A grin starts to creep across my face as the words "Vice City Labyrinth" come out of the Director's mouth.
Every time this Labyrinth is brought up, everyone always makes it sound so exclusive and impossible to enter. All I need to do is get in one time, then I'll have unlimited access... Forever. Finally, there's a way in.
I reply, failing to hide the goofy grin on my face.
"Oh yeah? The labyrinth...?
Brutus nods, then sits back in his chair eyeing me up and down curiously.
"This week, there has been a rise in minor dungeon breaks near our county's northern border. They've begun to drift downward nearing the Vice Region. This exact same pattern occurs every single surge. Unfortunately, there has been less and less time between each surge. As I said earlier, we'll be sending a few teams out to the Dark Continent within 10 days to alleviate the excess mana build-up. I'd like for the 4 of you to be part of this expedition."
Silence fills the room once again as I think over all of this proposal the Director has thrown at me, then reply with another question.
"So... let me get all of this straight. You gave all the new recruits near-impossible tasks just to see who would be the best fit to join the other Elite squads on a Dark Continent raid mission? "
He nods confirming the answer as I continue.
"We passed your test, so this week, the 4 of us have been assigned to special individual training to prepare us for this raid?"
He nods again.
I smirk.
"Maybe you're not so bad, Mr. Director.... Is there anything I need to know about this Behemoth before taking it out?"
I pause, then jump back in for one last question.
"Oh... also... where is the Vice City Labyrinth...?"
The old man lets out a laugh.
"I hope I continue to grow on you. Your clearance for the Labyrinth has been updated. Ask any of the guards at the Dungeon Hub to scan your ID and they will show you the way in. The only reason I'm letting a new C-Class in unsupervised is because of your ability to handle Titans. The Behemoth may be at a similar or even greater difficulty level, so you must be entirely prepared before facing it."
I nod firmly as the Director continues.
"The Behemoth is the 20th-floor boss that separates regular hunters from the Elite. Less than 5% of hunters ever make it to a C-Class rank. Of that 5%, only 1% ever move on to the next stage. How many B-Class or higher-rated hunters have you seen? Not including me, or Rodrigo..."
I think to myself for a moment, then reply.
"None. I haven't thought about it much until now.... Everyone does seem to slow down after level 250 or so. Is it really that difficult to level up past C-Class?"
The old man nods slowly and clicks a small button on the side of his desk.
"Once you begin to climb the labyrinth, I believe you'll understand."
The wall slides open, and my teammates walk out followed by Samantha. The Director stands up and puts out his hand, I put out mind to shake it.
*Ding*
The elevator door opens and our meeting abruptly comes to an end as a few men in suits come walking in. Brutus gives me a smile as I turn to go.
"I'm a busy man, it's unfortunate we couldn't talk longer today. I'll see you soon Jay, good luck on your mission this week."
With a smile in return, I make my way to the elevator following the archer, ice wielder, and green-haired healer. The sliding door shuts and we glide down to the lobby on the bottom floor.
Leaving the Association HQ, Maria shows us all her quota card.
"Look at this! My solo mission is to farm Yetis. It's one of the Low-Grade C-Class dungeons. Apparently, they're Ice Magic Resistant so I'll have to figure out some new combats methods. I was assigned a C-Class Elite training partner, she's an Ice magic user too! What kind of assignments did you guys get?"
Abby interjects.
"I'm in a Low-Grade C-Class Dungeon too. The Director put me on a team with a C-Class Elite swordsman and Healer to train in the Mutant High Ogre dungeon. They're earth magic resistant, so I'll have to improve my combat. Plus, I'll learn how to properly utilize my restoration magic. "
Arie nods slowly, crossing his arms.
"I'm back in The Great Plains this week. A B-Class archer is coming into town to teach me how to improve my shots. My only task this week is to defeat a Titan."
He grins and turns to me, continuing to speak.
"Apparently, there's a trick to taking them out. I just need more training."
My eyes open wide as I watch the tan-skinned bow wielder fill up with excitement.
I reply with a smirk.
"You'll have to fill me in once you figure it out, I'll be in the Vice City Labyrinth this week. My mission is to clear floor 20."
The 4 of us make our way back to the Vanguard Heights. We've all received our assignments and agreed to hand in 50k MU worth of mana crystals each while we're off on our individual missions. This will be enough to satisfy the 200k MU quota.
The 3 of them have assigned training partners, I do not. Maybe it'd be nice to learn a thing or two from an Elite Hunter, but at the same time, I'm more excited that I get to dive into the Labyrinth alone...
We make it back to our residence and take the elevator up to floor 21 without a second of hesitation. We made it through our first week of work and all got paid, it's time to celebrate.
The 4 of us dine with good food, and strong drinks for a few hours. We check out the casino, blow through a few silver each, take a leisurely stroll through the shopping center, then go back in for more food and drinks.
This cycle continues...
As the night continues, the smiles on my teammates' faces grow, but I'm getting progressively more bored. Every sip I take gets nullified and the average IQ of my peers drops as the hours go on.
I have a good time, but before tomorrow, I have some business I need to take care of with a certain Dragon waiting for me at the back of a dungeon.
The sun completely sets and we all go back to our apartments.
Well, everyone but me.
I take the elevator down and head off to the Dungeon Hub, jump into a random D-Class portal, then teleport deep into The Great Plains. I activate my telepathy link as I near the Dragon in the sky.
"Ember, you'll be leaving this dungeon today. Ready for some action?"
With a powerful flap of the wings, my newest hunting partner lands on the ground next to me with a light thud.
"Most definitely, shall I collapse this dungeon?"
I let out a much-needed laugh after a long day, but reply quickly as Ember begins to glow light red.
"Hey! No... No collapsing of any dungeons right now."
The red glow of his [Mystic Grade] Plunderer skill dies down.
"Understood."
I let out a light sigh of relief, then grin.
"Tomorrow, I'll be heading into a Labyrinth. You'll be coming with me. We have some training to do."
Ember perks up, then gives me a toothy grin.
Over the last week, I've been thinking of a few ways to transport the 7-meter-long dragon. Letting him roam free in unoccupied dungeons is an option, but keeping him by my side would be much more beneficial to both of us.
I could use Dungeon Walker to bring him to the Labyrinth the moment I step foot in it, but there's been another potential option eating away at the back of my mind.
"Spacial Magic."
I activate my item storage ability, stretching out the white portal as far out as it can go. Within a matter of seconds, I stretch the entrance to the pocket dimension to around 4m in diameter. The perfect size to fit the mid-sized Dragon.
"I'd like to test something out. This is my very own pocket dimension, I believe it functions similarly to a Titan's Domain. Please, step inside. Let me know what you see in there."
Without hesitation the majestic creature moves forward, disappearing into the swirling white mass. I close my storage and wait in silence.
Letting the artificial dungeon sun beat down on the back of my neck, I wait around for 10 minutes or so.
Next, I open my item storage portal. The white mass of energy expands up to about 4m again and Ember falls out, gracefully landing on his feet. I could sense his presence in my storage, but there were no movements or signs of life until the moment he popped out in front of me.
The Dragon speaks through our link.
"Shall we begin?"
"..."
I smile.
"We're already done. It seems like my item storage really does bend reality similarly to my past experiences with a pocket dimension, just in the opposite way... Whatever I put in, isn't affected by the time moving forward in the outside world."
We stand in silence for a few seconds yet again, the Ember responds.
"Well, that's convenient."
I let out a chuckle.
"Yeah... I guess it is."
Opening up my item storage again, Ember steps in and we leave The Great Plains moments later.
With a smirk plastered across my face and the cool night air blowing through my hair, I walk back to the Vanguard Heights to get a good night of sleep.
My first day diving into the Vice City Labyrinth will begin bright and early tomorrow morning.