One, two, three, four, five, six...
Out of habit, I counted how many there were.
Twenty four.
There were twenty-four adventurers clumsily standing in front of the entrance.
Este es el Clan Hektz, ¿verdad?
As if in response to my silent question, Versyl pointed out: «It seems like the Myrtane team is working with them too».
«¿Myrtane?»
«The group of five men that did not have a warrior. Their leader was called Myrtane».
I see. So does that mean that the other four-man team and the five-man team were working with the Silver Lion Clan instead? Well, since I had no way of knowing, I decided to see what the group in front of me was up to.
Besides, just seeing them already pissed me off a little.
«Are they trying to fight?»
«...Sorry? Oh... We heard a sound and thought it was a monster approaching...» My question seemed to bring its leader out of his state of astonishment, and he barked orders to retreat. «What are you doing? Put down your weapons, now!»
I was wondering if they were going to try to attack us, but that didn't seem to be the case. Everyone quickly lowered their weapons and the leader addressed me in a polite and cautious tone. «Sorry, but... are you done exploring below?».
«For the most part. Have you just arrived?»
«Yes, we did...»
«So this is destiny. What's your name?»
«Wyatt. Wyatt Hektz. I am the second captain of the Hektz» Clan.
«Second captain?»
«Yes, the first was my father».
So in addition to the silver spoon he was born with, he inherited a clan. For that reason alone I wanted us to separate as soon as possible, but first I had to ask him a few questions, so I stayed to ask him something else.
«Wyatt, what happened after we left?»
«Oh, after you left...»
Normally, if you asked that kind of question to an adventurer, they would tell you to fuck off and find out for yourself. But things were different with me. Not only was he famous and well-known, but I was also the one who opened the portal to this place. So even though I left them behind on that rocky island and told them to fend for themselves, they still looked favorably on me.
«I would say things went the way you would have assumed they would, Your Honor».
The story turned out to be quite simple. After my departure, the Silver Lion Clan and the Hektz Clan formed a temporary alliance. They did not establish a single command structure or completely merge their groups, but since they did not know what they might face, they decided to move together for a time and help each other in times of danger.
«And what about small and medium-sized games?».
«Since they did not want to risk being trapped between two larger clans, they decided to unite and form an alliance of their own to team up with us».
Thus, a cooperative relationship was formed between the three parties. The newly discovered coalition then left the rocky island by boat to explore the surrounding seas together.
«But a problem arose after finding an island».
«¿And the same?
However, when I expressed my interest, Wyatt seemed to realize that I was being faint-hearted and offered me an ultimatum.
«If you tell us what you discovered below, I will also be willing to share information with you».
«Really? So let's do it. Please continue».
We didn't even write a contract, but Wyatt nodded his head anyway. It seemed like a verbal promise from me was enough for him.
«It was a very big island. And we even found a species to discover».
«Do you mean Tentaculan?».
«How do you know that name...?»
«I'll tell you later, so continue for now.»
«...What we found was not a Tentaculan. We fought Tentaculanos on the way to the island, but what we ended up finding there was much stronger.»
A much stronger monster... Since the Tentaculans were rank four, that meant it had to be at least rank three.
«Please tell me more.»
«We managed to defeat him, but we still have no idea what his essences were. However, we were able to confirm that he at least had Deathlord's Salvation Mist, Rektas' Corpse Poison, and Hellsmith's Hellfire. We decided to call the monster 'Diamont'».
Diamont's rank was still unknown, but it seemed that he did not move in packs, because he was found wandering alone.
«And what happened after defeating him?»
«I decided that it would be too dangerous to go further inland, and that it would be better if we camped on the coast and continued hunting more solitary Diamonts. But... that's where our opinions collided».
«How?»
«The Silver Lion Clan thought it would be better to go deeper. But since killing a single Diamond on the coast was already dangerous enough, I was totally against it.»
Still, the Silver Lion Clan was stubborn. Instead of trying to persuade each other and reach a consensus, they decided it would be better to go their separate ways.
«Of the smaller teams, two decided to join the Silver Lion Clan. Only the Myrtane team decided to come with us».
«But why did you leave the island?»
«We were sure there would be other islands in the area as well, including one we could explore at our current level».
So they thought it would be better to look elsewhere than to stubbornly cling to an island where the first thing they encountered was a rank three monster. My impression of this guy when we met on the first floor was that he was deranged or suicidal. But now I saw him as a soulmate in the art of being realistic.
«Can you tell me what you found below, then, Your Honor?»
Since he had given me valuable information, I shared several facts about the library with him. At first, he listened to me quite enthusiastically, but as I continued my explanation, his expression began to change.
«So you're saying there's not much we can get by going down there».
«If your goal is to hunt monsters, then that's great. There are still a lot of books down there that we didn't get to use that you can use to invoke. You could even dig up something we couldn't».
«That's true... true».
After our conversation, Wyatt called his navigator to share the island's location with Auyen. With that, our affairs among us came to an end.
However, just as we were about to leave, Wyatt said something that piqued my interest.
«As I thought... You haven't found a way to get out of here yet either».
«What do you mean by that?»
«Forgive me... It was nothing. I had a useless thought, that was all».
«I'll judge if it's useless, so tell me».
When I pressed, he finally relented, a hint of embarrassment staining his expression. «I was wondering when this site is supposed to close. I even start to worry that it will never close and that we will never return to the city... A part of me is worried that this place will become our grave».
I sighed. I was wondering if you had anything important to say, but...
I shouldn't have listened to him.
His words just made me feel uncomfortable.
***
Shaaaaaa-
Our ship crossed the silver sea. Our destination was the island of which the Hektz Clan had given us the coordinates.
«At our current pace, we should get there in less than five hours».
Auyen was able to shorten our travel time using his skills as a navigator, and in the meantime, the rest of us went back to doing our respective tasks on the ship. A look at my watch told me it was around two in the afternoon.
It's already the eleventh day...
Although eleven days had passed since the labyrinth opened, this place had not yet closed. I had been paying close attention to the passing of the days since the seventh day, but - and perhaps it was because of the unpleasant conversation from before -, unlike before, that number now worried me. Normally I would be relieved that this place hadn't closed yet, since we were in the middle of an expedition, but now I was starting to feel a pang of anxiety.
The unknown can make people lose their minds.
This place was part of the maze, so I was sure it would end up closing. But at the same time, I wondered if I could safely assume it. All floors one through ten had that in common, yes, but I was wondering if this place could be different since it was a basement floor.
If this place still doesn't close on the thirtieth day, I'll think about it again.
Once this was decided, I started to feel a little better. It was always good to assume the worst, but obsessing over what you couldn't change would only wear you down.
«Bjooorn! It's Tentabulan! Is here!»
«You mean Tentaculan.»
As we approached the island, it was no longer Gullfrogs but Tentaculans that were beginning to appear in the area. I still didn't know how demons lived in water, but they started jumping in the air like flying fish, dropping onto the deck of our ship.
[You have killed a Tentaculano.]
[You have killed a Tentaculano.]
[You have killed a Tentaculano.]
[You have killed...]
We continued hunting them on our trip to the island, but an essence never fell. That was quite disappointing, as the essence of a new rank four monster would undoubtedly sell at a high price.
If we have time later, we should come back here and hunt them down...
I tried to forget my regret and focus on our current goal.
«¡Ohhh! Es una isla!»
As soon as we could see our destination with the naked eye, we began to prepare to get off the ship. We ended up dropping anchor on a small beach next to a cliff, since apart from this point, the entire island was bordered by cliffs, so we had nowhere else to disembark.
Well, it's not that we couldn't anchor the boat next to a cliff and safely enter the island...
But it seemed better to enter the island walking from the small beach. At least, the fact that it was the only beach on the entire island suggested that it was the planned starting point.
«Let's start by inspecting the entire island we can. Everyone follow me and let me know immediately if you see anything».
As soon as we arrived, we immediately searched the beach. Although there were no monsters, none of us were willing to let our guard down.
Visibility is only about ten meters in any direction.
Visibility that varied significantly depending on the area seemed to be a basic element of this soil. On the high seas, we could easily see the entire island. But as soon as we set foot in it, our line of sight decreased drastically. It was quite restrictive.
«Auyen, you can draw a map while following me, right?»
«Of course. Leave it to me».
I could have drawn the map myself, but I left it to Auyen. My main job was to lead the group and bomb everything that crossed our path. It wouldn't make sense for me to hold a notebook and pen while doing that, would it?
«Captain, it looks like we've seen everything there is to see here.»
«It was faster than I thought».
It only took us about twenty minutes to explore the entire coast. To get off the beach and head inland, you had to climb the huge cliffs that surrounded it or make your way through a narrow gap between their faces. The latter seemed like the standard route.
The problem is that there are three paths.
In front of us was a path to the right, another to the center and another to the left. It was possible that they all led to the same place, but we had no way of knowing for sure. We had no choice but to pick one at random to explore.
«Ainar, what do you think? What path should we take?»
«Straight is the way of the warrior, of course!»
I decided to follow his choice as there was really no right or wrong path.
...This is much narrower than I thought.
The gap between the cliffs was extremely narrow. Although I turned off the gigantization, my head kept hitting the rocks and my shoulders were stuck. After forcing my way through for about twenty minutes, I finally reached the exit.
I can finally breathe.
I had almost fainted from claustrophobia if we didn't get out of there soon. After hurriedly making my way through the last few meters, I looked around.
It was a tropical jungle reminiscent of the Amazon. There was knee-high vegetation everywhere, and the ridiculously huge trees around us were bigger than any I had seen before in Korea.
Goteo.
A liquid dripped on me from above.
Rain?
That's what I assumed at first. However, as it dripped onto my cheek and slid across my skin, it looked nothing like normal water. It was a sensation that I could no longer confuse with another, not after so many years in this world.
It's blood.
I raised my eyes towards the fountain.
«...Shit.»
Above us, three mangled corpses hung from vines around our necks.
«...They are members of the Silver Lion Clan», Versyl confirmed.
A heavy silence filled the air for one reason and one reason only.
Monsters don't do that.