When I arrived at the designated gathering spot in the plaza, all the members of the Ninth and Tenth Squads were already there.
Logan was, as usual, glaring at me with hostility.
Since I've decided to let Logan do whatever he wants for now, I called out to Caroline instead.
"Caroline, today try to focus on the defender's movements."
"Huh? Whyyy? And anyway, do we even need coordination in the first place?"
Caroline raised her voice in dissatisfaction, then asked about the necessity of teamwork.
Did I really have to explain this from scratch...?
She should've learned it in the clan already.
"I'm strong, right?"
Caroline kept talking.
Indeed, compared to the other rookies around her, she was overwhelmingly strong.
If she kept growing smoothly like this, she could become a famous explorer someday.
"I think in the not-too-distant future, I'll become the ace of this clan! So I'll be the one killing the magical beasts. Everyone else can just support me—that's how I think it should be."
How selfish...
"That's not okay at all. I've heard that even Albert-san, the former ace of "Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky", placed great importance on teamwork. There's a limit to what one person can do alone. That's why we form parties to explore the labyrinth, isn't it?"
Albert Sensible.
Until last year, he belonged to "Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky" and was called their absolute ace explorer.
Last year, he lost his life in the battle against the 92nd floor boss, the black dragon, while challenging it with the clan.
His death apparently caused various troubles within the clan, but the story would get long, so I'll skip the details here.
"In the end, he died protecting his comrades, right? And a defender, no less. That guy was an idiot. He must've known that if he died, everyone's smiles would disappear."
As Caroline muttered those words, I felt an unusual pressure coming from her.
This girl seems to be carrying some kind of darkness.
As an outsider, this feels like a territory I shouldn't step into.
In the end, not just Logan but Caroline too ended up doing whatever she wanted.
...With their skills, it'll probably be fine, right?
For now, I'll just prepare so I can jump in immediately if things get dangerous.
Now then, the characteristics of the floors from 36 to 50 that we're heading to next are—
"Um, excuse me, Orun-san...!"
"—Hm? What's up, Sophia?"
While I was recalling the structure of the floors we'd dive into today and the traits of the magical beasts, Sophia spoke to me.
"Um, I'm sorry that my party members were rude to you! I... I still want to receive your guidance. Would you please continue teaching me...?"
Sophia looked straight at me with serious eyes.
From watching Sophia these past two days, one thing stood out: she pushes herself too hard.
Even on the day we first met, she went dungeon diving by forming a random party—despite Selma-san having forbidden it.
Her serious personality is a virtue, I think.
But it seems to be spinning her wheels a bit.
I hope it doesn't lead her in a bad direction.
That said, dampening her enthusiasm would be wrong, and since I'm not instructing the Tenth Squad today, I have plenty of leeway.
"Of course, that's fine. What specifically do you want to learn?"
"Um, then... what do I still lack?"
What she lacks, huh...
She's already cleared the level expected of a rookie.
In that case, I should teach her what's needed to move to the next stage.
"Got it. We're about to enter the labyrinth, so I'll teach you when we have a moment inside."
"Ah, thank you very much!"
Sophia gave me a dazzling smile.
◇
As usual, the instructional exploration began with Selma-san's command.
Upon stepping into the 36th floor, I spoke to Sophia while staying alert to the surroundings.
"Alright, first I want to know your level of understanding about magic. Explain magic to me."
"Y-Yes! Um... First, as a premise, magic is the power that uses the mana existing in the air to cause various phenomena. However, only magical beasts can use true magic. —Magic arts are... techniques created with magic as a reference... By channeling mana through spell formulas, humans who couldn't originally use magic can now produce phenomena close to it."
That's mostly correct.
More precisely, a spell formula is the 'procedure for turning mana into a phenomenon.'
In essence, magic and magic arts are the same thing.
Going into more detail would probably confuse her, so I'll stop here.
Basically, they're the same despite the different names.
"You understand it properly. Now, what are the steps to activate magic arts?"
"...Activation of magic arts is divided into two stages: spell formula construction and mana inflow."
"Then explain those two stages."
"...Spell formula construction means adding settings like power or effect range to the basic formula of each magic art to create the spell formula. Next, mana inflow is pouring mana into the completed spell formula."
If she understands this much, I'd give her full marks.
Honestly, I didn't expect her to answer this accurately.
Most ordinary magicians only think something like, 'You do complex calculations in your head, match the result with the mana in the air, and the magic art activates.'
Magic arts are extremely complex.
Unless you're trying to develop new ones, that basic understanding is usually enough.
"You understand it quite well. I'm honestly surprised."
"Ehehe, thank you."
"Alright then, I'll teach you the mindset and knowledge needed for Sophia to reach the next level."
"Yes, please!"
◇
Because of battles with magical beasts and such, my conversation with Sophia was interrupted many times, but that's unavoidable.
Still, Logan's being quiet. I told Selma-san not to scold him, but maybe he got a little lecture anyway.
While alternating between talking and fighting, we arrived at the 40th floor boss area.
Up until now, the floor bosses had been handled by Anthem-san, Barnard-san, and the recovery magician supporter among the leaders—her name is Cathy-san—those three.
If all the leaders challenged an upper-floor boss together, they'd defeat it in an instant.
To show the rookies how to fight floor bosses, it had been just the three of them so far.
From the 40th floor onward is the mid-layer, and the floor bosses' strength jumps dramatically.
The three can still defeat them without issue, but without an attacker or enchanter, the offensive power feels a bit lacking.
Plus, today we have two boss fights.
For that reason, the 40th and 50th floor bosses are being subjugated by five people.
"Orun, counting on you!"
Barnard-san stood beside me and called out.
"Yes. Though this time my main role is support. My highlight comes at the 50th floor."
"That thing you mentioned in the meeting—can you really do it? You've got a blank period as a swordsman, right? Even without the blank, I can't imagine it being possible..."
"No problem. Let's finish this quickly!"
The five leaders entered the boss area.
The rookies followed after us.
The boss area was a huge hall-like space.
The rookies huddled against the wall, watching the leaders' battle from there.
At the center of the hall stood a four-armed giant about five meters tall, standing imposingly.
Its entire body had bulging muscles, and its skin was hard like natural armor.
"We've discussed it, but this is our first fight with this party composition. Everyone, stick to your roles! [Strength Up], [Vitality Up], [Agility Up]."
After Selma-san called out to the members, she applied support magic buffs to Anthem-san and Barnard-san.
By the way, I've told her I don't need her buffs since I want to apply them myself depending on the situation.
The two buffed fighters moved lighter than in previous floor boss fights and approached the giant from the front.
I applied [Strength Up], [Technical Up], and [Agility Up] to myself, then circled around to the giant's blind spot.
I was careful not to draw too much of the giant's attention with excessive attacks, and targeted relatively soft parts like joints.
The two defenders blocked the giant's attacks with their shields while still finding openings to counter.
We in the vanguard focused attacks on the lower body, while Selma-san and Cathy-san attacked the upper body with magic.
Before five high-rank explorers, the giant was completely helpless.
A little over five minutes after the fight began, we easily subjugated it.
When a magical beast dies, its body turns into black mist-like substance, leaving only the magic stone inside.
Rarely, part of it doesn't turn into mist and remains behind.
That's called magical beast material, and craftsmen turn it into weapons, armor, magical tools, or even unrelated items.
However, with floor bosses, subjugation always leaves magical beast materials—though the parts are random. Sometimes, if you're lucky, the whole corpse remains intact.
I left collecting the giant's magic stone and materials to the two defenders and returned to the rookies.
"Attacking timidly from behind like that—poke, poke. The result and the fight wouldn't have changed even without you, right? Are you really a vanguard attacker?"
As soon as I got back, Logan threw a sarcastic remark.
Originally, my role in this fight was mainly support, and it ended more easily than expected.
Honestly, I think the fight would've been fine without me participating.
"Maybe so."
When I gave a curt reply, Logan clicked his tongue softly and said nothing more.
◇◇◇
"H-Hey! Anthem! What was that just now!?"
While checking and storing the giant's materials with Barnard, he let out a bewildered voice.
I can understand Barnard's confusion. This battle was completely one-sided...
We're A-rank explorers.
We've reached the 87th floor of the great labyrinth.
Yet the opponent was a floor boss.
Even with Selma-san's enchantment magic, it shouldn't have been defeated so easily.
The biggest factor that made it possible—was probably Orun Dula.
In terms of sword speed and power, my party's vanguard attackers are superior.
If judging purely by swordsmanship skill, Orun is barely A-rank level, if that.
However, Orun's movements couldn't be dismissed at such a low level.
As he said himself, this time he focused purely on support—completely sealing the giant's actions...
Magical beasts are living creatures. They always have preliminary movements.
This is just my guess, but Orun seemed to predict the opponent's next attack from those preliminaries.
By striking the critical weak point of the incoming attack beforehand, he sealed every single one.
As a result, the giant couldn't mount any real offense and was defeated easily by us.
It was the most one-sided battle I've ever seen.
"Seriously, what is he? To think he has years of blank period—it's unbelievable."
Yesterday, Orun said, 'Even if physical abilities are low, you can compensate with technique and experience.'
This battle perfectly embodied that.
And if what he mentioned in the meeting is really possible, then Orun is getting very close to the ideal swordsman image he himself upholds.
Looks like the 50th floor boss fight is going to surprise us again...