Chapter 35
Day 6 in the Labyrinth.
After returning to the hideout, I handed three Transferable Return Tickets to Rize and his party.
Now that the tickets were in their physical form, all they had to do was tear them to return to their original world.
But they didn’t use the tickets.
“Going back now is premature,” Rize said, postponing their return.
“If we go back like this, we’ll just die for nothing. We need to grow stronger to topple the corrupt government.”
Terio and Ayula, in silence, pondered Rize’s words and soon expressed their agreement with his judgment.
Of course, they made it clear they had no intention of staying long.
The period Rize set was about a week.
During that time, he begged me to train them to become stronger, kneeling before me. Terio and Ayula also knelt beside Rize, bowing their heads.
“Training… You can’t possibly mean you want to be trained by me…”
I side-eyed the monsters nearby.
“Do you mean you want to spar with these guys for a week?”
“Yes. Just facing strong opponents will surely help improve our skills.”
That wasn’t wrong.
Sparring with someone stronger would help enhance their skills.
But they couldn’t expect to become noticeably stronger in just a week.
If I had the same abilities I randomly acquired in this other world, it might be possible…
Sadly, that ability was unique; only one person from each dimension could have it, meaning no creature could share that ability. In other words, unless I died or transferred it to someone, there wouldn’t be a duplicate ability bearer.
‘Transferring is a bit much.’
Because of the limit on uses, I couldn’t use that ability anymore.
Even if I could, I wouldn’t.
If I transferred my ability, I’d lose power.
Just like the person who transferred their ability to me.
‘Even if I unseal it, nothing would change from my current state. Or would the seal disappear completely?’
Anyway.
I decided to first gather information about how strong Rize wanted to become, the level of his home planet, Lumina, and how strong the opponents he had to face were, among other things.
*
I整理 the information provided by Rize once more.
Firstly, his current Danger Level is C-Class.
His unnerfed Actual Danger Level is A-Class.
And Rize claims he belongs to the upper echelon of the Orakan tribe.
That means…
The strongest beings on Planet Lumina are at A-Class level.
‘They said there were ten A-Class Orakans…’
Seven of them belong to the government.
The Orakan known as the Seven Great Commanders.
Two belong to the Revolutionary Army.
Rize, the Commander-in-Chief, and the General Staff Orakan.
One doesn’t belong to either faction.
In the end, two of them need to defeat seven.
Well, it’s not impossible.
Unless an S-Class Orakan is involved, Rize mentioned they are all around his level, so it seemed doable.
If they engage in extreme sparring with the monsters, that is.
‘If I really approach sparring as if I’m on the brink of death, then it could work. The Orakan tribe possesses great regenerative abilities, and as long as they aren’t killed instantly, the Medical Mushroom can continue healing them.’
The given time is merely a week.
But if I follow through, they might reach the top of A-Class, or more accurately, a Danger Level of about A+ class.
Oh, by the way, A+ was just a category I made up.
Not all A-Classes are the same, so classifying them seemed better.
Of course, even with A+, they are still A-Class.
They are just the strongest among A-Class.
There is absolutely no way to view it as anything between A and S-Class.
The gap between those two grades is enormous.
There is no middle ground; the scale of power suddenly leaps at some point.
Anyhow.
I decided to fulfill Rize’s request.
Starting today.
“Then let’s begin training today, everyone gather around for a moment.”
I called the monsters over.
And assigned each of them roles.
Dog Spider.
Black Magma Slime.
Centauress.
These three will explore the labyrinth with me.
[Shii!]
[Suuuuh~]
[You want me by your side all the time. I understand that feeling well. Shall we mate?]
And.
Jellyfish.
Psycho Clown.
Hedgehog Summoner.
These three were chosen as sparring partners for Rize, Terio, and Ayula.
The sparring would take place away from me.
In other words, it will be conducted in their unnerfed state.
[Pii.]
[Kirik. Since I’m already a species that has collected bodies, I’m not particularly interested, but I’d love to collect as much as I can while I’m at it.]
[Doo Doom Bar! Sounds fun! If I think of training methods to get stronger instead of sparring, can I use those too? My training will be quite harsh, so be sure to be tense!]
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“I’ll do my best! And I’ll definitely compensate you!”
“Thank you! I’ll strive to not let this kindness go to waste!”
Lastly, the Medical Mushroom would follow them around, healing them just before they die.
With the mushroom around, there shouldn’t be any worries of dying.
[Pii!!!]
The mushroom seemed thrilled at the thought of healing the injured.
Before proceeding with the sparring, I gave the monsters a warning.
“Guys, control your strength well, and absolutely don’t kill anyone, okay?”
[Kirik? Then can I burst their heads?]
Psycho Clown tilted his head and asked.
“If you burst a head, they die, you know? Clown, can you live even if your head bursts?”
[Kirik. I don’t know since I haven’t tried. But those guys seem to have great regenerative abilities, so I think they might survive.]
Oh? Really?
Now that I thought about it, that could be possible.
Since Rize’s tribe has remarkable regeneration skills.
Perhaps they can regenerate even if their heads burst.
Just in case, I asked.
“Rize, can you survive if your head bursts?”
“…If my head bursts, I die.”
“Oh. What a shame.”
“But as for the rest of my body, losing any part besides my head is fine. As long as my head remains intact, I won’t easily die. It may take a long time, though.”
“So if your head is fine, all other body parts can regenerate naturally?”
“Yes. Of course, if there are other life forms nearby, my mental state will become unstable, and I won’t be able to regenerate smoothly… But at least I won’t die instantly. I’ll be healed immediately by the Medical Mushroom, anyway.”
“The heart can burst without issues, right?”
“The most important heart is in my head. The auxiliary hearts elsewhere can all be regenerated anytime.”
Looks like the Orakan tribe doesn’t just have one heart.
That didn’t surprise me.
I had seen several races with multiple hearts in the past.
Anyhow, I made sure to warn the monsters not to burst their heads.
*
I devised the daily schedule for the Orakans.
Mornings for sparring.
Afternoons for labyrinth exploration and mapping.
Evenings for returning, eating, and then sparring again.
Night for sleep.
I couldn’t have them spar all day.
They likely wouldn’t have the stamina for that.
And it’d be a waste to deplete resources for labyrinth exploration.
So, I made them explore to relax in the afternoon.
And before I knew it, today’s schedule was all wrapping up, and bedtime was approaching.
[We’re gonna dance! Doom Bar, Doo Doom Bar!]
“Doom Bar! Doo Doom Bar!!!”
“Dance joyfully!”
Before sleeping, Hedgehog Summoner, the summoned spirits, Terio, and Ayula were in a dance frenzy.
This wasn’t a punishment nor an apology dance like yesterday.
The Hedgehog mentioned this was a kind of training too.
Since Terio and Ayula were weaker than Rize, they had to train even before sleeping.
[This dance is not a normal one! It’s a training exercise to strengthen the body!]
Shake shake!
It was certainly different from the dance I saw yesterday.
The dance moves were even more ridiculous than before.
Watching for a moment was okay, but it was a torture to keep watching.
[We’re practicing even harder! Once we perfect this dance, we’ll be able to dodge any attack!]
“Doom Bar! Doo Doom Bar!”
“Shout joyfully! Doo Doom Bar!”
To be honest, I was skeptical.
Would mastering such a dance really make a difference?
Hedgehog seemed like he just dodged attacks because he was small…
‘…Maybe it’s best to just leave it be.’
The training not on the schedule could become poison, but since it was low intensity and just a quick dance before sleeping, I decided not to worry about it.
*
When I finished the broadcast yesterday, Pururu and Ha Yumi mentioned they had personal schedules.
So I thought neither would show up for the broadcast today, and I just didn’t turn it on.
‘But will they come in the night?’
I decided to解除 the assistant block before sleeping.
I wasn’t sleepy yet.
If they don’t come, that’s that.
If they do come, I’ll just think of chatting briefly with the assistants.
As soon as I解除 the block, Missy showed up.
Is she a NEET?
“Why are you angry the moment you show up? Is it because I didn’t turn on the broadcast today?”
The emoticon turned bright red.
It seemed she was indeed mad about the absence of yesterday’s broadcast.
“Then you should have told me you’d be attending yesterday’s show.”
【Mysticism】─
“Anyway, since you have no chat, I’m turning off the broadcast.”
I hesitated to block the assistant again.
Seeing the crying emoticon softened my heart a bit.
“…Why are you crying? Then I’ll turn it off just before sleeping.”
After saying that, I sprawled on the floor.
And just then, while staring blankly at the ceiling and sorting my thoughts,
[Explorer! I’ve returned!]
“Hmm?”
Centauress returned.
Oh right, she said she’d go meet the centaurs briefly earlier, didn’t she?
I just now realized she wasn’t by my side.
No wonder I felt something was missing.
[Explorer, why do you look so surprised? You didn’t realize I was gone, did you?]
“I thought you’d sleep over the night, but I’m surprised you returned so soon. Do you think I wouldn’t notice your absence?”
I dodged the question.
Saying the truth might hurt her feelings.
For the record, I had mentioned it in the morning.
[Ah, I see. That’s a relief. I almost forced myself to mate out of irritation.]
Glad that she didn’t suspect anything.
With a bright smile, Centauress handed me a notebook.
[Anyway, here. It’s a diary from my mother that I snatched… uh, received from my brothers.]
“Your mother’s diary?”
[Yes. My mother recorded everything that happened in this labyrinth. I don’t know what’s written inside, but I thought it would surely help you, so I brought it along.]
I felt reluctant to read someone else’s diary.
One thought that it might be easier to read it as an explorer’s log left for future adventurers.
“Thanks. But have you not read it?”
[My mother didn’t show it to anyone, not even to me or my brothers. She insisted that no one should ever look at it after she died, so no one has seen it until now. We just kept it as a memento.]
“Your brothers let that slide pretty easily.”
[At first, they opposed it. But once I persuaded them a little, they readily accepted and handed it over.]
“Oh. You must be quite the smooth talker! How did you persuade them?”
[My mother told me to help those who meet a Supported One, so I said showing this diary is helping the Explorer and beat up my brothers.]
“…So you forced them to give it up, huh.”
Well, it’s not surprising that four couldn’t take down one.
I guessed Centauress was the youngest, and they probably let her win on purpose.
I once again expressed my gratitude to her and opened the first page of the diary.
The cover looked quite old, but the paper inside and the writing seemed to be in good condition.
‘Unknown script.’
Not knowing the language wasn’t a problem for reading.
It could either be the labyrinth’s grace or the explorer’s ability—probably one or the other.
━━━━#-1━━━━
Since I received food support from the assistant, I thought I’d start recording my life here today.
I became an explorer five days ago.
The trait I chose is Supported One.
It’s the ability to tame the monsters living within the Ancient Labyrinth.
To tame monsters, one must have sex with them.
That’s the condition for taming.
Were all those who chose the Supported One trait before me also having sex with monsters? Or is the condition different for each person?
I plan to slowly figure this out.
For now, I need to tame monsters to survive here.
I can’t show the assistant that I’m having sex with monsters, so I’ll have to block communication.
…And honestly.
I feel my heart racing.
Having sex with another race!
I never imagined I could fulfill my unspoken desires here.
I’m very much looking forward to the future. Hehe.
━━━━━━━━━━
I turned the page.
I decided to skip over information I already knew or didn’t need.
I’ll focus on examining notes that might contain insights or helpful information.