"My Lady, are we alive?"
"Yes... we're alive. Thank God. I'm so relieved. I really am... hic..."
I opened my eyes to see her.
Her face was caked in dirt and dust, and for some reason, she was weeping.
"Why the tears? You'll ruin that pretty face of yours."
"You...! Shut up... I really thought we were going to die."
"Your tears are streaking your face. Wipe them off."
"You damn porter...! And here I was, worried sick about you!"
She scrunched up her face and shoved me away. A shame—that lap pillow had been quite comfortable.
"Ugh. Good grief. My whole body aches. I feel like I'm falling apart."
"A-are you okay?!"
"I'll live. Why are you so jumpy again?"
"No... it's just..."
After a bit of teasing, she seemed to return to her usual self. The shadows of sadness and despair had vanished from her eyes. It was important to provoke her a little; anger is a great tool for regaining one's composure.
From here on out, it was a race against time. Mental fortitude was everything.
If her mind breaks, it's over. It'll be a nightmare if she panics or loses her grip on reality.
A rescue team would eventually be dispatched, but we had to abandon any hope of immediate help. Until they arrived, my priority was to keep her mental state as stable as possible.
Because of the Great Upheaval, the Labyrinth maps are useless. There's no telling how long it'll take for a rescue team to reach us.
While the areas from the Underground City downward remained a mystery, the upper floors had been well-mapped. They had been thoroughly explored by countless adventurers and people like me who possessed the 'Cartography' Trait.
However, the Great Upheaval had completely reshaped the geography. Even the 'Floor Division' phenomenon had occurred. It would likely take the rescue team at least two days just to descend to the third floor. They would have to save stranded adventurers along the way and redraw the lost maps as they went.
We could try to climb back up ourselves, but...
The Young Lady might have been fine, but my stamina was completely bottomed out. I needed rest.
Our plan was to hole up on the third floor for about a day. If we ran into the rescue team during that time, great. If not, the two of us would have to make the climb alone.
Fortunately, I'd found a decent room for her to hide in. The entrance was narrow, making it difficult for monsters to swarm us. Since teleportation stones drop you in a random location when moving between floors, we were lucky this room was nearby.
"Are you hurt anywhere, My Lady?"
"I'm fine. Though I'm a bit of a mess, hygienically speaking..."
"Even if you can't bathe, you can at least wash your face."
I pulled a bucket and a waterskin from my pack.
"Shouldn't we be conserving water?"
"I have about ten more skins just like this. Don't worry about the supply; just wash up."
"An Aether Pocket... that's honestly cheating."
"I'm inclined to agree."
The Aether Pocket was a truly broken Trait. With proper preparation, one could survive in the Labyrinth for weeks on end.
"Listen, I'm in no condition to move right now. We need to stay in this room until I've recovered."
"Alright."
"And if this really is the third floor, those guys will be showing up soon."
"Those guys?"
"Yes. The Hoarding Rabbits."
Hoarding Rabbits were scavengers known for collecting fallen adventurers and corpses. They likely had a massive pile of bodies and equipment stashed away somewhere nearby.
"Are you saying we should go after them? For the equipment?"
"No, that's not it. I'm telling you because they'll be here any minute."
"Wait, what? They're coming here? Why?"
"They have a knack for finding the dead and the dying."
Weakness detection—that was their specialty. Since I was currently incapacitated, they would undoubtedly come to drag me away.
"Before I can get back on my feet, do you think you can hold them off?"
"I... well, let me ask first: are Hoarding Rabbits strong?"
"No. They're similar to Horn Rabbits, just a bit bigger."
"Bigger?"
"Yeah. Larger than a Vorpal Rabbit. Since this entrance is narrow, they won't be able to force their way in all at once. Because of their size, you can just thrust your weapon blindly and you'll probably hit something vital."
"I see. So, just big rabbits..."
"Their fur fetches a high price. It's a major export for the North. Whatever you kill is your profit. Do your best—you need to earn your keep, after all."
"Ugh... fine."
She nodded reluctantly. Good. Her will was still strong.
Should I take a potion for now?
I downed a restorative tonic to kickstart my stamina recovery. It wasn't anything legendary like an Elixir, but it would get me moving again quickly. There was a limit to how long she could hold off a wave of Hoarding Rabbits alone; I needed to get up fast.
They'll definitely come.
Those creatures had an uncanny ability to sniff out the scent of the vulnerable. They never failed to find injured adventurers or those trying to hide while wounded. Their individual attack power was low, but their persistence was infuriating. They were one of the primary reasons rookie parties got wiped out in the 'Breeding Ground' on the upper floors.
Once they sniff out an injured person, they swarm. In the chaos, people often feel forced to abandon their comrades just to escape...
But if you start abandoning the weak one by one, you eventually end up alone. And the Hoarding Rabbits classify 'those left alone' as the weakest of all.
Stragglers, corpses, lone survivors—they were all primary targets. In short, the moment you abandon a comrade to save yourself, you drastically increase your chances of becoming prey. Of course, they rarely show themselves to a healthy, full party, so some people pass through the Breeding Ground without ever seeing one.
—Squeal. Squeal.
"You hear that, right?"
"Yeah. It's a disgusting sound."
"That's them."
It sounded like the squealing of pigs. The Hoarding Rabbits were closing in to claim the Labyrinth's weak.
"SQUEAL!"
Finally, the first one appeared. It shoved its head into the narrow entrance, struggling to squeeze through. It was massive.
"Damn it!"
The Young Lady didn't hesitate. She thrust her spear straight into the eye of the rabbit trying to force its way in. The crimson eye burst, and the creature collapsed.
"What? They're easier to kill than I thought!"
"I told you. They're weak."
"They really are. This is nothing."
"There are a lot of them, though. Don't let your guard down. In the Labyrinth, carelessness equals death."
"Mhm. I know."
At my warning, her expression hardened. Meanwhile, the dead rabbit blocking the door was dragged away by its kin. Immediately, a second one tried to crawl in.
Their persistence was terrifying. It was unnerving how they swarmed in such annoying numbers. These creatures usually stayed hidden, but the moment they detected a weakling, they gathered like ghosts.
"Ugh...! There's no end to them!"
She had already killed twelve, but a new one replaced the fallen every single time. They dragged away the corpses that could have blocked the entrance, and even knowing they would die, the next ones shoved their heads in regardless.
"SQUEAL!"
"Ugh! Another one!"
She was working hard, racking up kills. It was a good sign. She would likely undergo Mana Adaptation once we left the Labyrinth, and there was a high chance she'd awaken a Trait.
On the bright side, if we can recover those corpses, the payday will be huge.
Watching the rabbits die, I couldn't help but feel pleased. High-level adventurers sometimes used a 'weakling' as bait to lure Hoarding Rabbits into a kill zone. They were especially popular before winter; some specialized teams camped in the Breeding Ground just to farm them for northern fur exports.
"SQUEAL!!!"
"Oh, they're retreating. Is it over?"
"No. The first wave is just finished. They run when their numbers drop below a certain threshold."
They would flee, regroup, and return with even more numbers. They were truly malicious things.
"Haaah. Damn it. These stupid rabbits. I'm sick of them."
"Tell me about it."
Since rabbits were the primary monsters in the Breeding Ground, people who suffered here often couldn't even look at rabbit meat afterward. I didn't have that problem. Meat was innocent.
"By the way, what about the ones I killed?"
"Well, they're hoarders, aren't they? The others probably dragged the bodies back to their nest."
"Wait. You mean all the ones I just fought..."
"Yes. They took them all back."
"Damn it!"
She flared up in anger. All that hard work, and the rabbits had essentially robbed her of her loot.
"Don't be so mad. We can follow the blood trail to find the nest later. It's actually better this way—we can find the main stash quickly and monopolize everything they've gathered."
"Ugh. Still... I hate this. The Breeding Ground is the worst."
"Agreed."
I smiled at her as she slumped down. My body was finally recovering enough to move, thanks to the tonic.
The only side effect was a persistent, rock-hard erection. Since the potion worked by flooding the body with vitality to restore stamina, it was a cross I had to bear.
"Alright. I can move now. You did well."
"Yeah? Thank God. Phew. I can finally breathe."
She stretched, letting her body relax. Now that I was mobile, we were no longer classified as 'weaklings' by the Labyrinth's standards. They wouldn't be coming back for a while.
Once I felt a bit better, we'd head for that nest. For now, I just needed to finish recovering until we were ready to climb.