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"Alessia, could you please not eliminate those monsters before Delia and I even have a chance to get a good look at them?" I say, with a hint of irritation in my voice.
Today, Alessia, Delia, and I are on the 42nd floor of the No Man's Zone.
There is much more vegetation on this floor than on the previous floors, with striking, colorful flowers and grasses growing on the sides of the path.
That might make some people consider this floor more beautiful than the rest, but I'm not interested in that kind of thing.
However, there are other things that certainly catch my attention, and in that category falls the new type of enemy we discovered a few days ago on this floor.
One that is as dangerous as it is beautiful: Dryads.
Incredibly beautiful women with greenish skin and olive-colored hair who appear from among the trees and teleport quickly between them while throwing clouds of poisonous and debilitating miasma at people.
I would prefer not to kill them, as I don't like the idea of hurting such natural beauties, so more than once I argued in their defense, saying that we could use them as allies thanks to Zariche's Dementia mist.
But Alessia has an entirely different idea and is eliminating them almost as soon as we spot them.
To the point that I'm starting to get the impression that she takes some perverse pleasure in eliminating the 'women' I find attractive through physical violence.
Which is a shame, because unlike most monsters, it seems that each Dryad has a completely different face and style of beauty, making each encounter with one unique and unrepeatable.
"There's no point in wasting our time on such weak monsters, Master. If we give them time, all we'll get is their foul breath poisoning us, which in turn would mean Delia would have to waste her time and mana healing us..." says Alessia, as the cloud of golden particles begins to fade behind her.
"...In which direction are the next monsters?"
"They're after the fork that's about 20 meters from here, after turning at the next bend, right at the beginning of the path on the right," I say in a worn voice.
"I'm going to go ahead a little to scout the terrain. Don't worry, I'm not going to face the monsters on my own. I'll wait for you to catch up," says the beautiful blue-eyed blonde, and she runs off at breakneck speed in the direction I just mentioned.
With each new level in Sword Saint, my first girlfriend is becoming faster and faster in combat, to the point where there are increasingly frequent moments when she is even faster than me with my Agility profile.
"Haa... It seems that lately, teamwork has begun to be conspicuous by its absence," I say in an annoyed voice, even though Alessia can no longer hear me, as we begin to walk behind her.
"Don't worry, Emir, this behavior is probably just her response to the stress of the last few weeks.... I think Alessia still feels guilty about what happened to me..." says Delia sadly, who has a completely different idea from mine about the reasons for Alessia's attitude.
"... Even though I've told her over and over again that none of us are to blame for that."
As we talk, Blue Wind vibrates slightly in Delia's hands, holding a silent conversation with Zariche, who is sheathed at my waist.
Apparently, talking weapons can communicate with each other in a language that is impossible for humans to hear, because lately the talking sword and spear vibrate almost constantly when we are at home.
I can't imagine what they are talking about, because Blue Wind refuses to discuss it with Delia, but I'm not particularly interested.
"Haa... You may be right. Still, we shouldn't split up in the labyrinth," I say as we begin to catch up with Alessia.
The young woman is at a safe distance from the group of monsters I had seen with my interface map, waiting for us to reach her so we can face them.
There are four monsters, but we can only see three of them: a Golden Eagle, a Hellcat, and a Hypnotic Bat.
As is usual in the No Man's Zone, the size of all the monsters in front of us is much smaller than that of the monsters on the lower floors of the labyrinths.
In this case, a Golden Eagle is a monster with the shape and size of a normal eagle, but with extremely greater speed, endurance, and attack power.
But in addition to these characteristics, which are already problematic due to its small size compared to those I have seen in the Bajamira labyrinth, it has the ability to make its body glow with a blinding light for short periods of time.
The monster uses this ability to dazzle its opponents during combat.
The other two monsters that accompany it are also similar in size to the animals they imitate, but in the case of the Hellcat, its body is completely covered in flames.
Meanwhile, the Hypnotic Bat has a much greater ability to hypnotize than its counterpart in the lower levels of the Bajamira Labyrinth.
It uses this ability to lure adventurers off the path or to prevent them from detecting other monsters near their position.
This is probably why the last of the four monsters marked on my interface is not visible to the naked eye, but I know it is a Carnivorous Flower thanks to the name I see floating a short distance from the other monsters.
However, the Carnivorous Flower does not necessarily need the help of the Hypnotic Bat, as it can easily be camouflaged among the dense flowering grass that grows on either side of the path.
Despite its small size, its physical resistance is ridiculously greater than one would expect from a small flower.
But the real problem is not its resistance but the cloud of toxic and corrosive acid it expels every time an adventurer gets close enough to its range, as it is capable of melting skin to the bone in a matter of seconds.
Fortunately, this time the monster's acid will work in our favor.
"Wait here. There's a sneaky vermin in the grass," I say with a half-smile when Delia and I reach Alessia, at a safe distance from the monsters so we can see them without provoking them to attack us.
"F*ck... I thought there weren't any of those bitches," Alessia says quietly.
"It's not a Dryad, Alessia. Why do you hate them so much?" I say with amusement.
"No particular reason," my first girlfriend mutters under her breath.
'Haa...
She's kind of cute with this new jealous side of hers...
But it's also a little worrying...
However, now I have to focus on other things...
Hey, old lothario, stop talking to that stupid spear for a moment; I have work for you!'
After that last thought, I drew Zariche.
Since we made the truce, once unsheathed, the cursed sword always takes the form of a double-edged greatsword to suit my preferences, even if he still retains his dark and sinister air.
There are several disadvantages to using Zariche, as I cannot use skills or change profiles while holding him.
But his absurd attack power, his ability to heal the wielder, and his ability to control enemies more than make up for the disadvantages.
Furthermore, since I discovered that I can avoid most of the disadvantages by simply letting go of the sword momentarily, there are almost no downsides to using him.
The only problem, if you can call it that, for which I have not yet found a solution is the enormous pleasure that comes with using the sword to cut things.
If I'm not careful, it's very easy to become lost in a frenzy similar to the one I felt when I first used him against the Dragon Zombie.
But the sword assures me that he has no control over this adverse effect, just as he cannot disable the skill lock even if he wanted to.
However, I am confident that it is simply a matter of getting used to the feeling.
'I'm not old, and she's not stupid, you ignorant brat. Can you tell me what you want from me?'
'I want you to envelop the group of monsters in front of us with your Dementia Mist. But I'd like you to focus specifically on the one that's hidden.'
'Haa... Occasionally I'm surprised at how dumb you can be. It's true that I can hear most of your thoughts, brat, but I've already told you that there are some that escape me. So, if you want me to help you, you're going to have to be a little more specific. Which of the two hidden enemies are you referring to?'
'Two?'