The fourth floor of the Tower in Heaven was a stepped structure. When a test was completed, the door was opened and one of the three stairs was chosen to move on to the next phase. There were a total of four types of stairs: Courage, Wisdom, Patience and Destiny.
Until now, we had never climbed the Stairs of Destiny. On the one hand, its appearance rate was less than 5% of that of the other stairs. On the other hand, there were too many variables. There was no reason to choose her; that is, until the three doors appeared as Destiny.
«Does it matter which one we choose? Nothing happened before. The monster came out as usual and that's it».
Of course, Fate was not necessarily dangerous. As Missha said, most people faced trials of Courage, Wisdom and Patience when choosing Fate.
«That must be because you were lucky, Miss Karlstein. "I read in a book that the type of test you get is random»", Dwalkie said.
The problem was that there was a 20% chance that you would get another type of test. There were a total of 32 types in the game: returning to the first floor, having rank 5 monsters appear, suddenly being locked in a closed room, etc.
It's disgustingly difficult and the rewards are cheap. Some are deliberately made to screw you over.
So unless it was for some special reward, if you came hunting, Fate was an ordeal you had to go through. Well, now things were a little different.
As I organized my thoughts, team members discussing what to do asked me for my opinion. «Bjorn, why are you staying still?», Hikurod said. «We agree that it is better to go into whatever. It's a shame to waste the remaining days».
I nodded. «That's true».
In the second half of the fourth plant, at our current hunting speed, we could extract up to 300,000 stones in four days. Not before dividing by five, but by person. Since most of our time had been spent traveling since we entered the maze, each day we spent here was directly related to our total income. Yes, it was natural to think like that.
There's no way they know what this means.
On the fourth floor, three Stairs of Destiny almost never opened at the same time. If they did, it meant one thing: a special stage had been reached. It was then possible to enter three types of hidden fields.
The probability had to be 1 in 3.
I looked at the three doors and pondered which one to choose. In the middle of that, I realized something and laughed. «Missha».
«Yes?»
«You choose where to go». It was clear that I couldn't be the one to choose.
Missha looked at the rest as if asking for our opinion, but the three of them just shrugged their shoulders as if they believed Missha's decision. «Ah, this is a lot of fear...». Finally, Missha sighed, looked at me hatefully, and walked over to an open door. It was the door located right in front of the stairs we had climbed. «I'm telling you in advance, but I can't guarantee there isn't a weird monster inside».
Missha gave a warning to which the dwarf giggled. «Hahaha, what do you mean? Are you trying to avoid responsibilities?»
«...What? Crazy dwarf!»
«H-Hikurod, enough is enough. You're making Miss Karlstein uncomfortable...»
The Medio-ingenious team's unique pattern of fights was repeated three times a day. Sighing and looking to the side, exchanging glances and laughing awkwardly at Rotmiller, it didn't matter.
«Yes, now. Why don't we get going?». When Rotmiller took the initiative and cleared the air, everyone stopped talking and got into formation.
Bang!
The moment we all entered the door together, it closed and darkness fell. It was difficult to make out even an inch further into the darkness. Courage, exploration, patience; Everyone was surprised at the entrance to the staircase, which was different from all the others.
Rotmiller briefly muttered the most important information in an unknown situation. «I don't perceive enemies at this moment». And he warned: «Don't move. There may be traps».
In any case, he was a great explorer. He must have judged in that short moment what he had to do.
Of course, this was no different for the dwarf. «Bjorn, I'll take care of the rear, so pay attention to the front». He used a serious voice devoid of any laughter.
The moment the two voices sounded simultaneously, the darkness dissipated. A straight path forked in all directions like a labyrinth. Torches hung on the wall at regular intervals to create a spooky atmosphere.
I quickly checked the surroundings and came to a conclusion.
[You have entered the Labyrinth of Larcaz].
This was one of the three hidden fields of the Tower in Heaven. In this maze, not even the guide could demonstrate his skill.
Granted [Field-Guardian Effect of Balance. Participant statistics are adjusted equally].
The sum of the characters' abilities was redistributed according to the number of people.
«What the hell! What is this? Have I chosen wrong? Rotmiller!» Missha checked her surroundings and looked at Rotmiller with a restless expression.
It was impossible for him to answer. «I'm sorry. I also have no information about this phenomenon».
«Me neither. I have never heard of anything that would take explorers to a place like this during the trials of Destiny».
«Ahh, it won't be dangerous... right?»
At Missha's words, everyone remained silent. This was natural. It was very ironic, but the unknown was the scariest thing for an explorer. An icy silence fell upon us, but it did not last long. The boys began to speak urgently as if silence did not exist.
«...How about we stay that still? There are only four days left, so we'll have to wait».
«We still don't know anything about this space. If it has a crack-like structure...»
«So it means that after four days we will be stuck here foreveree!»
All kinds of speculation and anxieties poured in. Well, who would have thought that such a place would exist on the fourth floor instead of the fifth, which was known to have no shared information?
Pretending not to know anything, I offered: «Why don't we check our conditions first?».
«Yes?»
«Missha, is there anything different about you?»
«Ah, now that you mention it... Do I feel like my body is strangely lighter?». Missha's reaction was uncertain.
«Hmm, I don't know. Maybe you're wrong?» Hikurod didn't feel any change, probably because he had exactly the average distribution of statistics among the group.
«Not a mistake», Rotmiller said. «I feel so vitalized that it is impossible for me to be wrong».
«Me neither. My mana has increased significantly. At this level, rank 6 magic doesn't seem too difficult, but what the hell is going on?».
What do you think? All of that came from my muscles. Although I only have three essences, they all have ridiculously high stats. Damn communism. How much muscle loss is this?
I rested my now heavy mace on the ground to disperse its weight. The first to notice this behavior was Missha. «Bjorn? You're hurt?»
«My body feels strange. For some reason, I can't exert force».
«What?»
As Missha approached me worried, Rotmiller made a guess. «Clearly there is a condition here. It's probably not a space where everyone gets stronger».
«Condition? What is the condition that makes me weak and you strong? This is not fair!» Pretending to ask again, I took a hint.
So, unsurprisingly, Rotmiller came up with a pretty plausible hypothesis. «Maybe our skills are mixed up...».
«What does that mean?» Missha asked.
«I'm still not sure, so I'll tell you later, when it's resolved».
Well, I figured that was enough to explain to those guys without me having to step forward. I slowly moved on to the next point. There was no time to waste time. «So what are we going to do now?»
«Bjorn, what do you think?»
«I think we should explore this place and find a way out.»
«Your reason?»
I responded without hesitation. «If it is an unknown place, it must mean that the reward is just as great».
«A very explorer's point of view».
Even at Rotmiller's comment, I straightened my shoulders proudly. Whatever they said, wasn't money an explorer's ultimate goal? In fact, it was a certain motivation.
«True. We could be stuck here in four days, so staying here is not a good idea...»
«Hahaha, aren't we explorers? It would be good to explore the surroundings, even if slowly.»
There was even a bit of excitement in the trio's eyes who were nervous and anxious. Of course, Dwalkie's words were decisive. «A-ah! This just occurred to me, but it could be an arrangement left by the last great sage!».
«That? Are you talking about Gabrielius' arrangement?»
«Certainly... There is a possibility. Considering that three Stairs of Destiny appeared at the same time, and this strange phenomenon, too.»
Gabrielius' Arrangement was, in a nutshell, how the people here referred to what I called a «hidden piece».
The dwarf shouted with aspiration: «Yes! Aren't we on the fourth floor? No ridiculous monsters will appear».
With four days left until the closing of the maze, the final exploration of the Half Wit Team began.
***
Larcaz's Labyrinth was not the hidden field he most wanted Missha to choose, although it had the greatest final reward of the three.
It will be difficult to figure it out in four days.
Due to the nature of the labyrinthine field, it took a long time. Finding the boss was one thing, but defeating him with our combat power required a lot of preliminary work. So I decided not to overdo it. Contrary to what they were worried about, this was not a place where one would get trapped if they couldn't clear it in time, like a crack. Even if we didn't clear it, there were attractive rewards scattered throughout the maze.
«So let's go.»
After taking our default formation, we enter the maze.
«I think we can continue».
I took the lead, and Rotmiller followed me closely to inspect for traps. Hikurod stood in the rear, because here the monsters did not appear only from the front.
«Miss Karlstein, don't worry», Dwalkie said. «I will protect her at her side».
«What are you talking about? I should protect you».
«Haha, then let's protect each other».
«...Whatever you say.»
In a place like this, the two main distributors of our team were located in the center. It was the safest position, and they also had to be able to support front or rear depending on the situation.
«Meg, Meeg, Meeg!» It must have been about three minutes since we officially began exploration when a monster appeared at a crossroads. It was the first reward of the Labyrinth of Larcaz.
«I had never seen that monster. Bjorn, be careful».
An unknown monster: That alone was like a sweet rain to us. In Dungeon and Stone, even if you killed all the monsters on the fourth floor, you couldn't reach level 5. It was a contradiction. You needed at least five rank 6 or 7 essences for a stable hunt on the fifth floor, but you couldn't reach level 5.
That's why there are no newbies.
I guess someone wasn't a rookie if they were on the fifth floor. I erased the unnecessary questions and held my shield with both hands. It was a little uncomfortable without the mace, but it was too heavy to wield with my current strength, so I put it in my backpack. I decided it was best to leave the damage to the harmers.
«Mehhg!» Seeing us from afar, the wavering monster roared and charged at me.
At the same time, Dwalkie shouted: «Oh, I saw it in a book! Vaikundus!»
Vaikundus was a rank 6 monster. It was easy to imagine him as a mountain goat walking on two legs. Its height reached about two and a half meters, including those worthy horns. His weapon was a super-large halberd held tightly with both hands.
Bam!
When the halberd hit the shield, the great weight was transmitted to my entire body. I started to think it had been a good idea to put down the mace. If she had been with only one hand at the time, it would have been difficult to hold her.
Damn.
Was it because I had shared my precious physical stats with my teammates? It seemed like I was facing a rank 5 monster, not a rank 6 monster. Well, the battle itself was not difficult.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has released the rank 8 attack magic Freeze Enhancement.]
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has cast rank 8 Ice Spear attack magic.]
While I stopped the goat's attack, Dwalkie perfected a single specialized attack spell. «Bjorn!» Soon, Dwalkie called me, and I immediately crouched to the side as we always practiced. Up until this point, it was business as usual.
Shootyyyyyyy!
But what was this? The size of the Ice Spear that passed by was different. Even the pressure of the wind blowing was enough to chill my skin. Of course, the result was also different from usual.
Kwaaaaaang!
It wouldn't be strange to call it a fireball instead of an Ice Spear.
«Hey?» Missha, who had been waiting for the right moment to connect the attacks, let out an interrogative sound. It was understandable. The Vaikundus, a rank 6 monster, had already turned into light and disappeared.
[You have killed a Vaikundus. EXP +4]
No wonder my physical stats had decreased greatly. It must have been because everything had become his manna.
«Is this my magic...?» Watching him murmur to himself, I realized that he was no longer a half-orc here.
That changes things.
It didn't seem like a bad idea to aim for a free target.