"Listen closely, everyone."
A smile spread across my face as I addressed my somewhat concerned audience.
A surge of excitement surged through my palpitating heart. After so many centuries, I would finally be clearing this place with my friends.
It was a shame that Jane wasn't here, but I would simply have to regale her with the tale of how we succeeded later on.
'Everyone, please watch over me!' With that merry feeling in my heart, I went on to explain what we would be doing.
"The Arcana is most likely at the center of this underground structure—and it's also responsible for creating anything and everything we encounter inside."
Well, it was possible that the Mage who designed this place had set a few trap Magic in place, but unless a Spell was connected to a source of energy, then it would die out.
"We should be prepared to see an artificial Mana Core, or perhaps it's the Arcana itself that's responsible. In any case, since it's an intricate system, I pick the latter."
My friends nodded as I continued.
"The Labyrinth Of Despair is as the name sounds. It's a maze, and the goal is to reach the center and claim our prize. The true problem is the obstacles that will be in our way."
However, I had a way to overcome that part as well.
"The solution is simple... to utilize as little Magic as you can, and focus on using your Magic Items instead."
"U-uh? I don't understand. You mean...?" Lemi was the first to break the chain of silence.
She looked confused, but I could see a spark of excitement in her eyes.
"Yeah. You can use Magic Items. That's the point of this Labyrinth."
After testing several things out, I realized that it was meaningless, no matter how powerful a person was, to reach the center.
The difficulty was simply ridiculous.
However, since the Labyrinth only took a person's power into account, it was possible to boost one's capabilities with tools.
In that vein, if we decided to keep our power levels on a low level and concentrate wholly on Magic Tools, we would be able to win.
"Alright! It's about time!" Ana yelled with excitement.
She hugged Lemi, and both of them shrieked excitedly.
During our short time together, these two girls somehow managed to become quite close.
Maro was also fuming with exhilaration—most likely because he also shared their sentiments.
'Well, out of everyone, these three still modified the Magic Items I gave them, so that makes sense...'
In any case, it was about time we went in.
"Let's do our best."
'If everything goes well, this can simply be like a field trip...'
*********************
>WHOOOOOSSSSHHHH<
With lightning-fast speed, we tore through the Labyrinth's defenses and began advancing deeper into the place.
The Labyrinth Of Despair had a very massive interior, and its wide space was almost enough to house an entire civilization.
The power surging from everywhere was also incredible—enough to cause anyone to succumb to unconsciousness.
Fortunately, everyone had their Mana Field on, so there was no danger of that occurring.
"Now then..."
As I watched everyone hack down the monsters spawned by the Labyrinth, I raised my head and closed my eyes.
'....Is it because I didn't have Spellcraft in my past life? I can clearly feel the path.'
The energy's flow, I could completely read it, and it was directing me in a particular direction.
'Ah, so that's the center.' I smiled, realizing that our journey would be much easier than I initially thought.
"Such good news." With that in my mind, and a grin on my face, I beckoned everyone to take the right path.
"ROAAAARRRRR!!!"
Not far down the line, a massive monster stood in our path, and it was once again time to do battle.
"I'll leave this to you." With my arms folded, I watched Ana and Maria, donning their respective Magic Outfit, launch themselves into the air.
Their bodies elegantly surfed the vast expanse above, and a constant stream of Mana surged through them.
For Ana, she was accompanied by her three drones, as well as a protective bracelet and Mana Boosting necklace.
Maria, on the other hand, had enough power for offensive measures, so I focused on giving her defensive and supportive features.
Ultimately, both girls were able to kill the beast effortlessly.
"Guark!!!" With a heavy thud, the massive furry beast fell to the floor and died.
"GRRRRRRRRRR..." Two others took its place, growling at us uninvited guests.
They looked stronger than the fallen one—who had turned into Particles by now.
"Hey, who used Mana there?" I looked at everyone with a slight glare.
"A-ah, sorry." Lemi laughed, pulling her finger down.
Apparently, she was goofing off, playing with the Mana and Miasma at her fingertips.
'This girl...' I nearly sighed, moving in her direction.
"Hey, I said I'm sorry." She shrieked, stepping away as I walked closer.
"Relax, I'm not going to do anything..."
"No! I don't trust you."
"Wait."
"Noooo!!!"
Lemi fled instantly, giving me both a headache and heartache.
I brought her with me, and taught her personally, just so we could deepen our bond a bit.
But, it seemed I was too hard on her. After all I did, she now avoided me anytime I wanted to get the slightest bit close.
'Was I too strict?'
Everything was for her benefit, though. After all...
"Fine. I won't get any closer. In exchange, defeat those two." I pointed at the dark brown furries.
"Fine. I will." She warily glanced in my direction, and then gave the monsters a determined glare.
It broke my heart that Lemi didn't trust me enough, but even worse... that she preferred dealing with monsters to spending time with her own father.
'Did you experience something similar, Emilia?'
Making our daughter have the same face as her was cheating. I doubted Lemi could have treated Emilia harshly, considering they looked the same.
Then again, it could have been my bias.
I looked at the two monsters and watched as they were each taken down, one by another, by Lemi.
