‘How can I grow stronger in a short amount of time?’
It was the question I had agonized over most since falling into this world.
It was not enough to be satisfied with simply becoming stronger.
To avoid this world’s destruction, I had to become stronger ‘quickly.’
‘The first solution that came to mind was to raise the stats related to Magic Power.’
What if I improved the stats governing my MP pool and mana recovery?
The duration of 【Soul of the Swordmaster 】 would increase accordingly. Then I could solve every problem with a ‘click’ of the skill.
But not long after, I discarded that plan.
‘Fixating on MP stats in my current situation would be inefficient, if anything.’
Magic Power was a stat for which innate talent was important.
That meant that no matter how hard I trained, there would be a limit to my growth without a natural foundation.
Yet my current Magic Power stat was only 1.
‘My Magic Power Circuits haven’t formed at all. And I don’t have any related talent, either.’
It would take an enormous amount of time and effort to raise Magic Power-related stats in this state.
Even then, they would not rise above a certain level.
It would be no different from pouring water into a bottomless jar.
‘Well, starting from the mid-to-late game, there’ll be ways to overcome that one by one.......’
I could think about increasing my MP then. Until that point, I would focus on building my foundation.
‘......For now, I should raise my raw physical abilities.’
My average stats still hovered between 1 and 2.
Even for Internalization, I had to secure basic abilities, including Strength, Agility, and Stamina.
No matter how outstanding my talent for the sword might be, a weak body would inevitably limit my ability to reproduce a skill’s movements.
‘More than anything, I can’t even live properly in this state.’
Even a little vigorous movement left me breathless and made my body tremble.
Throbbing headaches plagued me even when I did nothing.
That was why fixing this feeble body took priority over forming Magic Power Circuits.
‘......Which is exactly why I must kill the Earth Dragon.’
As I said earlier, I knew a way to solve this problem.
The boss of Labyrinth Village, the Earth Dragon.
If I made good use of the reward I could obtain by killing it, everything would be resolved.
“S-Sir Gaon? We need things like this to go to Labyrinth Village......?”
“That is right.”
In any case.
Before heading to Labyrinth Village, Adelia and I visited a certain place.
Vertas’s Central Market. It was the continent’s largest marketplace, where there was supposedly nothing you could not buy.
After purchasing the necessities for the subjugation there, I nodded with a satisfied expression.
“This should be enough. Let us get moving.”
“.......Yes.”
With that, all the preparations to subjugate the Earth Dragon were complete.
***
STEP, STEP—.
As we walked, Adelia kept glancing behind her.
She seemed concerned about the backpack she was carrying.
It was full of the miscellaneous items we had just bought at the market. Some of them were so out of place that one might wonder whether we really needed even those.
Since the journey was quiet, I asked Adelia a question.
“How much do you know about Labyrinth Village?”
Adelia lifted her head with a start and answered.
“Not in detail. I only know that it is a tunnel village formed on the outskirts of Free City Vertas.......”
I nodded and continued explaining for Adelia’s benefit.
People clustered around great cities to live.
The insides of cities enclosed by a Barrier were among the few Safe Zones where humans could survive.
And naturally, the land within a great city was limited.
Land prices within Vertas in particular had soared to the heavens, so ordinary people could not even dream of setting foot there.
“Even the inn where we stayed cost close to one million Shillings a night.”
“.......?”
The cost of living was downright murderous.
Yet Adelia only tilted her head at this.
She was not surprised by the expensive lodging. She simply had no sense of how expensive it was.
Well, having been born into the Sacred Family, she could not help but be unfamiliar with the value of gold coins.
Then again, in a sense, even the concept of ‘credit currency’ was an illusion created by humans.......
It looks like I’ve got a lot to teach you, Adelia.
“For ordinary people, it is a price they could never dream of paying for one night. So they began gathering wherever the Barrier’s influence reached.”
“.......”
“That is right. Outside the city walls, or in the underground (below the surface).”
Labyrinth Village was a settlement that had arisen in the same way.
Those who had nowhere to live on the surface went underground and settled there.
The tunnels grew deeper and deeper, tangling together like a maze.
Naturally, the deeper they went, the less the reach of law and order extended. The farther the village was from the surface, the more it became steeped in darkness.
The lamps that had once lit the village gradually dimmed, and laws and institutions faded with them. As a result, countless criminals also flowed into the village.
Con artists hiding at the bottom of the city, merchants fleeing from debt, vagrants who had crawled in because they had no money, and so on.
Adelia listened silently to my explanation, then nodded and added,
“Yes. I heard that it is almost a lawless zone. Heathens gather there to worship demons, and there are even barbarians who survive on cannibalism because they have no food.......”
Unable to hold back, I let out a short laugh at that.
“You think of Labyrinth Village as far too brutal a place.”
“Pardon? But I heard that it is an area almost as dangerous as Dark City Dawnguard.......”
“Cast aside your preconceptions and look around. You have been inside Labyrinth Village for quite some time already.”
“.......?”
Adelia’s eyes widened as she swiftly looked around.
Timber bridges stretched like spiderwebs between sheer cliffs.
Between them, layered buildings lined the canyon walls.
Giggle, giggle—.
Bright laughter rang out from all around.
At the stalls, hot broth bubbled away, while children ran back and forth across bridges built high above, playing tag.
It was a village far removed from the bleak image people usually associated with Labyrinth Village.
“For all that, Labyrinth Village is still a place where people live.”
“.......Ah.”
That was right.
The entrance to Labyrinth Village was no different from any other bustling village in Vertas.
***
After we had walked along the canyon for quite some time, the sunlight began to disappear as we followed the downward path.
At some point, the children vanished from sight, and the village’s atmosphere began to change little by little.
If the entrance had resembled a vibrant market, the streets now were filled with rough taverns frequented by mercenaries and adventurers.
Naturally, hawking was rampant as well.
“Hey, you there! Why not stop and rest here? A bowl of hot broth will wash away all your travel fatigue!”
“Come in! We have clean bedding and warm bathwater ready!”
“Premium headlamps on special sale! If you want to explore the dark tunnels, getting one is essential.......”
It was while I was hurrying along, letting the noisy hawking go in one ear and out the other.
CRUNCH—!
Adelia suddenly grabbed the wrist of a man who brushed past us.
“Aaaagh!”
DROP—.
The man who had screamed trembled as he dropped an object.
It turned out to be a pouch of food from Adelia’s backpack.
“Get lost immediately. Before I cut that wrist off.”
Adelia issued the warning coldly.
CLATTER—!
The pickpocket fell over and fled in a panic without even looking back.
After watching his retreating figure in silence, Adelia said a few words to me.
“I think we need to be careful. There are many people with filthy hands everywhere.”
“.......”
I looked at Adelia with a dazed expression.
I knew Labyrinth Village was full of pickpockets, but I had not expected our belongings to be stolen in the blink of an eye.
Moreover, Adelia’s senses, which had caught that stealthy sleight of hand immediately, were simply astonishing.
“Ha ha ha! You are remarkably skilled adventurers!”
At that very moment, an unfamiliar man’s voice came from the side.
When I turned my gaze, I saw a man looking at us. Wearing a friendly smile, he repeatedly dipped into small bows as he approached.
Adelia frowned and regarded him warily.
Her look clearly asked who he was supposed to be this time.
The man offered a handshake with a practiced air.
“My apologies. I was late in introducing myself. My name is Joel. I am a guide working here.”
“.......A guide?”
“Yes. My job is to guide adventurers like you to the deepest parts of the tunnels.”
The moment the guide realized Adelia was a first-time visitor, he went to work.
He began giving a long-winded explanation that a guide was absolutely necessary to reach the depths of Labyrinth Village.
The deeper one went underground, the more complicated the maze became. Even seasoned adventurers could get lost, wander for days, and starve to death, or so he said.
He did not forget to emphasize that he was a guide who had entered and exited the tunnels hundreds of times.
“I have maps that I made myself. From the upper levels all the way to the deepest levels, every route is meticulously marked.”
“If you have a map, could we not simply buy that?”
“There is a small problem with that...... The map is actually right here.”
TAP, TAP—.
The guide grinned and tapped his own head.
He meant that he had memorized every route in his mind.
“Even veteran adventurers always hire a guide when they enter the tunnels. If it is your first time, knight, you should do so all the more.”
“.......”
“Would you care to use my services?”
SWISH—.
After listening to the guide’s explanation, Adelia glanced in my direction.
I immediately shook my head.
It meant that we did not need a guide just yet.
“......That is unfortunate. Tsk.”
The guide did not linger and withdrew at once.
He only said that he would be in the area for a while, and that we could find him again anytime if we changed our minds.
Once the guide was out of sight, Adelia spoke to me cautiously.
“You said the Earth Dragon is located in the deepest part of the tunnels, correct?”
“That is right.”
“According to what that man said, the tunnel structure is incredibly complicated. Without a guide’s help, are you planning to find it using only your own ability, Sir Gaon?”
As she spoke, Adelia’s eyes widened as if something had occurred to her.
“Ah!”
With a burst of realization, she turned to me and spoke in an excited voice.
“Could it be that you received a Revelation from the Great Ones.......?”
“No.”
“.......”
When I cut her off in a single word, Adelia’s expression immediately fell.
Naturally, I had not received any sort of Revelation.
Moreover, there was not a single mistake in the guide’s explanation from earlier.
No matter how exceptional an adventurer might be, without a guide they could never reach the deepest part of the tunnels.
There was a reason people exploring Labyrinth Village paid a high price to hire a capable guide.
So.......
“We will hire a guide, too.”
“.......Aha.”
Adelia nodded as if she understood.
“You already had a guide in mind. That is why you refused his offer in a single stroke earlier.”
“That is right.”
Thinking of the guide I had already selected, I continued.
“His ability is beyond question, but he is a little peculiar.”
“.......?”
“The reason I bought all that junk earlier was to recruit him.”
Adelia stopped walking for a moment and looked puzzled.
After carefully recalling the items I had bought at the market, she asked me a question.
“Could the pouch of spices be for that guide?”
“No.”
“Then the finest silk?”
“No.”
“.......An empty chest?”
“That is not it, either.”
“.......”
Adelia’s expression became even more confused.
“Then what item are you referring to.......?”
“Earplugs.”
“.......?”
Flinch—.
Adelia stared blankly at me.
She looked utterly lost for words.
Her expression plainly said that she could not understand why earplugs were needed to recruit a guide.
‘Innocent Adelia.......’
......A veteran player always uses every bizarre method available to clear a game.