abcnovels
Volume 3 - Ch 2.08
Volume 3 - Ch 2.08
Labyrinths are clever little bastards, arent they.
Okay, that takes care of that one matter, but if there will always be so many people there, then how are we supposed to hunt monsters effectively? I only been there once, but from what I saw the number of Adventurers was so high that if I threw a stone in any random direction it would probably end up hitting someone anyway.
Its true that the Labyrinth of Quratar is a pretty popular place with a lot of traffic, but as we will advance to the higher floors, the number of Adventurers per floor should be gradually decreasing, because the first floors are usually filled with beginners who want get a feel of the Labyrinth and amass experience before they move on to higher floors. Also, the number of people should decrease even more if we decided to go there late at night, because the common sense dictates that Labyrinths should generally be avoided after dark if you value your life.
I-Is that so? Got it then. Thank you for the information.
N-Not at all, master! It was my pleasure!
You only have one life, after all, so its obvious that people will do anything they can in order to preserve it. But going to the Labyrinth in the middle of the night, huh? I admit that it is a tempting prospect, but if it really is as dangerous as Roxanne says it is, then maybe it will be better not to push my luck with it? Or maybe maybe I could try using my Warp to find myself a Labyrinth at ten other side of this world so that I could Warp between them anytime it would be getting dark in order to go back to the Labyrinth where there is still daytime? That would be great if I could pull something absurd like that off, but on the other hand it might be impossible for the current me to do, since I only have so much MP on me, and the further the warping distance, the more MP is consumed to travel. And if Warp would be no good for such an excursion, then I highly doubt that Field Walker, Warps inferior version, would do any better.
Later Roxanne also told me that the Labyrinth in Quratar is the one that has supposedly existed in this country for the longest time, and that presently it is still unknown exactly how many floors it has because no one was able to reach the top floor and defeat its Floor Boss as of yet. This makes me wonder: how big it is, and how powerful the Floor Boss of the last floor is going to be if the rue is that monsters and Floor Bosses are supposed to be getting progressively stronger with each consecutive floor?
Generally it is said that once a Labyrinth has grown to reach fifty floors, it opens its gates and invites people in to explore it, only to consume those who will die by the monsters hands during the exploration process, making the Labyrinth grow even bigger as it digests them and turns them into treasure chests. According to the official records, the highest floor reached in the Quratars Labyrinth is the 91stone, and that feat worthy of legend was achieved by none other than the Party of this countrys first emperor. However, since no one was able to repeat this achievement in any other Labyrinths, it has been established that a Party can be considered a top-class one if it is able to reach the Labyrinths 80thfloor and come back to tell the tale.
Although there are some rules pertaining to what monsters can appear at which floors, the exact species differ between each Labyrinth. In the case of Qurtars Labyrinth it is as follows: the first floor is occupied by Kobolds, the second floor is the domain of Nave Olives, and on the third one the Spy Spiders reside. I already know from Veil Labyrinths third floor that Kobolds are noob-friendly monsters suitable for those who have only just began their adventure with going to the Labyrinths, so the same must be true for those two other species of monsters. Because of how easy it is to access the first few floors without spending hours or even days to prepare for it, Quratars Labyrinth has grown to be a popular tour destination for those who want to gain levels relatively easily.
Roxanne has educated me about all those things while we were preparing dinner. It was an awful lot of information, especially for someone like me who does not have the biggest attention span and the capability for learning, but she managed to boil it all down into a digestable form that even I could understand. She would definitely made a good teacher if she ever decided to look for a normal, non-adventuring job.
The end result of our joint cooking effort was pot-au-feu prepared by Roxanne and fried meat fried by yours truly. For the first meal that I prepared (partially) with my own hands in this world, I have to say that the taste well, it was not mind-blowingly great, but it also wasnt totally inedible either.
Hmm perhaps we should have added some spices and seasonings after all?
You think so as well?
Ideally it would be best if we could boil the pot-au-feu some more, but since this world only has fire and it will probably be centuries before the gas and electric stoves will be introduced here, then such thought will have to remain nothing more but distant dreams and pleasant memories of how convenient my previous life was in certain aspects. Unfortunately, with the level of technology where it is necessary to stand next to the cooked dish for the entire process in order not to burn it we pretty much have to stay in home and cannot do any other things, like go shopping or to the Labyrinth for a quick monster hunting session. Damn, at times like these I realize how good it would be to also have a microwave in here.
Perhaps in this world eating delicious food is a privilege reserved only for the wealthiest of nobles who can afford to have an army of dedicated cooks and chefs at their every beck and call? And I am sure that this world does not have anything like a solid dashi stock or powdered miso soup, so cooking a strictly Japanese meal is also probably out of the question.
*Sigh* It cannot be helped since it was my first attempt at cooking something for myself in a new world, but now I know that I have to work on my ability to prepare not only fried meat, but also all kinds of different foods as well without using modern methods. Next time we will be out to do some shopping we also definitely have to make it a priority to look for some legitimate spices and seasonings, because if I had to choose between eating food that was not season at all and the one that is seasoned, then of course I will choose the seasoned one.
After we ate dinner, we had to wait until it was sunset before the water that we were going to use to wash ourselves was boiled properly. In the dim light where it was hard to see anything farther than my outstretched hands reach, I offered to wipe Roxannes body for her, and as usual, she accepted my proposal without any resistance.
Dont we have any candles in here somewhere? They sure would be handy right about now, its so dark that I can barely see anything.
We dont have any candles, and even if we did, we dont have a candlestick where we could put them.
Note to self: for situations such as these, candles, candlesticks and candle holders are an absolute necessity. Right now, when Roxannes naked body is in front of me I would like nothing more than to feast my eyes on it, but without a proper source of light I cant see her beautiful skin and seductive curves all that well
Damn, we really should have bought that candle stick today when we had the chance.
Y-Yes, Master, I I agree. Im sorry. Candles haaah candles arent cheap, so I thought huaahhh that there was no need to buy them just yet because because we might not need the just yet kyaaah
Well, at the very least I can enjoy the sweet elasticity of Roxannes chest without relying on my vision all that much. Ahh, that wonderful feeling of solid weight in the palms of my hands is really out of this world. Its like her breasts are literally spilling out from between my fingers because they are unable to fully contain them. Whenever I try to wipe them with the wet towel, their softness and smoothness pushed back against the fabric, as if it was telling not to use anything other than my bare hands in order to take care of them. You know what, I take back what I said. Maybe this darkness that surrounds us now is not a curse, but actually a blessing in disguise.