ALL NOVEL Chapter 27
Let’s secure our visibility first.
“Yeriell, Lumia, are you both back to your senses?”
“Uh-huh. Even though it’s my second time entering the Labyrinth, I still can’t get used to the nausea.”
“I’m okay, aside from a little queasiness.”
“Alright. Since you both seem fine, let’s light the torch first.”
Fwoosh!
I lit the torch with a flint. The flame chased away the darkness, illuminating our surroundings.
‘This is completely different from the 3rd Floor.’
While the 3rd Floor was made up of forests, plains, and hills, the 1st Floor had a dark and heavy atmosphere, as if someone would say, “This is why it’s called a Labyrinth.”
“Lumia, should we check the curse I set?”
“Sure, just a moment.”
Lumia closed her eyes and concentrated, stretching out her hand. A black arrow appeared on her palm, pointing in one direction. No matter how she moved her hand, the wavering arrow still indicated the same direction. Thankfully, it seemed to function normally, just like at the Inn.
“Yeriell, could you hold the torch for a sec?”
I handed the torch to Yeriell, pulled out the map bundle and compass from my backpack.
Let’s see, the map of the 1st Floor… Here it is.
The 1st Floor is divided into northern and southern regions. Checking the compass, it looks like we’ve fallen near the north. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where we were as I’m not used to reading maps.
“Hmm.”
I knew the escape portal was at the edges of each cardinal direction. For now, escaping isn’t the goal, so we should head in the direction the curse indicates.
The curse’s arrow is pointing firmly to the south.
‘If only it was close, we could deal with those guys and head straight to the north portal, but how do we end up in the exact opposite direction?’
Chirp! [Chaos seems annoyed, clicking its tongue.]
“Okay, let’s follow the curse. Lumia, it might be tough, but keep maintaining the curse’s manifestation, will you? I’m counting on you.”
“Sure. This kind of curse consumes a lot of magic the first time it’s cast, but maintaining it isn’t that taxing. Don’t worry.”
“And Yeriell, if any projectiles come flying, I’ll just dodge them, so please use your barrier in the rear. Your safety is our number one priority.”
Yeriell showed a slightly worried expression at my comment to ignore her, then said, “Alright. But we should still be careful?”
If there’s an attack I can’t dodge or block, a barrier wouldn’t help much anyway. I nodded at Yeriell’s concerns, then took the torch and slowly began walking.
Shuffling footsteps.
After walking for about ten minutes, suddenly Lumia came up and nudged me, saying, “Aren, I hear an unusual footstep sound.”
I didn’t hear anything.
Could it be thanks to her inherent feline senses?
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[Feline Senses (C)] [P]
Born of a feline race, she inherited minimal outward features but gained enhancements in her senses.
─ Enhanced sense perception.
─ Minor enhancements to five senses.
─ Adequate enhancement to balance sense.
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“If only the interrupted sound is heard, it doesn’t seem like adventurers. Just a moment.”
Lumia stopped walking and perked up her ears, concentrating.
“This heavy stomping sound… Considering it’s the 1st Floor, it must only be Woodmen.”
Woodmen.
They are wooden puppet monsters with a build similar to an ordinary human male found on the 1st Floor of the Labyrinth.
They were somewhat avoided by lower-tier adventurers. But like their name suggests, they are made entirely of solid wood, so they are weak against weapons that do not have the right affinity, unlike monsters like Ratmen or Goblins.
‘Not that it matters to me, though.’
With my strength activated, my muscle rating is D. That should be enough for me to take them down without needing an advantageous weapon.
“Let’s not wait for them to come to us. Since we’re going to run into them anyway, it’s better to strike first. By the way, Lumia, impressive!”
“Yay! I did well?”
Actually, I had accepted Lumia into the party and posted a recruitment notice for a scout or rear guard before entering the Labyrinth.
You know, just like when I went around the magic item shops and asked at the reception desk looking for that curse magician or dark wizard.
But every time I asked the receptionist if there was news, it was just the same old nonsense…
Considering the curse, they would be fine with taking the share distribution, and they would join if I just kept that one cursed female out.
That’s why I gave up after hearing nothing but stupid talk.
We decided to explore in a three-person party initially, but without a scout, we couldn’t even detect things.
And my skills in reading maps, learned only in passing during training, had me worried.
But now that I see Lumia can sense her surroundings so well just using dark magic…
Of course, she’s not as good as a specialized scout, but still, this is pretty awesome!
“Thanks to you, I can worry a little less. Let’s take it slow.”
I praised Lumia and continued walking.
“Wow.”
Thud, thud.
Soon I began to see the monsters approaching.
“They’re coming! Can you see them?”
“Eh? Where? I only see darkness from over there!”
…Oh. Chaos.
“There’s a group of Woodmen coming from up ahead.”
Ew. Seeing their bodies that truly resemble wooden puppets with oddly placed eyes, nose, and mouth disgusted me.
Is this that unpleasant valley of despair or something?
Anyway, the first strike is a win!
[Strength Activation]
[All physical ratings increase by one tier.]
“Since it’s our first battle, I should gauge the level of monsters on the 1st Floor, so I’ll handle this solo.”
“Okay, be careful.”
Tap, tap.
Before they reached me, I struck first.
When fighting Woodmen, we were told to either split their heads open or stab the protruding core in their bodies, right?
First one.
Split!
“Whoooa.”
I vertically sliced its head, causing it to slump down and stop moving.
Whoosh! Huff!
Right behind it, two more came at me with jerky movements like puppets.
Wow. Their joints can bend like that? This one’s wrists are completely twisted!
But, there’s no way I’d get hit by such feeble attempts at a distraction.
Split!
Dodge, slash, then Stab!
I stabbed its core, incapacitating it.
“Uuugh.”
The remaining three twisted their joints and limbs, rushing at me from every angle, but no matter how erratic their attacks were, I could see their trajectories, and maybe because it’s the 1st Floor, the disparity in stats made it easy to handle.
“Good job! You really are soaring through this since you have that experience in the 3rd Floor.”
Yeriell was smiling, saying that just making the barrier would suffice for now.
“I felt it too while watching you fight in the Guild; you really are strong.”
Lumia gave me a thumbs up.
Based on my experience fighting the Woodmen, I concluded that the adventurer parties on the path to capture Isaac were more dangerous than the monsters on the 1st Floor.
By the way, just like how I cut off the ears of a Goblin, I needed to collect materials from the Woodmen too, right?
In the case of Woodmen, I needed to take the core from their bodies, which I did after separating it and putting it in my backpack.
“Alright. We wrapped up our first battle well. Let’s keep moving.”
*
“I think there are adventurers coming up ahead. They are about 200 meters away.”
Lumia whispered.
Hmm, adventurers.
There’s no immediate need to take another path to avoid them.
During training, they always said to be wary of other adventurers while not being unnecessarily hostile or fearful right from the start.
There were likely plenty of teams on the 1st Floor, and if we turn back every time we run into one, we won’t be able to explore the Labyrinth.
“Since we are outnumbered, they might try to attack us because they see us as easy targets, so don’t let your guard down.”
I said that and took slow steps forward.
Shuffling footsteps.
Tap.
“Stop.”
The leading adventurer raised his arm to signal the party to halt.
A mixed party of four, male and female?
He looked us over with a scrutinizing gaze.
“Since it looks like our paths are different, how about we just go our separate ways?”
As he nodded and opened his mouth, the wolf beastman behind him, who looked like a thief, pointed at Lumia.
“Damn. Isn’t that Aralar? Wow… She’s cleared two parties and has dragged another guy in to boot. Luke, let’s just go. There’s nothing to gain by getting tangled up here.”
“Creave, shut your mouth.”
“What, am I saying something wrong? Why are you looking so serious?”
If you don’t want to get involved, just walk past. Why are you causing such a fuss?
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[Creave]
[Strength: F+] [Agility: E] [Durability: F+]
[Health: E-] [Magic: F+] [Luck: E+]
[Traits] (Fold)
Beginner Dagger Skill
Beginner Disassembly Skill
Sensitive Sense of Smell
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His stats are so low, he only has a big mouth; there’s no need to scrutinize his traits.
────
[Luke]
[Strength: E+] [Agility: E] [Durability: E+]
[Health: E+] [Magic: E-] [Luck: E]
[Traits] (Fold)
Caution
Beginner Sword Defense
────
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[Caution (D)] [P]
Being careful in everything, he thinks and thinks again. He always makes the best choices calmly, and impulsiveness is not tolerated.
─ When faced with a crisis, he quickly makes the best judgment compared to others.
─ When party members act contrary to his judgment, he becomes enraged.
─ Reduces damage from mental attacks.
────
His stats are superior to the previous guy. This is almost on par with Derik, isn’t it?
The others… Well, judging by the thief’s quarrels, I can guess the two in the back are not worth watching.
What a pity for the leader of such a party.
Anyway, even though this isn’t a city, I can’t just let them slander my name in the Labyrinth, saying they burst parties and dragged in a guy.
Even if a battle erupts here, I’ll take them all down.
First, I’ll have to impose my presence with a strike.
Clink!
As I placed my hand on the sword hilt, suddenly Luke slapped Creave across the face.
Thwack!
“Guh! What are you doing…?”
“I said!”
Luke glared at Creave fiercely.
“I told you to shut your mouth! Have you already forgotten how your big mouth got us into trouble on the 2nd Floor last time?”
“…Fine, I was careless.”
Luke turned to us, saying, “I’m sorry. It’s just, it’s probably because he’s a beastman that he reacted unusually. Apologize.”
Hmm.
“Aren, as long as you’re here, I can handle whatever comes my way. Let’s not waste energy since we could run into trouble.”
Hearing him say it was fine from the back, I felt awkwardly relieved enough to let go of my grip on the sword hilt.
However, it felt wrong to just let this slide, so I locked eyes with the wolf beastman, giving him a stern glare.
“…Damn.”
He lowered his gaze.
That should be enough, I nodded to Luke, then passed by them and began walking again.
Somehow, I feel like I’ll see them again…