Erwen Fornacci di Tersia was in the Witches' Forest with her older sister, Daria.
"Ugh...I'm so dizzy..."
"Once you get used to it, everything will be fine. When you do, concentrate on the sound."
While hunting on the third floor, the reason she entered the Witch's Wood was simple. Lately, she had been training as a scout. Taking advantage of the last day before the maze closed, she entered the Witch's Wood.
"Even if you're not aiming to become a professional explorer, you need to know how to find your way up to the fourth floor."
"Ugh..."
Her older sister was a skilled seeker, so she had already inherited the knowledge and expertise to find her way on the lower levels. However, the Witch's Forest was different, a special terrain where one could only navigate by relying on one's senses.
"So, you think you can hear it?"
Erwen followed her sister's instructions and focused on the sounds she could hear. Other roots had to specialize in one skill, whether it was smell or sight, so they wouldn't get lost in the Witches' Forest.
Boom!
However, fairies with naturally developed hearing didn't have to do that. Although it would be difficult, as always, according to her sister, anyone could find their way to the fourth floor.
Boom!
As soon as he closed his eyes and listened, he recognized small sounds he hadn't noticed before: the wind like blades, the sound of flying branches, the howl of monsters, the scraping of sharp weapons, and so on. Examining them one by one, he was able to find a distinctly strange sound.
To blow!
A heavy sound, like a heartbeat. It must be the sound wave of mana that his sister had spoken of.
"There..."
When he pointed in the direction of the sound, Daria smiled proudly. "Good job. Shall we go, then?"
Erwen continued to focus on the sound and found her way. There were times when she didn't notice a monster approaching because she was too focused on her hearing, but each time her sister helped her so there wouldn't be any problems. After a long time like this, the sound wave of mana grew stronger.
Bang!
It was now loud enough to roar in her ears without her deliberately focusing on it. She decided to stop concentrating on the sound.
"You did well, Rotmiller."
Erwen frowned at the sudden voice. He didn't know who Rotmiller was, but... "Hmm?"
"What's happening?"
That voice sounded familiar. It was a high-pitched but warm voice, similar to the one she missed.
Could be...?
Although she thought it couldn't be, Erwen's legs were already moving in the direction from which the voice came.
"Erwen? Where...? Stop...!" Daria called from behind her, but she kept going like a possessed woman.
About a minute passed. A wide open space appeared, revealing a huge tower hidden in the forest. In front was a group of explorers: a dwarf, two humans, a beastwoman... and a barbarian.
Of course, it was completely different from the person he remembered. As an expert explorer, he wore shining armor, and his shield was much larger and more luxurious. Since he was wearing a helmet, you couldn't see his face.
«Sir?!» But Erwen felt it instinctively. It was that person. «Sir!»
Late, he shouted so that it echoed throughout the forest, but the barbarian did not look back. His body was half inside the portal when she found it, and now it was completely gone. So Erwen ran, as if she was going to follow him and enter the portal immediately.
«Erwen!»
She ran incomparably faster than she had moved on the first floor, but was soon stopped by her sister. «Let go of me! I have to...»
«Wake up!»
«That person is...»
«Don't be so stubborn. You didn't even see his face well».
Erwen was speechless. He realized late what it must have seemed like. «I... know. I realize».
«What if it is not? The fourth floor is dangerous for two people. And you don't even know what kind of people they are».
«I-that's it...»
It was a question she had not considered, because Erwen was already convinced. However, she did not have the confidence to explain this clear resonance in her heart to her older sister. He was about to recklessly release Daria's grip as the color of the portal changed to red.
«N-no...!»
Now, even if he entered the portal, he would not be able to go where those people had gone.
«Because?! Why did you stop me?!»
«Because I had to do it! Didn't I tell you that you could be treated like a looter if you followed someone to the fourth floor?».
«But... it was the gentleman...!». Erwen pursed her lips. A wave of anger welled up from the depths of his heart, but he let out a long sigh and came to his senses.
Yes it's okay. At least I know he's alive...
For the moment, he decided to be content with that. If he wasn't wrong today, and if he really was alive...
Soon I will be able to meet him.
Surely, they would meet again.
***
[You have entered the Tower in Heaven on the fourth floor.]
What was that? That voice? He seemed to be calling me... Could it be Erwen?
I shuddered. The only person who would call me Lord was her. However, that was a bit illogical.
Could such a coincidence exist?
In the midst of the reunion with my teammates in this vast labyrinth, it was difficult to imagine that such a coincidence would also overlap. It must have been a conversation between other explorers. Anyway, it was nothing to worry about right now.
«Bjorn, what are you doing! Come on, move!»
The Tower in the Sky was about 1,400 square feet, a stone chamber with a hermetically sealed door in each wall. It was the first test you had to face as soon as you entered. In other words, monsters were pouring out.
«Kyaaaaaagh!»
Seven level 9 creatures, three level 8 and one level 7. The monsters that normally appeared on the third floor attacked us in groups regardless of their habitat. That's why I used to call this place the Training Tower. Since there were so many types of monsters, it was easy to get experience points and you could take on pattern combinations that you had never experienced before.
An Orc Sorcerer, Stone Golem, Living Armor, and Dullahan.
It was a strange combination from the beginning.
[Living Armor has released Armor Reinforcement.]
As if using Dullahan's body as a host, the Living Armor covered him.
[Orc Sorcerer has cast Frenzy. Dullahan's physical stamina increases 3 times for 10 seconds].
The Dullahan, who already had very high physical stamina, practically turned to stone. Meanwhile, the Stone Golem used Suppression to extend the debuffs.
«Behell-ahhhhhh!»
While Missha and Rotmiller removed the level 9 scrap, Hikurod and I created a shield wall to block the Dullahan. It was an all-out combination, but with two tanks it was easy to hold on.
Not even having high physical stamina means much to us.
Our main damage dealers were Dwalkie and Missha. Dwalkie was a mage, so needless to say, but Missha was now on a proper freezing path that increased her cold damage drastically.
I was busy acting as a meat shield when the battle ended in an instant. The dwarf tilted his head. «It was always so easy?».
«I guess we've all gotten stronger!»
«Haha, that was a new spell I learned recently. What do you think?»
Originally, no matter how strong a tank was, it wasn't obvious. On the other hand, those who did harm had obvious growth. As for the scouts... Well, they were treated as non-combatants.
«Ahem.»
It was safe to say that the explorer had done his job just to get us to the destination on time. It wasn't just monsters that appeared on the fourth floor.
[The test has been completed.]
Shortly after all the monsters died, the tightly closed doors opened wide. Each door had a unique pattern engraved on it: courage, wisdom, destiny and patience. Normally, he would have opened the Ladder of Valor and fought any monster.
«Since we don't have much time, it would be better to raise the floors quickly».
We decided to take the Ladder of Wisdom for now. The difficulty of the Tower in Heaven increased every time you passed a test, but the Staircase of Wisdom was a route where you could climb all its floors at once. With our combat power, we would have to reach the 20th floor to test the real hunt.
[You have chosen the Ladder of Wisdom].
For that reason, we walk through the abyss-like darkness. The road was complicated. There were traps and monsters appeared from time to time, but there was nothing dangerous as long as we had a professional explorer, Rotmiller.
Bam!
When we reached the sixth floor, after an hour, the door we had entered through closed and the monsters attacked. Unlike on the first floor, there were three level 7s, but there were no particularly dangerous enemies. Unlike before, the combination was also on the poor side.
«Hmm, I don't think there's a Ladder to Wisdom this time».
After the hunt, we had no choice but to take the Staircase of Valor. Fate had too many variables, and Patience... everyone shook their heads in unison.
We'd be calmer fighting monsters a few more times.
In this reality patch, all tests of patience were tests to avoid. They remembered memories of having been hot, cold, sad and in a lot of trouble.
[You have chosen the Staircase of Valor].
Anyway, we went up the stairs and reached the seventh floor. A monster appeared and that was it. The battle ended easily, but there were no signs of the closed doors opening. It was to be expected. If you chose Courage, you had to wait four hours even after killing all the monsters.
«Now then, let's take a break and recharge our courage again!»
Ignoring the dwarf's joke, since we were tired of running through the Witch's Forest, we took a rest without regrets. No night guard was necessary. The monsters did not regenerate and once the color of the portal changed, other explorers could not enter.
«Haha, then let's go!»
After sleeping four hours, we woke up and took the Staircase of Wisdom again to climb the tower. That allowed us to reach 12
floor. But what was this?
«Gaaah!»
We were frozen to see a single monster sitting in the center of the stone chamber.
Boom!
It had a large body, more than 4 meters high, enormous fangs protruding from its mouth, grayish-white leather covering voluminous muscles, and humped vertebrae with wide, deformed shoulder bones.
«T-Troll...?»
«Why is that here?»
A Troll was classified as a top-notch bastard among level 5 monsters. If a Death Demon was a rookie cutter, this bastard played the role of keyboard breaker among average players.
Why is this bastard here?
I also had quite a few memories of making shotgun sounds on the keyboard because of this bastard. Was it because of that memory? The curses came instantly. «Damn».
No wonder things were going so well since I met Hans. Was it all because of this?
Damn, I didn't know this time I was going to be a monster.
In the labyrinth, you not only had to be careful with looters.