The world beyond the mirror was a hidden field like Larcaz's Labyrinth. The difficulty of this place as soon as you entered was quite high because the monsters crowded in from the beginning.
«Bjorn! It's coming again!»
As soon as a battle was over, a horde of monsters rushed in again. The scale this time was on another level. There were eight rank 7 Beast-Type Flame Wolves, five rank 6 Wild-Type Salamanders, and three rank 5 Plant-Type Sequoias.
«Raven, how long until the spell?»
Just in time with my scream, a blue light came out of Raven's wand. «Nara Brigianu Toon!» Rank 5 Magic Freezing Blizzard: Freezing Rain.
¡Crashhh!
Gray clouds formed over the sky, spilling sharp peaks of ice.
¡Bang, bang, bang!
More than half of the monsters were destroyed with a single spell. Of course, rank 5 monsters were not affected even by this wide area ability.
«¡Behell-ahhhhh!»
Thanks to the increased threat level of Wild Burst followed by gigantization, the monsters came to me on their own. That's why a tank was as important as a magician in this place.
«Gaaaaaaaa!»
Blocking the Redwood stem whip with my shield, I focused solely on defense, also known as Barbarian Turtle Mode. I could catch at least one of them with Swing, but it was better to save my MP since my threat level would drop once the gigantization was over.
«Kill the Salamanders first!»
While I was taking care of three redwoods, the wizard prepared a spell for the next wave. This time, it was the turn of the damage dealers.
¡Clashhh!
Receiving remote support from Mr. Bear, Ainar and Missha officially began eliminating the monsters. It took them less than three minutes to get rid of the garbage mobs.
Cleaning monsters from the trash is quick with three melee fighters.
Afterwards, the five of us teamed up to defeat the rank 5 monsters, but there was no time to rest.
«...Another one.»
As soon as we finished the battle, another pack of monsters came in search of the source of the sound. We repeat a series of processes over and over again.
When we had finished about ten battles, Raven said: «Mr. Yandel, I don't have much mana left». Raven used a wide area skill without holding back, so her mana had been reduced to less than a third. Of course, that wasn't a problem. The first wave was almost over.
«Do not use attack magic and only provide support».
«Okay!»
The mana Raven had left was used to cast curses at the enemy or buff the team. My gigantization also ended at that moment. It seemed that Mr. Bear, who had been shooting explosive arrows, didn't have much MP left either.
«¡Behell-ahhhhh!»
As our three performances became more complicated, the importance of the hand-to-hand sisters Ainar and Missha grew. After all, melee was the best to hit the medium DPS.
«Oohhhh! This is the battle I wanted!!!» Ainar's excitement peaked as he dealt with the endless enemies. As a barbarian, considered from the warrior tribe, her excitement was quite useful.
Was she always so good at fighting?
Although it seemed like he was brandishing his greatsword roughly, he still dodged everything that needed to be dodged, a fighting technique that seemed to be under the effects of stimulants.
Well, he trained his sword skill there...
His sense of battle seemed even superior to Missha's. Anyway, the battle was nearing its end, so I changed the formation. «Abman, now, send it here!»
Iron Bear Iradun, Bear for short, was in charge of assisting the team's tank.
¡Whoom!
Even Bear, who was protecting the distant trafficker in the rear, joined the front line and provided strength. That was because it really seemed like everyone was at their limit now. The wizard's mana was completely exhausted so even the support was cut off.
¡Crunch! ¡Crunch! ¡Whiiiiiishh!
Pushed to the limit for the first time in a long time, we eliminated the monsters only with normal attacks that contained no abilities: mace, sword, giant crossbow arrows.
«It seems it's over...» Crushing the burning skull ended the battle. Hundreds of mana stones decorated the floor.
«But were mana stones always this dark?»
«It is the characteristic of this place. The density is approximately double».
Simply put, a double event was being applied. It took Raven several minutes to pick them up with what little mana she had left. Oh, and there was an essence.
«I've already seen it! It came from the guy who carried human heads on his body!»
«You mean Talent Hunter». It was a rank 7 fire type undead monster. I coldly abandoned the essence. It could be useful if consumed, but now that we were going to hunt rank 5 monsters every day, there was no point in catching it.
«Mm, shall we leave it...?». Ainar watched me with eyes regretful at my decision, like a child spilling his candy.
I told him no. Bad.
«It is not a good essence for you. So be patient».
«...Okay!» Picking up anything from the ground would cost you more money just to erase it. But he assumed that throwing away the loot bothered him. «But can't we sell it in a test tube?». Ainar shouted and suggested.
The magician solved that. «No. Everything below rank 6 is not even enough for the test tube. Also, I heard that you can only remove one object from this place».
«Hm? Only one? What do you mean by that?»
«I don't know the reason, but the items obtained here must be distorted with magic to get them out and I have heard that there can only be one». It was a trait of the field that he would have had to explain if Raven hadn't known. «We have to choose what to wear carefully. An essence is important... But I have heard of people who have found a really valuable object here».
«A valuable item...» The item we would take was already decided, but that piqued my curiosity. Did anyone already know about that object?
I asked for more details, but Raven told me that was all she knew. «Information about these things is difficult to learn in books. I've only heard other people talk about it».
True, information from the fifth floor onwards was classified as advanced. Even trivial achievements were treated as intellectual property and were not easily shared. Some clans even prohibited mentioning the work done in the labyrinth. This guy hadn't hung on to The Complete Book of Cracks for nothing.
«First, rest a little. I'll watch». After the fierce battle, we took a break. By doing so, we confirm our current situation. «Raven, how long until your mana is fully charged?»
«With meditation or sleep, 12 hours. If not, it takes more than a day».
«I see.» This is what I meant by those who deal melee damage being better than the mages on the fifth floor. The mages needed a long time to charge their mana. «From now on, save your mana as much as possible.»
«Are you going to continue exploring like this?»
«It is not a place that can be easily entered. We should explore as much as possible. We may find that valuable object you were talking about».
«That's true. It is not known when we will return here...»
So this problem is over. After replenishing only our stamina for 15 minutes, we resumed our exploration. It was a forced march, but no one complained. They already saw the amount of mana stones and essences spilling out.
«Finally I will be able to raise my head in front of my wife». Mr. Bear smiled from ear to ear. What will happen will happen, he was a family man.
«Abman, do you feel a portal somewhere?»
«I can feel it faintly far away, over there». In a field where a compass didn't work, we headed with the skill of a guide. «...If you are going to go in the opposite direction, why are you asking?»
Because the place I want to go is in that direction.
Of course, he couldn't say that. «The portal is likely the exit. We will have to go in the opposite direction to find something». It was a plausible, improvised reason.
My words weren't wrong either, so I quickly gained Raven's support. «Ah! That's how it is. I read that there was a portal that appeared in the mirror».
Ugh, this is why there had to be a decently intelligent character. «Okay then, come on.»
It was around 7 PM on the twenty-second. Since the day was about to end, there was now about a week left. In order to milk it to the bones, we had to hurry.
***
This field, the Fire Mirror, had a peculiarity: Monsters took a day to regenerate. Thanks to that, the hunting field temporarily became a safe zone. It was lucky. If the monsters came out in their hundreds at a time, we wouldn't have even been able to sleep.
[You have defeated an Infernal Guard. EXP +4]
[You have defeated a Gremlin. EXP+2]
[You have defeated a Warrior of Doom. EXP +5]
[You have defeated a Chaos Worm...]
[You have defeated a Fire Fairy...]
Eliminating monsters we couldn't hunt before due to clan control of the field, we escaped the desert at the starting point after three days. Progress was much slower than I expected.
The map is big too, but there are too many monsters.
As soon as a battle began, the surrounding monsters gathered by sound. Of course, it was much better than if they gathered everywhere like at the beginning. We only had to worry about enemies coming from the front and it was possible to retreat if necessary. However, as the forced march dragged on, resistance and mana bottomed out and the hunting speed itself decreased. That also led to some dangerous situations. In the end, we had to take regular breaks.
Still, the speed of collecting the mana stones is insane.
I didn't call this place the Burning Zone for nothing. With large-scale battles using magic and, on top of that, a duplicate mana stone drop, coming here, I began to truly feel like I was making money from mana stones. Before this, all loot came from catching looters and obtaining their equipment.
After all, battle is the best type of hunting.
On the morning of the 26th, after camping in front, we officially entered a new field.
¡They!
The Burning Forest, as its name indicated, was engulfed in black flames and burned 365 days a year. However, the fire damage was negligible thanks to the trees being quite far apart and Cold Blood increasing flame resistance. There were three reasons to choose this place. First of all, it had the lowest battle difficulty.
«Hmm, nothing special.»
«Yes, I was a little worried, but I think it's easier than last place. There are no rank 5» monsters either.
Although the monsters were many, they were only rank 6 or 7. Of course, easy meant fewer rewards. However, the Ash Mountains and Lava Lake on the other side were quite challenging for our level, and there was nothing to gain at the Altar of the Dead where the portal was.
Secondly, we needed to get something to make things more comfortable, an object hidden in the center of the Burning Forest. With this, it would not only be possible to clear the other fields next time, but we could also enter that sixth floor island.
«Don't relax too much. You never know what can come out». I gave a warning out of habit, but once we entered the forest, I also accelerated my speed. Since it took us longer than I expected, I didn't know if we would arrive on time.
«The trees here are all burned».
«Let's rest here for today».
Repeating battle and travel throughout the day, we only unpacked our sleeping bags at the camping point when the day was coming to an end. The next morning, we encountered a monster.
Finally arrived.
«Arua! What is it called?»
«Hey... I don't know either».
There was only one in the Burning Forest, a monster that not even Raven, who had spent her entire life reading books, knew the rank or name of, a rare monster that even the clans that controlled the fields on the fifth floor could or could not meet. meet once a year.
«Kwohhhhhh!» This was the rank 5 rare type Berthas, the third reason for choosing the Burning Forest.
«¡Behell-ahhhhhhh!»
This guy was guaranteed to release an essence.