The morning after my visit to the community message boards, I felt deep exhaustion in my bones as I opened my eyes and began to review my daily routine.
«Here here. The food is here».
Things had changed from when our three groups were simply traveling together without a plan. We now had group formations, plus assigned roles for each outside of combat. For example, a total of four people were in charge of cooking and feeding us every day. Oh, and the one supervising this task was Missha.
«How is it? You like? Since it's breakfast, I added a little less spice».
«Apart from the fact that there isn't much meat, that's okay.»
«Ah... meat...»
«Was joking. We have to ration the meat since we don't know what can happen.»
When I finished eating, I approached Versyl, the inventory manager, and asked her about our food reserves.
«We have enough to feed the thirty-eight people for sixty-one more days. If we reduce everyone's portion sizes from now on, we could increase that number in about four days».
«No, it's okay. If we reduce it further, how are we going to have the energy to fight? »
We had about two months of food left.
Truth be told, this was mostly thanks to the Armin Adventurer Group arriving with considerable supplies. The Hektz Clan, on the other hand, had been shipwrecked and had spent all their remaining food in a panic attack. Meanwhile, our Anabada Clan had only come prepared with enough food to feed our seven members for four months.
It's day eighty-six...
If we were on the seventh floor right now, it would have closed ten days ago. And yet, we were still inside the maze.
At this rate, there is no guarantee that we will leave here before the two hundredth day.
Of course, that didn't mean he was necessarily worried about our food situation. New adventurers would soon come with their own provisions, and if they weren't enough, we could hunt and cast distortion magic on the monsters, like in Frozen Rock.
«Understood. Anyway, besides food, feel free to be generous with our provisions when someone asks you for something».
«I'm already doing it. Oh, too...»
«Yes?»
«...It doesn't matter. I'll talk to you later, when I'm a little safer».
I immediately realized what he was about to say. He certainly wanted to warn me that there was a hidden evil spirit in our group spying on me. But to tell me that, I would have to reveal the fact that she was also an evil spirit, so I was hesitating.
«Okay. Then I'm leaving».
«Okay.»
After reviewing our inventory, I approached Chief Security Officer Amelia to ask if anything had happened last night.
«Nothing special».
Although that was always what she said, I couldn't afford not to ask. You never knew when an enemy might appear in the maze. And we couldn't be sure we were safe even when we were hidden from the outside world. In this mysterious place, where anything could happen, we had to be alert at all times, because we never knew when a new problem might arise.
An example:
«However, the Hektz clan's warrior, Vilkus, seems to have reached his limit. I don't think I'm sleeping well these days».
The expedition team's security detachment was honestly more of a patrol group that stayed awake at night to keep an eye on any problems while the rest slept. It consisted of six people, and the veteran who had been part of the palace's research unit acted as Amelia's right-hand man.
«Understood. I'll go talk to him myself later».
«Then I won't worry about him».
«Hey?»
«You are like an idol to warriors. And he seems to respect you even more than most, so if you talk to him, the problem should solve itself».
After my morning chat with Amelia, I paid a visit to the wizard trio of the Armin Adventure Group.
«From what I heard from Emily, they were up all night investigating again. Have you found anything?»
All three acted as our group's research team. The corpses and essences of the monsters, the books and the altar of invocation in the library, the stone doors through which the monsters came out, etc., everything we had discovered inside the labyrinth so far was under careful review.
«Hey... I wouldn't call it a 'find', per se...».
«We found something peculiar in the blood sample we collected from the Hipramajent...»
«If you give us a little more time and financing...»
But for some reason, they always seemed nervous when I asked them about their progress. I told them several times that I didn't want to rush them, but their reactions didn't change.
Was it a habit I had left from working for the Magic Tower?
«But you are our boss, Lord Baron».
«So even if he tells us that... it's hard for us to really relax.»
«Exactly. Also, if we are too comfortable, we will not get results in time.»
Well, not that I could argue with that. In any case, listening to the research team's report marked the end of my morning to-do list.
«Alright, if everyone has finished breakfast, go back to your stalls!».
It was time to go back to work. Everyone was able to eat their fill this morning and even had time to digest.
«Summon the monsters!»
So get going.
My afternoon routine was as simple as my morning routine.
We collected the books we had selected the night before and hunted down everything inside.
Splash!
Mana stones covered the floor of the library, and every time an essence fell, we stopped summoning for a while to find out what it was. We no longer even had to rely on witness testimonies as amateurs. We had installed a recording glass above us that recorded the entire hunting ground.
«It is an essence of Katanda».
«An essence of green Katanda must be Profane Prophecy». What do you think, Your Honor?»
«We don't need it.»
«I see. So is there anyone else who wants this essence?»
Once we confirmed the identity of an essence, I had priority, but if it happened, the next person on the list had a chance to pick it up. If no one on the waiting list took it, it was discarded.
«Isn't it strange? We have a rank four essence in front of us and no one wants it».
«We've even been ruling out some rank three essences lately, so it's not a big surprise».
«We can get even better essences by waiting a little, so there's no need to rush every time one appears».
«Heh, letting an essence escape right in front of us and it's actually a smart move. No one will believe us when we get out of here and tell them this».
«We're not even putting them in magic vials, though. It's a shame. These essences are really valuable...»
«The baron said that we should use our magic vials sparingly, and I think that is the wisest decision».
Unexpectedly, my adventure companions seemed even happier every time an essence was discarded. It was probably because our hunt was paused until the essence faded naturally. However, that didn't mean they stayed sitting resting.
«What are you doing? Go for more books while the essence disappears».
I even used those time windows efficiently, sending our troops to the shelves to gather more summoning books. Once our stocks were replenished, we resumed our feast.
With that approach, we continue to cultivate diligently. And ten days after our arrival on Library Island, we received an incredible drop.
«...Lord Baron?»
«We'll take this one.»
Our clan had finally obtained one essence after passing up dozens of others.
Blackbird Spear.
It was a rank three monster that had an extremely low chance of appearing in a special area of the sixth floor of the Great Sea.
Naturally, he already had someone in mind for him.
«Ainar.»
«Oh! Good!»
When I called her, Ainar, who had been observing the essence since it appeared, quickly ran towards her. She had an expectant look since I declared that we would catch her, which made sense considering that she was now a spear user.
However, just giving it to him wouldn't be fun.
«Wait.»
«Ugh-! Because? Why are you making me wait? You're going to give it to me anyway-»
«Hm?»
His mouth slammed shut.
Yes, that should have been his answer from the beginning.
«Okay, take it».
«Yahoo!»
As soon as I gave him permission, Ainar ran straight to the essence. Although his Aggression had hit rock bottom, it seemed that his Greed was still quite high.
[The Essence of Blackbird Spear has sunk deep into Ainar Fenelin's soul].
The light of essence sank into Ainar's skin. Her eyes widened in joy, and she sounded like an addict as she screamed: «What is this? It can not be. It's been a while since I felt this strong...!».
Well, that made sense. Statistics like this were all on the physical side. That being said, skills were where this essence really shone.
[Speciesist: When you attack a target that is not your own species, the damage you deal increases relative to the time you spend in combat. On the other hand, when you attack a target of the same species as you, the damage is reduced].
A perfect passive to accompany Ainar's Assassin Imprint.
(A) Trident: When attacking with a spear, you deal the same amount of damage to two additional enemies within range].
The other was an active skill with no cooldown and that barely spent PM. That meant the ability itself wasn't that powerful, but if you built your characters with only powerful abilities, they would collapse like a house of cards.
Trident was the ability that would replace repeated Tagus.
Alright, so that's Ainar done ...
Of course, she still had many essences left to change, but since she had no empty spaces left, there was no point in worrying about her until we returned to the city.
I have one left, Erwen one and Amelia two...
These were the gaps we could work to fill here and now, and if we took into account the number of magic vials we still had left, the number of essences we could obtain for our clan increased. It would be great if, after erasing Ainar's useless essences in the city, we could immediately fill those slots with his new essences.
...If possible, you should also look for Imprint materials.
The materials needed for the eighth phase of the Immortality Imprint were dropped by three rank three monsters. It doesn't mean there weren't more materials needed, but...
I can buy those in the city with money.
Unlike lower grade materials, rank three and higher monster materials could not be purchased at any price. Even the Soul of the Dead, which he needed for the seventh phase, fell into that category. Although she had been released by the rank four lichs monster, only one of them had appeared in the Central Pocket.
So, since I had no idea if or when I would get the chance to get one again, I had used all my money to buy...
[Ainar Fenelin has launched Trident.]
Ainar had just finished testing his new essence and getting used to the increase in strength when it happened.
«Captain!»
The only non-combatant of the thirty-eight present, navigator Auyen Rockrobe, lunged at me with a huge summoning book wrapped around his arms.
«I have found it...! Finally».
«What have you found? Calm down before...»
«It is a book that invokes Bellarios!»
As soon as I heard the news, I closed my eyes and let out a long sigh.
Finally, the time had come.
***
Bellarios was a rank three monster that resembled an eastern dragon, and was usually found in the Dragon Mountains, in the middle of the Dark Continent. However, that place was now a war zone, so even though they were killable, no one had gotten it in a long time.
«Versyl, call everyone on the shelves too».
I had been looking forward to facing one of these from the moment I found this library, so I quickly gathered our forces and held a brief briefing on how we were going to deal with Bellarios.
Someone, however, was not very enthusiastic.
«Excuse me...» Amid the crowd of adventurers listening attentively to my plan, a hand was carefully raised.
«What's wrong, Ainar? You're hungry?»
«It's not that... I haven't gotten used to the new essence I have...».
«AND?» I didn't really understand where I wanted to go. «What could be better training than a real fight?»
That was a sentiment that any barbarian warrior would agree with.
«Well... I... Instead of fighting, just practicing seems better to me... And more effective? I think it's also more effective».
Oh, right. That damn Aggression statistic.
«Can't I practice here while you're struggling?» If there was even the slightest chance of avoiding a fight, I would try.
Naturally, my answer was already set in stone. «No. You will join us in battle this time.»
«... Understood.»
The pitiful look on his face suddenly made me feel like the bad guy here, but I coldly turned off those emotions before my resolve could falter.
«Sir...» Erwen whispered, approaching me. «It's a rank three, but there won't even be three monsters to fight, just two. Don't we have enough people already?».
She didn't know when the two had gotten so close that she was willing to support Ainar like that, but she wasn't wrong. That Ainar did not join the battle? That didn't matter much in this particular fight.
The problem is that other people would notice.
She was a member of my clan, and if I broke the rules and let her do whatever she wanted, the members of the other clans would begin to resent it, even if they didn't show it outwardly.
«The decision has already been made. Don't try to argue».
«...Yes. I'm sorry.»
After severely vetoing Erwen's appeal, I continued with the briefing. Only when I felt that all the members of our group perfectly understood the information I was transmitting to them, did I place the book of invocations on top of the altar.
Thunder.
The stone gate, which had been opened more than a hundred times today alone, slid once more to let two monsters through.
Fwoosh!
One was a goat-headed creature that came out with a hammer in its hand and a bag full of what looked like lava hanging on its back.
Hellsmith.
The previous boss, who had been nicknamed the Flame Warrior, had the essence of this type.
...And Bellarios.
As I looked at its soft scales, I couldn't help but lick my lips.
[Bellarios has launched Scales of Greed. Bellarios is now immune to all magic damage].
Give me that.