Athelei and Irene lurked at a good seven kilometres beneath the surface of Oxhor's crust. They were pretty deep underground and still, a great amount of earth lay beneath their feet. There was still a lot more left of the subterranean kingdoms.
Especially since the duo had yet to reach the so-called [First Kingdom] founded and named by Avina's high-rank Adventurers.
These Adventurers, who had been exploring the labyrinth even before the end of the great seaside city, had come across a trap during their travels. It had sent them falling a great distance, and into a cold pool of water.
Allegedly, after a short swim, they found themselves in a gargantuan cavern wherein a literal kingdom was sprawling before their eyes. It was populated by monsters and beasts galore, forcing them into hiding. They had yet to find a way out even to this day.
All they could do was write themselves a journal on the Information Network.
Irene caught wind of such a story despite her non-orange User identity. That was why she was exploring the labyrinth in the first place. If a kingdom truly existed beneath the earth, what other things could be hiding? What mountain of riches was just waiting to be dug up?
That same line of questioning was luring the Adventurers in. While the Illum Spiritualists sought ascension and the Exiled sought the enemies of the gods, everyone else sought treasure. Even the knights of Illyas.
"Another dead end," Hyeon sighed as she sketched a map of their assigned area of the labyrinth. She then groaned, "Are we really going to be stuck in this... dreary, dull, and dusty place for the next few months?"
"We have no choice, Hyeon." Arnold said in resignation, "We need to find something to cure your father and the subterranean kingdoms are our only chance... Unless we go to the centre of the continent and search there as that weird magician guy suggested."
"We both know we can't go to The Pearl, Arnold. I just wish we had another way." Hyeon sighed again as she turned around. "Let's go. It's late and we've mapped out all that we could. Hopefully, the others have discovered something and we can descend a staircase tomorrow."
Shaking his head, Arnold followed after his Adventurer partner. The past two months had been wild for the two of them. They had many encounters with both the villains lurking in Illum and monster-made disasters like the Grey Plains.
'It all started from the monster that appeared inside Colsi.' Arnold cursed those Exiled who disrupted his everyday life. He hated those who wantonly caused suffering and destruction all across Illyas. He had made an oath to punish those blasphemers with his own sword.
Arnold had yet to learn of the Nightwalkers being subordinates of Illum, and thus his hatred was mismatched, but not meaningless.
After all, the two factions seemed to be working together, at least on the surface. The intricacies meant different goals though, and those goals needed Illyas to suffer. The Exiled's main goal was to profit off of conflict which Athelei had realised back when he took in the Stain of Existence. Apple had also told the angel about the man's younger brother who was seeking 'confirmation' or whatever that may be.
As for the Spiritualists who sought 'ascension,' it was too vague a concept for any one outsider to properly grasp.
"Oh my," A sinister voice suddenly sounded out from the darkness when Arnold and Hyeon rounded a corner, "I never expected to see such beautiful blue hair, here in a place like this."
Hyeon froze the moment she heard that voice. Arnold already had his sword out. Although they knew that other Adventurers were roaming the labyrinth with them, being approached out of nowhere always left them wary.
"Who's there?" Arnold eyed the darkness, and a scarred woman emerged.
No hair was on her head, and one of her eyes was missing. In the eye's place was an empty, gaping hole.
"My name is Livia. But the little young miss over there can call me... Maid Livia." The scarred woman, who introduced herself as Livia spoke with a feline glint in her eyes.
"Maid... Livia?" Arnold was confused, but then a dagger found itself embedded in his shoulder. "What—?"
Livia's playful expression had suddenly turned cold. She growled as another dagger flew out of her sleeves, finding itself in Arnold's gut before he could even react. "You have no right to call me by such a title."
And then, as if it was all a lie, Livia's expression suddenly became soft, "So, young miss Hyeon... Did you miss me?"
Hyeon was still unable to react. She was still stunned. Frozen. Frightened.
She had opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
"Awww," Livia faked a sad expression and pouted, "Have you forgotten me already? Your most loyal maid? It hasn't even been a few months, young miss!"
"What... what happened to you, L-Livia?" Hyeon finally managed to speak, "I thought... I thought you died in the fires."
Livia suddenly cackled like a mad witch, "Me? Die? Saving you?"
She continued to laugh, finding such an idea absolutely hilarious. Her foot slammed into Arnold's stomach in the next moment.
"—Khuk!" Arnold vomited stomach acid as he was flung into the labyrinth's wall. He then collapsed, reeling in pain and gasping for air. The dagger wound suddenly grew much larger with that strike.
"Was that the story they told you, you sweet little girl?" Livia flickered forward and put her hand on Hyeon's chin, enforcing eye contact. Hyeon wanted to step back, but the cold blade on her neck made her shiver. She could only tightly close her eyes as tears welled at the corners of her eyes.
With her intelligence, she was connecting a few points. A few points she had found suspicious in the past.
'Does this mean... Livia was the assassin? How?' Hyeon felt a tear drip down as she forced out words of broken glass out of her throat, "Why did you do it, Livia? Why did you betray us? Why did you have to use me as one of your damned cards?!"
"It's simple." Livia readorned her gentle expression, "All of you had to die. Only in death would the reign of you wretched royals—"
Livia was abruptly interrupted. A sword coated by a fiery red light suddenly pierced through Livia's heart at an angle, nearly cutting into Hyeon's shoulder in the process.
"How...?" Livia looked at the blade in her chest and felt her body fall limp. She turned to glance at the boy behind her, and she saw a milky white light floating around his wrist.
"I see..." She began to laugh uncontrollably as her muddled head brought about insanity, "Of course it's the bracelet I left behind. Of course! Of damn course!"
Thud!
Livia suddenly fell to the ground. Her laughs were cut short. Her manic eyes now lacked the light of life as blood flowed straight out of the hole in her chest.
Arnold pulled out his sword as the light around his wrist faded into nothingness. Its effects of [Silencing] and [Nervous Collapse] disappeared with it. Hyeon was suddenly able to hear his ragged breaths.
"Arnold!" Hyeon rushed forward to check his wounds, murmuring as she saw the disgusting colour of his exposed flesh. "Are you okay..? Oh no, oh no no no... the daggers were poisoned..."
Arnold collapsed in a similar manner to Livia. He sluggishly placed a hand on Hyeon's shoulder as he mouthed out a sentence, "Calm down. Use what you learned."
Hyeon luckily understood what he was trying to say. That's what Arnold always said whenever she faced a sudden problem and allowed her emotions to swamp her. She nodded as her hands began moving in rapid and precise patterns.
A long sequence of Mystic Patterns slowly came to life as Hyeon let her instincts take control. She allowed her Mystic Energy to flow, guiding her towards all the right patterns. The world around her became an extension of her senses as every stroke and every symbol reacted with the laws of reality.
Mystic Patterns that were completely original composed her sequence.
'A genius...' Athelei was watching all this occur through his wisp of grey fog. He could not help but marvel at the sheer inequality born from the combination of talent and [Heroic Luck]. Hyeon was simply on another level when it came to being an Artist.
'And to think that she also moved into Rank 1 Artist so quickly... It was only what, two, three months ago that she was at peak Rank 0?' To average humans, that was an extraordinarily short bottleneck experience. Athelei inwardly shook his head and went back to focusing on the miracle before him.
Everything seemed to fall into place according to Hyeon's wishes. Her fingers moved like it wasn't even hers.
Athelei, who had been able to glimpse the Mystic Pattern circles of a few Rank 2 Artists could not find a single familiar Mystic Pattern in Hyeon's sequence. Even the priests whom he had gone to for healing once upon a feverish time did not use the same patterns.
'Excellent research material.' Athelei felt his own abilities grow by simply observing Hyeon's pattern sequencing. A few more wisps of grey fog joined the first wisp as he expanded his senses. He was trying to have a peek at what was occurring on a scale invisible to human senses.
'This Hyeon... Is she following the nature of things?' Athelei discovered a pattern in her pattern sequencing. The first strokes always seemed to be unoriginal Mystic Patterns. Also known as published or well-known Mystic Patterns.
But after those first strokes, everything changed. The patterns became something Athelei could not recognize... but with his research into mathematics, he could see the logic behind those strokes.
'How intriguing,' Athelei chuckled as he watched and learned. 'The Mystic Patterns have patterns within themselves.'
Hiiiiiiing!
Hyeon finished her sequence just as Arnold's eyes failed to stay open any longer. A beautiful white light shone, looking like a master's refined calligraphy with its exquisite strokes and serifs.
Arnold's wounds healed at a visible rate. The discolouration and abnormal pigments faded and returned into healthy vibrant hues.
It was only then that Hyeon sighed a heavy breath of relief as she promptly passed out.
'Whatever she did clearly cost her an immense amount of [Mana],' Athelei saw the symptoms Hyeon was showing and such was his deduction.
"...Goodnight, you two," Athelei spoke out loud with a short laugh, "Wonderful show."
A smile then formed from the grey fog present. Colourless lips remained frozen in a grin despite the words that rang out.
"I learned quite a lot~"
The smiling fog then dissipated as Athelei felt another set of wisps react to human presence. But instead of the calm familiarity, he felt from Arnold and Hyeon, these ones were hurried. Panicked.
A situation, dire and exciting was occurring.
'What kind of treasure did they lay their hands on, I wonder?'