We weren't sure what could happen; when we encountered them, we could either fight or choose to talk, but instead of relying on any possibility, we decided to stay alert.
"Be careful, they will turn the corner soon. In contrast to us, they are six people, so if we decide to fight, we need to do it quickly. Elara, prepare your ability just in case."
Elara nodded approvingly, and with her high-damage ability, we could quickly take down at least one of our opponents.
"Aiden, you should prepare your ability too. If you have area damage skills or long-range weapons, it won't be difficult for your attacks to reach us."
"Alright, during the battle, you can observe the situation more comfortably, so lead us. We'll rely on you for updates."
People appeared in front of us, ready to attack, but one of them suddenly emerged and started talking.
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. No need to fight; we are also planning to escape from this labyrinth like you. Let's team up, what do you say?"
He looked like a good guy, but there was a cunning air about him. Since he didn't seem to want to attack, I didn't mind. However, is it normal to try to team up with people you know nothing about? I guess our team looks strong, so it's not that strange. What is weird, though, is that all five members of his team are women. Is he living my harem dream? I want to kill him already.
"What should we do?"
Aiden hadn't lowered his weapon yet and asked me what we should do.
"Are you asking me?"
"Yes, you're our leader, right? So, tell us, what do we do?"
The guy from the other group started talking again.
"Hey, I said we don't want to fight."
Whatever he said, no one in our group paid attention; everyone was waiting for my orders.
"No need to be on guard for now. Do you want to proceed together? If so, you have to tell us your classes and primary class abilities."
"Hey buddy, don't you think you're a bit harsh?"
He tried to change the subject with sweet words to avoid giving information, but I wasn't falling for that. The women behind the guy were just watching him with admiration, not saying anything. Also, all of them were beautiful women. Does this guy live my dream or something? I want to kill him already.
The thing that surprised me was Elara supporting the guy by objecting to me.
"Hey, we just met them. You can try to be a little more tolerant."
Oh my god, this girl is really dumb. Is she supporting this guy she just met instead of me? Is this guy some kind of magnet for women? He doesn't seem very handsome, I think I'm more handsome.
"To be tolerant? In a place like this? I'm sorry, but I'll pass on that. Now tell us your classes."
From the guy's attitude, it was clear that he wasn't very happy with the situation, but he still decided to talk to us and follow what I said.
"My name is Gabriel, and my class is Bard. My primary class ability is [Attack Harmony], which temporarily gives a power stat bonus to my teammates and myself. The two girls standing next to me are both wizards; one has the ability to generate electric currents, and the other can create a water ball. The other three girls are warriors; two of them have abilities that allow them to make sudden attacks, and the third one has a passive skill that enhances sword mastery."
Their journey so far seemed normal with the buff ability he provided to his friends and the attack-focused classes and abilities of the others, but the Bard class made me a little worried. I wonder what other abilities he has. No, if I ask for more, it could lead to a disagreement, and the last thing I want right now is to fight each other in a maze full of monsters.
"I don't know why you're speaking for them, and I don't care. Also, I don't know what kind of sneaky plans you're making, but I don't like you already. If I sense that you've made a wrong move on our journey, we'll kill you instantly."
"All right, all right. You're the ones who want to come with us. If you want, you can continue your journey without us. Also, you didn't give us all your information. I'm sure you still have a few abilities hidden."
After my last words, he stopped objecting further and adapted to the situation, increasing my suspicions about him. I was sure he was hiding something from us.
"Let's continue on our way then."
Throughout the journey, we continued to fight monsters and gain experience points. We wandered around for about 9 hours and encountered nothing but monsters. Sometimes, we entered dead-end paths, and when we turned back, we noticed that it didn't take long for new monsters to replace the ones we had killed. The sun was slowly setting, and even though we took short breaks occasionally, we were all tired.
So, we decided to set up camp in the middle of a three-way path. This way, we could lean our backs against the wall, and if a danger came from other directions, we would have different routes to escape. We were all very hungry, and I suggested hunting monsters for food, but they all looked at me with disgust. I guess they had never had to eat monster meat since they didn't live in a forest.
Actually, it was a good time to ask them what they had been doing until now. Finally, to avoid starving, they agreed to my idea of eating monsters, but some still chose not to eat. After hunting a few lizardmen, I asked one of the wizard girls to perform a fire spell to cook the meat. Luckily, one of them had a fire spell, so we were able to eat cooked meat. We took turns keeping watch and sleeping. It was my turn to keep watch with Malik, so it was a good time to talk.
I lifted my head slightly from exhaustion and spoke towards Malik.
"Malik, we need more information to understand the true intentions of these men. Joining forces with Gabriel and his team may give us an advantage, but trusting them completely could be risky. We need to be vigilant."
Malik nodded in understanding and gazed into the night, silently surveying the surroundings. There was a pause, but then he asked:
"Do they really believe you're the leader?"
I smiled, "Maybe not, but in the current situation, I need to act like a leader. We should take controlled and smart steps. I don't know what Gabriel is planning, but collaborating in a place with so many monsters seems more logical."
Malik agreed with my thoughts and continued our conversation.
"Do you think they know how to get out of this labyrinth, or are they just moving with us?"
"As they mentioned before, they are also trying to escape from this labyrinth. However, I'm not sure how much they can help us in getting out."
After these words, silence fell again. It seemed like Malik was wrestling with his inner thoughts about what to do. I gave him some time to think. Despite his imposing appearance, he was still a human. Perhaps, unlike me, he had a family or friends he was worried about.
"What did you do after the test phase was over?"
"Ah, you mean that massive crowd?"
"A crowd?"
"Yes, Drynsoll is truly a huge city, but when hundreds of thousands of people suddenly appeared around the city, the whole place erupted. Initially, most people were killed by the city's soldiers, but when they realized that we could resist, they decided to attack with more force. However, before the situation escalated too much, the system intervened and helped us."
"The system? What do you mean?"
"You know those windows that pop up in front of us? Another one appeared, saying it would teleport all of us to random locations within the city and that the city residents would treat us like normal travelers. I don't understand why they didn't do that from the beginning; it's like they enjoy watching us fight."
"That sounds like a terrible situation."
"If you weren't aware of what was happening, you must be one of those teleported to another place. You're lucky; events like these didn't happen in your city."
"Others teleported to different cities? Are there other cities?"
"Of course, there are. Initially, I thought everyone was teleported here, but I learned from travelers who came to the city that people were teleported to cities all around the world."
"That makes sense. I don't know what's happening in our old world or if there are still people living there, but if they sent millions of people to another world, they couldn't have sent them all to the same place."
Maybe that's why I was teleported to a random location. I wondered if there were other people like me.
"The city I'm in doesn't have a well-developed news network, so if you know anything else, I'd be happy to hear it."
"Sure, I don't know about your city, but Drynsoll is like those fantasy worlds you hear about. There are traders, blacksmiths, potion shops, and various other things everywhere. You can also take on quests and earn money in Guilds; most of us teleported people make a living by hunting."
"Oh, you mean these gold coins."
I summoned a few of the gold coins I had earned before.
"Wow, is that some kind of ability of yours? Also, I've never seen these coins before, and as far as I know, almost all cities use the same currency. You must be in quite a remote city, my friend, hahaha."
Did he think this was an ability? They don't have these coins, so is there a special place to use them?
"Is there anything else you'd like to share?"
"Oh, by the way, have you heard about 'The Sent'? Also, I heard that a few powerful individuals among The Sent are trying to establish their own clans. There are rumors that one of these large clans will have its headquarters in Drynsoll, but I'm not sure. However, it would make sense; soon there will be a martial arts tournament in Drynsoll, and winning that tournament would be a good advertising opportunity for the newly formed clans."
It seemed like people were quite active where I wasn't. I've been stuck in the forest for almost a month now.
We took turns keeping watch and chatting throughout the night, managing to rest and gather our energy somehow. Also, during the watch, I had the opportunity to talk and build strong bonds with Malik and Aiden. The trust between us seemed to have increased. I wanted to talk to Elara as well, but every time she saw Gabriel on watch, she went to him. It seemed like she really liked him.
After making our preparations, we decided to continue through the labyrinth. Other than a few small monster groups, we didn't encounter many problems along the way, but you know, things never go smoothly.
"There are monsters coming from both ahead and behind."
Elara: "What? How is that possible? Weren't you looking at your stupid map?"
"Of course, I'm looking at my map, but the monsters appeared suddenly and are coming towards us. There's no place to escape, so get ready for a fight. Gabriel's team will handle the back, and we'll take care of the front."
We all took our combat positions and were ready to face the enemies. On our side, there were three giant monsters, Ogres, according to Malik. They had fast regeneration powers and were extremely powerful. Although Malik had fought one of them before, he had to escape. On Gabriel's side, there was a massive creature resembling a lion.
This colossal creature was jumping from the labyrinth walls, engaging in battle with us. Its eyes were glowing with anger and hunger. We found ourselves in the midst of a battle. When the battle started, Elara targeted the ogres' eyes with her arrows, blinding two of them. Aiden protected us from potential surprise attacks with his defensive abilities, swinging his sword at the monsters. However, the ogres were healing faster than we anticipated.
"We need to make a big attack, Malik! Aiden! I have a plan; try to keep them in a single line!"
Malik and Aiden turned into obedient soldiers, executing my orders without hesitation. Whatever I told them to do, they did, and this could change the course of the battle.
"Elara, use your ability when I signal, and make a linear shot towards the ogres!"
I waited until the ogres lined up in a single row. I could see Aiden and Malik struggling, but if we wanted to defeat the ogres, they needed to hold on.
"ELARA, NOW!"
Elara used her [High Caliber] ability, making a linear shot towards the ogres, and as I intended, she killed all the ogres in a single shot. Now, all we had to do was help Gabriel's team, but when we turned around, we were shocked by a stunning scene. Everyone in Gabriel's team was dead, and only Gabriel remained.