Chapter 47: TestingDay 49

  I woke up early for a short run with Alina. She finally stopped boasting about her incredible speed when I reminded her that she still needed to improve her long-distance stamina. Sherry gracefully avoided the discussion and the guys already had their running routine in pce from before I met them.

  “Good morning, folks. No Rutina duty today so we could go to Curatar. But, I want to go to Nordselm anyway so we can try out the map. It could be that the abbreviated version is too hard to follow or maybe Rutina’s maps are simply wrong. At least they don’t seem to be for a different byrinth since the monster order has matched so far. [1] Sherry, what can you tell us about our next opponent?”

  “It’s called a Cm Shell and its main attack is to shoot water, physically, not just magically. It’s sensitive to earth magic and resists fire and water magic.”

  “If I remember correctly, they drop ‘shell powder’, which I used to make fake soap.” [2]

  “Fake soap?”

  “Just my silly name for the mild cleaning solution I made a while ago. Anyway, I’ll mainly use earth and wind magic to also get the remaining butterflies. Since I’m the only one with a free hand, I’ll take over the navigation.”

  We got ready and warped directly to the 16th floor of Nordselm’s Labyrinth. The goofy, floating cms shot water at unexpected times, which made me want to have a shield like everyone else. Actually, dodging was pretty easy here in the back row — a shield would probably have made it harder.

  Since everyone else seemed tired from holding back the water jets, I noted our progress on my navigation list and we had lunch in the vilge. Maybe it was just the weather but the people seemed much happier now than when I first came here. The weakest buildings were lost in the flood so the vilge looked much better after the reconstruction.

  It was also nice to understand more of the conversations and even communicate with the children. Magically-accelerated learning did most of the work though the simirity to English certainly helped as well. As long as I ignored much of the grammar, I could get by as well as a well-prepared tourist — I still sounded like a fool but I could ask for directions.

  With break-time over, we returned to the byrinth to continue with the 16th floor. After a while, we reached the boss room, exactly as specified by the map. The only bad news was that we hadn’t found any skill crystals or treasure chests — I was already spoiled rotten. Theo collected a lot of shell powder along the way and even some edible cms.

  The boss was a giant oyster which just dropped shell grit. [3] I was hoping for a pearl but at least it wasn’t an actual oyster since the others would have wanted to throw that into the chowder we’ll probably make for dinner. The maps for Nordselm’s Labyrinth have been even more useful than the ones we have for Curatar’s. Since we’ve been completely alone here, knowing the right way would have been harder. Despite fighting tougher monsters here, not having to avoid other parties means that we can move a little faster.

  After a quick ‘vote’ (i.e., no strong opposition), we went home for an early dinner with a pn to work a third shift. My dinner suggestion of chowder fell ft since no one knew what I was talking about and I didn’t know how it’d turn out without potatoes. Instead, the cms were added to a fish soup, which they still found weird. In the end, I made it myself and just called it ‘bouilbaisse’, even if inaccurate. We ate it with bread and they seemed to like it.

  Not wanting to overdo the cms, we did a short session on the 21st floor of Curatar. Here we fought ugly mermaids and shrubs with my earth and fire magic and everyone else’s pokes, stabs and sshes. After just an hour, I started to have doubts about pushing this hard and took us back home. We could keep up with this pace, but we shouldn’t for the sake of safety.

  When discussing this decision with the others, they sort of just shrugged and made it clear that it was for me alone to decide. They’re right, of course. If I’m asking for too much, they’ve been directed to say something so the ck of compint meant that we’re still in a reasonable zone as far as they’re concerned. Of course, I still have my phenomenal 200x EXP skill (combining EXP gained and EXP needed) so even a casual pace is effectively rocket-powered.

  Now that I thought about it, maybe it was time to check my stats. Mage was now at level 44, which felt like a good pace considering how much harder it is to gain levels now. Unfortunately, that didn’t really give me enough bonus points to make much of a difference. It wasn’t enough to increase my MP recovery without dropping something important. Even another level for Critical Hits would be nice. Well, this would probably have to wait till I reached level 50 in Mage and I could reduce my EXP bonuses. I added some trivial Crystal Acceleration for now.

  Sherry confided that the water attacks were quite unpleasant for her so I let her make water-resistant mittens with the Mermaid crystal. We didn’t feel the need to add a Kobold crystal to make them water-proof since we’d probably get better gear than normal leather ter. These could easily be sold when we long longer needed them.

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  Day 50

  After breakfast, we went to Nordselm Vilge early, as usual, to avoid having the little noble waiting around without proper protection. I actually told her that we would be doing this and she agreed that it was for the best. Unlikely that anyone would be coming for me or my party. Even the thugs in Vale have probably forgotten about me by now. The only ‘danger’ I face at this point is from the duke and he’s pretty much just an irritation. How obnoxious must I be to that guy before he learns to just leave me alone?

  Rolf soon showed up with Rutina and a few guards. They left almost immediately after seeing us. Would I trust a guy like me this easily? It sure is convenient that other people aren’t so cautious.

  “Good morning, Demoiselle. I pn for us to hit the 14th through 16th floors today. Maybe a little more or less depending on how well it goes. It’ll be your responsibility to tell me if you run low on mana or feel too tired. Safety is much more important than speed.”

  “Yes, Sweart. I’ll do my best in both regards.”

  “Oh, and thank you for lending us your map book. We left it at Bernhard’s so you wouldn’t have to carry it all day. Sorry that I hadn’t suggested that when you brought it here.”

  “Don’t you still need to use it?”

  “No, we made some notes to make it easier to use.”

  I showed her the cheap parchment with my abbreviated directions. After a skeptical look, she politely nodded and we went to the byrinth.

  Once inside, Theo took us to the 14th floor. I advised Rutina to use earth magic against the mermaids. After about an hour, Theo took us near the end of the floor. Marcus, Theo and Alina fought the boss while Sherry and Rutina faced the attendant. I stayed back so I could jump in as needed. After the fight, we took a short break in the boss room before moving to the 15th floor.

  “The next floor has a flying monster so, like most, it’s sensitive to wind magic. Fortunately, it’s not very fast so it’s good for breeze-ball target practice.”

  After the 15th floor, we took a longer break including a light lunch outside in the cool breeze.

  “Sweart, when I demonstrated my magic for Cassia, she made me drink tonics and lie down. Cassia said that it was absolutely impossible to have as much magical power as I do after just a few weeks. One of the reasons I wasn’t allowed to go with them is because I’m considered too reckless.”

  “I understand, Demoiselle, and sorry that I didn’t think to warn you. The st lesson got interrupted so badly and ter, it simply slipped my mind.”

  “So, what’s so special?”

  “It’s connected to the way your Mage Core was started. When you’re near me, your mage power increases much faster than usual. There’s no way for people who haven’t experienced this to understand.”

  “So, um, that means you really can take away my Mage Core.”

  “No, I’m sorry for worrying you. You surprised me and I was mean. I know you won’t intentionally betray me and I wouldn’t take anything away from you even if you did.”

  “Weird to ask, but how long will we have this connection and, um, what else does it do?”

  “Ha ha, absolutely nothing. Seriously, I promise. When we’re apart, you’ll advance at the same pace as everyone else.”

  “Thank you. So, why did you decide to use that incredible device on me?”

  “Well, I didn’t need it to start my own. In fact, such an item is generally unnecessary.”

  “So, why did I need it?”

  “Lack of exposure to magic as a child and, maybe, um, ck of effort. Sorry to be so blunt.”

  “Oh. Well, thanks for telling me what no one else would.”

  “Well, you’re certainly making up for it now. If and when you eventually have children, they’ll have you to encourage them.”

  We returned to the byrinth, where Rutina got hit several times by the cms’ water jets. She finally learned to hide behind someone with a shield. Mercifully, I allowed a little faster progress through this floor by skipping past most of it. We didn’t start the 17th since it was about time to stop for the day.

  My little peek outside, during my fake pee break, revealed an unexpected visitor. He seemed to be alone, but it’s unusual for any strangers to come here.

  “We have a visitor. Demoiselle, make sure to hide your armor well under your cloak. Let me do the talking till we find out his intentions.”

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  Just outside the byrinth, an elven Adventurer walks up to us with a big, friendly smile — couldn’t look more suspicious.

  “Rolf sent me to fetch Lady Rutina.”

  “Oh, what does she look like? Maybe a wolf-kin? I don’t have one of those yet.”

  “What? Isn’t that her right there?”

  “Who? My cat-kin? Nah, she’s a commoner. In fact, I’ve never actually had a noble.”

  “Well, um, if you help me find her, maybe we can help you with that.”

  I moved forward ever so slightly with each creepy comment until I was close enough for an Overwhelm and thunk to the head. The Adventurer fell asleep, or rather, got hypnotized. [4]

  “Shh.”

  I motioned for Alina to join me and then I whispered, “Speak to Lukas in Elvish.”

  In a soft voice, Alina begins the interrogation.

  ? Lukas. ?

  ? … ?

  ? Lukas, what will we do to her? ?

  ? …Punish. Revenge. ?

  ? Yes, Lukas, that’s good. Let’s take her to the pce. ?

  ? …Home. ?

  ? Yes, Lukas, home. Lead the way. ?

  ? …Punish. ?

  Lukas mumbles a bit but doesn’t say anything more specific. Not bad overall but probably hard to get map directions from someone who can teleport.

  This entire time, Rutina just stares at Alina in awe. Of course I agree, that really was excellent work. Lukas eventually snaps out of it as we pce a gag. He’s lead to a hiding spot at the edge of the trees where I ask Sherry to stun and guard him. Just in case, he’s also bound.

  Rutina quietly excims, “That was fantastic! I never imagined that my Alina could do such a thing.”

  Alina boasts, “It’s because I’m his Alina now.”

  Not sure if I can take the credit for that or if it’s something I should be proud of.

  Barely a minute ter, four thugs walk out of the byrinth. Swords drawn, they look around apprehensively. After a moment, they sheath their weapons and appear to rex.

  ? Nobody’s here. ?

  ? Lukas got her. ?

  ? Ha ha ha. Now we ■■■ ■■■ ■ ! ?

  Quietly to Rutina, “Firestorm.”

  I motion for Sherry to guard Rutina and the prisoner. The rest of us jump out as the spell sends fming blobs around the thugs. They are completely disoriented and we take them down in less than a minute. Left hands and gear get collected as usual while the rest gets tossed into the byrinth. Sherry and Rutina come out with the tied up Lukas just as we are cleaning up.

  Rutina asks, “Wasn’t it too dangerous to run out while the spell was still active?”

  “Not at all. Only monsters are hit by storm spells. Against people, they’re just distraction.”

  “Like, when you started one in the duel.”

  “Actually, that was a bluff. Even a harmless fire spell would have been too violent for an honorable duel, especially against a noble. The threat was enough to make me look reckless.”

  Soon, Rolf arrives in a tattered state. Apparently, he got mugged, though that was probably just to dey him. I really do trust that Rolf wasn’t involved since he simply could have taken Rutina somewhere else instead of the castle or killed her in the byrinth or any of a number of things at any time. The current situation is way too convoluted just to give himself an alibi.

  “Lady Rutina, I suggest that our prisoner be taken to Bode.”

  Before she could answer, yet another Field Walk portal opened nearby.

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  [1] Actually, the LN only identifies the monsters for floors 20 - 23 of Nordselm’s Labyrinth (v9 c5 and v11 c2). I randomly assigned monsters for the other floors.[2] Fake soap is first made in chapter 15.[3] The LN mistranstes this to volley, i.e., volleyball (v8 c2). It’s really crushed shells, commonly used as a calcium source for birds.[4] The hypnotic questioning is conveniently effective, but sort of pusible (or just magical).