Inside the shattered hidden chamber, a large crystal--a mana stone--stood as expected.
The crystal, as big as an orc's head and about one and a half times larger than a human head, glowed and hummed.
"Wow."
Even for those on the team with weaker eyesight, the powerful glow was clear.
Aisha turned to me, worried.
"Theo, what's this?"
"It's the source of the area's odd magic."
It wasn't just any item.
I checked its details and discovered it was rare-grade item.
It's worth about half a year's salary for most knights.
"..."
I had only five uses of [Magic Nullification] left.
Even if I boosted it with the [Amplification Orb], only the strength would increase, not the number of times I could use it.
I'd need to use it four times on my teammates, leaving only one use.
I could nullify the large crystal's magic, then take some pieces, but it was too big to carry without a backpack.
It seemed best to break it and take a fragment as proof.
"I'm going to break it."
Even though it was valuable, it had to go.
"Okay."
"Got it."
Noctar and Ralph prepared their weapons.
"But Theo, should we really destroy this? It seems valuable."
Ralph looked at me hesitantly.
"I agree, it's valuable. But if we don't, the magic won't stop. Break it."
"Alright."
With a swing of his weapon, Ralph struck the mana stone.
Crash─!
This was the starting point.
Crack─!
Thud─!
Ralph, Noctar, and Travis all attacked the crystal.
Soon, the clear light pouring out of the crystal ceased.
I stashed a few shards of the crystal in my pocket.
"Uh, I still can't see."
Noctar rubbed his eyes and thumped his head.
"Of course. The magic has stopped, but the magic currently affecting us will last until it's supposed to end."
"This is annoying. Got any solutions, Theo?"
"Sure do."
I laid my hand on Noctar's shoulder and used [Magic Nullification].
"Oh wow, I can see. This is amazing."
"Ralph, you did well. We would've wasted a lot of time without you. I forced you to use one of your trump cards. Now I'll also show my own."
Like I did with Noctar, I used [Magic Nullification] on Ralph.
Ralph looked at me with an incredulous expression.
"···The technique you used on me during the practical evaluation."
"Yes, that's it."
"Is it okay to show such a secret?"
"Why not?"
"Even though we're rivals? Revealing a trump card could be risky."
"We're a team now. I'm not concerned."
I responded, nonchalantly.
From the start, I never thought of us as 'rivals.'
"Alright... I think I understand why the orcs follow you."
Ralph's eyes sparkled.
······What is he misunderstanding now?
Regardless, I used [Magic Nullification] on Travis and was about to apply it to Aisha.
"Ah, ugh."
As my hand touched Aisha's shoulder, a tremor passed through my fingers.
"···Stop making strange noises."
"But, but... it was so sudden..."
For some reason, Aisha was blushing.
"Just bear with it."
"···Okay."
While still quivering, I touched Aisha's slender shoulder and cast [Magic Nullification].
"This is incredible. I feel revitalized. I can even see the stairs to the third floor."
Aisha's large eyes blinked in surprise.
‘And that's that.’
I made eye contact with each of my team members.
"We need to move now. While the other teams are still lost, we should take the lead."
Since the use of items like status recovery potions was banned, the other teams would still be dealing with their blindness.
Another team's hardship is our team's gain.
It can't be helped.
The practical evaluation is strict.
This is when we have to strike hard.
Although our team was the first to enter this underground dungeon, the ultimate deciding factor is the time spent inside.
For example, a team that enters the dungeon 15 minutes later than us would tie with us if they exit the dungeon 15 minutes later.
"Alright. Let's go, captain."
"We're behind you all the way."
"This is our chance to get first place!"
Noctar, Ralph, and Travis responded enthusiastically.
Aisha looked at me thoughtfully.
"Theo, can I take the lead from here?"
"Go ahead."
When it came to navigation, no one surpassed Aisha.
Even with my experience and memorization of the underground routes, I couldn't anticipate the movements of roaming monsters.
But Aisha could.
If things continued this way, we'd easily secure first place.
But I couldn't be complacent.
'Jang Woohee.'
Because of her existence.
Jang Woohee possessed more mana than I did, so her [Magic Nullification] level would be lower, but she could easily dispel this level of blind magic.
Additionally, she had superior physical abilities and plenty of practical experience.
She wasn't someone to underestimate.
However, she was a natural loner.
She was more intimidating than inviting.
Her team members weren't simply followers, they were all potential heroes with strong personalities.
If they feel slighted, there's a high chance there'll be cooperation issues.
'First place will be mine, Jang Woohee.'
As I ruminated on these thoughts, Aisha spoke up.
"We should take this route. It's the quickest, and the probability of running into a monster is low."
"Let's get moving."
Our team marched ahead at a brisk pace.
We breezed through the B4 level of the dungeon with ease.
'There aren't many monsters on B4 to begin with.'
But I hadn't expected no monster encounters.
That was thanks to Aisha's [Sharp Vision] skill.
As we ascended to B3, Aisha spoke in a hushed tone.
"From here on, it will be harder to avoid all monsters. We should prepare for combat..."
She glanced at me as she said this.
"Hmm."
She had a point.
The closer to the surface, the higher the number of monsters.
"What kind of monsters should we expect?"
I feigned ignorance and asked.
In the original, they were mainly large spiders or bees.
"Well... there aren't any within my sight... But according to our lectures... it seems we'll likely encounter spiders or bee-like monsters."
True to her top-of-the-class reputation, Aisha responded correctly.
I nodded, giving her a faint smile.
"Alright, let's proceed. We need to stay alert."
"Understood, captain."
Our team headed in the direction indicated by Aisha.
Five minutes later, Aisha stopped.
"Oh... as expected, it's a spider."
She pointed at a gargantuan spider, roughly 5 meters in diameter.
Aisha muttered under her breath.
"Gosh... Was it always this big? It's huge..."
"..."
No, they weren't that big.
But isn't it too big...? It appeared about 1.5 times larger than what I remembered from the original.
The legs spanning its sides were as thick as my thigh.
'This must be a Giant Underground Spider.'
A defining characteristic of this creature was its near-deafness.
It seemed to lack ears entirely.
However, it had highly developed vision.
'Although not as acute as a human's.'
So, if we moved carefully, could we avoid it?
As I mulled over this, the massive spider shifted slightly.
"Kyaaa... Kyaaaaaah!"
Aisha screamed, clinging to my neck.
"It, it, it... It heard us!"
I could feel Aisha trembling against me.
...Wasn't she supposed to be the 'smart' character.
She should have known about the characteristics of the Giant Underground Spider from the lectures.
Haaaaah.
"That creature can't hear. If it could, your scream would have drawn it straight to us."
"Ah, right... I apologize, everyone. I won't let it happen again."
Aisha, her face flushed, addressed the team members.
Meanwhile... I could feel the softness of her body pressing against mine.
"...How long do you intend to cling?"
"Oh, I... I'm sorry, Theo. I just have this fear of spiders. I'll... I'll let go soon... I was just taken by surprise."
"...As soon as you can."
By the way, did Aisha have such a setting in the original story?
I don't recall such a detail.
"Tsk."
Noctar observed Aisha and me, still entwined, and clicked his tongue.
"··· What is it, Noctar?"
"Theo, you really have no sense of romance. A true warrior should offer his shoulder to a trembling, weak woman."
"..."
Why does his 'true warrior' have so many rules to abide by?
And Aisha is the strongest in our team······.
***
Sweeet home Alabamaaaaaa
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