"Don't give up, my lord. As Geeraard said, 'The entrance to the labyrinth is scattered throughout this kingdom.' What if I help you find another door?" said Esh in the form of a black cat, walking with Rozer through the city towards home.
Rozer searched for Esh's voice in all directions,
"Down here, my lord."
"Esh?"
"I am Esh," the cat said with a smile,
"What creature are you?"
"I, currently in the form of a cat, considering your frequent surprise at my presence, decided to become a tangible being in this world."
"Is that so?" Rozer lifted and embraced Esh's furry body.
"My lord?"
"It's very fluffy and comfortable."
"What is your decision?"
Rozer took a deep breath, "Searching for the labyrinth door, huh? But I promised the headmaster not to break the rules to enter the labyrinth."
"That promise only applies at the academy. If you enter from another door outside the academy, it doesn't violate the rules, my lord."
"Is that so? I'll consider your offer."
On the other side, three adult male adventurers in their thirties were puzzled about their mission. They were waiting for another comrade in front of a narrow alley.
"How about it, boss? Should we return this mission to the adventurer's guild?" Dirk said, he has short brown hair and blue eyes. He wears adventurer's clothing; a short-sleeved white shirt, short black pants, a belt to carry a sword, and a breastplate. He is about 165 centimeters tall, somewhat chubby.
"No! This mission offers 50 gold coins just to kill goblins in the underground city. With a pay equivalent to three months of part-time work, we can't afford to waste it. Right, boss?" Andro said, he has long black hair tied in a ponytail, wearing all-black adventurer's attire. He is about 175 centimeters tall.
"That's a possibility if this mission involves killing goblins; we might encounter other creatures there. But concerning the pay, it's tempting, considering we don't need money for transportation and food. It's a net salary to be divided." said Brian, with short thick blond hair and a black eye patch covering his left eye. He wore black adventurer's attire and a white iron breastplate. He was the group leader.
"No food? How will we eat later? I don't want to eat roasted goblin." complained Dirk.
Andro smacked Dirk's head, "Don't worry about food now; we haven't even gone there yet. Right now, we're short on members to guard our rear because Jack is sick!"
"I understand." Dirk sighed.
"Indeed, if Jack were here, we could leave now and return by morning, but he's currently sick due to the last mission that took us to the Kooitien village to kill a giant spider, and Jack got bitten by a poisonous spiderling in his leg. How do we find a new member to guard our rear?" commented Brian.
"Poor Jack," lamented Dirk.
"Yeah, Currently, other great adventurers are out of town, and the only one left is novice wizards. We need a knight, not a wizard, for this mission, considering the fast movement of goblins." complained Andro.
"No problem, what if we bring a wizard?" asked Dirk.
"Don't talk nonsense! Novice wizards will only hinder us; they take a long time to cast spells. Also, this underground city is quite vast and there is lack flow of world magic because it is underground. If they run out flow of magic, are you going to carry them, huh?" complained Andro.
"I don't want to," replied Dirk.
They all sighed resignedly together,
"How about the three of us just go there?" suggested Dirk.
"Let's assume if we go with three, when facing many goblins, Brian will use his Zonnen eye and run out of magic after using it on many goblins in front. Then, we'll kill all the goblins immediately before they realize, and who will guard Brian, huh? The underground city has many rooms. If our voices echo throughout the rooms and attract other creatures, who will guard Brian?" commented Andro.
"I can guard Brian." said Dirk.
"I said, if there are many goblins, idiot! And we collectively exterminate the goblins before they realize, it's about 1 minute. There's no way I can kill many goblins in one minute, given that they always come in groups! Not to mention if there's something coming from behind." yelled Andro while smacking Dirk's head.
"Fair enough." said Dirk.
"Enough already. It's also my fault for not being able to guard Jack on the last mission. If only I could control this eye's power and not feel drained after using it." replied Brian.
"That's not true, boss. It's also my fault for being too focused on the enemies in front without paying attention to Jack." said Andro with a regretful tone.
"I apologize too, boss," said Dirk.
The three of them sighed resignedly again.
"If only there was someone else with great martial arts skills; we could just go there." suggested Andro.
"Yeah, if only... Should we return this mission to the adventurer's guild?" suggested Brian, holding the mission paper.
"Don't act like that... We just need to find another member, right?" suggested Dirk.
"You, talking like you already know who can join this mission," said Andro.
"What about that kid?" Dirk pointed at Rozer walking on the sidewalk across the street from where they were standing.
"He's still a school kid, and that green uniform is a sign of an elementary academy student, right? Don't make things up." commented Andro.
"Do you remember? When I told you about a little kid who beat up two kingdom soldiers in one attack, that's him!" Dirk responded.
"Really? He doesn't look too strong." observed Andro.
"Underneath that robe, his arms look well-trained; maybe he's the child of a great adventurer." speculated Dirk.
"Right or not, this concerns our dignity as adventurers. What will others say if we bring a child into a dangerous place?" grumbled Andro while smacking Dirk's head, this time hard enough to hear the bones.
Brian looked closely at Rozer, and when Rozer's body was covered by the shadow of tall buildings, he became sure to approach him after seeing his shining brown eyes in the dark,
"Wait, can we talk for a moment?" Brian called out to Rozer.
"Boss? Are you serious?" exclaimed Andro.
"Never mind, as long as we get paid," said Dirk, patting Andro's shoulder to reassure him. They then followed Brian.
Rozer stopped in his tracks, turned around to face Brian running towards him, "Did you call me?"
"That's right, what's your name, kid?" asked Brian.
"I'm Rozer."
"Rozer, I'll remember that. I'm Brian, nice to meet you. Also, you have beautiful eyes; they're very shiny." Brian complimented Rozer with a sarcastic tone.
"Ah, you mean Zonnen, right? I just found out about it today. Is there a problem?" asked Rozer.
Andro and Dirk were surprised that the kid they just met knew about Zonnen, and he even possessed it.
"That's surprising; you even know about Zonnen's eye. So who's your father? Is he an adventurer?" asked Brian.
"Maybe his father is Captain Ignaas; he also has that eye." suggested Dirk.
"Don't talk nonsense; Captain Ignaas has a 20-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter." retorted Andro.
"My father is Zerenia." revealed Rozer.
They were all shocked, "Zerenia the hero, you mean?" asked Andro.
"Yeah." said Rozer.
"So you're from the Boszeven forest, the place where demonic creatures emerge?" asked Dirk.
"That's right."
Brian laughed, having his ears tickled by surprise, "So that's how it is. Maybe it's fate for us to meet you."
"What do you mean?" asked Rozer.
"We're currently going to the underground city to kill goblins and other demonic creatures that might be there. How about it? You often fight them, right? And this is a good opportunity to see the power of Zonnen in battle." Brian offered.
Andro added, "We'll pay you too, not bad to add to your pocket money."
Dirk teased, "Where's the guy who was concerned about the dignity of an adventurer earlier?"
Andro elbowed Dirk in annoyance while shaking his head.
"I don't mind; I'm also thinking of going there now. Maybe what you said is true; it might be fate." agreed Rozer.
Brian smiled happily, "Okay, it's decided. So what? Do you need to go home first to change clothes?" asked Brian.
"That's right; I also didn't bring my sword." said Rozer.
Esh, still in Rozer's embrace, jumped down,
"I'll get it for you, my lord." offered Esh.
"Is there a way? I beg you, Esh, take the black sword given by Ciel." said Rozer.
After replying with "I understand," Esh, with its small four legs, ran westward and disappeared like mist in the wind after a few steps.
They three were shocked that a cat could talk and whisper to each other, "What kind of cat is that? It can talk!"
"I don't know, maybe a spirit or cat demon."
Brian asked Rozer, "Rozer, that was a cat, right? How can it talk?"
Rozer replied, "That was my khodam transformed into that creature, what was it—cat?"
Andro was surprised, "Even for a young kid like you, you can command your khodam freely."
"As expected of a hero's child. Not only martial arts, but his mastery of magic is also excellent." Dirk nodded approvingly, followed by Andro and Brian.
"You say it like you already know me, huh?" Rozer asked in confusion.
"Of course, you're very famous in the city; a kid who can beat kingdom soldiers." Brian replied.
Andro added, "That's right, Rozer, even for us to defeat a kingdom soldier can be considered difficult."
Dirk added too, "Especially in one attack. Although they probably didn't expect a kid to attack, you're really great."
"Is that so?" Rozer said.
"That's right." they all insisted to convince Rozer of his greatness.
Esh came out of the black mist and transformed into its original form beside Rozer, standing in front of his chest with both hands holding the mentioned sword. "I have brought your sword, my lord." Esh said politely.
"Thank you, Esh." Rozer said and then took the sword.
Esh chuckled, "This is just a small matter, my lord."
The three of them didn't see Esh; they were only petrified, staring at the floating sword in front of them. Meanwhile, Brian opened the cover of his bright yellow left eye with four Zonnen patterns to see Esh. He is currently in shock, seeing Esh's form, which is different from the usual spirit form.
"Is that the form of your khodam? It looks very powerful." Brian asked in a stuttering tone.
"That's right." Rozer confirmed.
Esh just smiled when locking eyes with Brian and then disappeared like mist blown by the wind, "If you need anything else, please call me, my lord."
"Alright, let's go now." said Rozer.
"Okay, let's go!" Brian shouted encouragingly to the others.
The four of them went to the narrow alley where the three of them had gathered earlier and entered it, led by Brian. They headed to the entrance of the labyrinth/underground city. During the journey, they introduced themselves to Rozer and arranged positions for battle; Brian in the middle, Andro and Dirk in front, and Rozer behind. They also reminded Rozer to close his ears and eyes after Brian gave the signal.