Parting Ways and the Obholder's Summon

Dorne Party and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Bellone Party had moved as one team during their exploration of the Northern Labyrinth, but now that their time to exit was approaching, they had to go their separate ways. The exit portal's capacity was limited to six people.

The next day after plotting their course over stew and roast chicken at the inn's first floor, the two parties visited the in-labyrinth guild. The dwarf they'd spoken with the day before—Bron—spoke up.

"So, both parties are exiting?"

"That's right. Even if we come back in later, we want to head out at least once for now."

Bron furrowed his brows and pursed his lips.

"I wouldn't recommend leaving.... How long has it been since you entered the labyrinth? A month?"

Dorne, who still towered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over him even while seated, nodded.

"About that."

"It's rare for anyone to acquire a summon ability in just a month. That's why people like you end up leaving early and regretting it later."

The Dorne Party, confident in their own strengths, showed no sign of changing their minds, so Bron continued.

"It's because of the luck-of-the-draw when you re-enter. As you know, exit portals here aren't as easy to find as in other labyrinths. And since this place is basically one big world, you never know where you'll spawn next time—it's pure gamble. If you don't get your ability this exit and have to come back in, you could wake up in the freezing north, the sweltering south, the middle of a desert, or right in the jaws of some powerful monster. Still wanna go?"

The six-person party, led by Dorne, looked unimpressed.

"Yes. We've just become mid-tier explorers, so if we don't get it this time, we'll tour the east, south, and west labyrinths first, become deep explorers, and then return."

The Bellone Party felt differently. Elisia, looking uneasy, spoke up.

"Hearing that, it does make sense…?"

After a brief discussion among the two knights and Elisia, Roden addressed Dorne.

"Dorne. We've decided to stay longer. Objectively speaking, with just two knights as our main force, re-entering would be too much of a gamble. We got lucky with our spawn and even got help from your party, so we need to stick it out properly now. If we don't get the summon ability, we'll have to come back anyway…."

Roden, who had dropped formal speech after a month together, made his decision clear, and Dorne nodded.

"Got it. Then our partnership ends here. You'll have to team up with someone else anyway."

The two parties that had journeyed together for a month now seemed poised to split in an instant. Elisia hugged Eresa, Inoi embraced Lilia, and they exchanged farewells.

Bron, watching the heartfelt parting between the two attached parties, spoke to Dorne.

"There's one discovered exit portal right now. You planning to use it?"

"Yes, we are."

The Dorne Party received the portal's location and intel on the monsters along the route, then paid up.

The Dorne Party left the in-labyrinth city, heading for the exit portal. They crossed plains, cleared two goblin nests, and entered the forest. The portal was supposedly in the lair of the forest's ruling bear monster.

It was a situation where they had to take down the bear monster, plain and simple. One might think it'd be awkward with Lilia, the bear beastkin, around.

If you were some kind of racist…!

If Lilia caught someone eyeing her warily, she'd probably say something like:

'That's racist! I'm a person, not a bear!'

The now six-strong Dorne crew climbed the mountain without breaking a sweat. Even the three non-warriors had built up impressive stamina over the month's travels.

"Lilia, Raon. Want to take on the bear monster?"

Lilia and Raon exchanged a glance and nodded.

"Sure. It'll be good practice for the Fighting Spirit techniques we learned from Roden and Hardel."

Over the month with properly trained knights, the three warriors had learned to use Fighting Spirit independently of their abilities. Thanks to that, Lilia and Raon could grow stronger through training alone, separate from labyrinth explorations or trials.

It had been worth the few days they spent at the Oren Labyrinth Merchant Group's annex in exchange for the full Northern Labyrinth expedition. Dorne had vaguely aimed for this, and luck had pulled through.

"Then we'll support them up to Eresa's crossbow shots. Lucian's 【Flame Magic】 is too overwhelming for beasts. Magic support might hinder their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠real combat practice."

The four companions excluding Inoi nodded.

As the Dorne Party approached the bear monster's lair, they hit a cliff. Eresa pulled out the map, and the group huddled around.

"Weird…. No cliff on the map. Is it wrong?"

Dorne agreed, tracing the contour lines with his finger.

"Yeah. Map shows a gentle slope here. Something must've happened."

Eresa looked up at Dorne's face.

"What now? Backtrack? Or climb it?"

Dorne eyed the not-too-high cliff with plenty of handholds and decided casually.

"We'll push through. Inoi, ride on Lilia's back. Lucian, Raon will carry you. Eresa, you're light, so I'll take you. The cliff might not hold my weight alone anyway."

Dorne formed a structure on his upper back for Eresa to ride and bent his waist.

—Hop!

The excited Eresa leaped onto Dorne's back. Raon and Lucian climbed first, followed by Lilia and Inoi. Dorne watched to be safe, then went last.

—Crumble

Chunks of cliff fell under Dorne's powerful grip and strength.

Halfway up, the rock Dorne held with his left hand crumbled, and his foothold gave way too.

—Kyaaah—!

As Dorne and Eresa, now defenseless, were pulled by gravity, Inoi watching them screamed.

—Whoooosh—

"Stay calm. It's nothing."

"Whoa—! We're flying! This is amaaaazing!"

Dorne, losing balance and about to fall, blasted mana from his hands and feet to soar through the sky. This was a new technique born from adapting knight-taught Fighting Spirit—without abilities—to his own style.

He rarely used it due to high mana drain in normal times, but emergencies called for it.

(Dorne's stamina integrated into mana, so he couldn't train standard Fighting Spirit.)

Already using mana propulsion, Dorne skipped clinging to the cliff and flew straight up.

—Fwoooosh… Thud

Dorne and Eresa, trailing purple mana, crested the cliff and landed.

Lucian's eyes glazed over at Dorne's out-of-the-box feat, inspirations swirling wildly as he watched.

"Whoa— Dorne's the best—! So awesome! Flying through the sky! That was super fun!"

"Haha. First time flying for me too, but yeah, it's a total rush."

The brief flight drained 100 mana from Dorne, but the intoxicating freedom made him doubt he'd ever quit it. He even eyed abilities that reduced body weight, like the long-forsaken [Mana-Infused Skeleton].

Of course, Dorne wouldn't regress as a warrior just for flight's thrill.

"Alright. Goal for today: exit the labyrinth before nightfall."

The bear monster's cave was just ahead.

—Kiiiiieeeek—

—Groooar—

A desperate battle raged before the bear monster's cave. The Dorne Party waited silently for it to resolve.

A mother bear monster protected her cub while a wyvern with vast leathery wings hovered, seeking an opening. The injured cub whimpered on its bad leg.

Hiding behind a large tree, Dorne whispered to his party.

"Next time the wyvern dives, warriors charge, Lucian and Eresa cover. Can't let another party steal our kill."

His comrades nodded at Dorne's greed for every bit of contribution.

—Kiiiiieeeek—

The wyvern atop a massive tree let out a long cry and dove. The mother bear tensed as collision loomed—

—Whoooosh—

The Ironclad Giant, trailing streams of purple mana, rocketed in half-flying.

—Kiek?

—Grrrng!

A 50-mana rectangular iron shield slammed into both, sending them tumbling across the ground before the cave. Dorne transmitted the propulsion's immense impact fully, landing right by the cub.

—Crunch

Dorne stared briefly at the leg-injured cub, then smashed its skull with the shield's heavy rim.

All of this is contribution.

No need to spare a regenerating monster. From behind Dorne, 【Flame Magic】, arrows, Raon, and Lilia surged to finish the wyvern and bear.

Lilia and Raon, cloaked in their own Fighting Spirit, severed the necks of the bone-broken, burning, arrow-pierced beasts.

—Slash

Thud

Eresa, half-hidden behind a tree reloading her crossbow, dashed out once it ended. She scraped the thick fur hide with her dagger a few times, then pouted at Lilia.

"Lilia… it won't cut at all?"

The bear beastkin Lilia, suppressing a smile, took the dagger and sliced the bear's chest.

Dorne pondered before the headless wyvern corpse. First wyvern he'd seen, so he didn't know where the magic stone was.

"Dorne. Wyvern stones are in the brow."

The magic researcher's keen mana sense nailed it.

—Snikt

Pop

He extracted the stone with a sharpened mana dagger, then reverted it.

"Eresa. Pocket this stone too."

"Got it!"

After a month's grueling exploration (called exploration, read survival), the Dorne Party returned to the labyrinth city.

Northern Labyrinth exit clearing. The six explorers dropped into the uncrowded plaza.

The summon options in the new ability list were downright unlucky. The Pitiful Wolf was the mount from their first goblin wolf rider encounter. The Pathetic Cub Bear Monster was the one they'd just killed. No azure dragon, white tiger, vermilion bird, or black tortoise…. (Or even an AI assistant.) Instead of sturdy horses, massive elephants, or rideable wyverns, it was small critters they'd slain in the labyrinth?

Feeling like some mocking entity existed, Dorne focused on the unfamiliar 【Obholder Summon】.

…Thank you.

His irreverent thoughts toward the first two options faded briefly. Checking the third—【Obholder Summon】—Dorne felt deep gratitude and swiftly selected it.