“Even if you are going to evolve your Mana Cultivation Method, it is better to first decide on a direction that suits you.”
“What?”
“Bartus Body Hardening Art is a straightforward body-enhancement Mana Cultivation Method with no particular weaknesses. If you evolve it without thinking, it will probably become a higher-grade Body Hardening Art of the same kind. But would that really be the Mana Cultivation Method that suits you best?”
“Ah!”
“You must have felt certain things during actual combat. Analyze Bartus Body Hardening Art carefully, adjust the flow of mana in a direction that suits you, and then evolve it. I think that would be better.”
“Right. Thank you, Master!”
“It is nothing. Saying this to most Summoners would be useless anyway, but you have talent. I am merely telling you to keep it in mind.”
“I think it’ll help a lot.”
“Then that is good. Go ahead and begin. If it looks like your mana flow is becoming distorted, I will help you.”
“Yes. Then I won’t hesitate to rely on you.”
The concept itself was already clear.
There was no reason to drag this out.
Right there, I began circulating my mana according to Bartus Body Hardening Art.
At the same time, I swung my spear.
FWOOM.
‘It really is a stable cultivation method that raises physical ability evenly.’
But after experiencing that chaotic battle in the Labyrinth and growing accustomed to Pendulum Spear Art,
what I felt I needed was slightly different.
‘I need faster reactions. Vitality is obviously important, but Strength isn’t nearly as important as I thought.’
The difference came from my spear arts and combat style.
Of course, that did not mean I could actually modify Bartus Body Hardening Art itself.
All I could do was slightly adjust the mana flow,
redirecting some of the flow that strengthened my muscles toward reaction speed and Agility instead.
HUMMM.
FWOOM!
‘Oh. It’s subtle, but there is a difference.’
If I dug into that difference and researched it for a long time,
I might even be able to evolve the cultivation method without using Level-Up Points.
But.
‘I have no idea how long that would take.’
In that case, saving time might ultimately be another way of conserving resources.
FWOOM.
FWOOM.
I maintained that subtly altered mana flow.
‘Evolve Bartus Body Hardening Art.’
[Evolve Skill?]
‘Yes.’
[2 Level-Up Points will be consumed.]
FLASH.
At that moment, the stable flow of mana from the cultivation method began changing rapidly.
The mana took on a grander, more refined flow and gradually settled into my body.
Fortunately, the direction seemed to have shifted toward the path I had guided it into.
A smile naturally spread across my face.
[You have learned Cheol-woo Mana Cultivation Method (High-grade-Lv.1).]
‘Hmm.’
The name made it sound oddly sturdy and powerful compared to what the cultivation method actually focused on.
But my name was Cheol-woo.
There was not much I could do about that.
Two days later.
Once I had grown accustomed to my new cultivation method,
I immediately set out on my second Labyrinth expedition.
***
[Name: Go Cheol-woo]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 8]
[Stats]
Strength: 14(+0.7)
Vitality: 15(+1.4)
Agility: 10(+2.1)
Mana: 13
Physical Resistance: 3
Magic Resistance: 4
[Mana Skills]
Pendulum Spear Art (Common-Lv.10), Cheol-woo Mana Cultivation Method (High-grade-Lv.1), Volante Footwork Stage 1 (Common-Lv.5)
[Level-Up Points: 6]
[Ability Slot (Full)]
Multiple Spirit Command.
[Trait]
-Additional Information Check.
‘Good. Very good.’
Bartus Body Hardening Art had raised Strength, Vitality, and Agility evenly.
Cheol-woo Mana Cultivation Method, on the other hand, seemed to give roughly half as much of a Strength modifier as Bartus, about the same amount to Vitality, and nearly twice as much to Agility.
‘If I max out a High-grade Skill, will the modifiers reach 10%, 20%, and 30% of my Mana? Perfect.’
The lower Strength modifier was a little disappointing.
But with my Agility Stat already lagging behind, this was the best cultivation method I could have asked for.
A personal cultivation method that had evolved exactly as I intended.
‘This really does feel satisfying.’
Heh.
My Mana Stat had even gone up by 1 for free while I trained Cheol-woo Mana Cultivation Method.
‘Bartus Body Hardening Art never even showed signs of raising my Mana.’
The results could hardly have been better.
More importantly, I had conserved my Level-Up Points as well.
“Are you sure you do not need to evolve your spear art?”
“I think I’m starting to see a path forward. I should be able to confirm it through actual combat.”
“......Hmm. I know you achieved remarkable results on the first floor, but it will be a problem if that turns into arrogance, Char.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. That’s why I’m only doing Floor 2 this time and coming back.”
“By yourself?”
“Yes. Alone.”
Jerik seemed to have plenty he wanted to say.
But after a moment, he nodded as though he understood.
I had reached Level 8 after encountering the Hobgoblin and goblin warriors.
Normally, Level 8 was the highest Level a Summoner could reach on Floor 3.
My newly equipped weapons and armor, including the Artifact boots, had also greatly increased my combat ability.
On top of that, I had learned House Volante’s footwork and even evolved my Mana Cultivation Method to suit myself.
How could he reasonably stop me?
“Even so, never let your guard down.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Good. Then go.”
“Yes!”
Of course, if Jerik had known what I was truly thinking, he might have stopped me.
‘Perfect Clear. Sharing this with anyone else is dangerous. So I have to do it alone.’
With that single thought,
I threw myself into the Labyrinth alone.
FLASH.
As soon as I entered, the first thing I saw was the portal I had registered at the end of Floor 1.
I placed my hand on it.
‘Floor 2.’
FLASH.
I entered a new Labyrinth.
‘Hmm.’
As the light faded from my vision, the first thing I saw was a snow-covered mountain path utterly unlike the cave of Floor 1.
A completely different world.
That was why some people claimed the Labyrinth did not descend underground at all.
Instead, the deeper you went, the farther away you traveled into other worlds.
‘There are even people who say we should act carefully and avoid causing harm because they’re separate worlds.’
But there was always something following adventurers that made it impossible not to recognize the place as the Labyrinth.
[You have entered Floor 2 of the Labyrinth.]
[Floor 2 Quest]
[Escort the caravan in the forest to its destination.]
[The Caravan Master must remain safe. Cargo damage must remain below 30%.]
‘An escort mission. Is this one of the easier ones?’
It was already well known that Floor 2 was another continent buried beneath heavy snow.
But despite being large enough to call another continent, its Quests were assigned almost at random.
Most of them apparently involved defeating low-grade monsters or escort missions.
Appropriate for Floor 2.
That was true of most of the Novice-grade Labyrinth.
Except Floors 5 and 10.
‘Where’s the caravan?’
As I looked over the snowy road, I used ‘Additional Information Check’ on the Quest window.
[Perfect Clear Conditions]
[Excluding the escort guards, all caravan members must remain safe (12/12). Eliminate the Elite Monster, Demonized Human (0/1).]
“Hmm.”
That alone was not enough to tell how difficult it would be.
‘A Demonized Human should mean someone who forced themselves to absorb Ability Stones beyond their Ability Slot limit and ended up turning into a monster.’
Almost no lunatics like that existed in Labyrinth City, where the System clearly showed everyone their limits.
But I had heard that monsters like them occasionally appeared inside the Labyrinth.
‘How strong would one be? Still, this is only Floor 2. It shouldn’t be anything absurd, right?’
I vaguely imagined what it might be like as I followed the snowy road.
Along the way, I realized all over again that my Artifact boots did more than simply fit well.
They also kept my feet warm.
‘If I were wearing steel boots or leather shoes, I might’ve had to worry about frostbite first.’
Just as I found myself thinking yet again that I had made the right choice buying them,
I spotted a group gathered around a fire in the middle of a clearing in the forest.
It looked like a fairly large caravan.
There were more than twenty people who appeared to be armed combatants alone.
“Halt! Who goes there?!”
A sentry approached immediately.
The fact that they had a proper watch in place showed that this was a disciplined group.
“I’m a traveler passing through. I’m heading toward the nearest city. Would it be possible for me to travel with you for a while?”
I answered exactly as Jerik had instructed me.
The sentry hesitated and looked behind him.
Then a plump middle-aged man sitting closest to the campfire spoke.
“A mercenary? What Level?”
“Level 8.”
“A Level 8 spearman. Captain Kane, can we trust him?”
“Well, we’ll know once we put him to work.”
The scar-faced mercenary captain shrugged.
The middle-aged man, apparently the Caravan Master, looked back at me.
“If combat breaks out, you will be the first to step forward. We are almost at Edelin, so the pay will be half. Will you still join us?”
It was exactly the answer I had expected.
I simply nodded.
But my expression could not help stiffening.
The treatment was not the problem.
‘Damn. This might not be easy.’
There were more than twenty people who looked like escort guards.
That was actually the problem.
There were this many fighters protecting the caravan,
yet keeping the caravan members safe was a Perfect Clear condition.
‘......This might be harder than I thought.’
The condition saying nothing about the lives of the escort guards despite there being so many of them made me even more uneasy.
Even after joining the escort group, I did not immediately go to sleep.
I volunteered for night watch.
They refused.
“How could we trust a man who joined us today with the night watch? If something happens, we will wake you. Sleep over there on the outskirts.”
They even stationed another escort beside me to watch until I fell asleep.
Naturally, I could not actually sleep.
The fact that a Quest had appeared meant something was going to happen soon.
‘Escort missions usually have trouble within a day.’
I lay down with my eyes closed, but every nerve remained taut.
Less than an hour later,
“Multiple yellow eyes ahead! Wild beasts attacking!”
“New guy! Get up!”
I was already on my feet before the watchman could even finish speaking.
“Now, prove y......!”
“Yes!”
I sprinted straight to the barricade formed by the wagons and took position at the very front of the escorts.
Only then,
BARK!
BARK! BARK!
did I hear the barking.
The creatures whose bright yellow eyes had been shining in the darkness emerged into the firelight.
BARK!
BARK!
Wolves.
Individually, they were not especially large.
But there were far too many.
More than thirty at a glance.
“New guy! Forward!”
Before another shout could come from behind me,
I was already stepping forward.
Back when I lived on Earth,
I would have been able to do nothing except stand there trembling.
But by now,
I had adapted perfectly well to this savage world as a Summoner and adventurer.
BARK!
Two wolves leaped at me the instant they saw me.
SQUELCH—!
I pierced the throat of the first wolf as it lunged for my neck, pulled the spear back immediately,
then stepped half a pace backward and pierced the second one through the throat as well.
‘That’s it!’
Now that Pendulum Spear Art had fully settled into my body,
thrusting and withdrawing,
retreating and advancing,
all flowed together like water.
SQUELCH—!
“Damn! New guy, you’re pretty good!”
“Seriously! Very nice!”
The wolf pack hesitated for an instant.
But then,
AWWOOOOOOOOOO!
a chilling howl erupted from deeper inside the forest.
At once, the wolves’ eyes changed completely.
BARK!
BARK-BARK!
They all charged like mad at the same time.
SQUELCH. SQUELCH. SQUELCH.
I moved my feet rapidly and killed wolf after wolf.
But even as their own kind continued dying,
the remaining wolves kept charging without any regard for their lives.
“What the hell? What’s wrong with these wolves?!”
“Have they gone insane?!”
Eventually, the other escorts had to step in to deal with the wolves that slipped past me.
Only after all thirty-two wolves lay scattered as corpses did the attack finally stop.
[Combat Ended]
[32 wolves defeated. Contribution: 22%]
[Enemy level is low.]
[No experience acquired.]
“Captain, don’t these things seem strange?”
“Yeah. They do. But this is the Magic Beast Forest.”
“I guess so?”
The escorts seemed to accept that explanation for reasons I did not understand.
But.
‘There’s no way this is over, right?’
As an adventurer inside the Labyrinth,
I could only tilt my head at the ominous feeling.
And then, the spirits I had released at the beginning of the battle to supplement my senses detected movement behind us.
CRAAASH—!
“Behind us!!?”
I moved the instant I sensed it through the spirits.
But by then, one of the wagons forming the circular barricade had already exploded apart, and a massive monster was emerging through the wreckage.