Chapter 9: First Floor Labyrinth

[Third Person Pov]

[8th of November, 14.12]

[A/N: Ayanokoji's Appearance:]

After Ayanokoji greeted Kei off, he went to a blacksmith nearby. It was an NPC blacksmith to avoid having a player of having knowledge of what he'd do now.

He had a <<Anneal Blade>>, and yet he could not use it, as it was a one-handed straight sword, unlike the weapon he was wielding that happened to be a one-handed curved sword.

If he were to equip the curved sword again, it'd result in losing all his weapon proficiency progress and, thus, all his sword skills he gathered.

That is something he only happened to know after unequipping his one-handed sword, then equipping the one-handed curved sword. Unfortunately, he didn't know that sooner.

Anyways, this didn't quite matter anymore.

Once arriving at the blacksmith NPC, he saw an immediate interface in front of him, confronted with several choices.

The choice he chose was to change the type of the <<Anneal Blade>> from a one-handed straight sword to a one-handed curved sword for the <<Anneal.

Was this even possible? Indeed, it was. But it was quite expensive. The rarer your weapon was, the more you'd need to pay.

In his case, it cost 2.000 Cor, which wasn't that much, but it was a weapon from the floor one, which definitely also reduced the cost.

[Cor: 88.396] – 2.000

[Cor: 86.396]

Nothing changed overall much, aside from the weapon type of the <<Anneal Blade>>. The damage the weapon was dealing with, alongside the Durability the sword had, was the same.

Aside from that, he enhanced the sword regarding all categories of possible enhancements.

There were five in total: accuracy, durability, heaviness, quickness, and lastly, sharpness.

For all these five categories, there was a limit on enhancing them six times, also written as +6. By now, the limit he could enhance was four times for all categories.

A one-time enhancement for a category costs 100 Cor's. In other words, 2.000 Cor's to enhance all categories +4, for which he needed to wait more than 10 minutes until it was finished sadly.

There were options to increase the probability of success, but usually, up to +4, the probability of failure was quite low. So he didn't think of choosing the option for 300 Cor, which had the 100 percent probability rate, and would cost him 4.000 additional Cor's to enhance all categories +4

Besides, at the failure of the enhancement, there were three options available; only the materials are consumed, the enhancement level remains the same but the properties change, or the player's items loses a level of enhancement.

It didn't require any additional materials for leveling up four times for each of these categories, only the base materials.

To enhance it however further, the item suggests that you need certain additional materials at Floor 2 to consider this option to begin with.

So there wasn't any purpose on even thinking of trying the 'Maximum Enhancement'.

All in all, his total spending at the blacksmith was 4.000 Cor's.

[Cor: 86.396] – 2.000

[Cor: 84.396]

He put the sword in the inventory again, after seeing that no one was watching him the whole time, and chose to equip one of those curved swords that cost 50 Cor's.

After dealing with this, he decided on walking towards the direction of Tolbana, with his four skills he had available currently.

[Skills:]

[Searching:] – [Lvl. 36/1.000]

[Sprint:] – [Lvl. 33/1.000]

[Slant:] – [Lvl. 19/1.000]

[Vertical:] – [Lvl. 34/1.000]

[Weapon Proficiency:] – [Lvl. 43/1.000]

It was the third day, but his stats weren't really satisfactory enough for him. He killed endlessly Monsters. He tried on reseting his stats, fighting monsters higher than him, that didn't require a simple hit to be killed, to see whether the weapon proficiency would level up faster, but it remained the same, as when he'd kill them instantly.

Regretfully, it worked like this. In a deep sigh, he chose a route to Tolbana, which was said to be the most dangerous one, according to Argo, but also the fastest. He didn't see there any players because you could definitely see from far away, <<Swamp Kobolds>> between the levels 6-7 there.

He chose to kill the Kobolds, hidden inside the swamp, almost making him advance up to level 13.

After clearing the Kobolds, he didn't wait for them to spawn anymore. The Monster's in the Labyrinth should be more than enough, he guessed, as they are the strongest ones in the Floor 1, according to Argo.

[Level 12: 81.854/93.600]

[Stats:]

[Strenght: (13)] – [Strenght: 15]

[Agility: (12)] – [Agility: 16]

[Vitality: 5] – [Vitality: 5]

His Stats should be enough for now. But as for the Floor Boss, he wouldn't even dare of thinking of entering now.

If he was level 20, he might think of entering, perhaps even alone. Although, he'd focus then his Stats majorly towards Agility.

[TimeSkip]

[Time: 16.19]

After walking and walking, he finally arrived at Tolbana. Through his small adventure of walking and killing monsters, he advanced up to level 13.

Luckily, he could now teleport here whenever he wanted between these two cities.

The exceptions are at fights, floor battles, quests, and in the Labyrinth. In the Labyrinth, he should pay attention to not losing the sight of the exit, according to the guide.

Additionally, Ayanokoji learned his lesson from yesterday and now wouldn't think of renting a room so that someone like Argo just doesn't appear in front of him like with Kirito yesterday.

He thanked the info-broker slightly for this valuable lesson from yesterday.

Before he went to the Labyrinth, he wanted to see what the market here had to offer.

But to his disappointment, there wasn't really anything new.

The weapons were bluntly said, garbage, the equipment wasn't good either, he had far better equipment, and most importantly, the NPC's offered the same food here, just like in the <<City of The Beginnings>>.

There wasn't really anything new at all, which was slightly depressing him earnestly. Like always, however, he bought his usual food, panini's.

He bought himself four panini's, one of them eating now, while he was walking to the entrance of the Labyrinth, that was from Tolbana estimatingly 25 minutes away.

Within twenty minutes, he appeared right in front of the Labyrinth entrance. It didn't seem quite large if you looked at it from outside, but well, that's what you call misconception.

Without hesitation, Ayanokoji entered the Labyrinth. His first thought about the Labyrinth was that it was quite large. It was almost completely dark if it weren't for the torches on the walls right next to him.

You also had the choice of lifting a torch in your left hand, in sacrifice for the shield, however, something he did not use, as it heavily affected his agility.

Besides, his reaction speed was phenomenal. Even if a group of monsters were to attack him, he'd notice it and react to it immediately.

Even before Ayanokoji walked far into the Labyrinth, he saw a group of <<Ruin Kobolds>> two of them having equipment on them, like players.

All of these six <<Ruin Kobolds>>, however, had weapons, which was quite worrisome. According to Argo's guide, they should also be able to use just like him sword skills.

Besides that, four of them were Lvl. 8, two of them Lvl. 9, another worrisome problem.

It definitely wouldn't be that easy to defeat these groups.

Normally, you are supposed to head out with a group of two to three, one of them being a tanker, and the other two being the DPS.

He walked alone as there wasn't anyone in particular with whom he could form a party due to their low level.

He would, however, form regardless of parties with BetaTester's, no matter the situation. They seem to have valuable information's, so doing some connections with them isn't all too bad.

Even though he befriended Kirito and Argo, he shouldn't rely on these two only.

There should be tons of others that have information regarding the additional floors, that even someone like Argo isn't in charge of knowledge of, and naturally would not be able to include inside of her guide.

Focusing back to the Labyrinth again, the group of <<Ruin Kobolds>> to his unfortunate seemed to have noticed him, sprinting towards his direction.

The Kobold with the spear was the first one to attack, throwing the spear towards Ayanokoji face. It definitely was a small moment of surprise, seeing a Kobold throwing their weapon.

The speed was quite fast, but he was faster.

Ayanokoji effortlessly moved his neck to thirty degrees sidewards to the left, preventing the throwing spear of even hitting him.

Instead, it hit the wall behind him and stuck there.

The Kobold who threw the spear seemed to be angered. "Kurugoru..."

He had no idea about this 'Kobold' language at all, but logically deducing, it was easy to say that the Kobold was saying to attack him in their language.

He was analyzing the 'Kobold' Language. However, it was evident to even think of understanding them, without a certain context in a situation, like here, you'd need a skill, probably, to understand their language.

He wouldn't think of learning such a skill, as it was a waste on his skill slot bar.

The Kobolds seemed to have gotten infuriated by Ayanokoji's calm behavior, each of them sprinting right in front of him, attacking him respectively with their weapons sword skills.

Ayanokoji, however, did not heed any attention towards them. Instead, he was still standing there, not having moved a single inch from his position.

The other Lvl. 9 Ruin Kobold appeared in front of Ayanokoji as the first one, attacking Ayanokoji with his dagger.

Just like Kei, he was using the sword skill, [Canine], to attack Ayanokoji. Out of obvious reason, Ayanokoji knew how the attack would follow.

However, instead of dodging and moving from his position, Ayanokoji chooses to block the attack with his sword.

The Kobold was under the impression of being able to break his weapon, thus ending Ayanokoji's life, but that didn't quite go as expected.

Instead of breaking Ayanokoji's weapon, he clashed the dagger away, throwing the weapon up to the ceiling, making it stuck there.

Without hesitation, he activated his [Slant] skill, finishing the Kobold immediately off.

[You gained 85 EXP]

[You gained 70 Cor's]

[You gained the item <<Kobold's Dagger>> (R)]

'A rare item, huh? It seems like I do have certainly luck...'

Besides that, Ayanokoji had also gotten the skill he was aiming for. It was the sword skill [Parry], which would be according to Argo only be unlocked when you perfectly parried an opponent with a weapon.

That was the requirement on unlocking the skill.

He paid hundreds of Cor's for the information from Argo to give him suggestions on which skills would be the most worthwhile and how to unlock it.

She gave him for a price of a hundred Cor's for each skill, the information on how to unlock it, and what the skill does.

[Parry] was one of the skills he anticipated the most. It'd definitely prove to be useful. Now that playtime was over, Ayanokoji killed the rest of the Monsters.

The level 9 monster was able to take five hits from him, while the level 8 monsters were to take three. It was the difference on equipment the Lvl. 9 monster had, in comparison to the other ones.

In any case, the EXP he earned here wasn't that bad.

[You gained 74 EXP]

[You gained 60 Cor's]

x3

[You gained 85 EXP]

[You gained 70 Cor's]

[You gained the item <<Kobold's Spear>> (N)]

This encounter was special. After all, the <<Ruin Kobolds>> in the Labyrinth were only said to be between Lvl. 6 and 7, not higher than that.

It was true, but for the first player to arrive here, and more, these groups of Kobolds should be a surprise and a immediate reason to retreat and group up in the dungeon, so Kayaba's intention.

This didn't stop Ayanokoji at all. He began to explore the Labyrinth more thoroughly.

After hours of exploring the Labyrinth, he saw a hidden entry inside the walls somewhere, so he decided to approach it carefully.

After slightly opening the hidden entry that he was only able to detect through his skill, he saw an immediate arrow incoming towards his face.

He could dodge it, but he could also catch it. He decided the latter option to catch the arrow, but once he had caught it, the arrow disappeared immediately.

This game was a game of swords only, so this here was simply for the function of a trap.

Right in front of the entry, there was a chest, so he decided to open it after seeing no other traps nearby. Once he opened it, Ayanokoji got far better equipment for him, then he imagined. A level 9 armor set, by far the best he has currently.

The things he had now were between levels 5 and 6, so it was definitely nice to get a set full of that armor, from this hidden chest, inside the floor Labyrinth.

He nodded in satisfaction that he didn't think of unequipping the [Searching] skill and decided to explore the Labyrinth further.

[TimeSkip]

[Time: 2.48]

Ten hours, and nine minutes. That was how long Ayanokoji was inside the Labyrinth. He couldn't tell how long he explored the Labyrinth already, but even he felt quite tired from his adventure. Although there's unlimited stamina, it wasn't as if there wasn't mental fatigue here at all.

Repetitively killing monsters over and over again, seeing nothing new to the Boss monster room despite having explored more than seventy percent of the Labyrinth, was quite tiring.

Besides that, he had gotten some messages from Kei, who was worried about him not appearing for dinner at all.

It wasn't as if he didn't want to. He simply wanted to find the Floor Boss room.

Later, he'd sell his Map Data far more expensive than he planned, and well, perhaps buy one or two buildings from the income of the Map Data, if it was much.

Especially since the prices of buildings are quite low, he should use this chance to buy as many as possible and then sell it in the future far more expensive.

In a deep sigh, Ayanokoji explored the Labyrinth further, wanting to find the Boss Room.

[TimeSkip]

[Time: 3.58]

Finally, after exploring the Labyrinth that long, he had found this way to the Boss Room. By now, it didn't require much anymore to advance up to the next level.

[Level 16: 149.128/163.200]

[Cor: 126.320]

[Stats:]

[Strenght: 19]

[Agility: 24]

[Vitality: 5]

He wondered whether he should try on testing the Strength of the Monster, just as a small information beforehand.

Should he?

A question he was right now asking himself constantly. It crossed his thoughts over and over again.

It wasn't like as if he wasn't curious how strong the Monster would be.

He had encountered on his way to Tolbana, a Field Boss, which was quite weak if he had to say, but it should give for beginners quite the amount of EXP. For him, it wasn't really that much, and it did not help as much as he hoped.

Because of that, he was wondering how strong <<Illfang the Kobold Lord>> must be, since he was disappointed with the last boss quite a bit.

He didn't plan on defeating it. He just wanted to test the Floor Monsters Strength. After all, if he did defeat the Floor Monster, his plan on selling the Map Data would be worthless.

Additionally, once he opened the door to the second floor, every player would be messaged and would be able to teleport to the first city there.

The Labyrinth itself was quite complex if he had to be honest. The Labyrinth covered about 20th Floors, the Boss Room being at the last, the 20th Floor. Even then, no one precisely knew where the Boss Monster would be, so you'd need to search all floors precisely. Besides, the number of monsters inside the Labyrinth was no joke.

Ayanokoji skipped quite many of them since Labyrinth Monsters wouldn't respawn anymore. Once cleared, they'd be completely gone.

So if he were to clear too many of them, he'd not be able to efficiently sell his Map Data to other people, as they could simply walk their themself and explore the area until they find the Floor Boss.

Although, even if he skipped many of them, the ones he fought still gave him four level ups.

Additionally, he was planning on thoroughly luring many of these monsters to some specific positions, making it harder to advance floors up.

His Stats were far more than enough to do that and come out unharmed.

Ayanokoji, having found the solution, focused now on opening the Floor Boss Door.

It might be a mistake, but to estimatingly know how strong this monster was, he needed to evaluate it thoroughly.

Besides, he was having quite the amount of HP, so there shouldn't be much trouble. If something unexpected happened, he'd retreat immediately.

[Ayanokoji:]

[HP: 3.570/3.570]

... Then, Ayanokoji opened the massive iron door, seeing a massive chamber that was between 60 and 80 feet large and 50 to 60 feet wide. The sides of the chamber were adorned with a strange mottled aesthetic, similar to strained glass. They were flanked with large stone pillars, clearly designed to support the weight of the ceiling.

Not that it mattered in particular. All he wanted to do now was to evaluate the floor boss.

<<Illfang, the Kobold Lord>> having seen someone opening the door immediately jumps to the middle of the chamber from his large throne that was made of bones.

Then, a loud roar came from the certain Boss monster, aiming to scare the players who would challenge him, in this case, Ayanokoji away.

"Oh..." Ayanokoji muttered under his breath.

For a second, he thought his Stats might decrease, as Boss Monsters should be able to do that, but it wasn't like that.

It was a simple loud roar. That was all.

Just as Illfang wanted to approach him, Ayanokoji opened the door, leaving the boss room. He wasn't scared by the Boss Monster.

He just wanted to verify whether Argo's information was right and that you could leave the Boss Room whenever you want.

Now that it was confirmed, he had no qualms about entering the Chamber again.

Just like before, he saw Illfang jumping from his bone throne. The scream came in the same interval as anticipated.

Then, Illfang threw some cubes that contained the <<Ruin Kobold Sentinels>> unleashing them into the chamber.

Ayanokoji went and killed them as the first. Each one of them required two hits to be killed by his standard attacks. It wasn't hard on killing them, but rather to dodge the group of Kobolds and Illfang again and again and again simultaneously has been proven to be quite the difficult task.

[You gained 60 EXP]

[You gained 60 Cor's]

x9

It was quite a pleasant surprise to see a level 6 <<Ruin Kobold Sentinel>> to give more EXP than a normal <<Swamp Kobold>> monster at the same level.

But it was to be expected after all, as the Labyrinth Monsters are limited and the Swamp Kobolds weren't.

Before Illfang could summon another bunch of Kobold Sentinels, Ayanokoji sprinted towards his direction, activating the [Slant] Skill, taking an eight of one of Illfangs four HP Bar's.

"Oh..." Ayanokoji murmured.

He definitely expected more damage, especially considering his weapon, his Stats, and everything, but well, it seems like that wasn't the case.

As there weren't any other players, Illfang was completely focusing on Ayanokoji. Immediately after Ayanokoji's attack, Illfang attacked Ayanokoji with his bone axe. Ayanokoji was only barely able to parry with his sword the attack from Illfang.

The result, Ayanokoji, was sent flying from the impact of Illfang's attack. In the air, he tried to regroup his body, landing with both of his feet on the ground.

He looked at his sword, seeing that it affected its durability a bit.

Ayanokoji looked behind him, seeing the door only a couple of meters away from him. If he hadn't regrouped himself in the air, he would have definitely been thrown out by Illfang from the Boss Room.

He was contemplating, should he leave? No, he wasn't affected at all. He needed to confirm whether everything Argo said in the manual was true or not.

The first thing was to check the sword behind him out.

[Ayanokoji:]

[HP: 3.570/3.570]

He didn't lose any HP yet, which was good, but if this battle continued, he'd definitely lose quite a bit.

He had only faced 9 Kobold Sentinels, and every forty-five seconds, many of them would respawn again.

There were even now more than previously. The amount of the Kobold Sentinels exceeded twenty, and it'd continue to do so.

It was definitely not a fight he could win alone, even if he tried? Well, he could, but it'd be quite hard in his current state.

The only thing that mattered now was to confirm

whether everything that Argo said was truly right or whether Kayaba changed a few things, such as Illfang's other weapon.

For that, Ayanokoji would need to get somehow behind him to see it. Well, that depends on whether it was scathed in leather or not, which was one of the ways of identifying the weapon.

In any case, he needs to get behind Illfang somehow. Ayanokoji had formulated immediately a small plan on how to do it.

Ayanokoji ran towards Illfang with every ounce of speed he had, ignoring the Kobold Sentinels. Illfang, who was seven feet tall, prepared with his axe a vertical attack, while Ayanokoji was using his sword skill [Vertical] against Illfang's axe.

The impact then should give Ayanokoji the chance while having his speed from the running to slide down under Illfang's legs, while the Boss Monster he faced would need to adjust his weapon from the impact.

Like he thought it worked. He was able to get behind Illfang and looked at the weapon behind the former was having.

Illfang didn't sheathe his weapon behind leather or something else. It was open to everyone's view, who simply looked behind his back.

And just as he thought, Kayaba changed the weapon the Boss Monster had. It wasn't a Talwar. It was a Katana. To be more precise,

it was a Nodachi.

With this, he became more convinced that there should be a Katana available here. The question was, how would he unlock it if there was one.

Well, he would ask the info-broker if she had information regarding the Katana or whether you could unlock it.

Without any hesitation, Ayanokoji killed all the twenty Kobold Sentinels to gain additional Cor's and Experience Points.

[You gained 60 EXP]

[You gained 60 Cor's]

x20

Ayanokoji looked at Illfang and hoped that the latter one would not attack him the next time they met, when he decided on clearing the floor with some other players.

'Now I simply need to return to the exit...' he frowned, deprivingly.

"Hah, how bothersome," Ayanokoji muttered.

--

A/N: This concludes the chapter.

I hope you liked it. Because it was quite difficult to write if I'm being honest.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing for the next chapters since I have literally no idea.

But I guess I'll let my imagination run wild here and there again.

I have actually nothing more to say, really.

Yeah, not really.

Have a good day!