A Commonplace Story Of Overpowered Sorcerer

The next morning, everyone, including Rio who had returned back to Horaud before dawn, reported to the plaza that served as the entrance to the Great Orcus Labyrinth early enough that the sun had still yet to rise. No one, not even Erik who had accompanied, Rio to the brothel knew about Rio's action last night.

The students were all filled with equal parts trepidation and curiosity. Rio, however, seemed uncaring of what would happen. He was maintaining his aloof expression as he was together with Hajime in Kouki's group.

Speaking of Hajime, he was also somewhat excited and nervous about his first excursion into a dungeon, but when he saw what the entrance to the Great Orcus Labyrinth looked like, some of his excitement faded.

Rio thought that it was understandable. He knew that what Hajime had expected was the standard cavern entrance leading into unknown dark depths. However, the sight that greeted them was something that looked more akin to the entrance to a museum, complete with its own receptionist counter. A girl in uniform was checking over the people going in and out of the labyrinth with a smile. It appeared that everyone's status plate was checked at the entrance. That way, the number of casualties could be accurately tallied. With the threat of war looming overhead, the government wanted to avoid losing too many men, so they implemented that policy as one of their countermeasures.

Numerous stalls were lined up on the plaza surrounding the entrance, the merchants all competing with each other to show off their wares. It felt almost like a festival. As an aside, Rio had bought some meals and stored them into his pocket dimension for preparation. He was going to stay in the depth of Great Orcus Labyrinth for a while. He ignored or kept his silence when some students, even Hajime, asked him for his reason behind leaving the group when he bought the meals. Fortunately, they received the message and dropped it.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Shallower labyrinths that didn't have as many floors were popular with merchants, since people naturally gathered there. The people present ranged from boisterous adventurers who talked big but quickly lost their lives in the labyrinth, to criminals who operated out of back alleys and other unsavory locations. As the government was preparing for war, they didn't want to waste too many resources handling those problems, so they cooperated with the local adventurer's guild to keep the area safe. People were selling their wares all the way up to the receptionist's desk at the entrance, which in a sense made life easier for the adventurers who were setting out into the labyrinth's depths.

The students were gawking like country bumpkins as they followed Captain Meld in single file, like a row of little ducklings. Once inside, the lively atmosphere that had surrounded them mere moments ago vanished. In front of them was a passage that was a little over five meters wide. Though there was no obvious light source, the entire labyrinth was dimly lit, enough that one could vaguely make out their surroundings without the help of a torch or magical item. In truth, the passages were all lit by a special mineral called green glowstone that was buried in the walls. The entire Great Orcus Labyrinth was actually an excavated vein of green glowstone ore.

The party all filed into ranks and slowly advanced through the labyrinth. After a few uneventful minutes, the passage they were walking down opened up into a wide plaza.

Towering seven or eight meters above them was a dome-shaped ceiling. The students were all looking around curiously, when suddenly a number of gray creatures resembling furballs burst out from cracks in the wall.

"Alright, Kouki, your team's up front! Everyone else falls back! I'll have you switch in after some time, so stay sharp! These monsters are called Ratmen! They're quick on their feet, but not all that strong. Keep your cool as you fight!"

As Captain Meld had said, the Ratmen were quite fast, and rushed at them with alarming agility. Pairs of dark red eyes gleamed with a ghastly light from within the balls of fur. Their name was rather fitting, as they looked like a giant, muscular rats... that stood on two feet. Only the area around their corded c.h.e.s.ts and impressive eight-packs was bereft of fur, almost as if they were trying to show them off.

Kouki's group, who were facing them head-on, all grimaced when they got a better look—especially Shizuku, who was standing up front. They certainly did look disgusting.

Once the Ratmen entered into range, Rio, Kouki, Shizuku, and Ryutarou all attacked at once. In the meantime, Kaori, Hajime and two of her close female friends, the glasses-wearing Eri Nakamura, and the childish and energetic Suzu Taniguchi, started preparing their Magic Gun, readying their magic. Four vanguards and four rear guards—that was the basic formation they'd practiced during training.

Kouki swung his Holy Sword, which still looked like a bastard sword. It was blessed with the light element, which had the sickeningly efficient properties of simultaneously weakening enemies that were hit by the light it emitted, while also increasing one's own physical strength. It sure played dirty for a "holy" sword. Meanwhile, Rio cloaked his Sabre with his mana to increase his weapon durability and sharpness. For someone with Sorcerer Job, Rio was acknowledged as another strong vanguard. He was only behind Kouki who had Hero Job and his Holy Sword.

Ryutarou, on the other hand, had the job of Monk, which was a martial arts class that fought with its fists. He was equipped with a pair of gauntlets and greaves. Those were also artifacts, and were capable of unleashing enchanted shockwaves. They were also unbreakable. Ryutarou took up a stance and splendidly beat down any enemy that came close with punches and kicks, not letting a single one pass. Despite being practically bare-handed, his massive frame made him seem like an armored heavy knight.

Shizuku, meanwhile, possessed the job of Swordsman, which was fitting for a samurai-esque girl like her. She wielded a katana, which had been created by Hajime, and made short work of any enemies that got within reach of her sword with her quick-draw skills. She had refined her swordplay even further since arriving in Tortus, and had even earned the admiration of many of the knights. While everyone was busy watching Rio and the others fight, the rearguard in the backline finished their preparation.

They pulled the trigger of their magic guns in unison, and small red bullets were launched from the muzzle of the gun before turning into a huge whirlwind of flames that enveloped the Ratmen, burning them to a crisp.

The Ratmen screeched in pain, flailing wildly until the flames pouring down on them reduced them to ash. In the blink of an eye, all of the Ratmen had been annihilated. The other students didn't even get a chance to fight. It looked like monsters on the first floor were far too weak to even put up a fight against Rio and Kouki's party.

"Wow, well done! Alright, the rest of you will be up next, so don't relax just yet!"

Captain Meld reminded the class not to let their guard down, though he was smiling, impressed at their prowess. Still, he couldn't prevent the students from getting pumped up about their first dungeon monster elimination expedition. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly as he saw the students breaking out into smiles.

"Oh, and... while you don't have to worry about it this time since it's training, in the future try and kill your enemies in a way that preserves their mana crystals. What you did back there was overkill."

Hajime, Kaori, Suzu, and Eri blushed at Captain Meld's words, realizing they may have gone too far because the firepower that was provided by Hajime's Magic Guns. From then on, the class smoothly advanced through the floors of the labyrinth, rotating the vanguard between battles.