NBAA Vol. 8 Chapter 6 Part 1

CHAPTER 6

The day of the Battle Festival was less than two months away.

Whenever Reito and Shizune venture into the Great Labyrinth, they always practice together, checking each other’s swordsmanship.

Their goal was not to conquer the Great Labyrinth, but to defeat the strongest swordsman, Gorai.

In order to avoid any regrets in the match, the two checked each other’s movements and honed their fighting skills together.

The grassland on the fifth floor, the lowest level of the Tower’s Great Labyrinth, was where the Goblin Kings lived, and there was also a Goblin Lord who commanded them.

Even though they were goblins, when they reached the higher levels, their fighting power was not inferior to that of ogres, and they were also highly intelligent. It was when they formed a group that they were the most dangerous, and in some cases they might even be more dangerous than the dragon that existed in the outside world.

However, in that grassland, a boy stood there, blindfolded with a cloth, clutching a greatsword and a longsword. The corpses of the Goblin Kings were lined up around him, and in front of him stood the injured Goblin Lord, facing him.

“Grrrrrr…!!”

“Fuh…”

Clutching his injured arm, the Goblin Lord glared at the boy standing in front of him, threatening him while looking for an opening.

However, even though the boy covered his eyes, he seemed to accurately grasp the Goblin Lord’s position.

He returned his longsword to the sheath on his waist and held up his greatsword with just his right hand, its hand glowing crimson.

“‘Gravity Strike Blade’!”

“Guuuuu!!”

The boy – Reito – had built up more muscle over the past month, and with his “Mind’s Eye” skill, he could sense the approaching Goblin Lord.

Noticing that the enemy was stretching out both arms and using his large body to push him down, he stepped forward himself and swung his greatsword with just his right arm.

“Haaahh!!”

“H—?!”

He simultaneously activated the gravity-controlling, “Gravity Strike Blade”, the speed-focused, “Gale Sword”, and the sword swing from above, “Helmet Splitter” to sink the blade into the head of the approaching Goblin Lord. The power of the attack was incomparable to the normal “Gale Strike” or “Helmet Smasher”. The Goblin Lord’s giant body was torn in two and fell to the ground.

“Phew… I’ve made it at last.”

Removing the cloth from his eyes, Reito wiped the sweat from his face and looked at his greatsword, smiling.

Finally, he had fully mastered the “Acceleration Strike” sword technique, created by combining multiple combat techniques. He could now use it even in normal conditions without “Full-Body Reinforcement”. Although it was less powerful than “Demon Blade”, the sword technique was still powerful enough to defeat the Goblin Lord, and this would be useful in future matches.

“Well, I guess I’ll just get the experience stones and head home… No need to pretend to be dead, Honemin.”

“”Ah, are you done already?”

When Reito called out to the skeleton lying on the ground, the skeleton, Honemin, got up. Honemin brushed the mud off her body.

She was accompanying Reito on this floor, but when monsters appeared she disguised herself as a corpse to let them pass. By the way, she was still communicating with Reito by writing on a notepad, and she was writing letters at high speed to talk to him.

“Wow, I was shocked when you said you wanted to challenge the fifth floor alone, but it seems like you’ve improved a lot. It seems like you are a completely different person from the one who was running away when we first came here.”

“I just couldn’t fight because I was carrying Mina, who was unconscious at the time.”

“Still, you’ve certainly grown. Your level has increased considerably, hasn’t it?”

“Unfortunately, it only went up by 2.”

It had been a while since they challenged the Great Labyrinth, and Reito’s level had risen to 67. Apparently, the amount of experience points needed to level up increases once you reach level 50, so even though Reito had defeated a considerable number of monsters, his level had barely increased (magicians have a hard time leveling up to begin with).

“Okay, I’ve collected all the experience stones. I’m really tired…”

“It’s not really worth it that the only material you can collect from such a strong monster is experience stones.”

“Exactly.”

Even though they’re high-ranking species, goblin materials were of low value, and orc materials were more valuable. The only material he could collect from the Goblin King and Goblin Lord were experience stones, and the bones and skin of their corpses were almost worthless. For that reason, the only valuable thing that could be obtained from this fifth floor would be the equipment dropped from the adventurers.

As for the monster’s bones, they were sturdy and could be used as weapons, but unlike metal weapons, they couldn’t be repaired when destroyed, and they were problematic in terms of hygiene. Their skin could be attached to armor such as shields, but in that case, it needed to be peeled off cleanly, and it took time to dismantle. Every place in the Great Labyrinth was a den of monsters except for the resting spots, so if one took their time to peel the skin off a monster’s corpse, there was a high chance that other monsters would find them. That was why most adventurers only collect experience stones.

“I’m really tired, so I’m going home today. What are you going to do, Honemin?”

“I think I’ll go back today too. I need to replenish my teleportation stones, so I’ll quietly stay in the castle on the third floor.”

“Okay. Next time I come, I’ll give you a good brushing.”

“No, please don’t try to polish my body. I can wash myself.”

After finishing the small talk, Reito took out the teleportation stone he received from Honemin. He left Honemin and teleported to the outside world.

◆◆◆

After using the teleportation stone to escape the Great Labyrinth, Reito returned to Gaila city and found the wolf cart and his friends waiting at the city entrance.

They had already made preparations for departure and were waiting for him to return. 

“Oh, so you’re finally back. I wonder if your rendezvous with the bone girl was fun?”

“It was pretty fun.”

“Puru-puru.”

“Welcome back.”

Kotomin, holding Suramin and Hitomin, greeted him, and other humans have already boarded the wolf cart. Reito activated space magic and threw dried meat to Ullr, who was pulling the wolf cart.

“Here, a souvenir.”

“Woof!”

“Whoa?! Please don’t move suddenly, that I have!”

Ullr happily bit into the meat in the air, causing the wolf cart to shake. Hanzo, the driver, warned him. As Reito apologized to her and got in, he noticed that there was one extra person there.

“Oh, welcome back~”

“Oh, Mina’s here too?”

“What? You promised to go back to the city together, right?”

“Come to think of it, you did say something like that…”

Mina’s mother’s condition had improved, so she decided to return to the adventure city and continue her adventurer career as before. That’s why she accompanied Reito and the others.

“Oh, what a waste… that experience stone…”

“You’re still talking about it, Dain… give up already.”

“But you know, we could have been millionaires by now! It’s not something I can forget that easily… haaa.”

Dain sighed deeply in the corner of the wolf cart. He had been depressed ever since Reito refused to accept the experience stone from Kai. However, since Reito was the only one who was serious about responding to Kai’s request, Dain reluctantly accepted his decision to refuse the reward. Still, Dain couldn’t shake the thought that if he had accepted the experience stone, he would have had a fortune to rival that of a noble by now, and he spoke to Reito with regret.

“Hey, hey, Reito… was it really okay that you didn’t accept the experience stone from that old man? If we’d only had it, we might not have had to work again.”

“How many times have we talked about this? Just give up already.”

“You shouldn’t bother Reito so much.”

“Dain, give up already.”

“Why are you all so easily convinced?! I get it…”

“Don’t be so down. I guess I can’t help it… Then, I’ll listen to your request next time, so cheer up, Dain.”

“What, seriously? Well, next time we challenge the Great Labyrinth, give me half of your share!!”

“That’s fine though…”

Dain looked up at Reito’s words, and when he immediately told him his wish, Reito readily agreed, and Dain’s mood changed visibly.

Although Shizune was astonished at him, she placed Hitomin on her lap, turned her gaze towards the city of Gaila, and for a moment her eyes sharpened.

“…Maybe it’s just my imagination.”

“Shizune?”

“No, it’s nothing. Let’s leave quickly.”

Reito, who was standing next to Shizune, was skeptical of her reaction. But she shook her head and ordered the wolf cart to leave. After checking out the scenery of Gaila city, where they had been staying for over a month, Reito and the others set off for the adventure city.

◆◆◆

←Previous  |  Next→