my eyes hurt.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure how I feel about that. Anyway, I’ll draw the enemies toward the deep end, but let me know if you need help.”

“All right. I just finished preparing the second structure.” That was pretty quick. With her calm demeanor and precise use of magic, it was possible that she might surpass me someday.

The sea of monsters before me resembled dinosaurs with oversized heads, gnashing their teeth like a shoal of piranhas. They could even jump high into the air, which made them particularly troublesome. Maybe the sight of one monster going down per second was strange to behold, indeed. But I had to be able to maintain such a pace if I hoped to take on such large numbers.

“Oh, I’m down to about half vitality. I hope I can make it to the demon.”

I was about halfway through my rotation from the south side when I made such an observation, but my progress wasn’t without results. I may have expended a lot of stamina, but it was now a lot easier for our two rescuees to escape. The woman finally turned my way, her red hair wavering with the movement. She was still desperately holding onto the man, who seemed to be unconscious.

“You two, please escape whenever you find the chance. My companions are waiting for you over there.” She was covered in sweat and dirt, but there was a startling amount of strength in her eyes. I could sense a powerful love between them as she protectively held the man in her arms.

So that’s why she was able to survive the entire night like this... I continued to walk as the thought crossed my mind, when I heard Marie’s excited voice.

“Another level up...!”

“Marie, don’t get distracted by levels right now. We need to focus on rescuing those two.”

“R-Right! Oh, the demon is moving!”

I saw it, too. It must have noticed that I was approaching as I led the mob of enemies deeper into the far end of the room. The creature that appeared from behind the pillar was a slender demon that was about three meters tall. Actually, maybe “slender” didn’t quite describe it. Its body was thin, like it had been formed with wires, and only the black horns on its head were abnormally large. Its eyes were like white, glowing dots. There was an ornament like a reverse pentagram on its forehead, and the multiple orbs of darkness floating around it were likely one of its skills. Then, it screamed.

Kyaaaaaaaaarrrgh!!!

With its mouth stretched out vertically, it let loose a screech like wires grating against each other. This wasn’t just a scream, but the language of demons. I would’ve liked to have learned it someday, but... No, maybe I shouldn’t. I had a feeling that Ms. Elf would’ve come to hate me if I made a noise like that.

As Marie analyzed the opponent, the demon’s name appeared above its head. I could barely make out the blurry letters that spelled out “Raab,” and I figured it was a rare monster. I was surprised to find my forehead was damp with sweat from the intense pressure the creature was emitting. Then, I heard Marie’s alarmed voice in my head through the Mind Link Chat.

“Immune to physical attacks, barrier level... Wow, 82! I can’t pinpoint the source of its magic amplification.”

“They’re usually at the heart or the head. More importantly, I guess it does nullify physical attacks, huh? I know your hands are pretty full, but do you think you could give me an enchantment?” With two quick kicks off of the ground, I was back within Marie’s cast range. Yeah, I wouldn’t have been able to conquer labyrinths by myself if it weren’t for this mobility. The monsters lost sight of me, and they turned their large heads as they searched for me in confusion. Meanwhile, the demon stayed where it was without bothering to give chase. Despite its savage appearance, it seemed to have a careful personality.

“Don’t move, I’m casting a spell on you. I’m still not very good with holy magic...”

“You can do it, Marie!”

She completed her incantation, and specks of light gathered at my raised sword. My black sword let out an unpleasant howl, then blurred momentarily. With a loud whoosh, a holy symbol recognizing it as an otherworldly object appeared on the sword.

“Uuugh, level 40 is the highest I can go! That sword isn’t very compatible with holy magic.”

“It’s good enough. I could only run away up until now, but I can finally fight the demon with this. Boy, I can’t wait!” I gave it a few practice swings, and it made satisfying voom noises with each swing. A monster happened to come at me at that moment, and I sliced its head off in an instant. The section that had been cut was shining, and even its blood had a bright gleam to it.

“Wow, this is really satisfying. Okay, I think I’ll take a quick rest before heading out.”

“It’ll start blinking when the effect is about to run out, so let me know if that happens. My third structure is ready, so I’ll start activating them in order.”

Things were starting to come together. I wanted to defeat the demon already, but it was better to be cautious. The ground rumbled as the first structure had become activated.

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I ran through the path that stretched out between two parallel walls. Come to think of it, I wasn’t much of a runner. My usual methods of travel were walking or teleportation. I turned around with these thoughts in mind, and monsters with horrifying faces were running after me. The black tidal wave coming my way reminded me of a disaster film that was popular some time ago. I skidded to a halt at a blind alley, and I had run out of places to run. The monsters soon caught up to me, engulfing me within their wave. Their teeth tore through my arms and legs, devouring me without mercy... but then my body deformed, becoming amorphous as it lost its shape. As usual, I had used my Phantom Image skill.

These walls were not part of the original labyrinth. They had been created with the stone spirits which had been summoned with Marie’s spirit magic. My real self was standing atop a stone wall about two meters high, observing the view below. They screamed and hopped around in vain, and then the entrance closed behind them, packing them tight into a sealed room. Flames immediately erupted below their feet, and I jumped up to a higher level to avoid the heat. I landed lightly on a platform where Mariabelle the elf girl and Wridra the draconian were standing. Marie briefly glanced in my direction, but seemed rather preoccupied casting the incantation to roast the monsters whole. With the fire’s light reflecting off of her light purple eyes, they resembled amethyst gemstones even more than usual.

“Hey there. We’re getting a lot more efficient now, aren’t we?”

“Hmm, this method is different from before. Was there something wrong with the previous method?” Marie and I nodded in response to Wridra’s question. Before, we laid out magic mines to blow up enemies that chased after us. It didn’t quite deal fatal damage, but it disrupted them enough for me to deal the killing blow.

“The old way hampered a lot of my mobility. You know, since I can manage without the walls on both sides.” Since my build specialized in mobility, evading and escaping from enemies wasn’t an issue. Basically, we switched to a plan that could more efficiently take out several enemies at once. I looked down, hearing the echoes of roaring fire and screaming monsters. Marie finished her spellcasting, lowered her staff, and looked at me.

“You should heal up your energy while you can. Here, have some tea.”

She handed me a plastic bottle, which I took gratefully. I sat down on the ledge of the platform and Marie sat next to me. It was a horrible view for a date, but this wasn’t the time to be picky. And so, I gulped down my drink and quenched my thirst. I looked up at the ceiling on a whim and made a comment.

“Oh, looks like there’s ventilation in here, too. The air isn’t getting any thinner, and the smoke isn’t building up even with all this fire.”

“I wouldn’t use fire inside labyrinths like this if there wasn’t. They’re burning really well, though. Maybe they had a lot of fat? Hehe, I can’t wait for the next trap.”

I wondered what she was talking about, but my attention was turned to the “first structure” the girl had conjured. Koopahs weren’t the smartest creatures around, but even they wouldn’t just sit by idly as they were getting roasted alive. They tackled the walls repeatedly, forming cracks in the stone walls with each blow.

“I would say we can burn them like this three more times or so. But this method will only work against the weaker mobs. I doubt the smarter ones will even take the bait.”

“Yeah, Koopahs are dumb enough to attack anything that moves. I guess that’s what makes them efficient for leveling with.”

Koopahs were being categorized as a “weaker mob,” but they were actually moderately high level. I supposed “moderately high” was an appropriate description for level 40. But despite their lack of intelligence, they were still a definite threat when there were enough of them. This whole ordeal made me think about why sorcerers were considered the stars of the battlefield. Once a plan fell into place like this, their firepower was bar none. Any who saw the big mob of Koopahs cooking in the blazing fire would likely agree. As for Marie, she was staring at the impressive dragon designs on her staff.

“I owe a lot of these results to Wridra’s help. One day, I hope I can pull this off even without your staff.”

“Yes, not many have the power to control spirits with this much skill. Although, as an elf, you have a long life ahead of you. I would not say it is impossible.” Wridra replied sleepily from beside Marie. She seemed to be feeling pretty lax, with us being relatively safe with our current setup.

However, not everything would be smooth sailing from here. The demon still hadn’t moved from the deep end of the room, and it was still spawning monsters at the same rate. We had managed to heal and level up, while the demon bought itself some momentary peace.

“That endless summoning might be the demon’s special ability. Maybe all the Koopahs on this floor were spawned by him. But I don’t get why it’s just sitting there without making a move at all.”

“Yes, I’m sure it can use magic, but it hasn’t done a thing. It could be that it has to remain an observer for some reason.”

We had been defeating the spawned monsters all this time to test if there was a limit to the monsters it could summon, but judging by the way reinforcements kept coming, it was looking unlikely that they would stop. We still had reserves on the stone structures, but our energy wasn’t unlimited. If there was no way to bait it out, we had to go on the offensive.

“Well, I got enough rest, so I think I’ll go challenge that demon now.”

“Be careful. Few people have successfully defeated a demon that’s mid-rank or higher.” Hearing that got me even more pumped up. I would’ve loved to become one of those “few people.” Although, I would’ve had no choice but to run if it wasn’t for Marie’s magic enchantment.

I noticed the monsters I had drawn into our trap had all been completely incinerated, and the stone door opened again to refill the fuel for more fire. At this rate, it was unlikely that there would be any issues. I kicked off of the platform and teleported to the room’s floor. The monsters fervently charged toward the structure Marie had prepared, but the hall was otherwise silent. The creatures collided with each other as they squeezed into the only entrance. Our party had come to raid the labyrinth, so it was a bit odd to see the monsters challenging this miniature labyrinth the elf girl had conjured.

I wasn’t the only one observing this view. The man and woman were sitting on the ground with blankets wrapped around them, the woman watching with a dumbfounded expression.

“I went to check up on the other two, but they should be fine for some time. Does it seem like Zera will regain consciousness?”

The man and woman, who were covered in soot and mud, were the two I had just rescued earlier. The woman was holding the man tightly in her arms with her silver eyes fixed on me, still looking confused about what was going on. Her confusion, to be fair, was a pretty appropriate reaction. I gave up on trying to get a reply out of her and turned around, when I heard a “Thank you” whispered from behind. I turned back around to face her and found a look of relief on her face. After giving her a wave of my hand, I began walking again.

I stepped off of the stone pavement, then stopped. Before me was a wall with peculiar patterns carved into them, indicating that I had reached the far end of the hall. Then, as if it had been waiting for me, the demon slowly emerged from behind the pillar. I had already seen what it looked like, but the only word I could find to describe it was “abnormal.” The thing was thin as a rail, but its height reached a full three meters or so. It screeched menacingly at me, a noise like wires grating on each other emanating from its vertically outstretched mouth. Now, it was time for some delightful demon hunting. Demons were creatures that originally weren’t from this world, so they couldn’t be harmed by most physical attacks. They had a pesky trait that gave them complete physical immunity, which was why I had received a holy enchantment from Marie. I gripped my weapon in hand as I walked forward, and the demon Raab’s features glowed with a golden hue. With each heavy step, the creature left spiderweb-shaped cracks in the pavement. It spread its ten long fingers at me, though I wasn’t sure why. The fingers were splayed out in a circular arrangement and began making strange ticking noises. I had no idea what it was trying to do. But there was no time for hesitation, and I maintained my pace as I strove forward, trying to calm my quickly beating heart.

“A battle with a mid-rank demon... How exciting. I’ll gladly make more boxed meals if I get to have dreams like this.”

I didn’t know what was going to happen. That was what made it so thrilling. The reason I thought this way was probably because I spent my time in a peaceful place like Japan. I spent my days in complete boredom, feeling powerless to do anything by myself as the days went by. But such melancholy was cast aside as the demon’s finger began glowing brilliantly. In a blink of an eye, a black laser grazed my cheek and passed through behind me, blowing up the ground it came in contact with and making my excitement soar to new heights.

“A black laser beam?! This is crazy!”

My feet landed on the wall, and I drove my black sword into the surface at the same time. I wanted to enjoy some more over-the-top anime fights, but I pulled out the sword immediately after. The demon had turned its still-glowing hand toward me again. A roaring flame appeared at the wall where I had just been. The magic force shot from my opponent’s hand ripped out a chunk of the wall, then continued to pursue me as I landed on the ground. I was going to be hunted down eventually if I kept this up. Realizing this, I teleported behind the demon’s back right away. My sword was held at waist level and ready to swing, but something resembling a blot of ink in water appeared in front of me. Then, I noticed the pentagram on Raab’s head had a similar blot on it.

“What? A homing attack?! You’ve gotta be kidding!”

Something took a bite out of the location I was just standing in with a chomp! A black mass the size of a car had devoured the ground and everything on it with its huge jaws. Flustered, I lost my balance and shouted as I rolled around on the ground.

“Agh! This isn’t just any mid-rank monster!”

The fact that it could switch between far and close range on the fly told me it had quite a lot of combat experience. A rare species with special abilities, and a demon that has existed since ancient times... It had to be about level 82 or so. But this was no time to be making such calm observations. The black clump from earlier was beginning to change shape. A giant, eel-like thing dropped next to me with a thud, their numbers increasing rapidly. It was an Unagi Serpent that had been summoned with its special ability. Its gaping mouth formed a round circle, and its maw full of needle-sharp teeth was honestly somewhat terrifying.

“Are you really level 80-ish? You seem higher.”

Supposedly, there were things called floor masters. There were several kinds of labyrinths, from normal ruins to locations that a big boss like the Magi Drake had turned into their own personal stronghold. Then, there were labyrinths like this one, where it was made up of multiple floors that were managed differently, with varying floor masters taking leadership within those floors. I voiced this out loud, and Marie’s voice spoke into my ear.

“If this really is the floor master, it seems far too close to the entrance. I think the reason the other teams pulled back is also because they figured Raab wasn’t the floor master.”

“I agree, but its magic is really strong. It might be something like a floor master, but not quite. Either way, I guess it’s definitely at least a mid-boss.”

The tendency to have leisurely conversations at inopportune moments was a bad habit of mine. I cared heavily about facing the unknown through combat with mysterious opponents, but my conversations with Marie were even more important. With the time that I had spent talking, I ended up being surrounded by seven of the giant eel-like monsters. They had white underbellies, and the way they wriggled their bodies coated in viscous fluids made the comparison even more apt. The many rows of legs lining their sides were kind of creepy to look at. But even as they rushed toward me and filled my vision with their form, I only braced myself for combat.

“If they’re as dumb as Koopahs, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

The giant Unagi Serpent snapped its maw shut, chomping down upon my tasty... illusion. Actually, I doubted it tasted like anything at all. I kicked off of the ground once more, teleporting behind the demon’s back. I immediately followed up with a sharp swing at its leg of braided wires, but a shadowy phosphorescence blocked most of my attack. The level 82 barrier was nothing to scoff at, after all.

Kyaaaaaaaaarrrgh!!!

I felt a chill run down my spine as its head twisted around to face me and let out an unnerving screech. This metallic noise was actually the language of demons, and it served as a magical incantation. And so, it pointed its gnarled finger at me once more, firing a thin, string-like substance in my direction. It punctured the stone pavement where I had been standing, but I had already moved to its opposite flank.

“Yikes, Wire Shots? They’re quick and fire rapidly. It’ll be a pain to keep dodging all of those. I think I’ll try attacking a few times.”

I said so with a leisurely tone, but a giant mouth was already looming behind me. The Unagi Serpent swallowed my illusion with glee, and I gave it a sidelong glance as I began my assault on the demon. The light and dark elements clashed, but I pressed the attack to break the barrier with consecutive strikes. Black sparks shot out as I attacked what looked like its thigh repeatedly, but it didn’t let me focus solely on offense. It seemed to switch gears to close range spells. The creature rapidly fired Wire Shots, puncturing countless holes in the stone behind me. I was glad I had some distance between me and Marie so she wouldn’t have to see this. If she did, her heart would probably be pounding crazily like it did when we watched movies together. I kicked off of the Unagi Serpent’s head, then used the momentum of my spin to slice below my feet. I didn’t quite cut all the way through, but its upper jaw was removed as I landed, and its scream echoed in the room as black blood sprayed from its wound.

Hmm, that’s sharp.

I supposed that was to be expected of a sword honed by the Arkdragon and enchanted with holy magic, but I still hadn’t made any progress toward my objective. I’d been keeping up my relentless assault, but no matter how many times I attacked, the strength of the barrier and the demon’s malleable body prevented any damage. We continued to fight without making any decisive moves, but the damage to our surroundings was becoming excessive. The stone pavement was blown to smithereens, and the Unagi Serpents were ripped to shreds and sent flying away.

“This is going nowhere. If I could just get in one clean cut, I could memorize that movement with Reprise.”

“I may have been able to make an enclosure if I could send the stone spirits your way, but it’s a bit too far. I need to protect Zera, too... Is there any way you can lead it this way?”

That was no easy task. I tried baiting it out by putting some distance between us, but the demon still didn’t try to leave its spot in the back. It was proficient in ranged attacks, so giving it space would only put me at a disadvantage. So... if pulling didn’t work, I had to try pushing. Although, I was going to have the Unagi Serpent do the pushing for me.

I already knew I couldn’t lead Raab away from its spot. But the monsters it summoned were a different story. The creature bit down on an illusion I left there as bait, only to find its master, Raab, waiting right in front of it. It was running around wildly, trying to catch me as I teleported in all directions, and even the demon wasn’t able to dodge a tackle from behind. A tremor shook the ground with a loud boom. Raab was pressed against the pillar by the monster, just as I had planned, and I immediately slicked open the Unagi Serpent’s head to keep it there as long as possible.

“Urgh!”

A wiry finger pointed in my direction, unleashing a beam toward me. But Raab only managed to open holes in its dead servant, and I was already swinging my sword downward. I swung through, cutting right through the pillar and into the demon’s leg. I couldn’t aim for the core at its chest from this height, so I had to cut down its legs first. That was why I had opted to pin it against the pillar and cut its leg while it was immobilized. One of its fibers was cut with a snapping sound, and I quickly memorized that movement with Reprise.

I see, so that’s the angle, huh? I’ll keep it up with the same speed and angle, then.

Kyaaaaaarrrgh...

I continued to cut through the fibers on its legs with perfect accuracy. Then, the demon let out a voice like a scream of pain. No, that wasn’t right. As if to demonstrate that it was an incantation rather than a mere scream, mesh-patterned strings expanded from its raised hands. It seemed the demon wasn’t aiming to kill with that spell. I realized this when the Unagi Serpent that had been leaning on Raab was locked down to the ground. Contrary to its appearance, the string was extremely resilient, and didn’t tear even when the monster beneath it looked like a boneless ham.

“Magic specifically for capturing the target, huh? Looked like it was trying to counter my mobility. It’s hard to read its intentions with that expression on its face. That was a close one,” I commented to myself after taking cover behind a pillar some distance away.

I was able to land some solid hits earlier, but it was obvious that this wasn’t going to be easy. My opponent was tough, able to set up spells on the fly, and was quick-witted to boot. The same tactics were probably not going to work again. Its pentagram darkened, and more Unagi Serpents came raining down. I had lost a great deal of stamina, while the demon only sustained minor injuries to its leg, which was already repairing itself by forming new fibers... The Unagi Serpents flopped around as they came for me, though it crossed my mind that they should’ve been protecting their master instead of moving away. Though, I figured they weren’t very intelligent anyway, and that they could be replaced at any time. Meanwhile, I didn’t have a replacement for myself at the ready. If I was defeated, my small party of three would fall apart. Sweat rolled down my face; not out of fear, but simply from a lack of remaining energy.

“I might actually have more energy left if Wridra hadn’t been training me...”

“I can hear you. Thanks to this so-called comm link, I’ve learned how this Mind Link Chat works. You can look forward to getting so much training that you will not have the strength left to complain.”

“...”

Sweat rolled down my face again, but for a different reason this time. I remembered there was another thing I had gained through this fight. I learned the most effective angle of attack, and it had been recorded in my Reprise skill’s memory slot already. The battle would now be decided by how long I could keep the fight at the optimal close range. I contemplated such thoughts as I fed three Unagi Serpents my illusions.

“Marie, how much of your magic reserves do you have left?”

“About half. Keep in mind that my accuracy will degrade over time, too.”

We didn’t have much room for error. With Raab being preoccupied with me, the number of monsters in the room was diminishing, but if we left the demon alone, it would start spawning loads of mobs again. That would basically spell the end for us. Luckily, our rescue mission was already pretty much complete. If we wanted to escape, we could’ve asked Wridra to get the two rescuees out to safety, but there was also something I was curious about. When we had checked the map earlier, everything beyond this hall was missing. It was possible that there was more unexplored territory up ahead. If that was the case, I wanted to defeat the enemy and press on rather than retreat.

“...Yeah, let’s give it a shot. If it doesn’t work, we’d just need to evacuate.”

“Huh? What are you planning on doing?” I was planning on capturing the demon, defeating all the mobs, and making everyone happy, of course. I relayed my plan through the Mind Link Chat, and even Wridra had an awkwardly tight smile on her face... or at least, I imagined she did.

In the room was the demon and several of the black, eel-like creatures it summoned. I couldn’t sense any life in their eyes as they stared at me, motionless. They almost seemed to be smiling at me, as if they knew just how advantageous a situation they were in. After all, I had little energy left, and the Unagi Serpents guarding the demon made it hard for me to finish things quickly. And if I backed away, the demon would simply mass summon more mobs, ruining any chance I had of winning. Whether I went for the offense or defense, I couldn’t see things going well for me. That meant the demon only had to launch ranged attacks at me from afar. The energy required to dodge the needles shot from its fingers would put me at an even further disadvantage. And so, I used the pillars in order to conserve as much energy as possible.

“Wow, it’s like a machine gun. I wonder if it’s considered a physical attack?”

“Machine...? I think you’re a little too calm about this. When will you realize it’s trying to kill you?” Marie spoke into my head via Mind Link Chat from her position in the distance. Of course I knew it was trying to kill me, but it didn’t sound like she was too concerned about that. Now, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to win on my own, so I decided to go for a different approach.

“Marie, are you ready to seal off the mobs?”

“Yes, I’ve recomposed the second structure. Activating the trap now.”

She mentioned it before, but I wondered what the “trap” she was talking about could be. Just as I turned around, my vision was filled with red. If I had to describe it, I’d say it was like a blast furnace. I’d never actually seen one before, but the sight of the blazing inferno within the walls that were even higher than the first structure was likely pretty similar. The howl of countless Koopahs screaming in unison could be heard, and I cocked my head, wondering whether such a thing should exist in an ancient labyrinth. Raab seemed to feel the same way, and its beady, inhuman eyes simply stared wordlessly. Personally, I thought just blocking off the entrance and segregating the mobs would’ve been good enough.

“Oh, so Spirit Magic was the trap you were talking about? You’ve been empowering your spirits so you could burn the monsters all at once.”

“That’s right. I had time and magic to spare, so I was making preparations all this time.”

R-Right.

It was a little out of left field, if I was being honest. Marie probably took out more enemies than I did. It just went to show why spirit magic users were so rare and valuable. Unfortunately, though, defeating the mobs was only going to gradually wear us down. We had to beat the demon that was spawning them, or it would mass summon again and we’d be back to square one.

“Okay, let’s start baiting out the demon, then.”

“I’m ready when you are.”

We were ready to wipe out the enemy, even though Marie’s magic and my energy were about halfway depleted. Although... this method would probably have been considered pretty unfair.

“Then, let’s begin,” I told them through Mind Link Chat, and the operation began. Just then, we heard white noise that indicated someone had intruded on the chat that was for party members only.

“...I am not sure if I would even call this a plan. Honestly, I am quite astonished that you can be so cheap.”

“Come on, it’s not so bad. I’d like to see just how far you outclass the rest of us every once in a while.”

As soon as the demon heard her voice, a shudder ran through its body. It seemed so full of dignified majesty with its countless minions, but it was suddenly looking around in a fluster. It may have been trembling from fear. Its wiry body made clinking noises as it walked around with long strides, its minions following close behind. Raab had finally made a move after staying in its spot in the back this entire time.

“Ah! It actually moved. You really are incredible, Wridra.”

“...I am unsure whether I should be happy about this. I feel as if I have become a hunting dog, or something along those lines.”

I couldn’t blame Wridra for feeling that way. The theory we had crafted was extremely simple, and we empathized with the demon so much that it was kind of sad. Why did such a powerful demon refuse to leave the back of the hall? If it had come out, Marie wouldn’t have been free to do as she pleased, and we wouldn’t have been able to rescue the two so easily. Even in war, the basic rule of combat was to take out the sorcerer with mysterious powers. Otherwise, you’ll keep sustaining damage, and even the biggest of warriors can be defeated. But, again, why did it refuse to leave its original spot?

It was hiding because it was afraid. Afraid of Wridra, the legendary dragon who had been protecting Marie. As if to prove this was true, the demon moved away from us as soon as Wridra showed herself from behind a wall. This was why Wridra was so disappointed, and knowing her well, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her.

“Sorry about this. But you only need to watch, like we originally agreed.” I couldn’t help but apologize, despite knowing she couldn’t hear me.

The demon made its way across the stone pavement, making noises like creaking wires with each step. I matched its movement in parallel, but it was still keeping up its long-ranged attacks. Each time it raised its fingers at me, my surroundings were riddled full of holes like a beehive in the blink of an eye. I could see Wridra sighing behind the demon, but it didn’t dare attack in her direction.

“Okay, how about we call this plan Operation Drive Fishing?”

“Oho, you would best remember this. I will drive you to your limit later on, as well.”

“Are you two playing around? Don’t forget, we’re in the middle of executing our plan. Wridra, I need you to lead it a little more to the right. Yes, that’s good, hold that position.”

Now, there was an important task left for Marie. She was to use the rest of her magic reserves to completely seal the demon away. To pull this off against a demon whose level was more than double her own was an impossible task for an ordinary person. But with the staff Wridra had given her, and this...

“I’m going to apply my secondary skill. Setting Double Cast now.”

In that moment, Marie gained the ability to multiply the power of her magic. Secondary skills were skills one could set with special components like magic items to give the user a boost in power. One of the slots that had been open up until this point had now been filled up. It would allow her to expend additional magic energy in exchange for incredible power, which should have come in handy in a pinch.

“Keep going straight... A little more... There, activating the final structure!”

The stone spirits that had been prepared along the ground finally made their appearance. Stone emerged from below, surrounding the demon on all sides. The walls were originally 40 centimeters thick, but they had been doubled in thickness by her Double Cast secondary skill. We had originally planned to use it to keep the mobs at bay, but we made it smaller in scope and increased the thickness and height to use it against the demon instead.

“There, it’s trapped. That should give us some room to breathe.”

“I don’t know how long it’s going to last. Don’t let your guard down.”

The Unagi Serpents tackled the wall as if they had gone mad, and we could hear a noise from inside the walls as if it was being chipped away with a drill. However, the wall’s durability had been increased with Wridra’s blessing, so it was unlikely that it would break so easily. I immediately used Over the Road to stand atop the wall, which was a towering five meters in height. My field of view changed in an instant. The demon looked up, noticing me standing there. The improvised jail we had made for it was far too small for its giant body. It couldn’t have been more than four and a half tatami mats in size. I was feeling reluctant to go in there...

“Well, I guess having a nightmare every once in a while isn’t so bad. It’s time for the final round in super close quarters.”

The demon’s beady eyes turned red like fire, and shadow blobs appeared from the pentagram ornament on its head. I casually hopped into the structure, and the duel between me and the demon had begun. My sword, which had been enchanted with holy magic, cut right through the floating shadow ball with a quick swing. I heard an Unagi Serpent screaming outside at the same time, and I figured my attack just now had ended its life somehow.

“Hm, I think it was trying to summon that thing over here. I might’ve potentially been crushed to death in this narrow space if I hadn’t interrupted it just now.” Its summoning had failed, and its game plan had been ruined. The demon’s eyes bulged with rage, and it unleashed another screech like wires grinding against each other.

Kyaaaaaaaaargh!

This was an incantation for a spell. Its fingers came loose like threads, then launched out in my direction. The missiles passed through my illusions and shot sparks into the air like shotgun blasts, drilling multiple holes into the stone wall. Bang, bang, bang! It continued firing in quick succession, which I evaded with illusions and teleportation, then scored a hit with my sword to its thigh. The demon’s barrier was dense, and cutting through it demanded accuracy and rapid strikes. But luckily for me, we were surrounded by four walls.

My skill, Over the Road, allowed me to move to another point instantaneously, but it required me to step on something with both feet to activate. But in this confined space with walls around us, I was able to constantly stay in close quarters with my opponent. I cut through the fibers of its thigh one by one, and the demon let out a scream each time. Or maybe that scream was the source of the demon’s magic. The thought occurred to me as I sliced yet another shadow blob it produced. This may have been the first time I’d focused so intently during a fight. Getting grabbed, getting cut, and failing to interrupt its summons were some of the many conditions in which I could lose, and I had to avoid each of them and come out on top. Countless needle-shaped objects were launched at my head, but they only managed to hit the illusions I had generated. Though, dodging around wasn’t going to get me any closer to my goal. I needed to cut my opponent while dodging its attacks, which demanded dexterity and accuracy. I had to be intricate and precise, but I had to remain calm and build up damage to its thigh, little by little. I honestly didn’t dislike this sort of tension.

As I utilized my illusions and instantaneous movement, as well as my legs and brain, my mind gradually became clearer and clearer. Eventually, I found myself in a state of concentration where I could only think of dodging and slashing, and the purity of mind was strangely comforting. The ground shook. After getting its leg cut so many times, the demon had fallen to one knee. I was finally in a position where I could focus my attacks on the core located in its chest area. Realizing this, the demon mutated further by splitting its arms into four. Its wiry body turned even darker, its appearance now befitting of a demon. Strands of steel were launched out and rained down from above, the projectiles bouncing off of the stone walls and wreaking havoc. The walls were crumbling by the second, and little cuts appeared on my body even after evading direct shots. Rubble came down in a shower, but I repeatedly attacked the demon’s chest without relenting. My only path to survival was to continue my assault. The fibers on its chest gradually began to split finely, becoming looser with each consecutive strike. The core, which was the source of its life force, finally became exposed, gleaming in a platinum splendor that seemed unfit for a demon.

You’re mine!

As I reared back for a powerful swing, a wire suddenly wrapped around my neck. A flash of panic came upon me, and my heart skipped a beat. I was unable to teleport in this position or cut through the wire in such an awkward position. Two, then three more wires joined in, as if to mock my struggle. Just then...

“You must condense time.”

My teacher’s voice reverberated in my head, and in that moment, the demon’s heart was sliced into four pieces. Raab and I both had a shocked expression on our faces. In a literal blink of an eye, a powerful vertical slash, followed by a horizontal one, had been delivered to my opponent. And strangely, the sensation in my hand felt as if I had merely cut through an apple. I was unable to move from my pose after completing the swings. The pace at which I was improving with Wridra’s sword during our training session was actually terrifying, but this felt different. My sword master had told me that I had learned to condense time without conscious thought. What if I had actually struck with extraordinary speed without realizing it? My heart beat loudly in my chest. The delayed shock hit me like a lightning bolt, as I realized I had stepped foot into a brand new world.

A world that existed in less than a split second... Just how far could I expand that world? Thinking back, my master’s teachings were all guiding me to reach this answer. I finally realized that, despite using the sword for so long, I’d only just reached the tip of the iceberg.

The very air around me wavered with a whooosh. The demon’s face contorted in pain and began dissolving into the air, and then there was silence...

“Well done.” A beautiful female voice spoke into my head. I could hear music with an upbeat tempo and a peaceful tone to it playing from somewhere. The level-up tune, which I hadn’t heard in some time, marked the end of the battle, and with my energy being completely depleted, I fell to the ground with my limbs splayed out. My breathing was pretty rough, but I couldn’t help it, given how hard I had just worked. I normally would’ve fled a long time ago, but maybe I had overworked myself trying to impress a certain elf girl. This seemed to be a common theme for me as of late, and I smiled at my own immaturity. Even so, it could be fun trying my best like this every once in a while, I thought to myself. Then, I noticed some faces peering down at me from above. Wridra had an amused look on her face, and Mariabelle was smiling with her staff held behind her back.

“You are a complete mess. I can hardly believe you won the battle.”

“You think so? In the stories I know, everyone usually ends up looking pretty beat up.”

The dragon grinned in response, then gestured at something with her chin. I craned my neck to look in that direction to find the demon on one knee, slowly disintegrating into dust.

“Well, I’m glad we managed to beat it.”

“Hah, hah, you say that as if you are about to fall asleep. You should know that demon is known as Elemaada Raab. It is one of the primeval beings that had been trapped within this ancient labyrinth. Look, the core is about to change.”

Cracks began to form in the glowing demon’s core. Seeing this unfamiliar scene unfold before me, I sat up without even thinking about it, and as Wridra had predicted, it began to change. The platinum radiance glowed ever brighter, and there was something about its purity that reached into my heart.

“The primeval core is completely pure. Therefore, a core without its own will will adopt the will of whoever defeated it. It appears there are some things that can only be gained within the world of condensed time.”

As Wridra spoke solemnly, she bent down and picked up the black sword from the ground. The sword floated into the air when she released it, then overlapped with the demon’s core. Then, the core poured over the weapon like mercury, forming geometrical patterns into the blade. I couldn’t turn my eyes away as the blade changed shape to add a slight curve to its tip and became reborn before my very eyes. Its color was amazingly pure, like that of a shooting star. I reached out my hand, seemingly drawn to it, and touched the transformed blade.

...Astroblade, the sword of stardust. There was an audible click, and I had obtained a new sword. And at the same time, I acquired a secondary skill for the first time in my life.

＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋

I had defeated a powerful demon and obtained an incredibly rare weapon. I leveled up, and I even unlocked a secondary skill. Not only that, but I felt like I’d learned new skills, too. Nobody could blame me for having the uncontrollable urge to check my newly gained abilities right away. The two we had rescued were right in front of me, looking completely exhausted, but I simply couldn’t help it. I actually couldn’t take it anymore. All I had to do was touch the accessory on my wrist to see everything I wanted to know.

Fidget, fidget, fidget...

But when I started to reach for it, my hand suddenly stopped. Marie the elf was squeezing my finger in the same way she sometimes pinched my cheek. My desire vanished into thin air. I could check my abilities any time, so it was best for me to save the fun for later. Yeah. I gave Marie an awkward smile, then turned back to our rescuees. They were covered in sweat and looked dirty, but their eyes were shining with excitement.

“I’m glad you two seem okay. Are you hurt at all?”

“Fantastic work. I am Doula. I want to thank you for avenging my subordinates.” Despite her exhausted appearance, Doula offered us a firm and rugged handshake. Her hair was red like fire, even with all the dirt, and her determined eyes were silver in color. She was obviously taller than Marie and me, and she had the air of a veteran fighter about her.

“I want to express my gratitude, too. I wiped out all the mobs twice, but I couldn’t bring down that demon. I really showed you a pathetic side of me back there, huh?” Zera also seemed pretty haggard, but his handshake was strong as ever.

“Not at all. It’s incredible that you two lasted an entire night against those numbers. I’m sorry we were so late to arrive.”

“Don’t be stupid. This might sound a bit cheesy, but I consider you guys my saviors.” He smiled, but there was sincerity in his eyes. I understood why. These two were connected by a powerful bond, and if someone had saved Marie’s life, I probably would’ve had the same look in my own eyes. Just then, we heard the sound of white noise buzzing nearby.

“Oh, that must be the boss. Here, it’s your job to make a report, right?” With that, Zera produced a Magic Tool from his waist and handed it to me. This allowed us to communicate with someone far away, and I could speak to headquarters by answering the call. I took the heavy object in my hand, then pressed the red button that would connect the call. I let out a deep breath and gazed at the four faces watching me before beginning my report.

“...This is Amethyst. We’ve successfully rescued the targets and defeated the demon.” I waited several seconds but there was no reply. I cocked my head, and then a stream of many voices suddenly spoke at once.

“Bzz... Is that true? Did you really...?!”

“No way! No goddamn way! Bzzz... Hahaha!”

“Capta... Voice... Really... Bzzz!”

The voices, mixed with static, were so loud that I almost covered my ears instinctively. Those who were listening in from headquarters probably actually did. The next voice I heard was an angry shout.

“Quiet! I told you not to crowd the line! Hm, Team Amethyst, well done on completing the mission. Those two are quite the capable fighters, and it would have been a shame to lose them.”

“Yes, I was surprised to find they had survived through the night in those circumstances. They seem absolutely exhausted, so I’ll get them to the...” Base, I was about to say, but the Magic Tool was taken from me. I looked up to find a burly man’s face, and he smiled before roughly patting my head.

“Doula and I are safe. Yes, I checked and found that the demon was level 82. A dangerous enemy, to be sure. In any case, we’re going to regroup with our squads as soon as we get some rest.”

“Hm, I would think you should prioritize your treatment, but... I will leave that up to you. I’d like to congratulate Team Amethyst again on a job well done. We will have an appropriate reward waiting for you once you return above ground.” Zera gestured to me with the speaker and smiled as if to give me his blessing.

“Oh, I forgot about our reward. There were a lot of things I wanted, so I’m looking forward to shopping once we get back.”

“This is a good opportunity for us to buy new clothes. You only have one set of presentable clothes, Kazuhiho. It can be a little embarrassing sometimes.”

Whaaat? You’re gonna say that while everyone’s listening? But Ms. Elf was deep in thought, mumbling to herself about whether or not she should have something tailor made.

“W-Well, be sure not to spend wastefully. If you’re having trouble, I can recommend some affordable... Hey, I said keep personal talk off of the line!”

Oh, he was just going along with the joke and then pointing out the punchline. I’d seen that sort of humor on TV before.

Now that the demon had been defeated, the other monsters all perished as well, the still-burning fire scattering their ashes into the air. There was a malignant air to the scenery, but we couldn’t help but laugh, for some reason. And so, Team Amethyst had successfully completed their first rescue mission. Zera and Doula had fought throughout the night, and we, too, had expended our vitality and magic to our limits. Now that we were done reporting, we just needed some food and rest.

We relocated to a spot where monster dust wouldn’t come raining down on us, then started to arrange pieces of rubble together. Once we poured some water into a pot and placed it on top, our makeshift camp was complete. We used a fire spirit to heat it since we didn’t have firewood, but it heated the pot nicely, nonetheless.

“This is a nice stove. We can even adjust the heat. I wouldn’t mind cooking on this side once in a while with this.” I poked at the fire spirit as I made my comment, and Marie looked up at me.

“But do we have enough for everyone? We only brought enough meals for three.”

“You’re right. I’m thinking we could add water and turn it into porridge. I originally made it with a lot of flavor, so I don’t think it’ll turn out too terrible. It would’ve been nice if we had some eggs, though.”

Bubbles began to rise from the bottom of the pot as the temperature of the water rose. The labyrinth here had waterways all over it, so we didn’t have much trouble finding water. This meant cooking in the labyrinth may have been a viable option. The two we rescued were at a spot some distance away, scrubbing their bodies with a piece of cloth and glancing over at us with puzzled expressions every once in a while. I supposed it wasn’t very common for people to start cooking right after vanquishing a demon.

“I did not think we would be splitting my share as well...” Wridra was glaring at me with a reproachful look, sitting on a nearby rock with her puffed up cheek resting on her hand. She was wearing gothic-style, dress-shaped heavy armor, but it allowed her to rest easily due to its wide range of motion.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to treat you to a very nice meal when we get back to Japan tomorrow.”

“Hmph.”

Uh oh, she was actually pretty upset. Despite this, she wasn’t protesting anymore, so Marie and I shared a smile before starting to cook. I dug into my bag to produce some rice balls wrapped in seaweed.

“Oh, those are the ones you were making yesterday. Did you put the kakuni you got from Kaoruko in there?”

“Yeah, they’re kakuni rice balls. It’s kind of sloppy, but I’m gonna take these and...” I dropped them into the pot and watched the rice and seaweed soak up the water. The rice, which had absorbed the juices of the kakuni, began emitting a fragrant aroma. There was a twinkle of fascination in Wridra’s eyes as she inched closer. I began mixing the pot after waiting for a bit, then tested the flavor.

“Hmm, it’s good, but it’s a bit lacking in seasonings. Oh, I know.”

Marie gave me a questioning look as I pulled a plastic container out of my bag. I removed the lid to reveal the miso and pickled vegetables inside.

“I brought these in case we got bored of the flavors, but let me try mixing them in.” I scooped some miso and dissolved it into the pot. After giving it a few good swirls, the color of the liquid turned into a light brown, and the smell of miso filled the air. I gave it another try and found that it accentuated the flavor nicely. The seasoning wasn’t overbearing, either, and I suspected that the seaweed had added flavor to the water as it stewed.

“Whoa, something smells really good... What, you guys cook your own meals instead of bringing portable rations?”

“Oh. Hi, Zera. You look refreshed.”

Zera was no longer wearing his armor and was changing into a spare shirt as he approached the fire. The portable rations he had just mentioned were the military rations soldiers always used. I’d tried one of them out of curiosity before, but I wanted to avoid those if at all possible. The dried meat was still palatable, but I really wasn’t a fan of the mysterious solid object that came with it. I figured you couldn’t do much about the bad taste, but it included some sort of drug. Not to mention, it was the kind that kept you up at night. How anyone could consider putting that stuff in their pot was beyond me. I nonverbally conveyed such sentiments to Marie as our eyes met, then smiled to cover it up.

Doula finally came back to join us, and I noticed she had a surprisingly cute, freckled face. Her eyebrows had a sense of strength to them, but there was something about her appearance that also gave off the impression of a young girl. She began tying her hair back as she gave me an exasperated look.

“Don’t tell me you’re really cooking inside a labyrinth? You should stick to portable rations unless you want to get a stomachache.”

“Military rations just don’t sit well with me. I think this should be good for digestion, though.”

She let out a tired huff and dropped the issue, turning her attention to where she was going to sit down. After contemplating for a moment, she moved a rock over to sit next to Zera. The porridge began to bubble, indicating it was ready to eat. We didn’t have enough bowls to go around, so we shared one per pair (aside from Wridra, who got one for herself) and began our late lunch. We let the ladies go first, and the sound of them sipping the porridge reverberated in the labyrinth. Doula, who seemed disinterested at first, got one taste of the kakuni melting in her mouth, and her eyes widened. She let out a sexy breath, then began swaying her body. It seemed she had just managed to contain a powerful impulse, and she met Zera’s eyes with a glistening, girly look.

“Oh? What is it? You want me to have some? I can wait till you’re done... Okay, okay.”

Zera opened wide and stuffed his mouth with kakuni, then froze. The fatty meat melted in his mouth even before he began chewing, spreading its savory flavor. As it dissolved, a wave of natural sweetness surged forth. There was a dynamic aspect to it characteristic of Chinese-style cooking, and it left a fragrant aftertaste that the body instinctively craved and recognized as nutritious. Quality pork, miso, and porridge mixed with seaweed. With each bite, they released a new depth of savory goodness, and he finally swallowed the medley of flavors after stimulating his appetite to its fullest. Zera slapped his own cheeks with both hands, eyes bulging in surprise.

“Oof...! This is delicious! I’ve never eaten anything like it before!”

“I can’t believe it. It’s so soft, I hardly even need to chew. Here, Zera. Open up already.” With that, Doula naturally scooped up some more porridge with the wooden spoon and brought it to Zera’s mouth. It seemed she was the type to tend to others, and I felt heat in my cheeks as I watched her wipe the porridge running down Zera’s chin with her thumb and lick the food off of her thumb.

I nodded, then asked, “Are you two married?”

Zera spit out his tea, and Doula froze with her spoon still in her mouth. Huh, maybe I was wrong. I thought for sure that they were married. Marie and I blinked at each other.

“Wh-What are you saying...? It’s way too early for that, ya fool!” Zera said, red-faced and in a fluster, but judging by how the corners of his mouth were curled up in a smile, he was far from against the idea. Seeing his reaction, Doula suddenly became quiet and continued eating, her cheeks also fading into a shade of pink. When her eyes turned up to meet Zera’s, there was a surprisingly sensual look to them. They held each other’s gaze for a while, and I was starting to feel embarrassed watching them. Not sure what to do, I turned to Marie to see if she shared the same uncomfortable feeling I was experiencing, and I found she had also turned pink with her spoon in her mouth. She looked troubled for a moment, then removed the spoon from her mouth and scooped up some kakuni with it.

“H-Here. Eat.” Marie inched the porridge toward me, and I was dumbstruck for a moment.

No, that’s not it... I wasn’t looking at you because I wanted you to do the same thing for me...

I felt my face grow hot as such conflicted thoughts ran through my mind. I mean, I was glad, but I felt embarrassed at the same time. And as if that feeling had spread into Marie, her face turned into a brighter shade of red by the second. Her shoulders finally began to tremble, then she said in a cute, pleading voice,

“H-Hurry up... This is... embarrassing...” She looked as if she was about to cry, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I took a bite in a near-panic, but... Yeah, I could hardly taste the food in this state. I managed to tell her that it tasted good out of obligation, and she replied, “O-Okay,” without looking up. Her long ears were pink to the tips and drooping downward, looking as if steam would rise up from them any minute. She let herself be enticed by the appetizing smell of the food and began to fill her mouth with porridge with an absentminded expression. Then she realized what she was putting in her mouth, and her face turned completely red.

See? You can hardly taste the food like this.

Wridra, who was eating with fervor this entire time, looked up at the ceiling. Her brows furrowed into an odd shape from the heated atmosphere coming from both sides, which seemed to affect even the taste of the otherwise delicious food.

“It is too sweet... As if someone dumped sugar on it...” She uttered to herself, but no one was listening. Nor did they notice the tear rolling down her cheek.

＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋　＋

There were things called floor masters. They were the managers of labyrinths, and there existed one on each floor. Their duties included creating monsters, managing them, and stopping intruders in their tracks. The east section of the first floor had just been unlocked, and the monsters of the entire area were turned to dust at the same time. That was because we had just defeated a level 82 demon. The core of its being had transformed into a sword, which was now hanging at my waist. After receiving such a report from headquarters, the tall man known as Zera was slowly walking with me down the hall.

“So it was one of the floor masters after all. I guess that makes sense, considering how high its level was.”

“Agreed. It was clearly in a different class than the others, and it was one of the stronger opponents I’ve faced.” I decided not to mention that, out of all of my encounters, the Magi Drake was by far the most powerful. The Magic Tool was displaying the map as I held it up, its open spaces filling up as we progressed through the unexplored area. Zera stared at it as he opened his mouth to speak.

“It really was a close call. Considering that demon’s attack range and power, it could wipe out some squads with one sweep. I warned the boss about it, but the only ones that could’ve beaten that thing are Zarish from Team Diamond and Gaston from Team Ruby.” They were likely the two that Wridra had pointed out at the camp. The youthful man and the burly, white-haired old man. They were both far beyond level 100, and I myself could tell they were even stronger than me.

“But those two would’ve just let us die. They’re an unpleasant bunch. I don’t like ‘em. In that sense, you seem like a much better choice to work with. What do you say?”

“Work with? What do you mean?” Zera grinned, then produced his Magic Tool.

“Why don’t we register on each other’s comm links? Then we could see each other’s positions and communicate directly. If you ever run into trouble, I’ll come help anytime.”

“Ah, that would be great. Please let me know if you ever need help, too.”

“Come on, don’t mention it. Though, to be honest, that’s my main goal for doing this.” Zera laughed and patted me on my shoulder. I was taken aback by his unreserved attitude, but he seemed to be the kind who had a straightforward nature. We brought each other’s Magic Tools closer together, and they became connected with a bluish-white light. This must have been the registration he had mentioned. It was probably something similar to registering as friends in an online game. The Magic Tool began blinking, as if to indicate that the registration was complete, and Zera put it away with a satisfied expression.

“Now, if my hunch is correct, there should be... Oh, there it is.” There was a large pedestal at the end of the hall, and he casually touched the statue placed atop it. The statue then trembled, stirring up dust clouds as it began to move. My eyes grew wider as the pedestal continued to move, and then it came to a rest with a loud, heavy sound.

“This is...!”

“The path to the rest of the labyrinth. Heh, I can smell the treasure already.” There was a set of stairs leading down toward another path. I could feel a certain “something” from the depths of the darkness within. There was a distinct air to it, like an ancient breath, and the path was opened for what could be the first time in a hundred... No, a thousand years. I turned around to find Zera scratching his head with a gleeful smile on his face. Things moved quickly from there. Zera and Doula’s squadmates regrouped with us, and I watched them embrace for an emotional reunion.

“Congratulations, Captain!”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Should I arrange for the ceremony? How about a nice voyage by sea... or at a lake surrounded by greenery? You could confess your love for one another there for about a week or so.”

“S-Stop speaking such nonsense, all of you!”

Doula and Zera smacked the men on their heads, but they continued to make plans for the marriage ceremony, undisturbed. The treatment seemed incredibly rough to an outsider, but it seemed they were long accustomed to getting hit. Then, Zera approached me with a troubled expression on his face.

“You guys are the ones who opened the new path... Are you sure you’re fine with us going in first?” They had decided to join us, moving forward, and they’d already gotten approval from headquarters to press on. Although, the captains of both squads had already agreed, so they couldn’t really oppose our decision either way.

“Yes, we won’t be able to fight until we rest for a while anyway. There’s a room nearby, so we’re thinking about getting some sleep.” Even if they found something like a Magic Stone, it wasn’t really important to me, anyway. Life in Japan was my reality, and this world was just for play.

“I see... Well, come join us once you rest up. Three squads will give us more options than two. Let’s do some cooperative raid battles sometime.”

“That would be great. Though, we’re a small team, so our progress might be a bit slow.”

We shook hands and waved goodbye to each other. I placed my sword on the table. The weapon was thin and a beautiful silver in color. The occasional gleam it gave off was befitting of its name, Astroblade.

“Wow, so pretty... Do you mind if I touch it?

“Go right ahead. You know, I’ve been really curious about this sword’s capabilities and the skills I learned from leveling up.” The small room nearby was nice and clean, and was likely used as a storage for books. Such rooms were located sporadically throughout the labyrinth, maybe because the manager here had been brushing up on their ability to control demons and monsters.

“Hm, is this why you departed with the others? You have been restless for some time now.”

“It’s common practice to rest after having a meal, right? Now, let’s see...” I touched my bracelet, and my abilities were displayed before me. Marie also opened her status screen, and we both forgot to breathe momentarily.

“Whoa, I leveled up twice! That was a tough fight, after all...”

“Let’s see... Wooow, I’m 42! I can’t believe it!”

I was even more impressed by Marie’s progress. No wonder she suddenly sprang up from her chair as she read it. If I remembered correctly, she was about level 32 when we entered the labyrinth, so her level had already gone up by 10.

“Well, I don’t even know how many of them we defeated. Maybe over a hundred? And it looks like the fact that you beat a lot of them yourself instead of indirectly had a big effect, too.”

“A-Ahh... What do I do? I’m qualified to become an Advanced Sorceress now... Yes, I need to study when I get back.” The elf girl made a fist, as if to solidify her resolve. She had lived for many more years than I had, and it seemed she’d had her life planned out much better than I did. Come to think of it, she went to a school for the wealthy and was currently on her way to becoming an Advanced Sorceress. A far cry from a rootless vagabond like me.

“That really was amazing, though. Not a lot of people can pull off something like that.”

“That was thanks to the help I got from Wridra’s staff. Direct attacks weren’t much of an option with that big of a power gap, so you could say making use of those gimmicks was the obvious approach.” Wridra smiled upon hearing Marie’s response. She watched the elf with the kind eyes of a proud teacher.

“Yes, it is important to keep striving for improvement. Supplement the areas you are lacking in, and seek greater efficiency where you are proficient. That is the essence of magic.” She patted the elf’s head, who looked a little embarrassed by the praise. Marie had conjured stone walls to lead enemies into a trap and incinerate them with efficiency. The way she secured her territory from attacks and set up a method of attack with the same method was very impressive.

“I’ve been thinking. Labyrinths are built to effectively defeat intruders. I was wondering if I could do the same thing somehow.”

“Hmm. Then maybe we could set up traps too, like falling rock trap holes. If you can expand your domain underground too, that is.”

We gazed at our ability screens as we brainstormed some ideas. As I scrolled down my own list, I noticed there was a skill I didn’t have before. Acceleration LV 1. A rather simple skill name. I also noticed there was a display for a new secondary skill, indicating that I could distribute skill points like Marie. Though, in my case, I only had one. Wridra peeked in from beside me, then said cheerily, “Ah, so you did learn it. That allows you to condense time for a set duration. I hear some humans have even achieved the ability to constantly move at twice the normal rate.”

I let out a dull, “Huh.” Abilities didn’t just spring up out of nowhere. One would need to have the potential to begin with, and they could only be seized through significant effort. I felt as if I had grasped something at the very end of the demon fight that allowed me to come out victorious in the end.

“Thank you, Wridra. You were giving me advice that time during the fight.”

“Hm, I do not know what you are referring to. Regardless, whether you are able to put it to use or not is entirely up to you.” Her obsidian eyes turned to me, and she smiled. She likely saw me as her very own student, like Marie, and was looking forward to seeing my growth. Thinking back, she may have been leading me to this point since she started her impromptu training. In that sense, I couldn’t ask for a better master.

“I wonder what I should put in my secondary skill slot... Maybe I should just go with Acceleration? But I can’t activate it without a weapon... Hmm...”

“Vitality is important in your case, so how about this Stamina skill? Actually, now that you just leveled up, why don’t you swap one out?” She was pointing at my Fishing skill.

Now wait just a minute. Yes, I get it. A Fishing skill would likely be useless when one was trying to clear a labyrinth. Even so, she needed to understand: It may not have had many chances to shine recently, but spending time fishing leisurely was an absolute blast of a time. I had tried explaining my reasoning, but the two of them just gave me an unimpressed look.

“Why are you only talkative at times like these? You sound like you’re just trying to make excuses.”

“Agreed. It is so rare to see him like this, I listened to his blabbering till the end. He must have been quite ashamed about it.”

It was no good. I was a fool to think I could convince these two women. And so, with great regret... I considered being open to the idea of swapping out my Fishing skill.

“Oh, you’re being ridiculous. Just press that confirm button already. Here, why don’t I press it for you?”

“Wait, wait, let me think about it some more. I have a lot of good memories with that skill.”

She started pushing at my finger from behind, putting me in a state of mild panic. I even used to come to the dream world just to fish some time ago. Well, I could always swap out the skill later when I needed to, so I decided to hold off on deciding for now.

Marie touched one, then two light spirits, making them vanish with a puff of light particles. As the final light became dim, the room became just the right brightness for us to sleep. The girl placed her bag on the floor and leaned her staff against the wall, then glanced toward me. She unbuttoned her collar to reveal her clavicles and walked closer to my blanket-wrapped form. She ran her hand through her silky white hair, then snuggled up into my outstretched arms.

“Ahh, so warm... Can you scoot over a little more that way?”

She inched closer toward me and pressed her soft thighs and butt against me under the blanket, as usual. When I tried to look up to my other companion, Marie’s hand covered my eyes. I was apparently not allowed to look, since Wridra was in middle of removing her armor. After some time, I felt someone sitting down on my opposite side. Wridra wriggled her hips against me as she settled in and eventually came to rest in an adequate position. The soft breath she let out against my neck made me feel ticklish. Marie finally removed her hands from my eyes, and the dim room’s interior came into view.

“Oh, I forgot,” Wridra said suddenly, revealing her beautiful back and ample breasts as she sat back up. I closed my eyes in a hurry, but that sight was unlikely to leave my memory any time soon. It was easy to overlook, but our position was being tracked through the Magic Tool. She was likely managing that now.

“That should do it. Ahh, you are warm as always. It is quite unusual for a child like you to be able to put me to sleep.”

I was about to reply, but Marie snuggled in closer to my neck, making me forget what I was going to say. My eyes met with Wridra’s under the blankets. I gestured for her to go ahead, and she put her arms around me too. The girls of the dream world were able to travel between worlds with me by sleeping together like this. Our worlds were different to begin with, but we all shared the desire to visit unknown lands. I found that these women were rather pragmatic, because they seemed to be getting used to the intimate physical contact. As for me, I figured it would be quite a while before I could get used to the sensation pressing against my back and the knee placed between my legs. But even such thoughts began to turn vague and distant as I laid there in the cozy warmth under the blankets. I let out a yawn, and we vanished from the ancient labyrinth.

Good night, you two.

Golden Week would be upon us once I managed to get through work tomorrow.