episode_0145

[Spirit of Memory] – Summons a spirit that permanently stores 1 card regardless of the deck.

[Fast-forward Clock] – Reduces the time until the next turn by 10 seconds.

[Well of Void] – Permanently increases Energy by 1. Mana cost of Power cards increases.

In fact, since I was a bit short on energy, I thought it would give me an energy relic to take care of that.

It offered many attractive options.

First, [Spirit of Memory].

That it permanently stores 1 card regardless of the deck.

From what I understand, it means it lets me permanently maintain the effect of an enhanced magic circle for exactly one card.

Until I actually use this, I’m not sure how it will work out.

Next is [Fast-forward Clock].

A very, very, very drastic effect of reducing the time of one turn by as much as 10 seconds.

But with just this, I don’t feel like I’ll become incredibly strong.

Of course, it would be good for long fights.

However, when I think about whether there were many long fights while I was active in the labyrinth so far.

There weren’t as many as I thought.

With ordinary trash mobs, I engage in combat aiming for a quick decisive battle by initiating the first strike as much as possible.

Lastly, [Well of Void]

The only energy option.

However, the risk is that the mana cost of Power cards increases.

This is actually cautious to choose because my current main deck, the Elementalist’s Deck, revolves around Power cards.

“…Hmm.”

Let’s exclude [Well of Void] for now.

Permanent energy is needed, but I think the penalty is too big.

I don’t have that many high-cost cards yet.

The remaining two are.

Both are good because they only increase the benefits without penalties.

Is it the Spirit of Memory that stores 1 card to raise the low end?

Or is it the Fast-forward Clock that reduces the turn time by 10 seconds to raise the high end?

Whichever I choose, it’s certain that I will become stronger than now.

In that case….

It would be good to be able to create many different variables.

The contemplation wasn’t that long.

My hand was already reaching in one direction.

Flash-

The inside of the room momentarily glowed and then returned to normal.

“Mr. Ivan?!”

But before I opened my eyes, I heard Grace’s voice, who had come in upon seeing this light.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“But what is that in front of you?”

“What?”

Looking in the direction Grace pointed, something like broken mirror shards was floating around, looking at me.

Is this the [Spirit of Memory]?

Its appearance is a little different from what I expected, though.

Shall I try using it once?

Lightly equipping the deck next to me, I drew one card from the top.

[Wave of Light]

Ah, this isn’t a card useful in daily life.

After checking all 4 remaining cards, I immediately chose one card and placed it into the spirit.

[Heal]

Nom.

The spirit munching and crunching on the card.

Surely this doesn’t mean the card disappears permanently, does it?

Fortunately, the eaten card turned into a cluster of light and returned to the deck.

And the spirit shaped like a broken mirror immediately changed its appearance, becoming a card-shaped mirror.

The spirit came directly into my arms.

‘It definitely said it could be used regardless of the deck.’

In that case, I need to check if it can be used even if I change the deck.

Click-

『Deck changed.』

『Current Deck: Elementalist’s Deck』

『Time until next exchange possible: 0:59:59』

『Until next draw: 60』

Ah, I have to wait.

Then, Grace, who clearly knew I was waiting for the next turn, went outside and brought something back.

“Mr. Ivan. It’s a gift from the Crown Prince.”

What on earth did he give me?

I took a quick look and saw it was a magic staff.

No, I don’t need a magic staff….

Seeing that he gave me another staff when I wasn’t even using the one I received last time, could it be that he’s sulking because I didn’t use what he gave me? And that’s why he brought something better.

…He couldn’t possibly be such a narrow-minded person.

“There’s a message left behind, would you like me to read it?”

“Please do.”

“[I heard that you don’t need a staff or an orb. But as a mage, don’t you look a bit cooler carrying a staff? So I prepared a staff with a special power embedded.] That’s what it says.”

“There was no need for that.”

Well, it’s probably meant as thanks for handling a big matter, so refusing is awkward.

But what kind of power does it have, I wonder?

I immediately picked up the staff and analyzed it.

Having attended the magic tower for quite some time now, I could immediately figure out what its performance was.

‘Is it automatic defense using accumulated mana and increased mana efficiency?’

Well, it’s not bad.

Even if it’s not an overpowered item like the robe my master gave me, at least it prevents me from being killed by a stray attack, right?

Until now, Grace was deflecting all the stray attacks, but I can’t rely on that forever.

Thanking inwardly, while testing the staff this way and that, one minute passed before I knew it.

『It’s your turn. Draw 4 cards.』

『Joker Card – Draw 1 specified card additionally on the first turn.』

Shuffle shuffle shuffle shuffle shuffle.

5 cards were drawn, and after confirming that all were cards from the Elementalist’s Deck, I lightly created a wound on my hand with a dagger.

“Look here.”

I used the card held by the spirit.

[Heal]

Then holy power began to heal the wound.

Yes, this is it.

While I was smiling with satisfaction, Grace didn’t understand what had changed.

“…?”

“You know that my magic is different depending on the deck I use, right?”

“Yes. Roughly.”

“Now I can use one magic spell from another deck. Many strategies are possible, such as increasing combinations or eliminating variables.”

This was the result I wanted.

Reducing the turn time by 10 seconds with the Fast-forward Clock is drastic, but I value being able to deal with numerous situations through various strategies more highly.

Well, it’s just a difference in people’s inclinations, after all. The other options were also quite attractive.

‘What if I store [Charge] from the Elementalist’s Deck and put it into another deck to add an enhancement effect? Or….’

Various possibilities for combinations popped into my head.

However, at that moment, Grace smiled.

“Mr. Ivan, you seem most happy when you’re planning something like that.”

“Is that so…?”

“But please hold on for a moment. Can we send away all those people outside?”

“Ah.”

Approaching the window once more and slightly drawing back the curtain, I saw that the area in front of the clan building was still packed with people.

“Mr. Kairek is complaining that he can’t even go for training because of that.”

“Well, we can’t just leave them like that.”

“Here you go.”

Before I knew it, Grace had finished preparing clothes.

Neatly dressed, she walked out confidently towards the front of the clan building.

““……Huh?!!””

People were startled as soon as they saw me.

They rushed over and started asking me questions.

“Hey!! Is it true that you caught that vampire?!”

“How on earth did you catch it?!”

These were all expected questions.

So I naturally spewed out the prepared words one after another.

“Yes. I was lucky. If it weren’t for the knights stationed on the 7th floor, we would have all died and that fearsome being would have been unleashed upon the world. Once again, I thank all the nations that dispatched knights, and the Empire.”

No matter how you look at it, it’s a perfect answer that would score a hundred out of a hundred.

I was inwardly nodding with self-satisfaction.

Questions continued to pour in.

“What did the vampire look like?!”

“The magic tower carried out the subjugation…”

I sincerely answered these questions and more.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely the truth; I mixed in things that were slightly different.

*

Putting aside the 7 Prisoners, the news of the death of a vampire that had existed for a long time, and that the disciple of the Tower Master had killed it, spread quickly throughout the Labyrinth City.

And naturally, the fact that we had become high-level explorers was highly publicized.

We hadn’t even announced that we were recruiting yet, but people wanting to join the clan were already piling up.

When the water is high, row your boat. So we immediately posted a recruitment announcement for clan members on the guild board and underwent inspection.

Fortunately, they didn’t ask much. Most of it was attested to by the investigators who were still alive.

And well, I went to the magic tower and got a lecture from my master, and someone from the Ariel Sect also came to visit once.

I began to faithfully spend a tumultuous day.

A daily life I had gotten back after a long time.

It definitely felt like something had changed after becoming a high-level explorer, and yet, there wasn’t a big change.

That’s just how life is, I guess.

A few days passed. Finally, it was time to select new clan members.

Since so many people applied, we decided to increase the number beyond just the 2nd and 3rd teams.

Now that we’ve become high-level explorers, we can form separate teams that will be active in the mid-level floors.

Indeed, the proportion of mid-level explorers among the applicants increased.

“Are we only making one more team?”

“Well, if the opportunity arises, making more is fine. Adel seemed quite motivated.”

First, we’ll form one party centered around Adel.

If there are more people, we’ll create a second mid-level party.

And the interviews went stably, exceeding the target number.

Now, the last remaining spot was for one high-level explorer who would climb to the 7th and 8th floors with us.

“Hundreds of low-level explorers applied, and dozens of mid-level ones, but there really aren’t many high-level explorer applicants.”

Actually, there aren’t zero applicants.

However, most are people who have just ‘tasted’ the 7th floor level.

Unfortunately, we need to go beyond the 7th floor to the 8th and 9th floors.

Uncharacteristically, we’re being quite strict when evaluating.

But finding useful talent is slower than expected.

“Maybe the fact that many died on the 7th floor recently has an impact.”

“I didn’t know there were so many high-level explorers on the 7th floor.”

“…They must have prepared for quite a long time. To the extent that guild investigators were dispatched.”

Generally, for guild investigators to be dispatched, a large-scale disappearance or an anomaly in the labyrinth must occur.

Typically, like when my Blue Sun clan disappeared en masse on the 1st floor.

But that was on the low floors, so they were close enough for investigators to be dispatched. Once you go to the mid-level and high-level floors, they won’t be dispatched for ordinary matters.

“I heard this through people I know. Missing persons had been gradually increasing for at least one to two months, maybe even three months. And they were explorers with considerable experience.”

“Anyway, since they prepared for such a long time, even the vampire couldn’t give up and escape.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. Next time we enter the labyrinth, we’ll have to go with Noah to make it 5 people.”

It’s not urgent, though.

Because there’s Noah, who is a suitable alternative.

“More importantly, have you been getting information about the 8th floor?”

“Yes. I’m looking, but most of it costs too much.”

“Don’t overdo it. It’s not urgent.”

Even if we don’t go up to the 8th floor right now, we will eventually. So we need to get information in advance.

Just then, I heard a knock-knock sound.

And then one person opened the door and entered.

“Rain?”

“It’s been a while.”

Rain, who had completely left the life of an explorer and become a guild guide and investigator, came to find me.

It was still broad daylight, so I wondered what the matter was.

Behind Rain, a person followed him in.

“Hello, hello!! Has everyone been well?”

“Jack?”

That Jack, who was active with us on the 7th floor, came with Rain.

Surely….

“Since someone who said they were an 8th floor explorer came and applied for a lower position, I came quickly.”

It’s true that Rain knew we were recruiting clan members, so it was very kind of him to quickly guide a good applicant to us.

“Haha, oh, this building is quite nice. Is that a safe…?”

Jack smiled broadly, looking around.

Anyone can see he looks like a thief scouting before a robbery?

No matter how I look at it, accepting him seems more dangerous?

Grace, seeing my slightly flustered look, patted my shoulder.

She immediately started whispering.

“This is an opportunity. Not a 7th floor explorer, but an 8th floor explorer? Plus, he’s the sturdy vanguard we needed. Of course, I know what you’re worried about.”

“I agree too.”

In fact, there are many good points if we just accept Jack.

First, we can get a skilled person whose abilities are definitely proven.

Second, he’s someone in a position suitable to fill the vanguard role we were lacking.

Lastly, conquering the 8th floor would be easily achieved.

However….

“Jack, what about that accusation…”

“Wait a minute. Accusation?”

Suddenly, Rain’s attitude became sharp as he looked at Jack.

Oops. Did he not know?

“Ah, ah!! No!! Thanks to my cooperation, the investigator said he would make it as if nothing happened!!”

At Jack’s words, Rain let out a sigh of relief.

Certainly, looking at that, it seems his criminal record has disappeared from the system.

“Anyway, if it’s a crime that can be erased just because a guild investigator says so, it wasn’t a big deal. Then I’ll be going.”

Rain left, holding his slightly aching head.

Now there were only the three of us left.

I glanced at Grace, but she patted my shoulder again as if telling me to decide on my own.

“……Hmm.”

After an appropriate amount of thought.

“Thank you, Jack, for joining a new clan like this.”

“Not at all!!”

A new face had been added.