Ch 24: Negative points on Alessia

After leaving the clothing store, Alessia breathed heavily until she calmed down. Seconds later, she spoke to me as if nothing had happened. 

“In the labyrinth of Altamira, a monster called [Fierce Hyena] appears on the first floor, which attacks mainly with bites and its front legs. It has never been seen attacking with its hind legs, so its back can be considered a safe zone.”

‘Keep it up, Alessia; I’m rooting for you.’

Currently, we are outside the capital at the north exit. As Alessia said, we headed towards the Altamira labyrinth, which is a mandatory place to visit to be considered a true adventurer.

‘So I’m not considered a true adventurer, huh? Well, it is true that the golden labyrinth is too easy in comparison.’

“Pretty lady, please come closer. Wouldn’t you like to join the Sword of Light guild? I can tell from a glance that you have an exquisite skill-…”

“Thanks, but not now,” Alessia said, interrupting him.

“Don’t hesitate to come to us when you need us. We’ll always be waiting for you! -… Good morning, gentleman, wouldn’t you like to…?”

The one recruiting new members is a man from the Sword of Light guild, and not only did he try to recruit Alessia, but anyone who seemed strong spoke to her. 

He also looked at me, but with Alessia’s answer, he understood that I would also refuse.

“Master, we must not join any guild until we are stronger; otherwise, our contract would be very disadvantageous.”

“Even if we are stronger, I don’t plan to enter one. I like freedom.”

“Your will is mine, master.”

On our way to the entrance of the labyrinth, dozens of people tried to recruit us. Over time, we get tired of responding and just start shaking our heads.

‘Spending saliva on them is a waste of time.’

Guilds are small and large-scale organizations that bring together adventurers, and anyone who possesses a class that is useful in the labyrinth. Their purpose is simply to get to the bottom of the labyrinth and clear it… Or so they tell the public.

It is true that they want to go deeper into the labyrinths, but in reality, they do it for the materials they can mine from them. Whether it’s for loot, plants, minerals, or anything else you can imagine, they want to be strong and millionaires.

This information comes from my parents, and with all their luck, I am sure that is true.

‘They will want to die of shame if they ever discover that they have a labyrinth of gold in front of their noses, and all this time they haven’t realized it.’

In front of us is a large illusory door of dark colors. Anyone who sees it would think that their soul will be stolen if they look at it too long. This entrance is very different from the golden labyrinth, one is dark and evil while the other is beautiful and heavenly.

As for the difference between its doors, this one is dark because the deaths inside it create mountains of corpses and rivers of blood. While the other has beautiful colors to attract people, indicating that there are very few deaths inside.

Passing through the door, we appeared in a 10-meter-high and 15-meter-wide corridor made up of rocks. This says that the monsters in this corridor will be huge, which is why there is enough space for their mobility. As for the light, it comes from the surrounding plants that generate golden particles.

The last time I came out of the labyrinth, I disabled my 60% experience discount because I knew I’d fight the thieves. Now, I modified my status by adding the discount again, and with it, 15 points were deducted from my status.

[Emir] [Adventurer Lvl4] [Warrior Lvl4] [Survivor Lvl3]

HP=9 || MP=1

Agility=10 || Strength=10

Intelligence=10 || Luck=3

[Resistances]

Physical=1 || Magic=0

Poison=0 || Curse=0

‘My status has fewer points than Alessia’s. After all, it is true that she was born with more points…’

[Alessia Addari] [Adventurer Lvl11] [Warrior Lvl1] [Leader Lvl1]

[(Slave) (Masochist Lvl1)]

HP=10 || MP=1

Agility=12 || Strength=12

Intelligence=12 || Luck=5

[Resistances]

Physical=1 || Magic=0

Poison=0 || Curse=0

‘I miss my luck; I will do the impossible to restore it. The only thing that relieves me is that Alessia’s luck helped us in this battle.’

We walked down the corridor, and then it forked. According to the map, the closest monster is fighting with two people on the right, while on the left there is no monster.

A popular labyrinth is always like this: there are so many people around that you easily run into them, or you just don’t find monsters because they’ve all been killed.

I sighed, and then we headed to the right. I’m curious about two things: how the other adventurers fight, and what the [Fierce Hyena] looks like. I know my battle knowledge is mainly against humans, so my fights with monsters are impromptu. Seeing how others do it will help me improve my own style.

“Don’t you think we should stop to see how they defeat the monster?”

“Yes, I thought the same as you,” I replied.

[Fierce Hyena Lvl1]

“GUR GRR”

“I’ll get your attention!”

“Good, I’ll attack it from behind.”

Two men fought against the Ferocious Hyena. The latter is 3m tall and 5m long, with light brown fur with black spots. It is very thin; its ribs look to the naked eye as if it hadn’t eaten anything in its entire life. 

‘Well, it’s just a saying. They are born from the labyrinth like this.’

The man in front of the hyena has a shield, and whenever the hyena tried to bite him, he blocked it while trying to avoid the attack of its paws as much as possible. He only slashed with his sword when the hyena was about to turn around to attack his mate.

Meanwhile, the second man constantly attacks the hyena from behind, using a spear. Thrust after thrust, he attacked until, at some point, he pierced the hyena’s paw.

At that very moment, the hyena became enraged. At this, they both stepped back for a few seconds and then repeated the cycle again.

Minutes later, it was killed.

“Isn’t that attacking style too conservative?”

“Mm? Isn’t that how adventurers always fight?”

Emir: “…”

Probably the reason why their style seems too conservative to me is because I always fight at high speed without worrying too much.

”Did you see her? She was incredibly beautiful, and her breasts-…” One of the men started to speak, but he was interrupted by his partner.

”Yes, I know. But concentrate, we are inside the labyrinth”

Passing by the men, we nod in greeting, and seconds later, we hear their whispers. 

‘Speak softer, I heard you. The corridors echo, you know?’

According to the map, the path splits into three. It’s the corridor on the left that possesses a monster without anyone being around it.

“Let’s hurry up, I think I heard a monster.”

“Yes…”

‘- Hear? I didn’t hear anything…’

I can feel Alessia’s curious gaze, yet she obediently followed me.

Seconds later, we turned left and found a lone hyena in the distance.

“Oh! what a good ear you have, master.”

“Mn, yes”

“Then master, what strategy should we take? Shall we do the same as the previous team?”

“Yes, you attack its back while I call its attention.”

“Understood, I will damage its hind leg.”

After planning, we both started running.

“GRU hihihi”

‘Is it… laughing?’

Although it initially saw us as a threat, it later began to laugh. 

‘Why didn’t it do the same with the previous group?’

I was the first to reach the hyena, and it immediately attacked me with its paw.

I dodged to the side and lightly damaged it with my sword. This caused the hyena to stop paying attention to Alessia and dedicate it all to me.

One, two, three times it attacked me with its paws. I dodged everything by jumping sideways.

“GRRR”

At this time, Alessia swung her iron sword, and partially damaged its hind leg. At first glance, the hyena seemed very upset and tried to turn around to attack her.

I run up to it and swing my sword horizontally, creating a large cut on its front leg. It doesn’t take long for the blood to come out, making it lean slightly to one side, losing its stability.

“WOOF” Very annoyed, it leaned its head and, with its jaw wide open, tried to bite me.

“Master, your shield! Take out your shield from your inventory!”

“Shield? I don’t have one. It’s not necessary.”

When the hyena approached me, I quickly jumped to the right while, at the same time, turning my body in the air. The moment its snout touched the ground, my sword gently pierced its eye and took its life.

The golden particles did not take long to appear, momentarily lighting up the corridor.

‘— I knew it! Master has a high level. That’s why he can easily control his inventory!’

‘I feel like my points on Alessia are going up; I know that from the look she’s giving me. Still, it doesn’t matter; my points on her are still negative. I take one step forward, but I am still three steps back, so a few positive points won’t do the trick.’

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