"So, Orun. Now that we’re in private, how about that answer you owed me from this morning?"
Wilkes, having finished his back-and-forth with Lucre, turned his attention to me. There was no harm in discussing it here.
"Yeah, of course. Defeating the Black Dragon was largely thanks to two original magic spells. Since they’re my own creations, I’ll skip the finer details, but the first is a spell called Impact. The effect lasts for less than a second—just a heartbeat—but it can amplify the performance and power of my equipment or magic by up to a hundredfold."
"A hundred times!?" Rain gasped, her eyes wide with wonder. "That’s incredible... Hey, Selma, could you do that?"
Rain might have looked young, but the way she carried herself was more like a mature woman. It was a bit rude of me to think, but the gap between her appearance and personality was staggering.
"...No, it’s impossible for me," Selma murmured, her expression one of utter astonishment. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."
I had stumbled upon that "glitch" by sheer luck. It wasn't something you'd find through conventional study, so I doubted anyone would ever think to look for a "cheat" that exploited it.
"The second spell allows me to boost my physical abilities significantly more than standard support magic can. I haven't given it a specific name because the degree of enhancement is adjustable."
Technically, it wasn't exactly magic, but to an outside observer, it looked like nothing other than a massive buff. I decided it was easier to just call it magic. Since this was also a "cheat" using a glitch in the world’s logic, I couldn't explain the mechanics anyway.
"When you say 'significantly more than standard,' how much are we talking about?" Lucre asked.
"When I fought the Black Dragon, I was pushing my capabilities to about thirty-two times their base value."
"What?! That's totally cheating!" Lucre cried out. "If you were that strong, it makes sense how the Hero Party reached the 94th Floor. But why on earth did they say you were incompetent?"
Lucre was the only one who spoke up, but the other three looked like they were thinking the exact same thing. Well, it technically is a cheat...
"It’s a powerful effect, but it has its drawbacks," I explained. "First, I can only cast it on myself. I can’t boost my allies' abilities that way. Back in the Hero Party, the others only ever received my standard support magic. Since my basic buffs only provide about a twofold increase, I can't really blame them for thinking I was falling behind. Additionally, these high-tier buffs require a massive amount of spell construction. They aren’t suited for long-term endurance. I can't maintain that state for a whole expedition. I likely won't use the same level of buffs I used against the Black Dragon unless I’m forced to. It gives me one hell of a headache..."
The only reason I had used a Quintuple Status Up against the dragon was that I was desperate to force a quick conclusion to the fight. It had lasted longer than I’d anticipated, and a real Labyrinth exploration would span many hours. While we weren't always in combat, the total time spent fighting would far exceed the length of the dragon battle. For future missions, I figured I might stack two or three layers, but I wasn't planning on doing a full six-layer stack again anytime soon.
"I see. That explains how the Hero Party made it that far," Wilkes said, nodding. "Even without the self-buffs, that Impact magic alone is a massive advantage. I finally understand why the Boss was praising you so much."
"Yeah," Selma added. "I didn't realize it was such a demanding spell, but I also never imagined it granted a hundredfold benefit. It’s truly an incredible feat of magic."
"With Impact, a hundred times is just the maximum. I don't use it at full power every single time. Constructing the formula for a hundredfold boost puts a massive strain on the brain." I looked around the room. "Any other questions? I’ll answer whatever I can."
"In that case, may I?" Rain asked.
"Of course."
"Orun-kun, you were an Enchanter in the Hero Party, right? Can you play any roles besides Enchanter and Front-line Attacker?"
"If you're looking for a performance level somewhere between high B-Rank and low A-Rank, I can handle any position."
"Wow, that's impressive! That means you can fill any gap during an exploration."
"There is one catch. For some reason, I can’t cast advanced-rank magic or higher. Because of that, my proficiency as a Rearguard Attacker is actually quite low."
"Wait, why?" Rain asked, puzzled. "If you're well-versed enough in magic to develop your own original spells, surely you should be able to cast advanced magic."
I believed I had a very deep understanding of magic. Theoretically, it wouldn't be strange if I could cast even special-grade magic, yet I just couldn't do it. I had no idea what the cause was. I could technically mimic high-power magic using Impact or Raise Repeat, but that was just brute-forcing it.
"I honestly don't know the cause. I just can't use it."
"I see. Well, I hope you’ll be able to use it someday!"
"Yeah. It hasn't been a problem so far, but I’d like to figure it out eventually."
"Me next! Can I ask something too?" Lucre chimed in as the conversation hit a lull.
"Go ahead."
"Do you have an Ability?"
"Yeah, I do. It’s called Mana Convergence. The effect is exactly what it sounds like: I can pull the surrounding mana into a single point."
To demonstrate, I raised my hand to chest height with my palm turned upward. I focused, and the ambient mana began to swirl into my hand, forming a dense black sphere.
"Oh! Amazing!"
"...And how do you use that in a fight?" Wilkes asked, leaning in to look at the sphere.
"Mainly to create makeshift footholds in mid-air, or to attack by detonating the mass of mana. Sometimes I incorporate the concentrated mana into my other spells."
"Hoh, sounds versatile. So that makes three Ability users in the unit, then."
People born with an Ability were rare. Even among the world's elite Explorers, they weren't common.
"Does Wilkes-san have one too?"
"Just Wil is fine. And drop the '-san.' As for your question, no. The ones with Abilities are the Boss and Lucre."
I looked at the two women. Abilities were usually kept top-secret. Even with the research I'd done on the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky, there had been no mention of them possessing Abilities. If they were willing to share, I would listen, but I wasn't about to pry.
"Heh heh heh, I’ll tell you! My Ability is Mana Tracking!" Lucre announced proudly. "The effect is actually kind of plain, though. I can track the remnants of magic or spells to find out where they were fired from or who cast them. See? A bit dull, right?"
"Not at all. That’s incredibly useful."
In the Labyrinth, magic often comes flying out of nowhere. Spells aren't always fired from right next to a Magic Beast; sometimes an enemy will snipe from the opposite side of a chamber. With Lucre’s Ability, we could pinpoint the caster before they could even fire a second shot. Saving ourselves the effort of searching for an unseen enemy would be a huge mental relief.
"Thanks! But Selma-san's Ability is even cooler. Right, Selma-san?"
"Don't build it up too much..." Selma sighed. "My Ability is Telepathy. It allows me to establish an invisible link between myself and a person of my choosing, permitting us to communicate our intentions without speaking a word."
Wait, what?
That was the one thing I had wanted most during my time with the Hero Party—a way to communicate while separated. Such a tool didn't exist on the market, and even our sponsors' investigations had come up empty. I didn't even have to explain how invaluable this was for dungeon crawling. It would be incredibly useful in daily life, but in the Labyrinth? It was a game-changer.
Success in the Deep Floors depends on coordination. Even veteran parties who can read each other's movements perfectly still face moments of confusion. During a chaotic fight, the front-line and rearguard can get separated, leading to missed signals or even friendly fire. Selma’s Ability could eliminate those risks entirely. Of all the Abilities I knew of, Telepathy was easily the most superior in terms of sheer utility for Labyrinth exploration.
"Does that mean you can hear every thought the other person has?" I asked.
"No. It’s a bit hard to explain, but unless the other person consciously intends to 'speak' to me, I don't hear anything. I can't just read their mind."
That was a relief. Everyone has inner thoughts they’d rather keep to themselves.
"Are there distance limits?"
"Yes. It’s roughly a radius of a few kilometers centered on me."
That was a massive range. While it might be slightly limited for use across a whole city, party members rarely separated by more than a few hundred meters in the Labyrinth. For our purposes, the range was essentially infinite.