by Tao Wong
“Omrak. Buy?” Asin tilted her head to the side, looking up at the large Adventurer.
“I can do so. I believe I know what is necessary.” Omrak nodded agreeably.
“Good.”
Daniel blinked, having thought that he would be the one to do it. After all, that was what he normally did. He frowned slightly, wondering what it was all about, but then shrugged as he hopped over the trip wire. It did not matter, not really.
Still, he wondered.
“Daniel.”
The knocking on the door woke Daniel from his sleep, making him groan. It felt like he had just gotten to sleep before he was woken. He stretched slowly, moving over to the water basin to splash his face, when another insistent knock disturbed his thoughts.
“Coming,” Daniel called out around his washcloth. Grabbing his shirt, he shook his head to clear the cobwebs from his mind. Physically, there was just a residue of the exhaustion from yesterday. Mentally, though, he felt he could have spent another day in bed.
Pulling the door open, he saw Asin with her fist raised to knock again.
“Asin?” Daniel said, puzzled.
“Show,” Asin said, before gesturing for Daniel to come. At his confusion, her tail twitched as she added, “Coin.”
“This couldn’t wait?” Daniel grumbled as he tucked his shirt in.
“No.”
Daniel clamped his teeth around the words that threatened to spill out and walked back into his room to grab his mace and coin pouch from the bedstand before he walked with Asin down the stairs. He knew better than to push the Catkin to explain things before she was ready.
As they walked, Daniel glanced over at his friend, noting how her fur was still slightly wilted and not as well kept as usual. She moved with her usual grace but with a slight hitch in her steps that only someone who had spent as much time with the Catkin as he had would have noticed. Being both friend and her healer gave Daniel a unique insight into his party members he was becoming to realizee. As Daniel walked, he idly noted their route, realizing that he probably knew where they were going.
“Are we headed to the butcher?” Daniel asked, frowning.
“Yes,” Asin answered before falling silent. She refused to answer any further questions, not even after she burdened Daniel down with the carcass of a pair of pigs, carrying a large bag herself too. After that, she threaded her way through the streets towards the Beastkin quarter.
“Am I just here to carry things for you?” Daniel grumped as he lurched behind the Catkin, carrying the meat.
“Wait.”
The encumbered pair finally came up to a sprawling two-story building in the Beastkin quarter. Asin skipped past the main door immediately, leading him to a side door, which she proceeded to kick. When it opened, she handed her bag over to the large Bullkin inside, who gripped it and held a hand out to Daniel. Daniel frowned before handing his own burdens over, the glimpse of the inside detailing a large kitchen. The Bullkin snorted and growled afterwards to Asin, who yowled back, the pair holding a brief and noisy discussion before the door closed suddenly in their faces.
Finished, Asin turned away and gestured for Daniel to follow.
“Is that it?” Daniel asked, shaking his head. “That’s your explanation? Meat to some building?”
“Yes.” Asin stopped and pointed backwards. “School.”
“You’re feeding a school?” Daniel said slowly, frowning at her nod. “I’m going to need more than that.”
“City no pay. No food. Children hungry. I buy,” Asin said slowly, and exaggeratedly. “Expensive.”
“How many children are in there?” Daniel asked as he reached for his pouch, his own generous nature tugging on him.
Asin hissed at him, stalking off.
“What?”
“Beastkin,” Asin growled, and pointed around and then added, “Human. No help.”
“Then why did you show this to me?” Daniel said.
“Insisted,” Asin said as she turned back to her friend. “My problem. I deal. Tired now. Evening.”
“Asin …” Daniel started and then fell silent, watching her walking away. Damn it, Asin.
Chapter 13
Labyrinths were a traditional level in most Dungeons, and depending on the level of the Dungeon, could sprawl over a few kilometers or tens of kilometers. However, no matter which level of Dungeon it was, the monster that inhabited it was the same—the Minotaur. Bipedal, seven-foot-plus monsters with muscles that rivalled Omrak’s and a bull’s face, they were equipped, or not, dependent on the Dungeon level. For a Beginner Dungeon like Karlak, the Minotaurs were unarmored and wielded copper swords and axes, which disappeared after their defeat.
Spinning around, Omrak swung his sword in a diagonal from his lower left to his right shoulder in a cut that battered aside the Minotaur’s copper sword, tearing open its chest. Beside Omrak, Daniel fought much more guardedly, taking the Minotaur’s strike on his shield and sliding it off to his left while he crushed the arm as the monster tried to retreat. Forced to drop the sword, the Minotaur backed away, swinging a hook that Daniel ducked beneath to continue his attack. Behind, Asin watched the pair fight as she ran her finger along the edge of a throwing knife, waiting.
“Thanks for the help,” Daniel grumbled as he watched the Minotaur corpse disappear.
“Dangerous. Move bad,” Asin explained, and then shrugged. “No need help.”
“Aye, we required no help,” Omrak said, picking up the Mana Stone and tossing it over to Asin to pocket. “Next trap?”
“Darts. Pressure and tripwire,” Asin said, pointing down the hallway.
“Right,” Omrak said, pulling out a ball to roll along the ground. Afterwards, he walked forwards slowly with the sword pushing ahead of him to trigger the tripwires.
Daniel followed along slowly as he stared at the map inside his head. The labyrinth was huge, and while they were following the time-honored tradition of staying to the left, it did mean they constantly found dead-ends. Interestingly enough, he had a nagging feeling that something was not right about this maze yet. It was a feeling that had yet to crystalize, which was why he kept silent, for now at least. Either way, there was a lot of ground to cover this evening.
A few hours later, the Catkin paused as she was about to take a step forwards. She pulled her leg back, crouching down as her ears twitched. In a moment, both Omrak and Daniel could hear it. A grinding noise that slowly increased in volume that seemed to surround them all.
“What is this?” Omrak growled, hands tense on his sword.
“The walls are moving,” Daniel said, looking around himself. “The labyrinth is reshaping itself.”
“Midnight,” Asin guessed.
“Yes, probably. So that’s why the Elms have been stuck,” Daniel said, sighing. Between the traps and the shifting maze, each party had only a single day to attempt this.
“Problem. Out,” Asin said, pointing back the way they came.
Daniel frowned, before he realized what she was saying. If the way back had changed, they were now lost in the middle of the maze without a way out. Or through. While the group obviously carried enough food for a few days, the possibility of getting stuck in the maze for all that time made Daniel shudder. It was a Miner’s worst nightmare.
Both Asin and Omrak were silent as well as they considered the fact that now, they had no choice but to find a way out.
As the grinding and rumbling slowly came to an end, Daniel hitched up his bag, glanced at his friends, and said, “Let’s go.”
Nodding, Asin stepped forwards and started checking over the ground in front of them for traps. Omrak followed behind, watching for traps as well and monsters.
An hour later with no attacks, the trio glanced at each other. It was possible that the monsters had pulled back during the transformation and were only now filtering into the rest of the Dungeon. The other, more disturbing possibility was that they were actually cut off, their particular location within the Dung
eon a completely enclosed route. It was a thought that none of the trio cared to share with their friends since there was nothing they could do about it. Still, the fear at the potential of being trapped, even for a day, made the trio move slightly faster than they should have.
Asin stepped forwards, placing her leg against the stone slab, and then found herself tipping forwards as the slab slipped open beneath her weight. Pitched forwards, she threw her hands backwards in a futile attempt to stop her plunge. Only a desperate grab by Omrak on her cloak halted her fall before he yanked her to safety.
Yowling in distress, Asin rubbed at her throat where the rough handling had bruised it. Still, she nodded her thanks to Omrak. The giant Northerner did not notice this, having edged over to stare at the slab of stone while he wedged it open with his sword. Surprisingly, instead of a simple deadfall, the edges of the trap were filled with spikes that were certain to injure any unlucky Adventurer. Thankfully, it was not a large fall, just under six feet. Not lethal, but painful.
“You okay?” Daniel asked.
Asin nodded slightly as she tried to control her breathing and slow her heart. Eventually, she stood up and walked around the edge of the trap, ready to test for the next section. Unfortunately, the Dungeon had no easily discernable ratio of traps to corridor, which meant each section had to be checked carefully.
“We can take a break if you want?” Daniel called out after her as he brought up the back.
Rather than answer him directly, Asin just continued to move forwards slowly.
It was a relief when they eventually ran into a group of Minotaurs. The Minotaur group had just turned the corner and, on spotting the trio, roared before they charged. The lead Minotaur stumbled slightly as it hoof caught a tripwire, righting itself soon after and continuing the charge. Daniel growled at the unfairness of it all as the trap refused to trigger. Asin in the front stood up swiftly, drawing and throwing her knife and activating her ability Fan of Knives at the same time. Knives split again and again, plunging into the monster’s body.
Injured, the Minotaur next ran into Omrak and his sword. Raised above his head, Omrak suddenly stepped forwards and swung the sword down, splitting its skull open between its horn. Daniel finally managed to get his crossbow loaded, the newly released bolt catching a Minotaur right above its hip and spinning it about with the force of impact. His crossbow empty, Daniel dropped the weapon and ran forwards to meet the remaining half dozen with mace and shield.
Asin continued to harass the monsters with her knives, dancing to the side with each attack. A thrown knife spun through the air, sparks of electricity dancing as it lodged in a Minotaur’s bicep, forcing its attack on Omrak askew. Daniel Shield Bashed an incoming attack, the powered block ripping the sword from a monster’s hand before Daniel began his series of attacks.
A few minutes later, the trio were left panting amongst the shiny blue sparkles of light as the corpses dispersed. Recovered, Daniel walked over to Omrak to cast Healer’s Mark and bandage his ribs where a cut had opened up. No point in stitching it; the spell would fix the damage soon enough. Or, as Daniel eyed his friend, perhaps the second use of the spell.
Asin limped over and prodded Daniel, pointing to the cuts on her thigh and upper arm in order. At the end, she had been forced to jump into melee combat to ensure an injured Minotaur did not flank the pair. Unfortunately, the huge height and strength difference had left the Catkin at a serious disadvantage.
Still, for all their injuries, the fight had lifted the mood of the group. Fighting for their lives was a danger that the trio were used to. Slowly starving to death, trapped underground was not for Asin and Omrak. As for Daniel, it was a danger that he had thought he had left behind. Grinning slightly at each other, the trio collected the Mana Stones and moved on.
The good news, thought Daniel, was that they were definitely not trapped in a portion of the labyrinth by the shifting of the walls. At least, if they were trapped, the portion they were trapped in was huge. The bad news was that, even after four hours, the party still had not found a way out. Since each corridor was the same, there really was no way to tell if the exit was around the next corner or a hundred corners from now.
By now, the thrill of the initial fight had gone away, and even subsequent fights had not brought any of the excitement back. Now, it was just the slow grind of checking for traps, walking along blue-tinted corridors and the occasional, hectic fights.
A sullen silence had fallen among the group as they concentrated on their respective tasks. Daniel scanned for trouble ahead and behind them, while Asin checked for traps, and Omrak watched her and marked the traps they found. Occasional grunts and whispered words of warning were the only sounds that emanated from the group, as they plodded through the labyrinth.
Eventually, it was Omrak who broke the silence. “Is this the same passage? Again?”
“Yes,” Daniel said, pointing down to the third of four passages that split from here.
“Did we just walk in a circle,” Omrak growled, hands tightening on his sword.
“Yes,” Daniel answered again while Asin crept forwards, prodding at a suspicious stone. A hiss and a dart flew out from the side, striking the stone on the opposite wall. The Catkin did not even blink, just edged to the left to test the next stone.
“Are you sure about your map?” Omrak asked, leaning forwards.
“Yes,” Daniel replied again.
“Stop it. You can speak in full sentences,” Omrak snapped, stomping his foot.
“Why?” Daniel paused and then added, “There’s nothing else to say. We just need to keep walking.”
“For how long? We’ve been down here for hours now. We can’t even tell how long,” Omrak said, waving a hand at the enclosed corridors. “It’d be at least seven, eight hours.”
“Yes,” Daniel said, stretching. “Do you want to take a break? We probably have the rest of the day.”
“A break. I just want out!” Omrak snarled. “I want to stop walking around in a circle. I want to know we’re actually getting somewhere.”
Asin scurried to the side, a hand touching the top of a throwing knife as her eyes narrowed at the raging giant. Daniel stared at Omrak, opened his mouth and then shut it before he finally tried again. “I can’t guarantee we can get out. But we are getting somewhere. Slowly.”
“We only have your map to tell us,” Omrak said, gritting his teeth. “What if you die. What if you get hurt or separated? What happens to us then?”
Daniel started to answer and then paused, actually considering Omrak’s words. Finally, he said, “You’re correct. We’ll take a break and I’ll draw a map for us.”
Omrak, mollified, finally nodded and flopped to the floor before he reached for his pack to find something to eat. Asin took a seat as well, pulling her waterskin to sip at it. Better to drink slowly—relieving oneself in a Dungeon was never enjoyable. Daniel rubbed his temple as he dug out some parchment and some charcoal to sketch the map that he saw in his head. A part of him, a deep part of him, resented having to do this. However, Daniel squashed the emotions as he worked on the paper. Omrak was right. They definitely did not want to get lost—even if they were following the old wall-following rule, it was no guarantee that they would find the exit that way.
Better to sketch the map, know where they were going, and if they finally found themselves where they started again, they would at least have a map to start from. As it stood, they had already investigated two different islands on the chance that the stairways down were in them.
Daniel was fast beginning to understand why multi-week trips into Dungeon levels were a thing. It had been hard to grasp the complexity of exploring Dungeons before, but being trapped inside the Labyrinth—even if it was for only a few hours—was a definite learning experience. Twenty-five minutes later, Daniel finished the parchment and handed it to Omrak.
“Keep it. Mark it as we go along,” Daniel added, and Omrak nodded grimly. The big Northerner opened his mout
h to say something else and then shut it, shaking his head.
The echoing roar made the trio shift in their steps again before they glanced at one another. Asin snarled slightly but moved forwards again to the next set of paving stones. That roar, louder and more challenging than ever, had been echoing through the corridors for the last half-hour, getting slowly closer and closer. Slowly was the pertinent word, though.
“Closer. A lot closer,” Omrak muttered, sliding the map back into his pouch.
Daniel nodded, putting his mace back into its loop in his belt before he picked up his crossbow. He cranked the crossbow back and slid a bolt in now that he knew they were likely to meet the screamer soon. Then perhaps they would find out who it was, though Daniel had his suspicions.
Asin nearly had the entire passageway cleared before she paused, sniffing the air. She waved the group back even as she drew more knives. It did not take long before the other two heard what Asin had smelled already—company was coming.
Three Minotaurs and a Minotaur Champion walked around the corner, weapons held in their hands. As a group, the Minotaurs rushed forwards while the Champion, standing half a foot taller and nearly the same again wide, rushed forwards while letting loose an all too familiar scream. Daniel hissed, his crossbow raised and firing even as the throwing axe and throwing knives took their attackers in the chest. Daniel’s jaw dropped as he watched the Champion pull one of its compatriots into the path of his bolt before he let it go, letting the injured Minotaur stagger back to its feet, clutching its arm.
Omrak surged ahead as he picked up his sword from the passage, holding it diagonally as he charged. As he neared, he swung it, a glowing yellow light filling the blade. A hasty block by his target did nothing to slow the unstoppable cut, the Minotaur’s blade shattering as it connected with Omrak’s glowing weapon. A moment later, the Minotaur’s body was bisected as well.
Asin cursed as a second Piercing Shot was dodged by the Minotaur Champion as it bore down on her. He was stopped only by Daniel, who lunged forwards, triggering a Shield Bash. The Champion twisted at the last second, taking the strike in his shoulder and staggering backwards. Given a bit of space, Daniel stepped quickly to the right and struck with Perin’s Blow at another Minotaur, sending it crashing into the wall.