“I’ve already done everything I could, so I’m prepared for the wor—bleeegh!”
“Wait, you’re barfing!”
“Sorry about that. I’m fine. Really.”
I took a deep breath. We were operating as a group, so I couldn’t ignore that and just blabber to myself. I had to do my chants in my head.
My job was divided into two steps. First was movement, and the second was battle. During the former, I would constantly cast speed buffs on the whole squad, stay in touch with Bettina—the head of enemy detection—to aid with her job, and predict upcoming splits in the road and traps. When it came to allocating up my stamina, speed buffs were the key. I would have to cast the buff on many people for a long period of time, so I couldn’t use my usual simple codes. Instead, I put together a more advanced one that could act autonomously even if I wasn’t fully focused on casting. Forgetting about this code would slow down our whole plan, so I had to periodically check to make sure it was still active.
First, the path I needed to create wasn’t the normal type…
“…That could act on individuals but spoke-shaped. The symbolic chant starts with ‘[Spin]’… Good, I still remember it. Next, I need to implement a harmony structure that will respond to everyone’s individual athletic abilities to weaken or strengthen their abilities. The symbolic chant is ‘[Wiedersehen].’ But I’m not quite sure I have the real chant down. Should I maybe try breaking it up? No, but I can’t… I need to actually cast a buff if I’m saying it…”
“Wim?”
“Huh?!”
“You’ll be fine. You’ve never failed during our practices, and we’ll never be able to set off if you’re still referencing the real chant.”
“Was I talking out loud?”
“Yup.”
I’d messed up. My heart was already pounding, but now my face was getting red too.
“I’m sorry. It’s just a habit,” I said reflexively.
Abel shook his head. “We’re counting on you, so count on us too, Wim. It will be fine. No matter how much you might mess up, I can protect you until we can get help. I can even withstand a boss, though just for a little bit.”
Damn, he was cool. I was a dude myself, but I felt that I was falling in love.
That was what was so great about Abel. It was only now that he realized how cool that line sounded, and now he was blushing a bit. It was adorable watching his eyes dart around as he tried to hide his embarrassment. He was a good man, and combined with this side of him, it made for a killer combo.
Maybe all of that was in my head, but it felt like we were sharing our embarrassment, and that made me happy.
Is this what having friends was like? We could talk a bit, and he would sometimes drop his formal tone with me. Was Abel my friend?
I didn’t know how to define friends. That’s right, we had never shared a meal together. Maybe I should invite him out sometime? Yeah, I should. Sometime or another…
No, not sometime, but now!
“Um! Abel?”
“What is it?”
“Um… Well…”
No, think this through, Wim! We were risking our lives here, so lines like “Do you want to grab a bite once all this is over?” just seemed like ominous foreshadowing. Maybe I should just ask to meet “sometime” instead?
“Um… How should I put this? Uh…” You’ve done well, Wim. Gather your courage! You can do this! “Sometime, do you wanna—”
“સ્વાગત છે”
“Huh?!”
“What’s wrong, Wim?”
I heard it again. It was the same strange voice I would hear whenever I would visit the labyrinth lately. It was clear this wasn’t some random background noise, but an utterance with meaning.
“It must have just been a bug.”
I had to be hearing things. I only heard it inside the labyrinth, so maybe it was just an expression of my trauma, or a phenomenon specific to the area.
In any case, they would think I was crazy if I brought this up, so I didn’t say anything. It didn’t seem malicious, so I decided to just leave it be for now.
The ninety-eighth floor exuded a peculiar aura specific to the labyrinth. The only beings I could see around me were all human, but the essence of bustling life came floating out of the dark. The walls of this floor seemed like wet rocks—resembling a cave, if I really had to say. The floor wasn’t flat, and you had to watch your feet if you didn’t want to trip.
There was one aspect that really made this floor special: It had a sky. The walls rose up into the air for what seemed like forever, eventually disappearing into the darkness. It didn’t quite seem like the night sky, but it wasn’t pitch-black either. It was as if you could feel the light of the moon, even though it wasn’t there, and neither were any stars.
This phenomenon hadn’t occurred on any other floors, but it didn’t currently seem to be a drawback for us. If anything, it made the space feel more open, which was refreshing.
Our squad had speed buffs on us, so the quicker-than-normal walking speed carried us faster than when we were running. The walls slipped by us, which strangely made it easier to sense changes in our surroundings. Maybe that was because the changes we saw per second were greater?
“Wim. Enemies were sensed fifty paces ahead and to our left, just as you predicted. They’re B-grade hydras.”
“How many?”
“Five, at least. Maybe six.”
“I’ll take a look.”
Based on Bettina’s intel, I narrowed the range of my search and double-checked for myself. I detected a few hydras hiding behind a large obstacle that was probably a boulder of some sort, as well as some traces coming from around them.
“Found them. It’s likely this falls into pattern number twenty-five of the patterns I gave you. The path is about to open up, I think, so… I’ll expand my enemy detection to cover below-ground and our right. Could you continue to search as much of our left as you can?”
“Got it.”
“O-oh, and the road seems to be descending. Watch out for that when making your maps.”
“Huh? Oh, you’re right.”
Hydras needed water, so if there were multiple, there was a good chance there was a water vein somewhere on this floor. The creatures I had been seeing recently were mostly birds, along with some species that seemed to be semiaquatic. It was probably safe to assume there was a lake somewhere.
We were heading toward the center of the labyrinth. Assuming there was a lake, it would need to be in a larger open space, which meant this floor would have to be similarly constructed as those with big open halls.
I noticed a path branching to our right. Maybe this would connect to our advance force in that direction? Based on my enemy detection, it didn’t seem to be a dead end.
I sent a transmission to our vice-commander Hans, who was in the back row.
‹This is Wim. I noticed a small path branching to our right, Hans. It seems like it won’t hit a dead end for a while.›
‹This is Hans. How wide is it?›
‹About big enough for two people standing side by side, but I don’t think it would fit a whole squad.›
‹Copy that. We’ll just make note of it this time. And Wim, you’ll get a party-wide transmission about this soon, but we detected a large monster twenty-five paces ahead. Our row will turn back and meet up with yours.›
‹Right.› I cut off the transmission.
“[Zeigtest mir.]” I projected the map before me and quickly added this path. Apparently, we would be exploring these smaller branches on our next expeditions. Uncompleted maps could be sold at auctions—for hefty sums, from what I’ve heard.
Once I finished making the note, I resumed walking and continued to gather intel. I looked for new channels and traps, as well as any tracks that could have been left by the boss. The rest of what I did was observation, both out of simple interest and practical use.
I was happy. It was easy to follow clear directions, which meant I could focus on what I needed to do. I still had a hard time with my words, and they were more my comrades than friends, but maybe even someone like me—who couldn’t receive praise for having good people skills—could properly get along with everyone else and work toward a common goal.
I felt like despite everything, this suited me.