Denizens of the Labyrinth

“Keep running!” she shouted, and he did as she bid, but threw his skills out from the tip of his blade. they were running from great wolfhounds. The size of horses but they were no mere herbivore at all. They had tried to pick them apart as soon as Jazmel, Sadé and Baek had made it out of the boundary of the broken city.

As they left; Jazmel could see the crater of the battle Baek had been in. there were no bodies there, but he could still feel the thickness and mastery of the Mana that had been incorporated into such skills. Even now after his perception and intelligence had been raised. he could feel Mana in a way he had never felt it before. It enveloped him and Jazmel was comfortable beneath its weight.

But as soon as they had left the city, these wolves had waylaid them. great beasts of the dales and valleys around the city. Sadé had been the first to defeat one and called out that they were named ‘Frenzy hounds’ but he soon learned that the maddening they were under, bolstered their attacks and made them robust too.

Cleave!!

The new skill struck deeper and heavier than slash, he felt the Mana consumption being greater too. But he had bolstered that too; his Mana pool had deepened, and he also regenerated it faster since his enlightenment, it wasn’t a great deal; it was just enough to edge it a little for him. One wolfhound burst into a gallop; keen on taking down Sadé from behind but Jazmel was there. As always to cover her.

Cleave!

He cut the head off of the hound as it bounded, and it crashed to the ground. He watched as the Mana left its body and he stabbed into the throat of a wolf that had snuck up on him from the side. He was about to whirl into another skill. But something white burst past him. Grabbing him around the waist; dazzling white Mana flew and grabbed for Sadé too. Who was wreathed in her crown of thunder. It almost buffeted Jazmel but the flying white being compressed it with its own Mana and bounding into the sky, leapt forward at a speed Jazmel could barely keep traction of.

But from his position; high above the ground. He could see the entire area was swarming with wolfhounds. Waves and waves of them were running through the area and they would have been overwhelmed had they stayed where they were.

The dazzling white being turned out to be Baek, who had perceived the wave before they had and swept in to save him and Sadé. He brought them up to a high ridge that oversaw the entire vale, and he watched as the wolfhounds swarmed.

“If we do not do something their might be a gate break.” Baek explained and Jazmel raised his hands in uncertainty. “what can we do? You literally just saved our lives.” He asked and Baek laughed. “Watch from here, if you were high tier Rankers, I wouldn’t have intervened. But this is too much for you, right now anyway.” He back stepped off the ridge ledge and plummeted before he stepped on the air, Jazmel watched with his eyes of the divine and saw Mana build beneath his feet as he bounded through the air back to where the wolves were.

Night of the white moon

A gargantuan orb of pure white Mana appeared above an outstretched hand of Baek’s the wolfhounds seemed to notice it then, but he had already sent it to the ground. The orb was large already, like the size of a round shield; though obviously spherical. But it expanded greatly until it was almost like a small pale moon made up entirely of Mana. It descended and engulfed the entire ground. Decimated the wolfhounds; they winked out of existence and Jazmel watched as the entire vale collapsed in on itself, a rent of what once had been just showed a gaping hole in the landscape.

“He is truly powerful.” Sadé whispered beside him, and Jazmel had to agree, he had always known that Baek was immeasurably powerful; but he had never seen him use a skill. In truth, he had never had a need. But seeing a skill from a Master tier, moved something in Jazmel. He knew that Baek was stronger than him, but now he felt like he knew by how much.

CONGRATULATIONS!

RETAINER BAEK HAS LEVELLED UP!!

BAEK LVL 113

YOU HAVE PREVENTED A GATE BREAK!

VARYING REWARDS WILL BE OFFERED

CHOOSE;

STATS

TITLE

ITEM

Without thinking he picked title and waited to see what the system would offer him.

…

TITLE CHOSEN

…

NEW TITLE;

GLARE OF THE DRAKE, all are prey beneath your gaze! Weak willed will be enthralled for 3 seconds.

Jazmel smiled at that immediately. That was a clever idea, he accepted it and swapped out the serpent slayer title. From the ridge they waited, and Jazmel watched as Baek skipped along the Mana steps he created for himself as he made his way back up to the ledge.

“That might be the most powerful move I have seen.” Jazmel declared and Baek nodded a thanks. “In truth, it is one of my strongest skills, it still is only tier II. But I sundered it many times to get it this powerful.” He explained and Jazmel grit his teeth with motivation. “We ready to move?” Jazmel asked and the others made ready to leave.

The vale had been huge; lustrous green grass danced in the wind, fields of it overlapping one another in the distance. The trees were thick trunked, and leaves hid their branches from Jazmel’s eyes. He didn’t know the species, but they grew to magnificent heights and some older ones seemed to even brush the cliff face of the ledge.

“This place is huge!” Sadé said, saying exactly as Jazmel thought himself. “You will realise that each floor in the gates are larger than countries back on earth. Sometimes, they are as large as continents which is more common than you think.” Baek explained and Jazmel considered his words; the places they had been were always huge sprawling lands. Places truly diverse and well maintained by the denizens or residents of the gate. But he hadn’t actually considered the size of boundary inside each gate.

“Can you judge where a gate will appear?” Jazmel asked and both Sadé and Baek looked at him interested by his question. “Nobody has that knowledge.” Baek confirmed and Jazmel nodded. “So how did those Seekers know to set up an ambush?” Jazmel asked and Baek realising what he was considering shook his head before explaining. “From what I deduced, they were probably looting the ruins and when we appeared. They heard us and reacted, just like we did. But instead, they had a bigger group than us. Luckily, we were stronger, but that is not always the case. We might meet someone stronger than me during our travels. You never know what to expect in the labyrinth and I need you both to always be prepared for that. If you have to run, run. If you have to escape, do that too. Always preserve your life, thankfully we have a base now. So, we can just return to the outpost. Make sure you make it back, if and when you can.” He looked them both in their eyes, making sure they understood how serious this was for him.

They began to descend from the ledge, working their way back down towards the floor of the vales and dales.

“Baek, how many rankers did you fight?” Sadé asked and Jazmel who was leading from the front, was listening intently. “There were six, one had a particular stealth class. I almost missed it, but at the last minute; when they were about to drive a knife into my back. I felt the Mana of their skill, I don’t think they realised I was master tier. Till they already were in amidst the attacks.” Baek explained and Jazmel whistled in awe.

The ridge was a gravelly path that descended from a high ledge, down into a gorge of such a depth that Jazmel soon found out what a frog in a well felt like. the gorge led to an awning gaping cave mouth which was so wide across that market could feel a strong wind, almost pulling him inside.

“that is a tomb, can you both feel the Mana seeping from it?” Baek asked and as he said it, Jazmel could feel the particles of Mana fluttering around him in fluctuating wind. But Jazmel did not waver, he stepped forward and entered the darkness, but his eyes of divine. He didn’t feel difference and once they stepped through the entrance and into the large tomb entrance, it was surprisingly well lit.

WELCOME!

YOU HAVE ENTERED THE TOMB OF THE CLAY EMPEROR

…

CONQUER THE TOMB

REWARDS;

STATS

TIER II ITEM

RANKER TIER TRIBULATION

The system chimed up in front of his eyes and he skimmed the information before flicking it out of sight. There was an emperor in the tomb, he was sure that would be the boss of the domain. He settled his thoughts, eased his heart, and pushed forward.