The morning of the sixth day since entering the labyrinth.
We were still camping just past the fourth layer.
As usual, the Sly Apes launched surprise attacks periodically. You would think that with intelligence, they would realize they couldn’t win…
Surely their instinct as monsters took over.
After all, having faced that damn monkey for more than four days, I’d started to somewhat understand what Ms. Naga and my mother wanted to drill into us.
In short, it was about how to apply and release force. If you’re always on edge, you can’t hold out; if you always relax, your decisions are slow.
They probably wanted me to be able to switch on and off not with my head, but instinctively.
Thinking that way, the Sly Apes were perfect. Honestly, I was confident I could take them on even if surrounded by ten of them.
Weak as they were, they didn’t run and wander around, and when they gathered in numbers, they recklessly charged in.
When I told that story to Mom and Naga, the two of them laughed and said, ‘Half correct,’ and then started explaining.
“Aldo, Elphas, Ashera, you’re half correct. This Sly Ape is a monster used in the exam to advance to B-rank.”
“To B-rank?”
“Yes. Becoming B-rank means you’ll need to act as the leader for multiple parties in protection work and such.”
“I see.”
“So this exam assesses your aptitude for maintaining at least a minimum level of composure, splitting your awareness during camping, and ultimately making retreat decisions.”
“…”
“Over these four days, we’ve been observing all of you.”
“…”
“Aldo, Elphas, Ashera, during the first two days, weren’t you only thinking about how to defeat the Sly Ape?”
“Yes… I was entirely focused on the Sly Ape…”
“On the third day, you looked completely worn out.”
“…Yes.”
“But on the fourth day yesterday, you seemed more composed, didn’t you?”
“Yes… I guess I was more tired by the Sly Ape… but if I kept a certain level of awareness without forcing myself to pursue it, that was the easiest way…”
“And so today?”
“Yes. The longer the exploration went on, the more fatigue built up, so I probably learned how to conserve my strength while actually camping. Ah…”
“I see. And if you could also observe how everyone else was doing, I might even say you deserve a B rank.”
While laughing, Ms. Naga spoke, and next to her, Mother shrugged her shoulders.
Ms. Naga told us to decide for ourselves whether to proceed further or continue training a little more on this floor.
I guessed she meant that if it was equivalent to a B rank, I needed to show that I could make that decision as well.
“El, Ashera, what should we do?”
“I don’t want to see the faces of those monkeys, but today is the sixth day…”
“I’m also fed up with those monkeys.”
“Considering we have a ten-day schedule… should we aim for the seventh layer from here, or train in ultra-vibration here…”
“If we’re going to tackle it halfway, it might be better to dedicate the time to ultra-vibration training.”
“In that case, I’ll train with the magic shield and Vernier.”
“Ashera with Vernier… that might get terrifying…”
“The way Elder Brother and Sister Ashera fight seems to benefit greatly from Vernier, after all.”
“Planning to surpass Aldo immediately.”
“Take it easy on me. Alright, so training here it is.”
“Yes, Elder Brother.”
“Yeah.”
I turned to face Naga.
“Naga. This time, I’ll train on this floor.”
“Understood. Don’t overdo it.”
“Yes.”
It was unfortunate that I couldn’t advance further inside, but first I wanted to reduce the activation time of ultra-vibration to under 5 seconds and maintain it for over a minute.
If I could achieve that, I might be able to somehow incorporate it into battle…
As things stood now, it took too long to activate, so it could only be used for a do-or-die full assault.
If I could shorten the activation to 3 seconds, I should be able to use activation > attack as one set at key moments.
The path ahead was still long, but I thought I’d move forward step by step.
Two days later (the morning of the eighth day since entering the labyrinth)————
Despite being constantly harassed by the Sly Apes every day, I desperately trained and somehow succeeded in reducing the activation time of ultra-vibration to 8 seconds.
“El, somehow I managed to shorten it to eight seconds.”
“As expected of you, brother.”
“Do you think you could manage a little more, El?”
“I’m not confident, but……”
“Just try, even if it might fail, will you?”
“Understood……”
El closed his eyes and stood naturally. Just looking at him, it seemed like he was meditating to learn magical control.
About thirty minutes later, El slowly opened his eyes.
“Brother, how is it?”
While saying that, I grasped El’s outstretched right hand and, through magical resonance, understood what he had corrected.
“I’ll try.”
I muttered that and summoned my magic weapon (greatsword), then applied ultra-vibration……
A high-pitched sound, like the buzzing of insect wings, began to resonate.
Immediately, I stopped the ultra-vibration and turned to El.
“El, that’s amazing. The activation time of the ultra-vibration is down to six seconds.”
“As expected of you, big brother.”
“No, no. That can’t be right. Isn’t that all your achievement?”
“I just cleaned it up.”
“Cleaned it?”
“Yes. Unlike big brother, I don’t understand the image of ultra-vibration. So all I can do is look at the flow of magic power in my own ultra-vibration and arrange it neatly.”
“Arrange the flow of magic power…”
“Yes.”
What El was saying was an idea that hadn’t even crossed my mind.
Could it be… when we were developing the space kick and wall run, Mom forced us to resonate our magic every day…
I roughly decided the flow of magic, and El fine-tuned it… we had been repeating this…
Ha, hahaha… I was beaten… I truly thought… I was glad to be a twin with El.
“El. Thank you. I’m lucky that you’re my brother!”
El looked dumbfounded because I suddenly started saying something incomprehensible.
I was able to shorten the ultra-vibration all the way down to 6 seconds. With this, I might be able to challenge the Earth Dragon on the next dungeon exploration or the one after that.
Once I had a plan for training the ultra-vibration, I started wanting to train my Vernier a bit more against the Sly Apes.
Ultra-vibration, at worst, could be done in my room in the royal capital, but Vernier wasn’t like that.
“Naga. I’d like to train my Vernier against the Sly Apes. Is it okay if I leave the campsite?”
The Sly Apes ran away immediately. I wanted permission to move freely outside the campsite.
Also, if possible, I wanted to get the Fire Lizard’s hide on the 5th floor.
“No. I can’t allow you to act alone.”
“Then, what if I go with Ashera?”
“With Ashera… Rafina, what do you think?”
Naga looked to Mother for her judgment.
“Aldo. Are you hiding something?”
“Uh… no, it’s just that if I can reach the fifth floor, I want a Fire Lizard’s hide…”
Mother gazed at Naga and once again it seemed to be Naga’s decision.
“Aldo. Why do you want a Fire Lizard’s hide?”
“Borg, the armor shop owner, asked me to…”
Next to Naga, Mother let out a big sigh.
“Aldo, what you’re doing goes against the party’s rules.”
“Huh? Against the rules?”
“Think about it. Do you honestly think everyone can take on requests on their own and properly explore the labyrinth?”
“…”
“I want to take this. I want to go here. I have business here… There’s no way we can actually explore under those circumstances.”
“That’s true…”
“Give up this time. Before the next labyrinth exploration, consult with Naga.”
“Understood…”
“However, aside from that, I think it’s fine regarding free time activities.”
Saying that, Mom left the decision to Naga.
“Make sure to be back by evening.”
“”Yes.””
Ashera and I were allowed a full day of free activity, and now we were about to go hunt Sly Apes.
“Well then, we’re off.”
We greeted each other like that and started walking from the campsite into the corridor.
Just Ashera and I walked at a normal pace.
“Ashera, two on the right, one behind.”
“Yeah.”
“Is it okay if I take the right?”
“Aldo, you go behind. I’ll go to the right.”
“Got it. Let’s not push ourselves and stick to this meeting point.”
“Understood.”
The moment I said that, I turned around and blew the Vernier jets toward the Sly Ape behind me.
I stepped in front of the Sly Ape trying to escape using a dagger, a space kick, and Verniers.
I aimed the Vernier jets again at the Sly Ape, who was frozen in shock.
As I passed by its side, I snapped its neck.
The Sly Ape lay there, showing its corpse with a shocked expression.
Actually, the moment we were allowed free movement, we were given one condition.
It was about the claws of the Sly Ape we defeated. We were told to collect all the claws from both hands and both feet.
Apparently, the claws of the Sly Ape contain a small amount of mithril, and among the monsters in the Labyrinth of Claws and Fangs, they are quite valuable.
Well, even so, it seemed the amount was really small, so it wasn’t enough for the clan to mobilize systematically.
As instructed, I cut the Sly Ape’s claws with a knife and put them in the material pouch attached to my waist.
The magic stone… when I used the sonar, it was in the chest… I had to take it or I’d get in trouble, so I drew my magic weapon (greatsword), cut it roughly, and then collected it… ugh.
I was still not good with splatter… I needed to fix this somehow…
When I returned to the meeting place, Ashera was waiting for me.
“Aldo. You’re late.”
“Sorry. Gathering took longer than I thought.”
“Aldo, do you want to learn magic fists too? If you just make them explode, you can pick up what’s dropped.”
“No… it’s fine. Just imagining that scene makes me feel…”
Ashera’s magic fists were certainly powerful, but that splatter was a bit too much…
Ashera and I pulled ourselves together and continued hunting Sly Apes.
Along the way, we had lunch, got caught in a trap for the first time… a lot happened, but by evening we returned to the campsite and reported the day’s events to Naga together with Ashera.
“We’ve just returned.”
“Welcome back. I’m glad nothing happened.”
“Actually, we got caught in a poison trap. But Ashera and I treated ourselves immediately, so there was no problem.”
“I see, poison… I’m glad it wasn’t serious.”
“Thank you.”
I heard from El that Joe and the others had come around noon and taken the wooden box with them.
Tomorrow would be the ninth day since we began exploring the labyrinth. I was starting to long for the surface.
“Ms. Naga. When will we return to the surface?”
“I wonder if even you, Aldo-kun, are beginning to find the labyrinth exploration tough?”
Ms. Naga returned my question with a question, grinning all the while.
“N-No, that’s not the case, but…”
“It’s a bit early, but starting tomorrow morning, we plan to head for the surface and should be out by evening. I intended to talk about this at dinner.”
“I-I see…”
I couldn’t help but suppress the grin creeping across my face. When I looked around, Ms. Naga, Mother, Ashera, and even El were all looking at me as if they were seeing something delightful… I couldn’t understand it.
If I spent one more night here, the long dungeon exploration would finally give me a breather, but with just one month left, I absolutely had to defeat the Earth Dragon and obtain the Miasma Stone!
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