Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City

It took another 2 hours to reach the portal to the 5th floor. There was a base here as well.

How far did I fall that it wasn't easy to reach?

"Bronze-rank? Heading to the 5th floor alone?"

"Yes, that's right."

"That's impressive. To be honest, when I was bronze-rank, I went with a 4-person party. We even had help from an iron-rank explorer midway."

"Am I good to go though?"

"It's not a big problem actually. I know you need a small party to be promoted, among other things… Can't nitpick every little thing or there's no end."

I shouldn't have tried to go alone out of stubbornness, especially since going to the 5th floor with a party is the norm.

There are hardly any solo players to begin with. Without mobility-related skills, getting to the 5th floor takes at least a day. Sleeping alone in the wild was probably the fastest way to be killed.

"Okay. Are you going now?"

"I have to. I got delayed meeting a peculiar person."

I took another nap at the base. It was not long, about three more hours. It's better to at least get minimal sleep.

It's already around 3 o'clock?

"I wish you success. You'll return right away from the 5th floor?"

"Probably. Is there anything I should be careful of?"

I've been to the 5th floor only once before, but I was lucky to land near the portal that time and reached it in 20 minutes of walking. I never encountered the threatening factors I was warned about.

"From the 5th floor onwards, goblins appear in the mountains. Other than that, there's not much difference."

"I see."

From the 5th floor, monsters that can truly be called monsters, like goblins, appear instead of just beasts. Their individual combat power may not be high, but they wield threatening weapons like stone axes or spears.

I hope to land close to the portal.

"I'm off."

"Take care."

* * * * *

Rustle -

"Mountains."

The moment I passed through the portal and my feet touched the ground, the piled-up fallen leaves slid down the sloped surface.

"The portal is over there."

If I remember correctly, the 5th-floor portal is in the middle of the forest. I need to get out of the mountainous area quickly. Fortunately, I could see the forest down below me, meaning I only had to head downhill.

"Hmm."

Being mountains, they're teeming with all sorts of creatures not infused with mana. Although my physical abilities definitely improved at night, visibility was much better during the day.

Many other animals are active, too, so my senses catch a lot, but there aren't any particularly threatening ones.

"Gotta run."

Staying in the mountains will only increase mental fatigue. Meaningless all-direction presence detection will dull my vigilance.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be the center of the mountain. After about 30 minutes of continuously going downhill, flat terrain came into view. Since I took a big detour around the dangerous path, the direction my badge pointed had changed a bit.

I need to quickly reach the 5th-floor return stone, touch my badge, and be promoted to lead rank.

— Then we have to climb the mountain here?

— Don't dire wolves prefer the forest? Going up seems meaningless.

I heard human voices. The first was a distinctly raspy male voice, and the second was a beautiful female voice.

'It was a beast-kin.'

The woman was a beastkin. Cat? Fox? Wolf? I'm not sure, but they had orange fur.

The man was...

'An orc.'

Regular orcs are low in intelligence and can't speak calmly like that. More... Human!! Fight!! Kill!! That sort of vibe.

He must be a human with the [Orc] skill.

"Oh. It's a person."

"Good work."

"Did you come down from the mountain?"

The orc man asked me.

"Yes. I'm heading to the portal."

"Did you happen to see a large wolf in the mountains?"

"A large wolf, you say?"

"Yes. We heard news that a dire wolf alpha appeared here."

According to the female beast-kin, news had arrived that a dire wolf alpha had appeared in the northeast part of the 5th floor where I was. Why did I have to fall where such a dangerous thing appeared?

"I don't think I saw it. I also just arrived on the 5th floor. I reached the foot of the mountain and didn't go further up."

"I see. You should be careful. That guy is said to be extremely strong."

"Are you two trying to catch it?"

"We're scouts. We're lead-rank, but not at the level to catch the alpha."

Scouts need to be fast, right? I know beast-kin are amazing runners. Surprisingly, the orc said he had the [Light Steps] skill, so he had no problem running away.

What an amusing combination.

"I'll get going then."

"If you spot it, scream first. There should be quite a few people wandering around here."

"Yes."

As the two said, I encountered a good number of people. About 4 teams total, once every 10 minutes. They were agile 2-person parties.

Although dire wolves do live in the mountains, their main active environment is the forest. From the 5th floor of the labyrinth, there are goblins in the mountains, so most caves are occupied by them.

In terms of individual combat power, dire wolves are on par or slightly superior, but goblins live in villages with at least 30 in one cave.

Naturally, it's easier for a superior individual to appear among them, which is why dire wolves rarely share the same place as goblins.

For an alpha to appear among pack monsters, there needs to be a large pack. Dire wolves need to go to the forest to build up their forces. Others would know that, too.

As expected, there were more and more scouts as I went deeper into the forest. Though the situation seemed a bit dangerous, I felt reassured by the number of lead rank explorers nearby.

One even mentioned a reward for any intel once it was caught. Others would be aiming for that, too.

I walked for about another hour after that. As I got further from the mountain, it became a normal forest again, and thick trees similar to the 4th floor started growing. I took a break for about 30 minutes, eating grain cubes and drinking water from my canteen, and then continued.  

Now, if I just cross over a low mountain, it's all forest until the portal.

'...Blood trail.'

Seeing blood stretched out in a line, I followed it with my eyes and spotted a dire wolf corpse far to the right. I approached and checked the wounds - it wasn't killed by human hands.

'Cannibalism?'

There were 2 dire wolf corpses with messy wounds. Judging by the long trail of blood, it seemed to have walked a long distance after being injured. Did the dire wolves fight each other? They dominate the lower floors with cooperation.

'The alpha's doing?'

Fights rarely happen in small packs. Even if they fight, it's unlikely to be to the death. But if it's the alpha culling pack members it dislikes...

The corpses weren't completely cold yet. Hard to tell the time of death since it walked a long way while bleeding heavily.

I put a grain cube in my mouth, chewed slowly, and took steps in the direction the blood trail was going. Away from where the alpha was.

'Dire wolf instinct.'

It's not just dire wolves, but an instinct most monsters have. Superior individuals eliminate competitors that could threaten their safety.

"Luckily, it's towards the portal."

The direction the injured wolf was trying to go was towards the portal.

I should hurry before actually encountering the dire wolf alpha.

Or so I thought.

"I'm screwed."

I felt it. The presence of the alpha individual nearby. From the direction of the portal.

My body trembled involuntarily. They had taken position in the direction I was going.

The injured ones weren't running away from the alpha. They were returning after a hunt.

Following the direction of the blood trail was the problem. I should have gone somewhere completely different.

I quickly brought the shield in my left hand and gripped my sword in my right. I'll run to the right from here. I wanted to take a wide detour since the portal was just nearby.

No. I'm basically already caught, aren't I? If I sensed it, there's no way it didn't notice me.

If a dire wolf runs in earnest, there's no way I can escape, no matter how much effort I put in. Do I have to fight? Alone?

'I'm far from the scouts.'

My whole body went cold. My pounding heartbeat was loud in my ears, as if my heart had crawled up to my brain.

Can I win if I fight? It's worth a try. The old me would definitely die.

I didn't have the combat power to catch it, and even if I somehow did, it would be on death's door.

But now?

'As long as I don't die right away, there's a chance.'

Like when I almost died on the 3rd floor, my wounds might heal with a night's rest.

Its presence is getting closer by the second. If I crawl out next to this tree I'm hiding behind, I might be able to see it.

The alpha is wary of me too. Yeah. It's lived long, so it must have that much intelligence.

"Whew...."

— Thud, thud.

I emerged from behind the tree trunk I had been hiding behind, revealing myself. As I expected, a pack of dire wolves, including the alpha, was glaring at me.

— Click

I drank half the water in my canteen and poured the remaining chilled water over my head. I took out the 4 remaining grain cubes, dumped a handful in my mouth, chewed, and swallowed with the help of water. I undid my belt and tossed my pouch on the ground as I no longer needed it.

"Fucking huge. Lives up to the name of alpha."

The alpha's bright yellow eyes accurately pinned me from the center back of the pack. Its stature was 1.5 times that of a regular dire wolf. A large maw and vicious fangs to match.

Since it was daytime, I didn't have the same keen senses as at night. That's probably why I didn't see so many dire wolves roaming around.

'With the alpha... about 14 of them?'

It may be day, but my physical abilities are much better than before.

I moved my feet with small hops, circulating blood throughout my body.

But it stayed in place.

It's eerily cautious.

"Come at me, bitch. I'll kill you."

I ran my fingers through my wet hair and cracked my neck.

— Aooooo!!!

And the wolves charged at me.