Chapter 12: Floor B1 ~ Get Ready ~

My two companions follow my heels as I make my way down the concrete steps, the light of the crystals adorning the walls weakening with each step. I grab Firebrand from inventory. Raising it like a torch, the crimson blade’s furious gleam is enough to light our remaining pathway.

A narrow passageway marvels us as we descend down the stairs. Past the stone pillars supporting the beams is oblivion. There are no railings to hold onto and a single misstep could cost me my life.

This must be the labyrinth’s first trial. Only the foolish of the fools who would brave this darkness and walk on this passage of death could advance. I can only imagine the amount of people who had met their end here.

I take Rosalia’s hand. She seems to undoubtedly tense under this mysterious vibe despite this not being her first time. Fia doesn’t seem to have any trouble traversing in the dark, so we continue on like that. At the end of this passage, a room encased on all four sides confronts us.

Rosalia taps my shoulder as I let go of her hand. “Where did you pull out that sword? I don’t see you carrying an inventory bag of some sort.”

So it’s not the type of inventory box that she mentioned before? What a careless mistake I showed there. Nevertheless, she knew already, so there’s no point on keeping her in the dark.

“It’s called super inventory box.” Choosing from the list of staves, I pull out triple threat — a man sized stick made from some kind of dark oak — and hand it to Rosalia.

Her eyes widen upon seeing the fist-sized gem embellishing the end of the staff. “Doo-Dood! Look at this gem! This is enough to buy me a mansion in the countryside — and you’re giving it to me?”

Perhaps it’s not wise to have a lady like her carry an expensive staff, but I’ll deal with that when the time comes. Her safety is one of my priorities at the moment.

“Yes, it’s yours now. Just don’t hit me with it since the core attached to that staff splashes a random fire, water, or wind elemental damage.” According to the staff’s info, that’s how it works.

Curious green eyes gaze at my face, and for a moment, I think she enchants me.

“Really? But it should be very expensive, right?”

I wave a hand and brush it off coolly. “Don’t stress the smaller details.”

As I turn away from Rosalia, I spot Fia examining the stone monument sitting by the entrance. She places her hand on its surface; the gray stone lights up as a response but Fia remains with us. So the first touch registers our location and the second transports us back to the safe zone? Double-checking, I stand beside Fia and do the same. Her ears are moving up and down as she looks at the monument expectantly.

Now that our location’s been set, I open my [Magic Map]. Counting out the current room that we’re in, there are five rooms on this floor arranged in a simple layout with no visible traps. In addition to that, the monsters in this floor are pretty scarce and weak to power level Fia, but the giant red dot on my map should suffice for the day. I’m not wishing for anyone’s failure; I just wish that the group three rooms ahead of us would not reach the boss monster before we do. It’s time to head in.

I remind them both to tread carefully before entering. With her scimitar drawn, Fia advances in front as our vanguard. The intricate designs of the wall slowly disappear the further we walk inside and the floors changed from marbles to toppling rocks. It’s more like an old mine now. Lamps are hanging on a makeshift posts and there are crates and barrels full of minerals on the way as we go.

“What type of monsters spawn in these depths?”

“Growlers.” Rosalia clasps the handle of her staff with both hands. “Their not much of a threat for spell casters, but they might pose some trouble against our current group. These monsters survive by feeding on the ore veins in this mine so they have tough defenses.”

“So those minerals that we just passed by are monster food?”

“Most probably. But so long as they’re not bothered in their meal, Growlers don’t normally attack explorers. However, there are always those that defies their characteristics. Watch out for those with crimson crystals sticking out of their back, those are the ones that we need to eliminate to pass.”

“You heard that Fia? Let’s be wary before we attack an enemy.”

Fia nods her head. I need to remind myself later on to instruct her to speak more. It’s not because she’s being shy or awkward, but it’s more like she’s being considerate of me. Is it because Rosalia’s here?

Still, the concept in this dungeon is amazing. It’s like the monsters are its own residents and we, the explorers, are the invaders. There’s not much you can argue about when you’re intruding on somebody else’s home, but the laws of nature demand us to perform barbaric actions. In a sense, it makes me feel bad for these guys. To those who would have the nerve to attack us, may you all rest in peace.

Continuing on without interruptions towards the second room, the ground trembles, causing me to momentarily lose my footing. Multiple monsters are banging against the wall, digging, clawing, extracting minerals.

“Don’t pay attention.” Rosalia points her staff to the room’s exit.

But Fia doesn’t adhere to this advice. She remains standstill then she glares and hisses at the road ahead. There’s something in there; she’s telling me she sensed something.

Coming out of the room from my perpetual vision is a type of a two legged creature with two boulder-sized arms sagging on the floor. On the surface of its body are bright blue crystals — similar to the other growlers here — but protruding out of its back is a large crystal pulsing red. That’s our cue to say it’s hostile.

I don’t think this is the right place to test Fia’s skills, so I hurl Firebrand towards the monster. The crimson sword pierces the crystal on the monster’s back, and a second later, a surge of fire devours the monster whole in an instant. The blade drops on the ground with a clank, leaving no trace of the two meter giant just now.

“Let’s go.” I urge them to follow me as I gather my sword. “This place is too cramped and we don’t want to attract these Growlers.” There’s no issue for me, but I don’t want to disrupt the balance of the monsters here.

Rosalia gapes at me when she gets closer. “What was that? You even burned the lens.”

“Some type of sword skill?” I grin. “Come on, let’s continue.”

Rosalia gives me a look saying she wants to know, but I ignore her bright, puppy, dog-eyes and continue. There’s no way I’ll get affected by those eyes in the middle of an exploration. Heck no.

The moment we get a comparable amount of distance away from that room, I instruct Fia, “Fia, the next hostile Growler is yours, okay? I want to see how you fight.”

Fia nods obediently. “Understood, Master.”

“Good, but don’t force yourself. If it gets hard, I’ll step in.”

Spinning the scimitar in her hand, she gives me a proud look. “There’s no need for Master’s help. I can do it.”

Now that’s my slave. I flash her smile as I pat her head, and her ears droop down in response.

First thing my eyes see in the third room is a large spiraling staircase and my map indicates there’s four Growlers waiting for us on the bottom. There’s no hesitation. We take the stairs down, keeping our right shoulders closer to the wall. Rosalia almost slips due to the loud stomping and growling, but I catch her arm in time and help her regain her footing.

On the next instant I focus my gaze ahead, Fia leaps down the wooden platform, the glint of her silver blade terrorizes the red crystal on the monster’s behind. A wide slanted cut is engraved on the crystal, and following it is a loud painful growl before it drops. Fia cover her ears for a moment, and another Growler comes in to smack her. I hurl Firebrand like I did before, which pierces the arm that attempted to attack her. The same fate of being incinerated follows the Growler, leaving us with two more.

“Reckless is the best word to describe you two!” Rosalia tears off a paper from her book. Murmuring some words as she releases the piece of paper, the two Growlers are suddenly encased in an invisible wall, eventually crushing them with the sound of breaking glass.

It feels like my heart has leaped out of my mouth. “Awesome — So that’s how you use magic?”

My enthusiasm is clear on my voice, but Rosalia ignores my question.

“Aaaah, I ended up using a special page.” Rosalia shrugs while shaking her head. “That’s it! I don’t care anymore. What’s done is done, let’s pick up the loots.”

She seems more occupied by something else it’s a little disappointing. Oh well, I trot down the stairs to check on Fia.

My eyes narrow when I see the blood stains on her robe. “Hey, let me see that.”

This wound must’ve came from that ear piercing cry. If I’m not mistaken, dogs have a greater sense of hearing than we humans. How about wolves? Judging from these results, it’s the same as a dog, if not greater.

She flinches when I wipe the blood, making me frown. Fia’s hurt, so I advice the group to rest. I have Fia sit on a wooden crate as I examine her ears.

“Here, use this.” Rosalia hands me a roll of bandages. “Trust me, that’s nothing major. Demi-humans regenerate a lot faster than we do, so just give it some time.”

“Alright.” Following Rosalia’s advice, I wrap Fia’s ear in bandages. I bring out the barbecue sticks and water pouches from the inventory and hand them both their shares.

“Seriously now, where did these foods come from?” Rosalia asks as she take a bite of her meat.

I cock an eyebrow at her. “You don’t want to know; it’ll lessen my mystery.”

That throws her into fit of laughter. Then Rosalia wipes her eyes with her wrist after laughing like an innocent girl.

“Yeah, you sure are mysterious, Dood. Very, very mysterious.”

“Goodness, did I raise a flag?”

“You wish.” Rosalia sticks her tongue out.

As we continue to retort each other, I feel like I hear Fia apologize. But she beams me a smile when I look at her. What now? I hope that slight error won’t chip away on her confidence. I really do. Our adventure is only starting; we still have a lot to go.