by Hiro Ainana
Our current location, area 9-4-1—which is a pain to say, so let’s just stick with 9-1—could be accessed only by the aforementioned maze of connections. Naturally, we were the only explorers there.
There was a fair amount of explorers near the regular entrance to area 9, but it seemed like people rarely came in this far.
As evidence of that, there was only around a fifth of the amount of sign stones that there had been in the other areas.
Not that it mattered to us, since we could return to area 1 in an instant using the seal slate we had placed there.
“These monster cores are white.”
“They’re very small, too.”
Liza and Lulu broke down the walking beans and hopping potatoes, producing white cores that were only around the size of a pill.
“White ones like that aren’t really useful, so you don’t need to go out of your way to collect them.”
With that, I put the monster corpses away in Storage.
These guys must be the real source of the incredibly gross beans and potatoes we ate before we entered the labyrinth. There were many more of them in area 2, from what I could tell.
Incidentally, if you used Treespirit Pearls to remove the dark-red sinews that caused the gross bitterness, they would taste like normal potatoes and beans.
“It’s shiniiing?”
“Tama, if you could.”
“Aaaye!”
Being careful of traps, Tama went up ahead to scout out a moss-filled cavern.
Beyond this point was the large space that contained the areamaster of area 9-1.
“There’s a foreeest?”
…A forest?
Curious, I followed Tama’s beckoning.
“It certainly is a forest.”
The cavern was big enough that you could fit three Tokyo Domes inside and entirely full of trees and shrubs, with light cascading down from above.
The source of the light was the plants dangling from the ceiling.
When I’d cut one of these roots in the room before this one, it had looked like optical fiber on the inside. No doubt the roots and stalks absorbed natural light and gave it off like optical fibers.
There was grass growing from the earth below our feet, too, so it didn’t feel like we were underground at all.
“This is so much bigger than the room we beat before,” Arisa murmured, gazing around.
The path we’d been on led to the top of the large room, and we could look down at the forest from here.
“There’s even a river.”
There had been water trickling from the walls in one of the earlier rooms, but this room had a small river and even a lake.
“Mrrr. Freakish,” Mia grumbled, brow furrowed as she stared down at the forest.
Mostly plant-type monsters roamed this area. It was no wonder she didn’t like it.
“The flowers in the center are pretty, I declare.”
“They look like orchids. The glowing flowers are moving around, though. Is that a monster, too?”
Nana and Arisa were gazing at an enormous plant monster in the center of the room.
“That’s right. It even has the areamaster title.”
The creature was a crazy dendrobium; it was level 53 and used Light Magic.
On the hill it was growing on, there were also ten or so related monsters called “mayhem dendrobiums,” which were around level 40.
Attracted by the smell of the flowers, bug-type monsters were flying around the plants, only to occasionally be brought down by bullets of light from the flowers.
Once the monsters hit the ground, the dendrobium monsters grabbed them with vines and dragged them down to their roots.
“Maybe I should thin those out a little.”
These monsters were too strong to use for leveling up the rest of my group.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t get hurt!”
I waved reassuringly at my concerned comrades and took off into the air.
When I approached closely, the crazy dendrobium’s flowers glowed, and each of them fired a light bullet at me. Its spawn, the mayhem dendrobiums, made an annoying noise as they sprayed more light bullets everywhere.
Huh, that’s pretty.
Enjoying the light show, I changed direction in midair just in time to avoid getting hit.
But as they started to fly past me, the light bullets quickly zipped around to follow me instead.
“Ah, they’re the homing kind, huh?”
Because the light bullets created a beautiful arc of light as they changed trajectories, I wound up playing a bit of tag with them.
When the rest of my group started applauding, I gave them a wave.
“…Is this the face?”
Near the roots of the treelike creature was a knot that resembled a face.
It looked like a weak point to me, so I dispersed the light bullets chasing me with the Practical Magic spell Dispel Magic and used “Flashrunning” to close the distance between the face knot and me.
YWOWNLLEUAAAAAMN.
Sensing danger, the crazy dendrobium started gathering light in its flowers, but it was too late.
I created “Spellblade” on the end of my fairy sword and sliced right through its one-hundred-foot-wide trunk.
The monster’s health went down at a remarkable rate.
YWGOWNLLBUEAMN.
In its final struggle, it unleashed a bunch of red vines from its face knot, but they were blocked by the Practical Magic Flexible Shields in front of me, so they had no effect beyond creating a bit of noise.
Finally, the crazy dendrobium’s health ran out, and the vines fell lifeless to the ground.
> Title Acquired: Areamaster Slayer
“Better grab the loot,” I muttered, putting the monster’s upper half into Storage before it could hit the ground.
“Wait, what’s that?”
I saw something shining inside the face knot.
According to my AR display, it was a Brightlight Pearl soul.
“Looks like a pretty rare material.”
With this, I could probably even make a light rod that shot lasers.
Grinning smugly, I collected the item, then used the Earth Magic spell Pitfall to expose the roots so I could collect the monster’s lower half, too.
Normally, Earth Magic didn’t work inside the labyrinth, but fortunately, it seemed to be fine when the ground was bare dirt.
“…Is that a treasure chest?”
At the bottom of the pit, near the center of the roots, there was a giant treasure chest.
I didn’t think the crazy dendrobium would bother hiding a treasure chest, so either it was always there to begin with or a mischievous labyrinth master put it there.
When my trap senses reacted suddenly, I touched it with Magic Hand to put it in Storage, then took out the contents without the chest.
There was one lesser elixir and five cure-alls, as well as several intermediate potions, but all the latter had deteriorated and lost their effects.
According to the materials I’d gathered in the elf village, a cure-all was like a lesser version of an elixir.
Despite being “lesser,” it was an excellent item that could cure poison, illness, petrification, paralysis, and other such status effects, as well as even helping to restore lost limbs.
The lesser elixir could heal things that the cure-alls couldn’t, like curses and severe status conditions.
Aside from all the potions, there was also a large Magic Sword with the light attribute, but its stats weren’t as good as the Magic Swords Tama and Pochi used, making it of no use in combat.
The Magic Light Sword looked a little old-fashioned, but it was the kind of elegant design that nobles would enjoy, so I decided to stash it as a possible gift.
“All right, inspection complete.”
The mayhem dendrobiums couldn’t move. I simply destroyed them at my leisure, collected the light stone souls from their face knots, and went bac
k to the others.
Unfortunately, there were no treasure boxes under the mayhem dendrobiums.
“That was kind of like watching the PV for a sci-fi anime or a bullet hell game.”
Once I got back, Arisa gave me a strange review of my fight against the areamaster.
The other kids all gave me normal praise, of course.
“Okay, I’ll pick up the first round of enemies and bring them out here.”
In the area right after the large cavern, there was a lot of conveniently level ground, so I used Earth Magic and Practical Magic to create a simple encampment.
It wasn’t nearly as sturdy as the built-in defenses on the flying ship that we traveled the southern seas with, but it should be fine for dealing with normal monsters.
Besides, even if it did break, I could just rebuild it with magic.
“Let’s do this thing! Same-strength enemies for now, plz!”
Acknowledging Arisa’s somewhat dated gaming lingo with a wave of the hand, I aggroed some monsters with Magic Hand and led them over to where my group was waiting.
“Let’s start with these vanilla stalkers. ‘Biting’ and ‘Vine-grabbing’ are their only attacks, but they’re level twenty-three. Don’t let your guards down.”
The first enemies I led over were leafy creatures with vanilla-scented flowers that had fanged mouths inside.
Some of them had the special ability Charm Person, despite not looking any different from the others, so we had to proceed with caution.
“… Paralyze Mist Mahimu.”
“You are quite impudent for mere shrubs, I declare.”
Mia’s Water Magic hindered the plants’ movements, Nana drew their attention with “Taunt,” and the beastfolk girls closed in for the kill.
…Oh?
It was only for a moment, but I saw the red light of “Spellblade” appear on Pochi’s sword.
As I continued watching the girls battle, I saw the same thing happen with Tama’s Magic Swords, too.
At this rate, if they kept leveling up, the two of them might get the “Spellblade” skill like Liza pretty soon.
That day, we continued fighting monsters until evening, then spent the night in a safe house I made inside the labyrinth.
After that, we spent days battling and sleeping in the labyrinth, until it was the day before our scheduled return.
“Preeey?”
Tama came up to the rest of the group encamped on the hill, leading a monster.
True to its name, walking corn, the monster looked like a cornstalk with insect legs. It was surprisingly fast.
Not only that…
“Tama, behind you! Sir!”
…it turned its kernels into cone shapes and started shooting them at Tama like machine guns.
“Whoosh, whoooosh?”
Tama used “Blink” to dodge the barrage of corn, but the monster stood in place and continued shooting at her.
“Plants should not move, I declare!”
Nana shouted via “Taunt,” attracting the walking corn’s attention.
The corn went flying toward the encampment, but Nana blocked it with her buckler and Flexible Shields.
The onslaught pushed Nana back, the spikes on her shoes digging into the ground.
Next to her, I saw a rock get hit by the corn and break into pieces.
If anyone got hit, that could actually cause a serious injury.
Meanwhile, I was using Magic Hand to catch every piece of corn that flew past the encampment and put it away in Storage.
While the shell of the walking corn’s kernels was hard enough to break a rock, the inside was perfectly edible.
It was almost snack time, so I figured I could make something with the corn.
Using my “Parallel Thoughts” skill, I kept watching over my group’s fight as I started getting ready to cook.
“This walking corn is level twenty-seven! It’s just a normal one with no magic! We’ll hold on until it runs out of corn, then counterattack!”
Arisa called out the information she’d found with Status Check to the rest of the crew.
Even if they looked the same, monsters with levels in the high 20s could have special variations, like magic attacks or a barrier.
I wished they were at least a different color or something, like in games.
“Take this!”
From behind Nana, Lulu fired with her Fireburst Gun, the Flame Bullets hitting the corn and causing it to explode with a pop.
The Fireburst Gun was a new weapon I’d created, a kind of flame rod using one of the Firelight Pearls I found on the fire-breathing island where I fought the Flame Lord.
A normal Thunder Rod Gun or Fire Rod Gun wouldn’t be strong enough to fight an enemy of this level, which was why I prepared this upgrade.
It had a similar level of power to the kind of Magic Cannon that might be at a fort, though, so it couldn’t be used in front of others.
“Let’s bring this sucker down! Mia, Paralyze Water Hold, plz!”
“Mm. …”
Arisa was keeping a close eye on things, giving the group orders.
“Nana! I’m going to make a barrier so you can set up some new Flexible Shields, okay?”
“Understood, I report.”
The transparent barrier Arisa made blocked the walking corn’s barrage.
Once Nana had finished resetting her Flexible Shields, Arisa immediately took down her barrier. The Barrier Magic’s defense power was high, but it cost a great deal of magic power, so it wasn’t practical for regular use.
Finally, when the monster ran out of corn to shoot, its tip split into four and grew fangs, creating a giant mouth.
The walking corn charged forward, trying to swallow Nana whole.
“Yah!”
As soon as it opened its mouth and exposed its weak point, Lulu fired her Fireburst Gun, shooting right into the monster’s gullet.
“… Paralyze Water Hold Mahi Mizu Shibaru.”
Then Mia’s Water Magic activated, destroying the corn monster’s momentum and slamming it onto the ground.
This spell was an intermediate Water Magic spell with the effects of both Paralyze Mist and Water Hold. It didn’t have wide range like Paralyze Mist, but it was useful for lone enemies, since there was no risk of your allies getting caught up in the mix.
“‘Super Dimensional Ultra Attack’!”
Arisa shouted some nonsensical phrase as she fired a Dimension Cutter spell at the immobilized walking corn.
Invisible blades slashed away at the walking corn, but they were so sharp that it actually didn’t do much damage.
Plant monsters tended to be particularly tough.
“Tama, Pochi, time to attack! Let’s finish it off.”
“‘Spellblaaaade’?”
“Gooo, sir!”
Activating “Spellblade” on their Magic Swords, Tama and Pochi jumped out from behind Nana along with Liza, leaping into close combat with the walking corn.
In these past few days, Tama had learned how to use “Spellblade” first, followed by Pochi when she leveled up earlier that day and finally gained the skill.
Their blades flashing red, the two of them cut through the walking corn’s legs.
Since they were still new to “Spellblade,” the light was unstable, and it consumed a lot of MP.
The walking corn lashed its vines around like whips, which the vanguard quickly blocked.
For a while, the battle seemed evenly matched, but soon the balance tipped in my group’s favor.
“This is the end of the line!”
Liza readied her spear with a steady red light at the end.
“‘Helix Spear Attack’!”
The “Spellblade” spun sharply as she jabbed it into the walking corn, stabbing through it.
CWUOOOORWNN.
A strange death cry unleashed itself from the corn monster’s fanged mouth.
The “Spellblade” around the spear spun in a helix shape, shredding the
creature’s body.
Liza’s “Helix Spear Attack” was a simplified version of the “Triple Helix Spear Attack” I learned in my battle against the Golden Boar Lord.
These special move–type skills tended to cost a lot of skill points, so they seemed kind of wasteful, but they were far stronger than a normal attack, making it worth having a few.
At the minimum, I wanted each of my kids to have at least one.
CWUOOOORWNN.
With another dying cry, the creature whipped its vines around.
Plant-type monsters were tough, all right.
“Sleep, I declare.”
Nana’s “Body Strengthening”–enhanced shield bash hit the gigantic walking corn, sending it flying backward.
“And just to be sure, here’s a Dimension Pile, max strength!”
Arisa’s Space Magic closed in on the unmoving walking corn, finally finishing off the stubborn creature.
“We wiiin?”
“Sir!”
As everyone let out a cheer of triumph, I sanitized their injuries with Everyday Magic before using the intermediate Water Magic spell Healing: Water to restore all of them.
During battle, Mia was in charge of healing, but I took care of it when the fight was over.
“Yesss! Awesome! I just hit level twenty-nine!” Arisa cheered.
“Greeeat?”
“Hooray, sir!”
“Don’t get too full of yourselves. We were only able to come this far because of master, remember.”
“Affirmative. Thank you, master, I report.”
“Well, of course I’m grateful. Tama does the monster pulling now, but master was doing all of it up until yesterday.”
That was uncharacteristically big of Arisa—
“It was pretty amazing. He didn’t pull any other monsters, and there was always an ideal enemy right after a break—really, nerds are so efficient.”
Ah. I should’ve known there would be a punch line.
“Look who’s talking,” I said blandly, bopping Arisa on the head and looking around at the others.
They’d all used up quite a bit of magic power, so I used Mana Transfer to restore each of them in turn.
Tama had already gone off to find a new enemy. I’d have to heal her once she got back.
