Well, here I am, way out of my comfort zone and heading to the Labyrinth with a bunch of people whom I know basically nothing about. Seriously, how did I end up here?
I really should’ve done better to avoid winding up in a position where I had no choice but to reveal everything to Rosary...I’m regretting a lot of choices right now, I hate this so much.
"There it is, right up ahead," Remarked Ekspen, as the entrance to the Labyrinth ca into sight.
"As discussed, the two of you will take the vanguard, while the three of us will cover you from behind, providing back up if and when necessary. That said, your goal is to get through this without needing any assistance from us, so keep that in mind," Sakri reminded us.
Yeah, they wanted and Ilex to go in front to begin with, and then switch the formation when we make our way back up. I’m not too thrilled about that, how am I supposed to trust strangers with backing up? Like, what if they hit by accident when trying to help?
"Got it," I responded half-heartedly, as I stepped out to the front and headed in through the entrance to the Labyrinth.
Well, guess I’ll just have to make sure that they have no reason to intervene.
"Make sure to keep your guards up. It’s true that the upper floors aren’t very dangerous, but there’s no harm in staying vigilant," Remarked Dispo, as we entered the first floor.
Way to state the obvious...we’re all the sa rank here, I don’t need such basic advice. But since I did ultimately agree to this, I’ll play along, at least for now.
Hm, I’m already sensing so Monsters through Thought Communication, feels like a group of Goblins...let’s see, there’s about...fourteen of them. I haven’t been to the upper floors since the first ti I entered the Labyrinth, thanks to Prysm’s teleportation.
Man, Goblins really do multiply rapidly, don’t they? Anyway, they’re not much further ahead, they’ll be coming into sight any second now. In fact, I can already hear them, and I don’t have Super Hearing active...
"That sound...it must be Goblins. Look sharp, you two, handle them as you see fit. Let us know if you need any back up," Instructed Ekspen quietly, talking into the earpiece communicators he’d had us put on.
They deliberately avoided ntioning what each of them is capable of, and when Ilex brought it up, they explained it as it’ll be good training for a situation where you have to work with a stranger on the fly.
Well, it should be fine since we’re starting at the first floor, but it feels kinda negligent, if you ask . Now, then, how should I handle this?
I don’t want to reveal too much of what I’m capable of, but I shouldn’t hold back too much...if they think I’m not that strong, they might try to extend this or sothing. I absolutely need to avoid that, it’s the last thing I want.
Conversely, if I show them what I’m capable of, at least to so significant extent, they might even end this early and let go. Yeah, that’s kind of an optimistic hope, but hope I shall. I really hate this, in case that wasn’t clear.
Alright, I see the Goblins, they’re all gathered around the sa spot...looks like a corpse of a Gremlin, a short, humanoid Monster with sharp claws and fangs, and bat-like wings.
In terms of what they’re capable of, they’re also Common Grade, basically just glorified Goblins with wings. They don’t reproduce as rapidly as Goblins do, so you see a lot less of them than you do with Goblins.
"Um, I’ll restrain them...," Muttered Ilex, as he stepped towards a nearby pillar, "Initiate Skill: Shadow Bind."
Suddenly, all of the Goblins froze, unable to move a muscle. From what I rember, Shadow Bind works by the user stepping onto a shadow, and can then freely paralyze any living creature that’s connected to the shadow they’re stepping onto.
The Labyrinth is lit up by glowing crystals that form in rows on the ceilings, and there are a lot of pillars, rock formations and walls all over the place...which ans that there are always plenty of shadows, and many of those shadows connect and overlap with each other.
In other words...there are very few spots that are safe from that Skill in this place. Oh, man, I’m so tempted to use my Shadow Phase Spell...but I probably shouldn’t. I stepped forward to get all the Goblins within the range of my Distance Casting, before activating a Spell...
Elental Lightning: Lightning Spear Barrage, Threefold!
I took aim and fired out fifteen lightning projectiles at point-blank range at each of the Goblins’ heads, hitting one of them with two since I had one extra projectile to spare. My attacks struck and burst through their skulls, killing all of them instantly.
"Wow, that was incredible! You two may be young, but you’re certainly powerful enough to justify your Platinum ranks!" Grinned Ekspen as he clapped cheerfully.
"Yeah, that was very impressive," Nodded Sakri in agreent.
"N-no, I, uh...I-I just used one of my Skills to bind them, a-anyone with the sa Skill could’ve done it," Muttered Ilex awkwardly.
Wait, that’s it! I can just pretend like my own shadow Spells are a Skill! Hm, but that’ll an that it’s imperative that I don’t give away what all five of my other Skills are, otherwise it won’t add up and it’ll look suspicious.
Which of my actual Skills should I pretend that I don’t possess and subsequently avoid using, to prevent any suspicion from arising towards ?
I use Magic Eater and Pocket Dinsion quite often, so definitely not those...Universal Resistance is a passive Skill, but if we’re attacked by a Monster that inflicts status effect-like damage, it’ll be exposed.
Then it’s down to Thought Communication and Super Hearing...I think it’s gotta be the forr. It has a pretty short range, one that I can easily cover with Super Hearing if I need to. Alright, it’s settled.
"Why don’t we keep going? It was just so Goblins, nothing really worth celebrating," I remarked objectively.
Still, they didn’t break the formation. It may seem like they’re taking it easy, but they’re actually being pretty alert.
"Yes, I agree, it’s only the first floor, we have a lot more ground to cover. We should move at a good, brisk pace, or we aren’t going to make much progress," Pointed out Dispo with a nod.
I’m all for that, let’s get this over with as soon as possible. I can’t wait to put this behind and just forget about it. Stupid nice people, with their generous and unnecessary help.
We continued moving shortly after, and ran into a few more groups of Goblins, and not much else, right through the first to third floors. A few more different types of Monsters began appearing more frequently once we got to the fourth floor onwards, but it was all just Common Grade Monsters.
Man, this is boring. I’m kinda impressed by this trio of Adventurers, they haven’t intervened even once yet, since Ilex and I haven’t had any trouble whatsoever, but they’re still alert and on guard, without losing focus.
It’s been monotonous as hell, Ilex paralyzes the Monsters with his Shadow Bind Skill, and I finish them off with fire or lightning, whichever I feel like going for.
We’ve sort of unspokenly agreed to keep using this template, and while I can’t speak for him with any real certainty, I think we’re both doing the sa thing over and over for a reason...avoiding revealing more of our abilities until it becos necessary.
The main trio of the party haven’t criticized that, and as far as I’m concerned, nor should they...secrecy and Adventurers go hand in hand in this regard, and we haven’t seen anything of what these three are capable of.
I’m under no obligation to give away too many of the tricks I’ve got up my sleeve if I don’t have to, so I won’t. I have to say though, the Shadow Bind Skill is pretty damn overpowered in a place like the Labyrinth.
I wonder if it’s possible to break free from it? Like, can he use it to bind Catastrophic Grade Monsters? I won’t ask, he probably will answer if I pressure him, but that would be kind of a dick move.
Sothing about him feels a bit off though, ever since we ca into the Labyrinth...with each Monster or group of Monsters that we encounter, it feels like he’s straining more and more to...I don’t know, contain himself?
It’s hard to explain, but there’s definitely a tension in his face, and not the usual nervous, fidgety tension...well, that’s there too, but there’s sothing else now.
Well, it’s not really any of my business, I suppose, unless it ends up being sothing that gets in the way of this expedition or whatever you want to call this. Hm? What’s that noise? It’s pretty faint, I wouldn’t have heard it without Super Hearing active.
"Hey, hold up, I’m hearing sothing," I called out as I halted and looked around, trying to pinpoint the direction of the sound with a frown.
It’s seriously unsettling, what is that? My eyes then widened as I realized which direction it was coming from, quickly turning my gaze upwards, just in ti to see dozens of large spiders rapidly crawling down this way across the pillars, or dropping down with strings of web...
"This is bad!" Called out Ekspen urgently, "Ilex, quickly! Bind them!"
"I-I can’t, they need to be on the ground for my Skill to work!" He responded in alarm.
Tch, guess I’ve got no choice, if all those spiders get down here, it’ll an trouble, their webs are highly sticky and durable, we’ll be screwed if they manage to restrain us!
No ti to think, I’ll just have to blast them all with my strongest attack. Here goes...Elental Fla:...Dragon Fire Inferno!
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