72 2.27 Climbing up - Part 2

The central part of the labyrinth was filled with Lightstone crystals which were illuminating our path. After facing those big buzzing bees, we didn't come across any small monsters. But by what I can sense, there should be several big monsters ahead of us.

'But something about these monsters feels weird,' I thought. There were several reasons that led me to think that. The first and foremost being the structure of this labyrinth. It was as if the entire labyrinth was designed to sustain these creatures.

All of us were walking through the passage, but by what I could sense, we should be coming across a pond soon. Normally, I wouldn't be able to sense any physical structure, but this pond was strange. Strange in a sense that the water of the pond itself was filled with mana.

"Nara, stop spacing out like an old man," Princess Anna said startling me.

"Oh! Sorry... It's just that something about the monsters up ahead feels different."

"Different?" Princess Eliane asked.

"Yes, it feels like they are the part of this labyrinth itself. And their concentration of mana is too high compared to all other monsters that we have faced."

"Could they be labyrinth dwellers?" Princess Eliane said in an uncertain tone after thinking for a while.

"Labyrinth dwellers? Can you tell me more about them?" I asked since the name itself sounded interesting.

"I once read about them in a book back home. These creatures are closer to spirits than monsters. They can only live in places with pure mana," replied Princess Eliane.

That made sense. I could feel something on the top floors that was purifying the mana. And that purified mana was being supplied to all other floors from there.

'Well, guess we will have to find out as we go.'

"Aren't you guys hungry?" Princess Anna asked. The look on her face was clearly saying that she definitely was.

"Well, there is a pond just up ahead, we may find something to eat there," I replied.

There was a moment of silence for a while as we walked through the passage. And at the end of the passage, there it was. A pond whose water itself was blue, shining like a gemstone, filled with light crystals. A sight that would make the journey of any who come to this labyrinth worth it. And the water was so clean that it could probably wash the impurities of both outside and inside.

"Weren't we going to look for something to eat here?" Princess Anna asked when she saw us lost in the sight.

"Oh yeah! let's see if there are fishes here," I replied. It felt somewhat weird to even think about fishing in a beautiful pond like this one. But hunger wins.

"Can there even be fishes in a pond like this?" Arica asked.

"Look! there are some," Princess Anna said pointing towards some white shining fishes swimming in the pond.

"But how do we catch them?" asked Princess Eliane.

I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants and sleeves, and got inside the pond. I had a hunting knife with me, but catching a fish with just that would be hard. Billy had given me some tips for these cases, so I was planning to use them.

"Guys, be quite alright," I looked towards others and said.

I seized any form of movement, made the breathing as quiet as possible, and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. And when I felt like the time was right, I stroke. It was a failure.

I tried again, but it was still a failure. They were simply too fast for me.

"Man, this is too hard," I said after my several attempts went in failure. At this point, even my folded sleeves were all wet.

"Nara, try concentrating mana into your hand and catching them," Princess Eliane, who was watching me struggle, said.

I tried doing as she said. When I concentrated the mana and dipped my hand into the water, instead of running away, the fishes came to me. All the struggle that I was doing until now felt like splashing a bucket of water in a desert.

"As I thought, these fishes are labyrinth dwellers too," Princess Eliane said as she saw that happen.

It was somewhat obvious because the water was very clean. There weren't any insects or plants, not even algae, and the water itself was filled with mana.

The fishes were slippery so I threw them towards the ground as soon as I caught them. And when it felt like we had plenty to be full, I came out of the water. There was no firewood so we would need to rely on fire magic to cook them.

"Princess Eliane, can you please cook? I will clean them," I said as soon as I got out. I was determined not to let Arica, who wouldn't be able to know when it's cooked, and Princess Anna whose control was a bit off, cook it.

"He-he!... it was fun to watch you struggle like that, darling," Arica said with a teasing smile.

'Man, the life of a guy is hard.'

"Well, you won't get any if you keep on teasing me," I replied.

"Well, look at him getting all angry."

'Looks like she got what she wanted. It would have been wise to stay quiet in the first place.'

After the fishes were cooked and we ate them, everyone rested for a while. Even though the path we came through had few monsters, we had walked a lot today.

"Okay, let's get going everyone. By what I sense, there should be an enemy that we need to face up ahead," I said while getting up.

"Yeah. Hopefully, this will all end soon, and we will be able to rest properly," Princess Anna said after getting up. I could understand her since all the journey up to now has been stressful for all of us.

There were 3 paths out of the place we were on. We chose the one on the left, which was the fastest one.

After walking for a while on the passage, we came across a large room. And in front of the path that we needed to take from there, was a large sleeping wolf.

It opened its eyes when it sensed us come in and stood up. The wolf that was already large enough, looked even larger as it stood.

"Welcome challengers. I, Fenrir will be your opponent. Show me that you are worthy to climb higher."

"Ah... Sorry, but I think we already proved our worth to the Voice of the labyrinth."

: Climbing up - Part 3