а∨天堂入口

My Battle Prowess

I have Sherry stay at home with Roxanne and leave for Haruba’s labyrinth by myself.

I’ll be taking them to 11th floor later.

Earlier, after parting with the duke and Cassia, I Warped from Haruba’s labyrinth to home just like that, so it’ll be awkward to bring Roxanne and Sherry this time.

When I move out of the small room on 1st floor, I find Gozer.

“Oh, Michio-dono. Are you entering the labyrinth?”

He asks immediately upon seeing me.

This timing, albeit coincidence, is perfect.

That’s right, I intend to enter Haruba’s labyrinth.

Here’s the proof that I entered one of the duchy’s labyrinths.

However, some people saw me at Tare’s and Bode’s labyrinths which may lead to inconsistency.

But there’s no need to be worried.

For there’s no such thing as image capturing or video recording in this world.

“And why might Gozer-dono be in this part of the labyrinth?”

“We have just cleared 41st floor.”

“That’s great.”

Woah!

As I thought, a Grand Wizard Lv61 is in completely different league.

If battle prowess could be measured, his would surely be over one million.

People accompanying Gozer must be his party members.

Is this the party that’s representing the order of Harz duchy knights and leading the exploration?

Two Holy Knights, a Monk and a Shamon.

Shamon?

All the members are high level.

The Monk’s level in particular exceeds 90.

Because I have Monk job myself, I know it’s not an advanced job like Holy Knight or Grand Wizard.

Furthermore, they’re all elves.

They’re all good looking.

It hurts people like me who are not good looking.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I was here only to get a hang of this labyrinth. I’ll be back with my party members.”

“I can have a member of my party guide you if you want.”

Gozer offers assistance.

Is he really that caring?

He must have a reason to be here on such a low floor as this.

The more I talk to him, the more he looks suspicious.

“Ah, thank you. I’ll be moving to 10th or 11th floor.”

Although I was thinking so, why wouldn’t I accept such an offer?

Even if I’ll be exposing the floor I’ll be exploring, I can’t afford to miss such an opportunity.

I was planning to challenge 11th floor but I’ll now be taking on 10th.

“Ah, you’re here. Well then, which floor would you like to go to? 10th and 11th?”

An Adventurer and an Explorer appear out of entrance.

The Adventurer asks Gozer.

“Let me confirm first.”

The Explorer takes out the map of the labyrinth.

He seems to be confirming something.

“Yes, 10th and 11th floors.”

“Please allow him to guide you. Can you add him to your party?”

Asks Gozer.

Is this Adventurer Lv53 a member of Gozer’s party?

When I add the Adventurer to my party, the Explorer leaves.

“Just to confirm, forty two silver coins for 42nd floor, right?”

They really seem to have reached 42nd floor.

When I entered the labyrinth, they were probably leaving.

Apparently, It’ll work if I put him in my party and call for 42nd floor in my mind.

Our party of two moves to 10th floor.

Adventurers can not use Dungeon Walk.

We proceed to 11th floor and go back outside.

“Thank you very much for guiding me.”

“Well then, Michio-dono, take care.”

I give my thanks to Gozer as well and leave.

I return home through a tree nearby.

“When we enter the labyrinth, can we choose the floor?”

“Adventurer and Explorer can do it, yes.”

I check out Sherry’s level. She’s Explorer Lv11.

Explorer and Adventurer can choose which floor to enter, it seems.

So, Gozer’s actions earlier were not suspicious.

I take Roxanne and Sherry to 10th floor of Haruba’s labyrinth.

“Let’s start with 10th floor.”

“Umm… the monster on 10th floor of Haruba’s labyrinth is NT Ant.”

“Poison huh? Well, we are exploring this labyrinth for the first time, so it’s better to start with lower floor. Roxanne, search.”

“Understood.”

We proceed under Roxanne’s guidance.

After all, I can take an NT Ant Lv10 out with three Waterballs.

It’s not our first time facing them.

It’ll be alright.

Even in it’s a group, I can take it out.

Do you think three ants can kill a dinosaur? Nah.

Escape Goat appears as well on 10th floor of Haruba’s labyrinth.

It seems to be native to 9th floor of this labyrinth.

Escape Goat Lv10 starts running away after three magic attacks.

Same old pattern. Boring.

‘I’ll chase it, Roxanne-san. You capture it.’

Without saying any such thing, I take it out with three magic attacks.

Nothing seems out of place on 10th floor of Haruba’s labyrinth.

We can take on 10th floor without any trouble.

I’m itching to test how capable our new equipment are but it’s not a good idea to receive an ant’s attack for that reason alone.

I won’t have them receive attacks intentionally.

When we reach 11th floor, We’ll be receiving attacks from Minos anyway.

“We seem to be doing fine on 10th floor. Let’s move on to 11th?”

“Okay.”

We proceed to 11th floor.

To take a Mino Lv11 out, seven magic attacks are required.

Because battles will be long, Sherry will receive an attack sooner or later.

Although I was thinking so, I was the first to receive an attack in Haruba’s labyrinth.

While I was recovering my MP through Durandal, I couldn’t avoid the incoming attack and received Mino’s ram with my body.

It was my first time tasting it.

I was made to look like a fool.

It’s quicker to take out NT Ants and Escape Goats.

Seven magic attacks are required in total while four are required to come in close contact.

Mino is the main monster of 11th floor but that doesn’t mean there will always be groups of four Minos.

If there are three or less Minos, Roxanne can handle two while Sherry can take on one.

Even if I were to fight one-on-one, I wouldn’t get attacked easily provided I’m careful.

While I was thinking so, I ready Durandal. However, It’s an NT Ant this time. It tries to attack me.

I’ll never allow an insect to attack me.

After I take many out with Durandal, Sherry finally comes under attack.

NT Ant, Mino, NT Ant, Mino. A group of four monsters appears.

When I was moving on to next NT Ant after taking out first NT Ant with Rush, Sherry receives a head-butt from Mino.

The direction I was charging into and the direction Sherry was escaping to happened to be same, so she couldn’t avoid it.

“My bad. I blocked your way.”

After I take it out, I say to Sherry.

“Not at all. I should have known you were moving in that direction. It was careless of me.”

In other words, I did block her way.

I receive the item and cast Heal.

“How was the monster’s attack after equipping chainmail?”

“Damage was definitely light. Thank you, I’m fine now.”

Two Heals were enough.

Much or less, the damage has surely decreased.

“Will we be able to clear 11th floor of Quratar’s labyrinth now?”

“We won’t know unless we try.”

Although we have upgraded our equipment, the question remains.

And we won’t have the answer unless we try.

That said, we can still predict based on how we perform on 11th floor of Haruba’s labyrinth.

Even if there are strong and weak points of monsters, there isn’t much difference in overall strength at a given level.

Because the battles were long, we spent all morning exploring 11th floor of Haruba’s labyrinth.

We took a little break in the afternoon and then resumed the exploration.

“I went to 13th floor of Tare’s labyrinth. The monster there is Rub Shrub that drops the item which Sherry needs to make the equipment next in order.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

We enter 1st floor of Tare’s labyrinth.

As a precaution, I bring Durandal out and add sixth job to be able to use both Alchemist’s Plating and Warrior’s Rush.

Having applied Plating, I recover my MP on 1st floor.

We should be ready now.

It’s only two floors higher, so it shouldn’t be that dangerous.

If push comes to shove, I’ll use Rush with Durandal.

Having completed all preparations, we finally set foot on 13th floor.

“So, what kind of monster this Rub Shrub is?”

“I have never fought against it myself but I heard it uses long-range attacks. It shoots its branches from distance. Its weakness is fire type magic.”

Ranged attacks?

Monsters onward from 12th floor should be stronger than those from 1st floor to 11th.

And it seems to be weak against fire type magic.

“Fire type magic huh? Well, I’ll get to use different magic now. Roxanne, search for monsters.”

I send Roxanne out.

We proceed under the guidance of Roxanne.

Two monsters appear.

Rub Shrub Lv13

Rub Shrub Lv13

It looks like a tree. It’s smaller in size than Needle Wood.

Its root is smaller than and shaped differently from Needle Wood.

It looks totally like a tree.

Its movement speed appears to be slow.

It is slow.

So, I have to use fire magic this time?

Oh well.

There are two of them but that’s alright.

Telling the number from smell is difficult.

“Here it comes.”

It shoots magic. Roxanne dodges.

Something comes in from there where Roxanne was standing.

‘Roxanne-san, please be more considerate.’

It’s good to dodge and all but there may be someone standing behind.

It’s not good for a vanguard to suddenly disappear from in front in a dark labyrinth.

A brown object passes right by me.

Oh shit!

I couldn’t move even one millimeter.

There are times when it’s dangerous to have Roxanne around.

Let’s forget it for now. I’m dying here!

Is this the ranged attack of Rub Shrub?

To compensate for lack of movement speed, it has long-range attack?

It was a really cool attack nonetheless.

Damn it!

Is this divine retribution?

To think I would die to an attack of an ordinary Rub Shrub.

Before I die, however, I’ll show you the best I have got.

I’ll show you my best magic. My ultimate magic. My true power.

“Feel honored, for you’re the first to witness this magic. Heed my call, descend from far end of unending universe, crush all to nothingness — Meteor Crash!”

I use bonus spell.

Meteor Crash.

It’s the same spell which I wasn’t able to use earlier.

Now that I have raised my level, I should be able to use it.

No, I must be able to use it.

For I have used it.

I can feel my MP decreasing considerably.

Success!

My MP is almost used up. The magic materializes.

I have finally succeeded!

Over my head, appear burning rocks.

Meteorite. Lit by red hot lava.

It dyes the cave red.

The red hot meteorite strikes the ground.

The cave starts to get filled up.

It starts to accumulate.

One. Two.

Roaring sound could be heard as it cuts its way through the air.

“Eh?”

“What?”

A huge rock goes past dumbstruck Roxanne and Sherry.

They’re fine. It didn’t hit them.

Because I didn’t choose a target, Meteor Crash struck entire area.

Although it struck entire area, for some reason, it didn’t hit people.

Roxanne and Sherry are safe.

Roxanne dodged it herself.

Sherry, however, couldn’t. It grazed Sherry’s head. Surprisingly, it didn’t inflict any damage.

The huge rock advances.

The huge rock advances leaving marks and sparks behind.

It illuminates the cave.

It crashes into the Rub Shrubs.

The meteorite completely smashes the two Rub Shrubs.

Plank

Plank

Silence ensues. There’s neither the meteorite nor the monsters.

What remained were two planks.

One hit?

Like I thought, bonus spells are truly powerful.

“What was that just now?”

“New magic attack.”

“Master has such powerful magic. As expected of master.”

“B-But one hit?”

Seven magic attacks are required to take out Lv11 monsters.

Considering that, you can figure out how powerful Meteor Crash was.

But Rub Shrubs are weak against fire type magic.

Because meteorite was burning red, it might be fire type magic attack.

Still, it was unexpectedly powerful. I might have overdone it.

“A-Amazing!”

At the same time, it took considerable MP.

Too much.

I seem to have used too much of my MP.

After recovering some MP on 1st floor of Tare’s labyrinth, I move to 11th floor of Haruba’s labyrinth to recover rest of my MP.

Moving between two floors of same labyrinth is less taxing than moving between two labyrinths.

However, only one Lv1 monster appears on 1st floor, so recovery takes too long.

After recovering MP on 11th floor of Haruba’s labyrinth, I return to 13th floor of Tare’s labyrinth.

I want to try Durandal this time.

If I feel I can’t take them out, I’ll just have them eat Meteor Crash.

“Once more. Search for small groups.”

Under Roxanne’s guidance, we find a lone Rub Shrub.

Exactly what I wanted.

I raise Durandal and charge.

If I don’t do it quickly, it’ll shoot its branch.

Before I could close the distance, it shoots its branch.

I could see orange-colored magic but I was unable to dodge.

The branch hits my chest where I have my leather jacket on.

What an impact.

It hurts!

Such power, even though I was covered with Plating.

Because it came to a stop, I charge to close the distance

I have no time to apply Plating again.

I raise the sword high up, activate Rush and strike it down on the Rub Shrub.

It’s not dead after one strike.

I use Rush again.

It’s much stronger than I expected.

I’m surprised.

Someone exists in this world who can take two Rush attacks and still be alive.

Even two Rush attacks couldn’t get rid of it.

While it begins to launch another attack, I swing my sword from the side.

Third Rush.

The Rub Shrub collapses.

Three Rush attacks?

One Rush can take out a Lv11 monster.

How can a monster be three times stronger with a difference of only two floors?

I wonder if the difference of strength between monsters of 11th and 12th floors is great as well.

So, monsters of 11th floor are small fries?

Probationary period is over.

Well, if they’re few, I can make do with Durandal.

We can hunt some more on 13th floor.

I’ll give them slow death, if that’s want they want.

“How many planks do you need?”

“Five to six should suffice for now.”

Six huh?

We have collected three so far.

Alright, I’m ready. Let’s get three more.

Another Rub Shrub comes out and shoots magic.

It’s comparatively more difficult to take it out using Durandal.

Magic attack is better.

This time, I’ll turn it to smithereens.

“Annihilate.”

I call for Gamma Ray Burst in my mind.

It’s another bonus spell beside Meteor Crash.

Meteor Crash isn’t the only bonus spell I have.

Whether it’s fire type magic or not, I don’t know. But what I do know is that it’s a Lv13 monster.

And… Nothing happens.

My MP is seemingly not enough for Gamma Ray Burst.

Even though my level is fairly high.

Does it need even more MP than Meteor Crash?

Well, even Meteor Crash took almost all of my MP. It probably needs only slightly more.

Oh well, I’ll use Meteor Crash then.

Sparks scatter as red hot meteorite strikes.

Wow!

Look, Roxanne, Sherry… Fireworks!