Diving Into A Labyrinth!

The next day, the summoned heroes excluding Aiko, left the capital city of the Heiligh Kingdom with Meld and some of his knights. Their destination was Horaud Town. They left the castle in the morning and arrived at their destination in the afternoon.

Horaud was a small town that primarily existed to service the adventurers who traveled there wishing to challenge the Great Orcus Labyrinth. As the labyrinth was also used as a training arena for new soldiers, the kingdom maintained a state-run inn in the town, which was where the heroes were all staying.

The heroes had to share one room for two people, and Rob had to share his room with Jugo. However, Hajime was lucky that he got a room all to himself.

That night, Rob decided to sleep early because he needed to be in tip-top shape to dive into the labyrinth the next day.

The next morning, the heroes and knights reported to the plaza that served as the entrance to the Great Orcus Labyrinth early enough that the sun had still yet to rise. The heroes were filled with equal parts of trepidation and curiosity.

When Rob saw what the entrance to the Great Orcus Labyrinth looked like, he was taken aback by the structure. It was grand and breathtaking.

Though Rob had expected it, the anime and manga didn't do justice to the real thing. There was a receptionist counter, and a girl in uniform was checking over the people going in and out of the labyrinth with a smile.

It appeared that everyone's status plate was checked at the entrance. That way, the number of casualties could be accurately tallied.

With the threat of war looming overhead, the government wanted to avoid losing too many men, so they implemented that policy as one of their countermeasures.

There were numerous stalls lining up on the plaza, surrounding the entrance. The merchants were competing with each other to show off their wares.

It felt almost like a festival.

It appeared that upper floors that didn't have high danger were popular with merchants since people naturally gathered there.

The people present ranged from boisterous adventurers who talked big but quickly lost their lives in the labyrinth, to criminals who operated out of back alleys and other unsavory locations.

As the government was preparing for war, they didn't want to waste too many resources handling those problems, so they cooperated with the local adventurer's guild to keep the area safe.

People were selling their wares all the way up to the receptionist's desk at the entrance, which in a sense made life easier for the adventurers who were setting out into the labyrinth's depths.

Rob pulled himself together and examined other heroes. They were gawking like country bumpkins as we followed Meld in a single file, like a row of little ducklings.

Once inside, the lively atmosphere that had surrounded them moments ago vanished. In front of them was a passage that was a little over five meters wide.

Although there was no obvious light source, the entire labyrinth was dimly lit, enough that one could vaguely make out their surroundings without the help of a torch or magical item.

In truth, the passages were all lit by a special mineral called Green Glowstone that was buried in the walls. In fact, the entire Great Orcus Labyrinth was actually an excavated vein of Green Glowstone ore.

The heroes all filed into ranks and slowly advanced through the labyrinth. After a few uneventful minutes, the passage they were walking down opened up into a wide plaza.

Towering seven or eight meters above them was a dome-shaped ceiling. The heroes and Rob were all looking around curiously when suddenly several gray creatures resembling furballs burst out from cracks in the wall.

"Alright, Kouki, your team's up in the front! Everyone else falls back! I'll have you switch in after some time, so stay sharp! These monsters are called Ratmen! They're quick on their feet, but not all that strong. Keep your cool as you fight!"

As Meld had said, the Ratmen were quite fast and rushed at the students and knights with alarming agility.

Pairs of dark red eyes gleamed with a ghastly light from within the balls of fur. Their name was rather fitting, as they looked like a giant, muscular rat... that stood on two feet.

Only the area around their corded chests and impressive eight-packs was bereft of fur, almost as if they were trying to show them off.

Kouki's group, who were facing them head-on, all grimaced when they got a better look, especially Shizuku, who was standing up in the front. They certainly did look disgusting.

Once the Ratmen entered into range, Kouki, Shizuku, and Ryutarou all attacked at once. In the meantime, Kaori, Eri, and Suzu started chanting their spells.

The rearguards prepared their magic when the vanguard fought on the Frontline. That was the basic formation all the heroes practiced during training.

Kouki swung his bastard sword faster than the eye could follow and slaughtered a score of them with his first swing. His sword was one of the artifacts that had been resting in the Heiligh treasury, and had the rather cliched name of "The Holy Sword."

It was blessed with the light element, which had the sickeningly efficient properties of simultaneously weakening enemies that were hit by the light it emitted while also increasing the user's physical strength. It sure played dirty for a "holy" sword.

Ryutarou, on the other hand, had the job of Monk, which was a martial arts class that fought with its fists. He was equipped with a pair of gauntlets and greaves.

Those gauntlets and greaves were also artifacts and were capable of unleashing enchanted shockwaves. They were also unbreakable.

Ryutarou took up a stance and splendidly beat down any enemy that came close with punches and kicks, not letting a single one pass. Despite being practically bare-handed, his massive frame made him seem like an armored heavy knight.

Shizuku, meanwhile, possessed the job of Swordswoman, which was fitting for a samurai-esque girl like her. She wielded a blade that was midway between a katana and a scimitar and made short work of any enemies that got within reach of her sword with her quick-draw skills.

While everyone was busy watching Kouki and the others fight, the girls in the back finished their chuuni chants.

"Flames blacker than pitch, swirl about thine enemies! Burn until naught but their ashes remain, Spiral Blaze!"

Kaori, Suzu, and Eri cast the spell in unison, and a huge whirlwind of flames enveloped the Ratmen, burning them to a crisp. The Ratmen screeched in pain, flailing wildly until the flames pouring down on them reduced them to ash.

In the blink of an eye, all of the Ratmen had been annihilated. The other students didn't even get a chance to fight.

It looked like monsters on the first floor were far too weak to even put up a fight against Kouki's group.

"Wow, well done! Alright, the rest of you will be up next, so don't relax just yet!"

Meld reminded the class not to let their guard down, though he was smiling, impressed at their prowess. Still, he couldn't prevent the students from getting pumped up about their first dungeon monster elimination expedition. In the end, he shrugged his shoulders helplessly as he saw the students breaking out into smiles.

"Oh, and... while you don't have to worry about it this time since it's training, in the future try and kill your enemies in a way that preserves their mana crystals. What you did back there was overkill."

Kaori and the others blushed at Meld's words, realizing they may have gone too far.

From then on, the heroes and knights smoothly advanced through the floors of the labyrinth, rotating the vanguard between battles. Eventually, everyone arrived at the twentieth floor, the floor that separated skilled adventurers from rank amateurs.

Currently, the deepest floor people had managed to reach was floor sixty-five. However, it was a legendary feat that hadn't been replicated since, so in recent times anyone who made it past the first twenty floors was considered a highly-skilled fighter. Anyone who made it past the first forty was superhuman.

With Kouki at the head, they all were able to easily advance through the floors. Though the students had little combat experience, their overpowered abilities more than compensated for their inexperience.

On the other hand, Rob and his group easily dispatched enemies without a problem when it was his group's turn. Jugo, Kentarou, Ayako, and Mao Yoshino were in Rob's group.

Jugo, with his Heavy Knight Job, fully armored body, and a tower shield in his hand, was the group's main tank. Kentarou the Geomancer and Ayako the Aeromancer were the rearguards, supporting the vanguards with their magic. Meanwhile, Mao was the group's support due to her Rejuvenist Job.

Speaking of Mao, she was a young woman with shoulder-length, spiky brown hair and dark irises. She was Ayako's best friend.

Finally, Rob was the main damage dealer of his group.

Anyway, the students and the knights advanced further into the labyrinth. The most dangerous enemy they faced was actually the traps scattered about, and some of them were even lethal.

The most common countermeasure for traps was something known as a Fair Scope, which was a handy tool that detected traps by reading the flow of mana. Most of the traps in the labyrinth were magical in nature, so a Fair Scope detected around 80% of them.

However, the Scope possessed a very limited range, so it was only effective in the hands of an experienced user. Therefore, the real reason the heroes were able to descend so smoothly was because of how well their knight mentors were guiding them.

On top of that, Meld also often reminded the heroes to never enter a room that hadn't been scoured for traps first.

"Alright everyone, from this point on, monsters won't come at you just one species at a time. They'll coordinate with each other and attack in large groups. Don't let your guard down just because we've had nothing but easy victories so far! Today's training will conclude once we clear the twentieth floor, so let's end things with a bang!"

Meld's voice echoed throughout the room. The heroes felt relieved that they finally could take a break.