It seemed last night had been a hot one.
I woke up to find myself clinging to Vesta. Her cool skin felt incredible—downright refreshing. Apparently, it was a trait of the Dragon-kin to dissipate heat during hot nights, causing their bodies to cool down.
Honestly, could it get any better than that?
Spring has passed, and summer seems to have arrived; clinging to Vesta the Dragon-kin, is my Mount Kagu.
I climbed out of bed in the dim morning light. Miria was a whirlwind of productivity, bringing me my shirt and handling chores with practiced ease. She had likely helped Vesta into her equipment as well, judging by the thanks Vesta was offering.
"Miria, thank you."
"Yes, I did, desu!"
I added my own thanks and finished getting my equipment in order. Once I confirmed everyone was set, I focused on the word: Warp.
Vesta looked ready to go. We emerged into the Labyrinth.
It wasn't particularly hot inside. The temperature remained relatively constant, though it might have felt cooler simply because Halber was located to the north.
"Since Vesta is ready for combat, we’re going to focus primarily on exploration for a while starting today," I announced. "Don't worry about the specific types or numbers of monsters."
"Understood," Roxanne replied.
Vesta seemed to have settled in, so it was time to pick up the pace.
With her new equipment, I no longer needed to maintain the Plating skill on her, so I dropped the Alchemist job. However, I decided to keep my slots open up to a Fifth Job. In the Alchemist's place, I’d start leveling Bounty Hunter.
I could have stuck to four jobs to keep both the Required XP 1/20 and 20x XP Gain bonuses active, but it couldn't be helped. Monk was a necessity, and Explorer, Hero, and Mage were indispensable. With only four slots, there would be no room for flexibility. Since I often needed to swap in Cook or Warrior as well, keeping the fifth slot open for now was the most practical choice.
In exchange for using five jobs, I decided to change our routine in the Labyrinth. Exploration was the new priority.
It wasn't that we hadn't been exploring, but we hadn't been pushing for the upper floors with any real urgency. Now that the party was finally coming together, it was time to take that next step.
My job levels had hit a wall around 40, and Sherry and Miria’s progress had slowed significantly after hitting 30. We were clearly outgrowing our current depth. I still had the benefit of Required XP 1/10, which explained why I was ahead, but people with levels in the 30s and 40s were definitely fighting much further up.
Higher floors meant more experience, which meant faster leveling.
I’d prioritized safety until now, which was the right call, but I felt we could afford to be a bit more proactive. During Boss Battles, the girls mostly just surrounded the target, and in normal encounters, I usually just fired off magic from the rear. If I ever had to step up to the Front Line, I had Durandal’s HP Absorption to keep me safe.
Roxanne was untouchable, and even Miria rarely took a hit. As for Vesta—despite being the lowest level—her damage mitigation was so high that any scratches she took were negligible. It was almost absurd, really.
Regardless, the higher floors were where we belonged.
That didn't mean I was going to skip floors entirely. We would still climb one level at a time, just like we always had. We were just going to do it much faster.
We moved mechanically along the Labyrinth walls. Roxanne led the way, but she no longer detoured for specific monsters. We didn't change course or stall for the sake of an encounter. As a result, large groups of monsters became rarer, while small skirmishes increased. Ones and twos.
Sometimes we hit a group of two Flytraps and a Clamshell. Looking back, it was impressive how consistently Roxanne had been able to avoid these awkward, low-efficiency groups.
I unleashed a Fire Storm to greet them. Clamshells were resistant to the Fire Attribute, which made them a pain to clean up, but it was better to use fire to wipe out the more numerous Flytraps.
The Front Line collided with the enemy.
Roxanne lunged with her Estoc, and Miria stabbed with her Rapier. Vesta joined in, dual-wielding her blades. Her true training started today.
She caught a Flytrap’s counterattack with the Steel Sword in her right hand, and in the same heartbeat, hammered her left-hand Iron Sword into the opening. When the monster lashed out from the left, she parried with her iron blade and swept through with the Steel Sword in her right.