Chapter 35 – Labyrinth Exploration, Slimes are Scary
[Alright, we’re finally going to the labyrinth today! ]
[Ara, are you sure about that? Here I was thinking you were going to take the request for advancing to B-rank.]
[You looked so motivated, have you gotten bored of doing the same stuff already?]
(ED Note: refers to doing requests)
The day after we rose to C-rank, I decided to go to the labyrinth.
When the girls heard me say we are going to the labyrinth, both of them gave me puzzled looks.
Geez how does that make me sound like I’m bored of requests, that’s just rude.
[That ain’t what I meant. I think us reaching C-rank within this short few days is good enough… Also I have already asked Wizzy-chan about that topic.]
We should be considered to be fast in terms of raising ranks as we increased by 2 ranks in such a short amount of time.
So I went to the Adventurers Guild early this morning and asked Wizzy-chan if we should increase our ranks further.
Through my inquiry with her, she says we don’t need to be in such a hurry now that we have reached C-rank.
She looked awfully tired seemingly due to the stuff that happened yesterday. It made me feel like I did something bad.
[Well I don’t mind. I am pretty interested in that labyrinth place.]
[The same goes for me as well! It’s all good so long as we aren’t hunting for manastones.]
The girls gave their consent anyway, so we’re going to the labyrinth.
I’m really wondering what kind of a place it is. Though I’m feeling excited about it, the B-rank minimal recommendation makes the place sound overly scary.
Maybe monsters on the level of Eagle Warrior Chiefs or Stingers litter the place? We’re definitely escaping if monsters at the same level as the Asterios appears.
It gets you thinking just how strong the A-rank adventurers are if they could traverse over 40 levels of that labyrinth with mobs of that level.
Dhius is a B-rank too, but the power gap between A and B is probably pretty hefty.
[Let’s get going shall we?]
=====
[Onii-san, what’s with the mountain of preparations you did before leaving?]
We are currently travelling towards the labyrinth.
Before we left I went and stocked up our supply of rations and potions.
[Oh, it’s said that the labyrinth goes deep underground, right? So there’s the possibility that we aren’t able to use the Beacon for our return.]
[Indeed. There is no loss in being prepared for anything.]
There’s the chance that there’s no reception for the Beacon like what was written in the description.
In the event that something does go south we may not be able to return immediately.
[Hrrm, It should be around here somewhere…. aah, there it is.]
[What a creepy looking entrance.]
Wizzy-chan only gave me an approximate location, so I navigated accordingly but this is just a huge rock with a hole in it out in the middle of nowhere.
It looks so out of place…. Its incompatibility to the surroundings gives the feeling of it being a last minute addition.
It gave off an atmosphere that felt very foreign compared to the surrounding landscape. The person who took the first step into this place must have had balls of steel.
There is a sign next to the rock which reads【Adventurers of B-rank and above recommended. Please refrain from entering alone even if B-rank or higher】.]
[Okura-dono, how deep are you intending to go down today?]
[Let’s see… for now we’ll try going for 10 floors.]
My current plan was going down 10 floors-ish as a test run. We won’t go any further even if we could.
With the place being recommended for B-rank and above, this much should be manageable for us.
If we were to go further down I’d at least want a Priest or a dedicated Tank(heavy armor) in our party.
Noru is currently handling the role of the tank, but it will be dangerous for her to deal with enemies that are more powerful than the Asterios.
[Why is there light in here….]
[The light is being emitted from the walls.]
I braced myself and walked in, the path gradually became a gentle slope downwards.
There shouldn’t be any light underground, but a green-ish light is emitted from the walls all around us so visibility is pretty decent.
I thought I can finally get some use out of the Lamp as we were going underground but… Well whatever.
This wall seems mighty convenient, maybe I can shave off a chunk of it and bring it back?
[Onii-san, a monster has appeared.]
We walked along the only path while curiously observing our surroundings, we then reached an area that was spacious to some extent.
And there we came across a green round creature. Whenever it sleekly moved around its whole body jiggled.
Its body looks to be almost entirely made out of liquid. A white bead floats at the center of the body.
The surface of wherever the creature passes by loses its luminescent property and goes back to being just a rocky surface. Is this thing eating whatever is contained in the wall’s surface?
[It looks sorta weak.]
(EN: flag collected)
[Muu, Okura-dono. You shouldn’t be fooled by its appearance.]
It doesn’t seem to be very strong. It doesn’t look like it has much defenses, and it doesn’t seem like it will do much damage with that kind of body.
I was going to give it a good thwack with Bar, but Noru stopped me before I could swing.
Uumu, what she says does make sense. Time to check that Pokedex.
● Acid Slime Race: Slime
Level: 35
HP: 10,000
MP: 0
Attack Power: 400
Defense Power: 50
Agility: 5
Magic Resistance: 0
Unique Ability Strong Acid
Skill Emission
[Uoh!? It could have been dangerous if I carelessly approached it… ]
[This is one of the reasons why B-rank or higher is recommended here. Onii-san, you shouldn’t be letting your guard down while we are in here.]
So having “Acid” in its name means its entire body made out of acid!?
Even just touching it would have been dangerous. I am able to see its status, but I wouldn’t know of abilities that were not in GC.
It would be pretty nasty if the Strong Acid ability ignored defense.
Fighting monsters 101. Adventurer ranks not only show how strong the individual is, it also reflects how attentive to such details the individual is.
…..I’m really bad with that kinda stuff.
After that we proceeded and defeated any Slimes we came across with Estel’s magic from afar.
We have yet to get anything else apart from slime materials. Only the white bead is dropping. Is this something like the Slime’s core?
If this is all they drop, the weird stuff must be a Rare Drop.
(ED Note: remember the pajamas? refer to chapter 14)
When we arrived at the deepest part of the 1st floor, we were greeted by another doorway to a slope going downwards much like the one at the entrance.
We advanced to the 2nd floor. Here we meet slimes yet again but they are purple in color this time.
The Pokedex shows them to be Venom Slimes. As the name implies they have a Deadly Poison Ability.
Relying on Estel to defeat them again, we advance onwards to the 3rd floor and we find transparent Slimes there.
Proceeding through yet more Slimes on the 4th floor, currently we are at the 5th floor.
[This place really is dangerous… Estel you better not stray away from us.]
[Yeah, I understand that much.]
[It would be wise to refrain from acting alone here.]
The 3rd floor has Stun Slimes, and as their name suggests they have the Stun Ability. 4th floor has Heat Slimes, with the ability to cause Burns.
They are coming at us with every abnormal status imaginable. This labyrinth has some very lethally armed slimes.
We continued advancing with me and Noru defending Estel between us.
Though me and Noru are immune to status effects, we aren’t going to risk attacking and purposefully putting ourselves in danger.
There’s the off chance the enemy’s skills aren’t status effect based.
The slimes are slow moving too, so it’s mostly Estel blasting them with her magic.
[Ooh, this one looks like it’ll give a bunch of experience.]
[That is a tough looking Slime.]
Finally onto the 5th floor. Unlike the previous floors there were no Slimes along the way until we reached the main plaza like area, where there was only 1 Slime which was silver-ish in color.
Oh, isn’t this one of those Rare Slimes that you usually see in RPGs? It doesn’t have a face like the one that I know of but they more or less look the same.
(ED Note: think dragon quest)
They give more experience than other monsters when you defeat them, but they escape.
(ED Note: and are really fast too)
I was really tempted to blitz into it before it ran away, but Noru just reprimanded me earlier on so I shall rely on my Pokedex once again.
Steel Slime Race: Slime
Level: 50
HP: 4000
MP: 0
Attack Power: 2400
Defense Power: 20,000
Agility: 60
Magic Resistance: 0
Unique Ability None
Skill Transformation
Huh?… The numbers differed from what I imagined. But Estel can probably insta-kill it with her magic.
I’ll let Estel finish it off with a magic attack.
Right when I was about to give the order after having that thought, the Slime in question already made its move.
The Slime which was a slight distance away from us transformed, it then throttled towards us with incredible speed with the surface of its body filled with countless needle-like spikes.
[Uooooooh!?]
[Okura-dono!]
Though I was unable to react due to how fast it happened, Noru managed to put herself between me and the Slime and intercepted it with her shield.
Jesus, even I didn’t think it would rush in with that sort of attack. That thing reminds me of that Liquid Metal killing machine from the future!
(ED Note: “I’ll be back”)
It would have been a dangerous moment if she wasn’t with me.
[Noru, thanks for the save….. ]
[Don’t sweat it. So, what do we do now.]
The Slime reverted back to its original shape in an instant, it then shot itself toward one of the walls and shrunk itself the next instant after which it began to move about.
With that kind of speed, it will be difficult for Estel to properly land her magic as it has a delay after casting.
We might be in a wide area but this is still underground, so we might get caught in the aftermath if we used AoE magic.
It’s shifting forms with that Transformation Skill, guess I can try sealing the Skill with my Skull Ring effect then hitting it with magic after.
[Help me tank its attacks. I’ll launch wind elemental attacks to try and seal its Skill when I see openings to do so.]
[Roger that!]
We took our positions in front of Estel, to prevent the Slime from getting to her.
At first it seemed that Noru had all the aggro, as the attacks were mostly focused on her.
I would then land a wind elemental attack by swinging Bar when it stretched out to attacked.
It would then switch to targeting me, but Noru will then slide in and repel the following attack with her shield.
After repeating the process for awhile, the Slime reverted back to its original round body and stopped moving after I landed enough attacks.
Looks like the Skill seal finally kicked in.
[Alright, Estel. Hit it with your magic.]
[With pleasure.]
And so the Slime which stopped moving gets hit by Estel’s magic attack.
The Slime which had low HP and zero magic resistance, easily melts to Estel’s fire magic.
A silvery bead and a pair of metallic looking Boots were left behind from where it dissipated.
Oh, is this one of those Rare Drops?
[So we’re only at the 5th floor.. Hows about we try going as far as we possibly can instead of only until the 10th floor? We’ll just try and see if we can reach the 10th floor first in the meantime.]
[Roger that~]
[Well I don’t mind, this might turn out to be a more fun than I imagined.]
Who would have expected a monster like this to appear on just the 5th floor…..
Honestly I’m thinking of going back already, but we’ll keep on going for now.
If it turns out to be really dangerous from this point on, I have no qualms about turning tail and heading back. We can always come back here some other time.
Chapter 35 – Labyrinth Exploration, Slimes are Scary
[Alright, we’re finally going to the labyrinth today! ]
[Ara, are you sure about that? Here I was thinking you were going to take the request for advancing to B-rank.]
[You looked so motivated, have you gotten bored of doing the same stuff already?]
(ED Note: refers to doing requests)
The day after we rose to C-rank, I decided to go to the labyrinth.
When the girls heard me say we are going to the labyrinth, both of them gave me puzzled looks.
Geez how does that make me sound like I’m bored of requests, that’s just rude.
[That ain’t what I meant. I think us reaching C-rank within this short few days is good enough… Also I have already asked Wizzy-chan about that topic.]
We should be considered to be fast in terms of raising ranks as we increased by 2 ranks in such a short amount of time.
So I went to the Adventurers Guild early this morning and asked Wizzy-chan if we should increase our ranks further.
Through my inquiry with her, she says we don’t need to be in such a hurry now that we have reached C-rank.
She looked awfully tired seemingly due to the stuff that happened yesterday. It made me feel like I did something bad.
[Well I don’t mind. I am pretty interested in that labyrinth place.]
[The same goes for me as well! It’s all good so long as we aren’t hunting for manastones.]
The girls gave their consent anyway, so we’re going to the labyrinth.
I’m really wondering what kind of a place it is. Though I’m feeling excited about it, the B-rank minimal recommendation makes the place sound overly scary.
Maybe monsters on the level of Eagle Warrior Chiefs or Stingers litter the place? We’re definitely escaping if monsters at the same level as the Asterios appears.
It gets you thinking just how strong the A-rank adventurers are if they could traverse over 40 levels of that labyrinth with mobs of that level.
Dhius is a B-rank too, but the power gap between A and B is probably pretty hefty.
[Let’s get going shall we?]
=====
[Onii-san, what’s with the mountain of preparations you did before leaving?]
We are currently travelling towards the labyrinth.
Before we left I went and stocked up our supply of rations and potions.
[Oh, it’s said that the labyrinth goes deep underground, right? So there’s the possibility that we aren’t able to use the Beacon for our return.]
[Indeed. There is no loss in being prepared for anything.]
There’s the chance that there’s no reception for the Beacon like what was written in the description.
In the event that something does go south we may not be able to return immediately.
[Hrrm, It should be around here somewhere…. aah, there it is.]
[What a creepy looking entrance.]
Wizzy-chan only gave me an approximate location, so I navigated accordingly but this is just a huge rock with a hole in it out in the middle of nowhere.
It looks so out of place…. Its incompatibility to the surroundings gives the feeling of it being a last minute addition.
It gave off an atmosphere that felt very foreign compared to the surrounding landscape. The person who took the first step into this place must have had balls of steel.
There is a sign next to the rock which reads【Adventurers of B-rank and above recommended. Please refrain from entering alone even if B-rank or higher】.]
[Okura-dono, how deep are you intending to go down today?]
[Let’s see… for now we’ll try going for 10 floors.]
My current plan was going down 10 floors-ish as a test run. We won’t go any further even if we could.
With the place being recommended for B-rank and above, this much should be manageable for us.
If we were to go further down I’d at least want a Priest or a dedicated Tank(heavy armor) in our party.
Noru is currently handling the role of the tank, but it will be dangerous for her to deal with enemies that are more powerful than the Asterios.
[Why is there light in here….]
[The light is being emitted from the walls.]
I braced myself and walked in, the path gradually became a gentle slope downwards.
There shouldn’t be any light underground, but a green-ish light is emitted from the walls all around us so visibility is pretty decent.
I thought I can finally get some use out of the Lamp as we were going underground but… Well whatever.
This wall seems mighty convenient, maybe I can shave off a chunk of it and bring it back?
[Onii-san, a monster has appeared.]
We walked along the only path while curiously observing our surroundings, we then reached an area that was spacious to some extent.
And there we came across a green round creature. Whenever it sleekly moved around its whole body jiggled.
Its body looks to be almost entirely made out of liquid. A white bead floats at the center of the body.
The surface of wherever the creature passes by loses its luminescent property and goes back to being just a rocky surface. Is this thing eating whatever is contained in the wall’s surface?
[It looks sorta weak.]
(EN: flag collected)
[Muu, Okura-dono. You shouldn’t be fooled by its appearance.]
It doesn’t seem to be very strong. It doesn’t look like it has much defenses, and it doesn’t seem like it will do much damage with that kind of body.
I was going to give it a good thwack with Bar, but Noru stopped me before I could swing.
Uumu, what she says does make sense. Time to check that Pokedex.
● Acid Slime Race: Slime
Level: 35
HP: 10,000
MP: 0
Attack Power: 400
Defense Power: 50
Agility: 5
Magic Resistance: 0
Unique Ability Strong Acid
Skill Emission
[Uoh!? It could have been dangerous if I carelessly approached it… ]
[This is one of the reasons why B-rank or higher is recommended here. Onii-san, you shouldn’t be letting your guard down while we are in here.]
So having “Acid” in its name means its entire body made out of acid!?
Even just touching it would have been dangerous. I am able to see its status, but I wouldn’t know of abilities that were not in GC.
It would be pretty nasty if the Strong Acid ability ignored defense.
Fighting monsters 101. Adventurer ranks not only show how strong the individual is, it also reflects how attentive to such details the individual is.
…..I’m really bad with that kinda stuff.
After that we proceeded and defeated any Slimes we came across with Estel’s magic from afar.
We have yet to get anything else apart from slime materials. Only the white bead is dropping. Is this something like the Slime’s core?
If this is all they drop, the weird stuff must be a Rare Drop.
(ED Note: remember the pajamas? refer to chapter 14)
When we arrived at the deepest part of the 1st floor, we were greeted by another doorway to a slope going downwards much like the one at the entrance.
We advanced to the 2nd floor. Here we meet slimes yet again but they are purple in color this time.
The Pokedex shows them to be Venom Slimes. As the name implies they have a Deadly Poison Ability.
Relying on Estel to defeat them again, we advance onwards to the 3rd floor and we find transparent Slimes there.
Proceeding through yet more Slimes on the 4th floor, currently we are at the 5th floor.
[This place really is dangerous… Estel you better not stray away from us.]
[Yeah, I understand that much.]
[It would be wise to refrain from acting alone here.]
The 3rd floor has Stun Slimes, and as their name suggests they have the Stun Ability. 4th floor has Heat Slimes, with the ability to cause Burns.
They are coming at us with every abnormal status imaginable. This labyrinth has some very lethally armed slimes.
We continued advancing with me and Noru defending Estel between us.
Though me and Noru are immune to status effects, we aren’t going to risk attacking and purposefully putting ourselves in danger.
There’s the off chance the enemy’s skills aren’t status effect based.
The slimes are slow moving too, so it’s mostly Estel blasting them with her magic.
[Ooh, this one looks like it’ll give a bunch of experience.]
[That is a tough looking Slime.]
Finally onto the 5th floor. Unlike the previous floors there were no Slimes along the way until we reached the main plaza like area, where there was only 1 Slime which was silver-ish in color.
Oh, isn’t this one of those Rare Slimes that you usually see in RPGs? It doesn’t have a face like the one that I know of but they more or less look the same.
(ED Note: think dragon quest)
They give more experience than other monsters when you defeat them, but they escape.
(ED Note: and are really fast too)
I was really tempted to blitz into it before it ran away, but Noru just reprimanded me earlier on so I shall rely on my Pokedex once again.
Steel Slime Race: Slime
Level: 50
HP: 4000
MP: 0
Attack Power: 2400
Defense Power: 20,000
Agility: 60
Magic Resistance: 0
Unique Ability None
Skill Transformation
Huh?… The numbers differed from what I imagined. But Estel can probably insta-kill it with her magic.
I’ll let Estel finish it off with a magic attack.
Right when I was about to give the order after having that thought, the Slime in question already made its move.
The Slime which was a slight distance away from us transformed, it then throttled towards us with incredible speed with the surface of its body filled with countless needle-like spikes.
[Uooooooh!?]
[Okura-dono!]
Though I was unable to react due to how fast it happened, Noru managed to put herself between me and the Slime and intercepted it with her shield.
Jesus, even I didn’t think it would rush in with that sort of attack. That thing reminds me of that Liquid Metal killing machine from the future!
(ED Note: “I’ll be back”)
It would have been a dangerous moment if she wasn’t with me.
[Noru, thanks for the save….. ]
[Don’t sweat it. So, what do we do now.]
The Slime reverted back to its original shape in an instant, it then shot itself toward one of the walls and shrunk itself the next instant after which it began to move about.
With that kind of speed, it will be difficult for Estel to properly land her magic as it has a delay after casting.
We might be in a wide area but this is still underground, so we might get caught in the aftermath if we used AoE magic.
It’s shifting forms with that Transformation Skill, guess I can try sealing the Skill with my Skull Ring effect then hitting it with magic after.
[Help me tank its attacks. I’ll launch wind elemental attacks to try and seal its Skill when I see openings to do so.]
[Roger that!]
We took our positions in front of Estel, to prevent the Slime from getting to her.
At first it seemed that Noru had all the aggro, as the attacks were mostly focused on her.
I would then land a wind elemental attack by swinging Bar when it stretched out to attacked.
It would then switch to targeting me, but Noru will then slide in and repel the following attack with her shield.
After repeating the process for awhile, the Slime reverted back to its original round body and stopped moving after I landed enough attacks.
Looks like the Skill seal finally kicked in.
[Alright, Estel. Hit it with your magic.]
[With pleasure.]
And so the Slime which stopped moving gets hit by Estel’s magic attack.
The Slime which had low HP and zero magic resistance, easily melts to Estel’s fire magic.
A silvery bead and a pair of metallic looking Boots were left behind from where it dissipated.
Oh, is this one of those Rare Drops?
[So we’re only at the 5th floor.. Hows about we try going as far as we possibly can instead of only until the 10th floor? We’ll just try and see if we can reach the 10th floor first in the meantime.]
[Roger that~]
[Well I don’t mind, this might turn out to be a more fun than I imagined.]
Who would have expected a monster like this to appear on just the 5th floor…..
Honestly I’m thinking of going back already, but we’ll keep on going for now.
If it turns out to be really dangerous from this point on, I have no qualms about turning tail and heading back. We can always come back here some other time.
