Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 12 - Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Easy as Pie 

W ITH ROXY now in our midst, we resumed our exploration of the labyrinth. We moved just as planned, making a beeline for the third floor. There were three types of enemies there: Mud Skulls now in addition to Death Road Tarantulas and Iron Crawlers. 

The Mud Skull was an A-rank monster. It resembled a headless giant made of mud, about two and a half meters in height, with a girth that spoke to its durable nature. The creature had a skull buried in its chest area, which also happened to be its weak point, much like Jamila from Ultraman or Sachiel from Evangelion . It moved slowly, but it could shrug off any blows dealt to the mud-covered parts of its body, and if it sensed it was in danger, it could hide the skull inside its body. The Mud Skull’s method of attack was to sling mud and use a spell similar to Stone Cannon. 

Those, however, were not the reasons why it was considered A-rank. Though it looked like a simple golem, the Mud Skull was quite intelligent, and capable of issuing commands to lesser monsters like Death Road Tarantulas and Iron Crawlers. It would attack in formation with Iron Crawlers in the vanguard, Death Road Tarantulas in the middle, and itself at the rear. In other words, it was a monster general. 

On the second floor, the Iron Crawlers would rush up front while the Death Road Tarantulas tried to pin us down by slinging webs at us. Now we had the Mud Skull overseeing them, dishing out Stone Cannons as well. That had to be a tough dynamic for Paul—who already found himself in close fights on the second floor—to counter. Combat took everything they had. There was no way they could look for Zenith, too. 

That wouldn’t be an issue with Roxy and me in the group. The Death Road Tarantula stationed in the middle posed little trouble, so I just had to take the lead in attacking the Mud Skull in the rear while Roxy faced the Iron Crawler up front. Anything that remained was left to Paul and the others. 

Being made of mud, the Mud Skulls were vulnerable to water magic. An abundance of it would wash them away. Fire worked as well; if I baked their mud dry, they couldn’t move anymore. But my Stone Cannon was all I needed. I used my Eye of Foresight to snipe them, dealing critical hits to the skulls in their chests. One shot, one kill. I was an expert sniper, just a slow one, like the FPS types that couldn’t move their spawn point. 

“Phew…” Once the enemy was completely wiped out, Roxy breathed a sigh. I could see part of her face peeking out from beneath the rim of her hat. She must have used a significant amount of mana. She looked exhausted. 

Suddenly she returned my gaze, glancing up at me sideways. When our eyes met, she quickly averted hers. 

“I’m about out of mana,” she said. “I would like to rest.” 

We returned to the main passageway and took a break there. I still had plenty of mana left myself. In fact, I hadn’t even burned through half my supply. I was basically just using Stone Cannon, after all, while Roxy was the one freezing our enemies with Frost Nova. It was no surprise she’d run out faster. 

“I’m sorry for having such a small mana pool,” she said. 

“No, I think you have more than enough.” 

She used magic with exceptional precision, slinging spells in a narrow area without any missed shots. Occasionally her Water Cascade would splash Paul and the others, but her accuracy with the follow-up spell Icicle Field was so on point that only the enemies froze over. Precision required an appropriate amount of mana as well. Despite all that, she’d kept on fighting for quite a while. By no means did she have a small mana pool. Hers was most likely the same size as Sylphie’s, if not larger. 

“I’d like to find the magic circle leadin’ to the fourth floor here soon.” Geese scratched at his chin as he checked the book against the map. 

Almost two days had passed since we came down to the third floor. It had taken the author of the book five days to delve this far. We’d outpaced his party and moved through the third floor several times, mapping it all out. It was about time for us to find the next magic circle now. 

“Rudy, can I borrow your back?” Roxy asked. 

“Be my guest.” 

Once I responded, she slumped against me. She’d rest like this whenever we took a break; I assumed it was because a person’s back felt more comfortable to her than the stone walls surrounding us. A side benefit for me. 

“You know, I never thought I would get to dive into a labyrinth like this with you,” she said. 

“Me either. Say, is there anything I’m doing that I should be more cautious about?” 

“Huh? You’ve already got the essentials down when it comes to moving as a group, so there’s no advice I can offer.” 

“Thank you,” I said. 

“Using magic voicelessly with perfect precision. You really are incredible.” 

“Not at all.” I shook my head. “I still have much to learn.” 

That’s right—there was a lot more to learn. Seeing Roxy really made me feel that way. She didn’t add on to the cards she had in her hand, but rather, increased what she could do with the ones she had. She was combining the existing items in her arsenal to overwhelm her opponent. 

I was sure I’d done the same in the past, but at some point, I’d started only using Stone Cannon and Q uagmire. Not the best habit, but they were enough to beat most weaker opponents. Still, petty tricks of that sort wouldn’t work against the stronger enemies I pictured myself facing, but I had no one of an appropriate level to practice against. I was aiming high, but there was nothing tangible in front of me to aim for. Thus, I wasn’t improving. 

“Rudy?” Roxy suddenly called out to me. 

“Yes, what is it?” 

“If we’re able to safely rescue your mother and we both have the opportunity, how about going into a labyrinth sometime, just the two of us?” 

I blinked. “Just the two of us?” 

“Yes. We’re a bit pressed for time right now, but labyrinth diving can be quite fun. So how about forming a party with just the two of us and trying out a simpler labyrinth together?” 

A labyrinth, huh? To be frank, if it weren’t for Geese, I would’ve probably stepped right into a trap by now. Still, if anyone could venture into a labyrinth alone, it would be Roxy. She had a track record for clumsiness, but if I went along with her, we might be able to get through it. 

“That sounds great,” I agreed. “When we get back, why don’t we give it a try?” 

“It’s a promise.” 

“Yeah, a promise.” 

I could see Roxy clenching her hand into a fist from the corner of my eye. 

“…Ah, I’m starting to feel a bit sleepy. I’m going to get a little rest,” she said. 

“Sure. Sleep well.” 

After a few moments, I could feel her slump against my back. 

I’d accepted her proposal in the heat of the moment, but venturing into a labyrinth consumed multiple days at a time. I wasn’t actually sure I’d have the opportunity to do that, since I would need to help with childrearing. 

Oh well. It wasn’t as if we had to decide right way. If I had the extra time, then we could do it. Perhaps once our child was a bit bigger and Sylphie and I had more free time. I’d likely be over twenty years old at that point, but that wouldn’t be a problem. 

I was just happy that she’d even invited me to join her party. It felt like she was acknowledging my skills. I had to be careful not to reveal my flaws in front of her. 

As I considered these things, I drifted off to sleep. 

After we discovered the circle leading to the fourth floor, we finished thoroughly mapping out the third. There was no sign of Zenith whatsoever, so we decided to move on. 

The walls on the fourth floor were made of a familiar type of stone. It resembled the ruins we’d accessed to teleport here from the Northern Territories. Perhaps they were similar structures, except this one had turned into a labyrinth. 

“Geese, what’ll it be?” Paul asked. 

“Hm? Well, we seem to be doin’ fine.” 

“Great. Then let’s scope out the fourth level a bit before we return to the surface,” Paul said coolly, looking in my direction as I surveyed our surroundings. 

Back when Paul was down in the dumps, he’d looked like a complete lost cause, but he seemed pretty suave when he was at work. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was the side Zenith had fallen for. If the same blood really did run through my veins, then maybe Sylphie wasn’t just flattering me when she paid the same kind of compliments. 

“Teacher, do I look handsome when I’m serious?” I asked abruptly. It might’ve sounded a bit narcissistic. 

Roxy’s eyes peered up from beneath the rim of her hat. “Huh? Oh, uh, um… Well, sure, you’re handsome?” She fumbled with her words, then quickly averted her eyes again. 

Okay. That reaction said all I needed to know. She expressed her feelings loud and clear. That was clearly an uncomfortable question. How rude of me. It seemed I’d gotten a bit carried away. 

If Roxy turned super cutesy on me and asked, “Hey, Rudy, on a scale of 1-10, how cute am I?” I’d happily raise up glow sticks in either hand and readily say, “A 100!” I’d be in the front row, make no mistake. 

There was more to a man than just his face—there was his heart, too. He needed a heart of red-hot flaming steel. One that could knock out anyone with a single punch. 

“Rudy—enemies.” 

I looked up to find two four-armed monsters in armor approaching. Armored Warriors. Incidentally, these monsters were considered undead. Earth and Divine magic worked best against them. Stone Cannon, provided it was big enough, could smash most of them into pieces in a single hit. 

“I’ll start off with Stone Cannon,” I said. 

“Wait, Rudy, you can’t.” Roxy stopped me just as I was lifting my staff. “I’ve heard that the Armored Warrior uses the Water God Style. If you’re careless with your magic, they’ll counter it right back at us.” 

The Water God Style was something I hadn’t really encountered much, but it was a sword style based around deflecting and countering attacks. It was also effective against magic, for some reason. I wasn’t sure how, but one of their abilities allowed them to counter offensive magic with the flash of a sword. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t be too worried, but these guys had four arms, and they weren’t human. They might well be capable of engaging four people at once and still managing to counter every single attack. 

“All right then, what should we do?” 

“Let’s cover the others and trip them up,” Roxy proposed. “It’s our first time against this opponent. We have to be cautious.” 

“Roger that. Father, I’ll use Q uagmire. Please watch your feet!” 

“Got it!” 

These armored-type monsters had a lot of power and their sword skills were fearsome, but they were sluggish. The steel on their bodies was heavy enough that they sank easily into the mud. They might fall right through the floor if I made my spell too deep. I didn’t think there was much risk for collapse, but it was still probably best to keep environment-altering effects to a minimum. Up to the knees was enough. 

“ Q uagmire!” 

Their feet sank as they tried to advance, the mud swallowing them up to their thighs. Then our two frontline members set to work. 

“Paul, I’ll take the left,” said Elinalise. 

“Gotcha…” Paul paused. “Wait, you’re always taking the left.” 

“The wall gets in the way otherwise and makes it difficult to swing.” 

“So you’re only thinking about yourself—whoa, that was close!” Paul handled them with ease. He deflected an incoming attack with his right-hand sword and soon severed one of the monster’s arms with the shortsword in his left. Their armor looked sturdy enough, but apparently that didn’t matter. Swordsmen of the Sword God Style were beasts. That, or maybe his shortsword was just that sharp. 

Elinalise, on the other hand, seemed a bit overwhelmed. She never took much damage from her opponent, but she lacked the offense to land a killing blow. 

“Let’s back them up,” Roxy broke in. “Rudy, let’s release our magic at the same time, in Miss Elinalise’s direction.” 

“Got it.” 

I lifted my staff, conjuring a Stone Cannon. Now that they couldn’t move, there was no way for them to evade. I had no idea how fast my attack would have to be to keep them from deflecting it, and I would never know unless I tried. 

“Mister Talhand!” 

“I hear ya!” He lifted his shield and waddled up in front of us. If a counter did come flying back at us, he would be there to soak it up. As long as he didn’t die instantly, I could use my Advanced-tier magic to heal him. I just hoped any attacks would miss his vital organs. 

“Stone Cannon!” 

“Majestic blade of ice, I summon thee to strike my enemy down! Icicle Blade!” 

Though our casting times were different, we released our magic at the same time. One was a round cannon ball and the other was a sword of ice, almost like the Ultra Slash attack from Ultraman . 

Our armor-clad opponent attempted to deflect the attacks. Two of its sword-wielding arms moved, switching its stance to defense. This gave the perfect opening for Elinalise to shield bash it, throwing it off balance. My cannon ripped right through one of its arms, severing it, while the frozen blade embedded itself deep inside the armor’s chest. At the exact same time, Paul finished his fight as well. 

“Should come as no great surprise, but these A-rank monsters don’t go down easily,” he commented, though our total battle time had lasted only a minute. We hadn’t taken them down with a single blow, but it hadn’t been a tough fight. Just what you’d expect from a man who had achieved Advanced tier in all three schools of swordsmanship. Ability-wise, he likely he had it in him to reach Saint tier. 

No—if anything, Paul might already be as strong as any Saint-tier swordsman. People’s strength couldn’t be measured by rank alone. 

“Father, have you gotten stronger than you were before?” 

Oh crap. I just said something that would boost his ego. Now he might start tooting his own horn. 

“Hm? Nah, not at all. I’m weaker now than I used to be.” But Paul didn’t even so much as smile. He merely glanced my way before looking forward. “Come on, let’s get going. And don’t let your guard down.” 

Paul’s words served as a sobering reminder. He was right. We were in a labyrinth right now. I had to pull myself together. 

My father sure was acting cool today. Norn would probably be delighted if I told her how suave he looked in action. 

“What’s this?” Elinalise suddenly spoke up as she peered into Paul’s face. She put a hand over her mouth and smirked. “What’s that grin for, Paul? It’s creepy.” 

“C’mon, you don’t have to make those kinda comments,” he grumbled back. 

“Are you that happy that Rudeus complimented you? Oh, don’t worry, I understand. Heh heh heh…” 

“Enough already, shut it.” 

Nope, I take it back. Paul’s still the same old Paul. 

We disposed of several more Armored Warriors after that, then began our journey back to the surface. The route up took approximately five hours on foot. This search was going to take us a while. I wondered if Zenith could really hold out in the meantime… 

No, we couldn’t rush. We had to prevent any further accidents like the one with Roxy. 

Things were going smoothly right now. I was nervous, but not too nervous. I didn’t feel emotionally overwhelmed. 

We were in a good place right now. Keeping up this pace would benefit us the most. 

As soon as we reached the city, we all gathered for a meeting. 

There were several items we would need for our next venture in, so we set about picking those up. I also drew up some more spirit scrolls, since we were running low. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that this was the Labyrinth City of Rapan, magic circle dye and parchment were readily available. Creating extras proved easy. All I had to do was draw one to use as reference, and Shierra would do the rest. Apparently, she was quite skilled at it, having previously worked drawing scrolls for the Millis Church. She promised she could have fifty copies done within the day. Now that was promising. 

Geese purchased some chemicals that were supposed to be effective on armored monsters. He informed us that this stuff, if aimed right, would coil around the creatures’ joints and slow their movement. When I suggested sprinkling oil on the ground to make them slip since they were so heavy, he laughed, saying Paul would be the one landing on his ass. I responded with a thoughtful “I suppose you’re right,” and Geese merely cackled. 

Paul and Elinalise went weapon browsing. Apparently, they were trying to hunt down a bargain sword for Elinalise. The one she was using currently—her estoc—was a magic item. When swung, it unleashed a slicing swathe of vacuum, which wasn’t best suited to battle against the Armored Warriors, who were a tough opponent to beat regardless. I could understand why she wanted a different weapon. 

The shortsword Paul wielded in his left hand was a magic item he purchased in Rapan. It had a Steel-Cutting ability, which meant that the tougher his opponent was to slice through, the sharper his sword became. This was a rather rare ability, so much so that the people in the market hadn’t been able to identify it. They had treated it like a dull butter knife that couldn’t even saw through dried meat, and practically sold it for pennies. 

Paul claimed, “It was my keen eyesight that helped me to identify this sword’s true power.” But I knew better. I’d read The Legend of Perugius back in Buena Village, and there was a warrior in it whose weapon carried that very same skill. Though unable to slice through dried meat, it was capable of cutting a clump of steel clean in two. Paul must’ve known what it was the moment he heard that line about it not even being able to saw through dried meat. 

Anyway, it made sense now why his attacks against the Armored Warriors were so effective. Even though he wielded it in his weaker hand, it would still pack a punch as long as he landed a clean hit. 

Elinalise purchased a single gladius, one that apparently had the ability to emit a shockwave when thrust forward. It didn’t do that much damage, but it did allow its wielder to gain some distance from their opponent by sending the latter flying backward. That made it quite useful, so it cost a pretty penny, but Elinalise just produced a round, magically imbued crystal from her pocket and made the purchase. How many of those things did she have on hand? 

That night, I went out drinking with Roxy and Talhand, the latter of whom invited me by saying, “You’re an adult now, so you can go drinkin’, right?” There was no way I could chug alcohol in front of Roxy, though, so I was just tagging along. 

This was supposed to be a meeting between three magicians, but at some point “Professor” Talhand began lecturing us on “What makes a man a real man…” Men were supposed to have muscles. Superb muscles meant a superb spirit. It wasn’t a conversation for magicians, but it was still meaningful. He was absolutely right. Men should be brawny and strong. 

Roxy drowsily sat through it. She clearly couldn’t have been less interested—not that I could blame her. 

The following day, Lilia bid us farewell as we dove back down into the labyrinth. 

Our journey to the fourth floor was a smooth one. This was partly because of our elaborate preparations and gear change, but we were also lucky. It was basically a straight shot all the way down here. Timewise, it only took three hours. We had almost no run-ins with monsters, either. 

Once there, we continued to map out the fourth level rather than proceed onward, but to no one’s surprise, Zenith was nowhere to be found. 

Since our supplies were still in good stock, we proceeded down to begin our conquest of the fifth floor. On this level, the Armored Warriors were joined by Devouring Devils. 

The Devouring Devil was a demon with a giant mouth and razor-sharp fangs. It also had long limbs and pointed claws that allowed it to scale the ceiling, not unlike an alien from a certain movie franchise. It was a formidable opponent. The fact that it could come skittering across the ceiling or walls meant that our formation was useless. It would pass right over Elinalise and Paul as they engaged an Armored Warrior and make a beeline for us. Watching it sent a chill down my spine. 

Having said all that, the Devouring Devil itself wasn’t all that strong. It was quick, with powerful-looking attacks, but it had low defenses and didn’t put up much of a fight. I was a bit surprised when it first made its appearance, but after batting it off the wall, Elinalise dove in with her new weapon and the fight ended without incident. 

Though the Devouring Devil was A-rank, we grew accustomed to its unusual movement patterns. It was the Armored Warrior, with its exceptional strength, that proved to be the more difficult opponent. It was annoying to have to keep looking upward to spot the Devils, though. If your attention was drawn to the ceiling, you wouldn’t spot the traps laid down by your feet. And if you carelessly stepped on such a trap, you could be warped off to God-knows-where. 

“All right, time for our secret weapon,” said Geese. 

Fortunately, we had our guidebook. There was an innovative countermeasure for these pests recorded in the pages of An Exploratory Account of the Teleportation Labyrinth . 

The roots of the Talfro tree were sold for consumption, but if you burned them like incense, the Devils would descend from the ceiling—they hated the smell of it. Not just that, they would also try to escape as far from the smoke as they could. This made it incredibly easy to battle them. In fact, with this method, they weren’t even B-rank—they were closer to C-rank! The author of this book sure had done their research. 

Just like that, we cleared the fifth floor in no time flat. Unable to locate the circle leading to the next floor, we were forced to wander about a bit, but our objective wasn’t to explore the place. We were here to find Zenith. Everything was fine. In fact, this was going swimmingly for us. 

Finally, we arrived at the sixth floor. 

“Well, Geese?” 

“We can keep goin’.” Geese gave a short reply to Paul’s ambiguous question. 

We’d hardly used any of our supplies, so we were well prepared. Plus, we were on a roll. 

“’Kay, no turning back. Let’s keep going, then.” 

“Yep.” 

There was no need to return as we had supplies and were ready. Our search would continue.