Chapter 16
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Floor 2 - Lv. 185 Great Shaman (2)
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Normally, monsters on the second floor don't exceed level 20, even if their levels are high.
Level 20 might sound modest, but in the early section up to the first theme's fifth floor, that's mid-boss territory.
But this time, the only thing appearing at a normal level on the second floor was wild goblins.
Even the orc warriors from the excavation site right now are around level 25 in stats, by my guess.
I knew that much.
I've been steadily scouting the orc outpost and fairy village while leveling and farming.
My conclusion from that was that they're NPCs with stats from at least the third theme—the 10-15 floor section where the theme changes for the third time.
That means, if luck is against me, there's a chance the commander could be Great Shaman level.
I'd considered that possibility too.
And probably, the outpost itself has a fair number of shamans.
Still, I never imagined they'd ambush me like this...
Tricky. Real tricky.
Random encounters where the map difficulty itself shifts out of sync with the section are pretty common.
But I've never experienced this tangle of varied encounters.
If it happens at all, it's only after the kingdom section.
As a fundamental principle, this world follows the game's rules.
If something weird like this occurs, there has to be some trigger.
But it's right on the tip of my tongue...
Maybe 97 years of exile life is too long after all.
Thinking that, I dodge a dagger suddenly emerging from the shadows.
At the same time, another dagger flies at me from a different direction.
The coordination is flawless. Separate from simple stats like 'level,' these are well-trained assassins.
That said, they're not lacking in system terms either.
Not comparable to [Invisibility] magic, but every goblin assassin over level 20 has mastered [Stealth].
The reason I can barely see them now is the effect of [Stealth].
To deal with them, you need overwhelming agility or intelligence stat gaps to crush them, or matching detection skills.
Of course, for me at barely level 12 now, none of that's an option.
My dodges right now are pure instinct.
The assassins aim for vitals.
When the targets are limited, it's actually pretty easy. Just sense the moment of attack, and you can dodge.
They say when there's no teeth, use the gums—but in a game without teeth, gaps are all you get.
The dagger that misses me hits a pillar, falls, and clatters on the ground.
I freeze for a second.
The dagger looks familiar.
It's the one I've been throwing a lot lately.
[Blink Dagger]
I immediately kick the dagger with my foot.
A goblin blinks in at the perfect timing and gets its wrist kicked, screeching "Kieek!"
With my stat distribution and doping, my strength should be higher.
A simple kick, but hitting the joint dead-on leaves it groggy for a bit.
But this... [Blink Dagger]? Not just high level—elite monster traits too?
Fitting for a bodyguard of Great Shaman rank.
Elite attributes mean monsters stronger than regular ones at the same level.
The orc officers fighting the griffon right now are the same—elite because they're officers.
Even with their ally hit, the other one's assault continues relentlessly.
I can dodge, but without stealth detection on my end, securing a sure kill is elusive.
For now, while rolling, I nock an arrow and draw the bowstring.
Off in the distance, I see the Great Shaman building another spell.
Can't let him fire that lightning. The griffon would be done for.
Bows or guns without precise aim lose accuracy.
But fire enough shots, and it doesn't matter.
I dodge two more attacks before the groggy one recovers, and loose three arrows.
And I kept repeating that.
"Can't you even handle this properly?!"
The Great Shaman bellowed in fury.
Before he could even launch the first lightning bolt, the assassins had set out to eliminate the Greenskin enemy.
Not at the Great Shaman's command.
Goblins unfit to be warriors are cogs in the Greenskin machine.
They don't need orders.
They just devote themselves silently.
Even when their foes should die and fade, they look ahead and move—that's their virtue.
So, whether that human man survived the lightning or not, they should clean him up neatly.
So why are arrows flying endlessly?
Can't even find him, let alone eliminate?
Or...
Are there more humans?
That's the thought creeping in.
The ancient griffon was that threatening, that monstrous.
One orc officer roared as it tumbled from a front paw strike.
A roar instead of a scream—answer enough that it's down.
The Disciple Orc rushes over and starts healing.
"Hah, three of you against this thing..."
It's undeniably tough.
The Great Shaman irritably healed the wound on his left arm.
Shamanism differs from magic.
If magic scoops water from a basin, shamanism digs channels.
If the area already brims with elements, it's ideal.
Like a dry riverbed beside a full stream.
The shaman just breaks the dam.
But this massive beast's lair has no trace of lightning.
Shamanism without elements demands extreme consumption.
He'd thought it'd end in one shot at first.
That's why he'd accepted the cost.
Back then, it hadn't seemed excessive.
But repeated interruptions make spells fail every time.
Arrows arriving at exquisitely precise moments disrupt even a Great Shaman's chants.
Scattered spells backlash on the shaman and surroundings.
His high skill as a shaman prevents fatal rebound.
Just minor explosions.
A novice might get banished to the [Abyss] from a failed spell's backlash in the worst case.
But recovery consumes more mana.
Just a few repetitions, and his remaining mana is far below peak 20%.
The orc officers up front won't hold out alone.
The revived relic guardian isn't fully intact, just enduring.
Even the makeshift golem he summoned nears its limit.
"But that monster bears fire's essence."
Elemental variants are masses of potent elements themselves.
He slams his staff into the ground.
Flames bloom at the staff's tip instead of lightning.
Shamanism draws ambient elements.
In mana sight, pure fire mana blazes toward him like the sun.
Of course, the Great Shaman wasn't a fool.
He knew what this action would bring.
Sensing something draining from its body, the griffon reacted sharply.
Even rotten, it's still prime stock. A relic guardian has its aces.
It won't sit idly while the foe steals them.
The beast takes a few axe hits and wildly flaps its wings.
The whirlwind in the sealed space stalls the warriors briefly.
A short respite, but the griffon launches its next move.
A massive volume of air sucks into its gaping maw.
The Great Shaman saw it.
A horrific orb of destruction swirls inside the monster.
A sophisticated weapon held by dragonkin kin.
[Breath].
"Disciple. Protect the warriors."
For some reason, the Disciple Orc replied with concern.
"But Master, will you be alright?"
"If I told you to guard me, you'd demand payment, no?"
"That's true, but..."
The brazen disciple didn't deny it again.
The saintess's compassion extends only to the weak.
Funny how she sees those warriors as weak, but it works in their favor.
Disciple, are you an orc or a human?
Someday, you'll have to decide.
The Labyrinth holds various magical elements subtly different from physical reality.
Among them, for raw destructive power, fire and lightning are neck-and-neck.
Seeing the Great Shaman drop lightning, I lowered my bow too.
No more need to interfere.
A fire-aspect griffon variant won't fall easily to same-element spells.
Plus, breath weapons pack power even relative high-levels can't ignore.
Now they're locked onto each other.
As a shaman, he'd planned to end it with one lightning bolt—so things are thoroughly tangled now.
"Still, something's off."
I tilt my head to dodge a silently appearing dagger, scratching my chin.
"Mana seems weirdly abundant."
I get that he's a Great Shaman.
But spamming big spells in a relic with no lightning traces, and still having spare?
Accounting for extra drain from countless canceled casts, it's too much.
Plus, as a shaman, he'd wasted some mana on outpost heals.
Standard 'Orc Great Shaman' NPCs have plenty of mana, but limits.
Around level 100 at best.
But rough calculations of consumption so far exceed a normal Great Shaman.
"Handling elements right off the bat means these orcs worship the God of the Wild."
War God's death suffix boosts mana; wild suffix doesn't.
Elements and golems—classic skillset for war and wild gods' shamans.
Shortened: Wild Shaman.
In the end, I acknowledged the hypothesis lingering in a corner of my mind.
A possibility that shouldn't exist.
"Not just any Great Shaman—he's a named one."
This mana pool means nearing level 200.
This wasn't just 'low chance for named' territory.
By game-era data, probability was zero.
Named Great Shamans don't appear before the kingdom.
Not probability—hard-coded that way.
All existing Orc Great Shaman nameds tie to major, scaled random encounters.
They don't spawn early.
So I'd ruled it out completely.
How should I take this fact?
Suddenly, another detail surfaces.
There was another shaman behind the Great Shaman, looking a bit young?
The realization hits, and my head throbs.
Normal Great Shamans often have disciples.
But nameds follow fixed scenarios.
Only one case of a named with a disciple.
A random encounter post-kingdom.
[Betrayed Human Saintess]
A mid-game encounter weaving [Hero Unit] and [Race Mainstream].
More like a major sub-story than simple random.
"I knew it was too much, but now it's excessively too much."
In game, you'd ragequit.
Throw a basic-stat Jeong Family Girl NPC and expect this solved? Way over the line.
What to do?
Dizzying. Abandon this run?
...Wait.
Yeah.
Insanely improbable rampage, plus encounters that shouldn't appear at all.
The Labyrinth world, once a game, always follows game laws.
All products of designed programming.
This is it.
The trigger sparking this chaotic mess.
It's...
The Jeong Family Girl.
Suddenly, an inexplicable emotion washed over me.
Somewhere between relief and something similar.
Because that fact was so unexpected.
And astonishing, I froze.
Nearly got hit by the incoming dagger.
"Whoa. Close call."
Curare is goblin standard gear. Even a graze means death here.
I recover from the near-miss with a big roll.
The exaggerated motion worsens the aftermath.
A clear mistake, but not immediate death.
Doping's stat gap lets me endure; still some margin.
A few more seconds focusing on dodges, annoyed at the interrupted thoughts.
And finally, what I'd been waiting for arrives.
A scorching heat blasts from the boss room's center.
No need to look—I know what's happening.
I quickly duck behind a pillar.
The heat builds into a storm.
The fierce blast carries dense mana.
The stealth of the two goblin assassins poised to strike shatters entirely.
No detection? Make 'em visible.
Easy now.
Assassins are weak without ambush.
Nothing more helpless than exposed assassins.
My waist dagger slices air in one fluid motion.
Its flight path sways in the storm, but I'd calculated.
The raggedly dressed goblins panic in the sudden gale, unable to react.
A dagger embeds in each Greenskin's forehead.
True to assassins, they go without a scream to the end.
I catch my breath and resume my paused thoughts.
Why? Why the sudden relief?
Trace the emotion's flow carefully.
Even as the breath's aftermath scorches the entire boss room.
Can't leave the pillar's cover anyway—plenty of time to think.