Hope is in sight.
I've begun to feel optimistic about my survival as well. It turns out that the synergy between my 10 Intelligence points and the Hourglass of Turns is far better than I anticipated.
The fact that I can always secure the first move and that my attacks are practically one-shot kills on the first floor of the labyrinth has worked out surprisingly well in my favor.
Do you remember the first time I burned two goblins to death with Fireball? At that moment, with one action point left, my turn ended along with the casting of Fireball.
So there are two possibilities:
1. Spellcasting consumes action points.
2. Spellcasting consumes a turn.
As expected, the answer was the first.
[Your turn begins.]
[Action Points: ■■■■]
"Fireball."
[Action Points: ■■■□]
Using Fireball again, I found that it only reduced my action points by one. With the Fireball held at the end of my wand like a droplet, it was still my turn.
In the game, all Tier 1 spells consume one action point, and as long as there are remaining action points, the turn continues.
[Your turn continues.]
So, can I cast another spell in this state? Yes, I can.
[Fireball Cooldown: 5 seconds]
As long as this cooldown passes, that is. Since the hourglass grants 60 seconds per turn, I just need to wait 5 seconds and then…
"Fireball."
I activated a second Fireball.
"It's advancing."
The first Fireball moved about 10 centimeters toward the front goblin, and a new flame sprouted in its original spot, held at the end of my wand.
[Action Points: ■■□□]
Another action point was consumed.
"In theory, I could fire up to four Fireballs in one turn."
But practically, there's rarely a need to shoot four. Aiming itself consumes action points, after all.
When I nearly got my neck sliced by a goblin's sword the first time, I tried to block with my wand but gave up. Moving my arm even 3 centimeters cost me an action point.
Physical movements drain action points at an extreme rate.
So, if two goblins are quite far apart, as they are now, all my action points would be consumed just adjusting the end of my wand by rotating my wrist.
Therefore…
"Icicle Spear."
I decided to hold a wand in my left hand as well. It was the fanatic's wand.
[Action Points: ■□□□]
With this, I could assign spells to each goblin separately and still have action points left. I moved slightly to end the turn.
[All action points are exhausted.]
[Ending turn.]
As time began to flow, the two summoned fireballs and the icicle spear created a dazzling display of fire and ice.
Boom! Crackle!
The goblins were reduced to charred husks, impaled by ice and scorched by fire, as their shields were torn apart. The hourglass is simply amazing.
***
"Caleb, you must have a talent for rapid casting," said Yernil as she picked up mana stones from the goblin corpses.
"What's that?" I asked, genuinely curious since there was no such concept in the game.
"Rapid casting means you can cast one spell and then quickly follow it with another with a minimal delay. Only the most gifted mages can do it, often unconsciously when they're deeply focused."
"Is that so?"
"Plus, it seems you have the talent to cast without incantations. Just having one of these talents would put you in the top 0.1%, but to have both…"
"…"
I had unintentionally become a prodigy. In reality, I was just eliminating enemies on my turn.
"That's why two wands suit you perfectly, Caleb."
According to her, dual-wielding wands is extremely challenging and is typically only attempted by mages considered geniuses. Even with my knowledge, that wasn't inaccurate. In the game, almost no one used dual-wielding wands.
Among NPCs, it was extremely rare, and no player had ever done it.
Why?
Mages have low physical endurance, so the standard build involved using a wand and shield for defense or wielding a two-handed staff to improve melee capabilities.
However, I'd felt the limitations of such builds in the game's hardest difficulty, which is why I developed the dual-wand build: doubling the critical and intelligence bonuses on the wands to maximize attack power.
This made me even more fragile, but the strategy was to eliminate enemies before they could strike me.
Now that the game had become reality, the approach remained the same. I have to cast as many spells as possible within one turn to survive. That's why dual-wielding wands is essential.
"Um… could I maybe use that shield?" Yernil pointed at a goblin's shield.
She had no interest in the insanity of a dual-wand build; she just wanted the security of a shield for more stable progress.
"No."
However, a shield wasn't suitable for her.
"Wh-why not…?"
Yernil seemed a bit flustered, clearly not expecting my response. The reason is simple: Yernil lacks the necessary strength. If she used a shield, there's a high chance she'd be sent flying with it after just one hit.
How do I know that?
'She took forever to bring that barrel over.'
Judging by the time and distance it took her, I'd bet she was in an "overweight" state in gaming terms when she carried that barrel. This means her strength stat is likely below 3 points.
So, what about her other stats? Might as well take this opportunity to assess them.
"Yernil, try casting Lightning Shock at the wall."
Crackle!
The lightning released from her wand was pitifully weak. Her Wisdom is likely only 1-2 points, maybe even 0.
That leaves Agility, Vitality, and Dexterity.
"Yernil, can you jump for me?"
It was a rather silly-sounding question.
"Jump? Well, I mean… I can, of course. It's just a jump."
"As high as you can."
"As high as I can…"
Yernil looked up at the ceiling.
"I don't think I can do it here."
"?"
"The ceiling is too low. I might hit my head…"
The ceiling was about 3 meters high. Could she actually hit her head with a standing jump?
"How high can you jump?"
"When I was in the Fairy Forest and would jump up onto trees, maybe about… hmm…" She squinted, thinking.
"About 4 meters?"
Perfect.
Her Strength is below 3, Wisdom is 1 or less, but her Agility is at least 5.
That means I need to redefine her role.
"Yernil."
I handed her the bow and arrows from the goblin archer who had been killed by my icicle spear.
"Try using this."
Yernil strapped the quiver over her shoulder and took the bow.
"And take this as well."
I handed her a dagger I had picked up from a goblin thief earlier as a secondary weapon. Yernil tucked the dagger between her belt and pants, starting to look more like an amateur ranger than a mage—which suits her far better.
"I'll take the Lightning Shock wand," I said, taking it from her hands.
With this, I had become a wand collector, gathering all four wands from my party members. One more, and I'd be like Thanos, snapping my fingers with a complete collection.
As I tucked the wands into my belt, Yernil said, "Honestly, I'm more comfortable with a bow."
"Really?"
"I used it from time to time in the Fairy Forest."
So she accepted the bow and dagger without complaint. But why did she initially want the shield?
"Well… They told me that if I use a weapon other than a wand, the Magic Academy would consider me useless and sell me off somewhere weird if I ever tried to escape…"
"Would it really be worse than the labyrinth, wherever they sell us?"
"True… but there's another reason." She replied.
"What is it?"
"I don't know much, but… shouldn't someone carry a shield? They say a tank is essential for labyrinth exploration."
How admirable, Yernil. She started as a mage, confident in ranged attacks, but she's willing to play the tank role herself?
"I figured someone has to buy time until you can cast your spells, Caleb…"
"But we don't need a tank right now." I declined her self-sacrifice.
There are two main reasons:
First, on the first floor of the labyrinth, a mage with 10 Wisdom can take out most field mobs in a single shot.
Second, the hourglass cuts off most ambushes, allowing us to secure the first move.
Of course, if we were attacked from behind, we'd be in trouble, but even with a shield, Yernil wouldn't be able to react in time. It's better to boost our ranged attack power to suppress the enemies before they can close in.
"Let's move on."
***
The other slave teams from the Magic Academy.
They're generally dangerous. Most of them were thrown into the labyrinth without preparation and end up dead or desperate within the first few hours—just like how Yernil had broken down earlier. By this point, those who survive are often filled with nothing but rage and desperation.
And many of them were criminals to begin with, like Yernil, who had her own drug-related charges. They're bound to be dangerous.
Four and a half hours into the first floor of the labyrinth…
"…"
Yernil and I found ourselves facing another slave team. Our opponents were four human men. They were armed with wands provided by the academy, goblin swords, shields, and one of them had a bow.
Keeping a distance of about ten meters, we warily moved in the opposite direction.
Sweat gathered in my palms as I gripped my wands. I held them lowered, to avoid provoking an attack, but I kept my wrists tense, ready to raise them at any moment.
"Don't take your eyes off them."
It was like encountering a wild animal while climbing a mountain—moving sideways and backward slowly, watching each other closely. Once there was enough distance between us, the tension gradually eased.
The group kept glancing back at us, whispering amongst themselves as they moved further away.
"Let's go quickly."
I wanted to put as much distance as possible between us. About forty minutes later, as we moved along, Yernil spoke up.
"Caleb."
Yernil called out to me, looking rather anxious.
"I think those men are following us."
"What?"
"I can hear their footsteps. It sounds like they changed direction. They're tracking us."
"…"
I can't hear anything at all.
Sure, this game has a setting where hearing improves with higher Agility stats, but not to this extent, surely?
"Yernil, close your eyes."
When she closed her eyes, I picked up three stones and threw them behind her.
Tap, tap!
"Can you tell how many stones fell?"
"Three?"
"…"
It's confirmed. Yernil has a special ability called "Sound Mapping"—the skill to detect location or movement based on sound.
Which means her claim that the slave team is following us is probably true. Damn it. I had a bad feeling about those guys.
"If we get ambushed by monsters while they're on our tail, it'll be a real mess. Let's deal with this first."
I led Yernil back in the opposite direction.
"Follow me."
I had scoped out a suitable spot up ahead—a ten-meter-wide area flanked by two large pillars. The entryway they'd come through had a shallow depression filled with water, just twenty centimeters deep at most.
"Let's wait for them to enter, then hide behind the pillars."
We concealed ourselves and waited in silence.
Step, step.
Now I could hear their footsteps, too. Yernil looked incredibly tense, barely breathing. Honestly, I felt the same.
'They're here.'
Finally, the men appeared in the passageway. They hesitated briefly, then started wading into the water.
I seized that moment to jump out.
"Stop!"
I shouted as I aimed both wands like dual pistols, while Yernil nocked an arrow to her bow.
The men raised two shields in front, blocking the way while others took aim from behind with bows and wands.
"Why are you following us?"
When other slave teams act aggressive, it's usually for food. They'll kill other teams to steal the boiled potatoes handed out by the Magic Academy. But when we first saw these guys, their potato sacks were bulging at their sides. So, they probably aren't risking their lives over food.
Could they just be psychopathic killers? It's possible, but if they were, they'd likely have turned on each other by now.
So there's only one possibility left. Could it be…?
"You."
A bald man behind the shield spoke up.
"Hand over the elf woman."
"…!"
Yernil gasped in shock. I expected this.
Humans, when pushed to the limits of stress and despair, tend to seek comfort in primal thrills. Especially here, in a labyrinth devoid of law or morality, and especially with a team of criminal slaves rather than real adventurers. It was all but guaranteed.
"Hand her over, and I'll let you live," the bald man threatened.