Published: January 22, 2026
Inside the dungeon, there was a labyrinth of artificially constructed stone corridors and halls.
Glowing ores were installed on the walls at regular intervals, making it bright enough to see several meters ahead without any problem.
I walked cautiously for a while, but it seemed there were no traps.
When I reached a place that looked like a hall, I saw a shadow moving ahead.
Carefully observing, I realized the shadow was a horned rabbit.
The horned rabbit is a demonic beast resembling a rabbit with horns. Its movements are swift, but its endurance is low, so even novice explorers can defeat it.
I activated the bracelet-shaped magical tool sealed with the storage magic technique on my left wrist.
I summoned the sword stored inside near my right hand and gripped it.
(It’s been a while since I last held a sword.)
Since my opponent was a horned rabbit, I wouldn’t fall behind. I decided to fight using only my natural physical abilities, without casting any support magic (buff).
As I slowly approached, the creature seemed to notice me and lowered its horns to headbutt.
“Too slow.”
To me, who had repeatedly fought demonic beasts in the lower and deeper layers of the Great Labyrinth until yesterday, this rabbit’s movements were far too slow.
I drew it in to the limit, then stepped back half a step to dodge the attack.
As the rabbit passed right beside me, I slashed upward with my sword.
The blade traced the path I had imagined and sliced through the horned rabbit’s abdomen without any resistance.
The horned rabbit’s body vanished like black mist, leaving only small magic stones behind.
“…It’s been a while since I swung a sword, but my body still remembers. Maybe I was being too cautious. I should quickly descend to the next level.”
Though the battle was monotonous, just being able to swing my sword was satisfying enough.
After that, I encountered demonic beasts like goblins and slimes, but since there was only one at a time, they were easily defeated without much effort.
While defeating the monsters, I proceeded to the third level without once losing my way.
Even though the layout was maze-like, it was child’s play compared to the lower and deeper layers of the Great Labyrinth.
There were too many hints, such as airflow and various other cues.
Once I entered the third level, there were multiple enemies.
Although there were multiples, they were just groups of the same type of demonic beast, and their intelligence was low. They could be defeated even without buffs, but since I wanted to get used to the feel of buffs, I cast support magic on myself.
Support magic, as the name implies, is magic that enhances the physical abilities or equipment performance of a chosen target to assist allies.
Conversely, magic that lowers abilities is also considered support magic. However, it has little effect against powerful demonic beasts, so it is rarely used.
Those who mainly use support magic are called enchanters.
The role of an enchanter is unfortunate. I say this from having been an enchanter for years, so I don’t think it’s a mistaken view.
Enchanters are constantly pressed for time.
For example, when casting the basic support magic [strength up], the effect is not permanent, so naturally it will wear off eventually, but the duration varies depending on the person.
This is believed to be due to each individual’s mana resistance affecting the duration.
Thus, an enchanter must keep track of the buff durations for each ally and recast the same support magic before the effect expires.
On top of that, others tend to view enchanters as merely applying buffs and leaving the fighting to their teammates.
Since they just watch from a distance and don’t fight themselves, most parties leave combat command to the enchanter.
The hero party was no exception.
Well, this view might be largely due to the appearance of a genius enchanter.
Counting down the remaining buff time for each ally, recasting support magic before it expires, casting new support magic according to the situation, and simultaneously giving instructions.