Chapter 133: Team Play (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 133: Team Play (3)
The fourth floor, Tower of Heavens, was structured in stages. When you completed an ordeal, the door opened and you chose one of three staircases to advance to the next stage. There were a total of four types of stairs: Courage, Wisdom, Patience, and Destiny.
Up to this point, we hadn't taken the Stairway of Destiny. For one, its appearance rate was less than 5 percent that of the other stairs. For two, it had way too many unknowns. There was no reason to choose it; at least, until all three doors that appeared were Destiny.
"Mm, does it matter which one we choose? Nothing's happened to me beforrre. The monster just came out like normal and that was it."
Of course, Destiny was not necessarily dangerous. As Missha said, most people faced trials of Courage, Wisdom, and Patience when they chose Destiny.
"That must be because you were lucky, Miss Karlstein. I read in a book that it's random what kind of trial you'll get," said Dwalkie.
The problem was that there was a 20 percent chance that you would go through an entirely different type of ordeal. A total of thirty-two possibilities existed in the game: getting sent back to the first floor, rank-five monsters appearing, suddenly being locked in a closed room, etcetera.
It's disgustingly hard and the rewards are sparse. Some ordeals are made deliberately to fuck with you.
So, unless you were after some special reward, if you came to hunt, Destiny was an ordeal you had to pass on. Well, that was usually the case, anyway.
While I was getting my thoughts in order, the team members who were discussing what to do asked for my opinion. "Bjorn, why are you staying quiet?" said Hikurod. "We agreed that it's better to enter any one of them. It'd be a shame to waste the remaining days."
I nodded in agreement. "That is true."
On the second half of the fourth floor, at our current rate, we could mine up to three hundred thousand stones in four days. Not before dividing by five, but per person. Since most of our time since entering the labyrinth had been taken up by travel, each day spent here directly impacted our total income. Yes, their logic made sense.
There's no way they know what this means.
On the fourth floor, three Stairways of Destiny almost never opened at the same time. If they did, it meant one thing: you had reached a special stage. It was then possible for you to enter one of three hidden levels.
The probability should be one in three.
I looked at the three doors and pondered which one to choose. Then I realized something and laughed. "Missha."
"Yeah?"
"You choose where to go." I obviously couldn't be the one to choose.
Missha glanced at the rest of them as if to ask for their opinions, but all three just shrugged their shoulders in a way that suggested they trusted whatever Missha chose. "Ah, this is a lot of prrressure..." Eventually Missha sighed, glared at me, and approached an open door. It was the door located directly in front of the stairs we'd climbed. "I'm warning you, I can't guarrrantee there won't be a weird monster inside."
Missha made a disclaimer, to which the dwarf giggled. "Hahaha, what do you mean? Are you trying to avoid taking responsibility?"
"...What? You rrridiculous dwarf!"
"H-Hikurod, that's enough. You're making Miss Karlstein uncomfortable..."
Team Half-Wit's signature bickering routine played out three times a day. Sighing and looking to the side, meeting eyes and awkwardly laughing with Rotmiller—it was the same as usual.
"Now, now. Why don't we get a move on?" When Rotmiller took the lead and cleared the air, everyone stopped talking and got in formation.
Bang!
The moment we all entered through the door together, it closed and darkness descended. It was difficult to see even an inch ahead in the pitch blackness. Courage, Wisdom, Patience... everyone was taken aback as we entered a stairway that was different from all others.
Rotmiller soon shared the most critical piece of information for any adventurer when faced with an unfamiliar environment. "I don't sense any enemies right now." Then, he warned, "Stay put. There may be traps."
Despite it all, he was a great scout. He must have almost instantaneously assessed what it was he needed to do.
Of course, the dwarf was no different. "Bjorn, I'll take care of the rear, so just pay attention to the front." His tone was serious, bereft of all laughter.
The moment their voices rang out almost simultaneously, the darkness dissipated. The straight path ahead of us branched out in all directions like a maze. Torches hung on the wall at regular intervals, creating an eerie atmosphere.
I quickly surveyed my surroundings and came to a conclusion.
[You have entered the Labyrinth of Larcaz.]
This was one of the three hidden levels in the Tower of Heavens. Even a scout couldn't show off their skills in this maze.
[Field Effect – Guardian of Balance has activated. The stats of the occupants have been evenly distributed.]
The characters' total stats and abilities were redistributed according to the number of people.
"W-What the hell! What is this? Did I choose the wrong one? Rotmiller!" Missha looked around and glanced at Rotmiller with an uneasy expression on her face.
He couldn't answer her, though. "I'm sorry. I've never heard of something like this happening, either."
"N-Neither have I. I've never heard of something in the trials of Destiny that would lead adventurers to a place like this."
"Ahh, it won't be dangerous... rrright?"
At Missha's words, everyone kept quiet. That was only natural. It was very ironic, but the unknown was the most terrifying thing there was to an adventurer. A cold silence fell over us, but it didn't last long. The rest began speaking urgently like the silence hadn't existed in the first place.
"...How about we stay put right here? There are only four days left, so we'll just have to wait it out."
"We don't know how this space works yet. If it has a structure similar to a rift..."
"Then that means after four days we'll be trapped here foreverrr!"
All sorts of speculations and worries poured out. Well, who would've ever suspected a place like this would exist on the fourth floor instead of the fifth, which was known to have no knowledge available to the public?
Pretending not to know anything, I offered, "Why don't we check how we feel first?"
"Yeah?"
"Missha, is there anything different about you?"
"Ah, now that you mention it... I feel like my body is strangely lighterrr?" Missha hesitantly replied.
"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe you're mistaken?" Hikurod didn't feel any change, probably because he was right in the middle of the pack in terms of stat distribution.
"Now, now. Why don't we get a move on?" When Rotmiller took the lead and cleared the air, everyone stopped talking and got in formation.
Bang!
The moment we all entered through the door together, it closed and darkness descended. It was difficult to see even an inch ahead in the pitch blackness. Courage, Wisdom, Patience... everyone was taken aback as we entered a stairway that was different from all others.
Rotmiller soon shared the most critical piece of information for any adventurer when faced with an unfamiliar environment. "I don't sense any enemies right now." Then, he warned, "Stay put. There may be traps."
Despite it all, he was a great scout. He must have almost instantaneously assessed what it was he needed to do.
Of course, the dwarf was no different. "Bjorn, I'll take care of the rear, so just pay attention to the front." His tone was serious, bereft of all laughter.
The moment their voices rang out almost simultaneously, the darkness dissipated. The straight path ahead of us branched out in all directions like a maze. Torches hung on the wall at regular intervals, creating an eerie atmosphere.
I quickly surveyed my surroundings and came to a conclusion.
[You have entered the Labyrinth of Larcaz.]
This was one of the three hidden levels in the Tower of Heavens. Even a scout couldn't show off their skills in this maze.
[Field Effect – Guardian of Balance has activated. The stats of the occupants have been evenly distributed.]
The characters' total stats and abilities were redistributed according to the number of people.
"W-What the hell! What is this? Did I choose the wrong one? Rotmiller!" Missha looked around and glanced at Rotmiller with an uneasy expression on her face.
He couldn't answer her, though. "I'm sorry. I've never heard of something like this happening, either."
"N-Neither have I. I've never heard of something in the trials of Destiny that would lead adventurers to a place like this."
"Ahh, it won't be dangerous... rrright?"
At Missha's words, everyone kept quiet. That was only natural. It was very ironic, but the unknown was the most terrifying thing there was to an adventurer. A cold silence fell over us, but it didn't last long. The rest began speaking urgently like the silence hadn't existed in the first place.
"...How about we stay put right here? There are only four days left, so we'll just have to wait it out."
"We don't know how this space works yet. If it has a structure similar to a rift..."
"Then that means after four days we'll be trapped here foreverrr!"
All sorts of speculations and worries poured out. Well, who would've ever suspected a place like this would exist on the fourth floor instead of the fifth, which was known to have no knowledge available to the public?
Pretending not to know anything, I offered, "Why don't we check how we feel first?"
"Yeah?"
"Missha, is there anything different about you?"
"Ah, now that you mention it... I feel like my body is strangely lighterrr?" Missha hesitantly replied.
"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe you're mistaken?" Hikurod didn't feel any change, probably because he was right in the middle of the pack in terms of stat distribution.
"She's not wrong," said Rotmiller. "I feel so energized, there's no way I could be mistaken."
"M-Me too. My mana has increased significantly. Right now, not even rank-six magic seems like it would be too difficult. What the hell is going on?"
What do you think? That all came out of my muscles. Although I only have three essences, they all have ridiculously high stats. Damn communism. How much muscle did I lose?
I leaned my now-heavy mace on the floor to distribute its weight. The first to notice this behavior was Missha. "Bjorn? Are you hurt?"
"My body feels strange. For some reason, I can't use my strength."
"What?"
As Missha worriedly approached me, Rotmiller made a guess. "It's clear that there's some kind of a special condition at play here. This probably isn't a space where everyone becomes stronger."
"Condition?" I asked, deciding to throw in a hint. "What condition would make me weak and you guys strong? This isn't fair!"
Then, as expected, Rotmiller came up with a fairly plausible hypothesis. "Maybe our abilities are mixed up..."
"Hmm? What does that mean?" asked Missha.
"I'm not sure yet, so I'll tell you later when I've sorted it out."
Well, I figured that was enough for these guys to puzzle it out without me having to step forward. I nudged us toward the next issue. There was no time to be idling around. "Then what are we going to do now?"
"Bjorn, what do you think?"
"I think we should explore this place and find a way out."
"Your reason?"
I answered without hesitation. "If this place is special, that must mean the reward is just as great."
"A very adventurer-like point of view."
Despite Rotmiller's comment, I proudly straightened my shoulders. No matter what they said, wasn't money an adventurers' ultimate goal? It was their one surefire motivation.
"True. We might get trrrapped here in four days, so just standing here probably isn't a good idea..."
"Hahaha, aren't we explorers? It would make sense to explore our surroundings, even if it's slow going."
There was even a small bit of enthusiasm in the eyes of the trio despite their nerves and anxiety. Of course, Dwalkie's words were the deciding factor. "A-Ah! This just came to mind, but this might be an arrangement created by the last Great Sage!"
"What? Are you talking about Gabrielius?"
"It's... definitely a possibility. Considering that three Stairways of Destiny appeared at the same time, and then we appeared in this strange place too..."
The Arrangement of Gabrielius was, to put it simply, how the people here referred to what I called a "hidden level."
"Yes!" the dwarf shouted ambitiously. "Aren't we on the fourth floor, anyway? It's not like any ridiculous monsters will appear!"
With four days left until the labyrinth closed, that was how Team Half-Wit's final quest began.
***
The Labyrinth of Larcaz wasn't the hidden level I had really wanted Missha to pick, although it had the greatest final reward out of the three.
It will be difficult to crack it in four days.
Due to the nature of the labyrinth, it took a long time. Finding the boss was one thing, but defeating it with our current combat power would require a lot of groundwork. So, I decided not to overdo it. Contrary to their concerns, this was not a place you'd be trapped in if you couldn't clear it in time, like a rift. And even if we didn't clear it, attractive rewards were scattered throughout this maze.
"Then let's go."
After taking up a formation we had created for moments like these, we stepped into the maze.
"I think we can keep going."
I stood at the lead, and Rotmiller followed close behind me to look out for any traps. Hikurod stood at the very back of the pack, because monsters didn't just appear from the front here.
"Miss Karlstein, don't worry," said Dwalkie. "I will stay by your side and protect you."
"What are you talking about? I should be the one prrrotecting you."
"Haha, then let's protect each other."
"...Whatever you say."
In a place like this, our team's two main damage dealers were located in the center. It was the safest position, and they also had to be able to support either the front or back of the group depending on the situation.
"Meg, Meeg, Meeg!" It must have been about three minutes after we officially started the expedition that a monster appeared at a crossroads. This was the first reward of Larcaz's Labyrinth.
"I've never seen that monster before. Bjorn, be careful."
An unknown monster: that alone was a boon to us. In Dungeon and Stone, even if you killed all the monsters on the fourth floor, you couldn't get to level five. It was a contradiction. You needed at least five rank-six or seven essences to be able to hunt consistently on the fifth floor, but you couldn't reach level five without going up there.
This is why there are no newbies.
I figured you couldn't call someone a newbie if they were on the fifth floor. I shook off any unnecessary questions and gripped my shield with both hands. It was a bit awkward without a mace, but that was too heavy for me to wield with my current strength, so I put it in my backpack. I decided it was better to just leave the damage to the damage dealers.
"Mehhg!" Spotting us in the distance, the hesitant monster roared and charged at me.
At that exact moment, Dwalkie shouted, "Oh, I've seen that one in a book! Vaikundus!"
Vaikundus was a rank-six monster. The easiest way to describe it was as a mountain goat that walked on two legs. Including those dignified horns, its height reached about eight feet. Its weapon was a super-long halberd held between two tight fists.
Bam!
As the halberd struck down on the shield, the heavy impact jolted through my whole body. I began to think it had been a good idea to leave the mace behind. If I'd been one-handed right then, it would have been hard for me to stay standing.
Goddamn it.
Was it because I had shared my precious physique stats with my teammates? It felt like I was dealing with a rank-five monster, not a rank-six. Well, the battle itself wasn't difficult, though.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-eight attack spell Freeze Enhancement.]
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-eight attack spell Ice Lance.]
While I parried the goat's attack, Dwalkie prepared a single specialized attack spell. "Bjorn!" Soon, Dwalkie called out to me, and I immediately dove to the side just like we always practiced. Up to this point, it was business as usual.
Shoooooot!
But what was this? The size of the Ice Lance that passed me by was different. Even the wind it left behind was enough to leave me cold. And, of course, the results when it hit were also different than usual.
Kwaaang!
It wouldn't be strange to call it a fireball instead of an Ice Lance.
"Huh?" Missha, who had been waiting for the right time to add to the combo, let out a questioning noise. This was understandable. The Vaikundus, a rank-six monster, had already turned into light and disappeared.
[You have killed a Vaikundus. EXP +4]
No wonder my physique stats had decreased tremendously. It must have been because everything had been converted into mana for Dwalkie.
"This is my magic...?" As I watched him muttering to himself, it hit me that here, he was no longer a half-wit.
That changes things.
It didn't seem like a bad idea to aim for a Level Clear.
"She's not wrong," said Rotmiller. "I feel so energized, there's no way I could be mistaken."
"M-Me too. My mana has increased significantly. Right now, not even rank-six magic seems like it would be too difficult. What the hell is going on?"
What do you think? That all came out of my muscles. Although I only have three essences, they all have ridiculously high stats. Damn communism. How much muscle did I lose?
I leaned my now-heavy mace on the floor to distribute its weight. The first to notice this behavior was Missha. "Bjorn? Are you hurt?"
"My body feels strange. For some reason, I can't use my strength."
"What?"
As Missha worriedly approached me, Rotmiller made a guess. "It's clear that there's some kind of a special condition at play here. This probably isn't a space where everyone becomes stronger."
"Condition?" I asked, deciding to throw in a hint. "What condition would make me weak and you guys strong? This isn't fair!"
Then, as expected, Rotmiller came up with a fairly plausible hypothesis. "Maybe our abilities are mixed up..."
"Hmm? What does that mean?" asked Missha.
"I'm not sure yet, so I'll tell you later when I've sorted it out."
Well, I figured that was enough for these guys to puzzle it out without me having to step forward. I nudged us toward the next issue. There was no time to be idling around. "Then what are we going to do now?"
"Bjorn, what do you think?"
"I think we should explore this place and find a way out."
"Your reason?"
I answered without hesitation. "If this place is special, that must mean the reward is just as great."
"A very adventurer-like point of view."
Despite Rotmiller's comment, I proudly straightened my shoulders. No matter what they said, wasn't money an adventurers' ultimate goal? It was their one surefire motivation.
"True. We might get trrrapped here in four days, so just standing here probably isn't a good idea..."
"Hahaha, aren't we explorers? It would make sense to explore our surroundings, even if it's slow going."
There was even a small bit of enthusiasm in the eyes of the trio despite their nerves and anxiety. Of course, Dwalkie's words were the deciding factor. "A-Ah! This just came to mind, but this might be an arrangement created by the last Great Sage!"
"What? Are you talking about Gabrielius?"
"It's... definitely a possibility. Considering that three Stairways of Destiny appeared at the same time, and then we appeared in this strange place too..."
The Arrangement of Gabrielius was, to put it simply, how the people here referred to what I called a "hidden level."
"Yes!" the dwarf shouted ambitiously. "Aren't we on the fourth floor, anyway? It's not like any ridiculous monsters will appear!"
With four days left until the labyrinth closed, that was how Team Half-Wit's final quest began.
***
The Labyrinth of Larcaz wasn't the hidden level I had really wanted Missha to pick, although it had the greatest final reward out of the three.
It will be difficult to crack it in four days.
Due to the nature of the labyrinth, it took a long time. Finding the boss was one thing, but defeating it with our current combat power would require a lot of groundwork. So, I decided not to overdo it. Contrary to their concerns, this was not a place you'd be trapped in if you couldn't clear it in time, like a rift. And even if we didn't clear it, attractive rewards were scattered throughout this maze.
"Then let's go."
After taking up a formation we had created for moments like these, we stepped into the maze.
"I think we can keep going."
I stood at the lead, and Rotmiller followed close behind me to look out for any traps. Hikurod stood at the very back of the pack, because monsters didn't just appear from the front here.
"Miss Karlstein, don't worry," said Dwalkie. "I will stay by your side and protect you."
"What are you talking about? I should be the one prrrotecting you."
"Haha, then let's protect each other."
"...Whatever you say."
In a place like this, our team's two main damage dealers were located in the center. It was the safest position, and they also had to be able to support either the front or back of the group depending on the situation.
"Meg, Meeg, Meeg!" It must have been about three minutes after we officially started the expedition that a monster appeared at a crossroads. This was the first reward of Larcaz's Labyrinth.
"I've never seen that monster before. Bjorn, be careful."
An unknown monster: that alone was a boon to us. In Dungeon and Stone, even if you killed all the monsters on the fourth floor, you couldn't get to level five. It was a contradiction. You needed at least five rank-six or seven essences to be able to hunt consistently on the fifth floor, but you couldn't reach level five without going up there.
This is why there are no newbies.
I figured you couldn't call someone a newbie if they were on the fifth floor. I shook off any unnecessary questions and gripped my shield with both hands. It was a bit awkward without a mace, but that was too heavy for me to wield with my current strength, so I put it in my backpack. I decided it was better to just leave the damage to the damage dealers.
"Mehhg!" Spotting us in the distance, the hesitant monster roared and charged at me.
At that exact moment, Dwalkie shouted, "Oh, I've seen that one in a book! Vaikundus!"
Vaikundus was a rank-six monster. The easiest way to describe it was as a mountain goat that walked on two legs. Including those dignified horns, its height reached about eight feet. Its weapon was a super-long halberd held between two tight fists.
Bam!
As the halberd struck down on the shield, the heavy impact jolted through my whole body. I began to think it had been a good idea to leave the mace behind. If I'd been one-handed right then, it would have been hard for me to stay standing.
Goddamn it.
Was it because I had shared my precious physique stats with my teammates? It felt like I was dealing with a rank-five monster, not a rank-six. Well, the battle itself wasn't difficult, though.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-eight attack spell Freeze Enhancement.]
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast the rank-eight attack spell Ice Lance.]
While I parried the goat's attack, Dwalkie prepared a single specialized attack spell. "Bjorn!" Soon, Dwalkie called out to me, and I immediately dove to the side just like we always practiced. Up to this point, it was business as usual.
Shoooooot!
But what was this? The size of the Ice Lance that passed me by was different. Even the wind it left behind was enough to leave me cold. And, of course, the results when it hit were also different than usual.
Kwaaang!
It wouldn't be strange to call it a fireball instead of an Ice Lance.
"Huh?" Missha, who had been waiting for the right time to add to the combo, let out a questioning noise. This was understandable. The Vaikundus, a rank-six monster, had already turned into light and disappeared.
[You have killed a Vaikundus. EXP +4]
No wonder my physique stats had decreased tremendously. It must have been because everything had been converted into mana for Dwalkie.
"This is my magic...?" As I watched him muttering to himself, it hit me that here, he was no longer a half-wit.
That changes things.
It didn't seem like a bad idea to aim for a Level Clear.