"Why aren't you moving?"
Gauss looked back, noticing Alia had halted, her face cycling between pale and green, and asked in puzzlement.
"For the record, I am absolutely not going to eat dirt."
"I'm not either," Gauss chuckled, shaking his head. "What do you think about all day?"
They walked up to the mound.
Up close, the little hill of earth gave off hardly any stench—just the faintly tart scent of fresh soil. The dirt was dark brown to black, looking unusually fertile.
"This would be great for growing vegetables… shame we're not farmers."
As he spoke, Gauss took two small trowels from the toolkit in his storage pouch.
Even if nothing valuable showed on the surface, it was an elite monster; they ought to dig a bit and see if anything special was inside.
They began turning over the mound.
After just a few scoops, a crystal split cleanly in two showed through the soil.
It was clear, with the faintest blue sheen—somewhere between a gem and a crystal.
"Should fetch a decent price…"
Gauss flicked an Identify at it.
[Shattered Mud Golem Core]
Grade: Common Magic Item (White)
Description: Once the core and power source of a mud golem. Even as a remnant, it retains research value.
Holds a faint earth-elemental charge; can serve as a reagent for minor magical rites or alchemy, especially those involving earth, defense, or shaping.
A skilled artisan could also polish it into a common magical trinket.
(If intact, it would be worth more.)
The appraisal succeeded.
Gauss wasn't too disappointed.
Low-tier elite monsters usually yield only white-grade materials, worth anywhere from 1–10 gold, and not every one drops something. Any haul at all is already a nice surprise.
By his estimate, this golem's threat level was around 2; on paper it should take a party of Level 2 professionals to defeat.
They'd managed it relatively easily thanks to Alia's Entangle hard-countering it.
Otherwise, with a "health bar" that thick, even Gauss would have had a headache.
"Gauss, can you identify this too?" Alia called from the other side of the mound as he was wiping the core.
Ever since learning he knew Identify, she'd become extra vigilant—constantly flagging suspicious finds so nothing valuable slipped by.
Gauss came over to see a lump of pure white clay lying in a heap of dark-brown soil.
Under Alia's expectant gaze, he cast Identify again.
The clay glimmered white in his sight.
[Mana Soil]
Grade: Common Magic Item (White)
Description: A lump of magically charged clay separated from the golem's remains, infused with a faint yet pure earth-elemental aura. Long steeped and altered by the core, it retains a trace of essence even after the golem's destruction.
• Usable as an auxiliary material for alchemy or enchanting.
• Serves as a casting component for earth-related spells.
• When buried, slowly improves soil quality—suitable for cultivating low-tier magical plants or herbs with special soil needs.
• Can be shaped into containers or lab vessels, potentially conferring special properties.
"It's a magic item, all right."
Gauss read the appraisal out to Alia.
As he spoke, he was a bit surprised himself.
He hadn't expected a single monster to yield two magic items—that was uncommon.
For example, the half-ogres he'd culled by the dozen during Winter Hunt never dropped magic items; at best he could strip organs, weapons, or armor as ordinary materials.
Maybe this was another quirk of the labyrinth?
With the silver ingots they'd found earlier, today's take should easily break into double-digit gold.
He was starting to feel the labyrinth's charm.
They dug for quite a while longer, identifying every odd bit they turned up; but after the mana soil, there were no more special magic items.
They unearthed only branches, stones, bones, or badly rusted iron.
Gauss scooped some ordinary dirt to bring back as potting mix.
As for the two magic items, they could sell them—or commission someone to craft them into useful tools once they got out.
He glanced around. It was getting late; the light was dimming.
From riding at noon to entering the labyrinth, exploring all afternoon, and then taking down a raging mud golem, both of them were tired. They found a relatively sturdy ruin, carefully checked the surroundings to make sure no monsters were near, set an Alarm, then lit a campfire and pitched their tent.
That night by the fire, flames flickering, Gauss studied the map in his head.
The lit areas formed a winding trace—from the entry stair to the hall, then eastward deeper in.
They'd simply followed trails of small fry with no specific goal, so in a straight line they weren't far from the hall; walking back would take only a bit over an hour.
But it didn't feel like they'd hit the edge of Floor One yet. This labyrinth was larger than he'd expected—and according to the guide, it would keep growing…
An unbelievable world underground.
At dawn the next day, they were up early.
The fire was long out. After packing their gear, they set off again.
Using the map in his head, Gauss tried to avoid explored areas to raise their monster encounter rate.
"The buildings are getting denser here?" Alia said, looking at the stretch of crumbling ruins ahead.
"Maybe the remains of some village?" Gauss said, uncertain.
A special energy in the labyrinth could slow the wear of time, preserving the relics and structures of lost realms.
Though ruined now, the fact they'd lasted this long was itself proof of the labyrinth's uncanny power.
"Looks like plenty of adventurers have been through," Gauss noted the several cold firepits outside the nearby structures.
It seemed they weren't the first to reach this spot.
"Shame," Alia sighed.
When she'd seen this patch of ruins, she'd hoped to score silver ingots or other treasure like yesterday.
But if others had gotten here first, the odds of finding valuables dropped a lot.
"Let's look anyway."
Even if many had searched already, there might still be something they missed.
They followed a stone path into the ruined village.
As they walked, the buildings around them were all overgrown with vines, branches, and roots, thick with the scent of nature.
"Careful—someone was here very recently."
Gauss sent a Message, his voice sounding right in Alia's ear, and pointed out the freshly crushed leaves on the ground.