As we get closer to the labyrinth, many people, of all races is here. Business sure is booming. Just like dungeons, labyrinths are places where an outbreak happens. The difference is that it is continuous.In summary, labyrinths are the places were a lot of demonic mana and natural mana gathers. Because of this, the labyrinth have an ego of its own. The labyrinth would repair itself overtime, no matter how serious the damage is. This is one of the reason why many adventurers and mercenaries especially holy knights and priest go here frequently. With their holy attribute it is a lot easier for them to level up.
The layout never changes. The same monsters on each level. And the EXP you get is doubled. One can say that it is the most attractive tourist spot for those who want to raise their level.
Meanwhile the difference between dungeons and labyrinths is the difficulty level. Labyrinths get explored almost everyday, the layout does not change as well. While dungeons are places with unknown layouts. Some are for beginners but real dungeons are supposed to be more brutal.
"Master! Over here!" Melanie shouted.
We went to her.
"Did you finish the job?"
"Yes" Mel replied.
[Aura proficiency have increase]
Mel lead the way. Around five hundred meters from the entrance of the labyrinth were four men who were tied up.
"Oh don't worry you guys. I'm just going to brainwash you all"
Brainwashing all four of them. While taking some of their abilities. Pretty nice haul. I transferred the
I also took all of their money.
"Are you not ashamed of yourself?" Loki said.
"Not at all. I'm only not allowed to kill them now, can I. Besides, these guys are wanted criminals that have bounty on their heads, so I do not see the reason why this is bad"
We entered the labyrinth using the four as our tour guide to the labyrinth.
[Aura proficiency have increase]
Day One.
Here in the first floor, nothing noteworthy can be seen here. Just basic traps. So we went to the second floor.
I made Ella, Ello, and Nunu to from a line. It feels like I'm some kind of teacher in a field trip.
"Okay, listen closely. What is the number one difference if you compared the monsters here inside the labyrinth and those monsters on the outside?"
Ella raise her hand.
"Power?"
"Nope!"
Ello raise her hand.
"Intelligence?"
"Correct"
"How does that make any difference, master?" (Nunu)
"That is because inside the labyrinth, the best phrase you can describe the monsters here is, 'survival of the fittest'. They engage in combat every second, therefore they have adapted and became more cunning such as making traps on their own. Ambushing people as well"
"Hey dad, can we just get this over with?" Mel said mockingly.
"If you don't want me to brainwash you, I suggest you shut yourself up"
She frowned.
Based on the map I saw each floor is at least one hectare. While the deepest part of the labyrinth known is the 57th floor.
The one who made it to the 57th floor is the gambler king. It was said that he was the one who distributed the maps from floor one to floor fifty seven for free. And he alone made it down there all on his own. It makes me wonder just how strong are these seven kings are.
While I am lecturing the three, a group of goblins charge at us.
The three quickly responded and I let them be. As I watch from the rear I observe each of them carefully.
The goblins were massacred.
[Aura proficiency have increase]
Sigh.
"Nunu, why did you use your flame? Yes, you can freely manipulate it with your skill but don't use it in close spaces. Especially, in a narrow place like this"
"I am very sorry for what I did!"
He bowed.
I turn to Ella and Ello.
"You two did great. You finish your targets in one swift move"
They smiled happily.
We went to all corners of the second floor, slaughtering all monsters in sight.
Day two.
Since we are now finish here in the second floor, we head to the third floor.
"Hey~ Ladies! If you want, you three can come with us" (Man 1)
"Ditch those two weaklings!" (Man 3)
"Yeah, yeah"
Nunu took a stance.
-Master, should I restrain them?
-No. Let them rant as much as they want. Let these goons raise their own death flags.
-Death flags?
-No need for you to know what it means.
The five men kept on insulting us. Before going down to the third floor, I ditch our tour guides. Now these guy are confident since the only males in our group is me and Nunu.
Another man appeared. His clothes seems to be better than the five idiots. He look at me with disgust while looking at Mel with eyes full of ulterior motives.
"What do you guys want?" I ask.
"How rude of me, I am Hado, leader of our party. The answer to your question is just those girls. You see, we are very tired and we want to have some fun" Said by the man with the flashy attire.
He wink at Mel.
-Mel, go take care of them. The kids still need to preserve their stamina.
-So you do admit that you are the dad.
-No. It is just that these three act like children.
She sighed.
"Okay, master"
She wink and then obeyed my order.
A magic circle appeared on her hands and a lot of poisonous bugs came out. The bugs bit the five but Hado was able to defend himself on time.
"Poison! There is poison!"
There's no use using an antidote. To begin with, Mel's insects are already poisonous. With the extra effects of
Their skin started to turn purplish from the areas they were bitten.
I cured the five men and Ello tied them up. Due to the pain of the poison they had earlier, they are currently incapable of moving.
-I remembered something Master.
-What is it, Mel?
-This man named Hado is a noble from the empire. He came from a count family.
-That's even better!
Hado met the same fate as the other five.
We found a resting a place and decided to stay here in the meantime.
"For now you three should scout the area. Ella and Ello will go north. Nunu will go South"
They nodded in unison.
Now time to brainwash this noble of ours.
[Aura proficiency have increase]
I altered Hado's memories so that from his perspective, I am his savior. One that he is greatly indebted to. The same goes for the other four. I killed the other one since he have a nice skill.
With the
As for their belongings, well, I just put everything in my inventory. Apparently, the things they have in them are quite valuable for alchemy. Even if it is just some few good coins, I can't let myself pass this opportunity.
The five men woke up just before the three finish their scouting. We eat dinner and they sleep. Mel drag one of the guys somewhere dark. And soon faint screams can be heard. Well, I guess I have to alter their memories again. How tiresome.
Before parting ways with these thrashes, I made sure to make them feel even more indebted to me.
Day three.
[Aura proficiency have increase]
The monsters here in the third floor was also wiped out. So we head to the fourth floor. Here in the fourth floor are slimes. They have complete physical immunity and are only vulnerable against magic. They eat anything since they have the ability to dissolve everything that is organic.
"Kyaaah!"
A girl scream. We ran towards the source of the voice and there were girls fighting slimes. I covered Nunu's eyes and pulled out some clothes for the girls. I thought these kinds of situations only exist in fantasy. Who knew I'd actually saw one in the flesh. Mel gave the clothes to the girls. I then remove my hands from his eyes.
"Thank you very much for helping us"
"No need to thank us. Well, we will get going now. Try not to get captured by low leveled monsters~"
One of the girls scream as we go.
"Wait!"
Ignoring what she have to say, I waved my hand and we left the three girl party behind. They shouldn't have any trouble going back up since we already cleared half of the whole floor.
Day six.
[Aura proficiency have increase]
[Aura proficiency have increase]
Currently, we are now in the tenth floor. We bursted through the floors and arrive here.
We are now facing a battle of endurance. The only ones that are fighting are the kids though.
Hundreds of skeletons keep coming our way. It is easy for me to just purge them since I possess the holy attribute. But these guys need to learn how to effectively use their power as long as they can to be useful to me.
Since I am only increasing my aura proficiency 24/7, the amount of aura I can use also increases. So I am not slacking off.
Still, with the double EXP boost of the labyrinth, leveling up sure is a hassle. It is so slow! I knew it would be slow but not like this!
The three got tired so I ordered Mel to eliminate all the undead within the area.
Since this is Hel's labyrinth, from here on the tenth floor most of the monsters are undead type.
Boom!
Someone seems to be fighting nearby.
We went to the source of the of sound after confirming their identities thanks to Ella. A group of holy knights. Four holy knights and two priests. Holy attribute users are taking their sweet time here, huh.
We greeted the party. Knowing some faces before going to Aigreos would should be good.
"Hello"
"Oh, hi there" They replied.
Looking at them now it doesn't seem to be they are having a hard time at all.
"Are you guys training or something?"
"Yes we are. What about your group?"
"We are also doing the same"
One of them seems to be gathering mana.
A girl raise her hand and abruptly release a spell with the holy attribute. It was aim at Mel. Nunu took the spell instead by using his own body. He sure have nice reflexes.
All of them raise their weapons. So them being friendly was an act.
"I am sorry but why is there an evil spirit in your group?"
The one who seem to be their leader glared at me. So I responded with,"I can't answer that question, but I am willing to give her to you all, assuming that you guys can handle the consequences"
"We are followers of the church, it is in our doctrine that all evil must be extinguish"
"And what consequences? We are doing this for justice!"
These guys are too delusional. Too straightforward. And too naive. They should have thought about something else like letting us pass through first then ambushing us since Mel is the one guarding the rear. Making it easier for them to kill her. I won't let that happened though.
"Speak!"
See. They are so impatient.
I remove my left glove to show them my mark.
"As I said earlier, are you all brave enough to face the consequences of raising your weapons to an apostle?"
The color of my mark was in the light-colored category. Which means the alignment of the god who I am following is either neutral or good. If the god is evil, then it would be at the dark-colored category.
They trembled.
"I have my own reasons why this evil spirit is accompanying me. Now, knowing all of that, will you all still raise your weapons and challenge me?"
"N-no"
"We are sorry for our ignorance, Sir"
They bowed.
As we walk past them, "Its fine! Do be careful next time."
And we continued our training.
Day Seven.
We reach floor twelve. Instead of skeletons there are a lot of zombies.
[Aura proficiency have increase]
They are such a good sandbags for the kids. They keep on regenerating after all. So they need to destroy them in one clean hit so that they won't even have the chance to regenerate.
"Master"
"Yes? Do you need something, Mel?"
"If I find any man here, I'm gonna go hunt them. I expect that you won't intervene, correct?"
I hit Mel in the head.
"Yes, I won't. Assuming that you even find any chances that is"
Good thing the kids aren't here right now.
Day ten.
We stayed here in floor twelve for about three days. The kids got used to the zombies and now don't have any problems with them.
"Ella, Ello, for now you two should go back"
They vanish. I'll just summon them again later.
"What are you going to do, master" Nunu ask.
"We are going to be skipping some floors. Mel, hold Nunu. Since you can fly this shouldn't bother you too much."
Mel started to fly with Nunu and I took my stance. The labyrinth is like a zombie. It regenerates slowly overtime. Then I just have to break it faster before it even gets the chance to repair the damage.
I reinforce myself with aura especially my arms and legs.
"Warstyle: Second form, shock"
The floor shattered. I kept on shattering the floors one by one.
Pretty sure that for the people on the surface they should be panicking right about now, thinking that this is an earthquake or something. I wish I can see their faces.
And just like that. We arrive at floor twenty three with no casualties.
Many undead soldiers with armors, zombie hounds, and abominations charge towards us.
"Grand magic: Garden of Eden"
The skeletons and some of the zombie hounds were turn to ash. While the rest got significantly weaker.
I think I am the only one who would even consider using a grand magic healing spell as an offensive spell to eliminate undead.
I quickly disabled the grand magic and Mel quickly summon insects with sharp claws and strong exoskeleton.
The insects fought with the remaining undead.
"Nunu, go all out once the insects are gone"
"Yes, master!"
The bugs were able to diminish the number of undead. Nunu then went all out and release an incredible amount of fire. I let him go all out since we are in an open space. So there should be no problem about the amount of oxygen that will be left.
His firepower is better than before. Huhuhu, he's so talented.
Despite having a full recovery, Nunu exhausted all of his mana.
All undeads have thirty percent resistance to all elemental type attacks but are extremely weak against light base attacks and the holy attribute. If Zel is able to get the holy attribute, if he were to create an army of the dead it would be immune to the holy attribute and light based spell. While having thirty percent resistance to all elemental types as well. So even if he was an ordinary necromancer, just the fact that he have the holy attribute will make him unrivaled. In a battle of two necromancers, he will naturally win because he possess the holy attribute. I'm so excited to see his progress.
Even Nunu and Melanie together won't be able to beat Zel if he did acquire the holy attribute.
Honestly speaking, even I would have a hard time. Anti-magic, holy and arcane attribute are all useless against him. While demonic attribute will only empower him. Meaning the only way to beat him is through sheer physical power. Which will be extremely hard since they regenerate.
Thinking back, the ones from the other day should be about low class holy knights. Seeing Talep's power firsthand, him and his group should be able to reach about floor twenty to floor twenty five without any problem.
Day eleven.
We continued our training here on the twenty third floor. This time, the three are helping each other to cover for their own weaknesses.
The three went closer to me.
"Master, may we have some sweet snacks?" The three said at the same time.
I gave them some. Enough so that they won't ask me for another day.
These guys sure do have a sweet tooth on them.
Day fourteen.
We reach floor twenty nine. Necromancers left and right making even me join the fight. Instead of purging the necromancers, I made sure to keep their soul energy with me.
What I noticed is that on our way here there are fights that have already happened. Based on the traces left behind it has only been several days. Meaning there are people ahead of us, assuming that they are alive that is.
[You have acquired enough soul energy from necromancers to get the skill
Hooo!
I want to have it but with the "Hero's blessing" it will only get erased. Damn.
In the end I gave the skill to Ella. Since she will be from far away there must be someone who will be guarding her. So having an undead as bodyguards will buy her time to escape if ever the one she is fighting with is stronger. Additionally, this way she can destroy a whole city on her own. With an army of undead charging while she is in a safe distance finishing off troublesome individuals. They maybe the weakest but it would be good since there are a lot of them.
As we get closer to floor thirty, the only [Safe point] of the labyrinth that is known so far. I put my cloak and mask. I can sense quite a number of people, better be cautious.
We entered floor thirty. A huge dome that seems to have its own sun. For some reason it's kinda similar to the fifth floor of the magic tower.
A group of knights and a girl.
They raise their weapons and pointed it towards us.
"STOP!"
What the hell are their problems? Only beings that didn't come from the labyrinth are allowed here in this floor anyway.
We stop.
One person came forward, and remove his helmet.
"I am the leader of our group, the named is Tola. Who are you people?"
The leader of the knights is a girl as well, huh. That would mean she is stronger than anyone in her group.
"My name is Mike and I am the leader of my party"
"So you are saying that only five of you went here, all on your own?" She ask.
"That's right"
Their group seems to be doubting my words.
"Hah! As if only five people can actually go all the way here to the thirtieth floor all on their own"
Said by a man.
The girl who is not wearing any armor who was sitting all this time stood up. She came forward to us.
"How can we be sure that you actually came here on your own?" The girl ask in a gentle manner.
Her voice was cold. She had etiquette but I can't just get rid of this feeling like she is dead or something. Her icy gaze stayed on us.
The rest of them have already took their stance and have reach for the hilt of their swords.
"I am an apostle of a superior ranking Goddess. And I swear in her name that I am not lying about the fact that we did came here all on our own"
I remove the glove on my left hand and showed them my apostle mark. Raising my hand in the air.
It doesn't matter what race you came from. To attack an apostle with no reason is the same thing as to tarnish the name of the God backing them. So people tend to be respectful towards them. No matter who they are.
One of the few reasons why I decided to become an apostle myself.
"I am sorry for doubting you, Sir Mike." The girl said.
"It's fine"
"Allow me to introduce myself"
The girl bowed lightly while lifting her dress a bit.
"I am Layla Lorazio. Fourth princess of the Lorazio Empire"
"She isn't lying. She really is the princess of the Empire" (Loki)
Princess? What the hell is she doing in a place like this? I can't sense any mana from her. Not even a bit. So how does she fight? If she is here she should be leveling up, right. There is no way that her knights would bring her all the way here, to an extremely dangerous place.
"I am sorry again for about raising our weapons to you"
"It is okay, princess"
Mel went somewhere else. It's as if she is disgusted or afraid of something.
-Hey Nunu!
-Yes, master?
-Why are you blushing? You are red all over you know.
-I'm not! I just feel hot, master.
Hehehe. So my son likes her, huh. A princess of all girls too. Well isn't that cringey.
We went to their spot. There were food and tents. They seem to be resting.
"I'm sorry we can't give you much. You see our rations are almost depleted" Layla said.
The faces of all the knights were gloomy.
I pulled some food from my inventory which is two weeks worth of food, putting their numbers into consideration. I really don't like doing this but since she is a princess and since my son likes her, this much should be fine.
"You can take all of these"
"A-are you sure?!"
She ask in shock but her expression is still blank. As I thought, this girl is mentally dead.
"It's fine. I insist"
All the knights brightened up.
The princess have this mysterious vibe about her. I can't really tell what it is. Something about her is weird.
We told stories as we rest. In the meantime, I made sure to be able to touch everyone. Their level all exceeds level 60. That would make some sense how they were able to reach this far. Plus I feel holy attributes on some of them. Holy knights?
But the weirdest part is the princess' status.
[Status information]
Name: Layla Lorazio
Class: None
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 17
Level: 31
HP: 1,850/1,850
MP: 0/0
Strength: 20
Agility: 18
Stamina: 24
Intelligence: 28
Level cap: 31
Psychological state: None
Status: Curse
Abilities: None
Attributes: None
+
This absolutely makes no sense at all! It says here she is curse. And a lot of places are blank! So why would someone with no power at all come here? No, surely there is something else.
The princess is currently talking with Nunu. The girls are training with the knights. So I ask Tola.
"I want to know how you guys manage to reach here. Is that okay with you?"
"Yes. It is alright" She replied.
We sat down.
"It is all thanks to the princess. She has the ability to control space despite not having any mana. You can feel it, right? She doesn't have any mana because she was curse by the king's previous wife. The king's current wife is princess Layla's mother. I don't really know how it happened though. As for our progress here, with her versatile space manipulation we were able to get here easily. It is just that half of our food got burnt due to an incident"
Space manipulation? Space. Telekinesis! Perhaps she have the natural talent for telekinesis. Other than that I can't think of anything else that can possibly let someone control space without having any mana. An innate talent towards space manipulation.
If she have a blessing from a god, that can be a reason as to why she can control space, but she doesn't.
-Master!
-Yes, Nunu?
-She seems to be getting bored. What should I do?!
Ugh. My son really likes her, huh.
-You should say that I can remove her curse.
-Okay!
Seconds later.
Slap!
The princess slap Nunu. The sound made everyone silent. Everyone was dumbfounded.
I went closer to the two.
"Princess Layla, what he said is true. I can remove your curse"
She had this doubtful eyes.
Well, for them, this is the first time we even met and know about her curse. So it would be the natural reaction for her to do something like that.
"Are you serious? Do you swore an oath to the Goddess you serve?" She ask furiously but her blank expression remained the same.
"Yes, I do"
[The Master of the Souls is extremely worried how you will remove the princess' curse]
I instructed the princess to sit in front of me and to do as I say. Nunu who is sitting away from us is about to cry, I better finish this quickly.
I begin the summoning ritual after the preparation was completed.
"My name is Michael Santiago. At this moment, I now open the gate to the spirit realm"
The usual strong wind that would come from nowhere started to swirl.
"With the parasitic curse inside her body. Heed my call to those who live in the toxic lands"
An ominous feeling.
"We offer a drop of our blood"
Me and the princess, using a knife, made a wound and made a drop of blood hit the ground.
"And here, the Gods shall be the witness of this summoning"
The princess fainted and a boy appeared.
"I challenge you into a duel"
"Kekeke, I accept"
[The challenge has been accepted]
[Activating the dueling grounds]
When you summon a spirit you need either one of the two. An environment of the spirit that you will summon. Or an offering that will serve as a catalyst.
I use the curse inside Layla's body to call forth a curse-type spirit.
Although, using an offering doesn't mean it would go well. The probability of successfully summoning one through an offering is thirty percent at most.
We got transported in a place above the clouds. There were no ground. We were stepping on something like an invisible floor.
Me and the spirit fought.
The fight ended with me as the winner with my holy attribute. Still the rank of this spirit is no joke. I only won because of my holy attribute and due to the environment.
[Status: Base info]
Name: None
Class: None
Race: Curse spirit (High rank)
Sex: Male
Age: 451
Level: 42
+
I summon a high rank. This is by all means impossible with my current level. This just prove that the curse inside the princess is really strong.
Instead of making him my familiar, I destroyed his core and absorb his powers. It took me even longer than when I absorb the dragon's soul core. So this is the level of a high ranking spirit. The same level as Gwen. Although I'd still say that Gwen is by far more superior than any spirit with the category of 'High rank'.
[You are now exiting the dueling grounds]
When I got back everyone was happy. I took a look at the princess and she now possess just a tiny bit of mana.
I ask Layla haughtily while crossing my arms "Do you believe me now?".
"Yes! I do!" She cried but with a smile.
Her blank expression seem to have lighten up a bit.
Now is my chance!
"Princess. Sorry to say but don't you think you owe Nunu an apology"
Nunu look at me confused.
The two of us look at him.
The princess grin.
"Indeed" She replied.
The princess went to Nunu. She knelt down and kiss him in the cheek. It's more of a light peck than a kiss. Nunu was beet red. He look down but he wasn't able to hide the smirk in his face.
Everyone slept. Mel is still nowhere to be found.
Luckily but also weird, there is a well here that have infinite amount of water in floor thirty. The trees here are also perfect to use them as campfire. And since they regenerate fast, you can pretty much say that this whole place can be an encampment for a whole army from these two and the wide space here as the evidence for my idea.
Both the princess and Nunu were nowhere to be found. So I enhance my hearing to the maximum using aura. Since there were no sounds at all here in the entire floor, except for their breathing. I was able to locate the two without Nunu knowing. I can just spread my aura until I get them but he would find out. They are about two hundred meters behind a big tree. Why the hell would they hide behind a big tree?
I decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"Master is amazing! Isn't he?"
"Yes. But why call him master?"
"Because he was the one who created me"
This idiot. That's basically the same thing as telling her your my son biologically, which you are not.
"He is your father?"
"Something like that"
For some reason they got quite all of a sudden. Are they perhaps looking each other eye to eye. No, I can hear Nunu's heart beating fast but the princess' isn't. So why?
"Honestly, I don't want to live in my home"
"Why?" Nunu ask.
"Because people there would lie to me everyday to get close to me. So that they can use my power as a princess. But you are different"
"I am?"
"Yes. You never once lied to me"
"How can you tell that I am not lying?"
"I just can. It is a skill I pick up while living as a royal. Many would lie since they just want self-profit"
"Do you hate those people?"
"Yes"
Nunu's heartbeat got even faster.
"Then, would you like to come with us?"
Hooo, I didn't think Nunu would have the courage to say something like that. Then again, a princess coming with us have its own ups and downs.
I bet he is red all over.
"I am sure master will also take good care of you. He will protect you and reward you, so long as you do a good job!"
"That... that is a tempting offer, but I will have to decline"
"Why?"
"Because I can't let you guys get caught in my affairs. Even if you father is an apostle, the empire would send out its elite forces to forcefully take me back"
If that did happen, I would just kill them one by one while extracting as much information as I can.
"Thank you for your offer. I will now go back to sleep"
The princess went back.
Day fifteen.
The princess and the knights went back up while we stayed here in the thirtieth floor.
-Hey, be honest with me, you like her don't you?
-Will you be mad... if I said yes, master?
-Nope! Not at all.
He nodded.
I use telepathy so that the others won't be able to hear our conversation.
Gwen said that dragons are the most prideful beings in the world but they are also infamous about one trait about them. It is that when they fall for someone their love for that person will never change or waver. A reason why they are dangerously possessive. It is believable when you get to see it firsthand. I almost died because of it.
I suppose after being inside the dragon's body, Nunu have merge with the body to the point he even inherited the dragon's bloodline traits.
The skill that I got from absorbing the high rank curse spirit is
The limit of the spirits that I can summon is already five. It increase by two after absorbing the curse spirit. Incidentally, all of my skills leveled up as well.
Let's continue our journey then. To floor thirty one.
Dullahans were the undead monsters here on floor thirty one. There are not that many though. Because of their small numbers the kids would team up against a dullahan.
But that didn't last long. Here on floor thirty seven, there are dullahans anywhere you look, at the front, at the back, beneath you, sometimes even right above you. Mel went serious and took out some but since they are both from the dark category the dullahans didn't make too much damage on Mel and Mel also weren't able to damage them as well.
Making me to be the one to fight them.
We stayed here until it was no problem for the kids to fight the dullahans all on their own.