Ambush of the Wolf Riders
He realized the fact.
It has minor magic resistance, but it's there.
Still, dealing with it was easy. The wolf was still clinging to the ceiling, and all Allen had to do was pull the trigger.
Once the battle ended, Carlson wiped the sweat from his forehead. The amount pouring down was an indicator of just how tense he'd been, even though the engagement had been brief.
"Whoa, just one floor down and the difference is this huge? Let's head back right now, like we agreed."
"Yeah. Us. Too much."
"You mean we shouldn't push ourselves, right?"
"What I... said..."
"That's what I meant. Now let's pack up."
Aung moved the cart back into position, and Carlson carefully loaded the disassembled automaton into the empty spaces.
"No more room now. If we run into more automatons on the way up, we'll just have to grab the mana stones and soul stones."
Allen and the others turned back without hesitation. They'd barely survived a pulse-pounding fight against one; they instinctively knew that two or three would end badly.
Now he could feel why the number of people dropped off sharply from the 6th floor onward.
As the path to the 5th floor drew nearer and the sense of crisis began to fade, heavy footsteps echoed.
Clank. Clank.
Allen halted at the three-way intersection and immediately assumed a combat stance. Nothing made that rough metallic clashing sound except an automaton.
Sure enough, three red lights flickered from the darkness beyond. At first, only the lights were visible, but soon the outlines sharpened.
The wolf cavalry they'd encountered earlier—three of them, weapons raised, charging straight at them.
"Should we... run?"
"There's a clear difference in mobility. Once they've spotted us, fighting is our only option."
"We barely took down one. Got some clever trick up your sleeve?"
"..."
Allen's silence brought worry to Carlson and Aung's faces as well.
Of course, Allen maintained his usual impassive expression as he spoke.
"Mind dropping me off a bit ahead?"
"Broken."
"I know."
Perhaps reassured by Allen's calm, Aung quickly complied and prepared his magic.
Clank-clank-clank!
Soon the sound of their charge reverberated.
Allen felt his heart pounding as usual while he inserted the soul stone near the power source and restored the severed circuits with his rune pen.
Standing up, Allen kicked the coiled centipede with his sole. He even channeled mana into his foot to stimulate its power source.
The cavalry veered aside, mistaking the rolling centipede for an ally, and tried to charge past—but
Crunch!
That was a miscalculation. The centipede unfurled and tore into a rider's neck with its sharp jaws.
Only then did they thrust their spears at it, but the centipede wasn't the only thing they needed to watch.
Carlson's shotgun, Aung's magic, and Allen's mana bullets poured into the clustered foes.
Labyrinth (4)
While the centipede's jaws ground through one rider's neck, the other two relentlessly stabbed it, turning it into hole-riddled tofu.
As the automatons tangled chaotically, the riderless wolf ignored the centipede and charged at the culprit for a final assault.
Bang!
Carlson's shotgun sapped its momentum, and it was caught like prey by the pursuing Aung and Allen.
"You okay? Bites hurt."
"I pulled the soul stone. Now let it go and keep the riders in check."
Before Aung could finish his worried words, Allen had already extracted the wolf's soul stone by hand.
With the two holding off the rider that had nearly felled the centipede, Allen summoned the soul stone's input interface.
An opaque mist rose, and star letters sparkled within like a galaxy.
Allen's fingers darted swiftly between the stars, seeking a familiar pattern.
Last time, erasing this made the aggression vanish. Then the line right below it is probably for target designation.
With his glowing blue finger, he erased a cluster of stars and returned the soul stone to the wolf's open chest.
Stimulating the power source with mana like an electric shock, the wolf staggered to its feet.
Its white-glowing eyes turned red at the sight of the rider, and as Carlson approached in wonder—
Snap!
"Hey, what the—?!"
Thanks to Allen yanking him back, Carlson dodged the wolf's lunge and panicked, while Aung, exchanging a glance with Allen, used a wind wall to shove the wolf toward the riders.
Unlike humans, who could be incapacitated by a single spear thrust, the automaton centipede—its power source intact—fought on even with its body halved.
Rubbing the arm that had nearly been bitten, Carlson asked,
"Wasn't that star letter hack supposed to make it our ally?"
"It's easier to input 'hostile to all except exclusions' than 'recognize and attack specific enemies individually.' I just erased that part to make it indiscriminately hostile."
"Ah, anger management issues... No, more like rabies since it's a wolf."
Just then, the wolf—shoved by Aung—bit into the other wolf that had nearly finished the centipede.
Crack!
Tearing into its leg threw off the rider's balance. He barely pierced the wolf's head with his spear, but Carlson's shotgun simultaneously blew out his waist.
Allen easily neutralized the two limping, biting wolves with mana bullets.
One rider left. True to automaton nature, it charged boldly instead of fleeing.
Like the one before, it kicked off the wall and leaped for Carlson's head.
More precisely, the rider jumped high with spear raised, while the wolf slid low along the ground for his groin.
Faced with the brutal combo, Carlson hesitated on which to block, but trusting his comrades, he pulled the trigger as the rider closed in.
Boom!
Mana stone dust mixed with gunpowder exploded fiercely, launching the rider's body high before it crashed like a marionette with cut strings.
Expensive ammo, but as a college student rather than a strapped labyrinth explorer, Carlson didn't hesitate.
Hesitating over that cost could cost his life—a good attitude.
And the most dangerous wolf had its mouth wide for Carlson's exposed vitals, thrown off by the shotgun recoil—
Thud!
Allen, who'd snuck up, nudged it with his staff, lifting its body slightly.
A thrashing target was easy to hit when airborne. Aung's wind blades sliced vertically through the wolf.
As the battle ended, Carlson let out a sigh of relief in his awkward stance. He'd sweated more than ever with them, his face red as a ripe apple.
"Whew, that was close."
"Magic stick. Good performance."
"I don't need that yet—I'm still spry. Wait, how'd you even know?"
In the meantime, Allen spotted a mana essence stone. Its sparkle set it clearly apart from dull mana stones.
Compared to mana essence stones, that is—mana stones were still indispensable to modern civilization.
As Allen crouched, peering closely at it, Carlson clapped his shoulder.
"Want it? Take it."
"You sure?"
"We wouldn't have gotten them without you. If you hadn't hacked that automaton, we could've been seriously hurt or worse."
Instead of demurring, Allen smiled and nodded. Too much humility could make others uncomfortable.
Their steps back were light. Whether imagination or not, the 5th floor's air felt refreshing.
Even the rattling wheels he'd worried might alert more automatons now felt comforting.
Halfway through the 5th floor, Aung beckoned to Allen, who was checking behind.
"There."
A naked corpse was half-embedded in the wall.
Normal for a sticky swamp, but the labyrinth's walls were indestructible mystery rock—naturally very hard—so the sight was eerie.
But as a labyrinth explorer, he'd have to get used to it, as someone once said.
Dead creatures and broken automatons got sucked into the walls if no one moved them.
Like food absorbed in a stomach.
Like organics embraced by slime.
That's why some scholars claimed labyrinth spoils were bait to lure people in.
Some agreed, but far more were swayed by the logic of money and civilization's benefits.
As Allen pondered that, the corpse vanished completely—no trace left, making him wonder if it'd been a dream.
"It was naked just now, right?"
"Yes. Someone already looted the gear. It's customary for the discoverer to take equipment from a body."
"Hmm..."
Carlson's frustration stemmed from another reason. Death by automaton was tragic, but by a fellow explorer? Perfect crime.
"Think it was someone?"
"Sigh... That's why they call explorers the second monsters. Breaker's the biggest guild, so party matching has some trust—at least that's a relief."
Of course, no room for complacency. Trust with Allen and the others had built up now, but at first? He'd been wary, walls up.
Perhaps bidding farewell to someone's end warded off bad luck—no fights until the 2nd floor.
Quitting time, maybe—scavengers usually on 1-2 traded shifts or haggled before heading up.
They eyed Aung's heavy cart briefly, but only briefly.
Labyrinth explorer rule one: Don't covet others' spoils.
The automatons on Aung's cart were from far deeper, proof of superior combat prowess over floor-1-2 squatters.
True to a job fueled by mana and fatigue, tempers flared easily—best to avoid trouble.
Staring ahead, they passed the black door, and the night sky greeted Allen. Stars hidden by pollution and light, but the black curtain alone brought peace.
Heading to Breaker, Allen entered the settlement office. Important business ran overnight.
The bat-winged clerk processed quickly; after fees, each got 1.5 million coin.
Allen sat in the lobby chairs; Carlson and Aung took the opposites.
"Want more? You carried by contribution."
"I'm good. Alone, I'd have ditched most."
Allen shook his head. Solo, he'd have abandoned most automatons.
Plus, they were fighters, not porters—they'd handled the heavy lifting, so equal shares were fair.
Carlson and Aung smiled, as if expecting it.
"Supplies like water generators and energy bars cost a chunk, but 2 million in ten days? If jobs are tough, maybe switch to this."
After the joke, Carlson said quietly,
"Allen, you never studied magitech engineering at a certified school, right?"
"No. How'd you know?"
"Your approach is totally different from students. They buy books or beg professors. You tinkered nonstop, even breaks."
"Sharp eye."
"Your staff was a clue. No mass-produced design like that. Not workshop either—finishing's rough."
"Rough? Bad word."
Carlson waved off Aung's protest like a misunderstanding. Their earnestness drew laughs instead.
"No, not like that! I meant Maze City U fits you better than explorer."
"Appreciate it, but I have my reasons."
"..."
Carlson got the hint and held back.
Labyrinth licenses were market-driven temp IDs—full of restrictions.
No bank accounts, no university admission—those were part of it.
Still, Allen was confident. Universities were just efficient learning hubs, after all.
The grit and knowledge from scouring Ranka dumps for usable books