Flesh Golem of the Labyrinth City

Chapter 7: Night Condition

"Kyaaaah!"

The archer screamed first.

There was distance between me and the party ahead, so I was still far from the battle.  

Let's think calmly. No need to rush.

'Should I strike the side of the wolf pack? Join up with the party?'

I didn't think long and moved my feet right away.

The feeling of my legs kicking off the ground was quite different from before. Had my physical abilities awakened? I felt the soles of my shoes digging into the ground and propelling me forward.

'Fast..!'

I drew my sword from its sheath as I leaped forward as if throwing my body.

Some dire wolves watching me started barking, splitting into two groups - those coming towards me and those going after the party.

'Four of them! Good odds!'

Lowering my upper body, I used my running speed to thrust my lowered blade into the gaping maw of the wolf.

ㅡKkek..!

Before I could pull out my sword from the throat-pierced beast, I kicked the jaw of one approaching from the side with my leather boots reinforced with a metal plate, then drove my retrieved sword into its neck.

'Two down..!'

As the two leading wolves were taken out in an instant, the trailing ones got scared and hesitated.

"You dog bastards! Real dog bastards!"

Every time I shouted loudly, I could clearly see them flinching. Definitely different from last time. Had my body changed? The wolves were more frightened than before.

My vision was focused, and their movements were visible. In the end, they were just slightly large wild dogs. As long as my feet were firmly protected, they were no big deal.

"Huk..!"

I brandished my sword at the one crouching low and drooling. The movement was too big, so it dodged, but I could just swing again!

ㅡSlash

"Crazy..!"

Before I could retrieve my extended sword, I swung it to the left, and the dire wolf's skull split vertically, spilling its brain matter.

Although there was slight resistance, cutting through a skull with a sword... Seeing that, one of the remaining wolves started fleeing.

"Yes! Go!"

No need to chase the fleeing one. How was the party doing?

"Get back! I said get back!"

"Th-then I can't shoot my arrows!"

As expected, the archer was a novice. One of the common types seen among beginner explorers. Scared of close combat, they buy a cheap bow, shoot at a nearby target a few times, and enter real combat without proper practice.

ㅡClang clang!

'What a mess.'

The fallen female warrior was flailing her arms and legs wildly without even opening her eyes properly. Because of that, the male vanguard who tried to help her got scared of the erratically flailing sword and hesitated to assist.

Ah, seriously.

"Stop flailing and open your eyes! Get up properly, supporting yourself on the ground!!"

"Y-yes, sir!!"  

As I shouted loudly and ran toward the back of the battling wolf pack, three wolves turned their heads toward me.

Using my running momentum, I cleanly kicked the belly of one wolf. I felt something break, so I changed my gaze to another wolf.

I swung my sword horizontally at the thigh of the dire wolf approaching the female vanguard, trying to get up.

ㅡSlash!

With a shckt- sound, a drumstick was butchered.

'Was the sword's cutting power always this good..?'

Grabbing the tail of the fallen three-legged with my left hand, I swung it down at the head of the charging wolf, then jumped high towards the two wolves sticking close together, as if good friends, to stomp down with the soles of my feet.

No, I tried to stomp.

"What the hell?!"

Contrary to expectations, I soared over 3 meters into the sky, lost my center of balance like a WWE wrestler, and fell with my right elbow first toward the lying beasts.

Crunch-

The spine of the dire wolf crushed by my elbow became a spinal column. The beast spat out all remaining air from its lungs, coughed up blood, and collapsed.

ㅡSqu-eal...

Perhaps startled by my loud descent from the sky, the remaining two got scared shitless like frightened puppies and ran off with their tails between their legs.

"Ow, my side hurts."

Fortunately, my ribs were unharmed. I did fall from a 3-meter height but landed on the soft meat bag of a dire wolf.

"A-are you o-okay..?!"

"Oh, yes. I'm fine."

Rubbing my right side, I went to check on the one I kicked earlier. It was lying on its side, kicking at the air as if running in a dream prairie.

ㅡNgk, kkeung..

"Why the hurry. Go slowly so you don't trip."

As I thrust my blade into the lower part of its neck, avoiding the spine, with a ttudeok- sound, its kicking stopped.

The party watching blankly from the side had their mouths wide open with a stupid expression.

Looked to be around seventeen at most. Youngsters.

"No, how can you fight so recklessly like that?"

"Th-that's.. I'm sorry!"

"Shh. Don't speak so loudly. You're not apologizing to me. What if you had died?"

"Sorry.. no, it's our first Labyrinth run…"

As expected, novice explorers. Since they're on their first run, they're bronze ranks.

The archer didn't have major injuries, but are those clothes appropriate? There is too much exposure on her legs. The guy seemed to have been bitten on his left leg, limping heavily. The female vanguard rolled on the ground once, so she looked disheveled but didn't seem to be wounded.

"Uhm.. you're heading to the portal, right?"

"Yes, but…"

The reasons explorers enter the Labyrinth can be largely divided into three.

Hunting parties that reach a certain floor and hunt there. Dive parties that go down to the deepest floor they can reach. And quest parties aiming to complete requests.

No one forms a hunting party to hunt on the 3rd floor. The math has to work out.

The female vanguard sheathed her single-edged sword and approached me.

"If it's alright, together with us... Eek?!"

"What. Why are you surprised looking at someone's face."

"E-eyes..!"

Ah. Because of my left eye? That's understandable.

"Just swapped it out. Looked nice."

"Whaaat..!?"

"Joking. I can't go together."

They'd clearly be a burden. Traversing the forest alone to the portal would be much faster. The biggest merit is encountering fewer dire wolves by not carrying a lantern.

"Please! We're very inexperienced..."

The archer also approached, putting on a sad face with her head tilted up to me. She's short, a head shorter than me.

The guy seemed to dislike me joining. I also had no desire to linger on the 3rd floor.

"You owe me big for saving you this time. You would've died. Try to manage on your own now."

"Let's go, Lupina, Tresha."

The male explorer, who had been making an uncomfortable expression, grabbed their shoulders and pulled them to his side. Yes, take care of your own women.

The two girls looked reluctant, but what can you do? I'm not in the habit of coveting other men's women. The real problem is I don't have a woman of my own.

"Hey. Listen to your party leader."

"Th-that's..."

"We can do it with our own strength."

"I suppose so."

Perhaps because they're young, they're overflowing with confidence. As long as blood isn't overflowing too.

I also swung my sword in the air to shake off blood, rubbed the remaining blood on the hide of a wolf lying on the ground with the flat of the blade, then sheathed it.

As I left first, I heard them slowly following behind.

No, this defeats the purpose of going alone. Being clearly exposed with that brightly shining torch, I'll end up getting noticed too.

In the end, I slightly increased my walking speed to move quickly.

'The hell.'

I heard the party also increasing their speed.

After raising my pace and passing through the forest like that for about 30 minutes,

'I see it.'

Far ahead, I saw a place with countless gathered lights. I could faintly make out human shapes, too. They also noticed behind me as I heard a sigh of relief.

"Halt. Who goes there."

"Bronze-rank explorer."

"Seems so. Good work."

Seems so, he says. Isn't that a bit harsh? But it's true so I can't argue.

After I passed through the checkpoint, the party following behind also entered the portal base. It was nothing grandiose, just a wide area surrounded by a wooden palisade, with people lying around covered in robes or other cloth.

Probably waiting for daybreak to head to the 4th floor.

'Isn't night better than day for me?'

I'm not sure why. My body moved faster when I killed 12 at night than when I exerted myself to catch a single straggler dire wolf during the day.

It's almost as if...

'As if I've become a wolf.'

Looking at the explorers sleeping huddled together on the neatly paved stone floor… Sheesh, feels like a slum.

There are also merchants here. They sell jerky made from dire wolf meat, but it's not cheap. It tastes good, though.

Still, I just came from battle. Let's properly maintain my gear, recover, and then depart. And above all, my body is clearly different from before.

'Did I do the high jump or what.'

I intended to jump high, but not 3 meters high. In the first place, a person can't jump 3 meters without any assistance. Well, there was mana that created 'positive' effects for those who utilized it.

Positive effect sounds too broad and abstract so it's hard to feel, but...

Anyway, it makes humans a bit stronger, increases natural healing, slows aging, makes them more agile, etc.

Their basic physical abilities are much better than people on Earth.

No matter what, still. Even people in this world can't jump 3 meters. Of course, it's a different story for those with good skills.

'Could it be a dire wolf trait?'

These wolves are nocturnal, but what does that have to do with me? The eyeball and blood are a bit...

'The blood.'

That's possible. Not certain though.

I finished maintenance while continuing idle thoughts. I wiped the sword well and neatly organized the jumbled interior of my pouch. Most of the dire wolves on the 3rd floor are subadults. In other words, weak wolves that haven't fully grown yet.

Combat style's no big difference, but adult dire wolves are larger and stronger.

"And I'm all set."

"W-wait a moment!"

Someone stopped me from behind.

"What."

It's the female vanguard from the party earlier.

"You're going now?!"

"Yes. And?"

"Y-you're not departing in the morning..?"

"Yes. And?"

"Why..?"

"I'm stronger at night."

She tilted her head, looking puzzled.

"So your skill is..."

"Yes, well, something like that."

"Th-then.. be careful..."

What was that about?

Anyway... I'm heading to the 4th floor.

And there, I need to test my physical abilities a bit.