Chapter 51 – A Team of Losers (Part 1)

 

"Rothmiller, is there anyone nearby?"

Could he have had such suspicions? Brown closed his eyes, then opened them without saying a word. He looked around with constricted pupils.

[Brown Rothmiller cast the spell [Heat Search]].

[Heat Search] was a Scout Lizard's ability. Its action resembled a modern thermal imager. It was quite a useful skill in the game as well. No matter if the enemy used stealth or something else, this skill could reveal everything.

"There's no one nearby," Brown turned off the ability and gave a short answer. "But from the smell, it looks like someone has been here quite recently.

Since this was the judgment of a person with two essences correcting the sense of smell, the probability that he was wrong was slim. I asked him a few more questions.

"How long ago do you think it was?"

"It's not accurate, but this amount of smell means that no more than two minutes have passed.

"That means they'd leave when they saw us hunting, right?"

— ... That's right," Rothmiller nodded with a bitter expression on his face.

Hikurod, who had been calmly listening to the conversation, broke off, amazed.

"Wait, so someone was aiming at us on purpose?"

— Most likely, not in us. They were probably waiting for someone to pass by.

Brown did not deny this. He also explained that luring monsters in front of the portal is a technique often used by looters, among them this method does not pose much risk.

They know how to do tricks.

The ambush using monsters was also aimed at the moment when the explorers who had just crossed the portal were most vulnerable. Complete annihilation would be the best outcome, one or two wounded would not be bad, and if they managed to escape unscathed, the ambushers could only retreat for a while and wait for the next prey.

"Rothmiller!" Shouldn't we find them and finish them off? Killing looters is profitable! Mike shouted.

"Even if we do, they will be hard to find. We can't just wait here... In addition, there is no evidence. We cannot rule out the possibility that we will be framed in response.

"Hey, the dead don't rattle!" After listening to the whole story, Mike frowned with an angry face, but the dwarf made a decision with the cool head of a leader.

"In good conscience, let's go back to the 2nd floor to leave a sign in front of the portal warning about looters before we leave.

I agreed.

"It's a wise decision.

After that, we fulfilled the minimum duty assigned to the researcher and left the portal behind. On the way, we continued to talk about looters. However, the more I listened, the stranger it became.

"Brown is cool. Until that moment, I didn't even know that such a technique existed.

"I've only heard of her before," Hikurod nodded. "This is the first time I've experienced this myself.

"That's right, you don't meet a marauder every day!

What the hell are you talking about?

I felt alienated from the conversation of other researchers, it was difficult for me to empathize, so I asked more about it. Then I realized something shocking.

"Me?" Over the past 5 years, I have met probably 8 of them. One time it was my own teammate, and all the others are ordinary!

— Only 8 times in 5 years? Hell, isn't meeting with a looter a routine thing for researchers?

"Of course... I heard that this was the case about 150 years ago!

Misha said that since the death of the first king, known as the Immortal King, the number of looters has dropped significantly due to various policies. However, I could not accept this explanation.

It must be some kind of mistake. Otherwise, I would not be able to explain it.

Once in the Crystal Cave, once in the Goblin Forest, once in the Land of the Dead...

Including today, I have encountered looters 5 times in the last 3 months.

Then what am I?

When I told this story to get their opinion, everyone, including Brown, looked at me with strange eyes.

"Bjorn, how many sins did you commit in your past life?"

"Hahaha!" Maybe it's because you're here that we've met the looters today!"

I really had nothing to say. How did I deserve it?

As I walked in silence, unable to refute them, Brown sighed and said:

"That's it, stop teasing him. Everyone knows that Miss Karlštejn is one of the lucky ones, right?

"Oh!" It's ver-!

– I also usually meet looters about once every 3 months. So don't worry too much.

Thank you for the comforting words, but it's not the same as 5 times in 3 months.

***

[You killed the Stone Worm. Experience +2]

[You killed the Iron Falcon. Experience +2]

[You killed the Ironstone Hill Watchdog. Experience +2].

***

3rd floor – Pilgrim's Path.

No matter if you passed through the Land of the Dead, the Goblin Forest, or the Beast Lair, in the end, you would reach this floor. The starting point was different for each route, so in fact, to meet explorers going a different path, you had to walk along the road to the fourth portal in the center of the map.

On average, it takes about 3-4 days to get to the center...

For comparison, it was the time it took only to get there. In this regard, the 3rd floor boasted a scale incomparable to other floors. In addition to the name of the floor, the Pilgrim's Path, the monsters here were named after their habitat. At the moment, I was on Ironstone Hill.

"Then today we will camp here, and tomorrow we will move on to the next area.

On the unclear border, where one region ended, we began to prepare for the camp. Since it was a region with intersecting monster territories, only a few monsters appeared here.

"By the way, Dvalki, are you okay?" Hikurod asked. "You don't look very good for a long time," the dwarf spread out his sleeping bag, finishing his preparations for bed.

Brown, Misha and I pretended not to listen. We were curious why this chatty bastard looked like he stepped on dog shit.

— ... Did I look like that?

"Maybe I was mistaken, but it seemed so to me.

"I see—" Dvalki smiled bitterly and nodded. After hesitating for a moment, he soon expressed his opinion. "I know what I'm going to sound like. Perhaps in your eyes I look naïve and immature. But... To be honest, I was shocked.

"Shocked?"

"It would be more correct to say that I was disappointed. I've always heard stories about explorers since I was a kid, but... I've never been told anything like that.

A researcher who killed another researcher; Moreover, a researcher who makes money by killing such researchers. It was definitely not a reality full of dreams and innocence.

"Hey, that was a joke!" Mike exclaimed.

"Joke or not, if I continue to work as a researcher, I'll kill another person one day, won't I?"

At this, everyone in the group shut their mouths. Anything we say to comfort him here will be a lie. Hikurod, Misha, Brown, and I have killed someone before. If Dvalki continues this career, then one day he will inevitably experience it himself.

"So I made a decision. All the time we were coming here, I kept thinking...

Hearing his resolute muttering, I asked:

— And the results? Are you determined to do it?

— Yes. But... I don't know if I can when that moment comes," Dvalka's resolve was full of confusion. He had no self-confidence, only fear of this possible situation.

However... I thought it would be better.

"That's enough.

Better than those idiots who beg for promises that they can't keep, and then whine that they can't do it.

Perhaps he had a similar thought, because Brown, who was listening to the conversation, said:

"It is important not to be too self-confident. In my ears, this sounds much more reliable than saying, "I can do this."

"Uh... It's true?

Seeing that Dvalki made an embarrassed expression, Brown smiled warmly, as if he was looking at a young man walking down his road.

"You understand that this is what you have to do, and you are even determined to do it. If that's the case, then I'm sure you'll be able to do it when that moment comes.

— I hope that this is really so...

"Hahaha!" Do not lose heart, my friend! The conversation finally ended when Hikurod slapped Dvalki on the back.

However, after we had decided on the night shifts and just as we were about to go to bed, Brown suddenly called the team.

"Wait. Could you all give me a minute? I know that resting as much as possible is the best thing for us, but I want to show you something.

"What exactly?"

To my question, Brown looked at Dvalki and said:

— That there are not only difficult and terrible things in this profession.

Shortly thereafter, Brown checked his watch and moved to the edge of the cliff near the camp. We followed him, not understanding what was happening. All we could see was the ordinary darkness of the labyrinth, which absorbed even the light and always interfered with the researcher's view.

"Do you want to show us something?" Mike asked.

"Wait. It will only take a moment.

Watching Brown's answer and glancing at my watch, I guessed what he was talking about, and I took out my own. It was 11:59 p.m., one minute before the start of Day 3, when the monster population peaked. The second hand moved with a ticking sound.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5...

I closed my watch and stared into the darkness of the opposite cliff. Soon, a silvery sphere of light appeared in the distance. There were too many small lights to count. Starting from the ground, they all fluttered like dandelion seeds and flew to the sky. The dark labyrinth gradually brightened. Then I understood why this place is called Ironstone Hill.

"This is a species that can only be seen by researchers who arrived here early enough," Brown explained. "Isn't that wonderful?"

Even within the labyrinth, this place was considered highland. Usually it was dark here, so it was difficult to understand, but now, when numerous lights dissipated the darkness, you could immediately see the entire territory of the spacious 3rd floor.

Mountains, fields and the river flowing through them, dense forest, and a tall spire that rises to the ceiling in the center. It was a sight that I would never have seen if I had lived all my life within the walls of Rafdonia.

Dvalky watched indifferently and muttered:

—... It seems that now I understand why researchers always call this world huge.

I raised my head to look up. It was a closed ceiling, but at that moment it seemed to me that I was actually seeing the sky, and an open night sky filled with the Milky Way.

Of course, it was only a fleeting moment. Only a minute or so passed, and the spheres of light that rose from the ground reached the ceiling and disappeared completely.

"No one knows why this happens only on the 3rd floor.

There were many hypotheses about this: the 3rd day came, the mana from the labyrinth dimension was oversaturated and released, or it was a blessing from the god. Everyone accepted what they wanted to believe, but Brown put everything in its place.

"Whatever the reason, it is clear that whoever sees this spectacle no longer wonders about the reason.

"That's for sure!" I've only heard about it, but it's the first time I'm seeing it! Normally, I would have already slept in my sleeping bag!

"Hahaha!" I have a feeling that my friend won't be able to sleep tonight.

After that, the light completely disappeared, and the familiar darkness enveloped the labyrinth again. Except for me, who took the first watch, everyone lay down in their sleeping bags and fell asleep.

Only after a long time did I hear the sound of breathing from Dvalka's bed.

***

It was dawn, not that it was light around. But in terms of time, it was morning, [8:10].

After clearing the camp, we walked down the slope for a long time and left Ironstone Hill. Soon we reached our first goal.

"This is where the Orc colony begins," Brown announced.

Among the various regions on the 3rd floor, this one was the most inhabited by monsters. Its peculiarity was that only monsters of rank 8 or higher appeared here.

If we are not going to get to the 4th floor right away, there are no better places to hunt.

The level of difficulty was the second highest among the 3rd floor regions, but if my predictions are correct, then there will be no major risks for us. With such team members, we were more than capable of operating even on the 4th floor. We had a mage, and apart from me, the rest of the team were researchers who originally worked on the 4th floor.

"Then let's work a little on the fighting technique here and decide what to do next with this result," Brown suggested.

Having regrouped, we retreated into large bushes.

The formation consisted only of Brown walking in the back, and Hikurod and I in the front.

"Hikurod, a group of Orcs will appear in the direction of one o'clock.

As a popular hunting ground with a high density of monsters, despite being on the outskirts, we were able to meet a group of Orcs after walking quite a bit.

"Ch-chvik!"

This was the main set of four Orc Warriors, one Archer and one Wizard.

"Just do as we practiced!" Hikurod shouted.

We got into the line, which we had prepared in advance:

Formation A. Hikurod and I defended the front, and Misha, as a melee damager, walked freely back and forth between the shields to be the first to catch up with the enemies on the front line.

[Rio Varb Dvalki cast a rank 8 spell, [Ice Spear]].

Orcs didn't necessarily need a curse-type spell, so Dvalki focused on attacking. The same was true of Brown. During the fight, he focused on supporting the rear using his crossbow. However, he also took on another role.

[Orc Sorcerer casts [Fury]. Orc Warriors' physical resistance is increased by 3 times for 10 seconds].

In the event that the monster ignored the shield wall and headed for the rear, it was supposed to protect Dvalki, the most vulnerable of all of us.

"It's a [Fury] spell!" Be careful!

"Dvalki!" Stay behind me.

"Good!"

One of the Orc Warriors who had entered the [Fury] state ignored us and rushed at Dvalki, but Brown pulled out a shield to block it. Of course, as a scout, he didn't have the physical ability to defeat the Orc Warrior one-on-one.

"Wow, this is close!!

But he needed to use his main weapon - a crossbow, a buckler, a dagger or a gasoline bomb - to buy some time. After that, either Misha could come to their aid, or Dvalki could cast an attack spell.

***

[You killed an Orc Warrior. Experience +2]

[You killed the Orc Archer. Experience +2]

[You killed the Orc Sorcerer. Experience +2].

***

So, the first battle with the Orcs ended smoothly. The total time took about 8 minutes, there were no wounded, but the time spent on the battle was longer than expected.

We definitely lack damage masters.

In addition to the scout, there were two shield warriors, and the orcs were rank 8 monsters with a fairly high Physical Resistance. Of course, there was a mage on our team who was considered the most worthy damage dealer in this universe... But Dvalki was not from a magic tower. The only rank 8 attack spell he knew of was the [Ice Spear], which was capable of dealing damage to a single monster.

Well, we brought him here primarily for his curse spells, not for his offensive magic.

The value of a mage was not only in powerful offensive magic.

There was something between explorers and monsters called compatibility. However, if there was a mage in the team, then it was possible to actively fight monsters of a much more diverse nature.

It takes longer, but the stability is quite high.

There were disappointments, but all this made them an excellent team.

"Then let's go deeper."

After that, we fought in the direction of the center of the Orc colony. The more we fought, the more Orcs appeared in groups. One day, a Mighty Orc Warrior of the 7th rank was among them.

[You killed the Mighty Orc Warrior. Experience +3].

We also hunted it without difficulty. However, when everything seemed to be going smoothly, shit always happened. It was when we found our foothold and slaughtered the Orcs right and left.

— [Ихенро Теунтин].

Suddenly, a faint incantation was heard from the distant bushes.

*Kaboom!*

A fiery meteorite fell and blew up the horde of Orcs we were hunting.

— ... Whore?

What's this time?