Chapter 8 - The Labyrinth of No Return
We made Nene change her job to a mage, but she can't use magic by herself.
In order to get her a master who can teach her spells, we headed to the house of a master who was introduced to us at the Mages Guild.
"Over there."
Serina said, looking at the address memo.
There was a magnificent house with a garden, and in the garden there were four boys and girls of junior high school age waving their wands and chanting magic.
"In the name of Salamander, the Four Great Spirits borrow their claws with an offering of my mana! Fireball!"
A fist-sized ball of flame flew toward the target stone, but missed.
"Ah, shit!"
"Ah, can I help you?"
One of the apprentices noticed us and came over.
"I was referred by the Mages' Guild. Is Master Josef here?"
"Yes, Master is in the dungeon with the older students."
I'm afraid he's not here.
"Do you know when he will be back?"
"Yes, the plan is to return in ten days. He said he will hire mercenaries and go to the fourth level."
"Ten day, huh ......"
It was a long time to wait, but it didn't seem like a good idea to ask the guild to refer me to another teacher.
"What will you do?"
Serina looked at me.
"We'll come back again. Sorry to interrupt your practice."
"No problem."
I check my skills, just in case.
【Fireball】 New!
It's a piece of cake. The skill copy is incredibly useful.
"Then, let's go level up in the dungeon."
"""Copy that!"""
We headed to the 『Labyrinth of No Return』.
The dungeon was located in the center of the city, with the entrance gate close to the castle.
It was flanked by large columns about four meters high, with a staircase leading down to the end of the passage.
There were four soldiers in front of the gate, and they seemed to be stopping adventurers from time to time to check their adventurer cards.
The area around the gate was a square, where adventurers were spreading out their sheets, cleaning their armor and checking their equipment.
It looked like a marketplace.
"Don't you need a map of the third layer? I'll give you a discount!"
"Do you have a party going to the fifth layer? I'd like to accompany you."
There were a lot of adventurers coming and going, so I'd say the place was active.
As we neared the entrance, a knight came running out of the stairwell at great speed.
"There's someone who injured! Clear the way!"
"All right, on the ground! Dawson! We're almost there. Hang in there!"
"Hang on, Dawson!"
The next warrior is being carried on a stretcher by his companions. He was moaning, but I could tell at a glance that he was seriously injured.
I moved to the side to clear the way for him.
"That was Dawson the Red Lizard, wasn't it? He was buzzing in the tavern about challenging the seventh level next, but I thought it was too soon."
"Yeah, they just got B-ranked the other day, didn't they? They're reckless."
I can hear their voices. The adventurers looked curiously at the stretcher.
"Let's go."
There was no point in looking at them, so I said and walked towards the entrance.
"Wait, I haven't seen you around before. What's your party name?"
The soldier stopped me as soon as he saw me.
"No, I haven't decided on that."
"What? Are you going solo?"
"No, these guys are in my party."
"Hmm, if you're a newbie, ......, you'll need a party name, even a temporary one. That's the rule here. It's also for rescue and security reasons."
That's what I'm told out of the blue.
However, I'm a little tickled by the idea. I'll have to come up with a cool name like "The Dark Dragon of the Abyss", "The Deadly Wizard of Moonlight", or "The Lord of Emptiness"..
"Hey, look at them! They're new here and they're going in without a guide."
"Ha, I don't know where you're from, but you're really dumb. This isn't like any other dungeon."
"I don't care if you get wiped out, just don't get me in trouble with the train."
The adventurers nearby were saying whatever they wanted, but we just peeked into the first layer to see what was going on.
The innkeeper and the warrior, Murphy, also told us about the dungeons, but they said that the first layer here was weak, with only kobolds and goblins.
I've got better equipment than you guys, and I'm not going to be bothered by any of this.
"You look well-equipped, but let's see your adventurer card. You need to have an adventurer rank of C or higher to get in here."
The soldier said, and I held out my adventurer card.
"Alec, you're level 27. ...... That's lower than I thought."
The soldier gives me a sullen look.
"There's one other person each with a B grade and an F grade. Everyone else is a C."
If Nene couldn't get in, would she have to go to another dungeon to level up and advance?
"Hmm? Is there an F? What's your party rank?"
"I'm not certified yet."
"What? Then you're an F."
"Ha-ha! You hear that? It's a F-ranked party!"
"Somebody tell them. This is a dungeon for high-level adventurers."
"They must have hired mercenaries for the money. They must have mistaken this place for a whorehouse with all those good-looking women."
"You're not wrong there! Ga-ha-ha!"
There was a lot of laughter, but I don't like it.
"Master is not mistaken!"
"Stop, Meena."
It'll only make you look worse.
"I'll just leave them alone. As for the name of the party, Fufu, how about 'Beauty and the Beast'?"
Serina said with a grin.
"Rejected."
"How about 'Dumplings and Cheese'?"
Lily said.
"Rejected!"
Take it seriously. that's just food name, isn't it?
"You can't seem to make up your mind. Then I'll decide for you. The name of your party is 'White Cats of the Backstreets'."
The soldier said, but this guy has no taste either.
"Make it a little more decent."
With a name like that, even if someone said, "Hey, I saw the 'White Cat of the Backstreets' yesterday," you'd think it was just a cat in the neighborhood, not a party.
"Huh? I thought it was good, but it's "Black Cat of the Wind" then. You'll have to come up with the rest on your own. The third layer should be fine for you guys, but this place is huge and there are a lot of traps. Think about food and get up here as soon as possible."
"Alright. Let's go."
"Be careful you don't fall down around there, you little chickens!"
"You'd be safer up there sucking on your mama's titties, wouldn't you?"
They can't keep their mouths shut.
"I wonder why they need to be told off us so much."
After descending the gentle stairs, Serina glared upwards.
"That's because, you're better equipped and you're with prettier people. It's jealousy, jealousy. Don't worry about it."
Another party of adventurers came down from above, and one of them said. Well, it's certainly no use worrying about it.
It's a dungeon, let's keep our heads up.
It's a long, wide passage that stretches from left to right and is probably ten meters wide. The ceiling is about four meters high.
The walls were carved with intricate coats of arms and evenly spaced candelabras were lit. If only there was a red carpet underneath it, it would look like the inside of a castle.
"Then, let's go from the left."
There are no monsters here yet, and adventurers come and go frequently, so we can't level up here.
We'll move quickly.
"""Got it."""
The cobblestone pathway was clean, flat, and easy to walk on. Lily was shining her magic lantern, but even without it, we could see all the way to the other side.
"It's not exactly what I was expecting, you know?"
Serina said.
"Yes, I was expecting a maze like the West Tower."
Ione said.
"Nah, just a little further and it'll be a normal maze. Where did you guys come from?"
The adventurer from earlier asked as he walked in the same direction as us. He was a white-haired man with a blue bandana wrapped around his head. He is wearing leather armor and a dagger, so his class must be Thief. He has dog ears.
"I'm from Vernia, though."
Serina answered.
"Hee~, The East? I came here three years ago from the Kingdom of Portiana in the west. I'm still at the rank of C, but it's nice to meet you, brother."
"Yeah, it's nice to meet you."
After about a hundred meters of straight passage, I turned right along the road, and it seemed to be a normal maze from here. The passage was still a bit wide, about four meters wide.
I walked a little further, but the dog-eared guy in the blue bandana was still behind me, so I stopped.
"Go ahead."
"Whoa, don't be so cautious. I was just trying to be helpful and see if my junior beginner could do well. I didn't mean anything by it."
"I thought that was what you meant, but Ralph, don't be so meddlesome. It's not like these guys are going to mess up on the first floor, no matter how you look at it. They even have dog ears."
Said a female warrior in Ralph's party. They are all wearing blue bandannas, as if for good luck.
"Yeah, I know, but there's a way to fight."
"So, if I show you how to fight once, you'll go away?"
I'll check.
"Yeah. You seem to be annoyed with us, and you're nervous the first time. We'll see how you fight, and if you're okay with it, we won't stalk you anymore."
I don't like to show my hand to other adventurers, but...
"Hey, Ralph, how's it going?"
Another party walked by.
"Same old, same old. We're still stuck on the third level."
"Damn, you guys would have been fine with five layers, but I like you. See you."
"Bye."
It may be too early to judge from just one group, but if they are regulars who are not being watched by other parties, there is little chance of PK.
I'll also do an appraisal just in case.
【Name】 Ralph
【Age】 28
【 L ｖ】 36
【Class】 Thief
【 Race 】 Dog-ear Tribe
【 Gender 】 Male
【 H P 】 372/372
【Status】 Healthy
【Description】
An adventurer from Portia.
His personality is friendly and sometimes active.
A friendly personality, huh?
"All right. Now, follow me for a bit."
"Sure thing, buddy."
Ralph laughed, but he was a friendly guy.
Previous Chapter --- TOC --- Next Chapter
thanks for the chapter.
ReplyDelete