Alliance Forged in the Northern Wilds
Dorne Party and the Bellone family's party sat around the table in the annex restaurant, which lacked a conference room or reception area and was always used as a meeting spot.
"The lady ran away from home?"
Eresa, feeling an instant kinship as a fellow beastkin, asked in surprise.
The male knight Roden, with his animal ears, replied.
"Strictly speaking, yes, but the family all knows about it, and they won't come chasing after her."
"Hmph! I'm gonna live life my way!"
Elisia Bellone declared boldly, arms crossed. The two knights pressed their foreheads in exasperation at their stubborn lord's antics. They didn't look like the typical knight-and-lord pair. The three seemed remarkably close.
"Anyway, this is your first expedition, and you'll be heading in soon, right?"
"Yes."
"Then we'll assign Lilia and Eresa to you. Think of them as our party's support staff. They'll teach you what supplies to prepare and the tricks of the trade."
"Thank you. We'll let you know once the entry date is set."
The entry date for Dorne Party and Elisia's party into the labyrinth arrived swiftly. The two parties stood before the labyrinth entry portal, crystals in hand. Elisia's two knights shouldered bulky bags.
"We'll follow right after you enter first," Roden said, and Dorne Party joined hands.
Dorne placed the hand holding the crystal on the portal and spoke.
"Once the crystal activates, we'll head that way."
Dorne Party entered, followed by Elisia's party.
Dorne entered the Western Labyrinth with his eyes closed, then immediately opened them. In that split second, he confirmed his mana capacity had reached 700. Thanks to the repeated engraving of 【Mana Core】.
The performance of the armor and weapons he generated, as well as the superhuman strength he could unleash—all were influenced by mana. From that perspective, a 1.75-fold increase in maximum mana meant he was 1.75 times stronger, no question.
Dorne opened his eyes in the middle of a vast plain.
-Keruk! Kekek!
Dorne Party swiftly dispatched the goblins charging with milky-white eyes and turned their attention to the crystal.
-↗ The crystal is active.
"Alright, time to keep our promise."
"New labyrinth, new exploration, new comrades."
Lucian rubbed his hands in excitement at the stimulating, fresh experience the labyrinth offered.
Dorne's group followed the crystal's arrow for quite some time. The Northern Labyrinth had no fixed "scenery"—its first floor was essentially a full world, complete with an intact ecosystem. Explorers were just outsiders passing through the portals scattered everywhere.
Even the goblins they encountered on the plain felt different from those in the Eastern Labyrinth—monsters, sure, but with a strangely lively vibe.
"Eresa, any sense of where the down portal is?"
At Dorne's question, Eresa activated 【Pathfinder】. She pondered the difference in direction it pointed compared to when they first dropped in versus now, after traveling a while.
"The direction hasn't changed much. The down portal feels super far away!"
Dorne neatly shelved his hopes of reaching the second floor.
"Got it. We'll just link up with the Bellone Party and explore around. A labyrinth with scenery this nice is a first—kinda gets the heart racing."
As Lucian walked toward the crystal's direction, his longing for better transport deepened. Compared to the vast but unmistakably indoor Western Labyrinth, trudging across this open world on foot felt wildly inefficient. Even reckless.
If one of the party members who hadn't claimed raid merits got a fast, sturdy summon like a horse, Lucian figured he could craft a cart and call it good.
-Chaeng-
-Thud.
-Milady!
After following the arrow for a good stretch, Eresa and Lilia's keen beastkin ears picked up the sounds of battle.
"Dorne! Hurry—they're fighting right now!"
Dorne, ever prepared, modified his armor back to create a saddle for the three non-warriors. Despite the urgency of Elisia's party under attack, the three explorers mounting a iron giant like Dorne felt like kids on an amusement ride.
While Lucian pondered transport to offset his pitiful non-warrior stamina, Dorne had his own ideas.
"Hop on!"
With Raon and Lilia's help, the non-warrior trio settled into the saddle on Dorne's back. The warrior three then charged toward the forest the arrow indicated.
Carrying three people while running consumed Dorne's mana faster. But the repeated engraving of 【Mana Core】 boosted not just capacity but recovery too, so it wasn't too burdensome.
-Chaeng!
-Slash!
Weaving through sparse trees, Dorne Party spotted the two knights protecting Elisia amid the fray. Roden and Hardel had already slain several orcs, staining the tree roots red.
"We're here! You two prioritize protecting the lady!"
Dorne Party pierced the goblin and orc horde surrounding Elisia in one go. The non-warriors, Raon, and Lilia guarded her while facing off against the monsters. Dorne dismissed the saddle, gripped his shield and sword, and charged the orc warrior leading the pack.
-Chwiik-!
The orcs—far smaller than Dorne—scattered easily before his massive frame.
-Clang!
Axe swings to halt him merely glanced off his sturdy shield.
-Wooaaar-!
The best-armed orc bellowed hastily. Facing this ironclad behemoth required mental prep. A roar to stoke their battle fury.
The orc warrior tried resisting with shield and axe, but it was futile. Dorne's shield blinded it momentarily; his other hand's sword severed a leg, flowing seamlessly into a thrust straight through the fallen orc's skull.
Elegant swordplay, belying the hulking 『Ironclad Giant』. A feat born from the insights and proficiency gained from that prior "kimchi stew slash" meeting Rien's systematic, high-level weapon arts.
The orc horde panicked, leaderless, unable even to swing at Dorne's turned back. Confused whether to face the frontal group or the rear giant, they got hit from both sides.
The two knights, wielding refined, textbook swordsmanship honed from childhood, stayed put—slaying the minor goblins the orcs had enslaved, clearing Elisia's perimeter.
Eresa and Lucian's ranged attacks picked off mid-pack orcs; Raon and Lilia struck at distracted foes' necks or femoral arteries, dropping them.
The battle ended as Dorne and Raon linked up. The 『Ironclad Giant』 dissolved his weapons back into mana without fuss and approached the Bellone Party.
"Looks like you ran into them on your way to us."
"That's right. With our small numbers, confirming locations is tricky. Even the map doesn't help much."
"Ask Eresa about maps."
Eresa's [Bright Path Sense] let her memorize paths as mental maps, overlaying them onto real ones like a puzzle. On Northern Labyrinth Floor 1, map-reading allowed picking safe paths, avoiding dangers, and tackling trials suited to your party's level. That's why deep-floor powerhouses avoided upheaving the first floor's balance, heading deeper instead.
(Labyrinths naturally reset explorer-free areas, but not if you relocate strong monsters without killing them. Waves spawning naturally proved it. Rule on Floor 1: don't shift monster territories—wipe them out.)
Disrupting the power balance could doom weaker explorers. Floor 1 was vast, open, structured—yet harbored monsters incomparable to typical first floors. By sheer luck, the parties had met unscathed.
"Hey, Dorne! I saw you carrying your comrades on your back—gimme a ride too!"
Elisia Bellone bounced at Dorne's feet.
"Milady, that's inappropriate," Hardel admonished, usually taciturn. Elisia pouted in Hardel's arms but didn't push further—a relief for Dorne.
While Dorne chatted, Eresa and Lilia collected all the orc and goblin magic stones and returned.
"Big bro Dorne, we need an exploration plan now."
Lilia's suggestion.
"Good idea. Been a while since we explored without chasing a down portal... Feels weird. Let's check the map first?"
The nine-person temporary party skirted the blood-soaked ground, spread the map.
Eresa pointed to a spot above the central down portal with her index finger.
"We're here. Up is nasty monsters, down's the portal. Both too far for this run."
Dorne scrutinized the area Eresa indicated.
"The orcs we just fought were probably from that nearby orc village, right?"
"Likely. We're real close. If we don't stray, another orc squad might sniff us out. They could even pursue if we flee."
Dorne grimaced—they'd poked the hornet's nest.
Without Dorne Party wiping the orc village clean, scouting orcs might prey on innocent explorers.
"We gotta clean it up."
"Yeah."
Eresa and Inoi nodded.
-Clap clap
"Alright, let's prep. Formations first." Dorne eyed the knights. "Protecting the lady is your top priority, right?"
"Yes."
Dorne started forming up with the three outsiders, then paused and asked Roden.
"But does the lady just get protected? How does she earn abilities?"
"No worries there. She's carrying a recovery magic tool right now."
Dorne blinked at the revelation—and that merits could be shared that way.
"Whoa, that works?"
"So we're told. We've never tried it ourselves."
Collecting his thoughts, Dorne continued.
"Then, knights, just sync with our formation regardless. We have to protect our priestess anyway—better five warriors guarding than two."
Roden and Hardel conferred briefly, nodded.
"Agreed. We'll do that."
Elisia peeked from beside Hardel.
"So if we gotta hustle, you'll give me a ride like before?"
Dorne chuckled at her fluffy tail swishing.
This beastkin lady had a cute, un-noble charm that made her endearing.
"If it comes to that, naturally."