Chapter 84: Standing Tall
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 84: Standing Tall
“From the 13th floor onward, you’ll start seeing Filth Slimes occasionally. They aren't incredibly strong in terms of combat power, but... if a Filth Slime latches onto an open wound, it’ll start rotting immediately. You have to be careful.”
True to their name, these slimes were filled with filth. While the water flowing along the walls of the 2nd Stratum wasn't heavily polluted, just look at the creatures living here.
Most of them were rotting, decayed skeletons. These slimes lived by slowly dissolving and consuming the bone fragments left behind by explorers who had smashed those skeletons to pieces. They were essentially masses of highly toxic pollutants.
And well, explorers have to relieve themselves too. It turns out explorer excrement is a Filth Slime's favorite delicacy. I suppose the waste of well-fed explorers contains more nutrients than ancient, crumbling bone fragments.
“God, seriously.”
The slime was a murky, sickly yellow color, reminiscent of the twisted phlegm of a twenty-year chain smoker. For long-range dealers like Belinda, their primary job was to snipe these Filth Slimes from a distance using cheap arrows or bolts that didn't need to be recovered.
“Ugh, it’s gruesome every time I see it. I really hate the 2nd Stratum.”
“Haha, I agree.”
I wasn't sure how they even maintained their shape, but I just accepted it. If I started questioning the biology of a slime, there were far too many other abnormal things around here to deal with first.
Even Belinda seemed reluctant to use her abilities in the 2nd Stratum.
“Then, I’ll try to find us a path.”
“Ah, Aven, you mentioned you had a pathfinding ability, right? Could we count on you…?”
“Of course.”
It wasn't easy since I was bundled up so tightly, but I took off my helmet for a moment and manifested the auditory organs of a Labyrinth Bat. The problem was where to emit the ultrasonic waves from.
In the end, I pulled off my right glove and formed an organ capable of generating ultrasound inside my palm.
There are a lot of paths.
One path showed signs of frequent human travel, while the other was completely empty and quiet. Paths like the latter usually contained many untriggered traps, so it was better to stick to the ones people actually used.
“Let’s take the path on the right.”
“We can trust you on this, right?”
“Yes.”
Benjamin, who didn't need to move as violently as the others, held the lantern. Since he walked in the back, the light reaching Rubia and me in the vanguard was a bit dimmer, but that was intentional.
Carefully managing light levels is one of the most important skills for an explorer navigating the darkness. If the intense light from the lantern reflected off the shield in my left hand or the mace in my right and hit my eyes, it would be a problem.
The human body instinctively winces and shuts its eyes the moment its vision is compromised.
“Hehe, that helmet. It looks incredibly uncomfortable.”
“It is. Very much so.”
Of course, people like Rubia, who were equipped with expensive Battle Attire, rarely had such issues. Even that pristine white officer’s cap she wore—which looked like a cosplay prop—apparently had built-in light adjustment functions.
Money really is the best.
As we followed the path I suggested, the group of explorers I had detected through sound began to appear ahead.
—I hear footsteps.
—People are coming up behind us.
Encounters like this were common in the 2nd Stratum, and Rubia was incredibly helpful in these situations.
—Isn't that Battle Attire?
—Hey, hey, move aside, quick...!
“Right, right. We’ll be passing through first, okay?”
“Ah... yes! P-please, go ahead.”
She looked like nothing more than a young girl, but the sight of her carrying a hammer larger than her own body over her shoulder, dressed in fine clothes rarely seen in a labyrinth, was more than enough to make others shrink back.
Everyone knew better than to be fooled by appearances. Skills existed in this world, after all. The three things you had to be most careful of in a Labyrinth City were women, the elderly, and children.
A prime example was the Cobalt Grade TS elementary schooler explorer, Roland Otmarie. Ugh. Terrifying. Just thinking about it makes my knees shake.
“There’s a wide hollow up ahead. There aren't many people... is it just an empty lot?”
“It’s likely a base, but there won't be many people at this hour.”
“Ah.”
Now that I thought about it, he was right. Since this was the peak time for labyrinth exploration, even a base wouldn't have many people in it.
“Is that so? Does anyone need to rest?”
“Aven, are you alright? The fatigue from combat must have accumulated quite a bit.”
Benjamin spoke in a worried tone. It was true that I had been carrying Rubia on my back until she came to her senses. However, that didn't mean I was feeling fatigued.
If my muscles complained of exhaustion, I could just swap them for different ones. That wasn't something I needed to worry about.
The real issue was my head. Using skills while fighting, and then constantly pathfinding or maintaining a perimeter watch, drained my mental strength and piled fatigue onto my brain.
“I’m still fine. Let’s push on a bit further. Rubia, how much time do you have left on this stack?”
“Hmm, I can easily go for another three hours. We could probably make it to the 15th floor.”
“I’m okay for now too. My mouth feels a bit unpleasant, but... I brought some White Peppermint Tree leaves.”
White Peppermint Tree leaves were the equivalent of toothpaste in this world. You just put them in your mouth and chew, and they provide a cool, refreshing sensation.
Having explored the 2nd Stratum for a while now, our teamwork was starting to click. I heard there were hand signals used among explorers; I hadn't properly learned them, so I was just roughly mimicking what I saw.
“We have to be careful from the 14th floor onward. Monsters with flesh that hasn't fully rotted yet... so-called ‘Ghouls,’ start to appear.”
“I see.”
Since they all knew my maximum reached floor was the 12th, they explained everything to me as we ascended to each new floor. I was grateful, but also felt a bit apologetic.
“So, no one wants to rest at this base, right? Then let’s head out immediately.”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
As we entered the 14th floor, an even more dismal atmosphere greeted the party.
“I should start getting serious now, shouldn't I?”
“You haven't been serious until now?”
“Ha! Of course not! Burning just one stack is nothing!”
Rubia burned two stacks simultaneously, significantly enhancing her physical strength. Since she said her ability grew exponentially stronger the more stacks she piled up, everything until now must have indeed been just a taste.
I had been concerned, but she was doing much better than expected. I suppose the reputation of the Mayerbridge Union wasn't for nothing.
“We’re moving fast! Keep up!”
Ghouls were said to appear, but they weren't exactly everywhere. And while they weren't particularly strong, their appearance was truly revolting.
The only real issues were that their attacks were more powerful than a skeleton's, and getting splattered with filth from swarming maggots or rotting flesh was incredibly unpleasant.
If anything, the 2nd Stratum felt faster to progress through than the 1st. While the 1st Stratum was a grueling trek across vast plains, the 2nd Stratum was mostly a matter of pathfinding. The monsters, which appeared more frequently than in the 1st Stratum, were the main obstacle.
And so, after about thirty minutes of advancing through the 14th floor, finally...
“Anyone need a break before we head to the 15th?”
“I heard it’s mandatory to rest before the 15th floor. That’s where Minotaurs start appearing, isn't it?”
Unlike the other monsters of the 2nd Stratum, which hadn't been much of a threat in terms of raw power, the Minotaurs were genuinely, dangerously strong.
“Hahat! Right. That’s true for you guys! But you have me, don't you? I can take down a Minotaur in a single blow!”
“Let’s take a rest anyway.”
“Why?!”
Rubia fighting the Minotaurs was fine. If you're Platinum Grade, you should at least do that much.
But that didn't mean a rest wasn't necessary. Belinda, in particular, tended to tire out faster than the other three.
“Let’s eat before we head out.”
“Well... I guess we have no choice.”
* * *
“The ceiling is high.”
“The atmosphere changes slightly from the 15th floor up.”
The Minotaur was a unique monster—essentially a bull’s head on a bipedal body. Standing fully upright, they were massive, exceeding three meters in height. The dungeon zones in the early parts of the 2nd Stratum had ceilings too low and corridors too narrow for such creatures to roam.
Thanks to that, the 15th floor felt much more open and better.
“Minotaur horns are extremely valuable. Parties specifically aiming to hunt Minotaurs usually set up hunting parties on the 18th floor.”
“Why is that? They appear on the 15th floor too.”
“It’s a matter of population. On the 15th floor, you’ll only see maybe two at a time, but on the 18th floor, about sixteen of them appear in total.”
“And you might have to compete with other parties. Going to the 19th floor where even more appear is difficult because Death Knights, the Lich’s minions, start showing up there....”
The 18th floor was the sweet spot where the balance between population and difficulty was just right. Because of that, the 18th floor was said to feel more neatly managed than other floors. It was the same reason hunting parties in the 1st Stratum swarmed the 8th floor.
The ceilings were higher, and the areas were wider. As a side effect, the labyrinth itself became incredibly vast.
While it took at most two hours to clear a floor up to the 14th, the 15th floor could take up to six hours if you were unlucky. The number of branching paths increased drastically, and various unique locations were scattered throughout.
“A Mage’s magic is coming!”
“Hup...!”
I tilted the shield in my hand and threw it like a frisbee at a Skeleton Mage. Its cervical vertebrae shattered instantly, and its magic circle lost its power and crumbled away.
—Clatter!
As the Skeleton Mage’s body, which had been floating low in the air, lost its magical strength and fell to the floor, its subordinates began to mill about in confusion, having lost their chain of command.
“Aven! Are you okay without your shield?!”
“No problem!”
Their strength was negligible anyway. As long as I had decent metal gauntlets, I could block most of the swords they swung.
—Clang!
After blocking a sword with my forearm, I swung my mace at a skull with empty eye sockets, reducing it to flying dust.
“Phew! This is boring. Let’s hurry down to the 18th floor.”
It did feel a bit anticlimactic. The 1st Stratum was difficult because of the raw power of the enemies, but the 2nd Stratum wasn't like that.
“Let’s take the left path.”
As I was leading the party down a path that looked frequently traveled, as usual, a problem arose.
There are quite a few people this time. Nine? Are two parties moving together?
It was rare to see multiple parties progressing together, which was curious.
I was thinking about it lightly as we moved forward, but then....
“Oh, we have guests.”
“Whoa... look at those clothes.”
“That’s Battle Attire, isn't it? Must be a pretty strong explorer.”
My bad feeling was right.
“Hey, you bottom-feeders. Stop smirking with those ugly faces and get out of the way.”
“Whoa, scary. You’ve got a cute face, but your mouth is pretty foul.”
It was the Antonio Brotherhood. Looking through the vision of the Evil Eye, most of them were glowing with a red light.
There were a few who weren't, but that was likely because they didn't see us as enemies to be hostile toward, but merely as targets for plunder.
“Don't you know who I am? I am the great—”
“Wait. Don't do that.”
“Ah, okay.”
Rubia instinctively tried to introduce herself, but I stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. The Mayerbridge Union was the group most hated by the Antonio Brotherhood.
Telling them who she was here wouldn't do her any favors. For now, I had to pretend to resolve this with words while looking for a chance to kill them all.
“Hey, we’re just trying to quietly—”
—Thwack!
In an instant, the air was knocked out of my lungs as a blade pierced through my chest.
* * *
It was a strike aimed precisely at Aven’s heart. From Belinda’s perspective in the back, it looked as if a blade had suddenly sprouted from Aven’s chest.
“Aven—!!”
Belinda’s scream rang out, and Aven’s body, his heart pierced, collapsed forward.
—Thud!
“Got you, Testament.”
“Y-You...!!”
Rubia’s voice was thick with rage. An assassin who had appeared from the shadows stood with a foot on Aven’s back, and one of the criminals watching from behind stepped forward and spoke.
“Hey, you lot. This tin-can helmet bastard... he’s the one we’ve been looking for.”
“A-Aven...?”
“We have our pride, you see. We can't have other teams hearing that we got done in by some nobody.”
The man who appeared to be the leader immediately handed a leather pouch to the assassin who had stabbed Aven through the heart and grinned.
“As for you guys, well, if you strip naked and turn back right now, you won't have to die.”
“T-There’s no way we can do that...!”
At Belinda’s protesting voice, the group of criminals began to snicker and laugh.
“Then what are you going to do? This person here is someone who can even kill a Cobalt Grade. Have you heard of... the Human Hunter?”
The assassin and the leader slowly advanced toward Rubia, Benjamin, and Belinda. Behind them stood the rest of the criminal group, about eight men.
“Ugh.”
And then, from between them, a man suddenly stood tall.
“You pieces of shit. Assume the headstand position. Now.”