Chapter 106 You'Re Freaking Out!!
"Haa... haa... haa...!! W-wait up!!"
[God's Remains Labyrinth] 39th Floor.
Owen and the others were running through the middle of a snowy plain.
Despite being hindered by the deep snow, everyone was using their movement skills or magic to assist their movement, running at full speed.
Just a short while ago, they had broken through the Snow Golem's lair and had a fierce battle. Up until now, they had been repeating a cycle of battles and full-speed runs, and their magical energy had already dropped below 20%.
But even so, their magical energy still hadn't run out.
While they couldn't believe this, they had to follow Aaron Gale, who was leading them, and didn't have time to think about it.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong!! If you don't hurry up and run, you won't make it to the Ice Elemental Treant's place by today!! Run, run!!"
Aaron, who was running while looking back at them, was saying this in a provocative tone, but Owen and the others knew that he was adjusting his speed so that they could keep up.
While they were running out of breath and couldn't even shout back, Aaron's expression was calm and collected.
Well, that's not to say that they were grateful for it.
After all, the reason they were using all their movement skills, including the ones they wouldn't normally use, and running at full speed was because of Aaron.
It had already been over 8 hours since Owen and the others had entered the labyrinth.
In those 8 hours, they had gone from the 36th floor to the 39th floor.
Even if they had taken the shortest route, considering the vastness of the Snowfield Floor, it was clear that their pace was abnormally fast. Normally, they wouldn't have been able to progress this far in such a short time.
Needless to say, the reason they were able to achieve this abnormal pace was not only because of their shortest route, but also because of their high-speed movement using skills.
Using up precious magical energy just for movement was, no matter how they thought about it, not sane.
But in reality, not just Aaron, who seemed to have the upper hand, but even they themselves were barely managing to do it――,
(No... Not now, I don't have time to think about that...!!)
They couldn't think of anything.
They didn't have time to think.
Because,
"――Oh! The Frost Dragon is nearby! You guys are lucky!!"
Aaron shouted while running.
If the Frost Dragon was nearby, he shouldn't have been shouting, but there was no time to warn him. Well, even if they had warned him, the outcome would have been the same anyway.
"――――."
Owen tried to curse, but he was out of breath and couldn't say a word.
And in front of them, Aaron ran while swinging his sword.
Owen and the others could only watch with dead eyes as the aura bullets flew out of the sword at high speed.
Before long, the aura bullets flew somewhere and hit something, causing a massive explosion.
Mixed with the explosion, they heard a roar that sounded like something was enraged.
"I called the Frost Dragon for you! Earn as much as you want! Aren't you happy, Zara?"
Aaron turned around with a refreshing smile, as if he had done something good, and said.
"――――!!"
"Hahahaha! You're that happy?! Then it was worth calling it out for me too!"
Zara, who was called by name, had already given up on cursing and just glared at Aaron.
No, not just Zara, but almost everyone was staring at Aaron with a gaze that was filled with hatred. If looks could kill, Aaron would have died over 100 times today.
But unfortunately, looks couldn't kill people.
BOOM!!
A massive creature descended, blocking Owen's path, while fiercely blowing up snow.
It was the Frost Dragon, which they had seen many times today. As usual, it was bleeding from its forehead, and it was furious.
"RROOOOAAARRRR!!"
A roar that shook the air was released.
The Frost Dragon's presence was intimidating, enough to make the Owen group from yesterday shrink back in fear. The Frost Dragon was no pushover, living up to its name as a powerful dragon that appeared on the Snowfield Floor, boasting unparalleled strength among all non-guardian monsters.
However, the Owen group, now awakened as a killing machine driven by anger, hatred, and a desire to kill, had lost all sense of fear.
"......"
"......"
"......"
Without exchanging a word, they communicated through their gazes alone.
Each member quickly formed a battle line according to their Jobs and semi-encircled the Frost Dragon.
Although they had cleared the 35th floor together as a raid team, their original 3 parties had never had this level of coordination. However, the harsh environment of the Snowfield Floor, where they couldn't even rest for a moment, had pushed their abilities to the limit and strengthened their teamwork.
It was inevitable.
After all, the vanguard was constantly luring in monsters. The Owen group, now a massive killing machine, couldn't afford to struggle against the hordes of monsters that attacked them, let alone lose.
If they struggled, they would lose strength and magical energy. If that happened, they would exhaust themselves and die midway.
The desperate crisis had transformed them into a ruthless monster-killing machine.
Would their Clan Master come to their rescue if they were in trouble?
Maybe. But that was the last thing they wanted. If they were rescued and scolded even once, they would be furious.
The Owen group began the battle without a word.
The Frost Dragon unleashed its Ice and Snow magic, sending countless icicles and strong winds their way. While Elliot and the other shield-bearing warriors stood at the front to receive the attack, Zara and the other archers quickly moved to the sides and fired their arrows, piercing the Frost Dragon's eye and wing.
All the archers' shots were [Burst Arrows] skills.
The explosion of the aura tore the wing to shreds, rendering its flight capabilities useless.
The Frost Dragon, enraged by the pain, spun its body and swung its long tail in a wide horizontal arc. But that was a bad move.
The shield-bearers at the front caught the tail and, as its momentum was lost, they leapt forward, embracing it, and activated [Fortress], pinning the Frost Dragon's tail to the ground along with their own bodies.
"GRAAAH?"
The cry of shock was only for a moment.
The Frost Dragon quickly turned its long neck to face its rear, and, aiming to blow away the shield-bearers who had sealed its tail, it turned its sharp-toothed maw towards them.
――Dragon Breath.
With the strongest attack method for dragon-kind, it tried to regain its freedom, even if it meant getting its own tail caught up in it.
Into the open maw, the magicians' magic flew in an instant. To minimize the consumption of magical energy, each attack was a beginner-level spell, but the precise attacks were more than enough to interrupt the Dragon Breath, and they struck the Frost Dragon's head like a punch.
Almost simultaneously, the other companions, excluding the shield-bearers and magicians, launched a barrage of long-range attacks, dealing damage to the Frost Dragon.
However, the skills used were all low-powered Basic ones. Still, the shock was enough to immobilize it for a few seconds.
When the Frost Dragon recovered from the shock of the simultaneous attack and turned its gaze back to the explorers, the outcome of the battle was already decided.
"――?"
What flew into the Frost Dragon's field of vision was a group of humans who, while maintaining their combat stance, showed no signs of attacking.
The Frost Dragon wondered about this, but then it tried to launch a magic attack again. Just then, Owen, who had been waiting for an opening, jumped up from beneath the dragon's head.
Swordsman Skill――[Wide Blade]
Aura burst forth from the sword, forming a massive blade.
Aiming for the Frost Dragon's long neck above him, Owen swung the aura sword.
That one blow contained enough aura to sever the dragon's strong neck muscles and bones.
Owen felt a considerable amount of resistance, but he successfully sliced through the Frost Dragon's neck.
The massive head flew through the air, and fresh blood gushed out from the severed neck. With a thud, the Frost Dragon's massive body lost its strength and collapsed onto the snow――its magical energy began to dissipate.
"Haa... haa... haa!"
Without even a victorious cheer, Owen and the others, panting heavily, collected the magic stone and dropped items that appeared in place of the disappearing dragon's body.
"Alright! Since you guys defeated it, let's hurry up and move on!"
Aaron, who had somehow retreated to a safe distance and returned, said this with a carefree tone.
"..."
And just like that, the exploration resumed as if nothing had happened.
By the way, every time they had an unnecessary battle like this, Owen and the others would try to kill him with a "misfire", but not only did they fail to hit, but the monster's numbers would increase, accompanied by the words "If you're that energetic, you can still go on". As a result, "misfires" no longer occurred.
They had learned that to survive, they had to suppress their emotions and not make unnecessary "misfires".
And...
* * *
About 10 hours after the start of the exploration.
Owen and the others had finally reached the 40th floor of the [God's Remains Labyrinth], where they could see the guardian, ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫.
Since Aaron, the guide, had stopped, Owen and the others knelt on the snow, desperately panting. Their physical strength was almost exhausted, and their magical energy was almost depleted.
"Looks like it took a lot of time... I guess I made you guys fight too much..."
Aaron muttered, looking down at Owen and the others, who were exhausted and barely breathing.
The 17 explorers had learned that hatred has no limits.
"Alright, let's set up camp here using the barrier magic tool! After you rest and recover your magical energy, you'll challenge the ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫ one party at a time!"
"Can... we win...? I mean, it's not like we can...!!"
Owen retorted, exasperated.
They're the ones who finally cleared the 35th floor's Nord raid. Compared to that, facing the 40th floor's guardian is a much tougher challenge. And to make matters worse, they have to do it one party at a time, which makes it seem like they have no chance of winning.
But Aaron says with complete confidence.
"No way, you guys can win now."
There's only conviction in his voice.
Even Owen and the others think they can't win, but Aaron's assertion leaves them speechless.
"W-what... how can you say that...?!"
"Don't just say whatever you want!"
"I think that's a bit too much to ask, even for me..."
Owen, Zara, and Elliot speak up for their friends.
To be honest, they had expected to fight the ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫, but they hadn't imagined it would be one party at a time.
They had rushed to the 40th floor with anger, hatred, and a desire to kill, but now that they're facing the ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫, they're suddenly feeling weak.
But the fact that they had rushed to the 40th floor without resting means that there's something they still haven't realized.
――Or rather, they had sensed it vaguely, but hadn't had the chance to think about it.
Aaron puts it into words.
"The usual way to beat the ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫ is through endurance battle. If you guys can make it to the 40th floor without resting, don't you think you can handle it with endurance battle?"
"""!?"""
In that instant, everyone realizes――or rather, becomes aware of something they had been vaguely sensing.
Before they set out, they had even argued with Aaron's words, "Don't hold back on using your skills." That's because they were thinking based on their past selves.
But in reality, Aaron was right. Even though they had used their skills freely and repeated battles, they had still made it to the 40th floor. And on top of that, they had consumed a huge amount of magical energy due to one person's actions, both during battles and while moving.
If it were their past selves, they would have definitely run out of magical energy by now.
Despite that, by the time they arrived here, their magical energy was almost depleted. However, it never actually ran out.
The reason for that is...
"This is so different from what I expected! Training my aura actually...!!"
Owen couldn't help but look down at his hands and mutter to himself.
It was explained to them from the very beginning. By training their aura control, they could optimize their aura usage, increase their skill power, and reduce consumption.
This phenomenon is generally known as "Skill Mastery." However, the variation that occurred in Owen's group went beyond that.
Not only did it affect skills like [Aura Blade], which they used extensively in woodworking, but also the efficiency of their aura usage in general. This was because they had honed their aura control through previous intense training.
As a result, their aura usage was optimized in all their skills, reducing magical energy consumption and greatly improving their ability to fight continuously.
However, Aaron pointed out that there was another reason for this.
"We've only been here for a few minutes... how much magical energy have you guys recovered?"
"Uh..."
When he asked, they realized that their magical energy had barely recovered 10%.
Yet, the symptoms of magical energy depletion had already subsided.
This was impossible under normal circumstances. Recovering from magical energy depletion in just a few minutes was unheard of.
"Magical energy recovery is way faster than before, right? I mean, it's no surprise, considering how often you've been depleting your magical energy every day."
"Whoa, you mean... it's because of the woodsmith working...?!"
Zara asked in shock.
Aaron replied with a tone of "you didn't realize that?"
What Owen's group had trained through woodsmith working was not just aura control. The insane training method of constantly using skills and magic to process wood had, of course, quickly depleted their magical energy.
That's why Owen and the others had been experiencing a hellish cycle lately, where they'd run out of magical energy every day, only to recover a bit and then start working again, only to run out of magical energy once more.
Not even magicians would use magical energy in such a reckless way. But because they were trained, they could recover from exhaustion by repeating the process, and their magical energy recovery speed could be improved.
That's why Owen and the others were able to endure the march of death and reach the 40th floor.
The fact that their magical energy didn't run out despite repeating battles and using skills at full power was simply because they were consuming and recovering it at the same time.
"Who would have thought it would change this much... haha."
Elliot's face contorted as he laughed weakly, but his eyes had a glint of excitement.
They had become stronger than they ever could have imagined, in ways they never could have imagined.
The thrill of reaching a realm they thought was impossible, and the confidence that they could still go further. No explorer wouldn't be excited about this.
When they thought about it, they had been struggling against the giants, but they had been easily defeating the monsters on the Snowfield Floor. Looking back, they were completely different people from a month ago.
"――Owen."
Aaron called out to Owen, who was still in a daze, amazed by their own progress.
Aaron grinned and said,
"You're able to cut off the Frost Dragon's head with an Intermediate skill? You've gotten a lot stronger, haven't you?"
"A...huh!?"
The skill Owen had used to behead the Frost Dragon on the way――[Wide Blade]――was an Intermediate skill that could be acquired by Intermediate Swordsmen.
Owen had once felt powerless in the Giant's Floor, having reached the limit of his Talent with Advanced Jobs. With the skills he had acquired, he couldn't take down a giant with a single blow.
But what about now?
He had successfully beheaded the Frost Dragon, which was undoubtedly stronger than a giant, using the ordinary skill [Wide Blade].
"~~~~~~~!!"
He had grown stronger.
With this realization, and having been acknowledged by someone he had once admired, Owen felt an intense thrill run down his spine, like a chill. Joy welled up from the pit of his stomach.
Aaron looked at everyone in turn, and then, with a smile like a proud father, said.
"You guys, you've done great. The fact that you've become this strong is a result of your own efforts. With your current strength, you can take down an ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫ with ease. I guarantee it... no, I don't even need to guarantee it. You guys must have realized it yourselves by now, right?"
These were strong words, spoken with a gentle smile.
"Master...!!"
Owen couldn't help but feel moved.
It wasn't just that he had been acknowledged. Maybe Aaron had sent those monsters to attack them in order to make them realize their own strength and give them confidence.
"Okay... I'll go get the magic stone to set up a barrier. You guys rest here for now. Ah, since we're near the ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫, I don't think other monsters will attack us, but just in case, stay on your guard, okay?"
"Ah, okay... got it."
Aaron turned his back on them, speaking unilaterally.
Owen and the others, who had been feeling anger and resentment just a moment ago, looked at Aaron with faces drained of malice. They were still trying to process their emotions.
Aaron had kept his promise, and they had undoubtedly grown stronger. Aaron had kept his word. And if his actions along the way, which had been infuriating, had been for their own good... then Owen and the others had no reason to stay angry...
Meanwhile, Aaron, who had turned his back, muttered to himself.
"(I managed to cover it up somehow...)."
They had lashed out in anger after being yelled at.
He didn't regret it one bit, but if they kept bottling up their dissatisfaction, it would be a problem. And if they wasted too much energy, they wouldn't be able to take down the ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫. He didn't feel any guilt, but he couldn't help but wonder if he had gone too far.
However, he had managed to distract Owen and the others from their anger.
Feeling somewhat relieved, Aaron charged towards the ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫――but first, he reached for his clothes.
And stripped down to nothing.
"――What the heck is wrong with you!! You're freaking out!!"
"Huh?"
Owen, who couldn't handle the sudden change in emotions, shouted out, and Aaron turned around with a puzzled expression.
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