Chapter 350 - Dark Continent (1)

The chance of [Probabilistic Retaliation] activating was around 10%.

For reference, having [Transcendence] didn't increase that chance. The 1.5-times performance boost applied to the reflected damage instead...

But even so, this was ridiculous.

「The character has been hit by [Asura Kick].」

The passive finally activated around the time I seriously began wondering whether I'd been scammed into absorbing some dodgy Essence.

In other words, after I'd been beaten nearly a hundred damn times.

「The character's inherent Luck blocks the damage.」

[Probabilistic Retaliation] activated, and a transparent barrier sprang up over the point of impact as if to protect me.

And then...

「Powerful Luck.」

「Reflects 150% of the damage taken back at the enemy.」

A skeleton summoned right beside me perfectly copied the kicking stance and drove an [Asura Kick] into Amelia.

Despite having no vocal cords, it let out a hearty battle cry.

[GACHAAA!!]

Huh? That was the sound for a great success, wasn't it?

Wait, wouldn't this seriously injure her?

Alarmed by that thought, I rushed forward, but I was already too late.

THWACK!

Apparently caught off guard by the skill's sudden activation, Amelia failed to dodge the incoming blow and took it on her shoulder.

WHOOSH.

The skeleton turned into motes of light and vanished immediately after delivering that single hit.

"Ngh..."

"Are you all right?!"

I ran over in alarm, but Amelia took her hand off her shoulder and pushed me away.

"... Stop making a fuss. It just startled me a little."

Startled, my ass.

Her shoulder was completely smashed.

"Erwin, bring me a splint and bandages."

"Oh, yes...!"

With [Source of Agelessness], giving Amelia a potion would do no good. I set the bones by hand, applied a splint, and bandaged her up.

"Didn't I tell you to dodge when the Ability activated?"

"..."

"If you couldn't dodge it, you could at least have hit me gently."

"... I was hitting you gently."

What a load of crap. Gently?

Even a "great success" only reflected 100% of the original damage.

'Oh... With Transcendence, it'd be 150%.'

For reference, the normal base reflected damage was only 10%.

Even factoring in [Transcendence], it was 15%.

Since the attack came from a summoned skeleton, it could also be dodged, so the skill wasn't all that valuable.

"Anyway, Amelia, get some rest."

"Yes! I can help you now, Mister! I can dodge just fine. I can block it, too!"

"... All right."

As Erwin summoned her spirit again, Amelia went over to the sofa and sat down, looking somewhat deflated.

And then...

「The character has taken fire damage.」

「The character has taken fire damage.」

「The character has taken fire damage...」

「...」

This time, the skill activated after only ten attempts.

「The character's inherent Luck blocks the damage.」

「Ordinary Luck.」

「Reflects 15% of the damage taken back at the enemy.」

A small, cute skeleton appeared beside me again and fired a burst of flame.

Since it wasn't a great success, there was no signature sound.

Except...

BOOM!

Erwin dodged sideways, and the flame struck the wall, scattering fire everywhere.

And then...

"Oh, a fire."

"E-Erwin! Water spirit!!"

"Oh, y-yes!!"

That day, we nearly lost even the house we'd put up as collateral.

* * *

After nearly starting a house fire, we went out into the yard late at night to test the skill.

And we obtained some meaningful statistics.

'For now, the activation rate doesn't seem too far off...'

Unlike that first activation, which had taken a whopping hundred attempts, subsequent activations averaged around fifteen hits.

The problem was that statistics were just statistics.

Often, it would work normally, then suddenly stop activating. When that happened, I really had to take a beating for ages before it triggered.

The record was 198 attempts, I think?

'Does that even make sense...?'

That number would've been hard to swallow even if the chance were 1%.

And building up all those attempts didn't even guarantee a great success.

'Well, it does feel like they come up a little more often.'

Anyway, once we'd finished testing the active skill as well as the passive, the three of us spent each day planning our expedition.

Our number-one objective was money.

We'd taken out a short-term, six-month loan to cover our budget shortfall, after all. The interest was steep, and if we couldn't repay it in time, the bank would take the house.

Was that why?

"Mister, I'm fine... You don't have to push yourself..."

Erwin seemed to have given up on keeping the house from the moment she'd put it up as collateral.

She must have thought raising all that money in six months would be difficult.

But...

"Didn't I tell you? I'd do everything I could."

I had a conscience, too.

As long as Erwin liked this house, the right thing to do was try my best to find a way to keep it.

"But if we're going to raise that much money in such a short time... war really is our only option."

"Reinweils is right. None of us owns a ship, either. That means we can't get to the sixth floor, so we'd be stuck on the fifth at best..."

"Don't look at me like that. I think joining the war would be better, too. I'll stand out, but as long as I don't use [Gigantification], no one will look at me now and think of who I was."

We decided to join the war without needing a lengthy discussion.

If we joined the royal army, we could take a large sailing ship straight to the seventh floor.

'At our level, even seventh-floor monsters shouldn't pose much of a problem.'

All three of us were also strong against human opponents, so we could distinguish ourselves in the war and collect bounties.

Actually, why even focus on the bounties?

Our enemies would at least be explorers from the middle floors or higher. Stripping them of all their equipment and selling it would bring in a fortune.

Not only that...

'If things go well, I could reach level seven by killing seventh-floor monsters.'

I could more easily earn the EXP that would otherwise have required clearing over 60% of the sixth floor.

And then...

'At level seven, I can absorb the Underground Island Essence.'

After that, depending on the situation, I could erase Gacha Bone's Essence and move on to tackling Bellarios.

'Once I hit level eight and absorb another Essence, I'll have to erase Stormgush, too. It'll be easier to farm the Essence I want at level nine after grinding Floor lords.'

Mapping out my future build like that left me with a strange feeling.

At this point, I really seemed to be past the midgame.

I'd already come this far before I knew it.

While I was briefly lost in reflection, Amelia asked Erwin a question.

"But will you be all right, Tersia? I understand you were traveling with the fairies' enforcement division."

"Oh, that's right. Will that be okay?"

"That's not a problem. I took leave a little while ago."

"Leave?"

"Yes. I told them I wouldn't be entering the Labyrinth for a while, and that even if I did, I'd be operating separately. So you don't need to worry about that."

"... In that case, all right."

Afterward, I continued making plans while listening closely to Erwin and Amelia explain how the war had progressed so far and other such matters.

And those days of preparation rolled on...

「The character has equipped a large adamantium battle shield.」

「Total Item Level increases by +1,750.」

「The character has equipped a steel breastplate.」

「Total Item Level increases by +150.」

「The character has equipped steel greaves.」

「Total Item Level increases by +75.」

「The character has equipped War Boots.」

「Total Item Level...」

Before I knew it, the day of our entry into the Labyrinth had dawned.

「You have entered the first floor: Crystal Cave.」

* * *

「Bjorn Jandel」

Level: 6

Physical: 1,230.39 / Mental: 443.3 / Ability: 1,706.25

Item Level: 8,305 (New +2,020)

Overall Combat Index: 5,456.19 (New +505)

Obtained Essences: Orc Hero - Rank 5 / Ogre - Rank 3 / Bayon - Rank 3 / Stormgush - Rank 3 / Vol-Herchan - Rank 3 / Gacha Bone - Rank 6

* * *

Crystal Cave glowed with a soft purple radiance.

As soon as we opened our eyes, Amelia took the lead and found our route.

"This way, then."

"Wait, if it's finding the way, I'm better—"

"Amelia is a Guide."

"... She is?"

Erwin had received advanced training from her sister on par with what a professional navigator would receive, but at the word "Guide," she stopped insisting.

Though her pride did seem a little hurt.

Honestly, it was a feeling I couldn't understand.

I had a built-in navigation function myself, but I didn't feel disappointed about not getting to use it.

'It's so much easier just following along. Why bother?'

Still, it was pretty interesting.

We were a team of only three, yet all three of us had the ability to find our way.

Was this what they called a small, elite team?

PATTER, PATTER.

Anyway, since all I had to do was follow along, I kept looking around as we ran. On my first trip into the Labyrinth since my return, the atmosphere was very different from what I'd expected.

I'd anticipated seeing knights with noble house insignias on their chests and explorers from clans everywhere, but...

"There are far more lower-floor explorers than I expected."

I also spotted explorers who practically reeked of newbie here and there.

Most looked fairly cheerful.

They were alert, since they were in the Labyrinth, but none were trembling or afraid.

"Oh, that? The royal family introduced a lot of policies for lower-floor explorers. So many high-level explorers died that day, after all..."

After hearing a little more, I understood why the first floor was more crowded than it had been when I was a newbie.

The royal family's policies were part of it, but the disintegration of most of the major clans had played a large role.

With the old order swept away, it had become a land of opportunity where you only had to plant your flag, so to speak.

The fifth floor was a prime example.

"No one's restricting access on the fifth floor...?"

"I'm sure some still do, but it's nowhere near as bad as it used to be."

In the Great Demon Realm, clans had routinely occupied and monopolized monster-spawning fields, but apparently that hardly happened anymore.

They were better off joining the war instead, or something.

Apparently, the generous participation pay and the royal family's policy of awarding desired Essences for military achievements had only strengthened that trend.

"We're a little late."

We'd arrived very early, but unfortunately, another explorer had already opened the first-floor portal.

Did that mean we'd failed the official time attack again?

「You have entered the second floor: Beasts' Lair.」

Having failed the time attack even on the first floor, we had no chance on the second. Once we arrived there, we traveled at a slightly more leisurely pace.

We had plenty of time anyway.

'The deadline was day twenty-five, right?'

The royal family's recruitment process was very simple.

Arrive at Raimia, the Island of Beginnings, by day twenty-five.

That might be a tight schedule for a team just starting to explore the sixth floor, but it was a different story for us. Even with only three people, we had a clear run to the sixth floor.

'Without a mage, we don't have to slow down.'

We would have stopped to rest long before this in the past, but no one suggested stopping.

As a result...

'We're already on the third floor...?'

We reached the third floor toward the end of day one.

And we hadn't even run as hard on the second floor as we had on the first.

"You must be tired, Mister. Here, drink this."

Amazingly, these two still had energy to spare after all that running. They looked capable of going even faster if they put their minds to it.

Well, they were Agility builds, weren't they?

"Erwin, didn't I tell you not to call me Mister in the Labyrinth?"

"Oh, right. I'll be careful..."

At my reminder, Erwin smiled shyly and nodded, and we began setting up camp.

There was no need to take turns keeping watch.

We were only at the entrance to the third floor anyway, and...

"I can leave my double on guard, so sleep easy."

Thanks to Amelia's [Autoreproduction], we didn't need to waste a person's time on it.

"Wow, Amelia. Having you around really does make things easier."

"Stop making a fuss. It's nothing."

Hah, so prickly.

Even if it was your double, you were still the one doing the work. I was only saying it to thank you.

"Yes, exactly. It's nothing special."

"Huh?"

"B-because I can do something similar, too...?"

With that, Erwin immediately summoned a spirit.

Apparently, unlike before, keeping one summoned while she slept wasn't particularly difficult anymore. She said the nature power consumption wasn't much of a burden, either.

"And with my darkness spirit, I can make it hard for monsters or other people to see us, too. What do you think? Isn't mine much better? Hm? Isn't it?"

"Y-yeah... Yours is better."

I wanted to avoid comparing my companions, but under that strange pressure, I found myself nodding.

But was that the answer she'd wanted?

"Then, um... Say it to me, too."

"... Huh? Say what?"

"That. What you said to her earlier..."

Erwin began to squirm.

"Th-that having me around makes things easier... Th-that I'm the best after all... Th-that there's no one but me..."

Uh, I never said any of that.