Chapter 3: The Labyrinth

Chapter 3:
The Labyrinth

 

IN A SECLUDED CORNER of the castle…

 

“It seems we’ve managed to kill two birds with one stone.”

“Indeed. I’ll be sure to reward the Night Ravens for their service.”

“Good… Though I’m a little surprised our boy Saran went down so easily.”

“They knew it was your will, Father. Failure was not an option. You’ll be pleased to know I’ve finished applying hexes to everyone but the hero. Now we need only concoct a believable justification for going to war with the eastern realm.”

“We can simply claim we have intel that says they’re giving asylum to the knight commander’s killer. That little brat’s probably dead in a ditch by now, but I suppose you should have the Night Ravens go after him just to be safe.”

“Yes, my liege. All shall be done in accordance with Your Majesty’s grand design.”

The plan was moving right along—even if the key players didn’t know it yet.

POV: ODA AKIRA

 

HAVING ESCAPED THE CASTLE, I delved deep into the Great Labyrinth of Kantinen.

“If you ever find yourself under suspicion and forced to flee the kingdom, you’ll find no better place to lay low than the depths of the labyrinth. There are endless places to hide. I’ll do my best to ensure it never comes to that, but if for whatever reason you are forced to carry on without me, go to the labyrinth and try to reach Level 100. If anyone can do it, it’s you…”

The commander’s words played over and over in my head. I kept tearing up when I thought about never seeing him again, but I shook it off. Down in the labyrinth, every second counted—every choice could be the one that got you killed. It was even more important to stay alert since I was alone, and my skills were unsuited to handling multiple enemies at once. If even low-level monsters surrounded me, I was done for.

“Phew. Okay, made it back to the fifth floor. Figured there’d be a lot of people dungeon-diving this early in the morning, but the place is deserted.” I took a moment to collect my breath after a goblin jumped out from around a corner and ambushed me. I made short work of him with my new dagger—plainer than the one that had killed Saran, but sharp enough.

With my Level 4 Detect Presence skill, I could scope out any monsters within a fifty-meter radius, assuming they didn’t have a Conceal Presence skill of their own at Level 5 or above, of course. Nothing on these early floors went above Level 3, so as long as I didn’t detect anything close by, I could assume I was safe for the time being.

Using my dagger, I opened the goblin’s chest and extracted a tiny mana stone, just like the knights had taught us to. They were much more common in bipedal monsters than quadrupedal ones—I learned as much firsthand during our last expedition—and the larger the stone, the greater its resale value. They were mainly used as casting mediums for mage classes, as magic resided deep within each stone, which casting classes could convert into pure mana. The smaller ones dropped by low-level monsters were used in everyday life to light fires and perform other small tasks, no special skills required. Since I was probably going to be in the labyrinth for a while, stocking up was important.

“Don’t mind if I do,” I whispered, before stowing away the purple stone in the little pouch where I kept my throwing knives under my cloak. Throwing knives were always a pain to retrieve, so I only kept a few on my person at any given time. If I found myself in a pinch, I could use Shadow Magic, so I wasn’t too worried about running out—I also had the option to sneak past a group of enemies using Conceal Presence and avoid combat altogether. I might eventually run into a monster with Mystic Eyes, so I had to stay on guard, but for the most part, I could waltz right up to an enemy leader, take ’em out, and watch mayhem ensue as the rabble tried to figure out what was going on.

As I made my way down a few floors and the drop rate for mana stones increased to about 15 percent, I started using my newfound surplus of MP to cast Detect Presence constantly and help it level up quicker. Each level gained increased the effective radius of the skill, so I could tell when it had leveled up without opening my stat page.

It had only been a few days since I was last in the labyrinth, so I remembered the route fairly well and was making steady progress. Ideally, I would make it to the thirtieth floor by the end of the day, but I was brought to a dead stop when I reached the next level. My Detect Danger skill was on high alert. I vaguely recalled the commander telling me about traps that would only activate if they sensed mana nearby, so on a whim, I took a single mana stone and tossed it on the floor in front of me. The moment it hit the ground, the floor was pelted with arrows.

“Yikes… A little early for an instant-death trap like that, don’t you think?”

They might not have been poison arrows aimed at vital organs, but it was still a lethal trap, and it definitely hadn’t been here last time. Even assuming the labyrinth could add and remove traps at will (like in some novels I’d read), the arrow trap screamed “intentional setup.”

I proceeded the rest of the way down to the thirtieth floor without stopping to rest. I ran into seven monster dens (large rooms with dozens of monsters) and stumbled upon twenty more simple traps that shot single arrows or basic spells. I managed to evade them all, and I even began to seek them out in order to level up Detect Danger. I also came across a few parties of adventurers but made sure to keep myself concealed until they were long gone.

“All right,” I said, stopping in the room where we’d felled the minotaur. “From here on out, it’s uncharted territory for me.” Only the dim yellow light of the lanterns lining the walls illuminated the darkness. The room was about thirty feet tall, and the minotaur had been roughly half that. My heart raced and I shuddered both in fear and anticipation at the thought of having to fight something bigger. Guess I’m a sucker for the thrill of adventure, just like most teenage boys.

 

The supplies I brought with me, procured by the late commander, were enough to last about a month, but, other than a little bread when I needed carbs, I ate mostly monster meat to prepare myself for when my supplies inevitably ran out. Monster meat was a lot tastier than I expected—far better than beef, chicken, or pork—but the idea of eating humanoid monsters like goblins repulsed me. I was nevertheless sure I’d develop a taste for it if it was the only thing between me and starvation. We humans are adaptable like that.

“Welp, better get going.”

Belly full, I extinguished my fire and ventured on.

Down where the sunlight didn’t reach, it was hard to clock the passage of time, but I assumed it had been about ten days since I entered the labyrinth; the only clock I had was my stomach, and I’d eaten thirty meals. I’d descended thirty additional floors in that time and was now arriving at the sixtieth.

Every ten floors, there was a boss encounter. I’d conquered five thus far, none of them walks in the park, and I was standing in front of the towering door that would lead me to the next boss.

The previous bosses had been:

FLOOR 10 - Goblin General

FLOOR 20 - Orc

FLOOR 30 - Red Wolf

FLOOR 40 - Goblin King

FLOOR 50 - Fenrir

I’d fought the Orc and Goblin General on the previous visit to the labyrinth, so I knew their weaknesses and had dispatched them easily, though it was tougher without a full party.

The Red Wolf was a massive canine with bright red fur that, predictably, used fire magic. It was the first monster in the labyrinth capable of using magic, but thanks to Detect Danger, I could dodge attacks with ease; I would have been burned to a crisp without it. I was trying to avoid using Conceal Presence unless necessary so I could level up my other skills, but the beast was too powerful to tackle head-on, so I caved. Hidden from sight, I snuck up behind it, using Assassination to hide my scent, and slit its throat. While sneaking around and attacking from behind was expected of an assassin, it felt a bit like cheating, so I tried to face monsters head-on when I could.

The Goblin King was a big fat goblin, astonishingly nimble for his size. As the name suggested, he had a posse of goblin goons on his side, so it was tough to handle them all by myself. I picked off the king as quickly as I could, then used Shadow Magic to swallow up all the little guys.

And then there was Fenrir. He felt like the labyrinth’s first true difficulty spike. Sure, the other bosses had been tough to beat, but it was still possible to handle them solo. That didn’t hold true for Fenrir—especially since he had four Red Wolves to back him up. I’d had to contend with five boss-level monsters alone. Fenrir was also the first monster I encountered who didn’t feel like a mindless beast. It wasn’t just a tough fight—I nearly died multiple times. I had no choice but to use Conceal Presence and slit each wolf’s throat, but I knew I was going to need to come up with a better game plan going forward. What if the next boss could seal off my magic and skills, and I had to fight with nothing more than brute strength? I’d be dead meat.

From the fifty-first floor through the fifty-ninth, I decided I wouldn’t use any skills or Shadow Magic in combat. I quickly learned to recognize traps on sight, even as they became more and more dangerous, and I kept using and leveling Detect Danger. Running into adventurers so far down was unlikely, but it still helped to smoke out enemy ambushes.

I’d fought tooth and nail to get here, so I was a bit nervous to find out what kind of boss I had to face next. I placed a hand on the massive door and opened it effortlessly. I stepped tentatively into the arena, the door slammed shut behind me on its own, and the lanterns lining the walls lit up, illuminating the room with their crimson glow.

All the boss arenas thus far had been similar—a circular arena about six hundred feet in diameter, with only two doors. The door that led you in closed and locked behind you, and the door that led out only opened when the boss was slain. There was no escape; you either killed the boss, or it killed you.

I squinted and looked toward the center of the arena, where my deadly foe waited.

“A Chimera?”

I couldn’t remember what the traditional chimera from Greek mythology was supposed to look like, but the beast before me had the head and front paws of a lion, the body, back legs, and horns of a goat, and a serpent for a tail. It stood about fifteen feet tall, which was intimidating, but I was just grateful to have another one-on-one encounter after the last two bosses. I drew my black katana from its sheath and braced myself for the monster’s imminent charge.

The beast let out a bellow that shook the entire arena and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The monster was using a one-two punch of Roar and Intimidate in an attempt to reduce my strength and morale, a show of force that would have killed the average human. The minotaur had used this skill combo as well, but the Chimera’s roar made the minotaur’s sound like a pathetic whinny. I recoiled, and that was all the time the Chimera needed to close the gap between us. The beast gnashed at me with fangs the length of my arms, and I only narrowly avoided the bite.

“All right, big guy. How am I gonna deal with you?”

This thing meant business. Even if it was technically a one-on-one fight, it could easily turn into a two-on-one if I didn’t keep a close eye on the monster’s tail.

This is what I get for complaining about bosses with minions, isn’t it?

“Uh-oh!” I cried, leaping backward just before the aforementioned tail spat acidic venom where I’d been standing. I did another backstep as the beast followed up with a few quick swipes of its claws.

“Yikes. Thank god for Detect Danger… Better keep my distance from now on.”

I now knew the tail could spit its venom about six to nine feet, so I made a point of trying to stay at least ten feet away from the Chimera at all times. I hardly had a chance to size up the beast before it came lunging at me again. This time, I leapt not backward but forward—with my katana held firmly in my grasp.

“Groagh?!” the beast wailed in surprise.

“Ugh, seriously? Not again…” I groaned. Apparently, not even the fabled Yato-no-Kami was enough to scratch the beast’s hide. I tried again, hoping to chop off its tail at least, but the blade bounced right off. What is with this place and having furry beasts with rock-hard skin? It defied the laws of nature.

Carried by the momentum of my previous strike, I dashed away, then whirled around. We were now about fifteen feet apart—though for a nimble assassin and a pouncing predator, that was no distance at all. We both crouched low, then clashed once more.

“Rugh!”

There was no way I could defeat the beast in a contest of brute force; it didn’t take much strength to slit throats, assuming the throat in question wasn’t protected by skin harder than your average diamond.

Again, my blade bounced off the Chimera’s thick hide, and the beast gave chase as I retreated. I twisted my body to dodge its swipe, but I fell to the ground. I tried to roll away, but before I could stand, the beast slammed its massive paw down on my stomach. It launched me into the air, then drove me straight into the nearby wall.

Everything went white.

I was no match for this beast. Now that it had me in its clutches, I was like a stuffed animal at the mercy of a feral hound. At least its paws are nice and soft. For some reason, the Chimera hadn’t extended its claws, so my body wasn’t being torn to pieces. I’d only broken a few ribs—one of which felt like it was stabbing directly into my heart. Blood poured from my torso and mouth, and I knew if I didn’t heal up soon, I was a goner.

As I gazed at my wounds with indifference, I realized this hadn’t been the time or place to try duking it out with my sword alone. I mentally rebuked myself for putting theatrical heroism over safety. Why was I being so stubborn? I wondered as the beast lifted me and threw me across the arena.

“Argh! All right…all right. You wanna play hardball, big guy? We can play hardball.”

The Chimera watched curiously as I rose to my feet, listening as I spoke. Then, as I raised my hand, it recoiled.

Heh. Those are some quick reflexes, buddy. But not quick enough.

“Shadow Magic, activate.”

Shadows spiraled violently through the arena, almost as if they were happy to be summoned again after sitting on the bench for so long. They wrapped around the Chimera’s legs and started dragging it down. I hadn’t even told them to do that yet.

The words Commander Saran had spoken the day I lost control of my magic and nearly wiped out a forest reverberated through my mind: “It’s just as I thought. Your magic has a mind of its own.”

“You think my magic…can think for itself?”

“I do. Especially since there’s no such thing as Shadow Magic in this world.”

My jaw dropped.

“Sorry, what? But it says it right there on my stat page! Shadow Magic!”

“I don’t doubt you. I witnessed it firsthand today.”

From the commander’s ear-to-ear grin, it was plain to see he was enjoying this conversation; must have been the joy of learning something new.

“At first, it may seem like there’s no rhyme or reason to the magic of this world, but it actually adheres to a very strict elemental system,” he said, flipping over one of the documents on his desk to draw a diagram. “First, we have the four main elements: fire, water, earth, and wind. These appear as ordinary skills and are perfectly useful in their own right, but they’re the most common and easiest to learn.”

He drew four circles on the sheet of paper, scribbling an element in each. Then, he drew little lines around the circles, each ending in a smaller circle. It reminded me a bit of ecosystem charts from Biology class.

“But now, let’s take a look at my Light Magic, for example. It would go right here, two degrees removed from Water Magic. What do you think comes between Light Magic and Water Magic?”

“Uh, Healing Magic, I guess?”

“That’s correct. My, you’re a quick learner.” He grinned, placing a new circle labeled “Healing” in between the ones for Water and Light. “And we can go even further than that, from Healing Magic to Disenchantment, but both schools still trace their roots back to Water Magic at the end of the day. Just like Dark Magic is an offshoot of Earth Magic and Thunder Magic is an offshoot of Light Magic. Like so.”

The commander continued drawing new circles for the different schools of magic, but there was still no place for Shadow Magic.

I asked the first question that came to mind.

“Wouldn’t Shadow Magic be an offshoot of Dark Magic? The two sound extremely similar.”

“An excellent question. As a practitioner yourself, I’m sure you’re aware that Shadow Magic generally deals physical damage where Dark Magic deals mental damage—which might make you question why Dark Magic is an offshoot of Earth Magic, but that’s just the way it is.”

“So you’re basically saying I shouldn’t question it? All right.”

“Trust me—I’ve lived in this world all my life, and there are still plenty of things that don’t make sense to me. This is just meant to give you a rough idea,” he said, adding a little circle for Shadow Magic off to the side of the diagram. “I suspect Shadow Magic’s strangeness has something to do with it being an Extra Skill.” He looked at me with a glimmer in his eyes, like a researcher who’d just witnessed his lab rat do something that would rock the very foundations of the scientific community.

“Since our little combo attack nearly razed an entire forest, maybe I should just refrain from using it altogether.”

“I’ll admit, I’ve half a mind to forbid you from ever using it again. Though the curious side of me wants to see what it can really do if you keep working at it.”

“Whatever you say. Now what’s this about it having a mind of its own?” I asked, eager to get back to the topic at hand.

Commander Saran dropped his pen and clapped his hands together.

“Right! Well, when you almost took out that forest today, it certainly looked from my perspective like you’d lost control of your magic.”

“I sure did.”

“And to be clear, it’s not as though other casters don’t have similar accidents, but such things are usually a result of their own misjudgment. Do you understand?”

I frowned, unsure I really had a handle on how magic worked.

“But that spell you cast earlier not only put that forest and your life in danger, it seemed to be doing so of its own volition. I spoke to Gilles about it, and he agrees.”

“Oh, really? Well, if Sir Gilles says so, I guess it must be true.”

“Why must you wound me so?! I think I just felt a crack in my poor glass heart!”

“Must be tempered glass, ’cause you and I both know little digs like that don’t actually hurt your feelings. You’re just faking it for comedic effect.”

“Wait—tempered glass? Is that something you have in your world too?! P-please, you have to tell me about it sometime!”

The commander leaned in close to me and I quickly pushed him away. He was panting like a dog in heat, and it was kind of creeping me out. Sorry, buddy. You might be a pretty boy, but I’m not that easy.

“Let’s say my magic does have a mind of its own. What does that mean for me?”

“Good question. I suppose it means that if you lose control of it again while other people are around, it may very well put them in danger. It appears that Shadow Magic, though undeniably powerful, has its drawbacks when it comes to MP consumption and control,” the commander said as he regained his composure. I had to admire how quickly this guy could change tack. “Akira, I’d appreciate it if you only used this magic when I give you explicit permission to, or when nobody else is around. Even if you think you’ve got it under your control, we can never be too careful. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal.”

 

Remembering the commander’s warning, I placed my hands on my hips and surveyed the arena.

“Welp, it sure looks like the coast is clear.”

The shadows were already stretching their way up the Chimera’s legs, eagerly awaiting my command. The Chimera struggled to wriggle free, but it was no use. Its shadow was already connected to mine and, as long as there was a flicker of light, you couldn’t escape your shadow.

“Okay, guys. Tear him to shreds.”

If the shadows could speak, they would have cheered. Soon, the Chimera’s entire body was enveloped in shadow and I heard the beast cry out in agony. But nothing could stop the shadows at this point. They ripped the beast apart like bloodthirsty monsters, just as I had commanded, gnawing and gnashing at its impenetrable hide until its entrails were scattered all across the floor.

The stench of blood filled the arena, but I didn’t mind it—it was almost as if I’d been smelling it my entire life. Or maybe my senses were dulled by the immense pain I was suffering. A moment later, nothing was left of the Chimera except for indistinguishable bits. Their hunger sated, the shadows returned to my side.

“Good work, fellas. Thanks for the help,” I said, to which the shadows responded by curling around my legs before disappearing. “I don’t think I’ll ever do a challenge run against a boss like that ever again. These things are too much, man.”

Utterly exhausted, I leaned back against the wall and, the pain finally too much for my body and mind to bear, passed out.

A strange mechanical voice spoke from my lips and echoed in the empty boss arena: “MASTER’S INJURIES HAVE EXCEEDED ACCEPTABLE PARAMETERS. AUTO-ENGAGING SHADOW MAGIC, RECOVERY MODE… MASTER’S MP SUPPLY DEEMED INSUFFICIENT. RECOVERY WILL REQUIRE THE USE OF EMERGENCY MANA STORES. INITIATING RECOVERY… RECOVERY COMPLETE. DISENGAGING SHADOW MAGIC.”

But no one was around to hear it, so no one would ever know.

POV: SATOU TSUKASA

 

I TOOK A DEEP BREATH, then exhaled slowly. Before me lay the grave of Commander Saran. He had taught us how to fight and saved our butts down in the labyrinth more times than I could count, but somehow his grave already look neglected. I knew grass grew quicker in this world, but I couldn’t believe how overgrown it was after a few short days.

“Looks like I’m the only one still coming to visit you, huh?”

The flowers my classmates had left on the day he was buried were wilted, their petals scattered to the wind; the ones I’d left had withered right alongside them. It had only been ten days since then, and it made me sad to think everyone else had forgotten him.

Ever since Akira disappeared, my classmates had been acting strangely. They’d become cold and distant, starting fights over the most trivial of things. Students who’d been best friends started treating each other like enemies and looked at their fellow classmates with distrust. It was as if someone had ordered them to create as much discord and strife among us as they could…or they were under the curse I’d somehow escaped. I was trying to maintain good relations with them for now, but I could already feel them pushing me away.

“I don’t know how I managed to regain my sanity, but I’m guessing I have you and Akira to thank,” I said to the grave.

I didn’t remember much of what had happened while cursed, but after it was broken, people told me that Akira, Sir Gilles, and Commander Saran had run themselves ragged looking for a cure. Sir Gilles also told me that the king and princess had been cursing me and my friends gradually, so we wouldn’t notice.

At this point, I was more focused on self-preservation and saving my friends than saving the world. I knew that keeping myself alive was the best way to protect them. I’d never liked Akira much, but I realized now he’d been working to keep the others safe in my stead, and I was grateful, but I felt nothing but frustration at my own inadequacy. I was tormented by regret, wondering what I could have done differently to avoid our current situation.

The least I could do to repay the commander was keep his gravesite clean, so I picked the weeds and washed away the mud with water that had pooled around the gravestone’s base. I used no magic whatsoever. Finally, I scrubbed the grave clean with a scouring brush I’d borrowed from one of the castle attendants, making sure to get every last bit of moss.

“Whew…”

I took extra care to make sure the engraving of his name was sparkling clean. I wanted to make sure no one would ever forget who this man was and what he’d done. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer.

I was stretching out my neck, sore from leaning over the grave, when I sensed I was being watched. “Hm…?”

The brambles were thick, so I couldn’t tell exactly where they were, but I knew they were somewhere in the bushes.

“Who’s there?!”

I drew my sword and fixed my glare in the direction of the thicket.

A young girl popped out from behind a tree.

“S-sorry ’bout that. Wasn’t tryin’ to spy on ya or nothin’.”

“Oh… It’s just you, Ueno.”

Ueno Yuki, our resident disenchanter. She was the one who had spent all her mana trying to cure me in the labyrinth at Akira’s command. She was always the life of the party in our class, yet right now, she seemed uncharacteristically crestfallen.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. Sorry for pulling my sword on you. Awfully rude of me after you tried so hard to save my life.”

“S’all good. Don’t blame you for bein’ on guard, ’specially with how weird everyone else’s been actin’ lately.”

“Are you not affected by the curse…?”

I did remember her seeming different from the others. Most noticeably, she always looked straight at me while everyone else was always casting sideways glances at one another, waiting for someone to slip up.

“Whaddya mean? I’m a disenchanter, remember? ’Course I’m gonna be more resistant to curses than the rest of ya. Though I got my fair share a’ weaknesses too, lemme tell ya.” I remained on my guard, even while she was being self-deprecating. Being too trusting was exactly how the princess had tricked me before and I wasn’t about to let it happen again. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to be cruel to Ueno either. At times like these, I really hated my people-pleaser instincts.

“Well, if ya don’t believe me, I don’t blame ya. Heck, if I’m bein’ honest, I’m not even sure I can trust you, neither. Maybe yer still cursed. So why don’t we jus’ meet back here tomorrow?”

“Why?”

“I figure it’d be nice if we could team up, y’know? I know for a fact I’m not under any spell, and I wanna prove it to ya. It sucks havin’ to be suspicious of everyone all the dang time.”

I knew what that loneliness felt like all too well, having endured it over the past ten days. The only person I knew who could manage all on their own was a certain assassin. I wished I could be as unwavering as him.

“All right. We’ll meet up here tomorrow. But let’s agree to maintain a safe distance. I’m gonna have my sword on the ground nearby, just in case. Are you okay with that?”

“Sure am. Wouldn’t wanna get too close to a feller with a sword in the first place!”

At last, I saw a hint of Ueno’s trademark smile and a wave of relief washed over me. I picked what looked like a hollyhock flower from a nearby plant and set it on the commander’s grave.

“I hope you’ll watch over me, Commander… I’m gonna be the hero this country needs. I’ll change this world for the better. I swear it.”

Ueno, seemingly moved by my oath, chimed in:

“Y’know somethin’? In the language o’ flowers, hollyhock means ‘a trusting heart.’ And if that ain’t the right flower for this occasion, I dunno what is!”

“Really? ‘A trusting heart,’ huh… I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

I wondered where Akira was, and what he was doing right now. For whatever reason, I found myself missing that arrogant smirk of his. Here, beneath this vast blue sky, I’d finally taken that first step toward my own destiny. An incompetent hero, forever chasing after an elusive assassin.

POV: ODA AKIRA

 

“HM?”

I shot awake in the sixtieth-floor boss arena. Something didn’t feel right.

“My wounds… They’re gone?”

Not just the major injuries I’d suffered during the Chimera fight either. I’d also lost the scars and bruises I’d gotten from training with the commander, as well as the aches and pains in my hips and back from sleeping on the cold, hard ground. My body felt good as new. Since I sensed no presence nearby, nor any trace of mana on my body, I knew my survival wasn’t the work of a passing healer—not that any healing spell could instantaneously cure any and all afflictions anyway. And I had no resurrection skill, so I didn’t think I’d healed myself.

Judging by my internal clock (read: stomach), only about a day had passed since the boss fight. There was no way I could’ve undergone a full recovery in such a short time. However, in the absence of an immediate answer, I stretched out my arms and legs and decided not to think about it anymore. If I came to learn how it had happened one day, then so be it, but I wasn’t going to fret.

“All right, then. Let’s have a bite of this Chimera meat and keep heading downward, I suppose.”

I skipped merrily over to the scene of the slaughter. As other monsters couldn’t enter the boss arena, and there were apparently no bugs in the labyrinth, the Chimera’s remains were untouched. It was hard to call it fresh meat, per se, but I was pretty sure it’d still be just fine to eat once cooked. I used a mana stone to light a fire and, lacking a spit or grill of any sort, proceeded to roast the meat directly over the flames. It wasn’t long before a scrumptious smell wafted through the arena.

“Thank you for this meal,” I said, bringing my hands together in prayer of gratitude before digging in.

The sweet and meaty juices of the Chimera’s flesh filled my mouth—it was downright delicious. I would later come to learn that the stronger the monster, the tastier the meat, which made Chimera meat a delicacy few would ever taste. Unfortunately, there was no way I could eat it all in one sitting, nor was it worth lugging around when it would ultimately go rancid, so I shed a single tear as I exited the boss arena and left the rest behind.

“Okay, how deep should I try to make it today? …I wonder if I shouldn’t try mapping the place out as I go?” I muttered to myself as I slashed my way through a pack of mangy monsters.

I was just now realizing I’d managed to make it to every boss arena without the help of a map. This was quite lucky, in retrospect. The labyrinth was extremely mazelike and convoluted, but I’d made it sixty floors. I didn’t think I could chalk that up to sheer dumb luck.

“Did I get some new skill without realizing it?” I opened my stat page.

 

AKIRA ODA

RACE: Human

CLASS: Assassin (Lv. 46)

HP: 16000/16200

MP: 6300/6300

ATTACK: 10800

DEFENSE: 7200

SKILLS:

Mathematics (Lv. 5)

Negotiation (Lv. 5)

Assassin Tools (Lv. 7)

Assassination (Lv. 6)

Curved Swords (Lv. 7)

Short Swords (Lv. 5)

Conceal Presence (Lv. MAX)

Detect Presence (Lv. 7)

Detect Danger (Lv. 7)

Intimidate (Lv. 4)

Roar (Lv. 1)

Dual Blades (Lv. 1)

Mana Control (Lv. 5)

EXTRA SKILLS:

Understand Languages

World Eyes (Lv. 1)

Shadow Magic (Lv. 5)

Luck

 

Well, would you look at that. Right there at the bottom of my stat page was a brand-new Extra Skill that fit the bill perfectly.

“Guess that must be it.”

I wished I could’ve acquired it a little sooner. Maybe then I could’ve prevented the commander’s murder, or even avoided getting summoned to this world in the first place. Imagine if I’d been lucky enough to be in the bathroom or something when the rest of my classmates got whisked away. I could be at home playing video games without a care in the world. Well, other than my part-time jobs.

In any event, I was quite pleased with the rate at which I was attaining new skills and levels. I just needed to keep using them as much as I could. Surely my new Luck skill would get me out of any sticky situations. I wondered where I’d picked it up. Maybe it was because I’d narrowly skirted death. Or maybe the big man upstairs had seen me wandering in circles through the labyrinth and taken pity on me. Either way, I was grateful to have it, and I ventured forth with newfound resolve.

“KREEEEE!”

“What the…?!”

A massive, screeching something appeared directly in my path. My fight-or-flight response opted for flight. I wasn’t really in the mood to get eaten, and just looking at the thing made me nauseous. It looked like a giant mass of muck and grime brought to life, and the putrid stench coming from (what I assumed to be) its gaping maw was revolting.

“Welp, time to get the hell outta… Wait. Huh?”

As I turned on my heels to leave, my Detect Presence skill picked up something I hadn’t sensed since about the twentieth floor—another person. Now that my effective skill radius was up to three miles, this presence could be anywhere on the sixtieth floor, but I only sensed it when that beast opened its mouth.

“Guess it’s worth a shot…” I said, gripping my trusty katana. I didn’t like wasting my energy on monsters I couldn’t eat, but I just had to satisfy my curiosity.

“KREEEEEEEEEE!”

“Yeugh! Would you shut that foul mouth already?!”

I raised my sword and cleaved the beast with a single downward slash, being careful not to harm what might be trapped within.

“K-kreee…”

The monster fell to the ground. Pathetic. It was far weaker than any of the other monsters prowling about on this level. It looked like a type of slime, but those were more likely to be found around the tenth floor. The beast’s oozing exterior dribbled away and dissolved into the floor.

“Mmngh…”

I sighed. Yep. Called it.

I sheathed my blade and approached the young woman lying on the floor where the slime had been. She was still alive—definitely breathing, albeit unconscious.

Great, just what I needed. New dead weight to carry around, I thought to myself. Resigned to my fate, I set up camp for the night.

One look at the girl and I knew she was an elf. Her face was the kind of beautiful that won international beauty pageants back home, and she even put the princess of Retice to shame. But it was those trademark pointy ears that really gave it away. She was an awfully long way from home.

Commander Saran had told me the elves hardly ever ventured beyond the bounds of the Sacred Forest, preferring to keep to themselves and watch over the Holy Tree in peace. He’d also mentioned they were an incredibly arrogant race who lived far longer lives than humans, and they looked on humanity with disdain for our reliance on deforestation. There was no such thing as a half-elf, either. There were no recorded cases of humans and elves—or humans and beastfolk—having successfully reproduced.

Also, her clothes were made of far finer fabric than anything I’d seen the king and princess wear, so she had to be of noble blood or something.

“Man, of all the shitty luck,” I groaned. I wasn’t looking forward to having another mouth to feed, but I started cooking dinner for two all the same. “Wait a sec. Maybe I should try using World Eyes before she wakes up.”

It was the one skill I hadn’t really had a chance to try out yet, partly because I was a little afraid to find out what it did—especially after my other Extra Skill, Shadow Magic, had gone completely out of control the first time I used it. I assumed it was a skill that would give me some sort of special vision or insight, but I’d been too terrified of something going wrong to try it back at the castle.

But in the labyrinth, the only people I would be putting at risk were myself and this random elf girl I didn’t know and therefore wouldn’t mind sacrificing in the name of science… Okay, kidding.

But time was of the essence; she could wake up at any minute, so I calmed my mind and activated World Eyes.

“What the?!”

 

LABYRINTH WALL (Lv. 60): Extremely hard. Cannot be broken.

 

LABYRINTH WALL (Lv. 60): Extremely hard. Cannot be broken.

 

LABYRINTH WALL (Lv. 60): Extremely hard. Cannot be broken.

 

LABYRINTH WALL (Lv. 60): Extremely hard. Cannot be broken.

 

LABYRINTH WALL (Lv. 60): Slightly weaker than surrounding walls.

 

LABYRINTH WALL (Lv. 60): Extremely hard. Cannot be broken.

 

LABYRINTH WALL (Lv. 60): Extremely hard. Cannot be broken.

 

LABYRINTH WALL (Lv. 60): Extremely hard. Cannot be broken.

 

All at once, an entire encyclopedia’s worth of information flooded my mind. I fell to my knees, clutching my head in my hands. Using the skill for even a split second had given me a headache and made me feel like I was about to throw up.

“Huff…huff…!”

When the pain finally subsided and I could open my eyes again, stat pages were floating above everything around me. World Eyes apparently gave you access to an infinite supply of information about the world around you, and while much of it looked exactly the same, there were interesting bits of intel to glean. For example, a single spot in the wall was soft enough to break through, despite looking identical to all the rest.

I deactivated World Eyes and collapsed in a heap on the floor. I’d been right to assume Extra Skills weren’t the sort of things you could go around using willy-nilly. I was used to pain after practicing with the commander, but if one my classmates were to try using World Eyes, I was pretty sure they would faint from shock. It had only lasted a second, yet it felt like I’d seen something I wasn’t supposed to… I assumed the skill was meant for more practical applications, like viewing another person’s stats, but I could probably see much more than that—maybe even into the future.

Not that there was any real use for such an overwhelming amount of information, especially if it ended up costing me my life. I wasn’t invested enough in this world to care about its future anyway, so I would stick with Conceal Presence as my overpowered skill of choice. Maybe use World Eyes every once in a while to check a stat page or two. Nothing more.

“Wait a minute… Can I can use it to see the stat pages of stat pages?”

I decided to give it a whirl and opened up my own stat page to see what it looked like. Little pop-up windows appeared over each skill, which was a bit much to handle, so I focused on the one directly above World Eyes.

 

World Eyes (Lv. 1): Allows the user to see anything and everything about the world around them. Active field of view can be adjusted as desired.

 

“Sounds about right,” I whispered, before closing my stat page. I sighed and went back to cooking since it was getting close to dinnertime. But just as I was getting started, the girl on the floor (who I’d honestly completely forgotten about) stirred.

“Ngh… Where…am I?”

“Oh boy, here we go…” I grumbled before calling out to her. “Hey, sleepyhead. You’re not in pain or anything, are you?” I hadn’t bathed in weeks, and I probably looked pretty terrifying at the moment, so I made an effort to be as friendly as possible. The last thing I needed was her freaking out and either drawing a bunch of monsters to us or treating me like a criminal due to some stupid misunderstanding. I also wasn’t expecting her to be a saint either. Where I came from, pretty girls weren’t well-known for having personalities to match.

“Oh, um… No, I think I’m fine…”

She seemed a little out of sorts—probably because she’d only just woken up—and hardly batted an eye at my grisly appearance. In my infinite kindness, I extended a juicy leg of monster meat toward her, along with what little remained of my bread. I heard her stomach growl the moment she got a whiff of it.

Well, she’s not too stuck-up to eat monster flesh, at least. That’s a good sign.

The girl snatched the food out of my hands, then dashed off to a corner and crouched down, watching me like a feral cat.

Not bad. With moves like that, she’d make a decent assassin. Before I was even finished admiring her speed, she’d devoured all the food I’d given her and was glaring at me with a look that demanded more. I sighed and held out the other leg I’d cooked for myself.

“Th-thank you,” she grumbled hoarsely as she choked down her food.

I nodded and poured her a cup of water. It was wonderful how a single mana stone could be used for a little bit of everyday magic. The ability to make a fire or conjure water for oneself made cooking a breeze, even down in a deep labyrinth like this. I watched the girl finish the monster leg before downing the cup of water in a single gulp.

“Thank you for saving me,” she finally said, the water having cleared up her throat.

I started to feel little awkward.

“No prob. But what were you doing inside that monster anyhow?”

“I don’t know… I don’t really wanna talk about it.”

“Suit yourself, I guess.”

The conversation came to a halt. There were plenty of things I wanted to ask her, but I decided to inspect her stat page instead.

 

AMELIA ROSEQUARTZ

RACE: High Elf

CLASS: Spirit Medium (Lv. 51)

HP: 500/25000

MP: OVER MAX

ATTACK: 400

DEFENSE: 350

SKILLS:

Royal Grace (Lv. 4)

Spellcraft (Lv. 4)

Gravity Magic

Resurrection Magic

Curseproof

Evasion Magic

EXTRA SKILLS:

Archery (Lv. 8)

Spirit Dance

World Eyes (Lv. 3)

 

So not just an elf, but a High Elf, eh? Also, is this chick a hacker? Her MP is so high, it can’t even be displayed? What kind of bullshit is that? And what’s with this OP Spellcraft ability? She just gets to create new spells whenever she wants? Not even we summoned heroes can do that. She’s even got World Eyes just like me, so she’s probably already read my stat page too.

“So what are you doing down here, Akira?” she asked.

See, I knew it. At least ask my name anyway, dammit. It’s common courtesy. Imagine if she did that to someone who didn’t know she had that skill. They’d flip.

“Just grinding skill levels,” I responded.

“Gotcha.”

The conversation drifted off again.

Commander Saran had told me elves generally had golden hair, but Amelia’s was silvery white, and her eyes were not the common deep blue, but red. Maybe she was an albino elf. The average person might find her looks a bit off-putting, or even alarming, but luckily for her, I wasn’t exactly average. I thought she was strikingly beautiful, though I knew better than to say so out loud to someone I’d just met.

“What about you? Are you lost? Trying to find your way back to elf country?”

“No, I’m never going back there. I’m sticking with you from now on.”

Well that was awfully presumptuous of her. Judging from her stat page, she could probably hold her own, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to have her tag along. Traveling around with a beautiful woman might draw unwanted attention, and I was supposed to be an assassin. It would be best if we went our separate ways as soon as we made it out of the labyrinth.

“No offense, but once I clear this labyrinth, I’m gonna wanna go home, once it’s safe for me to do so.”

“‘Go home’ where…?”

“Huh?”

“There’s no place for you in that castle anymore, nor anywhere else in this world.”

“And what makes you so sure of that?”

I knew that everyone at the castle had been brainwashed, but I figured I would destroy the crystals the king and princess were hiding and break the curse, like I’d done for the hero. Then we could expose the royal family for the evil schemers they were and I could be absolved of the murder charge. And if not, I would wait until I got stronger than the Night Ravens and force them to flee the castle.

“Some things I just know. But you and I have the same eyes, so you should know it to be true,” she said, pointing at her eyeballs.

“Sorry, but I don’t. If it’s World Eyes you’re talking about, then I guess my skill level’s just not high enough to do that yet.”

“It’s got nothing to do with skill level. You’re just refusing to see the truth.”

I assumed she was talking about how I’d decided I didn’t want to use the skill to see into the future. I averted my gaze. It felt like this girl could see right through me, and I couldn’t bear to look her in the eye any longer. I decided to change the subject.

“Anyway, back on topic. What exactly is your game plan now that you’re free from that disgusting monster?”

Amelia thought the question over for a moment.

“…I’ll go wherever you go, Akira.”

Still not giving up on that, huh? In her defense, she hadn’t judged me by my appearance like most other girls did, and she wasn’t an annoying chatterbox either, so she wouldn’t be the most obnoxious companion. I was growing too exhausted to continue the conversation in any case, so I pulled my blanket out of my bag and said,

“Okay, well… I’m gonna hit the hay.”

“Good night,” she said sweetly.

“Yeah…”

I threw my one and only blanket over to Amelia, then leaned my back against the labyrinth wall. We’d made camp at a dead end in the maze, so we weren’t likely to be ambushed in our sleep; I knew from experience that monsters only came out of the labyrinth’s walls when you activated a trap. I did, however, extend the range of my Detect Presence skill to cover Amelia as well, who was already sawing logs. Not exactly the sort of elegance I’d expect from elven royalty. Or maybe the Royal Grace skill on her stat page had nothing to do with her lineage.

I was not the least bit happy about this turn of events, but I’d finally teamed up with my first proper traveling companion.

POV: AMELIA ROSEQUARTZ

 

I WAITED UNTIL AKIRA had drifted off to sleep before I opened my eyes. Royalty or not, no woman in her right mind would fall asleep in the presence of an unfamiliar man, especially not on the cold hard ground, no matter how tired they were. For better or worse, I was still a princess.

Oh, who am I kidding? “For better or worse…” As if it could possibly get any worse. I sighed. I’d already been driven out of my own homeland, and by my younger sister, no less. I had nowhere to run, and no place to call home. I may have been overly blunt in telling Akira that there was no place for him in this world anymore, but I was far more lost than him.

I turned away from Akira, afraid he might catch me staring. He seemed such a master of his senses and even a simple gaze might be enough to rouse him from his sleep. I didn’t want to disturb my savior’s rest. I wasn’t that inconsiderate.

Then I felt a warm breeze caress my skin. It seemed Akira had used a mana stone in his sleep to cast a little survival magic to keep the corridor at a comfortable temperature. He even extended the radius of the heat to cover me. I had to admit, despite his rude manner of speech and rough exterior, he seemed like he might be a good person at heart. I couldn’t think of anyone back in the elven domain who would be so considerate of another person, even for something so small.

I could feel my cheeks growing warm, and not from the heat. What’s gotten into me? Surely I can’t be…blushing, can I? No, I’ve never reacted like this before—not even in response to my most dashing suitors. I placed my cold hands on my cheeks, hoping to cool them down.

“Well, it’s far too sudden to be a fever…and I don’t feel dizzy or anything…”

My heart was racing, and my extraordinarily pale skin (even by elven standards) turned bright pink. What is this affliction that’s come over me? Not some incurable disease, I hope. Oh, what in the world is happening to my body?

POV: SATOU TSUKASA

 

A FEW HOURS had passed since I sent out a group summons, yet only about half of the twenty-seven seats in the room were filled.

Many of my fellow classmates’ complexions were starting to worsen from the stress of being stuck in this world, and some were even looking quite gaunt, with dark circles beneath their eyes. The only ones who seemed right as rain were me, Ueno, and the second most powerful warrior in the group—our resident samurai class, Asahina Kyousuke. He’d always been a man of few words though, so it was hard to say whether he was actually doing fine or just putting up a tough front. The boy was an enigma. The most I’d seen him do was nod along whenever Akira went over to his desk and started talking to him. Akira was the closest thing to a friend Kyousuke had, at least in our class. I knew he was captain of the kendo club and was deeply respected by the other club members.

Now that I thought about it, he’d also always been in the same class as me and Akira every year. What a strange coincidence, that I’d been stuck with two men of mystery my entire educational career. Kyousuke had only grown more mysterious since coming to Morrigan.

“Well, I can see we’re not all accounted for, but that’s fine. We’ll start the meeting regardless.” I stood up and the atmosphere in the room immediately froze over. All of my classmates were staring daggers at me.

“What could we possibly have to talk about, Mr. Hero?” asked Watabe Katsumi, the boy who’d set off the rat trap during our first trip down into the labyrinth.

He was a member of my retinue, and someone I had a fairly decent relationship with back in our world, but apparently that didn’t count for much. I shot an equally vicious glare back at him, and that was enough to make a few other students flinch. No one in this room was stronger than me—especially now that Akira was gone, and that I was getting personal training lessons from the newly christened Knight Commander Gilles. I wasn’t about to let anyone show me up. Maybe Akira could have, but I was the hero, damn it.

“We’re going to talk about our next move,” I said calmly. The twenty-seven of us had been meeting up periodically to exchange intel. During our first meeting, we’d shared our respective classes and abilities. We’d briefly discussed Akira’s as well, since by then it was no secret that he was an assassin.

“Our next move? Really?” said Sakata Natsumi, the star player of the girls’ volleyball team. In this world, she was an amazon—a female warrior class befitting her tall stature.

“C’mon, man. You know better than anyone what a sorry state our group is in. Don’t tell me you’re seriously thinking we should take on the Demon Lord or whatever.” This came from Tanaka Kaichi, #4 on our school’s baseball team and a necromancer in this world.

He and Sakata were members of my personal retinue, as their athletic abilities had paid off in the form of attack power, making them two of our strongest fighters. They were spearheading the opposition. I had to hand it to the princess—her plan was quite cunning. She was trying to destroy our group from within in an attempt to make me falter.

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” I said at last. “I’m gonna go out there and slay the Demon Lord, just like we promised His Majesty we would. Any of you brave enough are welcome to join me.”

A hush fell over the room. Followed closely by total anarchy.

“You’ve gotta be kidding, dude!”

“We’re all being treated like criminals because one of our guys killed the commander, and you think that now is a good time to do this?!”

“What are you, stupid?”

“I mean, he must be, right? Everyone knows it’s Oda’s fault we’re in this mess!”

“I get it now. He’s just using this as an excuse to run away!”

“Wow. Some hero you are.”

“Well, go ahead, then! Run away, you pathetic little coward!”

It always amazed me how a single naysayer could turn into an angry mob if you stood back and let things snowball. I slammed my fists on the fine marble table, taking care not to damage it. I wouldn’t want to foot the bill for a new one just because I got carried away. I didn’t leave a mark, but the impact made a powerful sound that silenced the dissidents immediately.

“Fine,” I said. “Don’t come with me. I didn’t expect much out of you buffoons anyway.” I let out a deep sigh. “I’m leaving, and I’m not coming back. Enjoy sitting around the castle bickering at each other, I guess.” I started to walk away.

 

I had to leave. The king and princess would stop at nothing to get me back under their control and I wasn’t going to let them have their way with me again.

“I’ll come with you,” said an unfamiliar voice, breaking the silence. I turned and saw Asahina Kyousuke rising from the table.

So that’s what his voice sounds like. It might have been the first time I’d heard him say more than a word or two.

Following in Asahina’s footsteps, several other students who had kept quiet until now stood to join him. Among their number were Ueno the disenchanter and Hosoyama the healer. I nodded to my newfound allies and led them out of the conference room.

“Guess that makes seven of us, then. Which works out well, since that’s how many we had in our previous teams.”

“And with Ueno and Hosoyama on board, we won’t have to worry about getting cursed or injured,” said Asahina. I couldn’t believe how much he was saying all of a sudden. I wasn’t just taken aback—I felt like I was witnessing a miracle.

“Well, everyone,” I began, after we’d put some distance between ourselves and the conference room. “At the risk of sounding pretentious, I hereby nominate myself as leader of the group. Are there any objections, or are we all in agreement?” A few members of the group nodded their heads in support, and none dissented. “Then let’s gather our belongings and meet at the castle gates in an hour. We’ll depart as soon as everyone’s accounted for.”

On my orders, the group split, and we headed to our separate rooms. Given that slaying the Demon Lord was the sacred duty entrusted to us by the king in the first place, I was fairly certain we could overrule any opposition to our departure. However, it was still possible that they would try to thwart us indirectly. I knew Commander Gilles would have our backs, but it was imperative we make haste.

I had to wonder why Asahina had decided to come with me. For someone who was going to be one of my few trusted companions on the journey ahead, I knew frighteningly little about his true motives.