Arua Raven had bright blonde hair and a short stature, just over six feet tall. With her scrawny body type on top she almost looked like a girl, but there was nothing scarier than this girl when she got angry.
Like right now. «Did you know this, Mr. Yandel?»
«I didn't know it was that serious». When I answered honestly, Raven's eyes became deadlier. However, I just scratched the back of my neck like a barbarian. We were already inside the labyrinth. What was she going to do? «I will find the way from now on. Abman, keep telling me where the portal is».
«...Okay.» Mr. Bear also seemed intimidated by Raven's look because he handed me the steering wheel without saying much.
Very good, this point from now on was the important thing.
«Ha, honestly...» Judging by her face, she seemed to realize that she had been scammed, but Raven kept her words to herself thinking about seeing how it unfolded first. I had to show him clearly on this expedition that even if the guide had a bad sense of direction, it would not be harmful. Before severe curses came out of his mouth.
«So let's go.»
Using Mr. Bear as a compass, I quickly found my way. I could feel Raven's doubtful eyes behind me through my skin, but I wasn't too worried. As long as he knew how to distinguish north from south and west from east, he could find his way to the second floor.
He said taking the widest passageways at intersections would take you halfway. And avoid places with hills, as they are likely dead ends. And from the outskirts, always go towards the road with less glass.
These were the various tips I acquired working alongside Rotmiller, who was a purely self-taught guide. With them, he limited useless movements to a minimum, such as turning around in dead ends.
«Oh, we arrived faster than I expected».
As a result, we reached the outermost dark area in no time. From here it was much easier. Normally we would locate the portal by searching the surroundings instead of using a compass.
«Over there».
However, we had a guide who could recognize the location of a portal without doing anything special on our team. Therefore, you just have to follow that direction, and the end. Of course, the portal had been opened by another explorer a long time ago.
[You have entered the Goblin Forest on the second floor].
After reaching the second floor, Raven's expression softened considerably. «Twelve hours to get to the second floor... Not bad».
Well, sure. Since we set the time to traverse the first floor at thirteen hours during the planning phase, there was nothing to blame.
«No wonder you set the duration at that time, even if there was a guide». Raven looked at me like I was cheated, but surprisingly, that was it. Did anything seem right to you as long as the results were good?
Reasonable.
As it was, I tried to ensure that the plans established in advance for the second floor did not go awry, although the plan was tight. We wanted to get through it in twenty-four hours. «Abman, in what direction?»
«In that direction».
There were eight portals in the Goblin Forest. However, once one opened, the rest simply turned to stone. Therefore, it was customary for late teams to search for the portal by moving around the outskirts. Apparently this took two to three days on average, assuming there was no guide on the team.
If there is a guide, one day is enough, since there is no need to go around in a circle.
Without having to take out the compass, we headed directly to the open portal.
«Raven, can you increase the number of light spheres?»
«Three is no problem».
The absence of a professional explorer was not a problem either. The fact that the field was covered in traps? As long as the surroundings were illuminated as if in broad daylight, this was not even a threat. The goblins flocked towards the light, but now, even if dozens of goblins attacked at once, I could take care of them myself.
«Then let's rest here for today».
We camped around 9 PM outside the Goblin Forest where hobgoblins began to appear.
«...Do all explorers work such a rigorous schedule?» It must have been a pretty tough day for Raven, who had never participated in an expedition per se, but the biorhythm must have been well adjusted on the first day as long as she had stamina left.
«We will continue setting up camp at this time to make it more comfortable starting tomorrow».
«...Well, it's interesting to be on a real expedition.»
«Stop talking and go to sleep. We still have to move tomorrow».
«Okay. Wake me up if something happens». As was customary, Raven was excluded from the night guard. Only the installation of alarm magic alone was considered a person's role.
«Hey, Bjorn... About Ainar. Is it okay to let her watch alone?» Missha expressed concern for Ainar, who was watching after her.
I just smiled and said flatly: «Alright. He won't fall asleep or anything like that».
Ainar was surprisingly reliable in these aspects. He distrusted humans, but the barbarians considered it a shame not to be able to keep a promise. When the two of us were exploring alone, she did the night watch quite well, which was four hours old at the time and more tired from lack of sleep.
«Oh, I see... I guess it was a bit biased».
After eight hours of camping outdoors and alternating guard every two hours between the four of us, we resumed the exploration first thing in the morning. Before it got dark, we found the portal.
[You have entered the Pilgrim's Path, on the third floor].
After reaching the third floor, the exploration went smoothly. The battles were too easy to be considered live combat practices and finding your way was no problem. Mr. Bear didn't get lost like on the first floor or in the city, now that there were no roads.
[You have entered a special area. Field Effect-The Witch's Forest is granted].
The Witch's Forest, which worried me, was the same. After joining us with ropes like fish to dry, Mr. Bear led the way while the rest of us followed him and he cleared easily. Time passed like this.
«Oh, it's a tower! Bjorn! There really was a tower in the middle of the forest!»
«Haha, I told you. There are many fascinating things in the maze».
«¡Behell-aaaaaaaaah!»
«...You just felt like screaming, right?»
We were in front of the portal on the fourth floor and it was only the afternoon of the eighth day.
This speed is almost the same as with Rotmiller.
Although that fact was satisfactory, on the one hand, it was also bittersweet. After all, was it impossible to beat talent with hard work?
«Mr. Yandel, what are you thinking?», Raven asked.
«Oh, it's nothing».
«So, can't we go in now? My stomach turns from the ominous mana emanating from the entire forest».
Was it because of his innate sensitivity to mana? Raven may not have vomited, but her nausea was much worse than Dwalkie's. I wanted to relieve them too, but not yet.
«Wait a little longer. We will only be able to enter when the color of the portal changes».
«Oh, right. I've heard about this. It's because there could be another team already inside, right?»
«If we don't wait, they could mistake us for looters and attack us». When I gave him a reasonable justification, Raven waited patiently. Soon, the color of the portal changed. «Okay then, let's go in».
Now it was time for the real climb.
***
[You have entered the Tower of Heaven on the fourth floor].
The Tower in the Sky was a unique floor where random combinations of monsters appeared at each stage. As a place commonly known as the Training Tower, I planned to properly coordinate our teamwork here.
It wouldn't make sense with such a power difference.
After the first battle I realized that the combat power level was in a different league than the Half Wit Team, to the point that it was impossible to draw our maximum strength on the fourth floor.
[You have launched gigantization.]
Due to the Union, the mace increased enormously not only in size, but also in performance. With the added Swing attack ability, a rank 7 monster truly felt like a goblin. The key here was that there was an independent primary damage dealer.
[Abman Urikfried ha lanzado Material Peligroso.]
The powerful damage of the rank 5 archer, Mr. Bear, went beyond a fatal shot and completely devastated the surrounding area, along with his high-ranking tank summoned beast, the Iron Bear.
[Arua Raven has cast rank 6 Fire Baptism attack magic].
This was the crazy utility of the established wizard Raven, who of course possessed attack magic of the four main attributes, as well as over a hundred curse and auxiliary spells.
Yes, there should definitely be three people who can carry the equipment.
The quality of the equipment had increased dramatically. No matter what strange combination appeared, as long as it was below rank 6, it was possible to eliminate them in less than three minutes.
They may be missing something compared to the three of us, but Ainar and Missha are also pulling the wagon... As expected, the fifth floor should be fine even in this state.
Therefore, instead of coordinating our hands and feet in practice, we focus only on climbing the Tower in Heaven. However, the speed did not increase as I thought. The reason was simple. Our combat speed itself was unmatched by the Half-Wit team, but our team did not have a professional scout.
It's all good, but it's a shame it takes us so long to clear the Ladder of Wisdom.
The Staircase of Wisdom was a kind of shortcut. Instead of having to go through a maze full of traps and monsters, it allowed you to skip five floors at a time. And not only that, unlike the Ladder of Valor, there was no four-hour cooldown before climbing the next ladder. It took Rotmiller an hour to get around it. Right now, it took us almost five times that.
«Bjorn, can't we just fight monsters?»
I was as frustrated as Ainar, but there was no other option. It would take more than sixteen days to reach the 100th floor with just Courage. Crossing the fourth floor before the maze closed would be impossible.
«Today is too late. Let's rest and upload the rest tomorrow».
We had only passed one test of Wisdom since we entered the Tower, but it was already after 10 at night, so we prepared the camp. Of course, the camp was quite different than usual. Without needing to establish the order of the guard, everyone spread their sleeping bag wherever they wanted and that was it.
«There is no night surveillance in the maze! Missha, my head is spinning right now!»
«Keke, I know how you feel. When I arrived I couldn't adapt and couldn't sleep...»
¡Hooonnkkk!
«Hey, I'm talking to you!»
Ainar fainted as soon as he lay down in the sleeping bag. Missha looked at her and sighed before wiping herself with a damp towel to prepare for sleep. «Bjorrrn, why are you still looking this way?».
«I haven't».
«Yes, now. Turn your head. We are teammates! There's no point in regretting it now.»
I'm telling you I didn't look.
I just sighed and focused on cleaning the blood from my mace. But I guess he didn't like that very much either. «Tsk.» Missha deliberately clicked her tongue for me to hear.
It was a change that came after he moved into my inn. Despite saying that he wanted to forget what had happened that day, he mentioned it more and more often. Well, I had no complaints about it.
Maybe it's better this way.
Missha revealed her feelings to me and I firmly drew the line. As much as we wanted to pretend it hadn't happened, it couldn't be like that. That's probably how he made the decision. It was much less uncomfortable this way than being aware of it each time and being careful with our words.
«Then I'm going to sleep first».
«Clear.»
Soon, Missha got into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes. I could see that Mr. Bear had spread his sleeping bag in a corner and was getting ready to go to sleep.
¡Hooonnkkk!
While I was fixing my equipment, I grabbed Ainar's greatsword and quickly cleaned it as well. That's when Raven approached me silently. «Do you have something to say?»
«Sí.»
«Dilo ».
«I have done some calculations and at our speed today, we will not have much time even when we reach the fifth floor».
So you calculated that, huh? Oh, wizards.
Of course, it wasn't that he couldn't understand her concerns. The more time we wasted here, the less time we would have available on the fifth floor.
«And our profit will be much less than other teams.»
«...This is our first exploration. It may take us a long time now because we don't have a professional explorer, but it will get faster and faster.»
«If you say so.»
After that, Raven said nothing more and returned to her sleeping bag. It wasn't because she fully accepted my words. If it still took us more than five hours to cross the Stairs of Wisdom, he would come looking for me again with extreme solutions.
Okay, it's time to sleep.
I left the well-polished sword next to Ainar and lay down in the sleeping bag. After sleeping for a while, I woke up to Raven's voice echoing in my head.
[«Mr. Yandel, listen»].
It was a magic called Secret Voice. What reason did I have for using magic to wake me up?
[«I did detection magic while washing because I felt something was wrong and... There's someone else besides us here. So don't move.»]
The cause was really simple. Honestly, I wasn't sure how I could say this so calmly.
[«They're right behind me.»]
One wrong move, and our wizard was going to die.