Chapter 28

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Translator: Ebonarch

Chapter: 28

Chapter Title: Floor 1 (7)

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"Status Window."

I could see that my stats had gone up. Unlike Technique, which applied right away, these must activate once I return to the city. Makes sense—normally, after an expedition ends and you get back, your body glows during level-ups, and that's when you confirm the stat increases, so it's noted that way.

Camella's Technique had skyrocketed the first time I touched her, then crept up bit by bit after that, but overnight it jumped by 0.5.

My Stamina stat had shot up massively too. Could it be from all the fun in the Labyrinth? I hadn't expected this much growth in just one day.

I quickly mopped up the remaining goblins while checking my Status Window. That's when Tanya came running over to me.

"Cain!!"

"Yeah, sis."

"Any injuries?"

"Yeah, what about the others?"

"Robin and Roy are both wiped out, lying down. Doesn't look like they're hurt."

I turned my head to look. Robin had finished off the goblin pinning Roy and was now sprawled out with her sword still in hand. Roy had wriggled free and rolled over, so both of them were staring at the ceiling, spread-eagled.

"Let's go check on them."

"Yeah...! Ow...!"

Tanya's palm was torn up a little, the skin split, and her whole body was trembling.

"What the—you overdid it, didn't you?"

"N-no...? It... it was so scary, I didn't even feel the pain. I just kept swinging."

She bowed her head at my words, then spotted the goblin corpses scattered around me and flinched in horror, clinging to me tightly.

"You did great. For your first time, that's not bad at all."

"R-really?"

"Yeah. Let's check on Robin and Roy first and treat any wounds."

"Okay!"

I supported Tanya as we headed toward Roy and Robin.

"Ughhh..."

"What is it, Roy? What's wrong with you?!"

I'd thought he was just exhausted and lying down, but up close, blood was flowing from his leg—not from a goblin corpse.

"Roy!!!"

"Roy!"

I'd seen a goblin charge Robin late in the fight. Roy had shoved it back with his shield, making her drop her dagger, and then he'd fallen. I'd figured they'd both be fine and paid no mind, but it looked like the goblin had slashed Robin's ankle while she finished it off.

Roy, too worried about the unusually quiet Robin to realize he'd cut himself, called out for Tanya.

"Honey, Ro... Robin? Is Robin okay?"

"Huh? Y-yeah... Robin just collapsed from exhaustion. No other injuries."

"Phew... that's a relief... ugh!"

Robin lay there with her eyes closed, either passed out from exhaustion or fast asleep.

Roy didn't sense anything off in Tanya's stammered reply amid her panic and just groaned from the intense pain.

"Sis, keep a good eye on Robin and Roy."

"Huh? Y-yeah..."

I stared hard at Tanya, emphasizing "good" watch, then headed to our base camp where we'd left the gear. I rummaged through Roy and Robin's bags for first-aid supplies and returned to the clearing.

"Alright. Roy, stay prone. Sis, light the lantern and help out from the side."

"Huh? But my hand hurts..."

"If you leave Roy's wound like that, it'll get serious. I'll treat yours right after, so come here."

"O-okay..."

Once Tanya lit the lantern and settled beside me, I examined Roy's wound.

"Hm... the bleeding's worse than I thought..."

"Cain, is it dangerous?"

"Hold on... Roy, this'll hurt a bit."

I unwrapped his greave and cut open his pant leg to check the wound.

Splash-!

"Ughhh!!!"

When I poured water from the canteen to clean it, Roy's body jerked violently as he writhed in agony.

"Sis, hold Roy down."

"Okay... ugh! Roy, don't move!!"

Thud!

Her torn palm hurt too much when she tried to grab him, so she ended up straddling his butt and pinning his thigh with her arms.

"Looks like it nicked a nerve... hold tight."

The gash was deeper than expected. I quickly uncorked a recovery potion and poured it on.

Pop-

Splash!

Sizzle-!

"Ughhhh!!!"

The sword he'd used to stab goblins must have left some of their venom in the wound.

White smoke rose as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the potion hit, and Roy thrashed in pain.

For a plain cut, less potion would've sufficed, but seeing the smoke, I used a whole vial.

Soon the wound began to knit slightly and the bleeding slowed. I sprinkled hemostatic herb powder on top and wrapped it in bandages.

"Phew..."

"I-is it... done?"

"Yeah, you can get off now, sis."

"Phew... this hurts too...!"

"Come here."

"Ung..."

Tanya had been shocked by how bad Roy's wound was and only started whining at me after the first aid was done.

"Ow ow ow!"

"Just bear it a little. Such a baby."

"Hiiing!"

After lightly treating Tanya's right palm too, I turned to Robin.

"Is Robin out cold or what? Robin?"

"I checked when you went for bandages and potions earlier. She's asleep—snoring away."

Tanya snorted in disbelief and filled me in.

"What a mess. Guess we'll rest a bit and devote the day to recovery."

"How's Roy?"

"If he goes to the Aid Station for a Recovery blessing, he'll probably be okay... but he might limp."

"Why? Doesn't Recovery fix everything? That's weird."

"Remember the smoke when I poured the potion?"

"Oh... yeah, white smoke."

"That was the monster blood's poison getting purified. I don't know about muscle or bone, but the venom's invaded his blood vessels and deep tissue. Even with a Recovery blessing, it might not heal perfectly."

"Gasp...!"

"We don't know when those three scouts will get back, so until Robin wakes up, we'll stand guard together and rest."

"Okay!"

Tanya and I dragged Robin and Roy to the center of the clearing, laying them side by side. We sat and waited.

"Hiiing, I hate extracting mana stones so much..."

"It's important to at least try."

"What if my stats don't go up even after this?"

"That won't happen. Mine went up on my first Labyrinth run, and so did the rest of my party's."

Crunch! Crunch!!

After about an hour of rest, I took Tanya around and showed her how to extract the mana stones embedded in the goblins' foreheads.

Her dagger was high-quality enough for a beginner, so the stones came out easier than expected. Still, coaxing her past her disgust at the corpses took time.

"Phew... seriously... if it weren't for the stats, I wouldn't bother..."

"Hurry up and finish the last ones."

"Ung..."

Crunch!

I took ten as a demo, then helped her with her ten.

Even with NTL's extra experience making each one worth 0.01%, I didn't need to do them all myself. Hoping to boost Tanya's stats, I let her handle half.

Once mana stone extraction was done, we returned to the center. Tanya kicked Robin's foot with a grumpy voice.

"Phew... how long is this kid gonna sleep?"

"Leave her be. They both looked low on stamina, and all that tension might've worn her out."

"True... when she wakes up, her back'll hurt from sleeping in her bedroll. Ugh... the youngest one's like this."

Roy had passed out groaning after first aid, and Robin had been out cold since the fight ended.

"Hm... should we go ahead and catch them before the goblins get back?"

"Eh... where?"

"We have to nab those three who went scouting down the passage."

"Nooo, don't go...!"

"We can't stay safe here. To sleep securely, we'd have to head back to yesterday's spot, but with Roy and Robin still out and no clue when those things might show—we gonna hold out guarding them?"

"Uh..."

After the fight, treatment, rest, and mana stone harvesting, time had flown. The 12-hour sandglass was nearly empty, and Tanya was starting to look drowsy.

"Nothing dangerous here anyway, no other passages. If it seems off, I'll come straight back."

"Okay..."

"Yell if anything happens."

"Yeah..."

I grabbed Roy's shield and club, leaving the trembling Tanya behind, and headed down the passage where the goblins had gone scouting.

Puk!!

"Keuk...!"

Thud!!

"Looks like they were on their way back. Lucky."

Not long after entering the passage, three goblins approached.

Probably something like: if goblins are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sleeping in the nest, the scouts return, wait near the passage, then rotate shifts later. I took out all three, extracted their mana stones, and stood up.

"Kyaaaaaaa!!!!!"

Just as I turned to head back to the clearing, Tanya's piercing scream echoed.

"Fuck, what now?"

I shoved the mana stone in my pouch and sprinted full-tilt.

"Don't come!! Don't come!!! Roy...!! Roy, wake up!!!"

"Uwaaaa!!!"

"Fuck, we're screwed."

Rushing into the clearing, what I saw was Tanya and the Roy brothers under attack by three black slimes.

Robin was already done for—one slime had ballooned huge, wriggling as it digested her.

Tanya was in full panic, legs gone weak. She couldn't flee, just sat there swinging her shield to peel off the slime clinging to it.

And Roy...

"Kyaaaaa!!!"

A slime was melting his freshly treated leg, drawing screams.

"No fuck, why slimes in a goblin nest...! Tanya!! Run!! Drop the shield!!!"

"Kyaaaa!!!! Cain!! Caaaain!!!"

"Uwaaaa!!!!"

Tanya didn't snap out of it at my shout—instead, she just wailed my name louder. Roy's screams grew too.

"Fuck!!"

Puk!!!

Sizzle!!!

"Kuh!!!"

I bolted to Roy first, shoving my hand into the slime devouring his leg to grab its nucleus.

Slimes don't always carry flesh-melting solution. They wrap prey's face to suffocate first, producing acid only for digestion.

But it saw Roy as injured prey, attacking by melting the wound to cripple mobility. Stirring its body sent stinging pain through my hand.

Crunch!!!

Splash!!!

I squeezed the nucleus in my grip. I felt the slime surging up my arm fast.

"Uwaaa!! Fuck, die!!! Already!!!"

Crack!!!

Splash!!

I crushed the nucleus with full force. The mana stone's texture filled my palm as the slime dissolved into liquid, spreading across the floor.

"Phew... Tanya!!!"

"Uuub!!"

I whipped around. Another slime had moved to Tanya's head and was attacking her.

No matter how she clawed at the mucus, it wouldn't peel off. Her breathing labored, hands weakening, legs quaking.

I rushed over and plunged my hand into the slime on her head.

Puk!!

Squish!!!

She still had breath, so this one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't secreted acid yet.

Splash!!

It tried climbing my arm from her head once I grabbed the nucleus.

Crunch!!!!

Crack!!!

Having gauged the force from the first, I smashed this nucleus right away.

Splash!!!

Drip!!

"Huck!! Kuh!! Huheuong!!!"

Mucus-drenched Tanya sobbed hysterically and clung to me. I soothed her as I headed to Roy.

"Ughhhh....!!"

His agonized screams continued. His ankle was now a mangled stump.

"No bleeding's kinda lucky, I guess... fuck.."

It looked like his ankle had been guillotined and the stump cauterized with fire. Unreal.

Wobble-

Glancing at Robin's spot, the remaining slime—huge from digestion—wriggled away.

I poured spare lantern oil from my utility belt onto Roy's club, lit it with flint, and hurled it at the slime.

Roar!!!!

Screeeeech-!!!!

Flames spread with a grotesque shriek. The slime shrank, dried rapidly, and its nucleus crumbled.

"Sis."

"Huuu.... huu...."

"Tanya."

"Uuuu...."

Slap!!

"Ow!!"

"Hurry back to my backpack—inside there's a small pouch. Bring it."

"Eh... euh..."

"Quick, I'm dying of pain here."

"Ah... okay!!!"

The slap snapped her out of her panic a bit. She staggered off toward our gear.

Thud!

"Ah."

Fuck, I hadn't checked my wound. Sitting down, I looked at my arm—my entire right arm and hand were flayed red, skin peeled, blisters and bubbles everywhere.

Seeing it made it hurt even worse. Fuck.