The world behind the mirror was a hidden field, similar to Larkaz's Labyrinth. The difficulty of this place immediately upon entering was quite high because monsters were piling up from the very beginning.

"Bjorn!" They are coming again!

As soon as one battle ended, a new wave of monsters swept in again. This time, the scale was completely different.

There were eight rank 7 Fire Wolves, five rank 6 Salamanders of the natural type, and three rank 5 Mahogany of the plant type.

"Raven, how much time is left before the spell?"

Exactly in time with my exclamation, a blue light shot out of Raven's wand.

"[[Nara Brigiano Tun]!"

[Freezing Rain] is a 5th-tier freezing spell with a wide area of effect.

*Crackle!*

Gray clouds formed in the sky, from which sharpened ice peaks fell.

*Bang, bang, bang!*

More than half of the monsters were destroyed by a single spell. Of course, even this mass destruction spell didn't work on rank 5 monsters.

'Behellaaa

Thanks to the increased threat level from [Wild Splash] and the subsequent [Gigantization], monsters flocked to me on their own. That was why the tank was just as important as the mage.

"Gaaa!"

Blocking the stem whip of the Mahogany with my shield, I focused solely on the defense, also known as Barbarian Turtle Mode.

With [Sweep], I could have taken down at least one of them, but it was better to save my Soul Power, since after completing [Gigantization], my threat level would decrease.

"Deal with the Salamanders first!"

While I was in charge of the three Redwoods, the mage was preparing a spell for the next wave. Now it's the turn of the other damage dealers.

*Kwaaang!*

With the long-range support of Mr. Bear, Einar and Misha officially began to destroy the monsters.

Clearing trash mobs is a quick task, considering that in close combat, two people deal damage. It took about 3 minutes.

After that, the five of us teamed up to defeat the rank 5 monsters, but there was no time to rest.

— ... Here we go again.

Before we had finished the battle, another herd of monsters rushed to find the source of the noise. We repeated this process over and over again, and after we had finished about ten battles, Raven said:

"Mr. Yandel, I don't have much mana left.

Raven didn't hold back and used her AoE attack skills, so her mana dropped by less than a third. Of course, this was not a problem. The first wave was almost over.

"Don't use offensive magic and just support.

"Good!"

Raven used the remaining mana to curse the enemy or to buff the team. By then, my [Gigantization] was also over. It seems that Mr. Bear, who was shooting explosive arrows, also has little Soul Force left.

'Behellaaa

The more difficult it became for the three of us, the more important the melee sisters, Einar and Misha, became. After all, in close combat, it is best to hit medium DPS ("damage per second").

"Oooooh!" This is the battle I wanted!! Ainhar's delight reached its peak as she dealt with countless enemies. As a barbarian who was considered a member of the warrior race, her excitement was quite welcome.

Has she always been so good at fighting?

Although she seemed to be swinging her sword crudely, she still avoided anything that needed to be avoided—as if she was on stimulants.

Well, she was really practicing her swordsmanship...

Her sense of battle even surpassed Misha's.

Be that as it may, the battle was coming to an end, and I changed formation.

"Abman, now send him here!"

Iron Bear Iradun, abbreviated as Mishutka, was responsible for tank support for the team.

Even Mishutka, who protected the long-range dealer in the rear, joined the front line and gave it strength. It seems that we are all at the limit now. The mage's mana was completely depleted, so even support was discontinued.

*Crunch! Crackle! Wooo

For the first time in a long time, we pushed ourselves to the limit and began to stab monsters with normal attacks that did not contain skills, such as mace, sword, crossbow arrows.

"It looks like it's over...

Smashing the flaming skull with a mace, we ended the battle. Hundreds of mana stones dotted the ground.

"But have mana stones always been so dark?"

"This is a feature of this place. The density is about twice as high.

Simply put, a double event was applied. It took Raven a few minutes to gather them with the small amount of mana she had left.

Oh, and there was an essence.

"I saw it!" It fell out of a guy who had human heads on his body!

"It's a bounty hunter.

It was a rank 7 fire-type undead monster. I calmly refused the essence. It would be useful if it was consumed, but now that we were going to hunt rank 5 monsters every day, there was no point in taking it.

"Hmph, we're leaving her...?"

Ainar looked at my decision with regret, like a child who dropped a candy.

If I said no, then no.

"It's not a very good essence for you. So be patient.

—... Ok!

Picking up something from the ground, only to erase it later, would cost a lot of money.

But I thought she didn't like waste.

Ainar exclaimed "eureka" and put forward a new proposal:

"Can't we just sell it in a test tube?"

Therefore, our magician explained to her what was what:

— No, I don't. Anything below rank 6 wouldn't even pay for a test tube. I heard that only one object can be taken out of this place.

"Hm?" Just one? What do you mean?

"I don't know the reason, but the items obtained here must be [Twisted] by magic to be taken out, and I've heard that only one can be taken out.

It was a feature of the course that I would have to explain if Raven didn't know it.

"We have to choose carefully what to bring. Essence is, of course, important... But I heard that people found really valuable things here.

"A valuable item...

I had already decided what we would take with us, but it made me curious. Does anyone already know about this subject?

I asked for more details, but Raven brushed it off, saying that was all she knew.

— It is difficult to get information about such things from books. I've only heard about it from other people.

Indeed, the information from the 5th floor and above was advanced. Even trivial advances were treated as intellectual property, and no one wanted to share them. In some clans, it was even forbidden to mention the work done in the labyrinth. There's a reason she's obsessed with the [Complete Rift Books].

"Rest first." I'll stand guard.

After a fierce battle, we took a break. At the same time, I assessed our current situation.

"Raven, how long will it take you to fully restore your mana?"

"If you meditate or sleep, then 12 hours. If not, it will take more than a day.

- I see.

That's what I meant when I said that melee dealers are better than mages on the 5th floor.

The mages needed a considerable amount of time to recuperate.

"From now on, save mana as much as possible.

"Are you going to continue the research in the same vein?"

"This place is not so easy to get to. We should explore as much as we can. Perhaps we will find that valuable item you spoke of.

"You're right. I don't know when we'll be back here again...

So, this problem has been solved. After a 15-minute rest, we continued our exploration. It was a forced march, but no one complained. They had already seen how many mana and essence stones had been poured down on us.

"Finally, I will be able to proudly raise my head in front of my wife.

Mr. Bear was smiling from ear to ear. In spite of everything, he was a family man.

"Abman, do you feel a portal somewhere?"

"I faintly feel it very far away, over there.

In a field where the compass did not work, we navigated with the help of the guide's ability.

—... If you are going to go in the opposite direction, why did you ask?

Because the place I want to go to is in that direction.

Of course, I couldn't say that.

"Most likely, the portal is the way out. It will be better to go in the opposite direction to find something.

It was a plausible, made-up reason. But she wasn't wrong, so I quickly enlisted Raven's support.

"Oh!" That's right. I read that there is a portal in the mirror.

Ha, that's why you should have a moderately smart character.

"All right, let's go then."

It was about 7 p.m. on the 22nd afternoon. Since the day was almost over, there was about a week left. I had to hurry up to eat the cherry on the cake.

***

This field, the Mirror of Fire, had one peculiarity: It took one day for the monsters to respawn. Thanks to this, the area temporarily became a safe zone after hunting. It was good. If monsters crawled out by the hundreds every time, we wouldn't even be able to sleep.

[You killed the Hell Guard. Experience +4]

[You killed a Gremlin. Experience +2]

[You killed the Warrior of Destiny. Experience +5]

[You killed the Chaos Worm. Experience +2]

[You killed the Judgmentfire Fairy...]

After 3 days of killing various monsters that I couldn't hunt due to the clans controlling the fields, we made it out of the desert at the starting point.

The advance turned out to be much slower than I expected.

The map is big and there are too many monsters.

As soon as the battle began, the surrounding monsters would gather for the noise. Of course, it was much better than if they were rushing at us from all sides, as at the very beginning. You only had to worry about enemies coming from the front, and you could retreat if necessary.

However, as the forced march dragged on, stamina and mana reserves ran out, and the speed of the hunt itself slowed down. This has also led to several dangerous situations. As a result, I had to take breaks from time to time.

However, the speed of collecting mana stones is simply crazy.

It is not for nothing that I called this place the "Burning Zone". With the massive magic battles and double the number of mana stones dropped, coming here really started to feel like I was making money from mana stones. Prior to that, all jackpots were associated with catching looters and obtaining their equipment.

Although, this is also hunting, after all.

On the morning of the 26th day, we officially entered the new field and set up camp.

*Combustion!*

The Burning Forest, as the name suggested, was engulfed in black flames and burned 365 days a year. However, the damage from the fire was negligible due to the fact that the trees were quite far apart, and [Cold Blood] temporarily increased our Fire Resistance. The choice of this place was due to three reasons.

First of all, there was the lowest difficulty of the battle.

"Hmm, nothing special.

"Yes, I was a little worried, but I think it's easier here than in the previous place. And there are no monsters of the 5th rank.

Although there were many monsters, they were only rank 6 or 7. Of course, lightness meant a lesser reward. However, the Ash Mountains and the Lava Lake on the other side were quite difficult for our level, and there was nothing to be gained from the Altar of the Dead, where the portal was located.

Secondly, we needed to get something to make it easier in the future, an item hidden in the center of the Burning Forest. With its help, it was possible not only to clear the rest of the fields next time, but also to get to the island on the 6th floor.

"Don't be too relaxed. You never know what might jump out," I warned out of habit, but as soon as we entered the forest, I also quickened my pace. As the journey took longer than I expected, it was unclear whether we would make it in time.

"All the trees here are burned out.

"Let's rest here today."

After a whole day of repeated battles and forced marches, we did not unpack our sleeping bags until the end of the day.

The next morning we encountered a monster.

Finally, it appeared.

"Arua!" What's his name?

"Uh... I don't know either.

A monster whose rank and name even Raven, who had read books all her life, did not know.

A monster that only existed in the Burning Forest.

A rare monster that even the clans that controlled the fields of the 5th floor may or may not meet once a year.

"Whooshhhh!"

It was a rank 5 Berthas, the third reason why I chose the Burning Forest.

'Behellaaa

It is guaranteed to drop essence.