The Spirit of Dusk had shown me a fight between Reinstar and the Umbra Dragon. Both of them were absolute powerhouses, but while Reinstar’s strength was clearly extraordinary, I could take inspiration from parts of his strategy.
“Such power is so unfair,” I grumbled. “But now I truly understand just how amazing Reinstar was.”
He had utilized his entire body—not just his legs—to change direction midair. I assumed he must have been employing walls of air, much like the Wind Dragon. On top of that, he had identified the element his opponent was weakest against while actively fighting, and once he’d figured it out, he’d imbued his sword with that element, which had allowed him to deal significant damage to the Umbra Dragon both in close combat and from a distance. By mixing all sorts of attack patterns, he’d had his opponent completely at his mercy.
But what surprised me the most was his defense. To shield himself from the breath attacks, he’d conjured layer upon layer of magical walls while continuously casting healing magic on himself. That last part was something I often did as well, but I’d never even thought of using magic walls to protect myself from attacks. And by making those walls thicker in close-range combat, Reinstar had been able to momentarily slow down his opponent, allowing him to use the brief window to either give himself time to evade the next attack or launch a counterattack. Such a technique required not only perfect situational awareness but also a physique capable of keeping up with it.
“I mean...I have the Accelerated Thought and Physical Enhancement skills, I can probably make magic walls with the Wind Dragon’s power, and I’m pretty sure my healing magic isn’t any worse than Lord Reinstar’s...”
I decided to try copying some of the moves I’d seen him perform in my dream, determined to absorb any techniques I could successfully execute as my own. I got up and saw that only Brod and Lionel were awake. “Master, Lionel, leave the watch duty to me and go get some rest, even if it’s just for a little while.”
“Something happen while you were asleep?” Brod asked.
Ugh. Sharp as always. But I had a feeling things would get way too complicated if I told him about the Umbra Dragon, so I pretended to be confused by his question.
“Sir, I was thinking and came to the conclusion that I probably won’t have the luxury of holding back against the imperial soldiers,” Lionel cut in, changing the topic. “As such, I’ve decided to go all in against them, except for those you can weaken with your magic.” He seemed to be resolved. Perhaps he and Brod had spoken about the topic.
“Right. Okay. But if you see any familiar faces you want to save among the soldiers, feel free to let me know.”
“Yes, sir.”
With those words, he went to sit against the wall. As I watched his retreating form, I noticed that the strong fighting aura he’d been exuding since I’d told him we’d be facing the empire had vanished.
“I hadn’t noticed how strange he was acting up until now, but it looks like he’s back to his usual self. Perhaps he was feeling conflicted before,” I mused.
Knowing that even someone like Lionel, whom I thought could do everything perfectly no matter the circumstances, could feel conflicted made me realize that everyone had their own struggles and doubts. As I waited for the others to wake up, I just stood there, silently practicing my sword technique.
Estia was the first to rise, followed by Ketty and Kefin. I decided to ask the latter to practice with me while we waited for Lionel to get up.
“There’s something I’d like to try out. Kefin, can you join me for a light sparring session?”
“That’s unusual. But yes, of course. If that is your command, I will gladly oblige.”
“Thanks. You’re a big help. I’m going to protect myself with my shield, so attack me with all you’ve got. I’d just appreciate it if you didn’t kill me.”
“I won’t, I won’t. But if all you’re doing is defending yourself, be prepared to lose your arms and legs.”
“That’s fine. I’m counting on you.”
Kefin blinked at me in surprise before brandishing his sword. I took a shield out of my magic bag, took a deep breath, and positioned myself so that I was facing him.
“When you’re ready.”
“All right, here I come,” he said, and his body immediately turned into a blur. Just as I thought, he must have leveled up his Physical Enhancement skill and had become quite strong.
I activated the same skill and cast Area Barrier. Then I released some more mana outside my body and manipulated it to form a wall. Focusing my consciousness on Kefin’s aura and mana signature, I tried to anticipate his movements. I heard a whoosh and felt like his attack had slowed down, just for an instant. However, I did get a slight cut on my arm as a result.
I know that my idea isn’t a bad one, I told myself, ready to resume our mock duel. “No need to hold back. Come at me as many times as you’d like,” I said aloud.
I increased the amount of mana in my magic wall and manifested it, envisioning a thick, sturdy shield. This allowed me to block Kefin’s attacks with my real shield, and I decided to reinforce my wall even further. As a result, I managed to completely evade Kefin’s strikes once or twice out of ten attempts, though it was a close call every time.
“Kefin, did you feel anything when attacking me?” I asked.
“Not particularly, no. It just seemed to me like your reaction speed was faster this time,” he said, tilting his head to the side.
“I see. To me, it felt like your attacks got slower for the brief moment you came into contact with my wall, but maybe I was just more focused because I was sensing the danger. Not sure if it’s because of that or something else, but I’m feeling a bit tired all of a sudden.”
Mastering this new technique wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but I was happy to have a new goal to strive toward.
“You’re already trying to improve your abilities after the events of yesterday. This truly is your best quality, sir,” Kefin praised me.
“It’s all thanks to you guys.”
This new technique had been born from the fight the Spirit of Dusk had shown me yesterday, combined with all the Magic Handling and Magic Control I’d been practicing since reincarnating into this world. To be fair, I should have realized something was wrong with me sooner, but for now, I decided to just be happy about the progress I’d made. After all, if I could keep myself alive, it was more likely that my friends would be safe as well.
After Kefin, I asked Estia to spar with me too. I figured it would be a good idea to know what would happen if a mana sword cut into my wall, just out of curiosity. The results were shocking: Unlike when Kefin had attacked me, Estia’s blade slowed down significantly when it came into contact with the wall.
“Did you feel something?” I asked.
“Yes. It felt like my sword was blocked by something hard.”
“I see.”
Perhaps the mana in her attack had reacted to the mana in my wall. It was just a hunch, but I felt like I was getting closer to perfecting the weapons Brod had helped me to develop. I decided to make some food while pondering these revelations, and Brod and Lionel woke up right just as I finished. I was worried about how little they’d slept, so before we ate, I made them promise to take a long rest before our trip to the empire.
We had our meal and then descended to the forty-first floor, which was so dark that we couldn’t see more than a meter ahead of us.
“There’s no way we’ll be able to see or disarm traps in this darkness. Luciel, we’re taking out the lights,” Brod told me.
“You’re right. It’ll probably be better to fight monsters than get ambushed or insta-killed by a trap. If push comes to shove, I can always take the lead while carrying a cask of Substance X,” I offered.
“What, so the rest of us end up losing our sense of smell?” he retorted, and I laughed.
“If monsters charge us because of the light, it’s likely they’ll activate the traps on their way, so we should be able to focus solely on fighting,” Kefin said.
“All right, everyone, to the fiftieth floor we go!” I announced.
“Yes, sir!”
Just like before, Brod took the lead while I traded my shield for a lantern and let my companions handle most of the fighting. As I illuminated our path ahead, I saw the same type of monsters as the ones we had been battling so far charging toward us. After that, we were caught up in one fight after another. My companions couldn’t dodge every attack, of course, so they all got pretty banged up. But they also killed a ton of monsters, which was great. Perhaps it even helped Brod and Lionel level up, as I noticed their moves seemed much smoother than before.
We’d completely given up on the idea of drawing a map and just headed down whichever staircase we came across, eventually reaching floor forty-five, where we encountered our first humanoid monsters. Dark knights—headless figures clad in armor—and shadow knights, which were essentially living suits of armor, emerged from the shadows. From floor forty-eight onward, we even had to face dullahans. This partly explained why my companions’ moves had gotten better. After all, Brod had always preferred fighting people over monsters, and Lionel and Ketty used to be soldiers who fought in wars.
Kefin’s and Estia’s fighting styles hadn’t changed, but they’d become more aggressive, perhaps because they now had a better understanding of the monsters’ patterns. The same went for me: I was now able to time my attacks based on our enemies’ movements, slashing at them with my mana-infused Illusion Sword.
But despite how well the combat portion of this labyrinth was going, something was bothering me. We hadn’t come across a single treasure chest.
After some time, we reached the fiftieth floor’s boss room...and were immediately met by a thunderous roar coming from inside.