abcnovels
Volume 6 - Ch 2.01
Volume 6 - Ch 2.01
Roxanne
Current Character Levels & Equipment:
Jobs:
Beast Warrior Lv.25
Equipment:
Scimitar
Leather Helmet
Hardened Leather Jacket
Leather Gloves
Leather Shoes
Sandals
While we were at the thirteenth floor of Tares Labyrinth, caution was the name of the game for us this time. Instead of going forward as fast as possible, this time we decided to adopt an approach that was a direct opposite of our usual one: moving forward more slowly while paying more attention to our surroundings so that we could have a bigger control over the situation in case if something unexpected ever happened, and there was also the matter of Thieves and Bandits that could supposedly be lurking in the shadows of the Labyrinths starting from the twelfth floor onwards. If I can help it, then I want to avoid being attacked by them as much as possible.
It is not that I am afraid that we would lose to them in battle, because with our equipment and my magic, there is no way for something like that to happen. I have already fought against Bandits a few times in the past, and if at all possible, I do not wish to be facing another human being in battle, because killing monsters is one thing, but killing other people, even if they are the bad guys for whom you are not supposed to feel sorry for, is not something that I would like to engage in again if I can help it.
There certainly seems to be not that many people here. Still, I do not know if it is a lot of them or not, because the only comparison that we have that might come close to it is the eleventh floor of Quratars Labyrinth, and we have not been there that many times, so we do not know what the usual number of people there actually is.
Roxanne continued to guide us through the Labyrinths corridors while saying some concerningly creepy things.
I am still worried about the possibility of us becoming a target for a Bandit attack, but if what Sherry said is true, then even if we are going to be observed by them, they should not openly attack us once they see that we are a strong Party that is going to give them more trouble than it is actually worth if they decided to attack us with the intention of robbing us of our belongings, and I am more than confident that thy should decide against that one they see Roxanne and her godly dodging abilities in action.
But still, knowing that they might be observing us throws more than one wrench into my usual plans and battle strategies, because being potentially observed goes against my policy of not allowing other people to see me using magic, but the saving grace here is that since I have my Identify Spell, I will be able to recognize the Bandits even before they attack us, so being ambushed by them is not going to be that much of a problem.
Moreover, even if the Bandits decided to attack us after all, I am pretty confident that we would be able to not only repel them, but quite possibly inflict heavy losses upon them or even slaughter them all under the extremely favorable conditions, even more so if I knew that the Bandits watching over us would be approaching, meaning that they would never have the best thing that the Bandits or other outlaws could use in order to catch their unsuspecting prey: the element of surprise.
However, for the time being we do not have to worry about them, or at least I think we do not have to, but just to be on the safe side, I decided to refrain from using my newly-bought Rod in order to try if my spells have really become stronger or not. Also, to rub some salt into my wounds, since this thirteenth floor of Tares Labyrinth is a home to the Lv.13 Rub Shrubs, my Meteor Crash would have been very helpful in dispatching them quickly without running the risk of them skewering us with their branches, but now, bcause of that whole possible Bandit mess, I cannot use is so openly, meaning that the only option of magical battle left for me is to fight the enemies on the thirteenth floor by using ordinary elemental Spells so that in best-case scenario I am simply going to be taken for an ordinary Party Mage instead of someone who is so uber OP that he can summon freaking meteors out of thin air.
Now, usually I would not have any trouble whatsoever with fighting the enemies with just magic, but this time, or I guess I should say, in the case of this particular floor this ordeal was especially grueling and difficult, primarily because the higher the floor, the stronger the enemies are getting and the battles with them are getting more severe and require me to use more shots of magic to kill a single enemy, so I think that now you should understand why the perspective of only using regular magic on the enemies that can withstand more than six or seven shots of it before they finally drop down and die is having me more than a little worried, but unfortunately there is nothing that I can do about it for now, so I just have to grit my teeth and suck it all as we continue on forward.
Thankfully, even though the enemies are getting stronger, that also means that they are going to be giving us a lot of EXP from defeating them, and as long as we continue to get ourselves a lot of EXP, we will continue to grow stronger, even if it is going to be bit by bit, and the battles are going to become that much easier.
At some point, it might also be a good idea to increase the amount of my Party members again, but until that happens, we are going to have no choice but to continue to fight the way we have been until now ever since we have cleared the first eleven floors of the Labyrinths and managed to enter the twelfth floor and fight the enemies that started to appear there without much difficulty.
One of the more important Drop Items that we got from the trip to the thirteenth floor of the Labyrinth were the Pork Ribs that dropped from the Pig Hog enemy after we killed it. Honestly, as long as I will be able to enjoy these ribs for dinner, then I do not even care what kind of a dish are we going to incorporate it into. All that I care about is the sweet and juicy taste of the pork meat that is going to be melting in my mouth like a true delicacy.
The only thing that could possibly top these when it comes to taste would be beef meat, but unfortunately I do not know where can I procure it or what kind of monster drops it, and the price of it at a butchers shop is simply outrageously high, so as long as I have a choice between getting them that way or from the Labyrinth, then I am more than willing to put my bet on the Labyrinth. But before we find a monster that can drop beef upon its death for sure, these Pork Ribs are going to have to make do. And while we are on the subject of making food..
For todays dinner I used the Pork Ribs that we brought back home with us. First I grilled them, then stir-fried them together with vegetables, then watered and boiled them in a soup, and then thickened the entire thing with some Slime Starch. After putting in the finishing touches that consisted of some salt, pepper and fish sauce, I am happy to report that I managed to obtain something that should be coming pretty close to a chop suey. It is not exactly it because some of the ingredients differ from what should be typically used in order to make it, but I daresay that it should be as close to the original thing as humanely possible.
I tried to recreate one of the dishes from my homeland with this one. I doubt I did a perfect job at it, but this is as close as it is going to get.
I said when the food was ready and I placed it on the table in front of Roxanne and Sherry. Both of them looked at it with curiosity and anticipation.