[Current: Floor 23]

“Something is wrong,” Roran muttered just ahead of us, drawing curious gazes from all the students around. It wasn’t that they didn’t know what he was talking about, but because he voiced their collective thoughts.

“You’re right. We might have to stop for a while,” Liam said, glancing at me from the opposite wall of the pathway. It had been an hour since we started tackling the 23rd floor, and we hadn’t encountered any mana beasts. The large passageway seemed to stretch on forever, with no end in sight. The lighting was also getting dimmer the further we went, though very slightly.

“No, that would be a waste of time. There’s no sign indicating we might be looping endlessly,” I said aloud, though everyone seemed unconvinced.

“How can you be sure of that?” Liam asked skeptically. I couldn’t blame him; if we were stuck in the same spot, it would mean we wasted an hour doing nothing. Fortunately, I was confident in my claim.

“I’ve already memorized everything in our path since we started, and there doesn’t seem to be any repetition in the structure,” I explained casually, causing Liam’s eyes to widen a bit as he asked,

“M-memorized? Are you saying you remember everything?” He sounded surprised rather than doubtful. Does he believe me? It’s not like I was lying or anything, but I decided not to disclose how I did the memorizing. With the help of [Recall], I could overlap everything I'd seen with what I currently see. Whenever I looked at a particular stone or structure and used [Recall], similar images would pop up in my mind. By using them as a reference, I can compare the bigger picture and determine whether we’ve been to that exact spot before. It was a bit mentally exhausting, but at least it didn't use up too much mana.

“Of course, I remember everything. I can even tell you the number of times you stole a glance at Ruby if you’d like,” I teased with a smile, causing Liam to flinch as he retorted,

“T-that’s… It’s not what you think.” He glanced at Ruby, whose face turned red with embarrassment as she looked away. Knowing Liam, he was probably worried about her mental state, which was why he kept checking on her. However, since I was in charge of my team, he was reluctant to interfere in our internal affairs.

“Well, putting that aside, I think there’s a more concerning issue at hand. The lighting here is getting dimmer by the mi—huh!?”

My words were suddenly cut off as I found myself staring at the ceiling, my body bent backward with both hands touching the floor in an awkward yoga pose. A dark shadow zipped above my head before dropping to the ground and disappearing just as quickly. Without the help of [Time Perception], I doubt I would have seen it. As I calmed down, I noticed Rin beside me, also in the exact position, her skirt revealing more than intended.

Uhh... why does the academy think it's a good idea to send the students into battle in skirts ?

I thought to myself, and at the same time, I felt control of my body return, accompanied by a sharp pain in my back.

“Are you okay? What the hell was that?” Roran rushed over to me as I silently groaned in pain. The students around us gathered closer, surprised by the sudden action. So that’s why she wanted to take the rearguard? On top of sharing experiences with someone else, it seemed Rin could also control a person’s body by forcing it to mimic her actions. In a way, it was still an extension of ‘making others experience what you experience.’ Normally, I would have marveled at how useful this could be in battle, but… She almost broke my spine! Does she think everyone is naturally flexible or something?

I glared at Rin, who had just stood up. She simply looked down at me emotionlessly, though, at a closer glance, I could see the corner of her lips trying to creep into a smile. It's not funny. I sighed as I sat up and turned to Roran and the others.

“Everyone, prepare for battle. Looks like we’re dealing with a Shadow Golem. Focus on the walls and ceilings. If you have any members in your party who displayed low agility on the previous floors, keep your eyes on them— they serve as good bait,” I said in a serious tone, and everyone nodded instinctively. Liam, still shaken by the event, quickly followed up on behalf of his team.

“R-right. I wouldn’t say bait… We’ll proceed as he explained. The first price of wisdom has been paid, so we should expect a tough battle ahead.” He spoke to everyone in a more charismatic manner, and they nodded more firmly, a slight passion sparking in their eyes.

When someone appears too knowledgeable about a dungeon’s mechanics, they become the first target and are usually eliminated by a surprise attack like the one that almost got me. When the attack fails, they call it having paid the ‘first price of wisdom,’ because the subsequent assaults become much deadlier. With these thoughts in mind, we proceeded forward on high alert, scanning our surroundings like madmen.

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At first, I was a bit worried that [Time Perception] hadn’t triggered automatically when the shadow attacked, but I finally came up with a working theory. Since Rin saw the attack before I did and used her authority on me, she might have canceled the automatic activation by taking control of my body. And because I didn’t perceive her authority as a ‘threat,’ I didn’t pick up on the danger that overlapped with the moment she took over my body—when my guard was down. Her authority might be stronger than I thought.

Authorities are really complicated, huh? This complexity usually comes from the fact that people kept the exact details to themselves for their safety. But because of my experience in intelligence, I’ve developed a good eye for analyzing an Authority. In the intelligence field, something as minor as a person’s preferred clothing can reveal how their Authority works, even if only a little.

“I see a stage ahead,” a student from Liam’s team suddenly said, causing everyone to stop.

“Are you sure?” Liam asked, looking back at the boy, who nodded firmly. Did he have a night vision skill? I wondered as I listened. The pathway ahead seemed to be getting wider, so his guess was probably right. Liam turned to our party.

“We should stay alert. Judging by how far this stage is, it might be the final stop before the next floor,” he said in a stern tone, and my teammates nodded, not even turning to me for confirmation. By this point in the dungeon, the light had dropped drastically, and the change was visible even to those who were skeptical at first. Looking further ahead, this trend seemed to continue. Will it get completely dark?

We advanced forward and finally entered the stage. Like the first part of the floor, the high ceiling came into view in a much wider cave, the size comparable to the small colosseum back at the academy. The light is still dim. As we entered, we focused on the small shadows cast on the walls around the large cave.

Grrrr~!

A loud rumbling sound reverberated throughout the cave, and we quickly turned to the source. In the center of the cave, a large spherical ball was floating there. We all looked at each other, confused, before Liam broke the silence.

“What do you think we should do?” he asked, looking at me. I appreciated his humility in asking for advice when he knew he lacked the knowledge, but unfortunately for him, I was just as confused.

“I’m not sure. We should try attacking it from a distance,” I replied while thinking to myself. Should I bring out my gun? I considered it for a second but decided against it. If the sphere turned out to be some kind of decoy, it would be a waste to reveal my abilities to these people. At my words, Liam glanced at a few students in his team, and two of them stepped forward, raising their hands toward the sphere.

“How much power should we use?” one of them asked, glancing at me. I thought for a moment before responding,

“Use full power if you can.” My words caused a slightly concerned reaction, but they nodded and turned to the sphere. Perhaps because all our eyes were on the sphere at that exact moment, a bright light suddenly erupted from it, blinding us before we could even squint. I blocked the light with my hand, trying to look around, but the light abruptly stopped.

As my eyes struggled to adjust to my surroundings, a strong force suddenly shot through my stomach, sweeping me off my feet and propelling me backward at high speed. Bang~! My back crashed into the wall, sending shivers through my body as I fell to my knees, my breathing erratic. Shit.

“Ugh,” I groaned as I picked myself up through the pain and immediately unsheathed my sword. As I looked ahead, only three people were still standing, while the rest of the students struggled to get up after the sudden attack. I’m seeing double. Because of the sudden change in light, it was getting harder to see as my vision alternated between normal and seeing doubles.

“Are you guys okay!?” Roran shouted, taking quick glances behind him, not wanting to take his eyes off the direction of the sphere.

“Yeah, just focus on the enemy!” In the corner of my eye, I saw Rin shouting as she helped Ruby to her feet. The attack was heavy, but it wasn’t enough to deal a finishing blow. The other students in Liam’s team were also getting up and preparing for engagement, but the problem remained… Where’s the enemy? The cave seemed even darker than before the sudden light, and we couldn’t see properly. Dammit. I approached Roran and Liam while checking my surroundings. In this situation, I couldn’t rely on [Time Perception] activating on its own. There would be no benefit if I couldn’t physically see or even sense what I need to defend against.

“Roran, Liam, go after the sphere! Everyone else, cover them! When I shout ‘Light,’ cover your eyes!” I shouted my vague instructions to everyone and immediately cast [Future Sight] as I looked toward the sphere. By switching to manual casting, I would be able to fight more efficiently. This is going to drain a lot of mana. At my words, Roran instantly disappeared from sight and reappeared in front of the sphere, his sword coming down quickly.

Slash~! His sword sliced through the sphere, and everyone watched with widened eyes. Covering the distance to the middle of the room in less than a second was no small feat. The sphere fell to the floor with a light thud and crumbled as if it were made of sand. More than surprised, everyone seemed relieved as they began to relax. But suddenly, the ground shook once more, and on the other side of the cave, another sphere appeared. Another one?

“Regroup and—” I paused as I was about to send out another wave of instructions to the others. The ground shook again, much more violently this time, and simultaneously, at multiple locations throughout the entire cave, several spheres hovered above the ground.

“Y-you’re kidding. What the hell?” one of the students muttered as he looked around. There were easily over 30 spheres, meaning we couldn’t rely on Roran and Liam alone to take them out. This is bad.

“S-something’s coming~!” another student shouted, directing our attention toward a particular sphere.

As if to add fuel to the fire, shadows began to emerge from beneath the spheres simultaneously, gradually morphing into humanoid shapes while retaining the appearance of dark flames that flickered with the wind.

[Shadow Golem E+]

This is really bad.

In one swift motion, the situation on the floor transformed into a battle of pure instinct.