Chapter 202: Adventurers of the 9th Floor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 202: Adventurers of the 9th Floor
I was reminded of the time I fought the Labyrinth Master inside the Gourmet Whale.
Back then, I had remotely controlled the Staff of the Apex that Meldini was holding.
But the system hadn't registered it as a staff or a wand. To me, it was judged as:
‘Wizus's Stenographer.’
The staff was actually Wizus's fountain pen, the one he used for his Shorthand magic.
But because it was imbued with Wizus's power, the magic circle it activated was on a scale beyond common sense, causing a red rain to fall over all of Sohen.
So, what if it wasn't some mere fountain pen, but Wizus's actual ‘wand’?
What kind of power would that wand hold?
Hmm.
I was curious, but it was a shame I couldn't predict its power beforehand.
Among the other skills, Memory Book Editor also looked good.
Until now, the number of spells I had was identical to the number of slots in my Memory Book, so the skill was meaningless. But now, it was important.
Thanks to the Memory Book expansion procedure, I now had a Magic Circle Build.
But the limited number of slots meant I couldn't use all my spells at once.
For example, to create the Vampiric Magic Circle, I needed Shorthand, Dust Explosion, Enchanting, and Exploitative Bleeding.
If I slotted all of those in, I wouldn't be able to use a 5-Link spell like Blizzard.
However, with Memory Book Editor, I might be able to swap one or two slots during my turn and pull off an insane magic combination like a Vampiric Blizzard.
Mind Controller still felt useless.
‘As an introductory skill, at least.’
Direction Controller had also leveled up in sequence: moving the wand in my hand, moving a wand far away, and then moving Wizus's wand.
What would Mind Controller become at the expert level?
At first, it lets me give orders to party members with a lower level than me. At the expert level, could it let me control even Deep Layer adventurers...?
If this were a game, I would have picked it just to test what it does.
A pity. This was a real-life game with my life on the line, so I couldn't invest in something out of mere curiosity.
In that case, for now, it had to be this.
[You have acquired the skill ‘Memory Book Editor’.]
Investing in an ability that couldn't be accurately measured, based on hope alone, was not my style. If the opportunity cost was high, I would choose something I could clearly gauge and was confident I could use.
But then...
Huh?
[There are still skills available to learn.]
[Level up and revisit the fountain.]
I see.
I had wiped out a massive number of monsters with the lightning that judged from the altar.
Thanks to that, my level had risen quite a bit.
And it seemed that level-up range included the ‘next skill acquisition.’
*
“Phwoosh!”
After pulling myself out of the fountain, I turned to the other three.
“Everyone. Just a moment.”
It would be better for the three of them to level up before they acquired their skills, too.
But we didn't have time to make camp.
The Lancers or the Catcher Sharks might be chasing us.
I couldn't predict how long it would take for them to catch up. We had taken a Void Vortex straight to the fountain, while they would be coming up the stairs to the 9th floor.
However, since this was our first time on the 9th floor, we had no idea what the distance was between the stairs and this place.
That meant we had to plan conservatively, assuming they could catch up to us quickly.
The four of us in the party had gotten some sleep last evening. None of us were exhausted, so camping at this point would be a luxury.
Besides, I wasn't even sleepy.
It would be great if I could just pass out (?) for about five minutes and then wake up.
Fortunately, our party had someone who could put me to sleep.
“Back Attack. Could you use your sleeping gas on me?”
“...?”
All three of them looked at me in confusion.
“Hurry! And wake me up in three minutes.”
“I don't know why, but here goes.”
Back Attack lightly covered my nose and mouth with his hand and activated his skill.
My eyes closed like a hostage being abducted in a thriller movie.
[Caleb's level has increased.]
Lv.32 → Lv.34
[Yernil's level has increased.]
Lv.32 → Lv.34
[Aimus's level has increased.]
Lv.32 → Lv.34
[Back Attack's level has increased.]
Lv.32 → Lv.34
*
“Why do you think he wanted to be put to sleep?”
Back Attack asked with an indifferent look.
Caleb was certainly an eccentric person.
Then again, maybe that was to be expected of a Possessor.
“He did the same thing back at the university,” Yernil said.
That was when the Dagger Raptor had died, been resurrected, and was fighting Meldini. Even in that urgent situation, Caleb had suddenly asked to be put to sleep.
Though he had asked Isel, not Back Attack.
Presumably because Isel, being a higher level than Back Attack, had a higher chance of success with her sleep-inducing magic.
“By the way, I don't know if you've felt it too,” Aimus said, “but doesn't it seem like every time Caleb sleeps and wakes up... he gets stronger?”
“Not at all.”
“I haven't noticed.”
Back Attack and Yernil shrugged.
Back Attack never paid attention to others sleeping, and Yernil was a bit dense.
“He said to wake him in three minutes, right?”
In any case, the three of them did as Caleb asked.
“Wake up, Caleb!”
The moment he woke up, Caleb ran back to the fountain and plunged his head in.
*
Among the skill choices I had seen earlier, one expert skill had been added.
[You can select an Hourglass Expert Skill. Choose one of the following.]
...
② Memory Book Censor: For every two empty Memory Book slots, the Hourglass gains 1 additional Action Point. This effect does not apply to temporary Hourglasses.
No, this is insane.
I should've picked this from the start.
Direction Controller was an awesome skill, but this was just as crazy.
‘It gives me 1 AP for every two empty slots?’
The Action Point cost of spells increases with their tier.
For example, Tier 1 and Tier 2 spells cost 1 AP, but Tier 3 and 4 spells cost 2 AP. From Tier 5 spells like Blizzard, they cost 3 AP.
The final spells a player could acquire in the game, Tier 8 spells, cost 4 AP each. Since the maximum AP in the game was 4 (as Byullant's Hammer couldn't be used in the turn-based system), it meant you were essentially spending an entire turn on a single spell.
The inability to spam high-tier spells was one of the biggest concerns for my Memory Book build-up.
But now it was telling me I could gain AP by emptying slots?
Every single Hourglass skill was completely broken.
But I'd have to plan my tactics very carefully to use this one.
If I carelessly emptied the wrong slot, the link could break, and the high-tier spell I was planning to use might disappear.
For example, to use the Tier 5 spell Blizzard, I needed five Tier 1 spells.
I would have to maximize the AP and damage output of my Memory Book within a single turn.
I was dying of curiosity about Wizus's wand, but for now, Action Points were more urgent. I'd go with this.
[You have acquired the skill ‘Memory Book Censor’.]
*
The 9th floor is hell.
That isn't a figure of speech; it's literal.
The monsters that appear here actually have names like ‘Hell Legionary’ and ‘Hell Scout.’
The most destructive tier magic in the entire Labyrinth.
And legion-type monsters that are more aggressive and tactical than the Primitive Troops of the 8th floor.
The 9th floor was a place where even Deep Layer adventurers couldn't afford to relax.
“Which makes me even more worried.”
Mugol clicked his tongue as he sheathed his sword.
“Where the hell did that guy go?”
The Eastern Emperor had disappeared.
He had hired Bipa and Mugol, in addition to the three royal guards he brought from Wyndham, because they were experts at ‘taking Labyrinth novices to the Deep Layers.’
This time, the novice was the Eastern Emperor himself.
Unlike other racial leaders, he was a civilian with almost no combat ability.
The contract Bipa and Mugol had accepted was as follows:
‘The Deep Layer duo, Bipa and Mugol, shall safely escort the party of four, led by the Eastern Emperor—the rightful ruler of Wyndham, master of all Labyrinths, and the one with the divine right to rule the continent—to the 10th floor.’
The stair gates didn't have a party size limit, so it didn't matter how many people went down.
In truth, they didn't necessarily have to protect the party of four just to get to the 10th floor.
Once they reached the 10th floor, the contract would be over, and they could all go their separate ways. And in an emergency, only the Eastern Emperor's party of four needed to use the exit gate.
They had been descending together just fine, but...
“We lost him.”
They were attacked by a platoon of 9th-floor legionaries. After the battle, they turned around to find the Eastern Emperor gone.
The three royal guards had split up to search for him, leaving only Bipa and Mugol behind.
“Where could he have gone?”
“Why the hell did you accept such a shitty offer in the first place?!” Mugol shouted. “We're busy enough with our own work!”
“Mugol, think about who the White Lion and the Dagger Raptor have been disguising themselves as all this time.”
“The Dean?”
“Exactly. In that case, who knows what might be hiding among the other racial leaders who attended the Sohen General Assembly?”
The one Bipa had suspected was the Eastern Emperor.
“I was planning to get rid of him if the situation called for it. Even if Wyndham made an issue of it, it would become a diplomatic problem with Sohen, and there wouldn't have been much they could hold against us.”
“But now they can.”
He was right.
They had failed to fulfill the contract of escorting him to the 10th floor.
“Should we call for help?” Mugol asked, taking a Void Vortex Orb from his pocket.
“From Hyedam?”
“...”
If she used her soul tracking, she might be able to find the missing Eastern Emperor on the 9th floor like a sniffer dog tracking a scent.
But would the Eastern Emperor survive long enough for them to take the Void Vortex to the 3rd-floor Fountain of Blessings, find the stairs in front of the stele to go down to the inter-floor town, travel all the way to the Possessors' village, and then bring Hyedam back to the 9th floor?
“That won't work.”
Bipa took out a pouch full of rice.
He spread a cloth on the ground, then grabbed a handful of rice and threw it.
Cheokmijeom was a method Spirit Race Taoists used to divine someone's location or fortune.
Though its accuracy wasn't exactly stellar.
“Hmm.”
Bipa observed the shape, position, and direction of the rice grains, interpreting the results of the divination.
“It seems the Eastern Emperor is in that direction,” he said, pointing one way. “And the total number of adventurers currently on the 9th floor, including us, is ten.”
“Does that make sense? It's already wrong.”
Mugol slapped his forehead.
Sohen's high-floor adventurers weren't entering the Labyrinth right now.
That was because the Consul had classified them as part of the Deep Layer subjugation force and forbidden them from entry.
All adventurers with experience clearing an exit room on the 7th floor or higher had been summoned to Sohen and were on standby.
“I heard the Blackdog party defied the Consul's orders and went down into the Labyrinth, but they would have gone to the 10th floor, so they're not here.”
They had used the excuse that they needed to get in sync with the recently recovered Blackdog, and since they weren't people the Consul could restrain by law, he had no choice but to let them go.
“And I doubt any of the other racial leaders got here faster than us.”
To reiterate, Bipa and Mugol were ‘experts at taking Labyrinth novices to the Deep Layers.’
Among the adventurers who had come from regions like Madurai or Cruaden, none could have reached the 9th floor faster than them.
In other words.
“Right now, the only ones on the 9th floor are the two of us and the Eastern Emperor's party of four. That's six people. If not, it must be an Inter-floor Lord.”
“Hmm. Well, perhaps.”
Bipa fanned the rice grains gently with a folding fan.
“But it could be Caleb's party.”
They had a record of catching the 7th-floor Glutton, but they weren't people who had cleared the 7th-floor exit room.
Their final Labyrinth exploration record was up to the 6th floor.
Caleb's party had entered the Labyrinth this time. It might have been something the Consul arranged. After all, Caleb's party had exceptional growth potential.
“So you're saying they got from the 6th floor to the 9th in four days?” Mugol scoffed.
“Is that too much of a stretch?”
“Of course it is.”
“Hmm...”
Bipa gathered the rice grains back into his pouch.
“It is certainly a bit strange.”
His Cheokmijeom could also gauge the strength of the target.
“The divination shows that this party of four is even stronger than the Eastern Emperor's royal guard party.”