《The Engram of Elisha (Pre-edit)》


 Ch.1 An Unkept Date

    Blood-soaked ivory fangs stuck out horizontally from the creature¡¯s lower jaw. Its piercing eyes glared hatefully over its surroundings. From its head, down its long neck, all the way to its hind legs, brilliant yellow and red feathers adorned the malicious creature. The creature stamped its front two legs, letting out a deafening roar which vibrated every bit of material that surrounded it. A Chimera. Chimeras were often formed by ill-advised experiments gone predictably wrong, performed by overconfident magicians and alchemists. A complete novice could create a Chimera, but it took a veteran to kill one.


    The last of the students rushed down the ancient stone corridors, evacuating outside the fortified building. Only one student remained. Standing steadfast in front of the nightmarish beast was a young girl. Her eyes shined bright with confidence. In her right hand was a flaming sword with a mantle of a dragon¡¯s head adorned on the hilt. Three golden stars embedded into her silver-crescent cuff links glinted in the firelight. Her long black hair was blown back and forth by the wind produced by the flames of her sword. Lily Bergstrom was one of the veteran magicians often called in to put down such dangerous magical beasts.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with, I have a date to get to.¡± Lily spoke with extreme confidence and annoyance.


    Lilly swung her sword to her side, creating a massive wave of fire which engulfed the Chimera. The Chimera roared in pain but was otherwise unscathed. The flame wasn¡¯t meant to subdue the Chimera, instead it was meant to trap it in place. Lily was a rare type of magician, a magical swordsman. One of the greatest strengths of a magician was their ranged attacks, and one of their greatest weaknesses was close quarters combat. Magical swordsman flipped this paradigm on its head.


    The Chimera slammed its tail into the ground, causing a crackling shockwave to shoot through the stone floor. Lily took advantage of the large slabs of stone which were flung into the air. She used her fire magic to change her aerodynamics and the very nature of the air around her, allowing her to jump from stone to stone, quickly advancing into melee range of the insatiable beast. Lily¡¯s red skirt flapped in the rush of wind caused by her sword erupting into flame. The Chimera opened its mouth, attempting to spark its own blast of fire, but it couldn¡¯t match Lily¡¯s expertise.


    ¡°Flame Dash!¡±, Lily yelled.


    Lily spun her sword around, creating a ring of fire around herself, before creating a magical explosion behind her which pushed her forward, and past, the Chimera. Lilly landed gracefully on the ground, seemingly bowing to an invisible audience, opposite to the Chimera. The Chimera let out one last howl before losing its life in a fiery explosion. Lily stood up straight, letting out a snicker.


    ¡°Honestly, you would think monsters would have a better sense of survival, yet they never run from me.¡± Lily placed her free hand behind her head, supporting it comfortably.


    Lilly looked up at the clock on the wall.


    ¡°Still have some time.¡±


    Lilly stared at the clock for a moment more, suddenly realizing that it had stopped working in the extreme heat of the battle that had just taken place. Lilly¡¯s eyes went wide.


    ¡°Shoot, I¡¯m late! Meimei is going to kill me!¡±


    Lilly held her sword out to her side, disintegrating it and absorbing it back into her soul. Magic swords were not physical swords, but instead were manifestations of the magician¡¯s soul. One of the reasons that magicians rarely chose to walk the path of a magical swordsman was due to the danger that it put their soul in. Typically, a soul was guarded inside a special domain in one¡¯s body, but manifesting it into the open put one¡¯s soul into jeopardy. Losing a battle as a magical swordsman could be worse than death. Losing one¡¯s soul meant that one could never reincarnate or be revived. This vulnerability was unthinkable, especially to sages who were proficient enough in magic to cast automatic revival spells on themselves in the event of their death.


    Lilly quickly ran out of the charred stone room, jumping over the melted corpse of the defeated Chimera. She ran down the stone hall that the majority of students had evacuated through. After about a minute of running she ran into a group of magicians and guards who were running towards her.


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    ¡°Everything is taken care of!¡± Lily said, waving at the guards as she hopped past them. The guards stared at her in surprise.


    Lilly finally made it out of the old stone building known as Hermit¡¯s Nest. Outside many of the students that had been inside were standing around, talking to teachers and other officials, and comforting each other.


    ¡°Lily!¡± One teacher dressed in purple robes shouted out, trying to get her attention.


    ¡°It¡¯s all taken care of professor!¡± Lily yelled back, not slowing her pace.


    Lilly ran past the gathering of students and staff, taking a sharp corner around a wall of perfectly trimmed hedges and red roses. As she continued running, she made sure to wave back to everyone that greeted her before finally coming around one more corner. Ahead of her were two massive, intricately carved, wooden doors. One of the gargantuan doors was propped open, making more than enough room for several rows of students to file through. Lilly raced through, apologizing to two female students that she brushed past. She ran down an intricately decorated hallway lined with colorful banners of different school affiliated houses and clubs, skillfully dodging students. Lily finally reached a set of white marble stairs where she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. After a brief respite and a moment to fix her hair, she ran up the many flights of stairs. Many floors up she found herself on the girl¡¯s dorm floor of house Greenclaw.


    Lily came face to face with a glowing green door. A green pixie apparated near door, floating blissfully in front of it.


    ¡°This that you have come to here and now is the dorm of the ladies of the Greenclaw, you, I do not know.¡± The pixie said with a poetic tone.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you say that every time. I am Lily of the house of Moltensand.¡±


    The pixie floated for a moment.


    ¡°Yes, I see you quite a bit, and as I tell you every time, you cannot come in here.¡± The pixie retorted monotonously as if reading from a script.


    ¡°And, as I tell you every time, move or I am moving you.¡± Lily demanded, her piercing red eyes staring through the pixie.


    The pixie let out a sigh before evaporating into the air. The green door in front of Lily lost its glow and a click echoed throughout the hallway. Lily reached forward, pushing the door, and walking through the threshold. She entered into the main reception room where there were several tables, a couch, and many bookshelves. Two girls were sitting at one of the round tables, having a conversation.


    ¡°Yo.¡± Lily said as she approached the round table.


    Both girls looked up at Lily.


    ¡°You¡¯re late, and ¡­ sweaty.¡± One of the girls said.


    The girl had cold, blue eyes and short white hair that shined like silk. She had a blue clip on her hair in the shape of a triangle. Her uniform was perfectly tailored, not a wrinkle in sight, and her red bow sat perfectly around her neck. She got up out of her chair, politely gesturing to the other girl, and walked over to lily.


    ¡°Sorry Meimei, I got her as fast as I could.¡± Lily said, scratching her head.


    ¡°Did they dispatch you to fight something again?¡± Meimei, the white-haired girl, asked.


    Meimei pulled a handkerchief from her breast pocket and began patting down lily¡¯s neck and face to remove the sweat.


    ¡°Yeah, a chimera this time,¡± Lily laughed.


    Meimei looked surprised before sighing heavily.


    ¡°I hope I don¡¯t smell bad from all the sweat.¡± Lily sniffed herself a few times.


    ¡°You smell fine, Lily.¡± Meimei responded as she carefully folded up her handkerchief.


    ¡°They have other people that can send out to do eliminations, they don¡¯t always need to send you.¡± Meimei asked with some indignance.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I won¡¯t get hurt. If I don¡¯t go, there is always a chance that the person that they do send could get hurt.¡±


    Meimei sighed and raised her hand, gently caressing Lily¡¯s cheek. Two silver stars seated on a silver crescent cuff link shimmered in the light.


    ¡°Say ¡®no¡¯ sometimes, for me.¡± Meimei said quietly.


    Lily softly grasped Meimei¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Sorry, I know it worries you.¡± Lily looked lovingly into Meimei¡¯s eyes.


    A rasp throat clearing broke the moment. Meimei turned around and Lily looked over to where the sound had come from.


    ¡°Ah, hi Professor Milly!¡± Lily gleefully said.


    ¡°Lily, last I checked you are not a Greenclaw, please don¡¯t bully your way into other houses¡¯ dorms.¡± Professor Milly said with an annoyed tone.


    Professor Milly had on a long black robe with a dark green embroidered neckline. She was a young professor but had tremendous talent in alchemy and potion crafting.


    ¡°I apologize on behalf of Lily; I will walk her out of the dorm.¡± Meimei said, giving a slight bow with her head.


    Professor Milly sighed.


    ¡°Whatever, I gave up trying to make Lily conform to our rules long ago, just please leave promptly.¡± Professor Milly said, turning her eyes to Lily.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± Meimei said, giving another nod to the professor before grabbing Lily¡¯s wrist and leading her out of the dorm.


    The two stepped into the hallway, the door of Greenclaw once again shining green with its defensive magic barrier. Meimei let go of Lily¡¯s wrist, looking over towards another set of stairs. Lily reached out and grabbed Meimei¡¯s hand. Lily interlocked her fingers with Meimei¡¯s. Meimei looked back at Lily, blushing slightly.


    ¡°Now, since I was late, I guess I will have to make it up to you with an extra special date.¡± Lily said slyly.


    ¡°You better.¡± Meimei replied, staring into Lily¡¯s eyes, her face still red from blushing.

 Ch.2 The Door of Death

    ¡°Flame Wheel!¡±


    Lily held her sword so that it stuck out in front of her and pulled her body into a ball. Flames sprang out of her sword surrounding her as she flew towards the ground.


    ¡°Eep!¡± Meimei squealed as she pushed out an explosion of air from her long silver staff, flinging her away from the incoming flaming Lily.


    Lily slammed into the ground creating a crater. Flames erupted from around her like a volcano.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a date at all!¡± Meimei yelled out in frustration.


    As the smoke and debris cleared, Lily came into focus. She moved her long black hair behind her, striking a comically cinematic pose.


    ¡°Promotions are coming up soon, that means a bunch of weirdoes are going to be challenging you to duels.¡±


    ¡°I know that, but when you promise a girl a date you should give her a date. You could have just asked to spar with me, and I would have agreed!¡± Meimei retorted in frustration.


    Lily let out a sigh and rested her sword on her shoulder.


    ¡°Sorry Meimei, I just know how it went last year¡­ I don¡¯t want to you go through that again. Actually, if you get that swarmed with duel requests again because people think you are weak maybe I will just take care of them all!¡± Lily raised her first in a fighting motion.


    ¡°That would get you expelled. You know you can¡¯t interfere in duels.¡± Meimei said with defeated eyes. ¡°Anyway, we do have classes today even though it is a half day, so I am going to go get cleaned up.¡± Meimei started to walk away. ¡°Feel free to come by after classes though, if you want.¡± Meimei said with embarrassment, still facing away from Lily.


    Lily let out a slight laugh at how cute Meimei looked.


    ¡°I wish I could, but I am going labyrinth diving after class.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, fine.¡± Meimei said as she stomped off.


    Lily smiled as she watched Meimei walk away. Brookewood Magic Academy was an upper-tier school for magicians. The school was split into several houses which focused on different magic specializations. Lily¡¯s house, Moltensand was a house entirely focused on fire magic. Greenclaw, Meimei¡¯s house, was focused on support and nature magic. Greenclaw and Whitelight had a famous rivalry, as Whitelight focused on holy and light healing magic.


    Furthermore, students were ranked using a star system. New students at the academy typically started with no stars, earning their first bronze star after completing a few basic exams. Obtaining more stars becomes exponentially more difficult as you climbed the ranks. Collecting up to three bronze stars only required passing academic and live exams. However, graduating to one silver star required that the three-star bronze student defeat a student of one silver star or higher in a duel. Of course, if there were duels going on all the time it would distract from academics, so there was a specific time of the year that promotional duels were allowed. That time was coming up. Lily rarely received duel requests, as she was known to be nearly unbeatable, but Meimei was often swamped with requests during duel season.


    Lily had come to an impasse. She had reached three gold stars some time ago. The next rank was platinum, the highest rank obtainable at the academy. Whereas most academies had no platinum star magicians, Brookewood, being an upper-tier academy, had four. However, one could not simply challenge a platinum star magician as one could any other rank magician. In order to be considered worthy of challenging a platinum star magician one must clear a labyrinth first. That is why Lily had been busy diving into labyrinths lately. She had hoped to clear one before the promotional duel period, so that she could challenge one of the platinum magicians to a duel.


    As today was a half day Lily only had one class, a two-hour foundational magics class. Lily made her way out of the duel arena and into one of the main inner-court buildings of the ancient castle that made up Brookewood. Supposedly Brookewood was originally built to defend the entrance to a labyrinth which was ruled by a devil whose name was lost to time. The devil was capable of using forbidden magics to spawn large numbers of monsters and would often send armies from the labyrinth. The devil was defeated long ago, but the castle and the labyrinth still remain to this day.


    Lily¡¯s foundational magics class was taught by Professor Dein. The professor was in his early forties, though he appeared far younger. His piercing green eyes were known to both install fear and admiration in his students. Lily arrived at the classroom. The classroom was made of oakwood, and had benches set up on multiple levels like an auditorium. Lilly walked up the stairs on the left-hand side of the arrangement and found a seat towards the end of the bench. The class was nearly empty, as many students had simply elected not to show up for the short day. Besides Lily only a half dozen other students were scattered throughout the large classroom. Professor Dein walked into the classroom and all of the students stood. As the Professor sat his items down on his desk, he motioned for the students to sit.


    ¡°Hello students, I am glad to see some of you decided to show up.¡± Professor Dein was obviously unimpressed with the students who decided to skip that day¡¯s class.


    ¡°Today we are going to be covering magical affinities, including special affinities.¡±


    A few of the students in the class sighed. This was a lesson that was taught to the youngest children; however, it was often repeated to remind them to be creative with their magical imaginations. It was often said that magic was only limited by imagination- though there were, of course, some other limitations too.


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    ¡°I know that this may seem repetitive, but do pay attention, this information could save your life and inspire greatness in you.¡± Professor Dein shifted his weight before continuing, ¡°It was Lord Xera II who started the requirements of reteaching fundamentals every year to all magic students.¡±


    Professor Dein turned around to the large chalk board behind him and picked up a white piece of chalk.


    ¡°The requirement to reteach magical fundamentals every year came about due to the defeat of the great Magic King Xera II by, what he considered, a simpleton of magic.¡± The Professor continued, ¡°Lord Xera II was considered by many to be the greatest magician of his century, however, one day during a magic duel he was defeated by a young man of no background and no status. This young man was able to defeat Lord Xera II not with intricate spells and beautiful magic circles, but with the most basic of magics.¡±


    Professor Dein wrote out several notes on the chalk board, summarizing what he was talking about.


    ¡°Due to this defeat Lord Xera II came to understand the importance of enhancing fundamentals and projecting magic using imagination. So, class, let us talk about the schools of magic which exist.¡±


    The Professor drew a perfect circle on the board, a truly impressive feat, and then split the circle multiple times. The circle listed; Light, Nature, Water, Creation, Darkness, Wind, Fire, and Energy inside of the outer ring. The circle was then split once more on the inside to reveal other magics.


    ¡°As you are aware, there are eight elemental magical affinities, as well as two non-elemental affinities. I have written for you, on the board, the names of the elemental magical affinities. Who can tell me what the non-elemental magical affinities are?¡± the professor asked, scanning the room with his eyes.


    ¡°You, there.¡± The professor pointed at one of the students in the mid-section of the room.


    ¡°Holy, Divine, and theoretically void.¡± A pretty girl with freckles and glasses answered.


    The Professor nodded his head.


    ¡°Holy and Divine are correct. Void is still a bit of a fringe theory and not one we will discuss in fundamentals.¡± The professor wrote Holy and Divine on the board.


    ¡°Now, who can tell me the difference between Holy and Divine magics? You, there.¡± The professor pointed at a boy sitting at the back of the classes.


    The boy dutifully stood up to answer.


    ¡°Uh, well, Holy magic requires a god to fulfill the request and isn¡¯t always guaranteed to work and divine magic is the god¡¯s magic itself.¡± The boy paused for a second before sitting back down.


    ¡°Correct.¡± The professor turned around and began writing on the board again. ¡°As you are aware, divine magic is a god¡¯s very magic itself. The difference between holy magic and divine magic is that holy magic involves the god casting the spell on behalf of the requestor, whereas divine magic is the god giving the power to the requestor to use the spell themselves. Now let¡¯s talk about the only three divine magic users in history.¡± The professor moved over slightly to make more room on the chalk board.


    ¡°The progenitor of human magic whose name has been lost to history, the first hero, and the first demon lord.¡±


    The professor turned around, scanning the room again, stopping his eye on a boy who was slacking off. The boy shivered and sat up straight.


    ¡°We will discuss the history of these three in another class.¡± The professor walked back over to the circle with elemental magics that he had created earlier.


    ¡°Each person has what is called an inherent magic affinity. Magic casters are able to use this affinity without any chanting, magic circles, or alchemy. Magic casters are also able to use the magic of the affinity adjacent to them on this chart by chanting. A caster¡¯s inherent magic will always be the strongest, even without a chant. The advantage to chanting and using the neighboring affinities is to create combination spells. As an example, a light user can use light magic mixed with chanted nature magic to heal.¡±


    The professor eyed the class.


    ¡°This is why imagination is important. New combinations are always being discovered.¡±


    The professor looked up at the iron clock at the back of the class.


    ¡°Alright, that is all for today, you are released.¡± The professor shood the students with a hand gesture.


    Lily quickly stood up, leaving the classroom. She rushed out of the inner-court area and into the Labyrinth dive room, located outside of the main walls of the academy.


    Lily arrived in front of large, stained marble megaliths. The Labyrinth dive room was located in the midst of ancient ruins of an unknown origin. The ruins curved outwards in two directions towards a central mausoleum which contained the labyrinth entrance. The ruins themselves had anti-magic properties that ironically helped contain the monsters within from escaping. Lily stared outwards towards the tower structures. The wind blew gently across her, bringing a rush of warmth and the smell of trees and grass. A smile broke out across her face. Lily had lost much in her life, but her feelings of pride from her magic and combat abilities gave her a feeling of control. She was excited to once again dive into the school¡¯s labyrinth. She hoped to prove to herself that she was continuing to grow more powerful.


    ¡°Lily!¡± A young man¡¯s voice called out from behind.


    Lily tuned around, seeing three familiar figures. The boy who had called out to her was Ardi. He was a one gold star scout from the house of Lowdark. A house that specializes in shadow warfare and assassination. He was naturally gifted at intelligence gathering due to his sincere personality and extreme charisma. He had the ability to befriend anyone and find any secret. His dark hair and dark eyes seemed to glimmer even in their shadow.


    Next to him was Manrin. Lily called him Manny as a nickname. Lily had known Manrin for some time, as he was a member of the same house as Meimei, Greenclaw. Manrin was a nature magician who specialized in plant manipulation. Manrin was wearing thick wood rimmed glasses and a green robe. Although Manrin struggled in areas with little plant life, in a forest he could likely easily defeat a platinum rank mage. That was his plan, as he was one of the few three gold star mages, along with Lily. Manrin pushed up his glasses as Lily looked at him. For Manrin, adjusting his glasses was a sign of respect and greeting.


    Straggling behind the other two was the final member of the Labyrinth dive party. Wearing priest¡¯s robes, the party¡¯s main healer and anti-curse magician took their last few steps to join everyone else. The last member was the second female of the group, although she purposely tried to look as masculine as possible. The group never fully grasped her circumstances, but they knew it was probably something they shouldn¡¯t dig into. Rel was a priest, typically a profession that only allowed men. However, her golden hair and soft face gave away the truth of her disposition.


    ¡°You really need to work on your stamina.¡± Lily sighed.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± Rel answered with a depressed look.


    Ardi stepped forward towards the entrance to the mausoleum.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s begin our dive.¡± He said with confidence and excitement.


    The party looked towards the crypt doors; a smell of death creeped out towards them. Labyrinth diving was exciting, but also very dangerous.

 Ch.3 The First Floor Guardian

    The Labyrinth had an unknown number of floors in it, some people speculated there could be over a hundred levels. However, in order for a student to be considered successful in their labyrinth dive they only needed to complete floors down to the thirtieth level. Once this task was completed and confirmed by the academy staff then a student would be certified to challenge a platinum star magician to a promotional duel. Both Lily and Manrin had three gold stars, and thus were attempting to complete the dive to take one more step forward on their quest to become platinum star magicians. As for Ardi and Rel, they were both tagging along for the experience. After graduating from the academy many magicians become adventurers whose main goal was Labyrinth diving. Labyrinth diving was extremely lucrative, it was said that completing a Labyrinth could provide enough wealth to purchase a small country. The group crossed the threshold into the first level.


    ¡°We have all beaten the first boss together before, but let¡¯s not let our guard down.¡± Manrin said.


    Manrin could come off as a cocky know-it-all, but in reality, he was a very cautious person. He knew that without vegetation he was severely limited in his abilities. The first level of the dungeon would be all rock and dirt, so he would take a more supportive role.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Lily responded.


    ¡°We¡¯ll do it the same way as last time, right?¡± Rel chimed in.


    ¡°Obviously.¡± Ardi answered.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going ahead, I assume you don¡¯t need me to fight the monsters on the first level. I¡¯ll meet you guys at the floor guardian¡¯s room.¡± Ardi slipped into the shadow, turning invisible.


    Ardi was a scout and specialized in stealth and assassination. Going fully invisible was a very advanced type of magic. A magic which was only known by certain clans of specialist magicians.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t actually wait for us to respond.¡± Rel said, with some annoyance.


    ¡°That¡¯s Ardi for you.¡± Lily giggled.


    The remaining group of three stepped forward into the Labyrinth and began walking towards their goal.


    The first level of the Labyrinth was more difficult than the proceeding few levels. It was an odd quark which many scholars had many diverse opinions on. The first level contained orks, large green primate creatures with pig-like faces which could use some basic weaponry. The next few levels had goblins, seemingly weaker creatures that were similar to orks, though smaller.


    The clang of swords and cracks and swooshes of magic echoed throughout the stone and dirt hallways of the Labyrinth.


    ¡°Form upon my wand and accelerate towards my enemy, Water Dagger!¡±


    Water formed on the tip of Manrin¡¯s wooden wand, momentarily pausing before flying out at an ork that Lily was currently defending against. The liquid dagger slammed into the ork, making a squashing sound as the water forced out flesh from the other end of the creature. The ork slumped down, dying quickly. The plan for the group was simple, since Manrin would be the least useful against the first floor¡¯s room guardian, Lily and Rel would save their strength, allowing Manrin to take down most enemies using chanted water magic. This was the strategy that the group used last time to make it to the twenty-fifth floor before they were forced to retreat.


    ¡°We are about halfway there, how are you doing Manny?¡± Lily asked.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Manrin replied, pushing his glasses up.


    The group continued on, taking down dozens of orks before they finally came to the large wooden doors of the floor guardian¡¯s room.


    ¡°Pretty good speed.¡± Ardi suddenly said, slipping into view from the shadows.


    ¡°Yeah, I think that might be our fastest so far.¡± Rel said with a nervous giggle.


    ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Lily asked with a serious tone.


    The three other members of the group nodded in agreement. Lily walked forward, pushing open the large wooden doors. The doors let out a groan under their own weight. The fight was one that the group had won many times in the past. The floor guardian was a large ork. The ork was well armored with a large shield made of Acreonite, a material only found in Labyrinths which was both magic resistance and fire resistant. This made the ork a bad match up for Lily. However, the group created a strategy where Ardi would use his speed to circle around behind the ork and attack it with throwing-knives covered in an irritant. This would cause the ork to focus on Ardi, giving Lily an opening to attack the ork without the Acreonite shield getting in the way. Manrin and Rel would act as auxiliary magicians if any extra firepower was needed.


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    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Ardi yelled as he jumped forward towards the ork at incredible speed.


    Ardi flashed by the ork, coming to a hard stop behind it, smashing his foot into the ground to halt his momentum. The ork looked between Ardi and the rest of the group, trying to decide what to do next. Ardi reached into his pocket, flinging out several throwing knives at the ork. The ork was too slow to swing its large shield around, and the knives found their place in its flesh. A rotten squishing sound filled the air as the knives found their mark. The ork cried out in pain, turning the quickly face Ardi. Rel and Manrin split up, taking the opposite corners of the ork, ready to cast any additional magic if the need came. Lily took her position, now directly facing the back of the ork. She swung her sword behind her, crouching low. Ardi, seeing Lily is position, jumped slightly to the side to avoid her future trajectory.


    ¡°FLAME FLASH!¡± Lily yelled out.


    A mass of flames shot out from Lily¡¯s sword surrounding her before she disappeared in a twinkle. The room temperature soared, and a massive crack and pop roared throughout the stone chamber. Lily suddenly reappeared on the opposite side of the ork, near Ardi. A mass of fire erupted from the ork releasing the smell of singed flesh into the air. Only a moment later the ork fell over, its large body causing a loud thump and a quick shake of the stone floor. The ork¡¯s singed innards slinked out, confirming to the party that the ork had taken a mortal blow.


    ¡°Rel¡±? Ardi spoke with a questioning tone.


    ¡°Yes, it is dead.¡± Rel responded.


    As a priest Rel was in tune with all life, even that of monsters. She could easily tell if something was living or dead. This was especially important to light magic priests, as they were often dispatched to fell undead. Lily let out a deep sigh and stretched her arm behind her head.


    ¡°Does this mean we can finally stop being so serious and take a breather?¡± Lily asked innocently.


    ¡°When were you being serious?¡± Manrin asked.


    ¡°Well, I thought everyone did a great job!¡± Rel added enthusiastically.


    ¡°Would have been more surprising if we didn¡¯t do a good job, considering how many times we have killed this guy.¡± Lily said, pointing behind her at the smoldering ork corpse.


    ¡°Yep, good job everyone. Let¡¯s rest at the inter-floor area between the room guardian room and floor two.¡± Ardi said, acting as the leader.


    The group walked through the exit door which had unlocked after defeating the floor guardian. Past the door was a dark stairway which led to an open area. Looking up at the ceiling it almost looked as if one was at the bottom of a well. Green grass and some trees spread out for around one hundred footsteps in all directions. Rounded rock walls surrounded the small grounds, and above was an opening which seemed to be covered by liquid water. The liquid water cast light rays through the small number of trees, making for a picturesque area. Rel walked forward, stopping next to a tree. Rel placed her backpack on the ground, looking quite content with herself.


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop and rest, I made lunch for us!¡± Rel said with glee.


    ¡°You know Lily, you could learn a thing or two about femineity from Rel.¡± Ardi said with a jeering grin.


    ¡°Yes, from the one that dresses like a man.¡± Lily said, poking at Rel.


    ¡°I have to dress this way for my line of work!¡± Rel said, showing her frustration with her clenched hands.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t a man?¡± Manrin added in, keeping a stoic composure.


    The group stared at Manrin in disbelief.


    ¡°Was that sarcasm?¡± Ardi said pointing a shaking finger at Manrin while looking towards Lily.


    ¡°MANNY, NO! He must have been switched out with a mimic!¡± Lily said, collapsing to her knees and pretending to cry.


    Rel rushed over, comforting Lily by patting her on the shoulder.


    The group continued laughing and chatting for several hours while they rested from their battle with the ork floor guardian. The first floor is notoriously more difficult than the next nine, so the common strategy is to go all out on the first floor and then rest. After the short rest the party then climbs the remaining nine without stopping. That was the very same strategy being employed by Lily and her party. After the party was fully rested, Rel gathered up her accoutrements and remining food while the rest of the group went over strategy.


    ¡°Next are goblins, ready for a massacre?¡± Ardi asked, giving Lily a side-eye.


    ¡°Of course, what a great mid-course meal for us.¡± Lily replied, grinning eagerly.


    Rel let out a sigh and Manrin simply pushed up his glasses, ignoring the group and stepping forward. The group walked out from the restful lighted well-lands and into a new stoney corridor. This time their enemy would be goblins. Beings much like orks but smaller and only slightly more intelligent. The main difference between orks and goblins was their morality. Orks would simply kill people, however, goblins would take pleasure in hurting you. It was this past-time that earned goblins animosity from humans, demi-people, and even demons. Lily smiled a devilish grin; goblins were close enough to demons due to their behavior that she felt enjoyment in slaying them.

 Ch.4 Lilys Smile

    Congealed blood splattered against the stone wall, making a moist slapping sound. Steam rose from the blood coating, filling the corridor with the stink of burning flesh. Lily and the team were making short work of the weak goblins. It was a one-sided massacre. Goblins desperately fought for their lives, unable to flee. Lily was covered in hot blood which was quickly evaporating off of her as her body heat increased more and more with the drawn-out genocide. She slowly walked towards a group of goblins who were desperately clawing at a wall, trying anything to avoid the acolyte of hate approaching them. Without so much as blinking Lily raised her sword, pausing for a moment before bringing it down on the goblins, ending their miserable lives. Lily stared at the bodies of the ruined goblins. Rel tiptoed around the many corpses of goblins, trying to not get blood on her white and gold robe.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be sick.¡± Rel held her mouth, her nausea from the pools of blood and smell of flesh forcing its way up.


    Lily sighed, turning towards Rel and giving her a small smile.


    ¡°You get sick every time we kill monsters, you don¡¯t need to feel empathy for them, especially these ones. Afterall, they were born in the labyrinth by magic. They hardly even count as living creatures.¡± Lily shrugged slightly.


    ¡°Killing should always feel wrong, even if you kill your worst enemy.¡± Rel recited.


    Ardi and Manrin walked towards Rel and Lily. Ardi patted Rel on the head, to which Rel recoiled, giving him a disgusted look.


    ¡°Okay, my bad.¡± Ardi said with a tint of sadness.


    The group looked towards the dark stone corridor in front of them, at some point in the distance the corridor disappeared into a sea of darkness.


    ¡°We should almost be there, how is everyone doing on magic power?¡± Ardi asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± Rel said happily.


    ¡°Of course you are, you haven¡¯t done anything.¡± Manrin butted in, pushing his glasses up.


    Rel stared daggers at Manrin, although they seemed to simply bounce off of his thick glasses.


    ¡°¡¯I¡¯m good.¡± Lily said.


    ¡°Good, let¡¯s do this, same way as last time.¡± Ardi said as he began walking forward.


    The team had worked their way through the ten levels of goblins, easily pushing to the floor guardian. The guardian of the tenth floor was a goblin king. A goblin who commanded many other goblins. This floor was difficult for magicians who focused on single target combat; however, this team had no such weakness. The team approached a cavern with wood beams surrounding it. Infront of the cavern was a goblin tiki, a warning to stay away. The team looked at one another and then stepped forward into the floor guardian¡¯s room. The group walked down the long wood lined hallways until they saw an opening into another room. In the room atop a wooden throne a large goblin sat. The goblin was resting its head on its hand, staring directly at the group. It had a bored look on its face that slowly turned to a menacing grin. The team stepped into the large room. On both flanks of the goblin king, and in front of it, legions of goblins dutifully stood in formation.


    The goblin king flicked his hand, ordering his legions forward. The group of challengers crouched down, getting into position to quickly move. Rel moved to the back of the group and Lily and Ardi moved forward taking the vanguard. Manrin sat in the middle, starting a quiet chant. Ardi and Lily both crouched down even more, building up their kinetic energy before bursting to opposite sides of each other. At incredible speed the two created a pincer on either side of the goblin legions. The plan was to force the legions in as close as possible to each other. Once they were clumped up Manrin would unleash a huge spell to kill them all.


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    ¡°Upon my feet enchant the will of the wind and push me forward, Wind Sheet!¡± Ardi yelled out casting a wind spell on his feet to boost his movement speed even more and grant him more stability.


    Ardi found himself completely on the side of the leftmost legion. He began throwing out poison daggers and casting darkness spells to entangle and frighten the legion. The legion focused their attention on him. Goblin archers fired off arrows while goblin legionnaires attempted to fillet Ardi with spears. Ardi used quick-chant wind magic to fend off the arrows and darkness magic to confuse the legionaries so that they were not able to accurately stab at him with their spears. Ardi bounced around the goblin warriors stabbing them in the neck and keeping his distance from any attempts to grapple him. He slowly pushed the legion back further and further towards the other group of goblins.


    Lily landed at the side of the right legion. Her body was already extremely hot from her prior battles, and steam let off from her skin. The goblins turned to face her but were too slow.


    ¡°FIRE LANCE!¡± Lily yelled.


    Her sword started to whistle and glowed white before shooting off a mass of flames at the goblin legion, incinerating everything in front of her sword. The goblins didn¡¯t even attempt to fight back, but instead fell back to regroup, trying to find some way to defend against the unbearable heat of Lily¡¯s flames. The two goblin legions had merged into the third as they had been pushed back into each other.


    ¡°Manrin?¡± Ardi yelled out a question.


    Manrin¡¯s eyes had been closed as he was chanting. They viciously flickered open, and he held out his large wooden staff.


    ¡°MAGNIFY!¡± He yelled.


    Suddenly moisture from the walls of the cavern and from the air around started to condense and form a bubble in front of Manrin. The bubble of water flattened and created multiple stacks of thin sheets of water. The goblin king eyed Manrin before suddenly showing a sign of panic on his face. He stood up from his throne, but it was too late. Rel stepped next to Manrin and held her scepter next to his staff.


    ¡°FLASH!¡± Rel chanted her innate affinity to improve its power, creating a burning, blinding light.


    The solar ray of Rel¡¯s empowered flash spell passed through the thin sheets of water, magnifying down into a thin beam of light. The beam of light struck the goblin king square in the head, burning through and sizzing the wall behind him in barely a moment. After Manrin¡¯s internal count had reached the predetermined point, he widened the lenses of his magnification spell. The light changed from a thin beam to a column. The packed goblin legions ignited, caught in the light beam. Screams of the monsters echoed throughout the cavern as they perished in the extreme heat and light. After a moment, silence.


    Rel¡¯s light faded. The group had all hidden their faces behind their arms, keeping themselves from being blinded. As the scene in the floor guardian¡¯s room was revealed to them it became apparent that their strategy had been extremely effective, if not slightly cruel. Rel retched, as she normally did. Lily grinned, while Ardi and Manrin simply traced their eyes to the floor exit, ready to move on. Lily walked towards the throne that the goblin king had ruled from. She crouched down next to its burnt corpse and looked it over. The rest of the group was unsure of what she was thinking about at that time.


    The group had explored the labyrinth enough to be confident of their skills. The next ten floors and its floor guardian would perhaps be the easiest of all, after all, the next ten floors took place in a dark forest, the divine domain of the all-powerful nature user, Manrin. Manrin adjusted his glasses. He knew that his time was up to become the star of the show. While he was extremely reserved, the truth was he was actually quite a narcissist, and would jump at the chance to show off his power. Internally Manrin smirked to himself. However, he would never show such an emotion on the outside. Afterall, it would be quite unbecoming of a noble such as himself.

 Ch.5 No Fire

    The grim corridor turned from stone to wood and root as the group entered the new area of the labyrinth. These floors were situated inside of - and under - an ancient dark forest. From the floor guardian of the tenth floor to the great ancient forest boss of the twentieth floor, the environment would be forestry. The wooden constructs of the dark forest floors were often underestimated. Eager underclassman would naively believe that they could simply burn their way through the forest with fire magic. While this was true for the first few floors a grim reality quickly set in. Slowly the forest beasts would begin to be filled with explosive sap. The deeper that a magician went into the forest floors the more likely they were to disfigure themselves with one wrong fireball: exploding hot sap onto themselves and their group. If the scalding sap didn¡¯t maim or kill the explorer, the entire forest catching on fire would either burn them to death or deprive them of oxygen.


    Contrary to intuition, fire magic was extremely dangerous in the forest floors, ultimately cultivating in the floor guardian, a great dark-wood treant who was completely immune to fire. This sort of dark comedic take on forest monsters seemed to betray the sick humor of the one who created the labyrinths, whomever that may be. Lily stopped for a moment to touch one of the dark roots sticking out from the wall of the pathway that the group was venturing down. Rel, nervously looking far forward for monsters, nearly crashed into the back of Lily. Lily noticed and looked behind her at Rel, giving her a quick jovial smile. Rel had a hint of embarrassment on her face. Ardi stopped for a moment, looking at the group before his eyes settled on Lily.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Lily said with an annoyed tone.


    ¡°No fire.¡± Ardi said. Clearly recalling some painful, distant, memory.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Lily replied flippantly.


    ¡°If we are going to really try what we talked about I will need to save all of my magical power.¡± Manrin said with his typical calculating tone.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, between Lily¡¯s brute strength, Rel¡¯s heat magic, and my tactics we should be able to make it to the floor boss without needing you.¡± Ardi tried to use the right tone at the end of his sentence to not make it come off as rude, but it didn¡¯t really work.


    Manrin seemed to either not notice or not be bothered by what Ardi said. He simply nodded and continued walking forward. The group had been into the Labyrinth on numerous occasions but had never reached the thirtieth floor. The furthest the group had ever gotten was to floor twenty-five. Manrin and Lily had known each other the longest, with Manrin having been present during Lily¡¯s initial visits to Meimei. Ardi and Rel only recently met when Ardi formed the Labyrinth dive group.


    The first person Ardi recruited was Lily, as her reputation had made her quite illustrious. Lily had always turned down Labyrinth dive group invitations before, but something about Ardi scratched Lily the right way. Lily then recommended Manrin, who accepted Ardi¡¯s invite. Finally, the group needed a light magic user ¨C and healer ¨C so Lily also recommended Rel. Lily had no reason to specifically recommend her, but she found Rel to be quite cute. The group was not the highest ranked overall at the academy, but it was a contender in many categories of rankings.


    The group walked around one particularly large root which was sticking up from the ground, humorously acting as if it was a tree. There the group spotted their first wooden enemy, a Winged Beetle. A particularly nasty creature to light on fire, as it would fly straight at you. Ardi sunk into the shadows, disappearing from sight before reappearing just behind the wooden bug. Ardi took one of his larger daggers and slammed it down into the creature¡¯s carapace, striking a joint which controlled its wings. Lily then dashed towards the enemy from the front, materializing her unlit sword, and smacking it down over the head of the constructed bug, smashing its head. The beetle slumped. The party had developed this multi-prong approach to taking down the wooden monsters during their multiple jaunts through the Dark Forest floors.


    The party regrouped and continued down the winding rooted corridors, fighting the eclectic troupes of wooden insects and beasts that they would encounter. Tactically, the fighting was easy. It would only take a few seconds or minutes to slay each construct, but there were so many that even at such a pace the party was quickly running low on stamina. The group found a makeshift root cave and decided to set up camp and rest for the night. Rel took the large sack-bag off of her back and let it fall next to her by the root cave. She wiped a bit of sweat from her brow and looked around her.


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    ¡°It sure is humid here.¡± Rel said, exasperated.


    ¡°The roots of dark trees leak out moisture.¡± Manrin replied.


    ¡°Bleh.¡± Rel retorted.


    ¡°If you feel too gross, I could always wipe you down.¡± Lily quipped from several yards away, collecting twigs for the planned campfire.


    ¡°I think we would both end up dead if I ever agreed to such a proposal.¡± Rel said jokingly, sitting on her knees next to her pack. Lily laughed in return.


    Ardi sat across from Rel and began unpacking his own bag. Ardi had brought cooking pans and a stand to place the pans on, over the fire. Manrin Removed his pack and started carefully unfolding several items that were wrapped in multiple layers. Manrin had brought some fresh fish and chicken meat to be cooked for the party. Lily had only brought materials related to weapons. Lily waved towards Ardi who threw her his daggers. Lily looked over them and began oiling them. The group was cohesive, and all had a place. Rel helped Ardi set up the cooking stand while Manrin prepared the raw meats. When Ardi was done Rel took the meat, lightly seasoned it, and placed it on the pan over the fire.


    The meat sizzled on the pan, sending out colorful smells of garlic and spice. Rel and Ardi spoke to each other, laughing at each other¡¯s quips. Lily was working on finishing up oiling and repairing Ardi¡¯s daggers while Manrin Set facing the other way, keeping watch for any monsters that may approach. Manrin would occasionally glance behind him, unable to fully hide his interest in the food being cooked behind him. He would then turn around and adjust his glasses, perhaps trying to convince anyway that may have been watching that he was actually not that interested. Parties would typically only bring dried meat, berries, nuts, and water. Lily and her party found that eating well was better for morale, and therefore helped them fight more efficiently.


    As the meat finished cooking everyone grabbed a few pieces using metal and wood skewers and began eating. Lily picked up an extra skewer and pierced a juicy bit of chicken. She walked over to Manrin and crouched down next to him, moving the skewer in front of his nose.


    ¡°Here you go Manny!¡± Lily said happily.


    Manrin obliged, taking the skewer that Lily was holding. Manrin took a big bite and looked sideways towards Lily.


    ¡°Thanks Lily.¡± Manrin said shyly.


    Lily giggled and walked back towards the group, sitting down next to Rel. The group chatted a little longer before taking a quick rest. The plan was to sleep for four or five hours and then continue onwards. The group was hoping to complete the Labyrinth the next day - an extreme pace - but based on their current progress one they felt that they could manage. The group settled down to get ready to sleep. Rel put her sleeping bag down next to Lily and sat down next to her.


    ¡°Lily, may I ask you something?¡± Rel¡¯s request was made with such an innocent voice that had Lily been single she may have fallen for her right then and there.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Lily replied, putting on her best poker face.


    Rel fidgeted, picking at her finger for a moment before looking back up towards Lily.


    ¡°What is it like to be in a romantic relationship?¡±


    Rel looked to the side of Lily, avoiding her gaze out of embarrassment. Lily sat for a second thinking about how to answer before looking at Rel with a smile.


    ¡°That can depend a lot on the relationship. It can be the greatest feeling on the planet, and the most painful. Sometimes your heart swells up with so much warmth and love that it becomes painful. Sometimes you just want to touch the other person, desperate for them to continue to exist. The other person becomes the reason for your existence. Also, when the person you love fully accepts you, it is a feeling unlike any other. Nothing else matters except their acceptance. It can become scary; you grow to fear disappointing them. It drives you to better yourself and be strong.¡±


    Lily looked up towards the overgrown roots that covered the cavernous top of the Labyrinth. Her gaze stopped for a moment as she continued to think.


    ¡°Love is hard to describe, but it is something that I think we all crave.¡± Lily smiled, looking directly into Rel¡¯s eyes.


    Rel looked back at Lily, digesting what had just been told to her. After a moment of silence Rel began to speak.


    ¡°That sounds like a lot of work.¡± Rel said indigently.


    Lily simply laughed and laid down in her sleeping bag. She rolled over looking at Rel who was also moving to lay down.


    ¡°It can be a lot of work, but it is worth it. Just make sure the person you spend that much energy on is worth it.¡±


    ¡°Is Meimei worth it?¡± Rel asked innocently.


    ¡°Absolutely.¡± Lily replied without a moment of hesitation.


    ¡°Get some sleep, tomorrow we need to be prepared to fight the treant if Manny¡¯s plan fails.¡± Lily grumbled out, falling asleep slowly.


    Rel watched Lily until Lily had fallen asleep. Rel smiled a pained smile towards Lily before closing her own eyes.

 Ch.6 The Master of the Dark Forest

    The path towards the floor guardian¡¯s room became more and more difficult to traverse. Dark wooden roots stuck out next to jagged rocks like spiked pitfalls, waiting to destroy a dungeoneer¡¯s feet and legs. Besides the magma paths of the lower levels, the Dark Forest was known as the most difficult terrain to traverse. The roots constantly slithered and moved about, making mapping dangerous areas impossible. The group of young adventurers carefully treaded through the narrow, pronging, pathway. On occasion a wooden construct would come out of the dense forest and attack the group. Whoever spotted it would immediately take up a defensive position, while another member of the group would circle around behind the construct and deliver a paralyzing blow. One of the main weaknesses of wooden constructs in general was their vulnerability to shattering. While a being of flesh and blood would absorb a wound as a gory hole, a construct made of something like wood would shatter. While it was more difficult to deal a mortal wound to a construct, it was easier to immobilize it.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Lily quickly squeaked out in pain.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Lily?¡± Ardi asked, turning around to look at her.


    ¡°Nothing, just got stabbed pretty good in the ankle by one of these stupid roots.¡± Lily replied in anger, kicking at the root that had stabbed her.


    ¡°Let me see.¡± Rel said as she moved closer look at Lily¡¯s wound.


    Rel bent down, putting her hands out in front of her. She repeated a quiet mantra and a warm yellow light enveloped Lily¡¯s wound, healing it.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Lily said, throwing a peace sign up with her hand.


    Rel smiled at Lily, giving her a peace sign back. The group had been walking so long that some fatigue had set in. Lily had started daydreaming and stopped paying attention to the ground. Ardi and Manrin shared some small talk, trying to make a decision on if they should stop or not. As they were in the middle of talking a strange wooden bug jumped out at them. It had long arms which swung around like a whip.


    ¡°Ardi!¡± Lily yelled as she grabbed at one of the root arms that had whipped at her.


    ¡°On it!¡± Ardi replied.


    Ardi took advantage of the pinned whip-arm and sliced at it, using his acid covered blade to cut through the appendage. The creature let out a loud screech and whipped its head around towards Rel. For some unknown reason it pounced at her, seeking to take her out first. Manrin pulled a short sword from under his cloak and moved in front of the creature¡¯s attack, blocking it with his magic sword. The sword had runes carved on the blade which began to glow. The creature jumped back. The part of its last good arm which had reached towards Rel crumbled. Lily jumped from rock to rock gaining speed and altitude before slamming her spirit blade over the construct, splitting it down the middle.


    ¡°What the heck was that?¡± Ardi asked exasperated.


    ¡°Some kind of weird mutation, I guess.¡± Manrin chimed in.


    ¡°What is that sword!?¡± Lily yelled out, running up close to Manrin and gleefully looking at the sword that he was holding.


    ¡°Just a magic sapping sword.¡± Manrin said, attempting to back up.


    Lily pushed forward invading his personal space as she looked at the sword with sparkles in her eyes.


    ¡°Do you want to hold it?¡± Manrin stammered.


    ¡°Can I!?¡± Lily yelled back.


    Ardi audibly sighed and moved between the two.


    ¡°Put the sword away. Let¡¯s focus up, we are almost to the floor guardian¡¯s room.¡±


    The two shook their heads and did as Ardi told them too. The group took a short respite just out of visual range of the floor guardian¡¯s room. Rel set out a tea set and some dried meats and fruits as a snack to get everyone¡¯s energy up before the final fight. After Rel had finished setting things out she sat to the side, looking up towards the ceiling of the labyrinth and muttering to herself.


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    ¡°What¡¯s Rel up to?¡± Lily asked Ardi who had sat next to her to pick up some dried meat.


    ¡°She is praying, I guess.¡± Ardi answered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really see the point of that. The gods don¡¯t stop good people from dying every day, why would they help us out?¡± Lily said blankly, not intending to be philosophical, but more as a matter of fact.


    ¡°Who knows what they think about.¡± Ardi answered, looking at the spot of the ceiling that Rel was fixated on.


    ¡°Do you follow a god?¡± Ardi asked after a moment of silence.


    ¡°I used to follow Beunike.¡±


    ¡°Were you parents both farmers then?¡± Ardi asked in response.


    ¡°They were.¡± Lily responded.


    Ardi paused for a moment, reading in between the lines.


    ¡°I see. Take a quick breather and get some snacks.¡± Ardi said as he stood up and walked over to Manrin.


    The group shared some more pleasantries, reminiscing on times past; playing jokes on professors, and other general shenanigans. Rel and Ardi were laughing about some past event when Manrin cleared his throat. Ardi, Rel, and Lily looked towards Manrin.


    ¡°Should we continue?¡± Manrin asked with a serious face.


    The group looked at each other with a pondering bewilderment.


    ¡°Getting nervous Manny?¡± Lilly asked.


    ¡°No, I just want to finish this up.¡± Manrin replied, glaring at Lilly for correctly guessing his concern.


    The group agreed to take an early start and formed a defensive formation, carefully heading towards the floor guardian¡¯s room. The floor guardian of the twentieth floor was a treant; a living tree. The treant would be covered in black bark that was as hard as the most mythical ore and as resistant to magic as Acreonite. The treant was often the end of gold star student¡¯s journeys. Finding a strategy which could take the treant down was almost impossible. Even if a group was able to damage the sentient tree, the dark forest itself would resupply the treant with magic to restore it. Like the first-floor guardian it was often said that the treant was out of place on the higher floors and should be lower with the more powerful monsters.


    The group eventually rounded the final corner. Coming into their view stood a great mass of darkness. Like a black skyscraper, thrust into the sky, a tree of wonder stood. The earth shook as the great mass of immortal wood shifted to focus on the group which now stood before it. Pieces of bark all throughout the tree cracked and shed off, revealing disturbing black eyes underneath. The red center of the black eyes floated for a moment before all locking eyes with the group below. For every one eye that the group had one-hundred more stared back at them. An aura of primal terror flowed forth like a mist on the ground. An explosion of wood reverberated as the treant released portions of its mass to form arms and hands. What stood before the group was no longer just a tree, but a being of hatred, a paradigm of nature¡¯s vengeance. The group slightly stepped back out of fear before exchanging glances with each other.


    ¡°You¡¯re up Manny.¡± Lily said in a quiet hush.


    ¡°Buy me a minute.¡± Manrin replied, gulping nervously before raising his hand to prepare his spell.


    Everyone nodded their hand in agreement before leaping out in different directions. While this strategy was extremely effective against most enemies it would barely hold against the dark master of the forest. Wooden tentacles chased after the group as the main body of the treant advanced forward, shaking the ground with every slow creaking root step. The treant focused on Ardi as it raised its mace-like fist of wood and brought it down like a meteor. Ardi used a darkness technique to slide to another shadow, barely avoiding the wooden boulder slamming down. Lilly chanted an explosion spell, sending the treant¡¯s roots reverberating backwards, but barely damaging them. Rel stood by Manrin, casting a light shield to ward off the dark roots.


    Manrin sat with his arm out, silent. He didn¡¯t need to chant since he was using his innate affinity, however, what he was doing was gathering magical power. The spell he was about to unleash would completely deplete his magic. Rel¡¯s light shield started to flutter as Manrin finished taking in as much of the atmospheric magical energy as he could. Ardi and Lily sensed that the magical buildup had reached critical levels and jumped backwards away from the treant. Manrin stared at the treant before moving his lips to speak. The putrid air around him whipped up into a whirlwind as the magic being crafted into the spell began to disturb the very air around it.


    ¡°WITHER!¡± Manrin yelled out.


    A brief pause struck the room as the slithering wooden tendrils ceased moving all at once. An unusual silence struck the air. Suddenly, all of the wooden trunks and roots and tendrils which strung around the room imploded, letting out explosive squeals. The treant let out a groaning roar before it too imploded. The violence of the implosion caused a white heat to explode outwards from the treant. The massive trunk which had jetted upwards broke at the bottom and tipped over. The vast body of the treant slammed into the ground, causing the group to nearly be thrown into the air as the earth reverberated. The group looked around. They had cleared the twentieth floor with a single spell. Manrin lived up to his reputation as the master of nature, and a hidden platinum rank sorcerer.

 Ch.7 The Zombie King

    After their tremendous victory over the guardian of the twentieth floor all that stood in the group¡¯s way of clearing the Labyrinth was the twenty-fifth floor¡¯s Zombie King and the thirtieth floor¡¯s floor-guardian, the True Lich. Both the Zombie King and the True Lich would normally be impossible to kill, both being undead immortals. However, with Rel¡¯s light magic they should be as easy as the treant. The only issue was the quick succession of the fighting. Rel had used a bit of her magical power already while shielding Manrin. She would need to use two more powerful light spells soon. When the group had initially discussed their strategy, they weren¡¯t sure if Rel had the magical power to pull it off, but Rel seemed confident. Afterall, she was aiming to become the Pontiff of the Divine Church, a position only held by the most powerful Light user. She couldn¡¯t admit any weakness now.


    The group stepped out of the Dark Forest and into their new Labyrinth domain, the Immortal Cemetery. The Immortal Cemetery was a place filled with undead and spirits. It was the bane of most magic users, as there was quite literally nothing that they could do against spirits, and while their spells could reach the undead, it was still difficult to kill them. Destroying spirits required Light, Holy, Divine, Dark, Spirit, or Ritual magic. All of these affinities were, of course, rare. Luckily, Lily¡¯s group contained both a Light user in Rel and a magical swordsman. Magical swordsmen were one of the rare, unique, magic users that could harm spirits, as their swords were infused with spiritual power, the same material which incorporated spirits. This gave the group a natural ability to complete the floor. That didn¡¯t mean it would be easy though.


    The first major enemy that the group would face would be the Zombie King. This special type of zombie had the ability to command other undead and was especially adept at recovering injuries. The group had a strategy worked out that involved Lily and her magical sword. Typically, a light user like Rel would be the better choice for a powerful zombie, but Rel needed to save her magic for the True Lich. Rel would still be needed, but the group found a way to lighten her load. Rel would cast a long-lasting light spell on Lily¡¯s sword. Typically, magical swordsmen didn¡¯t like any sort of magic being cast on their sword, as it was an extension of their soul. It wasn¡¯t unheard of throughout history for a magical swordsman to be tricked by a mage and killed or enslaved. When Rel had brought this up to Lily out of concern, Lily simply laughed and told Rel that she trusted her. Rel couldn¡¯t help but be frustrated at Lily¡¯s carelessness.


    Lily and Rel both looked uneasy as the miasma of the Immortal Cemetery crept in on them. Manrin seemed to be spaced out and Ardi simply walked ahead. The cemetery was truly an eerie place. In the sky a sun made of black light shone darkness over the land. One could describe it as daytime, but with the darkness of night. Gnarled trees and dead grass scattered the landscape. Shattered tombstones created hazards that the group carefully traversed. Spirits of the dead, tortured in their afterlife, screamed and moaned in the distance. It was a place that would make even the most grizzled veteran uncomfortable. The students were no exception.


    ¡°This is only our second time here, but It¡¯s still just as jarring.¡± Rel said sheepishly while hiding behind Lily.


    Ardi turned around to look at Rel, giving her a slight smile.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s no fun for me either, but we just have to push through. Just think of how close we are to our goal.¡±


    Manrin simply pushed his glasses up. For some reason this simple gesture seemed to calm the group, after all, if Manrin was calm the rest of them could be too. The group took formation and began their long walk towards the old castle, where the True Lich sat atop his rotten throne.


    The team was easily able to take down the lesser zombies. Though durable, they were slow and unintelligent. A few swings of a sword or basic magic was enough to take them down. As the group took their time taking down zombies they talked with each other a bit, only Rel had to occasionally intervene to take down a spirit.


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    ¡°So, last time we went against the zombie king we made a few mistakes that forced us to retreat.¡± Ardi said, bringing up their last failure.


    ¡°That won¡¯t happen again.¡± Manrin said, securing his glasses.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t know about the greater undead in the Everlasting Chasm,¡± Lily chimed in, ¡°we can just avoid that area this time and we will be fine.¡±


    Rel looked uncomfortable. While it wasn¡¯t directly her fault that the team caught the attention of the greater undead, she was the one that had led the group there. A greater undead is a special type of monster formed by hundreds or thousands of undead that fuse together. Scholars still don¡¯t quite understand what triggers the undead to begin fusing, but once complete, the monster it forms is far more powerful than something like a zombie king. It was the equivalent of facing a floor-guardian. The team simply wasn¡¯t ready and was forced to retreat.


    This labyrinth dive was going far better than last time. After breezing through the undead and lesser spirits of the graveyard the group finally made their way to the crumbled mausoleum, which housed the Zombie King. The group stopped outside of the mausoleum and began to set up their plan. Lily did a few stretches while the rest of the team sat and rested for a moment, preparing themselves for the battle ahead. Rel nibbled away on some bread, hiding from the rest of the group. Lily was bent over stretching and managed to catch Rel¡¯s eyes mid nibble. Rel immediately blushed and turned away. Lily had to remind herself not to bully Rel too much or Meimei would catch wind of it and come to her upset, so as much as she wanted to say something, she let it go. Although her memory of Rel with cheeks full of bread like some sort of squirrel would be something she would treasure.


    ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Ardi asked, looking around.


    Everyone nodded their head in agreement. Ardi nodded his head back at them and the group stepped forward into the mausoleum. A noir tone of reminiscent glory filled the mausoleum. Perhaps once a great civilization settled here. Perhaps a great man was buried here. The answer was simply lost to history, as the remnants of records scattered into dust, like the very lives of those that used to live in the crumbling city. As the group took a few more echoing steps into the main chamber of the mausoleum blue lights suddenly sprang to life, lighting the chamber in a mysterious hue. A groan slowly let out, as a hulking undead figure slowly made its way down a set of stairs. A putrid stench wafted over the group and a broken sovereign came into sight, the Zombie King.


    ¡°Let the power of that which shows the truth flow into the shape of this one¡¯s ambitions, LIGHT VEIL!¡± Rel chanted her spell in order to be precise enough with her magic to keep it active on Lily¡¯s magical weapon.


    Lily¡¯s magical sword sprang to life with a slight glow. To prevent the light magic from being dispelled she wouldn¡¯t be able to use her flames. A compromise that was fine for her. Lily wasn¡¯t the type to complain, as long as she killed the enemy. The Zombie King slowly picked up speed as it stomped towards the group. Zombies started slowly entering the mausoleum. The group was now surrounded, as expected. The mausoleum itself was built with thick marble which made it difficult for Manrin to use his plant magic, but the zombies, rotting on the ground, had many different plants growing on and in them.


    Manrin raised his staff. The zombies began popping and exploding into a gory mess as he encouraged the growth of the plants within and on them. Rel quickly averted her eyes. Ardi had already made it to the back of the zombie king. It was a tried-and-true tactic, but since it worked there was no reason to change it. Ardi flung daggers at the zombie king, hitting it in multiple places. Purple puss leaked out of its wounds. The zombie king slowly turned its head, looking towards Ardi. At the same time Lily came swinging down from the air, slamming into the ground, her sword following suit through the zombie king. The zombie king recoiled, losing nearly its entire right side. Lily reared her sword back, swinging horizontally, slicing the zombie king in half.


    The zombie king, now quartered, still continued to move. It moaned out loudly. It was attempting to induce paranoia; however, the group of veteran labyrinth divers had all prepared for this by receiving a blessing at a local temple. The paranoia failed to take root in any of the group. Lily took one more swing, directly down on the head of the zombie king. The group obtained one more victory.

 Ch.8 True Power

    The group sat on the steps of the Mausoleum, looking outwards towards the Dark Tower in the distance. A black fog seeped upwards towards the sky from the base of the tower. Inside upon a throne of desecration sat the embodiment of arrogance, the True Lich. The group was confident but nervous. They were all aware that the vast majority of groups failed the upcoming fight. Manrin sat to the right of Rel, cleaning his glasses. Rel seemed to be lost in thought. Ardi, sitting in front of Lily, went over the upcoming battle plans in his mind. Lily looked at the group. She was happy to have the good fortune of coming across them all. Most of them were together due to pure coincidence, Lily only wished Meimei was among them. She knew that Meimei secretly felt insecure about her abilities. Lily didn¡¯t care if she had no magic at all, she would still love her.


    ¡°It¡¯s neither here nor there.¡± Ardi¡¯s face came into view as Lily snapped out of her stupor.


    ¡°What?¡± Lily asked.


    ¡°You were thinking about some things that don¡¯t matter right now.¡± Ardi responded, staring at her with a simple expression.


    ¡°True. We only need to be thinking about that right now.¡± Lily motioned towards the Dark Tower with her head.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you get it. We are all going to make it through this dive this time.¡± Ardi said, giving a confident thumbs up. Rel laughed from the background.


    The group were all nervous in their own ways and for their own reasons. Rel knew that the upcoming battle relied heavily on her, and that weighed on her restless mind. Manrin didn¡¯t particularly care if he won or lost -as he already considered himself plenty strong- but he had grown to care for the group, and therefore wanted their success. Ardi, seeing himself as the leader of the group, felt that if they could not defeat the True Lich, it would reflect poorly on his leadership abilities. Ardi had high aspirations, and if he couldn¡¯t even manage a Labyrinth dive team, he would never meet his goals. Lily simply wanted to fight; she was perhaps the least nervous of the group.


    The labyrinth divers set off for the Dark Tower. The group was uncharacteristically quiet as they fought off the undead fodder which sometimes attempted to block their path. Undead were initially difficult for most sorcerers and adventurers, but once one got used to fighting them, they were truly trivial, something quick and intelligent like a goblin was much more difficult to fight. In the case of the undead, a simple slap the head was enough to kill them. The group all took turns taking care of the undead which approached them, with Rel using the occasional light magic when a spirit would attempt an attack. A particularly disgusting corpse that was still somehow animated made Rel gag as the group stepped over it. Lily and Ardi couldn¡¯t help but let out a laugh at the sight of Rel¡¯s unsettled face. The group, even in their nervousness, got along very well. This was something that was unfortunately rare in dive groups, as they were often composed of people who were far too interested in their own exploits, with no interest in helping or caring about others.


    It wasn¡¯t too much longer that the group reached the edges of the properties that surrounded the once proud fortified watch tower. The, now, Dark Tower, seemed to ominously welcome the group inside with wide open, iron doors.  The group paused a moment, looking at each other to make sure everyone was ready to go. Lily gripped her sword tightly. This time for sure, she was going to prove herself worthy to challenge the platinum star mages of the academy. The group stepped inside the dark tower. Malice as black as the night enveloped them, like a cold hug of a killer. Chills crept down their spines. The group formed into a circular formation, this tower had a higher concentration of spirits than the graveyard, so they needed to keep watch all around them.


    The occasional attack by a spirit wasn¡¯t enough to slow down the group. Lily and Rel could both destroy the spirit. If Ardi or Manrin spotted the spirit that would tug the sleeve of either Lily or Rel who was next to them and they would immediately respond with an attack. This was a strategy the group had developed after their first experience in the Dark Tower. In their first venture into the Dark Tower the group was far less organized, which lead to several of them being injured. A spirit¡¯s attack would penetrate any defense and cause serious internal injuries. The group continued to make their way through the tower. The throne room with the True Lich would be halfway up the tower. The group was concentrating, leaving small talk aside. The only occasional sound would be the scuffle of a quick attack by Rel or Lily against a spirit which attempted an attack on someone.


    It wasn¡¯t long until the group made it to the middle floor. A great door of black glass and metal stood before the group. This ancient magical door was the only thing separating them from the True Lich.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a moment to get ready.¡± Ardi said with a serious tone.


    The group shook their heads in agreement and immediately moved to completing their pre-fight duties. This was something the group had practiced over and over. Rel began reciting a prayer, preparing to enhance Lily¡¯s weapon. Lily de-materialized her sword, allowing her to recover as much magical energy as possible before the fight. Ardi prepared different salves for emergency healing. He also began to wrap his feet and hands, so he could move as agile as possible without worrying about losing a boot or glove. Manrin sat, controlling his breathing. His job would be sub-healing and distracting, the same as Ardi. As the group finished tightening their garments and preparing their spells they stood up and formed a triangular formation in front of the great obsidian door. Lily turned towards Rel, holding out her sword. Rel smiled at Lily.


    ¡°Let the power of that which shows the truth flow into the shape of this one¡¯s ambitions, LIGHT VEIL!¡± Rel chanted the light enhancement spell on Lily¡¯s sword, causing it to glow white.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± Ardi said with a serious tone.


    Manrin straightened his glasses in agreement. The group collectively took a deep breath, and all together pulled the great doors open. A cool black mist crept out of the inner sanctum of the room which the group entered. Atop a great throne with great stairs leading up to it sat a skeleton with a golden crown on its head. Every fiber of primal survival instincts in the group screamed at them to run. A low rumbling sound echoed around the large sanctum as the group slowly approached the lifted throne. Even with the low rumbling sound, each breath that anyone in the group took seemed to echo as loud as an explosion. The group was filled with nervousness, trepidation, and excitement.


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    Suddenly the corpse atop the ruined throne began to twitch and turn. Air rushed back into the room, slamming the great doors shut behind the group. The sounds of breaking and twisting bones filled the air as the True Lich rose atop his throne and stared down at the interlopers below. The True Lich opened his rotten jaw, a low roar joined the rumbling and filled the sanctum. The lich began stomping down the stairs of the throne towards the group of labyrinth divers. The malignant being seemed unstable, like it was about to fall over, but in the same breath it seemed so sturdy as to be impossible to push over. As the True Lich reached the last step of the stairs to its throne it shifted its weight to its right shoulder, taking up a rotten scepter that had been attached to its side.


    The group gave each other a quick nod before sprinting off in all different directions. Rel immediately let loose a beam of light directed at the true lich, which he dodged with surprising dexterity. Ardi, having arrived at the right side of the lich, flung out several knives which had been blessed with holy water. The lich flicked its boney hand, and without looking at the incoming knives, deflected them with sorcery. The next to let off magic was Manrin. He called forth thick vines which cracked through the decrepit stone floor and grabbed ahold of the lich¡¯s feet, immobilizing him. The lich, realizing the danger of being unable to dodge, quickly began working on destroying the vines by tearing them with his boney hands. Lily appeared overhead of the lich, mid-jump towards him. The lich looked at her, desperately thinking of a way to survive. Lily¡¯s magical sword glowed bright white with the blessing which Rel had rendered unto it. The lich was out of time, Lily slammed down on its shoulders, shattering the bones which supported its arms.


    The lich let out a ghoulish roar as it ripped its feet free of the vines which bound them. Lily landed next to Ardi. The ghoul glared at the group. It no longer had arms, but it was still not ready to give up the fight. It began chanting a spell that the group had not heard before.


    ¡°Rel, now!¡± Ardi yelled out.


    Rel had been surging her magical power since she had let off her first attack. She held out her staff in front of her, casting one final explosion of light towards the lich. The light magic slammed into the True Lich, combusting him with magical flames. The lich chanted a few more words, seemingly finishing his spell, before his upper body melted away, and his boney legs collapsed to the ground.


    The group stood by for a moment, not willing to let their guard down yet. After a few moments of the bone legs not moving the group breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Did we do it?¡± Rel asked sheepishly.


    At just that moment a wave of magic crashed downwards on the group, pushing them all to the ground. A massive magical aura which the group had never experienced before rushed out like a river from the bones of the true lich.


    ¡°W-what is this?¡± Lily asked, looking towards Ardi and Manrin.


    ¡°I have no idea; the True Lich shouldn¡¯t have this kind of magic.¡± Manrin squeezed out, clearly in pain.


    The broken and melted fragments of the True Lich began re-assembling themselves. The legs of the being stood up as the re-assembled bones began attaching themselves in order. After just a moment the True Lich came into view again. This time with such an aura of tremendous magic surrounding it even the act of breathing was difficult for the group. The lich began to float into the air as glowing orange veins seemed to crack outwards from its eye sockets and inner cavities.


    ¡°It-it¡¯s an Incarnation!¡± Manrin yelled out.


    Incarnations were mythical beings of Labyrinths. It was written in many stories and legends that each labyrinth housed a being of comparable power to a god, and the labyrinth stood as a prison for these beings. Incarnations were thought to be bodies puppeteered by one of these god-like beings. On only a few occasions in recorded history had an Incarnation appeared in a Labyrinth. The way one could tell was said to be the divine blood which flowed from them, in the form of crystal amber. The Incantations were said to house an amount of power equal to that of an Archmage. While an Incarnation would only last a few seconds or minutes before the body disintegrated, it was more than enough time to destroy everything and everyone around them.


    ¡°Everyone cast your most powerful spell, no matter what, we are all dead if one of us doesn¡¯t manage to stall it!¡± Ardi yelled through the crushing force of the Incarnation¡¯s magical aura.


    The group knew the gravity of the situation. No one had ever lived after seeing an Incarnation, the only way anyone knew that they even existed was through investigation magic. Using magic beyond one¡¯s capability was likely to kill them, but only the most powerful spells stood a chance against the immense being that floated before them. Even if it killed them, everyone felt a duty to give it their all, even so just one of them could live. Against the immense pressure bearing down on the group only Lily and Ardi had the physical strength to stand. Rel and Manrin sat on one knee, fighting against the inevitable being which now challenged their right to live.


    ¡°Form before me, mother of the universe, spark of all life. Show those which would rally in the dark no quarter and flush them from their dwellings. End that of the unknown and illuminate all faith. CREATE SUN!¡± Lily chanted and a disturbance of heat appeared in front of her, the air twisting and turning as a shining dot began to rapidly grow larger. ¡°Darkness unknown, father of no life, end of all creation. Devour that which is around you and become alone again. COLLAPSE!¡± With her other hand outstretched Lily snatched the newborn sun, collapsing it into a black point. ¡°Combination magic, BLACK HOLE!¡± Lily finished her most powerful spell. A black hold began to emerge, silencing all existence as it began to spread. Lily nearly collapsed from the amount of mana that she had used.


    ¡°That which all beings call home, the natural shift and ebb, low to me, behold my command. Mother of earth become mine, and gift me your domain. DOMAIN CAPTURE!¡± The ground began to shake and crack as Manrin attempted to seize control of the very ground underneath from its patron deity. Blood began rushing from Manrin¡¯s mouth and nose, as his mana screamed away from his body.


    ¡°I cast away my life so that I may experience true reality. Extract my soul to this vessel and show before me the truth,¡± Ardi grabbed his knife, aiming for his heart as he brought it down towards himself. ¡°BECOME UNDEAD!¡±


    ¡°Mother of the beings above, carve out a star for me and allow me to sit beside you. Let my devotion be truth to my intentions and show gracious acceptance to my ascension. MANTLE OF GOD!¡± Rel began to violently glow as her flesh began to be torn from her body.


    The group all cast their most powerful abilities in the hope that just one of them would be enough to slow the Incarnation, so that someone in the group could make it out alive. It was a foolish gamble, but something that a group of school children would think of. In truth they were just as likely to die from the spells they themselves cast.


    Time seemed to slow as the group¡¯s spells began to trigger. The Incarnation looked over them, seemingly unbothered. However, it turned its head and looked past the group, suddenly worried about something in the distance.


    ¡°[S?????I?????L????E?????N????C????E????? ????M?????A????G????I????C???].¡± A female voice seemed to boom from behind the group. All of the spells that the group had been casting evaporated and destabilized. Rel fell to the ground unconscious immediately. The Incarnation began multi-casting dozens of spells at once.


    ¡°[R???E???T????U???R???N????? ????T????O??? ????V????O???I?????D?????].¡± The female voice once again spoke out. The Incarnation seemed to cease moving, before its bones simply crumbled to the ground. Manrin fell unconscious, joining Rel. Lily¡¯s vision began to darken at the edges as she too began to lose her grasp on reality. In her last moment she caught a glimpse of Ardi¡¯s lifeless body- dagger still impaled into his heart.


    Darkness. Lily¡¯s vision failed her, and her consciousness faded.