The following day, Cort's diving party of three once again found themselves venturing into the labyrinth. They arrived at the line early, being the fifth or so group to step through the barrier into Veranus. The shuffler entrance put Cort, Lond, and Haley in the first room that Cort had seen of the labyrinth.
Now entering the labyrinth of Remus, Veranus.
There were no feralise in the room upon their arrival, and Cort decided then was the best time to tell his party about how he planned to explore the labyrinth.
"Our goal for the day should be to take down as many monsters as we can," Cort told the others. "Focus on efficiency. If we come across anything resembling an elite monster or even that ent domain area, we're turning back."
"Sounds good with me," Haley said.
"I agree," Lond added. "Though tell me when we're approaching the end of the day. I think I've unsealed some new fire magic in my ring, and I'd like to see what it is."
"I'd like to see that too," Cort replied. Better fire magic would help them against Lady Spriggan. "We'll see how we feel at the end of the day."
So the dive began. They took their time moving along the corridors, Cort listening closely for any sign of monsters. He asked Ashen to help him, but his ermine friend was still subjecting him to the silent treatment. Cort had no time to be down on himself about disappointing Ashen.
They needed to hunt, so hunt they did.
It was not long into their wandering that they encountered a pack of monsters. There were half a dozen feralises, and Cort's party dispatched them all with ease. Perhaps it was the rapidly gained experience of combat in the labyrinth Cort had gone through, or maybe the Cores really were growing stronger.
A little further, and there was another feralise pack. Again, the party slaughtered them. Cort charged in with covering fire from Haley's arrows and Lond's magic. He dodged every blow and cut down the monsters alongside his comrades.
That was their process through the labyrinth. Move a ways, find monsters, defeat them, gather the spoils, recover, and repeat. It was the longest Cort had ever been in the labyrinth, but it took until the fifth pack of monsters that he grew hungry and tired.
Has the Core improved his overall stamina as well? He did not fully understand them beyond the cycle of killing monsters to grow stronger to kill more monsters. Cort was also looking back at his teammates. Haley looked like she was in need of a longer break, as did Lond. Yet he had been firing off spell after spell and had yet to use one of his potions.
"Let's have lunch," Cort said after they picked up all the magic stones and rabbit pelts from the most recent pack of monsters. He reached into his bottomless bag, fumbling around in it until he could pull out three of the ration packs he had bought.
The team sat down in a circle to eat their lunch. The packs each contained a small, disposable canteen, a portion of white rice, and two thin slices of ham. They were the cheapest ones Cort could find, but they were enough to keep a dive going for a couple of hours.
When they finished the meal, Cort had another sudden thought. He slipped the Core ring off his finger, and retrieved the measuring device from his bag. It was a circular clear piece of glass embedded into silver. Two thin strands of metal with heavy needles at the end extended from the sides.
"You know how to use one of those?" Haley asked.
"It seems pretty self-explanatory," Cort replied, almost ignoring her. He pinched the ring between the needles, then looked down at the device. Letters made of blue light began to etch themselves onto the device. Once it was done, they read out:
Aliento
Level 4 and 36%
Strength-3
Agility-3
Stamina-5
Mana-1
Cort put the ring back on. He realized that in the period he did not wear the ring, he felt slightly tired. The moment it slipped back on his finger, he felt awake and ready to keep moving.
"Does the Core work then?" Lond asked.
"It does," Cort answered. "As soon as I put it back on I felt better. Those other numbers feel right, too."
"You have to remember that it's that in addition to your base abilities as well," Haley explained. "You're already strong and agile, so those numbers may not be as big a deal to you. Do you know the gains you get for level?"
"Not quite," Cort answered. "I didn't check it when I got it."
"You got it from Alvari?" Haley asked. Cort nodded and Haley had a satisfied look on her face. "That's good. Alvari doesn't cheat, and he pretty much only deals in fresh Cores."
"Would people really sell their Cores?" Lond asked. "I mean. You have to work to power them up, so I figure anyone would want to hold onto something they put the time into."
"The Army likes to gather them up," Cort answered, already anticipating Lond's scowl in response. "Time catches us all, Lond. Even with Cores and magic, eventually a diver that lives long enough can decide the labyrinth is not for him. Selling your Core is a nice way to get some money and live your last years comfortably."
"Even before old age, there are people who make their living improving and selling Cores," Haley added quickly. "Imagine someone like Emile, who's already really strong without a Core. He could probably do that and be rich."
"I don't see him doing anything like that," Cort thought aloud. He could not imagine Emile doing something for a quick buck. If anything, Emile would want to work his heart out to make the strongest Core in existence and keep it for himself.
"Are you two ready to keep going?" Lond asked. "I think we can go for a couple more hours."
"I can handle that much," Haley answered, and they both looked to Cort.
"Let's go, then," Cort ordered with a smile. The Cores were growing and Cort could already feel their effect. He was curious about how Emile felt with a stronger Core, or if he even noticed it with his already existing strength.
They would need every bit of advantage they could get if they wanted to take on a floor boss like Lady Spriggan.
The dive continued, as did the destruction of the feralise population. As they approached the end of their final hour in the labyrinth, the party finally found a different monster than the feralises.
Shadrats. At least a dozen of them had been waiting around the corner of a winding corridor. Cort welcomed the voice of his old friend as Ashen whispered into his mind, They have been following you for ten minutes. I believe they were waiting until you were tired to strike.
Missed you buddy, Cort replied through their link. He felt the ermine crawl up and out of his shirt, perching on Cort's shoulder.
"You have all been working very hard today," Ashen told them. "I recommend that after this encounter you return to the camp for proper food and rest."
"I agree with that," Lond said. His voice was sounding just a bit weak, the day's battle finally wearing down his physical and magical stamina. "May I try my new spell?"
The shadrats, possibly sensing the danger in charging forward, waited at their end of the hallway. They growled and sharpened their claws against the stone floor and walls.
"Go ahead," Cort said. He was curious about Lond's progress, and wondered how the new spell could fit into their combat arsenal. However, he also hoped that it would be enough to handle the monsters quickly.
As Lond made his way to the front of the party, he pushed his mask aside and chugged down one of his magic restoring potions. The shadrats watched the young mage closely, snarling and balancing on their back leg as they awaited the most perfect moment to strike out.
When Cort watched Lond, to him the mage acted like there were no monsters there. Lond had closed his eyes, standing still with his arms tucked tightly against his side. Then, suddenly and almost violently, Lond lifted both his arms straight up. His index and middle fingers pointed to the ceiling as the others remained clinched to his palm.
There was no other warning as a pillar of flame erupted below the closest shadrat. Before any of them could react, another pillar arose alongside it and consumed two more. Then another. And then there were suddenly six pillars of orange and red flames blocking off the width of the hallways. The shadrats' howls of pain were short before being cut off by their immolation.
Even as Lond lowered his arms and the flames all dissipated in an instant, Cort could still feel the heat in the air. Lond was panting hard, and leaned against the wall as he drank down another magic potion. The floor was littered with the shadrats' magic stones and fang drops.
"That was the second level of fire magic," Lond said, a proud smile illuminating his exhausted face. "Definitely can't use that too close to Emile."
"Uh-huh," Haley said. She looked as shocked by the magic as Cort felt. Lond the mage would become a terror to the labyrinth.