Denizens of the Labyrinth

They had travelled quickly, for such sturdy and yet short in stature. The dwarves were quite fleet footed. They marched through the lands at a steady pace and Jazmel kept up with them easily.

The dam had been made in the north of the valley, away from the southeast; which is where Jazmel had come from. The north was higher and so the march was up hill as they headed towards the top of the valley. The sun was out and even Jazmel could feel a little sweat on his forehead. All the dwarves who were in their thick armour and their helmets of steel and iron. Did not seem to mind, Jazmel kept his discomfort to himself.

As they neared the dam, the weather and the scenery changed. At first it was discreet and not much to notice. But for Jazmel, his eyes ensured he noticed everything. Even the change in the Mana surrounding them. before it was light and full of life, the usual type he saw when he looked at woods and trees, plants, and the other things like that. But already the sky had darkened, murky clouds that looked full of rain and dark intentions hung in the air and wind whipped around them, ruffling his jacket but not cold; just an annoyance.

The once robust and thick trees that lined and made up the woods. Had shrunk in size and health, now they all looks shrunken, withered, and skeletal. Jazmel could see the Mana in these trees, and they were all tainted, the once light looking flows now was dark and dense. It had an oil like texture which was unusual.

“It’s become a swamp.” Frae acknowledged and all the dwarves steeled themselves. Fraelin had only brought fifty dwarves with him. Stating that it would leave Orevalor too vulnerable if he took them all, and so for the time being it was Jazmel, Frae and fifty other dwarves. The clouds rumbled and looking up Jazmel watched as the first drops of rain fell. Great, it was raining now too.

He stroked the hilt of Nozarashi and strolled forward, seeking out the best footing within the swamp. His eyes helped with that too, the ground showing the cracks where the swamp had ruined the flooring and where the murky sewage like water had seeped in.

“Everyone make sure you have your firebombs ready.” Frae whispered back to the dwarves behind him.

“Here, in case you get a free shot. Make sure you throw them and then get out of the way.” Frae said and then handed Jazmel three spherical objects. He took them in his hand and realised they were no bigger than a ball in his hand he could hold all three in one hand. They were covered in runes and other etchings, but the one part had a branding that could be pressed down into the ball.

“Press that brand and it will ignite, you will have five seconds to get out of the blast radius. It will combust and cover everything close to it in fire.” Frae explained and Jazmel nodded, putting it in his storage. Frae raised a hand and everyone fell silent. Even Jazmel.

Eerily they began to hear a hiss, a hailing of it and Jazmel realised it was more than one thing making this sound. The dwarves compressed into one heavy unit and shields linked together to not allow any gaps in their defence.

From a few feet from Jazmel, a thing erupted. It miscalculated where he had been, and he drew his sword quicker than it could react to where he was and lashed out. No skill move, just a quick blade strike. Nozarashi was a heavy and sharp it cut through the thick vine monster, and it fell back into the swamp where it had crashed through from, dead. Ichor pumped from the slice that Jazmel had made but before he could even look. Others erupted from the swamp.

Notifications of the system chimed, but he was in a fight and the system always stayed out of his peripheral during this time.

More of these monsters appeared and Jazmel struck out. Everything came easy to Jazmel during a fight, these beasts were weak. It was not long before they all laid dead, hacked by the axes of the dwarves, or sliced to pieces.

“You fight well.” Frae complimented and Jazmel nodded his thanks, but he was still tense. They had just entered and already they had been attacked. He checked his notifications now, while things were quiet.

YOU HAVE ENTERED THE SWAMP OF LADNI

CLEANSE THIS PLACE!

…

DING!

VIPER VINE KILLED

EXP EARNED

VIPER VINE X17 KILLED

EXP EARNED

+2 STR

+1 VIT

+2 AGL

+2 DEX

He sighed and settled as his stats changed and focused within him. He led the way, side by side with Frae as he led his dwarven warriors deeper into the swamp. More of those monsters attacked them and they killed them, defeating them after having more chances to prepare for them.

Jazmel heard the creak in the distance and drawing his sword in one fluid movement and blocking an attack on Frae. It was an arrow, if not for Jazmel it would have struck Frae between the eyes, he was startled but he leapt into action immediately.

“Arm up!” Frae rumbled and the dwarves slammed their shields on the ground and bared their axes.

The arrow came from a forest of trees and as more arrows appeared Jazmel backed off watching for the enemy, but none came and only more arrows.

“We are pinned down; you have to go to them!” Frae yelled at him, trying to keep the dwarves protected.

Jazmel darted off, he slipped behind a tree and a split second later, heard the thud of an arrow hit the trunk. He peeked out and an arrow flew behind him, stinging his ear. So, there were more than one archers. He rushed in, diving into a roll and then coming up on his feet just as more arrows flew through the air. Three missed him, one he deflected and the other caught him in the shoulder, he winced but kept moving. Rushing for more cover.

He pulled the arrow from his shoulder and hissed as it came out. He looked at it, it was not even a true arrowhead. It was a branch that had been twisted to point at the tip and now it had his blood on its tip.

Using the cover of the trees to flit around and flank them. He had to hurry though, he jumped through the last trees. Making himself small enough that he was compressed, with his knees tucked close to his chest. He jumped through the opening and ended up in the middle of the archers nest. He struck first, one stabbed at him with the top of its bow, pointed and sharp. He cut through the bow and its owner. Quickly and waving his katana with one hand. He cut through the others. Created from wood, they simply fell broken beneath his blade.

DING!

…

DRYAD ARCHER X4 KILLED

EXP EARNED

…

+4 AGL

+2 DEX

He smiled a little at that but got up and hurried back to Frae and the dwarves. He followed their trail and soon came out to an opening. The main part of the swamp, where all the monsters were.

“Take out the archers!” Frae growled beneath a heavy shodden shield and Jazmel rushed off to help them. there were ten archers this time. The dryads were not hiding and instead, they were shooting arrows relentlessly against the dwarves. Who hid resiliently beneath the barrage.

To his amazement, they were pulling the branches they used for arrows from their shoulders. Not a quiver, just from within. He quickly quelled his wonder and rushed at them, an arrow struck his shoulder again, and a leg but he was already in amongst them. Archers fell beneath his sword, and he felt his stats raise but he had no time to look. A roared echoed across the place and Jazmel had to clamp his hands over his ears to block out the sound but still his hands trembled.

“Here it comes!” Frae yelled and Viper Vines hurried forward crashing through the ground and then the swamp to get at the dwarves. They roared and met them in battle, Jazmel smiled as he ran in to help them. he fought his way to Frae, but he was already heading towards him.

“We need to kill the monster. Do you still have your firebombs?” he asked, and Jazmel confirmed he did. The smell hit Jazmel before he even saw what was causing it. The only way to describe it was rot. He could smell the stench of rot wafting from the swamp and the taint of Mana rolling off of the monster.

Inside the bog of the swamp was a flower or had once been. Now it was a bulbous thing, which reeked of poison and gluttony. It was huge and the part where the flower should have sprouted; sat a monster that was almost humanoid, but its features were stretched and pulled back. It looked like what Jazmel imagined a fairy was supposed to be, but if it was dark.

DING!

DEFEAT THE FLOWERSPAWN!

The system rang in his mind, and he grit his teeth ready for this fight.

Frae threw a firebomb and the swollen beast tried to knock it out of the air but missed. The firebomb hit its chest and nestled between chest and stomach. Within seconds the bomb blew, and fire wrapped itself around the chest and stomach of the beast. It wailed in pain, the wound clearly grievous, but it was not down yet.

Whirlwind

Jazmel yelled, striking with his new skill and this time the monster blocked the strike with a flabby arm. The strike hit but only deeply into the forearm. It screeched and wailed again, this time it pulled a growth off of its waist area and threw it at him. He dived out of the way, but the blast radius still caught him.

DANGER

YOU HAVE BEEN POISON

WARNING

POISON WILL EAT AT YOUR STAMINA AND HEALTH!

…

He gritted his teeth and pushed through

DING!

HEART OF THE SWORD IS FOCUSING YOUR SENSES

…

POISON IS BEING BLOCKED

BLOCKING

BLOCKED!

FOR NOW!!

Jazmel felt the thrill and yet he focused on the task ahead. Viper Vines were attacking Frae, and he fought them off, valiantly. As strong as he was even without the system. It still shocked him how strong and resilient these dwarves had become.

He drew Hajime and his mind slowed all the moments around him down. He had not wielded both swords in a true fight yet, but now. His mind was consumed, and he could feel the taxation of it. The mental pressure was already a lot for him.

In that slowed down moment, he watched as the beast pulled another growth away from its side and threw it at him. He cut that in half and watched as the smoke cleared both he and Frae. One half crashed into the trees behind them, and he heard the sizzle of the trees as they broke down under the intense poison. The other half hit the Viper Vines as they rushed forward to overwhelm Frae, but as they were congested together, they felt the full damage of its attack. They melted beneath the poison.

It tried to throw another, but Jazmel threw one of his firebombs and it blew up on the patch of poisons the monster began to hiss and scream under pain. Pain from the fire but also from the poisons.

The monster roared; this time it was a different sound. It sounded like a call and Jazmel was right.

“Kill it.” He said over his shoulder as he scabbarded Nozarashi and drew Hajime from his belt. He handed his last two firebombs to Frae and then he turned to watch as a wooden monster stepped through the foliage. A goliath of a monster. It was completely made of wood, from the tip of its mask to the feet that looked oddly skeletal. In one hand it clutched a lance made of wood too, spiralling tightly at tip. In the other hand, it bore a heavy shield.

It charged him, rushing forward. Shield tucked in the shoulder and lance tip steady, he darted to the side and scored his blade against the shield. Barely a scratch, he stepped out of the range of the lance, but he was buffed as the wooden guardian struck out with the length.

Jazmel was knocked back and he fell to a knee as he felt the bruise begin to grow along his arm and side. The wooden warrior turned and began to make its way to Frae who was putting something together on his knees.

Whirlwind

He yelled and his attacked scored the back of the wooden giant. It hissed through its mask and whirled on him, lance poised to strike and charge. He rose up and it was hard to breathe, but he was not dying here.

Flight of the blue kite

He shouted, and the Mana leapt from the blade. the wooden beast shrugged it off, deflecting the attack off its shield. A dent formed, but other than that the monster seemed unfazed. He rose up to face it, but it struck him down with its shield

DANGER!

HEALTH 50% DOWN

He heard the system sing through his mind. But he barely had time to focus, the monster rammed its lance down and he rolled to the side. It missed but did so again, he rolled again. This time it used the shield to hold him and raised its lance to deliver the blow, the blow that would kill him.

DING!

THE TIER III FLOWERSPAWN HAS BEEN DEFEATED!

LEVEL UP!

REWARDS TO BE GIVEN!!

The wooden beast whirled to the screams of the monster as it turned, a grenade hit its face. Burning on contact. The beast howled as the firebomb at the mask and the face beneath it.

“Get up!” Frae ordered him and he rose up, battered, and bruised. In that moment he drove his sword up through the head of the monster and the mask fell away, showing two hollow eyes. But they faded away.

DING!

TIER III WILLOW KNIGHT KILLED!

REWARDS TO BE GIVEN!!

LEVEL UP!

LEVEL UP!

Jazmel rose up and the willow knight; as the system named it. Fell to the side of him, withering as it lost its lustre and Mana.

PART OF THE QUEST COMPLETE!

RELEASE OF DAM OF LADNI HAS BEEN COMPLETED

As the system hollered this out for all to hear. Jazmel watched as the area they were in changed, rapidly before his eyes. The trees that were once withered and shrunken, were now growing at a rapid rate. The body of the flower spawn beast crumpled in on itself and then disintegrated into what looked like sand granules, floating away into the sky. Corpse disappeared but items remained.

A single growth that rose and fell like it was a heart remained. A fruit of some kind rested beside it, it was shaped like a pear, but the colour of a ruby and almost translucent. It looked like it was filled with water or liquid. Another thing was a bulbous monster core, it was massive. The size of a big rock and Jazmel could tell it was weighty.

“Your spoils!” Jazmel said and Frae looked at him!

“I would keep them for now, when you link with the system you are probably going to go through a tier tribulation. You need items that will support your growth as a seeker. Monster cores and items are the best for it.” Jazmel explained for him and Frae nodded in understanding.

He picked up the core and the growth, before putting them in the satchel he used to keep the firebombs in. he picked up the fruit and gave it to Jazmel.

“Without you, I would not have been able to kill it.” Frae offered and Jazmel accepted.

DING!

FRUIT OF THE FLOWERSPAWN

…

+10 INT

Jazmel looked at the system and bit into the fruit immediately. He felt the stats settle in and he felt his Mana grow steadily.

The system sung through his mind again!

LEVEL UP!!

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE READY FOR THE TIER III SEEKER TRIBULATION. WILL YOU COMMENCE?

He smiled and before he accepted, he turned to Frae.

“I am about to go through a tier tribulation. Watch how I do it so you know how you will have to do it.” He explained and clutching his weapons he stood guard. Usually, the system would take directly from his storage space, but doing so he would not be able to show Frae what he was doing. So, he drew his three items from his storage space and Frae jumped ready to fight when the Zheng corpse appeared out of nothing.

“Wait, watch what I do.” Jazmel said and Frae relaxed a little.

TIER TRIBULATION BEGINS!

…

TIER TRIBULATION INCOMING

…

TRIBULATION ITEMS PRESENT!

…

WILL YOU USE THEM?

…

Yes

Jazmel confirmed and the system focused on the first part of the tribulation.

TIER TRIBULATION HAS BEGUN

TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT

WHAT WILL YOU USE

The vial of Dragon blood appeared in his mind’s eye and the system latched onto it.

VIAL OF HIGH DRAGON BLOOD

…

SELECTED

Immediately Jazmel could feel the sweat on his body. His back and chest, the back of his neck and throat. Even his hands grew slick with sweat, it was as if the heat of the dragon had coalesced into his spirit and his body was trying to expunge it.

He felt immense pressure bearing down on him. His soul squirmed and he held onto it, his spirit wavered as the dragon blood took hold of it and forced the merging. He was wrecked with pain, his body shivered under the colossal stress of the merging. But he did not falter, he could not. Tier III was the worst pain he had suffered, but he did not hesitate. He drew the pain in and used it to push the dragon blood through his spirit and washed himself with it repeatedly until the pain ebbed away and his body started to cool down.

His spirit suddenly grew thick, robust, and firm. He had not considered this before the trial. But with the addition of the dragon blood. He was firmer and hardier, it felt like he had added more to his vitality stats.

The pain diminished slowly and after a while, Jazmel felt stronger. He had overcome the dragon blood and something in him stirred. He remembered Baek’s words about him being the dragon’s son and he nodded to himself; mentally. As if that answered some part of him.

TIER TRIBULATION OF THE SPIRIT

COMPLETE

1/3

The tribulation of the body felt like he was shedding his body and rebuilding it over and over again. the system pulled the Zheng corpse apart and rebuilt Marco’s own; with its materials. The bones bolstered his own. The skin and muscle reinforced his body’s, the organs were used to rebuild and remould his own and he suffered under the transition. He felt heavier, his muscles firmer and stronger.

His bones felt stockier too, as if they had been rebuilt to bear the weight of his new body. The pain was not as bad as the tribulation of his spirit, but the constant remoulding and shedding that he was undergoing, drew a weird feel of pins and needles into all his nerves. He squeezed his eyes shut to let the system and his body do what they needed to do. He clenched his fists and felt his knuckles pop and realign stronger and thicker.

He bit his lip and teeth that were his own, but now unfamiliar pierced his lip and he tasted the iron of blood, his lip healed immediately, and the taste of blood ignited his senses. He suddenly grew very aware of his surroundings. The keen senses of the Mana eyes and now the Zheng corpse had raised his perception and senses even more.

But just like as soon as it had happened, his body began to slowly stop rebuilding him and the last of the Zheng ingredients to his remoulding was used to boost his health. He felt it, his stats jumped up and he was eager to see what they looked like. After the tier tribulation of course.

TIER TRIBULATION OF THE BODY

COMPLETE

2/3

Last and by no mere feat, least. The Thunderbird feather was pulled to his mind. He was apprehensive, not knowing what to expect but before he could even consider what to do. He was drawn into the feather.

A piercing screech was heard over the vales and dales of an unknown land. High mountains and willowing clouds floated but from the vision Jazmel was in, he knew he had been here before. He had touched these mountain tops before, he burst forth from these clouds and they had showered him with the rain they clutched in their recesses.

He was in a vision from the Thunderbird the feather was from. This had not happened before, and he felt a fear unlike ever before. He was scared of being swallowed up and losing his self. But he pushed out of it and instead, focused on consuming the qualities within the Thunderbird feather.

Once he pushed himself out of the vision, he noticed that he felt no pain at all, he could feel the thunder refining him. His synapses and mental reflexes were snapping as if electricity was being forced through him, but it did not

feel like he was undergoing pain, it felt as if his mind was undergoing a massage and the specific parts were being awoken, as if the system were telling them, they needed to work alongside the other parts of his mind and the system was showing them how to work.

The feeling of the massage abated quite quickly and soon he felt the feeling stop all together.

DING!

TIER TRIBULATION OF THE MIND

COMPLETE

3/3

…

CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING THE TIER TRIBULATION

EXP REWARD

…

SEEKER TIER III

EXP REWARD!

He opened his eyes and saw Frae looking at him with wonder. He smiled at him and got up, feeling his newly formed muscles eager to be moving. He had to do it slowly, and gratefully his brain understood what was happening and adapted to his new abilities and strengths but took over the initiative of moving his body how he wanted.

“I have never seen anything like that in my life.” Frae affirmed but with a smile Jazmel could tell he was considering what it would be like for himself.

“Was it painful?” he asked, and Jazmel nodded with a grim face.

“Sometimes, not always, but it depends on what you decide to use to rebuild yourself. But truth be told, I imagine yours might be painful because it will be the first time for you. But then again, what I have seen since I have been here? you dwarves are made of much stronger and sterner stuff than humans. I cannot imagine you suffering like I did.” Jazmel pointed out.

“We’ll let us hope the system is forgiving.” Frae prayed. Jazmel agreed and before they moved, he took the moment to look at his stats.

Name: Jazmel

Level: 45

Species: Human

Rank: Seeker tier III

Class: Sword Scion

Health: 1325/1325

Stamina: 910/910

Mana: 895/895

STR:49 PER:50

VIT:49 END:45

INT:53 WIL: 45

AGL:47 DEX:45

Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT)

Skills:

Sever (tier I)

Slash (tier II)

Flight of the Blue kite (tier I)

Title(s):

FIEND BANE

SERPENT SLAYER

Unused Stat points: 0

2X PLATINUM COINS

66X WHITE GOLD COINS

867X GOLD COINS

Item(s):

2X COLD IRON ORE

BRANCH OF A TREE

SEED OF MIRETE

100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED

TIER I 34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED

TIER I 25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED

TIER I 42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED

TIER I 17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED

TIER I RUSTED HELM COLLECTED

TIER I X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED

2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE

3X HEALTH POTIONS

5X STAMINA POTIONS

TIER II TROLL BONE X3

TIER II TROLL HEART X1

TIER II TROLL CLUB X2

TIER I FOX FUR X2

TIER I FOX MEAT X2

TIER II HAG CORE X1

TIER II FIEND BONE X30

TIER II GREATER FIEND BONE X13

TIER I FIEND CORE X29

TIER II GREATER FIEND CORE X6

TIER II FIEND CORPSE X12

TIER I GREATER FIEND CORPSE X4

SHADOW WRAITH

LEVEL 12

PARTY:

5/5

BAEK LVL 112

He felt strong.

“Here by the way, I picked it up while you was levelling up.” Frae echoed and handing Jazmel a big seed that looked like a pip.

DING!

…

SEED OF THE WILLOW KNIGHT

PLANT IT AND IT WILL GUARD YOUR RESIDENCE!

Jazmel was surprised and took it into his satchel, thanking Frae.

“Let’s go.” Frae said, Jazmel took one more look back and during his tier tribulation the area they had fought in had been remoulded and repurposes. The swamp had been cleansed and the sky was bluer than ever. It looked like nothing dark had ever been here before. The dam was flowing, the river was running, Jazmel could not tell where the river flowed to. But he imagined many things would change inside this gate before he left.

Just one more to do, the troll ogre.