We've Become a Strong Party

Finn and Azu stepped forward together.

They each took on one of the crystallized skeletons.

It was strange that even the spears and shields in their hands were crystal, but perhaps that was just how this place worked.

Elza, who could deal effective damage, waited in the mid-guard position, ready to follow up as needed.

She was already doing plenty by providing powerful blessings to the entire party.

The skeletons' movements were by no means sluggish, but they weren't frightening to the two who had received blessings.

However, it would be difficult to keep dodging their coordinated attacks.

That's where Alexia provided support.

She threw earth magic at them or wrapped her battle-axe in fire magic before slamming it down.

Between the three of them, they created openings in the skeletons' impenetrable shield defense.

One skeleton caught Alexia's battle-axe on its shield, which was knocked wide open.

It tried to thrust its spear at Alexia in response, but Elza, having built up momentum with her footwork, was faster.

She swung her mace at the skeleton's head.

Even crystallized, it still had the characteristics of a corpse, and Elza's strike as a priest dealt massive damage, shattering the skeleton's head.

The skeleton tried to keep moving even without its head, but its movements were sluggish.

Having lost its sight as well, it stumbled and fell when Alexia raised the ground beneath its feet.

Alexia brought down her battle-axe, glowing red-hot, on the fallen skeleton.

That proved to be the finishing blow, and the skeleton stopped moving.

The other skeleton, now facing both Azu and Finn, was gradually being worn down.

Azu drew its attention while Finn drove in stakes she held in her hands.

When it tried to counterattack, Finn drew its attention while Azu slashed with her sword.

Eventually the skeleton collapsed, and the fight was over.

Azu let out a big breath and sheathed her sword.

She wiped away the flowing sweat with a handkerchief and drank water from her canteen.

It had been hot since the fifth floor. The sweat was getting annoying.

If it was this bad in winter, walking here in summer would be exhausting.

She understood one reason why this place wasn't popular.

That said, if Master ordered it, she would do it.

"Good work."

"No injuries, it looks like."

"As if I'd get hit by such slowpokes."

They obtained the crystals and magic stones dropped by the skeletons, as well as a spear.

Alexia carried the spear on her back.

While Alexia wasn't a master of all weapons, she could handle the basic armaments.

The judgment was that she could use it effectively here where magic wasn't as useful.

As a test, Alexia leaned her battle-axe against the wall and gripped the spear.

The spear was reddish-black in color, with an eerie atmosphere about it.

Alexia thrust and swung the spear a few times.

She was far more agile than with the battle-axe, and even Azu couldn't follow the tip of Alexia's thrusts.

"It's been a while since I've used a spear. I've been using only the axe or magic lately."

"It suits you really well. You look cool."

"Oh? I don't feel bad about that."

"I wouldn't want to face you head-on when you're holding a spear…"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Alexia put away the spear and shouldered her battle-axe.

"They weren't as strong as I thought."

"That's not true. Normal adventurers would have struggled."

Alexia chuckled and gently patted Azu's back.

Azu didn't quite understand the gesture, but she could tell she was being praised and felt a little happy.

The monsters that appeared were mostly large, but they cleared the floors without difficulty.

This labyrinth was rated as upper-intermediate difficulty, which was appropriate for them, yet their progress had been remarkably smooth.

But that didn't mean they let their guard down.

With Finn leading, they always struck first with surprise attacks, safely racking up results.

"It's hot…"

Finn said this and started taking off her top.

When Azu tried to stop her, the removed garment was thrown at her face.

"I'm not getting naked or anything."

She had a sleeveless shirt underneath and was now dressed casually.

Perhaps because there were no onlookers, she flapped the shirt to fan herself, making quite the indecent sight.

"I'm jealous you can just take things off."

Alexia said this and drank water from her canteen.

Her battle dress had an open neckline and looked cool, but if she took it off, she'd be in her underwear.

Since they couldn't be sure no other adventurers might come by, that was deemed too much.

"It's hot when you're moving around."

"Priest robes do look hot."

While returning the thrown clothes to Finn, Azu also flapped her own clothing to get a slight breeze. The breastplate got in the way and it wasn't very effective.

Elza's clothes were sticking to her from sweat, clearly showing the lines of her body.

Even as a fellow woman, Azu felt her heart race a little.

"Just wait a moment."

Alexia said this and activated wind magic.

A small tornado appeared and sent wind toward everyone.

"Cool… I feel alive again."

Thanks to the wind, the heat subsided, and the slightly flushed faces returned to normal.

"Magic sure is convenient. Can't you eliminate footsteps with it too?"

"I can."

When Alexia murmured "Silence," all sound disappeared. Every sound.

Finn opened her mouth but nothing could be heard.

The soundless world was strange.

She stepped back but heard nothing, and wasn't even confident she had actually moved her foot.

Just as unease began to set in, Alexia released the magic.

"Hey, what are you doing all of a sudden!"

Finn raised her voice unusually loud, startling herself at the sound.

"I can't selectively remove sounds, so it's a bit inconvenient. I wouldn't know if someone was coming up behind me either."

"So magic isn't all-powerful after all."

Finn nodded with an impressed look and stuffed her clothes into her tool bag.

She had also taken off her lower skirt and was now down to just half-leggings on her lower body.

Belts were wrapped around her thighs that had been hidden by the skirt, with various hidden weapons tucked into them.

They continued on, passing the sixth floor and reaching the seventh.

But there, they decided to turn back for now.

The seventh floor consisted only of what appeared to be a boss room, and inside floated a small sphere.

Its light was blue, yet it radiated a brilliance like the sun, seemingly the source of the heat.

Since they didn't know what would happen if they charged in, Azu made the decision to retreat.