Chapter 108: Chapter 108 - Labyrinth(Part 4)

"These things are pretty weak, huh?" Sighed Prysm, as she chopped a Goblin in half with her axe.

"Yeah, we’re gonna have to go a bit deeper down if we want to come across more powerful Monsters," I replied, as I decapitated three Goblins with a swing of my whip, slicing across their necks.

"Well, at least there’s no one else here, maybe people are scared to come here late at night?" She suggested, as we put away our Soul Weapons, having dealt with the group of Goblins we’d encountered.

We were down to the fourth floor now, and so far, it’s been pretty easy going for the both of us. The Monsters we’ve encountered have included Goblins, Slimes, Orcs, Mimics and Sprouts, and while we’ve run into a fair number of them, they’re so weak that it’s been no challenge at all, no matter how much we’re outnumbered by.

"Yeah, maybe. Of course, there could be one or more Adventurers further down, so stay on your toes. If we hear anyone, you’ll need to immediately get into my Pocket Dimension. And if anyone sees us...we’ll have to kill them," I surmised with a sigh.

"I don’t like the thought of that, but I get it. We’ll just have to be careful not to be spotted," She responded with a grimace, before asking, "By the way, how deep down are we gonna go?"

"Hm, good question. Most Adventurers never venture past the thirtieth floor, since it’s teeming with Disastrous Grades. Usually, the only people who go down past that point are large parties of high level Adventurers. And I guess the Knights as well, from time to time whenever they’re down here.

Well, we’re not gonna go anywhere near that deep this time. Let’s see...at most, we’ll go down to the fifteenth floor and then head back. No need to get too greedy, it’s only our first time in a Labyrinth, after all," I pointed out objectively.

"That Frost Dragon was Catastrophic Grade, right? How powerful are Disastrous Grades?" She inquired, as we headed further in, following the directions carved into the walls and making our way to the path leading down to the next floor.

"Hm...well, that’s kinda tough to answer. See, even Monsters of the same Threat Level aren’t necessarily equally as powerful. For instance, take Giant Slimes, they have a Threat Level of Disastrous Grade, the same as Basilisks. But in actuality, they’re much easier to deal with than Basilisks.

However, Basilisks aren’t powerful enough to be considered Catastrophic Grade. Each Threat Level has a range across which the Monsters are spread across, as you’ve experienced yourself.

Think about Common Grades, for instance...you can kill Monsters like Blood Rats with your eyes closed, but it’s less easy against, say, Leapfrogs or Firefoxes.

Using the Slime Example again, take Mega Slimes, which are Catastrophic Grades. The same Threat Level as the Frost Dragon we faced. Mega Slimes are extremely powerful and can cause a lot of damage, but they’re way easier to kill than a Frost Dragon," I surmised, as the path leading to the fifth floor came into sight.

"I see, that makes sense...yeah, now that I think about it, there are Common Grade Monsters that are a bit tougher than others to kill. But, uh, with Leapfrogs, it isn’t about how strong they are, it’s just that they really creep me out," She shuddered in response.

"Fair enough, I guess. I get kinda queasy around Giant Roaches myself," I recalled wryly.

"Yeah, you always attack more aggressively like you’re in a hurry to kill them-...ow," She giggled, before I chopped the top of her head with my hand, "Hey, what was that for?"

"Just felt like doing that. Anyway, stay alert, for both Monsters and people," I instructed her, as we began heading down to the next floor.

We continued to run into wave after wave of weak ass Monsters, mowing them down effortlessly as we headed further and further down into the Labyrinth.

I was making sure to keep track of which floor we were on, don’t want to miscount and end up going in deeper than I’m intending. It’s not totally unusual for stronger Monsters to appear a few floors above where they’d normally reside, but we were having no such luck.

It was only Common Grade mobs that we were running into, and most of those were Goblins. I guess that’s because they have one of the highest rates of proliferation among all Monsters.

They’re also ridiculously weak, I’d probably have been able to defeat them even before I awakened my powers. Slimes, Orcs, Mimics and Sprouts are pretty much the same too, with Orcs being a bit tougher due to their size.

But yeah, neither Prysm or I had so much as a scratch on us, I’m honestly starting to get kinda bored. She doesn’t exactly look like she’s having the time of her life either. And then, finally, as we got to the twelfth floor... 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Oh, that one’s new. It kinda looks like a Goblin though," Remarked Prysm, as we came across a large, green Monster.

"That’s because it’s a Hobgoblin, literally a larger and stronger version of a Goblin. But it is just Intermediate Grade, so...it shouldn’t be too much trouble. Give it a go," I prompted her.

"Sure, leave it to me. I rarely get to try this, so...," She replied, stepping forward as the Hobgoblin snarled and shot towards us, before she chanted, "Initiate Skill: Creature Possession!"

The Hobgoblin abruptly halted as Prysm’s body went limp and collapsed onto the ground...she’s taken over its body. She then raised the Hobgoblin’s hand up towards its face, before driving its claws towards its eyes, piercing into them.

Her body then stirred and began to get up, as the Monster let out a deafening roar of pain, clutching its crushed eyes, blood gushing out through its fingers as it stumbled back.

"Elemental Storm: Storm Arrow!" She exclaimed, forming a combo Spell of water and wind and firing it at the Monster, which struck the middle of its chest and shot through it, bursting a hole through it.

The Hobgoblin collapsed onto the ground, blood pouring out from the hole in its chest and spreading out across the ground.

"Good work, though using a combo Spell seems kinda overkill," I remarked in bemusement.

"I want to try stuff that I haven’t used much before," She grinned sheepishly.

"Well, that’s fine, I guess. We are here to train, so going out of our comfort zone and trying things we’re not used to is worth a try," I nodded in approval, before adding, "Oh, by the way, set a teleportation point here. That way, we can skip all the upper floors next time."

"Sure, I’ll do it right away. We’re just going down a few more floors, right?" She asked me, as we continued heading forward.

"Mhm, that’s right. We’ll be staying in this town a bit longer than we usually stay at any one place, let’s keep grinding away at this Labyrinth for a couple of weeks, maybe a month?" I suggested in response.

"Fine by me, I’m curious to see the more stronger Monsters in this place. Well, let’s maybe steer clear of Catastrophic Grade Monsters," She replied wryly.

"Let’s play it by ear, progress gradually until we feel like going any further down would be too risky or whatever," I remarked after mulling it over, before sensing some Monsters through my Thought Communication.

"Mhm, sounds good," She nodded in agreement, before halting as the Monsters I sensed came into sight, "Six of them, huh? They’re so fat."

"Those are Ogres. They’re slow and dumb, but also strong and durable. Well, as far as durability goes, there’s nothing that my whip can’t cut through...except other Soul Weapons, of course," I replied as I stepped forward, manifesting my Soul Weapon.

I grabbed the end of the whip and spun it around before swinging the dagger end and handle towards the Monsters as I extended the length of the whip.

Right as they noticed me, the dagger sliced off the top of one of their heads, decapitated another, and slashed open the throat of a third one, before I yanked and contracted the whip to pull the handle back this way.

I then shot forward, grabbing the handle along the way, as the three Ogres I’d struck collapsed onto the ground. As I sprang towards one of the remaining Ogres once I’d closed in, it let out a deep bellow and tried to grab me.

I swiftly sliced off its hand by the wrist with the dagger end of my weapon, before driving a punch straight at the Monster’s face.

The knuckle spikes on the handle of the whip pierced through its eyes and the top of the bridge of its nose, its arms slumping down as I violently yanked my arm back with a twist, killing it.

As the remaining two then sprang up on me from either side, the body of the one I’d just killed starting to plummet, I swiftly activated a Spell in response...Elemental Plasma: Double Mega Plasma Bullet!

I fired out two small but rapid and powerful shots of plasma out on either side of me, which struck and burst through the middle of their foreheads. I then swiftly sprang back off the corpse of the one I’d killed with my knuckle spikes, landing on the ground as the three Ogres collapsed in a heap.

"Well...," I muttered, as I put away my whip, "That was easy."

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