《Denizens of the Labyrinth》 Chapter One; Ransacked The sky was azure, the sky permanently locked in pale blue skies that syruped backwards into an amber dawn. One of the first effects of the labyrinth. He looked up to the stars and marvelled at them. they were just as they had been before the labyrinth appeared and even now, they seemed to glimmer with hope before him. Then it appeared, right in the sky sat a planetary cube. The appearance of it had shaken the worlds and scientists sent probes of all kinds up into space. But nothing could pierce or land upon it and the cube remained, ever present. Thankfully, its presence did not affect earth in any way, but that was before the gates appeared around the world. We can only hope that whoever sent us this gift, has a purpose for man in the far future ¡­ Jazmel remembered hearing this sentence on the news once and he sighed. He had not understood the words back then, but now he did, and it worried him. It had been many years since the first adventurers entered the gates and when they returned, the came bearing news of untold wealth and riches. But they also bore down the truth of all the risks. So many did not return, even fewer returned hale. But the things they brought back lit a hunger in the world and soon everyone was sending their own into the gates. ¡®Seekers¡¯ as they were called, returned, and reported on everything they learned inside the labyrinth. As it was soon called, the labyrinth even had people who lived inside it. But luckily, those people rarely left the labyrinth. Seekers shared that entire cities and civilisations thrived on the inside. Places where they built guilds began to expand and rapidly, soon enough. People from earth were returning less and less. The trading continued, but people were addicted to the labyrinth. He hid a yawn behind his hand, tired was not even the right word for what he felt. He felt complete boredom of everything, he walked now on his way home. His hands clasped together atop his head, he sighed and slowly made his way through his small town towards his small home. Jazmel was one of the few who had not spent his entire childhood learning all he could in hopes of entering the labyrinth. He had thought about it, but he was not in a rush like the other kids around him seemed to be. He had not grown used to the town in all these years and even now, sixteen years old and still he was just as uncomfortable with it as he had been from, he found out he was not born in the town. Tango, the man who had raised him. Told him that he had found him in the labyrinth and not knowing what to do, he took Jazmel out with him and that was all knew of Jazmel¡¯s history. But the labyrinth was a sight in the sky for all eyes. It was a primordial existence; nobody knew who had made it or what its actual function was for. It had appeared in the sky one day and then gates opened all around the world, beckoning people inside. The labyrinth was said to have many unusual places and each floor was as big as a continent, Jazmel could only imagine all the places he could explore inside. But Tango had made him promise not to enter the labyrinth until after he had turned sixteen. An odd request, but Jazmel obeyed Tango in all things. Tango had raised him. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Studying the labyrinth, it was a cube the size of a planet, the world had studied its external shell over the many years it had been here now and had found it to continuously be moving. Folding, twisting, and turning in on itself. to Jazmel it resembled a gargantuan rubix cube and this unnerved him, in a clever way. Just wondering about the labyrinth always made his heartbeat thump in his chest and he had to breathe deeply to calm himself. One day he would enter the labyrinth. Find out his history and where he came from. One day. He smelt the smoke before he saw it, the acrid stench burnt his nose and the back of his throat. His hackles rose and he hacked a cough as he tried to rid his throat of it. He looked up and the twirling black coiling cloud rose. He ran, rushing forward and rushing towards the fire and he hope that it was not what his heart seemed to know. His tiny apartment was a crumbling husk and as he ran to it, he knew it was empty. Jazmel had been living with Tango for all his known life and now at sixteen he could not imagine life without him. People had begun to gather and as he tried to enter, the smoke and ruin held him back. ¡°Don¡¯t go in there!¡± He was grabbed from behind and he could not break the grip and relented. He was turned around and looking up he saw who he had thought it was. Mary. She was a family friend of Tango and his and a well-known Ranker. Someone who sought the riches and reaches of the labyrinth and made her life duty to complete it. As was the way of this world. The continent lived in thrall of the mighty labyrinth, nobody was not aware of it or had not entered it besides children. Nobody below the age of sixteen could enter the labyrinth, there was a barrier that forbid children to enter and only those who were denizens of the actual labyrinth and born inside were allowed. As such Jazmel had never been allowed in. His birthday had been three days prior and so he had been thinking about taking the Seekers trial. He and Tango had thought about it but had resigned not to move on it yet. But here he was, staring at the ruin of his simple house. His guardian gone and nobody else to rely on. Tango had raised him from a baby and spoke to him about it frequently, he never mentioned where he had found Jazmel, but just stated it was the request of an old friend and Tango being a good man took it on. Mary spun him round and drew him back to reality. ¡°Where is Tango?!¡± she asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I came back and saw this!¡± he exclaimed. She nodded and without a thought, darted into the house. Mary was a ranker, a seeker who had joined a guild and traversed the labyrinth for years. She had been into the labyrinth many times and had the strength to prove it. Tango had told him that every person who entered the labyrinth would synchronise with it and a system would appear in their mind. This was something many had spoken about, and it was here where their skills and levels could be updated. Mary had her own he imagined, and she was strong because of it. Others had come to try and put out the fires, but the damage had been done already. ¡°There are no bodies in there.¡± Mary confirmed as she came out, unscathed but covered in soot and smoke. She looked at Jazmel, her features grim and she sighed. ¡°Come with me.¡± She said and pulling his shirt she pulled him with her heading to her own home. Chapter Two; Seeker Trials Mary had been a long-time friend of Tango¡¯s so Jazmel was not surprised she offered to take him in. She was not known to be friendly, but the years he had spent with Tango let him know she did indeed care. ¡°Stay tonight and tomorrow we will go to the Labyrinth gate, and I will ask for help about Tango.¡± She said and entering her small apartment she sat him on the sofa and entering her room, she came back with a single sheet and pillow. ¡°Tomorrow, I must oversee the Seeker trials. Once that is done, we can seek out help.¡± She explained and his ears pricked at this. The Seeker trials happened every year where those who turned sixteen were allowed to enter the labyrinth and try their luck at the quests and their rewards. For some reason, the system would not allow anyone who was below sixteen to enter their gates. It was like a force barred them from entry. But anyone above sixteen was allowed access, and so it had become a tradition; a ceremony of sorts. For people to enter the library and This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°I am sixteen.¡± He said, only that was enough, and he saw her squint at him. ¡°No!¡± she said, and he sighed. ¡°Tango and I spoke about it! He said I could!!¡± he countered. ¡°We can ask him when I find him!¡± she shouted back. ¡°So, while you look for him, what will I do? I do not even have a home!!¡± he snarled. She pinched her nose bridge and sighed. ¡°I cannot in good faith agree to this.¡± She spoke. ¡°You don¡¯t have to, just don¡¯t hinder me.¡± He said and she sighed again. ¡°I will not help you tomorrow. You are on your own.¡± She said and he smiled in victory. ¡°The trials tomorrow will be dangerous. You will need your wits about you.¡± She left him and sauntered into her own room. Chapter Three; the First Seeker Trial They had been the first to reach the labyrinth in the morning. Being one of the invigilators meant Mary would have to set up the space. Jazmel found out that she would indeed be overseeing the first trial of the labyrinth Seekers, and it would be a brutal one. All those who seek to become Seekers are placed in a red ring, over time the red ring shrinks and either the Seekers can be struck out of the ring, or they can fight it out. Those who survive will be allowed to move on. Jazmel sighed; he had fought before. Tango had been teaching him his whole life how to defend himself, a style that Tango had created himself. Jazmel was strong even as a teenager, Tango had assured him. But he knew not to focus on that, he stretched and flexed. Awaiting the coming of the other takers of the trial. Mary had told him they would begin on the tenth hour and Jazmel could tell it was soon upon time. At nine thirty in the morning, Mary strolled forward and her stepping up quietened everyone. ¡°All Seekers taking the trial must stand in the red ring now.¡± She called out and Jazmel amongst many others strolled in. The red ring looked like sand at first but once the hundredth person crossed the threshold it burned immediately and rose, almost as if to lock them in. a barrier of sorts. He was on the edge of the north side, and there was enough space that he was not an arm¡¯s length close to anyone. Young boys and girls were all around him and he meant them no harm, but he had to pass the test. ¡°As you all know. None of you have entered the labyrinth and so the system has not synchronised with you at all. But that does not mean you cannot build experience points. Do as best as you can if you Manage to pass the trials. Once you synchronise with the system, it will accrue all you earned now and use it to build your stats. So do your best!¡± She explained, this was added information to Jazmel, but he was glad for it. ¡°Begin!¡± Mary shouted and something faster than his eyes could keep up with. She did something to make the sand rise up and it reminded Jazmel of a very wide halo. Immediately it was a chaotic situation. Everyone attacked everyone. A burly boy struck out at Jazmel, he dodged him caught his forearm and struck back with a backhand fist to the mouth. Jazmel saw blood, the boy saw red and rushed him. He slipped by him and tripped him, but he stumbled and crashed into some others fight. Jazmel glanced to make sure he was not aiming at him again but then two girls attacked him this time. They had come prepared. Both using staffs, their reach was greater than his, but their stamina was not. He caught one end of it and pulled, the girl tried to stand firm, but he was stronger, but not by much. She stumbled forward, and he used that moment to drop down and swipe her legs from beneath her. The other girl, jumped to strike over her friend but she sailed over the both of them. He relieved her of her staff and then struck both. One on the head and the other on the chest to make her drop the staff. They crumbled, both staying down. He didn¡¯t push it further, instead he moved on. To see who else there was in the trial to fight. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He held both staffs, propped on each shoulder. He saw a group closing in on a single girl who held a sword at the ready. He threw one of the staffs like a javelin and flying true it tangled with the legs of the leader. He slipped onto his knees and using the advantage girl struck him atop the head. The circle was shrinking and even in those short moments there were still quite a few fighters left. Someone cried out and he looked over to see what had happened. A single boy, seemingly quite small; for their age as to enter the labyrinth you had to be sixteen years old. compared to the others he was smaller in stature. But in each hand, he held thunder and lightning; the power crackling in his grip. Jazmel knew that some Seekers had hereditary skills from birth. This came from their parents gaining abilities in the labyrinth and continuing to nurse it into their family. This looked like one such, those who were born with these abilities were considered the best of the best. Jazmel had no abilities such as this and made sure to veer away from the domain of this boy. Families who made their living from the labyrinth, raised all their members to contribute. Everyone had the same goal; ¡°to push their family forward.¡± So, all were invested in, the best obviously receiving more. Jazmel had attended school with such kids, children whose family were in the labyrinth and so an assortment of nanny¡¯s and butlers seemed to raise their children before they entered the labyrinth. He struck randomly at others with his staff, and they folded over or surrendered from his attacks. Still the ring shrunk. He turned to find another and faced the girl from before. She stood simply looking at him, sword to the side and at the ready. But she did not strike at him yet. ¡°Why did you help?¡± She demanded. ¡°Huh?¡± he puffed. ¡°Before, why did you intervene? I would have defeated them all.¡± She asked again. ¡°I helped because I saw that I could. It was the right thing to do.¡± He countered and she mulled over his words before nodding and turning to walk away. The numbers had dwindled, and they were down to less than half their original number. ¡°THIRTY SECONDS!¡± Mary shouted over the din of mock battle. Jazmel turned to find someone else to fight, he needed to accrue more exp and in his luck he found the big bull of a boy from the beginning. ¡°I was looking for you!¡± the boy growled. ¡°Found me!¡± Jazmel smiled. He struck first, a fist to the nose and an elbow to the chest. The boy merely shook it off, he really was big. He grabbed hold of Jazmel and when he swung him, he literally threw Jazmel in the air. Jazmel had been caught off guard and he cursed under his breath. He landed badly, spraining his ankle, and then turned to strike the bullish boy. He was too late, the bell chimed, and the ring hummed before releasing its barrier. FIRST TRIAL OF THE SEEKER IS COMPLETE; RANKINGS SO FAR:
  1. ALAN KAMINARI ¨C 610 EXP
  2. SCION ¨C 450 EXP
  3. CIRCE ¨C 440 EXP
  4. TALEN ¨C 375
  5. Jazmel ¨C 300 EXP
Jazmel had made it into the top five, only fifth but he cursed beneath his breath again. The top rank had almost double his points. He needed to do better, far better. But this was his first time and to make top 5, he smiled a little too. Chapter Four; the Second Trial of the Seeker ¡°As I said before! Your exp will accrue and when you enter the labyrinth all will be given to you! Do not worry about the ranking scores! Do your best in all that you do!¡± Mary stepped back and a sole man strolled forward. He wore a black vest, his arms big and bare. Over his shoulders an admiral jacket with gold seams and strapping held in place by some unknown force. He looked over the remaining Seekers to be and smiled a little. Jazmel himself did a quick scan and noticed only forty-five Seekers remained. Whittled down from one hundred, this was a huge loss. He wondered how many more would be lost to the trials of the Seeker. ¡°I am Gideon! Guild Master of the Heron guild! I will be overseeing the second trial!!¡± murmurs rippled through the Seeker crowd and Jazmel, not privy to the secrets simply stood and watched. ¡°The second trial will be the martial dummy. Many of you have Mana and magic in abundance but sometimes things happen in the labyrinth and afflictions and conditions might see it that you lose your abilities, and it will come down to martial prowess. The dummy is a training tool that we use for new recruits in most guilds.¡± He explained and he paced along so they all could see him. He strolled till he stood beside a small machine which was a stand and an opaque orb fixed into the top. ¡°You will place your hand on the training orb and the training dummy which is linked will manifest a small amount of your abilities. Do your best to defeat it! Or survive! Sometimes survival is a victory in the labyrinth!¡± he made his voice heard to all. The ring they had cleared out off, had been reapplied and this time a single dummy stood in the middle. Its head was wrapped in something akin to leather and so where its hands and feet. The skeletal frame was meagre, some iron and Mana circuitry so Mana could allow the dummy to function. A single crystal was imbedded in its chest, Jazmel knew this to be the Mana core. Most animated things in the labyrinth ran on Mana cores, the greater the machination the greater the cost but Mana cores were easily sort in the labyrinth. A crystal could evolve into a core on its own, or an artificer could merge crystals to form a core. ¡°We will go from last to first!¡± this drew a sigh of relief from Jazmel. He was not exactly tired from the first trial. But he did want to see how the trial would act first. ¡°Take this.¡± Mary had sidled beside him and handed him a small vial, corked. He looked at her and she sighed. ¡°Honestly, what did Tango teach you. It is a stamina potion. Take it now.¡± She explained and he did as he was told, not wanting her to be annoyed further. ¡°The less you need it, the better for you.¡± she said and at first, he did not realise what she meant. He quaffed the vial, and it rejuvenated his body, though a lot of it sat in his stomach or around that area. A little moved through his body washing his limbs lightly. He felt fresh again. ¡°Thank you.¡± He said to her, and she merely waved him away before stalking off. They were halfway through, and he could see a few had won out against the dummy. While others were off to the side nursing bruises or sprains. Tango had always told him that a wound, big or small could play the difference between surviving or dying in the labyrinth, he had taught Jazmel the differences concerning how to treat a small wound and the diverse ways to apply or make a salve. But gladly, he did not need any of that. ¡°Rank seven!¡± the Guild Master called Gideon shouted. Jazmel sidled up and looked at this match, it would be his turn soon. It was a small girl, who hovered a little above the ground, her eyes white with her Mana. The dummy whirred to life with Mana again and this time it formed a short sword with it in its left hand. The dummy darted forward. Striking at her viciously. She moved out of the way, hovering still but gliding off to the side. It chased her, she pulled at it with a clenched fist and drove it into the ground. Jazmel could feel the pressure from that attack from his place outside of the circle, but he did not move. She began a chant, her words unintelligible but he could feel the Mana flowing from her as she chanted. Her chant was quick and efficient, he knew this because the small gate that opened beside her was just enough to let a being squeeze out. ¡°I am summoned.¡± It said and hovered beside her. It was not easy to see it. But the being resembled a human. A single sword of great purity held in one hand. What looked like wings folded behind it on its back. ¡°Vanquish that foe for me.¡± She commanded, her voice a little different to what Jazmel expected but he did as he was bid. Murmurs were going around; she was a chanter and a summoner. Before even synchronising with the system. Exceedingly rare, even Jazmel could tell that, and he had not met any children growing up with such abilities. But he knew that clans and guilds nurtured the children that grew up within their halls. It was said that some children were even born inside the labyrinth! He wondered how this could change or affect them, but he did not even know how to begin to think of that. He conceded to himself that he would just wait for hit turn. As he said that, the summoned creature drove its sword through the core of the dummy, causing it to hibernate in hiatus as it repaired. As he waited his turn, he started to notice the other adults that were there. Before he had assumed they were parents but then he started to notice that they were all wearing if not the same, as close to the same sort of clothing. They were from guilds or clans. Guilds were the main type of faction for conquering the labyrinth. A guild would be a group of Seekers or Rankers who would band together and accompany one another as they tried to conquer the labyrinth. Guilds were a system ability that Tango had explained to him in passing but he understood it well enough. A guild type would be based on the ideals of that of the Guild Master and his Guild leader, the second in command. They would build a base and go about putting together a team to meet the needs of the guild. He did not know of any and now he wondered if it were possible that Tango had been in a guild himself. But he did not know that he decided he would ask Mary and she would be able to tell him. ¡°Rank Five!¡± was shouted out by Gideon and Jazmel shivered, lost in his thoughts he had missed the whole of the fight for the sixth rank. Looking around, he saw the bullish boy he had fought in the red ring. Nursing what looked like a broken arm. He sighed; he would have liked to see that fight. He moved through the Seekers in the crowd, and they parted to let him move to the front. He held his hand over the orb and a tickling feeling could be felt, he assumed it was the machine assessing his Mana. But he did not have to wonder for long. The dummy stood up and whirred to life again. The dummy whirred and then a Mana blade formed in its hand. Jazmel froze and a hush fell over everyone. Jazmel had not fought with a sword; he did not even own one. So, he was shocked to see this, he looked at Mary and she shrugged. ¡°Here.¡± someone said to him, and he turned to see the girl who had come ahead of him, Circe. ¡°I do not fight with a sword.¡± He exclaimed and she shook her head. ¡°Did you forget what the Master of that Guild said? The dummy will take skills of your own. You might not fight with a sword, but the dummy is implying that you could. The trial is about learning.¡± She explained and her words washed over him in realisation. She was right. He took her sword from her; she handed it to him by the handle and the grip felt worn and warm. He held it and something in him latched on, in his head a shadow of sword strikes revelled in his mind, and he felt his body shudder with memories that he were not sure where his own. ¡°Enter the circle.¡± Gideon the Guild Master of the heron guild ordered him, and he did. The dummy waited for one moment and then it was on him. Still trying to figure out the sword in his hand, he backed up and almost stepped out of the circle, which would have been the end and a fail of the trial. He skirted and twirled in a tight circle out of the way, point raised and facing the dummy. The shadows were blotting his mind, and he felt a strike oncoming. He slashed upwards to the left with the sword in both hands. The dummy deflected the attack but was still pushed back, a little surprised at his strength. Jazmel was shocked. He dove in, sword strike, slash, and stab. Movements he had seen before but never used. But they felt right, he was moving well, the flurry of his strikes were too much for the dummy and it could barely keep up a guard before him. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Something in Jazmel told him he was not moving as best as he could. He felt rusty, as if the sword in his hand did not fit him. He sighed, this was training still, he used it as best as he could, and the dummy backed off to steady itself and its defences. This was the final move. He backed off too, breathing deeply. He took the sword into both hands, raising it above his head. The dummy rushed towards him, but it felts like everything had slowed down for him. He lowered his waist and stood steady but fluid and as the dummy approached in one fluid movement from high to low. He took the head of the dummy and the hand that held a sword. He snapped from his trance and the applause and shouting finally reached him. He turned and saw that everyone was watching him. This was a newfound feeling to him, and it shocked him a little, but shyness took over and he simply waved and moved to the side of the circle. Mary was waiting for him, and a wolfish grin was on her face. ¡°Who the hell are you kid?¡± she questioned, and he smiled at her, shrugging. Even he didn¡¯t know what had happened. He turned to hand the sword to Circe, but she had already moved away. The fourth rank had moved into the circle and Jazmel forgot Circe for a moment, he had not seen this person before and wanted to make sure he got an unobstructed view of the oncoming fight. The dummy had already stuck its hand back on and with both hands. It stuck its head back on too. Jazmel was amazed, but then he saw Mana whirling along its circuits and wiring and knew that it was repairing itself right away. ¡°Rank four.¡± Gideon said, but his eyes were still on Jazmel. Jazmel looked away, to rewatch the new fight happening. The fourth rank was someone Jazmel had not even seen in the red ring, but he knew his name was Talen. He wore a white Gi, his outer robe long and flowing. He was without a weapon, but when the dummy formed a Mana spear. He copied it, his own thicker and in greater detail. Mary whistled. ¡°To be able to form a Mana spear of that purity at his age. He has enormous potential.¡± She said to herself more so than anyone in particular, but Jazmel listened intently. The fight was not long at all, the dummy could not keep up with the talent of Talen. He took out an elbow, a knee and then in a great dance drove the spear up through the chin and head of the dummy. It shuddered and collapsed. This drew a unanimous applause from the crowd. He did not even wait, he stepped out of the circle and let his spear disappear. Merely waiting for the next fight. ¡°Rank three!¡± This time it was Circe and she strolled into the circle. Her garb unblemished and without a scrape. She had not even looked for him when he had won with her sword. She merely prepared herself. The dummy seemed to ponder on her for a moment and then two Mana blades appeared in either hand. It sprang into action and Circe merely uttered one word. It was so quiet that Jazmel almost did not hear it. Armoury. She declared quietly but Jazmel felt the power in that declaration A thick material appeared around her; it was like suddenly a red ribbon unravelled around her. As long as a torso but thinner than an arm. Attached into the ribbon, were every weapon of which you could think. Swords, spears, axes, staves, and staffs of all kinds. The ribbon had shielded and shrouded her, so the dummy could not reach her while she picked her weapon. ¡°Oh, she is a daughter of Artemis. Enormously powerful ability that. She can enter the armoury of Artemis the goddess of the hunt. Skilled with all manner of weapons it would seem. She will be immensely powerful if she continues to grow like this.¡± Mary said and for no reason at all, Jazmel felt a little envious. What abilities did he have that could rival this? He had found out he could use a sword, which was something new. But he also did not know how he knew how to use a sword. Something that bothered him now, he would figure it out. His first point of call was completing the trials and this he needed to do. Circe picked two bearded axes and they whirled above her left hand as she manipulated them with Mana. The first one struck the dummy before it could react. Breaking its double guard and leaving its chest completely open. The other drove straight into its chest. Almost splitting the core. It shuddered and fell to the side. Jazmel almost felt sorry for the dummy and in amazement watched as Mana from its core drove it on to repair itself again before pulling itself upright and ready for the next fight. Jazmel made his way over to Circe and she noticed him but made no move to greet him. ¡°Thank you for lending me this.¡± He moved to hand her back her sword, the blade across both palms of his. ¡°I owed you, now we are even.¡± She said and turned to walk away. She left him with the sword, not to look out of place he turned and headed back over to Mary who was looking at him with a laugh on her lips. ¡°I think she likes you!¡± she said, pinching him. It hurt a lot, but he did not make a big deal of it. ¡°Rank two!¡± was shouted and before Jazmel could respond, Mary whistled. An ashen grey man walked through the crowd. He was tall. Taller than everyone present, and he held a great sword aloft on his shoulder. He wore a kilt of dark material; it looked like wool, but Jazmel could not tell as such from where he was standing, and he was topless. Muscles rippled beneath the exert of holding the great sword aloft. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a darkling in a while.¡± Mary mused and Jazmel looked at her till she continued. ¡°Darklings are denizens of the labyrinth, they are powerful warriors, tribal but honourable. I fought one once, I had bruises for weeks after that fight.¡± She said and Jazmel surmised she was reminiscing. The dummy created a great sword of similar likeness out of Mana too and waited for the darkling to attack. He did and before the dummy could do anything he cleaved it in two. Grunting he strolled back out of the circle and waited. Sword aloft, on his shoulder again. This time Gideon entered the circle and waving his hand, offered some Mana into the core of the dummy to allow it to repair itself, it did so quicker than before and this let Jazmel know the man had some strength, he imagined he had to be strong. He was a Guild Master. ¡°How strong is Gideon?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°In comparison to what?¡± Mary asked, an eyebrow raised. ¡°Remember this, Jazmel. Listen to what I am about to tell you. There is always someone stronger, more powerful, or greater in the labyrinth. Strengthen yourself and your skills and keep going. Strength is not everything, but it is a lot of it. Do your best.¡± She said and he pondered on her words for a moment. ¡°He is about as strong as me.¡± She finally responded and Jazmel glanced at her to see if she was serious. She was and that left him with more questions. Was she stronger than Tango too? Was Tango as strong as Gideon? He sighed. Another question for later it seemed. Gideon strolled out of the circle as the dummy stood up, repaired and at the ready. ¡°Finally, the final fight. The last of the second trial, rank one!¡± Gideon bellowed. The small boy from the red ring strolled into the ring. He was small for his age, standing at maybe five foot five. Quite minor compared to Jazmel who stood at five foot ten. But he remembered the lightning the boy controlled and knew size had nothing to do with power. The boy raised himself off the ground, palms collecting thunder and lightning while thunder erected his hair, and his eyes were white with their power. ¡°He must be from the Kaminari clan. They all have that ability, but I have not seen one this pure in a long while.¡± Mary said aloud again, but more to herself. The boy levitated off the ground and the dummy stood waiting for him to return. He rose till he was well above the dummy and then in a show of monumental power. He struck the dummy with a thunderbolt. It was so bright that Jazmel had to shield his eyes. But when he looked again, the dummy was gone. A pile of blackened ash was in the middle of the circle and wind picked it up and threw it in the sky. ¡°That dummy cost me a lot to manufacture, I will be sending my bill to the Kaminari will have to cover the repairs.¡± Gideon said with a smile and Jazmel knew he really meant to gain his money or a dummy back in return. ¡°That is the end of the second trial! All those who show up on the ranking will be passed. If you do not, do not worry. There is other ways to become a Seeker of the labyrinth, this way is just not your way. Well done!¡± he called out and a cheer rose quickly before quietening and awaiting the rankings from the system. SECOND TRIAL OF THE SEEKER COMPLETE; RANKINGS:
  1. ALAN KAMINARI ¨C 700 EXP
  2. SCION ¨C 650 EXP
  3. JAZMEL ¨C 600 EXP
  4. CIRCE ¨C 580 EXP
  5. TALEN ¨C 550 EXP
Jazmel was ecstatic he had made it into the top five again! Even third this time!! Mary clapped him on the back. He jumped forward, wincing at her strength. She didn¡¯t seem like she had meant to hit him that hard and he wondered just how strong she was. The others were not ranked but he could tell that many were expecting to make it to the third trial. He was happy a lot were able to pass this round and for an odd reason again, he was excited at the competition. ¡°You are forming a great deal of exp for when you synchronise with the labyrinth. Remember that you must ensure to round your stats off. Grow at a balance, I know that power and agility can be considered the best options. But too many Rankers died because they were unbalanced, it will take you longer to grow. But make sure you level up all your stats as close to one another as possible.¡± She drilled this into him, and he knew she was right. He had planned to do so too but hearing her say it too only solidified the notion for him. ¡°Prepare yourselves for the third and final trial. You will be doing it after you break for lunch!¡± Gideon yelled and the Seekers broke off into little groups to eat. Alan, the top ranking of the Seeker trials stayed where he was and so did Circe, Talen, and Scion. Jazmel had not moved off yet either, they were all anxious or better prepared. The Guild Masters and members around were pleased to see them. ¡°I reckon you will get a few guild offers today. You have been in the top five twice. Though your background is unknown, it is clear you will be a good Ranker at least.¡± Mary confessed to him. ¡°What should I do?¡± he asked her and surprised flicked across her face. ¡°Do you not want to be in a guild?¡± she asked. Her face a mask now. ¡°I am not sure. I do not want to anchor myself so soon, I want to explore and find out what I can about Tango. Once I find him, I can ask about if I should join a guild or clan.¡± He offered, seeing if she agreed. She smiled at that. ¡°Guilds can help you grow but they can also restrict your growth. Nobody knows what can happen, the labyrinth can change the fate of anyone. The weak become strong and the strong become meek all the time. Beware of that.¡± She said and not for the first time, did her words of wisdom stir his heart. Chapter Five; the Third and Final Seeker Trial ¡°GREETINGS SEEKERS¡± a lone woman strolled forward, at first Jazmel thought she was human, but she was not. Antlers grew from her forehead and her hair was a lime green, it bloomed from her scalp like a shrub and the scent of it was fascinating. She looked young, but Jazmel could not tell her age. She wore a simple white dress and a wide brass embossed belt and held a mage staff in her off hand. ¡°I am Syana. Mage of the Eltene guild. Some of you may have heard of our guild.¡± She offered as to which whispers around Jazmel let him know, many had. ¡°Strength and power are mighty things for overcoming the many things that the labyrinth has to offer. But the greatest gift of all is potential!¡± at this she whirled her staff and a great monolith pillar appeared. ¡°This is the potential pillar of the labyrinth. Here the pillar will judge your fate and choose a colour which will depict your potential. Do not be alarmed or worried. As the labyrinth has a way of changing fates all the time. Use this chance as a starting point, though your potential might seem low, it can be considered a starting point if you have the will!¡± this drew another cheer from the crowd and Jazmel admitted he was impressed. She was telling them all, that they all had the ability, if they had the will and he certified his own, in his heart. His goal was to find Tango and he had the will to begin. ¡°We will do this in the order of ranking. But this time. It will be first to last. Do not be alarmed if you are approached by guilds, or clans, even while others are being judged. Your turn will come.¡± She said this and stepped off to the side. Alan, the young boy of the Kaminari clan strolled forward, his hands in the pockets of his shorts. Completely unbothered by the oncoming ordeal. In fairness, Jazmel had already known his potential would be high. But he was shocked that he was not nervous at all. The pillar was a monolith more so than a pillar. A square block with a hand imprint at the bottom and a flame dwindling at the top of the pillar. Alan placed his hand on the handprint and the flame zeroed in. for a moment it flicked down and then burst into a roaring inferno of black. The whispers in the crowd grew loud and even the guilds and clans were shocked. ¡°Black is the purest flame the pillar can offer. It means that he has the potential to be a Master.¡± Mary explained. ¡°There are three types of people in the labyrinth. Seekers, which are those who are new to the labyrinth. Then there are Rankers, people like me. Who have been in the labyrinth for years and have levelled up to wherever they are comfortable. And finally, there are Masters. They are the hardest to become because the exp it costs to level up as a Ranker is mammoth! The system will explain all of this for you. Do not worry too much about it. But just know, he has the potential to be extremely strong.¡± She clarified. The darkling called Scion went next and to the surprise of no one. His fire was also black, deep, and pure. This was frightening for Jazmel who would obviously be next. Alan had been swarmed by his clan and though he kept a passive face. Jazmel could tell he was happy to do so well. Scion was alone and he hefted his sword once again and waited to be told what the next steps would be. Jazmel stepped up next, and the others grew silent waiting to see how he would do. He could hear his heartbeat thrumming in his ears. He placed his hand on the print and like the orb from the second trial. The tingle of Mana could be felt. He did not look up but the whispering behind him was dreadful. He dares not look up. But he had to. He needed to. Looking up he saw the flame burning brightly a deep red, the inner workings of the flame was pink but red was the deeper and purer colour. He removed his hand and while he was not touching the print the flame burned red for a long while, before dwindling again. He took it as a good sign and moved away from the platform. Circe eyed him as he walked past. He could never tell what she was feeling or thinking. He moved away and stood beside Mary. She eyed him too and finally he crumbled. ¡°What does a red flame mean?¡± he asked, and she almost laughed, drawing some attention from the others. ¡°Red is good, exceptionally good. The red flame is second to the black flame. My potential was red when I entered the labyrinth.¡± When she said that, he felt relieved. Knowing that Mary had held the same potential as him comforted him for some reason. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Circe¡¯s flame was a red tinted with black flames. Proof she nearly had Master potential. Talen followed shortly and his burned a bright red like Jazmel¡¯s own. After that the others stepped up one by one, emboldened to try their own. Many were shades of yellow and orange. But a few burned a pale red. Nobody else Managed to make it burn black and this was not a surprise. ¡°Take this for being in the top rankings for all three trials.¡± Mary said. She handed him a double pocketed satchel that looped through the belt and hung at the back. He put it on immediately. ¡°That will store just about anything, I got it on the tenth floor and used it a lot before I got something better.¡± She smiled. He thanked her immensely and smiled, knowing she was probably partaking in what they both knew Tango probably would have done. ¡°Put the sword in there too and take this too. But do not open it till you have linked with the system.¡± She spoke. In her hand was a small black box. It looked like it held jewellery, but something told him that Mary was not the type. He put the sword in, and it disappeared into the satchel immediately. So did the box and with his hands now free he thanked her. He went for a hug, but then thought better and went for a handshake instead. She rolled her eyes and pulled him into a hug that almost crushed him. ¡°Remember what I said. Level at a balanced rate and make sure you take your time with quests and trials. They will afford you the opportunity to earn more stats or exp and this will really help with your levelling up.¡± He embraced her more. ¡°Actually, wait.¡± She flicked something in front of him and then he felt a pin prick at the edge of his mind. ¡°You¡¯ll see that when you enter the labyrinth don¡¯t worry.¡± She smiled and letting him go she went off, to speak with some of the guild members standing around. Jazmel was standing alone and began thinking about his next steps. The labyrinth was a massive creation it hung in the air before them in an odd way, it had not pierced the atmosphere. Nor did it affect the sun or moon. But gates around the world were erected when it first appeared in the sky. These gates allowed people to enter the labyrinth, and this was what was next for Jazmel. The gate would take him somewhere for a beginner Seeker and allow him to begin earning exp to level up. Nobody ever knew where it would begin, so he had no idea what to do. But he figured he would keep going forward and worry about his next steps when he had a better idea of direction. ¡°May I have a moment of your time?¡± a voice said from behind, Jazmel turned and to his surprise it was Gideon. The guild Master of the Heron guild. ¡°Yes.¡± Jazmel stuttered and Gideon smiled. Running a hand through his hair, his jacket still fixed to his shoulders by some unseen force. ¡°Have you been picked up by a guild yet?¡± he asked Jazmel who in turn told him no. ¡°Are you looking for a guild?¡± Gideon asked him, eyeing him for a response. ¡°I am looking for someone. I am not sure I can commit to a guild when I must find someone first. I feel like that would restrict me.¡± Jazmel answered truthfully. To which Gideon nodded with a smile. ¡°I like that answer, which is very honest. I will be honest in that case then; I like you kid. You have enormous potential. I like what I saw, even before you used a sword.¡± This drew a smile from Jazmel. ¡°Well, here is my calling card, if you decide to join a guild. Make sure it is my guild that you consider first. Even over Bloody Mary.¡± He handed Jazmel a small card with a red heron on embossed on it. ¡°When you link with the system, rip the card and it will let you request a friendship. I will accept of course if you need anything. Let me know.¡± He offered Jazmel and they shook hands. ¡°Here is a gift too. But do not tell Bloody Mary, you got it from me.¡± He flicked something in front of him too and the same prick at the edges of his mind bothered Jazmel again. Before walking off to find other members to take into his guild. A few others did the same, offering their cards and great promises. But Jazmel declined them all. Mary returned and after that they did not bother him again. She eyed the cards in his hand, and he pushed them into the satchel she had given him. ¡°Are you in a guild Mary?¡± he asked her. ¡°Yes.¡± She spoke. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask me to join your guild?¡± he asked her. ¡°I didn¡¯t think you wanted to.¡± She confessed. ¡°I know you are looking for Tango and as his friend, it would be unfair of me to take you into my guild without speaking with him first.¡± She explained further. ¡°Thank you for that, for answering honestly.¡± He told her. She smiled and they waited as the other guilds picked the other members who were left amongst the Seekers. ¡°Why do they call you bloody Mary?¡± he asked, and she snarled at him. ¡°Who told you that name? Gideon? I am going to kill him!¡± She stalked off and now Jazmel was alone again. ¡°Have you sworn yourself to the Muninn guild?¡± Circe asked him as she strolled up to him. ¡°I am not joining any guilds.¡± He told her. She smiled a little if it could even be called that. ¡°Good. I will see you again in the labyrinth. I am not linked to the system yet; I was not born inside. But I have a card that will let you link systems with me. Message me when you are inside.¡± She said, suddenly shy she threw her card at him and ran off. It was a white card with her name in silver cursive. She ran off before he could respond and when he turned, Mary was back and smiling at the card in his hand. ¡°Do not. Say. A. Word.¡± He uttered and she laughed. Suddenly happy. Chapter Six; Linking with the System Mary walked him towards the gate that would take him inside the labyrinth, and he shook with anxiety. He was going in alone and all he had was a sword and a satchel. He was unprepared. But he knew what to do, he just needed to find a store or something and begin preparing. He was not too worried in truth; he knew he would have to start at the very beginning and that was not unnerving to him. He had a lot to do. ¡°Think before you act!¡± She yelled at him. ¡°Think about your options before you make a move, and always be aware of your surroundings.¡± She taught him as they walked forward, towards the first gate into the labyrinth. There were many such gates around the world, which allowed entry into the labyrinth, and this was one such as the others. Jazmel hadn¡¯t seen any before, but he had seen pictures and videos of them online and also from Tango who shared old memories of labyrinth dives. ¡°If you get into trouble, send word. I will try and get to #you but be careful above all.¡± She continued. She felt motherly as she told him these things. But he kept that to himself. He had never known of his mother and Tango had not told him anything either. Just that she left him in his safe keeping and so he continued to look for him. ¡°NEVER tell anyone your stats or ask someone there¡¯s! It is rude, but also personal. People will know how to deal with you better if they have an idea of your stats.¡± She said and this one felt sensible. He was a reserved type of person anyway, something he learned from Tango. The less you say the more you can learn. They had reached the gate. The gate was ten feet tall and a swirling maelstrom of ocean blue. It was steady but looking into it made Jazmel feel sick. ¡°You will get used to that.¡± She laughed and shocking him. She hugged him. ¡°I will look for Tango too. If I find anything, I will send word.¡± She said into his ear and then let him go. ¡°Be great.¡± She told him and then turned from him, walking back. That was a goodbye and he smiled, turning too. He walked through the gate. His world warped and he found himself inside the maelstrom, which was surprisingly peaceful. His mind buffed him, it felt like someone plugged something into his skull. The pain was quick and sharp, but then gone within moments. He was reeling but he recovered quickly. DENIZEN OF THE LABYRINTH RETURNED. CALCULATING CALCULATING ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS ON RETURNING, REWARD + STATS POINTS Returning? He thought to himself. He thought of the system and felt it linger at the recesses of his mind. But not knowing how to force it into his view, he willed it forward. The status screen appeared before him, and he smiled at his achievement. A pop like the sound of a burst bubble was heard in his head and a screen popped into his mind eye. It was a blue screen board with yellow gold bordering, and the lettering was white. Name: Jazmel Level: 3 Species: Human Rank: Seeker Health: 40/40 Stamina: 40/40 Mana: 45/45 STR:11 PER:11 If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. VIT:10 END:12 INT:11 WIL:11 AGL:12 DEX:10 Skills: Title(s): EMPTY SLOT EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 5 ¡°OK. So, this is the system then.¡± He said to himself and looking over his stats he smiled. He was even and balanced already but he kept to the lessons that Mary had said to him. Using the five points he had he bumped his skills up closer to a balance. The system acted on his will, and he watched as his unused points disappeared into stats, he felt his body change slowly, almost as if it were readjusting. Imbued with strength and something else, something new and unnerving, but also natural. He willed his status screen back up in sight and looked. STAT POINTS USED. His system window now read. Name: Jazmel Level: 3 Species: Human Rank: Seeker Health: 70/70 Stamina: 55/55 Mana: 60/60 STR:12 PER:12 VIT:12 END:12 INT:12 WIL:12 AGL:14 DEX:13 Skills: Title(s): EMPTY SLOT EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 0 CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING THE SEEKER TRIALS DENIZEN. Before it could move on, he remembered the black box that Mary had gifted him. He pulled it out of the satchel and the system whirred to life again. SATCHEL OF THE MERCHANT EQUIPPED. STORAGE SPACE DOUBLED. Doubled? He thought to himself, that was a gift. The system flicked to storage, and it showed him that it indeed had doubled. He could now carry up to hundred and fifty different things at once inside the double pocket storage satchel. To his gladness he noticed that his items showed in another section of the status screen, and he just had to mentally pull it into sight too. ITEMS LONG SWORD OF THE HUNT STR+5, forged in the fires of Olympus. This sword is forged to vanquish monsters! MANA EYES (tier I), sensitive to Mana, these eyes help the user to see Mana better. INT+2 DEX+3 WILL YOU EQUIP? Y/N The system was asking him. He also noticed that there was a tier mark beside the items, and he had not seen that before. He would look at that later and consider what it meant. ¡°Yes.¡± He said aloud. His eyes twitched for a moment, and it was a little uncomfortable but then his eyes were back to normal, and he felt completely fine. In fact immediately he realised his sight had grown keener in a matter of seconds. MANA EYES EQUIPPED ¡­ MANA EYES WILL GROW WITH THE USER! STATS CHANGED Jazmel smiled at this, his eyed did not feel any different but his eyes seemed to be keener. He could see little sparks of Mana within the gate now and he smiled at that. So, the eyes would allow him to see Mana and they would also grow with him. Interesting, he thought to himself. Before he looked at his other messages, he noticed the tier option again and the system gratified him with more information. All things within the labyrinth are graded in tiers, this is to show the ability and value of the item. A tier I item is the first level and can be considered a beginner item. He read this and nodded, it made sense to him, and he imagined the more items he came across, the more the system would explain to him. He looked at his other notices, system pop ups too. He noticed that his A FRIEND REQUEST HAS BEEN SENT. RANKER TIER II BLOODY MARY HAS OFFERED HER FRIENDSHIP. DO YOU ACCEPT? ¡°I do.¡± He said and then he remembered Circe¡¯s and took it out from his pocket. FRIEND REQUEST FROM CIRCE OF HOUSE OF ARTEMIS. ¡°Accept.¡± He accepted, suddenly shy again. CONGRATULATIONS ON GUILD MASTER OF THE HERON GUILD SENT YOU GOLD COINS X 300 Jazmel was stunned, was that a lot of money? But he did not know what that meant for him. He tore the card he got from Gideon too and the system let him know the request had been sent out and also accepted. He realised that everything was grouped and graded in tiers. His status screen showed that he currently was in the Seeker tier, but Mary was in the Ranker tier. Each tier was grouped from 1-3 or I-III and only once you had passed through each of them could you push through. This made sense to him now, but he could always learn more when he found time, while in the labyrinth. Instead, he waited for the next notification to pop up and when it did not come, he took his first step forward. DO YOU PLAN TO ENTER THE FIRST FLOOR? Y/N He accepted and the system echoed in his mind, and he was sucked through the gate into the first floor of the labyrinth. Chapter Seven; Defend the Wall The system pinged in his head again, and he wondered if anyone else could see or hear his notifications when they happened. FIRST QUEST FOR THE SEEKER. DEFEND THE WALL FOR THREE NIGHTS. EARN THE RIGHT TO ADVANCE REWARDS Jazmel was excited by his first trial. He walked through and opened onto a big wall. Soldiers rushed past him to distinct parts of the wall. Some were bringing arrows in quivers. Some were bringing spears. Swords were everywhere. ¡°You!¡± someone shouted at him, and Jazmel looked over. It was a captain; he could tell as he was the only soldier wearing a cape and he did not wear a helmet. ¡°Head to the south wall with the others!¡± he shouted, spittle flying from between his lips. ¡°Dusk is here!¡± he commanded and without a thought, Jazmel headed to the south wall. He ran across the walls and realised he was atop the wall of a big castle. The keep was bustling with activity too, but he did not have time to think. The system was pinging again. FIENDS COME FOR THE KEEP. THEY COME TO DEVOUR. ENSURE THEY DO NOT. He was not sure what a fiend was, but he thought to grab his sword and it appeared in his hand. Good. The storage was linked to him, through the system and he could pull from the storage space at a moment¡¯s thought. Nearing the wall, he saw that there were other Seekers on the wall. Nobody he knew, but from the way they were dressed. He could tell they were new to the labyrinth like himself. ¡°You ready?¡± a girl said to him, and he looked at her and nodded. She was smaller than he, petite but she didn¡¯t look weak, she looked lithe if anything. She wore boots and combat trousers tucked into them, a long black sleeve blouse too. She had the most extraordinary purple hair. Well, it was violet instead, but it was all purple and that caught his attention. Her eyes were the same colour too, a little darker but she was very pretty. Jazmel turned away from her and looked over the wall. To see the fiends. At first, they looked like small flames to him, but it took him a little while to realise it was Mana. MANA EYES PICKING UP MANA KEEN SENSES! EXP EARNED Jazmel felt the rush of exp, and it was exhilarating. ¡°They are coming!¡± he yelled, and everyone jumped at his call. FIENDS ¨C creatures of the dark and the night. Lost to corruption or other means, they seek the warmth of light and hunt all that harbour it. CREATURE ADDED TO YOUR BEASTIARY EXP EARNED He smiled again, this felt exhilarating and though he was worried about dying. He was also filled with adrenaline. As they neared, he could see them better and he blanched. They were decomposed things, beings that had once been human or as close to it. But they had been gnawed away at and now. Now they were something else. At first, they shuffled and slowly stumbled towards the castle wall. But once they were near enough that they could see the occupants of the castle. They all began to rush towards the wall. Headlong they rushed forward, ramming their bodies into the wall. Some were killed instantly but others simply climbed over the bodies and that was what shocked Jazmel. He was surprised by the lack of care, but he was bound by duty. He would survive this wall. The archers atop the wall let their arrows fly and it was not long before they were yelling for more arrows. But the fiends kept coming and they did not stop at all. The screams begun form other corners of the walls before they reached Jazmel¡¯s position. The first fiend clambered over the top and without a thought. He struck; a slash with the sword took the head off and it fell back over the wall, crumbling from existence as it did. He shuddered at the thought of him killing something but a scream further down the wall let him know that someone else had hesitated and lost his life due to it. There was something in the way a person cried out that let you know it was their demise. Jazmel knew immediately that, that person had died, and it was scaring him to show how serious this was. He would not die on his first floor; he could not die; especially when he needed to find Tango. FIEND KILLED EXP EARNED He shook his head and the notifications quietened. Good, he thought now he knew how to, he got back to earning exp. More came up over the wall now, their numbers increasing at every chance. He used the sword Circe had given him and struck true and deftly. Each time he swung his sword he felt better; like he was remembering a memory. The sword swung how he wanted, struck how he needed and slashed how he felt. Fiends fell to slaughtered pieces in front of him, others rushed him, but he let his sword strike pick them apart and they fell to the bare bones around him. Collapsing and breaking apart to disperse on the wind, he imagined they were going back to the labyrinth to respawn later, but he tried not to think too hard regarding it. The girl had been fighting beside him and Jazmel could tell she was skilled too, she fought with a katana in one hand, and she held thunder in the other. She was lashing out with it like a whip and using her sword to end those that were afflicted by her thunder. He could tell her stamina could not keep up with the swordplay and Mana usage. She got swarmed, but he rescued her immediately. He took three fiends¡¯ heads before kicking another back over the wall. She smiled offering her thanks and he nodded stoically. Turning back to his side just as a horn was blown. ¡°Dawn comes!¡± Someone shouted and the soldiers cheered. The horn blew again, and the soldiers began to prepare themselves. They started moving the injured down from the wall and repairing the broken battlements. ¡°Thanks for the save before!¡± The girl chimed over his shoulder. She snuck up on him and startled him. The other Seekers had moved off in their own directions, to check their stats. ¡°No problem, I had the ability to help.¡± He smiled at her, and she returned it beautifully. ¡°When did you pass the trials?¡± She asked. ¡°Today?¡± He answered giddy himself and the surprise riddled her face. ¡°You¡¯re really good.¡± She exclaimed. Confused by her words he looked at her questioningly. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°You have a good balance of ability and stats. I can tell, just by the way you move. I bet you racked up lots of exp!¡± She pointed out. ¡°Let¡¯s check our stats.¡± He offered and she nodded. Before focusing on her own system. FIRST NIGHT SURVIVED. EXP EARNED FIENDS KILLED X17 EXP EARNED CALCULATING REWARDS! LEVEL HAS RISEN!! Jazmel looked at his system window again after splitting his stats evenly, sticking to the rule that Mary had told him about. He made sure that every stat he could give a point to, got one and then he would raise the others when he had more. This was something that felt right, a well-rounded effort was thorough and more even for a good build. He surmised all of this on his own of course, as he remembered; Mary had told him it was immoral to discuss stats with another. Name: Jazmel Level: 4 Species: Human Rank: Seeker Health: 78/78 Stamina: 70/70 Mana: 65/65 STR:14 PER:13 VIT:14 END:13 INT:14 WIL:15 AGL:13 DEX:13 Skills: Title(s): EMPTY SLOT EMPTY SLOT He realised that he had no titles and that was something that bothered him. But he did not know how to gain one. He kept it at the back of the mind. After all, he had two more nights to go. ¡°Do you have any titles?¡± he asked her, and she shook her head but responded. ¡°Titles are earned through the system; you have to achieve them through completing certain conditions and then they will be added for you.¡± She explained and he nodded thoughtfully. ¡°Titles can be anything to passive regeneration, to extra percentage damage. As long as the conditions are met, titles can be wondrous things.¡± She continued and he looked at her admiring her understanding of the system. She explained it so well and yet so simply. ¡°Are you done?¡± He heard and he flicked his system out of his sight. She had waited for him and smiling, she tucked her hair behind an ear. ¡°Time is funny here; it will be night again soon. Let us prepare.¡± She said. She was right, there was half of an hour and already the soldiers were moving and rushing towards preparation for the night. She checked her katana in its sheath and then started to wait for the fiends to return. He looked at her sword and was intrigued but thought better about asking her about it. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s your name?¡± She asked. ¡°Jazmel, you?¡± He replied. ¡°Sad¨¦.¡± She smiled and he smiled too, shy again. ¡°Ready?¡± He asked and she nodded. The fiends were upon them. Tonight was a little different, they seemed faster and a little stronger. But with his new stats. Jazmel felt anew too, especially dexterity. The balance he felt was such a significant improvement that he felt like he could not put a foot wrong. ¡°What does the tier mean beside a skill?¡± he asked her, and she nodded as if she understood why he was asking. ¡°Tiers go up in order from I-III but after they evolve they always revert to tier I.¡± she explained, and he listened intently. ¡°So, skills can keep growing?¡± he asked, incredulous. ¡°Well yes and no, for now. Yes, but when you rank up, you will have the ability to sunder skills.¡± She explained. ¡°Sunder?¡± ¡°I will explain that when we get there.¡± She said and he smiled, he wasn¡¯t sure if she meant she planned to stick around or just after the night. But he focused, the first floor needed to be completed. But the greatest improvement was his sword. Sword sense was a passive skill he had, that allowed him to use any sword he had. But right now, he felt like a warrior. His sword almost sung, the fiends fell beneath his blade, and he slaughtered them, sending them back to wherever they came from. The wall was not overrun, all the Seekers were doing their part. Especially Jazmel, he could fill the exp building and he did not even have to tell the system to close the window this time. It just stayed shut and waited for him to open it, himself. The fiends rushed him and before he could even slice through them. Sad¨¦ was there, she burned them up with her thunder and they crumpled in on themselves before melting away. The system regaining its creations. But their sheer numbers finally got him. One grabbed at his arm with the sword in hand. He swung but hindered, the blade did not have the same fluidity. A fiend tried to bite into him, but he punched out with the hilt of the sword. knocking teeth from the fleshy head. DANGER AFFLICTED CONDITION, BLEEDING He kissed his teeth and winced at the pain; the labyrinth created monsters for its own purposes. This much was known, but Jazmel had not seen any other types before. This was his first interaction with any beings from within the labyrinth, but he made sure that they fell before him all the same. Even now, the other walls were faring somewhat the same and so Jazmel was not worried about the oncoming night. Much like the previous night. Dawn came upon the sounding of the horn and Jazmel was relieved. He struck out repeatedly and fiends fell beneath his strikes. But he felt his exp accruing and he felt his stats rising in tune with his new abilities. His condition was still afflicted but as he was growing, he was feeling it less and less. The fight had been strenuous, but he felt better knowing he had accrued more exp. Sad¨¦ had survived the night too, a few other Seekers had not been so lucky. Some suffered scratches and bruises. One man had even been bitten by a fiend; he had been the first to be rushed to the infirmary. ¡°Well done on surviving.¡± Sad¨¦ offered and he grinned. He looked at where the fiend had grabbed him and he could see the clawed marks which had been bleeding a lot, but now it was just a ¡°You too, I think we will be ok on the third night. Feels like the system is going easy on us for our first quest.¡± He pointed out and she shrugged, neither of them knew what to expect from the labyrinth. The system was not one to share its mysteries it would seem. ¡°Time to check our stats.¡± She said and Jazmel did the same, willing the system to show again. SECOND NIGHT SURVIVED. EXP EARNED FIENDS KILLED X101 EXTRA EXP FOR KILLING X100+ FIENDS EXP EARNED FIEND SLAYER! 10% EXTRA DAMAGE FOR ANY UNDEAD CREATURE CALCULATING REWARDS! LEVEL HAS RISEN!! +2 STR +2 VIT +3 INT +3 DEX +2 AGL He had killed one hundred monsters, which had surprised him. He noticed that he got the title after killing one hundred of the creatures. He wondered if others were the same. The sword he carried was well balanced and felt light in his hand as he had felt the exp growing. He smiled, laughed a little. He was proud. Looking at his stats again; Name: Jazmel Level: 6 Species: Human Rank: Seeker Health: 92/92 Stamina: 100/100 Mana: 89/89 STR:15 PER:15 VIT:16 END:17 INT:13 WIL:13 AGL:13 DEX:16 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 5 He had levelled up considerably. His dexterity was now highest, and he could feel the sudden mobility it provided. But he did not forget the lessons Mary had shared with him. He spent the unused points on the only stats that did not level up. +2 WIL +1 END +2 PER Immediately, his eyes grew keener. He knew intelligence stat was tied to his Mana usage but as he had no Mana skills, he did not have anything to use it on. The next skill he would try to learn would have to be something for Mana. He would make sure to seek that out. On the other hand, it seemed that perception was tied to his eyes. Every time his perception levelled up, his eyesight grew keener, better. Even now, he could see the Mana outline of everyone. Even Sad¨¦ who stood quite close, had a vibrant feel, he could not put his finger on it. But her Mana felt warm and welcoming. He wondered what his own felt like, but he did not know how to look at it yet. When he had finished, the system slipped back out of his gaze, and he focused on Sad¨¦. She seemed to still be sorting her own stats out. So, he merely studied her. She looked human, besides her hair. Everything about her was the same as his, her skin was darker than his own. But only by a little. He could not help but notice her beauty, but he pushed that thought down, way down. He had just become a Seeker, no way he was falling in love already. She seemed finished, her unfocused gaze suddenly looked at him and she flashed him a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s get some rest, the final night might be something to remember!¡± she offered, palms up in offering. He slapped her hand in response, and they descended from the wall, in the small respite time they had. Chapter Eight; the Final Night on the Wall The last night came with an eerie feel. The fiends came in greater number than any of the other nights. Their shrieks and screams drowned out the commands and shouts of the soldiers on the walls. During his rest after the second night. Jazmel had gone around the keep of the castle and realised that the soldiers were not Seekers, but inhabitants of the quest. Creations for the trial much like the monsters had been made for the same task. He had tried to speak to the captain, but he literally saw through him when he asked him anything aside from about the castle. Sad¨¦ explained that this was how it was sometimes, the labyrinth would create a scenario for a quest to be completed and would create residents for the floor to make sure the Seekers could gain some information from them, if they had a need. ¡°ARCHERS READY.¡± The captain bellowed. Jazmel could see the fiends in numbers due to his keen sight. The Mana flames that resided inside them, which gave them their ability to cling to life looked like a candle flame from afar. In the dark of the night, it looked like thousands of candles in the night and as they neared. Their numbers still grew. ¡°Tonight, is going to be a dangerous one!¡± Jazmel called and Sad¨¦ came closer to him. They would fight together tonight. SURVIVE THE NIGHT GREATER REWARDS AWAIT YOU The system chimed in his mind; he did not flinch this time. He was getting used to its mental invasion. But he did wonder what exp he would earn tonight. He held his sword aloft. Willing the ability to survive the night. The fiends rushed them, and Jazmel was taken aback by the ferocity of this night, the previous nights they had not been this aggressive. Tonight, they seemed in overdrive, and they attacked with a contempt for the defenders of the wall. He slashed and struck with his sword, and it was not long before dismembered bodies began to pile up around him and his part of the wall. NEW SKILL LEARNED SLASH tier I, you have swung your sword hundreds of times and now your sword remembers how you move. A slash with a little wind behind it. The system hummed in his mind, and he was grateful. It was his first attack skill and he others were passive, and he had been wondering about how to use them effectively. Even now, sword sense was helping him defend and strike. But he needed something that would create damage and give him more time to damage more enemies. With his title, this attack would strengthen his As soon as there was room, he struck! Slash! He shouted and as the system stated, he swung his sword and a wind blade propelled fiends back over the wall. He smiled to himself. He used it repeatedly, growing a little more comfortable with the move with each use. But each time he used it, he realised he could feel the ebb of Mana. The cost was wearing on him, and he was feeling it. Then he noticed Sad¨¦ doing the same with her own skills. On the previous nights he had heard her use her own skills. She was quite skilled in using both her sword and her skills. She had clearly been prepared for the labyrinth. Something Jazmel found himself rueing again. He wondered why Tango had not taught him anything regarding the labyrinth. A scream ripped across the battlements, and it tore Jazmel from his thoughts. He could worry about Tango later, he had to survive the night first! A fiend had made it atop the wall on the other side of where Jazmel and Sad¨¦ had been. Even in the dark of the night, Jazmel could see excellently. His eyes were picking up the Mana inside the body of the fiends and as he searched for the surroundings, he saw what he was looking for. NEW CREATURE The system chimed in his mind, and he rushed through the throng of fiends and soldiers towards the creature. It stood taller than him, easily nearing seven feet. It was broad shouldered and while it was not muscular, its limbs were firm. The teeth were pointed and grim, it bit into a soldier who screamed from the pain. It threw him over the wall and his piercing cry could be heard like a horn over the wall. The creature turned to look for its next victim then froze before slowly turning to look at Jazmel. NEW CREATURE CONFIRMED GREATER FIEND; after consuming its fair share of life force. This creature has evolved to cling greater to life. Great, it had evolved. Jazmel struck the fiends that came close enough for him to strike as he moved towards the great fiend. It stalked towards him, and he felt an intense pressure before him, but he did not balk. He was one with the sword and something told him, if he had a sword in his hand, he would find a way. The greater fiend struck first. Swinging a clawed hand towards Jazmel¡¯s head. He parried, deflected it, and sliced the wrist of the creature. It snarled, but it did not stop attacking him and now he was being pushed back. He fought back when he could, but the strength difference was considerable. Another swinging clawed hand caught him on the shoulder and while it did not tear his flesh. The weight of the strike bruised him greatly. He winced beneath its strength. Slash!! He cried, and his skill thrummed through his blade, striking the chest deeply. It back stepped; shocked by the attack. It rushed him now, scared of other attacks even though he had none. But it did not know that. It grabbed him in both hands and its long tongue grazed his face. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. DANGER! MANA CONSUMED He felt it as the system said it, the great fiend was draining him of Mana. He tried to break free, but it had a great hold of him. Thunder! He heard, and the fiend shrieked as a bolt of thunder struck it from behind. It dropped him and he landed badly on top of the corpses of both fiends and soldiers. He looked through the legs of the creature and saw Sad¨¦ preparing to strike with another skill again. He rose and as he prepared to run towards her the captain of the wall ran past him. Slashing the Achilles of the creature, it cried aloud, and Jazmel winced. But it was not done, the sword of the captain broke, the blade weak from constant trauma. The fiend grabbed him and like Jazmel, began to drain the captain of his Mana. But Jazmel was already ready, he rushed up. Badly bruised and aching from his Mana loss. He jumped, just enough that he was level with the eyes of the great fiend. It was so focused on the captain it had forgotten him. Slash! From his closeness and strength, he took the head from the great fiend. It flopped to the ground without its head and the captain crashed onto the flood too. To his own shock, the sword he had been using broke. The blade already worn against the tough bodies of the fiends. Jazmel wondered if the greater fiend had just been too much for him and his body began to break apart, as did the defeated of the labyrinth. Jazmel fell to one knee and wobbled due to the lack of Mana. ¡°Thank you!¡± the captain coughed, and Jazmel pulled him to his feet before smiling. ¡°We will survive.¡± He said and already was moving past the captain to check on Sad¨¦. She was already fighting again, but this time he was with her. They fought hard and the night was grim, much longer than the previous nights. But to Jazmel¡¯s relief no other great fiends showed up on this night. He was aching and feeling a little sickly from the drain on his Mana. He worried about that, what would he do if other creatures had that ability. How would he protect himself from it again. He sat on the ground, back-to-back with Sad¨¦ as she and he both rested from the night. He wondered if she felt like him, he trusted her and was comforted that she let him lean on her for respite. The horn finally sounded, and Jazmel could not help himself this time. The cheer that rang out, he joined too. Proud to survive the night. Before he could check his stats and rewards. He noticed the captain of the wall making his way over to him. He rose to his feet and the captain flashed a smile, letting him know he came in peace. ¡°Please, rest friend. You deserve it.¡± The captain said to him and in the glow of the dawn he realised that the captain was quite young, he was covered in grime and his armour was dented and dulled from the constant battle he fought atop the walls. ¡°Thank you for saving my life, I owe you a service and while I have nothing worth a life. I have something for you.¡± He said and Jazmel stood before him, interested. The captain handed him, his broken sword. Though the blade had been broken in half, the hilt was ornate in design and the grip was comfortable. He took it a little confused but not wanting to offend he smiled. The captain also handed him a pouch, it clinked in the exchange and Jazmel realised it was coins. He put both gifts in his storage space linked to his pack and thanked the captain. ¡°The sun is high today; I think it will hold for a while. You can head north to the next town, and you should not come across anymore fiends.¡± The captain offered and Jazmel thanked him again. Something told him that, that was the confirmation of the quest for the first floor. He turned to Sad¨¦ who had been standing beside him waiting and she was nodding, thinking the same thing. ¡°Let¡¯s check stats and then we can decide what our next steps are.¡± Jazmel advised and Sad¨¦ agreed. He willed the system to show itself and it popped into his mind. QUEST COMPLETE CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING THE QUEST OF THE FIRST FLOOR YOU SURVIVED THREE NIGHTS ATOP THE WALL EXP EARNED ¡­ KILLED GREAT FIEND +3 STR +2 PER +2 AGL EXP EARNED SAVED NPC¡¯S LIFE +2 VIT +2 INT EXP EARNED Jazmel wondered about that; he knew that like the creatures of the labyrinth. Sometimes beings were created for the sake of quests too. Did he gain exp for saving someone others might have not deemed worth it. REWARDS CALCULATING The system chimed as it calculated. ACQUIRED ITEMS 500X GOLD COINS This piqued Jazmel¡¯s interest. The broken sword that the captain had given him, held value to the system. Before checking his stats, he checked the item. BROKEN ORNATE SWORD, after defending the walls for many years, the sword now carries the shadow of the fallen soldiers of the wall. Wraith tied to the sword to be consumed. Consumed? Jazmel was worried by that. WILL YOU CONSUME THE SHADOW WRAITH? The system dared him, and Jazmel did not know what to do. But he considered that the captain would not give him something dangerous. He accepted and the system went to work. ORNATE SWORD CONSUMED ¡­ SHADOW WRAITH ADDED TO SHADOW OF THE SEEKER SHADOW WRAITH, a wraith has linked with the shadow of the Seeker. If it consumes creatures, it will grow in power and intelligence. A shadow?? Jazmel was astonished. This was like a second life; he had not heard of anything like this before and he did not know what to do but follow the hints and tips of the system. He looked at his stats now and was happy at the improvement. Name: Jazmel Level: 7 Species: Human Rank: Seeker Health: 150/150 Stamina: 125/125 Mana: 89/135 STR:16 PER:17 VIT:14 END:17 INT:16 WIL:16 AGL:15 DEX:16 Skills: Title(s): EMPTY SLOT EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 0 His stats were balancing out, he needed to figure out something for endurance. It was lagging and needed to catch up to the others, and he had finally filled the empty slot that his slash skill now sat in. he was now level 8, and he could tell it was harder to level up as his level grew higher. He had jumped from level 1 to 5 before but on this final night, he had gone up another three levels even after killing the most dangerous creature on the wall. He had gained the title fiend slayer and he figured he would need to kill another hundred of anything before he gained more, but he would ask Sad¨¦. Maybe she would know what to do. Chapter Nine; Cave Wolves Jazmel and Sad¨¦ had agreed to band together, the other Seekers did not seem to connect with one another, and some did not even speak to Jazmel and Sad¨¦. But they had. Jazmel had felt intrinsically connected to her the moment he had seen her and in a small way, he thought she felt the same. After she had sorted through her rewards and stats, she went down to the infirmary seeking out health potions but there were none. Jazmel had not even thought of that, but he piqued at the idea of potions. Another thing to add to the list of things he would be learning about as soon as possible. They left through the north gate and headed into the woods. To their surprise there were no creatures in the woods, these were quiet and only animals Jazmel had seen were out and foraging. Deer and rabbits were about, birds sung their songs and the trickle of water running let him know a river was near. He had asked Sad¨¦ why he had not felt hungry yet and she laughed, adrenaline or the constant levelling up was all she said, and he figured when he was hungry, he would have to do something about it then. The trees of the woods were not so thick that they blotted out the sun, but Jazmel could tell they were growing thinner, the further they went from the castle. Before long they had entered a rocky area, great rocks and stones of all sizes riddled the spotty grasslands and ahead the path, he could make out the awning mouth of a cave. So that was their path and they continued along, both alert but also confident in their meagre skills. Jazmel knew he was not strong, especially compared to Mary. But he was growing stronger and that was enough for him now. The cave was dark in the opening and the transitioning from daylight to cave was startling but even with the small amount of light. Jazmel could still see, and his eyes were doing all the work. At first, he thought he was seeing lights of Mana from the cave itself, in truth he was. But also, the Mana eyes were cloaking his eyes in Mana and so he was seeing everything in a blue hue. ¡°So cool.¡± He said and Sad¨¦ looked at him, but he shook his head. Not bothering to explain what was going on for him. They walked through the cave and picking out a descent, Jazmel led the way. Seeming more surefooted than Sad¨¦ currently. She followed his lead. Not questioning him, another sign that she was a good person for him. The sounds aside from their own breathing and steps, was the insistent dripping of water from somewhere in the cave. He could hear it but not pinpoint it and it did not grow louder, so he knew he was not heading towards it. The cave seemed much larger than he had previously thought, and the tunnels were wider and larger than he had expected too. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long we have been in the tunnels of this cave, but I am starting to wonder if we will ever make it out.¡± He said and Sad¨¦ huffed in agreement. ¡°I would not really worry about time; the labyrinth runs on its own source. My father told me that you could be in the middle of the night on one floor and then enter a gate and come out during lunching hour somewhere else. The labyrinth is truly a wonder.¡± She said and he grew quiet as he considered her words. ¡°Was your father a Seeker too?¡± he asked, suddenly curious about her family. ¡°My father is a tier II, Ranker. Almost tier III if he would leave the safety of my mother.¡± She laughed to herself, and Jazmel could not help but smile in the dark. ¡°What is a Ranker? I know they are seekers, but why is the name different?¡± he asked her, remembering something he had been meaning to ask Mary during the trials but had forgotten. ¡°That is a good question, the best way to explain it is to consider power. The stronger you get, the stronger your body needs to become. Each time you level up, your body has to realign itself with the skills and abilities you have at the time.¡± She explained. ¡°The Seeker is the first step into the labyrinth, there are three tiers per rank and when you overcome them all, you will become a Ranker. Somewhat like a denizen of the labyrinth.¡± She told him. ¡°A denizen?¡± he asked, remembering it from what the system had called him. ¡°A denizen is someone who was born in the labyrinth.¡± She explained. ¡°Are they much different to those who aren¡¯t?¡± he quizzed her, keeping his secret to himself, but acutely aware of how fast his heart was beating. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Well think about it when you joined the system at sixteen. That was the first time you linked with the system. Those who are born in here are linked from birth. Though the system does not allow them to do anything, their parents can see immediately what to train and work on them with.¡± She told him and he nodded in understanding, it was the preparing that the denizens had over those who joined on ceremony. ¡°I was training my Mana from my tenth birthday. I have six years on others.¡± She confessed, she did not sound smug and so he waited for her to continue. ¡°But that does not mean anything, the system responds to arduous work; the harder you work in here. the better the rewards you reap will be.¡± She offered as a counter and he smiled, understanding her. Talent and hard work were something Tango always told him to focus on. ¡°So, it goes Seeker, Ranker and finally Master.¡± She told him and he nodded as she rounded them off. ¡°How strong is each one?¡± he asked, and she smiled knowingly. ¡°Well, it depends on the seeker, so many things have to be in order for someone to be considered stronger. It really is the luck of the draw and for the seeker most prepared. But what I will say is the most balanced level and stats will always win out. Does not matter at what rank or tier.¡± She pointed out but continued shortly after. ¡°Though Rankers are strong, my parents are both probably some of the strongest people in my family. But they could not do much if Masters were to attack us. Especially if they had no time to prepare.¡± She said, her face almost ashen with imagination. ¡°Are they that strong?¡± he enquired, focused, and amazed. ¡°A master is the height of the labyrinth. To make it to that rank and level. You need to have talent, hard work, and luck. They all count for something in here.¡± she said and continued pushing forward through the caves. ¡°Are they the reason you decided to do the Seeker trials?¡± he asked, and she grew quiet. She was quiet for a little while and Jazmel wondered if he had asked too much. Sighing he was about to apologise when she started speaking. ¡°My father is a human Ranker; my mother is an elf, Ranker. They grew in love as they travelled the labyrinth together. My mother never told my father her lineage and though elves are uncommon, high elves are rare on the lower floors.¡± She explained and Jazmel merely listened. ¡°My mother is a high elf Ranker, the daughter of a high court official and a Master. My hair is proof of my lineage, the darker the purple the purer the blood. Or so my grandmother says.¡± Jazmel did not know any of this, so he just listened as she shared her story. ¡°My mother has hair darker than mine; it is also a miracle that my hair is as dark as it is, especially with me being half. But I am what I am, and my parents love me dotingly. I entered the labyrinth for myself, I wanted to see if I had what it takes to reach Master rank. My grandmother thinks me soft.¡± She explained and Jazmel stayed silent still. ¡°Enough of me, I am a half elf. But what about you, I have not seen anyone fight as well as you, at my age. I think you could spar with my mother. My father too, but my mother is better.¡± He could hear the smile on her voice, and he laughed a little. ¡°I am human, a man found me when I was a baby. He took me in, and it has been so ever since. I do not know my parents or their story. But the day before the trials. Someone burned my house to the ground and the man who raised me is missing. I entered the labyrinth to find him.¡± He said and it was the first time he had said it aloud, he did not realise how much Tango meant to him, but as he spoke, he had to fight to make sure his voice did not break. The silence was sombre, and she gave him time to collect himself. ¡°I am sorry. I hope you find what you are looking for. I hear that fate is just a floor away inside the labyrinth, so maybe we will find your parents or your adopted father.¡± She said and that almost broke him again. She was promising to stick with him and help him search in the labyrinth. How powerful. He smiled and even in the dark he grew shy, not wanting to show her how much she made him smile. Ping! The system chimed in his mind. PLOT CREATED ¡­ PLOT FOR THE SEEKER ¡­ FIND WHAT WAS LOST, KNOW THYSELF
  1. Obtain Seeker tier II.
  2. Complete the trial of the 9th
REWARDS +10 LEVELS This chimed in his mind and startled him. Alone and out of earshot of anyone. He asked her. ¡°What is a plot?¡± he questioned. ¡°Did you just gain a plot just now?!¡± she shot back. ¡°Yes.¡± He said, after nodding but realising she might not have seen him. ¡°A plot is a Seeker story. My father says that the system forms a plot to allow the Seeker to seek out what they really want. It does not happen for everyone but its direction for most, the labyrinth is a bizarre creation, and many can get lost in the many twists and turns it offers. A plot is a focus tool for those in the labyrinth.¡± She explained and giggled a little. ¡°My father had a plot before he met my mother, it was what got him to the twentieth floor and drove him right into her path. It helped him level up immensely. I would be happy for a plot!¡± she exclaimed, and he laughed a little too. ¡°I imagine it will direct you to finding some clues. So, use its direction and get stronger. Then you will be able to find the things you want.¡± She motivated him and he smiled, happy to be part of the system. A plot would drive him in the right direction, but it would also make him stronger. A howl was heard, clearly from far but loud enough that they both reacted. ¡°And we will manage some cave wolves.¡± She said quietly. Quiet now, they both picked up speed and Jazmel led the way through the tunnel, trying to get out of the caves quickly. Jazmel a little apprehensive as he had no sword, only the broken haft. Chapter Ten; Cave Wolves II They had hurried through the tunnels for a while now and they were not any further or deeper. All felt the same to him, even with his sight he could not tell where to go and so kept going forward. He was about to give up hope and consider going back when he heard a growl, the cave they were in shortly turned sharply and as he scanned round the corner, he saw to both his hope and his worry. That a large cavern was ahead. He turned to Sad¨¦ and catching her before she ran into him. He showed her with his hands what was ahead. When she understood, she nodded and with his eyes he saw her head bob, shrouded in her own shade of Mana. Purple or a soft lilac, not that much different from her hair and not for the first time, he wondered what his own Mana looked like. He willed his sword the broken jagged part of it, and it came into his hand from the storage bag and before he could question it any longer, fuelled by courage he rushed into the cavern. his eyes switched immediately it was well lit and much larger than he had assumed before. There were many wolves in the cavern, and they prowled and lazed around. They were eating and to his dismay it was other wolves. But he could discern the difference. The cave wolves were coated in a murky Mana, it was darker than normal and not too far from that of the fiends. The wolves they were eating were lifeless, but their Mana still clung to their bodies even after death, was a cold white. Like that of life as Jazmel imagined. The wolves rose as one, noticing the two. Before any could attack, he launched into attack first. Slash! He shouted and cutting a wolf in half, the others whimpered and growled amongst themselves. Thunderbolt. Sad¨¦ said over his shoulder and her skill took flight hitting a group that was skirting off to the side to flank them. ¡°Take them!¡± he said, and they rushed in, to kill as many as they could. He went to work, letting his senses and sword sense defend him. Wolves were sliced and slashed, stabbed, and stuck. They were veering round him seeking an opening but when he held a sword. He had none, thanking whoever he needed to. He thanked the abilities he had been born with. A howl sounded and to Jazmel¡¯s dismay more wolves appeared. Leading them were two much larger wolves, larger in size and Mana; as his eyes told him. They were tainted with the dark Mana, and it was infecting the whole pack. Thunderbolt! He heard Sad¨¦ scream again and then she ran from his side, he dare not look at her as the pack leaders were cornering him. A crash and a boom rocked the cavern from the entrance that the wolves had come from, some turned to the sound. Whimpering and then others rushed in. one of the wolf leaders darted in, leading some of the wolves with it. While the other continued to close in on Jazmel. With their numbers lessened and Jazmel feeling confident he attacked first, he ran in and sliding beneath the pounce of the wolf he cut it deeply on the stomach. It snarled and growled but not before biting him on the leg. He back pedalled and struck with his sword, taking an eye out. It howled in pain but not before launching itself at him. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Slash! He howled, an almost guttural growl. The attack took the wolve in the midsection. Cutting it in half the head and front paws flew over his head. The lower part fell in front of him. He fell to a knee and winced at the bite. He was bleeding from it. STATUS CONDITION BLEEDING HEALTH AFFLICTED The system chimed in his head, and he worried about that. But he had no potions and he had nothing to stop the blood either, what could he do. He had been afflicted again SHADOW WRAITH CAN CONSUME CORPSES WILL YOU ALLOW? He had forgotten about this; he did not see how it would help him. But he let it and his shadow which had been behind him due to the light in the cavern. spread out in a large circle. Consuming all the wolves he had killed himself. Even the split parts of the dark Mana wolf. SHADOW WRAITH HAS CONSUMED YOUR FOES LEVEL UP LEVEL UP LEVEL UP DARK MANA CONSUMED LEVEL UP HEALTH SHARED CONDITION REEVALUED NOT BLEEDING His wounds closed on their own. The shadow had levelled up and shared its health with him. He thanked it mentally and the shadow withered in reply. ¡°Was that your shadow?¡± Sad¨¦ asked and he looked up to see her looking at him with a quirked eyebrow. She was holding two wolf pups in her arms and in between stroking them, she was studying him. ¡°Yes, it is something new, I did not know it could do that. Remember the sword the captain gave me? It became this. Apparently, it can consume defeated foes.¡± He explained. ¡°That is a high-quality ability. Is it a skill?¡± she asked to him shaking his head. ¡°No, I only have one active skill. The others are passive.¡± Said Jazmel. ¡°That is interesting. Let us get out of here and then tell me about it some more.¡± She asked and he nodded. WOLFHUNT! was roared back through the tunnel entrance and stepping in front of her, gingerly on his sore leg. He held his sword up. The wolves burst through the cave, some broken and others limping. They had been hit by a move and it shattered the predatory confidence the wolves had, had. A man strolled in, he wore leather trousers, and he was barefoot. He wore a leather vest too and carried nothing, no weapons or armour. He was slim but of athletic build. His hair was jet black, but it was his eyes that made Jazmel almost balk. They were like the wolves, yellow and slitted. He carried the other wolf leader by the hide in his hand as he calmly walked in. he looked around and saw the corpses of the half-eaten wolves, he snarled, and the wolves whimpered. The wolf in his hand snuffled but he snapped, and it went silent in his grasp. He looked at Jazmel, eyed him, the sword and then he spotted Sad¨¦ carrying the pups. His eyes softened at that. Jazmel breathed lightly; his own eyes told him that this man with wolfen eyes was not tainted. But he was wary of him still. ¡°Did you save the pups?¡± he growled. ¡°I did, we came through the tunnels and these wolves attacked us. I only noticed the pups when I was trying to outflank them.¡± Sad¨¦ answered. ¡°These wolves were all part of a pack, but a dark wolf tainted them. Turned them cannibalistic and they began hunting the other wolves. I have not found the dark wolf yet, but I found these wolves after they decimated the den of these wolves.¡± He motioned at the dead ones. ¡°Those pups are the last grey wolves in the woods. I need to protect them.¡± He snapped and the wolves all whimpered again, they were treating him like one of their own and surprisingly that felt rational to Jazmel. This man was standing in a den of cannibal wolves that hunted their own and he was carrying the pack leader by the scruff of its neck, it surrendered in his grip easily and did not struggle at all. ¡°Come with me.¡± His gruff voice, barely above a growl said. Sad¨¦ led this time, carrying the pups in her arm. Both had fallen asleep as they felt both comfortable and safe. Chapter Eleven; Taint of the Dark Wolf The wolf man led the way, he had let go of the pack leader and after whistling, the wolves all follow him. Tails low and ears pinned back. He led them out of the caves and though Jazmel and Sad¨¦ walked alongside the wolves. None of them tried to attack them at all. They had escaped the innards of the caves and Jazmel breathed easy to find the sun still hung high in the sky. He smiled a little to himself and when the man led them to a small alcove where a den had once been, he sighed at what once had been. ¡°What will you do?¡± Jazmel asked him. Wondering what his next steps would be. ¡°I have to kill them.¡± He motioned, waving his hands at the wolves and then he realised why they had all been so dejected on their climbing out of the caves. ¡°All of them?¡± Sad¨¦ said and he looked at her, seeing her eyes wet with tears. ¡°The pups are not tainted, but they have no way of living on their own right now. The others are tainted, and I have no way of ridding them of it. I must kill them for the sake of their own dignity. They have all recognised it and that is why they are all present.¡± He said and though his voice did not crack, Jazmel could hear the pain in his voice all the same. Then Jazmel remembered that his shadow had consumed the dark Mana before. ¡°If I could get the dark Mana out of them, would you still have to kill them?¡± he asked, and the man spun on him. ¡°There is no such ability!¡± he snapped but he could not hide the hope in his eyes. As if by instinct his shadow spread and within a breaths moment, the man created distance in his dart backwards. Not even being able to explain, he sighed. ¡°Consume the dark Mana.¡± He said aloud, not sure if he even needed to. His shadow wraith pulled the taint out of all the wolves and one by one they fell to the ground, exhausted. The wolf leader, a grizzled and scarred wolf was wrapped in his shadow completely before the job was complete. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. DARK MANA CONSUMED EXP EARNED LEVEL UP In his mind the notifications pinged on the system but also a howl rang in his mind. The shadow wraith had taken on the characteristics of the wolf and in his mind¡¯s eye he saw a solder with haunted yellow eyes. It slammed a fist over its chest, before collapsing back into his shadow. ¡°Well, that was cool.¡± Sad¨¦ uttered and Jazmel turned to her, smiling. ¡°Thank you.¡± The man said, suddenly extremely close. He had stealthily gotten close, and Jazmel had not even noticed. ¡°I owe you a service. Thank you.¡± He moved past Jazmel slowly and then taking a pup in each hand, he checked to make sure they were all good before moving to the pack leader. ¡°You have done things beneath you in these woods, but I do not blame you. What happened to you was not your fault.¡± The pack leader whined but kept its head low. ¡°I am giving you a chance to regain favour in these woods. Take in these pups and raise them right. I will also leave the woods to you to protect with your pack. Make sure they grow the right way. Nothing dark can ever take set in these woods.¡± He explained and mystified Jazmel listened as he spoke with the wolf who listened intently. ¡°I have placed some of my spirit in both pups and they will be linked to me. If anything happens, I will know, but I trust you to do the right thing now. You owe it to their parents that you killed.¡± This drew a larger whine from the wolves. ¡°If you consume another wolf, I will kill all of you. If you break this agreement with me, I will come back and destroy you all.¡± He warned them and the wolf lowered its head even further. He scratched its head affectionally, and a whisper of a smile slipped his face. ¡°Take them. Raise them well, I will deal with the dark wolf.¡± The pack leader rose up and with a bark, wolves came to him. Softly taking a pup up in their mouths. They ran off, looking for a new den to make a home. PING! The system sounded in Jazmel¡¯s mind. WITNESS YOU WITNESSED A PACK BEING MADE YOU SAVED A LIFE EXP REWARD He shuddered as exp flooded into him and he wondered if his stats had risen. The man turned now and focused his eyes on Jazmel. ¡°Will you help me hunt the dark wolf down?¡± he asked, Sad¨¦ stepped forward and smiled. ¡°Yes, I can¡¯t let anything happen to those pups!¡± she smiled, and the man stifled a toothy grin behind a hand. ¡°I am Bannerman.¡± He introduced himself and Jazmel and Sad¨¦ followed suit. ¡°Let us head to the east, we need to make it to the foot of the mountain before nightfall. That is where the dark wolf will be.¡± He told them both. ¡°How do you know?¡± Sad¨¦ asked him and with a mirthless smiled he answered. ¡°He is my father.¡± Chapter Twelve; Son of the Blood Wolf ¡°Your father?¡± Jazmel exclaimed. ¡°How?¡± Mirroring his thoughts, Sad¨¦ asked Bannerman, the man who had helped them with the wolves. ¡°I was raised with the wolves in this forest, my family and the rest of my village were killed by a plague. I had a better immune system than the others, but I was so young I still could not fend for myself. So, when my father died, my mother told me to go into the woods and keep walking till I found help. She knew she was going to die but did not want me to have to see her die.¡± He said, his tone even and emotionless. ¡°Wolves found me when I was little, and they took me in. I lived with them, hunted with them, and even fought with them.¡± He told them. ¡°Is that why your eyes are like that?¡± Jazmel asked, he looked at Jazmel before offering a wry smile. ¡°Not much different to your own though, no?¡± he countered, and Jazmel stumbled, his eyes? He looked at Sad¨¦ and she did not move but her own eyes told him, that Bannerman was correct. ¡°What colour are my eyes?¡± he asked her. ¡°I thought it was a skill. Sometimes they are ghost blue, like Mana. But normally they are just brown.¡± She spoke. ¡°They are usually brown. Deep brown.¡± He explained and she looked at him confused. ¡°I got a gift from a friend when I passed the Seeker trials. My eyes must have changed because of that.¡± He offered, truthfully but he had not thought his eyes would change much. ¡°So, you are both Seekers?¡± Bannerman said, scratching his arm. ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡± Sad¨¦ asked him. ¡°I had not given it much thought if I am honest. Why would I leave my forest?¡± he asked, and she did not answer him back. ¡°Let¡¯s go, time is short, and it will be a full moon tonight.¡± He told them and began to run through the forest towards the mountains. To say he ran was different from Jazmel and Sad¨¦. He darted through the woods like a wolf, on all fours bounding around. Though it looked wild, there was a grace to it and Jazmel could tell it was easy for him to move this way. They ran in silence besides the sounds of the woods. But Jazmel was fine with this, it was peaceful, and he was happy to continue. Sad¨¦ kept up with him effortlessly and they rushed to keep up with Bannerman who led them. Within an hour they made it to the end of the woods, a loose throng of trees that opened to gravel and mountains tall as the eyes could see, even Jazmel could not see them with his Mana imbued sight. They had not even made it to the mountain when a howl rang clear and true. It was loud and far reaching. Something that told Jazmel this was dangerous. THE DARK WOLF HAS BECOME A BLOOD WOLF BENEATH THE FULL MOON DEFEAT THE BLOOD WOLF AND SAVE THE WOODS FROM THE TAINT REWARDS VARIED. Jazmel turned and noticed Sad¨¦ must have also received the same words. Bannerman too, he was looking around but not for long. Wolves bounded into the opening, many wolves. More wolves than had been in the caverns these were riddled with the taint though. Froth and slather hung from their jaws, and he could see that their Mana was not even dark anymore, it was blood red. They had fully given themselves over to the taint. Another wolf trotted slowly into the opening. The wolves parted ways for it and Jazmel could see why. The dark wolf was the double the size of the wolves present. Its coat thick black fur, tinted at the edges with red as dark as blood. Its snout was scarred from years of challenges and his jaws sharp with teeth. ¡°We cannot fight all these wolves.¡± Sad¨¦ whispered and not taking his eyes off the wolves, Bannerman agreed. ¡°I CHALLENGE YOU! FATHER I WILL RID THE ROT YOU ARE RIDDLED WITH.¡± Bannerman called out and the wolves howled excitedly, baying for blood. CHALLENGE OFFERED STAND WITNESS TO THE CHALLENGE This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Bannerman VS THE BLOOD WOLF The system chimed in his mind and Jazmel immediately knew they all had heard the same thing. The blood wolf stepped forward and Bannerman mirrored this, showing the challenge had been accepted. ¡°Wolfhunt.¡± Bannerman uttered and his Mana grew denser before expanding and then encasing him in pale white Mana. He rushed forward and met his father; Mana claws had manifested, and he slashed out at the blood wolf. It bit out and tried to get through the Mana that shrouded its once upon son. The blood wolf was battered and scratched by the many attacks from Bannerman but not before getting a good bite on his forearm. The wound bled immediately and would not stop, maybe something of a skill from the wolf. Jazmel kissed his teeth; it was a bad skill. Blood was tied to stamina and Bannerman was losing it twice as much due to the condition affliction. But for the moment Bannerman seemed unfazed he kept attacking, punching, and clawing at his wolf father with his Mana created claws. Wrestling with the wolf his muscles straining beneath his skin. Jazmel watched in admiration, proud to see this feat of strength. They split, creating distance and both breathing deeply, the blood wolf was haggard, its jaw slack and its eyes duller than before. Its sides heaved with effort and Jazmel wondered who would win. If the wolf won, Jazmel was determined to survive somehow against the horde of these wolves. Bannerman had rested enough, he howled, and his opponent bristled from stress. HOWL, a taunt of an equal enemy. Will cause the weaker to flee. The system fed into his mind, as it said it. Some wolves on the outskirts broke off, running from the call Bannerman had rung out. But that did not stop the blood wolf instead it rushed him, and Bannerman gripped around its head to stop it from biting him. He had the posture, gripping his own wrist. He strangled the wolf until it was whimpering and wheezing. ¡°YIELD.¡± He cried out. The wolf did not. ¡°Yield.¡± He huffed, tired himself. The wolf would not, it fought him. Just a little, trying to get out of the headlock. ¡°You leave me with little choice.¡± Bannerman concluded and with a last twist, he broke the neck of his father. Letting the wolf fall to the ground, he stood over it for a moment before pulling his head back and howling, it felt more like a roar. But even Jazmel knew wolves did not roar. He was bleeding from cuts and scratches, but he did not show discomfort. Instead, he turned to face the wolves. ¡°I am the strongest wolf here.¡± he growled, some snuffed and huffed but none met his eyes. ¡°I rule here! you are all beneath me.¡± He shouted. ¡°You are banned from the woods. Banned! I exile all of you, until you have cleared your own taint. Do not return here!¡± he bellowed, and with that. Many of the wolves took off running, towards the mountains. Some stayed a fraction longer than the others. But they ran after a moment¡¯s hesitation. They did not look back and ran from the challenge of the new alpha. Bannerman turned to them and that is when he finally let the exertion of his feat fall on his shoulders. He fell to his knees beside his father and somehow the wolf melted away. As was the way of the monsters of the labyrinth. Jazmel wondered how great his exp rewards would be and he and Sad¨¦ waited. Watching. CHALLENGE WITNESSED. The system chimed and Jazmel dismissed it. ¡°Oh wow, I did not think I would see it so soon. He is undergoing his tier tribulation.¡± She said and at her words, Jazmel turned to witness what was so surprising for Sad¨¦. At first it looked like nothing, as if Bannerman were meditating. But before long he was breathing deeply and still as if catatonic. The blood wolf that had melted away seemed to swirl towards him before folding into him and as Jazmel watched he saw it join with Bannerman¡¯s own Mana and strengthen it. Bannerman put on more muscle too, his arms thickened as well as his neck. This was something Jazmel had not even heard of, but he was shocked. ¡°A tier tribulation is how a Seeker moves through tiers. Only after overcoming one can your body better prepare itself for the oncoming trials of the labyrinth. To think that he was already level 15, he is strong.¡± She explained and Jazmel smiled, Sad¨¦ seemed to know a great deal about the things of the labyrinth. ¡°Have you had your tier tribulation yet?¡± he asked, suddenly curious about her level. ¡°I am not ready for that yet, but I am not too far.¡± She said with a mysterious smile. He decided he would try to level up faster, he could not be left behind. Bannerman stayed like that for almost three hours and during this time, Jazmel and Sad¨¦ simply spoke about things of the labyrinth, and he asked her questions that he had about the tier tribulation currently happening. ¡°Thank you.¡± Bannerman finally said as he came out of his haze. He was bigger, muscles rippled beneath his vest. As if magic, appearing out of thin air, a new vest appeared. Twilight black with thick black fur lining the collar. His leather pants changed too, and he was no longer barefoot. Instead, he modelled black leather boots, fur lined these too. ¡°You have done me a great service in standing over me while I went through that tribulation. I am now a tier I Seeker.¡± He explained to them. ¡°What will you do now?¡± Jazmel asked him. ¡°I am not sure, I never thought to move through the labyrinth. But now I feel like I would disrupt the woods if I stayed.¡± He confessed, suddenly pensive and quiet. ¡°Join our party! Or our pack!¡± Sad¨¦ hollered and Jazmel jumped at her added excitement. ¡°You are a pack?¡± Bannerman said and for the first time, he showed a genuine smile. Something that made Jazmel smile too, his fangs were sharp and made him look wolfish, which in truth he was. ¡°We are a pack.¡± Jazmel said and this made him smile too. ¡°What will you do?¡± Bannerman asked. ¡°Go as far as we want to!¡± Sad¨¦ said with a wide grin. He sighed and then nodded. ¡°Put your hands over each other.¡± Sad¨¦ told them both. It was weird but she rarely said anything for no reason. She placed her own hand over Bannerman and spoke. ¡°Party.¡± She spoke. PARTY HAS BEEN FORMED PARTY WILL NOW MOVE THROUGH THE LABYRINTH TOGETHER. This was something new to Jazmel again. He did not know parties could be formed or that they could move through the labyrinth together, he had been led to believe that each floor was randomised. But as a party they could move forward mutually. Chapter Thirteen; All that Glitters isnt Gold Jazmel, Sad¨¦ and Bannerman had been travelling for several days now. They were looking for the gate and Bannerman had told them that it laid towards the west of the floor not far from the cave entrance they had first came out from. They were on the second floor; the tunnels had functioned as a gateway from the first floor to the second and so Jazmel and Sad¨¦ had already been on the second floor for around a week. This was something Jazmel also took note of. The gates were not the only way to move through floors. It also told him that the labyrinth would move them to any part within its recesses as it saw fit. They had no say and that was part of the mystery. They found the gate on the ninth day, a small doorway that looked derelict from one side but on another it showed the cerulean colours of a gate again. Just like when Jazmel had entered after the Seeker trials. Sad¨¦ went first. Then Bannerman and Jazmel finally went through last. The system opened in his mind¡¯s eye, and he studied his stats to see how he fared. Name: Jazmel Level: 9 Species: Human Rank: Seeker Health: 150/150 Stamina: 125/125 Mana: 89/135 STR:16 PER:17 VIT:18 END:18 INT:16 WIL:19 AGL:15 DEX:16 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 5 He had only gone up by one level this time and now he had five unused stat points. He invested them all into endurance. It still had not grown, and he did not want to destroy the balance he was trying to create. He wondered about that but now he knew that whatever the shadow consumed, the unused contents would appear in his storage space. Something he imagined he could sell. This was good news and something he could generate money with as soon as he found somewhere where he could sell these items too. He exited the gate and appeared just outside the limits of a bustling town. He was looking around and noticed Sad¨¦ and Bannerman standing to the side looking at him. He made his way over to them and Sad¨¦ spoke with them both. ¡°Towns and cities are different to the open floors of the labyrinth. They are usually heavily invested in and so protected by either a clan or a guild. We should keep reserved and make sure we know who is before we do anything inside. We could end up imprisoned or worse, killed for simple offences inside.¡± She warned them and not for the first time, Jazmel was so surprised at how much she knew about the labyrinth. ¡°I think we should all look for supplies, we don¡¯t know how long it will take us to find another town like this and I for one, need something to allow me to carry items like your pouch.¡± She beckoned at Jazmel¡¯s pack, and he patted it affectionately. ¡°Get your supplies and then meet in the middle of the town at around midday?¡± she offered, and Bannerman grunted while Jazmel nodded. She smiled and then led them towards the town gates. FIRST TIME IN TOWN EXP REWARD The system gifted him a reward for his first time being in a town. He smiled to himself. ¡°NO ENTRY UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN SCANNED BY THE TOWN GOD!¡± Was being shouted and fed down the line as other Seekers were beginning to appear. groups banded together through trials and quests given out by the labyrinth and others who were fine to solo it. His eyes showed him many different shades and auras of Mana. He merely studied them and kept this ability to himself. Before long it was, he and his party¡¯s turn and when they reached the town gates, he was surprised to see a small golden statue at the front of the gates. Two soldiers stood either side of the statue with enough room to allow the different Seekers to move between them and the statue. The stature was little and round and in an odd way it reminded Jazmel of a buddha. But that is when the similarities died. The eyes were open and red with rubies, small gems had been crafted to fit the lidless eyes of the statue of the town god. Its left hand held a sword, and its right held a trident. It was his turn, and the eyes did not move but he felt them on him. The intrusion of Mana was mind numbing and he almost buckled if not for Bannerman holding him up. But just as it had come it was off him and the pressure was gone in an instant. He walked in and the guards did not pay him any attention. Entering the town, he gasped. High walls hid away a true gem of bustling freedom and innovation. Market stalls riddled with trinkets and items that Jazmel could not even guess at what they might be. He had not seen anything of the sort outside of the labyrinth and as he perused his eyes shared everything with him. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. TOADSTALL VIALS, poison HEALTH POTIONS, common RING OF COMMUNION, Dark magic MANA RING, Mana attachment The system was feeding him information nonstop as his eyes drank in all the information. But in truth, he would buy supplies as soon as he could. What he really wanted was to check the bladesmiths. He needed to see the swords. Jazmel had been gifted with a sword by Circe in the Seeker trial and though she did not take it back. He kept it as a sign of acceptance but also that he had nothing else to defend himself with. But whilst he used the sword, he could tell it did not fit him as so much it felt unnatural in his grip. The sword had been made in the style of a long sword. Straight and cross hilted, balanced but common. Jazmel could tell it was decently crafted, but something told him, this sword was not for him. Even now, broken and half its length. It was incredibly well balanced, and he commended the smiths of the daughters of Artemis, they clearly knew their way around the black smithing. He walked through the markets and the many stall owners who tried to gain his attention he waived away. Then he heard them. The rhythmic pang of hammer atop anvil. The quenching of hot metal in water and then the pang of the hammer again. He was nearing the workshops and followed the sound. To his surprise the workshops were walled off, away from the prying eyes of Seekers and instead he came upon the opened doors of a sword store. He walked in and others were already inside, mulling around. An attendant stood off to the side, but once she noticed him. She smiled and headed over to him. She was dressed in robes and her hair was tied back away from her face. Her hands were within her sleeves, but she seemed happy to serve. ¡°Greetings Master.¡± She smiled and bowed. ¡°How may I assist you?¡± she asked. ¡°I am looking for a sword.¡± He mused and she nodded in understanding. ¡°Look around and tell me what you think suits you. We can decide from there.¡± She offered showing her wares with a wave of her hand. He walked around and seeing the swords he could tell which were well made and strong. Jazmel looked around, holding swords, and feeling the balance in his hand. But they did not feel right, they just were not a fit for him for some reason which was unknown to him. ¡°I think I can see your problem, come with me.¡± The attendant offered, showing her hand to a staircase to another floor. He was a little surprised that she could see something that he could not see but he listened to her, an attendant would not attack him. They climbed the stairs and when they reached the second floor. The pressure he felt was not too different from the town god. ¡°You need a named sword. Something that only those who are fated to change their destiny. Can ever wield.¡± She offered and he looked at her, wondering what made her say that about him. The Mana was coming from the swords, and he looked over them. These swords were katanas. Curved swords in the style of the samurai, a culture of discipline and war. He stopped on the third rack and his spirit stirred. NAMED SWORD ¡­ NOZARASHI THE KATANA OF THE PALE MOON TIER I Jazmel picked it up and though it was sheathed, the balance and weight fit his hand like a glove. He unsheathed it and the waved layered metal caught him in a trance. This katana was amazing. It was perfect and Jazmel could tell this was the sword for him. ¡°Can I buy this one?¡± he asked. ¡°Of course.¡± She said and a notification pinged on the system. NAMED KATANA NOZARASHI 400X GOLD COINS WILL YOU BUY? He accepted and the coins left his storage and the sword entered. NOZARASHI OF THE PALE MOON TIER I KATANA PALE MOON STYLE WILL YOU LET THE SHADOW WRAITH CONSUME? He covered his mouth; the shadow could consume the style of the sword? He accepted and the system immediately did his bidding. SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL UP He could feel it strengthening and he smiled at the thought again. ¡°Are you satisfied?¡± she asked, her smile offering more of her services. ¡°I will look some more.¡± He answered and she bowed to give him some space. Another search through the racks and he saw another sword that soothed his Mana. NAMED SWORD ¡­ MAJIME TIER I KATANA The sword was sheathed in a deep blue sheath with a yellow end. The hilt and grip the same colour, a sea blue with an almost gold yellow finish, Jazmel thought. A singular tassel hung from the handle, one blue and one yellow. This sword felt good in his hand too. ¡°How much?¡± he asked. ¡°Four hundred gold coins.¡± She answered without hesitation. He winced if he bought it. He would have no coins left. She seemed to notice his hesitation and offered an alternative. ¡°You can trade items to lower the price if you need to.¡± She offered and smiled again. All he had was the broken sword from Circe and he felt bad to part with it. But he needed new weapons. ¡°I have this.¡± He pulled the broken sword from the satchel and without a flinch. She looked at the sword, as if she were looking into it. ¡°Three hundred and fifty gold coins.¡± She told him. That was a big amount for a nameless sword. But he accepted it. Still a little hurt, he felt bad. He was surprised as the price was still high, even though it was broken. He wondered how much it would have been if it had survived the first gate. He paid the fifty gold coins, and she smiled before taking the sword from him and disappearing it from sight. MAJIME NAMED SWORD ¡­ SKILL PLUS OPTION He was confused what did this mean? He opened the option on his skill list and saw a pleasing sight. Skills: The sword had another option which allowed him to have two active skills and two passive skills. It was known that Seekers were only allowed three skills. But this helped balance out his skills even further. He was happy and not extremely poor either. He decided to do some more searching, after all he had not bought any health supplies for himself. He thanked the attendant, and she bowed before leading him back down the stairs and towards the door of the store. He stepped out into the sun and back into the din of the markets. He found a market buying furs and sold all the wolf hides for two hundred gold coins. This was something Jazmel was happy about. Nobody wanted the fangs though, so kept them still. He saw Sad¨¦ in the jewellery stalls and jogged to catch up. She noticed him and waved him over smiling. ¡°Come see what I found.¡± She showed him her hand and on her middle finger and ring finger she wore two rings. Both simple gold bands but his eyes told him they were not simple rings. ¡°They are storage rings; they hold fifty slots each.¡± So now I can carry just under two hundred different things. She smiled and that made him smile in turn. Jazmel did not bother looking, he did not want to spend any more money especially now he knew how costly things could be. She finished paying and they walked towards the apothecary together, buying a handful of potions for both stamina and health. Fifty coins for two of each. Still pricy and Jazmel decided he was going to aim for more coins too. Chapter Fourteen; All that Glitters isnt Gold II They continued to walk through the market looking at the wares and talking between themselves. It was not long before Bannerman came and found them, he did not look any different, but he told them he had bought all the things he would need. Together, the party continued, and they walked through the market stalls and into the stores and then onwards until they came to a much larger space where the stores were shopfronts. And as if on cue, the system chimed. SEEKER WIDE EVENT ¡­ SEEKER EVENT FOR THE FIRST TIME ¡­ WEDERMERE AUCTION WILL BE TAKING PLACE AUCTION UPON THE SECOND FLOOR. PLEASE ATTEND THE AUCTION Archways of wind and Mana formed around the town and in small orderly frenzy, groups began to enter. Sad¨¦ led the way, Bannerman, and Jazmel followed her into the nearest archway to their party. They walked through and entered a large auditorium, hanging curtains were placed all around and a suited attendant, a rabbit being with high grey ears and black eyes. Motioned for them to enter another archway covered by a veil. Sad¨¦ entered, her body rigid and alert. Jazmel was a little relaxed, but Bannerman bristled, his hair on edge. They walked through the curtain and found themselves in a seated balcony area. A place overlooking other seats but hidden from those below. It had ten seats and Jazmel, and his party took the first three at the front. Others entered after but nobody Jazmel had seen or knew before, and some had even taken it upon themselves to hide their features. Wrapping their faces in scarves and other disguise style things. Jazmel merely admired them and awaited the beginning of the auction. Sad¨¦ was pensive and so was Bannerman. In truth Jazmel did not consider it a sad thing, the system would not put them all in this much danger especially when it had announced it as a Seeker event. This was something to pique interests and Jazmel¡¯s were piqued. ¡°I wonder what will be auctioned today.¡± Jazmel said to himself and Sad¨¦ and Bannerman both shrugged. The lower auditorium was still being filled but now Jazmel noticed that the balconies like his own were all filling up and somewhere cloaked and their faces covered while others had come in like Jazmel and his party. In another few moments, the auditorium was packed. A loud murmur was bouncing around as the people waited in anticipation. Wanting to know what was going to happen. Then it went dark, the lights all dimmed simultaneously, while a lone one beamed onto the centre of the stage. A man stood alone on the stage; he wore a blazer with long tails hanging behind his legs. He wore grey felt trousers and shoes that had been shined to shine like gold. He leaned on a cane that was darkened wood and he wore fine white gloves. His face was kind, but his eyes were serious. He was clean shaven, and his hair had been oiled back away from his face. ¡°WELCOME ALL, I WELCOME YOU SEEKERS.¡± He greeted them all. ¡°I AM COUNT WEDERMERE. HEAD OF THE WEDERMERE AUCTION.¡± He introduced himself and too stunned to make a sound all the present Seekers said nothing. ¡°MANY OF YOU ALL WILL KNOW WHAT AN AUCTION IS AND OTHERS WHO HAVE ENTERED THE LABYRINTH FOR THE FIRST TIME WILL HAVE NO IDEA. I GREET YOU ONE AND ALL THE SAME.¡± He mused and Jazmel suddenly felt embarrassed, knowing which of these he was.¡± ¡°AN AUCTION IS SIMPLY A JOINT EFFORT; WE WILL SHOW AND SHARE OUR WARES AND YOU ALL WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUY THEM. WHOEVER PAYS THE MOST WILL GAIN THE ITEM TO DO WHATEVER THEY WISH WITH.¡± He explained. ¡°WE ONLY SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF TRADE AND COINS HERE; WE DO NOT SEEK VIOLENCE IN ANY CONFRONTATION BUT I ASSURE YOU. NONE WHO SEEK IT WITH US WILL WANT FOR WAR AGAIN!¡± He cautioned and even Jazmel felt the threat in those words. Still the Seekers all remained silent. ¡°LET US BEGIN!¡± he conducted and with a wave the first attendant a young girl dressed like the attendant rabbit from earlier but this time she had fairy wings sprouted from her back. She fluttered onto the stage and held something in her hand covered by a felt shawl. ¡°Here we have the first item! It is an assorted amount of dragon scales!¡± he pulled the shawl away and scales the size of round shields appeared the cover was smaller than them but somehow, they were all there. ¡°15X dragon scales! Who will purchase them all or singular?¡± nobody motioned or said anything, so he nodded. PING! DRAGON SCALES, dragon scales can be used to create tier I and tier II items. ¡°Singular! One dragon scale for 30 gold coins?¡± he asked, and one hand rose. Another rose. ¡°40.¡± He pointed. ¡°50.¡± ¡°60? 60. Will anyone raise it? Nobody did and the first scale was sold for sixty gold coins. ¡°A ticket will appear in your storage space once the auction is done. Find an attendant and hand in your ticket, they will see to it that you gain your item safely.¡± He explained and Jazmel exhaled slightly comforted. Other items came out and began to create a buzz of energy in the auditorium, the prices were not high, and Jazmel assumed it was because most people were Seekers who had only just passed the first floor. Nobody would have had lots of coins. Three items were brought out and sold, each for less than a hundred coins each. Bannerman was bored, he did not want for anything. He even dipped his head and went to sleep sat between both Jazmel and Sad¨¦. ¡°This next item is a bit of a curious thing. Only someone who can use Mana and has a fire attribute may buy this I am afraid. The item just will not work for others.¡± The count explained. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. A new attendant had come to the stage with each different item, and this was no different, except this time it was a human woman. Just a woman and she was young, maybe Jazmel and Sad¨¦¡¯s age. She was trembling but trying her best to not show it and Jazmel smiled to himself seeing her. ¡°The tail of a kitsune!¡± the count pulled the shawl away and, in a glass, case laid a tail. A silver fox tail with a red line around the end of it. DING KITSUNE TAIL! ¡­ KITSUNE, Monster of the night that leads its prey into its den with foxfire formed from its tail tip. ¡­ BEASTIARY ADDITION The system fed the information into his brain, and he sat forward in his chair. ¡°20.¡± The count pointed. ¡°25, 30 ahh. We have 40 now.¡± ¡°45, 50, 55 and 60. We have a lot of Mana users in this round of Seekers it would seem.¡± He said. ¡°70.¡± Another hand went up and then to Jazmel¡¯s surprise, Sad¨¦ raised her hand. ¡°80.¡± The count pointed; a hand rose again but Sad¨¦ raised her own again. ¡°100.¡± He said and smiling he motioned at Sad¨¦ who smiled back in turn. ¡°100. Sold to the young lady.¡± He said and just like that, Sad¨¦ had gained something and at an inflated cost too. ¡°I will explain later.¡± She whispered and Jazmel merely nodded, Bannerman still slept, and Jazmel waited for the next items. After the kitsune tail, increasingly precious items started to appear. the song of a phoenix, a swirling flame inside of a corked potion bottle was sold off for three hundred gold coins, the highest of the show so far. Mana peaches were offered and when Jazmel noticed the Mana purity of the item, he bought one for himself, that cost him 100 gold coins and though he winced, he knew this item would be good for him. DING TICKET ADDED TO STORAGE As Count Wedermere had promised, once an item had been bought, a ticket would appear in the storage space of the system for the buyer. DETECTING A GREAT MANA ITEM The system hummed to life. He noticed now that the count had not beckoned for another attendant to come right away, so he leaned a little forward to see what would be offered. ¡°The final item of the auction is one of extreme rarity. The hunters who brought it back were so beleaguered and exhausted we had to pay them for getting it to us in such short notice.¡± As he explained this to the auction filled with Seekers. He tapped his cane on the ground three times and a section of the floor opened and began to raise. Atop a small dais was a crystal bigger than anything Jazmel had ever seen before. It was the size and width of his chest alone. It was blood red, or wine red. The colours were both intricate and flowing within the membrane of the crystal. The density of the Mana was so complex and profound that Jazmel¡¯s head began to pound as he studied it. MANA HEART DETECTED DANGER TO SEEKER LEVEL TOO LOW DANGER! The system rung in his already pounding head and he winced, squeezing his eyes shut. So, he was too weak to even read the item¡¯s qualities. That sort of settled his heart a little, he now knew that even amongst Seekers, the gaps were large in strength and skills too. ¡°Here you will see the Mana heart of a High Wyrm.¡± The count offered and the shouts and gasps ran deep in the auditorium, he waited for it to die down, but it was a while before it did. ¡°What is a Mana heart?¡± Jazmel asked Sad¨¦ and she nodded understanding. ¡°A Mana heart is the maturity of a Mana circle, which forms after a Mana circuit reaches a certain level of maturity. A Mana heart is a conduit for any mage or magic user, greater in size and capacity for usage. A Mana heart could turn a mage into an arch mage or even an Elder. It takes almost a lifetime for a Seeker, but it can be acquired through rare items such as that. The Mana heart of a beast tells you the monster was high tiered and extremely powerful.¡± She explained and Jazmel nodded, he could tell the monster must have been powerful. The heart itself was powerful. ¡°She is right you know.¡± A voice called and looking over his shoulder an older man was looking at Jazmel. ¡°That Mana heart is so rare at this level, whoever buys it and manages to integrate it? If their body does not implode, they could probably jump all the way to Ranker.¡± The man told them. His face was hidden, but his voice was clearly masculine, and Jazmel could tell he was not lying. ¡°I waited to share this item because I did not think there would be anyone daring enough to consider it. But this Mana heart is a powerful item, it can be integrated, it can be crafted, and it can be used to create elixirs and potions of irrefutable high grade.¡± The Count of the auction fed the Seekers. The murmurs rose and fell again but waited in anticipation for his next words. ¡°We will sell it for 1 platinum coin.¡± He said and everyone fell silent. Not wanting to sound like he had no understanding of anything. He looked inward at his own coins and the system notification pinged. 350X GOLD COINS 0 WHITE GOLD COINS (1000 GOLD COINS) 0 PLATINUM COINS (1000 WHITE GOLD COINS) Jazmel bit his lip to hide his exasperation. 1 platinum coin was worth 1¡¯000¡¯000 GOLD COINS. He was stunned, who could possibly have wealth like that? ¡°Will you accept an offer for assorted items too?¡± someone called from a balcony on the opposite wall to theirs. ¡°Within reason.¡± The count smiled. ¡°I will pay 5 WHITE GOLD COINS and with it I will give you the great staff of a hag and the heart of a black dragon.¡± ¡°Impossible items for a Seeker.¡± The man seated behind Jazmel and his party uttered in disbelief. In truth, Jazmel did not know what any of those items were. But they sounded expensive and that alone told him just listening was going over his head. But he kept his mouth shut and listened intently, for every moment within the labyrinth was a learning moment and though he had no high tier items to sell, he now knew that he could. That was enough for him to use for now. The count seemed to consider this offer and his head cocked as if he was balancing the items in his mind. A smile never left his face, but you could see his eyes were serious. ¡°We have a deal.¡± He said finally and everyone grew silent. ¡°That leads us to the end of our auction ordeal. I thank you all for collaborating with us, for without the Seeker there are no ways we could function as we do. There has never been an auction on this level before. The labyrinth has never been so forthcoming at such an early stage. But I am glad to have seen the unfamiliar faces that will shake the foundations of the labyrinth we all call home.¡± This drew a small applause from the Seekers. ¡°Those with tickets, please await an attendant to get you and those who did not buy anything. Do not worry, on your exit there will be a quest board. We are always seeking new wares, take a quest. Collect the wares we are seeking and gain favour with us. A friend of the Wedermere¡¯s can never want for nothing.¡± This drew a great hurrah and the Seekers who indeed had not bought anything. Rushed out in orderly fashion. Jazmel and his party stayed sitting and as the auditorium cleared out, Bannerman finally woke. ¡°Can we go now?¡± he yawned, showing his sharp teeth. ¡°We must collect our items but after that. We can leave.¡± Sad¨¦ told him and he nodded before getting up and stretching. ¡°I will wait outside for you all.¡± He nodded before rising and stepping outside, Jazmel could not help but smile. Bannerman was basically a wolf and what wolf would want to be kept inside anyway. An attendant finally came for them, and this one was fully human this time. ¡°Tickets please.¡± He said and Jazmel and Sad¨¦ both handed him their tickets. He took them and literally in both hands, the items appeared. One white foxtail and a peach as big as the palm of his hand. DING ¡­ MANA PEACH RECEIVED ¡­ MANA PEACH HAS BEEN RECOGNISED CALCULATING ¡­ 1X WUKONG PEACH, A peach from the gardens of Shangri-La, this peach has been converted to only affect Mana. It will triple the Mana of the consumer. Triple the Mana?? Jazmel gasped, this was a big win for him, he was glad he had bought it. This small town on the second floor had given him two new swords and a Mana enhancer. This was great news. He tried not to show his delight but promised to share it with Sad¨¦ and Bannerman mentally. Leaving their balcony and heading down the stairs Jazmel spotted the woman, to say he spotted her was the wrong word. It was more that he felt her, a woman in a large brimmed pointed hat was exiting too. She was by herself and carried nothing but a darkened cloak, she noticed him and looked away but then looked at him again and then Jazmel realised he could see the same Mana from the Mana heart on her. She studied him, a little curious but looked away and left. Jazmel nodded. ¡°She is dangerous.¡± He said and Sad¨¦ looked up wondering. ¡°I will tell you later.¡± He said and they both left, finding Bannerman outside waiting. Chapter Fifteen; Respite Jazmel and his party had found a place to rest before moving on. A small inn that let them rent for the night for only 5X GOLD COINS for the night. They each paid and then were brought to separate rooms, still all on the same floor but apart. Jazmel sighed, he was sitting in a deep bowl bath and was resting. He looked over his stats, he had not studied them in a while. Name: Jazmel Level: 9 Species: Human Rank: Seeker Health: 150/150 Stamina: 125/125 Mana: 267/267 STR:16 PER:17 VIT:14 END:16 INT:16 WIL:19 AGL:15 DEX:16 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 0 250X GOLD COINS STORAGE SPACE: 15X WOLF FANGS ATTACHMENT(S): This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. SHADOW WRAITH LVL 5 NO SKILLS PARTY: 3/3 The Wukong peach, filled with Mana had tripled his Mana. The system had not told him, it would only triple the amount he currently had and not the entirety but that was still more than he had previously had. Now his Mana was the highest bar he had and with the addition of his new skill, he would need the extra Mana. He smiled to himself; the swords were perfect for him. He had even gone to carrying one on his belt rather than leaving them both in his storage space. Majime and its blue sheath rested on a chair in the bathroom while he rested. The inn was quiet, and Jazmel had not seen any other guests, but within the labyrinth. He wanted to make sure he took his own security serious. He had been sitting in the bath for almost an hour, but now he was tired of the heat. He got out, dried off and got dressed quickly. As soon as he had tied his last boot on. His door knocked lightly, he went to open it and through the door he could see the purple Mana that seemed to sprout from within her. It was Sad¨¦. He opened the door, and she smiled at him. She had taken the chance to shower or bathe too, her hair still damp but she was dressed. She had changed her clothes, and she was now wearing a black top and jacket. But the same combats and boots as before. ¡°May I come in?¡± she asked, and he beckoned her in. ¡°How are you? Rested?¡± She asked, and Jazmel nodded, feeling awkward at the small talk. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± He asked, feeling the mood, she nodded and then shrugged. ¡°I wanted to talk to you about this.¡± She beckoned and in a moment a tail formed. Her eyes had not changed but her Mana changed sharply. From purple to a pale blue, like fire. He took a step back, startled but calmed down before her. ¡°The kitsune tail.¡± He questioned and she nodded. ¡°As you know, I bought it and I have now integrated it. It has enhanced my usage of fire and added 500 to my Mana count!¡± she told him, and he marvelled at her. At just Seeker tier I, her Mana was double his own. That was high. ¡°Why did you want to speak to me about it?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°Well, I am an elf. A half elf and well I should not be able to use fire, but I can and that is considered an omen for elves.¡± She told him and he looked at her dumbfounded. ¡°But you didn¡¯t pick to be able to use fire?¡± he argued, and she looked at him before hunching over in laughter, at first, he just watched her. But then a smile formed, and it became a grin, and he laughed a little too. ¡°I got a plot when I saw the tail.¡± She confessed and he nodded, quite curious. ¡°Sometimes you shock me how little you know about the labyrinth but then it makes me happy. Happy because you have no prejudice, and it makes me happy that you are forming organically in the labyrinth.¡± She confessed and he grew warm with admiration. ¡°Elves are created from nature. We are literally connected to the woods that we are born in and till we return to the ground we are proof that nature and the trees still have power. Me being able to use fire, instead of wind or earth Mana is an ill omen to my people. Especially my grandmother.¡± She told him, sitting on the edge of his bed and hugging her legs. ¡°What was the plot?¡± he asked after a while, leaving her in her thoughts for a while. ¡°To walk the path of a kitsune, I have to gather five tails.¡± She said and he nodded, knowing that kitsune have nine tails. Jazmel did not say anything for a moment, but he settled down beside her just for comfort. ¡°I think since I have entered the labyrinth. Everyone has spoken about destinies and fates. Selling the dreams that the labyrinth allows those with the will, to change their fate as they see fit. Well, you are good and if you can use fire as an elf. Maybe the trees need a flame for something.¡± He surmised and watched her face become soft and her eyes well up. But she bit back the tears and smiled. ¡°Thank you. Thank you for saying that, Jazmel.¡± She laid back across his bed and closed her eyes. They sat like that for a while and neither said anything. Enjoying the small peace, they were sharing. Chapter Sixteen; the Will to see Beyond After they all slept, well at that. The party led by Sad¨¦ found the gate for the next floor easily. It was the exit for the town and many Seekers had already begun making their way out of the town. Jazmel was well rested and fed, finally they had eaten, and he had devoured a whole chicken by himself. After eating his fill, he had slept the whole night and when he woke, he felt better than ever. Heading through the gate they came to a little awning pulled together by rope and cloth. An old man sat atop a rock, smoking from a pipe and when he noticed the three, he smiled a beam at them all. ¡°Welcome, welcome!¡± he sung, and Jazmel laughed at his intensity. ¡°Please take what you need, the supplies here cost nothing.¡± He offered and looking, Jazmel could see shawls, ponchos, and face coverings alike. Even water bottles were piled on each other. ¡°What is this floor, a desert?¡± Bannerman asked and the man nodded enthusiastically. ¡°Want me to tell you guys a hint?¡± he said, inhaling deeply on his pipe. ¡°Go on.¡± Sad¨¦ answered. ¡°You either cross the desert or you do not. it is entirely up to you.¡± He answered and with a smile he inhaled his pipe again. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°What does that mean?¡± Bannerman said, suddenly frustrated. ¡°Either we cross the desert, or we come back here, right?¡± Jazmel said, understanding the man. The man studied him for a moment, a little serious then went on smiling. ¡°He is right.¡± He said, simply. The party considered their options. ¡°The desert might be harder than expected.¡± Sad¨¦ surmised. ¡°If we don¡¯t cross it and have to go back through this floor, our journey will be changed forever.¡± Bannerman countered; Jazmel questioned that. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jazmel asked him. ¡°There are hundreds and thousands of ways to move around the labyrinth. Not all gates lead to the same place, look. We came through to the desert alone, look nobody else came here. So, each gate leads the Seeker, exactly where he needs to go. If we go back, it would be like we are going against fate.¡± Bannerman sounded off. This felt profound for Jazmel and looking at Sad¨¦, she simply looked at him. Awaiting his decision. ¡°We will cross it. We must, I will not go back.¡± Jazmel said and Bannerman nodded, agreeing and Sad¨¦ simply began to prepare. They filled their storages with water as best as they could and wrapped to cover all parts. Jazmel pulled a poncho on and wrapped his head and face in a shawl, he had not been to a desert before, but he knew enough that hydration would be the key for them. As they were about to leave the awning the little old man leapt off his rock, surprisingly nimble and grabbed the hand of Jazmel. Bannerman and Sad¨¦ leapt to his defence, but he waved them off. This man was not going to hurt him. ¡°Fate is an arrow in flight, fly straight and true.¡± He said to Jazmel before letting him go and clambering back up onto his rock. Chapter Seventeen; Nest of the Orbweavers Jazmel, Sad¨¦ and Bannerman had crossed the desert after nine full days, it would have been ten. But the gate was at the bottom of a dune, they literally slid down and then fell through into the next floor. Immediately grateful to be out of the blaring heat of the sun. they stored all the attire from the desert. Not for the first or second time, Jazmel realised he needed to buy some clothes on his next time in a town. This gate had opened into a darkened cavern, cold and lifeless. Immediately Jazmel¡¯s eyes flashed and the Mana around him felt murky like the taint from the wolves. But a little different at the same time. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here immediately.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Jazmel agreed. Bannerman took point, his eyes, and senses better, even then Jazmel¡¯s Mana eyes. Skittering whistled through the tunnel they were moving through. ¡°I don¡¯t like the sound of that.¡± Bannerman said, sharing the thoughts of everyone else. They hurried now and following Bannerman he led them through an array of tunnels. It was not long before they had reached a higher connection of tunnels, but Bannerman led them deeper still. Lower and deeper to where the tunnels were wider and colder. Descending under the world. Jazmel ran with his sword in his belt. Majime was sheathed but he clutched it at the ready. Something told him he would be fighting, what it would be, was still a mystery. But Jazmel could feel the pressure of this floor. Something dark was harbouring here. The skittering was heard again, and this time Bannerman stopped. Crouching. ¡°It is spiders.¡± He told them both and Sad¨¦ shivered. They looked at her and she huffed. ¡°I don¡¯t like spiders, which is perfectly normal for anyone.¡± She said and Jazmel ducked his head to hide his smile, but Bannerman just stared at her shocked. Jazmel had not seen a spider in the labyrinth before. But the way Bannerman and Sad¨¦ were reacting, told him everything he needed to know. ¡°There are many, they are weak. But they can overwhelm. So, strike and strike fast to reduce their chances.¡± Bannerman warned. ¡°They are extremely flammable; I will use fire to burn the bodies and the webs.¡± Sad¨¦ explained and Jazmel merely nodded, he held a sword and that was enough for him. Bannerman grunted and then after a breath darted out, Mana claws created and slashing the spiders. These were not what Jazmel was expecting, they were massive! The spiders were the size of goats, and their thick hairs were protruding all along their legs. When Bannerman struck, they hissed and chittered with their fangs amongst themselves before quickly rushing. Jazmel was there, striking with his sword. They were cut to pieces immediately but there was no respite. For as soon as one fell, three returned. They were in a nest. Foxfire! Sad¨¦ said and blue orbs of flames hurtled past Bannerman and Jazmel hitting spiders crawling down the walls and descending on web strands. They burned brightly and created light in the dark tunnels. Jazmel went to work, cutting and slicing any that neared him. Bannerman was slashing and crushing any that neared him. His claws deadly and his power imbued with his own Mana. The spiders died quickly, and Jazmel realised they had killed around thirty. ¡°This is a nest.¡± Bannerman said. ¡°Wherever there is a nest there is a queen.¡± Sad¨¦ said. Jazmel merely sighed. ¡°We keep going.¡± He said and Bannerman did that, leading from the front again. Jazmel felt the system ping and yet he did not check it, it was too dangerous right now. He did let his shadow consume the spiders that were not too severely burnt. The shadow hummed but he could tell it did not like the spiders. It did not feel happy like when it fed on the wolves. They continued to head deeper, and some spiders rushed them, and they killed them. Sometimes they let them pass without a fight. This happened a few times before they came to the largest tunnel ever. It was so big that Jazmel had to use his Mana eyes to see the top of the ceiling. This was an entrance and Jazmel shuddered, shivering wondering if this was the way to the spider queen. As if on que. DING ¡­ NEW QUEST ¡­ DEFEAT THE ORBWEAVER QUEEN! The system sung into his mind, and he kissed his teeth, Bannerman snarled. Sad¨¦ sighed and Jazmel knew they all heard the same thing. ¡°Let¡¯s get ourselves a queen.¡± Bannerman huffed and Jazmel followed him, sword raised. the cavern was huge. Bigger than any space that Jazmel had been before. The ceiling was riddled with web like a grotesque chandelier and Jazmel shuddered at the thought of what made that. A screech rocked the room and Jazmel readied himself. A small figure came running into the room with a chain in one hand. She threw it and lodged it into a wall high above her and used it to swing out of reach of a giant spider leg. While it was a leg, it really looked like a black scythe the carapace of the spider was ink black and not for the first time, Jazmel shuddered. The Orbweaver queen was bigger than Jazmel had expected or assumed. Her bulbous body was held up by sturdy legs. But it swayed on them as she swung her eye riddled head as she tried to catch the person. Jazmel realised it was a woman, trying her best not to die under the legs of the queen. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Jazmel shouted and Bannerman and he ran forward while Sad¨¦ followed. The woman saw him and using her chain again, she swung herself to land beside Bannerman. ¡°We need to take out its eyes. I took two already, that is why she is so in love with me.¡± The woman said and Jazmel was in awe of the joke she made as she was facing death. ¡°Well let me go and see if she can love others.¡± Bannerman said, with a growl and springing off, he ran on all fours like he did, bouncing off broken rocks and other pieces in the craggy cavern. ¡°What is he a dog?¡± the woman asked and laughing she threw her chain into the wall again and swung before flipping in the air and swinging it again to try and land atop the queen. The queen was watching her, and Jazmel could see it was going to try and bite her straight out of the air. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Flight of the blue kite! He uttered and with a slash, filled with Mana. A blue hawk flew directly into the awning mouth of the queen. She roared in pain and swung her head down to see Jazmel. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, run!!¡± the girl said, she had landed on the head and with a boot knife, she was stabbing at the eyes while she could. The queen did not get to attack Jazmel as she now was trying to shake off both Bannerman and the woman with the chain as they attacked her eyes. ¡°Move!¡± Sad¨¦ shouted and Bannerman and their new friend, both jumped out of the way. A huge fireball of blue flame hit the queen. Her face and mouth scorched. She roared and cried in pain and Jazmel was the first to hear them. ¡°She has called for reinforcements!!¡± he bellowed as loud above her own screams as he could, and as sure as he was. Many spiders crawled into the cavern to rescue their queen. Slash! ¡°Kill her and kill them!¡± Jazmel shouted, Bannerman leapt into the air and forming a mighty wolf¡¯s head. He hit the spider queen in the face with full force. She fell and her front legs buckled beneath his force. She went to stab him through the back, but Jazmel was there, both swords in hand now. He deflected two legs and parried another. Just in time to see the woman hanging from the ceiling and dropping from it. Chain drop. She shouted and her chain grew red with heat as she hurtled and slammed into the head of the queen. Spiders rushed them but Jazmel struck first. Cutting and slicing them with both katanas in his hand. He was moving smoothly and in unison, stopping at nothing to diminish the threat to his friends. The spiders began to fear him and then he willed his shadow wraith to consume them all. Hands pulled them down into the shadows and he felt its energy grow. LEVEL UP LEVEL UP The shadow had grown in levels again. The queen was hurt badly. She crooned now and yet no more spiders came. They had decimated them, killing as many as they could. Jazmel could tell Sad¨¦ had killed a great deal more than any. Her hands were shaking from Mana deficiency, and she was struggling now, withstanding up on her own. Jazmel lent her his shoulder, handing her a Mana potion. He let her drink it while she rested. ¡°Well thanks for helping. It was fun was not it.¡± The woman said and now that they were close Jazmel could tell she was a human, petite and nimble but human still. ¡°Thanks for the support.¡± She said and she made her way to a webbed bundle that had been propped up away from the others. Using her knife and a flint piece. She burned the webs away and an unconscious man fell out of the bundle. She fed him a health potion and though a little colour came to his face, he was still hurt. He rose up, without noticing the others he used the woman¡¯s shoulders as a crutch and he stumbled over to the queen, without a word. He formed a Mana sword in his free hand and stabbed deep into her skull. She crooned quietly before dying and they all sighed with exhaustion. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± the woman said but was stopped by Bannerman when another group of Seekers entered the room. Jazmel stiffened and he felt Sad¨¦ stiffen beside him. She had drunk a Mana potion, a stamina and health one. She was waiting for them to kick in but when she saw this second group she stood, ready for anything. ¡°Katie! You survived!!¡± the lead man shouted. The girl growled as if she was going to attack, but the man leaning on her. Held her back and the leader smiled at him too. ¡°Patton, I see the poison has not killed you. We went to get help.¡± He explained. ¡°You woke the queen and ran off, leaving us to die!¡± the man growled, and Jazmel and Bannerman slowly stood off to the side, trying to make themselves not seen but ready to react or act, if needed. ¡°I heard that the Orbweaver queen drops lots of good things. Want to share them with your party?¡± the man said, and Jazmel could tell, this was not an offer at all. ¡°Go to tell Finn.¡± The man who Jazmel now knew was called Patton. ¡°So be it then, we will take it and everything you have.¡± He rushed them both but not before he was struck in the face by Bannerman. An archer was aiming at Bannerman, but Jazmel took his bow, cutting it in half and then took his hand too. The archer screamed out and before he could do anything. Sad¨¦ stabbed him in the chest with her own sword. Jazmel leapt in the air and with no delay struck again. Flight of the blue kite! The Mana bird at the tip of his sword, soared into the back of the man called Finn and drove him to his knees. The girl called Katie struck him cold in the face and the man Patton drove his sword deep into the stomach of the man. The Mana sword flickered but stayed translucent and pure. ¡°Never leave your team.¡± Patton whispered into the ear of the other man. A girl who had not reacted at all stood off to the side, and when she saw she was alone. She cried, begging for safety. Katie slapped her and she whimpered, now quiet. ¡°Thanks for the save there, we didn¡¯t think we would survive that.¡± The man called Patton said. He offered his hand and shook Jazmel, Bannerman and Sad¨¦¡¯s hands. Katie merely saluted them, Jazmel snickered at her personality. ¡°You guys are cool.¡± She said and that was it. ¡°What will you do now?¡± Patton asked. ¡°We keep going, we collect our rewards, and we keep going.¡± Jazmel explained and Patton nodded. ¡°Can we tag along? I am in a bad way, and I do not think I can protect myself or Katie for now.¡± He asked. ¡°Sad¨¦ what do you think?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°Katie is good in a fight; I don¡¯t know about you yet.¡± She said and Bannerman laughed at that. ¡°He is stronger than me!¡± Katie said and Patton merely rubbed her back affectionately. ¡°I will earn my keep. But I promise, it is too hard to cross these gates without a party.¡± He offered and Jazmel nodded. ¡°No wolf leaves an injured wolf alone.¡± Bannerman offered and Jazmel nodded. ¡°Welcome to the pack.¡± He smiled and Patton smiled back. They did the hands atop one another thing again and the system hummed. PARTY MEMBERS INCREASED 5/5 EXP REWARDS GIVEN The system had given them rewards for filling their party. But Jazmel was not shocked. ¡°Collect all you can from the Orbweavers. They sell for a pretty penny almost everywhere.¡± Patton told them and this led to the group beginning to pick through the corpses for whatever they could find. 15X ORBWEAVER WEB GLANDS 7X ORBWEAVER CARAPACE 4X ORBWEAVER POISON FANG 1X ORBWEAVER QUEEN CARAPACE Jazmel took his fill and wondered what he could get for selling these items. When the corpses were picked clean, and the group were ready to move on. Jazmel hesitated before asking. ¡°Nobody wants anything else right?¡± the group shook their heads and shrugged. He willed the shadow wraith to consume, and his shadow span out startling everyone. The spiders were pulled in and even a huge leg of the Orbweaver queen was pulled into the recesses of his shadow. The girl who was still alive screamed and Katie pulled her to stand next to her. When the shadow had eaten its fill. It slipped back to normal, and they all looked at Jazmel questioningly. ¡°I will explain when we are out of here.¡± Jazmel said and the group simply agreed to wait. They left the spiders nest, the Orbweaver queen¡¯s corpse had broken down the wall into another cavern and this cavern was where the gate was. They went in. one by one, and Jazmel was the last in. He chose now to check his stats and rewards. DING! The system status board opened in front of his eyes. Name: Jazmel Level: 14 Species: Human Rank: Seeker Health: 190/220 Stamina: 225/225 Mana: 267/267 STR:20 PER:21 VIT:24 END:19 INT:22 WIL:23 AGL:21 DEX:22 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 5 250X GOLD COINS STORAGE SPACE: 10X WOLF LEATHER 15X WOLF FANGS 15X ORBWEAVER WEB GLANDS 7X ORBWEAVER CARAPACE 4X ORBWEAVER POISON FANG 1X ORBWEAVER QUEEN CARAPACE ATTACHMENT(S): SHADOW WRAITH LVL 7 NO SKILLS PARTY: 5/5 He had levelled up well, in one more level he would need to do his tier tribulation. He would ask Sad¨¦ about it when he they exited the gate. He used his 5 stat points and raised his vitality. His health rose with it, and he smiled to himself. Exiting the gate, he needed to prepare. Chapter Eighteen; Port of the Galleon Jazmel exited and the calls of seagulls were rife in the sky. The bitter scent of the sea could be smelt, and Jazmel smiled, happy to be in the daylight that was not blistering. His party, with both new members had come through together, but that girl had not come with them. He remembered as she was not part of their party, her ascent would have been randomised. He hoped she would be safe. ¡°What should we do first?¡± Jazmel asked and Patton thought for a moment. ¡°I think we will be riding the ship; I say we all seek out supplies. Prepare for the voyage and meet up at the ship port when done? I must resupply my health items and I want to sell these Orbweaver parts.¡± He explained his own choice and the others nodded. ¡°I am going to get a drink; I am thirsting for an ale.¡± Katie offered and Bannerman grunted in agreement. ¡°You want to come too? Let us see if they have a doggy bowl or something.¡± She laughed at her joke to herself, not for the first time did she liken Bannerman to a dog and though he did not show he heard her, he did not seem bothered either. ¡°We will look for supplies too.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Jazmel nodded. ¡°See you all at the port then.¡± Patton said and walked off first; the others split off in their own directions. Sad¨¦ led the way and Jazmel followed. ¡°I need clothes.¡± Jazmel said and she nodded, feeling underdressed herself. ¡°Let¡¯s find us a seamstress.¡± Sad¨¦ said and within a few moments they stood outside a well-worn shop. Big gold scissors hung above it, the windows were dirty, and Jazmel could not see into them. But this was the only place that could do what they needed. Jazmel pushed the door and let them both in. ¡°Can I help you?¡± a small voice said, and Jazmel looked at the counter of the shop to see an older woman with big gold spectacles on. ¡°Yes please. We would need some clothes made. Clothes for a Seeker.¡± Sad¨¦ answered. The old lady placed her hand on the table and Jazmel noticed that it was wooden, all wooden, hands of pine and wood intricately woven together with needle and thread to get the hands moving the way a natural hand did. He drew his sword, suddenly confused and a little afraid. ¡°What are you?¡± Jazmel asked, sword ready and waiting. The lady looked at him, and then laughed hard. ¡°Please put your sword away, we have business to do.¡± She said and with a thump a little door on her chest opened and a small creature stepped out. As he stepped out, the woman froze and stayed petrified to post. ¡°What did you want made love?¡± the creature asked Sad¨¦, as easy as ever she told him, she wanted sturdy boots, an armoured jacket, and clothes for days of travel. The creature nodded, while writing this down on a tiny notepad it carried. Jazmel did sheathe his sword and waited to be asked too. ¡°And you, warrior. Will you need the same?¡± Jazmel nodded. ¡°Do you have any requirements?¡± the creature asked, and Jazmel was silent, not understanding the question. ¡°Use these items and create something with these in mind.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Jazmel watched her tap the empty air as she moved things from the system into the space for the creature, it did the same and then it turned to Jazmel waiting. ¡°Give him the wolf hides and the spider carapace!¡± Sad¨¦ whispered. Jazmel did as she told him, and the creature took from his storage. DING! BROWNIE COMMISSION ACCEPTED 9X WOLF LEATHER 5X ORBWEAVER WEB GLANDS 6X ORBWEAVER CARAPACE ¡­ PAY 100X GOLD COINS Jazmel winced. That was a lot of money, but he paid it all the same. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The brownie spun on a foot and hurried back into the wooden woman. The marionette of its own making and hurried into the back of the shop to begin work. ¡°This will take 1 hour. Come back in that time.¡± It called over its shoulder. Sad¨¦ pulled Jazmel by the hand and dragged him from the shop. ¡°Come on! Let us sell the other pieces.¡± She said and not letting go of Jazmel¡¯s hand, she led him to another sign that had a hammer and anvil. The smith was happy to accept the wolf fangs from Jazmel. He bought them at 15 GOLD COINS PER FANG this made Jazmel 225 GOLD COINS, he slipped those into his storage and the system recalculated. DING 375X GOLD COINS Jazmel smiled. Sad¨¦ sold some of her own wares and while Jazmel did not know what she was selling he could tell a great deal of gold coins were received. They entered another shop this time an alchemist store, with many different items. Jazmel almost left at the prices but then his eyes caught on. DING! ¡­ MANA EYES DETECT ¡­ BYAKKO SPIRIT CORE, the core of a tier I Byakko spirit, the deity of a mountain. Not a god, but nearly. The tiger of the mountain is the king of its territory! ¡°How much for this spirit core?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°That is a high grade one, 350 GOLD COINS.¡± The storekeeper responded. DING ¡­ DETECTED ¡­ COLDFIRE PHOENIX FEATHER, greatly raises the agility and dexterity of a user. ¡­ The system was trying to make him a pauper. ¡°How much for both of these?¡± Jazmel asked him and the storekeeper smiled. ¡°700 GOLD COINS.¡± He barely had half that. ¡°Can I sell items here?¡± Jazmel asked and with a little grimace the storekeeper asked. ¡°What do you have?¡± He showed the storekeeper the web glands he had from the Orbweavers nest. ¡°I will pay you 10 GOLD COINS per gland.¡± He uttered. Jazmel sighed. ¡°What about this?¡± Jazmel offered and shared the Orb weaver queen carapace. The alchemist shuddered. ¡°Where did you get that?¡± he asked, stiffened with greed. ¡°Oh, you want this then.¡± Jazmel asked and the storekeeper smiled. ¡°I will give you 1 WHITE GOLD COIN. For all of it.¡± Jazmel went rigid, that was a lot of money. But he couldn¡¯t show the storekeeper that he was unaccustomed to this sort of money. That was 1000X GOLD COINS. ¡°Do not give me the whole coin, I will give you the carapace and I will take the spirit core and the cold fire phoenix feather, and you give me the change after.¡± Jazmel haggled and the storekeeper licked his lips and nodded. They did their deal and Jazmel smiled. DING! 675 GOLD COINS He tapped his satchel and smiled affectionately. Sad¨¦ rolled her eyes and laughed. ¡°Grow up!¡± she slapped his shoulder. ¡°Are you about to tier up? Those are tribulation items.¡± She asked, curious. ¡°I am.¡± Jazmel said suddenly a little afraid. ¡°I am tiering up tonight, so you can watch over me and when I am done. You can tier up.¡± She said and Jazmel nodded, wanting to see it happen again before having to go through it himself. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the seamstress now, the items should be ready.¡± She mused. ¡°What is that thing?¡± Jazmel asked and she laughed at him. ¡°It is a brownie; they are the best makers of all clothing. Think of how good dwarves are at armour? A brownie is the same with leather. If you ever need anything made like that, always find a brownie first.¡± She told him and he nodded in wonder, learning so much about the labyrinth. They entered the sewist shop again and she left the back to deal with the counter. When she saw that it was them again, the brownie hopped out of its little door and stood waiting. ¡°We just finished your orders. Come and let me see you try them on.¡± DING COMMISSION COMPLETE ACCEPT! Jazmel did and in his storage appeared some items. JACKET OF THE COMMANDER WOLF HIDE BOOTS BELT OF WEBBING He thanked the brownie before entering the changing stall to the side to change, he heard Sad¨¦ enter the one next to him and he threw the idea of her changing from his mind and closed his eyes too. Mana eyes were tricky after all. He admired the jacket, it was lacquered black on the outside and then ink black on the inside but silk like threads had been used in the seams, the shoulders were covered with yellow patches of leather padding and two rings of yellow cuffed the hem of his arms. He put them on and immediately the system sounded. JACKET OF THE COMMANDER, made for the Seeker who has yet to see many places but has the support of his team. When in a party, the wearer will gain better insight. Jazmel could not help but be stunned by the jacket, this was an amazing gift. He took of his shoes, worn down boots and put them in his storage. He pulled the newly made wolf hide boots on and let the system tell him everything. WOLF HIDE BOOTS, made from wolf leather and Orbweaver silk. These boots will make the wearer quick and quiet. Jazmel smiled. The belt he put on last, replacing his old one. BELT OF WEBBING, made from Orbweaver silk, this belt will never drop an item. Jazmel had not dropped an item yet, but he was glad to see that this belt would ensure that he would not in the future too. The jacket fit him perfectly and hung just out of the way that he could keep a sword sheathed in his belt. He had gotten used to wearing the blue sheath of Majime, the sword tassels one blue and one yellow, he played with them nonchalantly when pensive. ¡°All done.¡± He said, stepping out of the stall. Sad¨¦ followed a few moments later and she was dressed completely different. She wore a short sleeve red shirt and a long flowing jacket that was also red. Her combat trousers had been replaced by fine felt trousers of slate grey and boots that were so black, they looked like oil. ¡°You look good.¡± Jazmel said and she smiled, hiding her face behind her hair. ¡°Let¡¯s go find the others.¡± She said and they left. Chapter Nineteen; Aboard the Galleon As previously thought. The party did indeed have to ride the galleon across the sea in which the gate would open for them. Thankfully, it had not cost them any money, but they were given one palatial room for all of them. It was more like an apartment, with separate bedrooms but a living room they all shared. Jazmel was shocked by this, as the room was far bigger than what the galleon could hold but he imagined the space would be like the labyrinth worlds inside each gate. Patton sat in the living room couch and leaned back. ¡°We should check the galleon for any hidden quests or trials. But for now, let us get some rest. I have needed it since the Orbweaver nest.¡± He laughed to himself, and Jazmel remembered he had been almost comatose when they had defeated the Orbweaver queen. ¡°I will be staying in tonight; I am tiering up.¡± Sad¨¦ told them and enthusiastically everyone congratulated her. ¡°Speaking of tiers, we should probably all know what everyone is. Keep your stats to yourself, but what tier are you all.¡± Patton asked. ¡°Seeker tier I, soon anyway.¡± Sad¨¦ told them. ¡°Seeker tier I.¡± Bannerman said next. Seeker tier II.¡± Katie smiled and bowed low to them all. ¡°Seeker.¡± Jazmel said suddenly embarrassed. ¡°Seeker tier I.¡± Patton said, and they all smiled. ¡°I will also be tiering up; I just need one more item.¡± Jazmel told them all. Patton congratulated him and then asked him what he needed. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Considering my own abilities, I need something to temper my body. I need to consider the impurities in my body at every level. My stats are well rounded, but I need something to greatly increase my body.¡± Jazmel explained. ¡°Will fire do?¡± Patton asked him, suddenly pensive. Jazmel had not considered that, but fire did burn and so he wondered what sort of fire could or would it be. He nodded but looked at Sad¨¦ he nodded quickly to assure him it was a good option. ¡°My first floor was a volcanic ruin; I literally entered a lava hound den. But that was not the worst of it, an Ifrit was in control of the floor. Thankfully, I did not have to fight it, but one of the drops were these things.¡± In his hand appeared a sole flame. It was quite large for a flame it was the size of a small ball. But then small arms and legs formed and then the flame turned. Little eyes opened and a squeak was heard. DING! IGNI SPRITE, sprites are life forms that from in the deep recesses of volcanoes. They are sometimes called children of the flames. Used in tribulations and item making, common but still sought after. ¡­ INHABITANTS OF THE FIRES OF VOLCANOES ¡­ CAN BE CONSUMED. The system told him and using his eyes he peered into its Mana source, and it was a vibrant red. It was surprisingly pure even as small as it was. Jazmel nodded and accepted the sprite. It danced as it floated into his hand, and the warmth was welcoming. ¡°It is settled then; you tier up. We will look around the ship and come back before finding anything to eat.¡± Patton said and Jazmel liked how he always had promising ideas for them all. ¡°I think you should always consider the different items for tier tribulations. It is important that you collect anything you think might be good for you, in the future. Even if you are not near a tribulation. You should always plan for when you are tiering up.¡± Patton advised them all and Jazmel nodded thinking the advice good for him. ¡°We will leave you guys to it; Bannerman want to go for a walk?¡± Katie asked him and he grunted before walking out the door. She ran after him to catch up. Patton followed them. Chapter Twenty; Tier Tribulation Sad¨¦ left him to address her own tribulation. But they spoke over it a few times to ensure he had the right idea. She had told him what to expect and what to do for it and he prepared himself mentally. Sad¨¦ had told him that the Igni sprite could burn his clothes from his body and so he had stripped down and wore only a towel that was in his room. He sat in the centre of his room, in a meditative pose and cleared his mind. When going through tier tribulation, the tribulation can affect three parts of the Seeker. The spirit, the body, and the mind. Jazmel just had to pick which tribulation items he would use for each point. Looking at the system, he looked at his stats. Name: Jazmel Level: 15 Species: Human Rank: Seeker Health: 190/220 Stamina: 225/225 Mana: 267/267 STR:23 PER:22 VIT:24 END:24 INT:23 WIL:24 AGL:22 DEX:23 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 0 675X GOLD COINS SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 7 PARTY: 5/5 ¡­ DING! LEVEL 15 HAS BEEN REACHED EXP REWARD! ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION INCOMING ¡­ TRIBULATION ITEMS PRESENT! ¡­ WILL YOU USE THEM? ¡­ Yes Jazmel thought and the system hummed. TIER TRIBULATION HAS BEGUN ¡­ Jazmel almost fainted from the shock. His body heaved and he felt pain from every nerve in his body. His body was aching, and he guessed this was as it begun to readjust itself for new levels and stronger abilities. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND WHAT WILL YOU USE? The system focused him and through clenched teeth he snarled and fought through the pain. He thought of the Byakko spirit core and immediately he felt it appear in his mind. Out of his storage and into his mind. The core spun slowly at first and begun to pick up speed as it cracked and compressed into a much finer ball. The spinning continued and before long the compression had winked it out of sight and a small storm formed in his mind. This gradually grew and before long the storm ravaged his head and mind. The byakko stepped out of the eye of the storm, roaring its fury. A white tiger with black stripes and wings roared and tried to break out of his mind. He clamped down on it and fought it for control. It roared and rung his ears, but he held down on it and before long they connected. The byakko spirit joining his mind and tempering him. The storm clouds dispersed and the byakko retreated into the recesses of his mind. He felt them merge and his mind grew strong. Not confident, that was not the right feeling. He felt more diligent and focused on his own path, the byakko core had been an excellent choice. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND COMPLETE 1/3 ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE This again and though his body still ached with the pain of the tribulation, the byakko spirit core had allowed him to push it out of the fore focus of his mind. Next, he chose the cold fire phoenix feather. Immediately his spirit was encrusted by glaciers of frost, and he felt stiff and rigid beneath them. That was also pulled from his storage and to the appeasement of his thoughts. His body was trying to coexist with the feather, but the sheer spirit of the phoenix fought back! It did not want to be contained and so Jazmel was doing his best to make it surrender to him. He felt frostbitten, his spirit A cold chill flushed him, and the pain eased a little, it ebbed from him and though it was still there. He could admit it was a lot less than when it had first kicked in. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT COMPLETE 2/3 ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE The chill from the cold fire phoenix and the newfound focus of the byakko spirit core, allowed him to focus better on this final decision. He picked the Igni sprite and in delight he felt it squeal with joy. The system plucked it and placed it in the very centre of his body. Just below his belly button. This time though, rather than spinning, the sprite sat there and began to compress on itself. becoming so small that Jazmel could barely see it. But he could feel it and he could see it in his mind. Then the pain jumped and wrecked him in flashes again. The Igni sprite imploded on itself, it flared in power and the Mana core within it flushed Jazmel from within all the way to the tips of his fingers. The force of the flames that rolled both over and inside his body was beyond anything he had felt before. This was worse than when the tribulation had begun, he felt like he might pass out. But he could not, he clenched his jaw and felt his teeth grind together. This tier tribulation was more painful than anything he had ever been through. He felt as if he was being flushed, the flames roiled off of him repeatedly and he felt parts of him burning away. Suddenly he thought of Bannerman and remembered he had not looked like this when he went through his tribulation. He wondered what he had done to prepare himself. He was pulled from those thoughts as another wave of flames washed him again. His breath whistled from him as he exhaled haphazardly. The pain was truly excruciating. After what felt like many hours, the waves ebbed away and the fire of the Igni sprite winked out. DING! TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY COMPLETE 3/3 ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING THE TIER TRIBULATION EXP REWARD ¡­ SEEKER TIER I EXP REWARD ¡­ Name: Jazmel Level: 15 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier I Health: 370/370 Stamina: 325/325 Mana: 367/367 STR:23 PER:22 VIT:24 END:24 INT:23 WIL:24 AGL:22 DEX:23 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 0 675X GOLD COINS SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 7 PARTY: 5/5 All his stats had levelled up by just under five points. All were near or over twenty, this was excellent for him. He opened his eyes for the first time and the first thing he noticed was how keen his sight was. The Mana eyes had always helped, but now his vision was even keener. He willed the Mana into his eyes and all the Mana in the room suddenly glowed brightly enough that he had to shield his eyes. He shut his Mana eyes and smiled to himself. He rose from the floor and coughed; the smell was dreadful. He stunk. He walked into his bathroom and ran the bath immediately; the mirror was big enough he could see everything up until his waist. He almost jumped at the sight. Black ichor riddled his body, not puddles but enough that the towel he had used to cover himself. Was damp with it. He realised it was the impurities in his body and he wondered if the Igni sprite had burned them out of him and if that was the reason behind the pain. He had also added a great deal of muscle to his slender frame. He was not ripped, but now he had biceps, shoulders, and the semblance of six abs. he flexed a little for himself and laughed. Tiering up had been worth it. The bath had been set, he got in and sighed as the heat, which was nothing like the tier tribulation rinsed off the ichor that clung to his body. Chapter Twenty-One; Inside the Galleon Jazmel got dressed and when he came out of his room, Sad¨¦ had completed her tribulation and was sitting in the living room eating. She saw him and flashed him a smile, she did not look that much different, but her Mana was considerably darker and purer than before. This told Jazmel she had crossed over and progressed into tier I as a Seeker. ¡°Completed I see.¡± She mused and Jazmel nodded. ¡°I heard you cry out.¡± She pointed out and Jazmel acknowledged it. ¡°I have never felt pain like that before.¡± He confessed and she nodded in understanding. This was something even Jazmel could not hide. ¡°Usually, Seekers and Rankers are preparing their bodies for the labyrinth. But the impurities within the body sometimes need to expel beforehand. For someone who had not been prepared for the Seeker trials at all, I can imagine it would have been a lot to manage.¡± She assumed. ¡°But we both made it through, so well done on becoming a tier I, Seeker.¡± She congratulated him and he smiled, suddenly shy. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see what this ship has.¡± He offered and she jumped off the settee to her feet and followed him out. They left the room and began their own discovery of the galleon. Jazmel had read about ships this big, but to be aboard one now. As it sailed in an ocean, he was not sure truly existed was amazing. The wind whipped through the ship and the bitter salt water sprayed aboard the ship each time the broke through a wave. The galleon was four floors and four masts. Jazmel had not seen anything the size of this ship ever before and to think someone had built it made Jazmel be surprised also. There were no ship hands or sailors aboard, Sad¨¦ and Jazmel did not see a single person beside other Seekers. Groups had also gotten aboard at the same time as Jazmel and his friends. They had kept to themselves so far, but they seemed equally suspicious of one another too. The ships sails were rigged tight, and the masts were positioned well and with his eyes, he could see that Mana was being used to propel the ship. Mana was being used to pilot the ship too! This was a wondrous creation. The first one he saw was Patton, he was sitting beside Bannerman watching over the seas as they travelled. Bannerman noticed them and beckoned them over. ¡°I can see the tier tribulation went well.¡± Bannerman congratulated him. Patton also congratulated him too, they shook hands. Katie was not with them though. ¡°Where is Katie?¡± Sad¨¦ asked and both shrugged. ¡°She said she wanted to explore the lower parts of the ship.¡± Patton explained. ¡°We should look for her.¡± Sad¨¦ pointed out and Patton rose, dusting himself off. Bannerman rose too and they decided to look for their new friend. Stairways were at the front of the ship and at the back, being near the bow they headed down and Jazmel had to force himself to breathe. The ship¡¯s sides were reinforced glass in different sections where the wood provided windows and they saw beneath the waves. Jazmel could see fish and other sea life as they swam around the ship as it sailed onward, towards it destination. His eyes told him that Mana was within the sea too and he could pick out different fish that were clearly creatures of Mana and were formed from it. This floor was rooms for whoever was staying on the ship. Many different rooms that to Jazmel¡¯s surprise. They were shielded from his eyes. Mana blocked his vision from piercing the rooms. The four descended again and this floor was warm, hot with the running of the ship and its functions. Again, there were no ship hands or sailors to be seen and as they looked around, they discovered the engine room. The engine that ran the ship was as huge as the galleon was massive. It churned, great pistons turned in rhythm as Mana pumped life into the ship and Jazmel figured this was used to propel the ship at the speed it was going. The speed was steady, and Jazmel could tell they were going at a speed a ship without Mana would struggle to maintain. But still this floor, there was no sign of Katie, and this began to worry the group. They walked completely around the engine room and then descended again. To the bottom floor of the ship. This was a cargo space; boxes and wrapped things were strewn around but Jazmel could see that a section had been cleared away. He motioned for the group, and they nodded, Bannerman moved off to the side to get around. As silent as a wolf stalking its prey, while Jazmel led Sad¨¦ and Patton through the cargo. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The sound of movement could be heard and as Jazmel moved through the opening between two wooden boxes that were bigger than him. He spotted Katie down, crouched and hugging her stomach. She gritted her teeth before rising to two unsteady legs and prepared for a fight. She was surrounded by five others, before they could react though. Jazmel had drawn his sword and had it at the throat of a man who had his back to him. As he did this, Bannerman leapt from above and landed in front of Katie. He grabbed the throat of the woman who had been fighting with Katie. She was startled and he held her throat and held her left arm away from them both. It held a dagger, that he squeezed out of her hand. ¡°Who are you!¡± the man with Jazmel¡¯s sword beside his throat, stuttered out. ¡°Her friends.¡± Patton said, finally appearing. He strolled over to Katie and helped her up, she leaned on him, but her eyes told everyone she wanted to fight still. Patton gave her a potion and Jazmel watched as she downed it and began to heal rapidly. ¡°Why were you attacking her?¡± Jazmel asked and the man hesitated, but he tickled him with his blade and the man stood rigid. ¡°We merely asked her where she was going, and she would not answer. So, so we were trying to get the information out of her.¡± He said and Jazmel clenched his jaw. Patton was livid, his hackles were raised, and Jazmel watched as Mana formed in his hands. ¡°Wait.¡± Katie huffed out, she was healing but slowly and she downed another potion to right herself. ¡°Do you agree to a duel?¡± she asked the woman who she had clearly been fighting before. The woman did not take her eyes off Bannerman who had clearly gained all her attention. ¡°What are you wagering?¡± the woman said. Still in the claws of Bannerman who had not looked away or taken in the other members of this party. ¡°Skill for skill?¡± Katie said, Jazmel was a little confused, but he kept his silence. Focusing on keeping this man in check. ¡°Deal. Get this man off me!¡± the woman growled, and Katie simply stepped aside from Patton who backed off. Bannerman grunted, letting go of the woman. He stayed where he was, his claws of Mana still out and his eyes not leaving her face. He stepped back and to the other side, beside the rest of their party, alone but clearly unfazed. DING! DUEL ANNOUNCED SKILL FOR SKILL READY? The system sung into their minds as they were witnesses and Jazmel stood off to the side with Sad¨¦, his sword now sheathed, but at the read beside him. Katie unravelled the chain around her waist and began to twirl it and spin it around her body in slow, lazy arcs. The woman retrieved her dagger and Jazmel realised she was dressed in dark colours and strips of fabric wrapped both arms and legs in a unique way. She looked like an assassin and when he saw the wicked curved blade in her hand, he realised she might have been one. Katie moved first, she tossed her chain in the air and then as it came down, she kicked out. Directing the chain with her foot. It bent around her and flew out with such accuracy that even Jazmel was shocked. The woman deflected the strike, barely but Jazmel could tell she was stunned. A few more strikes like this happened and then the woman was merely stepping out of the range of the strikes. Shadow self. The woman said and her skilled formed beside her, a form of herself. Completely made from black Mana. It split and ran ahead of her, and she darted to the other side, running in a figure eight towards Katie. Katie spun and twirled. Using the chain as a pendulum and letting it wrap around her body, she flung out both ends, and they struck both the running assassin and the version made from Mana. To Jazmel¡¯s surprise they both vanished and from above the woman dropped down, but Katie clearly was aware as she rolled out of the way and flung her chain out, it caught the dagger hand and then with a pull she jerked the woman forward. She then threw her chain behind and rolling forward, she caught it, and, in this motion, she trapped the woman¡¯s own dagger beside her throat. She threw her chain through the same rafters that the woman had dropped from and then she pulled. Hanging the woman by neck and arm. ¡°Yield.¡± Katie said and her voice was strained and filled with anger. This was the most serious Jazmel had ever seen her, he could tell right away this was the precipice of an unpleasant situation. ¡°I do not.¡± The woman said and Katie yanked the chain, throttling her. The man made to step forward, but Jazmel had drawn his sword again and this time without putting it beside the man, he merely showed its length. He was faster and after his tribulation, he was filled with energy. The Mana building in him was fighting to escape. ¡°Yield!¡± Katie asked again and the woman, who was choking wanted to fight against it, but she could not, and she was struggling to breath with the chain wrapped around her. ¡°Yield Lena!¡± the man who was closest to Jazmel and Sad¨¦ shouted. He clearly cared for this woman, she looked into his eyes and surrendered. DING A WINNER A SEEKER HAS YIELDED A SKILL WILL BE GIFTED TO THE WINNER The system announced and Katie let her chain unravel. She pulled it to wrap it around her body again and Jazmel watched as she walked towards the woman. Everyone in the chamber froze to see what would happen. The woman who had been fighting to catch her breath, stood but did not raise her dagger. Katie looked at her for a moment and then slapped her. Hard in the face. ¡°How would I know where I am going? Each gate opens somewhere random, doesn¡¯t it? Idiot.¡± She growled and then without looking back she made to leave. They follow her, Sad¨¦ then Patton and then Bannerman. Jazmel was the last to leave but he held his sword and sheath out and dared the party to follow them. Chapter Twenty-Two; Pirates DING! A TRIAL AWAITS YOU ALL ¡­ PIRATES ATTACK YOUR SHIP DEFEND YOUR LIVES The system chimed aloud, and everyone rushed back up the stairs, trying to gauge the situation. Jazmel was the last but as he arrived, he heard the clash and scream of battle. Fights were taking place, even as he gained access finally the number of pirates were more than he had expected. Seekers were fighting for their lives, many of them were already engaged. As his own party came up, a group of pirates were already rushing them. Sad¨¦ and Patton rushed into action and Katie swung herself into the air. Ropes flipped up onto the ship. Hooks trapping the ship into place. Jazmel cut through the closest ones to him and before darting off he shouted. ¡°Bannerman! Cut the ropes off.¡± Jazmel yelled; Bannerman growled in response but executed heading towards the ship rails. A man yelled and rushed Jazmel, clutching a knife and a bearded axe. Jazmel glided beneath his attack and cut him along the ribs. Before the man could turn, he struck him on the spine and pushed him overboard. Others rushed him but he fought well, striking with his blade and deterring any attacks. DING PREPARE THE PIRATE CAPTAIN IS NEAR Jazmel felt the system thrum in his mind and gripping his sword he prepared. The pirates that remained were guarding a single rope. One that neither Bannerman nor Jazmel had been able to cut down. A large hand appeared over the railing and then a second pulling the body up onto the ship. The pirate captain was a great bear of a man, barrel chested and covered in tattoos, he wore a faded admiral jacket and a privateer hat with a loose red feather. His beard scraggly but his eyes were fierce. Jazmel could tell this one was strong. ¡°KILL THEM ALL!¡± he bellowed, and the pirates crooned to begin, they charged all the Seekers on the ship and Jazmel fought back surrounded by his party. Slash! He struck, and his skill wounded many, they were fighting, and the captain of the pirates was striking the Seekers. Knocking bodies far from him and here and there, even some unfortunate bodies were knocked off the ship, but Jazmel was not happy. He winced as he fell to his knees, he had been struck from behind. Whirling he protected himself from a second strike and saw it was the man from Katie¡¯s duel. His sword had struck Jazmel from behind. Though the wound was not grievous, it had taken him when he had not been prepared. DANGER WOUNDED ¡­ BLEEDING!! This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it WARNING The system chimed and Jazmel gritted his teeth. The man rose to strike him again but was caught by a few pirates who had attacked him. Jazmel survived, rising quickly. He swallowed a health potion and then rose, deflecting a pirate¡¯s attack. He struck deep and killed him. A little shocked to kill a man for the first time, he nearly froze but stopped quickly as others attacked him. He had no time to freeze, others attacked and quickly he dispatched them. There was no time to waste, the man who had attacked him was making his way towards him and before he could move. Jazmel struck. As quick as lightning he struck and without even speaking the blue kite of Mana struck the man in the chest. The look of shock on his face was only overshadowed by the dread of dying. He could not even wait; he felt the system thrum, but the pirates rushed him again and in three simple strikes. He defeated them all. Patton and Bannerman were fighting the pirate captain while Katie and Sad¨¦ were keeping the other pirates back. He ran forward, joining Patton and Bannerman. He struck deep, striking the knee of the pirate. He yelped but stayed standing and struck a might blow with his mallet against Bannerman. He was knocked aside, and it took everything not to topple over the railing. Next Patton struck in the gut with a Mana sword. The pirate captain grabbed him, but he just drove his sword deeper. Jazmel struck again. This time at the throat of the pirate captain. This drove him down and with a heavier wound Jazmel felt life slip from him. DING CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE PIRATES CONTRIBUTION TO BE REWARDED The system chimed into all their thoughts and Jazmel could not help but wonder what he would gain. DING SURVIVED A STEALTH ATTACK ¡­ STRUCK THE FINAL BLOW ON THE PIRATE CAPTAIN ¡­ LEVEL UP +2 STR +2 VIT His stats had gone up again. Name: Jazmel Level: 16 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier I Health: 370/370 Stamina: 325/325 Mana: 367/367 STR:25 PER:22 VIT:26 END:24 INT:23 WIL:24 AGL:22 DEX:23 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 0 675X GOLD COINS SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 7 PARTY: 5/5 REWARD GIVEN In his storage space, a relic sword handle had appeared. There was no blade or sheath, but Jazmel could tell there was some deep power within. He did not even check it, he kept it within the storage space. The other Seekers were checking their stats and moving their points around. Jazmel moved over to Sad¨¦, and she seemed to be busy with her stats. Jazmel looked around and noticed the party with the man he had killed. They were looking for the man, Jazmel turned from them. But kept a hand on his sword just in case. Katie strolled over to stand beside him, and they stood together in silence for a while. ¡°Taking the life of a Seeker is always hard.¡± She admitted and he looked at her, surprised she knew what he was feeling. ¡°You have to remember two things, always.¡± She said. ¡°1, you must always protect yourself from harm. No matter where you find yourself in. 2, You must try your best not to take life for just any reason.¡± She told him and he considered her words for a long while. ¡°When killing, it can become easy. That is when you will be no better than a beast.¡± She told him and without another word, she walked away. Heading over to Patton. He stayed alone for a while before Bannerman came over to him. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Bannerman asked him, this surprised Jazmel. Bannerman was reserved and rarely showed any emotion, but he was clearly concerned with Jazmel. ¡°I am alright.¡± Jazmel started. ¡°Sometimes a fight is more than a fight, but sometimes conflict is about survival too.¡± Bannerman said and Jazmel nodded, understanding him completely. ¡°Just keep your focus and ensure that you do not dilute your attention with the ways of other Seekers.¡± Bannerman told him, before patting his shoulder and moving away to check the railings over the other side of the ship. Sad¨¦ came over to him and Jazmel merely enjoyed her silent company. Patton and Katie were heading towards their room and Bannerman followed, Sad¨¦ pulled Jazmel by the hand, and he complied to her pulls. Chapter Twenty-Three; the Hinterlands The ship had sailed for two more days but it was in listless peace. Jazmel stayed in their guest dorm and didn¡¯t come above for a while. The others gave him a wide berth and in truth he had needed it. DING! THE FIFTH GATE HAS BEEN PASSED SEEKERS HAVE PASSED THE THRESHOLD EXP REWARDED The system sung in Jazmel''s head and he sighed. This was information for him. The gates were not always a simple archway. They could be something so big a galleon would pass through it. This made him smile. Each gate had opened and led him into something that felt like a new world. He imagined that each floor could be the size of a country or a continent and Jazmel wondered just how many he would see. ¡°We will hit land in less than an hour.¡± A soft knock at the door told him, he knew it was Patton but he merely thanked him for the heads up. He checked his swords, this time unsheathing both of them and checking their blades before sticking both in his belt. His jacket and boots were pulled on and he got ready quickly. When he left his room, everyone else was in the living area. Keeping themselves busy but quite clearly focused on him. ¡°I am fine!¡± Jazmel told them. Patton clapped his back and nodded. ¡°Lets go see this new world then!¡± Katie said and Jazmel could tell that she was back to her playful self. ¡°Lets go.¡± Sad¨¦ said, her eyes were curiously on Jazmel but he deftly looked away. Descending the ship was a slow and arduous thing. Many Seekers were aboard the ship, more than Jazmel had previously realised. Some who he had not seen when the pirates had attempted to attack the ship. But Patton told him, he was sure that the pirates had attacked as many floors as they could. Jazmel was studying the groups of people who were leaving the ship. Looking at their Mana and studying them as they flowed into the port. The port was a town much like the one Jazmel had been in when he had boarded the galleon, but Jazmel was not looking for items as such this time. ¡°Let¡¯s find an inn.¡± Patton said. ¡°I think it might be best to push through and head into the wild.¡± Bannerman uttered and they all looked at him. ¡°Well, the more Seekers here. the less likely we will find anything of value to see or have. Maybe we should leave before everyone else leaves too.¡± Bannerman explained and not to his surprise, Jazmel agreed. ¡°I agree, I think we should see about the quest to pass through the floor.¡± He said and the others murmured in agreement. ¡°We might find some treasure.¡± Katie said smiling and with a grin she jumped from the gangplank and the rest followed her. The port was filled with market stalls, people bartering and haggling. But his party was skipping all this. It took them almost five hours to make it out of the port town, but Jazmel was glad for it once they had left the busy town. The gates opened by themselves to let them out and the path disappeared after they left the great sycamore trees that lined it. Their scent strong, dancing in the breeze. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°This feels like home.¡± Bannerman said and Jazmel could tell he too enjoyed the open and vast expanse. ¡°These hinterlands look like they go on for days.¡± Katie said, and she shook her head before starting north. They follow and Sad¨¦ walked beside Jazmel. The hinterlands were vast, great roving hills rose in all directions. Hills that were nearly the size of mountains rose and fell in waves of unmoving greens and browns. Endless but also far reaching, to Jazmel this land was huge. They followed Katie as she led north, Bannerman assumed the role of scout and using his wolfen skills he stayed ahead of the group studying and scouting the areas ahead. Sad¨¦ strolled beside Jazmel and took the time to gather different plants and herbs she found growing around. ¡°Are you feeling better?¡± she asked him. He nodded but he could see the worry in her eyes. She seemed to care a lot about him, that was the way of things as she was the first person, he had met inside the labyrinth that had been welcoming and this made him think of Mary. ¡°How do I send a letter to someone?¡± Jazmel asked and Sad¨¦ got up from her foraging to come closer to him. ¡°You send them a message through Mana, but you have to be friends with them already.¡± She explained and he nodded. ¡°Here use this.¡± She handed him a folded piece of paper. Origami that had been folded into the shape of a swan. ¡°Insert Mana into the origami and it will fly to the person.¡± She explained, another thing she was helping him with and teaching him so much. ¡°Thank you he said.¡± Smiling he sent her a friend request. She smiled and accepted it immediately, he then sent one to all other members of their party. Which was accepted also. I have progressed up to the fifth gate, I am ok and have made a group of friends. Any word on Tango? He inserted into the origami swan, and it fluttered in his hand before he impressed upon Mary in his mind too. This set it off flying and it was gone from his sight. ¡°Is that the only way to send messages?¡± he asked and before Sad¨¦ could respond. Patton answered him. ¡°You can send messages through courier points if you want. But the origami swan is the cheapest way.¡± He explained and Jazmel took a mental note of that, the next time they were in a store. He would have to buy some more of those. Sad¨¦ stepped ahead and began to walk and talk with Katie, leaving Patton and Jazmel beside themselves. ¡°You care for her don¡¯t you.¡± He said, not accusingly but more in fact. ¡°I do. She was the first person to be kind to me in the labyrinth and even now, she teaches me all the things I did not know.¡± He answered, confessing. ¡°It is sort of how I feel about Katie. But different, keep it as you are. Keep growing together as you do.¡± He mused and a little confused, Jazmel said nothing. ¡°She is an elf?¡± Patton asked and Jazmel did not say anything. ¡°There were many in my home village. They were scholars and taught us magic and Mana manipulation.¡± Patton explained and Jazmel had wondered how he Managed to wield the Mana in a sword shape. ¡°I have never seen someone use a Mana sword before.¡± Jazmel pointed out and Patton nodded. ¡°It is the one shape I have always been able to make, it is almost second nature now. But I do use a sword if I can find a good one.¡± He said and Jazmel noticed he was not wearing a sword. ¡°You are very good with a sword!¡± Patton said as if remembering finally. Jazmel felt his face flush and his neck got hot suddenly. ¡°I, I guess I am.¡± Jazmel said, and Patton laughed this time. ¡°Take it from me if you are this good as just a Seeker? Imagine what you will be like as a Ranker or even a Master. I promise you; you have a real gift for it.¡± He complimented Jazmel and they laughed at it together. ¡°I will not ask you, your story. We all have our own stories to maintain. But just know that by us banding together. We all will do right by each other; I can tell you are good people and I promise to be that good right back.¡± Patton offered and Jazmel realised this might be the first conversation they had had together. Chapter Twenty-Four; the Hinterlands II The hinterlands were so vast that it had taken them almost five days to cross one hill. Jazmel was amazed and they all shared their own ideas and experiences. Patton told him that some gates opened to places as small as a house, whereas others would open into something as big as a continent. The labyrinth really opened its different floors as it saw fit for the journey of the Seeker. The hinterlands were wild. Creatures that none of them knew roamed in herds and packs. Luckily, none attacked them and so they knew they were not monsters. But they were beyond the imagination and describing them confused him. But he was happy to just witness the creations of the labyrinth. Bannerman steered them far away from any suspecting monsters. While scouting, he showed them a small orc tribe that were bringing back the prey of a successful hunt and Jazmel wondered what they had caught. The plains were put together of hills and valleys. Plains of both short grass and tall. All in abundance and Jazmel could tell a person could grow lost in this place. He did indeed wonder what the quest would be in this floor and yet the system had not fed any hints into him. They had agreed to head for the slopes of the hills and were heading in that direction, making their way through the lower valley. A place where Katie and Sad¨¦ had taken the opportunity to forage again. Somehow Sad¨¦ knew the several types of plants and herbs, the ones that could be used to create potions and others that were good for traps. Katie was invested in the trap making and so Sad¨¦ was sharing with her all the things she knew, and Jazmel did not worry himself with what they discussed. Instead, like Patton he kept his eyes surveying their surroundings. The foliage meant little to Jazmel and using his eyes, he looked out for any Mana fluctuations. Bannerman whistled and everyone froze. That had been their signal in case of an attack and now it sounded. Patton signalled to the girls to prepare, and they both did, quickly and quietly. Bannerman appeared back from the front of their trail and hurried towards them all, as silently and lithe as usually. ¡°Undead.¡± Bannerman mouthed and everyone shuddered. But now was not the time. ¡°How many?¡± Patton asked and Bannerman using his hands showed a group of thirty. This was a lot and Jazmel knew that numbers always played a part in an attack. ¡°Katie. Traps.¡± Patton said, she slinked off smiling. ¡°Bannerman and Sad¨¦, flank them. Me and Jazmel will draw them in, you cut them down from behind.¡± Patton ordered; they left through the grass quickly. Jazmel drew Hajime, the sword ready and cool in his hand. Patton conjured a Mana sword in both hands and standing he told Jazmel aloud. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Undead are weak to Mana, fire, and head injuries. Cut off their head or crush it. It works.¡± He told him and Jazmel simply nodded, mind focused on the fight. The first undead to notice Jazmel screeched, drawing the attention of the rest. They were scantily dressed, corpses that were reanimated through longing and hunger. Things that warped Mana in odd ways. True as Patton stated, he struck with slash and two fell into brittle pieces ahead of him. He did not react but struck out again, keeping his sword at the ready and fighting to ensure they did not surround him. Patton fought much the same, slicing them apart. Jazmel cut down five more before they rushed him, running. They would have overwhelmed him if there was not an explosion. Blowing some of them up where they stood. A trap set by Katie. She landed beside him swinging her chain and deftly striking one of the undead in the head. She whipped her chain and begun to take them out one by one. Jazmel not wanting to be left alone, followed suit. Wading into the undead and re-killing them with each strike. Katie was fluid with her strikes, ensuring to only aim for the heads of the undead, but if she didn¡¯t have a clean shot. She would switch her aim at another victim. Jazmel tried to follow suit, doing his best to ensure none of the undead grabbed him or managed to bite him. Bannerman and Sad¨¦ appeared at the back of the loose group of undead and Jazmel determined to meet his friends. Fought until they stood side by side. Before long, the group had won out and the undead lay in ruins around them. Without having to be told, they all began to pick through the remains. Jazmel simply let his shadow wraith consume his and it collected all the items up for him. DING LEVEL UP SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL UP Great it was still growing even with this small amount. They had about finished when Bannerman hushed them and crouched low. They all followed, and Jazmel wondered why but not for long. Out of the sky, a piercing cry could be heard. A shadow blotted out the sun briefly as something flew overhead and they did their best to hide themselves. Bannerman raised a hand to keep them all hidden and low for a moment before he rose. ¡°That was a Roc. I have not seen one of those for many years.¡± He huffed. ¡°A Roc isn¡¯t that bad; it could have been a Thunderbird!¡± Katie said and they all agreed on that. Even Jazmel had heard those stories as a child. A Roc was the mortal enemy of a Thunderbird, and they fought over the skies as that were their territory. Nobody knew why they despised one another so much but they were distinctly different as the sun was different to the moon. A Thunderbird was dangerous as it could cause storms, but a Roc wielded monstrous strength. Something Jazmel did not want to ever witness. ¡°We should find somewhere to rest. Out of the grass.¡± Sad¨¦ pointed out and they all agreed. High ground was decided on and Bannerman sought out a trail and accepted the lead once again. Chapter Twenty-Five; the Hinterlands III They had left the ship nearly a week ago, they had been deep in the hinterlands since, and Jazmel had gained a great deal of experience. Learning what he could from every one of the group. Bannerman taught him how to scout a little and pick up trails of different animals. Patton taught him how to build a hidden camp but also how to set a little alarm made of rocks found around them to keep them all alerted. Katie and Sad¨¦ showed him how to set traps also, small ones such as a simple red flower they found had seeds within its buds and they exploded into a very irritating spray that caused rashes and light burns. He took and stored some seeds in his storage space. They had fought different type of monsters and creatures at different moments. Creatures that were territorial but either were defeated or sent off in fear by their group. Patton was teaching the group how to fight together, and this was working more effectively. Each time they tried a separate way and after he asked them all different questions. Things that might help later or what they all thought they could do better. It was surprisingly helpful, and Jazmel was consuming at great deal of information from each bout. It was another three days before they Managed to escape the grasslands and enter the hill slopes. The group now refreshed and well rested. The foraging that Sad¨¦ had been doing, kept them healthy with fruits and herbs along the way and Bannerman hunted for them each time they started camp. This was a peaceful time, and it was uneventful for a time. The second day outside of the grasslands they came across another party. Both took note of one another and yet no words were said between them. Patton finally broke the silence and asked them if they had seen the gate. The leader, it would seem was a Centaur. Half man and half horse, two of his party rode on his back while the others simply ran beside him. ¡°We just entered through a gate a day west of here.¡± he called out. Patton thanked him and directed him towards the port and which way to begin going, they nodded their thanks and headed in that direction. Patton asked Bannerman to see if he could spot the gate they had mentioned and to scout the route out. He left immediately. ¡°Let¡¯s set up a camp here.¡± he told them, and they went about their duties doing so. Jazmel setting up the traps and alarm from the previous times. ¡°Do you think the gate they used will be the same gate we can use to exist this place?¡± Sad¨¦ asked and Katie simply shrugged. ¡°Well, a gate is a doorway, and a door is both an entrance and an exit. Nobody knows how the gates work inside the labyrinth.¡± Patton considered and quietly everyone thought about his words. ¡°Well, in my city. We were told that the Labyrinth had not rotated in almost ten years. When it does or if it does. New gates and new parts of the labyrinth will open for everyone to gain.¡± Katie told them and Jazmel listened, mystified. ¡°Yes. My father told me the Celestial snake within the centre of the labyrinth controls the course of it and if it moves even a little. The whole labyrinth will twist and turn. Creating new gates.¡± Sad¨¦ told them Jazmel smiled at this, a little excited at all the different adventure possibilities. Then he felt sad again, suddenly worried about Tango again. He was still hoping to find him. He would. They rested for a few hours and Bannerman returned telling them what they had all not hoped. ¡°The gate is there, but the archway is empty. It is not for us; our task must be taking us down a different path.¡± He told them and Patton simply thanked him for his scouting but then sat in silence. DING! THOSE WHO HAVE OVERCOME WILL GO ON ¡­ PARTY SHARED PLOT
  1. OVERCOME TWO FLOORS TOGETHER
  2. DEFEAT A BEHEMOTH
  3. ALL PARTY MEMBERS MUST OVERCOME A TRIBULATION
REWARDS VARY UPON COMPLETION The system chimed aloud to them all, the first time Jazmel had heard it outside of his mind. They were all stunned and looked around each other. ¡°A party shared plot?¡± Katie uttered. ¡°We have to defeat a behemoth.¡± Sad¨¦ said and looked worried. ¡°When it says a tribulation, does that mean we all have to overcome a tier tribulation Seeker? Because that means we have a lot of grinding to do.¡± Patton mused. Bannerman merely grunted and Jazmel just took it in, listening to everyone else¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Right. First things first. This floor and the next floor will oversee that for us. A behemoth is a lot for us even at tier III we need to consider that later. But what level are you all?¡± Patton asked. ¡°20.¡± Bannerman growled. ¡°32.¡± Katie said with a bow and Jazmel gasped, realising she was already nearing tier III. ¡°19.¡± Sad¨¦ said with a shy smile. ¡°18.¡± Jazmel said, a little annoyed he was the lowest one again. ¡°22.¡± Patton said finally with a wry smile. ¡°We have a lot of grinding to do. But that is fine, we need to even ourselves out and the quicker we grow the easier it will be for us to accomplish our party shared plot.¡± He was motivating them, but Jazmel was already motivated. He needed to level up. They rested and begun to see what they could do to level up. Jazmel wondered what he would use for his next tier tribulation. Hopefully, they would come across another store or auction, and this would be enough to allow Jazmel to better prepare. While everyone was resting, he walked out of the camp, his Mana eyes could detect any changes in his environment, so he knew he was all right. He stepped up and climbed up onto one of the lower slopes that were close. It took him a little time, but he made it to the top and overlooking the hinterlands the setting sun, cloaked the land in an orange hue. A sound like wind whistling could be heard and turning to face it, he noticed a break in the slope. It was not a cave as such, but a rather deep indent and when he investigated it. It barred entry. DING! TRIAL GATE FOUND ¡­ WILL YOU COMPLETE THE TRIAL? ¡­ Jazmel hesitated but thinking on his low level again he felt motivated. He pressed against it again and this time the barrier was gone. TRIAL GATE OPEN SEEKER ENTER Jazmel was on the hinterlands slopes a moment ago and now he was in a white void. A singular platform as wide as an auditorium, he found himself standing alone. SEEKER CHALLENGING THE TRIAL SURVIVE THE WAVE He immediately went to draw his sword, but nothing happened. He went to check his satchel but found it was not around his waist. He was bare, wearing nothing but the clothes on his back. WAVE 1 BEGIN! In front of him, just a few yards away. A green being appeared, it was snaggle toothed and bare, wearing nothing but a loincloth covered its lower half. It clutched a rusty dagger but was about half the size of Jazmel. It rushed him, and he side stepped its first attack, then another. He then pushed it away when it swung again, he darted backwards to evade a backhand slash from the creature. He hesitated and the creature leapt onto him. Stabbing down at him, the blade scraped his chest and with anger he threw it from him. It landed awkward and its neck twisted. It did not move again. STATUS CONDITION LIGHT WOUND TIER I GOBLIN KILLED WAVE 2 The goblin disappeared but left its knife. Jazmel picked it up and the rusted blade felt unbalanced but sturdy in his hand. BEGIN! This time two goblins appeared, both clutching knives and this time a small leather piece of armour each. This time Jazmel did not hesitate and killed them both. A dagger across the throat and then another stab to the back of the head. They fell dead and disappeared. He picked up both their blades and waited. TIER I GOBLIN X2 KILLED WAVE 3 You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. BEGIN! This time it was not a goblin; it was something much larger than the goblin. Still green; but this time it was muscular and a little taller. It was stronger too; he could see from the focus in its eyes, and they were keen on Jazmel. Keen on killing him, this monster clutched an axe and raised it as it charged, he tried to sidestep it too. But it changed its direction too and mid stride swung and attacked him immediately, Jazmel evaded it safely, but he was struck by a backward swing. This drove him off his feet and Jazmel luckily used the sword to block. But this monster was dangerous still, he flicked out the blade and struck it on the shoulder. It gritted its teeth and pushed through the pain, but Jazmel used that moment to steady himself and prepare better. The goblin mutant rushed forward, and Jazmel literally crashed his scabbard on its hands and made sure that it dropped the axe. Slash The skill move struck its hands and while one was cut off and the other bloodied, it simply roared and grabbed for the axe it had previously dropped. He hurried in and slashed its neck with his next movement. Flying past it in a darting run as he slashed through it. not looking back, he heard it gurgle and crash to the ground in death. TIER I HOBGOBLIN KILLED So, it was a hobgoblin he thought to himself, he hadn¡¯t seen one of those before, but he made sure to analyse the fight he had just had on reflection. It was a sort of training after all. WAVE 4 BEGIN! Before the next wave could have happened, he prepared himself and thought about what to do next. The monsters appeared and he waited for them to rush him. They immediately decided to attack him from both sides, but he was not wasting any moments. Slash! He sent a wide ranged attack at him, and Mana sliced through the air towards the hobgoblins. One tried to block the attack and stumbled to a knee beneath its attack. He struck the closest and though it was a deep wound it didn¡¯t die, but in his hurry. The other struck him across the back. DANGER! HEALTH DOWN 15% WARNING!! He winced and sucked his teeth. Unhappy to be caught off guard, he backed off and made sure he could see them both in his sights. Instead, he struck out again, this time it felt different. The Mana moved different and propelled across his blade in a long strike and a jagged swathe of Mana in the shape of a scythe carved through the air and struck both the hobgoblins. Knocking them off their feet, Jazmel was shocked and immediately felt the knew skill settle in his final skill slot. NEW SKILL WHIRLWIND, using Mana a slash like a whirlwind is directed at the victim SKILL ADDED Whirlwind (tier I) Two hobgoblins this time, both wielding swords and axes. This time they rushed him together; he took a bad hit to the shoulder and then a knock across the ribs took his breath. He killed them both but this time he had been wounded. He wheezed and waited, slowing his breath down and trying to force his body to begin healing itself. TIER I HOBGOBLIN X2 KILLED WAVE 5 HEALTH REPLENISHED! The system flushed him with energy and his body knitted itself back together again. He was grateful but the experience also let him know, he could not be wounded again. He needed to reflect on his movements quicker. But he was also pleased about the new move he had learned; he was already thinking about how the move could be used on others. It had BEGIN! This time the monster was taller than him. A darker green this time, fangs and scars riddled its face. An intense hate seemed to form in the eyes of the monster. It was muscular and wide in the shoulders. It clutched a double headed axe and raising it above its head. It charged Jazmel. He had gotten used to the headlong rush and so he slashed it across the stomach as it rammed past him. Waiting for it to fly past him, he rushed in, darting into its reach. Using the knife, he had hidden in his belt. He struck the knee and elbow of the creature. Its skin was thick, but the knee wound was deep. It barged him with the butt end of its axe and before it could swing it wildly. He stabbed down into its hand; it almost dropped its axe. But backhanded him instead. He felt that attack, he spat a wad of blood from his mouth and waited as it roared with rage. Flight of the blue kite! He skipped back and with his sword he slashed it across the chest. The form of a blue Mana bird struck; cutting its skin and making it bleed profusely. It swung downward with its axe but missed him. He had spun to the left of it. He stabbed with the knife and struck with the sword. taking its hand, then stabbing it in between the ribs and then taking its head off. All in a flurry of simple moves. ORC KILLED WAVE 6 BEGIN Thankfully, it was not two orcs. But instead, it was a Draugr. An undead warrior. Its body held together with ice and Mana. Its armour thick with chainmail and frost. The knife did not even dent the armour and as it swung with its sword and shouldered him with its shield. It took some time before he was able to get into its defence. He struck hard and took the head off from the back cutting through its spin and neck with some strength. He swapped swords as the one he had been using dulled. A heavier blade meant more power and he felt like for some reason he would need it. DRAUGR KILLED WAVE 7 BEGIN! This time it was a human, or the shape of one. Mana was inside it, but it felt like a fiend. A creature that was functioning with little will. This fight was even easier than the previous and this worried him, he barely needed to steel himself for this. He struck deep and true; taking it through the bare chest. PUTTY DOLL KILLED WAVE 8 BEGIN! This time it was another doll but better made, there was three Mana cores within its body as his eyes told him. He fought a bout and realised this thing had been made to know how to wield a sword. He did not fight it for long, as its intent wavered at the end. His eyes showed him where to strike and his sword sense kept him focused on the flow of the bout. The doll defended itself better than the previous doll, but his eyes showed him exactly where to aim for and what to attack. But he disarmed it and then slashed it deep through its chest core, cutting through all three Mana cores it crumpled in on itself and vanished. SWORD WRAITH KILLED WAVE 9 BEGIN! This time it was two of them, but Jazmel had prepared. He used the sword of the fallen wraith and fought both, ensuring that he kept them directly in front of him and not letting them gain any advantage on him. This bout was strenuous, and he found himself breathing deeply and haggard, he was low on Mana and stamina, he could feel the fatigue in his limbs. He would need to buy more potions. He would need to keep those up, there was a lesson in this also. Something that he was making sure to learn, all the lessons of the labyrinth. The exhaustion of the previous waves had begun to catch up to him and he now was waning. The sword wraith to his left balked first and driving his sword into its gut. He pushed it back, giving him space to deal with the other. By the time it had pulled his blade from within. He had dispatched the other and whirling on it he struck with his other sword. driving his sword through the cores in its chest and shattering it. The Mana light left its eyes and it crumpled to the ground before crumbling. X2 SWORD WRAITH KILLED WAVE 10 THE FINAL WAVE DO YOU WISH TO CONTNUE? He sighed, catching his breath in deep inhales. ¡°Yes.¡± He said in an inhale. SWORDS RETURNED!! He smiled at that and pulled Hajime from his storage space and felt the comfort of his familiar sword grip. But in his heart, he knew he was being prepared for his hardest trial yet. BEGIN! This time what materialised was something that jarred his whole body and he froze. Something stood before him that he had never seen before and yet every fibre in his body let him know he knew what it was immediately. The wraith that formed this time was completely made of Mana and shadow it was a man, completely formed of black Mana and shadow. There were no features at all not even eyes, but everything emanating from this being told Jazmel it was a warrior. It wore simple robes and yet in its hands held a katana of high quality. Jazmel could tell from the Mana wrapped around the sheath and sword. the wraith had not even moved yet, but Jazmel could tell it was stronger than all creatures before. He drew Hajime and holding it with both hands, held it to the side waiting. The wraith drew its own katana, slowly and Jazmel licked his lips. The blade was truly a beautiful creation. The wraith leapt at him, and they clashed. Strike after strike. Slash Flight of the blue kite! The wraith met him equally, after around ten strikes, Jazmel could tell they were equal in power. He focused and let his skill take control of his body, sword sense blurred all other notions and only thought of the sword. this time he struck high but then feinted and struck low. The wraith rebuttal and managed to deflect but not before striking him on the forearm. WARNING! CONDITION: BLEEDING This monster had caught him again and he felt the wounds to prove it, but he focused. Breathing long and deep, he steadied his trepid heart and drove on. He winced but did not stop his own attacks. He caught the wraith on the shoulder and the blade was deep, blood did not seep from the wound, but Mana crept out. Whirlwind! he had decided to use this skill for multiple monsters, but in a close duel such as this. It was a formidable attack to create an opening for himself. The wraith was buffeted by the winds of Mana that his skill created, the wraith stepped back out and he could see the many wounds of the whirlwind of Mana. There was a lot of little wounds, but the wraith made no show of pain, and then changed its stance. Its sword in front and offering no openings. Jazmel copied it, this was the last attack. The final bout between he and the wraith. Rushing forward, Jazmel threw himself into his final strike. The sword moved with no effort; it was his greatest movement. There were no flaws or excess in his strike. He took the wraith in the throat. Striking hard and deep, almost decapitating it but not enough to fully remove its head. It fell behind him, but he was still transfixed in the movement of his sword. seconds felt like hours, but when he pulled himself from within the system thrummed. FINAL WAVE COMPLETE! CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SEEKER THE FIRST TRIAL GATE OF THE SEEKER IS COMPLETE REWARDS TO BE GIVEN ¡­ EXP TO BE GIVEN ¡­ DING!! The system whirled and pulled him from the trial gate and within a moment¡¯s breath. He was out on the slope again. The system notifications flooded his mind, and he opened them to see what had happened. LEVEL UP LEVEL UP EXP EARNED LEVEL UP +3 STR +5 END +3 INT +5 AGL +5 DEX +10 WIL REWARDS GIVEN TIER II BONE FROM THE NEMEAN LION TIER I SWORD FROM AVALON TIER I SIRIUS CITRUS FRUIT He literally could not believe what he had gained in that trial zone. His stats were phenomenal, the growth had raised him exactly as he had needed it, but he had also now gained experience. He knew a lot more about his own skills than before. Especially on how to wield the sword, he had been reflecting on the different waves he had endured, and, in his mind, he was trying to figure out how to get back to that moment of flawless sword movement. His stats now showed as. Name: Jazmel Level: 21 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier I Health: 600/680 Stamina: 325/600 Mana: 650/650 STR:28 PER:22 VIT:26 END:29 INT:26 WIL:34 AGL:27 DEX:28 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 0 675X GOLD COINS SHADOW WRAITH: LEVEL 7 PARTY: 5/5 Chapter Twenty-Six; Gate of the Hinterlands Jazmel returned to the group and found that he had only been gone for a few moments. Time clearly moved different within those trials, as he had Managed to complete it which felt like days, but it had been barely an hour outside of it. Patton and Sad¨¦ were awake, the others were resting. Patton welcomed him and passed him some fruit before sitting down on the ground. ¡°I have something for you.¡± Jazmel said and going into his storage he pulled out the sword he had been rewarded. The sword was a knight¡¯s longsword, not his own style but he had imagined it would work well with Patton. ¡°This¡­ this is a quality item.¡± Patton uttered, shocked at the gift from Jazmel. At this moment he told them both about the trial he had just completed and handed over the fruit to Sad¨¦. ¡°This?! This is a Sirius citrus fruit!¡± she exclaimed and Patton and Jazmel both looked at her, waiting for her continuation. ¡°Named after the star, Sirius? This fruit is an ingredient for an elixir. It will permanently increase one stat at random. They can only be found or bought on the tenth floor. My mother was gifted one of these by my father when she was pregnant with me.¡± She said and a wry, yet shy smile formed on her lips. ¡°Can you make it?¡± Patton asked. ¡°I cannot, I do not have the alchemist skill. Sorry I can only forage right now.¡± She told them both. ¡°I am sure we can get it made in an apothecary or alchemy store.¡± Patton offered and she nodded. ¡°Well, I gifted them to you both, use them.¡± Jazmel shared with them, and both smiled affectionately at him. ¡°While clearing floors and passing through the different trials and quests. It is equally important to collect rare items. It makes it all better for you and us when it concerns your tiering up. The rare the materials the rarer or better the tribulation.¡± Patton explained and Jazmel nodded, keeping the Nemean Lion bone to himself was something of which he had thought. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Wait, if you cleared a Seeker trial gate on your own. What level are you now?¡± Patton asked him. ¡°21.¡± Jazmel winced and Sad¨¦ gasped, a hand over her mouth. ¡°Bloody hell, I could do with a level up like that!¡± Patton shouted and this stirred both Bannerman and Katie. It took a few moments, but Jazmel caught them up and they both congratulated him too. ¡°While you were gone, we found the gate. It is not far from here. If we are all ready, we can go now.¡± Katie offered and the group quickly broke camp and headed off. Within the slopes of the hills there was a larger inlet, not a cave or a cavern but a yawning awning still. It was a simple gate, no maelstrom to greet them, this time. But a blinding white light that Jazmel had to shield his eyes from. They were all about to enter the gate when the system sung into life. DING SEEKERS ARE ALL WELCOME WILL YOU CONTRIBUTE? He looked around and for the first time, nobody knew. Jazmel placed his hand tenderly on the white portal and the system beckoned. MANA MANA OFFERED? Yes. Jazmel thought. MANA ACCEPTED DO YOU WISH TO ENTER THE XUANHUAN REALM Jazmel looked back and they all shrugged. ¡°No wait! I know what this is.¡± Katie said and they all turned back to look at her. ¡°Sometimes the labyrinth will open dungeons that are open at certain parts. There will be many other Seekers in that realm, around our level. There will be great loot, many things to gain.¡± She explained and Jazmel thought on her words. ¡°Why did it need Mana from me?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°I think Mana contributions from Seekers every so often is how it keeps thriving. Once we all exit, it will renew itself and go on.¡± Katie wondered. ¡°Well, you did say you needed to grind out your levels. Use this opportunity to level up and prepare for an oncoming tribulation. As you said Patton, the rarer the items, the better the tribulations.¡± Jazmel told them all. ¡°We have a chance to better prepare ourselves, better prepare for the labyrinth.¡± Jazmel offered and they all nodded. ¡°There is no guarantee that we will all enter the gate together.¡± Sad¨¦ said, and this rocked them all. ¡°Well, whatever the gate asks of us. Let us all agree to aim for it. That way we will all meet somehow.¡± Patton urged and they all nodded in agreement. ¡°Well let¡¯s go then!¡± Bannerman growled and walked through the gate first. They went in after him, one by one and literally one step was through the gateway and then the second step was into this dungeon. The Xuanhuan dungeon realm. Chapter Twenty-Seven; Inside the Xuanhuan realm As soon as he stepped through Jazmel knew two things. One, he was alone and two, the labyrinth was beyond his wildest thoughts and dreams. The dungeon he had entered was a wondrous thing. the realm had opened into a valley at the foot of a mountain, it was one of the grandest designs of nature that Jazmel had ever seen. To say it was a mountain was to lessen all other mounts he had seen before. This truly was the king of them all. Trees of all varieties grew in the valley and yet the sun still shined through the different leaves, creating a myriad of colours on the valley floor. Jazmel senses told him he was alone, his eyes scanned for Mana but felt none besides the wanton Mana that filled all living things. He began his ascent, heading forward through the valley. SEEKERS THE XUANHUAN REALM IS OPEN SEEK THE SUMMIT FIND THE INHERITANCE!! The system bellowed allowed and for the first time, it did not ring in Jazmel¡¯s head. Instead, it sounded all around him as if it came from within the trees themselves. He did not worry about that but began to scout a path through the trees and into the valley towards the mountain foot. Birds sung their songs and his senses told him that a numerous amount of them were in the trees. An orchestra of a symphony of a sort. The cacophony of their song was what alerted him first, their calls began larks of warning, and he drew before he was attacked. A hiss from the trees and then blurred movement, it was fast, but Jazmel had learned a great deal in that Seeker gate. Matching the movement, he sliced and cut off the head of a giant serpent. Its dull and ruddy scales matched the foliage and had almost surprised him, but his eyes. His greatest gift, his eyes saw the Mana hidden and could tell the living. DING GIANT SERPENT X34 KILLED EXP He smiled and continued, it became a hunt and he continued to kill them as they attacked him without remorse. It soon became remorseless, and his storage space boomed with their unusual parts. The serpents were large, bigger than his arm in length and width and they hid in the foliage as well as the trees. Planning to ambush unsuspecting Seekers, but Jazmel¡¯s eyes saw everything, and he was all the glad for it. Whirlwind He churned the forest up and great serpents of a myriad of assorted colours scales were afflicted by his skill. Mana carved them up and soon they were slithering away, trying to escape from him Slash! The serpents were carved up and he added them to his storage as they fell around him. They were not strong monsters at all, basic ambush monsters of the forest. But his ghostly Mana eyes showed him all their hiding places and he was better for it. DING 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED EXP REWARD ¡­ TITLE EARNED!! He had not seen this option for a while, so he flicked the system notifications and looked. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. TITLE: SERPENT SLAYER AFTER KILLING 50 SERPENTS THE SEEKER GAINS EFFICIENCY. 15% DAMAGE AGAINST SERPENT TYPE MONSTERS The title slot in his system window was not empty and Jazmel was glad. The system did the work and placed it. Jazmel continued through the valley floor and continued to kill the serpents that attacked him or tried to bar his way. DING SKILL SLASH HAS TIERED UP SLASH TIER II Finally! A skill of his, had tiered up. Jazmel had been waiting for this, it was not easy to tier up a skill and yet he had finally managed to. Serpents began to leave him be, maybe they smelt their death on him, or his title made them veer away from him and for that he was glad. Moving through the valley floor the sun was glistening and lit up the sky well enough that he could see all things ahead of him. He was alone and for a moment he wondered about his friends, but he did not worry for long. Afterall they were all a lot more experienced than him and knew more about the labyrinth than him. The trees around him grew sparse and then the sun blared down on him and without the shade of the trees he felt sweat begin to wet his brow. But he continued through the valley, still alone. Nobody he knew or did not know seemed to have entered at the same place as him. But that was not for long, he heard fighting and a laden scream. Hurrying to the area to find out what had happened. A break in the trees opened into an area free of the close-knit trees and the mossy ground was perfect soft and hid the sound of his boots. There between the trees two girls were fighting a group of spiders. Jazmel watched to see if they were able to defend themselves. One of the girls seemed skilful enough, but the other one was wounded and was not defending well. She had been poisoned, he could see the dark seeping into her wound and he knew he had to act. Flight of the blue kite! He sent one skill off to knock the spider off the leading girl. It whistled a shriek, an unnerving sound and its fangs skittered as it tried to get itself back on its feet. Slash! This time he attacked the spider trying its best to finish the wounded girl. The attack caught it from behind and the bulbous body of the spider exploded from the strike. The girl screamed and when she saw Jazmel, she held her sword up defiantly before she swooned and collapsed. He ran in and killed the last two spiders quickly, the system pinged to reward him with exp. But he did not have time to look. ¡°Do you have any health or antidotes on you?¡± He called at the girl who seemed to not be poisoned. ¡°I do! In my pack, let me get it out.¡± The girl rushed to save her friends life. Jazmel merely watched over them, sword sheathed and eyes alert, watching for more monsters. ¡°Thank you.¡± The girl said finally to him, and he turned to see her tying a bandage over her friends shoulder and trying her best to not sound too scared. ¡°No problem.¡± Jazmel said. ¡°You need to make a camp, while your friend heals.¡± Jazmel told her and she nodded. ¡°You are right, but I can¡¯t move her right now.¡± She explained and he understood, she could not defend her and carry her. ¡°I will help you. I will help you find a safe place and then I will leave.¡± He said and she thanked him. He picked her friend up gently, surprised to find her quite light and he wondered if she truly was or if his stats were just that high now. ¡°Where to?¡± he asked. ¡°One moment.¡± She told him and then going into her storage ring she pulled a small marble out. She muttered an incantation, words that Jazmel did not know and then the marble flashed in a quick but brilliant light and then a small thing was standing in her hand. It was a fairy, a little winged being that wore a dress made from flower petals and carried a needle thin rapier. ¡°Find us a safe place to rest. Please.¡± She asked and the fairy took off from her hand, turning into a dimmed ball of light, it fluttered and flew off. ¡°Follow her!¡± she said and ran to catch up, he ran after them and followed her lead. They followed the fairy light through the trees and almost out of the valley until it came upon a little creek bed. The ground was cobbled with stones made smooth from the creek water. The fairy had found a small hide away, barely a cave. But it was hidden by both the sound of the river and the shape of the hideaway. He laid the girl down on the ground and she whimpered slightly. The fairy landed beside her and whistled crooning notes at the girl, which seemed to alleviate. He stepped out of the hideaway and the other girl followed him. ¡°Thank you for your help.¡± She said and smiling, she tucked her hair behind her ear. She and the girl were both Black skinned, skin as black as twilight. Interestingly her hair was auburn and an innumerable amount of coils and curls. She kept it back from her face with gold threads and while they were up close, he could tell they were fine woven gold threads. The other girl seemed to have hair styled in the same way too. ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked and smiling he smiled back, offering his hand. ¡°Jazmel.¡± The shook on it. ¡°I am Niamh and that girl you saved is my sister Merida.¡± She introduced them both and Jazmel greeted her again. ¡°What will you do now?¡± he asked her, and her smile was replaced with grim thought. ¡°I must wait for her to heal. I cannot leave her, I wanted to level up, but she needs me.¡± She seemed torn and Jazmel knew it. ¡°There will always be other chances to level up, I cannot tell you what to do. But I can give you a health potion. Maybe it will help get her on her feet.¡± He pulled it from his satchel and handed it to her. The girl seemed surprised. ¡°Why are you helping total strangers so much?¡± she quizzed him. ¡°Life is always the main reward.¡± He smiled and she copied him, grinning. She took the potion from his hand and tip toed up to kiss his cheek. He backs up, caught off guard and she giggled. ¡°Accept!¡± she said and then whirled on him to head back into the hideaway with her sister. His notification popped up and she had sent him a friend request. He accepted, smiling, and shaking his head. He left them, heading back into the valley. Chapter Twenty-Eight; Inside the Xuanhuan realm II Jazmel was alone again, and the valley accepted him quickly. No spiders this time and he hurried back on the trail, aiming for the summit of the mountain. The trees broke away and now it was plain lands, wide and vast. Jazmel could not see anything but the creek he had left the two sisters beside. The creek had opened and now a small river was flowing at leisure through the plains. The plains were open and yet, Jazmel was following the scent of something. His nose was leading him along. He entered a garden. Flowers rich in perfume and delicious scents enriched his surroundings. So many different flowers he had never seen or heard of before. He laughed to himself as he thought of the happiness Sad¨¦ would feel if she were here with him. Looking around he found nothing, and so left. Following the river to the foot of the mountain. The birds had been singing all throughout his journey of the mountain but now they were silent. The flow of the river could be heard, but there was no joy in the notes of its song. He heard creaking first; it sounded like bridge up ahead. But then the noise doubled and tripled. He rounded a bend and in front of him was a dooming sight. A mausoleum of broken, derelict, and rusted knights. Knights of all styles and designs, stood frozen in the place. In different poses armed with many different weapons. He exhaled and tried to steady his heart. He took a step; without his eyes he would have been caught off guard but the closest knight to him twitched. He stopped in his tracks; this mausoleum of knights was all waiting in anticipation for him to make a move. He took the first attack, with a wicked slash from head to body, he cut the nearest knight to him in half. It fell to its knees from his blow and then crumpled in on itself. DING RUSTED KNIGHT DEFEATED! RUSTED HELM COLLECTED He stepped over the body and the next two rusted into action. Their parts of their armour creaking and screaming as they stumbled forward to attack him. He barged into one, knocking it over and slashed through the knees of the other. Whirling in place he stabbed into the helmet of the rusted knight, and it crumbled. X2 RUSTED KNIGHT DEFEATED. X3 RUSTED GREAVE COLLECTED The system hummed and he felt energised as the experience rushed into him. Others rushed him but he made short work of them easily. Feeling the experience run through him. DING NEW ENEMY DETECTED TIER I THE RUSTED KNIGHT ALGUS Jazmel heard the system before he felt the wrath of the knight. It struck him, coming from the shadows behind him. He fell forward and jumping into a roll he gave himself some distance before whirling. He remembered what he had heard before, tiered monsters were one thing and named ones were even stronger. This knight had a name hovering above its head and he wondered just how strong it could be. Unwavering he prepared for a fierce fight. The rusted knight was massive compared to the other types he had fought previously. It was bulbous around the stomach and thick in both the thighs and arms. To Jazmel, it looked like it had been put together with a few different knights. It held a heavy square shield and then in the other hand it held a flail. It swung at him, the ends of the flail tearing the ground up where he had just stood. He jumped backwards, then darting to the right he struck. Striking with his sword, he slashed at the shoulder of the rusting knight. But it blocked him with the shield, shoving him off and pushing him far away. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He spun, his health lowered and a little stunned. The mountain of corroded armour swung at him, but he was too fast. He struck at the knees as best as he could and to his joy the rust helped him. The left knee gave way but hiding much of its body behind its shield. The weakened knee had rusted all the way through, and this prohibited its movement. Flight of the blue kite! He struck at the shield, denting it. the named knight made no sounds but its rusted parts grinding together strained his ears. Flight of the blue kite! He shouted his skill out again denting it further, the monolith of rusted metal threw its shield at him, and he ducked. Just as the slab of eroding metal flew over his head. He whirled around just as the knight drew a sword from a sheath strapped on his back. But he moved first, he darted forward. Striking at the centre of its chest. His eyes had already revealed to him where the core was. It was brilliantly lit, and he stabbed deep, then cut through it. An ethereal scream was heard, and the rusted knight Algus broke apart. NAMED ENEMY DEFEATED RUSTED KNIGHT ALGUS DEFEATED The system chimed and exp flushed him. LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! +5 STAT POINTS He smiled to himself; a named monster seemed to be worth a lot of experience. He would remember that for later. He bid the shadow wraith to consume the rusted knight corpses. It did and he felt it grow stronger in turn. He looked at his stats and they showed; Name: Jazmel Level: 23 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier I Health: 475/475 Stamina: 300/300 Mana: 400/400 STR:28 PER:22 VIT:26 END:29 INT:26 WIL:34 AGL:27 DEX:28 Skills: Sword sense (tier I) CQC (tier I) Slash (tier II) Title(s): FIEND SLAYER (10%) SERPENT SLAYER (15%) Unused Stat points: 675X GOLD COINS SHADOW WRAITH: LEVEL 7 PARTY: 5/5 He was growing rapidly and not for the first time; did he notice that he gained a lot more when he was hunting or out alone. He poured all of his points into perception. Then he took a look at the items in his satchel. ITEMS; 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED The mausoleum which had been a graveyard of rusted knights, now was simple statuettes of stone or as close to that. Nothing else moved as he hurried through, and to himself he was glad. The cemetery was little more than broken down memorials and other shows of affection and admiration. Some were so old he could not even make out the words that had once been chiselled in. The mausoleum opening led back out into the valley and Jazmel realised he had entered through the exit of it. He followed the trail back into the trees but unlike before the creek, this part of the valley was sparser and the trees that grew were older and far wider than before. Dark green leaves of variated shapes and sizes littered the floor and though they did not crunch beneath his boots, they did not hide the sounds of his footsteps either. He had been travelling along the path for a while when he heard a shout. ¡°What do you have!¡± a stranger shouted at him, He looked around and on a lone rock stood a young man holding a spear across his shoulders with both hands. He wore a loosely tied robe and was bare chested, but his trousers and boots seemed of excellent quality. ¡°What?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°What do you have on you?¡± the stranger said and this time he twirled the spear around his neck and caught it deftly, pointed the tip at Jazmel. Jazmel confused, realised that the young man meant to rob him. He did not really know how to respond in this situation. His dealings with the other Seekers within the labyrinth had been good and bad. Some had resulted in friendship and others had been death. He had not overcome the first man he had, had to kill. But now he was being robbed again. Something he did not know happened but also, he was not surprised by. ¡°I have nothing for you, but if you still want my trouble then we can see how things go.¡± Jazmel warned, his thumb easing his blade from the scabbard slowly. This unknown man seemed to consider Jazmel and after a moment he swung his spear back onto his shoulders. Before turning and walking back into the brush. ¡°Not everyone will let you off, best to not walk out in the open so obliviously.¡± He called over his shoulder. Jazmel exhaled and then quietly let go of his sword. He followed the trail, a little slower and with less noise. The trees had begun to regrow now and soon he was back beneath the bosom of boughs. Chapter Twenty-Nine; Inside the Xuanhuan realm III He travelled for days now, or so he thought. There was no change in its position of strength, it simply beamed down from above. Maybe this dungeon was like the others. Tango had said to him a while ago, that for each hour in real time that he was in a dungeon. It counted as a day inside. It had been six or seven hours since Jazmel had been inside the Xuanhuan for what would seem like almost a week. He had not found any of his party and he aside from the sisters he had saved, he had not found anyone friendly and that one stranger with the spear had also changed how he moved through the valley. Moving through marshes he tried to stay on the ground that was not wet, or water trodden. This took a lot more effort than he had previously thought, and the waterlogged grounds were not easy on him. Even when he was careful. He had not been travelling long when he heard the cry of anguish and fighting. He moved even quieter now, ensuring his approach was unheard of. He found the broken body of a young man, his neck bent at an unnatural angle. His weapon, a sword broken at the haft. He was surrounded by the bodies of a grotesque thing. a gruesome scene. He had died in the middle of a group, and one had attacked him from behind, one had broken his neck. He did not know this monster, but something told him. He was soon going to meet them; Jazmel picked his steps through the corpses and came across other bodies. Some of the monsters and then some of other Seekers too. But the fighting was happening still, just beyond the glade and he could hear someone fighting still. He made his way through the brush and saw a young girl leaning against a tree surrounded by almost ten of those things. She had not seen him yet, but he could tell she was not going to last long. Her cloak had been ripped from her body, her hair was a sweat messy her neck and chest had bloody claw marks around. Jazmel worried immediately. He leapt in, sword drawn, and heads rolled. She noticed him now and her eyes glittered with hope. GHOUL KILLED The system told him what he was fighting, these were ghouls. Hairless and skin almost translucent. They were overgrown, her arms longer than normal humans. They ran at him on all fours long fingers clawed and gross. His sword flashed, striking fixed. An arm flew and then the leg followed, the ghouls did not even flinch to see another of theirs cut down. They ran over the body, trying to overwhelm him. X4 GHOUL KILLED Flight of the blue kite! The force blew them back. The Mana that now formed a corporeal bird in flight pierced their group. The closest to him were hurt the worst their bodies flying back and striking those behind them. Inferno! She shouted and pointing a short stick, a fire boomed in the group of ghouls, and they burned to ash in seconds. She stumbled over, her opened waistcoat with a sort of holster around her chest. She pushed the single little branch she had, into it and flicking over to Mana eyes. He noticed that the single branch was burning with Mana. It had more Mana than Jazmel had ever seen in a singular thing, and he stared with interest. As she stood beside him, a single ghoul whimpered, blackened from her attack. In her other hand she held a short sword and stabbed deep into the head of the creature. ¡°Are they dead?¡± She asked, and he knew that she was speaking about the bodies he had seen. ¡°Yes.¡± He said and she swooned, he went to help but she waved him away. She wore three rings and pulling from one she pulled out a potion, the Mana incorporated in this one was much higher than any he had seen before. She drank some and then poured some on her chest to heal the clawed marks she had. ¡°Ghouls are carrion feeders, better to clean any wounds from them before they fester into something else.¡± She explained, noticing him watching her mystified. She drank some more and then washed her hands with the potion and poured it around her chest again, this time he turned away and waited for her to finish. ¡°Will you help me with the bodies?¡± she asked, and he turned to see she was finished, she looked a lot better, and Jazmel realised the potions he had seen before were not of a high enough grade. He nodded and they strolled off to the closest body. She had sheathed her short sword on her waist and was walking better but Jazmel could tell she was still on the mend. They came across a first body and Jazmel heard her curse. ¡°I only knew her from the dungeon, but I could tell she wasn¡¯t confident on her own.¡± She pulled that interesting thing from her chest holster and then whispered something that lit the body on fire, it burned and then in seconds became a pile of white ash. ¡°She will go back to the source.¡± She muttered and then stepped over to where two others were there. Doing the same thing, Jazmel watched with great curiosity. ¡°What is that?¡± Jazmel asked her, too curious to let it go again. ¡°It is a wand.¡± She said holding it up so he could see it, it was a slender piece of wood. At first glance, Jazmel had thought it a stick. But instead, it was carved intricately out of a piece of wood, a handle had been fashioned and then engraved with symbols that Jazmel had never seen before. ¡°Such Mana¡­¡± he whispered, and she stared at him, also curious. ¡°You can see the Mana in it?¡± she asked, and he nodded, then understanding fluttered across her face. ¡°Your eyes, they can see Mana?¡± she asked, and Jazmel nodded. ¡°Those are rare.¡± She commented and then holstered her ¡®wand¡¯ as she had put it. ¡°I have never seen someone with a wand before. Let alone use it as I have seen you use it.¡± He said, amazed and in wonder. She smiled at that. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°It is something I am trying to perfect.¡± She told him and Jazmel understood, he had been a witness to the flaws in her sword. ¡°I am Jazmel.¡± He offered and she shook his hand. ¡°Tera Nema.¡± She responded. ¡°Well, do you want to come with me?¡± she asked, and he waited for her explanation. ¡°There are some ruins beyond this marsh, which is what drew us here in the first place. I suspect there are artefacts or items.¡± She posed and he nodded, offering her to take the lead. She did and Jazmel followed her lead as she hurried through the marshes. No monsters came this time and Jazmel was not displeased at all; the ghouls had barely given him any exp at all. The marshes opened into a large vale; a huge ruin of a city remained. Or the bones of one at least, a wooden wall had once been erected but Jazmel could tell it had once stood strong and walled the city in. now different stone pieces stood at points where guard points might have once stood. But Jazmel imagined what the city might have once looked like, and he wondered who had made it their home. The castle keep was the only building that still stood. The windows had lost their glass panes to time, but they gaped dark and brooding. Tera lead still and scanning everything for any hint of monsters but none came. They walked into the keep, the doors ajar and half broken. Over time the roof had cracked, and claws of sunbeams borne through. Alighting the keep hall. Ragged tapestries hung from the rafters, their symbols already eaten away and gone. ¡°All keeps have a cellar, let¡¯s look.¡± She said and Jazmel did begin looking around. After some struggling, they found a single rusty iron ring and using both of their strength they pulled it open which allowed the cellar to open. It was pitch black and when Jazmel jumped down into it, he could not see any until he swapped over to his Mana eyes. He was standing in a pit of gold. Gold coins literally littered the floor all around him and chests and boxes of varying sizes had been placed around. Tera fell in after him and using her wand like a torch she kept a steady flame lit above the tip of it. Jazmel stood again still amazed at her abilities. ¡°Well, this is really the wealth of a city.¡± She said and Jazmel had to agree. ¡°Take what you want and can, there¡¯s only us to share it between.¡± She began literally willing things into her storage rings and Jazmel did the same to his satchel. GOLD COINS HAVE SURPASSED THE AMOUNT CONTRIBUTE MANA? He offered it and the system drank from his source. MANA CONTRIBUTED 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS ¡°Do not fill up your storage satchel with coins, split up what you carry in different spaces. I use a storage ring for coins only. Then I keep items in another ring.¡± She said and Jazmel nodded, it was a clever idea, but he did not have a storage ring and he did not want to leave such treasures. ¡°Keep looking you might find something worth your while.¡± She told him as she searched deeper in the gold pit. The first chest he opened was cold to touch and heavy, the lid flicked up after some toggling of the latch and in it was single lump of metal ore. DING! COLD IRON ORE FOUND COLD IRON ORE, cold iron can be found in frozen places filled with cold attributed Mana. Used to create items or armour. Sometimes frost affliction can be passed on through the use of this ore. He did not know what that was, but the system did, and he took it into his satchel immediately. Checking around, using his eyes he soon found other chests bearing cold iron ore too. After that most of the chests held gold and gems, things in which he was not currently interested. He did find a storage ring, a simple gold band; that when he impressed his will onto it; he could see that a store the size of a wagon was inside. He followed the quip of Tera and put all his coins into it and put it on his left index finger. Continuing his search, he heard Tera whistle. Looking over at her, he saw her holding up a short cloak, it looked almost like a poncho. It was black, even in this darkness he could see that it was darker than the night. ¡°A sworn cloak! It can hide its wearer in the shadows, while also upping their agility too!¡± she threw off her old cloak, a long and dark green one. The sworn cloak had one obsidian clasp at the shoulder, and she clipped it on, it immediately fell about her, and Jazmel noticed that it grew in length a little. ¡°Keep looking, we need to leave soon. As soon as anyone sees the dead ghouls, they are going to get curious!¡± she pointed out and she was right. DING ¡­ The system hummed to life as he clutched a broken plaque, it looked like part of an official badge, but he had not bothered to study it until the system chimed. PART OF A PLAQUE FIND THE OTHER PIECES A PART TO PLAY IN FATE A NEW PLOT! Jazmel was rigid, this was another plot! He would investigate it after he left here. he pushed it into his storage ring immediately and kept on looking. DING ¡­ The system sung again; this time he was holding an old piece of wood. It looked like a torch stave, but on closer inspection there was a small gathering of Mana in its centre. Jazmel put this in his satchel, this could be interesting. DING! NEW PLOT ¡­ RECALCULATING ¡­ ANCIENT RELIC FOUND ¡­ PLOT COMPLETED ¡­ RELIC RESTORED ¡­ DING! Jazmel had pulled a corroded crown from a heap of other jewels but as the system threw a flurry of notifications at him, the rust fell away like autumn leaves and a metal very much like silver adorned the crown. It was light and nearly flexible in his hands. It felt like he could change the shape if he put effort into it. TWILIGHT CROWN FOUND NEW PLOT MARCH OF THE MONARCH! He did not have a chance to read the notifications, he simply put the crown in his satchel and then turned back, wading through the parts of the treasury pit from which he had come. ¡°Found anything good?¡± Tera asked, as she also began to make her way back from her corner. ¡°I found some cold iron and some white gold coins.¡± Jazmel offered. ¡°That is amazing! Cold iron is used to make named tier II and tier III weapons! You lucky Seeker!¡± she smiled at him in jest. ¡°What about you?¡± Jazmel asked and she pulled out a dirk. ¡°I found this; it is a tier II long dagger. Almost as long as my short sword, it might be even better. I also found some white gold coins and some jewels to sell.¡± She told him. ¡°Let¡¯s leave.¡± He said and making his way to the opening. He jumped out of the pit, waiting for Tera to join him, they both closed off the pit. ¡°What will you do now?¡± Jazmel asked her as they walked out of the keep. ¡°I am going to make for the summit, you?¡± she asked. ¡°I am going to make my way too, but I want to look around more. You never know what you can find in a place like this.¡± Jazmel confessed, he was filling his experience and exp. He also wanted to make the most of the artefacts and items that could be in this dungeon, it was well worth it. ¡°Well, this is where we leave then.¡± She said and offered him a handshake again but pulled him in for a hug instead. Jazmel sent her a friend request and she laughed. ¡°Are we friends now Jazmel?¡± she laughed. ¡°We could be.¡± He said, with all the seriousness and she laughed again. ¡°What tier are you?¡± she asked suddenly. ¡°Tier II, why?¡± he answered, and she nodded. ¡°You are strong for a tier II, stronger than I was. No way I would have survived a group of ghouls on my own.¡± She explained and he shrugged, he had been through a lot. The system let him know she accepted. She left him at the keep, darting off towards the summit, he followed. But at a far more leisurely speed. Chapter Thirty; inside the Xuanhuan realm IV Jazmel had been alone for less than an hour. Tera Nema and he had gone their separate ways he was alone again. Before making sure nobody could find him, Jazmel took some time to go through the system updates he had to skip. NEW PLOT CREATED PLOT CREATED! HOME OF THE TREE
  1. TAKE THE BRANCH TO MIRETE
  2. WITNESS THE NIGHT OF THE DIVINE
  3. PLANT THE BRANCH.
The system chimed into his mind, and he thought of the branch, he remembered that there was a trickle of Mana inside the branch when he had first found it. But he did not know what to do about the tasks of the plot. He did not even know what Mirete was, but it seemed the system believed he would find his way there soon. PLOT CREATED MARCH OF THE MONARCH BEFORE THIS SEEKER BECOMES A MASTER, A MASTER TIER TRIBULATION ITEM MUST BE USED FOR EACH PART REWARD! ONE MONARCH TIER TRIBULATION ITEM OF CHOICE This was remarkably interesting; he had not even heard of a Monarch before and now it seemed like the system was trying to prepare him for becoming one. He would ask Sad¨¦ or Patton about it when reunited with his group. His stats were the same, he had not even gone up a level after killing the spiders and the ghouls. But he was not worried, something would happen for him. Jazmel was sure of that and after situating himself, he began to head towards the foot of the mountain. The marshlands had cleared out and now Jazmel was within the vale, grasslands all around but nothing of imminent danger. In fact, this was the first part of the dungeon where he had felt peaceful. The serenity that surrounded him was blissful, it felt like a dream. The river slurred a song, and he followed it on foot and by ear until it bled out into a wide and yet placid lake. There was a single path that had been built across half the lake to a large open plan pavilion that had been erected in the centre of the lake. Painted pillars of peach and royal blue held up the octagon shaped roof and Jazmel was mesmerised by the beauty of the peaceful pavilion. There was a small table and a single man sat drinking tea. Jazmel could smell the fragrances, walking up the path. The man placed his teacup down and smiled earnestly. ¡°Welcome.¡± He motioned for Jazmel to have a seat and Jazmel did. ¡°Will you join me for a cup?¡± he offered, and Jazmel rose to pour but the man stopped him. ¡°Thank you for the offer, but it is my tea to share.¡± He said with a smile, Jazmel looked at him and studied this old man for a while. The man was small, he sat upright beneath the table, but Jazmel could tell he was shorter than him. He wore simple robes of blue and white and his hair was tied back. Grey and streaked with black strands, Jazmel knew he was old, but he realised he could not tell how old he may be. He switched his eyes, but the man tutted his teeth. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Let us not peer too deeply.¡± He said and Jazmel realised he could tell about his eyes. This stunned him, nobody had been able to see them before and so he stopped what he was doing immediately. ¡°Few ever make it to the pavilion.¡± He told Jazmel, as he held back a sleeve to pour a cup for Jazmel. ¡°Why?¡± he asked. ¡°Few are interested in the world. Everyone sees the end, the goal that they have in mind. But they forget about the journey, and where it took them.¡± he moved the cup over to Jazmel who thanked him and sipped. ¡°You stopped to look around and that is why I imagine this path opened itself up to you.¡± He sipped his tea too and grinned again. They sat in silence and simply enjoyed their cups and each other¡¯s company. ¡°What do you hope for inside the Labyrinth?¡± the old man asked Jazmel and he realised that the man also knew this was simply a dungeon inside something much larger. ¡°I am trying to find out who I am.¡± He said honestly, he knew he was looking for Tango too. But he was growing curious with every step and every trial he overcame. He wanted to know who he was. ¡°Good answer.¡± The old man smiled and nodded, clearly pleased by what Jazmel said. ¡°Usually, I gift a single thing to those who make it here. But your answer pleased me so much, that I will do something else for you.¡± He said and with a rub of his chin he clicked his fingers. DING! The system chimed immediately. MANA EYES ARE EVOLVING. ¡­ DING! ¡­ MANA EYES HAVE EVOLVED! MANA EYES HAVE BECOME EYES OF THE DIVINE! EYES OF THE DIVINE, eyes that see Mana and now the attributes attuned to it Jazmel felt his eyes tingle, just a little and then the feeling was gone just as soon as it had come. He could not tell any physical difference but immediate he recognised that he did not need to switch eyes at all. He could see the Mana of all things as if normal for him. Now he could see it flow along veins that were intwined with the veins that carried blood around the body. He bowed deeply to the man and smiled gratefully. ¡°Tier I but coming up on your tier II tribulation soon. What are you lacking?¡± he asked, and Jazmel simply pulled his items from his storage. The twilight crown and the Nemean lion bone. Which drew an interesting sound of thought from the wise old man. ¡°Those are particularly good tribulation items to come across in the labyrinth. Though you are a newborn in here, you are walking a path few have walked before you.¡± He surmised and Jazmel wondered about his words. ¡°You need something of equal quality for your mind.¡± He thought for a moment and then a smile formed upon his lips. He clicked his finger again and out of the lake a large fish landed beside him. There was no splash nor were there any fighting from the fish. It simply breathed its last as it awaited its destiny. It was a beautiful koi, as white as marble with a single jade bead in the centre of its forehead. Its fins were like silk and Jazmel realised he had never seen a fish such as this. ¡°This is a Celestial koi. They are rare this low in the labyrinth, but impossible things happen to happen all the time.¡± He winked at Jazmel this time. ¡°Celestial koi are the stage before they become divine and those that become divine go on to become dragons.¡± He explained and Jazmel sat there amazed. ¡°I am afraid I do not have a divine koi in this lake, but I also do not think your mind would be able to endure the most of that transformation either. So, the celestial koi is the next best thing for you. Seek stillness, I see you use a sword. stillness is keen as a blade edge.¡± He told Jazmel and something stirred in him. He pulled all three items back into his storage and the man nodded while he sipped from his tea again. ¡°This is exceptional tea. But it was time you started to make your way.¡± He said with a smile, Jazmel nodded and sipped his tea a final time before bowing low to the man and then making his exit. ¡°I think I just met a rising star.¡± The wise old man said to nobody. Jazmel had already walked away from the pavilion. Chapter Thirty-One; Inside the Xuanhuan realm V Jazmel was alone again, but this time he was no longer taking a leisurely pace. After leaving the lake pavilion, he had found a descending path that wound down to the foot of the mountain and then there were two paths to him. One that led inside the mountain or a winding path that wrapped around it. He chose the winding path and as he made his way up, large predatory birds accosted him. He made short work of them, but after realising they could not overwhelm him. Though he and they both held their wounds from this, they merely followed him. Hoping to pick at him if they got another chance. The path was long and arduous, but he did not quit, there was nothing to be done about ascending the mountain on the exterior and as he climbed, he pierced the clouds and still the winding staircase led him upwards. The clouds were misty, and they small raindrops pelted him as he passed through the clouds that guarded the heavens. He was high up; he had been climbing the stairs for hours and the burning in his legs were his only discernment for time. But he did not stop, there were no places for him to rest and so he continued. DING! FATIGUE BEYOND THE NORM 1+STR He took the time to look at his stats as he ascended the stairs. Name: Jazmel Level: 23 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier I Health: 600/680 Stamina: 325/600 Mana: 650/650 STR:29 PER:22 VIT:26 END:29 INT:26 WIL:34 AGL:27 DEX:28 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 5 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS ITEMS; 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED NEMEAN LION BONE 4X COLD IRON ORE 1/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TWILIGHT CROWN BRANCH OF A TREE SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 He put all the unused stats into his perception, his current lowest stat and his keen vision grew keener, but not just that. His other senses grew with it, he took a moment to focus on his new stats and fell deep into the world around him. Currently he was progressing quite well, he had good items. He had accumulated a great deal of wealth and now he was gaining experience in all facets. Jazmel realised how little he knew as soon as he entered the labyrinth and he had to learn quickly if he had any hopes of surviving. This made him think of Circe. The card she had given him, he tore it and her name flicked up on his system screen. SEND MESSAGE? He opened and quickly thought of what to say. ¡°How are you? Where are you?¡± not knowing what else to say he simply clicked that, and the system did the rest of the work. MESSAGE SENT! ¡­ ERROR ¡­ DUNGEON INTERFERENCE MESSAGE WILL SEND ONCE DUNGEON CLOSED He nodded but thought nothing of it. Once out of the dungeon, it would send the message. He continued his climb. Not even bothering to wonder how high up he was but also how far he had climbed. He simply continued before, but to his surprise his mind was still calm, and he wondered if that had anything to do with his choice of tribulation items. He knew the pain was part of the process and while he did not welcome it, he could not help but feel somewhat driven to complete this personal task. He made it up the stairs after spending almost half a day, walking and so he crawled past the last step. Falling onto his knees and then laying down to catch his breath. He choked down a stamina potion, he was down to his last few. He would have to replenish soon. DING! YOU COMPLETED THE WINDING STAIRWAY +5 END CONGRATULATIONS SEEKER The system sung to him in his mind, and he nodded, realising that it probably was a test. He made it to his feet and shakily felt the new stats as well as the stamina potion he just swallowed as his body began to revitalise him. His muscles that had burned with aches before, were now only a little sore and he could feel even that lessening. The stairs had brought him to a peak that had been furnished into a wide courtyard, stone had been carved beautifully to reimagine the clouds around and the railing was all stone, Jazmel marvelled at the intricacies of the design. He walked through the courtyard and when he was about halfway through. He noticed another three people. Three men were speaking hushed to themselves but when one noticed Jazmel they stopped and whirled on him. All weapons at the ready. ¡°Where did you come from?¡± the one in the middle asked. Jazmel said nothing but merely positioned his sword in his belt, so he could draw it quickly. ¡°From the stairs?¡± another one asked and Jazmel stayed still but kept quiet. ¡°Those stairs are impossible. You are lying.¡± The other one said, and Jazmel merely cocked his head to look at them. ¡°May I pass?¡± he asked, looking them each in their eyes evenly. The one in the middle, who had been first to speak was about to step out of his way. But the other blocked his move with a hand on his arm. ¡°What is in your bag?¡± he asked, and Jazmel saw the greed in this one¡¯s eyes immediately. ¡°What is mine, is mine.¡± Jazmel said and stepped back, sword in hand now. Still sheathed but foreboding. They leapt at him, only two of them. one conjured a spear from his storage ring and tried to pin Jazmel. He struck with his sheathed sword and knocked the wind from the man¡¯s lungs. The other took that moment to strike Jazmel in the back, slashing across his back with a sabre. Jazmel hissed and darted out of reach. WARNING STATUS; WOUNDED The spear jabbed at him again and he ducked out of the way but spun out of the way from a sabre strike again. But this time he struck back. Slapping the wrist of the sabre but he was not to be disarmed. He struck with a palm strike in his other hand and knocked Jazmel back, he almost fell but he deftly righted himself before going over. He was hurt and his back was screaming at him from the slight sabre wound. He drew his sword now; these men were trying to kill him. He darted forward, the man with the sabre was closest. He flicked his blade at his hand and when he missed, which was what he was aiming for. He slapped the man across the head. He was infuriated and before he could attack Jazmel, they all heard. The system spoke aloud, a voice that boomed all around them and also in his head and it was uncomfortable for the most part. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER SEEKER ARNTH HAS REACHED THE SUMMIT HE HAS GAINED THE INHERITANCE! THE XUANHUAN DUNGEON WILL CLOSE NOW ¡­ ALL SEEKERS WILL MOVE TO THE NEXT FLOOR WITH THEIR PARTIES OR ALONE ¡­ The fire in his eyes told Jazmel he wanted to fight but as he bounded towards him, he winked out like a candle. The others following suit. Jazmel, the last one left waited for his own turn and quietly exhaled. Chapter Thirty-Two; Empyrean City Just as the system had spoken, Jazmel had been pulled from the Xuanhuan realm and then the next moment he was stepping through a gate which opened to a new floor inside the labyrinth. He was outside a city. Bigger than anything he had seen before. The walls were higher than the castle walls he had been on the first floor, much bigger. They were made of a type of stone that was dark in colour but hummed with Mana. He could tell they had been made to defend the city, but he was not sure from what. ¡°There you are!¡± he turned and Patton and Sad¨¦ were walking towards him with open arms. They hugged and then he felt another body from behind and it was Katie this time, he heard a grunt and knew it was Bannerman. Everyone was unharmed and for that, Jazmel was relieved. ¡°Your eyes have changed.¡± Sad¨¦ said to him as she pulled back in the embrace, but to hug him again. He nodded but did not say anything. ¡°We should head inside and find somewhere quiet; we have a lot to talk about.¡± Patton said and they agreed. The city gates were open and much like the town they had entered before. Guards stood at attention, scanning everyone who was making their way into the city. Jazmel and his friends got through easily, and they did not even have to pay to enter. There was a great deal of people entering the city and Jazmel felt like he could be caught up in this. Something tickled the back of his neck and he whirled to look. But there was nothing there. ¡°What?¡± Bannerman asked. He shook his head, nothing. They continued. ¡°Let¡¯s find an inn, I need a drink and I should probably tell you all about what happened in the dungeon.¡± Katie led the way, and they followed her. They found a little inn, the name fitting it; ¡°the hide hole.¡± ¡°Keeper! Bring some food and some ale to the table please. Here is a white gold coin to make sure nobody else sits near us. There will be another of those when we are done.¡± Patton offered and the man who was in charge, did as he bid, quickly and with a series of bows. They sat in the corner of the inn; an L shaped bench allowed them to all get around the table and before anyone could speak. The first round of drinks came. It was a brew of some sort, a sort of ale but weaker still, it was a mead if anything. Jazmel could taste fizz and fruits; he sipped it at first but once he decided he liked the taste he drank deep. ¡°So, who goes first?¡± Patton asked and Katie inched forward. ¡°I will.¡± They all leaned in and waited. Katie shared her tale of what had happened as soon as she entered the gate. She had appeared in a darkened part of the valley, the trees so old and thick the sun had been blotted out. Her first act had saved her life, she had used her chain to swing herself up into the trees to see if she could find her direction. But as she did, she had heard a barking and snarling on the ground she had been on. Beneath her and looking for her, were a group of tall lizards. They were dark green, to match the trees and leaves around them. their hind leg claws were thick especially one specific toe which was shaped in a hook. Its arms were little and shortened against its body, but they were hunting her, from as soon as she had appeared in the dungeon. They almost figured out she was in the tree, but another Seeker appeared, and they tore her apart before Katie could even save her. But while they feasted, she had killed them all and learnt their names. ¡®Forest Raptors¡¯ she had gained a great deal experience from killing the group, but they were so strong that she stuck to the trees as she continued, through that part of the valley. She recounted how some men had tried to gang up on her but a lone woman, a girl with a big black witch hat and a staff had cursed them and they died in twisted forms. She thanked her and the girl literally picked through the corpses, taking the storage rings, and then throwing one to Katie. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. She then told how she had found a garden filled with herbs and fruits. Things that would be great for raising stats and levels. She patted her storage rings and said she would find an apothecary as soon as they all went out, to sell or see what they were worth as well. ¡°Katie, I always wanted to know. How is your level so high compared to all of ours?¡± Jazmel blurted; she was already a Seeker tier III. Which meant her level had already passed 45. ¡°Oh, that is easy, the first floor I entered after my Seeker trials. Should be called a red floor, I told the herald on the second floor, and he left to deal with it. But I had not one but two tier II monsters on my floor. If you put into perspective that a monster is always a level higher than us. A tier II monster is a tier III, Seeker. Luckily when I was running from the High Bruxa, I entered the territory of a manticore. Turns out they hated each other but had stayed away from one another. Not knowing any of this, I brought them together. They fought each other and while they were about to kill each other, I joined in and killed them both.¡± She smiled and flexed a bicep. ¡°I went from level 7 all the way to level 15; I had my tier tribulation immediately and I had to consume the Bruxa heart and the manticore monster core. So, by the time I entered the second floor, I was stronger than everything I came across, Seekers included.¡± She smiled and Jazmel nodded. ¡°What level are you now?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°45. It is hard to level up the higher your level is, it probably does not help that I was lucky and so there is a severe imbalance in my stats compared to my exp. So, I am trying to balance that out as much as I can.¡± She explained and Jazmel nodded, Mary had been right about balancing his stats as he levelled up. After that, Patton was next, and he told them how he had made it to the summit in a quick enough time but had chosen to take the inside of the mountain rather than the stairs. The mountain was a maze and he fought Seekers and monsters in the belly of it. He found a treasure trove though, a better sword and some other items, he did not show them. but Jazmel imagined it was better than what he had previously had. To his surprise though, he still held the sword Jazmel had given him and he smiled to himself about it. Sad¨¦ and Bannerman were the only ones in the group who had Managed to find each other inside the dungeon realm. Sad¨¦ had taken her time to level up and raise her stats. Bannerman had done the same and was nearing his tier tribulation. Patton also said he was too. ¡°We should all take the time to shop for tier tribulation items while in this city. Items in the wild are great and risk always matches the reward. But sometimes you can find things inside the walls of a city if you are lucky.¡± Sad¨¦ pointed out and they all agreed. It was Jazmel¡¯s turn and he told them everything, from the sisters. To the stranger who had tried to rob him, he told them about Tera Nema and Sad¨¦ stiffened when he spoke of her but tried to hide it well. He told them of the pit they had found, he did not name the treasures he found. But stated he did find some white gold coins. He told them about the wise old man and how he had changed his eyes too. Finally, he shared the new plots he had gained and after he finished, not leaving out the part of the group attacking him after the stairway. They sat in silence. ¡°You might be the most fated Seeker in the labyrinth.¡± Patton started and Katie laughed. Jazmel was confused. ¡°You met the wise old man?¡± Sad¨¦ said, shaking her head. ¡°You climbed the winding staircase?¡± Bannerman pointed out and nodded in admiration. ¡°I don¡¯t understand, what is it?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°Well without knowing the treasures you found, I can say if you had simply met the wise old man and he helped evolve your eyes. Would have been gift enough.¡± Patton said. ¡°The wise old man is like a fairytale in the labyrinth. He appears all around; some say he is the first Master of the labyrinth and others say he is just an avatar for the system to move around the labyrinth.¡± Sad¨¦ told him. Jazmel reflected and he did realise that the man did feel a little different to others at first. ¡°You guys must remember; I do not know what you know about the labyrinth. You spent your childhood preparing for the labyrinth, I am in here for other reasons.¡± He explained and Sad¨¦ knowing his story nodded in understanding. ¡°We welcome you! I am glad to be a friend of someone who has met the wise old man!¡± Patton told him and raising his mug, they all copied him. Then drinking deeply, they followed suit. The food arrived and they ate their fill. Empty plates were swapped for filled ones and drained mugs were replaced filled to the brim. They ate heartfully, enjoying their long-earned rest from what they had just overcome. ¡°I say we rest here tonight and tomorrow, go shopping in the city.¡± Sad¨¦ said, they were all too content to move now anyway. But murmurs of agreement were offered, as if he had been summoned. The keeper appeared and handed out keys to the rooms above so they could rest. They all left after a few more drinks, Jazmel stumbled a little unsteady, but definitely lightly drunk. Chapter Thirty-Three; Empyrean City, the archives of Tellum The next morning everyone had risen surprisingly early. They were sitting in the inn, eating breakfast. Eggs, beans, and bread in abundance had been handed out, sausages too but Jazmel did not like sausages, so he stuck to the chicken legs that had been shared. ¡°What is on the agenda today?¡± Patton asked them all. ¡°I am going to see if the city has a bestiary, I found something interesting in the dungeon.¡± Bannerman said, they all looked at him and he did not continue but ate in silence. ¡°I am going to find an apothecary.¡± Katie stated next. ¡°I am going to resupply, but I also need to see the traders. I want to sell some stuff I got in the dungeon but also some stuff I had from before.¡± Patton shared. ¡°I am going to find the archives.¡± Jazmel said and they all looked at him. ¡°I do not know enough; I keep finding things out too late. Or I do not even consider it to know it. That could become a problem later, so I am going to try and learn as much as I can, when I can.¡± He explained. ¡°I am going with him.¡± Sad¨¦ said and the rest of the group tried to hide their wry smiles. ¡°Let¡¯s all do what we need to do and then meet back here in the afternoon for lunch, then we can decide on our next step in the journey.¡± Patton said. ¡°Yes, remember we all have the shared plot. We need to think about how we are going to prepare for that.¡± They agreed and Jazmel took one last drink of his tea before getting up, he had lots to do today. Bidding them fair well, he left with Sad¨¦ in tow. First time they had been alone in a while, and he would enjoy it. The city centre had a signpost that showed where everything is and once a Seeker was near enough a map of the public areas of the city could be impressed in their minds. It was cool, Jazmel nodded and righted himself before heading north towards the archives. ¡°I got a main plot.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Jazmel slowed down to walk beside her as she shared something with him. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked, she was quiet for a long moment before saying. ¡°Child of the Kitsune, I must gain five tails. Before I become a Ranker tier I.¡± she told and Jazmel wondered. ¡°How many do you have now?¡± he asked her again. ¡°Two.¡± ¡°You got another when you tiered up?¡± he asked, and she nodded. ¡°If you tier up again, you will gain another. But that means you will still be short one tail.¡± He deduced and she agreed. ¡°After the archives, we will see if any of the stores have one. We can shop for you.¡± He said with a smile, and she smiled back, suddenly happy again. ¡°What happens if you fail to complete a plot?¡± he asked and she stopped, to look at him. ¡°Nothing, but then that is just as bad. Plots are uncommon, but they are also common. They just depend on the Seeker; would you give up the opportunity to be a better Seeker? Or Ranker? Imagine how rare the rewards could be if you did everything that a plot asked of you.¡± She explained to him, and he thought too, if not for plots. Would anyone strive to better themselves after they became a Ranker or a Master. They walked on for a while, and he thought about her words and then said to her. ¡°I got a new plot too.¡± She stopped this time and turned to stand in front of him. ¡°Another one??¡± she exclaimed, looking around she pulled him to the side of the road and out of the way of passerby¡¯s. He now told her about the twilight crown and explained what the new plot had been. She listened to him, and confusion lined her eyes. She did not know what a monarch was either, something Sad¨¦ did not know was something that made Jazmel uneasy. ¡°That sounds difficult Jazmel. I do not know what a monarch is, but also finding Master tier tribulation items is also ridiculously hard. You have one, so there is that. But finding two others is going to take a lot. There is the fact that it is giving you up until Master to find these other two, so that means you have a lot more time, but it also means it is going to be a lot more dangerous.¡± She sounded worried and he smiled at her concern. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Well, the system would not give me something that you and I could not overcome right? We will find out what a monarch is in the archives.¡± He led again, pulling her by the hand. The archives were built like a tomb, you had to climb a flight of stairs to enter the entrance. But from the entrance, another two flights descended into a tomb sculpted in alcoves of great width and depth. Books lined the shelves from ceiling to floor, Jazmel and Sad¨¦ had not even entered yet, but Jazmel could tell the archives were far bigger than he had previously imagined. ¡°Welcome to the Archives of Tellum.¡± A scribe greeted them. ¡°Will you give a small donation towards the continued recording and gathering for the archives?¡± the scribe asked. Without a thought, Jazmel drew a handful of gold coins and handed it over. Sad¨¦ did the same, the scribe bowed deeply and then using his outstretched arm, beckoned for them to head into the archive. ¡°I am going to look for anything on swords, I want to understand my skills a little more. I think you should investigate finding out about kitsune.¡± Jazmel told Sad¨¦, she did and then walked off to look in another shelf. He strolled through the shelves, fingering through the books but found nothing that looked like what he was looking for. He kept looking, moving through the shelves and aisles. There were a great many books in the aisles. Jazmel had considered himself a reader before entering the labyrinth but the library in his town had been vastly different from this major city. The scrolls had an old smell, the scent of them made Jazmel wonder if the memories of their authors held in their pages still. He kept flicking through and then he came to maybe the last aisle that held books before they became thick tomes of volumes. There were other people in the archives, going around doing their own research but none came near to Jazmel, and he steered clear too. Then he found it, his eyes picking through the titles. He had entered an aisle where varying sword and martial arts were theorised and discussed at length. He screened through the sword arts and found one that piqued his interest. School of the Moon Dragon. That was an interesting enough title, he flicked through the first pages and was incredibly happy with what he saw. The school of the moon dragon is an art form that raises its sword dutifully. Only a sword that has been swung in defence of the meek stands upright. These words struck Jazmel, what could they mean and why did they affect him so. He continued to flick through the pages and read more. DING! SWORD SENSE IN AFFECT WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN THE SWORD OF THE MOON DRAGON? He smiled and remembered the skill he could not figure out how best to use. Yes. DING! SWORD OF THE MOON DRAGON LEARNED PROFICIENCY LOW, RAISE IT! He gripped the shelf to steady himself while images of stances and movements flooded his mind. The graceful dance of the moon dragon etched itself into his memory and he struggled to consume all its ideals. This was an impressive skill, even though it was passive. What he had learned just now, meant that he could learn more about swords from just fighting or using. He could read more books if he found any and learn from those too. After putting the book back, he started looking through the aisles again. He needed something on monsters, whatever he could learn would be an advantage on his meagre knowledge. Surprisingly, it was easy to find this, and Jazmel soon had his hands on a tome, thick as his arm. Monsters inside the labyrinth. The information within was more than he could consume but it was enough that he could flick through the pages and see what it offered. Tiers are rife within the labyrinth, from items, artefacts even to clans and guilds. But the first of its order were always the monsters of the labyrinth. He considered that and wondered how grades and tiers worked in order with each other. But that was something he could find out later. Monsters are stronger than Seekers of the same level by about one tier. Much like the need to level up is used to ascend the floors of the labyrinth, such is the same as the monsters too, a tier I Seeker will struggle to defeat a tier I monster on his own without any items or skills. This is not for everyone, but more so for the many. The monsters he had faced were indeed strong, but Jazmel had fought monsters in the labyrinth and without his swords. He would no longer be here, but he also considered that he would have to get latest items as he grew too. Always levelling up, bettering his abilities inside the labyrinth. Monsters can be consumed by those of hardy will, tier tribulations are the best time to do this. But it has been known that people have survived consuming monster cores when in dire need. This was interesting to Jazmel; he had not known of this. He wondered what that meant for him, could he consume monster cores to strengthen himself alongside tier tribulations. This was something he would ask the group too, to see if they had heard of it before. He wondered what Katie had used to tier up twice, he decided he would ask her when he next saw her. Leaving the aisle, he found Sad¨¦ reading from a tome in a corner, she noticed him and looking up she smiled at him, happy with what she had found. She told him she had found the memoir of a warrior who had made it all the way to Master and had earned kitsune tails. He asked her if it gave her any direction and she deliberated about it, saying she needed more time to think about it. ¡°Well, I can wait for you until you finish reading that, but I have found what I was looking for.¡± He announced and she got up, pushing the tome back into its corner of the shelf. ¡°If you are done, I can leave too. We can go shopping and see if we find anything.¡± She offered and he nodded. They left the archives, the smell of the pages and ink still surrounded them even now, out in the open. Chapter Thirty-Four; Inside Empyrean City They had left the archives to shop, and Jazmel was not looking for anything specific, but he had known for a while that he would need to restock his supplies also. The first store they stopped at was filled with potions, Jazmel bought stamina and health potions. The store keeps, offered him an antidote potion alongside his order and Jazmel sent him the gold coins. 170X GOLD COINS SPENT 5X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION He almost stuttered, but he knew money needed to be spent for him to continue. After the treasure pit he had found, he had found lots of money and was doing fine with it. But also, there was so much more to explore inside the labyrinth. He could always find more wealth; he knew that now. Sad¨¦ bought much the same, and then some other things. Ingredients for things she and Katie seemed to be creating or trying to make use of. He and the others tended to leave them to their devices when they were discussing herbs and parts. It was a thing they seemed to enjoy all on their own. They passed a man sitting in the street, he looked homeless and so Jazmel flicked some coins into a little bowl he had set out in front of him, and he smiled up at him. ¡°Thank you, young Seeker, keep going along your path. Seek the white.¡± He said and to someone else, it might have just been words they brushed off. But to Jazmel they felt like something was behind them, hidden in a meaning. He thanked the man in kind and continued following Sad¨¦ as she made her way around the city stores. He did not find anything worth buying, even the swords were not better than the two he already carried. He would find something in the next city or town they would find themselves in. after a while, they headed back to the inn and realising they were the last, the grew a little embarrassed. ¡°Let¡¯s eat!¡± Katie shouted and running past them, she headed back out. To find somewhere else to eat rather than their inn. They soon found a restaurant, much larger than their inn. The ground floor had hundreds of tables set out and the murmur of laughter and dining was a warm buzz floating around the room. A server entered the room and noticing them, standing at the entrance. Hurried over to greet them. ¡°Welcome to Xiuying Koi. How may we best provide a service?¡± he asked, bowing low and Jazmel wondered if he even had a spine. ¡°Table for five please.¡± Patton asked. ¡°The ground floor is filled up I am afraid. The second floor too, the third floor has some tables, but it is quite expensive.¡± He offered, lowering his head even more. ¡°I assure you; we can pay our way.¡± Patton explained, his face stone like. ¡°Then let me welcome you kind Seekers.¡± He led them up the stairs and they followed behind. Three flights of stairs and on each floor the opulence of the design and d¨¦cor changed. The third floor was one such, red ribbons hung from the ceiling in thick wads, women in almost see through garb rappelled down from the ceiling and then climbed back up, in alluring dance sequences. Tables had been arranged around the many pillars that held up the ceiling and so many were hidden from prying eyes. Jazmel could see the different fluctuations of Mana, and some were deep and purer, much purer than any he had seen before. Some were even hidden, hiding their strength from those who might pry, he wondered what ability or skill it took to be able to do that. They were seated and Patton paid the man immediately, he bowed low; gratefully then promised to send over the other servers with menus. ¡°Did everyone get what they needed?¡± Patton asked and everyone nodded. ¡°Good, while I was out. I found something interesting.¡± He mentioned and they all leaned forward to listen. ¡°There are three arches here, they are monitored and guarded. You can only leave through one of the three.¡± He explained. ¡°But where do the three go?¡± Bannerman asked. ¡°That is the thing, the gates are still random. They send you where the labyrinth think is the most appropriate. But within the whole of Empyrean city, those are the only gates that Seekers can travel through.¡± ¡°Well, which one do we pick?¡± Jazmel asked and they all looked at him. ¡°Even if they are randomised, we clearly must choose from one of the three. Which should we choose?¡± he continued. Patton was staring at him and then a smile lit his face up. ¡°You know, I did not even consider that when I was told about the gates. But you are right, we must choose one and we cannot all go through all three at the same time. We might end up in various places, party or not.¡± Patton said. ¡°I say three.¡± Katie said and Bannerman grunted in agreement. This drew the eyes of Patton, Sad¨¦ and Jazmel. ¡°Most people will always pick one or two. Three is probably the least known about, I like finding out and learning new things while in the labyrinth.¡± Katie explained her reasoning and then rolled her eyes at the amazement and wonder in their eyes. ¡°I am not stupid; I just prefer to live with excitement. You are very boring; you need me to liven the party.¡± She told them and everyone laughed and rolled their eyes now. Sweet honey wine had been poured out for them all and they were now drinking, awaiting food. Jazmel had picked some brazened sea king. A tier I fish monster, quite weak on its own. But a school of these could cause some damage. The others ordered their own types of meals, Sad¨¦ had gotten the same thing as him and he watched as she sipped her wine and waited for her food. ¡°Seat us anywhere.¡± A loud voice said, and Jazmel looked over towards the stairway, to see the same server who had greeted them. bringing another group to the third floor. This was much bigger than their own, around twenty Seekers shuffled in, dressed in assorted armour and garb except for the first three. The main one, was dressed in fine trousers and a pristine white shirt that reminded Jazmel of snow. His hair was a silky black and tied back with a felt ribbon. he walked with his hands clasped behind his back, but once on the floor. He snapped a fan open and wafted it in his own face. The other man seemed to be his confidant, dressed like him. But of less quality, he seemed to be a guard if anything. His eyes floating around the room and monitoring everyone else, he noticed Jazmel watching him and for a moment their eyes locked. But after that, he moved on. The third was a young woman, her hair was purple. A darker tone than Sad¨¦, but also longer. It flowed down her back and over her shoulders till it was past her waist. She wore a flowing dress of green and in it she did look good. She also was scanning the room, she looked at Jazmel and maybe she noticed Sad¨¦, but her eyes stuck to their table for a moment before she continued to look around. Jazmel turned back to his table as their food was brought over, and they dug in. hunger taking over all over needs. The large group had been seated not too far from them, the ruckus of them all growing louder as they waited to be offered drinks and food. Patton shook his head, irritated in the way they were treating the servers, but nobody said anything. They simply stuck to their own table. ¡°Bring us another bottle!¡± Someone from the group roared, a server rushed off to find more wine. Banner growled and Katie patted his shoulder, but everyone was growing annoyed. Even other Seekers at their own tables had begun to look over at the group, but nobody said anything yet. They were drinking and laughing loudly amongst themselves, but it was much louder than the scene had been, Jazmel could feel the tension growing steadily. ¡°Excuse me.¡± Jazmel looked up and the young woman with the purple hair had come over. ¡°Hello.¡± He said and stood up to greet her more appropriately. She nodded in kind and then smiled at him. ¡°I was talking to her though.¡± She said and Sad¨¦ who had been watching, suddenly grew stiff. ¡°Yes?¡± she asked, and the girl cocked her head. ¡°You are elven?¡± ¡°No?¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°You must be your hair is like mine.¡± ¡°I am not an elf.¡± ¡°Ahh you are Elfin.¡± The girl stated and Sad¨¦ stiffened again. ¡°No worries, we are all kin. Your hair is proof of that enough. Which house clan do you hail from?¡± ¡°I am from the Moonflower house.¡± Sad¨¦ told this girl, and this caused her to change her energy immediately. She dropped to both her knees and crossing her arms over her chest in a position of fealty. She lowered her head. ¡°Saif, from the house of Elduin, greets the elder.¡± She did not shout but it was loud enough that others noticed her movement. ¡°Stop, stop that. You know I am not part of the rulers.¡± Sad¨¦ insisted and the girl stayed down until Sad¨¦ had to get up and physically make her stand. ¡°What is going on here?¡± the young man with the fan had made his way over now, he was smirking, but Jazmel could already tell he did not like something about this man. ¡°Saif, why are you bowing to these people? I alone am your Master.¡± He said and she shuddered but said nothing. ¡°I know that, Master. But she is one of my clan.¡± The girl stuttered out and Jazmel suddenly got the idea that he did not like what seemed to be unfolding here. ¡°Master?¡± Sad¨¦ questioned and the man smiled. ¡°Well not really, her family had debts they could not pay off. They ended up asking me to let their daughter work for me. She is only a tier I Seeker, but she is fabulous at other services.¡± This made Sad¨¦ hiss. ¡°How much do you owe this man?¡± she turned to the girl who had been slowly shrinking behind her. ¡°4 white gold coins my lady.¡± She said and everyone shook their head. It was a lot of money, Jazmel could pay it right now, but something stayed his hand. He was looking around the room and, in the corner, an older man was looking at him intently. Studying him from afar but intensely. ¡°I will pay her debt off, and you will leave her family be?¡± Sad¨¦ said and the girl whimpered but the man smiled even more, a snarl forming too. ¡°Well, it may be 4 white gold coins, but the accrued interest has brought it to 6.¡± He smiled, this stifled Sad¨¦, and she grew annoyed. ¡°I owe you a white gold coin anyway.¡± Katie said and she flicked one through the air and Sad¨¦ caught it deftly. She looked at her with soft look and Katie, nodded ever so slightly. ¡°I owe you one too, for all the lessons.¡± Jazmel said and in turn gave her another. She looked at him, her eyes searching his own. ¡°Free her then.¡± Sad¨¦ said and the man grit his teeth, knowing he was defeated. Something flashed between he and Sad¨¦, the girl seemed to feel it too. But Jazmel could not see it and he wondered if it was the system changing ownership. Whatever they had been doing, was done now as Jazmel watched the money leave Sad¨¦¡¯s hand and he imagined appear in the man¡¯s storage. ¡°You can have her; she wasn¡¯t worth the debt anyway.¡± He turned to leave, and Jazmel exhaled slowly. But he turned back on his heel, looking at Sad¨¦ with a nasty tint to his eye. ¡°I am in the need of an elf; you seem to be quite well developed. Are you interested in replacing her?¡± he asked and before Sad¨¦ could respond, Jazmel had drawn Hajime, and the blade tip was right below the man¡¯s chin. ¡°Watch your mouth. Do not dare to disrespect her.¡± Jazmel was burning with rage, and he could feel it boiling over inside, but on the outside, he was cool as steel and tempered. Such was the way of the byakko spirit. ¡°How dare you bare your sword on me!¡± the man shouted and the Seekers from his table began to make their way over, swords and other assorted weapons drawn. Bannerman roared, claws formed and his fangs showing. He was ready. Jazmel did not move though, neither did the man. Frightened beneath the blade of Jazmel. One of his group launched himself at Bannerman, they begun a scuffle. Katie was already whirling her blade and Patton, sword drawn was fending off others. ¡°Tell your men to stop, I will kill you.¡± Jazmel warned but the man simply spat and said nothing. Sad¨¦ had grown angry, her tails had formed now and blue fire pooled into both hands as she prepared to fight. ¡°No weapons in the dining hall!¡± a loud voice shouted and when Jazmel looked up, guards had appeared at the stairway. ¡°Put up your weapons or be forcefully removed.¡± They threatened and slowly they did just that, Jazmel the last to do so. ¡°I can tell you are in for trouble.¡± The young man smiled and backing off he made his way to the guards. The girl was still so frightened and began to cling to Sad¨¦, who had extinguished her flames. ¡°Hey, you!¡± the guard called, and Jazmel watched as he stalked over. ¡°You dare to raise your sword against the son of the Ward captain?¡± the guard clearly had been bought; he had not even asked what had caused the fight. He simply was acting out how he wanted to. ¡°I-.¡± Jazmel began but was cut off. ¡°You and your group will leave, as for the young elf? She will stay so I might question her about what happened.¡± He said and immediately Jazmel understood. ¡°She will leave with us, or we will not be leaving.¡± He said and drawing his sword again, but this time the tip pointed at the ground. ¡°A mere Seeker dares to challenge my authority?¡± the guard went to grab Jazmel and Jazmel intercepted before striking at the wrist with his sword, to his dismay the guard simply bounced it off and Jazmel saw that Mana covered his entire body. ¡°NOT TOO MUCH!¡± someone shouted, and Jazmel darted backwards his group sticking close and surrounding the girl to stay covering her. ¡°WHO DARES TO DEFILE MY RESTAURANT?¡± the booming voice shouted, and a man stepped in, surrounded by guards and other powerful folk. ¡°He is a Ranker. Great.¡± Katie whispered and the group all sighed, he was stronger than all of them, Jazmel could tell immediately. ¡°Sir it is this man who is trying to cause a problem.¡± The guard shouted over his shoulder and with a smile directed at Jazmel. He turned to face his Master and bowed as he neared. The Ranker strolled over, and the pressure alone would have driven Jazmel to his knees, but in his spirit, he felt the byakko core roar in defiance and he stood still, but a light sweat salted his brow. ¡°You can stand up even beneath my intent. That is impressive, but for the defiling of my store I will take an arm.¡± The man said and he raised his hand in a backhand. Mana rippled across the edge of his palm and Jazmel fought his body to prepare and raise his sword. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we Master of the labyrinth leave the Seekers to deal with Seekers?¡± a soft voice offered and immediately the pressure fell away from Jazmel like a light breath. Looking around he noticed the elder man who had been watching him before, standing quite close. His hands were clasped behind his back, Jazmel could not see his Mana or read anything about him. The man simply was an older man who now stood beside Jazmel, he had not even heard him make his way over. ¡°Master Baek, I must ask your forgiveness. I did not know you were here.¡± the owner of the restaurant bowed. All his followers fell bowing too. ¡°The young ward captain is in the wrong, he evaluated this group and when they did as he asked. He questioned the honour of the lady and as such the young man stood at her defence. Maybe I should go and speak with this ward captain, let him know what his son is doing.¡± The old man stated, and the owner fell to his knees this time. ¡°Master Baek, I will deal with this and the ward captain now. Please let me pay for your meals, you, and your young friend. Please.¡± The fear in his voice was enough that Jazmel now knew this old man was strong and someone to fear. ¡°Thank you, young friend. I feel a little better knowing you are willing to step in for justice.¡± The old man called Baek stated. ¡°Please young sir, accept this from me.¡± It was a pouch and Jazmel could tell there were gold and white gold coins inside. He took it and whisked it into his storage ring. ¡°We will go.¡± Sad¨¦ said and putting her arms around Saif, she led her out and they all followed. Patton and Jazmel taking up the rear. They had reached the ground floor when the old man appeared again, Jazmel had not heard him at all. ¡°A moment of your time young man.¡± Patton waited and Jazmel said it was ok, they headed to their own inn and Jazmel promised to follow shortly. ¡°Thank you for stepping in, I think the owner might have killed me.¡± Jazmel admitted and Baek simply looked at him. ¡°Sorry I am glad to see young Seekers doing what is right. I think what you and your friends were doing was admirable and so I have a gift. A wager if you will.¡± The man known as Master Baek stated. ¡°What would we be wagering?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°I have a riddle if you can answer it. I will have lost, but if you cannot. Then you will suffer defeat.¡± ¡°What will the loser have to do?¡± ¡°If you lose, you will have to be my retainer for three whole days. Whereas if I lose, I will be your retainer.¡± Baek explained. This offers stunned Jazmel if he lost. He would be a retainer for this stranger but if he won, he would gain an immensely powerful retainer himself. Someone who could help all the party moving forward. ¡°I accept.¡± Jazmel stated and Baek smiled a little but inclined his head. DING! ¡­ WAGER OFFERED ¡­ WINNER RETAINS THE SERVICES OF THE LOSER! ACCEPTED! ¡°The riddle is simple; For thousands of years, Seen only in tale. The wind as a sail, For one thunderous gale. Shiny stores rich in lore, The burning temper, like Earth¡¯s core.¡± Jazmel was stumped it sounded familiar, oddly enough. But he also knew he had not heard it before, not that he could recall. He pondered and Baek merely stood, patiently. Jazmel felt the moments pass but nothing could tell him why the words felt so familiar to him. ¡°Do you know it young Master?¡± Baek asked Jazmel and waited patiently. ¡°I think I do, or I feel I do.¡± Jazmel said, Baek cocked his head and listened. In his mind he thought of all the things this riddle could be and as if directly in the centre of his being. He heard a roar. It was unlike anything he had heard before in his life, nothing like any monster he had seen yet. Even the byakko spirit that resided in him was quelled by this behemoth and that was what caught him at his core. ¡°Dragon.¡± Jazmel whispered and Baek smiled. ¡°Can you repeat that?¡± ¡°It is a dragon.¡± Jazmel said and winced as he noticed Baek had not reacted to his answer. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ¡­ JAZMEL HAS WON THE WAGER RETAIN THE SERVICES OF MASTER SEEKER BAEK. Jazmel stopped breathing. Baek was a Master Seeker, he had thought it was just an honorific they were offering him. But he had turned out to be that powerful indeed. Jazmel accepted the notification on the system and immediately his own stats popped up. Name: Jazmel Level: 23 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier I Health: 680/680 Stamina: 600/600 Mana: 650/650 STR:28 PER:22 VIT:26 END:34 INT:26 WIL:34 AGL:27 DEX:28 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED NEMEAN LION BONE 4X COLD IRON ORE 1/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TWILIGHT CROWN BRANCH OF A TREE 5X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION SHADOW WRAITH LVL 8 BAEK LVL 112 PARTY: 5/5 Master Baek was level one hundred and twelve. Jazmel almost fainted. ¡°Come, I need to explain to the party how I Managed to gain the favour of a Master.¡± Jazmel explained and Baek simply smiled, a wry smile. Chapter Thirty-Five; Hope for a new life Jazmel returned with his new companion Baek and the group were astonished to see them together. He explained quickly what had transpired and they all agreed it was a weird offer but the benefit of having someone as strong as Baek with them, would be a bonus unlike any other. Sad¨¦ listened to all this while she stroked the head of Saif who was both terrified but also reprieved at being released by that awful man. Jazmel soon learned his name was Cain and it left a bad taste in his mouth to say it. ¡°I thank you for helping me my Lady. But I ask that you allow me to be a retainer for you too.¡± She asked and everyone looked around to see how Sad¨¦ would respond. ¡°Saif¡­¡± she began and then she went quiet. ¡°What level are you?¡± Katie asked, drawing their attention. ¡°Level 13.¡± Saif said and the others understood, she would not survive alongside them. she was far too weak and that was something Jazmel knew immediately. ¡°You are ten levels behind Sad¨¦. How can you hope to help her?¡± Katie explained, her tone was rough, but Jazmel knew it was the honesty the girl needed. ¡°Well, those are not her only options.¡± Baek said, stroking his beard he wondered for a moment. ¡°Well?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°We can send her back to the first floor. If she completes the trials and takes the time to level up. She will be able to accompany you along the way as a retainer. If you so wish it.¡± He explained to them all. ¡°When a Seeker takes on a retainer, the system allows them a level of control. You may know where she is and she yourself. But it also allows you to set her tasks. If you see it fit, you can task her to get stronger, depending on what you offer her, she might be able to join with you sooner rather than later.¡± ¡°Can you teach me how to do that?¡± she asked, and he nodded, inclining his head lowly. ¡°Then I will do so, if you permit it young Master.¡± He turned to Jazmel now, who nodded. Quite shy at being called Master by someone quite older than him and incredibly stronger. After a few moments of explaining, Baek had already taught Sad¨¦ everything she needed, and they waited for Sad¨¦ to figure out what tasks to set Saif. ¡°Do you wish to take on this position of retainer?¡± Sad¨¦ asked Saif. ¡°I do my lady.¡± ¡°Then I accept.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Jazmel felt something form between them, like a link of a chain. ¡°As I have accepted you as a retainer, it will only fully connect us after you complete certain tasks. Do you wish to accept these tasks from me?¡± Sad¨¦ asked. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°I do my lady, I do.¡± She said, bowing low for Sad¨¦. ¡°I bid you then, you must have undergone two tier tribulations. That is my minimum requirement. Once completed, you may join us as we continue through the labyrinth.¡± Sad¨¦ commanded and Saif merely kept herself low. Jazmel watched as what Sad¨¦ ordered seemed to hang in the air for them, it seemed the system was creating the task for her. After that, Sad¨¦ and Saif hugged and smiled. ¡°Before we move on, we should prepare you for your own journey.¡± Patton said and everyone began to think about their next steps. ¡°What will you need?¡± Sad¨¦ asked her and Saif simply looked at the ground, unsure. ¡°Do you know how to defend yourself?¡± Jazmel asked and she nodded. ¡°I can use a knife and my father taught me how to hunt with a bow.¡± Saif said. ¡°Are you any good with a bow?¡± Patton asked to which she grinned. ¡°I am best with a bow.¡± ¡°Great, we will go and buy you a bow.¡± Patton said but Baek waved him away. ¡°There is no need, I will equip her with everything she will need. I will also gift her a gate token, it will take her to a random first floor in the labyrinth and she can begin her levelling up.¡± Baek said and a small velvet pouch appeared in the palm of his hand, and he gifted it to Saif who thanked him greatly. ¡°There is a bow in there, I am sorry. I do not use long range weapons it is the weakest one I could give you. It is tier III, so there will be some restrictions on how much you can use it. But once you have tiered up, you should be quite capable.¡± He smiled at this, and the group all looked at him, shocked. ¡°Come on then.¡± Katie got up and headed for the door and they all looked at her. ¡°Well, you can¡¯t go through the labyrinth in that dress, Sad¨¦ lets go and find her some clothes.¡± Sad¨¦ rose and with a smile she followed Katie, leaving the men behind. ¡°I will follow, I will make sure that nobody bothers them.¡± Bannerman said and hurried off after them. ¡°I would like to stay and chat, but I must leave you to return. I must tier up.¡± Patton said with a great grin. ¡°Tier II?¡± Baek asked and Patton inclined his head. ¡°It is extremely hard to become a tier II Seeker before reaching the tenth floor. You should be proud.¡± Baek commented and surprisingly Patton grew shy, Jazmel watched the interaction with a smile. Patton left them and soon it was Jazmel and Baek sitting alone, in silence. The inn keeper appeared, bringing fresh tea, and poured for both, Jazmel was grateful for the distraction, but he was still nervous. ¡°You seem worried about something.¡± Baek finally said, sipping his cup of tea and refraining from looking at Jazmel. ¡°I am, to be honest.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I do not know what you want?¡± ¡°Why do you think it is, that I want something from you?¡± Baek asked him. ¡°You are stronger and greater than anyone we have met in the labyrinth so far. I could not stop you if you wanted to do anything to us.¡± ¡°You will be pleased to know, that there is no way for a retainer to harm their Master.¡± Baek explained to him. ¡°I do not think you mean me harm.¡± Jazmel confessed. ¡°But I would like to know what you seek by becoming my retainer.¡± Jazmel wondered. ¡°It was a simple wager, I lost and there should always be a winner and a loser.¡± Baek said, sipping from his teacup again. ¡°But what do you gain from being like this with me?¡± Jazmel asked, honestly. ¡°I think fate surrounds you and I would be able to see new things whilst I follow you as you continue through the labyrinth.¡± Baek answered. ¡°I promise you, young Master. I hold no ill will for you or your friends, I merely saw something interesting in you and wish to see if anything blossoms from it.¡± He told Jazmel and Jazmel felt a little better after hearing that. Jazmel sipped his own tea and felt a little soothed as he inhaled the aroma of the tea leaves. They sat in silence and enjoyed their cups. Chapter Thirty-Six; Gates of the Empyrean City The party stayed for another few days, getting supplies and preparing to move on through the gates of Empyrean. Saif was prepared, she had been stocking supplies and Sad¨¦ had done her best to give her tips and hints on what to do. Baek had given her a small smooth rock and he explained that it was a hearth stone. Which when held in the hand of a Seeker, it will return them to the first floor they ever entered. This would allow Saif to begin her journey from the start but also allow her to level up as best as she could. She had left the night before them and Sad¨¦ and Katie seemed the most upset, in the shortest amount of time, they both had become very protective of Saif. With a shy smile and a bow, she left them and headed for the first gate on her own. After that, they all had rested in their inn and paid for their final night. Patton had tiered up, he was now a tier II Seeker, the second after Katie who was glad to let everyone know she was still the strongest in the party. Patton had grown considerably; stronger and Jazmel could tell from the way his Mana flowed around his body. It had changed in density but also it had grown much deeper than he had before. He explained to Jazmel that as he used Mana for both combat spells and swords, he needed more than the usual amount. So, he had used a tier tribulation item to elevate this for himself. Baek had interjected saying it was smart and this led to an important conversation between the group. ¡°The labyrinth allows you the opportunity to create, what you as a Seeker believes is the best creation to be able to get through the labyrinth¡¯s many trials and quests.¡± Baek explained, he was sitting at the edge of the table and drinking tea, something he had grown to quite enjoy whilst they stayed in this inn. ¡°What do you mean by creation?¡± Sad¨¦ asked, quite curious. ¡°Well, you pick the skills and tools that best fit you and elevate your abilities, right? Imagine if you and Patton swapped bodies right now. Would you be able to use his skills like he uses his own?¡± Baek asked and Sad¨¦ conceded, with a shake of her head. ¡°When you tier up or learn anything, you have to think about how best you will make use of what you will gain.¡± Baek explained and they all sat and pondered. ¡°Do you know what a class is?¡± Baek asked them all and nobody knew, even Sad¨¦; to Jazmel¡¯s abject surprise. ¡°After you pass the tenth floor, you will gain the ability to pick a class. This will usually revolve around the skills you already have and its sort of an amalgamation of them in one class. But you can only pick one class.¡± ¡°So, I will be stuck with one class for the rest of my time in the labyrinth!?¡± Katie exclaimed. ¡°Your class can be promoted, but it will always be in the same frame. Take for example, if I use a sword. my class would be something surrounding swords but let us say I defeat a tier IV monster with the same skills and class that I have been using for a long time, you gain the option for promotion. A swordsman might become a sword master or a sword sage. Depends on all the diverse ways he or she lives in the labyrinth. All things flow into one.¡± He said with a smile and using the palm of his hand he let a small gust of wind become a little tornado. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°You also must remember that when you start out, any experience you gain, will go to your stats or to your levels. But the stronger you grow and the higher your stats are or skills, the more experience you will need. That is why there seems to be such a gap between Rankers and Masters, what could it take for a Ranker to cross the threshold and gain Mastery of themselves?¡± he asked them, and they all sat pondering. ¡°What class are you?¡± Jazmel asked and everyone looked at Baek who simply sipped his tea again, after speaking for so long. ¡°My class promoted a while ago. But I can tell you, it has everything to do with my martial art abilities.¡± Baek said, not looking up at any of them. ¡°The tenth floor.¡± Patton said and they all sighed, that seemed far away but they were still trying their best. ¡°Do not worry about the floors, keep going at the rate you are going. All things will make sense when they need to.¡± Baek said and Jazmel felt the group ease at this. They all went to bed, ready to begin their journey tomorrow. It was barely the ninth hour in the morning when they had all reached the three gates of Empyrean city, and like Patton had mentioned before, they were the only way out of the city. Entering the city through the south, heading straight up and towards the north. You came upon three gates penned in with archway structures built around them. There was nothing distinctly different about any of them, besides the fact that there were three. One after the other, groups in many lines were all standing waiting to walk in after others ahead were being let through. They entered the lane for the third one and began to wait as the line moved along. ¡°We definitely are going with the third one, right?¡± Katie asked again to which the group all groaned. ¡°We have already discussed this at length.¡± Bannerman said and huffed a small growl. ¡°So, what puppy! A girl can change her mind if she wants.¡± She said and Bannerman merely looked ahead of their place in the line. Jazmel noticed that Katie and Bannerman had an understanding between them, he did not know what it was. But he knew that they seemed to enjoy being around each other, even if Katie were always poking at him. The line was moving slowly, and Jazmel watched as others moved up faster and further. Since his eyes had changed, he could see the Mana flowing through people as easily as he saw hair colour or even eye colour. Even now his eyes were picking up telltale Mana from the variety of Seekers around him. One Seeker was filled with Mana. Way more than Jazmel had seen before, more than even Patton and Katie and they were both heading towards Ranker. He looked at him intently and as if he felt his eyes, he looked at Jazmel too. This young man was tall, as slender, and sharp as a spear. His hair was tied back neatly, and he wore a long sleeveless cloak, his arms were pale and almost porcelain like. He looked like he had never been beneath the sun in all his days, but the intensity of the Mana that rippled within him was quite great. Jazmel himself was quite shocked at being spotted but also at the strength of this young man. He was stronger than all his party, besides Baek and Jazmel knew it. Immediately. ¡°Not everyone walks the same path as others, some are destined to be born great. While others will grow to become great.¡± Baek said, from the side of Jazmel, he looked at him and noticed he was also studying the young man, who in turn. Noticed Baek and turned away immediately, suddenly worried. ¡°Young Master, keep going as you are. I do not doubt you will meet the heights you seek.¡± Baek said and again Jazmel was uncomfortable with being referred to as a Master, but he kept it to himself this time. They finally reached the front of the queue and entered the great gaping archway was different to the other gates, Jazmel had entered before. This one was peaceful; it did not want to enter a storm. It was just a giant doorway that led to somewhere beyond this floor. They walked through without any problems and after a few steps, stepped out into a forest unlike any before. The trees were magnificent in size, the leaves that sprouted from the branches were glossy and healthy like jewels. Birds sang songs unlike Jazmel had heard before, even the creatures of the forest seemed to be in eternal bliss, this looked like a paradise. ¡°We have entered an elven forest.¡± Baek told them all and Sad¨¦ groaned. Chapter Thirty-Seven; the Teneriel Forest The seventh floor they had all entered was a great forest of peace, it felt like a true garden of Eden and Jazmel could feel the rich Mana all around them. When Baek had announced that it was an elven forest, Sad¨¦ had groaned, and they all looked at her awaiting her reasoning. ¡°This is my home.¡± She said and started walking through the forest, leading them north. They walked for a while before a large tree barred their route, Sad¨¦ inscribed something on the trunk and the bough unwrapped itself, like two entwined fingers. Before revealing what looked like a greater paradise inside. Sad¨¦ walked through and they followed her in. beyond the previous domain. The trees that were much larger than from the entrance of the floor. These trees were regal in stature, tall and wide in berth. Residents had been erected, nestled in the parts of the tree that were between branches and bough. To Jazmel, he was sure there were hundreds of elves possibly in the trees, maybe even thousands. But Jazmel was sure many more were still hidden. ¡°Reveal your identities!¡± guardians shouted from a lone tree. Jazmel looked up and saw there were bows drawn on them. ¡°First daughter of the Moonflower house!¡± Sad¨¦ shouted back in response. There was a flurry of commands called and the single gate into the kingdom was unbarred and many guards stood at attention to welcome their own home. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°You are the child of Entil and Araea?¡± Baek asked Sad¨¦. She nodded and he smiled a little. ¡°Interesting.¡± They were brought in and past the gate Jazmel could see the size of the elven kingdom was entirely bigger than what it had looked like, and he wondered if this was down to the Mana or Magic of the labyrinth. But it allowed things to appear bigger than they were. Even now as he continued entry, Jazmel was surprised at how great the expansion of space truly was. A woman who looked like she could be Sad¨¦¡¯s sister rather than her mother. She was strong, that much Jazmel could tell. She was imbued with it, and it was mature, she was well versed in whatever her abilities were. Her hair; like Sad¨¦ was purple. A deep purple much darker than Sad¨¦¡¯s. She was talking with someone but when she looked up, her eyes sought out her daughter and she smiled. They were kind eyes and Jazmel felt the love from the parent and child. She came over to them and Jazmel stood off to the side, as she hugged and held her daughter. ¡°Thank you for bringing my daughter home.¡± She said as she hugged and held Sad¨¦. ¡°Mum, let go.¡± Sad¨¦ moaned but she did not pull back. ¡°Mum these are my friends.¡± She said from the embrace and finally her mother let her go to be introduced. One by one, they introduced themselves and she thanked them all in turn, individually. When Sad¨¦ got to Jazmel, her mother looked at him for a moment longer than the others and offered him a fair smile. ¡°Follow me to my home, you can rest, and you can tell me how Sad¨¦ has been doing.¡± She told them and led the way. Chapter Thirty-Eight; Home is where the Hearth is The home Sad¨¦ had grown in was much more than a modest home. It was a palace if anything, a holding of a lord or someone noble. Jazmel had never pried about her family but after the meeting with Saif he had wondered if she was a princess. ¡°The Moonflower household are quite influential within the labyrinth. Many of their members are high Rankers and Masters. A feat not easily gained.¡± Baek explained to him. ¡°So is Sad¨¦ a princess?¡± Jazmel asked, suddenly worried about his previous behaviour. ¡°Nobility has many shades; the elves do not belong to a monarchy. But instead follow a democracy of houses. Each house has a leader, like clans if you will. They band together for protection and influence, but like the Moonflower house. Some are greater than others.¡± Baek told him and this made Jazmel think of the respect Saif offered Sad¨¦. The others had entered to wash up and dine, Jazmel was walking along the gardens of Sad¨¦¡¯s home with Baek who was simply keeping him company. ¡°I think I will go and see if there is any tea.¡± Baek said suddenly and without a response, he left Jazmel alone. ¡°Great. Finally, you are alone.¡± Jazmel turned and an older man stood before him. He was mature, maybe in his middle forties but he was more muscle than anything else. He was a great bear of a man in size and stature and even though Jazmel was not short himself, he had to look up into the face of this man. ¡°Hi, I am Entil. Sad¨¦¡¯s father.¡± Jazmel stiffened but offered his hand and the man, Sad¨¦¡¯s father shook it. He lost his own hand in the great paw of the man, but he felt no ill will from him. ¡°So, you are Jazmel.¡± He said and looked over Jazmel, sizing him up. ¡°I heard you are good with a sword.¡± he said and eyed Jazmel a little. ¡°I know a little.¡± Jazmel said and kept himself still, not wanting to offend the father of a dear friend. ¡°I would spar with you, but a Ranker against a Seeker would just look bad. When you make it to Ranker come back and we will spar.¡± Entil told him and Jazmel shed a shade of nerves. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Sad¨¦ wrote to us about you, told us how you and she have been travelling together since the first floor. So, I thank you for protecting my daughter. She seems quite fond of you.¡± He told Jazmel and he felt his own neck grow warm with shame. ¡°We promised not to interfere with her climb of the labyrinth, we told her we would let her grow herself and I plan to keep our promise. But that does not mean we cannot support those around her. So, I and my wife have a gift, if you would accept.¡± Entil confessed to Jazmel, and he listened intently a little unsure of what to really do. ¡°What do you have to give me and why do you not want Sad¨¦ to know?¡± Jazmel asked and Entil smiled. ¡°No interference and it isn¡¯t that great of a gift.¡± He pointed out, Jazmel could see he wore a few storage rings, and he overturned his hand, so his palm showed, in it appeared a single vial of a buttery yellow liquid. ¡°This is not a potion or an elixir. It is a draught.¡± Entil explained and when he saw Jazmel¡¯s blank look, he nodded in understanding. ¡°Here in the labyrinth, there are a great deal of things that affect and change Seekers and Rankers. For example, when you undergo a Seeker tribulation. The system specifically directs you were to focus the items you consume. But a draught is different in that it merely adjusts you.¡± He told Jazmel. ¡°Adjusts me how?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°This draught will adjust your body to accommodate your abilities better. So, it cannot affect your skills or your Mana, it will simply better your body to allow it to perform.¡± He clarified and Jazmel nodded in understanding. ¡°I will accept it.¡± Jazmel said and went to take it from Entil. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I need to become stronger, the stronger I am the better I can protect Sad¨¦. The better I can protect everyone.¡± He realised he had only thought of Sad¨¦ but then mentioned the group too. ¡°Oh, my dear boy. You have your work cut out for you.¡± Entil said and placed the draught in Jazmel¡¯s hand. He laughed and walked off, leaving Jazmel alone. Jazmel did not understand what he had meant but he did not pursue. He looked at the vial he had been handed and the yellow liquid looked like a mixture of wine and honey, it was thick, but it moved quickly inside the bottle. Instead, he uncorked the vial, holding his breath he swigged the liquid without tasting it or smelling it. DING! DRAUGHT CONSUMED ¡­ BODY RECONSTRUCTION ¡­ BODY HAS SOMEWHAT ADJUSTED TO NEW LIMITS The system chimed through his mind and Jazmel looked down at himself, there was not change that he could visibly see. But the system clearly thought otherwise. He walked out of the gardens and headed inside, towards the smell of food and the sing song sounds of people dining. Chapter Thirty-Nine; Leaving the Teneriel Forest They had stayed in the forest for two days; Jazmel and his friends were well rested, and the hospitality of the elves had been wonderful. Jazmel had not spoken to Sad¨¦¡¯s mother alone, but Entil and he had spoken a few times in passing about the different things Jazmel had seen inside the labyrinth too. When they decided to leave, Entil showed them to a large fountain inside the centre of the elven domain and told them all that this was the gate. The fountain was made of marble, the stone unblemished and pure white. Though marble it looked like alabaster had been used in parts to give it a glossier look. The figure head was a maiden, a shrouded woman who with open palms was raising her hands to the sky and water plumed from the cradle her hands made. The water encompassed her and danced off the body to fall in different directions into the pool below her feet. It was a wondrous design and Jazmel could tell it had been designed and built with love and admiration. ¡°Not all gates between floors are actually gates.¡± He told them and Jazmel remembered that when they had all been aboard the galleon they had passed through the sea and the system had alluded to it being a gate. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Simply throw a coin into the fountain and it will move you on to the next floor.¡± Entil explained and in turn they all began to say their byes before turning back to the fountain. ¡°Say bye to your family in law.¡± Katie whispered to Jazmel, and he grew hot with embarrassment, she enjoyed teasing him about Sad¨¦ and she knew he knew it too. He shook hands with Entil, feeling miniature in his presence. Araea, Sad¨¦¡¯s mother embraced him and whispered a small prayer over him. He almost choked up, having never known his own mother, he did not have much interaction with women older than him. But that simple show of affection, flowed through him and blurred his gaze. He turned and watched as Patton flicked a coin into the pool, he disappeared. Turning into a ball of light and then sinking into the fountain, they all followed suit and Jazmel did the same. Feeling his stomach lurch as the fountain pulled him in. While in the fountain he felt the system peal. DING THOSE WHO HAVE OVERCOME WILL GO ON ¡­ PARTY SHARED PLOT
  1. OVERCOME TWO FLOORS TOGETHER
  2. DEFEAT A BEHEMOTH
  3. ALL PARTY MEMBERS MUST OVERCOME A TRIBULATION
REWARDS VARY UPON COMPLETION ENTERING THE DOMAIN OF A BEHEMOTH!! Chapter Forty; the Dylian Black Sea Jazmel appeared on a sandy beach, the sea lapped at the edges of the beach, and he could smell the salt in the brittle sand at his feet. Patton and the others were a little ahead of him but as he walked towards them, he felt their tension. Patton noticed him and with a finger at his lips he pointed above, Jazmel looked up and saw nothing for a moment, but he could hear something coming. Patton led a run towards a rock face, broken slabs that had fallen off from the cliff face and appeared in a lose formation for them to hide behind. Wings; Jazmel had heard wings and as something flew over them, the sun was blotted as whatever was above them blocked it with its body. The thing landed further down the beach but scrabbled up it towards the cliff where a cave opening had been hidden. Peeking round the rocks they hid behind; Jazmel saw the monster. The behemoth, it was a Wyvern a black Wyvern of generous size. Tango had taught Jazmel the difference about these creatures in his childhood and he had always remembered this lesson. Dragons were the greatest threat to humanity; they are wrath and destruction. If you ever see a dragon, you either hide or run. Never fight. Wyverns were like dragons except they are craftier and nastier too, a dragon is all power. While a wyvern is insidious. They will trick Seekers and bring on doom, not as strong as a dragon but strong enough to kill those who are unprepared. Tango had also told him about Wyrms too. A Wyrm has neither wing nor legs but are no less lethal. They tend to be poisonous and can exude large clouds of toxins. Be careful of those too. To this, Jazmel had listened quietly and intently. Not knowing he would one day face one. ¡°That is a black Wyvern.¡± Katie hissed to them all. DING! DEN OF THE TIER III BLACK WYVERN DEFEAT THE BEHEMOTH! The system notification popped up and Jazmel skimmed it but, noticed everyone else had also seen the notification. The system was forcing their hand here. ¡°They are dangerous, we should sneak off.¡± She said and for the first time, Jazmel could tell Katie was truly worried. ¡°We cannot leave it. We have a shared plot!¡± Patton countered and then Jazmel realised they probably had all heard the same thing. ¡°I do not have a strong enough skill to deal with a creature of that size.¡± Bannerman told them all. Jazmel nodded, neither did he and he was sure none of them did. ¡°Wyverns are weak to thunder.¡± Sad¨¦ pointed out and Jazmel remembered she did have some skill that allowed her to use thunder. ¡°I have a skill that allows me to change my Mana to thunder, but it is costly. I can only do it twice, to a level that would wound the Wyvern.¡± Patton thought. ¡°Might I interject?¡± Baek said and Jazmel realised he had almost forgotten that he had retained the services of the Master Seeker. ¡°The Wyvern is injured, so you will not have a great deal of fight left to do. But also, a wounded monster is worse than others, it will be in a state of frenzy and rage. You will have to attack and to make it count.¡± Baek told them all and this drew silence again. ¡°I say we attack.¡± Jazmel said finally and they all looked at him. ¡°We all need to get stronger; I can only imagine the exp we could gain. Not only that, but if Wyvern¡¯s are like dragons. Then should not that cave hold treasure?¡± Jazmel said to nods of agreement from them all. ¡°I can draw it out of the cave for you all if you wish.¡± Baek said and they all looked at him. ¡°Could you beat it?¡± Patton asked him. ¡°If I did, would you all gain any experience?¡± he answered, and Jazmel noticed he did not say he could not, but he told them all he would not get in the way of their climb. ¡°Fine, please Baek can you draw it out.¡± Patton asked. ¡°Bannerman you are going to draw its attention, Katie, I want you to get on top of it. Keep it from flying, get above its head or incapacitate its wings.¡± Bannerman and Katie split from the rock and rushed out into the open to get into position. ¡°You can use thunder? How much?¡± Patton asked Sad¨¦. ¡°I can probably draw a thunder bolt down, but it is going to take me some time.¡± Sad¨¦ theorised, Patton turned to Jazmel and was quiet for a moment. ¡°I have seen how well versed you are with your sword, when it comes to behemoth¡¯s I am not sure how to place you.¡± He admitted and Jazmel felt crushed. He did not have a skill that could attack a large area and that was something that bothered him. ¡°Help where you can!¡± Patton said and then darted to the side and Jazmel felt the Mana around him begin to lurch towards Patton as he readied a skill or spell. ¡°While he isn¡¯t wrong, a sword can cut anything its Master wants.¡± Baek said beside Jazmel, and he looked at him wondering about his words. ¡°Let me draw this Wyvern out and then you can act how you want to.¡± Jazmel watched as Baek waved a hand lazily at the cave and a white flash of Mana crashed into the roof of the entrance and a challenge was roared in return. ¡°Think about your strike and make it count.¡± Baek told Jazmel before stepping into the air and leaping forward. The others had begun their attack. Bannerman was running to draw the attention of the Wyvern and as it appeared from the cavern Jazmel felt its pressure. He had not felt anything like this before, it felt like gravity was pressing down on him. He could tell the others were also feeling it but as soon as it came. It was removed, he looked up and above them. standing in the sky, Baek had drawn the attention and as the Wyvern shambled out. Jazmel could tell it was injured. Its wing was torn a little in some places, it had clearly fought something else before. It roared and glaring at Baek it hissed in wrath. But he was unfazed. It spat a gooey wad of purple mess at him, he slashed it in half with a hand and the wad flew off in an angle. It hit the ground and the cliff face sizzled in distress. Bannerman launched himself into the sky and landed on the neck of the creature, using his claws for purchase. He scrambled for ground and when he dug in, the Wyvern screeched. It tried to turn its head to face him but could not, as Katie unleased her chain at it. It whipped it and wrapped around its throat like a leash. It screamed this time and Jazmel could hear the pain in its bellow. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. STORM OF SWORDS! Patton roared and from the clouds above, lightning struck the Wyvern multiple times each time ending in a sword made of lightning Mana piercing its back and shoulders. ¡°It is going to try and fly away.¡± Baek warned and it started to run but Katie whipped her chain around a wing, hindering it and causing it to crash into the ground, another scream came out. ¡°Look out!¡± Sad¨¦ called and Katie was too late, the tail of the Wyvern, thick and enamelled with scales. Struck her and sent her flying, Bannerman leapt off the neck to run to her aid and the Jazmel could see the Wyvern was preparing to leap into the sky again. ¡°Jazmel, you have to stop it!¡± Sad¨¦ shouted and he noticed she was preparing for her own skill. He ran forward, unsheathing his sword. I can cut anything I believe I can cut. He thought to himself, putting his all into it. He held Hajime in his left hand and gripped his wrist with his right. He had seen this move before, only in theory. The force he was holding in his wrist would be doubled when she let go and the slash would be devastating. The Mana he was fusing into his blow was so great that the Wyvern noticed him finally and spat at him, but Baek reacted first. Knocking it aside again. Jazmel was still running towards the Wyvern and in a moment, he would be on it. ¡°Give me a boost!¡± He shouted and immediately Baek sent some of the cliff rock in his path, he bounded from it and using it to leap into the air. He jumped just to eye level of the Wyvern. It inhaled to attack him, but Patton struck first. STORM OF SWORDS! Lightning arched across its back, and it cried out, its attention drawn away from Jazmel. SLASH!! He shouted and releasing all the Mana he had been building he struck. In truth, though he used a specific skill, it felt different. As if the skill name hadn¡¯t truly fit what he had yelled but he struck true, and the Wyvern was agile enough to avert its head. But its right wing was not so lucky Jazmel cut off its wing, its tail, and a large part of the cliff face behind it. The wail of agony this time was more of a wail and Jazmel fell from his leap, crashing into the ground past the Wyvern. His vision began to blur, and the system was covering his field of vision with many notifications. The Wyvern recovered faster than him and as it made its way over to finish Jazmel. He watched as a single bolt, more a pillar of thunder struck its skull. The blinding light drove him unconscious, and everything went blank. After some time, he awoke. Sore all over and his body suffering from it. DANGER! STATUS, HEAVILY WOUNDED BROKEN ARM THREE BROKEN RIBS BROKEN SHOULDER WARNING!! ¡°Don¡¯t move so quickly, you are in bad shape.¡± He heard a voice and opening a dry eye, he noticed Sad¨¦ kneeling next to him. He was laying where he had fallen but a makeshift camp had been erected around him. ¡°Drink this.¡± She gave him a healing potion and he swilled it down. His head was swimming and though he felt the potion working, it was not enough. He had to drink three in total before his body began to mend and he checked the notifications of the system. CONGRATULATIONS THE SHARED PLOT TASKS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED!! ALL MEMBERS OF THE PARTY SHALL LEVEL UP +5 LVL!! Jazmel smiled and then groaned at the pain he felt. His level had risen by five levels, the Wyvern was an incredible source of experience for all members, but they had also all done a great deal together also. ¡°I am level 30 now.¡± Sad¨¦ told him and he smiled at her, she was ready to tier up. ¡°Congratulations. Where are the others?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°Bannerman is tiering up; Patton and Katie are dissecting the Wyvern to sell it off for parts.¡± She explained to him. "You need to tier up!" he told her, and she nodded but smiled, still sitting beside him. ¡°I did not want you to wake up and not be with anyone, I can wait a little longer.¡± But he waved her away. ¡°Tier up, the stronger you are, the better for us all.¡± He told her and she rose, thinking for a moment she leant down, her hair cascading all around them both. She kissed him on his forehead and then rushed away before he could speak. He was so warm with feelings he did not have names for he almost passed out again. He opened the system to look over his stats. Name: Jazmel Level: 28 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier I Health: 400/475 Stamina: 325/400 Mana: 340/425 STR:28 PER:22 VIT:26 END:34 INT:26 WIL:34 AGL:27 DEX:28 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 25 STATS 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED NEMEAN LION BONE 4X COLD IRON ORE 1/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TWILIGHT CROWN BRANCH OF A TREE 5X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 His stats were amazing, the only lacking one was perception. But due to the Mana eyes, he had been getting away with the low stat. he now poured all the remaining stat points in and after he sighed at the keenness of his senses. The Mana eyes seemed to affect his eyes the most, but in turn all his senses seemed to sharpen. His stats now looked like; STR:28 PER:32 VIT:26 END:34 INT:26 WIL:34 AGL:27 DEX:28 He felt his body galvanise as he locked his new stats in, he looked over his stats and found himself overly attached to his levelling up. He felt almost addicted, he was worried about it a little, but kept it to himself for now. ¡°You did a dangerous thing, in that attack of yours.¡± Baek scolded him and Jazmel lowered his gaze. ¡°You used more of your skill before it had evolved, and it almost caused you to sunder the skill before you have become a ranker.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel listened, this wasn¡¯t something he knew of yet. ¡°What do you mean sunder?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek settled down to explain this to him. ¡°When you become a ranker, the system allows you a new skill ability. Rather than an extra skill slot; it allows you to merge skills with one another, making them stronger and harder to tier up. But also, more individualised for the ranker.¡± Baek explained. ¡°So why do you think I almost sundered this one?¡± Jazmel quizzed him more. ¡°Because the Mana you used in that skill was more than you have used before. It was dangerous, you need to be careful with your Mana usage. Sometimes people experience a white out when you use all your Mana, you need to be always conscious of your limits.¡± Baek tutored him and Jazmel listened intently. ¡°I did use my skill; I just willed all my Mana into the strike.¡± Jazmel said and Baek studied him for a long time before saying. ¡°I have only known of one man who has done something like this.¡± Baek said and Jazmel looked at him confused. ¡°A Master of great renown in the labyrinth, one day. I am sure you and his paths shall cross.¡± Baek said and Jazmel knew he would say no more. ¡°That was a great blow to the Wyvern, that attack was the difference between you all losing something precious. Remember that the cost of taking down a monster like that. Though it was only tier III that was still beyond all of you currently. You must remember that monsters are stronger and more powerful than us by default. You must be stronger than it by at least a tier for you to manage something like that on your own.¡± Baek scolded him and Jazmel listened, knowing just how lucky they were. ¡°How strong would I have to be to face a Wyvern like that on my own?¡± Jazmel asked him and a crafty smile on Baek¡¯s face formed. ¡°At least a high tier II Ranker.¡± Baek pointed out. Jazmel nodded, suddenly thinking how far that was from him. ¡°Just the odd fifty levels to go.¡± Jazmel mumbled to himself. ¡°Do not discredit yourself, a few months ago you were not even a Seeker. Now look, you are nearly tier III, the labyrinth provides for all those who are diligent. Keep going as you are, it will plot out your path for you.¡± Baek motivated him and he nodded thankfully. ¡°Get some rest, we will not be moving on until your friends have tiered up. But I imagine they will want to look inside the nest of the Wyvern tomorrow too.¡± Baek said and rose to walk off, leaving Jazmel to recover, but also alone to his own thoughts, Jazmel closed his eyes and focused on healing. Chapter Forty-One; the Next Gate The group had stayed in the cliff shore for what felt like a week. In reality, it had been four days. One day for everyone to heal and rest, another for Bannerman and Sad¨¦ to tier up to tier II Seeker and then the third day had been entering the nest of the Wyvern after they had divvied up the remains. The rewards had been bountiful, and everyone took their share, from coins to weapons and armour. Jazmel had not been interested in the wealth much but after Baek explaining that money had its uses just as much as gaining strength he took his share. The wealth of a Wyvern was no mere amount and after the others had taken their shares. Jazmel had gained fifty white gold coins. No small thing, but he also knew the higher he climbed the greater the expense items and swords would cost him. So, he put his coins away and let his own small wealth accrue. The Wyvern was bigger than they all imagined, the wings, the head, the body, and the tail were big and none of them had a storage ring big enough to hold it in. but Baek did, he took it in his own storage ring and bid the group to hurry about their decisions. ¡°Could you take everything that is in that cave?¡± Patton asked, his eyes glinting with an unusual look. ¡°Not all that glitters is gold. Even if you took everything within that cave, you would not be sated. Take only what you need, do not sought after what is not yours. It will only hinder your walk.¡± Baek warned and Patton immediately gave up. ¡°I do not want the Wyvern, but I would like the core if I can have it.¡± Jazmel asked and everyone looked at him, Patton looked around and then nodded. ¡°You can have it.¡± Baek took it from his storage ring. Jazmel took it in his hand, it was a dark slate gem. Monster cores usually looked like jewellery, but this was different to any he had seen before. He looked at it in the sun and at the centre a small flame flickered, purple in colour but withered and very faint. He turned and dropped it into his shadow. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. DING! The system notification whirred to life. SHADOW WRAITH CONSUMED WYVERN CORE ¡­ SHADOW WRAITH EVOLVING DING! SHADOW WRAITH HAS EVOLVED ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS SHADOW WRAITH HAS BECOME A WIGHT Jazmel listened to the notifications as they flooded his system and, on the outside, he felt his shadow reach up. It entered his mind faintly and whispered. Master¡­ offer me a name¡­ Jazmel felt the shadow¡¯s obedience and instantly felt satisfied. It was asking for an identity. ¡°Paldane.¡± Jazmel said and he felt the shadow grip the name in its mind. ¡°What did you say?¡± Sad¨¦ asked, but he shook his head. As if mumbling to himself. Master, I must form myself. I will sleep, soon I will share myself with you¡­ The whispering voice of his shadow left his mind as it had come and slipped back, suddenly dormant. Baek was near enough for Jazmel to turn to him and ask what a wight was. ¡°Why?¡± Baek asked him, curious but a little alert. Jazmel told him about the first floor and the hidden thing he had won from the captain of the keep. He then explained what had just happened to which Baek looked at him, with little wonder in his eyes. ¡°Truly, I have never heard of someone to have such luck within the labyrinth at such an early stage.¡± He said, clearly in awe. ¡°A Wight is unlike a Wraith as it has its own identity, it is sentient and in knowing itself. it has power. A Wight in its own domain, could highly likely kill any who entered up until tier II Ranker. A Wight is just beneath a death knight, and a death knight is the last thing you want to see in the labyrinth right now. Let me assure you.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel listened, mystified. There were monsters he still not seen in the labyrinth and the more floors they overcame. The more likely they were to see them; this gave him goosebumps. He could not hide his excitement at all. ¡°I have found the gate for the next floor. It is on the cliff. Let us make haste.¡± Baek told them all and everyone began to make their way to the cliff face, towards the next gate. Chapter Forty-Two; Ladnipor, the City of Knaves The floor they walked through too was unlike anything Jazmel had ever heard of. There It was dusk; the sun had sunk beneath the horizon and amber and ruddy red watery colours bathed the city streets in their ambience. The streets were filled with people. Seekers, denizens, and many others that Jazmel did not yet know the name of. Store doors were open, and seating had been arranged in unusual parts of the street so people could sit outside and drink or eat their meals. Jazmel had not seen anything like it before, women scantily dressed were serving drinks to men. A random man pulled a woman into his lap, she spilled some of the drink she was holding in a mug to share and rather than throwing it at him. She began to pour it down his throat, to the enjoyment of those he sat with. ¡°Ladnipor.¡± Baek said with clear disdain. ¡°This is a city for thieves and knaves. We should find the gate quickly, nothing good can come of us being here.¡± he said, and Jazmel could tell he really did not like the place at all. They made their way through the dining area and headed towards the centre of the city. ¡°We should sell the Wyvern here; we would get more money than a normal auction.¡± Baek told them all and after Patton asked why, he simply said. ¡°People here buy things and are willing to pay more, because less questions will be asked.¡± ¡°Stick together and try and find an auction hall.¡± Baek told them and they all headed inward. The city centre was just a larger hub where all the roads seemed to connect, it seemed like every storefront that Jazmel laid his eyes on, was a bar or restaurant and Seekers of all kinds were sitting around indulging. ¡°This place seems like the dark parts of the labyrinth.¡± Sad¨¦ said to him, and she seemed uncomfortable by all the frolicking around them. ¡°Hey, you!¡± someone shouted, and Jazmel looked over, a large man was staring at the group. Pointedly at Sad¨¦ but she was not looking at him. ¡°Elf!¡± he shouted, and this drew her attention. ¡°You are a beauty, come and drink we me and my friends.¡± He called out and that was when Jazmel realised, he was drunk. Sad¨¦ did not even respond, she turned her body away and looked over Jazmel¡¯s shoulder, snubbing the man clearly. This drew laughs from him and his friend, but he got up to make his way over. Within seconds, Bannerman was beside Jazmel; who had flicked the sword on his belt up and using his thumb he unsheathed it a little. Patton had drawn his own sword of runes and magic etched upon the blade burned, alive with power. ¡°What did you want?¡± Jazmel asked and the man realising that Sad¨¦ was not alone, suddenly grew serious. ¡°Ahhh stop it. Here friend!¡± Katie said, pushing past Bannerman, she flicked a gold coin into the man¡¯s lap and said. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Have a drink on us, we will not be joining you. But you can drink for all of us.¡± She said with a nice smile. The man thanked her and ordered a drink, showing the store servers the gold coin. ¡°Put that away!¡± She waved at Jazmel; through clenched teeth. Who in turn, sheathed his sword again slowly and he readjusted the scabbard in his belt. ¡°Boys are so stupid. Not everything has to turn into a fight, Ladnipor is not like any city you have been to before. It is lawless here.¡± she told them and Baek interjected. ¡°She is right. You would have fought, and the winner would have held the day. But who is to say they would let you off with winning?¡± he uttered, and Jazmel considered his words. ¡°Come. I found an auction hall.¡± He motioned and they all followed him in the direction he led. Sad¨¦ was surprisingly calm and to show it, she linked arms with Jazmel who seemed to feel all the tension seep out of him. He liked Sad¨¦, he knew he did. He smiled to himself at the idea. He had not been popular with the girls in his hometown, being an orphan was not the easiest handle to maintain and though everyone respected Tango, that respect never seemed to reach Jazmel too. He flicked open his notifications and sent a message hawk to Mary to tell her where he was. She had not responded to the last, but he felt that if he told her he was still climbing the floors, then maybe she would respond. As the origami hawk formed in his hand, Sad¨¦ watched intently and as it fluttered above them, ascending into the sky she smiled. ¡°Was that to your family?¡± she asked, and he nodded, Mary was sort of family to him, right? ¡°I was just letting her know I had reached the ninth floor.¡± He explained himself and Sad¨¦ nodded in understanding. ¡°After I tiered up, I sent a message to my parents.¡± She told him and he smiled, thinking back to her parents. ¡°The system gave me so much experience for that Wyvern that I had to tier up.¡± She told him. ¡°What did you use?¡± ¡°I had nothing for my body, but I used a Wyvern bone. Which strengthened me immensely.¡± She smiled, showing a bicep to Jazmel. He laughed a little and with a mock bow he surrendered to her strength. ¡°You will tier up next, it will probably be such a great tier up that you will grow stronger than all of us.¡± She tried to convince him, but Jazmel just smiled a little. He was conscious of being the lowest level in the group and that was something he had no control over. He had damaged the Wyvern more than others he thought, but at the cost of his wounds. He was unable to land the final blow. Something Sad¨¦ had done, this made him realise he had to grow stronger, but also that he had to work harder on learning more about his own abilities. At this time, they had reached the open doorway of the auction hall. It was a restaurant on the ground floor, tables were filled to the brim with Seekers and other denizens of the labyrinth. At the door, they were each given tickets and Baek explained that after dining the tickets would alert those who were next to go up to the store of the auction hall and either sell or buy goods. The restaurant was just to ensure Seekers did not fight amongst themselves, but while Jazmel looked around, he could see that guards were walking the perimeter and making sure nobody was acting out. ¡°Come let¡¯s sit, I am hungry.¡± Katie said and she led the way to a table that had been cleared off to the west side of the ground floor. Seated, many servers came and began to place starters and drinks on the table. They had not even asked what any of them wanted but Katie began to try them all and the ones she did not like, were removed from the table immediately. Jazmel began to do the same and in moments the whole table were tasting and assessing the different small dishes at the table. ¡°I am glad to see you here!¡± a voice called up and Jazmel; out of curiosity looked up. It was Circe. Chapter Forty-Three; Ladnipor, the Auction Dining Hall Jazmel looked up and to his surprise he saw Circe. She was looking at him curiously and interesting as usual. He remembered from the Seeker trials that she had an unbothered and nonchalant look about her. She studied things with a weird sort of unbiased view. She was looking at him like that now and he rose to greet her. She leant in for a hug and he hugged her back, a little startled. She had not been this way with him before, but he was glad to see someone. One of the first people he had ever met before he entered the labyrinth. ¡°You made it all the way to the ninth floor!¡± she said and smiled at him, not in disbelief but in curious amazement. She was happy to see him, that much he could tell. But he was not sure why she had become so friendly. ¡°So did you.¡± He said flashing a wry but awkward smile. ¡°Well, my family are from the thirtieth floor. So, I am simply making my way back there.¡± She smiled at him again. Not wanting to be rude he turned and introduced everyone at the table. Circe nodded and waved at them all, she took in Sad¨¦ for a moment longer than the others and when she saw Baek she simply lowered her head in respect. ¡°Can we talk?¡± she asked, and Jazmel nodded, stepping away from his table. She introduced the three girls she was with and with a little nod they accepted his greeting but without speaking to him, they sat at their own table but kept their eyes firmly on him. Or Circe he was not sure. She led him to the bar, and they sat together for the moment, she ordered a drink and Jazmel ordered water for himself. She smiled at his order but from the smell, she clearly was drinking something stronger. ¡°You never wrote to me.¡± She said, her face straight and her tone even but Jazmel could see a hint of hurt behind her eyes. ¡°I did, I wrote while in a dungeon, it should have sent once I leave the realm. But it seems you did not get it from me, I apologise for not chasing up on a response." He explained and she held a straight face before smiling a little and taking his sincere apology. "Well now I know you at least tried, I will also send you messages. I will not wait for you first." She responded and Jazmel was just happy to appease her, he wasn''t actually sure what his relationship was with Circe, but he was curious to see how things continued, how they would grow. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°I misread then, forgive me. I will write to you as much as I can when I am out travelling.¡± He offered and she nodded firmly, clearly happy to accept his plea. ¡°I wondered how you were doing while I was in the labyrinth and I didn¡¯t have your details, so I could not write to you myself.¡± She told him and Jazmel felt terribly bad. ¡°Here, take this.¡± He handed her his own card and watched as she took it and ripped it immediately to look his friend details down. ¡°How has the labyrinth been for you?¡± he asked her, and she smiled with excitement. ¡°It has been fun to enter. I heard stories from my family and clan members all the time, but it is even more than I imagined. Have you entered a lost gate yet?¡± she asked, and he shook his head, confused. She nodded understanding his confusion and explained. ¡°A lost gate is a floor that can only be entered under certain conditions. For example, the one I entered said only women below Ranker were able to enter it.¡± She explained and Jazmel edged forward, increasingly interested in what she was telling him. ¡°When I entered the floor, it was a ruin of a once beautiful cathedral. The stone pews were broken crumbling. The ceiling had fallen away in certain parts, even the windowpanes had either broken or been put out.¡± She said and Jazmel could tell she was reminiscing about it. ¡°What happened?¡± Jazmel asked, pulling her back to their conversation. She smiled a little and Jazmel wondered what happened to her. ¡°I lost many people in that cathedral. Thirty women entered that gate, we four. Are all that remain.¡± She said suddenly solemn, and her eyes held tears. ¡°What was in there?¡± he asked, suddenly worried, and amazed too. ¡°A high vampire.¡± She told him and he sat wondering how powerful that must have been. ¡°I am glad you survived.¡± He said and she smiled at him, thankful. ¡°So, you are a Ranker tier I now?¡± he asked, and she nodded. ¡°How does it feel?¡± ¡°I feel powerful, but I know that there are places I have not seen and people I have not yet met. So, all I can do is keep moving forward.¡± ¡°I am a Seeker tier I, nearly tier II but nowhere near ready to become a Ranker.¡± He told her, feeling a little defeated. ¡°Nothing worth having is easily gained. Keep going, keep striving and you will accomplish all the things you feel you need to.¡± Circe countered and he nodded, knowing he had to keep going. ¡°I must leave you; we are only here to buy something for one of my friends. She is tiering up to Ranker tier II and after that. We are moving on; this floor is not a good place to stay.¡± She finished her drink and then got up to hug him, he returned the favour and after walking her back to her table. He sat back with his friends. They did not ask him anything and he was grateful, still needing to think things over in his mind. He sat back down and began to eat from the platters, the food was not as hot as before. But still edible. He was halfway through when Sad¨¦ tapped his shoulder. ¡°Look.¡± She said and looking up, above them an origami swan was flying down towards him. He caught it and unravelling it, he read Mary¡¯s words. I am in Ladnipor. Chapter Forty-Four; Mary in Ladnipor Jazmel, Sad¨¦ and Baek were standing in an alleyway waiting. Things had happened very quickly in the last hour and Jazmel himself was very worried. He had sent a message to Mary through origami message when he had entered Ladnipor. She had not responded to him regarding his first message but after speaking with Circe and returning to his table. He had received a final message where she had told him she was in Ladnipor too. She had not told him what she was doing there, but he had told the group and so they had split their forces. Bannerman, Patton, and Katie would stay and sell the Wyvern. Jazmel, Sad¨¦ and Baek would meet up with Mary, once the other group had finished, they would come and meet them as soon as possible. Jazmel was nervous, he wondered why he was. But his gut told him something was coming, and he was wrecked with worry about it. ¡°Someone is coming.¡± Baek warned and Jazmel and Sad¨¦ stiffened. A shrouded figure entered the alleyway from the opposite end that Jazmel and his friends were standing. Baek stepped ahead of him, but when the shroud cape fell back Jazmel felt relieved. It was Mary. ¡°Whose this?¡± She asked, beckoning at Baek, who simply stood ahead of her. ¡°I am the retainer of the young Master.¡± Baek answered before Jazmel could respond. Mary looked at him for but a moment, then turned to Jazmel and waited for him to explain and so he did. She did not seem satisfied, but she did not push it further. She noticed Sad¨¦ and Jazmel introduced her next and Mary simply nodded a greeting. That was the way she was, and Jazmel hoped nobody would be offended by her. ¡°Why are you in Ladnipor?¡± She asked, and he told her that this was just the next floor for them, they were trying to sell the monster corpse also. She sighed and stretching, she clicked her neck. ¡°Follow me, I will tell you on the way.¡± She made to move but Baek blocked her path, with a stray hand. ¡°Where are you going?¡± He asked her, his tone even and non-threatening but clearly expecting an answer, Jazmel could tell Mary was weighing her options in her head. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Do they know?¡± She asked, Jazmel nodded. Sad¨¦ had been the first person he told; he had told Baek much later but still. They both knew about Jazmel¡¯s reasons for entering the labyrinth. ¡°Tango is on this floor.¡± She answered and Jazmel almost collapsed at her words. ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°That is the tricky part. I had to kill to find out, I found them snooping around your old house.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°The sworn.¡± She said, Sad¨¦ hissed, and Baek looked unmoved. ¡°What is the sworn?¡± Jazmel asked, confused. ¡°Rats.¡± Mary said. ¡°The sworn are Seekers who take on contracts from other Seekers, for profit.¡± Sad¨¦ explained and still not getting it, Jazmel looked at Baek. ¡°The sworn are a crime syndicate, they are assassins, thieves and any other knave that do not share dignity. They steal, kill and murder as they see fit. I have killed many of them in my days inside the labyrinth.¡± He said and Jazmel could hear the disgust in his voice, this seemed to sooth Mary as she nodded at his words, in understanding and community. ¡°Why would they have Tango?¡± Jazmel asked and Mary shrugged. ¡°I do not know; all I know is that he is alive, and I am going to get him out. The longer we take, the less likely it will be that he will be alive.¡± Mary said and, on that note, she turned and hurried back down the alley. Jazmel ran after her, Sad¨¦ and Baek in his wake. The alleyways ran adjacent to the street and so as they followed Mary through the alleys, Jazmel could hear the busy streets and the unaware Seekers. ¡°Where is the base?¡± Baek asked Mary as he kept up beside her. His movement quick and easy. ¡°Beneath the city, there are many tunnels and sewer lines that they operate from, and they have made a base of operations from them. we are going to have to search for him, that is all I could get out of the three I caught.¡± She told him as she darted through the mismatch of barrels and other weird utensils left in the alleys behind the stores and shops. ¡°Are you a Ranker?¡± she asked Baek. ¡°No.¡± ¡°A Master then. Good, the sworn leader is a Master.¡± ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°Ranker tier II¡± She answered with a rare smile. Jazmel wondered if it was rare that Mary met people stronger than her. The last alley they entered was wide enough to back a wagon into it, a wrought iron gate blocked the sewer entrance, Jazmel knew he would struggle to lift it. But Baek simply stepped up and with one hand, raised it above his head to let everyone in. Sad¨¦ entered before Jazmel, but she quickly scribbled something on the gate and then sent an origami message up into the air. ¡°I am telling the others where to meet us.¡± She explained and Baek smiled at her, thinking it a sensible step. ¡°When we enter here, I will take the lead. You two stay back, let me and the Master work. Before we really do anything, we need to figure out where Tango is first.¡± Mary said, explaining her plan to Jazmel and Sad¨¦, they both nodded. Jazmel knew how serious this was and he was not going to be the reason Tango did not survive the rescue. Chapter Forty-Five; the Sewers of Ladnipor The first thing that hit Jazmel when he entered the sewers were how dark it was. He could see fine; his eyes were perfect in any pitch of light it would seem. Mary and Baek seemed fine, but Sad¨¦ held the back of his jacket as he led her through the sewers. Then came the smell, the sewers stank, putrid things floated in the waterways and even though they walked on the raised ledge. They were still too close to not smell the excrement of the city above. Mary walked with purpose, she seemed to know where she was going immediately and only had to orientate herself once before she led them forward. The darkness clung to them like mist and only when the tunnel ahead, bearing simple lanterns indented in the wall corners. Seemed to push back the darkness. Mary crept to the corner and as she peered round, quick as a serpent. She grabbed and pulled a man back who must have been guarding the way. ¡°Where are the cells?¡± she asked, and he looked like he would not respond but something in Mary¡¯s eyes told him it would be for no reason. ¡°To the west of this tunnel. Walk up here and turn left, follow that tunnel to the end and you will come upon the cells.¡± He uttered, clearly frightened. ¡°Are you sworn?¡± she asked him. ¡°Not yet.¡± He stuttered. ¡°They won¡¯t make me because I haven¡¯t killed yet.¡± He said, a little defeated. ¡°Do you want to be sworn?¡± Baek asked him. ¡°Do I have another choice.¡± ¡°There are always choices.¡± Before he could respond again, Mary had put him to sleep with a choke hold and left him sitting as if he were asleep. ¡°It was my choice not to kill him.¡± She said and then stood up, moving around the corner, and following the words of the now sleeping acolyte. The tunnels were lit at each corner and halfway in between so there were many shadows to either hide in or ambush. Jazmel could see all parts; his eyes were that keen even now and as they were about to move down the tunnel towards the cells. He held Mary by the arm. ¡°There are four men in there. Guarding the cells.¡± He whispered to her and Baek. For a moment Baek was quiet as if thinking and then he whispered back. ¡°I can take three of them, you will have to take the nearest so I can get the one furthest down the hall.¡± Baek told Mary, she nodded, and they flew into action. By the time Sad¨¦ and Jazmel had rounded the corner there were four men incapacitated on the ground. All dead, Jazmel almost felt sorry for them. but then he noticed the tattoos, markings on each of their necks. These men were sworn and not mere acolytes. He steeled himself and said nothing. ¡°He should be in one of these cells.¡± Mary said and heading to the first she jumped a little to investigate the barred window at the top of the door. ¡°There is a man in there, but I cannot see his face properly. Ready?¡± she said about to pull the chains off the door lock. They all nodded, and she did, throwing them to the other side of the cells. A man walked out, tall and bruised, it was not Tango but someone else completely. His hands were Manacled and Jazmel noticed the intricate tattoos on both his hands, he had thought he was sworn at the first, but these tattoos were not like the black ones the sworn sported. These tattoos were blue and white, filled with Mana but the Manacles seemed to be feeding on them as dark iron burned a hazy red. ¡°This man is Cloud.¡± Baek said and walking over, he simply ripped the Manacles off the man¡¯s hands, and he sighed with relief. The Mana in his hands began to flow around his body and Jazmel watched as he began to heal almost immediately. ¡°Baek what the hell are you doing in Ladnipor?¡± the man called Cloud asked. Mary had already moved to the next door, looking in she shook her head and moved to door three. She pulled the chains off and as she opened the door, screams came out. She merely waited at the door for the screams to stop and Sad¨¦ stepped beside her to look in. there were five women in there, Jazmel could see they were all Seekers. Their clothes were tattered and torn, bruised faces and blackened eyes told him all he needed to know. He clutched his sheathed sword, the sworn would pay. The fourth cell was empty, and the fifth cell held the desiccated corpse of someone unknown. The rats had feasted on this body and Mary would not even open the door. The fifth cell was opened quickly and inside was Tango. Jazmel could tell that Mary had found him. He rushed up beside her and as she opened the door, he looked in to see Tango. His sole parent, friend, and guardian. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The man was a shell of his former self. His blonde hair was matted and longer than usual. It covered his face. His arms were chained above his head and so he sat in a cross-legged position at the back of the cell. Jazmel rushed in and looking at tango, he could tell he was alive. His Mana was running around his body very faintly, he was beaten and starved but still alive. ¡°Tango!¡± Jazmel shouted and the man moaned, groaning awake he looked at Jazmel in disbelief. Wondering if he was delirious. ¡°You can¡¯t be here.¡± he said. ¡°But it is me, me and Mary.¡± Tango raised his head and looked up at Mary who was at the door. ¡°Give him a potion.¡± Mary told him. He slashed the chains that held his dearest friend and then went about giving him potions, he drank two before he reopened his eyes. Bruised and still bloody, he seemed a little more alert. ¡°Why did you come!¡± he groaned to Jazmel. ¡°We have got company!!¡± Sad¨¦ shouted and leading Tango out, he stepped up beside her. Sworn members rushed to the entrance of the hall. There were many more than them and the numbers seemed to keep flooding. Jazmel stopped counting at forty men and women, but he kept his nerves about him. Sad¨¦ unsheathed her sword and stood protectively ahead of the women, Jazmel did the same, but Tango was not hiding he had drunk another potion and was standing on his own relatively stable. He drank a stamina potion and Jazmel could feel his Mana stirring but he did not take his eyes off the entrance. A lone man stepped out from the group of sworn, his tattoo was greater than the others, it was circled and bolder and Jazmel could tell there was a wickedness about this man. ¡°So, your friends came for you eh.¡± He said, clearly speaking to Tango. ¡°All you had to do, was tell us where the child went. We would have let you go before all these unpleasantries.¡± The man said, picking dirt from beneath his nails. Unfazed by the defiance in front of him. The child? What was he talking about, Jazmel wondered. ¡°Cloud get back in your cell.¡± He said to the man standing beside Baek, he laughed and turned to the cell door. With a raised hand he pulled the door off the hinges and bent the iron door into a crumpled mess. This man was powerful, Jazmel could tell. It felt like Baek or near enough in strength to him. ¡°Have it your way then.¡± The man pulled a whistle from his pocket and blew into it. No sound came out but all the hairs on Jazmel¡¯s arms rose. Jazmel had heard cries of pain and screeches before. But the sound that came from the final cell in the room, put a fear into him like no other. Backing away slowly they all moved over to the doorway of the cell the girls had been in, Sad¨¦ ushered them in. they hurried, and she stood at the doorway, Jazmel stood in front of her flanked by Tango and Mary. Baek and the man called Cloud stood ahead of them. The door of the final cell opened and a woman in a white flowing, but very tattered dress stepped out. Her head was covered with a black hood and her hands were chained and bound in front of her. Jazmel heard a crack and looking, he saw the sworn leader snap the whistle in half. The hood fell away, and Jazmel watched as this pale woman looked at him and his friends. ¡°Lich Queen.¡± Baek said and for the first time in all the time¡¯s Jazmel had been with him. Baek took a sword from his storage ring. Cloud clapped his hands together and in a flurry of other movements with the Mana in his hands and tattoos rapidly increasing ahead of him the spectral form of a giant toad appeared. The woman screamed again and this time Baek slashed at something. The sound she projected was cut in half and one half smashed into the sworn forces. The other half hit the back wall of the cells and broke away revealing the city. Somewhere out in the open. Cloud reacted quickly with a hand signal the ghostly toad jumped forward and rammed the pale Lich out of the opening. Baek sprang out after it. Cloud stayed beside them and he and the assumed leader of the sworn faced off. Cloud hit him with Mana and knocked him through the cells. Following after him their battle breaking the sewers about them. Now it was just the sworn left. Mary ripped off her shroud and clenched her fists. She wore a simple white tank top, and her hands and elbows were bound. The sworn captain made to speak but she was on him in an instant. A savage elbow to his nose, shattered it into a fleshy mess. She spun out of his grip before he could catch her and with another elbow, she hit his temple. Knocking him to the ground, unconscious. The others rushed her but Jazmel and Sad¨¦ were beside her. Jazmel swung his sword; he did not even use skills. He just carved through the sworn. Most fell beneath one movement, those who did not. fell beneath the second, they soon learned not to approach him. But Sad¨¦ had covered herself in blue fire and her three tails were filled with Mana. She imbued her sword with the flame and was carving through the sworn. Mary had beaten most of those who had rushed her into a bloody mess. When the rest of the sworn saw that they were barely able to hold back this group they surrendered and ran away, the cowards they all were. ¡°Nobody move!¡± a shout from behind drew Jazmel¡¯s eyes. The sworn captain, awake now but hampered by the lack of a nose. Was clutching one of the girls from the cell and holding a knife to her neck. ¡°Let me out of here and I will let this girl go.¡± He said, smiling and snarling he made to lick her face but at the last moment let go of her and gasped. Dropping his blade, he suddenly went slack. From behind, Tango had stabbed him directly in the heart with a discarded blade. He held his mouth and drove the blade in deeper. The sworn who were still able to run, had fled. The others who were either injured or dead, laid where they were. Patton, Katie, and Bannerman appeared. Late but still Jazmel was happy to see his friends. They entered the entrance and spotting Jazmel and Sad¨¦ rushed over to them. Jazmel and Sad¨¦ quickly explained the events. Katie went to the girls and began giving them the clothes she had in her storage rings. They entered the cells to dress and Sad¨¦ followed behind to help as she could. ¡°Jazmel.¡± Tango called him and Jazmel walked over to hug the man he had been looking for. Chapter Forty-Six; the Sewers of Ladnipor II Tango had pulled him to the side and spoke hugged him for a long while. He was so happy to see him that he forgot about the fight they had just been in for a long while. ¡°So, you entered the labyrinth then.¡± Tango said to him with a smile. ¡°I did, I had to come and find you.¡± Jazmel said and he hugged him again. ¡°Thank you for being brave and coming to look for me.¡± ¡°I need to explain myself.¡± Tango said and Jazmel looked at him, a little confused. Tango explained to Jazmel what had happened, the day he had been kidnapped and how the Sworn had come looking for him about something he had done nearly two decades ago. ¡°What did you do?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°When I first entered the labyrinth. I never joined parties, I liked to hunt for items and artefacts of my own accord. Most of my coins went on treasure maps or information on maps and such. I was on one such hunt, I was looking for a scroll for something about a lost gate on the nineteenth floor. Well, I was on the thirteenth floor and came across an ambush site. Someone had killed everyone, or so I thought. Everyone was dead and I had no idea who they were or where they were going. All I know is that a woman who lay dead was a little away from the others. She must have tried to run, but a poison arrow took her through the back and punctured a lung. She was in the grass a little and looking ahead. I followed her gaze and found you.¡± Tango explained. Jazmel was shocked and he turned away to try and stay a little steady. ¡°Was that my mother?¡± he asked, biting back a cry. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I cannot tell you. All I know is she hid you and died from that final act. I took you then, thinking nothing of it, I could not return you because I did not know who you were or where they were going and so I took you in.¡± Tango said, his eyes clearly remembering that sad day. ¡°But if you did that why were the sworn after you?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°I have no idea how they know I was there, or that you even survived. All I know is, I was at home and then next minute I am fighting a full squadron of sworn.¡± He explained and Jazmel remembered the destruction of their home. ¡°They burned the house.¡± He told Tango who kissed his teeth and spat off into the corner. ¡°Mary kept me and then let me go to the Seeker trials. Then I just kept going through gates. The system gave me a main plot to find you!¡± Jazmel remembered and as if on cue the notifications flooded in, but he waved them away, he was still busy. ¡°I know you came in here to find me; I will be forever thankful. But you need to stay in the labyrinth and figure out who you are. The sworn will return, and we both need to be better prepared. I got rusty.¡± He confessed and Jazmel realised being hostage to the sworn must have left a great deal of doubt in his mind. ¡°We need to leave; the girls need true treatment and being here still could be triggering for them.¡± Katie and Sad¨¦ explained, and Jazmel nodded, just as they said that Baek and Cloud entered the broken opening in the wall. Both looked fine, but Jazmel could tell they had fought a hard battle against the Lich Queen. ¡°We need to leave.¡± Jazmel told Baek, he nodded and turning to Cloud. ¡°I assume we can leave this with you?¡± Cloud nodded and pulling a token plaque from somewhere it flashed and in mere seconds every sworn still alive and in the close vicinity was tied up with orange bands of Mana. ¡°Oh, he is a Herald.¡± Mary said and he looked at the man called cloud, intrigued. ¡°A Herald is someone who has influence in the labyrinth, they work directly for the system and complete tasks set for maintaining law and order inside the labyrinth.¡± She explained to Jazmel. ¡°Send me a word before you leave the city, we should catch up.¡± Cloud said to Baek, he did not look back, but he waved a hand to let him know he had heard him. The group left the sewers, out a unique way this time and before long they entered the fresh air of Ladnipor, people were still drinking and laughing with the women who ran the stores. They were none the wiser of what had just happened, and Jazmel could not tell if he was bothered by this or not. Chapter Forty-Seven; New Plots and Plans Pooling their money together, Jazmel and his party rented a whole inn. The owner was extremely happy to take their money, but she hid her greed and sent all others away. Quickly putting up signs to say she was closed. Katie and Sad¨¦ had taken the girls to get cleaned up in the bathing halls. So, Jazmel found himself at a table with Mary, Tango, Patton, Bannerman and Baek. Nobody spoke at first and it was Jazmel who decided to speak first. He shared with everyone the beginning of his story, he told them about Tango and the Seeker trials. He also spoken about the main plot he had, explaining how Tango played a part into that. After this, Tango explained how he had found Jazmel and why the sworn had kidnapped him in the first place. Patton and Bannerman sat quietly but Jazmel could tell they had questions. ¡°So, you might be a noble?¡± Mary said and Jazmel looked at her. ¡°If someone paid the sworn to kill your family, then you must be from some family or clan of some strength.¡± Mary offered and the others murmured in agreement. ¡°He is a prince.¡± Baek said. Jazmel spun to look at him and they all looked up at the man. ¡°Or so I think he may be.¡± He said and sat back simply, waiting for the questions. ¡°Why do you think I am?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek nodded before sitting forward to respond. ¡°The riddle was just something to humour me. But you look like your father immensely, I have never seen anyone wield a sword the way you do, besides my Master and I cannot guarantee it without my Master¡¯s well wishes. But you are, maybe.¡± ¡°Who is your Master?¡± Mary and Tango asked at the same time. ¡°The black dragon.¡± Baek said and everyone gasped. Jazmel shook his head and not for the first time, was he annoyed that he did not know all the things it seemed everyone else knew. ¡°But that would make him a prince.¡± Patton said. ¡°I said I think he is the prince.¡± Baek countered and the others murmured amongst themselves. ¡°Who is the black dragon!¡± Jazmel shouted and everyone looked at him, confused but then understanding why he was shouting. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°The black dragon is the King of the Kuzuryu kingdom. The kingdom is on the sixty seventh floor and is completely his.¡± Mary explained. ¡°The black dragon is one of the greatest swordsmen in the labyrinth. He is ranked quite high amongst all tier III Masters.¡± Patton said with a smile of excitement. ¡°He is the newest King amongst the Kings in the labyrinth but that by no means makes him weak. I think the other Masters would never fight him. He is that strong, they all took an oath to not fight amongst themselves as the damage would be disastrous.¡± Tango explained. ¡°How can you have a kingdom?¡± Jazmel asked, confused. ¡°A kingdom is simply a large guild. It functions the same and does not change too much. The floor is the guild he holds absolute influence.¡± Baek said and the others all nodded. ¡°And you all think I am the prince of this kingdom. Me?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°You look like your mother.¡± Baek said and the others fell silent when Jazmel looked at him. ¡°Do I, truly?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek nodded, with a sad smile. ¡°I will show you her, somehow. There is a way. Let me think about it some more.¡± He offered and Jazmel nodded, willing his face to stay straight. ¡°She was beloved by the people of the kingdom; we were better for it. The loss of her life altered everything for us. Your father if he is him. Was never the same.¡± Baek told them but more so Jazmel. ¡°So can we not just call him and tell him we have found his son?¡± Patton said. ¡°First, I do not know where he is. Ever since his wife died, he threw himself into conquering the labyrinth and so he goes missing for months and years at a time. Secondly, in the first five years. People swore to high heavens they had found his child and it got so bad that he swore that he would never look in the face of another child. So, we stopped presenting those who said they were his child.¡± Baek explained. ¡°So, what makes you think he will hear me out?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°He does not have to. You need to go to the kingdom for you.¡± Bannerman said with his normal hoarse tone. ¡°Keep crossing the floors of the labyrinth and getting stronger and he will have to meet you when you show up to the kingdom and Baek beside you.¡± Bannerman said and the others agreed. ¡°Was that your plan?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek smiled ruefully. ¡°If you notice, the wager of our bet was if you would lose. You would serve me for three days, but if you won, I would serve you.¡± He smiled and Jazmel realised there was no length of time. ¡°Serving you, is serving the black dragon household. So, it is my pleasure young Master.¡± Baek inclined his head with a smile. ¡°So, what will you do young Master?¡± Baek asked and they all looked at him. ¡°I am not sure.¡± Jazmel said, suddenly worried. ¡°I can¡¯t make a decision for everyone when it would only be for my benefit.¡± Jazmel offered and Patton and Bannerman smiled and shrugged. ¡°We are going to climb the labyrinth with you regardless of if you were a prince or not. So now we just have somewhere to visit.¡± Patton said. ¡°We are a pack.¡± Bannerman growled and they all smiled. Jazmel sat with them for a while, and everyone spoke amongst themselves. He did not feel too comfortable and after a while he told them he was going to sleep. The owner gave him a suite and he climbed the three stairways to his room before entering and locking the door behind him. He crashed onto the bed, exhausted from all the things he now knew. Chapter Forty-Eight; New Plots and Plans II Jazmel lay on his bed, coagulated with thoughts and feelings about everything he had just heard. He had learned he may be the child of a King in the labyrinth, but also, he had learned that he had lost his mother. To the sworn and they had been contracted but he had no idea by who. He mentally pulled the system into view and all the quietened notifications popped up at once. DING! X17 SWORN KILLED ¡­ SURVIVED THE LICH QUEEN¡¯S LAMENT ¡­ MAIN STORY PLOT COMPLETED ¡­ SYSTEM CONSIDERING REWARDS ¡­ EXP ACCUMULATING ¡­ LEVEL UP!!! +4 STR +3 PER +3 VIT +2 END +5 INT +4 WIL +3 AGL +4 DEX Jazmel was in disbelief he had gone up ten levels, his stats were insane, to look at. Name: Jazmel Level: 38 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier I Health: 787/1100 Stamina: 625/1000 Mana: 840/1237 STR:32 PER:31 VIT:29 END:32 INT:31 WIL:38 AGL:30 DEX:32 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED NEMEAN LION BONE 4X COLD IRON ORE 1/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TWILIGHT CROWN BRANCH OF A TREE 5X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 He added stat points to strength and intelligence straight away. His body thrummed as it adjusted itself. using the last three points he raised his dexterity. STR:32 PER:31 VIT:29 END:32 INT:31 WIL:38 AGL:30 DEX:32 DING! NEW REWARDS OFFERED AFTER COMPLETING THE MAIN PLOT, SEEKER CAN NOW TIER UP WILL YOU TIER UP! Jazmel was in shock, not only had he jumped ten levels, now the system was allowing him to tier up before he reached those levels. He was shaken up, but he did not stop. He accepted and moving to the floor, he sat cross legged. TIER TRIBULATION BEGINS! ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION INCOMING ¡­ TRIBULATION ITEMS PRESENT! ¡­ WILL YOU USE THEM? ¡­ Yes Jazmel thought and the system hummed. TIER TRIBULATION HAS BEGUN TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT WHAT WILL YOU USE The first item to come to mind was the twilight crown and immediately he felt it appear in his mind, the crown was as fragile as when he had first found it but he began to spin in his centre all the same. In his spirit and as it span, the rust fell away, and it begun to glow. Faintly at first but then it grew in brilliance, all the while bathing Jazmel¡¯s spirit in this calm and soothing salve. It was easy and soon the crown melded into his spirit changing him effortlessly. He felt energised, his spirit now renewed. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT COMPLETE 1/3 He gripped the Lion bone in his mind now and consumed it, his body fought back. Wrenching against the exertion as it rebuilt itself using the Nemean lion bone as its focus. His bones broke, crumpled, and shattered. But then they were remade, and he felt their imperviousness as they reformed themselves. His whole skeleton reformed, and he felt denser, heavier. Next were his muscles. They tore and shed themselves before forming again, stronger, and harder than anything he had, had before. He could feel more power than before. His strength was double what it had been, he quickly thought of his skill sever and knew right away that his body could maintain such a move again. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY COMPLETE 2/3 He sighed, the worst was over, though the pain had been worse than he had imagined. He had survived and he wondered if the twilight crown was what had made all the difference. Next and finally was the tier tribulation of the mind. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND The celestial koi leapt from his storage satchel and landed in the centre of his mind. He consumed this part quickly and the soothing waves settled in his mind quicker than any other tier tribulation he had gone through. It was over before it began, and he realised right away that he would be able to steel his nerves or calm himself greatly with these new tier tribulation items. DING! TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND COMPLETE 3/3 ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING THE TIER TRIBULATION EXP REWARD ¡­ SEEKER TIER II EXP REWARD ¡­ He rose slowly, sweaty from exertion he removed his jacket and t shirt. He had impressively added some pounds and a great deal of muscle, flexed his biceps, and checked out his own abs. he had gained an impressive body, the Nemean lion had changed his body drastically. He looked at his stats and found them like; Jazmel was in disbelief he had gone up ten levels, his stats were insane, to look at. Name: Jazmel Level: 38 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier II Health: 787/1100 Stamina: 625/1000 Mana: 840/1237 STR:32 PER:31 VIT:29 END:32 INT:31 WIL:38 AGL:30 DEX:32 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER SERPENT SLAYER EMPTY SLOT Unused Stat points: 0 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED 4X COLD IRON ORE 1/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE BRANCH OF A TREE 5X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 Nearly every stat was over thirty now, agility and dexterity needed work, but he could on that fine. He looked at his notifications and he noticed something he had not seen before. MAIN PLOT REWARD! SECOND PART OF THE PLAQUE RETRIEVED 2/3 He let it appear in his hand and after the second piece had appeared he realised that it now looked like a herald badge that he had seen on the Master Seeker Cloud. But it was different in colour and shape, it did also look older. He wondered about it but then realised until he had it in its completed form, there was not much he could do. He put it away and was about to check his other notifications but there was a knock on the door. He went to open it and found Sad¨¦, she looked at him in his eyes and he realised she must be worried about him. But then she looked down and realised he was topless and spun to face away. She went to leave but he caught her hand, she stopped and shyly looked back. ¡°Don¡¯t leave.¡± He said and she did not move, he pulled her into his room, and she followed him, slowly. Chapter Forty-Nine; New Tiers and New Problems! ¡°Come in!¡± He said and whirling, he moved over to his bed and sat down with a huff. Sad¨¦ was standing at the entrance of the suite and trying her best to look everywhere but at him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He asked and suddenly he became aware that he was topless. ¡°I am sorry about that; I was not trying anything. I had just finished tiering up.¡± He said and smiled a little, she was blushing, she let her hair flow down her shoulders to try and cover her face, but her ears were hot and with his Mana eyes, he could see the Mana floating around her body erratically. ¡°Congratulations. What level are you now?¡± she asked him. ¡°38.¡± He smiled and she giggled shaking her head. ¡°You finally overtook me; I do not know how you managed it. But you have managed to overtake me, and you are also remarkably close to your third tier up.¡± She exclaimed, she came and laid down the other side of the bed. He did the same and their heads were opposite each other as they laid across the beds. ¡°I got ten levels for the main plot completion, probably helps that we fought and defeated the sworn too though.¡± He pointed out and she nodded, smiling. ¡°We have to keep going.¡± He said and she turned her head to look at him. ¡°I need to go to the Kuzuryu kingdom.¡± He told her. ¡°You want to find out if that is your family?¡± she asked him, and he nodded. ¡°Yes, but also I want to see if I can make it there, will you come with me?¡± he asked her, turning to look at her now. Their faces, incredibly close and he realised it quite suddenly. ¡°I would follow you to the very end of the labyrinth if you asked me.¡± She told him and he knew she meant it, he kissed her. In truth, he had not meant to. But it sort of was on his mind and then the next moment their lips touched. She kissed him back, immediately and pushed her tongue into his mouth. His kisses were quick and hungrily, but she slowed him down and taught him how to kiss her back. She was not as excited at him, but he could feel her hunger still. BANG BANG The door was knocked, and they both jumped. Jazmel yelped and leapt from the bed, remembering that they were in a party. ¡°One second!¡± he called out and getting up, he pulled his t shirt on and then his jacket also. He went to open the door and it was Mary and Tango. Accompanied by Baek also. ¡°Can we come in?¡± he bid them come in and Sad¨¦ skipped past them, hiding her face, and mumbling that she would see him later. ¡°Congratulations.¡± Baek said and Jazmel whirled on him. ¡°What?¡± he asked, confused. ¡°Congratulations on your tier up.¡± Baek said and then a great big smile formed on his lips. ¡°What did you think I meant?¡± he asked and Mary clocking on, smiled too. Tango simply stood and watched. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean Baek.¡± ¡°Yes, young Master.¡± ¡°What brings you guys here?¡± Jazmel asked, trying to hide that he was flustered. ¡°We are leaving.¡± Tango said and Mary nodded, crossing her arms with agitation. ¡°Why?¡± Jazmel asked and he felt tears well in his eyes. ¡°Because I am weak.¡± Tango said, his tone was bitter but also matter of fact. ¡°I need to be able to defend myself and protect you.¡± Tango explained and while there was sense to what he was saying, Jazmel was already upset with this idea. ¡°We will stay connected. But I need to enter the labyrinth for the first time since I found you and grind out some levels. I need to tier up.¡± Tango said and Baek cleared his throat. ¡°You both need to tier up, the road ahead will not be any easier and if you wish to become a retainer of the young Master, you should be a high Ranker at least. Tier III at the lowest.¡± Baek said and Jazmel almost spoke up, but Tango spoke first. ¡°You are right, I need to work a lot harder than I have been. So, I am going to, Mary has offered to help. We are both going to push for tier III Ranker.¡± He told Jazmel and Baek. Jazmel looked at Mary and she was looking away from him, agitated with something. ¡°I do not like to feel weak ok! The sworn have Master members in their rank, I need to be strong enough to fight them on par.¡± She exclaimed and huffed. ¡°I understand.¡± Jazmel said and Mary nodded, before turning to leave. ¡°We leave tonight.¡± Tango told him, offering his hand for a handshake. Jazmel pushed past it and hugged the man who had raised him, his father as far as he was concerned. ¡°You have to shake my hand so I can send you a friend request.¡± Tango laughed in his embrace. Jazmel let him go and shook his hands. The system chimed and Tango became a friend of his. Now he would be able to keep up with him as they both traversed the labyrinth. After that Tango and Mary left Jazmel alone with Baek and his thoughts. ¡°It is admirable that you have reignited the ambition in both. they are not bad regarding other Rankers of their level.¡± Baek surmised. Jazmel could not help but smile at that and looked at Baek with wonder. ¡°How strong are you? Like truly??¡± he asked and Baek mulled it over in silence for a while. ¡°I could have taken that Lich Queen on by myself if I had the space. But the skills I would have had to use, would have destroyed the sewers and so we had to bring the fight outside.¡± He explained and Jazmel could not help but feel excited. He wondered if he would ever reach those heights. ¡°How strong is the black dragon?¡± Jazmel finally asked and Baek smiled. ¡°Even if there were ten of me, I would not be able to defeat him.¡± Baek said with a smile. ¡°But you are a Master?!¡± Jazmel cried out. ¡°Being a Master means nothing, it is simply a rank. How you use it and how you level up is determined by your own skillset. My Master is just a man outside of normality.¡± Baek explained and he said it so matter of fact that Jazmel sat in disbelief. ¡°Some people are born with greatness, their path to destiny is set for them. all they must do, is take each step. The man who I believe to be your father, was set on a path to greatness and he has walked his fate, sublimely.¡± Baek professed and Jazmel admired the clear appreciation he had for this man. He had already decided he would go to the kingdom, but he needed to get stronger. He needed strength for surety and stability. ¡°But that is not the only way to greatness. There are those who have absolute faith in themselves. Those who break into fate and make their own way, I see too few of people made of such mettle. You are the first in an exceptionally long time, and that is why I would like nothing more but to watch your advancement.¡± Baek told him and Jazmel took a seat on the edge of his bed and listened intently. ¡°Do you really think my fate is to get stronger?¡± Jazmel asked, his voice barely a whisper. ¡°I think you will reach heights that few others have even considered, I believe the labyrinth will bear new gates to you.¡± Baek declared. ¡°You have a great deal of faith in me.¡± Jazmel admitted and Baek nodded. ¡°The labyrinth needs something new. Someone outside of the already created normality.¡± Baek told him and Jazmel felt himself feeling a little overwhelmed. ¡°We will do what we must.¡± Baek said. ¡°And what is that?¡± Jazmel quizzed. ¡°We will keep moving forward.¡± He smiled and at that, he rose up and made to leave. Telling Jazmel to get some rest, and that the party would be leaving in the morning. Jazmel laid down and immediately was asleep. Chapter Fifty; the Hundredth floor Complete the plaque. Jazmel rubbed his temples; he had not slept well, and that sentence kept bothering him while he slept. He did not actually remember dreaming, but still he remembered that line. He pushed it to the side and getting up to sit at the edge of the bed, he looked at his stats. Name: Jazmel Level: 38 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier II Health: 825/825 Stamina: 564/580 Mana: 720/720 STR:32 PER:31 VIT:29 END:32 INT:31 WIL:38 AGL:30 DEX:32 Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED 4X COLD IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE BRANCH OF A TREE 5X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 8 NO SKILLS PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 112 He was finally tier II a Seeker before moving to tier III. But the push to level 45 would be harder than it had been. He knew that much but he was not apprehensive, he knew the system would provide him with opportunities. He just needed to keep going in the direction he was, and the others would provide. He showered quickly and got dressed, heading down to the inn main room where the others were having breakfast. He sat beside Sad¨¦ who was trying her best to stay busy and look everywhere other than himself. He did not think much of it. Just focused on his own meal and filled up on oats and warm biscuits. Patton was explaining that the next gate was a short walk from the inn, and it was a toll gate, they would have to pay five gold coins to pass through. Katie was complaining at the ¡®robbery¡¯ as she put it, but Bannerman pointed out that, it was likely that another gate existed somewhere else, but it probably did not go where this gate led to. ¡°A lot happened this gate, what we need to do, is grind through our levels. Upgrade our gear and prepare for the unexpected.¡± Patton expressed and they all agreed. ¡°The gates are randomised for most people, especially parties. It will bring you to places where the system believes you will all have opportunities. I imagine you would all have gone to completely various places if you had entered solo.¡± Baek offered. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Do people solo the labyrinth a lot?¡± Katie asked him, clearly quite interested. ¡°In the first years of its opening, people did go in as teams or parties. But then betrayal and harder quests/tasks kept appearing. So, people decided to go in alone and try. Those who entered alone tended to grow stronger as they did not share the rewards with any others, they gathered exp and quest rewards on their own. Creating influence and domination.¡± Baek explained, he continued. ¡°I was a solo Seeker, aside from tasks where the system makes you join a team. I travelled a lot on my own before I met the Black dragon.¡± He explained and everyone sat in silence, eager to hear more. ¡°Who else aside from the Black Dragon is strong?¡± Patton asked, surprising the others as he never asked these sort of questions before. ¡°There are quite a few strong Master¡¯s in the labyrinth some are boldly out, while others hide themselves away. But I think those who stand above all others. There are five.¡± ¡°Aspen Loch.¡± ¨C Sad¨¦ gasped at that, and they all looked at her, but Baek continued. ¡°Aspen is a Master tier II, an elf. The strongest elf I have ever seen or met, she is a spirit summoner and immensely powerful. She could level a city on her own if she wanted to.¡± He explained and everyone was on the edge of their seat, Katie was even more excited than usual. ¡°Then there is Ilya the black witch. As her name states, she uses curses and hexes. She cleared a red gate on her own when she was a Ranker. She is extremely powerful; I would not fight her if I had other alternatives.¡± ¡°Anfen. A Lionese knight from the labyrinth, a powerful warrior and he leads his pride as they try to conquer the labyrinth. There is a gate that leads you to a literal war. I hope you never have to enter it. But he did and he came out on top, in the shortest amount of time. He gained fame after that.¡± ¡°Uther is a human swordsman, a knight king. In truth, I know the least amount about him. But I do know he has a divine sword, I heard tale that it was a tier III named sword, so powerful that he fought and killed a high Dragon when he was just a tier I Ranker.¡± Patton whistled at that, he, and Jazmel both perked up when he heard he was a swordsman. Jazmel wondered to himself, just what sort of sword could it be that he was using and how had he gained it. ¡°Last is the strongest, or so; I believe. His name is Xian Fei. A martial artist, though I have seen him use many weapons, but in truth. He is a weapon. They all are Master¡¯s between tier I ¨C III. But he is the one I think is stronger than them all.¡± Baek confessed and Jazmel felt a cold sweat form on his shoulders. ¡°Why him? What sets him apart?¡± Bannerman asked. ¡°While they all are strong. Xian Fei is the only one who covers all the bases. Some are extremely powerful and in part use that as a defence. While others use magic to cover their range and boost their lacking skills with support and summons. But Xian Fei is the only one who has no lacking parts. He practices and tempers himself in all forms, he uses weapons, Martial Arts, Mana, and I have even seen him use Qi. Truly he is the strongest man I have met in this labyrinth.¡± Baek told them and the mood of the room was a strange one. ¡°Where does the black dragon come in the rankings?¡± Katie asked and Jazmel looked at her, she shrugged but offered him a smile. ¡°Surely you are curious too.¡± She said and in fairness, Jazmel was. Baek smiled. ¡°I cannot be precise, just like I cannot provide a proper order to those five. If he is not in the top ten, then I imagine he is remarkably close to it.¡± Baek explained to them all and Patton whistled. ¡°That is surely something to live up to. Top ten in the entire labyrinth?¡± he said, and Jazmel agreed. ¡°I have a question.¡± Sad¨¦ spoke up and it frightened Jazmel a little, she had not spoken since he had seen her this morning. ¡°Master tier is the highest rank?¡± she asked, and everyone turned to look back at Baek. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± he said with a rare smile. ¡°Well, you said a while ago, that the gap between ranker and master is high. But you also said that the gaps between master¡¯s in different tiers are also high. So is Master tier the highest rank or is there something above?¡± she asked, and Jazmel had to agree there was sense to what she was asking. ¡°Well to be honest with you. Nobody knows. There are still so many things we do not know about the labyrinth; I could not answer that for you. Did you know that Ranker was the highest up until someone completed the fiftieth floor. that made the labyrinth rotate for the first time. If we go off of that, then the hundredth floor should release something too.¡± He told them all, Jazmel sat back. Confused but also feeling the daunting weight of the size of the labyrinth. ¡°How many floors have been completed so far?¡± Patton asked and Jazmel sat forward, instantly interested again. ¡°Ninety-nine. The hundredth floor is just too hard to complete other gates have been found, gates that were not open or registered when the ninety ninth floor had been complete. But they all lead to the hundredth floor.¡± he explained. ¡°Have you been?¡± Patton asked. ¡°I have been to the hundredth floor, but I left almost immediately. That terrain is more than I could hope to manage.¡± He told them and Jazmel shivered, a little scared. ¡°What is it?¡± Katie asked and Baek looked at her a little confused. ¡°What is the task of the hundredth gate?¡± she asked again. ¡°An Ancient High Dragon. You have to defeat it, either as a party or alone.¡± The group sighed and shook their heads. ¡°What? What does that mean?!¡± Jazmel asked and not for the first time, he was annoyed with his lack of knowledge. ¡°Dragons are apex beings within the labyrinth, they affect fate and destiny. But can also wrought chaos and ruin. They are extremely powerful, and it would take an extremely powerful party to beat a high tier dragon.¡± Baek explained. ¡°Dragons are complicated as they come in four different forms. Dragons are the beginning and the first you will usually encounter. That being said they can range from tier II all the way up to tier IV.¡± Bannerman explained. ¡°But then you have the second type, Elder Dragons. These are usually the friendly ones; they provide high rewards for tasks and quest they can set. They are sort of like heralds. But in creature form.¡± Katie explained. ¡°Then you have High Dragons, they are powerful beings. All power and all magic, they usually reside over treasures and have to be defeated, but they are too powerful for one party. I have heard of dragons only being defeated by three parties in some cases.¡± Patton told him and he nodded in understanding. ¡°Then you have the final one, the ancient Dragon. These are creatures that are at the height of their power. Beings of immense size and magic, they have taken many lives and usually only high-level Rankers and Masters are ever picked or tasked to face them.¡± Sad¨¦ said finally. ¡°So, the current highest floor is an Ancient High Dragon which could be tier IV or higher?¡± Jazmel concluded but Baek shook his head and they all looked at him. ¡°It is even worse. It is named.¡± At this, Bannerman laughed. It was more a bark than a laugh, but the astonishment alone made Jazmel jump. ¡°Why would that be worst?¡± Jazmel asked and this time Sad¨¦ answered him. ¡°There are many mysteries in the labyrinth, and one is the mystery of names. There is a power in named things, some say that is why we Seekers are strong because from birth we have names.¡± She explained to him and Baek soon continued. ¡°That is why named weapons are greater than those that they share the tier with. Because they are just stronger. A name is like a soul and a monster with a name is just almost the same.¡± Baek explained. ¡°So, you mean, that the strongest of the strongest Dragons. Which is also a strong, but this creature also has a name?¡± Jazmel said and everyone laughed. Even Baek hid a smile. ¡°But the hundredth floor is a long while away. We just need to focus on what we are doing and continue.¡± Chapter Fifty-One; Mark of the Monarch At any given moment, the spectre of death loomed over him, yet the intoxicating thrill propelled him forward. The battlefield lay in ruins, a graveyard for both Master Seekers and Dragons. Standing alone amidst the carnage, he assessed the heavy toll he had paid. Barely managing to stand upright, his body was a mosaic of shattered bones and torn flesh. The wounds inflicted in this battle surpassed any he had endured before, and uncertainty lingered about the possibility of victory. This marked the farthest he had ever reached on the highest floor ever completed. Here, on the precipice of conquering the elusive hundredth floor, he vowed to emerge victorious. The Ancient High Dragon, grievously wounded, acknowledged its imminent demise. A wing slashed and broken; a sacrifice paid with another master¡¯s life. His thoughts lingered on her as he pledged to conquer the floor for all the fallen. The dragon, grounded with a maimed wing, could not escape this time. The toll was high ¨C almost five Masters lost to create the opening for the decisive blow. The Master tier seekers who had ascended with him lay scattered, their bodies testament to the relentless clash between men and dragons. She, the formidable foe, fixed her gaze on him with sheer devastation. The Dragon''s roar echoed, a lesser person might have succumbed to deafness, but he endured, comparing it to body tempering. His Mana was dwindling, what he had thought to be a once-bottomless ocean reduced to a mere trickle above his navel. Facing a calamity unprecedented, he braced for the impending attack. Starfall He declared and the sky filled with swords crafted from his Mana. Thousands of blades rained down on the wounded dragon, disrupting its planned assault. A brilliant beam of pure Mana obliterated the landscape, reducing mountains to rubble. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Sensing the urgency, he vanished and reappeared above the dragon, a mastered movement technique. From this vantage point, he unleashed another volley of Mana swords, relentlessly battering the dragon until its once majestic form was reduced to near pulp. The dragon, in a last act of defiance, lunged at him, attempting to bite him in half. His Mana exhausted; he felt the onset of white out ¨C a sign of complete depletion. Summoning a restorative elixir from his storage ring, he gulped it down, replenishing only a fraction of his Mana. Biting his lip, he drew blood, channelling his life essence into his palm to form Mana. With nothing left, he prepared his final move. Rend A small bead of volatile power coalesced and struck the dragon, causing its head to collapse. Victory, albeit at the cost of utter exhaustion, was his. The system blinked to life, announcing his triumph over the Calamity and the completion of the hundredth floor. As the dragon''s body disappeared, the system initiated a Monarch Tier Tribulation, presenting him with the option to accept or decline. TRAIT HAS BEEN ASSIGNED! CHILD OF THE DAO! ¡­ Choosing to accept, he was engulfed in excruciating pain. The thunderbolts above him heralded the Monarch Tier Tribulation, a journey into the unknown that might just claim his life. Laughing mirthlessly, he embraced the challenge, determined to explore this uncharted territory. CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE OVERCOMER... YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE IMPOSSIBLE YOU HAVE QUELLED THE UNQUENCHED CALAMITY! ¡­ YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE HUNDREDTH FLOOR!! A BORN TRAIT HAS BEEN GIVEN; CHILD OF THE DAO MONARCH TIER TRIBULATION BEGUN; WILL YOU ACCEPT? Yes. Yes, he would. What was a Monarch? The pain writhed through his body as the inky thunderbolts descended, a new sort of tier tribulation then. Chapter Fifty-Two; Sacretares They walked through the gate and Jazmel felt the dent in his pocket from the toll. But Baek told him that gold was easily gained in gates, so he did not think too much of it. Stepping through the gate they came out at the base of two large rocks. At first, to Jazmel; they looked like a mountain that had been split in two. But on closer inspection, he could tell that they were not together. The whole city had been built around and from the two separate rocks, multiple buildings had been carved and etched out of the rocks on either side and a wide road ran through the centre of the rock and between both sets of buildings. The gate opened into another city this time, a dusty terrain from the sand dunes that seemed to be endlessly around them. Before Jazmel could continue, everyone around him began to get notifications. Even Baek received one. The system flashed open before him. SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT! ¡­ THE HUNDREDTH FLOOR HAS BEEN CONQUERED!! THE LABYRINTH WILL UPDATE, NEW GATES WILL ERECT. FOR THE TIME BEING MOVEMENT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED! UPDATING! TO COMEMORATE THIS EVENT TRAITS WILL BE OFFERED TO EVERYONE WHO HAS PASSED THE TENTH FLOOR! SEEKERS, RANKERS, AND MASTERS ALL!!! ON COMPLETION OF THE HUNDREDTH FLOOR MONARCH RANK HAS BEEN UNLOCKED! ¡­ ALL GATES WILL BE LOCKED FOR 24 HOURS WHILE THE LABYRINTH ROTATES! ¡­ NEW GATES SHALL OPEN! PATH UNFOUNDED AND UNBOUND TO BE DISCOVERED! ALL ARE WELCOME!! Everyone looked at each other and then at Baek. He nodded and then led them as he walked from the gate. Heading into the city. They soon found an inn and entering, Baek took a white gold coin from his own purse and flicked it at the inn keep. ¡°I will rent out the whole inn.¡± He uttered not even looking at the man, the inn keep obliged and hurried his other patrons out while Baek and the others got comfortable. The inn keep shut the doors and barred them before fleeing into the back. ¡°I know you saw the system notifications and I want you all to keep your focus on your own path. Too many seekers have sought the end of the road and forgotten all the steps needed to head towards it.¡± He explained and everyone agreed that it made sense. ¡°Are you not at least interested to see who completed it?¡± Jazmel asked him and Baek nodded. ¡°I am and I will find out, but that does not change what happens. If anything, we need to be even more focused and vigilant now.¡± He told them and the worry on his face made Jazmel vigilant. ¡°If there are new gates opening, and a whole new rank for seekers. People are going to be filled with ambition to level up.¡± Patton figured out and everyone realised immediately what that meant. ¡°We might be sitting in a place that will become bloody.¡± Katie said and her words were rough but mirrored everyone else¡¯s. ¡°We need to prepare for the gate opening. We resupply, we stay together, and we focus on our goals.¡± Baek told them and everyone nodded in unison. Whilst he asked this, he pulled out three different origami swans and sending Mana into them all, they flitted from his hands into different directions. ¡°What levels are you now?¡± he asked. ¡°47.¡± Katie said with a smile. ¡°37.¡± Sad¨¦ said, a little shy. ¡°37.¡± Patton said. ¡°39.¡± Bannerman growled. ¡°38.¡± Jazmel said and the others all looked at him. ¡°Finding Tango was my main plot, I got ten levels for that.¡± He explained and everyone nodded in congratulations. ¡°I think we are forgetting something?¡± Patton said and everyone looked at him. ¡°What the hell is a trait?¡± Katie smacked the table playfully and this time, Baek nodded. ¡°We should all look up our trait options, the system rarely gives something out for all of us. But I think it might be a great advantage. Do not forget, you have all passed the tenth floor. you should all be able to pick a class now.¡± ¡°All of you, pick a class and pick a trait. Remember these things usually stick with you permanently, so make sure you think about the choice you make. Your skills will build around these for the future.¡± Baek tutored them and Jazmel was already excited to have a look. ¡°You are all near your next Seeker tier tribulations. We should prepare for those. Stay here, I will go out and see if there is any good stores or auctions. When I am back, we will go out together and buy what we need. Once the gates open, we are leaving immediately.¡± He rose up, calling for the inn keep. ¡°Prepare rooms for six.¡± The inn keep bowed once and when he rose up. Baek had been given him another white gold coin. The others went off to find rooms and Jazmel sat at the bar of the inn alone with Sad¨¦. She was looking at her system and so he did the same. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING THE TENTH FLOOR. ¡­ NOW PICK A CLASS! PLEASE CHOOSE; These sounded interesting but he knew nothing of them, he focused on them, and the system offered little information. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Ronin, you specialise in duels and katana¡¯s few can face you and even fewer are your match. You hone yourself with honour and sheath your strength with dignity! That sounded mildly interesting. Mana swordsman, you wield Mana atop your blade, and it sharpens your every move. Mana damage added to every blade or sword technique. That one sounded interesting, he wondered how that would change things for him. Sword Scion, not all who earn the right to bear a sword are born for it. You are one of the few who were born with the right. A scion is related to the sword, awaken your connection! He looked at that class for a long while. He read back through the others. But that one seemed to sing to him the most. There was no point deliberating about it. He focused on it and the system chimed in. DING! DO YOU CHOOSE SWORD SCION? ¡­ ACCEPTED! CLASS CHOSEN!! ¡­ TRAIT HAS STILL NOT BEEN ACCEPTED, PLEASE ACCEPT! The system was not giving him any options, he had to accept whichever trait he was given by the system. THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF TRAITS This seemed interesting, Jazmel focused on them again and additional information popped up. Active traits consume Mana and have to be activated by the seeker. That did not seem like a good option, he hoped he would not gain one of those. Passive traits exist as part of the seekers character. This will run alongside the skills of the seeker and embolden them for their journey within the labyrinth. This one sounded good, but he wondered what the final option would be. Born traits are from blood and lineage, they amplify skills already created. For the first time and randomly. This made Jazmel think of the Kaminari boy from the seeker trials. He had used thunder effortlessly; he probably was already gifted something like this and was getting stronger with it. Jazmel sighed and then focused on the system again. DING! DO YOU ACCEPT YOUR TRAIT? PASSIVE TRAIT GIVEN! ¡­ HALL OF SWORDS TRAIT INCORPORATED! Hall of swords, the journey to the sword mountain has opened its way to you. For every sword you collect and add to the mountain, further insight is gained! The way of the sword calls you friend!! That sounded amazing! He just had to buy and use swords; he would grow stronger from collecting them?! the system was immense, and he knew this was too big of a boon to not acknowledge. The system chimed and his mind instantly gained insight as his trait saturated into his body. It was an odd feeling, a little unnerving but he let it happen and the trait washed over his body. DING ¡­ AFFINITY WITNESSED! ¡­ This was new, Jazmel thought. ¡­ HALL OF SWORDS AND SWORD SENSE HAVE AFFINITY. WILL YOU MERGE? He accepted. HALL OF SWORDS AND SWORD SENSE MERGING ¡­ MERGED! CONGRATULATIONS NEW TRAIT CREATED! +2 INT +3 PER He smiled at that then read his new trait. BORN TRAIT CREATED! HEART OF THE SWORD He focused on the information and glee bubbled in his stomach. Heart of the sword; you have picked up the sword and the path has opened for you. For every sword you meet, it will temper your spirit. The way of the sword will lead you to the sword mountain and you will bathe in its insight. When a sword is in your hand, your mind sharpens. You have become like the blade, there is affinity in the sword! delve in! He was astounded. This was truly too good to be true, he wanted to speak about it, and he waved his screen away just as Sad¨¦ finished her own. ¡°You look like you got a good trait!¡± she said, and he nodded. ¡°Me too!¡± she grinned. ¡°Tell me.¡± He said and she nodded. ¡°I have a secret, but you cannot tell anyone.¡± He promised and then she closed in on him and whispered. ¡°I was given the option of two traits because I am half elven. Something to do with blood of two worlds.¡± he listened to her, but he had to admit he was a little envious. ¡°I will have to message my family about this!¡± she thought aloud. ¡°Go on!¡± he begged, and she smiled, settling in to continue. ¡°I picked a passive trait called night of the kitsune. For every big level up I do, it will add a tail for me. It also explained that each tail counts as +500 Mana. So, write now I have just under 2000 Mana, including the three tails.¡± She was giddy and he could not help but smile at her. ¡°Once I gain my fifth tail, each tail will be +1000 Mana. How cool is that!¡± she clapped, that was a lot of Mana Jazmel thought to himself, but he was sure she would figure it out. ¡°What was your other option?¡± he quizzed, quite curious. ¡°Oh, this one is an active trait, but I will barely use it and it works for me because of my tails. It is called thunder fiend, I had to sunder my thunder strike skill. But now I am immune to thunder, and also for any thunder skills I gain moving forward, it will cost me half the Mana to use.¡± She explained and he whistled. ¡°Those are truly blessings.¡± He admitted and she nodded, incredibly happy. ¡°What about you?¡± she asked, and he told her about his born trait and her jaw dropped he closed her mouth for her, and she laughed a little. Letting her hair cover her clearly blushing face. ¡°So¡­¡± she said finally, and he looked at her. ¡°We kissed.¡± She said and he smiled at her. ¡°We did.¡± She looked down and her hair cascaded around her face, something he found that he loved to see happen. He used his hand to raise her chin, softly. ¡°Hey, I liked it. I would like to do it again, but a lot seems to be going on.¡± He said while supporting her face with his hand still. ¡°I know, but I ran away!¡± she blurted and then they laughed, she leant into him and rested the top of her head on his chest. ¡°So, we aim for Monarch and not master right?¡± he said, and she looked up, her hair buffing him like dandelion seeds. ¡°You are crazy you know that right?¡± she tells him and Jazmel nods. ¡°I just want to see how far we can go and if we keep going like we have been. Then I do not see why we should not aim for the top.¡± He countered and she wiped a single tear before hugging him deeply. ¡°I don¡¯t care what we do, I just want to do it with you.¡± She bid him and he hugged her back, very ok with that. Someone cleared their throat and Sad¨¦ made to bolt, but he did not let her. This time he held her in his chest and looking over her head. He saw Baek was back, and he looked happy. ¡°Young master. I have news.¡± He told them both. The others came down too and Jazmel did let Sad¨¦ go before they all made it down. ¡°I know who completed the hundredth floor.¡± Baek told them all. ¡°Who?¡± Katie asked. ¡°Xian Fei.¡± Baek told them and Katie whistled. ¡°Other Masters have prepared to rush to the floor to try their hand again, everyone is moving or planning to move once the labyrinth rights itself.¡± he explained, and Jazmel nodded. ¡°The pack never concerns itself with the way other packs live.¡± Bannerman offered and everyone smiled at his response. ¡°Speaking of the pack. Did you all choose your class and trait?¡± Patton asked and Jazmel thanked him in his head for being the tactician of the group. Everyone murmured that they did and Baek looked around waiting for them to tell theirs. ¡°As I already have a class, I picked a trait and the trait I chose was passive. It is called Dream of the Heron.¡± Baek said. ¡°My class is Beast friend, and my trait is a born trait, Wolf kind.¡± Bannerman told them. ¡°I chose a class called, Iron maiden.¡± Katie said and Jazmel smiled at the irony. ¡°Also, I gained a passive trait it is Mana chains.¡± She continued. ¡°My situation is a little different.¡± Patton begun. ¡°My class is Mana swordsman, and my trait is an active one. Mana blade, so they sort of cancel each other out.¡± Patton explained, he looked a little defeated, but Baek tried to soothe him. ¡°I cannot speak on traits as it is a new thing. but your class is much more than just the title, so consider it from all angles before you see it as a waste.¡± Baek said and Patton nodded, suddenly everyone was a little happier. ¡°My class is sword scion, and my born trait is heart of the sword.¡± Jazmel explained and they all looked at him. ¡°Those sound fun.¡± Katie trilled and everyone laughed. ¡°Everyone in the pack has to carry their weight. Those who are strongest have more responsibility.¡± Bannerman clarified. ¡°Honestly, puppy. That might be the best thing I have ever heard you say.¡± Katie said and rubbed Bannerman¡¯s shoulder affectionately, mockingly but there was a little love there still. ¡°Also, we are in Sacretares, the desert auction will begin in an hour. I have rented us a private booth; we will attend, and you will buy what you need for your tier tribulations. With the labyrinth changing itself, we might follow a path I do not know anymore. We need to prepare ourselves for anything. Which is worrying.¡± Baek was clearly worried. ¡°Let us just attend this auction, shopping is always a feel-good option.¡± Katie said and standing up, she began to head out the door. Everyone else followed her and Baek rose to lead them towards the auction. ¡°Inn keep, we are still renting the inn! Nobody but us are allowed here!¡± Baek told him and the inn keeper thanked him and promised to keep the inn closed to others. Chapter Fifty-Three; Auction in Sacretares The auction hall was the biggest building Jazmel had seen since he had entered the labyrinth. It was massive the entrance was so large that Jazmel strained his neck looking towards the ceiling. Sad¨¦ ushered him forward and smiled at his amazement. Baek led them up to the third floor and an attendant stood at the door waiting for them. ¡°Welcome seekers. Please have a seat, there are refreshments waiting for you.¡± He told them and once they were in, he closed the door for them and stood guarding their entrance. The room was larger than previously suspected. A large floor to ceiling window looked out into the auditorium and Jazmel could see hundreds of box office rooms, identical to their own looking over. there was no seating arrangement for public viewing. Only those who were higher in their box office than others. A beautiful woman strolled onto the stage. She wore a dress that glittered like gems and stars had been sown into her dress and it was backless because she had the greatest pair of wings that Jazmel had ever seen. They were brilliantly white, with a few feathers that were sandy white. They were beautiful and Jazmel could not help but wonder what flying might feel like. ¡°Welcome and welcome all! This is a special auction from the desert city of Sacretares!¡± she said and let the room build tension before she continued. ¡°As you all know, the hundredth floor has been overcome and now we will witness a great shift from all the great seekers who have been hibernating. Thus, we expect the labyrinth to be riddled with adventure. As a means to support all you, we will be putting on some of our finest pieces for you all. We expect remarkable things from you all.¡± When she said this, her wings fluttered, and she ascended a little off the ground. She clapped her hands. ¡°So, let¡¯s begin.¡± ¡°For the first item we will begin with, a small item.¡± As she said this, a brilliant light shone on the platform and when the light disappeared a hovering gem bobbed in the air above the ground. ¡°Well, they are really showing off, aren¡¯t they.¡± Baek said. ¡°A resurrect stone. It will allow the user to survive imminent death.¡± The auctioneer explained. ¡°We will start at the bidding of hundred white gold coins.¡± She said and Jazmel whistled. The bidding continued and the person who won paid four hundred white gold coins. Jazmel sighed. ¡°Can we sell things in this auction?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek shrugged, he knocked the door and the attendant walked in. ¡°May we sell things here too?¡± Baek asked and Jazmel pulled two cold iron ores from his storage ring. ¡°Yes. Something like that will sell very well. We take ten percent on the commission.¡± He explained and Jazmel agreed. ¡°No problem.¡± Jazmel said and the attendant left. He returned back to his seat and the bids were still going on. In her hand the auctioneer was holding a big coin, it was the size of her palm with an emerald gem sitting in the centre and yet the Mana pouring from it made Jazmel¡¯s eyes shine also. ¡°Here we have a dwarven coin of the mountain.¡± The auctioneer expressed. ¡°What is that?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°A dwarven coin will be accepted by any dwarven smith as payment, they will build, create, or upgrade any metal artefact. They are extremely hard to come by a dwarf can only give them, and they rarely give them up.¡± Baek explained. The bidding went quite quickly, and this went for five hundred gold coins. Katie huffed and they all looked at her. ¡°Well, that coin could¡¯ve made my chains stronger or something.¡± Katie described and everyone agreed. Baek smiled and then between his fingers, a coin appeared. Much like the dwarven coin, but the designs on the card were different and a topaz gem sat in the middle. Everyone looked at him and he smiled a little. ¡°A dwarven friend is a good friend to have.¡± Baek said and looked ahead to continue the auction, Katie thanked him profusely, but he would not accept payment. To Jazmel¡¯s surprise it was the cold iron ore that Jazmel had offered. They sold together, for 300 white gold coins and that made Jazmel swell with pride. Now he had enough money for whatever he saw that would help him. The next few auction options were weapons and armour, nobody wanted any, but Baek did tell them that it was better to build their own armour rather than buying one that had been crafted for someone else. Jazmel actually agreed with that and not for the first time, did he realise how helpful the insight from Baek was for these young seekers. The fang of a tier III dire wolf appeared; Bannerman bought it immediately. It only cost him fifty white gold coins. But he told Jazmel he would use it for his tier tribulation and Jazmel knew how important wolves were to Bannerman and his identity. An interesting amulet was bought by a stranger that could defend them from a strong attack meant to kill. The amulet would break and that would be their one chance to counter or flee. Jazmel thought it interesting but not enough to bid for it himself. The next item was a coin that made Jazmel¡¯s eyes weep from how much Mana was wafting from it. ¡°That is an interesting item.¡± Baek said as the auctioneer announced. ¡°Here we have a coin for Charon, it will give you passage into death. All you have to do is put it into a gate before you enter, and you will enter death. There you might seek whatever you are looking for.¡± She explained and the bid began quickly, leaping from two hundred and fifty gold coins. ¡°Why would anyone want to enter death?¡± Patton asked Baek. ¡°Death is just another realm; you might find things there just as you would in life. for one, I know death is the only place where you can find grave iron.¡± Baek said and then nodded with confirmation when he realised none of them knew what it was. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Grave Iron is a special ore, quite like cold iron. It can only be found in two places, in either death. Or places where great battles have long taken place. Something about being around that many losses of life changes the ore, makes it stronger. A weapon made from grave or cold iron. Can be considered a tier above.¡± He explained and at that moment Jazmel knew he would have to find some. Looking back to the bid, the coin had gotten to one hundred and fifty-five white gold coins. He kissed his teeth; he would find some grave iron himself. The coin finally sold for two hundred white gold coins and then a small intermission was offered while the auction prepared added items for arrangement. Jazmel took this time to send out his origami messages. The first he sent was to Mary. I have made it to Sacretares, and I have also been given a class and a trait. What do you think about the announcement and where are you? He sent it off and the origami swan disappeared as it went to find Mary, the next one he sent was for Tango. I hope you are well; I am at an auction, and I just found out about Grave Iron, do you have any? This swan spun in his hand before diving through the ground like a raindrop and disappearing. He thought of Tera Nema and next sent a hawk to her. What trait did you end up with? He thought again and then smiled to himself, he formed an origami swan for Circe. Have you picked your class and trait? Do you also know where I could find some grave iron? The swan glided slowly off his hand and disappeared. ¡°Should we get some fresh air?¡± Sad¨¦ said once, he was finished sending messages. He nodded and they rose up. The attendant let them out and told them the break would only be fifteen minutes. Sad¨¦ and Jazmel descended the ground and there was an area that was a bar area. Other Seekers and Rankers were there but nobody that Jazmel actually knew. ¡°Excuse me.¡± A soft voice said and turning round a tiny girl was trying to gain the attention of Sad¨¦. ¡°Hello.¡± Sad¨¦ said and the girl greeted her kindly. ¡°How many tails?¡± she asked her and Sad¨¦ looked a little confused. ¡°How many tails do you have?¡± she asked Sad¨¦ again and then Jazmel and Sad¨¦ both realised she was referring to the kitsune tail. ¡°Three.¡± Sad¨¦ admitted and the girl smiled at her kindly. ¡°That is quite a lot for your strength. You need something of the fox for when you go through your next tribulation.¡± She surmised and Sad¨¦ nodded as if she understood. ¡°Here you go.¡± She said and smiled as she handed over a dark wooden mask painted with pink designs. ¡°That is the mask of a kitsune.¡± She said and Sad¨¦ smiled and thanked her profusely. ¡°Also take this and she handed her a token.¡± That is a gate coin, when you are ready. Feed it into a gate and it will allow you entry to the Hikari Forest.¡± The woman said and she made to leave. ¡°What is the Hikari Forest?¡± Sad¨¦ called after her and the woman stopped for a moment before saying. ¡°A sisterhood.¡± And she left. Sad¨¦ and Jazmel looked at each other, she hid the mask in a storage ring and then she disappeared back up the stairs to whichever room she had been seated in. For a moment Jazmel noticed that Sad¨¦ was looking at something else and wondered if she was checking her status screen. ¡°I got a new plot!¡± She told Jazmel, and he nodded. Thinking the introduction to that woman would do that. Jazmel and Sad¨¦ ordered drinks and had them sent back to the room, they made their own way back up. Just as the intermission had ended. Sad¨¦ quickly told the others what had happened and Baek listened in quietly. ¡°We will discuss this once we return to the inn.¡± He said and everyone nodded. This was not the place to discuss this further. ¡°Thank you for returning from the intermission.¡± The winged woman said as she floated a little off the ground. ¡°We will begin quite quickly as there are a large amount of items still to be shown!¡± she told them and there was glee in her eyes, something that told Jazmel to expect something good. ¡°While I know you all have plans to buy your own things, it is important that we remember what we are here for. If you have something you want and do not have enough, I will give you the difference. I have saved some change for auctions, even though at my level. It is rare to find what I need, but I will help you all the same. But choose carefully, I will only support you with one item.¡± Baek told them all and everyone even Jazmel grew very motivated. Another item came up and it was a long sword made from dwarven metal. It was not really expensive, and Patton purchased it for one hundred and fifty gold. It seemed like people were not interested in weapons or armour. ¡°Do you reckon she was born with those wings?¡± Patton asked them all and nobody could answer. ¡°There are races within the labyrinth where they have wings. You will see all types when you travel the labyrinth. A lot of changes once you pass the tenth floor. the randomising of the gates will open your eyes to much more than you have already seen.¡± Baek explained. The next item was something that even made Baek perk up. ¡°This item was found by a Master who sold it to us. It is from one of the lost gates. We can confirm this but only those who are welcomed can enter it.¡± The woman said and, in her hand, she held a seed. An acorn that glistened like a gem. ¡°I hold here, a seed from the gate that leads to Mirete.¡± Jazmel coughed to hide his surprise, but he was on the edge of his seat. This was a plot of his. ¡°We will start the bidding at three hundred gold coins.¡± The bidding began. Jazmel joined and fought the bidding, drawing the attention of his group. ¡°I will explain later.¡± He said and everyone let him be. ¡°Eight hundred gold coins.¡± She said. Jazmel bid again. ¡°Eight fifty.¡± ¡°Nine hundred.¡± ¡°One white gold coin.¡± ¡°Ten.¡± ¡°Fifteen.¡± ¡°Twenty.¡± The other person bowed out and Jazmel got the seed for twenty white gold coins. He imagine it would come out of what he made from the selling of the cold iron. Baek looked at him curiously but did not say anything to him. ¡°How exciting, we will now move onto monster corpse part of the auction.¡± She explained. ¡°This will be where the real money will be spent. Corpses are used for all types of things in the labyrinth. Tier tribulations are the least of it.¡± Baek told them all. The first creature to be shown looked like a large cloak that laid in the centre of the glass. The woman tapped the glass cage and the cloak sprung to life, endless abyss existed in the folds of the cloak and as it tried to grab her through the glass, she did not flinch. ¡°I have not seen one of those in a few years, especially not below the thirtieth floor.¡± Baek said. Jazmel barely heard him the abject fear he felt from the creature was enough to quell his senses. It had no Mana; it was empty of life and Mana. Jazmel had not seen anything like that before. ¡°That is a Lethe.¡± Baek said. ¡°They are death spectres. They feed off living and are extremely hard to kill.¡± He explained. ¡°How would you kill one?¡± Katie asked. ¡°With a holy or blessed item or weapon.¡± Baek admitted. ¡°Why would anyone want something like that?¡± Bannerman growled, unnerved just like everyone else. ¡°Once owned, they can be kept. Not tamed but unleashed.¡± If you released that in here, it would terrorise most seekers. But if you released this against your enemies¡­¡± he left the rest to each of their imaginations. Nobody beside Jazmel wanted it but it did sell for just under five hundred white gold coins. Jazmel shuddered at the idea of what it would become. The next creature was more normal, Jazmel could tell it was strong the Mana coming off of the corpse alone was immense. ¡°That is a five tailed leopard, some call it a Zheng corpse and from the Mana pooling off of it? I would say it is ranker tier.¡± Baek said. The bidding began and quickly it got to one hundred white gold coins. Jazmel won out, buying it at one hundred and twenty-five gold coins. He was done, no more items for him. Everyone but Sad¨¦ and Katie had gotten something from the auction, but they did not want to buy anything. Baek called for the attendant and Jazmel, Patton and Bannerman handed over their tickets. The attendant bid them wait a moment and he left to gather their things. ¡°We will head back to the inn and then we will prepare to leave.¡± Baek told them all and they all nodded. It was better to leave before they got caught up with everyone leaving together. Chapter Fifty-Four; Testimonies and Tribulations! They returned to the inn and immediately sat down, in silence and crowded in a cubicle they discussed things. ¡°Why did you buy that seed?¡± Katie asked Jazmel over a mouthful of rice. The inn keeper had been kind enough to prepare a meal and once he set the table, he left the view for them to be able to talk amongst themselves. ¡°I got a plot when we were in the Xuanhuan realm.¡± He confessed. ¡°I had to return a branch to Mirete, but I do not know where or what it is. But when I saw the seed at the auction, I figured it must be a sign of some sort.¡± He admitted and they all fell quiet, waiting to see if Baek had an understanding. ¡°Mirete is a locked gate. Few have been there, even fewer have returned. It¡¯s not like a lost gate, Mirete only allows those deemed worthy to enter it.¡± Baek explained and the party fell silent. ¡°Well, if anyone is worthy, it¡¯s definitely Jazmel. Your heart is good!¡± Patton told them all and they raised their cups to praise him. ¡°Thank you, thank you.¡± He said, raising his own. ¡°Why did you buy the Zheng corpse?¡± Baek asked. ¡°I am preparing for my next tribulation. You said the Zheng were hardy and strong. That is my body sorted.¡± He said and the table laughed. ¡°What else do you need?¡± Baek asked, he seemed to be focusing on the storage ring he wore. ¡°I need something for my spirit and for my mind.¡± Jazmel said, a little giddy knowing that Baek must have a wealth of items. ¡°I believe for the mind, thunder or lightning items tend to be the best. It allows the mind to keep up with the body as it stabilises the abilities created with stats.¡± He said this and from his storage ring, he pulled a large feather. It crackled with energy, iodising them all at the table. A few hairs of Sad¨¦¡¯s rose up. ¡°A Thunderbird feather¡­¡± Katie whispered and Baek nodded. ¡°I got this when I was on the thirtieth floor. the gate I entered had a roost of thunderbirds. Though it was not the task I was set, I knew how valuable a full-grown Thunderbird would be. I gained a mating pair, a clutch of eggs and this.¡± He passed the feather over to Jazmel. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Whew, I wish I was as lucky to be the son of a King in the labyrinth.¡± Katie said and everyone at the table laughed. ¡°Didn¡¯t I already give you a dwarven coin?¡± Baek mused and everyone laughed again. ¡°I have something else for your spirit, but I am not sure if you should use it.¡± Baek explained and this made everyone intrigued. He pulled a small vial from his ring this time and it looked like it held wine, he looked again with his Mana eyes and squinted from the pure Mana that blinded him from within the bottle. ¡°What is that?!¡± Jazmel exclaimed. ¡°Dragon¡¯s blood.¡± Baek told him. Everyone grew deathly silent, and Jazmel looked around, he locked eyes with Sad¨¦, and she nodded understanding. ¡°Dragons are the strongest creatures in the labyrinth. They are almost impossible to defeat solo.¡± Jazmel listened intently. ¡°Dragons are beings outside of understanding in the labyrinth, they are beyond limits. That Wyvern you fought before? A dragon could kill it with a claw.¡± Baek explained. ¡°Many have tried to incorporate dragons into their tier tribulations and more than once. people have died, dragons winning out even in their death.¡± Baek made it a point to focus on the vial but to say it while looking Jazmel in the eyes. ¡°So why would I want to take this?¡± Jazmel eyed the vial. ¡°You are the son of the dragon.¡± Baek said. ¡°I thought that was figurative.¡± Jazmel mused and Baek nodded. ¡°Some would say that some think it is due to the feats he has accomplished. But it is not so.¡± Baek said and settled down, to continue his story. ¡°Inumi, the black dragon. Is called that because he ate a black dragon.¡± Everyone around the table stopped what they were doing. ¡°Like a tier tribulation?¡± Bannerman asked, intrigued. ¡°Well yes that too, but the rest of the corpse he ate it.¡± Baek said, sipping his own mug and thinking better of it, he pulled tea from his storage ring and poured himself some. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what to say.¡± Katie said. ¡°Seekers will not really speak on it because you are still quite new to the labyrinth. But the consuming of the meat of high tier creatures, will improve your body but also improve your stats too.¡± Baek explained. ¡°The higher you get in the labyrinth, the stronger the floors and gates will require of you. During that time, you will need to be able to adapt to things. We need to do these things to better prepare yourselves.¡± Baek countered all their wayward stares. ¡°So, if everyone does it, why is the black dragon spoken of so highly.¡± Patton asked. ¡°Well, he consumed a dragon when he was a Seeker.¡± Baek clarified and again everyone stopped what they were doing, even Bannerman had stopped. Who had been actively shovelling food into his mouth. ¡°As a seeker?¡± Jazmel said and Baek nodded, but not even beginning to tell the story at all. He pushed the vial across the table to Jazmel and he took it. ¡°His son would be able to do that also.¡± Baek drilled confidence into Jazmel with his eyes. Chapter Fifty-Five; the Plains of Yarmouth They left literally in the morning. As soon as dawn broke through the skies, they were ready to go and the inn keeper saw them off, giving Baek a flask of tea and packages of food for the others. They thanked him profusely and left. The canyon, where the gate was erected. was the biggest gate that Jazmel had seen since he had entered the labyrinth. It was one large strip of light. It was like a prism; the gate was fashioned like a doorway, but it stretched all the way to sky. But then the true beauty occurred, lines of myriad of colours, that split off and headed off into thousands of different directions. ¡°This is one of the prettiest gates I have ever seen.¡± Katie said and everyone looked at her. ¡°What, yes so what. I am just a girl too.¡± She said and turning her head, she walked faster than the others. Sad¨¦ hid a smile, a little chuckle and then hurried after her. They entered the gate together and for the first time there was no lag between floors. They stepped through a desert and immediately stepped onto plains. Large plains which went on for miles and miles and miles. Jazmel could not see the end of the land around him, even the others; whose eyes were not as keen as his own. They were all looking around in amazement at the expanse of the land. SYSTEM QUEST! ¡­ SEEK OUT THE RED BISON TRIBE! ¡­ TO MOVE ON, YOU MUST COMPLETE THE TASK SET BY THE TRIBE. That was the first time Jazmel had seen something like this, but he soon realised he was not the only one. ¡°A system quest is usually quite difficult.¡± Baek surmised, but the others were still looking around to see if they could see anybody else. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Bannerman, do you see anything?¡± as the only active one who lived in the forest, Bannerman tended to be the main scout when they were in the wilds. ¡°I will be able to orientate myself better when we descend into the plains. Let us go.¡± He said, making his own way down. They entered the expanse and with Bannerman leading them it was not long before they entered the valley and the mountains rose up around them, changing the scenery but adding to the beauty of the setting. Jazmel was in awe, and he could not conceal it. It was beautiful and there was so many things to enjoy around him. ¡°Wait.¡± Bannerman said and with a raised hand the mood changed, everyone grew tense. A head popped out of the undergrowth and then others too. They were wolves, bigger than any Jazmel or Sad¨¦ had seen before. Taller than even Bannerman, but the mood was tense all the same. The wolves sniffed at Bannerman, and he let them before he stood in defiance of the others and the wolves whined a little, but he huffed at them, and they moaned before bumping his head and body with their snouts before moving off to let him lead their party through. ¡°Cousins?¡± Katie asked and Patton laughed a little, which made them all smile. ¡°Wolves are territorial. I just had to let them know we were kin.¡± He said, ignoring the jab from Katie. ¡°Well next time we are meeting your family, I will bring some snacks for them.¡± she quipped, and Bannerman huffed at her. They pushed through and for almost an hour they continued alone and without any other creatures disturbing them. the scenery barely changed, and it was not until they had been in this new gate for almost half a day when they came across the camp of the tribe. Hooting and hollering happened quickly, an alarm sound that the tribe used to rouse everyone. Soon they were running at the party with primitive weapons; axes and spears. But the group did not raise their own, they expected this and Baek simply stood ahead, with his hands clasped behind his back as usual. ¡°We come in peace tribesmen.¡± He spoke normally, but his voice carried across the valley and the tribespeople stopped their rushing, shaken by his power. A group peeled off from the larger amount and an older man, wearing a headrest of feathers and flowers stepped forward. His face aged from time in the sun and tattooed with designs that carried a hint of Mana, Jazmel¡¯s eyes noticed it all. ¡°What brings you before the red bison tribe traveller.¡± The old man asked, and Jazmel realised he must be the chief. ¡°We come seeking a quest, we want to pass through these lands and the only way to do so. Is through a quest from yourselves.¡± Baek said, implying what the system had told them already. ¡°The all father speaks to you too?¡± the old chief said. ¡°Come.¡± He beckoned towards the tepees that the tribe lived in. Chapter Fifty-Six; the Red Bison Tribe The tepee of the chief was small on the outside and much larger within. The Mana that wreathed the material used to build the tepee was magnificent and Jazmel could not help but try his best to analyse it while he was there. ¡°You see the breath of the land?¡± the chief asked, and it took Jazmel a moment to realise he was describing Mana. Jazmel nodded and the chief nodded too, in understanding. ¡°You are blessed with a gift from the all father, it takes a humble spirit to take the time to learn how to see the breath of the land.¡± He explained and Jazmel listened to him as he spoke more. ¡°Can you see it too?¡± he asked, and the chief shook his head. ¡°I cannot, the father has gifted me in other ways. But there are some in my tribe who can see it the way you do.¡± He admitted and before Jazmel could ask him more, he turned to the rest of them. ¡°I know what it is you seek, but I have to admit. I do not think you have what it takes to complete this task.¡± He confessed and everyone grew tense with confusion. ¡°What bothers your land?¡± Baek asked, curiously. ¡°You might be the only one who can survive. But these others are too young, they have seen too few moons.¡± He expressed and Jazmel felt a little discredited but held his tongue. ¡°We are being hunted by the worst of creatures.¡± He said and opening his hand. Mana built up into a miniature figure of a creature and Jazmel immediately felt the fear from the chief immediately. Baek hissed and kissed his teeth. ¡°A Wendigo.¡± He sighed and the Mana figure dissipated in the hand of the chief. ¡°They come every night and try and take us. We are expecting them tonight.¡± The chief said and Baek nodded. ¡°I will leave you to plan.¡± The chief said and when he left; he bid his attendants to bring food and water for the party. ¡°What is a Wendigo?¡± Katie asked and everyone turned to Baek who took a seat and from his storage, drew a flagon of tea and a small cup. ¡°Do you understand the tiers of monsters and creatures of the labyrinth?¡± Baek said and while the others nodded, Jazmel did not but Baek settled in to continue. ¡°We grade all our items and creatures via tiers. It is how the system ranked us and as such we do the same for all other things. A tiered creature is usually stronger than the seeker rank of its equivalent. That is how it tapers out for us all; I could never defeat a tier IV monster on my own. not currently at this tier anyway as it is a Master, but anything below that. While it could be difficult, I would be able to do my best.¡± He explained and everyone nodded. ¡°So where do named creatures come into this?¡± Katie asked. ¡°Named creatures are the highest of their tier, so expect a mutation or hybrid situation if you come across any such creatures.¡± He sighed and sipped his tea a few times. ¡°A Wendigo is a hardy tier III creature. It is considered undead, but it still clings to life, it is like a candle caught in the wind and it seeks life to boost the flame of life in itself.¡± ¡°A Wendigo is a seeker who turned cannibalistic, and the taint of human flesh made it rot from within.¡± He explained and the tepee grew silent. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Do not allow it to bite you or scratch you and if it does, you have to burn it out of your body. Immediately!¡± Baek looked them all in their eyes, individually. Nailing down the seriousness of it. By the time they left the tepee the moon was already in the sky and the tribe were huddled with their backs to a great bonfire in the centre of their camp. Jazmel steeled himself with their own courage and watched as denizens who did not have the system linked with them, readied themselves for a fight. A howl ripped through the valley and Bannerman¡¯s own hackles rose. ¡°That wasn¡¯t a wolf.¡± He growled and immediately Jazmel could see the Mana building in his limbs as he grew in stature and his canines and claws glinted in the fire and moonlight. The first of the Wendigo bounded into the camp. Its body grotesque and stinking, flesh hung off its skeletal frame a gaunt body that looked almost ghoul like, but it head had bony antlers protruding from its scalp and where it had once been a man, the body had begun to look like the twisted soul trapped within. The fire raged and Baek stepped forward, a short sword in hand and Mana wrapped along the blade. He struck out, the slice striking the wendigo hard and knocking it on its back. It shrieked in shock, but not pain; something Jazmel realised also. The shriek seemed to wake everyone up, the tribe rushed forward, Jazmel and his party leapt in to strike, and they soon began stabbing and jabbing at the underbelly of the creature. Its screams began to pull fear from the others and Jazmel felt it in his stomach, but his trait won out. When he held a sword, he was keen, focused and calm. DING! ¡­ YOU HAVE OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF THE WENDIGO ¡­ +3 WIL He gained stats but before they could do more. Another wendigo appeared, tearing into the camp. It made to strike the tribe from behind, but Bannerman was there, with all the fury of a wolf. He rushed into it and Katie leapt after him, her chains whipping around her filled with Mana. Another wendigo appeared but Jazmel and Sad¨¦ were facing it. She burned it with fox fire, and it rushed off. So, they were scared of fire and Sad¨¦ eager to rid it. Chased after it. He followed her. ¡°Wait!¡± he shouted but she was already hurrying after it. They chased it through the undergrowth, it attacked before running away and toppled a tree here, but Jazmel was beside her and he cut through the trunk before it even fell. Sad¨¦ did not use her skills for fear of burning the trees around them but they soon broke free of those and found it backing off at a cliff face. It faced them now, challenging them and snarling in defiance. Thunderfire! She yelled, and a singular bolt of Mana wrapped in the blue flames from her kitsune abilities hit the wendigo. This attack was different to the others, the thunder seemed to paralyse it and while it froze the fire did the true damage, wreathing the body in flames and burning it quickly. In minutes it was as black as charcoal and slumping to the ground it whimpered as it died. Soon turning to ash and dying. DING! TIER II WENDIGO KILLED ¡­ EXP REWARD +1 STR +2 AGL +1 DEX He felt his body realign itself as new stats settled and he watched as she did the same. Probably garnering more than he as she had been the one to kill it. Still holding his sword, they locked eyes as he was about to tell her to head back towards the camp. But his eyes, his eyes picked up something behind her. A much larger body of Mana was rushing from behind he rushed forward sword raised. The larger wendigo from the camp had followed them and was now preying on Sad¨¦. He rushed forward and before she could whirl to see what he was doing the wendigo was on him. He thrust up into the stomach with his sword and pierced its stomach. It bit down into his shoulder, and he cried out as it tore into him, the bite was deep, and he felt his neck wet with blood. The charge had carried it over the cliff face, barrelling into the dead wendigo and then also himself. All three fell over the cliff and into the deep river below. He heard someone scream his name and while he imagined it was Sad¨¦, he felt like he had heard it in his head too. DING! QUEST COMPLETED!! ¡­ REWARDS TO BE GIVEN The water rushed into his mouth and the bite of its cold seeped into his shoulder wound, leeching the warmth from him. He fell unconscious. Clutching to the already floating body of the wendigo. The river was fast moving, and he did not know where he would end up. Book 2 Chapter One; Broken, but not dead Jazmel leapt out of his sleep, he winced but he was alive and that was enough at the moment. His side was hurting and looking down, there was bruising all along his ribs. Great, they must be broken he thought to himself. He looked at his stats and sighed. Name: Jazmel Level: 39 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier II Class: Sword Scion Health: 223/825 Stamina: 73/580 Mana: 400/760 STR:33 PER:34 VIT:29 END:32 INT:33 WIL: 41 AGL:32 DEX:33 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): 2X COLD IRON ORE BRANCH OF A TREE SEED OF MIRETE SHADOW WRAITH TIER III ZHENG CORPSE THUNDERBIRD FEATHER HIGH DRAGON BLOOD 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE 5X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 112 No changes, but he had not checked his notifications as of yet, he let the system pop up and immediately he flicked through the pop ups. DING! ¡­ TIER III WENDIGO KILLED REWARDS TO BE GIVEN!!! LEVEL UP EXP EARNED WILL TO LIVE +1 END +3 VIT His body was broken, his neck was still wounded and though it was not bleeding anymore. The wound was unhealed and then he remembered the words of Baek. If bitten, you must treat it immediately! Suddenly anxious, he worried how long he had been knocked out for and touching the bite, it was tender to it. He looked in his storage and drinking two potions of health. He felt his body begin to mend with the extra support. But he still felt raw. He drank an antidote potion too, just to be sure. But felt nothing. He sighed and looking around and realised he had no idea where he was. He looked to the east and when he looked to the west he jumped. The bodies of both Wendigo¡¯s were there now, dead no less, but still he had forgotten about them and now he saw them, fear clutched at his heart. The burnt one was smaller and now that he studied it, he could see that once upon a time, it must have been a man. But the larger one was something different, even in death the body was scary, it irradiated fear and Jazmel could feel it even now. He approached it and saw his sword still stuck in its stomach. He drew it and using reeds from the shoreline, he wiped the blade clean before scabbarding it. DING! SHADOW WRAITH AWAKENS WILL YOU LET IT CONSUME THESE CORPSES? Y/N He accepted of course and his shadow expunged from beneath him and drew both corpses into itself. he watched as it did this, and the new notifications popped up. SHADOW WRAITH LEVELS UP LEVEL UP LEVEL UP LEVEL UP! WRAITH IS AWAKE! PALDANE CAN SENSE TAINT IN YOU, WILL YOU LET IT CONSUME IT? He accepted immediately and felt as his whole body was covered by his own shadow as it reached his shoulder and drew the rot from the wendigo from within him. Master you are free from the darkness¡­ The shadow spoke in his mind and before he could respond the system chimed again. SHADOW WRAITH CONSUMED THE TAINT IT SLUMBERS AGAIN He nodded at this notification and looking at his stats was happy. Still sore but on the recovery; Name: Jazmel Level: 39 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier II Class: Sword Scion Health: 473/900 Stamina: 130/595 Mana: 400/760 STR:33 PER:34 VIT:32 END:33 INT:33 WIL: 41 AGL:32 DEX:33 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND SLAYER SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): BRANCH OF A TREE 2X COLD IRON ORE SEED OF MIRETE SHADOW WRAITH TIER III ZHENG CORPSE THUNDERBIRD FEATHER HIGH DRAGON BLOOD 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED 3X RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED 3X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 12 NO SKILLS PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 112 He stretched and even though the bruising had gone down, he was still tender. He made an origami swan to send but the system cancelled it as he tried to insert Mana. DING! SEEKER WITHIN LOCKED GATE, MANA CANNOT EXIT! ONCE CONDITIONS ARE MET, ALL MESSAGES WILL BE SENT. He sighed at this, but then he tried to remain positive. He was in a locked gate sure, but he was alive and for now that was enough. He left the shore and headed inland. Trying to figure out what his next steps should be. So, he sent a message to Baek and Tango. Knowing they would not send until either he met the conditions, or he passed through the gate. He was a little worried, there was no quests or tasks set by the labyrinth, and so he was heading inland in hopes of finding something soon. Book 2 Chapter Two; Heading Inland The road inland was hard and arduous and as his body recovered from his fall from the cliff. He was badly hurt. But nothing seemed to think prey of him. Well not yet. Immediately the woods all around grew silent; the birds that had previously been singing stopped and he scowled at himself cursing his own thoughts. Out from behind a tree ambled a troll it had not even been looking for him, but once it saw him. It charged. He drew Hajime and as it rushed him, he slipped by and felt the sword slice through the shoulder of the ogre. EXP EARNED It did not die but whirled on him and charged again, as he saw it rushing him. He watched as it regenerated in front of him. This was going to be tough, he said to himself. He struck three times, a hand fell. A fist was parried away, and a throat slashed. All while he move past it, flicking his sword so the green goo that was inside the troll fell off his blade. It fell to a knee and began to regenerate; he watched in horror as a hand began to form at the stump of what once was. He drove his sword into the heart quickly and the troll whined as it died this time. It fell forward and before it could revive itself if it could. He struck off its head. EXP EARNED WELL, DONE! TIER II HUNTER TROLL KILLED +1 STR +1 VIT +1 AGL +1 DEX He nodded; this was a hard-fought battle. He had been faster responding but what if he had been ambushed instead. But before he could even continue to respond. He heard another roar, a cacophony of roars and three trolls rushed forward out of the woods for him. Clubs raised and anger in their eyes. Slash He shouted and the first one took it straight to the face, an eye popped in its face which seemed to only make it angrier, another came for him but this time he was ready. He pushed more Mana into his sword and twirling it around his head he stroke downward. A different type of cut. But the attack was violent. The second troll was cut in half. Completely and the strike struck the third but not so deeply, it healed before even reaching him, but he created distance enough to strike again. Flight of the blue kite! The Mana shrieked as he burst from the tip of the blade. Mana in the shape of a bird and mixed with a piercing arrow. Struck the first troll again, this time full in the face. It fell over and he whirled to deal with the third. He struck off the hands and from the bottom, up. He used Mana to drive his sword upwards in one complete move. The system popped up in his sight and he smiled. His skill had tiered up again! SLASH HAS EVOLVED SLASH IS NOW TIER III EXP EARNED! +2 STR +3 PER +3 DEX +2 AGL His body acclimatised to his new stats, and he let the shadow wraith feast on the corpses. No changes to its level but he did gain some items. TROLL BONE X3 TROLL HEART X1 TROLL CLUB X2 They settled into his storage space, and he continued heading inland. The woods were filled with monsters and some skittered at his presence while few others attacked him. He had not come across anymore trolls, but two large foxes tried to ambush him. He killed them and while he received small exp for it. He did not gain any stats or levels. FOX FUR X2 FOX MEAT X2 He took those too; he did not know how long he was going to be alone, and it was not sensible to not pick up anything that could be a meal. But the woods were free of people, and he made up his mind that the lost gate had been locked from the inside, so nobody had been inside it for many years. He did not know how long but he had been walking through the woods for hours and even now as he pushed through, he could not find any tracks or beaten paths. So, nobody had been here in a long time. Even now he could feel the ancient feeling of the woods. It hung in the air, he felt it when he breathed in. it had been a long time since someone had been here, and he could tell as such. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Through the branches above he could see that the evening was fast approaching, he needed to make camp soon, sooner rather than later at that. He searched for another hour but found nothing, but more trees and it got darker and darker till the night was all that enveloped him, it was a moonless sky too, so things were eery, but his eyes did their job, and he could see the small Mana in the plants and trees around him and used it to map his journey. KEEN SENSES! EXP EARNED He smiled at that, continued use accrued exp and his eyes were saving him once again. No howls or cries could be heard in the woods this time. He continued inward and before long he came across a camp. The Mana signatures inside told him they were monsters, and he did not wait for them to figure out who he was. He slipped into the camp, a cauldron sat atop the central fire and a monster covered in tattered rags of what had once been a cloak stirred what was inside. It smelled foul, but he took no chances. He slipped up behind it and driving his sword through the back of its neck the monster died without a whimper. He let the body slip into the cauldron. HAG KILLED HAG CORE X1 The cauldron broiled and bubbled loudly as it seemed to consume the hag and then it did something Jazmel was not prepared for. It roared. The cauldron roared and from the bottom of it, legs sprouted as it stood in the hot coals beneath its base. It rammed its body into Jazmel sending him flying. He could smell burning flesh and looking down he saw it was his own. The hot cauldron had scorched him. He rose before others reached him, a screech sounded and as he got to his feet; he sighed. Fiends bounded into the camp towards him, under the command of the walking cauldron. He cut a bloody swathe through them, he remembered his title and for that reason his attacks struck harder and faster. The notifications were popping up, but he did not have the time to look. He was focused on what to do about the cauldron. It roared at him and stamped, defiantly. It was not quick enough to chase him, but he also had no way of defeating it. Jazmel left and ran back into the woods, battered more so his pride. The system had rewarded him still and he looked at his stats again. DING! EXP EARNED +2 PER +3 AGL +1 DEX He smiled, hunting alone was really helping and he could feel it within his bones. He had not levelled up again yet, but he could feel it coming. Jazmel moved forward in the dark of the night and before long fiends ambushed him. They had seen his Mana much like he had seen theirs and the fight soon began. Flight of the blue kite! He screamed, and the Mana leapt from within him, to the tip of his blade. Scores were struck by the Mana bird and those closest were shattered. Imploding from the force of his Mana and they struck the bodies behind in debris. But the fiends never cared and soon they were crowding him. He centred himself with his sword and the dance began. He struck with his sword, slashing, and slicing any that got close. But he was not without his own marks. For every strike he managed, three or four caught him. A clawed hand struck his rib cage. Something nipped at his back. He felt his Mana being leeched and not wanting to be swarmed he did his best. Slash!! he yelled and swinging his katana around his head with all his Mana, he slaughtered them. they died, imploding as he struck out. He was wrought. Empty of Mana and he felt the part of him that seemed to keep Mana empty. He chugged down a single bottle and felt it settle and let it run around his body while he recovered his breath. The system chimed in, his companion always. DING! 100 FIENDS KILLED ¡­ MANA BOOST TITLE CHANGED FIEND BANE, 20% DAMAGE AGAINST ALL UNDEAD +5 PER +8 INT He sighed as he felt his stats settle and his body slowly began to recover. He needed to level up his Vitality and Endurance. They were beginning to lag. SHADOW WRAITH HUNGERS He watched as his shadow, darker than the shadows of the night, pulled the corpses and remains of the fiends into its recesses. He felt the shadow wraith grow a little more and his storage space grew full. STORAGE SPACE FULL 2X COLD IRON ORE BRANCH OF A TREE SEED OF MIRETE SHADOW WRAITH TIER III ZHENG CORPSE THUNDERBIRD FEATHER HIGH DRAGON BLOOD 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED RUSTED HELM COLLECTED X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE 5X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION TROLL BONE X3 TROLL HEART X1 TROLL CLUB X2 FOX FUR X2 FOX MEAT X2 HAG CORE X1 HAG RAGS X1 FIEND BONE X30 GREATER FIEND BONE X13 FIEND CORE X29 GREATER FIEND CORE X6 FIEND CORPSE X12 GREATER FIEND CORPSE X4 Jazmel was able to carry 150 different items in this bag, he knew that much. But now he was considering if there was a weight limit on these items. They did not make up 150, but he wondered if there was a limit to how much he could carry. There was nothing to tie the bodies that were left up with and drag them along. So instead, he left them but figured he would find something to do regarding this issue sooner rather than later. Book 2 Chapter Three; Orevalor the Dwarven City Five days of travelling through the woods and he finally made it to civilisation. His storage was full, but he had made a sled sort of creation from pieces of wood he had badly whittled with his katana. The sled now carried a waterskin; that he had also made. While also carrying the drops he had collected from all the monsters that had harassed him as he travelled. As soon as he stepped out of the trees lining the woods. He laughed and removed his hood; he had taken to wearing the rags he had gotten from the hag and though the cloak barely covered his body. It allowed him to cover his head when a rainstorm raged for two full days. Stepping out of the woods he came onto a valley where the largest mountain Jazmel had ever seen stood. He could not think of any other words for it. But it was the biggest thing he had seen. It had been fashioned into a pyramid with a pointed tip at the very top, which was a clasp of silver. At the four corners of the pyramid stood a stone statue, a burly bearded being wearing thick armour and bearing either axe, sword, or hammer. The north part seemed to be the entrance a great awning opening had been carved out of the mountain or pyramid side and two kneeling warriors held up the entrance as if to say they were opening the gate for all. DING! The system chimed into his mind. THE LOST CITY OF OREVALOR HAS BEEN FOUND ¡­ EXP EARNED LEVEL UP! He smiled, after all his fighting he had levelled up just once and now, just for finding this city. He was given an extra level. He smiled. He looked at his stats. Name: Jazmel Level: 41 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier II Class: Sword Scion Health: 757/1050 Stamina: 593/748 Mana: 680/715 STR:39 PER:44 VIT:38 END:36 INT:41 WIL: 41 AGL:37 DEX:37 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. 16X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): 2X COLD IRON ORE BRANCH OF A TREE SEED OF MIRETE TIER III ZHENG CORPSE TIER II THUNDERBIRD FEATHER TIER III HIGH DRAGON BLOOD 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED TIER I 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED TIER I 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED TIER I 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED TIER I 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED TIER I RUSTED HELM COLLECTED TIER I X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE 5X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION TIER II TROLL BONE X3 TIER II TROLL HEART X1 TIER II TROLL CLUB X2 TIER I FOX FUR X2 TIER I FOX MEAT X2 TIER II HAG CORE X1 TIER II FIEND BONE X30 TIER II GREATER FIEND BONE X13 TIER I FIEND CORE X29 TIER II GREATER FIEND CORE X6 TIER II FIEND CORPSE X12 TIER I GREATER FIEND CORPSE X4 SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 12 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 112 Just from pulling his sled, he had gained 4 extra strength stat points and 5 for vitality and 4 for endurance. It had been tough work, but he was glad for it, his stats showed proof of his hard work. He made his way into the valley and as he neared the mountain, turned pyramid. Great carnyx horns sounded. The beings he had seen were small and burly but wearing thick armour and rushing around to escape from him. He had found dwarves, a dwarven city. He had not seen any since he had entered the labyrinth and he realised just now; he had not considered them before. Now he was curious, and he needed to rest. He hoped they would let him in. He got to the gates, thick wooden gates that blocked access to the pyramid and stood in front of the path that led up to the stone mountain. ¡°STATE YOUR BUSINESS!¡± someone from atop the wooden gate called down. He looked at them from beneath his hood and saw that they had Mana but inside it was locked away in them, in a bead of a myriad of colours. He had not seen this before and peered deeply at it. ¡°WE WILL SHOOT! STATE YOUR BUSINESS HERE!!¡± the voice called down again. ¡°I come seeking shelter! I have wares to sell for my room and board, but I seek shelter and a chance to replenish my stocks!¡± he called up and waited for word. ¡°REMOVE YOUR HOOD!¡± the voice called down and he did and soon the mutterings from above the gate could be heard, he could not hear what they were saying but he figured they were realising he was a seeker. ¡°WHAT ARE YOU?¡± the same voice called down and Jazmel looked up incredulously. ¡°I am a seeker?!¡± he said, confused. ¡°What is a seeker?¡± the voice shouted back. Jazmel then realised that they did not know what he was. ¡°I am a man!¡± he shouted back up and everyone began whispering even louder. ¡°We will open the gate, no sudden movements!¡± someone above said, a different voice this time, Jazmel noticed. The gates opened quickly, and he noticed that a mechanism had been made to allow the gates to swing open on their own once a lever had been pulled. He looked at the design, stunned that it lacked Mana, there was nothing Mana made or magical. He was intrigued even more. He hauled his sled in slowly and when the gates closed behind him, he looked around to see spear points and axes bared before him. A singular unarmed dwarf stood in front of him, he was wearing armour but carried no weapons, his beard was thick and singular beards bearing odd runes hung from it. ¡°Who are you?¡± the dwarf asked, eyeing Jazmel he was suspicious, and Jazmel could see that they all were. There was something about him that made them wary, he kept his swords sheathed on his belt, but he also raised his hands, so they were nowhere near. The dwarves that surrounded him were all baring their weapons. Ready to strike him if he did anything dangerous. ¡°My name is Jazmel.¡± He answered. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± the dwarf asked. ¡°I accidently came in. I fell into a river and when I woke up, I was here.¡± Jazmel confessed. The other dwarves began to mutter and whisper, he realised that they were speaking in their own language and that is why he could not recognise what they were saying. ¡°Where do you come from?¡± the dwarf asked, and Jazmel could tell he was trying to piece information together. But before Jazmel could respond. The system spoke aloud, not for the first time for Jazmel. But for the first time for the dwarves, it would seem. DING! ¡­ ¡­ DWARVEN CITY OF OREVALOR! YOU HAVE OPENED YOUR GATES TO A SEEKER, THE FIRST IN HUNDREDS OF YEARS. YOU WILL BE REWARDED FOR THIS! ¡­ A QUEST!
  1. DEFEAT GRUNDIL THE TROLL OGRE
  2. RELEASE THE DAM OF LADNI
REWARDS; ¡­ The system fell quiet, and everyone looked around and then looked at Jazmel. ¡°Well come in then!¡± the dwarf beckoned, the spears and axes went away quickly, and Jazmel could tell they were no longer worried about him. The system had made it known he was a friend. Book 2 Chapter Four; the History of Orevalor The dwarf who had been speaking with Jazmel from the gate at the beginning introduced himself as Fraelin II but asked Jazmel to call him Frae instead. Jazmel nodded and they shook on it, while his hands were much smaller than Jazmel''s and he could not help but surrender to the coarseness of his palm and the strength in the grip. Dwarves were strong even in their diminutive size. ¡°We have not heard that voice for going on five hundred years.¡± Frae told Jazmel and he listened a little shocked. ¡°How can that be possible?¡± Jazmel asked, his head trying to do the math. ¡°Inside the labyrinth, time is slower. Much slower, that is how everyone manages to move around and for so long also. Think about it if you enter a gate at night time. You can walk through into a sunny day in the afternoon. It depends on the gates, right?¡± he asked, and Jazmel nodded. ¡°Well consider what it must be like for the gates that are different in setting and layout. The labyrinth has people entering gates nonstop, up, and down. From strong people to frail weaklings and it has to make sure that everyone goes the right places. Well time is needed to make this happen and to do this, everyone has to be affected.¡± He explained. ¡°Five hundred years in a locked gate is probably less than fifty out there. But there was nothing we could do. The gate was locked and as nobody was linked to the system, we could not break free of our curse.¡± He told Jazmel. ¡°How does a gate end up locked?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°Nobody knows, you seem to tell when fewer and fewer seekers frequent your halls. But the difference for us, was that the system shut us out when the gates were locked. That is how we knew.¡± Frae explained and then Jazmel realised why their Mana seemed locked away, it was stored within, and they were all just waiting for the system again. ¡°I was born during the locked years, so I have never been part of the system. But my mother told me about it as a child.¡± He told Jazmel. They were sitting inside the garrison and Jazmel was nursing a strong mead while frae drank from a flagon of beer. ¡°We need to do what the system is asking, that is the first time it has asked us to do anything. So, I know many are anxious at the chance to be free of this place.¡± Frae told Jazmel and he nodded, understanding that the chance at freedom was seldom lacking. ¡°I need to sell my wares.¡± Jazmel said, and frae nodded at the covered sled. ¡°Show me what you have then.¡± He beckoned and Jazmel tore off the brush he had been using. Frae whistled and admired all that Jazmel had brought. ¡°Lots of people will want a chance at all these things. You killed a lot of monsters out there.¡± Frae commented and Jazmel nodded. ¡°Do you still use gold here?¡± Jazmel asked and for the first time Frae smiled. ¡°Do we dwarves use gold?¡± he laughed at this. ¡°Bring the sled.¡± He pushed off from the table and headed out, they headed for the back of the garrison where metal clanging could be heard and Jazmel did not realise until they approached but it was a mine cart, or it had been long ago. It had been refashioned and stabilised so four dwarves or two people could sit in it. Frae bid Jazmel sit down, and he dragged an empty cart down where he strapped the sled atop it, lifting it on his own and without any sign of struggle. So, dwarves are strong and also exceptionally good at building things. Jazmel said to himself. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. In less than twenty minutes. Frae had the sled secured to the same line and he came in and sat on the opposite side of Jazmel, in the middle of the seating cart was a level and a steering rod. He managed them expertly and soon; he and Jazmel were flying along the railing into the mountain and below the ground. Every couple of yards a lantern had been erected and inside it a simple Mana stone hung to light the next few yards. They rode the cart for about thirty minutes but already Jazmel could tell they were deep in the mountain. They came up to a line that waved at Frae, he waved back, and the railing switched allowing them to moor at this part; a station of sorts. ¡°This the one then?¡± the man asked, nodding after Jazmel. Frae waved him away but nodded a little with a wry smile. ¡°Bring the sled for us Bargo. The alchemists are going to want to see it.¡± He said over his shoulder and then he beckoned Jazmel to follow him. ¡°You need to get out of those rags.¡± He motioned at Jazmel, and he realised he probably did look like a horror out of the woods. He beckoned Jazmel in and before him a woman with a measuring tape stood waiting. ¡°I will be the first in the clan to clothe a man then. No small feat eh.¡± She said with a laugh. She was tiny, less than four and a half feet tall. But extremely curvy, it took all of Jazmel''s discipline to not stare at her and she laughed. ¡°Ahhh, we have a gentleman here, have you not seen a woman shaped like this before?¡± she cooed at him, and he felt the back of his neck growing hot. ¡°Behave yourself Melle, just put him in some decent clothes so he doesn¡¯t think we are braggards please.¡± Frae cautioned and she mock stamped to attention, which made her chest move in a way that Jazmel had to look away. He closed his eyes, and she laughed harder. After a while, Jazmel was clothed. Melle was good at her job, she had him in a forest green jerkin and a thick woollen cloak, she promised to fix the hag¡¯s rags, but he told her not to. She shook her head, telling him she could feel something from it. Using his eyes, he noticed that a little Mana was seeping from it. He left her to it. When he and Frae left, the entered another building where loud voices were shouting and haggling and when they entered a room, the sled had been placed in the centre of it, everyone was haggling over it, but nothing had been taken. ¡°Dwarves are not thieves; they are simply figuring out the best price for the things they want.¡± Frae explained and Jazmel nodded, not worried at all. ¡°I will give you 100 gold coins for the fiend corpse!¡± ¡°Give it to me and I will give you 150!¡± another shouted. They started barking and shouting at him and Jazmel grew swamped. ¡°Stop that!¡± Frae shouted and everyone looked at him. ¡°Get a hold of yourselves. We are not savages! We will buy the lot off of him and then you can figure out which of it you want?¡± Frae said, a lose murmur of moaning went around the room, but Frae stamped and then looked over the dwarves again. ¡°how much would you sell everything for?¡± they asked Jazmel. ¡°I am not sure how much things are here, and we don¡¯t usually have to figure these things out, the system usually tells you.¡± Jazmel confessed. ¡°But I have more.¡± He emptied his storage space of all the things he had kept from the woods. ¡°We will give you two hundred and fifty white gold coins.¡± Frae said and the room fell silent. ¡°That is a lot.¡± Jazmel mouthed, trying to hide his own shock. ¡°You are the first seeker to enter our home in five hundred years. We have money older than you in this mountain.¡± Frae exclaimed and some of the dwarves laughed. ¡°Bring him the coin!¡± Frae shouted and some dwarves at the door rushed off. as the deal had been decided, Jazmel turned to face Frae. ¡°Why does everyone listen to you hear?¡± he asked Frae. ¡°I am the Lord of Orevalor. My father built this mountain.¡± Frae told him, keeping a straight face. Jazmel whistled now; this dwarf had the wealth of the mountain at his fingertips. He could afford the costs of white gold coins and Jazmel was profoundly grateful. They brought in two full chests of gleaming coins. He gaped at them but accepted gratefully, he raised his hand with his storage ring; that he used for his currency and the system chimed. DING! WHITE GOLD COINS X2050 ¡­ WILL YOU ADD MANA ¡­ YES! MANA ADDED 2066X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS .. CHANGING ¡­ 2X PLATINUM COINS 66X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Jazmel shook his head. This was unbelievable. ¡°Can you eat? Before war, we should always eat.¡± Frae said and patted his own stomach. Jazmel nodded and soon he Frae led the way. Book 2 Chapter Five; Mourning She had not spoken in days. The others had tried to console her, but she just could not feel anything but abject sorrow. She was sitting now, in a rented room. Alone and hugging her knees on the bed, she watched as rain lashed at the window, she now looked out of, and she could not tell if the pane was blurry from rain or tears of her own. A soft knock hit her door and she waited to listen. ¡°May I come in?¡± the voice was mature and calming, it was Baek. ¡°What do you want?¡± she asked, her voice wrecked from crying. ¡°To speak with you please.¡± She did not rise up, but her lack of response told him he could enter. She did not move, and he did not ask that of her, instead he simply came to sit at the small desk in her room. She smelt soothing aromas and when she looked over, he was pouring tea. Two cups. She sighed and clambered off the bed to sit at the desk too. ¡°It is enough my lady.¡± He said, not looking up as he made it somewhat of a ceremony to pour tea. ¡°She looked at him, but he did not look at her, he made it his business to study the tea as it poured from his flask into a small cup that she held onto and let the warmth warm her fingers and palms. ¡°You are mourning for no reason.¡± He told her and rage made her clutch the cup for a long moment before she was able to respond how she wanted to. ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked, through clenched teeth. ¡°Did you look at your stats? He asked and she nodded. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°look again.¡± She did and her stats showed up. Name: Sad¨¦ Moonflower Level: 39 Species: Elfin Rank: Seeker tier II Class: Sorceress Health: 860/860 Stamina: 670/670 Mana: 815/815 STR:33 PER:35 VIT:35 END:33 INT:45 WIL: 41 AGL:37 DEX:39 Trait: Night of the Kitsune (PASSIVE TRAIT) Thunder Fiend (ACTIVE TRAIT) Skills: Thunder fire (tier I) Foxfire (tier II) Bolt (tier I) Title(s): KITSUNE KIN Unused points; 7 PARTY: 5/5 She looked at it and nothing had changed, she did not notice anything different. Baek sipped his tea and looked at her. ¡°Your party has not gone down.¡± He said and she looked again. Yes, it still said 5 out of 5 and she was trembling immensely. ¡°Just like you, it would let me know if my master died. the system would share that with a retainer, like it would alert you as a member of the same party.¡± He explained and this time, she sipped her own tea. ¡°What does that mean then?¡± she asked on the edge of her seat. ¡°He is somewhere else. Not dead, just lost.¡± He explained and she was getting giddy at his calmness. ¡°Why are we not looking for him? We should be doing something!¡± she shouted and nearly knocking the cup over, but Baek caught it with Mana. He steadied it and ensured all the tea stayed in the cup. ¡°He is in a lost gate; we could not enter even if we wanted to. Or so he is, I sent missives to try and find him, but they could not contact him. Which means the system is blocking it. The best we can do right now, is keep moving forward. You are in a party together; he will follow your path or you his. But the system always reconnects party members.¡± He explained and she cried. A real cry now, something that she had holding back and Baek rose up to let her hold onto him while she cried. ¡°Get stronger, that is all you can do. That is all we can do.¡± He told her and she cried, cried even more. Book 2 Chapter Six; the Dam of Ladni Jazmel had been staying with the dwarves for a month now. But he was unsure what that was like outside the locked gate. What he did know, was that the continued hunting allowed him to get stronger. He helped with the mining and built his stats even more. They had been planning their first task and they had decided to release the dam, something that Frae determined was the easiest of the three tasks. Right now, they did not have a plan for the others and the troll ogre was too strong for now. ¡°What is a troll ogre?¡± Jazmel asked Frae one day while they worked in the mines. ¡°It is a hybrid between both. We think it was breaking through on evolution and ended up stuck when the gate locked itself.¡± Jazmel nodded, he figured it was during a tier tribulation and stopped. Jazmel wondered how strong it must be. ¡°Sounds like it was going through a tier tribulation.¡± Jazmel explained and Frae looked at him. ¡°What is that?¡± Frae asked, resting his pick on his shoulder. ¡°A tier tribulation is when you break through your limits to another level. It is hard to explain, but when you link with the system. It will tell you how to break through your limits.¡± Jazmel explained and felt a little shy as he knew he had not explained it well. ¡°I wonder what the feeling of the system must feel like.¡± Frae almost whispered but caught himself and begun to strike the rock with his pick, rhythmically. ¡°I imagine when you all link with the system, it will give you all many rewards and bonuses for all you have done without it. I cannot imagine what your stats and skills will be.¡± Jazmel offered and Frae huffed as he continued to knock chunks out of the wall of the mine. EXP EARNED +1 STR He had been growing since he entered the lost gate, immensely. He had add real weight to his stats and he felt the difference from before. Each morning, he cleaned and maintained his sword, he then went through a sword kata he had formulated in his mind to master his blade better and he had gained 2 intelligence points for it. ¡°We have done enough in this vein. Let us get ready, we need to get to the dam before noon.¡± Frae said, dropping his pickaxe and cleaning his hands on a rag that hung at his belt. Jazmel did the same and they made to leave, heading for the mining cart to take them down; deeper into the mountain where the living quarters were. Jazmel had been apprehensive about living below ground, but as soon as Frae showed him to his room. He grew accustomed to the state of play. His room was a grand suite, a large four poster bed placed in the middle of the room, etched out of the stone floor. but the mattress had been filled with so many feathers, that Jazmel barely felt the stone of the bed. His room was always heated, the dwarves had figured out a way to pump steam, water, and warmth around the mountain in pipes that ran along the corners and ceilings of most of the rooms. It was sophisticated and complicated; Jazmel truly knew nothing about the creation, but he was amazed by it none the less. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He stepped into the shower room that was an ensuite for his room. It was literally a closet where water pooled from a funnel in the ceiling and the person could heat the water to their comfort with a nozzle on the wall. It was fascinating for him, and Jazmel had made sure to use it as often as possible. He got dressed, he wore his jerkin that Melle had made him, a blue one this time. The colour of topaz and he wore his jacket atop it. She had repaired this too and it looked as good as when he first got it. His boots were buffed and shined and when he tried to pay her for this, she waved him away. Most of them did, they would not accept any money from him. They thought he was a saviour of some sort and thanked him with unlocking the chance to reconnect with the system again. He hooked both swords into his belt, Hajime was his favoured sword. But he had been training with Nozarashi too, it had a different weight to it and the blade was much sharper. But it felt unruly in his hand, like it was not his as yet. He had been trying to learn it increasingly. He left his room and headed back to the station on the living quarters. Frae stood off to the side e with other dwarves wearing their thick and sturdy armour. They were armed to the teeth and Jazmel could tell they were anxious; the air was thick with it. ¡°You guys go up first, prepare for the march.¡± Frae told the dwarves and they got into the carts filling them one by one, until five carts; hooked together all ascended. Heading for the open air. ¡°Are you ready? Do you want to check the armoury for anything?¡± Frae asked him when he nodded at the swords at Jazmel''s waist. ¡°I have everything I need here.¡± Jazmel patted his katanas and smiled. ¡°I have seen you training in the mornings, it would be interesting to see you in action.¡± He said as he led Jazmel to their own cart. Inside the cart, Frae had placed his own weapons in. A thick bulbous headed mace that glinted in the dark. Jazmel switched his sight and the Mana wafted off the head of the mace like a cold chill. The other weapon was a short handle axe, and the blade head carried the same chill and Jazmel could not help but study it more. ¡°I have seen your eyes do that before, what are you doing?¡± Frae said, locking the cart he sat down and prepared for the cart to begin its climb out of the mountain. ¡°My eyes are an item; I can see Mana. The weapons you use have Mana in it, or the metal is Mana. I can¡¯t fully tell.¡± Jazmel admitted and Frae smiled through his beard. ¡°Ahhh, you are looking at orichalcum ore. It conducts Mana very well; I cannot use Mana but the little that is in me. The ore seems to be able to pull it from me.¡± Frae explained and Jazmel nodded, curious but also impressed. ¡°What sort of monsters will there be at the dam?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°The dam isn¡¯t of our making.¡± Frae began. ¡°The dam is due to a plant monster rotting the forest around the waterway and it took root. It is there that stopped the flow.¡± Frae explained and Jazmel nodded. Preparing for an arduous fight. ¡°If we kill the monster, the water flows and I think it will bring life back to that side of the valley. After some time.¡± Frae informed him. After that Jazmel sat back and closed his eyes, preparing for this task. The labyrinth never gave impossible tasks. But that did not mean this would not be difficult. He was the only person here who had skills and stats. He would be the vanguard of this battle and he was steeling himself for it. He could see movements with the sword, and he envisioned it, settling into a meditative state. SWORD PROFICIENCY INCREASED! YOUR BLADE WILL BE SHARPER EXP EARNED!! He smiled but continued to meditate. Book 2 Chapter Seven; the Swamp of Ladni They had travelled quickly, for such sturdy and yet short in stature. The dwarves were quite fleet footed. They marched through the lands at a steady pace and Jazmel kept up with them easily. The dam had been made in the north of the valley, away from the southeast; which is where Jazmel had come from. The north was higher and so the march was up hill as they headed towards the top of the valley. The sun was out and even Jazmel could feel a little sweat on his forehead. All the dwarves who were in their thick armour and their helmets of steel and iron. Did not seem to mind, Jazmel kept his discomfort to himself. As they neared the dam, the weather and the scenery changed. At first it was discreet and not much to notice. But for Jazmel, his eyes ensured he noticed everything. Even the change in the Mana surrounding them. before it was light and full of life, the usual type he saw when he looked at woods and trees, plants, and the other things like that. But already the sky had darkened, murky clouds that looked full of rain and dark intentions hung in the air and wind whipped around them, ruffling his jacket but not cold; just an annoyance. The once robust and thick trees that lined and made up the woods. Had shrunk in size and health, now they all looks shrunken, withered, and skeletal. Jazmel could see the Mana in these trees, and they were all tainted, the once light looking flows now was dark and dense. It had an oil like texture which was unusual. ¡°It¡¯s become a swamp.¡± Frae acknowledged and all the dwarves steeled themselves. Fraelin had only brought fifty dwarves with him. Stating that it would leave Orevalor too vulnerable if he took them all, and so for the time being it was Jazmel, Frae and fifty other dwarves. The clouds rumbled and looking up Jazmel watched as the first drops of rain fell. Great, it was raining now too. He stroked the hilt of Nozarashi and strolled forward, seeking out the best footing within the swamp. His eyes helped with that too, the ground showing the cracks where the swamp had ruined the flooring and where the murky sewage like water had seeped in. ¡°Everyone make sure you have your firebombs ready.¡± Frae whispered back to the dwarves behind him. ¡°Here, in case you get a free shot. Make sure you throw them and then get out of the way.¡± Frae said and then handed Jazmel three spherical objects. He took them in his hand and realised they were no bigger than a ball in his hand he could hold all three in one hand. They were covered in runes and other etchings, but the one part had a branding that could be pressed down into the ball. ¡°Press that brand and it will ignite, you will have five seconds to get out of the blast radius. It will combust and cover everything close to it in fire.¡± Frae explained and Jazmel nodded, putting it in his storage. Frae raised a hand and everyone fell silent. Even Jazmel. Eerily they began to hear a hiss, a hailing of it and Jazmel realised it was more than one thing making this sound. The dwarves compressed into one heavy unit and shields linked together to not allow any gaps in their defence. From a few feet from Jazmel, a thing erupted. It miscalculated where he had been, and he drew his sword quicker than it could react to where he was and lashed out. No skill move, just a quick blade strike. Nozarashi was a heavy and sharp it cut through the thick vine monster, and it fell back into the swamp where it had crashed through from, dead. Ichor pumped from the slice that Jazmel had made but before he could even look. Others erupted from the swamp. Notifications of the system chimed, but he was in a fight and the system always stayed out of his peripheral during this time. More of these monsters appeared and Jazmel struck out. Everything came easy to Jazmel during a fight, these beasts were weak. It was not long before they all laid dead, hacked by the axes of the dwarves, or sliced to pieces. ¡°You fight well.¡± Frae complimented and Jazmel nodded his thanks, but he was still tense. They had just entered and already they had been attacked. He checked his notifications now, while things were quiet. YOU HAVE ENTERED THE SWAMP OF LADNI CLEANSE THIS PLACE! ¡­ DING! VIPER VINE KILLED EXP EARNED VIPER VINE X17 KILLED EXP EARNED +2 STR +1 VIT +2 AGL +2 DEX He sighed and settled as his stats changed and focused within him. He led the way, side by side with Frae as he led his dwarven warriors deeper into the swamp. More of those monsters attacked them and they killed them, defeating them after having more chances to prepare for them. Jazmel heard the creak in the distance and drawing his sword in one fluid movement and blocking an attack on Frae. It was an arrow, if not for Jazmel it would have struck Frae between the eyes, he was startled but he leapt into action immediately. ¡°Arm up!¡± Frae rumbled and the dwarves slammed their shields on the ground and bared their axes. The arrow came from a forest of trees and as more arrows appeared Jazmel backed off watching for the enemy, but none came and only more arrows. ¡°We are pinned down; you have to go to them!¡± Frae yelled at him, trying to keep the dwarves protected. Jazmel darted off, he slipped behind a tree and a split second later, heard the thud of an arrow hit the trunk. He peeked out and an arrow flew behind him, stinging his ear. So, there were more than one archers. He rushed in, diving into a roll and then coming up on his feet just as more arrows flew through the air. Three missed him, one he deflected and the other caught him in the shoulder, he winced but kept moving. Rushing for more cover. He pulled the arrow from his shoulder and hissed as it came out. He looked at it, it was not even a true arrowhead. It was a branch that had been twisted to point at the tip and now it had his blood on its tip. Using the cover of the trees to flit around and flank them. He had to hurry though, he jumped through the last trees. Making himself small enough that he was compressed, with his knees tucked close to his chest. He jumped through the opening and ended up in the middle of the archers nest. He struck first, one stabbed at him with the top of its bow, pointed and sharp. He cut through the bow and its owner. Quickly and waving his katana with one hand. He cut through the others. Created from wood, they simply fell broken beneath his blade. DING! ¡­ DRYAD ARCHER X4 KILLED EXP EARNED ¡­ +4 AGL +2 DEX He smiled a little at that but got up and hurried back to Frae and the dwarves. He followed their trail and soon came out to an opening. The main part of the swamp, where all the monsters were. ¡°Take out the archers!¡± Frae growled beneath a heavy shodden shield and Jazmel rushed off to help them. there were ten archers this time. The dryads were not hiding and instead, they were shooting arrows relentlessly against the dwarves. Who hid resiliently beneath the barrage. To his amazement, they were pulling the branches they used for arrows from their shoulders. Not a quiver, just from within. He quickly quelled his wonder and rushed at them, an arrow struck his shoulder again, and a leg but he was already in amongst them. Archers fell beneath his sword, and he felt his stats raise but he had no time to look. A roared echoed across the place and Jazmel had to clamp his hands over his ears to block out the sound but still his hands trembled. ¡°Here it comes!¡± Frae yelled and Viper Vines hurried forward crashing through the ground and then the swamp to get at the dwarves. They roared and met them in battle, Jazmel smiled as he ran in to help them. he fought his way to Frae, but he was already heading towards him. ¡°We need to kill the monster. Do you still have your firebombs?¡± he asked, and Jazmel confirmed he did. The smell hit Jazmel before he even saw what was causing it. The only way to describe it was rot. He could smell the stench of rot wafting from the swamp and the taint of Mana rolling off of the monster. Inside the bog of the swamp was a flower or had once been. Now it was a bulbous thing, which reeked of poison and gluttony. It was huge and the part where the flower should have sprouted; sat a monster that was almost humanoid, but its features were stretched and pulled back. It looked like what Jazmel imagined a fairy was supposed to be, but if it was dark. DING! DEFEAT THE FLOWERSPAWN! The system rang in his mind, and he grit his teeth ready for this fight. Frae threw a firebomb and the swollen beast tried to knock it out of the air but missed. The firebomb hit its chest and nestled between chest and stomach. Within seconds the bomb blew, and fire wrapped itself around the chest and stomach of the beast. It wailed in pain, the wound clearly grievous, but it was not down yet. Whirlwind Jazmel yelled, striking with his new skill and this time the monster blocked the strike with a flabby arm. The strike hit but only deeply into the forearm. It screeched and wailed again, this time it pulled a growth off of its waist area and threw it at him. He dived out of the way, but the blast radius still caught him. DANGER YOU HAVE BEEN POISON WARNING POISON WILL EAT AT YOUR STAMINA AND HEALTH! ¡­ He gritted his teeth and pushed through DING! HEART OF THE SWORD IS FOCUSING YOUR SENSES ¡­ POISON IS BEING BLOCKED BLOCKING This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. BLOCKED! FOR NOW!! Jazmel felt the thrill and yet he focused on the task ahead. Viper Vines were attacking Frae, and he fought them off, valiantly. As strong as he was even without the system. It still shocked him how strong and resilient these dwarves had become. He drew Hajime and his mind slowed all the moments around him down. He had not wielded both swords in a true fight yet, but now. His mind was consumed, and he could feel the taxation of it. The mental pressure was already a lot for him. In that slowed down moment, he watched as the beast pulled another growth away from its side and threw it at him. He cut that in half and watched as the smoke cleared both he and Frae. One half crashed into the trees behind them, and he heard the sizzle of the trees as they broke down under the intense poison. The other half hit the Viper Vines as they rushed forward to overwhelm Frae, but as they were congested together, they felt the full damage of its attack. They melted beneath the poison. It tried to throw another, but Jazmel threw one of his firebombs and it blew up on the patch of poisons the monster began to hiss and scream under pain. Pain from the fire but also from the poisons. The monster roared; this time it was a different sound. It sounded like a call and Jazmel was right. ¡°Kill it.¡± He said over his shoulder as he scabbarded Nozarashi and drew Hajime from his belt. He handed his last two firebombs to Frae and then he turned to watch as a wooden monster stepped through the foliage. A goliath of a monster. It was completely made of wood, from the tip of its mask to the feet that looked oddly skeletal. In one hand it clutched a lance made of wood too, spiralling tightly at tip. In the other hand, it bore a heavy shield. It charged him, rushing forward. Shield tucked in the shoulder and lance tip steady, he darted to the side and scored his blade against the shield. Barely a scratch, he stepped out of the range of the lance, but he was buffed as the wooden guardian struck out with the length. Jazmel was knocked back and he fell to a knee as he felt the bruise begin to grow along his arm and side. The wooden warrior turned and began to make its way to Frae who was putting something together on his knees. Whirlwind He yelled and his attacked scored the back of the wooden giant. It hissed through its mask and whirled on him, lance poised to strike and charge. He rose up and it was hard to breathe, but he was not dying here. Flight of the blue kite He shouted, and the Mana leapt from the blade. the wooden beast shrugged it off, deflecting the attack off its shield. A dent formed, but other than that the monster seemed unfazed. He rose up to face it, but it struck him down with its shield DANGER! HEALTH 50% DOWN He heard the system sing through his mind. But he barely had time to focus, the monster rammed its lance down and he rolled to the side. It missed but did so again, he rolled again. This time it used the shield to hold him and raised its lance to deliver the blow, the blow that would kill him. DING! THE TIER III FLOWERSPAWN HAS BEEN DEFEATED! LEVEL UP! REWARDS TO BE GIVEN!! The wooden beast whirled to the screams of the monster as it turned, a grenade hit its face. Burning on contact. The beast howled as the firebomb at the mask and the face beneath it. ¡°Get up!¡± Frae ordered him and he rose up, battered, and bruised. In that moment he drove his sword up through the head of the monster and the mask fell away, showing two hollow eyes. But they faded away. DING! TIER III WILLOW KNIGHT KILLED! REWARDS TO BE GIVEN!! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! Jazmel rose up and the willow knight; as the system named it. Fell to the side of him, withering as it lost its lustre and Mana. PART OF THE QUEST COMPLETE! RELEASE OF DAM OF LADNI HAS BEEN COMPLETED As the system hollered this out for all to hear. Jazmel watched as the area they were in changed, rapidly before his eyes. The trees that were once withered and shrunken, were now growing at a rapid rate. The body of the flower spawn beast crumpled in on itself and then disintegrated into what looked like sand granules, floating away into the sky. Corpse disappeared but items remained. A single growth that rose and fell like it was a heart remained. A fruit of some kind rested beside it, it was shaped like a pear, but the colour of a ruby and almost translucent. It looked like it was filled with water or liquid. Another thing was a bulbous monster core, it was massive. The size of a big rock and Jazmel could tell it was weighty. ¡°Your spoils!¡± Jazmel said and Frae looked at him! ¡°I would keep them for now, when you link with the system you are probably going to go through a tier tribulation. You need items that will support your growth as a seeker. Monster cores and items are the best for it.¡± Jazmel explained for him and Frae nodded in understanding. He picked up the core and the growth, before putting them in the satchel he used to keep the firebombs in. he picked up the fruit and gave it to Jazmel. ¡°Without you, I would not have been able to kill it.¡± Frae offered and Jazmel accepted. DING! FRUIT OF THE FLOWERSPAWN ¡­ +10 INT Jazmel looked at the system and bit into the fruit immediately. He felt the stats settle in and he felt his Mana grow steadily. The system sung through his mind again! LEVEL UP!! CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE READY FOR THE TIER III SEEKER TRIBULATION. WILL YOU COMMENCE? He smiled and before he accepted, he turned to Frae. ¡°I am about to go through a tier tribulation. Watch how I do it so you know how you will have to do it.¡± He explained and clutching his weapons he stood guard. Usually, the system would take directly from his storage space, but doing so he would not be able to show Frae what he was doing. So, he drew his three items from his storage space and Frae jumped ready to fight when the Zheng corpse appeared out of nothing. ¡°Wait, watch what I do.¡± Jazmel said and Frae relaxed a little. TIER TRIBULATION BEGINS! ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION INCOMING ¡­ TRIBULATION ITEMS PRESENT! ¡­ WILL YOU USE THEM? ¡­ Yes Jazmel confirmed and the system focused on the first part of the tribulation. TIER TRIBULATION HAS BEGUN TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT WHAT WILL YOU USE The vial of Dragon blood appeared in his mind¡¯s eye and the system latched onto it. VIAL OF HIGH DRAGON BLOOD ¡­ SELECTED Immediately Jazmel could feel the sweat on his body. His back and chest, the back of his neck and throat. Even his hands grew slick with sweat, it was as if the heat of the dragon had coalesced into his spirit and his body was trying to expunge it. He felt immense pressure bearing down on him. His soul squirmed and he held onto it, his spirit wavered as the dragon blood took hold of it and forced the merging. He was wrecked with pain, his body shivered under the colossal stress of the merging. But he did not falter, he could not. Tier III was the worst pain he had suffered, but he did not hesitate. He drew the pain in and used it to push the dragon blood through his spirit and washed himself with it repeatedly until the pain ebbed away and his body started to cool down. His spirit suddenly grew thick, robust, and firm. He had not considered this before the trial. But with the addition of the dragon blood. He was firmer and hardier, it felt like he had added more to his vitality stats. The pain diminished slowly and after a while, Jazmel felt stronger. He had overcome the dragon blood and something in him stirred. He remembered Baek¡¯s words about him being the dragon¡¯s son and he nodded to himself; mentally. As if that answered some part of him. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT COMPLETE 1/3 The tribulation of the body felt like he was shedding his body and rebuilding it over and over again. the system pulled the Zheng corpse apart and rebuilt Marco¡¯s own; with its materials. The bones bolstered his own. The skin and muscle reinforced his body¡¯s, the organs were used to rebuild and remould his own and he suffered under the transition. He felt heavier, his muscles firmer and stronger. His bones felt stockier too, as if they had been rebuilt to bear the weight of his new body. The pain was not as bad as the tribulation of his spirit, but the constant remoulding and shedding that he was undergoing, drew a weird feel of pins and needles into all his nerves. He squeezed his eyes shut to let the system and his body do what they needed to do. He clenched his fists and felt his knuckles pop and realign stronger and thicker. He bit his lip and teeth that were his own, but now unfamiliar pierced his lip and he tasted the iron of blood, his lip healed immediately, and the taste of blood ignited his senses. He suddenly grew very aware of his surroundings. The keen senses of the Mana eyes and now the Zheng corpse had raised his perception and senses even more. But just like as soon as it had happened, his body began to slowly stop rebuilding him and the last of the Zheng ingredients to his remoulding was used to boost his health. He felt it, his stats jumped up and he was eager to see what they looked like. After the tier tribulation of course. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY COMPLETE 2/3 Last and by no mere feat, least. The Thunderbird feather was pulled to his mind. He was apprehensive, not knowing what to expect but before he could even consider what to do. He was drawn into the feather. A piercing screech was heard over the vales and dales of an unknown land. High mountains and willowing clouds floated but from the vision Jazmel was in, he knew he had been here before. He had touched these mountain tops before, he burst forth from these clouds and they had showered him with the rain they clutched in their recesses. He was in a vision from the Thunderbird the feather was from. This had not happened before, and he felt a fear unlike ever before. He was scared of being swallowed up and losing his self. But he pushed out of it and instead, focused on consuming the qualities within the Thunderbird feather. Once he pushed himself out of the vision, he noticed that he felt no pain at all, he could feel the thunder refining him. His synapses and mental reflexes were snapping as if electricity was being forced through him, but it did not feel like he was undergoing pain, it felt as if his mind was undergoing a massage and the specific parts were being awoken, as if the system were telling them, they needed to work alongside the other parts of his mind and the system was showing them how to work. The feeling of the massage abated quite quickly and soon he felt the feeling stop all together. DING! TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND COMPLETE 3/3 ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING THE TIER TRIBULATION EXP REWARD ¡­ SEEKER TIER III EXP REWARD! He opened his eyes and saw Frae looking at him with wonder. He smiled at him and got up, feeling his newly formed muscles eager to be moving. He had to do it slowly, and gratefully his brain understood what was happening and adapted to his new abilities and strengths but took over the initiative of moving his body how he wanted. ¡°I have never seen anything like that in my life.¡± Frae affirmed but with a smile Jazmel could tell he was considering what it would be like for himself. ¡°Was it painful?¡± he asked, and Jazmel nodded with a grim face. ¡°Sometimes, not always, but it depends on what you decide to use to rebuild yourself. But truth be told, I imagine yours might be painful because it will be the first time for you. But then again, what I have seen since I have been here? you dwarves are made of much stronger and sterner stuff than humans. I cannot imagine you suffering like I did.¡± Jazmel pointed out. ¡°We¡¯ll let us hope the system is forgiving.¡± Frae prayed. Jazmel agreed and before they moved, he took the moment to look at his stats. Name: Jazmel Level: 45 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier III Class: Sword Scion Health: 1325/1325 Stamina: 910/910 Mana: 895/895 STR:49 PER:50 VIT:49 END:45 INT:53 WIL: 45 AGL:47 DEX:45 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Sever (tier I) Slash (tier II) Title(s): FIEND BANE SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 2X PLATINUM COINS 66X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): 2X COLD IRON ORE BRANCH OF A TREE SEED OF MIRETE 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED TIER I 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED TIER I 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED TIER I 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED TIER I 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED TIER I RUSTED HELM COLLECTED TIER I X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE 3X HEALTH POTIONS 5X STAMINA POTIONS TIER II TROLL BONE X3 TIER II TROLL HEART X1 TIER II TROLL CLUB X2 TIER I FOX FUR X2 TIER I FOX MEAT X2 TIER II HAG CORE X1 TIER II FIEND BONE X30 TIER II GREATER FIEND BONE X13 TIER I FIEND CORE X29 TIER II GREATER FIEND CORE X6 TIER II FIEND CORPSE X12 TIER I GREATER FIEND CORPSE X4 SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 12 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 112 He felt strong. ¡°Here by the way, I picked it up while you was levelling up.¡± Frae echoed and handing Jazmel a big seed that looked like a pip. DING! ¡­ SEED OF THE WILLOW KNIGHT PLANT IT AND IT WILL GUARD YOUR RESIDENCE! Jazmel was surprised and took it into his satchel, thanking Frae. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Frae said, Jazmel took one more look back and during his tier tribulation the area they had fought in had been remoulded and repurposes. The swamp had been cleansed and the sky was bluer than ever. It looked like nothing dark had ever been here before. The dam was flowing, the river was running, Jazmel could not tell where the river flowed to. But he imagined many things would change inside this gate before he left. Just one more to do, the troll ogre. Book 2 Chapter Eight; Capture the Flag Tango and Mary had been travelling the labyrinth like they had done so in their youth. He had forgotten the beauty of this labyrinth, and it was now while he was doing his best to grow stronger alongside Mary. That he was remembering why he had ever entered the labyrinth. He and Mary were travelling through a gate that was just one massive jungle. They had been attacked relentlessly and though they were gaining exp and stats. They were looking for something or for someone. After Jazmel and his party had freed Tango, many things happened. The first of them, was Tango gained direction from the system. Even now, as they travelled, he remembered it. The system had alerted everyone to the completion of the hundredth floor, this had travelled through the labyrinth like wildfire. Guilds and factions called all members home. The first thing Tango and Mary had, had to do was return to her guild. They were not small, but moderate in their holdings. They were not as blood thirsty and ambitious as others. But calling for a return from everyone made it known they planned to react as quickly as they could. As he was not a member of the guild, he was not allowed inside its Ranker hall, but he waited patiently for Mary, while she was inside, he went to the bank. Emptied his savings and replenished his items and equipment. He felt better, wearing items and clothing he had picked, but he was itching to get back into the wild. He needed to push his own limits and level up. He had waited outside the halls for almost an hour before Mary returned, she wore a sour look and he surmised she had heard something she was not happy about. ¡°What¡¯s the task.¡± He asked, knowing that she was already annoyed. ¡°Every guild member has to tier up. All tier III Rankers have to make it to master as soon as possible, we need to expand our limits but also, we need to recruit more.¡± She said and spat a wad of saliva on the ground. ¡°What is wrong with that?¡± he asked, he imagined everyone was planning on getting stronger. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°All Rankers are to recruit two new seekers!¡± She yelled and he shrunk beneath her anger. Mary hated the recruitment side of the business, and she made it well known. But her guild kept pushing for her to attend recruitment gatherings. But he kept a lid on it and hid his rue smile. They left the floor, and the tasks began to flood in, a new floor appeared before them. somewhere they both had not been and as a guildmember. Mary had to try her best at completing the task as well as alerting her guild on the new floor. DING! ¡­ CAPTURE THE FLAG BEFORE THE NIGHT COMES ¡­ The labyrinth for the first time showed them where the flag was, and it was hours away. Tango and Mary began their sprint. The jungle was massive and while monsters and beasts tried their best to stop them. they rushed to get through. Tango¡¯s stats had changed a lot, the trait had helped with that too. DING TRAIT: AIR SPRITE (PASSIVE) When moving at a speed, Mana can be used to raise the agility stat. 7% increase at the cost of 5% Mana per stat point. It was a ridiculous gift from the system, but the system never made things easy. Tango was keeping close to Mary; he was faster than her but there was no need to leave her alone in here. she had been so gracious to travel with him and help him fortify his stats. ¡°Beast on the left.¡± She said to him as they rushed through the trees and bushes of the jungle. ¡°I got it!¡± he said and ramping up his speed, he dived forward. On his belt he had two scabbards, which sat on his left hip, a short sword, and a kukri knife. Drawing both blades, he spun out and shouted. ¡°Wind blade!¡± a flash of white Mana in the form of an almost translucent scythe cut through the head and neck of a beast, he did not even know what type it was, but he had no time to loot its corpse. But he smiled as the system chimed. TITLE IN USE MAGPIE TITLE ¡­ CORPSE LOOTED TIER II JUNGLECAT KILLED JUNGLECAT FUR LOOTED He smiled, a title he had gained many years ago, any monster he killed. Automatically he could pick up something from its corpse. The only downside was that it was random and so he did not have a choice of what he could collect. He slowed down to let Mary catch up and she did. They continued on, heading for the flag. Book 2 Chapter Nine; the Black Dragon He was tired, he had been tired for a long time and yet nothing seemed to help him recover. He had been battling in the labyrinth for months, almost a year now since he had returned home. But he could not bring himself to return to those halls. He felt more dread there than even when he was facing down a beast. Even now, while he fought, he felt nothing, not fear. Not even worry. Just fatigue, he was exhausted and morose with it. DING! THE HUNDREDTH FLOOR HAS BEEN OVERCOME The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. XIAN FEI IS THE FIRST TO PASS THE HUNDREDTH FLOOR! WELCOME THE FIRST MONARCH! The system chimed in his mind, and he sighed as something twinkled in his chest. What was a monarch, he wondered but killed the beast he was playing with, with a quick strike with his katana. ¡°Merrick.¡± He said and a young man appeared beside him, from the shadows. ¡°My king.¡± He bowed low. ¡°Find out what Xian Fei has done.¡± The man disappeared back into the shadows. He headed for the gate and released his pressure around him, scaring away all beasts. ¡°We return home to the kingdom. After that, we will head to the hundredth floor. We will also overcome it, prepare yourselves.¡± He told his followers, retainers, and believers of his cause. Book 2 Chapter Ten; Guard and Keep me Sad¨¦ was focused ahead. She was standing atop a carriage directing the rider to keep going as they were being chased. ¡°Keep riding, do not worry about anything but riding!¡± she shouted over the whinnying of the horses and the crack of the whip. She looked back and just like her Katie was atop another carriage, she was holding on with chains from one of her wrists and she was using the other chain in her other hand to whip the beasts attacking the carriage. Foxfire!! Sad¨¦ yelled and rather than using a torrent of blue flame, she changed it and made her Mana form smaller orbs of fire that exploded when Mana that was not her own, neared it. She watched as they floated dazedly around her carriage. The task from the system was to help the carriage get from one town to another and they had been mobbed by monsters from the start. Even now, they were rushing with the support of all the party, and it was becoming overwhelming. ¡°Watch out!¡± Bannerman growled as he bounded beside her carriage. She looked up and leaping up to attack her was a single man. Thunderfire She shouted and the man was struck but he deflected it off his sword and then struck her, she dipped but the sword slashed her arm, chest and back. It was deep and the system sung of warning. DANGER! BLEEDING IN EFFECT HEALTH 25% DOWN! ¡­ She kissed her teeth. One attack and half her health had been taken. The man landed pass the carriage, but Bannerman assaulted him, drawing his attention. She heard it before she saw them, dodging left and then right, two arrows flew past her. An archer was running towards the carriage and her next arrow was aimed at the horses. She leapt off the carriage top and landed by the woman, the archer was already prepared. She fired three arrows, before even having to go into her quiver again. the first one skimmed Sad¨¦. The second she deflected and the third she cut through. But the time it took her to react, the archer was already creating distance to pick her target again. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ yelled, sending the weird merging of flame and thunder. It struck the archer and she rocked with the thunder burning through her body. She screamed and Sad¨¦ removed her head before she could scream again. ¡°No!¡± someone shouted and looking up she saw it was the swordsman from before, he had taken his eye off of Bannerman, who roared. His wolf man form hot with bloodlust. He caught the hand with the sword, breaking the wrist. He bit down into the throat of the man and roared at his win. ¡°Pup let us go! Sad¨¦!¡± Katie called out, she was atop the second carriage, the first had kept going and as Katie rushed past, she swung her chain out for Sad¨¦ to catch. She caught it deftly, maybe it was her dexterity, or maybe it was her elf blood flexibility. She swung from the chain and using the momentum she flipped herself onto the roof of the first carriage again. After that they rode along with few ambushes. DING! CARRIAGES DELIVERED ¡­ DING! REWARDS TO BE HANDED OUT +3 STATS She put those into vitality immediately. It was her lowest stat for now. EXP EARNED LEVEL UP! ¡­ +1 STR +2 END +1 DEX She smiled at that, she was ¡­ NEW SKILL! THUNDER CROWN When the crown of thunder is worn Mana will deplete 10% for every strike. All attacks will be wreathed in thunder and lightning. Burn affliction possible. She grinned at that, she had gained her third skill, it made sense, she had a fire and thunder skill, then a fire skill. Now a thunder one. ¡°You were reckless.¡± Baek told her, stepping from the carriage and helping down a frail looking woman who had also been seated in the carriage. ¡°I did what was needed if I did not. They would have attacked the carriage.¡± She pointed out and he shook his head. ¡°Your life is just as important as the task, plus I am here. they would not have been able to do anything.¡± He prompted and she lowered her defiance a little. ¡°I know why you are rushing, but I promise you. It will not be at the death of you, that we will meet up with him again. you need to stop.¡± He scolded her, she nodded. Knowing he was right and that she was indeed being reckless, she needed to be more cautious. ¡°I got a new skill.¡± She said, changing the subject. ¡°Show me later, we need to get these carriages away and then we can move on.¡± Baek pointed out, just as Katie, Bannerman and Patton who had been riding in the third and final carriage appeared. They all entered the guild hall, to complete the task they had been given and await the rewards from both system and guild. She sighed and looked up at the sky. Where are you, Jazmel. She wondered. Book 2 Chapter Eleven; of Brotherhood Now that he was a Seeker tier III, Jazmel could feel the difference in his body. He was sturdier, stronger, and even now. While working in the mine, he could feel the strength of his muscles in each swing of the axe. They had returned from the dam two weeks ago. Some of the warriors had been injured and in their time of recovery, they were working hard on health and preparing for the war effort against the trolls and ogres. Frae had explained to him that the Troll Ogre was the chief of a tribe of both trolls and ogres. Jazmel had fought trolls before; they had an extremely uncanny regeneration. But he had killed them before, he would kill them again. ¡°What do we need for the trolls and ogres?¡± Jazmel asked as he and Frae worked in the massive mine. ¡°I will lead all the dwarves, for the camp is really large. Three generals will lead the majority, but an elite attack force of our best, will accompany us into the encampment, where the troll ogre will remain.¡± Frae explained to him. ¡°He is strong.¡± Jazmel asked, but he sort of already knew. ¡°We will beat him or die trying.¡± Frae honoured him and dropping his pickaxe he shook forearms with Jazmel. ¡°You have come in here and saved my people, you have done all we have asked of you. You have a brother in me, whatever you need from me. I will give it if I have it, I will find it if I do not.¡± Frae was genuinely offering his friendship and Jazmel acknowledged it. ¡°No matter where I go in the labyrinth. Call for me and I will come running. When you link with the system, we will connect and that way we will always be able to reach one another.¡± Jazmel confirmed and they shook firmly. They continued for another few more hours and when Jazmel arms ached from the tireless work. Frae led him out of the mines and they headed a few levels up, to the dining quarters. They had just made it to the floor when the booming call of the carnyx; a huge ancient horn that could be heard. Everyone frantically hurried about, running from the halls, and heading off into different directions. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Meet me at the carts! I am going for my weapons!!¡± Frae shouted over his shoulder as he disappeared into the mob of dwarves moving around in a hurry. Jazmel ran through them, careful to not knock over anyone or run into them. He met Melle at the cart, she and many other women were loading carts up with aid equipment. Bedding, wadding, bandages, and many others. Jazmel lent a hand and when she noticed him, her eyes grew ashen. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked, her eyes telling him a sad story. ¡°The trolls have come.¡± She said, clearly shaken. Jazmel gritted his teeth but did not stop helping her pack the bandages up into the carts. Her and the women went up and after a while, more carts came up. Warriors boarded and hurried upwards too. Jazmel waited and after many carts ascended, Frae returned with three warriors. Who wore older but more ornate armour. He realised that they were the generals and he Frae brought them with him. ¡°Tili, you need to hold the wall, no matter what happens to the gate. Funnel them in, let them in but make them earn every step they take into our home.¡± The first general put his helm on and bringing a huge mallet with him got into the next collection of carts with warriors who were heading up. ¡°Gol, you are in charge of reinforcements. Read the movement of the troops, send reinforcements where they need to go. Stay at the entrance and focus where to send our dwarves.¡± This was the second general to go up, he was carrying a sword. but scabbarded on his back. He left and caught the next cart that was propelling the warriors up to the defence of the wall. ¡°Frarin. You have the hardest job. You have to hold the camp; you need to hold them there and fight till the man. We need to have time to get to the troll ogre.¡± He said, he put his forehead to the forehead of the other dwarf and then he left. This dwarf was older than the others and a bit softer around the middle. But his eyes were fierce, and he accepted his duty readily. ¡°My Uncle.¡± Frae explained and Jazmel understood the heartfelt goodbye. Frae stood in front around thirty other warriors, Jazmel remembered the faces from those he had travelled to the dam with. ¡°We go and free ourselves from this locked gate.¡± Frae said and they all got into the carts, ready for this last battle. Book 2 Chapter Twelve; of Trolls and Ogres They ascended and Jazmel emerged into carnage. The dwarves were fighting trolls and ogres of all types and sizes. Jazmel gripped his sword hilt but Frae held him back. ¡°We cannot. We have another job, just as important.¡± Frae said, Jazmel looked at him and saw the grip he had on the handle of his short axe. The white of his knuckles were showing too. The ground tremored before their feet. Each step booming and cascading the surrounding area in vibrations. Jazmel looked around and could not see the cause of the ground shaking steps. But as if in sync with his thoughts, the system activated. DANGER! WARNING!! GRAUG THE TROLL OGRE DEFEAT THE TROLL OGRE CHIEF Jazmel kissed his teeth; the chief was named. He remembered the words from Baek, monsters and monsters that were named were a mutated version of their selves. ¡°Frae, that monster is named.¡± Jazmel said to him, as they edged around the ongoing battle in the camp below the entrance to the mountain. ¡°So?¡± Frae uttered and Jazmel realised he did not understand the seriousness, because they were not linked to the system. ¡°He will be stronger than we thought. Maybe stronger than that too.¡± Jazmel said through clenched teeth. ¡°It dies today.¡± Frae reaffirmed and Jazmel understood the fire in his eyes. ¡°Ten of you will come and fight with us, me and Jazmel will do the heavy lifting. The rest of you will harry him with arrows and throwing axes. Stock up now, because once we mob him, there will be no leaving to get more.¡± The archers filled their quivers and stuck short haft axes into their already filled belts. ¡°The rest of you, you have to hold back any trolls or ogres who come to try and defend him. No reinforcements must reach us.¡± Frae told them, he held the eye of every dwarf present. ¡°It has been a pleasure fighting and mining with you all. If I see back in the mountain I will buy you a beer, if I do not, I will lay you beneath the mountain. But not before I send you all the company I can!¡± Frae shouted and at that he and his contingent of guards roared and ran at the group of trolls fighting beside the troll ogre named Graug. Jazmel leapt into the melee too, clearly invigorated by the speech from Frae. The trolls were strong here, it took a few strikes from his blade before he cut one down, he removed the head to ensure the regeneration did not bring it back. ¡°Cut off the heads just to be sure!¡± he shouted and the dwarves around him roared in confirmation. He met another, this one with a stocky wooden club in its hand, he cut through that with Nozarashi. The blade slipping through it like a knife through meat. The troll cupped its hands and slammed them down like a makeshift mace. He cut through both wrists. Before it could even wail in pain, he struck its throat. Cutting the gullet and larynx together. Blood pooled down its chest, but it was healing, he could see the skin on its wrist growing in inches as it tried to reform its hands. But he would not allow it, he cut the Achilles tendon and it fell to a knee, he cut the throat again, while it was healing and then twisting the blade, slash up cutting the whole face off of the troll. It was a gruesome display of carnage, but the trolls were worst. They were throwing dwarves around, attacking with their sheer size and power. But he had power too, he flicked the gore off his blade. two trolls were trying to cut Frae off from his warriors, Jazmel was there before they realised their mistake. Whirlwind! He cut the legs off the one on the left. It fell squealing like a pig, Frae swung his arms both sides and his axe bit into the neck of the troll and his mace crushed the top of its skull. It fell and while it was on the ground, Frae struck its head again to make sure it was dead. The second, an ogre; was even worse, Jazmel ran beneath a swinging arm. Crouching and leaping up. Flight of the blue kite! from below the chin of the great beast, knocked its head back and made sure the brain of this simple beast was scrambled at the moment. But Jazmel did not give it a chance to come back to its senses. Slash He yelled and with Mana and the might of his arm, he struck the head of the ogre off its body. Blood spurted from its neck and Jazmel watched it fall to its knees and then stepped over it, a roar. More than a roar, it was like a howl and a booming trumpet in one sound. It was impending doom and Jazmel knew it. He looked over and saw Graug rushing towards him, knocking over trolls, and crashing through dwarves and ogres alike. It was ten feet tall. Taller than anything Jazmel had seen before, the flesh was mottled grey, and it made Jazmel think of rock and stone. He steadied his feet and waited for it to charge at him, he moved out of the way as it crashed past him. But he side stepped it and struck with his blade. to his surprise it bounced off. Great, it has thick skin. He thought to himself, but he was not alone because the place where he had struck was scarred a little and as he watched it move past him, he saw a firebomb fly through the air and crash on the body. This bomb was different, rather than exploding on a timed delay; instead, it broke on impact and liquid fire burst from within. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Jazmel was so amazed at the ingenuity of the dwarves. The troll ogre roared, more in annoyance than pain but it whirled on Jazmel and struck out, it missed him but the sheer force it struck the ground, made Jazmel misstep and struggle to get steady. In that moment Graug struck with a wayward arm. Knocking him back and off his feet. WARNING! HEALTH DOWN 30% He sighed; a swinging arm was what struck him. His whole body felt like a bruise. He crawled back to his feet and then found Nozarashi not far from where he had fallen. He looked up and to his luck, Graug was not hunting him. Instead, valiantly Frae was fighting him, axe and mace, tooth, and nail. Jazmel admired him immensely. Frae tumbled through the beasts legs and when it turned to look for him, Jazmel saw something. The place that the bomb had struck had cracked the external shell of the troll ogre and fleshy skin beneath it could be seen, Jazmel leapt forward and before the troll hybrid beast could see him, he pushed his sword into the wound. Before Graug could react, he shouted. Slash! Using the Mana from the skill, he cut up and carved through the tough flesh of the troll and it howled in pain. He finally got through. Quicker than before, it whirled on him and catching his hand. He winced as it broke his forearm. WARNING SEVERE BREAK! Jazmel cried out, wailed even. The pain drove black spots into his eyes, he felt himself be lifted off the ground, but he could do nothing, still suffering from the delirium of his broken forearm. ¡°Jazmel!¡± he heard and knowing it was Frae but could not turn to look at him. The face of the troll ogre was grotesque, it raised its hackles and the tusks that protruded from its mouth reeked of carrion. Jazmel averted his head, but the roll roared in his face. Defiantly, Jazmel spat in his face. But the ogre was not pleased with his defiance, instead it squeezed harder and harder. Until he felt his spine bending beneath the effort. WARNING! HEALTH AT 50% WARNING! HEALTH AT 35% WARNING CRITICAL DANGER The system pinged repeatedly in his vision and there was nothing he could do. Blood poured from between his lips, and he coughed up more, feeling it in his lungs. Master I am with you! As he heard those words in his head. Jazmel felt the shadow wraith pull him from the clutches of the troll ogre and in that instant, he was standing in the shadow of it. But before it could react, Frae was flying through the air. ¡°Troll, you die today!¡± it was a sight of craziness. Frae had thrown firebombs repeatedly and they had engulfed the face and torso of Graug. He clutched his short haft axe and struck the face of the troll ogre repeatedly. ¡°We burn! Dwarves are born in fire and bathe in flame!¡± Frae bellowed over the death cry of the enemy and trolls and ogres began to fall and die around them under the onslaught of the dwarves. CONGRATULATIONS!! ¡­ LOST GATE, HAS BEEN UNLOCKED. ¡­ REWARDS WILL BE GIFTED ¡­ DWARVES OF OREVALOR WELCOME BACK TO THE SYSTEM! ¡­ SEEKER TIER III YOU HAVE COMPLETED A QUEST OF GREAT SERVICE TO THE SYSTEM EXP EARNED ¡­ LEVEL UP LEVEL UP LEVEL UP ¡­ +5 STR +4 END +5 AGL +5 DEX ¡­ EXT REWARD ¡­ THIRD PART OF THE PLACQUE OBTAINED PLACQUE COMPLETED ¡­ REALM OF DEATH ENTRANCE KEY! Jazmel''s jaw dropped with shock. But before he could even consider it anymore. Frae was shouting. ¡°Jazmel!¡± he looked over, to his dwarven friend and saw his eyes somewhere else. He looked around and noticed everyone else had the same look about them too. They were linking to the system and seeing themselves and what the system said about them. ¡°HEY!¡± Jazmel shouted and everyone snapped to reality and looked at him confused. ¡°I can imagine your stats and your system status look really interesting, but we have a lot to do here. A lot of you need to tier up, a tier tribulation. A lot of you are getting that notification right now, but you do not have the items for it.¡± He said and a few gruff voices called out their concern. ¡°The only way you are all going to be able to tier up right now is through the use of the trolls and ogres. We need to collect all the corpses. Every single one of them, we need to bring them back into the mountain.¡± Jazmel called out. ¡°Listen to him!¡± Frae shouted, from his crouched position, clearly in pain. ¡°He is my proxy for now!¡± Frae called out and the dwarves immediately rushed to do the bidding of their King. ¡°Collect them all and bring them down the mountain!¡± Jazmel was saying and then he heard Frae cry out in anguish. Turning to his friend he watched as he punched his fist into the corpse of the named troll chief and pulled its heart out. ¡°I need to tier up!¡± Frae blurted out and then crashed to the ground clutching the heart. Jazmel watched as his friend convulsed and he watched over him as he went through his very first tier tribulation. His body shook and convulsed again but before his eyes, Jazmel could see the Mana pooling around his body. It was wrapping itself around his bones, but also it seeped into his muscles as it rebuilt his sturdy body too. The core from the flower spawn followed and though Jazmel could not tell which parts of the tribulation he used them for, he could tell they were changing his body under extreme duress. After a while his body stopped twitching and with a groan that quickly turned into a growl, he clambered up to his feet. ¡°You weren¡¯t joking about the pain of it.¡± He mused and then smiling Jazmel watched as he clearly opened up his system status and began adding points to his stats. ¡°What tier?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°Seeker tier II.¡± He grinned. ¡°It probably hurt because you jumped a tier, you basically jumped a rank.¡± Jazmel explained and Frae still looking at his stats seemed to grunt at that. ¡°What is this now, Ahhh¡­ that makes sense.¡± He was talking to himself, and Jazmel waited, as he did what was needed. DING! The system chimed in his thundering voice that rang out all around them, everywhere but also nowhere. A KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN HAS BEEN CHOSEN THE KINGDOM OF OREVALOR HAS BEEN FOUNDED! ALL SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM WILL RECEIVE; +5 VIT +5 END 15% EXP BOOST Jazmel whistled at that and Frae laughed. ¡°Come, let¡¯s see how the retrieval is going.¡± Frae said and leading the way, he headed back into the camp and pushed even began to help some dwarves bring more trolls down to the cart platform. Book 2 Chapter Thirteen; a Friend of the Dwarves Jazmel had been with the dwarves for weeks now. The gate had been unlocked and the entire domain changed. Not only had they regained access to the system. But Frae had been made king under the mountain, this gave him control over all those of his ¡®kingdom¡¯ he could make tasks. He could give out quests. the King could also improve the wares of the home base or the pyramid of the dwarves so to speak. Even now as Jazmel stood on a small hill, under a young tree. He was overseeing a group of dwarves hunting, trolls were building nests close to the pyramid. King Frae had created a task for the dwarves to go and clear them out. With the rewards varying due to participation and evaluated results. Jazmel had promised to only get involved if the dwarves needed it and as of right now. They had no need for his help, but he was happy to see the dwarves upskilling. Learning their own capabilities and earning stats and skills. He himself, was itching to move on. Now that the gate was open, he was hoping to move through the gate soon and advance deeper into the labyrinth. He could send missives out now, but he chose against it. He would meet up with his party when the labyrinth let him. after all, now would be a good time for him to get stronger. Travelling alone had its own advantages after all. The nest had been cleared out, the dwarves that he was minding. Came out of the cave after casting fire bombs into it to burn out the corpses and bring the cavern down on itself. ¡°Remember to loot the corpses of any creature, beast or monster you kill. The system will usually give you rewards and sometimes items, but corpses are rewards in themselves. You can break them down and make new weapons, armour and items from them. I know how good dwarves are with their hands, but imagine how great your weapons could be with new materials!¡± he called over them, they were tired. Their stamina was budding and still not where his own was. But they listened to him, there was true awe wafting off of the dwarves. Many knew him, those who hadn''t seen him fight in the battles had heard enough from their peers. Most of the dwarves respected him for fighting so well beside Frae. But the others, thanked him for regaining them the system, most watched him with divine reverence and it made him uncomfortable. But he understood why they did, he couldn¡¯t imagine life without the system, and he had only had it now, for a few months. ¡°We got it!¡± one of the dwarves growled, his voice deep as a mine but hearty and behind his thick beard, Jazmel could tell he was smiling. ¡°Should we go looking for more then?¡± he asked, smiling back. A roar cantered up and the dwarves grabbed their weapons and began scouting for the identifiers of trolls. They had hunted for hours, three nests had been destroyed. The items the dwarves had earned had been bountiful and he had made sure that they picked the last two nests clean before moving on. None had storage rings yet, so they had to carry their own rewards back. It soon became somewhat of a challenge to see who could carry the most rewards on their back. Jazmel watched them with fascination as each dwarf seemed to carry well above double their weight in system gifts and troll hoard rewards. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. When they returned, Frae and two guards were at the gate. They were keeping inventory of everything coming into the pyramid and sorting through the items that could help the pyramid. Even as Jazmel neared the pyramid he could feel the system energy wafting from it. Frae had begun working on the pyramid as soon as the system offered him the chance. Mines that once held ores, now held Mana essence and crystals. Frae explained he had to use them to repair and enhance the features of his kingdom. But it made no sense and as Jazmel wasn¡¯t part of the kingdom, he was not allowed to see it. but that was fine, he was just happy that his friend was going through the motions to better his chances and his peoples. ¡°I assume you will be moving on soon.¡± Frae said to Jazmel, his head in a large book as he wrote down inventory but Jazmel could tell his friend felt away, he was sad. ¡°I have to find my party, but if you need anything you can message me. The system has a feature.¡± Jazmel explained and Frae waved his words away. ¡°I know, I already sorted that out.¡± DING! KING FRAERIN OF OREVALLOR HAS SENT A FRIEND REQUEST! WILL YOU ACCEPT? Y/N? Of course he would accept. And he did, the system buzzed with energy before moving on. ¡°You have helped me and my people more than I will ever be able to repay in this life.¡± Frae started, but Jazmel stopped him. ¡°Stop, don¡¯t do that. We are friends.¡± Jazmel started. ¡°Brothers.¡± Frae corrected him. ¡°Yes, we are brothers. If I didn¡¯t help you, what would that have made me?¡± Jazmel said and Frae watched him for a moment. ¡°You are destined to do great things in the labyrinth, that much I am sure.¡± He said and Jazmel shook his head while he palmed the nervous sweat on the back of his neck. ¡°I am not sure of all of that. All I know, is I am trying my best to get things done as they fall in my lap.¡± Jazmel said and Frae nodded, understanding his words. ¡°Your heart is great, it beats in a way that whatever you do, with your heart invested in it. the results will be grander. I am sure the labyrinth had plotted a way through its depths for you, that few others could ever walk.¡± Frae uttered and Jazmel smiled, kneeling he hugged his friend, his brother. ¡°I must go now.¡± He said and Frae nodded. ¡°DWARVES OF OREVALLOR! OUR SAVIOUR LEAVES US, BUT DO NOT DOUBT HIS JOURNEY REMEMBER HIS STOUT HEART AND CARRY ONE YOURSELVES!¡± ¡°DWARVEN SALUTE!¡± Frae yelled and the dwarves began to stamp, shields were banged, spear butts thudded against the ground. They were wishing him well on his journey and he felt his cheeks damp with happiness. The dwarves were dear to him. DING! YOU HAVE BEEN MADE A FRIEND OF THE DWARVES! ALL DWARVES OF OREVALLOR WILL RECOGNISE YOU AND REMEMBER YOUR STORY! 10% AFFINITY AND HARMONY WITH OREVALLORIAN DWARVES! He left, walking along the beaten path towards where he hoped the gate would be. Book 2 Chapter Fourteen; the Temple Beneath the Ocean DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE TEMPLE OF THE MER KING YOU MUST REACH THE TOP OF THE TEMPLE AND DESTROY THE CORRUPTEDION! The system alerted him as soon as he stepped through into the basement of a temple. He did not think he was underwater but when he focused his eyes, he saw that his entire body was covered in a thin membrane of Mana, thankfully it came from the system and not his own source. But he was bewildered by the creation of it, he studied it in the safety of the hidden corner he was in. The Mana was translucent but to his eyes, it glowed a dim blue. It was pretty and it made him want to tell Sad¨¦ about it. When they reconnected, he would. On that note, he sent a follow up origami to Baek, detailing where he was but also asking where they were. He stepped from his corner and looking back he saw the thin outline of a doorframe, but it was blocked. He could not enter it again; he touched the wall to make sure and shivered at the low temperature around him. He could not feel it and wondered if that was down to the Mana skin he was enwrapped in or if that was just himself. He stepped from the room and immediately was beset. A fish with a huge gaping jaw swam at him, he cut it in half from jaw to tail and as he skipped past, he noticed things. Firstly, the other fish leapt into a frenzy; forgetting about him and tearing apart the entrails of their dead ally. Secondly that there was a small lag to the fluidity of his movement, the Mana was doing its best to help him, but he could feel the water he was cutting through as his sword swung. He would have to compensate for that. DING! TIER II CORRUPTED ANGLER KILLED This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. EXP EARNED He started jogging and turning a corner he ended up within a school of fish that looked remarkably similar to that angler fish. Jazmel cut through them before they even get to him, the same frenzy ensued, and he dipped into a new corridor. DING! TIER II CORRUPTED ANGLER X3 KILLED TIER II CORRUPTED SWORDFISH X4 KILLED +1 AGL He looked out for the stairways and when he found it, he slowly began his ascend. The detail in the architecture was brilliant. Coral had been used to make the entire temple, and everything had been made out of it. Different shades of blue marred the walls of the stairwell and in an odd pattern, the reflection paled and lit the stairs in an even paler shade, it had the look of the moon and Jazmel found it beautiful. DING! YOU HAVE REACHED THE FIRST FLOOR! The system sung in his mind and before he could wonder why it did that, he ran into the oncoming group of four girls. ¡°Who are you?!¡± one of them yelled, sword drawn while other weapons were already bared but one of them looked familiar and he realised he recognised her. ¡°Jazmel?¡± ¡°Tera Nema?¡± he guessed, and she seemed happy that he had remembered her. ¡°Guys he is a friend, he helped me in the Xuanhuan realm, remember.¡± She said and he realised she must have had told them about him, she must have realised this too because her face suddenly got really red. ¡°Come on! Get a move on they are coming!!¡± a voice yelled and looking over the girls he saw mermaids. Actual mermaids swimming towards them but their faces were girded in anger and wrath. Jazmel stepped forward and one of the girls pulled his arm. ¡°Stop they are strong.¡± But Tera Nema stopped her and let him continue. Jazmel strolled forward and righted his stance as they swam at him and as soon as the first spear was driven at him. He was in the fight. He cut through the spear and the arm that was holding it. The mermaid screeched and swung with a clawed but webbed hand. He cut through her, and she fell in half behind him. The other threw a spear, and the speed nearly caught him off guard, he let it glide pass him and as the mermaid attacked him with both hands, he stepped into her charged and with a downward slash he cut her open; from shoulder to hip. She died too and the fish burst into a bloodlust frenzy. Tearing apart their one-time allies. ¡°What the hell, why are you so strong?!¡± Tera Nema shouted and broke off running, Jazmel followed them, and they led the way. Book 2 Chapter Fifteen; the First Floor of the Ocean Temple They had been fighting for almost an hour before one of the girls had found a small alcove that was hidden from the search of the many schools of fish that seemed to be hunting them all. The girls began to wrap wounds, tie bandages and drink potions. Jazmel had not been attacked like them and so he took the time to check the systems notifications. FIRST FLOOR OF THE OCEAN TEMPLE ¡­ TIER II CORRUPTED MERMAID X5 KILLED +2 AGL TIER II CORRUPTED ANGLER X23 KILLED +3 INT TIER II CORRUPTED OARFISH X17 KILLED +2 STR TIER II CORRUPTED SWORDFISH X12 KILLED +2 WIL TIER II CORRUPTED SEAHORSE GUNNER X4 KILLED EXP EARNED The killing of the monsters here were no easy feat, they mobbed you as soon as you were seen. But the frenzy that the schools all ensued when one of theirs was killed. Allowed everyone to gain a small break. ¡°So how did you end up here?¡± Tera Nema asked, coming over to stand beside him. ¡°I came through a lost gate, and it brought me to the basement of this temple.¡± Jazmel explained and she nodded, as if it had happened to her too. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Where are your party?¡± she asked. ¡°I got split up with them when I entered the lost gate.¡± He explained and quickly, missing out the key details, surrounding the city of Orevalor. She listened intently and smiled when he finished. ¡°You are very brave. You seem stronger too, tier III?¡± she mused, and Jazmel simply slowly blinked. ¡°You have been busy too.¡± He said and she smiled, he could tell she was tier III too. Something about the way the Mana roiled around her body, it was interesting to watch, and he noticed that the wand she carried before had been changed, a thicker piece of wood with different runes etched into it had replaced the last one. She still bore the cloak and short sword that they had found in ancient town within the realm. ¡°Your eyes are doing that thing again.¡± she said, and he remembered that somehow, she could notice him when he was using his Mana eyes. ¡°So, Jazmel. What level are you?¡± a girl with the most bandages but the hardiest smile too. ¡°That is private, isn¡¯t it?¡± he responded, and she raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t look too weak, but don¡¯t think you will gain more of the reward than any of us.¡± She spat and he just watched her, confused. ¡°That is Morwen, she is as friendly as she looks.¡± Tera Nema introduced her friend. ¡°That is Grace.¡± She pointed at the girl who wore thick armour, it reminded Jazmel of the dwarven kind; thick and durable. She stood watch, her sword point to the ground and her eyes and ears listening for any danger. ¡°And that one over there is Myn.¡± She pointed at the last girl, who was sitting on a piece of coral and cleaning her sword religiously. It was a great sword, one that had to be strapped to the back, she carried It on the shoulder and every time she was not fighting. She was cleaning the blade, using a whetstone, and preparing it as kindly as possible. Jazmel watched her do it and realised he had not done it for himself. He walked over to her and sat beside her, watching her and she did not say anything or show that she minded. ¡°May I?¡± he asked when he finally finished and without looking at him, she handed the whetstone over, and Jazmel began to work on the blades of his swords. It took some time and before long, he could feel the keen edge of both blades, he had been using Hajime as it was a lighter blade, but the enemies were growing stronger and he needed a keener edge than before, he handed the whetstone back and then scabbarding both katanas and adding them to his belt again. he rose up. ¡°We should move on.¡± He said and Jazmel rose up walking back towards the entrance. Book 2 Chapter Sixteen; the Second Floor of the Ocean Temple Jazmel winced as a spear skimmed his ribs and he bent his body away from another attack. Jazmel felt the pain of it and sighed with the affliction within. The mermaid who struck him, withdrew another spear but Tera Nema who was fighting beside him blasted Mana into the face of the merman. Fire beneath the ocean was a rare thing and the light and heat of the arcane Mana from her wand struck it fiercely in the face. It fell to the ground melting and squealing. In pain, it was a new thing as the fish averted this body and it fell to the ground before floating up slowly to the ceiling. They had made it to the second floor and the mermen were fighting fiercely. Long muscular fish tails were propelling them through the water towards them and Jazmel and the four girls were carving a bloody swathe through these CORRUPTED beings of the temple. Few fish were privy to this part of the attack, but the attacks were far fiercer, Jazmel took a spear to the shoulder and then the chest. But Tera Nema was beside him and killed the attacker. He chugged a potion and pulled the spears from his body. The next attack he feinted to the right and waved his sword, pushing against the lag of water. He cut through three large torsos, and they floated around him. DING! TIER II CORRUPTED MERMEN X10 KILLED SHADOW WRAITH SLUMBERS BUT HUNGERS CONSUME? Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He accepted and his shadow erupted, pulling the corpses into its darkness, and scaring the girls. ¡°It is a skill!¡± he explained, waving his arms and Tera Nema looked at him confused. TIER II MERMEN X5 CONSUMED TIER II OCEANIC SPEAR X3 COLLECTED TIER II MERMAN PEARLS X23 COLLECTED TIER I UNCORRUPTED CORRAL X3 COLLECTED The system pinged off new additions to his storage but for now he fought on. The landing they were fighting on would bring them up to the third floor of the temple. But the grand landing had two openings to the east and west wings of the temple. This was funnelling the mermaids as they came, and Jazmel and Tera Nema fought with their backs to her party members. They held the west while Jazmel fought off the east. ¡°We just need to run up the stairs!¡± Morwen shouted. Jazmel agreed, but he was not sure if the mermen and their soldiers would follow him. If they did, they would be overwhelmed by these tier II creatures and the possibility of other tier II stronger creatures above. ¡°We need to go now!¡± grace yelled as she swung her sword and cleaved through more forces. Tera Nema took the initiative and ran up the steps, Jazmel followed her and fought while the others backstepped up the stairs slowly. Once they were on the last step of the first floor, the mermen stopped. Railing and banging against an unseen force that was blocking them from ascending the steps. ¡°Now we know they cannot follow us while we ascend.¡± Morwen confirmed and everyone agreed. ¡°Rest quickly, we move in five minutes.¡± Tera Nema told everyone, Jazmel nodded and sat to check his notifications. +3 STR +2 DEX +4 END +5 AGL He was getting stronger again too, travelling alone had been a tremendous help, though he missed his party. He was not going to pretend that he had not seen the benefits of it. ¡°We are moving on, everyone ready?¡± Tera Nema asked, and Jazmel used his scabbarded sword to stand back up. Book 2 Chapter Seventeen; the Third Floor of the Ocean Temple This floor was quiet and well lit, the stairs opened up into a widened chamber hall in the shape of a huge circle. In the centre of the chamber was a pool, it was darkened and deep, yet full of Mana. Jazmel¡¯s eyes immediately picked it up. After stepping into this chamber, the groaning of age-old machinery could be heard and behind them a block of solid coral blocked the exit and entrance. Jazmel drew Hajime immediately. From the pool in the centre of the chamber, a single man clambered out. He looked like a man; he wore armour made out of metal that was tinged with coral and Mana that Jazmel had seen all around the temple. The man was easily over six and half feet tall. He had etchings in his body that were pale blue, as if they had been drawn with Mana. Designs of spirals and other symbols unknown to Jazmel. This man was strong though, he clambered from the pool and unscabbarded a heavy spear from his back. It was elegant and well made, the metal darkened and keen. He rushed grace, she blocked his attack but just a swing of his spear shaft knocked her off her feet. Myn and Morwen were there immediately, and they fared no better, he fought them both and if Tera Nema did not bombard him with Mana blasts from her wand. He would have pushed them back too. They fought him and Jazmel helped grace to her feet, they soon joined and before the might of all five of them; they killed the warrior. DING! TIER III CORRUPTED ATLANTEAN GUARD KILLED ¡­ NEW QUEST ¡­ DEFEAT THE ATLANTEAN GUARD WHO PROTECT THE THRONE ROOM Jazmel looked at Tera Nema and it seemed she and her party had gained the same notification. Springing from the water, a three guards landed around the pool. They did not look like the first, but they were similar with similar Mana tattoos but bearing an assortment of weapons. Another spear user, a swordsman this time and one clutching a huge great axe. The girls paired up and Jazmel was left to fight one guard alone, the one with the sword, it made sense. Clutching his katana in his hand and breathing deeply, trying to slow down his heart in the heat of battle. The Atlantean guard rushed him, swinging his sword in a dance Jazmel had never witnessed before, he struck out and they duelled, they fought fighting back and forth, pushing for purchase or an advantage. HEART OF THE SWORD IS ACTIVE Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ATLANTEAN SWORDMANSHIP BEING STUDIED UNDERSTANDING THE SWORD OF THE SEA ¡­ Jazmel felt his system flutter, and suddenly the fight grew a little easier. The guard realised something had changed because it did something different. It screeched and from the pool more guards clambered out. So now Jazmel was fighting three and he was alone as the girls own guards had also been reinforced. He drew Nozarashi from his belt and beckoned the guards. They fought and this time Jazmel was a flurry of movement, he swung his swords in a spiral deflecting of sea metal blades and clashing where the blades. Whirling his blades about him to protect his body, he feinted to the left, parried, and countered a blade and stabbed one of the guards in the neck, but moved off before he could drive it deeper, the guard fell away. Bleeding profusely from its wound. The other two circled Jazmel, he struck out; lashing out with both swords. One of the guards pinned him but he was not done. Slash He said and the skill activated, cutting the sword in half, but not the guardsman. This strike cost him though, for the other guard stabbed him in the back. It was not deep, but the pain almost made him delirious, and he hopped out of their pincer to protect himself. Flight of the blue kite! He snarled through gritted teeth and knocked the unarmed guard back. In that split second moment he whirled on the other guard and drove Hajime into its stomach. Slash He whispered and used Nozarashi to cut off a flailing arm. The sword dropped alongside the arm, and it died on his blades. He watched as the light left its eyes and he turned just in time to see the second guard picking up the sword of the Atlantean who had been stabbed in the neck. Jazmel gave him no time though, he threw Nozarashi, it impaled the Atlantean in the stomach and it fell to its knees. Picking up the sword of the one he had killed before, he walked over slowly. Wincing as his back bled. He drove the sword up into the stomach of the Atlantean guard and watched it as it died slowly. The pale blue of the Mana tattoos fading out with its life. Without a word, his shadow swallowed two of the corpses and he felt the system pop open. DING! TIER III CORRUPTED ATLANTEAN GUARD X2 KILLED TIER III ATLANTEAN GUARD CONSUMED SHADOW WRAITH RECOVERING Still recovering from the death, he almost had in Orevalor, Jazmel sighed and thanked Paldane silently. TIER I MERMAN PEARLS X34 TIER II ATLANTEAN SWORD X1 TIER II ATLANTEAN GARB X1 TIER I DEEP SEA PEARL X2 The sword was interesting enough, no katana but the balance was good, and he knew he could sell it at an auction if he needed. He turned to see how the girls were faring. They were just about to finish off their own guards. He walked over to the other guard and put the sword in his storage. TIER II ATLANTEAN SWORD X1 Paldane consumed this corpse too and Jazmel drank a health potion and then awkwardly over his shoulder poured the last of it on his wound. He felt it close up, it was still tender, but for now it would have to do. DING! ATLANTEAN GUARD HAS BEEN DEFEATED QUEST COMPLETE! ¡­ NEW QUEST ADDITION!! ¡­ WELCOME TRITON THE MER KING!! Jazmel immediately sighed. A hand rose from the pool, huge. Bigger than the Atlantean guards who had dwarfed Jazmel. The hand clutched the edge of the pool and soon a long arm pulled a torso up and then a head adorned with pearls, coral, and gold. A fantastic creation. Book 2 Chapter Eighteen; Triton the Mer King The King was too large to fully pull himself out of the pool, and as such. Only up to his waist was in the chamber. His long arms were raised, to Jazmel¡¯s surprise he was quite muscular, but swimming against deep sea currents must do that to a body. The king¡¯s skin was darkened and hued in grey and blue. It reminded Jazmel of a shark skin, something he had seen in a book when we was at school as a child. The king, like the Atlantean guard bore tattoos and symbols, markings of Mana etched into his skin, and they shone faintly in the chamber. Jazmel¡¯s eyes reflected the Mana and were dazzled by it. But that was not the only thing, aside from the tattoos, the crown of the king seemed to be filled to the brim with Mana, it shone like a star in the sky and Jazmel shielded his eyes from it as they grew accustomed. The final piece was the trident, a glittering and glistening creation of such power that Jazmel had not seen anything of the sword in the labyrinth. Mana ran the length of the trident from tip to end it was around twelve feet tall and though the king clutched it with one hand Jazmel could tell it was not too different to his own height. ¡°Dig in!¡± Tera Nema shouted, and the girls rushed to attack. Wrath! Morwen shouted and swinging her blade, a nasty attack of blood red Mana rent the air as it flashed through and struck the trident, the king blocked her attack and smoke billowed around it. Cut Myn said and her blade swung once. From the tip, a huge white scythe materialised and cleaved through the smoke of Morwen¡¯s attack. The cut caught the king off guard, and he sneered, showing pointed shark teeth. The attack struck his chest and though it did not seem to damage him too much, a mark showed where here attack had landed. Wand warfare!! Tera Nema shouted and from her wand a bolt of arcane Mana flashed and struck the head of the king. The crown tilt back and screeching and whirling, he used his free hand to right his crown. He squealed and everyone clutched their ears. It was like a whistle under water and Jazmel felt his ear drums bend with the brunt of the screech. But before Jazmel could attack, the king did himself. He pointed his trident at the group and a blast of water blasted forth. They dived out of the way, and where the blast hit, the corral had been blasted and crushed beneath the pressure of the trident¡¯s power. ¡°Remember, a named monster is stronger than its normal counterpart in its tier!¡± Jazmel shouted and the girls rushed around preparing. ¡°We need to get the trident out of its hand!¡± Tera Nema shouted, beside her Myn struck another attack but the hand clutching the trident didn¡¯t move. ¡°We will keep it busy!!¡± Grace confirmed and then she turned to Jazmel. ¡°You are stronger, probably stronger than all over us individually. You need to attack it and draw its attention. I have an attack that will definitely cause it damage, but I will need a moment to prepare.¡± She told him and he nodded, and he stepped forward. ¡°I will protect her.¡± Morwen said. Jazmel stepped forward, he drank a two stamina potions and felt refreshed immediately, he drank a Mana potion on top and the Mana sank into his stomach and waited, bolstering his already filled Mana pool. He drew Nozarashi and as he carefully walked forward, the Mer king noticed him and stabbed downward with its trident. He blocked the attack, the immense power and strength from the blow pushed him back. But he pushed back and then the king swung the trident, and he flipped over it. As he flipped, in his right hand; where he was holding Hajime. He struck with the skill. Flight of the blue kite! The blue Mana bird flew from the katana with a screech. While this attack happened, he used Nozarashi with his other hand and shouted. Slash The attack flew behind the blue kite and they both hit the Mer king, using his massive hand to block the attack, the attacks creating a little smoke, but he did not waste his time worrying about it. He ran forward using the hand to block his sight. But the king slammed its hand down on the ground, but Jazmel was already past it, he took that time to jump in the air. Whirlwind!! He yelled and using both hands, he slashed both swords and sent a cutting attack of Mana across the eyes. The swords struck and he watched as the eyes popped in their sockets, from the corner of his eye he saw something and looked. The trident was swinging; he could not escape it, but he used both blades to block it and was struck out of the air. He hit the floor and smashed the ground where he landed. He laid where he landed and coughed up blood. DANGER BODY INJURY HEALTH 30% DOWN Shaken, he watched through blurry eyes as Grace stepped forward, her sword gone and in her hand a blade of pure white light. The Mana almost rivalled the crown¡¯s. Penance She said and cut the Mer King with it. The attack was crucial, and the Mer King was split in two. She cut through the arm that was mid swing over Jazmel. She had cut through the arm, the torso, and the rest of the body. The Mer King died and immediately things changed. DING! QUEST COMPLETED ¡­ TIER III CORRUPTED MER KING TRITON DEFEATED Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡­ REWARDS TO BE GIVEN CORRUPTION OF THE OCEAN TEMPLE REMOVED Grace collapsed and the girls rushed around her. Jazmel was still injured, coughing and the iron taste in his mouth let him know he was bleeding somewhere on the inside. ¡°Here you go.¡± He looked and it was Morwen, she gave him a potion. He had not seen this type before, but he did not mistrust her. ¡­ HIGHER HEALTH POTION ¡­ The potion immediately got to work and healed his wounds, he even felt the wound across his back heal and knit together. She helped him up and he rose up, putting his swords in their scabbards he thanked her. He rolled his shoulders and then when he checked that grace was ok. ¡°That skills is a double-edged sword; it will take all the pain inflicted in the battle and use it to strike once. But it takes a lot out of her, she needs to recuperate for a moment.¡± Tera Nema explained to him, and he nodded, remembering that nameless attack that he had used on the black Wyrm. He checked his notifications and wanted to see what rewards he had garnered. DING! ¡­ TIER III CORRUPTED MER KING TRITON DEFEATED ¡­ +5 STRE +5 AGL +5 DEX +4 INT +4 END +4 VIT +3 WIL +3 PER LEVEL UP ¡­ LEVEL UP! He looked at his stats and smiled to himself. Name: Jazmel Level: 50 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier III Class: Sword Scion Health: 1123/1425 Stamina: 1000/1144 Mana: 695/1000 STR:64 PER:53 VIT:53 END:58 INT:60 WIL: 50 AGL:65 DEX:57 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Sever (tier I) Slash (tier II) Title(s): FIEND BANE SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 2X PLATINUM COINS 66X WHITE GOLD COINS 867X GOLD COINS Item(s): 2X COLD IRON ORE BRANCH OF A TREE SEED OF MIRETE 100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED TIER I 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED TIER I 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED TIER I 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED TIER I 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED TIER I RUSTED HELM COLLECTED TIER I X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE 3X HEALTH POTIONS 3X STAMINA POTIONS 1X ANTIDOTE POTION TIER II TROLL BONE X3 TIER II TROLL HEART X1 TIER II TROLL CLUB X2 TIER I FOX FUR X2 TIER I FOX MEAT X2 TIER II HAG CORE X1 TIER II FIEND BONE X30 TIER II GREATER FIEND BONE X13 TIER I FIEND CORE X29 TIER II GREATER FIEND CORE X6 TIER II FIEND CORPSE X12 TIER I GREATER FIEND CORPSE X4 SEED OF THE WILLOW KNIGHT TIER I MERMEN PEARLS X57 TIER I UNCORRUPTED CORRAL X3 TIER II OCEANIC SPEAR X3 TIER II ATLANTEAN SWORD X2 TIER I ATLANTEAN GARB X1 TIER II DEEP SEA PEARL X2 SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 12 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 112 Since he had completed his final tier tribulation in the seeker rank, he had earned five more levels and a whole lot of stat points to go with it. He suddenly felt cold in the room, and he looked down and saw his clothes were slashed and ripped where attacks had gotten through. He would need to sort that as soon as he entered civilisation again, he also needed to buy himself some other options. He could not wear the same things nonstop. But that meant he needed to expand his storage rings. That would cost a lot of money, he had the money, but he was loathe to part with it. ¡°What are you thinking so hard about?¡± Tera Nema said as she came to stand beside him. ¡°Just thinking about my next steps.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°You got somewhere you need to be?¡± she asked, and a little smile came to her lips. ¡°I need to find my party.¡± He admitted and she nodded, a little disheartened. ¡°I was hoping you would join our party.¡± She confessed and he felt bad, but they had definitely built some camaraderie. ¡°I cannot leave my party. But you and I are bonded since the realm. I am forever an ally if you need me. Just send word and I will bring my own party and come to your aid.¡± He bid her and he meant his words too. ¡°I promise.¡± She said and they hugged, he smiled into her hair, and she shooed him after letting him go, quickly. ¡°We need to split the rewards.¡± Morwen told them and they both headed over to the pool where the trident lay, and Jazmel noticed a small pile of jewels and pearls and gold coins, but they were not true rewards. Tera Nema offered that everyone had gained a lot of stats from the basement to the top floor. which everyone agreed to. ¡°Will you split these with us?¡± Tera Nema asked, and Jazmel looked. She was offering him a pick of the crown or the trident. ¡°You sure?¡± he asked, curiously. ¡°We would never have been able to get to the top floor without you assisting.¡± Morwen offered, suddenly nice and friendly. ¡°I will take the crown then.¡± She offered it to him and smiled. ¡°There is a lot of gems, jewels and coins.¡± She offered and he took a few more pearls and a much larger one too, adding it to his storage with the crown. ¡°Truthfully, I am looking for grave iron. I do not know why, but I was hoping for it, I thought the sea would be close to the death realm.¡± He explained and she nodded at his consideration. ¡°I have some.¡± Myn said and everyone turned to look at the shy and quiet girl. She went into her storage ring and inside it pulled out a chunk of grave iron, an ethereal chill leeched the room of any warmth and Jazmel swore he heard a wail. ¡°How much do you want for it?¡± he asked, and she shook her head. ¡°It is fair trade if you are only going to take a handful of rewards from here.¡± she said and gave it to him. He put it in his storage ring and thanked her profusely. Then the girls divvied up the remaining reward, putting it into the storage rings and promising to count and tally it up when they left the ocean temple. ¡°Where is the gate?¡± Jazmel asked, looking around the chamber room. ¡°Here.¡± Grace said, looking battered. Even though she had drank three potions, she need proper rest and Jazmel could tell she was ready to leave. She was beckoning to the pool in the centre of the room and when they went over, Jazmel could see that the Mana had changed, it no longer held any corruption and now it looked like a gate made out of sea foam. ¡°Remember girls, you need to focus on levelling up. A lot will be changing now that the monarch rank has been announced. I do not think too many friendly faces will be around too.¡± He offered and explained to the girls, in quickness what had happened with his party and the sworn. Tera Nema listened with wide eyes but thanked him. He waved one last time to the girls and then he jumped into the seafoam gate. Book 2 Chapter Nineteen; Merchants, merchants and Merchants The seafoam gate brought him to the city outskirts, and he sighed with thanks due to him realising he had found somewhere to recuperate as well as sell his wares. He hadn¡¯t been to an inn or anything of the sort since Sacretares and he was almost yearning for it. The city was smaller compared Windemere but the guards outside this one were stronger. Definitely stronger than him and that much, he was sure. The entrance was a toll, and he paid it happily. PAID 50 GOLD COINS He smiled as it left his storage ring and walked into the city. WELCOME YOU HAVE ENTERED ARNANTHIAN CITY The system chimed off into his mind and he looked around, he wanted to change his clothes immediately. But he also needed to find somewhere to rest and resupply. The city was bustling, vendors and sellers had set up stalls, markets, stores, and were selling their wares. From beasts to artefacts, corpses, and creatures. So many different wares were around. He looked around and the first store he saw that he needed, was a ring vendor. He entered the store and browsing he found what he needed. A bigger ring, brass in style but etchings had been engraved into it, opening the storage space up and allowing it to hold items. ¡°How much for this ring?¡± He asked the owner. ¡°Three hundred gold per ring.¡± He was told but Jazmel needed two. ¡°I will give you four hundred and fifty for two.¡± Jazmel countered and the vendor looked at him smiling. ¡°Give me five hundred and I will give you both.¡± He responded with a wry smile, then Jazmel and him shook on it. ¡°You can transfer your items by touching the ring to the other, it will move everything into the empty space.¡± He confirmed and Jazmel nodded and did as he was instructed. ¡°Do you want to buy these?¡± he asked, and the vendor shrugged, smiling. ¡°One hundred and fifty?¡± the vendor offered but Jazmel haggled him to two hundred and fifty. After that, Jazmel left and felt comfortable with his new additions. He headed up into the city seeking a tailor but the first three told him that they were fully booked. He smiled and thanked them, remembering there was a lot of seekers and rankers in the city. There was a huge store, bigger than the others and Jazmel stood in the line and moved along with it until he got to the entrance. But he was barred entry by the guards who had slowly been moving the customers in, little by little. ¡°There is a fee to enter the store.¡± The man said, holding his hand out awaiting Jazmel. He almost paid him but then thought better of it. ¡°What is it that everyone else paid?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°They are all members of the Merchant membership club and so they have paid their fare already.¡± The guard sneered and for some reason, Jazmel didn¡¯t believe him. He stepped out of the line and moved to another storefront that was empty and a little worn down, but the doorway seemed welcoming. He stepped in and immediately a young man greeted him, not too different in age as Jazmel. ¡°Welcome Seeker, thank you for coming to the Hermenthen merchants.¡± The young man greeted him and immediately Jazmel knew he had chosen well. ¡°I need to sell some things. Do you buy items?¡± Jazmel asked and the young man stiffened. ¡°Yes, we can, but are you sure you want to sell to us?¡± the young man asked and Jazmel a little confused looked at him. ¡°Nobody sells their wares to the Hermenthen merchants.¡± A voice behind Jazmel called and he turned to see a man leading a group of gaudily dressed merchants and guards too. They filled the small room of the merchants store and soon Jazmel and the young man had been backed into the store. ¡°It is my wares. I thought I was free to do my own selling too.¡± Jazmel countered finally. ¡°They sell to me. We are the biggest merchant guild in the city.¡± The man said. ¡°Who are you?¡± Jazmel asked, and his hand strayed to his swords. ¡°I am Kane Carter.¡± The lead merchant said, and Jazmel nodded in small greeting. ¡°Your man told me I couldn¡¯t afford to enter, so I chose not to.¡± Jazmel explained and the merchant looked at the guard and he bowed his head in silence. ¡°I apologise about that, but I can assure you that it will not happen again.¡± the merchant who introduced himself as Kane stated. ¡°Well, I thank you, truly. But I feel like my opinion has already been soured. I would like this man to help me.¡± Jazmel said and turned to eye the boy. ¡°Will you?¡± Jazmel asked and he nodded profusely. ¡°Are you sure you want to do that?¡± Kane asked, suddenly furious. ¡°Will you stop me?¡± He pulled Hajime from his belt and while it was still sheathed. He rested it on his shoulders. ¡°I cannot truly stop you, but I will make it so, nobody else will serve you moving forward.¡± The man offered as a complication and Jazmel simply shrugged. ¡°I am sure I will be fine.¡± They left him and the boy and Jazmel turned, waiting for an explanation. ¡°My father and he had a dispute and when my father fell sick, he chose to stifle our operations to ensure we couldn¡¯t function anymore.¡± The boy explained. ¡°I see. Well can I sell my things here or not?¡± Jazmel asked again and the boy darted around the counter and then exhaling, he said. ¡°Let¡¯s begin, and my name is Colin.¡± The boy introduced himself and Jazmel nodded, and they shook hands. ¡°I have these.¡± Jazmel brought out the Oceanic spears and Colin gasped. ¡°Are those Atlantean spears?¡± We will buy them. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The system popped up in front of Jazmel. DING! OCEANIC SPEARS X3 OFFER 300 WHITE GOLD COINS Jazmel nodded, but he wanted to see what he could do. ¡°Could you do five hundred?¡± he asked, and Colin thought for a moment. OFFER AMENDED OFFER 400 WHITE GOLD COINS Jazmel accepted and the coins filled his storage ring, and the spears left his inventory. Colin smiled and nodded at the transaction. ¡°Do you have anything else from the sea? Those are well favoured right now!¡± he admitted, and Jazmel smiled and nodded again. He offered; UNCORRPUTED CORRAL X10 The system chimed and Colin offered again. DING OFFER 150 WHITE GOLD COINS Jazmel accepted, he truly didn¡¯t know too much about the corral, besides that it wasn¡¯t corrupted, but Jazmel didn¡¯t mind. Colin was helping him and in helping he was ensuring that good deals were being offered here. Jazmel offered the Atlantean garb and Colin laughed. ¡°Where did you go to get all of these things?¡± he asked, and Jazmel told him about the oceanic temple and Colin watched with awe in his eyes. ¡°That sounds amazing, I always wanted to take the seeker trials, but the family business needed me when my father got sick.¡± He whispered and Jazmel smiled but offered him kind words. ¡°Seeking the artefacts and items that Seekers and Rankers would need can be considered seeking. Without you, how would we be able to move around the labyrinth.¡± He told Colin, who smiled thankfully at him. OFFER 360 GOLD COINS He nodded at that; he imagined the garb wouldn¡¯t be worth too much. But he had no need for it. He brought out one of the bigger pearls, and let it roll on the counter and Colin watched it with hunger in his eyes. ¡°How much for something like this?¡± Jazmel asked, letting the pearl roll around and the sun catch its iridescent colours. ¡°I would pay 800 white gold coins for that.¡± Colin said, licking his lips and not taking his eyes off of it. Jazmel pulled the other two from his ring and Colin clutched the counter and Jazmel wondered if his knees buckled. Colin tapped the air and Jazmel wondered what we was offering on the screen. OFFER 2200 WHITE GOLD COINS Jazmel had to steady himself too. That was two platinum coins and then two hundred white gold coins to spare also. He of course accepted and Colin wiped a stray tear and thanked him. ¡°I have other items if you are interested?¡± Jazmel offered and Colin smiled and showed the counter to offer Jazmel a place. He brought out the great serpents and colin nodded quickly. Offered; 100X GREAT SERPENT Colin nodded and offered his coins in return. 5X WHITE GOLD COINS Jazmel accepted and watched as they disappeared from the counter. He brought out all the things he had from the great serpents and colin seemed really appreciative. 30X WHITE GOLD COINS Of course, Jazmel accepted, he didn¡¯t know what he would want to do with any of those items. ¡°My family was almost in ruin, now I can pay our debts and also buy new wares.¡± He admitted to Jazmel and Jazmel nodded in understanding. ¡°I have two more items, but I have just thought of something. An idea that will help both of us.¡± Jazmel offered and Colin listened intently. ¡°If I give you two more items, but I want you to take them to a merchant auction if there is such a thing and sell them for as much as possible. Then we can split the proceeds.¡± Jazmel explained and Colin nodded. ¡°Yes, we do hold merchant auctions, my family haven¡¯t been in a while as I am sure you can understand why.¡± Colin told Jazmel who simply listened. ¡°These items will truly raise your influence, and I think we can make this a continued friendship.¡± Jazmel explained, he took the time to explain about his situation and how he had been with his party, but he had lost them and how he was looking for them now. Colin listened to this and when Jazmel explained that there were four others who could sell their wares to him, Colin nodded immediately. ¡°For all the help you have provided me with. You will have a friend in me forever.¡± Colin said and they shook hands again and Jazmel felt the friend request immediately. ¡°These are the items.¡± Jazmel pulled the crown of the Mer King and the entrance to death plaque. Colin didn¡¯t take his eyes off of them, but he definitely inhaled too quickly. ¡°Where the hell did you get these?¡± he asked Jazmel. Who explained what had happened. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I feel safe keeping these items here.¡± he confessed, and Jazmel nodded. He created two origami swans, one to Mary and one to Tango. Explaining what he was doing and if they could guard Colin while he made the sale. Tango responded immediately and said he would make his way to the city of Arnanthian and a moment later, Mary offered her help too. He expressed to Colin what was happening and behind tears, Colin thanked him profusely. ¡°I promise, the Hermenthen merchants will always provide you with anything you need. If I don¡¯t have it, I will find it for you. Here.¡± he said, and Jazmel felt the system pull. DING! FRIEND OF THE MERCHANT 10% DISCOUNT ON ALL PURCHASES THROUGH HERMENTHAN MERCHANTS Jazmel thanked Colin immensely. Now that the business was done, he asked a favour. ¡°I need to replace and replenish my clothes. I didn¡¯t bring spare, and I didn¡¯t think I would ever need spare. Can you tell me where to go?¡± Jazmel asked and Colin smiled immediately. ¡°I can help with that, I have clothes that you can pick from, and they have repairing attributes so at the cost of a little Mana, you will be able to fix any tears or rips.¡± Colin explained and Jazmel agreed. ¡°Show me.¡± Jazmel asked and the first item that Colin brought out was a long sleeve black top. It was thin and melded to the body, but it was extremely strong. It wouldn¡¯t stretch under his exertion and Colin smiled at that. ¡°That is an under garment made of black Wyrm skin and Arachne silk. Exceptionally durable, it moulds to the body of the wearer and like I said, it will repair itself of any damage, at the cost of the wearer¡¯s Mana.¡± Colin explained, Jazmel undressed and put it on immediately. DING! BLACK WYRM SILK GARMENT TIER II Jazmel smiled at the system and turned to Colin. ¡°What will it cost me?¡± he asked, and Colin nodded, business minded and prepared. ¡°With a discount? One hundred and fifty white gold coins.¡± Jazmel nodded and sent the coins over immediately. ¡°I need some new trousers.¡± Jazmel asked and Colin thought for a moment and then going behind the counter he pulled another item out and Jazmel eyed them. They were cargo pants that were with pockets up and down the legs. STORAGE CARGO PANTS TIER II ¡°The good thing about these, other than the repairing part. Is that they connect to your storage ring, all you have to do is put something into any of the pockets and it will appear in your storage ring.¡± Colin explained. ¡°I will take them too.¡± Jazmel said and colin nodded, smiling. ¡°100 white gold coins please.¡± Jazmel paid the young boy and went into the back to change. Colin brought out a jacket and Jazmel whistled when he looked at it. it was puffy and when he touched it he could feel that it was filled on the inside with feathers, it had a collar of some animal fur which was soft to touch, the shoulders were hardened and then covered with metal plating shoulder guards, he tried it on and to his surprise it was still comfortable and flexible, he could move in it, and it was defensive. The inside had been sewn with the Arachne silk as well so while it didn¡¯t feel like it was strong. It definitely was. ¡°I need this.¡± He said and colin laughed. DING! GUNNER JACKET OF GUARDING TIER II ¡°How much?¡± ¡°Two hundred white gold coins.¡± ¡°Can we do one fifty?¡± ¡°I can do one seventy.¡± Colin bartered and finally Jazmel agreed, they shook on it, and he transferred the coins right away. Once he had changed, he added his old clothes to his ring and stepping out he turned to Colin again. ¡°If I wanted to repair my clothes, where would I go?¡± Jazmel asked, but Colin shook his head. ¡°You could return to a tailor, but repair talismans are easier and better.¡± He explained and bringing out a talisman, he showed Jazmel. It was a simple piece of paper that had writing in runic symbols. Colin beckoned and he brought out his old shirt. Colin pressed the talisman onto it and Jazmel watched as it lit, as if it were burning. The tears to the shirt began to reknit themselves together and he couldn¡¯t help it. Jazmel laughed. ¡°The labyrinth seems to have an answer for anything. I will take ten.¡± He said and colin handed them over with a smile. ¡°Fifty gold coins please.¡± Jazmel paid him and after that Jazmel smiled. He promised to reach out to colin if he needed anything else, but also asked colin to wait for Tango and Mary. They would protect him until he made the sell. Jazmel left, and feeling both happy to have made a friend, but also happy to have sold his items for so much. He stepped out of the merchant store and walked back into the city to find food. He was hungry and he wasn¡¯t going to leave the city without buying himself a meal. Book 2 Chapter Twenty; a Walk of a Monarch She was filled with Mana, and she could feel it in her fingertips as well as her Mana pool which sat in a place near her stomach. She had been preparing for this quest ever since the system had told the labyrinth that it had been done. She had come with three of her best students. Witches of incredible Mana, they had been made to stay by the gate and were simply there to funnel Mana into her. So, she flexed her hand and in the air; drawing Mana points she began to draw runes in the air. She drew three different runes and one by one a window into the spirit appeared and her summons appeared. The first was one of her favourites, a brilliant red phoenix that landed on her shoulder and immediately began to draw Mana from the air around her. She squawked her awakening and ruffled her own feathers. She cooed her friend and waited for the others. The second was her oldest friend, one of her first summons. The spectral body of a spirit knight stepped through the window. Though he was powerful, it took considerable Mana to summon him and here he stood now, ready to do battle for her. The dragons had felt the Mana fluctuating and her summons had drawn their attention. They flew at her now and letting their flames torrent across the ground where she stood. She whirled her staff around her body and using the end of it, she drew a runic circle around her. Three circles in one, the first boundary was a shield. The second was to draw power from the attacks that hit her and the third was protection. A last resort. Her spectral knight leapt into the air and swinging his sword, he cut through the neck of the closest dragon and leapt from that body to the next, cutting through the dragons that were close enough to him. He disappeared under some flames and then appeared in a wispy form atop another Wyrm and cut off its head before shaking its shield and clanging it with his sword, a challenge to the dragons. The phoenix screeched and leapt from her shoulder into the sky, to join the knight. A dragon noticed her and flashed flame on her, the phoenix bathed in it and the flame lit her feathers and she grew in size under the flames. Burning them for power and using it to boost her own, she burst in size and immediately clawed and pecked at the dragon, catching it off guard and dueling in the air. The two windows had closed, the summons were present but the last had not appeared yet. She was holding back, the dragon she was saving it for had not shown its face yet and she would wait for it to come out. She didn¡¯t have to wait long, while her knight and phoenix dueled the dragons from the brood and seemed to fair well. She was doing her best to support them, by firing Mana and picking off wounded or unsuspecting dragons. The roar she had been waiting for thundered through the sky, even the clouds shook, and she almost expected rain to begin falling. But she was not so lucky. ¡°Halo.¡± She said to herself, one of her skills and immediately a halo with three prongs appeared above her head. She felt it materialise and then felt her Mana grow denser, she looked up and her summons had been reinforced. The spectral knight had gained more substance, he was opaque now. Her phoenix had grown too, her feathers with a ghostly blue tint now. She was also as big as some of the bigger dragons and as she was immune to fire. Their attacks could do nothing, but their claws and fangs were dangerous. She was doing her best, floating through their clutches, and diving through their bites and swipes. The air was her home and even before dragons which were superb flyers. They were not as nimble as her. The roar sounded again and then it appeared. DING! GRAVICH THE CALAMITY HAS APPEARED! A calamity she thought. Yes, maybe it was. But she would overcome it tonight. Its wings darkened the sky, and its roar shook the atmosphere. It bathed the area in fire, and everything burned, even in her safety circle. She felt her breath hot and burn the back of her throat. Heat seemed to burn the very oxygen around her. ¡°Spirit beam.¡± She uttered again and from the tip of her staff, a ball of Mana formed and grew in brightness and density, but by the time the dragons noticed it, it was too late. She aimed and sent it at Gravich. The dragon veered out of the way and the dragons behind it were shattered. They literally crumbled beneath her attack and their remains fell from the sky like leaves in autumn. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Gravich roared at the attack or at the lost. She wasn¡¯t sure but it was aware of her now, she felt the dip in her Mana and then felt Mana replacing her loss, but not fast enough. The dragon calamity was rushing for her, and her phoenix dove for its face but was batted out of the way she careened and crashed into the clouds, and out of sight. Her spectral knight appeared and slashed at the face of the dragon. He sacrificed himself but not without cost. He slashed his sword and scored the left eye of the dragon. Blood welled from the wound, but it didn¡¯t veer out of the way. Instead, it clamped its jaws down and bit through the knight. In a split second he held, and then he was gone. Shattered and removed from the realm. She winced and bit back a whimper, the summon had cost her a lot and losing him cost her further. But the window behind her suddenly shone and she smiled. Her final summon had come. ¡°You summoned me spirit child.¡± The dragon that appeared from the window. He was magnificent, and it cost her three quarters of her Mana pool. Even now the three other witches were exhausting themselves trying to refill her massive pool but now she had, had to use her last card. ¡°I must overcome that dragon.¡± She told the dragon. ¡°We know Gravich, he is a calamity and fallen. I will do what I must. Kyralis will do what is necessary.¡± He said and buffeting her with wind, rose himself from the ground. Kyralis was a tier IV dragon summoning that she had not used but they had communed before. He was costly. His scales were grey and white, ghostly, and grey like clouds in a storm. His underside scales were dark and mottled grey, like stone. all of his underside was like that while the top was lighter and gave him the look as if he were spectral and ethereal, he was really quite beautiful. He bore two horns on his head and small spines around his ears and jaw line. As he flew into the sky to meet the calamity, he exhaled his own flame and brilliant blue fire, almost ghost like bathed Gravich. He screamed beneath the violent stream of flame and ducked and rolled to try and escape but Kyralis would not let him flee so easily. Other dragons, the last of the brood were approaching, hearing the screams of their leader. But she would not let them. from her storage ring she pulled three cards and looked them over. she smiled at her pick of the deck. ¡°Spirit chains.¡± She uttered and the card burst in a flash of Mana and chains appeared around the last dragons. Banding their legs and wings. Many of them fell out of the skies, crashing to the ground chained up. ¡°Angel.¡± She called and another card disappeared and this time a being of pure light appeared. He was taller than her and his wings were made of light and Mana. Just being near him let her feel soothed but she focused her will and the winged soldier flew to where the dragons were and began slaying them. the chained dragons could do nothing as their chains were not breakable. Gravich and Kyralis still fought in the sky and at this moment Kyralis was mauling Gravich around the throat. ¡°Time.¡± She whispered, her last card and one of the most powerful. Time stopped for a full thirty seconds, for all those who were not in her party and that included summons. Gravich stopped fighting and Kyralis bit down deeply into the throat of Gravich, below the jaw where the scales were weaker. She heard the vicious crack where he broke the neck of the calamity dragon and roared his victory as he let the body fall from the sky. ¡°You are the victor, spirit child.¡± He uttered to her as he landed in front of her, and the angel floated to the side of him but off the ground. DING! YOU HAVE OVER COME THE CALAMITY! ONE OF THE FEW! REWARDS WILL BE GIVEN! ¡­ EXP STILL ACCRUING DELAYED ¡­ They system was working overtime, she looked up and Kyralis was looking at her intently. ¡°My name is Kyralis, you; spirit child. Are blessed by Mana and spirit. If you have need of me again, I will answer.¡± He offered and dipping his head, using a claw he tore space and the realm of spirits and light opened before him. The angel floated in first and then Kyralis crawled in. it closed behind them. He had just offered to become a personal summon for her! She was incredibly surprised. DING! ¡­ YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE FLOOR AND CAN NOW PASS THE THRESHOLD AS A MONARCH. WILL YOU UNDERGO TIER TRIBULATION? She accepted immediately and her body convulsed beneath her, she fell on her knees and dropped her staff. This was going to be painful she could already tell. EXP REWARD CALCULATED ¡­ LVL 200 REACHED! She had finally hit it, nothing she had done previously felt like it would push her up to that but now. She knew that only by beating this floor would anyone be able to hit this level. MONARCH TIER OPTION WILL YOU ACCEPT? She accepted, but not having any tier tribulations for this rank she didn¡¯t know what to do but the system pulled the body of the dragon before her, and she watched as the system read more information to her. MONARCH TIER TRIBULATION BEGUN; WILL YOU ACCEPT? She sighed and let the system do its job, she would survive, and she would continue on. She would be the first female monarch. Book 2 Chapter Twenty-One; a Few Good Men Jazmel was happy, he had new clothes, he had sold his items and was expecting more from the final two, also. He checked his stats and was pleased with what he saw, he had grown exceptionally, while travelling alone. Name: Jazmel Level: 50 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier III Class: Sword Scion Health: 1123/1425 Stamina: 1000/1144 Mana: 695/1000 STR:64 PER:53 VIT:53 END:58 INT:60 WIL: 50 AGL:65 DEX:57 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 4X PLATINUM COINS 682X WHITE GOLD COINS 127X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE TIER II WILLOW KNIGHT SEED DWARVEN COIN 2X HEALTH POTIONS 4X STAMINA POTIONS TIER II TROLL BONE X3 TIER II TROLL HEART X1 TIER II TROLL CLUB X2 TIER I FOX FUR X2 TIER I FOX MEAT X2 TIER II HAG CORE X1 TIER II FIEND BONE X30 TIER II GREATER FIEND BONE X13 TIER I FIEND CORE X29 TIER II GREATER FIEND CORE X6 TIER II FIEND CORPSE X12 TIER I GREATER FIEND CORPSE X4 TIER I MERMEN PEARLS X57 TIER I ATLANTEAN SWORD X2 SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 12 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 112 He was looking for an inn and soon found one. The ¡®Foxhole¡¯ the name was written in gilded golden painting and the door was open, the aroma of meals and drinks could be smelt, and his keen senses told him that sweet seasoning had been used. He stepped in and the inn was already filled, even people were sitting at the counter taking meals. He soon found an empty seat and waved the server over. ¡°Can I get a meal and something to drink?¡± Jazmel asked, the server nodded and headed off to make the request. Jazmel sat in his chair and waited, happy to be waiting for his meal. He looked around the room and with his Mana eyes, he could see different fluctuations of Mana. From pure and dense to soft and light. It was interesting to see how Mana functioned in the body and how it sort of told a story of what people¡¯s abilities would look like. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Here you go. That¡¯s 9 gold coins with the drink too.¡± Jazmel paid the man, drawing the coins from within his ring and looked over his plate. A thick piece of bread, a thick leg of lamb slathered in a gravy made of rosemary and thyme. Rice with kidney beans in it, something that he hadn¡¯t had before but he tried and to his delight, he liked it. Sipping his drink, he found it a cordial, something that tasted of fruits. A hint of apples and pears bubbled in this mouth, and he liked the taste. He finished his meal quickly, realising how much more he had to eat to keep up his stamina and energy, but this meal sated him; for now. He thanked the server but asked for a refill on his drink, he liked the taste of it. DING! BUTTERMEAD CORDIAL 5% PERCEPTION AFFLICTION! ¡°I want to go out of the city, there are tier II monsters, and their cores or corpses go for a lot in the city.¡± A stranger said to his friend. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hunt outside this city, its nothing but Beholders and Stingers.¡± His friend complained but the first man nudged him. ¡°Stingers go for big in this city, their poison goes into antidotes. So, lots of merchants are willing to buy.¡± He confided in him, and Jazmel simply smiled before getting up, he dropped some more gold coins on the counter for the server and asked where he could get a bottle of the cordial for later. They parted ways soon after, Jazmel with three bottles of cordial and the server fifteen coins richer. Jazmel stepped out from the foxhole and looking around he decided to head out of the city, not because he cared about the poison or antidotes. No but he did want to evaluate himself against new monsters where he could. Leaving the city, he didn¡¯t have to pay but the guards made him aware that if he didn¡¯t return within a twelve-hour period, he would have to pay the toll again. Jazmel thanked them for the heads up and made his way outside the city. Outside of the city was woodlands, forests, and lots of trees. They had been cleared around the city and so Jazmel was surprised at how wild they got as soon as he entered them, trees grew wildly and blocked the sight of any normal bodied seeker. But he simply activated his Mana eyes and began seeing the Mana or the breath of life around him. He heard a buzzing sound; it reminded him of bees. But much bigger, the sound was like millions of bees or much larger in size. Both options were unfavourable for him, he headed out into a clearing and to his dismay. He had been right, a bee; much bigger than any he had seen before was trying its best to get something inside the broken bow of an old tree. He stepped on a twig and the break drew the attention of the bee. It whirled and the drone of its wings changed in rhythm as it wheeled on him. It rushed at him; its stinger pointed at him. At the last moment it twitched and from the stinger a gob of a sticky toxin shot from the tip. He dodged it and cut through the bee. It was surprisingly soft in the middle, and it died as it crashed into the trees behind him. ¡°Thanks.¡± a voice called, and he turned to see a boy or young man ease out of the bough of the twisted tree. ¡°What were you doing in there?¡± Jazmel asked and the boy laughed, before going into his own storage ring and pull out two Mana potions and drink them both. ¡°I was hunting the Stingers, ran out of Mana and then they ended up hunting me.¡± He explained and Jazmel looked at him curiously. The boy was around Jazmel¡¯s height, and he was slimmer than Jazmel. He was around his colour too, but lighter. As if he lived in the sun but not always in it. he wore a white t shirt, black trousers, and combat boots. But he carried no weapons, Jazmel looked at him and saw that he was filled with Mana, but it was unlike anything he had seen before. It was dark, not evil or death but darkened, as if it were smoke or night. It was interesting, at his waist a gourd bottle hung from it, and it sloshed, but Jazmel couldn¡¯t tell what it was. ¡°We have company.¡± The boy said and before Jazmel could even focus, the boy removed the gourd lid and let it spill into his hands. It was black and looked like oil, but the boy did something amazing. He focused some Mana into the oil, and it moulded into a knife, something he clearly had created with his Mana. But Jazmel had no time to be amazed, he drew his own sword again and three Stingers broke through the woods and rushed him. One was pierced through the head and crashed to the ground immediately. The knife disintegrating after. The other two rushed him, he drew them both in and making sure not to suffer the sting from their toxic stingers. Instead, he cut them up and they fell from the air, unable to fly and he drove his blade into them while they were on the ground. Quickly and ethically. ¡°You seem to know how to fight.¡± The boy said and Jazmel looked at him quizzically. ¡°Is that oil?¡± Jazmel asked and the boy looked at the gourd and then at Jazmel. ¡°You saw that? Well, you have sharp eyes, or simply different eyes. That¡¯s interesting too.¡± He mused to himself but before they could speak properly, more Stingers came and they cut through them, these monsters were not strong and Jazmel wasn¡¯t bothered, he was bored and was ready to head back into the city. ¡°Wait, if we follow their tracks. We could find their hive and if we find the honey, it could be good for the both of us.¡± The boy offered, Jazmel shrugged, and the boy led the way. ¡°The name is Gilmore, Gilmore Twain. My family call me Twain and my friends call me Gil.¡± He explained and Jazmel wondered what a stranger should call him. ¡°I am Jazmel.¡± Jazmel introduced himself and Gilmore Twain nodded. ¡°Call me Gil.¡± He said and Jazmel wondered if he was saying he was a friend. But Jazmel was prepared if he were to do anything. Meow. They heard and looking round, Jazmel saw a small black cat bound out of the bushes and Gilmore, kneel down to let it crawl up onto his shoulder. When it did, he rose back up and smiled at Jazmel with his fist out, Jazmel looked at him confused but he motioned for him to copy him. Jazmel did, slowly. DING! TIER II STINGERS x13 COLLECTED Jazmel looked at him. ¡°This is Bast, she¡¯s a good girl. She collects all my items after and brings them to me.¡± He said and the cat meowed, purring into the neck of Gilmore. ¡°Isn¡¯t she just made of your Mana and that oil you carry?¡± Jazmel asked, his eyes watching the complex mana that made up this little creature. ¡°It isn¡¯t oil! It is ink, and how can you tell that?? Your eyes aren¡¯t normal, are they? Well, no she isn¡¯t all Mana and ink, she is a little bit more than that too.¡± He explained but didn¡¯t go on and Jazmel didn¡¯t push. They soon found the hive and it was buzzing with gigantic bees. Stingers of all sizes and colours. There were more than Jazmel had thought and now he was prepared for a big fight. He steadied his breathing and then drew Hajime, slowly. But Gilmore stopped him. ¡°Wait a moment, let me do it.¡± he said and pouring more ink he uttered one word. ¡°Crows.¡± From the small pool of ink, a murder of crows appeared, and they veiled both Gilmore and Jazmel. The Stingers saw them and hurried over to the crows, not noticing Jazmel and Gilmore until they were remarkably close. But it was too late, and Jazmel did his part too. ¡°Slash!¡± he sent an attack at the unguarded hive and as the stingers tried their best to kill the crows made of ink, he and Gilmore cut them down as they neared them. ¡°Crow!¡± Gilmore shouted and the many crows, slowly merged to form a larger one. Not the size of one of the Stingers but bigger than a crow. It flapped its wings and shot ink blackened feathers at the hive and the Stingers, any of them that were struck by the ink fell from the air. ¡°I added the toxin to my ink a while ago. So, it will paralyse them.¡± Gilmore explained, he moved around the paralytic stingers. He pulled large containers from his storage ring and began to fill it with the honey from the hive. He filled five of those containers and then handed two of them to Jazmel, he didn¡¯t complain and took them for himself. DING! SHADOW WRAITH HUNGERS He let his shadow pull the stingers into its darkened maw and he felt it sate itself TIER II STINGER TOXIN X3 TIER II STINGER WINGS X6 TIER II STINGER X4 He nodded, a good harvest. ¡°That shadow.¡± Gilmore said and Jazmel sighed, everyone always said that. ¡°Yes, people always say that when they see it.¡± he said, and Gilmore smiled. ¡°I can imagine, that is very interesting.¡± He mused and Jazmel simply shrugged. ¡°We had better leave before more Stingers return. Will you head back into the Arnanthian city?¡± Gilmore asked and Jazmel nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡± He beckoned. They had travelled quite deep into the woods and so back tracking led them to another part of the woods. As Jazmel was using his eyes to look around, he noticed a tree that was billowing Mana. Gilmore must have felt it too because he whistled. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen one of these before.¡± He offered and Jazmel agreed. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s a trial gate.¡± Gilmore said. ¡°Oh, I did one of those a few floors ago.¡± Jazmel explained. ¡°They usually provide good requests. Should we, do it?¡± Gilmore said and Jazmel nodded. DING! ARNANTHIAN TRIAL GATE WILL YOU TRY IT DO YOU ACCEPT? Jazmel nodded and pressed a hand against the bough of the tree, Gilmore did the same and then they both stepped back as the twisted bough, cracked, and twitched as it unfurled itself and opened up to show a Mana gate. They stepped through together and to Jazmel¡¯s surprise it was a darkened gate. Pitch black, though he wasn¡¯t fearful, it was unnerving. Book 2 Chapter Twenty-Two; the Trial of the Faction Gate The gate was more like a corridor and Jazmel felt himself enthralled by the dense Mana that had built up the gate and its expanse. ¡°This is thrilling and somewhat unnerving.¡± Gilmore said and Jazmel hated that he had agreed. ¡°We are not even travelling together, and the trial gate has brought us through together. This is something strange.¡± Gilmore expressed, Jazmel had just begun to walk the expanse of the gate and Gilmore soon followed too. Jazmel led the way; he hadn¡¯t drawn a sword, but he was definitely prepared for anything that would appear. The corridor wasn¡¯t too long, it was like the walk of a wing and soon they had walked the entire length. But opened up into a much larger room and there, standing before a wondrous door; stood his friends and party members. ¡°HEY!¡± he shouted, and they all turned, Katie, Patton, Bannerman and Sad¨¦. They rushed over to him and to his surprise Katie hugged him. ¡°Where have you been!¡± she said, pulling him away to look at him and then hugging him again. Patton came over and hugged his shoulders. Bannerman merely inclined his head with a gruff. But Sad¨¦ looked at him and her eyes told him everything, he hugged Katie back and then moving past them he hugged Sad¨¦, she hugged him back and it was all that was there in that moment. He hugged her for mere moments, but it felt like an eternity. ¡°Get a room!¡± Katie jeered but it was lovingly. Jazmel let her go and then turned to the side, to see the stoic figure of Baek. Who merely inclined his head and nodded after Jazmel. After hugging her again, he let her go and then he turned to introduce Gilmore, who was merely standing away from the group on his own. ¡°This is Gilmore Twain, a friend.¡± He introduced him and Gilmore dipped an imaginary hat to Jazmel¡¯s party. ¡°Well, this cannot be a trial of friendship. So, what are we doing here. THE TRIAL GATE OF THE OUTPOST ¡­ SEVEN STAND BEFORE THE WAR DOORS ¡­ WILL YOU TRY YOUR HAND AT THE OUTPOST TRIAL? The system rung out to them, in this interspace made up of Mana. Immediately falling back to old habits, Jazmel turned to Baek. ¡°I have not heard of a trial gate for an outpost. But if it functions like how a domain does, you have to earn the right to the domain. Once you do, you and your party will have access to the domain. It will be your land, a base of operations if you will.¡± Baek explained. ¡°So, like a kingdom?¡± Katie asked, suddenly excited. ¡°An outpost is far from a kingdom, but I imagine they would function in the same sort of way.¡± Baek smiled as he answered. ¡°But we all have to start from somewhere.¡± Jazmel uttered and the others agreed. ¡°What if we don¡¯t want to do it?¡± Patton asked, and the room looked around. ¡°All you have to do. Is walk away from the expanse and the system will deem it as a cancel and open the way back.¡± Baek offered, opening one palm as an option. ¡°But I think we should.¡± Jazmel said and the others looked at him. ¡°We are clearly travelling together, and we will continue to do so. But having a base that we can return to and plan our labyrinth dives. That would be an advantage. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± Jazmel offered. ¡°All packs have a den, even if they roam far.¡± Bannerman offered and even Patton smiled at that. ¡°An outpost is just that, an outpost. It doesn¡¯t have to be permanent, and the further you get in the labyrinth, the better prospects will appear. if you choose to build a kingdom, you can. It will just be arduous work, but the Seeker is not immune to challenging work. In fact, it completes your journey, the harder you work the greater the fruits of your labour.¡± Baek confirmed for them all and Jazmel nodded in agreement. ¡°I don¡¯t know what I want to do in this labyrinth. Right now, I am simply happy to see these unfamiliar places with you all and learn new things about myself. An outpost is a safe place for us while we do that. Why wouldn¡¯t we do that?¡± he said, and everyone murmured in agreement. ¡°Though I am not part of the party. I do have to say, he.¡± ¨C he beckoned at Jazmel. ¡°Makes a good point, it is better to travel in here with people you trust. It will allow for greater discoveries.¡± Gilmore said. ¡°You would join us?¡± Jazmel asked and Gilmore shrugged. ¡°Why not? You are a good person, if you are in this party, then that already says they are all good people too.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know who he is, but he seems to be supporting you all. You are all good in my books.¡± He said with another shrug after pointing at Baek. ¡°So, are we doing this?¡± Katie asked, already loosening the chains she bore on waist and wrists. They seemed to unanimously agree, once this happened the system appeared again, a hollow voice that shrouded the whole expanse in sound. TRIAL OF THE OUTPOST. ACCEPTED ¡­ BEGIN! As this was said, a great double door appeared before them. it was larger. Much larger than any gate Jazmel had entered. He placed a hand on it and Mana inscriptions skirted across the doors in a design. He couldn¡¯t make out what they were, but he imagined that they were designs of some history of the labyrinth. ¡°Bannerman help.¡± He called for his friend and together they pushed open the doorway for them all to enter. TRIAL GATE ACTIVATED BEWARE THE HORDE SURVIVE THE HORDE 1/5 As soon as the words floated across his status screen, he knew the others had seen it to. The doorway now open, led into a room much bigger. It was like a platform hanging open in the abyss and he was awed by the size. ¡°Focus.¡± Baek said loud enough for everyone but never a shout. The platform lit up, in the air just above where they all stood, a huge lanterns burned bright with fire and lit up the entire platform. On one side, stood Jazmel; his party, Gilmore and Baek. On the other side monsters of all species and sizes. They rushed forward and immediately everyone began their fight. Thunderfire Sad¨¦ yelled and her attack tore through a pack of ghouls rushing before her. Chain ripper!! Katie yelled as she jumped into the air and struck out with her chains, they had been lined with sharpened edges; which gave them the look of metallic thorns. She whipped them about her and struck a cyclopes in the air and piercing its head. It fell backwards crushing some others, but she already had landed and was aiming a new attack at another. Bannerman was already fighting in his wolfen hybrid form. Much more muscle and almost like a werewolf. Immediately Jazmel jumped in and was beside him, swinging his blade carving through the horde. He fought beside Bannerman, Gilmore, and Patton. In minutes they had defeated every creature. FIRST WAVE DONE ALL EXP AND STATS WILL BE REWARDED AT THE END SECOND WAVE BEGINS The next monsters to attack were creatures Jazmel had not seen before, winged women who were featherless but ugly and scornful, they flew in from the sky and attacked them. Katie was the first to kill one, driving her chain through the skull of the one that dived the lowest. ¡°What are these?¡± Sad¨¦ shouted as she threw fox fire up at them, but they dived out of the way. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Furies.¡± Baek said and Jazmel noticed that he was standing away from them, letting them fight without his involvement. The others dived again to attack and this time they were ready. Gilmore jumped up and blew ink into the sky and it scattered around. ¡°Crows!¡± the crows appeared and crashed into the furies as they flew low. The toxins in the ink did their work because they fell from the air immediately and the group made short work of those also. SECOND WAVE DONE EXP AND STATS WILL BE REWARDED AT THE END THIRD WAVE BEGINS The air grew hot, and Jazmel watched as the ground peeled back as skeletal hands and bodies began to pull their way up out of the holes, they were made in. ¡°Fire demons!¡± Katie shouted and immediately rushed forward. ¡°Kill them before they raise the temperature anymore.¡± Katie had loosened her chains and was whirring them around her, whirling them in great arcs. Jazmel was almost enamoured by them but when he thought about it more, he realised that she was drawing the heat out of the air. Presenting them all with a chance. Mana swords Patton said and from his place, he cast Mana swords and threw them at fire demons. They were struck and immediately everyone was upon them. Jazmel hands jarred as his swords hit the bone of the skeletal demons. It was for a split second, but he finally cut through his first. But not before he was seared by the fire it combusted with. Gilmore was beside him using ink to block the blast of another fire demon. ¡°Cover yourself with some health potion, rub it in.¡± he told Jazmel, and he did, pouring a little into his hands and then rubbed it on his face and his hands. The pain subsided but he didn¡¯t stop, he moved past the shade of the ink and began cutting through the last few fire demons as Patton and Sad¨¦ did their best against theirs. THIRD WAVE DONE EXP AND STATS WILL BE AWARDED AT THE END FOURTH WAVE BEGINS! From out of the shadows bobbed bulbous heads that floated and materialised out of the darkness. Tentacles formed and the first formed body screeched and out of nothing a beam formed from its dangerously wide mouth and pulsed as it aimed at Gilmore. He formed a shield from ink, but the force knocked him off his feet. Bannerman was moving first, he caught hold of it and crushed it before tearing it apart. ¡°What are these?¡± Jazmel asked, and Baek explained. ¡°Beholders, flying heads that can muddle the mind and crush the weak willed.¡± Baek explained. ¡°They usually appear in the larger places in the labyrinth. This is quite low for them; the system is being hard on you all.¡± Baek seemed to admonish but it wasn¡¯t without reason. The beholders, as they were named. Didn¡¯t slow down and as they materialised, they quickly shot beams at the group without relent and it took thunder and fire from Sad¨¦ to blot them out. Katie took that moment to whip her chains about her and strike them from the sky. They made short work of the beholders, but not without their own injuries. Jazmel suffered a blast that tore through his left shoulder. They had poured salve on it, but it didn¡¯t heal well, and he couldn¡¯t use his left arm for now. Even Bannerman was struck by one of the beams and though he had chugged a potion, the scarring of where he had been hit was still apparent. He had alluded to having a stronger body than most, it might be due to his wolfen abilities. But the beam had hit him almost at direct range. FOURTH WAVE DONE EXP AND STATS WILL BE AWARDED AFTER THIS FINAL WAVE BEGIN! At the other end of the platform a new gate appeared, this one was black. Even darker than the area surrounding the platform but the Mana that was seeping from the gate, was buffing the entire area and Jazmel could tell that the final opponent was going to be strong. ¡°The Mana coming from that gate is very strong.¡± Jazmel shared with everyone; his party prepared as best as they could. Gilmore drank two Mana potions, Jazmel pulled one from his own storage ring and tossed it to him. ¡°Get ready.¡± Baek said and Jazmel realised he had moved closer to the party, if he was going to close down the proximity, then it must be a strong monster. The pressure seeping from the Mana gate coalesced into a small opening, a tiny window. Then it imploded and opened wide and large. A giant knight of black matter and metal stepped out. The room exploded with Mana and Jazmel shivered at the touch of this knight¡¯s Mana. In one hand it held a mallet of the thick iron, blackened, and chipped from years of use. In the other hand it clutched a heavy tower shield, dented, and bruised. Jazmel wondered who had come face to face with this behemoth before and if they had won out. ¡°A Wight Knight.¡± Baek declared and the group settled in, for their most dangerous fight. ¡°It is a tier III monster; it is dangerous and extremely strong. This will need all of you. Be careful of its spectral flare. It affects the whole area.¡± Baek warned and they leapt into action. ¡°Bannerman, Gilmore assess its defence from the flanks.¡± Jazmel said and they darted off either side. ¡°Sad¨¦, see if thunder of fire can make a dent in that defence.¡± She split off and began to build her attack, she said something, and he didn¡¯t hear her, but a halo or a crown formed of pure thunder above her head. Immediately her Mana jumped and with her three tails also present. Her Mana was immense. She had clearly grown in the time he had been away from them. ¡°Patton evaluate the Mana, you can feel Mana as much as any of us, but you can manipulate it better than others. See if your Mana swords can get beneath the armour.¡± Patton entered the fray and harried the knight who was already being assaulted by Bannerman and Gilmore¡¯s joint effort. ¡°What about me?¡± Katie asked, excited to jump in and help. ¡°You have the best job of all of us, I need you to build up and strike it whenever it looks like it¡¯s going to get one of us. I don¡¯t know how strong it is, but the size of it. tells me that one hit from that knight and we might die. I need you to draw its attention when you can and where you can. But I also want you to prepare for the final attack. If you see a chance, take it. but you need to make it count.¡± He explained and Katie nodded and rushing in with her chains swinging around her. ¡°Yes boss!¡± he laughed mirthlessly and pushed forward himself. ¡°You have a good head for strategy.¡± Baek said and Jazmel nodded at his words of affirmation. ¡°Will you not join us this time?¡± he asked and Baek inclined his head. ¡°If I intervene with your growth, you all may not overcome tribulations within the labyrinth of your own skill. I will intercede if there is a need, but not too much.¡± He explained and in his heart, Jazmel knew he was right. ¡°Thank you then Baek.¡± He said and stepped forward to join his friends. ¡°It is my job.¡± Baek said from behind and Jazmel nodded over his shoulder. The knight was big, to Jazmel he was about the same size as Graug the troll ogre was and while it was not as near in speed. He made it up in sheer defence, its armour covered everything, even its face was covered and only the eye slits which shone with an ethereal glow. Jazmel darted in, in one movement. He drew his sword and struck at the elbow joint. His blade bounced off as if he were nothing of consequence. He spun under the legs of the knight and struck at a knee joint, to the same effect. But this time it pierced a little the knight whirled and raised its mallet to strike him. But not before a fist made up of chains struck its helmet and knocked it off course. In that moment, everyone struck with their skills. Mana swords Sword of dense Mana pierced the shield and arm, denting it further and even catching the shoulder and the neck of the Wight knight, even though it didn¡¯t seem moved. Abyss A new one and a bead of black ink grew quickly as it fed on the darkness and the shadow surrounding them. it grew till it was about the size of a giant pearl, it could fit in the palm of Jazmel¡¯s opened hand. It floated to the arm of the tower shield and swallowed it whole. The arm and the shield in one gulp. The knight howled. Thunderfire The skill of flaming thunder struck the gaping hole in its armour now and this time the knight screeched. Under the torrent of thunder and fire merged together in a terrible arc of pain and power. Frenzy Bannerman leapt into the air and landing on the shoulder blade he clawed the face and helmet of the knight. He tried to pull it off, but the knight waved its sword over its shoulder and Bannerman leapt out of harm¡¯s way. Chain Maiden! Jazmel had not seen Katie use this and he watched as she looped her chains to form a massive knot and then she crashed her chain into the top of the head of the knight. It was stunned and Jazmel knew this was his moment. Slash He uttered and maybe it was the focus of the strike, or all of his friends attacks managing to hit the knight. His last attack struck and cut through the battered armour of the knight. It fell in on itself, and the Mana that had been used to animate it, split up and separated. Into ample parts that filled each member of the group. ALL WAVES COMPLETE! WELL, DONE THE TRIAL IS COMPLETE YOU HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT TO THE OUTPOST AND THE DOMAIN IS YOURS WHAT WILL YOU NAME IT? The notifications popped up in multiple screens and he began to look at them all. LARGE EXP AMOUNT ACCRUED ¡­ +6 WIL +5 INT +5 VIT +5 PER +4 DEX +3 END +1 STR ¡­ EXP EARNED LEVEL UP! TIER II HARPY CORE X3 COLLECTED TIER II BEHOLDER CORE X2 COLLECTED TIER II FIRE DEMON BONE X6 COLLECTED TIER II FIRE DEMON CORE COLLECTED TIER III WIGHT KNIGHT BROKEN SHIELD Jazmel nodded at the notifications and the stats and smiled to himself, he looked around and saw his friends all making the same faces. ¡°I need to tier up!¡± Sad¨¦ said and Jazmel smiled at the good news. ¡°I need to tier up!¡± Katie said and they all looked at her, she was about to break into Ranker. ¡°Well done Katie!¡± they all said and crowded her to congratulate her. ¡°I think we need to claim this outpost and enter it before any of us tier up.¡± Jazmel said and they all agreed. WHO WILL BE THE LEADER OF THE OUTPOST! Jazmel looked around and then for the second time, he realised that everyone was looking at him. ¡°Wait what?!¡± Jazmel said and Patton strolled forward. ¡°It is the right move; you are the best man for the job.¡± He said and clutched Jazmel¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I don¡¯t know enough about the labyrinth.¡± He confessed and Patton shook his head in disregard. ¡°We all know enough to help you.¡± He told Jazmel, looking around the others wore the same face. ¡°You are the best man for the job.¡± Katie smiled at him. ¡°A pack needs a leader.¡± Bannerman offered and Katie punched him in the shoulder. ¡°You already know what I think.¡± Sad¨¦ said with a shy smile. Jazmel turned to Gilmore, and he nodded too. ¡°I only just met you, but I can tell you are trustworthy. If you do plan to create a faction and grow with it if you will let me join. I would be happy to share my knowledge.¡± He offered and Jazmel shook his hand and forearm. ¡°I think you will do exceptional things in this labyrinth young master, but a base is always a good place to start. Use it for now, you will move further and further in the labyrinth. This base is just a place to retire to.¡± Baek inserted and Jazmel finally accepted it. WHO WILL LEAD The system echoed and Jazmel cleared his throat. ¡°I will.¡± ¡­ CONFIRMED OUTPOST WILL BELONG TO JAZMEL WHAT WILL YOU CALL YOUR FACTION? Jazmel thought for a moment and then smiled. ¡°The black wing faction.¡± ¡­ OUTPOST OF THE BLACK WING FACTION HAS BEEN APPOINTED LEADER; JAZMEL The double doors appeared again, the inscriptions were brighter now, and Jazmel could make out varied species of creatures. Some he did not know and others he had not seen but one he did know. Was the massive form of a black wing dragon. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jazmel said and walking through the opening first the others followed after him. Book 2 Chapter Twenty-Three; Faction Outpost of the Black Wing Walking through the double door gate, Jazmel was afflicted with notifications. DING WELCOME LEADER DING CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING CLAIM! HERE ARE YOUR REWARDS The system interface was no different to his own but now the faction showed up. ¡°BWF Outpost 0%¡± and he wondered what that meant. The gates opened up to a beleaguered cliff face which covered by jagged cliff rocks and the outpost was a robust tower which overlooked the area. To Jazmel, it reminded him of a lighthouse, and he thought about the prospects of it. ¡°Oh nice, a tower in the middle of nowhere.¡± Katie said and Jazmel couldn¡¯t help but laugh himself. ¡°I think it looks homely.¡± Gilmore said and Katie eyed him, suspiciously. ¡°The tower is just the default setting of it. you can change the outpost to look however you want it to look.¡± Baek offered and Jazmel nodded. ¡°I got some rewards for gaining the leadership position.¡± Jazmel said so. ¡°I gained a layout provision and a Mana war chest, whatever that is.¡± Jazmel told them all and Baek nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s get to it first and see what needs to be done.¡± They made their way up the small path towards the tower, it would need to be repaired. It was missing steps and slate sheet lined either side. Jazmel wondered how long it had been since someone had been here. The others were walking in pairs or groups and alone, Baek sidled beside Jazmel and for a moment it was silent. ¡°Young master.¡± He greeted him. ¡°You have grown quite strong in the time you were away.¡± Baek affirmed and Jazmel smiled at him. ¡°Still no master.¡± Jazmel countered and Baek merely offered his open palms. ¡°Yet look at all you have achieved in the few months you have been in the labyrinth?¡± Baek riposted and Jazmel had to agree back. At this moment they walked through the broken entrance of the tower courtyard and Jazmel sighed at the needs of repairs. ¡°Welcome!¡± a voice called, and a little flame of Mana appeared. It reminded Jazmel of the Igni sprite he had used in his first-tier tribulation. ¡°Welcome to the outpost!¡± the Mana sprite said and then forming into a small sprite, it burst into a violet colour. ¡°Hello,¡± Jazmel offered, a little apprehensive. ¡°Are you the new leader of this outpost?¡± the sprite asked him, and he nodded. ¡°Great! Welcome! Well come along, you need to connect with the central node.¡± The sprite whizzed through the air and the passed through the doors of the bottom of the tower and Jazmel had to run to catch up with it. The courtyard was a mess of disrepair, disregard, and ruins. But he could see that it had potential and he had plans to figure out how to better the production of the outpost. But he wondered what he could do with it. ¡°Stay here a moment!¡± he shouted as he rushed to keep up with the sprite. He had to push hard on the doors to get through, they had been closed a long time and with some effort, he managed to create a small opening for himself. As soon as he stepped into the darkened tower, the floor alit with his impression and though the ceiling was dark, he could see everything from the floor up. An array had been built into the ground with remarkable sophistication and he wondered who made this place. The array looked like a giant cog rotating within a clock and he watched it for a few seconds to see it move around. The sprite appeared beside him, and he waved it away in shock. ¡°Sorry! Didn¡¯t mean to scare you.¡± It said and spinning it moved across the floor towards a throne, it looked like a throne. It was a raised seat, and, in a way, it reminded Jazmel of the seat that Frae sat upon and he wondered if it was anything. ¡°Where is the central node?¡± Jazmel asked and excitedly the Mana sprite flitted above the seat. ¡°Sit in the seat and then place your hand on the central mound. It will connect you and allow you to access the faction system from anywhere in the outpost.¡± The sprite giggled out. He did as he was bid and taking seat, he placed his left hand on the central node and felt the connection form. DING! YOU HAVE CONNECTED WITH THE CENTRAL NODE! ¡­ WARNING TIER I OUTPOST IS IN BAD SHAPE, WILL YOU REPAIR? Y/N The system explained and Jazmel looked at it. ¡°How do I make repairs?¡± he asked the sprite, and it whistled in happiness. ¡°You need to give it Mana essence!¡± it giggled before whirling in different patterns before Jazmel. ¡°Where do I get the Mana? My own?¡± Jazmel asked, suddenly worried about being drained. ¡°No! a faction needs Mana essence crystal. You can buy them or find them in the labyrinth.¡± He thought about the war chest he had been rewarded with and pulled one out. The chest appeared before him and opening he saw five big crystals nestled in the bottom of the chest and immediately the sprite cheered. ¡°Yes!! Those would be helpful! Those are Mana essence crystals!¡± the Mana sprite said and the system trill into life again. DING! TIER I OUTPOST IN DISREGARD WILL YOU REPAIR? Y/N COST 24000 MANA ESSENCE. ¡­ YOU HAVE FIVE MANA CRYSTALS ¡­ 25000 MANA ESSENCE PRESENT Without hesitating, he paid the cost of the repairs and immediately the crystals disappeared into the array and Jazmel felt the array shudder and then the crystals crushed and compressed into smaller granules, into fine sand like particles which seeped into ground and then burst forth, scaling the whole tower, and beginning to repair the inside of the tower. So, a Mana crystal was worth five thousand Mana essence, that sounded like a lot. But in all the floors he had been in, inside the labyrinth so. ¡°The outpost will repair everything to what it was before, you just need to ask it and it will let you know what the cost will be.¡± The sprite said. ¡°What do I call you?¡± Jazmel asked, thinking it might have a name to refer to it. ¡°AI, Astral Intelligence. All those who have factions or guilds are allowed to have a Mana sprite.¡± The sprite, now named AI explained. ¡°I have seen a kingdom form; it didn¡¯t have an AI.¡± Jazmel offered and the sprite bobbed in the air as if to nod. ¡°Some do and some don¡¯t, some form later when the array has had more time invested in it.¡± AI let him know. Jazmel accepted that and then moved on. ¡°What else did you get in the war chest?¡± the AI asked, and Jazmel willed them from within the war chest and the sprite bobbed in the air with frigid excitement. He pulled out the other items and AI squealed; he couldn¡¯t help but smile at its show of happiness. ¡°What do you want to do?¡± AI asked Jazmel, and he looked at the little thing. curious about its serious tone now. ¡°I want to make the outpost more fortified, and I want to provide some living quarters to the outpost too.¡± He admitted and AI bobbed in the air, in nodding fashion. ¡°Create living quarters.¡± Jazmel called out and hoped the system would understand what he was asking. LAYOUT PROVISION REQUIRED Jazmel accepted and one of the layouts disappeared into the array. He watched as a small schematic of the foundations appeared in front of him and using his hands, he could mould the layout to fit where he wanted. He settled for placing the living quarters on the ground floor, in the corner of the courtyard. ¡°Great!¡± AI shrieked and Jazmel nodded that he was happy with the positioning. The doors had been repaired by now and so his friends had entered the large room where his seat and the faction array was splayed into the floor. They whistled as they looked around, even Jazmel found himself in awe from the inscriptions repairing themselves internally and then he imagined it was doing the same outside. But he hadn¡¯t stepped outside to see anything. ¡°AI how is the repairs going outside?¡± he asked, and the system popped up for him to see. ¡°BWF Outpost 11%¡± he sighed, there was still a lot to work on. ¡°Once you get to 100% you will be able to tier up.¡± AI uttered to him, and Jazmel smiled with an idea came to him. ¡°AI, can I invite people here?¡± he asked, and AI bobbed in the air. ¡°Send an origami swan to someone and it will become an invite to them. once they come here and you allow them access to the array, they will be able to always return. But you can also remove people from the array, and it will make it hard for them to return on their own.¡± AI explained. ¡°Can I add these guys to the array?¡± he asked, and AI bobbed in the air. The system interface trilled and popped up. Showing Jazmel, a list of positions and empty slots. ¡°I am adding you all to the faction now.¡± Jazmel said and tapped into it; Jazmel watched as his friends were all added to the systems. DING YOU HAVE ADDED RETAINERS TO YOUR FACTION YOUR FACTION HAS GROWN! BONUS!! ¡­ 10% EXP BONUS FOR 6 HOURS Jazmel watched as his friends all saw the same bonus. ¡°You can give out tasks and quests, the system will provide rewards depending on how well they do.¡± AI expressed and Jazmel nodded in understanding. He tapped the system notifications, and immediately put together a task for his friends. DING! TASK FOR THE FACTION OF THE BLACK WING!! ¡­ Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. SCOUT THE AREA AND REGISTER THE FLORA AND FAUNA! THE HIGHER THE TIER THE HIGHER THE REWARD!! REWARDS; EXP & STATS Jazmel watched the excitement on his friends faces as they split from one another, and they headed out to complete the quests. the first one out was Bannerman and immediately Jazmel felt the system reading his movement. A small blip showed on empty terrain and as they travelled around the edges that were once blurred, began to form a map and then the outpost formed on a holographic scheme and then others appeared to. Coloured and he didn¡¯t know who they were but soon names appeared as they panned out the layout of the enclosed area. DING! FACTION AREA EXPLORATION DISCOVERED 6% ¡­ NEW FLORA FOUND MANA ESSENCE ACCRUED! He nodded at that, as the confirmation explained. Tasks or quests done for the faction would build Mana essence and he could use that to build or add to the outpost. Whereas he could also buy Mana crystals, something he would have to figure out later. He remembered his previous idea and opening his origami swan he wrote his invitation. To king Frae of Orevalor. I am writing to you as I am in need, I have just become the leader of an outpost. A faction in need of some serious repairs, if this is a bad idea, please let me know. But I would like to use the dwarven coin you presented me with. To ask you, the mighty dwarves of Orevalor to help me fortify my position and begin building somewhere me and my friends can call home. He sent the origami swan up into the air and sped off before winking out of sight. Baek had remained and not gone on the task he had set all the retainers; he had merely been standing waiting for Jazmel when the swan departed he cleared his throat and Jazmel took the time to explain to him his idea. ¡°That is leadership at its finest young master, which is innovation. Dwarves are incredible builders and well known for their fortifications. How did you come across these dwarves?¡± he asked, and Jazmel took the time to explain to him, in some detail, what had happened to him once he had entered the locked gate. Baek listened on for the duration of his tale and nodded at the end. ¡°Those conditions must have been difficult for you, but to be able to complete them and also earn the dwarves the right to the system again? that will ensure you have friends forever with them.¡± Baek offered and Jazmel agreed, frae; King Frae was his friend forever more. ¡°What else happened?¡± Baek asked and Jazmel told him about the Ocean temple and then meeting the merchant family as to which Baek smiled. ¡°A merchant owing you would be a brilliant source of resources. Good thinking to send Tango and Mary with him.¡± Baek said and as he said it, Jazmel sent another swan to Tango offering him invitation to the faction outpost. ¡°And Gilmore?¡± Baek inquired, Jazmel explained how he had just met him, and they found the trial gate that led them to the outpost. Baek inclined his head in understanding. ¡°What happened to you? How did you find the trial gate?¡± Jazmel asked and listened intently while Baek shared the moments of their last few journeys. They had completed a merchant guilds request, they had passed through a whirlpool on a ship which ended up bringing them to the bottom of the sea, where they faced off against Merman in vast numbers. But once they had defeated the monsters, they all managed to pass through the gates without any issues. ¡°What will you do?¡± Jazmel asked Baek. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°What will you do here?¡± Jazmel asked again. ¡°Do you mean to give me a position here?¡± he asked, and Jazmel nodded. ¡°I do not think that would be good for you all.¡± Baek offered and Jazmel nodded, knowing a little that he might have said something along those lines. DING! FACTION AREA DISCOVERED 34%! ¡­ FLORA AND FAUNA DISCOVERED MANA ESSENCE COLLECTED! ¡­ REWARDS GIVEN OUT! As these notifications showed themselves, his friends returned, and the array lit up as they entered. ¡°I need to tier up!¡± Katie said and Jazmel nodded, Sad¨¦ said the same and he smiled, remembering her happiness before. ¡°AI, can you show them to the living quarters please?¡± the sprite bobbed and then zoomed off leading Katie and Sad¨¦ off. ¡°This tower is cool; can we look around?¡± Patton asked and Jazmel said yes, in truth he hadn¡¯t had a chance. But now he was intrigued. Behind the seat was another doorway which led to the stairs. To Jazmel¡¯s surprise the stairs went upstairs and down. He look down the stairwell and saw that there were three levels below the ground floor, and he wanted to go down, but the others had decided to go up. Look upwards, the tower ascended by four levels. So, it wasn¡¯t too many floors. But the stairs were steep, and a climb let a light buzz of fatigue in his thighs. The first floor was a library, the doors were barred; but once Jazmel placed a hand on its frame the door literally melted away and disappeared. Space had been bent in this room, as the library was three stories, but it all fit on the first floor, even as Jazmel peered into the room, he could see rows, shelves and aisles of books and scrolls. AI appeared at this moment and with a shriek she landed on Jazmel¡¯s shoulder. ¡°This is the library; information is a valuable resource. We have many tomes here, a great deal of information. But it has been years since it has been updated.¡± AI explained. Baek walked into the library and began looking through the scrolls and picking up a quill he began writing something down. The system immediately chimed! DING! NEW INFORMATION ADDED TO THE LIBRARY MANA ESSENCE REWARD! ¡­ Jazmel immediately thought of an idea and within seconds he was creating a task. DING! NEW TASK CREATED!! ¡­ SCHOLAR OF THE WORLD! UPDATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE STAT POINT REWARD! Baek looked up as the notification system appeared before him and smiling, he accepted the task and began to look over the other opened tomes on the table. They left him there, inside the library and across from that door was another room, the door barred. When he asked AI what it was, she exclaimed that it was an eatery. But as they had no store food, the eatery had no resources for it. he needed to change that. ¡°We could always hunt the creatures outside and bring them back for the store.¡± Bannerman explained. Jazmel thought that was a clever idea and asked Bannerman if he would hunt. He agreed and went back downstairs. Jazmel went to make him a task too. DING! NEW TASK ¡­ FILL THE STORE WITH MORE!! HUNT FOR YOUR FACTION 10% EXP BOOST Bannerman was already gone but he accepted the task and the system alerted Jazmel. Now all that was left was Gilmore and Patton, but Jazmel was happy to traverse the rest of the floors with them. the second floor was built the same, on the right of the stairs were rooms for the faction leader. Private quarters, large and gaudy. Room for a bed, a walk-in closet and a shower closet which expanded into a bath in the floor. The boys looked around and they made little jokes about the regal arrangements, but it was all too much for Jazmel. They left that room and across from that room was another node. AI who had been sitting on Jazmel¡¯s all this time, explained. ¡°This is where you can check all your faction details and information. Allies, threats, quests anything of the sort. You can do them downstairs too, but this is a more intimate place for you. It¡¯s a simpler array, prepared for singular use and responsibilities.¡± AI explained and Jazmel stepped into the chamber. It was simply an open white room, with a large Mana crystal imbedded into the ground. He walked in and the floor changed to a darkened colour, like twilight in the evening. He placed his hand on the central node and immediately. His notifications changed, showing unusual parts of the outpost and the quests for the faction but also the tasks for each different part of the faction. It was a lot to deal with and he would have to go through them thoroughly, but right now they were on a tour. As he stepped from the chamber and the room turned back to an all-white chamber. An origami swan appeared before him. He opened it and smiled. I am glad you found your party so soon! You have a faction now!! Count us as your allies, I am bringing provisions and dwarves to help with the repairs. King Frae had responded and he was on his way. They climbed to the third floor and on the left was a room full of maps and regions and outlines of other things. Gates as well as arrays. It made no sense to Jazmel, but Patton was mesmerised. He started pouring over the maps and began scribbling notes atop them. DING! REGION EXPANDED EXP EARNED! Jazmel nodded at the notifications and left Patton to what seemed like his own tasks. ¡°And then there was one.¡± Gilmore grinned and Jazmel hid a chuckle. ¡°Thank you for accepting me into your faction.¡± Gilmore said and Jazmel could tell he was being sincere. ¡°Thanks for sticking with me.¡± Jazmel said. Jazmel shook hands with Gilmore, and they continued up to the top floor of the tower and to no surprise, it was an actual tower top. It allowed view around the whole outpost and between the opened area of the windowsill a giant scrying glass could be rolled around, so anyone viewing the area could zoom in. it was fascinating, an unsecured area someone could keep watch at the top of the tower and warn the others below at any moment. Jazmel and Gilmore took their time travelling down, checking in on Patton and Baek who were both busy in their own tasks. So, they continued their descent and came down to the ground floor. Bannerman was waiting at the doorway of the room of the seat with carcasses behind him. Waiting for them. ¡°Where do you want these?¡± as he said this, Katie and Sad¨¦ appeared and Gilmore seeing Sad¨¦ looking at Jazmel. ¡°I will show you the store. He went over and hefted one of the carcasses, that which looked like a deer sort of creature onto his shoulder while Katie and Bannerman did the same. Left alone, Jazmel looked at Sad¨¦ and she looked at him. Suddenly shy but not wanting her to know, he led her out into the courtyard, wanting to see how the repairs were going. Stepping through the double doors. He was shocked, the system repairs were durable. The courtyard had been restored to normality. It was no longer cracked and broken, instead it was squared tiles; sturdy and layered in proper fashion. He realised it had been a training platform, at each corner a sturdy fire plate stood and beneath it a Mana crystal was placed. ¡°AI what are those?¡± he asked, motioning towards the fire plates. ¡°Once lit, a force field will lock the training ground and so people can watch from outside and be safe.¡± AI explained and Jazmel nodded. ¡°Should we spar?¡± Sad¨¦ asked and Jazmel looked at her, they had never sparred before. But she was smiling at him, and it seemed all the more dangerous. ¡°Alright, how do you want to do this?¡± he asked, and she shrugged. ¡°The training courtyard has a role here, three hit points per user. So, the first to be struck three times loses.¡± AI explained as it floated off of his shoulder and headed towards the flame plate to light it. ¡°Don¡¯t hold back.¡± She told him and he nodded, he drew Hajime slowly and watched as she drew her own sword, a katana that was sheathed in a purple scabbard, he hadn¡¯t noticed that before. But now that he saw it, she carried it and got ready. The fire flame plate lit, and the others soon followed. Jazmel watched as a bubble of Mana formed around them and closed them in. AI stayed outside of it and bobbed waiting to see them begin. ¡°Begin!¡± it squealed and flitted out of the bubble dome of Mana. Thunder Crown She commanded and above her head, a crown of thunder crackled as it formed. Ionised energy rippled around her, and he felt the energy permeate the air around him. He darted to the left and without pulling his swords, he simple called his skills into the air. Whirlwind He whisked up a Mana gale, using his hand to direct where the Mana would form and buffeted her with it, but she tore through it with a slash of her katana and a blade of Mana and thunder flew at him. He dived out of the way and considered her for a moment. Slash! She skipped out of the way, and he used the moment to dart forward and rush to strike at her with his swords. He kept it sheathed and used the scabbard to check her at each turn. She tried to duel him, but his trait and ability made it impossible to better him, he could see the flaws in her swordsmanship at a simple glance. Foxfire! She yelled at him, and blue orbs of fire and Mana fluttered in the wind like falling leaves. But she had changed them a little, inside them he could see that thunder burned the fire and made them exploder larger and more violently. He jumped out of the way of one such attack, only to land in the same direction as another and was forced to create even more distance between them. she smiled at him, cocky and he hated how beautiful she looked. Thunderfire! She threw her special thunder and fire skill at him and this time it was much larger, he realised that her crown allowed her to strengthen her thunder skills and attributes. He nodded at confirmation when the skill flitted towards him as if homing in. with a quick slash, he cut it in two and the attack landed either side of him, imploding on itself. He sheathed Hajime and she looked annoyed. ¡°Fight me properly!¡± she growled and threw another skill at him, the thunder propelling the fire at him like a bolt of lightning. Slash! Whirlwind Flight of the blue kite!! He used all of his skills, hoping to catch her off guard but she formed a bolt of thunder from her crown and made the blue Mana bird vanish and then used the same Mana to burn slash skill out of the sky. Foxfire! She hurled them at the ground and between the dust and the debris, she tried to block his vision. But in the smoke, he saw her Mana and averted her follow attack, but instead used it to surprise her from behind. He swept her feet from under her, catching her before she hit the ground and she held onto him, with her arms about his head. ¡°I forgot about your eyes!¡± she said and though she looked almost mad, a smile appeared on her face from their closeness. ¡°You would have had me, if I didn¡¯t have these eyes.¡± He admitted and she seemed happier with that, he helped her up and she stayed close to him and watched as the dome popped and slowly disappeared. ¡°Well done! It has been a while since this training courtyard has seen action.¡± AI said, in its happy to be there demeanour. Jazmel nodded and Sad¨¦ let her hair cascade around her face to hide her emotions. ¡°How do you feel as a tier III seeker now?¡± he asked her, and she nodded, pushing her hair behind one of her ears. ¡°Stronger.¡± She said and he knew what she meant. It had been mere months, but already they were teetering at the end of seeker and pushing to ranker. Even though that placed them in the same places as her parents and then for Jazmel; the same as Tango and Mary. ¡°I sent my parents a message about the faction. I didn¡¯t tell them they could join, but mum said; if you need anything. We should just ask.¡± She said and Jazmel thanked her again. ¡°I need to send word to Mary and Tango actually.¡± Jazmel admitted, he had planned to. But after the tour and the tasks, he had gotten carried away. He pulled out three different origami swans and sent one to Mary, one to Tango and another to Colin. He would need the merchants help and he knew it. ¡°My mother does the same thing when she has to see about her duties.¡± Sad¨¦ explained and Jazmel was shocked. ¡°Your mum is the faction leader?¡± he asked, and she shook her head. ¡°No, she is one of the clan elders. Clans are a bit different, but they run in the same sort of features. As one of the elders, she can create different tasks for members below her and the Clan head can provide her with quests too.¡± She explained and he listened thoughtfully. ¡°I should take the time to read the uses of my seat and what I can really do.¡± He said and before she could respond, AI landed on his shoulder again. squealing with joy. ¡°And I will help you even more!¡± it said, and he laughed, Sad¨¦ smiling a lot at that. ¡°What we probably need to do, is find a way to begin building the factions Mana crystals and essence resource. We need to have a constant flow of that and if they are the only things that can allow me to upgrade this place, we need to start working on that.¡± He said and Sad¨¦ listened, thinking quietly to herself. ¡°AI do you have a Mana crystal source here?¡± she asked, and the AI giggled before bobbing in the air. ¡°YES!¡± it squealed and then spurted off, heading towards a derelict part of the courtyard. Jazmel and Sad¨¦ followed and after moving some of the debris away, there was a causeway that descended beneath the outpost which was on a cliff face. The causeway descended maybe a hundred steps and led to an opening that was barred off by Mana. Jazmel placed a hand on it and immediately a notification popped up. DING! THE OUTPOST HAS A MANA VEIN THE VEIN HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY MONSTERS CLEAR IT OUT AND EARN THE SOURCE OF MANA CRYSTALS AGAIN TIER ONE MANA VEIN FOUND! WARNING TIER II BOSS RESIDES INSIDE He looked at Sad¨¦, she hadn¡¯t received the notification. But with a thought, he added the task to hers too and she nodded once she saw it. ¡°The system is offering me EXP and an item reward.¡± She said and he felt a little envy, the system didn¡¯t offer him anything of the sort, but he figured the exp and the stats he would gain would be fine. Book 2 Chapter Twenty-Four; Making the Mana vein mine, mine The mine wasn¡¯t like that of the dwarves, the tunnel that they now moved through was cramped, badly dug and claustrophobic. It wasn¡¯t lit well and from the first bend in the tunnel, the daylight from the sun already didn¡¯t reach deeply inside. Jazmel was lucky, for his eyes immediately could see the Mana all around him and it felt like he was deep underwater, as the luminescent blue of unattributed Mana pulsed in the walls and all around them. something that always kept him mesmerised. ¡°You can see all the Mana, can¡¯t you?¡± she asked, and he didn¡¯t realise how close she was, but she was holding the back of his belt and clutching to him in the dark. ¡°I can, I can see the Mana that is running all around the mine.¡± He explained and he felt her squeeze his belt. ¡°I forget that you can see everything at all times.¡± She mused and he didn¡¯t respond, not knowing what to say. ¡°I think you must be in tune with it too though, the kitsune tails must allow you to feel or see Mana like I do.¡± He said and she fell quiet for a while and then a warmth radiated from his back. He turned to face her and saw that she had willed her tails to appear. Four tails of white fur, ringed at the tip with red and blue runes. He couldn¡¯t read the runes, but he imagined they had something to do with fire. ¡°The system is really cool.¡± He said and she looked up into his face, confused. ¡°You have the kitsune tails, which are best suited for fire. But you also have that thunder crown for your thunder abilities. The system is a wonderful thing.¡± he explained, and she smiled and laughed a little, getting what he meant. He turned back and this time led again, but the Mana pulsing off of her tails helped light the way. The tunnel grew steep and descended again. But he could see all the badly etched steps that had been carved out of the stone and he led the way, making sure Sad¨¦ stepped where he stepped previously. In the distance he heard skittering and over his shoulder he saw that she had heard it too, she drank a Mana potion, and he watched as the Mana passed her lips and then disappeared into her being. She kept all her tails but now she formed her crown of thunder, being this close to her. He could hear the air crackle and sizzle with the thunder in this part of the earth, where thunder had never reached. The steep descent stopped sharply, and the tunnel led into a larger cavern. crudely carved out of the rock and stone but inside it were goblins of all shapes and sizes. Mining small Mana crystals from the rock face. A growl from the side and turning he just slipped by as a spear jab swished past his face. He pulled the shaft pass him and chopping with the side of his palm, striking the back of the neck of the goblin that attacked him. He stepped over the body and with a little skip, he threw the spear into the chest of the oncoming goblin that was rushing at him. He turned and saw that Sad¨¦ was driving her sword into the goblin he had left. But he wasn¡¯t worried, goblins were rushing at him now and he was defending himself. Fighting for his life within the mine. Slash! The strike caught three goblins and cut through their small bodies and as others rushed in, he repeated it again. the skill was lethal, and he hated how easily their small bodies fell before the sword and the strength of his skill. Slash Slash Slash! He was carving a bloody swathe through the goblins, and they were unprepared for a seeker such as he. Their green blood slick across his blade, he flicked it to the side. Cleaning his blade as best as he could. Their fighting had drawn the attention of a guard group of some sort, they rushed into the cavern from a hidden entrance but before they could rush at he and Sad¨¦. She struck them with thunder, arcing through their bodies and burning them to a crisp. ¡°You were holding back.¡± She said as she walked past him, heading towards the entrance that the guards had come from. ¡°What?!¡± ¡°When we were sparring. You were holding back.¡± She said and wouldn¡¯t look at him, he almost laughed. But he could tell she was serious. He followed her as she entered the entrance and before he even could attack. She burnt the whole tunnel out. Driving the orbs of her foxfire down the tunnel and they exploded when they touched one another or if they hit one of the goblins. While she was leading he took the time to look at his notifications. DING! TIER I GOBLIN MINERS X36 KILLED TIER II GOBLIN GUARD X4 KILLED ¡­ +3 PER +3 INT +2 WIL He nodded and he was grateful, he realised that continuous use of his eyes, was training and strengthening them. something that was really part of his abilities, the eyes of the divine were such a great gift. He needed to thank Mary as soon as he next saw her. The tunnel was filled with smoke, and he rushed through the space to enter the room where the guards lay burning and dying. He stepped through the wreckage and hurried into the next cavern, a larger mine. Filled with goblins, who had clearly heard the commotion and now were ready. They even had archers and they shot their arrows, but he ducked back into the room. ¡°They have archers.¡± He informed her and she grit her teeth but then stepped forward. ¡°Leave them to me.¡± She pushed in and immediately hurled her skill into the raised platform they were shooting from. Thunderfire! The platform; built from wood and rope crumbled beneath their added weight. He left her to her victims, and he stepped into the cavern where the goblin guards were waiting for him. One rushed for him, and he evaded its strike and cutting through its thigh, it fell to the ground. He stabbed through its heart, and it stopped moving. Five others rushed him, and he sliced through the air calling forth his skill, tied into his sword; Hajime. Flight of the blue kite! As his skill cut through them, he veered to the side and immediately cast another skill. Slash! Cutting off all the heads of them as his blue Mana bird struck them. he hissed and fell to a knee. WARNING STATUS; BLEEDING He looked down and saw that he had been stabbed in his lower back. He whirled on the goblin, and he realised it was wearing a small cape that was complex with Mana, it disappeared to the naked eye. But for eyes such as his own, the Mana was like a beacon in the dark. He stabbed it into the gut, the goblin screeched and hissed, but died quickly. DING! TIER II GOBLIN SHADE KILLED He dragged the cape from its small corpse and deposited it into his ring. He turned and realised that Sad¨¦ had already killed the last of the guards. The crown had faded from her head, and he saw sweat on her face. It must cost a great deal of Mana. He pulled a health potion and a Mana one from his ring. He tossed the Mana potion to her, and she drank it deeply, before thanking him. She drank another one and he thought about that. While they rested and healed quickly, he checked his notifications. STATUS; BLEEDING ¡­ BLEEDING STOPPED Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. STATUS CHANGED! STATUS; WOUNDED ¡­ +2 END +1 VIT +1 WIL They were strong now, at the end of their seeker rank; normal potions were barely cutting the difference now. He needed to ask Baek about the other options. The room was cleared and at the end of the cavern; which as Jazmel looked around. He realised was actually like an entrance hall. At the end of the cavern stood two hastily pulled together doors. They were built from stacked logs and even then Jazmel could see gaps in the door, but thick fur had been used to plug these gapes and he and Sad¨¦ forced them open and entered the final door, which led to the last cavern in the mine. Jazmel whistled, looking around they were in the place where the Mana crystals were all stacked in abundance around the whole room and Jazmel could see that the border of the whole room was lined around the whole space. The Mana crystals were of all types of size and shapes. Even the density and purity of the Mana that his eyes could see, he couldn¡¯t tell how much was present. He just knew it was a lot and he was suddenly feeling greedy for it. The room wasn¡¯t just filled with Mana crystals, about a hundred goblins wearing armour and carrying excellent quality weapons. He could tell these were the last line of defence for the mine and they could tell he meant to take the mine, they gripped their weapons and waited for him and Sad¨¦. He could see mixed in amongst them, a few of those shade goblins. He warned Sad¨¦ and she simply called her crown back and the thunder boomed as it appeared above her head. There was a single hobgoblin, wearing heavy thick armour and it reminded Jazmel of the guards he saw outside cities in the labyrinth. This hobgoblin was taller than the goblins that surrounded it and it seemed a lot more intelligent too. It carried a sabre that seemed like it was well crafted and in the other hand it carried a short knife. But he wasn¡¯t worried, he and Sad¨¦ would see to it before the end of this mine. WARNING! MERROT THE HOBGOBLIN WANTS TO DEFEAT YOU TIER II HOBGOBLIN APPEARS! He sighed, it was tier II and named. So, it would be like a tier III monster, he told Sad¨¦, but she shared with him that the same notification had appeared for her too. ¡°Kill them!¡± the gobbling growled and that caught Jazmel off guard, he hadn¡¯t heard a monster speak before. Foxfire! She hurled her blazing orbs of destruction into the guards and while they were doing their best to escape the onslaught of her destruction. Before they could prepare to respond to her attack he rushed in. Whirlwind!! The orbs were pulled in and using his tornado whirled up by Mana, he forced his skill to land in the centre of the group of goblins and they were devastated by their combined attack. This sort of thing had never happened before, but now he considered what a combined skill with his other friends might be like. The goblins were reeling from the attack, broken bodies laid around the ground. Some worse than others but before they could see about them, the hobgoblin leader rose up and made his way towards where Sad¨¦ and Jazmel stood. His armour was well developed, and Jazmel¡¯s eyes told him that not only was it well designed, but it was infused with Mana too. ¡°I will deal with these guys!¡± Sad¨¦ said and ran past him to get to the still reeling goblins, she chugged another potion and her thunder crown remained above her head. he turned back and the hobgoblin was slowly making its way towards him, he drew Hajime. Nothing but the fight stood before him now. He knew this would be a vicious duel, but he wasn¡¯t stressed about it. Surprisingly, he felt extremely calm, and he realised that he always did when he was entering a fight, especially when he was already holding his sword. he wondered if it had something to do with his passive trait. Slash He struck first and to his surprise Merrot, the hobgoblin simply shielded himself from the skill and took the full brunt of the attack; fully against his body. Jazmel nodded and attacked again. Slash! Flight of the blue kite Slash!! He struck repeatedly, moving through the different strikes like a sword series and swinging his sword, he aimed his skills at different angles. WARNING! MANA AT LESS THAN 50% He hadn¡¯t ever received that warning before, but he also wasn¡¯t worried. He continued their duel; their deadly dance. The hobgoblin hit back and for every three movements he made, Merrot hit him back once. The first smash from its sabre, he parried it; it stabbed at his stomach with its short sword, and he countered that, cutting its forearm on the under part of the greave. It hissed at him and then rushed him with a flurry of attacks. He countered each but they got heavier and heavier, and one attack got through, driving him to a knee. It tried to stab him again at this point, but instead he averted his head, and the blade pierced his shoulder instead. DANGER! STATUS: WOUNDED Thank you system! He thought to himself, but he didn¡¯t relent under the pressure, he fought back. Rising from a knee; he used the momentum to stab at the knee of the goblin. While it didn¡¯t pierce through the chainmail of the armour. It was enough to make it stumble back, he rose again and whilst in the close radius of the space between the hobgoblins arms, he flicked his blade up and while it bounced off the breastplate. He used the impetus to drive his sword back down with another skill. Flight of the blue kite! The bird careened and screeched off the breastplate again. it tried to stab him again, but he was in control of the flow of the duel. He kicked out at the wrist and the short sword dropped from its grip, he cut that hand off. Merrot roared in pain, aiming a cut across his chest with its sabre. But he was prepared and instead, he entered its range closer, and the sword went around him. Missing him, he stabbed down into the neck while turning, the hobgoblin mewed and then turning on his foot clockwise; with a strong backhand he cut the head off of the named monster. Slash He called as his katana passed through the neck of the monster; beheading it. DING! CONGRATULATIONS!! ¡­ YOU HAVE SECURED THE MANA VEIN MINE TIER I MANA MINE ¡­ PRODUCTION, 400 PER HOUR He nodded at the notification as it popped up and smiled at the need, the production was low. But when Frae turned up, he would ask that the dwarves oversee the mine and at least prepare it better for the faction. Facing Sad¨¦ he saw that she was ok, she drank a Mana potion and then also drank a health potion and a nasty cut on her forehead began to heal in real time. As he watched her, he remembered his own shoulder and drinking a potion, he felt it knit itself back together, he drank another and the soreness disappeared with the wound all together. Next he drank a Mana potion and using it to top up his meagre reserves at the moment he felt as a little trickled into his clothes and they repaired themselves. He stripped the corpse of the hobgoblin and immediately took in the notifications of the weapons and armour. TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST, sturdy armour made with the skin of an Iron jaw bull That sounded interesting, he placed it in his satchel immediately, next he picked up the sabre and whistled at the notification from the system TIER III SABRE OF THE DEADENING, +3 damage on top of the strength of the user, every strike will be heavier than the last! He nodded at that, remembering how his already sturdy bones shook beneath the blow. But he smiled all the same at the new sabre. He had no intention of keeping it or using it, but he imagined it would sell very well. He picked up the short sword that the hobgoblin had been using as a dagger and the system showed him the information and again his eyebrows raised. TIER II SHORT SWORD, this short sword when used like a dagger, will a lot of the time strike a critical blow He hadn¡¯t seen anything like this before and showing Sad¨¦ she nodded. Saying some items can gain abilities, just as seekers and rankers could. That was fascinating, he hadn¡¯t discussed with anyone what he had planned to do. But he was already wondering what abilities a sword would have if he had it made with items. He looked over his other notifications after the task set by the system for the faction. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! MANA MINE SECURED! ¡­ EXP EARNED! LEVEL UP ¡­ DEFEATED NAMED HOBGOBLIN ¡­ +3 PER +3 DEX +2 WIL +2 STR +1 VIT +1 AGL He looked at his stats screen and smiled; Name: Jazmel Level: 52 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier III Class: Sword Scion Health: 937/1600 Stamina: 670/1216 Mana: 840/1120 STR:67 PER:64 VIT:60 END:62 INT:68 WIL:61 AGL:66 DEX:64 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 4X PLATINUM COINS 647X WHITE GOLD COINS 127X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE TIER II WILLOW KNIGHT SEED DWARVEN COIN 2X HEALTH POTIONS 4X STAMINA POTIONS TIER II TROLL BONE X3 TIER II TROLL HEART X1 TIER II TROLL CLUB X2 TIER I FOX FUR X2 TIER I FOX MEAT X2 TIER II HAG CORE X1 TIER II FIEND BONE X30 TIER II GREATER FIEND BONE X13 TIER I FIEND CORE X29 TIER II GREATER FIEND CORE X6 TIER II FIEND CORPSE X12 TIER I GREATER FIEND CORPSE X4 TIER I MERMEN PEARLS X57 TIER I ATLANTEAN SWORD X2 TIER II STINGERS x13 COLLECTED TIER II STINGER TOXIN X3 TIER II STINGER WINGS X6 TIER II STINGER X4 TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER III SABRE OF THE DEADENING TIER II SHORT SWORD SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 12 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 112 He had improved again and turning to Sad¨¦ he saw that she had looted the bodies of the goblins already. She looked at him, and her gaze was unreadable to him. ¡°You held back, I think you might be much stronger than me.¡± She said and turning on her heel, she made to leave the mine. He followed after her, surrendering to her anger and holding his defeat in silence. They made their way out of the mine, back to the outpost. Book 2 Chapter Twenty-Five; Dwarven friends, and allies Sad¨¦ had walked beside him in silence and by the time they made it back, she still hadn¡¯t spoken a word to him. He almost made to speak to her but a shout from the courtyard drew his attention. He felt a strong presence and once they entered through the small pathway they had made, he saw dwarves. Strong dwarves in beautifully made armour clutching their array of weapons. At the forefront of the hundred dwarves, he saw Frae. Frae the dwarven king of Orevalor waiting and smiling at him. ¡°Brother you are well!¡± Frae roared as he pulled Jazmel into a crushing hug. ¡°I am well.¡± He smiled and hugged his friend affectionately. He took the moment to turn and introduce his party members; now his faction members too. Frae greeted them all and turned to look around the courtyard of the outpost and whistled. ¡°This place is in need of a lot of work.¡± Frae squirmed and Jazmel nodded, he had known that too. ¡°I asked you hear for that help, truthfully. Even at the cost of this.¡± He pulled out the dwarven coin he had gained from Frae but Frae closed his palm around it and shook his head. ¡°How can I not help you, when you helped me already?¡± he scoffed and Jazmel looked a little shy, but he offered it again. ¡°COME ON BOYS! LETS GET BUSY!!¡± Frae shouted at the hundred such dwarves he had with him and Jazmel looking over them all, could see in the few days he had been gone; they had been using the system extensively. Many of them were filled with Mana, so bright that he almost needed to shield his eyes from seeing it. ¡°Look.¡± Frae said and between them a notification popped up. KING FRAE OF OREVALOR IS OFFERING AN ALLIANCE ¡­ WILL YOU ACCEPT Y/N ¡­ He accepted and the system trilled, and he imagined all that were present gained the same notifications of the confirmation of the alliance shared between the dwarves and the black wing faction. The system between him and Frae flared up again and a new notification showed for him. OREVALORIAN DWARVES ARE OFFERING HELP IN FORTIFYING YOUR BASE DO YOU ACCEPT? Y/N He again accepted and immediately the system showed what was needed to be sorted. Frae whom was already well versed in this side of the system began calling out orders and commands, his dwarves split up into roving groups. One such group began moving around the courtyard and began surveying the area, looking at what needed to be repaired and how they could or would repair it. there was around twenty-five of them in this group led by an older dwarf who Jazmel had seen in the mine back in the lost gate but had not learnt his name. he began walking the length of the courtyard and when he had done a full length a notification popped up. DWARVES WISH TO USE MANA ESSENCE TO REFURBISH THE COURT WILL YOU ACCEPT. Y/N 12000 MANA ESSENCE NEEDED ¡­ NOT ENOUGH MANA ESSENCE ¡­ Jazmel pointed to the courtyard corridor he and Sad¨¦ had come from. He explained to Frae that there was a Mana mine in that direction. Frae sent twenty dwarves after the Mana and told them to bring the crystals back but also see the quality of the mine. They left in a hurry, shambling along in their thick armour and hobnail boots. ¡°What is in the tower?¡± Frae asked, turning to face Jazmel again; Jazmel explained what was on each floor and Frae nodded at each description. ¡°And below ground?¡± he asked Jazmel and Jazmel admitted he had not been there. ¡°Well let¡¯s have a look, come with us boys.¡± He ordered and the dwarves followed him, Jazmel follow with Sad¨¦ and AI rode on his shoulder. When he entered the tower again, he found Baek and Patton descending the stairs. Introductions were made again, and they descended to the lower ground. Underneath the ground floor was a large chamber; massive in size. The chamber was round, it reminded him like the temple beneath the ocean. But this one was empty, there was no pool in the middle, but instead it was just a large expanse of space. ¡°You can make this into anything you want!¡± AI shrilled from his shoulder, and he figured what he would need. ¡°Well, that depends on what you think you¡¯ll need from the faction?¡± Frae said, and Baek nodded in kind. ¡°Will you keep resources down here, will you add another mine, will you build a vault. What do you hope for when regarding your idea for your faction.¡± Frae explained and Jazmel nodded, thoughtfully he understood. ¡°It would be a promising idea to have a forge, we would need to be able to create our own things. Getting the items, we can rely on merchants and hunting. But we need someone capable of making whatever we need.¡± Jazmel said and Frae coughed, and Jazmel looked at him confused but waiting. ¡°You are literally considering building a forge and you are wondering who would build the best items for your forge and you are surrounded by an array of dwarves.¡± Frae said with a smile. He was offering his help and Jazmel knew it, but he couldn¡¯t take too much from him. He already had so much help already. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that Jazmel. You saved my people; you helped us return to the labyrinth after being locked away for hundreds of years. It would be an honour for any of us to stay here and help your people build a faction. Don¡¯t be ridiculous, I came to help. We came to help. Let us help.¡± Frae scolded him, affectionately but it was true. They were friends after all if he couldn¡¯t ask for help. Who could he ask. ¡°Well, who of you will stay?¡± Jazmel asked and the dwarves huddled together before three dwarves stepped forward and crashed their fists to their chests in salute. He recognised them immediately, they had released the dam together, but they were completely different now, stronger and before they had the ruddy clay like colour of the other dwarves but instead these three were all darkened and ashen. Like stone or rock. ¡°We will join you my Lord.¡± The first fell to a knee, his fist still over his heart. ¡°What is your name?¡± Jazmel asked and the dwarf nodded. ¡°I am Gorin, and this is Bolin and Palin.¡± He beckoned to either side of him. ¡°We will join your faction and help you start a forge here. I ask a small boon though.¡± ¡°Anything.¡± Jazmel offered and the dwarf smiled. ¡°I ask that you let us bring our families here, we would hate to leave them.¡± Gorin asked and immediately Jazmel helped him up from his kneeling position. ¡°Of course, you can, in truth. We are just setting up; we barely have living quarters set up. But if they do not mind living rough while we set up our space. They are welcome.¡± Jazmel offered and with a salute he and the other nodded and turned back to thank their friends. ¡°Jazmel.¡± Frae called and he turned to face him. ¡°You need to give Gorin the position of Forge master, let him build the forge as he needs.¡± Jazmel agreed and flicking the system screen up, he pulled offered the three dwarves positions in the Black Wing Faction. ¡­ WILL YOU OFFER FORGE MASTER TO GORIN OF OREVALLOR Y/N ¡­ Jazmel accepted and the system chimed and changed again. CONGRATULATIONS! ¡­ A FORGE MASTER HAS BEEN SELECTED ¡­ GORIN THE FORGE MASTER OF THE BLACK WING FACTION IS REQUESTING ACCESS WILL YOU PROVIDE A LAYOUT PROVISION FOR A FORGE? Y/N Jazmel accepted and the system shrilled a song of confirmation and immediately Gorin got to work, the layout provision appeared as a schematic before him and he and the other two began to figure out what how they needed the forge before letting the system work on it. GORIN TIER II SEEKER HAS JOINED YOUR FACTION AS HE IS THE FIRST OUTSIDER TO JOIN A BONUS WILL BE OFFERED! ¡­ THE FORGE WILL NOT COST ANY MANA ESSENCE ONCE CREATED MANA ESSENCE WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO GROWTH! DO YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER? Y/N Jazmel grinned and immediately he accepted. Gorin clearly got the same notification because he and the other two began working even harder on the layout schematic. GORIN HAS OFFERED THE TITLE BLACKSMITH TO BOLIN GORIN HAS OFFERED THE TITLE BLACKSMITH TO PALIN ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! EXPERIENCE IS KEY WHEN BUILDING A FACTION AS ALL MEMBERS OF THE FORGE ARE HIGHER THAN A TIER I A BONUS HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE FORGE!! ¡­ ITEMS WILL BE EITHER TIER I OR II WHEN COMPLETED IN THIS FORGE UPGRADE THE FORGE TO RAISE THIS! Jazmel gawped at the screen, he was so shocked that he turned and explained to Sad¨¦ and Baek what the system stated. ¡°Let¡¯s leave them to build their forge.¡± Frae said and leading his fifty odd dwarves back up and out of the tower, Jazmel followed with Sad¨¦ and Baek on either side of him. Patton decided to head back to the map room and continued to climb the tower. DING! ¡­ THE MANA MINE HAS BEEN FORTIFIED AND THE MANA CRYSTALS ARE BEING COLLATED CURRENTLY YOU HAVE; MANA ESSENCE 4500/60000 Jazmel wasn¡¯t surprised at how limited his current supply of Mana essence was, he was hoping that the mine would allow him to build a steady reserve, and this was a bigger hope than he thought. But to his joy, dwarves who had delved into the mine were already on their way back, carrying; pulling and dragging crystals from the mine. Jazmel asked AI what to do with the crystals and it explained that he simply had to pull them into the central node like a storage ring. ¡°That seems quite messy though?¡± he said, and it agreed but sighed. ¡°You need to repair the faction more and then it will allow you to connect with the mine and the source will allow you to pull from the mine. For the time being, it will have to be manually.¡± It explained and he nodded, noting that there was still a lot of work to do. ¡°Can I give your dwarves some quests to do?¡± Jazmel asked and Frae smiled. ¡°They are hungry for hunting, any chance at new monsters and levelling up, they are invested.¡± Frae growled and Jazmel nodded. He raised the system screen and looking at the tasks. He presented everyone with the same quest. BLACK WING FACTION QUEST! HUNT THE TIER I AND TIER II MONSTERS AROUND THE OUTPOST! ¡­ MAKE IT SAFE AROUND THE WALLS WHILE THEY ARE BEING REPAIRED! ¡­ REWARDS; Immediately the dwarves roared and rushed out the front gates of the courtyard, all the remaining dwarves hurried out to hunt, two remained as guards for Frae and looking at their Mana. Jazmel could tell they were amongst the strongest. They were ashen grey like Gorin; his new forge master. Jazmel asked and Frae laughed. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s part of the tier tribulation, as you know. We were out of the system for a long time and as such when we connected, we all had lots of stats and exp to move around. Then we had to pick classes and traits. It was a lot to do, but thankfully after the troll swarm. We had a lot of resources to tier up. But with the same resources, we had the same classes offered to most of us. They are the Golem Guard; they are a kings guard if you will.¡± Frae explained and Jazmel nodded, understanding but a little sad that they all shared the same sort of classes. ¡°Don¡¯t make that face! We are only glad to have the system and they can change their skills and class with hard work and grit!! No dwarf is worried about this, I can assure you.¡± Frae said, reading his emotions easily. Sad¨¦ who was still standing beside him giggled a little and Frae winked at her. ¡°Don¡¯t let your sadness upset the pretty little girly.¡± He said and Sad¨¦ and Jazmel both looked away, suddenly embarrassed at their closeness. Book 2 Chapter Twenty-Six; Tasks, tasks and more tasks It had been three weeks since they had formed the black wing faction. Three weeks of continuous working and nothing but hard effort, Jazmel sat in the foyer of his master living quarters and ate a hearty breakfast. The hunting of the monsters around the local area of the outpost had expanded and with the extended help of the dwarves, they had filled their stores with as much meat as they could manage for almost half a year. The first week had been nothing but repairs and stocking the living needs of the faction members. Something that Jazmel had sort of overseen, but in truth he had just given tasks and quests out and this had been done through the faction seat, which had upgraded on their fifth day. Allowing the mine¡¯s Mana source to directly connect to the central node and though he could only see it when he was seated or connected to a node in his outpost. He was aware that the mine was now connected, and they no longer had to physically bring Mana crystals up from the mine. After ten days, the dwarves left. Having hunted the hills bare and cleared out the tier II monsters that might try and attack the outpost. Jazmel was grateful and in fairness the dwarves had completely renovated the whole outpost. The walls had been repaired and erected with solid stone, the repairs had been refixed and augmented with Mana essence. But the heavy lifting and labour had been done solely by the dwarves. They also had refurbished the mine and made it much more stable for those to traverse. The goblins had been terrible in building fortifications, but the dwarves turned it into a true mine, strengthening the walls and corridors and even creating a map for Jazmel. Something he could use to dig deeper if he ever needed more Mana but for now the crystals that the goblins had already excavated was more than enough. Even after all the repairs, he had averaged out to around fifty thousand left and there were still crystals left. Frae left after spending ten days with them, having waited till the families of the dwarves who had joined the faction had come and joined. The wives of Gorin, Bolin and Palin accepted residence in the eatery and took charge of the store too. Jazmel was thankful, they knew how to keep track of the stock and share out what was needed to feed everyone. The people who currently made up the faction members were; Jazmel, Baek, Patton, Katie, Bannerman, Sad¨¦ and Gilmore; the original members of the faction. Since then, the three dwarves and their families had joined also. Which brough their number up to twenty, which was comfortable as of right now. Two days since then Tango and Mary appeared, in the company of Colin and three caravans filled with items, resources and other things for the faction. He welcomed Tango and Mary, immediately offering them as an advanced payment for the chance to be the source of resources for the faction. Before Jazmel could say anything, Palin¡¯s wife who had turned out to be Melle from the locked gate. She had cornered colin before he could even begin to bridge out an idea and they haggled and bartered before they agreed on this deal. The system alerted him that an agreement had been formed; Colin and the Hermenthen merchants were the sole providers for the faction of the black wing. Already Colin and Melle had haggled about the prices of the monster cores that had been collected so far. Colin had written a list down of the things that Melle would need to keep the faction running. Grain, bread, pasta, and the other things that they couldn¡¯t find outside of walls of the outpost. Without even asking, Tango had requested to be made a faction member. He would only accept a retainer position and when Colin was heading back, Tango had offered to go back with him. Explaining to Jazmel he was aiming for tier III Ranker and needed to continue going through the labyrinth but promised to return often. Mary left alongside them and as she was already in the Munin guild, she didn¡¯t ask to join him, and he didn¡¯t ask her either. But he did tell offer her entry to the faction as an ally and so like the dwarves and colin. She could come and go as she wanted if she wanted. She thanked him, in an awkward way and then left quickly. He wondered why she reacted like that, but nobody explained. The faction gained their first quests on the fifteen day, it popped up for everyone at breakfast and Jazmel watched his screen but peered up to see if everyone else gained the same message. BLACK WING FACTION! CONGRATULATIONS, YOUR REPUTATION IS GROWING. RUMOURS ARE SPREADING IN THE LABYRINTH! ¡­ NOW YOU MUST RAISE YOUR FLAG!! RAISE THE REPUTATION OF THE BLACK WING FACTION! REWARD Jazmel read it quickly, then read it again and immediately the dining hall grew loud with conversation. ¡°The quest is telling us to let the labyrinth know we have created a faction!¡± Patton explained. ¡°The system wants us to do guild missions, we need to delve into the labyrinth again.¡± Katie said and everyone nodded, they had been in this outpost for nearly a month and though it was great to have a base, it was the first time. ¡°We just need to go out and do some other quests but in the name of the faction right?¡± Gilmore said and the others nodded. ¡°Then that¡¯s simple, we split up into groups and then we go out and earn a name for ourselves.¡± He expressed and the others all agreed too. ¡°The pack is strong, but the pack needs more members.¡± Bannerman offered in his usual way and Katie threw a bread roll which he caught. But turned to face Jazmel. ¡°The pup is right; we need to recruit new members too.¡± Katie nodded and the others all murmured. ¡°We will all leave then. Katie and Bannerman, Gil, and Patton.¡± He didn¡¯t say Sad¨¦, but Katie grinned at him, and it annoyed him how they all saw through him. ¡°You can offer the chance to join the faction, but do not offer it to too many people. If anything, one or two people each; we need to see grow balanced and gradually. Only the best or the most useful members can join us.¡± Jazmel told them all and they all agreed. ¡°Will you be travelling my lord?¡± Melle said and Jazmel ducked his head, he hated being called that, but it was better than Faction leader. So, Jazmel had relented and accepted the title; begrudgingly. ¡°We all will Melle.¡± He explained and she nodded and turning to the other wives she told them to prepare travel packs for the three groups. The others dined and finished, going to prepare their travel and Jazmel already had everything he needed. He had given all his loot to the stores of the faction. Except what he had taken from the hobgoblin. He had even planted the willow knight seed and it was growing quite well too. He was worried about not having anyone else to defend the outpost, but Baek told him that nobody could enter through the gates and Gorin and the other dwarves were all unharmed. ¡°It is better to do as the system provides quests, they will always benefit you in the long run.¡± He explained, in his mentoring and doting way. Jazmel conceded and checked his satchel and storage ring to be sure he had all his required items. He had gathered higher tier potions for also, after feeling that the tier I potions were no longer offering the cover he felt he needed. He realised with his growth; he would need to prepare stronger variations of all things. He looked at his swords and wondered if it was time to consider seeking out a higher tier. Checking everyone was good and ready to leave they left the tower, then through the courtyard and then the door that was made with a complicated defence but a simple use Mana array. Jazmel simply had to place his hand on the wall, and it would look down. Others could leave, but it would require them to announce their entry. Part of one of the defensive arrays that AI had, had him form through the central node. The walked down the steps that have been excavated and renovated, now they were not covered in silt and gravel. But well prepared and preserved for use in everyday travel. The gate had stayed where they had entered it from and while Jazmel did have access to move it, Baek explained to him that it was best to leave it where it was, for defensive reasons. Even though it was still but a short walk from the outpost. It was still defendable, and it made sense to Jazmel in that regard. The first to enter the gate was Bannerman and Katie, they agreed to do some recruiting and would send a swan as soon as they were able to. They walked through the gate and though the swirling maelstrom still turned his stomach, Jazmel did not feel so ill as to vomit. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The next through were Patton and Gilmore, they would reach out when they could and promised to share anything they learned. Patton was smart and Gilmore was reserved but also very witty. They had begun to form a staunch friendship above the others and Jazmel was happy to see that Gil didn¡¯t feel alone. Finally, it was Jazmel, Sad¨¦ and Baek¡¯s turn. He stepped through first and Sad¨¦ and Baek followed him, they walked out into an open expanse it was an old city, ruinous and broken by war and time. The gate appeared from a simple arch and once they all had stepped through it was no longer present; the arch simply showed into a room without a roof. Jazmel looked around, it was easily too quiet for his liking and before he could take another step; his eyes caught Mana moving sharply in their direction. Just as he was turning, he jumped back; picking up Sad¨¦ and darting into the roofless room. Baek had leapt back also, moving so fast Jazmel had only seen him land beside him. ¡°An ambush and there is quite a lot of them.¡± Baek sighed, he drew his sword it was a beauty, it was about the length of hip to knee and the steel was so bright it was almost white under his eye. The Mana rippled along the blade and Jazmel knew right away that it was high tier III, far greater than his own swords. ¡°There are ten tier III Rankers here and then a larger group of Seekers. I will deal with the rankers; you must hold on till I can help you deal with the Seekers.¡± Baek said, he stepped forward, his white robes barely ruffled with his movement. White Crane This was the first time Baek had used a skill, he was gone. In a mist of white lit Mana, he disappeared. Jazmel only could tell where he was due to the uniqueness of his Mana and how used to Baek he was. He disappeared and then he was right at the other end of this set of buildings. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this lovely.¡± Someone said and looking up, Jazmel saw a man with a long-hafted axe perched on the fortifications of where a roof once lay. ¡°A young man clutching his pretty girlfriend.¡± Jazmel had still been holding Sad¨¦ and now he let her down, gently. She was hiding her face, but she was focused on the man. He jumped down and when he landed, the thud reverberated around them. he was strong, Jazmel could tell from the way his Mana coalesced in his centre. It was building but Jazmel could see it. Flight of the blue kite! He acted first, his blue bird of Mana buffeted the man, hitting his face. He wailed and whirling his axe above his head, he crashed it into the ground. Maddened smash! The ground around them shook with the skill and though Sad¨¦ didn¡¯t lose her footing, she stumbled. The man took this moment to dart forward at her. But Jazmel was quicker still, he had jumped into the attack catching the man with a shoulder barge; he knocked him off his trajectory. Whirlwind Slash! Slash With a flurry of skills, he bludgeoned the man down and he could see his body and clothes being cut up, but the man¡¯s eyes were keen and focused. He darted back from his closeness as he rose. Thunder crown He turned to catch a glimpse of Sad¨¦ creating her halo of thunder and throwing thunder at a group of other ambushers as they hurried in. he couldn¡¯t help her, but he trusted her with his back. He turned back; just in time to see the man raising up and raising his axe again, the darkened metal of the axe head glinted and then turned blood red. Wail of the Berserker Jazmel felt something clutch at his chest, and he watched as the man¡¯s Mana puffed up and flushed his body in a show of amplification. WARNING STATUS AFFLICTED! ¡­ ERROR ¡­ STATUS UNAFFLICTED ¡­ HEART OF THE SWORD ACTIVE (PASSIVE) His passive trait was unwavering but if he was safe, he imagined this was probably affecting Sad¨¦. He rushed at the man, who seemed to be surprised that he was unaffected. But he wasn¡¯t too shocked to not know how to react. Maddened smash! Maddened smash! He aimed his skills at Jazmel repeatedly but when Jazmel spun he whirled. His dexterity was high enough that his movement was fluid and full of grace. He carved this man up; he almost took his arm, but the berserker buff seemed to speed up his regeneration too. Jazmel hadn¡¯t accounted for that, his perception pooled around him and just as he was about to dive in for another dance with his sword, an arrow flew through the place where his head had just been. Great, archers too. He quickly looked and saw it was just one. But the bow was great, he was literally shooting bolts of pure Mana. Jazmel swivelled on his feet and bounded forward towards the archer. He hadn¡¯t expected him and before he could strum his bow again, Jazmel was on him. Cutting through him, the system chimed. But before he could look, it cost him the axe haft hit him in the back. Knocking him through the wall and crashing into another building. He heard Sad¨¦ cry his name, but he was already gone. WARNING! STATUS CONDITION; LOWER BACK CRACKED (minor) ¡­ STATUS CONDITION; FOUR RIBS CRACKED ¡­ STATUS CONDITION; INTERNAL BLEEDING (minor) WARNING HEALTH BELOW 40% He laughed and it hurt, blood seeped from between his lips. But he was no fool, he was hurt and even if the system told him the conditions were minor. He had been caught off guard; he fumbled for a potion and drinking deeply he felt his body knit itself back together. STATUS CONDITION; LOWER BACK HEALED ¡­ STATUS CONDITION; RIBS UNCRACKED ¡­ STATUS CONDITION; ORGANS UNRUPTURED He drank half of another and rose shakily to his feet. The man with the axe appeared in the crushed wall and smiled when he saw Jazmel. He was also bloody, but it seemed that the berserker skill was something that was propping him up and defending him from the worst of his attacks. ¡°you are strong little boy. I can tell, that¡¯s why I can¡¯t wait to kill you, I can tier up after this.¡± He told Jazmel through a snarling smile, but Jazmel simply waited for him. The man leapt into the building and crash his axe head into the ground. Maddened smash! Jazmel had seen enough of that skill; he leapt as the axe smashed into the ground and he landed in the radius of the axe; bewildered. The man lunged with a stray hand, but Jazmel was incensed; with a backward cut he carved through bone and wailing the man cried out in shock and pain. Slash! Slash!! ERROR CLEAVE Cleave? Jazmel didn¡¯t even have time to look at his skills, he simply used what was in his skill set. The man was haggard, desolate beneath Jazmel and his bladed battering. The berserker buff seemed to wane and leak from him, and Jazmel stepped over him as the man huffed a break, his body was fighting to try and regenerate but the damage was a lot. Jazmel cut off his head, not wanting to prolong his suffering. He dragged the axe into his storage and felt the weight of the weapon. He ran back into the previous building and saw Sad¨¦ suffering but holding her own. But there was no longer a need for that. He was there and he darted in, lethal. Hajime was an extension of him, a deadly extension and he cleaved a fatal streak from those that would have ambushed them. ¡°How are you three so strong?¡± the last man crumpled before him, he simply stepped away from him and felt him die, the Mana leaving the man in an exhale. Sad¨¦ herself had survived through grit and thunder. ¡°I got a lot of stat points from that group.¡± She said with a pain staked grin. He nodded, he imagined he probably got some things too. ¡°Oh, wait I got a new title!¡± she said checking her notifications. He took the moment to check his too. CONGRATULATIONS! SLASH TIER III HAS EVOLVED CLEAVE TIER I ¡­ EXP EARNED! LEVEL UP!! ¡­ +3 STR +3 VIT +3 END +3 DEX He smiled at that, those tier III Seekers had helped him a lot and he could only imagine how much Sad¨¦ had improved; she had defended herself against a hole group. He moved over to the archer and picking up the bow he waited for the system to do its work. TIER III BOW OF THE RANGER, +2 Mana added to arrows, random critical hit sometimes. That was interesting, the bow made him wonder about Saif and how she was doing. ¡°Have you heard from Saif?¡± he asked and Sad¨¦ nodded with a smile. ¡°She is well on her way to tier II.¡± Sad¨¦ said and she was still looking at her stats. ¡°I got a title for getting loot!¡± she said again, and he came over to her. ¡°What is it called?¡± he asked, and she smiled wryly. ¡°Marauding fox. Basically, I can pick up some of the loot of any monster of person I defeat. But it needs to tier up, at present; it is just at random at the moment.¡± He nodded at her explanation, the system reward those who overcame unfavourable odds. They left the building, looking for Baek; to see what he had made of the rankers and Jazmel saw Baek heading towards them, immaculate and at peace. Undisturbed, he always looked like that. Like he was part of nature, as if he seamlessly fit into the world. For Jazmel who considered strength to be personal and all ego. Baek made him wonder if what he thought was something separate. Time slowed down, Baek seemed to stop moving all together and Jazmel felt Sad¨¦ pause too. He looked around and everything had been stopped; he was outside of time, and he looked at his hands. His body slowed down way beyond what he knew his stats were. But Jazmel felt at peace in this slowness, his hand moved through the air that seemed to surround him, it wafted through the thickness and Jazmel nodded. Shocked his eyes focused on the mist; he saw small particles and even smaller beads of keen energy. He realised that he was seeing Mana; the form of it as it was around them at all times. But just as it started; it was gone, and it was just him beside Sad¨¦ and Baek. DING! YOU HAVE PERCEIVED MANA AS IT IS ¡­ +5 INT +5 PER ¡­ He smiled greatly; he had gained enlightenment towards Mana. Book 2 Chapter Twenty-Seven; Dogs of War, can also Hunt ¡°Keep running!¡± she shouted, and he did as she bid, but threw his skills out from the tip of his blade. they were running from great wolfhounds. The size of horses but they were no mere herbivore at all. They had tried to pick them apart as soon as Jazmel, Sad¨¦ and Baek had made it out of the boundary of the broken city. As they left; Jazmel could see the crater of the battle Baek had been in. there were no bodies there, but he could still feel the thickness and mastery of the Mana that had been incorporated into such skills. Even now after his perception and intelligence had been raised. he could feel Mana in a way he had never felt it before. It enveloped him and Jazmel was comfortable beneath its weight. But as soon as they had left the city, these wolves had waylaid them. great beasts of the dales and valleys around the city. Sad¨¦ had been the first to defeat one and called out that they were named ¡®Frenzy hounds¡¯ but he soon learned that the maddening they were under, bolstered their attacks and made them robust too. Cleave!! The new skill struck deeper and heavier than slash, he felt the Mana consumption being greater too. But he had bolstered that too; his Mana pool had deepened, and he also regenerated it faster since his enlightenment, it wasn¡¯t a great deal; it was just enough to edge it a little for him. One wolfhound burst into a gallop; keen on taking down Sad¨¦ from behind but Jazmel was there. As always to cover her. Cleave! He cut the head off of the hound as it bounded, and it crashed to the ground. He watched as the Mana left its body and he stabbed into the throat of a wolf that had snuck up on him from the side. He was about to whirl into another skill. But something white burst past him. Grabbing him around the waist; dazzling white Mana flew and grabbed for Sad¨¦ too. Who was wreathed in her crown of thunder. It almost buffeted Jazmel but the flying white being compressed it with its own Mana and bounding into the sky, leapt forward at a speed Jazmel could barely keep traction of. But from his position; high above the ground. He could see the entire area was swarming with wolfhounds. Waves and waves of them were running through the area and they would have been overwhelmed had they stayed where they were. The dazzling white being turned out to be Baek, who had perceived the wave before they had and swept in to save him and Sad¨¦. He brought them up to a high ridge that oversaw the entire vale, and he watched as the wolfhounds swarmed. ¡°If we do not do something their might be a gate break.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel raised his hands in uncertainty. ¡°what can we do? You literally just saved our lives.¡± He asked and Baek laughed. ¡°Watch from here, if you were high tier Rankers, I wouldn¡¯t have intervened. But this is too much for you, right now anyway.¡± He back stepped off the ridge ledge and plummeted before he stepped on the air, Jazmel watched with his eyes of the divine and saw Mana build beneath his feet as he bounded through the air back to where the wolves were. Night of the white moon A gargantuan orb of pure white Mana appeared above an outstretched hand of Baek¡¯s the wolfhounds seemed to notice it then, but he had already sent it to the ground. The orb was large already, like the size of a round shield; though obviously spherical. But it expanded greatly until it was almost like a small pale moon made up entirely of Mana. It descended and engulfed the entire ground. Decimated the wolfhounds; they winked out of existence and Jazmel watched as the entire vale collapsed in on itself, a rent of what once had been just showed a gaping hole in the landscape. ¡°He is truly powerful.¡± Sad¨¦ whispered beside him, and Jazmel had to agree, he had always known that Baek was immeasurably powerful; but he had never seen him use a skill. In truth, he had never had a need. But seeing a skill from a Master tier, moved something in Jazmel. He knew that Baek was stronger than him, but now he felt like he knew by how much. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. CONGRATULATIONS! RETAINER BAEK HAS LEVELLED UP!! BAEK LVL 113 YOU HAVE PREVENTED A GATE BREAK! VARYING REWARDS WILL BE OFFERED CHOOSE; Without thinking he picked title and waited to see what the system would offer him. ¡­ TITLE CHOSEN ¡­ NEW TITLE; GLARE OF THE DRAKE, all are prey beneath your gaze! Weak willed will be enthralled for 3 seconds. Jazmel smiled at that immediately. That was a clever idea, he accepted it and swapped out the serpent slayer title. From the ridge they waited, and Jazmel watched as Baek skipped along the Mana steps he created for himself as he made his way back up to the ledge. ¡°That might be the most powerful move I have seen.¡± Jazmel declared and Baek nodded a thanks. ¡°In truth, it is one of my strongest skills, it still is only tier II. But I sundered it many times to get it this powerful.¡± He explained and Jazmel grit his teeth with motivation. ¡°We ready to move?¡± Jazmel asked and the others made ready to leave. The vale had been huge; lustrous green grass danced in the wind, fields of it overlapping one another in the distance. The trees were thick trunked, and leaves hid their branches from Jazmel¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t know the species, but they grew to magnificent heights and some older ones seemed to even brush the cliff face of the ledge. ¡°This place is huge!¡± Sad¨¦ said, saying exactly as Jazmel thought himself. ¡°You will realise that each floor in the gates are larger than countries back on earth. Sometimes, they are as large as continents which is more common than you think.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel considered his words; the places they had been were always huge sprawling lands. Places truly diverse and well maintained by the denizens or residents of the gate. But he hadn¡¯t actually considered the size of boundary inside each gate. ¡°Can you judge where a gate will appear?¡± Jazmel asked and both Sad¨¦ and Baek looked at him interested by his question. ¡°Nobody has that knowledge.¡± Baek confirmed and Jazmel nodded. ¡°So how did those Seekers know to set up an ambush?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek realising what he was considering shook his head before explaining. ¡°From what I deduced, they were probably looting the ruins and when we appeared. They heard us and reacted, just like we did. But instead, they had a bigger group than us. Luckily, we were stronger, but that is not always the case. We might meet someone stronger than me during our travels. You never know what to expect in the labyrinth and I need you both to always be prepared for that. If you have to run, run. If you have to escape, do that too. Always preserve your life, thankfully we have a base now. So, we can just return to the outpost. Make sure you make it back, if and when you can.¡± He looked them both in their eyes, making sure they understood how serious this was for him. They began to descend from the ledge, working their way back down towards the floor of the vales and dales. ¡°Baek, how many rankers did you fight?¡± Sad¨¦ asked and Jazmel who was leading from the front, was listening intently. ¡°There were six, one had a particular stealth class. I almost missed it, but at the last minute; when they were about to drive a knife into my back. I felt the Mana of their skill, I don¡¯t think they realised I was master tier. Till they already were in amidst the attacks.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel whistled in awe. The ridge was a gravelly path that descended from a high ledge, down into a gorge of such a depth that Jazmel soon found out what a frog in a well felt like. the gorge led to an awning gaping cave mouth which was so wide across that market could feel a strong wind, almost pulling him inside. ¡°that is a tomb, can you both feel the Mana seeping from it?¡± Baek asked and as he said it, Jazmel could feel the particles of Mana fluttering around him in fluctuating wind. But Jazmel did not waver, he stepped forward and entered the darkness, but his eyes of divine. He didn¡¯t feel difference and once they stepped through the entrance and into the large tomb entrance, it was surprisingly well lit. WELCOME! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE TOMB OF THE CLAY EMPEROR ¡­ CONQUER THE TOMB REWARDS; The system chimed up in front of his eyes and he skimmed the information before flicking it out of sight. There was an emperor in the tomb, he was sure that would be the boss of the domain. He settled his thoughts, eased his heart, and pushed forward. Book 2 Chapter Twenty-Eight; Tomb of the Clay Emperor The tomb was huge in design, it was like an ornate and ancient mine that had been excavated and maintained auspiciously. There wasn¡¯t a stone out of place, nor a brick incorrect. Jazmel looked around and couldn¡¯t help but be bewildered by the size of the tomb. He wondered how deep this went but also what they could or would find in this tomb. His eyes picked up a movement beyond a wall; as they moved down the tunnel he caught movement, a jump of Mana in the wall, he quickly took a backstep and watched as massive axe head fell from the ceiling; straight into the ground. The axe head had been so thin that Jazmel almost missed it, and it fell into the ground seamlessly. If he had not seen the Mana mechanism in the wall. He would have been cut in half. ¡°Traps in a tomb.¡± He muttered and Sad¨¦ and Baek who had been walking behind him listened, but simply grew wary. More traps activated but his eyes always allowed him to react before they could do any damage. Jazmel was prepared for them and the first three tunnels that descended further into the tomb. The traps stopped abruptly, and this drew his attention. ¡°Keep your wits about you.¡± Baek whispered to them both and Jazmel knew he was right, something was coming. He could feel it in the air, it was tense, curt, and full of friction. Thumping steps could be heard and as he rounded the corner he was shocked to see a military army. There before him, Sad¨¦ and Baek were an army of clay soldiers. Their faces held no emotion, and they stood perfectly in unit and troop formation they were complete copies of each other, the only difference were the arms they carried. Some clutched swords, others spears and behind them in a different unit formation; they were archers. The weapons were not made of clay at all, they were cold clean steel and Jazmel could see that the sword blades were well maintained. Whirlwind! He threw into their formation, and it threw them into disarray. TIER II CLAY SOLDIER X7 DEFEATED EXP EARNED! He shook his head and the notification screen disappeared from view. The soldiers were unfazed by the broken clay parts that previously made up some of their formation. They stepped over the broken bodies; some even crushed the broken clay of their one-time army mates without disturbing the formation that stepped forward. Thunderfire Thunderbolt Thunderfire! Sade jumped into the fray and cast her skills immediately into the formation and the clay was bombarded. She continued to cast her skills about her, volley after volley and the formation units fell beneath her onslaught. Jazmel simply guarded her and for the few arrows that were aimed at her, he cut them out of the air. She destroyed the three formation units that had attacked them, and she hadn¡¯t even used a kitsune tail or her thunder crown. She was truly growing stronger, he smiled at her, and he waited for her to check her stats, she clearly gained some for the decimation she had just created. ¡°You have grown strong.¡± Baek complimented Sad¨¦ and she grinned, not shy at all. But happy for the affirmation. ¡°continue through the tomb.¡± Baek offered and Jazmel led again, they were mobbed by two more units of three troops. But after figuring out the best way to move forward, Jazmel would draw them in and then Sad¨¦ would crush them with her bombardment. The next formation was different, this group were stronger. The Mana core that Jazmel had spotted imbedded in the chest of every single soldier was much stronger. This one was presenting much more dense Mana; it was complicated in a way Jazmel had seen in few monsters. Only tier III monsters bore this much Mana. DING! TIER III CAPTAIN OF THE CLAY EMPEROR HAS APPEARED! CAPTAINS ENSURE THAT THEIR TROOPS ARE DILIGENT ALL CLAY SOLDIERS WILL HAVE THEIR STRENGTH BOOSTED BY 15% The system note tolled in front of his eyes and he flicked it off screen to watch as a clay horseman thrust his spear at Jazmel and Sad¨¦, the soldiers that surrounded the horseman in a defensive shell rushed forward. Emboldened by someone to manage the forces. Thunder crown! Sad¨¦ was already relentless with her skill, thunder and fire seemed to work wonders on the clay soldiers, they were turned to glass from the high heat of her skills and also some just burst from the pressure of her attacks. She was lethal for them, and Jazmel only had to stop them from closing the distance. The horseman sheathed his sword and from the saddle pulled a great bow from beneath its thigh. It drew it back and Jazmel could tell how tort the string of the bow actually was. He managed to put himself between the arrow and Sad¨¦. But by the time he recovered from deflecting it, more arrows were flying through the sky. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Get the captain! I can protect myself for now!!¡± she told him, pulling the thunder she had imbedded into her crown around her. Great daggers of lightning struck the ground, and the arrows could not get through. Jazmel was moving, quicker than before; his dexterity and agility stats were at a healthy point, and he could feel them pushing his body with its need. In seconds he was in amongst them, and cutting through the clay soldiers was nothing for his sword. But he pulled his sword free of the bodies and leapt in the air to reach the horseman before he could cast another round of arrows. Cleave! He swung his blade, filled with the Mana of his skill, and struck out. But he didn¡¯t manage to reach the captain as he had hoped. In desperation a clay soldier launched its body in the way of the skill and Jazmel crashed through it creating clayed debris all around; he closed his eyes to not be hit with the clay, but he was struck midair and knocked to the ground. WARNING! STATUS CONDITION; BRUISED SOLAR PLEXUS STATUS CONDITION; DIZZY DEXTERITY WILL BE HAMPERED The system rung in his head and without his eyes, he saw in his mind the status afflictions he was suffering. But he rose up quickly; he was stuck in the middle of the troop, and he could already feel the soldiers moving on him in masse. But his new clothes held out. The defences holding up and he felt little trickles of his Mana leaving him as it repaired and buffed his clothes from the attack. Rising to a knee, he lazily swung out his skill. Whirlwind! As they were close to him, the devastation was wrought. Soldiers flailed around him in the air; crashing into one another and creating an even greater cloud of broken clay and sand. Whirlwind! He churned up the debris, creating a massive sandstorm and it began pulling soldiers into its vortex. He moved quickly, moving around it he bounded towards the captain; made of clay as he was and struck him. Cleave! He took an arm when he had aimed for a neck. But it would suffice, he cut the bow in half, and he watched as it crumpled to the ground. Broken, and no longer a threat. he landed beside the horse¡¯s head, and it reached out to bite him he dodged and then as it reared to kick him. He cut off its head; it crashed down and as it sunk towards the floor; with a backhanded swing he took off the captain¡¯s head. DING! TIER III CLAY CAPTAIN DEFEATED TROOPS ARE IN DISARRAY ALL CLAY SOLDIERS WILL BE ENTHRALLED FOR 3 SECONDS! Jazmel gleefully looked at this notification and taking the time he used his title too. Forcing Mana from his stomach; the spot below it where he knew his Mana resided and drawing it into his eyes. He felt them change in that moment, he couldn¡¯t see them but the way he usually perceived Mana changed for a split second and then he winced from the exertion, the moment changed, and his eyes went back to normal, but his head pounded from the strangeness of what he had just tried to do. DING! ENEMIES ENTHRALLED FOR 3 SECONDS The sandstorm had begun to dwindle but not before Sad¨¦ cast her favoured skill on it. the fire melted it and turned it into an artistic creation of burnished glass of clear and ruddy brown in some places. The thunder destroyed it, shattering the towering masterpiece and all the soldiers that had been swept up in it. DING! TIER II CLAY SOLDIERS X94 DEFEATED EXP EARNED Jazmel had been waiting for that notification and for the moment he settled down and looked at the notifications he had missed. EXP EARNED! ¡­ +2 VIT +2 DEX +2 AGL +1 PER +1 INT It had been a while since he looked at all of his stats, he raised his screen up and looked. Name: Jazmel Level: 53 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier III Class: Sword Scion Health: 923/1725 Stamina: 540/1270 Mana: 765/1210 STR:70 PER:70 VIT:65 END:65 INT:74 WIL:61 AGL:68 DEX:69 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 4X PLATINUM COINS 647X WHITE GOLD COINS 127X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE DWARVEN COIN 10X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 10X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER III SABRE OF THE DEADENING TIER II SHORT SWORD SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 12 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 He drank two potions, a health, and stamina potion. He felt the health potion disperse around his body and the dull ache he felt from his sudden movements and frantic moments soothed. The stamina potion worked in tandem with the potion. Easing his muscles and quickening the recovery his body was working through. His vitality was quite high and so he usually recovered well, but the tomb was filled with traps and soldiers; he wasn¡¯t recovering as quick as he¡¯d like. Book 2 Chapter Twenty-Nine; Chamber of the Clay Emperor It had been a few hours since they had entered the tomb of the clay emperor, even further since their last conflict with the clay soldiers that made up the tomb guardians of the emperor. The captain had been tier III and Jazmel wondered how strong the foes and monsters would be further into the labyrinth. Baek had been travelling alongside them and since they had entered the tomb, he hadn¡¯t intervened and had left Sad¨¦ and Jazmel to oversee the clay soldiers and officers that attacked them. Jazmel had defeated three captains so far and gained a great deal of stats and exp from it. Sad¨¦ had probably gained even more than Jazmel in this tomb; she had decimated the forces in droves. Her skills were the exact weakness of these monsters and every time they tried to use their numbers on them. she simply swept them away with either thunder or fire. The last unit had been trumped and now the next few corridors that descended further into the tomb were traps, arrows shot from walls, floors fell away leaving gaping holes with no bottom that Jazmel could see; even with his Mana enhanced sight. The traps were just not strong enough to catch them off guard and they moved through easily. DING! CONTINUOUS MANA USAGE +3 PER +2 INT The system was empowering him, and he nodded in thanks, the notification screen disappeared with his head nod. After the last few traps, Jazmel found that there was nothing ahead of them. Dead silence from behind and also forward. He looked around seeking out Mana, but he found none. ¡°You have come before the bosses room.¡± Baek explained and they rounded a corner and found a large doorway, gilded gold with eastern dragons spiralling up and down the doorframe and on the actual doors there was the emperor embellished in gold and gilded into the door on the left and on the right the door; which was slightly ajar. Was the armies there were the soldiers, the captains and then there were two figures Jazmel hadn¡¯t seen anywhere inside the tomb just yet. The door was ajar a little and Jazmel squeezed himself between it and pushed it open wider to make space for Sad¨¦ and Baek. The actual tomb was a treasure trove; the chamber itself was a giant hexagon and dark green banners hung from each segmented side of the wall. Dragons threaded with gold fluttered up and down on each banner. Beneath the banners; seemed to be the wealth of the emperor in his death, he had brought all his treasures with him. Pots the size of cauldrons were filled with gold and white gold coins. Items of opulence and then others radiated with the energy of Mana too. Jazmel couldn¡¯t believe what he was seeing around them. But the joy of his findings ended there, before them were the broken and dead bodies of a party who had clearly made it to the chamber. Three laid dead not too far from where Jazmel and Sad¨¦ stood, the other two members of the party were doing their best to fight off two clay soldiers that were much stronger than the soldiers and captains. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON FINDING THE CHAMBER OF THE EMPEROR ¡­ DEFEAT THE CLAY GUARDIANS EARN THE RIGHT TO THE WEALTH OF THE TOMB! The notifications popped up and Jazmel read them quickly. So, they were the guards of the tomb, the last of the tomb¡¯s defences. Which Jazmel could tell they were strong and the Mana pouring from them certified what he had already guessed. Thunderfire! Thunderbolt! Thunder crown!! Sad¨¦ dove into action and cast her skills and he watched as her eyes flickered, and he realised she was looking at the system. Thunder inferno! Thunderstrike!! Her moves had evolved, and she was using them immediately, the two seekers before them were deeply injured and as soon as Jazmel and Sad¨¦ leapt in, the guards relented their assault on them. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! TIER III GUARDIAN OF THE LEFT! TIER III GUARDIAN OF THE RIGHT! The system flashed in his eyes. The guardian on the left was whirling a spear that had a point at both ends. Blocking the thunder skills that Sad¨¦ was hurling at them. the spear was taller than it but the way it moved it around its body, Jazmel could tell it was extremely well skilled with it. the other guardian; of the right. Carried a curved sabre and a thick circle shield, its armour was thick too; both of theirs and Jazmel kissed his teeth. The armour was not made of clay like the others they had seen in the tomb, these guardians were covered in actual armour. The two survivors of the other party were strong but heavily injured. Jazmel threw two health potions at the closest one; a woman who was about his height and quite muscular. He ran at the spear wielding guard and drawing his sword and fought him. Flight of the blue kite! Cleave! Cleave! He struck with his skills, making sure to try and create distance and the guardian leapt back from each strike. None actually doing any damage, but the threat was enough that it decided it needed to deal with him immediately. The shield user was bearing down on Sad¨¦; she was protecting the two survivors with her thunder, and they were healing as best as they could. Jazmel hadn¡¯t been aware just how grievously they had been wounded and he wondered how dangerous these guardians actually were. He poked at the spear user, trying to keep its attention. It stabbed out at him, and he dodged to the left, using the movement to lash out; it reminded him of a biting viper, and he felt the blade graze the shoulder and neck of the guardian before glancing off the armour. The clay creations did not have any features beyond eyes. Which were soulless and hollow, there was no emotion. This monster was just doing its best. The shield user had pushed forward under the guard of its shield. It had survived the onslaught and Jazmel was worried about Sad¨¦; but she was able to hold herself. He used the shield to bash Sad¨¦ out of the way. He slashed across the guard of the lead girl; someone who was trying to protect her damaged friend. it tried to cut her again, but she blocked it with her left arm and the sabre bounced off. Jazmel used his eyes and he saw her entire left arm was weaved in an intricate creation of Mana. He hadn¡¯t seen anything like that before and Jazmel was shocked about it, but he didn¡¯t stop what he was doing. He ran to check on Sad¨¦, she had been knocked into a pile of pots filled to the brim with gold coins. He appeared beside her, and she yelled out raising her hand and turning to see what she was looking at. In the split second he guarded himself with his katana and he heard the sound of dread. The sound that morbidly broke his heart. The sound of Hajime breaking where the sabre struck it across the blade. the blade took the harsher part of the attack. But he was knocked to the side and his chest was left open and there the guardian of the right struck him with the shield bashing him across the chest and knocking him away. WARNING! STATUS CONDITION; RIGHT SHOULDER BLADE CRACKED (minor) HEALTH AT 67% He groaned and rising up on hands and knees; he drank a health potion quickly and didn¡¯t even look at the shield user but simply swapped swords and put the broken haft of Hajime in his storage ring and then drew Nozarashi instead. He still managed to rise up before Sad¨¦ and moved over to her. He helped her up, just as he heard the girl cry out. ¡°No!¡± looking over he saw that the girl was watching her friend as the spear user stabbed her friend who had not recovered properly. The spear user had made it over to the wounded seeker and stabbed deeply into their heart. Piercing the heart, Jazmel watched as he died, his breath rushing through his lips as if he were exhaling quickly and Jazmel closed his eyes sadly. Radical crash! The girl with the Mana arm punched the spear user as hard as she could, and it caught the guardian square in the chest. It crashed back across the chamber of the tomb. The guardian of the right tried to stop her, but Sad¨¦ was there, and she caught it from behind with her skills. Thunderstrike! ¡°Go!¡± she yelled, and Jazmel knew what to do. He bolted through the madness of the chamber and rushing over to the spear user. He cut through its arm and with his other hand, he pulled the spear from its hand and stabbed down into its chest to keep it stuck to the ground. Cleave! He carved through its head with his skill; killing it and for sure measure the clay soldier crumpled and broke apart where it lay. He turned to see the shield soldier rushing at Sad¨¦ and he noticed Baek remaining at the door, simply watching them all fight. ¡°Hey!¡± he heard, and he noticed the girl running towards the shield user from behind. ¡°Throw it!!¡± she said, and he realised what she meant, he tossed the spear user into the air; in her direction and she leapt into the air. It felt like time slowed down and he watched as she caught the spear deftly; before descending from her height and stabbed down into the neck and shoulder of the shield user. Piercing it through its entire body. It broke where it stood, body shattering from the strength of her attack. The body broke apart and the shield and the sabre fell about the mound of clay that remained where the body had last stood. DING! TIER III GUARDIAN OF THE LEFT DEFEATED! TIER III GUARDIAN OF THE RIGHT DEFEATED! THE TOMB OF THE CLAY EMPEROR HAS BEEN CONQUERED!! REWARDS WILL YOU CHOOSE? Y/N Book 2 Chapter Thirty; Broken, but not desolate ¡°Hey, thank you.¡± The girl said and Jazmel watched as she drank three potions down and her body began to heal itself. he watched as her deep cuts closed up on their own and before when her shoulders were slouched, and she looked sort of haggard. Now she was standing at her height, she was easily six foot and now that she stood before him; he could see that she was extremely muscular and well built. It was the girl who was now the sole survivor of her party who spoke first. She was wearing a lithe body suit and when she approached them, and Jazmel could see her; he could see her arm was actually mechanical. Bionic in creation, and that was so interesting for Jazmel to see, he had not seen anything of that likeness in the labyrinth so far. She saw him studying her arm and she raised it to show Jazmel in the light of the chamber. ¡°Yeahhh, the arm is new. I lost my arm on the first floor but was lucky enough to get this on the second floor. It¡¯s a bionic Mana creation which grows alongside me.¡± She explained and Jazmel stepped a little close to look at the arm, but Sad¨¦ cleared her throat ever so slightly and he tensed. Realising just where he truly was. ¡°Sorry for your loss. They were truly tough; those guardians almost got the better of us.¡± Sad¨¦ offered and the girl nodded, looking at her party members her face flashed with the painful memories. ¡°The leader of the party was an idiot, he rushed in here without even noticing the guardians. They killed him first, the shock of his death is what turned the tables on us, he was the leader and the heart of the team. Once he died, everyone else were so stunned; they couldn¡¯t respond properly.¡± She explained and Jazmel nodded understanding, he hadn¡¯t lost any of his party but the thought of it alone was enough to quicken his heartbeat. But he was grateful that he learned his lesson here too. He needed to keep getting stronger and quickly too, there was something about this loss that motivated him, even when he did not know anything about this party. ¡°What will you do now?¡± Sad¨¦ asked the girl and she simply looked at the corpses of her friends. ¡°I should bury them; they shouldn¡¯t be left in this tomb.¡± She said and made to pick up one of her friends. ¡°I am Timone by the way.¡± She introduced herself and Sad¨¦ responded ¡°We are Sad¨¦ and Jazmel, we are part of the black wing faction.¡± She said and Jazmel smiled, she motioned a wave and then beckoned at Baek, ¡°and him?¡± she asked. ¡°He is a mentor for us.¡± Jazmel offered, not really knowing how to explain his relationship with Baek. Who simply smiled and inclined his head. ¡°So, your faction has a master tier and extraordinarily strong seekers. Anyone else?¡± she asked, Jazmel nodded; he liked how upfront and direct she was. ¡°We have a few others, but they are out on their own tasks.¡± Jazmel explained and she nodded thoughtfully. ¡°Well, are you guys hiring?¡± she asked, and Jazmel shrugged. ¡°Are you interested?¡± she laughed, mirthlessly but also a little sad. ¡°Well, an opening just appeared in my life, a truly insane person would pick to continue through the labyrinth on their own. But what are the conditions of joining this faction?¡± she asked Jazmel and before he could respond, Sad¨¦ answered. ¡°The black wing faction are just a faction who plan to continue through the labyrinth.¡± Sad¨¦ answered and Timone nodded. ¡°but to what end?¡± she asked, and she folded her arms and Jazmel couldn¡¯t help but study the beauty of the bionic arm. ¡°We are aiming to go to the end. The black wing faction want to travel the whole labyrinth.¡± Jazmel said and as soon as he said it he realised something in his heart shifted. DING! FACTION PLOT! TRAVERSE THE LABYRINTH! ¡­ ALL NEW GATES AND WORLDS FOUND WILL OFFER GREATER BOUNTIES! Jazmel watched as the notification popped up for both Sad¨¦ and Baek. He sighed, why did he have to say that aloud. ¡°I take it, you got a quest just now then. Well, if you need someone. I am happy to join, I will pull my weight. Offer my share too.¡± She explained and Jazmel looked at Sad¨¦, she nodded. Baek simply inclined his head. Jazmel willed the system to appear before him and offered a retainer position to Timone immediately. She accepted and whistled, ¡°You didn¡¯t say you were the faction leader!¡± he simply shrugged, and she smiled before seeing the system notifications regarding the faction. Baek went over to hear and while Jazmel couldn¡¯t hear what they discussed. He watched as Baek gave her a talisman of a sort which pulled in the corpses of her fallen party members and then encased them in a card which she placed in a storage ring. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Look at your notifications for the tomb now.¡± Baek told them and Jazmel flicked the system screen back up into view. DING! YOU HAVE CONQUERED THE TOMB AND FOUND THE WEALTH OF THE EMPEROR YOU MAY CLAIM THE REWARDS YOU SEE BEFORE YOU! ¡­ REWARDS ALSO! Jazmel thought about it and winced at the pain, he looked at his belt and remembered that Hajime had been broken by that last attack by the guardian and he couldn¡¯t help but admit that he felt a severe feeling of pain. Hajime had been the first sword he had bought and with it he had been able to use two skills in one slot. He hadn¡¯t expected it to break, but here he was holding the hilt and barely a hand of the blade left. He sheathed it and then stored it in his ring. His belt felt a small light with it just bearing Nozarashi, but for now. It would have to do for the time being. He picked the item option and from the system a thumping heart appeared! DING! ¡­ TIER II HEART OF THE TYRANT, a heart of the Nephilim. A strong heart for a strong body! Jazmel read the notes of the system and shuddered as the heart thumped in his hand. He wasn¡¯t aware of what Sad¨¦ or Timone picked but he walked over to Baek and showed him what was in his hand. Baek simply nodded and clearing his throat he said. ¡°The Nephilim are strong; they reside deeper in the labyrinth. Incredibly strong giants; though smaller than some other giants you will see in the labyrinth; they are Mana enhanced. Bigger than humans with the strength of giants. They are incredibly hardy, that is a great item. The labyrinth seems to bless you very well.¡± He offered to Jazmel who listened intently. He was about to put it away and continue to try and store or gain as much as he could from the tomb, like Timone and Sad¨¦ were doing. ¡°I will only warn you that the stronger the items that the labyrinth provides you, the harder your journey will be. The labyrinth will provide great rewards for high risks. Remember that.¡± He explained and Jazmel nodded, he thought better of waiting and took out the tyrant heart again. DING! TIER II HEART OF THE TYRANT WILL YOU USE? Y/N Yes. He thought and the item disappeared, he felt a tingle in his chest, at first it was small; it felt like a small itch. But then it grew steadily, and he felt the pain imbed into his chest, above his heart. It was almost as if it was consuming him. ¡­ BODY UNDERGOING TRANSFORMATION He system sung through his mind, but right now he was just focusing on trying to stay conscious. The pain caused him to grit his teeth and clench his fists. He even felt his palms begin to bleed, but the pain was still ridiculous. I was feeling inertia and vertigo, at the same time. He had to anchor himself with his thoughts and bear the pain, the pain that felt like a nail was being driven through his heart began to thump to the rhythm of a heartbeat and with each strike to his heart. It rippled and echoed around his body; at first it was just his heart and then it expanded and grew and continuously stretched until he felt it thrumming in his fingertips. Surprisingly, after he got somewhat used to the pain, he began to feel that his heartbeat was growing stronger also; gradually. ¡­ TIER II HEART OF THE TYRANT ASSIMILATED SYMBIOSIS CREATED! ¡­ +15 INT +10 STR +8 END +6 VIT ¡­ +5 WIL That last one was due to him surviving the transformation, he knew that much. He rose up onto shaky legs and waited for his body to acclimatise to this new change. While he did, he began to pull the pots and jewels nearest to him into his satchel, while pulling some coins into his storage ring too. He didn¡¯t even have a chance to count any yet, but he didn¡¯t need to. Instead, he just tried to pull as much as he could into his storage before they left. Jazmel had all but cleared his area before Baek stopped them all. ¡°We have taken enough now; greed has seen to the death of many a seeker or master. Let us find our exit now.¡± He beckoned for them to begin searching around and they did find one, behind one of the great dragon banners. As they were searching Jazmel decided that the faction would need one, once they left the tomb he would reach out and check in with the others. The tomb exit was a gate, a small mine tunnel frame but the gate was the colour of green light that swirled slowly inward and invited them in; they stepped through. Book 2 Chapter Thirty-One; a Frog in the well Jazmel stepped through the gate as the last of the four. Timone and Sad¨¦ were standing to the side and Baek was appreciating the sunlight now that they were outside of the tomb. The gate had opened up onto a singular, yet large boulder; which laid on a beach shore. He looked back and couldn¡¯t see the indent of the gate or anything. To anyone who noticed them, it probably looked like they had just appeared out of nothing. The labyrinth never seemed to stop amazing him and he wasn¡¯t shocked but simply amazed. The beach shore was huge and for nothing but miles, Jazmel could see nothing but the stoney beach shore was nothing but waves and stones. The wind was brisk here, he could feel it but there was no sign of life at all. A high ledge bridged the seashore and without leaping up onto it, Jazmel could see no other way off the shore side. They walked for an hour, then two and then three. Jazmel was ravenous, he hadn¡¯t packed food, but Sad¨¦ share what Melle had given to her for the journey and Jazmel didn¡¯t even check to see what it was before stuffing his face. TIER I FROST RAM MEAT CONSUMED! ¡­ 10% VIT BUFF FOR 1 HOUR He almost choked when he saw the screen flash in front of him. A buff from food? He hadn¡¯t even been aware something like this could happen. He sipped the mead she had made too and smiled as another notification flashed in his face. TIER I MANA HONEYMEAD CONSUMED! 10% INT BUFF FOR 1 HOUR He drank his feel and topped up the buff before finishing off the sandwich he had been gifted. Sad¨¦ shared them amongst them all and Baek thanked her but declined, saying they should keep their own resources as it would do nothing for him. Timone ate almost as ravenously as Jazmel and when she noticed them watching her, she declared that they had been in the tomb for four days. Barely having any time to rest. Jazmel didn¡¯t know how long they had been in the labyrinth, but he didn¡¯t think it had been that long at all. They pushed through and then midway through the third hour did the ledge decrease and they were able to move inland. They travelled quickly in a four-point unit; Jazmel leading from the front, his eyes allowing him to see and spot the smallest of things concerning Mana. Behind him and on his left ran Sad¨¦, she was keeping look over his shoulder and to the left. Timone ran beside him on the right, she was all power and strength and though there was a grace to her run, it wasn¡¯t nimble at all. But behind them, simply floating through the land; was Baek. Who effortlessly kept up behind them and simply looked like he was merely sightseeing. Inland was cold, Jazmel could tell it was going to get colder, they were running through rocky outcrops and slate land. There were no trees or mountains around and to Jazmel it looked like someone had shattered or smashed a mountain and the debris that made up the landscape was what was left. All around them snow fell, it was faint at first, but the further they headed in. the heavier it fell and soon the frost was almost in their bones. ¡°Do not let the weather consume you, use your Mana to warm your bodies. Focus on the Mana moving through your body. Temper yourself with it; let it warm your body against the storm.¡± Baek called from where he was running and looking at him, Jazmel noticed that while the snow fell all around him; it didn¡¯t touch or land on him. It was like it was evading him and Jazmel surmised he was using Mana to create a dome of warmth about himself. Jazmel focused on Mana and using his eyes as a focus he perceived the Mana around him and tried to force his body to warm itself. he tried a few times and only after almost shivering, he felt his body will warmth into it and his Mana immediately knew what to do. DING! MANA CIRCULATION IMPROVED! +2 PER He smiled and the focus almost wavered, but he sunk back inward and let it move around him, he tried to use his breathing to create a rhythm and let his body push the warmth about him after each heartbeat. The ground continued to be slate and rock, but his dexterity was at such a level. That he was always balanced, and he could move at his top speed without much issue, no matter how bad the ground was, his eyes could keep up with his body too; thankfully. Mana appeared in his peripheral, and he smiled at the thought of finally finding something or someone. They had been travelling for almost six hours and this was the first sign of life they had seen. ¡°Stay ready.¡± He called, it wasn¡¯t loud, but he was sure they could all hear him. They were all tier III seekers and Baek was even stronger than them. he wondered what his stats were like. ¡°ROARRR¡± Over a rocky jagged piece that stuck out of the ground at an odd angle, a white form burst through the air, arms raised, and fists clenched. The three seekers darted out of the way as it crashed into the ground where they would have been before. It was all white furred and the face reminded Jazmel of a bear but different, but there was no time to consider what to do, they were in a fight. It was taller than Jazmel, standing at eight feet. Even in its size, it seemed like it was stocky for its size; extremely wide in the shoulders and muscles coiled around its limbs in true show of strength. Its beady eyes were ice blue and sneering at Jazmel. Flight of the blue kite! ¡­ ERROR He had forgotten that the skill was tied to Hajime. The skill didn¡¯t happen, and the white furred bear man rammed its shoulder into him. Knocking him off his feet and sending him flying. He drew Nozarashi and stabbed it into the ground to stop himself from damaging anything else. That simple attack had taken almost ten percent off his health. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Thunderfire Radical crash! Timone and Sad¨¦ were attacking the thing from both sides, he rushed back in and slid forward before striking deeply with his sword. He rolled out of the way of its clawed swipe but in its aggression against him, it had forgotten about Sad¨¦. Firebolt! Thunderfire! In one hand she threw thunder and in the other she threw fire. She cast them at the thing, and it wailed a growl of pain and suffering. Jazmel leapt up and took its head, without uttering a skill. It fell and died as it crashed to the ground. TIER II FROST YETI KILLED Tier II and it took all three of them to bring it down? Jazmel grinned, the roar seemed to have awoken the whole area as his eyes darted about him and he watched as others appeared from above, around and near their position. ¡°Get ready guys.¡± He bid them. Thunder crown The familiar skill, Sad¨¦ pulled thunder from the sky and then wrapped her head with a tiara of power. Ion form He heard and looking over he saw Timone burning Mana from her arm solely. It moved through her body and then erupted around her arm. The Mana took an ember tinge, it reminded Jazmel of dawn but also the embers of a dying fire. The frost yeti¡¯s that rushed them were numerous and before he could even study Timone¡¯s fighting again they rushed him. the first one, he was ready for it. Jazmel cut through the under arm as it swiped over his head, he twirled beneath it and cut its muscles to ribbons with his blade. Cleave! He cut off the arm and it dropped in front of him and then clutching its bloody stump the yeti roared and wailed a cry of morose pain. But it disappeared from view as the others rushed at him. But he was in a fight, he was always cool in a fight. His passive trait always carried him through, and he marvelled at it even now. Cleave! Cleave! Cleave! He threw his skill around driving them back so they couldn¡¯t mob him, he pushed through them bloodying their white fur and darkening his blade. Nozarashi cut through anything he struck with his intent. There was no lag and he realised how different it felt using it now that Hajime was broken. Whirlwind! He churned the snow up around them, the snow pounded down onto the yetis, and they growled and snapped at each other, blinded by his skill. He focused on them, and he felt his eyes twinge and his title flickered in his mind, he remembered the new title he had gained. DING! YOUR ENEMIES ARE ENTHRALLED FOR 3 SECONDS Jazmel rushed into the turmoiled whirlwind and began carving up the yetis in front of him. By the time his whirlwind had died down, he had already killed the others. He turned to see how his friends were doing and could see the charred and burned bodies lying around Sad¨¦¡¯s feet. He noticed that she had released her tails too. He counted and noticed she had five! She had gained another tail, he wondered what her plot had been and what that meant for her. But for now, they were in battle, his interest would have to wait. He turned to look and saw that Timone stood trying to catch her breath while her arm spewed steam from it. around her were broken yeti bodies and craters broken from her blows and strikes. He walked over to her, and she swigged deeply from a Mana potion, this let her stand up; but she was still tired. She drank a stamina potion and then a man potion, when she noticed him standing beside her. She explained herself through haggard breaths. ¡°Ion form is where stamina and Mana merge to create power, it¡¯s something I can do because of the symbiosis of my arm and my body. It allows me to use my body at peak condition, but after I use it; my Mana and stamina are dangerously low.¡± She explained and Jazmel listened, as the faction leader. He needed to know what his members and friends could do, he needed to know how he could help them and what he needed to do to support her. ¡°We should look into finding you something that can help you recharge quickly or use it for a moment rather than burning through all your stamina and Mana in one go.¡± He said and she looked at him, waiting for an explanation. ¡°Well imagine if you can only use your skill for three minutes, then you would have to defeat everything and everyone within three minutes right?¡± he asked and she nodded, so he went on. ¡°Well consider if you could split up how much you use it and rather than using up all your Mana and stamina, you use it in short bursts and that way you can use it one or two times. But also, you preserve some Mana and stamina so you can react after your move.¡± He explained to her, and she nodded and listened thoughtfully and then a smile formed on her face. ¡°I know what I need for my next upgrade.¡± She began picking through the yeti corpses and began collecting loot, Jazmel nodded and left her to it. he moved to his own pile of bodies and began picking through them trying to find something worth taking. To his surprise the yetis did not have hearts but where their cores should be there was a shard of ice that functioned like both a core and a heart. It was most interesting, and he collected as many as he could. TIER II FROST SHARD x13 COLLECTED ¡°we should keep moving.¡± Sad¨¦ said and this time, Timone took point and Baek stayed at the back and Jazmel and Sad¨¦ walked beside each other, being able to talk for the first time since entering the tomb. ¡°I saw you gained your fifth tail now.¡± He started and she looked up at him and a grin appeared on her face. ¡°Well thank you for noticing.¡± She teased and pushed her beautiful purple hair being her faintly pointed ears. ¡°Well, I picked a tier II item for the reward for clearing the tomb and it was just my luck that it was a kitsune tail. but with the fifth tail, I completed my plot!¡± she exclaimed, and Jazmel nodded, smiling at her happiness. ¡°What was the plot reward?¡± he said and looked at him and then looking around, she pulled something from one of her storage rings and it appeared in the palm of her hands. A small fox, a two tailed fox. ¡°Is that¡­¡± he started, and she nodded before he could finish. ¡°It¡¯s status says kitsune pup and it already has two tails. But it hasn¡¯t woken since I got the reward and I don¡¯t know what to do to wake it.¡± she explained to him and he wondered, what to do. ¡°I would probably ask Baek but do that when you are ready ok?¡± he offered and she nodded, making it go back inside her ring. They pushed inland still and pass the rocky outcrop the yetis didn¡¯t bother them again or attack them but that¡¯s when they passed the biggest piece of rock slag that Jazmel had seen, and it solidified his theory that they were indeed at the site of a huge battle. The rock slag blocked their view and when they made it through the group were silent. Before them was a crater of such a size that Jazmel could not see the bottom of it. ¡°A battle took place here.¡± Timone said what they were all thinking and then turning to Baek she asked. ¡°Could you do that?¡± and Baek looked around thoughtfully, ¡°Maybe. But not without sacrificing something.¡± He said and Jazmel couldn¡¯t hide his awe. Just how powerful were master tier¡¯s. ¡°A great battle took place here, but it was only between two masters. If you can, you can feel the ghost of their clashing Mana.¡± Baek explained to them, and they listened intently. ¡°Can you tell why they fought?¡± Sad¨¦ asked and Baek simply shrugged. ¡°Just as a seeker tiers can fight between themselves why can¡¯t masters?¡± he asked, and they all fell silent. ¡°Because the consequences are greater.¡± Timone countered and Baek looked at her and simply inclined his head in respect. Jazmel looked around and before he even considered anything else. He looked at the crater and laughed, they all looked at him and he pointed at the crater. ¡°The gate onward is down there.¡± He could feel the faintest pull of Mana and he recognised that the same feeling was inside the crater that seemed to have no bottom. Before they consider it further, the roar of yetis crooned across the expanse and without thinking of fighting anymore of these frosted ruin. He leapt across the expanse and closing his eyes; he waited to hit the bottom or a gate. Book 2 Chapter Thirty-Two; Ancient Fountain Gate of the Labyrinth Jazmel was the first through the gate and in fairness, it was anything but that. It was massive awning gap through space. He felt the vacuum as he fell through it and when he blinked he was through it. he landed in shallow pool of water and when he rose up, he realised he was in a fountain, the water was clear and though he wasn¡¯t wounded he felt his body soothed in the shallow body of water. Looking around he saw that he was in a fountain and though there was no statue in the centre of the pool. Above where he was resided four stone winged women who were pouring into a valve which hung above him, but it had been stoppered and their water no longer flowed into the fountain and so the pool of water he was in, dwindled. He drank a Mana potion and then using the empty vial, he took some water into it and the system piped up. DING! TIER II WATER OF &4456& FOUNTAIN GAINED He looked at the screen again and wondered what was wrong with the system. He looked around and noticed a chain was holding the stopper in place. He swung his blade lazily and cut through the chain, the chain disintegrated, and he followed the trail as it raced up the length of the chain. He later realised that the stopper was made up of chains and watching as it dismantled and disintegrated; Jazmel watched as the water flow uncorked. DING! YOU HAVE RELEASED THE FLOW OF WATER ¡­ WATER OF &4456& WILL FLOW THROUGH THE LABYRINTH AGAIN ¡­ WELL, DONE! CONGRATULATIONS EXP EARNED! LEVEL UP!! He received a huge exp boost and he felt his body swell with the level he gained. +2 WIL +2 PER +1 DEX ERROR! REWARDS WITHELD THE GUARDIAN OF THE FOUNTAIN HAS AWOKEN BEWARE!! The system shouted in between his thoughts, and he grabbed his sword, pulling Nozarashi from its sheath and clambering out of the ringed fountain as it began to fill up. But not before he was struck across his chest. He didn¡¯t even see what struck him, he was knocked back fully into the water and only because he was partially submerged and the sting of the water on wounds did he realise that he had been cut across his chest. Looking down he noticed four claw slashes across his chest. He looked down and looked up but couldn¡¯t see anything. Using the Mana in his eyes he looked around and still saw nothing, he centred himself. Slowing his breathing down and then opening his eyes again he looked for Mana, for the first time he noticed the ambient Mana around him and how vibrant it was, he realised that it was due to the fountain. The water was a source of Mana that he had not seen before, and he was witnessing it for the first time. He looked around and noticed the Mana in the air had been affected by swift movement. Something had moved through the Mana and parted it, he followed the trail and then in the shadows of one of the winged women who hung above the fountain; did he see his attacker. A woman, a single naked woman; her body was curvy and ample but when he looked at her Mana he saw that she was more than just a woman. Her Mana was murky and blood red, he hadn¡¯t seen any Mana in a seeker as bad as this. It felt like it had a smell, but he soon realised that it was just his body trying to figure out a way to explain his repulsion. ¡°Come on then!¡± He shouted and she hissed, crawling down from the statue after realising that he could see her. She crawled down and then landed on the edge of the fountain, making sure she didn¡¯t land in the water. He leapt from his position and struck at her; she dodged him. But he was masterful with his sword, and it didn¡¯t waver, not the tip nor his strikes. He caught he beneath the ribs and then when she winced and clawed at him before backing up, he realised she was hurt. CLEAVE He swung and catching her hand, he cut it off he relaxed and before he received a powerful kick in the chest that sent him reeling. Repulsed, he watched as she caught her severed limb and reattached it. The cut barely showing as a faint line along her forearm. CLEAVE! CLEAVE CLEAVE He struck repeatedly, cutting off a different limb with different angles. But she simply leapt back and either caught the limb to reattach or she just waited for it to regrow. Great she can regenerate. He thought to himself with a sigh. He didn¡¯t want a battle of attrition and so he did what he always did; he trusted his sword. But he reacted differently this time, he struck her with cleave in mind, but he willed the skill to stay in the tip of his sword as she struck her with a cut, a slash and a strike that knocked her off her feet. Her blood spurted from the deep cut across her chest, and she hissed in pain DING! NEW COMBO SKILL! BLADE WRATH (TIER I) He grit his teeth as his final skill settled in slot and before she could regenerate from her wounds. He rushed in. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. CLEAVE BLADE WRATH CLEAVE! He struck her and using the chained attack he connected the attacks with his other skills, and he almost had the flow of the battle. But if not for his eyes, he would have missed it. her Mana fluctuated and she slashed downward, and he leapt out of the way, just as blood red claw marks flashed through where he had just bin and carved deeply into the ground. Great she can use skills now too. He thought but he didn¡¯t slow down, rolling to a crouch he darted to the left and then to the right. She threw out her bloodied claw skills and he darted through them, ensuring they missed him. She threw flurries of the attack and he had to block one and though he endured most of the attack, the strike passed through his guard and glanced off his face, and he felt blood seep from a wound, but he didn¡¯t take his eyes off her. She smiled to see him bleed and he saw her canines were long, protruding and she hissed and licked her lips, and he sneered in disgust. She dived at him and this time she followed with her skills, but her claws were in her hands, and he could see the Mana glowing beneath her skin. Cleave! He struck her again and the attack slammed into a single claw knocking it into the water of the fountain. It fell in the water that Jazmel seemed to fall in repeatedly, but the reaction was completely different it exploded. It burst from the ambient Mana that rose from the fountain and he also noticed that the claw did not regrow or regenerate. She noticed too and then launched herself at him. He had no skills that would work on her. He dropped Nozarashi and let her latch onto him. Her left hand pierced his right shoulder and he gasped from the pain, her left hand went into his stomach, and he saw white, but stayed focused. DING! STATUS CONDITION; SHOULDER BLADE CRACKED (major) STATUS CONDITION; STOMACH PIERCED (major) HEAL NOW! He felt the system shouting in his mind, but he couldn¡¯t do anything. He sighed and he locked her in, grabbing her in a bear hug. She cried out and with a snarl she bit down into his neck, he cried out and almost let her go. But he did not, he could not. He took a step towards the fountain, with all of him. It took all his will to make sure he took another step, and she bit down even more into his neck, he felt his tongue get sticky and heavy in his mouth. He was going to pass out, he could feel it now. STATUS CONDITION; NECK WOUND (deep) With the last of his strength, he did all that he could. Using the last of his strength he jumped into the fountain, on top of her and she fought to get out of his grip, but they were locked in. He had clamped his hands together and made sure not to break his grip. They landed in the water together and immediately he felt soothed, but the exact opposite happened to the clawed woman. She writhed beneath him and screeched a cry that was unalike anything he had heart before. She wailed beneath him a cry of death and severe pain and he squeezed his eyes shut as her cry hit a crescendo. She screamed and then imploded, leaving blood and broken body bits floating in the pool. He almost passed out, but the water soothed his wounds and kept him awake. He drank deeply from two potions before he felt better, the third he opened and poured into each of his wounds and then drank the little that was left. While he healed, he checked his notifications DING! DEFEATED THE GUARDIAN OF THE FOUNTAIN! ¡­ TIER II BRUXA DEFEATED So, it was called a Bruxa, he thought to himself it was a powerful enemy and he was worried about that. He would have to tell the others once he made his way back to them. ¡­ +4 WIL +2 VIT +2 AGL He gained some good stats, and he settled in the water as his body acclimatised to the changes. He went back to the notifications and continued. FOUNTAIN OF &4456& HAS BEEN MADE UNCORRUPT ¡­ REWARDS WILL BE ADJUSTED ¡­ DEFEATING A BRUXA FOR THE FIRST TIME REWARDS WILL BE ADJUSTED ¡­ EXP EARNED! He felt a large amount of exp settle; almost a third of what he needed to move up another level. ¡­ TIER II BRUXA CORE GAINED ¡­ REWARDS ADJUSTED! EMPTY EGGSHELL GAINED!! NEW PLOT GAINED!! LIGHT THE FIRE OF LIFE! AWAKEN THE LIFE IN THE EGG! REWARD! He read these notifications and watched as a black egg appeared in the palm of his hand. It was as black as night; scaled and each scale overlapped the other in a pretty but daunting design. It was darker still it was as dark as the abyss and he found it a little unsettling to peer at it, he even tried to look at it with his Mana eyes, but it was abject and empty. He was about to put it into a storage ring when something strange happened. Master. His shadow wraith had awoken! From his shadow a pitch-black hand rested atop the egg, and it felt unnerving as he felt the presence of the shadow wight as it peered into the egg. Master will you allow me to have this? He considered the question, and he remembered that there had not been any activity from the shadow for a while, since he had suffered a near death wound in Orevalor and Paldane had taken the wound for him. It hadn¡¯t even been eating the corpses of creatures he had defeated. You cannot consume this. He said, thinking about the plot he had just received. Master not like that¡­ and then Paldane did something he had never seen; it didn¡¯t listen to him. It disobeyed him and entered the egg; without his permission. He watched as the egg swallowed his shadow and then gold runic symbols alit around the egg in two stripes! DING! THE FIRE HAS BEEN LIT!!! ¡­ ¡­ ERROR ¡­ FIRE HAS BEEN LIT BUT LIFE HAS NOT FORMED ¡­ WILL YOU ALLOW FUEL? Y/N He watched as the notifications popped up, one by one and he accepted. There was nothing else he could do now. As quick as a blink the egg flexed, and the smooth scaled egg pierced the inner palm of his hand. It was quick and he didn¡¯t even realise he had happened until he saw the cut in his palm. It healed immediately too; thanks to the water and then it formed a tattoo which kept the runes of the egg on the inside of his palm. FUEL HAS BEEN CONSUMED THE EGG WILL HATCH WHEN IT HAS INCUBATED! ¡­ He read that and before anything strange could happen, he put it in his storage ring. He rose up to stand in the fountain, his clothes torn and soaked. He flushed his clothes with Mana and the tears healed themselves quickly. He felt better he rolled his shoulders and though a little sore, he could move as normal. He filled the three empty health bottles with water again. TIER II WATER OF &4456& FOUNTAIN GAINED X3 He stepped from the pool and as soon as he did the system sang to him as a string of new notifications popped up. NEW PLOT! FAVOURED BY THE FOUNTAIN!! FIND WHAT IS LOST LET THE FOUNTAINS FLOW AND GAIN THE FAVOUR OF THE FOUNTAIN DEFEAT THE GUARDIANS AND RELEASE %4456% REWARDS He gawked at the notifications. He had many plots; he looked at them on the system status and wondered what the system wanted from him. At first it showed all the plots he had, but he removed the completed ones and then the status screen refreshed to show; PLOTS The system was driving him deeper and deeper into the labyrinth and in truth, he felt nothing but exhilaration. The water of the fountain swirled and became a gate, he stepped back into it and within seconds he was stepping through a gate and was beside Sad¨¦, Timone and Baek again. He had cleared another gate during the time they were passing through the gate of another gate. He didn¡¯t know anything like this could happen but for now, he kept what had happened to himself. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT I would just like to take a moment to thank you all for continuing to read and stick it out with me. Writing Solitary Scion was quite hard, I felt like the story was well built already. But I was struggling with pacing and depicting the story how I wanted to, I think that is a large part in why it is so short. But I still thank you for sticking it out with me all the same. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. I also want to thank UEI for editing and maintaining my story alongside me, seeing the things I have missed and editing or pointing out things. As mentioned in my first book, I always give myself a week before I start posting again. So book 3 ''FAVOURED BY THE FOUNTAIN'' will begin on the 1st of October next week. Chapters will continue to release at 12pm every weekday and shorter chapters, will always be followed up with the following chapter. Thanks again, also I am considering creating a Patreon. Offering Seeker, Ranker and Master tier reading options. Book 3 Chapter One; Return of the sword! Jazmel woke from a deep sleep and stretched out beneath the sheets of his bed; he rolled his shoulders back and forth until they popped. His quarters were open planned, his bed sat in a lowered indent in his bedroom, and he had to step down two steps to get into bed, but he quite liked it and how deep it sat. His covers were silk, a bit rich for his liking but Melle had bartered some from the dwarves and they had brought silks and satins, which she distributed around the living quarters of everyone. At first it was just the tower that had stood in the outpost but over the last couple of months, three other towers had been erected and bridged walkways had been connected between the three so you could cross over to the same level of another tower without descending a floor. the closest tower which was a bit closer in design and creation to the original, was living quarters for the first members of the faction. They were given their distinct own rooms, but then the third tower had been built like barracks and rows and rows of bunks and beds had been created. Jazmel had been there, but he didn¡¯t like how empty the tower felt so he avoided it. But Melle had made sure it was stocked and prepared for new arrivals, but nobody had received more than one or two members. Melle had taken the reins of managing the outpost and in truth behind the shadows, she kept it running. She was in charge of the day to day and the duties. It was extremely comforting for Jazmel to know she had a handle of it, and she took to it brazenly. Everyone was well fed, and well cared for. She was able to keep track of the needs of everyone, she made sure food was always present or prepared and also a large store and stock of items and potions were always abundant. She had become staunch friends with Colin, ensuring that they always spoke frequently and Colin being the major merchant link for the faction he sought all their needs continuously. With the continued labyrinth and gate diving, the different retainers were managing to keep the food source, items, and artefacts in continuous updates. Even Jazmel had given everything he had found in the clay emperor tomb to Melle, the coins had amassed to around three platinum coins and the jewels and gems were enough to make a few hundred white gold coins. Jazmel looked at his stats for the first time in a while. Name: Jazmel Level: 54 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier III Class: Sword Scion Health: 1925/1925 Stamina: 1414/1414 Mana: 1435/1435 STR:80 PER:74 VIT:73 END:73 INT:89 WIL:72 AGL:70 DEX:70 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 4X PLATINUM COINS 647X WHITE GOLD COINS 127X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE DWARVEN COIN 9X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 9X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER III SABRE OF THE DEADENING TIER II SHORT SWORD TIER II FROST SHARD x13 TIER II BRUXA CORE The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. EGG (hibernating) PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 Jazmel had been working slowly with the outpost, so he had not been outside of the faction as much as the others. He had also been considering what were the best things to do with the outpost and at the moment he needed to be around the faction too. Baek had been teaching him increasingly about the duties of a leader, especially as he was now one; the faction had the ability to grow and if he progressed the faction would continue to grow. He was eager to hit ranker, it would only take six more levels; but in truth he still didn¡¯t have any items for the tribulation either and that was something he was curious about too. He could ask Baek about it as soon as he saw him next. There was a knock at the door, looking at the Mana he could tell it was Sad¨¦. ¡°Come in he said, he rose from his bed; he was topless and wearing simple linen trousers. But even then, she looked away. ¡°Morning.¡± She was dressed and ready for the day and he was curious as to why she was dressed. ¡°Mary and Tango are back, but also the forge master is looking for you.¡± She told him and he jumped up, ready for the day. ¡°Can I shower first and then we go and see them?¡± she nodded and then sat on the edge of his bed, he climbed up out of indent and then moved to the water closet. When he was out of her sight, he kicked off his trousers and then with a palm; he pressed Mana into the nozzle and soon the water flowed down on him. He washed quickly, using the soap bar to wash away the sleep. The water was cool, and he preferred a cold shower in the morning rather than night. He dressed quickly, he wore his long sleeve shirt; combats and usual coat. He carried his boots over and then sat on the edge of the bed beside her. Sad¨¦ was laying back across the bed and as he pulled his boots on, he laced them, and he smiled as he stood up. Palin; the forge master dwarf from Orevalor had sent word he had finished, and Jazmel was revelling in it. Months back, Hajime had broken in battle, and he had lost the secondary skill slot that it allowed him. He had carried two swords since he first bought them in the third gate he had entered. Carrying only Nozarashi was strange and made him constantly remember that he was missing a sword. When he had raised the point with Palin and the other dwarves they were apprehensive to work on the sword, they had asked him to study Hajime for a few days and when they did not return it; he offered them his cold iron ore and grave iron ore. They were extremely happy to work with such rare iron and jumped at the chance. Bidding him to stay away from forge until they had finished with the creation. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the forge first please.¡± He said and she moved alongside him when he descended the tower. The stairs were cool to touch but once they hit the lowest floor the heat became unbearable. But quickly; Jazmel created a thin veil of Mana against his body that covered him from the worst of it and he suddenly only felt a little warm. It wasn¡¯t as uncomfortable, but the shaping took some focus; Baek had told him that it was great training to learn what he could do and use his Mana for besides his skills. But for now, he was using it to keep the heat from the forge away. Sad¨¦ did not seem to even notice the change in heat, and he wondered just how great her affinity with fire actually was. The shrill pang of the hammer atop the anvil could be heard and as they moved towards the centre of the room, a vacuum hole descended from the ceiling above the anvil and the heat was pulled up through the hole which turned out to be a tube, then it expunged down from the ceiling towards the ground which was edged and raised from the ground. Jazmel was surprised at how well the Forgemaster and his black smiths were putting their intent and Mana into the creation of the item they were making. During this time, the hammer was being wielded expertly and each strike slammed Mana into the metal and forced it to bend to Palin¡¯s will. They didn¡¯t stop beating the metal until they were all happy with it and then they plunged it into a barrel filled with freezing water and big pieces of ice. The metal sizzled and steam erupted from the barrel, and they watched to make sure the metal wouldn¡¯t absorb or bend in the barrel. Palin turned and smiling he tore his thick leather gloves off his hand and shook hands with Jazmel. ¡°Leader.¡± He greeted him and Jazmel shook his head, he hated the title, and the dwarves knew it, but they laughed about it; but made sure to call him by his title. ¡°We finished the sword, but it¡¯s a bit complicated.¡± Palin explained and Jazmel looked at him curious and confused; a mix of both. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Let us just show you.¡± The black smiths moved off and came back with a long box that was wrapped in chains and locked with a large brass lock too. ¡°step back.¡± Palin warned, Sad¨¦ did but Jazmel remained where he was. Palin unlocked the lock and then tapped the chains letting them unravel on its own when the box opened. Frigid temperature poured from the sword and oddly it felt cold and almost ethereal at the same time. He peered into the blade and the blistering cold Mana of the cold iron wafted from it. but then the grave iron had mingled within, and it now created a numbing cold that his Mana veil could not numb or keep away. ¡°Surprisingly, the cold iron and the grave iron which had completely different attributes have mingled and merged. Creating something unheard of. The sword blade will freeze and numb, but it can blister with the Mana of the grave iron too. How you will wield it, we will not know.¡± Jazmel nodded and was looking at the Mana flowing beneath the metal of the blade. ¡°Why did you lock the box?¡± he asked, and Palin smiled a grim grin. ¡°You will know when you pick it up.¡± He motioned Jazmel to step forward and he did, slowly but then he willed himself with his courage. The sword was beautiful, that was the first thing he noticed. The metal of the blade was as white as snow and then in waves along the back of the blade; star grey ebbed along the length of the blade. He could see where the cold iron began and then merged with the grave iron ore. The hilt was black like Nozarashi but the leather that had bound the handle was grey to match the metal but darkened so it was almost like it was blackened too. He smiled a little at the tassel that hung from the hilt, which was black, an ode to Hajime as it once was. He inhaled and then picked up the sword and held it up. Immediately the pressure of the two different Mana¡¯s flowed his hand and into his arm; trying to invade his chest. He struggled against it and stumbled, Sad¨¦ almost rushed forward but he waved her back. ¡°Let me do this.¡± He said through gritted teeth. He pushed his Mana back up his arm and battled with the will of the sword. He realised he was battling the will of the sword and at first he was losing but the tyrant heart; his heart was fighting back valiantly. Submit. He willed it and through gritted teeth he exerted all his focus on it. The cold began to freeze his hand and locked it in his grip, but he didn¡¯t falter at all. The grave iron wrapped his hand in its Mana, and he felt the chill of death, but he fought it back and their wills clashed and lashed at one another; but in the end. The sword did bend to his will, and he soon felt the aggressive Mana calm down and submit before him. He exhaled and slowly pressed his Mana and intent into the sword again. DING! THE SWORD HAS SUBMIT BEFORE YOUR WILL +3 WIL ¡­ UNNAMED SWORD HAS BEEN MADE FOR YOU AND WILL BELONG SOLELY TO YOU! WILL YOU NAME IT? Y/N He thought about the name and smiled as something came to him. Yoru no Tsubasa. The name ARE YOU SURE? Yes. He thought. DING! SWORD HAS BEEN NAMED Jazmel nodded and when he turned to show the sword Palin and the black smiths brought him the metal they had left to cool in the barrel. It was a sheath of metal and lacquered leather too. ¡°this is Atlantean, we believe this will keep the sword Mana trapped while sheathed.¡± He said and Jazmel sheathed the sword and immediately felt the Mana subdued while sheathed. DING! SWORD YORU NO TSUBASA HAS A SKILL SLOT! Jazmel grinned at that; the soul of Hajime had remained in the sword, and he looked at his skills to see the slot. To his surprise the move had changed, but then he realised that he had a different sword too. That was probably the reason. Skills: He sighed at that and sheathing the sword; his sword he felt comfortable and extremely happy with this new weapon and the job the Forgemaster had made for him. He thanked them religiously, but they would not expect any pay from him. ¡°We are part of the faction, just use it well.¡± Palin bid him and then turning back, he and the others began to work on something else. Book 3 Chapter Two; the Black Wing Faction He climbed the steps with Sad¨¦ and coming to the ground floor he exited the tower which led out to the courtyard, which was bustling with people. He and Sad¨¦ came out and looked around to see many people suffering and laying in various places of the ground and the courtyard. They were an assortment of people, old and young, frail and hail. Many of them were skinny, sickly but their eyes told Jazmel they had not lost the will to live just yet. ¡°Who are these people?¡± Jazmel asked and Katie turned to look at him. ¡°Me and Bannerman freed some slaves and had nowhere else to bring them?¡± she said, Jazmel knew that Katie was touchy about slaves, and he simply nodded. ¡°We need to bring them to the infirmary!¡± a tiny voice piped up and Jazmel looked at a new face, she had joined them after meeting Patton and Gilmore. Her name was Wendy, and she was a human. But her skills were all about support and buffing. She was keen on healing, and it was something she had been honest to share with them before she joined the faction. There was almost one hundred people laying around struggling to catch their breath and also recover from whatever ordeal they had just been through. As if a brisk and soft wind took them up safely and rose them from the ground a little. ¡°Where do you want them all?¡± Baek said and she watched him with amazement as he lifted them all with his Mana and simply propelled them through the air towards the infirmary. ¡°Melle I am going to need your help!¡± Wendy shouted and Melle and the two other dwarves rushed to help her. ¡°Katie can you help?¡± Jazmel asked and she rolled her eyes and hurried to catch up with the people she had rescued. Sad¨¦ winked at Jazmel and then followed after Katie to lend her help too. ¡°They were not good people, we had to free them all.¡± Bannerman said and Jazmel placed a hand on his shoulder affectionately. ¡°Have you rested since you got back?¡± Jazmel asked and Bannerman stifled a yawn before shaking his head. ¡°Go and get some rest, eat first too.¡± He bid him and Bannerman shuffled off to do so, he shambled over to his rooms and Jazmel watched him for a moment and waited for Patton and Gilmore to sidle up beside him. ¡°Well, we need to recruit more people. Training them is going to be hell though.¡± Gilmore offered, which Jazmel had been thinking too. ¡°Well, we can train them here before we let them go out into the labyrinth again, they can live here, we built the barracks for this very reason.¡± Patton countered and Jazmel listened to them both. ¡°We need to add more personnel to day to day of the outpost, we need a catering team as well as a housing team which will maintain the living quarters of us all. Melle cannot do it all, even though she has been doing immensely on her own.¡± Patton explained and Jazmel nodded thoughtfully. Thinking about what else they needed to do. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°We are going to recruit again.¡± Patton said suddenly and without even thinking about it; he pulled Gilmore by the arm and then they headed back out of the outpost towards the gate that led from the faction back into the labyrinth. ¡°You have taken on people who will need your protection.¡± Baek said as he appeared beside Jazmel and pulling him from his own thoughts. He nodded in agreement. ¡°I need to just keep doing what I have been doing. I am less than ten levels from ranker tier.¡± He told Baek who nodded as if he already knew. ¡°Have you considered what tier tribulation items you will be using to enter ranker tier?¡± Baek asked and Jazmel shrugged. ¡°I haven¡¯t thought of it that much, I am not sure what to consider.¡± Jazmel admitted, and Baek nodded before moving to stand a little away from Jazmel as they discussed this. ¡°Ranker is when you solidify your skill and attributes. Most people who reach ranker will pick things that will augment what they currently have. It is different to Seeker because Seeker is just about letting your body grow alongside your stats. But Ranker is when you have to refine what you have used and what works better for you.¡± He explained and in a sense, Jazmel knew what it meant but he didn¡¯t speak and let Baek continue. ¡°Say for example, you are someone agile and you have worked on your agility and dexterity. You will pick tier tribulations that will enhance those things for you. When you become a ranker, tier tribulations will also raise your stats which will also give you a hint or a precursor at what items to consider and what stats to continue to work on.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel just listened, the system had created a function which was so complex and yet it continued to give hints and tips at almost every turn. The system wanted them to get stronger and it seemed to continuously put them on a path to get stronger. ¡°I guess it is time for me to enter the labyrinth again.¡± Jazmel said, thrilled at the idea of going through the gate and finding somewhere new to traverse. ¡°Where are you going?¡± a voice called, and he turned to look, and a smile flowed onto his face. It was Tango and Mary; they were both back! Mary and Tango had been going through gates at serious speed, only returning to empty their storage rings and then dive back in. Tango had hit Ranker tier II and was well on his way to tier III, but Jazmel could tell he wasn¡¯t happy with his progress. Mary on the other hand, had been so busy. She was working with her guild and also sneaking to the faction when she had a free moment, Jazmel was happy for her help, but he knew she was under a lot of pressure. ¡°Where are the others?¡± Mary said, Jazmel told her what had happened, and she bid them a good day and headed off to the infirmary too. ¡°Can I come with?¡± Tango asked when Jazmel and Baek began to head towards the gate. ¡°Of course, let¡¯s go.¡± Jazmel said and they exited the courtyard and the front gate, heading down the path towards the gate. Timone was walking up, carrying the carcass of what looked like a deer, which had a set of green antlers. The hunting around the outpost was good for now, but they were going to have to push further and further out if their numbers continued to grow, they would even have to end up fishing at this rate. ¡°We are going into the labyrinth, tell the others?¡± Jazmel shouted after her and she raised a thumb to let him know she had heard him. The three of them walked through the gate; together. Book 3 Chapter Three; Into the Thick of it The gate opened into a wide and open room, there were people already sitting in the space and Jazmel felt his hackles raise and his guard go up. He rested a hand on Yoru and immediately felt calm; but he was wary. ¡°We aren¡¯t here to fight!¡± A man said, his arms raised and his weapon still across his back. It was a huge great sword, taller than even Jazmel. The man was quite large even then, but he was very friendly in the face. ¡°The system has held us here because we were waiting to be let into the castle. Check your system screen.¡± He said and Jazmel did quickly! DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE CASTLE OF THE DEMONS! ESCAPE! 10/10 He looked around the room quickly and saw that there were indeed, ten of them present. As soon as he had looked about them, the wall opposite him rumbled as it rose up and revealed the path they were supposed to take. ¡°Stay close, demons are extremely hardy and powerful, this will be difficult.¡± Baek said and Jazmel knew he was taking this serious as Baek had drawn his sword. the others who had been waiting for a long time, rushed out and darted deeper into the castle. Trying to find their own way out, Baek was leading Tango and Jazmel and for Jazmel , who was safe enough. Soon it was just them and the lone man, the great bear with his sword across his back, he had drawn it now and was holding it in one hand and resting the blade across his shoulders; allowing him to be quick to react with it. The corridor which led out to the hallway split off into much smaller corridors too and this made Jazmel anxious about where to go. ¡°This is interesting.¡± Baek said and they all looked to him, even the bear like stranger. ¡°They all lead somewhere which could be considered an exit, there is no right one. Which means there is a challenge along the way.¡± Baek explained and they all looked either side. Jazmel ¡¯s keen senses alerted him to look down the corridor they had been travelling and he could hear the sounds of many feet and claws rushing. ¡°We have company!¡± he shouted, Tango and the stranger got ready. Baek was already aware though and simply let his sword point before them. the corridor was swarmed by little black things with claws, talons, and fangs. Jazmel didn¡¯t know what they were called but they were numerous and he; but he was ready for them. Cleave! He swung out his intent and the Mana mingled with the wild Mana in his new sword and slashed down the corridor in a frigid Mana that frosted down the corridor. The first of the black things were devastated; some were frozen solid while others were blistered from the grave iron¡¯s Mana. He watched as they wailed and cried out from the pain. ¡°That is an interesting sword.¡± Baek said over his shoulder, but he didn¡¯t move from where he was. TIER II DEMON TERRORS X30 KILLED ¡°watch out now.¡± The stranger said and as more of the terrors; as the system called them rushed down the corridor towards the four men. But also, the thing that followed them that pressed dread into Jazmel ¡¯s very core. This creature stood at around nine feet and was pitch black, as dark as the darkest shadow of night. What Jazmel had first thought was a billowing cloak, it had instead actually been the dark wings of the creature. Its legs and arms were longer than normal and not in proportion to its small body, but it face was two eyes that burned with red hatred and then horns coiling up from its head. ¡°A demon dark wing, tier IV. I will deal with this.¡± Baek said and in a white flash he was suddenly in front of the creature and slashing at it with white Mana. The others couldn¡¯t even watch the battle as the demon terrors swarmed them. Wind blade! Tango yelled as he whirled his short swords across his body in a slash, the Mana that exploded from them smashed the terrors and crumbled the ground of the corridor where they stood. Cleave! Fall of the black raven! Jazmel jumped and with a downward slash, he hit the ground and his Mana exploded from the tip of the sword hitting the terrors and propelling them away some exploding into iced splinters and pelting those who had survived too. TIER II DEMON TERRORS X23 KILLED He didn¡¯t have time to revel in the fight as increasingly poured down the corridor. But the bear like man acted fast. Gae bulg!! He forced all the Mana in his body to the tip of his great sword and then he slammed it into the ground, breaking through and causing most of the floor to break beneath the strength of his skill and he crashed through to the floor below. Hundreds of the demon terrors were killed in the breaking of the floor and then even more were killed from the falling debris, Tango pulled him out of the way of falling debris and the stranger bellowed. ¡°Go!¡± Jazmel and Tango were gone, rushing off down the corridor and deeper into the castle¡¯s recesses. They ran for almost an hour before they stopped to catch their breath. Baek was off battling a tier IV monster, the man with the great sword had brought the floor down and now Jazmel and Tango were alone, on a floor that they hadn¡¯t even known existed. ¡°We need to find stairs.¡± Tango led the way and Jazmel followed his fleetfooted mentor and Jazmel couldn¡¯t believe how nimble he was. But he had been in a gate with Tango before and it was his first time seeing him. Tango was travelling through the corridor at a greater speed then him and just keeping up with him was pushing Jazmel to his limits. The corridor was massive in size, Jazmel could tell that whoever crafted it was much larger than humans. The winged demon that Baek had fought was almost double their height; but it didn¡¯t touch the ceiling at all. Which made Jazmel wonder if there were bigger and larger demons around too. He didn¡¯t have to wait long; terrors didn¡¯t swarm them at all. But instead, demons of humanoid size appeared down the corridor and bounded towards he and Tango. The demons were bigger and reminded Jazmel of hairless apes, their skins were blotchy and patched. Dark patches of brown and black and it reminded him of burn marks. They ran on all fours, their arms much longer than their legs and their gate was weird, but they still moved quickly and unnerving. Wind blade Drawing one of his long knives, Tango slashed downward, striking his skill into the lot of them and they fell beneath his attack. Some more damaged than others and Jazmel bounded forward to do his part too. Yoru was heavy on his side and the unnatural Mana had been fighting him insistently whenever it felt his will wane. He had to continuously pressure it beneath his dominance. Cleave! His sword sparked as he drew it quickly from the scabbard and he cut through two humanoid demons, and another fell before the oppressive Mana that Jazmel was exuding through his new sword. The creatures squealed and screeched, and he dove into them, carving a swathe of skills and pain. Blade wrath! Cleave Cleave! They were strong and while none managed to injure him or even touch him, he had to ensure that his attacks were strong and filled with intent to kill them. They were robust and quite strong after all. DING! TIER II HELL DEMON X19 KILLED So, they had a name then, he noticed that only after he killed monsters did the system let him know what they were. He wondered if there was a skill of some such, Jazmel decided he would ask Tango and Baek about it later. The monsters died before them and Tango who had killed and maimed the others was already up and ready to go. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°We need to keep moving.¡± He said and Jazmel followed him as they hurried back down the corridor looking for somewhere to go. They happened across a corridor that descended sharply with some stairs and Tango darted down the steps; three at a time. The stairs turned sharply left and Jazmel watched as the agile Tango ran along the wall. He wondered just how high his dexterity was. But the tier of ranker seemed close enough that he would soon learn his own limits too. But currently he was focusing on escaping the castle and the sounds that seemed to be harrowing them let him know the chase was still happening. Jazmel cut the corner and burst into a full-on sprint, he was focused on doing his part now and gripping the hilt of his sword; he felt his focus lay on him with purpose and instantly he was calm and prepared. The corridor descended again, and Tango was already at the bottom of the steps with his blades drawn and he dove into a fight. Jazmel was a few moments behind him but as he made it off the last step he saw a brawl. Monsters were trying to overwhelm a group of strangers who were doing their best to fight valiantly, and Tango had chosen to jump into the fight with him. Cleave Jazmel cut through the head and neck of a warped tree being that was driving its roots into the ground and forcing them up beneath the group of strangers. He cut through half of its face before it warbled and then tried to whip its roots at him. He cut through them also and drove his sword; Yoru no Tsubasa through its core. This sword was lethal, it was different to his others; it felt like it was an extension of him. But it was also stronger than the other swords he had carried. Cleave! Cleave!! Fall of the black raven! He hadn¡¯t used this skill before, and he felt the air freeze as all warmth around him disappeared. The numbing Mana of the grave iron sent three ravens into the air and as they homed in on their target they turned into slashes and carved into the skin of a hulking ogre, the Mana from the grave sizzled as it touched the skin and the ogre screeched; Jazmel leapt into the air in a single bound and as he passed its boulder like skull. He beheaded it and the dull thud hit the ground and cracked it with its weight. The body slumped and he felt the Mana seep into him and push his stats. But currently he dare not look at his stats right now. He cut through monsters, demons that were trying to tear through the other seekers that were there. The overwhelming numbers were soon dwindling and before long Jazmel found himself able to breathe. Able to think about their next steps and before he had to even ask, Tango was stepping up. ¡°We need to keep going! All of us, we need to escape the castle before something stronger comes out looking for us.¡± Tango called above the growing crowd discussion. Jazmel was already beside him, and they ran down the corridor; the same way that the demons had hurried down and just as they were making true headway, more demons poured into the corridor from barred doors that burst open. They weren¡¯t alone, for a beast built for nothing but slaughter crouched as it bent its body to get through the doorway of the corridor. This was a revenant; more armour than flesh. Its body was pieced together with different nails and hobs that had been driven into its joints and Jazmel winced wondering about the pain it took. It bore nine arms, with a cruel sword or blade clutched in each hand and Jazmel sighed at what would be a monstrous battle. The beast wore darkened battered armour. Not one piece was the same or alike in design and Jazmel watched as it hunkered forward with its blades ready for death. ¡°We need another heavy hitter.¡± Tango said before looking over at the group. ¡°Are any of you a ranker or close to it?¡± he asked, and a girl stepped forward, nodding but clearly scared. ¡°Alright you others, clear out the lower monsters, one of you protect her. You use magic right? Good. When we are clear or you have a shot, hit it with your hardest skills.¡± He explained and they all did his bidding, Jazmel could tell they knew Tango was the most experienced of them all and he was trying to ensure they all survived. Jazmel looked at the nine-armed knight and his eyes told him that not only was the armour thick, but this demonic knight had three cores inside its shields too. ¡°The knight has three cores.¡± Jazmel said and everyone sighed. But Tango merely smiled grimly. ¡°That just means one core each!¡± he darted forward and though Jazmel didn¡¯t hear what skill he used, his body seemed to lose its physicality and become like a moving wisp. Tango flew towards the knight and using the flailing arms; he floated above its head and then turning corporeal he dropped like a weight with both his blades and drove them deep into the skull of the knight. The helmet already well dented did nothing to defend the head, but it stumbled back, and Jazmel shouted out at Tango. ¡°The first core is in the right shoulder!¡± Tango floated down and with a sweeping strike he drove his blades into the shoulder and wrenched free the first core. It was a nasty colour. Like clouds before a storm and it was about the size of a lockbox. When Tango flicked it from his blade it landed not far from Jazmel and the four-pointed gem oozed Mana. ¡°You can see beyond the armour?¡± the girl asked him, and Jazmel nodded. He was watching with angst as Tango turned into the floating wisp again and evaded a strike from three swords. ¡°Where is the next one?¡± she asked, and he felt the Mana swirl from around them and small stones began to levitate as she charged her Mana for her strike. ¡°Left hip!¡± he said as he darted in, he drew Nozarashi and bounded forward as soon as he stepped close enough the knight whirled on him. There were no eyes within the helm, and he wondered how it was able to tell where he was bought he didn¡¯t flinch. The first sword swung down on him, but he sidestepped the wide blade. it was more meat cleaver than anything else. The second was a badly chipped sabre; he parried this strike, but the weight of the knight drove him to a knee. He clenched his teeth and he felt blood in his mouth from the strike. It stabbed at him, but he swerved out of the way; from the third blade but he missed the fourth. This was a knife; at the last moment he countered the jab from the great knife it held in its hand. If it caught him; it would have pierced his chest and tore through him from neck to navel. But he managed to get his katana in the way. So instead, he was knocked off his feet and knocked off his feet and the breath in his lungs rushed out. DING! STATUS CONDITION; WOUNDED STATUS CONDITION; BLEEDING (minor) The system showed emergency alerts even though he had willed the screen closed. He was hurt and he knew it. Nozarashi had been knocked from his hand, but he wasn¡¯t lying too far from it. The ground groaned and he rolled over wincing. The knight was ambling towards his prone body. He willed himself up and when he was up on a knee Tango flitted in, dancing between the legs of the knight. He cut through a joint and hacked at a nail. The knight screeched at that, and Jazmel nodded; seeing what hurt it. Just as he rose up; he drank quickly from a potion and wheezed as his body dragged the Mana from the potion to heal whatever was damaged inside him. He sheathed Nozarashi and watched as the girl; who clutched her shortened staff. She willed her Mana to form a star above the knotted tip of her staff. She whirled it above her head and then shouted. Exio!! She flicked her staff, and it reminded Jazmel of a fishing rod being tossed. The star streaked through the air, hit the breastplate of the knight, and rocked the entire corridor. It was as if it had been struck by a true star; the dust that plumed from the girls strike blinded everyone; everyone but Jazmel. He leapt into the dust and with Yoru no Tsubasa he stabbed into its hip and pierced the second core. It crumbled immediately and the Mana seeped into him. it was flourishing and he intuitively knew he had gone up another level. The knight roared, not out of pain. But rather anger and Jazmel could tell the difference. This wasn¡¯t a cry of misery it was a wail of wrath. The first knife stabbed down at him, but he was ready; he dodged and cut through the wrist. Removing the problem; the knife skittered across the floor. he parried three other strikes and then as the cloud of dust began to reduce; he darted out of the attack radius. ¡°Where is the third core?!¡± Tango shouted, he was off to the left and though he was unscathed he looked quite haggard, and Jazmel assumed that the ethereal skill cost him a lot of Mana. ¡°midriff! Just above the stomach!!¡± Jazmel yelled. ¡°Can you draw its attention?¡± he asked, and Jazmel nodded, Tango flit forward in his form and Jazmel bounded after him. Blade of wrath Fall of the black raven! He struck out his skills with his sword, the Mana amassing and amplified off the tip of the blade. the armour was dented even further and in some parts it is peeling away. Jazmel could see the Mana swirling from his midriff and the orb was the width of a cauldron. It reminded Jazmel of the blackened hull of a cauldron, and he wasn¡¯t surprised that it was pitch black in colour. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen a core that big, it¡¯s about the size of a named monster. Which means it was on its way to evolving from tier III to IV. We need to make sure that, that doesn¡¯t happen!¡± Tango bellowed and swigging a larger Mana potion, he bounded past Jazmel who was also already moving. ¡°Girl!¡± Tango shouted over his shoulder and Jazmel knew he meant the mage. ¡°My name is Elai! And I already knew; I am charging up for another attack!¡± she yelled back and that made Jazmel instantly like her. ¡°We are going to need to put a serious dent in this core to make the knight fall.¡± Tango said and he took the vanguard straight away. Wind blade! Wind blade!! ¡°Now Jazmel !!¡± he yelled. CLEAVE! CLEAVE!! CLEAVE!!! The final strike peeled the last of armour off its stomach and the core sat there like a vial of black ink or oil. ¡°Get out of the way!¡± she shouted, and Jazmel dove out of the way. Entei¡¯s roar She cast a blazing ball of Mana; it was the size of a cannonball in the beginning, but it rapidly expanded as it raced towards the knight. It tried to strike it and cut through it, but the blazing Mana skill burned through its arms, struck the stomach, and exploded when it hit the final core. The Mana burned up everything and soon everything beneath the remains of the armour was engulfed in her attack. the metal melted and the blades fell away, its arms now burned and warped from her strike. It died, melted into a scrap of armour and now; bleached bones. DING! TIER III THE DEMONIC KNIGHT OF ASURA WAS DEFEATED! +4 STR +4 DEX +3 INT +3 WIL +3 VIT +2 AGL He sighed and waited for his body to abate, as the changes took over. He opened the previous stats and looked again at what had improved before. +3 PER +3 AGL +3 DEX +2 END He was reaching the eighties and nineties in stats, and he could feel his body stretching his limits and not for the first time did he begin to wonder after his ranker tier tribulation. He would need to begin preparing for these items and looking for what would be best for him. Book 3 Chapter Four; Demons Can Die! Jazmel rose up and moving over to the melted corpse of the tier III knight, he took the meat cleaver and the nicked sabre into his ring. He wouldn¡¯t take anything else; he didn¡¯t think being greedy was the best thing for these strangers as they banded together to escape. The young girl came over and placing her hand on the core, she looked around to make sure nobody would stop her. She took it into her own storage ring and sighed as if she had just eaten a heavy meal. She looked up and noticed Jazmel looking at her, her eyes were unreadable for him, but he studied her for a moment and then she walked over to him. ¡°You are strong, what level are you?¡± she asked him, he hadn¡¯t been asked that in a while, but he remembered that Mary had told him that it was considered rude to be asked this. ¡°What level are you?¡± she pursed her lips and then turned her head, clearly aware of the same rules as Jazmel. ¡°I just got the notification that I can push into ranker now, but it doesn¡¯t seem smart to do it while we are in here.¡± she shared with him and Jazmel nodded, agreeing with her. ¡°We should move on, while its quiet.¡± Tango said, coming over as he sheathed his long knife after cleaning them off. Jazmel nodded and rose up to begin moving, he checked himself to make sure he had no wounds he was unaware of, but he was unscathed again. ¡°Hey wait! Can I come with you?¡± she asked, and Tango looked at her, smiled and then looked at Jazmel. ¡°It¡¯s your choice leader.¡± He said and then began to scout the route that they should next take. ¡°You are his leader?¡± she asked, her eyes questioning and analysing him. ¡°He is part of my faction.¡± He admitted and she acknowledged how he didn¡¯t say he was superior to Tango. ¡°Can I come with you guys? I don¡¯t know the others and I entered this gate on my own and ended up in this castle.¡± She confessed and Jazmel shrugged. ¡°You can come if you can keep up. Make sure you do as we say, and we will make sure to fight and protect you where we can.¡± He said and she nodded, Tango whistled and beckoned to a route he had found. They broke into a sprint and Jazmel tagged behind Tango and Elai; the mage girl. Followed behind him. They were well down the stairs when the other strangers began following them down, but Jazmel , Tango and the girl were well ahead of them. She was doing her best to keep up, but her physical stats were quite low compared to Jazmel ¡¯s whereas tango had dexterity and agility in abundance, so it seemed like he was floating above the ground when he moved quickly. ¡°I wonder how Baek is doing.¡± Jazmel thought aloud and Tango chuffed. ¡°I don¡¯t think you know how strong that man actually is.¡± He said and didn¡¯t stop to even look back. ¡°Who is he talking about? Who else is there in the castle with you guys?¡± she huffed out, clearly tired from all their running. But they couldn¡¯t slow down, and she knew it, so didn¡¯t ask that of them. Jazmel almost answered her but above them they heard a roar and the din of fighting. The other Seekers had been caught and were fighting some new monster from the demonic forces. ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving!¡± Tango said and he jumped the banister of the stairs to descend faster. Jazmel didn¡¯t even know he could move any faster, but he was surprised again. ¡°Can he slow down?¡± the girl huffed, and Jazmel exhaled, he was struggling to keep up with Tango, but he was still well ahead of the girl. She needed to work on her stats, they were terrible. But he slowed down and tried to urge her forward, they made it down three flights before Tango beckoned for them to follow him and this corridor opened out into a wide chamber, it reminded Jazmel of his own chamber in the outpost, and he wondered if it was the bottom of the castle too; the meeting hall was wide, far wider than Jazmel ¡¯s outpost and he wondered about the dynamics for a split second. The screams from the stairwell rang out and echoed up and down, he wondered who was winning and what that meant for Tango and Elai. ¡°Catch your breath, we might still have a fight left.¡± Tango told them and Jazmel pulled two stamina potions from his ring and swigged them both, he felt the lactic acid in his body diminish greatly and then he turned and pulled another out, handing it over to Elai. ¡°Drink it quickly, if you gained any stat points, you need to put it into willpower, vitality, and endurance. Your stamina sucks.¡± He told her, she pouted but drank his potion immediately and pulled a Mana potion to drink also as they prepared to fight. Jazmel moved towards the centre of the hall; he needed the space. He put Nozarashi into his ring and drew Yoru no Tsubasa. He was ready for this fight. ¡°Here they come!¡± Tango said and then leaping across the ground he landed deftly beside Jazmel and pulled his two short blades again. Elai, the half-staffed mage was muttering to herself as she began pull Mana from her surroundings, Jazmel didn¡¯t look back. His eyes were focused on the stairwell, but dread soon took control. His senses were pulling at him, and he tore his eyes away to look at the entrance of the hall. The doors opened and demons poured in. Night terrors poured in and chittered and warbled as they bounded across the ground. The stairwell was filled with them, out of the group of seekers they had left behind only three remained. They were battered and bloody, but Jazmel could see they were still fighting and surviving. ¡°Over here!¡± he shouted, and they shambled over towards where Jazmel , Elai and Tango stood. ¡°What happened?¡± Tango said and one of the men, sneered before jutting with his chin. ¡°That happened!¡± he said and crawling through the much smaller opening creeped at demonic dark wing. This made Jazmel shiver, but he realised it wasn¡¯t the same one as the one Baek had fought with. He sighed, his head swivelled, and he looked to see another dark wing enter through the double doored entrance. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°This is going to be fun.¡± Tango muttered, to himself but loud enough that everyone could hear. ¡°Alright, everyone. This is going to be hard, any potions you have. Drink them now. We are going to move as one and stay as close as possible. We need to take one of those dark wings down before they reach us at the same time. Elai you need to hit one of them as hard as you can, only strike the one you think you can hit the hardest. Then we will all strike that one. Whoever gets the kill, recover, and then resupply.¡± Tango explained, nobody questioned him, and Jazmel thought his idea was sensible. ¡°Get ready!¡± Tango commanded as the night terrors hurried at them and the different skills burst from the small group as they hit and bombarded the terrors. Jazmel didn¡¯t used any of his skills yet, he was preserving his Mana to hit the dark wing when it neared. But that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t doing his best; he was protecting all those who were beside him, any terror that got close died or was wounded grievously. He struck sharp and quick, and they hissed from the blade he now was growing so accustomed to. He felt his exp growing little by little and he could also feel his stats rising but he dare not look right now. ¡°Dark Wing at the stairwell is the closest!¡± Elai shouted and she began to pour her Mana into her staff and Jazmel watched as she drained the area of Mana to amplify her attack. Star descent! She screamed and Jazmel watched as she winced as literally all her Mana left in this attack. The skill she had called forth was monstrous, he could feel it in the air. Her Mana willed to life five stars into the ceiling, and they twinkled with Mana as she wrenched them from the sky and crashed them into the dark wing. It wailed in pain, wrought with wounds, it lost its left shoulder, its entire right arm and both wings. But it was still alive. It stumbled towards them now and Tango darted forward. ¡°Jazmel you need to kill it!¡± he ran forward, flitting through the attacks of the terrors like a gust of wing, he turned corporeal and sliced through the ankles of the dark wing, bringing it down to its knees but when it tried to rise up, it couldn¡¯t and then decided to crawl towards them. ¡°Why won¡¯t you just die?¡± Jazmel whispered and then he rushed in, dodging the terrors as they tried to swarm him, but he was deathly to anything that neared and the frigid death Mana emanating from his blade was enough to deter a few; which allowed him some space. He gained a few slashes and scratches, his Mana dripping away to repair his clothes as the night terrors tried their best to get to him, but any that drew truly close were carved up. Jazmel focused, trying to meditate in the centre of this battle, they could die. He knew that but to his surprise he felt really calm and he watched as things suddenly began to slow down and he realised he had entered that sword state again, that place where it was just him and his sword. He raised the sword above his head, steading his arms; planting his feet and with a deep inhale he urged Mana into his sword. He felt the three Mana¡¯s coalesce into something beyond, something far stronger than he would have been able to create on his own and while he was in this stance, he knew that everything was perfect. There was no flaw in his sword. He didn¡¯t even shout or say his skill, he simply whispered it, but the intent was so powerful it took almost half the Mana in him to wield it. Cleave The slash was so perfect, he felt as if he cut through the very air, it cut through Mana and when it reached the dark wing. It cleaved it in two, Jazmel ¡¯s mouth was agape, and he watched as the giant beast fell apart and the ichor pooled the two cleaved parts. ¡°You are getting too strong!¡± Tango said and Jazmel nodded, suddenly aware that he should not have been able to do that. They hurried back to the group and Jazmel tried his best to not take note of the eyes on him, especially Elai who had taken to chugging Mana potions but also looking at him over the vials. ¡°One down!¡± one of the others in the group said and he slowly blinked his eyes in mute thanks. Jazmel nodded, but then stepped to the front of the group. He was going to defend them while they recovered, he had enough Mana for another attack like that. BOOM! That didn¡¯t come from them or the dark wing, who also seemed worried about the sound. BOOM! BOOM! The ceiling shook with the strikes and Jazmel wondered what monstrous thing could be making those sounds. Dust knocked from the crevices of the stones and bricks used in the castle, but they soon began to shake free, and a few dropped down onto the night terrors that mulled around. They had stopped their attack as everyone waited to see what was crashing through the floors above. BOOM! The final one broke the ceiling and brought it down atop the dark wing and majority of its forces. Blinding white Mana filled the entire hall and Jazmel sighed with thanks as he felt the familiarity of Baek. He landed gracefully atop the stone grave that he had made for the dark wing, it had tried to claw its way free, but he had driven his short blade sword into his skull and burned it with an expulsion of white Mana. It died instantly and he pulled its corpse into his ring. ¡°Enough!¡± he said, and his voice was quiet yet firm. He beckoned for the survivors to attend him, and he held back the night terrors with his Mana alone. ¡°The challenge is done as soon as you walk through the entrance it will end. What will you do though? This was an arduous task, and I am sure this will be the first of many, you need to recoup and resupply your potions and also settle your stats. What will you do?¡± Baek asked them while looking at Jazmel , he read the situation and stepped forward. ¡°I have an outpost you can join, there are members currently stationed there. All you have to do is enter it and they will help you, but we are new and have not set up heavy foundations. So, if you do need our help, you will have to earn your keep. You will be allowed to recover, but we will need you to offer your services once recovered.¡± He explained and the three were quiet, Elai was standing beside Tango, but she wasn¡¯t alone. To his surprise the man with the giant sword from the first floor had come with Baek and he was battered and wounded but his eyes danced with life, and he grinned when Jazmel caught his eyes. ¡°I will join.¡± He said and offered his hand to shake Jazmel ¡¯s they shook, and Jazmel realised just how big he was when his hand was lost in their grip. He flicked the system screen up and offered the faction position to him and he smiled when he accepted. DING! GELTH RANKER TIER I HAS JOINED YOUR FACTION! Jazmel nodded and the man stepped to the side, but he wasn¡¯t alone for long. Elai stepped up and smiling Jazmel offered her the same offer, she accepted, and he watched as her name flitted up on the screen. DING! ELAI SEEKER TIER III HAS JOINED YOUR FACTION! The others soon joined him, thinking it better to band together. ¡°you guys just need to pick the outpost when you step through the gate and you will go directly there now, the option should show up immediately. Get rested and recover, we will join you as soon as able.¡± Jazmel said and Elai and Gelth stepped through the entrance of the castle and immediately they disappeared. The others quickly followed, and Jazmel watched as they too disappeared, he turned to Tango who just finished sending a swan off and he wondered who it was for. ¡°Mary, just to let her know who the new faces are.¡± He explained and Jazmel nodded, he did the same, sending one to Katie and then one to Sad¨¦. ¡°We need to leave now, before the owner of the castle wakes up.¡± Baek told them and Jazmel looked up, there was something stronger here? he was ready to go. They stepped through the gate but did not opt to go back to the outpost, no they were still going to go deeper into the dungeon. Book 3 Chapter Five; Frozen Fjord on the Glacial plains The gate that led them away from the demon castle, had migrated them to a completely new space and Jazmel smiled at the strangeness of the labyrinth. No matter where you were, you had no say on the sort of place the labyrinth would place you in, he had been made aware that sometimes places and areas would have more than one gate in them, so depending on whichever gate was used, it could land the seeker in another place entirely. Even now after being inside a massive castle that seemed to be enthralled in permanent night. Jazmel took this moment to look at the notifications from the demon castle and they all appeared, and he whistled at just how many had appeared. DING! TIER II DEMON NIGHT TERRORS X50 KILLED TIER I DEMON NIGHT TERRORS X100 KILLED! ¡­ TITLE DEMONIC SLAYER AWARDED! EXP EARNED ¡­ He nodded at this but kept looking. +1 STR +1 PER +1 VIT +1 END More stat points were always good, and he was happy to see it, but he needed to earn more stats that would allow him to raise his skills to the be around the same level, gaps were forming, and he had gotten so used to them being close to one another, he was feeling worried. But he kept looking at his notifications and continued. DING! TIER III DEMONIC DARK WING KILLED! ¡­ LEVEL UP! EXP EARNED ¡­ LEVEL UP!! ¡­ The gate that they had used, had brought them out into the frigid open of a glacial plain. The cold was blistering and Baek and Tango seemed not too bothered by the cold, but Jazmel was stunned by just how frozen he felt. He tried to use Mana to block it out, but his fingertips were still feeling the utter coldness of the plains. Snow whipped about them in torrents of different wind dances. Snow poured from the sky like rain and then buffeted them from below. Jazmel zipped up his aviator jacket and stuffed his hands in his pocket, but it was still cold. ¡°Do you still have those cores from the yetis? You should consume one now, it will help you against the coldness while you learn to try and build some resistance. He did as he was told and pulling a frost shard from one of his rings. It was about as thick as two of his fingers and about the length of his finger to the wrist. It was cold in his hand, it felt like he was holding a piece of ice it wasn¡¯t as cold as the environment he was currently in, but it was cold enough that he held it gingerly. He bit into it; breaking off a piece with his molars and to his surprise it broke apart easily. He swallowed and it tasted of clear cool water and mint. He crunched through the rest and after he had swallowed all of it, the system alerted him immediately. TIER II FROST SHARD CONSUMED ¡­ YOU HAVE GAINED SOME IMMUNITY TO THE FROST! IMMUNITY BUFF FOR 1 HOUR!! He smiled at the notification and nodded his head, he felt the change immediately, the Mana he had been pouring into his will to prevent him from being frozen solid lessened admirably and he felt warmth crawl to the tips of his finger again. The fjord had been frozen over and the lake still thrummed below them but the ice that encased it was both solid and thick. Standing atop it and the ice didn¡¯t crack or even creak with their extra added weight. Baek pushed forward, moving through the snow and ice that rained down from the heavens atop them. the snow churned up and honestly Jazmel felt like he was swimming against the tide, the winds were waves and the unwavering snow felt like storm pelting them from above. The clouds groaned and churned out more snow and he watched as Mana moved through them creating this powerful and all enduring storms. ¡°Look!¡± Tango pointed and above them, through the clouds a pod of whales burst from the clouds and swam through the sky! The air was thick with ice and water Mana, which was what was churning up the snow. This was something he had never seen before; this pod of whales were swimming through the sky and the clouds! This was a sight of beauty and amazement and he felt this was what he lived for. For moments where he was so amazed that he couldn¡¯t do anything but just guffaw at them. ¡°They are Storm Balene, tier II, and sometimes tier III monsters. They have thick defences but are not prone to attacking. Most times they are hunted for the items that can be made from their corpses.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel simply paid attention not wanting to lose sight of the pod of almost fifty whales as they soared through the clouds and skies. A careening cry was heard and tracing their trail through the skies, Jazmel watched as a new pod of smaller and more streamlined whales chased after the pod. The patriarch of the storm Balene¡¯s whirled around charged through the pod crashing into them and trying to draw them away from the calves and females. But the smaller whales were smart. They drew away the stronger Whale and then used this to dive into the flanks of the females who had moaned and brailed cries of anguish as calves were bitten into and pulled from behind or beneath their mothers. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. The patriarch realised what had happened and wheeling round, he nosed towards his pod and led them away, leaving them too wounded and already taken calves. ¡°Those are Orca¡¯s they hunt everything, and they are incredibly smart. Be careful that they don¡¯t try and come for us.¡± Tango said but the orca¡¯s had already spotted them, a booming; rallying call went about and the wheeled and whirled around and descended from the skies to go for the three of them. A little bewildered, Jazmel watched as they descended towards where he, Tango and Baek stood and waited for the Orca¡¯s to hit them. the first three were cut through by a slashing motion with his hand; Baek was formidable. Jazmel had only heard him use a skill name once. His Mana was so thick and dense he simply had to cast it about himself, and monsters fell about him. The pod squealed in anguish, sad to see some of their own killed. Others dived at Tango and Jazmel ; he acted quickly. Blade wrath! His skill drove them down from the sky and they crashed into the ground wheezing and struggling against his aggressive skill. The wound flickered with ethereal flame, and he almost felt sorry for them, if they didn¡¯t try to eat him! DING! TIER II SKY ORCA X2 KILLED Tango had decimated the pod, Baek and himself. The few that remained rushed to enter the clouds again, Jazmel didn¡¯t even look about the items. He bit through another frost shard as he felt the buff beginning to wane. He didn¡¯t want to feel the cold as badly as he had done before. The trio pushed across the lake and entered the land that was beyond the lake. To his thanks, the ice didn¡¯t break and though the lake beneath churned and frothed; the ice still held. After the pod of Storm Balene¡¯s and the sky orca¡¯s they were left alone, they saw a few other pods, but they steered clear, and Jazmel got to enjoy the frigid peace that came from the trio travelling. There were no drops of loot from the sky orca¡¯s and Jazmel wondered what they might have dropped, Tango told him that he had gained an orca core and he offered it to Jazmel , but he declined. Telling Tango, he should keep using all his drops towards preparing for his next tier tribulation. ¡°I cannot believe you are so close to ranker tier.¡± Tango laughed and Jazmel could tell he was actually quite proud. ¡°I think it just so happens like that, because we did so much inside the labyrinth.¡± Jazmel explained with a simple shrug. ¡°The labyrinth offers you the means to grow, but some people are happy with their strength and so do not finish the tasks or plots they are offered.¡± Baek offered in tandem, and Jazmel and Tango listened to his wise words. ¡°How long did it take you to become a master tier?¡± Tango asked Baek and the old man got a smile on his face as he reminisced. ¡°It took me ten years to become a master, I became a ranker in my first three years. But then I settled and when I settled everyone surpassed me. But by the time I decided to push for master, I had to achieve extremely hard tasks to gain the things I needed for the plots the labyrinth offered me.¡± Baek said with a wistful smile, and he nodded. ¡°Tango have you finished all your plots?¡± Baek asked and Tango shook his head. ¡°I think when we head back, you should plan for that. Complete your plots and I think you might even make it to master.¡± Baek said and Tango listened, quietly but Jazmel could tell he also hungered for power. For the responsibility of strength or the comfortability that came with it. ¡°Do you have plots too?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek nodded and then raised two fingers. ¡°I have just two and I imagine if I complete them, I probably will tier up to tier III.¡± He said and Jazmel shook his head at the impossibility of Baek¡¯s strength. Master tier felt far away from him still and Jazmel was shocked, he couldn¡¯t imagine what strength of any plot the system could provide. But he imagined that at ranker tier, he would gain new plots too. He still had to find monarch tier tribulation items too as well. Currently he only had the twilight crown, but within ranker, he needed to find extremely rare items for tribulation too. They hit land and Jazmel felt the thud of thick ground as he stepped off from the lake. The ground was covered in sleet and stone, the frost of the lake had encroached onto dry land here too, but not without the land pushing back. The plants that were growing here hardy and used to growing in the lands of bitter frost and ice. They travelled further inland and the icicles that sliced through the air as they dropped like knives from the sky pounded them from above, but Jazmel had gotten infinitely better with managing his Mana and he used it to protect himself from the worst of the snowstorm, he was still cold; he also still had to eat the frost shards and he had already gotten through the half of those he had collected in loot. Two hours in and Jazmel found themselves in a small town, it was derelict, and few people were in the town, but Jazmel could see that they had small stalls set up and items were being traded or sold to whoever was in the town. He looked around him and saw that a few other seekers were moving around the town. Tango was leading and Jazmel followed him as Baek walked behind them, quietly and nimble on the dirt trodden road. The first stall Jazmel happened upon was filled with little items of worth, but he noticed some herbs and he thought that they should be grown back at the outpost. He bought seedlings, three sacks worth and paid the old man who was selling his wares a handsome price of one hundred gold coins. The man accepted and holding Jazmel ¡¯s hand with both his own; gnarled and callused as they were. He thanked him profusely. Moving on, Jazmel came across another stall, this time it had tier tribulation items. Nothing for himself, he had decided that he would only be using draconic items and there wasn¡¯t anything he could buy. Or so he thought, the system notice popped up and he looked at the notification. TIER III LEVIATHAN BONE FOUND Jazmel looked at the stall again and noticed something he had thought was part of the actual stall and it was, it wasn¡¯t on display to sell. The wares were actual fruit a few were interesting and picking them up, he managed to read the system notifications regarding them. TIER II GLACIAL FRUIT, the glacial fruit grows in frozen areas which has adapted to attribute Mana to its consumer TIER I FRIGID HERB, the frigid herb will allow a semblance of permanent immunity to cold and ice environments TIER II ARTIC SPICE, a spice that combats the cold from within. It will allow the consumer to draw Mana from them TIER II FREEZING FRUIT, a freezing fruit that can be used for tier tribulations in some instances. This was interesting, he bought them all. The stall owner was happy to take fifteen white gold coins, the man was incredibly thankful, and Jazmel took more notice looking around that a lot of people here were not as affluent as other markets he had seen. There wasn¡¯t even an auction house here, but he figured this was due to how hard the land was to produce and toil. ¡°Sir, I will buy that bone off of you for thirty white gold coins.¡± The stall owner froze and looked at the bone and then looked at Jazmel intently. Trying to figure out if the bone was worth something. ¡°70.¡± ¡°nope, 40.¡± ¡°60?¡± ¡°45?¡± and finally the man and Jazmel both settled on fifty. He opened his palm of his left hand and let the coins appear from his ring in his hand and then he handed them over. Tango and Baek simply watched; neither asking him about it and for that he was glad. He put it in the storage and immediately he felt the egg wiggle. TIER II LEVIATHAN BONE! ¡­ EGG WISHES TO EAT IT! WILL YOU LET IT? Y/N Jazmel accepted and the bone disappeared, and he felt the egg filled with mirth, the scales flexed and then it fell dormant again. He perused the other stalls but didn¡¯t find anything that he remotely liked and instead took the time to move through the town looking around. But he didn¡¯t see anything else that interested him. Book 3 Chapter Six; Strength in Numbers, Sometimes Jazmel walked through the small town if it could be called that. It was small houses; shacks really. The stalls that they used were the better built things and Jazmel wondered what he could do for the people. He wondered if he should let them join the faction. ¡°I see your thoughts in your eyes. While I will not interfere with your decisions you cannot always help and save everyone.¡± Baek said and Jazmel nodded, knowing he was right. The faction needed to build its strength and that was what Jazmel was considering, but Jazmel also understood that they were still a fledgling, none of them besides Katie and Tango was a Ranker tier. Baek was a master tier, but he also refused to involve himself directly in the management of the faction. Stating they had to grow as organically as they could. Jazmel had an idea, and he opened his system and looking at the outpost and faction members he sent two new tasks to them; the system changed them to fit the needs he was seeking and then presented them rewards also. DING! ¡­ BLACK WING FACTION TASK CREATED!! ALL FACTION MEMBERS MUST UNDERGO ONE TIER TRIBULATION! REWARDS ¡­ BLACK WING FACTION TASK ANNOUNCED! A FACTION IS ONLY AS STRONG AS ITS MEMBERS ALL FACTION MEMBERS MUST IMPROVE THEIR STATS AND LEVELS REWARDS WILL VARY! RECRUITMENT CAN ALSO BE CONSIDERED AS IMPROVEMENT ¡­ Jazmel watched as the system knit his thoughts together for his faction members and he noticed that Tango had also received the tasks, he scanned the screen he was seeing then nodded simply. Closing it down and continuing forward. They didn¡¯t speak about it and in truth there was nothing to discuss, Jazmel was doing what should be done and as the leader of the faction it was his duty to ensure his members continued to grow stronger. Himself included and he was aiming for ranker, but now he was going to focus on it while he continued to try and recruit more members. They left the small village and having walked no more than a few hundred yards; they were engulfed into the wilderness again; thankfully, the snow had let up and now they found themselves in a vale of enormous proportions. Jazmel ¡¯s keen sight allowed him to see how far the vale extended and even then; it expanded past his field of vision too. The vale was covered in tall grass and the brisk chilly wind made the tall grass strands dance beneath its trumpet. The billowing wind wasn¡¯t as cold as the shoreline, but it was brisk still; Jazmel had not stopped moving his Mana around his body and so he did not suffer as much, but he could still feel the cold. The vale had no trees and so the wind buffeted them all; there was nowhere to hide from it, but Jazmel was happy to be out and in the open. It allowed him to see more, he was paying attention to feed Mana into his eyes and allow himself to see both the physical but also the Mana flow all around him. It was a sort of training, when he looked completely with Mana, his brain could not manage all the information it was receiving and after extensive use; he suffered beneath migraines. So now he was drip feeding the Mana into his eyes and only allowing himself to see a little of it and it was with this that he saw the herd in the distance. ¡°Look over there.¡± He pointed and Baek and Tango looked over to where he motioned and nodded with smiles. A herd of deer were grazing in the open, there was around one hundred of them and they were all doe besides three much larger stags. ¡°Those are star pronged deer; they are tier II creatures. But the system will consider them monsters technically.¡± Tango told him and Jazmel watched them. They were normal sized, not bigger, or smaller than the deer Jazmel had seen outside of the labyrinth. Their coats were darkened as elm bark; a chocolate brown that Jazmel could tell was thick and glossy both at the same time. The most shocking part was that all the does had horns protruding from their foreheads. Not the array of branches like stags; but they were just blunted elongated nubs of what looked like metal. The same could be said for the stags too, their antlers were silvery in colour and sprouted off in branched prongs that Jazmel wondered what they looked like up closely. The Mana that vibrated from within and around their core was only dulled by the brilliance of the Mana in their antlers and horns. ¡°Why do their antlers look like that?¡± Jazmel asked and Tango looked at him a little surprised but then remembered his eyes; Mary had told him that she had gifted them to him. ¡°Star metal. That¡¯s why they are called star pronged deer.¡± Tango explained and Jazmel simply accepted his words, not wanting to get any closer, the three stags were now watching them wary, not prepared to alert their herd just yet. But aware of the three men watching them intently. ¡°Star metal is common, it¡¯s simply hard to get. The deer are robust and will flee if they are attacked. Star metal is usually used for armour, it¡¯s not too different to cold iron. But it¡¯s extremely expensive if you have to buy it.¡± Baek explained nodding towards the deer as they continued to graze. ¡°I would love to see armour and metal.¡± Jazmel said to himself more than the others, but Baek heard him and smiled. ¡°There are cities in the labyrinth which are completely run by guilds. One such one is Methulian; the guild city of swords. They are the best for making swords and any ranker or master with any wealth has had a weapon made there if they have been there.¡± Baek said and Jazmel listened as they began to head west, skirting the vale. ¡°How do you get to the city if you have never been. The gates are randomised after all.¡± Jazmel asked and Baek nodded. ¡°Yes the gates are randomised, the labyrinth never lets you go to somewhere you¡¯ve been before. Unless you pick to go, but usually every few gates; it allows you to enter somewhere of a safe space or haven. Usually, to recover from your labyrinth diving. But also, to allow you to sell your wares or network. The labyrinth runs on its own system after all.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel nodded, since he had been in the labyrinth; every few gates had led him to a town, or a city and he was grateful to not be in the wilds of the labyrinth nonstop. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°I have always heard that you can return to a gate you have been, but how?¡± Jazmel asked and Tango smiled while Baek simply nodded in understanding. ¡°You can enter any gate you have been to already, simply place your hand on the gate before you step through, and the options will appear. Usually, seekers don¡¯t know about this because they are focused on getting stronger and so keep moving forward. But when you reach Ranker or Master, returning to a previous gate and then pushing through it again, sometimes it will allow you to find a new gate; somewhere you have not been before and that can open a whole new route through the labyrinth.¡± Baek described and Jazmel nodded, seeing the sense in that. ¡°How many gates have you both been in?¡± Jazmel asked, realising he didn¡¯t know. ¡°Sixty and some change?¡± tango said, shrugging and continuing to walk. ¡°Eighty-three.¡± Baek said and they both turned to look at him. He didn¡¯t bother to look at them and just continued to travel alongside them. ¡°How strong are you? Really?¡± Jazmel asked, enthused and curious at the same time. ¡°I am not sure how to answer that.¡± Baek said, still looking forward. ¡°How many of us could beat you?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek smiled; finally. ¡°You couldn¡¯t.¡± he said, and Jazmel turned to look at Tango who nodded his eyes tense. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek stopped to study him before answering. ¡°We are worlds apart. The difference between seeker tier and master tier is so large that; I cannot number the difference between us.¡± He stated and it hurt Jazmel a little, but the straightness of Baek¡¯s response told him he meant it and without any disrespect. ¡°But could you explain it to me in some way?¡± Jazmel asked, Baek looked at him and his face softened a little before he responded. ¡°One hundred.¡± Baek said and then continued to walk. ¡°One hundred what?¡± ¡°I am one hundred times stronger than you.¡± He said simply and Jazmel stopped a little to try and comprehend what he said but Tango helped him keep moving. ¡°The gap will shrink eventually. When do you become master tier it will be different, but for now? I am one hundred times stronger than you, give or take a wound or two.¡± Baek said and Jazmel listened to him speak but could not fathom just how large the difference was. Baek saw him and stopped to turn and face him. ¡°Seeker tier is the beginning; Ranker tier is the middle and Master tier is the end. Or well it was before the Monarch tier existed. A Master is just that, a master of their ability. You have not mastered your ability and currently are a newborn in the labyrinth. I have been in the labyrinth longer than you have been born. I have lost more inside here than you have even begun to gain.¡± Baek said and though his words were soft, his eyes were hard, and Jazmel could tell his memories were now getting the best of him. ¡°I am sorry if I offended you.¡± Jazmel offered and Baek waved it away. ¡°I understand you want to get stronger, your need even. But you need to consider what it means to those around you. So, what if you are so strong nobody can defeat you, they will do worse; they will go for your loved ones. They will destroy the things you took your years and tears to build. You must grow with those you have produced. All of you; together. That is the only way you can continue to get strong, get stronger together.¡± Baek consoled and after that they travelled in silence for a longer time, they moved west and continued to move along the vale and then when they had travelled well past the herd. They north ascended up out of the vale and into a valley which had rolling hills and dales that were covered in tall grass again but this time a few trees dotted the area about them. ¡°Why does nobody ride horses inside the labyrinth?¡± Jazmel asked, Tango laughed, and Baek smiled. ¡°Mounts are a precarious thing, of course you can gain a mount and the system will allow you to use it and ride it even through gates if you will.¡± Baek said and Tango nodded. ¡°But you cannot decide where you will be every gate.¡± Tango said and this time Baek inclined his head in agreement, Jazmel looked confused, so Baek explained further. ¡°Let¡¯s say you chose one of those deer and tamed it. Now you can ride it through the dales here and we would travel faster. But what would you do if the next gate were in the sea? Or if you stepped out of the gate and was in amongst the clouds?¡± Baek said and Jazmel looked up to the sky. So, there were gates that led to places in the clouds. Jazmel shook his head and laughed at himself, he was truly unprepared for the labyrinth, and he was lucky that he was getting by. ¡°The clouds?¡± Jazmel said and both Tango and Baek nodded. ¡°But surely people have mounts though?¡± Jazmel said and Baek nodded again before speaking. ¡°Of course, I know a master tier who is a beast tamer. Last I saw him, he had three beasts with him. A Storm Kite, a Cloudhopper Leopard and a Shade Drake. He was looking for something to allow him to enter the depths of the seas but hadn¡¯t found anything.¡± Jazmel didn¡¯t know what any of those creatures were, but he thought about the egg, whatever was going to hatch was going to be travelling with him and he wondered would he be able to mount it. They pushed into the dales and Jazmel climbed a small hill to see what the trees were like, fruits were growing, and he picked a few and put them in his storage and then he threw some to Tango and then offered some to Baek, he accepted and bit into his. Jazmel did the same and the rich taste of citrus and sweet scents of lime filled him with joy. It was shaped like an apple, but the colour was green and orange like a mix between an unripe mango and then a lime. He bit into it and in the centre was two seeds, oval in shape and pale green in colour. TIER I GILLER FRUIT OBTAINED 5% VIT BUFF FOR 1 HOUR! So, it was called a Giller fruit. He didn¡¯t strip the tree, but once he had finished it. He stored the seeds in his ring. ¡°How large is your ring?¡± Jazmel asked Tango and he shrugged. ¡°Probably the size of the courtyard of the outpost. But that is my largest one, the other two are maybe a large room or hall.¡± Tango told him and he nodded in understanding. ¡°What about you?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek smiled and shrugged. ¡°I haven¡¯t found something yet that I cannot fit in it.¡± Jazmel shuddered to think of the amount of wealth inside it. ¡°Not all my rings are that size, I split them up and carry different things in different rings, some rings even have rings stored inside them too.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel liked the idea of that, storing rings inside of rings was a sort of banking thing. He had sold his old ones for larger ones, but now he would buy others and begin separating his items into various categories and storing them as such. ¡°How much did your largest cost you?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek thought about it for a moment. ¡°Ten platinum coins.¡± He said and Tango whistled. ¡°That is insane!¡± Jazmel said and Baek simply shrugged, before responding. ¡°Think about it this way, the further you go in the labyrinth the greater the rewards, the stronger the monsters are and as such the more options you have for trade. When I was a ranker, I didn¡¯t spend any money in restaurants and stores. I traded everything when I wanted to eat; I would hunt monsters and eat them. The parts I could not eat, I would sell or trade for other things. By the time I hit master tier, I had a wealth close to a clan or a guild.¡± He explained and Jazmel and Tango both listened intently. ¡°Did you ever start a guild?¡± Tango asked and Baek nodded his head, but his eyes showed a sadness behind them. ¡°Yes, we did quite well too. I was the guild master of the White Heron guild for a time. But then while I was away; deep in the labyrinth. My guild was attacked; decimated by jealous rivals and by the time I had returned. Our base had been destroyed and split up between the victors. I waged war against them actually, I killed three guild masters before the heralds caught up with me. Cloud toad stopped me, but when realising what happened. He released me but took my oath that I would leave the rest to him. true to his word; he imprisoned those we could gain evidence of their part in the attack. But my guild was gone, and I hadn¡¯t the heart to retry.¡± Baek told them both, Jazmel listened intently and wondered what learned from this wise man¡¯s past. The next town or city they were in, he would shop for defences to be placed around the labyrinth. In fact, he thought of something better. Please see about the defences of the outpost, spend some of the treasury if you need to create or build defences. Reinforce the wall, but also lay traps around the outpost too. He sent an origami swan up into the sky and then watched as it darted off, Baek looked at him and he explained what he had said. ¡°I cannot tell where the gate is, we have been travelling in the wild for ages now.¡± Tango said, taking the time to sit down on a gnarled root sticking out of the ground of one of the Giller fruit trees. ¡°Sometimes the task of a gate is just to keep going.¡± Baek said simply and they got up and began moving further into the valley. ¡°Sure, wish I had a mount.¡± Tango said and Jazmel laughed, Baek even smiled. Book 3 Chapter Seven; the Long Way Since leaving that nameless town, they had been travelling for almost half a day. Jazmel wasn¡¯t bodily tired, but mentally staying alert was costing; taxing on the mind. ¡°Should we rest?¡± Baek asked and Tango immediately fell down in a slouched crouch and began building a fire. The wind had died down; but only a little and thankfully it had stopped snowing all together, but the cold was unforgettable. Jazmel waited patiently until Tango had built a fire and then sat beside it, the day had come and gone with effort and even now, after travelling for almost eight hours, it was barely evening for this place. ¡°Are there many nameless places in the labyrinth?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek looked around realising what he was asking. ¡°There are so many places inside this labyrinth that you should consider every gate as another earth. Not everyone will understand it, but every gate is like a new world in each gate. Nothing can be considered the same, luckily the labyrinth adapts for you; in truth the system does all the work. But as many games as there are which lead to civilisation, there are gates which have never been entered. Places which have not been found by Seekers. Who knows what is beyond the hundredth floor.¡± Baek said and Jazmel listened to him, impressed, and motivated at the same time. ¡°Will you try for monarch?¡± Tango asked and Baek laughed, a short burst which surprised him. ¡°No. I do not wish for the things that drive most men and women forward.¡± He said and Jazmel nodded, that seemed right. Baek after all could be doing his best to level up now, but he wasn¡¯t. instead, he was travelling with Jazmel and these seekers who had entered the labyrinth less than a year into their time in the labyrinth. ¡°Why do you not want to be a monarch?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek took a moment to consider his response. ¡°Because what will the cost be? Imagine how many masters heard about Xian Fei and rushed towards the hundredth floor even though they know they are not ready. But also, imagine how many have since died in conflict or in rushing to advance through the labyrinth.¡± He said and Jazmel conceded that he was right, but Baek continued. ¡°Now imagine how many rankers are now rushing towards pushing their limits to breakthrough to monarch. The peace that boundaries and territories had maintained will be broken.¡± Jazmel listened to all of this in silence, and he couldn¡¯t help it. He could find no fault in his words and his silence was proof of his agreement. ¡°Things will be lively for some time.¡± Tango said and settled down to get some rest, even Baek nestled down and closed his eyes in meditation. Jazmel laid down and took the time to get some rest, his thoughts were racing around but he closed his eyes all the same. Sad¨¦ stood at the top of a broken stairwell with her sword and her thunder crown as it rippled above her head. Snarling hisses were echoing around the ruined chamber she was standing in and using her thunder crown she used it to light up the room. Katie, Sad¨¦ and Timone had entered the labyrinth as soon as the task had come through for all black wing faction members. Katie, who was already a tier I ranker simply had to raise her level. But she was especially pushing for the free stat points option of the rewards. That would allow her to better the balance of her stats; which was what she seemed to still be focusing on doing; even now, she had used her chains to hoist herself above the chamber and built a small hammock for both her and Timone. She was using the rest of her chain to whip out and attack the heads of the snakes that made up the snake pit in the chamber. The gate had opened into a tomb and as soon as they had stepped through; the ground had broken away and dropped into the pit, Katie responded immediately and saved herself and Timone, Sad¨¦ had leapt to the corner where the stairwell was, but the steps were debilitating; crumbling and she had to make something happen before she would fall into the snake pit. DING! THE CHAMBER WAS ONCE A PLACE OF WORSHIP THE SNAKES HAVE TAINTED THIS SAFE PLACE! GET RID OF THE SNAKES IN THE SNAKE PIT! REWARDS; Sad¨¦ sighed when she saw this but nodded. She lessened the Mana in her crown and instead willed her tails free. Rather than having all five, she opted for three and felt as the Mana boosted around her body immediately. This was going to work very well for her. ¡°Can you extend a chain over here?¡± she asked Katie and deftly she flicked out a chain and it struck the wall above Sad¨¦, and she had to jump up to clutch it and then she pulled herself up and wrapped her legs about it. then she begun to climb along the length of it, towards where Katie and Timone sat in their chained hammock. She kept going and before long she was hanging in the middle of the expanse and when she was sure of it, she looked down. Beneath her she saw the writhing mess of the snakes; they were dull greyed and though she couldn¡¯t see the heads. She could tell there were hundreds down there. Foxfire! She charged her blue orbs of brilliant fire and compressing them, so they were smaller, she was able to make more and before long the entire chamber was lit with them. She kept willing her Mana to spin in each orb and then when she let them go, the unhooked from her Mana, descending slowly and to Sad¨¦ from her upside-down view they looked like blue snowflakes as they floated down, and she watched anticipating the attack. The first one to fall landed on top of a scale that was moving deeper into the pit and it was gone as other snakes coalesced atop. BOOM! BOOM! The first one exploded and the snakes screeched a cry of shock, the explosion reverberated around the chamber and unsteadied the other orbs of fox fire. The chain reaction happened immediately, and the orbs exploded one after the other. Not doing too much damage to the snakes, their scales were thick, but the chamber was a different matter, and the ruinous chamber was barely holding on. The floor could not bear the weight and the heaviness of the strikes from her bombardment too. The floor gave out and then the snakes fell into the darkness beneath. She had no idea what was beneath them, but she was ready for the peace and quiet. The snakes made her feel uncomfortable and she was not happy about it at all. DING! TIER II TUNNEL VIPER X123 KILLED! ¡­ LEVEL UP LEVEL UP! +5 STR +5 INT +3 VIT +3 END She shuddered as the rush of changes to her stats and felt her body being imbued with the strength of the system. She didn¡¯t move and gripped the chain as her body rippled; flexing with her new power. ¡°Well thanks for getting rid of all the snakes!¡± Katie called over the expanse. ¡°Yeah thanks, but how do we get down?¡± Timone asked and Sad¨¦ looked at her and then laughed, they all laughed. Because they were stuck where they are. ¡°Maybe we can rappel down this shaft expanse?¡± Katie said. She threw another chain across the ceiling and began to pull her way down towards the space where Katie was hanging by her legs and arms. Timone followed them along and in the dark they looked around and tried to figure out what best to do. ¡°Well, I wish we had Jazmel ¡¯s glow in the dark eyes.¡± Katie said and in the silence of the chamber it was louder than the whisper she had murmured to herself. ¡°His eyes glow in the dark?¡± Timone asked and Sad¨¦ could hear the shock in her voice. ¡°Well, they reflect Mana, I think he said he can see Mana.¡± Katie explained to her, and Timone whistled which carried around the chamber. ¡°That must be impressive. I didn¡¯t know you could do something like that.¡± Timone said and Katie agreed. ¡°You will have to ask Sad¨¦ what his eyes are actually like though, seen as she spends the most time staring into them.¡± Katie said and though there was no smile on her face, she could see the joy in her eyes. Even in this darkness, Katie was terrorising her about her connection with Jazmel. ¡°Are you two a couple?¡± Timone asked, she was further away from Sad¨¦ and so she couldn¡¯t see her, but her voice sounded nonchalant. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°No, we are not a couple, we just met on the first floor and have been travelling together since.¡± She explained and the girls all fell silent. But she couldn¡¯t hide the heat that flowed across her face and to the tips of her ears. Katie grinned at her and Sad¨¦ knew she could see the warmth. ¡°I mean he is handsome though.¡± Timone said and Katie couldn¡¯t hold it, she guffawed and swung on the chain she was hanging from; giggling. Sad¨¦ was burning with embarrassment but couldn¡¯t hide her face as she was holding onto the chain. She closed her eyes and breathed through her nose. ¡°Please can we find a way down from here.¡± Sad¨¦ asked and Katie laughed some more and then Timone flashed a toothy grin, which Sad¨¦ caught. ¡°I think we are going to have to descend down.¡± Katie said and unravelling the hammock she used it to create a thickened chain to dangle from their current handhold and used it to drop down below. She explained that she had to go first because if she didn¡¯t, she wouldn¡¯t know how long the chain length would need to be and so she created a little hand wrap for all three of them and explained; use it to slide down the chain but if you need to stop or slow down. Squeeze the wrap and the Mana would grip the chain and stop their descent. She went down first, and it was a long time, almost five minutes before she wriggled the chain to let them know she had found the ground. Timone was next and before she was alone, Sad¨¦ descended and for what seemed like an age she descended through the chamber and the broken ground to the abyss beneath it. The floor had broken away and in the debris they landed atop the jagged pieces which had pierced the writhing body of the snakes. The tunnel vipers had died under their own weight as well as how far they had fallen. They took this time to root through the corpses and loot them. Sad¨¦ took all the cores she could find, also the fangs and even some scales. They would sell or she could just hand them in at the faction, the wealth was still being built and even though they had found so many coins in the tomb of the clay emperor. They also knew they couldn¡¯t rest on their laurels. DING! YOU HAVE LEFT THE TOMBS OF ISSUS! YOU HAVE FOUND AN EVEN OLDER ROUTE ¡­ THE TUNNEL VIPERS HAVE ERODED THE TOMBS AND FOR THAT YOU MUST CLEAR THEM OUT! DEFEAT ALL THE TUNNEL VIPERS ISSUS WILL REWARD YOU! The notification popped up in front of Sad¨¦ and she read it through twice before turning to see Katie and Timone looking at each other. ¡°Well onward sisters!¡± Katie uttered and Sad¨¦ rolled her eyes and smiled. Timone led the way, trudging through the debris and trying to find stable footing around the lengthy bodies of the vipers. The girls climbed free of them, and the stale are from the tunnels was pushed away by the cool air that flowed through this cavern of much older tunnels and trails. They were old, Sad¨¦ could tell from the stone and how it had melded to the shape of something much larger. Everything was cold, so she knew nothing had been through here in a long time, but it didn¡¯t change that she wondered what it might have been. They travelled through the wide tunnel for two hours before they found or saw anything besides themselves. They cool air opened up into an underground lake, an oasis. Where a small island rose in the centre of the lake and on that land; a tree of such growth sat. That the roots that had nowhere to go; now entered the waters of the lake above ground and now the closer to the lake, looked like a mangrove. ¡°Anyone up for a swim?¡± Katie said and made to put her hand in the water, but Timone caught her arm and motioned to the water before shaking her head. ¡°Do not disturb the lake.¡± She said and Katie looked around before nodding. ¡°Can you get over to there?¡± Timone asked and Katie judged it and taking a step back, then thinking of it. She took a few more; then she ran across the ground and leapt across the expanse, she flipped into the air; tucking herself into a ball and spiralling across the wide space of water. Just as she was about to drop from the height, she flung out a chain and imbedded it into the ceiling; swinging with it and exerting her momentum. She swung off the end of the rope and landed in the top branches of the tree. It was almost perfect but when she yanked free her chain, some of the ceiling came out and dropped into the lake. A single rock disturbed the peace and the rippled floated and ended at the edge of the waters. ¡°My bad.¡± Katie muttered but the silence carried it along the distance to Sad¨¦ and Timone who were watching from their standing at the edge of the lake. ¡°What can you see?¡± Timone whispered and Katie looked around and then with a smile, she held up fruit, they were big enough that she had to clutch them to her chest but from where Sad¨¦ was. She could tell that they were Mana fruit, fruit that when consumed, they permanently improved the stats and depending on their own growth, they could improve more than one stat. ¡°Tier III!¡± Katie whispered loudly. The water stopped, then another ripple unsettled the water. Sad¨¦ only noticed it because it lapped at her toes, and she stepped back to make sure her feet weren¡¯t wet. Another ripple, then another few. Something was rising from deep in the lake and it was big. Sad¨¦ immediately willed her thunder crown atop her head, then she felt the weight on her Mana release as she revealed each of her kitsune tails and she felt her Mana well and overflow within and her crown brimmed with power. ¡°Something is coming!!¡± She shouted, no point hiding now and as she said it the waves began to raise up even more and flood the surrounding grounds. Sad¨¦ and Timone had to back up a few yards to get away from the splash zone. Beneath the water, she saw scales; deep cerulean, blue which were much larger than any creature she had seen yet. At first the head raised up from below the waters and a tongue flicked out, tasting the air and the scenery. Sad¨¦ sighed and looked at the biggest snake she had ever seen before. It flicked out its tongue and then hissed as it peered down at her and Timone. DING! YOU HAVE AWAKENED SERPENTESSA TIER III TITANBOA! Sad¨¦ sighed and immediately waited to see what the giant snake would do. Its head was huge; two feet wide and when it flicked its tongue out; its teeth were about as long as her arm and as thick as her hand. But she didn¡¯t shy from this, she had entered the labyrinth to do as such. To defeat creatures of this size and to allow for further growth. Just as it was about to flick out its tongue again Katie could be seen bounding above its head in the large cavern and she was whirling her chain above her head as it formed into a large bundle of chains. Iron maiden! She lashed her chain mace down and slammed it on top of the snakes head. the titan snake was stunned from the attack; the scales atop its head cracked a little but it didn¡¯t change or even drop a little. Instead, it hissed a shriek and wavered in the air. Radical crash! Timone jumped into the air to strike the titan, but it opened its mouth to bite down on her. ¡°No, you don¡¯t!¡± Katie said as she wrapped her chain around the mouth and the titan fought her, but she had landed on its head now and was straining with all her strength to make sure her chains didn¡¯t break. Radical crash Radical crash! Timone was striking the Titanoboa with everything she had, smashing her fist into its face and head repeatedly. Sad¨¦ could tell they were doing slight damage and the titan seemed to be little more than irritated from the strikes. But it wasn¡¯t something that really doing true damage; and she knew it was a matter of time before it broke free of the chains. ¡°Help me up!¡± Sad¨¦ said as she pulled back and then leapt as far as she could into the air; a chain lashed out at her, and she caught it around her wrist. She felt herself yanked forward and soon she was rushing towards the titan, and all was going well but then the chains broke. The chain that had wrapped around the mouth split apart and the different links that burst; splintered cracking and breaking into shrapnel. Timone was hit and knocked off the titan; falling into the lake. Katie lost her footing; but she recovered quickly and using her chains. She used it to rappel from the chain, but in the ceiling again. she seemed to always have chain for and at any length. The chain that Katie had used for Sad¨¦ was still connected, but this time it was hooked in a link that was caught in one of the teeth of the titan. It hissed; Sad¨¦ who was dangling from so close winced as its whispering roar gurgled and in her proximity she felt all of its wrath. The rancid stink of its maw was putrid, and she wavered but the crackling of her thunder crown; burned the gums of the titan who flailed at her closeness. She willed her sword from her ring and then stabbed it into the eye of the snake. It roared and wrenched free of her hold. This time the chain did not hold, and she felt herself be flung below. She crashed into the water and sunk immediately, she was a good swimmer and righting herself in the lake; she began to doggedly swim back up. She broke the water and breathed air. Her vision was a little blurry, but she didn¡¯t stop herself from moving she swam to the shore of the lake and dragged herself from it. DING! STATUS CONDITION; DROWNING (minor) STATUS CONDITION; DROWNED (minor) ¡­ Of course. The system was telling her about her injuries. She coughed up water and then took the time to see how everyone was doing. Timone was back and her Mana artificial arm was burning with energy and wreathed in Mana as she struck blow after blow beneath the jaw of the Titanoboa; the giant snake of incredible strength. Katie had wrapped as many chains as she could in her small hands. She was trying her best to stop the snake from biting down onto Timone who was hanging from the lower jaw and fighting back. But it wasn¡¯t enough, she was struggling to do real damage, but Sad¨¦ wasn¡¯t hiding from the fight. She rushed forward and leapt as far as she could. She didn¡¯t land as close as she had wanted but to her luck; the snake had such length that she was standing shallowly in the water atop its coiled body. She climbed up; throwing her skills after it. Thunderstrike! Thunderstrike! Thunder! The strikes barely hit its scales, but the water was carrying, and it sizzled beneath her skills. The Titanoboa hissed at this and shrieked beneath her onslaught. She used this moment to crawl up the body, pulling herself up as she climbed towards her sword. pulling herself up; bit by bit she didn¡¯t rush though, she didn¡¯t want to draw attention to herself and even as Timone and Katie fought valiantly; they were hanging on for dear life. ¡°Timone!¡± Katie shouted and from her valiant climb; Sad¨¦ watched as Timone was flung from the air and into the water. She gritted her teeth and continued to her climb. Suddenly very fearful as she saw that the Titanoboa was raising itself to descend beyond the waters again; to try and catch Timone while she was beneath the water. It slipped beneath the waters seamlessly with barely any ripples and Sad¨¦ inhaled some air deeply before she was submerged forcefully. She was just at the corner of its jaw now and it descended through the lake; which was surprisingly deep for how small the cavern had seemed above ground. But she watching as it swam through the lake towards Timone who was swimming back towards breach the lake¡¯s waters and air. Sad¨¦ could see her sword now and with one last feat of will, she pulled herself up to grab the blade and she clutched it, pushing it deeper into the eyelid beneath the eye. The snake¡¯s giant iris peered down at her, and she felt the shift in the pressure of water as it began to pull water into its mouth. But she was quicker this time. Thunderstrike! STATUS CONDITION; ELECTRIFIED (major) She used her most dangerous skill beneath the waters and charged her sword with thunder and in the socket of the titan, the skill burned the eye outright but then the conductivity of water amplified the skill and everything within the skull burned, and the other eye burst into a milky mist that dispersed in the water. Sad¨¦ felt herself slipping out of consciousness; it could be from damage or lack of oxygen. She clutched the empty eye socket and slipped into darkness. Book 3 Chapter Eight; in the End, was it Worth it? They had rested for almost four hours and soon they had begun to travel again. the vale felt endless, but Jazmel was happy for the chance to be outside, he had been stuck in the outpost for the last few weeks and now that he was out. He had planned to delve, deeply into the labyrinth; he had even considered trying to find the next fountain and cleansing it like he had done for the first one. He walked through the tall grass, using his hands to part his way and stroke the strands that reached his palms. The labyrinth had a way of making surreal worlds seem beautiful, he had no idea what this place was called or to whom it was home. But Jazmel could tell it was extremely beautiful and peaceful, he had to wonder how many other places were like this and he hoped he would have the chance to see them; as many of them as he could. The vale was about to descend into another valley again but before he could take a step towards it, Baek was beside him. ¡°Come out.¡± He said and Jazmel looked around before lowering his hand slowly to his swords on his belt. ¡°Ahhh, I was hoping he would step a little closer and I would be able to catch him before you caught me!¡± a voice called out, Jazmel looked around, but he couldn¡¯t see who was speaking; even his eyes couldn¡¯t seek out the Mana. ¡°I said come out, otherwise you will force me to attack.¡± Baek said and this time Jazmel knew it was serious; for Baek had drawn his sword and the Mana he usually kept hidden deep within; was now being released in steady waves. After this warning; since amplified by the Mana. A lone man stepped from literally nowhere; it was as if he stepped from a different plane. But after stepped into sight Jazmel could tell he was strong; his Mana was unlike anything Jazmel had seen before. It was purer than any other besides Baek; it roiled off his body in waves that seemed to emboss the world around him. He was dressed simply, in sandals that wrapped up to his calves and a short kilt that tied at the front in gold and purple. To Jazmel he looked like a priest or a shaman, his body was adorned with tattoos; which oddly, were done in gold. They wove over his arms, chest, and shoulders in artful designs and Jazmel could tell that they had meaning; for the Mana was extensive. But he also knew he knew nothing of their meanings. The man wore cuffs on each wrist which in part, also resembled arm bracers but they were also ornamental in style. At his waist he carried a weapon Jazmel had never seen before. It was a blade of burnished copper and gold; he could see the two metals woven together. The blade was circular, almost like a question mark and it had a single handle, but the blade was curved wickedly. ¡°What business do you have here?¡± Baek asked, not offering any ground, and standing before Jazmel and Tango who watched earnestly. ¡°I wonder what items he had on him, that sword he is carrying looks unique. But now that I have seen you, I imagine you have far better rewards on you.¡± The man said and Jazmel watched interestingly as the Mana wrapped in his tattoos began to grow and fill his core which was already vast. But he did not have anywhere near the Mana that Baek had; Jazmel knew that, but Baek was not showing it just yet. ¡°Do you think the risk is worth the reward?¡± Baek asked and Jazmel could already feel that Baek was preparing to not talk anymore. Jazmel stepped back and gave Baek some space, it seemed like there was going to be a fight and he didn¡¯t want to be caught up in it. The man pulled his weird blade from his waist and then placed it on his shoulder, waiting. Jazmel was a tad confused; he didn¡¯t understand why the man was so comfortable before Baek; he was even waiting for him to react. He took a step forward and Jazmel saw that he was clutching a small pyramid of green lustrous jade. He simply threw it at the ground beneath where Baek was and as it neared him it grew in size and engulfed him quickly. It swallowed him, then returned to its small size. It fidgeted and Jazmel grew distraught about his imprisonment. ¡°Now that we got rid of the more serious nuisance. What will you guys do?¡± he said, and Jazmel felt dread fill his heart as a smirk spread across this man¡¯s face. Tango darted in and not giving him a second to respond; he struck at him with his skills. Wind blade Wind blade Wind blade! Jazmel watched as Tango fluttered about the man as he used his skill, but the man blocked him. Not so easily that he didn¡¯t focus on him; but enough so that Tango had to do his best to strike him. Tango was extremely agile when moving and Jazmel had noticed that his speed just seemed to keep increasing even in the heat of battle. Resonance! Tango disappeared; to the untrained eye, he looked like he melded with the air about him. but Jazmel could see his Mana just as well. He struck from his camouflage and the man was cut but not before defending from the worse of the wound. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Wind blade! Tango caught him across the face and the man snarled before barking out his own skill. Scarab shed! Jazmel watched as the man¡¯s wounds healed, he shed a layer of skin and immediately he was fine. Tango appeared beside him, out of breath but otherwise all right. ¡°Oh no, he¡¯s a tier III ranker. Too much for me when I fight him again you need to run. I can escape on my own; but for some reason he seems to be aiming for you.¡± Tango said as he chugged two Mana potions and disappeared on the wind again. ¡°Oh no, nobody is going anywhere. I am taking that boys eyes and his sword.¡± As he said those words, Jazmel found himself suddenly frightened but also settled. If he were to die today, he would fight until the end. He drew Yoru and stepped beside Tango, he was about to try and deter him, but Jazmel simply looked him in the eye, and he stopped before he began. ¡°Oh, are you are going to join the fray now little one?¡± He swung his sickle blade and Jazmel watched as Mana parted against the blade; that was interesting. ¡°If you want it, take it from me.¡± Jazmel said; through clenched teeth. Blade wrath! Cleave! Blade wrath! Blade wrath! Jazmel spun in a deadly dance and slashed and sliced the air as he tried to carve this stranger up, but he could not, he was not able to land a mark or scar on the man, he didn¡¯t even use his sickle. He simply evaded Jazmel with slight body movements. Jazmel was angered; this man should not have been this strong to him. there wasn¡¯t that much of a gap, but then Jazmel remembered Baek¡¯s words and if this man was truly a tier III ranker, then the gap was unnaturally large. But Jazmel did his best and before he could stop; Tango supported him and drove the man back. ¡°You are strong; nearly a ranker but not there just yet. You would have been a strong ranker if you hadn¡¯t met me.¡± He beckoned at Jazmel with his sickle and then motioning to Tango he said; ¡°You are a ranker, the levels are not that different between us, but you haven¡¯t sundered your skills enough. You got comfortable.¡± He said and Jazmel could tell Tango was affected, he went rigid with anger and the wind began to distort around him. Mana began to swirl around Tango, wreathed within it, he began to distort the very Mana around him. at the same time, the ground began to shake and rumble and all three of them turned to watch as the pyramid which had trapped Baek, began to twitch and before their very eyes it hopped in the air as it bulged with exertion. ¡°Impossible¡± the man said and in that moment Jazmel could tell he was scared. The miniature pyramid jumped again, and Jazmel watched as the man whirled to turn on them before the prison that held Baek failed. But Tango reacted first and crashing into him; knocked the man off his feet and several he hit the ground in multiple spaces before crumbling to a stop a good few feet from where Jazmel and Tango had been, White light began to shine from the pyramid and in moments it went from a dull shine to a massive brilliance that Jazmel had to shield his eyes from. He heard the space break; the pyramid shattered from the strength of Baek who Jazmel realised, had never really released all his Mana and power before them. but to escape the prison, he had, had to exert himself to the point where he burst the thing that had tried to imprison him. Jazmel was relieved to see Baek step from the small pyramid unscathed. But he was also aptly aware of just how many items and artefacts he still had not seen in his time in the labyrinth. The man had risen, clearly hurt from Tango¡¯s attack but not to the point where he couldn¡¯t read the situation, he disappeared from sight and as he moved, Baek moved too. White heron A burst of white Mana which embossed the entire area flashed across Jazmel ¡¯s sight and he couldn¡¯t see what had happened, by the time his eyes recovered from the flash. Through blurry eyes, he could see that Baek was holding the man by his throat, and he was limp in his grip. ¡°Release them all now.¡± He said and Jazmel didn¡¯t realise what they were discussing but from the man¡¯s storage ring he released a torrent of rings and Jazmel realised in horror that this man was a hunter of seekers. The rings he had collected were their own and he had kept them for himself. He poured rings from both hands and when the torrent had ended, he whimpered when Baek pulled his own rings from him. Baek let him stand on his feet, but pulling a talisman from his own ring, he placed it on the man¡¯s forehead and immediately he fell rigid and almost like he was in a deep slumber. ¡°He will sleep until the talisman is removed.¡± Baek explained, Jazmel and Tango simply nodded at him explaining. On his own, Baek raised a swan and sent a message out. The swan darted off and while it did what he wanted, he drew a Mana circle around the man and the rings of his victims. ¡°I have sent word for the heralds to find him and to repurpose the rings he stole.¡± Baek told them. ¡°But why would the heralds deal with this? Seekers fight all the time.¡± Jazmel asked, remembering the fights he had, had up until now. ¡°Seekers fight here and there, that is the life of those pushing for the pinnacle. The competitiveness isn¡¯t the issue. This man has taken it upon himself to simply hunt others, usually heralds will deal with them. But if you are lucky enough to capture or defeat them, if you alert the heralds. You can usually claim a bounty.¡± Baek explained, after that he tossed both Jazmel and Tango a ring each. The ones he had taken from the man himself. Jazmel let his Mana seep into the ring, and he realised it was much bigger than his own rings. He impressed his Mana and imprinted the ring as his own, as the new owner and then he looked inside. This ring was spacious, in size it was around the size of the main chamber in the outpost with the central node. It was filled with wealth and jewels. But those were not the things that interested him, no the man had accumulated a considerable sum of resources. Items and artefacts that Jazmel had not even heard of before, he began to analyse them. He looked through the list and shook his head. He would hand these over to Colin and have him sell these things, he needed to buy more Mana essence chests, and all these were all items that he was sure would sell well. ¡°We should leave now; I am sure the gate is further into the valley.¡± Tango said, he had taken the time to scout and on his return he was eager to go. Jazmel readjusted his swords in his belt and then made to follow. Book 3 Chapter Nine; Diligence Jazmel stood at the entrance of the merchant hall and sighed. It had been four days since he returned after that incident with the unknown Ranker who hunted others. He had returned to the outpost, but Colin was not there, instead he had sent word for them to come to an auction and eager to head back out. Jazmel had agreed to attend, of course not alone. Instead, he had partnered up with Gilmore, Sad¨¦ and Bannerman. Baek had told them it made sense for them to travel in groups together; but also, to familiarise themselves with the different abilities of each core member of the faction. It made sense and Jazmel agreed, so in turn he agreed to meet with Colin and to also be with his faction members and to sell his wares. The gate this time opened them to a world unlike anything Jazmel had seen. The gate opened to an undersea port; which was fascinating to Jazmel ; he had seen the likes of ships that sailed atop the sea, but nothing that swam beneath it. but here at this port it was here where he saw his first submarine. The great mechanical creations were all built in inspiration of creatures of the sea; some were shaped like balloons and with iron rotors and rudders they skimmed around surprisingly smoothly and capable. There were others; shaped like whales and other fish of the sea. But the ones that truly took his breath away were the ones shaped like swords and daggers; one particular one he was looking at was massive, the size of a sperm whale. It was slim and sleek and then ballooned out at the very end in the two circular vents and in them were spiralled rotors which gleamed copper and iron and he wondered just how fast it could go. On the side of the dull grey hull; in brilliant white, emblazoned was ¡®the scimitar¡¯ Jazmel nodded respectfully at that. It was the name of a sword; this underwater ship was the sword of the sea. It was beautiful and he wondered if he would ever get a chance to get on board of something like that. ¡°Come on, Colin¡¯s swan said he was round the corner from here.¡± Gil said and Jazmel dragged his eyes off the ship and followed Gil, Bannerman and Sad¨¦ who smiled at him cheerfully. ¡°I need to buy a sword, my last one broke.¡± She told him and he nodded, knowing what had happened to her and the other girls. They had killed a Titanoboa; a snake of such size that Katie and Timone had to haul it through the gate back to the outpost as it would not fit in their respective rings. But Melle had taken charge of it and dissected it with the help of her assistants and from the hundred freed slaves who had joined; some had joined her ranks and the three dwarven women. Now became fifteen assorted women and this allowed them to work seamlessly in supporting the whole outpost. Jazmel followed Gilmore and they soon came to a freshly painted and still being refurbished merchant¡¯s store. It was spacious inside and Jazmel felt the twinge of Mana which was being used to expand the inside of the store. On the outside it couldn¡¯t have been bigger than one room. But when they entered the store, three different sections could be seen from the entrance. ¡°Welcome!¡± Colin offered as he came from the back of the store and hugged each of them and even bowing over the hand of Sad¨¦ who tried to hide her face with her hair. ¡°What brings you here?¡± Colin asked, turning to face Jazmel who simply pulled a ring from his own storage ring, he had swapped things around and taking the ring from the seeker hunter and instead, had used one of his smaller rings to keep all of his wares. ¡°I have come to sell, but also we are looking to buy.¡± Jazmel said and Colin nodded eagerly, always the merchant; before looking around. ¡°All of you?¡± they shrugged but Sad¨¦ nodded. ¡°Well show me what you have, and I will show you what I can sell!¡± colin said, excited and he moved to stand behind his counter, this one was burnished copper and silver; far better than the one Jazmel had seen him using on the first floor on which they had met. The first item he pulled from the storage was the cube that he had not been able to open at all and when colin saw it, he whistled and with a smile he took it from the hands of Jazmel. ¡°That is interesting, a cube of the hearth! I haven¡¯t seen one like this, in such good condition for a while.¡± Colin said and Jazmel listened interestingly. ¡°A cube of hearth when opened, it will turn into a safe space in the wild. Deeper in the labyrinth, it becomes harder and harder to find safe spaces. But a cube of hearth can hide itself and its inhabitants. They¡¯re expensive to make and really durable.¡± Colin explained and Jazmel nodded along understanding the need for such an item. DING! 100X WHITE GOLD COINS Jazmel accepted the offer; he didn¡¯t need one of those when he could always return to the outpost. Currently he had the capacity to return to the outpost, but he also realised that anything like Orevalor could happen to him again, the labyrinth seemed to be advancing him along the way towards deeper and greater parts. Hidden and lost parts of the labyrinth, places he would have to overcome. The next item he pulled, was the gold pocket watch that he had found but had not been able to open. Colin looked at it and when he couldn¡¯t figure out what it was, he placed it on the counter and watched as the surface lit up and he smiled as something popped up in his status for only his eyes. Jazmel had wondered why he was always beside the counter but now he knew that this was something interesting and watched as the light in colin¡¯s eyes flashed with joy. ¡°This item, I have never seen something like this before. It is called the watch of Mirmannon, it allows the owner to see five seconds in the future or the past.¡± Colin explained and Gilmore gasped. ¡°That is basically a chance at foresight, which could be the difference between life and death.¡± Jazmel had to agree but he didn¡¯t think he could keep an item of that strength. His eyes showed him a lot already and he was also wondering what would happen the stronger he grew and the more tier tribulations he underwent. DING! 250X WHITE GOLD COINS OFFERED He accepted quickly and the item disappeared to somewhere for colin to use or sell later. Next item was the small ring he pulled that was simple; a silver band with a red ruby in the ring. ¡°I have seen this before; this is a ring of life blood. It helps recovery during battle, if blood is spilt from either the owner or their victim(s); it will use it to heal the owner.¡± Jazmel nodded at colin¡¯s words and without thinking he took the ring back and then handed it to Sad¨¦ who wasn¡¯t prepared at all. She looked at the ring he pushed into the palm of her hand and then looked up at him. Jazmel didn¡¯t realise why she was looking at him like that, but then he realised he had just given her a ring and they had shared a kiss. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Well, that is something.¡± Gilmore said and Jazmel felt the heat of embarrassment begin to rise on the back of his neck. But he simply stared at Colin and then emptied the contents of the ring on the counter and watched as colin¡¯s mouth all but watered as he looked over the array of items in front of him. Jazmel took the Horn of the high dragon; he figured it was a tier tribulation item. But he didn¡¯t know if it were monarch tier, but still it would be a boost for him all the same, he also took the black dragon tooth as well. ¡°I could take these all to auction and make a great deal, I won¡¯t even ask how you came across these items. But I will give you a decent price, we have a good thing here and I want to make sure we keep our relationship.¡± He fanned over the items and then offered Jazmel ; DING! 12 PLATINUM COINS OFFERED DO YOU ACCEPT? Y/N Jazmel accepted immediately and then colin offered his hand and they shook hands. Bannerman and Gilmore were looking around and colin called Gil over. ¡°I have found something for you!¡± he went into the belly of his counter and then pulled a small gem out that was filled to the brim with Mana, Jazmel could feel it just as much as he could see it. ¡°This is a shadow crystal, not extremely dangerous. But it only collects dark Mana, for some reason it does that until it bursts, but I heard you use dark and ink Mana.¡± Colin explained and Gilmore took the gem from him and then they began to barter about the prices. ¡°Do you have any swords?¡± Jazmel asked colin and he shook his head; dejected. ¡°I do not have a sway on that monopoly I am afraid, but if you head down this road you will find another store and they have swords and other weapons. I think they will be to your liking.¡± He offered and they filed out of the store to head to the weapons merchant. Bannerman and Gilmore took point and left Jazmel and Sad¨¦ to walk together, the port was quiet and though Jazmel couldn¡¯t tell what time it was here, there wasn¡¯t many people active yet. ¡°So, you gave me a ring.¡± Sad¨¦ started and Jazmel flinched as he remembered. ¡°Yes, I did. I thought it would be a good item.¡± He said and she looked at him, her face a still as stone. ¡°That is, it?¡± she asked, something in his gut told him he was treading on dangerous ground, but he didn¡¯t know what he might have done. He was silent and she studied his face for a moment, but it truly felt like a day. She turned on her heel, her nose in the air. She left and made for the sword smiths galley, where she would replace her sword. He wait for a moment and then followed behind her, meekly. He was sure he had upset her; he just did not know with what or how. The galley was huge, much bigger than the shops and storefronts Jazmel had seen or been to before. This galley was as big as a hall, with inlets every few feet where the stores sold their wares and kept stock and storage further back. They walked into the bustling crowd, and it wasn¡¯t long before Jazmel found himself surrounded by people, he didn¡¯t force his way through the crowd. But instead followed the flow of the movement as they rotated around each storefront and when they were done, they would move on. Or if they were interested they would drift out from the crowd and others who had been moving faster or had stopped shopping, seemed to join with them. Jazmel was truly intrigued by it but simply followed Sad¨¦ who was doing her best to look around and study the different stores and their wares. They had walked four stores in and now Jazmel was looking at the swords that were resting atop the stacks and at this store they were a little more interesting than normal. Not only were there much more Mana pouring from the swords than at the other stores. But also, the metals seemed to amplify the Mana that roiled off of some of the swords, Jazmel caught Sad¨¦¡¯s hand as she made to leave but he beckoned her to look in on this store. ¡°You have good eyes!¡± the man sitting at the counter expressed to Jazmel , and not for the first time did he wonder just how was it that these others could tell that his eyes were any different. But he simply shrugged and responded; ¡°I can see a little better.¡± The man smiled and shrugged back, nonchalant, and not taking his eyes of Jazmel for a moment. ¡°I take it you are here for the young lady?¡± he asked, and Jazmel didn¡¯t respond but waited for the man¡¯s explanation. ¡°You cannot be looking for a weapon, a sword better than your current one, can only be found deeper in the labyrinth or made by a master blacksmith. I am neither deep in the labyrinth nor am I a master yet. You have nothing to worry for, we will find her something suitable.¡± He said and Jazmel nodded, comfortable at how acute this man was. ¡°What is your affinity?¡± the man asked, turning to look at Sad¨¦ with kind eyes. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, you are elfin aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes, I am.¡± ¡°So usually you have an affinity, what is it?¡± he asked, and Jazmel nodded, he was right, and it seemed well known. ¡°Thunder.¡± she said, and Jazmel noticed that she did not mention her fire attribute. ¡°Thunder? That is interesting for a woodland elf.¡± He said and then he spun on the chair he was seated in and began digging around for something. ¡°Do you have to consume it, or do you make your own?¡± he asked over his shoulder. ¡°huh?¡± Sad¨¦ said and to be fair, Jazmel didn¡¯t know what he meant either. ¡°Do you have a skill regarding thunder?¡± he asked, smiling at her, and offering a knowing nod. ¡°Yes, it consumes Mana. But it amplifies all my thunder attacks, but I have a Mana buff, so it barely takes much.¡± She explained and Jazmel remembered she told him that she got an extra five hundred points on her Mana for each kitsune tail she gained. ¡°That is a lucky find!¡± the man called over his shoulder, but he was still digging around and trying his best to look for something. ¡°What sort of sword did you use?¡± he asked and Sad¨¦ told him her previous had been a katana. ¡°That is a poor choice, your agility and dexterity should be high enough that you can get around and create space for yourself.¡± He told Sad¨¦ who seemed to listen intently. ¡°I have been trained to use swords, spears, and short swords. But I thought a sword might be the better option because they tend to be the most popular reward inside the labyrinth.¡± She explained and Jazmel had to agree, it made sense. He had seen others use other weapons, but swords were the majority all around. ¡°Yes but you forget that the system is individual, it will create rewards for its users. Specific for them, so whatever you genuinely want or need. You will find inside the labyrinth, which is always how impressive it is.¡± He said and Jazmel could tell he was enamoured with the labyrinth in his own way. ¡°Here! I found it.¡± he said and pulled out a sheathed dirk, it was elegant and old looking. It looked like it had been made a long while ago, but it was also in good condition. Jazmel pulled it from its sheath and the blade gleamed, gleaned with Mana and the force of a storm seemed to reside in the blade. Jazmel thrust with it a little and thunder rumbled in the tip of the blade. He cancelled out of his swing to stop the bolt leaping from the blade. DING! TIER III SHORT SWORD OF ISHKUR 20% THUNDER AMPLIFICATION Jazmel whistled at the notification and handed it over to Sad¨¦, she looked at her own screen and smiled; probably at the notification Jazmel had seen himself. She looked at him and nodded, she liked the dirk. ¡°How much?¡± she asked and the man behind the counter nodded sagely. ¡°That was an item that I was waiting to find the right owner for, but it also cost me a lot to procure. I cannot part with it so easily.¡± He said and though Jazmel wasn¡¯t privy to it, he figured that Sad¨¦ would pay for herself, and he wouldn¡¯t ask how much. Whatever the price was, seemed to not bother Sad¨¦, she paid as she placed the sheath onto her belt and then offering her thanks she motioned for Jazmel to follow her. She turned to walk back into the moving crowd and Jazmel followed her. Book 3 Chapter Ten; Whirlpools Leaving the crowds, Jazmel noticed Gilmore and Bannerman waiting for them. Gilmore had bought himself an overcoat, which seemed to have a collar made out of feathers and Jazmel couldn¡¯t see it at all. The Mana was blank, something he had not seen before. Bannerman on the other hand was empty handed and Jazmel wondered why he never seemed to buy anything. He wondered what he needed. But Jazmel didn¡¯t push his friends to tell him what they may need, instead they would find it within the labyrinth. As they had done so before and would continue to do. ¡°We should move towards the gate.¡± Jazmel offered and his friends agreed. ¡°There are two.¡± Gilmore explained and Bannerman grunted in agreement. ¡°When we were shopping, we found that there are two gates. One is a whirlpool, which can only be accessed via ship. So, you have to buy board and access, which is expensive. But the other one is an older gate, much older. Apparently it leads to a tough gate, quite hard to actually pass.¡± Gilmore told them and Jazmel nodded, he looked at his friends and they all looked at him waiting, to see what he would do. ¡°I know what I want to pick, but I want to know what you guys think?¡± Jazmel asked and Gilmore sighed and laughed. ¡°I knew you would want to go through the harder gate.¡± Gilmore sighed and Jazmel shrugged. ¡°We all need to get stronger; I need to reach ranker as soon as possible. Don¡¯t you all want to push deeper into the labyrinth?¡± Jazmel offered, Bannerman grunted, and Sad¨¦ agreed. ¡°A tier III ranker attacked me. He somehow locked Baek away for a moment and it was just me and Tango. If Baek had not managed to break free, we would¡¯ve been killed. It¡¯s not just the monsters and tasks of the labyrinth that we need to fight. We need to be prepared for the rankers and masters who are not trying to delve. They will just be trying to rob us of our rewards, loot, and lives.¡± Jazmel confirmed and Gilmore seemed to concede but simply straightened his back and nodded. ¡°I will follow the pack.¡± Bannerman said and Jazmel could tell he would go wherever he went; Bannerman had been with him and Sad¨¦ from the very beginning. He would follow them into death if they asked. He turned to Sad¨¦ who seemed to still be annoyed with him and he still didn¡¯t know why but he wasn¡¯t going to not ask her opinion. ¡°What do you think?¡± he asked, and she stared at him for a moment before she responded. ¡°I think we all should push into ranker as soon as possible.¡± She said before taking the time to look somewhere else after answering. He wondered what he had done, when they had a moment he was going to ask her. ¡°What level are you all now?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°55.¡± Bannerman growled and Jazmel nodded, he was the closest one to him and was catching up. Even though he had been ahead for a while, besides Katie. Bannerman seemed to be the one who grew the fastest in the team. ¡°52.¡± Gilmore smiled and Jazmel nodded, he was pushing for ranker too, less than ten levels but still it wasn¡¯t as easy to get the exp needed and Jazmel could tell Gilmore was worried about escaping the bottleneck. ¡°51.¡± Sad¨¦ said, she looked away and Jazmel wondered if she felt a way because she was the lowest in the group. But Jazmel knew she had the deepest Mana pool; this was probably the biggest in the faction besides maybe Baek. Jazmel nodded, before telling them where he was. Jazmel had spent a lot of time earning exp and it was building steadily. He hated to admit it, but when travelling alone in the labyrinth. He managed to grow much quicker and aside from facing off against stronger and more dangerous creatures and monsters, it was hard to gain enough exp. He didn¡¯t want to pursue riskier options, but he could tell that it would be even harder as a ranker. Jazmel nodded, let¡¯s take the tough road. But just as he was about to lead his team towards it. A loud gong reverberated around the whole port; stopping everyone in their tracks. BOOM DOOM Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. BOOM DOOM ¡­ DING! LABYRINTH SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT ¡­ DING!! THE PYRAMID OF ARGILLES HAS BEEN OPENED ¡­ ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEMPT THE TRIAL DO YOU ACCEPT? Y/N Jazmel looked at his friends and they all nodded, eager to attempt the trial. He instantly sent an origami swan beckoning those who were not with them, to all attempt the trial. For the labyrinth to offer it to them all, it must be a massive option. Jazmel pressed yes and immediately felt the Mana warp around him and pull him to a vast expanse of bright white. It was a room, the largest room Jazmel had ever been in. Bigger than a hall, bigger than a chamber, it was like he stood inside a space that he could not see the ceiling or the walls of it. He wasn¡¯t the only one in the room, but he had been amongst the first to be accept the trial. He watched as others appeared and landed all around him, nobody he knew. But he didn¡¯t feel like he was in danger, and it was quiet as increased people appeared. He took the time to look around if it was going to be a trial. It was more than likely that he would be competing with these people and so he began to study his competition. One of the first girls to appear after him drew his interest almost immediately. She was much stronger than the others, Mana seemed to waft off of her like steam and she was filled to the brim with it. she wore ornate armour which was gold and silver. But he noticed she wore no weapons, her bracers were absolutely riddled with runes and the Mana that was collecting inside them, was almost as much as the Mana from her. It was as if she was a mage or something because she was so filled with Mana she reminded him of Sad¨¦ when she had all her tails free. She noticed him and her eyes flicked, and she nodded acknowledging him. There was a man who appeared not too far from where Jazmel was standing, he carried a katana, but it was longer than Jazmel ¡¯s he pulled it from his belt and laid it in front of him as he waited for a change. It was a meditative stance and Jazmel realised he was focusing his Mana on his body in a breathing technique. It was interesting. He wore simple robes and a white kimono about his shoulders, his Mana was dense and rolled around him like a calm ocean. To Jazmel he was sure he was a ranker. The next person of interest he noticed was a young boy, smaller than Jazmel and thin too. But Jazmel ¡¯s eyes always showed him everything. This boy was overflowing with Mana, more so than the lone samurai and even the girl with the ornate armour. This little boy had more Mana than all of them including Jazmel. The boy was wearing boots, sandals, and a thin short sleeve shirt. He wasn¡¯t even wearing a dagger or anything. Jazmel couldn¡¯t believe how much Mana he was keeping at bay, until he saw something crawl onto the boys shoulder. A small lizard crawled from beneath his shirt and coiling its tail about the boys other shoulder; lovingly. It nestled into his neck. It was a dragon; royal blue and thin like a reed. Jazmel was sure of it as its Mana almost rivalled the boys and their connection seemed to flow into each other and share from one another. The boy seemed to have pact with the dragon on his shoulder. It made Jazmel think of the egg he was rearing. He walked over to the boy and when he was nearer the boy whirled on him, startled but not scared. The dragon eyed Jazmel intelligently and before Jazmel could speak another dragon purple as opals and thick with horns and scales fluttered to land on the boys head, defensively. ¡°Beautiful¡­¡± Jazmel said as a mere whisper, but the boy heard him. ¡°Thank you, how can I help you?¡± he asked, and Jazmel settled down beside him and the boy crouched beside him. Jazmel reached into his ring and pulled the egg forth, the black scaled thing was warm to touch, and the Mana rippled inside, but he couldn¡¯t peer beneath the shell and that worried him. ¡°I just saw your dragons and wondered if you could tell what this was?¡± He asked and the boy whistled before holding a hand over the egg. ¡°I cannot look into the shell, which is the first time this has ever happened to me. But it looks like a dragon egg, though I cannot tell what type.¡± He seemed to think about it himself and the blue dragon that was resting on his shoulder, coiled down his outstretched hand and then raising its head it blew smoke from its nostrils onto the egg. The dragon floated back up to the shoulder and whispered something that Jazmel couldn¡¯t hear. ¡°That is interesting.¡± The boy said, he listened for a moment while the dragons spoke to him, in hushed whispered and also in a tongue Jazmel didn¡¯t know. ¡°They say that the egg needs to be kindled. For it to awaken, you need to ignite the fire of life into it.¡± the boy told him. ¡°How do I do that?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°I cannot tell you; you have to work it out on your own. every dragon requires something quite different and specific.¡± ¡°but it didn¡¯t tell me what it wants?¡± Jazmel sighed and the boy smiled knowingly. ¡°Well, it isn¡¯t too far from hatching. Has it asked anything from you?¡± Jazmel nodded and the boy smiled again. ¡°Yes, it will keep doing that until it is sated and then it will hatch.¡± He explained and Jazmel still a little anxious just nodded. ¡°I have more dragons than others but that is because my title is a dragon tamer. The stronger I grow, the greater my control becomes and the more dragons I will be able to tame.¡± He said and Jazmel could tell he was eager to continue growing. ¡°How many do you have now?¡± Jazmel asked and he felt he shouldn¡¯t. But he couldn¡¯t help himself. The young boy merely shrugged and then he made to move off to be alone again. Jazmel went back to the spot he had been standing in and he waited. Looking around again. Book 3 Chapter Eleven; the Chosen few Jazmel rested and waited for as long as he could and within two hours, approaching three. The expanse of space had been swamped with people now and Jazmel found himself bewildered by just how many people actually were actually inside the labyrinth. He knew this was not the only room though as he had not seen any of his friends or other members of the faction and it was nearly a thousand different seekers, rankers, and a minute few of masters. The final person entered, and the labyrinth chimed into existence. DING! ¡­ 1000 SEEKERS ¡­ DEFEAT TEN AND ADVANCE! The system chimed into existence and Jazmel wondered what that meant but he soon learned, someone launched an attack at him, he dodged and drawing his sword, he struck out and cut through their armour and slashed through their gambeson beneath. DING! X1 DEFEATED Thankfully, the man wasn¡¯t dead, but he did disappear from the attack, pulled away to another part of the labyrinth. Jazmel didn¡¯t have time to wonder, he simply defended himself and began attacking those around him. he saw the young boy floating above them all, standing atop a smaller dragon that was about the size of his chest but its wingspan was double his own arm lengths and so he was flying above the seekers on the ground. The dragon was gold this time, the blue and purple dragons were flying around spewing flame and fire. They had also grown in size, not by much but much bigger than the little lizards Jazmel had seen before. They bathed the seekers below in flame and instantly the boy disappeared. He had defeated more than ten. Blade Wrath! Jazmel yelled and carved his way through a throng of attackers, some aiming for him and others fighting their own battles. DING! 7 DEFEATED He needed to defeat just three more. His eyes caught with the girl he had seen in the beginning, and he watched as her clenched fists shot pulse beams of Mana that seemed to come from the bracers on her wrist and pierce the other seekers. She caught eyes with him and shot a beam at him, he dodged to the side, thinking the attack was for him but he heard a grunt of pain and turned to see a scythe wielding man crumble from a Mana pulse. He drove his sword into his chest and then whirled to thank the girl. She was disappearing, she had clearly defeated ten already. DING! X8 DEFEATED He sighed, but not for long. Two men rushed at him, and he cut through them both. Watching as the labyrinth warped them somewhere else. DING! TEN DEFEATED! CONGRATULATIONS!! ADVANCE! If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He disappeared and felt as his surroundings changed around him. He found himself in another expanse but this time there was a single man standing beside a thick rock that was taller than Jazmel by many times over. ¡°Strike the rock and advance.¡± The man said, he wore a fighting Gi. Like a martial artist and Jazmel could see the years of training in the scars in his arm. ¡°With my fist?¡± Jazmel asked and the man looked at him before shaking his head. ¡°With whatever you choose.¡± He said and Jazmel nodded, he drew his sword and tried to settle into that place where he was when his skill cleave reacted differently. The man¡¯s intense gaze pressurised him and he struggled to enter that state. After what felt like ages, he simply called forth the skill and let it build in his blade before unleashing it. Cleave The rock shook, he had tried to cut through it with a grand slash. But instead, the blade bounced off the thick stone and he looked at the blade to see if it had been damaged, but it hadn¡¯t, and he sighed with relief. The rock seemed to consider the damage he left and then warping in on itself it revealed a gate, much like the others he had entered. It was ethereal and like a maelstrom on the inside. But he felt comfort in knowing he would advance; he stepped through and immediately felt the tension in this new expanse. This place was blood red, this expanse reeked of death and Jazmel could tell something was coming. DING! DEFEAT 100 ENEMIES ADVANCE! That sounded simple enough, the notification appeared at eye level, and he skimmed over the screen before it disappeared out of sight. A growl echoed across the expanse, and he slid his sword from its sheath. The first creature to approach him would feel its kiss. The growl bounced around, and he let his eyes seek out the Mana as the red room was a little more than a darkened cave. The red hue caused too many shadows around and Jazmel didn¡¯t want to rely on just his normal eyesight. The growl neared and scanning about himself, he could see the body that the Mana emanated from. It was a ghoul, just like from the Xuanhuan realm. It sniffed at him, but he saw it before it could make him out and he struck behind its head, cutting through its spin and neck quickly. It died instantly. Jazmel scanned around him and waited for another to appear. None did and on an off chance he turned to see if the ghoul had disappeared and to his luck, he managed to veer out of the way as a paw swiped at his face. But this time there were two ghouls. Cleave He cut through them both and watched as the shorn bodies began to rejuvenate and become four. He got what was happening and so he cut and cut and cut. Not giving them time to truly recover but also allowing them to build the numbers he needed to advance. If he didn¡¯t, then they would overwhelm him, and he would suffer the consequences. He had lost count of how many ghouls were now forming from the off pieces that had been cut off or dismembered. But he wasn¡¯t losing the will, aside from a few scratches here and there. He was not wounded enough that his stamina was belaying too. He also noticed that he was not gaining any levels or stats during this part of the trial. He wondered if they would build up and then all be slammed into his stats as he advanced. But he didn¡¯t let his mind waver, those were thoughts for a later time. He struck out and as they tried to overwhelm him, he began to use all of his sword. he struck out with the hilt and bludgeoned a ghoul that tried to nip him from his left. He struck with the back of his blade to his right and then unleashed his skill on all those that attacked him on his left. Cleave! Cleave! He watched as they churned to mincemeat, but they were still recovering and repairing the wounds he was giving them. he didn¡¯t even have time to drink a stamina potion but that was fine, he had a plan. Cleave! Cleave! Cleave!! He watched as the broken pieces began to reform and that¡¯s when he struck. Whirlwind! His skill churned the broken yet repairing bodies up and he watched as a maelstrom of swords ravaged the bodies into pulp. They didn¡¯t try to regenerate this time; he could tell the damage had been done. DING! X100 ENEMIES DEFEATED! ADVANCING NOW He sighed and waited for his body to warp to a new destination. He didn¡¯t sheath his sword, it seemed more sensible to be prepared from the beginning and that was what he was banking on. As soon as his senses adjusted he sighed with relief, no longer was he inside one of those expanses. He appeared atop a sand dune and for miles around; as far as his keen eyes could see. He was surrounded by sand. Mountains of it, the sun blared above, and he knew he was in a desert immediately. One of the tell-tale signs was the lack of vegetation. But he didn¡¯t think too much of it, he waited. DING! FIND THE OASIS! He smiled to himself and pulling a cloak from his ring, he covered his head and shoulders as best as he could. Book 3 Chapter Twelve; Finding the Oasis He walked straight, following the north point as he had no other idea of where to go. He pushed forward, the sand was endless and at this point. He just counted his steps, not wanting to be childish and lose focus of what he was trying to do. He continued to count and walked in a straight line all the way until he hit four hundred and thirty-six steps exactly. That was when the system chimed and drew him out of his monotone lull and alerted him to being near the oasis. He looked around him, shielding his eyes from the blaring sun above and using his divine eyes, sought for Mana, and found it. Just over the next hillock was the oasis and he focused his gaze to see if there were anything else around. He didn¡¯t see anything, nobody but himself was near and he took the time to count the extra fifty steps it took him to reach the oasis. He dropped to a knee and listened to see if anyone was around and he was all alone, he dipped a hand into the oasis and wet his lips, then cupped his hands, splashed his face, and wet his neck and collar, the heat was blistering, and he was feeling it gradually growing. He wet his face again and drank some more water, he waited for things to change but nothing happened to him. DING YOU HAVE FOUND THE OASIS DING YOU HAVE DRUNK FROM THE OASIS This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. DING DIVE AND ADVANCE He skimmed the system screen twice and then looking into the oasis, he didn¡¯t think too much about it and took the moment to actually jump into the oasis. It wasn¡¯t too deep, but he had passed through gates of even more obscure creations. Jazmel passed through the oasis in seconds, he didn¡¯t even have to hold his breath. One minute he was in the heat of a desert sun, and the next minute he was in a cool room. A large room, much bigger than a hall and the faction chamber, it was an expanse. As he took in the expanse, he realised he was not alone. He wasn¡¯t even the first person, a few yards from him stood a girl, who was crouched on one knee and cleaning her sword. It was Myn, the party member who knew Tera Nema. He made his way over to her and she looked up, her glare was serious but when she recognised him; it softened. He was about to speak to her but then another body appeared and then lots of them started appearing, like dandelion seeds, a light touched the ground and then in a breath, a seeker appeared. The expanse filled quickly and aside from Myn, Jazmel knew nobody else and that surprised him. The idea that so many strangers existed inside the labyrinth at one time astounded him. He wondered how many seeker trials had happened at the same time he had begun his. The expanse filled and then stopped as quickly as it begun. DING! A THOUSAND OF YOU SEEKERS HAVE MADE IT THROUGH THREE SEPARATE TRIALS TO GET HERE! THE PYRAMID BECKONS YOU ALL THE PYRAMID OF ARGILLES BOASTS UNTOLD TREASURES ¡­ MAKE IT TO THE PEAK OF THE PYRAMID AND THE LABYRINTH WILL BLESS YOU! As that final word was echoed, the seekers all around began to disappear again and Jazmel realised they were being transported to inside the pyramid. He turned to Myn and said; ¡°If I don¡¯t see you again, look after yourself and do not trust anyone!¡± she was about to respond but she too disappeared. He followed after momentarily. Book 3 Chapter Thirteen; the Pyramid of Argilles Jazmel blinked three times and immediately he had been transported within the pyramid, he wasn¡¯t sure what floor or where he was, but he knew he was alone. The corridor he was in was high walls and dark, no lanterns or candles were burning around him, he was in the dark. Luckily for him his eyes illuminated the corridor, and he could make out the Mana that ran throughout the labyrinth all around them. Walking up the corridor he turned right and then left and then right again and still he was alone, but it was fine for him. Jazmel had travelled alone before and had gotten used to the independence but also the relying on himself. He had grown the most inside the locked gate and now he was heading towards ranker, he was pushing for that too. Hopefully, he would find something to help him reach ranker but also the necessary tier tribulation items. He was surely lacking everything, and he remembered his plot march of the monarch he needed a monarch tier tribulation item for both his body and spirit before he made it to master tier. Which was just over forty levels away, but the labyrinth had changed since Xian Fei, and he knew the new gates would have benefits of unknown creation. But he steadied himself and he didn¡¯t envy those who had been in the labyrinth for years, he had barely hit six months and he was already about to become a ranker. He was immensely proud of his progress. He turned a corner and immediately noticed that this was lit. he entered a junction which peeled off into three different paths from the singular path he had been in, he thought about what he should do and then decided to head down the middle path. His eyes showed him the Mana veins that ran along the corridors walls, ceilings, and across the floor like veins, and he wondered if the pyramid was a living thing, the intricacies of the Mana system that he was following seemed to be bold and filled with vitality. The corridor was growing as he walked along its path, the walls spaced, and he noticed the ceiling rising well above him, but as he was alone he didn¡¯t feel nervous or worried at all. That¡¯s when he noticed that the floor was beginning to ascend, it wasn¡¯t a stairway, but it definitely was rising, and he was raising his legs higher as he continued. He heard the sounds of swords clashing and fighting and he focused on not tiring out on his walk but more about keeping his calm and breathing steady. Whatever was ahead, would need his stamina and Mana at their optimum. His potions were good, and he hadn¡¯t had to heal from anything since he had entered this trial of Argilles¡¯ pyramid. He made it to the top and the doorway led into a much larger area, not smaller than the expanse, but the boundaries could be made out and Jazmel could see the ceiling. His doorway opened into the side of the wall, which was higher than the ground of the expanse. Where the fighting was taking place, he surveyed the fighters and watched as they fought a creature hadn¡¯t seen before. They stood on three legs which gave them a leaping bound or waddle as they moved around, their torso had two arms, but the torso was triangular in shape, so they had six arms, clutching different assortments of bladed weapons. They were ashen grey skinned and stood tall, Jazmel ¡¯s own body had grown after the different tribulations and he now stood at six foot, nearly six foot one. But these creatures were taller than him still, seven and nearly eight feet sometimes. The seekers who were fighting below were doing their best, but the creatures seemed endless he noticed that the only other exit was the opening where the creatures were coming from. So, the seekers had to fight, they had to enter the opening. He took a step back, then took two steps back again and then leapt from his doorway and raising his sword unleashed his skill. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Blade wrath! The attack caught the first creature unaware, and he slaughtered it, inklike blood poured from its wound, and it collapsed from the attack. DING! VINDULAN TIER III WARRIOR KILLED +1 STR +1 END He hadn¡¯t fought a tier III creature on his own before, but he didn¡¯t falter and rushing beneath the swing of a glaive from another threw him into the fray. Cleave! The skill left the tip of his blade and the Vindulan warrior he was aiming at blocked it, but the attack simply split around its guard and struck the two that were waddling behind it. Whirlwind! He screamed and churning his attack up, he kissed his teeth when he realised he couldn¡¯t do anything with this skill, the warriors weighed too much, and he could not lift them with his skill. Cut! Someone called from over his shoulder, and he realised that the other seekers were also there, and they were fighting also. The attack flew past him and hit the lead warrior in the face. It was a skill like cleave but a little more refined and sliced the face of the warrior and blood dripped into its right eye and down its face. Nova stream! A girl screamed and raising her hands stars formed in her palms and Mana shot from them and struck the warrior in the chest, blasting big holes in its chest. The attack was grievous, but Jazmel could tell it was costly, the girl was shuddering and shivering, she drank two Mana potions at once to try and raise her Mana back. That skill was too powerful for her. Cleave! Cleave!! Fall of the black raven! He struck three times, a skill at the end of each attack and the two warriors who had been hit by cleave before and left wounded were carved through. Fall of the black raven was stronger than flight of the blue kite and he knew the cold and grave iron was adding to that for him. Fall of the black raven! He uttered again and this time he leapt with this skill and smashed the blade into the ground to erupt the skill and strike all the warriors coming towards him. the ground fractured and some of the warriors lost their footing and fell on their sides. ¡°Quickly! Now get them!¡± he yelled, and the skills shot over him into the warriors. Severance! Nova star! Aqua blast! Drake roar! Light bead!! Skills he had never heard of or seen before crashed into the grounded warriors and killed them, bodied obliterated by the onslaught of attacks. DING! VINDULAN TIER III WARRIORS X30 DEFEATED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ +2 END +2 WIL +1 STR He felt his body attune to his new stats and he sighed, he needed to balance them out again. He looked to see if the seekers were all right and they were busy healing, soothing each other and replenishing themselves before they even continued. He took this time to pick through the bodies; TIER III VINDULAN WARRIOR GLAIVE TIER III VINDULAN WARRIOR DAGGER TIER III VINDULAN WARRIOR SHORT SWORD Nothing else was worth taking and he didn¡¯t want to seem greedy, he turned and noticed that a few of the seekers were watching him. ¡°I only took from the two I killed myself.¡± He explained but they watched him silently and said nothing. ¡°You saved us if you didn¡¯t ambush them and change the flow of battle. We might have actually lost; nobody would question you if you took more.¡± A girl explained, the one who seemed to have many skills based around stars. ¡°I was told that greed kills just us much as betrayal in the labyrinth.¡± He said and they all nodded, taking in his words. ¡°I will keep moving, take what you want. But I wouldn¡¯t wait here long, we have no idea what else is inside this pyramid.¡± He told them and at that he entered the opening the warriors had been coming from and pushed forward. Book 3 Chapter Fourteen; Old friends and New Enemies The opening that the Vindulan warriors had come from was large and fitting for their size, but as Jazmel made his way down it, he wasn¡¯t shocked to see the path shrink to fit the size of a person and or people. The Mana that his eyes had grown accustomed to was much more vibrant now and he almost had to squint to keep from being blinded by it. but he didn¡¯t shrink back, but just averted his eyes where he could. Making sure to keep pushing forward and making his way deeper into the pyramid, he wasn¡¯t sure if he was ascending or descending. All he knew was he was advancing and at this point, which was enough. The corridor ran short, and he found himself in a treasure trove of untold treasures, the coins were innumerable, and he stopped trying to count the mountains when he realised that they weren¡¯t gold or white gold, they were platinum coins. Piled in mountains and mountains of it, a hoard of this size was usually held by a dragon, but the chamber was too small for a dragon and so he breathed a little easier. He pulled one vase full of coins into his ring and continued deeper in, past the coins. He found weapons of tier II and III grading but he passed that too, he was looking for tier tribulation items now and he was hoping it would be easy. The smell hit him before he saw anything, and his hackles rose, and he subconsciously grabbed for Yoru no Tsubasa clutching the hilt in a tight grip. The smell of blood was pungent around him, as he advanced deeper into the chamber at first he saw pots and vases full of blood, then he saw pools in the ground filled with it, but then the items and trinkets bled away and there in the centre of the ground laid a pool of blood. It was deep, dark and the smell of all this blood made him heave. He couldn¡¯t see a doorway or a path out of here, so he sidled around the pool looking for an exit from this place. He knew something was either in the pool or would be returning and he did not want to be here whenever either happened. He skirted around the entire pool and yet nothing, he sighed and then looking at the pool. He tried to look into it with his eyes, but the pool of blood was filled to the brim with Mana and blocked his sight into it. He heard footsteps from behind and looking back he caught eyes with a face he had not seen in months, the small figure of Alan came through, they locked eyes and though Jazmel didn¡¯t move; he was ready for whatever Alan might do. ¡°I remember you from the seeker trials.¡± Alan uttered and Jazmel ; though he tried to deny it. he breathed a little easier knowing that he wouldn¡¯t have to fight Alan, he had come out on top of each trial since they entered as seekers. He had even been told he had master tier potential. Jazmel was strong himself, but he knew Alan was just as strong; maybe even stronger than him. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to get out of here.¡± Jazmel said and Alan looked around himself, he formed a singular bead of thunder on the tip of his index finger and then flicked it, it bounced around the room, making sure to not touch the blood. Before returning to Alan himself and he shook his head. ¡°There is no Mana being hidden behind any secret entrances, I would have found it.¡± he uttered and then he stepped closer to look at the pool of blood. ¡°There is a barrier of Mana shielding me from looking in.¡± Jazmel told him and Alan nodded, as if he had noticed himself. ¡°Well look who it is!¡± another voice uttered and looking towards it, Jazmel almost laughed, it was Circe and though her body was battered her eyes were focused and light with happiness. She moved deeper into the room and as she was bleeding from multiple wounds, she pulled a potion from one of the rings on her finger and drank deeply. ¡°Alan.¡± She said and Alan inclined his head while still looking around. ¡°Hello you.¡± She said to Jazmel. ¡°Hello to you too.¡± He said back in reply, she smiled at him, and he showed his happiness to see her too. ¡°Those Vindulan guardians were strong, I almost didn¡¯t make it through all of them.¡± she said, and Jazmel watched as her potion did its work, but for some reason he noticed a singular drop of blood that dripped down her arm from a cut on her shoulder that had knitted close, it then dripped to her finger and fell. Time seemed to slow and in those eons of seconds, he watched as the blood droplet fell into one of the channels of blood that led into the deeper and larger pool in the back of the chamber. DING! BLOOD HAS BEEN LET THE BLOOD WITCH HAS ACCEPTED THE OFFERING! ¡­ NIMUE IS AWAKING Jazmel watched as the screen shared the information and he heard Alan sigh as he and Circe clearly received the same notification. ¡°Great.¡± Circe said and she looked at the blood on her hands and wiped them on her trousers. The pool gurgled and Jazmel back stepped till he was standing beside Alan and Circe. The blood seemed to bubble up and then flood a little, but Jazmel realised it was because something was rising. An obsidian black sarcophagus rose from the pool and Jazmel could make out the carvings on the lid which held something sinister within. The lid moved and a pale hand and forearm moved the lid across. Something in Jazmel told him it was heavy, but the one hand seemed to move it effortlessly. A slender hand pushed the lid off, and a slender woman clambered out of the sarcophagus. DING BLOOD WITCH TIER III NIMUE HAS AWAKENED Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. She was pale as a full moon; her eyes were just red irises; like blood rubies. Her hair was blood red, almost black in some parts and she was nude. Completely naked, the unnerving thing was that her private parts were covered by blood. She cocked her head to the side when she noticed the trio, but then she raised her left hand and from the pool, crystalised shards of blood formed into spears and she sent them at them. everyone averted, they ducked out of the way Circe simply pulled a shield from her armoury and Alan simply formed a dome of thunder about himself. ¡°So, she isn¡¯t friendly then.¡± Circe mused and Jazmel couldn¡¯t help but smile. Thunder Lord Alan uttered and Jazmel watched as a crown formed of pure thunder formed above his head. It was identical to Sad¨¦¡¯s skill, but the Mana was so much denser, the thunder in the crown was so strong the air around it ionised. Thunder Alan said and a bolt of pure ionised thunder hit the blood witch, she threw up a shield of blood, but the thunder burst through and knocked her back through the sarcophagus and shattered the obsidian. Jazmel drew Tsubasa and waited for the named blood witch to respond; she had been hit but nothing about the strike made it seem like she was defeated. Bloody whip He heard and shock filled his very being, he had never heard a creature use a skill before. But yet a bright red whip lashed out and struck Alan across the chest, he blocked it with both forearms but was knocked back and crashed into a rack of weapons. Fall of the black raven! Jazmel dove forward, leaping into the air, he slashed across the air and smashed his skill into the witch. She evoked a blood shield again, but the black raven burst it and the grave iron cut her side deeply. She didn¡¯t bleed, but she didn¡¯t heal either. She hissed at him and raised hundreds of bloody spears and vaulted them at him. backing up, he parried and countered as many as he could, and a small few got through. A spear pierced his shoulder, one caught him on the hip, and another hit his right thigh. DING! WOUNDED WARNING HEALTH AT 60% three hits and he was almost at half his life, this named witch was stronger than anything he had fought before. A spear of pure silver struck the witch in her chest, and she faltered beneath its strike. ¡°Get up!¡± Circe yelled and he winced as he clambered up, he swallowed down a potion quickly and then another and only his shoulder and thigh closed up, but the wounds were still tender. The witch appeared again and this time she threw the broken half of the lid of her sarcophagus as Circe. She cut through it and almost missed the whip that was hurrying towards her head behind the attack. Jazmel bound forward and cut through the blood whip, and it splashed him, hot and bitter with Mana. Thunder He heard it and then the beam blew past him to hit Nimue again, she conjured a thick blood shield and this time the bolt of thunder didn¡¯t get through but the blood burst into steam and the smell of iron and ion energy could be smelt in the air. Cleave! He struck her again and this time he cut across her chest, blood splashed from her wound, and she wailed before reaching towards the pool of blood and to his horror, Jazmel watched as the pool began to move towards her maybe to replenish and heal her. Another spear appeared from Circe¡¯s armoury, and she stabbed it into the arm of Nimue to keep her pinned down. She lashed out with the other and a shard of blood crashed into Circe. She yelled in pain, but Jazmel didn¡¯t have a moment to look to help her, he cut down and cut through the free arm of the witch; his blade managed to wound her more than their attacks combined, and he realised it must be the cold and grave iron. Rumbling thunder God Warning signs from his own senses alerted him to move out of the way. He turned and watched as Alan became something else. His crown had melted away and instead his entire body was filled with thunder, his skin shone with the energy of a storm and Jazmel could tell this was his most powerful move. The Mana cost alone must be harrowing. Alan sauntered through the air to where the pinned witch was, and she screeched and fought to try and leverage herself away from the oncoming doom. Alan¡¯s eyes were pure white, and he didn¡¯t seem like himself, it was as if something has possessed his body at the cost of freedom for his pursuit of power. Thunder. He said it with finality this time, it wasn¡¯t a skill; it was with authority and the skill hit the blood witch with everything. The skill burned her from the inside, and he watched as the body of this creature burned and burned until nothing, but blood pooled from a place where something might have been before. Circe appeared and sighed, and she realised that they had won this battle. DING! BLOOD WITCH TIER III NIMUE HAS BEEN SLAIN! ¡­ EXP ACCRUED REWARDS TO BE GIVEN Jazmel was incensed, these were genuinely good options. picking the stat points, he decided he would find items inside the pyramid or inside the labyrinth later on. He distributed his stats straight away and then studying his screen he looked at his stats. Name: Jazmel Level: 56 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier III Class: Sword Scion Health: 1893/2075 Stamina: 1237/1522 Mana: 827/1480 STR:87 PER:83 VIT:79 END:79 INT:92 WIL:81 AGL:80 DEX:80 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 His intelligence stat was the highest by more than ten points, but strength was catching up. Once he returned he was going to have to work on those other stats to raise them, especially as he was only four levels out of ranker. The other two seemed to have picked their rewards as they were looking around the chamber and trying to find the point to continue through the pyramid ¡°You have gotten stronger.¡± Circe said to him when he came over to stand by her. ¡°I have been working hard inside the labyrinth.¡± He told her and she nodded, she believed him. ¡°Not as hard as him though.¡± He confessed and she agreed. ¡°They say he is the strongest of the Kaminari clan in one hundred years. A genius of geniuses.¡± She offered and he listened intently. ¡°That last skill he used was one of the strongest I have seen, I need to delve deeper into the labyrinth.¡± Jazmel mused and Circe sighed and shook her head. ¡°You are a young seeker from normal beginnings. Whereas Alan comes from a clan who have perfected their children to make them into rankers and masters of the labyrinth. I would say you are doing well.¡± She told him off and he hated to admit that she was right, but he also didn¡¯t say he was the son of the black dragon. He was keeping that close to his heart. ¡°I would not have been able to defeat that witch alone. It would seem I need to push for ranker, sooner rather than later.¡± Alan said over his shoulder he was standing at the lip of the pool and without another word he jumped. Jazmel yelped and then hurried to the pool like Circe. Only to find that the pool had emptied and a large dark well descended down. He hadn¡¯t even told them where he was going. But he wasn¡¯t one to share his thoughts, Jazmel could tell. Alan was used to being able to do what he wanted and when he wanted to. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Circe said and she bounded into the unknown too. Jazmel followed shortly after. Book 3 Chapter Fifteen; Tale of the Fox tails Sad¨¦ had been travelling inside the pyramid by herself, she hadn¡¯t found anyone she had known yet, but she was doing her best to stay ahead of the marauding seekers who were plundering everything and anyone they deemed weaker than themselves. She had fought tier II and III creatures within this pyramid and though she had held her own, she had found herself retreating against more than a few. She needed to get stronger, and she could tell she needed to do it sooner rather than later. She had picked up a few good items, to sell though. Not to keep, she had been using that thunder short sword she bought, and it was amplifying her thunder skill already, but she could tell something was missing. She didn¡¯t know what it was yet, but she knew something was lacking within. She wondered how the others were doing; she knew they had all got the notification. Everyone below Ranker had been offered the opportunity and so it was within the pyramid the most ambitious would be pushing towards hitting ranker. She was currently level 51 and had work to do, her stats were low, and she hadn¡¯t been working on them as hard as she should have been. But that could change, she was ambitious enough to keep up with the others; especially Jazmel. Her thoughts of Jazmel were growing deeper and more profound, for some reason every time she was near him it felt like she was wearing her thunder crown. The air around her was riddled with energy and she was just filled with thoughts of him in some way, shape, and form. She knew she liked him; she had known it from she first saw him, she just didn¡¯t understand where this had come from. Of course he was handsome, she liked his brown skin and his deep brown eyes. She even liked them when they were ghost blue and she knew he was perceiving the Mana of the labyrinth. She realised that she had liked him curiously before; but when he had pushed her out of the way and saved her from the wendigo; her heart had locked full circle for him. he had saved her life and almost died for it, she admired his heart most of all and hers fluttered whenever she saw him. She had been hurrying through the pyramid at a light run, not burning through her meagre stamina but also not sauntering around. She came through a corridor and ran into a lone monster. It spotted her after she saw it and she stabbed up through the soft part; beneath its jaw and up into the brain. DING TIER II GHOUL REVENANT KILLED! ¡­ +1 WIL +1 DEX One thing she had learned though was that being in the labyrinth alone and fighting earned her much more than when she travelled in a party. She would need to do more solo hunts if she were going to keep growing as she needed and wanted to. DING ¡­ MARAUDING FOX IN AFFECT ¡­ REVENANT LOOTED ¡­ TIER II REVENANT CORE FOUND She smiled and continued forward, she sprinted and this time a group of revenants shambled down the corridor towards her, she rushed for them and stabbing as many as she could as she fluttered past them and when she had gotten through them without so much as a scrape she threw fire. Foxfire She watched as they burned and then shuddered to herself as new strength pushed through her body. DING TIER II REVENANT GHOUL X27 SLAIN ¡­ EXP ACCRUED LEVEL UP! +3 DEX +3 AGL +2 INT +2 WIL +2 STR +1 VIT ¡­ MARAUDING FOX ¡­ ¡­ TIER II REVENANT GHOUL CORE X3 TIER II REVENANT GHOUL BONE X11 TIER II REVENANT GHOUL SKULL X4 TIER II REVENANT GHOUL BLOOD X6 She smiled as she felt her storage ring bolster with these new additions, but she didn¡¯t falter, there was still so much to do. She hurried on and entering the corridor from where the revenants had come from and she came out onto a walkway high above, she looked down and saw that many other walkways crisscrossed beneath and above her all heading into various parts of the pyramid; she was glad she didn¡¯t suffer from fear of heights. She instead focused on her own walkway, the ones above were too high for her to reach, and the ones below were just out of reach if she leapt down. She sprinted across the opening, and she heard others doing the same, shouts from fighting that had spilled out onto the walkways could be heard and she was grateful that she had chosen to travel alone. Sad¨¦ wasn¡¯t new to the labyrinth at all, she had heard the stories from her parents and clan members all throughout her childhood and it wasn¡¯t without their fair share of horrors too. People had been betrayed by friends and colleagues for power and riches. She would not go out that same way, she knew she couldn¡¯t. In truth she was surprised by how much she trusted her people and her faction. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. She made it across the walkway with no trouble and into another corridor which was a steep stairwell leading to the top, she was shocked, but she was happy that things were going so well for her. She climbed the stairwell and below her she could hear others were actually trying to catch up to her too. But she wasn¡¯t that far ahead of them. She hurried forward and even called forth two of her tails to add Mana and boost her speed. DING! +1 INT +1 WIL She was rushing now, leaping up the steps and as she reached the summit and burst through the top of the steps. She leapt out of the floor and as she was moving so fast, she leapt high into the air, and she realised that she had entered a chamber with battles happening all around her. Wand warfare A girl uttered as she waved a small stick in her left hand and fired a concentrated beam of Mana at a revenant that was hurrying towards her. It hit it and disintegrated the revenant, but hundreds were ambling towards her, she had a dagger in her other hand, and she was ready for whichever came closer. Foxfire! Sad¨¦ uttered and from her ascension she let loose a barrage of fire that burnt through the revenants with ease. They turned to ash, and she was enthralled with rush as the Mana swelled in her. DING! ¡­ A LARGE AMOUNT OF EXP ACCRUED ¡­ LEVEL UP LEVEL UP LEVEL UP ¡­ +3 STR +3 END +2 VIT +2 PER ¡­ DING TIER II REVENANT GHOUL X73 SLAIN Her foxfire seemed to really damage the undead revenants and she was gaining a great deal of notifications from the deaths. REVENANT SLAYER TITLE ACHIEVED! 10% EXTRA DAMAGE TO ALL UNDEAD ¡­ MARAUDING FOX ACTIVATED! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ TOO MANY ITEMS ¡­ WILL YOU MERGE THEM FOR A CHANCE AT A BETTER ITEM? Y/N? Of course she would, she willed her agreement and the screen fluttered before changing. DING! ¡­ TIER III HEART OF THE REVENANT TIER III REVENANT GHOUL MONSTER CORE Sad¨¦ was ecstatic but as she looked around she saw more revenants heading over to her as she landed beside the girl, and she nodded her thanks and in the time others were making their way towards them. the other seekers who had come through the same stairwell as Sad¨¦ crashed into the oncoming revenants. A notification popped up and Sad¨¦ couldn¡¯t believe what was showing on her screen this time and she smiled with delight. DING! FIRE FOX WOULD LIKE THE HEART OF THE REVENANT WILL YOU OFFER IT TO IT? Y/N? She accepted and immediately the small fox burst from her ring, leapt onto her shoulder, and nuzzled her lovingly. WILL YOU FORM A COMPANION BOND WITH THE FIRE FOX? Y/N? She accepted and watched as on the back of her left hand a small emblem flashed into form, it was the face of a fox, and it was red in colour, it hadn¡¯t hurt to form but she was shocked by the speed of it. The fox purred and then leaping into the air it puffed out a small flame that looked remarkably similar to her foxfire skill. It burned through the revenants and as they became ash, it inhaled and sucked up all the ashes into its mouth. COMPANION FIRE FOX HAS GAINED EXP LEVEL UP LEVEL UP! ¡­ WILL YOU NAME YOUR COMPANION? She thought of a name for a moment and then with a smile she said it. ¡°Kazumi¡± a name she had heard as a young girl, it was the name of a fire spirit that her father had come across in the labyrinth. But the name seemed to fit, and the fox seemed to like it as it bounded around her feet with glee and yipped at her. ¡°You like your name then?¡± she smiled and pet her fox and let it clamber up onto her shoulder. ¡°I know you just made a friend but let¡¯s survive this, so you can pet and pamper your puppy later ok?¡± the girl said and pointing her wand, Sad¨¦ looked and saw bigger creatures and monsters reinforcing the other revenants that were doing their best to mob the others. ¡°You are right, let¡¯s get busy.¡± Sad¨¦ said and she swigged down a Mana potion and called forth her crown. Thunder crown She felt the thunder around her body grow denser and one of the bigger monsters was aiming for her and trying its best to reach her on three legs in a weird waddle and bounding move. Thunderfire! The thunder struck the triple legged monster and burst its head like a melon. DING! TIER III VINDULAN KEEPER KILLED! ¡­ +2 STR +2 PER ¡°That is what I am talking about!¡± the girl said, and she waved her wand and lashed out her own skill. Arcana Bombarda! Sad¨¦ watched with awe as literal bombs of Mana fell atop the many Vindulan creatures and onslaught took shape, they weren¡¯t all massacred, but they were damaged and wounded which allowed the other seekers to change the flow of battle and crash out their own skills into the fray. Killing as many of the downed creatures as possible. ¡°Come on let¡¯s go!¡± the girl said and grabbing Sad¨¦ by the hand, she rushed forward and Sad¨¦ realised she was leading her towards the exit of the chamber, she must have sussed it out before and had struggled to get there on her own. but now in this chaos; she was using the opportunity to keep going. They reached the doorway and as she and the girl passed through she felt the Mana change and it felt much denser all around them. the doorway hadn¡¯t led into a corridor like before; instead, it led into a completely different room which was much like the expanse they had all been standing in before they had entered the pyramid of Argilles. The room was bright white almost like another plane and Sad¨¦ had to try her best to not squint while she stood waiting to see what she needed to do to advance. CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING IT HERE! YOU HAVE REACHED THE PEAK OF THE PYRAMID ¡­ SYSTEM READS TWO SEEKERS AT THE SAME TIME HAVE ENTERED THE HALLS OF ARGILLES ¡­ THIS HAS NOT OCCURRED FOR MANY YEARS! ¡­ RECALCULATING ¡­ REWARDS WILL BE OFFERED NONETHELESS! ¡­ RECALCULATING ¡­ REWARDS WILL BE GIVEN! SIGIL OF FIRE ARCANE TOME Sad¨¦ watched as the sigil floated down and landed in the palms of her hands. The tome landed in the other girls hand too. They smiled at each other and Sad¨¦ nodded a thank you to the girl who offered it back in kind. ¡°I am Sad¨¦ and part of the Black Wing Faction, you should join us.¡± Sad¨¦ offered and the girl looked at her and then laughed. ¡°I am Tera Nema, the Black Wing Faction? The same one as Jazmel ¡¯s?¡± she asked and Sad¨¦ looked at her, incredulous. ¡°I met him in a trial like this a few gates back and again in the Mer King¡¯s chamber.¡± She explained and Sad¨¦ nodded, remembering Jazmel telling her about this other seeker. ¡°I have heard enough about your faction, good things here and there. You are growing quite strong, but I am not interested in joining a faction just now and I have a party that I would have to consider all they say. But what I will say is; you have an ally in me. I would have said the same thing to Jazmel , but to you too. I would be able to come to your aid if you ever need.¡± She offered a hand and Sad¨¦ shook it; firmly and understanding. Once they shook has the ground rumbled and Sad¨¦ felt fear in her stomach, but the system changed her mind quickly. THE PYRAMID OF ARGILLES HAS BEEN CONQUERED! REWARDS WILL VARY TO THOSE WHO HAVE ACCOMPLISHED She sighed and then remembered Kazumi who was still nestled into her neck and using her tails to hold her in place too. She reached up and petted her neck and Kazumi purred an unnatural sound for a fox but still cute, she waited as the pyramid rumbled and she wondered where she would be kicked out. ¡°I sent you a friend request!¡± Tera Nema said as she disappeared, and the notification popped up for Sad¨¦ just as she was pulled from the pyramid too. Book 3 Chapter Sixteen; Ushering in the New Gate Jazmel had been pulled out from the pyramid just as he and Circe had begun to fight a new contingent of Vindulan warriors, he had been struck and knocked down and just as the warrior was about to strike him dead, the pyramid had frozen and then begun to rumble as if it was breaking down, the next moment. Jazmel was outside in a field and alone. His health was low, he drained a potion and winced but sighed as his body began to knit itself back together. He looked around and saw nothing or anybody and began to walk out of the field, as he reached the first hill; he wrote his first missive and sent it to Baek in hopes he would know where he was. He sent one to Sad¨¦ too and to his pleasure she responded and told him she was in a field too. Looking around he couldn¡¯t perceive her but using his Mana eyes, over some more hills. He could just make out Mana that looked quite similar to hers. DING! CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU AND OTHERS ARE THE FIRST TO ENTER THIS GATE WITHIN THE LABYRINTH ¡­ YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS WILL BE THE FIRST HERE! ¡­ THE BELLTOWER HAS BEEN OVERRAN BY DEMONIC BEINGS THE REWARDS FOR THIS WILL BE GREATER THAN USUAL AS THIS IS A NEW GATE! ¡­ Jazmel nodded and making his way towards the hill he found Sad¨¦, who had waited for him. he smiled and when he stepped down into her field he noticed her small companion. ¡°Oh yes, she woke up in the pyramid. This is Kazumi and we have a companion pact now.¡± She explained the small fox looked at him with curious eyes and he inclined his head; wanting to stroke the fox but not wanting to cause a fuss. ¡°Did you see the system notice?¡± he asked and Sad¨¦ nodded. ¡°Yes, a new gate is a great reward in the labyrinth. We can probably reach ranker in here if the rewards allow.¡± She explained, and he focused on that immediately. ¡°Let¡¯s go and find this bell tower.¡± He offered and she nodded and fell in beside him as they made their way deeper into the gate. The landscape was no different o other open spaces that Jazmel had been in. the fields were filled with lush grass, the trees were perfectly strong boughs and thick trunked. The air was rich and healthy. He didn¡¯t feel out of place in here at all, even with all his stats; he was always in awe regarding the various places he saw inside the labyrinth. The gates opened into new worlds and unfamiliar places each and every time. ¡°How was inside the pyramid?¡± he asked her, and she fed back what had happened to her and how she had reached the peak with Tera Nema. ¡°It was you! You beat the trial?!¡± he exclaimed and shyly, hiding behind her hair as she always did. ¡°That is so cool! And you got to meet Tera Nema! How is she?¡± he asked, Sad¨¦ looked at him and then smiling, explained what had happened in the final room and how she had offered a place in the faction to Tera Nema who had declined. ¡°I figured she would, that is why I didn¡¯t ask her myself when we had beat the Mer king. But good looking out, we are still looking for new retainers as well.¡± He offered and she smiled at him as they continued to walk through the fields. He sent an origami letter to Katie, as she was a ranker; she had not been allowed into the pyramid of Argilles but now he was out he knew she had stayed at the faction house to support the others. Just as he had let the origami swan fly from his hands, he received one in return from Baek who told him he would not be able to enter the gate as it was a new one, but he had returned to the outpost and would await Jazmel and Sad¨¦. He shared this with her and then sent an outpost quest to the retainers to continue bolstering the defences and collecting resources. To save himself from headaches and continued migraines he had begun to switch his sight and look through Mana every few glances and then his normal keen senses; alternate between them. in doing this, he noticed a pin prick of Mana and as he tried to zero in on it, he realised what it was and averted his head as an arrow flashed past him. ¡°Whoa!¡± he said and Sad¨¦ pulled her short sword from the sheath, but he stopped her from throwing a skill back. ¡°We come in peace! We are seekers in the labyrinth.¡± He shouted into the tree from where the arrow had shot from. ¡°Are you human?¡± a voice in the tree asked back, he could tell it was a woman, but he couldn¡¯t perceive her in the tree, but he was focusing on the voice. ¡°Yes, are you not?¡± he asked back. ¡°I am not, will you attack me?¡± the voice asked back. ¡°Only if you shoot more arrows at us.¡± He admonished and the voice laughed back. From the tree a single person dropped down from within the branches, she was wearing a cloak that hid her face but now that Jazmel could see her up close he was surprised by how much Mana was running in her. The woman drew back her hood and it startled Jazmel , her hair was like Sad¨¦ darker purple but much alike. She was an elf, not elfin, but full elf. ¡°Oh, an elfin, that is why you didn¡¯t attack.¡± the woman said, and Jazmel inclined his head and didn¡¯t move forward just yet. ¡°Do we have a problem here?¡± he asked, and the elf woman shook her head. ¡°Some humans have a problem with elves, but now I see your friend is one of us. I can see that you are not a threat.¡± she explained, and Jazmel looked at Sad¨¦ who shrugged. ¡°Elves do not tend to like me when they see me.¡± Sad¨¦ pointed out and the elf woman simply nodded acknowledging her words. ¡°Elves are long lived and so conservative by nature, some of us do not agree with the traditions.¡± She explained for herself, and Jazmel wondered what she was trying to say. ¡°Did you gain the same notification from the system?¡± he asked, and she nodded. ¡°I did, I was heading towards the bell tower when I heard you coming. Better to be prepared than to be caught unaware.¡± She offered and he agreed, had it not been for his eyes, she would have caught them. ¡°Tier III?¡± he asked, and she inclined his head and then smiled. ¡°Anybody ever told you, your eyes are interesting?¡± she smirked and he simply nodded, trying to stay focused. ¡°Tier II but I get by.¡± She spoke really informally, and it threw Jazmel off, but for her to be tier II and inside this new gate, meant she had somehow made it into the pyramid too. She had some tricks up her sleeves, and she was skilled at using them. They had taken to walking together, the elf ahead of them but close enough that he could keep an eye on her. ¡°What is your name?¡± Sad¨¦ asked and the woman looked at her before answering. ¡°Serafina but just call me Sera.¡± She told them and Sad¨¦ nodded. ¡°What clan are you from?¡± she asked, and the elf woman laughed. ¡°I do not come from a clan, sorry but I am not as pompous as my peers. I wasn¡¯t raised by elves, which is probably why I am quite different to others you might have met.¡± She explained and Sad¨¦ just gaped at her, shocked. ¡°You were raised by humans?¡± she said, and Serafina nodded. ¡°Yes, they found me in the labyrinth wandering around alone and took me in.¡± She smiled at the fond memories she was reimagining, and Jazmel simply listened to her tale. ¡°I didn¡¯t meet another elf until I was well into adulthood. But this is my first week alone in the labyrinth, so you know. A lot can happen in here.¡± She told them, and Jazmel gaped now, exclaiming. ¡°First week? How?¡± he asked, and she laughed before peering into the trees and drawing her bow slowly. ¡°Like I said, I get by.¡± She loosed one arrow and a screech gurgled ahead. ¡°Get ready, we got company.¡± She said and as she said it she sprang up into the trees and Sad¨¦ and Jazmel followed beneath her towards the fray. Her arrow had struck a demon in the eye, and it was crying as it tried to pull it free. It wasn¡¯t alone and those were hurrying towards them ready to kill them for attacking. Cleave Jazmel wasted no time, slashing through the air his sword riddled with grave iron cut through the demons that rushed him, and he watched as they cried out from their wounds, the sword seemed to be almost poisonous to most and amplified by his skills he was doing more damage to them then they could manage. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Thunderfire! He watched as Sad¨¦ threw bolts of thunder wreathed in fire at the demons and they burned and wailed beneath her assault. They were not completely undone but they were hurt enough that they didn¡¯t get back up. Rainfall. Was heard from above and though he only heard her bow thrum once, almost one hundred arrows fell atop the demons, killing those who had survived attacks from both Jazmel and Sad¨¦. DING! TIER II DEMONIC FIENDS KILLED ¡­ EXP ACCRUED He sighed; tier II creatures were not even getting him stats anymore unless he killed a larger amount of them. Ranker was going to be hard indeed. ¡°Can we move on?¡± he asked and the two nodded and after looting the corpses they moved forward. The trees grew taller, and Serafina sighed pointing out that she wouldn¡¯t be able to use them to evade sight and being caught by attacks, Jazmel nodded in understanding. An archer needed cover to be truly effective, but he figured she would find another way, after all. She got by. They passed through the small forest in under an hour, Jazmel had to admit; his tier III body felt almost inhuman the way it functioned. He moved faster and further, and he could run for almost a full hour at his top speed. Luckily, he hadn¡¯t needed to, but the choice was there if he needed it. Looming before him and the two girls. The bell tower erected above them, and Serafina whistled, it was larger than a bell tower, it was bigger than a tower; it was more like a fortress; a thick wooden fence of sharpened trees had been erected around it and demonic beings mulled around inside doing menial tasks. Jazmel could see them as their Mana was blood red unlike the blue light that Mana tended to be. ¡°There are hundreds of demons in there.¡± Jazmel shared and Sad¨¦ began to pull potions from her rings in preparation, stamina, and Mana. He didn¡¯t do the same, he had only used one skill and his recovery had been working well since he left the pyramid. It was surprising to him how much he didn¡¯t have to rely on potions until he had used his skills a few times, but he was sure that was down to the heart he had incorporated, it ran like an engine and even now he felt pumping in his chest as it ran extra and continued to push blood and Mana around his body as efficiently as possible. Howls rang around them and the fox pup on Sad¨¦¡¯s shoulder yelped in response. The howls beckoned activity inside the fence and the demonic beings all began rushing around to begin preparing and Jazmel looked around to see what had caused this. ¡°Over there.¡± Serafina pointed and to the west of their position another group of seekers were rushing towards the bell tower and were causing the howling and the preparing. ¡°We need to ring the bell before they do. Otherwise, they complete the first quest of the new gate.¡± Serafina explained and Jazmel sighed realising she was right. ¡°Well let¡¯s throw our hat in the ring too then.¡± He sprinted towards the fence and vaulted it, leaping over and landing inside the biggest group of demonic beings who were surprised that he was there. Whirlwind Blade of wrath He carved a swathe through them, and they fell to pieces around him. DING! YOU HAVE KILLED MANY OF THE DEMONIC BEINGS! THE TIER III DEMONIC BEAST IS AWARE OF YOU! ¡­ IT IS COMING! He didn¡¯t hear it as much as he felt it. its impressions in the ground reminded him of the troll ogre from Orevalor but it felt bigger than that; the aura was huge too. The Mana rippled out with every step and pressed down on him each time, he had to focus before it and fight back from his Mana. As the others made it to him he motioned for them to head into the tower. ¡°I got this here!¡± He shouted and while Serafina ran for the bell tower, Sad¨¦ stayed. ¡°She might need help.¡± He said but Sad¨¦ simply focused and called her thunder crown down and was energised by her. ¡°You might need it too.¡± Sad¨¦ said. Just as she said that Jazmel felt the greatest pressure of Mana and intent he had felt in a creature, but this was even greater still. DING! TIER III DEMONIC HORROR HAS EMERGED The demonic horror was humanoid in shape, two arms and two legs. Though its arms were longer than normal humans, they were almost stretched and hung well below its knees. Its skin was thick like leather, but it had feathers that sprouted around its shoulders and chest. Thankfully, this horror had no wings, but its immense pressure was still pressing down on Jazmel. I am the sword, I have no ideals outside of the sword, from the hilt to the tip. Everything I know is here He said to himself, and he whispered it like a spell, a mantra. The demonic horror screeched, and Jazmel had to fight to not drop his sword and cover his ears. But Sad¨¦ sprang into action. Foxfire! She threw flames at the demonic horror, and they fell like cherry blossom petals all around it, the ones that did land on it, burned immediately; as if the very skin of the demon was kindle. It was burned; not as badly as Jazmel had thought but bad enough that it swiped at Sad¨¦ who evaded nimbly. Whirlwind! he churned the flames and used them to box in the horror, it screeched again and buffed the whirlwind away dispersing the flames and Jazmel realised the screech was a skill, almost. He slashed with his sword, sending Mana at the demon, it nipped its shoulder and it snarled at Jazmel just as Sad¨¦ threw more blue fire into its face and it howled in pain; using this moment. Jazmel bounded forward and struck with his skills deftly and deadly. Blade wrath Cleave Blade wrath! The demonic horror took his attacks deep and thick blood fell from its wounds, the blood stunk and congealed as it hit the ground like a thickened gel of some make. It almost made him gag, but he was fighting for his life and wouldn¡¯t be caught off guard. The demon swung down at him and missed him but to his surprise it crumpled the ground, and he slowed down to steady his footing but not before it struck him with its other hand. Knocking him off his feet and backwards into a tumbling roll. DING! WARNING!! HEALTH BELOOW 70% ¡­ BRUISED RIBS (minor) ¡­ He groaned as he got up and peering to the side he saw the horror shuffling towards him. but not before it shrieked in pain, Sad¨¦ had hit it in the back of the head with thunder and it wailed in pain, it swiped at her and she deftly dodged it, he could see that her crown was floating above her head, and she also had all her tails exposed. She was fighting with everything she had, throwing bolt after bolt of thunder at the tier III horror. He cursed and sitting up, he drank a potion and felt his ribs lessen in pain. He didn¡¯t need to look at his notifications. He leapt up and darting forward he pulled Nozarashi from his ring, he hadn¡¯t used two swords in a long time but clutching them in either hand he swung both across his body and sent Mana flying in a crossed slash. It struck the demon and it howled again. swiping at him, he blocked with his left hand and fell to a knee. But with his right-hand sword he struck it across the knee, and it backed off. He was angry now; he was going to show it all his progress. Blade wrath! He barked and the skill welled up from both blades and at close proximity he hit the demonic horror, it crashed down and laying on its back dazed, it mewled. It tried to claw itself back up, but Sad¨¦ reacted quicker. She called thunder up and using the tip of her blade she struck out and drove her short sword into the top of the head. it shrieked again but this time it was howling from the thunder that riddled through its body, it arched from the shock and the body sizzled as it burned from the outside, in. DING! TIER III DEMONIC HORROR HAS BEEN SLAIN ¡­ REWARDS WILL FOLLOW ¡­ ¡­ TIER III DEMONIC HORROR HAS MUTATED! BEWARE!! DEFEAT THE TIER III DEMONIC HORROR MUTATION REWARDS WILL BE REWARDED AT VALUE! Jazmel skimmed the system just as the pressure around them began to grow gradually. ¡°Sad¨¦!¡± he yelled, and she darted to be beside him. ¡°I saw it too.¡± She said and he watched as she drunk down two Mana potions and began preparing a spell. Her fox tails were out now, all five of them and the extra Mana was allowing her to keep her thunder crown above her head. ¡°Remind me to talk to you about your thunder skill.¡± He said to her, and she looked at him a little confused, but nodded. The demonic horror rose up, smoke still sizzling off of it and roared. Spittle flew from its jaws and Jazmel could tell it was stronger, it was on all fours and as the pressure from its ¡®mutation¡¯ grew he watched to his own dread as bulbous forms on its back burst and revealed two bat like wings and as they flexed and began to fill with blood he rushed forward shouting at Sad¨¦. ¡°Maim it! Do not let it learn to fly, no matter what you have to do!!¡± he rushed in and slashed and sliced the horror trying to stop it from learning its new power. Cleave Cleave! He struck twice, left hand and then right hand. Making sure he did his part, it swung out a hand, but he had been expecting it, it was a little faster but not as fast as him. he dodged its left-handed grab for him and then danced out of the way as it swiped at him with its right hand. He dodged that too but missed the jutting jaw and it snapped at him with its widened mouth, he guarded his face with a cross guard of both swords and danced back as it tried to bite his face, its gross breath rushing at him. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ struck it from above, but it was focused on him, deciding he was the more dangerous of the two. He tried to dart back in, but it was wary of him now, it rose up and hopped trying to flap with its wings, but Sad¨¦ was there again and threw another skill. Foxfire! This time the fox that seemed glued to her shoulder yipped and Jazmel ¡¯s eyes caught the fox fire grow in density, the Mana grew purer and burned larger when it scorched the back of the demonic horror, sending it back to the ground. It threw its head back and screeched! But this time Jazmel watched as Mana pulsed in the screech and it flew into the sky and burst like a bubble. The screech echoed around them, and Jazmel wondered why the sound had been amplified. Just as that sounded, the sound of the bell inside the bell tower rung out too. Rich and thick, as if it hadn¡¯t been rung in many years. The sound broke the murky clouds above as if the bell brought the dawn and the demonic horror seemed to grow angry at the sound of the bell. It cried out and catching Jazmel , unaware it caught his left hand; the one he was holding your no Tsubasa in and broke his wrist and forearm in its grip. He yelped and cried out, so shocked by the pain. He screamed as it picked him up by his broken limb and almost fainted when it threw him from it. He landed badly and knew his arm was broken, but from the force of his throw. He could tell his right leg was broken too. In his crumbled position he watched Sad¨¦ fighting with the demonic horror on her own. he heard other sounds and not being able to turn from where he was laying he watched a demonic beings rushed back into the bell tower grounds and hurried to the area where Sad¨¦ was fighting DING! YOUR HEALTH IS BELOW 30% WARNING! DANGER!! HEAL NOW! BROKEN FOREARM (major) BROKEN WRIST (major) BROKEN RIBS X3 (major) RUPTURED LEFT LUNG (minor) BROKEN RIGHT LEG (minor) The system shared all his wounds and he sighed, painfully. He couldn¡¯t even reach for his potions, nor could he help Sad¨¦. She was throwing fire and thunder all around her now and her fox companion was spewing blue flames around it helping her with the demonic beings as best as it could while she fought the demonic horror on her own. Rainfall! He heard and watched as hundreds of arrows fell from the sky and pelted the demonic beings as well as the horror. Some died, but it wasn¡¯t enough, they would be overrun and die and then they would find him, and he would die too. He almost cried, was he actually going to die now. He looked at the sky to see it one last time, but something caught his eye in the sky; in the clouds above them. Something bright was descending, almost like a star hurtling to the ground. He watched as it grew brighter and fell from the sky, it flew faster as it dropped from the clouds, and he watched as it burned brighter too. He closed his eyes and fainted just as it hit the demonic horror and bright white Mana dispersed in an abrupt shockwave all around them. Book 3 Chapter Seventeen; Heralds and Friends Jazmel woke up with a groan and looking around he found himself lying on a makeshift bed and his swords were beside him, sheathed and propped up against the wall. He looked around him and realised he was inside the belltower. He was alone; he couldn¡¯t see Sad¨¦ or Serafina, but he imagined they were close. He tried to get up but groaned as his body told him he was not ready to do that. So instead, he checked his system screen. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON CLEARING THE FIRST QUEST OF THIS NEW GATE! ¡­ LEVEL UP! EXP ACCRUED!! LEVEL UP! YOU AND YOUR TEAM MANAGED TO RING THE BELL DEFEAT THE DEMONIC BEINGS AND THE DEMONIC HORROR EXP BONUS! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ LEVEL UP! FOR COMPLETING ALL TASKS FOR THE NEW GATE +10 STAT POINTS He smiled at this, he had needed this and looking at his stats he distributed them immediately. Putting them into his lowest and stats and he breathed a little easier as he felt his body acclimatise to his new limits. He continued to read the screen. REWARDS FOR COMPLETING THE QUEST! ¡­ He read over the rewards again and again, he looked at his stats and sighed his body was broken had been broken. He didn¡¯t have enough potions to put a real dent into his healing, he needed to return to the outpost as soon as he could. Name: Jazmel Level: 59 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier III Class: Sword Scion Health: 650/2100 Stamina: 367/1540 Mana: 112/1480 STR:87(+5) PER:85 VIT:80 END:80(+3) INT:92 WIL:81 AGL:83 DEX:83 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 45X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 27X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE Stolen story; please report. TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE DWARVEN COIN 8X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 6X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER III SABRE OF THE DEADENING TIER II SHORT SWORD TIER II FROST SHARD x13 TIER II BRUXA CORE TIER II GLACIAL HERB X3 SACK TIER II GLACIAL FRUIT TIER II ARCTIC SPICE TIER II FREEZING FRUIT TIER I FRIGID HERB TIER III DEMONIC CLEAVER TIER III BLOODY SABRE SHADOW WRAITH LEVEL 12 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 He stood up now, grinding his teeth at the pain his body was feeling, he slipped the ring onto his third finger on his right hand, and he felt his endurance rise a trickle. Using his swords as crutches he gingerly made his way out of the belltower. He made it to the doorway and just as he had remembered it, there was a huge crater in the ground where the star had fallen and destroyed the demonic forces. Looking around he realised he couldn¡¯t see Sad¨¦ or Serafina and he wanted to look for them, but he couldn¡¯t the steps were beyond him right now, his body was still sore and tender. The broken bones had healed but he hadn¡¯t recovered the same vitality he always had, he needed stronger potions. Something he would have to purchase from colin when he next saw him. ¡°So, you are up now.¡± He heard and looking to the left of him, a woman in full body armour was looking at him. she wore full regalia, amour he had never seen the likes of before but the Mana emanating from it was so strong that he back pedalled but stopped and winced. ¡°No need to be afraid, I am a friend. well, I bear you no ill will anyway.¡± She said and he studied her and waited to see if she would approach him. ¡°I am a herald; we are petitioned by the system to enter new gates to make sure they are safe. I got here a little late and that is why I helped you and your friends. A mutated tier III is equal to a high ranker. You managed to fend it off for some time, I am quite surprised. Especially when none of you are rankers.¡± She was complimenting him, but his body told him another story, he would have died if she had not intervened. ¡°I am Valkyrie.¡± She introduced herself, she wore full armour but moved with ease; as if she were wearing a t-shirt and shorts. She had been sitting outside the tower on a low bench and he looked to see that propped up was a round shield and a lance. Both were yellow gold and ornate, she was strong, and her items were great. He felt a tickle of envy. ¡°What rank are you?¡± he asked, and she hid a smile. ¡°Master tier.¡± She responded and he nodded, knowingly. He had imagined she must be that strong. ¡°Did you see us fight?¡± he asked, and she nodded, watching him curiously. ¡°What am I lacking?¡± he asked, honest and he watched her shock and recover with a smile. ¡°Honestly? Nothing, you are stronger than I was as a seeker. You have good balance of stats, I can tell. Your eyes are probably better than you realise. You should use them more, but I would say you rely on skills a lot. You are strong enough to just use your swords and attack with them. Not every fight needs you to use all your skills, you become reliant on them and that creates unhealthy habits.¡± ¡°You probably haven¡¯t been in the labyrinth that long, I can tell. But you need to always have a last ditch save or escape card. Something that will save you for a split second. Anything can happen in the labyrinth, just because you are in around your power mates. The labyrinth can throw anything at you, you need to prepare for the impossible, or to at least run away from it.¡± she shared, and he nodded, she was right and now he was breaking into ranker, he would be facing stronger gates, stronger enemies and greater risks offered greater rewards.¡± He nodded and she fell quiet for a while before continuing. ¡°Also always be ready to be on your own, sometimes the labyrinth will send you into gates on your own. even if you have a party, sometimes it randomises where everyone goes. It just does it on a whim, but more importantly. Be prepared for betrayal, seekers, rankers, and masters are greedy. They will do anything to move forward, even sacrifice others; especially those to whom they don¡¯t have any ties. That¡¯s why the labyrinth created the herald. We are necessary to keep this from happening. But it still does, there are not enough of us to be everywhere.¡± She was right and he hadn¡¯t had to suffer from that, but the deeper he went into the labyrinth the more it would be likely to happen. ¡°I will take these lessons to heart.¡± he said and bowing he thanked her as low as he could go before wincing. She smiled and donning her helmet, a gilded helmet with a mane of pure red hair much like her own hair, she grabbed her shield and lance before nodding once more to him, he nodded back and she quite literally leapt into the sky and shot off, like a star. Sad¨¦ and Serafina came running at the sight of her and he smiled at them both, Serafina wasn¡¯t shocked to see him, but Sad¨¦ almost cried. But he waved her away. ¡°Stop, stop crying.¡± He remembered the fountain water and taking out a vial, he drank deeply. TIER II WATER OF &4456& FOUNTAIN DRANK ¡­ WOUNDS HEALED SUBSTANTIALLY He wasn¡¯t fully healed, but he didn¡¯t have to use his swords as a crutch, he breathed a little easier too. ¡°We need to return to the outpost.¡± He said and Sad¨¦ nodded, running past him and into the bell tower, to get something. He turned to Serafina and studied her. ¡°Will you join our faction?¡± he asked, and she studied him. ¡°Why do you want me?¡± she asked. ¡°Because we are looking to go further and deeper into the labyrinth and the people we have met on the way are the best allies we could hope to make?¡± he responded. ¡°But why would I join the faction when I can just be your ally.¡± She asked him. ¡°Because if you are part of our faction you are one of us and we can support you with whatever it is you want to do while we simultaneously do what we are doing too.¡± He countered. ¡°So, you wouldn¡¯t help me if I don¡¯t join but I need you?¡± she asked him again. ¡°You are my friend now, of course we would. But I would like you to join our faction and help us move further.¡± He offered and at this she smiled. ¡°No need to beg Jazmel , I would have joined you if you had asked nicely.¡± She rolled her eyes but stepped past him to head into the belltower. ¡°Why are you heading back into the tower?¡± he asked, turning around to follow her back in. ¡°Because the gate is the bell!¡± she called back, and he sighed and realised he would have to climb all those steps. As he turned to follow her, he sent her a retainer request for the black wing faction, and she accepted. DING! SEEKER TIER II SERAFINA HAS JOINED THE BLACK WING FACTION! ¡­ YOU NOW HAVE 10 NEW RETAINERS! CONGRATULATIONS!! ¡­ ALL YOUR RETAINERS WILL RECEIVE +5 STATS! THE DORMS OF YOUR RETAINERS WILL BE UPGRADED TO SUIT THEM BETTER! Jazmel smiled at that and watched as Sad¨¦ and Serafina received their 5 stat points to use. He definitely needed to return, he had so many tasks he was going to release to all those who he were in the faction. They climbed the stairs and what felt like an hour, which could have been close. They made it to the very top, Serafina rung the bell and once it rung they sound pulled them in and brough them to another space. Book 3 Chapter Eighteen; a Fountain at the End Jazmel cursed as soon as his eyes adjusted. He wasn¡¯t back at the outpost; he was in another space where a fountain had been erected. This quest seemed to be only for him again, he looked around and tried to see if he could find where the guardian was and after looking for now a few minutes he found sight of it, even when he looked with Mana. He went to the fountain and the water had almost dried up. The empty vials he had were enough and he filled them before it was too difficult for him to fill more than three vials. He drank deeply from another, drinking it all. DING! TIER II WATER OF &4456& FOUNTAIN HEALS! YOUR WOUNDS HAVE BEEN HEALED! He felt it and in truth as soon as he had ingested the second vial, his body felt like he had recovered instantly. His stamina and health were both replenished and he could feel the Mana moving around him safely again, he rolled his shoulders and sighed from the comfort it gave him to be safe and feel hale again. This fountain was different this time, it was sealed off by a raised lid; this was holding back the water from flowing down into the fountain and Jazmel could see the thick chains that were holding the lid up. But this time a pulley had been tied off to the side which was restricting off the flow of water. But Jazmel could see that it was sealed Mana runes run all along the length of the chains, but he couldn¡¯t see what they meant; he just knew it changed the density of the runes. He drew Nozarashi and touched the chains and sparks flashed off and he had to turn his face to the side to make sure he wasn¡¯t blinded. He in turn sheathed his sword and then drew his other one and immediately he felt the iron quell the Mana runes on the chain. He raised his blade slowly and touched the chain and it threw up sparks and shards of the chain as Mana runes flashed ahead but Jazmel simply squinted and held his eyes covered. Just as his blade passed through the last link of the chain and the pulled whipped up the apparatus and broke off. He watched as it ascended and then watched as it toppled the halted seal. It flipped and the held back water burst forth and flashed into the fountain and then splashed down as it overflowed, he was drenched in it, but he felt buffed by it, but the system didn¡¯t state any bodily changes. DING! YOU HAVE RELEASED THE FLOW OF WATER ¡­ WATER OF &4456& WILL FLOW THROUGH THE LABYRINTH AGAIN ¡­ WELL DONE! CONGRATULATIONS EXP EARNED! LEVEL UP!! +2 WIL +2 PER This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. +1 DEX ERROR! REWARDS WITHELD THE GUARDIAN OF THE FOUNTAIN HAS AWOKEN BEWARE!! This one was more upfront than the last, it roared; bellowed its challenge as it came out of a shadowed corner Jazmel had definitely checked. This creature was unlike anything he had seen, it was an ape and a man hybrid. Thick arms and it ran on all fours, its thick knuckles slapping the ground as it charged him. He was prepared for this; he threw a vial of the fountain at its face, and it smashed, and it clawed at its face as the water burned its skin. He leapt forward and slashed its face, it blocked, and he wasn¡¯t sure if it knew he was coming but he darted around the side and drove his sword into the soft flesh between its ribs, the blade of Tsubasa was lethal and he heard the ape man yelp and whine, but he was ruthless; he glided to the side and when he was behind it. he drove his sword through its back, and it sagged; he pushed it through the heart, and it whined as the blood from its heart pumped into its body and spurted from the hole he left in its body. Cleave He used his skill and cut through its neck; beheading the ape hybrid and the blood flowed freely. DING! DEFEATED THE GUARDIAN OF THE FOUNTAIN! ¡­ TIER III SIMIAN IRONFIST DEFEATED He had defeated a tier III monster without anyone¡¯s help and just one skill. He was shocked at how lethal he had been when he was calculated, but he wasn¡¯t shocked that he had the strength. FOUNTAIN OF &4456& HAS BEEN MADE UNCORRUPT ¡­ REWARDS WILL BE ADJUSTED ¡­ DEFEATING A BRUXA FOR THE FIRST TIME REWARDS WILL BE ADJUSTED ¡­ EXP EARNED! ¡­ LEVEL UP! He had finally did it and he smiled to himself, he was ready for tier tribulation, and he could enter ranker, he just needed to make it to that level, and he had finally done it. Delving into the labyrinth on his own always provided him with bountiful rewards. ¡­ ¡­ REWARDS BEING ADJUSTED! ¡­ TIER III BEAST CORE! The core was like a giant marble of red and blue stardust in the centre of it. Just as the core landed in his hands the egg he had gained from the first fountain trial, the egg shivered in his hand and his eyes widened wondering if it would finally hatch. THE EGG WOULD LIKE THE BEAST CORE TO HATCH WILL YOU PROVIDE IT? Y/N? Of course he would accept! They seemed to merge together, and the egg shuddered once more and then grew warm and began to vibrate a little and then thumped in his hand and he realised it was the echo of a small heartbeat. He went to put his ear to the egg to try and hear it better, but the sound of a crack drew his eyes back and the top of the egg cracked, and a small black eye peered up at him. DING! DRAGON OF THE NIGHT HATCHED! LVL 1 ¡­ WILL YOU ACCEPT THE COMPANION OF THE DRAGON? Y/N? He accepted and he smiled as the rune on his hand grew into a small sun on the back of his hand. WILL YOU NAME THE DRAGON? ¡­ ¡­ PALDANE NAME HAS BEEN REGISTERED! Jazmel looked at the screen as it happened, and he looked at the tiny dragon in his hand and it puffed smoke from its nostrils. It was pitch black, the colour of ink or oil and along the small ridges that ran along its back, blue that looked like a topaz jewel. He stroked the back and it cooed and puffed more smoke. This was his shadow that had moved into the egg, he was happy and as he was about to discard the eggshell he saw the inside was silver; he would have to show that to colin when he next saw him. he willed the shell pieces into his ring and using its wings it fluttered up onto his shoulder, it was tiny; no bigger than his hand but it seemed to be sentient enough to know it wanted to be on his shoulder while he was moving around. He needed to find tier tribulation items and fast, he wanted to enter ranker as soon as he could. He walked the path that broke off from around the fountain and down towards the gate which he planned to use to head back to his outpost, with his new friend; Paldane. Book 3 Chapter Nineteen; Plans are for Planning Jazmel walked through the gate and landed on the path that led up to the outpost; he sighed. He hadn¡¯t been back for a while now and he was hoping for rest and a complete resupply of all his potions and some food too; he was thinking of deep diving into the labyrinth, and he needed to be prepared to travel alone for a while. He walked up the causeway and when he reached his gates; there were two men standing barring his way with spears crossing. ¡°Who are you and how did you get to this outpost?¡± one called out to him; he was shocked because they didn¡¯t know him but also he didn¡¯t know who they were either. ¡°Are you with the black wing faction?¡± he asked, his hand slowly going to the sword at his belt. ¡°We are, we are guarding the gate; Katie has us in shifts guarding and defending the area around here. she has called it our training.¡± One said to him. ¡°Don¡¯t tell him that! He is a stranger!¡± the other hissed. ¡°State your business!¡± the other said, spear still crossed but eyes glaring at Jazmel. ¡°I am returning to the faction.¡± He said still caught off guard that he was having to explain what he was doing, outside HIS own faction. ¡°All faction members are inside though.¡± The wary guard said, and Jazmel looked confused. ¡°The faction leader has been missing and everyone is diving back into the labyrinth to try and find him.¡± the other said and the wary one hissed at him again. Jazmel was more worried now, time seemed to be different in the fountain trials, last time he had been gone mere seconds, but now it seemed longer. ¡°How long has the faction leader been missing?¡± he asked, and the wary guard studied him. ¡°Four days, as of this morning.¡± Jazmel winced and cursed quietly. ¡°Call Katie here, she will want to see me.¡± He said and the guards looked at him but didn¡¯t want to move. ¡°Why would she want to see you?¡± the wary one said but was interjected by AI who appeared at the gate in a blinding flash and an alarm sounded. ¡°Faction leader! Welcome home!! We have missed you!¡± the guards stood to attention quickly and Jazmel simply walked through the open gates and didn¡¯t even look back to admonish them. As he walked through the courtyard, there were much more faces he hadn¡¯t seen before, and he realised they must be the people they had freed from slavery. They were sparring, some were doing chores here and there and others were clutching spears as they were standing on the wall guarding it or going off to hunt. Katie and Mary had turned them into a makeshift militia, and he simply smiled to see them busy. As he walked around the sparring square he was rushed by Sad¨¦, Katie, Mary and all the others. He shrugged off the words and beckoned them all to follow him into the main chamber; it made sense to tell them now about his plot. As they were heading in, Baek, Tango and Gelth the burly man from the demonic castle gate. He waved them over and beckoned for them to follow too. ¡°AI can you call all retainers to come here to the chamber hall quickly, I would rather tell the one time and not have to repeat it to others too.¡± AI disappeared and he turned to sit in the main seat in the chamber hall. ¡°Where have you been then?¡± Katie asked and he smiled at her before beginning. The others who had been made retainers all came and he looked at them all; awaiting his return and he smiled a little; his heart heavy with the worry from his friends now. ¡°I am not sure why I took so long to come here; but I probably need to explain something. I gained a plot a while back, something secret. I was tasked with opening a fountain and I thought it was a singular trial gate but when I did open it, it gave me a plot and told me to open all the fountains.¡± He explained. ¡°When?¡± Baek asked, composed, and focused. ¡°When we first fought the yeti¡¯s in that fjord. When we jumped into the gate, I was brought to the trial and after completing it, I had been brought to the next gate in seconds as if no time had passed.¡± He explained and Baek simply nodded, conceding. Jazmel took the time to tell them about the first time and what he had been rewarded, and then he told them about the second time and explained what he had fought and how he had awoken Paldane who had been hibernating inside the egg. As he said that, Paldane seemed to wake up and yawning it stretched out its little body and using its tiny claws to clutch his shoulder it yawned and puffed out smoke. ¡°Is that?¡± Timone asked and he nodded with a smile. ¡°I have a dragon for a companion now.¡± He offered and they shook their heads; a few did. ¡°Every time I am not with you, you get something great!¡± Katie moaned and he laughed at her words. ¡°Well I wanted to tell you about the fountains because I don¡¯t know when I am going to get pulled into one next and I don¡¯t know if the time will be longer or shorter. But it¡¯s better that you know it though.¡± He explained and they all murmured in agreement. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°But being outside for as long as I have been has made me realise that I have lots to do here, we are working hard; but we need to work harder so here are what we will do.¡± He said and they all watched. He had been looking over the faction leader system screen and he realised that he could see everyone¡¯s level and their tier. Nothing more, but it was enough for him to be able to select specific tasks for those at specific levels. Everyone who was a ranker, he tasked them to either tier up via tribulation or to push for it. He watched as they all got the notification; he could see what the system was offering them, a boost of stats to use as they would as well as exp to boost their level. He sent another task to Katie and Mary specifically to train up the lower ranked members who were staying at the outpost; they needed to tier up too but for now he sent them all the task to hunt around the outpost and build their own reserves of stats. Separately he sent another task to everyone and bid them dive into the labyrinth in groups of no larger than two and three, explaining that the need to build strength and resilience outside of the group made sense. They began to band together, and he watched as Elai and Serafina linked arms and headed out straight away, he motioned for Timone to go with them, and she nodded and followed behind them. Gelth was already heading out, but Patton and Gilmore asked to go with him, he agreed, and they left for the gate too. Katie and Bannerman were training the freed slaves and they continued. So all that was left was Baek, Tango and Sad¨¦. ¡°I am going into the labyrinth on my own. I need to tier up and I am not coming back till I am master.¡± Tango uttered, Jazmel nodded; understanding the man¡¯s want for strength, especially as he was pursuing it too. They hugged and Tango left, stating that he would write Jazmel often. ¡°While we have the floor. I must leave.¡± Baek told Jazmel and he looked at him suddenly worried, but Baek shook his head. ¡°Nothing has happened, all retainers of the black dragon have been summoned. I will return, I just must attend this meeting.¡± He explained but Jazmel was still feeling unnerved, he had grown accustomed to the strength of this mentor and master in knowledge of the labyrinth. ¡°Why are you being summoned?¡± Sad¨¦ asked him. ¡°I think the black dragon will try for the 100th floor.¡± Baek said, not batting an eyelid. ¡°I see.¡± Jazmel said and Baek bowed quickly before heading out of the chamber hall and leaving Sad¨¦ with Jazmel alone. ¡°Well that was strange. But we can hold on until he returns right?¡± she said, and he smiled. ¡°Yes we can.¡± He said and she nodded. ¡°I need to replenish my potions, but I need to look for some things first, I need to enter the labyrinth again. I have to do it soon, but I just remembered a reward I got from that first gate.¡± He explained and she nodded coming over to the chair to watch him, AI appeared and whistled as he pulled the merge token from his ring. ¡°A merge token allows you to merge two skills into one. It¡¯s a good option for a seeker as they still do not have the ability to sunder their skills yet.¡± AI explained and Jazmel nodded, understanding what was being said. DING! MERGE TOKEN HAS BEEN FOUND ¡­ WILL YOU USE IT? ¡­ Y/N? Jazmel accepted mentally and the system chimed. WHICH SKILLS WILL YOU MERGE? Jazmel selected the only two he felt like he hadn¡¯t been using effectively and the system pulled them from the slots on his system screen. WILL YOU MERGE THESE TWO? Y/N After accepting, he watched as blade wrath and whirlwind swirled around each other and started spinning. Once they spun till he couldn¡¯t see the words of either of them a quick flash of light his system screen and then the system popped up with another window. DING! YOUR SKILL MERGE WAS A SUCCESS!! ¡­ BLADE WRATH AND WHIRLWIND HAVE MERGED ¡­ YOUR NEW SKILL IS SWORD MAELSTROM (TIER I) CONGRATULATIONS! He looked at his stats screen and nodded at the changes. Name: Jazmel Level: 60 Species: Human Rank: Seeker tier III Class: Sword Scion Health: 650/2100 Stamina: 367/1540 Mana: 112/1480 STR:87(+5) PER:85 VIT:80 END:80(+3) INT:92 WIL:81 AGL:83 DEX:83 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 45X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 27X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE DWARVEN COIN 5X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 2X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 4X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER III SABRE OF THE DEADENING TIER II SHORT SWORD TIER II FROST SHARD x13 TIER II BRUXA CORE TIER II GLACIAL HERB X3 SACK TIER II GLACIAL FRUIT TIER II ARCTIC SPICE TIER II FREEZING FRUIT TIER I FRIGID HERB TIER III DEMONIC CLEAVER TIER III BLOODY SABRE NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 1 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 He sighed, he was ready to tier up and he had nothing in his items that he could use for his tribulation. He needed to go shopping. ¡°Is Colin here?¡± he asked and Sad¨¦ shook her head. ¡°You just missed him, by a day.¡± She told him and silently, he cursed. ¡°We need to enter the labyrinth; I need to go shopping and sell some things.¡± He said and she simply shrugged, ready to go. He quickly skimmed his screen and then when he saw that the Mana essence was flowing well he called up AI. ¡°I am going into the labyrinth, and I don¡¯t know how soon I will return, but I do not want you to wait for any massive changes while I am away. Is there any way you can contact me while I am away?¡± he asked, and AI bobbed in the air as if nodding. ¡°I can send you missives through the system if you want, but you will need to upgrade the faction system before I can do that.¡± AI explained and as soon as it was done, a new notification popped up. WILL YOU UPGRADE YOUR FACTION SYSTEM SCREEN? IT WILL COST 3000 MANA ESSENCE? Y/N? He accepted and felt the system blur before changing before his eyes, the screen expanded and he could see much more, he could see the limits of his resources and also the map that was being filled in live by the hunting of the militia around the outpost. Some had even taken to diving into the waters behind. This was a powerful addition. ¡°Any upgrades you think will help us in the long run, you must message me even while I am away. I will respond as soon as I am able to.¡± He bid and AI bobbed in the air again, at that he turned and walked out of the chamber hall and headed towards the gate outside of the outpost walls, with Sad¨¦. Book 3 Chapter Twenty; Back at Sacretares As soon as Jazmel stepped through the gate, he looked around and realised he had returned to the city of Sacretares, the walls were dusty from sand, and he could see that the long queue to enter the city was moving quickly but growing just as fast too. He and Sad¨¦ slipped into line and followed their way into the city. They queued for almost fifty minutes before they made it inside and once they passed through the gates, he felt the coins leave his ring as soon as he stepped through the threshold he was hit by just how many people were actually within the city, his eyes told him that they were seekers and rankers. But there had not been this many when he had been here last time. Something was up. ¡°For a gold coin, can you tell me what¡¯s going on in the city?¡± Jazmel asked a small boy who he had caught running past. ¡°Two gold coins?¡± the boy bartered, and Jazmel pulled the two from his ring and handed over one while holding the other. ¡°Seekers and Rankers have been coming into the city for a while now. We think the gate is about to evolve but the system hasn¡¯t announced anything yet!¡± the little boy said before grabbing the second coin and running away. Jazmel turned to Sad¨¦ and smiling she nodded knowingly. ¡°When a gate is used frequently the Mana build up will cause it to change, to evolve. In some case the gate will evolve and lead to newer gates or it might change the whole gate internally and upgrade everything around. If we are here when it¡¯s about to evolve, the system is probably planning to open into a new gate again.¡± she explained and he nodded, listening intently. ¡°How far are you from Ranker tier?¡± he asked, and she grit her teeth before responding. ¡°Just a few levels.¡± ¡°I hit level 60 in the fountain trial. I am ready for the tribulation; I need to grab items for it now. Before the gate evolves.¡± He told her and she hugged him. ¡°Congratulations.¡± He thanked her with another hug and then they walked deeper into the city to try and find stores. Jazmel didn¡¯t like the first store; the prices were too high for the quality of the items. The second store didn¡¯t have any items for tribulations but they were willing to buy items from him and so he sold the steadfast armour for 250 white gold coins. He sold the short sword for 160 white gold coins to earn himself 410 white gold coins. When he walked into the third store, he immediately knew he was where he wanted to be. The scent that came from this storefront told him he was in a space where lots of items were present, but also that he was in amongst vast and assorted items. ¡°Welcome!¡± the storekeeper offered, and Jazmel smiled at him, but he wasn¡¯t trying to charm a customer. This was a man who loved what he did, this was the same look Colin always had when he and Jazmel bartered. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°I am here for tribulation items; I need to find some, and I want to do it before the gate evolves.¡± He told the man who nodded, understanding him. ¡°Well I have my wares, please look them over and you can tell me what you are looking for.¡± He said and Jazmel walked in, Sad¨¦ following behind. ¡°Do you have anything for dragons?¡± the storekeeper nodded and then moved behind his bar and pulled a scroll out from beneath it, it was old. Jazmel could see that in the way the scroll looked. When the storekeeper showed the lettering on the inside his eyes tried to read the language, but he could not, but one thing he could see was the dragon Mana that was being held into the paper. It was written in dragon blood too. ¡°This is a song written in dragon tongue, I have had it for a long time, but nobody has wanted to buy it before.¡± He confessed and Jazmel smiled at his honesty. ¡°How much?¡± ¡°1 platinum coin.¡± Jazmel almost winced, but he needed it. Money was meant to be spent after all. So Baek told him anyway. ¡°Done.¡± He pulled the platinum coin out from his ring and slid it towards the storekeeper, the scroll was pushed towards him, and the transaction was agreed. ¡°I need something for my mind or my spirit.¡± He said and the storekeeper tapped his chin in thought before reaching into his own ring and pulling out a large vial filled with a honey colour substance, it was thick, and he could smell it from where he stood even though it was stoppered. ¡°This is sap from the everglade tree, it is used in medicinal potions but with this amount, I imagine it will be enough to use in a tribulation. 500 white gold coins.¡± He said and Jazmel eyed him and shook his head. ¡°That is too much, 400.¡± The storekeeper sighed and shook his head. ¡°450.¡± Jazmel laughed at this offer. ¡°410.¡± He offered and this was his final amount. The storekeeper nodded, accepting and Jazmel pulled the white gold coins from his ring and left them on the counter. ¡°Now do you have anything for the spirit?¡± he asked, and the keeper nodded but before turning he spoke up. ¡°Can I make a suggestion?¡± ¡°Yes of course.¡± ¡°Use the dragon scroll for your spirit, and the sap for your mind. You should be looking for something for your body instead now.¡± He said and Jazmel turned to Sad¨¦ who was simply looking around, she shrugged but nodded. They weren¡¯t sure but it didn¡¯t seem like a bad idea. ¡°Alright then, do you have anything for the body?¡± he asked, and the keeper nodded before looking around his counter and considering his options. ¡°What have you used for your body?¡± he asked, and Jazmel told him, and he nodded, agreeing that they had been good choices. ¡°Bones and corpses are good for body tribulation, but have you considered metal too? It¡¯s a mineral after all.¡± He explained and pulling out a shard of a metal Jazmel hadn¡¯t seen before. He left it on the counter. ¡°This is the shard of a star, a nebulae to be precise. Usually used to strengthen armour and weapons, but a body can be a weapon no?¡± he said, and Jazmel nodded, understanding his thought process behind it. ¡°I will take it. how much?¡± he asked, and the storekeeper smiled at him. ¡°15 platinum coins.¡± Jazmel whistled but shook his head. ¡°No way, you set me up. 5!¡± he said, and the storekeeper began to put it away. ¡°Wait.¡± Jazmel said and the owner looked at him with a grin. ¡°10.¡± ¡°6.¡± ¡°8?¡± ¡°8.¡± Jazmel resigned and pulled the coins from his ring and left them on the counter. He turned to leave but stopped and Sad¨¦ stopped too. ¡°If we are going to wait for this gate to evolve, it is likely you will hit ranker as soon as we get the next quest or task. You should buy your items from now, so we don¡¯t have to hunt for anything specific.¡± He said and she agreed. The storekeeper stood to the side and simply smiled waiting for Sad¨¦ to spend her money now. Jazmel stood off to the side and waited for her. Book 3 Chapter Twenty-One; Welcome to Ranker tier They had bought rooms in the same inn as when they last stayed and he had first returned, he rolled his shoulders and then taking off his clothes, he sat cross legged in the centre of the floor. He wasn¡¯t expecting much in regard to impurities, but he was sure that going from Seeker to Ranker tier. TIER TRIBULATION BEGINS! ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION INCOMING ¡­ TRIBULATION ITEMS PRESENT! ¡­ WILL YOU USE THEM? ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION HAS BEGUN TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT WHAT WILL YOU USE? The system presented Jazmel with a choice, and he selected the Song of the Dragon. As he confirmed his decision, an ethereal melody filled his mind, gentle yet powerful, resonating with ancient wisdom. The Song of the Dragon manifested as a shimmering, spectral dragon that began to coil around his consciousness. Its notes were like a symphony, each one unravelling complex patterns of thought and understanding. The dragon''s melody grew louder, each note a catalyst that expanded his mental faculties, sharpening his intellect and clarity. The dragon''s song became a storm within his mind, each note a burst of enlightenment and chaos. Jazmel felt the dragon¡¯s presence entwine with his thoughts, its wisdom challenging and evaluating his mental limits. He fought to maintain control, his mind wrestling with the profound and often overwhelming knowledge. The dragon roared, its voice a crescendo that threatened to shatter his sanity. But Jazmel held firm, focusing on each note, each beat of the symphony, until he and the dragon reached harmony. The storm calmed, the melody softened, and Jazmel felt a surge of mental acuity, his mind tempered and enhanced by the dragon¡¯s song. The song calmed as it reached its conclusion and though it sounded like a roar of great magnitude, Jazmel still was shocked by it, and it reverberated around his mind, but it wasn¡¯t painful, and it quelled the storm he was feeling. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT COMPLETE 1/3 WHAT WILL YOU USE? Next, the system prompted Jazmel to choose an item for the tribulation of the spirit. He selected the Sap of the Everglade Tree. As he did, a vial of glowing green sap appeared, pulsating with life and spiritual energy. He felt the sap integrate into his being, a cool, soothing sensation spreading through his soul. The essence of the Everglade Tree, ancient and wise, began to merge with his spirit, bringing with it a profound sense of balance and tranquillity. The sap worked its way through his spiritual veins, calming the turbulence within. Jazmel ¡¯s spirit felt both grounded and elevated, connected to the very essence of life and nature. He sensed the ancient wisdom of the Everglade Tree, its roots deep within the earth and its branches reaching for the heavens. The sap''s energy was a gentle but powerful force, purging impurities and strengthening his spiritual core. As the essence of the Everglade Tree settled within him, Jazmel felt his spirit solidify and expand, becoming more attuned to the natural world and the flow of life energy around him. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY COMPLETE Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. 2/3 WHAT WILL YOU USE? For the final part of the tribulation, the system required Jazmel to choose an item for his body. He chose the Shard of the Nebulae. The shard appeared, a piece of cosmic crystal glimmering with the light of distant stars. As it integrated into his body, Jazmel felt a surge of energy that was both overwhelming and awe-inspiring. The shard embedded itself near his core, sending waves of cosmic energy through his veins, filling him with the power of the universe. The nebulae¡¯s energy was chaotic and fierce, a stark contrast to the soothing sap. Jazmel ''s muscles contracted and expanded; his bones felt as though they were being reforged in the heart of a star. His skin prickled with the energy of a thousand suns, each pulse of the shard pushing his physical limits. He felt his body burning, reshaped by the intense forces at play. The pain was excruciating, but Jazmel gritted his teeth, enduring the transformation. Slowly, the energy began to stabilize, his body adjusting to its new, enhanced state. The nebulae¡¯s shard had forged him anew, imbuing him with cosmic strength and resilience. DING! TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND COMPLETE 3/3 ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING THE TIER TRIBULATION EXP REWARD ¡­ RANKER TIER I EXP REWARD! CONGRATULATIONS ON REACHING RANKER TIER! ¡­ +5 END +5 AGL +5 DEX +4 VIT YOU HAVE OVERCOME A TIER WHICH MANY STRUGGLE TO! WELL DONE! AS YOU ARE NOW RANKER TIER, YOU HAVE EARNED ANOTHER SKILL SLOT ¡­ Jazmel rose up and looking at his body, he was covered in sweat, but he hadn¡¯t released any impurities and Jazmel was glad for that, but ranker was just one more tier. He had added much more muscle though, he felt strong, and his body told him was indeed strong. He took this moment to sit back down, and he pulled the skill tome from one of his rings and opened it. DING! YOU HAVE OPENED A TIER I SKILL TOME! WILL YOU READ IT? Y/N? He agreed and he looked into the pages of the skill tome book, and it was quiet for a moment but then he was pulled in, through his mind¡¯s eye. The blade can do many things, it can cleave, it can rend it can even split. But all of those things are part of the same move. Once you learn it, once you understand it, you sword will move as you see fit. Jazmel watched this conversation as it happened and though he couldn¡¯t see the speaker he could see the audience. To sunder your enemies is to split them, to take the living from the body. You must be one with your sword to do that and that will take time, but the skill to sunder will be great. WILL YOU LEARN THE SKILL SUNDER? Y/N? Will accepted. SUNDER HAS BEEN LEARNED! Just as deep as he was inside the skill tome, he was expelled, and Jazmel was alone in his room. He smiled and he looked at his stats to see the change. Name: Jazmel Level: 60 Species: Human Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sword Scion Health: 2200/2200 Stamina: 1630/1630 Mana: 1120/1480 STR:87(+5) PER:85 VIT:84 END:85(+3) INT:92 WIL:81 AGL:88 DEX:88 Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER Unused Stat points: 0 34X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 25X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE DWARVEN COIN 5X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 2X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 4X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER III SABRE OF THE DEADENING TIER II SHORT SWORD TIER II FROST SHARD x13 TIER II BRUXA CORE TIER II GLACIAL HERB X3 SACK TIER II GLACIAL FRUIT TIER II ARCTIC SPICE TIER II FREEZING FRUIT TIER I FRIGID HERB TIER III DEMONIC CLEAVER TIER III BLOODY SABRE COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 1 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING THE BLACK WING FACTION TASK! ¡­ REWARDS! He had an option for a tier III item, a ranker tier spirit tier tribulation item, and 15 stat points. He didn¡¯t even think about his decision, he chose the stat points and distributed them immediately. Jazmel stretched but he was happy and covered in sweat, but he was feeling the progress. He got dressed and just when he had strapped his sword onto his belt did he hear the knocking on his door. He heard the knock again. Book 3 Chapter Twenty-Two; City Wide, Beast Tide ¡°Jazmel !¡± He heard through the door and as he went to open it, his system screen flashed up in front of him. DING! CITY WIDE ALERT!! THE CITY OF SACRETARES IS UNDERGOING A MERGING OF GATES! ¡­ CITY WIDE ALERT! THE MERGE WILL IN TURN CAUSE DRASTIC CHANGE TO THE LAYOUT OF THE CITY ¡­ CITY WIDE ALERT! THE LAYOUT HAS CAUSED A BEAST TIDE!! THE CITY WILL BE OVERRUN UNLESS THE SEEKERS INSIDE THE CITY DEFEND IT! REWARDS WILL VARY FOR PERFORMANCE! He wrenched his door open, and it almost came off the hinges. He and Sad¨¦ looked at it and he was shocked at his strength. ¡°Whoa.¡± He uttered. ¡°Did you see the system?¡± she said, and he nodded, and she turned and ran down the stairs and then towards the doorway of the inn, he sprinted to catch up with her and when he did, he was shocked by how many people were rushing about but he wasn¡¯t surprised how effective this could be. He didn¡¯t know what a beast tide was, but he had a fairly clever idea. ¡°What is a beast tide?¡± he asked and Sad¨¦ didn¡¯t look happy but kept quiet for a moment. ¡°They are uncommon, they are dangerous and can cause great problems.¡± She started. ¡°It¡¯s like a gate break but internally when gates evolve they meld into one. We happen to be inside one when it¡¯s happening and that¡¯s not where we want to be.¡± She told him and he could see how serious it was from her grim looks. ¡°Okay, we stay close together and do our best to survive. We probably cannot travel until this tide is over. So let¡¯s hold on until we pass.¡± Jazmel said and Sad¨¦ smiled but he could tell she was worried. ¡°Here take this, you might need it.¡± he gave her the tier III bloody sabre; the weapon he had looted from the hobgoblin he had defeated in the mines below the outpost. She looked at it but nodded and added it to her belt. DING! CITY WIDE ALERT! THE BEAST TIDE IS NEAR!! SURVIVE!! Jazmel nodded at the system¡¯s announcement and rushing up the stairwell, he rushed up the stairs and found himself at the front of the wall at the gate. Looking at the gate he and Sad¨¦ had entered through, he could see a tide; a wave of beasts of all types and sizes rushing forward towards the city. ¡°They are coming!¡± someone shouted, and Jazmel looked either side of him and Sad¨¦, there were seekers of all strengths standing up beside them and Jazmel could tell that there were a few strong members there also. He noticed that he could see more Mana from his eyes now. Not more as in substance, but he could see the intricacies of it. there were distinct details for everyone, as their Mana was individual to them all. The tide was nearing, and Jazmel could see the Mana pulsing and flaring from the creatures. He could tell from the Mana that was wafting off of the oncoming beast tide; was that he was now able to pick out which were strong. The way their Mana condensed internally and pulsed off of them, made it look more mature. Stronger and Jazmel could tell which would be the most problematic. ¡°Stay near me, I will point out the easier targets. We need to get you stronger as soon as possible.¡± He muttered and she nodded, but he could see that her eyes were ready for the fight. The first wave of the tide hit them, and Jazmel was almost enthralled by just dread for the sheer numbers of the beasts and monsters, but he wouldn¡¯t be quelled. He waited until the first few reached the top of the wall. He forced his title, and his eyes enthralled them and froze them. EYES OF THE DRAKE ACTIVATED! BEASTS HAVE BEEN ENTHRALLED FOR 3 SECONDS They were stricken and without a word from him the seekers rushed forward, throwing their skills into the beasts. Jazmel himself struck, he was preserving his skills for the stronger creatures that would come and he would be prepared. From his ring leapt his small pet; the night dragon and it blew fire down onto the creatures and some of them were turned to ash quickly. The system pinged but he brushed it aside; he couldn¡¯t look away from what was currently happening. ¡°There are more coming over the wall!¡± a seeker shouted, and she was right, more beasts rushed over, and this time Jazmel had to stop them. Cleave! He carved through the heads, and he watched as they died and fell back down over the wall; back into the beast tide. DING! TIER II IRON TIGER KILLED TIER II BLOODY MAW KILLED TIER II GIANT VIPER VINE KILLED TIER II RED GAPPER KILLED +3 WIL +3 VIT +2 DEX More beasts rushed forward, and Jazmel skipped over the notifications and pushed through. Beasts overlapped and flowed over the walls, but the seekers were doing their best to knock them back, killing them or wounding them enough to actually destroy them. A particularly strong creature pushed forward, and he watched as its strong hand grabbed and broke the wall where it reached. It pulled itself up and Jazmel watched as a particularly giant creature landed on the wall. It was strong, the Mana was greater than he had seen, and it condensed into a core that was literally beating like a heart in its chest. He sliced and slashed at it, it used its thick arms and forearms to block him, but he wasn¡¯t going to be stopped. Cleave! Jazmel cleaved through an arm, and it fell below it, it screamed, and Jazmel watched as it bled profusely. It swung out at him but before he could strike it again, another seeker struck it with Mana attacks and Jazmel cursed as they took his kill. TIER III GIANT ARMJACK KILLED EXP ACCRUED Jazmel drew both swords and began to kill as many beasts as he could, and he turned to see Sad¨¦ doing her best to create experience for herself. She was using all her Mana tails and her thunder crown too; Jazmel watched her as she threw thunder fire and fox fire her favoured skills. She was prolific with them, and she was bounding around with newfound agility. Her fox was with her too, biting, and spewing flames wherever it could. ¡°Paldane lets not fall behind!¡± he shouted, and his tiny dragon yelped a mini roar and he almost cooed at it in the middle of the tide. CITY WIDE ALERT!! TIER III BEASTS APPROACHING! NEW QUEST! DEFEAT/SLAY ALL TIER III BEASTS THEY MUST NOT SET ROOTS IN THE CITY! REWARDS WILL BE ADJUSTED! Jazmel flicked the system notice off his vision and waited to see what would come forward. He was still fighting but he was using his eyes to pick the stronger beasts and kill or wound them enough to allow others to fight them. he realised he was growing strong and at the point where he was on the wall, he was one of the stronger members, he had gained more muscle, and his sword strikes were stronger and greater now. Fall of the black raven! Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He slammed Nozarashi into the ground and an eruption of Mana burst forth and peppered some beasts that were already dying. TIER II WOODLAND HOUND KILLED TIER II STONE BADGER KILLED TIER II MANA MONKEY KILLED TIER II LILY IMP KILLED TIER II SWAMP BOG BUG KILLED EXP ACCRUED! +2 END +2 WIL +2 AGL +2 DEX His body was brimming with power, and he was carving through the beasts with no real hindrance before him. this was the first of the tier III beasts to make it up on the wall was bigger than the last and it shot a wave of Mana from its maw and knocked some of the weaker seekers off the wall, some even fell into the beast tide¡¯s climb up the wall and Jazmel knew they were due to die. He threw himself at it, it was a large toad looking creature; its wide maw was shooting bullets of compact Mana at the seekers and either knocking them flat or literally shooting through them. he dodged one and then another and then leaping with both swords raised. Fall of the black raven! He smashed Mana into it, and it crushed into the floor of the wall, forming a small crater. It wasn¡¯t dead yet and he was almost about to kill it, but another tier III creature rushed him, slashing at him with claws that sent Mana at him; much like how Bannerman used his skills. He blocked, guarding with both swords but he wasn¡¯t going to end up overwhelmed. Cleave! Cleave! Sword storm! He threw three skill attacks and the beast literally burst apart, it had been another swamp bog bug, a bulbous thing with a budding bulb on its back which was spewing spores of some kind, with a swipe of his sword he sent it backwards but not before cutting it in half. It split in two and bled deep before Paldane flew over it and burned its bulb and turning the spores into ash. DING! COMPANION HAS LEVELLED UP! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ TIER III BOG BUG KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! He turned just as the toad beast shot a charged Mana orb at him. he couldn¡¯t defend and so he cut through it, that split second he used his new skill. Sunder The attack was strong, much stronger than cleave! It cut through the congested orb and blew back on the toad bursting it and three beasts behind it too. DING! TIER III AQUA TOAD KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ LEVEL UP! Jazmel had finally gained a level. He was happy but the beast tide had just begun, he could tell now that more beasts were tier III as more and more seekers were being killed or they were being pushed back to say the least. Sad¨¦ was performing well, and she landed beside him, her crown had disappeared, and she was wielding three tails; rather than her usual five. She must be conserving her Mana; she was also wielding her short sword and sabre. She was fine, covered in blood but it wasn¡¯t her own. ¡°I just hit level 60.¡± She said with a big grin, Jazmel congratulated her in the midst of this city-wide quest she had finally reached ranker too. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ALL TIER III BEASTS HAVE BEEN KILLED! REWARDS WILL BE OFFERED AT THE END OF THE BEAST TIDE!! ¡­ CITY WIDE ALERT ¡­ BEWARE! That couldn¡¯t be good. WARNING! FOUR NAMED TIER III BEASTS ARE APPROACHING, THEY CANNOT RALLY THE TIDE! DEFEAT THE FOUR GENERALS AND THE BEAST TIDE WILL BE OVER! Jazmel sighed, the weaker monsters were still doing their worst, but they were not as strong as the seekers and the numbers of congested seekers were enough to hold back the true brunt of the beasts. He looked over the wall to the rest of the tide and he saw the biggest creature of the beast tide. A wingless dragon; a drake. ¡°I need you to stay on the wall, I am going to go and fight that drake.¡± He told Sad¨¦, she wanted to fight with him, but he wouldn¡¯t worry about her not in a fight this serious. ¡°Solidify your rewards, clear the wall here and burn everything that comes over the wall.¡± He bid her, he didn¡¯t wait for a response, he vaulted over the wall and using both his swords, he slashed down the backs of the climbing beasts and killed many. DING! MANY BEASTS KILLED! TOO MANY TO COUNT! EXP ACCRUED AND ADJUSTED GREATLY! He smiled at that notice and fighting his way towards the drake as it lumbered forward, he wanted the core. He wanted the exp, but he was sure that the core would help Paldane immensely. The drake noticed him and before he could even attack it, the system flashed into his eyes. DING! A DRAKE HAS TRIED TO FRIGHTEN YOU BUT YOUR TITLE HAS THWARTED IT! +5 PER +3 WIL The drake roared and its lumber became a rushing amble as it changed it target and made its way towards him, stepping on beasts much smaller and weaker than it. He sheathed Nozarashi and pulled it into his ring, holding Yoru no Tsubasa he waited; exhaling and inhaling to calm himself and quell his thoughts. He pushed thoughts away and released his Mana as much as he could, not wanting to be attacked by any other beasts, but they were steering clear of the drake. DING! TIER III LOWER DRAKE GRAUGNIR IS PURSUING YOU! So it was called Graugnir, he thought of all the things he had learned, a tier III monster was effectively a high ranker and being named meant it was stronger still; it could be a master beast. But he wasn¡¯t scared, he was a ranker tier now. He had his sword, and he had his skills, he would do his best. The drake inhaled sharply and with his divine eyes; he saw the Mana building in its core. He vaulted out of the way and it spewed miasma burning the ground with poison acid where he had been standing. Fall of the black raven! He slashed through the air sending his skill at the side of the head of the drake, it careened to the side but shook it off. Jazmel realised that its scales were stronger than he had thought. But he was agile still, he landed on his feet and sprinted around the drake trying to get to its tail as it sidled round; trying to turn about and spit poison at him again but he wouldn¡¯t let it. Fall of the black raven! He hit it in the same space again and it roared its annoyance. He sprinted again and this time he was under the tail, it whipped down trying to strike him with the thick muscly tail, but he had expected that, he leapt up and landing on the tail he ran the length of it trying to get up the back of the drake. He made it past its hind legs but not before it surprised him. it rolled onto its back; trying to dislodge him. he had to jump off its back to stop himself from being crushed but now its stomach and underbelly was uncovered. Cleave! Sunder!! Cleave! He struck the stomach with his best skills and pierced the stomach; he covered his eyes and mouth as stomach gases burst forth. DING! CLEAVE HAS EVOLVED TO TIER II! ¡­ Cleave! He slashed down again, and the drake howled in anger. It spewed acid at him and though it missed him, some flecks landed on his arm and Jazmel wailed in pain, but he wasn¡¯t done. Sunder! He stabbed his skill into the stomach and then flicked his blade up to the head of the; splitting it open from stomach to neck. DING! TIER III LOWER DRAKE GRAUGNIR HAS BEEN KILLED! ¡­ EXP LARGELY ACCRUED! ¡­ LEVEL UP! ¡­ TIER III LOWER DRAKE BEAST CORE GAINED! TIER III LOWER DRAKE HEART GAINED! ¡­ He drank a health potion and winced as he felt it battling against the acid in his arm and shoulder. He drank half of another and then poured the rest into his wounds. That would have to do for now. He sheathed Yoru no Tsubasa and ran back towards the city; the beasts weren¡¯t even trying to stop him or attack him; the ranks had thinned but they were trying their best to get into the city and now they were drunk on bloodlust. DING! CITY WIDE ALERT! THE FOUR BEAST TIDE GENERALS HAVE BEEN SLAIN! ¡­ THE CITY HAS BEEN SAVED! ¡­ PLEASE WAIT WHILE SCORE AND RANKS ARE COMPILED! Jazmel sighed and smiled to himself, they had survived; he had made it into the city and as he ran up the stairs to the wall; he noticed just how many seekers were either wounded or were dying around him. many had fallen in this beast tide and while some were drinking potions and trying their best to recover; it would be a long time before they would be able to go into the labyrinth again. he reached the top of the stairs and saw Sad¨¦ bloodied and wounded but not dying. She has been reduced to one Mana tail but the fight in her eyes were strong and he had seen that her fox had evolved. The little pup was now a small fox, white with two red rails; it stood at her feet and licked its paw; cleaning its ears. Its white coat was bloody in some places, and he realised it had been fighting beside her. DING! THE BEAST TIDE HAS BEEN THWARTED! CONGRATULATIONS! ¡­ ALL SEEKERS, RANKERS AND MASTERS WILL RECEIVE; Jazmel looked at these prompts and nodded, but then he referred to his own system screen and looked at what he would receive. DING! YOU WERE THE FIRST TO KILL A TIER III BEAST! CONGRATULATIONS +5 STR YOU KILLED MORE THAN ONE TIER III BEAST! +5 VIT YOU KILLED MORE THAN TWO TIER III BEASTS! TIER III BREASTPLATE OF THE LOWER DRAKE! That would be a fantastic addition, he had been thinking about armour. YOU SLEW ONE OF THE FOUR BEAST TIDE GENERALS! LEVEL UP! EXP ACCRUED! TIER III FLOWER OF THE MOON LOTUS! He had gained a great deal, and he was happy with what he had gained. He looked at the rewards again and pulling the lower drake core from his ring; he let it roll into the middle of his palm. ¡°Paldane. Here you go.¡± He said and his little dragon landed on his palm and taking the core up into its mouth it swallowed it hole and he watched as it went down the length of its throat. COMPANION HAS CONSUMED A TIER III BEAST CORE! ¡­ LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! Paldane curled up in his hand and he let him enter his ring as he tried to digest the core. ¡°Look.¡± Sad¨¦ said and he followed at what she was pointing. Floating in the sky above the city was a leaderboard and Jazmel could see names. CITY WIDE LEADERBOARD!
  1. MASTER TIER I RICHARD (SLEW 2 OF THE BEAST TIDE GENERALS)
  2. RANKER TIER III SELENE (HELD THE WEST WALL ON HER OWN)
  3. RANKER TIER III THERESA (HEALED AND BUFFED ALL THE SEEKERS ON THE EASTERN WALL)
  4. RANKER TIER II ORLOV (SLEW 1 OF THE 4 BEAST TIDE GENERALS)
  5. RANKER TIER I JAZMEL (SLEW 1 OF THE 4 BEAST TIDE GENERALS AND 3 OTHER TIER III)
The board was showing everyone¡¯s contributions Sad¨¦ came in at fifteenth killing just over one hundred of the beast tide. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING THE LEADERBOARD! TITLE ACHIEVED! Jazmel couldn¡¯t complain at that, but he was tired now and he needed to rest, he needed to send word to the outpost and also watch over Sad¨¦ as she underwent her tier tribulation. ¡°let¡¯s return to the inn.¡± He bid and she nodded, he offered his arm, and she took it; stabling herself as they made their way down from the wall. Book 3 Chapter Twenty-Three; Another Monarch He stood in the centre of a crater, awaiting for the final strike. The calamity dragon was wounded but so was he. He had lost half the elders in his clan; they had been obliterated by the forces of the dragon nest and the calamity had stricken the rest. Leaving him alone; he felt insignificant before the dragon as it hovered above him buffeting him with the wind from its wings. Sword Artistry He struck out and a thick swathe of Mana and he thought to himself how much his skill looked like paint on a paintbrush, how artistic. He struck out at the calamity and though the dragon tried to dive out of the way; the Mana slash was so enlarged that it hit it on the right shoulder and sliced a chunk of flesh from its wing. It howled out in pain and careened into a freefall to the ground. Before it hit the ground it shot one flaring breath of fire at him and though the strike skimmed past him he was seconds too slow and it cost him, a lesson learned in flesh. He lost his arm, from just below the elbow; burned off. He cut off the ruined flesh with his sword and when the blood started flowing, using Mana to heat up his blade he seared, cauterised the wound, and winced; trying hard not to faint. The dragon had crashed into the ground by now and the few seconds it took to right itself, were precious. Precious for him, he drank a potion; something he hadn¡¯t used in a while but had found that his body was not as hardy as it used to be and even now in his old age. He had to be cautious, but now it was a different circumstance, his life was on the line and the name of his clan was also hanging by a thread. He had to defeat the 100th floor. DING! TIER III RIGOROUS VIGOR POTION CONSUMED! HEALTH WILL DOUBLE AND MANA WILL TRIPLE FOR 200 SECONDS! The system chimed in his eyes, but he didn¡¯t need to see it to know what was happening, his body pumped the potion around and he felt it strike the end of his elbow on his severed limb and try to regrow, but he needed the Mana and health for something else, his other wounds began to knit back together, and he hissed; realising just how injured he had been. One body, strong mind! his body lurched and he felt the burden on his aging form, but his mind was agile, and he wasn¡¯t to decline now. Not when he was so close, the calamity dragon was wheezing. Tier V and as strong as anything he had ever faced in the labyrinth in all his years, but now he was going to beat it and he would survive. For the clan, for his family. Gaiden cut through the air and everything in between and launched a series of bladed attacks at the dragon, his sword and the elders attacks had cracked and broken enough of the dragon¡¯s scales now that his attacks were getting through, and great droplets of the dragons blood were dropping and sizzling on the ground where they fell. The dragon was not done yet though, a sharp inhale told him an attack was coming and he slid to the side with his skill for movement. River stream steps! he slide across the ground like a boat down a river and moved out of the way when a sharp torrent of fire blasted the ground he had been standing on before; the flames were so hot it melted the stones that were in the gravel and Gaiden watched as the grass burned black and then turned to ash. How was this monster still so powerful? This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. He didn¡¯t hesitate instead he chugged another health potion and then did the skill he knew could end his life. The skill he knew was his most powerful but also his most dangerous. Kirin form! He yelled and immediately he groaned as his body morphed, he grew bigger; heavier and larger too. His feet became hind legs and clawed, and he felt his forehead split and then sharp pain welled up as two horns sprouted. In his youth this form had been great for his strides into the labyrinth, and he had always been able to heal from its wear and tear. But the older he got, the harder it got to recover, and it took him more days to recover than it allowed him to use this skill. But in truth it was his most powerful skill, it pushed him to the highest ends of the master tier III and even as he scratched the ceiling here. He knew it was barely enough to damage the calamity dragon, a tier V monster that had ravaged he and his people. His transformation had completed, and he stood taller than he had been in human form, his arm hadn¡¯t grown back, but the pain of its loss was now a dull ache. He stepped forward and the dragon seemed to grow wary of this new enemy; his Mana was higher than before, and the dragon seemed to be curious as to how he had done this. He raised his sword; one handed, that was all he had left. Bringing it down with authority he cut the air again and with no skill and pure strength and Mana he cut through the air and tore the space between them; leaving a small gap into the void. The calamity dragon ducked as the slash flew past and it cut through one of the horns that made up its crown and it wailed in angst at the desecration. It was mad now, good. Things made mistakes when they were mad, and he was banking; hoping on it. He darted forward, his steps heavy and powerful. But swift, o so swift and he made it to the sided of the dragon¡¯s head in four strides. He stabbed into the jaw with his blade and with the blade stuck, he did the only thing he could do. He punched the hilt; shoving the blade deeper into the jaw and the blade caught the joint of the jaw and forced the dragon to stay transfixed in a surprised ajar motion. He punched again and the dragon bled this time, he almost smiled but the third time the labyrinth bit him back; his blade broke, shattering and leaving nothing but the hilt. He had no weapon as strong as his sword currently on him and he was only one handed too. The dragon forced its jaw back in place through sheer might and then snapped down at him. He dodged it; agile as his Kirin form was and as it neared him, he did the only thing he could. The jagged bone of his elbow was slammed into the eye of the dragon and pierced it. it yelled, howling in pain and anguish. Now was his only chance at winning this battle. Fist of the mountain! using his right arm, he brought his hand back, clenched his muscle and breathing slowly he channelled all his remaining Mana into this arm, into this moment and with the last might of Gaiden, the clan head of the Gazen clan. He blew up the calamity dragon¡¯s head with a punch, a mighty punch. DING! CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE TIER V CALAMITY OF THE 100TH FLOOR! ¡­ WELL DONE ON OVERCOMING WHAT MANY HAD NOT! ¡­ YOU ARE UNDERGOING A TIER TRIBULATION! YOUR REWARD, MONARCH TIER TRIBULATION! What on Earth was a monarch? He winced as his body wrenched forward and he almost fell if he didn¡¯t grab hold of the shoulder of the dragon¡¯s corpse. His body had begun to shed the form of the Kirin and Mana seeped from his form like steam. He was battered and bruised but still conscious. TIER V ANCIENT HIGH DRAGON BLOOD FOR BODY TIER TRIBULATION! He fell to the ground as his body grew rigid as a foreign entity melded into his body; his very being. His back arched and he bit his tongue; almost right through to stop himself from screaming. This was going to hurt; a lot and it had been many years since he had suffered through a tier tribulation. Book 3 Chapter Twenty-Four; the Aftermath of a City Wide, Beast Tide They had returned to the inn; Jazmel flicked the owner a white gold coin and asked him to not let anyone in for a few hours. The innkeeper nodded and winked, Jazmel followed Sad¨¦ up to her room and she beckoned him in, he hesitated but she waved him in. DING! SYSTEM WIDE ANNOUNCEMENT GAIDEN GAZEN HAS OVERCOME THE 100TH FLOOR! A NEW MONARCH HAS ENTERED THE LABYRINTH! Jazmel studied the system notice for a moment and looking at Sad¨¦ she nodded, she had seen it too. ¡°I wonder how long it will take us to reach that floor.¡± she said, Jazmel was unsure if it was for him or if she was speaking for himself, but he chose to respond still. ¡°I am in no rush, but I hope that we face it together.¡± He said and just as he said the words, he realised just how romantic they sounded. She hid her face, and he turned away not trying to meet her eyes. ¡°Come, I need to go through the tier tribulation, and I don¡¯t want to do it alone.¡± She said and he nodded and stepped into her room. ¡°I didn¡¯t even see what you bought, what did you pick for your tribulation?¡± he asked, quite curious, he hadn¡¯t seen her tier up before and now he was about to see what things she had picked. She sat in the middle of her bed and pulled three items from her ring and laid them in front of her. One of them was a gem that crackled with power; he searched the Mana in it and thunder bristled; trapped within the gem. It felt like a storm locked in a cage and he almost jumped when it fizzed against the gem again. ¡°That is a thunder stone, trapped within it is a pure thunderstorm. I am going to use it try and elevate my abilities.¡± She explained and he nodded. ¡°I am not sure if I told you about this, but when I did my seeker trials. There was one of us who came out first in all the trials. He came from the Kaminari clan and is said to be their greatest genius since the clan head. I met him again in the pyramid. We fought a blood witch, and he used a skill like your thunder crown.¡± He told her and then explained just how powerful the skill was, she seemed a little downtrodden, but he motivated her telling her ranker would open the door to greater abilities, she would be able to merge skills now. The next item was a small figurine, a totem of a fire breathing fox or wolf. He couldn¡¯t make it out, but he could tell that inside it was Mana that had attuned to fire, but it was purer than that. It felt like a single flame, and he realised she was attuning her mind and spirit to her two traits. She had thoroughly thought about this, and he now realised he should probably start trying to attune his own characteristics to a Mana too. But he could do that later, after all he would be focused on levelling up and trying to find other monarch tier items. ¡°This is a good item, both of them are. You are going to develop as a ranker tier very strongly.¡± He complimented and as was her way, when she was nervous; she tucked her hair behind her ear. He loved watching her do that, but he didn¡¯t want to make her uncomfortable. He noticed the final item, a twig; a small branch and when he picked it up he was overcome with feelings of calm and serenity. He looked at the branch, using his divine eyes that allowed him to see the Mana of things and the amount of Mana that was brimming within the branch was so powerful that he had to shield his eyes. But having seen the Mana, the feelings he had felt suddenly grew even more intense and he felt a single tear fall from his right eye. ¡°Are you alright?¡± she said, leaning up to wipe his tear and he laughed and nodded his head. ¡°Sorry, but the Mana in this overwhelmed me. I have never seen anything like this before, what is it?¡± he asked, and she nodded understanding his emotions as well. ¡°It is a branch of the Eldar tree, a tree that only grows in old elven woods. I think it will reinforce my body, as I am only elfin; half elf. I do not have all the attributes and that is something I think might be holding me back a little.¡± She explained, he was amazed how thoughtful her choices had been, he had picked things he had deemed would make him stronger but in truth, he had not considered compatibility and how that would change him in the future, but he knew now, he knew better now, and he would act accordingly. ¡°So here it goes!¡± she said and without hesitating, she began the tier tribulation. The first item she took in was the fox hound figurine, it seemed to rise up and once it had it gleamed, shining with a bright orange flame. Jazmel wondered if this is what happened to him when he was undergoing a tribulation. The figurine seemed to shine and then with a flash it disappeared into her mind, He knew it went there as it flew to the centre of her forehead and then disappeared. After a few moments, the orange flame emblazoned on her forehead and then disappeared again she had completed the mind part of the tier tribulation. Next she pulled the thunder gem into her spirit and her back arched with thunder; she bit down and grit her teeth as her spine grew rigid with the ionic energies of the storm the gem had released. She was under duress; the thunder stone had been stronger than she had thought, and she screamed as another flash of thunder hit her spirit and arced through her body. He didn¡¯t know what to do, he couldn¡¯t interrupt her tier tribulation. He was unsure what would happen if he stopped it, but he knew it would be dire. She yelped a cry of pain again and he almost grabbed her, but he stopped himself and watched as her crown formed above her head, rotating, and spinning with gained speed as it drew the stray thunder strikes from her body into itself. the crown was growing in strength, he had not noticed it before but now he was studying it. he could see that it had only had three prongs in the crown before but now that it was spinning and growing in strength, another two prongs had been added. It now bore five in total; he tried to remember how many Alan had; had in his. But he couldn¡¯t picture it again, she seemed to have the thunderstorm under control as the pain she had been showing in her face no longer shown and she now looked at peace and her crown had stopped spinning, instead it faded away after its upgrade. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Finally the last item left in her tribulation was the Eldar tree branch and it condensed into a single drop of tree sap. He watched it and all the Mana he had seen in the branch still remained. It had not lost any of its brilliance and he watched as it felt on the crown of her head. It instantly covered her, it merged with her body and touched all of her at the same time. He watched as her ears sharpened, growing about an inch at the tips, her hair grew darker; more like her mothers and it grew longer too, curled tresses of stray hair were darkened purple, and he watched as it fell down her back; she usually kept it in one long braid, but her hair had broken free from that and flowed long, reaching her hips now. She opened her eyes and exhaled long and slowly. ¡°I feel strong.¡± She said and he laughed, laughed at that feeling, and knowing exactly what she meant. ¡°Let¡¯s go and get something to eat.¡± He said and offering her a hand, he pulled her up from the bed. She rose up and noticed her hair, she looked at it confused but he simply shrugged. She quickly began to braid it up into one long braid and when she was done she realised it had now reached the back of her belt. She sighed and reaching up, she began to tie it up into a bun. ¡°It will get in the way of a fight.¡± She explained and as she finished, her little fox leapt from her ring and landed at her feet, she reached down and picked it up kissing the top of its head. Jazmel didn¡¯t think anything of it and led the way. They made their way down the steps and as they were about to ask the inn keeper to serve them, Jazmel could see a group of seekers at the front questioning him. ¡°We know he is staying here!¡± one shouted at the inn keeper who was doing his best to look unabashed, but when he noticed Jazmel he breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°Young master.¡± The inn keeper uttered, and the group turned and seeing Jazmel and Sad¨¦, stepped forward. Jazmel didn¡¯t move yet but with his eyes he scrutinised them and he felt his Mana trickle into the glare of the drake title. They weren¡¯t enthralled but they stopped their approach. There were six of them, four men and two women. One of the women stepped forward; clearly not fearful of him but wary all the same. She wore armour that looked light and agile; Jazmel could make out the wind spirits that had been etched into the armour and he wondered if that gave her a skill in use. ¡°We come in peace; we just want to talk.¡± She said. ¡°Talk about what?¡± he asked, not stepping down from the steps but blocking their approach with his body. ¡°Some saw what you did on the wall and how you beat that drake on your own. We would like to negotiate with you.¡± She said, stepping back with her arms up and palms facing Jazmel showing she meant him no harm. ¡°We want to see if you will join our clan.¡± She said. ¡°What clan is this?¡± Sad¨¦ asked over his shoulder and the women looked at her and then back at Jazmel. ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked. ¡°Sad¨¦. I was on the leaderboard too.¡± She said and Jazmel bit back a grin at the tone Sad¨¦ used. ¡°Yes, we saw; you have two traits!¡± the woman exclaimed, and Jazmel wondered how they had been watching them so intensely. ¡°We are a small guild that is about to upgrade to a clan, and we are trying to bring in good prospects to allow us to grow faster and stronger.¡± The woman explained. It was a clever idea and Jazmel had planned to do the same himself, not to become a clan. But to recruit and allow the retainers and members to be more independent. But he had only just left the outpost, they had fought that beast tide for almost a day, but he had not known just how the others were doing, in truth he had planned to send messages to each group to see how things were going. ¡°We already belong to a faction.¡± He explained and the woman cursed silently and shook her head. ¡°Is it someone we know? We might be able to offer better rewards.¡± The woman urged and Jazmel simply waved that away and shook his head. ¡°I am the faction leader of the black wing faction and we both belong to it; we have other members who are also just as powerful as us.¡± He said, trying to garner how they would respond to that. ¡°The black wing faction¡­ I haven¡¯t heard of it, but if what you say is true. We would like to offer friendship.¡± She said, offering her hand. Jazmel shook it and a notice popped up. DING! VICE LEADER OF THE DIVINE FLAME GUILD HAS SENT YOU A FRIEND REQUEST ¡­ RANKER TIER I SONIA ¡­ WILL YOU ACCEPT? Y/N? He accepted; more allies were never a problem for him. She accepted and nodding she waved her goodbyes and hurried out with her men, not before paying the inn keeper some coins for the disturbance. He came over and pleaded with Jazmel in apology, he waved that away and thanked him for his apologies but asked him to bring out the dishes of the day, they would be eating and leaving after. The inn keeper left to bring out the food and he and Sad¨¦ sat waiting. While they waited he sent an origami swan to Patton and then one to Mary to see how things were going for the group. Sad¨¦ told him she sent one to Timone and was waiting for them to see how things were going, he nodded and agreed it would be good to see how the others were doing. He imagined that the others had made it to ranker or were near enough and close enough to do so. But he wondered how they were doing too. He sent another message, and this one was to Tango, simply telling him he had reached Ranker tier now and was still pushing deeper into the labyrinth. After a few moments, the inn keeper and two helpers brought out assorted dishes of fish, chicken, and some other meats that Jazmel couldn¡¯t tell what they were; he did notice the small Mana that seemed to dwindle inside the food, and he realised that they were labyrinth creatures that had been cooked. A jug had been left on their table and he poured for both he and Sad¨¦, he raised his glass to congratulate her tier tribulation and she waved him away quietly shushing him and looking around to see if anyone else noticed. He drank from his glass and a system notice pinged. DING! TIER I BUCKLEBERRY WINE CONSUMED! PERCEPTION HAS BEEN DULLED FOR 15 SECONDS He was shocked by the notice and then laughed with realisation; the system was telling him he was drunk! He drank another sum and the notice pinged again, but he dismissed it quickly placing the glass down he bit into the food and more notices popped up, but he dismissed them, he wanted to just enjoy the meal he was eating with Sad¨¦. Book 3 Chapter Twenty-Five; the Third Fountain They had walked down to the gate from city of Sacretares and Jazmel stepped through, with Sad¨¦ just behind him. he could smell her still; her scent reminded him of a forest in the summer. As he stepped through the temperature dropped quickly and he looked around and saw he was in a darkened open space where the only light source was a single lantern hanging high above. What it was hanging above it what filled him with dread, he cursed quietly. ¡°Where are we?¡± he heard and turning quickly on a swivel he saw that he was with Sad¨¦. This was not good news at all. He had entered a new fountain trial and this time, for the first time. The trial had allowed him to bring someone with him. He quickly explained to her where they were. Where he had been before and she looked around and with calculated strength she willed two Mana tails into existence, her fox bounded out of her ring and yipped and snarled, clearly unhappy with the darkened space. ¡°How do we complete the trial?¡± she asked him, and he pointed to the fountain. ¡°We have to free the water flow and then we will have to defeat the fountain guardian.¡± He explained and she waited for him to do just that. He looked around and the fountain had no chains this time, all that was a spout that was stoppered off. The sealant was being held by three different women and he noticed that they were grotesque forms of women in twisted shapes; he hadn¡¯t noticed statues like this in the other fountains, but this time he was curious of them. ¡°We need to break that!¡± he pointed and before he could say another word she struck it. Thunderfire! He skill hit it and the sealant burst into pieces and the spout burst forth, the fountain having been held back for a long time the overflow was clearly backed up. The water drenched the statues and he waited, waited for the guardian. DING! YOU HAVE RELEASED THE FLOW OF THE FOUNTAIN! ¡­ BEWARE! THE FOUNTAIN GUARDIANS HAVE BEEN AWAKENED! Guardians? He looked around as they usually always came through shadows but this time he heard their appearance a crack and then another in unison. He looked around and the three statues were breaking up, waking from their dormant guard. The one to his left was covered in green and yellow scales and patterns, it reminded him of anacondas that he had seen back on earth. The second one was covered in darkened brown scales, they reminded him of mud, and they held no patterns but were smooth in design. The final one was covered in black scales, but some were darkened to purple, and he wondered if that meant she was venomous, but he was unsure. DING! WARNING!! TIER III GORGON STHENO HAS AWAKENED! ¡­ TIER III GORGON MEDUSA HAS AWAKENED! ¡­ TIER III GORGON EURYALE HAS AWAKENED! DEFEAT THE FOUNTAIN GUARDIANS! Jazmel cursed, there were three named tier III monsters to fight, and it was him and Sad¨¦ alone. This was going to be difficult. But he drew Tsubasa and waited for them to free themselves before hissing and peering down at Sad¨¦ and Jazmel with sheer disdain. The Gorgon was half woman half snake, its top half voluptuously and yet grotesquely scaled. The bottom half like a giant anaconda and the larger one was free first and hissed with spittle and fleck hanging from its hooked fangs. From his ring sprang Paldane and he flew up stretching his wings, he was still the same size, but Jazmel could tell that the beast core he had consumed had matured his own core and the Mana swirling from it was much more mature. ¡°You ready Paldane?¡± he said, and the dragon yipped as it flew above his head. Cleave! He struck out and the lead gorgon with green and yellow patterns darted out of the way. Instead his strike hit the brown; muddy coloured scales as she tried to break free from the stone of the fountain. The attack damaged it but not by much. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ followed up with her own strike and thunder arced across the body of the free gorgon and she wailed from the pain. Sad¨¦ threw thunder again and the gorgon coiled up her snake lower half and leapt forward in a barrel charge at Sad¨¦. Jazmel caught her midair and slashed across her face, he missed her eyes, but she tried to enthral him. DING! GORGON SIGHT TO PETRIFY! ¡­ GLARE OF THE DRAKE HAS BLOCKED IT! ¡­ +2 WIL This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. +1 PER He shook his head, a little dulled by the attack, the gorgons seemed to have a skill that could petrify their victims, but his eyes had saved him and not for the first time or the last. He landed deftly and a little off balance just as Sad¨¦ shouted his name. he didn¡¯t see what she was shouting at but the yip from Paldane who flew above them made him throw up a guard quickly. He was struck on the side and knocked off his feet. He crashed onto the ground and groaned with agony. WARNING! HEALTH DOWN BY 13% BEWARE! YOU ARE INFLICTED WITH POISON! ¡­ AFFLICTION WILL GROW!! Jazmel hissed and looking at his side he saw the scratches were the claws of the gorgon had caught him. He didn¡¯t hesitate, he swigged down an antidote potion and then throwing the bottle at the oncoming gorgon, he rushed forward with skill welling up on the tip of his blade. Fall of the black raven! Storm Maelstrom! He threw each attack with each slash and the gorgon with brown scales lost the hand that had dug its claws into him. he turned to watch just as the third one finally gained freedom from statue. Thunder crown! Thunderfire! He listened as Sad¨¦ battered the first gorgon with thunder and Jazmel watched as it whimpered beneath her onslaught. ¡°Jazmel !¡± she yelled, and he knew she was giving him the final strike, he leapt into the air and when he was beside the face of the gorgon and whirling his blade around he flashed it. Sunder The skill leapt from the blade and cut through the neck of the first gorgon and removing her head as she died from his attack. her sisters mourned her and screeched! Both suddenly being bolstered with Mana, Jazmel watched with horror as their hair unfurled into hundreds of snakes who hissed and spat at both Jazmel and Sad¨¦. DING! TIER III GORGON SISTER STHENO KILLED! ¡­ He dismissed the screen away before it could tell him anything, he was more focused on the evolving of the two remaining sisters. He ducked beneath a wad of poison that shot forth for him and he realised that Euryale had been the one to spew it, great. Venomous poison. ¡°be careful, she spits poison!¡± he yelled at Sad¨¦ who was doing her best to evade medusa who was trying her best to pin her down. Sad¨¦ had released all her Mana tails now and Jazmel was watching her literally glide around the fountain averting all the claws and swipes of medusa. He turned to Euryale just as she was heaving more spit for him. He reacted quicker and slashed at her face. She blocked it with an outstretched hand, but he had been hoping for that. Sword maelstrom! A small tempest of sword Mana cracked her arm scales, and they hung limp at her side as he bloody face was battered by the easing storm. He rushed forward and she wailed as she watched her oncoming demise. Fall of the black raven! Black Mana erupted from his sword and hitting her fully in the chest, he watched as it burst, and she fell to ground her life¡¯s blood riveting from the great wound in her chest. DING! TIER III GORGON SISTER EURYALE KILLED! ¡­ He dismissed the system notice screen as he heard Sad¨¦ scream. He turned to see that medusa had finally caught her and bit down into her neck. Sad¨¦ had taken this opportunity to stab with her short sword deep and repeatedly into the back of the head and the neck of the final gorgon. Its hair snakes fell from her attacks, but the gorgon simply bit down harder. Sad¨¦ was weakening and he could tell. Rushing forward, he attacked the back of the remaining gorgon, and she screeched before letting Sad¨¦ go and turn on him. medusa dropped Sad¨¦ into the fountain and Jazmel hoped with all his heart she didn¡¯t lose conscious and drown. But now she was slithering towards him, and her gaze told him she planned to kill him with everything. Cleave! Sunder! Cleave! He threw each attack at her and through sheer willpower she shrugged through them and propelled herself towards him. he skirted around from her; her blood seeped from the cuts inflicted by both he and Sad¨¦. She was dying but slowly. She swiped out at him, and he dived and rolled out of the way, she rushed towards him, and he tried to skirt around her, but she had thrown her body towards him. he ducked a swipe, parried a stab with her clawed fingers. They hit his sword blade, and he grunted beneath the strain, but he didn¡¯t falter, they pushed against each other, exerting their strength. Then their wills and he was being pushed back. She smiled when she saw him sliding against the soles of his boots. From the water, Sad¨¦ burst forth. All five of her tails were out and she was seething, absolutely drenched she placed her hand on the head of medusa and uttered her skill. Thunderfire! He watched as both thunder and fire raged within the body of the gorgon, and she screamed, wailed in death. Something Jazmel hated hearing from people and monsters, beasts too. The gorgon died, body burned by fire and thunder. ¡°Hated her.¡± Sad¨¦ spat and stepped from the water and fell to the ground to sit down. Jazmel slipped down beside her and drank a potion and handed her one too. She thanked him and then drank deeply from it, so she rested, and he rested beside her. He remembered all the notifications that had been popping up and now that they were safe he checked his. DING! TIER III GORGON STHENO KILLED! +3 STR +2 AGL +2 DEX ¡­ TIER III GORGON HEART GAINED! ¡­ TIER III GORGON EURYALE KILLED! +3 PER +3 VIT +2 INT X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES GAINED! ¡­ EXP ACCRUED! LEVEL UP! EXP ACCRUED! LEVEL UP!! ¡­ TIER III GORGON MEDUSA KILLED! ¡­ +3 END +3 WIL TITLE GORGON SLAYER EARNED! ¡­ GORGON SLAYER CAN PETRIFY YOUR ENEMIES! ¡­ WILL YOU MERGE TITLE GORGON SLAYER WITH GLARE OF THE DRAKE? Y/N? Of course he would accept, he did, and the system blurred as it worked before a new notice popped up. TITLE EARNED! PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE! When Mana is focused through the eyes, all will be enthralled, petrified, or struck with fear! He was happy with that and to be honest, he was grateful for the changes he had earned with his body. He was nearing 100 in all his stats he wondered what that would do for him, but he still had almost 40 points to go. He turned to Sad¨¦ who was watching her fox eat heartily from the corpses of the gorgon, guzzling the meat from their bones. Paldane had landed on one also and was swallowing down pieces of meat from the bodies and engorging himself. DING! COMPANION LEVEL UP! LEVEL FOUR REACHED! As the system notice faded out of sight he noticed the blue ridges of scales that ran down the back of Paldane¡¯s spine were shining with Mana, the glowed for a moment and then dulled in brilliance. He had grown too, his body was the size of a lizard now, he could lay across both Jazmel ¡¯s shoulders and he long enough to wrap his tail too. Jazmel wondered if he could evolve. ¡°Time to leave.¡± He rose up and then offered a hand to help Sad¨¦ up. She was tired, he could tell but she had also grown stronger, her Mana had grown denser, and he could see two types settling into her core, thunder, and fire swirling in harmony. ¡°Get anything good?¡± he asked, and she smiled tucking a stray hair from her eyes. ¡°I have gotten all my stats to the high 80s now, I earned another Mana tail too. The system rewarded me with a gorgon beast core, but I gave it to Kazumi.¡± She motioned to her fox, he looked over and noticed that the fox had gained a third tail. Book 3 Chapter Twenty-Six; How far is Master Tier They had made it out of the fountain trial safely, Jazmel and Sad¨¦ entered through the gate and came out right into a new city. This was a new phenomenon to Jazmel , every time they had used a gate to enter a new floor, it always led them outside the city. But this gate led straight into an alleyway of a bustling city and Jazmel came out into a street filled with people rushing in every different way. DING! THE CITY WILL BE ATTACKED! ¡­ SURVIVE THE ATTACK! Jazmel groaned, was this another beast tide? Straight after a fountain trial? He was so tired, his body thrummed with fatigue, he had drank a health potion and though his body had recovered he just didn¡¯t have enough in him to fight again, but he would if he had to. He had learned that it was truly life and death in this labyrinth and while away from the outpost; his faction base, anything could happen. Sad¨¦ led the way and holding his hand she darted through the crowd and up onto a landing that led up to the city wall. When they reached the top he realised that the city had three outer walls and he and Sad¨¦ had climbed to the second. ¡°Hey, you guys!¡± a voice shouted, and Jazmel looked up to see the tower balcony filled with seekers waving him up. ¡°Come up!¡± one of them shouted and Jazmel followed behind Sad¨¦ as she rushed up to get a better view. They reached the balcony and there were ten seekers there standing and waiting to see who had come up. ¡°Did you get the city system notice?¡± the one had called down to him and Jazmel told him yes. ¡°Yes, don¡¯t worry about that. We won¡¯t actually have to do anything this time, rest and watch the show.¡± He said and Jazmel looked at him perplexed but Sad¨¦ tugged at his hand before motioning to the third and final outer wall. There were five seekers on the wall, standing and waiting for the beast tide to approach, but Jazmel studied them with his eyes and immediately realised why he wouldn¡¯t have to do anything. They were master tier; all five of them! Jazmel had only met one master since being in the labyrinth and that had been Baek, he had met strong rankers of course. But never another master tier, and here were five of them. He understood why the seekers beside him knew they weren¡¯t going to have to do anything in this beast tide. The masters were already enough for all the monsters. ¡°Look at the tide, there must be something like one hundred thousand beasts down there.¡± One of the seekers near him said. ¡°Well that just means twenty thousand each for the masters then.¡± The man said who had beckoned Jazmel and Sad¨¦ up to the balcony, Jazmel looked at him and the guy offered a hand. ¡°The name is Lance, ranker tier III but even I am useless here.¡± he said with a grin, he was slim and about Jazmel ¡¯s height, but his Mana core was so large Jazmel couldn¡¯t tell just how powerful he actually was. ¡°I am Jazmel , and this is Sad¨¦, both ranker tier I.¡± Jazmel introduced himself and Sad¨¦, all those on the balcony waved and greeted them. ¡°Do you know who those masters are?¡± Jazmel asked, his interest more than piqued and he was curious now to see what they could do. ¡°Lucky for you, I have been here since last week. So I saw each of them come here; word had been spreading about a beast tide and these master tiers needed the exp and whatever they can get from the corpses. We are here to pick their bones after all.¡± Lance told him and Jazmel nodded, understanding that everyone here could reap the rewards. The first-person Jazmel was studying was a single man who stood on the far left and closes to the balcony from where they all stood. He was shirtless and wore a kilt that was tied off at the front with a belt of what looked like leather from a beast, but nothing that Jazmel had seen in the labyrinth. He was tall, even taller than Jazmel and while he wasn¡¯t brawny, he was muscular and athletic. His skin was bronze as if he had been in the sun all his life and his hair was dreads but tied back away from his face with a thick piece of cloth. ¡°The man on the left is Solas Amad, he is a master tier I. probably the weakest of the five, but by no means is he weak. He just became a master tier the last of them all. I haven¡¯t seen him in action, but he is said to be strong in battle and I heard he survived a merging gate straight after his seeker trials.¡± Lance told them all and Jazmel and Sad¨¦ simply stared at the group of masters with awe. The next one to him was a woman, clearly a mage or a witch as she wore a wide brim hat that looked too big for her and yet sat comfortably on her head. she was small; shorter than Sad¨¦ and her pitch ink black hair was tied back in a loose braid down her back. She carried a tall staff; it looked like a heavy branch from a tree; but the Mana stone imbedded in the tip of it was so bright that Jazmel didn¡¯t even dare to look at it with his eyes. She was powerful, the Mana surrounding her was more than the man beside her and yet she was comfortable; she hadn¡¯t even released her pressure yet. ¡°The woman with the witch¡¯s hat and the wizard¡¯s staff is Petra, she is the youngest master so far. She is 22 and probably the strongest of her age, that we know of anyway. She is a witch and tier II, I heard she has only been in the labyrinth for three years, so she made it to master in three years.¡± Lance said and Sad¨¦ whistled in awe, that woman was powerful. Jazmel had made it to ranker in less than six months, but he knew master was not going to come to him as quick as that. Standing beside her to her right was a man who Jazmel couldn¡¯t work out. He bothered him, he wasn¡¯t sure why, but the way Mana seemed to imbue his body it made him anxious, like he was beastly. He peered at him, and he realised that the man didn¡¯t have a Mana core, it was a beast core. Or the closest version to it, that unnerved him even more. The man wasn¡¯t particularly tall, standing at maybe five foot ten. He wasn¡¯t muscular either, he had quite an athletic build too, he wore boots and trousers; with a white short sleeved open shirt. His forearms were hairy, and his chest had hair on it too, Jazmel wondered if he was a wild man. ¡°The man¡¯s name is Ban.¡± Lance started but the girl beside him interjected. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Oh that¡¯s Ban, the werewolf!¡± she blurted, and lance looked at her and shook his head. ¡°He isn¡¯t a werewolf, he¡¯s a shapeshifter. He doesn¡¯t turn into a wolf; he transforms into something else. It was a reward he gained from the system; I actually know this because he told me when I joined the guild. He is the guild master of the Beast fang guild, our guild.¡± Lance explained and Jazmel nodded, listening. There seemed to be many guilds, clans, and factions inside the labyrinth. He needed to be careful with who he made friends with and who he made enemies of, that could affect the black wing faction in future. Next to the Guild master of the beast fang guild stood a woman. She wore war paint on her face; her eyes were masked with it. She held a glaive in one hand and a sabre in the other. She wore armour that was so well-made Jazmel actually felt a trickle of envy, the forging on it had been so details that the faces of pain and anguish told the story of countless battles. she was strong, experienced in battle and powerful. Jazmel could tell all that simply from the way she stood calm and ready, almost bored as she waited for the oncoming beasts. ¡°That is Cary Gale, she is strong. Probably one of the strongest masters of her tier. She lives for battle and hunts down beast tides, if she hears about one; she goes looking for them.¡± lance said and everything he told him, Jazmel could believe as he could feel the bloodlust from her. Finally the last man on the furthest right from them was a monk, his head was shaved, and Jazmel could tell he was a martial artist. He held one hand up in silent prayer and seemed to be meditating. ¡°The final man is Hao Lin; he is the strongest of the five. He is a martial master of some renown; I haven¡¯t seen him fight but I know he is incredibly strong.¡± Lance said and Jazmel listened. ¡°Look the beast tide has reached the walls.¡± Sad¨¦ said and they all looked to see how the masters would react. The witch; Petra was the first to react. She raised her staff high and Mana from the stone in her staff began to form; rapidly. She was pulling all the ambient Mana around them into her staff and as the beast tide rushed the wall, she continued to prepare her skill. When they were almost at the wall she banged her staff down and uttered her skill. Jazmel heard all the authority and power in her mastery of her tier and skill and watched her attack. Mana missile! Thousands of Mana bolts shot up into the sky from her staff and when they were high above and almost in the clouds. They hurtled down and crashed into the oncoming beasts and blasted them. the bolts burst on impact and did even more damage where they landed. She killed thousands of the beasts from her first attack. Jazmel watched her skill diminish the tides first wave and wondered if Baek held this much power too. The tide had been struck and shattered by her attack, but the beasts were not diminished, and they charged the walls still. Not stopping to help or check the wounded. They charged over them; broken bodies trampled and died and soon Jazmel couldn¡¯t even see where the wounded laid as oncoming beasts overran them. Hell flame! The man called Solas spewed fire and flame from his mouth like a dragon, but it wasn¡¯t the same fire that he had seen from Paldane; the fire was flecked with brimstone, and he could feel the chill of death. The fire cleared the beasts that had begun climbing the wall and turned them into ash, burning them and leaving nothing; not even the bones. The beasts still didn¡¯t stop, and Jazmel could see the stronger ones rushing the walls now and as they bounded up the wall; digging grooves into the wall with their claws and hands. But Cary couldn¡¯t wait any longer, she leapt from the top of the wall and swinging her blades about her, she carved through the tier III beasts and cloven pieces of beasts rained down onto those who were trying to climb up after. She did not even used her skill and was simply wielding the might of her arm. Beast form! Ban bounded down the wall and as his skill took hold of his body he transformed; his brown hair became white, and stripes crisscrossed his body; claws stretched from his hands and feet. He tore the head off a strong looking ape and threw the skull at another while he ripped through the others, and he crashed into the ground; releasing a challenging roar that quelled some of the beasts around him. Some tried to swerve from him, but he charged into them. Using his hands to claw and rip through them. Master tier was powerful, he hadn¡¯t even seen all of them attack and yet just three of them had stopped a beast tide when it had taken almost a hundred seekers and rankers to stop the one Jazmel had been in. He wondered what their stats would look like and how far he was from them too. He settled in and continued to watch the show. DING! THE BEAST TIDE GENERALS ARE NOT WHAT THEY APPEAR TIER IV GENERALS HAVE APPEARED! DEFEAT THEM AND SAVE THE CITY Jazmel gasped at the new information from the system, tier IV monsters were basically master tier. They were strong but he was more curious about the floors they had been through and the gates they must have been witness to. He wanted to seek more gates and new places, he wanted to see new things and things that he could not even dare to dream of. That was the things he was considering. The air crackled with pressure Mana so powerful that it was affecting the elements seemed to be pressuring the wall. The tier IV general had begun its approach. Jazmel had never seen a creature like it before. He imagined it had been formed to look like an angel but instead it had twisted and become a winged monster instead. Four wings protruded from its back, they buffeted the ground keeping it aloft and from where Jazmel stood, he could tell it was tall; large in size almost a giant. It wore blood red armour and clutched two burning white swords in either hand. It hovered across the ground towards the wall and Jazmel could suddenly hear his heart beating; thumping in his chest. He was worried and now he was wondering what the masters were going to do. Hell Spawn! Solas bounced forward as his skill covered him in fire and flame. Brimstone formed two curling horns at the crown of his forehead. He was also shrouded in brimstone as he shot across the ground and smashed into the winged beast. A sword struck out at him, and he blocked it with his shroud of brimstone, but Solas was not even moved; he struck out again. Punching with flame filled fists and bludgeoning attacks. The flying beast tried its best to strike back but it could only defend itself from his onslaught. Another beast moved forward now; it was huge. It was bigger than anything he had seen before. The top of its head was equal to the top of the wall too. Jazmel had not seen a creature of this type before, and he studied it as he considered what he would do if he would fight it. The creature was large and moved forward dragging its body towards the wall. It was huge, the circumference of its head alone reminded Jazmel of a globe; a globe with large eyes that peered unsightly at Hao Lin as he meditated and awaited its approach. ¡°Well are you going to move?¡± Sad¨¦ whispered but Jazmel ¡¯s keen senses heard what she said quite clearly. It was almost as if the master tier heard her because he stepped forward and bracing himself, he struck a kata form and then called his skill into power. Six Arm Asura! As he called it, Jazmel gasped. The skill formed four extra arms of yellow gold Mana and they sprouted from the master¡¯s back and flexed with brilliance and power. The arms were linked in one mind and began clench as he stepped forward and quite simply punched the air. The punch hit the air like a shockwave and the strike hit the beast that was far away with everything in between. Jazmel had never seen anything like it, but the punch knocked the creature back and opened a gaping wound on the side of its head. it wailed aloud and Jazmel couldn¡¯t believe that it survived, but also in turn just how damaging the skill had been. He was sure of it now; he had a long way to go but at least he now knew what it looked like. The other masters leapt into the fight now and Jazmel found that he was not interested in the battle anymore, he could tell the masters would win and the beast tide would be over. he reached down and touched Sad¨¦¡¯s hand and beckoned for them to leave. She left with him, he thanked the others and they stepped into the stairwell and made their way down the tower and back onto the street. Book 3 Chapter Twenty-Seven; Swamps and Wetlands They had stayed in that new city for almost two days and when they were ready to leave. Lance had offered them to join the beast fang guild, but Jazmel had to decline. He hadn¡¯t planned to leave the black wing faction and seeing powerful tiers that were above him just motivated him to do his best too. He restocked on all potions while in the city, spending a pretty penny or coin as was the currency. He had to part with the frost shards, they weren¡¯t uncommon, but he had gotten used to having some in his storage ring, but he could always find or buy more. The gate was filled with seekers and rankers moving on, they had to queue again. this was a normal gate; one that was just a large doorway where everyone simply walked through. No toll and simply put; they would be transported to their next gate. He wondered how that actually worked but in truth, he was simply happy to let the labyrinth decide on their next steps itself. it would be of no benefit for him to pick the next journeys he would move forward with. But instead he would simply grow as the labyrinth dictated and he would continue to do the extra trials and gates that he stumbled upon. He had surmised that he was quite strong for his tier, his stats told him he was reaching heights that usually rankers did not reach so early. But he had dedicated his progress through the labyrinth to keeping a balanced stat sheet and even now he was doing his best and pushing towards all of his stats reaching 100. It was there turn, Jazmel and Sad¨¦ entered the gate and stepped right into wetlands. A swamp. ¡°I hate swamps!¡± Sad¨¦ shuddered and she raised her boot to try and stay dry in the marshy waters, but it was already too late. To make matters worse, it had begun to rain also. ¡°I can see why you hate it.¡± he said, laughing a little. The swamp was quiet, great old trees grew in mangled postures that scaled high above them both, their leaves blocking out true light but enough seeped through so that they didn¡¯t need light from lanterns or fire. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED YOUR THIRTIETH FLOOR! CONGRATULATIONS! +2 END +1 STR +1 PER ¡­ YOUR PERCEPTION HAS REACHED 100! ¡­ WHILE ONLY A RANKER TIER I! CONGRATULATIONS ¡­ EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ YOUR EYES OF THE DIVINE HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED! YOU WILL NOW SEE THE MANA OF ALL THINGS! If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡­ The notification hit him quickly and his brain twinged with slight pain as his eyes changed again, he blinked and squeezed his eyes shut as they changed and Sad¨¦ worried over him, touching his back, and showing her concern. ¡°Are you ok?¡± she said, and he grunted but righted himself. ¡°I just got a reward for us hitting our thirtieth floor, my eyes were upgraded.¡± He explained and he looked at her and she gasped. ¡°What?¡± he said, concerned at her gasp. ¡°They are no longer brown; they are ghost blue. It looks like lightning in your eyes.¡± She told him and he winced but had nothing to look at. The water around them was too murky. That being said, he could see all the Mana surrounding them; even the ambient Mana in the air; it was free flowing and looked like particles, but he could see it all. It was a lot of information, but the pain had dulled and ebbed away. ¡°I got the same notification; the system granted me more stats.¡± She said a little stunned and then he explained that he had hit 100 on his perception stat. ¡°You have 100 in one of your stats?!¡± she yelled, and he looked around to make sure they were truly alone. ¡°I have been working hard remember!¡± he told her, and she laughed, then giggled then crouched over holding her stomach from laughter.¡± He watched her confused but with a smile to see her laughing so hard. ¡°You don¡¯t understand, people barely hit 100 stats until they are peak ranker tier. So are you telling me you were in the 90s before we even left seeker tier?¡± she said and he nodded, confused. ¡°You don¡¯t realise how strong you are, honestly it wouldn¡¯t make sense to me. But I watch you when we are in battle or a fight and the way you are strong enough to fight tier III creatures now. I am not sure how you do it, but the system is building you into something incredible.¡± She giggled and he smiled a little more. ¡°Well you have something like 5000 plus Mana because of your tails. If your stamina keeps up, you are much stronger than me.¡± He countered and she shrugged. ¡°I am not jealous, well maybe a little envious. But I am realising that by just being near you, incredible things are bound to happen to me too. Look at the gorgon¡¯s in the fountain we faced. We beat three tier III creatures, by ourselves.¡± She informed him and he nodded, but he had just assumed that as a ranker now he was on fair footing with the monsters and creatures that the system threw at them. Just as he was about to speak again, Paldane leapt from his ring and soared up and landed on his head. ¡°We weren¡¯t technically alone; it was four against three.¡± He said and she nodded, and her fox yipped and jumped out of her ring, it landed in the cold marsh water and yelped. Leaping back into her ring, they laughed at that, and she beckoned for him to lead the way. He did and slogging through the marsh he entered deeper into the swamp. They broke through the outer layers, and he could tell because the tall trees grew older and more gnarled in their growth. In some parts they had become a mangrove of darkness almost. The water was so deep in places; that the fish that swam were almost sightless, he only noticed them because he saw Mana fluctuating and moving erratically, and it made him peer deeper into the waters. he caught Sad¨¦ when she almost stepped into deeper waters and the fish lulled awaiting victims of such a mistake. ¡°step where I stepped.¡± He motioned and she nodded, following him. They walked further in and his tried to create a safe path to move through Sad¨¦ poked him in the back and motioned for him to look up ahead. He did, following where she pointed, and a grin crept onto his face. In one of the larger trees which was so large that half its body was submerged and only the bough and the brush of its leaves were still above the water depth. Stray twisted branches made walkways and someone nimble and surefooted could move across them and one such person was standing watching them from one of these branches, it was Katie, and she was smiling kindly. ¡°Well look who it is!¡± she said and with a smile she flung out one of her chains and used it pull Sad¨¦ up. They then both use the same chain to pull Jazmel up; who was quite a bit heavier than them both. ¡°what are you doing here?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°Sorry leader, we haven¡¯t returned to the outpost yet. This is the third floor we have been on and have been trying to find the exit.¡± She saluted playfully and he waved away her nonsense. ¡°Who are you with?¡± he asked, and she smiled. ¡°Well, the funny thing about that, is I am not the only one who ended up here too. Me and the pup stumbled into here and we found Gil and Patton too.¡± She said and Jazmel nodded, finding joy in the party being back together. Gil was a welcome addition too. ¡°Come, I will bring you to where we are.¡± She said and then turned to walk back across the length of the branch. ¡°Your eyes have changed, not sure if you noticed.¡± She said and he told her he had. Book 3 Chapter Twenty-Eight; Swamps and Wetlands II Their camp was more than he had expected, and he smiled when he learned it was Patton who had packed a tent; which was a gazebo that could sleep four people. They had been using it between them but with the addition Sad¨¦ and himself they didn¡¯t have enough. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! Me and Sad¨¦ will share a bunk and one of you boys will have to share too.¡± Katie offered and the boys looked around and nobody wanted to offer. ¡°We will sleep in turns; someone should stand guard.¡± Jazmel offered and they all nodded, official and business like and then it went quiet before Katie giggled and then they all laughed. ¡°We will not be staying that long, but I honestly couldn¡¯t find any chance of an exit.¡± She said, she had been scouting when she found Jazmel and Sad¨¦. DING! YOUR PARTY HAVE REUNITED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A WHILE! ¡­ THE SWAMPS HAVE BEEN OVERRUN WITH SWAMP WITCHES AND BOG HAGS ¡­ BE RID OF THEM! REWARDS WILL BE OFFERED ON COMPLETION! The system notice popped up for all of them and Jazmel sighed, he knew what that meant. They would be hunting and that was going to be within the swamp. But the notice about rewards was interesting. Jazmel was going to do what was in front of him. ¡°Let¡¯s go looking for the swamp witches and hags.¡± Jazmel offered and they all rose up, preparing and Patton taking the time to pack the tent back up and store it within one of his rings. ¡°Ready to go.¡± He motioned and they left, Jazmel leading them and Katie swinging above the ground on her chains and through the trees. It was as if the labyrinth had summoned them, they hadn¡¯t even looked for more than a few yards when they bumped into a group of swamp witches and bog hags. The swamp witches were humanoid in looks, but their body was gnarled like the trees around them in the swamps. Their faces twisted and worn from the changes they had undergone. Something about them made Jazmel think they might have drowned but they were bent over and hissing and coughing nasty guttural words at the party. DING! TIER III SWAMP WITCHES FOUND! Swamp witches that were able to channel the darkness found in the swamps. They are cannibalistic and will use poison be warned! Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The system shared this lore with him, and Jazmel could see that some of them carried staffs and staves from the swamp and others were carrying satchels and bags that they were carrying all sorts of things inside them DING! TIER III BOG HAGS FOUND! Bog hags are conduits of the corruption of the bog; swamps make them hardy! More lore for him, his eyes were picking up everything now and he was grateful. ¡°Sad¨¦ see if they burn. Katie follow up.¡± He said and they moved in to do his bidding, he was a little surprised that they were listening to him, but he didn¡¯t show it. Foxfire! They did burn and they wailed under her flames. Paldane leapt from his ring and flew above to lend torrents of his own flame. They burned but they weren¡¯t done yet. He pulled Nozarashi from his ring and unsheathing it he dived in. they killed the group quickly and after picking them free for loot they moved further into the labyrinth. DING! 15X TIER III SWAMP WITCHES KILLED ¡­ EXP ACCRUED! DING! 9X TIER III BOG HAGS KILLED ¡­ 3 TIER III BOG HAG CORES GAINED Jazmel nodded at the cores and Paldane who was flying in lazy circles above them, he took one out and flicked it up into the air; Paldane caught it deftly and crunched it up swallowing it and Jazmel flicked another one and he caught that too. COMPANION PET! LEVEL UP! Jazmel was surprised by the notification, and he wondered what would happen when Paldane would reach level 5. But they kept moving forward and Jazmel was going towards the deeper part of the labyrinth, and it wasn¡¯t something that they could rush. The deeper they entered the swamp Jazmel had to predict the path even more, it was something Jazmel was worried about. It was almost as if the swamp was trying to trick them, but his eyes saw through them all. Something that he was thankful for and now that he didn¡¯t have to focus Mana into his eyes there were no seconds delay between what he was seeing at any time. ¡°More bog hags!¡± Bannerman growled and Jazmel pushed forward and watched as Bannerman jumped into the group and began to rip them apart. Beast fang! He roared and then ripped through the hags as they tried to swarm him. He was too strong; Jazmel was going to leap into action, but Katie was already rushing from the trees she was standing and leapt to the rescue of Bannerman. Chain maiden! She crashed into the swamp; the water erupting up around them and Jazmel watched all her power destroy all the bog hags which had bogged down Bannerman. She was stronger, he wondered if she had gone through another tier tribulation, but she was definitely stronger than him still. He could tell just by the way Mana wreathed her chains and her fists; she was stronger for it. DING! 8X TIER III BOG HAGS KILLED Just those two had killed eight tier III monsters and Jazmel was glad everyone had been getting stronger. ¡°You guys are stronger.¡± Jazmel complimented and Bannerman growled, nodding. ¡°I have been working hard on trying to upgrade my skills.¡± Bannerman answered. ¡°What are all of you? What tier??¡± Jazmel asked and the party answer. ¡°Ranker tier II.¡± Katie said and shrugged. ¡°I have been working on my stats and skills more than levelling up.¡± ¡°Ranker tier I.¡± Bannerman growled. ¡°Ranker tier I.¡± Gilmore said. ¡°Ranker tier I.¡± Patton said. ¡°Ranker tier I.¡± Sad¨¦ said. ¡°Ranker.¡± Jazmel added and everyone smiled. ¡°This just means that whatever we face in here, will be strong for even rankers. The system will always try to balance the floor and it might be doing that now.¡± Patton said and Jazmel smiled, remembering the poignant details he and Sad¨¦ always dropped on him when they were travelling together. Book 3 Chapter Twenty-Nine; Swamps and Wetlands III The had entered the deepest part of the swamp, it was milling with bog hags. Jazmel could see that there was about one hundred of them were digging around in the marshes, checking around he noticed that there were no witches this time. It was only hags but there were many of them. ¡°Clear them out.¡± Jazmel said and they rushed forward before the hags could even respond. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ struck and her thunder arced through the hags and wails of pain bounced around the open space. Her thunder was conducting the water of the swamp and then her fire was burning their bodies. The hags were hunched over supporting a massive boil like sack on their back. Some of them popped from her attack and thick mucus burst out drenching others and then to Jazmel ¡¯s surprise, they burned even more. The mucus was acidic and now they all knew. ¡°Be careful!¡± Chain maiden Katie said and whipping up some of the mucus, she flicked it onto some of the other hags and they burned. Jazmel took this moment to run in between them all and then his sword flashed; he struck out with yoru no Tsubasa his sword sizzled and carved through the hags. DING! 3X TIER III BOG HAGS KILLED +3 AGL +2 DEX The system gifted him more stats and his body bulged with the strength of them. Jazmel continued using his sword and struck damage between his strikes, but he was struggling with the numbers. Mana swathe! ¡°Get down!¡± Patton yelled and Jazmel turned and crouched as he raised a huge sword covered in Mana, he had raised the size of his sword and struck out creating such an attack, that half the numbers of the bog hags were destroyed. ¡°New skill?¡± Jazmel asked and Patton smiled, he was breathing heavily, and Jazmel could tell the skill had taken a lot out of him. he drank three Mana potions and Jazmel could tell he was still really beleaguered by the skill. ¡°It¡¯s costly.¡± He breathed out and Jazmel saw him drink a fourth potion, this time it was stamina. ¡°Gil can you cover him for now?¡± Gil nodded and stepped to the side and conjured ink crows, which covered them both. DING! THE BOG HAGS HAVE BEEN DEFEATED! BUT THE BATTLE HAS CAUSED GREATER BEASTS TO BE AWARE OF YOUR PRESENCE! ¡­ WARNING THIS IS A BOSS! YOU HAVE AWOKEN A TIER III THREE HEADED HYDRA! ¡­ Jazmel turned around to look at everyone and they were all confused until the triple roars shook the surrounding area. Jazmel hadn¡¯t heard anything like this before and yet he could feel his heart thumping in his chest. The ground drummed with its approach and Jazmel felt the steps grow heavier as it neared. ¡°Sounds big.¡± Katie called over her shoulder, she and Bannerman were cleaning up the last of the bog hags alongside Sad¨¦. The sounds grew heavier, and the trees creaked as something neared and when the trees from the right finally gave way, the monstrosity that the system had forewarned came through. It was huge, larger than anything they had seen. Mottled green scales covered its entire body and its thick legs ended in elongated claws that tore up the trees from the roots and dug deep grooves into the ground as it entered the clearing. It was even bigger than the drake he had defeated at the beast tide. Its three heads were on elongated necks, and they moved around one another peering into the swamp and studied the scene. One of the bog hags which was wounded and dying slowly was on the floor mewling. Then the head on the right cocked, clocked it; and peering down, snapped on it and ate it with slow savoury crunches. DING! THREE HEADED HYDRA FOUND! A hydra is a nefarious draconic creature. Each head is a life, you must kill the three heads. ¡°Everyone we got a big problem!¡± Jazmel yelled and everyone was already focusing and preparing their skills. Thunder crown! Sad¨¦ pulled thunder into a crown above her head, and she pulled thunder into an orb within her hands before striking and flinging her skill at the middle head of the hydra. It squealed in pain, annoyance if anything but they were not wounded by much. ¡°We need to destroy each of their heads before we can defeat it!¡± Jazmel yelled and the others darted around the few remaining bog hags trying to make rid of them. ¡°Katie aim for a head; see how much damage you can do! Bannerman and Gil clean up the hags! Sad¨¦ we are going to need all the tails!¡± Jazmel shouted as he swigged a Mana potion and then turned to Patton who was still breathing heavy but seemed more recovered. ¡°I will recover and help when I can conjure that blade again, leave one head for me.¡± Patton said and he started to draw his sword and kill hags that were near him. Jazmel nodded and then sprinted through the marsh to rush forward and try his best to support the attack. Chain maiden! Katie flung her coiled chain down onto the middle head of the hydra, she had tangled her chains up into a knotted ball and slammed it onto the head. Its head dropped from the pain and looked like it had fainted, but the other heads were erratic and clearly angry. The head on the left hacked out a fluid that smelled like vinegar and looked like oil. It spewed it in the air near where Katie was, she had untangled her chains and rappelled out of the way, the head on the right spat miasma; a toxic gas at her and when it mixed with the fluid; it combusted. Bursting in a flammable cloud, it reminded Jazmel of the flame bombs the dwarves had used and he decided if they won here; he would buy some from Frae. ¡°I am okay!¡± Katie said as she swung out of its reach and into some trees to drink her potions and also DING! MIASMA BLAST HAS EXPLODED IN THE AREA! ¡­ IT IS TOXIC AND SOMETIMES POISONS! BE AWARE!! The system pinged and Jazmel could already see the nasty Mana that seemed to float in the air and mingle around the cloud that has just burst. ¡°that cloud is poisonous!¡± he yelled, and the others simply watched but averted. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ flung a bolt of her thunder and fire like a spear, and it burst through the toxic cloud and igniting it again the flames burned harder, but this time her skill hit the head which had spewed the oil like mucus just as it was planning another spit; the oil ignited in its mouth and she watched as its mouth exploded, teeth bursting from its jaws and pelting the area in fangs. It mewled in pain, and this awoke the middle head and threw the head on the right into a rage, the system screen popped up again. DING! THE THREE HEADED HYDRA IS ENRAGED! 10% INCREASE IN STR AND END FOR 300 SECONDS! The system chimed and Jazmel shook his head, which was going to be dangerous. The left head was the most wounded, they needed to attack it and kill it while they had a chance. The others had seen the system notice also and were doing their best to keep out of the way of the rampage of the enraged hydra. ¡°Keep it busy! I will kill the left head when the buff ends!¡± he yelled, and everyone leapt into action. Keeping the other heads as busy as they could. Crows! Gilmore used his ink and pelted the heads with bombardments of crows that seemed to hit them with damage when they dive bombed into them. Jazmel hadn¡¯t seen them do that before; wondered if that was a new skill. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Beast frenzy! Bannerman slashed the air repeatedly and sent a barrage of clawed strikes at the head that kept spewing miasma and it screamed with pain and anger, the enragement was still going on and the Mana was churning and wafting off of it and Jazmel could see it was so drunk on its power, it was almost as if it felt invulnerable and was intoxicated with that feeling. ¡°one hundred and fifty seconds!¡± Patton shouted and Jazmel realised he was telling them through which they were halfway. Jazmel was considering their next steps when he realised that the hydra was rising up something of an attack when it raised its left leg and stamped down. DING! ¡­ THE ENRAGED TIER III THREE HEADED HYDRA HAS STRUCK THE CORE OF THE SWAMP MORE CREATURES HAVE HEARD AND WILL ENTRENCH ON YOUR AREA! ¡­ DEFEAT THE TIER III THREE HEADED HYDRA BEFORE YOU ARE OVERRUN! ¡­ That was not good news and Jazmel was worried immediately. ¡°Guys!¡± Jazmel yelled but everyone was already fighting. ¡°We saw it!¡± Katie said leaping from her hiding space in a tree and striking deeply with her chains. Chain claw! Jazmel watched as her chains were erected with claws that hung all along the chains. She lashed the back of the hydra and it shrieked with pain, her chains tore off scales and even cut the thick skin beneath. But it wasn¡¯t enough to do true damage. Sad¨¦ took this moment to throw fox fire on its back and it burned the uncovered skin on its back. ¡°30 seconds!¡± Patton bellowed above the sound of the flailing hydra. Jazmel readied himself, he still carried Yoru no Tsubasa and he meant to use it grievously. moving forward, Jazmel headed towards the left head where it was simply mewling and spewing mucus from its ruined mouth and it was something that Jazmel could tell that it was dying. He was just worried about another buff, but he had the best of is retainers with him. Another buff and this three headed hydra might grow stronger. Fall of the black raven! He crashed black ravens made of Mana into the mewling head and it whimpered, struggling with trying to raise its head back up so it could defend itself. but Jazmel didn¡¯t let it, he carved across its face; slashing through its eyes and it shrieked again. Jazmel backed up and inhaling, trying his best to move as quickly as possible. He raised his sword above his head. Sunder He cut through the head and deep into the neck of the throat. It died and Jazmel watched as the other heads wailed in fury. DING! ONE HEAD OF THE HYDRA HAS BEEN KILLED! ¡­ THE OTHERS ARE ENRAGED! THE OTHER BEASTS OF THE SWAMP ARE ENCROACHING!! ¡­ DING! +5 AGL ¡­ YOU HAVE REACHED 100 STATS IN AGILITY CONGRATULATIONS! ¡­ MOVING AT A SPEED WILL NOT AFFECT YOUR STAMINA AS MUCH! The system rang out and he smiled, he would get everything he could from these stats, and he would use the buffs. He needed the strength and he turned to see how the others were fighting, and he smiled. His team was destroying this three headed hydra, and they were winning. Ink havoc! Blackened shards of ink crashed into the middle head; the second head of the hydra and pelted it. The ink didn¡¯t disappear after it struck the head. instead it began to spread, and Jazmel could see purple tints in the Mana. ¡°It looks like poison!¡± Jazmel shouted over the din of battle at Gilmore who was running past him, and averting miasma being spewed at him. ¡°That is because it is! I mixed it in the ink!¡± he said running past. Thunderfire! Jazmel watched as Sad¨¦ smashed a bolt of writhing flame into the second head, and before it could even respond to her. Katie was above the head and using her chain she slung it around the neck of the middle head and yanked but she wasn¡¯t strong enough. ¡°Pup!¡± she shouted and immediately Bannerman leapt up beside her and pulled with his own might. The neck wrenched and with an exerted crack, the middle head¡¯s neck was broken. DING! ONE HEAD OF THE HYDRA HAS BEEN KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ THE LAST HEAD IS ENRAGED! THE OTHER BEASTS OF THE SWAMP ARE ENCROACHING!! ¡­ Jazmel was enthralled by the kill, and his team was doing great. But not only was the final head enraged, but it was also spewing toxic miasma everywhere. DING! THE OTHER BEASTS OF THE SWAMP HAVE APPROACHED! ¡­ More bog hags had appeared, even swamp witches. There were other creatures coming but Jazmel didn¡¯t have time to see the others as the final head was putting up a large fight and was almost covering the entire area in miasma. ¡°Make way!¡± Patton yelled and Jazmel leapt out of the way, watching Patton and Gilmore rush forward. Ink havoc! Jazmel watched as ink spread across all of the creature and covered its eyes. The Mana covered the eyes too and it started spewing miasma all around, it was dark and the Mana within it twinkled which was more than Jazmel could even deduce, it was dangerous and even he was worried about how far the cloud was dispersing. ¡°Sad¨¦ no fire! It could combust!¡± she head him and leapt back, bounding out of reach. A bog hag had stumbled over towards Jazmel , he was about to defend himself with a strike, but Paldane crashed into from above. and clamping down he bit into the back of the neck of the hag, and she died instantly. DING! COMPANION PET LEVEL UP! COMPANION WILL EVOLVE!! Paldane growled and then a roar ripped from its throat, flames erupted from the scales across the back ridges and the blue flames expunged the whole body and bathed him. Paldane grew, his body grew in amongst the flames something Jazmel had ever seen. The small lizard became the size of a cat, wings, and all, it was a sizeable growth and Jazmel felt the bond between them strengthen. COMPANION BOND HAS STRENGTHENED! ¡­ PALDANE HAS LEARNED A SKILL ¡­ AEONIC FLAME (TIER I) ¡­ Jazmel smiled and continued to do what he was doing Patton had leapt into the air and raised his huge Mana blade into the air and smashed it down onto the hydra, cutting through the neck and killing the final dragon. Jazmel whirled to see what was left and he and his party made their way around the clearing and killed the others that made their way into the clearing. They acted quickly and before long they were standing around exhausted in a swamp filled with bodies of tier III monsters and a boss creature too. Jazmel checked the system notifications and read through them. DING! ¡­ THE LAST HEAD OF THE HYDRA HAS BEEN KILLED ¡­ THE THREE HEADED HYDRA HAS BEEN DEFEATED! REWARDS WILL BE ADJUSTED! ¡­ EXP ACCRUED!! YOU DEFEATED A LOT OF CREATURES IN THE CLEARING ALSO! ¡­ REWARDS WILL BE ADJUSTED! ¡­ +4 STR +4 DEX +3 END ¡­ MORE OF YOUR STATS HAVE REACHED 100! AS A BONUS, WE WILL ADJUST YOUR OTHER STATS! +6 WIL +6 INT +1 VIT ¡­ YOU HAVE HIT 100 IN ALL OF YOUR STATS! ¡­ REWARD HAS BEEN ADJUSTED! YOUR BODY MUST BE ADJUSTED ¡­ WILL YOU ALLOW ADJUSTMENT? Y/N? ¡­ Jazmel looked around, everyone else was studying their system screens and were moving things around. Making sure that their gifts went elsewhere, but Jazmel wasn¡¯t shocked, they were doing their best and probably had earned well from the system and the labyrinth. Yes He felt his body shudder, the muscles tear and repair he groaned. Hunching over in pain from the transformation he was undergoing. His body was breaking down as it rebuilt and he wondered if he had been hurting himself while he had been upgrading his stats and now that he had reached the limits of his body, he was somewhere in between, and his body couldn¡¯t keep up. DING! TIER III LOWER DRAKE HEART HAS BEEN CONSUMED! The system took the drake¡¯s heart, the beast he had defeated during the beast tide and incorporated it into this bodily adjustment he was undergoing. He felt flames, pure fire crawl up his veins and intrench his muscles. His tendons burned under this purifying, and he realised it was the nature of the drake heart being added to his body. He gritted his teeth and willed all his focus to hold back a scream. DING! YOUR BODY IS ADJUSTING! ¡­ BUT IT CANNOT MANAGE THE FLAMES OF THE LOWER DRAKE! WILL YOU ADD SOMETHING IN HARMONY? Y/N? He considered his next thing and with grit, he pulled the tier I frigid herb from his ring and bit it. It tasted bitter, earthy, and cold. It had the coldness of the frost shard, but also the purity of being truly cold inside. It reminded him of ginseng, and he chewed it and swallowed the whole herb in three bites. DING! THE TIER I FRIGID HERB HAS BEEN CONSUMED! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ IT IS IN HARMONY WITH THE TIER III LOWER DRAKE HEART! THEY ARE COEXISTING! ¡­ YOUR BODY IS CONTINUING TO ADJUST! YOUR BODY HAS FOUND HARMONY IN FRIGID FIRE! ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR BODY SURVIVING THE ADJUSTMENT! ¡­ YOUR BODY HAS CHANGED! YOU HAVE GAINED THE BODY OF THE TYRANT! DING! ¡­ ALL YOUR STATS ARE OVER 100! YOU HAVE HAD YOUR BODY ADJUSTED! ¡­ YOU HAVE EARNED THE TITLE BODY OF A TYRANT! ¡­ The body has adjusted and now you will use Mana and stamina more efficiently. The system notification shared with him, and he rolled his neck and his body felt robust, he was stronger again. He liked that, he knew that meant he wouldn¡¯t burn through Mana and stamina as easily. That was good news and he revelled in the changes, but he was happy with the work he had done. He wondered what he looked like with the changes, and he wondered what they would do next. ¡°Let¡¯s collect the loot, we need to move on from here.¡± Jazmel said and they agreed and began moving around collecting the cores and other things of value. Patton and Gilmore were already deciding on how they were going to carry the corpse of the hydra back. ¡°We need to go back; I need to rank up.¡± Bannerman said and everyone looked at him with surprise. ¡°I got a lot of levels for this, and I was preparing for this from before.¡± He said and everyone congratulated him, he had been travelling with Katie, so it didn¡¯t surprise Jazmel that he was growing quicker and stronger. ¡°Bring back as much as you can.¡± He asked and he himself began to loot the bodies. TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III BOG HAG MONSTER CORE TIER III SWAMP WITCH CORE TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION TIER III SWAMP WITCH BEASE CORE TIER III THREE HEADED HYDRA BEAST CORE He took just this much and added it to his ring. The beast core was given to him by Patton, for killing it first. It took them almost two whole hours to pick the clearing clean. When they had done, the space where the hydra had come from led out of the clearing and into a cave that had been made into a den. The den was a gateway and entering it and they pushed through the hanging moss. DING! WILL YOU ENTER THE BLACK WING OUTPOST? Y/N? He touched the gate with his raised and entered, hoping to head straight to their outpost and home. Book 3 Chapter Thirty; A Faction Quest They had returned to the outpost and Jazmel was simply happy to return, in truth he had hoped to continue travelling with Sad¨¦, but he understood the need to return and after that battle with the three headed hydra. The party needed respite and that wasn¡¯t going to happen while they continued to delve into the labyrinth. But he was fine with that, the outpost was growing relatively well and every now and then he would have to touch base and recover. They all had stepped through and were at the low path which led up and ascended to the front gate of the outpost when the system chimed. DING! YOUR OUTPOST HAS BEEN DISCOVERED BY ENEMIES! DEFEND AND REPEL THE THREAT! REWARDS WILL VARY! THE ATTACK WILL HAPPEN IN 50 HOURS!! ¡­ The system notice pinged off and Jazmel sighed and then took of sprinting for the outpost and the others followed closely behind. ¡°Patton when you get inside, send missives to anyone who isn¡¯t back!¡± Patton agreed and continued jogging. ¡°Katie and Sad¨¦, make sure the newbies are all inside the walls!¡± Katie grinned and taking her chain she swung it into a tree and then vaulted up into its branches. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t leave me behind!¡± Sad¨¦ shouted as she chased after her, Kazumi had left her ring and was running nimbly beside her as they broke off to run towards the walls of the outpost. ¡°Gil let Melle, and the other dwarves know, they need to prepare themselves too!¡± Gil was lagging behind, but he was going to do his task. ¡°Bannerman do a sweep around the walls; we might have some newbies out hunting. Get everyone back inside!¡± Bannerman broke off into running on all fours like a great wolf he leapt off a ridge and disappeared into the undergrowth. Jazmel made it through the gates and running past the sparring square he made for the chamber hall. Just as AI appeared in front of him! ¡°Thank the gods your back! We are going to be attacked!¡± ¡°I know AI, do we have defences?¡± he asked, and AI shrieked but shook its head. ¡°No! but that doesn¡¯t mean we cannot build them.¡± it told him, and he nodded, he was going to have to spend Mana essence building some defences. He made it to the chamber hall just as Mary entered from the stairwell. ¡°What is this that I hear we are going to be attacked?¡± she asked, and he is nodding, she wasn¡¯t part of the faction and so she couldn¡¯t see the quests that would¡¯ve popped up for everyone. ¡°Yes we have just over two days to prepare ourselves.¡± He answered and after a moment she nodded, stood straighter and asked. ¡°What do you need from me?¡± ¡°We are going to have to defend our walls, can you beat the new recruits into form and have them ready to stand on the walls?¡± he asked and with a grin he grew worried about she responded. ¡°I will beat them into some sort of shape.¡± She left at that, and he nodded. ¡°AI I want to send a notice to everyone who currently calls this outpost home. Make them all retainers if I can.¡± He explained and AI flickered in vision and the system notice popped up. DING! RETAINERS HAVE BEEN OFFERED TO ALL WITHIN THE VICINITY! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ RETAINERS ARE ACCEPTING AT A RAPID RESPONSE! PLEASE WAIT FOR CONFIRMATION! He let the system do what it needed to do and in turn he flicked open the faction screen and began looking through his options. He found what he was looking for and with a small grim smirk he clicked it three times and the system buzzed with activity. DING! THREE TIER I MANA BALLISTAE HAVE BEEN FASHIONED FOR YOU! Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡­ WILL YOU PLACE THEM ON YOUR WALLS? Y/N? ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE REINFORCED THE DEFENCE OF YOUR WALLS! ¡­ ¡­ YOUR OUTPOST WILL BE ATTACKED SOON! THE SYSTEM HAS BOOSTED YOUR DEFENCE AND IN TURN YOUR SURVIVAL! ALL MANA BALLISTAE HAVE BEEN UPGRADED TO TIER II! ¡­ He watched the system flash into activity and whirred as the changes were being done. He moved back to the other screen and looked at it as it completed its conclusion. DING! YOU NOW HAVE OVER 100 RETAINERS! CONGRATULATIONS THE BLACK WING FACTION HAS BEEN REINFORCED ALL RETAINERS WILL BE GIVEN: The system buzzed and before him the enduring herb appeared, it hovered in the air and when he went to touch it, it landed in his hand. It looked like a fig, in the shape of an apple. He bit into it and in a few bites he finished it and Paldane nipped at him, and he fed him the core and seeds. DING! TIER II ENDURING HERB CONSUMED! +3 END ¡­ His first stats points after hitting 100. He smiled at the newfound presence, and he felt his body cling to the power of his stats. Again before him, something else appeared and realised it was the armour piece, they were arm guards. They looked simply and made of leather, but good quality and as they were only tier II he wasn¡¯t expecting a rare item so soon from the outpost. DING! TIER II VAMBRACES OF GRACE, the wearer will gain +4 in dexterity That was a boon for him, dexterity was his balance and how well he could adapt to footing and overall movement, gaining an extra boost was a big win for him. he slipped them on and without surprise, he realised they fit him perfectly, they were snug and weren¡¯t uncomfortable at all. Now for the extra stat points. He thought and opening his stats he thought about his options. If he put two points in everything except for agility, he would garner a significant boost. especially as there was a battle in two days. Wherever there was battle, there was always a chance to gain more stats as well as rewards. He knew that and he was banking on that. So instead he put three stat points in strength, vitality, and intelligence. Keeping the remaining stat point for later. Taking off his bomber jacket, he took the time to pull the breastplate of the lower drake on and not to his initial surprise it was a sure fit too. TIER III BREASTPLATE OF THE LOWER DRAKE, with scales as strong as a dragons, it will protect its wearer. He nodded, pulling his jacket back on, he stepped down from the dais and headed outside to see what was happening. Small groups of new retainers were running around on orders and errands from Mary. She was instructing them all and they were doing their best to follow her commands with motivation and ambition. This was their home as much as the retainers and they were going to do their best to protect it. in his heart, Jazmel was worried. He hadn¡¯t lost anyone in the labyrinth, but he knew that, that could not last forever. The labyrinth was too brutal and way too unforgiving, only strength survived and too few of them had true strength. ¡°You seem worried.¡± Mary said, as she stood beside him watching the retainers as they stood in groups sparring together with swords, shields, and spears. Made by the dwarven forge beneath the outpost. ¡°People are going to die.¡± He confessed and she nodded. ¡°People die every day in the labyrinth.¡± She countered and he agreed. ¡°But they are dying for the faction.¡± He said and she shrugged. ¡°In fact, they are not dying for the faction. They are dying for what they believe in.¡± she said, and he looked at her, he admired Mary greatly. She had helped him when he had just started out and he didn¡¯t know if he had ever thanked her. ¡°I see your eyes have awakened then.¡± She said and he smiled with a small nod. ¡°Thank you for all your help when I joined the labyrinth to find Jazmel. I couldn¡¯t have done it without you.¡± He said and she nodded still not looking at him. ¡°I believed you would find him, just like I believe in you now and that we will survive this attack.¡± she admitted, and he smiled, before responding. ¡°We?¡± he asked and then she looked at him and with a grin a notice popped up. DING! RANKER TIER II MARY OF THE MUNINN GUILD IS ASKING TO JOIN YOUR FACTION! WILL YOU ACCEPT HER? Y/N? ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked, and she stared at him, unfaltering. ¡°Of course I am sure.¡± She said and he accepted. DING! ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE GAINED A NEW RETAINER! ¡­ EXP BOOST! ¡­ LEVEL UP FOR YOU! ¡­ LEVEL UP FOR THE OUTPOST! YOU NOW HAVE A TIER II FACTION OUTPOST! YOU HAVE 10+ RETAINERS WHO ARE RANKER TIER! ¡­ NEW POSITIONS IN THE FACTION ARE AVAILABLE! He smiled at that and skimming the screen he saw the new titles that were available. Lead Alchemist, he could build an alchemy lab and then potions could be made for those in the faction. He would have to find someone of that duty. There were others but he couldn¡¯t understand their function without greater study, studying that he didn¡¯t have time for. But he did see one that he liked, and he clicked on it and then dragged it over to Mary¡¯s name the system acknowledged it and pinged out a notice for him and all the retainers. DING! MARY HAS BEEN GIVEN THE TITLE OF WAR COMMANDER! ¡­ WHEN IN BATTLE SHE CAN NOW COMMAND LOWER MEMBERS OF THE FACTION! ¡­ BUFFS CAN BE ADMINISTERED! The system rang out and he watched as she skimmed her own status screen, he couldn¡¯t see what she was seeing but obviously the system was sharing with her, her title, and its abilities. ¡°So war commander then?¡± she nodded and flicked through her screen. ¡°Currently I have tier I abilities, but if that goes up. I can gain more buffs.¡± She nodded and then stepped forward to admonish one of the retainers who was not sparring well. Jazmel left her to it and climbing the wall, he made his way to where the first Mana ballistae that had been erected on the northern corner of the wall. It was huge, it looked like a giant crossbow and though it held no bolt in its trap, he could tell it would fire Mana bolts. The inscriptions ran up and down the entirety of its machination and he wondered who could actually create something of the sort. Book 3 Chapter Thirty-One; A lot can happen in 24 hours! It had been just over 30 hours since the system alerted them to the attack that was going to come to the outpost. Everyone had already been back at the outpost, minus Tango and Baek. So there numbers were solid, the only disadvantage was the gate had locked and due to that Jazmel found that Tango and Baek were not going to make it back into the gate before the attack began, they would have to make do. In that space of a day and some change, Mary had converted the new retainers into a mix between a rabble and a militia, they had formed groups of ten and were doing their best to exert themselves and earn stats to boost their abilities in time for this battle. She sent them out repeatedly for hunting and made them hunt for tier II beasts that prowled the areas further from the outpost walls, now that the ballistae had been erected, they panned around themselves and seemed to be scouting and scanning. He had to read some lore about them when he had the chance. Luckily, the last time Melle had been with colin she had bought a fresh batch of potions from him. hundreds of them and it has cost the outpost many gold coins. But they were needed, the stores needed to be continuously filled for moments such as this. He stood on the wall and watched the retainers inside sparring and fighting amongst themselves trying to get better at their skills and earn just a little more to ensure they would survive. DING! 24 HOURS UNTIL THE ATTACK! Exactly a day until the attack arrived, he didn¡¯t know what it even meant. The system hadn¡¯t shared anything besides the announcement but what could he do besides await the actual attack and repel it. Mary came up the wall and stood beside him scanning the spars from where he stood too. ¡°They are training well.¡± She told him and he nodded in agreement. ¡°They have a good commander.¡± He said and for the first time he saw that she looked a little uncomfortable. ¡°How do you do it?¡± she asked, and he turned to look at her, trying to understand what she was asking. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°How do you only enter the labyrinth in less than half a year and already you are a ranker tier with a faction under you? What is pushing you?¡± she asked, and he could see, she was genuinely curious. ¡°Honestly, I am not sure how this has happened to me. Sometimes it doesn¡¯t even feel like it¡¯s me, I came here looking for Tango to find out that I could be the prince of a kingdom and that kingdom might belong to someone who could be my father. While all of it sounds daunting, I have my own plots and quests. I cannot even take the time to sit and ponder, I have to keep advancing. That is all I am doing.¡± He told her and in truth, it was the first time he had actually said it aloud. ¡°So you just keep going and wherever you end up, you push through.¡± She surmised and he nodded. ¡°The faction is like a family to me; I don¡¯t really know how else to be towards everyone. I would put my life on the line for any one of you and believe me, every time I am in a fight. I fight like that.¡± He said and she nodded, a small grin forming. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you fight since the seeker trials, maybe you have learned some new moves eh?¡± she bumped him with her elbow, and he smiled; feeling a little competitive. They were the same tier now, or close enough. She was tier II but now he was a ranker tier too, they were peers. ¡°I will be right beside you.¡± She nodded and then putting her serious face on, she left him and went back down to where the new retainers were still sparring. Some others had returned from her hunting task, and they looked exhausted from the run back. He descended from the wall and headed back into the tower of the outpost. He was about to enter the chamber room near his living quarters, but he was caught by Melle. ¡°Leader, we have potions to spare and also we bandages, and healing agents prepared all around. If the attack reaches the wall, we will have to bring the wounded into the chamber hall; with your permission.¡± She asked. ¡°You have it, but Melle I wish you would call me Jazmel. Leader is so overbearing.¡± He said and she looked at him, her face serious and concerning. ¡°but it is your title, your responsibility. You are to lead the faction even in the face of danger.¡± She meant it, but she didn¡¯t stew. After gaining his permission, she left with her two aides and went about making her rounds and preparing for whatever would come. He sighed, closing his eyes, and hanging his head on her words. She was right, it wasn¡¯t just a title; it was his responsibility to support them all with the strength of his arm and the stability of his calmness. He would do better, after all. He was just moving forward. Changing his mind, he went a floor lower and headed towards where Patton was; in the room with all the maps and he found him pouring over them with Gilmore. ¡°Can I help?¡± he asked, and they both welcomed him. He was going to be busy today, he could feel it. Book 3 Chapter Thirty-Two; When Hell Knocks the Door! Streaks of blue and black clouds sailed across the twilight sky and Jazmel watched them with amazement. He had spent the previous day doing all the tasks he could support or help with. He had spent hours with Patton and Gilmore making sure that they knew the area around the outpost and had begun to plan and prepare how to respond to an attack from any direction. They had decided that it would have to be a close combat battle, just beneath the walls of the outpost. Where the ballistae could support them with cover and also allow the retainers on the wall to cover them too. The darkness of the twilight sky was foreboding, and Jazmel studied the sky and to his surprise there were ambient Mana particles floating high in the sky. He hadn¡¯t noticed them before, but now they twinkled like millions of small stars. In the afternoon he, Sad¨¦ and Timone had taken part in sparring with the seeker tier retainers. They attacked in groups and without using skills, the rankers were to defeat the groups as best as they could, the groups won out due to stamina, but their skills just were not strong enough to damage the three at all. Jazmel especially, his tyrant body rebuffed almost any seeker skill and he evaded them literally on foot and without skills. But he wasn¡¯t showing off, the power disparity was just that large. In the early evening he and Bannerman had ran a wide berth of a patrol around the outpost and Jazmel got to see firsthand what the woods and trees around the faction base were like. he had not joined them on a hunt as their stores had been maintained by the training retainers as well as Bannerman who took it upon himself to hunt and patrol all in one. Bannerman had tiered up on their return and he was bigger and wider, standing at seven foot. His eyes were fully like a wolves now, yellow, and luminescent. While his canines had grown considerably too, he was still human, but he was teetering on the edge between man and wolf. ONE HOUR REMAINING! The system chimed and Jazmel scanned the area surrounding the outpost. But he could see nothing from the north and the east but when he looked to the west, he could see something he hadn¡¯t expected, and he was worried all in the same breath. The lake which was deep and wide was slowly freezing from the other side of the land. He knew it, because he could see the Mana creeping along the recesses of the beach, and it was growing as it began to form thick ice that Jazmel knew immediately that the attack force would be using to cross. ¡°WEST WALL NOW!¡± Jazmel yelled and his friends who had been loitering around the other walls hurried over to his side. Mary and Bannerman reached it first and whistled when their own senses started to make out the ice that was freezing the lake over slowly. ¡°Night and ice? That only means one thing.¡± Mary said, a scowl wearing her brow. ¡°Spectral and Supernatural beings are going to be attacking us.¡± She explained. ¡°What does that mean for us?¡± he said, and she crossed her arms in thought. ¡°Well, Mana attacks and skills will work on them. Anything that isn¡¯t Mana attributed will now even leave a mark, the retainers aren¡¯t going to be able to really affect them. We are going to have to do a lot of the heavy lifting.¡± She said and he nodded, the ranker tiers were all skilled and had skills that they could use against any type of creature the labyrinth pit against them. ¡°We need to see what we are dealing with.¡± She said and glancing at Jazmel she motioned with her chin towards the look out. ¡°You¡¯re on lookout duty, whatever you see, and the system tells you. Share it with me and we will plan around what we are up against.¡± She climbed down from the wall and the others descended, leaving him with Elai the mage he had met in the demonic castle. 30 MINUTES REMAINING! At the system¡¯s second warning he looked back towards the lake, and he could see that almost half of it was frozen, now and it was rapidly crossing the length towards their western wall where he was now perched. Creatures had appeared on the other side of the lake, mulling along the shore, as they awaited the lake¡¯s freezing. There were numerous creatures; things he had never seen before, but he studied them and scanned them using his ghost blue eyes. The first creature he noticed was almost humanoid in shape, they were tall and thin, their bodies covered in wrappings and tattered hooded ponchos. He couldn¡¯t see a face or any eyes, but they seemed eager to beseech the tower. They all carried tall scythes; they reminded Jazmel of wheat reapers, but these were not the same. They were bloodied from some other battle; dried and unclean. DING! NEW CREATURE FOUND! If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. TIER III HARBINGER FOUND! Harbingers spectral wraiths which follow behind Grim Reapers. Jazmel shuddered at the idea of grim reapers; another quick scan and he realised that thankfully there were none there. ¡°30 Harbingers!¡± he yelled down at Mary, and she groaned but thanked him. At the very back of the growing group, tall beings ambled around. Bored and waiting for the lake to completely freeze, they were tall. Great in stature and barely covered in armour or clothing. Sporting small, tattered kilts made of leather and other animal hides. Their skin ashen and it reminded Jazmel of the mountains. DING! NEW MONSTER FOUND! TIER II GORGE GIANTS FOUND! Gorge giants are cannibals and eat only meat. They hunt around the mountains and make their homes high in the peaks. ¡°A group of gorge giants!¡± he yelled down again, and he heard the muffled chorus of seekers and retainers speaking. ¡°Bannerman and Patton, you guys are on giant duty.¡± Mary said, Jazmel didn¡¯t even have time to look down he was still scanning the still growing attack force. Hunched over and crouched before the shore snivelling and mewling were creatures that reminded Jazmel of fiends, they were ashen white and thin. Emaciated creatures, they looked like the fiends from the first floor, but a little different. He could see Mana swirling in their cores. DING! NEW MONSTER FOUND! TIER III SPECTRAL GHOULS FOUND! They live in the ruins of death, only sneaking into life when they find entry. They suck the life from those they hunt and cause destruction! The lore was nasty, and he could see that they were almost ravenous to enter the faction walls. Just as he could perceive their Mana; he realised they must be able to feel the life force in the outpost. ¡°A group of spectral ghouls, maybe 60 of them!¡± he yelled down and Elai who had stayed up beside him whimpered but swallowed it too late. He glanced at her. ¡°I faced them on my first floor, they were only tier I back then though.¡± She shuddered; he touched her shoulder comfortingly. ¡°We will face them together.¡± She resolved her courage; he felt her Mana stir. Just beside them he could see the fiends he knew so well. Luckily, there were no greater fiends but fiends all the same. ¡°Hundred phantom fiends!¡± he yelled down this time to silence, nobody needed to show how they were feeling. ¡°Katie those are all yours!¡± he heard Mary say finally, no words were heard from Katie. But he did hear the clink of chains. A monster he did not recognise could be seen standing in a boxed formation a group of knights. Had they stood in the light of day, he might have not thought anything of them. but in the night sky, he could see the Mana ebbing and coiling out from the small gaps in their armour. DING! NEW MONSTER FOUND! TIER II BARROW KNIGHTS FOUND! Knights who fell to the dark of the barrows and raised to guard is spectral doors for eternity! That sounded even more concerning. ¡°A contingent of barrow knights!¡± he yelled down, and Mary shouted back quickly. ¡°Do you see any barrow wights?¡± he scanned and just as he was about to respond and say no, he glimpsed them. There were less than ten of them, the one noticed was cloaked and Mana seemed to hold it together, he peered at it, and they locked eyes. He saw the skull with empty eye sockets scrutinise him and flinging its head back, it screeched a cry Jazmel had never heard before but that one time told him he would never want to hear it again, nor could he forget it. ¡°Guess that answers my question, he heard from down below.¡± DING! NEW MONSTER FOUND! TIER III BARROW WIGHTS FOUND! Barrow wights, the long dead owners of the burial barrow downs. Their wailing death cry can be heard throughout the night and sometimes paralyses. That was great to know, he would kill it before they could paralyse any of the faction. He meant to destroy them and any that were attacking his home and friends. ¡°Anymore?¡± Mary called up and Jazmel was about to turn and say no when he saw it, when he saw him. Sitting off to the side of the attack force was a man, or he once had been a man. His Mana seeped from him like the barrow knights, but it was so much purer, it reminded Jazmel of a bonfire and in the knight it was quite bright to him and his eyes that sought out Mana. The man was wearing armour of polished dark metal. He didn¡¯t know the name, but it was so dark Jazmel could see him against the night. His head was uncovered, his hair was tied back away from his face, and he wore a simple silver circlet atop his brow. He was sitting on a big rock on the beach of the shore, that¡¯s how Jazmel had almost missed him but then he had grabbed his great claymore which had been stuck into the ground upright. BEWARE! TIER III UTER OF KNIGHT OF THE REVENANT DRAGON COMES! ¡°There is a named boss here!¡± he shouted down and Mary growled; it almost sounded like Bannerman. ¡°A knight of the revenant dragon!¡± he offered, and she cursed loud enough that he was sure everyone heard. ¡°The system surely takes no prisoners.¡± He heard Mary say and he felt his stomach drop. 5 MINUTES! The system announced and everyone grew deathly silent, Jazmel could feel the dread wafting off of the retainers and he knew that had he been alone; he might have felt something different but today was a different day. He turned to look down at the group of just over one hundred and spoke. ¡°I know you are all feeling fear, me too. But I want you to remember what you have overcome to feel that fear. Some of you joined us willingly, while others were freed by those who are good natured here. remember what you gave to be here, use that freedom to fight what will befall us soon.¡± He said and the retainers seemed a little more motivated while his friends and party were just itching to go. ¡°Six months ago I hadn¡¯t stepped foot inside the labyrinth, now here and today I am a ranker tier I in charge of a faction; filled with people I would kill and die for! Remember your motivations, realise your foundations, and dig deep. We will see out this night!¡± he shouted and that drew a cheer from them all!. DING! RALLY THE RETAINERS! 10% BUFF ON WILL EARNED EXP! The system pinged but he dismissed the notice. Katie leapt up to stand beside him and looking over at the lake she whistled. ¡°Great speech leader! Here they come!¡± THE ATTACK COMMENCES! Then all hell broke loose. Book 3 Chapter Thirty-Three; the Outpost is under attack! The lake had frozen completely, Jazmel shouted down to them and Sad¨¦ knew it because she heard the cry of the attackers as they charged across the frozen walk space now and hurried towards the outpost. Sad¨¦ was shocked at the cries and yet she was ready for the fight. ¡°Here they come!¡± Katie yelled and she whirled her chain above her head before she flung it out across the wall aiming at something Sad¨¦ couldn¡¯t see yet. ¡°Stay together if you get split up, at least try, and find another group to join. That¡¯s how we survive this, tonight!¡± she yelled, and she touched her source of Mana and compelled all her tails to flare out, she was incensed. She had grown to love the feeling of the Mana, the power she thrummed with. Kazumi bounded out of her ring and yipped her participation. She was now ready to support her. ¡°Here come the first wave!¡± Jazmel yelled from the top of the wall and fiends and ghouls clambered over the wall with quick, rapid ease. Foxfire! Foxfire! Foxfire! She pulled Mana and activated the skill, and the ten orbs of blue flames quickly became thirty. She cast them across and burned the first few fiends that even made it down the stairs of the outpost wall. DING! X4 TIER III SPECTRAL GHOULS KILLED! +4 DEX She felt her stats jump and her dexterity leapt with it. the remaining spectral ghouls leapt into the retainers, and she was too worried about hitting them for her to cast her skills so close. she drew her short sword and the sabre, rushing in. she took two heads before they whirled on her, but before they could attack her in unison. The lower levelled retainers ambushed them, stabbing and striking with their enchanted spears and swords. The ghouls died quickly, and she watched the eyes of a few retainers glaze over as their stats were bumped up and their levels rose. Yip! she heard and looking over to her side she saw Kazumi tearing the back up of a spectral ghoul was biting into the neck of a retainer, she leapt over and when she reached it the ghoul raised its head to try and reach Kazumi, she swung her sabre and took its head off from the shoulders, it died shuddering. ¡°You alright?¡± she asked, and the girl whimpered as she quickly pulled a health potion from her ring and guzzled it down, her wound was gaping, but the potion made quick work of it, leaving it looking like an age-old scar, she would need to heal more for it to disappear, but now wasn¡¯t the time for that. ¡°Get up and find a group!¡± ¡°Sad¨¦!¡± she heard turning, she saw one of the harbingers swinging its scythe above its head and preparing to slash it down on a group of retainers it had backed into a corner. Thunderfire! She cast her skill and burnt a hole through the back of the hooded head, the harbinger dropped, and she felt her stats jump. DING! TIER III HARBINGER KILLED! +3 STR +3 AGL +2 WIL ¡­ THUNDERFIRE HAS EVOLVED TO TIER II! She felt her skill mature, that was the only word of which she could think. Before she could consider it, three harbingers leapt at her and she danced around their feet, parrying and slicing with her two blades. She created some distance and threw fox fire orbs into the air. As the harbingers rushed her, something twinkled in her mind. An epiphany, as they circled her and tried to pin her down, she cast thunder into the orbs and they rained down around her, bombarding the harbingers but also burning her. DING! NEW SKILL LEARNED! LIGHTNING FALL TIER I! She cast the skill two more times, and the harbingers were wrecked with the new skill. One was burnt so badly it burst in a shower of crystalised glass and she ducked away from the swing of another¡¯s scythe. She leapt in the air. Thunderfire! Lightning fall! Her thunder and lightning rained down, burning and shocking both harbingers. The retainers closest rushed in and stabbed them till they stopped moving with their spears. Roaring with joy and battle rage. She could share the exp after all. DING! X2 TIER III HARBINGER DEFEATED!If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ +2 PER +2 END ¡­ LEVEL UP! +1 STR +1 INT +1 VIT Her body almost vibrated with her newly earned stats, but the pleasure was short lived. The barred doors banged under the might of a heavy strike, three more befell them before the caved in. the gorge giants had reached. Patton and Bannerman were there as soon as the doors broke in, but one giant had broken away and charged at the retainers who were fighting off the fiends and still doing their best. ¡°He¡¯s mine!¡± Sad¨¦ yelled, for herself more so than anyone else. She didn¡¯t know who else was there. She ran towards its legs; it kicked out at her, and she deftly averted it. stabbing into the knee joint and using the blade to swing herself up. She heard it roar and it did the silly thing of trying to swat her away. She stabbed into the palm of its hand and as it raised it up to shake her off, she pushed herself off of its hand and leapt at its face, with both blades freed. She stabbed into the eyes, it wailed; blinded and in agony from her relentless attacks. Thunderfire! She cast with a free hand and the bolt bore through the skull of the giant, killing it instantly and blasting her with brain gore. She retched but swallowed it back, as it fell backwards. She freed her blades and jumped off the body just before it hit the ground. DING! YOU HAVE KILLED A TIER III GORGE GIANT FOR THE FIRST TIME! YOU SUFFERED NO DAMAGE FROM ITS ATTACKS! ¡­ +4 END +4 WIL +3 DEX +3 AGL ¡­ TITLE EARNED! FEATHERED GRACE! The world is tumultuous, uneven grounds everywhere you go. The path is not even, but you are not bothered! +4 DEX +4 AGL She hummed at that! She hadn¡¯t gained a title like that before; she hadn¡¯t even seen anything like that before. But she was surprised by it all the same. Her body grabbed at the stat points, and she felt her speed and balance forming a serious harmony, she was reaching the 100-stat mark, and she knew that when they all reached 100, she would undergo ¡®tempering¡¯ something that adjusted the limits for the body similar to a tier tribulation. She had even forgotten about it, but once Jazmel had told her he had gone through it she wondered just how hard he had been working. She turned and saw Bannerman and Patton fighting off the gorge giants between them, Bannerman had turned into a wolf man hybrid; she wondered if that was a new skill of his or had it been after his tier tribulation. She was about to join them when she saw Mary sailing through the air with the sound of elephant trumpets all around her. Mastodon! Her Mana was burning, literally steaming off of her body and she crashed into the head of one of the gorge giants. She burst through its head; pulping its skull with her bestial power. Radical smash! Timone appeared, charging through the knee of a giant, it crashed to the ground; growling and wailing, its knee bent at an odd angle. Ion beam She shot her beam from her mechanical arm into its face and its nose burst as the beam passed through and pierced through the back of its skull. She roared and rushed after another giant before it crashed forward into the retainers she was leading the charge of. They seemed to be holding their own, that¡¯s when the first screams could be heard. The barrow knights appeared. They wailed their death cries, and the chill of the paralysing feeling could be felt all around, but she didn¡¯t let herself suffer beneath it. The first barrow knight came through the gates and rushed towards her, she met its charge with a slash from her bloody sabre and she skirted its own rusted blade before unleashing her skill with her off hand. Foxfire! The orbs burst through the rusting armour and burned the spectral form of the barrow knight. It wailed a different scream and as it turned to try and leap at her. Kazumi bounded forward and spewed fire at it, her own fox fire. The barrow knight was melted, its armour and spirit. DING! TIER II BARROW KNIGHT DEFEATED! MARAUDING FOX! TIER I SUN GEM LOOTED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ COMPANION; KAZUMI HAS LEVELLED UP! LEVEL UP LEVEL UP LEVEL UP! COMPANION HAS REACHED LEVEL 10! COMPANION IS READY TO EVOLVE WILL YOU ALLOW? Y/N? Kazumi could evolve further. Of course she would accept! Kazumi barked when she accepted and immediately was shrouded in flames, she became a blazing bonfire. DING! KAZUMI IS ASKING FOR THE KITSUNE MASK WILL YOU ALLOW? Y/N? She accepted, this was unchartered territory for her, but Kazumi was her companion and her being stronger, meant Sad¨¦ was stronger too. ¡­ DING! KAZUMI IS ASKING FOR THE TIER I SUN GEM! WILL YOU ALLOW? Y/N? She accepted and they disappeared from her ring and were dumped into the bonfire. KAZUMI IS EVOLVING! ITEMS HAVE BEEN ADDED! ¡­ ¡­ A bark from something much bigger than a small fox bellowed from within the bonfire and it burned quickly and much brighter than before, Sad¨¦ had to shield her eyes as it reached its peak. DING! COMPANION HAS EVOLVED! KAZUMI HAS BECOME A FIRE HOUND! COMPANION LEVEL 10! The bonfire blazed but was ebbing away, from within a big fox hound stepped from within. Its coat was winter white but orange and red fur covered her chest, shoulders, and tail. Kazumi¡¯s face bore the markings of the kitsune mask, red tears under each eye and in her forehead the sun gem sat; emblazoned. She was huge! The side of a small horse and she was strong the Mana broiling off her was enough to let Sad¨¦ know that, stroked the fur, and found it warm to touch. Climb on! She heard in her head, Kazumi could speak! She pulled herself onto the spot just behind her shoulders and Kazumi barked before darting forward into the rest of the barrow knights and wights. She bit off the head of one, clawed through two and spewed her fire all around her. DING! KAZUMI HAS LEARNED FOX INFERNO! SHE HAS KILLED X10 TIER II BARROW KNIGHTS! EXP SHARED! Sad¨¦ felt her body thrum with the shared exp, and she shuddered with the strength. She smiled, they were going to be formidable, she sheathed her blades and began casting from atop the back of Kazumi, just the two of them decimated the tier II barrow knights and the tier III barrow wights. DING! X3 TIER II BARROW KNIGHTS KILLED! ¡­ +3 PER +3 END DING! X6 TIER III BARROW WIGHTS KILLED! +2 STR +2 WIL The stats were thrumming into her body, and she felt her muscles strengthening with them, the barrow wights had been destroyed, the knights were decimated. The gorge giants were hardy, but they were being quelled. Book 3 Chapter Thirty-Four; Knight of the Revenant Dragon DING! +2 PER +2 WIL He exhaled a shaky breath and sighed as the last harbinger died from a stab of his grave iron katana pierced into its darkened cowl and it fell off the wall. Jazmel wasn¡¯t even injured, he and Elai had made short work of the ghouls, fiends, and harbingers from their place on the wall. BEWARE! THE KNIGHT OF THE REVENANT DRAGON APPROACHES! The system warned him, and he rolled his shoulders waiting for the knight in the blackened armour to appear. He came through the broken doors, and he carried his great claymore over his shoulder, much like how Gelth carried his own. Mountain split! Gelth charged at the knight and slammed his great blade down trying to cleave him in half. But the knight stopped it with a simple block of his own blade. Gelth didn¡¯t even move him, he was strong. Jazmel could see that now. ¡°Wear him down!¡± Jazmel shouted and the knight turned and looked at him, eyes razing over his body. The pressure was immense, his eyes told him that pure Mana was pooling from the knight, it was like he was one giant piece of Mana and just being near him was enough to confuse Jazmel ¡¯s senses. Star descent! Elai cast her skill and stars appeared in the night sky, beautiful and bright. She pulled them down from their mantle in the night sky and sent them whirling down towards where the knight stood. Four stars hit him, and he didn¡¯t even move to block them and simply took the attack on. The stars smashed into him, and the ground of the inner courtyard exploded from the might of the skill. Crashing and obliterating all the front gates of the courtyard. ¡°Good.¡± Jazmel heard through the dust cloud that plumed at the gate, he could see the Mana unmoved from where the man had been before the skill struck. ¡°You have to be this strong for it to be worth my time to break you.¡± The knight said and he raised his sword above his head and then rammed the tip into the ground. Roar of the revenant dragon The ground broke, the entire courtyard burst from beneath and Jazmel watched as many of the retainers were thrown off their feet and injured in the strength of this skill. He was stronger than a tier III, now that Jazmel even remembered, the system hadn¡¯t given him a tier. That bothered him and Jazmel looked around to see who were still on their feet. He had used Mana to cause the ground to erupt and everyone below had been thrown into turmoil, well not all. Through the broken ground he perceived Bannerman rushing across the ground towards the revenant knight. Beast frenzy! Bannerman hurled a slash of Mana claws at the revenant knight. He blocked it with his blade and with his free hand he threw a punch at Bannerman who artfully dodged it. the punch blew the rubble up even further; crushing the chest of a gorge giant who had already died from the faction¡¯s attacks. Mastodon! Beast frenzy! Mary and Bannerman rushed him, and he couldn¡¯t block both. He chose to knock Bannerman away and the wolf man went hurtling through the rubble and groaned in his crumpled heap. But Mary used that moment to strike him and used the power of the primal elephant¡¯s strength and punched him in the chest. The sound was as loud as a canon blast. KRAKOOM! Her clenched fist slammed against his breastplate, and it didn¡¯t even leave a smear. He grabbed at her wrist, she blocked and then punched his face with her other first. His head turned a little and he turned back and looking into her eyes, a trickle of blood dropped from his lip, and he licked it up before it could fall. ¡°Interesting.¡± He said simply and this time he caught her wrist and before she could block, he pulled her forward and crashed his head down into her skull. Her nose popped and she cried out. He raised his sword to stab her, but Bannerman was there, he leapt at him and grabbing Uter¡¯s neck he used it to stop his momentum going past and spun about his body, placing his feet into the knight¡¯s chest he kicked off into a somersault. The knight took two steps back and Bannerman landed beside Mary and picking her up he darted from near the knight. ¡°All that for a drop of blood?¡± Uter uttered as he stepped back to where he was and then thinking on it, he took a step forward. Mana blade! Patton struck at him with his sword augmented with Mana, Uter blocked it and Jazmel watched as Patton and him duelled, Patton was fighting with everything while the Revenant Knight wasn¡¯t even moving his feet. Gilmore moved in and was wielding his ink in the form of a black sword and Uter used his sword to parry and counter both swords. Jazmel stepped off the wall and landed nimbly onto the ground. He had to join the fight. Ink crow Crows exploded from the blade and buffeted the revenant knight; they had surprised him, and he raised a hand to guard his face. That was when Jazmel reached them, Yoru no Tsubasa was in his hand and the keen edge sliced through the air sounding like a wind chime as it sailed towards the knight. He stepped back and then raised his own sword to fight Jazmel. ¡°Finally you enter the melee.¡± He said as if he had been awaiting him. They duelled, Jazmel was fighting with his life on the line and the knight of the revenant dragon was simply blocking his strikes and averting the ones he decided were not worth his time. But what he did not know was that this high intensity was training for Jazmel , his trait was powering along ever present and every move Jazmel made, evaded, or parried. He remembered and locked away in his vault; his memory. He himself could feel the minute changes in his swordsmanship.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Interesting.¡± Uter uttered when he actually had to raise his sword to parry a slice from Jazmel. Mountain breaker! Gelth had returned and he used the tip of his blade to create a deep groove in the ground and using the traction, his skill formed an upward slash of Mana which broke through the ground and shot across the ground toward Uter, he kicked Jazmel in the chest, sending him flying backwards and then he drove his sword into the ground again. Roar of the revenant dragon! The skill clashed with Gelth¡¯s, and they exploded on contact. Dust plumes shrouded the entire area, but the only person could see anything was Jazmel. But he groaned silently, not trying to give away his position. He heard skills flit around as his friends tried to damage this knight, but he knew he had to get back in there. STATUS CONDITION! X3 BROKEN RIBS (minor) That kick had done more than just send him flying. He eased a potion out of his ring and drank it, he felt the pain dull, but he could tell his ribs were still broken. He drank another potion and the pain turned into just an ache; he swigged down a stamina potion just to be sure too. Rising up, he could feel his stamina fighting alongside the health potion and trying to heal him. but he didn¡¯t have time to pick anything else. Instead he rushed back into the fight, the dust plumes, dispersing into smaller clouds. Thunderfire! He heard and he watched as thick bolt of fire fashioned like a spear, encased in lightning struck out and spurred through the air towards where the knight stood. He had taken steps deeper into the courtyard now and Jazmel watched as he deflected the spear and grit his teeth as the thunder conducted off of his armour and sword. Bark Bark! Could be heard and something besides Sad¨¦ streamed blue fire onto the knight he shielded himself from the torrent with his blade and the enchantment of whatever the blade was made of caused a divide in the flames and they parted from the sword and dispersed in two different directions. The dust had settled, and a big hound was darting around casting fire at the knight and keeping him back while Sad¨¦ threw thunderbolt fire spears again and again, he would ask her about that fire hound later. ¡°Enough!¡± Uter yelled and slashing upward he cut through the flame with just the swing of his blade. Dragon claw! He slashed with his sword and Jazmel could see the strength in the skill, it was filled with blood red Mana and the attack looked like a sickle as it carved through the air. He jumped forward and casting his own skill twice, he felt it change as he used it. Cleave! Cleave! ¡­ Lacerate! The skill burst from within; a double slash that sent out a splaying cross slice from his Mana. He felt the skill settle in, but he didn¡¯t have time to look at the notification because Uter was approaching him. Dragon claw! Lacerate! He sent out the skill again and Jazmel matched him. But he was wary, Uter had only used two skills so far and he was definitely stronger than a seeker, so it was likely he had more remaining. ¡°You have some skill, but it is not enough.¡± He threw at Jazmel , he didn¡¯t respond. There was no need, defeating him would be enough. Mastodon! Thunderfire! Mountain breaker! Mana blade Beast frenzy! All those skills bombarded Uter, Jazmel had been the only one to not use a skill, he was too close to Uter, but the knight simply threw his head back and wailed. Cacophony of the dragon! DING! PETRIFIED FOR 5 SECONDS! ¡­ TYRANT BODY RAGES AGAINST THE PETRIFICATION! YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PETRIFIED! ¡­ YOU SURVIVE THE ENTHRALL! +2 END +2 WIL It was a sound, a wail of distress. It was something Jazmel had never heard before but the thrum in his chest was so profound he almost dropped his blade. the others were abashed, washed by the piercing wail he had used and for a few seconds they were frozen. But Jazmel was not, his tyrant body had broken him free and darting in; he then wreaked havoc. Cleave Sunder Cleave! Skill after skill, he threw at Uter. Stabbing and slicing wherever he felt he could find purchase. Uter was caught off guard, he hadn¡¯t expected Jazmel to not be petrified and now he was on the back foot. Lacerate! He slashed up and nicked the chin of the knight, his blade. chilled with cold iron and numbing with grave iron. Bit into the flesh and Jazmel felt something tug, be pulled away. DING! UTER HAS SUFFERED A SPIRIT WOUND! ENTHRALLED! Jazmel didn¡¯t even know what that meant, but he didn¡¯t hesitate at all. He struck again and this time his cut sliced across Uter¡¯s face, and he slunk back, clearly wounded, and still enthralled. Whatever Uter was, the grave iron of Jazmel ¡¯s sword was damaging his spirit and that seemed to be the only way to defeat him. ¡°How?!¡± ¡°None can defeat me!¡± Uter roared and flaring his Mana the pressure forced Jazmel back, but only a half step DING! YOU CANNOT BE SWEPT BACK BY PRESSURE OF GREAT MANA! ¡­ THE TYRANT RAGES FORWARD! +3 STR +2 WIL The extra stats were building now, gradually he was gaining ground on this knight of the revenant dragon, he was wounding him bit by bit now. Jazmel was forcing him further and further back. Lacerate! The skill carved a blunt X on the chest plate of Uter¡¯s armour. ¡°Enough!¡± he growled and flared his Mana again, denser and Jazmel could tell he had overcome the enthrallment. Mastodon! Mary appeared beside the knight, she punched in the face and then locked his arm in an armbar trying her best to pull the great blade from his grip. ¡°No!¡± he yelled in defiance, Bannerman appeared and grabbed his wrist, clawing at his fingers to pull the blade from his hand. With his free hand; Uter tried to swing a punch, but Gelth appeared; the burly mountain of a man grabbed his hand and held him back. Mana blade! Patton came from behind Mary and cut off Uter¡¯s hand and arm, carving through the forearm guard and blood spurted from the wound. ¡°Argh!¡± he wailed, and he tried his best to break free from them all but he could not. ¡°Now Jazmel !¡± Sad¨¦ yelled from where she was crouched and Jazmel reared back, before stabbing deep into the chest of Uter and through his heart. ¡°Find peace knight.¡± He whispered into the ear of Uter who shuddered, stricken from the stab. DING! UTER THE KNIGHT OF THE REVENANT DRAGON HAS BEEN KILLED! ¡­ THE FORCES THAT ATTACKED THE OUTPOST HAVE BEEN DEFEATED! ¡­ Jazmel pulled his sword free and with a fluid movement, he flicked the blood from his blade before sheathing it. he fell backwards into a seat, his hands on his knees. The others moved toward him to help but he waved them off. ¡°I just need some rest.¡± He told them and one by one they all began to sit down in the rubble and the ground that had once been the inner courtyard of the outpost. Book 3 Chapter Thirty-Five; the Aftermath After resting for a few moments, Jazmel opened the system screen and began to read all the notifications that were pinging around his screen, connected to the faction additional screen too. DING! YOU HAVE LEARNED A NEW SKILL! LACERATE (TIER I) DING! YOU HAVE SLAIN UTER THE KNIGHT OF THE REVENANT DRAGON! +5 STR +5 VIT +5 END CONGRATULATIONS ON DEFEATING THE KNIGHT OF THE REVENANT DRAGON! ¡­ YOU SURVIVED THE MIGHT OF A DRAGON KNIGHT! ¡­ BEWARE THE REVENANT DRAGON HAS BECOME AWARE OF YOU ¡­ DRAGONS ARE CREATURES OF FAMOUS EGO! ¡­ BEWARE THE GRUDGE OF A DRAGON! ¡­ THERE IS SIGNIFICANT HARMONY BETWEEN YOUR HEART AND YOUR BODY. ¡­ YOUR RACE HAS CHANGED! TYRANT! The tyrant is domineering, bowing to nobody you understand power and authority is yours! YOU LEAD THE REPELLING OF THE ATTACK FORCE! +4 PER +4 INT +4 AGL ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR REWARDS ARE BEING ADJUSTED! ¡­ YOUR REWARDS ARE BEING ADJUSTED! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! LEVEL UP! REWARDS! ¡­ Jazmel hummed as the system fed this information to him and then looking to the side at the faction notifications he looked over them. DING! YOUR OUTPOST HAS BEEN GREATLY DAMAGED, WILL YOU REPAIR? Y/N? He accepted and the walls rumbled as they began to reform and the blocks that had not been obliterated, where pulled back into place. But large gaps littered the area, the same could be said about the courtyard as it tried to right the ruin, but the ground had literally erupted from beneath, they would need to hire repairers for this job. He felt the Mana essence disappear into the activation of fixing his outpost. DING! MANY OF YOUR RETAINERS SURVIVED AN ATTACK, REWARDS WILL BE PROVIDED He looked around to see multiple of his retainers looking at where he imagined their screens were showing them their own rewards and updates. ¡°Gather the wounded!¡± he heard Wendy and Melle shout, he rose up. There was much to do. *** After clearing the courtyard of the wounded and the lower levelled retainers, Jazmel went over the information he knew. 20 of his retainers had died, from wounds and the overall attack, the taste in his mouth grew bitter quickly. Mary consoled him, but he still couldn¡¯t get used to death. He sent the others off to bed; to rest and they entered the tower of living quarters. He entered the chamber hall and immediately it grew lit with ambient lights. Mary, Sad¨¦ and Patton had followed him in and when he entered the system screen pinged alive. DING! FACTION LEADER FOR SURVIVING AN ATTACK ON YOUR FACTION! ¡­ HERE ARE YOUR REWARDS! In front of him a massive crystal chest appeared and banged onto the ground where it landed. He opened it and within the system sung!This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. DING! ¡­ TIER II WALLS! Reinforce your walls with Mana and enhance them with defensive and repairing Mana wards! This was a small figurine of wall blocks, he accepted this, and the figurine disappeared into the ground and through his faction leader mind¡¯s eye he saw the walls of his outpost repair and be reinforced. That was one problem he wasn¡¯t going to have to worry about dealing with paying for repairs, he looked over the other rewards. YOU HAVE EARNED AN EXPANSION TO YOUR OUTPOST DOMAIN! ACROSS THE LAKE NEW LAND TO BE DISCOVERED HAS BEEN FOUND! ¡­ ADDED TO YOUR MAPS! Jazmel was surprised by that and then he heard Patton yelp who obviously received the notifications of the maps being updated, he ran from the room to head to the map rooms. Gelth and Katie had stayed in the courtyard to support Melle collect the different corpses and cores they could find in the aftermath of the battle. Bannerman had slipped out to run a quick patrol to make sure no creatures had escaped. Wendy and Elai had taken over the healing and were doing their best to support the wounded. Gilmore had left to go and rest. Now it was just Mary and Sad¨¦, the people Jazmel had known the longest since Tango. The dwarves that made up the forge had come above ground just to pick through the weapons and armour of the defeated, taking the barrow knights armour and looting the armour of Uter, Gelth had already made claim of the great blade, and none questioned him. He picked up the last reward from within the crystal chest as it vanished in a spray of glitter. DING! TIER II FLAG OF THE RALLYING CAPTAIN! Rallying buffs can be reinforced by the flag, used in battle for support. That sounded like a good reward, but not for him. he handed it off to Mary, she took it with reverence and nodded her quiet thanks. She was about to leave when he took out the shard he had gained and looked at them both, questioningly. ¡°Is that?¡± Mary said but bit back her words. ¡°Did you get that as a reward for killing that knight?¡± Sad¨¦ asked and he nodded. ¡°He didn¡¯t have a tier.¡± He said and they both agreed, the system must have shared that with them too. ¡°There is a thing, a rumour in the labyrinth that there were a race of beings that existed before we ever gained access to the labyrinth.¡± Mary started and Sad¨¦ perked up as if she realised what she was discussing. ¡°Yes, the elven elders speak of them. As one of the oldest race in the labyrinth, we know a lot more than many humans do. The Primordial were what we might think gods are. The very first of their beings. None have met any before and yet here we are, in the presence of a shard.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Mary agreed. ¡°Well, the thing is. This shard is giving off subtle Mana, I can see it.¡± ¨C he tapped the side of his head near his eyes. ¡°But the feeling is quite similar to the feeling I get when I complete one of the fountain trials.¡± He explained and the room grew deathly silent. ¡°What is this now?¡± Mary said and quickly, not leaving anything out he explained the fountains and what he had witnessed. She listened but he could see the worry in her eyes. ¡°Alright then, that isn¡¯t not worrying at all.¡± She said and he could tell she was worried. ¡°I promise you; it isn¡¯t as dangerous as you think. Last time Sad¨¦ had been pulled in with me, which means others might be able to do so with me too.¡± He explained and she grunted her agreeing. ¡°What other rewards did you get?¡± Mary asked and he pulled the scale from his ring and the skill rune. Paldane appeared, he peered down at the scale and the skill rune. He chose and snapped down and bit the scale up and then hawked it down. COMPANION HAS CONSUMED THE TIER III MOON SCALE! ¡­ THE MOON SCALE HAS HARDENED THE SCALES OF THE NIGHT DRAGON! ¡­ HE WILL HIBERNATE WHILE HIS BODY ADJUSTS ¡°Well there goes that.¡± He huffed and Mary smiled a little but shrugged as Paldane disappeared back into his ring. ¡°What is the skill rune?¡± he looked at it and immediately the information hit him. ¡°It¡¯s the revenant roar skill.¡± He uttered and they all shuddered remembering what it had done. ¡°I might sell it.¡± he said, Sad¨¦ and Mary both shrugged, leaving the decision with him. ¡°What about you both what rewards did you get?¡± he asked, and Mary showed hers immediately, they were gauntlets, thickened gloves made of fine felt and leather but wards of sturdy Mana and sigaldry had been sewn into them. TIER III GAUNTLETS OF THE GIANT! Gauntlets built with the strength of giants, +5 STR and +5 END The system told him, and he nodded, impressed. She put the gauntlets away and pulled a big vial, about the size of a palm of his hand. Thick liquid sloshed inside, and he could feel the warmth emanating from the bottle even though he stood some space from her. ¡°What is that?¡± he asked, and she smirked and then a grin peeled across her face. TIER III BLOOD OF THE ARCTIC IRON MAMMOTH! A tier tribulation item She had gained a tier tribulation item, and it was something with great affinity for her mastodon skill. ¡°Congratulations! Are you due to tier up?¡± he asked, and she smiled but shook her head. ¡°Not yet, but I am near.¡± She smiled and put it away, she was smeared with ash and bruises. But her eyes were bright. ¡°Get some rest war commander, tomorrow we begin recovering and burials.¡± He said and she mockingly saluted him, before offering goodbyes and a small wave to Sad¨¦, she turned and left them two together. ¡°What about you? Also who was that big beast with you.¡± She smiled and through the opened doors of the chamber hall the giant fox crept in. ¡°Kazumi evolved.¡± She explained and as she neared he could feel so many mixed energies from the fire fox. Bestial Mana was ripe and coiled throughout her entire body, but also fire. The fire that was brimming inside her core was so great it felt like he was standing next to a bonfire, a sheen of sweat wet his brow and he had to take a few steps back. Words were said between her and Kazumi as she left through the doors and took the heat with her. Jazmel silently thanked Sad¨¦. ¡°That couldn¡¯t be one of your rewards though.¡± He said and she smiled before pulling from her ring. She pulled a writhing ring of thunder and the system chimed for him. DING! TIER II STORM DRAGON WISP! Will improve thunder ability qualities. Her thunder and fire attributes were powerful, he had not forgotten that she was the first one to land her attacks on Uter and her agility had grown that she almost danced across the ground as she moved. ¡°I gained a passive title too; it helps with dexterity. It¡¯s called feathered grace, and it allows me to gain more in dexterity and agility.¡± She told him and he smiled, that seemed fitting for her. ¡°I am close to 100 stats in some of my stats too, I am catching up to you.¡± She told him and he grinned, he couldn¡¯t help it. but that also reminded him, his race changed. ¡°I have a question actually. Can your race change?¡± he asked, and she looked at him shrugging. ¡°I am not sure what the system can and cannot do. Did your race change? You still look human to me.¡± She said and he pulled up his stats and showed her. Name: Jazmel Level: 67 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sword Scion Health: 1900/2800 Stamina: 1630/2080 Mana: 1120/1705 STR:111(+5) PER:106 VIT:108 END:110(+3) INT:107 WIL:106 AGL:100 DEX:104 She looked at his stats and gaped, her jaw literally hung open and feeling a little shy. After a few more moments he put them away. ¡°Jazmel you don¡¯t understand, I don¡¯t think you realise just how strong you are. It¡¯s like you are a legacy child and were trained secretly as a child. You¡¯ve been in the labyrinth six months, and you are a ranker with 100+ stat points in each stat.¡± she said and then she laughed to herself for a moment. ¡°I don¡¯t even know what a tyrant is.¡± He explained to her about the tyrant heart and then the tyrant body tempering and one of his rewards had been them finding harmony between them. ¡°I cannot tell you anything about it, I don¡¯t know what it means. I can¡¯t see any changes though; you do feel different though.¡± She said and he quizzed her. ¡°How?¡± ¡°You feel different, I can feel more of your presence now. Its fuller, I can feel you holding back your Mana and it¡¯s a lot.¡± She uttered her eyes searching his own. ¡°I don¡¯t know, we can look in the library about it.¡± she said and then turning on her heel, she hurried from the chamber. He watched her leave for a moment and then made his way to his own rooms. He had questions, but they could wait till tomorrow. They had fought well into the night, and he knew it was nearly dawn, but he was going to sleep like the dead and he knew it. Book 4 Chapter One; Adjusting to the Limits of the Labyrinth Bodily tempering is considered a small feat in the face of the system. Seekers have the advantage of tier tribulations and augmentation through stats and other resources. But tempering is a small gift that the system allows only the truly hardy. Those who can gain 100 in all their stats will undergo a tempering; a tribulation of the body which will minutely adjust their limits in term with their abilities. This should not be considered a gift, but an earnest reward from hard earned achievement. The labyrinth system rewards its truest seekers, only those who are willing to go further than others. All should seek to adjust their limits; all should seek the undiscovered. Walk the path that is unbeaten, make it your journey to be the first. Tempering is earned, earn the right to be tempered by the system! Jazmel sighed and closed the book he had been reading. The small tome had barely any information on tempering and the little passage he had just read, had sounded like the writer was selling it to its readers. In truth Jazmel had not suffered in any way from the tempering. He had just wanted to know what it meant, after undergoing his tempering. He had been able to move faster, to fight harder and there was more power in his skills when he wielded them. Jazmel was able to fight on par with tier III creatures and beasts alone; not without difficulty. But this was something that by rights of the system he should not be able to do. Tier III beasts were considered a variation of ranker tier, named versions were mutated and considered at the higher ceiling of ranker tier. Jazmel was currently only a tier I ranker, but he was able to fight on part with those that were equal to tier III. Jazmel had only fought the beasts, monsters, and creatures of the labyrinth. Luckily, he had not had to turn his blade against other seekers, so he was unsure as to just how powerful he actually was. But after he defeated Uter, the revenant knight. With the help of his faction members, he had been rewarded with his heart and body finding harmony which strengthened him but also changed his race! Jazmel was human, he felt it deep into his core. But he also noticed there was a change, something more substantial sat deep inside him and he felt the weight of it, the weight of the change. He had only shared it with Sad¨¦ as Tango and Baek were out of the outpost, but that didn¡¯t change that he was curious about it too. It had been almost five months since the attack on the outpost, they had buried their dead. Healed their wounds and repaired the damages to the outpost. Those who had survived had grown stronger, some had even undergone tier tribulations from the rewards they gained from the system and the loot taken from the corpses they recovered from the monsters that had attacked. After two weeks of holding up in the outpost, the retainers had been hit with a system task of discovering the domain beyond the lake, a bridge had been fashion of perma-ice and let them cross the lake to the other side where the attack force made up of supernatural beings had come from. On the other side they found a dungeon beneath a mountain and a gorge that was so deep, even Jazmel ¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t perceive its end. The task went out and seekers hurried out to discover what they could and gain as many rewards as they could. Sad¨¦ had been motivated and was one of the first to head over to the new domain. The first thing she did was go alone; well with Kazumi and when she came back she bore a satchel of monster cores from tier II and tier III that she had slain. But Jazmel could see it on her, her stats were growing rapidly, and he found himself almost curious to see how tempering would affect her, she was close to 100 in her stats, and he knew she was pushing for them, trying to catch up to him. He thought about her here in the safety of his room where he wouldn¡¯t be caught staring at her in a daze.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. She was beautiful, she always had been. From the first moment he had seen her he had been enamoured by her, but he hadn¡¯t said a word. She had been a stranger, but she had stuck with him from the first floor and now after almost a year, and dozens of floors and gates. They had become a super pairing. They hadn''t really spoken about what had seemed to grow between them. their hadn''t been a need, but he felt like he knew she liked him back or felt something towards him. they hadn''t kissed since that time and every time he felt himself building to want to do it, he grew shy and awkward. He groaned to himself; this was too difficult. Surviving the labyrinth was hard enough, but the maze of the heart? it was impossible. He moved over and found a better place to slouch, doing his best to not disturb Paldane who was curled up at the other end of the settee and blowing smoke through his nostrils as he napped. Paldane had grown after consuming the moon dragon scale, his own scales were thicker, more durable and the blackened blue scales that ran along his back were deep blue; they were almost the same colour as Jazmel¡¯s eyes and he wondered if that had anything to do with him, or the companion bond they shared. He opened the window to let air in but also to allow an exit for Paldane if he wanted to leave. Jazmel himself, rose up and decided to find food in the dining hall. He left the room, closing it quietly behind him and moved down the two flights to the dining room, it was early afternoon, 11 something? His body clock had been destroyed after he realised that each gate and floor was literally their own world. His perception of time had been remoulded so many times now the only way he knew what was happening was, he slept so he knew a new day started. He sat down and ate quickly, eggs and some beef sausages that he really liked. He had never enjoyed the taste of pork growing up and the hogs he had seen in the labyrinth were all mutated and large enough to gore a man clean through. He veered away from that food tray, he poured himself some tea and drank deeply, he could smell the keen leaves of the tea bag; his senses were that peak now and he enjoyed it even more; revelling in the taste. He had been bored, flexing his shoulders after finishing his plate. He brought it to the dirty dish trolley and emptied the scraps there. Before leaving the room, he headed down to the chamber hall and bumped into Sad¨¦ who had clearly been looking for him. ¡°I need to return home!¡± she told him, and he asked her why suddenly worried. She flashed a smile; affectionately placing a hand on his arm. ¡°My mother has requested an audience with me, I will not be gone long. But I need to go now, I will be fine, I am going to take Kazumi with me.¡± She explained and he smiled, Kazumi was almost as strong as a seeker tier. He wasn¡¯t worried after hearing that. ¡°I hope everything is fine, take something from the stores as a gift from us. If you need anything else, message me.¡± He said; flashing her a smile, she smiled back gratefully and let her hand stay on his arm for a little while longer. She darted off and left him, he took each step slowly and entered the chamber hall. ¡°Greetings faction leader.¡± AI said and Jazmel greeted her back. He looked over the system screen for the faction and then when he saw nothing was wrong and everything was going well, he sighed and then decided he would enter the labyrinth alone. After all, he still needed to grow; levelling up in a group of powerful rankers was never going to be easy. Especially if they were going to have to face powerful bosses like the hydra and the knight of the revenant dragon. Though the rewards were great, the risks were equal. ¡°AI I am going into the labyrinth; tell Mary and Patton I will be gone for a while.¡± He bid her and it winked out as it disappeared to find them both. He checked his storage ring, and his mind link showed him all that he had inside, he was running low on potions, but he needed to buy new ones anyway. He would replace them with higher tier versions and also sell his items. He pulled his swords from his ring and tucked them into his belt. Are you coming? He sent to Paldane mentally in their mind; they communicated like this often and Paldane who could speak vocally, chose to send a burst of excitement to Jazmel as he dived from the window. Jazmel left the tower and walked across the courtyard, when he made it to the front gates which were guarded by two of his retainers. They saluted him, fists slamming against their chests. He mirrored them and left through the open gate. Paldane glided over him and landed next to him into a short run, he hadn''t learned to fly and land gracefully yet, but he was learning. Paldane was about the size of a dog now, his back reaching Jazmel ¡¯s thigh now. They walked down the short walk towards the gate; the open swirling portal into the labyrinth. Jazmel sighed and then stepped through; into the unknown. Book 4 Chapter Two; Solo Levelling Jazmel stepped through into an open expanse of land, he was at the entrance of a mighty gorge and when he scanned around he saw no signs of life but that didn¡¯t truly mean that there were no beings around him. many creatures had abilities to hide themselves, even from someone like himself with Mana sensitive senses, but it was fine. He had his swords, and he was capable. DING! EXPLORE THE GORGE! The system chimed to life, and he did as it bid, strolling into the unknown. The sun hung high above he and Paldane, but it wasn¡¯t blistering like when he was last in a desert gate. The sun shone down, but his tyrant body seemed to be able to dominate the elements also. He smiled a little but bit it back, focusing on his surroundings. He had learned that if he flexed his Mana and expanded it, he could covered the area with it, and it was in tune with his senses. Allowing him to feel or hear something as soon as it neared him. It helped that Paldane was soaring above him lazily letting the wind torrents keep him above Jazmel, his shadow covered him, and Jazmel was a little glad for it. They travelled like that for an hour, and then two and then finally three before they made it deeper into the gorge and Jazmel perceived his first sense of life. DING! TIER II GORGE GIANTS AHEAD! DEFEAT THEM! Jazmel felt his heart thrum like an engine and his body tensed with the preparedness of oncoming battle, the gorge snaked along like an ancient, emptied river and when it veered to the right he followed its course, turning into a giant campsite, with fire burning and giants fixing themselves a meal of some sort. When he spotted them, they spotted him in turn and roared their challenge. But he wasn¡¯t hesitant at all, he welcomed the challenge. Leaping forward he bound across the distance between them quickly and as they scrambled to gather their weapons; clubs and shodden timber crudely made into arms. He was already in amongst them his sword was out and Nozarashi never wavered, this was one of the first swords he had ever bought. Tier I but still sharp, he would need to buy a new one, Nozarashi wasn¡¯t strong enough for him anymore and he needed to replace his weapons and garments to match his new strength. Lacerate! He slashed twice his skill flying through the air and smashing into the side of the head of one of the giants, he crouched and bounced into the air again, leaping till he was by the head of his next giant. Cleave! He cut the head off, Nozarashi sang through the neck and bone with no resistance, and he felt the system sing for him as gained more experience DING! TIER II GORGE GIANT KILLED EXP ACCRUED! He spun in the air, as a club swung past him and narrowly missed him. if that had hit him, he would¡¯ve been knocked flying. But he had seen it coming and so averted, as he descended from his jump, he stabbed his sword into the shoulder of the nearest giant and then dragged his blade down in his descent, blood spurted from the fissure he created, and the giant roared from the pain. The club swung for him again and he ducked down and rolled from the body of the giant, the club hit the other giant in the head and teeth burst from its mouth; still bloodied and attached to parts of gum. He watched it fall and turned to watch the giant who had been swinging the club turn to him and stare him down with nothing but wrath in its eyes. He felt nothing, no pressure or even doubt. He simply prepared for the rush and raised his sword. The giant rushed at him, raising its club above its head, but Jazmel was quicker, deftly so. LacerateReading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. He sent the skill at the undefended face of the last giant, and he watched as the crisscrossed scar appeared and blood burst from its face. It let go of the club with one hand and reached for its face. Paldane appeared and spewed fire into its eyes from his height. The dragon roared and veered off higher into the sky. Jazmel watched as the giant fell to its knees, defeated but not dead. Without a skill, he slashed his blade up with only Mana and slit its throat. It died, blood pouring from its neck and face. DING! TIER II GORGE GIANT KILLED! EXP ACCRUED ¡­ TIER II GORGE GIANT GALL BLADDER GAINED What would he do with a gall bladder? Just as he turned he watched as Paldane roared fire down on the fallen giant who had been hit by the miss swing of the club. DING! TIER II GORGE GIANT KILLED! EXP ACCRUED COMPANION; PALDANE HAS GAINED A LEVEL LEVEL UP! That was good, two more levels and he would evolve. Sad¨¦ had told him about what had happened to Kazumi, he wondered just how big Paldane would grow. His species said dragon and so he could grow much larger, maybe Jazmel could even ride him. he pictured himself riding a dragon inside the labyrinth and almost laughed aloud. But he didn¡¯t, he kept it quiet. He hadn''t gained any stats from that fight; three giants weren¡¯t enough to push his stats enough for him to grow. That was news to him, but he wasn¡¯t worried. He pushed forward, the camp was little more than a fire and a big chunk of meat from some beast that Jazmel didn¡¯t know. Being roasted over an open flame. Paldane landed on the meat and tore a chunk free, guzzling it down, he tore free more pieces and Jazmel scanned the camp, finding nothing. They moved on and he found himself travelling in silence and alone besides the soaring companion of Paldane who floated high above him. he travelled along the gorge for another hour or so before Paldane reached out to him. Enemies ahead! That was enough for him to focus, he drew his flared Mana in and let it settle into his core. He ran along the gorge, and it veered to the left this time and he wondered how the water had emptied this place, the river would have been deep. Deep enough for deep waters, but he followed its path all the same. DING! TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FOUND! Rock salamanders earned their thick coats from the rock gems they ate as hatchlings, now they are made up of the same substance. They hunt in packs and eat anything they can find, even smaller salamanders. They were thick and sturdy looking, thick in the neck and short limbed but big, much bigger than any salamander Jazmel had ever seen before. They were as long as a man was tall and he wondered just how they had grown so big, maybe they hatched below ground and only came up when they had grown. He looked over at the salamanders lounging in the gorge, it had veered and now it descended lower. He was higher than them and so they hadn''t seen him yet, he would use that for sure. He crouched low, his dense mass almost crushing the ground and then jumped; no leapt into the air and when he was just about to descend he drew his sword; Nozarashi and screamed his skill. Fall of the black raven! The lounging salamanders turned and crooned their necks to try and get a look at him, but he crashed into the ground like a meteorite from the heavens and the Mana erupted amongst the unsuspecting beasts. DING! SKILL TIER EVOLVED! FALL OF THE BLACK RAVEN NOW TIER II X23 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDERS KILLED! ¡­ EXP ACCRUED! Not even a level for killing 23 of them, he sighed. DING! X3 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER CORE X4 TIER II ROCK CORE X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN X2 TIER II SALAMANDER BEAST CORE He looked over his loot and Paldane landed beside him whining, he rolled his eyes and tossed the two beast cores for him to snack on. Paldane snapped them up and Jazmel saw his Mana core bolster with the new addition. Beware! Paldane uttered leaping back into the air, Jazmel took his warning and leapt into the air and bounding up the side of the wall, he found further purchase and his eyes picked out a nook, he jumped up and stabbing his sword into the cliff face he wrenched it free and used the momentum to jump into the nook. Just as the ground rumbled and moaned as something beneath it burst forth and swallowed the ground and the corpses of the salamanders where Jazmel had been a mere moment ago. DING! TIER III GROUNDBREAKING WURM FOUND! Wurms delve deep into the underground of the world and rarely come up, they are sightless and hunt through vibrating whiskers. This creature was huge, gigantic and it dwarfed the three headed hydra by substantial size it rose up from beneath the ground, its head high above the gorge and then it slunk back below. The ground caving in on itself where it had burst free and hiding its exit. Jazmel shuddered to think what else could be down there, if Wurms of that size were beneath the ground, what else could be there. The nook he stood in was actually a tunnel, it was a tight fit and when he delved deeper, he heard Paldane land at the entrance and crawl in. he entered deeper and soon followed the path it set out, there was no way he was going backwards. DING! YOU EXPLORED THE GORGE! ¡­ EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ YOU FOUND AN ANCIENT ENTRANCE! EXP ACCRUED!! Book 4 Chapter Three; Dwarven Metropolis Jazmel had been inside the tunnel for a little less than an hour when the system popped up ahead of him. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND THE DWARVEN METROPOLIS! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ YOU HAVE FOUND IT VIA ONE OF THE OLD WAYS EXP ACCRUED! That was interesting, but he would take extra exp any way he could. The tunnel opened up into a wide cavern, it was much bigger than that, but he didn¡¯t know the word for it and so settled. It was indeed a metropolis, it was bigger than any city he had ever been in, it dwarfed Orevalor by such size he wondered if the pyramid that Orevalor was built under could actually fit here. this mega city was bigger than anything Jazmel had seen thus far. Pools of lava made up what could only be considered a moat of some definition. It encircled the metropolis and three thick bridges built across the expanse from each different direction, Jazmel found himself walking along the northern one, Paldane had disappeared into his ring as soon as the city came into view, a dragon would draw attention and Jazmel didn¡¯t want that right now. The bridge was wide enough for three wagons to cross side by side, he was walking in the centre of the bridge following the flow of traffic of people who were heading into the labyrinth, he saw other races. Dwarves of course, humans, gnomes; smaller people who were not as burly as dwarves, but they seemed to enjoy the same things such as mining and tinkering; they were little engineers, so their items told him anyway. He even saw some hulking creatures that he only knew from myths, their curled horns protruding from their heads, Minotaur¡¯s so strong that he could feel the weight of their Mana just by glancing at them. He entered the city at the small cost of 20 gold coins, he was down to just 4 gold coins. He needed to find a store and sell his wares as soon as possible. The metropolis was huge, he found himself almost lost. He stepped off to the side to not be swamped in the flow of the crowds moving around with direction and purpose. He scanned the signs and to his glee; though the language was different the system translated for him. the first he found was an apothecary and he hurried into it.Stolen story; please report. ¡°Hello, hello!¡± the small dwarf said as he came in; announced by the bell on the door. ¡°Hello.¡± Jazmel offered with a smile. ¡°I want to buy some potions, but they need to be better than tier I, those are not strong enough for me anymore.¡± Jazmel explained and the dwarf nodded, understanding. ¡°Ranker now?¡± he asked, and Jazmel nodded. ¡°Come, come let me see what I have.¡± The dwarf offered, turning back to the counter, and climbing up onto a stall. He pulled out a potion, a health potion which was darker red than the ones Jazmel currently carried, and he could see that the Mana incorporated in it was much stronger. ¡°this is a tier II health potion; I don¡¯t know the depth of your health. But this will do double the work of a tier I potion.¡± He explained and that told Jazmel everything he needed to know. ¡°I will take 10 health, 10 stamina and 10 Mana if you have them.¡± he asked, and the dwarf pulled them from the shelf behind him onto the counter. ¡°300 white gold coins please.¡± Jazmel heard and winced, he didn¡¯t have enough white gold coins and so he pulled 1 platinum coin out instead, the dwarf smiled and took them up and put them in his register after giving Jazmel his change. ¡°Where can I sell my wares?¡± he asked, and the dwarf offered his own counter. ¡°What do you have?¡± the dwarf asked. Jazmel thought for a moment and then pulled out all the things he had from the fjord and glacial plains. The dwarf grinned at him and started offering his amounts. He left the store with 10 platinum coins, and he felt a little better regarding his selling of his wares, he had all those beast cores too. He was going to sell them as soon as he found another store to buy them. He looked at the signs again and found an alchemist and entered it to see what wares he could find here. This storekeeper was an elf, elegant and tall. She bowed low when she saw Jazmel and when he asked if she would buy his beast cores, she welcomed him into the store. ¡°Can I see them?¡± she asked, and he nodded, before pulling the cores, the monster ones and beast cores from his rings. She covered her whispered gasp with a deft hand, and he lowered his head to hide his smile. ¡°Can I buy them all from you?¡± she asked, and he nodded, offering them all to her. ¡°Make me an offer.¡± He said and she smiled before peering over the cores and gasping at the tier II and tier III differences. ¡°35.¡± She said and he waited for her to speak again. ¡°35 platinum coins for them all.¡± She said and he agreed, they shook on it, and she pulled the coins from one of her rings and then left them on the table for him to take them up himself. He did and felt the clink in his ring as they appeared. ¡°Can I ask a favour?¡± he said, after their business had been concluded. ¡°Anything.¡± She said with a beautiful grin. ¡°Where can I go to find weapons?¡± he asked, and she smiled at him again. ¡°To sell or buy?¡± she offered, and he said both. She directed him to the side of the metropolis where the forges had been built close to the lava to smelt the metals. He thanked her and left. Book 4 Chapter Four; Swords and Sourcing The heat was growing; sweltering and he felt sweat on his back and chest. But that just drove him on, he knew he was headed in the right direction. He heard the hammering next and that alone made him smile the forges sang with metal and the anvils rang like entrance bells. He walked into the busiest forge and found a burly dwarf as broad as Frae but much greyer in the beard. ¡°How can I help you son?¡± the dwarf said, the words had stumped him. nobody called him son, but he was shocked that someone so much shorter than him could say it to him. ¡°Hi, I am looking to sell some weapons I found.¡± The dwarf rumbled a response, but Jazmel didn¡¯t hear it inside his muffled beard. ¡°Show me what you got then!¡± he said much louder, and Jazmel reached into his ring and pulled out the hobgoblins sabre and the dwarf whistled. ¡°that was made very well, goblin right?¡± he whistled, Jazmel handed it over and he took it squinting down the length and perceiving the straight edge. Jazmel confirmed it and he placed it on a bench and looked at Jazmel waiting for the next one. Jazmel pulled out the demonic cleaver and the dwarf hissed. ¡°I hate cursed items.¡± He placed it on the bench and then shook his hand as if it had been burnt. Jazmel showed him the unnamed short sword and the dwarf eyed it and after checking the balance he placed it beside the others. ¡°That everything?¡± Jazmel nodded; he didn¡¯t have anything else he wanted to currently share. ¡°I will take the lot for 50 platinum coins and not a penny more!¡± he grumbled, and Jazmel took it, he didn¡¯t have a good idea of what they would cost but he was simply happy to earn so much. The dwarf gave him a slip and when Jazmel placed it in his ring, the coins appeared immediately. That was new, he thought to himself. ¡°Now, where can I buy swords?¡± Jazmel asked, the dwarf eyed Nozarashi and Yoru no Tsubasa at his side and then jerked with his head to a shop front across the way. Jazmel thanked him but he had already turned back to start perusing the weapons he had just bought. Jazmel crossed the walkway and entered the shopfront, looking to see if he could find a sword good enough for him to continue into the labyrinth for. He stepped into the shop, and he felt the ambient Mana cooler than outside right next to the forges. He looked at the door and saw that Mana stones had been built into the frame and he could see wards were pooling cold air into the shop. ¡°The air keeps it cool in here, so customers can stay looking and shopping for longer.¡± A voice in the back laughed and Jazmel looked up to see an older dwarf sitting in a lounge chair watching him. he was old, his beard wasn¡¯t even grey; it was silvery white, and Jazmel wondered how old he might be.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°I am looking to buy a sword.¡± Jazmel asked and the man motioned to the racks. ¡°Have a look and see what you fancy.¡± He offered and Jazmel did just that, he looked through the rows and racks. But Jazmel couldn¡¯t see anything that great, one of them was strong but it was tier I and he couldn¡¯t see that it was any greater than Nozarashi Jazmel looked around, his eyes reading the Mana from all the swords that were in the racks. But he saw nothing that he liked. ¡°Nothing suits you?¡± the dwarf said, and Jazmel turned to notice he had moved from the lounge chair and approached him. ¡°All I have hear are Seeker and Ranker tier, I cannot share master tier with you just yet. The system will not allow it.¡± the wizened dwarf uttered, but then Jazmel felt a little defeated and was worried about moving forward. He then turned to leave after thanking the dwarf, who coughed and drew Jazmel ¡¯s attention. ¡°I have one sword that you might be able to work.¡± Jazmel looked at him and then gestured to show him. ¡°This sword is temperamental. I do not show it to everyone.¡± He uttered and pulled from the very personal ring he had on his thumb. The sword was fierce, that¡¯s the feeling Jazmel got from the sword. the dwarf barked a laugh and watched Jazmel intently. ¡°You feel that?¡± he said, and Jazmel wondered what he was feeling. ¡°They say the roar of a dragon was trapped in the sword and that¡¯s why it¡¯s so strong. Its only tier II but the sword is unruly.¡± The dwarven owner said and slowly handed the sword over to Jazmel . The sheath was sky grey, dull, and metallic but when he grabbed hold of it, he could tell it was simple leather, soft but not supple. Jazmel was surprised how calm the sword felt in the sheath. He could feel the strength of the sword, but he wouldn¡¯t know how strong it would be until he drew it. ¡°Take it and try your mettle.¡± The dwarf said and Jazmel pulled it free. He felt the strength of the blade immediately. In his mind the dragon roared; bellowed deeply into his mind and he struggled under its will. SONG OF THE DRAGON IS BATTLING THE WILL OF THE SWORD OF DRAGON MOVEMENT! WILLS ARE CLASHING! Jazmel struggled as this battle occurred in his mind and he winced in pain, the sounds bounced around his mind, and he felt it tearing. Struggling under the pressure he was reeling, and he felt himself fall in the store but not when he tried to grab onto anything. But Jazmel struggled and then he felt as the song quelled the roaring, the wailing of the dragon. DING! YOU HAVE QUELLED THE WILL OF THE SWORD! THE SPIRIT HAS RESTED ITS QUARREL ¡­ TIER II SWORD DAISHINKAN THE GREAT MOVING DRAGON HAS BEEN EARNED ¡­ Jazmel took the sword and before slipping it into his belt, he turned to the dwarf and asked immediately. ¡°How much?¡± the dwarf smiled. ¡°11 platinum coins, the spirit alone is stronger than the tier.¡± He said and in truth Jazmel agreed with him regarding the strength of the sword. He handed over the coins and putting Nozarashi away and beside Yoru No Tsubasa in his ring, he placed Daishinkan into his belt and after thanking the owner, he made his way back out and headed away from the forges. Book 4 Chapter Five; a Child of the Forest Sad¨¦ always missed the forest when she had been away, and she hadn''t been home in almost a year. The trees swathed with the wind and the Teneriel forest was trapped in a permanent summer. The scents of the forest were a perfume to her, and she revelled in them. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go home.¡± She said to Kazumi who was walking beside her, silently and lithe through the forest. The gate had brought her much closer to the front gates than usual and that disturbed her a little. She hadn''t been in the forest more than 10 minutes before she was greeted by a troop contingent of guards in plate armour bearing the flag of the moonflower household. ¡°Who are you? ¡­ My lady, we did not recognise you and your ¡­ pet.¡± The captain said. ¡°I was summoned by my mother, why are you patrolling captain?¡± she asked and the recognised the mood changed. ¡°We are to welcome the other visitors; you should discuss this with your mother.¡± He told her and with a curt nod, he led his troop to patrol further, and she walked towards the opened gates and entered her home. The moonflower clan were well known for their strength and longevity. They had been avid members of the labyrinth, Seekers, Rankers and their two master tier elders were of renown. She had grown up beneath their banners and learned under their tutelage. In truth she was as close to a princess outside of the title alone. She hated the looks she got growing up, having all this status and being only half elf. The other children had never made fun of her, their dignity as nobles were too high for that. But they always shared their distaste for her and in the presence of her father, they did not hide their dislikes. She stroked Kazumi¡¯s fur and looked up at the mammoth trees that the clan had made their homes out of. She had barely even considered where to begin searching for her mother when she heard a ruffle to the side and saw the bear of a man; her father rushing towards her to give her a hug. ¡°Dad!¡± she hugged him, and he swept her up, spinning her like a child. She hated and loved when he did that, but she wouldn¡¯t say anything to him about it. ¡°My little pea.¡± His nickname for her. ¡°What are you doing here and alone, well not alone.¡± He looked at Kazumi who simply stared back. ¡°I was summoned by mother, but I have a lot to share too.¡± She said with a smile and a peck on the cheek for her father. ¡°I thought you would have brought your boyfriend.¡± He said, placing her down gently. She slapped at him playfully and he winced feigning pain. ¡°I don¡¯t know of who you are speaking of.¡± She said and he grew serious. ¡°When you speak like your mother it reminds me just how much you two are alike.¡± He smiled and then led the way, heading to their home. ¡°I am like both my parents actually.¡± She said, linking his arm. Kazumi followed closely behind, comfortable to just follow her companion. When they reached their home she found more guards at the door, they didn¡¯t move when they noticed her and as she passed them to enter. She could tell they were Ranker tier at least.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Guards?¡± she quizzed her father and he nodded, not explaining anything. She moved into the house. Can¡¯t come. Kazumi whispered into her mind and looking back she saw that Kazumi would not fit into the house. ¡°You will have to stay; you are too big.¡± Sad¨¦ said, a little perplexed. I will enter. Kazumi sent again and with a flash of fire, she had shrunk down to the size of a fox again, her pristine white fur not even signed as she padded into the house, the guards watched her for a second and then went back to guarding. Sad¨¦ entered the house and turned into the living quarters to see her mother. Her mother rose up from the meditative sitting she had been and rose up to hug her daughter. Her mother had changed, she could feel it. Her mother had always been powerful, one of the most powerful elders in the moonflower clan and now the pressure she was releasing was completely different. ¡°You underwent a tier tribulation!¡± she screamed and hugged her mother, her mother the master tier. ¡°I did.¡± She said, holding her daughter with ease. ¡°So you are now a master tier?¡± she said, and her mother smiled and nodded, she felt so powerful. Not like Baek who a master was also, he was at peace with his power. Quieter and refined, her mother felt like a sea raging beneath the waves. ¡°So did you call me back for a party?¡± she asked, and her mother smiled again but shook her head. ¡°Yes and no, you know as a clan the system provides us a measure of authority and strength, well we gain rewards for our achievements and endeavours. Well we have hit another achievement and as such, we are now about transform.¡± She explained to Sad¨¦, who in truth did not realise what her mother was trying to tell her. ¡°The system has responsibilities for clans and guilds, I am sure you have the same tasks for your faction?¡± her father explained, and she smiled at him remembering that she had joined the faction. ¡°Well one of the clan tasks were for all the elders to become masters. Your mother has just become the final one and the task has been completed.¡± He told her and he smiled a little. ¡°So what will the reward be?¡± she asked, and her mother and father shared a look, something unsaid was shared between them. ¡°I gained some stat points to share between my stats, also I gained a weapon of tier III rank. But the clan gained a reward also.¡± She explained and Sad¨¦ could almost hear her heart thumping in her chest. ¡°Your clan has been rewarded with the upgrade to a kingdom. The moonflower clan will become the kingdom of the Teneriel forest.¡± Her mother said finally and Sad¨¦ felt her stomach flip. ¡°What does that mean for me? Why did you summon me?¡± she asked, and her mother looked at her father, the two had been sharing silent looks for a while into this conversation. ¡°Well the other elders are quiet old, preferring seclusion and staying out of the spotlight. It has been offered to us, it has been decided by the clan elders and other voice of opinion. That I am to be made queen, so as an extension. You will be princess to the kingdom.¡± Her mother explained in full and Sad¨¦ felt herself swoon. DING! PRINCESS OF THE ELVEN REALM! AS A DENIZEN OF ROYAL ACCOLADE YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH A BUFF 3% TO ALL STATS! The system pinged into view, and she scanned the notification for a moment before flicking it away and turning to her parents. ¡°What does that mean for me and my faction? I cannot leave it.¡± she said, and her mother shook her head and waved her words away. ¡°We would never ask that of you. We just ask that you adhere to the system and what it asks of all of us now.¡± She offered. ¡°What does that mean mother?¡± her words were a little curt, but she was emotional, she didn¡¯t want to leave her friends, she didn¡¯t want to leave him. ¡°I wish to provide you with two guards, retainers if you will. We are not sure how this announcement will affect other kingdoms and clans, so we want to better prepare for it.¡± her mother stated and Sad¨¦ had to admit, it made sense. ¡°I already have a retainer, she is training and working her way up. She should be a tier II or III seeker by now.¡± Sad¨¦ said but her mum cut through her words with a slice of her hand. ¡°She will not be enough. I will provide two retainers who will function as your guards while you are away. This will be up until the coronation.¡± She said and her tone alone told Sad¨¦ there was no point fighting. She sighed and felt the soft warmth of Kazumi who was laying at her feet. She settled down and stroked her fur. This was going to be a long day. Book 4 Chapter Six; All Eyes on Me Jazmel had been walking around the dwarven metropolis and was happy to sightsee as he was, Paldane mewled to be let out, but he wasn¡¯t comfortable with him being out. Not in this place at least. To be honest, Jazmel was ready to begin looking for the exit. He needed to stretch his legs and hunt. He needed to assess his new sword and refill his storage with items. He had sold all his valuables and now he almost felt light. He made to leave back across the same bridge, but it was blocked. Wagons had somehow crashed and blocked the walkways as people tried to help them, so he turned back, quickly before the city grew busy with traffic of seekers and rankers trying to leave the city. He headed north and towards the other bridge that he was closest, he spotted her before she noticed that he was aware she was following him. Mana was moving around her in a weird way, it was like she was adding it to others and when he watched, he could see that she was keeping track of those she ¡®marked¡¯ and other seekers where heading off and following those she had ¡®marked¡¯ with her Mana. She was looking through the crowds and she glanced at Jazmel, he caught her eye and looked away. But when he looked back she was looking at him, a smile spread across her face, and he knew she had noticed him. Her crooked nose almost curled down, and he cursed beneath his breath that she noticed him. He didn¡¯t stop moving along the bridge and he knew to give the woman a wide berth. His hand strayed down to his sword, and he kept moving even as he noticed her partners begin to try and pen him in. ¡°Hey kid.¡± The woman said and he stopped slowly, looking at her. ¡°What.¡± He said and she sneered. ¡°Nice eyes you got there, nice enough to see what I was doing right?¡± she asked, and he watched her, try, and mark him with her Mana, he flared his own and buffed hers away from him. ¡°Oh wow, we got a strong one here lads.¡± She said as her friends pushed in closer, Jazmel didn¡¯t wait for them to reach him. he rushed the first two and with a punch to the gut and an elbow to the side of the head. they crumbled, he vaulted over the body and ran into the crowd. Hurrying out of the undergrown metropolis. He heard the others thumbling around to catch up to him, but he was just too swift. He literally glided through the crowds, his domineering tyrant body forcing him through the small gaps and the quick motions of the people.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Jazmel looked back and scanned the crowd; he caught sight of the women. Her eyes bloodshot with wrath and anger. But he wasn¡¯t worried about her if she did manage to catch him. he would manage her; he passed one of the first people he had noticed her leaving her mark on. He didn¡¯t know how to remove it, but he made sure she was aware, it was an older woman. Someone who wasn¡¯t even a seeker. She thanked him and he slipped away unseen and followed the bridge out of the city and deeper into the caverns. After almost an hour of uphill travelling he caught his first glimpse of the sun, a blue sky and a yellow spun. He smiled a little and was determined to escape the tunnel as fast as he could. He knew he had made it when Paldane bounded from his ring and veered into the sky like a black-blue bolt and opened his wings as he ascended to let the winds catch him and haul him into the sky. Jazmel lipped the entrance of the tunnel and found that he was not in the gorge anymore, but had come out into rocky terrain, which was just the beginning. He could see further down and that led into a valley that spread out vastly; trees, plains, and grasslands as far as the eye could see and even further; as Jazmel could see. The sight was breathtaking, it was not for the first time that he had found the floors the gate allowed them to pass through as beautiful sights. DING! YOU HAVE DISCOVERED THE VALE OF PELLUS! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT OF ENTRY! ¡­ YOU HAVE BEEN OFFERED WELCOME TO THE LANDS OF MIRETE! +2 VIT +2 PER +1 INT Just for getting an entrance opportunity he was gaining stats, he was in awe, and he wondered just how amazing the lands of Mirete must be, he had a plot from them. all he had to do was complete it and he wondered what he would gain. DING! ¡­ YOU MAY BRING ALONG TWO REPRESENTATIVES! WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE? He thought about all of his friends and at first he considered Baek, but he thought it better to choose those who had not heard of it or knew of his plot. he settled on the two he thought would be the most advantageous. ¡°Yes.¡± He spoke to the system, and it whirred in response. SUBMIT THEIR NAMES! He did, and the system pulled their names into it, and he watched as two links were sent to them instantaneously and then the system peeled back and then opened a gateway for him to step through. This hadn''t happened before; he had always had to physically find a gate. But this was interesting to him, nonetheless. Paldane descended and bounded in before he could even restrain him. he stepped into the black gate of the system screen and into the unknown. Book 4 Chapter Seven; the Marvels of Mirete As soon as he stepped through he was in a forest. Forest was the word he could use but it somehow felt insufficient. Many words came to mind as he looked about him, but he was not articulate enough to describe what he could see well. A serene peace enveloped the entire domain of Mirete the trees were perfection, strong trunks of indomitable youth, the green of their leaves were perfect; dark and healthy. The shrubs that grew around the roots were bountiful with berries and even from where he stood he could smell their ripeness. ¡°Where have you brought me?¡± he heard and to his left Elai appeared, she was carrying her staff and since the attack on the outpost; one of her rewards was a witch hat, she now wore. Apparently it helped reduce Mana waste and so she had grown used to using it when she wielded her spells. ¡°Where are we?¡± to his right, Sad¨¦ stepped into the forest too and took a moment to take in all that he had also studied. ¡°I was invited to Mirete, and I was allowed to bring two representatives.¡± He explained, Sad¨¦ nodded, and he knew she remembered his plot. while Elai simple grinned and thanked him immensely. ¡°Though I am surprised you picked me, I am grateful. Thank you so much.¡± She thanked him and he simply inclined his head, kindly. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE DOMAIN OF MIRETE! NOT ALL WHO COME ARE WELCOMED! NOT ALL WHO ENTER DESERVE IT!! ¡­ YOU HAVE BEEN WELCOMED AND YOU EARNED IT ¡­ NOW PROVE YOUR METTLE! The system silently screamed at him, and he watched the notices flit across his field of vision as the system seemed to begin warning him about oncoming doom. Rumbling could be heard through the forest and Jazmel looked around but couldn¡¯t perceive anything. His eyes saw Mana in everything and right now the forest was so full of Mana it was blocking his sight; acting as camouflage for whatever was approaching them. ¡°Get ready!¡± he said, and the girls drew close to him, and he stood ready, braced. He drew Daishinkan and waited on the balls of his feet; ready to pounce on whatever came for them. ¡°I hit them, Sad¨¦ you do your worst. Elai make sure you pick your strikes.¡± He said, he didn¡¯t turn to look but he knew the girls would follow his words. Paldane burst from his ring, and he asked him to watch over Elai while they fought. Will protect you all. Paldane said and Jazmel smiled. He was ready for whatever came through the forest at them or so he had thought. It burst through and it was bigger than Jazmel had thought it might have been, it was a bear. Or it might have been once. It was bigger than any bear Jazmel had seen before. It was thick and its coat was brown like the bark of a tree; beneath its fur he could see the thick muscles that moved the body of this behemoth. But he wasn¡¯t afraid, the bear wasn¡¯t alone. There were smaller bears behind it not as big, but still bigger than the grizzlies Jazmel had seen back on earth. DING! TIER III GREAT GAURDIAN FOUND! A bear that has taken the responsibility of guarding the first gate of the domain. The first gate? Jazmel thought but he didn¡¯t sigh, just prepared for the fight. DING! TIER II URSA GUARDS FOUND! Warriors who patrol the domain and protect the gate! The great guardian roared and rushed forward; he leapt forward to meet it. Fall of the black raven! He crashed his sword into the side of the guardian and to his surprise it knocked it off its feet and sent it sailing to the left. He looked at Daishinkan the sword was heavier than he thought. The weight behind his strike had been tremendous, but in his hands. He felt nothing, no difference at all.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The guardian shook of the strike, and he nodded in admiration. This beast was strong. It roared and Jazmel felt his body tense and almost clench like a fist beneath the pressure of the bellow. DING! THE GREAT GUARDIAN HAS USED RAUCOUS ROAR! YOU HAVE BEEN ENTHRALLED FOR 4 SECONDS!! He found himself in awe, how had he been enthralled. Even with his body and race change, something had been able to pressure him grip him with its dominance. That agitated him and Jazmel struggled under the pressure for the entirety of the four seconds. As soon as they were up, he leapt from the ground, the turf flying up with him and he broke the ground and leapt forward to crash into the great bear of the forest. Fall of the black raven! Lacerate Lacerate! He slung his skills about him, waving his blade through the air and battering the body with the strength of his sword and carved flesh with his skills. Thunderfire! The skill hit the guardian right in the face and it roared as a tooth flew from its mouth. Star stream! Stars made of Mana pelted the bear across the body and Jazmel marvelled at the smell of burning flesh. Elai and Sad¨¦ had made short work of Ursa guards and now they had come to support his fight with the guardian. The bear guardian roared again Jazmel felt the same pressure from before, but his spirit had adapted he could not be quelled, his body wouldn¡¯t allow it. DING! THE GREAT GUARDIAN HAS USED RAUCOUS ROAR! ¡­ YOU HAVE NOT BEEN ENTHRALLED! +2 WIL +1 END He hid a small smile, but concern flooded his face when he saw that the others had been enthralled, the great guardian was bounding over to the side of Elai. He rushed forward and intercepted the guardian as it swiped. He took the strike; parrying with his sword and being sent flying. He crashed into a tree, any other he was sure he would¡¯ve broken it with the force and might of his body. But the trees in Mirete were made of much sterner bark; he hit a tree and collapsed. ¡°Well I am going to feel that later.¡± He grunted to himself, trying to get up before the guardian ambled over to him. Paldane flew above and flames singed the fur of the great guardian. DING! WARNING! FRACTURED SHOULDER (minor) CRACKED SPINE! (minor) HEALTH IS DOWN BY 24% He groaned at the system notices and waved them away, he felt it before it could tell him. He rose up and thought it hurt, he could feel his body pushing itself back into place. The tyrant body was forcing his vitality to work harder and allow him to move. Star stream! Falling stars! Star stream! Stars of different shades and shapes; formed of Mana were cast repeatedly and hurled at the great guardian. They hit him like small bombs and exploded as soon as he neared them, knocking it into the others and blowing them up further. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ appeared above the thick square head of the guardian. She cast her skill directly at the top of its head and slammed it down on its lower jaw; Jazmel winced as he saw a fleshy piece of gibbet fall from its mouth. He looked at it and saw that it was its tongue, the guardian was hurt, the attacks had torn its flesh and ruin its thick coat. Lacerate! Cleave! ¡­ Sunder! Jazmel said and each skill did more damage than the last, until he used sunder, and the skill broke the great guardian, killing it, cutting through its head, and splitting it down to the neck. It slumped to the ground and thick hot blood pumped from its head. ¡°Everyone alright?¡± he asked, and everyone nodded back. Paldane had appeared and ate the tongue from the floor. ¡°That¡¯s disgusting Paldane.¡± He said and the dragon simply continued chewing. DING! YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE GUARDIAN OF THE FIRST GATE! YOU WILL BE REWARDED GREATLY! ¡­ +3 STR +3 INT +3 DEX ¡­ TIER III GREAT GUARDIAN BEAST CORE GAINED! Jazmel took out the beast core and he could feel the strength of the beast they had just fought. But he flicked it up to Paldane who accepted it and crunched it down. NEW SKILL LEARNED! RAUCOUS ROAR LEARNED! Jazmel had not known that you could learn skills from beast and monster cores, but it seemed companions could. He would ask Sad¨¦ about Kazumi as soon as they could. ¡°How are you ok?¡± he looked over to Elai who was looking at him with concern. ¡°You took that hit dead on; I saw how far you was knocked. How did you survive that and get up so quickly?¡± she asked, and he shrugged. ¡°I am a tyrant.¡± She rolled her eyes, and he sighed as she passed him and accepted his answer. She moved towards the ursa guard she had killed and using her staff she dissected it with Mana, she cut the fur clean off, took the fangs, claws, and beast core. When she noticed Sad¨¦ and Jazmel watching her, she shrugged. ¡°No wasting the spoils.¡± She said and she moved to the great guardian and did the same, Sad¨¦ offered her own spoils, and she did it after. Offering her the loot, Sad¨¦ took the fur and claws but left the fangs to Elai. She fed the beast core to Kazumi, and she cracked it before wolfing it down. ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving, we don¡¯t know what else might happen.¡± He explained and the girls moved forward, he assumed the rear and Kazumi took point. They moved in the direction where the bears had come from and continued further into the domain of Mirete. Book 4 Chapter Eight; Further into the Domain Kazumi led the way through the forest, they had defeated the first guardian and his guards. Now they had passed through his share of the domain and were wary of oncoming assaults. The ¡®gate¡¯ had been a cleared path through a clearing of trees which had been grown in the form of an archway. When they passed through the domain changed immediately. A grove of trees that grew in circles and layered one another in a ringed formation. In the centre a small hill raised and on it, stood the most beautiful hind Jazmel had ever laid his eyes on. He was seeing both its corporeal form and then its ethereal; the Mana coiled into its spirit with ease and Jazmel wondered just how something so beautiful could be only a guardian. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE DOMAIN OF THE SECOND GUARDIAN TIER III GREAT SPIRIT HIND FOUND! Spirit hinds, the ancestors of the woods. Defensive and yet also territorial! The system told him everything he needed to know, the deer was a myriad of shades of green, its coat like dappled leaves and beneath that spirit green. He could see the ambient Mana clinging to its form, keeping it constrained and he had to admit he was in awe of the creature. Its antlers were emerald, the green jewels speared from his head in great prongs like tree branches and he could feel quiet power emanating from it. The hind snorted and pawed the hillock it was on, and Jazmel read it as a challenge. In seconds, the Mana emanating from its antlers, and it reared its head back to propel something into the area above and around. He could see the Mana, but nothing physical could be seen. DING! GREAT SPIRIT HIND HAS USED AURORAL BREACH! ¡­ THE SPIRITS HAVE HEARD THE CALL! Jazmel watched as a myriad of colours formed in Mana appeared above them in the domain and immediately from the breach spirits of all shapes and sizes poured forth. ¡°Spirits!¡± he yelled, and everyone leapt into action. ________ Sad¨¦ moved forward quickly, Kazumi at her side and raging a wildfire as she cast her own skill. Blue flame inferno! The torrent of blue flames burned through the first sprites, and they burst into ambient Mana and nothingness. DING! EXP ACCRUED! Foxfire! Foxfire! Now she was aware that the skill was effective against the spirits, she covered as much of the sky as she could with her blue orbs and then she made them explode.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. DING! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! +3 STR +2 END +2 WIL Her stats were bumped up and she felt the energy of the system, flare in her core. She knew she was growing a little faster after earning her new title. Princess of the elven realm offered her a great chance of earning more stats but also earning a better bounty from her stats. She cast her skill again and watched as she turned different sprites into glittering dust. Greater spirits came through now, their forms more substantial and rigid. Spirits that favoured beasts old and new, prancing around the clearing in a wild hunt, an array of Mana and spirit energy all around. TIER III SPIRIT HIND WREATHES ITSELF IN SPIRIT ENERGY! IT IS PREPARING! ¡­ BEWARE! The system chimed and she didn¡¯t need it to know that something was coming, she watched as Elai cast combusting Mana all around her and the spirits and sprites that charged at her were blown into dust and Mana, the sprites dwindled but the spirits seemed to take a few moments to reform. DING! TIER II SPIRITS HAVE RECOVERED THROUGH THE MANA IN THE AIR Sad¨¦ sighed but didn¡¯t falter, she cast her fire and bombarded the skies, and her blue flames decimated the tier II spirits turning them into flaming kindle and they rained down on them; cinders that smelt sweet and of life. ________ Jazmel watched as Paldane burst through swarming spirits and used his raucous roar and blue flames all about him, Jazmel had a short burst towards the spirit hind. He made sure to use it, rushing forward he bounded through the spirits that tried to block his way. Passing through them felt like being submerged in water for a moment; disorientating but the system soon stopped that feeling. YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE HOLD OF THE HOLLOW! YOUR SPIRIT, MUCH LIKE YOUR BODY IS DOMINEERING! +1 WIL +1 END +1 VIT He almost chuckled, but he was already upon the spirit hind. He raised Daishinkan and brought it down with the upmost speed. The blade struck the antlers first and the din of metal against jewel quirked Jazmel¡¯s ears for a moment. Lacerate He used his skill and knocking the spirit hind¡¯s head out of his way, he averted being struck by the antlers. He was still sore from the great guardian. He didn¡¯t want to suffer again. the great spirit hind shook its head and swung its antlers towards Jazmel again. he evaded but before he could even respond, Sad¨¦ was there. ________ She leapt high into the air and casting her skill down, she rained thunder down. But then she crashed down; stabbing with both short sword and sabre into the neck and throat of the hind. It bellowed, careened a cry that caused Sad¨¦¡¯s own spirit to waver. But it died quickly, and she felt her body incensed with system energy. DING! YOU HAVE KILLED THE TIER III SPIRIT HIND! +3 DEX +3 AGL ¡­ +4 INT YOU HAVE REACHED 100 STATS IN INTELLIGENCE! ¡­ EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! LEVEL UP! ________ Jazmel stood breathing slowly, letting his body try and heal slowly as he watched the system dissolve the spirits and the body of the great spirit hind. DING! YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE SECOND GUARDIAN THE TIER III GREAT SPIRIT HIND HAS BEEN SLAIN! ¡­ ADVANCE INTO THE HALLOWED REALM OF MIRETE ¡­ EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ TIER III ANTLER OF THE SPIRIT HIND GAINED! TIER II SPIRIT ASHES GAINED!! He smiled and silently thanked the system, he watched Elai and Sad¨¦ consider their own rewards, Sad¨¦ was growing quickly he watched her now, she moved with the grace of a dancer now and he found himself entranced. Elai herself had grown considerably; she had always been a powerful mage. He had seen her in action in the demonic castle, she had demonstrated considerable strength when she held the wall during the attack on the outpost. Now she was growing, she had earned significant increase on her Mana stats and now he watched her almost in tune in Mirete, she was wielding her Mana in a completely different way. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡± He uttered and Kazumi accepted the lead again, Paldane soaring above her while the three seekers followed behind. Book 4 Chapter Nine; the Man of Mirete The clearing was much larger than Jazmel had considered, and he realised that Mana had been siphoned into certain parts of the clearing and changed to be wielded in a certain way. DING! YOU HAVE NOTICED THE CLEARING ARRAY! YOU HAVE LEARNED A LITTLE ABOUT ARRAYS!! ¡­ +1 INT +1 PER Just scanning things and noticing them, he could earn stats. That was important to him and now he was going to ensure he tried to notice more things. They array dissolved or shut off and the clearing cleared, it allowed them freedom and once they left they came upon the walls. The high walls of what could¡¯ve been a city, but the walls were so high that Jazmel couldn¡¯t see beyond it. his keen vision told him that there was some sort of barrier in the walls, an array that disrupted perception or even peering past the walls. Jazmel studied them in wonder and smiled at how advanced they were, he wondered if that were something he could have built into the outpost. But he would have to wait and see how far he could move with the black wing faction. ¡°The walls are designed to perfection.¡± Elai uttered beside him, in wonderment. He nodded and smiled as she studied them. ¡°The inscriptions alone are beyond anything I¡¯ve seen in the labyrinth.¡± She uttered and he looked at her curiously. ¡°You can read arrays?¡± he asked, and she nodded but then looked at him in confused surprise. ¡°You can read them too?¡± he shook his head. ¡°I can see them, or I can acknowledge what an array is, beyond that. I don¡¯t have the skill.¡± He shrugged and she smiled. ¡°Oh I forget about your eyes, some gift. I should be jealous, but I mean you do so many impossible things. Which one should I envy first.¡± She barked a laugh, and he couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°When we get back to the black wing faction, we will see about learning what we can about inscriptions and arrays.¡± He offered and she agreed, but scribbled down notes and he assumed they were ideas she got from the walls. Sad¨¦ had been standing beside the great doors of the wall and she stood waiting for Jazmel to come over. when he did she motioned to the doors. ¡°They are barred for anyone but you, it might be because we are simply visitors that you brought along.¡± And he stepped forward and he felt his spirit commune with the grand doors built into the massive walls. DING! GUEST OF THE MIRETE! ¡­A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. EXP ACCRUED! WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE HERE? ¡­ The system had never asked him a true question before, he didn¡¯t know what to do. RESPOND! ¡­ To return the seed of the Mirete! he responded and awaited to see what the system would do. RESPONSE IS ACCEPTABLE! ¡­ QUEST COMPLETE! RETURNING THAT WHICH HAS BEEN LOST! +3 PER +3 INT +3 VIT He shivered as energy shrouded his body and melded into his core. He hadn''t had a quest, only a plot but the system had not alerted him that he had completed his plot. this was confusing but he would take the extra stat points all the time. As the doors opened, turning in on themselves he noticed Sad¨¦ and Elai being shrouded with system energy too, he imagined they were rewarded alongside himself. The barred doors opened and as they opened Jazmel could feel the Mana seeping from behind the door. It was bountiful and dense; he could feel just how special this domain was. He had heard whisperings of Mirete and how it was a gate unlike any others, but he didn¡¯t have any idea as to how he could imagine it. but now before him he could feel it, he hadn''t seen it yet, but he could feel it. The doors opened further and before them stood a knight, a paladin in armour made of leaves and bark but Jazmel could tell from the Mana woven into it. that there was no doubt that it would be stronger than any metal armour he had come across. Beyond the doors were settlements. Buildings of homes carved out of the lower halves of trunks that Jazmel could perceive the life Mana of many people inhabiting them. some were seekers and other strengths but also some were not even seekers, simply denizens of the labyrinth. He looked about in wonder, though he saw no shops or storefronts he noticed people moving around doing tasks of labour, in simple garbs and woven clothing. Mirete seemed to be a simple village, a haven for all and guarded well. But Jazmel had no true ideas as to why. He looked around and saw people enjoying their simple lives and not motivated for the thrill of diving deeper into the labyrinth. It was interesting to see this side of the labyrinth, something that in truth. Added a little peace in his heart. The knight bore a shield and a sword, sheathed on his back but his eyes were upon Jazmel , to his surprise they were similar to his own except rather than blue they were a soft green, like algae. The knight studied him; analysed him and then his two representatives before standing to the side and letting them enter through the space he had been blocking. DING! YOU HAVE STOOD BEFORE A TIER III WILLOW PALADIN! +1 VIT +1 END He nodded at the notification, and it disappeared, how had he gained stats just for being studied, he wondered how strong the willow paladin must be. It seemed to be an evolved form or variation of the willow knight, but he hadn''t seen how. He would study it when he returned home. ¡°Hello.¡± He heard and looking up ahead, Jazmel saw a face he hadn''t seen in quite a while. The old man from the Xuanhuan realm stood leaning against a tree and smiling. ¡°Hello to you too. I have not seen you in many months.¡± Jazmel said and the man smiled before inclining his head at Jazmel and his guests. ¡°Come let us go somewhere, where we can speak.¡± He led the way up to another floor, a natural hillock that rose higher; a set of stairs, planks made from wood. Had been wrapped around the hill allowing whoever was ascending or descending to gain a view of everything. Jazmel could see that the village was rather big; almost a city and the walls encircled them covering them in their array. ¡°I have to admit, this sight is truly marvellous.¡± Elai said and the old man smiled simply and winked. Book 4 Chapter Ten; the Matter of Mirete, the Story Untold ¡°For you to understand the domain of Mirete. you must first understand who Mirete is.¡± The old man said, and he had brought them another pavilion overlooking the entirety of the village. It was encased in a barrier, but once he approached it they realised just how impressive and wondrous it was. It was a domain within the domain, a plane cut out from the actual gate and was like a small mirror realm. When they had all entered, the old man closed it off and Jazmel found himself entrenched in Mana, not overwhelmed but the pavilion literally hung in the air of its own making. ¡°This is another domain, inside the domain?¡± Jazmel asked, his eyes reading and following the many threads that had been interwoven to create this special place. ¡°I see your eyes have transformed, now you can see the truth of things, the beauty of this world.¡± The old man sighed, and Jazmel wondered if he were able to see the same things as him. ¡°What is happening here? why does Mirete look so different to the rest of the labyrinth.¡± Jazmel asked and the man pulled a tea set from his ring and began to pour for all of them, a ceremony of peace and serenity. ¡°As I said before, you must first realise who Mirete is.¡± The old man stated, whilst making himself busy filling everyone¡¯s tea and pouring his own, finally. ¡°I never heard that Mirete was a name of a person, I have only known it as the name of this secret floor.¡± Elai said and the man simply sipped his tea and smiled. ¡°Mirete is named after someone, that is why it is not a floor but a domain. There are no quests, not even creatures of the labyrinth. This place is a junction, a nexus to move through after some respite. That was just how the labyrinth responded to the loss of such a great source.¡± The old man muttered, clearly but his words were quiet. The authority from them pooled and he realised that the tea was used to calm them. DING! YOU DO NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO HEAR THIS! ¡­ YOU ARE BEING BLOCKED! THE AUTHORITY IS BEING TESTED! YOU ARE OUTSIDE OF THE RESTRAINTS OF THE LABYRINTH! PREVIOUS RESTRICTIONS ARE HALTED!!This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The system was throwing many notifications at Jazmel , his eyes pained a little. He realised that he was not meant to hear this, yet being in this domain was actually preserving all of their sanity. ¡°The system would block this, but I have prepared for this.¡± The old man uttered, and Jazmel wondered had his steps been pre planned for him, but he didn¡¯t question it. he was too invested in what he was currently learning. ¡°Mirete was once a person, a system user who crossed the threshold of greatness.¡± The old man explained and waited a little, to sip from his teacup. ¡°Back then, the system needed users to push through and help sort through the filth. The system you have now is after the bloodshed of many of your progenitors. But even amongst them, there were a solid few that were greater than the others. As the system was newer back then, the rewards that were reaped were greater than any other.¡± Jazmel, Sad¨¦ and Elai sat around him hanging off of every word. ¡°They became known as the primordial. There were many, they were all undoubtedly powerful. They wielded Mana like the seasons. They affected the labyrinth; they created their own borders and domains. But the system was much more lenient back then, back then they had more of a say and the system was still learning how to build itself around the needs of those it had beckoned into its lairs.¡± He continued, they listened in silence, Jazmel was surprisingly quiet not wanting to break the trance of the story. ¡°The primordial were gods amongst men, they wielded Mana like breath and the system was theirs to mould around their needs. In amongst them, one of these primordial was the Saintess. Mirete who claimed this domain and made it her home whenever she sought respite from diving in the labyrinth.¡± He said and everyone listened intently. ¡°What happened to them?¡± Elai asked and the old man sipped his tea again, before continuing. ¡°the system grew wise and tried to create restraints for them. but they rebelled, they fought back. So the system locked them away, suspended animation. But not all of them fought the system, Mirete agreed with the restraints. She agreed that they were too powerful and their time in the labyrinth was coming to an end. Her and a few others also agreed to the systems restraints. A great war occurred amongst the primordial. They ravaged the system; it was many decades before the system allowed seekers to move forward in the labyrinth.¡± The old man explained. ¡°So what is the reason the labyrinth brought me here? with these things??¡± Jazmel asked, pulling the branch and the seed from within one of his rings. The old man looked at those two items for a moment, Jazmel thought he saw his Mana jump. But he quelled it fast enough so that Jazmel questioned it. ¡°I can neither plan nor prepare your steps. All I can tell you is what I am allowed to share, what you choose to do. Is your own actions, which will bring forth your own consequences. All our actions have consequences, even me spending this time and speaking to you. I will have to suffer the consequences after this.¡± The old man said, and Jazmel felt his heart resonate with him, there was something tugging at his own. ¡°What would you do?¡± Jazmel asked and that drew a smile across the old man¡¯s face. ¡°I would go and see the summit before I make my decision. But of course, it is your decision to make.¡± He said and at a mere look another doorway opened and steps made out of air Mana led up higher into the domain. Book 4 Chapter Eleven; Mirete the Primordial Jazmel stepped up the steps of Mana and moved from the pavilion in the domain. The old man had created a path for them to go up, the steps took them up and when they reached the top of the flight. They came upon a statue, a singular pillar faded beyond recognition. He couldn¡¯t even make out what the statue once had been, a single hand and arm had been raised to the sky. the fingers had eroded to time, but they were still grasping something or had held something that once was held in its hand. The statue was alone in this place, Jazmel couldn¡¯t see below them. the ground was stable it was another part of the domain but cut off from the village. It was mind boggling for him to study the area they currently were in. The old man had left them, staying to drink his tea below them in the pavilion. Sad¨¦ and Elai were walking around looking at other features, but Jazmel kept looking back at statue. Trying to figure out what the old man wanted from him. The statue was devoid of life, it was absent of everything. It felt out of place, as if it had been set outside of life. The statue had been eroded and so the features of the face had disappeared to time. But Jazmel felt sorrow, for some reason in his heart. he felt sad for this figure whoever it was and seeing them in this state broke his heart. He pulled the branch from his ring and taking true notice of it for the first time, he saw that it was about the length of his arm, he twirled and whirled it about him and then he pulled the seed from his ring as well. DING! ¡­ YOU HAVE BROUGHT THE BRANCH OF MIRETE ¡­ YOU HAVE FOUND THE SEED OF MIRETE ¡­ THERE IS SYMBIOSIS. CONNECT THEM! REPAIR THE BROKE! ¡­ He noticed for the first time that the seed fit in the tip of the branch. He settled the seed and light burst from it. the seed shell peeled back and a green Mana gem of such purity that Jazmel felt nothing but pure joy emanating from it. The seed had been a stone, a Mana stone filled with power; that was now bleeding out and filling the domain, literally the ground sprung to life and flowers and grass were blooming at Jazmel¡¯s feet. Paldane left his ring and came out to bask in the Mana stones pure energies. He looked at the statue and realised what had been missing. He placed the staff in the handhold and watched, waiting to see if something would happen. At first nothing changed, and he wondered if he had raised his hopes for no reason. But then the flowers began to bloom at the feet of the statute but then Jazmel watched as the blooming flowers grew into vines that steadily climbed up the body of the statute. He stepped back, Sad¨¦ and Elai beside him as they watched the statue begin to be swarmed by vines. They soon covered the entire body of the statute and soon no part of it was free from the entangled vines. Jazmel watched in wonder as the statue beneath began to glow, at first it was a dull shine. But then he noticed that it was growing in brightness, in brilliance and soon it matched the lustre of the seed which had been the Mana stone. YOU HAVE AWOKEN A PRIMORDIAL! ¡­ ¡­ THIS CANNOT BE UNDONE! ¡­ ALL ACTIONS MUST HAVE CONSEQUENCES! YOUR ACTIONS WILL HAVE CONSEQUENCES!! THEY WILL SHAKE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE LABYRINTH! ¡­ YOU WILL GAIN 10 STAT POINTS TO USE AS A REWARD! FOR WITNESSING THE RENEWAL OF A PRIMORDIAL! ¡­ Jazmel watched the system notifications and wondered what he had done, truly. The blinding light grew so bright that he had to turn away and he heard the light, if you could do such a thing and when it reached its peak it burst asunder. He had to close his eyes, squeezing them shut but it still wasn¡¯t enough. The brightness of the statue blinded him and all he could see where white spots for moments, it was bewildering. Since he had entered the labyrinth his sight had grown so keen, it was his greatest sense. To lose it now, showed him just how powerful it had grown. But it was only for a moment, his vision came back to him, and he clutched both Elai and Sad¨¦ to let them know they were safe, as they waited for their own to return. In the place where the statue had been erected, stood a small woman. Jazmel realised that the statue had not been erected but the stone form of this woman, this being. She was stronger than Jazmel, he knew that immediately, she had just awoken from what might have been decades or even centuries of sleep. But she was greater in power than he or anyone he had seen. Mana moved for her, she waved her hand through the air, as she grew attuned to her bodily functions again. there was no atrophy and his eyes told him that the Mana gem was feeding her nutrients to return her back to her peak form. She turned to gaze at them, and she smiled, a kind smile. something in Jazmel churned beneath that smile and he felt his knees almost buckle. They wanted to fall and prostrate but he wouldn¡¯t abide by it.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. TYRANT BODY STIRS BEFORE THE PRIMORDIAL! ¡­ +1 END She smiled at him, as if she had seen the system notification and he wondered what else she could do. ¡°Thank you for waking me.¡± She said and her voice held the authority of age, she was powerful, but her voice held all her status. All her presence and Jazmel shook beneath it. ¡°I have slept an age, though it was the right thing. we primordial had to be restrained. But you have awoken me, in turn. Beginning the chain reaction of the others, my presence will stir the system and create quests for the others to be awoken.¡± She spoke to them, also to herself. But most to herself, Jazmel and his friends simply listened. ¡°I thank you dearly, for returning my life stone. but also for awakening me.¡± She touched the air between them, and he realised she was manipulating her system screen. Jazmel watched her touch and type in the air and then she peered at Elai and flicked something to her. Elai gasped and Jazmel looked at her. ¡°She sent me 20 stats to my intelligence; my Mana has gone up.¡± Elai thrummed with power and Jazmel noticed her core grow a layer of Mana that began to spin and whirl on itself as it renewed its vigour and tried to understand where this new power came from. ¡°You are close to tempering. I will get you there.¡± She flicked something to Sad¨¦, and she fell, her knees buckling. Jazmel rushed to support her, but the primordial stopped him. ¡°She is undergoing the tempering, the same tempering you underwent. The system has made you weak, an age ago. A tempering was little more than something we broke through.¡± She said but there was mirth in her eyes. ¡°And you, my fated awakener. Here is my gift to you.¡± She uttered and his system screen popped up before his eyes and he read the gift, the title he had earned. DING! YOUHAVE AWOKEN A PRIMORDIAL! YOU HAVE EARNED THE TITLE AWAKENER!! ¡­ +5 INCREASE TO YOUR STAT ATTRIBUTES MOVING FORWARD! ¡­ His body jumped at the influx of system energy his stats jumped and he watched as his health, stamina and Mana leapt up. He was breaking his limits again, he had way more than he thought possible but now was not the time to question anything. He quickly pulled up his stats screen and overlooked his stats, marvelling at what he saw; Name: Jazmel Level: 67 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 3610/3610 Stamina: 2722/2722 Mana: 2440/2440 STR:114(+5) PER:115 VIT:117 END:114(+3) INT:117 WIL:111 AGL:105 DEX:115 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER AWAKENER (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 11 131X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE DWARVEN COIN 3X TIER I HEALTH POTIONS 5X TIER I STAMINA POTIONS 8X TIER I MANA POTIONS 10X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 10X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER II BRUXA CORE TIER III BREASTPLATE OF THE DRAKE TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN SKILL RUNE COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 He put 5 stat points into agility and then the rest into will. He clenched his fists as his body took the system power and moved it where it needed to go. He brought up his stats again and almost whistled, but he swallowed it down. STR:114(+5) PER:115 VIT:117 END:114(+3) INT:117 WIL:117 AGL:110 DEX:115 __________ Sad¨¦ was suffering beneath this tempering if this was what Jazmel had undergone. Then he truly was made of different materials than her. She bit her lip, she felt blood wet her lips and the iron taste and smell nearly made her gag. Her body was minutely crumbling and then rebuilding itself. remodelling its every inch to remake her in whatever way this Saintess being, or primordial. That was what the wise old man had called her, this primordial had gifted her a tempering for her body and the system was doing so. TEMPERING HAS BEGUN! YOU ARE UNDERGOING TEMPERING! YOUR BODY IS FILLED WITH MANA YOUR CORE IS UNIQUE! ¡­ THE CORE OF AN ELFIN HAS DUAL FEATURES! ¡­ She cursed silently; her hybrid species was causing her pain even now! DUAL TRAITS ARE BEING INCORPORATED IN TEMPERING! THUNDER HAS BEEN STRUCK! ¡­ Her body convulsed as a single thunderbolt struck her along her spine from within, she yelped, and she heard Kazumi whine in pain for her. Trapped inside her ring as she was too big for the pavilion. But there was nothing she could do here too. DING! FLAME BURNS TO BRING ABOUT A RENEWAL! ¡­ She screamed but the sound died in her throat, she was being burned from within. The flames raced through her body and quenched in the back of her throat, she thought she was going to die and then in moments the pain dulled and retreated back into her core. YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE TEMPERING! YOUR TEMPERED BODY, THE THUNDERING FLAME! +3 END +3 VIT +4 INT +4 WIL She smiled as she crawled back to her feet, she split the 10 stat points she had gained from witnessing the awakening of the primordial between agility and dexterity. Her body hummed with the system energy, and she grinned as she clenched her fist. Her body had shed a layer of skin and she felt warm to the touch, she could feel the thunder dancing beneath her skin. She felt unlocked and no longer hindered by her body. Sad¨¦ took the moment to check her stats. Name: Sad¨¦ Moonflower Level: 65 Species: Elfin Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sorceress Trait: Night of the Kitsune (PASSIVE TRAIT) Thunder Fiend (ACTIVE TRAIT) Tempered Body; Thundering Flame Health: 2700/2778 Stamina: 2000/2057 Mana: 1495/1764(4000) STR:100 PER:100 VIT:103 END:103 INT:104 WIL:104 AGL:100 DEX:100 Unused Stat points: 10 20X PLATINUM COINS 100X WHITE GOLD COINS 90X GOLD COINS Items(s): TIER II REVENANT CORE TIER II KITSUNE MASK 3X TIER II REVENANT GHOUL CORE 11X TIER II REVENANT GHOUL BONE 4X TIER II REVENANT GHOUL SKULL 6X TIER II REVENANT GHOUL BLOOD TIER III REVENANT GHOUL MONSTER CORE SIGIL OF FIRE Trait: Night of the Kitsune (PASSIVE TRAIT) Thunder Fiend (ACTIVE TRAIT) Skills: Thunderfire (tier II) Foxfire (tier II) Thunder Crown (tier I) Lightning Fall (tier I) Title(s): KITSUNE KIN FEATHERING GRACE MARAUDING FOX PRINCESS OF THE ELVEN REALM Companion; Kazumi; FIRE HOUND LVL 10 When she was done, she noticed Elai looking at her and she wondered if she could see Mana like Jazmel or if she was just more attuned to it with her stat boost. ¡°I need to catch up, I need to work on all my stats and get a tempering myself.¡± Elai said and Sad¨¦ laughed, it felt good to laugh and she stopped when she remembered where they were, and she looked at Jazmel and the primordial who seemed locked in a conversation. Book 4 Chapter Twelve; What is yet to come Jazmel could not take his eyes off of the primordial that was Mirete. but he could feel the Mana wrapping itself around Sad¨¦¡¯s body. She had tempered and she felt like a cloud just before a storm. He would catch up with her later. ¡°What happens now?¡± He asked and Mirete looked at him, taking her eyes off of her own system screen. ¡°I will regain my power and awaken my sisters.¡± She said, her voice a ghost of ages past. Jazmel remembered the primordial core shard and pulled it free from his ring. ¡°Where did you get that?¡± She asked, taking a step forward and Jazmel took a step back. ¡°I received after defeating the knight of a revenant dragon.¡± She scoffed at that and left Jazmel to hold it, but her eyes never strayed from it. ¡°That is the core of one of my sisters; I would remember it as if it were my own. ¡°Does it have something to do with the fountains?¡± Jazmel said and she stared at him, her eyes piercing him, and she didn¡¯t look back at the shard for a long while. ¡°If you are being taken to the fountain, you must have a fate tied to us all.¡± She said and Jazmel put the shard back. ¡°If this is truly for your sister when I reach the end of the plot. I will offer it to her, and she can awaken if it will allow.¡± He said and she smiled, a kind smile, a loving one. ¡°If you so will it.¡± she nodded and then stepping back onto the small stone pulpit she raised her staff high as her tiny frame would allow and Mana flowed and flooded from its tip into the air. In mere moments she had covered the entire sky and Jazmel shuddered at the impossible show of pure Mana being easily wielded. YOU ARE WITNESSING A PRIMORDIAL PHENOMENON! ¡­ EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! He was gaining exp for literally witnessing something happen, the system was ecstatic with this, and he wondered just how wondrous it would get if more of the primordial were to awaken. ¡°I must leave, I must recover. Some might sense my awakening and I need time to gain at least some of my power back before I am confronted.¡± She explained, turning to look at the trio with tired but kind eyes. Jazmel forcefully swallowed his saliva if she wasn¡¯t powerful now. What must he and his friends look like before her. ¡°We will see each other again awakener. The system wills it.¡± She said and at that, she disappeared. Literally winking out of existence before them. DING! YOUR PLOT HAS FAILED ¡­ INCORRECT!You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡­ YOUR PLOT HAS CHANGED! PLANT THE SEED OF MIRETE YOU HAVE AWOKEN A PRIMORDIAL! ¡­ YOU HAVE AWOKEN MIRETE THE PRIMORDIAL! ¡­ REWARDS WILL BE ADJUSTED GREATLY! ¡­ ¡­ REWARDS GAINED! A CRYSTAL CHEST! Before him, a crystal chest about the size of a trunk at the bottom of a bed appeared from the air and dropped in front of him with a thick thud. He opened the chest by placing a palm onto the lid and the latch fluttered open and allowed him to look within. He whistled now, aloud and he knew only he could see into the contents of the chest. But he would be showing these items to his friends. The first item was a token that had a single I token on it, when he peered at it. the system sung into activity and showed him what he was looking at. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND A TIER RANK UP! This item will rank up any weapon or item to the tier above. That was an incredible gift, he wondered what to put it towards and considered his swords, looking over them he thought which one would be the best to receive this tier up. TIER II Yoru No Tsubasa TIER I Nozarashi TIER II Daishinkan They were all pretty powerful, but he didn¡¯t know which one to upgrade, he put his tier up token away. He would decide later. The next item he took out was a smaller tome, it had writing on it at the front that he couldn¡¯t make out, but the system quickly translated it TIER II TOME OF ARRAYS FOUND! Learn the art of arrays, ward your home! Hide your hoard! Jazmel literally laughed aloud and then without a moment¡¯s thought or hesitation, he handed it over to Elai. She looked at it and he realised the system was sharing the same thing with her as it had did with him. ¡°This is too much, you should take the gifts you earn, it isn¡¯t even my plot.¡± she said but he waved her away. ¡°Anything you learn that helps in the long run is a benefit to us all. Take it and learn arrays, maybe you can place one on our walls.¡± Sad¨¦ chimed in and Jazmel looked at her, his eyes filled with emotion. She always knew what to say and when to say it. she looked right back at him, sheepishly. ¡°I will accept it then, for the good of the faction.¡± Elai took the tome reverently and put it in her side satchel. Jazmel dove back in the chest and pulled out a singular shard of Mana it was a chunk of Mana essence in crystalised form, he would be putting that right into the store when he returned. He put that in his ring and then searched the remaining contents of the chest. He pulled out a crystal, it looked like glass but had been chiselled down into a beautiful nine-pointed star. Jazmel looked at it in wonder but could see no function for it, before the system chimed in. TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD FOUND! Place a memory in here and it will hold forever, anytime you wish to perceive it, light it with Mana! Jazmel didn¡¯t know what he would do with that, but he took it, taking it into his ring. Then he pulled the final item from the chest, and it was a shirt, a long sleeve tunic of sorts. TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN FOUND! This shirt was made by the silk weavers of Tumerin, they are well known for the defensive warding sewn into their clothing. This tunic will guard and keep its wearer! Jazmel smiled and placed it into his ring, he would change it when they returned home. But now was not the time for stripping. DING! WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONVERT THE CHEST INTO COIN? Y/N? Jazmel smiled and accepted, he and his two friends watched in amazement when the chest burst into platinum coins! He took them all into his ring and it amounted to 100 extra platinum coins. ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡± Jazmel said to his two friends and the system offered the exit to them, Jazmel thought of the old man but thought better to not say anything. Mirete had awoken, the old man must have known this might have happened. They left and Jazmel stepped through the exit and straight into the gate that led to his faction. The outpost was buzzing with activity; he Sad¨¦ and Elai walked up towards the outpost. Book 4 Chapter Thirteen; Sworn into Servitude The sworn were a moving mass, in the dark they were the rippling corners. In the light they were sins and vices. The sworn were too big for a syndicate but not officially a guild as the system did not allow them the same privileges. The heralds incessantly hunted them, and they hid in the shadows; dirty taverns and sewers to escape the constant scrutiny. ¡°The age of the Sworn will soon enter a new era, a golden age.¡± One of the elders were saying, he was strong and old, a sign of some skill. There were constant mutinies in the sworn, they were not a system of truth and honour. They were one with lies and deceit, dark methods were the only way of succession. But as it was their way, there still was a brotherhood. They had to abide by their accords; even the darker ones. Words had been whispered that things were changing, things were becoming more and more, insidious. The sworn had suddenly grown erratic, they were taking on far riskier jobs and hard roles for greater rewards. Members were moving up into the world and growing to accommodate as best as they could.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°We are working towards something, I promise you! We are going to create a world where the sworn are allowed to exist in this labyrinth.¡± Another elder told to them. They were sitting in on a meeting, a syndicate meeting where different groups within the brotherhood were taking on tasks. But the groups were hindering one another. DING! A PRIMORDIAL HAS AWOKEN! FOR 24 HOURS THE GATES WILL BE UNAVAILABLE WHILE THE SYSTEM EXPANDS. THE DOMAINS ARE REINTEGRATING AND REMODIFYING! ¡­ NEW QUESTS, NEW TASKS AND NEW PLOTS FOR ALL! WAIT THE 24 HOURS! The sworn had not received a notification like that collectively, this was going to create something for them all. The syndicate were preparing for whatever would happen. Book 4 Chapter Fourteen; the Expansion of the Domain After returning to the outpost, Jazmel had returned to his rooms to look over what he had gained from his latest entry into the labyrinth. Name: Jazmel Level: 67 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 3610/3610 Stamina: 2722/2722 Mana: 2440/2440 STR:114(+5) PER:115 VIT:117 END:114(+3) INT:117 WIL:116 AGL:110 DEX:115 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER AWAKENER (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 1 131X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE DWARVEN COIN TIER RANK UP TOKEN TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN 3X TIER I HEALTH POTIONS 5X TIER I STAMINA POTIONS 8X TIER I MANA POTIONS 10X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 10X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER II BRUXA CORE TIER III BREASTPLATE OF THE DRAKE TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN SKILL RUNE TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 He looked at his skills and pondered, they were strong. Tier II was just beginning to refine the actual skill, but he just didn¡¯t use sword maelstrom in battle, it was his weakest skill. It didn¡¯t go with his other skills, and he was wondering how to change it. then he remembered he had the skill rune. Skills: He took the skill rune and cracking it the system chimed for him. DING! YOU HAVE USED YOUR SKILL RUNE; WILL YOU LEARN THE SKILL? ROAR OF THE REVENANT DRAGON? Jazmel didn¡¯t think the skill fit, but he was interested in the strength of it, so instead he decided to sunder sword maelstrom and add the skills together. The system read his mind, picturing what he was trying to do and leapt in to add a hand. SUNDER SWORD MAELSTROM? Y/N? He agreed and he watched the two skills swirl and try to merge together. There weren¡¯t harmony, he could feel it, they clashed and crackled as they tried to form some sort of connection. Soon the system intervened and threaded the two skills through one another. DING! DRAGON MOVEMENT! LEARNED! Jazmel smiled at that; the sword move sounded like it had been made for Daishinkan, but he knew it would be something great. He smiled a little and then an idea flitted in his mind, he sought out the tier rank up token and held it in his thoughts to see if the system would understand. DING! TIER RANK UP TOKEN RECOGNISED; DO YOU WISH TO USE IT ON THIS STILL? Y/N? Jazmel agreed and the system took the token from within his ring and shattered it over his skill. Watching the skill evolve before his eyes. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR SKILL DRAGON MOVEMENT HAS BEEN TIERED UP WITH THE TIER RANK UP TOKEN ¡­ DRAGON MOVEMENT HAS BECOME GREAT RUMBLING DRAGON! ¡­ Jazmel felt at peace, which had worked out better than he had thought, and the system even agreed, it would seem. DING! YOU HAVE USED A TIER RANK UP TOKEN ON A SKILL RUNE! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ Jazmel smiled at that, that was truly a reward worth having. He looked at his skills again. Skills: He was eager to evaluate this new skill, but that could wait. There was much to do anyway, he took off his chest plate of the drake and pulled on the tunic of tumerin. Then clasped the breastplate back on, they both fit comfortably, and he felt snug and compact. DING! A PRIMORDIAL HAS AWOKEN! FOR 24 HOURS THE GATES WILL BE UNAVAILABLE WHILE THE SYSTEM EXPANDS. THE DOMAINS ARE REINTEGRATING AND REMODIFYING! ¡­ NEW QUESTS, NEW TASKS AND NEW PLOTS FOR ALL! WAIT THE 24 HOURS! Jazmel had been waiting for some notice of the primordial, as he had awoken it. but upon returning, his faction had not heard anything, even his party members had not been privy to anything. Jazmel left his room after the system wide announcement and heading down the stairwell of the tower he rushed out into the courtyard, as he did a faction notice appeared before him. YOUR DOMAIN IS EXPANDING! NEW FOUNDATIONS ARE BEING FORMED!! NEW DISCOVERIES TO BE MADE! ¡­ Jazmel didn¡¯t waste any time he pulled up his system and created a quest. DING! FACTION QUEST! SURVEY THE SURROUNDING AREA! MAP OUT THE EXPANDING REGION! DISCOVER THE NEW PLACES AND THE DEPTHS! REWARDS WILL BE GIVEN IN ADJUSTMENT TO COMPLETED TASKS. Immediately groups formed amongst the retainers, and they began hurrying out of the gates to wander the expanding domain. ¡°You want to go and have a look?¡± Sad¨¦ said, he had felt her approaching, her new tempered body was like a sky just before the storm was coming and now he felt it every time she was near him. ¡°Sure, if you are up to it.¡± he said, he looked in his mind and saw that he had left Paldane to slumber in his room. Hunt if you want. He sent and Paldane grumbled a sleepy response. He noticed that Sad¨¦ had asked Kazumi to go with a group of retainers who were going to hunt too, they were still quite weak. There was a large gap between the retainers who had joined later and then the people Jazmel and his friends had handpicked. Mary was working on them, she was pummelling them with training, but nothing worked like actually entering the labyrinth and they just weren¡¯t ready for that just yet. Sad¨¦ and Jazmel moved from within the courtyard, they left the gates and made their way across the bridge, Jazmel was running. Sprinting cost him nothing with his abundant stamina as well as his tempered body. Turned out that Sad¨¦ was functioning the same, her thundering flame body was fuelled by power, she explained that she just needed to use Mana as a fuel source, and heating her body allowed her to move how she saw fit. They crossed the bridge and ran miles before Jazmel even had to check his breath. They were about to enter a vale in the north, a place he hadn''t personally been through yet. When he heard Sad¨¦ groan, she grumbled, and he watched as she tapped things on her system screen. ¡°I need to talk to you.¡± She said and before she could continue they both felt the pressure of something hurtling through the sky. Jazmel looked up and saw something shrouded in bright yellow and white Mana shooting towards them, he drew his sword and stepped a little back; ready for whatever was coming towards them. As the thing neared, the shrouded Mana melted away and Jazmel could see a woman flying towards him, wings from her back arced in a dive and she raised her sword as to clash with him, with all her momentum. Spear of the skies! She hailed as she forced her skill down on him, they clashed, and Jazmel felt his bones jar with the impact. His muscles jolted and he almost cried out from the shock. But he stood firm, he wasn¡¯t going to fall over, especially when being attacked so close to his faction. He didn¡¯t even know who this woman was and why she was attacking him, but it didn¡¯t matter. He had a sword and a foe; he was in his element.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Cleave! He slashed across at her, nimbly she dodged; her body slipped out of the way and his skill sliced through the air missing her in the direction. She clashed at him again, using her wings to flash across the ground at him, but he met her. Their swords clashed again and again, but no ground could be earned. Wing blade! She sliced at him with a whip of bother wings and air Mana in the form of scythes cut through the air at him. he was dodging, that would put Sad¨¦ in danger. Lacerate! He met the skill and broke the Mana with his own, dominating it. the woman smiled at him, why was she smiling. He didn¡¯t care, he fought her. When she darted into the sky, he literally jumped into the air to meet her, she was surprised by that, but since tempering his body he could bound into the air almost double his previous limit. Spear of the skies! She crashed into the ground, causing turf and chunks of mud to erupt from the onslaught of her skill and spray all around them. ¡°Stop fighting!¡± Sad¨¦ screamed, but Jazmel didn¡¯t have the minutes to stop when this woman was assailing him. Jazmel met her and felt his body covered in small wounds; her skill was trying its best to break his body down. But he wasn¡¯t being forced back, his body was pushing through. Great rumbling dragon! He used his new skill; he felt his Mana form an aura of a roaring dragon around his sword and as he swung it the dragon made of Mana aura hit her. It struck her and buffeted her entire form. The Mana expanded and then condensed around her brutally. ¡°Stop Jazmel! She is my retainer!!¡± she shouted, and Jazmel stopped what he was doing immediately, holding his sword. ¡°Well princess, he is strong. I can see why you wanted to stay part of the faction.¡± The winged woman said, now that they were fine and no longer fighting. Her armour was scuffed a little, but she drank a potion and quickly healed herself. Princess? He had heard her say that but now he was remembering her words again. ¡°Why is she calling you a princess?¡± he turned, asking Sad¨¦. He pulled a potion from his own ring and drank it, healing the cuts and bruises. She took this time to explain to him what had happened, he listened as she told him about her mother¡¯s successful tier tribulation. She explained about her clan and how the system had presented them with the reward of becoming a kingdom. Her mother was a master tier now, he wondered how strong she had become. She then explained how her mum had asked her to take on a retainer as a guard for the time being and that¡¯s when the woman stepped forward. She wore armour and he realised that her armour was just her wings folded around and over her body. In some way, she wrapped them and in a dormant sort of form, they became armour that covered her body. ¡°I am Corin, guard and retainer to Princess Sad¨¦ of the moonflower kingdom.¡± She said with a fist over her heart. Jazmel consumed this information and listened intently. ¡°Will you have to leave the faction?¡± he asked and Sad¨¦ almost grew teary. ¡°No, nothing has come into play.¡± She explained and then studied his face, to see how he would respond. ¡°If she is a princess, she will not have time for trivial things.¡± The woman called Corin said, and Jazmel almost cursed at her and turned his head to look at her quietly. ¡°What tier are you? You are quite strong.¡± The woman called Corin smiled, and Jazmel just studied her and for a moment, considered continuing the fight. ¡°Ranker tier I.¡± he said, and she barked a laugh before punching him in the shoulder with admiration. ¡°I am a Ranker tier III and you fought me fair and square. Your boyfriend is strong princess.¡± She said and Sad¨¦ cursed aloud, and Jazmel jumped at the flagrant words that flew from her mouth. ¡°Mind your mouth or I will cancel your retainership this instant.¡± She uttered through clenched teeth. ¡°If it pleases you my princess, I apologise for my rhetoric. A poor joke on my side, it will not happen again.¡± Corin bowed and Jazmel could feel the sincerity of her words. ¡°Leave us.¡± She said, Sad¨¦ didn¡¯t even look at her new retainer, but Corin didn¡¯t even want to know if she meant her, she simply leapt into the sky and her wings flared and then took her up high, Jazmel couldn¡¯t see her physically, but he could perceive her Mana in amongst the clouds. ¡°Jazmel.¡± Sad¨¦ began but he didn¡¯t say anything, simply taking the time to walk deeper into the vale. Because what could he say, he had no power or rights to question her, and his heart ached knowing that he wished he could say something and yet he had no power to. She looked at him pleadingly and he wondered if she was waiting for him to say something. But he didn¡¯t and he saw the hurt in her eyes, he turned and moved forward. Heading into the vale, he wasn¡¯t going to say anything more. He was going to do what he had always been doing, growing stronger. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED AN UNDISCOVERED VALE! ¡­ TO MAKE CLAIM, YOU MUST DEFEAT ALL THAT REMAIN! ¡­ DEFEAT YOUR ENEMIES!! The system sang through his screen, he stepped forward and the vale came alive. The first creature to rush him was a mix of rusted armour and blackened Mana within that was keeping the pieces together. It was morbid, stretched in places that made it look inhuman. It was like Jazmel who shuddered at its approach, but he met it, its dulled blade was rusted but his eyes saw the sickened Mana enchanting the blade, bewitched as it was. He parried the strike, grunted a little. There was strength in those meagre arms, he pushed back and knocked the blade aside, driving his own blade in he stabbed into the breastplate. Where the heart should have been, but it didn¡¯t even falter, it swept at him, and Jazmel backed out of the reach of it. Cleave! He struck his skill, obliterating the sword and its arm, the demented armour howled; a scratching sound from within the helmet. He bashed the side of the helmet and the creature shuddered. Cleave He smashed through the breastplate and the rusted metal burst inward, he pulled the core from within, and the creature died. DING! TIER II ARMOURED WRETCH KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! Only tier two, he wasn¡¯t happy, but he would take the exp. But more rushed him, hundreds now an entire army. Jazmel was thrilled and met them as they crashed together and tried to rush him with their numbers. Great rumbling dragon! Mana welled in his skill, and he watched as the dragon¡¯s roaring maw shrouded his sword. he swung it and decimated them. the tier II creatures broke beneath his onslaught, they were little more kindle and their metal broken and dented. They littered the vale, and he took a moment to check the system screen. DING! 54X TIER II ARMOURED WRETCH KILLED! +1 STR +2 INT He accepted it and flicked the screen away, the few that remained. Sad¨¦ darted in and made quick work of them, her flames melted the broken parts and her thunder blackened those that remained. Her sabre and short sword cut them to pieces, many of them fell before her and he watched her work. Another creature stepped into view, and he saw that it was different, stronger than the armoured wretches they had already killed. DING! TIER II ARMOURED SENTINEL APPROACHES! The system told him what it was, the sentinel was as similar to the armoured wretch as it was different. The Mana was stronger, he could see it convulsing within its core and it was strong. But not greater than him, it was still only tier II but at the higher end, just below a tier III. He was surprised, it carried a longsword and there were nicks and dents within it, but it used it still. Lacerate! He flicked his skill from the tip of his sword, but to his surprise the creature parried and sent his skill flying off to the side. Another sentinel entered the vale, but the skittering skill hit it in the face and sent it back reeling into the bushes. He didn¡¯t know that they were able to parry his skills, this was the first time it had happened. He licked his lips and felt his trait settle and calm his nerves. The sentinel rushed him, but he met it. their wills behind their blades as they clashed and pushed off of each other. They parted and Jazmel couldn¡¯t gain any footing against it. Lacerate! Jazmel flung the skill, and he knew the sentinel would parry. But he moved and Jazmel watched it avert, he rushed forward catching it as it was moving to the side. Cleave! He cut through it at the waste, and it fell apart. He stepped on its chest and crushed through it with a stamp. DING! TIER II ARMOURED SENTINEL KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! LEVEL UP! He turned to a sound to his left and watched as the other sentinel appeared back through the undergrowth. It stepped one foot into the clearing but was bombarded with a barrage of foxfire flames and the sentinel fell to the ground. Catatonic and melting, she flamed it to the point that when the flames receded it was a lump. They pushed in and while they were left alone, he looked up to see Corin still hovering high above them. Watching over them and not hindering them. He stepped further into the vale and the ground rumbled beneath his feet. He didn¡¯t know what was coming but then he remembered the Wurm, and he turned and ran back towards, Sad¨¦. He literally sprinted. Pulling his swords back into his rings, he sprinted towards her scooped her up into his arms and ran back up the vale. She was light in his arms, and they had never been this close before, he could smell her soap on her skin. She smelt like daffodils and peonies, a scent that wobbled his mind and his heart thumped. ¡°What are you doing.¡± She said clearly shocked at his reaction. ¡°A Wurm!¡± he said as he continued to sprint, easily carrying her but running at full pelt. The ground rumbled beneath them and then burst up a few paces ahead of them. it wasn¡¯t a Wurm, Jazmel thanked the world silently. But it was something he hadn''t seen before; it was a scorpion of such a size that just one pincer would be enough to clasp and cut Jazmel in half. ¡°Put me down!¡± Sad¨¦ yelled and he let her go, she dropped from his grasp and then bounded up somersaulting over the scorpion. She flipped in the air and missed as the stinger tried to catch her in the air. Fall of the black raven! Jazmel slammed his sword into the face and mouth of the scorpion, it squealed and then tried to grab him with its pincers. He pulled Nozarashi, from his ring and blocked its right pincer and left with either sword or then used his boot to hold its head down from biting him. He looked up just as the stinger was rearing back to catch him, Sad¨¦ leapt again, like a gymnast she launched herself through the air and whipped her the bloody sabre around her body and struck out at the end of her spin. Slicing the stinger off, putrid acid and poison drops welling up from the stingless tail. the scorpion squealed and spat pain from its frothing mouth. He slammed both blades into the ground and letting them go, drew Yoru no Tsubasa quickly from his ring. Sunder! While both pincers were pinned by his other swords, he raised his sword above his head with both hands and sundered the scorpion in half, cutting it from head to tail. the scorpion fell apart into two halves. DING! TIER II VALLEY SCORPION KILLED! +1 DEX +1 AGL +1 PER --___________ Sad¨¦ watched as Jazmel easily cut through the scorpion and she and he both gained exp from it. DING! TIER II VALLEY SCORPION KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! He had lifted her into his arms and sprinted off from the valley when the ground had begun to rumble. She hadn''t even heard it yet, but he was moving before she could react. She had felt small cradled in his arms, his muscles beneath his tunic and armour were like thick iron chords and he carried her like she weighed nothing. But she hadn''t been prepared for this and reacted badly, screaming for him to put her down. She was worried that Corin would read it wrong, but also she didn¡¯t know how she felt about it either. Ever since he had heard she was a princess, going to be a princess. He had closed himself off to her, his so normally kind eyes had become a cold ice blue and she felt naked beneath their scrutiny. She would never change on him but for some reason he had received her news badly, she hadn''t planned on leaving the faction, but for some reason he seemed like he knew she would. She decided she was mad at him and didn¡¯t want to explain her feelings to him at all. Another scorpion appeared and she vaulted over it, landing on its back, she dodged its stinger and thrust her short sword deep into the brain of the oversized scorpion, it shuddered and just to make sure; she charged its skull with thunder and burned it from the inside out. The eyes popped and gelatinous goo foamed from its mouth. DING! TIER II VALLEY SCORPION KILLED! +1 INT +1 STR MARAUDING FOX ACTIVATED! TIER II POISONED SCORPION CORE LOOTED! She smiled and leapt off the body and bounded forward towards another, she killed another three before she realised. She hadn''t even called for her Mana tails, there hadn''t been a need yet. Her natural form and skills had been enough in this valley. Tempering had strengthened her by a lot and her body was reacting to its new limits very well. MARAUDING FOX ACTIVATED! X2 HEAVY PINCERS LOOTED! X3 SCORPION CARAPACES LOOTED! X1 TIER II MUTATED VALLEY SCORPION CORE LOOTED! Her title was looting for her, and she didn¡¯t even need to pick through the bodies for anything, it helped as bodies broke down and disintegrated into system to be reused and remodelled into other creatures and beasts somewhere else. In truth nobody knew how the labyrinth and the system created monsters, or what happened to those killed or defeated. The system turned them into dust and then they returned to the source, or so most people liked to believe. Sad¨¦ hadn''t really thought about it in truth, she had assumed they returned to the system. But she didn¡¯t know why she thought that. She would check the tomes when she returned, she thought to herself. --___________ Jazmel killed almost double the number of scorpions that rushed them, they just could not match up to his sword. he had replaced his newest one with his created one. The dwarves had made him something out of this world and he found comfort in the familial feel of its handle and hilt in his hand. As he killed the last scorpion to attack him in the last ten minutes, he felt the ground rumble again beneath them. but this time it was much heavier, the sounder reverberated around the vale, and he knew it was bigger, something of a much sheerer size was approaching. On que bursting from the ground, a scorpion unlike the others appeared. Its carapace was darker, it reminded him of coal in some places and the light of the sun glinted off of the thick exoskeleton that it had grown for itself, its pincers were much larger. The blade part glinted like metal and Jazmel could tell these would cut through him if gained a chance. The mouth was covered in spittle and where it dripped he saw the foam sizzle on the ground, its insides were acidic and he could see that stinger dripping, but this didn¡¯t burn its own exoskeleton. That made him wonder what could be done with the carapace. DING! YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND BY THE BEAST OF THE VALE! DEFEAT THE BEAST AND EARN DOMINION OF THE VALE!! ¡­ TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION FOUND! The system screen floated before him and disappeared by his will. He knew what he had to do here, even without the system¡¯s request. The stinger bobbed in the air and then to Jazmel ¡¯s surprise shot a wad of sticky acid at him. it caught him by surprise, but he simply dodged, and his head veered to the side as it sailed past. He heard the tree that it hit sizzle and creak, breaking in half once the acid ate through its trunk. Sunder! He slashed through the air and again to his surprise. The great scorpion did the uncanny, it parried his skill with its almost metallic pincers, sparks flew where the skill and pincer met. Jazmel found himself smiling, this was going to be a worthwhile fight. He leapt forward, his tyrannical body pushing him through the air without restraint. His sword clashed again with the pincers, leaving marks but no dents. Cleave! Lacerate! He slashed down and up, his sword moving in different forms as the different skills leapt from them. the first attack was blocked, but the second got through and slashed up the back of the scorpion. It squealed and jabbed with its stinger, Jazmel blocked it with the blade of his sword, flicking the acid off the blade and into the eyes of the scorpion. It squealed and he watched as it shook its body trying to dislodge the acid from its face. It raised its heavy pincers, but they couldn¡¯t reach its face. He took this time to dark in and stab with his sword right behind the eyes, where the brain was and drag his sword up through the brain before twisting the blade and jerking it free. DING! YOU KILLED A TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION! EXP ACCRUED! +2 AGL +2 DEX ¡°You are surprisingly strong, being able to defeat a tier III monster on your own is proof of that. But the ease of you doing so is a surprise.¡± He heard from above, peering up he could see Corin had descended from the clouds and was a few feet above him and watching intently. Jazmel nodded at her compliment, before turning back to his kill and pulling its core from beneath its brain, he shook his hand free of the glub of brain and other sickening innards. Then he started to cut huge pieces of the carapace off and store them in his ring, he was going to sell them as soon as he could, to colin or a store. X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE GAINED! the system took notice of his gains and alerted him, that was an enough. He took the stinger too, cutting it off from just beneath and storing it in his ring. As he did this the system chimed for him and he noticed the screen offering him a reward. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE GAINED AN EXTENSION TO YOUR DOMAIN!! ¡­ THE VALE HAS BEEN LINKED TO YOUR OUTPOST DOMAIN AND ITS RESOURCES AND MONSTERS WILL BE YOURS TO GAIN! ¡­ YOUR FACTION HAS EXPANDED AND TAKEN DOMAIN OF 2 OTHER EXTENSIONS TODAY! ¡­ REWARDS FOR ALL FACTION MEMBERS! KEEP GROWING! The system chimed and he scanned what was in front of him. but then the system jumped again, and a new screen appeared. DING! FACTION LEADER YOUR FACTION CONTINUES TO GROW! YOUR DOMAIN HAS EXPANDED! REWARD! MONARCH TIER ITEM GAINED! Finally! Jazmel smiled and he grabbed at the item in his mind and pulled it into his ring. MONARCH TIER ITEM FOUND! ¡­ THE BREATH OF THE NORTHERN WIND, AULE! The northern wind sprite Aule the falcon. He looked at what he had gained from the vale quickly and the system brought it all up on screen for him. TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CORE X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG, will add to your Mana points, depending on how high they are already. MONARCH TIER BREATH OF AULE? a monarch tier tribulation item for the mind! ¡°Let¡¯s head back.¡± He turned and noticed that Sad¨¦ was looking at him with a weird look, she seemed unhappy, but he didn¡¯t know why. She simply turned on her heel and began walking back towards the outpost. He sighed, a long exhale and then made to follow her. He did not know what to do when it concerned women, he had never been good at reading their emotions. But he didn¡¯t want to be like that with Sad¨¦, he cared what she thought of him. Book 4 Chapter Fifteen; New City Auction Jazmel found that every time he entered a new gate and found a new world, he was amazed. He never got used to it, never quite got over how amazing it was to dive into the labyrinth and experience and random, daring at yet wondrous world each and every time. He knew it was dangerous, he knew that at any moment if the labyrinth decided. He could lose his life to a tier IV creature or even a named tier III was still a powerful creation. he remembered his fight with Uter and almost shuddered, he had healed but his bones still ached with the ghosts of that fight. He had stepped through the gate of the outpost, right into a city metropolis. The gate had even materialised inside the walls of this city, he stepped free of the gate and was followed by his friends; Katie, Gelth, Bannerman and Sad¨¦. Corin came through too, retainers could follow their masters around and even into gates they hadn''t been before. The system allowed that, it made him remember Saif and he wondered how she was doing. It made him wonder after Baek too, he hadn''t seen him in weeks. He had sent word that he was in the Kuzuryu kingdom, but the letter had been quick and concise, no real information shared. But Baek was a master tier, he could manage himself and even beyond that, Jazmel was sure of it. DING! YOU HAVE DISCOVERED THE CITY METROPOLIS OF BENBAURG! EXP ACCRUED! The city metropolis of Benbaurg was not for the fainthearted, it was even larger than the dwarven metropolis he had been in just a few weeks ago. But he stepped forward, they had agreed to look for a new auction, everyone needed to buy and sell items. Colin was a great boon of the faction, but nothing beat labyrinth diving. Nothing could ever be better than diving, and so they frequently went out in their groups and pushed the bounds of their strengths and limits, to gain rewards for their faction. But also for their own system levels. ¡°Let¡¯s find an auction house, this place must have many.¡± Katie said, wrapping her chain around her forearm and body. She had changed since she became a ranker tier III, she was just ahead of them all, but Jazmel had known since he had met her that she had extremely unbalanced stats and that had been what she was working on. She hadn''t yet mentioned a body tempering, so he imagined she wasn¡¯t there yet. But maybe close, his eyes showed him the Mana within everyone and the closer he was with someone, the better it was developed to his sight. He could see the way her Mana coiled around her body, adaptive and active, ready for use and within her chains too. But she was still unbalanced, like her body couldn¡¯t manage the flow of the Mana just yet, it didn¡¯t rage like a storm, it felt more like a boat on a choppy sea. She needed to find the source of harmony for herself soon. Bannerman was another story entirely. He clearly had tempered; he was much larger now. Standing at just under seven feet, his back was large and his arms thick with muscles. His fingertips extended into long claws and his skin was as dark as coal and grey in some parts. He looked like a hybrid mix of wolf and man but far more bestial. He retained his senses and his thoughts, but just the look of him was scary, it made Jazmel wonder just how strong he had gotten, he had also gone up a tier too. So he was even stronger than before. Gelth stood beside him, a baldric across his back and he carried the large sword of the knight of the revenant dragon. Which he had claimed as his spoils after the battle. He was a little shorter than Bannerman, but not by much. He was still very much human though, he hadn''t undergone a tempering either, but he was close. his Mana was bursting within him, it was almost as large as a beast core and Jazmel was surprised by just how large it was. He had left Paldane at the outpost, he had been sleeping for almost twenty hours a day and only really waking to eat and then going back to sleep. He wasn¡¯t sure what to do, but Paldane seemed fine and was simply growing and the energy to grow was causing him to sleep a lot. Sad¨¦ had come, bringing Kazumi alongside her. Kazumi seemed to be able to revert to her old form of a tiny pup and she rested on the shoulder of Sad¨¦ even now as they walked through the city. Sad¨¦ hadn''t spoken to him in a few days, not since the arrival of Corin and him finding out that she was also a princess, to be. He felt like they were fighting but he wasn¡¯t actually sure what it was about. He had left her to think about how she felt, they would speak sooner rather than later. He was sure of that much at least. The group walked deeper into the city, other teams and groups were moving around. Jazmel could make out different factions and guilds, some were wearing the same colours, others were wearing the same armour. They made a point to show that they were all under the same flag, whichever group they belonged to. ¡°We should start bringing the faction out when we enter these cities. We need to build are reputation.¡± Katie said as she looked around her and Jazmel had to agree too. But he wasn¡¯t sure how much he would need to do to build the forge and the outpost to build armour they called all work with. But he would go back and talk with his peers when he returned, AI would have ideas for him. They walked down a road, a well paved and wide road where wagons filled the street going in either direction and people of all ages and strengths followed. Some were seekers, rankers, or masters. Others were simply denizens of the labyrinth. It was a sight that Jazmel found he enjoyed, there was great harmony in this metropolis, and he wanted to share this experience. At the bottom of the road, there was a large four-story building, it was at the corner. So it acted like a wedge in the road and people either veered left or right. But the doors had been opened and Jazmel could see the Mana arrays built into the doorway, but he could also make out the Mana that was also being held inside the building. ¡°That building is the auction house, I can see the Mana.¡± He told his friends, and they followed him as he made his way through the crowds to enter. The doors were not unguarded, surprisingly. A master tier at the door appeared, he wore simple robes, but they were so delicately warded and woven with Mana that Jazmel was sure that they could rival any armour he had seen in the labyrinth yet. ¡°None can enter the auction house without an invite, or they must pay an entry fee.¡± He told them, he didn¡¯t even release his pressure. But his words held such authority that Jazmel felt intimidation. ¡°How do we get an invitation?¡± He asked through gritted teeth. ¡°You put up collateral that the auction might want, or you pay your way in.¡± he explained, clearly bored and Jazmel wondered if he had, had to say this already. ¡°How do you put up collateral that the auction might want, if you cannot get invited in?¡± Katie asked, clearly annoyed and Jazmel could sense the spike of irritancy in the guard. ¡°I don¡¯t make the rules girl, I just enforce them.¡± he said, flaring a tiny part of his Mana and trying to push the group back. Jazmel felt oppressed, he grit his teeth and focused all he could to remain strong against the pressure. DING! THE TYRANT WILL NOT BE BOWED! +2 WIL ¡°What can I provide to the auction?¡± Jazmel said through gritted teeth and the master looked at him and smiled, before releasing the strength of his spirit. He shook his head and then shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you have, but to be only a ranker tier I and be able to stand under my pressure has made this interesting for me. Have you tempered?¡± he asked, and Jazmel nodded and noticed his friends looking at him admiringly.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Give me a tier III item and I will add it to the auction for you. Give me your name and I will put it down so you can pick up the earnings, but the auction house will take a 15% cut. So be warned.¡± He explained and Jazmel nodded, after looking at his friends and the guard stopped barring the way. Jazmel was the first through, he considered what to offer, he almost brought out the monarch tier item, but it was too precious. So instead he brought out the dwarven coin and the guard whistled. The others brought out their own items and they were allowed to enter. Jazmel had misread the arrays at the door, he had assumed that they were defensive runes of sigaldry. But when he entered he realised they had been so much more. The doors opened into an auditorium, much larger than the bounds of the building. The inside had been expanded through Mana stones and runes to create a much larger space inside. The front was filled with stores where people were bartering, buying, and selling wares. Once you passed through this round, there were waiters, staff to seat you wherever you needed to be. Jazmel led his team to the waiters quickly, he wanted to get a good seat. ¡°Welcome to Benbaurg auction house. Will you need an office box for your party?¡± the waiter asked, a slim elf looking man, his eyes scanned the group. Loitering on Corin and Sad¨¦ for half a second before returning his eyes to Jazmel . ¡°We will, we want a private office box please.¡± He asked and the water nodded, to his left he beckoned one of his peers forward and directed him to bring them to their seating. As they followed this server, Jazmel noticed others doing the same thing, groups as large as even ten, but some as small as two and three. ¡°How much is the office box?¡± he asked and the server, not turning answered. ¡°fifty platinum coins for a private space, or twenty-five for just an office box.¡± He explained, Jazmel winced but it was Katie who whistled. ¡°that is very expensive for a seating.¡± She said and without looking away from his destination the server merely said. ¡°If you find the arrangements ill fitting, we can always provide better.¡± His tone itched Jazmel¡¯s spirit but he wouldn¡¯t be quelled. He pulled the coins from his ring and handed over fifty to the server. Who accepted them happily, his eyes showing it, but his face was stone. When he brought them to a door, he handed a card to Jazmel and showed Jazmel to hover it over the handle to gain access. Jazmel did and when he opened the door, the office ¡®box¡¯ was actually a large evening room. It had a bar, a lounge area and seating by the window as well as away from the door. It was a room about the size of his bedroom in the outpost. ¡°The window is warded; none will be able to see in and yet you will be able to see out of it. also when you speak or barter, the window will augment your voice.¡± The server explained, once that was done he left them and as he closed the door, Jazmel heard it lock and then saw wards of Mana sigaldry flash across the entire frame. ¡°Here you go.¡± He turned and saw Sad¨¦ with platinum coins. He looked at the others and they were busy looking around the room and checking out the facilities. ¡°The others put in, there is twenty-five there.¡± She said with a quick smile, Jazmel knew she was still upset with him. he didn¡¯t want her to have any more ammunition, he accepted it, pulling them into his ring where he kept all his money. ¡°Thank you.¡± He said and she nodded before going over to the bar to join Katie. ¡°She is holding herself up, but she wants to share her burdens with you.¡± He heard and looking to the voice he saw Corin standing to the side watching him, watch Sad¨¦. ¡°Didn¡¯t you think I don¡¯t deserve her?¡± he said and Corin shrugged, agreeing. ¡°I do not know much about royalty, especially when we live in a system where it can be earned. All I know is that you currently don¡¯t have the right to be around her. But who knows what will happen in the future, for all we know. You might be the child of a king too.¡± She said and as she passed him to go over to the bar too, she slapped him on the back. He might be the son of a king! He thought about those words, in truth he hadn''t considered them since Baek had told them, but at the idea of losing Sad¨¦. He decided he wanted to know more. He needed to know the truth about his birth. DING! YOU HAVE VISUALISED YOUR STORY!! YOU HAVE GAINED A PLOT! ¡­ LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT YOUR FAMILY! ¡­ REWARDS; He scoffed at the screen; to gain such great rewards just meant his story was something deep and the system was trying to goad him into looking for it. he smiled; he had been goaded. Just as he was done with the system, the lights in the room dimmed and a drum in the auditorium panned out its keen sound. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen! Rankers and Masters! Welcome to the annual Benbaurg auction, we welcome you all and thank you for filling our halls and offices.¡± The spokesman stood in the centre of the stage, he was dressed well, a black felt top hat, a black blazer with tails at the back. He leaned on an ornate black cane and his trousers were as dark as oil. He wore shoes, black too and he wore a shirt so white it reminded Jazmel of the idea of heaven. ¡°What a show off.¡± Corin said but Jazmel smirked, he actually agreed. ¡°I know we will have a lot to get through and I plan to do it all, so I ask. Can you bear with us while we get this show on the road?¡± he said and those in the auditorium, who were not in office boxes. Cheered him on. ¡°We will get the tier III items out of the way and then we will share some of our master tier items too. We even have a few special treats saved for later. All I ask is bear with us, let us share our wares. Can you do that people?!¡± He shouted over the din of the auditorium, and they all cheered him on again. ¡°Good, I am glad to know I am in amongst people of culture. People with a taste for items and artefacts.¡± He smiled as he surveyed the crowd and so while the first item was brought onto the stage he watched everyone else intently. ¡°This first item is tier III; it isn¡¯t uncommon to be found in the labyrinth, but we have found an uncommon one of it.¡± he took a beast core from the attendant and showed it up so everyone could see it in the light. The beast core swirled with light, and it looked like night clouds of twilight blue, and purple were trapped inside. ¡°This is the mutated beast core of a tier III Dreadnought. Some of you look at me with the same eyes as me, but you don¡¯t know what I am talking about. A dreadnought is a beast that has been turned into a golem, but the core still grows and functions as they grow stronger. This beast core is mutated because before the dreadnought could evolve and earn its name, it was vanquished. So I show you what is uncommon, don¡¯t we always share such things?¡± He said with a wry smile. ¡°Bidding starts at five hundred gold coins.¡± He offered and hands were raised before he had even begun. ¡°Why would anyone want that?¡± Jazmel asked, turning to Sad¨¦. She smiled at him, knowing why he turned and asked her, and she shrugged before responding. ¡°A dreadnought isn¡¯t much different to an attack dog; you build a new body for the core and tell it what to guard and it will. Some wealthy families keep them to guard their homes.¡± She explained and he nodded, a dreadnought was the same as the willow knight he had planted at the outpost. It hadn''t even grown into a tree yet; he wondered what he needed to do to get it appear quicker. The bidding went from five hundred gold coins all the way up to thirty platinum coins. Jazmel whistled a note of disbelief, but he wasn¡¯t surprised, it looked like people had money here. money was always something that could be made in the labyrinth, he just needed to make more. ¡°Thank you for buying that, all items will be held in storage and when the auction is over you can take your item with you. Or have it delivered, for a small fee.¡± The wry smile appeared again, and Jazmel decided he didn¡¯t like him. A few other beast cores of other creatures that Jazmel didn¡¯t know where brought forward and sold too. They brought a corpse up; the body was thick with white fur and brown stripes. It reminded Jazmel of a leopard, but from the forehead sprung two short horns and from short, faced snout, canines from the lower jaw jutted up out of the mouth. It was incredibly similar to the Zheng but also different. ¡°Here you will find, the corpse of a tier III Kogor, big cats that hunt in the mountains. Their bones are rock solid, and they compete with the Zheng for territory and prey. Bidding starts at one platinum coin.¡± The bidding went all the way up to thirteen, but Jazmel won. The item was taken into the back. ¡°We bring on the next item which I assure you, will shock some of you¡­¡± He stopped speaking as he was peering up at the ceiling, Jazmel followed his line of sight and saw a crack forming in the ceiling. His eyes showed him the Mana trying to repair the crack, to seal it in. but the Mana died, whatever away eroded it was breaking through and the crack soon became a crevice. From this crack, with horror. Jazmel watched the ceiling give out and ask rubble rained down and smoke spewed from the hole in the ceiling. Great orbs of gilded gold and copper were forced through the opening and as they fell they flickered to life twisting and turning as they expanded in size and bounced around before landing in assembled form. ¡°That¡¯s what a dreadnought looks like.¡± Sad¨¦ said as they came to form, hundreds of them were dropped from the ceiling and as they fell into the auditorium they turned into their golem form. Beginning to attack those in the auditorium. The hole in the ceiling was widened and now bombs were dropped from the sky, casks of liquor used for firebombs were dropped and they smashed all around and caused even greater chaos. ¡°Who is doing this?¡± Katie asked, everyone glued to the window as they watched the anarchy of this attack. ¡°The sworn.¡± Bannerman said and Jazmel looked back at the hole just as the first one of them dropped from the ceiling and landed on the glass of one of the office boxes. He burst through and Jazmel heard the screams from within and then blood spurted across the glass that was left. ¡°Get ready everyone.¡± He said and he didn¡¯t even have to look to know his friends were prepared. Book 4 Chapter Sixteen; a Sworn Surprise DING! THE SWORN HAVE AMBUSHED THE AUCTION!! ¡­ SURVIVE!! The system screamed at him through message notices, and he didn¡¯t even have time to look at it before three sworn members were trying to break the glass of their window seat. Chain maiden! Thunderfire! Lacerate! He, Katie and Sad¨¦ flung their skills out. The glass burst outward and the sworn were sent flying into the melee of the auditorium. Jazmel peered down and realised they were only three floors up, for a ranker that was merely an extended leap. ¡°What are we doing Jazmel?¡± Katie asked and he noticed everyone was watching him. ¡°Get into the auditorium and help out, we are retreating. But we are taking whoever we can with us.¡± He explained and everyone agreed, he leapt out of the window, Sad¨¦ was beside him and Corin leapt out before them, her wings unfolding about her midleap and helping to keep her aloft. Katie swung past them and whipped her chain out taking a sworn through the neck with her spiked chain. Jazmel was hurtling to the ground and when he was close enough, with Nozarashi he stabbed down into the neck joint of the first dreadnought near him. cleaving it without his skill, he cut through the copper, and it flailed beneath him. the dreadnought stood eight feet tall, he averted from a wild swing of its other arm. Lightning fall! Lightning rained down on the dreadnought and when it had stopped the copper had been burnt and melted to the point where its legs had fallen away. Jazmel took the moment to cut into its chest and stab into the core. The copper golem shuddered before falling to pieces. DING! TIER III COPPER DREADNOUGHT KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! Lightning fall! Sad¨¦ called out and pulling thunder from her channels she slammed it down and rained it down on those around. Everyone fighting was struck and groans bounced around the chamber. ¡°Sorry!¡± she said, and Jazmel hid a smile behind his hand, she was worried even though they were fighting for their lives. He heard it before seeing it, using his hand he moved Sad¨¦ out of the way and tilted his head to the side as a bloody knife appeared out of nowhere. Jazmel had seen him coming, he could see his Mana, covering his entire body. The sworn ranker rushed them, parried the blade. the sworn seemed surprised but he hesitated for a moment before trying to disappear and appear behind Jazmel , he followed him. his eyes keeping sight of him at every moment. ¡°How can you see me?¡± he said, Jazmel didn¡¯t even give him a moment to figure it out. He simply slashed down and cut through the bubble of Mana he was hiding his approach with. Sunder He whispered and the skill leapt from the blade and split the sworn before he could even understand what was happening to him. DING! UNKNOWN SWORN RANKER KILLED! +2 PER +2 INT He rolled his shoulders and continued moving, the rubble was everywhere large slabs from the roof had broken even more. Great rigid parts of the roof had crumbled and as more bombs had fallen. The cracks had grown and spread across the entire ceiling like a network of vines. ¡°the ceiling is going to fall.¡± He said and Sad¨¦ looked up, seeing what he had seen too. ¡°We need to get people out and as soon as possible.¡± He said to her, she nodded a grim look on her face. ¡°Stay close, we will get through this.¡± He told her and her eyes grew kind. As they finished speaking Corin landed beside them and she was smudged with smoke and blood, but it clearly wasn¡¯t hers. ¡°We should leave soon, there are master tier in amongst the sworn.¡± She explained, Jazmel had seen some master tier within the members who had come for the auction, but it seemed like they were outnumbered and to be caught in a battle between masters would be disastrous. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Jazmel said and Corin, without a moment¡¯s notice she grabbed Sad¨¦ and leapt into the air and darted through the air to the exit. Jazmel watched them for a moment with disbelief but shook the doubt from his head. The Dreadnoughts had noticed him and rushed towards him, crushing granite that had fallen from the roof as well as the wooden pews that had made up the seats in the auditorium. Great rumbling dragon! The spectral maw of a dragon made from Mana appeared and he sent it hurtling from his blade into the group of the dreadnought approaching him. they exploded, the first one suffering the most damage. Literally exploded and the copper of its form crashed into the two behind it and broke them grievously. he jumped down from the walkway and landed amongst them. Lacerate!Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Cleave! Lacerate! He carved them up, they broke beneath his blade, and he suffered a few bruises from lumbering strikes. But his body was safe, thick, and hardened from the tyrant tempering. The sworn were killing indiscriminately, seekers and rankers who had fallen injured from the blast from the roof. Jazmel watched as they slaughtered the wounded and then began looting them, taking storage rings, armour, and weapons. He was livid. He sheathed his sword and brought out his katana made from grave and cold iron. They noticed him and though their faces were hidden. He could see the sickly eyes of them, eyes of killers and murderers. He rushed forward as they rushed towards him, cowls to hide their faces and masks to disguise their faces. Sunder! He slashed through the first three that rushed him. four fell before his blade and he didn¡¯t even have a chance to check the system before a stronger one rushed him. This sworn was clearly a ranker, he carried a chained weapon. A scythe at one end and a weight at the other. He whirled them and slashed through the air at Jazmel . Iron scourge! He flung out the weight and Jazmel heard it pierce the air as it shot past his head. he dived out of the way, rolling, and jumping back to his feet. He landed near a group of them still looting dead bodies, but he was on them before they even noticed him. Fall of the black raven! He smashed through them and the closest one to him cried out. He screamed in death and fell in a pool of blood from his crushed hips and broken legs. The skill filled his sword with dark Mana, and he used it to smash the sworn into the others. He cut through them, arms, and legs. Before the last one even brought up his dagger to defend himself, Jazmel had killed six and cut through the dagger and him in turn. He felt the system energy float into his body, but he couldn¡¯t check. The chain shot beside him, the scythe slicing through the stone as if it were leather. Jazmel dodged it and as he turned he saw the thick metal fist rushing towards his chest. He quickly used his sword to cover his body and the dreadnought caught him almost cleanly. Jazmel was sent hurtling through the air, he smashed into a pew and though it broke his fall, he felt the damage. The system flared up into his vision. WARNING! STATUS CONDITION! X4 BROKEN RIB(S) (major) PIERCED SIDE (major) He groaned, looking down he saw that a large splinter from the broken pew had pierced his side, he was hurting, and he could feel his body trying to repair itself around the splinter. He groaned and looked, he had dropped his sword and was a short crawl from it. He pulled the splinter free and yelped from the pain, blood seeped through his fingers. He took out a health potion, one of his tier II ones and drank it. He grumbled at the pain, he felt it pushing to heal his wounds, but his ribs and the wound in his side was larger than the potion could fix both. He moved, he needed to get up. He groaned at the pain and winced where the wound was closing but blood was still pooling from the wound. He sighed, on all fours he crawled towards his sword. he picked it up and just as he made it to his blade, he parried a flying dagger that was aimed at his head. he deflected it and when it struck the stone it exploded, leaving a large crack in the stone. He got up, there were almost a hundred of them now. Boxing him in, slinking towards him like predators, like rats finding a corpse. They thought he was too wounded to fight, but Jazmel wasn¡¯t going down without taking as many with them as he could. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a second and calming his heart. he pulled his sword into a stance and exhaling he moved forward; he ran into them. parrying and countering as he smashed through those that tried to block him. He had carved a bloody swathed deep into their ranks before he was blocked. Mountain breaker! He heard and the group was smashed into the sky. Gelth appeared and he was bloody and wounded, but his eyes were fierce. He was ready for war. He crashed into them, swinging his mighty blade through the sworn who had attacked Jazmel and he was doing his best to fight towards his side. Jazmel did the same, killing the sworn as they came at him and wounded those he could only just reach. In a breath, they were beside each other and then the sworn ranker with the chain appeared. Jazmel kissed his teeth, cursing. But before the chain user could even reach them, he was hit with a chain himself. It was thorned jagged tips and wrapped around his neck, Katie appeared above and as she landed. She jerked her chain, tearing the throat of the ranker. his eyes rolled into his head, and he gurgled on his own spit and blood as his throat was torn asunder. ¡°Should we leave?¡± she asked landing beside Jazmel, who nodded and where she had opened the way. Bannerman came hurtling through a bestial charge that crashed into the sworn knocking them down and he clawed and swiped at those as he made his way towards them. ¡°None of you will leave here.¡± a voice said, and Jazmel looked up to see a single sworn descending from an office box towards them, he was handsome. Princely looking, his blonde hair and natural features made Jazmel think he was royalty. But his eyes showed madness, there was a wickedness in him that Jazmel could see. Clawing to get out and it wasn¡¯t a surprise he was part of the sworn. He wore black leather armour and everything, but his head was covered, even his neck. He smiled at Jazmel and Jazmel noticed his fangs, his canines were extremely long. ¡°You have killed too many of my men, I cannot let you leave. Your blood must appease there¡¯s.¡± He said and Jazmel felt sick at the grin that wrought across the man¡¯s face. ¡°You will not be having me and my people.¡± Jazmel said, standing firm even though he wanted to rest and sleep. ¡°So be it.¡± the man said, and he pulled from his ring, a scythe. The blade was long and curved, and the metal was pitch black, it was filled with red that ran across the edge of the blade and it looked like blood, but Jazmel couldn¡¯t tell from how far away he was. ¡°This is a Harbinger¡¯s scythe that I got upgraded. It traps the soul of those I kill with it and fuse them together to make the blade stronger.¡± He said, running his own tongue along the blade. ¡°We need to kill him.¡± Jazmel said and the others agreed, but Katie; which surprised Jazmel . Said otherwise. ¡°We need to leave. He is a master tier.¡± She said and Jazmel sighed, they were not strong enough for him. Scourge! He uttered and swung his scythe. A bloody red crescent of Mana shot across the ground aimed at Jazmel and his friends. He stepped forward to block it and with all of him he almost did. The strike was bone chilling at first and then it shook his body, bones and then his very core. The attack didn¡¯t land a strike on them, but it blasted them all off their feet and knocked Jazmel back furthest as he had taken the brunt of the skill. DING! STATUS CONDITION! WARNING HEALTH BELOW 40% SHATTERED RIBCAGE (major) FACTURED RIGHT FOREARM (major) BROKEN LEFT ARM (minor) HEAL NOW! Jazmel moaned with pain, he felt it floating around his body and he tried to pull himself back to his feed, but he could not. He was teetering on unconsciousness, but he wasn¡¯t too far gone. From where he had landed, he was leaning on a broken pew leg and was sitting on the ground. Broken from his fall. The master tier sworn was grinning as he leapt into the air and slashed with his scythe to finish them off. He heard Katie yell his name but there was nothing he could actually do. Grim reaping! He yelled and a darkened Mana rushed towards them. Jazmel simply watched it approach, it was as if time slowed down, and he watched his end. But it was not meant to be, for his own retainer appeared. Night of the white moon Jazmel heard pierce through the din of the skill. A lunar white orb expanded till it was so large Jazmel worried it might pop. It swallowed the darkened crescent and then descended on the sworn, engulfing them and obliterating them. the ground had been broken razed from existence and Baek simply descended to the ground before Jazmel . ¡°Who did this to my master?¡± Baek said and Jazmel coughed as he tried to smile, but instead he swooned and fell into the dark of slumber. Book 4 Chapter Seventeen; of Retainers and Relationships Jazmel woke up and groaned from body strain. It hurt to move but he could tell his body had recovered from his wounds and yet he still felt the ache. He was in a bed, someone had laid him in a bed, and he found that he had been tucked in, he looked down to see the room and saw Sad¨¦ curled up at the end of the bed. She was sleeping quite peacefully, and he saw that beside the bed, his sword had been sheathed and propped up. ¡°You are awake.¡± He heard and looking over, he saw Baek sitting beside a table sipping tea. ¡°I am.¡± Jazmel said, his voice gruff from no speaking for some time. ¡°How long was I asleep for?¡± he asked and Baek looked at him before sipping his tea again. ¡°Three days.¡± He uttered. Three days? Jazmel had been asleep for three days. How injured had he been. But he eased himself up to a sitting position, trying his best to not wake Sad¨¦. ¡°How long has she been here?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek simply smiled. ¡°Since we brought you here.¡± he sipped his tea again. ¡°she refused to leave your side, even when her retainer tried to stop her.¡± Baek told him and Jazmel nodded, Corin had shown him who she was. She had taken Sad¨¦ away and left Jazmel to fight. Baek listened to this, but he felt something change. He felt his Mana pressure lock down around them. ¡°I will speak with her before we move from here. young master.¡± Baek said and they said nothing else about the incident. ¡°The auction house have been allowing us to stay while you recuperate. They have asked for a moment of your time once you have healed enough to see them.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel nodded. Baek looked at Sad¨¦ for a moment and then hiding a smile, he got up. ¡°I will go and see if they are prepared to speak with you.¡± He left them and after a few moments Sad¨¦ got up to sit at the edge of the bed. ¡°I am so sorry that she took me out of there.¡± She said and Jazmel simply pulled her closer and hugged her, she had her back to him, and he could feel her body jolt as she cried. But he didn¡¯t say anything, he simply held her; together for the moment. ¡°I thought something happened to you; I wasn¡¯t even strong enough to break her grip. By the time I realised what was happening we were almost out of the auditorium.¡± She explained in between sobs, he didn¡¯t say anything and let her talk. He simply stroked her hair, her beautiful hair. He just let her cry as she needed to. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, we survived. I survived.¡± He told her and shushed her while she cried. But she wasn¡¯t going to stop any time soon, so he just let her cry. Which reminded him of their earlier fall out. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to me if you become a princess, you have always been that to me. Or I have always thought of you as one. But I am just worried how things will change for me and you, I couldn¡¯t build this faction without you.¡± He said and she cried even more, it upset her, and he wasn¡¯t sure why. ¡°Jazmel I wouldn¡¯t leave you. I wouldn¡¯t leave the faction at all.¡± Jazmel heard her say into his shoulder and he simply smelled the scent of her hair. ¡°I need to return home, I need to tell my mother about Corin, and I need to get some things in order.¡± She said and Jazmel nodded, not interrupting her at all. ¡°Will you come to the coronation?¡± she asked, twisting to look up at him and study his face. ¡°If you want me to.¡± He told her and she turned back to lay on him again. ¡°The auction house want to reward you for staying and fighting. They didn¡¯t even know about our faction, but now they are interested in asking for our help.¡± She told him and he listened intently. ¡°We should go and meet them shouldn¡¯t we.¡± He told her and she got up to help him. ¡°Wait let me check my stats, I haven¡¯t yet.¡± She sat back down and smiled as she waited. DING! YOU KILLED X74 SWORN! +4 AGL +4 END +3 STR +3 VIT ¡­ YOU DEFENDED THE BENBAURG AUCTION HOUSE! +2 STR +2 PER +2 VIT +2 END +2 INT ¡­ YOU HAVE GAINED FAVOUR FROM THE BENBAURG AUCTION HOUSE!! +100 PLATINUM COINS! ¡­ EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! LEVEL UP LEVEL UP!! He had grown a lot, gained a lot of stats. Even gaining two levels also, this was a big leap. He hadn''t gained a level since the Uter. But he wasn¡¯t going to complain, he stood up and though he was a little wobbled, he checked his stats finally. Name: Jazmel Polo Level: 70 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrantThe tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Health: 3760/3760 Stamina: 2860/2860 Mana: 2560/2560 STR:120(+5) PER:120 VIT:122 END:120(+3) INT:123 WIL:118 AGL:117 DEX:118 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER AWAKENER (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 4 206X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN 3X TIER I HEALTH POTIONS 5X TIER I STAMINA POTIONS 7X TIER I MANA POTIONS 10X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 10X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER II BRUXA CORE X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III BREASTPLATE OF THE DRAKE TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CORE X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG MONARCH TIER BREATH OF AULE TIER III KOGOR CORPSE COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 He was happy with his stats; he was considerably stronger, and he had worked hard for it. He remembered that he had gained a new plot also and looked back at those too. PLOTS: He only had two now, but they were still prominent, he had already completed the other two. He had found Tango and he had also returned the branch and seed to Mirete. so now he was just pushing forward and heading towards his own goals, he wouldn¡¯t forget his goals. He stepped gingerly and Sad¨¦ rushed to his side to support him. ¡°I just need to get used to using my body again.¡± he said as she crooned around him. they made it to the door, him leaning on her as a crutch, but using as little of his weight as he could. He had gotten heavy since he tiered up, heavier and stronger. ¡°You¡¯ve put on some weight Jazmel .¡± She grumbled and they laughed as they both opened the door. When the door opened, Jazmel saw the faces of Baek, Katie, Bannerman and Gelth. They were all standing outside his room and when they saw him up and mobile they all seemed grateful. ¡°We thought we almost lost you!¡± Katie said and Bannerman picked her up and hid her with his body covering her mouth with a large hand. He laughed at that, shocked by how quickly Bannerman moved. Corin was off to the side but staring at him. She looked at Sad¨¦, then at him and then at Baek. But she said nothing. Baek clearly had spoken to her. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see the Benbaurg auction owners.¡± Jazmel told his friends, and they took it in turns to help him down the stairs, three flights of stairs at that. Then he was in front of two double doors, the wood was vibrant and to Jazmel ¡¯s delight he could see that they had been carved with Mana runes of warding and protection. He could see them, that and also the way the wards all focused on the door and the doorframe to strengthen one another. Baek knocked the door, then after a moment the door opened and the head waiter from before opened the door. He noticed Jazmel and he inclined his head, a true show of respect. Jazmel entered the door with his group, Baek off to the side and then Sad¨¦ and Katie on either side of himself for support. The room was a large office with large wrap around windows. Jazmel could see the entire city from their place but that wasn¡¯t the important thing at the moment. The man sitting at the table was who drew all of Jazmel ¡¯s attention. He was an older gentleman, a human but he seemed a little different, Jazmel wondered if he was a seeker. But when he tried to peer at his Mana, his sight was blurred and then he felt a sharp pang of pain in his head. He grunted and almost stepped back, but Katie held him up. ¡°You have some interesting eyes there.¡± The man said with a sly smile. He offered a seat, but Jazmel decided to stand. ¡°You and your faction staying to fight was boon we didn¡¯t expect. We would like to reward you for your service but also to see if we can create somewhat of an alliance.¡± He said and Jazmel watched as his hands fluttered on his system and then he flicked it over to Jazmel . DING! THE BENBAURG AUCTION HOUSE HAS SET YOU A TASK! ¡­ THE BLACK WING AUCTION HOUSE WILL SUPPORT AND PROVIDE PROTECTION FOR THE AUCTION ON EXTRACTION DIVES! THE REWARDS! Jazmel looked at the notice and then after reading through it he shared it with the others and they all looked at the notification, then looked at Jazmel waiting. He turned and caught the eye of Baek, who simply inclined his head. with respect he would do as Jazmel offered. ¡°I will accept this, but while we have ranker tiers and seeker tiers we do not currently have a master in our ranks.¡± Jazmel uttered and the leader nodded, but then he inclined his shoulders in a shrug. ¡°If your team fight how you all fought, we will well be alright with our needs. We will ensure that we only do excursions with the right level of safety, after all if your team cannot survive. Neither will any of us.¡± He responded and Jazmel realised the truth of it. ¡°When would you like to begin?¡± Jazmel asked and the main leader of the auction house stood up and then walking around his desk, he came to stand before Jazmel . ¡°We can start now if you have the people.¡± He offered and Jazmel nodded, but then he turned on his team and his mind began working quickly. ¡°Katie, Bannerman you will stay here. Guard them till Gelth returns. Gelth you need to return and get Mary to bring a group of the seekers with her.¡± Jazmel said and they all agreed without any hesitation. ¡°Walter, please take them to our store and have them pick their items before they leave.¡± He offered and Jazmel nodded as the first three left. ¡°I will go too; I need to head back home Jazmel .¡± Sad¨¦ interjected and he shuddered, steeling himself he nodded at her, and she hugged him quickly before leaving and Corin following behind her. ¡°Interesting.¡± The man said and he turned and then looked at Jazmel and Baek. ¡°I have some items on me now, tier III if you want them. I haven¡¯t the collection of the stores, but I do have some items I found intriguing.¡± He uttered and Jazmel simply took the moment to sit down and waited to be shown. The first item he pulled out was a sword, it was a katana that must have been made out of a storm or thundercloud. It crackled with lightning and Jazmel almost had to shield his eyes from it. ¡°I saw you wielding your katana and I imagined you would be seeking a sword, but this one doesn¡¯t seem like you would have chemistry.¡± He said, but he left the sword on his desk. He thought for a moment and then he pulled another item from one of his rings. The next item he brought out was a chunk of grave iron. Jazmel could feel the warmth of the room drop in temperature and the ore began to leech even the Mana from the enclosed space. The owner pulled it back in his ring to stop it, but he still offered it to Jazmel . ¡°That is the highest ore grade of grave iron I have; I saw the sword you used. That was frighteningly well made. So I thought you might want more in case you want to make anymore.¡± He explained and Jazmel understood why he would do that. But that also wasn¡¯t what he was looking for, he thanked the man but wondered if he had anything else. ¡°I have one more thing, I am not sure you could use it. I wouldn¡¯t even provide this to anyone else, but you earned this, surely.¡± He expressed, confessing that he was worried about the item. Even Baek moved forward to see what it was. He pulled from his ring a thick crystal; it was even bigger than the iron ore. Jazmel couldn¡¯t tell what it was until it thumped. It moved like a heartbeat and then he noticed the Mana that thrummed from it as it hummed with life. ¡°This is a master tier dragon¡¯s heart. dragons are creatures of Mana and magic and so their hearts look like Mana hearts with a circle carved into them. that¡¯s why it is still beating, even though it is not pumping blood.¡± Jazmel nodded, that was what he wanted, and it was something he felt as if it was calling to him. ¡°I will take that if you allow me.¡± Jazmel said, trying to hide his excitement. The owner looked between he and the item and with a smile, he offered it with a show of his hand. Jazmel accepted it and then waited but the owner waved him away. ¡°Get some rest, once you are ready you are welcome to leave on your tasks. I am aware that you will need to go about your duties.¡± He said, Jazmel rose up slowly and offering his hand they shook. He took the dragon Mana heart into his ring and then began to leave, then he remembered his items. He explained to the owner and after realising what he said, he laughed. ¡°I will have your coin returned to you and the corpse brought up too. I would even return your money to you if you would like?¡± but Jazmel declined and he felt the owner smile, was he assessing him. Jazmel was unsure, but he thanked him nonetheless and as he left. He turned to Baek. ¡°We should speak.¡± ¡°I agree, we should take some time and catch up.¡± Book 4 Chapter Eighteen; of Home Truths Returning to his room with some struggled steps, refusing help from Baek. Jazmel finally sat on his bed and now that he was away and out of sight, he laid across the bed and sighed. ¡°You do need to rest some more, you pushed yourself in that battle.¡± He heard Baek said and craning his neck to look at him, he could see him sitting at the small table that was in the room. ¡°You have grown considerably since I last saw.¡± He told Jazmel and Jazmel threw a thumbs up to show he accepted the compliment. ¡°I am most shocked to see that you have undergone a body tempering.¡± He said and that made Jazmel raise himself up and look at Baek who was watching him intently. ¡°I take it you underwent a body tempering too?¡± Jazmel said and Baek nodded, then shrugged. He was a master after all. Jazmel had wanted to speak with Baek about this for a while now, so he simply leant across the bed and told him what had happened to him. from the main members taking down the three headed hydra, to the attack on the outpost, he finally told him about the primordial and Baek sat calmly and watched Jazmel intently. He said nothing whilst Jazmel spoke and then finally he waited until he was finished and then he spoke. ¡°A great deal has occurred with you since I have been gone.¡± Baek said calmly and then he took a moment before speaking on the things he had just heard. ¡°To undergo your tempering so quickly is unheard of. I don¡¯t think anyone had undergone tempering in as a first-tier ranker. but I am not surprised, by what I have seen of you. You have undergone a great deal of curious moments within the labyrinth. What tempered body did you gain?¡± he asked, and Jazmel told him about the domineering tyrant body. ¡°That does sound particular for yourself. Tempered bodies allow you to continue to better yourself and function with your skills and better attributes, a normal human cannot have the amount of Mana a Ranker or Master will eventually gain.¡± He explained to Jazmel , in truth this all made sense to him. But he was still worried. ¡°Have you heard of anyone becoming another race?¡± he asked and Baek perked up. ¡°Did you change? Did yours change?¡± Jazmel sighed and felt a weight drop from his shoulders and then he opened his stats and showed his screen. Name: Jazmel Polo Level: 70 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 3760/3760 Stamina: 2860/2860 Mana: 2560/2560 STR:120(+5) PER:120 VIT:122 END:120(+3) INT:123 WIL:118 AGL:117 DEX:118 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE)Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER AWAKENER (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 4 206X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN 3X TIER I HEALTH POTIONS 5X TIER I STAMINA POTIONS 7X TIER I MANA POTIONS 10X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 10X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER II BRUXA CORE X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III BREASTPLATE OF THE DRAKE TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CORE X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG MONARCH TIER BREATH OF AULE TIER III KOGOR CORPSE COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 Baek looked at the screen for a moment and then looked over them again. He looked at Jazmel and for a moment just studied his face. ¡°Young master, Jazmel . You are growing at extraordinary speed; I am not sure I can even understand what¡¯s happening with you. In rare cases, I have seen species change. But the effects had been bodily true, have you changed?¡± he asked, and Jazmel shook his head. ¡°When my body tempered, the system told me it found harmony with the tyrant heart. that spurred on the change to my species.¡± He explained and Baek nodded as if it made sense to him. ¡°I had forgotten you had the tyrant heart. Yes, in some instances the system will change things. Especially if it thinks you will gain further advancements when it finds harmony for you.¡± He told Jazmel who listened to him readily. ¡°It would seem that the system is pushing you to pursue greater advancements.¡± Baek surmised and he nodded as if it made sense to him. ¡°I think we should push into the labyrinth, the further we head in. The chances of greater opportunities and further advancements.¡± Baek told Jazmel . ¡°I should tell you; your father is heading deeper into the labyrinth. He called us all home to let us know he was going to aim for the 100th floor and so those who would like to try with him. they were to advance as much as they could. I told him I was preparing myself for a tier tribulation and hunting down the items. But in truth, I am not there yet and if I am to push for that, I will have to leave you. But for now, it is better if I stay close.¡± Baek explained and what followed was sheer silence, but then Jazmel could hear the thundering beat of his heart. he was motivated, his father or the man that could be his father was aiming for the monarch tier. He needed to catch him quickly before, what if something happened to him. Jazmel was incentivised, he wouldn¡¯t lose both parents. Not now that he had the chance to know one of them. ¡°Who was my mother? Truly??¡± he asked and Baek looked at him for a moment before responding. ¡°Why do you ask? Did you hear something?¡± Baek asked in kind and Jazmel shook his head. ¡°No, but I received a plot to find out the truth, so I need to know if you know anything.¡± He asked again and Baek sat quietly before continuing. ¡°The labyrinth has many species that stay deeper in the labyrinth. Much deeper and your mother was such. Or the woman I believe to be your mother.¡± Baek said, trying not to get Jazmel ¡¯s feelings filled with hope. ¡°Your mother was a godling, a human like race of denizen. They are powerful beings, enriched with the Mana of the labyrinth. She and your father met when she was a seeker and he the same, they were a part of a party for many years before they got together, he married her and still continued to enter the labyrinth beside her.¡± He explained and a kind smile fluttered across his face as he thought back on memories. ¡°Why would someone kill her?¡± he asked and Baek grew serious. ¡°I cannot tell you why, I cannot tell you who had animosity for her. If I am honest, it might not have even been for her, they might have been trying to hurt your father and she and you were the only way anyone could.¡± He deduced. Jazmel started clenching his fist and Baek calmed him, a breeze of Mana flushed the room. Drawing Jazmel from his stupor. ¡°Do not worry about days gone, prepare for your own future. Your father is strong, much stronger than we know, I am sure he probably could defeat the 100th floor on his own already. We just need to get to the kingdom and meet with him.¡± Baek expressed to him, and Jazmel nodded, calming himself down and trying to breathe through his pain from haunted memories he no longer had. ¡°We will look for information on your species change also. But if what you said about the primordial is truly happening. Then I think, we might be seeing a lot more uncommon things within the labyrinth.¡± Baek offered, Jazmel agreed with him. ¡°Did I ever tell you about the fountain?¡± Jazmel said and Baek shook his head, a little concerned. He took that moment to tell him about it and then share that Mirete had told him that it had something to do with the primordial also. He then showed Baek the shard of the primordial core and Baek studied it with wonder. ¡°You are still too na?ve in your understanding of Mana; your eyes show you a great deal. But you are yet to see the entirety of it, the power in that shard is exuding more Mana then I can even create. If the primordial had core¡¯s like that? They were far stronger than master tier, maybe even monarch also.¡± He offered, showing the palms of his hands and Jazmel studied them, before acknowledging that the world was much larger than he had previously thought. ¡°We will rest, then I am entering the labyrinth again.¡± Jazmel uttered and Baek rose up, inclining his head in respect and then letting Jazmel , his young master rest. Jazmel laid back on his bed and started to meditate, trying to find peace before he slept. Book 4 Chapter Nineteen; the Darkside of Humanity Two days since the Sworn attack on the Benbaurg auction. Jazmel found himself in the labyrinth alongside Baek, just the two of them travelling together and Jazmel doing the most to level up and learn his skills better. But this time, Baek was pushing him, tell him when he was not holding his sword well When he extended further in an attack and when he used too much Mana in a skill, something he hadn''t really done before but now, now he was mentor to Jazmel . They had been through another swamp, but luckily no extremely powerful creatures attacked them. nothing Jazmel couldn¡¯t manage on his own, he didn¡¯t gain a single stat, which was how he knew he wasn¡¯t even pushing his abilities. In three hours they passed through that floor and Jazmel sighed with relief when the gate which was a singular archway opened and revealed another forest, not too different from the Teneriel forest that his friend Sad¨¦ was raised. DING! The familiar screen appeared, and Jazmel found himself prepared for the notification. DING! YOU HAVE DISCOVERED THE AUGARCH FOREST! ¡­ THE HOME OF THE NARIKINA IGNI ELVES! ¡­ DESPAIR HAS BEFALLEN THE IGNI ELVES!! SLAVERS HAVE CAPTURED MANY OF THEM! FREE THE ELVES AND DEFEAT THE SLAVERS! REWARDS WILL VARY UPON THE RATE OF SUCCESS! Jazmel scanned the notice screen and after closing it he ventured into the forest. It was quiet, no birds were singing, no animals were calling out to one another. It was eerily silent, and Jazmel wondered if the entire forest was holding its breath before something happened. Jazmel pushed through and even though the forest was mute, there was still beauty all around him. he had noticed with his time in the Teneriel forest that Mana seemed to be much denser in the forests of the elves and when he had asked Baek about it. Baek had simply said that elves were the children of nature and so were blessed as such. They pushed through and Jazmel heard the sound of fighting already, then with his keen eyes; the eyes that let him perceive Mana in everything. He could see the different Mana¡¯s focused into skills bouncing around. He and Baek moved silently through the trees until he was on a hillock above the battle and when Jazmel peered down he saw a young man fighting with a badly wrought dagger before a group of ten slavers. Or so they looked the part, what bothered Jazmel and made him quiver with anger. Was the large wooden cage behind the young man. He was defending whatever was inside. Jazmel didn¡¯t think twice. Fall of the black raven! He leapt above them and crashed down into the slavers killing them all. DING! X10 SLAVERS KILLED! +1 STR ¡°whoa.¡± He heard and looking over his shoulder, he could see the young man, who turned out to be a boy was looking at him. ¡°Who are you?¡± Jazmel asked him and the boy stood up clearing his throat. ¡°Leno sir, or just Jaz. Seeker tier I.¡± he said, and Jazmel wondered why he looked at him like that, they couldn¡¯t have been far in age, and yet the boy was talking to him like he was a man. ¡°Leno, I am Jazmel . I got a quest to free the elves, same as you I take it?¡± Jazmel asked and the boy nodded. ¡°Good, I will free the elves and then we can look for the others, why don¡¯t you loot the bodies. You might find something in there for yourself.¡± Jazmel offered and the boy nodded and rushed forward to loot the corpses. In turn, Jazmel walked past and with a flick of his sword, he cut through the wooden sticks that were barring those inside, there was only one small girl inside. The others had died, starvation and infection. They had kept as far from her as possible, but even Jazmel could tell she was sick. He offered her a hand she looked at it with a fierceness. A feral look, and then she noticed the bodies. ¡°Did you kill them?¡± she asked, her voice barely a whisper. He nodded and she nodded back, she accepted his hand and then slowly stumbled from the cage. She was thin, sick even. He offered her a stamina potion and a health potion, she accepted them and drank deeply from them both, finishing them and then stretching as they worked over her body. She was still thin, but she was healthier, and she wore scraps of clothing, the tatters of what might have once been a dress.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. She moved over to the dead bodies and unceremoniously stripped and then changed into clothes of the smallest man. Using a belt to keep his trousers about her waist. She sheathed a sword on her hip, one across her back and then thinking on it, added a dagger on her belt. ¡°I have looted them all sir.¡± The boy Leno said again, and Jazmel laughed. ¡°I am not a sir; I am just Jazmel . I am sure we are the same age anyway.¡± The boy looked at him with shock and awe. ¡°I only look bigger because of my tier tribulation. I am not actually that old.¡± He told the boy and the elven girl listened quite interested. ¡°What tier are you?¡± Leno asked him and Jazmel looked at them both before responding. ¡°Ranker tier I.¡± Leno gasped and looked down at himself, the girl simply nodded almost business like and continued to take things from the slavers. ¡°Are you alone?¡± Jazmel asked Leno and looking around he nodded. ¡°A group of us came, but when they saw that we were outnumbered they ran off, I couldn¡¯t leave her alone. Though I thought there were more alive in the cage.¡± He confessed and Jazmel listened offering his ear. ¡°You did well, I respect that you stayed. Now let¡¯s find the others.¡± He turned to the elven girl, and she was looking at them, waiting. ¡°I am going to free my people; I do not need your help, but I welcome it if you offer it freely.¡± She said and Jazmel noticed that she was still on the guard about them. as she said this, Baek appeared, descending from the hillock and he landed softly near Jazmel . ¡°There is a temple a few miles to the north of here, they seem to have the other elves and a few seekers strung up there. The slavers are seekers too, but the leader is a ranker, tier II.¡± He offered and Jazmel thanked him for his reconnaissance. ¡°We will head to the temple.¡± He turned and Leno was ready, the piece of iron he was holding still firmly in his hand. ¡°I am going to run there; I hope you all have the stats to keep up. But I will slow down for you to get as much rest as you can. It would be better if you kept pushing yourself though. You need to expand your limits and to do that, you need to push your body.¡± Jazmel explained. Baek hid a smile and Jazmel rolled his eyes, knowing that he was watching his leadership skills. They took off and Jazmel led them, running towards the north and trying to keep it at a fair pace for the young man and the elven girl he was with. Jazmel ran and pushed them both, the elven girl could keep up. She hadn''t offered her name or anything, but she seemed focused on not looking weak before Jazmel and Leno. In truth it was Leno who was struggling the most, his stats were bad. Jazmel could tell just by the way he moved, he hadn''t tried to balance them at all and even now, he was not able to push and strengthen himself. They ran like that for two hours, stopping and starting and when they reached near the temple. Only Jazmel and Baek were fine, the girl was simply leaning over a little and trying to catch her breath. While Leno was lying flat out on his back, inhaling air like a vacuum and his chest was moving with the effort of it. ¡°We will rest and then enter; you guys will free those who have been caught and I will deal with the slavers. I will keep them focused and they will not have a time to watch or worry about those they have tried to enslave.¡± Leno and the girl simply nodded but Jazmel could tell they were both worried. He gave them a stamina potion each. ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡± He said after letting them rest for half an hour. He then left them to make their own way into the temple and he simply walked the path up through the doors and into the courtyard which was filled with slavers, he and Baek simply looked around and he drew his sword, Nozarashi and waited. ¡°What are you doing here?!¡± one of them called at him, a mug of rum in his hand and clearly drunk. ¡°Are you a slaver?¡± Jazmel asked, the man looked around and shrugged. ¡°If you are looking for work, we got the job done here already mate. Move on mate -¡± Before he could even continue Jazmel cut him down, a slash and the man died at once. +1 STR ¡°Hey what are you doing!¡± another man rushed at him, Jazmel cut through him, then they rushed him. but they were weaker than him. he barely needed to use skills. +1 DEX Three rushed him, he pulled Daishinkan out and using both blades. He cut through them all, the numbers meant nothing. They were weaker than him and after hearing Mary, Tango and Baek explaining how great the strength difference was from Seeker to Ranker. He was feeling the difference immensely. Bestial barrage! A swathe of blackened Mana smashed the defence Jazmel threw up, blocking it with his swords and body. ¡°Why the hell are you killing my men!¡± a rough looking older man with a scraggly beard and a large great axe in his hands. He wasn¡¯t particularly big; he wasn¡¯t even that much stronger than Jazmel . But there were still others gathering, he could feel their Mana rippling at the recesses of his keen senses. ¡°Will you try and stop me then?¡± Jazmel asked succinctly and the man raised his axe in a charge and rushed him. Jazmel danced into his reach, and they fought, neither of them getting any grounds or advantage. The man was experienced with his axe, he struck when he could and deflected or countered Jazmel where he could. Axe breaker! He slammed the haft down and tried to break the defence Jazmel had built from a sturdy guard. But Jazmel was stronger than a normal tier I. his stats and tempered body had changed the condition of his limits. Cleave! Jazmel met him with one of his skills and the man was buffeted by the skill, he blocked with his axe head. But he lost ground, having been pushed back and Jazmel licked his lips as he leapt in. Fall of the black raven! He dove in and swinging his blade, he knocked the axe from the head slavers grip. The skill always added strength to his strike and as the man flailed, trying to grab his axe again. Jazmel brought his other sword down with nothing but sheer animosity. Lacerate! He cut the man and to his surprise a bubble of Mana tried to deflect his attack. an amulet he hadn''t noticed around the man¡¯s neck stopped the strike for a moment, but as the skill was a two-strike attack. the second burst the bubble and cut the man down. ¡°impossible.¡± His final words as his own blood wet his lips. DING! UNKNOWN RANKER TIER II KILLED! +2 DEX +1 AGL +1 PER Jazmel watched the body for a moment, as the leader died and then he looked up and noticed the slavers looking at him. then they broke off and ran, sprinting into the woods and out of the temple from whatever way they could. He thought about killing them, but he had spilt a great deal of blood already. ¡°Hey!¡± he heard and looking over he saw the girl waving at him from a small doorway and hurrying him over with a wave of her arm. He ran to her, to see what had happened. Book 4 Chapter Twenty; a Friend of the Forest Jazmel sprinted to her and from nowhere, Baek appeared. In his white robes and not a speck of dirt or dust on him. ¡°What happened?¡± he called, and she turned and ran into the corridor, leading the way. ¡°Leno is going through a tribulation.¡± She explained and Jazmel followed her, the corridor was long. It bent and curved, l then veered sharply to the left before descending a short flight of steps. The temple was built remarkably well. The architecture was amazing, and Jazmel noticed not even one stone out of place or badly chiselled anywhere. ¡°A tier tribulation is not out of the ordinary, what is the problem?¡± Jazmel asked as they ran the length of the corridor and then coming into a larger room, a room bigger than office and there were a collection of other elves standing to the side and watching over Leno. When he saw Jazmel , he grinned and then curled over with pain as his body urged him to undergo the tribulation. The elves saw Jazmel and rose up to defend themselves, but the girl waved them away. ¡°He was who I was looking for.¡± Baek appeared behind them, peering down at the young boy and clicked his tongue. ¡°He is missing something, what has he done already?¡± he asked, and the girl pointed at the two items in front of him. ¡°He took in a gem for his spirit, something that looked like a beast core for his mind and now he needs something for his body, but he doesn¡¯t have anything.¡± She explained and Jazmel could see the worry on her face, this was intensified when Leno groaned out a sound. ¡°My class changed; I need something metal for my body. My other item was incompatible.¡± Leno almost growled through clenched teeth. But without a moment¡¯s worry, Jazmel pulled out the cold iron ore he had, one of the two remaining. He handed it to Leno and before he could even reach out, it was jerked from his grip and hovered above Leno¡¯s body, and to his surprise Jazmel watched as the cold iron ore broke down, the system refined it down to a liquid and then pushed the metal into the boy¡¯s body. ----______________ Leno was using all of his will to not convulse and pass out from the pain of restricting his tier tribulation. This was only his second one, but he could feel such a difference. The ore that Jazmel had given him, was intense and strummed his body. Thrummed the strings of his fate, he felt the ore creep across his veins and then reach his bones and strengthen them, down to the marrow. The bones thickened and grew, and he felt mighty, he felt stronger than before. Usually after a tier tribulation he felt greater. But the iron ore had really helped him. Something seemed to connect him to metal, and he wondered if it had anything to do with the class he had gained. He checked his notifications. DING! TIER TRIBULATION COMPLETE! CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE A SEEKER TIER II WELL DONE! DUE TO YOUR TRAIT ¡®IRON¡¯S ENVOY¡¯ YOU GAINED FURTHER CLARITY! ¡­Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. STATS HAVE RISEN!! +2 STR +2 PER +1 VIT +1 END +3 INT +2 AGL +2 WIL +1 DEX He had gained so much, but he knew it wasn¡¯t from his own work. He had gained a great deal of stats, he looked up and rising to one knee, he looked at Jazmel and with his head bowed he asked. ¡°Can I join you?¡± he asked, Jazmel was looking at him incredulously. ¡°Why? Join me at what?¡± he asked, his gaze intimidating but not forceful. ¡°I want to be strong like you if I had been as strong as you. I would have been able to save more elves.¡± He offered and it looked like Jazmel had accepted his words. ¡°What of your friends? They will want to move on.¡± Jazmel asked, testing. ¡°They have their own goals too; it will not be a problem I am sure.¡± He looked over at his friends who were in the corner watching this moment. ¡°Alright then.¡± Jazmel said and touching the air, which let Leno know he was touching his screen and flicked it over to him. __________________ Jazmel liked the tenacity of this boy, Leno had undergone a tier tribulation. Gaining strength and interestingly, Jazmel had watched as his body had used the cold iron ore to strength him down to his bone density, even now. Jazmel could that he had been bolstered, his entire muscle mass changed. DING! SEEKER TIER II LENO PATTS HAS ACCEPTED YOUR OFFER! HE HAS JOINED THE BLACK WING FACTION! ¡­ YOUR FACTION HAS GROWN! Jazmel nodded at that and then turned to the girl who was waiting patiently and watching this happen. Jazmel turned to her and then she inclined her head in a low bow, when she did the other elves lowered themselves, prostrating before Jazmel and Leno. ¡°You saved me and my people.¡± She said still bowing. DING! YOU HAVE GAINED THE FAVOUR OF THE IGNI ELVES! FEW HAVE GAINED SUCH FAVOUR! YOUR REWARDS WILL BE ADJUSTED FOR THIS!! ¡­ The system was continuing to feed him information, but the girl approached him, and he mentally flicked the system screen down. ¡°I owe you a great favour, firstly. My name is Lin, Lin Narakina, and the daughter of the Shaman of the Igni elves and the temple here. you saved us and we are forever in your debt.¡± She said and from nowhere, Jazmel noticed she wasn¡¯t currently wearing a ring. She pulled a piece of crystal; it looked like a shard of glass with the night sky trapped within. When she handed it over to him, he realised it was another shar of the primordial core. DING! YOUR REWARDS HAVE BEEN GREATLY ADJUSTED! YOU HAVE BEEN REWARDED A SHARD OF A PRIMORDIAL CORE! ¡­ YOU HAVE BEEN OFFERED THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE IGNI ELVES! ALL IGNI ELVES WILL KNOW YOUR NAME AND SHOW YOU RESPECT!! ¡­ +1 FOR ALL YOUR STATS! Jazmel had never garnered an increase in all his stats before, and he felt the myriad of system energy flush his body and imbue it with the new stat strength. Jazmel looked around and turned to Baek asking if he had any food or potions on him. Baek¡¯s potions were far too strong for the weak and malnutrition elves and freed slaves, but he did have some food, he had an abundance of food and he provided them with corpses for them to butcher and keep. Jazmel was ready to move on, he thanked the elves for their gift of the core, and he inclined his head towards Lin who was going about preparing her people and fortifying the temple while they recovered. He, Leno and Baek left. Leaving the elves to dine and heal, they worked their way back through the temple and out into the open, Jazmel told Leno to loot the slavers, take everything. Replace his own items and armaments but also take anything useful so he could sell it for later. Leno leapt up and rushed forward, taking weapons and armour alike. Jazmel watched him and then turned to scan the temple looking for the gate, he caught Baek watching him. ¡°What?¡± he asked, suddenly self-conscious. ¡°Young master, I am just proud to see how far you have come.¡± Baek said, inclining his head with respect. Jazmel felt the back of his neck warm with anxiety, but he bit it back and pulled it down. He nodded several times, more than he should have and thanked Baek. ¡°Let¡¯s find the exit and move on.¡± He said and made to begin walking outside of the temple. Book 4 Chapter Twenty-One; For All that is Unholy! After stepping through the gate, a small garden archway that didn¡¯t lead into the temple garden. Jazmel sighed, the ground was granite, cold stone and the terrain was darkened but dim enough that someone could see just enough ahead of them. for Jazmel , he could see Mana and so his sight was keen even in the darkest of surroundings, but this place was a dead space and he had only been one place like that. He was in another fountain trial, he looked ahead and tried to see if he could see the fountain, but it was further away. ¡°Where are we?¡± he heard and spinning he turned to see the fearful face of Leno, and the curious and forever calm face of Baek. They had been brought to a fountain trial alongside Jazmel , which worried him greatly. The last time he had come, it had been he and Sad¨¦, plus their two companions. He neither had Sad¨¦, her companion or his own; Paldane was home, hibernating and trying to grow as a dragon. ¡°A mandatory trial from the labyrinth, part of my plot. I am so sorry you got pulled into this.¡± Jazmel told Leno, he was worried very worried for the young man. He was only a seeker, he was not going to be able to defend himself in here, but then Jazmel remembered that Baek was there, and he was simply watching Jazmel . ¡°Protect him.¡± Jazmel uttered and Baek simply inclined his head. The path was long and winding, it descended down into a grove, a fountain had been carved from within the gorge, a large piece of stone had been chiselled out and to Jazmel . It looked like the labyrinth being held up by two maidens. The mountain was sealed, wrapped in a wreath of Mana, his eyes could see the enchantment and wards. He drew his sword, his grave iron katana and with a simple swing, he cut through the wards and the water of the fountain burst forth. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND THE FOUNTAIN OF &4456&! ¡­ RECALCULATING! ¡­ ¡­ &4456& YOU HAVE FOUND THE FOUNTAIN OF THE PRIMORDIAL! THE PRIMORDIAL FOUNTAIN OF SULIS! +2 INT +2 PER +1 AGL +1 DEX Jazmel heard Leno gasp, and he looked at him. ¡°I just got some stats!¡± he seemed excited, and Jazmel couldn¡¯t help but smile, he looked at Baek and he simply watched all that was happening, curious. THE WATERS OF SULIS BEGIN TO FLOW AGAIN! YOU HAVE AWOKEN THE FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN! BEWARE!! ¡°Get ready!¡± Jazmel said as the system pined out the notifications and he flicked them out of his sight. He heard the scrape of metal against stone and looking around. He tried to pinpoint where it was coming from, but then he realised they were coming from all around him. he simply waited, his sword was drawn, and he had Mana, his stamina was high also. He was in peak condition as far as he was concerned. The first creature to step into the light was covered in a hooded cloak, Jazmel almost missed it but the glint of the metal from its scythe caught his eye. ¡°Harbingers.¡± He said over his shoulder, more to Baek than to Leno. But he was sure Baek had noticed them almost as soon as Jazmel had, if not before. There were many, Jazmel could hear them all around. From the willowing of their tattered cloth and cloaks, to the scrape of their scythes as they rushed into the vicinity to stop Jazmel ¡¯s trial. He watched them flit around him, trying to evade his line of sight, but his eyes saw all. His sight showed him their darkened cores as they rushed in towards him and he waited, prepared. The first three rushed him and he dodged the strikes of the first two, the third made him defend. A strike from the scythe slid down his blade and he had to shove the harbinger off to ensure he wasn¡¯t cut. They encircled him, dogged him but Jazmel was not scared. Tier III harbingers were effectively ranker tier, his own level. But he could fight ranker tier on his own, he had been doing so for a while now. Lacerate! He slashed and one of the harbinger parried the first strike, the second one slide up the blade and before it could counter. Jazmel cut through the face hidden in the cowl. It dropped to the ground, headless. The next two rushed him but he wasn¡¯t overwhelmed. He parried and countered their attacks, but they could not gain any more ground, nor could he. He wasn¡¯t going to let them gain presence on him, but Jazmel could hear the oncoming others, more and more harbingers were rushing towards him. usually the fountain trial would only have one guard or three so far. But this was much more than he had come across before. Cleave! His katana glanced off the scythe of one and when it was above, those seconds slowed down. But Jazmel was prepared for this. Sunder! He slammed down his katana and cut through the others. Cutting through them both, they died, and he simply stepped firmly. Waiting for the others to come towards him, they were rushing him now. Tens of them, he couldn¡¯t see more but there were more of them than him. Great rumbling dragon! Jazmel felt the spectral form of the maw of a dragon form around his arms and his sword. He swung his blade and the rumbling maw of the dragon crashed into the harbingers and the stone cracked beneath the strength of his skill. DING! X45 TIER III HARBINGERS KILLED!The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. +4 STR +3 PER +2 VIT +2 END +2 WIL Jazmel hummed with system energy, he would never get used to the feeling of his body changing and adjusting to a new strength or limit. It always felt almost uncanny the way his body simply changed, and he could do more. Ever since his dexterity and agility reached over 100, his balance was simply perfect. He never stumbled; he never sprained his ankle moving through the terrain inside the labyrinth. In fact, he felt like a dancer the way he moved through the labyrinth. Each step assured and graceful. His tempered body made him strong enough to actively push through pain or problem and his stats just reinforced this all further. He looked to see a few harbingers trying to crawl to their feet and attack him again, but he moved quicker. Raising his blade high, he spoke his skill and killed the rest. Fall of the black raven! Jazmel smashed the crater and the harbingers still reeling from the spectral dragon were killed, swept up into the dark Mana of his skill bodies strewn apart and he simply sheathed his sword and coolly exhaled. He turned to look at Baek and Leno, he noticed a few harbingers had attacked the two, Baek had obviously dealt with them. but Jazmel could see that Leno had been given the chance to fight and gained stats and probably a few levels too. He was humming with system energy; Jazmel could see it swirling in his Mana core and rapidly spinning as it manifested strength and moved in the way the system wanted it to. DING! THE FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN VANGUARD HAVE BEEN DEFEATED! BEWARE!! THE TRUE GUARDIAN WILL COME! BEWARE THE REAPING GRIM! TIER III REAPING GRIM FOUND! A Reaping grim is the evolved version of a harbinger, they wrought despair and dismay! Jazmel watched as from behind the fountain a darkened being appeared, smaller than the harbingers in size. It wasn¡¯t much taller than Jazmel , but abnormally thin. Its tiny wrists clutched the larger than usually scythe in its hands as it approached Jazmel , he wondered how it would swing such a large weapon. But Jazmel was incredibly cautious now, he had learned enough lessons from near misses. Abyss horn! The reaping grim spoke a skill! A horn of dark black Mana ravaged the air as it shot from the swing of the scythe and he countered with his sheathed blade, surprised by the strength of the attack. but not caught unaware, few monsters could speak and even fewer used actual skills. But Jazmel had dealt with his fair share still. Fall of the black raven! Lacerate! He swung his skills off, and the first strike was parried, shooting off into the distance. He heard it hit something and crack the stone. the second bounced off the blade of the scythe, the sound between a gong and a scraping of nails. He winced but leapt forward, he wouldn¡¯t lose the chance to gain advantage. The reaping grim wore a mask fashioned like a skull but made out of stone. he could tell from the way it hid all Mana from the head and made it look dead. It wore a black cape, no hood but the cape was clutched across its shoulders and made it billow out and hide the arms and body from his gaze. The scythe was a true beauty. Made of obsidian black and darkened grey, it could¡¯ve been grave iron or some other form of dark metal. But it was deadly still, it was augmenting the slashes and Jazmel had to do his best to stop them or block them. each parry and counter thudded and made his bones creak with force. But he focused, he was going to win out this fight. He had to. The Grim approached again, cautiously this time and this time it was as if it were aware that Jazmel could be dangerous. Reaping Recoil The grim uttered and Jazmel was battered by the Mana. Damaging blows that wrapped him, engulfed him in the creatures Mana. But he stayed strong, kept his Mana within his core and waited for it to pass. Sunder! He cut through the Mana and the grim dodged out of the way of the Mana that leapt from his sword. He jumped at it, not wanting to let the reaping grim escape. Lacerate! He cut at it and this time he caught it, across the arm and shoulder. It cried out and hissed at Jazmel from the pain, but he didn¡¯t hesitate. Sunder! He slashed the air and the grim jumped back, it had tried to create distance. But Jazmel had anticipated this and slashed into the air, the grim almost got hit. But dived back, rushing backwards the ground. Great rumbling dragon! Jazmel hurried forward, smashing the reaping grim out of the air and it crumbled. Jazmel watched as his Mana burst the back of the reaping grim. It wailed and then fell from his attack, he moved towards where it fell and saw it trying to pull itself towards its scythe. Where it had fallen some yards away. He stepped over it and with a swift cut, he decapitated it. DING! TIER III REAPING GRIM KILLED! ¡­ REWARDS! PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD GAINED! TIER II STEELFIN TUNA BLADE GAINED! TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE GAINED! TIER III BLACKENED REAPING SCYTHE GAINED! ¡­ He sighed and pulled the three shards from his ring. The shards were part of a core, Jazmel could see it better now with another piece. He placed them together, trying to figure out what the core look like before it broke and to his surprise. The pieces joined, connecting, and forming a small core a marble that fit into the palm of his hand. PRIMORDIAL CORE 3/5 CONNECTED! So there were just two more pieces to gather, something told him he would find them in the next few fountains he would have to find. Jazmel moved through the harbingers and looked at leno watching him with utter awe in his eyes. ¡°What?¡± he asked, a little self-conscious. ¡°You are awesome. You are too strong!¡± leno said and Jazmel sighed. But then he noticed Baek watching him. ¡°Leno, loot them all!¡± he uttered, and leno rushed past him. while he was looting the monsters, Baek had made himself appear beside him. Jazmel waited to see what he would say. ¡°You have grown considerably stronger. I was surprised at how strong you have become. You might need to better prepare yourself.¡± He told Jazmel who looked at him. ¡°Prepare for what?¡± Jazmel asked, curious. ¡°The system rewards and challenges but never forget that. You are strong, extraordinarily strong for a ranker tier. You might even be able to defeat tier IV creatures if you meet any. But even that is a risky ordeal, we are still quite low in the labyrinth. So I do not know what the system might be preparing for you, but the way things are going. You are likely to become one of the names within the labyrinth. It is likely that you will become one of the stronger members in the labyrinth.¡± Baek said and Jazmel listened, intently. ¡°I will be cautious, but all I can do is advance. The labyrinth is placing the path at my feet, all I can do is walk it.¡± He said and Baek inclined his head. ¡°I got a ton of stat points; I need to share them out.¡± Leno said and Marco nodded. ¡°Wait let me see your stats, I am worried about something. Leno complied and pushed his screen across the air and showed Marco it. STR:30 PER: 17 VIT:35 END:36 INT:20 WIL:30 AGL:25 DEX:22 Marco shook his head, even more worried. He wasn¡¯t sure the best way to grow stable in the labyrinth, but he had stuck to what Mary had told him, balance was the best way to go. Plus just listening to Katie talk about how bad her stats were, he knew not to fall into the same trap. Rushing towards strength and forgetting the harmony of all the stats. ¡°You¡¯re unbalanced and it¡¯s probably effecting your growth. Your intelligence stat is linked to your Mana and your understanding of things, your perception is linked to acknowledging and understanding what you see. All your stats have harmony in one way or another, dexterity is balance and agility is the speed you move at. But if you are highly focused on one, the lack of the others are going to hamper your abilities. I won¡¯t force you, but I think you should leave all your stats that are already in their 30¡¯s and take the time to let your others catch up.¡± He offered and Baek agreed, something Jazmel suspected he would. ¡°So leave my stronger stats and only focus on the ones that are lagging behind?¡± leno asked and Jazmel nodded. ¡°What are your stats like?¡± he asked and shrugging Marco showed him, his own. Leno whistled! STR:125(+5) PER:126 VIT:125 END:123(+3) INT:126 WIL:121 AGL:119 DEX:120 ¡°How the hell are you not a master yet?¡± Leno yelled and then laughed after it. Jazmel turned and showed Baek the screen and he smiled, nodded over them, and then grinned. ¡°I don¡¯t think I am 100 times stronger than you are anymore.¡± Baek said and Jazmel himself couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Let¡¯s go, leno fill up some bottles with the water from the fountain. It is healing.¡± Jazmel said and as he and Baek walked past, trying to find the exit and to his surprise it simply appeared, a swirling portal gate to the righthand side of the fountain courtyard. They walked through, seamlessly transitioning to another gate and Jazmel found himself pleasantly surprised to see a sky, it was later afternoon, but the sun was still out. Book 4 Chapter Twenty-Two; No Frogs in the Well Jazmel stepped free of the fountain and right onto a high platform, he hadn''t even had a chance to survey his surroundings. When the system in a loudspeaker voice interjected. DING! THE FINAL CONTESTANTS HAVE APPEARED! ¡­ STANDBY! ¡­ ¡­ EACH PLATFORM HOLDS FIVE CONTESTANTS! ¡­ YOU MUST WORK TOGETHER TO ADVANCE! The system rang around the expanse and when Jazmel stopped trying to find Baek and Leno. He noticed the other people on the platform with him. Jazmel was easily six foot one maybe two, he was rarely dwarfed by those he saw when travelling in the labyrinth. Even inside his faction he wasn¡¯t the smallest, only Gelth and Bannerman were bigger and taller. But here on the platform stood a thing, a man like being so big he made Jazmel feel dwarfed. His skin was purple, opal and his eyes were red like blood. He had two great curling horns protruding from his forehead and his teeth were sharper than Jazmel¡¯s and extended out beyond his lips. ¡°Brat, I hope you are strong!¡± the thing said and Jazmel simply gripped his sheathed sword and watched. the thing was to the right of him, but to the left of him. Was the prettiest woman he had ever seen, she was beautiful. Though it had already occurred to him that his heart was fixed on Sad¨¦, he hadn''t really noticed other women in the labyrinth. Sure Tera Nema, Circe, Timone, Wendy, Katie, and Elai were all pretty. In their own ways, he liked individual things about them all. But something about this one woman almost made him forget to breath. She wore a shawl about her shoulders, she wore a simple dress, he couldn¡¯t see any wards or enchantments about her, and she wore bangles on each arm. There were countless and it was those that were filled to brim with Mana, he focused on them and could see that they were enchanted and warded. He couldn¡¯t tell with what, but the sigaldry and inscriptions alone made them tier III. He took a moment to look at her face, she was pretty a cute nose; full lips and eyes as round as deer. She was a beauty; freckles lined her nose and under eyes like a brown starred constellation. She bowed her head to him, and he looked away, suddenly worried that he had been staring. He had been. Across from him was a merman, he could tell from the bluish grey skin and the Mana enchantment tattoos that were carved into the skin, he realised now. That this was to allow him to breath above ground. He was wearing two short swords at his waist, he wore baggy trousers, they were so baggy Jazmel couldn¡¯t even see where the leg began and where the cloth started. The Mana from the tattoos pulsed each time he inhaled. It was fascinating to Jazmel, its calm eyes were the colour of coral and when he noticed Marco studying him, he offered a hand on his chest in respect. Jazmel did the same, copying the custom. The next one on the platform was a human, a young man. Maybe a few years older than Jazmel and he was strong. He was muscular, he wore a long coat and a shirt beneath it. but the open buttons showed the chords of muscle in his neck. He was holding a halberd, it was a glorious weapon and the Mana wrapped in it, told Jazmel it was just as its owner. Strong, Jazmel and the man locked eyes and he cocked his head to the side as he sized Jazmel up. The halberd was resting across his shoulder, and he was holding it in place with both arms draped over it. ¡°What tier are you?¡± he called over to Jazmel. ¡°tier I you?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°tier II but you don¡¯t seem far off.¡± He offered and Jazmel shrugged, not wanting to give anything away. ¡°I get by.¡± That drew a laugh, from everyone. ¡°Everyone on this platform is a ranker, so do not be surprised to see a tier IV creature or beast.¡± The human called out and the others all prepared themselves. DING! PREPARE YOURSELVES! 1 2 3 ¡­ With a pop which sounded extremely loud, a winged Wyvern landed on the platform in between them all. It was covered in scales, the pressure from it landing alone told Jazmel it was strong, and he felt it just by being near it. DING! DEFEAT THE TIER IV WYVERN! Jazmel grit his teeth, pushing through the pressure of this winged monster and preparing for the fight. DING! TYRANT RESISTS THE PRESSURE OF A DRAGON! +2 END Jazmel moved forward and rushed for the underbelly of the Wyvern. The others were all rushing in also. He couldn¡¯t see the horned man nor the one with the halberd, but he was strong and Jazmel didn¡¯t have to worry about any of them. Not even sure he had to worry about the others, but he was going to ensure he did his best. Hailing fury! He heard and from under the Wyvern, he rushed from beneath it to ensure he wasn¡¯t crushed as the body was forced to descend and not try and gain altitude. Jazmel was close enough that he was beside the woman who was literally floating around the ground, her shawl had become wings, big butterfly wings and she was using them to glide around. She hoisted her hand and raised it above her lips, two fingers and she whispered a word and blue from her fingers. Yin feather flame She blew feathers which were made out of flame, and they pelted the dragon all about. Then he saw the horned man leap into the air and smash his fall momentum into the drake. It was robust itself, and yet; Jazmel watched as scales cracked and crumbled in contrast to the charge from the horned man. Rapid Tumult! The aura that wreathed the horned humanoid seemed to propel his assault and magnify the damage it caused. The drake whined, a sound in truth, that Jazmel had never heard before and Jazmel found himself shocked. But he wasn¡¯t going to fall behind, no there was no way he wouldn¡¯t carry his weight, especially when he was showing proof of his ability for the faction. Great rumbling dragon! the spectral form of a roaring maw appeared and Jazmel slunk it from his sword and arms and crashed it into the face, the opened and bloody maw of the drake that was in front of them all. The reaction was uncanny, the dragon formed from his Mana raged through the mental and the spirit of the drake. Jazmel watched as it shuddered from the attack. In his mind he knew a dragon was more powerful than a drake, and he had assumed his skill would affect it in one way or another. But watching it, he could see that the damage was far greater than he had prepared. The drake wavered on its feet, clearly affected by all the attacks that it had suffered. It was clearly nearly at its end, but drake¡¯s were hardy. Most draconic creatures were hardy creatures, and this one was no different. Its blood pooled all around and Jazmel watched it, feeling a little sorry for it, but that feeling immediately changed. The drake steadied itself and before any of the Rankers could approach to land the final attack. the drake roared; it was a wail it was cry of such emotion that Jazmel felt tears well in his eyes. TIER IV DRAKE HAS USED DRACONIC DIRGE! ALL CREATURES AND SEEKERS ARE ENTHRALLED FOR 4 SECONDS! ¡­ STATUS CONDITION! DING! ¡­ ENTHRALLED FOR 4 SECONDS! DOMINEERING TYRANT TRIED TO OVERCOME BUT FAILED! ENTHRALLMENT HAS BEEN PROLONGED FOR 3 FURTHER SECONDS! Jazmel grit his teeth, he had never seen such system notices and now he was suffering for it. His entire body was frozen in place, he felt like he had been dropped in a pool of pins and needles and each needlepoint was poking into him, not enough to pierce the skin. But enough that his body could feel each and every individual pinprick. The fairy, the girl who looked like a lotus flower. Broke free first, Jazmel almost missed it, but his eyes caught the flash of Mana and one of the bangles on her right arm fizzled out of existence as she used the Mana within to burst free. The drake had been mewling to itself and trying to reach wounds up its back. But when it noticed her moving, it roared and lumbered towards her. Clearly remembering it was in a fight and it had been losing grievously. As it ambled over to her side, its tail swung and hit the being with the horns. Jazmel winced through gritted teeth as he watched the man collapse from the strike and his body badly bruised from that simple swing. But he was still enthralled, they all were bar the woman.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. She was preparing a big attack, Jazmel watched with his eyes and her Mana was building, she had removed three bangles from her arm, and with hushed words she seemed to be preparing a spell or skill. She hurled the bangles into the air, and they fizzled out of existence. Breaking down into sand and these multiplied until a great tornado of pink sand was cascading across the ground towards the drake. As it advanced, it multiplied and Jazmel realised that the sand granules had become petals. Cherry blossom petals. Cherry petals! She hummed and Jazmel heard the power, the Mana in those words. The petal tornado soared across the ground and buffeted the drake. Wrapping its entire body and covering every inch with pink petals. She clasped her hands and seemed to be holding the drake in place. ¡°hurry up!¡± she screamed, screeching through clenched teeth as she exerted her own will over the tier IV creature. Hallowed tempest! The man with the halberd leapt through the air, sailing on the wind that had formed Mana wings for him. he crashed into the top of the drake and swung his halberd down on its head, trying to cut through its scales and neck. Blood spurted from the wound, but the attacked wasn¡¯t deep enough to completely cut through the drake¡¯s neck. Triton¡¯s fury! Another attack from the mermen hit the drake, coiling chains of water latched onto the drake and held it in place as it fought against the petals and seemed to be winning. Jazmel broke free and his body sagged from the effort, cold sweat wet his shirt and he could feel exhaustion clutching onto his eyelids, but he wasn¡¯t going to fall asleep here. Fall of the black raven! He bounded twice using the leaps to cross the distance and jump through the air to land beside the head of the drake. From the right, the man with the halberd had carved into the neck of the drake. The merman and the fairy were holding it into place. So it was up to Jazmel to complete the attack. His sword cracked the scales, bursting some and they flew off the neck. Before it could react, before the drake could wrench itself free from the hold. Jazmel was ready. Sunder He cut through the neck, a simple slash and his sword claimed the head of the drake. He shuddered as exhaustion took hold, but also as the system notifications rapidly took over his peripheral vision and bombarded him and he felt his body twitch with changes, and he imagined he had gained stats and maybe some levels. But he wasn¡¯t ready to look at those just yet, he moved over to the horned man and offered him a health potion. The others had come over now and were watching him. ¡°Why are you giving him a health potion?¡± the man with the halberd asked, he had returned to his comfortable stance of using the halberd to rest across his shoulders and his arms slouched across it. ¡°Because we might be acting as a team again and it would be better if everyone was ready for it.¡± Jazmel said and without a thought, he poured his health potion down the gullet of the man who was watching him but accepted the help gratefully. After a few moments, the man was able to move himself and he rose himself shakily into a kneeled crouch. He drank another potion, one of his own and he groaned as quietly as he could from the pain. ¡°I am still not ready to deal with tier IV creatures by myself.¡± The man grumbled and his horns protruded from his skull and looked like purple alabaster. ¡°You saved me some, you are a worthy warrior. I am called Tzniel, and I come from the tribe of Echo Wallows.¡± He said, Jazmel simply inclined his head and smiled a little. He didn¡¯t know enough about the other cultures within the labyrinth. There were so many different denizens, he was unsure what customs he had just been presented with. But the offering of his name had told Jazmel that he was being admired. ¡°Tzniel I am Jazmel, of the black wing faction. I greet you well.¡± He placed his right hand over his left breast and lowered his head. Tzniel did the same from his crouch and then grinned. DING! TIER IV DRAKE SLAIN! CONGRATULATIONS!! ¡­ REWARDS WILL BE OFFERED AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE TRIAL! ¡­ Jazmel had been waiting for the notification, and as he waited for them to disappear. He watched as the drake¡¯s body disappeared, literally breaking down and disintegrating in front of them all. As the others watched it worriedly, they wondered what was next and as Marco looked around, surveying the ground. He noticed a budding glimmer above them. He looked up and watched as a glimmering source of light became a brilliant ball of light, it then burst like a firework and then crashed into the ground and showering the platform with light. Jazmel hadn''t needed to shield his light, the Mana particles seemed to no longer affect his eyes and he watched with surprise as a form nestled in the ebbing shower of lights. The form was a muscular woman who wore a gilded mask of what looked like copper and gold. The mask hid everything, but her eyes and they were bright yellow, her hair was long and dark brown; flowing down her back like a river that of the Mana she had appeared from. She was around Jazmel¡¯s height and almost as muscular. She wore a breastplate, which covered her entire chest and throat. But her arms were completely bare, she wore a long skirt which covered all of her legs and even her feet. Jazmel couldn¡¯t even see if she wore boots, sandals or if she were barefooted. She carried a heavy great sword; it was barely a sword in truth. It looked more like a curved meat cleaver for a giant. But she wielded it in one hand and clutched its handle in a firm grasp. She stood in the centre of the platform and simply looked around her. Looking at everyone who was staring at her. The mermen seemed the most prepared, he drew his sword and rushed towards her. Rushing forward in a flurry of steps. Before he could even utter a skill, the masked woman stepped forward to mete him and swung her sword upwards. Cleaved carnage She uttered her skill and with dread, Jazmel watched as she cut through the merman and his body in pieces fell on either side of her. She raised her blade and then swung it down, flicking the gore from it. the others immediately grew serious, and weapons and potions were prepared for a fight that was much more serious. Jazmel placed his sword back in the ring and drew Yoru no Tsubasa and the grave iron began to waft its numbing cold as it was unsheathed. Jazmel bounded forward, he and the man with the halberd rushed in at the same time, she raised her cleaving blade to block Jazmel and he grit his teeth from the shock of their blades meeting. Spear of retribution! The halberd slammed wind and air aura in a piercing cone and crashed into the back of the masked woman. She didn¡¯t make a single sound, but her aura changed immediately. After being struck, she suddenly unleashed such a force of bloodlust that Jazmel felt himself recoil subconsciously and out of reach. Suddenly struggling with fear. STATUS CONDITION FEAR (MINOR!) MANA OUTPUT IS HINDERED FOR A TIME! ¡­ Jazmel cursed, he felt his body suddenly shift and there was something hindering his output. It was his own fault, but he kept that to himself. He wouldn¡¯t use skills, but he was still able to use his sword. he struck out and entered a deadly dance with the assailant. She rushed him, swinging her blade about her as if it was a feather. But Jazmel could see the movement and so he deftly dodged her as she dodged him. Hailing fury! The man with the halberd rushed in again, for some reason the woman blocked this again this time and whirled on him, with her bloodlust leaking from her very form. Jazmel grit his teeth, there was nothing he could do. He could still feel his Mana puckering and sputtering within him. But he didn¡¯t stop, he simply moved in and used his technique instead. Simply using the danger of his blade and she noticed him turning to face him. Just as he glimpsed Tzniel rushing forward. Rapid Tumult! He crashed into the masked woman and almost knocked her off her feet. She firmed the first knock and then raised her blade to smite Tzniel but the man with the halberd was there, using the end of his halberd he struck at her wrist, and it diverted her strike into the ground just a few feet in front of where Tzniel stood. Yin Feather flame! Flaming feathers pelted down and blasted the ground where the woman was. She simply crouched and covered herself, she took the skill head on and though she looked a little smudged and singed, she was otherwise fine. Call of the Gods! She bellowed, a skill that charged the area with her bloodlust and Mana. The skill was a shout that pressurised the area and all those beneath it. Jazmel shivered under the onslaught and felt the shudder, looking around. He noticed the others seemed to be stricken, almost on the ground from the skill, except the man with the halberd, he was clearly affected. But only with a grimace. DING! YOU HAVE OVERCOME A PARALYSING SHOUT! ¡­ THE DOMINEERING TYRANT NO LONGER FEELS FEAR! YOUR MANA IS NO LONGER HINDERED! ¡­ As the system threw notices up, he felt his body swim with Mana and his eyes grew keen with the Mana enhanced sight also. Fall of the black raven! He crashed into her; she raised her cleave but it was a little slower than she had meant to, and he caught her mask, glancing off and a small crack appeared beneath her right eye. She glowered at him and Jazmel didn¡¯t falter but rushed deeper in. Great rumbling dragon! She bolstered her defence with Mana, but the spectral maw of the dragon burst forth and wrought through. She back pedalled and then she cried out in pain. The halberd had caught her in the back and pierced through her chest. She had been caught off guard. Tzniel leapt forward and wrenched her head, breaking her neck in one savage jolt. DING! YOU HAVE DEFEATED TIER III RAEGAN OF THE RED MASK! ¡­ YOU CAN ADVANCE! He watched as her body fell to the ground and after a few moments. She disappeared too, the others were already healing and preparing for whatever was to come next. But Jazmel had gone over to look at the body of the merman, he was still laying in half. His body in two halves and blue blood pooled from either piece. ¡°It was his fate to fall here.¡± the beautiful woman said, she had come over to stand beside Jazmel and watch him ponder over the death of someone he hadn''t even known the name of. ¡°I am Yin Leung, but in my guild they call me the Jade bangle fairy.¡± She introduced herself, Jazmel inclined his head and reintroduced himself, she smiled at him and told him she had heard him when he had introduced himself to Tzniel. He was about to ask her about her guild when the system launched into a tirade of notifications. DING! YOU HAVE PROVEN YOUR SKILL AND STRENGTH! YOU MAY ADVANCE AND ENTER THE DOMAIN! ¡­ As the final notice appeared, a gate appeared from the centre of the platform and Jazmel simply watched it. ¡°Well there is no point of us standing around. I will enter.¡± The man with the halberd uttered and made to leave but Jazmel called after him. ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t know anything about you.¡± Jazmel offered and the unknown man simply inclined his head. ¡°You have undergone a tempering already haven¡¯t you?¡± he asked, his eyes on Jazmel curiously. ¡°I have, but why do you ask?¡± Jazmel asked and the man inclined his head also. ¡°I have tempered, I have the Titan tempered body.¡± He explained and then without a moment¡¯s pause he stepped through the gate. ¡°Jazmel I owe you a favour, in life or death. If you ever have need of me, send word and I will come at your request.¡± Tzniel lowered his curling horns and turned on his heel to move through the gate. ¡°What are you?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°We are Tiefling.¡± He uttered and then stepped through himself. The jade bangle fairy followed after him and then Jazmel was the last person on the platform. He stepped through and immediately felt the change in environment. He was bombarded with thick air; the oxygen was thick, and he felt it sitting atop his shoulders. It was a strange and intoxicating feeling. He took this moment to check his stats, after the fight with the drake and then the woman with the red mask. DING! +3 STR +3 END +3 VIT +2 PER +2 DEX EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ YOU DEFEATED YOUR FIRST TIER IV MONSTER YOUR EXP ACCRUED HAS GREATLY INCREASED! ¡­ LEVEL UP! ¡­ YOU GAINED A TIER IV DRAKE HEART SCALE! YOU DEFEARED RAEGAN OF THE RED MASK!! +2 PER +2 INT +2 AGL +1 INT His stats were improving impressively, and he was feeling his body adjusting very well. It dawned on him that he was probably growing to be one of the stronger members of the faction. He and Katie had never sparred, but something made him suddenly want to. They would when he returned. YOU GAINED TIER III THE RED MASK! He didn¡¯t know what he was going to do with the mask or the heart scale, both items were unknown to him. But he simply put them in his spatial ring and decided to focus on what was in front of him. Book 4 Chapter Twenty-Three; Dealing with Dangers within the Domain DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE RECESSES OF THE LABYRINTH! THE DOMAIN CORE HAS BECOME CORRUPT!! AS SUCH YOU MUST DIMINISH THE CORRUPTION! ¡­ YOU MUST PUSH BACK THE CORRUPTION AND CLEANSE THE CORE! ¡­ Jazmel read the notification three times before he sighed, this was like the Xuanhuan realm all over again, he had been dropped into some crevice of the labyrinth and now he was being charged with cleaning up something. But he simply sighed and moved forward, he could only advance. The gate had led him to an open landscape, the winds whirled across the land, and he found himself atop some moors. He couldn¡¯t even see around him, the way the wind was pressing down on him. But he simply pushed forward, advancing through the strong winds, shielding his face with his arms. A trail of trodden land had been worn through the moors and Jazmel simply followed it, it wound through the moors, like a spiralling snake, a serpent of the world and Jazmel was following its path. The wind smacked him and jostled him as much as he could. But Jazmel was a heavyset youth, his bones were thick, and his muscles were strong. Since he had tempered, his body had become so sturdy he was surprised just by how powerful he felt overall. He walked for an hour, strolled along the winding path through the moors for two and then three. Just when he was growing a little tired from the journey, the moors ended, and the wind dropped. He found himself in the ruins of what could have once been a town or a city. It was old, the stone that had laid foundations, were now covered with turf and moss, overgrown in some spaces. Jazmel could tell this place was old; ancient even. It had been a ruin for a long time too, he could tell by the dishevelled layout. He moved through the ruins, the large overarching entrances. At one time this place must have been a sight, he simply imagined with what he could see and wondered about the people who had once lived here. He traversed the length of a large town, moving through the ruins and letting his eyes pick up anything he might have missed. The ruin were rife with life, ambient Mana floated all around, intertwined with the air around him. Jazmel simply studied it for a moment in wonderment and then continued his journey. He moved through the ruins and after a short break, to allow his stamina to recuperate. He began his journey on foot again, following the winding path to wherever it would end. After leaving the ruins, he found himself in a cold ravine, the wind wasn¡¯t as relentless here, but a cold seemed to sit on the stone that leeched warmth from bones. A light fog had begun to descend around and had it not been for his eyes, the keen sight his Mana eyes allowed him. He might have been worried, but he continued through the ravine and descended and then ascended, following the path. He almost missed it but the sound of something skittering over the rocks caught his keen senses. He kept moving, but his left hand strayed to his swords, he kept two on the belt and one in his ring, but he changed them often. Currently he was carrying Nozarashi and Daishinkan his favoured swords. He heard the sounds skittering again and this time, the small patter of rocks falling behind him in the ravine. Something was following him, hunting him. He looked back and his sharp eyes caught sight of it as it moved through the fog. It was a giant millipede, roughly twenty feet and the chitin looked sturdy, its exoskeleton was thick and Jazmel could hear its pincers clicking as it tasted the air and the skittering sound, was that of its legs moving across the rock and stone. He stopped and spread his legs so he could get into a stance, limbering up and allowing himself to prepare for its approach. The millipede was huge, it didn¡¯t even slow down as it advanced on him. but he wasn¡¯t going to be eaten. No Jazmel was sure he could defeat this creature. It skittered towards him and in one fluid lurch and then rearing it screeched a chattering as its pincers clicked and clacked together. It reared up and then descended, trying to kill him with pincers but he simply sidestepped and with a downward cut. he cut through the head of the millipede. His blade resisting the chitin and carving through it.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. DING! CORRUPT TIER II MOUNTAIN MILIPEDE KILLED ¡­ CORRUPTION HAS RETURNED TO THE SOURCE! ¡­ +3 STAT POINTS Jazmel nodded at the notification and made it disappear with a thought. He continued further into the ravine and was assaulted by other corrupted millipedes, but he soon slaughtered them. DING! +3 STAT POINTS ¡­ +3 STAT POINTS ¡­ +3 STAT POINTS +2 STAT POINTS ¡­ The system seemed to give him randomised stat points as he fought off the corrupted aberrations. But he wasn¡¯t completely unhappy with this, usually the stats went straight into his skills. But now he was garnering enough to raise a stat when he was ready. After killing just five of the millipedes, he had managed to escape the ravine and entered a much more open space. He was simple looking around and found that he was descending into a quarry, not like the clay one. But one which was weather worn, the weather had etched away at the walls and as Jazmel stood atop the lip of the quarry descent. He could see nothing but limestone, but he wasn¡¯t worried, his eyes told him there was no Mana other than the usual ambient Mana. He descended into the quarry and looked to see if there were any caverns. He looked around and found nothing, but he kept looking; using his eyes to try and perceive any secret entryways if there were any. The ground rumbled, he stood stock still when he felt the ground, but he worried it was a Wurm again. So he waited, he wanted to see if it were Wurm and he was planning to run out of the quarry as soon as he could. But the ground rumbled, and he watched as a small spire began to ascend in the centre of the quarry, it wasn¡¯t small at all it grew to almost double Jazmel¡¯s height and at the tip of the gnarled spire. Was a bubbling form of energy. It looked like oil, but he immediately knew it was corruption and the spire was collecting all of the corruption around him. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND A CORRUPTION SPIRE! ¡­ DESTROY IT BEFORE IT COMPLETES ITS EVOLVING Jazmel literally drew his sword and was about to cut through the spire when he felt the Mana around him change. He turned and dodged just as a rusty axe flew past him. He turned round and saw a troop of skeletons rushing towards him. Draugr covered in armour rushed towards him arms raised and weapons drawn. He met them, Daishinkan swinging and the sword cutting through bone and armour. Lacerate He smashed into the rushing Draugr who had its shield raised for a charge. But Jazmel was sturdy too, his tempered body was sturdy and hit the shield with as much force as it was charged. The Draugr seemed startled and growled, it snapped at Jazmel. He stabbed through the head, twisted his blade, and slashed down to cut through another one. +2 STAT POINTS +3 STAT POINTS +2 STAT POINTS The system was fluttering up on his head and he watched as the different bodies crumbled and corruption ebbed from their corpses and floated over to the spiral. He turned to try and cut through the spiral but was assaulted again. A bigger Draugr pushed through, but Jazmel saw him coming. He leapt forward too, and their weapons clashed. A long-handled axe met his sword, his katana sparked, and sparks glittered from the blade in a shower. He bucked the Draugr off, but it stood firm, he leapt back but flung his skills down even before he landed. Lacerate Fall of the black raven! The skills burst from his blade crashing into the ground and turning the Draugr¡¯s standing into broken rubble. Smoke cleared and many of the Draugr were dead, but the larger one still stood. Minus an arm, but he still clutched his long-handled axe in his dominant arm, the bones bleached white from air and the weather. It snarled, showing broken teeth, some sharp and others dull, but broken all the same. DING! THE SPIRE HAS NEARLY EVOLVED!! DESTROY IT! Jazmel turned to look and saw that the collection of corruption had formed a bubbling ball, which was crystalising. Forming a black and purple gem, but he could feel the impending doom that seemed to be wafting from the spire. He rushed forward, the Draugr chasing him. He ran forward, not slowing down at all. He rushed past the spire and as the Draugr moved towards him he spun on his ankle. Spun towards the Draugr and raising his sword above his head he cut with his strongest attack. Sunder The Draugr tried to block the attack with its arm and axe, but the curling crescent of Mana simply parted the arm and handle of the axe. It then moved through the Draugr and then hit the spire cutting through the spire and then the crystal atop also. The spire crumbled on itself and the corruption gem broke, popping from his skill and then literally breaking apart in a shattered form of glass particles. DING! YOU KILLED THE DRAUGR CAPTAIN! +4 STAT POINTS YOU DESTROYED THE CORRUPTED SPIRE! ¡­ EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! LEVEL UP!! YOU SHATTERED THE CORRUPTION GEM! ¡­ YOU GAINED A CHAOS SHARD TIER II CHAOS SHARD! An item made from the chaos energy in the deep recesses of the labyrinth. Can be used for a tier tribulation but the unstable energy can be considered dangerous to some. High risk, higher rewards! Book 4 Chapter Twenty-Four; Dealing with Dangers within the Domain II Jazmel looked at the chaos shard and wondered what he would do with it. It stated that it could be a tier tribulation, but it also told that it could be used for something else. Jazmel wondered what he would use it for, but rather than wondering. He simply pulled it into his spatial ring with his other wares and then looked around, waiting to see if an entrance would appear. Jazmel stood beside the crumpled spire and waited. The quarry rumbled and grumbled as it seemed to vibrate with energy. The corruption seemed to be, being expelled from all around and being pulled into one large array above Jazmel. He looked at it with wonder and to his amazement he realised, it was forming a gate. Above his head, he simply crouched down and then leapt up into it. He passed through the gate and his world was turned upside down. He had been plunged into water, he swallowed some and he felt fear he was about to drown. But then Mana wrapped his entire body and he felt himself breathe freely. He then began to descend slowly to the bottom of a sea, or a lake. He couldn¡¯t tell as all around him was filled with water and it was so dark that already his eyes was attuning to the Mana around him. Water amassed all around him and he looked around, trying to figure out where his next steps were to go. DING! DESTROY THE CORRUPTION SPIRE! FIND IT AND DESTROY IT BEFORE IT COMPLETES ITS EVOLUTION! The system notice pinged into sight, and he was moving, running across the bottom of this body of water. He felt a slight restriction, he was slowed down by the gravity here at the bottom. But also the domineering tyrant body seemed to move against the current and the restriction. Pushing his body even harder, to ensure he moved as fast as he wanted to. This spire was at the bottom of the lake, in a small alcove lowered into the ground. As he ran towards it, he saw fish and eels swimming around it, almost patrolling. He simply sighed and kept running towards the spire. The corruption gem growing quickly in the water. He leapt off the side of an underwater cliff and when he hoped to land beside the spire. He was knocked off his trajectory by a monstrous eel that intercepted and rammed its body into him. Knocking him away, an eel was all muscle, and this enlarged one was stronger still. DING! CORRUPT TIER II DRACONIC EEL KILLED! +2 STAT POINTS He swung his blade, carving through the head of the eel, it died and the blood from the corpse appeared as a cloud. Fish and other eels rushed forward in a frenzy and began tearing at the body of the corpse. Jazmel moved from the feeding frenzy and delved towards the spire. When he landed on the ground, buried around the spire mounds of sand and dirt erupted. He was surrounded by crab like monsters, their pincers glinted like metal, and he parried an attack. Cutting through the wrist of the crab and taking its bladed pincer from the arm. Lacerate! He struck out and waving his blade like a wand, he slashed at the carapace and chitin of the crab monster. His blade slunk through the chitin, and he watched as organs wafted out from the carapace and floated around blood. DING! CORRUPT TIER II WARMONGER CRAB KILLED! +1 STAT POINT ¡­ He carved through the others; they rushed him, and he simply floated through them. his sword almost singing as it leapt from crab to crab when he was done. He had gained another 11 stat points. DING! EXP ACCRUED! +10 STAT POINTS ¡­ He turned to the spire and just as he raised his sword above his head to cut through the gem and the spire. It imploded. DING! DING!! DANGER!Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. YOU FAILED TO STOP THE CORRUPTION GEM FROM EVOLVING! ¡­ THE CORRUPTION HAS ADVANCED AND A CREATURE HAS COME TO COLLECT! THE LEVIATHAN COMES!! ¡­ Jazmel watched as all the system notifications fluttered across his peripheral and he stuttered at the warnings. Something was coming, he could already feel the shift in the Mana but also the water current had subtly changed too. Something of great size was moving through the water towards him. As a safety measure he slashed through the spire and gem and they shattered, splintering, and disappearing in the water. A wail could be heard from afar but nearing quickly. It was a groan, a sound of pain and sorrow, it sounded like a cry of a human or a child. But then it sounded like many voices in one, it was unnerving, and it made Jazmel clench his teeth against the feeling. The wail happened again, and he was covered by a shadow, a long shadow glided over him. DING! CORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN APPEARS! ¡­ Above him he is shimmering light as it caught the shine of scales moving quickly through the water. He cursed silently and simply gripped his sword and made sure he was ready. He caught a sight of the thing; it looked like the mix between a dragon and a large serpent. Scales shaped like diamonds coated its entire body, the scales looked hard and strong, but Jazmel would face it, nonetheless. On one side the eyes of the leviathan looked down on him, they caught each other¡¯s gaze and Jazmel noticed that the creature had three eyes within each socket. He looked at this with unease and simply flared his Mana, letting the leviathan know he was not scared. The leviathan swam around him and wailed, crying a cry so sorrowful that Jazmel almost felt himself swayed. LAMENT OF THE LEVIATHAN HAS BEEN LAUDED OVER YOU! ¡­ YOU HAVE WITHSTOOD ITS REACH! +2 END ¡­ Jazmel shuddered but shook his head, looking for the leviathan which was swimming loose circles around him. Jazmel waited, watching to see when it would descend on him. It swam another lap before roaring and snapping his snout. It descended and opened its mouth, a snakelike tongue flickered behind sharp fangs and canines. Sunder! Jazmel carved his strongest skill through the water and the crescent slash of Mana burst towards the leviathan. It evaded, dodging nimbly in the water and surprising Jazmel. It crashed into the ground, reverberating all around and Jazmel was covered in sand as it burst from the ground all around them. he could see all, his Mana eyes always allowed him to see, he leapt forward in the cover of the sand and smashed the snout of the leviathan, the scales didn¡¯t even so much as crack. Cleave! He struck the snout again, his blade cracking a slight few scales but doing no damage. Instead, he spun on his heel and cast out another skill. Aimed at the eyes of the creature. Lacerate! He slashed across the face and his blade cut the eyes. Wounding the leviathan as it slunk off, veering to the side and trying its best to escape his attack on its eyes. But Jazmel couldn¡¯t be shaken off so easily. He grabbed hold of a rent scale and clutched it with his free hand as the leviathan swam up from the alcove and tried to get away from him. He chipped away at the scales, aiming exclusively around the eye, and trying to get to the skin beneath the scales. The leviathan then realised that he was holding on. Clutching at the scales near its eye lid. Jazmel caught sight of the one good eye it had left and rearing up, he stabbed into the eye socket. Causing the leviathan to screech in pain and anger. He had blinded all three eyes and now the leviathan tumbled towards the ground. Trying to shake him off and then roll atop him, in hopes of crushing him. Jazmel let go and using the momentum of the leviathan he was propelled up rather than down. The leviathan landed on the ground of the alcove, shaking its body about and throwing up great clouds of sand and sea floor debris. It kept doing that until it was almost completely covered by the sand, but this meant nothing to Jazmel for he saw all things. Especially those with Mana and the leviathan had that in abundance. DING! THE LEVIATHAN IS ENRAGED! ITS WOUNDS HAVE DRIVEN IT INTO A RAGE A FRENZY! DRACONIC FRENZY!! WHILE IN A FRENZY, THE LEVIATHAN CANNOT BE HARMED! Jazmel watched the leviathan appear from the clouds of sand, it was glimmering in the loose rays of light that reached down into the sea recesses. It had been emboldened by its frenzy and it looked around for Jazmel, but he was still high above it, slowly descending. It snarled, trying to find him and he simply waited for it to notice him on his descent. It snapped its head up, rearing up and seeing him a lone figure in the sea. It pushed off from the seafloor and sailed through the water towards him. Great rumbling dragon! He swung out his skill, earlier than he might have done on land. But he was trying to adapt to the resistance in the water and he watched as the spectral dragon maw, took on a blue hue, maybe from all the ambient water Mana around them. The leviathan did something Jazmel was surprised to see, rather than veer out of the way. It rushed forward in a challenge towards the spectral maw. Jazmel dodged to the left and stabbed his blade deep into the eye wound of draconic sea serpent again. It raged against him, shrieking at the pain he was inflicting on it. He jammed his sword in and preceded it drag it down the length of the body, scales and muscle were imbedded in the way. But Jazmel grit his teeth and using the power in his bones and stats. He wrenched his blade down and through the entirety of the body. The leviathan had stopped screaming some time ago and Jazmel found himself enshrouded in purple and red blood as it wafted around. DING! CORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN KILLED! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! ¡­ CORRUPTION FAILED! ¡­ CORRUPTION¡­ CORRUPTION STOPPED AND AVERTED! ¡­ ¡­ LEVEL UP! UNCORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN BEAST CORE GAINED! ¡­ +5 STR Book 4 Chapter Twenty-Five; the Bell Fields of Lylo The water grew peaceful very quickly and all the fish and the eels he had seen before seemed to suddenly grow benign and quiet. He watched with interest as they all left and began to swim away from the alcove. He took this moment to check over his stats, this was when he got a chance to see how he had grown over the two different parts of the domain he had entered. Name: Jazmel Level: 72 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant* Health: 3760/3760 Stamina: 2860/2860 Mana: 2560/2560 STR:133(+5) PER:134 VIT:131 END:128(+3) INT:131 WIL:121 AGL:123 DEX:124 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER AWAKENER (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 29 206X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN 2X TIER I HEALTH POTIONS 5X TIER I STAMINA POTIONS 7X TIER I MANA POTIONS 10X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 10X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER II BRUXA CORE X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III BREASTPLATE OF THE DRAKE TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CORE X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG MONARCH TIER BREATH OF AULE TIER III KOGOR CORPSE PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD TIER II STEELFIN TUNA BLADE TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE TIER III BLACKENED REAPING SCYTHE TIER IV DRAKE HEART SCALE TIER III RED MASK TIER II CHAOS SHARD UNCORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN BEAST CORE COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 He was happy with what he saw, and he quickly pushed them away and out of sight, he had stat points, but he wasn¡¯t going to use them now. He was going to hold onto them for now. As the last time, he watched as a gate formed and he stepped through it. The change in scenery was immediate, and he found himself on a lone hill, in a vale. It was a strange setting, fields all around him but what stood out for him. Was the guiding stones along different paths leading off in different directions. Simply put, it was a stone pillar that was about knee high. Looped through a borehole in the stone was a twisted rope and between each stone pillar where the rope had been threaded. A bell hung from the rope. He hadn''t seen anything like this before, the gate had brought him out into a deep vale, a field that descended into a valley. The gate had brought him to the outside of the pillars and the ropes. Jazmel stepped over some rope and ensured he didn¡¯t disturb the bell, but once he stepped into the path that the pillars were leading to, the bell he stepped over chimed. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE BELLY OF THE DOMAIN THE BELL FIELDS OF LYLO! ¡­ EXP ACCRUED! THE CORRUPTION HAS REACHED THE DEPTHS OF THE LABYRINTH!The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡­ YOU MUST STOP THIS FROM REACHING ITS CONCLUSION! BEWARE THE TITAN! ¡­ That drew a sigh from Jazmel, he was worried about that. He hadn''t seen a titan before, but he was already curious to see what, that meant for him. He walked the length of the path following the length of the rope, each bell he passed chimed. A single note and then fell silent straight away, he felt nothing, but he took note of each bell that chimed. By the time he had descended the path and made it to the valley, he had passed 192 bells. He wondered why there were so many but he simply advanced. He stepped pass the last one and immediately felt the pressure. He felt the killing intent as it created a dome about the entirety of the field and that was when he saw the man. To call the being a man was to fall short of him. He was huge, he dwarfed Jazmel who was easily six foot two. This man stood easily at seven foot. He was all muscle and simply wore a kilt of bear fur and chainmail. It fell to just above his knees and he wore thick leather boots, made of bear skin and other materials. The man was bare-chested, and scars of battle and war riddled his skin. In one hand he clutched a long bearded short haft axe and in the other he carried a doubled headed long handled axe. Another axe was stuck into his belt, but Jazmel simply looked at him. He wore a mask, a helm of such design that Jazmel couldn¡¯t see his face or any of his features. Studying this man he could tell he was strong; he was probably as strong as the Knight of the revenant dragon. Uter had been so strong; it had taken the whole party to defeat. But here, Jazmel was on his own and he was sure this particular man might be stronger. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE DOMAIN OF AGNAR THE FADED ¡­ YOU HAVE COME ACROSS A FALLEN! AGNAR WAS A TITAN, HE HAS FALLEN AND FADED FROM MEMORY DEFEAT THE FALLEN TITAN AND DISRUPT THE CORRUPTION OF LYLO! ¡­ The system chimed and he scanned the notification, making sure he kept the bear of a man in his sight. ¡°So you have come to seek my end?¡± the titan said, his voice gruff and muffled from behind the helmet. Jazmel simply watched him, trying to grow comfortable beneath the pressure of this man¡¯s killing intent. ¡°I have come to stop the corruption.¡± Jazmel said simply and the masked titan nodded and grumbled in agreement. ¡°I see you have some purity in your heart, but I have been tasked with supporting the corruption. Tell me, how many bells did you pass?¡± he asked again and Jazmel looked back up the path, his interest piqued. ¡°One hundred and ninety-two.¡± He answered and the titan sighed, looking up towards the sky. ¡°I will add another bell when you fall here.¡± the titan said and morbidly, Jazmel realised that each bell was the spirit or proof of a seeker, ranker or master who had come across this titan. ¡°Come, fall before me and be remembered by the chime of melancholy.¡± Agnar the titan told Jazmel, he raised his axes above his head and crossed them. Toll the bells! A chord was struck and Jazmel felt his senses burn as some sort of Mana skill attacked all his senses. DING! YOUR SENSES HAVE BEEN WROUGHT AND ATTACKED! BUT THE TYRANT DOES NOT BEND SO EASILY YOU HAVE WITHSTOOD THE TOLL OF THE BELLS AND WON! FOR NOW! ¡­ Jazmel rushed in and raised Daishinkan above his head and brought it down quickly. Fall of the black raven! DING! FALL OF THE BLACK RAVEN HAS RISEN A TIER! TIER III REACHED! Jazmel didn¡¯t even have time to be happy, he was in battle and Agnar was not so easily defeated. ¡°The bell tolls for us all!¡± he yelled, swinging his axes in a deadly dance, twirling them about his body trying to strike Jazmel down. Jazmel ducked, dodged, and deflected as best as he can and Agnar greeted him in strength. Bell of reckoning! Agnar raised his axes and crossed them again, but this time he slammed it into the ground. Jazmel¡¯s keen senses told him to flee and bounded backwards he leapt out of the reach of the skill. When he landed after bounding backwards three times. A ring of eruption had exploded around Agnar, another skill created from his bell workings. ¡°You flee when you should fight.¡± Agnar mocked, but Jazmel was not swayed by words, not here. Lacerate! He cut the air, sending a swathe of Mana towards the titan who blocked it. Swinging his axe and meeting the skill with just his strength. The strike was sent astray and hit the ground crushing the ground. ¡°You talk when you should fight.¡± Jazmel uttered and Agnar grumbled but fell silent. Great rumbling dragon! Jazmel swung his skill, the maw flying to meet the titan and burst across his bare chest and arms. Agnar roared a defiant growl and waved his axes. ¡°I am a titan! We felled dragons in the hundreds, I waded into their broods and slaughtered thousands!¡± he wailed, rushing towards Jazmel, no skills just might and brawn. But Jazmel was a tyrant, his body built from tier tribulations and trials of strength and rewards, he rushed towards Agnar to meet him, and they clashed. Sparks burst from where sword and axes met. Agnar was leaning into his axes, his mass far greater than Jazmel¡¯s but the tyrant would not be overwhelmed so easily. He pushed back, exerting himself and thrusting Agnar off of him. ¡°You are mighty, it will be an honour to defeat you and I will try not to forget you.¡± He offered and Jazmel knew he meant it considerately, but it was morbid still. Jazmel was not planning on dying and adding to the toll of bells along the path. ¡°Agnar you have forgotten what the labyrinth means.¡± Jazmel said to him and tried to shake off the titan, Agnar wrenched back his head and butted Jazmel straight in his face. He felt his nose burst from the force and blood pooled from both nostrils. He coughed and back up, trying to breathe through his mouth instead. ¡°First blood!¡± Agnar yelled, suddenly euphoric and fuelled by his bloodlust. Jazmel popped his nose back into shape, he heard it snap back into place. Blood flowed again, but he could breathe through his nose again. He licked his lips, tasting his blood and the tang was bitter to taste. Bleeding always bothered him; he didn¡¯t like feeling his life¡¯s blood ebb away. His body was healing, slowly but he was still prepared to fight. He pushed forward, rushing to meet the titan who was growing drunken on his bloodlust. Lacerate! He changed the direction of his strike, inverting it and so his slash glanced off the double headed axe and then swooped through a tiny gap in Agnar¡¯s defence and struck his helm. His mask sounded like a chord and rung his head like a bell. He dropped his long-bearded axe to the ground and clutched his head as if to stop the ringing. Jazmel leapt forward, using this opportunity to strike viciously. Cleave! Cleave! He struck twice one opening a big slash across the chest of the forgotten titan. The other carving across his mask and creating a huge scar, the unknown metal of the mask becoming brittle. Toll the bells! Vertigo wrenched at Jazmel like chains of distortion and a battle of wills made his usually stable balance flip. He fell to the ground, which felt like up for him and he struggled against the pains of this weird skill. Bellringer¡¯s Charge! Jazmel watched unable to defend as Agnar rushed at him, all he could do was watch as his body rushed to try and fight the effects of the skill that affected his senses. Agnar hit him, with the full force of a charging seven-foot man, all muscle and bulk. It felt like Jazmel had been hit by a rhino, his body jerked and bounced off of the floor. He felt pummelled and struggled to rise up from the ground. He coughed up blood, dark red blood and he cursed beneath painful breaths. DING! FRACTURED RIBS! (minor) HEALTH BELOW 70% That one charge had taken thirty percent of his health, and he was feeling the brunt of the pain. But he forced himself up, from prostrating, till he was up on one knee. He grumbled to himself through the pain and pushed up till he was standing. ¡°You are fierce little tyrant. You have made me remember such foes.¡± Agnar said. He was complimenting Jazmel again and he found it worrying, was the titan going insane. Bell of reckoning! He crashed his axe into the ground, as he was only holding one now, the radius of the explosion was smaller than before. But still devastating, Jazmel leapt out of the way and took the moment that the cloud covered him, to catch a breath and for respite. Cleave! He swung his blade and then ran to the left, away from where his strike came from. Through the clouds of dust, Agnar seemed to know where he was immediately. He pulled the short haft axe from his belt and flung it at Jazmel, it curled through the air and slashed at him. he deflected it and it struck the ground with a dull thud and imbedded itself into the ground. ¡°Little tyrant!¡± Agnar called into the dispersing smoke clouds. Jazmel ran and leapt through the air, his sword high above him. Fall of the black raven! He bombarded Agnar with Mana, who fell to a knee before the strong strike of Daishinkan he roared in defiance, but Jazmel was not afraid of him at all. He slammed the butt of his sword into the mask, the sword heavy against the kneeling titan and being doubled with Jazmel¡¯s own strength. ¡°You cannot best me with mere strength! I am a titan! Indomitable and unmoving!!¡± Agnar roared but Jazmel was done with the bandying of words, he pulled Nozarashi from his ring and catching it deftly from the air, he struck out and stabbed into the mask. He thought his sword would drive through, but the battered mask held still, it broke now though and crumbled away from his face. The thick metal pieces falling to the ground. ¡°MY MASK!¡± Agnar yelled and for the first time Jazmel saw the face of an older man. He might have been far older than Jazmel, but he realised within the labyrinth he could no longer tell. But Agnar¡¯s eyes told him he had seen a lot and been a witness to great horrors. Jazmel knocked the axe from his grasp, he raised both swords. both katana¡¯s and bringing them down, he brought out the demise of Agnar, the forgotten titan. DING! YOU HAVE DEFEATED A TITAN! ¡­ YOU HAVE SLAIN A FALLEN TITAN! ¡­ YOU HAVE STOPPED THE CORRUPTION AND CLEANSED THE FIELDS! ALL THE BELLS WILL BE PURGED! YOU HAVE ACHIEVED A GREATER LEVEL OF CLEARANCE THAN OTHERS!! ¡­ 192 BELLS HAVE BEEN CLEANSED,THE SOULS OF THE FALLEN HAVE RETURNED TO PEACE! REWARDS ARE BEING EXPANDED TO ACCOMMODATE ALL THAT YOU HAVE ACHIEVED! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ THE CHAOS GEM HAD EVOLVED BUT IT HAS BEEN PURGED! ¡­ YOU HAVE GAINED A TIER III PEARL OF PANDORA! A pearl of pandora is the evolved version of a chaos gem, this is an alchemical item and can be used to greatly raise the Mana source of any item this is attributed to. Jazmel was gaping at the notifications, he was being gifted a lot of rewards and he knew it was because defeating Agnar should not have been able to be done by him. DING! YOU HAVE DEFEATED A TITAN RANKER TIER II AGNAR OF TITANIA HAS BEEN SLAIN ERROR ¡­ ERROR AGNAR OF TITANIA THE FALLEN HAS BEEN SLAIN! ¡­ ERROR RANKER TIER II ERROR! ¡­ ¡­ TIER III AGNAR THE FALLEN TITAN SLAIN! DING! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! ¡­ LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! +4 PER +3 INT +3 VIT +2 AGL +2 DEX ¡­ Jazmel roiled his shoulders as the system energy flourished through his body and he felt his stats and health increase. Book 4 Chapter Twenty-Six; O How the Mighty Fall Magda watched everyone either dying or wounded grievously around her. She had reached the 100th floor and had thought it possible to overcome, but it has proven otherwise. Since she had reached master tier II, she had felt almost invincible. But here, in front of her first calamity her guild had been decimated, they were going to fall here, and she knew it. YOUR GUILD HAS BEEN DESTROYED! YOU ARE THE LAST ONE STANDING!! FLEE!! The system was telling her to run, to flee from this battle. But she wouldn¡¯t change her mind, there was no way about it. She grabbed her sword, broken halfway along the blade and yet she was preparing for her final attack. From within her ring, she pulled out five dreadnought orbs, and hurled them into the air. ¡°Push the dragons back!¡± the dreadnoughts unfurled and mobilised ahead of her, rushing towards the dragons that prowled through the clan dead and snapping up bodies.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Meteoric ruin! Her final skill, a skill so deadly, she very nearly never used it. from the sky, she pulled debris from around a star down. She was going to kill herself and everyone. Or so she thought. Gravich the calamity dragon, a tier IV monstrosity. Its strength unmeasurable and truly deep, soared into the sky, untouched and untested by any of those who had accompanied her now laid in amongst the dead. Gravich¡¯s great wings propelled him into the sky, and he urged his body higher and higher, Magda¡¯s master senses kept sight of him, and she watched with abject horror as he hurtled towards the meteors she had called down. The first one, he simply soared through it. bursting it with his body as he charged through the sky a scaled mass of muscle and magic. The second meteor slender and thinner in shape, the dragon curled its tail about it and then using all four limbs. He crushed it, breaking it and crumpling it down to rocks from the sky. The third and final meteor, it inhaled a deep breath, and a mixture of Mana and draconic magic formed a breath of white and blue flame. He torched the meteor, turning it into nothing but ash. He turned his breath towards the ground and Magda, mentally distraught and defeated. She watched as the torrent of azure flame etched the ground and came towards her. She burned, winking out of sight in an instance. A master tier, at the height of her strength and abilities. She died, her clan devastated and broken around her. Gravich roared, defiantly but also in euphoria! The calamity was unstoppable! Book 4 Chapter Twenty-Seven; the Princess of Teneriel Sad¨¦ was sitting in a garden, watching the wind snake through the leaves of the flowers around her. She sighed, she was bored, and she couldn¡¯t help or hide it. Kazumi sat in her lap, preferring the small puppy form whilst she was around strangers. She was focused on being groomed and she huffed when Sad¨¦ stopped stroking her soft, warm fur. Sad¨¦ found herself wondering about her friends. She was wondering how the faction was doing, but also how Jazmel was. Whatever he was doing, he was doing it without her company and that wrenched at her heart. In truth, she still was unsure how she felt about him, but what she did know; she knew she missed his company immensely. She clenched her fist and felt the strength in her limb, even now after tempering she was still shocked by just how strong she had become. When she had returned home, she had told her parents about tempering, they had both congratulated her. Shocked how she had done so, so quickly but then they pestered her, questioning how much she had done inside the labyrinth and for how dangerous the labyrinth could be. She wasn¡¯t a child anymore; she was well versed in the labyrinth; she had the skills and stats to prove it. ¡°Good day to you princess.¡± she heard, her keen senses hadn''t alerted her to someone¡¯s presence, and she hadn''t realised just how deep into her thoughts she actually was. She looked up and almost looked right away. She sighed, suddenly irritable. The young man standing before her was handsome, incredibly so. He stood at six foot seven, he was slender as a young tree and in his robes and cloak, he looked like a true young noble, in a way he was. He was the eldest son of one of the captains and one of the few boys Sad¨¦ had grown up around. He had made it clear that he was attracted to her, he had tried to pursue her from the beginning of their youth, but she had rejected him often enough. So now instead he simply steered other young men away from her. ¡°Good day to you too Alrin.¡± She offered, hoping he would read her mood and leave her alone. ¡°Sad¨¦ I had hoped to see you before the coronation. With your mother becoming a queen, and you a princess, I had hoped to offer the request to court you appropriately.¡± He offered and Sad¨¦ bit back a curse. In truth, her mother had decided on becoming the Queen, her father in turn would become her consort; though they loved each other. He was a man, a human and so could never rule the Elven kingdom. But being their one and only child, Sad¨¦ would be heir and as such. The princess, a princess of a newly formed kingdom.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Alrin was hoping to elevate his position in the court, Though he never stumbled or swayed in his pursuit of her, she had seen the sinister side he hid so well from her, he was lecherous and known to state his lust on weaker women. Girls whose families would never be allowed to ever question his name or influence. But not Sad¨¦, no Sad¨¦ would simply kill him if he ever tried anything. ¡°Alrin, I have rejected you enough times. I will not continue to be pursued, especially when you know I hold no affection for you.¡± She said, as nice and concise as possible, but still he remained unwavering. ¡°Princess, who else can pursue you if not me?¡± he said, she was growing irritated and was ready to shout at him. But Kazumi hopped from her lap and standing between Sad¨¦ and Alrin, she started growling. Out of nowhere, two guards leapt from hiding and levelled sword and spear on Kazumi. Sad¨¦ was on her feet, thunder crackling between her fingers as she levelled her emotions. ¡°Step away from my companion.¡± She almost called forth her thunder crown, but Corin stepped from behind Sad¨¦, yet another that she hadn''t noticed was beside her. Corin was flaring all her Mana, her wings erected and prepared to rush forward. ¡°The princess has rejected you, now you draw weapons in her presence. I should take your heads, but I will allow you this one time a pass if you remove yourself from this vicinity now.¡± Corin said, her voice levelled and calm. But her flared Mana told a completely different story. ¡°It would seem I have overstayed my welcome. Thank you guard, I shall deal with my own guards.¡± He said, his face a mask of calmness, he bowed before Sad¨¦ and then spinning on his heel, he left. ¡°My lady, if you want men to leave you alone, there are only two ways to do it.¡± Corin told her and Sad¨¦ looked at her, waiting and expectant. ¡°You either beat them into submission, or you tell them about another man. You could have done both, Jazmel is stronger than him too.¡± She said and Sad¨¦ almost rolled her eyes. ¡°I cannot go around beating every man who shows attraction to me and Jazmel is not mine to bandy around like some shield.¡± She said, her heart beating a little faster at the sliding thought of it though. ¡°That is how I know you both are children. You both care for one another, why won¡¯t you just admit it.¡± Corin said. ¡°Thank you for standing guard Corin.¡± She said, ending the conversation then and there. Corin noticed the cutting off of the conversation and chose to not push further, she bowed and then moved away but still in sight of Sad¨¦, guarding the garden from any others entering. Sad¨¦ wondered about Jazmel, wondered if he was thinking of her and what he was doing, the coronation was sooner. Less than a month and her mother would be crowned. Once done, she could go back to the black wing faction and continue delving into the labyrinth. Her mother had promised her that much. She sighed and basked in the sun, in the garden and sought some of the peace she was surrounded by. Book 4 Chapter Twenty-Eight; the Foundations of a Faction Leader Jazmel had gained three levels, he was five levels off of his next tier tribulation and just the simple thought of it, drew quick breaths and his heart pumped with exhilaration. He was well aware of the Monarch plot and to his luck he had found a monarch tier item to use, but something in him, told him. That it wasn¡¯t right for him, he was still searching for items that fit him, the body, and the stats he was cultivating. He stood in the fields of Lylo, after defeating Agnar and watching his body break down and return to the domain, he awaited the labyrinth¡¯s next gate. He hadn''t looked at his stats and took this moment to look at them. Name: Jazmel Level: 75 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 3760/4030 Stamina: 2860/3044 Mana: 2560/2720 STR:133(+5) PER:130 VIT:128 END:128(+3) INT:129 WIL:121 AGL:121 DEX:122 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER AWAKENER (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 29 206X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN 2X TIER I HEALTH POTIONS 5X TIER I STAMINA POTIONS 7X TIER I MANA POTIONS 10X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 10X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER II BRUXA CORE X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III BREASTPLATE OF THE DRAKE TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CORE X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG MONARCH TIER BREATH OF AULE TIER III KOGOR CORPSE PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD TIER II STEELFIN TUNA BLADE TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE TIER III BLACKENED REAPING SCYTHE UNCORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN BEAST CORE TIER II CHAOS SHARD TIER IV DRAKE HEART SCALE TIER III RED MASK TIER III PEARL OF PANDORA COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 He had just under thirty stat points to use, he kept them. not wanting to rush his stats any further, some were lagging but for now, he was comfortable. He also knew that few had undergone a tempering at his tier and so he had that advantage going for him. This made him think of his friends and as the faction leader he sent them a task. DING! TASK OFFERED TO ALL THOSE AT RANKER TIER IN THE BLACK WING FACTION! ¡­ UNDERGO A BODY TEMPER AND PUSH ALL STATS OVER 100! REWARDS The system had formed a task out of his initial idea, and he liked that the interface was able to do that for him. He sent it off and waited to see who would gain what they needed. He wondered if he and Sad¨¦ would gain the rewards already as they both had already completed the task and as if on cue, his own system chimed. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING THE TASK! PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR RANKER TIER REWARD! Jazmel was intrigued, all these options were beneficial to him. He had seen already what a draught would do, his swords were already strong, and he could always raise them with tier up tokens or scrolls. The ring called to him more and he chose it. RANKER TIER RING CHOSEN! ¡­ Ring of Grace will add +7 to whatever stat you lock it to, be warned that your choice is permanent! Jazmel nodded at that, that was a great boon. He already looked over his stats and knew, he put the ring on his index finger, and it shrunk to fit him perfectly, he chose will immediately and felt incensed as it changed, and system energy flushed him. His will was lagging behind, and he had the stat points to raise them, but something told him not to rush them, he needed to keep them just in case. He was trusting his gut here. DING! TIER III TIER TRIBULATION ITEM GAINED! Materialising from thin air, a darkened and ornate lamp made of gold and copper. It was beautiful and clutching the gold ring at the top the light that flared from within the tinted glass was calming and soothing. Lamp of Leluthian, a primordial gift used to calm the barrows and spectres. This tier tribulation item is locked in use only in spirit or mind! That was interesting, Jazmel had never been warned by the system that an item can only be fixed in its use. He was curious about it and wondered just what the benefits could or would be. His final item was a skill tier up token, he was already familiar with this, and this gave him an idea he had been considering for a while now. He sat down, in the middle of the fields of Lylo and began to meditate, his heart of the sword trait let him find complete peace as soon she began. He entered a deep pensive state and when he was there, he clutched at the two skills he had in mind. He grabbed Fall of the black raven in his mind and cleave beside it. The system caught on to what he was trying immediately and chimed into action and activation. DING! WILL YOU MERGE SKILLS? Y/N? ¡­The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The system awaited him choosing and when he did, he grit his teeth at the pain of the system grabbing hold of his will. It exerted it over both skills and forcefully tried to merge them. fall of the black raven had just hit tier III, while cleave had still been tier II. He wondered if that would make a difference, and instead he watched the system tear energy from him and then fold the two skills in on each other. DING! FALL OF THE BLACK RAVEN AND CLEAVE ARE MERGING! ¡­ ¡­ MERGING! ¡­ MERGED! ¡­ RAVEN¡¯S CLEAVING DESCENT! (tier I) He quickly looked at his stats to go over the changes and see what was new. Name: Jazmel Level: 75 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier I Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 3760/4030 Stamina: 2860/3044 Mana: 2560/2720 STR:133(+5) PER:130 VIT:128 END:128(+3) INT:129 WIL:121(+7) AGL:121 DEX:122 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER DEMON SLAYER AWAKENER (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 29 206X PLATINUM COINS 82X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE TIER II SEED OF MIRETE TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN 2X TIER I HEALTH POTIONS 5X TIER I STAMINA POTIONS 7X TIER I MANA POTIONS 10X TIER II HEALTH POTIONS 10X TIER II STAMINA POTIONS 10X TIER II MANA POTIONS TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST TIER II BRUXA CORE X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III BREASTPLATE OF THE DRAKE TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CORE X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG MONARCH TIER BREATH OF AULE TIER III KOGOR CORPSE PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD TIER II STEELFIN TUNA BLADE TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE TIER III BLACKENED REAPING SCYTHE UNCORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN BEAST CORE TIER II CHAOS SHARD TIER IV DRAKE HEART SCALE TIER III RED MASK TIER III PEARL OF PANDORA TIER III LAMP OF LELUTHIAN COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 113 He rolled his shoulders and flexed his muscles, he felt limber and lithe. His muscle mass was stronger, greater than before. But the system was pushing him down a path of strength and yet, dexterity. He was very able, fluid, and agile, even with all his strength. He was a solid user of swords and he had to be speedy and agile, he wasn¡¯t worried about anything. He would continue and he would face whatever the labyrinth threw at him. He looked over to where Agnar the titan had fallen, his long-hafted axe was there. He grabbed it and pulled it into his ring. Before looking around to see where he should go. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON CLEANSING THE FIELDS OF LYLO! WILL YOU ADVANCE? Y/N? The system hadn''t asked him if he wanted to move on or advance to the next floor. He was shocked, but he steeled himself and moved forward. Yes. The system literally pulled his answer from his mind and spinning like a wheel, a gate formed where Agnar had fell and Jazmel stepped through it. Into nothing, another new surprise. Usually when he passed through a gate he stepped right through into a new floor or place. But this time the system had moved him to a corridor of swirling system energy and ambient Mana. He could feel it all around him, the structure was stable, and his senses told him not to worry about it and simply advance. That word was becoming something of a mantra, a motto for him. The corridor wasn¡¯t particularly long, after around ten minutes he was through and when he stepped through the gate he was accosted by jostling as many denizens surrounded the area he had been placed in. DING! YOU HAVE COME TO THE CONSORTIUM OF GUILDS YOU MAY INVITE THREE MEMBERS OF YOUR FACTION AS PART OF YOUR RETINUE! He thought for a moment and instantly sent missives to his faction. He had thought about to pick and made sure not to bother anyone who would be busy with their own tasks. His mind wondered after Sad¨¦, but he quickly focused on what was in front. BANNERMAN INVITED MARY INVITED BAEK INVITED The system activated and three gates appeared behind him. He watched as his three friends stepped through their gates and he took a moment to catch them up to speed. Bannerman simply nodded and fell into position behind Jazmel, like a guard. Mary stood to his left and Baek on his right. ¡°I saw that tempering test you offered us; did you pass 100 stats already?¡± Mary asked and Jazmel nodded, a shy look flashing across his face. ¡°You never cease to amaze me, I already passed mine a few weeks back. The gifts were fun though, thank you.¡± She was sporting an arm cuff on her bicep that looked like it was made out of pure silver. ¡°What body tempering did you get and what is with the cuff?¡± Jazmel asked. Mary grinned a toothy smile and showed off her cuff. ¡°The cuff was my ranker tier gift, it provides me with +8 strength, which is a big boost for me. Also I got the Mountain Mastodon body, Lord of the peaks. I am sturdy and my body refined itself with prehistoric bones and blood. All cool quirks, but I am only a few levels away from my master tier tribulation. Any tips Baek?¡± they both turned to Baek who was simply listening intently. ¡°Any tips I offer you, will interfere with your natural growth, trust your own instincts and keep doing as you have been.¡± He said with a small smile for comfort. ¡°What tempering do you have?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek smiled at them both for a moment and then answered. ¡°Which one?¡± Jazmel almost fainted when he heard that, he shouted out but was cut off by the system. DING! ALL FACTION LEADERS, GUILD MASTERS AND CLAN HEADS! ¡­ ATTEND THE CONSORTIUM, ADD YOUR FACTION, GUILD AND CLANS TO THE TAPESTRY! Jazmel and all the groups around stopped what they were doing to listen. The crowds were moving around but when the system spoke the area they were in transformed and a doorway, wide enough for double doors opened up. Immediately people funnelled through and even though Jazmel was tall, there were people ahead of him who were taller than him still. Jazmel simply followed as the queue moved along, turning to Bannerman he remembered his friend. ¡°You tiered up to ranker tier II right?¡± Bannerman grumbled a yes, as was his way. ¡°Have you hit 100 in all stats yet?¡± Bannerman groused and shook his head. So he hadn''t spread his stats across as balanced as Jazmel had. ¡°Make sure you try to spread your stat points around evenly; a balance is always the better option.¡± Jazmel offered and Bannerman listened intently. ¡°You do know, what you¡¯re stating is almost impossible.¡± Mary interjected. ¡°How so?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°Well it should be easier to hit 100 in any stat if you power up specific ones quickly, but somehow you did it while spreading your stats across evenly.¡± Mary pointed out and Jazmel listened and shrugged. ¡°I just went against everything the system threw at me; I never ran.¡± He said and she nodded and grinned. ¡°You are strong, I am proud to be part of the faction. Something is always happening, and the retainers are growing from a rabble into some sort of army. I like my job.¡± Mary said and Jazmel smiled back. ¡°the young master is most motivating; he pushes himself hard when he enters the labyrinth on his own. I rarely get involved; I simply oversee his advancement.¡± Baek said and Mary and Bannerman nodded in admiration. ¡°The path of the pack is moulded by the leader.¡± Bannerman said, his words were profound. Even when he spoke of the faction as a wolf pack, something in Jazmel¡¯s chest moved at his words. ¡°Thank you all, for supporting me and following my lead.¡± Jazmel offered. They had reached the doorway, and a single armoured guard was barring the way. ¡°State your name and your faction or guild.¡± He said, not even looking at Jazmel. ¡°Jazmel, leader of the Black Wing Faction.¡± Jazmel said and the guard stepped out of his way, letting them enter the consortium. The consortium was a massive guild hall, so big that Jazmel couldn¡¯t even see the ceiling from his standing and, the size of the floor they were on was so large that, he couldn¡¯t even see the next floor. Jazmel watched as people moved around in groups, some wore the same clothes. Others sported flags of their clans and factions, a lot was happening all around them. ¡°What is the point of this consortium? Why did the system bring me here?¡± Jazmel asked Baek. ¡°The consortium is to build alliances; factions are budding and full of potential. The system is hoping to allow these to continue to grow. You should take note of the different groups who are doing well here, make friends but also consider those who might be your rivals.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel nodded, understanding what was unfolding ahead of him. ¡°Jazmel!¡± he heard and looking over he saw Sonia. The vice leader of the divine flame guild. She was waving at him and was standing beside one woman and a slender man. The woman who she was standing beside was obviously the leader. She wore a Gui, robes that covered her form, but Jazmel could make out that she was small in stature. She wore an outer robe that she clung on her shoulders and hid her hands in the sleeves of her Gui. She was strong, probably master tier, she gave off the same energy as Baek and when he looked at her Mana. It was as if a bonfire was burning within her. She noticed him and cocked her head, when she realised he was looking at her Mana she cut it off, stopping it from flowing from hear immediately. Jazmel made his way over to Sonia and her leader. She smiled at him and offered a small bow lowering herself at the waist, Jazmel offered it back and introduced his friends and retainers. ¡°This is the leader of the divine flame guild. Makon.¡± She introduced her leader and Jazmel inclined his head, and she offered the same movement to him. ¡°Is this the young man from the beast tide?¡± she asked, and Sonia nodded earnestly. Jazmel wondered what Sonia had said about him. ¡°I take it, these are the members of your faction?¡± she said, and she looked at them all, studying and analysing them one after the other. Her eyes lingered on Baek, who simply looked back at her and smiled at her. ¡°Interesting, your faction is intriguing. I hope to see you again.¡± she said and inclining her head again, she moved off and went to see other groups. ¡°That woman was strong.¡± Mary uttered and Jazmel nodded, agreeing. ¡°That man that was with them was a beast.¡± Bannerman offered and Jazmel looked at him, then glanced at the man who was following his leader. He hadn''t even paid attention to him, but now that he looked. He could see the Mana in the man was coiled and ready to burst free if he wanted it to. ¡°In truth, I hadn''t noticed him straight away. But now you say it, I can see his Mana is quite nasty.¡± Jazmel said and Mary glanced at the man, then at him and then laughed. ¡°Your eyes are Mana blue when you are looking at Mana. It¡¯s interesting to see.¡± She pointed out and Jazmel nodded, since his eyes had evolved. The iris had changed to blue, and they burned an ice or Mana coloured blue when he was using his keen sight. ¡°Hey, you!¡± he heard and looking over he saw Circe. She had grown, maybe a tier tribulation or a tempering, he could see her Mana and it was greater than it had been the last time he had seen her. She hugged him, not even glancing at the others. She was still shorter than him and since he had grown, she had had to jump into him to wrap her arms around his neck. ¡°Hello Circe. What are you doing here?¡± he asked, and she thumbed over her shoulder. ¡°The house of Artemis guild was here before the consortium brought new faces. Now my elders are simply mingling.¡± She explained and Jazmel could tell she was bored. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± she asked him, and he explained about the black wing faction. ¡°I did not know you had created your own faction! We must ally, come!¡± she tried to drag him away, but he stopped her. ¡°Stop, what are you doing. I cannot just go and ask for an alliance.¡± He told her and she laughed. ¡°Of course you can, it is me asking. I am a legacy; my mother is one of the highest-ranking members of the guild.¡± She explained and still Jazmel would not be moved. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to meet them.¡± Baek said from his side. Jazmel sighed and conceded, letting Circe drag him towards where a crowd was forming, but she pushed through. The two women were in full regalia armour. Muscles rippled beneath and they both looked strong, Jazmel wondered just how strong they were. ¡°Elder Swann and Elder Teagan.¡± Circe called and both women who stood stock, stoic still. Softened when they saw one of their own, but then both women studied Jazmel, and he felt pressure, but his body flared its own Mana. His tempered body refusing to be quelled. DOMINEERING TYRANT BODY REFUSES TO BE DOMINATED! ¡°Circe who is your friend?¡± the one called Elder Swann asked. ¡°This is Jazmel, he was at my seeker trials if you remember, and he was also inside the pyramid of Argilles.¡± She explained. ¡°Oh was he one of the boys who helped you slay the blood witch?¡± she asked, and Circe nodded, so she had told them about him already he wondered. ¡°Hello boy.¡± The one called Teagan said, before Jazmel could even respond. Mary stepped forward. ¡°Teagan.¡± She said only her name, but the woman was immediately focused with a tight grin. ¡°Is that bloody Mary? Do you follow this boy?¡± she asked, and Jazmel realised she was mocking him. ¡°Teagan if you call him a boy again, I am going to knock you down.¡± Mary said, her voice calm but her Mana rolling around her, charging up for a fight. ¡°Swann, if Mary tries to get her fists bloody, grab the boy.¡± Elder Teagan said and Bannerman growled, a deep and low growl deep in his chest. ¡°I could do with a fur coat.¡± She said with a wicked smile. ¡°Ladies, I would ask that you find manners. We elders should teach the youth to be better than ourselves.¡± Baek said, he flared his own Mana. Quickly but he completely supressed both women and they shivered beneath him. ¡°Who are you?¡± they both asked and before he could respond another woman appeared, placing herself before her elders and pulling Circe over to her side. ¡°Aunt.¡± Circe said, but the woman already pulled her behind her. ¡°Baek, you are far from home.¡± She said and Jazmel simply watched the two-standing facing each other. ¡°Ingrid, it has been years. You look well, the house of Artemis is so blessed that its elders can overthrow alliances without even considering the potential.¡± He said and Jazmel read under the lines, knowing that he was chastising both the elders. ¡°Who would have an alliance with the house of Artemis?¡± she looked around and then her eyes settled on Jazmel. ¡°He looks like¡­¡± she began but Baek stopped her. ¡°This is Jazmel. The leader of the black wing faction and I am acting as an advisor for him.¡± Baek introduced Jazmel and the woman turned to face him fully. Placing all her Mana on him and a pressure unlike he had ever felt before, pressed down on him. THE WILL OF INGRID PRESSES DOWN ON YOU! THE TYRANT SPIRIT EARNESTLY REBELS! ¡°Interesting. You are sturdy for one so young. Are you ranker tier II?¡± she asked and Jazmel shook his head, feeling the pressure reduce. ¡°Ranker tier I.¡± he told her, and she mused over his words. ¡°Have you tempered?¡± she asked, and he nodded, and she smiled, an honest and genuine one. ¡°How intriguing.¡± She turned to her niece and pulled her from behind her. ¡°You said you met him at the seeker trials? He is ahead of you, a courteous rival to keep up with. I give you my permission to remain friends and keep tabs.¡± She said, she inclined her head to Jazmel, which he returned earnestly. She then did the same to Baek and then led her people away. ¡°the house of Artemis are a powerful guild; Ingrid might be one of the strongest people here and that is before she even gets serious.¡± Baek explained. Mary groaned but simply listened. ¡°I think I could manage Elder Teagan; she is strong though. I don¡¯t think she is a master tier yet, but she might not be far behind.¡± Mary explained. Jazmel listened intently a lot was happening, and he was surprised that they seemed to be happening around him. The consortium was all business and no play, Jazmel focused his mind, clutching his sword hilt for comfort and steeled himself for the event. Book 4 Chapter Twenty-Nine; Guild Hall of the Consortium Quest Jazmel, Bannerman, Baek and Mary moved through the crowds and simply moved around. The system hadn''t initially offered any tasks or quests and so people were just mulling around, making friends, and trying to ally themselves. Jazmel had already met two people he knew, the divine flame guild; the vice leader had tried to recruit him after the beast tide, but he had declined. The next person was Circe and the house of Artemis, a big guild that was well known for the fact they only accepted girls and women. But other than that, Jazmel hadn''t met anyone else. He was a little worried by that, but Baek and Mary shrugged telling him not to worry. ¡°You just started up your faction, nobody is going to know you yet. You need to focus on growing it and your reputation will work for itself.¡± Mary told him. ¡°You should focus on building a stable foundation, your faction will rise as you do.¡± Baek said and he simply listened to the words of both his mentors. Bannerman simply followed him, diligently watching everyone around them. he was taking his guardianship seriously and in truth, Jazmel liked how serious he was. The guild hall was a monolith, Jazmel couldn¡¯t tell if he was outside or if they were in a building or a mountain. He couldn¡¯t tell. All that he knew was that the consortium had been built and people seemed to frequent its halls for the growth of their groups and factions. Jazmel was moving through the crowds, moved towards a section where he thought some stairs might be. He didn¡¯t even get a chance before the system chimed. Aloud this time and for all to hear. DING! THE CONSORTIUM HAS GONE ON FOR A FEW HOURS! ¡­ ALLIANCES HAVE BEEN MADE! FRIENDSHIPS FORMED! NOW YOU MUST DELVE AND SUPPORT THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED! ¡­ GATES WILL OPEN ALL MUST ENTER, LEAD YOUR PEOPLE AND SUPPORT THOSE IN NEED! THE REPUTATION YOU BUILD WILL BE THE FOUNDATION UPON WHICH YOUR NAME RINGS! The system explained all and Jazmel nodded, he wasn¡¯t surprised or curious. A task seemed the most appropriate idea. ¡°I wonder what the system will ask us.¡± Jazmel said to Bannerman who simply rolled his shoulders and waited for their gate to appear and as if on cue the labyrinth appeared before them. the other waited for Jazmel to step through first and he did, he advanced. He stepped through the portal and the gate did as it usually did, one step and he was in another world, another land. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE BRADDON HILLS! CREATURES HAVE OVVERUN THE HOMES OF THE PEOPLE OF BRADDON! ¡­ YOU MUST HELP THEM DRIVE BACK THE BEASTS! THE CREATURES HAVE TRIED TO CREATE A FOOTHOLD IN THE HILLS! FIND IT AND DESTROY IT! ¡­ The system chimed into explanation, and he sighed, but then he turned to Mary and smiled. ¡°Do you have the flag on you?¡± he asked, and she nodded. ¡°Always, I always have it with me.¡± She told him and he smiled at her, call the retainers here. I will set a task for them all as soon as they get here. She did and the system drew up energy from them and a pop-up notification showed for both he and Mary, he knew she gained one because she looked in the same way he did. DING! THE RALLYING FLAG HAS BEEN RAISED! WILL YOU USE IT TO CALL ALL YOUR FACTION TO YOUR LOCATION? Y/N? BE WARNED THAT IT HAS A 350 HOUR COOLDOWN PERIOD!! Jazmel was shocked, that was almost two weeks! That was a long time, but he wanted to complete this task very well. He cursed a little but accepted. Once he accepted, four gates appeared in front of them, and retainers began pouring through. All the Seekers appeared, they looked around but once they saw Mary standing with the rallying flag in her arms, they quickly formed ranks. The next ones to come through were the Rankers, his friends and all of them seemed ready, their eyes curious about what was going on but when they saw Jazmel, Bannerman, Mary and Baek they simple focused and awaited words. The gates closed and Jazmel almost grew sad that Sad¨¦ hadn''t come, but a single gate opened and through it flew Paldane, he had grown! He was around the size of a house cat now, and he landed on Jazmel¡¯s shoulders and curled himself around them, nuzzling his companion.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. You finally woke up? Jazmel sent to him and Paldane puffed warm smoke. I brought the fox. Paldane said and before Jazmel could ask him what he meant; he noticed the gate hadn''t closed. A big fox bounded through the gate, and it closed as two women sat on its back, one he knew very well and the other he was familiar with. Sad¨¦ and Corin had answered the call too. He couldn¡¯t help his happiness, he smiled, and she smiled at him, and he felt his smile become a grin. Baek coughed, drawing him back and he coughed himself trying to hide his smile behind his hand. She looked so good; she wore armour now. Lithe and elegant, elven for sure and her hair had been braided to stay out of her face and out of her way. He loved it, but he could never tell her that. He focused, he willed his faction system screen up and gave them all the task, sharing his own quest and Mary leapt in charge as soon as the quest appeared for everyone. ¡°I know you all can read! Form up, ranks form, and prepare to move out, you know who you should be grouped with, I want groups together under group leaders and then I want group leaders ready and waiting for their captains!¡± she shouted, and the seeker tiers rushed around in their formation, she had drilled this into them, and they were rushing to remember and not be the one she picked out. As the faction war commander, she was able to give titles of command under her and she had made captains out of Bannerman, who she made a scout for his wolf senses. His formation had been called the claw and they all waited for him. Bannerman moved over to stand before them and when they were ready he nodded at Mary, and she gave him the go ahead. He split off, him and his seekers who had trained to up their agility, dexterity, and perception. They were the scouts and the claw of the black wing faction. Next up was Patton and Gilmore, who shared the captaincy they functioned as scouts too but for strategy they led their troop in the wake of Bannerman¡¯s and tried to form an understanding of the landscape and also the best place to set up base. After them was Gelth, he led a troop of strength. They were all powerful and aiming for strength, they had become known as the mountain breakers and focused on strength and their abilities surrounding it. this was the vanguard of the faction, the main group of attack. They began to head in the same direction a relentless and unhidden march, showing the force of the faction and all its might. Those who maintained magic and Mana as their focus were grouped with Elai and Wendy. They were long range attackers and healers mostly. Since the attack on the faction outpost, they had decided to create such a group, and this would be to stall and stop casualties. Jazmel had agreed to it and both the girls, Wendy and Elai had prepared this themselves. With the main groups moving off, Jazmel found himself with Baek, Katie, Sad¨¦ and Corin. ¡°Well lets go and slay some beasts!¡± Katie said, her chains whirling and wrapped around her. She preferred to move alone and free, she had chosen to not take a captain position and Jazmel respected her for it, she had told him. She would give her all for the faction and that was enough for him. Those few had begun to follow after the faction, heading towards the hills of Braddon. ¡°Hello.¡± He heard quietly and turning to the sounds of the voice, that he knew so well. He saw Sad¨¦ and she smiled at him, her face so cute. ¡°How are you?¡± he asked, and she shrugged, and he understood how she felt too. ¡°Just awaiting the coronation.¡± She said explained and he nodded, remembering that he had promised to attend. ¡°and the Black Wing Faction will be there.¡± He promised and she smiled, thanking him with her eyes. Corin and Baek had made themselves busy with the journey and they moved at their own pace, comfortable wherever they went. Jazmel had been keeping a keen sight of things, his eyes allowed him to see Mana around him and just that sight alone allowed him to keep an eye on all things around him. It kept him in tune and safe, in these places. DING! THE BRADDON HILLS HAS BEEN OVERRUN BY MONSTERS! THEY ARE AWARE OF YOUR APPROACH; THEY HAVE COME TO STOP YOU! Jazmel watched the screen as it floated before him, and he flicked it away from his sight. ¡°We got company coming!¡± he bid them, and his friends prepared. ¡°I hope they brought their best.¡± Katie said, whirling her chains about her. At first there was a din in the air, a tension built and Jazmel couldn¡¯t pinpoint what it was and yet it built still, in the air as heavy as feeling of doom. But then the sounds caught up and Jazmel could hear the rushing of creatures and monsters. the Braddon hills were hundreds, some were as tall as hills and some were simply small mounds around them all. Jazmel and his friends currently stood on one, but they were not overrun yet. All the monsters rushed forward, and he could see Gelth, and his vanguard were already embroiled in battle. The first monster reached the hill that they had made it to and Jazmel met him with a swing of his sword. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! Jazmel cut down the monster and it fell bloodily and in pieces. DING! TIER II BLOODY KNOLL KILLED! Jazmel cut through the group that rushed him and his friends. He didn¡¯t even use skills, simply the sharpness of his blade and the might of his arms. When he was done, corpses laid around them and some even began to tumble down the hill, he didn¡¯t even bother to pick through the corpses. They had all been tier II, he had long since passed the need for such loot and drops. ¡°Let¡¯s move on, before he steals all the stats and exp!¡± Katie mocked and whirling her chain, she wrapped it around her chest and forearms. Sad¨¦ leapt onto the back of Kazumi and then Katie joined her, they bounded ahead, to support Gelth and the vanguard. Corin flew up into the sky, following her mistress and ensuring she was protected from above. Jazmel found himself standing on the hillock with Paldane wrapped around his shoulders and sleeping soundly. With Baek standing beside him and waiting patiently. He descended the hillock and the roar and squeal he heard, drew his attention. Charging at him were five boars, they were much bigger than any he had ever seen before. They were monsters of the system and had been twisted and evolved to fit the needs of quests and tasks. He cut down the first two and the other three rushed passed him, before wheeling round to take another charge at him. Great rumbling dragon! Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! He stunned them with the dragon made out of Mana, it seemed to pull fear out of creatures and men alike. He then cut through them with his new skill, the merging of cleave and fall of the black raven had created a mighty swing skill. He could almost make out the wing of a raven flaring from his sword as he struck, and Mana forced his sword through the boars. There was some resistance and he realised that their bodies were quite hardy. After they died he accepted the tusks, they were made of keratin and full of Mana. He wondered if armour could be imbued or enchanted with it. X10 TIER II BRUTE BOAR TUSKS GAINED! He followed the din of battle and the trail of monster bodies. His faction was clearing the way and after the boars and knolls he had killed himself. No other creatures made it to him, he decided to see where he could find any civilisation any proof of people. he raced up a hill, rushing to find a vantage point. Reaching the top of the hill, he could see all around him, the hills were not covered by trees. So almost everything was covered, but he noticed in the distance a fort. Its walls were blackened and smudged from attacks. Though it boasted high walls, he could see that the defenders that lined the ridges were few and far between. He raced down from his hill and ran towards the fort, running past his faction and not stopping to see or explain. The fort¡¯s doors were open, and he needed to know just how badly they were doing. Book 4 Chapter Thirty; the Fort of Braddon Hills Jazmel had raced across the hills towards the fort. It had taken him close to forty-five minutes, but his stats and tempered body had made it feel like a twenty-minute sprint. He ran through the opened gates and took in the sight. Monsters lulled around the open grounds and tried to break down doors that clearly led deeper into the fort. Defenders lined the walls and were trying to defend from the inside and out. They were under siege both internally and externally. Jazmel was not going to fail on his first faction quest. ¡°Hey!¡± he yelled, flaring his Mana, all the monsters snapped to attention, and he drew his sword slowly. Beckoning them to challenge. They rushed him and he welcomed it, flaring his Mana again, but directing it through his eyes. PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE! ALL WEAKER MONSTERS ENTHRALLED FOR 3 SECONDS! Great rumbling dragon! He swung his sword and the dragon head materialised around his blade. Like a wraith, he let it fly from his sword and the dragon head soared around the courtyard, buffeting all. Some monsters crumbled from the infused Mana and others were merely roughed and bruised. But he was alright with that, he could manage the rest. Lacerate! He waved Daishinkan like a wand and his skill cast about. Cutting through creatures, he drew them in and then slaughtered them all, he didn¡¯t even stop to check. DING! X40 TIER II BLOODY KNOLL KILLED! +1 STR He sighed and looking at his unused stats, he split them between his lowest stats currently. +5 WIL +5 AGL +5 DEX The knoll was an odd-looking creature, he hadn''t seen anything like it before. It looked like a small troll with the tusks of a boar and the eyes of a toad. They weren¡¯t strong and they carried wooden clubs and other large and bulky forms of things that were fashioned into maces. But they were not strong or clever, he wondered what they really were. He killed the creatures inside the courtyard, and he couldn¡¯t see a way up onto the wall. so he walked back towards the gates, that which had been broken and stood there. Watching for his faction. They had all followed him, Mary leading them with her flag and commands. It was another full hour, but soon the entire faction made it into the fort¡¯s courtyard and its defenders on the wall made their way down after realising Jazmel wasn¡¯t a foe. Their leader was a young man, probably in his early twenties. He was short and rugged, but Jazmel could see he had kind eyes and the other defenders looked to him for leadership.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Thanks for the support then, they broke the gates down and I don¡¯t have enough men to hold the wall and the gates.¡± He said, he offered his hand and Jazmel shook it, introducing himself as Lysander. ¡°We are here to help; the system has told us what we need to do, and we will help. So put us to work?¡± Jazmel said and Lysander nodded, Jazmel could see the weight release from his shoulders, and he breathed with relief. ¡°We have a lot of wounded in the granary, it¡¯s the only place where the doors lock from the inside.¡± He explained and Jazmel nodded understanding. ¡°Elai and Wendy, go and see what you can do please.¡± Jazmel said and the girls took their group and was led away by one of Lysander¡¯s men. ¡°We need to know where the monsters are held up.¡± Jazmel said and Lysander nodded. ¡°We have an idea, but we never had enough men to actually go and check.¡± Lysander explained and Jazmel simply looked over at Bannerman and he was already talking to one of the defenders of the fort. Trying to get directions of where the monsters might be. ¡°Patton and Gilmore, check the fort. See what we can use and what we need. We have enough supplies, but I don¡¯t want to need something and find out later we don¡¯t have it.¡± Jazmel said and Patton and Gilmore broke off from the main group and began looking about the foundations of the fort. ¡°Mary set up points of guard and patrol on the walls. I also want someone at the gates, we cannot put them back up without wood. But we can guard them with our bodies right now.¡± He said and Mary, raised her flag and through the system put the retainers to task. ¡°We will go and get wood, vanguard!¡± Gelth said, and him and his hundred good seekers, left through the broken gate and back outside of the fort. Lysander watched the faction as they split off to do their tasks and then turned to Jazmel who was standing with Katie, Sad¨¦, Baek and Corin. ¡°Thank you, your help is such respite for my people.¡± He shook Jazmel¡¯s hands, encasing them in his own and Jazmel could see just how meagre he was. ¡°Katie and Sad¨¦ should we hunt?¡± and before he could even gain their answer, Baek stepped forward and from his ring, he pulled out another ring. It was smaller and duller, but he handed it to Jazmel. Jazmel let his Mana creep into the ring, and he found it filled to the absolute brim with food and drink, from fish to other meats. Water in flagons and jars, there was enough for a feast for a month. He smiled at Baek in thanks, who merely blinked slowly at him. He handed the ring over to Lysander. ¡°Go and feed your people, we will watch the walls tonight.¡± Jazmel said. Lysander took the ring and in a moment looked into it, seeing its content. Tears streamed his face, and he honestly didn¡¯t even try to hide them. ¡°Come lets go and set up for dinner.¡± Katie offered and Sad¨¦ left with her, supporting Lysander who was just too emotional to do anything but weep. Corin followed her charge but this time as she left, she inclined her head in respect to Jazmel, it caught him off guard and awkwardly he returned it. ¡°The system cannot make a leader through tasks or quests; it is a gift from the heart. You have it in abundance, you will make a fine leader one day.¡± Baek praised Jazmel and he smiled suddenly feeling shy. ¡°Thank you, but the others are what allow me to do what I need to. I can rely on them.¡± he said and Baek agreed. ¡°What are we if we do not have the support of our friends and family.¡± Jazmel had to agree with that too. ¡°What will you do now?¡± Baek asked Jazmel. ¡°I will wait until Gelth, and the mountain breakers return, then I will check in on everyone. We are going to hold this fort and when we find where the monsters are hiding. We will destroy their nest.¡± He explained his thoughts and Baek simply smiled. ¡°A good idea, I on the other hand will go inside, I would like to sit and enjoy some tea.¡± He said walking after Katie and Sad¨¦. Baek did seem to love tea and Jazmel hadn''t seen him eat or drink anything else. Jazmel stood at the gate and simply waited, watching his people move around the fort, busy with their orders and tasks. Food? Paldane sent him, suddenly away and stretching like a lithe cat. ¡°All I saw were cores from the knoll¡¯s I killed. Sorry Paldane.¡± Paldane huffed but curled back up and went back to sleep. Jazmel stood at the entrance and began to meditate, waiting for the return of Bannerman and Gelth. Book 4 Chapter Thirty-One; Scouts Honour Two days had come since the Black Wing Faction had entered the gate of Braddon Hills. The faction had almost taken on all of the defending and rebuilding of the fort, while Lysander and his people recovered. Rooms had been cleared out, bodies had been burned, friends and family alike. Monster cores and other items looted. Jazmel had told Lysander his people should focus on levelling up and anyone close to a tier tribulation should ask. Jazmel and his people would and could spare enough. The morning of the first day, Bannerman and his troop; nicknamed the claw. Had returned and brought ailing news. Jazmel had erected a tent, a gazebo that functioned as the command point for the fort. Himself, Mary, and Lysander seemed to be the ones who remained in there the most. Others came and went, but they deliberated the most. Bannerman had brought word that they had found the base of the monsters. It was beyond the larger hills, in a gorge that had been dug out of a hill by the monsters. They had dug into the hill and then into the ground under it. Bannerman had admitted that they had not gone close enough to see what they were excavating. But he and his troop had ended up finding that the monsters had allied themselves with one another. They outnumbered the faction greatly. ¡°Monsters only group up when they are being led by a greater force.¡± Mary pointed out and Jazmel agreed. ¡°The fort is the only place standing that we can defend for miles around.¡± Lysander pointed out and Jazmel could see he was already looking better after a good rest. He seemed to have tiered up also, but Jazmel hadn''t asked what he was or had been. It felt rude when dealing with strangers.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°How far is the gorge?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°Seven days with all of us, maybe half that if we travel light and with an elite group?¡± Mary offered and Jazmel considered it. ¡°We are going but not for another two days, Lysander take the time to get you and your defenders back on their feet as soon as possible. Elai and Wendy will stay here at the fort and heal anyone who needs it. Lysander leave some men behind to hold the fort, you and your best will join us.¡± He explained and Lysander nodded, agreeing with all the confidence of someone happy to hand the reins over. ¡°Mary we are going to attack the gorge but in two ways. You and Gelth are going to lead the faction, the larger part of our force will join you. I can give you Patton and Gilmore to keep some leadership but let Lysander lead some too.¡± ¡°I will take Sad¨¦, Katie and Bannerman into the gorge and see what they dug up. We meet in the middle and decimate their forces?¡± Jazmel offered, Mary and Lysander agreed with his tactics and taking a moment to consider it more, they went over the finer details. ¡°Well while we are preparing for war, I might as well use this.¡± Mary smiled, she pulled out her rallying flag and in her other hand appeared a tier up token. She placed it on the flag and Jazmel watched as Mana and system energy burst from the token and was drawn into the flag. It changed; the length of its flagpole grew longer. The metal turning darker and harder but also more elegant. The flag was a beauty, it was velvet or felt and it also had turned into a cream white flag with the black wing of a dragon emblazoned in obsidian black. It was beautiful and even Lysander mention its elegance. ¡°Tier III rallying flag of the General.¡± Mary said with a grin and a smile of admiration. ¡°New buffs?¡± Jazmel questioned. ¡°New buffs.¡± She confirmed. ¡°Good, learn what it can do, we leave in two days. Book 4 Chapter Thirty-Two; the Black Wing Faction Advances The two days had come and gone, Jazmel stood as he watched Gelth, Mary, Patton and Gilmore leading the large force of the faction towards the gorge. They had agreed that they would lead them at a brisk run, it would allow the seekers to gain stats and also they would reach there around the same time. Jazmel stood off to the side, with his elite team. Katie, Sad¨¦ who was followed by Corin. Who had suddenly become her shadow and the two women had suddenly created a silent agreement. Not too far but also not too close. Bannerman was there, prowling and itching to be moving, he had left his claw with Mary, and they were at the forefront of the vanguard, keeping track and showing the main forces the route to the gorge. Baek stood beside Jazmel and simply waited. Mary led the faction forces at a brisk pace and Jazmel admired how quickly she had taken up the position of war commander. But he wasn¡¯t going to fail on his end. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He said and literally broke off in a sprint, hurtling across the land, over the hills towards the gorge. Bannerman took point and loped, in his normal gait and led the way. Corin and Baek took to the skies, literally flying as if they were sightseeing and to Jazmel he supposed they were, Jazmel and Sad¨¦ were both strong enough to not need interference as much. Sad¨¦ and Katie were riding Kazumi, who bounded across the hills and lands alongside Bannerman. Jazmel nudged Paldane who had fallen asleep around his neck again. ¡°When will you be big enough to carry me?¡± Jazmel asked and Paldane blew smoke from his nostrils onto Jazmel¡¯s neck. When you feed me stronger creatures.¡± Paldane countered and Jazmel rolled his eyes. He focused on sprinting and trying to not burn out before they reached their destination. Two days. It took them two full days of running and resting nonstop before they reached the gorge. Bannerman stopped them about a mile out and beckoned up the way. ¡°The gorge is right behind that hill, but they have loose patrols running around erratically. Any closer and we might bring them out.¡± Bannerman explained and the others stopped, to rest as quickly as they could and recover. ¡°Any guards on the hills?¡± Jazmel asked and Bannerman shrugged. ¡°I will look, I need to stretch my legs anyway.¡± Katie offered, she snuck off and Jazmel left her to it, she was stronger than the rest of them besides Corin and Baek. ¡°Something powerful resides beneath the ground.¡± Baek told them and everyone turned to listen to him. ¡°What is it?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek cocked his head, as if he was listening before he responded. ¡°My senses are being blocked. I cannot see beyond the wards.¡± He told Jazmel. In truth that was worrying, Baek was a master tier, very few things this low in the labyrinth could stop or thwart him and yet he was telling them he was being thwarted. ¡°What do we do?¡± Sad¨¦ asked, looking at Jazmel tenderly. ¡°We face it, we advance. Whatever comes from it, we face it together.¡± He remembered others were there and so he added. ¡°As a faction.¡± Sad¨¦ looked at him, her eyes telling him things he and she had never spoken. Corin snorted and Sad¨¦ almost flew at her but instead glared daggers at her. Jazmel heard the oncoming march of the faction now, they had beaten them by an hour. But now they were approaching and if he could hear them, so could the creatures and monsters in the gorge. He wasn¡¯t wrong about that, out of nowhere Katie came hurtling and she hurried them to hide as best as they could. Five minutes behind her, a force of monsters. Almost one hundred strong rushed out towards the marching faction. Jazmel could see his forces now and he felt some emotion about how the formation of the faction stood stoic and ready. ¡°Form up!¡± Mary shouted and Jazmel watched as she raised her flag, the new tiered up version. She swung it about and then struck it to the ground. Wind stirred and the flag bearing the faction emblem showed up. DING! RALLYING CRY HAS BUFFED ALL MEMBERS OF THE FACTION! MANA USAGE WILL COST 50% LESS FOR 300 SECONDS!! ¡­ Jazmel felt invigorated immediately and he looked around to see the others feeling the same. ¡°We should move now, that was their main force.¡± Bannerman pointed out and Jazmel took the lead now, rushing forward and round the bend, past the hill into the gorge. Bannerman had been right; the creatures had dug out the hill and begun to excavate something below. It was crude and smaller mounds of mud and rock had been thrown to the side as the hill was gouged out. He almost felt bad. But he didn¡¯t have time to wonder, because monsters that had remained in the gorge were now rushing at him. A knoll rushed at Jazmel, leading the stragglers. It was bigger than the others maybe standing at six foot and instead of a wooden club, it was carrying a shodden halberd. Badly made and bloody from battle, but it would do damage still. Lacerate! He skipped passed and cut through the arm, the chest and then the neck of the knoll. DING! TIER III RAVENOUS KNOLL KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! He sighed; it was the evolved version of the bloody knoll as well as tier III. He finally had gained a sliver of exp, but it was barely anything. So the knoll was initially just a weak creature even in its evolved form. The others dealt with the stragglers and then the true sounds of battle could be heard. It was arms clashing and then above the din, you could hear skills and spells being called out. ¡°We should go and see what they are digging.¡± Katie said beckoning to the hill, or what was left of it. Jazmel led the way and they delved into the ruins of the hill. Badly shaped stairs descended lower and lower into the ground. Jazmel couldn¡¯t tell how low it was, but the air grew thick when he finally stepped off the final step. His eyes were keen in the dark, using ambient Mana to support the lack of light around him. what opened up around him made his heartbeat. It thudded in his chest like a war drum, and he wondered where the rhythm came from and before he noticed it, Katie spoke.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Great, a ritual.¡± He looked to where she was pointing, and he saw fires roaring to light up the platform and crude ruins had been painted on the platform in a larger circle. He looked around and realised it wasn¡¯t paint, it was blood. ¡°Jazmel.¡± Sad¨¦ whispered and he looked on the platform to where the creatures were and he realised it was a fountain, they were trying to unlock a fountain. But it was different to the ones he had been at before. No this one pulled at his heart, it felt dark, old but also evil. Something had been locked here, warded away from the world and the monsters seemed to be trying to free that very thing. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND WHAT THE CREATURES HAVE BEEN TRYING TO DO! ¡­ YOU WILL BE REWARDED! ¡­ THE CREATURES ARE TRYING TO AWAKEN A PRIMORDIAL! ¡­ STOP THEM OR RELEASE THE PRIMORDIAL! REMEMBER ALL ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES! REWARDS WILL DIFFER DEPENDING ON YOUR CHOICE! Jazmel flicked the screen away after reading it. ¡°We are stopping it, I don¡¯t know much about the primordial, but whatever is warded down here feels evil. It doesn¡¯t feel like Mirete or the other fountains. We stop them here and now!¡± he said and with glee, his friends burst into action. ¡°Gladly!¡± Katie said and hurtling her chain into the ceiling she cast herself across and slammed her chains down into the knolls that were performing the ritual. Chain maiden! She called out and her chains fell wrought with Mana and smashed the bloody knolls into pasted pulp. Bannerman howled and rushed down the path that had been etched out of the wall, towards where a few knolls, their evolved form. We¡¯re hurrying up, he tore through them, his claws finding purchase in their flesh and tearing free of it. Frenzy! He slaughtered them and darted down the path, Jazmel and Sad¨¦ follow; hot on his tail, he didn¡¯t have one, but Jazmel laughed at the thought of it; rushing down to the platform. One of the knolls had climbed up to the fountain and had tried pull free the stopper, Katie had seen him and with her free hand, she threw out her chain. It smashed through the back of the skull of the knoll and killed it, but brain and gore fell into the fountain. It wasn¡¯t water, thankfully but still a system notice popped up. DING! THE FOUNTAIN WAS NOT RELEASED WELL DONE! BUT BLOOD WAS SPILT IN ITS BASIN! BEWARE THE FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN!! ¡­ ¡°What is a fountain guardian?¡± Katie asked and Jazmel then knew, they all had seen the same system notice. ¡°Something strong!¡± Jazmel yelled up to her and she dropped down to stand closer to him. Sad¨¦ and Bannerman had killed all the remaining knolls now and huddled in looking around for whatever was coming. Thunder crown! Sad¨¦ called out and Jazmel felt the energy change sharply to thunder Mana and appear above her head in a dazzling crown. She was forming thunder between her fingers, ready to strike. He simply needed to prepare, he had a sword and that was all he needed. Katie was holding her chain in her hand and waiting for whatever was coming for them. DOOM! The sound was loud and heavy, the guardian was big. This was the first time Jazmel had heard a fountain guardian¡¯s approach before. DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! From around the fountain stepped a titan. Jazmel assumed it was for its size was huge. It stood taller than seven foot and war armour of such thickness Jazmel couldn¡¯t tell if it was slender or muscular. It wore a helm so thick and rusted that Jazmel couldn¡¯t even tell what metal it was. The same metal was covering all its body, where it wasn¡¯t a thick leather gambeson was covering the rest. Jazmel wondered how it even moved and yet it was ambling towards him and his friends, menacingly. In one hand it clutched an axe, heavy and thick. The axe head almost as thick as his arm. In the other, it carried a sword, steel, and another metal, Jazmel wasn¡¯t familiar with. But it wasn¡¯t rusted like the armour it wore. ¡°Well aren¡¯t you a big piece of iron!¡± Katie said, trying to lighten the mood and failing. It grew even worse when a second armoured titan stepped from behind the first and shambled towards the group. This one armour in the same sort of way. Covering its body but its arms were free of the metallic armour, and the gambeson covered it instead in a long coat sort of design. It was carrying a four-point lance in one hand and a sword in the other, which was thin at the tip and grew wider along the length. It reminded Jazmel of an exceptionally large arrowhead. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ struck first and to her surprise the titan simply took the brunt of her skill on its armour. Jazmel put away his swords, both Daishinkan which he had been wielding and Nozarashi which had been sheathed in his belt. Instead he put them in his ring and pulled Yoru No Tsubasa and slung it into his belt. Frenzy! Bannerman darted in, nimble and agile. He struck with his claws; aiming specifically at the gambeson and didn¡¯t even manage to tear it. He darted free from both armoured giants¡¯ reach. To ensure he remained safe. Chain maiden! Katie coiled her chains up into an iron fist and used it to strike the axe wielding monolith on its helm hitting the top of its head. It stumbled from her strike, and she whirled in the air, like an acrobat and swung it about, and rung the helm again but this time from the side. This brought about a groan a sound Jazmel winced at. The giant didn¡¯t even sound human, and the groan had been sorrowful. Great rumbling dragon! He sent his Mana in the form of a dragon hurtling towards the giant. It was still reeling from Katie¡¯s strike and wouldn¡¯t have been able to defend itself. but the second rushed in, bumbling forward. It raised its lance and pierced through Jazmel¡¯s Mana formed dragon. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! Lacerate! Great rumbling dragon! He sent skill after skill, after skill at the second guardian. Bombarding him, It managed to block the first two but the spectral dragon with its maw wide open tore into it. passing through its thick armour. The guardian wailed, crying out in pain. Jazmel darted forward, slashing with his sword, he struck at the back of ankles, but the boots were thick of iron and leather. He jumped up and tried to get at the hips, but iron covered those too. He settled for a second jump and when he was beside the head of the guardian. He slashed down. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! He slashed down at the helmet, his blade quickened with the skill. His sword was made of different metal, and he was hoping for a different effect, and he was right. The sword sailed through the rusted iron like it was bread. The helm fell away in pieces and beneath it was the tired face of a man, or a giant of a man. Realising that his helmet had fallen away, he snarled at Jazmel who had just landed back on the ground. He turned and reared his lance to run him through, but Bannerman was beside him already. Wolf hunt! He carved up the face of the man, both hands and claws turning the man¡¯s face into bloody ribbons. The giant fell backwards from the onslaught and Bannerman howled a roar of victory. Bannerman shuddered and Jazmel was worried for a second but then realised it was system energy whirling around in his core. DING! TIER III ARMOURED GUARDIAN KILLED! ¡°I just hit 100 in all my stats!¡± Bannerman rumbled, his voice deep. ¡°Hold off if you can! We need to defeat the second guardian.¡± Jazmel exclaimed and behind gritted teeth, Bannerman offered a curt nod. They turned and leapt into battle, to support Katie and Sad¨¦. Who were fighting the first one and absolutely bludgeoning it with their skills. But it wasn¡¯t falling, it swung its axe and missed them. it stabbed with its sword and Sad¨¦ spun out of the way. Thunderfire! She threw her skill at him and Jazmel watched as the giant simply rolled through. He leapt forward and catching the sword in a parry, he deflected it and countered. Spinning and riposting with his katana he slashed across the wrist. The mixed ores of his sword cut through the thick glove and struck the wrist a sore wound. The armoured giant dropped his sword and using both hands began to swing his axe in a rage. Howl! Bannerman howled and the sound of melancholy channelled all around them. Battering the guardian, it cried out and Jazmel watched in surprise when it tore its own helmet off and held its head to stop the howl from affecting it. ¡°Katie!¡± Sad¨¦ shouted and Katie leapt high into the air, her little and lithe body almost flying before she swung her chain out and coiling them about one another. She slammed it down, her chains hitting the top of the bare head of the giant. He cried out as his skull broke and gore popped from his head. he fell to his knees and then rolled down onto his side, the platform edge beckoned and without warning. He fell off the side and down into the darkened abyss beneath them. DING! TIER III ARMOURED GIANT KILLED! Book 4 Chapter Thirty-Three; the Black Wing Faction Advances II DING! YOU HAVE DEFEATED BOTH GUARDS +3 WIL +3 END +3 DEX ¡­ BEWARE THE FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN APPROACHES! BE WARNED! TIER IV DREAD HERETIC COMES! Jazmel shuddered at the system screen, and he felt the fear creeping through him, it felt like pressure. But it covered the entire platform and Jazmel looked around to see his friends suffering even more than he. Fear was seeping into his limbs, freezing him, and slowing down his movement as he tried to enter the mental space for a fight. The dread heretic appeared stepping over the body of the armoured giant. Standing at around seven foot also, it was smaller than the others as it wore lighter armour. No mask this time, but its face was distorted as if Mana was blocking his sight. Jazmel inhaled, drawing all the dread and fear he was feeling. He then expelled it and from his mouth a toxic spew of Mana poured. DING! YOU HAVE EXPELLED THE DREAD FROM YOUR BODY! A TYRANT DOES NOT FEEL OR SUFFER FROM DREAD!! +2 WIL He watched as the dread heretic moved towards them, it seemed to think they were all gripped by fear. But Jazmel was not. He rushed in, sword drawn and raised above his head, he leapt into the fight. Sunder! He slashed down and the heretic moved, dodging from the slash. With its hand it slashed through the air and dread, or death mixed into the Mana it was wielding. It cast it in a slashing form at Jazmel. He darted out of the way; he watched as it sailed past him and hit high on the wall and area began to decay as if rot or acid had been used. He was warier than before now, he sidled around to give his friends some space as they recovered from the dread. Lacerate! Sunder! Sunder! He struck his skills out and watched as the dread heretic dodged and was missed. This creature was strong, it slashed and countered him, and he danced around its strikes, as it did to him. Howl! He heard and the dread heretic, while not stricken. Stopped and seemed stuck. He turned to see Bannerman next to him, he had changed the tempering had changed him, he was definitely still a hybrid between a wolf and a man, but now he looked more like a man. His skin had darkened to a mottled grey and he had loss muscle mass also. His fingers lengthened into claws; darkened talons that looked stronger than before. His mouth was full of fangs and sharpened teeth, but the most startling change was his eyes, they were pitch black; completely. His entire eye was black now and Jazmel was a little startled by it. ¡°You tempered?¡± he asked, and Bannerman huffed and nodded. ¡°how do you feel?¡± he asked, and Bannerman cocked his head and then answered. ¡°Strong.¡± ¡°Good, let¡¯s get him.¡± Jazmel said and sprinted forward, leaping through the air, and twisting in the air he slashed through the air, no skills but simply Mana slices through the air and peppered the heretic. It was still stuck in place and Jazmel watched as it was struck, its armour bore the brunt of the attacks. But a little blood appeared at the nape of its neck. Great rumbling dragon! He struck out but the grip that Bannerman¡¯s skill had, had on it had been released. It darted out of the way, but Bannerman was there.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Frenzy! His new tempered body had emboldened him and strengthened his abilities. He clawed through the light armour and found the flesh of the creature beneath. It hissed in pain and when it tried to turn on him, it was assailed. Chain fang! A chain riddled with thorns and sharpened edges shot through the air and glanced across the shoulder tearing up the armour that had been there. It hissed again, unable to defend itself from three different opponents but that was not all of them. Thunderfire! Lightning fall! Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ assaulted the heretic, thunder and fire burned and sizzled it. But this was a tier IV creature, it couldn¡¯t be defeated so easily. It raised its arms and clapped a thunderous slap, both hands filled with Mana and Jazmel leapt out of the way. Pulling Sad¨¦ out of the way of the reverberation. TIER IV DREAD HERETIC USED APPLAUSE OF THE APOCALYPSE! DREAD HAS REARED ITS UGLY HEAD AND FORMED A DOMAIN ALL THOSE WITH THE DREAD DOMAIN WILL SUFFER FROM MANA AFFLICTION! MANA CANNOT BE REPLENISHED FOR 200 SECONDS! Jazmel cursed it was an affliction skill and they all had been caught. He didn¡¯t need to look at his skills, they were still buffed by Mary¡¯s own buff, but it would hit the cooldown soon and his skills cost a great deal of Mana still. He and Sad¨¦ leapt up and Paldane climbed free of his collar and leapt into the air. The heretic wasn¡¯t done though, he raised a fist and then slammed it into the ground. TIER IV DREAD HERETIC HAS USED FIST OF THE DOMINATOR! DREAD DOMAIN HAS BEEN EMBOLDENED AND FILLED WITH VENOM! DING! WARNING! YOU HAVE BEEN POISONED! BECAUSE YOU ARE SUFFERING FROM DREAD YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM FALTERS! ¡­ ¡­ ERROR ¡­ YOUR TYRANT TEMPERED BODY FORCES YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM TO FIGHT! TOXINS HAVE BEEN HELD BACK; YOU ARE NOT POISONED! ¡­ Jazmel almost laughed and then stopped when he realised the others were not protected like he was. Katie was already suffering badly, beneath her pale skin. He could see that her veins were going green from the toxins, and she was coughing up thick mucus and spotted with blood, Sad¨¦ was no better. Bannerman seemed to have fought off the toxins for now, but he was tired, his stamina must be lower after his tempering. His hackles were raised, and he was dancing around from strikes and slashes from the heretic, but he wasn¡¯t moving as agile as before. ¡°I will be back.¡± Jazmel said to Sad¨¦ as he let her down gently, she was alone, but Kazumi hopped out her ring and nuzzled her. ¡°I will be fine.¡± She shivered but he couldn¡¯t focus on her, everyone was important to him. he whirled and bounded into the fight. Sunder! He struck and this time he caught the heretic, across its back a large cut appeared, and blood flowed. Jazmel had bled it finally. It screamed and Jazmel winced and blocked his ears. DING! TIER IV DREAD HERETIC USED CRY OF THE DREADENING! STAMINA REPLENISHMENT HAS BEEN STALLED! ¡­ Jazmel kissed his teeth, this heretic seemed to only know how to affect or create ailments. But they were truly effective, and the others were suffering immensely under it. this one had caught him, he felt it before the system even mentioned him. DING! YOUR STAMINA RECOVERY HAS STALLED! ¡­ THE TYRANT TEMPERING HAS NOT OVERCOME THIS! ¡­ Jazmel didn¡¯t stop or slow down, he struck with his sword. no skills now, simply skill and the edge of his blade. he struck a knee and dodged a strike to the face but caught an elbow in the side of the head knocking him down. DING! WARNING! HEALTH UNDER 85% ¡­ He spun up from the ground, his blade singing around him as he slice upward and caught the heretic across the chest and under the neck. It backed off but raised its hands to clap again, Jazmel was a bit slow and almost missed him, but Bannerman was there. He leapt into the air and howled. Wolf hunt! Driving a clawed hand into the eye of the heretic, he plucked it out. Blood pooled and the heretic backed up and tried to recover a little, but Jazmel and his friends would not allow it. Katie flung her chains and coiled them around its legs stopping its movement for a moment. ¡°Jazmel!¡± she yelled, coughing up blood. ¡°I know!¡± Sunder! Jazmel raised his sword above his head, funnelling all his Mana into this one strike and dragged his sword down with all his strength. His skill scorched the ground as it sailed across and with a moment of resistance, he beheaded it. a squelching thud was heard, as the head fell before the body. The body crashed to the ground and Jazmel felt the system stop all the afflictions immediately and everyone sighed with ease. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE DEFEATED A TIER IV DREAD HERETIC! ¡­ YOU WILL BE REWARDED! YOU STOPPED THE RITUAL!! ¡­ ¡­ THE PRIMORDIAL SLUMBERS BUT SHOWS ITS ANGER! ¡­ YOU WILL BE REWARDED! ¡­ YOUR FACTION HAS MANAGED TO DESTROY ALL THE CREATURES AND MONSTERS! ¡­ YOUR FACTION WILL BE REWARDED! BRADDON HILLS HAVE BEEN CLEANSED AND THE PEOPLE ARE SAFE! YOUR REWARDS WILL GREATLY IMPROVE! ¡­ ¡­ YOUR FACTION HELD BACK THE DECIMATION OF DENIZENS! YOUR FACTION THWARTED A RITUAL!! YOUR FACTION STOPPED THE AWAKENING OF A PRIMORDIAL!!! YOUR REWARDS WILL BE GREATLY IMPROVED! Book 4 Chapter Thirty-Four; the Faction of the Black Wing DING! LEVEL UP LEVEL UP! ¡­ EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! +4 STR +4 END +4 VIT +4 INT ¡­ YOUR REWARDS HAVE BEEN APPROPIATED FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ YOU GAINED A PRIMORDIAL SHARD! YOU EARNED THE TIER IV DREAD HERETIC CORE! YOU EARN A TITLE! ¡­ BASTION OF THE TYRANT! Your domineering body and temperament has created a title, afflictions, hexes, and ailments will be withstood by your tempered body and depending on the stats of your will! FOR THWARTING THE AWAKENING OF THE PRIMORDIAL! YOU GAINED A GOLDEN CHEST! FOR YOUR FACTION STOPPING THE DECIMATION OF DENIZENS! YOU GAIN A FACTION JADE CHEST! ¡­ ¡­ Jazmel was shocked, so many notifications were popping up. He didn¡¯t even have a chance to check on his friends, he tried to wave them away. Move them from his vision, but more and more kept coming up. He needed to complete these quickly and right away. The golden chest appeared in front of him, and he placed a hand on it and willed it to open for him. DING! GOLDEN CHEST OPENED! REWARDS REVEALED! TIER III STARFIRE ORE TIER III ELIXIR OF ARCANE LIGHT! TIER IV WYRM HEARTSTONE! He scanned the items quickly and notifications popped up in unison. He took the moments he had to read about each item quickly. Starfire ore! Used to create items that will wield the heat of a star and the energy of life. Usually used to enchant items and armour! He had been wearing the breastplate of the drake, but maybe it was a good time to visit the forge. He was due an upgrade, he was heading to ranker tier II and even deeper into the labyrinth. He was close to passing his fiftieth floor. Elixir of Arcane light, an essence draught that will greatly improve your Mana points and your Mana stats! His Mana grew the slowest out of his stats, this was a true boon for him. Wyrm heart stone, a true rare item. Sometimes used in tier tribulations and sometimes used to enchant armour and other items. A heart stone works like a Mana source. He drank these notifications in, but pulled the items into his ring, he didn¡¯t have the time to look over them and actually decide what he would do with them. that would have to come later, he planned to return to the faction with everyone. The gold chest popped and disappeared in a shower of coins. DING! X1000 WHITE GOLD COINS! He pulled those into his ring, where he kept all his coins and currency. He was amassing a small wealth; this was outside of the cores and other items he held in storage at the faction. Next appeared the faction chest, this was made of a jade stone. it was beautiful and etched into it were stars and other shining things. DING! JADE FACTION CHEST APPEARS! WILL YOU OPEN? Y/N? He agreed and awaited the system to open the chest before him.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. RANKER TIER DRAKE SCALE ARMOUR SET TIER III PHOENIX LIFE DRAUGHT TIER III HEAVENLY LOTUS FLOWER MONARCH TIER ANCIENT ONE BONE Jazmel literally stared at the items in shock and awe. These were extremely powerful, the Mana streaming from the opened jade chest was so strong. that he could literally feel the presence of each individual item. Drake scale armour set, created from the bones and scales of a drake. Made for strength and durability but enchanted to keep agility and dexterity high. He needed armour, but he wanted to get his Forge master to look over all his items when he returned. Phoenix life draught, made from the essence of a phoenix¡¯s rebirth. This draught will add 1000 points to whoever consumes it¡¯s health. Jazmel gawked at that, this was going to be a big deal for him, he definitely was going to consume that. But he didn¡¯t get excited yet, there was more to do. Heavenly lotus flower, an item that draws the essence of heaven into its surroundings. Plant it in a garden and herbs and medicinal plants will grow and be amplified. Immediately he knew he was going to give this to Elai and Wendy. He just needed to return to the faction with them all. He was excited, he had a lot to do, and he wanted to make sure it was done right. But again, he didn¡¯t have the time to look over the items. He was in a rush and wanted to head back up to outside, he wanted to see how Mary and the others had fared. He willed his ring to pull the items into it and to his surprise instead of popping like the other chests. The jade chest shrunk and became a bullion shaped piece of jade, it disappeared into his ring, and he would scan it later. ¡°How are we all doing?¡± he said and feeling a little battered himself, he took out a potion and swigged it quickly. ¡°More than battered but I got really good items. I am ready to try a tier tribulation.¡± Katie said as she shuffled over, not as agile as usual. She was drinking a potion, a health one and then a stamina one. He watched as the Mana floated into her system and then her core and dispersed, heading off to where it needed to go. ¡°But I got good items.¡± She said and showed him her rewards. RANKER TIER CHAIN LINK! Used for tier tribulations and greater understanding of the way of chains! X4 TIER III ORICHALCUM ORE! Russet coloured metal ore used to create weapons or armour. Orichalcum can be imbued with Mana and permanently hold its enchantment. TIER III CHAINS OF CHARON! From the chains of Charon the ferryman. These chains have a hint of dread within them, and this can be amplified by its user. He nodded over all of the items with admiration. Those were good items; she had been rewarded well. Sad¨¦ came over and he found himself waiting for her to show him her items. She rolled her eyes and brought them from her rings to show. RANKER TIER ELDER FOX ESSENCE! An elder fox, a spirit god of the forest. This essence can be consumed as a draught to effect those with fox attributes, or it can be used as a tier tribulation item. Jazmel knew about Sad¨¦ and her fox-like abilities, she had a title and her kitsune tails. He wondered what she would use them for. TIER III STORM SYMPHONY SKILL TOKEN! Learn the skill storm symphony! TIER III STORMWALKER ARMOUR SET TIER II SWORD OF THE HELL HOUND Her rewards were great, he noticed she gained armour too. He wondered if the labyrinth was trying to tell him something, but he pushed it away, not wanting to doubt or cause worry with his friends. Bannerman came over but he only had two items, Jazmel assumed it was because he had tempered during the fight. TIER III FENRIR ARMOUR SET Another armour set! Jazmel scowled at that but nodded to Bannerman at the quality of the armour, it was good leather and wolf fur lined the shoulders and greaves of the armour. RANKER TIER ANIMAL ESSENCE! Animal essence is to imbue anyone who walks the path of the tamer, consume the essence, and gain further understanding of your animal¡¯s nature. That looked interesting. He would wait till Bannerman did what he wanted with it. He could learn about it then. ¡°Let¡¯s head back up?¡± he said, and they began the journey up and back into the hills of Braddon. ¡°Well done.¡± Baek told him, he had stayed out of sight during the fight. But now, he sauntered beside Jazmel and was floating as Jazmel climbed the steps. ¡°For what?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°You and your team fought that tier IV creature very well. I didn¡¯t have to step in at all. You are all growing strong.¡± He commented, complimenting Jazmel and his friends. ¡°Yes, we are. I think it might have something to do with all the freak things happening to me, they are being pulled into the midst of it.¡± he couldn¡¯t hide the worry in his voice and before Baek could respond, Sad¨¦ who was walking just a few steps ahead of him jumped in. ¡°We wouldn¡¯t have it any other way. The system seems to have a plan for you, and we all are part of ensuring you manage to make it there.¡± Sad¨¦ said without even looking back. ¡°The pack follows the leader.¡± Bannerman growled. ¡°What the puppy said, but he doesn¡¯t look like a pup anymore!¡± Katie said, he could tell everyone was tired, but they were resonating with the feel of victory and adrenaline. They moved quickly and within half an hour, they were back above ground. Jazmel stepped into the sunlight and could see Mary, Gelth, Patton and Gilmore waiting at the forefront. A little battered and a few bruises, but they were all present. He looked around and could see that the retainers were all present too. Nobody had died, monsters were all around them. corpses by the tens and maybe hundreds, but the faction had made short work of them. ¡°Everything go alright up here?¡± Jazmel asked and Mary asked him. ¡°Everything go alright down there?¡± ¡°We are good.¡± Jazmel said. ¡°We are good.¡± Mary responded and they smiled at each other. ¡°Thank you so much for all your help.¡± Lysander appeared, he was bloody, his arm in a sling and a wrap around his head from a wound he must have gained. ¡°You and your faction helped us; we would have lost if not for your intervention. I have nothing to give but this.¡± With the help of the men nearest to him, Lysander awkwardly went down on a knee. DING! LYSANDER, LEADER OF BRADDON HILLS HAS REQUESTED TO JOIN YOUR FACTION! WILL YOU ACCEPT? Y/N? Jazmel was taken aback, he didn¡¯t expect Lysander to want to join the faction. He looked around and Baek simply closed his eyes, a slow blink. It was enough for Jazmel to assume it was the right thing to do, to accept Lysander. DING! YOU HAVE ACCEPTED LYSANDER OF THE BRADDON HILLS! ¡­ THE BRADDON HILLS ARE THE FIRST TO JOIN UNDER THE FLAG OF THE BLACK WING! BRADDON HILLS WILL NOW BE CONNECTED TO YOUR OUTPOST! THE BRADDON HILLS MAP HAS BEEN ADDED TO YOUR FACTION INTERFACE! YOU MUST CHOOSE A CAPTAIN FOR BRADDON HILLS WILL YOU CHOOSE LYSANDER? ¡­ ¡­ LYSANDER HAS BEEN CHOSEN! ¡­ LYSANDER HAS ACCEPTED!! ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! FACTION SILVER CHEST EARNED FACTION GOLD CHEST EARNED! Jazmel flicked all the notifications out of sight and opened the silver chest in front of everyone. Inside it where items, tier tribulation items. They were weaker than the rewards he had gained, he knew they were for Lysander and not himself. He handed them over, Lysander almost refused them, but he bid him take them on. ¡°You need to get stronger, so you can manage the hills. I need you to get stronger.¡± He said quietly and Lysander accepted. He understood what else he needed to do. He opened the gold chest, and these items were for Lysander too, items to strengthen and upgrade the fort, and also a gate connected to the outpost for continuous use. Jazmel handed these over too. Lysander accepted these without a fault and after that everyone was happy. ¡°Let us return to the fort, we can then decide what our next steps are from there.¡± Mary offered and it was agreed then, they would all be returning. Book 4 Chapter Thirty-Five; Home Sweet Home A week had almost flown by. Jazmel had returned after four days in the Braddon hills, but now he was back. Back home in his outpost and it was buzzing with life. It had been decided that Gelth, Patton and Gilmore would stay behind with a contingent of the faction and support Lysander and his people as they recovered and rebuilt. With the permanent gate, Jazmel could go to the Braddon hills whenever he wanted, so he wasn¡¯t too worried about them three. Sad¨¦ and Corin left a day earlier, having to return to the Teneriel forest. He was saddened by her leaving, but he would see her again. He planned to go to the coronation with his friends and a contingent of the black wing faction. Leno and Serafina had stayed with a small amount of seekers, when Jazmel, Mary, Elai, Wendy Bannerman, and Katie returned. They were so relieved, but Jazmel could understand. They would have had to protect the outpost on their own, it was a lot to bear on their shoulders, but they done it well. As soon as they had returned, Mary had pushed those had returned with her. ¡°Those who need to go over their stats, hurry up and share out your stats. Remember to balance your stats, unbalanced is imbalance and it will cost you! Once you have completed your stats and upgrades report to your usual daily tasks. We will wrap up earlier so you can all rest, but your day to day is still part of your training.¡± She called out, group leaders that were just under the captains, were already gathering their groups and going on patrols or going hunting. ¡°Those of you who need to go and undergo a tier tribulation, go and do it now! Then do your stats, no wastrels will exist under my command. Get stronger and get to your duties!¡± she yelled, but they were already breaking away to run off and tier up in the comfort of their rooms or barracks. ¡°Claw with me! We are going hunting!¡± Bannerman roared, his troop of just twenty seekers, all hurried to follow him out of the gate. Back into the wilds of the outpost, Katie headed off to her rooms, she wanted to sort out her stats and skills, then she would go to the forge. Jazmel was thinking the same thing. but it could wait. Elai and Wendy left to head off to the healing quarters but before she could leave him, Jazmel gave her the heavenly lotus flower, explaining to Elai what it did. They split off from their team and went to plant it in the garden before going about their duties. Soon it was just Jazmel, Mary and Baek. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go and see the forge, I want to see what they can do for me.¡± Jazmel said and Mary and Baek followed him, as he entered the outpost tower and descended to the forge. the temperature rose with every step and Jazmel could hear the pang of hammer against anvil, and he wondered what Gorin, and the black smiths were working on. The forge was a work of art, probably the biggest part of the outpost and well worked. Gorin who was the forge master, rarely left the forge, he seemed to always be working on something and Jazmel knew from the interface that Gorin. Had tasks and quests set by the system for himself, to help him improve his skills and upgrade his tiers. When Jazmel opened the double doors, he realised that they had been upgraded, wards had been inscribed into them. to keep the heat trapped inside, dwarves didn¡¯t seem to suffer from extreme temperatures. He remembered from his time in Orevalor, and it seemed heat was nothing to them also. ¡°Faction leader.¡± Gorin said, stopping his workings and greeting Jazmel and his friends. ¡°Gorin how is the forge? do you need anything?¡± Jazmel asked, offering his hand and Gorin pulled off a thick glove to shake hands, his hand was rough and calloused. Warm from the hammering. ¡°We have everything we need; you keep the stores filled with all your hunting and we create the tools for the hunt.¡± Gorin said and Jazmel nodded, they had formed a good symbiosis. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± Gorin asked, and Jazmel pulled his rewards from his ring. ¡°I was wondering if you could make me some armour, a set of armour for me.¡± Jazmel pulled off his breastplate and handed it over to Gorin. DING! JAZMEL FACTION LEADER OF THE BLACK WING FACTION HAS REQUESTED AN ITEM OF THE FORGE MASTER! AN ARMOUR SET WORTHY OF A FACTION LEADER! QUEST! REWARDS! Jazmel just gawked at the system and Gorin just grinned at it. ¡°The system seems to be trying to motivate me, but I already planned on doing my best.¡± Gorin offered and Jazmel smiled at him kindly. ¡°What are your requirements?¡± Gorin asked and when he noticed Jazmel looking confused he continued. ¡°I know you fight with a katana, so I know you will need mobility and agility. Your dexterity is already quite high, but you are a ranker tier. You will be fighting tier III monsters now, and they can pack a punch.¡± Gorin said. ¡°I thought a tier IV just now.¡± Jazmel countered and Gorin looked at him and then nodded. ¡°I will see what I can do, I will check the store, but if you want me to use this breastplate I can create a schematic from it.¡± he said and Jazmel agreed and then pulled out other items. TIER IV DRAKE HEART SCALE TIER III STARFIRE ORE RANKER TIER DRAKE SCALE ARMOUR SET He handed them all over to Gorin and he simply whistled with wonder. ¡°You got some good things here; they will make my job easier. Let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± Leave it with me and I will send word when I have created something.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Jazmel nodded and stepped back to leave but Mary stepped forward. ¡°I think I need to speak to Gorin about some armour too, a war commander should wear armour right?¡± she explained and Jazmel nodded in agreement. He left her to it, her and Gorin already discussing her needs. Jazmel made his way upstairs, back to the chamber room where his seat of appointment and power was. When he got there, AI appeared, twirling in the air. She smiled at him, and he greeted her. He sat in his chair and opened the system, Baek stood off to the side and waited for him. The system screen popped up and his faction interface expanded before him, and he looked over it all. DING! YOUR FACTION INTERFACE SCREEN OUTPOST ¨C BLACK WING FACTION TIER I OUTPOST FACTION LEADER SCREEN INTERFACE FACTION LEADER ¨C JAZMEL WAR COMMANDER ¨C MARY FORGE MASTER ¨C GORIN SCHOLAR ¨C BAEK FACTION CAPTAINS FACTION RETAINERS (WELL KNOWN) OUTPOST POPULATION GROUPS ALLIES ¡°Whoa.¡± He said to himself more than anyone else. Then he remembered his heart stone and pulling it out he placed it on the central node. DING! TIER IV WYRM HEART STONE HAS BEEN PLACED ON CENTRAL NODE! WILL YOU MERGE THE TWO? Y/N? He accepted, curious and apprehensive about what he might see happen. The system hummed with system energy, he watched as the system incorporated the heart stone and used it to buff and amplify the seat and then also energise. DING! DING! DING! HEART STONE HAS BEEN INCORPORATED AND UPGRADES HAVE BEEN FORCED TO CATCH UP! ¡­ OUTPOST IS TIER I WILL YOU UPGRADE TO TIER II? Y/N? Finally he breathed to himself, he accepted mentally. OUTPOST UPGRADING TO TIER II! The system shook, he felt his connection to it almost unravel and then it formed even stronger. In a split second, what had felt like a thin line of string. It had now become a terse piece of rope. DING! CONGRATULATIONS YOUR OUTPOST HAS UPGRADED TO TIER II! YOUR OUTPOST HAS EXPANDED AND NEW PARTS HAVE BEEN ADDED! ADDITIONS! He focused on that, pulling at that with his mind and his connection to the interface. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLACE THE FLOOR? Can you show me a depiction of the outpost floors? He asked the system and within seconds a new notification popped up. OUTPOST FLOORS; He nodded, that sounded about right. Now to figure out what to add to this floor. What are my options? he asked, and the system leapt at the chance, eager to respond to him. FLOOR OPTIONS They all looked like good additions; he was worried about what to pick. He flicked the screen to Baek, and he looked over it and nodded. ¡°I will not tell you what to pick, they all have their benefits in truth.¡± Baek said and simply inclined his head to what Jazmel would have to decide on his own. He chose, he hoped he wouldn¡¯t have to regret his decision. ASTRAL DOMAIN CHOSEN FOR THE SIXTH FLOOR! ASTRAL DOMAIN! A domain core coalesced into a gate, when entered it will lead to an ever replenish domain, train, tier up and tier tribulations can be earned within its domain boundaries. That notification made him feel a little better, using the interface he placed it underground, below the forge. OUTPOST FLOORS; He settled into his chair, his seat of power. He looked at the changes he had made and with a grin, he sent out a task. It popped up on his own screen, but it wasn¡¯t for him. DING! FACTION QUEST! UNDERGROUND A DOMAIN HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED! TRY AND CONQUER THE DOMAIN!! REWARDS TO BE EARNED WITHIN!!! He smiled and felt his senses picking up the rushing seekers, retainers of his faction. Hurrying below ground and down the staircase to the new floor. They would try to pick it clean, but it was strong. The system had shown him that. He pulled up his faction screen again, trying to glean any changes. YOUR FACTION INTERFACE SCREEN OUTPOST ¨C BLACK WING FACTION TIER II OUTPOST FACTION LEADER SCREEN INTERFACE FACTION LEADER ¨C JAZMEL WAR COMMANDER ¨C MARY FORGE MASTER ¨C GORIN SCHOLAR ¨C BAEK FACTION CAPTAINS FACTION RETAINERS (WELL KNOWN) OUTPOST POPULATION GROUPS ALLIES He was just about done when just in front of him, a swan appeared. He caught it and watched as the missive appeared. I am coming to you for a visit. We can trade for things. Frae sent him and he smiled at the words. ¡°The dwarves are coming.¡± Jazmel said and Baek inclined his head but remained silent. ¡°Let¡¯s go and meet them then.¡± Jazmel said standing from his seat and heading towards the door and out into the courtyard. He sent an origami swan to Mary, Bannerman, and Katie. But then he walked through the gate and into the courtyard, awaiting his friend. the king of Orevalor. Book 4 Chapter Thirty-Six; the Way of a Master Tango shuddered, the hall he was in was bloody. It was everywhere, he was even covered with it himself, he had fought a bloody battle. Sweat poured from every orifice, and he winced in pain. For the cuts and wounds he had were now mixing with the salt in his sweat and bothering him. But he didn¡¯t have time for that, as if on cue, the system chimed in announcement, and he willed the screen to appear before him. DING! LEVEL UP! CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU HAVE HIT LEVEL 100! YOU ARE NOW READY TO UNDERGO A TIER TRIBULATION FOR MASTER TIER! WILL YOU BEGIN? Y/N? He smiled; he had finally done it. He was ready to be master tier and finally return to the faction. ¡°begin.¡± He said, audibly. He took the moment to sheath his kukri blades and then he pulled out the items he had prepared for master tier so long ago. DING! MASTER TIER HAS UNLOCKED YOUR SOUL! YOU WILL NEED A TIER TRIBULATION ITEM FOR YOUR SOUL ALSO! He nodded at the screen, he had heard such rumours and luckily he had prepared. He smiled a little, he felt powerful. He hadn''t undergone a master tribulation before, but he had earned every stat, every point of exp and every level. TIER TRIBULATION BEGINS! ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION INCOMING! ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION ITEMS PRESENT! ¡­ WILL YOU USE THEM? ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION HAS BEGUN TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT WHAT WILL YOU USE? The system asked and from his ring he pulled the core, which crackled with the energy of hundreds of storms. He was apprehensive at first, but it was a powerful item and he needed to ensure he established solid foundations. Had found a tier IV storm colossus core in a treasure trove. Thankfully he hadn''t had to fight storm colossus itself, it was a creature of true strength. It was the evolved form of the eye of a greater storm. The storms it had coalesced to evolve, now fought, and burst with thunder bolts and shards of chaos within the core.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. He consumed it, pulling it into his very being and he felt it meld into his mind. The storms broke free, and his mind was wracked with arcs of thunder and bolts of lightning burst all around. Sizzling across his mind and scalp, he hissed to himself and fought back with all his will. He struggled and fought the storm as it melded into his mind, the storm strengthening his brain. Energising his reaction speed and his senses with arcs of Mana and thunder, agility and dexterity was what he had built his strength around and it seemed that this core was augmenting them. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND COMPLETE 1/4 WHAT WILL YOU USE? He willed another core out of his ring, pulling it to spin in his own core this time. The core of a master dreadnought to forge his body and embolden it. He needed to be sturdier, stronger, and made hardy and sterner. The core merged with his body, he yelped, cried out as the fire blood of the core etched itself into his bones. He struggled, he suffered and whimpered as his body reconstructed itself with the blood from the core of the dreadnought. He sweated and coughed up a wad of blood. His body was breaking down and he had almost fainted from it. But he was not going to, he grit his teeth. He clenched his teeth, forcing the core to hurry its journey around his body. He fought back, urging it forward and willing his body to break down quicker. The blood began to dwindle, and he felt his own merging with the final parts of it, whereas the majority had been used to reforge his bones. He was sweating even more, but he felt his body grow in mass. He had added muscle, he felt his sinews and muscle chords grow. The cuts and wounds he had before, closed and knitted back together. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY COMPLETE 2/4 WHAT WILL YOU USE? From his ring, he pulled out the form of a cream and white coloured wing. it was beautiful and even in the cramped hall that he was in. The wing was still bigger, it was the fourth wing of a four-wing concord a beast of the skies. A giant avian and predatory bird, Tango had killed it in a group and only asked for the wing as one of the rewards. He knew he would use it and incorporate it into a tier tribulation. He knew it would boost his agility and dexterity. The wing levitated and then floated into him; he felt his spirit mesh with it. shrinking it down and taking on the affinity of the air and wind from the wing. He felt weightless and he shuddered under the dauntlessness of the feeling. There was no pain this time, only comfort. His spirit was soft, and the wing was simply introduced to him, a wind symphony being orchestrated by the system. The wing melded and merged with him completely and he felt his dexterity and agility leap. DING! TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT COMPLETE 3/4 Finally, he was ready. The last item appeared, and he shivered, before pulling it into himself. He hadn''t dealt with his soul much, hadn''t thought anything of it at all. But now he was curious as to how he would change. But it hummed, hungry for an addition. He pulled the draught bottle into his being, it sank past his core and lower, into a space he had never been aware of before. The cork popped and the essence floated from the draught bottle like a mist, before dispersing gently. But his back arched, he shuddered with the intensity of the feeling, his soul was growing, drinking, and connecting with all parts of his body. Unifying whilst also forming unbreakable links of unity. The essence of the wild hunt had cost him almost fifty platinum coins. A hard expense, but the item was well worth it. in truth he had planned to use it his spirit, but his soul seemed the better choice now. The wild hunt were spirits of wind, chaos, and death. His soul was the part of him that seemed in tune with chaos and death. It latched onto the essence, devouring all of it. DING! TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SOUL COMPLETE 4/4 DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING YOUR MASTER TIER TRIBULATION! ¡­ MASTER TIER I He was ready to return home now. Ready to return and be useful to Jazmel, he was happy even. He got up, stepped, and felt his body almost float across the ground, he would have to get used to this. His body was different, it felt more refined, he had to use less of his will to move than before. He would practice and then return home. He drew his blades and left the hall, there were still creatures to kill here. He would use them as training. Book 4 Chapter Thirty-Seven; Sworn to Secrecy The sworn were preparing for a larger raid. The failure of the Benbaurg auction had caused a great strife within the ranks of the sworn. But in truth, it had also united them in spite. Names were being muttered all around, captains who had been away on missions in secrecy had been recalled. ¡°We must see about this black wing faction!¡± someone yelled over the din of the chamber hall. ¡°They are small fries!¡± someone else countered, angry, and spitting. ¡°They have a master tier in their ranks!¡± someone else pointed out and they all fell quiet. They hadn''t forgotten the decimation of their numbers when that master tier appeared and killed hundreds of them with one skill. ¡°Captains will be sent, and the Vice Leaders are coming too.¡± Someone said and the room fell into hushed whispers again. The vice leaders of the sworn were high master tiers. Each one of them and if they were attending, then the next plan would be fine. ¡°What of the leader? Will he attend?¡± someone asked but the room fell silent.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°No.¡± a new voice said, and the room all turned to the door and then fell to a knee, heads all bowed in unison. It was the Vice Leader of the sworn, second only to the Leader. ¡°The leader is busy with the labyrinth. He is aiming for the 100th floor and nothing can stop him from overcoming that task. Not even the auction set back.¡± The vice leader cautioned, and everyone stayed deathly still. ¡°I will attend in his stead; the full force of the sworn will dismantle the coronation of the elven queen. we cannot allow any more powers to establish in this labyrinth!¡± he cried out and that flare of Mana cracked the walls of the room. The vice leader was strong, almost master tier III. ¡°Go and prepare, we will break into the forest and burn it to the ground.¡± The sworn, dispersed and went their ways to go and prepare, leaving the vice leader to the chamber alone. = He gritted his teeth and slammed it into the table, leaving a dent where his fist had hit. He needed to kill this elven queen before his master returned. Or he would suffer the wrath of consequence after the mishap of the Benbaurg auction. ¡°Find out what a black wing faction is.¡± He said to his shadow and from his shadow sprung a veiled woman, his very own agent of dissolution and disarray. He had trained her himself and she was his greatest weapon. Without a word, she dived into another shadow and left him to go and do his bidding. He sat at the table and delved into his thoughts. Book 4 Chapter Thirty-Eight; the Dwarves of Orevalor Frae was the first through the gate and into the courtyard. When he saw Jazmel, he pulled him into a hug, a bear hug and crushed him. Even now with a tempered body, he still heard his bones grind against each other. ¡°Good to see you!¡± Frae said, before nodding at the others, Mary and Baek had come out to stand with Jazmel and Frae welcomed them. He seemed stronger to Jazmel, he felt sturdier. His Mana was more vibrant too. The dwarves he had come with were all close to strength. Clad in thick dwarven armour, they wore shields and mallets, axes, and some swords. A Kings guard in full regalia, they were serious about their duty. But they weren¡¯t using their Mana to pressure and Jazmel was glad for it. ¡°I come bearing gifts! For all!¡± Frae said and made sure everyone could hear him. Jazmel was curious as to why he was making such an ordeal of it, but he shook it off. Frae was his friend after all. ¡°Come, come into the tower.¡± He led the way, the dwarves following their charge, while Frae and Jazmel simply walked and talked. When they entered the first floor of the tower and into the central node and seat of power. An array appeared on the floor, a line darted through the floor and spun out to form the symbol of Orevalor beneath the feet of Frae. ¡°Well that¡¯s new.¡± Jazmel commented and Frae nodded. ¡°I have such a thing too, in my king¡¯s court. When we tiered up the pyramid it was one of the features, it shows you all your allies and factions.¡± He explained and Jazmel nodded, before grinning and clasping hands with Frae. ¡°You tiered up the pyramid? How does it look?¡± he said and Frae grinned and nodded with acknowledgement. ¡°Yes, the pyramid is no longer, the tier up made us into a mountain. The dwarves of Orevalor reside within a mountain, we mine and train again. A domain was created beneath the mountain; the ¡®undermount¡¯ we delve and train.¡± He said and Jazmel told him about the astral domain and Frae stroked his long beard with admiration. ¡°I would have my dwarves evaluate their mettle in your domain.¡± He said and Jazmel welcomed it. ¡°What brings you here?¡± Jazmel asked and Frae nodded, growing serious. ¡°We bring trade, because I come and ask of you something.¡± He said and Jazmel beckoned him to the first step from his seat, which had become a sort of lounge for him. Mary and the dwarves gave them space. Baek simply stood beside the seat but made himself look busy meditating. ¡°I am ready for my tier tribulation. I am to break into ranker tier, I just do not have what I need.¡± He offered, explaining an Jazmel waited to see where he could help. ¡°I have a plot; it will embolden my tier tribulation. But I do not have the means, I need tier III items of a particular quality, none which can be found in the mountain. I have brought coin, ores, and other wares alike. I will not take without giving back.¡± Frae explained but Jazmel waved him away. ¡°We are friends, allies even. We fought and bled together, whatever is mine. Is yours, I will show you to the storage now.¡± He got up and Frae rose too, shaking Jazmel¡¯s hand reverently. ¡°You are truly the greatest of friends. The dwarves of Orevalor owe you greatly, I owe you. Anything you need but ask and we will provide it.¡± Frae told him and Jazmel nodded, he felt the same. ¡°Come, let¡¯s go.¡± Jazmel beckoned, Frae turned to his dwarves and spoke. ¡°I will undergo a tier tribulation here, but you do not have to wait it out. There is a domain here, five of you stay with me. The others may go and delve, assess your strength.¡± He told them and the dwarves divided, splitting away and five guards stayed with their king and the other readied for battle. ¡°Mary, could you show them to the astral domain? Let them have a run at it?¡± she led the way and they followed, the din of their armour atop stone could be heard.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Jazmel led the way to the storage warehouse followed by Baek, Frae and his five guards. The warehouse was tucked into the corner of the courtyard, it was large from the outside and even greater inside. Its walls expanded from within and when he stepped through the doors, it felt like a domain. It was much larger inside and he could never tell even when he was about to step through the doorway. The storage was always packed, hunting was good in the region, the domain also provided wares and items. Also when anyone delved into the labyrinth, they always returned and offered items. So right now the storage was huge, filled with all types of items. Jazmel looked around in wonder and Frae whistled with amazement. ¡°Things have been good for the Black Wing Faction.¡± Frae complimented and Jazmel inclined his head. ¡°In truth, I have not even been in here before. Whenever I enter the labyrinth I either buy or find what I need.¡± Jazmel confessed and Frae nodded. ¡°They rarely let me delve. But when they do, the wares are shared.¡± He thumbed over his back and beckoned to his guard who stood stone still and studied the area, looking for any danger. ¡°What do you need?¡± Jazmel asked and Frae grew serious. ¡°Something for mind and Body, I have the spirit covered.¡± From one of the rings he wore, Frae pulled a single flame from it and it flickered and ebbed in the palm of his hand. DING! TIER III FORGEFIRE EMBER! The forge fire ember is the first flame that ignites under a mountain. It carries with it, the memory of the mountain! Jazmel blinked at the notification, which was a serious item. Frae had a strong item there and he needed something of the same quality. ¡°You look down that way, I will start here.¡± he bid and Frae broke off and headed down a different aisle. So it began, Jazmel perused the storage facility and found himself stunned at the items he saw. Tier I and II items were all around, sometimes grouped together and others simply cast around. Only the seeker tier retainers would need these. He moved further down the aisle, coming to where the Mana was richer, denser even. Tier III items were in abundance it would seem. He found himself immersed he was trudging along, nothing seemed to fit his friend Frae. Until he stumbled over a rock, a shard of stone that thumped to a rhythm. He looked at it curiously and when his eyes scanned it and unravelled the Mana it weaved about itself, Jazmel almost laughed aloud. DING! TIER III HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN! Found deep in the belly of a mountain, the core, the very beating heart of the mountain. Within is the essence of the strength of a mountain! Jazmel almost leapt up, he picked it up. Grunting under the pressure and weight of the shard of stone, it was beating. Even in his hands and it felt uncanny and weird, but he moved out of the aisle to where Frae was standing and beckoned for him. ¡°Here you go!¡± he said and Frae took it from him, bearing the weight easier than Jazmel. ¡°By the mountain! The heart of a mountain? Tier III! Who found this?!¡± he exclaimed and all Jazmel could do was shrug. ¡°I cannot take it from you, what if someone else needed it?¡± Frae declined and made to put the shard down. ¡°I already told you, anything I have. Is freely given, all members of my faction have the right to enter and take from the storage. The fact that it is still there just means nobody needed it.¡± Jazmel pointed out and Frae looked at the piece of a mountain longingly. ¡°The stronger you are, the better you can protect your people. Take it.¡± Jazmel persuaded him and Frae succumbed, he took the heart of the mountain reverently and then placing it in his ring. He turned to Jazmel and hugged him again. ¡°I have everything I need.¡± Frae told him and he smiled, happy for his friend. ¡°What will you do?¡± ¡°I will return home, undergo the tier tribulation, and then delve into the labyrinth. We dwarves need to strengthen are ties, it has been far too long since I and my dwarves have been craving battle. We will delve and raise our names and banners!¡± Jazmel clapped him on the back, and they walked out of the warehouse together. ¡°Where is your pretty elf?¡± Frae asked, looking around. Jazmel felt the heat on his ears rise, but he simply grinned and bore it down. ¡°She is at her mother¡¯s coronation; I will bring the faction there when the invitation comes.¡± He explained and Frae stroked his beard. ¡°I will come with you; she is part of you your faction and one of our allies.¡± Frae said and Jazmel shrugged but agreed. ¡°I will send her a missive, have her send you an invitation. I will meet you there.¡± He explained and Frae clasped his forearm, like a friend a brother. ¡°I thank you Jazmel of the black wing faction. You have helped us once again; that reminds me. Take this and do not refuse me, I will be embarrassed if you do.¡± He handed Jazmel a ring, he took it and pressing his Mana and will into it. He peered into it. X1000 TIER II GOLD ORES X1000 TIER II SILVER ORES X500 TIER II IMPURE ORICHALCUM ORES X500 TIER III PURE ORICHALCUM ORES X1000 TIER I MITHRIL ORES X350 TIER II COLD IRON ORES This would keep the forge running for months and months. Jazmel hugged his dwarven friend and accepted the ring, Baek simply watched on and smiled. ¡°Come now, let me see this domain of yours before I leave. Should we face enemies again?¡± Frae said and to answer him, Jazmel pulled his swords from his rings and placed them on his belt. They left for the astral domain. Book 4 Chapter Thirty-Nine; Recouping and Preparing One month had passed since the dwarves had left, they had traded ores of quality and purity. Jazmel almost felt bad with only responding with cores and other items. But Frae had told him they were necessary for his people and their tier tribulations. He had even led a few of his dwarves into the domain beneath the tower to evaluate it out. They had earned stats and even a level or two. Jazmel was happy with the daily tasks, of the faction. Mary had made sure to divvy up the needs and wants of all faction. Splitting it between training and labyrinth diving, they didn¡¯t shy away from it. instead they almost rushed forward, eager to level up and grow strong within the faction. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ANOTHER ONE OF YOUR FACTION HAVE UNDERGONE A TIER TRIBULATION! TANGO IS MASTER TIER I Jazmel guffawed at the notification and smiled. He would reward him with anything in the storage space. Though he was sure he didn¡¯t have anything for a master, he had seen two tier IV creatures in his life. They had been so powerful that he and his friends had almost died. But the loot from the drops and the rewards from the system had almost been worth it, almost. He would have to enter the labyrinth again, he needed to delve, and he was close to his own tier tribulation too. It was a matter of just a few more levels. He was sitting at the lowest step from his seat and central node, alone. Happy for the peace of solitude. But it wasn¡¯t to be for a long time, instead he was set upon by Mary who entered the room and shouted his name. ¡°Jaz!¡± she called; she had started shortening his name now. He didn¡¯t know when it started but now she rarely called him his full name. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± he asked, and she smiled, a toothy grin. ¡°Gorin has finished our sets.¡± She said almost bouncing on her feet. He hopped up, suddenly excited too and followed her lead. Gorin, the forge master of the faction had been working on armour for almost two months. Since Jazmel and the others had returned from the Braddon hills, he had been working on his craft and creating for almost everyone. The black smiths he worked with had been supporting him, while working on lesser items for retainers too. Gorin had banned Jazmel and Mary from the forge, telling them they were only allowed to return once he had completed their works and now he had called for both of them. The forge was obscenely hot, the doors were open to let cool air enter. But the forge burned like a fire pit and Jazmel felt sweat wet his forehead and neck in an instant. Gorin was standing before two chests, one under his left hand and the other his right. He smiled, grinned even and Jazmel felt excited that Gorin had made something amazing. ¡°This is my finest work, two of my greatest creations. I honestly do not believe I have made anything this great with my hammer and I will not until I become master tier.¡± Gorin explained, but Mary hurried him along. ¡°What do you have for me? Show me already!¡± she was excited, and it was the first time Jazmel had ever seen her like this, it was quite funny to see. ¡°So you will be going first then, don¡¯t worry. Have a look in your case.¡± He offered, turning his left-hand palm up and offering his hand. Gorin waited for Mary to pull her armour out and she opened her chest open. ¡°Whoa, Gorin¡­ I don¡¯t have words for how this makes me feel. Thank you so much for this.¡± She took out the armour, the breastplate with its shoulder guards. But Gorin waved her away. ¡°Put the greaves on first.¡± He motioned with a sneaky smile. She did and nothing happened and Gorin looked at her, waiting. ¡°Gorin?¡± ¡°Cross your arms, knock the vambraces together.¡± He conceded and she did, the metal clanged together, but for Jazmel. Whose eyes were keenly attuned to Mana, he was surprised; shocked even. When he saw the Mana burn a brilliant light and then it disappeared from the chest and appeared on Mary¡¯s body. Strapped and secured correctly, her greaves appeared on her shins and strapped onto her boots, her armour had a tasset,This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. a sort of cowl or miniskirt that covered her lower half well. The armour featured intricate and ornamental designs with swirling patterns and angular shapes, particularly around the chest, shoulders, and arms. It might have been considered bulky, but it moved with fluidity and Jazmel couldn¡¯t help but look at it with wonder. ¡°I used enchantments to connect to your mana, it will use some of your dexterity and an agility for mobility. The more you wear it the more attuned to you, it will grow.¡± Gorin explained to her, and she used her bare knuckle and knocked the plate armour and it panged with the din of metal. ¡°What is it made of?¡± Mary asked and Gorin rumbled and stroked his beard. ¡°I used the tier III raucous rhino bone you gave me; I had some orichalcum ore left over too. But I also used some serpentine a fine ore that combines others well. The rhino bone and the orichalcum were easier to join then.¡± He explained and Mary nodded, enjoying her item, and thanking Gorin profusely. ¡°How far is the range of the vambraces?¡± she asked and Jazmel realised that that was a good question. ¡°I haven¡¯t checked how far, but the Mana enchantment to make it appear on you. Is based on your own Mana, the further away. Maybe the more it will cost. I tried it from the forge to the lake and it still came, in a matter of seconds.¡± Gorin explained and Jazmel nodded, that sounded like a true benefit. He wouldn¡¯t have to carry it in his ring. ¡°Will you be able to upgrade this?¡± Mary asked, motioning to her armour that she still wore. Gorin stroked his beard and nodded. ¡°I got it up to tier III, I don¡¯t think I can make tier IV yet. There are still kinks in the works that I don¡¯t understand, I feel like once I make it to master tier, I will be able to upgrade them. But they are high tier III, they will support you before anything. Even a tier IV beast or monster too. Mary smiled, thanked him, and pulled the chest into her ring, when Gorin looked at her she shrugged. ¡°No point leaving it here and later on finding out that I cannot make it come to me when I need it.¡± she explained and made to leave. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Jazmel called after her. ¡°To the astral domain to train with it.¡± she said over her shoulder. Jazmel shook his head and turned back to Gorin who was looking at him expectantly. ¡°If it pleases you.¡± Gorin said, beckoning to his own chest. Jazmel stepped forward, leaning down he made for it, opening the chest and he inhaled sharply. DING! ARMOUR SET! TIER III ARMOUR OF THE NIGHT WING SET! FORGED BY GORIN TIER III FORGEMASTER OF THE BLACK WING FACTION MADE FOR JAZMEL OF THE BLACK WING FACTION!! NIGHT WING ARMOUR SET! THIS ARMOUR SET WAS IMBUED WITH ENCHANTMENTS THAT ENABLE STRENGTH DURABILITY! FLEXIBILITY! DEXTERITY! THE ARMOUR FORMS HARMONY WITH ITS OWNER TIER III MANA REPAIR ¨C ARMOUR SET WILL USE AMBIENT MANA TO REPAIR SMALL WEAR AND TEAR IT WILL TAKE FROM THE OWNER FOR LARGER REPAIRS TIER III MANA CIRCUITRY ¨C ARMOUR SET WILL SMOOTHEN MANA FLOW OF THE WEARER TIER III DRACONIC HARMONY ¨C ARMOUR SET WILL AMPLIFY ANY DRACONIC SKILL ¡°Gorin¡­¡± Jazmel uttered, staring at the notification screen before him. ¡°Yes my lord.¡± ¡°You have created a true masterpiece here. The enchantments alone are immense.¡± Jazmel stuttered, he added the left vambrace, it fit him and was cool to the touch. It was pitch black, the colour of ink. But as he turned it onto his wrist, he saw blue colours, it was a myriad of blue and black. ¡°Yes I saw your dragonet and thought the item should support him.¡± Gorin said, almost reading his mind. He pulled the right vambrace on and noticed it had three sharp ridges along its length, like the ridges that ran up the length of Paldane¡¯s back. Jazmel did the same as Mary, knocking the vambraces together. He watched as before his eyes, the armour melded onto his form. It was plate armour too, but the segments were like dragon scales. Layered atop one another like perfect leaves made of metal fashioned into scales. He twisted and the armour moved with him, he had all his mobility, and it was so darkened that unless inspected. Nobody would be able to see the different segments of scales. He was utterly amazed, in wonder of the armour that had been made for him. ¡°So you like it then my lord?¡± Gorin asked and Jazmel nodded repeatedly. ¡°I love it!¡± Jazmel said with a wide grin and Gorin immediately grunted and dropped down into a crossed leg seat. DING! GORIN TIER III FORGEMASTER HAS COMPLETED A TASK! GORIN HAS CREATED A MASTERPIECE! ¡­ FORGE MASTER WILL UNDERGO A TIER TRIBULATION Jazmel almost stayed to watch, but the forge alit. In tune with its master¡¯s tier tribulation. Jazmel backed out of the forge, pulling the armour into his ring, but keeping the vambraces on. They fit snuggly and he was comfortable wearing them still. He closed the forge door and the wards flared to life, locking from within. Gorin was tiering up and it seemed like the forge would too. DING! FORGE UNDERGOING TIER UP AS THE FORGEMASTER IS UNDERGOING A TIER TRIBULATION He nodded at that and patting the forge doors appreciatively. He left, leaving Gorin to grow. Book 4 Chapter Forty; the Astral Domain Core DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE ASTRAL DOMAIN! CONQUEST BEGINS! ADVANCE! Jazmel stepped into the domain, with Paldane sitting on his shoulder and awake. Advance! Paldane uttered through their mind link and Jazmel simply agreed, sending his affirmation across their connection. He drew his sword, one blade this time. Nozarashi gleamed in the stray lights of the myriad above. The astral domain was a giant field, it had no boundaries that Jazmel could see. But he didn¡¯t need to focus on anything but what was in front of him. A knoll appeared, waving its wooden club. It rushed at him, mid swing. He cut through the club and its owner, not even using a skill. The keen edge of his blade barely caught onto the knoll, it died before Jazmel even passed it. Two appeared, he cut through them both. Then they multiplied and four rushed him, but he simply danced around them. His steps fluid and his movement graceful. They had tried to hem him in, but he was greater than their numbers. He broke free and his sword sailed through wind and air, killing them all. A group appeared now and before Jazmel could call forth a skill. Paldane leapt off his shoulder and soared through the air. Aeonic flame! He torched them with black and blue flame, a sign of his own nature mixed into the flames. the group was turned to ash and Jazmel watched as they dispersed on the wind, like wheat. Double their number appeared, but this time it wasn¡¯t just knolls. Armoured sentinel appeared. ¡°You take the knolls; I will deal with the sentinels.¡± He told Paldane who soared above him. The first sentinel approached him, its rusted edge whimpering through the air. He dodged a strike, another and then another and before the other sentinels could reach him. He spun on his heel, the first spiral he carved through the knees of the sentinel. It dropped down in front of him, on his second turn, he swung his blade through the head and sliced through the scalp of the sentinel. The rushed him, this was still too easy for him. One fell to a crushed helm; gripping his hilt he smashed down on the head, and it crumpled with no restraint. Another was cut to pieces like the first. Three grouped together and rushed him. Lacerate He swung his blade, carving through them in a wave and flick of his wrist. They crumpled; their rusted armour rent from his sword. Paldane had torched this group of knoll and they burned, screaming, and crying at him. whimpering as they died from his aeonic onslaught. A new enemy appeared now, stronger than the others. A harbinger, Jazmel checked his blade and inhaling. Rushed in, the harbinger was tier III. But to Jazmel that just meant he had to try a little harder, humanoid tier III were just not that strong to him anymore. No now he could face a tier III on his own and though the battle might be tough. He would surely survive. Lacerate! Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! He struck two skills, one to disarm the harbinger, its dreadful scythe spinning out of its grasp and on the second strike. He cut and smashed the harbinger into the ground, the cleaving descent; dismembering his foe. Three more harbingers appeared and Paldane spewed flames on them, but it only hindered them. Sunder! Swinging his blade across his body, he decapitated all three and they died in the flickering flames of his dragon. You got strong! ¡°So did you!¡± he countered and Paldane careened above him, as it flew circles around him. He heard it before dodging to the left, a chain darkened with horrid Mana and flecked with blood or rust. Swung for his head, he dodged and leapt into a roll. Creating distance, he rolled to his feet and looking at his new opponent. Saw that it was one creature, something he hadn''t seen before. It moved slower than Katie, he was grateful. It whirled three chains though, then another appeared and soon it was whirling six. All about it and they snaked through the air, striking at him like a viper. Great rumbling dragon! The skill which usually created a spectral dragon roaring, made out of Mana. Burst forth but this time it was far denser and more materialised than before. The dragon reared its head, horns curled from his head like a tiara of keratin, and it roared, blasting Mana all about. It darted forward and crashed into the chain wielding creature driving it into the ground with all the pressure of his skill. The chains broke and rent under the assault. He quickly moved over to kill it, swiping his sword, and decapitating it. A new enemy appeared, a hovering thing wearing a darkened cowl and hood. It cast orbs of dark green and black. He darted out of the way, not knowing what it would do, and he burst forward dodging. As he sailed past, his body flying through the air. He looked back, quickly. Seeing where the orb had landed, the ground twisted and malformed. He leapt forward, rushing at the hovering horror. It tried ascending but Paldane was there. Aeonic flame! The cowl burst into flame, as if it were kindle and it hurtled to the ground. Where Jazmel was waiting. He watched it come and before it could right itself. fixing its descent and dodge him, he leapt up to reach it.Stolen story; please report. Sunder! He struck, cutting it from shoulder to hip. The thing fell to the ground and while he was in the air, he perceived new enemies appearing. Three more like that with the weird Mana orbs, and five others. These were attuned to wind; they threw small tornados and storms at him. But still had stamina and some Mana to spare, while in the air. He struck his vambraces together, his armour melded onto his body and from above. He cast his strongest skill. Great rumbling dragon! DING! ALL DRACONIC SKILLS ARE AMPLIFIED BY NIGHT WING ARMOUR! The dragon appeared, an entire body bellowing a challenge and transfixing the hovering horrors. They cowered from the dragon¡¯s dirge and were torn to shreds from the Mana of the spectral dragon. He landed, bending his knees on impact but his body stood strong, and the ground broke beneath his fall. He kept forgetting, just how sturdy his tyrant tempered body truly was. The temperature dropped; a new enemy appeared. Hovering like the last, but this one¡¯s cowl was tattered, rent, and ripped almost every but the hood remained full and within it. the entire face hidden in the darkness of the cowl. It through its skill or spell at him, not having enough time to dodge. He brought his blade up and cut through the spell. It split about him and hit the ground on either side, it hissed like acid and at a quick glance. He saw the ground withered, desiccated as if rotting. Draconic roar! Paldane appeared, entrenching the thing with his howl. A roar for a dragon but as Paldane was still so small, it sounded like the howl of a beast. But the skill was attuned with his essence, and he was a dragon, a true one. The creature was stricken, Jazmel used the moment to leap into the air and strike. The creature dodged a little too slow, while it survived. It lost an arm in the process; it screeched the sound like teeth chattering in the wind or the cold. Jazmel winced but spun his body like a top and with a backhanded slash he beheaded the creature. He landed again and the next creature that appeared, forced all the wind to stop. He had never seen anything like it, it was as if the storm itself had formed into the upper half of a man and bore down on him. the pressure was immense, the intensity of the tension in the air almost stole the breath from between his lips. But he urged his body to move, he broke free from its pressure and the creature roared. It reared its head back and bellowed, the sound was like tempests and tornadoes. They howled in the air and Jazmel closed his eyes beneath it, he looked up and watched as Paldane tried to fly in the storm but was cast out of the sky. falling like a rock. He himself was struck, the creature hurled a fist which was just a whirling maelstrom of energy and hit him. He blacked out. When he came to, he was outside of the domain. He was sitting on the floor at the entrance of the domain and when he looked up Mary and Katie was staring at him with wide grins. ¡°So? How far did you get?¡± Katie asked, intense and excited. He was about to respond when the system notification popped up. YOU LOSE! YOU WERE EXPELLED FROM THE ASTRAL DOMAIN SEE YOUR DEFEATED FOES! SEE WHO QUASHED YOUR VICTORY! ¡­ X18 TIER II BLOODY KNOLL DEFEATED X5 TIER II ARMOURED SENTINEL DEFEATED TIER III CHAIN BEARER DEFEATED X3 TIER III ARCANE WARDENS DEFEATED X5 TIER III WIND WARDENS DEFEATED TIER III WITHERED WARDEN DEFEATED ¡­ TIER IV STORM COLOSSUS REMAINS UNDEFEATED! He looked over the system and shook his head, he flicked it across so Mary and Katie could look. ¡°No way! You got to the colossus? Mary is the only one who has done it!¡± Katie blew out a big breath of air in defeat. ¡°Who has tried the astral domain?¡± Jazmel asked and Mary answered. ¡°Everyone, except Sad¨¦ because she isn¡¯t here. Tango because he hasn¡¯t returned and Baek, who refuses. He said we should continue to try and break the domain ourselves.¡± Mary explained and Jazmel grinned. ¡°Who holds the top spot?¡± Jazmel asked with a smile and Mary buffed up her shoulders. ¡°Me! I didn¡¯t beat the colossus, but it didn¡¯t blow me away straight away.¡± She answered and Jazmel had to admit, he was impressed. ¡°What about you Katie?¡± he asked, and she sulked before stepping up. ¡°The arcane wardens got me; I hadn''t seen them before. I thought they were liches, but that arcane chaos orb they threw at me almost burst the links of my chains. Then they swarmed me, but I am going back in right now!¡± she said and stepped into the domain. Jazmel got up, holding Paldane in his arms, who was purring like a cat and pretending to sleep. ¡°I am going to put this guy down, and then read up on some things. Let me know how she does?¡± he said, and Mary waved him away, watching at the domain gate. Jazmel climbed the steps, to his room and without any hindrance. He was in his room and alone, he placed Paldane on the bed and then took the moment to look at the other notifications he got. DING! X18 TIER IIBLOODY KNOLL DEFEATED! EXP ACCRUED ¡­ X5 TIER II ARMOURED SENTINEL DEFEATED! EXP ACCRUED! +1 DEX ¡­ TIER III CHAIN BEARER DEFEATED +2 AGL ¡­ X3 TIER III ARCANE WARDEN DEFEATED! +1 STR +1 WIL +2 INT ¡­ X5 TIER III WIND WARDEN DEFEATED +2 WIL +2 INT +2 PER ¡­ TIER III WITHERED WARDEN DEFEATED +3 DEX +3 AGL EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ He had gained so many stats from the astral domain, he grinned at the screen. But he thought about the colossus, a tier IV that he could not manage at all. He needed to get stronger, he wondered how strong he would need to be to face a tier IV creature. This was the first time he had, had some alone time for a while. He took the moment to look at some of the items he had got as a reward from stopping the awakening of the primordial and defeating the dread heretic. Elixir of Arcane light, an essence draught that will greatly improve your Mana points and your Mana stats! Phoenix life draught, made from the essence of a phoenix¡¯s rebirth. This draught will add 1000 points to whoever consumes it¡¯s health. He had been to consume them both, but he hadn''t had the time just yet. So he did it now, while he could. He took the draught of the phoenix life first; the bottle was solid glass and inside the draught moved with the consistency of honey. But it didn¡¯t matter to him, he had taken in entire corpses during tier tribulations. He uncorked it and swallowed, to his surprise it tasted nice. Like a honey that had a little fire to it, it burned as it went down but he didn¡¯t mind. It invigorated him, he felt stronger and a little better after it burned. PHOENIX LIFE DRAUGHT CONSUMED! 1000 POINTS ADDED TO YOUR HEALTH! ¡­ Jazmel felt the system do something and then his body filled with vitality, he felt his body strengthen as if his life force had just increased slightly. He felt robust and healthier, the draught had been a good item for him. He uncorked the elixir of arcane light and downed it in seconds. DING! TIER III ELIXIR OF ARCANE LIGHT CONSUMED! ¡­ ¡­ 500 POINTS ADDED TO YOUR MANA He was incensed, his Mana core flexed like a muscle and pulled the system energy into itself. He let it do its own thing and he meditated, let the Mana move around his body and thrum the vessels it moved around to let him use skills. Book 4 Chapter Forty-One; the Coronation of a Queen DING! YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED TO THE TENERIEL FOREST FOR A CORONATION!! DO YOU ACCEPT? Y/N? He accepted, he had been waiting the last couple of days for this notification and he would not have missed this. DING! THANK YOU FOR ACCEPTING THE INVITE YOUR RSVP WILL BE SHARED WITH THE TENERIEL FOREST! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ YOUR INVITE AS A FACTION LEADER ALLOWS YOU TO BRING A RETINUE WHO SHALL YOU BRING? He thought about it and nodded over his ideas. He had been planning this with Mary and Baek, they had agreed to a retinue, an entourage of sorts. THE NAMES OF THOSE YOU WILL BRING DO YOU CONFIRM? Y/N? He confirmed and he felt the system send links of invitation to them all through his own connection. DING! WITH THE AUTHORITY OF A FACTION LEADER WILL YOU BRING A GROUP? CONFIRM? He thought again, willing the group to be connected too. THE BLACK WING FACTION GROUP DO YOU CONFIRM? Y/N? He confirmed and the system buzzed into action. While he waited he sent missives to his friends. Going to the coronation, look after the faction while we are gone. Will be back soon and hopefully soon. He sent that to Gilmore, Patton and Gelth. Patton and Gelth were in the Braddon hills, training Lysander to expand his region. He wasn¡¯t ready to do it alone, but as part of the faction. The black wing would always help its allies. Gilmore and Elai were in the outpost, acting as de-facto leaders while everyone else was gone. But Jazmel wasn¡¯t worried, leno and Serafina were also in the outpost, they had been training nonstop in the domain together. They were becoming elites of the seeker tier, and they would help Gilmore and Elai if they needed anything. He remembered Tango and sent him a separate missive. Going to the Teneriel forest if you can make it come. If not, return to the outpost, everyone else is away. He sent it and watched as the origami swans darted off into the labyrinth. Tango hadn''t returned yet, Jazmel hadn''t heard from him at all, even when the system alerted to him. That he had made it to master tier, Tango still hadn''t returned. But now that he was a master tier, he wasn¡¯t worried about his safety, the man who had raised him had always been strong. Jazmel stood in his rooms, dressed and ready. Melle had made him official clothing, a suit of sorts. Something to wear for official duties and a coronation seemed to rank amongst those duties. He wore a dark blue doublet and atop his right shoulder a black wing had been sewn, stitched to hang over his shoulder.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. He wore black trousers, felt and fine. They fit him well, snug almost but not so tight that he couldn¡¯t move in them. Boots had been made for him, shined to perfection they gleamed in the light. He was dressed, ready to go. He had perused the storage looking for a gift and finally found something worthy of gifting a queen, to be. DING! TIER III SCALES OF SYNERGY! This item can greatly affect the dexterity and balance of those trapped in its domain. If used during a tier tribulation it will boost agility and dexterity. He didn¡¯t know if Jazmel¡¯s mother even needed anything like that. In truth he was nervous, he hadn''t seen her since when he had first entered the labyrinth. When he had just met Sad¨¦, who was about to become a princess, an heir to a throne too. He was a little nervous, but he decided to move forward. To advance, Jazmel moved out of his room and Paldane jumped into the air and scrabbled onto his shoulder. Jazmel wore his vambraces, but no armour, he didn¡¯t see why he should need to wear armour now. But it was better to be safe than sorry. Descending the tower, he entered the chamber and found everyone waiting. Katie and Mary both wore dresses, silk, and satin. Katie wore green to match her eyes and Mary wore a dress of cerulean, blue. He was shocked, about to compliment them and Mary raised a lone finger. ¡°If you comment on me wearing a dress, I will beat you so badly you will not be able to attend the coronation.¡± She uttered, Jazmel raised his hands in defeat. He simply inclined his head and Katie spun on her heel and the dressed flared about her. Bannerman was dressed much like he usually dressed but he wore his armour. He was standing beside the claw group of the faction, and they looked magnificent. They wore high steel armour and cloaks that were darkened to black and blue like the scales of Paldane. Jazmel looked them over and nodded with admiration. Gorin had crafted brilliant armour for them. ¡°We are going to the coronation in the Teneriel forest. Sad¨¦¡¯s mother is being crowned and we are to show up and be on our best behaviour. I think it will be celebrations and just faces of influence all about. But I expect everyone to be on their best behaviour, you respect the faction. You represent me.¡± Jazmel cautioned and the claw simply stamped their boots and knocked their gauntleted hands on their armour. ¡°Stick with your captains, or leaders. Nobody should be left alone, and we should return home without any hassle.¡± Mary said, suddenly in charge again and Jazmel nodded, smiling. Baek appeared, wearing the same robes he always wore. White as snow and unblemished or creased. He was waiting at the door to leave. ¡°Are we all ready?¡± Jazmel said and everyone agreed, ready. He willed the notification up and the invitation appeared before him again. DING! ARE YOU READY TO ATTEND THE TENERIEL FOREST? Y/N? He accepted and before them a gate appeared from the system and the energy buzzed. Jazmel was the first through and stepping through the arch, he found himself in the forest just at the clearing of trees before the entrance to the forest city. He waited for all his people to move through the gate and into the forest. DING! WELCOME TO THE TENERIEL FOREST! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE ARRIVED AT A TIME OF GREAT DYNASTY THE CORONATION OF ARAEA AND THE CREATION OF THE TENERIEL KINGDOM! WELCOME! The system notices appeared one after the other and Jazmel could tell everyone present had also seen this. The gates were open, but more guards were on duty than the last time Jazmel had been here. he moved towards the gates and the guards stood ready, scrutinising him. ¡°State your name and retinue!¡± one guard called, his armour thick and high quality. ¡°Jazmel, of the black wing faction.¡± He introduced himself and the guard seemed to check the system before inclining his head and beckoning Jazmel and his faction to enter. Jazmel stepped through the gate and Paldane flared his wings, a simple stretch. I smell food! ¡°That is all you care about.¡± Jazmel said laughing and Paldane puffed out smoke. The city was busy with people, elves by the thousands mulled around. Awaiting the start of the ceremony. He could tell there was other houses and clans here. Just the Mana alone was so distinct and different, he could tell. Jazmel led his friends deeper into the city. The faction following on their heels. Trying to stay focused, but also looking around in wonderment. ¡°Claw, stay focused. You have your duty about you!¡± Mary stymied any lack of focus, her words corralling them all. ¡°Hey.¡± Katie said and Jazmel looked at her, she motioned ahead of them and Jazmel followed her gaze. She was motioning past him, and he looked, and there she was. Sad¨¦ was there, dressed in a gown of mauve and feathers. It flowed down around her like a cloak, but her shoulders were bear, the dress stopping just under her arms. She wore a necklace of rubies and diamonds. The rubies had been braided into her hair, she looked like a true princess. She hadn''t noticed them yet, but when Jazmel approached, she looked up at him. she smiled, her lips curving perfectly, and she welcomed them one and all. ¡°Thank you for coming!¡± she said, her hand lingering atop Jazmel¡¯s. she complimented each of them, speaking on Katie and Mary¡¯s dresses. She spoke about the armour Bannerman was wearing. She thanked Baek for coming and she saluted the claw. She was holding Jazmel¡¯s hand, and he was acutely aware of it, but she seemed fine. She didn¡¯t make a show of it and simply spoke to the others and asked about the faction and how the outpost was doing. Jazmel was looking around, watching the many faces as they mulled around. Drinking and eating before the feast which would probably happen after the coronation. Sad¨¦ scratched under the throat of Paldane, and he purred like a house cat. ¡°Princess, will you introduce me to your friends?¡± a voice said and Jazmel looked up to see an elf, a young male elf. Book 4 Chapter Forty-Two; the Coronation of a Queen II Jazmel looked up and caught sight of the elf man. He was staring directly at him, at the hand that Sad¨¦ was holding Jazmel¡¯s with. ¡°Hello Alrin, these guys are my friends and the faction I belong to. The Black Wing Faction.¡± She introduced them but the young elf simply stared at Jazmel. Paldane reared his head up and hissed at the elf who looked away with disdain. ¡°A faction? They are beneath you my princess.¡± he said simply, and Jazmel felt his Mana coil around his body and flare in his stomach. ¡°I would watch my words.¡± Jazmel said, suddenly holding himself back. ¡°Alrin, you do me a dishonour. They are my friends, and the faction was our making, if you talk of them like that. You talk of me.¡± She said and the elf seemed to surrender to her. ¡°Things will change when you become the princess of Teneriel. I hope you know that.¡± He said and Jazmel rolled his eyes, as he moved off. ¡°I hate that guy.¡± Sad¨¦ said under her breath but close enough that Jazmel could hear, and he laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t waste feeling on him. today is the day for you and your family.¡± Jazmel said and Sad¨¦ nodded, soothed by his words. ¡°We are about to start, come and I will seat you all. You are not far from us.¡± She explained and she led the way, into a breakaway of trees. They had been planted or preened so that a large area was free, and chairs and tables had been placed around. It reminded Jazmel of the constellations of stars and a large altar and pulpit had been raised at the northern part of the clearing. Jazmel and the black wing faction was seated at a table threw rows from the pulpit. But close enough that Jazmel could see all their faces. People were being seated now, and Jazmel sat beside Katie and Baek simply stood behind them, comfortable to stand. Sad¨¦ sat with them for a time, but she told them when the coronation happened. She would need to move and sit with her family and clan. ¡°Look!¡± Sad¨¦ said and when Jazmel looked at the entrance of the clearing. He smiled; it was his friend the king of the dwarves. Frae entered and he was leading a full troop of kings guards. They looked around and Sad¨¦ rose up to greet him, he saw Jazmel and moved over to greet him. he looked different and Jazmel realised he had completed his tier tribulation. ¡°You are a ranker now!¡± Jazmel said, clasping forearms with Frae whose skin had darkened and he took on the likeness of rock and stone.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°I see that the heart of the mountain helped you.¡± Jazmel said and Frae grinned before hugging Jazmel. ¡°It did indeed, the mountain stirs within me.¡± He smiled and then pulling from his ring, he brought out three large crates and offered them to Sad¨¦. ¡°To your mother and you, gifts from the dwarves of Orevalor.¡± He inclined his head in a solid bow and Jazmel had to admit he was shocked at how regal Frae was. ¡°You are very welcome dear dwarf. Thank you from me and my clan.¡± She curtsied and then leant down and kissed the dwarf on the cheek, he grinned and patted her hand gently. ¡°You are kind fair elf.¡± Frae said and then he turned and led his dwarves away to his seat. Sad¨¦ left, trumpeters sounded their horns and trumpets. Jazmel sat with his people and waited, watching to see what would happen. The trumpets sung and Jazmel watched as a concession entered the clearing. Elves in ceremonial gowns and headdresses stepped into the clearing and taking one step every few seconds. They walked into the clearing, down the middle and towards the altar. When the first two reached it, they split and went to the very end of the altar and at the end all of them were lined up before the altar on the lowest step. Next came a priest, or something to that respect. She was old and elderly, she walked slowly and took her time. But when she reached the pulpit, she stepped the second step and beckoned. Sad¨¦ stepped up and stood on the step above her. Finally the trumpets sang again, a tune most regal and monarchic. Then Jazmel saw Entil and Araea moving along the walkway and heading towards the pulpit. They walked slowly, in the same gait and Jazmel wondered if it was part of the ceremony. Entil led her to the pulpit and then climbed to stand beside his daughter. But Araea continued, carrying on towards the top of the pulpit and standing on her own but surrounded by her family. Jazmel liked the sentiment and nodded in respect and admiration. DING! THE TENERIEL FOREST HAS REGISTERED ITS REQUIREMENTS! ¡­ THE CLAN HAS MET THE CONDITIONS TO TIER UP! THE CLAN CAN NOW BECOME A KINGDOM!! ¡­ WILL YOU CHOOSE A QUEEN? Y/N? The system announced to all present and Araea stepped forward and though he couldn¡¯t see it. he assumed the system was showing her a different side, the faction interface but for a kingdom. She seemed to be picking and selecting things. DING! ELDER ARAEA MASTER TIER I OF THE TENERIEL FOREST CLAN HAS BEEN CHOSEN WILL YOU BE QUEEN? Y/N? She seemed to accept because she raised her hands. Just above her head and Mana seemed to materialise, he watched it sparkle and glimmer. A brilliant display of Mana and then a crown formed, a grand design of gold and mithril. Jazmel could see the system energy coursing through the crown. Araea took it into her hands and held it reverently, holding it near her stomach. So she could get a better look at it. ¡°What is that.¡± Araea said looking to the sky and everyone in the clearing, decided to turn and look to the sky. Jazmel looked above and saw a sight unlike anything he had seen before. Men riding on the back of beasts, hundreds of them. It was a beast tide, and they were heading towards the coronation ceremony. Book 4 Chapter Forty-Three; the Coronation of a Queen III ¡°Beast tide!!¡± someone shouted, and everyone burst into action. Rushing to prepare as soon as they could. Jazmel knocked his vambraces together and felt his armour gently appear on his body. Jazmel turned to Mary, and she had changed her clothes in the disarray and was wearing her armour too. She brought out her flag. ¡°Black Wing Faction! Stop the beast tide!!¡± Mary said and she waved her flag the wind picking up and system energy seeming to quip with intent. Katie and Bannerman were sticking with the claw and King Frae moved over and bringing his King¡¯s guard, he rushed over and reacted as quickly as the black wing faction. ¡°Dwarves! Prepare for battle!!¡± he roared, and his dwarves bellowed and clanked their shields against their armour. Baek appeared beside Jazmel and looking a little concerned he motioned to the sky and the oncoming beasts. ¡°That is the sworn, they are using something to control the beasts of the labyrinth. But they have brought their strong forces, there are a few master tier within their ranks.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel nodded, suddenly worried. The first beasts landed, crashing into the clearing, and leaping onto the elves and the other guests to the coronation. ¡°Begone! Leave this place!¡± Jazmel heard over the din of death cries and battle. THE QUEEN OF THE KINGDOM HAS UNLEASHED HER WRATH! ENEMIES OF THE KINGDOM WILL BE AFFLICTED WITH REDUCED STAMINA AND MANA!! ¡­ The system announced allowed for all to hear and he watched as a big lizard, near him seemed stricken to the spot. He took the opportunity to remove its head and the lizard crumpled to the ground. DING! TIER III GRAND GARDIGOL KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! The beasts were landing in droves now, creatures of all shapes and sizes. But Jazmel wasn¡¯t focused on them. He dodged and moved through the battles happening. A great bird landed, wings outstretched and blocking his view of the pulpit but that¡¯s what he was aiming for. He rushed, bursting past the creatures and beasts. He made it to the bottom of the pulpit just as some of the sworn landed. The elves tried their best to guard their new Queen and heir, but they were soon swarmed and overwhelmed. But Jazmel was already there, and his sword was singing through the sworn. Lacerate! Lacerate! Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! Jazmel cut them to pieces, the sworn died in swathes and they fell to the ground like ribbons. DING! X12 SWORN ACOLYTES KILLED! +1 END +1 PER Jazmel bounded up the pulpit and found Sad¨¦ and her mother ready for war. Sad¨¦ still wore her gown, but she had pulled on her combats and then changed into her Stormwalker armour. When Jazmel reached her and her mother. They were already looking to fight, their eyes fierce. Araea almost didn¡¯t recognise Jazmel, but when she did her eyes softened but she was still angry. ¡°Jazmel! Get them out of here!¡± Entil, Sad¨¦¡¯s father roared and Jazmel literally scooped up both women and leapt from the pulpit. He felt grievously embarrassing by picking up both women, but he had no other way of moving fast. Araea seemed to be connecting to the interface and was looking at something else, probably her system screen. Jazmel run down to where the faction was fighting a retreating battle, the dwarves had bolstered their ranks. They were throwing skills of distinct dwarven skills. Spikes of earth rose, piercing the sworn forces and killing those who had rushed in and not prepared a proper defence. Jazmel put mother and daughter down, but not before he felt pressure burning from behind. It was like the sun was descending on the earth. Jazmel almost faltered beneath it, but Baek rushed forward. Night of the white moon Baek uttered and his skill blazed, flaring into a white orb that grew till it was large enough to almost blind them all. Jazmel¡¯s eyes told him that the Mana was intricate that it was almost sigaldry. But he was still too low levelled to know just how complex the skill was. ¡°Go.¡± Baek said, rushing towards the sworn master. He had pulled a sword from his ring and was pushing the man back and stopping him from attacking the queen and her heir. ¡°We need to leave?¡± Jazmel said and Mary waved her flag. Twirling it about her and then slamming it into the ground. WAIL OF THE WARRIOR! STAMINA BUFFED BY 100% FOR 150 SECONDS! Jazmel felt his body thrum with the buff, system energy flooded his body, and he felt his lactic energy lessen. He wasn¡¯t worried but he was bothered and Jazmel didn¡¯t know what to do. ¡°Retreat!¡± Jazmel said, Mary took the lead. Katie and Bannerman sailing along on the flanks and the dwarves brought up the rear. The claw were in the middle, fighting a battle of attrition. Jazmel could tell they were suffering; some were already drinking their potions and refilling on stamina and Mana. Another creature crashed through the gate. Elves were atop its body and stabbing swords and spears into it. They didn¡¯t seem like they knew what they were doing. Jazmel split off from the group, Sad¨¦ and Araea following him. Sunder! He sent a scything slash at the creature and carved through the neck and throat of the beast. The elves jumped from the corpse and when they saw their queen they pushed forward to surround her. ¡°Captain clear the way!¡± Araea said, and the elves rushed back towards the gate to bolster it and allow for exit. Araea seemed to check on the system interface. She did something, pushing onto the screen and Jazmel watched as a band of Mana pulsed from the crown atop her head.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. DING! THE QUEEN HAS USED ADVENT OF THE ELVEN VERDANT ALL ELVES IN THE VICINITY WILL HAVE THEIR MANA INCREASED! Jazmel watched as the elves all around became invigorated. System energy pulsed and all the elves¡¯ Mana was bolstered. A sworn master tier appeared at the gate and made short work of the elves there. Araea almost growled and when she saw him, she pulled a spear from her ring. It was powerful, the Mana wrapped into its creation made Jazmel wonder if it was a master tier work too. Spear of the Sprite! She leapt into the air and raising her spear, she used it propel her through the air and towards the master tier sworn. She crashed her spear tip into the ground and the master tier dodged, escaping the pulse of air Mana. ¡°Oh you are strong, your majesty. That makes it worthwhile taking your head.¡± he said and raised his hand and called his skill. Abyssal sickle He cast out, an iridescent sickle of pure Mana of green and black. Whistled through the air and at the group, being led by the queen. She twirled her spear about her, whirling it and whipping the wind up and around them. Spectral Sonata Her skill formed a wind warden out of air and wind Mana. It hit the sickle and burst buffeting the entire area all around them and not for the first time, did Jazmel see the canyon between ranker and master tier. Thunder crown! Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ appeared beside her mother and cast her skill, it seemed stronger. The Thunderfire was bolstered and like a bolt of aeonic flame like Paldane. The master tier knocked the bolt from the air, and it diverted, spinning, and striking the ground and exploding in flame and thunder. Thunderfire Thunderfire Thunderfire! She threw bolt after bolt, her crown amplifying her strength of her skill. She pushed the master tier, or tried to and a barrage of her bolts struck him, he deflected with his bare hand. But her skill was overwhelming and when he didn¡¯t manage to block one, it hit him head on. ¡°You little mongrel!¡± he sneered. Phantom fang He cast a skill and if not for Jazmel¡¯s Mana attuned eyes, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see the attack. He struck out and deflected the skill. The master tier studied him and shook his head. ¡°Nice eyes, but how many can you stop.¡± Phantom fang Phantom fang! He sent two and they rushed forward, he deflected the first and then when the other was heading towards the queen. she leapt into the air again, using the wind Mana to carry her and her spear into the skies. Eldar¡¯s envy! Jazmel watched as she caused small tornadoes of wind appear all around. She used them to ride the air and in turmoil the master tier couldn¡¯t escape. Foxfire! She threw her fire into the tornadoes, and they whipped around. Buffing the ground and the master tier, he couldn¡¯t block what he couldn¡¯t determine, and the blue flames landed and struck him at random. Spear of the Sprite Jazmel watched as the queen rushed forward, she sailed from above them and then descended to the ground. Driving her spear into the neck and throat of the master tier. He howled, snarling, and tried to grab hold of her. But Jazmel was there, his sword swinging and taking the hand of the master tier. Queen Araea pulled her spear, wrenching free and killing the sworn. DING! SWORN MASTER TIER I KILLED +4 VIT +4 WIL +4 AGL YOU HAVE DEFEATED A MASTER TIER I WHILE A RANKER TIER! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! EXP ACCRUED! LEVEL UP! Jazmel felt the system energy pulse in his core and flare around his body as his stats rose. His level rose too, he was now just two away from his next tier tribulation. But now wasn¡¯t the time to think about this. ¡°We are leaving now!¡± Jazmel bellowed and the ruin of the gate. Crumbled as they moved towards it. Jazmel was almost through the gate when a creature pushed through and broke the gate down with its immense size. It was large in size and atop its head. two curling horns hung from its head. It walked on all fours, its long limbs ending in claws and talons. Jazmel could see the rippling muscles beneath its leathery skin. But he could see that it was a creature of intensity and wrath. Its snout was filled with fangs and sharpened canines. DING! TIER V ELDER IFRIT! Jazmel knew it was strong. It was greater in power than everything Jazmel had ever seen. A tier V creature was more potent and powerful than anything he had come across before. ¡°Katie, Bannerman. I need you. Mary keep the claw and focus on getting out.¡± Jazmel ordered and Mary broke away with the claw and the dwarves, but Frae stayed and raising his axe. ¡°I am with you.¡± The dwarven king uttered and Jazmel didn¡¯t question him. He pulled Yoru No Tsubasa from his ring, and he focused on the battle before him. ¡°An ifrit is attuned to fire Mana.¡± The queen told them. She was worried and Jazmel could see it on her face, but she was putting a brave face on for her daughter and her friends. ¡°Black Wing Faction, we do what we always do.¡± Jazmel said and everyone focused and prepared. Chain spike! Katie swung her fanged chains and aimed them at the ifrit, the creature roared; bellowed and her chains didn¡¯t even leave a nick or dent. But she simply pulled her chains back and dodged the roar. Wolf hunt! Bannerman rushed forward, his skill bolstering his body and letting his claws enhanced by Mana try and carve the ifrit, but he retreated, and his claws steamed and sizzled. ¡°It¡¯s skin burns like flames.¡± Bannerman warned and Jazmel nodded. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ hurled her bolt and the skill hit the ifrit clean in the face. It howled, screeching, and reeling from the strike. Smoke blotted out its vision and Jazmel took the moment to attack. Great rumbling dragon! DRACONIC SKILLS AMPLIFIED! The system told him, and he watched as his dragon made of Mana floated through the air and into the ifrit¡¯s face. It reeled further and stumbled backwards. King¡¯s chorus! ALL SKILLS OF THE ALLIES OF THE KING WILL BE AMPLIFIED! The dwarven king, used a skill and Jazmel felt his skills enhanced for the time being. Great rumbling dragon! He sent another one, his skill taking Mana from his core and hitting the ifrit the smoke hadn''t cleared but it wasted no time. It pushed through and advanced towards the party attacking it. Spear of the Sprite! The queen, a master tier. Used her spear and sailing across the air. She rushed forward and stabbed her spear into the side of the head of the ifrit. It roared, its pain immense and yet it didn¡¯t die. Instead it reared its head back and from between its two curling horns. Mana condensed and began to form an orb of Aeonic flame. DING! THE TIER V ELDER IFRIT IS USING AEONIC APOCALYPSE! Jazmel watched as the Mana forming within its horns began to pulse. Random flames began to flicker and tear away and those that floated away. Began to catch fire on everything it touched or landed on. The very ground burned and Jazmel watched in horror. The orb coalesced and when it left the horns. It split apart and blew the entire area up with Mana and fire. The blast turned some of the elves into ash. He watched them literally disintegrate and he felt powerless. Jazmel looked around and saw Baek fighting off two master tier on his own, the old man had killed the other. His broken body beneath them as they clashed like stars in the sky. No help was coming and Jazmel focused on that. Song of the sylph Jazmel watched as the queen struck the giant creature of flame and ruin again and again. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ hurled strikes at the ifrit. But it seemed to just anger it. ¡°Wear it down!¡± Katie shouted and Jazmel watched them all focus their attacks, skills hitting the larger creature with a barrage. Sunder! Jazmel¡¯s skill scored a large wound across the chest and face of the creature. It reeled back and when it noticed Jazmel it snarled, spittle and froth flecking its mouth. Sunder! He struck again and this time red blood welled from its mouth and chest wound. It rose up onto its back legs and was about to strike a clawed hand, but the queen was there. She was present always sailing across the winds on her spear. Spear of the Sprite! She rode the wind like a mount and crashed her spear into the skull of the ifrit. She landed atop its head too. She stabbed down deeper into the skull and wrenched her spear. Scrambling the brains of the creature. DING! TIER V ELDER IFRIT KILLED! ¡­ YOU HAVE WITNESSED YOUR FIRST TIER V CREATURE AND PREVAILED! ¡­ EXP IMMENSELY INCREASED! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! +5 STR +5 PER +5 INT +5 WIL TIER V IFRIT AEONIC GEM GAINED! Book 4 Chapter Forty-Four; the Coronation of a Queen IV Jazmel watched as the sworn soldiers began to push towards the gate and try for the queen. Jazmel was shuddering, he had almost used all his Mana and he pulled a potion from his ring and drank it. the system energy swirled around, and he felt his Mana go up, but it barely was enough. But then the sounds of drums could be heard. The sound of armour and boots crunching and Jazmel turned to the gate where the sounds were coming from, and he saw elves in full armour and regalia coming towards them all. ¡°Cease this! The coronation has been completed the kingdom still stands!¡± An elf who was great in power and full of Mana and strength. Jazmel could tell she was master tier, she seemed as strong as Baek who had stopped his battle with the sworn masters. They had gone back to their ranks, a little bloodied and bruised. Baek himself was sporting wounds, for the first time since Jazmel had ever met him. but he held his own against two master tier. He truly was strong and Jazmel realised it more and more. ¡°Elder Panea and Elder Yilana!¡± queen Araea uttered and Jazmel could hear the relief in her voice. Corin appeared from the ranks, she flew through the air and landed beside the queen and her daughter. ¡°You have besmirched the honour of the elves.¡± The elders said and raising their hands they sent the elves forward and into the ranks of the sworn. ¡°Retreat!¡± one of the sworn masters uttered and Jazmel watched as they tried to split off and depart into the woods. A sworn master who seemed to be the leader of the others, stepped forward and raising his hand. Black night! He cast and Jazmel watched as all his senses were blocked. He couldn¡¯t see, hear, or feel anything. But the sworn split, disappearing into the forest and leaving the beasts and creatures. the skill eroded and soon the elves and everyone could see again. But the elves took the opportunity to descend into the clearing and kill the creatures of the beast tide. The system chimed with notifications, but he flicked them away. He didn¡¯t have time to read them now. ¡°Thank you.¡± He heard, turning he saw Sad¨¦ standing next to him. He looked at her and smiled, she surprised him but leaning up and kissing him. They stopped, a cough behind them both could be heard and looking. He noticed the queen; Araea was flanked by both elders and another which made Jazmel¡¯s heart thump. Entil was wounded, Jazmel could see he was wounded. But he could also tell he would survive too. ¡°the sworn have disappeared your majesty.¡± One of the elven captains uttered and then bowed low. ¡°See to it that all our guests are sent home. We are going to shut down the kingdom and we need to recover.¡± Queen Araea commanded, and her captains split off to do their job. She turned to her elders and continued. ¡°See to it that no more sworn are in the vicinity, I don¡¯t even want any hiding. Scan the area and kill any you find.¡± She said and the elders bowed, before splitting off and moving faster than Jazmel could even see. ¡°Come, we will go back to my home, and we can gain respite.¡± She expressed and Jazmel nodded, he turned and saw Mary with the claw. ¡°Take them home, we will follow you as soon as everything here is sorted.¡± He said, Mary stepped up and moved off towards the elven captains and where they were directing the guests who had survived to leave. ¡°Your majesty.¡± Frae said, coming before the queen of the elves. ¡°We were thankful to fight beside you and yours. Your lineage is truly mighty.¡± Frae said and smiled brightly at Sad¨¦ who grinned back. ¡°the dwarves are a friend to the elves forever. Let it be known, on this crown and when we have recovered. We can sit down and figure out an alliance.¡± She offered and Frae bowed before turning to Jazmel. ¡°Recover, we return to the mountain. Send word when you return to the outpost, I look forward to your safe return.¡± Frae said, grasping forearms with his brother. He left with his kings guard, some of the dwarves had died but they had buried them already. Using their skills to turn the earth over. The dwarves followed behind Mary and the claw. But they were not worried, the elves were already pushing and reinforcing their kingdom. Jazmel followed the queen and her family as they headed back to her home. He was followed by Baek, Katie and Bannerman. They entered the house and the queen sat down and waited as she went over the notifications. ¡°Your faction helped me, you managed to drive off a beast tide and also fight a master tier sworn. Not forgetting the tier V ifrit. My daughter tells me you are skilled, I didn¡¯t believe her before. But now I see that she was underestimating you. You will become a burning star within the labyrinth.¡± She said and Jazmel listened to her, not sure if it was a compliment or not. ¡°You may rest here; you can return to your home as soon as you are ready, and my daughter may return with you. All I ask is you fight for her, like you fought for us today.¡± She said and Jazmel looked at the queen, who in front of him was just a mother in that moment. ¡°Always.¡± He said and she inclined her head, a sign of great respect. Especially for a monarch, but he did the same and she smiled, leaving them in the main room and taking her husband away. ¡°Did we just get the blessing to keep the princess?¡± Katie asked and Sad¨¦ looked at her before laughing. ¡°This might have been the best ceremony I have ever been to.¡± Katie said and Sad¨¦ laughed again, clutching her stomach. Kazumi appeared from her ring and curled up on the ground. Paldane did the same, Jazmel was at peace surrounded by his friends. ¡°A tier V creature?¡± Jazmel said and Baek nodded. ¡°I thought it actually only went up to tier III, but I have fought a tier IV and a tier V now.¡± Jazmel pointed out and Baek offered his hands in appeasement. ¡°The system tends to create tier only usually I, II and III creatures and monsters. Sometimes you might find a rare tier IV also, the more floors you discover these will become more frequent. But still uncommon. A tier V monster is rare, an absolute anomaly even. The beast on the 100th floor is a tier V ancient dragon. I have never heard of anything higher than tier V.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel breathed a sigh of relief, but then worried again he had barely been able to do anything against the tier V creature. ¡°Do not worry about your strength, your party will be strong enough for tier IV and V sooner, rather than later.¡± Baek motivated and Jazmel breathed a sigh of relief before remembering his notifications. He looked them over now. DING! YOU STOPPED THE BEAST TIDE!If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ YOU SAVED THE ELVEN QUEEN! +3 INT +3 VIT +3 WIL ¡­ YOU DEFEATED A TIER V ELDER IFRIT! LEVEL UP! ¡­ YOU HAVE GAINED THE AFFECTION OF THE ELVES OF THE TENERIEL KINGDOM! He looked over his notifications and smiled, he was ready for a tier tribulation, and he had gained levels atop of that too. ¡°I need to tier up.¡± He said and the others smiled, happy for him and beckoned for him to do so. He sat on the ground, crossing his legs and placing his palms atop his knees. He closed his eyes and focused his system on his needs. TIER TRIBULATION BEGINS! ¡­ TIER TRIBULATION INCOMING ¡­ TRIBULATION ITEMS PRESENT! ¡­ WILL YOU USE THEM? ¡­ He focused on the three items he planned on using and felt his heart thump with excitement. He felt his breath quicken and he really wondered what would happen after he completed his plot. TIER TRIBULATION HAS BEGUN TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND WHAT WILL YOU USE? The first item and the one he had been holding onto for the longest amount of time. He took out the breath of Aule, the wind spirit flared as it was released finally. But he pulled it into his spirit quickly. It still flared and like a birthing star, it didn¡¯t hurt him. It simply pushed the boundaries of his spirit and instead expanded it. The breath of the wind, the mind seemed to merge with his own. They coexisted and he felt no pain at all. The wind spirit flared across his body from the top of his head down to his toes. He felt it brush through his fingertips and his spirit simply swelled with it, a maturity to it now. Denser and more corporeal, Jazmel couldn¡¯t quite tell what it meant. But he figured he would find out later. He moved on, to the next part of the tribulation. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND COMPLETE 1/3 WHAT WILL YOU USE? He pulled from his ring the monarch tier ancient one bone, a gnarled bone that had scars and wounds from constant battle. He wasn¡¯t even sure what an ancient one was, but it was stronger than any of the other items he had possibly planned to use to strengthen his body. He felt it merge with his spine. Literally gripping it and then fusing with it. Using his spine¡¯s connection with his body, he felt muscle fibres and tendrils flare from the ancient one bone. Darting through his body running along the lines of his previous. The pain was excruciating, it felt like the new tendrils were eating his old ones as they replaced them, and he felt his body compound. He felt his muscles deflate and then grow rapidly with new tendons and greater mass. He put on more weight than before, and he felt his body chisel away at the small amount of fat he carried. Instead he felt his abs form up and etch into his stomach. Sitting atop of it like gates and a portcullis of muscle. The pain didn¡¯t recede even when it finished, the bone drilled into his other bones. Reinforcing them with its monarch tier power and raised their density, he felt heavier and stronger. He realised he probably would grow taller again. But he quickly latched onto that tangent, pulling it back into his mind. No he wouldn¡¯t lose focus, he couldn¡¯t. He felt firmer, more solid and he could feel that he had packed on more muscle, his arms rippled with them, and his thighs felt sturdy and strengthened. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY COMPLETE 2/3 WHAT WILL YOU USE? Jazmel willed the tier V aeonic gem forward and using the system he crushed the gem. Using its granules to meld into his spirit. He was flushed with flame, at first it was light and soothing. But it grew in intensity and soon he was being bathed thoroughly and washing his body from the inside out. The flame started in his spirit and then flared across his whole body. It did this repeatedly and soon he was sweating but also suffering from the impurities being pushed from his mind also. His body shuddered and the flame burned, fluctuating around the recesses of his spirit. His willpower fought against it, but it was beginning to flounder. He pushed back with everything and even his tyrant body was beginning to wilt under the pressure of this tier V item. But he couldn¡¯t fail here, no there was no way he could. He grit his teeth and felt them grinding together, he bit his lip and felt the iron taste of blood. But still the flame raged. He suffered, but he wasn¡¯t failing, he could feel it. The small change in the intensity of the flame as it washed over him, it was beginning to ebb away and simply flare in his spirit like a pulse. Like a blaring alarm of flame. But he didn¡¯t concede to it and felt better for it. the system chimed for him, letting him know he had completed this step of the journey, but another notification popped up DING! YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE USE OF A TIER V ITEM BEFORE BECOMING A MASTER! YOUR STATS WILL BE IMPROVED AT THE END! That was new, nothing like that had ever been said during a tier tribulation for himself. But he was trying his best to grow stronger and the things that were happening in front of him were as the labyrinth created. He guessed no other ranker tier, besides his own friends. Could ever say they fought a tier V creature and lived to tell the tale. But here they were. Strengthened and continuing to grow inside the labyrinth. DING! TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT COMPLETE 3/3 ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING THE TIER TRIBULATION EXP REWARD ¡­ RANKER TIER I EXP REWARD! CONGRATULATIONS ON REACHING RANKER TIER II! ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! ¡­ YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY MERGED WITH THE TIER V AEONIC GEM! +6 PER +5 WIL +5 INT ¡­ ¡­ YOU INCORPORATED A MONARCH TIER ANCIENT ONE BONE! +5 STR +5 END +5 VIT +5 WIL ¡­ ¡­ YOU MERGED WITH A MONARCH TIER BREATH OF AULE! +6 AGL +6 DEX .. ¡­ ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR PLOT MARCH OF THE MONARCH PLOT HAS BEEN COMPLETED! MIND BODY SPIRIT YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR PLOT EARLIER THAN NEEDED! REWARDS WILL BE GREATLY IMPROVED!! ¡­ ¡­ ERROR! ERROR ¡­ REWARDS ARE UNABLE TO BE RELEASED BEFORE MASTER TIER! ¡­ REWARDS HELD BACK! PLEASE REACH MASTER TIER BEFORE UNLOCKING REWARDS! What?! Jazmel thought to himself, the system had never held back things from him before. But here it was, alluding to him being too weak to gain the rewards it was offering. DING! A SUBSTITUTE HAS BEEN OFFERED FOR THE TIME BEING! REWARDS! He mulled over the items and realising that they were good, he figured that when he reached master tier. The system would provide him with his true reward. He accepted his rewards and immediately split up his stat points, adding ten stats to his lowest stats and system energy burst forth. Leaving him almost stricken while it enhanced his body. DING! 3/3 PLAQUE PIECES WILL YOU COMBINE? Y/N? He combined them and before him the plaques combined and completed appearing in his hand from within the system. He stood up, feeling stronger and powerful. The others had been watching him undergo the tier tribulation and were happy to see him overcome it. ¡°I have something to tell you all.¡± He said and they waited listening, he took that time to explain his plot. Then what the system told him regarding not reaching master tier yet. He explained the rewards he had been given and everyone listened. ¡°That is interesting.¡± Baek uttered first. ¡°I didn¡¯t find my first monarch tier item until I was a master tier and yet here you are. You even found three.¡± He commented and the others just listened, none having found monarch tier items yet. ¡°Whatever the system is building you up for, it seems it will be a monumental task. I hope we are all enough to support you.¡± Baek said and the air of the conversation changed. ¡°We will face it together, whatever the labyrinth and the system throws at us.¡± Jazmel said and everyone grinned, happy and motivated. ¡°Should we go home?¡± Jazmel asked and everyone murmured about being ready. ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡± Jazmel offered and Sad¨¦ flitted off to bid her parents goodbye. The others prepared, simply rising up and stretching, he realised he had undergone the tier tribulation and it had taken him just under 4 hours. Book 4 Chapter Forty-Five; Not another Auction! It had been just three months since the incident at the coronation. Jazmel and the faction had returned luckily with few losses. Some brave members of the claw had died, they were given burials after the elves returned their bodies. But it hadn''t been without distress, Jazmel felt awful, but Mary told him to bear the brunt of it. they knew what they were doing, it was a risk every time they entered the labyrinth, and all needed to know how dangerous the labyrinth was. Some stayed until the end of the ceremony, while others left about their duties and orders. Mary and Melle had put a pause on the days tasks. But seekers who used these to train and gain stats wouldn¡¯t lower their work rate. Jazmel had even heard people state that they worked tirelessly. Just because he did, he didn¡¯t realise people noticed him. He felt awkward when he was moving around the labyrinth, and he found people staring at him. Most of the time he didn¡¯t know what to do. So he pretended to not notice and continue on what he was doing. Today was one of those days, he had sparred with Katie, she was as lithe and lethal as usual. Thankfully, his dexterity and agility let him keep up with her. ¡°I swear you are stronger than me and I started with a big gap!¡± she said, after conceding when her stamina petered out. ¡°I took the long route, but my stats have balanced out. Have you tempered your body yet?¡± he said, and she shook her head after downing a stamina potion. ¡°I think you should, it would change things for you, especially now that we are facing tier IV creatures more.¡± He offered and she considered it. ¡°I probably need to delve, get my stats up.¡± She said, then she got up and raising a hand, she called out. ¡°Who wants to go into the labyrinth and temper?¡± Katie asked and Elai and Timone raised their hands. ¡°We will come, it¡¯s been boring in the labyrinth.¡± Timone said and Elai was right behind her, the three left to prepare for the gate and Jazmel watched them for a while. ¡°HEY!¡± he heard at the gate and turning he saw Sad¨¦ with an elf, he thought he recognised her and then he realised he did. It was Saif! ¡°You finally made it!¡± Jazmel said, leaving the training courtyard and bounding out of the pit to stand in front of the girls. ¡°Hello my lord.¡± Saif said, bowing her head meekly. ¡°Oh stop that, you are a friend. I am glad to see that you made it here safely.¡± He complimented and she shyly thanked him. ¡°Hey Leno and Seraphina come over here.¡± Jazmel beckoned and the two came over, they had grown quite close. They attempted the astral core as a pair and continued to delve together, Jazmel was smart with his idea. ¡°Hey, you guys, this is Saif. Me and Sad¨¦¡¯s friend. she joined the faction today, look after her and show her around please?¡± he asked and the two nodded and accepted the task. She looked up at him and he sent the system notice already.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. DING! JAZMEL FACTION LEADER OF THE BLACK WING FACTION HAS OFFERED YOU A HOME! WILL YOU JOIN THE FACTION? Y/N? He waited and when she accepted, he smiled. Grinning. As Leno led the girls away he stopped them. ¡°Wait, actually I have been meaning to give you these. You should all be near your next tier tribulation right?¡± he asked, and they all nodded, Saif earnestly. ¡°Good. So here you go.¡± He pulled from his ring the steel fin tuna blade, a keen dagger that was sleek and a beautifully designed blade. he tossed it over to Leno who caught it deftly and stored it in his belt, he seemed to like knives and short swords. Next he handed the Bruxa core to Serafina, she looked it over admiring it and then nodded at it before pulling it into her ring. He thought for a moment and then pulled out the scorpion core and gave that to her too. Leno almost protested but he was given the Kogor corpse also and smiled before pulling that into his ring. He turned to Saif, and he asked her. ¡°What Mana are you closely attuned to?¡± he asked and sheepishly, not looking into his face. She spoke up. ¡°Chaos, arcane chaos.¡± She said and Jazmel looked at Sad¨¦, she too was surprised. ¡°I have something for that, luckily.¡± He said and pulling from his ring he handed them over. the chaos shard and then the pearl of pandora. She looked them over and when she realised they both were attuned to chaos like her. She looked up at Jazmel and grinned. ¡°Thank you Jaz!¡± leno said and then he ran off, Jazmel wondered if they were all going to tier up now, or if they were going to gossip about what they had been given. He watched them for a while, but then he felt eyes on him, and he looked over to Sad¨¦, who was watching him with a grin on her face. The face he loved to see her make. ¡°Why are you staring at me?¡± he asked, suddenly embarrassed. ¡°I love to watch you work.¡± She said. ¡°Work?¡± ¡°Work your magic on people.¡± She said and he looked at her confused. ¡°Never mind, come lets go into the labyrinth, I need to catch up with you and I am not going to do that here. Since Sad¨¦ had returned to the labyrinth and found the changes. She had entered the astral domain almost daily, trying to beat the ranks of those who had entered before her. She was pushing hard to grow, Jazmel knew she was pushing for her next tier tribulation. Just as Jazmel was about to call for Paldane, both Tango and Baek appeared. ¡°Are you going into the labyrinth?¡± Tango asked and Jazmel nodded. ¡°None of us should enter the labyrinth with so few. Especially you too, our faction leader or a princess.¡± Tango said, and in truth. He was right, Sad¨¦ had become tremendously important, and he had a title if he died. the faction would dissolve. Sad¨¦ had been able to return to the faction, her mother had seen firsthand just how powerful they were. Corin hadn''t returned to the faction with Sad¨¦, Jazmel had noticed this. But didn¡¯t ask any questions, no he didn¡¯t need to. Sad¨¦ would speak to him about it when she was ready. ¡°We will both come.¡± Baek said, motioning to himself and Tango. Jazmel conceded and left all the others inside the outpost and entered the labyrinth. The unknown, with Sad¨¦, Tango and Baek. The two master tier of his faction. They entered the labyrinth and Baek sighed. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°The floor, it is a nuisance.¡± He said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because we are in Echolon city.¡± Tango answered. ¡°So?¡± Jazmel said, confused and he glanced at Sad¨¦ who was just as confused as him. ¡°Echolon city, is nearly as bad as Ladnipor, except these lot are just legally good at what they do. Merchants and auction houses run this city.¡± Tango explained and Baek inclined his head in agreement. ¡°So we can go shopping?¡± Sad¨¦ said, she was smiling and happy to be with Jazmel. She was wearing her weapons and armour, but that didn¡¯t stop her from linking arms with him and leading them into the city. Book 4 Chapter Forty-Six; Not another Auction! II Jazmel entered the city and much to the description of Tango. He found the city like Ladnipor, and it unnerved him. He didn¡¯t have good memories of that place. ¡°Baek where is the best auction in the city?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek thought for a moment as they stood in the street and crowds of people waltzed pass them. ¡°The Jade family have the best auction house; they charge a steep price though.¡± Baek said and he nodded. ¡°I have many items I need to sell; I also have the full ring of the SK hunter still. I plan to sell them all here.¡± he explained and Baek nodded, turning on his heel he made his way to the auction, leading the way. Tango assumed the rear and seemed to be acting as security for Jazmel and the princess. They walked for almost an hour when Jazmel saw the auction house. Which was barely a house and more of a mansion or a hall. The guards at the gate were big, scarred warriors. They didn¡¯t release their Mana, but the pressure of their presence alone, seemed to scare away those who were not worthy. When they spotted Baek, they noticed him immediately and welcomed him in. Jazmel saw coins be handed over, but he couldn¡¯t count just how much it had cost to be allowed in. ¡°Welcome to the Jade auction hall!¡± a woman in a tiny dress said as she welcomed them in. Sad¨¦ looked at her strangely, but Jazmel simply looked everywhere but her dress, it barely covered anything. ¡°We want to sit in on the auction, but I also want to sell items.¡± He said and she grinned at him, she went to link his arm, but Sad¨¦ moved between them and linked his arm instead. ¡°I will show you to our curator. You can show him your items now and then another will gather you for the seating area.¡± She explained and she beckoned for them to follow her. She led them to a stairway and ascending one floor, she led them to a closed door. When opened a little old mans at a table with white gloves on and waiting. Jazmel entered last, the woman smiled and winked at him. closing the door for them.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He checked the ring of the ranker who had tried to rob them again and noticed the coins. He took them into his own ring. Jazmel sat at the chair that faced the desk the curator was sat at. He placed the ring on the table and the curator touched it, his Mana creeping into the ring and checking all of the items. ¡°There are great items in there, in here. You could have kept them all and used them to advance.¡± he said, his eyes suddenly fierce and curious. ¡°We decided against using the ring, the items were not earned. They were stolen, we caught the thief, but his victims are already gone.¡± Jazmel explained, not going into further detail. ¡°I admire the respect you live with. But the labyrinth is not so forgiving, remember that if not anything else.¡± He said and Jazmel listened to him. ¡°I will give you 100 platinum coins for the ring I have already taken the 15% we take for selling on the items.¡± He said, Jazmel accepted. He probably deserved more, but he genuinely wanted to get rid of the ring. He took half of it and offered it to Sad¨¦, but she waved him away. ¡°My mother gave me some money when I left.¡± She said and Jazmel wondered how much money a queen could give. He conceded and took the entirety of it and added it to his ring. ¡°do you have other items?¡± he asked and Jazmel nodded, going into his own ring, he took all the weapons he had earned and put them on the table. TIER III BELL RINGER LONG HAFTED AXE TIER III BLACKENED REAPING SCYTHE The curator whistled; he checked each item. Carefully checking the weight and the balance of them. Jazmel was surprised to see him pick up the axe, but he hefted it with no problem. ¡°These are wonderful.¡± He said, quietly but Jazmel heard him. ¡°I will pay you 100 platinum coins for them both.¡± He said, a wry smile on his lips. Jazmel hadn''t expected to get that much but he accepted. ¡°Nothing else to sell?¡± he asked and Jazmel shook his head, the others didn¡¯t have items they wanted to part with. ¡°Well thank you for your customer service and enjoy the auction.¡± He offered and the door knocked, and another attendant was waiting to take them to their seats for the auction. The auction hall was much like the others Jazmel had frequented since he had entered the labyrinth. Large walls and high ceilings box office seats imbedded into the walls, so anonymous buyers could buy items without people knowing who they were. He had PTSD from those high box office rooms. No he decided to stay in the belly of the audience. Baek and Tango didn¡¯t question his decision and instead led the way, finding a comfortable spot, not too far from the front. But not enough to be crowded in, Jazmel was comfortable, and he placed himself behind Sad¨¦ and gave her enough room to stand at the forefront. Book 4 Chapter Forty-Seven; Not another Auction! III The auctioneer came through and Jazmel watched him with interest. The other ones he had seen over the different floors, were all audacious and extravagant. But this one seemed different. ¡°Welcome to Echolon city, I am sure you all come from far and wide. I thank you all for coming, I also thank you for those who sold items and wares to us. You are how we manage to continue to provide for you all.¡± The man was quiet, there was nothing distinct about him and even as Jazmel studied him, he couldn¡¯t point out one thing. Not his facial features or his voice, it was almost like trying to grip water. When he thought back to the man, he couldn¡¯t remember anything. It was beyond Jazmel¡¯s understanding. ¡°We have many items for you and rather than having us bring them out to you. We have done something different; we have presented the system with our wares, and you can shop and buy them as you see fit. Once bought, you can have the items provided to you here, or delivered to a specific place. Of course, this will come with a delivery fee.¡± He explained and with a wave of his hand, all the people around, were hit with system notices. DING! WELCOME TO JADE AUCTION HOUSE! ECHOLON CITY WELCOMES YOU!! ¡­ RANKER TIER II! YOU HAVE UNLOCKED THE CONDITIONS FOR RANKER AND MASTER TIER ITEMS! ¡°You will see that some of you have met conditions which has revealed items of greater tiers and qualities. This will be only offered to certain members here. Please be understanding.¡± He uttered and Jazmel looked back at his screen to begin shopping. DING! RANKER TIER ITEMS! ¡­ RANKER TIER WHETSTONE RANKER TIER GOLEM¡¯S EYE RANKER TIER BLOOD OF A CHIMERA RANKER TIER GORGON REMAINS RANKER TIER DRAGON HORN ¡­ Jazmel looked over them, he was curious but was still looking at others. So he scrolled on the interface and looked through the tier III items. TIER III ELEMENTAL STONE TIER III STAR SHINE STONE TIER III GARDIGOL CORE TIER III BRUXA QUEEN BLOOD TIER III GREATER FIEND BEAST CORE ¡­ Jazmel looked over those, he shuddered at the idea of a Bruxa queen. He hadn''t seen a Bruxa since his first time inside the fountain trial gates. No he definitely wasn¡¯t buying that item. He opened up the last list that he had access to, the master tier items. MASTER TIER EGO BLADE MASTER TIER PHEONIX EGG OF UNDYING FLAMEThe tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. MASTER TIER SKILL BOOK MASTER TIER BEADS OF THE PRAYING MOUNTAIN MASTER TIER OGRE TITAN CORE Jazmel looked over those items and honestly, he couldn¡¯t think see anything for which he was dying. Something he thought he could use to his advantage. He scroll back through the other lists to see if anything stood out to him. RANKER TIER WHETSTONE, a whetstone creates a keen edge! Use this on an item and add extra sharpness to your blade. Jazmel liked that, he tapped the screen and the whetstone popped up singular. DO YOU WISH TO BUY? Y/N? He tapped yes, waiting for the price and it sprung up on screen. 300 WHITE GOLD COINS! Y/N? That was steep, but it was a ranker tier item and he had just gained so many platinum coins. He accepted and immediately a new option popped up. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON PURCHASING YOUR ITEM! WILL YOU HAVE IT DELIVERED OR BROUGHT TO YOU AT THE END OF THE AUCTION? He chose end of auction and the system. Seemed to take note of it and then an entirely new notification popped up. WILL YOU LOOK AT THE NEXT CATALOGUE? Y/N? THESE ITEMS ARE ONLY RANKER AND MASTER TIER! Y/N? He was intrigued and accepted both times. RANKER TIER CELESTIAL ARCHER BOW RANKER TIER SERAPH ARMOUR SET RANKER TIER GUARDIAN SENTINEL RANKER TIER BLACK FLAME GAUNTLETS RANKER TIER MANTIS SICKLE BLADES ¡­ MASTER TIER PALADIN CLEAVER MASTER TIER GUARD OF THE FJORD MASTER TIER ICE FRAGMENT OF THE FJORD MASTER TIER AEONIC PHOENIX ESSENCE MASTER TIER ARCANE SPIKE The items were wondrous, he could only imagine what he could do with them. But truthfully, he knew they were not for him. He accepted his lone whetstone and left it at that. ¡°Everyone finished?¡± he asked and everyone else nodded, seeming to see the same things he did while shopping. Great items, but extravagant and not for them. Jazmel turned to leave the group and was heading out of the audience when he came to a stall. The stall keeper was waving him over. ¡°I saw you young master, the auction is prestigious and for the extravagant. But here, at my stall. We have what you need, we have the things that are useful within the labyrinth. ¡°Do you have any skill tier up tokens?¡± Jazmel asked and the man nodded, shaking his head up and down almost rattling his head. Jazmel came to the front of his stall and waited. True to his word. He shared his interface. X5 TIER III SKILL TIER UP TOKEN X10 TIER II SKILL TIER UP TOKEN X2 TIER II SKILL EVOLVE TOKEN ¡°I will buy three tier III skill tier up tokens. I will also buy the two, tier II skill evolve tokens.¡± ¡°three hundred white gold coins for the tier up tokens and five hundred for the skill evolve.¡± He offered and Jazmel, shrugged accepting. Jazmel handed over two platinum coins and five hundred white gold coins. DING! X3 TIER III SKILL TIER UP TOKEN X2 TIER II SKILL EVOLVE TOKEN Jazmel moved from the stall after thanking the owner. He looked at his skill list and decided what he was using the skills on immediately. Skills: He used his first skill tier up token on lacerate and the skill bumped up to tier II. DING! LACERATE HAS BECOME TIER II He then used a skill evolve token on it and the system hummed, using the system energy within the token. DING! SKILL EVOLVE TOKEN USED ON LACERATE! ¡­ ¡­ LACERATE BECOMES EVISCERATE! EVISCERATE REMAINS TIER II! Jazmel liked the skill upgrade. He was already curious about it, but that would have to wait. He still had more to do. He used another skill tier up token, but this time he used it on his draconic skill. DING! SKILL TIER UP TOKEN USED! GREAT RUMBLING DRAGON HAS BECOME TIER II ¡­ He considered using the skill evolve token on the skill but held back. He could use it later. He decided to wait and kept the final skill evolve token. But he still have one more skill tier up token. He used that on his first skill. DING! SKILL TIER UP TOKEN USED! RAVEN¡¯S CLEAVING DESCENT HAS BECOME TIER II He was happy with his skills; he took a quick look again. To see what changes had occurred. Skills: He was happy with it, more than. His skills hadn''t tiered up in a while and he had questioned it. But as his stats continued to rise and he was evolving and gaining levels, he chose to pick his battles. Book 4 Chapter Forty-Eight; the Jade House They had stepped out of the auction house; it had been a little underwhelming. But Jazmel wasn¡¯t unhappy with what he had gained, Tango and Baek both hadn''t bought anything. But Sad¨¦ had bought a tome on fire and flame. She was trying to raise her understanding of it, in hopes of evolving her skills. Jazmel thought it interesting, but as she had kitsune tails, she should be already skilled with flame. But she told him; her thunder core was far more developed than her fire one. It was lagging behind, and she needed to force it to catch up. Everyone was hard at work, hard at training and pushing to dominance. It wasn¡¯t easy to grow quickly in the labyrinth, it cost money to advance through tiers. Either money or the dangers of the labyrinth. There weren¡¯t many people outside the auction house, but those that were there. Were stock still and watching something, Jazmel stood at the front and tried to see what was happening. A group of men were hastily trying to retreat down the road, while a single girl; a young woman. Was following them and casting skills and strikes against them. The woman was beautiful, she was pale as snow and her cheeks were rosy and pink. Her lips were plump and reddened too. She had a cute button nose; she was maybe around five foot six inches tall. Her hair was long and platinum blonde, flowing straight down her back. She wore a dress; she looked like she was going out to a party. It was a cocktail dress, and she was wearing heels to match it. she wore a shawl that she held around her back and through her arms. But it wasn¡¯t being used to cover her. When she entered Jazmel¡¯s view, he felt the temperature drop sharply. She was doing something to the air, it got cold very quickly. He could see his breath and he was wearing his favoured aviator jacket. But suddenly wasn¡¯t doing well to keep out the cold. Blizzard storm! She raised her hand and a shower of snow formed into icicles. She dropped her hand, and they shot across the air and peppered the men as they tried to escape her wrath. Some were wounded, some managed to shield themselves. None fought back, what Jazmel found interesting. But everyone else was simply watching. Frigid fjord! She cast another skill, from the snowstorm she had already invoked, human sized snow men appeared, forming from her snow. She sent them after her victims and rushed forward to the wounded, who cried out and pleased for help.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. But everyone watched on, Jazmel was about to step forward. But Tango stopped him. ¡°Wait.¡± He said and Jazmel did. The woman¡¯s summoned snow guards. Grabbed the wounded and brought them before her. ¡°Mila, we are sorry.¡± One spoke, but she didn¡¯t even look at him. No, her eyes were focused on a single man. ¡°No, Niko. The words need to come from Birkov.¡± She said for a while and Jazmel could hear she had an accent. ¡°Not only do you still from me, but you try to kill me inside a gate? Me? I have survived a tier IV beast tide with nothing but my wit and grit. But you fools think you are enough try and kill me?¡± she said, Jazmel felt worried for the men, the woman was just like her abilities. Cold. ¡°Mila, it wasn¡¯t meant to go like that. We didn¡¯t even know it was yours to steal. You wouldn¡¯t let us explain.¡± The man called Birkov said. ¡°So if it was a misunderstanding. Why did you run?¡± she asked, and this stumped the men. ¡°I thought as much, for the incident, I would¡¯ve taken a hand just from one of you. But you doubled down and then turned traitors. You know what happens to traitors who fall away from me.¡± She told them and Jazmel felt his heart thumping for the men. ¡°We know, but it is my fault.¡± Birkov admitted and Jazmel admired that man in that moment. ¡°Well, I respect you for the integrity you hold in this last moment.¡± She reached over, and simply kissed his cheek. Breathing a little on him, her snowmen guards had stepped back and taken the other men aside. Birkov, stayed kneeled in front of her. The kiss on his cheek was beginning to spread across his body. He was being frozen slowly, and within minutes. His entire body was frozen solid, and she then flicked his forehead and shattered his body. She stared down at the ice remains and then rooted around and picked up the man¡¯s rings. She looked up and around before speaking. ¡°Nobody can get away from stealing from the Baronovich clan. I will come and I will collect.¡± She said, nobody said anything. A lot of people were already trying to disappear and not lock eyes with the woman of cold and ice. Her and Jazmel locked eyes, she eyed him, and he simply looked back her. Calm and his hand tucked into his belt atop his sword. she smirked and then he noticed that Sad¨¦ was there looking at her, all five Mana tails already unfurled and flaring Mana. ¡°He is yours young lady?¡± she called over to Sad¨¦. ¡°What do you want with him?¡± she didn¡¯t answer her, but she clearly was feeling protective. Jazmel fought with everything he had, to hide a smile. ¡°When you are done with him, let me know. He is cute. He looks strong.¡± She said and she turned and headed back down the street, her snow men following her. ¡°We should get out of here. Are we going into the labyrinth or are we returning home?¡± Tango said and Jazmel was about to respond. But then an origami swan appeared. I need your help! We are trapped! ¨C Tera Nema. ¡°We need to return to the outpost now.¡± He said and they hurried to find a gate. Book 4 Chapter Forty-Nine; Planning a Plan of Action Jazmel burst into the chamber hall of the outpost and had called all his friends, captains of the outpost. He sat on the bottom seat that led up to his seat and central node. Tango, Sad¨¦, Baek and Mary were to one side. Timone, Elai, and Wendy stood together. Gelth, Bannerman and Katie were standing to the side, they had come straight from training and scouting with their groups. The last to come were Patton and Gilmore. ¡°Sorry to pull you all away from what we do for the daily tasks here. I apologise for that, but I had to speak to you all, at one time.¡± He said and everyone grew silent with the seriousness. ¡°A friend of mine has sent me a request for help. I have met her a few times in the labyrinth now, she really helped me in the Xuanhuan realm. Now she is asking for my help, I want to lead a team, but I know I cannot just up and leave. Especially as the leader of this faction.¡± He uttered and everyone grew quiet. ¡°Where is she?¡± Mary asked and Jazmel shrugged. ¡°I do not know.¡± ¡°how do you know she needs help then?¡± Elai asked and before Jazmel spoke up, Baek interjected. ¡°She sent him a swan. A swan can be used to direct you to who sent it. it just costs a lot.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel wondered what to do. ¡°I think you should go for her; we should go.¡± Katie said and looking around she shrugged. ¡°We are the strongest party; we collaborate best with each other, and we all know how to work around one another.¡± She explained. ¡°The pack that has hunted together the longest, usually brings back the best.¡± Bannerman offered and Jazmel nodded at his words. ¡°Tera Nema? I met her in the pyramid of Argilles.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Jazmel listened to the others. ¡°So it is decided, the original party is going to go to your friend¡¯s rescue. We will stay here and keep things running.¡± Mary said. ¡°I will accompany them.¡± Baek said but Jazmel raised his hand.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°I cannot keep taking the two masters out of the outpost whenever I go out. I am sure you have your own things to do no?¡± Jazmel pointed out. ¡°Baek and Tango will stay here. I will go with the original party, Baek, Mary and Tango are in charge. Everyone do what they usually do, I will keep you all posted and updated. If anything happens, we will send word for all of you to come.¡± Jazmel stated and the others agreed. Humbly. After that, the normal discussions of the outpost were brought up and Mary took initiative and took over discussing the needs of the faction and who would lead those different tasks while Jazmel and the others were away. Melle entered, she had heard Jazmel was leaving and so she brought items. She replenished his potions; he hadn''t refilled these since he had given them all out in the Braddon hills. Even when he was at the coronation he hadn''t been carrying any. He had been foolish. DING! X10 TIER II GREATER MANA POTIONS X10 TIER II GREATER HEALTH POTIONS X10 TIER II GREATER STAMINA POTIONS She gave all of them potions and then when she left, the others split off. Soon it was just Tango and Baek left. ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want me to come?¡± Tango asked and Jazmel nodded, he had to rely on his and his friends strength alone. ¡°If you get into an emergency call us.¡± Tango said, he hugged Jazmel after that, then left. Following after Mary to support her, Tango didn¡¯t have a title in the outpost, he was just a retainer. But Jazmel didn¡¯t know what to offer him. ¡°We need to link the origami swan to your friend¡¯s Mana.¡± He said and he placed his hand on top of the swan and then he beckoned for Jazmel to join him. ¡°This is going to cost you some Mana, it needs to stay running through every floor you enter. It will direct you towards where your friend it. It will disappear once it returns to her though. Bear that in mind.¡± He explained and then placing Jazmel¡¯s hand over the swan, he felt a prick. Not a physical pain but something latched onto his Mana. Connecting and using it to funnel its activation. Baek watched them for a moment and then inclined his head, leaving them to it. Jazmel stood facing his friends, Sad¨¦, Katie, Patton, and Bannerman. ¡°Are you guys ok with this?¡± Jazmel said and they all agreed, Katie even hurried him along. He led the way, he knocked his vambraces together and his armour formed around him. Everyone else had spent the last couple of months and their own rewards to upgrade their armour and weapons too. Everyone had a particular armour set now and was wearing it. Gorin had made them beside Sad¨¦¡¯s, Jazmel was wearing his own. Sad¨¦ was wearing her Stormcaller set, it crackled with lightning and thunder. Bannerman was wearing the Fenrir set, but it had been enchanted and the vambraces had been imbued to do the same as Jazmel¡¯s. Katie had, had armour made for her and she had used orichalcum ores, so her armour had a rose gold and rusted copper look to it. but it was lithe and flexible like her, like a chain. It was strong and seemed linked to her chains, so she could wield more chains and it helped her with her precision. Patton himself was wearing a light Paladin armour, the Mana paladin. It enhanced his Mana and allowed him to create denser things. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± Jazmel said, following the golden light of the origami swan as it flew through the gate out of the outpost. Book 4 Chapter Fifty; Tears for the Tier IV DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED A DOMAIN! TO ADVANCE YOU MUST DEFEAT THE TIER IV CREATURE AT THE CENTRE OF THE DOMAIN! ¡­ The system flared and Jazmel flicked the screen off before looking around. He was in a field again, it reminded him of the fields of Lylo and he felt eerily worried. ¡°tier IV creature again? great.¡± Katie mumbled, but Jazmel heard her, and he smirked. Jazmel led the way, the others following his pace and they hurried through the fields. ¡°No idea how long this will take, so we are flying through straight to the core.¡± Jazmel called over his shoulder. Nobody responded, but he wasn¡¯t worried. his friends were capable. Some wolves appeared at the forefront, they were big and larger than any that Jazmel had seen before. ¡°I will deal with them.¡± Bannerman said, bounding forward, the wolves spotted them and snarled. Howl He howled and the wolves fought against his howl, but conceded lowering their heads as the group passed them. Other wolves appeared, but Bannerman simply howled and took over. they in turn ran with them and soon a pack of wolves were running towards the domain core. In the middle of the clearing. When they escaped the trees, they saw the clearing, it was covered by few trees. But Jazmel could see the Mana fluctuating around the centre of the clearing. ¡°The tier IV, whatever it is. Will be strong, the Mana is immense over there.¡± He motioned towards the middle of the clearing. The wolves stayed, whining, and whimpering at the edge of the trees. ¡°They will not leave the safety of the trees. They say something dark is in the clearing, something that feasts on wolves.¡± Bannerman told them and Jazmel watched him communicate, or commune with the wolves. They stepped out into the clearing and headed towards the middle. Towards the centre of the clearing and the domain core. Jazmel led the way, Sad¨¦ to the left of his shoulder, Paldane nestled nicely in the collar of his armour. Bannerman close by on his right and the others following behind them. Kazumi was out and in his large fox hound size, her coat aflame. The domain core was literally a large crystal core imbedded into the ground. It was about the size of a table and flashed, pulsing with Mana as they neared. The ground had been cleared and it was bare, and nothing was growing around it. Jazmel imagined it was due to the purity of the Mana, but he didn¡¯t have time to focus on that. Because appearing beside the core, a dark creature stepped out of nothing; as if it stepped from another plane. It caressed the core lovingly and when it noticed Jazmel and his party. When it glanced at them and took them all in, it roared a challenge of such ferocity. Jazmel almost backpedalled himself. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND THE DOMAIN CORE! YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND BY THE TIER IV CORE CREATURE! TO ADVANCE DEFEAT THE LESHY! ¡­ A Leshy, Jazmel didn¡¯t know what it was. But it looked like a humanoid creature, it was taller than him, standing at nearly nine feet. It was long in the limbs and though they were wiry, they still looked like they held power. Its long arms ended in long gnarled claws and talons at the end of his feet. It wore a skirt made of a wreath of leaves, a kilt of natural leaves and rope made from long grass. Its head was covered with a bone mask that looked like a moose skull. The antlers still remained on the skull and its eyes were jaundice, yellow sclera with red irises. Jazmel had never seen a creature like it before, but something about it filled him with horror.Stolen story; please report. ¡°Abomination!¡± Sad¨¦ yelled and with one hand outstretched she threw fire. Foxfire! She cast her blue flames and a torrent poured from her open palm. But she watched as the Leshy simple raised a gust of wind. Leaves and dirt spiralled around it and blocked the fire from scathing it. DING! THE LESHY HAS USED CALL OF THE WILD! ALL NATURE SKILLS WILL BE AUGMENTED SLIGHTLY!! Jazmel didn¡¯t have time to look at the screen for longer. A root ripped from the ground and tried to grab for him. He swung his sword around his body, slashing through and cutting down the many roots that dug through the ground towards him. ¡°Paldane!¡± he yelled, Paldane looked from beneath his collar, clawing its way free. Paldane leapt into the air and flew into the sky. the Leshy followed Paldane and almost missed Kazumi and Sad¨¦ who bounded in. Eviscerate! Jazmel used his new skill. Lacerate had always felt like he was signing a word in the air. But this evolved form of the skill was completely different. No eviscerate was its name. the skill leapt from the sword, it felt like a fanged attack. Eviscerate leapt forward and sliced through the spiralling guard of nature. It slammed into the Leshy and left a big wound on its chest. It cried out, a sound no human thing could make. ¡°Leave some for us!¡± Katie said as she leapt past him, almost over his head. Withered whip! She yelled her skill, shooting from a rusted and ethereal looking chain. It wrapped around the left hand of the Leshy, and it cried out. As Jazmel watched with as the chain almost leeched the life force from the hand and burned through the limb. The hand and half of its forearm fell to the ground desiccate and lifeless. Wolf hunt! Bannerman burst through the dirt and leaves. His claws glinting with Mana, he slashed a flurry and blood wept from the wounds he made. The Leshy cried out, screamed from the wounds. ¡°You dare to harm wolves?¡± Jazmel heard him growl and the Leshy screamed back in defiance. Katie flung another chain around Bannerman¡¯s waist and pulled him out. Just as the Leshy was about to attack him back. It picked up its hand and placing it on its moose skull for but a moment. It dropped it on the ground. DING! THE LESHY HAS SACRIFICED HIS LEFT HAND! THE LESHY HAS USED ITS LEFT HAND TO REACH INTO THE DARK!! IT HAS PULLED OUT A DARK SERVANT TIER III WAR WOLF HAS BEEN SUMMONED! ¡­ Jazmel watched as the hand turned onto its fingers, and then dug into the ground; tearing a rend into another space. The hand disappeared into the gap. From that gap an exceptionally large paw pushed out and then opening the ground more. A wolf crawled out. Its thick black fur was dense. It was the biggest wolf Jazmel had ever seen. It growled, spittle flecked its teeth, and it howled a sorrowful challenge. ¡°We will manage the wolf.¡± Bannerman said, Jazmel could see he wouldn¡¯t be persuaded. He and Katie edged off to the side and the wolf face off against them. ¡°We got this.¡± Patton said, sidling up beside Jazmel. ¡°Are we going in?¡± he asked Jazmel and Jazmel smiled, drawing Daishinkan. ¡°Can you keep up?¡± Jazmel quirked. ¡°Don¡¯t fall behind then.¡± Patton quipped. They darted in, leaping and dodging over roots. Aeonic flame! Paldane spewed a torrent of flame down on the Leshy and it wailed in pain. It tried to claw at Paldane with its one good hand. But he soared higher into the sky and the Leshy wagged its hand at him. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ cast her fire and it burned through the wall of nature like kindle. Engulfing the Leshy. It was wreathed in fire and Jazmel could see it was suffering, not being able to withstand the assault. Mana blade Patton swung his Mana imbued sword, Mana crafting creating a much larger sword. Then the sword he was swinging, his sword swung deep into the side and into the gut of the Leshy. It stopped the blade with its free hand and Jazmel took the moment to get his strike in. Sunder! He aimed his strike at the skull. He raised his sword with two hands and with a downward slash. He cut through the moose skull. Power burst from the skull as it split, and the destruction knocked Jazmel and Patton off their feet. They were closest to it. DING! STATUS CONDITION! DAZED (minor) ¡­ He was swooning on the ground, when he saw the Leshy stumbling towards him where he lay. Fox fire Fox fire! Jazmel heard and from behind, he could just make out Sad¨¦ and Kazumi both using fire to burn the Leshy out of its skin. Paldane appeared from above and joined in. Aeonic flame! DING! TIER IV LESHY KILLED! ¡­ EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ The Leshy died in front of them, body burning like kindle and withered twigs. The body burned quickly and the smell of burned fur and dry straw could be smelt. He got up. Recovering from the reflux of the Mana breaking free from the mask. He looked over just as Katie and Bannerman were finishing off the war wolf. The giant wolf was chained up and on its side. Bannerman grabbed a hold of its enlarged head and twisted its neck savagely. The wolf died and Bannerman let it lay down gently and left his hand on its body for but a moment. ¡°You alright?¡± Jazmel asked him, Jazmel nodded. ¡°I am fine too!¡± Patton said and Sad¨¦ nudged him and wrapped an arm around him. Book 4 Chapter Fifty-One; Maybe a Monarch Conquering the labyrinth had just been something to do. He had survived things that others had not. He had survived beast tides where gates had remained locked for weeks. Merged gates seemed to always occur around him, he remembered when he was but a seeker. He had found himself in a domain core quest that had ended with everyone but himself dying. Something about this made him realise the systema and the domain had plans for him. He had forgotten his name; he had gotten so used to not using it. That he had all but forgotten what his original name had been. Now he went by what everyone who still remembered him called him. The survivor. And he was one, he survived all the things he had been through. True it was never unscathed. But most of the time, he survived almost all the things in front of him. He would disappear and recover, lick his wounds, and then reappear, delving deeper and deeper in the labyrinth.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. This was one such time and now the labyrinth had brought him to the 100th floor. The floor of the strongest tier V creature. The strongest tier V calamity the labyrinth had ever formed to fight the master tier. An ancient high dragon was a problem. Only after the sixtieth and seventieth floor did you see dragons in the labyrinth. But this calamity, so named Gravich was the greatest of them all. He should know, he had survived his share of a few. His armour warmed, Mana flowing smoothly from it into his body and back. A harmonic bond had been built and the fact that his armour was flaring Mana, told him he was in for a serious battle. Gravich roared as soon as he entered the gate. The domain announced his presence and dragons from all around the brood seemed to awake with his presence. They smelled him, they knew he was there to overcome them, and they wouldn¡¯t let him. But many before them thought the same thing. He pulled his sword free, unlatched his battleaxe from his back. ¡°well met.¡± He said, after all he was going to survive. He always did. They were the ones who had never met something like him before. Book 4 Chapter Fifty-Two; the Mirror of Tildred The domain core pulsed and Jazmel felt drawn to it. But before he did, he checked on everyone. ¡°Everyone good? I told you, we are rushing forward and advancing. Get your rewards together, share out your stats. I am going to check the domain core and then we are going.¡± He said. Everyone was already doing as he said. He turned on his heel and marched towards the domain core. The core is purged. Cleansed, when we killed the Leshy, the system took all the bad Mana. Paldane told him as he landed on his head. He crawled into his collar again. Jazmel placed a hand on the domain core, and it pulsed and then he couldn¡¯t move his hand. It was bonded to a domain core. DING! YOU HAVE CONNECTED WITH THE DOMAIN CORE! WILL YOU ENTER INTO THE DOMAIN CORE MIRROR? WILL YOU ENTER THE MIRROR OF TILDRED? Y/N? ¡°Any of you guys heard of the mirror of Tildred?¡± he asked but his friends hadn''t heard of it. ¡°Well we are moving forward; I am going to enter the mirror.¡± He accepted and the domain disappeared and in the space of seconds. He was standing before a floating mirror, it was huge. The biggest mirror he had ever seen. It was grant; the border made of gilded brandished rose gold. It was taller than him and wider than him, even with his hands stretched out. He touched the glass, it moved, and ripples appeared across the mirror. It was like water. He placed a hand on it a quivered and Jazmel pushed through. Entered the mirror and the world changed. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE MIRROR OF TILDRED ¡­ YOU MUST PASS THROUGH THE MEMORIES TO ADVANCE! Jazmel looked around and found himself alone. None of his friends were presence, he couldn¡¯t even see Paldane or feel him. He stepped up onto a road and looking down to the left it was open and a well walked path. But down the right and towards the right. He could see carnage. Bodies lied broken and dismembered in the road. Jazmel walked towards them and strewn across the road, he saw bodies of men in armour. In the street and then he saw weapons laid in the street. It was as if he was watching a scene of gore and horror. But something tore at his heart, something told him to watch the entirety of the scene.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. There was something strange, but Jazmel continued watching and carried staring. Along the road he saw more bodies clumped together. But this time they seemed to be in a formation protecting someone or something. When he got there, he realised that there was a single body, covered in wounds, slices and cuts. But they were still alive. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± He realised she was speaking; it was a woman and she had fought all of the men who were trying her here. She was saying something, but he couldn¡¯t hear her. Then he realised that all the sound in the mirror was quiet, he couldn¡¯t hear anything. She turned, crawled towards a small tuft of grass and when she parted it. there lay a baby. Jazmel¡¯s heart thumped, crashed into his chest and he looked at the baby. He felt familiar, he felt some semblance of similarity and his heart. The baby he was seeing, the infant child he was seeing was himself. And so he turned, to look in the face of the woman, the woman he had seen and the woman he now recognised as his mother. She was looking at the baby version of him, and stroked his face with her free hand and though she was clearly wounded and dying. She only thought of her child, she was hushing, soothing him with her voice. But the child version of himself almost knew something was up, it was crying. He was crying, and something in him broke. Shattered, the fourth wall keeping his thoughts about his mother and childhood back. Seeped through and crushed the wall he was using to protect himself. No he wept, he cried for his mother. ¡°My son.¡± He heard and he looked up, his eyes caught his mother¡¯s, and she was staring at him. ¡°Are you my boy?¡± she asked again, she seemed transfixed on him, and he simply cried more. Then he felt hands on him, and he stumbled back. She had rose up and was comforting him, soothing him. ¡°You have grown! Is this the system in my last moments?¡± she asked, curious but completely at peace. Jazmel didn¡¯t want to lose the moments, he didn¡¯t know how long he had. So he was quiet, and he tried to compose himself. ¡°I am not sure.¡± He said, wiping his tears, she reached up and helped him. Cupping his face, she looked him in his eyes, searching and seeking. Then she smiled, a motherly love took her face, and she stretched up into a hug. ¡°I would know you at any moment of my life.¡± she said whilst still hugging him. ¡°What happened to you?¡± he asked, and she held him back to look into his face again. ¡°I cannot tell you; I do not want to anchor your fate to revenge.¡± She explained and Jazmel bowed his head in defeat. ¡°Come, tell me about you before my time is up.¡± She said and Jazmel spoke of light things. ¡°You have grown well. Your father did a good job.¡± She told him and he shook his head, explaining how another found him, and he had never met his father. ¡°That breaks my heart for both of you, there is so much in you of him. I can already see you are just like him.¡± she told Jazmel, and he listened. ¡°You do not know who your father is do you?¡± she said, and Jazmel stricken. Didn¡¯t want to start crying again. ¡°Your father is Izumi.¡± She said and then Jazmel stared at her. The revelation in her words moved something in him. his identity was a thing that constantly bothered him and now he had found his mother, spoken with her and now also found his mother. ¡°It seems my time is up.¡± She said and she turned to walk away. ¡°Wait!¡± he said, and she turned back to him. He pulled out the memory mould and it hovered between them. DING! WOULD YOU LIKE TO PRESERVE THIS MEMORY? Y/N? Yes! The mould glimmered with Mana and system energy and his mother wayed at him as she disappeared into the system. But the memory mould was warm to touch in his hand and he put it back into his ring. Reverently. Book 4 Chapter Fifty-Three; Entrance to the Dead Mountain Jazmel awoke in a gravel part of the ground. He sat up and saw that his friends were around and waking from their own entries into the labyrinth. Jazmel sat up and remembered his mother, his memory of her too. Jazmel looked at them all, but he didn¡¯t have enough time to go over it. ¡°Everyone get up and get ready.¡± He said, shocking his friends and making them jump out of their sleep. DING! YOU HAVE COME UNTO THE DEAD MOUNTAIN! ¡­ THIS MOUNTAIN HAS LOST ITS NAME! YOU MUST DEFEAT THE THREE CREATURES ON EACH FLOOR OF THE MOUNTAIN! THEN YOU MAY PASS THROUGH THE GATE OF THE MOUNTAIN. He looked around and found them at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was hauntingly beautiful. There was lack of life all around. But the mountain stood like a white tipped spear tooth. It was tall and ancient; he could see from the way it spread out at the ground level. That it was old, he wondered where the roots of the mountain began and where the crust of earth ended. He scouted around the area but couldn¡¯t find anything. Nothing grew around the mountain. A low mist descended from the mountain, bringing rain droplets from above. Jazmel zipped his coat up and Paldane blew smoke around his head, and it clashed with the cold mist and cold rain droplets showered him. DING! FIND THE DOOR TO THE MOUNTAIN! ¡­ The system notification urged them forward. They skirted the mountain but found nothing. Jazmel hadn''t even seen an inkling of finding a door. But Jazmel hadn''t found anything. Even Bannerman was trying to find a scent or something, he was moving around, studying the area, and trying his best to figure out the lay of the land. Jazmel wasn¡¯t sitting on his laurels though. He searched; his keen Mana attuned eyes were peering all around him. ¡°Do you see anything?¡± he asked Paldane, the dragon poked its head out and looked around. The air smells funny, dense, and cramped. He said, Jazmel couldn¡¯t make sense of it at all. But he didn¡¯t bother him, he let Paldane go back into his collar and snuggle up beside him.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He kept moving around and looking around. Until he stumbled, balance was something he rarely faltered with. Especially since he had tempered his body, but once he realised he was falling. He literally jumped out of the small groove in the ground and landed nimbly. When he studied where his foot had gone through, he saw that it was a step. Overgrown with moss and when he began to wipe it away and brush it off. The groove became a step. He cleared off the next few and soon a path could be seen. He followed it and came upon an indent in the wall. He almost followed the path towards the right, but the indent looked like a doorway to him; low but a door all the same. He pushed and pulled at the corners but couldn¡¯t find entry. He placed his bare palm on the door and let Mana seep from his hand. The doorway beamed, it ignited and filled with Mana, not his own; luckily. No his Mana had just been to awaken the dormant Mana within the doorway, and the stone became a door made out of stone and it renewed itself. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND THE DOORWAY OF TIMIEN! TIMIEN HAS A RIDDLE! IF YOU CAN ANSWER CORRECTLY, THE DOORWAY WILL OFFER ACCESS! IF YOU FAIL, YOU WULL PAY WITH BLOOD! ¡­ That was foreboding, he thought to himself, but he took a moment to gather his thoughts. DING! TIMIEN¡¯S RIDDLE! FOUND WITH A FIDDLE THE CROW KNEW A DIDDLE BUT NEVER FLEW THROUGH THE MIDDLE! LIKE A WHITE SWORD IN A BLACKENED NIGHT IN THE HANDS OF A WINDED KNIGHT SOMETIMES IN THE DAY SOMETIMES IN THE NIGHT I BURN BRIGHTEST ON 21 NIGHTS! WHAT AM I? Jazmel watched the screen, scanned it, and scrolled over it for moments. But he couldn¡¯t figure it out. Nothing made sense of the riddle, but he was still transfixed. Something made him think of the moon, but the sword threw him off. He was unsure, but he took a leap of faith. ¡°Is it a crescent blade?¡± he asked, and the system thrummed with anticipation. DING! WRONG!! ¡­ THE ANSWER IS THE CRESCENT MOON! DING YOU WERE WRONG! NOW YOU MUST SURVIVE, SURVIVE THE ATTACK AND THE DOOR WILL OPEN! He sighed, but he didn¡¯t have a moment to spare. He heard a roar, a monstrous bellow from back the way from which he had come. He sprinted back up the path towards his friends. He burst from the corner and saw Bannerman and Katie clashing with a pack of creatures. He hadn¡¯t seen their type before, but he wasn¡¯t worried, he was surrounded by his friends. The first thing he saw was Katie using her chains to yank a creature out of the sky. It was a giant bat, half man, and half bat, with a face of a bat; but the body of a man. The wings joined from its hands and ended at its waist. It was a grotesque monstrous thing, Bannerman and Katie were making short work of it. Katie was keeping it from flying away and Bannerman was bleeding it as much as he could. Just as Jazmel turned he witnessed Sad¨¦ burning a few of the group of bats with her blue flame. Patton was cutting through those that fell from the sky, his blade Mana sharp and keen. Jazmel didn¡¯t even need to help them. The roar sounded again and this time, he realised it had come from the main bat. The one Bannerman had just killed, tearing out its throat. His clawed hands bloody with its life ichor. ¡°Everyone ok?¡± Jazmel asked and his friends gave him all clear. ¡°I found the doorway, let¡¯s go before others show up.¡± He beckoned; Patton killed the last one with a backward swipe of his blade. ¡°Lead the way.¡± He flashed a smile and Jazmel turned on his heel, heading back up the path. Book 4 Chapter Fifty-Four; Within the Dead Mountain Jazmel stepped through the doorway of the lowered door and the others followed him. the inner tunnel was dark, and the air was thick, as if it had stayed stagnant in the tunnel for many and many years. Jazmel led the way, his eyes guiding him through the tunnel and though he had to crane his neck. He wasn¡¯t claustrophobic at all. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE DEAD MOUNTAIN! A DWARVEN MOUNTAIN CAN ONLY DIE WHEN ALL THE DWARVES OF HIS HEART HAVE LEFT! OR BEEN SLAIN! THE MOUNTAIN HAS LOST ITS NAME AND HIS HEART!! ¡­ YOU NEED TO DEFEAT THE THREE WARD BOSSES TO ADVANCE THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN! ¡­ The golden light from the origami swan appeared, floating above his head. It glimmered and then vanished down tunnel. The system announcement hadn''t made a sound, but Jazmel could tell his friends had been sent the same notice too. ¡°Onward.¡± Katie said from behind him, and he nodded in the dark. Leading the way and through the tunnel that was going towards something or somewhere. The tunnel finally expanded into a junction of many tunnels, Jazmel had expected it. But he hadn''t hoped for it. ¡°We will have to split up then.¡± Jazmel said and everyone nodded. ¡°I will go alone; well I will be with Paldane.¡± He offered and Sad¨¦ stepped forward already ready to argue. ¡°Why?¡± she questioned him. ¡°Because I want you and Kazumi to go with Patton. I know Bannerman and Katie will keep each other safe. So the only option is for me to go on my own.¡± he explained, his logic was sound, and she rolled her eyes. Patton hadn''t said anything of merit, but he inclined his head out of respect. There were a total of five tunnels. The three in the middle were split between the team, Katie and Bannerman taking the first, Jazmel entered the middle one alone. Sad¨¦ and Patton headed down the one to his right. Jazmel walked down the tunnel, his senses fanning out about him. his eyes were picking up every minute detail and he was hurrying down the tunnel, his head on the swivel and his Mana coalesced around him like a shield. He sprinted down his tunnel for ages, first it was a moment, and then the moment became hours and finally it was ages. He ran on and on for ages, on incline and then on decline. The tunnel seemed to enter deeply into the mountain. Jazmel hadn''t considered the size of the mountain beforehand, but now he was wondering just how deep it ran. The tunnel descended in a steep decline and then the temperature of the tunnel climbed. Soon he was sweating, and he had to open his jacket and Paldane crawled up onto his shoulder. The floor is heating up. Paldane said and he was right, Jazmel could feel it all around him. but the floor was catching up too. The tunnel was dug close to the core of this land. Paldane explained and Jazmel listened as he took a quick moment to catch his breath. The air changes here, you will soon reach the end of this tunnel. Paldane yawned and Jazmel nodded, suddenly motivated to be out of the heat. He ran up the last length of the tunnel, it was a sharp incline. Almost as if he ran up two flights of stairs. But once he was free of the tunnel he crouched over, catching his breath, and doing his best to not throw up. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE LAIR OF THE TIER III MANTICORE! BEWARE IT DESPISES ALL CHALLENGERS! DEFEAT THE FIRST WARD BOSS! ¡­ SLAY YOUR ENEMY! The system hadn''t said that to him before. That caught him off guard, but he wasn¡¯t completely worried. ¡°Are you with me?¡± he asked and Paldane nuzzled him from within his collar. Always. The manticore was a creature unlike anything Jazmel had seen before. It had the body of a large lion, its head was level with Jazmel¡¯s his ghost blue eyes, stared into the yellow cat eyes of the manticore. Spittle and dribble flecked its long canines as it snarled defiantly at him. the long body had two folded wings atop its back and as it hopped from the shelf it was lounging on. The wings flared, they reminded him of bat wings, the thin membrane showing all the blood veins and vessels. When it landed, its tail curled up and over its back, Jazmel almost gasped. It was a scorpion tail, the segmented tail with a coiled and curled stinger at the top. He watched it with interest, wondering what it meant. But he wasn¡¯t fearful yet. TIER III MANTICORE! IT SNEERS AT YOU AND RAGES AT YOUR DEFILING ITS LAIR! NONE WHO ENTER CAN RETURN THE WAY THEY CAME!! NO!!! FACE THE MANTICORE AND ADVANCE! ¡­ The system notices were floating across his face, but he didn¡¯t let it block his vision. He willed it to disappear, and it did. Slowly, he drew his sword. Nozarashi the keen edge sliding out of its sheath. The manticore watched him, transfixed on the audaciousness of his presence, the glint of sword metal caught its eye and the lull it seemed to be in, shattered. It roared and with an odd jerking movement, its tail stinger shot too globs of light green liquid at him. he dodged them both and without looking, he smelt the vile scent of the liquid and then he heard the ground sizzle, eaten through the thick rock that the dwarves had tunnelled through. He shuffled his step, lowering himself into a stance. His sword raised at his side and ready for the first move to be made. The manticore didn¡¯t move either, it simply stared at Jazmel. Waiting to see what he would do, but neither of them moved. For something extraordinary happened. WARNING! ERROR!This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡­ ANOTHER WARD BOSS HAS STUMBLED INTO THE MANTICORE¡¯S DOMAIN! DEFEAT THEM BOTH!! Jazmel sighed, the manticore was already strong and this new creature was bound to be the same. After all, it was a ward boss too. The ceiling caved in, big pieces of debris fell and smashed into the ground around the lair. The manticore bounded out of the way whereas Jazmel danced back. Skipping out of the radius and standing at the entrance of the tunnel he had used to enter the lair. The ceiling fell and expanded the ward boss space. But the thing that fell through the cave in was something new. Jazmel had never seen a creature of its like before. DING! WARNING A VERY STRONG WARD BOSS IS NEAR!! ¡­ TIER III ALCOLI THE GHOUL! It was almost a man. It was taller than Jazmel, its legs were long, and its arms stretched. it was slouched, its shoulders hunched, and it seemed to crawl on one hand and its two legs. In the other hand, it clutched a curved sabre which was as tall as it was long. It held it over its shoulder now as it crouched and Jazmel could just make out the exquisite designs along the blade. it looked like a mural of a battle. The ghoul wore rags of cloth around its waist. While on its chest it wore a cropped chest guard. It stopped at the stomach and Jazmel could see lean abs and muscles. Atop its head, it wore a helm that had been fashioned like a roaring lion. It even had matted fur that cascaded out the back of the helm. It looked at Jazmel, he couldn¡¯t see the face but their eyes locked. Burning red eyes of hate and anger stared at him. but the manticore attacked first. It shot two barbs of acid from its stinger and Jazmel watched as they shot through the air. Aimed at Acholi the ghoul. Jazmel watched in horror and wonder as the ghoul stabbed its sabre into the ground. Within one fluid movement, it leapt up and hung in the air gripping onto the sword hilt. It maintained a perfect one-handed handstand as the acid barbs shot past where it had been. It waited for a moment and then it swung its body towards the manticore. Jazmel watched as it flipped through the air, the momentum of its strength and its body sending it sailing through the air. It flipped in the air, propelling its body to change and Jazmel watched as it brought its sword down in a horrendous crash. The manticore leapt out of the way, the peak of the strike missed it, but the blast radius caught it. Attack them both while they are busy! Paldane formed the thought and Jazmel rushed, darting into the fray. Eviscerate! He struck out, his sword humming with Mana. The named ghoul flipped up onto the sword again and Jazmel missed it, but the manticore wasn¡¯t so lucky. His strike hit it, cutting deeply into its flank. It bled freely and roared, ending in a whimper. The ghoul struck again, this time aiming for Jazmel. But he wasn¡¯t stupid, he had seen how it attacked. No Jazmel leapt into the air to meet it. using its body as a springboard, he kicked off of its stomach and struck it out of the air. It fell, crashing into the ground and shattering a boulder of stone. the manticore leapt for it, chomping down onto the shoulder of the named ward boss. Sunder! Great rumbling dragon! He struck again while they fought each other. A skill for each, and they both were too busy fighting one another to prepare. No sunder hit the ghoul across the chest. Almost caving its chest guard but instead cutting it across the stomach gravely. His spectral dragon struck the manticore in the side of the head, sending it reeling. Bloodily but still proud, it stumbled back up onto all fours and mewled before roaring again. clearly dazed but doing its best to fight off its attackers. The ghoul rose up and Jazmel crashed into it, body against body. His tyrant tempered body almost breaking the formidable body of a tier III creature. A ward boss at that, the system hadn''t called a creature a boss before. But here he was facing off against two of them. Paldane leapt from the cover of his collar, flying up he spewed flames down onto the ghoul. Aeonic flame! The ghoul screeched under the torrents of Paldane and Jazmel took the moment to whirl. Spinning to build moment he bounded towards the manticore, its barbed tail struck twice. Once he deflected and the second he dodged. He evaded a direct piercing, but the stinger glanced across his neck, and he felt the burning feeling of poison. He grit his teeth, stumbling back. His body rigid as if undergoing rigor mortis. Watch out! Paldane yelled into his mind, but he was stricken. Nothing he could do. All he could do was be knocked across the length of the lair and into the side of the cavern, stones and rocks caving in on him. DING! WARNING!! YOU ARE GRAVELY INJURED! ¡­ POISONED! BUT YOUR PASSIVE TRAIT IS FIGHTING ON YOUR BEHALF! TYRANT BASTION IS FIGHTING AGAINST THE POISON! ¡­ YOUR STAMINA IS BATTLING AND WILL BE RESTRICTED! He felt something in his abdomen be gripped by invisible hands. He was injured, barely able to move. He coughed and a wetness came up. Something was broken on the inside and was causing him damage still. WARNING! STATUS CONDITION! PERFORATED LUNG (major) BROKEN LEFT RIB CAGE (major) BROKEN LEFT SHOULDER (major) SHATTERED LEFT FOREARM (minor) He coughed up more wet sticky liquid and he realised it was blood. He was bleeding internally; he couldn¡¯t even move enough to draw a potion. But he wouldn¡¯t be dying here, no he was going to free himself. He willed a potion from his ring, and it appeared above his head. he caught its stoppered head between his lips, and boldly crunched down on the vial. The glass cut his tongue, but as the liquid bore down his throat. It healed the inside of his mouth. He felt only slightly better and took a moment to will another vial of potion. Doing the same, he only cracked the topper and gently tilted his head, to let him draw the potions contents. WARNING! STATUS CONDITION! PERFORATED LUNG (minor) FRACTURED LEFT RIB CAGE (minor) BROKEN LEFT SHOULDER (minor) SHATTERED LEFT FOREARM (minor) Still the same injuries, but he wasn¡¯t so beaten. He crawled from the cave in, his body shifting through the sediment and rocks as easily as he could. He was still in immense pain, but Jazmel was able to do his best work in pain. DING! TYRANT BASTION HAS SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT OFF THE POISON! CONGRATULATIONS! YOUR STAMINA WILL NO LONGER BE HALTED! +2 VIT +3 END +4 WIL His body thrummed with system energy. He drank another potion just to support his body and with his stamina no longer being restricted. It began to churn around and try to heal his injuries. The sounds of battle were ongoing, and when he could see them. The manticore and the named ghoul had been in a devastating fight. The ghoul had lost its right arm up to the bicep and the manticore had lost one wing, the other had been broken and hung limply across its back. It was walking on three of its four legs, its left foreleg bloody and wounded. This was the best chance he was going to have. He leapt into their fight. Aiming for the ghoul who was clearly injured and not as agile as it had previously been. Sunder! The strike hit the ghoul and as it had been caught by surprise. The strike carved into its back, then also carried it across the ground off its feet and towards the prowling manticore. The ghoul dropped its huge sabre and the manticore leapt forward latching onto the neck of the ghoul. Chomping down, rivulets of blood burst into its mouth and then it jerked its head savagely. Breaking the neck of the ghoul. Jazmel leapt at the manticore as it let the ghouls body drop to the floor. Sunder! DING! SUNDER HAS RISEN FROM TIER I TO TIER II! He hit the neck and throat of the manticore. It whimpered, mewled as its own life blood poured openly from the wound. Jazmel watched as it dropped to the ground, he felt almost sorry for the proud creature. But he didn¡¯t stop, he stabbed down into the heart of it, and it died silently. CONGRATULATIONS! YOU MANAGED TO KILL THE WARD BOSS! TIER III MANTICORE SLAIN! LEVEL UP LEVEL UP! +3 STR +3 AGL +3 DEX ¡­ YOU MANAGED TO DEFEAT THE TIER III GHOUL ALCOLI! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! LEVEL UP! +3 INT +3 PER +3 INT YOUR WARD BOSS REWARDS! ¡­ ¡­ TIER III ALCOLI THE GHOUL CORE TIER III MANTICORE BEAST CORE TIER III GARGAUNTUAN SABRE OF CULLING TIER III MANTICORE HEART TIER III LION HELM OF ADVERSITY Paldane floated down to land on his shoulder. Crawling into his collar again. I will need that heart for when we leave this place. It will help me grow. Paldane shared along their mental link, he agreed. He wanted Paldane to grow stronger and if he had items that would help. He would provide them right away. Book 4 Chapter Fifty-Five; Myth of the Dead Mountain As he started looking around for a new tunnel the system chimed into activity. DING! YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE DEAD MOUNTAIN! THREE BOSSES¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ERROR FOUR WARD BOSSES HAVE BEEN SLAIN! REWARDS HAVE BEEN OFFERED IN CONJUNCTION! ¡­ YOU WILL ALL BE MOVED TO THE MOUNTAIN BOSS! Jazmel took that quick movement to look over his stats. It had been some time since he had last looked. Name: Jazmel Level: 85 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier II Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 3470/5570 Stamina: 2543/3642 Mana: 3190/3700 STR:152(+5) PER:151 VIT:149 END:154(+3) INT:155 WIL:158(+7) AGL:155 DEX:156 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE (ACTIVE) SERPENT SLAYER (UNACTIVE) DEMON SLAYER (UNACTIVE) AWAKENER (PASSIVE) BASTION OF THE TYRANT (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 4 442X PLATINUM COINS 782X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD 4/5 TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE UNCORRUPT TIER III LEVIATHAN BEAST CORE TIER III RED MASK TIER III LAMP OF LELUTHIAN X10 TIER II BRUTE BOAR TUSKS TIER IV DREAD HERETIC CORE TIER III ARMOUR SET OF THE NIGHT WING TIER III SKILL EVOLVE TOKEN X10 TIER II GREATER MANA POTIONS X8 TIER II GREATER HEALTH POTIONS X10 TIER II GREATER STAMINA POTIONS TIER III ALCOLI THE GHOUL CORE TIER III MANTICORE BEAST CORE TIER III GARGAUNTUAN SABRE OF CULLING TIER III LION HELM OF ADVERSITY COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 115 Jazmel had been creeping towards strength. There was a greater balance between his stats, he was getting to the point. Where his stats were reaching within just a few stats of one another. He had stuck to the words of Mary from his seeker trial and had picked balance. He had chosen that over pushing his body to its limits. But in truth the system had gifted him with things to overcome and he had been able to push his limits, push his boundaries and excel. His tempered body seemed to pull from his stats. It allowed him to push against the limits of his body, time and time again. A domineering tyrant to the end. He had just made it to tier II as a ranker, but he was sure his strength was beyond that. He rarely fought others, but he had fought a tier IV and won alone. The tier V behemoth from the Teneriel forest had caught him off guard, but with better preparation he wouldn¡¯t be so unprepared. In truth he was itching to try a master tier. He wanted to see the gap in strength and see the disparity in his own skills.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. As he closed his system screen down, the lair seemed to fold in on itself and he found himself beside his friends. Sad¨¦, Patton, Bannerman and Katie all stood waiting for him, and he smiled. Happy to see his friends and see them well. ¡°I guess you were the one to kill two ward bosses?¡± Katie asked and shyly Jazmel admitted to it. ¡°I am not surprised; you are just too strong!¡± she told Jazmel. He felt shy she was complimenting him, but he was embarrassed. ¡°I want to see your stats.¡± She said, he shrugged, raising the system screen again. He shared it with his party, and they gaped. ¡°I don¡¯t know if this is even allowed. How did you get them so high, so quickly?¡± Katie asked and Jazmel got hot with anxiety. ¡°When I started my trial, I met Mary, and she told me focus on keeping a balance. So I did, and I have. I made sure to keep a balance, whenever I get stat points I raise the lowest stat. no matter what, I don¡¯t favour any of them. I raise them all.¡± He explained and the others looked at him and at his stats and continued to gape. ¡°I think these stats are not too far from a master tier.¡± Patton said, looking over them. ¡°I wonder what Baek¡¯s stats are like.¡± Katie wondered and they all fell quiet, trying to figure them out. DING! THE BASILISK HAS COMMANDEERED THE HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN THOUGH IT NO LONGER BEATS WITH THE FIRE OF LIFE! THE HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN IS CONDENSED OF PURE MANA THE BASILISK IS USING IT TO TRANSCEND, STOP ITS ASCENSION TO DRAGONHOOD! ¡­ Jazmel sighed and cursed to himself, there was no way this creature was going to be any less than a tier IV beast. The mountain changed, folding in on itself. Jazmel felt him and his friends all pulled to the centre of the mountain, the lowest level. Where it could be said that the very roots of a mountain could be found. It was dark, darker than anywhere Jazmel had ever been before. Darker than the night sky without the stars and moon. No, here under the mountain; this dead mountain. It was so dark Jazmel thought of only the abyss as a place. His eyes sought out Mana but found none, it was drained completely dead ley lines of Mana ran around the mountain. Jazmel could see the ghost of the pure place it must have once been. But no, this place was completely devoid of life and Mana. ¡°It feels like nobody has been down here in many years.¡± Patton said, his voice barely a whisper but it carried. The cavern was huge, a chamber beneath the mountain. Devoid of his sight, Jazmel could hear the sound of something gargantuan moving. It was as if stone was grating across stone. At first he thought nothing of it. but something about the sound unnerved him, something was moving around in the darkness and Jazmel couldn¡¯t see it or judge anything. He had hoped to catch a glimpse of it, using his Mana to perceive in the darkness. But nothing came into his radius, and he found himself struggling. His senses were as much a part of his growth as his stats had been. He had relied on his eyes immensely and now he could see nothing, he was worried, worrying was not his forte. ¡°We need light.¡± He whispered, in this darkened space with nothing around them. his voice carried and soon his friends were doing their best to form light. But it was Patton who created the truest light source. He pulled three orbs from his ring; he muttered something over them and cast them into the air. They whirled, whirring on the spot as they glimmered and flashed with light. After a moment they kept flashing as the light began to grow in brightness. They then ascended, climbing to hang high above their heads. ¡°Orbs of Oromos. They trap sun light and then use it to bring light in darkened places. They will last for a while, but they are connected to my Mana. So we have to be careful in the fight.¡± He explained, Jazmel could see him, even though it was still dark. He could make out his friends face now, Katie and Sad¨¦ were close together. While Bannerman was prowling around in the dark, his eyes glinting in the orbs light now. ¡°Something big is near.¡± He told them, Jazmel nodded. It was clearly the Basilisk, and it was moving around in the shadows, in the darkened spaces where the light didn¡¯t seem to reach. ¡°How much space can your light cover?¡± Jazmel asked Patton. ¡°The orbs are made to suspend themselves in a way that it provides the owner with the most coverage. So as far as my eyes should normally see.¡± He explained. ¡°Good, we need to bring the Basilisk to us then. The system said it wants Mana; well we need to show that we have Mana for it. when it shows itself, we kill it.¡± Jazmel told them and everyone agreed. ¡°I will draw it in.¡± Sad¨¦ said, Jazmel was about to argue with her, but then he remembered her tails. Each tail was worth 1000 extra Mana points. He was sure she probably had the most Mana in their party and then some. She stepped into the light, right into the centre of where the light covered the most. All three orbs cast light in different angles, but the point where all three met. Sad¨¦ stood in it. Thunder crown She called her crown of thunder atop her head. it fizzled in the dark, but then she willed her tails. They appeared one after the other, each tail adding a brilliant amount of Mana into the thunder crown. She pulled all five of her tails out and Jazmel was impressed by how dense her Mana was. But she shocked him when she called a sixth tail. it appeared and her usual blue tails, the colour of Mana. Turned white, a ghost white, pure and dense. It was a Mana type he wasn¡¯t sure what it was, but they burned radiant. Brilliantly alive with both fire and thunder. A hiss sounded in the dark, their plan had worked. The Basilisk hissed and Jazmel imagined a tongue flicking out and tasting the air. The area was so devoid of life and Mana that Sad¨¦ must have tasted like a Mana heart to the creature. Jazmel caught a glimpse of its bulk as it moved. It was massive, easily a hundred feet in length. Its body the length of almost five school buses. Jazmel watched in awe as its leathery scales scraped against stone, which rasping sound he had heard before. Now he knew what it was, scales against stone. The Basilisk reared up; its body as thick as Jazmel¡¯s entire wingspan. It hissed again, tasting the air, and realising that there were more than one sources of Mana. The orbs realigned and basked the Basilisk in full light. Its scales were blackened blue, dark enough to hide it in the shadows. But battered and scarred from the tunnels of the mountain. Its mouth dripped with toxic spittle, Jazmel could smell the miasma from where he stood. It hissed at Sad¨¦ and swaying on its body, it edged forward. But Sad¨¦ was already reacting. Thunderfire She threw her skill out, the bolt of thundered fire hit the Basilisk in the face and it wretched. Hissing and wailing, a screech-like nails against a chalkboard. Withered whip! Katie whipped and lashed the Basilisk, with her death Mana chain and she broke scales. Even removing a few, they fell to the floor denting the massive cavern they were in. Howl! Bannerman howled in the dark, the Basilisk shivered for a moment, but it wasn¡¯t stricken. After all it was clearly a tier IV creature. Before Jazmel or Patton could react the system awakened as the Basilisk reacted. It inhaled sharply and then spewed a thick cloud around the ground. Blasting all of them with it. Jazmel was in pain immediately, poison battered him, and he felt his body fighting and grappling with it. DING! TIER IV BASILISK HAS USED POISON CLOUD! ¡­ ALL BEINGS HAVE BEEN POISONED! HEALTH AND MANA AFFLICTED HEALTH WILL CONTINOUSLY REDUCE UNTIL POISON IS HEALED! ¡­ Jazmel grumbled at the notification. He could already feel his body fighting back, his passive skilled tyrant bastion was doing its best. He had to leave it to work, he hadn''t bought any antidotes yet, he had not dealt with much poison. But over the last couple of floors, he had realised. He would need to keep a source of them. ¡°I got you all.¡± Patton said, pulling from his ring, a large lamp. It reminded Jazmel of a lantern used to send down a river. It had a spike at the bottom and Patton used that to drive it into the ground. He then added some of his Mana and lit the lamp. He drank a Mana potion and Jazmel could see the orbs and this new lamp. Was now taking a toll on his Mana. ¡°The lamp will heal us, but you have to stay near it!¡± he explained. Jazmel assumed it was connected to his Mana too, Katie and Bannerman made over to the lamp and sighed with relief as the poison began to reduce. Sad¨¦ remained where she was. Casting fire and thunder at the Basilisk and doing her best to keep it off her friends. Her tails were burning now, Jazmel had not seen her use this before. The tails were burning the ambient Mana around them and keeping the toxic poison clouds at bay. ¡°I have to help her.¡± He explained and Patton nodded. ¡°We will protect ourselves; we will help when we¡¯ve reduced the poison!¡± Katie yelped and Jazmel leapt from the lamps radius. Pushing through the clouds and urging his body to fight back. He could feel the bastion fighting, rapidly burning the poison in his body. But the continued exposure was slowing it down and pushing his body to suffer. He leapt high up, his head almost scraping where one of the orbs hung in the air. Sunder! He swung his blade, swiping through the cloud and striking the Basilisk across the mouth. He hadn''t noticed its mouth before. But it had three rows of fangs in its upper mouth and lower jaw. Each fang curved and hooked to latch onto prey and urge it down its gullet. He gulped himself and twirling in the air before he descended he struck again. Sunder! He had to end this fight quickly, striking the lidded eyes of the Basilisk it hissed at him again. it moved quickly, butting him out of the air. Its thick skull smashing into him and knocking him down. He hadn''t expected it to do that, but Jazmel was in pain. DING! STATUS CONDITION! FRACTURED BACK (minor) BACK TENDONS RIPPED (major) Jazmel could feel it, but for some reason the system¡¯s notices made it real. He groaned, and remembered he was still under the influence of the poison. DING! WARNING STATUS CONDITION! POISONED! HEALTH HAS DROPPED BELOW 50% ¡­ ¡°Jaz!¡± he heard and looking up he saw Sad¨¦ bound forward and land beside him. her thunder crown and six tails bobbing with her movement. ¡°look out!¡± he yelled just as the Basilisk jabbed down, trying to gobble both he and Sad¨¦ in one huge bite. Jazmel reacted quicker, as he had seen it before. He drew his blade, Yoru No Tsubasa and holding Nozarashi in his left and the other in his right. He stood in the base of the Basilisk¡¯s mouth. Saliva from its mouth dripped on him and he yelped in pain, as it seared his skin. It was poisonous of course. He had stabbed one of his swords into the top of its mouth, and the other into the bottom. So it wailed in a half-opened mouth. If it clamped down, his swords would go up into its brain and then down through its jaw. Now it was a battle of attrition, who could survive. Sad¨¦ was standing beside him, holding onto him as he stood firm. With all his might keeping them from being swallowed. Thunderfire! She cast her skill in the mouth and the saliva burned up, the Basilisk shrieked and Jazmel could do nothing but stop them from being swallowed. ¡°Are you both alright?¡± he heard and realised it was Katie yelling up to them. ¡°Get us out!¡± Sad¨¦ shouted back. ¡°Hang on!!¡± Katie yelled and Jazmel did as he was told. He couldn¡¯t see what she was doing, but the jerking of the Basilisk as it moved its body moved them around and Jazmel cried out when one of its fangs pierced his side. DING! POISON HAS ENTERED YOUR SYSTEM! YOUR HEALTH IS DETERIORATING! He shook his head and the system notice moved. He didn¡¯t have time to worry about that. The Basilisk slammed into the ground, its mouth almost shutting on them. but two clawed hands grappled with it and wrenched its jaws apart. Jazmel¡¯s sword had stabbed up into its brain while his friends had attacked it from outside. The Basilisk had died. ¡°Come on get out quickly!¡± Bannerman growled as he held open its mouth. Jazmel pulled his blades free and used them to drag himself free of the mouth of the Basilisk. He crawled free and sighed with effort. Book 4 Chapter Fifty-Six; Awakening the Heart Of the Dead Mountain Jazmel groaned in pain as the others moved around. He couldn¡¯t see what they were doing, so took the time to go through his notifications. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU SLEW THE TIER IV MOUNTAIN BASILISK! ¡­ THE DEAD MOUNTAIN HAS BEEN CLEANSED!! TIER III SPARK OF THE MOUNTAIN HEART GAINED! ¡­ LEVEL UP! +3 VIT +3 STR +2 AGL As his body began to use the system energy to heal itself. he took the moment to drink a health potion. He didn¡¯t bother checking his status conditions, no he let his body use the system energy and the Mana imbued in the potion. To figure it out for itself. Sad¨¦ came over smiling, as beautiful as ever. She didn¡¯t have any pains or problems that he could see on her. ¡°How did you survive the poison?¡± he asked her, and she smiled shyly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. ¡°The thundering flame body allows me to use Mana to burn out afflictions and ailments to a certain level. So I used the tails to keep the Mana from reaching me.¡± She explained and Jazmel deduced it impressively. It was a good idea; she used her tails in the same way that Patton used his lamp. It was a good idea. ¡°Anyone want anything from the Basilisk?¡± Katie asked, as she and Bannerman were looting the Basilisk themselves. ¡°Collect the teeth and some scales. I will look for the way out.¡± Jazmel offered and he and Sad¨¦ moved away from the Basilisk, Jazmel followed the length of its body. The orbs stayed close to Patton, so it was growing dark again, the shadows reared up like a stray wave. The darkness here was heavy, it felt like a thick cloak about his entire body. But within that moment Sad¨¦ called forth her blue flame and a flame appeared in the palm of her hand. It pushed the shadows back and Jazmel could see a little ahead.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°What are we looking for?¡± she asked, he shrugged. ¡°A gate, or a doorway. I am not sure.¡± He was about to say more but Sad¨¦ stopped him, grabbing his wrist with her free arm. He looked down at her hand, grabbing him. he looked at her face and saw she was staring into the distance and then he followed her line of vision. Before them was the heart of the mountain. He remembered it from the one he had given to Frae. But this one was much larger, it was bigger than the both of them. Jazmel stood in front of it and the top of its craggy shape, was taller than him. much wider also, but he was shocked to see it up close. it was devoid of life. the smaller one he had found in the faction storage house, had hummed with Mana but also system energy. This one was devoid of both and everything. Then he remembered what he had gained. He opened his ring and pulled the spark of the mountain heart free. It reminded him of the flame that Sad¨¦ was holding, but bigger and it beat with the life of the mountain. He placed it atop the mountain heart and the system pinged with activity. DING! YOU HAVE BROUGHT OUT THE TIER III THE SPARK OF THE MOUNTAIN HEART AN EMPTY MOUNTAIN HEART IS PRESENT! DO YOU WISH TO USE THE SPARK TO CREATE LIFE WITHIN THE MOUNTAIN HEART? Y/N? He accepted and the flame left his hand and entered the mountain heart. at first nothing happened. But then it beat like a heart, the heart of a giant maybe. It thrummed like a drum and Jazmel watched as each beat pushed Mana out from the heart. he watched in awe as every beat pushed Mana down the Mana ley lines. They were being awoken slowly and he watched with wonder as the mountain became alive. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE WITNESSED A GREAT THING! YOU HAVE BROUGHT LIFE BACK TO THE MOUNTAIN! ¡­ AS A REWARD THE SYSTEM WILL ALLOW YOU TO CHOOSE THE RACE THAT WILL BE BORN!! ¡­ Jazmel stared at the system screen. ¡°What did you do? What has happened?¡± Sad¨¦ asked, staring at the beating heart, and then looking at Jazmel in wonder. He flicked the screen over to her and she gaped at it before laughing. ¡°I think you might be the child of the labyrinth, because how can these things keep happening to you?¡± she said with mock amazement. She wasn¡¯t being snide, she seemed to genuinely be laughing at the ridiculousness of what the system was offering. He accepted of course, deciding on what to do. But the system popped up again. DING! PICK YOUR RACE! He stared, stunned at the screen. But he didn¡¯t need to deliberate, there was only one answer. One correct answer, as a mountain needed dwarves, he knew that. DING! YOU HAVE CHOSEN DWARVES! ¡­ DWARVES WILL RULE THIS MOUNTAIN ONCE AGAIN! ONCE YOU ADVANCE, THE LABYRINTH WILL LOCK THIS GATE FOR A DURATION!! He chose and the system thrummed. Something happened as system energy pulsed from the heart and Jazmel watched as it lit the entire mountain up. All the ley lines were alive now and he could see the Mana growing purer as it moved out from the mountain heart. YOU MAY ADVANCE! The system rang out, aloud and through the entire mountain. Jazmel watched as a gate formed from the mountain heart. It was made of rock and stone, as it appeared; so did the golden origami swan. It dived into the gate and Jazmel knew it was right to follow it. Book 4 Chapter Fifty-Seven; the Power of a Primordial Jazmel was the last to step through the gate. Fashioned out of the mountain heart when he stepped into another gate and another world. He was caught off guard at the beauty of it. they were in a trial gate. A fountain gate, he could tell from the daunting platform that was lower than his gaze. Where he had found himself standing, he was on a higher platform. He wasn¡¯t alone either, Jazmel stood with all his party. ¡°Jazmel.¡± Sad¨¦ said quietly, and he knew why. Not only was it another fountain gate, but it was also clearly being opened up. Someone had excavated the fountain completely and they had fashioned a dark Mana altar. It was disgusting and Jazmel could almost smell the stench of the darkness. DING! THE PRIMORDIAL FROR HAS BEEN IMPRISONED HERE! ¡­ DARK ACOLYTES ARE TRYING TO FREE HIM STOP THE FREEING OF THE PRIMORDIAL OF CHAOS AND CACOPHONY! ¡­ STOP THE RITUAL! FREE THE PRISONERS! As the system shared its notes with Jazmel. He knew that his friends had seen the same thing, he couldn¡¯t see the prisoners. But he knew that Tera Nema and her friends were present here, the swan had burst into a ball of light. When they stepped through the darkness. He had reached the destination. ¡°Katie and Bannerman, free the prisoners. The rest of us are going to stop the acolytes. Meet back in the middle.¡± Jazmel stated and Bannerman broke away with Katie hot on his heels. ¡°We draw their attention; we stop the ritual and when Tera Nema and her friends are free. We push them back and get rid of them all. We cannot free the primordial until we understand them more.¡± Jazmel explained, Sad¨¦ and Patton readied themselves. Drinking potions and preparing their weapons. Jazmel drew Nozarashi his first sword and his favoured one. It was his weakest in truth, but it was keen enough to remain powerful and strong in his hands. He hadn''t gotten quite so used to the others, but this one fit him well. He put Daishinkan into his belt for safe keeping though. ¡°We are moving now.¡± Jazmel muttered, keeping his voice quiet and low. He sprinted from his platform and as he neared the edge, he crouched down and burst forward in a great leap, like a spring. He leapt through the thick air of the fountain. He landed with a crash, cracking the stone floor with his mass. ¡°Who are you?¡± an acolyte yelled wary of Jazmel. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! Jazmel answered him with his sword, the keen edge of Nozarashi carving through the throat of the acolyte. Blackened flame! He heard and a searing shot of flame flashed past him, the flames flickered black as night. He had dodged it, but still it flashed over his shoulder. Searing his ear, neck, and shoulder. He spun low and coiled, his attacker hadn''t expected him to move as fast. Stumbling back, the acolyte tried to use another skill, but Jazmel moved faster. Far faster than the acolyte, his sword sheered through the mouth. Removing the top of the acolytes head with deft skill. DING! X2 TIER III PRIMORDIAL ACOLYTE KILLED! +2 STATS POINTS +3 STATS POINTS EXP ACCRUED! The next group rushed forward but Sad¨¦ had reached him by then. She turned them into kindle, her fox fire clearly gone up a tier. Another stray group had been duelling with Patton. He was making short work of them, he used his Mana swords, and they hung in the air around him, he propelled them through the air. Killing those who were far from his actual steel blade. then he danced in among them, one real blade and four made out of Mana. The groups of acolytes had built themselves around skills and long-range spells. They were not prepared for the close range fighting that Jazmel and the others seemed to prefer. DING! STOP THE LEAD ACOLYTE! THE RITUAL IS ALMOST COMPLETE! The system announced and Jazmel looked around. As the system had announced, a single acolyte was standing atop the altar. Littered about him were bodies. Strewn all around and lifeless. He clutched a small woman who had been battered and bruised. Jazmel sprinted towards him, the altar was further back and closer to the fountain. ¡°You are too late!¡± the last acolyte yelled and savagely with a dagger covered in blood. He dragged it across the girls throat. She stared at Jazmel, their eyes locked and he watched hopelessly as she died. her life¡¯s blood drained into the altar; a basin carved into the stone. ¡°FROR RU LATH! AH TANA LUAH!¡± the acolyte shouted and Jazmel stared in horror as the blood in the basin began to burn, swirling and twirling into a tempest. But just as it began, it stuttered and diminished. Patton had acted before the others. Casting his Mana blades he waved his hand, and the Mana blades tore through the air, glittering with Mana and power. They pierced the acolyte and three to the chest and one through the throat. Blood spurted from his mouth, his hood fell back and Jazmel could see he was a young man. But that didn¡¯t stop him just yet, he was dead. They all knew it and Jazmel watched as he swayed on his feet, the Mana blades thick and damaging. They dispersed, disappearing but the damage had been done. The acolyte smiled at them, as blood pooled from his mouth and various wounds. He stepped back and fell into the basin and the blood whirlwind seemed to consume him. DING! YOU HAVE STOPPED THE RITUAL! ¡­ ¡­ REWARDS TO FOLLOW! ¡­ Jazmel was watching the blood tempest, and it wasn¡¯t diminishing. In fact it was growing and something in him told him that this was not a good sign. ERROR! WARNING! THOUGH THE RITUAL WAS STOPPED, THE DOORWAY WAS OPEN FOR TOO LONG! A FRAGMENT OF FROR¡¯S POWER HAS BROKEN FREE! DEFEAT THE FRAGMENT OF THE PRIMORDIAL! The system roared, an announcement and as Jazmel and Patton stood, the blood whirlwind became a swirling gate. Out of it stepped a man, or the shadow of a man. His skin greyed and aging. He looked middle aged, but as Jazmel knew that the primordial were all from ages past. He knew this man was much more in years. The man was as tall as Jazmel. His hair was a russet brown, nearly red. A thick beard clung to his face and his skin was pale, or it had been in his life. now it was greyed and looked to be devoid of warmth. He wore thick plate armour, Jazmel could tell it was thick and strong. But he could also see that Fror moved as if the armour weighed nothing. ¡°You fools.¡± The primordial ghost uttered, his voice thick with time and prominence. He opened his eyes and Jazmel was startled, they were just like his. Ghost blue and piercing, he clearly could see the Mana of others. ¡°I am chaos, and I am cacophony!¡± ¨C He was cut off when a barrage of Mana blades struck him. slamming into him, none pierced him, but it was enough to make him stumble. ¡°We have to stop him!¡± Patton howled and Jazmel shook the lull from his bones. Patton was right, he couldn¡¯t stop and stagger in wonder. Great rumbling dragon! He slammed his spectral dragon into the primordial and he huffed, struck again but no damage. Not even a scrape of his skin. Jazmel was perplexed, but he didn¡¯t falter. He banged his vambraces together, the sound bouncing around them like cymbals clashing. His armour formed around him, flexible and posturing. Great rumbling dragon! DING! DRACONIC SKILLS ARE AMPLIFIED! The second dragon formed from Mana was far more complex, curling horns spiralled from its head like a crown. It didn¡¯t stop and roared as it fluttered through the sky like a writhing snake. It slammed into Fror and Jazmel watched as the man¡¯s shoulders bounced. Shaking with fury, he thought. But it was worse than that, the primordial was laughing. He threw his head back and laughed a raucous roar.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Dragons? I slaughtered thousands of them in my youth! I am chaos, did you not hear me?¡± he yelled, suddenly serious and angered. Thunderous lament! He roared, his skill forming in great jagged arcs of Mana imbued lightning. They crashed about, tearing up everything in its radius. The fountain broke, crashing to the ground. DING! THE FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN HAS AWOKEN! A beast appeared, roaring. It leapt from the ceiling where it crawled down. It reminded Jazmel of a giant gecko, riddled with spikes. Fror saw it and caught it by the throat, with a smile and insanity dancing in his eyes. He ripped its head from its neck. The thunder was still dancing around the fountain platform. But it was reduced in strength, Sad¨¦ appeared. Her thunder crown burning above her head and all six of her tails unveiled. Thunderfire! Thunderfire! Thunderfire! She cast her skills towards Fror, he blocked that strike and he looked at her with interest and disdain. Sunder! Jazmel slashed through the air, a downward strike. Carving through the stone like shorn paper. The strike forced Fror to block it with his own vambrace. A slash appeared in the armour and Fror looked at it and then looked at Jazmel with hate. ¡°You think you know power? I will show you power!¡± Fror roared. Chaotic entropy!! The very air seemed to radiate chaos Mana. Jazmel¡¯s vision blurred, and he thought it was something to do with his senses. But no it was worse than that. No the primordial had blurred the fabric of reality with chaos and now it was affecting everything. Shock! Patton bellowed and Mana waves burst from his outstretched hands. Aimed at Fror, nothing happened to him. Jazmel watched as the chaos and the Mana mixed and combusted. Clearly opposite of one another. ¡°You think you can use Mana against me? Primordial bathed in Mana, we use it to push pass the limits of monarch!¡± Fror yelled, laughter on his lips and madness in his eyes. His words made Jazmel wonder if primordial was the next tier beyond monarch. But now wasn¡¯t the time for stray thoughts. Shock! Patton cast again. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ cast this time from the side and her bolt of thunder and flame struck Fror full in the chest. He almost bore the entire brunt of it. But the shock AOE skill Patton had used, amplified her strike. It imploded on his chest and then imploded again from the extra Mana in the air. Fror cried out in pain and his face was blackened from the excess explosion. Inferno! A word was called from behind Jazmel and with relief. He watched as a torrent of arcane fire burned the expanse and struck out at the primordial. ¡°Give me the important parts.¡± Tera Nema said as she appeared beside him. banged up, but her Mana was full, and her eyes were fierce. ¡°Bad guy, need to kill him.¡± Jazmel said and she nodded. Penance! He heard and grace appeared, clutching her sword, she had been stripped of her armour. But she clearly had found her sword. Rushing to help, she hadn''t gotten her armour back. The strike was monstrous, Tera Nema¡¯s party had clearly grown in strength. Fror didn¡¯t evade the strike, but he pulled up a shield of chaos and arcane Mana. Though it took the brunt of it, the slash got through and struck him. Wand warfare! Tera Nema yelled, casting bolts of Mana from her wand. ¡°Get him!¡± she snarled and Jazmel darted forward, he heard steps behind him. figuring it to be Patton or grace, one of the other sword users. Eviscerate! He commanded and his sword careened with Mana. The plate armour was very dented, he could see the weakened parts. But it hadn''t broken yet, nor had it fallen away. But Jazmel was not worried about that. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! Fire blade! High guard, slammed down into a smashing strike. Black Mana enveloped his blade. Fror blocked it with his right arm and was about to punch Jazmel. Full in the chest, had it not been for Patton who was beside him and using his skill of fire Mana wrapped around his own sword. he stabbed into the side of Fror, gaining small purchase between the gaps of his armour. He burned him from the inside and Fror howled with fury like pain. ______________________ Patton was fighting alongside his friends, but he was shocked. He had heard of the fountain gates, and though he had missed the fight with the dread heretic. He was almost enamoured with how powerful Jazmel was. They were fighting a primordial, a being of unsurmountable power. Yet here they were facing off against a small fragment of its being and they were surviving. Penance! The tall girl with the great sword, used her skill again. a powerful skill filled with pure light Mana. He could see her beleaguered and breathless, the cost was heavy. But she was doing her best to continue to support them. Eviscerate! Jazmel used his sword again, slashing and slicing. Cutting and carving wherever he could on the primordial. He didn¡¯t even seem gassed, nor running low on his Mana. Jazmel seemed to move endlessly, and Patton was proud to be his friend, but proud to fight beside him. Sunder! Eviscerate! Sunder! Three skills, three scars across the plate armour of the primordial shadow. He howled in pain, being restricted by so many attacks from so many people. ¡°You will not slay me!¡± Fror roared. Withered whip! The rusty chain Katie used struck Fror full in the face. He cried out and Patton could see his plate armour had cracked, shards of it fell away. Revealing a stomach of tight rigid abs. ¡°You drew but a thimble of blood!¡± he sneered, punching at Jazmel who dodged. Accost! The girl with the great sword mumbled. She waved her sword about her, and shards of light Mana appeared and accosted Fror. Striking him repeatedly and knocking him back. Causing him to wave his hands about himself, trying to knock the blades from the air. Thunderfire! Arcanum! Sad¨¦ and Tera Nema struck Fror repeatedly. But Jazmel wasn¡¯t even dodging, he was simply in a trance guiding his sword. or guided by his sword. The primordial was stricken, he was struggling beneath the onslaught. All the different attacks were overwhelming him. Shock! Patton yelled and Mana lightning burst around them all. Wreathing the primordial in agony. ¡°I will not fall; I cannot fall to you children.¡± Fror was riled up now, cuts and wounds had begun to form across his body. He was in pain from the constant attacks and his oppressive demeanour was wilting. He clasped his hands together and Patton felt the tug of Mana from his own core. As all the ambient Mana began to lurch towards the space between Fror¡¯s hands. Dreadening wrath! Mana burst from his hand, popping in a shockwave. It knocked them all back and Jazmel who was at the forefront. Bore the main brunt of the strike. He had guarded with his sword, but the sword was not able to bear it. the blade broke, half of the blade remained and as Jazmel stared in horror. Fror took the moment to kick him full in the chest. Jazmel collided with the girl, and they fell in a huddle. Mana blade! Fire blade! Mana blade! Patton yelled, raising his Mana blades around him, and striking at Fror repeatedly. His physical blade was covered in flame, and he stabbed at Fror again. but Fror was waiting for him, ready this time. He caught his hand and broke his wrist. Patton cried out in pain. Howling from the pain of it. Chain spike! Katie leapt forward, using her chains to latch onto Fror and restrict him. but he wouldn¡¯t let go of Patton. He raised his clenched fist like a hammer and smashed it down on Patton. Patton raised a Mana shield, just pure Mana covered himself in the form of a tower shield. Fror laughed and raised his hand again. crashing into the tower shield again, and again, denting it and breaking through. Wolf hunt! Bannerman leapt up, aiming to stop the primordial, but after one clawed strike. Fror caught Bannerman in the face with the top of his head. knocking Patton¡¯s friend aside, all this time; he was still holding onto to the broken wrist of Patton. The pain lancing up his limb like white flames. ¡°You will die here.¡± he said to Patton, and something in his heart told him. Fror meant his words. ______________________ Jazmel groaned. DING! STATUS CONDITION! BRUISED RIB CAGE (minor) He had landed on grace and as he got up, he saw she had been knocked unconscious. But Jazmel wasn¡¯t about to leave her there. ¡°Leave her with us!¡± he heard and looking back, he saw Myn and Morwen coming over to where they were laid. He rose up, clutching his broken sword in hand. He stepped past the girls, and he noticed their glances. He couldn¡¯t read their facial expressions, but he could see they were watching him intensely. He leapt back into the fray, drawing Daishinkan he jabbed Nozarashi into his belt and fought with his other sword. Eviscerate! Sunder Sunder! He struck three times, but Fror took each strike. After each strike, Jazmel could tell that Fror was struggling now. Though he was a primordial, he was the shadow of one. He after all was a fragment, a powerful one at that. He was trying to bludgeon Patton to death, but he couldn¡¯t. Patton was covering his body with a tower shield. Made completely of Mana, his other arm was grasped by Fror and from the way it was bent. Jazmel could tell it was broken, the wrist was fractured at least. ¡°Let him go!¡± Jazmel called out and Fror sneered. ¡°No!¡± Thunderous lament! He cast the skill again, but Jazmel simply rushed in. He was hit and he almost bit through his tongue with pain, but he urged himself on. Willing himself forward and to strike the primordial. DING! WARNING! HEALTH IS BELOW 50% The system chimed and Jazmel felt blood wet his lips, but he didn¡¯t care. His friend was in danger. He crashed into Fror, trying to knock Patton out of his hands. Fror crashed his clenched fist down onto Patton again, but this time the Mana shield broke apart, disappearing. He raised his fist again like a mallet, but Jazmel didn¡¯t let him get his strike in. Great rumbling dragon! The dragon leapt from his sword and with his armour it was amplified. In such close proximity the dragon blasted Fror and Mana burst in brilliant light as it smashed into the primordial. He stumbled again but raised his hand to strike them. Jazmel dropped Daishinkan in the scuffle and raised both his own hands to stop Fror¡¯s strike falling on him and Patton. ¡°You incessant gnat!¡± the primordial shouted, filled with anger. He changed his strike, letting Mana form around his free hand like a dagger, he punched towards Jazmel and tried to stab through him. Jazmel dodged and felt the air whistle as the Mana blade slashed past him. Fror raised his hand again to stab him, Jazmel couldn¡¯t dart out of the way, it would strike Patton instead. Time seemed to slow down and as Fror punched his hand forward to pierce through Jazmel. Jazmel drew the half blade of Nozarashi. He tried to stab into the stomach, but Fror blocked him, vambrace against vambrace. He had let go of Patton now. Jazmel pulled his blade black and Fror¡¯s arm slipped, the one with Mana was coming towards Jazmel in a slow but unerring way. Mana blade! Jazmel heard like a whisper behind him, and he watched as Mana formed the rest of his blade. the broken haft repaired with Mana for a moment. He dodged under the strike of the Mana blade around the fist of Fror. But with the Mana blade he pierced through the plate armour and stabbed the primordial through the heart. He twisted his blade and Fror¡¯s breath caught in his throat. ¡°How could the likes of you kill me?¡± he whispered and then Jazmel slashed down, cutting the primordial¡¯s heart in half. The primordial died, his body turning to ash and dispersing on a wind that had not blown beforehand. Jazmel turned to look at everyone and he saw Sad¨¦ and Katie, he couldn¡¯t hear them. time was still moving slow for him; adrenalin was thrumming in his ears. ¡°¡­¡± Sad¨¦ spoke but he couldn¡¯t hear her. ¡°What did you say?¡± he said, and she spoke again, her lips moving but he couldn¡¯t hear her. He was in shock from the fight, he had very nearly died, and adrenaline was rushing about his body. ¡°¡­¡± She said but he shook his head. so instead she pointed. He looked to where she was pointing and his heart broke, the colour drained from his face. There lay Patton, a hole the size of a fist punched through his heart. A small smile lay across his lips, his eyes staring off into the distance. He was dead. Patton, one of his first friends was dead. Book 5 Chapter One; All the Sorrows of Tomorrow Jazmel stood stunned, in a weird place of surrealism. He stood there, staring down at the body of his friend. One of the first people he had met in the labyrinth. He hadn¡¯t even see Patton be struck, and yet. Here he lay at his feet and his body lifeless. Katie rushed past him, her chains falling from her wrists as she shuck them off. Crying; wailing with true sorrow. Her heart was in turmoil. Though she spent a great deal of time with Bannerman, Patton and Katie had joined the party together. She now hugged his face and head, crying on him. Jazmel stood frozen, watching her tears fall on the pale face of their friend. Sad¨¦ stepped past him, squeezing his arm with comfort. As she went to check on their friend, Katie who was not alright, but she shook off Sad¨¦¡¯s arms. Twice before she relented and let her near. Jazmel and Bannerman stood beside them as they kneeled beside their friend. Jazmel didn¡¯t know what to do, he had no words. He was not prepared for this; he had thought they would all survive. He had thrown himself into that fight with his all, he fought at the front of their party. Ensuring he was always in the position of true danger. Yet somehow, he had survived again. Against a primordial at that, and now they had lost one of their friends. Jazmel shuddered and realised he had been holding his breath. He exhaled and it caught in his throat, he bit back a cry and squeezed his eyes shut. Forcing the tears back, he had a job to do, and he wasn¡¯t going to fall apart now, not when everyone needed him right now. He turned and saw Tera Nema watching this all unfold. She inclined her head in apology at Jazmel. ¡°Check your stats, do what you need to do. When that¡¯s done, we are leaving.¡± He said and everyone quietly did their best to stay away from Jazmel and his friends. Katie continued to wail, to cry over the dead body of Patton. DING! YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE SHADOW OF A PRIMORDIAL! YOU HAVE SLAIN A FRAGMENT OF A PRIMORDIAL! ¡­ ¡­ YOUR REWARDS WILL GREATLY IMPROVE! ¡­ YOUR COMPANION HAS LEVELED UP! YOUR COMPANION HAS LEVELED UP! YOUR COMPANION HAS REACHED LEVEL 10!! CONGRATULATIONS IT IS READY FOR ITS SECOND EVOLUTION! MITHRIL CHEST GAINED! PARTY ERROR 4/4 ¡­ YOUR PARTY HAS SUFFERED A LOSS! YOUR FACTION HAS SUFFERED A LOSS!! ¡­ ¡­ YOU STOPPED THE EMERGENCE OF THE PRIMORDIAL! PRIMORDIAL OF CHAOS AND CACOPHONY EMERGENCE STOPPED! ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! YOU STOPPED THE BLOOD ACOLYTES RITUAL! YOU SAVED MANY OF THE HOSTAGES! ¡­ YOUR REWARDS WILL BE GREATLY IMPROVED! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD GAINED! 15 STAT POINTS GAINED! RANKER TIER HEART OF THE JIGWI GAINED RANKER TIER SCOURGING SCARAB GAINED RANKER TIER FRUIT OF THE MANA TREE GAINED MASTER TIER GOURD OF SANCTITY GAINED! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP EXP HAS GREATLY BEEN ACCRUED! +5 END +5 VIT +5 PER +3 AGL +3 DEX Jazmel looked at each item, suddenly curious to see what he had gained. PRIMORDIAL CORE SHARD! A shard of a core of a primordial being. The system had barely any information to offer regarding the primordial shard, but Jazmel had found the final shard piece to complete the entire core. He had gained 15 stat points now and he was going to share them out right away. He was more motivated in growing quickly than before. He had suffered, his heart had felt like it was shattering in his chest. But with the continued reoccurrence of primordial beings, he was sure he and his faction would be seeing more of them, especially in the future. RANKER TIER HEART OF THE JIGWI! The heart of the Jigwi, a spiritual birdlike being wrought of flame and chaos. That sounded interesting, after all he had not even encountered one. But that was fine, Paldane was curious about flame, and he seemed to be ready for his next evolution after all. He would share that with him when they were in more hospitable surroundings. RANKER TIER SCOURGING SCARAB! Scourging scarab an item that is good for finding items, release it in a gate and it will show you something hidden. Two uses! That intrigued Jazmel, an item hunting item. That would be a boon for him. RANKER TIER FRUIT OF THE MANA TREE! The fruit of a mature Mana tree will increase the consumer¡¯s Mana points! MASTER TIER GOURD OF SANCTITY! The gourd of sanctity is a rare item, used for tier tribulations. The loot was ample, but he still hadn''t even opened the mithril chest. No he had been saving that, but he accepted it now and it appeared in wonder before him. He watched as a shower of mithril glitter showered down as the chest landed at his feet. He popped open the lid and the mithril chest glistened with system energy. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON GAINING THE MITHRIL CHEST! MASTER TIER CELESTIAL CARP GAINED! MASTER TIER ASHES OF THE FALLEN GAINED! MONARCH TIER RUNE OF PERCEPTION GAINED! WILL YOU ACCEPT THESE ITEMS? Y/N? He accepted them and Jazmel watched as they appeared within his ring, he focused on each of them. MASTER TIER CELESTIAL CARP! A celestial carp that has begun its ascension to become a dragon. Jazmel looked over the carp, it was a beautiful fish, as long as his arm and thicker. Its scales were opaque and similar to white jade. He watched as the carp laid motionless within his ring and he could feel the dense, yet pure Mana coiled within it and inside its core. MASTER TIER ASHES OF THE FALLEN! Ashes sourced from the battlefield of many fallen, lay the ashes of the fallen atop your blade and sharpen its edge! Something to raise the attack of his sword? He had almost forgotten that he was down to two swords. After all Nozarashi had broken, but he didn¡¯t want to think about that at the moment. MONARCH TIER RUNE OF PERCEPTION! An imprint item that raises the senses greatly! Jazmel nodded at that final item, something that would enhance his eyes. He was intrigued by the monarch tier; he was curious to see how well it would do for him. after all his eyes were already ¡®eyes of the divine¡¯ based off of what the system called them. When he just placed all the items within his ring. The chest burst into a stream of glitter and the system focused on it and popped up with another notification. DING! MITHRIL CHEST PRESENTS YOU WITH X150 PLATINUM COINS! He took those into his ring and then placed them into his ring where he kept all his coins. Then he turned to face everyone and the thing he had been trying to keep back. The thing he had been willing behind the fourth wall of his mind. He turned to Katie; who was laying atop of the body and whimpering. She lay on Patton¡¯s lifeless body and cried, at first she had screamed. A blood curling wail that affected everyone, but then she simply cried. Melancholic mourning, she bawled and Jazmel felt his heart shatter with each wail. ¡°We need to go back home.¡± Sad¨¦ whispered to him, as she looked up from her place. She was kneeling beside Katie as Patton laid down. ¡°We are going home; you are all coming.¡± He said, talking to Tera Nema, but also talking to everyone. ¡°Tera Nema, gather all the survivors. Every single one of them, you can all come with us to the faction and then figure out what you want to do from there.¡± She nodded and turning to her own party, she spoke quickly, and they broke off. Heading off to gather up the survivors. ¡°Bannerman, we are bringing him back.¡± He said, he couldn¡¯t look at Patton¡¯s body right now. No. If he did, he would break, and he couldn¡¯t afford to break right now. As Bannerman moved over to pick up Patton¡¯s body. Sad¨¦ pulled a cloak from one of her rings and draped it over Patton¡¯s lifeless body. As they moved him, the fountain broke apart. Jazmel jumped up wary; and pulled his sword, Daishinkan. But the fountain was deteriorating as a gate opened in its place.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. DING! WILL YOU RETURN TO YOUR FACTION? Y/N? He placed a hand on the gate as he accepted, and he felt the system energy. Change ever so slightly. ¡°Come on, everyone head into the gate, it will bring you to the faction. We will get you all situated as soon as possible.¡± He shouted over the hushed talking, and words of everyone as they rushed towards the gate. ¡°We will talk when you have time.¡± Tera Nema uttered as she passed him, heading into the gate. Everyone walked in Bannerman carrying Patton and Katie walked beside him stroking the felt draped cloak. Jazmel lowered his gaze as they passed through. Sad¨¦ came and stood beside him, he watched the wide back of Bannerman. staring after him even when he disappeared into the centre of the gate. ¡°Let¡¯s go together.¡± Sad¨¦ said, offering her hand; clasping and locking fingers with him. she walked and he followed her, stepping in tandem with her steps. Pushing his body to follow her lead. Three steps and he was out of the dank fountain gate. That cave of despair. No, he was home, the smell of sweet grass and lake water could be smelt on the air. But they weren¡¯t alone. As soon as Jazmel and Sad¨¦ walked through the gate, he saw Mary, Tango and Baek standing with serious faces. ¡°What happened?¡± Mary quizzed them, Jazmel didn¡¯t even get a chance to speak. Sad¨¦ answered. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Tango asked, coming over and hugging both Sad¨¦ and Jazmel. ¡°What actually happened?¡± Baek asked and Tera Nema stepped forward to explain. Baek listened but his eyes darted back and forth, between Tera Nema and Jazmel¡¯s face. ¡°Gather all the captains.¡± Jazmel said, stepping past them all and walking up the short path towards the faction tower. ¡°Bannerman and Katie, please find a quiet place where he won¡¯t be disturbed. We will bury him as soon as we can.¡± Jazmel uttered as he passed. Sad¨¦ followed him quietly, while Tango and Baek immediately followed behind her. Tera Nema followed them. leading her girls and then the group of survivors followed at the end, with Mary bringing up the rear. There must have been around forty women there, young, and old. But Jazmel hadn''t taken the time to stop and get to know anyone. He walked through the gate and Elai and Wendy sprinted over. ¡°What happened?¡± Elai started, but she saw Bannerman carrying someone. Bit back her words and lowered her head. ¡°Wendy take these women to the healing quarters; they have suffered wounds and trauma.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Wendy immediately split off and hurried over. ¡°Elai, get the others. We need to talk with everyone.¡± Elai left and darted off. Jazmel turned to see who was still with him. Sad¨¦, Baek, Tango, Tera Nema, Myn and Mary. Morwen and Grace had gone to the healing quarters and Jazmel saw they had been suffering from wounds also. Gilmore came out from the tower, saw Jazmel and waved. But noticing the sombre mood, waited as they passed him and entered the tower. Jazmel stepped up and sat in his seat. He felt suddenly incensed by system energy, revitalised even but it couldn¡¯t fix his broken heart. Gelth entered with Timone, they smelt of battle. Jazmel wondered if they had been within the astral domain. Elai entered and Jazmel realised he had been waiting for Patton. Patton, Bannerman, and Katie, but they had been away for obvious reasons. ¡°What happened?¡± Mary asked and Jazmel nodded. He took the time to tell them all about their journey. From the mirror of Tildred and all the way to the fight with the primordial. Some simply listened while others gasped and expressed their concerns. ¡°What is a primordial?¡± Timone asked and just when Jazmel was about to answer. Sad¨¦ stepped in, explaining about the fountain gates, the trials that Jazmel had undergone. Elai jumped in and told them about the place of Mirete. ¡°I should probably explain the part we played in this.¡± Tera Nema stepped forward, her head high. She took that moment to share how she and her party had caught the primordial acolytes kidnapping girls. They had fought, beaten many but were overwhelmed. Before they were caught, she had sent out three missives; three origami swans. But only Jazmel and his party had come to save them. Jazmel listened to this, he felt a tiny bit better. In truth at least the cause had been worth it, but he was avidly aware of the lack of Patton¡¯s presence. ¡°Baek have you ever seen a primordial before?¡± Jazmel asked, and the room fell silent. ¡°I have not, I have not witnessed such a being within the labyrinth.¡± He confessed and Jazmel nodded, the primordial beings seemed to resonate with him. something about his entry into the labyrinth had awoken them and they were doing their best to find him and wreak havoc. ¡°In truth, I don¡¯t know why the system keeps putting me in the path of these primordial beings. Especially when I haven¡¯t met a single soul who can tell me anything about them. all I know is that they are strong. Hopelessly strong and today I saw that we were unprepared!¡± ¡°It seems that we will keep being embroiled within the matters of the primordial. So now it is imperative that we all focus on getting stronger. I need you all to get stronger, we lost one of our own today. My heart is broken, but we cannot stagger and stall here. We cannot afford to play anymore; it seems the stakes are much higher than we are previously though. Than I thought.¡± He told them all, his face was serious, and his voice was gravelly. ¡°What do you want us to do?¡± Gelth asked, suddenly focused and his voice deep. ¡°I want you to form parties amongst yourselves. I want you to take those in the faction below and delve. We need to push our boundaries more and more. I want us to continuously be delving into the labyrinth and I want it to be under the tutelage of the captains.¡± Jazmel responded. ¡°Mary can you see to it that they begin to form groups and parties?¡± he asked, and she nodded, face solemn. She stepped out and most of the group followed her. ¡°Baek, and Elai. Can you find a place for us to bury Patton? It will be a quiet ceremony; we need to keep it for intimate.¡± He said, Baek stepped away and Elai followed him. ¡°Tango, can you check on the survivors. I need to make sure they are all alright, can you see about making sure that everyone has somewhere to lay their head tonight.¡± He asked and Tango nodded, leaving to do as he had been asked. Then it was just Sad¨¦, Tera Nema and Myn. ¡°I am so sorry for your loss. I know you will say it is, isn¡¯t my fault. But I am terribly sorry, I don¡¯t know what I can do to appease your pain. So I will do what I think is the right thing here.¡± Tera Nema said and while she was speaking. DING! TERA NEMA AND HER PARTY HAVE REQUEST TO JOIN THE FACTION! ¡­ WILL YOU ACCEPT RANKER TIER II TERA NEMA RANKER TIER II MYN RANKER TIER III GRACE RANKER TIER II MORWEN Y/N? He looked at the system notifications and then he looked at Tera Nema. ¡°Are you sure?¡± he said, and she nodded. He looked over to Sad¨¦ and she smiled, it was mirthless, but he could see she was trying to make him feel better. He accepted and he watched as Tera Nema¡¯s eyes lit up from the different quests and tasks. The faction tasks were important for them all and he realised she was probably going to receive rewards. ¡°Accept the rewards and tasks. After you have rested you can explore the domain as well as the astral domain on the lower floor. we have a forge too, so you can replace the items you lost.¡± He offered and Tera Nema nodded, thanking him. He stepped down from his seat, feeling the system energy ebb away. She hugged him, pulling him into a tight hug and squeezed affection into him. ¡°I am truly sorry for the loss of your friend; you came to our rescue, and we will not forget that.¡± She said and Jazmel simply nodded, his vision blurred with tears and suddenly in a daze. ¡°Come with me ladies, I will show you were the ladies all sleep here.¡± Sad¨¦ said, sensing the mood change, he slow blinked at her. Silently thanking her and she nodded knowingly. ¡°Sorry.¡± Myn said, her voice quiet and shy. He waved at her quietly. He stepped back up into his seat and looked over his interface. YOUR FACTION INTERFACE SCREEN OUTPOST ¨C BLACK WING FACTION TIER II OUTPOST FACTION LEADER SCREEN INTERFACE FACTION LEADER ¨C JAZMEL WAR COMMANDER ¨C MARY FORGE MASTER ¨C GORIN SCHOLAR ¨C BAEK FACTION CAPTAINS FACTION RETAINERS (WELL KNOWN) OUTPOST POPULATION GROUPS ALLIES He nodded over the information. It looked right to him, and he wasn¡¯t about to complain much, he was about to look over his rewards again. When Paldane crawled from his preferred spot. Where he would nestle inside his collar. ¡°I got some things for you.¡± He said, saddened but happy that Paldane wanted to be near him. Show me! Paldane said and Jazmel could feel the hunger aching across their shared link. Jazmel brought out the items he had been saving and Paldane¡¯s snout grew wet with saliva. DING! YOUR COMPANION IS READY TO EVOLVE! IT HAS REQUESTED ITEMS FROM YOUR PERSON!! ¡­ ¡­ Jazmel nodded, each item was a solid request. He did wonder what would happen to Paldane after he evolved. Sad¨¦ had told him a long time ago, that creatures could only evolve three times. So this being his second evolution would be the beginning of the end for him. Paldane scooped up each item with intense pleasure and bounded through the tower doors in a gangly run. He was still not used to his body, Jazmel could tell he preferred to fly than actually be on all four of his legs. DING! YOUR COMPANION IS UNDERGOING AN EVOLUTION! Jazmel had followed him out and he watched as Paldane flew into the sky. flying high above their heads. He was ascending as high as possible. He watched as he swallowed down the leviathan core, he could tell because his eyes noticed the change. The Mana flourished the colour of seawater and blue corral. It was a beauty to see and as Paldane consumed the core, his own Mana burned a myriad of colours. It reminded Jazmel of images he had seen of the aurora borealis. Paldane burned in the sky like a star and Jazmel had to shield his eyes from the sight. Next whirled in the air, sailing on the wind high above. He spun as his wings unfurled and caught wilder wind currents. But Jazmel was studying his Mana, Paldane¡¯s core was expanding as his body was shuddering and burning like a star made of the aurora borealis. He consumed the manticore core next, his own core flooded with strength and what Jazmel could only assume was poison. Or the Mana that formed it. With keen interest, he watched it flood his pet and companions core and then flow around his body and begin to add muscle and mass to Paldane. Paldane was bigger now, much bigger, he was easily the size of a racehorse now. But he wasn¡¯t finished growing. No, he had one more item to consume to finish evolution and this was the item that Jazmel was most curious about. Finally he began to consume or incorporate the heart of the Jigwi. It was a spiritual beast made of pure Mana; its heart was nothing like anything that Jazmel had seen inside the labyrinth. It had a physical form; the heart was clearly a physical organ and yet. Before them both, Jazmel could see that it functioned like a Mana core, a crystal even. As soon as Paldane began to consume it within his core and his body. His entire body burst into flame, but not just any flame. His entire body was covered in aeonic flame and wreathed him with it. Jazmel watched in wonder as the flame continued to grow. Until his friend looked like a bonfire in the sky. Paldane¡¯s evolution began to look like the birth of a supernova. But it burned and burned, growing in size and intensity. It didn¡¯t wink out nor did it stop, but the shadow within the flames did grow. Soon Jazmel could tell that Paldane had grown bigger. Even bigger than the racehorse size, he had just been. DING! YOUR COMPANION HAS COMPLETED ITS SECOND EVOLUTION CONGRATULATIONS! THE STRENGTH OF YOUR BOND HAS DEEPENED!! ¡­ Jazmel saw the notification, but he didn¡¯t have time to consider it, because the dragon that descended from the skies was huge. Paldane was the size of a four-horse wagon now. His black scales looked like segments cut out of the night sky. the claws that ended from his legs, were long and curved. Wickedly thick, they reminded Jazmel of sickles, each and every one of them. Paldane standing on all four legs; the tip of his snout was a few feet above Jazmel. Paldane was close to twelve feet in height now. The interesting thing was how aerodynamic he had become. His head was wider now, more like a spade. Paldane yawned and stretched like a cat, and Jazmel wondered why cats and dragons shared so many qualities. Paldane¡¯s blue scales that ran along his spine were still there, still present, and much more refined now. They looked like blue gems that ran along his back, and Jazmel wondered if he could ride him now. The final change, and the most notable difference. Was the blue and black flame that burned nonstop at the tip of Paldane¡¯s tail. it was like a torch of aeonic flame, Paldane noticed it and began to wave it about. ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt.¡± Paldane said, his voice gravelly and deep, but quite clearly a younger voice. ¡°You can speak aloud now!¡± Jazmel exclaimed. Leaping up and hugging Paldane¡¯s snout. ¡°I can!¡± Paldane exclaimed back and the two jumped about. But Paldane had to stop, he was so large that his jumps caused many of the faction seekers. To come out and see what the commotion was. ¡°I am hungry!¡± Paldane said and Jazmel nodded. ¡°You should hunt.¡± He said, but Paldane scooped him up with his front paws and his neck. He put Jazmel on his shoulders and bounded back into the sky. ¡°We are going hunting!¡± Jazmel held on for dear life, but after a few moments of adjusting. He was comfortable, Paldane seemed to not feel his weight at all, and he soared into the sky. ¡°I got skills too!¡± Paldane said and Jazmel asked to show him. Aeonic flame! The torrent of flame he had spewed before was minute compared to this barrage of fire. It flashed across the sky and the wind quelled before it. the blast of fire back fanned onto them and Jazmel shielded his face from the cinders. ¡°Show me the others too.¡± Jazmel shouted over the howling wind. Winged sever! With a jerking yet fluid movement Paldane swung his left wing, then his right. From them great scythes of wind cast through the air and Jazmel watched them. watched as the wind currents carried them for some distance. ¡°You could do some real damage with that.¡± Jazmel told Paldane and his chest swelled with pride. Jazmel felt his body swell with it too, it must be the deepening of their connection he thought. ¡°What else you got for me?¡± Jazmel asked, shouting over the din of the wind. Langdrin¡¯s Lark! To Jazmel it sounded like a bark, but he watched the Mana pulse. It burst through the skill and enhanced the shout. A perfect ring of a soundwave burst from Paldane¡¯s chest and smashed through the air. Colliding with the wind and bursting. ¡°Wow.¡± Jazmel said. Paldane chuffed with pride again and puffed smoke from his nostrils. ¡°Show me how well you can fly now, your wings are massive!¡± Jazmel urged and Paldane snaked forward, pushing his new body, and evaluating his limits. Though mourning pounded in his chest, Jazmel was happy to be flying and happy to see his friend complete his evolution. But his heart was heavy with the loss of Patton. He would see him buried well and somewhere; he could always go back to. Book 5 Chapter Two; Intimate Proceedings Jazmel stood off to the side, he was standing alone. On a slope where the proceedings were being conducted for Patton. They had returned a week ago from stopping the ascension of a primordial. Fror of chaos and cacophony, but it had come at the cost of a friend. Patton had lost his life in the battle, something Jazmel was still unsure over. He ran the fight over in his head nonstop. He knew Patton had been behind him, but he hadn''t realised just how close. in truth, he himself had been trying his best to not be struck by the formidable form of Fror. Fror had used Mana and formed a thick blade. He had punched through the chest and into the heart of Patton. Killing him instantly and then Jazmel had stabbed him through the heart, using the broken haft of Nozarashi and the tip which had been formed from Mana. The well-known skill of Patton. Even now, Jazmel had buried him with the sword, broken but sheathed, he had buried it beside his friend. No words were spoken. No songs were sung, mourning was all that carried in the morning air. Jazmel stared at the final resting place of Patton, and he thought about his friend. Paldane stayed beside Jazmel, his new size was intimidating. His voice was deep and gravely, even deeper than Bannerman¡¯s. When they had returned from hunting that day. Paldane had landed in the middle of the courtyard, basking everyone in his shadow. His great wings blotting out the sun. Sad¨¦ had been there, and when she saw them, she was nearly frightened. But she saw Jazmel sitting up behind the shoulders of the dragon. ¡°Is that Paldane?¡± she had asked, suddenly excited and amazed. She reached up and Paldane bowed his head to let her stroke his scaled snout. He purred, the sound rumbling around his throat and shoulders. Kazumi was neared, she watched Paldane curiously but said nothing. Jazmel hadn''t heard her speak yet. The clouds were dull and grey today. He stood beside a tree, and he heard the wind swish through the leaves. The pitter patter of rain began to rain down. Soon the leaves were being pelted and Jazmel felt his shoulders drenched.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°The rain is cold and dreary.¡± Paldane ruffed and Jazmel nodded. ¡°I am going to hunt.¡± Paldane said and with a thump, he leapt into the air. Buffing Jazmel with a gust of wind as he used his wings to propel himself into the air. Jazmel opened the interface and began to put plans together. Letting the system form his ideas into actual tasks for the members of the faction. DING! ALL SEEKERS MUST ADVANCE! REWARDS WILL VARY! IF YOU GAIN 5 LEVELS IF YOU UNDERGO A SEEKER TIER TRIBULATION IF YOU ACHIEVE RANKER TIER ¡­ ¡­ IF YOU UNDERGO A RANKER TIER TRIBULATION ¡­ ¡­ IF YOU UNDERGO A MASTER TIER TRIBULATION ¡­ The system pinged his notifications off. They hit the system of everyone¡¯s system screen, and he saw the odd nod. Every Mary seemed interested; she had been preparing for master tier. He knew, he could see her Mana flowing around her and cultivating into a greater form. Baek had told Tango and Mary to not share the steps to become a master tier. He said that it needed to be organic and so only the system should share the path. Jazmel stared back at the grave. Staring down at the cold earth and he wondered if Patton¡¯s death, had been his fault. His heart was fractured, healing from the shattering. Baek had spoken with him repeatedly, but words hadn''t gotten through. Time had been the greatest healer. Though it had only been a week. He had seen the good of their loss. The girls and women they had saved were up and moving around the faction base. Some deciding to join, some were still healing, not all wounds were physical after all. Jazmel stepped forward, walking towards the grave. He knelt before it, in front of everyone and placed his hand on the freshly overturned earth. ¡°You saved them all.¡± He said, patting the ground where his friend was being laid to rest. Book 5 Chapter Three; the Three Seekers Leno, Serafina, and Saif were panting from their sprinting. They had entered the labyrinth together for the first time and they had found themselves in a terrible gate. DING! SURVIVE THE COMING OF THE BRUXA BROOD! THE NIGHT IS LONG AND THEY HUNGER FOR A HUNT!! ¡°Vampires? Great.¡± Serafina moaned, and in truth leno agreed with her. He hadn''t personally fought anything like a Bruxa, but the faction tower had a library, and it was wondrous. Filled with notes, tomes and scrolls on the beasts and creatures others had come across inside the labyrinth. The gate had led them to a ruined village, most of the houses and homes were broken down. But the few that still stood, were boarded up and covered as well as possible. There was one building with its doors still open. A temple, Leno was sure there was something ironic about that. But he had no time to figure that out. ¡°Into the temple.¡± He bid the girls, and they sprinted forward, the gift of grace that elves seemed to have in abundance. He had been following the words of Jazmel, focusing on balancing his stats. He pushed most of his free points into agility and dexterity now. They were the lowest and they didn¡¯t grow as quickly as his others. A loud hiss pierced the sky just as Leno stepped through the doors of the temple. At first it sounded like one large animal, but soon he realised it was more than that. No it was a chorus, a choir of hisses. Then a chattering in a language Leno was unfamiliar with, could be heard. Then they could hear giggles, laughter that rang across the night sky. Leno pulled his silver blade free and then conjured up an iron blade. ¡°They are going to come for us, let¡¯s get ready. Any that come close, we will kill them. If they try to stay far, both of you use your arrows.¡± Leno expressed and the girls quipped their bows and prepared.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The laughter in the night shrieked and Leno shuddered. Something uncanny about vampires giggling in the night made him worried. The first to appear was a naked woman, she looked young. Maybe in her twenties, but she landed daintily on the doorstep. Her mouth, throat and chest was drenched with blood. She didn¡¯t cover her body at all, instead she was stark naked. Her skin pale as the moon she flew under. ¡°Fresh blood, the night gifts us all!¡± she grinned, her eyes wild and maddening. She darted forward, if not for an arrow hitting her high in the shoulder. She might have struck him full in the chest. But he didn¡¯t falter, he blinked the wind out of his eyes. Parrying her clawed hand. He slashed upwards with the steel fin tuna blade that Jazmel had given to him. He dragged the blade up and slashed her pretty face. He felt the blade pierce her eye and scar her beauty. She shrieked out and back pedalled. But he followed her, striking with both blades, steel, and iron. He buried them into her heart and wrenched them free, pulling her heart from her chest. She wailed, but didn¡¯t die yet, no she turned monstrous. Rushing forward, her body almost mutated. She pushed forward both clawed hands aimed to tear him asunder. Three arrows hit her, with the effect of a full Mana blast. One after the other, the first broke her defence, the second knocked her backward and the third knocked her off her feet. Serafina was releasing arrows with erring accuracy. Saif was beside her and she yelled at Leno. ¡°Throw it up!¡± she shouted; he didn¡¯t register what she meant for a split second. Then he realised he was still clutching the heart which was thumping; beating as it remained pierced by his two daggers. He shucked it from his blades and tossed it into the air. Chaos coil! Saif shot an arrowhead conjured from her chaos Mana. It hit the heart and igniting it in black and green flame. It screeched as its heart burnt like kindle. The body jerked and spasmed. Leno watched with a tiny piece of empathy as the pretty girl. Who had been a Bruxa, died before him. DING! TIER I BRUXA KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! +2 AGL +1 DEX The death brought experience and stats. But the howling on the wind told him it wrought anger too. It was going to be a long night. ¡°Get ready!¡± Leno commanded, taking the leadership, and steeling himself for the night. Just as the doors burst open, off the hinges and dozens of Bruxa¡¯s flew into the temple. Book 5 Chapter Four; Building the Strength of a Faction FACTION INTERFACE SCREEN OUTPOST ¨C BLACK WING FACTION TIER II OUTPOST FACTION LEADER SCREEN INTERFACE FACTION LEADER ¨C JAZMEL WAR COMMANDER ¨C MARY FORGE MASTER ¨C GORIN SCHOLAR ¨C BAEK FACTION CAPTAINS FACTION RETAINERS (WELL KNOWN) OUTPOST POPULATION GROUPS ALLIES Jazmel was looking over his faction screen again. He had been extremely focused on preparing the teams as best as he could. The faction overall had some power, some strength. Especially with the new additions. But he wasn¡¯t na?ve to believe that they were prepared for anything. Especially while his friends were still only newly made rankers, ranker tier I or ranker tier II. Simply put he would be focusing on upskilling everyone. After all, they all had to do their best. Even he, in leading them. It was important that he ensured that they were focused and motivated to continue their tasks. DING! QUEST CREATED! HOUSEHOLD DUTIES! COMPLETE YOUR DAY-TO-DAY TASKS AND BE REWARDED Jazmel was happy with that, after all it was motivating and continued to push them. pushing the faction members, retainers, and captains to keep going. Which made him consider his captains again. ¡°AI.¡± He called and out of nowhere, the little sprite that was consciously connected to his central node appeared. ¡°Yes?¡± it greeted him with a smile and a shrill squeak. ¡°How do I pick captains from my retainers?¡± Jazmel asked and the sprite bobbed in the air as it thought about his question. ¡°The same way you make quests, tasks, and other things. For anyone who is part of your faction. Jazmel nodded, thanking the sprite who bobbed and disappeared once again. He thought about it again, willing his thoughts through the system screen. WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SELECT FOR THIS TASK? The system asked him, for some reason it always felt uncanny when it asked his opinion. He selected his people and system whirred into action as it confirmed them. YOU HAVE SELECTED THE SEEKERS BELOW TO BE CONSIDERED CAPTAINS! CAN YOU CONFIRM?This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Y/N? ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ DING! QUEST CREATED! CALL OF THE CAPTAIN! YOU HAVE BEEN MARKED AS ONE WHO COULD BEAR THE GARB OF CAPTAIN! ¡­ ¡­ YOU MUST EARN THIS RIGHT! THE NEXT TIME YOU ENTER THE LABYRINTH A PLOT WILL BE CREATED FOR YOU! WITHIN THAT GATE, COMPLETE YOUR PLOT AND EARN YOUR TITLE!! IF YOU MAKE IT TO CAPTAIN YOU WILL BE REWARDED! ¡­ He was sitting on his seat of power; it was a tall, backed chair. It rose high and almost twenty feet high. It was made completely out of a dull grey marble. That stood out against white of the chamber hall, room. The doors creaked with motion as they opened. Jazmel looked to see Sad¨¦ enter the room alongside Baek, they were talking to each other. He couldn¡¯t hear what they were discussing, but he could see Sad¨¦ smiling and laughing. She was dressed in a summer dress, long and flowing. It was the colour of daisies and little blue flowers had been sewn into it in beautiful arrays. ¡°You have been busy young master.¡± Baek greeted him, he smiled and Jazmel agreed. ¡°I have been trying to add more tasks for the faction. I needed to keep the faction motivated.¡± He explained and Baek inclined his head, knowing why Jazmel was reacting this way. ¡°Young master when I lost my first friend in the labyrinth. It took many years; I mourned for many months. But in the end, your life did not end alongside him.¡± Baek shared and Jazmel listened to him, feeling his heart suddenly lighter. ¡°I know what you are saying Baek, I feel it too. But I keep thinking back if you or Tango had come with us. Patton would be here now.¡± Jazmel offered, that was the true guilt he was feeling. That was the real thing he was suffering beneath. ¡°Maybe, or the system might have made your advance through the gates even harder. You have to remember the system is in charge here. It never takes a back seat; it is always driving. Never forget that.¡± Baek said and in truth, Jazmel had not considered it like that. ¡°You have to forgive yourself.¡± Sad¨¦ said, coming forward and sitting on the arm of his seat of power. ¡°I am trying.¡± He said and he cried, a single tear broke the dam and soon he was sobbing quietly. Sad¨¦ slipped into his lap and hugged him, holding him together as he shook with mourning. And he stayed like that for ten minutes, which felt like hours to him. but he cried, he wallowed, and his heart wrenched with the pain of loss. He was so hurt, and he was questioning why it hadn''t been him. But now he felt like he would no longer be able to ask that. So instead he decided to focus on getting so strong, he wouldn¡¯t lose anyone again. ¡°I have something to show you both.¡± He said, as he tried to stop himself crying. ¡°AI, close off the chamber.¡± Jazmel said and the chamber changed, the arrays closing the doors to both the outside and also the tower. He pulled out the Magellanic memory mould and the orb fizzed with the memory. He felt it warm in his hand, he hadn''t watched it back. After all, it was still fresh in his mind. But he would cherish the item, and he wouldn¡¯t lose it or break it. ¡°Can I share a memory I have saved? Or is it linked to me and only I can see it?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek studied the memory mould before answering. ¡°You can share it; we can view a memory with you. But it can only be shared through expense of your own Mana.¡± Baek explained and after a breath, he explained to Jazmel what to do. Jazmel breathed deeply, inhaling and exhaling. He was trying to figure out how to funnel his Mana, he pushed it willed it and forced it; gently down his arm. Into his hand, he watched as it poured into the mould. He was gentle, he didn¡¯t want to shatter the orb. It was all he had of his mother. At first he felt the orb pushing back, trying to hold the memory within its mould. But Jazmel wasn¡¯t to be contained, he pushed his Mana deeper and soon the mould relented. Jazmel watched as the memory expanded and he watched as it glimmered in brilliance as he pumped more Mana and soon his memory flared free. Burst from the orb and filled the entire chamber. On the enlarged view. He watched himself meet his baby form and his mother all over again. Sad¨¦ had still been sitting in his lap at this point. He didn¡¯t want to move her or say anything, he was comfortable with her being this close. her hair cascaded down her back and in front of him. it smelled like summer flowers, and he suddenly stopped, focusing his mind so he didn¡¯t think about her soap. ¡°She is beautiful¡­¡± Sad¨¦ said absentmindedly, and he watched as she watched the face of his mother. He looked up, he watched her watching him meet his mother in a memory or a dream. When the memory ended and Jazmel stopped his outpour of Mana. The memory orb grew warm again as the memory returned into the orb. ¡°Young master¡­¡± Baek said and stopped, he closed his eyes and focused his breathing. ¡°I have found him.¡± he said and Jazmel knew he was talking to himself. Talking to his real master, the man who was Jazmel¡¯s father. ¡°I cannot believe you saw her.¡± He said, again to himself. Baek who was usually the man of complete calm. Was suddenly overcome with emotion, he had banked on something. He had believed all by himself that Jazmel was his child. But now he had confirmation. Jazmel was sure now and even surer than before. He would have to meet this man; he would have to find out about his father firsthand. ¡°We will go to the kingdom. But I will not have you explain who I am or tell him about this memory. I want to meet him as a stranger and see how who he is without prearranged ideals.¡± Jazmel explained, Baek looked like he wanted to argue but he inclined his head conceding to Jazmel, he realised he had proven he was truly the son of the king of a kingdom and now Baek was treating him as such. ¡°I will leave you two.¡± Baek said, bowing and stepping out of the chamber hall. AI brought the barriers up again and Sad¨¦ made to move from his lap. Realising just where she was sitting. ¡°You don¡¯t have to go.¡± He said and she looked at him. ¡°Things are different now.¡± She said, but he could feel her feelings emote from her body. ¡°What do you mean?¡± he said, confused. Was she telling him, she no longer cared. ¡°I am a princess; you just saw your mother and now you know you are a prince. Too much is happening, we just lost Patton. I know you cannot be focused on this, on us at the moment.¡± She explained and he felt his heart yearn for her even more. Even now she was putting her feelings aside and was considering him even now. ¡°Sad¨¦, there is nothing to consider. Before I knew anything there was you. Before I even held a sword of my own, you were there. I wouldn¡¯t have all of this, or even be able to become this without your help. I might only be the leader of a small faction. But we are pushing forward, we are strong. We will create something amazing here and I want you present for all of it.¡± he told her, he was confessing here, and she was listening intently, mere inches from his face. ¡°You are a princess now and I know that comes with duty. But I have a duty too, I am not someone who pretends to know anything. I let the person who is the greatest at it, take control. That¡¯s the way I lead, you are the greatest person for my heart. So I offer it to you. She smiled, she looked at him, her face wet with tears for his mother. She started crying again, she turned; sidling. She hugged him and cried over his shoulder. ¡°Well prince and princesses do not date.¡± She said, in between sobs. ¡°Oh yes, you are right. They court.¡± He said, remembering something he had read as a child. ¡°I am not a prince.¡± He said and she laughed a little. ¡°Not yet, you need to meet your father.¡± She bid him and he nodded. She was right after all. Book 5 Chapter Five; New Threads of the Faction DING! QUEST CREATED! CALL OF THE CAPTAIN! YOU HAVE BEEN MARKED AS ONE WHO COULD BEAR THE GARB OF CAPTAIN! ¡­ ¡­ YOU MUST EARN THIS RIGHT! THE NEXT TIME YOU ENTER THE LABYRINTH A PLOT WILL BE CREATED FOR YOU! WITHIN THAT GATE, COMPLETE YOUR PLOT AND EARN YOUR TITLE!! IF YOU MAKE IT TO CAPTAIN YOU WILL BE REWARDED! ¡­ The system pinged, popping up and Tera Nema was incensed, she hadn''t even been gone from the faction for an hour. But Jazmel was creating nothing but missives and tasks for them all. Her girls, her party members had all been sent the same system notice. ¡°Well the faction retainers have increased. They will need leaders to lead it.¡± Morwen offered and Tera Nema agreed with her. She was right after all. ¡°Well I am going to do it.¡± Myn uttered, Tera Nema turned to look at her. ¡°We owe him, we owe them.¡± she said, Tera Nema nodded, and she was right. She felt constantly bad, nobody said anything. They were nice enough towards them all. But she felt the looks on them, she felt the eyes on them when they were moving around the outpost. The main faces, the people she had seen with Jazmel in the labyrinth before he made the outpost. They were nice, they had saved them simply because they needed to be saved. But Jazmel wasn¡¯t that way, he had come to her when she and the others had accepted. Thanking them greatly and ensuring she knew they were safe there. But Jazmel was a good man, a good person. She knew that much, though he fought like a demon. His heart was good, and they were all under him now. ¡°Alright girls, we are earning our keep and then some. Figure out your plots, your needs and we get busy in the city. Meet back at the entrance in an hour? Send a swan if you get into trouble.¡± She commanded, they split off and she made her way into the city. Tera Nema strode through the city and if anyone was watching her. She would like she had the heir of confidence, her Mana was pure within her. It was all to do with her build and class, she had a connection to Mana, to magic. It was what allowed her to wield her wand the way she did. It hummed with strength beside her, always providing a safe space. She moved deeper into the city and wandered around. But the system, ever present and always providing direction appeared. DING! ¡­ GARB OF THE CAPTAIN QUEST!! ¡­ A RANKER HAS DECIDED TO TAKE OVER THE CITY! THE RANKER HAS DONE SO WITHOUT THE SYSTEM! STOP HIM! ¡­ Tera Nema released her swans, each one fluttering like delicate paper birds, weaving through the air with uncanny precision. The message was sent. Now, all she had to do was wait. Moments later, a sharp breeze swept past her, heralding the swift approach of Myn. The rogue slid into view with her usual silent grace, her eyes glinting with anticipation. Myn¡¯s dark hair was tied back tightly, her expression serious, but the slight smirk betrayed her excitement. ¡°I knew it was something urgent,¡± Myn said, eyeing the surroundings cautiously. ¡°What¡¯s the story?¡± Before Tera Nema could reply, a soft shimmer of magic swirled beside her, and Morwen stepped out from a subtle veil of illusion. Her robes fluttered gently as if she were walking out of a dream. Calm and perceptive, Morwen¡¯s gaze swept over Tera Nema, catching the tense lines in her expression. ¡°We¡¯re here. What did you find?¡± Morwen asked, her voice steady. Tera Nema took a deep breath, her fingers brushing the handle of her wand for reassurance. ¡°The system gave me a quest. It¡¯s not just another test¡ªit¡¯s a real problem. There¡¯s a Ranker trying to take over the city. The system says he¡¯s doing it without permission, without the system¡¯s blessing.¡± Myn¡¯s brows shot up. ¡°A rogue Ranker? That¡¯s not just a challenge; that¡¯s dangerous.¡± Morwen nodded, her eyes narrowing as she processed the information. ¡°If he¡¯s acting outside the system¡¯s rules, he¡¯s not going to play fair. This isn¡¯t going to be easy.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Tera Nema met their gazes, her voice firm. ¡°We have to stop him. The system wants us to handle it, and if we pull this off, we earn more than just respect. We earn our place here. No more feeling like we¡¯re outsiders.¡± Myn¡¯s fingers twitched, as though she was ready to draw a blade at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡°I¡¯m in. We owe Jazmel and the others. This is our chance to prove it.¡± Morwen¡¯s eyes softened, but her resolve was clear. ¡°Then we need a plan. We can¡¯t just rush in blind.¡± Tera Nema nodded. ¡°You¡¯re right. Here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.¡± She pulled them into a tight circle, her voice low and focused. ¡°Myn, you¡¯ll scout ahead. Find out where this Ranker is operating from. We need to know his strongholds, his defences, and if he has anyone working with him.¡± Myn grinned. ¡°Consider it done.¡± Tera Nema turned to Morwen. ¡°Morwen, you¡¯re our best at illusions and wards. I need you to set up a way for us to move through the city unseen. We need to get close without him knowing we¡¯re coming.¡± Morwen¡¯s eyes glowed faintly with magic. ¡°I can do that.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll prepare the offensive spells,¡± Tera Nema said, gripping her wand tightly. ¡°Once we know where he is and can get close, we¡¯ll hit him hard and fast. No hesitation.¡± Myn¡¯s smirk faded into a determined smile. ¡°We stop him, and we do it together.¡± Morwen laid a hand on Tera Nema¡¯s shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re with you. No matter what.¡± Tera Nema looked at both of them, pride and gratitude swelling in her chest. This was her team, her family. Together, they were more than capable. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get moving. The city doesn¡¯t have time to wait, and neither do we.¡± They exchanged firm nods and split off into their roles, each step measured, each action determined. The swans had delivered the message. Now, they would deliver justice. The narrow alleyways of the city twisted around them, cloaked in shadows that felt heavier than they should. After days of hunting, Tera Nema, Myn, and Morwen stood outside a crumbling stone estate. The windows were dark, and the air seemed to hum with a wrongness that made Tera Nema¡¯s skin crawl. This was it¡ªthe lair of the rogue Ranker. A Seeker who had chosen power over morality. Morwen¡¯s voice was a whisper, but the edge of tension was unmistakable. ¡°He¡¯s in there. I sense the threads of magic tangled in his wards. Sloppy, but dangerous.¡± Myn crouched beside her, eyes sharp as she surveyed the perimeter. ¡°He¡¯s barricaded himself well. Looks like he¡¯s been expecting trouble.¡± Tera Nema¡¯s jaw tightened. He should be. The atrocities the Seeker had committed haunted every street they walked, every hushed conversation they overheard. Fear clung to the air like smoke. The people needed this nightmare to end. ¡°No more waiting,¡± Tera Nema said, determination anchoring her voice. ¡°We¡¯re bringing him down.¡± Morwen nodded, lifting her hands as threads of light wove through her fingers. ¡°I¡¯ll break his wards. Be ready.¡± Myn unsheathed her twin daggers, their edges gleaming wickedly. ¡°I¡¯m always ready.¡± Morwen muttered an incantation, her eyes glowing with ethereal light. The wards flickered, resisting at first, but then shattered with a sound like glass breaking underwater. A pulse of corrupted energy spilled from the estate, foul and cold. The moment the wards fell, Myn slipped forward, a blur of motion. She vanished into the shadows, scouting ahead while Tera Nema and Morwen stepped through the shattered threshold. The air inside was suffocating. The faint stench of blood and decay assaulted their senses. Broken furniture and claw marks lined the walls, evidence of the Seeker¡¯s madness. Then, from the darkness, a voice oozed malice. ¡°You think you can challenge me in my own domain?¡± A figure emerged from the shadows, tall and gaunt, his eyes glowing with a sickly yellow light. The Seeker¡¯s grin was twisted, his teeth stained with old blood. His robes, once elegant, were tattered and smeared with crimson. But he wasn¡¯t alone, many others appeared from within the shadows. But Tera Nema wasn¡¯t swayed or worried. Tera Nema didn¡¯t hesitate. She raised her wand, her voice firm. ¡°Your reign of terror ends now.¡± The Seeker chuckled, a hollow sound. ¡°Fools. You walk willingly into death.¡± With a flick of his wrist, black tendrils of energy shot toward them. Tera Nema snapped her wand forward. Wand Warfare! Her wand moved in rapid, fluid arcs, deflecting the tendrils with pinpoint precision. Sparks of magic scattered with each strike. ¡°Myn, go!¡± she commanded. Myn blurred into motion, dashing through the openings Tera Nema created. Her daggers flashed, and she roared. Severance! A surge of energy coated her blades, and she struck the Seeker¡¯s side. Black blood sprayed as the cut tore deeper than a normal strike should. The Seeker hissed in fury, his twisted gaze snapping to Myn. His hands crackled with corrupted magic, ready to retaliate, but Morwen was already moving. Wrath! She snarled, her voice vibrating with righteous fury. A wave of crimson energy erupted from her palms, crashing into the Seeker. His body shuddered under the relentless assault, his form briefly outlined in red light as if being seared from within. The Seeker staggered, his eyes burning with rage. ¡°You dare¡ª¡± Inferno! Tera Nema shouted. A torrent of flames exploded from her wand, engulfing the Seeker in a vortex of searing heat. He screamed, his robes catching fire as the inferno licked at his corrupted flesh. But he wasn¡¯t finished. With a snarl, he unleashed a shockwave of dark energy that sent them stumbling back. ¡°Enough!¡± he bellowed, his form flickering with unstable power. ¡°Now¡¯s the time!¡± Myn yelled. She lunged forward, her muscles coiling. ¡°Savage Smash!¡± Her daggers glowed, and she brought them down with devastating force, smashing through the dark energy protecting the Seeker. The impact cracked the ground beneath them, forcing the Seeker to his knees. Morwen stepped up, eyes blazing. ¡°Let¡¯s end this.¡± Cardinal Choler! A brilliant red sigil formed beneath the Seeker, binding him in place. Tendrils of crimson light coiled around his limbs, drawing power from his own rage and feeding it back into him as burning pain. Tera Nema seized the moment. Her wand glowed brightly, mana surging through her veins. Bolt Strike! A blinding bolt of electric energy shot from her wand, striking the Seeker dead centre. His body convulsed, his scream cut off as the energy shattered his form. His corrupted essence burned away, leaving behind only ashes. Tera Nema whipped round, wondering if the others were going to seek revenge. But once he died, they booked it. breaking free and rushing out of the broken residence. Frayed from their fight. It was as it The silence that followed was deafening. Myn straightened, breathing heavily. ¡°Is it over?¡± Morwen lowered her hands, the glow fading from her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Tera Nema¡¯s shoulders sagged with relief. They had done it. The city was safe¡ªfor now. She turned to her friends, pride swelling in her chest. ¡°We earned this.¡± Myn grinned, wiping her blades. ¡°And we¡¯ve only just begun.¡± The three of them stepped out into the dawn light, ready for whatever came next. The system popped up just as Tera Nema breathed a sigh of relief. Her quest completed, now she was wondering what was next. Book 5 Chapter Six; Its Been a While Since Jazmel stretched and stepped through the gate. He inhaled, he breathed deeply into the scent of this new gate and yawned. In truth, he missed this. He had missed delving and diving into the labyrinth. But the pain he felt in his heart, it was too much to bear. So it was only now, after four weeks. A full month, he was going to enter the labyrinth again. He wasn¡¯t alone either, Katie was still remaining at the outpost. She wasn¡¯t ready to stop grieving or enter the labyrinth and Jazmel understood that. So here he was, with Sad¨¦, Bannerman and Mary. She had decided to come, as she was so close to master tier. She needed to stretch her legs and gain some exp and levels. This was due to the tasks he had handed out to his faction. But nobody was complaining, everyone was motivated. DING! FACTION LEADER PLOT! YOU HAVE CREATED A FACTION!! ¡­ YOUR BUDDING FACTION IS STILL WEAK, GAIN RECOGNITION! EARN THE RIGHT TO RAISE YOUR FACTION¡¯S FLAG!! ¡­ ¡­ REWARDS ¡­ Jazmel read the screen a few more times before turning and telling his party. Everyone had gained a plot, something, or another. To add to the faction, but to enhance themselves also. The faction and the system seemed to be pushing towards gathering their strength. The faction system seemed to acknowledge his will and was motivating his retainers to bear it too. The city they entered was one of the smallest that Jazmel had witnessed. Especially inside the labyrinth, but it seemed to be a junction because many people seemed to frequent it. stores and stalls were selling their wares, Jazmel glanced around but found nothing of want that he needed. There was no auction hall, as well as no bazaar. In truth the city was close to a large town than to a city. But it was doing its best, the energy was vibrant and easy going. Or so it had been. DING! PUBLIC SEEKER ANNOUNCEMENT!! MAY ALL FACTIONS AND GROUPS PRESENT HEAD TO THE CITY CENTRE! PUBLIC SEEKER ANNOUNCEMENT! The system yelled through the expanse of the domain. Jazmel looked at Mary and Sad¨¦, they shrugged but waited for his command. ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± He urged and at a sprint, they all hurried towards the centre of the city. In truth all the roads led to it and within ten minutes. Jazmel was there. When they got there, there were groups already in attendance. Jazmel¡¯s faction had the least amount of numbers but for some reason that didn¡¯t matter to him. he was confident in his skills and that of those here. A small sheepish looking man stood at the bottom of the stairs. The stairs that led up to a large water feature that had been erected in the city centre. ¡°Excuse me.¡± He uttered, his voice quiet and not travelling. Jazmel couldn¡¯t hear him, but it wasn¡¯t his fault. ¡°HEY!¡± Mary said, drawing her flag of the general, the item she had gained back at their faction quest. Bearing the emblazon of the black wing. she slammed the butt of the flag on the ground, and it enhanced her voice, making her shout sound like the roar of a dragon. All the speaking stopped, and everyone turned to look at her. She in turn turned to Jazmel and beckoned for him to speak. He gripped his belt, feeling the weight of his swords and he motioned for the man to speak. ¡°Hello, you are all the factions present in Brackenwater city right?¡± he asked, and murmurs began to rise but Mary simply coughed, and they dwindled. ¡°We are.¡± Jazmel answered for everyone.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I am the city lord, the mayor. I just got word from the system that we the gate will be locked in under an hour. This gate is merging with two other gates to become one major domain. The city will be expunged. I am begging you all to stay and defend us. You will be rewarded!¡± he said as the voices rose again. ¡°What are the rewards mayor?¡± a lone man spoke up this time, he was standing off to the side. He was an Asian man, slim and tall. Near to Jazmel¡¯s height. He wore no armour or weapons. He was standing there in black jeans, converses, and a red t-shirt with a black star over his heart. He was wearing a blazer too, with the same star but it was outlined with red. He wasn¡¯t wearing it though; he had slung the blazer over his shoulders. ¡°The rewards will be up to the system, but I know that you will be rewarded the better your participation could be.¡± The mayor explained. ¡°We will stay.¡± He said, eyeing Jazmel and inclining his head friendlily. ¡°The black wing faction will stay.¡± Jazmel added and the mayor thanked him silently. DING! YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THE BRACKENWATER CITY QUEST! A TRI-GATE MERGING! IN THE MERGING, BEAST WILL BE SPURRED INTO A FRENZY! ENSURE THE CITY SURVIVES THE MERGING!! REWARDS WILL VARY DUE TO PARTICIPATION! ¡­ Jazmel nodded and turning to Sad¨¦ and Bannerman he asked them to check the walls. They were going to have to protect them somehow. Bannerman bounded off, whereas Sad¨¦ leapt onto the back of Kazumi and loped off into the opposite direction. Paldane wake up! through their mind link, he woke Paldane who had been sleeping in his ring. Luckily for them, Paldane was able to revert to his small form at will and preferred it for travel. He leapt from one of Jazmel¡¯s rings and crawled onto his shoulder. What is it? he asked and Jazmel scratched beneath his chin. ¡°I need aerial viewing. Can you let me know what the environment around here looks like. a beast tide might be on the way. Paldane perked up at that and growled. ¡°Food?¡± he asked and Jazmel conceded. ¡°You can eat anything outside of the city as long as it is wild. Don¡¯t eat anyone¡¯s livestock!¡± he yelled up, but Paldane had already leapt into the air and wreathed in aeonic flame. He had become his true size. Casting all those at the city centre in shadow. A few faces turned to look at him and Jazmel stared back, proud, and confident. ¡°Good posture. Don¡¯t make them think you didn¡¯t earn anything you have. You did.¡± Mary said at his side, and he turned to see her adjusting her gauntlets and vambraces. She was preparing for war. ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± she asked. ¡°Stick with me, we need to know what others plan on doing, I am thinking about holding the gate. Me and you.¡± He said and she smiled, her eyes fierce. Her mouth in a wrought grin. ¡°I could earn my last few levels in a beast tide. I am almost excited.¡± She said to him and Jazmel shook his head, Mary was a fighting maniac, and he knew it. but she was good at it and to be honest, another master tier in the faction would embolden them. ¡°Hey, you are you the boss?¡± he heard, turning he caught eyes with the Asian man. The one had spoken up first and was now so close that Jazmel could smell the scent of his perspiration on his brow. ¡°The name¡¯s Deva. I lead the Delta Star faction.¡± He introduced himself, offering a hand. Jazmel reached out and shook it. clasping palms; Jazmel felt the immediate abundance of Mana and was almost shocked. His eyes were always perceiving Mana but nothing out of the ordinary had stood out for him. yet shaking this man¡¯s hand, he could feel just how immense his Mana was. ¡°So your eyes can see Mana?¡± the man asked, suddenly knowingly looking. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Jazmel said suddenly curious but not denying it. ¡°Well let¡¯s just say we have some similarities.¡± He tapped the side of his head and his right eye glimmered golden yellow. ¡°I have a passive title that lets me see if someone would be a friend or foe. But I also have an active title called golem¡¯s eye that lets me see the Mana of things. Not greatly, I need to upgrade it. but well enough. So imagine my surprise when my title tells me you are one of the best friends I could have, and my eye tells me you have master tier Mana.¡± He explained and Jazmel looked at him, so confused. There was nothing but sheer honesty in his eyes, this man meant what he was saying. ¡°I am Jazmel, I lead the black wing faction. This is my war commander.¡± He introduced himself and Mary who was standing beside him, close enough to get involved but with space for privacy. ¡°Oh you have strong people around you. Good because this is going to be a doozy! Three gates? I cannot even begin to imagine what we will be going up against. But can you imagine the rewards?¡± deva was talking to him like they were age old friends. ¡°Deva, let¡¯s go and prepare a base of operations.¡± A tall white skinned man was saying to Deva. He was taller than Jazmel, closer to seven foot than six. He was clutching a staff and Jazmel could tell he was a mage; he was strong too. Maybe about as strong as Elai. His Mana was broiling off of him and Jazmel could see it firmly clasped within his core. ¡°Let me introduce my people.¡± Deva said and Jazmel simply watched the strange faction leader. ¡°This is Guile.¡± He motioned to the tall mage. ¡°That one over there is Sukina.¡± He pointed at a short woman who was clearly Japanese, her pale skin and cherry blossom lips giving her away. She carried a single katana in a lacquered black sheath. It was expertly made, even sheathed Jazmel could feel the keen spirit keening from the sword. she was studying the swords at his waist too. Especially Yoru No Tsubasa. When their eyes met, she inclined her head out of respect for him, or his swords. he wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°Over there is Millie.¡± It was a giant, or a giant of a human woman. She was taller than Jazmel bigger than Gelth too. She was all muscle and wore it with pride. She was easily close to eight feet and carried a mallet made of what Jazmel could only assume was brimstone. She was grinning at him and Mary. ¡°Everyone is so small here.¡± She said, and Mary stepped forward. ¡°Nothing small about me darling. Wanna come and test me?¡± Mary said stepping forward. But Jazmel grabbed her and pulled her back. ¡°Millie stop it.¡± Deva said, words were enough to quell her it seemed. She stopped and Deva simply smiled bashfully. ¡°Finally that is Helios. He doesn¡¯t work well with others, but he is good people.¡± He motioned at a younger boy who was wearing shorts and a cape. He wasn¡¯t any different, but Jazmel could see the Mana within him. He was filled with fire; it was mixed into his Mana. But he was like an ember to the flame. Book 5 Chapter Seven; the Merging of Three Gates Bannerman and Sad¨¦ returned. Jazmel introduced them to Deva and his faction. Deva was intrigued by Bannerman, asking many questions about his tempering and under levels. But the mayor approached them and Jazmel turned to face him. ¡°You guys are to stand guard of the gate.¡± The mayor pointed and Jazmel nodded. He motioned for Mary to take the lead, and they moved. Over towards the gate and Deva stayed next to Jazmel as they walked over. ¡°So you use swords?¡± Deva asked Jazmel. Who nodded and simply studied the gates. ¡°So you can see Mana and you use katanas.¡± He said to Jazmel. In his hands he was flicking a deck of cards and shuffling them between his fingers. ¡°These are my weapons.¡± He whirled through his fingers. ¡°You use cards?¡± Jazmel said, perplexed and Deva grinned at him nodding. ¡°My skills allow me to capture items and creatures in cards. I preserve them in the deck, and it allows me to use them later.¡± He explained and Jazmel couldn¡¯t help but be interested. ¡°That sounds interesting.¡± Jazmel asked and Deva nodded. ¡°Yes, it is. I was a professional shuffler at a casino back on Earth. I guess the system gave me that skill when I got here. As soon as I appeared I had cards in my hand and then the rest is history. I got strong with this skill and the quests I have undergone. They have shown me miracles within the labyrinth.¡± He said and Jazmel could hear the wonder in his voice, he was so happy. ¡°We will hold the gate, our two factions. Then we can discuss other matters.¡± He said and Jazmel agreed, not knowing what he was offering, but right now. They had other things to consider. The domains are merging! Paldane told them and Jazmel watched as he soared above them. Sauntering above them on the wind channels. Jazmel watched him and shielding his eyes to watch him in the sunlight. ¡°Pet dragon?¡± Deva said and Jazmel told him so. ¡°That is only in its second evolution and its already that big?¡± Deva laughed.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Who are you?!¡± he asked and Jazmel looked at him confused, but Deva simply shook his head. DING! PUBLIC SEEKER ANNOUNCEMENT! THE MERGING HAS BEGUN! ¡­ ALL EXITS HAVE BEEN CLOSE FOR THE DURATION OF THE MERGING! ¡­ The system chimed and Jazmel groaned, the gate was merging faster than he had assumed it would. ¡°Sad¨¦ you are on the gate; I want you to stay up there and take aim and hit everything that comes this way. If they get past us, turn them back or turn them into a smear.¡± He explained, she bounded up the stairs with Kazumi and the foxhound raised the heat around them. ¡°Bannerman scout what we are looking at and how many. Don¡¯t be seen, come back before they get too close.¡± he bid, Bannerman darted through the open gates and hurried off into the wilds. ¡°I cannot believe he¡¯s not part wolf!¡± Deva was saying, but Jazmel ignored him. ¡°Mary, we are holding our ground here. kill everything, anything that gets close. crush it, get the points, get the stats. Temper your body and get your levels, this is where you earn master tier. I want that for you.¡± He motivated her, she was captivated by his words. He could tell. After all, she slammed her vambraces together and her armour formed atop her form. What of me? Paldane asked him and he responded. ¡°Right now, focus on Bannerman.¡± Paldane flew off and Jazmel watched him dart through the clouds. Not even an hour had passed when Bannerman came bursting through the gates. ¡°They are coming!¡± hot on his heels came, the beast tide or the beginning of it. He climbed the stairs, three at a time and when he reached the top. He looked over the walls, sentries that made up the city guard. They were running around and doing their best to prepare. Jazmel peered over the wall and wanted to get a good look at the creatures running full sprint at him. Paldane had been right, the beast tide was on the way, and it would be on them within the hour. They didn¡¯t have much time; he could see all sorts of monsters within this beast tide. There were hobgoblins, trolls, and ogres. All shapes and sizes, creatures shambling and lumbering towards the main gate. Jazmel was about to call out numbers and tiers from the way their Mana flared individually. But Paldane spoke in his mind. Another beast tide! ¡°What?¡± he called out, too shocked to respond mentally. But another voice shouted to confirm Paldane¡¯s words. ¡°Another beast tide from the west!¡± a stranger shouted over the din of preparing and citizens squeals. Jazmel looked at Mary and she kept a straight face, but he could tell she was curious. Worried wasn¡¯t the right emotion, she was cautious. Cautiously considering the thought of fighting two beast tides on two fronts. But that wasn¡¯t the worst of it, no the merging of three gates was something else. Because more bad news came. ¡°Another beast tide is coming from the east!!¡± someone else yelled. Paldane confirm it please! Paldane careened in the air, turning about, and churning his wings to boost his speed. After a few minutes, he confirmed and Jazmel sighed. ¡°Three beast tides.¡± DING! THREE BEAST TIDES ARE APPROACHING! Book 5 Chapter Eight; the Merging of Three Gates II Jazmel was caught up in worry. There were other factions and clans within the walls of this small city. But even with just one beast tide there would have been casualties. But three? Three was a decimation, now they were fighting a battle of extermination. Jazmel needed to consider how to survive. ¡°We will hold this gate.¡± Sad¨¦ said beside him, she was up on the wall, and she was looking at him. staring at him with that look she always had for him. adoration, she trusted him to get them through this day like she always did. ¡°We will.¡± He responded, confident again. He hurdled the wall and leapt over it, landing a few feet in front of the main gate. Mary and Bannerman walked through the gate and stood beside him. the rumble of the stampede could be heard now. There was a good few hundred of them, he hadn''t even seen the strongest amongst them. but he wasn¡¯t worried. they would face it together. ¡°We knock them down here. no matter what happens, we stop them here.¡± he said over his shoulder. He drew Daishinkan and the weight of the sword gave him comfort. He banged his vambraces together and felt his body gain the armour he had been made. ¡°That looks cool!¡± he heard, turning to the voice he found Deva standing. The man was wearing the same things, but he was completely calm. Even as the beast tide neared. ¡°Oh right¡­¡± he turned to his retainers. ¡°Do what you do, remember we are here for the rewards. Don¡¯t overextend yourself and get injured. We are delving even after this!¡± he called out and his people split up, going about to prepare for the battle. Deva stayed near Jazmel, Bannerman and Mary. The small Japanese girl who carried one single katana stood with him and waited. The beast tide was closer now, Jazmel could even smell them on the air. He imagined Bannerman could too. The beasts were so close now, he could make out the different faces. DING! PUBLIC SEEKER ANNOUNCEMENT! WARNING! THE BEAST TIDE HAS APPEARED! HOLD THE MAIN GATE! ¡­ As the system sung that out for them all, Jazmel simply stood. His body a little turned to the side. Wield! Jazmel heard and turning to the side he watched. Out of interest as Deva pulled three cards from his deck and took on the characteristics. The first card must have been armour, because the card burned with Mana and then armour covered his body. Simple plate armour, but at a deeper look. He could see the sigaldry of Mana scried into all parts of the plates. The second card was a sword, a longsword made of pure white Mana. it was beautifully made, and it made Jazmel think about Patton. He looked a good long sword. he shook the sadness from his bones, he needed to focus. The final card was a bandoleer of fire grenades. Jazmel remembered them from his time with Frae when they had fought inside the lost gate. ¡°Here they come!¡± Deva yelled and true as he had said, the trolls and hobgoblins charged the gate. Tusked turmoil! Mary¡¯s skilled from a blood red mammoth, made entirely out of Mana around her. She charged into the oncoming hobgoblins and trolls. Bowling them over and crushing those at the forefront of her charge. She ran over them, breaking their bodies as she burst through the wall of the first wave of the tide. Wolf hunt! He heard and Bannerman darted in after her. Slashing a flurry of strikes and carving up those that were caught shocked by the power of Mary. Jazmel stayed where he was. The gate needed someone standing guard, and there were enough of the waves for beasts and monsters to make up the wave. They were rushing past Mary and Bannerman, hurrying to try and enter the gate. But Jazmel wouldn¡¯t let them. Swallow slash! A soaring bird made up of mana burst past Jazmel. It soared across the air and smashed into a few of the first trolls. Cut open and wounded, they mewled in pain. Dragging themselves forward, trying to not be trampled beneath their stampeding peers. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! Jazmel swung and a spiralling crescent sliced the air as it carved through the trolls. Some even were cleaves clean through. Falling like debris upon the ground. Jazmel swung his blade about him, expertly and as they rushed him he fought like a maddened demon. Eviscerate!Stolen story; please report. Eviscerate! Eviscerate His skill danced around him, purging creatures that got close enough. He flared his Mana about him and shouted. ¡°Come then! Come and meet your end!!¡± his sword sung, swishing through the air like a wind chime. Cleaving bone and muscle easier than anything. DING! X4 TIER III HOBGOBLINS KILLED! +3 DEX +3 PER +3 END DING! X7 TIER II HILL TROLLS KILLED! +2 STR +2 VIT +2 INT The system energy came flooding in. But he wasn¡¯t even fatigued, these creatures were small food for him. He didn¡¯t even gain any exp. More rushed, his sword sang earnestly. Carving through the hobgoblins and trolls as they rushed him. he back pedalled, trying not to be surrounded. But he couldn¡¯t back up all the way to the gate. Jazmel looked around and saw that they were swarming him. surrounding him and trying to pen him in. Sunder! He carved a perfect circle around himself and watched as the bodies fell in half. DING! X10 TIER II HILL TROLLS KILLED! +3 STR +3 END ¡­ But more rushed him. ¡°Hup.¡± He exhaled as he crouched down and then bounded into the air. Paldane had been there and caught him by the shoulder guards of his armour. Fire grenades flashed about and burned and exploded. The screams of monsters were crazy sounds, but Jazmel felt nothing for these beasts. ¡°Drop me here.¡± he said and Paldane let him go. Great rumbling dragon With the Mana formed around his dragon katana and the amplification boost from his armour. His entire body was enveloped in Mana. It almost looked like he was riding the dragon back towards the ground. He crashed, smashed into the ground. Forcing Mana into it and making the smooth path of packed mud erupt. The craggy pieces burst around him and broke. Crumbling onto hobgoblins and trolls alike. Many died, many fell wounded badly and were close to dying from his attack. DING! X34 TIER III HOB GOBLINS KILLED! +10 STAT POINTS! X25 TIER II HILL TROLLS KILLED! +5 STR +4 INT YOU AND YOUR PEERS HAVE DEFEATED THE FIRST WAVE! YOU ALONE DECIMATED MANY OF THE FIRST WAVE!! ¡­ YOUR REWARDS AT THE END WILL BE GREATLY ENHANCED! ¡­ Well that was good news! He thought to himself, he just needed to keep showing his skills within this beast tide. DING! WARNING! THE SECOND WAVE IS COMING! As the words flooded his system screen, he noticed the second wave lumbering forward. They were strong, easily all tier III and no longer trolls or hobgoblins. No these were the thick skinned and gigantic ogres. Jazmel stood where he had landed, in between the rubble he had created. Ogres were giant beasts, taller than any man. Ranging from eight to nine feet in height. They varied in shape though, somewhere thick, and burly in size. But others were potbellied and shorter, maybe only just seven feet. Their arms long and their legs short. They were disproportionate, but no less dangerous. No Jazmel had fought ogres before, he had been there when Frae had killed a troll ogre. It was the first of its kind that Jazmel had seen, and it was extraordinarily strong. Even having a name, he hoped there wasn¡¯t one such as that in this wave. The second wave rushed them, ogres in abundance trampling the bodies of trolls and hobgoblins. They died, crushed, and trodden on. Jazmel hissed at the sound of crunching bones and broken limbs. But the ogres didn¡¯t stop. RALLY OF THE GENERAL! ALL ALLIES WILL HAVE THEIR STAMINA REPLENISHED! ¡­ Mary had acted, she swung her flag. The great one she always used and whirred it around. All of them were replenished, Jazmel felt his bones ease with the exertion of battle. He hadn''t even drunk a potion yet, but he was already recovering a little. ¡°Ogres regenerate even quicker than trolls! Remove their heads if you want to kill them!¡± Mary shouted over the charge of the ogres. Howl! Wolf hunt! Bannerman let his heart wrenching howl sound out. It provoked the ogres, some faltered in their charge while others hurried even further. It caused disarray and Bannerman simply rushed forward to meet them. Bounding forward and using his clawed hands, he stabbed into the throat of the first ogre. He wrenched his hand across; slashing its throat. Somersaulting over its head, he grabbed its lip and pulled its head backwards. Decapitating it with its own weight. It fell backwards, crashing into the ground. Eviscerate! Jazmel was behind him, swinging his blade about. Carving chunks of flesh from ogres as they rushed past him and then gouts of hot blood poured from open wounds. Sunder! He cut through the tendons of the last five ogres that rushed past him, he turned to face them and saw Deva acting. Wield! He had two cards in each hand. He flicked his wrist, and the first card sliced through the air. Spinning like a top as it sailed, aimed at the group of ogres. The card burst with Mana and a literal storm cloud of thunder and lightning appeared. Bursting and a single bolt hit the ogres. Turning them all to ash in one great strike. The second card blazed with Mana again, the system energy made the card burst with light and before Jazmel and Deva appeared a Warwolf. A large grey furred wolf as big as Kazumi was. It had patch of white fur in the centre of his head and a scar over its right eye. It snarled but when it noticed Deva it lowered its head in a bow. ¡°Clear up the dead.¡± He called and the Warwolf growled before sprinting off and tearing out the throat of a crawling troll. Heron¡¯s haiku! Sukina soared through the air and with a quick slash. She cut down four ogres, removing their heads and sheathing her blade. All in one fluid movement. She landed beside Jazmel and Deva and pointed at the wall. Jazmel looked over and watched as Sad¨¦ and Guile were preparing a big strike. Thunderfire! Thunderfire Promethean prayer! Thunderfire Torrents of flame, wreathed in thunder smashed into the second wave of ogres. Taking to their skin like kindling. They howled in pain, broken from the thunder and burned from the flame. As her strikes struck each group of ogres that made up the second wave. Jazmel watched as Guile, the mage that was under Deva. Raised his staff and urged the flames that Sad¨¦ had cast, into one spiralling pillar of flame. He pulled all the sources of fire into one burning pillar and condensing it he washed the entire second wave in flame. The ogres didn¡¯t even reach the wall. They burned like straw under the sun. DING! YOU AND YOUR PEERS STOPPED THE SECOND WAVE! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ BEWARE THE THIRD WAVE! Book 5 Chapter Nine; the Merging of Three Gates III WARNING! THE THIRD AND FINAL WAVE BEARS THE WORST OF THE BEAST TIDE BEWARE THE TROLL OGRE PHALANX! ¡­ ¡­ DEFEAT THE GENERAL! TIER IV TROLL OGRE BARBELLON THE CANNIBAL APPROACHES! DEFEAT THE GENERAL AND THWART THE PHALANX! Jazmel groaned. Not only was it troll ogres, but it was a troop contingent of them. Paldane I need you near. He whispered in his mind, and he felt Paldane killing a troll off to the side. He crunched down on its neck and tore it out before leaping into the sky and soaring towards them. Mary appeared, Bannerman came over too, both had been in the thick of the fight. They took this moment to drink Mana and stamina potions. ¡°Troll ogres, they are the worst of the worst.¡± Jazmel said, Mary nodded. She clearly had fought her fair share. ¡°We will split the task. We will manage the phalanx and you guys will oversee the general.¡± Deva said, he had stuck pretty close to Jazmel and the gate, his own party had fought around him, but they hadn''t been close enough for Jazmel to see their skills. ¡°We will make the general rear his head. Then you guys remove it from his shoulders!¡± Deva explained and Mary agreed, it was a good idea after all. The phalanx approached and Jazmel watched as Deva simply looked them over and motioned, pointing was enough. It spurred his people into action, and they hurried forward. ¡°Delta star, move out!¡± he yelled over the din, and they moved forward, his party led by himself. Guile had appeared, Jazmel wasn¡¯t sure if he had jumped from the wall or hurried down. But he appeared and Jazmel watched as he brought his staff up. The phalanx appeared, a troop of troll ogres. Each standing at nine feet. Wearing thick shodden armour. Iron and steel where Jazmel could make it out. They carried thick shields, swords, and spears. They were a true army contingent. They marched towards the wall, slow and steady. They didn¡¯t even falter as they marched through the corpses of the first two waves. The Warwolf had retreated and Jazmel watched in wonder. As Deva used a card and captured the wolf again. Jazmel was fascinated by this skill, it was clearly something Jazmel had not seen before. But it was also something he had never considered. He wondered just what sort of items or creatures Deva had come across and caught in his deck.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Guile. Assess their mettle.¡± Deva asked and Guile raised his staff and cast his Mana in a great array. Cardinal storm! A cloud of pure Mana appeared; it wrought storm in a way Jazmel had never seen before. Bolts of not thunder, but fire rained down and struck the troll ogres. Each bolt burning everything it touched. The storm expanded above the phalanx and though Guile had created it with his Wield! Deva brought out another card and this time it was a creature Jazmel had seen before. An arcane warden, it appeared and before it could cast its chaos magic. Deva used another card on it, something that seemed to buff it and make it evolve. DING! TIER UP CARD USED ON ARCANE WARDEN HAS EVOLVED! ARCANE WARDEN HAS BECOME ARCANE MARSHAL! ¡­ Chaos magic burst forth from the hands of the hooded creature of chaos and arcane magic and Mana. the storm raged from above, striking the phalanx nonstop. They faltered, one from the edge of the troop was caught and cried out. His shield slipped for a second and the cardinal storm burned through him. turning him into a pillar of ash. The others grunted and gathered into a tighter formation. But the arcane marshal cared little for that. It raised its hands and arcs of lightning burst forward, chaos and ruin rained on the troll ogres, and they broke. Their formation shattered. Fire and brimstone! Millie yelled as she rushed in, her hammer raised above her head. she slammed it into the ground and her Mana struck the ground and caused small fissures of molten rock to appear. the ground grew hot and sizzled. She wasn¡¯t even done; she rushed forward and began smashing their shields and unprotected parts. Sukina was beside her, swinging her sword and nicking flesh where she could find purchase. Plight of the blade! Jazmel watched in wonder as she slashed and cut wherever she could. Backing off, she sheathed her blade and all the cuts and wounds she had made. Burst with blood, gouts of it rained and the troll ogres howled. Wield! Deva used another card, hurling it at the stricken and bleeding troll ogres. One burst forward but it was too late, the card burned and from the card great chains appeared. Chains of light and life latched onto the troll ogres, holding them in place. Chained to the spot. ¡°Helios!¡± Deva said and Jazmel remembered the small, bodied boy in a cape who didn¡¯t speak. Helios stepped forward, with wonder. Jazmel watched as he stepped into the air, ascended the clouds as if he were flying. His cape fell away and Jazmel saw he was bare skinned, aside from the shorts he had been wearing. He was even barefoot. He raised his hands and Jazmel¡¯s Mana attuned eyes took notice of the ambient Mana as it began to pool into the space. It formed into a large glowing orb after a few minutes and that orb was growing, turning into a globe and soon a ball of light. It rivalled Baek¡¯s moon of the white heron skill. Apollo¡¯s chariot! Helios whispered, the skill locked, and the glowing orb of light, sun and Mana descended. Crashing onto the phalanx and burning a dazzling brilliance. Jazmel had to look away. Shielding his eyes. DING! THE TROLL OGRE PHALANX HAS BEEN DECIMATED! THE GENERAL HAS COME! Book 5 Chapter Ten; the Merging of Three Gates IV ¡°Our turn.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Jazmel nodded, not looking away from the scene of decimation. He drew Yoru No Tsubasa putting Daishinkan back in his belt. After all, this was the boss of the beast tide, and he needed his strongest sword. ¡°Everyone get ready.¡± Jazmel cautioned and his group did as he bid. Thunder crown Sad¨¦ pulled thunder from the clouds and wreathed her head with it. She had even willed all six of her tails into action. She was now filled with Mana and prepared with thunder dancing along her fingers. Her armour was smudged with soot and ash, but she had seen the least bit of battle of them all. DING! BEWARE GENERAL BARBELLON! And there it was, the tier IV troll ogre general. He was massive, all muscle and wrath, he wore thick leather armour and carried a mallet in one hand and a cleaver in the other. The hate that rested on its face was beyond anything Jazmel had seen, it wanted to do nothing but destroy them all and it was working towards that now. It roared, growled, and bellowed a challenge. So loud that Jazmel almost had to cover his ears. He noticed Deva and the delta star faction beginning to retreat. He nodded; it made sense for them to. After all, they had done their part and handled the phalanx for them. The troll ogre did something Jazmel didn¡¯t expect at all. It raised its weapons and clanging them together, the system awakened. THE TROLL OGRE GENERAL HAS BEGUN THE SONG OF WAR! THE FIRST SONG OF WAR IS DESOLATION! ALL ENEMIES OF THE GENERAL WILL SUFFER ITS SPITE! MANA REGENERATION LOCKED! STAMINA REPLENISHMENT HINDERED! ANY WOUNDS WILL CONTINUE TO BLEED! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ THE BASTION OF THE TYRANT RAGES AND REFUSES TO BE HINDERED! YOUR TYRANT BODY BREAKS THE CHAINS OF THE SONG OF WAR! +3 END Jazmel watched the notices as they popped up. His domineering tyrant body quelled the afflictions, he wasn¡¯t under the influence, but the others were. He could tell. Jazmel stared at the notices in shock. This was a lot, but they were not going to falter here, no they were going to kill this general, and he didn¡¯t care how they did it. DING! FLAG OF THE WAR COMMANDER RAISED! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ERROR! MANA UNLOCKED! BUT MANA REGENERATION WILL BE HINDERED! ¡­ Mary was swinging her great flag about and then she stabbed it into the ground. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see which general won this war.¡± She said and began to run to meet the troll ogre. Barbellon noticed her and roared, rushing towards her. He raised his weapons to crush her, but Paldane appeared above him.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Aeonic flame! Jazmel watched as the troll ogre screamed in pain and shock. He then tried to swat Paldane out the air but then everyone had reached him by then. Mastodon! Mary crashed into his mid riff, knocking it back, and making him stumble. Barbellon the general didn¡¯t fall over though; he simply stumbled back and stabbed the cleaver into the ground. Using it to steady himself. He swung his mallet and Mary dodged, while Bannerman leapt over it. Thunderfire! A bolt of thunder and flame struck the general clear in the face. He cried out, from shock and irritation but not in pain. He slammed his mallet into the ground and a cloud of dust covered the area. But Jazmel could see him still. Could see his murky Mana from inside the dust cloud. Sunder! He carved a wet wound in the side, through the leather armour. He smacked Jazmel aside with the side of the blade; of his cleaver. It hit Jazmel and knocked him clean out of the dust cloud. He hadn''t expected the troll ogre to be that quick, but now he knew it. DING! WARNING! HEALTH UNDER 80% He groaned, but rushed back in. Full moon! Jazmel heard, he saw the Mana inside Bannerman burst and fill his entire body. He watched in wonder as his friend, with grey mottled skin and blackened claws. suddenly filled with strength, his black hair, became a shock of white and almost steamed. His speed doubled and he rushed in. Wolf hunt! He clawed and struck; each strike a flurry. If Jazmel hadn''t been able to see Mana, he would¡¯ve missed many of the strikes. But Bannerman had learned a skill that allowed him to double his strength and speed in a short time. Jazmel could see him burning through his Mana pool very quickly. Mastodon! Mary appeared and crashed into the knee of the troll ogre. Knocking him down into a kneeled position. Barbellon raised his mallet and slammed it into the ground before slamming his cleaver atop it too. THE TROLL OGRE GENERAL HAS BEGUN THE SONG OF LIFE! GENERAL BARBELLON SINGS THE SONG OF HEALING! THWART HIS HEALING!! ¡­ The system was warning them and Jazmel, Bannerman and Mary rushed in. Sunder! Berserker blood! Wolf hunt! Sunder hit the troll ogre clear in his chest. The general hadn''t raised his weapons quickly enough, he bore the brunt of Jazmel¡¯s attack full on. Barbellon didn¡¯t even flinch, his eyes caught Jazmel, and they locked. Neither backing down nor conceding the contest of gazes. DING! PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE RAGES! AMPLIFIED BY THE DOMINEERING TYRANT TEMPERED BODY! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE ADVANCES! ¡­ ¡­ PETRIFYING GLARE OF THE DRAKE BECOMES TYRANNY OF THE TYRANT DRAGON! The general shuddered, suddenly caught off guard and Jazmel could tell it had lost in its gaze against him. The strong form of Mary appeared, crashing into the side of the troll ogre. Bowling him over and away from his weapons. It roared defiantly, but she simply began to beat it to a pulp. It knocked her off and rose up and they began to bludgeon one another. Mary striking hard and fast with knees and elbows, her blood was flowing. But she was also covered in the ichor of the troll ogre. She leapt up and from beneath its chin she hit him with an uppercut that cracked his head back and dazed him. But that was when Bannerman appeared, sailing through the air, and crashing both his hands into the eyes of the troll ogre. They squelched as they popped, and Bannerman placed his feet on the nose of the troll ogre. Pushing himself like a diving board he somersaulted off and watched as the troll ogre tried to heal his wounds. Thunderfire! A bolt hit him square on the chin. The troll ogre was burned, his face sizzled with wounds. ¡°Mary!¡± Jazmel shouted and Mary leapt up. She got behind the troll ogre¡¯s head and wrenched it, using all her might and strength. She broke the neck of the troll ogre. Killing it dead. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE STOPPED THE FINAL WAVE OF THE FIRST BEAST TIDE! ¡­ YOUR REWARDS WILL BE IMPROVED! YOU STOPPED THE TROLL OGRE PHALANX! YOUR REWARDS WILL IMPROVE! ¡­ YOU DEFEATED TIER IV TROLL OGRE GENERAL BARBELLON THE CANNIBAL! YOUR REWARDS WILL BE GREATLY IMPROVED! ¡­ Jazmel watched the screen as the notification appeared. WARNING! THE EASTERN WALL HAS FALLEN! STOP THE BEAST TIDE FROM DECIMATING THE CITY! Jazmel turned and looked at his friends. They were burned out, Bannerman had stopped his skill, his hair had returned to the black tussled locks he had always known him to have. But he was beleaguered, his Mana was running on empty. Even his stamina was low, he was sweating bricks and Jazmel could see it on him, that he was fighting to stay conscious. Mary had sat in a cross-legged position; she looked to be meditating. Then he realised, she was undergoing a tier tribulation. ¡°Mary get to master tier!¡± he said, and she didn¡¯t respond, but he hoped she had heard him. ¡°Sad¨¦ stay here and protect them both, I will go to the eastern gate.¡± She nodded but looked at him worried. ¡°Alone?¡± she asked, but before he could respond. Paldane landed with a great thump and huffed smoke from between his teeth. ¡°Never alone.¡± He uttered and she nodded, smiling at him. He climbed up behind Paldane and felt his stomach flip as Paldane leapt into the sky. hurtling through the sky towards the city and its eastern wall. Book 5 Chapter Eleven; the Merging of Three Gates V Paldane flew at such a speed, that Jazmel literally had to lay across his back. To ensure he wasn¡¯t unseated in the wind. They flew over the city, Jazmel could hear the cries and wailing even from their height. But he focused on getting to the eastern wall. We have reached. It doesn¡¯t look good. Paldane told him in his mind. Drop me off and stay above. Rain down fire on everything and everyone. We need to stop them entering the city. Paldane swooped down and Jazmel slid off and leapt down. Landing on the wall in a feat of dexterity. The gate had been broken down and smashed, something large and burly had used might. Broken through the wall and iron shod gates with nothing but strength. The faction here had fought a bloody fight. The creature corpses that laid strewn around were unlike anything Jazmel had seen. He could tell they were creatures of the woods, but they looked infected. Moss and mushrooms sprouted in sporadic places about the body. He watched as small plumes of miasma burst from the mushrooms. Spores all around. Paldane burn the bodies! The spores are toxic! He screamed into his mind. He heard Paldane roar in the skies but couldn¡¯t pinpoint him. instead he entered the city, following the trail of bodies and battle. To find these creatures. After some searching, running along the alleyways and hidden streets. He heard the sound of battle; he had worked his way back towards the city centre and now as he raced forward. He found himself heading towards where the sounds of battle were fiercest. He bounded, up and leaping off the side of a building he pushed his body into a leap out of a street and into the open. Sunder! He swung his sword, and he cut through the spore infected monsters, and they crumbled, frozen and frigid from the grave iron and cold iron ores within his blade. DING! YOU KILLED A LAMELLAE INFECTED! ¡­ YOU STOPPED IT FROM DISPERSING ITS SPORES! ¡­ +3 WIL +2 END So his sword could freeze and destroy the spores. He could see the Lamellae infected spewing spores and infecting the citizens while seekers and rankers tried to push them back. But they were relentless. Great Rumbling Dragon! He wrought the Mana from within, causing a dragon¡¯s roaring maw to appear around his sword and arms. He swung his blade and let the dragon maw fly off his sword tip. It crashed into the infected and they burst asunder. The grave and cold iron undoing them. DING! X15 TIER II LAMELLAE INFECTED KILLED! +3 PER This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. +2 WIL ¡­ He didn¡¯t have time to stop, he danced through the battles. Stabbing and slashing, slicing, and striking. The infected began to dwindle in numbers and Jazmel¡¯s relentless help allowed the seekers to push back. Aeonic flame! Paldane soared past spewing a torrent of flames down. The infected burned, they turned into cinder and ash. Jazmel wondered how much exp he gained for that. The seekers began to converge and Jazmel called to one. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked. ¡°There is a bigger one! The guild master fought with it but lost!! It poisoned everything with its spores and broke the gate down when people were trying to heal.¡± She explained, but then she left, chasing after a group, which were chasing down the remaining infected. Paldane can you see the general? Paldane spiralled above the city for a few flybys. Yes and its coming towards you! Paldane warned, Jazmel focused. Slowing his breathing and trying to replenish his stamina, but his body was good. His Mana was also more than 60% full. Then he heard the sounds of thumps, the sounds of thuds and heavy footsteps. But Jazmel was ready, he had a steady grip of his sword. Not too strong, nor too loose. It was enough that he was able to flex his wrists. The thuds of heavy footsteps resounded and continued as they neared to his position. He had thought about moving, but the open space gave him enough of an advantage to move around. Also he needed full open air to not be overwhelmed by the toxic miasma. DING! TIER III LAMELLAE BLOATER IS HUNTING FOR YOU! ¡­ The footsteps brought a terrifying monster before him. it was the height of a troll, easily seven to eight foot in size. It was burly, thick arms and legs. Jazmel could see where the strength to break down a gate. It was huge, it had no face. Mushrooms and spores had covered its body far more advanced than the other infected. It was moving its head around, slowly as if it were scanning the area. But Jazmel couldn¡¯t work out what it was doing. Jazmel stepped back, his foot scraping against a fallen sword. The creature snapped at him and roared, its mouth lopsided and too large for a human body. It pulled a growth from its hip and threw it at Jazmel. He dodged to the side, and it sailed past him, hitting the ground. It burst and spores dispersed, Jazmel leapt forward and skirted beneath a stray arm that went to grab for him. Eviscerate! He dodged beneath its clutch and coming around its back. He stabbed with his sword and scored flesh, but to his shock he had to bounce back and pivot further. Spores poured from the wound as blood seeped out. It was as if the bloater was a giant spore pouch. This would be a terrifying fight. Aeonic flame! Jazmel watched as an unyielding torrent of flame burned them. Dragon flame always seemed to strike extreme damage. The Lamellae bloater shrieked, roaring in pain. Jazmel watched as it skin blackened from the flames. The spores had been burned up in the torrents of flames. Jazmel leapt forward, sprinting through the ruins of this part of the city. Eviscerate! Jazmel crashed his blade into the stomach of the bloater, it screamed. Crying out in pain, he dragged the blade up and back down, a zigzag in the stomach. It roared in pain again, reaching out to grab him. but Jazmel was moving far too swiftly. He pulled Daishinkan from his belt and in one fluid movement he pulled it free of its sheath. He stabbed it into the left knee and the bloater dropped beneath its own weight. He drew Yoru No Tsubasa from its stomach and stabbed down behind its right kneecap. It still sizzled from the burning wounds that Paldane had left on its flesh. Jazmel withdrew both blades and with extreme force. He swung his blades across his body, cutting through the neck of the bloater. Its head, a sprouting mushroom was loped off and fell, black blood spurted from its neck, but it was dead, no spores were released either. DING! CONGRATULATIONS YOU STOPPED THE SPORES SPREADING IN THE CITY! YOU HAVE DEFEATED ANOTHER BOSS! ¡­ YOUR REWARDS WILL BE GREATLY ENHANCED! ¡­ DING! TIER III LAMELLAE BLOATER KILLED! +5 WIL +3 END +3 VIT DING! WARNING! MANA IS LOW STAMINA IS LOW! ¡­ The system was telling him what he already knew, after all that fighting he hadn''t even drank a potion. But tier III monsters and creatures were no longer life threatening. No, they were just difficult to fight for him now. This meant he was getting stronger. Book 5 Chapter Twelve; Reap the Rewards Jazmel sat, with his back against the water feature. He was still inside the city of Brackenwater, but it had been many hours since the beast tide. Apparently the merging was still going on but the beast tide; the frenzy that gate merges seemed to create. No longer affected the city, it was allowed to nurse its wounds in relative peace. Jazmel found himself doing the same, luckily he hadn''t been injured at all. But he was going over the notices. The system had announced many things. DING! THE THREE BEAST TIDES HAVE BEEN THWARTED! WELL DONE TO ALL THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED! CONGRATULATIONS FOR STANDING AGAINST THE TIDE AND NOT BEING OVERWHELMED! ¡­ ¡­ REWARDS ARE CURRENTLY BEING CALCULATED BUT PLEASE CONSIDER! CONSIDER THE SEEKERS WHO CONTRIBUTED THE MOST! CITY WIDE LEADERBOARD!
  1. RANKER TIER II JAZMEL (SLEW 2 OF THE BEAST TIDE BOSSES)
  2. MASTER TIER I CASTRO (HELD THE WEST WALL)
  3. MASTER TIER I MARY (HELD THE MAIN GATE AND STOPPED THREE WAVES)
  4. RANKER TIER II DEVA (DEFEATED THE TROLL OGRE PHALANX)
  5. SEEKER TIER III INDIGO (THWARTED THE INFECTIONS OF THE LAMELLAE SPORES)
Jazmel tried to hide his face, but he couldn¡¯t. People had already realised who he was and now. Now everyone was watching and waiting for the rewards. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING THE LEADERBOARD! TITLE ACHIEVED! ¡­ ¡­ DING! YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE CITY-WIDE QUEST! YOU STOPPED THE BEAST TIDE DUE TO THE MERGING OF THE GATES! YOU PREVENTED THE FALL OF THE MAIN GATE! YOUR REWARDS WILL BE IMPROVED!! YOU STOPPED THE THREE WAVES AGAINST THE MAIN GATE! YOUR REWARDS WILL BE IMPROVED!! YOU SLEW THE TIER IV TROLL OGRE GENERAL, BARBELLON THE CANNIBAL! YOUR REWARDS WILL BE IMPROVED!! YOU STOPPED THE COMPLETE FALL OF THE EASTERN WALL! YOUR REWARDS WILL BE IMPROVED!! YOU SLEW THE TIER III LAMELLAE BLOATER! ¡­ ¡­ ALL THESE FEATS HAVE SHOWN YOUR WORTH! THE WORTH OF THE BLACK WING FACTION! ¡­ ¡­ REWARDS GAINED! He gaped at his rewards, not one chest, but two and not just any. But two rare ones, he was incredibly happy at that. He hadn''t gotten an Arcanite chest just yet. But he was hoping he would find one soon. Let us balance my stats out first. He thought to himself. He brought up his stats, looking them over, he considered how to split his stats and realising just how many spare stat points he had. He decided to split them up and share them out evenly. Currently his stats looked like this; STR:165(+5) PER:162 VIT:162 END:173(+3) INT:161 WIL:168(+7) AGL:160 DEX:162 He split his stats evenly and then he opened up his full system screen. Looking over his name and all his information. Name: Jazmel Level: 88 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier II Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 4570/5960 Stamina: 3642/4079 Mana: 3000/3920 STR:170(+5) PER:167 VIT:167 END:173(+3) INT:166 WIL:172(+7) AGL:165 DEX:167 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) TYRANNY OF THE TYRANT DRAGON (PASSIVE) SERPENT SLAYER (UNACTIVE) DEMON SLAYER (UNACTIVE) AWAKENER (PASSIVE) BASTION OF THE TYRANT (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 0 442X PLATINUM COINS 782X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG PRIMORDIAL CORE OF SOLIS TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE TIER III RED MASK TIER III LAMP OF LELUTHIAN X10 TIER II BRUTE BOAR TUSKS TIER IV DREAD HERETIC CORE TIER III ARMOUR SET OF THE NIGHT WING TIER III SKILL EVOLVE TOKEN X10 TIER II GREATER MANA POTIONS X7 TIER II GREATER HEALTH POTIONS X10 TIER II GREATER STAMINA POTIONS TIER III ALCOLI THE GHOUL CORE TIER III GARGAUNTUAN SABRE OF CULLING TIER III LION HELM OF ADVERSITY RANKER TIER SCOURGING SCARAB RANKER TIER FRUIT OF THE MANA TREE MASTER TIER GOURD OF SANCTITY MASTER TIER CELESTIAL CARP MASTER TIER ASHES OF THE FALLEN MONARCH TIER RUNE OF PERCEPTION COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 8 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 115 Jazmel always found himself in awe seeing his stats. Sometimes he felt like it wasn¡¯t even himself, but he felt the strength in his bones and in his experience. He had earned all of this. Bone by bone and brick by brick. Satisfied with the stat points he had shared out, he moved on and opened the first chest, the jade chest appeared in front of him, and he waited for it to open before his eyes. It did and within it, he found three items. DING! JADE CHEST OPENED! ¡­ ¡­ TIER III FIRE DRAGON OPAL GAINED! TIER III RUNE OF THE ART OF SWORDPLAY GAINED! MASTER TIER SONG OF SUNDERING GAINED! RANKER TIER TITLE OF THE DRAGON SONG GAINED! He looked through each item and nodded with interest. Each one would develop his skills, and his abilities would be improved considerably. TIER III FIRE DRAGON OPAL GAINED! The opal of a fire dragon, when used on a skill. It will gain fire attributes! That sounded immense, he had been reflecting on the aeonic flame that Paldane had been using. Now he wondered how he would gain something like that, but now the question was. What skill to use it on. He would have to consider that later, when he had time to go back over all his skills again. TIER III RUNES OF THE ART OF SWORDPLAY GAINED! Many walk the path of swordsmanship, but few learn the art of swordplay. This rune can be consumed and will allow the consumer to gain further insight into swordplay. Another reward that would develop him immensely. He would incorporate this as soon as he returned to the outpost. MASTER TIER SONG OF SUNDERING GAINED! The song that sings of sundering, this will add keenness to your sword or blade! It sounded like an item that would strengthen his weapons but seen as he had a skill called sunder already. He wondered if this skill could be used on it too. He was curious, but he would wait till he could speak with Baek and or Tango. RANKER TIER TITLE OF THE DRAGON SONG GAINED! Learn the title and earn a title either passive or active that has been claimed from a dragon! Another draconic skill then. He was not even shying from it; he was veering towards dragon hood in one way or another. He just needed to know what that meant for him. He put the items in his ring and looked over at the notification beckoning him. the mithril chest appeared before him. DING! MITHRIL CHEST OPENED! ¡­ ¡­ TIER III LEVEL UP TOKEN! X3 TIER III MITHRIL INGOT! TIER III FURYU, KATANA OF THE ELEGANT WIND! MASTER TIER WHITE CROW OF ADRINIA! MASTER TIER FIREHEART These items were even more interesting than the jade chest. He looked them over and waited for the system to feed him information. TIER III LEVEL UP TOKEN GAINED! A token to allow the user to gain a level! Jazmel hadn''t even seen the like of this token before. He even had a few other tokens in his rings. He was going to update everything one his return to the outpost. X3 TIER III MITHRIL INGOT GAINED! The purer form of ores, these have been purified and quenched. To create high quality ingots, any forge master will be glad to work with them. Ingots! And enough to strengthen each and every one of his swords. Jazmel was happy, grinning to himself. The labyrinth and the system had rewarded him well! TIER III FURYU, KATANA OF THE ELEGANT WIND GAINED! The elegant mistress of the wind. A katana made by a master blade smith. A sword as graceful as the winds of the sky! Jazmel had been gifted another sword, a tier III one at that. He put it in his ring, he would study it later. MASTER TIER WHITE CROW OF ADRINIA GAINED! A gift of the light spirit. The white crow will leave its mark, and the bearer of its mark will be protected from one death dealing attack. A lifesaving item. That was a big deal! Jazmel was interested. He couldn¡¯t wait to return to home and incorporate all these items. MASTER TIER FIREHEART GAINED! The Fireheart of a fire dragon! Jazmel nodded, that item was going straight to Paldane. He didn¡¯t even need to consider it. His stamina had been running overtime, he could feel his body replenishing and refreshing. He rose up as his friends came towards him smiling and happy to see him. ¡°Everyone get good rewards?¡± he asked, and they nodded. ¡°I got a gold chest!¡± Sad¨¦ said, Jazmel smiled at her. She had held the wall with just a few archers and the mage called Guile. ¡°I got a Jade chest.¡± Bannerman said and Jazmel looked at him, but he didn¡¯t show any more emotion. ¡°That skill you used, the full moon?¡± Jazmel quizzed and Bannerman flashed a smile, his canines glinting. ¡°Yes, I earned it from our last battle. It doubles my strength and speed, as if I am under a full moon. But it costs me double the Mana too.¡± He said and Jazmel nodded, a high cost. ¡°We can just find you something to increase your Mana points. Actually here you go.¡± He pulled the reward he had got from when they had stopped Fror from descending. RANKER TIER FRUIT OF THE MANA TREE! ¡°I don¡¯t know how much it will up your mana. but it is a ranker tier item.¡± He confessed, Bannerman thanked him and put it away. To consider when they returned. Mary was standing to the side and Jazmel was looking at her intently. She was clearly stronger, she felt calmer. Greater in ability and also her Mana core had expanded. ¡°And you?¡± he asked, and she combed back her hair with a hand. Before smiling at him. ¡°Master tier and a Gold chest. Some good items, a martial arts skill book.¡± She told him. ¡°I didn¡¯t get the notification. That¡¯s odd.¡± Jazmel considered but she waved it away. ¡°maybe because you were right here, but don¡¯t worry we can figure that out when we return home.¡± She told them and Jazmel nodded. She was right, they should go home. Though they had only entered one gate. They clearly had been through a lot and needed to consolidate their gifts and items. ¡°Let¡¯s go home then.¡± He said and they split off from the crowding remaining factions. ¡°Going so soon!¡± he heard, turning around. He saw that Deva and the rest of the Delta star faction. ¡°We are returning to our base.¡± Jazmel said and offered his hand, Deva was a strange man. Skilled but strange, he after all was a man who had defended the main gate alongside them. Deva shook it with a wry smile. DING! DEVA DELTA FACTION LEADER OF DELTA STAR FACTION HAS REQUESTED AN ALLIANCE! ¡­ DEVA DELTA HAS SENT A FRIEND REQUEST! ¡­ ¡­ He accepted both of course and Deva simply smiled and offered his thanks. They parted ways and Jazmel turned and led his team away. They were going home. Book 5 Chapter Thirteen; Home for Improvements They had returned and after sharing with the others what had happened. He had returned to his room to go over the items he had gained. It was just him and Paldane, Paldane in his small form that he could retain at a moment¡¯s notice. He snuggled up on Jazmel¡¯s shoulder and nuzzled his neck. ¡°Come let us get you your rewards.¡± He cooed to Paldane, who perked up at the idea of rewards. He pulled out the Fireheart. A gem shaped like a crystal shard; it was cool in his hands, but he could feel a warm heat pulsing; thumping from inside the Fireheart. ¡°Here you go.¡± He offered and Paldane considered the shard, thinking how best to handle its size. At the moment they were the same length. He latched on and using his little wings. He pumped them as he carried the Fireheart from Jazmel¡¯s hands and landed on one of the sofa¡¯s in Jazmel¡¯s room. He crunched down on it, chewing the crystal shards as he consumed the Fireheart. DING! YOUR COMPANION HAS BEGUN TO CONSUME THE MASTER TIER FIREHEART! YOUR COMPANION WITH GAIN GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF FIRE AND FLAME!! ¡­ The system notice came quick and fast. Jazmel didn¡¯t question it, Paldane seemed to know what worked for him and always knew what he needed. He left him to devour the shard and when he was done he curled up. To meditate or sleep, Jazmel could never tell. Jazmel himself pulled out the white crow of Adrina, it was a figurine carved out of Ashwood. The crow was expertly carved and Jazmel studied it, trying to figure out how to unlock its abilities. But he didn¡¯t have to, a lull overcame him. He found himself in a trance like place; like when you almost sleep but you are not fully unconscious. In that realm, he soon saw that the crow was not a figurine and instead. Was a full-grown crow! Much bigger than a raven. It cawed and then he woke up, jumping out of his sleep or trance. The figurine was gone. But on his forearm a large white feather had been tattooed into his arm. It didn¡¯t even hurt; it looked so real. Like a white feather had just entered his flesh. But he took it. DING! WHITE CROW OF ADRINIA HAS LEFT HER MARK! ¡­ He turned his forearm over trying to get a better look. But there was nothing to perceive, it simply was the white feather of a white crow. He shrugged; it would do whatever it needed to do. He took out the rune of perception. A singular rune stone with the eye of perception on it. He had gotten it after dealing with Fror and now he was considering it now for the first time. He took it into his hand and the system activated, latching onto his will and casting energy around the rune stone. DING! MONARCH TIER RUNE OF PERCEPTION SENSED! ¡­ WILL YOU ACTIVATE THE RUNE OF PERCEPTION? Y/N? ¡°Perception is almost as keen a sense as it is its own motion. The rune of perception will raise your senses to untold levels. What you thought you were capable of before. You will see was a narrow-sighted glimmer of the true.¡± ¡°For all in all, perception is the honest review of the truth. All those that seek the truth of things, have used perception to garner awards and rewards. Reaping benefits from the experiences they wrought. No fool of time has hindered their perception and insight. For it is only the man who asks why, who can know that there is a question as to what!¡± ¡°Follow the trails of Huginn and Muninn. Learn the truth, whatever that may be for you! Follow the trails of the ravens of thought and memory! Earn your perception!!¡± Jazmel listened to these words, completely shocked to be entrapped within this rune stone. He was learning much here. whoever¡¯s voice that was booming through his mind; straight from the rune stone, was clearly sharing his knowledge on perception and trying to teach Jazmel how to expand his skills. ¡°Perceive your senses. Consider your horizons, understand the peaks of the mountain tops all the way down to the roots of the mountains. Following the snaking path of the streams, the rivers, and the seas!¡± Jazmel meditated focusing on the rune stone of perception and trying to find some affinity with it. ¡°I can see that you have some affinity with dragons and raven¡¯s how precarious. The universe cannot even depict what you will become!¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. That shocked Jazmel, he had thought he was hearing the echo. A shadow of the past, but for whoever was speaking to be able to glean information from him. It scared him a little. ¡°I am no echo! This is but a glimmer of my persona, I have sheered some of my being off on this rune stone to better prepare whoever earns it.¡± Jazmel conceded and he felt the glimmer soften on him. ¡°Prepare yourself son of Dragons and Godlings.¡± That was all he heard, and the rune stone burned within his hand. Not a scorching heat, but it burned all the same. Hot to touch, he felt the rune stone crumble as the rune took hold of him. Taking hold of his senses, most keenly his eyes. It smothered his eyes, covering them in its authority and abundant Mana. DING! RUNE OF PERCEPTION IS RAISING SENSES! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ SENSES HAVE RISEN GREATLY! ¡­ ¡­ TITLE EARNED! BEASTIAL BYAKKO SENSES! Keen senses of the byakko; the spiritual beast known to hunt all and make prey out of all. ¡­ ¡­ EYES OF THE DIVINE HAVE FOUND GREAT HARMONY WITH THE RUNE OF PERCEPTION! WILL YOU ALLOW THE RUNE OF PERCEPTION TO INFLUENCE THE EYES OF THE DIVINE? Y/N? Of course he accepted, he let the system activate and he felt his eyes tingle with authority, harmony, affinity, and system energy. EYES OF THE DIVINE ARE WIDENING ITS PERIPHERAL! HARMONY HAS BEEN FOUND! AFFINITY HAS BEEN EXPANDED! AUTHORITY OF THE MONARCH TIER RUNE STONE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED!! ¡­ ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! EYES OF THE DIVINE HAVE CHANGED! EYES OF THE DIVINE HAVE BECOME ¡®TYRANNICAL EYES OF THE SEEKING DRAGON¡¯ +20 PER Jazmel felt his eyes grow intensely aware suddenly. His eyes were already attuned to the sight of Mana, and it was confounding, he struggled to consume all that he saw. But now, now he felt his entire body reading and considering everything around him. He suddenly felt naturally attuned to the world and he was consciously aware of it. He was aware of Paldane¡¯s presence. His very being imprinted in the natural waves of ambience. But now he was acutely aware of him, he could feel wafts of heat coming from beneath each scale. He could feel the coil of Mana forming in Paldane¡¯s core. When he had told Jazmel he was meditating, he was right. He could feel it from him, the constant tugging and condensing of his Mana. He was pulling ambient Mana into his core and making it his own. Jazmel was truly in awe. He could feel his own presence, the very pressure of his being within the world around him. He felt strong, he felt himself pushing against the ambient Mana. He felt cool. Next he took up the fire dragon opal and thought of his skills, in truth there was only one skill worth adding this to. He just needed to see how the skill would react. DING! ¡­ YOU HAVE INVOKED THE TIER III FIRE DRAGON OPAL! WHICH SKILL WOULD YOU LIKE TO ATTUNE? ¡­ ¡­ EVISCERATE CHOSEN! .. ¡­ ¡­ TIER III FIRE DRAGON OPAL TAKES HOLD OF SKILL! THERE IS NO AFFINITY!! THE OPAL AND SKILL ARE CLASHING!! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ FLAMES ARE BEING QUENCHED! ¡­ NEW SKILL! UNABLE TO RETAIN TIER! ¡­ EVISCERATE HAS CHANGED! FLAMING EVISCERATION (TIER I) HAS BEEN CREATED!! CONGRATULATIONS!! That sounded just like what he needed, but in the comfort of his room. He couldn¡¯t check or use the skill inside, so it would have to wait. But for now, he was simply happy with the change. He looked over his other rewards and decided against using any of the others. Instead he rose up, leaving Paldane to sleep. He left his rooms and headed down to the forge, skipping down the steps two and three at a time. It was a peculiar journey, after his senses having been raised he suddenly was much more aware of his surroundings. He was consciously conscious of the moving Mana around him; he felt like he was moving through an endless web. He was also acutely aware of everyone¡¯s aura, the outpost tower was filled with it, he could feel traces of everyone. Echoes of who had come and gone, it was almost as if their Mana was there individual aroma; in a magic and Mana sort of way. It was both fascinating and intriguing. He made it to the ground floor and smiling he entered the forge. The hissing sounds of quenching were high in the air, the blistering heat of fire and forging was constricting and Jazmel found himself under duress beneath the heat. He pang of hammer against metal upon the anvil was bittersweet. Jazmel enjoyed the sounds of the forge, he saw the beauty of hard work and pure labour. He hadn''t asked but he himself was curious about the inner workings, one day soon. He was going to have to make time to come down and try his hand at it. ¡°My lord!¡± Gorin said, noticing Jazmel, the others continued working and he realised they were in a trance like place. It seemed to happen to many who created things with their skills from the system and Mana too. ¡°Do not worry about them. How can I help?¡± Gorin asked, yelling over the hammer sounds and constant quenching. ¡°I want you to enhance these.¡± He handed over all three of his swords, and Gorin looked at them, curious but clearly willing. ¡°Ok, I have some ores that I probably could use to strengthen their tiers.¡± Gorin was about to go off on a tangent, but Jazmel stopped him. ¡°I want you to use these.¡± He pulled from his ring, the three ingots and Gorin almost dropped the swords. He urgently pushed them into his own spatial ring, then tenderly taking the ingots from Jazmel he whispered over them. ¡°These are purer than any ingots I have ever seen. System reward?¡± he asked knowingly and Jazmel nodded. ¡°I will make great works with these. Leave them with me!¡± he almost begged Jazmel, tearing the ingots from Jazmel¡¯s palm and walking back over to his anvil himself. He seemed to have plans of starting straight away and in truth. Jazmel had no reason to stop him. He backed off and left the forge, heading back up the stairs, with a wry smile on his face. Curious to see what Gorin would create. Book 5 Chapter Fourteen; Heavens Haven Jazmel stepped through the gate, eager to be within the labyrinth but also hungry for adventure. It had been a month since they had returned from Brackenwater city, the whole merging of the three gates had caused them to remain at the outpost for a few weeks. Jazmel focusing on training and sparring with the faction retainers. Other things had moved along, the quest he had created for captains had been completed by a few. Tera Nema, Sad¨¦, Bannerman and Katie had all gained the faction captain title or status. This changed much of how the faction worked. Mary still retained her war commander/General status, but now that she had other captains under her ward. She could now provide them with tasks and split the faction retainers beneath them. It was all complicated and business like, but Jazmel liked to leave the others to do the best in there and for their charges. Today he had left the outpost with Sad¨¦, Katie, Bannerman, and Tera Nema. Baek had decided to join them this time, something Jazmel realised, currently they were the master tier of the Black Wing Faction were now taking in turns. Since the loss of Patton¡¯s life. Katie had returned to full activities since the burial of Patton. But she was quite different, no she was a shadow of herself. She no longer made jokes, her face was stonelike most of the time and she barely spoke to anyone besides Sad¨¦, Timone and Bannerman. She never quite looked Jazmel in the face anymore and he wondered and hoped she hadn''t blamed him for the death of Patton. Jazmel looked around, suddenly taken aback by the endless beauty. The gate he had stepped through had led them to a small cavern, barely a cave. But once he stepped out of it, he saw that he was standing on a plateau of a platform, and it was literally floating in the air. High above, in the sapphire heavens, massive islands floated serenely, their rocky undersides glowing with energy. Lush forests crowned these stones, where waterfalls cascaded down into the misty expanse below. Birds with wings as white as snow soared through the air, navigating the treacherous winds created from the islands. The islands were connected with long wooden bridges, which shook in the wind. Jazmel looked around him and as mist cleared out of sight, he found himself seeing more. A new cluster of floating lands. These were staggered, tiered like the steps of heaven¡¯s staircase. Each platform brimming with verdant life. more waterfalls fell from island to island and Jazmel wondered who could have crafted such beauty. The scene was almost surreal, as though a slice of paradise had been torn from the earth and set to remain adrift in amongst the clouds. It was beautiful, as peaceful as it looked and as surreal as the feeling of paradise felt. Jazmel could tell this was a domain of wily things, wild things that had made their homes of land and air. Finally his eyes rested on the most wondrous sight of all. Far in the distance, many islands and bridge walkways away. A colossal island far larger than the rest, which housed a city. The stone structures clung to the edges of the floating landmass. Their walls weathered by time and weather. The city was further than Jazmel¡¯s already keen senses could make out. But just for the way it looked within the rolling clouds and mist, he could tell it was large. Much larger than any city he had been to. Each isle or island seemed to beckon to him. To be explored by all. He knew with each island they crossed and overcame. They would be beset by the system and whatever avian nightmare these floating isles were called home by. The floating islands were a place of great beauty and Jazmel wondered about the danger of it all. Where the very air thrummed with Mana and system energy. Yet the wonder filled his eyes with glee, he was curious about all he saw. With a determined breath he stepped out from the cavern and the system buzzed to life. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE HEAVEN¡¯S HAVENS! REACH THE CITY OF TITANIA! ¡­ ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE REACHED THE FIFTIETH FLOOR! YOU HAVE GAINED A REWARD! ¡­ TIER II NIMBUS CLOUD GAINED! ¡­ Jazmel hadn''t even realised he had already reached his 50th floor. But clearly the system had been keeping tabs. He looked at the small cloud that fit into the palm of his hand. The system flared through his eyes. TIER II NIMBUS CLOUD! A cloud able to bear the weight of a man, use it to get around! That was excellent, very befitting the climate. He told the others about the reward and his fiftieth floor; he was a little ahead of the others. Due to being in the lost gate and travelling through gates to meet them. But Sad¨¦, Bannerman and Katie were not that far behind. ¡°Did we all get the quest to reach Titania then?¡± Tera Nema asked, pointing at the city so far away from them all. Paldane crawled from Jazmel¡¯s collar, stretching like a car along his shoulders. But when he saw the expanse he leapt gracefully off his shoulder, even in his tiny form he jumped off and expanding quickly he took to the skies. ¡°Show off.¡± Jazmel said and Sad¨¦ laughed as she stood beside him. The wind was quite strong here, it was blowing her hair up and around her face. To Jazmel she looked like a naiad, but she quickly tied it up, into a small formal bun. ¡°Are we moving on then?¡± she asked and Jazmel bowed, mockingly and gave her the first step. She rolled her eyes with a wry smile and walked towards the bridge. She gingerly placed a foot on the first plank and when she realised he could hold her weight. She began to walk across, clutching the rope banisters to steady herself. She had excellent dexterity; he knew from the title she had told him about. She had ¡®feathered grace¡¯ a title she had earned after tempering her body. Everyone began to walk across, holding onto each rope as Sad¨¦ had done so. Jazmel was the second to last, Baek following closely behind him. after his tempering and his tier tribulation. Jazmel had added substantial mass to both his muscle and bones. It was only due to the system and his stats that he was able to move so gracefully and be lithe. But that had been at the behest of Mary, he had balanced his stats as best as he could. He always did and in truth it had given him untold bonuses. They all crossed; the bridge was rickety, shaky under the turmoil of the winds. But it held and they all made it across safely. As soon as Jazmel and Baek made it to the first island and crossed over the bridge fell away, a nail of fear struck Jazmel¡¯s heart but then he realised it was the system. As soon as the notification popped up. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. DING! YOU HAVE REACHED THE FIRST FLOATING ISLE! YOUR PRESENCE HAS NOT GONE UNNOTICED! DEFEAT THE CREATURES AND ADVANCE FORWARD!! ¡­ ¡°We got incoming!¡± Jazmel yelled, as soon as the first shrieks tore through the air. ¡°Harpies!¡± Sad¨¦ said and without delay, everyone readied themselves. Jazmel watched not for the first time, and still amazed by it. He watched with his evolved eyes as all his friends¡¯ Mana began to coil and ready itself to be available for their user¡¯s needs. And without delay, the shrieks grew louder, and he soon found himself and his party besot by flying creatures. Jazmel had not seen harpies before, but he knew the name. From history and stories over the time he had been in the labyrinth. From the skies the shrieks rained and raged down. Flying women, birdlike legs with outstretched talons, arms that had been warped into flapping feathered wings. Bodies covered with feathers to allow them to fly as close to birds as possible. The faces were screwed up in anger and Jazmel noticed they all sported teeth, fangs and sharpened canines filled their mouths. A group of about ten approached them, soaring from the skies down. ¡°Get them!¡± Sad¨¦ yelled. Wand warfare! Tera Nema raised her wand and from it, her Mana burst free. A blast of magic struck the harpies that rushed at her. Foxfire! Sad¨¦ threw her blue flames into the sky, they floated around. But as soon as a harpy flew close enough. The fires flared and burnt flesh and feathers like kindle. Blackened and burned from her blue flames. He hadn¡¯t seen her use that skill in a while, she had told him before that she was struggling with finding balance between thunder and fire. So it was interesting for him to see her move. In truth he had a new skill he had wanted to use too, but now was not the time for that. Chain spike! Chains riddled with metallic thorns and sharpened parts, tore harpies from the sky, clipped wings and broken body parts fell from the sky. Katie retracted her chains without a sound, ruthless and impartial, her moves didn¡¯t have the same lithe and grace like a ballerina. She had, used to look like a floating dancer to Jazmel. But now she was as cold as the chains she used. The last harpy tried to fly at Jazmel, he hadn''t gotten involved in the fight. After all his long-range skills were not as dangerous as the others. But before he could even unsheathe his sword, Paldane crashed into the harpy from behind. A blackened blur of blue flame and black scale. He bit down on the back of the harpy¡¯s neck, crushing its windpipe and he flung the body off of the isle. Jazmel simply looked at it and then gazed over at Paldane. He lowered his head to Jazmel and then jumped back into the air, swooping through the wind currents, and flying through the mist. DING! YOU MAY NOW ADVANCE! ¡­ The mist began to disperse from the first isle and towards the north. Jazmel could make out the beginnings of yet another bridge. He motioned towards it, and everyone began to head over. Tera Nema sidled up beside him and they walked across the floating isle together. ¡°So faction leader, how are you holding up?¡± She asked him, she had a cheeky smile across her lips. But her eyes were honest and open. Jazmel could tell that of them all, Tera Nema was feeling the loss of Patton the most. She hadn''t known him at all, but the fact that Jazmel had come to her rescue and lost one of his own. Sat on her heart heavily. ¡°I am as good as I can be.¡± He said with a smile, trying to show her he didn¡¯t blame her at all. ¡°How are you finding the faction?¡± He asked and her face changed, maybe it was the question or the faction, but she grew upbeat and happy immediately. ¡°Where do I start!¡± ¨C she exclaimed. ¡°How you have a forge of that quality is mindboggling to me! The forge master is master tier, so he is making the best quality of items right off the bat.¡± She was impressed and in truth so was Jazmel, he was sporting more than enough creations by Gorin. All three of his swords had been returned to him, all gone up a tier. The mithril ingots had enhanced them each individually. ¡°The astral domain as well! Where on earth did you find something like that!¡± she asked him and in truth he had no response besides the system. ¡°I honestly cannot tell you, it all feels normal to me, to us. This is just what the system rewards have been, we just try to overcome the trials and tribulations the system provides us.¡± He explained and as he was about to continue, Sad¨¦ who was walking besides Bannerman and Katie called out. ¡°We overcome the high risks, and we reap the great rewards.¡± Sad¨¦ explained and in truth, she was right. They made it to the next bridge, and everyone crossed safely. The wind hadn''t let up, but it wasn¡¯t overbearing. The same thing happened as soon as they crossed over and the system chimed to life again. DING! YOU HAVE REACHED ANOTHER FLOATING ISLE! YOUR PRESENCE HAS NOT GONE UNNOTICED! DEFEAT THE CREATURES AND ADVANCE FORWARD!! ¡­ Jazmel and the others waited, watching the skies and soon the shrieks and cries of harpies filled the air. The amount had tripled this time, completing what looked like a full flock of them all. ¡°That is a full flock of angry flying women.¡± Sadie said and the others smiled grimly. ¡°Clear them out!¡± Jazmel called over the din of the harpies. Again skills flashed out, their numbers not meaning anything before the highly skilled rankers. Jazmel, Bannerman and Baek all stood to the side watching. Having not needed to get involved just yet. Paldane swooped down, clawing, and gnawing on harpies from above. They squawked and cried out in fear, a dragon was a threat to all. Even one as young as Paldane. DING! YOU MAY NOW ADVANCE! ¡­ They made short work of the flock and moved on; this isle was a little bigger. It took them a good ten minutes to reach the next bridge. Jazmel had made it to the front of his group, this time he was leading but nothing was new or so he thought. DING! YOU HAVE REACHED ANOTHER FLOATING ISLE! YOUR PRESENCE HAS NOT GONE UNNOTICED! DEFEAT THE CREATURES AND ADVANCE FORWARD!! ¡­ As the notification flared onto his system screen, the flock was doubled in size. The harpies now numbered close to one hundred. But also there were a few different flying creatures within the flock. He spotted the glint of metal and when he focused, he saw armour and weapons. ¡°Something else is there! Be careful guys!¡± he yelled over his shoulder. His keen senses flared and turning back in time, he quickly drew Furyu Jazmel protected himself from a silver spear tip. The woman wore armour that looked old, ancient even. She had wings, unlike the harpies. Hers were four sky grew wings upon her back. She flew amongst the flock; they seemed to maintain flight formation due to her. It was as if she was a captain. Sunder! He slashed across the gap between them. She blocked with her spear length and whirled it trying to smash Jazmel with the butt of it. But he was made of sturdy stuff, he didn¡¯t relent. He held his own and though she pushed against him railing against him with her own strength. She back up and with a jerk of her shoulders, she flared her wings. The flared and Jazmel watched them, but then the slammed forward. Sharp feathers flying from her wings. They darted towards him, they flew like knives, and he heard them whistling through the air. He dodged them, one skimmed remarkably close to his face but left no mark. She swooped down again, her spear flitting in the wind, trying to pierce and poke him. but he was just as graceful, he danced around her spear point. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! He shored through her spear, and she shrieked a cry out. She ascended quickly and when she was above him. Where he had to crane his neck to see her. She dived at him, throwing each piece of the spear at him, like a shortened javelin. Flaming Evisceration! He called out the new skill, it burst from the tip of his blade and in the form of a jagged flaming fang it crushed and clawed through the broken javelin and hit her. Covering her entire body in grievous wounds. She yelped in pain, but the flames crept down her throat, one of her beautiful wings was shorn off and she crashed to the ground; to her death. ¡°Whoa.¡± He heard and turning he saw Katie retracting her chains. She had been watching his battle and saw his new skill. DING! TIER III FALLEN FOUR WINGED VALKRYIE KILLED! ¡­ +3 DEX +3 WILL +2 INT Her blackened and slaughtered body lay at his feet, wings unfolded but covering her. Like a feathered veil. He was about to turn away and he noticed Mana spark from within the Valkyrie again and he guarded himself waiting to see what happened. Instead a shadow, a ghost passed through the body and her dull grey wings; which were now silvery white. She was also white, but her being flared with light and light her Mana oddly peaceful. She placed a hand across her chest and lowered her head in thanks, before ascending on the wind. DING! YOU HAVE PURIFIED A TIER III FOUR WINGED VALKRYIE! LEVEL UP! +4 VIT ¡­ Book 5 Chapter Fifteen; Heavens Haven II Jazmel studied the place where the fallen Valkyrie had arisen from. The system had said he had purified it, so in truth. It was no longer fallen. Knowing what he knew of Valkyrie he wondered if in some dark way they had been tainted and fallen away from their duties of battle. He shuddered, wondering how a being known to save the souls of fallen warriors could have ¡®fallen.¡¯ He turned facing his friends as they dismantled the flock. When they were done, he looked around and saw that the isle was the lowest. A waterfall cascaded down, and it looked like the only way up. Was through it, Jazmel motioned to Bannerman and they both slipped through the torrent of ice-cold water. Luckily, it was nothing but water blocking the entrance to a cavern that led upwards. They followed the route and soon found themselves coming through another waterfall. Out onto the floating island. DING! YOU HAVE REACHED THE FLOATING ISLAND OF THE FALLEN! DEFEAT ALL OF THE FALLEN AND ADVANCE! ¡­ The island was much bigger than the isles, trees and shrubs grew around a lake. There was something peaceful and serene about this island but that was soon short lived. Shrieks from the sky could be heard, three flocks of harpies appeared. Then in amongst them, Jazmel could see three Valkyrie flying at the forefront. Two had four wings and the other had six. Hollering and wailing in the sky. ¡°We got the flocks!¡± Sad¨¦ and Tera Nema said. ¡°Leave me the four wings.¡± Katie said, her voice raw. Sounding like she hadn''t spoken in a long time. ¡°Nothing for me again?¡± Bannerman said, but his words were soon unwarranted. The sounds of the flocks had drawn the attention and from the lake ripples began. Ripples flared and Jazmel, Baek and Bannerman looked like a toad humanoid crawled from the lake. Croaking, it looked up and saw the flocks. Its tongue flared out and it grabbed one of the harpies straight out of the sky. Swallowing her whole. ¡°Leave the toad to me.¡± Bannerman said, bounding towards it. Baek simply watched, ensuring he was close enough to them all to watch and intercede if they needed him. They all split and Jazmel moved towards where the six-winged Valkyrie hovered in the air. She looked towards Jazmel; she clutched two swords. When he drew Furyu she nodded as if she had been waiting for him and then swooped down. Their swords clashed, sparks scattered and Jazmel grit his teeth. The pressure from her was immense, she was much stronger than the four-winged Valkyrie, but he wasn¡¯t being completely supressed. But he could tell she was strong. Her wings were paired; top, middle, and lower. The top pair flared and Jazmel felt immense Mana pressure. DING! TIER III SIX WINGED FALLEN VALKRYIE USES MANA PRESSURE TO RESTRICT YOUR MOVEMENTS! ¡­ ¡­ TYRANT BASTION HOLDS OUT! +2 WIL He flared his own Mana, and he felt the pressure subside before his. Great rumbling dragon! Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The Valkyrie was knocked back. The dragon maw made of Mana rushed forward, chasing. The Valkyrie whirled her swords, but the maw simply slipped through them and buffeted her with its power. She shrieked, her helm covering her face. But Jazmel could see her face hidden beneath the helmet that was fashioned like a hoplite. Her nose guard was flecked with rents from the Mana dragon. But her eyes showed she was defiantly standing. She had no means of stopping. All six of her wings flared and the system perked up. DING! TIER III FALLEN SIX WINGED VALKRYIE HAS CAST FEATHER DANCE!! ¡­ All six wings flared out and Jazmel watched as the feathers aimed at him. Sailed through the air aimed at him. Most he danced through, but some struck him. Not deep enough to do true damage, but enough to try to turn him into a pincushion. Jazmel spun one way and then twirled the other. A moving target was harder to hit, but he was making himself smaller and that lowered the chances of being hit also. The feathers stopped striking the ground around him and he realised that her skill had completed its ¡®turn.¡¯ And now, now it was his turn to respond. Furyu was in his hand, the elegant mistress of the wind. Seemed to move through the air quicker than his others. He turned the edge and skimmed up through the air in an ascending leap. Aiming for the Valkyrie, she hurtled upwards. Out of his reach but, not his range. Flaming Evisceration! Before he descended, he whipped his sword about his body. Sending the skill off at an angle, the soaring skill became a flaming scar across the sky. The six-winged Valkyrie blocked the skill, the air was burning with the expended Mana. A few harpies had broken off from the flock and were trying to assail Jazmel. Great rumbling dragon! DING! X7 TIER II HARPIES KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! They were massacred by the Mana dragon formed from his Mana and skill. The six-winged dragon screeched as the harpies fell from the sky, dead. She soared through the air all six of her wings flaring and flapping in unison, to propel her forward. She pointed one sword at Jazmel and then used the other as a guard, to counter him if he would dare. But she was not the only one to have more than one sword. Jazmel brought out Yoru No Tsubasa and holding a sword in each hand. He slashed across himself, and the swords crossed in the shape of an ¡®x¡¯ rushing across the expanse as she shot towards him. But it was too late for her. Flaming Evisceration Flaming Evisceration! The burning red Mana leapt from Furyu in skill form, but to Jazmel¡¯s surprise. From Yoru No Tsubasa, a crippling blue flame burst forward and when it struck her; she had managed to block the first skill. It burned and froze her. A few of her wings were crippled from the frosted flames. She cried out, and Jazmel wondered how the pain must¡¯ve felt. She fell to the ground, not dead but close. She gathered herself up to her knees. Her wings limp and dragging on the ground behind her. She had stabbed her swords into the ground and were using them to hold her body up. Her breathing was haggard and beleaguered, Jazmel felt sorry for her. He swung his sword with empathy and killed her. Much like before, her spirit left her body. and she vanished as she flew up into the clouds high above. DING! YOU HAVE PURIFIED A SIX-WINGED VALKRYIE! ¡­ ¡­ X2 SWORDS OF THE SHIELDMAIDEN! ONE KEY TO THE GARDEN OF THE AESIR! ¡­ EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! LEVEL UP! He pulled his gifts into his ring but scanned over the key, to see what the system stated. KEY TO THE GARDEN OF THE AESIR GAINED! One key to gain entry to the gardens of long forgotten beings, gain the favour and audience of one such. One time use! That did sound interesting and Jazmel wasn¡¯t going to waste its use. When he put away his rewards, he noticed that the six wings of the Valkyrie had remained behind. He pulled those into his ring, but not having the time to read up on them. He scanned the battlefield. Everyone was clearing up and handling their share of the battle. Bannerman roared, crooning his face to the sky, and clutching the toad man by the throat. He roared his victory; his claws were bloody and Jazmel noticed small wounds on him. The girls had reduced the flock to burned bodies and bits. Fire, thunder and arcane Mana sizzled in the air. It almost made Jazmel¡¯s hair stand on edge. But they were fine, Tera Nema waved her wand while Sad¨¦ raised her hands and cast thunder and flame about her. Her thunder crown spinning above her head. He turned again, looking for Katie and he watched as she killed the last four-winged Valkyrie. She had used her chains to wrench the wings off of their bodies and then tore them asunder with her thorned chains. She flicked gobbets of flesh from her chains before recoiling them around her. She looked up and saw Jazmel looking at her, she turned her face away. They would really need to speak soon. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! YOU MAY ADVANCE!! ¡­ Book 5 Chapter Sixteen; Heavens Haven III They had crossed over four bridges and were now on their seventh island. The islands with waterfalls all used tunnels and caverns to bridge the distances. So they were making good time across the isles towards the cities. ¡°Maybe now would be a good time to rest, before you continue.¡± Baek offered, he hadn''t gotten involved once. But his presence always provided comfort for them all. They heeded his words, deciding to rest while they were not being assailed by flying women monsters. Paldane returned from the sky, his scales cool and wet from the clouds. But the flame that remained at the end of his tail burned as bright as ever. Jazmel stroked his side as Paldane curled up beside him, having shrunk to his baby lizard and cat size. For the moment, Jazmel was alright. He hadn''t needed to use any potions just yet; the tyrant body ran efficiently as ever. But he was considering his best options. Name: Jazmel Level: 90 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Ranker Tier II Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 5960/6110 Stamina: 3400/4079 Mana: 2756/3960 STR:170(+5) PER:187 VIT:171 END:173(+3) INT:168 WIL:175(+7) AGL:165 DEX:170 Skills: Title(s): FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) BEASTIAL BYAKKO SENSES (PASSIVE) TYRANNY OF THE TYRANT DRAGON (PASSIVE) SERPENT SLAYER (UNACTIVE) DEMON SLAYER (UNACTIVE) AWAKENER (PASSIVE) BASTION OF THE TYRANT (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 0 442X PLATINUM COINS 782X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG PRIMORDIAL CORE OF SOLIS TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE TIER III RED MASK TIER III LAMP OF LELUTHIAN X10 TIER II BRUTE BOAR TUSKS TIER IV DREAD HERETIC CORE TIER III ARMOUR SET OF THE NIGHT WING TIER III SKILL EVOLVE TOKEN X10 TIER II GREATER MANA POTIONS X7 TIER II GREATER HEALTH POTIONS X10 TIER II GREATER STAMINA POTIONS TIER III ALCOLI THE GHOUL CORE TIER III GARGAUNTUAN SABRE OF CULLING TIER III LION HELM OF ADVERSITY RANKER TIER SCOURGING SCARAB MASTER TIER GOURD OF SANCTITY MASTER TIER CELESTIAL CARP MASTER TIER ASHES OF THE FALLEN TIER III RUNE OF THE ART OF THE SWORDPLAY MASTER TIER SONG OF THE SUNDERING RANKER TIER TITLE OF THE DRAGON SONG TIER III LEVEL UP TOKEN X3 TIER III MITHRIL INGOT X2 TIER III SWORDS OF THE SHIELDMAIDEN TIER II KEY TO THE GARDEN OF THE AESIR Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. SIX WINGS OF THE FALLEN VALKRYIE COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 10 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 117 Jazmel nodded, admiring his hard work. Sad¨¦ came over, sidling up between him and Paldane. She scratched Paldane who purred like a house cat. She leaned against Jazmel and used his sturdy side to prop her up. ¡°I am worried.¡± she said, he was about to ask her about what. But then he knew what it was, because in truth. He too was worried about the same thing. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do about it though.¡± He said, trying his best to not make it noticeable what they were discussing. Being around people who had remarkably high stats, meant his words would travel loudly even if he whispered. ¡°I need to do it alone, somewhere where others cannot intrude or interrupt.¡± He explained and she nodded, listening to him keenly. ¡°We can figure it out here, someway anyway.¡± He said, picking himself up and dusting off the grass he had picked absentmindedly. He helped Sad¨¦ to her feet and she smiled, before tiptoeing up and kissing him deeply. ¡°What was that for!¡± he almost exclaimed while fighting the urge to swoon. ¡°For good luck of course.¡± She said and he laughed as she walked away. He noticed Baek watching them and when he caught his gaze, the old master tier simply inclined his head respectfully. They rested for another hour but then Jazmel made to move them all. Hurrying towards the biggest floating island before they would be just a bridge within distance of the city. DING! YOU HAVE OVERCOME MANY HURDLES TO REACH THE FINAL FLOATING ISLAND! BUT YOU HAVE NOW BECOME THE QUARRY OF THE FINAL FOE!! VANQUISH YOUR FOE AND ADVANCE! ¡­ As soon as the system screen had finished a shriek pierced the sky. Then, several others sounded in chorus and answer. Jazmel looked up and stared in abject horror. The sky was filled with monstrous birds, so great was the one flying at the vanguard. That the island was covered in shade as its four wings blot out the sun. DING! TIER III FOUR-WINGED THUNDERBIRD HAS SOUGHT YOU OUT! IT LAYS CLAIM TO THE SKIES!! ¡­ ¡°Paldane let¡¯s go!¡± Jazmel said and Paldane morphed into his larger sized form. Jazmel climbed on the back, and they leapt into the skies. The smaller birds were hardly birds, or to Jazmel that¡¯s what they looked like. They were made up of more like spirit and Mana then flesh and feathers and Paldane roared. Langdrin¡¯s lark! DING! YOU HAVE ENTHRALLED THE FLOCK OF JIGWI FOR 4 SECONDS!! ¡­ So these were the Jigwi, great spiritual birds of Mana and anger. He could feel it wafting from them, that, and hunger? They felt hungry and enraged by it. They stayed stricken in the sky, Paldane¡¯s skill keeping them stuck and static in the air. ¡°Let¡¯s get them!¡± Jazmel howled over the winds, the thunderbird had decided to attack those on the ground, so Jazmel decided to try his luck with the flock. Flaming Evisceration! Great rumbling dragon! Flaming Evisceration! He had chosen to use Yoru No Tsubasa, and it worked. Wings were frozen and splintered from the power of his skill. Frigid figures fell from the sky and shattered on collision. The Jigwi fell to ruin and flame from Paldane. DING! X4 TIER II JIGWI KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ Aeonic flame! DING! YOUR COMPANIONS SKILL HAS EVOLVED! AEONIC FLAME HAS BECOME AEONIC BLAST!! ¡­ The flame that roared from Paldane¡¯s mouth intensified and expanded. Jazmel watched as the spiritual forms of the Jigwi all burst asunder. Paldane roared his victory, the thunderbird shrieked in response and changed its target. It soared through the skies chasing after Paldane. But Paldane was just as agile, though he was smaller he was still a dragon. DING! TIER III FOUR-WINGED THUNDERBIRD RAILS AGAINST YOUR CHALLENGE! TIER III FOUR-WINGED THUNDERBIRD USES CRY OF THUNDER! THUNDERSTORMS APPEAR IN THE SKIES!! ¡­ BE CAREFUL! ¡­ Jazmel watched as the blue skies and white clouds, suddenly became darkened and dull. The rumble of thunder could be heard, blue and white flashes in the clouds made him know lightning was bouncing around inside also. Be careful! he told Paldane, who simply focused on flying ahead of the thunderbird. Its beak hissed with steam as it exhaled and edged forward trying to catch its prey. Paldane dived low and then flared his wings to spin out of it and end up beneath the belly of the thunderbird. he made sure he was flying on his back, Jazmel did everything he could to hold on and was hanging off the back, clutching ridges of scales. Winged sever! Paldane slashed with his wings, scything torrents of air Mana hit the underbelly of the thunderbird. it careened; wailing in pain and crying out. Just as thunder and lightning clashed like cymbals above them. the thunder was loud, the lightning bright. Jazmel¡¯s keen eyes showed him the trajectory of the bolt and he squeezed with his knees to urge Paldane out of its strike pattern. It missed them, skimming past them. but the energy of the lightning sizzled near them. collecting the ambient Mana around and causing them to burst. The flashes blurred Jazmel¡¯s vision, and he almost missed the thunderbird as it swung its own wing in a scything attack. Watch out! Paldane yelled, he dropped like a weight and as quick as he was. That was the only thing to save Jazmel from being cloven in half. The gap between Jazmel and Paldane was only a few inches. But Jazmel felt the skill scythe through where he had been but a moment ago. Gingerly he stepped on the skill for a second, using it to right his body in the sky. Paldane was far under him but was trying to catch himself to catch Jazmel. Don¡¯t worry about me! Get the thunderbird! Jazmel screamed across their mental connection. Going into his ring, he pulled out the small cloud as he fell through the clouds and from the sky. ¡°NIMBUS!¡± He yelled and the cloud grew, leeching from his own Mana pool. It floated in the air, and he clutched onto it. Using it to right himself in the air, he crawled onto it and found it soft. It felt like a cushion, a really springy and yet soft cushion. He leaned forward and it zoomed forward, drinking deep from his Mana. he realised it was like a surfboard that he funnelled with his Mana. righting himself and trying his best to not fall, he urged himself forward and around. The Jigwi were rushing forward to him, but he wasn¡¯t worried. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! He carved black Mana slashes through the skies. The flock of remaining Jigwi burst, the Mana too much for their flimsy ethereal forms. Yoru No Tsubasa was too much for them, especially after gaining another tier. The frozen flames of the grave and cold iron burned brilliantly. The frigid frost of death, burning the life from the spiritual birds of hunger and rage. DING! FLOCK OF JIGWI DECIMATED! YOU HAVE KILLED MORE JIGWI THAN ANY OTHERS IN A LONG TIME! TITLE EARNED! THREAT TO THE SPIRITUAL BIRD! All spiritual flying forms will suffer 5% more damage from your attacks! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! +2 STR +2 INT ¡­ Jazmel came about on his cloud, almost smiling at how awesome it felt to fly on his own. the drain on his Mana wasn¡¯t too bad, especially when he was controlling his speed and movement now. It helped that his dexterity was so high, he was able to find balance and buoyancy almost immediately. His high intelligent stat, although it was connected specifically for his Mana. it also allowed him to understand things quicker, his eyes helped with that immensely. The fact that the nimbus cloud used his Mana, just allowed him to perceive its uses that much quicker too. He could see the battle taking place. Paldane was nimbly flying around the thunderbird and was letting loose a barrage of flames. wherever he could hit the flying behemoth. The thunderbird was almost triple the size of Paldane and so any stray strike would do more than enough damage. Jazmel urged the nimbus cloud forward, pushing himself to support his companion. Great rumbling dragon! His Mana dragon, formed from his Mana and might. Soared through the sky the thunderbird heard or noticed it. the challenge of another dragon not allowed to go unnoticed. It made to meet the dragon in the air and as they collided, the Mana burst; exploding atop the thunderbird and buffeting it with extreme forces. Aeonic blast! Flames of black and blue poured down on it from above. The thunderbird being blasted on two fronts. But it wasn¡¯t enough, even though the damage was substantial. Jazmel could tell they were still struggling against the four-winged thunderbird. ¡°Oi give me a leg up!¡± he heard and looking to his amazement. To his shock, he saw Katie hurtling through the sky as she tried to ascend. She flung her chain out, he let it lash around his arm and using all he could. He wrenched his arm and propelled her forward as she swung off his arm. She sailed past him and as she rose just a little higher than the thunderbird. she struck. Chain maiden! She coiled all her chains up into one form that resembled a hammer. She raised it, rearing it back and with all her strength and might. She slammed down her chains onto the top of the skull of the thunderbird. it cried out, before swooning. Its skull surely fractured, it fell from the sky and Katie with it. but Jazmel was not going to let her die. He soared down towards her and caught her. ¡°Hey.¡± He said and she looked at him. ¡°Come round here often?¡± she said, clearly trying to lighten the mood, even though she had nearly fell to her death. ¡°We should talk.¡± He said and smiling, he hoped she would accept his words. ¡°We will, but not now. Right now I just want to feel the thrill of the labyrinth with my friends again.¡± she said, and he understood. ¡°Not now, but soon.¡± He compromised and she nodded, before hugging him in his arms. It was strictly platonic, but he felt tears blur his eyes. He care deeply about Katie, and he was glad she was not avoiding him anymore. DING! YOU STAND THE VICTOR OF THE CHALLENGE! YOUR CHALLENGE OF THE TIER III FOUR WINGED VALKRYIE HAS WON OUT! REWARDS ARE BEING CALCULATED! ¡­ ¡­ YOU MAY NOW ADVANCE TO THE FLOATING CITY OF TITANIA! Book 5 Chapter Seventeen; the Floating City of Titania The last isle was small, literally a stepping stone for all. But it was the only connection to the main drawbridge that dropped for entrance to the city. It was an annex of a sort. Jazmel looked at the magnificent city as they approached, and his eyes filled with wonder. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND THE FLOATING CITY OF TITANIA! HOME OF THE TITANS!! ¡­ ¡­ QUEST ALERT! YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE SPECIES OF TYRANT, BUT HAVE YOU EARNED THE RIGHT? GAIN THE FAVOUR OF THE LIGHTNING LORD, TITAN KING OF THE CITY! REWARDS ¡­ The system flared as the screen shared information with Jazmel. He noticed he wasn¡¯t the only one to get the quest. But he couldn¡¯t see any other¡¯s screens. So he simply closed his and they made their way across the drawbridge and towards the city. The guards were titans of men, big and muscular. Both wore plate armour and leather to cover their entire frames. They both reminded Jazmel of Gelth in size and width, but they clearly were titans. As Jazmel led his party and Baek across the drawbridge. The blocked his path, large great axes crossed. ¡°State your business and reason for coming to titania.¡± One of them stated. ¡°Are none allowed in the city?¡± Jazmel asked, curious and calm. ¡°All who come to the city for the first time must declare the reason for their visit.¡± the other one explained and Jazmel nodded. ¡°I have come to gain the audience of the lightning lord.¡± The guards shuffled at the mention of their king, Jazmel noticed that. Maybe the title was something only known to his closest. ¡°Few learn that name, even fewer gain the audience of the king.¡± One of the guard responded and Jazmel shrugged. ¡°How do I go about meeting the king?¡± he asked. ¡°Only the winner of the competition is allowed to meet the king.¡± ¡°Which competition?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°The rise of the titan, a tournament, whoever wins gains the favour of the king and a chance to ask for one wish.¡± The guard said. ¡°I am here to enter the competition then.¡± Jazmel said with a smile, one of the guards smirked and beckoned at Jazmel. ¡°You are too small to fight titans, go and grow some hair in your special places before you come back!¡± he sneered at Jazmel and before he could respond, Baek stepped forward. ¡°My young master has answered all your questions and presented his honest request before you. Before we fall into a place of ill dispute. Allow us entry, or I will be forced to force through.¡± Baek said, voice closed and composed. But he wasn¡¯t hiding his aura, his mastery of his Mana showed he was master tier. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Yes, of course.¡± The guards stopped barring the way and backed off. Clearly strength and power were the advantage here. They entered the city and to Jazmel¡¯s abject surprise it was a clean and very hospitable. Humans, people, and titans lived well in the city. The streets were clean, the shops, stores and houses were well built. It made Jazmel really curious about the king. ¡°Alright lets split up. You guys find us somewhere to stay, we will go and find out to join the competition.¡± Jazmel explained and the others nodded, but before they could part, Katie stopped them. ¡°Well wait a moment, are you the only one competing? Shouldn¡¯t we all try our luck?¡± she said, a small smile forming on her lips. ¡°Well, do you all want to compete?¡± Jazmel asked and the others seemed to be motivated. ¡°Oh you want to challenge me? Or each other.¡± Jazmel realised and Bannerman flashed a smile whereas Tera Nema simply folded her arms. ¡°Well I have a quest to gain the favour of the king. But I mean we can all join it and try to get to the final. Baek what do you think.¡± He asked his ever-present mentor. ¡°Let¡¯s make it interesting. I will give the winner of you all, whoever goes the furthest. I will gift you a master tier item of your choosing from my own items.¡± Baek offered, his face straight but his eyes dancing with thrill. ¡°Sign us all up!¡± Katie said and Jazmel nodded, suddenly itching to spar with his friends. In truth they rarely sparred, as they were always helping the weaker members of the faction. But now was a good chance to face one another. After they agreed on that, they split up. Katie, Bannerman, and Tera Nema going to find an inn for them to all stay at. While Jazmel, Sad¨¦ and Baek headed into the city to find the tourney. Baek motioned to the city centre where a great structure had been erected. ¡°It¡¯s a colosseum!¡± Jazmel shouted and the others looked at him. He had read about it in the history of earth, something he had learned in school and now he was likely to have the chance of fighting in one. They walked through the city, passing many people who were clearly on their way to the tourney; some were fans and surely for the audience. But others were here to test their skills. Jazmel and Baek walked at the forefront, while Sad¨¦ followed behind. Jazmel was consciously aware of her, but when he looked back he could see her sightseeing, enjoying the city and when she caught his glance she simply smiled at him. They reached the entrance, and an aide beckoned for them to go to the right, where the contenders would be. ¡°Do you want to partake?¡± Jazmel turned and asked Sad¨¦, and she scrutinised him with an interesting look. ¡°Why do you not think I will be able to go far?¡± she asked, he shook his head furiously. But she started laughing at him and he scowled. ¡°I am putting everyone in, I hope whoever gets any of you, surrenders. I feel sorry for them already.¡± He said and she laughed before patting him gently on the back. The aide who was serving talismans out, beckoned Jazmel forward. ¡°would you like to join the tournament of the titan?¡± she asked and Jazmel nodded. ¡°How does it work though? Is it till death or injury?¡± he asked, and the aide nodded, understanding his question. ¡°the Colosseum is warded once you have been entered as a contender. It will allow you to fight as a normal. But the condition is your health points will be swapped with colosseum points. So when they hit zero you will be removed from the stage and can no longer compete in this tourney. You cannot die in real life while a contender. But you can only die once as a contender, after that you will be removed.¡± She explained and Jazmel smiled, it was a good chance to let loose. ¡°So how many can I sign up and what is the reward?¡± he asked, curious. ¡°As many as you want, but the tourney is costs ten white gold coins per entry. The reward varies, the colosseum acts as a server for the system you see, so it will offer something from what the system provides it. all I can say, is do your best and go as far as you can.¡± She explained. Jazmel smiled and signed their names the woman accepted his white gold coins and smiled as she stamped the page with a big stamp knoll. DING! WELCOME TO THE COLLESSEUM OF TITANIA! YOU HAVE ENTERED THESE NAMES Once confirmed the woman handed Jazmel over talismans, each one had a name and a number. ¡°The number is your slot in the tourney, once you enter the colosseum tomorrow it will direct you where to go. Today is the sign up for tomorrow¡¯s competition. Today is the final of the master tier entry. Tomorrow is just for rankers.¡± She explained and Jazmel nodded, thanking her. They left the queue and broke away from the colosseum. ¡°the others have found an inn.¡± Sad¨¦ said and Jazmel saw the paper swan in her hand. She smiled sweetly at him, he put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head. he handed her, her talisman and she let her ring move it for safe keeping. ¡°Well lets go then!¡± Book 5 Chapter Eighteen; the Tournament of the Titan In the morning, the group made their way to the colosseum and Jazmel led the way. Everyone was excited and as they entered, Baek was left outside to find somewhere in the stands to watch their battles. The talismans pulled them through the gate and a portal to the contenders waiting area. DING! WELCOME TO THE TOURNAMENT OF THE TITAN! THE RULES ARE SIMPLE, DEFEAT YOUR OPPONENT AND ADVANCE!! THE WHOEVER REACHES THE FINAL WILL GAIN A MASTER TIER REWARD AND AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING! ¡­ As this came up, a large screen appeared before the fifty odd contenders, and they watched as it veered out of focus and two numbers appeared. Neither were those of his or his friends. So this was a bout of strangers, possibly their opponents later. The screen showed the thousands in the audience. But then two vanished from the contenders section. Appearing in the arena and preparing to fight. Their names didn¡¯t even show up, they were simply numbered strangers who had to earn their right to advance. A gong sounded and they rushed in, hoping to end the bout quickly. Skills flashed, one of the contenders seemed to be more focused on Mana whereas the other was clearly someone who focused on their stats. They were unbalanced and lacked harmony. Jazmel himself started to consider how he would fight either opponent. Not to his surprise, the winner was the contender with more stamina, he thanked the Mana strikes and got in close. crippling his opponent and roaring a cheer. The loser of the bout vanished in a red burst of wind, while the winner was covered in golden light and ascended to another part of the colosseum. Jazmel smiled, it was quite simple. All they had to do was win, and he planned on winning his bouts, regardless of who he fought. The next to be pulled into the arena were more strangers. This fight was even quicker, the mage who appeared cast her skills as soon as the gong sounded. She turned her opponent into a bloody smear across the ground before vanishing in golden light. A few more bouts sounded off before Jazmel saw anything exciting. Paldane and Kazumi had been made to stay with Baek and so no pets, or tamer companions were allowed in the arena. The next person to be called into the arena was none other than Bannerman and he was itching to fight. His grey skin, black claws and toothy snarl gained extreme favour with the patrons of the audience. They shouted about the wolf man and when the gong sounded, Jazmel heard his friend through the screen. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Full moon His hair changed, turning from black as night. To stark white, his only proof of transformation. But he grew strong, he was one of the fastest members of the faction. But when his speed doubled it was as if he was a mere ghost. He faded from sight and by the time his opponent raised his sword. He had been knocked off his feet, the strike was so strong his guard had barely held. He tried to fire of a blast of Mana. but Bannerman was already gone, a wisp of white hair moving faster than most eyes could see. Wolf hunt! He carved through the guard and when his claws here inches from the other man¡¯s face. He yelled. ¡°I forfeit! I surrender!¡± he yelled; the crowd booed him. The man feared for his life against Bannerman, maybe the wolf form was too much for him. The colosseum heard his cries though. Pulling him from the battle and allowing Bannerman to ascend. The others groaned, Katie especially. They had wanted to see a proper fight. The next few bouts were the same. Strangers fighting and either a knockout or a forfeit. The rounds were coming thick and fast now, Jazmel found himself yawning. Bored with the waiting and watching. But then Katie disappeared and Jazmel focused straight away for her fight. She appeared in the arena, she let both her chains spool out and fall to the ground. Her opponent was also a woman, she was sporting two daggers on her left hip. She eyed the chains and then Katie with suspicious alert. The gong sounded and they were off. The woman disappeared, vanishing in a swirl of wind. She appeared close to Katie, but Katie simply waited. Sighing as if she was simply relaxing. The women disappeared as she neared Katie, when she was close she appeared just above katies head. but Katie was waiting for her. Chain maiden! Usually she used the skill to create larger objects and use them to smash down on her opponents. But this time she wove a net; a weave of chains and she used it to try and capture the woman. Clone folly! The woman shouted and where there was one. A second appeared she sprung off of it, using it as a diving board and while the net caught the clone. She closed in to attack Katie. Katie leapt up into air, using her chains to soar through the air towards the woman. Clone folly! Chain fang! She created another clone, now there were three. But Katie spun her chains through the clones and tore them to shreds. Her thorned chains literally ripping them to pieces. The woman drew her dagger and cutting her palm. Jazmel saw her Mana jump as her dagger seemed to change. Blood seal release! The woman yelled and her dagger which had been a normal straight edged one. Changed, her blood turned it into a wicked curved blade, and it seemed to change her style too. She sank lower into a stance and her eyes had become blood red too, but she still had her sanity. Bloody shuriken! From her palm wound, stars appeared in her hand, and she cast them about. Katie evaded them well and as she closed in on the woman, she released her chains again. Chain spike! Spikes tore up the ground as they appeared from the ground in chained links. The woman leapt into the air and that¡¯s where Katie met her, with no escape. Withered whip! She lashed out her chain, it struck her hand, and the dagger fell from her grasp. She cried out, the link to her blood abilities broken. She fell to the ground from the shock release of the seal, crumpled. Katie landed deftly and retracted her chains as she ascended to the next stage. Book 5 Chapter Nineteen; the Tournament of the Titan II The next few bouts were good fights, fighters who were experienced and knew how to fight before a crowd. But also how to adapt to a stranger of an opponent. The next one of their group to be pulled into the arena was Tera Nema. Her bout might have been the shortest of them all. A tank of a man rushed towards her; great sword raised. he must have seen her cloak and dagger thinking she was a close fighter. He was surprised when she pulled her wand from her holster and a barrage of arcane Mana struck him. he disappeared before the skill had even finished. Tera Nema moved on, before even taking a step inside the arena. Three bouts and then Jazmel watched as Sad¨¦ appeared on his screen. She stood waiting, her armour well-polished and almost looked like it had been fashioned out of some sort of pearl. Her opponent, to Jazmel¡¯s shock was a titan. As big as Agnar had been, this man was hulking and large. clutching a shield and a spear, he looked ready for war. Sad¨¦ drew her dagger and sabre and stepped forward, three tails appearing. So she was gaining the measure of her man. Jazmel was impressed, though his heart was thumping against his rib cage he wasn¡¯t so silly to not know. That she was alright and nothing permanent could come from this battle. Rowdy rage! The man yelled and tucked behind his shield, he rushed in. His spear point stuck fast and much like a lance. But Sad¨¦ was ready for him, she dodged to the side and leapt into the air. Casting her skills about her and the arena. Foxfire! Lightning fall! The fire scorched the ground and lightning rained down from above. Jazmel could see that the titan¡¯s Mana was still quite high, somehow he was surviving the lightning barrage. Shield of respite! He called and a white light glowed from his shield, it began to reflect the bolts of lightning and Sad¨¦ had to dodge a few. Thunder crown This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. She pulled thunder and lightning into a crown above her head and immediately. The lightning grew intense, even though his shield was reflecting strokes and streaks. The power was still absolute. Jazmel began to imagine what he would do in this man¡¯s place. It was likely that he or his friends might fight one another soon. The man rushed forward; he hurled his spear. It shot from his hand and gathered wind and thunder as it rushed towards Sad¨¦. She had to dodge it and when she did, it pierced the side of the arena with a large and loud bang. The man raised his hand and Jazmel noticed a ring on his finger that glimmered with Mana. the spear wavered and then staggered from where it had struck. Before turning and rushing back to the man¡¯s open hand. Sad¨¦ had almost been run through, but the crowd¡¯s shout had drawn her attention. She pulled another tail out and she used this Mana to enhance her bodily function and speed. She danced through the spear jabs and stabs. She slashed and struck with her own swords. The titan had a stout guard, only nicks and fine strikes seemed to be getting through. His vitality was clearly high, his stamina too. But thanks to Sad¨¦¡¯s tempered body, maybe her being half elven too. Her dexterity and speed was unbelievable. She almost floated across the ground. But it wasn¡¯t just that, she was dexterous, her hand eye coordination was infallible. She was picking him apart with speed and technique. Titanic blood! The titan yelled and his bronzed skin, took on a red tinge. He was burning his blood to increase his strength, he tried to grab Sad¨¦, but she took off his hand, she slashed his wrist with her dagger and then with her sabre she carved through the bone. But the titan was barely stunned by the loss of his hand. He struck her with the stump and knocked her off her feet. She flew a few yards back, but when she right herself the titan was burning his blood and using the extra Mana to reattach his hand. Thunderfire! Foxfire! Sad¨¦ darted forward, she leapt in between the barrage of her skills, the fire and flames surrounding them both. Jazmel couldn¡¯t see through the flames as they engulfed them both. After all, they were formed through Mana, he watched as a great wall of fire combusted. When the flames dwindled, and the wind cleared the view of the arena. Sad¨¦ was hunched over bleeding from several wounds. She had reduced her tails down to two. The man had lost his hand again and also half his arm. He motioned for his spear to come again and when he called it, it spun as it tried to pierce through the back of Sad¨¦. She had expected it, she back flipped over it. Sad¨¦ watched as the spear hurtled towards its owner. Thunderfire! She cast her skill again, now the titan had to pick. Be struck by his own spear or her skill. When he realised his predicament he laughed and simply raised his hand. Letting both skill and spear strike him. he burned and disappeared in a red glimmer of Mana. whereas Sad¨¦ ascended in a gold flash. Her fight had been taxing but she had overcome it well, Jazmel nodded in admiration for her. She would be a tough opponent for anyone. Book 5 Chapter Twenty; the Tournament of the Titan III Jazmel was the last one to enter the battle, the one vs one battles were still going on. But Jazmel was entrenched in thought. He was growing anxious there was still something like a hundred contenders alongside himself in the waiting room. DING! THE LIGHTNING LORD HAS GROWN BORED! THE LAST BOUT WILL BE THE FINAL BOUT!! THE LAST TEN TO SURVIVE THE ROYALE WILL ASCEND!!! ¡­ Jazmel felt incensed, he was ready to fight. Itching to go, he waited for the talisman to move him. in a split second he was within the arena, the crowd¡¯s shouts were monstrous. His keen senses picked up even more sounds, Jazmel was almost stunned by all the sounds bouncing around. But he didn¡¯t hesitate, he drew his sword. Furyu and began to carve bloody slaughter through those around him. Flaming Evisceration! He slashed around and bodies were flung into the air. He wasn¡¯t done though. He was pushing forward, diving deeper into the centre of the arena. Dragon fang! A skill soared past him, and he watched as it blew up ten different contenders, turning them all into bloody mist. He followed the strike pattern, his eyes tracing the residual Mana, and his eyes came to a man who wore wicked armour. Black scales and a cloak clearly made of leather. His sword was curved and wicked, it looked like a tooth. His items all looked like pieces of a dragon, and Jazmel wondered if his trait or class had been a dragon slayer. He was watching Jazmel with mock interest, but he was wary of him. ¡°You look strong!¡± he shouted as other fights continued around them. Jazmel paid him no heed, he had no time for a rival after all. Instead he continued to fight those around him. a beam shot pass his head, he slipped it and cut through its owner like hot knife in butter. Dragon flame! Scorching through the contenders, another wave of them were obliterated and Jazmel turned and saw the man with dragon skills following him. a toothy grin upon his lips. ¡°fight me!¡± Jazmel continued into the melee, striking with his sword where he could and dodging counters and parries. Great rumbling dragon! A group rushed towards him, and he felt them building their skills. He wasn¡¯t slow, he moved quicker than them. His Mana dragon maw raged through the fray. They weren¡¯t consumed but the Mana churned against them and Jazmel found himself being avoided by most of the remaining contenders. There was less than forty remaining now, but they were the stronger of the group. That much he could tell. Mana bolt! A searing bolt of Mana shot past his head. Turning to the direction it had come from, another two shot at him. He dodged one and deflected the other, off his sword and sent it reeling into a group that had been hurrying behind him. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. There was a short girl standing watching him. she had raven black hair, which curled down her back and she had a fringe that covered her forehead and stopped just above her eyes. Her eyes were the most interesting, they were dark brown but there was a burning gold halo around her iris. She was brimming with Mana, much unlike he had seen before. It was so great that she was shining like a star before him. ¡°You can see Mana?¡± she asked and Jazmel didn¡¯t answer her but readied his sword and stance. Mana pulse! She flared Mana from her core, and it reverberated from her. Striking everyone around her and offsetting their skills and cores. But not Jazmel, he had seen it happening in her core. He cut through the pulse as it burst towards him. He then reared forward and rushed towards her. She wasn¡¯t even startled and formed Mana around her hands. Turning them in to burning orbs and she struck at Jazmel. Trying to punch or disarm him, Jazmel wasn¡¯t that keen on close combat in truth. But his eyes gave him the advantage, he could see the Mana and so he knew where she was going to strike. Knew what she was aiming for and so he dropped his sword from his grip. Dropped and kicked the hilt up as she neared him. as the sword shot up, he drew Yoru No Tsubasa and aimed for her. The whispering grave iron skimmed her, and she hissed. Backing off and trying to get away from him, but he wasn¡¯t going to let her. He caught Furyu in his back hand and spun as he crouched. So both blades struck out at her. She used Mana to block the blades, Furyu didn¡¯t get through. But Yoru No Tsubasa was not to be stopped, it slashed through her Mana shield, and she yelped as she backed off. Flaming Evisceration! He sent his clawing scythe attack after her. She tried to block, but the strike was far more forceful than she was ready for. It struck her and knocked her into a melee. Sending them all sprawling. ¡°Oi! Do not avoid me!!¡± he heard shouted behind him and as he turned, he used both swords to defend himself. Dragon fang! The strike hit him, jarring his muscles. He knew it was a heavy attack, but he wasn¡¯t caught unaware. No he firmed the attack, after all he was really durable. ¡°Oh your sturdy! Show me that dragon move again!¡± the man said, but Jazmel didn¡¯t even bother with him. Sunder! Sunder Sunder He raised both swords, one attack with the left. One with the right, and then slashing across the air. He generated a cross that hit a large group of remaining contenders. Many disappeared after that, but there was still more than ten. ¡°Down to the dozens!¡± the dragon skill user shouted. The girl with Mana in abundance was suddenly standing there, waiting for her turn in the battle. There were a few others, but Jazmel found himself focusing on those who could do damage. There was a woman standing in a circle. She wore a wide brimmed black hat, to others it might have just looked like a witch¡¯s hat. But to Jazmel, and his Mana attuned eyes. He could see the Mana core that the entire hat was. It was as if the woman had two Mana cores and so her Mana was doubled. She raised both her hands and Jazmel watched in horror as her skill activated. Hellfire Storm! From above, hellfire flashed across the sky and rained down on the arena. Jazmel dodged and darted, but they were much larger in diameter than him. He slashed as many times as he could and split the hellfire as it came for him. Flaming Evisceration! Jazmel was trying to stop himself from being struck. By the time she had finished there was just a few more, maybe like fifteen but Jazmel was trying to end this as quickly as possible. He ran to the group closest to him. ¡°Quick put up a barrier.¡± One of them said, but they were not prepared. He leapt high above them, almost above the wall that penned in the arena, before descending below. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent!! He smashed their makeshift barrier, crashing into the ground and causing it to erupt beneath their feet. Five bodies were flung into the air, four turned red while the last one wreathed in gold disappeared. DING! THE ROYALE HAS BEEN COMPLETED! ¡­ THE FINAL TEN CONTENDERS HAVE BEEN SORTED!! ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! Book 5 Chapter Twenty-One; the Tournament of the Titan IV After ascending, Jazmel found himself in a part of the arena which was plush and filled for comfort. Contenders were lounging around, when Jazmel appeared. He was besot by his friends, but he wasn¡¯t shy. They had been impressed, but he wasn¡¯t surprised. They had all seen him fight before, but maybe something felt different when he was inside the arena. ¡°Hey!¡± he heard and looking around, he saw the dragon knight rushing over to him. but Bannerman blocked his path, and he looked like he was ready to draw his sword. But an aide appeared with a white sprite hovering over her shoulder. ¡°No fighting outside of the arena, you will be barred and or permanently removed from the colosseum.¡± She said as she landed gingerly amongst all the contenders. She eyed Jazmel and the others, but after her words had settled everyone. She disappeared again. ¡°Coward.¡± The man said and Jazmel stood stock still, stricken by his challenge. ¡°What?¡± he asked, and the man sneered. ¡°You ran from me; you didn¡¯t meet me in battle. You are a coward.¡± He said, the common room suddenly silent. ¡°I didn¡¯t fight you because I didn¡¯t need to. The rule was to make it into the last ten. I saw that you would be in the last ten, so I made sure I would be too. But if in the next rounds you want to test my mettle, I will be sure to show you. Jazmel of the black wing faction will meet you anywhere.¡± Jazmel said, his voice firm and a stray hand on his belt. Close to his swords, the guy stormed off and Jazmel watched him for a moment. ¡°Well said.¡± Tera Nema said and patted Jazmel on the shoulder. ¡°Hey, you, how did you manage to stop the hell fire.¡± Another voice said and Jazmel turned to see the face of the woman with the wide brimmed black hat. ¡°I have seen something like that before.¡± He said and she simply accepted his words. ¡°Your eyes are interesting.¡± She said and flashed him a curious smile. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Your hat is interesting too.¡± He said, surprise flashed across her face, but she was simply saying hello. She left after that. ¡°I want to speak to you.¡± The girl said and Jazmel noticed the girl with a ridiculous amount of Mana was talking to him. She looked unhappy but she was keeping her calm. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± he asked, concerned but cautious. ¡°You are strong, you have substantial Mana.¡± she said, and he thanked her. ¡°So do you, more than I have seen in anyone.¡± He said and she shyly looked away. ¡°I have more Mana than most because of my trait. My class amplifies that but it¡¯s not all that, I need to evolve my skills to have a better shot at the finals.¡± She confessed, and to be honest, Jazmel was thinking the same thing. especially himself, his skills were so focused on his swords. He was not prepared for if he would ever lose them. Or if all of them should ever break, he would need to look for skills and evolve tokens once they are left here. ¡°I agree with you, we should probably try to evolve our skills as often as possible. But not just evolve them, most of my stronger skills. Have come from me merging them, sundering a skill, and merging them.¡± He pointed out and she listened to him. ¡°Anyway, I came over here to let you know, you probably will make the final. You have the most balanced stats except for Eleanor. Her hat doubling as a second core gives her a lot of Mana. Aside from me and the girl with the tails. Not many can match her.¡± She was offering him free advice, but to be honest. He had assumed that Sad¨¦ was the best person for the task. ¡°I¡¯m Rana, I am training to be a herald. This is one of my duty trials once I am done. I will be a full-fledged herald.¡± She offered and they shook hands. ¡°Jazmel, of the black wing faction.¡± He introduced himself. ¡°Who runs it?¡± she asked, looking between him and his friends. ¡°It¡¯s all of our faction.¡± He answered but Katie jumped in. ¡°He¡¯s too shy to admit that he is the faction leader. But the black wing faction is his.¡± She said as she leant round Jazmel to speak to Rana. ¡°You are so young¡­¡± she started and Jazmel and his friends studied her, but she shook her head and smiled. ¡°But very capable, as competitive as the labyrinth is. It¡¯s good to have friends.¡± She offered her hand and Jazmel accepted it again. DING! RANKER TIER I RANA HAS SENT YOU A FRIEND REQUEST! WILL YOU ACCEPT? Y/N? ¡­ He accepted and she then introduced herself to the other members of his party. She was enthusiastic and friendly; a herald was a good friend to make. After all, Jazmel had remembered the very first herald he had met; who was a dear friend to Baek. After a few moments of idle conversation, she left. Bidding them all goodbyes. Book 5 Chapter Twenty-Two; the Final Twenty DING! CONGRATULATIONS MAKING IT INTO THE LAST TWENTY! NOW SINGULAR BOUTS WILL BE HAD, TO REDUCE NUMBERS DOWN TO TEN! ¡­ ALL FIGHTS WILL HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME!! PLEASE BE AWARE THAT AS SOON AS YOU ARE TRANSPORTED, THE BOUT WILL BEGIN! ¡­ SURVIVING THIS ROUND WILL SOLIDIFY YOUR CHANCE AT MAKING IT TO THE SEMI FINALS! ¡­ ¡°Good luck everyone.¡± Jazmel said as glowing golden light covered everyone and they all vanished to go to their fights. Jazmel moved at the same time, and he appeared atop a platform just big enough for two people to fight. Looking across he saw, what he had expected. The dragon skill user. Dragon Fang! His scathing Mana burst across the platform at Jazmel. Flaming Evisceration! Skills met, oddly like for like. red burning Mana and blue frost fire met, clashing, and maxing out. Exploding and combusting. In the flash of light and Mana, Jazmel darted forward, his eyes fine in the brilliance. He struck with his sword, Yoru No Tsubasa a deathly cold blade. Scarring the scales of the dragon armour the man was wearing. ¡°So the coward isn¡¯t a weakling.¡± He said and Jazmel kissed his teeth, trying to bite down the irritation he was feeling. The man wasn¡¯t particularly strong, but he thought he was stronger than Jazmel. ¡°Let me show you what I can do.¡± Jazmel said and he swung his sword, every step was firm; every strike confident. He chipped away at the man¡¯s defence and almost had him disarmed had he not used another skill. Iron tail! He struck the ground with the tip of his sword and Mana burst outward. A mushroom cloud of Mana burst and Jazmel had to jump back to not be caught in the blast radius. As he backed away, he watched curiously. The man took a red liquid out, its vial stoppered. He cracked the lid and drank the contents of the vial. The Mana inside exploded, bursting as it expanded, and the man dropped his sword. his cloak brooch broke, his plate armour burst from the clasps. He grew in height and size, spiralling horns appeared on his forehead. A long tongue snaked from his mouth, and he hissed at Jazmel, now his Mana overpowering and his stature overbearing. ¡°Let me show you what a dragon can do!¡± the man shouted and Jazmel realised it must have been blood that he had drank. Sunder! The man blocked with his forearm, some of the scales cracked and he looked at Jazmel with surprise, then hate. Jazmel noticed the cracks and realised he would have to break this man down to defeat him. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! Sunder! He bounded forward and as his sword sung down to crash the black Mana into his foe. He switched, adding sunder as well, the black Mana became riddled with red tinged power. The strike was much more formidable than Jazmel had anticipated. He cut through the forearm, deep enough to hit the bone. But the dragon man hybrid was only in pain, he kicked out. His enlarged foot hitting Jazmel full in the chest and sending him reeling. The air kicked from his lungs. ¡°How dare you!¡± the man hissed and shouted at the same time. Jazmel rose up, crawling to his feet slowly. The man cast Yoru No Tsubasa from the platform and sneered at Jazmel. But Jazmel simply drew another sword. Daishinkan appeared, he freed it and actually put the sword between him and this man. Sunder Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! He used the same skill together, partnering well he swung his sword about. Striking through the guard and cracking the stomach scales where they wore. The man launched forward snapping with his snout. Jazmel turned his hilt upwards, bucking the man in the mouth, two teeth flew from his mouth and blood and saliva spilled. Dragon fang! The man yelled, clawing with both hands, but Jazmel bore the brunt of the strikes. Pushing forward Jazmel parried one hand. Then let the other stab deeply into his shoulder. He grunted from the pain, but he was too focused. Flaming Evisceration! He struck with his both blades and he cut through the forearm. The man howled, roaring with pain. But Jazmel was already moving, he twirled in his spot and when his back was to the man¡¯s chest. He stabbed down with both blades. His swords stabbing into either thigh. The dragon man screamed, but he was stricken from the pain. He fell to his knees, slumped from the continued blood loss from his stump. ¡°Do you see now, what I can do?¡± Jazmel said, as he recovered both blades and decapitated the dragon head. The body disappeared and Jazmel stood there, in pain. A little bruised and busted from his battle. Jazmel waited to move on, but to his surprise. He didn¡¯t, or he wasn¡¯t moved on. No instead he waited and when a few more people had survived fights. They were brought together, their platforms colliding and connecting. The first two were so injured and wounded from their first fight, both forfeited when they realised they would not be able to gain any respite. The platforms fell away, rotating and allowing Jazmel to move closer, so he could see other battles happening. Sad¨¦ was fighting Rana, they were going Mana for Mana. Sad¨¦ had hidden her tails and was only using three tails, but now. Now before Rana she had released all six tails, and her thunder crown was shining atop her head. The girls were really going at it, Sad¨¦ had something like six thousand Mana points. But Rana clearly had more as she beat her. To Jazmel¡¯s surprise she knocked her off the platform. Rana was strong and he didn¡¯t realise how strong she was. He followed the platforms and could make out Bannerman winning, Katie had just strung her opponent up. Causing them to forfeit, Tera Nema was fighting against Eleanor with her black hat and was struggling against the abundance of Mana. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The bout didn¡¯t last for long, Eleanor won out. Her skills just too big and AOE for Tera Nema to counter or comprehend. The ever-changing platforms moved again, Jazmel had rested. Shifting his platform over he appeared before a man who simply drew his sword and charged. Jazmel could see the Mana in his sword, so he could judge its trajectory. He slipped past it and with a quick movement. He struck the man and sheathed his sword, in one fluid movement. The man fell to the ground and disappeared quickly. Jazmel turned to see Rana fighting Bannerman, Eleanor fighting Katie and Jazmel¡¯s own platform ended up connected to that of Katie¡¯s. She smiled and letting her chains spool out. She waited for him. ¡°Fancy seeing you here.¡± she said, she was whirring her chains about her. Expertly, Jazmel had seen her do these tricks before, but this was to make everyone laugh, a joke for her as she showed everyone just how agile and deft she was. But now, as he stood before her and her pressure. He knew she had been going easy on most people, something she never made a big show of. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to fight you.¡± He said and sighed, drawing Daishinkan from his belt. ¡°It¡¯s just a spar, whatever happens. We are still friends.¡± She said but she now had a maddening glint to her eye as she stalked towards him. Chain spikes! Her skill ripped through the platform as spikes appeared across the ground. As her two chains appeared rigged with sharp edges too. He skipped past the ground and leapt over her chains; he wouldn¡¯t make it this easy for her. Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! Sunder! He shattered the ground beneath him; where more chains were coiling beneath his feet. She was fast, but he reacted quicker. His eyes being the difference once again for him. His skill burst again, the two skills merging and becoming one. The explosion blew them both backwards, Jazmel having to block with his sword. Whereas Katie had to retract and spur a shield out of chains. Jazmel hadn''t seen her create something like that before, but here she was showing how adaptive her chains actually were. Chain fang! Her chains lashed out, trying to tear his flesh. But he was made of sturdy stuff, he was edging in. Moving closer and closer to where Katie stood, trying to back her into the corner. ¡°Oh so you want to fight?!¡± she shouted, realising what he was trying to do. She retracted her chains, coiling them around her fists and rushing in. She began to rain blows down on him. A fist to the gut, a punch to the ribs and a knee to the face; he managed to block that. But he felt cumbersome, pulling his swords into his rings. He began to fight back, a solid punch that she blocked. But it made her stumble back, he grabbed both her wrists. Pulling her in and he punched her kidneys and when he felt her breath explode from her mouth. He went to clinch her, but she was moving already. Snaking upwards, she jumped at him. Clambering up his limbs and trying to get him in a choke. But the Tyrant tempered body was indomitable. She was stuck, trying to get him in a hold, a lock that she was trying to choke him in. But he was greater than that. She had positioned herself to be along his arm, but flexing his muscles he could bear her entire weight. ¡°If you drop me from here, I will never forgive you.¡± She said, suddenly realising her situation. ¡°Forfeit or I am going to have to throw you from the platform.¡± He told her, the sounds of the audience were almost drowning him out. She was cross, he could tell. But she was also aware she was beaten. She wasn¡¯t stronger than him, she could do more damage to him. But he would respond in kind. ¡°Fine, I forfeit.¡± She said and immediately she was pulled from his arm. He flexed his shoulder, rotating it to make sure he was still flexible. DING! THE FINAL WILL NOW BEGIN! DO YOUR BEST! ¡­ The platforms all appeared again, and a wide floating space was presented to Jazmel and rana. She stared at him, watching him. They were able to fight, but for some reason she was allowing him a moment. Song of Mana She uttered, the ambient Mana surrounding them sharply changed. Before it moved about like a constant wind, but now. Now in front of his very eyes, he watched as the Mana surrounding them both began to seep towards her. She was collecting all the Mana around them, and it was already adding to her extremely high Mana build. Great rumbling dragon! Flaming Evisceration! He struck while he could, he wasn¡¯t going to wait for her to get to him. His Mana was quite high himself, but he knew he would reach his end before she ran out. So we went big, after all. Go big or go home. His dragon created from sheer Mana rushed forward. Flying towards her, for a split second he thought she would consume that too, but it was his Mana. Locked with his skills, she would have to know exactly how he used his skill to take it over. So instead, she pulled a dome over herself, and his Mana dragon burst against it, both erupting in a crescendo of Mana. she quickly had to form a shield as the scathing flames of his second skill rushed through the cracks of her dome. Mana spark! Bolts of Mana rained down from the sky and razed the platform. Jazmel had to literally slice and strike the bolts he couldn¡¯t dodge. But for each blow that he dodged, and the other he countered. Two struck him somewhere. When the Mana sparks stopped their raze, he was lowered down. Crouching and trying to get his breath back. DING! STATUS CONDITION! ¡­ ¡­ HEAVILY WOUNDED! ¡­ HEAL NOW HEALTH BELOW 20% ¡­ He could feel it, even now his tyrant tempered body was trying to knit itself back together. But he wasn¡¯t done yet. He had gained something in his fight with Katie. Something about his skills, how they knit together. He raised his sword, as he shuffled and stumbled back to his feet. His clothes and been all but shredded, clinging to him. Mana repair was always an option, but he didn¡¯t have the Mana to spare. Sunder! Raven¡¯s cleaving descent! DING! ¡­ IN YOUR CONTINUED BATTLES! WAGING WAR AND RAISING YOUR SWORD!! YOUR SKILLS HAVE GAINED AFFINITY! YOUR SKILLS HAVE FOUND HARMONY WILL YOU SUNDER THEM AND MERGE THEM? Y/N? Mid battle? Oh for sure! Let¡¯s do it, he accepted, and the system grabbed at his will. RAVEN¡¯S CLEAVING DESCENT AND SUNDER HAVE BEEN SUNDERED! ¡­ ¡­ SUNDERED SKILLS ARE NOW MERGING! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ THERE IS HARMONY, SKILL STRENGTH WILL BE ENHANCED! ¡­ ¡­ SKILLS HAVE BEEN MERGED! CONGRATULATIONS ¡­ ¡­ SKILL COULD NOT RETAIN TIER! ¡­ RAVEN¡¯S CLEAVING DESCENT AND SUNDER HAVE MERGED SUCCESSFULLY! SUNDERING RAVEN SKILL HAS BEEN LEARNED! (TIER I) ¡­ In the split seconds that he had spent glancing at his system screen. It seemed rana had undergone the same situation. She used a skill he hadn''t seen her use in all the rounds and bouts. Mana maelstrom! She called, a cloud appeared, darkened and grey but rippling with blue Mana. from above, bolts of Mana rained down, while great arcing lights of Mana struck randomly also. He rushed through, trying to flee the bombardment. He rushed towards her she brought up a shield, but it wasn¡¯t enough. Sundering Raven! His new skill formed, from the tip of his sword a black raven with blood red feathers appeared. It soared above and then divebombed towards rana. It struck her shield, her dome of Mana. When the raven made up of black and dark red Mana struck. Its Mana popped and enveloped her dome as it withered it away. Corrupting her Mana and destroying it. She yelped in surprise and before she could cast her skill again something strong struck her storm. Gilgamesh A single strike burst her Mana maelstrom skill. ¡°Enough.¡± A voice said, drenched with authority. It silenced the entire colosseum, Jazmel and rana were both filled with adrenaline, fuelled by it. Jazmel bared his teeth and raised his sword tiredly, wondering who this new foe might be. But the system chimed and Jazmel watched the screen. DING! THE LIGHTNING LORD OF TITANIA HAS SEEN GREAT COURAGE IN YOU BOTH HAVE GARNERED AN OPPORTUNITY! BOTH WILL BE ALLOWED AN AUDIENCE WITH THE LIGHTNING LORD!! RANA AND JAZMEL HAVE BEEN LABELLED VICTORS OF THE CLIMB OF THE TITAN! ¡­ DING! +5 VIT +5 STR 100 PLATINUM COINS! ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS! Book 5 Chapter Twenty-Three; Stormhold of the Lightning Lord It had only been a few hours, but Jazmel was completely rejuvenated. He had been given a full restore potion by Baek, his health pumped up. It was as if his entire body was focused entirely on healing. Next his stamina was replenished as well as his Mana. He felt them both literally refill, and he had lots of Mana left over. His clothes had taken the Mana floating, around his body and used it to quickly repair his clothing. At one point he had looked bedraggled, but now he was in full recovery and well rested. Baek stood beside him, while his friends all stood a ways away. They were in the hall of the hold, the Stormhold; the home of the Lightning Lord. The King of the city of titania and Jazmel could tell that this titan was strong. In truth he looked much like a man, muscular with a few scars. He had been in many battles, Jazmel could tell from the sheer pressure he exuded. ¡°Well done, your fights were not boring at all. You all fought as if you had truly seen war or battle.¡± He said, sitting in his chair, slumped. He wore knee high boots, felt trousers and he was topless, but a cloak was about his shoulders; great white fur tressed his shoulders and draped down into a long cloak. He wore bracers on both arms, magnificent gold things. They looked thick and heavy, but the lightning lord didn¡¯t seem to even notice them. His hair was ashen grey and long, flowing down his head and around his shoulders. His eyes were like two storm gems. He was scrutinising all of them, most importantly Jazmel and rana. ¡°You two both fight with the vigour of titans. As the quest was made, I will offer you both a favour. What do you want from me?¡± he asked, his voice deep and authoritative. ¡°May I go first?¡± rana asked and Jazmel motioned for her to go first. ¡°Speak.¡± The Lightning lord commanded. ¡°I am undergoing my herald trials, and my final trial was to surpass the titan climb and receive a quest from you.¡± She said, with her head lowered and the Lightning lord seemed to be looking over his screen and then a wry smile formed on his lips. ¡°Take your test, little girl. If you complete it, come back and I will reward you on top of whatever the system provides. Before you go, all of you take these.¡± He said and from within his cloak, he pulled forth orbs, cores. Jazmel got one, Rana too. The others who had made it into the final ten, Gained one also, They were then made to leave, Jazmel and his friends were allowed to stay though. He still had not gotten his favour just yet, he looked down at the core in his hand. His eyes scrying it over and the system chimed with information. DING! TIER III TITAN PURIFYING CORE GAINED! This item will help purify the body to allow the user more efficiency! Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡­ Jazmel consumed it, letting it dissolve into his core. In truth, since the tyrant change. His body functioned to perfection, but now he was something else. He was a grand thing. His was like a fine engine and he was running on all cylinders. ¡°I can see that the core did nothing for you. Interesting.¡± The Lightning Lord said and he and Jazmel locked eyes. The storm in his eyes made Jazmel¡¯s own eyes tingle and the king, the lord of the city smiled. ¡°Come little titan, what favour can I offer you. I can feel the traces of the fountain on you.¡± He said and Jazmel looked at him in surprise. ¡°Do you know where the fountain is?¡± Jazmel asked and the titan king leaned forward to peer down at Jazmel. ¡°I have been charged to protect the final fountain. Do you seek it?¡± he said and Jazmel simply brought out the complete primordial core. DING! YOU HAVE GAINED ACCESS TO SEEK THE FINAL FOUNTAIN! GO FORTH AND COMPLETE YOUR QUEST!! The system sung to him as the notification screen popped up. Jazmel looked at the lightning lord and he beckoned his head, nodding at Jazmel with respect. ¡°You are more than meets the eye if I were permitted. I would join you in this bout, but I am afraid, I am simply tasked with guarding this place. But this is not of your rewards, this is a personal quest. I still can offer you a favour.¡± He explained to Jazmel. ¡°Well, might you give me a quest regarding my race? My species changed after I tempered my body and now the system says I must cement that change.¡± Jazmel said and the titan king edged forward, suddenly curious. ¡°What is your species and your tempered body?¡± he asked, his voice cool and even but Jazmel could see the excitement dancing in amongst the storms in his eyes. ¡°The system says I am a Tyrant, and my tempered body is that of the domineering tyrant.¡± He said, suddenly self-conscious and without a reason as to why. He nearly jumped when the Lightning lord threw his head back and laughed. A deep belly turning laugh and when he stopped, he saw everyone studying him curiously. ¡°No wonder you fought as you did, only a tyrant could be so wonderful and yet foreboding. Yes, little tyrant I will give you a quest.¡± He tapped his screen, Jazmel couldn¡¯t see what he was doing, but soon his own screen set off and a quest popped up. DING! THE LIGHTNING LORD HAS OFFERED YOU A QUEST OUT OF HIS FAVOUR! TO REVEAL TO YOU THE BASIS OF YOUR NEW RACE!! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ ERROR QUEST HAS BEEN CHANGED AND PLOT HAS BEEN CREATED! PERSONAL PLOT ARRANGED! FIND THE SCEPTER OF TIAMAT AND OPEN THE GATE TO GENESIS!! REWARDS ¡­ He looked at the system screen and simply closed it down. That was new to him, but he didn¡¯t have a moment to recoup and ask questions. No he would deal with that later; they were at the final fountain, and he wanted to face it now. ¡°Can we attend to the fountain now?¡± he asked and the lightning lord, did as he was bid. Raising his hand and flaring his Mana, it felt like Jazmel was in the midst of a storm, but it soon dwindled. The ground between Jazmel and the king¡¯s palisade groaned as a machination began to move. As it did this, Jazmel watched with wonder. As before, a seamless ground now descended into a spiral staircase before his very eyes. ¡°I offer you luck.¡± The lightning lord said as Jazmel, and his friends began to descend the stairs. Book 5 Chapter Twenty-Four; the Final Fountain Descending the spiral staircase took them almost three hours. By time they had reached the end, Jazmel was mentally fatigued. But as they reached the end, Jazmel stepped off the final step and waited for everyone else to come down. ¡°This is the final fountain; I don¡¯t know what will happen. But I imagine this might be the toughest battle we face.¡± Jazmel told them all and everyone steeled themselves. ¡°Whatever is down here, we face together. But also, I want you all to hit with your strongest attacks, we hit it hard and fast. No room for recovery. Me and Bannerman will get in close and do damage, you guys strike from a distance. But keep moving, don¡¯t stop and don¡¯t let it focus on you.¡± He explained and everyone prepared. ¡°Good plan.¡± Baek said, as he released Kazumi and Paldane to their companions. Paldane leapt from the ring and up onto the shoulder of Jazmel before nuzzling him. ¡°Everybody ready?¡± Jazmel asked and his friends all appeared, ready and motivated to see this through with him. ¡°For Patton?¡± Katie whispered and not looking at her, Jazmel nodded. ¡°For Patton.¡± He stepped into the final fountain chamber, this by far was the largest cavern. the greatest in size that he had ever seen. Jazmel, whose eyes seemed to be able to peer into many things. With his perception so high, he could unravel the greatest sights as they appeared before him. but here in this cavern it was different, it was a creation of such splendour and wonder. That Jazmel was just caught in awe. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND THE FINAL FOUNTAIN! THIS FOUNTAIN HAS THE PRIMORDIAL SOLIS TRAPPED! FREE HER! OR REMOVE HER! REMEMBER YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES! ¡­ The system notice clanged around the cavern. Bouncing off the walls and Jazmel¡¯s keen senses alerted him, sharing just how large the space beneath Stormhold actually was. Jazmel clutched his swords, reaching for Yoru No Tsubasa first. Usually when he entered a fountain trial, he had to release the flow of water. But here, in this chamber. There was nothing to release. It was a fountain; he could tell that much. But the water feature was just a large mount. His eyes tried to scry what it was, but to no avail. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED THE DOMAIN OF THE FINAL FOUNTAIN! BEWARE THE FOUNTAIN GUARDIANS! THE FIRST GUARDIAN APPROACHES! TIER IV BEORN THE CAVE BEAR APPROACHES! ¡­ Jazmel scanned the system notice and flicked the screen away. A cave bear didn¡¯t sound too bad, but the fact it was a tear IV was extremely concerning. ¡°Get ready!¡± he said, and he heard his friends prepare their skills, the Mana in the air changing rapidly. He himself hadn''t prepared a skill, but he had eased his sword from its sheath. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ROARRRR! The first fountain guardian announced its presence. Much like all the other fountains, this creature simply appeared from the shadows. Ambling towards Jazmel and his party. The cave bear was massive, bigger than any bear Jazmel had ever seen. It was four metres in height, its width easily half of that. Though its fur was thick, Jazmel could make out the muscles below. Thick cords of tendons made up its four limbs, at the end of each paw, glinted claws that had been sharpened with the stones of the caves. It was menacing and Jazmel could feel stray strands of fear encroaching. DING! TIER IV BEORN THE CAVE BEAR CHALLENGES YOU! Jazmel had not seen anything like this before, the system had never uttered these words to him. but here he was, standing before a challenge from a fountain guard. ¡°Get him!¡± Full moon Bannerman darted forward; his black hear flashing as it became pale moon white. It was like a white fire candle burning, but Jazmel could feel the power now emanating from his friend. Thunder crown Thunderfire! Withered whip! Sad¨¦ and Katie attacked at the same time. First Sad¨¦ drew her crown of thunder about her head. it hovered above building in power and enhancing her abilities. She cast her favoured skill of flame and thunder, a bolt of both shot from her outstretched hand and hit the bare full in the chest. Following up behind it, Katie whipped her chains around. The Mana chained colour, and that rusted look appeared; it was as if she had changed her chains to be attuned to death. They struck the bear repeatedly; it roared in pain. But Jazmel noticed that the fur had only mildly been singed. The bear hadn''t even bled yet. Wolf hunt Bannerman appeared and after a flurry of strikes. He struck with both hands like a hammer and crashed the bear¡¯s skull into the ground. It was sturdy, it shook of his attack but roared and charged at him. DING! TIER IV BEORN USES CAVERN CHASM! ¡­ The ground rumbled as it churned. It rose and fell here and there and Jazmel felt like he was surfing. He tried to keep his balance but could see that, this was the fountain guardians plan all along. Sundering Raven! He used his knee skill, leaping over the crashing waves that the stone ground had been made into. He raised his sword and swinging his body about. He crashed his blade into the top of the head of the bear. He felt his sword pierce its thick hide, but not deeply enough. It yelped in pain and shook him off before swiping at him. DING! TIER IV BEORN UNLEASHES BEAR BERSERKER! ANY WOUNDS FROM THIS SKILL WILL REMAIN BLEEDING FOR THE DURATION OF THIS BATTLE! ¡­ Jazmel scanned the screen as he leapt out of the strike radius. He watched as the paw strikes clawed four great strikes from each front paw. The first aimed at him, the second to where he might have landed. If he had been only a man, but his species had changed. He was a tyrant, more than a man. His body was more durable and so he could push it further. He leapt out of the radius and felt the wall of the cavern against his back. He leapt into it, bouncing from it like a hard coiled spring and bring his sword up. He sailed past the bear, but he felt his blade nick its flesh. It groaned, but before it could react to him. His friends bombarded it. Wolf hunt! Howl! Bannerman was trying to draw its aggro. Trying to keep all its attention as he sprinted out of its reach, but near enough. That it would focus its hatred on him, he almost had it. But Katie was whirling her chains about her, she was the eye of the storm and was creating where her strikes would land. ¡°Oh new skill! I love it here!!¡± she shouted and Jazmel watched as her chains multiplied. Chained hydra! Her chains formed metallic viper heads and dove forward crashing into the bear. ¡°Get out of the way. I am ready to strike now!¡± Tera Nema shouted as she raised her wand. Inferno x arcanum! She yelled, mixing her two skills in a dual cast. Jazmel hadn''t seen her do this before, but he watched as fire flared from her wand. But then arcane Mana burst free from her free hand. They spiralled around each other and struck the bear full in the face. Burning a searing, scorched path through its snout, face, and entire head. The bear died; its head burned from atop its body. DING! YOU HAVE SLAIN THE FIRST FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN! ¡­ +2 INT +2 WIL +3 DEX Book 5 Chapter Twenty-Five; the Final Fountain II ¡°Well that wasn¡¯t too bad.¡± Katie huffed, in between draining a Mana potion. ¡°Speak for yourself, I am drained.¡± Tera Nema said, she drank a stamina potion and a Mana potion. ¡°We have another foe.¡± Bannerman was saying, he hadn''t released his full moon mode. But he drained his own Mana potion, then drank another just to fill his tank. Only Sad¨¦ and Jazmel seemed comfortable with their levels. Sad¨¦ had 1000 points per kitsune tail and at the moment she had six. So she was probably carrying the most Mana in the entire outpost. Jazmel himself, had a good amount of Mana points. But because most of his skills were incorporated into swordsmanship and his skills. The cost of Mana was reduced because he had to exert stamina to move and with his tyrant body. DING! THE SECOND FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN APPROACHES! BE READY! ¡­ The system seemed to be warning them. Sharing that this next guardian would be more dangerous than the previous. A man stepped out of the shadow, or he might have been a man. He was one of the biggest men Jazmel had ever seen, he looked similar to the lightning lord, but Jazmel¡¯s eyes told him otherwise. His Mana was dark, pitch black, his entire core was the colour of the night and Jazmel felt a tremor of dread from the man. He was pale as the moon, skin like alabaster. His head bald, his entire body was hairless in fact. He wore cowl of shadow; it looked like material. But Jazmel could see that it was made up of Mana from within this man¡¯s core. DING! YOU HAVE BEEN PULLED INTO THE DOMAIN OF THE SHADOW ADVENT! TIER IV SHADOW ADVENT FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN HAS LAID HIS CLAIM!! ¡­ BEWARE! ¡­ How long has it been since I have been pulled back towards the light. The shadow advent spoke and Jazmel felt his heart tremble. Did you mean to free the primordial? The one I have been charged to guard? Your lives will be recompense for rising me from slumber. The shadows beckon for us. His words were hollow, his voice sounded like the whisper of death. But Jazmel steadied himself and forced the thread of dread from his heart. DING! YOU HAVE STOOD AGAINST SHADOW FEAR! EXP ACCRUED! Inferno! Tera Nema raised her wand, and a spiralling blast of fire shot forward towards the shadow advent. He raised the shadows beneath his feet and smote her flame. ¡°Great, he used the shadows.¡± Katie murmured, but Jazmel heard her. Thunderfire! He raised shadows again, but rather than absorbing the skill, he shielded himself from that strike instead. Chained hydra! Howl! This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. He froze for a mere moment and peering at Bannerman he disappeared into the dark. Katie¡¯s chains shooting through the air where he had been moments before. Jazmel traced his trajectory with his eyes and leapt in front of Bannerman, guarding them both with Yoru No Tsubasa. A hand made up of claws of darkness stabbed forward; aiming for Bannerman¡¯s chest. Jazmel had been there instead and though he blocked the strike. It took him off his feet and sent him and Bannerman tumbling. Darkened anchor! Stuck. Everyone had been stricken in their current spot, Somehow, the advent of shadow had transfixed everyone to their spot through their shadows. Night of the white moon! Baek stepped in, creating that pale but brimming white orb of Mana. all the shadows hissed as they sizzled out of control. The shadow advent had lost his hold on all of them. It would only be befitting that one such as yourself would step forward. He beckoned Baek forward, but Baek merely held the last line of defence, which led back towards the staircase. ¡°Your fight is with them darkness.¡± Baek uttered. So be it. Twilight domain! The entire room fell dark. Not as in dark as if they were out in the night, no this was a darkness as if the existence of light had been stolen. But for Jazmel it merely dulled his sight. He could still see the shadow advent, his pale form. Now darkened but outlined with a ghost grey. Great rumbling dragon! No! How can you perceive me?! You are not worthy of that sight! He cut through Jazmel¡¯s dragon made of Mana and he shot through the shadows towards him. his blackened claws struck at Jazmel, and Yoru No Tsubasa simply parried and glanced each strike away. Grave iron? The shadow advent cried out. ¡°A sword made of grave and cold iron.¡± Jazmel responded as they fought. You have some strength child, but it cannot vanquish me. I stand guard before the fountain and my might is immeasurable. ¡°You hide in the shadows and wield the dark, you are not strong. You just have the advantage.¡± Jazmel told him and he cried out in anguish, his words doing some damage. How dare you! Dirty this place with your filth! The primordial are to slumber for an age! Flaming Evisceration!! Blue and black flames escaped from his sword and three swathes glanced through the darkness. The shadow advent dodged, but the swathe managed to break the barrier. The domain cracked and the dim light of the cavern returned. I tire of your boorish ways. The shadow advent raised both his hands. Coils of shadows wrapped around each arm, Jazmel watched the core in his stomach begin to activate with the amassing of the shadows. Darkness dirge Jazmel watched as the environment around them begins to dim as shadows coalesce, drawing in all light. A deep, resonant, and mournful melody starts to play, seemingly emanating from the very darkness itself. This dirge reverberates through the air, carrying a sense of profound sorrow and dread. Jazmel could see his friends in turmoil, trying their best to push past the fear. But the song that Jazmel was suffering under, was damaging all the others too. DING! BASTION OF THE TYRANT STANDS FIRM BEFORE THE DIRGE! ¡­ The Shadow advent¡¯s skill slowly became partially obscured by swirling dark mist or shadowy tendrils that spiral outward. The ground around them could crack or darken as if being consumed by the void. The shadows extended and rippled, taking on ghostly shapes or wraith-like figures that move in time with the song, it was as if the dirge was calling forth spirits from the darkened abyss. As the skill reached its peak, Jazmel watched as if the darkness might surge outward in a wave. The dirge had an ethereal, echoing quality. Making it feel as though the sound is coming from all directions, adding to the disorienting and terrifying atmosphere. Shadows formed into beings, into creations of beasts and revenants. ¡°Banish them!¡± Jazmel yelled over the dirge of the shadow advent. But his friends still suffered. Howl! The roar ripped from Bannerman¡¯s throat and Jazmel watched as his friends became energised. Almost fuelled by the sounds of the howl. Your skills are beneath me! The shadow advent howled. ¡°So what?¡± Katie said as she began to whirr her chains around herself. Chained hydra! Nine different chain heads flared out and struck different shadow aberrations. The shadows burst and fell to the ground, to be no more. Wand warfare!! Tera Nema was sending barrages across the cavern space and doing her best. She was aiming with power and not accuracy, she was trying to bring the numbers down of the shadows. Foxfire! Thunderfire! Lightning fall!! Skills struck at the advent, and he wrapped himself in wars and shadows to hide. But Jazmel saw him, he could always see him. Sundering Raven Jazmel sliced through the shadows and when the advent was revealed he was trying to gather his Mana to heal himself. Flaming Evisceration! Jazmel cut through the shadows as they tried to engulf them both. He smote the shadow advent, searing his body with his scathing skill. DING! TIER IV SHADOW ADVENT HAS BEEN SLAIN! EXP GREATLY ACRRUED! LEVEL UP! ¡­ +3 END +3 INT +2 VIT +2 STR Book 5 Chapter Twenty-Six; the Final Fountain III DING! WELL DONE ON DEFEATING THE SHADOW ADVENT!! ¡­ YOU HAVE OVERCOME GREAT ODDS! BUT THEY ARE NOT OVER JUST YET!! YOU MUST FACE THE FINAL FOUNTAIN GUARD! PREPARE! ¡­ ¡°You all heard the system. Get ready!¡± Jazmel yelled, suddenly feeling the weight of the last battle. He himself drank a potion, a stamina one and he felt it replenish his energy levels. His tempered body making the most of it. HE WHO HAS WALKED PATHS FEW HAVE RECALLED HE KNOWS THE LAY OF THE LAND FROM AGES PAST HIS SWORD HAS DRANK THE BLOOD OF CREATURES DEEPER IN THE LABYRINTH FEW HAVE STAYED HIS HAND! HIS NAME LONG FORGOTTEN TO THE TEST OF TIME! SLAYER OF GREATER BEASTS! MOST WELL KNOWN FOR HIS PENCHANT FOR SLAYING IFRIT! TIER V IFRIT BANE THE FINAL FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN COMES! ¡­ ¡°Tier V?¡± Tera Nema said and Jazmel considered that it might be her first time. ¡°Stick with us, we have fought a few of these.¡± Katie said, releasing her chains and pumping them full of Mana. ¡°Yes, we fought a tier V greater ifrit a few months back.¡± Sad¨¦ added, forming her thunder crown, and willing all six of her Mana tails into existence. Full moon Bannerman called out his power up and swigged two stamina potions and a Mana one. The full moon mode must be extremely taxing on his body, but this fight was the final one. This would let them free the primordial and complete Jazmel¡¯s plot. Night of the white moon Jazmel watched as Baek strolled forward. He was creating his orb and the Mana he was condensing was so large, it made Jazmel wonder if he had ever had that much Mana. The pale white orb formed atop his hand, and it grew till it was literally a smaller form of a moon. It was bigger than Baek almost, the small elderly man looked completely composed. But the fact he had decided to step in, let Jazmel know a tier V was no small feat. DING! TIER V IFRIT BANE APPEARS! In the darkened cavern, where the dimmed lights roil with ethereal light and shadow, stepped out a towering figure, a sentinel of doom. Clad in ancient, battle-worn armour that pulses with the glow of ancient mana, Jazmel¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t even perceive the sigaldry and warning of the armour. this being was no mere mortal but an avatar of the system¡¯s wrath. Though its pressure was immense, it didn¡¯t feel as suffocating as Fror¡¯s and for that, Jazmel was glad. It''s helm, wrought from metals unknown to Jazmel, was adorned with glowing sigils that shimmer with the intensity of strength and power. From beneath the visor, where eyes should gleam. There was only darkness. a void without life or light of the world. His breastplate, emblazoned with the sigils from forgotten banners, yet it radiated with a soft, haunting luminescence. A light that seems to draw the very soul toward it, as if promising both salvation and oblivion. Wings, vast and feathered with shadows and embers, stretch from his back, arching high into the heavens. These wings are not merely for flight but weapons in their own right; each feather a blade, each beat a gale of destruction. In one hand, he grips a spear forged from the ores unknown to Jazmel. But the spear alone made him lick his lips with envy, He would give it to Gorin, and he would find out what it was made of. Its tip emanating as much power as its owner. The weapon thrummed with barely contained energy, strumming the bestial senses that Jazmel had. Crackling with arcs of lightning that dance along its length. It is a weapon for a primordial, Jazmel was sure. Beneath its feet, the ground trembles, cracks spidering outward as though the very earth fears his presence. His pressure, far greater than the two previous guardians. Jazmel and his friends were in the presence of a servant of the primordial, and here was another thing that could show, just how powerful the primordial were. This was the final guardian of the fountain, an advent of doom, a being of immeasurable power and presence. A herald of the primordial and one of their last servants. ¡°Support me!¡± Baek called out as he darted in, his short sword clutched and his smooth gait, faster than Jazmel could match. Paldane leapt from his shoulder and expanded in size to aid from the skies. White crane! Heron herald! Jazmel had seen Baek used at most, three skills in his entirety of knowing him. But here he was using a multitude of skills, white crane enhanced his speed and dexterity, a white outline of Mana began to form around him and ghost like wings appears to add to his speed. His second skill made his sword glow like a star, strengthening it for whatever he was aiming to do. You have come to free the primordial? You managed to slay the two before me, I commend you. But your lives will be recompense since I am here now. She will remain in her eternal slumber. ¡°Isn¡¯t he confident!¡± Katie said and Jazmel smirked, even in the face of doom. She was still cocky; he loved that she was back. You jest in front of your doom! Baek slammed into him, the guard was sturdy but even Jazmel could tell he had to stand firm. The guardian fell silent and considered Baek in front of him. You have some strength Withered whip! Katie appeared, leaping through the sky, and smashing her rust and death chains into the armour. It cracked, which surprised them all, but the winged guardian didn¡¯t stop his battle. He simply improved his technique. Divine judgement! He crashed his spear into the ground, dull white Mana erupted all around them. Baek tried to block it, but the eruption was too much. Instead he took the full blast himself and suffered beneath it, he didn¡¯t cry out or wail. He simply shouldered it all to protect the group. Spear of the order! He whirled his spear about and tried to strike Baek as he was reeling. But Jazmel was there and with his sword, he struck where he could. Countering each deadly strike as it came. DING! STATUS CONDITION! BOTH FOREARMS ARE FRACTURED! (minor) ¡­ Just from blocking those strikes, his body was breaking, and he grit his teeth against the pain. Thunderfire! Sad¨¦ struck him from behind, his armour firmed the strike. He simple whirled on her and fanned his wings, gales of white winds blasted her and knocked her back. She landed gracefully though, her title and tempered body working in tandem. Wolf hunt! Bannerman bounded in, striking with his claws. The final guardian blocked each strike and when he noticed an opening, he struck. Stabbing into Bannerman¡¯s chest or aiming to but Bannerman moved ever so slightly, and the strike caught him in the shoulder deeply. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Arcanum! Tera Nema shot a bolt of Mana and magic at the guardian. He wrenched his spear tip free, before using it to block her bolt. It shot off into the distance, hitting the cavern in the dark. Withered chain maiden! Katie appeared again and slamming her coiled knot of chains into the helmet, the armour broke. Splitting from her death Mana attuned chains. Beneath the helm was a young face, a child even. He looked like he could be their age, but his eyes had that look. The look of those who had seen a great many things, which could only come with time. A mere piece of metal, humph He uttered and whirling his spear about he darted towards the girls. Heron herald! Baek appeared, striking with his sword, they fought between them. Baek fought with the agility and grace of a flying bird. His sword looked to float about, Jazmel could keep up with it because the Mana in it showed up to his eyes. Where he gracefully floated around and struck at the openings he tried to make. The guardian fought like a viper, each strike like a coiled snake bite. ¡°Look at how fast they are moving.¡± Tera Nema said and Jazmel nodded, it seemed unreal. ¡°We need to overwhelm him while Baek keeps him busy, prepare your strongest skills.¡± Jazmel said and looking over to Bannerman, he was preparing to run in with him. his shoulder was bleeding, but his hair was still chalk white. Jazmel rushed, sprinted forward as fast as he could. Pushing his body to its limits. Jazmel and Bannerman crisscrossed as they rushed in, pressure pressed on them. but broke through those restraints. Sundering Raven! Wolf hunt! They struck at the back, directly at the wings of the final guardian. He couldn¡¯t block so he simply flared his wings and as feathers shot out at them, they hardened to stone or crystal. But Jazmel had assumed the point and blocked, deflected, and parried them. When the last feather bounced out of the way, Bannerman loped forward. Wolf hunt Wolf hunt! He dragged the wings from the guardians back. Wrenched them out of their sockets and left bloody stumps. The guardian wailed, crying out in anguish and surprise from the pain. But it wasn¡¯t over, no he was about to receive the full team bombardment from everyone. Night of the white moon Lightning fall! Inferno! Flaming Evisceration Skill after skill hit him, struck him, and buffeted him impressively. He roared in pain, a death cry. Jazmel had seen each skill hit him, he hadn''t even had a chance to block any. He had been in a daze since he lost his wings. When the dust settled and everyone had stopped moving, they watched as the charred remains of the final guardian kneeled before them. Jazmel sighed and was about to sheathe his sword, but Mana pulsed. He felt it and looking over, he saw a single drop of black Mana fall atop the guardian and it begin to reconfigure its form, one of its arms; that had fallen off in the bombardment began to crawl back. ¡°Kill him now! Take his head!!¡± he yelled, Baek didn¡¯t even stop, he brought his hand before him. pulling from his hand, a talisman. Jazmel watched with abject horror and awe. The master tier channelled all his Mana into the talisman. Jazmel watched as he drained his core, but to his surprise the talisman took it all, it absorbed it all and then he placed it atop the blade of his sword. the sword burst with light, so bright Jazmel had to shield his eyes, but even then the light got through. Mastery of the Heron¡¯s herald Escaped Baek¡¯s lips and Jazmel watched as he cut the guardian down. Cutting through his restructuring body and smote its ruin with all his Mana. the blade of his short sword shattered, disintegrating from all his Mana and the guardian disappeared, the Mana was so immense it obliterated him and the very ground on which he had kneeled. DING! CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU SLEW THE FINAL FOUNTAIN GUARDIAN! ALL WILL BE REWARDED! ¡­ ¡­ +4 STR +4 AGL +4 PER +4 WIL +3 VIT +3 END +2 INT ¡­ ¡­ TIER IV CAVE BEAR BONE TIER IV SHADOW ADVENT CORE TIER V ANGELLUM SPEAR ¡­ EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! ¡­ LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! His body thrummed with system energy as his stats went up and his levels rose. But before he could delve into it, the cavern changed. The water feature cracked; it was as if the ground yawned. Jazmel stepped forward, walking slowly around the corpse of the final guardian. The others were going through their own rewards, but Baek and Bannerman appeared beside him. The stone water feature now resembled the resting body of a woman, but a groove had been dug out. In the middle of her chest, Jazmel held his breath as he pulled the rejoined core from his ring. He held it and for the first time, it felt warm in his hand. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± Jazmel said, as he placed and pushed the core into the groove. Nothing happened at first and then the indent swallowed the core, and the stone grew warm as it quickly repaired itself from the wear and tear of time. He stepped back down and just as he stepped out of the fountain, the stone broke away and a woman stood, taking her first breath she stretched and yawned as if she had simply been sleeping. YOU HAVE AWOKEN A PRIMORDIAL! ¡­ ¡­ THIS CANNOT BE UNDONE! ¡­ ALL ACTIONS MUST HAVE CONSEQUENCES! YOUR ACTIONS WILL HAVE CONSEQUENCES!! THEY WILL SHAKE THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE LABYRINTH! ¡­ YOU WILL GAIN 10 STAT POINTS TO USE AS A REWARD! YOU GAIN A GREAT DEAL OF EXP! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! FOR WITNESSING THE RENEWAL OF A PRIMORDIAL! ¡­ You woke me. I thank you, all of you. Her voice rang through his ears and pressed on his mind. He had completed another quest and though it had taken immense toll on them all, she was incredibly strong, far stronger than the final guardian and all of them too. I see on you, the taint of the wicked one. I am sorry for your loss. She uttered and right away, he knew she meant their battle with Fror and the loss of Patton. A gift, for freeing me from my slumber! She waved her hand absentmindedly and the others crumbled and Jazmel grew worried, but Baek shook his head. ¡°She gave them exp, she gave them enough Mana for them all to undergo their next tier tribulation.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel watched in wonder as they all began to go through their tier tribulations. You are about to hit level 100. The precipice of ranker and master tier. Do you know why there is no gap between ranker tier and master tier? She asked Jazmel and he shook his head, fearful to speak in front of this ancient being. Because to become a master tier, you must unlock your soul. Only those who have unlocked that can break into master tier, some jump straight from ranker tier II into master tier I. I can see your stats are in balance, good you have worked hard. But not hard enough, you need to work harder, war is coming and if the primordial are awakening. Then we are going to need stronger allies. he listened to her words, letting them simmer in his mind. But he also considered his options with her, she was asking him to work harder, and in doing that he would need to grow stronger. He had grown so much, but before Solis. Before the primordial, it felt little. Do not feel doubt for your climb, all mountains have differing peaks, is it not admirable that you have climbed to a place where you can witness other peaks? Do not stop your own climb. She chastised him and he inclined his head to hide his shame. A trifle gift, something to urge your climb. DING! A TITLE HAS BEEN GIFTED TO YOU! ¡­ ¡­ THE ARDUOUS PATH! ( FOR EVERY +1 IN STR, YOU WILL EARN +1 IN END AND VIT) (FOR EVERY +1 IN INT YOU WILL EARN +2 IN WIL) ¡­ DING! YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A QUEST BY A PRIMORDIAL! THE FIRST IN A LONG TIME! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! GROW STRONGER! ¡­ A boon, for awaking me. Here you go. She opened her palm and a gem that brimmed with power, it wasn¡¯t Mana, it was something else entirely. But he was entranced by it and as it floated over to him, he stared at it. looking deep into its beauty. It was amber and looked like a crystal made of honey. DING! TIER V SOUL GEM OF THE SPIRIT HIND GAINED! A rare item with a high soul affinity, this will greatly enhance the soul points when used in a tier tribulation. ¡­ Was she preparing him for master tier? He simply inclined his head in thanks and lowered his gaze. I go, but I will be watching, I must recover my powers and seek out old friends. I feel the power of my sister. I will seek out Mirete, you and I will meet again little dragon prince. She said and without a moment, she disappeared, winking out of existence. ¡°She called you dragon prince.¡± Baek said and Jazmel nodded, he had heard her too. But before Jazmel could even think or reflect on what had happened, his core coalesced and cramped his stomach. System energy was broiling around. DING! YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR PLOT! FIX THE FOUNTAINS OF &4456& HAS BEEN COMPLETED! ¡­ ¡­ REWARDS TO FOLLOW! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ DING! +5 STR +5 PER +5 VIT +5 END +5 INT +5 WIL +5 AGL +5 DEX ¡­ ¡­ THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS ARE PROFOUND! THE RESTRICTION OF TIER V CREATURES AND MONSTERS HAS BEEN REMOVED!! TIER VI TIER VII TIER VIII CREATURES & BEASTS HAVE BEEN RELEASED IN THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE LABYRINTH! WITH THE RELEASE OF THE SECOND PRIMORDIAL, THE LABYRINTH WILL ROTATE AGAIN! YOU WILL BE RETURNED TO YOUR FACTION BUT AFTER THAT THE GATES WILL BE LOCKED GATES WILL BE LOCKED FOR ONE MONTH! Jazmel was shocked by what he was seeing, but that was something he would have to deal with later. YOU HAVE FACED OVERWHELMING ODDS! YOU HAVE FREED ANOTHER PRIMORDIAL! YOU COMPLETED YOUR PLOT TOO!! YOUR REWARDS HAVE GREATLY IMPROVED! CONGRATULATIONS! WOULD YOU LIKE TO RETURN TO YOUR FACTION NOW? Y/N? He turned to Baek, and he nodded, they should return now and Jazmel accepted. They disappeared from the fountain room, leaving it darkened, and the corpse of the final guardian remained in the dark expanse. Book 5 Chapter Twenty-Seven; Reaping the Rewards Jazmel had returned to the faction outpost tower, literally appearing in the centre of the training ground and everyone was hustling and bustling. But he didn¡¯t have time for this, no there was too much to do and so little time to do it. ¡°Captains clear out the courtyard, these guys are all undergoing tier tribulations leave them to it.¡± he said, and they did as their leader bid them. he was extremely tired, he felt his mind fighting at the recesses, pushing fatigue from his brain. But he couldn¡¯t sleep yet. Not when there was so much going on. He entered the chamber and climbing the palisade, he sat in his seat, he felt the authority of the outpost strengthen him, but he was still exhausted. Mentally drained from his latest delve into the labyrinth. Mary, Tango, Timone, Gelth, Myn, Morwen, Grace, Gilmore, Wendy, and Elai appeared. The doors shuttered after and Baek stood on the last step of the palisade as an aide. ¡°I need to tell you some things, so bear with me.¡± Jazmel took the length of time to bring his captains up to speed, he shared with them what the lightning lord of titania had said to him, what had happened beneath the Stormhold and also what the primordial Solis had said to him. After that, his captains looked at him and then he sighed before continuing. ¡°She said war was coming, I don¡¯t know with who or what for, but I do know that I will not lose any of you again. So I am setting quests for everyone. I need you all to begin to prepare yourselves. The labyrinth has locked us in our outpost, we are here for a month. Which is fine, we will take the time to prepare. But by the time the labyrinth opens again, I want every single one of you either ranker tier III or master tier I. I also want the outpost strengthened and I want the domain cleared.¡± He said and everyone looked around, motivated but apprehensive. ¡°Mary, I leave it to you, check the domain and split the captains into teams, I want them leading their groups and expanding the domain until its ours completely. When you are not training your groups or resting to recuperate. I want you in the astral domain, bettering yourselves.¡± Jazmel said again and everyone listened, his word was law now and they knew it. He had ran from the title of leader before, but the deck was stacking against them and now he needed to step up. To keep them all safe, he needed to do more. ¡°Mary and Tango you are already master tier, that¡¯s good. I know how hard it was for you, I want you to enhance your items with Gorin, doesn¡¯t matter what you choose. But gather the items for a master tier work. I don¡¯t know how you will, but that¡¯s what I am asking from you.¡± They simply nodded, everyone was motivated by his intensity but the empathy of his title, he was the leader. He needed to push them. ¡°How are you doing?¡± Tango asked and Jazmel smiled at him, though it lacked mirth. ¡°I am a step away from ranker tier III or master tier. So I will tell you when I check what I need to do.¡± He confessed and the group burst into hushed whispers. ¡°What is it?¡± Jazmel asked and Elai spoke first. ¡°Well every time you enter the labyrinth something amazing happens, it would seem that you are favoured by the labyrinth.¡± She said and Jazmel looked around, but then he looked at Baek who simply inclined his head, maybe it was time to share the secret of his origins. ¡°Many of you know me as a rising star, I came into the labyrinth and just advanced through the doors and gates that were before me. That might be true, but you don¡¯t know all of my story.¡± He began and settling into his chair he waited. Then he told them, of how Tango had found him, of how Baek and he had met and finally he shared with them the mirror of Tildred and how he had seen the ghost of a memory of his mother. ¡°I know it seems like a lot, but that¡¯s what I have been dealing with, while in the labyrinth. So though I look like a really blessed person. I am just a returning denizen.¡± He confessed, it felt weird to say he wasn¡¯t an orphan anymore, it felt weird to know where he came from. But he had enough to do, he couldn¡¯t dwell on it. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Someday I plan to go to the Kuzuryu kingdom, not yet but soon. When I do, I will bring my faction with me. But we have to get much stronger, we have to grow as a faction, and we need to do that together.¡± Jazmel offered and everyone seemed to accept his words. DING! FACTION QUEST CREATED! ALL MASTER TIER OF THE FACTION MUST CREATE A MASTER TIER WORKS! THE FORGE MASTER WILL CREATE A SCHEMA AND SEE THE WORK TO FRUITION! REWARDS! ¡­ DING! FACTION QUEST! ALL CAPTAINS OF THE BLACK WING FACTION MUST REACH RANKER TIER III OR MASTER TIER I BY MONTHS END! REWARDS! ¡­ Jazmel created the quests and watched as his captains all got it at the same time. They fled the chamber, leaving him to just Baek and himself. ¡°You seem tired young master; you should retire to your quarters.¡± Baek advised and in truth, Jazmel really wanted to. ¡°I will, I need to rest. I am exhausted, but I haven¡¯t even checked the plot rewards yet.¡± He said and Baek listened before simply waiting for him to do as he would. DING! ORICHALCUM CHEST! TIER V ELDER TYRANT BONE GAINED! The bone of an elder tyrant transfused with its power and banality. Master tier tribulation item. Something for his body! This would be a great tier tribulation item. TIER IV SOUL SHARD GAINED! The soul shard of an ancient creature when a creature evolves into its third state. A soul shard forms, proof of their sentience. This will awaken the soul attribute of the consumers stats. He almost laughed allowed, this was exactly what he needed to enter master tier and skip ranker tier immediately. He couldn¡¯t decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but with his rune of perception skill. He could feel the edges of his soul, it was something that had begun to build on him, something he couldn¡¯t quite grasp. MASTER TIER BLOOD CORE GAINED! The core of a blood lich, this item will enhance any blood like abilities. Sounded a little gruesome, but a reward was a reward. MASTER TIER ARMOUR SCHEMA GAINED! The schema of a master tier works armour. MASTER TIER RUKH SONG GAINED! A song to call the Rukh to roost, some believe the Rukh to be a creature of blessing. Guardians of the skies, if you summon one and it chooses to rest within your boundaries, it will form an alliance with you. Not a companion, but a respectable friendly! That was new, that was something to add to his domain. What interested him was the idea of the floating isles, a further defence. He would use that song, but not for now. DING! ORICHALCUM CHEST! MASTER TIER FENRIR RUNE GAINED! A rune that will enhance any bestial trait within a consumer or user. Jazmel immediately thought of Bannerman, this item would be great for him. He would give it to him as soon as. MASTER TIER SKILL TOKEN GAINED! A skill token to grain tier mastery over your skill. That was awesome, he didn¡¯t know which skill he would use it on yet. But the idea of jumping straight to mastery was enough to boost his mood. MASTER TIER SWORD TOKEN GAINED! Raise your sword tier to its highest tier! TIER IV SWORD SCHEMA GAINED! A schema to be created by a master forge master. Both items were incredible, he looked at them and thought about what he would need to use them on. He had to consider his future. TIER III DOUBLE CORE SCHEMA GAINED! A rare item that will allow the user to turn their core into dual cores. A double core will allow the user to attune their abilities to two different cores. He smiled, Jazmel was really impressed with his new items, and he wanted to look at them all. Consider how to move forward, so he opened his final chest. The last of the rewards. DING! MITHRIL CHEST! RANKER TIER RUNE OF CONCEPTION GAINED! It will allow its user to gain a deeper understanding of their skills. RANKER TIER PANDORA¡¯S EYE GAINED! An eye skill to allow perception and perceiving the chaos Mana. RANKER TIER BOW OF THOTH GAINED! This bow is extremely keen, it raises the owner¡¯s accuracy. Literally every item in this chest was perfect for Leno, Serafina, and Saif. He sent AI to call for them and when they appeared, he handed them over. They tried to push back and say they didn¡¯t deserve it, but he didn¡¯t let them refuse. ¡°Take the items and get accustomed to them, in a month. Everyone is heading out of the outpost, I need everyone stronger, take these items and then I want you to enter the astral domain.¡± He urged them, begged them almost. Leno finally conceded and accepted the rune of conception. ¡°Baek, I am going to rest, but I need you to pass this to Bannerman when he completes his tier tribulation. Please.¡± He said handing over the rune of Fenrir. Baek inclined his head and they both walked out of the chamber together, Jazmel heading into the tower and Baek heading out of it. Book 5 Chapter Twenty-Eight; Soul Concepts of the Master Tier Jazmel sat in his quarters, sinking into the embrace of a worn but comfortable sofa. He had made it back to his room without interruption, though Melle had appeared just as he reached the door. She insisted on standing guard, sensing his need for solitude, and he thanked her kindly before shutting himself away from the world. He needed this time alone. As the door closed, Jazmel took out the soul shard and let it rest in his palm. It was an unusual artifact. Most items he''d acquired from the labyrinth emanated a subtle warmth, a pulse of mana that was palpable to his attuned senses. But this shard was different¡ªit was cool to the touch, its chill seeping into his skin. It wasn¡¯t discomforting, but the contrast in temperature was striking, almost unnatural. Paldane, his companion, had crawled from his collar and sprawled across the bed, eyes half-closed in feigned watchfulness. But Jazmel knew better; the creature was already dozing, lulled by the room''s quiet. Jazmel clenched his fist around the shard, feeling its fragile structure yield to his grip. His heart skipped a beat, fearing he had destroyed it, but as he opened his hand, the shard dissolved into a swirling mist, a smoke-like substance that hovered in the air before him. Instinctively, he breathed it in. The mist filled his lungs, and immediately, a cold shock rippled through his entire body. Suddenly, his awareness expanded inward. Not just his perception attribute, which allowed him to sense the world around him with clarity, but something deeper. He could see within himself, his consciousness delving into the very core of his being. It was both unnerving and oddly soothing¡ªa paradox of sensations. Jazmel felt a peculiar calmness in this new self-awareness, yet there was an underlying discomfort in the intimacy of the experience. DING!YOU HAVE ABSORBED THE CONTENTS OF THE SOUL SHARD!YOU HAVE AWAKENED YOUR SOUL ATTRIBUTE!THIS IS RARE BEFORE MASTER TIER!EXP GREATLY ACCRUED!LEVEL UP!LEVEL UP!CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE HIT LEVEL 100! The notifications echoed in his mind, but they barely registered as the system¡¯s energy enveloped him like a shroud. His body reacted violently, his tyrant nature resisting the intrusion. His core struggled to find harmony with the surge of power, and for a moment, he felt like a coiled spring, ready to snap. DING!WHEN UNDERGOING A MASTER TIER TRIBULATION, YOUR SOUL POINT MUST BE UNLOCKED. ¡­ ¡­SOUL POINT HAS BEEN UNLOCKED!ALL MASTER TIER TRIBULATIONS WILL REQUIRE AN ITEM FOR THE SOUL! REMEMBER THIS ALWAYS!YOU ARE NOW READY TO UNDERGO A TIER TRIBULATION FOR MASTER TIER! WILL YOU BEGIN? Y/N? There was no hesitation. Jazmel had been preparing for this moment ever since he met Baek. He had felt the man¡¯s strength, the calm stability he radiated, and Jazmel knew he needed that power¡ªto be that steady presence for his faction. He settled into a meditative state, drawing his chosen items from his rings, ensuring they were ready. DING!MASTER TIER HAS UNLOCKED YOUR SOUL!YOU WILL NEED A TIER TRIBULATION ITEM FOR YOUR SOUL ALSO! The system¡¯s reminder was unnecessary; Jazmel had already secured his soul item, a soul gem gifted to him by Solis the Primordial. Perhaps she had foreseen this moment, but regardless, he would use whatever was necessary to grow strong enough to protect his people. That was his driving force¡ªthe sentiment that had pushed him to pursue strength relentlessly. He would not endure the pain of losing another like Patton. He couldn¡¯t. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. TIER TRIBULATION BEGINS!TIER TRIBULATION INCOMING!TIER TRIBULATION ITEMS PRESENT!WILL YOU USE THEM? YES. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT: WHAT WILL YOU USE? The Celestial Carp was the first item he chose. As it merged with his spirit, he felt a vast pool of energy expand within his core. The carp swam through this pool, its presence pushing the boundaries of his mana reserves, stretching them far beyond what he had ever known. It was as if the carp was drawing in the essence of the cosmos itself, filling him with a depth of mana that felt infinite. This newfound reservoir of energy settled into him naturally, and with it came a profound understanding of the responsibilities and power that came with being a Master Tier. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND COMPLETE.1/4.WHAT WILL YOU USE? Next, he summoned the Gourd of Sanctity, an item he had intended to gift to Araea, the queen of the Teneriel forest. The gourd thrummed with a tranquil energy, its peaceful hum resonating through him. Without hesitation, he pulled it into his mind. The gourd shattered, releasing its contents¡ªa soothing balm that spread across his thoughts, easing the burdens he had carried for so long. The gourd¡¯s essence washed over him like warm olive oil, softening the hard edges of his psyche, lifting the weight from his heart. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY COMPLETE.2/4.WHAT WILL YOU USE? For the body, he had selected the Elder Tyrant Bone. As it integrated into his form, Jazmel braced for pain, but none came. Instead, his bones thickened, becoming denser and more robust. The bone connected with his spine, sending strength through his joints and muscles, enhancing his physicality in ways he hadn¡¯t imagined. He was already a formidable presence, but now his strikes would carry the weight of mountains, his endurance fortified by the legacy of the tyrants before him. His vitality surged, the system pushing his physical limits higher and higher. DING!TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY COMPLETE.3/4. The final item, the Soul Gem, was unlike anything else. It had not been prepared by his own hand, and its origins were a mystery even to him. But now, it glimmered with a steady, dull light, pulsating softly as he drew it into himself. The gem melded seamlessly into his being, its light suffusing his soul with a quiet, profound stability. For the first time, Jazmel could truly feel his soul¡ªa deep, expansive presence that resonated through every fibre of his existence. His high perception allowed him to see deeper within, to witness his soul¡¯s transformation as the gem enhanced it, bringing a firmness and unity to his entire being that he hadn¡¯t known he lacked. DING!TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SOUL COMPLETE.4/4. ¡­ ¡­ DING! ¡­CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING YOUR MASTER TIER TRIBULATION!+5 PER +5 INT +5 WIL +5 STR.¡­ YOUR SOUL POINTS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO YOUR STATUS SCREEN.INTELLIGENCE + WILLPOWER = SOUL POINTS!CONGRATULATIONS ON ACHIEVING MASTER TIER! YOU HAVE DONE WHAT FEW OTHERS HAVE MANAGED! ¡­DING! FURTHER REWARDS WILL BE PROVIDED! CONGRATULATIONS ON ACHIEVING MASTER TIER I!! ¡­ Jazmel stretched and it felt as if he was stretching truly for the first time. He was still exhausted and now that he was within master tier, he was fatigued beyond, but the system wasn¡¯t done with him. No, it had more rewards for him. DING! ¡­ YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR MARCH OF THE MONARCH PLOT! FULLY COMPLETING THIS, HAVING DONE SO BEFORE MASTER TIER! AND NOW, MANAGING TO REACH MASTER TIER!! CONGRATULATIONS! AS A REWARD, YOUR OUTPOST HAS BEEN UPGRADED!! YOUR OUTPOST HAS NOW BECOME A STRONGHOLD! WELCOME LORD BLACK WING OF THE BLACK WING STRONGHOLD! CONTINUE ADVANCING THROUGH THE LABYRINTH! REAP YOUR REWARDS!! ¡­ Exhausted, Jazmel laid on his sofa and fell asleep, he would check the upgrades to the outpost when he woke up. Book 5 Chapter Twenty-Nine; the Black Wing Stronghold They had been trapped within the outpost gate for two weeks, the countdown for the next gate opening was two more weeks and Jazmel was cautious to not suddenly feel anxious. In truth, there was a lot to do anyway, such changes had occurred from his rewards, that the outpost was completely different. The simple outpost tower with its enclosed walls had changed overnight, growing in size and complexities. But now Jazmel was in awe of just how much it had changed. The black wing stronghold now appeared to be a majestic city, set against the backdrop of towering, rugged mountains. The architecture now grand and imposing, with high walls and the outpost tower had now become the one and most impressive one which now reached towards the sky. The city is situated on a steep hill, with its structures tiered and layered, giving a sense of both scale and depth. The central tower is particularly prominent, standing taller than all other structures, likely serving as a significant landmark or citadel within the stronghold. The atmosphere is serene yet powerful, with a mist or low-hanging clouds enveloping the lower parts of the city, creating an ethereal and almost mystical feel. The mountains surrounding the city are vast and intimidating, reinforcing the city''s sense of isolation and fortification. A lone figure, possibly a traveller or a warrior, stands in the foreground, gazing up at the city from a lower vantage point, emphasizing the grandeur and awe-inspiring nature of the stronghold. The overall colour palette is muted, with soft greys, whites, and blues, adding to the otherworldly and timeless quality of the scene. But this wondrous change, was not solely for them all, though the outpost had suddenly become a stronghold, growing in strength and power, it wasn¡¯t just this that looked different, no Jazmel had finally done it, finally become a master tier. Though only a beginner, and not really fully in the tier as he had skipped ranker tier III all together. But that wasn¡¯t the only changes, just the beginning, he took a moment to look over his system status screen. Name: Jazmel Level: 100 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Master tier I Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 6680/6680 Stamina: 4332/4332 Mana: 4320/4320 Soul 3770/3770 STR:193(+5) PER:201 VIT:186 END:184(+3) INT:186 WIL:191(+7) AGL:174 DEX:178 Skills: Title(s): THE ARDUOUS PATH (PERMANENT) FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) BEASTIAL BYAKKO SENSES (PASSIVE) TYRANNY OF THE TYRANT DRAGON (PASSIVE) SERPENT SLAYER (UNACTIVE) DEMON SLAYER (UNACTIVE) AWAKENER (PASSIVE) BASTION OF THE TYRANT (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 0 442X PLATINUM COINS 782X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE TIER III RED MASK TIER III LAMP OF LELUTHIAN X10 TIER II BRUTE BOAR TUSKS TIER IV DREAD HERETIC CORE TIER III ARMOUR SET OF THE NIGHT WING If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. TIER III SKILL EVOLVE TOKEN X10 TIER II GREATER MANA POTIONS X7 TIER II GREATER HEALTH POTIONS X10 TIER II GREATER STAMINA POTIONS TIER III ALCOLI THE GHOUL CORE TIER III GARGAUNTUAN SABRE OF CULLING TIER III LION HELM OF ADVERSITY RANKER TIER SCOURGING SCARAB MASTER TIER ASHES OF THE FALLEN TIER III RUNE OF THE ART OF THE SWORDPLAY MASTER TIER SONG OF THE SUNDERING RANKER TIER TITLE OF THE DRAGON SONG TIER III LEVEL UP TOKEN X2 TIER III SWORDS OF THE SHIELDMAIDEN TIER II KEY TO THE GARDEN OF THE AESIR SIX WINGS OF THE FALLEN VALKRYIE TIER IV CAVE BEAR BONE TIER IV SHADOW ADVENT CORE TIER V ANGELLUM SPEAR MASTER TIER BLOOD CORE MASTER TUER ARMOUR SCHEMA MASTER TIER RUKH SONG MASTER TIER SKILL TOKEN MASTER TIER SWORD TOKEN TIER IV SWORD SCHEMA TIER III DOUBLE CORE SCHEMA COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 10 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 115 It was almost impossible to believe he had gained all of this, in just under a year within the labyrinth. He had made it to master tier, but in truth, in just that year, they had undergone so much change, he and his core members of his party had literally entered the labyrinth together and now they were the top figures in a faction they had created together. His seat of authority had changed, the central node and his ¡®power¡¯ over his domain was still in the same place, but his chamber and seat had changed immensely. Mana had enlarged the tower, it was far more robust, expanding in size and structure, but it still kept the fundamentals of his previous design. The faction had grown in strength too, he looked at that screen too. YOUR FACTION INTERFACE SCREEN STRONGHOLD ¨C BLACK WING FACTION TIER III STRONGHOLD FACTION LEADER SCREEN INTERFACE FACTION LEADER ¨C JAZMEL WAR COMMANDER ¨C MARY FORGE MASTER ¨C GORIN SCHOLAR ¨C BAEK FACTION CAPTAINS FACTION RETAINERS (WELL KNOWN) OUTPOST POPULATION GROUPS ALLIES Things had changed, a great deal actually. Firstly he wasn¡¯t the only one to reach master tier. Katie had also, with a trick. One of the rewards she had gotten after fighting the final guardian of Solis. She had been given a soul chain, or a link that connected her soul to her chains. It would allow her to imbue some of her spirit into her chains. But in doing this, she had opened her soul point too, the soul chain link acting as a tier tribulation item. It was as if the system was cheating them, but Jazmel didn¡¯t mind if his friends grew stronger, as long as they were able to protect themselves, but he didn¡¯t step in the way of them training. No everyone had their own plots and plans within the labyrinth. Sad¨¦ had made it into ranker tier III, she hadn''t been able to open her soul point on her own. but she had been given a plot. she would need to find the forest of the Kitsune, once she did, she would be able to seek direction. So she had begun planning for entering the labyrinth and seeking her plot. Jazmel had offered to go with her, but she had declined his kind offer. Stating that he needed to go on his own journey, and this was something she had to do too. In truth though a little hurt, he understood her words and decided to not fight her, but she was not to go alone. No it had been discussed and decided that when the labyrinth opened its gates, Sad¨¦ would enter. Alongside Elai, Timone, Tera Nema and Morwen. Gelth and Gil had grown close with Lysander, and they had been going back and forth to train him and his peers. But also to maintain the strong bonds with the stronghold of the black wing. But as the labyrinth had been locked, it had been decided that when the gates opened, they would go and see how he was doing, how the Braddon hills were. So another group was formed; Gelth, Gilmore, Wendy, and Grace. Myn had taken to the maps within the tower exceptionally and nobody had told her, that Patton had once laid claim. But from they were empty she took control of them, it was through her that they managed to complete 100% of the domain region, they had mapped it out, but conquering it was another conversation all together. So it was Mary, Morwen, Tango and Bannerman. Actively working around leading different groups and retainers of some strength, trying to clear the domain and all its recesses and reaches. But all in all, they were busy with hard work. The daily duties of the domain had changed as they had become a stronghold, something about it had given more complicated tasks for those with higher status. Even Melle who was the head secretary of them all, was busy with running the literally living arrangements of everyone and everything. When the outpost got upgraded, so did she and she needed to add to her ranks to ensure all needs were met, but she worked like the AI. She was so meticulous, and she ran the black wing stronghold like an efficient company. She had come to Jazmel when he, Sad¨¦, Katie and Bannerman had been sitting in the stronghold main chamber. Where his seat of authority had been enhanced and strengthened, the hall hadn''t changed much, extending a bit further backwards and the steps up to his seat were stretched. But the seat remained the same and when he sat in it, the system energy almost buzzed with welcome. Melle had asked for an audience and when he had accepted she had come in and taken to standing on the other side of the step, opposite to Baek. Proof of how high her position was within the stronghold maybe. ¡°My Lord.¡± She started and he almost rolled his eyes, but Sad¨¦ and Baek had, had serious words with him. status was a responsibility of accountability. Him hiding from his title and status only belittled all the people who chose to follow him and support his endeavours, and so he needed to acknowledge his position and not shirk his role. ¡°Yes Melle, welcome. How can I be of service.¡± He said and he fought back the shudder he felt unfurl in his spine; he hated the formalities. But besides himself, everyone else seemed more comfortable with him when he carried himself like this. ¡°Congratulations on upgrading your outpost to a stronghold, many changes are occurring even now, as we speak. But not to worry, I have the means to my needs.¡± She explained and Jazmel nodded, thanking her. ¡°I have come about another task; another moment is at hand.¡± Melle said and something stirred in his stomach. He suddenly felt a little worried. ¡°What do you need from me?¡± he asked, and she smiled. ¡°We need you to name the stronghold.¡± She explained and the others sighed, Jazmel realised he too had been holding his breath, but as he looked around the room. He noticed the look of affirmation on Baek¡¯s face and Sad¨¦ seemed to acknowledge it too. ¡°But we have always called the outpost the black wing outpost? Why should I change the name?¡± Jazmel asked, perplexed. ¡°No, your faction who resides within the stronghold are the black wing faction and are members of follow the flag of the black wing. But a stronghold is much more than an outpost, in truth as we do not have the numbers we cannot call it a town, but the domain expanding with the stronghold, we could build a city here and a home needs a name. Something for the retainers to return to, but also to keep its name in their heart.¡± she explained and Jazmel had to admit, it made sense. ¡°I hadn''t considered this; I am not too sure as to what it should be.¡± He said, suddenly quiet and then a name came to him, fell between his lips and with a smile, it ushered out. ¡°I actually do have a name, we will call the stronghold, Moxores. The Moxores stronghold of the black wing faction.¡± He said and everyone looked at him, curious to the name but Baek knew, he always knew. He froze, trying his best to keep his emotions and Jazmel could tell not only he would be pleased with it. DING! YOU HAVE PICKED A NAME FOR YOUR STRONGHOLD! ¡­ ¡­ ARE YOU SURE? Y/N? WITH PICKING THE NAME, IT WILL PERMANENTLY BE REFERRED TO IT AS THIS THE GATE WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ENTER THE STRONGHOLD The system bid him, and that was a curious option for him, but he wasn¡¯t worried. No he had strong people present and even stronger people ensuring the safety of the faction. ¡°I will name the stronghold Moxores, after my mother¡¯s name and we will protect our domain. Once the gates reopen, seekers will be given access to the domain. It will be like a trades town.¡± Jazmel explained and the others began to discuss amongst themselves. ¡°We accept the name, and I will prepare trade spots and our wares for seekers.¡± Melle said with a low curtsy. DING! MOXORES STRONGHOLD OF THE BLACK WING FACTION HAS BEEN NAMED! THE DOMAIN BELONGS TO THE BLACK WING FACTION!! ONCE THE LABYRINTH OPENS AGAIN THE DOMAIN WILL BE ABLE TO BE ACCESSED! The system announced to all within the stronghold and Jazmel simply exhaled slowly. Whatever happened from now, he would face it with his friends. Book 5 Chapter Thirty; Clash of Clans DING! ALL GATES HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED! ALL NEW GATES HAVE BEEN INTEGRATED INTO THE SYSTEM! TIER V, VI AND VII CREATURES HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE LABYRINTH! WITH THE ADDITIONS TO THE LABYRINTH THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN MODIFIED! BOSSES HAVE BEEN INTEGRATED INTO THE SYSTEM! HERE ARE A FEW OF THE BOSSES THAT HAVE BEEN INTEGRATED INTO THE LABYRINTH BOSSES; SEEKERS SEEK OUT NEW QUESTS AND ADDITIONAL PLOTS!!! ¡­ The addition and integration of bosses was interesting. Jazmel had fought his share of difficult creatures and monsters. But the system hadn''t officially always referred to them as ¡®bosses¡¯ but now the system was modifying itself and explaining the presence of bosses and also the different types, which probably explained their difficulties too. The system announced the opening of all its gates, and everyone was standing excitedly at the gates. Everyone who was entering the labyrinth again anyway. Some were staying, the usual faces, such as Mary and Tango while they trained the fresh-faced retainers who chose to stay behind and train their stats more. Sad¨¦ was entering the labyrinth without Jazmel for the first time in a long time, he was standing to the side, waiting to see her off. She was nervous, he could almost smell it on her, but she wasn¡¯t anxious about going without him. No, the plot she had been given seemed arduous and complicated. But she was ready to go, she kissed his cheek, hushed words were spoken by the retainers who were lining up and waiting to enter after her group. But he didn¡¯t focus on anyone. ¡°Look after yourselves, come back if you need to, or send for help if you have to.¡± He told them as they entered the gate, she was going with a group of all girls and it wasn¡¯t like they were not all strong, they were all members of his faction he had to believe in them. Next up was the Braddon Hills group, it had been a whole month since the faction had heard from Lysander and the Braddon Hills faction. So Gelth was leading a team to go and support the reestablishment. Gelth, Gilmore, Wendy and Grace walked through the gate next, they were leading a contingent of troops, retainers who made up the mountain breakers, just under one hundred retainers who Gelth was the captain of. They saluted Jazmel as they passed, marching in firm formation. Next through was the trio that Jazmel had grown really fond of. Leno, Serafina, and Saif. They were extremely adaptable and had begun to really shine together. Seeker tier though they were, they all were extremely strong and flexible. Adapting to whatever the labyrinth threw at them, they had come to Jazmel a few days ago. Asking if they could enter the labyrinth together as a group to see how far they could go before having to return home. Jazmel accepted, ensuring that they would be careful and return before their safety was in question. He made sure Leno was aware of the consequences of if he played with their safety, but Leno understood. After that, it was just one more small group, before the faction troops would enter. Jazmel¡¯s group, it was himself, Myn who he had grown quite fond of from Tera Nema¡¯s group, Katie, and Bannerman. Baek would be joining them of course, but these four were strong enough to be entering the labyrinth as a four. Myn had come to Jazmel after they had all eaten dinner one night, asking if she could follow him into the labyrinth. When he asked why, she shrugged and simply said, why couldn¡¯t she. So he said yes as all the others had already banded together, it wouldn¡¯t be an issue and so she joined his small elite team. Jazmel stepped through and the first thing he noticed, were the statues. Three great stone statues stood over the gate he walked out from. Overlooking the see to the west as if they were standing guard over the entrance into their lands. DING! YOU HAVE ENTERED LUCIRIA! THE THREE JUDGES BAR YOUR WAY! BE JUDGED!! ¡­ Jazmel thought that was interesting, his hand strayed to his swords tucked into his belt, but he didn¡¯t draw any yet. ¡°Be careful.¡± He said and his companions all grew tense slowly. What brings you to the shores of Luciria. A voice asked, it was loud but calm, quite but authoritative. In truth, Jazmel¡¯s keen senses could not focus on where the voice was coming from, but everything in him told him it was the statues. ¡°I am following where the labyrinth sends me.¡± Jazmel answered, projecting his voice, and making sure he kept his fear in check. The labyrinth creates all paths, but what will you do in Luciria? The voice boomed out again, coming from both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. ¡°I will go where the gates take me, if it be a task, quest or plot.¡± Jazmel answered again, keeping his voice level. But also being as honest as possible. You have been judged, little dragon, you have been found honest, you have the integrity of a dragon. Make that hold you anchor, follow your heart at all times, it will be your lighthouse in the dark days to come. The judges have spoken. That was ominous, something stirred in him. not worry, no this was something different and his heart suddenly felt strange hearing those words, but the foreboding pressure he felt from the statues fell away like a summer breeze. ¡°That isn¡¯t scary at all then.¡± Myn said and Katie snorted as she laughed, it was a mirthless laugh and in truth, Jazmel could tell everyone was feeling the foreboding words. ¡°Let¡¯s move on.¡± Baek said, at the back of their small retinue, Bannerman took point. His wolf keen senses being the better of all in the group. ¡°Do you know of Luciria?¡± Jazmel asked Baek, who shook his head before smiling. ¡°I have not been all places in the labyrinth, with the changes the labyrinth has mentioned, I am not sure I even know the route it professes.¡± Baek explained and in truth, Jazmel wasn¡¯t surprised by his words, a lot had changed and Jazmel was starting to see; that a lot of it was to do with him. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°So we can also expect tier V monsters here too?¡± Myn said and Jazmel realised she was asking the correct thing too. ¡°What are you worried about; we have three master tier here!¡± Katie exclaimed, Jazmel rolled his eyes as she slapped him on the back and thumbed at Baek. She was extremely happy at hitting master tier, but Jazmel had also found out later, was she had also hit 100 in all of her stats, finally. She had found balance and though some where higher, tempering her body had allowed her to find balance between her stats. She had told him a while later that she had been given the ¡®anchored pendulum.¡¯ This was a special tempering that worked for her, now she could build up energy, not kinetic but something else. It was an energy from her chains being swung or moved around. They now could enter a frenzied state and discharge all along their length. Which she was immune to of course, but also she could charge them and keep that one burst for when she used a skill. This would amplify whichever skill she planned on using, her tempered body was serious and Jazmel could tell she was proud of both achievements. ¡°Myn how high are your stats?¡± he asked, and she looked at him, a little incredulous. ¡°I am in the high eighties at the moment, but my strength and intelligence have both hit ninety-two. Why?¡± she asked. ¡°Did you know that when you hit 100 in all stats, your body undergoes a tempering?¡± he told her, and she looked at him with disbelief. ¡°I promise its true, me, Bannerman and Katie have all undergone tempering.¡± He offered and she looked at them all to see if he was joking. ¡°Do you know how hard it is, to hit 100 in one stat. But now you are telling me you have done it in all your stats, how?¡± she said and Jazmel smiled. ¡°I cannot tell you how, or why. The labyrinth and the system has given us high risk quests and tasks.¡± He confessed and she looked at him, suddenly curious. ¡°We will help you to get to 100, just to show you it is true. But I think that¡¯s the point of the faction quests also, they give you extra stats to use. Do you have any spare stat points?¡± he asked, and she nodded, he smiled at that. ¡°Use those on the stats you struggle to gain points on the most. Bring them as close to 100 as you can, we will help you hit your stats.¡± He said and then that was what they decided, they began their journey inland, moving past the statues and entering the land of Luciria. Jazmel was enamoured with the beauty of the domain land they were in. It was a beautiful place, luscious land and greenery grew in abundance. Lush plains across all the land in great fields rolled over one another, as far as Jazmel¡¯s keen eyes could see. The fields were filled with ambient Mana, and it looked like a field of shy lit stars to his Mana sight. ¡°There is nothing around.¡± Bannerman said, he hadn''t been further than a few yards from them. But his senses were keen, keener than Jazmel¡¯s who tried his best to scout like him. But he just didn¡¯t have the aptitude for it. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going, something is bound to appear before us.¡± Katie offered and it was agreed. So they continued, inland, through the fields and on foot. They travelled beneath a hot sun, though it wasn¡¯t blistering; not instead it was just bright and a little hot. While a nice breeze from the sea washed the land ever so slightly, bringing with it the scent of salt. The fields moved with the coming and going of the breeze and it looked like the tall grass was waving to Jazmel and his party. ¡°Well this place is really beautiful.¡± Myn said, suddenly and though Jazmel had been thinking it, he hadn''t said a word. ¡°It truly is, most of the labyrinth is. Except something scary or nasty could be lying in wait anywhere and that is the problem.¡± Katie said, a little smile on her lips, but what she was saying was true. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, we are strong enough to do this. We can do this, whatever the labyrinth wants to throw at us, we will face it. together of course.¡± Katie said, and Jazmel was invigorated by her words. He was happy that she was actually doing so well and could even provide positive support to someone else. To Jazmel, it felt weird to have someone aside from Sad¨¦ with them. But he was making it a point to try and integrate more of the other members of the faction. Those who had taken the faction task and been made into captains, he wanted everyone to be able to work with everyone and that was something he had to incorporate himself. The fields seemed endless, and they had been travelling for almost half the day before Bannerman stopped them, he had noticed something but by the time he stopped them, Jazmel could hear something in the distance too. ¡°Something is happening ahead, seekers are fighting. Disturbing the animals as they hide.¡± Bannerman said and as he said it, Jazmel noticed the birds flying away from behind the field a few hundred yards ahead. ¡°Do we go and see or do we skirt around them.¡± Katie asked Jazmel, Bannerman was waiting to be told how to scout forward and Jazmel simply decided. ¡°Let us go and see what is happening, we will not show ourselves until we know what¡¯s happening.¡± Jazmel compromised and everyone acted accordingly. They moved silently through the fields, pushing towards the sounds and cries of battle. Soon words were being heard, shouted out into the air and Jazmel could tell that a battle was occurring, happening just over the field. Jazmel worked his way over the hill and when he reached the top. He crouched low and looked around to see what he could. At the foot of the hill, there was a battle occurring, but not by seekers against creatures. No, the seekers were fighting in amongst themselves. ¡°No intervening.¡± Jazmel whispered to his group, and everyone stayed still, but they prepared just in case. Katie letting her chains spool from around her wrists a little. One man was leading the fight against a larger group. But Jazmel could tell they were even, simply from how powerful the man was. He wore odd armour, it looked light and woven parts that had been tied together with leather straps, around parts of his body that might be awkward for him to defend. But he was fighting simply with his hands and feet, punching, and kicking. But the way his body was moving was so interesting to Jazmel, he was propelling the Mana around his body forcefully and using it to emit from his hands and feet only when he was striking. Creating a stronger punch or kick. It was incredible, he used it so masterful and Jazmel watched as he continued to do this and expertly so. ¡°That man can fight well.¡± Katie commented and Jazmel agreed. Pale moon mode! The man uttered, the Mana within his core flushed his entire body and Jazmel watched as the Mana he was using to push around his body and strengthen his strikes grew stronger. He then watched as his eyes were outlined, growing dark with pigment. The skin around his eyes is marked by deep, intense red pigment, almost as if blood has pooled beneath the surface. It radiates from his eyes in a striking, almost ominous pattern, extending outward in bold, crimson strokes that enhance the severity of his gaze. The red is not just a subtle hue; it''s vivid and contrasts sharply against the rest of his face, giving him an otherworldly and intimidating presence. He dashed forward, his speed suddenly doubled. He crashed into the first man. Driving his elbow into the man¡¯s chest and shattering his breastplate. ¡°Run! Abram has come!! Run away!¡± the other side, men in plate armour and thick knight armour. But Jazmel watched as they began to back track and retreat before him. They were doggedly pushing back and retreating, Jazmel listened to this and stayed where he was. Waiting to see what would happen. The smaller group with the strong leader stopped. They didn¡¯t follow the retreating group and when they had back tracked for a while the man turned to the hill and looked directly at Jazmel. He didn¡¯t move, he didn¡¯t even speak, he simply stared up to their spot. ¡°We have been found out.¡± Jazmel said and stepping from his hiding place. He began to descend the hill, Bannerman to his right and Baek to his left while the girls followed from behind. ¡°Who are you?¡± the man asked, his Mana was dense and covering them in a domain shaped like a sphere. But it wasn¡¯t oppressive at all. ¡°We are the black wing faction, my faction. We came by way of labyrinth gate.¡± Jazmel said, introducing themselves but withholding names. ¡°The only gate from that direction is the three judges and they never let anyone pass.¡± The man questioned, but then he simply stopped flaring his Mana, Jazmel felt it shrink away but the pigment stayed around his eyes and was there in case he needed to leap into action. ¡°If the judges have judged you, and you are still here. You cannot be on the side of the Confederacy.¡± He stated, he beckoned to his people, and they all relaxed after being so tense. ¡°Senju, get our people together. We are going home, recover the wounded and separate our dead. We need to leave before the carrion come.¡± He said, there was a young woman who was standing at his shoulder, she was shorter than him, though the man was taller than Jazmel. But she was shorter than him also, she had pale white hair, and she had tied it back from her face during the fighting. She carried a single longsword that she had strapped across her back, but Jazmel could tell she was wary of them and did not want to leave their leader at all. ¡°I am Abram, I lead the Northern Moon sect. this is my second, Senju and my worrisome, better half.¡± She sighed and blew away a strand of hair that had fell into her eyes. ¡°I am Jazmel, this is Bannerman, Baek, Katie and Myn. We are the black wing faction.¡± Jazmel said, offering a hand and Abram reached out and shook it. firm grip, strong but not trying to overpower Jazmel, he considered this and wondered what type of man Abram was. The pigment around his eyes had since faded and Jazmel could see he was relaxed now, not as wary as before. ¡°Would you like to return with us or go on your way?¡± he asked, surprising Jazmel. ¡°We will come with you if you have us. I would like to hear more about this confederacy that you are facing off with. Book 5 Chapter Thirty-One; the Northern Moon Sect The journey to the sect was remarkably interesting to Jazmel. Not only was it well hidden, but it was also difficult to reach. They crossed the fields; they passed through a valley which was covered in wards with barriers and talismans that could send an unwanted visitor out of the valley due to the wards and the different mental warding that would divert them and distract them from the true entrance. Next up was a winding river which only a few boats could sail down, there were five and three trips were made for all of them to reach the end of the river. Abram explained to Jazmel that the boats were arrayed in wards to follow the river and return to the beginning. So literally once the last person stepped off, the boats veered back into the river and headed back up to return to the side of the river they had entered at. Next they travelled through a subterranean jungle cavern, it was filled with trees and wildlife. It was like a jungle, no creatures or beasts were present throughout their entire journey and Abram explained how they used warding to block their routes off, so as long as they stuck to their routes. They were not likely to be troubled. They travelled like this for almost half the day, but it was over sooner than later. Because as they left the subterranean jungle cavern, nothingness opened up before them, but Abram stepped forward and directing Mana from his core into the palm of his hand, he pulled a single talisman from a ring he was wearing. He then placed it in the air, it hung there and then the talisman dissolved. Forming a doorway into the middle of nowhere. Abram led the way through, with Senju bringing up the rear. Jazmel stepped through, leading his party and the quiet but reliable presence of Baek also. When Baek entered, Jazmel took the time to look around and Katie whistled. A long whistle of wonder, which Jazmel found himself feeling, the sect after all was amazing. It was a sect, just like Jazmel had always imagined growing up. It looked like a temple, a shrine and a monastery for martial artists all mixed up in one great creation. The arrayed buildings were large, huge temples with deep set pillars to hold roofs up as well as wooden plinths to split corridors and rooms apart. It felt tranquil and peaceful to Jazmel, even breathing here made him feel soothed. ¡°Welcome to the Northern Moon sect, this is home for us. I will be right with you but let me ensure the dead are buried and the wounded seen to.¡± Abram said and Jazmel nodded, standing oddly with his group, and watching to see what would happen. DING! DOMAIN WIDE ANNOUNCEMENT! AS THE LABYRINTH ROTATES, CHANGES CONTINUE TO HAPPEN DAILY! LUCIRIA HAS TWO WARRING FACTIONS!! THE DOMAIN HAS INTEGRATED WITH THE UPDATE OF THE SYSTEM!! This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. CONGRATULATIONS NEW QUESTS HAVE BEEN OFFERED TO BOTH FACTIONS! COMPLETE YOUR QUESTS AND UNLOCK THE DOMAIN QUEST! DOMAIN QUEST REWARDS! That looked immensely interesting to Jazmel. He wondered if something like that was going to happen to his stronghold, it was in safe hands but to be sure he sent word to Mary about what he had just heard. ¡°That changes everything, we need to win this domain quest.¡± Abram said, Senju came running up and Abram and her spoke quickly going over the quests that had just shown up in their domains. ¡°Gather the elders, we need to speak with everyone now.¡± He said and she sprinted off, hurrying off to gather everyone. ¡°Stick with me, I will speak with you all. Let me just figure out the sect¡¯s next steps.¡± He said and Jazmel nodded. ¡°Take your time, we are just here to move through the gate anyway.¡± Katie said, waving Abram off, nonchalantly he smiled at her and turned to the sound of Senju returning with four others. Jazmel looked at her and she shrugged. ¡°What he is really handsome.¡± She said and Jazmel laughed quietly, did Katie have a crush? He didn¡¯t know how to react, but he was going to tell Sad¨¦ as soon as he had a moment. As the elders appeared before Abram. Him, Senju, and the others began to discuss their options, they obviously had received a list of quests, and they had to get them done as soon as possible. They mulled over it and then Abram turned to Jazmel and beckoned him over, he walked over with Baek and Abram began. ¡°There are four quests, we have four elders not including me and Senju. I think the domain boss will be released as soon as the quests are complete and once that is, I will go and fight the domain boss to try and win the domain access.¡± He explained to Jazmel, it sounded sensible. ¡°But you don¡¯t know if the confederacy will get the same quests, so you don¡¯t know how to plan for it.¡± Jazmel finished his thoughts and Abram nodded. ¡°That also is a big thing, but also we have no idea if the difficulty of the domain quests, will be much higher.¡± Abram pointed out and Jazmel agreed with him, considering. ¡°You need to send your four elders at each quest. Then you and lady Senju must act as roving groups, supporting whoever will need you and we will support you.¡± Jazmel offered, he turned to look at Baek who inclined his head and nodded his head slowly to show he approved. ¡°That makes sense, we will do that then. Me and Senju will lay in wait and whoever needs our help, we will act as reinforcements, be that against the quest or the confederacy.¡± Abram explained and nodding he considered his next words. ¡°We head out at first light; I know everyone will want to rush towards the quests. But we are nothing without preparation and resting is part of preparing. So put your teams together, gather your best. Get your items and gear ready, we all head out at first light.¡± He instructed everyone, the elders left after bowing their heads out of respect, Senju stayed and when the others had gone some. They spoke. ¡°Pick ten of your best and get them gear ready, I need you to be able to move fast and act quickly.¡± He explained and she nodded, Jazmel could see the ideas of whoever she was thinking of rolling around in her mind. She was about to leave but he grabbed her hand. ¡°Tell Hari, Kuro and Atana that they are with me.¡± He told her and she nodded, before departing about her duties. Abram turned to them and with a smile, he welcomed them officially into his sect, his home. ¡°Now let us see about getting you guys fed.¡± He said, flashing a smile and winking at Katie who suddenly grew really shy. Book 5 Chapter Thirty-Two; First Light Jazmel stretched, first light was early even for him. Jazmel was ready to go, he was itching to explore, adventuring was part of delving into the labyrinth, and he found himself really enjoying it. Besides the obvious risks and danger at all times, he was finding himself, he was figuring out his truth but also who he could be. He stepped out of the room he had been gifted; he had slept well on the futon, but he missed his own bed in truth. Jazmel took his silent time to prepare his mind and ready himself for the day. ¡°Early riser too huh.¡± He heard, he turned around and noticed Abram walking down the hall towards him. ¡°Sometimes, but you know how it goes.¡± Jazmel shrugged and he smiled in welcome. ¡°Foreign place? I can only imagine, but all the same. I thank you; I will make sure you guys are rewarded here.¡± Abram said and Jazmel nodded, thanking him. ¡°Can you tell me about the confederacy?¡± Jazmel asked and Abram suddenly grew serious. ¡°They came very quickly. At first it was just a few, sometimes larger groups. But they didn¡¯t do anything, for a while. Until we clashed over a quest, they attacked, and we lost a few, but I returned the favour with Senju and their leader, and I clashed, a powerful master tier. But ever since then it has been skirmishes and though we haven¡¯t fought again since then.¡± He explained. ¡°Is he strong?¡± Jazmel asked and Abram grew stern. ¡°She is the strongest person I have ever faced.¡± Abram said with a profoundly serious face. Jazmel wasn¡¯t shocked in truth, he had seen strong women throughout the labyrinth, even his own faction had great and powerful women. ¡°Good to know, not to worry though. We are here and we can pull our weight and then some.¡± Jazmel said, trying to comfort Abram, after all. The weight on the shoulders of a leader, could only ever be understood by another. ¡°We will see to it that you and your sect gain the domain.¡± Jazmel said and Abram smiled. ¡°Can I ask why you joined us and didn¡¯t even try to see if the confederacy were the better option.¡± Abram asked him suddenly. ¡°It was simple, they picked on the little guy, I hate when bullies try to quash everything with power. Plus when you defeated them and they began to retreat, you didn¡¯t chase them down. That told me you were not bloodthirsty. I can only respect that also.¡± Jazmel said and Abram looked at him with surprise. ¡°Your eyes see much lord Jazmel.¡± Jazmel stroked his own neck, suddenly embarrassed. ¡°I hate the title.¡± Jazmel confessed and Abram nodded knowingly. ¡°I hate the status, but better me who will give it my all than someone else who would do it for personal gain.¡± He said and that stirred something in Jazmel, he hadn''t considered it like that before. But he had taken the position as nobody else had stepped forward and now he was wishing he didn¡¯t. But he needed to take full control of it and stop hiding from his position. ¡°You are right.¡± Jazmel said and Abram merely inclined his head. ¡°Come let us get breakfast and see about the teams.¡± He motioned for Jazmel to follow him, and he led the way, between the rooms and corridors to a small kitchen. They had eaten a small breakfast and from a balcony in the main house building. Jazmel and his party watched as the sect was active with tasks. Members rushed around and focused on completing the different tasks needed to get the teams ready. Jazmel noticed the elders who were out and about, they were preparing to leave the sect and head off towards their quests. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Abram sat with Jazmel while his team members all sat waiting, ready and raring to go. Senju was down in amongst everyone, calling out things and members of the sect, were rushing around to do her bidding. ¡°She runs a tight ship.¡± Abram said as he and Jazmel watched her. ¡°I can only imagine.¡± Jazmel responded and he smiled, Senju made him think of Sad¨¦, he wondered how she was doing. ¡°Yes she runs everything, I am simply the face of the sect. Most members go to her with whatever they need, and she comes to me with the results. It is unfair, but she likes to maintain the optimum control of it all and so I leave it to her.¡± He said and Jazmel nodded, understanding. DING! DOMAIN WIDE ANNOUNCEMENT! ALL QUESTS WILL BECOME ACTVIE WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR!! THEIR LOCATIONS WILL APPEAR FOR THOSE WITHIN THE DOMAIN! PREPARE YOUR BEST!! ¡­ ¡°A map. Well that is new.¡± Abram mouthed and he looked anxious but trying to hold it in. Jazmel could imagine why, this domain was being offered as a reward and if Abram completed the tasks, he and his people would be safe. The first group left, the elder leading them towards the river and where an array of boats were waiting. She was leading a group of thirty and so the boats would have to make a few trips, but she seemed confident and focused. About twenty minutes after her, a second elder made for another exit. Jazmel didn¡¯t know where it led to, but she was leading the biggest group. Well over one hundred sect members. There were an assorted bunch also, archers, staff users and sword bearers. This woman man was brawny, and battle scarred, Jazmel could only imagine what his task was. But he smiled and sipped from a gourd, which told Jazmel he was used to this sort of situation. They left after about an hour, moving slower and with a much bigger group, they would have to take their time. Another group left soon after that, heading towards the river and the boats as they returned. This was a small group, literally ten members, including the elder. But Jazmel could tell they were seasoned, fiercely experienced members of the sect and rankers who had created names for themselves. Whatever their tasks were, it was being handled by some of the best and Jazmel respect that. He himself was questioning how he led his faction and who was in charge of what. He would need to focus more, he needed strengthen the entirety of his faction, but also the way the sect was so focused. Jazmel needed to consider a second in command. A vice leader. His obvious first thought was that he should choose Sad¨¦, but then again was that the right choice. Was he solely picking her because of his emotional connection, she was integral to the black wing faction. He knew it and she knew it too. But he wondered if that was the right choice, the added factor of her being a princess now also made the decision conscientious. He wondered about it and figured he would have to deal with that when he returned. The last elder to leave was leaving with just five members and the last member was a master tier. Her entire aura was so powerful it felt like gravity surrounded her. Jazmel looked at Abram and he smiled, knowingly. ¡°That is Tyla, she is one of our strongest members. Only young, but already master tier. Aside from me and Senju, she is probably the strongest member. I am working towards integrating her as an elder, a special one that can work solo or with minimal effort from others in support. But right now it¡¯s too early to let her go out alone.¡± Abram explained and Jazmel listened intently. ¡°I can see her Mana, she is strong.¡± Jazmel said, aloud but it was more for himself. ¡°Yes, she was born with a Mana heart, so she had more Mana than anyone her age. So she could only train and spar with those older than her. She has been entering the labyrinth as a child, within parties. So that is how she made it to master tier, she is a genius. One in a million.¡± Abram announced and Jazmel simply watched the teen girl curiously. He hadn''t thought himself a prodigy or a genius, he had worked hard to earn every digit of exp or every level he currently had. He knew that he had been lucky with certain plots and tasks, that the system had given him. But overall he had pushed and fought for everything. Nothing had come easy to him, but he admired that about himself. You earned the right to be here He told himself and he honestly believed it. ¡°When do we move?¡± Jazmel asked, suddenly itching to test out his new master tier body. ¡°As soon as we learn where we need to go. Senju will leave before us, to aid the elders and then when they have unlocked whatever they need to. We will get our task of the domain boss. Are still sure you and your party can help; this is your last chance to decline.¡± Abram asked, Jazmel could see the pleading in his eyes, but his face was stone straight. ¡°I gave you my word, we aren¡¯t going anywhere.¡± Jazmel said and Abram smiled after sighing. Book 5 Chapter Thirty-Three; Man Makes Plans and the System Laughs As soon as the last elder left, everything went to hell. Abram fixated on a corner of the sect and immediately grew fierce as the warded barrier cracked. He looked at Senju and she simply stared at him. ¡°Hold your position, we need you ready to prepare to reinforce whichever elder may need it.¡± he bid her, and she clenched her fists, but she stayed where she was, by the gate that exited the hidden sect. The barrier cracked, a multiple tendrils frayed the barrier, causing the rupture to widen and expand. The first thing to pierce the warding and appear was a creature. A big beast that was covered in thick scales and once it made it completely through, it roared a challenge. ¡°Great, a Gardigol.¡± Jazmel said and literally as he said it, more appeared. DING! THE DOMAIN HAS CHANGED AND WITH IT TERRITORIES TOO! A BROOD OF GARDIGOL HAVE FOUND THE SECT!! STOP THEM FROM CLAIMING IT AS A HOME! ¡­ Jazmel couldn¡¯t believe what he was reading, but he didn¡¯t hesitate and leapt into action. ¡°Black wing faction, go to work.¡± He commanded as he leapt from the balcony and rushed forward. Katie flung her chains out and swinging herself off the balcony. Bannerman leapt from the balcony and loped towards the group of Gardigol. Myn was the last to move but she wasn¡¯t too far behind Bannerman. After Jazmel had become master tier, he had unlocked a fifth skill slot. But he had sundered and merged Sunder and Raven¡¯s cleaving descent. So now he only had three skills, three immensely powerful skills. But he wasn¡¯t going to waste the chance at five skills. Sundering Raven! He yelled as he carved through a lumbering Gardigol. It didn¡¯t even have time to cry out, the grave numbing blade of Yoru No Tsubasa killed it and seared the wound as it fell in half. DING! TIER III GARDIGOL KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! +1 STR, +1 END, +1 VIT Jazmel felt his stats rise and he remembered due to the title he had gained from Solis. He gained two extra points for endurance and vitality. The Gardigol roared at the first of their brood to die, but Jazmel wasn¡¯t hindered, he simply strode forward with his sword and waited for the next Gardigol to rush him. Chained hydra! Nine different chains flared from Katie as she sprung through the air. She crashed into a Gardigol and using her chains she battered the Gardigol that was rushing towards her. Myn rushed forward, swinging her sword, and carving through the mighty scaled lizards as she earned her stats as she tried to grow with the party. Poison edge! Dark pink and almost purple slashes of Mana carved through the sky before they struck the Gardigols and Jazmel watched them cry out. Yelp in pain, they had been poisoned and it was quite aggressive, scaled skin sizzled and scales dropped off to those who were struck most deeply. Hail Another voice uttered and Jazmel watched as water rose from the ground and rose high till it looked like a lake in the sky, before splitting and dropping atop the Gardigol¡¯s in a rain of Mana formed raindrop of force and power. Howl Bannerman roared, the Gardigols shuddered and slowly turned about to try and get a look at him. But Jazmel and Abram did not let them. Flaming Evisceration! Pale moon mode! Wood Golem, dragon! Great rumbling dragon! Jazmel carved his blue flame swathes through the air and Gardigol after Gardigol fell. The pigment burned into Abram¡¯s face as he cast his skill. His Mana jumped up and Jazmel watched as he clasped both hands and a golem sprouted from the ground in the form of a dragon. Just as Jazmel¡¯s own Mana dragon formed around a maw roaring a challenge and crashed through the charging Gardigols. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. DING! X5 TIER III GARDIGOL KILLED! +2 STR, +2 END, +2 VIT +3 INT, +6 WIL ¡­ BOOM BOOM BOOM ¡°That sounds friendly.¡± Abram grumbled as the sounds of oncoming threats appeared. DING! TIER IV GREATER GARDIGOL BROOD QUEEN APPROACHES! ¡­ ¡°Still having fun?¡± he heard Abram shout as he leapt onto the back of his dragon golem and rushed towards the rupture into the barrier one large, scaled hand reached through, then another pushed through and literally tore the barrier asunder. Jazmel watched in horror as the biggest Gardigol he had ever seen. She was huge, the muddy coloured scales of the others had been replaced by thick black scales that covered every inch of her body. She walked on her hind legs, unlike the other Gardigols and Jazmel could see the clutch of eggs she was holding in a sack beneath her tail. ¡°Bannerman and Myn, make sure those eggs don¡¯t hatch on us.¡± He yelled and watched as his friends split off to do his bidding. ¡°Hari, Kuro you need to hold the barrier.¡± Abram commanded and his two left to stand guard. ¡°Katie, harass her, see what you can do to take her mind off of destruction.¡± Katie smiled and using a chain, she propelled herself back up into the air. ¡°Abram just me and you.¡± Jazmel said. ¡°The heavy hitters.¡± Abram smiled and it was true, the others were dealing with the remnants of the other Gardigol and couldn¡¯t focus on the new threat. and as always, Baek simply watched. Only interceding if they really could no longer handle what was in front of them. Wood golem! His dragon made of mud and rushed towards the Gardigol brood mother. She met him stride for stride roaring her wallow of pain as she crashed into him. great arms of Mana formed, and Abram began striking at her repeatedly as the golem dragon tried to restrict her movements and constrict about her. She broke free, Abram was knocked off the dragon and surprised just by how strong she was. But Jazmel was there to support and Paldane had crawled up onto his shoulder once he heard all the ruckuses. Flaming Evisceration! Aeonic blast! Both flame attuned skills hit her, blasting her with black and blue flame and then carving her flesh with the grave numbing blade made from death and cold iron. She stumbled backwards, stunned, and shocked by just how powerful those skills were. ¡°Aim for her top.¡± He bid Paldane who soared into the sky and roared his introduction. ¡°A dragon?¡± Abram said as he stumbled back into the fray, bruised and a little bloodied. ¡°A companion.¡± Jazmel explained, Abram conjured another golem, and had it rushed forward in a loping gallop. Paldane soared through the air, pestering the brood mother with torrents of flames. Katie had swung herself up to sit on the back of Paldane and now she was using him to lash her chains against the Gardigol. DING! CONGRATULATIONS! THE EGGS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED ¡­ TIER IV GARDIGOL BROOD MOTHER HAS SUCCUMBED TO RAGE! As this was being said, the Gardigol threw her head back and roared. It was a wail of anguish, her eggs had been cracked, broken and the unformed bodies within the yoke were disfigured and ingested. But she was crying at the loss and the continued attacks. TIER IV GARDIGOL BROOD MOTHER HAS SUCCUMBED TO ANGUISH! She was growing, or she was about to. Her monster core was fluctuating with energy and her Mana was embroiled in drastic changes. ¡°Watch out!¡± he yelled just as a beam formed from her open maw and tore through the skies. Luckily Paldane veered out of the way and the beam that the brood mother had evoked. Literally tore the skies, another large whole in the barrier. She had changed, the brood mother seemed to be evolving in such a way that Jazmel wondered if she was going up a tier. ¡°We have to defeat her now!¡± Jazmel yelled. Aeonic blast! Paldane scorched her from above, her scales took the brunt of it, and she yelped in pain, but she couldn¡¯t reach him. Great rumbling dragon! He sent another dragon made up of Mana into her, but she simply stood sturdy against his attack. Abram crashed a golem into her, it slithered up her legs and locked them in the ground with its own body. Abram conjured another wood golem, and this one restricted the other limbs. ¡°I can only hold her for a moment! Get your skills in!¡± Poison edge! Water piston! Savage! Purgatory! Poison slashes riddled her body, seeping beneath her scales and bubbling beneath the skin. She wailed and cried out, but the brood mother was stuck where she was. Water jets hit her, striking her so fast it was as if steam propelled them. Jazmel watched as the pistons continued to hit her and one even cracked a segment of scales high up on her shoulder. Myn leapt forward and bring her sword in a focused strike, it was as if she was tapping the brood mother, the strike formed from the movement though. It looked like a large grim reapers sickle, blood orange and black as night Mana, it hit her in the gut and stuck, find a chink in her natural born armour. Purple flames formed into three pillars, and they spiralled as they closed in one another. But when they reached the Gardigol brood mother it actually, burned its body and then the pillars rushed in and joined together forming one big pillar literally consuming the brood mother. She screamed in pain, cried, and wailed but the flames of purgatory simply burned even brighter. When she whimpered and the flames had begun to dwindle before extinguishing. Jazmel knew she was not long for life. ¡°Jazmel take it!¡± Abram yelled, sweat dripping from his brow as he used his Mana and will to hold the tier IV Gardigol in place. Sundering Raven! He leapt up, bounding as high as he could and as he soared past her. He decapitated her, taking her head off and landing a ways behind her as the head dropped with a thud and the body soon fell behind it. DING! YOU HAVE STOPPED THE TIER IV GARDIGOL BROOD MOTHER! ¡­ YOUR SECT HAS PERSERVERED AND WILL REMAIN!! ¡­ THE REPAIRS WILL COST HALF THEIR USUAL ESSENCE!! ¡­ ¡­ DING! +3 STR +2 END +2 AGL +2 DEX 1+ PER Book 5 Chapter Thirty-Four; Man Makes Plans and the System Laughs II Before Jazmel could even catch his breath Abram was already moving past him, doggedly but he was hurrying back towards the inner layers. Jazmel drank a stamina potion, the fight had taken it out of him, he rarely used all of his Mana. simply put, the tyrant body allowed him to replenish his stores whenever he wasn¡¯t using them, same for stamina. But mentally he still felt the taxation of the usage, that was what was drying him out now. But he got up, a little beleaguered but strong enough to follow in the footsteps of Abram. ¡°We have to go; I need to go. But you have to stay here, they need reinforcement, and I need you to wait for when the domain boss comes.¡± She said, worry was written all over her face, but she was saying less than she wanted. ¡°We know what we are tasked with.¡± Jazmel offered and she looked at him, first it was like she was going to tear into him, but then it was a pleading look. She was worried. ¡°None of us know what a domain boss is or what it is capable of.¡± She confessed and Jazmel felt what she was saying. ¡°We will face it nonetheless, we have to.¡± Abram said, his voice soft and soothing. ¡°Go.¡± He urged and after one honest look, she hurried through the barrier exit and her and her troop were gone. Abram turned to the others and after checking that everyone was alright, he entered the main hall where a large stone tablet had been erected. Jazmel was about to ask what it was, but when he looked deeper, he could see the steady system energy flowing through the tablet. It was the seat of power, the central node of the sect. it interested him to know that it could take the form of other things, after all. His was an actual seat of power, but this one was a tablet that had runes or lettering on it that Jazmel could not read. ¡°I need to repair the warding.¡± Abram said over his shoulder, Jazmel could tell that this was a sign of trust for Abram, he was showing Jazmel where his central node was. It was his font of authority within his sect, and he had just shown some strangers. Before Jazmel could comment or ask anything further, another domain wide announcement churned through their minds, systems, and ears all at the same time. DING! THE DOMAIN BOSS HAS REVEALED HIMSELF!! GENGHIS CLANIS OF THE HERD IS CHARGING THE FIELDS!!! DEFEAT HIM AND GAIN CONTROL OF THE DOMAIN! BUT IF YOU ARE DEFEATED, HE WILL GAIN ACCESS TO THE DOMAIN! BEWARE!! ¡­ ¡°Well that was quick.¡± Katie said and both Jazmel and Abram looked at her. ¡°What? The system didn¡¯t say the quests need to be completed, just that they need to be engaged. Now we know where it is, let¡¯s go and hit it and make it cry.¡± She said, only in the way Katie could speak. She shyly looked away when Abram smiled at her, but Jazmel was just enjoying seeing this new side of her. ¡°Let us go, it has shown up on my map.¡± Abram said, Jazmel didn¡¯t have access to the map, he wondered if it was because he wasn¡¯t part of the sect. But it didn¡¯t bother him, he was happy to just follow Abram and his team anyway. ¡°Again, no idea how strong a domain boss is. But I imagine it will probably be around tier V.¡± Abram said, and he studied all of their faces to see how they would respond. ¡°Oh, we have had our fair share of those. Trust me.¡± Jazmel said and Abram looked worried, horrified and then he nodded. ¡°You will have to tell me about that later on.¡± Abram said. ¡°Provide the ale, and I will share the stories.¡± Katie said, shouldering past the two and standing in the centre of the courtyard of the sect. ¡°Now how do we get there?¡± she asked, leading the team it would seem. ¡°I will summon a beast that can carry us all.¡± Abram said, pulling a talisman from within one of his rings. He pierced his finger and with a drop of blood he activated the talisman. Holding it between his index and middle finger he cast it into the air. It burst into a shower of sparks and a piercing cry tore the air. The barrier above shimmered and a four-winged thunderbird descended. It was huge, bigger than the one they had fought in the havens. It cooed gently when it spotted Abram and he motioned for them all to clamber on. But Paldane climbed from Jazmel¡¯s collar and bounding from his shoulder, he leapt down and transformed into his true size. ¡°Looks like I got my own ride.¡± Jazmel said with a smile. ¡°Follow me then.¡± Abram shouted as the thunderbird leapt into the air and rose through the barrier and up into the skies. Jazmel followed behind on Paldane who was pumping his shoulders, using his wings to catch the uplift from the thunderbird and access the wind thermals. In mere minutes Paldane was above the thunderbird, he weighed less after all and so it took him less time to break through gravity¡¯s clutches. Abram led the way and Paldane gleefully flew, using the wind stream and the wind tunnels to glide and twirl in the air. He was having fun, in truth Jazmel enjoyed the flying too, but it was so dangerous if he ever fell. He chose to stay on the ground more. While they flew he looked back through his items, he was thinking of using a skill token. He currently had the master tier skill, and he cracked the token open, letting the skills intent meld into him. Shadows engulf your blade when you swing it, and you move at the speed of the absence of light. In some instances you will be able to move between the shadows of your enemies. So agile will your sword be, it will become a wraith in the night. Shadowing Wraith is the skill, be careful to not let it taint your heart. For the dark takes just as much as it gives¡­ And just like that he was back on the back of Paldane, his hair bristled by the high winds they were using to fly. Jazmel felt cold but the absolute warmth wafting off of Paldane¡¯s body was enough to combat the cold of the skies. It also helped that his body very rarely suffered affliction or affects from environmental causes. After his species or race change, it was as if his body ran at peak condition and due to that, he almost always felt hale. DING! YOU USED THE MASTER TIER SKILL TOKEN! THE SKILL YOU HAVE LEARNED IS SHADOWING WRAITH (TIER III) AS YOU USED A MASTER TIER, THE SKILL WILL BE MAXED FROM THE BEGINNING! IT CAN ONLY EVOLVE IF SUNDERED OR MERGED! ¡­ That was interesting, he had another skill slot, also but he wouldn¡¯t force a skill into that. No he wanted to consider his options. whenever they returned he would ask colin. In fact, he was going to bother him now. Raising an origami swan in his hand, he clutched it and tried not to crush it up there in the wind streams. Colin, I hope you are well. I have not seen you in a while, well I am requesting you do some shopping for me; I need you to buy as many ranker and master tier skills as you can. The faction will need it, buy as many good quality skills as you can, and we will reimburse you. I am delving at the moment and do not know when I will return, so if you get to the faction before me. Just seek out Melle, she is in charge of finances and resources. After he sent that, he took a moment and then conjured another to send to Melle. I have sent colin a request to buy us skills, ranker, and master tier. Set aside some of our coins to reimburse him, but if he will. Offer trade with some of the loot we have received from our members and retainers. He sent the second one too and it fluttered through the wind and disappeared with a burst of Mana. ¡°We are nearly there!¡± Abram shouted over the chorus of wind that blew all about him, but Jazmel heard him. Taking a moment, he looked about him and saw a steppe filled with horses, herds, and herds of them. they were galloping around, and huge dust clouds were being evoked. But Jazmel could see through those still and he could see the Mana embroiled in the very being; the nature of each and every horse that was charging around in the steppes. Then mixed amongst them at first he thought they were riders, but then he noticed that their bodies were connected. Half man and half horses were riding in amongst the herds and almost herding them in different routes that would ensure they didn¡¯t collide with others. Out of the swirling dust, the largest of them emerged. His entire human torso was encased in thick armour, covering him from head to toe. His powerful, muscular horse legs were protected by greaves, and on one side of his equine body hung a quiver filled with arrows as long as spears. On the other side, two spears and a heavy lance were secured. He gripped a sturdy wooden bow, its string taut, with an arrow poised between his fingers. Though a helm obscured his face, Jazmel could see his eyes¡ªand in them, he found nothing but pure, seething hatred. But Jazmel was compelled to keep his glare, and he didn¡¯t look away, even when the great horse man drew his great bow and shot an arrow the size of a spear at them. DING! THE DOMAIN BOSS HAS DECLARED HIS CHALLENGE! TIER V CENTAUR GENGHIS CLANIS HAS RUSTLED THE HERD!! TIER V STEPPES LORD HAS SHOWN HIS ANGER!! ¡­ The arrow shot past them and Jazmel didn¡¯t have to dodge, but the wind changed around them as the long arrow shot past them. ¡°We have to fight that?!¡± Myn said and the others seemed to mirror her thoughts. ¡°And them.¡± Abram motioned as a group of seekers rushed onto the steppes. Jazmel looked over them and there was he could see just what was bothering Abram. In amongst the confederacy was a single master tier and she was so strong Jazmel could see her Mana from high in the sky. ¡°Paldane we need to land.¡± He called over the whistling winds and Paldane slowly began to descend. The master tier was literally floating across the grounds. Jazmel could see the way the wind melded around, and her Mana it was as if it were carrying her. her conceptual control of her Mana was so extensive that she was barely using any, but it was enough to allow her almost complete control of the wind that surrounded her. ¡°She is strong.¡± Jazmel said as he descended and he could see Abram had no joy in his face, he was not looking forward to clashing with her, and yet he was prepared to do just that. Paldane landed and then climbed back in the sky, the others had landed too, and it wasn¡¯t long before the steppes were thundering with the sounds of thousands of hooves. ¡°The horses and the centaurs are under the influence of the centaur!¡± Abram shouted over the charging horses. ¡°We need to get to the centaur and stop that master tier from getting them before us.¡± Jazmel said. ¡°Paldane!¡± he called his dragon companion again, there was no way through the herd, besides over it. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°I am going to commandeer myself a horse.¡± Katie said, she unfurled her chains and as a horse charged her she literally leapt over its head and lashed her chains about its throat and snout. She was firm but also gentle. The horse bucking and rearing trying to remove her from its back. But Katie had such grace and dexterity that she was able to stand in the saddle and then still rein the horse in. ¡°We will deal with the centaurs, clearing you a path. Come on Myn! Puppy follow behind us!¡± Katie said, as she hoisted her Myn up to sit behind her. ¡°Follow their lead.¡± Abram said to his people, and they made their own provisions, trying to tame horses as they rushed around. ¡°Look out!¡± Baek shouted, Jazmel almost missed it but dodged to the side as an arrow the length of a spear shot past him. ¡°Oh he¡¯s happy to see us, is he.¡± Jazmel said, suddenly annoyed that he had to be told to dodge. ¡°Let us go and greet him then.¡± Abram said, the pigment forming on his face, his Mana jumping up twofold. Wood golem dragon! He called his skill and from beneath him a dragon formed, larger than before and thicker in the limb. It began to bound forward and rush towards the armoured centaur. Paldane swooped low and Jazmel leapt up to land deftly on his back. When he settled he watched as Baek simply followed them, bounding seamlessly across the tops of the horses as they charged. It was so graceful, that it reminded Jazmel of stones skipping across water. Baek didn¡¯t even look disturbed, his poise was so upright it was as if he was going for a walk through a garden. A centaur bounded towards Jazmel, though he was flying atop Paldane. They were flying low. It shot a volley of arrows at him which Paldane simply turned to cinder with a spray of fire. Shadowing Wraith! Jazmel was warped, from the swinging of his blade. in the split second of his movement he was behind the centaur appearing from its shadow as he emerged and his strike, draped in black Mana; dark Mana struck. And the strike was deadly, his sword flashed with the absence of light and a mark of his slash was all that could be seen. For his sword made no sound and he watched as the wounds, his strikes left black streaks across the human chest and the horse flanks of the centaur. That one move had taken almost a fifth of his Mana, even as he felt it slowly replenish. It was the first time one skill had cost him significant Mana drop like this, and he grinned almost maddeningly at the strength of the skill. Shadowing Wraith! He used it again, feeling the vertigo around his stomach as he lurched through the shadows and leapt, through the air swinging his sword and beheading the centaur as moved past it through the swinging of his blade. DING! TIER III CENTAUR ARCHER KILLED! +2 STR +3 PER +3 DEX TIER III RED HARE STRING BOW COLLECTED! He didn¡¯t even have a chance to look at the bow he had been gifted by the system. Other centaur archers rushed him, Paldane scorched the earth, and many ran in abject fear. The steppes ablaze caused some part of their horse side to take over and the centaurs dispersed in anarchy. Before they could rally and attack him again though, Katie and Bannerman were there. Bannerman leaping through the air, obsidian claws glinting in the daylight. He carved through the ranks of centaur. Katie used one chained hand to maintain the reins of her horse and she was using the other; her free hand to cast chained skills at the centaurs as they ran from the flames Paldane had spewed. Myn ride behind her, using her sword striking at any free purchase she could find. She was after acting as the cavalry rider here. ¡°Go ahead! We can hold them here!¡± Katie yelled above the thousands of horse hooves across the steppes. Paldane rushed forward, forming his wings about his body making himself smaller. Jazmel clung to his body, hands around his neck as they shot across the land towards the domain boss. DING! TIER V CENTAUR GENGHIS CLANIS USES VOLLEY OF THE VALLEY! HUNDREDS OF ARROWS TRY TO BLOT OUT THE SUN!! Jazmel couldn¡¯t tear his face away from the body of Paldane who was flying through the herds, centaurs, and volley of arrows. I cannot dodge all of them! Paldane sent mentally. Jazmel could tell, the wind was being repeatedly changed from the arrows as they burst the domain. He couldn¡¯t even see where they were going anymore, but he trusted him. That woman is doing something to the wind! Paldane sent him, and before Jazmel could do anything. Paldane turned about sharply, sending him flying before the ground and just as he was about to land, hard and maybe injuring himself, Abram atop his wooden dragon was there. ¡°Need a ride?¡± ¡°Oh please don¡¯t say that.¡± He said back, but in truth he was happy to see the sect leader. All good? He sent to Paldane and Paldane didn¡¯t respond but from above he scorched the steppes sending the horses and centaurs in a flurry. ¡°She controls the wind; I think it has something to do with her race!¡± Abram said as the wood dragon bounded forward. Jazmel couldn¡¯t question it, he surely still looked human himself. But here he was, a tyrant species or something of the sort. ¡°Whatever she is, we need to defeat the centaur before she does.¡± Jazmel expressed. Divine winds! To their surprise, she sung her skill, letting the melodies sail across the air and into the winds. Calling up a gentle storm that carried her higher into the air. The centaur must¡¯ve felt the change because it turned on her and drew its large bow against her. Wind sprite They watched as she literally turned to mist and then floated above the centaur. Wood golem dragon! Abram conjured another wooden dragon, and it rushed forward trying to constrict around the centaur, but he didn¡¯t sleep. He crashed forward and before the wooden dragon could clutch onto it, he pulled a spear from his flank and stabbed through the mouth of the dragon and wrenched it upward, breaking the golem apart. Shadowing Wraith! Sundering Raven! Jazmel leapt into the fight, warping through the large shadow that the centaur created, he blade flashed twice. Once, completely blackened and carving through the spear shaft. The second blackened also, but angry with red burst of Mana. that strike struck the armour and bludgeoned it before knocking it back half a step and sending Jazmel somersaulting through the air. DING! GENGHIS CLANIS HAS ACKNOWLEDGED YOUR THREAT! BE WARNED!! That wasn¡¯t good news. He thought to himself. But he didn¡¯t run, no he simply evaded and dodged the spear jabs from the centaur, and he almost got away but then it drew its lance and struck at him. He tried to evade it, but the lance tip was different to the spear¡¯s and as it collided with the edge of his sword, it exploded. DING! STATUS CONDITION WARNING!! 40% HEALTH! BLEEDING (major) WOUNDED (major) WARNING! Ouch He groaned; the pain was awful. He hadn''t noticed the Mana surrounding the tip of the lance was different and now he suffered for it. He had been blasted away, knocked out of the area bounds and now he was bleeding quite a lot. He drained two potions and let his body use the magic in them to restore itself. he didn¡¯t stop to check the system; no he had no time. He had to get back into the fight. He rose up, aching but feeling his body knitting back together. Abram and the wind user were locked in a duel, fighting one another whilst also fighting the centaur. Great rumbling dragon! Jazmel slammed his skill into the ground and a dragon rose from beneath it, rushing the centaur and knocking it off its feet. Flaming Evisceration He struck out at the wind user, and she tried to use the wind to send his skill awry. But his skill was locked into its trajectory, she seemed surprised but not slow enough to miss throwing up a shield of wind to block the strike. She glared at him now; he simply brought his sword down to his side. Waiting and she didn¡¯t disappoint. Advent of the sky! A spiral formed above her hand, and she threw it like a javelin at Jazmel. Learning from his mistake, he darted forward, avoiding the skill and as it landed where he had been, he watched as the ground warped in the form of the spiral. Sundering Raven! He slashed through the air, and she dived out of the way, she almost cast another spiral. But Paldane appeared above her descending like a falcon and streamed blackened blue flames atop her. Aeonic blast! She screamed, caught in the sudden torrent of fire, she was burned but she darted forward. Literally skipping on the winds. She pulled from her ring, a lotus flower and scrunching it, she let the gel drip from her palm and onto her back. It soothed her wounds it seemed, but she turned on Paldane who was already ascending. Sundering Raven Flaming Evisceration! He let two skills go, she dodged them both, but it allowed Paldane enough time to escape her. ¡°Stop interfering!¡± she screamed, enhanced by the winds. ¡°No.¡± he simply said. She dived at him, rushing on a small tornado about her lower half. Advent of the sky! Advent of the sky! Advent of the sky! She pelted the ground with her attuned javelins. Jazmel dodged one, the second one missed him. But the third one hit him and though he had tried to parry it, it burst atop him and the violent storm it unleashed on him. He suffered under its unrelenting focus. STATUS CONDITION WARNING! ¡­ ¡­ CONDITION UNKNOWN! HEALTH BELOW 20% ¡­ HEAL NOW! This was the lowest that Jazmel¡¯s health points had ever been. But before he could feel it, he took a moment to drink a potion, he felt worse. He drank another and felt his body fighting alongside the potion¡¯s powers. Jazmel drank a third and he felt his skin replenishing itself as it rejuvenated. His chest had been shredded by the wind javelin she had used. He didn¡¯t have the spare Mana to repair his clothing. So he didn¡¯t, he struggled up to his feet. Watch out! Paldane yelled into his brain. He winced at the shout of another voice in his mind, but he leapt up and moved. Even though his body was wrought with aches and pains. Some centaur archers had broken through and were sending volley after volley of arrows in his direction. Katie and Hari had made it through. But they were not fast enough to stop them. White heron Baek appeared, he simply waved a sword, a new one. After the last had broken with that final strike of his. He was using a new simple Jian sword, he deflected the arrows and simply stood with his back to Jazmel. ¡°Go.¡± Was all he said and Jazmel rose up, pushing himself to rise to his feet. The woman, the wind user of the confederacy was fighting the centaur again and throwing barrage after barrage of spears made up of little windstorms again. Abram was trying to block her, but she was high above. Come get me. Jazmel called after Paldane, and he dropped down and plucked him from the ground. Are we going for the boss? Paldane asked. No, we are going for the wind user, I owe her. Jazmel responded over their shared thoughts. Aeonic blast! Flaming Evisceration! They sent their skills together and she couldn¡¯t even block as she was busy holding off a volley of arrows from the centaur. When she realised what had happened, she turned and tried to conjure up a shield, but the skills were too strong. Strong enough to burst through her hastily conjured wind shield. Her shield broke, burst asunder and then she lost her hand for it, the blue flaming swing of his sword cut through her forearm. She screamed. Just as Abram had conjured three dragons of wooden golems. They crashed into the centaur, restricting, and constraining it. Moon¡¯s edge He cut through the armour with a hand slash, he took an arm. The centaur roared tried to break three, but the dragons held him firm. ¡°this is my home!¡± Moon¡¯s edge! Abram cast it again and the armour breastplate fell away, cleaved in two. ¡°This is where my people reside!¡± Abram yelled, his pigment blood red and fierce, while his wood golems held the domain in place. DING! BE WARNED!! THE STEPPES LORD IS ENRAGED! ¡­ He broke free, but Jazmel was there too. Shadowing Wraith! He crashed into the back of the centaur, stabbing deeply into its stomach. ¡°Abram!!¡± ¡°I am already there!¡± Pale moon mode! Abram pooled all his Mana into his left arm, his forearm and he punched into the face of the centaur. It was as if a hammer had struck the centaur in the face. It fell back, the back of its skull exploding with such force, skull fragments burst free like shrapnel. DING! DOMAIN BOSS DEFEATED! NORTHERN MOON SECT HAS DEFEATED THE DOMAIN BOSS!! TIER V CENTAUR GENGHIS CLANIS KILLED!!! ¡­ Abram landed on the body of the centaur as it crumpled to the ground. He was about to begin considering the loot, but he didn¡¯t get a chance yet. The woman from the confederacy was flying towards them with a storm beneath her. One hand raised and the other to the side, a bleeding stump. ¡°REMOVE ALL MEMBERS OF THE CONFEDERACY FROM LUCIRIA.¡± Abram shouted and immediately she disappeared, teleported to some random space inside the labyrinth. DING! THE NORTHERN MOON SECT HAS TAKEN DOMINION OF THE DOMAIN! REWARDS FOR THE SECT SHALL BE OFFERED!! ¡­ ¡­ CALCULATING! ¡­ Jazmel watched as Abram seemed to begin going over his system interface. He turned to his own members and saw everyone hale and whole. Hours had passed and everyone was in the safety of the sect, which was due to undergo great changes after. Jazmel had watched as Abram was rewarded with three mithril chests. He didn¡¯t bother to watch what was inside, none of them were for him after all or his party. But they were to continue their delve, after all this was just there first stop. It didn¡¯t matter that they had spent nearly four days here. Jazmel was ready to move on anyway. ¡°We wish to thank you for your help.¡± Abram came over, shadowed by Senju. Who had become nicer to Jazmel now that her worries had been eased. ¡°No need to thank you, anyone else would have done the same.¡± Jazmel said, as he sat beside Baek and Katie who were eating and drinking tea. ¡°You really believe that don¡¯t you?¡± Abram said, a look of surprise on his face. ¡°I have to, I have to believe that somewhere in the labyrinth there are others who think like me.¡± Jazmel confessed with a shrug. Abram studied his face for a moment and then laughed. ¡°I get that, and with the help you gave, we have hope too. But now we have secured the domain. The sect has work to do, we need to grow stronger so nothing like that can happen to us again. we have solid work to do.¡± Abram expressed and Jazmel nodded while looking around. ¡°Work is work, hard or easy.¡± He said simply. ¡°Will you stay?¡± Abram asked, but his eyes told him he already knew. ¡°Nah, we are leaving at first light. We didn¡¯t earn anything here; I got a few stats but that is it.¡± Jazmel said and Abram went to reach into his ring, but Jazmel stopped him. ¡°You need all your rewards, get stronger. Solidify your home and use it to help those who will pass through. The next time we meet, at your sect or my home, both of us will be better for it.¡± Jazmel said and they shook hands. DING! MASTER TIER I ABRAM OF THE NORTHERN MOON SECT HAS SENT A REQUEST! WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCEPT? Y/N/? He accepted and Abram smiled at him, a grin forming. ¡°Well, let us see you off in some style. Bring out the wine! Put more food on the fires!!¡± he called over his shoulder to his people. Jazmel smiled and followed him closer towards the spit roast. Tonight they would dine and tomorrow morning they would enter another gate. Book 5 Chapter Thirty-Five; Darkened Days and Deadened Ways They stepped through the gate, cheerful and happy with the links they had made. Katie had even managed to form a friendship with Senju, which surprised Jazmel as they seemed so different. They stepped through the gate and immediately Jazmel¡¯s gut told him something was wrong. Terrible wrong, he drew his sword and it sung. Happy to be unsheathed and dread filled him because he quickly realised where he was. DING! YOU HAVE REACHED DEATH; YOU HAVE ENTERED IT¡¯S EMBRACE BEFORE DYING! CONGRATULATIONS!! ¡­ +5 END He looked around and saw that his friends had clearly received the same notice. ¡°We should not be here.¡± Baek said and Jazmel could see for the first time just how serious Baek¡¯s face had become. He himself had become a master tier recently but he still didn¡¯t feel like he was strong enough to face Baek yet. Something about the old man just made Jazmel know he couldn¡¯t handle any of his strength. SCREECH! A creature shrieked and everything about the screech told Jazmel it was because they had been found out. ¡°We need to flee.¡± Baek said, drawing his sword, he flared his Mana. much further and denser than Jazmel had ever witnessed, Baek was far stronger than Jazmel had previously realised. The gate they had used had been had literally been the face of a cliff and now that it had disappeared. They had nowhere to go, before them heavy footfalls approached and everyone got ready, but the stench of fear was so great that Jazmel couldn¡¯t believe it. From the dark, the abject dark, a creature lumbered forward. It was easily the biggest creature Jazmel had seen. It was larger than the greater ifrit they had fought. But also much stronger, he was completely oppressed by its aura pressure. There was literally nothing he could do about it. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. It was faceless, a literally head with no features beyond a gaping maw with too many teeth, and also too wide. It was a gargantuan size and yet it crawled on its hands and feet as if a wretch. In the darkness, Jazmel could see that its skin was pale as frost and the sickening Mana erupting from its core and towards them. was causing the fear. DING! BASTION OF THE TYRANT IS TRYING TO CREATE MOMENTUM! ¡­ ¡­ BASTION OF THE TYRANT HAS FAILED! ¡­ GROW STRONGER TO STRENGTHEN THE BASTION! ¡­ Thanks, thanks for sharing that with me. He thought and Jazmel honestly almost cursed the system. Shadowing Wraith! ERROR! What?! He exclaimed in his head. DING! THE AURA OF THE CARDINAL OF CARNAGE HAS PREVENTED YOU FOR ENTERING THE SHADOWS! TIER VII CARDINAL OF CARNAGE HAS CUASED ABJECT FEAR! ¡­ ¡­ STATUS CONDITION! WARNING! ABJECT FEAR (major) HEALTH STAMINA MANA SOUL HAVE ALL SUFFERED AND BEEN CRIPPLED WHILE BENEATH THE GAZE OF THE CARDINAL! ¡­ ¡­ Jazmel could do nothing as the creature lumbered towards him and his friends. He simply could only watch as it moved forward to pick between his friends. Stellar strike! From the darkness a myriad of colour burst from the dark. A rainbow slash that had been seven strikes that struck as one. Beheaded the cardinal from behind and it fell before Jazmel, the ichor spewing from his neck. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± a woman said. She hopped up onto the body of the cardinal and sheathing her sword; a long sword so grandeur that Jazmel suddenly felt like his own were terrible imitations. She was staring down at them with disdain and irritation. She was a white woman, her cheeks were rosy, and her eyes were golden, the irises glinted in the dark. She had earrings in that were like small shards of diamonds, but they were holding massive sources of Mana. she peeked at Jazmel and considered him for a moment. ¡°You are a new master tier right? Death shouldn¡¯t have allowed you in so quickly. Others in your party are not even master tier, the structure of the labyrinth is falling apart.¡± She uttered, growing more irritated by the second. She noticed Baek and considered him for a moment. ¡°You might have survived alone, but I cannot in good faith say you will all make it on your own in here. I do not believe you can find a gate on your own.¡± she uttered. ¡°I am sending you out, do not return to death until you can handle a tier V on your own or you are all master tier.¡± She scolded them. She drew her sword and slashed the air behind them. a doorway opened and a vacuum followed, sucking them into it. she stayed to watch them disappear and just as Jazmel was about to disappear into it, she turned away. Book 5 Chapter Thirty-Six; Considered a Close Call They fell through the vacuum and within minutes, they had been dropped off into another gate. But not in a safe space. The abrupt gate had opened above a lake, they dropped into it all atop each other. Except Baek of course, who simply righted himself in the air and skipped to the side where land was. Jazmel swam to the surface and then swam the short distance that brought him to land. DING! YOU SURVIVED YOUR FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH A TIER VII +5 WIL YOU SURVIVED DEATH! +5 END ¡­ Jazmel felt a trickle of system energy. His stats had risen but he wasn¡¯t feeling quite proud at. After all, before that cardinal of carnage, he had not been able to do anything before it. stricken in fear. ¡°Well that was shitty.¡± Katie said, as she coughed up water and crawled up to lay beside Jazmel. ¡°I have never been so scared in my life.¡± Myn uttered, and Jazmel peeked; to see she was wiping away more than just lake water from her eyes. ¡°I thought we were going to die.¡± Bannerman rumbled. ¡°Death is unlike anywhere else in the labyrinth.¡± Baek surmised for them all. ¡°Death is the toughest place ever; it is said to defy the rules within the labyrinth. Some who have died and end up in death, are said to have the chance to earn their way back to the living. But few have ever managed it.¡± Baek explained. ¡°Who was that woman.¡± Jazmel asked and all the others agreed, curious about her. ¡°I cannot say, I do not know every strong person who exists within the labyrinth. All I know, is that very few and I mean less than twenty seekers ever survive without some form of backing. But those that do, they are astronomically strong. She felt like a master tier, but I could be wrong. She might be a monarch, whatever the strength of that is.¡± Baek said and Jazmel listened with focus. ¡°You should all remember that feeling, that dread. Because at any moment something like that can happen and you need to be ready. Ready to face your fears.¡± Baek chastised them all and waited for them to rest before they could all move on. Jazmel lay there and took a moment to consider what had just happened. Baek had been able to move, but not so much as to face a tier VII being. The woman had told them that they needed to be able to handle a tier V creature on their own. Jazmel had fought tier V before, but never alone. He had to consider how strong he would need to be to face off against that tier. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Rest and we will move forward.¡± Baek said, standing guard over them all. DING! YOU HAVE WASHED ASHORE OF THE BARREN ISLAND! HEAD INLAND WITHIN TEN HOURS! THE BARREN ISLAND WILL BE ATTACKED AND YOU MUST SURVIVE THREE DAYS! EACH DAY THE CREATURES AND BEINGS WILL GROW STRONGER! GOOD LUCK!! ¡­ ¡°There goes our rest.¡± Katie groaned as she pushed herself up onto her feet. ¡°Can we find somewhere to build a camp before we are attacked.¡± Myn moaned, crawling up to her knees and clambering to her feet. ¡°Bannerman, find us a base.¡± Jazmel asked and he was on his feet in a minute, moving with strained speed as they all recovered from their time in that unsanctioned gate. But they trudged on, moving quickly as their bodies tried to recover. They each took to potions, Mana, and stamina to help them recover quickly. Jazmel didn¡¯t touch any, after all he needed to make sure his body was functioning as normal again. Following the harrowing pace that Bannerman was keeping. They were inland within the hour, master tier and high tier rankers were able to move extremely quickly and Jazmel was using the moment to exert all his energy on movement. His tyrant body literally burning up his lactic acid in his limbs and using it to force him to move quick, and faster than before. Soon he was quite literally on Bannerman¡¯s heels and catching up to him. Two hours passed and the land turned into woodlands, forestry. Trees grew in abundance and soon they were moving through the woods, past beasts, and monsters too low tier for them to even bother hunting. It took them three hours to reach a settlement. The few people who were present were barely people at this point, they were sickly and weak. They looked like they had been fighting a desperate battle and now the remnants of a people remained. ¡°Who are you.¡± An old and crippled man asked, using a long stick to hold himself upright. ¡°Seekers.¡± Jazmel offered, and the man steeled immediately. ¡°You come to steal what is left.¡± He said and Jazmel looked around confused. ¡°We haven¡¯t come to steal anything; we didn¡¯t even know about this settlement until we got here.¡± he said but the man wouldn¡¯t accept his words. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s happened here. talk to me.¡± Myn said, moving forward slowly. She seemed the more approachable one of their current group and the man eyed her but was a little less irritated by her. ¡°You seekers come here, steal all our supreme bodhi pearls and leave us to fend for ourselves!¡± he yelled, then the tears came and Jazmel sympathised. He was just a man trying to protect his people. ¡°Myn find out what happened.¡± ¡°Bannerman hunt them down some food, bring back whatever you can.¡± ¡°Katie scout the area; the quest will happen soon, and we need to prepare here as best as we can.¡± Jazmel handed out tasks, his people got to it. Bannerman sprinting out of the settlement, which was a little more than a few shacks together penned in by a lowered fence of bamboo shoots. ¡°Come elder, let¡¯s see if we can get you some healing.¡± Baek said, appearing before the older man. He offered his hand, and the man took it for support, while Myn helped him. The others of the settlement, which turned out to be just ten people. Hid in their shacks and remained as such for the time being. ¡°Paldane, scout from the skies.¡± He said and Paldane huffed smoke as he crawled out of his snuggle spot. But he didn¡¯t complain, simply leapt into the air, and changed into his full size and casting his shadow for a second before zooming into the air. ¡°then there was just one.¡± Jazmel said to himself, suddenly preparing himself for battle. Book 5 Chapter Thirty-Seven; the First Few Days Baek and Jazmel stood at the ¡®entrance¡¯ of the settlement as they awaited the system¡¯s first scheduled attack, and it came with earnest. The small settlement within the island was tucked into a cove of sorts. A large stone grotto covered the back of the small space the settlement had been erected in and so they could only be attacked from the front. But they had suffered nonstop from these relentless attacks, as they grew stronger each day, they had lost many of their people. DING! THE FIRST DAY WILL NOW BEGIN! STAND FIRM!! ¡­ As the system, chimed into activity, Jazmel and Baek stood. Swords drawn and prepared for bloodshed, first the area had grown silent and nothing but the sounds of wind moving through the trees about them could be heard. But then the sound of something approaching could be heard, the sound of hundreds of feet approaching at the same time. A group, a large group was coming and Jazmel could hear them all approaching at a quickened pace. The first one he saw was a giant crab, it was his height, their eyes level, its black beady eyes held a sentient gaze. It simply hungered for the flesh in front of it. there was nothing specially about the crab beside its size, one of its claws was much larger than the other, it was almost like a shield and the way it ran towards him. it used its bigger claw like a shield to guard itself, but before Jazmel that meant nothing, especially with a sword¡¯s keen edge, The first crab to reach him, slammed down its bigger claw and tried to bash him into the ground. He was faster of course, leaping to the side and cleaving through its three legs on the right and dodging its smaller claw which it used like a pair of scissors, snipping at him. he cut through that; blue blood pooled from the wound, but its nasty mouth just chittered some more. Shadowing Wraith! He paid the cost in Mana to activate his skill, disappearing into the shadow of the crab and stabbing down into the space where he assumed the brain existed. It chittered one last time before crumbling before him, the bulk of its body hitting the ground with a dull thud. DING! TIER III SHIELD CLAW CRAB KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ He gained a trickle of exp, and he nodded, it was getting harder to level up. He needed tougher fights, tougher opponents to garner the stats and exp he would need to advance. ¡°Stay back and let me handle this.¡± He said over his shoulder, Baek didn¡¯t respond but Jazmel knew he had heard him. ¡°Yes young master.¡± Jazmel rushed forward, diving into the Melee and letting his swords skim through the weak chitin of the crabs. He was untouchable before them, they were slow while he was swift, they were weak where he was strong. Soon the ground was bloody with blue ichor and Jazmel was covered in it, unhappily so. DING! X56 TIER III SHIELD CLAW CRAB KILLED! EXP ACCRUED EXP ACCRUED +4 AGL +2 DEX ¡­ He felt the system energy creep in, first to his exp which was little more than a trickle. Then to his stats, which went to his speed and balance. It was true, when he danced in amongst the crabs, it had been like he was moving on the wind, he was too fast for them and they were beneath him, objectively he could handle a tier III on his own and easily. DING! YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE CRABS, BUT THEIR LEADER COMES! TASK BOSS TIER IV GUNNER SHRIMP! ¡­ Jazmel scanned the screen but didn¡¯t need to read anymore, the shrimp burst from the trees and skittered towards him on tens of limbs. The shrimp was coral blue with markings of red splotches covering its chitin. It was bigger than the crabs, dwarfing Jazmel in size. Eight legs; four on either side. It had thick chitin covering its entire body, it was curved to cover its body and just the top of its legs. It could curl in on itself, to protect itself from harm. The biggest surprise where the two front claws, they had been changed, they were no longer claws and instead. They were like two waterspouts that had evolved to look like canons. THUM! THUM! The waterspouts shot water at Jazmel, he evaded one and ducked behind the corpse of a crab to survive the blast of the other. The first one shot awry and hit a tree, breaking it through the trunk. The second one hit the crabs and blew up the corpses, shelling the area in corpse debris. So the waterspouts were gun like and could shoot water. That was good to know, but Jazmel hurried forward, hoping the shrimp would need time to reload. Great rumbling dragon! He swung his Mana dragon maw about and sent it sailing through the air at the shrimp. It did something Jazmel was shocked to see, it curled up and let the Mana dragon crash into its coral bule chitin armour. A few scratches but no true damage, it unfurled itself and rose up again, one of its canon claws ready to fire again. Aeonic blast! Paldane appeared from above just as the task boss was about to fire on Jazmel again. Scorched earth, it chittered; which to Jazmel. Sounded like a scream, but it shot its canon at Paldane instead who swooped down low and let it miss its mark. Sundering Raven! Where it had stretched upward to strike Paldane, it had left its body open, a chance Jazmel would never miss. He slashed his most aggressive skill into its underbody and legs flew where the skill literally blew up against its underside. DING! YOU HAVE INJURED THE TIER IV GUNNER SHRIMP GRAVELY! IT IS NOW ENRAGED!! BEWARE!! ¡­ TIER IV GUNNER SHRIMP USES MEER KRIEG!!! ¡­ Jazmel saw the words flash on his system screen whilst he watched in real time. Water began to pool from out of nowhere, it pooled all around the giant gunner shrimp and soon the ground was filled with pools of water. Jazmel could taste the sea salt and brine in the air. The gunner shrimp had conjured all this water and was using it to continuously reload after shooting cannonballs of water all around. One hit Jazmel square in the chest and he yelped in pain. DING! STATUS CONDITION WARNING! SEARED SKIN (minor) HEALTH NOW BELOW 80% The water had been shot with such ferocity, that it had burned his skin. He grit his teeth as he crawled to his feet that one shot had taken a little more than twenty percent of his life. He needed to get in close and kill this shrimp now. Can you give me some cover? He sent to Paldane. Yeah let me just not get shot out of the sky first. Paldane grumbled back and Jazmel bit back a grin. He pushed forward and rising up, he ducked and dodged between the corpses of the crabs to reach the shrimp which was now shooting at everything. Langdrin¡¯s lark! The roar/wail that Paldane could use, seemed to stymie anyone under the effects of it. the shrimp faltered for a second, a half a second. But during this time, Jazmel had hurried forward, pushing from cover to catch it while it was aiming at Paldane. Shadowing Wraith! Sundering Raven! Jazmel lurched through the shadows, the dark paths he was now travelling during battle. He appeared underside of the shrimp and running towards the front of it. he let his skill burst free. Stabbing into its underside and dragging the blade up, towards its antennae and chittering whiskers. The chittering became a warble of agony, and it fell to the ground, leaking blue ichor into the pools of sea water of its own making. Jazmel stabbed his sword into its head; twisting and wrenching the blade to make sure it was dead. He breathed free and looking around at the grounds he sighed, he had defeated a task boss on his own. that made him smile a little, only a little. DING! TASK BOSS DEFEATED TIER IV GUNNER SHRIMP KILLED! ¡­ ¡­ EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! ¡­ +3 INT +2 AGL +2 END ¡°You can come out now!¡± he yelled, and the people of the settlement came out from their hiding, with his friends entail. It had been agreed that his friends would stay and support the survivors. If Jazmel needed it, he would call for them and they would rush out to his aid. It was only the first day, but he was sure it would be nothing short of this sort of thing. DING! CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING THE FIRST DAY! YOU MANAGED TO DEFEAT ALL THE CREATURES ON YOUR OWN! THAT SHOWS GREAT VALOUR! YOUR REWARDS AFTER THE QUEST WILL SHOW THIS! BE WARNED, THE SECOND DAY¡¯S DIFFICULTY HAS INCREASED DUE TO YOUR ABILITIES! A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡­ Well that¡¯s not scary at all. Jazmel said to himself. ¡°Settlers take what you can from the corpses, pick what you need first for your recovery and anyone close to a tribulation should prepare too. I know eating from fresh corpses can add stats or exp. So I would advise you do that now.¡± Jazmel summarised to them all and they hurried in between the crabs corpses. Trying to pick and pull the chitin away to get to the meat. ¡°We will help.¡± Myn said, pulling Katie away as she began to move forward. ¡°Did you see the second day warning?¡± Jazmel asked Bannerman who had stayed behind. ¡°We just need to face whatever the labyrinth has in store for us.¡± Bannerman said and he really meant it, Jazmel could tell from his cool expression that Bannerman was ready for whatever came. At first light, the black wing faction were already in the throes of battle. Fighting off the attacks from the shield claw crabs as they burst from the woods and obviously the seas. Hurtling across the ground towards the settlement. Savage! Myn yelled as her sword scarred the heavy chitin of a shield claw crab. Their numbers had tripled and now Jazmel and all his friends were fighting to keep the crabs out of the settlement. Baek had stayed behind, as the last line of defence. Ensuring that Jazmel and his friends could defend the survivors in their settlement. Chain fang! Katie had ridden atop Paldane and from above she was raining down chain strikes atop the crabs relentlessly. They chittered and skittered before her onslaught but could do nothing to defend from her attacks. Aeonic blast! Blackened flames, tinged with blue, charred the crabs burning them up and covering the ground in flames that burnt everything it touched. DING! COMPANION HAS LEVELLED UP! ¡­ Wolf hunt! Bannerman was burst through, rushing between the crabs. Crushing with his claws and also slashing legs and spaces between the chitin. They suffered before him, he was just too nimble, they couldn¡¯t handle him or his skills. Jazmel himself was dancing between the crabs and letting his sword carve through them, he hadn''t used skills yet. He was preserving his Mana for the next boss that might appear. ¡°We got company!¡± Jazmel heard from above, as Katie swooped past him as she flew around. Following her notice, she beckoned to behind the crabs which had appeared in the hundreds. By three gunner shrimps that appeared behind them. Jazmel quirked a little at this, they hadn''t even been announced which meant they weren¡¯t even the task boss for today. ¡°Each of you take a shrimp. Myn I will support you if you need it!¡± he yelled over the fights, but there was no need. Paldane had landed atop one of the shrimp, crashing into it and crumpling the chin as he bit down on its throat and savagely tore its head off. Bannerman and Katie had already split off to handle the shrimp that was left. ¡°Never mind that, the crabs are yours.¡± Jazmel ordered, currently Myn was the weakest of them, and she needed to catch up, quickly. Savage! Smash! She swung her sword cutting through the crabs near her, using that same momentum, she crashed her sword into a singular crab, the chitin burst from the weight of her skill and blade. bursting apart like shrapnel. Pieces shot afar hitting other crabs. Slice! Her skills were sword inclined, nothing spectacular but all prepared for close combat. She would never be able to handle a long-range enemy. She would need to sunder and merge her skills soon. ¡°You need to merge your skills; do you have any skill tokens on you?¡± Jazmel said as he danced around the strikes of a really slow crab as it tried to get to him. ¡°I have a few, but I haven¡¯t really had a need to use them just yet!¡± she exclaimed in the middle of her battle. She wasn¡¯t being overwhelmed but he could tell her Mana wasn¡¯t able to keep up with all the battles she was currently facing. But he could see her stats were going up, they were trickling in, and her body was jumping with system energy every moment. He could literally see her Mana core surging with inflections. DING! THE TASK BOSS APPROACHES! TIER V SEA KING GARDIGOL APPROACHES! ¡­ finally. Jazmel thought. Myn cried out and Jazmel looked to see her Mana core almost jumping in her stomach. She was shuddering and jerking, Jazmel peered into her and saw that her Mana core was broiling as it spun in her centre! Jazmel was happy to see it for her, she was going through a tier tribulation. but it couldn¡¯t have come at a more terrible time, but he couldn¡¯t leave her there. In truth it was a little strange to him, sometimes the system forced a tier tribulation onto them. but then at other times it would allow you to undergo it when you had time to do it. it seemed to vary and today just happened to be one of those moments where too much Mana and system energy was thrumming within Myn. Sundering Raven! He leapt high, bounding above the battle and raising his sword he stabbed it into the ground causing all those in a wide radius about them to erupt with his aggression. DING! 22X TIER III SHIELD CLAW CRABS KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ the trickle of system energy grew a little, just twenty-two crabs had created a small flow. He needed bigger and more dangerous prey to really get his rewards. He landed beside her, and she was shuddering, jerking from the pain of her body needing to undergo a tier tribulation. She was going through it, and he knew what that pain felt like himself. He scooped her up, gently holding her up and leaping from the ground he rushed towards the settlement and to where Baek was. ¡°Look after her while she tempers and if she is up for it. she can join back in after.¡± He said handing her over to Baek, who took the young girl from the arms of Jazmel. He turned and sprinted back into the fray, his sword floating as he killed and culled any crabs that were working their way towards him. The Gardigol sea king was large, huge even and Jazmel could tell it was strong. It looked like a gargantuan Komodo dragon that had evolved to thrive in the sea. Where Gardigols were usually thick and scaled over muscles. This one was slimmer, streamlined for the sea and yet big enough to overshadow the shrimps that they had fought. The Gardigol looked around, shaking its head and the frilled spines that ran along its spine. It let loose a cry, a guttural rumble in its chest as if a challenge. As to which, Paldane responded. Roaring from above and challenging the would-be draconic thing. Langdrin¡¯s lark! The Gardigol stunted, its limbs stopped moving for a moment. But then it shook its lumbering head and screeched. Jazmel moved forward, towards it just as Katie had wrenched free one of the canon claws of her gunner shrimp. Howl! He heard and looking over he saw Bannerman standing with his head back and his chest bared. Roaring his victory, when he had finished, he looked over and Jazmel waved him away. ¡°Clean up the crabs, they are yours. Get your levels up if you can.¡± He said and Bannerman departed, tearing through the remaining crabs. ¡°Katie when you are done, help Bannerman! leave this boss to me!!¡± he yelled, he wasn¡¯t even sure if she heard him. but now wasn¡¯t the time to be considerate. He drew his sword, Furyu comfortable and cool in his grip. As he moved towards the Gardigol, it peered down at him and studied him; cocking its head to get a good look at him. Jazmel could see the man within and so he dodged easily as the bristled tongue shot out of its mouth like a chameleon and tried to latch onto him. It crashed into the ground and shattered the chitin of an already dead crab. It shot out another one and Jazmel parried it with his blade edge. The sound that came was as if metal met metal, he glanced at the sword and noticed something at the tip of the tongue, it looked like a dirk, a dagger of sorts. But the tongue retracted quicker than he could look properly. It was about to shoot it again when Paldane crashed into it from above. Roaring as he used all his claws to attack; clawing and slashing at the Gardigol sea king. Jazmel leapt into support, stabbing, and slashing with his sword. the Gardigol screeched, wailed in pain but out of annoyance and not actual pain. Jazmel could tell, he barely found any purchase into the scales. Sundering Raven! He struck with his skill, using the weight of his blade and the strength of his skill to smash the snout and face into the ground. The Gardigol seemed jarred by that, it opened its mouth to try and cry out. But Paldane grappled at its head and rammed it back down into the ground with enough strength to crack the ground. DING! THE TIER V GARDIGOL SEA KING UNLEASHES ITS WRATH! ¡­ Jazmel saw the system notice before it happened. The Gardigol lurched up, shirking off Paldane from its back and crashing him to the ground and beneath a taloned paw. It threw its head back and roared, Jazmel watched as the Mana bubbling in its throat burst free; enhancing the roar and making it reverberate all around. DING! TIER III SHIELD CRABS ARE NOW IN A STATE OF FRENZY! THEIR STRENGTH HAS BEEN INCREASED SLIGHTLY! ¡­ Jazmel watched as the system screen flashed with new updates. But he was locked in this fight regardless. Sundering Raven! Sundering Raven! He smashed his sword into the Gardigol again and again. it suffered; the skill was strong after all. It tried to bite down on him, but then cried out and yelped. Looking down, Jazmel saw that Paldane had freed himself by breaking the finger of the claw holding him down. He then wrenched it as he moved from beneath the Gardigol. Flaming Evisceration! His flaming skill burst from his blade and slashed the face of the Gardigol. It was shocked by just how bright the fire beside its face was. Jazmel stabbed into its face, scarring across the eye. It popped and the goo splashed onto him and nearly into its mouth. The Gardigol cried out and then snapped at him, catching him in its mouth and crunching down on him. but before it could even fully get him in its mouth. He crashed his vambraces together, his armour forming around him quickly. It crunched down and though its teeth didn¡¯t pierce his skin; it cracked his armour in many places. Then he smelt himself; cooking. The enzymes inside the Gardigol¡¯s mouth were trying to break him down and as it snapped down on him again he cried out. DING! STATUS CONDITION WARNING! TOXIC INUNDATIONS (major) BROKEN BONES, MULTIPLE (minor) HEALTH BELOW 50% HEAL NOW! ¡­ ¡°I know!¡± he shouted at the skill more than at anything else. But how was he going to get out of the mouth, he almost didn¡¯t even have to do anything, the Gardigol spat him out after a moment. He dropped to the ground and rolled for a moment. But when he forced himself up, he looked up to see Paldane digging both of his front legs, limbs into the eyes of the Gardigol blinding it permanently. Aeonic blast! DING! AEONIC BLAST HAS RISEN A TIER!! As the system announced its upgrade, the blast became an even stronger torrent and Jazmel couldn¡¯t help but witness just how strong the skill had become and he stepped forward, his body riddled with pain and aching from his bones. Sundering Raven! Flaming Evisceration! He struck up slashing towards the sky with his first skill, his second skill slit the throat of the Gardigol and caused it to try and back off from him. DING! SUNDERING RAVEN HAS RISEN A TIER! ¡­ ¡­ FLAMING EVISCERATION HAS RISEN A TIER! ¡­ Flaming Evisceration! Sundering Raven! He crashed his sword into the side of its head, the Gardigol was wavering, it tried to nip at him; snap him up into its mouth again. But his flaming sword scarred its mouth burning its tongue as it cut through it. he spun around, using the momentum of his previous sword skill and using sundering raven, he smashed into a downward chop and broke the Gardigol¡¯s skull and killed it instantly. DING! TASK BOSS TIER V GARDIGOL SEA KING KILLED! YOU HAVE DEFEATED ANOTHER TASK BOSS!! TIER V GARDIGOL SEA KING BEAST CORE GAINED! YOUR REWARDS WILL BE ENHANCED AT THE END! ¡­ EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! ¡­ ¡­ LEVEL UP! +3 STR +2 INT +2 DEX CONGRATULATIONS! Jazmel took the moment to breathe, his body was paining him, and he could feel his wounds tingling under the sweat from his own pores. He drank a health potion and then another, the system grabbed at the potent potions quickly and forced it about his body, healing him. he then drank a Mana potion and used it to repair his clothes and armour. He knocked his vambrace together again and let the armour disappear into his ring. Jazmel crumpled to the ground, sitting with his head between his knees as he breathed slowly and let his body heal. He could chug more potions, but he didn¡¯t want to rely on them so much, he only took them in dire situations. Right now he was focusing on repairing his clothes and armour with his own as well as ambient Mana. He took the moment to look at his stats, it had been a while after all. Name: Jazmel Level: 101 Species: Tyrant* Rank: Master tier I Class: Sword Scion Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT) Tempered body; Domineering tyrant Health: 7010/7010 Stamina: 4792/4792 Mana: 4480/4480 Soul 3950/3950 STR:204(+5) PER:205 VIT:197 END:204(+3) INT:194 WIL:201(+7) AGL:182 DEX:187 Skills: Title(s): THE ARDUOUS PATH (PERMANENT) FIEND BANE (ACTIVE) BEASTIAL BYAKKO SENSES (PASSIVE) TYRANNY OF THE TYRANT DRAGON (PASSIVE) SERPENT SLAYER (UNACTIVE) DEMON SLAYER (UNACTIVE) AWAKENER (PASSIVE) BASTION OF THE TYRANT (PASSIVE) Unused Stat points: 0 442X PLATINUM COINS 782X WHITE GOLD COINS 4X GOLD COINS Item(s): TIER I GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE TIER I MAGELLANIC MEMORY MOULD TIER I 10 YEAR MANA GINSENG 2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST X5 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER FANGS X9 TIER II ROCK SALAMANDER SKIN X10 TIER II BRUTE BOAR TUSKS X10 TIER II GREATER MANA POTIONS X7 TIER II GREATER HEALTH POTIONS X10 TIER II GREATER STAMINA POTIONS TIER II KEY TO THE GARDEN OF THE AESIR TIER III TUNIC OF TUMERIN X8 TIER III GORGON SCALES TIER III GORGON HEART TIER III MOON LOTUS FLOWER TIER III BOG HAG MUCUS SAC TIER III SWAMP WITCH MIASMA POTION X4 TIER III ACIDIC SCORPION CARAPACE PIECE TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE TIER III RED MASK TIER III LAMP OF LELUTHIAN TIER III ARMOUR SET OF THE NIGHT WING TIER III SKILL EVOLVE TOKEN TIER III ALCOLI THE GHOUL CORE TIER III GARGAUNTUAN SABRE OF CULLING TIER III LION HELM OF ADVERSITY TIER III RUNE OF THE ART OF THE SWORDPLAY TIER III LEVEL UP TOKEN X2 TIER III SWORDS OF THE SHIELDMAIDEN TIER III DOUBLE CORE SCHEMA TIER IV DREAD HERETIC CORE TIER IV CAVE BEAR BONE TIER IV SHADOW ADVENT CORE TIER IV SWORD SCHEMA TIER V ANGELLUM SPEAR TIER V GARDIGOL SEA KING BEAST CORE RANKER TIER SCOURGING SCARAB RANKER TIER TITLE OF THE DRAGON SONG MASTER TIER ASHES OF THE FALLEN MASTER TIER SONG OF THE SUNDERING MASTER TIER BLOOD CORE MASTER TIER ARMOUR SCHEMA MASTER TIER RUKH SONG MASTER TIER SKILL TOKEN MASTER TIER SWORD TOKEN SIX WINGS OF THE FALLEN VALKRYIE COMPANION: NIGHT DRAGON LEVEL 10 PARTY: 5/5 BAEK LVL 115 His species still had that asterisk next to it. he also had an empty space for a skill, he would need to rectify that soon. His stats had grown substantially, he was getting close to 200 in all stats too. He didn¡¯t know what would happen then, reaching 100 had tempered his body. He was curious to see what would come next if anything would. Book 5 Chapter Thirty-Eight; the Final Day Just like the days before, the system sung with activity at first light, and everyone had to focus their efforts on dealing with the enemies that poured into the small valley before the settlement. DING! X500 TIER III SHIELD CLAW CRABS INCOMING! Things were different now though; the survivors had gotten to a place where they were nearly hearty. They were only ever going to get better if they garnered real life experience to raise their levels so they might make it deeper into the seeker tier. The old man, the spokesman for the survivors was only seeker tier I and nowhere near tier II. So the night before, while they were planning their plan of attack for the final night. The survivors had come out and asked to be allowed to defend their home too. At first Jazmel refuted this, telling them they were too weak as to which they really were. But they were adamant about pulling their own weight, explaining that they should all be fated to do as they will, they were denizens after all. And so it was decided that they would also play a part in the final battle left to them by the system. Baek and Myn would stay with the survivors, making sure that they survived the battle. Myn was going to lead as the vanguard and Baek would provide support and defence while the survivors of the settlement, clean up the fringes of the battle. Hundreds of crabs rushed into the settlement, crashing across the ground, potholes, and mounds all around from the previous day¡¯s battles. ¡°Katie and Baek! Don¡¯t get too caught up in the crabs, kill as many as you can but wait for the gunner shrimps. I want you to focus on those when they appear!¡± he yelled over the raucous sound of hundreds of man-sized crabs rushing across land towards them. Paldane had stayed out of his collar, preferring to fly before the battle. He came down now, descending like an angel of death. He scorched the ground, killing many of the crabs, while also damaging and injury many. DING! X4 TIER IV GUNNER SHRIMPS INCOMING! The next creatures to appear were the gunner shrimps. Four appeared and Jazmel immediately focused on what he would have to do. Paldane I am going to need you to take one on, on your own. he shared between their shared mind. I will handle it. Paldane rumbled into his head. Katie was slinging her chains around her gunner shrimp. Trying to stop it from shooting at her while trying to make sure the stray shots didn¡¯t go behind her and hit those who were behind her. Bannerman had gotten in close; the shrimp couldn¡¯t lower its claws towards the ground and so instead it was trying to squash him with its body weight. As to which, he was deftly avoiding. Using his claws to gain purchase beneath its chitin armour. Paldane was literally grappling with his on the ground. Paldane matching the gunner shrimp in size and apparently strength. He had landed and they were trying to exert strength over one another. But Jazmel didn¡¯t feel compelled to support Paldane. He didn¡¯t need to, and he felt comfortable that Paldane could handle his own. The gunner shrimp that had been left to him, shot at him and swiftly with a downward slash he sliced through the water as it flew towards him. the clefted parts split around him, flying off into either directions or he advanced. Moving closer towards it, it shot at him again. this time it shot its water at the ground, splashing him with the salty water and blasting him with its scathing canon blast. Sundering Raven! He responded in kind and let his attack sail across the distance and hit it across the chitin made canon claws. It had blocked his strike and was gearing up to hit him again. But he wouldn¡¯t let it, not when he was already so close. He skipped across the distance, almost floating across the ground. Sprinting the last steps and driving his sword between the sternum and legs. It chittered and tried to bite at him, but he wrenched his blade and using his second hand to prop his grip. He forced the blade up, cutting through the chest of the gunner shrimp. DING! TIER IV GUNNER SHRIMP KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ BEWARE! BE WARNED!! THE NAGA KING COMES!! The others were already fighting their own battles and so he simply cleaned his blade off and waited for the next enemy to appear. The trees creaked as something heavy, something large moved through. Jazmel wasn¡¯t sure what a naga was but knowing that it was a ¡®king¡¯ told him that this enemy was also greater in normal strength too. Trees creaked and broke; Jazmel watched as trees deeper in the forest fell away in the path on the way to where they were fighting their battle. He slowed his breathing down and calmed his heart. It would be him facing this beast, alone and he was going to give it his all. You got this, well. You better have it. he thought to himself and waited for his next opponent. The naga king appeared, ten feet tall, it was half man half snake; serpent from the waist down. It had frilled gills that flared out into a neck sail and it its mouth was filled with needle sharp teeth. It carried twin tridents when it spotted Jazmel waiting; standing beside the corpse of a shrimp. It hissed at him and pointed one of the tridents. DING! TIER V NAGA KING CHALLENGES YOU TO A DUEL TO THE DEATH! COMBAT WITH A QUEST BOSS WILL RESULT IN ONLY TWO OPTIONS DO YOU ACCEPT? Y/N? Of course I do. He thought to the system and the energy from his response slipped away. The naga king squinted at him, its beady black eyes and slunk towards, him its heavy body dragging along. To Jazmel¡¯s surprise it was actually quite mobile, and he had to back pedal a little to not be swept up by the size of the creature. It stabbed down at him, once, twice and a third time. He simply kept backpedalling not to be caught up in its strikes. The trident was longer than Jazmel was tall, they were made up of some strange sea ore, he could feel the cold of the sea welled into their creation. they thrummed with an energy that made him think of the Mer King Triton. Shadowing Wraith! Sundering Raven Sundering Raven! He disappeared, into the much larger shadows of the naga king. It swung around as he appeared, Jazmel noticed it seemed like Mana attuned. But he was faster, he swung his blade; the blazing skill of the raven glimmering at the tip of his sword. he smashed it into the side of the naga king. Knocking the wind from its gut, but also barely gaining any purchase. He stabbed into the wrist, trying to disarm the naga king but it held on tight. His other skill skirted up the length of the trident and when it almost hit a hand, of the naga king. The naga let go of the trident, stabbing fiercely with its other hand, before deftly catching the trident it had almost dropped in one hand. This is a fierce opponent. Jazmel thought to himself. But the feelings he felt were of excitement and exhilaration. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. He drew Yoru No Tsubasa and changing hands; he clutched it in his left. While he carried Furyu in his right. Flaming Evisceration! He struck with Tsubasa and the sword¡¯s blue flame scathing strike hit the naga with surprise. It had tried to block his attack, but the flames had shocked it and caused it to fumble. ¡°Got you.¡± Jazmel whispered. Flaming Evisceration! Sundering Raven! Jazmel swung both swords; one after the other. Sending off his skills at different opportunities. The blue flames from his grave and cold iron attuned sword struck first and engulfing the flesh of the naga king. Then the bloody black Mana of his sundered raven skill struck, full on in the face and with no obstruction it turned the naga king¡¯s short snout into a bloody pulp. Jazmel watched as it mewled as it tried to pat out the fires, it dropped both tridents, but that was what he had been hoping for. Shadowing Wraith! He disappeared and appearing to the side of the naga king, he leapt up and with both swords, he stabbed into the side of its head. right into the brain, twisting both blades he heard the squelch of blood and gore as he scrambled the brain of this beast. DING! TIER V NAGA KING HAS BEEN KILLED! EXP GREATLY ACCRUED! LEVEL UP! +5 STR +5 INT +5 WIL TIER V NAGA KING BEAST CORE GAINED! ¡­ YOU HAVE SURVIVED THE THREE DAYS ON THE BARREN ISLAND! Jazmel roared, something bestial and unlike him ripped from his chest. It was the anguish of being in a fight that very much could have killed him. ¡°Are you alright over there?¡± he heard and looking over he saw Katie with genuine worry on her face. He laughed and nodded his head, up and down. ¡°Yes, I am fine. Master tier is no joke, that¡¯s all.¡± He said and sheathing both swords, he walked over towards Katie where she stood. Bannerman was killing the last few crabs, while Myn and Baek stood guard over the survivors who were willing to fight in this battle. ¡°The survivors will have a lot of items to use and keep this time around.¡± Katie noticed and Jazmel agreed. ¡°Hopefully it will allow them to get strong, a chance at being self-reliant should always be taken.¡± He said, realising just how much that meant for him too. ¡°You are right, we need to get stronger.¡± Katie said and Jazmel peered at her. ¡°We are at master tier already though.¡± He said looking over at her and she just stared right back. ¡°So?¡± ¡°We owe it to those we lost, to see just how far we can go. We shouldn¡¯t settle and I would like to see if I can make it to the hundredth floor.¡± He listened to her as she confessed one of her goals, secretly it had been one of his own too. But now she had said it aloud, he had to admit. He had no interest in settling at just a master tier. ¡°I agree, I really agree.¡± He told her and they smiled at one another for a moment. She seemed a little happy, back to normal. It wasn¡¯t lost on him that she could not speak Patton¡¯s name, but for him; the name was still too sore for him too. ¡°Young master.¡± Baek said and Jazmel looked over at him. ¡°I will round up the troops, we will loot the corpses and bring the fresh meat back into the settlement.¡± Katie said, moving off and leading Myn away from Baek and Jazmel. ¡°Yes Baek.¡± He answered. ¡°You are growing quite strong. Extraordinarily strong and very quickly.¡± He said and the tone of his voice made Jazmel wonder if it was a good thing. ¡°And so?¡± ¡°Your party are not keeping up. They cannot keep up with the pace you are keeping.¡± Baek said and Jazmel listened to him intently. ¡°You have reached master tier after being inside the labyrinth for less than a year. You have fought creatures inside the labyrinth I have not even heard of before. Now I just watched you take apart a tier V creature. The labyrinth seems to be setting you on a path of true ascension. But not all of the others will be able to follow you.¡± He confided in Jazmel, and he listened, suddenly worried. ¡°I will protect them, its only until they reach master tier. Then we are all the same.¡± Jazmel responded and Baek shook his head with a grim smile. ¡°You are miles ahead of your party, retainers, and peers. Your system might only show you as a beginner of the master tier, but your skills, your stats; they give off the strength of a mid-tier master tier II.¡± Baek said, Jazmel just stared at him with disbelief. ¡°I know the system has provided a way, but it hasn¡¯t made anything easy for me at all.¡± He countered. ¡°Therein lies the answer, it has not been easy for you at all. And yet, here you stand on the corpses and ashes of all those that would try to stop your advancement.¡± Baek said, before continuing. ¡°You have just crossed the threshold of fifty gates, a tremendous feat. Most people do this in a party, but you have attended to many gates with literally one or two followers, your companion and me for support. You have effectively been soloing the labyrinth for some time now.¡± Baek explained and Jazmel had begun to realise he was telling the truth; he had been feeling something like this himself. But he was not able to put it into words. ¡°But if me and you are here, we should be able to provide a place for everyone to grow. To continue to grow.¡± He said, not wanting to leave his friends out of his discovery into the labyrinth. ¡°And who will protect you or me when we face a tier V named monster, or a domain boss, quest boss. Or what will we do when Master tiers decide that they want from you, what you took the time to earn?¡± Baek said. ¡°There are too many variables, and it causes nothing but stress if we get any of it wrong.¡± He expressed and Jazmel could see the wrought concern in the old man¡¯s face. ¡°What should I do?¡± Jazmel finally asked, after it was quiet for some time. ¡°You need to speak with them and then decide on your next steps.¡± He said and Jazmel did, calling over his friends. At first they all listened and then it was silent, nobody spoke first for a moment and when Jazmel felt bad, that they might all find him arrogant. Myn spoke up. ¡°I agree with Mr. Baek, I met you quite a while ago back when we faced the Oceanic temple together. When you left us, it was discussed just how strong you had gotten. Tera was the only one who knew you before then. But you were like a storm against the Mer King. If you hadn''t been there, I doubt we would have survived.¡± She confessed and Jazmel just simply listened to her. ¡°But when you and your party saved us from that ghost, that primordial thing. We knew we just were not growing fast enough. It made sense for us to join you guys, so we can grow faster and grow stronger too.¡± She explained and to them all, it sounded like a sensible ideal. ¡°You have always been a bit of an anomaly to be honest.¡± Katie started, smiling, and shrugging when Jazmel just gaped at her. ¡°Now we know you were smuggled out of the labyrinth, but you were just too strong to begin with. It might be that both your parents are or were just exceptionally gifted and so you inherited both genes. But you¡¯ve grown faster than any of us and I know you have worked hard for it, but we have been in the same places and still you are leaps and bounds ahead of us all.¡± She said, it was straight up and honest, but he could tell she was urging him to keep going. ¡°The leader of the pack is always the strongest, but the leader cannot fight all the battles for the pack.¡± Bannerman began before continuing. ¡°I need to have the strength to continue to follow you? Then I will get it.¡± he said and inclined his head towards Jazmel with respect. He looked around at his honest friends and his heart welled with emotion. ¡°Well what will you do?¡± Jazmel asked and Katie shrugged. ¡°We will stay here for a while; we will help the survivors settle down and strengthen themselves. Before we move on.¡± She explained and he nodded, it was a good idea. ¡°Send us word if you need us, we will come running. Ready or not, but if not. We will just see you back home?¡± Katie offered and he agreed, they shook on it. ¡°Will you move on now?¡± Myn asked and he looked about them, before deciding he would. ¡°Yes, I think so.¡± He said and she simply smiled sweetly at him. ¡°Excuse me.¡± They heard and turning about, the elder of the survivor settlement had come over and waited while he listened to them discuss their next steps. ¡°I have a gift for you.¡± He offered Jazmel a clam, or so he had thought it was, it was a piece of white jade that had been fashioned into a clam and in the centre of it, was a pearl. A pill that held dense Mana concentrated in its centre was handed to him as a gift. ¡°We want you to have it.¡± the elder said. ¡°What is it?¡± Jazmel asked, looking into it at its centre. ¡°A soul pearl pill. An item only for master tier, it raises the points of the soul.¡± He explained and Jazmel peered at the pearl curiously. TIER III SOUL PEARL PILL GAINED! An item that over time concentrates Mana into a form that enhances the connection to the soul. Only those at master tier may unlock its contents and receive its favour. the system fed him information, but in truth he didn¡¯t really know what that meant. ¡°Well I want one now, my soul points are really low.¡± Katie whined and Jazmel laughed at her. ¡°If you truly mean to stay, I can make one for you. It will take a few weeks to cultivate them, but we have the means to make soul pearls.¡± He explained and Katie led him away to begin discussing what to do. Myn and Bannerman followed her back towards the settlement; where the others were doing their best to drag the crab corpses closer to where they were carving them up and trying to store it away so they wouldn¡¯t have to waste it. ¡°Take the pill before we move on.¡± Baek said and waited for Jazmel. He opened the white jade fashioned clam and taking the pill out, he popped it in his mouth and swallowed it straight. DING! TIER III SOUL PEARL PILL CONSUMED! ¡­ ¡­ +15 INT +15 WIL ¡­ Jazmel was shocked, that was such a big jump, his soul points leapt up. ¡°Baek, I know you have to unlock your soul to enter master tier. But what does my soul have to do with anything? It isn¡¯t like Mana or stamina; I am not even sure that I use it.¡± he said and Baek inclined his head, knowingly. ¡°You think you do not, but I can assure you. You will use it; you are still settling into the foundation of your master tier. When you use your soul, you will feel it. your soul is linked to your intelligence and your willpower. So consider those, what do you use them for, your intelligence is directly linked to your Mana and your willpower is the ability or the courage to exert your Mana on your skills. So in layman¡¯s terms, your soul strengthens all your skills, refining them to their optimum abilities.¡± ¡°Well that is good to know, I have a spare slot, and I need to fill it soon, I just don¡¯t know what to fill it with.¡± Jazmel confessed. ¡°Well, you do love an auction. Maybe we will find one where we can browse the skill tokens first.¡± Baek offered. ¡°Maybe.¡± Jazmel responded. ¡°Let us find the gate.¡± Already found it. Paldane said in their shared mind and to Jazmel¡¯s surprise he shared an image of where the gate was. Jazmel just had to orientate himself and he could go and find it. ¡°Paldane already found the gate.¡± He said and Baek motioned for him to lead the way, he looked back once more to see his friends who had decided to stay behind. He wanted them to catch up, he needed them to. Book 5 Chapter Thirty-Nine; the Boughs of the Spirit Tree Jazmel stepped through the gate and his feet landed on wood. A branch, he was standing on the branch of an impossibly large tree and when he looked over the side of the branch, he whistled at just how high up he was. It was easily one hundred metres, the branch he had stepped onto had been worn down and fashioned into a bridge, it held his weight, and no wind seemed reach this high up oddly. DING! YOU HAVE FOUND YOUR WAY INTO THE BOUGHS OF THE SPIRIT TREE! THE SPIRIT TREE! An ancient creation of the labyrinth, it is said to be one of the earliest creations within. Nobody knows where all the branches, boughs, and roots end within the labyrinth, but it is known that all roads lead to the spirit tree, it is a junction within the labyrinth that many have heard of, but few ever reach it. ¡­ THE SPIRIT TREE IS PAINED, THERE IS ROT SEEPING INTO ITS ROOTS! YOU MUST STOP THIS, REACH THE ROOTS OF THE SPIRIT TREE, AND INVESTIGATE! BE WARNED THERE IS A QUEST BOSS INVOLVED! REWARDS WILL VARY BUT THE SYSTEM AND THE SPIRIT TREE WILL BOTH REWARD YOU! ¡­ Well that was interesting, the system had not given him that much information before in a long time. ¡°Did you see that?¡± he asked Baek, who let him know he had. ¡°Have you been here before?¡± Jazmel asked and Baek told him no. ¡°But all we have to do is follow the systems hints. We just need to make it to the roots of the tree.¡± He explained to Jazmel, and they walked the length of the branch into the central bough of the tree. It was a wonder to behold, Jazmel looked all around him and couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. The first thing he noticed were all the stalls. The bough of the tree had been made into a marketplace and people were bartering, selling wares from around the labyrinth but also from the levels of the tree. He could see the Mana of the tree all around them, lighting its trunk with life energy that wafted down from the leaves and then hummed from beneath their feet in the wood of the branches and the trunk of the tree. ¡°This is amazing.¡± Jazmel said and with that he walked into the market, curious to see about the wares. The first stall he came across were selling cores, beast cores from tier III all the way to tier VI. Jazmel luckily had not faced anything of that tier yet, but it seemed that others had and told their tales. But also shared their spoils. ¡°Young man! You look ambitious, could I interest you in a core of your choice or liking?¡± the owner offered, Jazmel felt compelled and so he went over, Paldane peered from his collar and peeked down at the stall considering the cores before him. Looking over the table there were many cores, hundreds even. Some were not for Jazmel, he didn¡¯t need them at all. Others he could see the potential of, and he wondered what he could get here. ¡°Do you swap?¡± Jazmel asked and the owner nodded, smiling readily. ¡°Of course, if they are worth swapping with though.¡± He said and Jazmel shrugged. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He brought out his current amount and though the stall owner hid his face from showing his emotions. His Mana jumping around in his stomach could not hide anything. TIER III REAPING GRIM BEAST CORE TIER III ALCOLI THE GHOUL CORE TIER IV DREAD HERETIC CORE TIER IV SHADOW ADVENT CORE TIER V GARDIGOL SEA KING BEAST CORE TIER V NAGA KING BEAST CORE MASTER TIER BLOOD CORE Were all the cores Jazmel had about him. He didn¡¯t even hide them; he placed each and every one on the table and when the master tier blood core swirled with bloody ink inside its marble core. The man gasped, when he saw that, but he kept it quiet. ¡°I will give you one tier V core of your choosing for two tier III and one of the tier IV cores. I will also give you two tier V cores for that one master tier core.¡± He told Jazmel. Jazmel was happy with the chance to replace his cores, he liked to keep them around in case of a tier tribulation. Plus Paldane seemed to enjoy eating them too. He agreed to the deal and looking over the selection he decided what would be best for him. TIER V SPIRIT ADVENT CORE TIER V THRUMNAL BEAST CORE TIER V PYROFAWN BEAST CORE Jazmel and the man shook hands as they passed their items over in trade. As they left, Jazmel spoke quietly to Baek. ¡°Why did he want that blood core so much?¡± he asked, curiously. ¡°A master tier blood core could be used to create a simulacrum or a homunculus. Dark work, but in the labyrinth some consider dark just an unknown area. A person would pay good money for that, especially if they were trying to extend their life.¡± Baek explained, Jazmel almost shivered at that. ¡°I do not think it is right to extend your life.¡± Jazmel said offhandedly which made Baek look at him strangely. ¡°Well one would say, if you have the ability to. Why not stay alive?¡± Baek offered. ¡°I think you should do all you can, but one day. One time, the road will reach an end, it has to.¡± Jazmel said and Baek was studying with a look of profound pride. ¡°I agree with you young master, I just didn¡¯t know you felt that way at such a young age.¡± Baek said with a smile. They walked through heading towards where people were congregating. It was as if they were lining up to descend inside the tree. ¡°We should stop and see if there are any other items we should get.¡± Baek said, and Jazmel remembered he had needed to replenish his potions for a while now. They carried on walking, items and gear were in abundance. Swords, spears, and other offensive items. But Jazmel had all the swords he needed, they were so attuned to him, that Jazmel was sure their wasn¡¯t something he could just find anywhere. But at this moment, he wasn¡¯t looking for any new weapons or armour. He could always return home for upgrades. He bought new potions as soon as possible. Buying them at a higher tier than he had owned before, and tier III potions were not cheap, not even close. Especially here too, within the boughs of the spirit tree it was expensive. He spent five hundred white gold coins, not a small sum. But he was getting used to the spending inside the labyrinth. He just needed to make more money, after all. They could sell their item loots and artefacts too. As he and Baek stepped away from the stall he turned to Baek. ¡°How many items do you have?¡± he asked, curiously. ¡°More than you young master, do you want them?¡± he said with a smile, but his response was honest. ¡°You would give me your spatial rings?¡± Jazmel asked, incredulous. ¡°I live to serve the young master of my master.¡± He said and inclined his head respectfully. He took his prominent ring off and handed it over to Jazmel, who held it reverently. He stretched his Mana out gingerly feeling the ring and not forcing an imprint, he merely looked into it. Baek had amassed the wealth of a small country. It was like he was peering into a dragon¡¯s hoard, a sea of platinum coins washed over the ground and there were weapons of all shapes and sizes all around. It was quite cluttered and surprised him. Baek was such a clean and organised man. But here his ring was just a giant chamber of such size. ¡°There is a lot there.¡± Jazmel exclaimed quietly handing the ring back. ¡°Yes, when I was younger. I was quite the hunter. This is just my first and oldest ring, my other rings are far more organised.¡± Baek explained. ¡°How many rings do you have like that?¡± Jazmel asked. ¡°A few tens, but I no longer keep them all together. I carry the one I have no problems losing.¡± He explained and Jazmel looked at him almost perplexed. All that wealth and he was alright losing it? that was incredible. ¡°One day you will have to tell me your story. I would love to know about your early days in the labyrinth.¡± Jazmel asked and Baek smiled with his eyes before responding. ¡°When we have some time, I am sure I can remember something of my beginnings.¡± Baek said and they headed towards the descent into the spirit tree. Book 5 Chapter Forty; the First Floor of the Spirit Tree Jazmel and Baek stepped off the final step, and through a corridor that felt like a portal. People in groups and teams had all gone their own ways, getting off the stairwell at different intervals. But Baek and Jazmel followed the entire path and made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs. Baek explained that the spirit tree probably provided them with the path as the quest had been given to them. the spirit tree seemed in tune with the system and so it was favouring them in terms of providing a path down its trunk and levels, all the way to the roots. This was the first floor though and Jazmel who was not unfamiliar with the creations of domains and expansion parts. But this floor was like a domain entirely. It was huge, bigger than the entire domain of his stronghold. It was eerily quiet and dark; it was as if it was nighttime and Jazmel was walking along in the middle of it. His keen eyes lit his path, and the glimmer of ambient Mana was like little pollen lights that flittered about him and Baek. The first thing he noticed were the ancient obelisks erected in odd places; he wondered if they were in some sort of ritual array. But the obelisks were devoid of Mana, the lack of Mana in them made Jazmel wonder if they had died, it was an uncomfortable sight for him. he traced his hand along the closest one and it did nothing, didn¡¯t even try to leech Mana from him. He peered up to see how high they went and at a guess, it was easily fifteen ft tall. He glanced away trying to see if he could figure out in which direction to go when his eye caught Mana at the top of one of the obelisks, he glanced at it and in the dark a creature was picking its way down. Trying to ambush them from above. But Jazmel could see it quite clearly; as clear as day and as he watched descend slowly and carefully. He himself drew his sword Furyu slowly and tensed as the creature approached. Just as it was about to leap and reveal itself, Jazmel acted first. Sundering Raven! He struck first, his strike hitting the dark where he assumed the creature¡¯s body was. But soon finding out it was in fact the body of the monster. It screeched and Jazmel saw that aside from its body of shadow and darkness, its face was a white mime mask. It didn¡¯t move and yet he could feel and hear the wails of pain and discomfort. He stabbed into the mask and the monster died instantly. DING! The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. TIER III HUNGER MASK KILLED! An urge more than a corporeal creature, it hungers for all it cannot have. Light, life, and warmth. It draws its victims into is being for all those things and drains them immediately. Be careful of this creature! EXP ACCRUED! That one had died from shattering its mask, he made to turn and tell Baek. But he was already acting, his sword glistened like a star and the creatures rushed forward. Drunk on the light, but Baek used it to draw them in, lull them into their lust before shattering their masks as they came close. He moved with the elegance of a heron, a leaf upon the wind. He was so graceful and dangerous, his sword skimmed through the masks as he struck here and there. Before long, he was standing surrounded by masks, the black shadow bodies seemed to disappear when the masks were broken. ¡°that might be the first time I have seen you actually fight.¡± He said and Baek seemed coy or shy. ¡°I have never needed to actually involve myself, but now that you are a master tier too. I think the labyrinth will act as if we are travelling as a pair and now the quality of monsters and beasts will match our strengths.¡± Baek told him. Just as they were speaking, the shattered masks began to form up and form one giant mask. The shadows swirled and whirled about until the body of one large hunger mask stood before them. Jazmel prepared to fight it, but Baek swung his blade and smote its ruin. Heron¡¯s edge! A dazzling white slash broke the mask and sliced clean through the body before it could form properly, and when it crashed apart and fell again. It died a true death now. But as it laid there, the giant mask that had formed began to disperse and the pale white mask, became white sand which dispersed; into the obelisks! The obelisks awoke, they thrummed with ancient activity and the Mana choked free from whatever slumber it had been in. Jazmel watched as each obelisk winked into life and the flickering Mana grew in abundance until it was a shining beacon of life. DING! YOU AWOKE THE SPIRIT OBELISK ARRAY OF DIVINITY! THE STARS WITHIN THE LABYRINTH WILL SING YOUR FEATS!! THE SPIRIT TREE WELCOMES YOU AND THANKS YOU FOR FREEING THE ARRAY! ¡­ WHILE WITHIN THE SPIRIT TREE, YOUR STAMINA WILL RECOVER QUICKER! WHILE WITHIN THE SPIRIT TREE, YOUR MANA WILL LAST LONGER! ¡­ EXP ACCRUED!! ¡°Well I didn¡¯t expect you to end it so quick.¡± Jazmel said to Baek who was still clutching his sword. ¡°I merged a skill and opened a skill token a while ago, I thought it a good time to test my skills.¡± Baek said, something felt different and Jazmel honestly liked it, Baek seemed unrestrained and more honest. It was as if he was an ambitious seeker again and not just a retainer protecting his young master. Jazmel turned back to the array and watched it churn out Mana in a more focused way, it felt refreshing. To him, it felt like he was atop a mountain and breathing in fresh air. But the Mana was growing more intense and then the array spat out a portal, a gate that Jazmel assumed was to the next floor. ¡°Let¡¯s move on.¡± Jazmel said and he and Baek moved forward. Book 5 Chapter Forty-One; the Echoing Caves of the Spirit Tree The portal brought them to another floor that they just had to assume was the next step or stage of their journey. Jazmel was curious about the portals, why would a spirit tree need to use gates for people to move around. But he wasn¡¯t sure, he didn¡¯t truly understand the movements of the labyrinth at all, and the randomised journeying seemed to be a luck of the draw sort of situation. ¡°When you fought, it looked so graceful. It was as if you were dancing or in a dance. I had never seen anyone move that well.¡± Jazmel told Baek who smiled gratefully at him. ¡°Elegance within battle is a hard approach, but I urge everyone to try their hand at it. The more grace you hold within your blade the less excess Mana you use.¡± Baek explained to him and Jazmel fell quiet thinking about what he had just heard. The gate had brought them out to a space that was all rock and ore. It was a division of caves and Jazmel could hear their steps as they echoed through the expanse. ¡°How are you able to see in the dark so well?¡± Jazmel asked Baek after they advanced further into the caves and while he could see, Baek moved just as agile as him. ¡°I use my Mana to bounce around and cover where my feet touch. It¡¯s like sonar, I send a tiny pulse out that covered everything out in front and I can see whatever my Mana touches.¡± He explained and Jazmel looked at him with wonder, he just stared at him. ¡°You are amazing Baek.¡± Jazmel complimented him and the old man smiled, lowering his head and gaze. ¡°You will be able to do all of these things, you just haven¡¯t had the time. I have been inside the labyrinth for almost twice the amount of time you have lived and already, so soon. You and I walk the same paths as a master. You are the one who is amazing young master.¡± Baek expressed to him and now Jazmel felt embarrassed. The caves were winding and curled and curved like strands of hair, Jazmel couldn¡¯t quite say they were lost. But as the way continued to open before them, he had no other option to move forward. ¡°Let¡¯s pick up the speed a bit.¡± He said and darting into a sprint, he and Baek moved through the caves like a wind. But still nothing and after a solid hour of an all-out sprint, they hadn''t covered much ground or found any true purchase in the caves. ¡°Let me try something.¡± Baek offered and Jazmel beckoned for him to go forward. Baek pulled from his ring, a handful of beads and as he watched, he saw him impress his Mana into them. the beads elevated from his hands and each individual one of them suddenly became a little white spirit that looked completely like a heron. The bead was the body, and the rest was formed completely of Mana. ¡°Find me the way out of here.¡± Baek said and the beads shot off, in all directions Jazmel simply stared at him and Baek explained. ¡°Bead spirits, they can be asked to do menial tasks. But I doubt that they will do it properly.¡± Baek explained. Jazmel waited and watched as Baek seemed to be mentally connected to all of them and was following their trails with his mind, his eyes were closed and to Jazmel it looked as if he was meditating. ¡°Found them, come quick!¡± Baek said and he disappeared, floating across the ground like a skimming stone as he sprinted through the caves. Jazmel could only follow him as he had no idea where he was going and so he just followed him, doing his best to keep up with Baek, who was quite clearly faster than he. A full-on sprint and when they were nearing, Jazmel could hear the sounds of battle. They had run for almost an hour. But when they reached the cave the spirit beads returned to Baek¡¯s hand. A battle was ongoing, a few seekers were fighting what looked like golems made of rock and turtles with stone shells. DING! TIER IV ROCK THRUMNAL! Bitter spirits locked with rock form, they live off of the ores and rocks they eat, but they will also try their luck on unsuspecting seekers! TIER III STONE TURTLE! Creatures of caves and mountains, they are able to swim through rock and stone and their shells harden from the ores they feast on. Very hardy creatures but their tough leather and shells are worth their weight in value. ¡­ Jazmel didn¡¯t think of it, he dived in and rushing towards the first creature. It was rock Thrumnal, and it swivelled trying turn on him. It was interesting to see them, it was a jagged piece of rock, which had two legs and two arms, it walked on all fours like an ape. Sundering Raven! He hadn''t been sure his blade would be able to cut through rock. But his sword smashed and then sliced, cutting through the forelimb of the Thrumnal, it cried out. Its cry sounding like a rockslide, Jazmel leapt up and tried to cleave it in half. Heron¡¯s Edge! If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Baek fluttered past, cleaving through the second forelimb and the Thrumnal fell onto its body. Crying out in rage and agony. Sundering Raven! Jazmel stabbed into the head and forced his skill to erupt inside. The Thrumnal died rocks flying everywhere. DING! TIER IV LESSER ROCK THRUMNAL KILLED! TIER IV LESSER ROCK THRUMNAL CORE GAINED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ But he couldn¡¯t even rest, he dodged to the side and turned as a group of stone turtles swam through the ground towards him. the closest to him, began to spew stones at him and he had to parry the few he could stop them from hitting him. Shadowing Wraith! Leaping through the dark of the shadows he landed behind the group as they were leaving the cave floor to dive again. he struck, three times and killed three out of the group. The others dispersed and hid themselves in the floor on their dives. DING! 3X TIER III STONE TURTLES KILLED 2X TIER III STONE TURTLE LEATHER GAINED 4X TIER III STONE TURTLE ORES GAINED 1X TIER III STONE TURTLE BEAST CORE GAINED! EXP SLIGHTLY ACCRUED ¡­ Jazmel watched to see if they were to return, his eyes allowing him to follow their Mana held in their cores as they moved. But they delved deeper into the caves and left them, not wanting to die like the others. ¡°Well look who it is!¡± he heard, turning to the voice he saw the man from so long ago. The man who carried a halberd. ¡°Who thought such a scrawny boy would make it all the way here!¡± he came over and patted Jazmel heartily on the shoulder and gripped his arm with earnest. ¡°Oh not so scrawny at all!¡± he cheered, genuinely happy to see Jazmel. And he wasn¡¯t alone, for he had the fairy with him. the beautiful woman who he had thought a fairy, she saw him and winking at him. she smiled and waved daintily. ¡°Hello handsome.¡± She waved, she had been in the middle of the fighting, her bangles glittered on her wrists and Jazmel could see she now carried a sword, a falchion that she had strapped across her back. Her hair had been tied back into a long braid down her back, but what he noticed was the triangle mark on her forehead. It was like an imprint but rather more like a tattoo, the only reason he had noticed it, was due to how it shined to his vision. It looked like a shining beacon, and it was filled to the very brim with Mana. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± the man with the halberd, who Jazmel didn¡¯t know the name of asked. ¡°We are tasked with finding the roots of the tree.¡± Jazmel said, not giving away everything. ¡°Ahhh, the rot?¡± the man guessed looking at Jazmel and then noticing Baek for the first time, who stood off to the side and maintained his posture, his sword was still drawn but he carried it low and close to his body. ¡°We are to deal with the rot too, would you like to band together?¡± halberd offered and Jazmel looked at him with confusion. ¡°I was under the impression you hated me.¡± He asked honest and curious to see how he would respond. ¡°In truth, at that point. I hated everything but no single one. I did not show you my best side at that point and I would apologise before you if you would accept my apology.¡± He offered, graciously bowing at the waist before Jazmel. The pretty fairy like woman came over and when he had stopped bowing, she linked her arm with his and held his hand. A sign of their close relationship. ¡°Handsome one, his heart has softened over the many months we haven¡¯t seen each other. I promise you he has changed.¡± She said, her beauty almost enthralling him. ¡°You have become a master tier, so young?¡± she noticed, studying him, though he towered over her, the man with the halberd was still taller and sturdier than him. ¡°I have been through many things in the labyrinth.¡± Jazmel offered and he flashed a smile, before turning back to face the man. ¡°I am Jazmel, leader of the black wing faction and this is Baek, one of the retainers of my faction.¡± He offered his hand, and the man shook it, heartily. ¡°I am Gadlin Devereaux, and this is Chae Namgoong.¡± Gadlin who he had previously known as halberd introduced him and his partner to them both. Baek made a small noise, and they looked at him. ¡°Southern facing Jade?¡± he said and the fairy, that Jazmel now knew was called Chae smiled and inclined her heard kindly at Baek. ¡°You know Korean names?¡± she asked. ¡°My name is Baek Sae.¡± He introduced himself, Baek rarely used his fall name, but he inclined his head politely before the woman who smiled gently at the respect being shown. ¡°Young man, I do not know how you gained such an admirable retainer. But he does you justice with his kindness.¡± She expressed and Jazmel smiled with gratitude. The ground trembled and Jazmel looked down to see if he could perceive any signs of Mana. but before he could even respond. The wall to their left fell away as a giant Thrumnal crashed through. DING! TIER V GREATER ROCK THRUMNAL APPEARS! DEFEAT IT AND ADVANCE! ¡­ Yin Feather blade! Cool fire flared along her sword edge and Chae rushed forward, suddenly leading the fight. She moved much like Baek, skimming across the ground and clashing with the greater Thrumnal. It was made of sturdier rock; it was almost iron the way her sword sparked off of its thickened coat. Night of the White Moon! Baek raised the pale white orb on his hand and with his other hand; still holding his sword. he swung and batted the pale orb of his condensed Mana at the creature. The strike was tremendous and when the condensed orb hit the creature it expanded and tore a gaping hole through it right shoulder. Its right forelimb fell away and as it wavered trying to stay upright. It roared mournfully. Great Rumbling Dragon! Jazmel¡¯s fearsome Mana dragon reared up and roared silently as it swam through the air and crashed into the creature. Raging furl Gadlin rushed forward and swinging his strong halberd he sent scything cyclones against the greater Thrumnal. It bayed in pain, Jazmel didn¡¯t realise just how much strength there was between the four. But as they were all master tier, the creature could hardly survive against them alone. Winged Harmony! Jaded sword! Chae rushed forward, flying on spectral butterfly wings. She swung her sword, a fierce green Mana projecting from the blade. with one swing her sword cleaved through the Thrumnal and the wall it had come through, collapsing it in on itself. DING! TIER V GREATER ROCK THRUMNAL HAS BEEN KILLED! EXP ACCRUED! He gained a great deal of exp, but not enough for a full level up. But he was close, that was the difference between slaying a tier V on his own and in a group of other master tier. ¡°You fight well young one, I mean Jazmel. You have grown strong.¡± Gadlin the halberd stated. ¡°Come let us move on.¡± Baek said and where the greater Thrumnal had fell, a gate had formed from its corpse. Book 5 Chapter Forty-Two; the Royal Vanaheim Baths of the Spirit Tree The next portal gate brought them to the entrance of a large building. The sky was covered, so Jazmel had no true idea of what time it was. But his body clock told him he was well due a rest of some sort. The building looked like a three-story pagoda and when he tried to look in, he could tell that it was covered in wards. ¡°It is a bathhouse.¡± Chae said, and he could smell the sweet scents that were coming from the house. They moved forward and he could smell the aroma¡¯s and fragrances that moved him emotively. The double doored entrance opened as they moved towards it and three women stepped forward and beckoned them in, smiling and offering entrance. They were beautiful, timeless creatures. they did not look like they aged, but he could tell that they were peaceful and harboured no ill will towards them. ¡°Welcome to the Royal Vanaheim bathhouse. We welcome you weary travellers and offer you respite within.¡± The lead one offered. They followed them in and to tell the truth, Jazmel was feeling weary from the endless tension he felt when he was travelling within the labyrinth. The entrance to the bathhouse was unguarded and without any sign of it. the three beauties that were leading them, moved slowly and with poise. Jazmel couldn¡¯t believe just how graceful they all looked. ¡°We three are the nymphs of the bathhouse. We provide rest and respite for all who garner the chance to come before us within the spirit tree.¡± The first one said, she wore pale blue, and her hair matched it as such. ¡°We bear no ill will to any who reach our doors. All we ask is select payment.¡± The one on the right asked, she was dressed in green, and she reminded Jazmel of coral and reef plants. ¡°We accept cores, for it is with those that we are able to keep the waters here flowing.¡± The one of the left explained, she wore pale red, and she looked the youngest of them all. ¡°What is the cost?¡± Chae Namgoong asked and the nymph in red responded. ¡°A pure tier IV core. It will heat and purify the waters.¡± She explained, bowing low before them. ¡°I say we do it, a bit of respite before we reach the lower levels tells me the system or the spirit tree thinks we are not yet ready for the battle below.¡± Gadlin expressed and in truth, Jazmel agreed with him. ¡°I will pay, but I only have a tier V core that I can offer.¡± Jazmel said, pulling from his ring the spirit advent core and placing it in the waiting hand of the lead nymph. She peered down at the core and smiled pleasantly. ¡°Yes, this will pave the way to purify the waters. Please head that way.¡± She offered the corridor to the left and Jazmel began to walk that way. He heard the others paying and being directed their ways too. When he had passed two doors, a sliding door opened and a young nymph with lowered gaze beckoned him in. she wore white robes and looked to be only a teen. ¡°Please use this room to disrobe and get comfortable. When you are ready, strike the gong and another attendant will come for you.¡± She said, before bowing and leaving him in the room alone. He was alone after a moment, and he used his eyes but could see no Mana about him. he stripped down, putting all his items into his ring not wanting to lose anything he may leave in the room. There was a full body mirror to one side and when he stripped down, taking only a thin white robe that he tied around his front. He could see that he had developed into a fully grown man in the space of mere months. He knew that mentally he was still aware that he was young. But he also knew now that the system was changing him and making him mentally prepare for whatever he would face within the labyrinth. He knew he was still sixteen. But he felt like he had aged a great deal and even now, he had almost missed his birthday. It was a mere month away and yet here he was acting like it was no big deal. His chest was sculpted and muscular. His arms were thick with the strain of exercise and battle. Though he had a few scars here and there, the potions he had taken usually healed him and knitted his flesh back together. He was a man of strength now and he indeed looked the part. He knocked the small gong beside the door gently and waited for someone to come and get him. Within moments another young nymph appeared sliding his door open and silently beckoning for him to follow her. They walked on, in silence and through the maze of sliding doors and quiet corridors. He found himself lost until she brought him before a door which was barring an extremely hot bath, he could see the ambient Mana enriched bath beyond the door. ¡°Bathe here for as long as you like and when you are done, knock the gong and we will bring you to the outer baths where other guests sometimes choose to reside.¡± She explained before turning and leaving, not waiting for him to ask her anything. ¡°Goodbye then.¡± He muttered to himself. He stepped in and closed the sliding door. The bath was literally imbedded in the floor, a fee steps let him step down into it. not wanting to get his robe wet, Paldane crawled from his ring and dived into the bath and under the water. Jazmel laughed, surprised to see Paldane appear like that. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°This is a good bath; it will do you good. Get in.¡± Paldane said before diving under the water again in his small form. Jazmel stepped down into the bath and sat on a seat erected from the stone for himself. DING! THE ROYAL BATHS OF VANAHEIM WASH YOUR SPIRIT AND FRESHEN YOUR SOUL! ¡­ ¡­ A TIER V SPIRIT ADVENT CORE HAS BEEN USED TO FUEL THESE WATERS! THE WATERS WILL STRENGTHEN YOU AND REVITALISE YOUR BODY! ¡­ The system sung into his mind and the words fluttered across his system screen. But his body was soaking the water in and using it to strengthen himself. It was beyond anything he had felt before, it felt like a tempering and a tier tribulation at the same time. Jazmel let himself sink beneath the surface and he began to meditate beneath the waters. Jazmel meditated like that for almost an hour, the water stayed piping hot all during this time and when he came up finally, he was surprised by the changes. DING! +10 VIT +10 END ¡­ The system chimed and the notification flashed onto his screen. He had gained so much just from the water? But he took his time, taking up the sleeping Paldane who had begun to float around the bath on the surface. He put on a dried robe and conked the gong to announce his departure. Again in a few moments a new nymph appeared, one he hadn''t seen before, and she bowed before him and then led him to another part of the pagoda. The bathhouse had clearly been created like a domain; it was much larger inside than the simple three-story building he had seen outside. It didn¡¯t really matter to him, but it was always interesting to him to see how it looked on the inside. His eyes were able to perceive warding and array sigils here and there. But he didn¡¯t understand them enough to actively realise how they worked. He considered studying some more when he got home, to his stronghold. Sad¨¦ who are you doing? How are your travels or did you return home yet?? He sent a swan to Sad¨¦, he hadn''t heard from her yet and now he was growing worried. Mary keep me updated on the stronghold, I am travelling some more and will not return home for some time. He sent another to Mary; he hadn''t had a chance to reach out to her during his other travels. But here he was in a restoration bathhouse and under respite, he was thinking about everyone else. Katie how are the others? Have you left the settlement yet? Though it had only been a day for him, since he had left Katie, Myn and Bannerman. time moved differently in every single gate, so it could have been weeks for them, while it had been only a few hours since he had left them. In the beginning it had been a strange phenomenon, but now. Now he was adjusted and used to it. The group baths were just many pools with a small coal brazier in the centre of the room that flowed beneath the baths and were used to warm all the baths. Jazmel could see coal as well as cores in the centre. It was a fascinating creation, there were a few strangers in the baths. Sitting in pools alone and some grouped together, he noticed a hand waving and looking over he saw Chae, Baek and Gadlin sitting in an alcove behind the brazier. He made his way around to them and sat beside Chae. ¡°That might have been the best bath I have ever had; I must really recreate that when we set up a place.¡± Chae said, as she nestled into the crook of Gadlin¡¯s arm. ¡°Yes, I will make sure to ask them for a schema and or figure one out for ourselves.¡± He said, smelling her hair and smiling at the peace. It made Jazmel think of Sad¨¦, and he wondered how she was doing. ¡°When you are ready to move on young master, we may.¡± Baek said and Jazmel nodded letting him know he had heard him. ¡°What are you planning to do?¡± Gadlin asked and Jazmel shrugged. ¡°We are still aiming for the roots, I will finish the quest, I don¡¯t know how powerful the rot is, but if the spirit tree is like this with some rot. Just imagine what it would be once healed.¡± Jazmel said with a smile, Gadlin and Chae were looking at him with strange faces and he suddenly felt confused. But Chae shook her head and turned to Baek. ¡°Is he always like this?¡± as to which, Baek smiled and nodded with pride. ¡°I know right, it is so interesting to see. He truly cares about making things right in the labyrinth and is willing to go to any length to make it happen.¡± He responded and Jazmel looked at them all equally confused. ¡°It is more than likely that whatever is causing the rot down there is going to be higher than a tier V monster. Are you prepared?¡± Gadlin asked and Jazmel admittedly hadn''t thought of that, but he wasn¡¯t shocked by that either. ¡°I will do my best; it doesn¡¯t matter what is down there. The quest is the quest.¡± Jazmel responded and Gadlin nodded with a serious look. ¡°I will join you; I respect that part of you. You¡¯ve kindled something in me myself, it has been a long time since I believe I could change things within the labyrinth on my own.¡± Gadlin said offering his hand to shake, which Jazmel shook. ¡°We just need to do our best, if it is a tier VI or VII we protect each other and attack with our strongest. So take the time while we are here to rest and prepare. When everyone is ready to move on, we will.¡± Jazmel said. ¡°Spoken like a true leader.¡± Chae Namgoong said with a beautiful smile, she really was pretty and Jazmel couldn¡¯t help but notice. But while he was looking at her face, he noticed her forehead tattoo was brimming with Mana again, but now there were two lines on either side that looked like they were collecting Mana too. ¡°What is that?¡± he said, motioning to her mark which she smiled at. ¡°Oh you can see the flow of Mana, how rare.¡± ¡°It is a Mana mark, sort of like a store or bank. If I run out of Mana, I can take from the mark and refill my stores with it quicker than drinking multiple potions.¡± She explained. ¡°How did you make it?¡± he asked suddenly curious. ¡°I found a skill scroll which had it, I thought it would be a good idea for me especially with how hard things become as a master tier. But it isn¡¯t a miracle gift, the mark can only be filled by my own Mana. I cannot refill it with potions, I have to siphon off of my own store to replenish it.¡± she explained. ¡°That does sound interesting.¡± Jazmel said and she smiled, he looked away suddenly shy and she giggled at him. She poured herself some wine, he could smell the fresh grapes from the flagon. It would seem they were to rest some more; it was good to have some respite like this within the labyrinth. Jazmel sat back and got comfortable. Book 5 Chapter Forty-Three; a Forest Full of Enchantments Sad¨¦ and Kazumi were alone. The forest was dark and terrifying. She almost felt ashamed to say that inside of a forest, especially as an elfin, who had grown up beneath the ancient eaves of the Teneriel forest. But this one was different, no this forest was foreboding and dark. Recapping on what had occurred, she had been travelling through gates headed towards the Kitsune forest. It was a personal plot of hers and in her heart she felt like it was the thing holding her back from achieving master tier. So she; Elai, Timone, Tera Nema and Morwen had departed. A band of all girls and entered the labyrinth. This was the first time they had gone into the labyrinth without any of the men, but all those many months ago. The woman who had gifted her the kitsune mask had alluded to it, expressing that only females were accepted into the forest. So they had embarked on a journey, passing through three other gates before reaching this forest and it was here, here where everything had gone to hell. The first thing they noticed was upon walking through the gate, it had been one long portal. That wasn¡¯t uncommon, but in some spaces. It usually was easy to walk through the gates and step from one and step into another. But this portal gate had been a corridor, that had felt endless. But not even five minutes into the gate. Long tendrils of tree roots had pierced the gate, and each one had grabbed one of the different girls and pulled them away. Sad¨¦ being the last, but she had not even been prepared. Nor had she been able to defend herself or her group. She felt vulnerable, she felt embarrassed and more than anything. Shame. She felt untold shame, the first time she was leading her own team, and she had failed at it already. You haven¡¯t failed! Nobody died! Kazumi whispered into their shared mind. ¡°But where is everybody?¡± she asked aloud. ¡°Advance and we will figure things out along the way.¡± She told Sad¨¦, speaking aloud too. The forest had been dark and eery since they had been pulled into its clutches. Every moment of peace she tried to give herself, it was as if something was standing there and watching her or may attack. she constantly felt like she was clenched like a fist. Something nears. Kazumi said, flaring her Mana and expanding her form into the full foxhound form. There was something approaching and now Sad¨¦ could indeed here it too. Though she could not see Mana the way Jazmel could, she could feel it in the ambience, something about it changing always let her notice significant changes in the air. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The forest had grown nastily, its trees huge and mingling with each other. They had grown in a connected way, in a way that would only be considered greedy or inconsiderate. The trees blocked out the sun and so only disparate strays edged through and lit the ground at odd angles. CRASH! Breaking through the trees a large ape broke through. It had a weird look about it, milky froth bubbled at its mouth and its eyes were hazed with a reddening tinge. DING! TIER III ENCHANTED IRONJAW APE! An ape enchanted by the forest and has begun to lose its sanity, free it from its haze or give it eternal peace. ¡­ Well that sounds morbid. She thought to herself. She reached for her Mana, and it met her safely. Their it was, ever present and always reliable. It felt almost strange to be able to touch the Mana that resulted in her forming her Mana tails, but when she had them released, it always felt like breathing to her. She did have to control it somewhat, it always wanted to burst free and escape her clutches, she had to focus to only release three tails, and they hummed with urgency. Thunderfire! She cast her bolt, and it burst against the iron that made up the jaw of the ape. Its head snapped back, hurt but enraged it roared and beat its chest before charging her. DING! TIER III ENCHANTED IRONJAW APE HAS STRUCK ITS CHEST! ITS DULL DRUM HAS ATTACKED YOUR VERTIGO!! PLEASE BE WARNED THAT THIS WILL AFFECT YOUR DEXTERITY! ¡­ ¡­ YOUR TEMPERED BODY, FEATHERED GRACE ANNULS THE AFFECTS OF DULL DRUM! YOUR DEXTERITY HAS NOT BEEN AFFECTED! ¡­ Foxfire! Kazumi was there and she blew blue fox flames around her, and they hurried, rushing forward to bombard the Ironjaw ape and soon singed and scathing blistering wounds appeared. Lightning fall! She rained lightning down from above and the Ironjaw ape was burned to a blackened corpse. DING! LIGHTNING FALL RISEN TO TIER II! DING! TIER III ENCHANTED IRONJAW APE KILLED! MARAUDING FOX LOOTS! TIER III ENCHANTED IRONJAW BONE GAINED! EXP ACCRUED! ¡­ She didn¡¯t even get a moment to rest from the same trees birds with steel wings soared through and the sound of their wings in the wind sounded like drawn steel. TIER III ENCHANTED STEELWINGS! Avian creatures with steel wings, used to make wind attuned swords. The first Steelwing swooped down on her, slapping its wings together in feathered applause. The feathers glinted like steel, and she spun away to dodge. Kazumi leapt up as it fluttered past and tore it apart. The second and third turned on her but Sad¨¦ was there. Thunderfire! Thunderfire! DING! X2 TIER III ENCHANTED STEELWING KILLED! MARAUDING FOX! TIER III ENCHANTED SKILL TOKEN GAINED! X4 TIER III ENCHANTED STEELWING FEATHERS GAINED! ¡­ The Steelwings were going to keep coming, she could hear their metallic wings as they approached. ¡°Kazumi!¡± Sad¨¦ said and running towards her companion she leapt onto her back and rushed through the forest, escaping the flock of Steelwings trying to chase her down. Book 5 Chapter Forty-Four; a Forest Full of Nightmares Sad¨¦ had been on the run for days. She had been alone, besides Kazumi but she was still on her own. Not knowing if her friends were safe, she had tried to send out swans. But the enchantments within the forest blocked all communication. She was alone and it was starting to get to her. ¡°We have to keep going.¡± Kazumi said to her, yipping as she stretched in her smaller form. They had taken to preserving skills and Mana, so Kazumi kept her small form for managing her Mana output. It seemed as if it was their Mana which was keeping the predators of the forest on them, as if their Mana were a scent they were using to hunt them by. They had been sleeping in the hollowed husk of a deadened tree, Sad¨¦ had slept fitfully, but as she rose. She didn¡¯t forget to thank the tree, with kind words of thanks upon her whispered breath. ¡°You thank the trees, which is an old way to do things.¡± A voice that came from everywhere and nowhere spoke to her. She whirled, suddenly frightful and Kazumi yipped and then growled as her form expanded. A tiny woman appeared, she couldn¡¯t have been more than five foot tall, and she looked like a child, but her features were mature. She stepped from nothing and gaged Sad¨¦ and Kazumi. Kazumi barked at her and the woman smiled kindly. On her left and right, a large foxhound appeared, all white with three red dots on either of their foreheads. They growled, a large rumble in their chest. A warning to Kazumi who whimpered. They are elders of my kind. She explained to Sad¨¦ mentally. ¡°It is customary for an elf, to thank the trees for their efforts and labour, whatever that maybe.¡± Sad¨¦ explained, keeping one hand on her sheathed sabre and another ready to be wreathed in. ¡°There is no need for battle, you would lose anyway.¡± She said and in truth, Sad¨¦ could tell. She was a master tier, and her Mana was abundant. She felt like a spiritual force of nature. She was almost glowing before her. Sad¨¦ relented and released the Mana she was holding in her hand. The woman smiled a little and nodded with a thanks. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You have done well to survive, but I am sorry to say. You have not learned what you need to learn just yet and that is why the doors are barred to you.¡± She told her, Sad¨¦ didn¡¯t understand what she meant but she could tell that she would be staying in the forest for much longer. She huffed at that, decidedly bothered. ¡°Or I could speed up your time between now and finding your answer. This is up to you; this is the choice I have come to offer you.¡± She explained to Sad¨¦. ¡°What will you do?¡± she asked. ¡°I choose the option that you allow me to speed up my path through this enchanted forest.¡± Sad¨¦ said and the woman smiled. ¡°Well said.¡± She pulled from her sleeve, a bamboo gourd and yet a tremble of fear ran through Sad¨¦. ¡°Do not worry, it will simply open your eyes.¡± The woman said. She took the topper off and immediately the gourd began to pull her and Kazumi in, a vacuum of great strength began to draw her in, and she could do nothing but succumb. When she came to, she was within another forest. Darker than the previous but the forest had been grown to lead along a path. When she rose up, she realised she had company. Not just Kazumi but the two foxhounds who were next to her, as if they were guardians and they huffed a greeting when she recognised them. Follow the hounds, they will direct you to your destiny. Follow the path and seek your truth. A voice said and Sad¨¦ recognised it to be the woman in control of the gourd. She stood up and Kazumi enlarged her form, to resemble the other foxhounds. But they were much larger than her still, and in truth she was still quite young. The foxhounds growled and rumbled, and Kazumi translated. They say it will be faster if you ride. So she climbed up onto Kazumi¡¯s back and after that, they were off. Riding at top speed, the foxhounds loping but at a speed almost unimaginable, she had to keep her head low as if she were worried that she might fly off of Kazumi¡¯s back. She had to clutch at her fur and hold on dearly. They say we are to stop here. she told her after what felt like hours of running and riding. She climbed from Kazumi and stretched herself like a cat, her legs tender from all the riding. But before them was a well, a deep well that stood in the middle of the path and only had a crank to draw from the well. Drink and learn the truth of the waters of your soul. The overbearing and tranquil voice rung around her, and she did as she was bid, drawing the crank, and raising a bucket from deep within the well. * A soul is the identity of the spirit and within it you will find sense of self. Look deep within and find out who you are, to you. There is where you will find the difference between ranker and master. An elfin is a true rarity, once such self who has harkened to the call of the fox is rarer still. Why does your Mana call for thunder and flame when you were born of earth and life? Find these answers and you will find yourself too. See what rests within you and drink deep from the waters Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. * Sad¨¦ drank and her heart yearned for her soul to waken, it brushed against something foreign within her and she looked inward. Something nestled there deep within the recesses of her being, it felt like a heart, but it was something else, almost inexplicable. Her mind brushed against it, and she took in its form. Thunder arched across her being and she cried out, suddenly in pain and surprised by the shock of it. There is something there, something I hadn''t noticed before, but how do I reach it. she thought to herself, but before she could think of it. Kazumi was there and she burned away at the tethers shielding the thing from her and pulled both herself and Sad¨¦ deeper within. And there she found herself, standing in the very centre of her being. Flames coiled in large or red and blue pillars and ravaged all around her, they trailed in multiple directions and above rained down continuous lightning. Lightning so big that the flashes of the sparks caused her to shield her own eyes. There is imbalance here, they coexist but there is no harmony. Kazumi said and though the words were spoken for the first time. Sad¨¦ could feel it herself, she was after all within herself. But she decided then, to create harmony and so she did. She sat and meditated then and there. She sunk into self, trying to conjure the Mana like she did when she formed her skills and in her mind she felt the pull of her Mana. it was much bigger than usual, they were rebellious here and much stronger, she pulled at the flames, and they burned brighter and hotter. Trying to engulf her very spirit but she pulled them back, reining them in and forcing them to know her as their master. KRAKOOM! Thunder braced the skies and lashed down in anger. She flung out a hand and pulled it towards her too. Something was different about this thunder; it had an ego. It was bucking like a stallion beneath her reins, and she struggled to hold both of them together. Thunder and flame are just the small children of the storm, you hold them apart when they truthfully yearn to merge! Sunder them and make them whole!! The voice bellowed around, crashing from the flames and thunder as one. She followed the voice, changed her idea, and sundered the flame and thunder as they fought like two writhing snakes in her grasp. She fought against them and with all her might she quashed their fight and tried wreathing them together. The way she did when she used her Thunderfire skill, but they fought back and continued to attack her grasp independently one felt like water in her hands and the other oil. It was peculiar. Let me help! Kazumi said and with her head she nudged Sad¨¦¡¯s hand. The one holding fire and pushed it towards the thunder and when Sad¨¦ focused on the thunder she did weaken its rebellion. But it was still a struggle, and it took what felt like minutes to connect the two. DING! THUNDER AND FLAME EXIST BUT THERE IS NO BALANCE! DING! FLAME AND THUNDER BECOME ONE TO FORM STORM! DING! FLAME BURNS AND THUNDER BRIGHTENS BUT TOGETHER THEY SCORCH! DING! STORM RAGES WHERE FLAME ONLY SEARS STORM ILLUMINATES WHAT THUNDER FLASHES ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ CONGRATULATIONS YOUR SOUL HAS AWAKENED TO THE CALL OF THE STORM! WILL YOU UNDERGO A MASTER TIER TRIBULATION? Y/N? We accept! Kazumi huffed and Sad¨¦ was shocked she could see her system screen too? But now was not the time to consider this. SOUL POINT HAS BEEN UNLOCKED!ALL MASTER TIER TRIBULATIONS WILL REQUIRE AN ITEM FOR THE SOUL! REMEMBER THIS ALWAYS!YOU ARE NOW READY TO UNDERGO A TIER TRIBULATION FOR MASTER TIER! WILL YOU BEGIN? Y/N? There was no hesitation. Sad¨¦ had been preparing for this moment ever since Jazmel and Katie had reached theirs and she had begun to feel like she was lagging behind. She began to consider he next steps and let the system lead her along, this was the first time she had DING!MASTER TIER HAS UNLOCKED YOUR SOUL!YOU WILL NEED A TIER TRIBULATION ITEM FOR YOUR SOUL ALSO! ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ SYSTEM HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT YOUR SOUL ITEM HAS ALREADY BEEN CONFIGURED! STORMFIRE ICON TABLET TIER TRIBULATION BEGINS!TIER TRIBULATION INCOMING!TIER TRIBULATION ITEMS PRESENT!WILL YOU USE THEM? YES. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT: WHAT WILL YOU USE? Sad¨¦ hadn''t planned to prepare for this, but she did have a few items she had been keeping just in case. The first of this, was a tier IV spirit warden core. She had earned it from the astral domain beneath the tower in the outpost. But now she was using it for her master tier tribulation. But she pulled it into her being, her centre and let the core meld into her. Her spirit seemed hungry or thirsty, it devoured it, and she felt herself enriched, suddenly acutely aware of just how much it meant to upgrade her spirit. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT COMPLETE.1/4.WHAT WILL YOU USE? The next item she had thought about preparing was an ancient infinity fan relic. It was shaped like the number eight with a handle made of jade and emerald. It had an aroma and when fanned the fragrance provided tranquil spirits. She unclasped it and let the system draw it into her mind. She accepted it and with ease it merged and expanded her mental clarity, she was comfortable before it. She even smiled at how soothing it was, it was peaceful and beautiful. It felt like a mental balm for herself, and she took it in, breathing in the clarity. TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND COMPLETE.2/4.WHAT WILL YOU USE? She didn¡¯t have a physical item for her body, but with the soul unlocking and the new tempered form. She chose another item she had found in the labyrinth. This one she had bought, after all she had not faced one of these just yet. The storm colossus core burst in a shower of golden sparks and enriched her body. It took to the Stormfire tempered body and supplemented its already advantageous creation. She felt her body grow sturdy and tense even while relaxed, she felt like the night before a storm or the eye of it. She could tell when she fought next, she would be a force unleashed; a storm unleashed. DING!TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY COMPLETE.3/4. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ SOUL ITEM ALREADY UNDERGONE THE TIER TRIBULATION! that felt strange, the system felt hungry but empty. But in truth she had already unlocked her soul with the storm icon tablet. She had formed it from her very own being. She thought to herself. DING!TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SOUL COMPLETE4/4 ¡­ ¡­ DING! ¡­CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING YOUR MASTER TIER TRIBULATION! YOUR COMPANION HAS GAINED ENLIGHTENMENT FROM YOUR STORM ICON! YOUR COMPANION HAS LEARNED A NEW SKILL! SPIRIT FOX MASK (tier I) ¡°What does this do then?¡± she asked, and the dark forest suddenly grew alight with sunlight, and she realised that the woman had removed the topper of her gourd. The vacuum appeared again and soon she and Kazumi were pulled from the gourd out into the open. ¡°You did it, you managed to enter master tier. Congratulations.¡± The woman said, inclining her head with respect. ¡°Well it wasn¡¯t without your help.¡± Sad¨¦ said, bowing back in gratitude. ¡°My companion gained a skill.¡± Sad¨¦ said and the woman shrugged, she clearly didn¡¯t know about it. ¡°Well, would you like to learn what it can do?¡± She offered, she raised her hand, and two blue fire spirits appeared and with a flash they formed into the two foxhounds from before. ¡°Shall we spar?¡± You need to say the words to the skill. Kazumi said as she barked and nipped at the two other foxhounds as they prowled forward. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Say the skill!¡± Spirit Fox Mask Kazumi burned bright and turned into a fox mask as she appeared in Sad¨¦¡¯s hands. She pulled it on, and everything changed.