Aion could cheat and then fly using his magic while charging Power Shot with the sniper class, but that wouldn't give a chance for the Lancer class to improve… fortunately, he had other options. Still, he will have to compromise in the end between time and efficiency… Aion never thought that those two would oppose each other in his life, but such is life. It tends to kick you in the ball sometimes, and you can only endure it while some people ask for more. Aion wasn't one of them...
In any case, once they obtained the map, their hunting and movement speed improved since they soon found some bifurcations and they already knew the right path… they were also jogging between the battles just to make sure that they would gain as much time as possible.
"At this rate, if things here are the way you expected, people can only reach the core of the labyrinth after exploring for almost four months, right?" Aion asked.
"If they only walk and conserve their strength for fighting, then yes," Sauros replied. "We can say that we fight three times better and move four times faster than most groups, so maybe we will need a month or so."
"That is still too long…" Aion said and then sighed.
For the time being, Aion was fine with their speed of progress. Still, he wasn't exactly patient. So, he might eventually do some harsh things and ignore the consequences.
"I guess I will be fine. The classes of the second tier are at least three times better than those of the first tier," Aion thought. "Once I master the necromancer class and get the next one, even those two and his group won't be a problem against me… Besides, the current world still treats us like we are a plague. Maybe burning it down and forcing a restart will be the best option."
Aion wasn't exactly the same person who lost his life saving a kid before, he still had his naive parts, but he was already sharpening his mind and claws to do what was necessary if necessary… he also hated hesitation, after all.
"Still… where are those guys coming from?" Seris asked after she lost count of how many of those hairy monsters they had defeated. "It isn't like some big monster is giving birth to them, but it is weird that they always show up ahead of us."
"There are many ways dungeons and labyrinths produce their monsters. There are the standard methods of making them grow fast and reproduce fast, there are also the types of those that revive the dead creatures after regenerating their lost parts, and there are the types that are summoned by mana," Sauros said. "As you noticed, the interior is filled with ice that emits light; it is probably icing rich in mana that serves as a catalyst to summon monsters whenever the core wants."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThat explained why Aion had a hard time melting the ice… still, that was worrisome. If the labyrinth had all that much mana, couldn't it just make hundreds of them appear to crush them all at once? They killed a lot more than that number of monsters already… so underestimating them was just stupid… maybe the labyrinth wasn't that smart or could only operate following a certain number of rules.
In any case, the group reached the entrance to the next area after ten or so hours of exploration. That was a pretty good amount of progress, but Aion wasn't satisfied…
Lancer Lv 21
Health: 468/468
Mana: 228/228
Stamina: 288/288
Strength: 46
Dexterity: 01
Magic: 56
Endurance: 01 + 70
Resistance: 01
Speed: 01 + 70
Status: 00
Extreme Spear Refinement Lv 35
Bonuses: Endurance + 70, Speed + 70
Skills: Protective Wind Lv 04, Sonic Throw Lv 06
Passive: Fighting Spirit Lv 14, Critical Thirst Lv 03,
Improvement Points: 96
Accumulated Experience: 0
Coins: 1.442.200
Inventory:
Absorption: 0/1000
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmProcessing: 0/1000
Reset
Sonic Throw: a more powerful version of throw that can travel hundreds of meters almost instantly at the cost of fifty stamina points. The range and the power are determined by your strength.
Critical Thirst: every time you cause critical damage, you will recover health equal to the level of the skill.
The reason for his dissatisfaction was the fact that he only reached half of his goals when it came to parameters… even though he got some good skills, and now he could basically punch his way out of the monsters…
"Once again, we will go to the next area and then fight a few monsters before returning here and giving Seris enough time to work and rest," Sauros said. "Are you fine with that, Aion? You looked in a hurry before, but now…"
"No problem," Aion said. "Just focus on doing the usual."
It was one pretty light: mind your own business, but Sauros decided to take it as advice since Aion was focused on the mission and wasn't questioning anything…
After readying themselves, the group went to the next area after going down through another tunnel. In the end, those three couldn't help but tremble a little when they felt the cold of the area increasing… this time, they could even see some cold mist around the ground, and it made their legs feel like it was freezing…
"This explains… why some… people… have lost their fingers," Sauros said. "Seris… we will need more runes to fight this cold."
It seems that Sauros joined the faction of those who wanted to use runes for every single problem on their way… in any case, Aion blasted the cold air with a bit of warmth. It couldn't be compared to the necromancer class, but he had a bit of mana now…
Still, he was forced to stop with that when he heard the sound of a few grunts in the distance… after not so long, three monsters appeared on their way. They were blue lizards that were five meters long…