Entering the fourth floor, I was teleported to a random part of the labyrinth.
Massive stone walls surrounded me, with only a cobble path spreading out in many directions to guide me.
The labyrinth could be considered a test of willpower and combat.
There were 2 ways to clear the labyrinth.
The first was to just stick it out and find the exit by yourself, but that would often take several days.
The second was easier but involved combat.
Many monsters could spawn within the labyrinth, and although they could be avoided, this was not recommended.
Killing monsters in the labyrinth would make an arrow appear in front of you guiding you on which path to take.
This arrow would disappear very shortly, so naturally, one would have to kill many monsters to escape this way.
But if done efficiently, this would allow a player to escape the labyrinth within a day's work.
My intention was slightly different.
To find the minotaur's summoning altar, one had to kill enemies and go in the opposite direction the arrow pointed.
This would take them further and further away from the exit, eventually bringing them to the minotaur's altar.
I had some basic essentials in my inventory such as food, water and a sleeping bag but I had not bothered being overly prepared.
I wanted to complete this quickly.
"Grr...."
Walking through the winding paths of the maze, I quickly found my first enemy.
A dire wolf.
It was fairly large for a wolf, but nothing overly threatening.
It pounced upon me without much hesitation, bearing its long and sharp fangs.
Before it could crush my head, I grabbed the beast by its snout and lower jaw, ripping them apart.
Throwing it to the side, I saw an arrow had appeared behind me.
That was slightly lucky for me, as I had already been going in the way opposite from the exit.
I continued walking, ignoring the arrows that guided me.
-------------------------
The prey was leaving the corpses of dozens of monsters in his wake.
It took a little bit to find him, but the way in which he brutally slaughtered monsters was a telltale sign.
Following the trail of blood led him to the man.
The thought of being defeated never crossed his mind.
He was of the [poisoner] class and was confident in his poisons ability to paralyze and kill the man he was stalking.
In the grand scheme of the tower, Zodiac was nothing, yet he was able to play around as a terrifying being simply because he stagnated on the lower floors.
'What exactly is this guy doing..? He's been heading in the wrong direction this whole time?'
Zodiac refrained from going in for the kill, curious as to what his prey was doing.
'Is he some sort of idiot? No... he's walking with purpose, but for what?'
Zodiac followed Zeon, hiding behind the winding walls of the maze, occasionally peaking to take a look at what he was doing.
'Hm? What's this?'
As he continued his pursuit, Zodiac realized something.
The walls, previously just blank stone, now had many engravings on them.
The depictions showed several bulls eating humans, as well as some sort of altar.
The previously winding corridors had become one straight pathway, and at the end lay an altar, the same as he had seen in the engravings.
'...This! It must be some sort of secret!'
Zodiac was no fool, the tower held many secrets that one could find to grow immensely stronger.
His preparations had already been made, his dagger coated in lethal poison as well as several gaseous explosives held at his waist.
He took the clip off of one of his grenades, and threw it towards Zeon.
-----------------
The guy who had been following me for a while had finally done something.
I was a little curious as to who would be bold enough to follow me, turns out it was just some dumb poisoner.
He threw a gas grenade at me, and it immediately began spewing out toxic fumes.
I covered my mouth, immediately turning around and rushing towards the grenade.
Kicking it in the opposite direction, I retreated back to a distance at which the gas had not reached.
"It would... be a shame if you went out like that."
A man, wearing a world war 2 style gas mask approached me through the smoke.
"Man, who even are you? Why are you following me anyway?"
Even in the midst of the fight, I asked some basic questions.
"Oh, you haven't heard of me... I'm quite notorious around these parts, they call me Zodiac.
As for why I'm following you... well... I thought you would be a fun target."
A vague memory appeared in my head.
Zodiac was some loser who was afraid of the tower floors and instead became a menace, terrorizing the newbies in the city of beginnings.
Swish!
A dagger narrowly missed my throat, as I had dodged just in time.
This guy was overlevelled, similar to myself, and most likely held stats similar to me.
...In fact, his stats could even be superior, considering he had a lot more time to steal armor and accessories.
"You're.... quite fast!"
He spoke slowly, before raising his tone and launching himself towards me.
I continued holding my breath as I countered by throwing a punch.
A strange feeling enveloped my fist.
His clothes, which I had just hit, were covered in small yet sharp studs.
'....He applied poison to his own clothes? Is he crazy!?'
My right fist immediately started feeling numb.
The poison could not act very quickly, thanks to my endurance, but it was still spreading at a noticeable pace.
"Heh...heheheheheh!"
The dumb bastard let out a comically villainous laugh, and opened his mouth again.
"Toxify!"
A purple miasma poured out of the pores of his skin, filling the area with poison.
'...This isn't a skill of the poisoner class! This bastard has a sigil!'
I quickly equipped the mask I had purchased earlier, hoping it could at least partially prevent the poison from reaching me.
The situation was quickly growing dangerous.
Zodiac approached me, taking his time as if he was sure that his trump card would take me out easily.
"Dragon Crush!"
"Ethereal Strike."
He raised his dagger as the surrounding miasma was sucked in and concentrated on the tip.
As draconic thunder gathered around my body, I dashed towards it, hoping to immediately kill him.
My fist clashed against his dagger.
Ting!!!!
His dagger broke into pieces, as too did his arm.
But I was only slightly better, the concentrated poison had pierced my right arm for the second time, and was spreading at a rapid pace.
We were both in a bad state.
"Hah....I love... when prey puts up a good fight!"
"Accelerate."
I dashed back to the end of the hallway, where the altar to summon the minotaur stood.
He watched questioningly.
I drank a health potion quickly, at which point he began running towards me.
But before he could reach me again, I took the preserved flesh out of my inventory, placing it upon the altar.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
The wall behind the altar started breaking down.
"RAAAAGHH!!!"
A roar bellowed through the wall.
Suddenly, all at once, the wall shattered, and a minotaur rushed forwards.
I had already stuck my body to the side of the hallway, and so, Zodiac lay directly in front of the minotaur.
"W-wait, what th-"
He shouted in confusion as he was immediately hit by the monster of myth.
I couldn't help but let out a smile, drinking the remaining health potions I had whilst he was distracted.