Chapter 141: Exploring the Labyrinth Again

I lost consciousness from the depletion of my ultra-vibration magic, and when I came to, it was pitch dark around me.

I got hungry and went to the kitchen to rummage for food, but a maid caught me and took me to the study.

In the study were Grandpa, Dad, and Mom. They scolded me for the loud noise I made earlier in the day and forced me to tell the truth about why my magic had run out.

“Aldo, do you have some kind of disease where you have to cause a commotion to survive?!”

Right off the bat, Grandpa exploded. His tone was harsh, but he’s usually lenient with us—this might be the first time I’ve seen Grandpa truly angry.

“I’m sorry, Grandfather… I just had to, for the sake of the world… I wanted to develop an attack that could reach the Earth Dragon…”

At thirteen, I was given the huge responsibility of being an apostle, and even so, I desperately tried to move forward while appealing to Grandpa, gradually softening him.

“Hmm… the Earth Dragon, huh… so you managed to do it?”

Old man’s easy to manipulate!

“Yes. It’s not perfect, but I’ve grasped the gist.”

“Show me.”

“Huh?”

“Show me immediately.”

Suddenly, Mom put on a serious face and stepped into the conversation with Grandpa.

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

“Not here…”

“Then let’s go outside.”

Mom proceeded with the conversation on her own and left the room… The three of us men, overwhelmed by her mysterious presence, followed after her.

When we reached the backyard, Mom handed me a self-defense knife.

“That big rock over there, Aldo did it, right? Try it on this big rock here.”

As expected of the Witch of Ice. Just by looking at the situation, she roughly understood what happened… If only she would show even five percent of that ability in daily life…

I, thinking about trivial matters, drew my magic weapon (greatsword).

“Well then, I’m going. Please stand a little back; there’s a chance I might fail.”

There might be mistakes, and shards could scatter. At least during the initial vibration, they were scattering.

The three of them step back about three paces. Honestly, I wish they would step back a bit more…

“Well, that should be fine. Now, here I go.”

I gradually make the blade of my magic weapon (greatsword) vibrate.

Even though it is pitch dark around, after about ten seconds of concentration, I hear a high-pitched sound like the flutter of wings, and the original knife blade glows slightly red-hot.

“Here I go.”

I say that aloud and swing the magic weapon (greatsword) I hold in one hand toward the large boulder. I swing it. I swing it. I swing it…

I start with a horizontal cut, swing downward, and execute a reverse diagonal cut.

The sound of wings disappeared from the magic weapon (greatsword), and it returned to being a knife…

‘Was that a failure?’

As Grandpa murmured that, six large rocks shifted with a loud noise.

Dad and Grandpa were staring in astonishment at the breaking rocks, but Mom was thinking about the next thing.

‘Al, tomorrow I’ll have you cut through the shield that the knights use. Can you do it?’

‘…I’m not sure, but I’ll try.’

It seems Mom had also been gathering information about the Earth Dragon. Unexpectedly, tomorrow we can test this ultra-vibration on a knight’s shield.

For now, since it was midnight, I somehow got released.

However, after sleeping more than enough, I slowly enjoyed the winter open-air bath and then slipped into bed.

In the morning, unusually, I slept until I was woken up. The reason, of course, was that I had stayed up late after taking the open-air bath.

I was a little surprised that Ashera woke me up gently.

The first thing I see when I wake up is Ashera shaking my shoulder and calling my name.

Still half-asleep, I reach out to Ashera, grab her arm, and pull her in slightly.

I hold Ashera, who is leaning over me, and say ‘Good morning.’

Ashera, her face slightly red, returns the greeting with a ‘Good morning.’

Just when I thought this was heaven, Ao suddenly jumps out of the ring.

‘It’s time for the regular report. “No problems.” Humans sure have too much free time. How many times do they have to repeat the same thing to be satisfied, I wonder? Huh? Aldo. Go ahead and plant the seed in Ashera. She’ll surely give birth to a strong child.’

Ao says all this and disappears. Right now, only Ashera is here.

Even though Ashera was blushing deep red, she didn’t try to run away from this place… I tried to reach out to her… and froze.

Through the crack in the door, El, Marl, Mother, Father, and even Clara were watching us with curious expressions.

When I glared at the door with the utmost murderous intent, they scattered like clouds in the wind.

I got up, gave Ashera a slightly longer hug, and started preparing for the morning.

In the backyard of the mansion———–

After having breakfast and a smoke, Mother came to call me.

The shield that the knights would use was already prepared and tied to a planted stake.

“Al, try using yesterday’s thing with this shield…”

Mother spoke with an unusually serious expression.

I only nodded once, and with my fully rested magic, I applied ultra-vibration to my magic weapon (greatsword).

Listening to the repeated hiieeee sounds like those of tiny flying insects

A flash

Another flash

From a single-character slash to a downward strike.

By the time I deactivated the magic weapon, the shield had made a sound and turned into four lumps of iron.

Everyone present here—grandpa, dad, mom, El, Ashera, Marl, and Serie—had expressions of astonishment.

“Mother, what do you think?”

“To be honest, I’m surprised. But Al, can you tell me how much magical power you have left now?”

“…Just a little under half.”

At first, everyone had looked at me with hope, but now a dark shadow appears in their eyes.

“Al, how long can you use that sword?”

“…Probably about 30 seconds.”

Now the color of despair began to appear even more in everyone’s eyes.

“Yes, it’s in actual combat, but it’s special training. We’ll be exploring the labyrinth until I can activate it just before the strike.”

Training in real combat is good. I was planning on that too.

However, I’ll continue ‘labyrinth exploration’ until I can ‘activate it just before the strike.’

That should mean training in the labyrinth to the limit.

How much safety margin to take will probably depend on the remaining days of the long holiday.

If I can’t clear the labyrinth in the meantime, either El or I will have to return to Blue Ring.

The limit is just over a month…

It’s early morning now. I’ll get mana from El and go one more time…

Take a nap and then go one more time…

I can’t expect a few training sessions to be enough, but it’s the best I can do right now.

I thought that, just as Mother said, I should improve my skill between dungeon explorations so that I can activate it instantly.

A slight unease remains. It’s said to be true that adventurers who slew the Earth Dragon cut the Knights’ Shield, but no one says that if you can cut the Knights’ Shield, you can cut the Earth Dragon.

The Knights’ Shield is merely a reference. I must not be overconfident in Ultra-Vibration and need to train so that my abilities become even better than they are now.

Dungeon Exploration – Morning of the First Day

When I arrived at the guild at the promised time, Ms. Naga was already waiting in her robe.

“Good morning, everyone.”

“Good morning, Naga.”

“””Good morning, Ms. Naga.”””

Next to Ms. Naga was a supply cart with three wooden boxes, likely food, and a small hand-pulled cart stacked on it.

“Ms. Naga, what are these supplies?”

“Food for five people for twenty days and a rickshaw. You’ll need it both for transporting supplies and for carrying loot.”

As I agreed with what Ms. Naga said, a question suddenly came to mind.

“What about the stairs?”

“We’ll carry it by hand there. I also chose a rickshaw that two people can carry.”

I wondered if we would put the loot in the leftover space after eating the food.

Without delay, we all got on the wagon and listened to a detailed explanation from Ms. Naga.

First, Ms. Naga explained the actual exploration flow, different from the trial exploration last time. First, we move to the Wise Wolf Forest with this supply wagon. Once we arrive and unload the supplies, the driver’s role ends. We will have to return to the royal capital on our own.

After entering the Wise Wolf Forest, we load the supplies onto the rickshaw and take turns carrying the load.

In dungeon exploration, generally, for safety reasons, we adjust to match the abilities of the weakest person. If we don’t, the party itself will collapse like teeth missing from a comb.

If fatigue accumulates in one person, it eventually leads to danger for the entire party.

Therefore, we also take turns carrying the load. Of course, it is only natural for those with more strength to pull for longer periods.

Ultimately, the decision there becomes the leader’s responsibility. A party cannot function without at least a certain level of trust like this.

Rumors of impromptu members abandoning party members to monopolize loot are countless.

After several days of dungeon exploration, we carry the loot back to the surface. At that time, one person leaves the party to arrange a carriage in the capital and returns.

The number of carriages and helpers at that time is decided based on the amount and quality of the loot.

By the way, to obtain the Miasma Stone, which is also our goal, we have to defeat the Earth Dragon.

I’ll try asking Ms. Naga. Apparently, if we defeat the Earth Dragon, we would need at least 5 to 6 carriages and a minimum of 20 helpers.

This is the rough flow of the exploration.

By the way, regarding ‘Ao,’ my mother has already communicated about it to Ms. Naga.

If I explained the details of Ao, it would drag Ms. Naga into our affairs. So, all I told her was a very vague explanation and a warning not to be surprised when a ‘blue talking raccoon’ appears in the morning and evening.

It’s been about an hour since we got on the carriage. I can see the entrance to the Wise Wolf Forest that we saw before.

The plan is to explore for about 10 days this time. I don’t think we’ll run into the Earth Dragon right away, but… first, I’ll aim for everyone’s survival as the priority during this exploration.