#79
79. Continued (1)
After moving, what greeted us was the entrance of the same mansion as the 16th floor.
Behind it was a staircase leading to the lower floor, and in the front there were five separate roads. Belquist grinned.
“I think it’s one drink higher than the 16th floor.”
I instructed Nerissa to join the party.
As long as the structure of the labyrinth is complicated, there is a chance that you will be caught in a trap and leave the party.
“Don’t scatter and move. Report immediately if anything happens.”
The four nodded.
Tension appears on his face. The fear of getting lost on the road seemed to precede the fear of battle. I pinched Jenna’s hardened cheek.
“Don’t be too scared. As long as you follow a few principles, it’s okay.”
“Really? You’re not going to die of starvation in a place like this, are you?”
“You’re worrying about nothing.”
Even if it was a labyrinth, it was only on the 17th floor.
Even taking tools was just preparing for one situation, and there was little possibility of using them.
‘The problem is that the difficulty level of this account is not normal.’
but somehow it will work
I went through the labyrinth holding paper and pen instead of sword and shield. It was to record the map of the labyrinth. The same pattern is likely to repeat throughout this interval. On the way, I encountered traps flying arrows and soldiers waiting, but in the end I cleared the 17th floor safely.
The subsequent attack on the labyrinth proceeded smoothly.
The higher the floor, the more complex the structure became, and although the number of enemies and the frequency of trap activation increased, there was no particular crisis. At most, I stayed for one night on the 18th floor. By the time they cleared the 18th floor, the anxiety had disappeared from their faces.
The day after I returned from the Labyrinth, Amkena gave me a day off, but of course I never rested quietly.
I didn’t really ask for anything, but the members of the 1st party added intensity to the training intensity on their own. Belquist and Nerissa, newcomers to the party, did the same.
‘The 20th floor is approaching.’
He knew very well what this meant.
The second party also started operation by filling a vacant spot.
As a 2 star former hunter, he will take on the role of a ranged striker for the 2nd party. He was told that the first floor was dedicated to hunting until he came up to the second floor.
And when we returned to the plaza on the first floor after clearing the 19th floor.
Amkena built a new facility.
[Build the facility. Please touch the type of facility you want.]
[You have selected ‘Storage Lv.1’. Would you like to extend the building?]
[Yes / No]
Kurur.
With the selection confirmed, a weak vibration shook the first floor.
We started tidying up in silence, not paying attention to the vibration. It was to organize the tools that were used and return them to the warehouse. Light was being engraved on the wall of the square on the second floor above.
“It was easier than I thought. Why are you so scared. You said you could starve to death!”
Jenna said as she put down the empty bag in the storage room.
I put my hand on the bag. Nerissa removed the bag from my shoulder.
“There were actually several dangerous sections. The same way repeated several times. Whose thanks made it easy…”
Nerissa looked at me with eyes half mixed with doubt and admiration.
I was curious about my true identity.
“By the way, what kind of facility is Master building? It’s been noisy since before.”
When the tidying up was almost finished, Iolka opened her mouth.
“It’s a storage room. It’s a place where you leave various things.”
“Archive? It seems to overlap with the warehouse.”
“It has a slightly different meaning.”
I left the warehouse
The vibration stopped, and soon the message of construction completion came to mind.
[The archive is complete! You can look back on the heroes who left for the arms of the goddess.]
[Tips/You can check the illustrations and data of deceased heroes in the album of memories. However, this is only possible when the hero’s belongings are enshrined in the archive.]
There was a marble door on the wall of the square on the second floor.
It was the entrance to the archives. I said, looking back at Iolka who was following me.
“It’s our grave.”
“A grave?”
Iolka’s face visibly stiffened.
“It seems that Master is also preparing for the 20th floor.”
“You say that building a tomb is a preparation? What is that, creepy! Why is the name archive again!”
Iolka shuddered.
The three people who arrived later were also listening to the conversation between me and Iolka.
“It’s similar to a charnel house. Of course, the body can’t be retrieved. It’s just a keepsake that was used in life.”
“It’s a funny facility. Are you saying you’re going to do a memorial? Rather than building a facility like that, it would be better to renovate the training center.”
Belquist laughed and went up the stairs first.
archive.
It is a facility that other Masters do not use very much.
It costs gems and materials to build, but it has almost no practical function. At best, it’s just looking back at the dead hero’s illustration and video at the time of his death.
However, according to my analysis, archives are more important than you might think.
Amkena was nothing more than following ‘Loki’s strategy’.
‘Hero’s post-processing.’
In the process of climbing Pick Me Up, countless heroes die.
Death on a mission was fair to a hero raised with affection or a hero half cast out. Same for me. Until now, the main party has lost countless heroes. Building and maintaining an archive was a means to greatly reduce the stress levels of colleagues after a hero’s death.
“I think it’s okay in my own way. Master thinks of us. He does things like that. I thought it would be fine if he just died.”
“It’s ominous! Like someone dying on the 20th floor!”
“Ah, we have an older brother. Like the 15th floor, there will be no problems! Isn’t that right, brother?”
Jenna looked around at me and smiled.
I shrugged.
“Did something go wrong on the 15th floor? Everyone almost died!”
“In the end, everything’s okay. It’ll be like that again. Never mind. None of us will go in there.”
Jenna winked at me and took Iolka upstairs.
The only ones left in the square on the first floor were me and Nerissa.
Nerissa came over to me and opened her mouth.
“You are a strong girl.”
“If it wasn’t for that kind of mindset, I wouldn’t have been able to endure it. That’s why I’m taking it with me.”
“Anyway, next is the 20th floor. There will be a difficult mission. I can predict what it will be like.”
Nerissa’s complexion hardened with tension.
I said with a smile.
“Are you scared?”
“No way. In that case, I would have quietly entered the assistant position.”
“Even now, it’s not too late.”
Nerissa shook her head vigorously.
Then, ignoring me, I went up to the second floor. I stood for a while in an empty square on the first floor.
The next day, morning.
Members of the 1st party gathered at the training center.
I looked up.
The sky was shimmering in rainbow colors. Rarely, the Master connected in the morning.
Amkena sent 2 parties to the dungeon for the first time. The number of floors is 16 or more. As the main party finished climbing, it seemed like they were about to start nurturing the sub party as well.
“You know that the 20th floor is right in front of you, right?”
I looked around at the first party and said.
All four nodded their heads in unison.
“I’m not going to say anything long. Increase the intensity of training. In the meantime, I focused on forming formations and cooperative training, so now I’m focusing on increasing my individual abilities.”
My current level is 18.
There are 2 left until the limit level of the 20th floor section.
However, while climbing the 4th floor and going through two level increases, he could not raise his skills. It was because he was engrossed in adapting the new members to the party and forming a new formation.
“There’s quite a bit of time left. The 2nd party was less big. So are we.”
On the 18th floor, I found a route to accumulate experience points.
Clearing the 18th floor will be repeated until the level of the main members is saturated. I had to finish preparing for the attack in it.
“Estimated duration is about 10 days. I will tell you what to do one by one. Starting from Jenna.”
“Yes, brother.”
“From now on, practice the longbow. Request a usable weapon from the production staff. Until you learn the skill of the longbow, put aside everything else and stick to it.”
If there are dragons on the 20th floor, there is a high probability that they will have hard scales.
A longbow capable of penetrating it and a skill to assist him were essential. She replied that Jenna knew.
“Iolka. Increase the power of your fire magic. If possible, up to level 4.”
“Step 4? It’s not easy…”
“I’m not forcing you. Do as much as you can.”
“all right.”
On the 20th floor, high-powered magic would be needed, not for dealing with mischief.
Compared to when Iolka first came, the amount of mana and the power of magic had noticeably increased. He also remembered telling himself that after a while he would be able to break through the 4th level wall. I continued after seeing Iolka nod his head.
“You two are next. Do you have any other instructions?”
“I’ll take care of that part.”
Belquist shook his head.
“I have a question about some skills. I hope you can tell me.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Belquist was also able to see the skill window thanks to the research effect.
He seemed to be looking for the right use of his ferocity, insight, and other skills lately. He can be nurtured as he wants, like Xena and Iolka, but he doesn’t fit in with Belquist’s tendencies. He decided to trust him.
“I’m thinking of going to the dungeon every day of the week.”
Lastly, it was Nerissa.
“This time, I’ll prepare extreme poison instead of paralysis poison. It might take some time because the ingredients are ingredients.”
“Is it okay if I don’t do personal training?”
“I think it’s better to prepare poison than my training.”
Nerissa looked at me with a meaningful expression.
is it. Nerissa has a sense of the 20th floor even without me telling her. A five-story golden mansion. You would have noticed long ago what would come out of that last layer.
‘It’s poison.’
Due to the low number of floors, there are not many types of daily dungeons.
But it won’t be useless. I accepted this too.
“There is no fixed schedule from today. Be free to act. But don’t be lazy. If you don’t want to die.”
“I wouldn’t have come in if it was that low-key party.”
Belquist picked up the scabbard next to the chair and stood up.
“I’ll start right away. Fight me. With a real sword.”
“You mean from morning?”
“Isn’t there no morning and night to fight?”
‘It’s a fun provocation.’
I grinned and grabbed the scabbard.
This guy is pretty funny. He doesn’t get discouraged no matter how many times he loses to me. The mindset itself was different from Aaron, Dicka, or Usher.
“Can I ask you to make me a longbow?”
“Yes. Order the thick arrows as well.”
If I ignore Amkena’s gaze, I can make it myself, but the equipment workshop’s skills are surprisingly not bad. It’s okay to leave it for once. I didn’t catch Jenna.
I was going to the arena with Belquist when Iolka called out.
“I’ll join you in sparring too!”
Iolka pursed her lips.
“It’s real training, but why do I always leave it out? I can fight too.”
“You say you don’t want to?”
“I’ve changed my mind. I hate going into that weird vault!”
I pondered for a moment.
In the meantime, Iolka hadn’t participated in the sparring. This is because he actively refused to participate and was dangerous in itself. Fire magic does not discriminate between enemies. Also, now that the level and skill level have risen, the firepower has become too strong, and if you get hit directly with magic, you could turn it into ashes in one hit.
“Are you okay? I won’t look at you.”
“Bah, that’s what I was hoping for.”
Iolka swallowed hard.
‘Well, I was going to put it in someday.’
As a result, Iolka was also included in the Dalian members.
“I want to fight the seniors.”
I let Belquist’s complaint go in one ear.
