Chapter 113: Leave Nothing Behind
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 113: Leave Nothing Behind
“How are you feeling, Theodora? Any better?”
“...I don’t know.”
We were resting under a large tree on the outskirts of the 5th Floor Base—Theodora, Rubica, and me. The reason for our delay was that I’d experimented on Theodora with a magic circuit I’d ripped out of a Goblin Shaman.
“My lower belly feels... heavy.”
“Ahem... Aven, apologize at once,” Rubica chided.
“I’m really sorry...”
“It’s fine. It’s not like you did it on purpose.”
Out of the three possible spells—a pathetic fireball, a malfunctioning binding spell, and a spell that induces arousal in biological females—there had been a 33% chance of failure. Naturally, I’d hit the jackpot with the last one.
If it had been one of the first two, Theodora could have easily brushed it off or used her strength to tear through the magic. But of course, it had to be that one. Upon closer inspection, I found another magic circuit in the Shaman’s left hand; that one was likely the binding spell.
Feeling guilty for my mistake, I’d carried the heavy-bellied Theodora on my shoulders all the way to the base. Fortunately, among her artifacts was a magic tool with a curse-dispelling function. After lying down for a while, the effect seemed to have mostly faded.
“We’re a bit behind schedule. If you don’t mind, shall we eat here?” Rubica suggested.
It was currently just before 2:00 PM. We’d set out at 10:00 AM and reached the 5th floor, taking a little less than an hour per floor. We were more or less hitting the minimum pace I’d expected.
Considering we’d wasted time on the 5th floor, our clearing speed wasn't bad at all.
“But we don’t have any food. If we want Rubica to eat her fill, wouldn't it be better to hurry down to the 7th or 8th floor and hunt some Wild Boars?”
“That... is true, but...”
It looked like the effects of the food Rubica had eaten for breakfast were starting to wear off. If I wanted to take her deeper into the Labyrinth, solving the food situation was a priority.
I figured we’d need to catch at least ten Wild Boars on the 8th floor. The 3rd Stratum was fine since it was crawling with giant monsters, but in the 2nd Stratum, there wasn't much worth eating besides the Minotaurs.
Apparently, that was why Rubica usually stuck to the 1st Stratum instead of heading down to the 2nd. She mentioned she’d gone down once to reach Gold Grade, though.
She probably just stuffed herself on the 10th floor and did a quick lap on the 11th.
“Rubica, how much longer will your skill last?”
“About two hours. I’m not sure if we can make it to the 8th floor in time.”
“If it comes down to it, I’ll just carry you and run. Don’t worry.”
To keep Rubica moving, I was going to need a lot of Wild Boar meat.
“Aven, hurry up and keep rubbing.”
“Ah, right.”
As penance for the magic mishap, I was currently massaging Theodora’s lower abdomen. Was this really okay?
She seems to be enjoying it, though.
She claimed she still wasn't feeling well, but seeing her tail wagging back and forth, it couldn't be that bad.
“I’m feeling really terrible right now, you know?”
“I-I see...”
What was with her? It was like she was reading my mind.
* * *
“Rubica!”
“On it!”
Thrum—!!
A massive arrow flew from Rubica’s great bow, piercing a Wild Boar right between the eyes and through its neck. She claimed her power had already dropped to about 70%, but seeing her fire that enormous bow with such ease, it was clear she was still a powerhouse.
“That’s impressive.”
“Phew. But I can definitely feel the lack of strength. See? My arms are shaking.”
“Still, it seems to last for about six hours without much trouble.”
I wondered if obtaining skills was hereditary. Both Rubia and Rubica had skills that boosted strength but came with clear drawbacks. Was there a specific gene for acquiring high-tier skills?
“Whew, is it finally time to eat?”
“Yes. It’s your favorite time, Rubica.”
We’d been lucky. It took about an hour and a half to get from the 5th Floor Base to the 8th floor. Good terrain and favorable portal spawns played a part.
I’d planned to stop and eat the moment we saw a Wild Boar on the 7th floor, but we’d been summoned so close to the portal that we reached the 8th floor before we even spotted one.
Whoosh!
The firewood, coated in Rubica’s saliva, immediately burst into flames.
It’s just a normal fire, right...?
Using saliva as an accelerant felt a bit... unsettling.
“I shall butcher it quickly.”
“Ah, wait a moment, Rubica.”
I used my skill to briefly store the Wild Boar’s carcass, removed the bones, organs, cartilage, and other inedible parts, and then brought it back out, perfectly dressed.
Theodora had mentioned before that just pulling out chunks of meat was a bit unappetizing, so this time I kept the external shape intact while hollowing out the skin, organs, and bones.
“Ohh...! Such a marvelous ability!”
“I’ve removed all the guts and bones. It’ll be easy to eat.”
“Wait. Why did you remove those?”
“Pardon?”
Rubica placed a hand on my shoulder.
“I eat the organs too. And there is marrow in the bones. We mustn't let any ingredients go to waste.”
“Wow.”
Respect.
Certified by the Board of Recognition.
I officially recognize you as a glutton.
In the end, I brought out the Wild Boar in its original, whole state. Rubica’s butchering skills were top-notch; after all, her main job was staying on the 8th floor to manage the Wild Boar population.
“Incredible. Even at the workshop, they bring in whole Wild Boars for staff dinners sometimes, but I’ve never seen anyone work this fast.”
“Haha, thank you for the praise. I’ve just done it so often that it’s become second nature.”
I pulled out some metal skewers and stands I’d kept in my storage artifact for meals, skewered the boar, and roasted it over the fire.
It was about twenty minutes until 4:00 PM. Unlike Theodora, who cut off a large chunk of meat and chewed it daintily with a fork, Rubica was different.
Crunch.
She tore into the sizzling, fatty meat like a predator, bringing the whole carcass to her mouth. Despite her tall, slender frame, her appetite was monstrous. Skills really were fascinating things.
Theodora, watching from the side, leaned in and whispered to me.
—She really eats a lot.
—Yeah, no kidding.
—Can you handle that?
—I’ll have to try.
Rubica’s mukbang continued for about forty minutes. Meanwhile, Theodora and I, full and drowsy from the warm air by the campfire, took a short nap.
Once she finished her meal, Rubica extinguished the fire and woke us up.
“Let’s move. I’m overflowing with energy.”
“Are you all finished?”
“Mhm. Every last bit.”
Rubica placed her hands on her hips proudly, glancing at the pile of bones beside her. If it were me, I would have buried them out of sheer embarrassment.
If we added just one human skull to that pile, we’d have enough materials to summon a Goblin Shaman.
“Let’s head out. The days are longer now, so it’ll stay light until 7:00 PM, but we have to consider the return trip.”
The reason we’d set the 10th floor as our destination was the Orc settlement. The 2nd Stratum required caution for various reasons, and the gloomy atmosphere was a mood-killer.
In reality, most of the monsters there didn't have particularly high stats. A Skeleton Mage used stronger magic than a Goblin Shaman, and occasionally a terrifyingly powerful Minotaur would appear, but that was about it.
Generally speaking, the base stats of the monsters on the 10th floor were much higher than those on the lower floors of the 2nd Stratum.
“Let’s try taking down an Orc settlement to work on our teamwork.”
“Aven, are you sure about this?”
Rubica, however, seemed doubtful. An Orc settlement on the 10th floor usually consisted of sixty to a hundred Orcs.
If two or more settlements fought and a winner emerged, that winner became an Orc Chieftain—a monster that led a massive colony of one to two hundred Orcs.
And the Irregular I’d hunted before, the Orc Great Chieftain, had been leading a horde of six hundred. If I hadn't obtained Bleeding Berserk back then, I might have died from a lack of firepower.
“It’s fine. Aven is really strong.”
“Haha... thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Theodora probably remembered seeing me barge into that Orc Chieftain raid. That was likely why she trusted me so much.
“Since we’re only going to the 10th floor today, I don’t suppose we need to catch any more Wild Boars to take back?”
“Hmm...”
Rubica stroked her chin thoughtfully.
“No way. You want to eat more?”
“I-it’s not that! But! It might be good to have some... for later...”
Truly a legend.
* * *
In the end, we scouted the 8th and 9th floors and stored five more Wild Boars. Since they were for food, I didn't use them on my own body and kept them in their original state.
It wasn't like Wild Boar muscle was high-performance enough for me to need it, and if I used their muscle and ended up with strange blood in my veins, I might start smelling like a beast.
And so, we reached the 10th floor.
“Let’s start simple and clear out one Orc settlement.”
Orc hearts and muscles were decent quality materials. They had leg muscles capable of supporting a 200kg frame and the strength to swing massive wooden clubs and crude weapons.
Their cardiovascular endurance was impressive, and above all, they had a high volume of muscle fibers. While working on my coordination with Rubica, I planned to restock on Orc bones, which had excellent density.
The 10th floor was a mountainous region with high cliffs. I approached a cliff edge, scanned the area to locate the Orcs, and then slowly descended the mountain toward the settlement I’d spotted.
Growl...
Kwak! Kwarak!
The massive, hulking creatures were huddled together inside their settlement. It had originally been a forested area, but they’d cleared all the trees, creating a wide-open space.
Our party watched from the forest, observing their movements for a moment.
“Doesn't look any different from usual.”
Last time, I’d only been able to rip off and consume parts of them during the heat of battle. This time was different. I was going to take everything, from head to toe.
“Let’s go.”