Chapter 81

As the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

Yu and the others made their way through the hollow of the tree. They had walked about 100 meters, and the hollow was not pitch black; light was filtering in from somewhere.

When they emerged from the hollow, the scene before them took their breath away.

"Well, as expected, it's a forest-type labyrinth," Larit muttered, taking in the vast expanse of trees and grass that stretched before them.

"…In forest-type labyrinths, you need to be careful. There are many natural traps and monsters that use status-altering attacks."

"Wow, Yu, this labyrinth has walls and ceilings made of wood!"

"Labyrinths are also known as other worlds. The labyrinth in Hamelin is said to have a sea, a desert, and even the sky."

Nina, excited by the forest-type labyrinth, was about to move forward, but Larit held her back with a hand.

"Whoa, Nina, be careful. This grass is scythe weasel grass. Its blades are as sharp as knives, and you'll find your feet covered in blood before you know it. That huge flower over there is a horse-eating flower. As its name suggests, it lures prey with a sweet scent and can even eat a horse."

"Even a horse!? That's not a flower anymore, it's a monster…"

"Nina, Larit is an experienced scout. Learn from him and take what you can."

Nina replied with a cheerful "Okay!" and as she talked with Larit, Marifa's ears twitched. Something was pushing through the grass and approaching. Larit, who had the 'Scouting' skill, was already gripping his dagger. Nina, whose scouting skill was lower, noticed it a bit later.

"Something is approaching. From the sound, it's multiple."

Marifa, with her bow at the ready, warned them and prepared for battle. Yu had already cast buffs on everyone while they were moving through the hollow, so they were ready for combat at any time.

"Ekart will take the hits, I'll attack, Nina, Larit, and Crow will guard Lena, and Marifa will provide support."

"Got it."

Despite Nina's lackluster response, everyone's faces broke into smiles, even though they were about to engage in battle. The approaching monsters were about 10 meters away, and they were identified as Worker Ants and Soldier Ants.

"Wow, there are five Worker Ants and two Soldier Ants. They're tough, you know."

Ekart activated the shield skill 'Provocation' to draw the ants' aggression towards him. One Worker Ant lunged at Ekart with its sharp mandibles, but Ekart blocked it with his tower shield. The impact forced Ekart's massive body to step back. A Worker Ant, about a meter long, was able to push back Ekart, who was 2.5 meters tall, causing sweat to bead on Ekart's forehead. Another Worker Ant attacked from the side, but Yu's sword skill 'Steel Flash' split it in two. Larit and Nina also attacked the other Worker Ants, but their blades bounced off the hard carapace, leaving only shallow scratches.

"…Step back."

At Lena's command, Larit and Nina moved away from the Worker Ants. The next moment, Lena's first-tier black magic 'Wind Blade' was cast at the Worker Ants, but even the invisible blades couldn't penetrate their hard carapace. The Worker Ants, now targeting Lena, approached with their mandibles clicking. An arrow pierced the compound eyes of one of the approaching Worker Ants, stopping it in its tracks.

"Hmm…"

Marifa smiled at Lena provocatively. Lena's eyes sharpened.

"Axe skill 'Strong Swing'"

Crow's axe skill 'Strong Swing' crushed the head of a Soldier Ant. Crow glanced at Lena, who had a vein pulsing on her temple.

"…Interesting."

"Ekart, are you okay?"

Currently, three Worker Ants and a Soldier Ant were swarming around Ekart. Even a single Worker Ant could push Ekart back with its strength, so Larit called out in concern.

"Hehe, I'm fine. Shield skill 'Stone Wall'."

Despite being surrounded by Worker Ants, Ekart activated the shield skill 'Stone Wall'. The basic skills of a shield user are 'Provocation' and 'Stone Wall'. The former controls the enemy's aggression to protect the party, while the latter increases physical and magical defense. The proficiency of a shield user is judged by how well they use these two skills. Incidentally, the higher-level skills of 'Stone Wall' are 'Iron Wall' and 'Adamantine Wall'. With 'Stone Wall' activated, Ekart's body was as hard as stone. A Worker Ant bit into Ekart's left arm, but even with its sharp mandibles and strong jaw, it couldn't pierce Ekart's arm.

"Wow, Ekart, that's amazing."

Impressed by Ekart's resilience against the swarming ants, Yu let out an age-appropriate exclamation.

"Shield skill 'Shield Charge'"

Ekart's shield skill 'Shield Charge' blew the Worker Ants away. The Worker Ants, blown away, were immediately charred by Lena's third-tier black magic 'Thunderclap', but the aftereffects also caused smoke to rise from Ekart's body.

"…I want to know defeat."

Lena, spouting a familiar line, received a knuckle to the head from Yu. Despite holding her head and crouching, when she looked at Marifa and Crow, they were smirking, indicating she wasn't really repentant.

"Hey, Ekart, are you okay?"

"Sh-shield users… are tough, huff…"

"It's not working, is it?"

Larit called out to the wobbling Ekart. Ekart, who had withstood the Worker Ants' attacks without flinching, had taken considerable damage from the aftereffects of Lena's 'Thunderclap'. While Larit and Nina were stripping the Worker Ants of magic stones and materials, Yu healed Ekart with a healing spell.

After that, Yu and the others continued their exploration, defeating various monsters such as Yellow Slimes, Treants, Panic Flowers, Poison Moss, Worker Ants, Soldier Ants, and Flame Fungi, and reached the 5th floor. They had discovered 8 treasure chests, 3 of which were trapped, but Larit had disarmed them, and Nina was impressed and excited by his skills.

The contents of the treasure chests they had obtained so far were:

Gold Coins: 8

Silver Coins: 23

Obsidian Shield (Level 5): Magic Resistance

Silver Bracelet (Level 5): Status Resistance

Magic Brush (Level 5): Adds shine to hair when used

High Potion (Level 5): 4

Antidote (Level 4): 7

Holy Water (Level 5): 2

High Mana Potion (Level 5): 1

Scent Bag (Level 5): Emits a pleasant aroma

The number and quality of the treasure chests were not bad, considering it was an untouched labyrinth.

"Wow, this is a big win. I think we've made about 6 to 8 gold coins per person. Usually, in a labyrinth without a map, you start with mapping, but thanks to Yu, we've been able to progress without hesitation, without missing any treasure chests, and with the buffs and white magic, we can easily defeat D-rank monsters."

As Larit said, most of the monsters they had encountered so far were rank 4, which would typically appear in the lower or deepest levels of a D-rank labyrinth. They had been able to explore so smoothly thanks to Yu's 'Heavenly Net' which eliminated the need for mapping, and the buffs which enhanced the party's overall strength.

"Alright, I've got a good grasp of Larit and Ekart's movements, so let's proceed at our usual pace."

At Yu's words, Larit and Ekart's faces tensed.

"H-hey, we've been moving at a pretty fast pace already."

"But I think so too, but opportunities to earn this much are rare, so let's push ourselves."

From then on, the exploration speed for Larit and Ekart was like torture. They increased the speed of monster elimination, stripped the defeated monsters of magic stones and materials, and moved at a brisk pace. Of course, they didn't forget to collect the treasure chests.

"Ha-ha, I'm dying, this is too much."

"Larit, don't worry. I'm healing everyone, so you can run indefinitely."

"Ha-ha, I'm not happy at all."

Kuro and Sukke, seemingly enjoying the running, were wagging their tails and running around Yu and Marifa.

"Hehe, it's a strange feeling. Is this the white magic 'Toughness'?"

The third-tier white magic 'Toughness' that Ekart mentioned causes health to recover at a constant rate, but what Yu was using was not 'Toughness' but the first-tier white magic 'Heal'. However, the way he used it was different. Yu had extended 7 threads of magic from his 'Heavenly Net' and attached them to Larit and the others, constantly sending 'Heal' to them. This allowed Larit and the others to run without tiring. Incidentally, Larit's heavy breathing was just a poor act, as he wasn't actually tired.

Exploring at an unprecedented speed, Yu and the others reached the 12th floor before they knew it.

"Master, I can see a crystal."

"Oh, finally, the boss room?"

"Yu, I want a break before we go in."

"Alright."

After confirming there were no monsters around the crystal room, Nina and the others headed towards the grass. It was a flower-picking situation. Larit sat on the ground but, being a veteran, he remained alert. Ekart petted Kuro and Sukke while replenishing his water, and Crow practiced his battle axe skills.

"Hmm, Yu, is something wrong?"

Yu, who had walked down a narrow passage next to the crystal room, caught Larit's attention.

"No, this should be a dead end…"

Larit, judging it to be safe, continued his break, while Yu walked to the end of the passage and examined the wooden wall with his hand.

(This… is hidden by magic? There's a door.)

The wooden wall looked like a wall, but upon touching it, Yu could feel the presence of a door. When Yu opened the door, a bright light flooded his eyes. Inside, various flowers were blooming, and in the center stood a tree. Around the tree, small lights were flying, which upon closer inspection turned out to be glowing pixies. A naked woman was growing from the tree, and when she met Yu's eyes, she waved happily. Flower petals rained down from above, and looking up, Yu saw the pixies joyfully scattering the petals.

"Welcome! We welcome you!"

The woman growing from the tree called out in a loud, joyful voice, clasping her hands in front of her chest and trembling with excitement. Yu took a quick look around the room, then, seemingly losing interest, quietly closed the door.