56 Chapter 56
We warped to the second floor of the Vale Labyrinth, exactly where we stopped last time when we came here to level up Sherry's Villager Job. I adjusted my Jobs and BP.
[ Kaga Michio
<Male*Age 17>
Explorer Level 26
Hero Level 17
Wizard Level 25
Warrior Level 25
Merchant Level 1
Equipment: Steel plate Armour, Steel Boots, Steel Gauntlet, Steel Helmet, Steel Rod, Curtana, Wizard's Bracelet]
[Character Settings
BP:0
Status: Agility +5, Strength +2
Bonus Equipment: Curtana
Bonus Spells: Incantation Omission
Bonus Skills: Required Experience x1/20, Experience Gain x40, Fifth Class, Appraisal, Character Reset]
Bonus point used:
Weapon(2): 3
Necessary Exp Reduction (x1/20): 31
Exp Gain Up (x40): 63
Incantation Omission: 3
Fifth Job: 15
Char reset: 1
Appraisal: 1
Agility: 5
Strength: 3
As I needed a significant amount of money in the near future, I decided to level up the Merchant Job. As it was the only Job whose level up reward is highly likely to give me money.
"Roxanne, lead the way," I said, scanning the surroundings.
"Yes, this way" Roxanne replied, taking a left turn.
During Breakfast, we had discussed whether to abandon the Vale Labyrinth and just head to the Quratar Labyrinth instead, as we have a map for the Quratar labyrinth, which would make our ascent faster despite it being nearly 3 times larger than the Vale labyrinth.
However, Sherry and I were in agreement that most of the labyrinths won't have such detailed maps available. So exploring the uncharted Vale labyrinth would give us valuable experience in navigating unknown territories.
Soon, we encountered two demons.
[Green Caterpillar Level 2]
[Needle Wood Level 2]
Making short work of both of them we walked forward and came across the Boss room.
"Look like we were quite close to the Boss room last time" Sherry comments looking at the doors.
There was no one in the waiting room, the Search and End declaration must still not be out, so we will have relatively fewer people here to worry about.
I adjusted the BP from Exp gain up x40, to Crystal Upgrade x64. We nodded at each other and entered the Boss room.
Smoke gathered and an extremely large bug materialized in front of us.
[White Caterpillar Level 2]
This Boss caterpillar was as big as a carriage and had a repulsive white appearance. It looked really gross. Knowing that this Boss was able to use a skill to shoot threads, we all sprinted towards it quickly.
The White Caterpillar also dashed towards us, Roxanne deflected its charge with her Steel Shield, meanwhile I closed in on its side and Slashed my Curtana through it, killing it in one shot.
That fight really felt underwhelming. The boss dissolves in smoke leaving a drop behind.
[Silk Thread]
So the regular Caterpillars drop Thread and the Boss drops Silk Thread, is it because it's white? I stored the drop and we went up towards the third floor.
I readjusted my BP and we started exploring the third floor following Roxanne's lead.
All the demons in the starting 11 floors were the same, just their order differed. For example, in the Vale Labyrinth, I encountered Needle Wood on the first floor, while in the Quratar Labyrinth, I would encounter it on the eighth floor. So knowing what this floor's demon was, I was quite relaxed.
Soon we encountered a demon.
[Kobold Level 3]
Before it even noticed us, I launched a 'Windball' at it. A transparent ball of wind smashed at its head and it dissolved in smoke. I just sigh, seeing how weak the Kobold is, I can literally just blow it away.
I picked up the drop and we continued our exploration. As we didn't have a map, we ran into many deadends, and had to backtrack several times, which took up a considerable amount of time. Thankfully, Roxanne could always tell which paths we had already taken.
Finally, we reached the third floor Boss. I readjusted my BP to Crystal upgrade and we entered the Boss room.
This time I had told both Sherry and Roxanne that I would like to face this Boss alone, so they were standing behind me inside the room.
Smoke gathered on the opposite side of the room and the Boss materialized.
[Kobold Kampfer Level 3]
The Kobold Boss was dark green coloured and it even had six packs. It snarled angrily at me and ran towards me with a knife which was bigger than its body. I looked at it and it felt like a Kid was coming at me with a knife.
As soon as it entered my range, I slashed my Curtana at it. My sword smashed its head, although I couldn't cut through it, the force of my blow sent the Kobold's body flying through the air. After two seconds of air time it crashed to the floor.
I followed its flight and before it could get up, I arrived and instead of striking it with my sword, I kicked its big head as if it was a football. Its head burst like a water balloon and the Boss's body disappeared in smoke.
"As expected of Master" Roxanne cheered from behind.
"That was certainly impressive" Sherry said while looking at my leg in doubt.
The Spice Spider Boss on the third floor of the Quratar's Labyrinth took three skill strikes to kill, but this one was defeated so easily. My strength has definitely increased, or perhaps the Kobold was simply that weak.
[Kobold Flour]
I stuffed the drop inside our bag, and checked the Magic crystal.
"Look Roxanne, Sherry" I showed both of them the Magic crystal which had changed to Green color.
"Wow Master, it had just turned Blue recently" Roxanne exclaims in surprise.
"So this is what you meant about your ability to increase the magic gathered when killing the demons." Sherry said while taking out her own magic crystal which was still Red.
"See, Master can make money easily" Roxanne proudly stated, and Sherry nodded along feeling impressed.
However, a Green Crystal can only net a single Gold coin. I keep the Magic crystal inside my drawstring bag as we moved on to the 4th floor.
"On this Floor we will encounter Mino" I said while adjusting my BP.
"If it's Mino then we should be careful, they have high attack power" Sherry said while thinking about something.
"You just have to look at the attack carefully, they are very easy to evade," Roxanne said with a confident smile.
Sherry smiles wryly at her before turning to me, "Master Mino are resistant to Fire attacks," Sherry reminded me. I thanked her for her reminder and we began exploring the fourth floor.
As Roxanne informed us about a group of demons ahead, we prepared ourselves and cautiously moved forward until we were face-to-face with them.
[Mino Level 4]
The Mino were brown buffalos with sharp, pointed horns and a muscular appearance. However, their torsos seemed shorter, giving them a compact look. There were three Mino who turned towards us simultaneously. All of them looked angry and started charging towards us in a straight line.
Seeing its charge and ferocious expression reminded me of the Spanish Bull running event. Without wasting any time, I pointed my Steel Rod at them and chanted, 'Sand Storm'.
A whirlwind of sand started whipping around them, attacking their bodies. Despite the sandstorm, their charge didn't cease, so I activated the spell in my Magic gem, casting another, 'Sand Storm'. In between my two Magic gems, I had filled them with 5 storm spells of each element.
The two sandstorms slowed down the Mino's charge, as sand started getting in their eyes. Two of them slowed down, but the middle one continued charging despite the sand surrounding it.
Roxanne dashed forward confronting it head on. As she neared the Mino, she smashed her Steel Shield into its face, altering its course and swiftly slashed her rapier against its thick hide.
Before the Mino could retaliate, the duration of the first spell ended, and I immediately used another, 'Sand Storm'. All three Minos fell to the ground and disappeared in smoke.
"Roxanne-san is as impressive as always," Sherry complimented with a smile.
"No, if it had been a prolonged battle, I am not sure if I could have dodged everything. So Master you were the amazing one" Roxanne replied, looking at me in admiration.
I just shake my head at their antics and pick up the drop.
[Leather]
A piece of the buffalo's hide was the drop.
"Sherry, can you make something out of this?" I asked her handing her the Leather.
"Umm, once you became skilled at making Misanga, you are supposed to make a Dagger" Sherry responded hesitantly, "But since I have only recently become a Master Smith, I should continue making Misanga for now"
"With me here, you are leveling up very fast, so you can try making a Dagger tonight" I reassured her.
"Okay" Sherry nodded, still somewhat unsure.
She did make a Misanga after Breakfast, but it also didn't have an open skill slot. Hopefully, she could create one before I obtained the Caterpillar Skill Crystal.
We continued our exploration on the 4th floor. While the Minos posed some difficulty, there were also groups that included a mix of Kobolds or Needle Woods, which made it slightly easier.
Roxanne could distinguish Mino's smell from others so she did ask me if I wanted to avoid Mino, but I turned it down as they were still manageable.
After eliminating a group of two Minos, we discovered a different drop.
[Beef]
"So Minos really are buffalo" I muttered to myself.
Pleased with our increased Meat supply, we continued exploring the floor with excitement. After a long time, we finally stumbled across the Boss room.
This time while adjusting my BP, I removed 3 points from Agility and a single point from Strength and added them to Bonus Equipment.
Curtana vanished from my hands, and in its place, a new Sword materialized.
[Glamdring
-Attack Power x5
-Incantation Interruption
-Ignore Defence]
It was a Rarity 3 weapon that cost 7 BP. The two handed sword looked even more impressive than Curtana and Gram, it had the same Golden theme and a bunch of brown lines were added on the hilt of the sword.
Holding the Glamdring in one hand and a Magic Rod in another, I couldn't help but feel an urge to shout, "You Shall Not Pass!". I chuckled to myself as Sherry approached me.
"Another impressive sword" Sherry commented, looking at the weapon. I handed it to her so she could examine it closely.
"Master, the Sun is going to set soon" Roxanne informed me.
I thanked her for the reminder and continued to adjust my BP.
Once we were ready, I opened the door to the Boss's room, and smoke began gathering on the opposite side.
From the smoke materialized a Big Buffalo, or a Big Bull? I can't be sure, but it was surely Big. The other Mino looked like children compared to this.
[Honeycomb Tripe]
It's better to call it Chad Bull. The Boss had dark green coloured skin and yellow horns, its fierce yellow eyes locked onto us. With a ferocious expression, it started charging towards us. The size of its horns were massive, it resembled that of an elephant's tusks.
Roxane charged straight at the Boss, while Sherry went to its side and I circled around to its back. The Boss, just like the other Mino, had a very short torso, so I chose its back as my target. Sadly there was no hole here or I could have used my ultimate move, 'Thousand Years of Death'.
I attacked the Boss's hind legs using 'Rush'. Its skin was incredibly tough, I knew this would happen, that's why I changed my sword, as this one had Ignore Defence in it. My sword penetrated its skin, but it still proved to be quite hard.
Roxanne was doing an incredible Job of handling the Boss's charging attacks, expertly evading its horns. Sherry was having the easiest time, thrusting her spear into the Boss's midsection.
As I executed a second 'Rush' on the Boss's leg, my skill 'Initial Movement Sense' alerted me of the incoming back kick. I was looking out for the kick, so I just sidestepped and evaded it while slashing the outstretched muscular leg with 'Rush'.
A loud grunt echoed from the front, so it must have really hurt. Not letting the chance slip by, I slashed my Glamdring a fourth time with 'Rush', and this time my sword passed through its legs, cutting its hind legs cleanly.
The Boss gradually dissolved in smoke.
[Tripe]
Observing the green coloured, honeycomb shaped meat, I understood why it was named Honeycomb tripe. I stored it inside our backpack. We stopped after ascending to the 5th floor.
"Let's go home and have Dinner"
