Library, adaptation to the city, combat training.
Today I skipped this daily routine I'd been repeating every day for the past month. On the day the maze opened, that wasn't what the explorers were supposed to do.
[08:10]
As soon as I woke up, I skipped breakfast and ran to the meeting place I had arranged with Ainar. I ran because I'd been told I'd have to wait several hours if I arrived even a little late.
"Lord! Bjorn, sun or Yandel!"
To my surprise, Ainar was there before me.
"…When did you arrive?"
"You said you'd leave me behind if I was late, so I slept right here! Come on! We're the first ones here!"
«...»
Although it was still 30 minutes until opening time, there was a long queue in front of the entrance. However, thanks to Ainar, we were able to enter the Explorers' Guild as soon as the door opened.
"How can I help you?"
"We have come to receive binding magic."
"Are there two members on your team?"
"That's how it is."
"Please place your hands here."
When we followed the instructions, a faint light came out of the crystal ball. It was a greenish light.
"Two Rank 9 Explorers. The cost is 15,000 stones."
15,000 stones...
If I hadn't budgeted for food, I would have been a bit tight. I obediently opened my bag of stones and paid the price.
It left a bitter taste in my mouth, but it was an unavoidable expense. Upon entering the labyrinth, the starting point was random. But with this magic, at least we could start in the same place.
"How do you classify an explorer?"
"It is measured by the total amount of essence engraved on your soul."
"I see. So, does the cost of a link increase as the rank goes up?"
"Of course."
Ha, now this didn't have to be exactly the same as in the game.
"That's it. Keep in mind that it will only last for the next 24 hours."
"OK."
It was just after 9 when we finished our business and left the Explorers' Guild.
"Let's go back to my inn for dinner. The food is quite good."
"An inn? Does the inn serve food?"
What kind of life has he been leading?
When I asked him this indirect question, Ainar answered as if it were no big deal.
"I usually bought the bread I ate in the labyrinth."
Ah, the one that costs 20 stones each.
I'd tried it once to save money on food, but I gave up after a while. I didn't know how it worked, but what was quite edible in the maze was as hard as a rock out here.
That's why it's even called stone bread…
But she ate only that for a month? I felt sorry for her, so I asked her for meat and a stew, and Ainar responded with an oath of loyalty.
"Bjorn! I'll jump into a pit of fire if you ask me to! So don't leave me!"
After a tearful meal, we went up to the room and took some time to organize our backpacks.
«Make sure you have it all. If we forget to bring something and end up needing it, it will be a problem».
«Don't worry! I have nothing to bring».
Time passed surprisingly quickly as I inspected my equipment and gathered exploration supplies and consumables in my backpack.
«So let's get some sleep now».
«I have never seen a bed so soft. It seems wide enough for two people. It doesn't even smell».
After organizing everything we needed to be able to enter the maze at any time, we lay down next to each other and went to sleep.
But, the bed was quite narrow with Ainar by my side. When I lay down with Erwen, there was still room.
«Even if you can't sleep, force yourself to rest. We won't be able to sleep well for a while-»
Mm, what was I worried about?
¡Rummmbllleee-!
Before I could finish my words, a typical barbarian snore was heard next to me.
I smiled and also closed my eyes. It had been a long time since then.
[20: 30]
We got up a little early and had our last meal on the first floor, a special luxurious meal of 800 stones per person.
«What does this taste like?»
Ainar, who had been complaining throughout the meal, took a bite of the cream pie served as dessert and froze.
«Is it magic? I can not stop crying».
«Ah, that's called 'sweetness'».
«I feel like I have to work very hard in the future...»
It wasn't intentional, but I think it had given him the right motivation.
«Let's go.»
As we grabbed our bags and went outside at night, we saw many people walking outside, contrary to usual. Most of them were armed like me and carried a large backpack. Like I said, not everyone was like that, and there were also barbarians with only one weapon on their bodies.
It seemed like they had just finished the coming-of-age ceremony today and had arrived in town...
«Stop! I think we are lost.»
«Incredible! We must reach the maze within the established time!»
«¡Partun doesn't deserve to be a jefe!»
So this happens every month, huh. How do these barbarians get into the labyrinth every time?
I was seriously wondering when Ainar approached them and gave them some advice.
«If you follow them, you will reach the labyrinth».
The young warriors looked at her and thanked her with eyes as if they were looking at their successful superior.
«Thank you! I will definitely return this favor!»
Watching the barbarians walk away, Ainar wiped his nose.
«Haha... reminds me of the past».
Please don't pretend it's a thing of the past.
It seemed to me that nothing had changed since then.
«Everyone, back!»
Thousands of people had already gathered in the Plaza de la Dimension. As we sat in the crowd waiting for midnight to arrive, a light began to well up from the center.
Although small at first, the rapidly growing halo transformed into a sphere.
«You can enter now!»
When the guide shouted this, the scouts around him quickly rushed towards the portal.
I took Ainar to the outskirts to avoid the crowd.
«Bjorn, aren't we going in?»
«Wait».
The sea of explorers gathered in the square disappeared by the dozens every second. But, the square was still crowded due to the other explorers who kept arriving on time, one after another. 40 minutes after the portal opened, the crowded square had calmed down, and the queue now consisted of seven or eight hundred people.
«... Shouldn't we go in now?»
The portal, which had already devoured tens of thousands of explorers, was now smaller.
But I kept waiting.
Ainar also read my expression and spoke in a different tone of voice.
«Bjorn, what are you waiting for?»
Mm, that's a bit of a long explanation... and I don't know if it will work or not.
However, I decided to give a brief explanation since we had plenty of time left.
«I plan to enter when the dimensional portal is unstable. The book says that it only happens once every hundred years, but if we take advantage of this phenomenon...»
«I don't know what that means, but I'll follow you».
«....?»
«I have a feeling I won't understand it anyway!»
I had honestly thought this would be the case. It was annoying that he said that after asking me first, but... In fact, it was quite convenient to be able to omit the explanation of each of my actions.
«The door will close soon! Back!»
Finally, the light from the portal began to fade.
There were no explorers left. Only then did I slowly walk towards the maze with Ainar. When we saw each other, the guide shouted,
«It's dangerous to enter now!»
I pretended I didn't hear.
I don't know why they say it's dangerous.
I didn't understand why they thought like that. Seeing that statistics are even published as books, they too must be aware of this phenomenon.....
«B-Bjorn! That person in authority says it's dangerous! We have to go back!»
Why doesn't anyone take advantage of this?
***
1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds…
Mm, maybe the countdown didn't make sense. When I received the strong feeling that enough time had passed,
«Now is the time. Let's enter».
Screech.
I pushed Ainar from behind and also entered the maze at the same time.
¡Flash-!
A flash of light darkened my eyes, and when I opened them again, a thick darkness greeted me. It meant my plan had worked.
«See! I can't see forward! We should have listened to the person in authority! Bjorn is stupid!»
«Ainar, calm down».
Ainar regained some composure as I hurriedly lit the torch on my backpack.
«What's going on?»
«Even if I tell you, you won't understand».
"... That's true!»
Having easily convinced Ainar, I slowly looked around. And, when I found the monument located in front of the dead end, a strange feeling came over me.
Indeed, the phenomenon of dimensional instability was closely related to the moment of entering the portal. That fact made me happy and sad at the same time.
That meant that if I had made my decision just a minute earlier during the first inning, I wouldn't have gotten my leg tattered and wouldn't have had to crawl on three limbs!
¡¡¡¡Whoosh!!!
As soon as I put my hand on the tombstone, a halo exploded and turned into a sphere.
«What is this?»
«It's a portal on the second floor».
In other words, we skip all the processes of having to navigate the path with a compass, fight all the monsters we encounter, and travel our way in the dark. With this, we had saved at least a day or two.
«What?! The boss said it would take us three days to find the portal! What magic have you used?»
Even if I tell you, you won't understand.
[The portal has been opened for the first time. EXP +2]
[Increases the character's level]
[Spiritual augmented in 10.]
[The maximum number of absorbable essences has increased by 1.]
To become a professional, you have to use bugs.
***
[Bjorn Candle]
Level: 2 (New +1)
Physical: 46
Spiritu: 36
Special ability: 4 (New +3)
Item level: 202
General Combat Power: 136.5 (New +3)
***
[You have entered the Goblin Forest, on the second floor].
Floating about three meters in the air, I quickly found my balance and landed on two feet.
Hit!
Yes, he had practiced while fighting with the barbarians.
«¡Ugh!»
Seeing Ainar fall on his ass, I realized how far he had come and began to understand Erwen's feeling when she had laughed at me.
«Ugh... my ass is numb».
It was pretty fun to watch. Well, with his reflexes, he would soon learn to land correctly.
«What is that? That disappointed expression?»
«No es nada.»
Overlooking that question, I took out my watch and set it to 0:05. I should have done it as soon as I opened my eyes, but I had forgotten. Even so, I brought it forward five minutes, so there would be no problem.
«...Ainar, do you feel it too?»
«What do you mean?»
«It feels like my heart is vibrating».
To describe it, it was a feeling like something dense had entered my blood vessels and was filling my body. It had been like this from the moment I crossed the portal, and now I felt it very clearly.
What could be?
After explaining the symptoms to Ainar, he quickly came up with a diagnosis.
«It seems that your Soul Dignity has increased! Congratulations».
Ah, I've leveled up.
The Dungeon and Stone also had levels.
Soul Power that was based on level. In other words, MP, the resource needed to use this ability, increased with Soul Power and the total amount of absorbable essences also increased.
For example, at level one he could only absorb one essence, but...
Since I'd reached level two, I could now absorb a maximum of two. Well, anyway, it only made sense if I had an essence to start with.
"Interesting. You haven't captured any monsters yet, your Soul Dignity has gone up!"
"It's not a surprise. It's just that I managed to be the first person to open the portal."
The achievements described points of experience in this world.
"Um, is that even recognized as an achievement?"
It was. Once you reached a certain level, running fast was the easiest way to increase your experience points.
Dungeon & Stone was a game with a slightly unusual leveling system. You could only gain experience points from each monster once, and only for the first kill. So, like filling in an illustration book, you could only level up by defeating multiple monsters.
Uh, wait, isn't this a little dangerous?
"Ainar, this has to be a secret between you and me. Understood?"
"A secret? What is it?"
"That I was the first to open the door. That's all. If anyone asks, say it took you two days to get to the second floor."
The experience gained from opening a portal was only 2. In other words, it was almost the same as killing two rank 9 monsters, but…
Unlike monsters, this could accumulate over and over again.
Therefore, explorers who had reached a certain level were stuck in the speed race because the monsters that could be hunted were limited. This also depended on the nature of the god worshipped by the priest, the compatibility with the monster, the area you were in, and the presence of a mage. When you face a wall, the only way to get through it is through hard physical labor. But was this possible for an amateur?
Only I could know this trick, because if this got out, it definitely wouldn't end well.
"I swear it on the honor of a warrior."
Was my expression too serious?
Ainar's expression had changed, and although I hadn't asked him to, he had sworn an oath to me. Thanks to this, I felt quite relieved, but I knew we had to move quickly.
"We should get out of here."
In a few hours, the other explorers would enter the second floor. And when they see two beginners here, they'll start to have doubts.
"What are you, that you arrived before us? Indeed, it's better that they don't see us."
As always, I was more afraid of the bastard explorers than of the real monsters.