Luna, Lina, and Mio had returned from their job quests as an Archmage, a Treasure Hunter, and a Shaman, respectively. Tithia and Leroy had joined us too, and we’d just finished introductions in the sitting room of my house. Tithia was gazing at Frey with pure adoration. It looked like we were going to get along just fine.
“So, as a warm-up, we’re all going to head into Labyrinth of Flowers! Yay!” I cheered and applauded to get everyone hyped up.
Luna and Mio just stared at me, but Lina raised her voice in response. “No one told me! This is so sudden!”
“What? I just told you,” I said.
“You just told us!” Lina repeated.
Labyrinth of Flowers wasn’t really a dangerous dungeon—especially not for the twelve of us. We’d be able to clear it without any issue.
“Meowster is always like this. We’ll be all right,” Tarte said.
“Right. She is Sharon after all,” Lina agreed without further argument. What was more, the rest of the party was nodding along to what Tarte had said. What did I ever do to them?
“How do we get to Labyrinth of Flowers?” Frey asked, as if hoping to redirect everyone’s attention.
“On the backs of Dragons, of course!” I answered at once.
Our Dragons soared high above the earth, their wings slicing through the air. I’d gotten used to flying, my body acclimated to the slightly colder air up here.
Labyrinth of Flowers was a dungeon located to the southeast of Blume, surrounded by highways and fields of flowers without end. Since it had just been raining, dew sparkled on the myriad petals down below us.
We landed in a plaza featuring a fountain overflowing with flowers. A floral arch stood behind the fountain, the entrance which would lead us into the dungeon.
“It’s a beautiful place,” Frey said as she looked around.
“Yeah,” I agreed, beginning to apply buffs to everyone. “Seeing it from the sky was really something. We should have come here earlier!”
Today, I’d be the main supporter while Leroy and Mio chipped in, focusing on getting the hang of their positions. There was more to a supporter’s job than just healing the party—we had to be aware of how long it took us to defeat each monster, which monsters we were facing and how many of them there were, any other dangers around us... Even if keeping track of all of that didn’t quite become second nature, it had to be effortless.
I called Leroy and Mio over to me and began reviewing our basic strategy. “I’ll focus on healing Kent. Mio, you cover the others in the front line. Leroy, I’d like you to keep an eye on the members in the back line.”
“Understood, but why did you assign us that way?” Mio asked.
“It’s the difference in our Skills,” I answered. “Out of the three of us, I have the Skill that can heal the most HP at once. It’s most efficient for me to heal Kent, who’s going to be our tank and take the most damage out of everybody. Leroy is guarding the rear because he has a defensive Skill that can set up a barrier. Mio, you’re on the front line because you have continuous healing Skills you can use while you attack.”
“Yes, that does make sense...” Mio said, satisfied with my summary. Now that she was a Shaman, Mio could both heal and attack. Considering that some of her Skills required the use of Talismans, she’d do her best work when positioned where she had a clear view of the front line.
Mio produced a paper Talisman now and used a Skill. “Cursed Conversion!”
The Talisman floated over to me and stopped in midair, an arm’s length away. Now that it was closer, I could see that the name of the Skill was written on the Talisman, making it clearly identifiable. Talismans could be stacked—if Mio were to apply more, they would float over next to one another until they fully encircled me. This is pretty cool.
“This Skill automatically heals you when you’re damaged. It uses your mana in exchange, but I thought it would be useful for someone who has a lot of mana like you, Sharon,” Mio said.
“Sure, at the right time,” I said. “I use my Skills pretty regularly, though, so sometimes I need all the mana I can get. This could be useful for the frontline fighters who don’t spend their mana as often.”
“I never considered that!” Her eyes opened to new possibilities, Mio began applying the same Skill to our frontline fighters. Shamans had access to many Skills that were powerful but tricky to optimize. “I just have to keep learning!”
“Yeah! Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions,” I offered.
“Thank you, Sharon,” Mio said.
Once I’d gotten the supporters on the same page, we went over some basic protocols as a party before heading into the dungeon.
As its name suggested, Labyrinth of Flowers was a maze full of flora. Some of its dead ends were pockets of monster spawns, making this a dangerous but lucrative dungeon. For this crawl, I would guide us through the entire dungeon so we could get used to fighting as a party. Our expedition would culminate in the boss fight at the end.
“Whoa!” We hadn’t walked far into the dungeon before Kent shouted and parried an attack with his sword. The attack had come from a Chomp Flower—a carnivorous flower that tried to bite you with its toothed petals if you walked too close to it.
People with heart conditions shouldn’t enter this dungeon. Chomp Flowers wouldn’t move an inch until they were ready to strike, and they looked like any other flower until they attacked. “Don’t worry. I know it’s surprising, but it’s not that strong. You can probably one-shot it, Kent.”
“What? Really?” Kent attacked with a Skill and turned the Chomp Flower into a burst of light. “Oh, it’s not strong at all. I guess it camouflages as a flower to make up for how weak it is.”
“We’re just on another level. Most of my knights can’t beat a Chomp Flower,” Rudith rightfully pointed out. From what I’d been told, in this world, this dungeon had barely been explored.
“That’s true... When I’m with Sharon, I forget how strong I’ve become,” Kent said.
“Yes...exactly!” Frey joined in passionately.