Denizens of the Labyrinth

The mine wasn’t like that of the dwarves, the tunnel that they now moved through was cramped, badly dug and claustrophobic. It wasn’t lit well and from the first bend in the tunnel, the daylight from the sun already didn’t reach deeply inside.

Jazmel was lucky, for his eyes immediately could see the Mana all around him and it felt like he was deep underwater, as the luminescent blue of unattributed Mana pulsed in the walls and all around them. something that always kept him mesmerised.

“You can see all the Mana, can’t you?” she asked, and he didn’t realise how close she was, but she was holding the back of his belt and clutching to him in the dark.

“I can, I can see the Mana that is running all around the mine.” He explained and he felt her squeeze his belt.

“I forget that you can see everything at all times.” She mused and he didn’t respond, not knowing what to say.

“I think you must be in tune with it too though, the kitsune tails must allow you to feel or see Mana like I do.” He said and she fell quiet for a while and then a warmth radiated from his back. He turned to face her and saw that she had willed her tails to appear. Four tails of white fur, ringed at the tip with red and blue runes. He couldn’t read the runes, but he imagined they had something to do with fire.

“The system is really cool.” He said and she looked up into his face, confused.

“You have the kitsune tails, which are best suited for fire. But you also have that thunder crown for your thunder abilities. The system is a wonderful thing.” he explained, and she smiled and laughed a little, getting what he meant.

He turned back and this time led again, but the Mana pulsing off of her tails helped light the way. The tunnel grew steep and descended again. But he could see all the badly etched steps that had been carved out of the stone and he led the way, making sure Sadé stepped where he stepped previously.

In the distance he heard skittering and over his shoulder he saw that she had heard it too, she drank a Mana potion, and he watched as the Mana passed her lips and then disappeared into her being. She kept all her tails but now she formed her crown of thunder, being this close to her. He could hear the air crackle and sizzle with the thunder in this part of the earth, where thunder had never reached.

The steep descent stopped sharply, and the tunnel led into a larger cavern. crudely carved out of the rock and stone but inside it were goblins of all shapes and sizes. Mining small Mana crystals from the rock face. A growl from the side and turning he just slipped by as a spear jab swished past his face. He pulled the shaft pass him and chopping with the side of his palm, striking the back of the neck of the goblin that attacked him.

He stepped over the body and with a little skip, he threw the spear into the chest of the oncoming goblin that was rushing at him.

He turned and saw that Sadé was driving her sword into the goblin he had left. But he wasn’t worried, goblins were rushing at him now and he was defending himself. Fighting for his life within the mine.

Slash!

The strike caught three goblins and cut through their small bodies and as others rushed in, he repeated it again. the skill was lethal, and he hated how easily their small bodies fell before the sword and the strength of his skill.

Slash

Slash

Slash!

He was carving a bloody swathe through the goblins, and they were unprepared for a seeker such as he. Their green blood slick across his blade, he flicked it to the side. Cleaning his blade as best as he could.

Their fighting had drawn the attention of a guard group of some sort, they rushed into the cavern from a hidden entrance but before they could rush at he and Sadé. She struck them with thunder, arcing through their bodies and burning them to a crisp.

“You were holding back.” She said as she walked past him, heading towards the entrance that the guards had come from.

“What?!”

“When we were sparring. You were holding back.” She said and wouldn’t look at him, he almost laughed. But he could tell she was serious.

He followed her as she entered the entrance and before he even could attack. She burnt the whole tunnel out. Driving the orbs of her foxfire down the tunnel and they exploded when they touched one another or if they hit one of the goblins.

While she was leading he took the time to look at his notifications.

DING!

TIER I GOBLIN MINERS X36 KILLED

TIER II GOBLIN GUARD X4 KILLED

…

+3 PER

+3 INT

+2 WIL

He nodded and he was grateful, he realised that continuous use of his eyes, was training and strengthening them. something that was really part of his abilities, the eyes of the divine were such a great gift. He needed to thank Mary as soon as he next saw her.

The tunnel was filled with smoke, and he rushed through the space to enter the room where the guards lay burning and dying. He stepped through the wreckage and hurried into the next cavern, a larger mine. Filled with goblins, who had clearly heard the commotion and now were ready. They even had archers and they shot their arrows, but he ducked back into the room.

“They have archers.” He informed her and she grit her teeth but then stepped forward.

“Leave them to me.” She pushed in and immediately hurled her skill into the raised platform they were shooting from.

Thunderfire!

The platform; built from wood and rope crumbled beneath their added weight. He left her to her victims, and he stepped into the cavern where the goblin guards were waiting for him. One rushed for him, and he evaded its strike and cutting through its thigh, it fell to the ground. He stabbed through its heart, and it stopped moving.

Five others rushed him, and he sliced through the air calling forth his skill, tied into his sword; Hajime.

Flight of the blue kite!

As his skill cut through them, he veered to the side and immediately cast another skill.

Slash!

Cutting off all the heads of them as his blue Mana bird struck them. he hissed and fell to a knee.

WARNING

STATUS; BLEEDING

He looked down and saw that he had been stabbed in his lower back. He whirled on the goblin, and he realised it was wearing a small cape that was complex with Mana, it disappeared to the naked eye. But for eyes such as his own, the Mana was like a beacon in the dark. He stabbed it into the gut, the goblin screeched and hissed, but died quickly.

DING!

TIER II GOBLIN SHADE KILLED

He dragged the cape from its small corpse and deposited it into his ring. He turned and realised that Sadé had already killed the last of the guards. The crown had faded from her head, and he saw sweat on her face. It must cost a great deal of Mana. He pulled a health potion and a Mana one from his ring. He tossed the Mana potion to her, and she drank it deeply, before thanking him. She drank another one and he thought about that.

While they rested and healed quickly, he checked his notifications.

STATUS; BLEEDING

…

BLEEDING STOPPED

STATUS CHANGED!

STATUS; WOUNDED

…

+2 END

+1 VIT

+1 WIL

They were strong now, at the end of their seeker rank; normal potions were barely cutting the difference now. He needed to ask Baek about the other options.

The room was cleared and at the end of the cavern; which as Jazmel looked around. He realised was actually like an entrance hall. At the end of the cavern stood two hastily pulled together doors. They were built from stacked logs and even then Jazmel could see gaps in the door, but thick fur had been used to plug these gapes and he and Sadé forced them open and entered the final door, which led to the last cavern in the mine.

Jazmel whistled, looking around they were in the place where the Mana crystals were all stacked in abundance around the whole room and Jazmel could see that the border of the whole room was lined around the whole space.

The Mana crystals were of all types of size and shapes. Even the density and purity of the Mana that his eyes could see, he couldn’t tell how much was present. He just knew it was a lot and he was suddenly feeling greedy for it.

The room wasn’t just filled with Mana crystals, about a hundred goblins wearing armour and carrying excellent quality weapons. He could tell these were the last line of defence for the mine and they could tell he meant to take the mine, they gripped their weapons and waited for him and Sadé. He could see mixed in amongst them, a few of those shade goblins. He warned Sadé and she simply called her crown back and the thunder boomed as it appeared above her head.

There was a single hobgoblin, wearing heavy thick armour and it reminded Jazmel of the guards he saw outside cities in the labyrinth. This hobgoblin was taller than the goblins that surrounded it and it seemed a lot more intelligent too. It carried a sabre that seemed like it was well crafted and in the other hand it carried a short knife. But he wasn’t worried, he and Sadé would see to it before the end of this mine.

WARNING!

MERROT THE HOBGOBLIN WANTS TO DEFEAT YOU

TIER II HOBGOBLIN APPEARS!

He sighed, it was tier II and named. So, it would be like a tier III monster, he told Sadé, but she shared with him that the same notification had appeared for her too.

“Kill them!” the gobbling growled and that caught Jazmel off guard, he hadn’t heard a monster speak before.

Foxfire!

She hurled her blazing orbs of destruction into the guards and while they were doing their best to escape the onslaught of her destruction. Before they could prepare to respond to her attack he rushed in.

Whirlwind!!

The orbs were pulled in and using his tornado whirled up by Mana, he forced his skill to land in the centre of the group of goblins and they were devastated by their combined attack. This sort of thing had never happened before, but now he considered what a combined skill with his other friends might be like.

The goblins were reeling from the attack, broken bodies laid around the ground. Some worse than others but before they could see about them, the hobgoblin leader rose up and made his way towards where Sadé and Jazmel stood. His armour was well developed, and Jazmel’s eyes told him that not only was it well designed, but it was infused with Mana too.

“I will deal with these guys!” Sadé said and ran past him to get to the still reeling goblins, she chugged another potion and her thunder crown remained above her head. he turned back and the hobgoblin was slowly making its way towards him, he drew Hajime. Nothing but the fight stood before him now. He knew this would be a vicious duel, but he wasn’t stressed about it. Surprisingly, he felt extremely calm, and he realised that he always did when he was entering a fight, especially when he was already holding his sword. he wondered if it had something to do with his passive trait.

Slash

He struck first and to his surprise Merrot, the hobgoblin simply shielded himself from the skill and took the full brunt of the attack; fully against his body. Jazmel nodded and attacked again.

Slash!

Flight of the blue kite

Slash!!

He struck repeatedly, moving through the different strikes like a sword series and swinging his sword, he aimed his skills at different angles.

WARNING!

MANA AT LESS THAN 50%

He hadn’t ever received that warning before, but he also wasn’t worried. He continued their duel; their deadly dance. The hobgoblin hit back and for every three movements he made, Merrot hit him back once.

The first smash from its sabre, he parried it; it stabbed at his stomach with its short sword, and he countered that, cutting its forearm on the under part of the greave. It hissed at him and then rushed him with a flurry of attacks. He countered each but they got heavier and heavier, and one attack got through, driving him to a knee. It tried to stab him again at this point, but instead he averted his head, and the blade pierced his shoulder instead.

DANGER!

STATUS: WOUNDED

Thank you system! He thought to himself, but he didn’t relent under the pressure, he fought back. Rising from a knee; he used the momentum to stab at the knee of the goblin. While it didn’t pierce through the chainmail of the armour. It was enough to make it stumble back, he rose again and whilst in the close radius of the space between the hobgoblins arms, he flicked his blade up and while it bounced off the breastplate. He used the impetus to drive his sword back down with another skill.

Flight of the blue kite!

The bird careened and screeched off the breastplate again. it tried to stab him again, but he was in control of the flow of the duel. He kicked out at the wrist and the short sword dropped from its grip, he cut that hand off. Merrot roared in pain, aiming a cut across his chest with its sabre. But he was prepared and instead, he entered its range closer, and the sword went around him. Missing him, he stabbed down into the neck while turning, the hobgoblin mewed and then turning on his foot clockwise; with a strong backhand he cut the head off of the named monster.

Slash

He called as his katana passed through the neck of the monster; beheading it.

DING!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

…

YOU HAVE SECURED THE MANA VEIN MINE

TIER I MANA MINE

…

PRODUCTION, 400 PER HOUR

He nodded at the notification as it popped up and smiled at the need, the production was low. But when Frae turned up, he would ask that the dwarves oversee the mine and at least prepare it better for the faction.

Facing Sadé he saw that she was ok, she drank a Mana potion and then also drank a health potion and a nasty cut on her forehead began to heal in real time. As he watched her, he remembered his own shoulder and drinking a potion, he felt it knit itself back together, he drank another and the soreness disappeared with the wound all together. Next he drank a Mana potion and using it to top up his meagre reserves at the moment he felt as a little trickled into his clothes and they repaired themselves.

He stripped the corpse of the hobgoblin and immediately took in the notifications of the weapons and armour.

TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST, sturdy armour made with the skin of an Iron jaw bull

That sounded interesting, he placed it in his satchel immediately, next he picked up the sabre and whistled at the notification from the system

TIER III SABRE OF THE DEADENING, +3 damage on top of the strength of the user, every strike will be heavier than the last!

He nodded at that, remembering how his already sturdy bones shook beneath the blow. But he smiled all the same at the new sabre. He had no intention of keeping it or using it, but he imagined it would sell very well.

He picked up the short sword that the hobgoblin had been using as a dagger and the system showed him the information and again his eyebrows raised.

TIER II SHORT SWORD, this short sword when used like a dagger, will a lot of the time strike a critical blow

He hadn’t seen anything like this before and showing Sadé she nodded. Saying some items can gain abilities, just as seekers and rankers could. That was fascinating, he hadn’t discussed with anyone what he had planned to do. But he was already wondering what abilities a sword would have if he had it made with items. He looked over his other notifications after the task set by the system for the faction.

DING!

CONGRATULATIONS!

MANA MINE SECURED!

…

EXP EARNED!

LEVEL UP

…

DEFEATED NAMED HOBGOBLIN

…

+3 PER

+3 DEX

+2 WIL

+2 STR

+1 VIT

+1 AGL

He looked at his stats screen and smiled;

Name: Jazmel

Level: 52

Species: Human

Rank: Seeker tier III

Class: Sword Scion

Health: 937/1600

Stamina: 670/1216

Mana: 840/1120

STR:67 PER:64

VIT:60 END:62

INT:68 WIL:61

AGL:66 DEX:64

Trait: HEART OF THE SWORD (BORN TRAIT)

Skills:

Slash (tier III)

Flight of the Blue kite (tier I)

Whirlwind (tier II)

EMPTY SLOT

Title(s):

FIEND BANE

SERPENT SLAYER

Unused Stat points: 0

4X PLATINUM COINS

647X WHITE GOLD COINS

127X GOLD COINS

Item(s):

TIER II 2X COLD IRON ORE

TIER I 1X GREATER GRAVE IRON ORE

2/3 PIECES OF THE PLAQUE

TIER II BRANCH OF A TREE

TIER II SEED OF MIRETE

TIER II WILLOW KNIGHT SEED

DWARVEN COIN

2X HEALTH POTIONS

4X 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

TIER I MERMEN PEARLS X57

TIER I ATLANTEAN SWORD X2

TIER II STINGERS x13 COLLECTED

TIER II STINGER TOXIN X3

TIER II STINGER WINGS X6

TIER II STINGER X4

TIER II ARMOUR OF THE STEADFAST

TIER III SABRE OF THE DEADENING

TIER II SHORT SWORD

SHADOW WRAITH

LEVEL 12

PARTY:

5/5

BAEK LVL 112

He had improved again and turning to Sadé he saw that she had looted the bodies of the goblins already. She looked at him, and her gaze was unreadable to him.

“You held back, I think you might be much stronger than me.” She said and turning on her heel, she made to leave the mine. He followed after her, surrendering to her anger and holding his defeat in silence. They made their way out of the mine, back to the outpost.