"Phew… that should be the last of them…"
Darion and I have just finished killing a horde of winged Spiritsies. Since I fight using my legs and fists, my range is extremely limited unless I use my mana. Darion, on the other hand, isn't lacking since he uses a spear. He would pick them off one by one if they were to fly high. If one were to divebomb toward us, I would get close enough to kill it with a swift punch.
"…Are you okay, Sophie," Darion asked as he was stabbing his spear into each corpse.
"Y-Yea, I'm alright," I reassured him. Darion nodded in reply and resumed his task. I would stand back and watch him carry on with his task.
"Alright. Done."
"G-Great…"
Without another word, Darion continued his trek through The Labyrinth, with me following along. Honestly… the atmosphere between us is awkward. As a quiet person myself, I love peace and quiet… but not this kind. Darion isn't a talkative guy. He's not shy in the slightest as he isn't afraid to speak his mind, whatever it may be. It's just that he's… how do I put it…
A lone wolf.
I discovered this fact when we first started out as Dungeon Conquers six months ago. Sometimes he would pry away from the rest of the group to go do his own hunting. It's like he thinks we'll slow him down from getting stronger. I don't know why he acted like that specifically. He's mellowed out over the months though, but not by much. I'm surprised he even decided to join The Six Hunters. Maybe he had a special reason in mind? I don't know…
If only Joel was with us…
When I stepped through the portal, the only person next to me was Darion. The other Six Hunters were nowhere in sight. After walking through the corridors of The Labyrinth and finding no clues to their whereabouts, that was when we came to the conclusion that we were separated a long distance away. We decided that we should focus on completing the mission we were given, which was to kill The Minotaur.
"…"
"…"
Yep. This silence is unbearable. Someone, please put me out of this awkward situation!
As if God itself heard my pleas, a pair of arching stone doors at the end of a corridor stood right in front of our very eyes. Darion and I glanced at each other, at a loss for what to do.
"S-Should we go another route? This seems like a t-trap…"
Darion was quiet for a moment, wondering what to do. "…We might as well check it out. Although unlikely, this could be where The Minotaur is hiding."
…He's right. If we were to leave without checking inside, we could potentially be making our time here in The Labyrinth longer than it needs to be.
As I swallowed a large glob of saliva, I pushed open the heavy doors slowly. When the doors were fully open, the first thing I heard was the sound of metal bashing against each other. Stepping foot inside, I was slammed all over by blistering heat, as if I was shoved inside an oven!
I let out a sharp yelp in surprise. "Woah it's hot!"
"How annoying," Darion whispered.
Clank! Clank!
I was getting quite annoyed at this stupid noise, so I decided to take another step forward and survey my surroundings.
"T-This is…"
My jaw dropped at the sight of the place we happened to step foot in. It appeared to be an armory as many… and I mean MANY weapons were adorned all over the cobblestone walls. Some weapons ranging from swords to gladiuses and even bows were littered on the floor, though some were either broken or unfinished.
Clank! Clank!
"Sophie, look in the middle," Darion called out, pointing a finger.
"H-Holy…" My voice trailed. There stood a humongous monster hunched over a burning forge, hammering away at an anvil.
"Hm?" A deep voice bellowed. The monster turned its gigantic body around, revealing a hideous face filled with boils, ogling at us with a single eyeball. Its beard and hair were unkempt, and he had a loincloth draped across the hip. I recognized the monster as a cyclops. A towering figure that feasts on humans and are extremely wild and uncivil.
"How did two mortals enter The Labyrinth?" The Cyclops yelled. I involuntarily flinched at the cyclops' booming voice.
With his spear already out and ready to go, Darion stepped forward and pointed his spear at the monster. The cyclops took one good look at the spear and simply laughed, the voice shaking the very ground itself. All sorts of weapons trembled and vibrated violently together, creating a symphony of metal clamoring together.
"HAHAHAHA! What's that little toothpick of a spear going to do against me?" A single tear dribbled down its face. Darion was clearly annoyed at the cyclops' ridicule of his weapon and was about to attack the monster.
"W-Wait Darion," I whispered, holding him back before he could proceed any further.
"…What are you doing?" He barked, glaring at me.
"Just trust me on this," I replied confidently, glaring back at him. After examining my face for a few seconds, Darion frowned and backed off, crossing his arms. I mouthed the words 'thank you' and confronted the cyclops.
"U-Um… I have a question for you… Mr. Cyclops," I said with a trembling but polite tone.
"Hm?" It replied.
"Are you friend, or foe?"
"…Sophie," Darion warned.
The cyclops stared down at me with its beady eyeball, unblinking. I knew that if I cowered away from its gaze, it will make me look weak and insignificant, and a monster like him would probably despise weaklings, so I returned his gaze back. This continued for what felt like minutes. No one moved or made a sound.
"Pfft." The cyclops tried to suppress a snicker, but it didn't work as he let out a boisterous cackle.
"Haha! I like you girlie! You got guts! To answer your question, I'm neither!"
Neither? Does that mean he's neutral depending on the situation? Well… it's better than being an enemy, I think.
"There we go…"
The cyclops got up from a slab of rock he was using as a chair and rose to his full height. He was as tall as fifteen feet. If I craned my neck up any longer, I'm afraid it would be stuck in that position forever…
His thunderous footsteps were that of a herd of elephants, quaking the ground. When he arrived right in front of me, he crouched down and proceeded to sit down. On his feet were two connected chains tightly wrapped around his ankles.
"Well, since you humans are here, why not exchange greetings? My name is Thonthos, part of the Cyclopes."
I sat right in front of Thonthos and gave him my name. "I'm Sophie. And this right here…"
I turned my head to see Darion still standing with his arms crossed. He was glaring at the cyclops with tensed muscles, ready to swing at him at any moment.
"Darion! Come sit next to me!" I patted at a spot right near me. Darion hesitated for a moment, but reluctantly walked over and plopped himself near me.
"Haha! So, your names are Sophie and Darion! Wonderful!" He rumbled with joyous laughter. "It's been centuries since I was able to converse with a living being! It gets lonely when you're imprisoned."
"Imprisoned? Why were you imprisoned," I asked thoughtfully.
"Hm… it's nothing much. I insulted that gluttonous oaf Polyphemus for getting tricked by a mere mortal. That angered him and he called upon his daddy to punish me. I was then banished inside the Labyrinth to forge weapons for eternity."
…W-Woah… that's such a harsh punishment just for a little insult. The name Polyphemus sounds familiar… but I can't quite put my finger on who it is exactly…
Darion must've noticed that I was struggling to remember who Polyphemus was, so he opened his mouth to bring me up to speed.
"…Polyphemus is a one-eyed giant who is the son of Poseidon. He was a savage that would eat humans whenever possible if they had the misfortune of stumbling across his island. Polyphemus is famous mostly because he trapped Odysseus and his crew of men inside his cave, slowly eating them one by one until Odysseus got him drunk and blinded him by stabbing him in his eye with a stake. It was only a matter of time until they escaped." Darion summarized quickly. Thonthos and I both stared at him in awe.
"…What? Got a problem?" Darion grumbled.
"Haha! So you can talk, little boy!" Thonthos boomed. "Yes, that's pretty much the gist of it! Boy I'll tell you! When I heard that through word of mouth, I couldn't help but laugh and insult him! Somehow, he got wind of what I said and told his daddy, thus landing me here!"
…This guy is way too relaxed. Has isolation finally got to him? I think he's gone crazy from no social interaction. Darion seems to think so too as he had a look of pity for the cyclops.
"Hey, old fossil," Darion began.
"Hm?" Thonthos replied, still chuckling to himself.
"We're here to kill The Minotaur. Got any ideas where it is?"
And there it is! I can't believe he outright said it!
The cyclops' laughter soon died out after hearing Darion's announcement. Thonthos looked appalled at Darion's bravado.
"You humans, who haven't got a lick of divinity in you, want to kill The Minotaur?" Thonthos asked, exasperated.
"Is there a problem with that?"
The cyclops stroked his chin as he stared hard at Darion and I. "The Minotaur is a beast that no regular mortal can hope to defeat. The king of Minos had to enlist the assistance of Daedalus, the creator of this maze, and his son Icarus to trap it, just so it could harm no one."
"Good thing we aren't you regular mortals then." Darion confidently answered. The cyclops couldn't help but smile at his boasting.
"Heh. That's what I like to see! I hope you can back up that confidence of yours. Hmph!" Thonthos eagerly rose from his position and shuffled over to his forge. He reached down toward his black anvil and grabbed a long silver spear with an angular tip of tinted jade. After inspecting the weapon, he walked back to us and dropped the spear on top of Darion, who grabbed it just before it could hit him.
"That little weapon you had before was laughably weak. I don't know who crafted it, but they should be ashamed of themselves. That spear in your hands is way better. I'm gifting it to you."
"…Really?" Darion hesitated for a moment as if he thought the cyclops was joking or there was a catch involved.
"This is my gift to you since you guys were kind enough to entertain this old soul. The spear is made of Adamantine, otherwise known as The Metal of The Gods. The name itself should give you a clue on this weapon's performance."
Woah… That sounds cool. I want a weapon made of Adamantine too…
"Heh. I can see the envy on your face, girl! Do not worry, I did not forget you too!"
Thonthos rummaged through a big pile of weapons near the forge. After a while, he shouted in glee once he found what he was looking for.
"Now this right here," he plopped a pair of spiked black leather gauntlets on my lap, "…are the Nemean Gauntlets! The small spikes were forged from the claws of the Nemean Lion who was defeated by Heracles himself. It can render through most swords and armor!"
[Legendary Item Acquired: Nemean Gauntlets]
Holy moly! THIS IS A LEGENDARY ITEM? I think I'm going to faint…
"Sophie, snap out of it," said Darion, snapping his fingers in front of my face.
"O-Oh… Right! Er… Thank you, Thonthos!"
"It's no problem at all! I want you two to succeed in killing The Minotaur after all."
"…And why is that?" Darion piped up, still inspecting the spear.
"Once you kill the Minotaur trapped in the middle of The Labyrinth is when all of us will be set free."
…What? Did he say all?
Darion snapped his head at the word all and addressed Thonthos. "All? There are more prisoners like you here?"
"Well, yea. The Labyrinth wasn't only created to hold The Minotaur. Not only is it a prison, but it also serves as a treasury for important items."
"…Interesting." Darion mumbled.
We just hit the treasure trove of information here! For there to be treasures of the past located inside The Labyrinth…
"Old fossil. You mentioned that killing The Minotaur will set you all free. Who is this 'all' you speak of?"
Thonthos raised an eyebrow at Darion. "Oh? You don't know? Aside from me and a few others, the gods and demigods of the world have imprisoned all sorts of nefarious and dangerous monsters here throughout time. Who specifically though, I have no idea."
Dangerous monsters huh… This could be bad. Things got a whole lot more complicated if different monsters present in Greek Mythology resided here… We still don't know where the others are and if they're safe or not. We have to keep moving!
"S-Sorry Thonthos, but Darion and I have to leave quickly. We arrived here with our friends to kill The Minotaur. We have to go find them!" I steadily stood up and began to unfasten my original gloves, replacing them with the Nemean Gauntlets. Darion replaced his old spear too by stuffing it inside his Dimensional Pouch.
"Hmm… I see. Then you must hurry. I suspect they may have already encountered them."
Nodding our heads together, Darion and I ran out from where we entered. I waved goodbye at Thonthos as we got further away from the monster.
"What a nice guy…"
"…"
As always, Darion is quiet. Well, it's not so bad. I got to see another side of him back there. Who knew Darion was knowledgeable of Greek Mythology? One by one, cracks were forming, slowly revealing who exactly Darion is...