Chapter 163: Exploration (2)

Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 163: Exploration (2)

Arua Raven had shiny blonde hair and a short height, just over four-nine. Add her scrawny body on top of that, and she almost looked like a kid, but there was nothing scarier than this kid when she was mad.

Like right now. "Did you know about this, Mr. Yandel?"

"I didn't know it was this bad." When I answered honestly, the look in Raven's eyes grew deadlier. However, I just scratched the nape of my neck like a barbarian. We were already inside the labyrinth. What was she going to do? "I will find the way from now on. Abman, just keep telling me where the portal is."

"...All right." It seemed Mr. Bear was also intimidated by Raven's look because he handed me the steering wheel without argument.

Alright, what happened next was what was important.

"Ha, honestly..." Judging by her face, she seemed to realize that she had been scammed, but Raven decided to withhold her rant until she saw how this played out first. I had to show her clearly during this expedition that even if our scout had a poor sense of direction, it wouldn't be detrimental to us. Before severe curse words flew out of that mouth.

"Then let's go."

Using Mr. Bear as a compass, I quickly found the way. I could feel Raven's doubtful look burning into my back, but I wasn't too worried. As long as you knew north from south and west from east, you could find your way to the second floor.

He said that taking the wider passageways at the crossroads will get you halfway there. And to avoid hilly places, as they are likely to be dead ends. And from the outskirts, always go toward the path with fewer crystals.

These were the various tips I had acquired from working beside Rotmiller, who was a completely self-taught scout. Using these, I limited wasteful travel such as turning back from dead ends to a minimum.

"Oh, we're here fasterrr than I expected."

As a result, we reached the outermost edges of the dark area in short order. It was much easier from here on out. Normally, we would locate the portal by searching our surroundings instead of using a compass.

"That way."

However, we had a scout who could sense the location of a portal without any special instruments on our team. So, we just had to travel in that direction, and the end. Of course, the portal had been opened by another adventurer a long time ago.

[You have entered the Goblin Forest on the second floor.]

After reaching the second floor, Raven's expression grew considerably less harsh. "Twelve hours to reach the second floor... Not bad."

Okay, safe. Since we had set the time needed to clear the first floor to thirteen hours during the planning stage, there was nothing for her to complain about.

"No wonder you budgeted for such a long time even though there was a scout." Raven eyed me like she had been suckered, but surprisingly, that was all. Was she okay with anything as long as the results were all right?

Reasonable.

To that end, I tried to make sure the plans we had made for the second floor did not go awry, although the constraints were tight. We wanted to clear it in twenty-four hours. "Abman, what direction?"

"That way."

There were eight portal headstones in the Goblin Forest. However, once one opened, the rest simply turned to stone. Therefore, it was customary for teams that arrived later to just search for the portal by traveling around the outskirts. This apparently took two to three days on average, assuming there was no scout on the team.

If there is a scout, one day is enough since you don't have to go in circles.

Without having to take out the compass, we headed straight for the opened portal.

"Raven, can you increase the number of light spheres?"

"Three is no problem."

The absence of a professional scout was no problem, either. The fact that the area was covered in traps? As long as our surroundings were bright enough to look like broad daylight, this wasn't even an issue. Goblins flocked toward the light, but now, even if dozens of goblins attacked at once, I could handle them on my own.

"Then let's rest here for today."

We set up camp around 9 p.m. at the outskirts of the Goblin Forest where hobgoblins started spawning.

"...Do all adventurers operate on such a rigorous schedule?" This must have been a pretty tough day for Raven, who had never been on a proper expedition, but a good biorhythm should be set on the first day while you still had stamina left.

"We will continue setting up camp around this time so things will go more smoothly from tomorrow on."

"...Well, it is interesting being on a real expedition."

"Stop talking and go to sleep. We still have to get moving tomorrow."

"Okay. Wake me up if anything happens." As was customary, Raven was excluded from the night watch. Just installing the alarm spell alone was considered one person's share.

"Hey, Bjorn... About Ainar. Is it okay to leave herrr to do watch on her own?" Missha expressed some concerns about Ainar, who was taking watch after her.

I just smiled. "It's okay. She won't fall asleep or anything like that."

Ainar was surprisingly reliable when it came to these things. She was untrusting of humans, and barbarians considered it shameful to fail to fulfill one's duty. When we explored just the two of us, she kept watch well enough, and our night watch back then had been four hours long and more tiring thanks to the fact that we couldn't sleep much.

"Oh, I see... I guess I was a bit biased."

After eight hours of camping outside and switching which of the four of us was on watch every two hours, we resumed our expedition early in the morning. Before the afternoon, we found the portal.

[You have entered the Pilgrim's Path on the third floor.]

After reaching the third floor, the quest went smoothly. The battles were too easy to be considered combat practice, and finding the way wasn't a problem. Mr. Bear didn't get lost like on the first floor or in the city now that there were no roads.

[You have entered a special area. Field Effect – The Witch's Forest has activated.]

The Witch's Forest, which I was worried about, was the same as usual. After connecting ourselves with rope like a bunch of fish out to dry, Mr. Bear led the way while the rest of us followed, and we easily cleared it. A while later...

"Oh, it's a tower! Bjorn! There really was a tower in the middle of the forest!"

"Haha, I told you. There arrre many fascinating things in the labyrinth."

"Behelaaah!"

"...You just felt like screaming, huh?"

We were in front of the fourth-floor portal and it was only the afternoon of the eighth day.

Our speed is almost the same as with Rotmiller.

While that fact was satisfying in some ways, it was also bittersweet. Was it impossible for hard work to trump talent after all?

If there is a scout, one day is enough since you don't have to go in circles.

Without having to take out the compass, we headed straight for the opened portal.

"Raven, can you increase the number of light spheres?"

"Three is no problem."

The absence of a professional scout was no problem, either. The fact that the area was covered in traps? As long as our surroundings were bright enough to look like broad daylight, this wasn't even an issue. Goblins flocked toward the light, but now, even if dozens of goblins attacked at once, I could handle them on my own.

"Then let's rest here for today."

We set up camp around 9 p.m. at the outskirts of the Goblin Forest where hobgoblins started spawning.

"...Do all adventurers operate on such a rigorous schedule?" This must have been a pretty tough day for Raven, who had never been on a proper expedition, but a good biorhythm should be set on the first day while you still had stamina left.

"We will continue setting up camp around this time so things will go more smoothly from tomorrow on."

"...Well, it is interesting being on a real expedition."

"Stop talking and go to sleep. We still have to get moving tomorrow."

"Okay. Wake me up if anything happens." As was customary, Raven was excluded from the night watch. Just installing the alarm spell alone was considered one person's share.

"Hey, Bjorn... About Ainar. Is it okay to leave herrr to do watch on her own?" Missha expressed some concerns about Ainar, who was taking watch after her.

I just smiled. "It's okay. She won't fall asleep or anything like that."

Ainar was surprisingly reliable when it came to these things. She was untrusting of humans, and barbarians considered it shameful to fail to fulfill one's duty. When we explored just the two of us, she kept watch well enough, and our night watch back then had been four hours long and more tiring thanks to the fact that we couldn't sleep much.

"Oh, I see... I guess I was a bit biased."

After eight hours of camping outside and switching which of the four of us was on watch every two hours, we resumed our expedition early in the morning. Before the afternoon, we found the portal.

[You have entered the Pilgrim's Path on the third floor.]

After reaching the third floor, the quest went smoothly. The battles were too easy to be considered combat practice, and finding the way wasn't a problem. Mr. Bear didn't get lost like on the first floor or in the city now that there were no roads.

[You have entered a special area. Field Effect – The Witch's Forest has activated.]

The Witch's Forest, which I was worried about, was the same as usual. After connecting ourselves with rope like a bunch of fish out to dry, Mr. Bear led the way while the rest of us followed, and we easily cleared it. A while later...

"Oh, it's a tower! Bjorn! There really was a tower in the middle of the forest!"

"Haha, I told you. There arrre many fascinating things in the labyrinth."

"Behelaaah!"

"...You just felt like screaming, huh?"

We were in front of the fourth-floor portal and it was only the afternoon of the eighth day.

Our speed is almost the same as with Rotmiller.

While that fact was satisfying in some ways, it was also bittersweet. Was it impossible for hard work to trump talent after all?

"Mr. Yandel, what are you thinking about?" asked Raven.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Th-then, can we go in already? My stomach is churning from the ominous mana this entire forest is emanating."

Was it because of her innate mana sensitivity? Raven may not have vomited, but her nausea was much worse than Dwalkie's had been. I wanted to fix that for her as well, but not yet.

"Just wait a little longer. We can only enter after the color of the portal changes."

"Oh, right. I've heard about this. It's because there might be another team already inside, right?"

"If we don't wait, we might get mistaken for plunderers and attacked." After I gave her a reasonable explanation, Raven waited patiently. Before long, the color of the portal changed. "Okay then, let's head in."

Now it was time for the actual climbing.

***

[You have entered the Tower of Heavens on the fourth floor.]

The Tower of Heavens was a unique floor where random combinations of monsters appeared at each stage. Since this place was commonly referred to as the Tower of Training, I had planned to properly calibrate our teamwork here.

But it would be pointless with this much of a difference in power.

After our first battle, I realized that this team's combat power was in a whole different league from Team Half-Wit, to the point that it would be impossible to use our maximum strength on the fourth floor.

[You have cast Giantization.]

Thanks to Union, my mace greatly increased not only in size but also in performance. With the attack skill Swing added to that, a rank-seven monster really just felt like a goblin. And the key here was that there was a separate major damage dealer.

[Abman Urikfried has cast Hazardous Material.]

Rank-five archer Mr. Bear's powerful damage went beyond just a one-shot kill and completely wiped out the surrounding area, along with his high-rank summoned tank, Iron Bear.

[Arua Raven has cast the rank-six attack spell Fire Baptism.]

This was how crazy useful it was to have an experienced wizard like Raven, who of course possessed attack magic from each of the four major elements as well as more than a hundred curse and support spells.

Yes, there should definitely be three people who can carry the team.

The quality of the team had risen dramatically. No matter what bizarre combination spawned, as long as the monsters were under rank six, we could clear them out in under three minutes.

They may be lacking compared to the three of us, but Ainar and Missha are also pulling their weight... As expected, the fifth floor should be fine even in this state.

Therefore, rather than coordinating our moves through practice, we focused only on climbing the Tower of Heavens. However, our time did not improve as I had predicted. The reason for that was simple. The speed with which we fought was incomparable to Team Half-Wit's, but our team didn't have a professional scout.

Everything is good, but it's a pity it takes so long to clear the Stairway of Wisdom.

The Stairway of Wisdom was a kind of shortcut. Instead of having to go through a maze full of traps and monsters, it let you skip five floors at a time. Not only that, but unlike the Stairway of Courage, there was no forced cooldown of four hours before taking the next set of stairs. It took Rotmiller about one hour to clear ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Wisdom. Just now, it took us almost five times that.

"Bjorn, can't we just fight monsters?"

I was just as frustrated as Ainar, but there was no choice. It would take more than sixteen days to reach floor one hundred with just Courage. Getting through the fourth floor before the labyrinth closed would be impossible.

"It's already late today. Let's rest and climb the rest tomorrow."

We'd only managed to clear one ordeal of Wisdom since entering the Tower, yet it was already past 10 p.m. so we prepared camp. Of course, this camp was quite different than usual. Without needing to set up a watch, everyone just spread out their sleeping bags where they wanted to and that was all.

"No night watch in the labyrinth! Missha, my head is spinning right now!"

"Haha, I know how you feel. The firrrst time I came here, I couldn't get used to it and couldn't sleep well—"

Hooonk!

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Ainar passed out as soon as she lay down on her sleeping bag. Missha looked at her and sighed before wiping herself off with a wet towel to get ready to sleep. "Bjorrrn, why do you keep glancing this way?"

"I'm not."

"Now, now. Turn your head. We're teammates! There's no point in having rrregrets now."

I'm telling you, I didn't look.

I just sighed and focused on wiping the blood off my mace. But I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guess she wasn't pleased with that, either. "Tsk." Missha clicked her tongue deliberately for me to hear.

This was a change that had occurred after she moved into my inn. Despite saying that she wanted to forget that day ever happened, she kept jokingly bringing it up more often. Well, I had no complaints about that.

Maybe it's better this way.

Missha revealed her feelings to me, and I firmly drew the line. No matter how much we wanted to pretend it didn't happen, that was impossible. That was probably why she had decided to do this. It was much less awkward this way, rather than being overly conscious of it and careful with our words all the time.

"Then I'm going to sleep firrrst."

"Sure."

Soon, Missha got into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes. I could see Mr. Bear had set up his sleeping bag in a corner and was getting ready to go to sleep.

Hooonk!

While I was fixing up my equipment, I grabbed Ainar's greatsword and quickly wiped it down too. That was when Raven quietly came up to me. "Do you have something to say?"

"Yes."

"Say it."

"I've done some calculations, and at our current speed, we won't have long even when we reach the fifth floor."

So you calculated that, huh? Oh, you wizards.

Of course, it was not that I couldn't understand her concerns. The more time we wasted here, the less time we'd have on the fifth floor.

"And our profit will be that much lower than other teams'."

"...This is our first expedition. It may take long now because we don't have a professional scout, but we'll get faster and faster."

"If you say so."

After that, Raven didn't say anything else and returned to her sleeping bag. This was not because she had fully accepted my assurances, though. If it continued to take us more than five hours to get through the Stairway of Wisdom, she'd come to find me again with extreme solutions.

Whatever, time for sleep.

I set down the well-polished greatsword next to Ainar and lay down in my sleeping bag. After a bit of shut-eye, I woke up to the sound of Raven's voice ringing in my head.

"Mr. Yandel, just listen."

This was a spell called Secret Voice. What reason did she have to use magic to wake me up?

"I cast a detection spell while washing up because I sensed something was off and... There's someone else besides us here. So, do not move."

It turned out the reason was quite straightforward. I was honestly not sure how she could say all of this so calmly.

"They are right behind me."

One wrong move and our wizard was going to die.

"Mr. Yandel, what are you thinking about?" asked Raven.

"Oh, it's nothing."

"Th-then, can we go in already? My stomach is churning from the ominous mana this entire forest is emanating."

Was it because of her innate mana sensitivity? Raven may not have vomited, but her nausea was much worse than Dwalkie's had been. I wanted to fix that for her as well, but not yet.

"Just wait a little longer. We can only enter after the color of the portal changes."

"Oh, right. I've heard about this. It's because there might be another team already inside, right?"

"If we don't wait, we might get mistaken for plunderers and attacked." After I gave her a reasonable explanation, Raven waited patiently. Before long, the color of the portal changed. "Okay then, let's head in."

Now it was time for the actual climbing.

***

[You have entered the Tower of Heavens on the fourth floor.]

The Tower of Heavens was a unique floor where random combinations of monsters appeared at each stage. Since this place was commonly referred to as the Tower of Training, I had planned to properly calibrate our teamwork here.

But it would be pointless with this much of a difference in power.

After our first battle, I realized that this team's combat power was in a whole different league from Team Half-Wit, to the point that it would be impossible to use our maximum strength on the fourth floor.

[You have cast Giantization.]

Thanks to Union, my mace greatly increased not only in size but also in performance. With the attack skill Swing added to that, a rank-seven monster really just felt like a goblin. And the key here was that there was a separate major damage dealer.

[Abman Urikfried has cast Hazardous Material.]

Rank-five archer Mr. Bear's powerful damage went beyond just a one-shot kill and completely wiped out the surrounding area, along with his high-rank summoned tank, Iron Bear.

[Arua Raven has cast the rank-six attack spell Fire Baptism.]

This was how crazy useful it was to have an experienced wizard like Raven, who of course possessed attack magic from each of the four major elements as well as more than a hundred curse and support spells.

Yes, there should definitely be three people who can carry the team.

The quality of the team had risen dramatically. No matter what bizarre combination spawned, as long as the monsters were under rank six, we could clear them out in under three minutes.

They may be lacking compared to the three of us, but Ainar and Missha are also pulling their weight... As expected, the fifth floor should be fine even in this state.

Therefore, rather than coordinating our moves through practice, we focused only on climbing the Tower of Heavens. However, our time did not improve as I had predicted. The reason for that was simple. The speed with which we fought was incomparable to Team Half-Wit's, but our team didn't have a professional scout.

Everything is good, but it's a pity it takes so long to clear the Stairway of Wisdom.

The Stairway of Wisdom was a kind of shortcut. Instead of having to go through a maze full of traps and monsters, it let you skip five floors at a time. Not only that, but unlike the Stairway of Courage, there was no forced cooldown of four hours before taking the next set of stairs. It took Rotmiller about one hour to clear Wisdom. Just now, it took us almost five times that.

"Bjorn, can't we just fight monsters?"

I was just as frustrated as Ainar, but there was no choice. It would take more than sixteen days to reach floor one hundred with just Courage. Getting through the fourth floor before the labyrinth closed would be impossible.

"It's already late today. Let's rest and climb the rest tomorrow."

We'd only managed to clear one ordeal of Wisdom since entering the Tower, yet it was already past 10 p.m. so we prepared camp. Of course, this camp was quite different than usual. Without needing to set up a watch, everyone just spread out their sleeping bags where they wanted to and that was all.

"No night watch in the labyrinth! Missha, my head is spinning right now!"

"Haha, I know how you feel. The firrrst time I came here, I couldn't get used to it and couldn't sleep well—"

Hooonk!

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Ainar passed out as soon as she lay down on her sleeping bag. Missha looked at her and sighed before wiping herself off with a wet towel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to get ready to sleep. "Bjorrrn, why do you keep glancing this way?"

"I'm not."

"Now, now. Turn your head. We're teammates! There's no point in having rrregrets now."

I'm telling you, I didn't look.

I just sighed and focused on wiping the blood off my mace. But I guess she wasn't pleased with that, either. "Tsk." Missha clicked her tongue deliberately for me to hear.

This was a change that had occurred after she moved into my inn. Despite saying that she wanted to forget that day ever happened, she kept jokingly bringing it up more often. Well, I had no complaints about that.

Maybe it's better this way.

Missha revealed her feelings to me, and I firmly drew the line. No matter how much we wanted to pretend it didn't happen, that was impossible. That was probably why she had decided to do this. It was much less awkward this way, rather than being overly conscious of it and careful with our words all the time.

"Then I'm going to sleep firrrst."

"Sure."

Soon, Missha got into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes. I could see Mr. Bear had set up his sleeping bag in a corner and was getting ready to go to sleep.

Hooonk!

While I was fixing up my equipment, I grabbed Ainar's greatsword and quickly wiped it down too. That was when Raven quietly came up to me. "Do you have something to say?"

"Yes."

"Say it."

"I've done some calculations, and at our current speed, we won't have long even when we reach the fifth floor."

So you calculated that, huh? Oh, you wizards.

Of course, it was not that I couldn't understand her concerns. The more time we wasted here, the less time we'd have on the fifth floor.

"And our profit will be that much lower than other teams'."

"...This is our first expedition. It may take long now because we don't have a professional scout, but we'll get faster and faster."

"If you say so."

After that, Raven didn't say anything else and returned to her sleeping bag. This was not because she had fully accepted my assurances, though. If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it continued to take us more than five hours to get through the Stairway of Wisdom, she'd come to find me again with extreme solutions.

Whatever, time for sleep.

I set down the well-polished greatsword next to Ainar and lay down in my sleeping bag. After a bit of shut-eye, I woke up to the sound of Raven's voice ringing in my head.

"Mr. Yandel, just listen."

This was a spell called Secret Voice. What reason did she have to use magic to wake me up?

"I cast a detection spell while washing up because I sensed something was off and... There's someone else besides us here. So, do not move."

It turned out the reason was quite straightforward. I was honestly not sure how she could say all of this so calmly.

"They are right behind me."

One wrong move and our wizard was going to die.