We entered the first floor of the labyrinth and began following the route I had decided on in advance, aiming for the eighth floor.
The first through sixth floors had already been mostly surveyed by the previous investigator.
According to the report, more than half of the seventh floor had also been completed, so we decided to skip it for now and prioritize surveying the eighth floor.
Combat along the way was left to Twilight Moonbow.
I was continuing my personal ki training, and the enemies here were no problem for Twilight Moonbow to handle.
Since Luna had joined, they hadn't had many real battles together yet—so the main reason was to use this opportunity to confirm the new party's coordination.
"There's a group of five goblins around the next right turn."
As we advanced, Sophie spoke up.
The goblin group Sophie had detected was out of sight and quite a distance away.
Yet she had accurately pinpointed their location and number.
Sophie's detection ability was improving day by day.
Her perception was close to what people call "intuition."
It's said that explorers who have spent many years in labyrinths develop a kind of sixth sense, though the degree varies from person to person.
In reality, it's more like highly accurate predictions based on the labyrinth's atmosphere and years of accumulated experience.
But Sophie's detection ability didn't fit that description.
After all, she had far less experience than even mid-tier explorers.
Yet she possessed detection skills that rivaled those of high-ranking explorers—most likely thanks to her unique ability [Psychokinesis].
Unique abilities sometimes induce secondary effects.
My [Mana Convergence] and Luna's [Spirit Dominion] were examples.
Since both interfere with mana, they allow the user to faintly perceive mana that normal humans cannot.
There are still many unknown aspects to [Psychokinesis], but it is undoubtedly an ability that exerts physical influence on objects.
In other words, it can interfere with objects.
I believe this is related to Sophie's detection ability.
It had only been about two months since Sophie awakened her ability.
It wasn't hard to imagine that she would continue mastering it more and more.
Right now my detection was still superior, but in the future she might even surpass me.
I was genuinely looking forward to seeing how she would grow from here.
"Lu-nee, could you place [Induction Decoy Light] at the corner ahead?"
"Understood."
At Sophie's instruction, Luna activated [Induction Decoy Light] at the intersection.
Among the members of Twilight Moonbow, Luna was naturally by far the strongest.
She could probably handle party command better than anyone.
However, Luna had declined to take the leadership role, so Sophie continued to command the party as before.
"Rogue, we'll take them out with magic the moment they're drawn by the light. You handle two, I'll handle three."
"…Got it."
As Sophie and Rogue began constructing their spells, the goblins approached the light.
""[Fire Arrow]!!""
The moment all five entered their line of sight, Sophie and Rogue unleashed their magic. Multiple fire arrows pierced the goblins.
"Yes!"
"Sophie, that was amazing! How did you know the goblins were there!?"
"Um… I just sort of felt like there were goblins around."
Carol called out to Sophie in admiration.
While listening to their conversation from behind, I spoke to Rogue, who was a short distance away.
"Good work, Rogue."
"Master… I was just following Sophie's instructions, so I'm not tired at all."
Rogue replied with a faint smile.
(I had planned to talk to Rogue later, but maybe I should step in a little now.)
"Are you bothered that Sophie took over your role?"
"—!"
Rogue drew in a small breath at my question.
Before Sophie awakened her ability, Rogue had been in charge of perimeter awareness.
Rogue's detection ability was already well above average for explorers of the same level.
But now Sophie's detection rivaled that of high-ranking explorers.
Compared to that, it was only natural he would feel overshadowed.
"Your burden was always too heavy to begin with. The fact that you handled both front-line combat and enchanter duties at the same time contributed enormously to the party. You're an indispensable part of this group. Have more confidence."
"…Yes. Thank you."
Pushing any further right now would be difficult.
If I pressed too hard, it could affect their performance in the labyrinth investigation.
A certain amount of venting was necessary to prevent an explosion, but brooding was also part of growth. Finding the right balance was tricky.
"Rogue! Sophie said the next fight will be front-line focused! Let's do our best!"
Noticing Rogue's odd state, Carol immediately called out to him.
"…Yeah. Let's do it."
◇
After that, without any major incidents, we registered the crystals on each floor with our guild cards and reached the seventh floor.
"From the seventh floor onward, the magic beasts seem to appear in mixed groups—so keep that in mind."
As I gave the warning, a magic beast pinged my detection net.
They were in a slightly open area straight ahead.
One orc and two Cerberuses.
"Contact! One orc and two four-legged magic beasts—probably Cerberuses!"
A moment later, Sophie also sensed them and called out.
Cerberuses were dog-like magic beasts with three heads.
Their bodies were large enough to easily carry a boy or girl on their backs, and they were extremely fast.
They also had sharp senses of smell, making them one of the stronger low-tier magic beasts that couldn't use magic.
"Sophie, what's the plan? Take them out quickly with magic?"
"Yeah, that seems safest. We'll approach normally until we have visual. If they haven't noticed us by then, Rogue and I will each take a Cerberus with magic, and you handle the orc. If they spot us first, Carol and Rogue will each pin down a Cerberus. Luna and I will pick them off one by one with magic."
Sophie quickly formulated the plan and relayed it to the others.
There was nothing wrong with the strategy.
But the opponents were bad news.
"Hmm… looks like they've already noticed us?"
It seemed the Cerberuses' sense of smell had already picked us up. They were charging toward us in a straight line.
"—! Carol, pin down the front Cerberus! Rogue, Lu-nee—stop the rear one's movement so we can hit it with magic!"
"Roger that!" "Got it!" "Yes!"
Rogue immediately buffed Carol, and she closed the distance to the leading Cerberus in an instant.
"Stop!"
Sophie thrust her left hand forward, forcibly halting the rear Cerberus's movement with [Psychokinesis].
"[Earth Spike]!"
"[Thunder Arrow]!"
Rogue raised spikes from the ground, piercing the immobilized Cerberus's legs and abdomen.
Luna's lightning arrows rained down, turning the Cerberus into black mist and leaving only a magic stone behind.
The other fight was completely dominated by Carol.
She closed the distance in a flash, slashed with her daggers, and whenever the Cerberus tried to counter, she was already outside its reach.
She bounded freely across the ground, walls, and ceiling—her speed had already reached a level where ordinary people couldn't follow.
Carol's growth lately had been remarkable.
Especially her physical abilities—she now ranked among the top even when compared to high-ranking explorers overall.
Compared to Fuuka's near-teleportation-like ultra-high-speed movement using ki activation during the second round of the martial arts tournament, it was still inferior—but with only support magic buffs (a complete downgrade from ki activation), she was already keeping pace with Fuuka.
If Carol ever mastered ki control, she might one day stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Fuuka.
"Carol! Magic incoming!"
At Sophie's call, Carol delivered a final heel drop from the ceiling straight onto one of the Cerberus's heads, then immediately retreated.
"[Fire Javelin]!"
A fire spear pierced the Cerberus where Carol had been, turning it into a magic stone.
The remaining orc was drawn in by Rogue, then finished off by Luna's attack magic without difficulty.
"Master, how was my fighting!?"
After the battle ended, Carol came over with a beaming smile.
"You handled it really well. No injuries either—you've grown a lot."
I patted her head while praising her.
"Ehehe~"
◇
Because the labyrinth itself was narrow, less than two hours after entering we reached the previously unexplored eighth floor.
"All right—starting now is the real labyrinth investigation for today."
After a short break, I addressed everyone.
"There are several steps to labyrinth investigation. When you first arrive on an unexplored floor, what's the very first thing you do? Does anyone know?"
"That would be map creation—mapping, right?"
Rogue answered my question.
"Correct. No matter what else you do, creating a map comes first. Once you know the internal structure, you can patrol efficiently. And for making maps, we use this."
I produced something like a sketchpad from my storage magic tool.
In the old days, all labyrinth maps were drawn by hand.
But that caused inconsistencies in scale depending on the person.
So the Explorers' Guild developed this board-like magical tool—the Mapping Board.
By placing special paper on the board, holding it level to the ground, and walking through the labyrinth, the tool automatically draws the map for you. It's an excellent device.
"Whoa! Amazing! So convenient~!"
After I finished explaining, Carol took the Mapping Board and walked around.
A map began to appear on the paper.
"It really is convenient. I never knew there was a magical tool like this. But now that I think about it, it makes sense. The great labyrinth maps the clan has are all to the same scale too."
"You understand just how grateful we explorers should be for this tool, right?"
"Yes. Between guild cards and Mapping Boards, we owe the Explorers' Guild a lot."
"Exactly. —All right, let's start mapping. Even though this labyrinth is narrow, we still have to walk every path at least once, so it'll take time. The number of battles will be far higher than in normal exploration. If you go all-out every fight, you'll tire out quickly. But if you hold back too much and get seriously injured, that defeats the purpose. Pay attention to pacing."
"Yes!"
"All right—let's go."
"Ooooh!!"