Chapter 115 The Labyrinth Of The Nurturer [7]

"Everyone's still sleeping... Good."

Raven mumbled after seeing the others sleeping peacefully.

He just finished cleaning up the Giant Gorilla's blood...

'Good thing the gorilla didn't wake them up.'

Raven thought.

He already knew that the Giant Gorilla will come to where they are.

That's why he stayed up and waited for it instead of resting.

How did he know..?

Because the place that their group is temporarily staying in... Belongs to that Giant Gorilla, that's why there's no monster nearby.

Monsters tend to avoid places that belong to the stronger monster after all.

In the novel... Alec and the others decided to settle in the same place when they were on this floor.

And when the night came and they were all resting, the Giant Gorilla came back to his base and saw them.

Alec and the others got their guards lowered because of exhaustion at that time...

So they got ambushed!

But they took care of the Giant Gorilla quickly, it's just that Adelle sustained some injuries in the process.

Resulting in them slowing down their advance.

Raven doesn't want that to happen, so he personally took care of it.

Anyway...

'I'm pretty sure that there's no more monster that will go near us...'

'But just in case... I shouldn't lower my guard down.'

With that in mind, Raven closed his eyes to get himself even a slight rest.

*****

(5 hours later... A day and an hour since Raven and the others entered the labyrinth.)

"You guys ready to continue?"

Eve asked the others... She regained most of her energy after having an undisturbed rest.

"Yep, I'll just make sure I didn't forget anything."

Adelle said as she looks around, making sure she have all her stuff with her already.

"I'll just refill my quiver with arrows."

Aoi mumbled...

Aoi has a spatial quiver where she specifically stores her arrows.

This quiver of her has special functions that help her have quick access to any of her arrows that are stored in it.

Its only downside is that it couldn't contain as many arrows as spatial storages, so Aoi always makes sure that she has enough arrows stored in her quiver.

"I'm set to go... I didn't bring much with me, to begin with."

Alec said while lightly scratching his cheek.

"Same, I just brought my shields and some potions... Also some necessaries like a sleeping bag."

And Blake followed.

Both of them are actually itching to fight some monsters as they can't forget what they saw last night.

"If you're not doing anything, why not just check your equipment's conditions?"

Then, Alec and Blake heard Curtis' voice, which made them look at him...

Curtis is sharpening his sword named [Sachael], It was given to him by his family before entering the Lunar Academy.

"Ohh... Good point."

"Yeah, that's better than doing nothing."

Blake and Alec replied to Curtis.

And following his suggestion, both of them started checking the conditions of their equipment.

'Hmm... I think in an hour, we'll be set to go.'

Eve thought as she looks at everyone.

Then, her eyes suddenly shifted to Raven...

Raven is silently sitting with his eyes closed and Yuki on his lap.

'Did he get a proper rest..?'

Eve asked herself.

But she has no way of knowing the answer, and because Eve knows Raven's personality to some extent... She's pretty sure that Raven wouldn't tell them either even if they ask him.

So in the end, Eve decided to not think about it much and just prepared more thoroughly.

*****

After an hour...

"Let's go."

Eve and the others are now set to go...

They immediately left their temporary base and started walking toward their destination.

-Kyuu!

And flying up in the air is Yuki.

She's guiding everyone by informing them if there's a monster nearby and where's the safest and shortest route is.

Yuki also actively searches for the entrance that leads to the next floor.

And Aoi is in charge of keeping Yuki safe from flying monsters and projectiles...

Anyway... The group's formation is like this:

Blake is in the front with Alec and Curtis.

Adelle and Eve are behind them.

While Aoi and Raven are on the back...

Blake is responsible for the group's safety while Alec and Curtis are dealing with the enemies in the front.

Eve is in charge of Adelle's safety while also protecting the side of the group from the enemies.

Adelle sends out support to everyone, be it buffs, debuffing enemies, or healing.

She also launches attack magics from time to time to lessen the enemies or weaken them.

Aoi is also giving support from the back, she's responsible for taking care of the long-range monsters too and flying monsters.

Raven protects the group in the back from ambushes.

Raven's role is very flexible, he has his own will to do anything as his abilities are versatile.

He can fight in long-range and close-quarter, he can give small buffs and can cast support magics, etc...

That's why he moves on his own based on his judgment.

...

...

Anyway...

"..."

As the group was marching carefully.

Eve looked back, she was specifically looking at Raven...

Raven then looked at her too.

"What?"

Then he asked.

"..."

Eve stayed silent for a while...

Before opening her mouth.

"What's your goal today?"

She asked in a serious tone.

The others then momentarily looked at Raven too, waiting for his answer.

"..."

Raven didn't answer immediately.

He thought about it first...

Then he opened his mouth.

"My goal today is to reach the middle of the 5th floor."

Raven declared.

And before the others can even react.

"That is... If you guys can follow me there."

He spoke again, provoking the others!

"Hmm... Okay."

Eve responded calmly... And the others just continued walking forward, ignoring Raven's words.

"?"

Which confused Raven, he expected the others to be riled up and annoyed.

And before Raven can even say anything again...

-Kyuu!

Yuki informed them that there are enemies upfront.

"How many are there, Aoi?"

Eve asked.

Aoi then used her skill, <Presence Detection>.

And after just a few seconds...

"There's 8 Mud Golems and 4 Swamp Monkeys."

Aoi gave a more detailed answer to Eve's question.

"Oh... They're running toward us."

Adelle then informed the others.

"It's as she said..."

And Aoi confirmed her statement.

After hearing that...

Swoosh-

Eve circulated mana in his body, she specifically concentrated mana in her legs and arms...

Fwiiiishâ€"

Soon, a strong gust of wind covered her whole body.

Her spear was also covered in raging mana and swirling gusts of winds!

"Hey, what are you planning to do?"

Raven, who's still a bit out of it, asked Eve.

Eve looked at him, but she didn't answer...

-GRAAAAHHHH!

-GROOOOWLL!

-KIEEEEK!!

Then that's when 8 Mud Golems 4 Swamp Monkeys jumped at the group from the front!

Bam-

And as soon as they were in sight, Eve kicked off the ground and dashed toward the group of monsters!

"HUUP!!"

And when she's near the monsters...

SWOOSH-

She boldly thrust her spear forward!

BOOOM!

And a strong explosion was heard afterward!

Swaaa~

It was followed by a chilling air scattering around the area!

Thud- Thud- Thud-

Thudâ€"

Then... Chunks of meat and dark mud started falling from the air!

The group would've been hit by them if it wasn't for Adelle's skill,<Cocoon>, shielding them from it.

"..."

Raven was silent, he looked in front of him, where the monsters are supposed to be...

Just to see Eve standing there.

Blood and mud are splattered around her...

Surprisingly, Eve was clean and no blood or mud hit her.

Anyway, Raven looked around...

And saw corpses of Swamp Monkeys that were missing big portions of their bodies.

All of the monsters were blown away, and all of them are dead.

'She killed them without letting them let out a noise...'

'Impressive.'

Raven thought.

"Hey."

Then she heard Eve call for him.

So he looked at her...

Then with a calm face and voice...

"I plan to reach the 6th floor by today."

Eve declared that.