Chapter 30 - The beginnings of an elite squad

When we returned at night, there were two groups arguing. One group argued that everyone should leave and fight for their own freedoms, while the other argued that everyone should follow us. However, everyone quieted down once Rea and I appeared.

"So? Have you made your decisions?"

"Ojou-sama. We have two groups. One group wishes to find their own path outside, while the other wishes to follow you," a young [Goa] explained. He was one of the former combat slaves. Unsurprisingly, he represented the group that wished to follow me. Most of the former 'useless' slaves wished to find their own survival outside, while those who themselves had a measure of strength could understand that we were much stronger than they could fathom, and sought that strength for themselves.

"Nn. I see."

I created a portal, then said, "anyone who wants to leave can do so right now. This portal leads to beyond the East gate of the capital. You will have to fend for yourself."

A chorus of voices rang out.

"Aren't you going to provide us with anything to protect ourselves?"

"Not even food and water?"

"How are we expected to face monsters?"

I looked at their indignant faces and said, "my kindness ended at the point where I freed you. Now you are truly free. Go wherever you want, do whatever you want. Whether you live or die, it's not my business. However, I will tell you this. If you're already asking me for this much before you're outside, at most one or two of you will live to see the end of the week."

That immediately shut them up. I continued, "if you want to leave right now, make sure you have the proper resolve to survive outside. Don't expect to be spoon-fed. Put your life on the line in exchange for your life. That's how it works."

In the end, no one went through the portal. One or two of them went over to the group that decided to follow me. I nodded and said, "alright. I'll be taking you guys with me. The rest of you, I'll hand you over to my acquaintances and see if they'll decide to make use of you. Cli."

Cli melted out of my shadow and bowed, "yes, Ava-sama."

"Bring them to the other leaders. See if they can be paid and housed for odd jobs and the like. Oh, also let them know that I'll be out of contact for a few weeks."

"As you command."

She gathered the rest of the people who were still undecided, and melted into the surrounding shadows with them. I was left with ten people, between the ages of 8 and 14, all of whom had a fervent heat in their eyes.

"That's a good look you all have. Are you prepared?"

"""Yes, master!"""

"Uwah, master is such a weird term. Can you all think of something else?"

"""No, master!"""

I clutched my forehead, thinking that this was going to be a troublesome affair. However, it was something I had decided, so I wasn't going to turn back anyway. Upon gaining [Void Control], I could bypass the transfer restrictions that the [Labyrinth] had. Until it became a the [Labyrinth] authority was too high to bypass. Now, however, I could freely teleport anywhere I wanted in the [Labyrinth] so long as I had been there before. I opened a portal, and my followers unhesitatingly walked in. Rea and I followed through.

"What is this place?"

"Uwa, this place looks scary..."

Voices leaked out from the children as they stared around at the rocky corridors.

"This is the 40th floor of the [Megaceris Endless Labyrinth]. Survive."

Saying that, I took Rea into my {Subskill: Void Cloak} and watched over them. At first, they were panicked and frantic, terrified of the possibility of running into monsters, but soon, under the leadership of two of them, began to formulate their strategies for survival.

"Ava-sama...don't you think it might be a little too harsh for them?"

"That's the point. I need them to survive in a harsh environment. Furthermore, I picked this floor as it has a good distribution of monsters from F-rank to B-rank. I dropped them off near an F-rank monster hotspot, so they should be alright if they work together and fight. Don't forget, we're also watching over them. I'm not about to let them die. To get strong quickly, they need to be in a situation where they could die at any moment, but I'll intervene if their lives are truly on the verge of slipping away."

"Mou, Ava-sama...at the end of the day, you're still soft-hearted huh?"

"Rea. I'm putting children in mortal danger. That's tyrant-like behaviour, you know?"

"Ehehe, even if you say that...it feels like Ava-sama can't bear to lose these children."

"Maa, that's also true. After all, I'm planning to turn them into my kin. I can't have my future kin die, can I? Also, I can't just turn them into my kin like this. They don't have the loyalty yet, unlike you when we met. That's why I need them to get stronger first."

Before I knew it, it had been a week of watching over these children. I had brought three of them back from the brink of death over this time, and the strength of these children had already ballooned into C-rank from their initial assorted G-F ranks. Furthermore, they had even dared to enter floor 41 after realising that I was watching over them and did not just leave them to die. They had understood that this was training, and began fighting in a coordinated manner, with roughly made weapons and armour.

Whenever I noticed them making critical mistakes, I would step in and speak to them about it. Whenever someone did particularly well during a fight or in the planning phase, I would step in and award them with a throwaway weapon that I had made during my time in the [Labyrinth]. It had gotten to the point where they could hold their own and I did not have to be so intent on watching them all the time.

From the beginning of the second week, I would teleport Rea and I into deeper floors, and train by ourselves. I had Rea fight against B and A rank monsters, while I took on A and S rank monsters. Despite our strength, both Rea and I came close to death many times as well. Of course, only by pushing ourselves could we gain further strength. With that in mind, Rea and I fought endlessly and tirelessly, bringing ourselves to the brink of death over and over again as we fought.

While we recovered, we watched over the children. By this point, some of them had begun to acquire . Having a coordinated team wherein different people were doing different things, they could clear the floors much more efficiently than I could when I was by myself. Since I had to take care of everything myself, my progress was much slower than it could have been otherwise. In the middle of the second week, the children had already reached floor 44.

They had developed a thirst for blood. Forget being an elite squad, these children seemed almost like a death squad. The way they fought, the way they tore through enemies...it was a little scary. However, their levelling speed had begun to slow down dramatically. The monsters just weren't worth enough EXP. Thinking about what to do, I made a decision.

During one of their rest times, Rea and I appeared in front of them. Though surprised, they immediately fell into a formation and bowed as we appeared. This was something they had apparently decided on and taken to doing whenever we appeared. I didn't understand their fervour, but since it seemed to smack of loyalty, I let them continue.

""""Greetings, Master and Rea-sama!""""

"Nn. As you were. I've noticed your levelling rate is slower than it was before. So, I have an idea. Would you like to try what I have in mind?"

One of them spoke up, "if it will make us stronger, please let us do it!"

"Well said. We are going to the 70th floor of the [Labyrinth]. There are a lot of B-ranked monsters there, but nothing else of value. As you are, you should be able to beat a B-ranked monster if you work together."

""""Yes, Master!""""

I teleported them into the 70th floor, incidentally right in front of a B-ranked monster. I said my usual, "survive", and vanished with Rea. True to form, the children fought hard and suffered many injuries, but managed to beat the B-ranked monster. I didn't even need to heal them. Three of them had learned [Light Magic] and could now heal each other as needed.

Rea and I left for more training. As my had updated following my last evolution, Rea and I could now share EXP. 30% of the EXP I gained would also be gained by Rea. However, 50% of the EXP she gained would also be gained by me. The extra 20% was an effect of [True Ancestor (S)]. By having us both fight separately, we could easily amass ridiculous amounts of EXP, to the extent that within two weeks, Rea was ready for her next evolution, which would bring her firmly into the A rank.

"Ava-sama, what should I choose? My options are [Greater Guardian Beast], [Void Beast], or [Voidfall Guardian]. I think I should choose the last one? It makes me feel closer to Ava-sama, hehe."

"Nn. [Voidfall Guardian] sounds like a good choice. After all, that's gonna be our clan, is it not?"

"Yes, Ava-sama!" Rea said with sparkling eyes.

Ah...this girl is really so pure and adorable. Makes me wanna munya munya her cheeks.

After her selection, she was wrapped in a cocoon of purple and black sparks, causing a huge wind the blow up. When it finally died down, the sparks vanished, leaving behind a very similar-looking Rea. Perhaps the only difference was that her black wings, like mine, had become the colour of velvet. I checked her with [Appraisal].

[Rea Kino (A)]

[Voidfall Guardian ♀︎ Lv.0 0/300000 +20%]

[Blessing of the Voidfall True Ancestor]

[Void Guardian]

[Normal]

[HP: 35000/35000]

[MP: 4000/4000]

[PWR: 650]

[DEF: 420 (+80)]

[MAG: 300]

[RES: 150 (+80)]

[AGI: 450 (+30)]

[WIS: 250]

[WPR: 220]

[Family of Voidfall (A)] [Clan Guardian (A)] [Giant Slayer (C)] [Headstrong (C)]