Chapter 246

The next morning, the camp buzzed with quiet anticipation. Armor buckles clinked, and the smell of oiled steel mixed with sea salt. The group was getting ready for another delve into the labyrinth, this time better organized, better equipped, and more confident after their victories the day before.

By the entrance, Viola stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently against the stone. Her eyes were locked on the shadowed corridor ahead like a predator waiting for the signal to hunt. The moment the golems inside stirred, she wanted in.

Arslan, stretching his shoulders nearby, noticed her fidgeting and chuckled. “You’ll wear a hole through the floor if you keep staring like that,” he said, then turned toward Ludger, who was adjusting the straps of his gloves. “You sure you don’t want to join them this round? You’ve barely thrown a punch at those tin cans.”

Ludger shrugged, calm as ever. “It’s fine. I’m not in a hurry to crush them. You and Kharnek seem to have that covered.”

Arslan raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling me the kid who built a water pump out of junk is suddenly patient?”

Ludger smirked faintly. “Always have been. No point wasting mana when the formation’s already solid.”

Before Arslan could respond, Lucius walked up, fastening his saber to his belt. “Actually,” he said, tone thoughtful, “it might not be a waste at all.”

Both Arslan and Ludger looked his way.

Lucius gestured toward the labyrinth entrance. “We’ve refined our main strategy, Arslan and Kharnek on the vanguard, Cor and the mages supporting, but it wouldn’t hurt to experiment a little. Let other people rotate into different positions, test new combinations. If Ludger joined in, we could try adjusting our tempo around his abilities.”

Arslan nodded slowly. “You’re thinking of refining the entire formation instead of just repeating the same fight.”

“Exactly,” Lucius said. “If we’re serious about clearing this place, we need everyone to understand how their skills overlap, not just their own rhythm, but how they amplify someone else’s.”

Viola grinned, still watching the dark entrance. “So basically, we get to hit things in

new

ways. I’m all for that.”

Ludger sighed lightly, though the corner of his mouth twitched upward. “You really just like chaos, don’t you?”

“Call it innovative testing,” she said with a shrug.

Lucius smiled faintly. “Then it’s settled. Today’s run isn’t just about fighting, it’s about experimenting. We’ll push different pairings, swap lines mid-fight if needed, and see who adapts best.”

Arslan smirked, stretching again. “Sounds like a proper challenge.”

Ludger rolled his shoulders, feeling the familiar hum of mana pulsing through his veins. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s see how much we can learn before the labyrinth learns back.”

The group exchanged brief nods, the easy confidence of seasoned fighters who knew they were walking into danger—but with a plan this time. Then, as the torches were lit and their footsteps began to echo down the corridor, Viola’s impatient grin widened.  “Finally,” she muttered. “Let’s make some noise.”

Ludger wasn’t fond of the idea.

Changing formations that already worked well was something he usually avoided, especially when lives depended on it. Consistency, predictability, and discipline kept people alive; experimentation usually didn’t. Still, Lucius’s logic was sound. The only way to truly strengthen a formation was to test how adaptable it could be.

So Ludger didn’t argue. But he couldn’t shake a bad feeling crawling at the back of his mind.

By the time they reached the labyrinth’s further corridors, the plan had shifted again. This time, Lucius decided to rotate everyone through different positions, to make sure each person could step into another’s role if things went wrong.

That’s how Ludger ended up at the frontline. He exhaled quietly as he adjusted his gloves and stepped beside Freyra, who was grinning like he’d just been given a gift, and Viola, whose expression practically screamed

finally.

“Remind me,” Ludger muttered, “why I agreed to this again?”

Kharnek laughed. “Because it’ll toughen you up, boy!”

Viola smirked. “Because you don’t like losing to me.”

“Right,” Ludger said flatly. “Let’s go with that.”

Their formation this time mirrored the one from before—three forward fighters taking the brunt of the golem’s focus, with the others providing coverage and ranged support. The only difference was that Ludger was now standing in Rathen’s usual position: the main shield line.

He wasn’t thrilled about it. Rathen was a seasoned tank, experienced, methodical, built for absorbing impact. Ludger could reinforce himself with mana and earth shaping, sure, but he didn’t have Rathen’s armor or stamina. This was a dangerous gamble dressed up as a “training exercise.”

Behind them, Freyra and Viola were positioned to emulate their fathers, frontline offense and fast interception. Arslan and Kharnek had stepped back to observe, letting their children mirror their styles while the rest covered the flanks.

It was a bold move. And in Ludger’s opinion, a stupid one. The air in the labyrinth was still thick with mana residue from the previous fights. The faint hum of dormant golems vibrated through the stone, making every breath feel heavier than it should’ve.

He tightened his stance, feeling the cool water brushing against his boots. His gut told him this was going to end poorly. When he glanced at Viola, she was rolling her shoulders, looking eager. “Relax,” she said. “We’ll be fine. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Ludger’s answer was dry. “Famous last words.”

Kharnek chuckled from the other side, slamming his axe head against the floor to test its balance. “Bah! Worry later. Fight now!”

Ludger sighed. His bad feeling hadn’t faded, it had only sharpened. Something about this setup felt wrong. Too forced. Too eager.

But it was too late to argue now. The grinding echo of metal-on-stone came from deeper in the corridor—the sound of gears waking, of another runic golem preparing to fight.

Ludger flexed his hands, shaping the mana under his feet. “Alright,” he muttered, more to himself than to them. “Let’s see if this experiment survives its first test.”

Ludger didn’t wait for the enemy to reveal its full strength this time. The moment the deep metallic rumble of gears echoed through the corridor, he thrust a hand down and unleashed Earthen Surge.

The air rippled as mana poured outward from him, thick, heavy, grounding. The stone beneath their feet vibrated faintly, resonating with the rhythm of his pulse. Earth-attuned mana washed through the corridor like an invisible tide, coating everything within reach.

Freyra and Viola immediately felt it. Their muscles tightened, their footing steadied, and their skin prickled with that familiar density that came with Ludger’s geomancy. The surge boosted their defense and striking power at once—raw and steady, like standing in the heart of a mountain.

But Ludger didn’t stop there. Drawing on his Sage training, he began

shaping

the flow. He compressed the surge’s radius, pulling the mana closer to himself, increasing its density while trimming the range. That way, the effect surrounding Freyra and Viola deepened, denser, sharper, far more effective than the usual wide-field buff.

The moment the runic golem stepped from the darkness, the air thrummed with pressure. It was one of the heavy units, metallic plating reinforced with etched mana conduits, a spear in one hand and the other palm glowing with unstable blue light.

It didn’t hesitate. The holes in its palm flared, and a barrage of mana bullets screamed toward them in a tight spread pattern.

Freyra’s eyes flashed, and she didn’t slow down. She brought her twin short axes up, spinning them in crossing arcs, each deflection timed perfectly with her heavy footwork. The bullets ricocheted off the reinforced edge of her weapons, splashing harmlessly against the wall as she kept charging straight ahead, boots splashing through the shallow water.

At the same time, Viola moved in from the other side. The golem’s spear thrust out, aiming to impale her mid-dash, but her sword met the strike dead-on with a metallic

crack

. The impact sounded like steel meeting solid stone. Her body jolted but didn’t move. Not an inch.

Under the layered effects of Overdrive and Ludger’s Earthen Surge, her defense had become monstrous, her skin and armor carrying the same weight and density as hardened rock. The spear’s momentum died against her guard, sending a shockwave rippling through the water.

The runic golem recalculated instantly, mechanical gears whining as it tried to pull back, but Viola’s blade slid down its weapon and twisted, locking it in place. “Not this time,” she hissed, eyes gleaming.

Freyra reached it from the other side a heartbeat later, axes already glowing faintly red from the heat of her energy.

Ludger, watching from the midline, steadied the earthen flow around them, adjusting for their movements, keeping the surge focused where they needed it most. The dense, grounded mana pulsed like a living thing, strengthening every motion of their assault.The fight had just begun, but already, the monster’s advantage was gone.

The two girls stepped forward without hesitation, water splashing under their boots as they advanced in perfect rhythm.

Viola met the golem’s spear with a sharp parry, twisting her blade to redirect the thrust before slamming her shoulder into its chest. The metallic echo boomed through the corridor. At the same moment, Freyra intercepted the golem’s free hand, both of her short axes crossing in front of her to block the mechanical swing.

For a brief instant, the air hummed as metal ground against metal. Then, in unspoken coordination, they

pushed

.

The combined force of Viola’s Overdrive-enhanced strength and Freyra’s brute momentum sent the creature staggering backward several steps, water splashing in all directions as its heavy frame lost balance.

Ludger’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Interesting…

Maybe the synchronization wasn’t luck. Or maybe it was just that the golem wasn’t designed to use both arms offensively at once, its center of gravity shifted wrong, and it had no compensation protocol. Whatever the reason, the tactic worked perfectly.

The machine reeled, trying to stabilize itself as glowing conduits across its frame pulsed erratically. Its palm ports began to flare again, charging for another barrage, but it never got the chance.

Ludger had already raised his hand.

A sphere of dense mana spiraled into existence above his palm, spinning tighter and tighter until it shrieked like compressed air about to burst. The glow shifted from pale blue to blinding white.

“Stay clear,” he said simply.

He fired. The compressed Mana Bolt streaked forward in a single, clean line, slicing through the humid air and striking the golem square in the neck joint. The explosion wasn’t loud, just a sharp crack followed by a hiss as the mana conduits along its body went dark. The creature froze mid-motion, joints locking, its entire frame twitching once before collapsing forward with a heavy crash that shook the floor.

Steam hissed from the destroyed section where the conduits had been severed. It wasn’t technically a vital hit, but cutting the core’s energy lines had the same effect as tearing out its heart.

[Earthen Surge + 500 XP.]

[Mana Bolt + 500 XP.]

Viola lowered her sword, glaring back over her shoulder. “Hey! I was

handling

that!”

Ludger raised an eyebrow. “We’re not here for sport. We’re here to clear a labyrinth.”

She groaned, dragging her sword through the water to clean it. “You really know how to ruin the fun, you know that?”

“Good,” Ludger said flatly. “Means we’re making progress.”

Freyra chuckled beside her. “Well, we will have other chances...”

Viola sighed dramatically, but she didn’t argue further. The point wasn’t to savor every fight, it was to

advance

. And with the monster’s remains already sinking into the shallow water, that’s exactly what they did.

“Alright,” Ludger said, adjusting his gloves as the team reformed around him. “Next corridor. Stay alert, if they start appearing faster, that means we’re getting close to something important.”

The group moved on, boots echoing through the labyrinth, the fallen golem’s glowing eye slowly fading behind them.

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