Into The Labyrinth 3

"Keep your feet shoulder-width apart," she instructs, adjusting my stance. "You need a solid base to maintain balance."

I nod, widening my stance as she demonstrates. The next Steel Carapace Beetle lunges at us, and I feel more stable as I thrust my spear.

"Now, keep your elbows in when you strike. It will give you more control and power."

I adjust my grip, pulling my elbows closer to my body. I thrust again, feeling a noticeable difference in the strength behind my attack.

"Well done. Remember to always keep your guard up after each strike."

I focus on her advice, bringing my spear back to a defensive position after each attack. When it charges at us I maintain my guard, ready for its attack. Ayame blocks its charge, giving me the opportunity to strike at its vulnerable side.

"Good, but don't forget to pivot on your back foot. It helps you move faster and dodge attacks more effectively." She quickly demonstrates what she means.

I mimic her movement, pivoting on my back foot as the creature swings its thorny tail. The maneuver allows me to evade the attack and counter with a precise thrust to its underbelly.

I never studied martial arts before so I can't compare her to anyone but I feel that she is a great teacher. I like that she is very patient and calm. My basketball coach used to make me feel afraid of making mistakes so rather than trying new moves I always went for the most surefire one, which resulted in consistency but I got bored of the sport as it felt way too stressful and unrewarding. I quit and became a League gamer, let me say that this wasn't the greatest choice of my life. I once even broke my wrist while playing when I hit my desk out of frustration…

Ehem, moving on from the trivia regarding my dark past, with Ayame as my coach, I feel free to experiment. She is vigilant and ready to step in before I get into harm's way, but otherwise remains in the background, letting me do my own thing.

As we turn a corner, we come across a creature that Ayame titles as a Shadow Wisp. This creature is a small, floating ball of darkness with piercing red eyes and tendrils of shadow trailing behind it.

"They're fast and tend to attack with quick jabs. Stay close to me and strike with precision." My cute Monster Wikipedia sure is reliable. She recognized all monster types we encountered in an instant and knew their tendencies like the back of her hand. I wonder how many hours she spent studying them.

The wisp darts at us with swift and erratic movements. Ayame deflects its attacks with her blade, creating openings for me to thrust my spear. I manage to pierce the wisp and see its form dissipating into three smaller shadowy wisps. One wisp charges at me, but Ayame intercepts it with a precise slash, sending it crashing to the ground. I quickly finish off the rest, watching as their bodies dissolve into nothingness.

"Great. You're quickly getting the hang of it."

We press on, and soon encounter a Brambleback, the last enemy type of the floor, which is a large creature with a body covered in sharp thorns and a menacing snarl. Ayame takes the lead, blocking the Brambleback's initial charge with her blade.

Ayame continued her instructions, "Watch its movements carefully. Its thorns are its main defense and offense, but unlike the previous two types of monsters, it's a slow and simple creature. Wait for it to make a move and strike when it overextends."

I focus on the creature's movements, eagerly waiting in anticipation for the right moment. As it lunges at Ayame, I thrust my spear at its side crevice, avoiding the thorns. The Brambleback roars in pain, but Ayame deflects another attack, giving me a clear shot. With a precise thrust, I pierce its vulnerable underbelly, and the creature collapses. I then deliver a finishing blow.

We continue to navigate the labyrinth, encountering these same types of monsters repeatedly. Each battle follows a similar pattern, with Ayame defending and guiding me, ensuring I learn the ropes without taking on unnecessary risks. 

I also noticed a pattern of each enemy taking at least two good strike hits from my spear before falling, no matter how effective my first thrust was. It seems that the enemies also have a HP bar and either due to my low Strength stat or my shit Iron Spear, or probably both, I can't one-hit them, they always need at least a finishing blow after my first attack.

Determined to explore this phenomenon I ask Ayame to attack a monster with her full strength and she did indeed kill it instantly. Her weapon is similarly an Iron one which is also categorized as 'Junk' rarity like my spear, so the stat difference must be the deciding factor since she didn't activate any Samurai skills, though perhaps there's something else at play too. I will investigate more through the days.

As we navigate the labyrinth, we occasionally pass other explorers, some giving us curt greetings, others not even acknowledging our existence.

After about two hours of non-stop fighting, we reach a small chamber. Ayame motions for us to rest for a moment. We sit against the cool stone walls, catching our breath. Well, to be more accurate I do, because she is not out of breath at all.

I have gotten a lot better in this short amount of time, which is confirmed by my awesome tutor. "In the last few fights, I didn't need to step in at all. Good job."

"Thanks! I love this place and fighting monsters. I always had an inkling that I would be a good combatant if given a chance, but I'm so happy to see that my thoughts were actually not incorrect." She looks at me questioningly but I tell her to ignore my ramblings.

I ask her for my waterskin which she tosses to me after taking it out from her bag. I drink half of it almost immediately, feeling very satisfied with the current state of affairs in general. I'm slowly grinding XP, my actual experience has improved quite significantly already, I have the best teacher I could ask for, and of course, I'm still in absolute disbelief that I was actually transmigrated to such a wonderful place.