As Oleg finished speaking, Tyler had also concluded reading the letter.
It was evident that Oleg hoped for Banning to serve as the representative.
This was not only to carry out the orders from above, but also an opportunity to demonstrate their power to other towns, potentially influencing the distribution of resources and benefits.
However, Tyler was under no obligation to comply. He needed to consider the potential advantages and drawbacks of participation and whether it was worth his time and risk.
“How far is Delis Town from Sunny Town, Branch Chief? How many days would it take to travel there on horseback?” Tyler inquired.
“Not far. If you travel day and night, you should arrive in about seven days.”
(Seven days…)
Tyler glanced at the remaining days on his “Countdown to Confession Death”, which read 21 days. Subtracting two days waiting for new equipment, he had only 12 days left for the next confession, a far from comfortable timeframe, leaning more towards a race against death.
“Is this type of personnel gathering a routine that happens every so often?” Tyler asked next.
“Initially, when the labyrinth was first discovered, exploratory teams were organized every six months, but as the number of failures grew, the efforts gradually dwindled… This call to arms is quite sudden, nearly two years since the last one.”
(A sudden emergency call to arms… Could something unexpected have happened…?)
As far as Tyler knew, the only recent “event” that could be classified as such was the sudden visit from the “Singular Demon God – The Unutterable Name”.
But what relation could that have with forming a team to conquer a labyrinth? Tyler couldn’t figure it out for the moment.
“Is this ‘Labyrinth: Aqua Nest’ the same as the Ancient Labyrinth that everyone has been discussing recently?” Tyler continued.
“No, this is a regular labyrinth. If it was an Ancient Labyrinth, how could I ask you to risk such danger?” Oleg responded.
Oleg’s response was puzzling to Tyler. After further inquiries, he learned that there were two types of labyrinths in this Prison Star world.
Ordinary labyrinths had no entry restrictions, and one could retreat at any point. They were relatively friendly.
Ancient labyrinths, on the other hand, strictly limited the level range of those who could enter, and once inside, one could not leave unless the core of the labyrinth was shattered.
“I see, so why not deploy the military to conquer these ordinary labyrinths?”
Tyler queried.
This was an unusual idea, but not unheard of in the Prison Star world.
Oleg chuckled wryly, recounting the lessons learned from past failures.
“The terrain within labyrinths is extremely complex and filled with narrow passages. More people doesn’t necessarily equate to success. In fact, large numbers can often be a hindrance.”
“So… Branch Chief, Garvit, do either of you have experience navigating labyrinths?” Tyler continued to probe.
Much to his disappointment, both Oleg and Garvit lacked such experience.
As for the benefits of successfully navigating a labyrinth, Oleg painted a colorful picture: fame, fortune, status, treasures – it offered everything one could desire.
Tyler, using his mind-reading ability, knew Oleg was telling the truth. However, he still had reservations.
Benefits often correlate with risk. If the rewards for conquering a labyrinth were as tempting as described, why wouldn’t those with significant power attempt it?
Why would they leave the treasures of the labyrinth untouched, providing an opportunity for others to try?
There must be some unknown secret at play here.
“Alright, Branch Chief, give me two days. I’ll give you my answer in two days.”
“Of course, of course!”
Oleg was overjoyed. At present, if Banning declined to go, Oleg would be hard-pressed to find a suitable representative in Sunny Town.
.
The following day, Tyler enjoyed a restful sleep, a luxury he hadn’t experienced in a while. He was moved by the return to his daily routine of honing skills upon awakening.
Amid this hard-won serenity, Tyler advanced his “Heart of Focus” to level 10 (Dexterity +10↑), unlocking a new entry, “Intentness.”
With “Intentness” at his disposal, Tyler could enter a state of deep focus whilst activating “Heart of Focus.” Despite doubling his magic energy consumption, it allowed Tyler to perceive the trajectory of his imminent attacks, significantly enhancing the accuracy of his long-range assaults.
Subsequently, Tyler also leveled up “Shadow Behind” by one level (Lv1+1↑, Dexterity +20↑). After leveling up, the shadow duplicate’s existence time increased from 5 seconds to 6 seconds. 𝑜𝓥𝓵ℯxt.𝗇𝓔t
This substantial improvement furthered Tyler’s motivation to continue upgrading this skill.
.
After completing his daily routine of honing his skills, Tyler met with Branch Chief Oleg at a tavern near the Quest Guild.
As agreed, Oleg handed over the reward for exterminating the Poison Blade Rat King and the proceeds from selling the Rat King materials to Tyler, totaling 5 gold coins and 78 silver coins.
Armed with this substantial sum, Tyler could finally commence the development of new potions.
After a full day of experiments, through continuous trial and error, Tyler finally replicated the red potion and green fog potion that Garvit had used.
The red potion, called “Elixir of Fervor,” increased the user’s burst power by 20% for 20 seconds at the cost of losing 5 health points per second.
The green fog potion, dubbed “Weak Poison Fog,” had a 15% chance of poisoning those who inhaled it, inflicting 5 points of continuous damage per second for 30 seconds.
Reflecting on his experience using the Venomous Blade, Tyler conjectured that the 15% chance didn’t account for resistance, so its actual effect was questionable.
(Let’s keep this formula for now. If I find a better source of poison later, I could replace it…)
.
During his potion research, Tyler also didn’t forget to mass-produce antidotes to hone his skills (Pharmacist Experience: 200+100↑/600). Additionally, he crafted 20 smoke bombs to replenish his depleted stock.
In the midst of his inventive zeal, Tyler developed a new item overnight, which he named “Smoke Arrow”.
A combination of a smoke bomb and a standard arrow, this invention could extend the effective range of a smoke bomb to 100 meters. The test results were excellent.
After completing these tasks, a weary Tyler found a nearby place to have dinner, mulling over the matter Oleg had mentioned the day before as he ate.
The opportunity to leave Sunny Town for a legitimate reason, backed by Oleg, was indeed enticing to Tyler.
If he could successfully conquer the labyrinth and obtain treasures, it would be an even greater boon.
However, Tyler still harbored doubts about the dangers of the labyrinth.
To address this, he retrieved the Universal Stone, converted it into points, and used his ability to foresee his “Precognitive Death Scene” (Divine Eye of Transcendence: Experience Points 1+1↑/4).
As the energy points dwindled, Tyler saw his “Precognitive Death Scene.” However, after viewing it, he was taken aback.
In this “Precognitive Death Scene,” there were no assassins, no murder weapons, and no wounds. For a moment, Tyler was at a loss as to how he died in this vision.