When I arrived at the plaza that served as our meeting point, every member of the Ninth and Tenth Units was already there.
Logan was directing his usual hostile glare my way. For the time being, I had decided to let him do as he pleased, so I spoke to Caroline instead.
“Caroline, I want you to focus on the Defender’s movements today.”
“Ehh? Why? I mean, do we even really need coordination in the first place?”
Caroline voiced her dissatisfaction before questioning the very necessity of teamwork.
I have to explain it from that far back...? I wondered. Surely the clan had taught her the basics.
“I’m strong, right?” Caroline continued, clearly undeterred.
She wasn't wrong. Compared to the other rookies, she was overwhelmingly powerful. If she continued to grow at this rate, she would undoubtedly become a famous Explorer.
“I’ll probably be the ace of this clan in the near future! That’s why I’m the one who should be killing the Magic Beasts. I think it’s fine if everyone else just focuses on supporting me.”
How incredibly selfish.
“It’s not fine,” I countered. “Even Albert-san, who was once the absolute ace of the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky, placed a heavy emphasis on coordination. There are limits to what a single person can achieve. That’s why everyone forms parties to explore the Labyrinth, isn’t it?”
Albert Sensible. He had been a member of the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky until last year. He lost his life during a battle against the Black Dragon—the 92nd-floor floor boss—while the clan was attempting to conquer it. Apparently, his death had triggered a series of internal troubles for the clan, but that was a long story I decided to skip for now.
“And as a result, he died protecting his comrades, didn't he? A Defender, no less. He was an idiot, that man. He must have known that if he died, everyone would stop smiling.”
A strange, heavy pressure emanated from Caroline as she muttered those words. She seemed to be harboring some kind of deep-seated trauma. I got the feeling that this was a territory I, as an outsider, shouldn't step into.
In the end, not just Logan, but Caroline as well ended up acting however she wanted.
Will they be okay with that level of teamwork? I thought. Well, I’d make sure I was ready to intervene the second things turned dangerous.
Now then, the characteristics of the floors we were heading into—36 through 50—were...
“U-Um, Orun-san...!”
“—Hm? What is it, Sophia?”
As I was mentally reviewing the layout and the Magic Beasts of today's floors, Sophia called out to me.
“I’m so sorry my party members have been so rude! But... I’d really like to keep receiving your guidance, Orun-san. Would you be willing to keep teaching me...?”
Sophia looked at me with a gaze of pure sincerity. Watching her over the past two days, I’d realized she had a habit of pushing herself too hard. Even on the day we first met, she had been desperate enough to go out with a pick-up party just to explore the Labyrinth, despite Selma-san having forbidden it.
While her diligence was a virtue, she seemed to be spinning her wheels. I just hoped it wouldn't lead her down a dark path. That said, I didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm, and since I wasn't giving orders to the Tenth Unit today, I had plenty of time.
“Of course. What would you like to know?”
“Well, in that case... what is it that I’m lacking?”
What she was lacking, huh? She had already cleared the requirements for a rookie. In that case, I should probably teach her what she needed to reach the next stage.
“I understand. We’re about to enter the Labyrinth, so I’ll explain it once we’re inside and have a moment to breathe.”
“T-Thank you so much!” Sophia gave me a radiant smile.
◇
As usual, the Guided Exploration began with Selma-san's signal. After stepping onto the 36th Floor, I spoke to Sophia while keeping a sharp eye on our surroundings.
“Alright, first, I want to gauge your understanding of sorcery. Tell me how you'd define it.”
“Y-Yes! Um... first, as a premise, the power to cause various phenomena by utilizing the mana found in the air is called magic. However, magic is something only Magic Beasts can use. Sorcery is the technology created by using magic as a reference. By channeling mana through a spell formula, humans—who originally couldn't use magic—became able to trigger phenomena similar to it.”
That was basically correct. To be more precise, a spell formula was the 'procedure for converting mana into a phenomenon.' In essence, magic and sorcery were the same thing. I decided to omit the finer details to avoid confusing her. For all intents and purposes, they were identical; only the names differed.
“You’ve got a good handle on it. Then, what are the steps to activate sorcery?”
“The activation process is divided into two stages: Spell Construction and Mana Infusion.”
“Explain those two stages for me.”
“Spell Construction involves taking the basic formula of a spell and adding additional settings, like power and range, to complete the formula. Mana Infusion is the act of pouring mana into that completed formula.”
If she understood that much, she deserved a passing grade. To be honest, I hadn't expected such a thorough answer. Most mages usually just thought of it as 'performing complex calculations in the head and combining the result with the mana in the air.'
Sorcery was incredibly complex. Unless someone was trying to develop new spells from scratch, that basic level of understanding was usually enough.
“You understand it quite well. I’m impressed.”
“E-Ehehe. Thank you.”
“Then I’ll teach you the concepts and knowledge you’ll need to reach the next level.”
“I look forward to it!”
◇
Our conversation was frequently interrupted by combat, but that was to be expected. Logan was surprisingly quiet; Selma-san might have given him a stern talking-to, even if I’d asked her not to.
After several battles, we finally reached the 40th-floor boss area. For the previous floor bosses, Anthem-san, Barnard-san, and the instructor's healer—Cathy-san—had handled the combat as a trio. If all the instructors challenged an Upper Floor boss at once, it would be over in the blink of an eye. They had limited themselves to three people to demonstrate a proper boss fight to the rookies.
However, the 40th Floor marked the beginning of the Middle Floors, where the strength of the bosses spiked significantly. While the trio could still win, they would be low on damage without an Attacker or an Enchanter. Since we had two boss battles today, it was decided that all five of us would participate for the 40th and 50th Floors.
“Orun, we’re counting on you!” Barnard-san called out as he moved to my side.
“Right. Though I’m mostly just support this time. My real turn is on the 50th Floor.”
“Can you really pull off that thing you mentioned during the briefing? You’ve got a blank period as a swordsman, right? Honestly, I’m not sure anyone could do that, blank period or not...”
“It won’t be an issue. Now, let’s get this over with.”
The five instructors entered the boss area, followed closely by the rookies. The area was a massive, hall-like space. The rookies huddled together by the walls to watch the battle. Standing in the center of the hall was a four-armed giant, roughly five meters tall. Its muscles were so thick they served as natural armor.
“We’ve gone over the plan, but this is our first time fighting as a full party. Everyone, stick to your roles! 【Strength Up】, 【Vitality Up】, 【Agility Up】!”
After barking the order, Selma-san applied support magic to Anthem-san and Barnard-san. I had already informed her that I didn't need her buffs, as I preferred to apply my own based on the situation.
The two warriors, now bolstered by magic, moved with far more agility than before as they engaged the giant head-on. I cast 【Strength Up】, 【Technical Up】, and 【Agility Up】 on myself and circled around to the giant's blind spot.
I made sure not to draw its aggro by over-attacking, focusing instead on slicing through relatively soft areas like the joints. The two Defenders were able to block the giant’s massive swings with their shields while finding plenty of openings to strike back.
With the front-line focusing on the lower body, Selma-san and Cathy-san bombarded the upper body with sorcery. Facing five A-Rank Explorers, the giant was utterly helpless.
The battle was over in just over five minutes. As the giant died, its body dissolved into a black mist, leaving behind only its Magic Stone. Occasionally, parts of a Magic Beast don't dissolve, remaining behind as materials for craftsmen to turn into weapons, armor, or magic tools. For floor bosses, a material is a guaranteed drop, and if you’re lucky, the entire corpse might even remain.
Leaving the collection of the stone and materials to the two Defenders, I returned to where the rookies were waiting.
“Quite the passive display, just nipping at its heels from behind. I doubt the outcome would have changed if you hadn't been there at all. Are you really supposed to be a front-line Attacker?”
Logan greeted me with an immediate sneer. Since I had focused purely on support and the fight had ended so quickly, I could see why it looked that way. To be honest, I agreed that they probably would have been fine without me.
“Maybe so,” I replied bluntly.
Logan clicked his tongue and didn't say another word.
◇ ◇ ◇
“H-Hey! Anthem! What the hell was that just now?!”
Barnard’s voice was full of bewilderment as we collected and stored the giant’s materials. I couldn't blame him. That battle had been completely one-sided.
We were A-Rank Explorers who had reached the 87th floor of the Great Labyrinth. Even so, this was a floor boss. Even with Selma’s support magic, it shouldn't have been that easy.
The biggest factor in our overwhelming victory was undoubtedly Orun Doura.
In terms of raw speed and power, the front-line Attackers in my regular party were superior. If you looked only at his swordsmanship, Orun was probably just barely A-Rank. But his movements weren't something that could be measured on such a simple scale.
As he’d said, Orun had devoted himself entirely to support—by completely sealing the giant's every move.
Magic Beasts are living things. They always have 'tells' before they act. I could only guess, but it felt as though Orun was reading those tells to predict exactly what the giant would do next. By striking the crucial points of the giant’s body just before it could launch an attack, he had neutralized it entirely.
The giant couldn't even mount a proper offense before we tore it down. I had never experienced such a one-sided fight in my life.
“I don't know what to tell you. I can't believe he has a multi-year gap with skill like that.”
Orun had said yesterday that even if your physical stats are low, you can compensate with technique and experience. This battle had been the perfect embodiment of that philosophy.
If he could actually pull off the feat he’d mentioned during the briefing, Orun was likely very close to the 'ideal swordsman' he claimed to be pursuing.
I had a feeling the 50th-floor boss fight was going to be even more shocking...