6. Hobgoblin
The hobgoblin stood as if guarding the end of a dead-end alley, and beyond it was unmistakably a staircase.
"Right. If we go down those stairs, we should be able to enter the second floor."
"Huh? Not Ocean City?"
"The upper-layer labyrinth has five floors."
In other words, we could only reach the next city after passing the fifth floor of the cave. Then it seemed there was no need to fight.
"Each staircase is said to be guarded by the strongest monsters on that floor, but this is strange."
"We've never encountered a monster like that, right?"
At that, Tia fell into thought for a moment, then spoke again.
"I've heard of it. That Tartarus sends new trials to parties that are too strong."
"New trials?"
"Right. Like sending out monsters from the next labyrinth floor in advance. Or expanding the existing monster groups."
After saying that, Tia thought for a moment and reached a conclusion.
"Since we'd just bypass the latter, the former must be what appeared."
"What happens if we ignore that?"
"Nothing. But it's an enemy we'll have to face to go down to the next floor. And they say that if an enemy guarding an entrance like that isn't killed once, the monster will still be guarding it the next time you come."
"Then if we kill it?"
"They say no more monsters guarding the stairs appear."
Huh? That's a bit strange.
"Then other people can pass through for free too?"
"No. Each labyrinth path is bound to the party leader. By the Travel God's authority, if the party leader is different, you're moved to a different space."
That's pretty fascinating.
"Then how about going somewhere else to hunt and coming back? Tia, you're about to level up, right?"
At that, Tia shook her head.
"If we try to challenge it after becoming stronger than we are now, a stronger enemy will be waiting."
So we weren't allowed to come back and retry after getting stronger. Anyway, seeing her say this much,
"You want to challenge it?"
"Yes. Right now we have room to spare. But if we ended up in this alley while another enemy was chasing us, that would be the worst-case scenario."
It didn't seem to be simply because she disliked an overly futile fight. Then shall I calculate our odds?
I activated Incubus Gaze as much as possible and observed the hobgoblin. Unlike the goblin warriors armed with leather armor and scimitars and shields or shortbows, it was equipped with a longbow, wearing a plate cuirass, with a longsword at its waist and a shield on its back.*
As I focused my mind for a moment like that, the monsters' status windows appeared.
［Name］: Hobgoblin Warrior
［Race］: Fairy (Goblinoid)
［Challenge Rating］: 1/2 (EXP 100)
□STR : 13
□DEX : 12
□CON : 12
□INT : 10
□WIS : 10
□CHA : 9
【Darkvision】 : 18m
〔Armor Class〕 : 16
〔HP〕 : 11
...
Various information including the main stats was listed.
Challenge Rating was a kind of monster level, with 1/4 being roughly equivalent to one level 1 adventurer. At 1/2, it was an enemy on par with one level 2 adventurer.
The experience next to it was the experience obtainable when killing and offering it as a sacrifice. Roughly estimating,
『It is a monster group suited for a three-person level 2 party to face.』
But that's when it isn't in the dark, right?
『Affirmative. For a party without darkvision, the difficulty rises sharply.』
A monster group suited for three level 2s to face outdoors.
We were a weak party of one level 2 and one level 1. But the stage wasn't on their side; it was on ours.
"Let's do it, Tia."
Then this fight, we win.
***
Once we decided to fight, we needed to work out our tactics.
"Hide behind me."
"You're telling me to hide behind a mage?"
"I'm level 2, remember."
Leveling up makes a person themselves stronger. Even a level 2 sorcerer was sturdier than a level 1 rogue. On top of that, thanks to Incubus Body, I was as tough as most front-liners.
Besides,
"I also have defensive measures, so don't worry."
Mage Armor, one of the spells I chose upon reaching level 2. A spell that provides durability equivalent to wearing armor.
"Then, let's begin."
"Three."
At that, Tia faced forward and aimed her bow. The distance to the enemy was 54m. The distance most advantageous to us.
"Two."
All three enemies were armed with longbows. They were clearly set up to guard the stairs and shoot down approaching enemies from a distance.
"One."
And zero. Contrary to Tia, who quietly released her bow, I swung my crossbow and drew a symbol.
True Strike, a cantrip that converts a weapon attack into a spell attack. As I pulled the trigger with that power contained as it was, my and Tia's arrows flew toward the goblin warriors and the battle began.
Thunk. Thwip.
The arrow I fired perfectly pierced the hobgoblin's head. But Tia's hit, though it connected, did not kill.
As planned, I advanced as soon as I fired the arrow. At first glance, a foolish advance that closed the distance to the enemy.
Ignoring my movement, the hobgoblin warriors counterattacked the moment they were attacked.
Against an attack from outside their vision, they first moved as much as possible, then aimed their bows at the still-invisible enemy.
Whish.
Two arrows flew toward me. Even if they couldn't see us in the darkness, they could still infer my position from the direction and sound of our shots.
But they were ultimately the arrows of the blind. There was no way they would hit so easily—
The moment I let my guard down like that, one arrow flew precisely toward my chest. The instant it even pierced the Mage Armor I had trusted, a single moment stretched long.
And in this moment, I realized what I could do. I marked two points with my thumb and index finger, then rotated them half a turn to form a circle.
I crammed the remnants of mana leaking from my Primary Mana Circuit into the circle. Then I murmured the activation word.
"Shield!"
The spell I had newly learned upon reaching level 2 activated, and the mana shield that appeared in an instant deflected the arrow. Tia's scream rang out belatedly.
"Do-hyeon!"
"No problem."
So far, everything was according to plan. We had closed the distance enough. I advanced before the hobgoblins could draw their next arrows and entered the range of my trump card.
Not the light crossbow I had been using until now, but a staff. Using it as a spellcasting focus, I cast my strongest slaughter spell.
"Sleep!"
As the wind of sleep pierced through space and struck, the eyes of the already-wounded hobgoblin closed. The unharmed hobgoblin watching it also collapsed, unable to resist sleep.
Then I quickly ran over and tied up the two monsters with rope, and with that the battle was over.
Hobgoblins were monsters with solid armor but a low weight class themselves. If you could land Sleep on an enemy with a weak weight class, the fight was over.
However, this spell had the drawback of a 27m range, shorter than my vision. But for that, did I need to start the battle at 27m like when I was soloing?
Let's think from the enemy's perspective. If an attack comes from outside your vision, securing vision is the obvious choice. So the hobgoblins approached me without realizing death was waiting for them. And so the monsters lost their lives in the world of dreams.
"That wasn't hard."
"Do-hyeon, you almost got hit by an arrow."
For an adventurer, taking an arrow or two was to be expected, but perhaps because we had only repeated overly easy hunts so far, Tia worried about me excessively.
"If I hadn't had the spell, sure."
"Spells have a set number of uses. Using them carelessly is imprudent."
If I were an ordinary sorcerer, the spells I could use were three of the 1st circle.
I would have used them all on Mage Armor, Shield, and Sleep, leaving no further insurance,** but I could use Sleep through Authority of Phantasmal Dreams, so I had one spell remaining.
But
"You need to worry about your own body more. You have no spells left now, so let's head back."
Looking at Tia, whose eyes were welling with tears as she said that, I didn't want to give a complicated explanation.
"Yeah? So I just need spells, right?"
"Wh-what's with that look in your eyes?"
There were few ways for a mage to recover spells, and the most common among them was resting for a long time. And I had a way to replace rest.
▶Incubus Touch
You master the checks required during sexual activity.
You may substitute Charisma for the ability scores required during sexual activity.
You and your partner can gain the effects of a short rest through sexual contact.
You and your partner can gain the effects of a long rest through sexual activity.
Heh heh. Tia froze, and I grabbed hold of her.
"Wait, this is inside the labyrinth."
"It's fine. This is a dead-end alley, so even if a monster comes, we'll see it right away."
"B-but if we take off our equipment—"
"It's fine. We can do it with them on."
"Th-that's, but mmph!"
I sealed Tia's lips as she rattled off excuses, and while she was distracted by the kiss, I slipped my hand under her skirt. I nudged aside the panties guarding her precious place and shoved my fingers into her secret hole,
"Mmmph!"
Tia pushed against my body in alarm, but my fingers were already coated in sticky liquid.
"Looks like Tia's body is looking forward to it?"
When I pressed my fingers together and pulled them apart, showing the thread of liquid, Tia's face flushed red.
"F-finish it quickly."
In a corner of the labyrinth, heat rose.
***
"To recover spells through th-that act. What kind of absurd Perk is this?"
"Why? This is a kind of rest too, isn't it?"
"If you recover all your spells through this act, doesn't that mean you can use spells over and over?"
At that, I realized what Tia was misunderstanding. She meant repeating using all spells, doing the act again, then using all spells again.
"Ah, it doesn't work like that."
"It doesn't?"
"Yeah. This only substitutes for rest."
Once you receive the benefits of a long rest, you can't receive the benefits again until a certain amount of time passes. Last night, enough time had passed since spending the night with Tia that I could recover again, but it was impossible to pour out spells like an infinite power source.
"Then that's a relief. I almost mistook it for some god's authority."
Actually, it was an Authority. If it was only part of the ability and not all of it, it seemed like an acceptable level.
"Then let's offer the sacrifices first."
We had been absorbed in each other during the act, but we sure did it right next to monster corpses.
After stripping the hobgoblins' corpses of items that could fetch money, iron armor and weapons, I drew a circle surrounding the area.
Then when I prayed, options appeared, and naturally I chose experience. I received a whopping 150 EXP. We did catch it without difficulty, but it was a strong enemy after all.
Thinking that, I looked at Tia, and she was gazing somewhere far away. If I had been like this too, it would have been noticeable.
A moment later, I congratulated Tia once she came to her senses.
"Level up. Congratulations."
"Th-thank you. To level up in just one day."
Tia said that without looking at me properly.
"If you're grateful, shouldn't you repay me with your body?"
"Ugh, haven't you already greedily taken plenty?"
"I meant let's go hunting?"
"Ugh!"
Tia pounded my body with her fists, tap tap tap.
"Ugh, my hand hurts."
"Mage Armor's effect is still active."
"You really have no openings."
After saying that, Tia, back to her usual self, stilled her mana circuit. I followed Tia's lead, hid myself, and moved deeper into the darkness.
Because there was still time left before we were done hunting.
And that day, we earned 500 experience and returned to the shrine. It was double the first day.
What kind of face would Lee Se-rin make when she learned this fact?