Chapter 315: Pendant
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 315: Pendant
“Here.”
“Huh...?”
“Try some. I’ve already confirmed it’s not poisonous.”
“How... how do you know that?”
“I just do.”
We were in the deepest part of the 20th-floor ant nest. After killing and absorbing the Queen Ant, I was currently raiding her food storage. There wasn't anything particularly impressive—mostly just wild berries and meat that the other ants had hunted and brought back.
“I-It’s delicious...”
“Shall we head up to the 3rd Stratum?”
“Ah, yes!”
With a wave of my hand, the ants that had followed us into the nest immediately cleared a path. One of the larger elite soldier ants picked Rita up and placed her on its back, carrying her as we headed out.
Since I had absorbed the Queen Ant’s pheromones, all the ants had become friendly toward us.
“Manmagyeong, just how many skills do you have...?”
“Call me Aven. Everything you’ve seen is the result of a single skill.”
“R-Really...?”
Usually, a skill only grants one specific ability; they don't typically have such a wide range of functions. In truth, this skill’s core abilities are storage via the stomach and manifestation based on the body—everything else is just a derivative ability from the organs I’ve consumed.
“What’s the 3rd Stratum like?”
“I heard it’s a massive underground dungeon. Other than that...? I-I’m sorry, I don’t know much else...”
“It’s fine. We’ll see for ourselves when we get there.”
Labyrinths with artificial structures, like underground dungeons, have a higher probability of yielding loot. In strata consisting of natural environments, most of the loot consists of animal hides, bones, high-quality wood, or ores not found on the surface.
In other words, while natural strata provide raw materials, artificial environments offer weapons, armor, and, if you're lucky, even artifacts.
“Rita. There are plenty of other jobs out there. Why are you so set on being an explorer?”
“T-That’s...”
Rita fell into deep thought at my question. I glanced at her face to see if she had misheard me, but she seemed to be agonizing over the answer.
It wasn't until we stood before the labyrinth portal leading to the 3rd Stratum that she finally spoke.
“Because I want to get stronger...?”
“Why is that a question?”
“Hehe... I’m just not entirely sure...”
* * *
“Whoa... so this is the 3rd Stratum...”
I recalled visiting labyrinths with dungeon-like environments a few times before. Most notably, the 2nd Stratum of Calax was an underground dungeon.
Normally, if an explorer doesn't have the combat power to advance to the next stratum, they spend at least six months—often two to three years—staying in one place to explore.
The more familiar you are with a stratum, the easier it is to break through, allowing you to preserve the mental strength needed to survive the next one.
“You don't know anything about the monsters that appear here?”
“I-I’m so sorry... It’s my first time here...”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
Rita was incredibly self-conscious. She seemed to live with the word 'sorry' on her lips; it was a habit she really needed to break. There was no benefit to an explorer being so subservient to others.
“Rita, let me see your sword.”
“Huh? Oh, here!”
The sword Rita held was so flimsy it looked like it might snap at any moment. I couldn't even tell what kind of metal had been used to forge it. There had likely been an issue with the mold itself; the blade was covered in jagged, uneven bumps.
“How much did you pay for this?”
“I-I received it. The guild told me I could take it if I needed it.”
It was a relief she hadn't actually spent money on it. If she had paid full price for this piece of junk, I might have gone back to flip the shop over myself.
“No shield?”
“I didn't have the money for one... If I hold my scabbard out in front of me, the jackals stay wary.”
It wasn't a bad strategy. To a small beast, a scabbard is just as dangerous as a blade. You can use it to threaten them or parry, all while keeping your sword ready to strike.
“Here, take this.”
“This is... a shield...?”
It was a dark gray targe made by expanding a soldier ant’s carapace. It was easy to use and lightweight, yet I had reinforced it enough to ensure it was sturdy. Normally, a shield is better with some weight behind it, but I didn't think Rita could handle anything heavy.
“This looks incredibly expensive! It’s so big, yet so light!”
By my standards, it was only slightly larger than a buckler, but for the petite Rita, it covered her entire upper body. No matter how I looked at her, she didn't seem built for the life of an explorer, but then again, with the right skills, even a kid like Rubia could reach Platinum Grade.
“Speaking of which, what skills do you have?”
“Ah, uh... um... my skills...”
“If you have a cursed skill that’s hard to talk about, you don't have to tell me.”
“I have a Throwing Enhancement skill. If I hold the object I want to throw in my mouth for about three minutes, my accuracy increases...”
“That’s actually impressive.”
Aside from the somewhat restrictive requirement, it wasn't bad. You couldn't exactly hold a sword in your mouth, though.
“What do you usually throw?”
“S-Stones...? I wipe them with my skirt first so there’s no dirt...?”
“I see. Anything else?”
“And... I have a barrier skill that hides my body...”
“A barrier? That’s amazing. How do you use it?”
Rita’s lips quivered. She hesitated, looking reluctant to speak, before finally letting out a long sigh.
“Mana and... u-urine...”
“I... I see.”
“I have cursed skills too! There’s one where my left foot trips with a low probability every 100 steps... and a skill where coins in my pocket just fall out... and one where a feather falls in front of my eyes...?”
“A feather? Where does it come from?”
“It just takes my mana and creates one whenever it wants. The probability is low, so it doesn't happen often, but it does. It disappears the moment I grab it, so it’s useless.”
So she had three cursed skills and two useful ones. Considering you only get a skill after spending two or three months in the labyrinth, the fact that she had five meant she had been an explorer for quite a while.
“Have you been an explorer for about two years...?”
“How old are you now?”
“I’m fifteen.”
For a girl, that should be around the time growth finishes. I wondered if her small stature was due to malnutrition during childhood, or if it was just genetics.
“Ah, I have one more attack skill.”
“What is it?”
“A skill that enhances Shoe Throw. I don't use it often because I don't want to ruin my shoes... but it’s actually quite powerful.”
Every single one of them was so ambiguous. I wondered if this was what normal skills were like. Isolde had mentioned having a maternal instinct curse; I suppose low-grade explorers were all like this.
“You don't join parties?”
“I only take gathering requests, so a party... hehe. They’re easy requests, but if I have to split the reward, I won't have any money left...”
Compared to her, Ravi was living like royalty. Ravi had received a high-level education by this world's standards and even owned her own business. This was the difference between the poverty of a struggling business owner and a child who truly had nothing.
“But... it’s very quiet around here, isn't it...?”
“I’m taking care of things. From a distance.”
I’d kept my eyes closed on the 2nd Stratum, but there was no need to force Rita to look at terrifying monsters and risk giving her a heart attack. The moment we arrived, I had released my synthetic monsters to eliminate all threats in the vicinity.
They were also scouting the path. If we kept going like this, we’d hit the portal soon.
“You really are incredible...”
“You think so?”
“To be honest... I thought Manmagyeong would be a grandfather hundreds of years old.”
“That hurts my feelings.”
“Ah, I-I’m sorry! I didn't mean it like that! It’s just, you have so many skills... I didn't think you’d be a normal person...”
I could understand the misunderstanding. Aside from Skaeda, there were no Orichalcum-grade explorers under the age of thirty.
“Wait, something’s coming.”
“Huh? What is it?”
Something had tripped the detection web I’d spread out. It wasn't a living creature, but a type of magic. A specific kind of curse magic targeting only me.
'This magic formula... could it be?'
Since the magic had already been triggered, I couldn't suppress it with Amelia’s mana. I could have blocked it if I wanted to, but after deconstructing and analyzing the incoming formula...
“Rita, this is unavoidable.”
“What?! What is it?!”
“I’m going to swallow you for a second.”
“Wh-Wha?!”
—Gulp!
It was a teleportation magic targeting only me. Despite my wide-range detection, it was a long-distance targeting spell with an untraceable source.
I had my suspicions, and it turned out they were right.
“Inter-floor interference magic...!”
* * *
—Squelch!
“Ugh...?!”
The magic was set to target me. Simply being near me wouldn't have included Rita in the spell's parameters; she would have been left behind the moment the magic hit.
“Wh-Where are we?!”
“Probably the 32nd floor.”
“S-So suddenly?!”
Things I have consumed are recognized as 'me.' At least as far as magic is concerned. I could have blocked it, but there was no reason to. It was giving us a free ride straight to the 32nd floor.
Rita’s clothes and belongings weren't living things, so they couldn't be 'stored' in the same way, but I had put them in a storage artifact and dressed her so quickly she hadn't even noticed.
“So this is what they meant by a special Spirit Species.”
There was a fairly large chest sitting in front of us. A chest found at the end of a labyrinth—it seemed like a very malicious design.
“Rita, do you want to go open it? I’ll give you everything inside.”
“Really?! B-But... I haven't done anything...?”
“Go on.”
Rita hesitated, unsure of what to do, but eventually steeled herself and walked toward the chest. In the middle of what looked like a wide clearing sat a single, ornately designed chest decorated with gold and jewels.
“I-I’m opening it!”
“Go ahead.”
There was no lock, and it looked like it held something magnificent. Of course, this was...
—Creeeeak...
“Huh...?”
—Snap!
“Eek?!”
“I figured as much.”
It was a Mimic. The moment the lid opened, a massive tentacle wrapped around Rita’s waist to drag her inside, but my attack severed the tentacle before it could.
—Clatter!
With its tentacle cut, the creature began to flee desperately, its lid rattling loudly. Its movements were slow and noisy. It likely used forced teleportation magic to strip victims of their equipment and dump them naked into the labyrinth.
—Crunch!!
“H-Hieee...”
“How unique. The outer shell really was a chest.”
A Mimic is a type of Spirit Species. It disguises itself by inhabiting a chest and devours people the moment the lid is opened.
They have a habit of collecting valuable equipment and forcibly teleporting explorers away after stripping them of their mana and belongings.
“Good job, Rita.”
“I-I thought I was going to die...!”
“Here, your reward.”
Though it was said that no one had reached the 32nd floor, the explorers who had gone missing in the Mascena Labyrinth had likely died after being forcibly teleported. Since the Mimic took all their inedible equipment and belongings, not even a trace of their corpses would remain.
—Clatter...
Equipment from dead explorers began to pour out of the Mimic’s subspace. There were a few things that looked like artifacts, but since the labyrinth city itself was small-scale, there was nothing particularly legendary.
“Th-This...”
“What’s wrong? Do you recognize something?”
“Ah... ah...”
Rita picked up a small pendant from the pile of items and suddenly began to sob uncontrollably.
“M-Mom...?”