Several more weeks had passed, where Inari, Raya and myself, continued to farm the 51st floor to rebuild our food supplies. Presently, we had amassed holdings of 300 portions each across our individual spatial storage spells, and were finally starting to feel satisfied we had enough reserves should we become trapped on a deeper floor of the labyrinth. In truth, gaining levels had also become excruciatingly slow, where we had only advanced to level 60 after all this time farming our supplies. In short, we were starting to feel pressed for time, knowing that close to two months had already passed on the surface, with untold horrors probably being inflicted upon the citizens of the kingdom. As such, we were currently checking over our supplies, and reviewing all of our status values before officially beginning our journey to delve deeper into the labyrinth.
---
Name: Kotato Yamata Level: 60 Rank: F(+)
Race: Human HP: 1,500/1,500 MP: 2,000/2,000
Age: 25
Profession: Spell Blade
Status: Strength: 700 Defense: 700
Magic: 700 Dexterity: 700
Skill Proficiencies: [Growth] [Summoned Hero] [World Serpent’s Blessing] [] [] [] [] []
Titles: None
---
---
Name: Inari Kitsune Level: 60 Rank: F(+)
Race: Beastkin HP: 1,200/1,200 MP: 3,000/3,000
Age: 22
Profession: Priestess [Hidden - The Speaker For Vixen]
Status: Strength: 324 Defense: 387
Magic: 824 (+2) Dexterity: 663
Skill Proficiencies: [Magic Affinity – Excellent+] [Reflexes] [Concentration] [Fire Affinity – Excellent+] [Curses – Excellent+] [Charms – Excellent+] [Illusion] [Magic Detection – Excellent+] [Growth] [Earth Affinity – Excellent+] [Typeless Affinity – Excellent+]
Titles: None [Hidden – The Speaker For Vixen – Chosen by the goddess Vixen to pursue the innerworkings of the world at large. Individual is blessed with growth and manipulation of magic, along with a passion for discovery. All types of magic may be learned by the individual who possesses this title.]
---
---
Name: Raya Lockhart Level: 60 Rank: B
Race: Human HP: 1,133/1,133 MP: 821/821
Age: 28
Profession: Martial Knight
Status: Strength: 574 Defense: 633
Magic: 244 Dexterity: 292
Skill Proficiencies: [Swords – Excellent+] [Improvised Weapons – Excellent+] [Fist Weapons – Excellent+] [Earth Magic – Excellent] [Leadership – Great+] [Commander’s Aura] [Defensive Mastery – Excellent+]
Titles: None
---
One of the more interesting observations, was Inari had finally overtaken me in raw magic status values now. Raya, on the other hand, was thrilled at the additional power lent to her by Coileene, which drastically boosted her “abysmal” status values, as she called them. While the commander had been typically focused on defensive magic with an emphasis on close-quarters combat using her gauntlets and sword, Coileene had boosted her capabilities enough to allow Raya to keep up with me near the front, where she could adequately “tank” the goblins we had become so proficient at fighting. That said, with everything reviewed and in order, after having just recently cleared out the 51st floor again, we all nodded in agreement to one another, as we started heading towards the staircase to officially reach the 52nd floor.
As we were walking down the typical spiral staircase, to the surprising absence of a poisonous miasma, Inari was briefing Raya and myself on the expected undead variants we could potentially come across on this level. From her research and magical studies under Felice, the undead could be roughly categorized into the following ranks of severity: skeletons, zombies, ghouls, lesser lich, and greater lich. Any examples of stronger variants were unknown in the adventuring world, presumably because a greater lich had only ever been observed and documented once amongst adventurers. However, we were also unaware about the presence of goblin “kings” until 2 months ago when we initially became trapped down here, so there was also the potential for some new, unimaginable horror on the floor ahead. For a moment, grotesque images of mangled corpses crudely stitched together, with and endless army of limbs alike flooded my mind with their unnatural nature. A chill ran down my spine from the thought, as my body suddenly felt cold to the touch.
Suddenly, I was abruptly pulled back by Raya, closer to the stairs, jolting my vision to align with the entranceway. The chill I had felt, unfortunately wasn’t an imaginary feeling, but actually the result of something far, far sinister. Floating on the other side of the door, staring back at us with piercing red eyes, was an undead monstrosity clearly reminiscent of a powerful lich from numerous fantasy settings.
The creature, was a skeleton cloaked in a tattered and rugged ebony cloak, with several black chains dangling from its limbs that dragged across the ground. Tiny, specs of frost, calmly hung in the air around it, as I noticed the monster’s gaze locked with my own. Its bones appeared brittle, yet firm, as the ghastly skull’s eyes bore fear directly into my soul. On one of its hands, the creature held a long, metallic scythe, grimly covered in an array of skulls and crosses, while the other housed a black grimoire, bound with an inverted pentagram. The creature continued to stare at me, as frost from its body gradually started to permeate the landing’s barrier, creeping along the floor in a web-like advance towards us, blanketing the ground in a crispy white sheen. Then, just as quickly as the lich had become enthralled by our presence, it turned its body to continue patrolling the perimeter of the floor, leaving us alone. Once it had left the entranceway, the fear gripping my body eased in intensity, as my lungs let out an exasperated sigh of relief.
“Wh... What the heck was that thing?!”
I somehow managed to articulate a response. Apparently, I had become lost in thought and just kept walking towards the greater lich standing at the doorway, or so it seemed. Inari had just finished explaining to our group, that these creatures were known to possess powerful magic capable of luring their targets closer in a dazed trance. Raya thankfully noticed something seemed wrong with me, and decided to pull me back, since my actions seemed abnormal with the... You know... Calmly advancing towards the obvious, sinister threat... While I was thankful for her interference, truthfully not remembering any of my actions from moments ago... Why didn’t Coilee—
[I was simply bored Ko, if that’s what you wanted to know. Truthfully, I wanted to see what would happen if you got close enough to that inferior being... But alas, it appears your companions have some sense of duty in keeping you safe. But believe me, it was entertaining seeing how easily your body fell prey to a mere greater liches’ influence. You really would be useless without me you know...]
...
“Are... You alright Ko?” Inari’s voice carefully blanketed the landing as I was still apparently trying to catch my breath from the encounter. “I think that was the greater liches’ spell “Influence” at play. I couldn’t detect it manipulating or weaving any of the mana particles in the vicinity, so I’m not sure just yet how I can counter such a spell...”
“In which case, since I would like things to finally start progressing at an acceptable pace after a longer than necessary training and food collection section... Allow me to enlighten you about this type of magic, little fox.”
In her usual, arrogant attitude, we had all become accustomed to by this point, Coileene materialized herself behind Inari, lightly grabbing her shoulder, while softly touching one of her fluffy ears to play with. Startled by the sudden assault, Inari shakenly jumped forward, with her tail shooting straight into the air, stiff, and extra fluffy for the commander and I to witness.
“That... That’s not appropriate Coileene!! D-d-don’t startle me like that.” Inari’s words were frazzled, as she tried to berate the goddess for doing whatever she pleased. “Ha! But it would have been fine if someone else had—”
“I said stop!” exclaimed the fox in a sharp tone, as she interrupted Coileene’s continued advances towards her, cutting her off abruptly. “Fine... Have it your way, little one, but I was just merely trying to demonstrate the type of magic you somehow failed to detect... Despite already countering a much more... Intricate variation back at the tavern with that troublesome cat.”
Coileene flicked her serpent’s tongue at the conclusion of her “helpful” insight, while crossing her arms across her chest in a prideful manner, before drifting her gaze towards my own. Looking at Raya, her expression appeared blank, processing the charades before her, matching my own feelings for the situation as well... Probably...
“You mean... The greater lich influences its targets by embedding mana particle clusters directly within the host’s conscious?!?” Carefully responded Inari, as she slowly touched her now pinned back ears for comfort, before being startled once again by Coileene’s unexpected actions.
“Ding ding ding! A perfect answer!” laughed the serpent goddess, as a set of streamers, confetti, and poppers, materialized from nothing, before quickly exploding in a celebratory fury above us. Raya and I both jumped from the sudden *Pops!* shattering our eardrums, while confetti and glitter slowly rained down above, scattering and fluttering lightly from the ambient air current present on the floor. Some of the sparkling paper had even managed to land in my hair, but failed in comparison to the streamers and glitter adorning Inari’s red fur, which was now blanketed in a sparkling, captivating mess. Annoyed at her pristine coat being ruined, Inari attempted to lightly brush the annoying paper from her fur, which only seemingly made matters worse. Then, letting out a deep sigh, she flicked her paws, which somehow caused all of the confetti to disappear instead.
“Seriously Coileene.” She said in an even sharper tone, before once again brushing the fur along her tail and chest, checking them over to make sure no pieces of rogue glitter remained. “But... If that’s the case, I should be able to protect us with a barrier covered by illusion. The lich will probably notice quickly, but those precious seconds will be more than enough to prevent a complete control.”
Coileene simply smiled at Inari’s explanation, before prompting her with some more information. “Not too bad of an idea, for a mortal of course, but is that really the best option?”
Inari paused, bringing one of her paws underneath her chin in contemplation. I copied her motion as well, but was truthfully unaware how this magic could definitively be countered. However, my concern appeared unnecessary, as Inari quickly snapped her fingers, before happily explaining her plan, with accompanying tail swooshes.
“That’s it! The lich is blending the particles on both the tangible and ethereal planes, meaning if I protect the conscious with ethereal particles, while weaving light particles primed with the purify spell, they should autoactivate and prevent any enthralments from taking hold!”
Complimenting her energetic tail wags, my head suddenly felt warm, as I noticed Inari’s paws were surrounded in a white and purple light, probably indicating she had cast the protective spell she had just thought of. Looking at Coileene, her face now held a maniacal grin, as her tongue continued to flick away in acceptance. “Well done. An acceptable counter for an inferior foe.” The goddess haughtily retorted to Inari’s cheerful actions, before clearly directing her next set of words towards me. “But how will you contend with this floor, knowing this information now?”
Looking through the entranceway and examining some of the mana signatures present, I was able to recognize the identifiers for 20 skeletons, 14 zombies, a cluster of ghouls, and what was probably several lesser and greater liches patrolling the perimeter of the floor. Truthfully, we didn’t need to defeat all of the enemies on a floor to progress, but had decided fully clearing a floor out would be the saftest option for our party. This method would allow us to learn the move sets and strategies of all the enemies present, which could be helpful if we ever came across another boss floor like the minotaur. If one of these creatures summoned others as reinforcements, then being aware of any nuances in their behaviours would be critical for our survival. However, that did bring to mind our earlier dealings with the 12th floor, which I decided to confirm with Coileene who was still waiting on my response.
“Back on floor 12, we used purify to clear out the entire floor, while remaining in safety on the staircase. Couldn’t... Couldn’t we just do the same here? But use your powers Coileene to amplify the spell with the disks? I know you said I couldn’t use the disks against the goblins, since they would apparently destroy it before the spell could be fired, but...”
I could tell Inari and Raya were looking at me as I continued stumbling over my own words. Eventually, I indicated to the enthusiastic fox we should attempt a purifying disk combo, to which she happily agreed. Coileene simply snickered, as I flicked my wrists to release a single floating disk, before joining Inari and Raya in converting typeless particles into the light element for the attack.
With all of our assistance, we were able to quickly gather enough particles for Inari to weave into a potent purify spell, which she happily launched into the calmly orbiting disk near the entranceway. A warm light, flooded the floor, as the disk hummed away, charging the spell further, before finally unleashing it on the unsuspecting undead monstrosities, still aimlessly wandering around. Shielding my eyes from the excessively bright lightshow, it appeared our plan had worked, as all of the previous mana signatures were now thankfully absent. None of us leveled up, which was a slight disappointment, but we had effectively cleared the entire 52nd floor with a single spell. Turning to Coileene, I attempted my own bit of sass towards her, to which I quickly regretted.
“Heh, and you said we couldn’t use your disk attacks from the safety of the floor’s barriers! Shows just how much an all-powerful goddess knows about this labyrinth!”
“Oh please. You really are a fool Ko. There is a much... Simpler explanation as to how this “incredible discovery” just so happened to work.”
“Really now? Oh, do enlighten me Coileene, after all, you are the most powerful god on Terra.”
A sharp, painful chill tinged my spine, as my response hung in the air, echoing within the calm chambers. Next, the serpent confidently embraced my body, tightly pulling it towards her chest, before whispering her simple response in a breathy tone inside my ear. While her actions were no longer alarming to me, it would seem Coileene’s words and foresight still held an impressive grip over my actions.
“I lied, Ko.”
My eyes widened at the simple realization of her words, while Coileene’s arms gradually loosened their chilling embrace around my torso. Then, choosing to return inside her shield, she confidently finished her last words of advice, confidently speaking to all of us. “And... On that note, it would be wise for all of you to remember as such. All living creatures are capable of lying, even those of the divine. Just because a god claims such a truth, it should never be assumed as infallible.”
There was a defining silence between our party, as we all had the realization, that all of our careful planning, could have been made that much easier, had we just utilized these disks to efficiently eliminate the goblins when we first became trapped. We could have saved lots of time and needless suffering by just shooting overpowered laser beams from behind the floor’s barrier. When instead, we were struggling to survive, having assumed such a skill wouldn’t work, just because Coileene stated as much.
Tightly gripping my fists, I looked down at the shield attached to my left arm. The serpent was calmly staring back at me, despite my desires to continue our conversation further. Inari and Raya also held softened expressions after listening to Coileene’s words, indicating to me they too made the frustrating connection as to how much time had been wasted down here. However, just before I could start walking towards the cleared floor, the god residing within the shield spoke to all of us in a condescending, yet encouraging tone.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Now now, you shouldn’t be that disappointed in yourselves. All of your abilities to challenge the status quo are remarkable in their own right. However, you, like many other mortals, all fall prey to a simple line of thinking when it comes to the divine. Thus, to make sure this lesson was... Memorable, I crafted my words as such.
Never, take anything a god says, as an absolute. Always question, and think critically about information you learn, even if it comes from the lips of a god themselves.”
Brushing the horrible goddesses’ words aside, I pressed forward, formally entering the cleared floor, being greeted only by a lightly blowing breeze, and the undead ashes glistening under the light of my luminous spell.
...
After passing through the floor and entering the stairwell towards the 53rd, there was a tragic lack of literature surrounding potential powerful insects that could spawn within the labyrinth. There were classic examples of giant spiders, queen hornets, and gargantuan beetles, but these creatures we mostly know to only exist in the Kingdom of Thalassia, and certainly not within a labyrinth. However, lacking any other data to base our assumptions on, we still prepared contingencies for these creatures, just in case one of these variants became present on the upcoming floor. Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, and carefully peering into the open room, it appeared our cautiousness was rewarded, as our appraisal scans revealed an assortment of moths, beetles, dire silk grubs, and spiders within.
The mana signatures of the creepy crawlies, appeared to be variants of the ones listed within Inari’s adventuring journal, which I was honestly starting to question the size of by this point. For such a simple book, it appeared a near endless source of knowledge, all of which was carefully scrawled within by the obsessive fox during her magic lessons with Felice. I figured it was probably an adaptation of typeless magic related to spatial storage spells, but ultimately made a mental note to ask her about it later. If I could remember of course.
Carefully examining the floor’s layout, it was very reminiscent of the heavily renovated chambers from the 13th floor. Countless dire silk grubs were happily spraying silk around the room, while several spiders appeared to have clearly marked sections of gravel for their hunting grounds. The observations were rather entertaining in their own right, since the room itself implied a closed ecosystem of sorts, based on the environmental storytelling within. There were no sources of vegetation from what we could see, but the silk grubs were clearly a prominent source of food, as seen by the larger spiders currently wrapping some of them in their own silken cocoons. Several beetles had also joined in on the fun as well, instead choosing to impale the poor grubs with their powerful horns. Looking at Inari, she simply nodded, while gathering and priming mana particles for one of her powerful Kitsunebi spells. Signaling to enter, we slowly began advancing towards the other end of the floor.
We didn’t want to spend too much time with the various insects and their variants, but we did need to collect data on most of their attack patterns before moving on. Breaking into a quick sprint, Raya joined along side me, as we both launched our initial attacks into the spider and beetle ahead of us. Skillfully jabbing my sword through one of the giant spider’s many eyes, I quickly leapt back while doing my best to observe and anticipate any counter attacks.
*SCHREE!!!*
“Heh, honestly, I don’t blame you for that reaction to my greeting Mr. Spider, but this is all for our survival!”
While I highly doubted the being understood my acknowledgement for its... Clear disdain for having a blade stabbed through its carapace and eyes in various places repeatedly, I was thankfully able to learn its ability patterns from the encounter.
Reeling back in pain, the giant spider attempted to shoot some acid towards me from its abdomen, which I easily countered by sweeping my right hand to erect a powerful barrier spell. Most of the repulsive goop hung in the air across the translucent bubble, but the puddles landing across the ground quickly showed the world they were a force to be reckoned with, as they quickly liquified the dirt below. Steam carefully ascended from the bubbling, deadly mixture, while several warning tringles accompanied the solution across my peripheral vision. Next, the being attempted to impale the frustrating barrier with its powerful mandibles, before finally finishing its combo with a slash from its lanky front legs. This three-attack combo continued for several cycles, indicating to me these were potentially the only moves it was capable of. Satisfied I had completed my role, I shouted out my findings to Inari, while turning my attention towards Raya.
“Acid, fangs, then sweep. What about you Raya?”
“Got it! This one’s much simpler. It just attempts to impale you with its triple horns!”
*SMASH!*
Efficiently ending her own encounter, the commander skillfully smashed the tough head piece in of the being known as a “Colossal Beetle”, which looked very similar to a rhinoceros beetle from Earth. Green goop shot forth from the beetle, as its shell and insides littered the vicinity in a sharp, gooey mixture. Several more beetles and spiders decided to join the fray, which Raya and I handled without much issue. Inari had also launched several of her Kitsunebi spells past us during the encounter, incinerating most of the insect reinforcements. After clearing out the remaining bugs, I called back to Inari, indicating we appeared to be safe.
“Clear! Looks like that’s all of them for now.”
Double checking my mana detection radar, I made sure to confirm no more hostile signatures were present before sheathing my sword and turning back towards the group. However, Inari’s ears were pinned back as I got closer, and she was still holding her staff rather close to her face, while staring at the ceiling above. Joining her gaze, my heart dropped to my feet, after I noticed the once dark expansive abyss, was now filled to the brim with tiny red eyes staring back at us. I wasn’t detecting mana signatures, but it was clearly something... Or rather, should I say, a lot of somethings, as all of the red lights began descending along the walls towards us. I quickly modified my detection radar to identify smaller threats, which was only confirmed by Inari’s timid, stuttering response.
“K-k-k-Ko... I-I... I think that Mr... Was actually, a Mrs...”
Finally having calibrated my radar, my mind became flooded with an army of red dots, rapidly swarming around us, with the names “Dire Spider Spawn” covering ever bit of my vision in the upper right corner. The tiny spiders were only level 5, but, up against something straight out of an arachnophobe’s nightmare, I only had one simple response to the cowering fox beside me.
“Inari, light em up!”
Mustering a faint smile, I felt a surge of fire particles gathering around her, which I joined in on as well, doing my best to weave additional potency into the spell she was currently crafting. Raya joined beside us, activating some minor barriers, as tiny specs of acid started raining down above us from the baby spiders shooting an initial volley of death our direction. Finally, making sure that our spell would only harm the swarm of spiders around us, we unleashed our inferno into each of the mana signatures from the frightening horde. Powerful flames, burst forth all around us, spiraling around into a potent flaming tornado of death and destruction, incinerating each and every spider it came into contact with. Heat and fire continued to expand outwards from our haven, as each of the mana signatures quickly began vanishing from the target being eliminated in what I would aptly consider fury from hell itself.
Did the attack feel a little excessive? Maybe. But, being somewhat of an arachnophobe myself, I felt no qualms over the sheer destructive power utilized in eliminating these pests. If anything, we could have used even more fire particles to ensure there was absolutely no chance of survival for the critters. The only safe way to deal with a spider, was to use a flamethrower and burn the monstrosity from a comfortable, healthy distance away. This fire tornado, while not a flamethrower, would have to suffice.
Several minutes passed, and, when the smoke finally started to clear, I was relived to see all of the mana signatures were thankfully non-existent. “Geez, I guess you two really don’t like spiders, huh.” Quietly remarked Raya, as she clicked her tongue at the destructive power we just finished displaying. “Don’t like is an understatement.” I responded in kind, while looking around the room, taking in the blackened charred bodies and ash we had so easily created. Then, Inari offered her own comments on the carnage.
“Likewise, Raya, I also don’t enjoy dealing with spiders, especially swarms of them like this. Speaking of, we should probably continue moving. I’m already shuddering at the thought of when these things inevitably respawn. The next floor should be slimes, which already sounds a lot nicer than spiders and beetles.”
“Understood. Let’s just hope we don’t encounter a slime spider or something!” Playfully remarked Raya, as she confidently walked past us towards the next set of stairs, earning a disgusting look from myself in the process. Seriously now... So help me if there actually are slime spiders... I’ll know just the commander to curse for foreshadowing another horrid nightmare.
...
Thankfully, Raya’s person was spared from my unconscious wrath, as when we entered the 54th floor filled with slime variants. It was only filled with an assortment of elementally charged slimes after a brief visual scan. There was a slime for each major elemental particle, including typeless and ethereal particles as well, along with additional oddities such as metal, acid, and balloon. Yes, even I was having difficulties believing in the literal latex-like slimes floating around near the ceiling, but they were clearly a thing on Terra, and, looked to be enjoying themselves in their leisurely aerial drift around the room. This was probably the first time documenting such a creature, yet, for as abnormal as the inhabitants appeared to be, the truly intriguing piece of the floor, was the actual room itself.
“Is... Do you think this is one of those puzzle rooms you mentioned, Ko?”
Bringing my hand underneath my chin, I calmly responded to my inquisitive partner’s simple remarks. “I believe so Inari. The clear separation of the room into elemental quadrants, and an ominous stone wall blocking the next set of stairs seems like a typical cliché puzzle of sorts. The question is... What exactly is the puzzle, and what’s the penalty for failing to solve it?”
“Puzzle... Room...?” Quietly mumbled the commander beside me, as she also brought her gauntlet underneath her chin in contemplation. “Yes Raya, a puzzle room. They sometimes appear in the isekai stories I’ve read containing labyrinths. They usually serve as a way to breakup the tedious fighting scenes, providing a break for the reader and story.”
“I see.” Hummed Raya, as she continued walking along side Inari and I towards the stone wall at the end of the floor. We were careful to avoid the slimes along the way, which wasn’t too difficult, seeing as none of them were inherently aggressive. I had expected at least some of them to be hostile, such as the acid slime I was somewhat familiar with, but all of them just seemed to ignore us while we walked by. “Perhaps this is a feature of the room itself, and the slimes won’t attack us until we begin interacting with the challenge.”
“Makes sense. But, this is a rather large deviation from our observations Ko. All of the labyrinth floors thus far have been combat challenges, so to suddenly see a puzzle? I’m actually looking forward to solving this one!”
Inari’s tail was happily swooshing around, as we continued hopping across the conveniently placed stones in the lava quadrant, before conjuring some ice slabs to help cross the water domain. Her mind was probably happily racing, presumably having already developed several battleplans on how to solve whatever puzzle we were about to encounter. Examining the room in greater detail, each section appeared to mostly contain slimes of their respective element, with a majority of them clustered around a tall pillar in the middle, slowly slinking around it. On top of each column, was a coloured orb matching the domain, and what was probably a symbol to indicate its respective element. Pictures of a flame, mountains, water droplets, and wind, all gladly showcased their amazing artistic prowess to accent their aptly selected glowing colours of red, green, blue, and white.
Eventually, after reaching the other end of the room, both Inari and I looked at each other, and let out a disappointed sigh, to which she was the first to break the saddened silence.
“Is... Is it really going to be that simple, Ko? I was kind of hoping for more of a challenge, but...”
“Ya... I’m thinking it really is that basic of a solution as well. But, lets continue exploring, just to be extra sure.”
Looking at the stone wall, there were 4 aptly placed openings, each of which contained a simple concave pedestal. Above each opening, was the symbol for one of the base elements, along with a lightly pulsing colour of the same domain. The flame pulsed a calming red, the mountain and relaxing green, the droplet a tranquil blue, and the wind a blustery white. Some part of me wanted to believe it wasn’t the simple... That perhaps we would need to decode and place the coloured orbs in different locations, but it really did appear to be the classic “Square peg goes in the square hole” type of deal.
“Is... Do we just take the orbs, and put them in their respective slots? That really doesn’t seem all that complex for a puzzle, champions.”
“I agree Raya. I’m not seeing any accompanying texts or riddles either, so this is probably the solution.”
Looking over the room again, I let out another sigh before confirming our strategy. Raya and I would each go to a quadrant and retrieve a coloured orb atop the pillars, using magic to float it towards the door. Inari would stay near the stone wall to protect the orbs in case some of the aerial slimes tried to return them to their proper homes, and the entire process would take us... Maybe 5 minutes. After receiving some combat enhancements from Inari, I quickly dashed towards the fire pillar and retrieved the first orb, manipulating and levitating it with magic towards the exit. As expected, the instant I touched and moved the orb from its home atop the pillar, all of the fire slimes turned and launched some fire balls towards my direction. A simple barrier was more than enough to prevent the blast and subsequent shockwave, before I easily dispatched them with some water magic of my own. I wasn’t the most comfortable with manipulating water just yet, but with a high enough magic status value, even poorly controlled spells could be just as deadly. Looking over my shoulder, Raya faced a similar situation, but wasn’t in any danger, as she also easily handled the disgruntled earth slimes that attempted to stop her from removing their prized possession as well.
Once the first set of orbs had been placed within the wall, the balloon slimes above us slowly began drifting towards the wall. I let out a light laugh at the scene, since the whole charade was anything but intimidating. Any army of floating balloons, was slowly drifting towards the wall to retrieve the stolen orbs, but it would easily take hours for them to reach it at their current rate of assault. Adding further insult to injury, was Inari conjuring a barrier to bounce the balloons back further. It was actually quite effective, and essentially made their vain attempts to retrieve the orbs, impossible. A part of me did wonder why there was no section on this floor for the thunder element though, as it was still one of the basic elements, but whatever. It’s not like I was the one who designed this place. Thus, after retrieving the remaining water and wind orbs, the stone wall blocking our way calmly parted, revealing the next stairwell deeper into the labyrinth.
...
Still slightly disappointed at the lack of brain power required to progress further, a sense of unease was currently gripping at my chest, as we continued our descent towards the 55th floor. If everything was to be consistent, then this would be a floor not only filled with dairy cattle, but countless stronger variants of them as well, like minotaur’s and... Honestly, who knows what else. Cows with laser beams??? Maybe??? Regardless, I was still traumatized after having died from one of these creatures, and Inari appeared to be much the same, seeing as she was tightly gripping the back of my armor as we continued down the stairs. However, once we reached the bottom of the landing, Coileene decided to materialize herself in front of us, gracing us with another riveting bit of information.
“And this, Ko, is exactly why excessive caution should only be practiced sparingly. Behold, your sanctuary within hell itself!”
Rubbing my eyes slightly, my jaw dropped after confirming what my retinas were in fact happily observing. Formally inside the 55th floor, was what appeared to be an oasis. Lush, green, grassy planes spanned the entire floor, with rivers and streams weaved in between various sections providing ample freshwater to the gleefully grazing denizens. Spread throughout, were literal basic dairy cattle. Appraisal confirmed they were unsurprisingly level 55, and, also unfortunately graced with the “Food” profession. The beings appeared to be peaceful, only briefly glancing towards our direction as we entered the paradise before us.
---
Creature: Dairy Cow Level: 55
Race: Monster HP: 2,000/2,000 MP: 1/1
Age: 2
Profession: Food
Status: Strength: 400 Defense: 300
Magic: 1 Dexterity: 120
Skill Proficiencies: [Grazing – Excellent+] [Milk Production – Excellent+]
Titles: None
---
Looking around the ceiling, several rocky outcrops were floating above us, creating a waterfall of sorts, as liquid continued to cheerfully crash into one of the lake-like basins below. The grass crisply crunched under my boots as I continued walking throughout the floor, deeper within. Everything about this scenario and floor seemed surreal. No stronger monster variants were present on our mana detection radars, and everything was just as—
“I already told you Ko, this is your sanctuary in hell. No threats are present on this floor. You have access to a limitless supply of high-quality steak, and pristine water for quenching whatever thirst your primitive bodies may desire.”
“Is... Is this really real...?” I somehow managed to mutter, as Inari and Raya both began examining the cows and tranquil floor in greater detail. The monsters truly had no hostile intent towards us, and were much more enthralled with currently battling the vicious grass beneath their hooves in their... Struggle to survive?
...
“Ko, I’m really not detecting any other variants on this floor! We really are just surrounded by typical cows. Is this... Really the labyrinth...?”
Looking at Inari, her face was a mixture of relief and confusion. Her nose was lightly twitching, taking in the surroundings, while her tail was calmly flicking around. Raya looked just as shocked, instead falling to her knees, while sniffling lightly into the soft foliage instead.
“Ugh... Can none of you mortals understand me?? I said there was nothing to worry about on this floor. You are more than safe here. I can guarantee it with my perfect wisdom and insight.”
“Coileene, if you knew about this... Why didn’t you tell us about this haven earlier? Surely this would have been a much better option than staying on the 50th floor for months!”
Inari’s comments rang a painful truth to us, as Coileene’s lips menacingly curled in preparation for her response. “I did try to encourage your group to explore further you know. But, someone was obsessed with meticulous planning to ensure the group’s safety. What say you, Ko? Was the nonsensical, excessive planning worth it?”
Choosing to be defiant, I gave my response through gritted teeth to the confident serpent before me. “Yes Coileene, it was worth it. What you are showing us, is the benefit of hindsight. We had no way of knowing this floor was a possibility, and, you never alluded to this either. Encouraging us to explore deeper, isn’t the same as revealing there is a safe floor at level 55. Based on the limited information available at the time, it was reasonable for us to assume that this level would contain stronger variants like minotaur’s, keeping with the observed patterns from earlier.”
An evil grin continued to grow across her face, as the narcissistic god cackled lightly at my comments. Nothing I said was wrong, and she knew it. My mind knew Coileene was only trying to provoke me and get on my nerves. “Perhaps...” The goddess said in a breathy tone, while lightly touching her lips with one of her elegant fingers. “But, taking too much caution is never a good thing either. Balance, is an important part of one’s existence, and too much of one thing, regardless of how right it may seem, can still harm you in the end.”
While the atmosphere amongst our party was initially filled with happiness and relief, Coileene’s words brought a wave of sadness across us. A discovery that should have only filled our thoughts with joy and respite, was ruthlessly trampled on by a god, just because they were getting impatient at our slower-than-expected progress. Staring at the tranquil planes below my aching feet, the heaviness in my chest was all the more apparent. Had I chosen to explore deeper sooner, instead of being overly cautious, then we certainly would have discovered this sanctuary much earlier. Honestly, we might have even forgotten we’ve been trapped within a labyrinth had we reached level 55 sooner, but I had to remember, these observations, while unfortunate, were only due to hindsight’s suffering. Glancing up at Coileene again, her menacing smile had fortunately softened into a more neutral expression, probably pleased at conveying another one of her “lessons” to us. Eventually, Coileene broke the lightly rippling silence amongst our party, only amplified by the slowly flowing rivers around us, by violently slaughtering one of the nearby cows, precisely skewering it with a blackened chain rupturing though its vulnerable heart.
“But for now... Let us finally feast on something more palatable. As much as I’ve enjoyed the upgraded jerky you’ve all become accustomed to, even a god sometimes desires something more from their... Meals.
And... Don’t fret, Ko. I would prefer it if you think of my lesson in a simpler way.”
Pausing slightly while watching several of the cows bolt away in shock and horror at their bovine companion’s sudden and tragic death, I eventually mustered the courage to respond to her rhetorical question.
“And... What way would that be, Coileene...?”
“Sometimes, life isn’t always what we expect. We make our choices, and, have to live with their consequences. Sometimes, they are bearable, while others, will painfully haunt us for all eternity. But, between the bearable and unfathomable suffering, there is a subset from which we can learn and grow.”
Pausing during her dramatic explanation, Coileene meticulously walked towards the slaughtered cattle, making sure I was well aware of her exaggerated movements, before calmly reaching into the beast’s carcass to remove its severed core. Then, raising it towards her lips, ripped and teared the flesh in her fangs with the carefulness of biting into an apple, before calmly licking some of the blood trickling down her arm from her thrilling meal. After several more licks aimed towards my direction, the serpent hissed her final words of advice, much to the disgusted look across my face after observing her uncultured actions.
I call these instances... Missed, opportunities.”
