The next day after getting ready.
Everyone was gathered together, prompted beforehand about bringing our weapons for our first dive.
We were inside a hub like tunnel that directly connected to the pillar of light in the middle of the city which was the labyrinth.
The academy was located near the labyrinth hence when we were called out to gather outside, we were then immediately guided towards the entrance hub in the school.
It was a highly guarded facility with scanners and monitors scattered all over the place.
We still wore the same uniform and as I looked around the facility in wonder, a man with ash colored long hair and seemingly sloven face with purple eyes came out to greet us.
"Well I guess everyone is here"
He scratched his head after checking his vrace.
"I'm Terrin Ulden and I will be your practical delver instructor. Today we will be exploring the first layer of this labyrinth with the goal of letting you experience firsthand the environment and monsters within it"
"Let me remind you again, combat is not the goal here and is encouraged only in self defense situations or if you're confident enough to survive, be my guest. I will also only play the role of spectator and do not expect any guidance nor intervention throughout your time here, is that clear?"
Everyone nodded even when they felt a little anxious about the contents of what he said.
"Uhh so let's get going then~, fall in line and follow me"
As we went through the corriders and went towards it's end, I contemplated a bit about the first layer as much as I could remember.
'Terrin definitely won't interfere even if we get into a mess and that's really bad for us but it also means we're free to choose to wander around, wether it be alone or in a group'
The first layer is the easiest and most safe layer naturally in the labyrinth. It's only inhabited by a few low tier mobs and the environment is neither confusing nor dangerous in any way.
It is the perfect place to train newbies and control the risk of deaths since no moron would go out of their way to act reckless to find treasures and slay named monsters in an already cleared layer.
'Well as far as the alliance knows that is'
We eventually came to a stop before a large gate, I looked up as it towered ten times our size and looks to be made of very high grade materials.
Terrin then came towards a scanner then placed his vrace in front of it as the large gate opened with a loud scraping noise on the floor.
"""..Wow.."""
The class exclaimed in amazement as they see a pure white wall that was continuously fluctuating, particles of white light floating about in the air.
'...Wow indeed..' I exlaimed inwardly.
"What are you waiting for? get in"
Terrin then quickly passed through the wall of white light and dissappeared right before our eyes.
As soon as that happened, visible worry and doubt started to spread within the class although that didn't last long when Brian and his gang quickly moved ahead.
Donovan also provocatively gave a smug grin to the redt and then left along with Brian.
The three of them dissapeared like Terrin did and not shortly after, Emily and her friends followed them inside.
It didn't take too long for the rest to follow through probably fearing being left out by the class.
I also blended in and went through immediately after everyone had passed through the entrance.
It was a weird feeling as I passed through the entrance. It felt like my body was being groped all over and as well as a feeling of weightlessness came over me.
The feeling then vanished quickly. I opened my eyes in bewilderement as I was greeted by a darkly lit mossy place.
The walls and the floor had overgrown vines and grass was growing here and there. The ceiling was high up above our heads and the space of the area was more than large enough for a class like ours.
The light source came from torches placed on the walls that strangely glowed blue, making it still hard to see.
As I was looking around the place, Terrin adressed us about our task for today.
"Well guys, I will be waiting by the second layer and your mission would be to find the stairs down to the second layer in one piece"
"Good luck and try not to die on the first layer~"
As he said that, a pair of brown feathered wings sprouted behind his back as a gust of wind engulfed him whole.
As the gust subsided, Terrin was not there anymore.
The students looked at each other confused on what to do after their instructor basically left them to their own devices.
Some were discussing what to do while the others were observing the situation closely. As the time passed, they visibly became more impatient until-
"Let's go, we don't have all the time in the world"
Brian said as he proceeded to traverse the corridors of the first layer.
Donovan and the rest of Brian's lackey followed him with some additional students coming along expecting to ride on the bus.
After such a sight, more and more groups formed as they left the starting point.
I watched closely as Jun reluctantly followed behind Emily's group consisting of Lily and Alice.
It seems that the group was also reluctant in accepting Jun as part of the group but Alice managed to convince them otherwise.
Jun looked over at my direction, his face plastered with a wry smile obviously questioning wether I would like to join the group.
Alice on the other hand was pointing at my direction as if making fun of my inability to join a group.
'These morons...'
I just gestured to them to leave me alone and move on their way, making it clear that I don't have any plans of joining them.
They eventually left with Jun being awkward the whole time while Alice was still making fun of me as she left.
Almost everyone had formed groups as I looked over the remaining students.
However not everyone formed such parties but decided to go in solo either because they preferred to or were forced to by the situation.
People like Sophia and Amana were too prideful to even work with others considering it's their first dive in the labyrinth.
I watched them leave as I was left alone at the starting area.
I let out a breath as I wore my goggles.
"Finally all of them left"
I stretched my body as I got ready to begin my own exploration.
The first layer was said to be a barren area with no special resource to be found that were already discovered by other delvers.
However that is not the truth of the matter as Jun and Ray was able to find a passage after running away from a group of mobs.
In the novel, the MC and Ray at this event should have become closer due to the fact that they became a team, with them being outcasted by the rest of the class.
The story basically guarantess that both of us would be caught in a life and death situation which unfortunately involved Emily and the others in the process.
In their perspective it was Jun's bad luck that got them into that mess but in fact, it was Donovan's actions which caused them being chased in the first place.
His actions were mostly motivated in his desire to be acknowledge and respected by Brian but the person in question was not at all planning to do such acts nor was he aware of his lackey's actions.
It took them a whole lot of running away as they backtracked their path, making sure that they won't unecessarily bump into other mobs.
At the end of their ropes, Ray had to force himself to use his eyes and had fortunately found another passage to escape along with Jun and Emily.
On their journey on the hidden passage, they became quite lucky stumbling upon a line of artifacts but unfortunately for Ray he had already passed out by that time and was unable to choose his own treasure.
Emily and Jun packed what they could get as the area collapsed after touching the treasures.
After such incident the three became closer and Jun had become much stronger after finding an artifact which ultimately unlocks his limiting constitution.
I walked over the passageway as I tracked down the area with a dead end described in the novel.
After some turns here and there, I've finally found the spot.
'Penetrating Gaze!'
My eyes glowed pink as I looked at the mossy wall. I peeked through it as I discovered the loose square button at the left side, hidden through a hollow part of the wall.
I pushed it softly and then the wall slid open to the side revealing an alternative passageway.
I grinned thinking that it was going as planned. My only worry was that by leaving my post, I was essentially putting the main cast at risk.
Such is why I already made the suggestion of Jun joining Emily's group as a precaution towards such risk.
However I still needed to take matters into my own hands and ensure that they don't die so in short it's a race against time wether I can get the stash and save their asses.
I couldn't let myself be screwed over again and besides, I was doing them a favor because I had already decided to choose the best treasure there was that was suitable for them as much as possible.
Since I knew the future to some extent, I was the perfect guy for the job and letting myself pass out in the process wasn't going to help anyone.
Being an errand boy sucks but I never once intended to lose out on this event. I'll be selling those things they need the most, including Jun even if he is poor as hell, I know he'll eventually get rich anyway.
"It's time to rob their pockets clean and fill in mine hehehe"