Denizens of the Labyrinth

Jazmel was alone again, and the valley accepted him quickly. No spiders this time and he hurried back on the trail, aiming for the summit of the mountain.

The trees broke away and now it was plain lands, wide and vast. Jazmel could not see anything but the creek he had left the two sisters beside. The creek had opened and now a small river was flowing at leisure through the plains.

The plains were open and yet, Jazmel was following the scent of something. His nose was leading him along. He entered a garden. Flowers rich in perfume and delicious scents enriched his surroundings. So many different flowers he had never seen or heard of before. He laughed to himself as he thought of the happiness Sadé would feel if she were here with him. Looking around he found nothing, and so left. Following the river to the foot of the mountain.

The birds had been singing all throughout his journey of the mountain but now they were silent. The flow of the river could be heard, but there was no joy in the notes of its song.

He heard creaking first; it sounded like bridge up ahead. But then the noise doubled and tripled. He rounded a bend and in front of him was a dooming sight. A mausoleum of broken, derelict, and rusted knights. Knights of all styles and designs, stood frozen in the place. In different poses armed with many different weapons.

He exhaled and tried to steady his heart. He took a step; without his eyes he would have been caught off guard but the closest knight to him twitched. He stopped in his tracks; this mausoleum of knights was all waiting in anticipation for him to make a move. He took the first attack, with a wicked slash from head to body, he cut the nearest knight to him in half. It fell to its knees from his blow and then crumpled in on itself.

DING

RUSTED KNIGHT DEFEATED!

RUSTED HELM COLLECTED

He stepped over the body and the next two rusted into action. Their parts of their armour creaking and screaming as they stumbled forward to attack him. He barged into one, knocking it over and slashed through the knees of the other. Whirling in place he stabbed into the helmet of the rusted knight, and it crumbled.

X2 RUSTED KNIGHT DEFEATED.

X3 RUSTED GREAVE COLLECTED

The system hummed and he felt energised as the experience rushed into him. Others rushed him but he made short work of them easily. Feeling the experience run through him.

DING

NEW ENEMY DETECTED

TIER I THE RUSTED KNIGHT ALGUS

Jazmel heard the system before he felt the wrath of the knight. It struck him, coming from the shadows behind him. He fell forward and jumping into a roll he gave himself some distance before whirling.

He remembered what he had heard before, tiered monsters were one thing and named ones were even stronger. This knight had a name hovering above its head and he wondered just how strong it could be. Unwavering he prepared for a fierce fight.

The rusted knight was massive compared to the other types he had fought previously. It was bulbous around the stomach and thick in both the thighs and arms. To Jazmel, it looked like it had been put together with a few different knights. It held a heavy square shield and then in the other hand it held a flail. It swung at him, the ends of the flail tearing the ground up where he had just stood. He jumped backwards, then darting to the right he struck. Striking with his sword, he slashed at the shoulder of the rusting knight. But it blocked him with the shield, shoving him off and pushing him far away.

He spun, his health lowered and a little stunned. The mountain of corroded armour swung at him, but he was too fast. He struck at the knees as best as he could and to his joy the rust helped him. The left knee gave way but hiding much of its body behind its shield.

The weakened knee had rusted all the way through, and this prohibited its movement.

Flight of the blue kite!

He struck at the shield, denting it. the named knight made no sounds but its rusted parts grinding together strained his ears.

Flight of the blue kite!

He shouted his skill out again denting it further, the monolith of rusted metal threw its shield at him, and he ducked. Just as the slab of eroding metal flew over his head. He whirled around just as the knight drew a sword from a sheath strapped on his back. But he moved first, he darted forward. Striking at the centre of its chest. His eyes had already revealed to him where the core was. It was brilliantly lit, and he stabbed deep, then cut through it. An ethereal scream was heard, and the rusted knight Algus broke apart.

NAMED ENEMY DEFEATED

RUSTED KNIGHT ALGUS DEFEATED

The system chimed and exp flushed him.

LEVEL UP!

LEVEL UP!

+5 STAT POINTS

He smiled to himself; a named monster seemed to be worth a lot of experience. He would remember that for later. He bid the shadow wraith to consume the rusted knight corpses. It did and he felt it grow stronger in turn. He looked at his stats and they showed;

Name: Jazmel

Level: 23

Species: Human

Rank: Seeker tier I

Health: 475/475

Stamina: 300/300

Mana: 400/400

STR:28 PER:22

VIT:26 END:29

INT:26 WIL:34

AGL:27 DEX:28

Skills:

Sword sense (tier I)

CQC (tier I)

Slash (tier II)

Flight of the Blue kite (tier I)

Title(s):

FIEND SLAYER (10%)

SERPENT SLAYER (15%)

Unused Stat points:

675X GOLD COINS

SHADOW WRAITH:

LEVEL 7

PARTY:

5/5

He was growing rapidly and not for the first time; did he notice that he gained a lot more when he was hunting or out alone. He poured all of his points into perception. Then he took a look at the items in his satchel.

ITEMS;

100X GIANT SERPENT KILLED

34X GREAT SERPENT SKINS COLLECTED

25X GREAT SERPENT CORPSES COLLECTED

42X GREAT SERPENT FANGS COLLECTED

17X GREAT SERPENT GLANDS COLLECTED

RUSTED HELM COLLECTED

X3 RUSTED GREAVES COLLECTED

The mausoleum which had been a graveyard of rusted knights, now was simple statuettes of stone or as close to that. Nothing else moved as he hurried through, and to himself he was glad. The cemetery was little more than broken down memorials and other shows of affection and admiration. Some were so old he could not even make out the words that had once been chiselled in.

The mausoleum opening led back out into the valley and Jazmel realised he had entered through the exit of it. He followed the trail back into the trees but unlike before the creek, this part of the valley was sparser and the trees that grew were older and far wider than before. Dark green leaves of variated shapes and sizes littered the floor and though they did not crunch beneath his boots, they did not hide the sounds of his footsteps either. He had been travelling along the path for a while when he heard a shout.

“What do you have!” a stranger shouted at him,

He looked around and on a lone rock stood a young man holding a spear across his shoulders with both hands. He wore a loosely tied robe and was bare chested, but his trousers and boots seemed of excellent quality.

“What?” Jazmel asked.

“What do you have on you?” the stranger said and this time he twirled the spear around his neck and caught it deftly, pointed the tip at Jazmel.

Jazmel confused, realised that the young man meant to rob him. He did not really know how to respond in this situation. His dealings with the other Seekers within the labyrinth had been good and bad. Some had resulted in friendship and others had been death. He had not overcome the first man he had, had to kill. But now he was being robbed again. Something he did not know happened but also, he was not surprised by.

“I have nothing for you, but if you still want my trouble then we can see how things go.” Jazmel warned, his thumb easing his blade from the scabbard slowly. This unknown man seemed to consider Jazmel and after a moment he swung his spear back onto his shoulders. Before turning and walking back into the brush.

“Not everyone will let you off, best to not walk out in the open so obliviously.” He called over his shoulder. Jazmel exhaled and then quietly let go of his sword. He followed the trail, a little slower and with less noise. The trees had begun to regrow now and soon he was back beneath the bosom of boughs.