Unlike the busy mornings in the town, the mornings inside the labyrinth were silent. No bustling crowds, no sounds clacking sounds from carriages, no tweeting of the birds, it was really quiet.
Resting besides me was Yuna. She was sleeping peacefully and innocently, oblivious what was happening outside her sleep.
Even though I know that what happened yesterday wasn't a dream, but was real, I still can't believe that Yuna and I had become lovers.
Looking at Yuna again, I wanted to kiss her on the cheeks. But I needed to restrain myself, I shouldn't act all clingy, our relationship is still fresh after all. There's going to be a lot of chances I can do that in the future so there's no need to rush things.
「Mmmn...」Yuna
While I was thinking of such thoughts, Yuna started to wake up. She slowly rose and then rubbed her eyes gently, accompanying those actions was a small yawn.
「Good morning.」Grey
「Ah! Y-Yes... Good morning...」Yuna
She might not have been used to it, but when I greeted her on a good morning, Yuna jolted in surprise, but she was still able to greet back, though her face was a little red.
「Sorry. I'm showing you an embarrassing side of me...」Yuna
Hm? Is she worried about me seeing her bed head? Well, Yuna is a girl after all. But seeing her act like that somehow makes me happy.
「Don't worry about it. I'm happy to learn a new side of you. After all, no matter what side it is, it's still a part of the Yuna I fell in love with.」Grey
「I... I see...」Yuna
Ah... I just said something embarrassing. I need to change the topic quickly before I become even more embarrassed.
「By the way, Yuna. What would you like for breakfast?」Grey
「Umm... Could you cook me pizza?」Yuna
「Eh? But that's not something you eat for breakfast. In the first place, we don't even have an oven to bake it with.」Grey
「Uuuu...」Yuna
Hearing my response, Yuna instantly became dejected. She looked like a child who was told that Santa wasn't real.
She must have really taken a liking to that pizza. But there's just no way I can make pizza here. Other than the lack of appliances, I also don't have any dough in my 『Storage』. It's just impossible.
But leaving that aside, I should probably try to cheer her up.
「Then how about I cook it for you once we're out of the labyrinth. For now I'll just cook a different dish.」Grey
「It's a promise, okay!? Then for now, I'll have curry!」Yuna
Hearing my suggestion, Yuna's mood immediately brightened up, and she asked me for curry.
She's really not holding herself back anymore.
After hearing out Yuna's request, I cooked a hearty meal for the two of us, and we had a warm breakfast to start our day.
Having filled our stomachs, Yuna and I then continued to journey in the labyrinth and once again travelled the eighth floor. We have travelled about the same distance as yesterday, but the Pixie King was nowhere to be found. It must have wandered away in the hours we were asleep.
We then continued heading deeper in the labyrinth, and finally, after about half an hour of traveling, we encountered our first opponent.
A semi-transparent being hovering over the ground. An undead creature which haunts those who oppose it. It was a Wight, and not just any wights, it was a Wight of the Storm.
Unlike other monsters, the Wights are monsters with only a semi-physical body and thus, physical attacks have reduced effect on it. The only way to defeat it is either to damage it enough times until it's mana empties, or to destroy its core.
Since this Wight of the Storm is inside the Labyrinth of Gale, its combat power should be around 3,000. It's a little bit stronger than Yuna, we're going to need to be more careful.
I would like Yuna to do a surprise attack at it, but doing that would be hard without it noticing Yuna's approach. What to do... What to do... What toー
She must have noticed me worrying, but before I noticed it, Yuna held my hands and squeezed it tightly.
「Don't worry too much about it. I'm sure we can defeat it.」Yuna
Right... Why am I even worrying about it? If it's Yuna I'm sure she can land that surprise attack perfectly.
In order to wake myself up, I took a deep breath and slapped my right cheek with one of my hands. And it might have been mostly because of Yuna squeezing my left hand, but I calmed down pretty quickly.
「Thank you. I'm alright now.」Grey
「That's more like it. So, what's the plan?」Yuna
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「Since it's hovering above the ground then...」Grey
Having calmed down, I briefly explained to Yuna how to execute the plan. And like always, Yuna understood it without needing a second explanation.
While this was happening, the Wight of the Storm still did not notice us and just wandered around in nearby places.
「Are you ready?」Grey
「Ready when you are.」Yuna
「Then in one... two... three!《Nova Flare》!」Grey
With my signal, Yuna started running towards the Wight of the Storm like she was running for her life. When the enemy noticed my attack, it quickly dispelled it with wind magic.
Grriiiiiieeeeekkkkkkk
Enraged, the enemy focused its attention to me and threatened me with a scream. But that was its biggest mistake. Before it even noticed, Yuna already appeared behind it and was preparing to land an attack.
「《Dice》!」Yuna
Torrents of slashes came raining down its core, and not being able to resist the attack, cracks started to appear on it. Although Yuna was not able to finish it in one attack, the Wight of the Storm has sustained a lot of damage.
The attack prevented the enemy from moving for a second, but the moment it recovered, it started going straight for Yuna. Luckily, Yuna was already some distance from it, and was baiting the enemy towards me.
That's right. Just keep moving close. Just a little bit more...... Now!!
「《Northern Wind: Boreas》!」Grey
Strong bursts of winds formed into countless spears which rained towards the enemy like a barrage of bullets from a machine gun.
Since it was focused on hunting down Yuna, the Wight of the Storm didn't notice my attack. By the time it did, large spears of wind had started to pierce it. It tried to dodge them but it was futile.
When my attack ended, the enemy was down to the ground, its body littered with holes and its core completely shattered. Moments later, the enemy disappeared like all monsters do when they are defeated.
「Grey, what is that?」Yuna
Yuna asked as she held the Wight of the Storm's drop item. It was an amulet with a greenish-blue crystal in the center.
「Hm? That's a 【Storm Amulet】. An accessory-type high-grade equipment which enhances the casting speed for wind-attribute spells.」Grey
「Co～ol. Does that mean you can use it?!」Yuna
「I can but it will have no use for me. It can only aid those until C-rank. So for an S-ranker like me, it's useless.」Grey
「How disappointing...」Yuna
「Haha, I know. But don't worry, my casting speed is already good enough. How about we continue ahead?」Grey
「Un!」Yuna
The two of us continued our journey deeper into the labyrinth, but just about seven-eight hundred meters, we met another enemy, it was the Pixie King from yesterday, and for some reason, it was just walking in the ground, clearly agitated.
When I took a closer look at it, I noticed that its wings had holes in them, one of them was even completely destroyed.
Wait a minute, did it get caught up with my attack? I know that it was a long range attack, but I didn't think it would be able to hit an enemy this far. Was it because it was boosted by the labyrinth...?
Well whatever, what's important is that the enemy had lost its ability to fly. With that, its agility should have been reduced by a lot. This would be the perfect time to finish it!
「Yuna, how about we end its misery.」Grey
「I agree.」Yuna
「Then let's just end this quickly... Ready, set, go!」Grey
After my signal, Yuna and I bursted forth towards the enemy and when the enemy was in our range, we initiated our close combat tactic.
Yuna and I started landing blows towards the enemies as we dashed away from it. When the enemy tries to chase one of us, the other lands a strong art while it was still distracted.
That trend continued for about half a minute and in that time, the enemy was not able to land a single hit. Finally, after about 50 combined hits from the two of us, the enemy fell on its knees and collapsed to the ground. It was the end of a Pixie King.
Our attack was successful, but the drawback of it was that it cost Yuna a lot of stamina. Just after defeating only two enemies, Yuna was already panting heavily.
As for me, I can still fight three enemies on a one on one fight.
「Yuna, how about we head back.」Grey
「No... I'll just... rest for a while... Haah... Just give me... 20 minutes...」Yuna
「Alright.」Grey
Although I'm concerned about Yuna, I don't want to retreat when she is full of determination. But it will be another case if she's in danger. Whether she likes it or not, we will be falling back.
After a short twenty-minute rest, Yuna and I continued our journey deeper in the labyrinth. It took us the whole day, but we finally found the staircase to the ninth floor.
We tried to have a peek at it, but the first thing that greeted us was a Golem King, an S-rank monster.
Although I am about 70% stronger than it, it's also a fact that it is almost 7 times stronger than Yuna. And with that fact, there's no way I'm risking Yuna's safety.
「I think this is how far we can go for now.」Grey
When I said those words, Yuna looked dejected and when I was about to ask her why, she replied with the words I didn't want to hear the most from her.
「Sorry... I'm just dragging you down...」Yuna
Hearing those words from her, I felt my heart ache. Yuna must have noticed me worrying for her safety. I had been careless...
What should I do... Even if I console her now, those thoughts will still bother her in the future. I need to say something that will keep her from thinking of that, or at least lessen her worry. This is my responsibility not just as her lover, but also as her partー
right, we are partners.
Without thinking too much about it, I quickly but gently grabbed Yuna's hands and squeezed it tightly, making her both surprised and flustered.
「Yuna, I'm your partner, so it's only natural that I'll stay with you in both ups and downs. Even if you say you want to leave me to lessen my burden, I won't let you go. If you're really bothered about dragging me down, then I'll stay with you until you get strong enough to move ahead with me. Don't worry about it, I'll stay with you throughout all of this.」Grey
I said it... I actually said it...
After saying that line, I realized how tightly I squeezed Yuna's hands, and released them in a hurry.
Now that I think about the lines I said, those were really cringy and stupid! But those were the best lines I could muster in that short amount of time. I wonder what Yuna thinks of it.
「Stupid.」Yuna
Yup, I called it. Those were really cringy lines after all...
「Who said I was going to leave you?」Yuna
「Ah, sorry... I just spurted what I wanted to say in the heat of the moment. So some of those probably won't add up.」Grey
「Pfft. No wonder those lines were so stupid. Hehe～.」Yuna
「Please don't rub salt into my wounds...」Grey
After that short exchange of ours, Yuna and I had dinner together, but unlike yesterday, it was more lively.
Does it have to do with us becoming lovers...? Well, whatever the reason is, I'm happy that Yuna is happy.
The next morning, our training in the labyrinth had begun. Everyday, Yuna and I would explore the labyrinth and fight the monsters we encounter. We also explore all the treasure rooms when we can.
Everyday, we would fight against about 30 A-rank monsters. We also take about a dozen breaks everyday. There are even times where we get wounds from our battles. Luckily, recovery magic can just cure those wounds.
Since it's a fact that those who are in lower ranks can get stronger in the same environment faster, I've also been going down the ninth floor to train myself. It was really tough, since unlike the special dungeon, the labyrinth won't stop even if you get hurt. It was a life of kill or get killed. Thankfully, my wind-attribute spell got boosted.
Also, because of the Divine weapon's ability called『Divine Trial』, the rate at which our mana capacity increased was amplified, but in exchange, our mana capacity depleted faster than usual. And it goes without saying that we experienced rapid mana exhaustion more often.
It's already been more than a month since we entered the labyrinth, but the training we received here is comparable to a year and a half in the special dungeons. And needless to say...
-----------------------------------
【〔Anthronoid〕】
【Name】Grey Silverdrake
【Race】Human
【Sex】Male
【Age】16
【Status】Healthy
【Mana Capacity】4,995 【Mana Quality】B
【Combat Power】8,312 【Threat Level】S
【Attribute】Wind 【Spell Proficiency】78%
【Class】Brawler 【Art Proficiency】76%
【Physical Enhancement】86%
【Ability】『Memory』『Appraisal』『Storage』
-----------------------------------
【〔Anthronoid〕】
【Name】Yuna
【Race】Elf
【Sex】Female
【Age】15
【Status】Healthy
【Mana Capacity】3,359 【Mana Quality】B
【Combat Power】5,007 【Threat Level】S
【Attribute】Ice 【Spell Proficiency】71%
【Class】Assassin 【Art Proficiency】69%
【Physical Enhancement】75%
【Ability】『Detection』
-----------------------------------
...we became much stronger than before, Yuna even reached S-rank just yesterday.
The gap in our strength was also shortened. Before we entered the labyrinth, it was twelvefold, but now it is only less than fivefold. If there's a world ranking, I would be in the top 10 while Yuna in the top 25. Yuna really is catching up to me, but I dont think it's a bad thing.
Also, in this past month...
「Grey～, I want some pudding... please～.」Yuna
Yuna asked with a cute voice as she hugged me from behind. And even though I know she didn't intend it, I can't help but be conscious of the two soft lumps of fat pressing against my back.
Just how did she become like this...
Although I don't really mind Yuna's current personality, I'm afraid that it will become embarrassing to the both of us when Yuna acts all clingy while we're in public.
Agh... It's my fault why Yuna turned out like this. It seems like I've spoilt her too much.
「Alright, I'll give you one, but please stop asking while we're wandering around the labyrinth. Monsters might come out at any moment.」Grey
「I would be able to detect them if they're in range, you know. Geez, you worry too much. I haven't even detected a single monster since this morning, not even on the upper floors.」Yuna
Ah right... Yuna has the ability『Detectionー
Hm? No monsters even in the upper floors...? Then that means...
「Yuna, let's head back.」Grey
「Hm? We aren't continuing?」Yuna
「It's useless, the labyrinth has already become inactive. We'll have to wait another year for monsters to spawn again.」Grey
「Wait, then that means... I'll be able to eat pizza!!」Yuna
Realizing that the labyrinth event had ended, Yuna celebrated since she will be able to eat her long awaited pizza.
Looks like I'll have to buy a lot of flour, cheese, and tomatoes...
Yuna and I then packed our belongings and stored it into my 『Storage』. After that, we then started our journey towards the labyrinth's exit.
A lot sure happened here, but it's time to face the outside world once again.
Merusia, we're coming back!
CHAPTER 47 END