A Veteran Explorer's Lament

"You know, my teeth seem to have gotten stronger."

Mako opened her mouth wide to show them off. Her teeth were nicely aligned.

"Probably because you ate a monster with fangs. Your stats have gone up too."

"Hmm, I wish I had the Identify skill too."

"You even have Identify…?"

Nero said with a tired face. He had only just woken up. Was he low on blood pressure or something?

"So then, about the second floor's floor boss—who's going?"

At Sei's words, Gantz eagerly raised his hand.

"I mean, there's no need to fight it alone…"

Nero let out a sigh. Logically speaking, if the four frontliners surrounded it, it would be an easy win. Even Nero alone could fight it on equal terms or better.

The second floor's floor boss was a Hellhound. A monster known as the demon hound of hell.

"It's level 45, after all… Well, let's leave it to Gantz again."

Gantz nodded wordlessly.

The matchup between Gantz and the Hellhound was poor.

Dwarves have explosive burst strength, but they can't sustain it.

His battleaxe swings were dodged, and he took counterattacks.

The defensive power of the armor crafted by Ria herself kept the fangs and claws from penetrating, but the impact force from charges still transmitted to his body.

Thanks to dwarvish resilience, he took no damage, but fatigue would accumulate.

Would Gantz's strike catch the Hellhound first, or would Gantz's stamina run out first?

Either way, it looked like it would take time.

"Hah!"

Kukuri skillfully aimed and fired a bolt from his crossbow.

The Hellhound dodged it, but the two throwing knives hurled at that moment couldn't be avoided in midair.

The damage created an opening, and Gantz's battleaxe split the Hellhound's head open.

"Sorry for butting in."

Kukuri said casually, but Gantz hung his head and said, "It couldn't be helped."

He was clearly disappointed that he couldn't finish it alone.

The third floor was another stone labyrinth.

"Most of the monsters here are wooden golems. Besides magic stones, there's something called a Golem Core, and those sell for good money."

Nero explained fluently. Incidentally, the floor boss was a Stone Golem. Not only was it poorly matched against bladed weapons, but lower-tier magic wasn't very effective either.

Unlike the second floor, attacks would actually land here, so Gantz was fired up to succeed this time.

Though of course, getting to the boss room was itself no small task.

"Stone Golem, level 55."

The party had arrived there effortlessly. It seemed his worries had been unfounded.

The map sensei was going strong.

Gantz charged into the boss room.

An axe is technically a bladed weapon, but it excels at destructive power as much as cutting ability.

The Stone Golem's attacks were also heavy chunks of rock. A muddy brawl ensued.

"Should we help him…?"

Mako looked worried. Sei was watching both combatants while using Identify. He was measuring the rate of decline in both of their life forces.

"Well, he has a trump card, so he'll be fine if he uses it…"

The weapons Ria had prepared all had hidden trump cards.

Judging by how both their life forces were depleting, Gantz would likely win at this rate, but lucky hits do happen.

No matter how vigorous a dwarf's life force, a broken neck means death. They didn't want to take such a risk.

"Gantz, use your trump card!"

Gantz showed no reaction to Sei's words, but he was actually complying.

The battleaxe emitted a white glow. It absorbed its owner's magic power and displayed its hidden ability.

That was the ability of "Destruction." It could destroy any physical object.

Indeed, the golem's arm was severed in one strike, and its torso was destroyed in the second.

After harvesting the magic stone and Golem Core, Gantz didn't seem particularly satisfied.

"My training is insufficient."

Gantz said sullenly. He was a man who held himself to high standards.

"What kind of ridiculous pace is this…"

Nero muttered, but no one agreed. That was because Chaos, the most normal explorer among them, had already gotten used to it.

The fourth floor was a stone labyrinth with torches placed at regular intervals along the walls. According to Nero's knowledge, there were quite a few traps here.

But the party moved through the fourth floor at nearly a quick-march pace. They ignored treasure chests, avoided traps, and took the shortest route.

Sei took out the weaker monsters with guided long-range magic, while Chaos, Gantz, and Mako handled the stronger ones.

Sei being a monster was one thing, but Mako was something else entirely.

You could see her getting stronger day by day—or rather, meal by meal. She ate proportionally more, though.

And then, the floor boss. Here it was a Minotaur.

"Aren't Minotaurs members of the demon race?"

They had the intelligence to wield weapons, and from the neck down they were human. They should be either a demi-human or demon race.

"Either way, we're killing it, right? Look it up later."

Nero gave a half-hearted answer to Sei's question. According to Identify, Minotaur was indeed part of the demon race, but why one was serving as a labyrinth floor boss was a mystery.

The fact that this was actually a job was a secret known only to the Minotaur and the labyrinth's master.

"Alright, I guess I'll put in some effort for once."

Sei drew his katana. The Minotaur's level was 65. It should provide a decent amount of experience.

"Come to think of it, I've never seen you fight properly in close combat."

Chaos leaned against the labyrinth wall, completely in spectator mode.

"Hey, is this okay? The Minotaur is even stronger than the Stone Golem, you know?"

Gantz gripped his battleaxe but hesitated. The Minotaur had a huge body, and its weapon was a massive two-handed battleaxe. Even Gantz wouldn't display foolish bravery here.

"I'll be fine. If I don't move my body once in a while, my skills will get rusty."

Sei approached the Minotaur slowly using his unique footwork. It's fine, no unnecessary tension.

The Minotaur roared as it charged, raising its battleaxe.

Ah, how weak.

Ducking under the far-too-slow line of death, Sei momentarily enhanced the katana's performance.

That katana, which Ria had named Kotetsu Kai, had numerous gimmicks hidden within it.

One of them was Sharp Edge. Simply making the blade sharper.

And then Magic Edge. Generating a blade of magic power.

Against Ria, it had only managed to scratch her skin, but how would this Minotaur fare?

In a single swing, he cut the Minotaur in a rising diagonal slash.

"You're ridiculously strong…"

"It's because the weapon is good."

That was all Sei could say to Nero's praise. In truth, could a normal katana really cut this well?

Knowing how thick Minotaur hide was, Nero felt nothing but dread looking at that cross-section.

"What should we do with the battleaxe…? Want it, Gantz?"

Sei lifted the giant battleaxe meant for the Minotaur. He could lift it, but the balance was off against his own body weight.

It was the same for Gantz, so he shook his head.

"Then let's take it as a trophy. No magic stone means it's definitely not a monster after all."

The party touched the mirror and proceeded to the fifth floor.

"Just so you know, the benchmark for a first-rate explorer is whether you can reach the fifth floor… but I've never heard of anyone reaching it on their first attempt."

Nero explained, looking at a completely different landscape from the previous floors.

White pillars extended from the floor to the high ceiling, connecting the two, while the walls were red.

The ceiling was smooth and luminescent, but the floor had the whiteness of barren wasteland.

Multiple vast spaces were adjacent to each other. That was this floor.

"Since the spaces are wide, you'll be attacked from all directions. Well, there aren't any mages in our group who are bad at dodging attacks, so it should be fine."

They annihilated the attacking monsters with magic and weapons.

Mako also used her spear's gimmick. It simply extended, making the spear longer.

However, swinging a long weapon around with brute force meant sweeping away every enemy in its range.

"Hellhounds appear as regular mobs here…"

Sei dealt with them using magic. Gantz was well-suited for giant monsters. Chaos and Nero had no problems either. Kukuri dodged attacks while shouting, but seemed to be enjoying himself.

"We'll butcher them later."

Collecting the monster corpses in infinite storage, the party pressed on toward the center of the floor without stopping.

There, a demon awaited.

A massive body. Like a centaur, with a horse's lower body and human upper body. But only its face was that of a black-furred goat.

"It's a demon. Level 75, and it uses magic."

At Sei's whisper, everyone readied their weapons.

"Well done reaching this far, fragile ones."

The demon spoke fluently, pointing its black spear at them.

"And here is where your exploration ends."

Fireballs appeared around the demon.

Simultaneously, Sei cast a magic barrier spell on everyone.

Chaos caught all the released fireballs.

The Gift of fire. This level of fire magic was ineffective against him.

As Chaos continued to advance, the demon breathed fire from its mouth.

It wasn't magical fire, but fire was still fire. It had no effect on Chaos.

And because the demon had focused too much on the tall, clearly powerful-looking Chaos, it had taken its eyes off the other members.

Mako's spear pierced through the demon's chest. Incidentally, this spear was named Tonbogiri Kai.

Pierced through the chest, the demon's movements stopped. Gantz seized this opening to sweep its legs and bring the massive body crashing to the ground.

Sei's katana, unleashing its gimmick, severed the demon's head.

"Hey, are you guys seriously planning to clear the labyrinth in one go?"

After recovering the demon's enormous magic stone—no, it had already crystallized into a magic crystal—Nero asked Sei.

"We have circumstances. We need to hurry on our journey as much as possible."

"… Was I even necessary, by any chance?"

"That's not true at all. I heard labyrinths are unpredictable, and having someone experienced is reassuring."

Nero noticed that Sei's words contained no lies.

"… I've been an explorer for quite a while now… but if we manage to clear the lowest floor, maybe I'll retire."

Nero was setting up a flag, but since you couldn't die permanently in this labyrinth, there was no need to worry about the flag being triggered.

"Being an explorer is a harsh profession. Even if you don't truly die, the pain of dying is unbearable. Being swallowed and dissolved is the worst."

"Yeah, normally that would be true."

"I've died several times myself… and I feel like my spirit is gradually wearing down. When this exploration ends, maybe I'll buy a small house, find a wife… and take up training newcomers at the guild."

Nero had come to this decision after seeing the abnormal duo of Sei and Mako.

He always secured a safe margin and steadily collected magic stones. He was confident in his skills. The pay was good.

But these two considered clearing the labyrinth as natural. When Nero first became an explorer, he had dreamed of clearing the labyrinth, but at some point he had realized it was impossible.

He didn't have a clear wish like Chaos did. He just wanted his name to be engraved as someone who cleared it. And now, that dream seemed about to come true.

"Well, there's no guarantee we'll definitely clear it."

"You guys can do it."

Nero said this with a peaceful feeling.

The party then teleported to the sixth floor. Beyond this point lay floors that even Chaos and Nero had rarely visited.

Even so, the party pressed forward without much tension.