Chapter 508: Basement Floor One (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 508: Basement Floor One (4)
An occupancy limit of sixty people. Not only that, but once you came through the portal, there was no way for you to go back out.
While those two characteristics were definitely reminiscent of a Rift, other factors made it hard to classify this place as one.
First off, there was a portal stone.
Portal stones were used specifically to connect different floors, and we'd had to activate one in order to reach this hidden area.
What's more, there's never been a new hidden area that turned out to be a Rift.
Whenever the term "hidden area" was written on the Stone of Honor, it usually meant that a new floor or—in rare cases like with the Labyrinth of Larcaz—a new hidden map that was already a part of a certain floor had been unlocked.
And it's not likely that this is just a new hidden map on the first floor.
For now, I decided to consider this place a new floor entirely since hidden maps closed at the same time that their corresponding floor did. To even open the portal to get here, we'd had to go all the way to the third floor and spend a decent amount of our time collecting Unnamed Fragments.
Considering how long it took to get there, do that, and get back, it'd take most adventurers six days to open this portal.
From a design perspective, it didn't make sense to have a hidden map that people would only ever have a maximum of two days to explore. That was why I thought the chances of this place being a hidden map were rather low.
Then the most important question is once again when this place will close...
But we'd figure that out as the days went by.
"Versyl, are you done scoping them all out?"
"Yes."
Before we began our full-scale expedition, I had Versyl investigate to determine how powerful the adventurers who had followed us here were.
"First," she began, "I'll talk about the two strongest groups. There are twenty members of the Silver Lion Clan and nineteen members of the Hektz Clan."
"It sounds like both of them are missing members, then?" Clans normally traveled in as large a group as possible. Back when the maximum number of people able to be tied together with a single Binding spell was five, they operated in multiples of five. Now that you could make parties of six, however, each of their groups should have added up to some multiple of six.
"Yes. It seems that both of them are missing quite a few between them. Apparently, as soon as my barrier collapsed and the portal opened, everyone ran toward it in a frenzy."
"I see. What about the rest?"
"There are two five-member parties and one team of four."
Further investigation revealed that the four-person team was missing their leader and one of the five-person teams was down a warrior, which completely ruined their party comp.
"Is there anything else you want me to ask? They are all being cooperative right now, likely because they're hoping to lean on us in the future."
"No, this is more than enough," I answered. "Thanks."
"Oh, also..."
"Hm?"
When I tilted my head, Versyl carefully added, "All three of the smaller teams have asked if we'd be willing to protect them. It seems the other two clans are also interested in cooperating with us."
"I understand the two clans cooperating with us, but what do the others mean by protection?"
"Nothing special. Essentially, they're willing to do whatever we ask of them as long as we bring them along with us."
They all greedily threw themselves in here without thinking twice, but now that they're actually here, they must have come to their senses and realized how screwed they are. It must be even worse given that they're missing members.
"What do you plan to do?"
"What is their average skill level?"
"On average, I would say about fifth-floor."
"That's all I need to hear. Tell them to take care of themselves." Given their level, they'd only get in our way in a fight and wouldn't be able to offer us much.
Plus, even if we don't accept their request, I'm sure they'll be able to take care of themselves. Or maybe they can leech off of one of the two bigger clans.
It wasn't like I forced them to come down here. I'd simply opened the portal like they wanted me to, and that was it. As such, I wasn't inclined to do any more for them.
"Versyl, recast Binding."
"How do you want me to do it?"
"Make Emily and Auyen one team. The rest of us will be another."
For now, I decided to divide us into two teams. To be honest, I was tempted to make one six-man team and just leave out Auyen, but I decided it would be better to let him get some EXP as well. Since this was a new floor, there were bound to be new monsters. This way, Auyen could sit back and take in free EXP while Amelia took care of the monsters on her own.
"Emily, are you all right with that?"
"I don't mind. I understand the circumstances."
"All right, then that's settled."
Right on time, too, because Ainar seemed to be running out of patience. "Bjorn! How much longer do we have to wait around here?"
"Everyone, get ready to head out," I replied.
It was time to start exploring.
As soon as we started to move, all of the adventurers lingering at the starting point quickly took notice. One of them mustered up the courage to run over and ask me, "If you don't mind... would it be all right if we follow you from a distance?"
In other words, they wanted to follow our lead because they were too scared to explore an unfamiliar floor on their own.
Ha, do these bastards have no conscience? Not only did I give them a free ride by opening the portal, but now they want to ride our coattails while we explore this place too?
"I do mind. Don't follow us." My firm answer brooked no argument.
The man, however, refused to back down, apparently determined to ride the wave of our success. "B-But... if you can help us even a little, then the number of people who end up dying in vain here will be significantly lower."
Watching one of their own bravely make an appeal, other adventurers were quick to follow his lead and back him up.
"That's right...!"
"In emergencies, adventurers have a duty to help one another..."
"And if you help us, it will certainly help improve your reputation even more—"
What are these morons talking about? Do they think I'm some sort of pushover because I opened the portal for them? "When did I ever tell you to go through the portal?"
"I understand the two clans cooperating with us, but what do the others mean by protection?"
"Nothing special. Essentially, they're willing to do whatever we ask of them as long as we bring them along with us."
They all greedily threw themselves in here without thinking twice, but now that they're actually here, they must have come to their senses and realized how screwed they are. It must be even worse given that they're missing members.
"What do you plan to do?"
"What is their average skill level?"
"On average, I would say about fifth-floor."
"That's all I need to hear. Tell them to take care of themselves." Given their level, they'd only get in our way in a fight and wouldn't be able to offer us much.
Plus, even if we don't accept their request, I'm sure they'll be able to take care of themselves. Or maybe they can leech off of one of the two bigger clans.
It wasn't like I forced them to come down here. I'd simply opened the portal like they wanted me to, and that was it. As such, I wasn't inclined to do any more for them.
"Versyl, recast Binding."
"How do you want me to do it?"
"Make Emily and Auyen one team. The rest of us will be another."
For now, I decided to divide us into two teams. To be honest, I was tempted to make one six-man team and just leave out Auyen, but I decided it would be better to let him get some EXP as well. Since this was a new floor, there were bound to be new monsters. This way, Auyen could sit back and take in free EXP while Amelia took care of the monsters on her own.
"Emily, are you all right with that?"
"I don't mind. I understand the circumstances."
"All right, then that's settled."
Right on time, too, because Ainar seemed to be running out of patience. "Bjorn! How much longer do we have to wait around here?"
"Everyone, get ready to head out," I replied.
It was time to start exploring.
As soon as we started to move, all of the adventurers lingering at the starting point quickly took notice. One of them mustered up the courage to run over and ask me, "If you don't mind... would it be all right if we follow you from a distance?"
In other words, they wanted to follow our lead because they were too scared to explore an unfamiliar floor on their own.
Ha, do these bastards have no conscience? Not only did I give them a free ride by opening the portal, but now they want to ride our coattails while we explore this place too?
"I do mind. Don't follow us." My firm answer brooked no argument.
The man, however, refused to back down, apparently determined to ride the wave of our success. "B-But... if you can help us even a little, then the number of people who end up dying in vain here will be significantly lower."
Watching one of their own bravely make an appeal, other adventurers were quick to follow his lead and back him up.
"That's right...!"
"In emergencies, adventurers have a duty to help one another..."
"And if you help us, it will certainly help improve your reputation even more—"
What are these morons talking about? Do they think I'm some sort of pushover because I opened the portal for them? "When did I ever tell you to go through the portal?"
They all went quiet.
"A real adventurer should be able to handle their own expedition."
"But many of us are going to end up dead—"
"Surely you knew the risks before you came here? This is an expedition, after all."
With that, I set off with my teammates. The other adventurers didn't make any attempt to tail us, which suggested my speech had worked.
"Phew, I feel a bit better now. They all kept spouting nonsense."
"But Captain, is this really all right?" Auyen asked in a worried tone. "If they make it back alive, they might spread some weird, false rumors about you..."
I merely pasted on a smile and patted him on the back. "You worry about everything. If you keep doing that, you're going to give yourself headaches."
"Haha... As expected, you're incredible, Captain."
"All right, enough chitchat—let's focus on the expedition. We don't know what awaits us ahead."
We began our long trek away from the starting point, walking along the coastline as we tried to get a lay of the land. Surprisingly, it didn't take long. The land we were currently standing on wasn't all that big.
"I knew I heard the sound of waves..."
"So we were on an island."
More specifically, we were on a small, rocky island whose perimeter took only thirty minutes to walk. It was decent enough in terms of size for a starting island, just like Laemia on the sixth floor. However, a look around revealed that this place was void of any and all monsters. No, forget monsters—there was practically nothing here at all.
On Laemia, there were at least trees we could cut down. But here, there's nothing.
It was a shame. If there were a special material that could only be obtained here, then we could have sold it for a high price.
Of course, it was still too early to give up hope. Our real quest lay in the sea.
"Rockrobe, do you think it'll be all right?"
I first decided to solicit the opinion of our navigator before we pulled out the boat. Even a cursory glance suggested that this ocean wasn't an ordinary one.
"Yes. Even though it seems different from regular seawater, that piece of wood over there is floating. We'll have to give it a try, but I think that our boat is buoyant enough to get by."
"Good to hear."
A silver wave crashed against the rocks on the shore. The ocean before us looked to be made of liquid mercury, and floating atop the water was a wide assortment of strange objects.
Shaaaaaa!
Each wave of silver water brought with it a wardrobe, a fireplace, a thick book, an old sword, a knight's helmet, and more. What was that over there, socks? I didn't know what any of it was doing in these waters, but after hearing Auyen's professional opinion, we scouted out a good location to pull out the ship.
"Ohhh! The boat is floating!"
Thankfully, the boat was able to float on the water without any issues, but just in case, we watched it for ten minutes before boarding. After confirming that the water didn't damage it, we got onboard and prepared for departure. Now, the success of this journey was in Auyen's hands.
"What? M-Me?"
"Yeah. Just think of it like the first time you ever went up to the sixth floor, when you didn't know how to get around yet."
They all went quiet.
"A real adventurer should be able to handle their own expedition."
"But many of us are going to end up dead—"
"Surely you knew the risks before you came here? This is an expedition, after all."
With that, I set off with my teammates. The other adventurers didn't make any attempt to tail us, which suggested my speech had worked.
"Phew, I feel a bit better now. They all kept spouting nonsense."
"But Captain, is this really all right?" Auyen asked in a worried tone. "If they make it back alive, they might spread some weird, false rumors about you..."
I merely pasted on a smile and patted him on the back. "You worry about everything. If you keep doing that, you're going to give yourself headaches."
"Haha... As expected, you're incredible, Captain."
"All right, enough chitchat—let's focus on the expedition. We don't know what awaits us ahead."
We began our long trek away from the starting point, walking along the coastline as we tried to get a lay of the land. Surprisingly, it didn't take long. The land we were currently standing on wasn't all that big.
"I knew I heard the sound of waves..."
"So we were on an island."
More specifically, we were on a small, rocky island whose perimeter took only thirty minutes to walk. It was decent enough in terms of size for a starting island, just like Laemia on the sixth floor. However, a look around revealed that this place was void of any and all monsters. No, forget monsters—there was practically nothing here at all.
On Laemia, there were at least trees we could cut down. But here, there's nothing.
It was a shame. If there were a special material that could only be obtained here, then we could have sold it for a high price.
Of course, it was still too early to give up hope. Our real quest lay in the sea.
"Rockrobe, do you think it'll be all right?"
I first decided to solicit the opinion of our navigator before we pulled out the boat. Even a cursory glance suggested that this ocean wasn't an ordinary one.
"Yes. Even though it seems different from regular seawater, that piece of wood over there is floating. We'll have to give it a try, but I think that our boat is buoyant enough to get by."
"Good to hear."
A silver wave crashed against the rocks on the shore. The ocean before us looked to be made of liquid mercury, and floating atop the water was a wide assortment of strange objects.
Shaaaaaa!
Each wave of silver water brought with it a wardrobe, a fireplace, a thick book, an old sword, a knight's helmet, and more. What was that over there, socks? I didn't know what any of it was doing in these waters, but after hearing Auyen's professional opinion, we scouted out a good location to pull out the ship.
"Ohhh! The boat is floating!"
Thankfully, the boat was able to float on the water without any issues, but just in case, we watched it for ten minutes before boarding. After confirming that the water didn't damage it, we got onboard and prepared for departure. Now, the success of this journey was in Auyen's hands.
"What? M-Me?"
"Yeah. Just think of it like the first time you ever went up to the sixth floor, when you didn't know how to get around yet."
Auyen seemed troubled by the weight of this new responsibility at first, but my confidence seemed to win him over. "Then, we'll start by investigating the surrounding waters first..."
"Do whatever you think is best. And you don't have to run every little decision by me either. You are much better than me when it comes to navigation."
That was how we began our voyage, carefully traversing the waters under the direction of our navigator, Auyen. As we slowly drifted away from the island, Auyen began to jot down a map, checking the depth of the water as we went in order to make sure there weren't any hidden obstacles underneath. Amelia watched from over his shoulder, keenly interested.
"I'm jealous of that talent of yours," she said.
"...What?"
"I'm saying you're doing a good job. I'm sure your name and that map will go down in history. Just like the one of Pikma."
Come to think of it, Amelia had a strange obsession with things like that. Was it because she'd never been able to—and would never be able to—proudly stamp her name on an achievement?
...I'll have to figure out a way for her to use her real name again when we get back to the city.
Since Auyen was managing the ship just fine without me, I left them to their business and headed up to the deck. If Auyen was considered an expert in navigation, then I could be considered an expert in the labyrinth itself.
Our field of view has increased.
Standing on the rocky island, we could only see about one hundred yards in front of us. But now that we were sailing, our visibility was gradually widening. The sky was pretty dark, so we still couldn't see all that far ahead, but you could at least tell that whatever had been limiting our vision before had now disappeared.
"Versyl, have you found anything yet?" Like the wizard she was, Versyl was fishing for any floating object she could get her hands on.
"No. Since I have no information about any of this... For now, I decided to focus on collecting samples rather than studying them."
Unfortunately, she hadn't found anything particularly interesting so far. "I see..."
If Raven were here, would things have been different?
Though the thought popped into my mind, I wasn't terribly disappointed. What was really the point of studying, anyway? We were adventurers. Our job was simply to find something and sell it for a high price.
Then I'll leave all of that to Versyl...
I went to check on the rest of our party members. Erwen was on the observation deck, using her keen eyesight to play lookout. Meanwhile, Ainar and I were handling ourselves a lot better on the seas than we used to and Missha was standing off to the side, seemingly enjoying her time alone. Right as I was about to walk over and talk to her, a voice sounded out.
"Island! It's an island!"
A new area had been found.
This was our first discovery since coming to this hidden area. Excited, we quickly turned the ship in the direction Erwen was pointing in.
But then, still a good distance away from it, we all froze. The reason was simple.
"A m-monster..."
It wasn't an island.
"...What should we do?"
"Oh! Are we fighting it? Isn't this the first monster we've found in here? It might be weaker than we think!"
"A-Are you out of your mind? You'd have to be ridiculous to try and fight a monster of that size!"
A monster so massive that we mistook it for an island had appeared. The only people who seemed to recognize just how dangerous a situation we were in were me and Amelia.
"...Yandel." Amelia, of all people, definitely had an idea of how strong that monster was thanks to her Crisis Detection skill. However, according to her, it didn't give her much information aside from a rough estimate of the monster's rank. "No, Auyen Rockrobe. Quick, turn the ship around right now. We need to get as far away from that thing as we can."
"Wh-what? O-Oh! All right." Auyen rushed to follow Amelia's orders without question.
Amelia then turned to me. "Do you know what that is?"
I did.
That massive black shell, that elongated neck and dragon-like head, and that long beard attached to its snout...
"Tol-Lapupa. A rank-one monster."
"Seriously...? That's a rank-one monster?"
It made sense that this was the rest of the team's first time ever seeing a monster like that. After all, 80 percent of all rank-one monsters, including Tol-Lapupa, could only be found on the tenth floor. Of course none of them would have any information on what they looked like.
On top of that, it's a monster that only appears on a hidden map.
Even on the tenth floor, you had to go into a hidden area to find it.
Shit...
Even after we managed to turn the boat around and escape from Tol-Lapupa, a chill still ran down my spine.
I can't believe there's a rank-one monster in this place...
My mind was whirring on full overdrive. How could the first monster we saw down here be that thing? And just how strong would the other monsters we'd eventually come across be?
If we fought that beast, we would be annihilated in a second. Rank-one monsters were even stronger and more difficult to take down than any upper-floor Lord of the Floor.
Does that mean we should head back to the rocky island...?
The thought popped into my mind before I could stop it, but I decided it would be too much of a pity to give up now.
Thus, we continued our voyage.
[00:01]
The seventh day was now over. That meant the first floor had closed.
All right, then that confirms this place isn't a hidden map connected to the first floor...
Like I thought, this must be an entirely new floor. As for what floor it had to be...
Basement Floor One.
Since the second floor already existed, I figured this floor must be some sort of basement floor. Hmm, but then what was its name? Normally when a new floor opened, the official name was written on the Stone of Honor.
I guess I'll find out when I get out of here and see it.
As we continued to sail the open waters, my monster-related worries slowly started to fade away.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
That was, until Versyl suddenly let out a shriek while fishing for samples.
"A monster! It's a monster!"
I rushed to her side and looked over the railing. Sure enough, there was a monster climbing up the side of the hull.
"Huh? What is that?" asked the very confused Ainar, who had also run over after hearing Versyl's cry. "It doesn't look like a Murloc or a Frogman."
However, I had no answer for her. We were on a new floor, after all. I'd thought there was a possibility this might happen.
Crrroak! Crrroak!
This was a new type of monster—one whose rank, classification, and name were a complete mystery.
Auyen seemed troubled by the weight of this new responsibility at first, but my confidence seemed to win him over. "Then, we'll start by investigating the surrounding waters first..."
"Do whatever you think is best. And you don't have to run every little decision by me either. You are much better than me when it comes to navigation."
That was how we began our voyage, carefully traversing the waters under the direction of our navigator, Auyen. As we slowly drifted away from the island, Auyen began to jot down a map, checking the depth of the water as we went in order to make sure there weren't any hidden obstacles underneath. Amelia watched from over his shoulder, keenly interested.
"I'm jealous of that talent of yours," she said.
"...What?"
"I'm saying you're doing a good job. I'm sure your name and that map will go down in history. Just like the one of Pikma."
Come to think of it, Amelia had a strange obsession with things like that. Was it because she'd never been able to—and would never be able to—proudly stamp her name on an achievement?
...I'll have to figure out a way for her to use her real name again when we get back to the city.
Since Auyen was managing the ship just fine without me, I left them to their business and headed up to the deck. If Auyen was considered an expert in navigation, then I could be considered an expert in the labyrinth itself.
Our field of view has increased.
Standing on the rocky island, we could only see about one hundred yards in front of us. But now that we were sailing, our visibility was gradually widening. The sky was pretty dark, so we still couldn't see all that far ahead, but you could at least tell that whatever had been limiting our vision before had now disappeared.
"Versyl, have you found anything yet?" Like the wizard she was, Versyl was fishing for any floating object she could get her hands on.
"No. Since I have no information about any of this... For now, I decided to focus on collecting samples rather than studying them."
Unfortunately, she hadn't found anything particularly interesting so far. "I see..."
If Raven were here, would things have been different?
Though the thought popped into my mind, I wasn't terribly disappointed. What was really the point of studying, anyway? We were adventurers. Our job was simply to find something and sell it for a high price.
Then I'll leave all of that to Versyl...
I went to check on the rest of our party members. Erwen was on the observation deck, using her keen eyesight to play lookout. Meanwhile, Ainar and I were handling ourselves a lot better on the seas than we used to and Missha was standing off to the side, seemingly enjoying her time alone. Right as I was about to walk over and talk to her, a voice sounded out.
"Island! It's an island!"
A new area had been found.
This was our first discovery since coming to this hidden area. Excited, we quickly turned the ship in the direction Erwen was pointing in.
But then, still a good distance away from it, we all froze. The reason was simple.
"A m-monster..."
It wasn't an island.
"...What should we do?"
"Oh! Are we fighting it? Isn't this the first monster we've found in here? It might be weaker than we think!"
"A-Are you out of your mind? You'd have to be ridiculous to try and fight a monster of that size!"
A monster so massive that we mistook it for an island had appeared. The only people who seemed to recognize just how dangerous a situation we were in were me and Amelia.
"...Yandel." Amelia, of all people, definitely had an idea of how strong that monster was thanks to her Crisis Detection skill. However, according to her, it didn't give her much information aside from a rough estimate of the monster's rank. "No, Auyen Rockrobe. Quick, turn the ship around right now. We need to get as far away from that thing as we can."
"Wh-what? O-Oh! All right." Auyen rushed to follow Amelia's orders without question.
Amelia then turned to me. "Do you know what that is?"
I did.
That massive black shell, that elongated neck and dragon-like head, and that long beard attached to its snout...
"Tol-Lapupa. A rank-one monster."
"Seriously...? That's a rank-one monster?"
It made sense that this was the rest of the team's first time ever seeing a monster like that. After all, 80 percent of all rank-one monsters, including Tol-Lapupa, could only be found on the tenth floor. Of course none of them would have any information on what they looked like.
On top of that, it's a monster that only appears on a hidden map.
Even on the tenth floor, you had to go into a hidden area to find it.
Shit...
Even after we managed to turn the boat around and escape from Tol-Lapupa, a chill still ran down my spine.
I can't believe there's a rank-one monster in this place...
My mind was whirring on full overdrive. How could the first monster we saw down here be that thing? And just how strong would the other monsters we'd eventually come across be?
If we fought that beast, we would be annihilated in a second. Rank-one monsters were even stronger and more difficult to take down than any upper-floor Lord of the Floor.
Does that mean we should head back to the rocky island...?
The thought popped into my mind before I could stop it, but I decided it would be too much of a pity to give up now.
Thus, we continued our voyage.
[00:01]
The seventh day was now over. That meant the first floor had closed.
All right, then that confirms this place isn't a hidden map connected to the first floor...
Like I thought, this must be an entirely new floor. As for what floor it had to be...
Basement Floor One.
Since the second floor already existed, I figured this floor must be some sort of basement floor. Hmm, but then what was its name? Normally when a new floor opened, the official name was written on the Stone of Honor.
I guess I'll find out when I get out of here and see it.
As we continued to sail the open waters, my monster-related worries slowly started to fade away.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
That was, until Versyl suddenly let out a shriek while fishing for samples.
"A monster! It's a monster!"
I rushed to her side and looked over the railing. Sure enough, there was a monster climbing up the side of the hull.
"Huh? What is that?" asked the very confused Ainar, who had also run over after hearing Versyl's cry. "It doesn't look like a Murloc or a Frogman."
However, I had no answer for her. We were on a new floor, after all. I'd thought there was a possibility this might happen.
Crrroak! Crrroak!
This was a new type of monster—one whose rank, classification, and name were a complete mystery.