"This way" I pointed towards the left most path after coming across five tunnels.
Our party was already exploring the third layer after we had cleared the 2nd layer efficiently.
I wouldn't be surprised since most of the obstacles in the way in the second layer were mostly kobold variants.
With our lineup, taking care of those mobs wasn't even a challenge at all.
Traversing the mossy floor, the party was huddled up as they followed my figure in the dim lighted area.
With only glowing moss as the source of light in the current environment, we had to procure another source of light through Emily's emition of light nature mana from her staff.
It was a meticulous control of her mana, although it may look easy, operating mana like what Emily was doing needed high level skill and mastery.
Halting my steps, I signaled Lily to get into her position while I raised three of my fingers.
Nodding her head, she readied her rapier while I reloaded my gun, the other also went into their own positions.
Emily and Alice were the backliners while Jun was an extra vanguard who comes in when there's numerous enemies in the area.
Looking at each other's eyes, we instantly commenced our attack.
I instantly emptied the bullets in Sixth, all of it heading straight towards the three kobolds while Lily dashed right after, her rapier oozing out ice cold air.
Surprised by my attack, the three kobolds couldn't react right away as all my shot hit them at their vital spots.
Unable to move properly due to their wounds, Lily instantly took away their lives as she added holes into their bodies.
Their bodies shattered right after, like ice cracked with extreme force.
"Are we clear?" Emily asked as she light up the area more clearly with her staff.
"...Let me see. Yeah, we're clear here" I said as I briefly scanned the area with penetrating gaze.
Letting out some cold breath, Lily looked around the corpses or what remained of it at least.
"...Normal kobolds even show up at this layer? The others must have already got rid of the variants" she stated while pondering over the situation.
"Well with what Ray had been doing, we have been constantly avoiding traps and stacked paths"
Jun said as him and Alice also looked around.
"...That's true. We should be dealing with those type of things at this stage but we have been progressing quite smoothly"
The knowledge of traps in the third layer is available in the academies' archive, with Lily being the studious type, it would make sense why she was questioning our situation.
With my eyes, I could see not only the amount of monsters that are in an area but also the traps that are laid out.
Most of the traps in the third layer are pitfalls and hidden ceiling where multiple mobs are waiting.
Just by looking, I could see the hollow floors and hollow ceiling. Unfortunately, only a few paths are completely devoid of traps and monsters.
Like earlier, I had to choose the most efficient route to take which was the three normal kobolds awaiting in the area.
'...We have to catch up as soon as possible. With our pace, we're almost at the end of the third layer'
I was lost in thought while I rested my eyes because I was using them constantly in the two layers.
From what my vrace is indicating, 12 hours have already passed by since I've been using my innate skill, only another 12 hours in the test is left.
While I was thinking of that, Alice grabbed me by the shoulders.
"...Hey Ray if you're not feeling good, you can rest you know"
Alice said aloud while giving me a worried look.
"I'm fin-"
"You're not. You haven't taken your goggles off all this time. Plus maybe you haven't noticed but you've been sweating bullets for a while now"
Swiping my face, it was indeed true that I sweating a lot. I looked at Alice, her eyes staring right through my goggles.
"...It's nothing. We can't afford to slow down our pace right now.."
"There you go again. You suck at lying~. Emily, tell this idiot off"
"..Ray..." Emily called out to me, giving me a deep glare as her voice was unusually intimidating.
"Y-yeah?" I said, feeling a slight chill.
"What did I say about not telling me about your condition...."
Emily stood there with her staff, not giving me an inch of space or even time to make another excuse.
"But the test.."
"You need to rest your eyes, I will take on the role of pathfinder for now. You're also an integral part of our party so managing your stamina is also my responsibility as leader"
With her voice echoing both in the tunnel and in my ears, I honestly couldn't refute anything that she had said.
Looking at my insistence, I was slightly reckless in trying to do my role.
'...Moreover, I don't think it's a great idea to go against this girl when she's like this. She's stricter than I originally expected her to be..
' I thought, remembering the slight chill I felt from before.
Nodding my head, I took off my goggles as Emily showed a relieved smile. She then took charge in navigating.
"...Never knew she could have a fit like that although Lily's worse when it comes to sudden outburst, it's basically hell"
"....You should watch what you're saying.." Alice warned, slightly backing away from Jun.
Jun just suddenly commented while he walked alongside me in the back while I also backed away from him because I noticed that Lily's ears twitched from the front.
'...I might have made a mistake. In the story, Ray didn't even use his eyes that much in this test. So stopping now would be a wise move' I pondered in thought.
I also failed to keep in consideration my own stamina and mana reserves. It would be really stupid if I can't perform at my best when those bastards show up.
'I have to stop being impatient. I should let the party move in a natural way. Converging with those assassins would be inevitable since I'm with trouble magnets'
I sighed inwardly as our party traversed towards near the end of the third layer.
-----
"How did you not sense that teleportation trap?!, Shivan!"
Donovan shouted as he took out his shield and broadsword. He then took a defensive stance.
"[Force Strike]!"
A condensed and sharpened wave of mana blasted off from Donovan's slash.
Boasting great power, it would have cleaved the enemies hovering from the high ceiling but it was too slow of an attack.
Evading the attack, a group of six Dire Bats shrieked as they unleashed rock spikes at Donovan.
In response, Donovan defended using his shield as he gritted his teeth from the hard impact.
Following the brief assault, Brian engaged them as he threw his spear right from under them. His spear tore through their bodies like paper.
With only two Dire Bats left, Brian leaped halfway to retrieve his spear. He freefalled just the right distance from the remaining two.
"Annoying flies!"
He spun his spear, cleaving his enemies in two.
Landing perfectly, Brian dusted off his clothes and approached Shivan with eyes that could kill.
"B-Brian I'm sorry!" he grovelled.
".....Tch! Shivan....if you mess up again, I won't show mercy"
"Y-yes! I'll be extra careful next time!"
"You better be! We were almost at the halfway point you idiot!" Donovan added.
Brian then stuck his spear through the floor, an annoyed look on his face as he looked at the surroundings.
They were already in the fourth layer and the environment was slightly different from before.
The space of the tunnels were greatly wider and bigger than before, the ceiling where one enhanced jump could be reached was three times higher.
Additionally, the monsters inhibiting the place was really incompatible for Brian's party of close combat oriented members.
Long ranged kobolds were present all around the place while Dire Bats which had large furry bodies and dark spanned wings were roaming around the ceilings.
It was difficult for them to advance while looking out for those type of monsters and when things couldn't get worst, they activated a minor teleportation trap.
The minor teleportation trap sent any wandering delver to a random area in the current layer.
Without any idea of where they were, Brian clenched his spear in frustration.
"Shivan! Start navigating"
"Yes! right away, [Echo]"
Activating his skill, Shivan closed his eyes to get an idea of which direction to take and also find out where they were.
On the other hand, Brian looked at the time in his vrace.
"17 hours have already passed..." He mumbled while awaiting his pathfinder to find his ground.
-----
"Meyn! Find cover!" Eliya warned to their party's beastman rogue.
Right after her shout five arrows rained down on the two of them.
Being warned from earlier, Meyn was able to find cover through some square protusions on the floor.
On Eliya's side, she brought her round shield close to her body.
"[Instant Guard]"
Her shield glowed blue as it blocked all the arrows coming from different trajectories.
Without giving them rest, another volley was about to be unleashed from the high ground but was foiled due to the spell Sophia unleashed.
"[Spell Enhance] Chain lightning!"
Lightning emitted from the tips of her finger crawled through the air as it striked one of the kobold archers.
With one strike, her lightning spell connected to the other four kobold archers that were in hiding.
Now with their enemies stunned, Meyn made her move as she dashed towards their hiding spot.
Not missing the chance given, Amana unleashed two charged arrows from the backline.
Her two arrows quickly found their mark as it killed the two monsters instantly. Following her shot, Meyn sliced their head clean while they were still paralyzed.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Eliya turned her gaze towards Amana who was walking towards them.
"That was an excellent shot princess!"
"....That's to be expected, as if I could let myself miss against those sorry excuse for archers"
Turning her gaze away from Eliya's admiring eyes, Amana looked at the result of their teamwork.
Even before they got into the fourth layer , Amana had already predicted the likely spots as to where those archers would be.
"I knew it. If we avoid the inclines, we would likely meet those Dire Bats but if we choose to go forth towards those kind of paths we would likely encounter kobold archers lying in wait"
Sophia said while she made up a more concrete counter attack on the spot.
"Considering our lineup, dealing with those archers is easier so I propose we stick with this plan"
"I'm fine with that" Meyn agreed after regrouping with her party.
"....What do you think princess?" Eliya asked.
After pondering for a while, Amana relented as she couldn't find any faults with the plan since it actually made sense for her.
"...Let's stick with her plan.."
"Hmmph you people didn't even need to think about it. Cmon, we need to proceed"
Sophia's party moved forward as they were unknowingly in the lead as of now.
Amana however was feeling uneasy.
She felt that something was amiss as she at least expected to see a pink haired youth in the same layer competing for the top spot in the test.
".....Even when he's not here, he still manages to anger me" Amana mumbled as she walked along her party.