Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

The day after resting at the shelter, he woke up abruptly without any warning.

‘Ah, I fell asleep at the shelter.’

[Chaos says to relax and not be tense.]

The first floor was filled with trash, and the second floor had a transcendent being.

Nothing had gone smoothly, so it was no wonder he was on edge.

He scratched his cheek, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Hmm. Slept well.”

“Ugh. It’s definitely a relief to be in a place where monsters don’t appear.”

As the first one to wake up, he sat there, feeling a bit dazed.

He saw Yeriel yawning adorably and Lumia stretching lazily, her body in a cat-like pose.

He cleared his throat and spoke.

“Did you all sleep well? Alright, let’s focus now. From today, we should increase our speed a bit.”

He decided that it was best to leave this place quickly.

Although the third floor was an open forest terrain without any shelters, the second floor, especially the swamp area, was not a place they wanted to stay in for long.

They all agreed without saying much, quickly packing up their sleeping bags and taking out preserved food to eat.

He handed the torch to the others and took out a compass and a map.

“Did you forget anything? Let’s get going.”

He hoped for an uneventful day as they left the shelter.

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.

.

For several days since leaving the shelter, everything had gone surprisingly smoothly.

Whenever they encountered monsters on their journey, it was only a few bouncing slimes or a group of mermen attacking them.

They didn’t fall into any traps or encounter other adventurers.

‘The labyrinth wouldn’t let us reach the next floor so easily.’

By now, they should have faced some kind of event, and the lack of it was making them anxious.

Perhaps the density of his time in the labyrinth was too high compared to other adventurers.

‘Maybe this is normal? I can finally experience the labyrinth like everyone else.’

His head was filled with hopeful thoughts…

Psssh…

“Kyaaak!”

Another group of mermen. I’m so sick of them.

A faint chill formed on his hands.

It was the new trait he had acquired, Frozen Frost.

Since he could manipulate weak cold energy, he had been practicing with it whenever monsters appeared, trying to get used to it.

The condition of consuming magic power was practically non-existent for him.

So, he focused on testing the trait’s power and versatility.

‘It’s weak, even though I just acquired it. It’s too weak.’

The direct damage inflicted on enemies was too low.

At least for now, it seemed more useful as a crowd control or support ability rather than an offensive one.

First, it could be grown.

And second, it didn’t have any penalties like the one associated with Blue Lightning, ‘Headache occurs after using the skill depending on the scale of the technique.’

He experimented with various applications, such as coating his weapon with cold energy or freezing the ground beneath his feet, and slowing down monsters by shooting at their legs.

As he experimented with his new trait, Yeriel spoke cheerfully.

“Even though you’re a swordsman, it’s fascinating to see you use elemental abilities, or should I say, create lightning and spread cold energy. It’s amazing, even though I know it’s real.”

Yeriel laughed, and they ended the conversation with a joke about how the mages at the Magic Tower would be interested in him as a research subject.

“…”

Lumia also nodded in agreement and added that he should be careful not to attract the attention of any eccentric high-ranking mages at the Magic Tower.

He nodded silently.

‘Indeed, I’ve read that people who can handle multiple elements are rare, except for mages.’

The Magic Tower was located near the boundary between the second and third zones, wasn’t it?

As an adventurer, he would have to visit it at some point… but he wasn’t looking forward to it.

When he heard the word ‘mage,’ the first thing that came to his mind was Scarlet, and the image of her on the third floor made him feel uneasy.

It wasn’t guilt, just a strange feeling.

‘Ugh, why am I thinking about this again… Forget it, forget it.’

He closed his eyes and shook his head vigorously.

He tried to erase his unnecessary thoughts and continued to be vigilant as he moved forward.

As they walked, hunted, ate, and slept, he checked the map and wondered how many days had passed.

They had finally reached the vicinity of the portal.

“Just a little further, and we’ll turn the last corner to reach the portal.”

Their faces brightened.

“Phew, our time in the dreaded second floor is almost over… Even if it takes a long time on the next floor, it will be at least ten times better than this swamp area.”

Yeriel sighed in relief.

Apart from everything else, the damp and stuffy environment had been the most unpleasant.

Lumia agreed.

“Yes, the third floor is said to be full of forests and plains. Ugh, I can’t wait to get out of here.”

“You all are so motivated. Great! Let’s go!”

He hurriedly took the last turn towards the portal.

Or at least, he tried to.

Thud!

Lumia, whose ears had perked up, quickly grabbed his sleeve.

“We should stop here. I can hear the faint sounds of monsters from here. There’s definitely a battle going on ahead.”

…If it was just a regular monster group, they wouldn’t have looked so serious.

“Who’s fighting, and what’s the scale of the battle?”

“A monster and an adventurer party are fighting. The party has four or five members. The monster seems to be a single, large creature.”

[Chaos is worried that we might get involved in another troublesome situation.]

Damn it.

Today, after a few days of easy travel, they had gotten too excited. Nothing was ever easy until the very end.

The party seemed fine, but a large monster?

Slimes of two types, blind cave mermen, and cave snakes didn’t fit Lumia’s description.

But those were the most common monsters in the swamp area, and if they ruled them out, what was left? A special species? A rare species?

Or, could it be a higher-ranked monster?

Either way, it wouldn’t be an easy fight.

If the party ahead was strong enough to easily end the battle, approaching them could cause a conflict.

Depending on their perspective, they might suspect them of being stealers waiting for an opportunity to snatch the loot.

But if the adventurers were struggling or in danger of dying, it was a different story.

What should he do?

“Don’t approach rashly. Let’s slowly turn around and observe the battle first.”

Nod.

Alright. They would watch from a distance, and if the adventurers were about to die, they would intervene.

If the adventurers seemed capable of handling it on their own, they would wait behind until the monster was defeated and the adventurers had left through the portal.

He didn’t want to cause any trouble when the third floor was so close.

He signaled to the others and carefully led the way forward.

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.

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A fierce roar, like a tearing scream, pierced their eardrums from a distance.

As they turned the corner, they saw the battle up close.

“Robert, I’ll draw its attention while you recover!”

“Krrr… I’m sorry!”

In the distance, a five-person party was struggling against a long, gigantic sea serpent-like monster.

As soon as he saw it, he recognized it from the knowledge he had gained at the library.

It was a higher-ranked monster, a Full Serpent.

A higher-ranked monster of the second floor, found in one of the many labyrinth-related books in the library.

It was a monster with a body length of 5 to 10 meters, known for its tough outer shell and ferocity. It used various water-based attacks and was rarely encountered on the second floor unless one was extremely unlucky.

If they could defeat it, the horns and scales they could obtain from it would be valuable, and they might also get a randomly dropped item.

Yes, if they could defeat it.

“Hissss!”

Boom!

“Krrr!”

With a roar, the Full Serpent gathered water into a ball-like shape and then exploded it like a bomb.

The tank, who had gone forward to draw the monster’s aggro while the healer recovered, was hit by the water bomb and flew through the air.

“Gail!! Krrr…”

[Robert casts ‘I’ll Protect You’.]

The tank, who had just recovered his senses and was receiving healing from the healer, returned to the front line without fully recovering his wounds.

‘This is a vicious cycle. Did they underestimate the higher-ranked monster?’

Even with his limited knowledge about higher-ranked monsters…

They not only possessed strength several layers above the layer they appeared in but also had unique abilities, making them much stronger and more challenging than regular monsters.

‘At this rate, they’ll all be wiped out. I can’t just watch. I need to intervene.’

Anyway, to reach the portal, they had to defeat the monster blocking their path.

He believed that he was strong enough to defeat the monster.

Of course, he wasn’t a fool, but there was no reason to stand by and watch five people get torn apart.

He decided to join the battle and defeat the Full Serpent. If the adventurers complained about their interference after defeating the monster and dividing the spoils, he could punish them then.

“Let’s go. We have to fight, whether it’s three or eight of us, to reach the third floor. Yeriel, buff me!”

“Yes! May his sword be filled with light and his body with wind!”

[Divine Weapon’s effect increases Strength by one level for one hour.]

[Haste’s effect increases Agility by one level for one hour.]

He asked them to follow him and take up safe positions to support him.

Bang!

He exploded the magic power he had gathered in his feet and charged forward.