Yggdrasil root, the only Labyrinth in the entire world. This was a natural kind of labyrinth made artificially by the dragon queen, Azida. Which was divided by the largest ocean in the world, the Poseidon Ocean.
However, due to the dominant species, dragons, no monsters were discovered along this route.
It had already become grim. There was nothing but large boulders scattered around the shore. The trio, whose came to raid the labyrinth, arrived a little later than expected. Thus, due to the winter months, the night also fell.
David exuded an entire lung of air when they landed on the sea shore by ship. A couple of meters Infront of them was an enormous cliff, the starting point of Yggdrasil root. The cliff was approximately five hundred meter tall with bright edges on the surface and rusty brown colour. As it was a volcanic area, the heat from it made the cliff look like a large pile of rust on iron.
"Crap, check out at the level of this bluff. It's clearly around 500 meter." David twisted his neck, gazing toward the cliff with his mouth totally open.
"The maze begins from the edge of Yggdrasil. So clearly the cliff would be so high." Holding a wand in her grasp, Ellen commented.
With the aid of nature, an artificial labyrinth was created. The edge of the east side of rubberland, which sometimes referred to as the first floor, where it all begins. Similar to how the entire rubberland, which was covered with tropical flora, served as its own floors ( 1 to 10). Its designs were unmatched by any other locations or regions. A region larger than hundred thousand square kilometers, with a volcano on its eastern flank covered in, what was also known as mist forest.
The heated gases that the dormant volcano produced helped to form the mist forest. Because of this, most of the monsters in the area have skills similar to those of illusion. The first 10 floors were therefore entirely focused on survival in the mist forest.
"That's a lot for an E rank like us. The maker ought to have considered powerless ones like us, and it ought to have been some place in noxus and more stories the same." David protested as he spitted toward the spiky stones close to the beach.
Hearing this Basil contemplated internally; what do you try and anticipate from life? Life is consistently troublesome and harsh.
"We're just weak guys who didn't even go through phase two. So shut up and start chanting." Basil screamed.
"Hah, don't you think you're always harassing me? David addressed.
The group was founded by Basil, who rose to the position of leader. He had brilliant ideas about leadership, critical thinking, and ability. As a result, he was officially recognized as the group's leader. He had the potential to be a great leader, but he lacked the skill that an adventurers needed the most—a good skill. For adventurers and everyday people alike, skill was paramount. The only people with better chances were those with tier two skills. The skill— "Visible", which had air magic as a first phase ability, was a tier one skill that he had, which had bad impact in his captainship. He in this way was disheartened in himself since his initial phase was the only overall phase he could gain. Neither he could do best attacks nor gain another two phase.
Nonetheless, the gem was David in the group. Being in his first phase, David, a young man with tier two skill, was a gem to the group. He possessed the skill "The Ghost," which had two phases. Because of the way that he was still in first phase, he just had knowledge of his first phase ability, air sorcery; the one more ability was to be uncovered on second phase. Within the following three months, he anticipated entering the second page. Their air magic was likewise silver rank, by coincidence. Two people with the same abilities in the same rank in the group only sparked one sort of rivalry. One had excellent leadership, whilst the other needed it. As for Ellen, her phase ability was love magic, she finished last in the group with a first-tier skill named "The Luck." However, she had a love magic, which was absolutely rare with great prowess.
"Shut up before I kick your ass. Start Incantation. Ellen, grab my hand."
"You're really cruel."
Ellen pointed in agreement with David, grinning broadly, and added, "I also agree with you."
Without saying a word, Basil made an ideal circle by holding Ellen and David's hands, and at that point David yelled,
"Aeris tolerant..."
David thought to himself, "Annoying bastard." As soon as he said it, a solid breeze under their feet pushed them straight up, making them leap to the highest point of the cliff. Arriving at the highest point, David recited another spell,
"Leni aura....."
An unexpected solid breeze carried them like a leaf through the breeze to the ground of that mountain. As they arrived on the ground, the power of the spell tossed Ellen and basil to the ground. Dispersed on the rough ground, their hands slipped to the ground.
Basil said, examining his injury, "Ouch!" The wound was, in fact, completely covered in dominant red blood. Near Basil, Ellen was standing. It was remarkable that she wasn't hurt after a landing in such rough ground. Hearing Basil's voice, she looked at him immediately. As soon as she became aware of the wound, she turned to him and began using her "Sacrifice" power to treat it. She touched Basil's wound, and there was an immediate reaction as she did so: a blue light appeared. The wound appeared to be continuously healing under the dark blue light, and within a minute it had vanished entirely. David, on the other hand, was able to control his body in a way that allowed him to land gently. Therefore, he was top-notch and in top shape.
"Your 'sacrifice' ability is too good. Just I have had such a lot of more terrible karma." remarked Basil.
"It's not even decent, though. My talent for sacrifice is meaningless." Ellen spoke.
Basil's case and Ellen's were identical. "The luck" was a tier one skill that she possessed. Sacrifice was the name of her skill's initial phase ability. As implied by the ability's name, some sort of sacrifice was required. The first tier could only have one skill, hence it had no potential future, that was the beliefs in the human world. Which was entirely false beliefs. The experience played more vital role in these area, but nowhere were the beings with tier one skills.
Ignoring this, the young Ellen was naturally ecstatic when, at the age of 18, her first phase broke. Given that she did not train, breaking a first phase in just 18 years was almost astounding. The society around her began to spread the news about her, the place where she lived was in the poor region. So, within a moment, the news took the region like a wild fire. She was only content until a more most joyful thing like a luck got included her life. It was her most phase one ability: Sacrifice. She was aware that she had first-tier skill, as was the rest of the area. But, in those times, gaining skill with a love magic was god gift.
"You know, the girl who used to live next door to us had a love magic as her first phase skill."
"She certainly was born with a large fortune."
These kinds of rumors circulated widely in the area.
For a poor girl like her, receiving such a remarkable opportunity at first undoubtedly gave rise to hope. In a month, she joined a guild and became an adventurer. She joined the guild with the hope that she would end her family's poverty. She took jobs given by guilds and was able to earn 15 silvers, which was a considerable sum of money. She brought in cash, gave it to the district individuals until the day when she realized the area was just utilizing her. Realising that she was only used by her own area people, a feeling of revenge began to grow in her.
At first, she used her money on herself, promoting money addiction in a later month.
She needed additional money but was unable to get it.The reason was her own skill— " The Luck" ability — 'Sacrifice'. To use the sacrificial ability, she had to hunt down the living creatures as much as possible. The hunted creature's mana were used as her healing powers. The larger the creature, the more it will heal. That was the condition of her ability, so in the end, she found her ability as pretty useless. Thus, before plundering the labyrinth, she killed as many bugs as possible because they were easier to kill than other creatures. Additionally, the inability of love magic to evolve was also another problem.
"Did you two notice how amazing my spell was? Ah, "Ghost" only given by the heavens to a refined person like myself."
Basil and Ellen reflected, "You are just in silver rank."
"David, for what reason didn't you utilize a spell on us while landing....." Both, ellen and basil thundered.
"What exactly are you expecting from the silver class reservoir, then? I have to protect my mana, in contrast to the two of you who have the gold class. I won't be able to remain here for very long if not."
"True, but are you truly a moron? Healing is more crucial." The two yelled
"Instead of yelling at me, look at there."
All of them stood up, as basil was only who was sitting on the ground. They moved a bit to the closer of the ground end. Below was nothing than huge piles of rock's, and ocean.
The ocean's dark, ominous blue surface crept toward the bottom-most rock. The ocean become more stunning as they watched it more closely. From the cliff's edge, they watched as waves crashed against rocks and trees buffeted by strong winds and ocean waves, which quickened their heartbeat. It was the day when they first experienced true beauty.
"May God favour us." Basil said, snatching his clench hand.
"Let's travel there." Basil continued, indicating the volcano.
Both screamed out, "All right, leader."
The group left the area, which was heavily covered with light-brown grasses. It was easy to see the mist forest from that location. This gave the location its reputation as the Labyrinth's plotting location.
Carter, the spring of gushing lava was shaped around a long time back by shooting stars. The active volcano in the days of its creation, had become latent now, prompting the development of plants, with trees on the outer layer of the magma and it. However, the volcano was still hot, such that the tip of it was covered in the white clouds.
"It sure is nice." David said, grabbing the strap of the bag.
Exploring the labyrinth seemed like playing with life and death. Full of monsters that ranged from D rank to S plus rank, it was the most hazardous location, even for creatures like heroes and demon lords. As a result, in order to avoid maximum deaths, the Guild enacted new guidelines for carrying devices such as wavemeter, healing potions, and trackers.
"So this is Mount Carter. Home of Dragons. The distance among it and us isn't just perfect. So make certain to be careful."
The group entered the jungle of fog. In such a large region, a group of three was virtually nothing. Although the mist was dense, they started to advance. Complete thinning of the mist, the feeling of eerie creepiness had vanished at the certain part of the mist forest. This was the middle section of the mist forest.
In general, the mist forest was separated into four parts: Lower Section: The beginning of the forest from the cliff, Middle Section: The Middle of the Half of the Mist Forest, First Section: The Pond and Tree to the Next Floors (11 to 50), and The Most Dangerous Area Filled with S Ranking Monster—Zero Section, practically prohibited by Guilds Law. The width of the lower segment was approximately 20 km, the middle was 60 km, the first was 100 km, and the zero section was the remaining half. That was, approximately 50% of the rubberland was a zero section.
Reaching the middle section, they began to examine their surroundings.
"And, make sure you look for a floating box." Basil continued.
Drifting box was a mysterious box containing a red diamond key. As the name suggested, it was a box that floated in the air.
Having a most significance in the Labyrinth, drifting box was must to be established if to enter next floor. The ruby key, a key of red diamond, was the reason. The only thing that could open the door of the willow tree, a tree with a door that led to the real floor, was a ruby key.
Ordinarily, the drifting box found at the outset of lower section, middle and first section: if the things got escalated. Nevertheless, the odds were likewise to get the drifting box more within zero section. In any case, the more close to spring of gushing lava, more beast like ruby titanoboa: a 30m long snake with a load of 2 ton, ruby morshu, ruby puma. These A evaluated beasts were sufficiently strong to wreck a party of legends in the event that they have barely any familiarity with them.
Therefore, the majority of the time, adventurers abandoned Rubberland if they didn't uncover a drifting box inside the 80 km of mist forest. However, the box had unique characteristics, such as a red star that was shining. Thus, it was simple to recognize the box.
As they moved toward Mount Carter, the temperature became hotter and thicker. The foundation of the well of lava was loaded up with greeneries and grasses, as it developed taller it became green, heaps of dim soil covered the surface, and the white cumulus of mists at the top made it look like paintwork and unnatural. The sky filled with moon and countless stars was bright like sky contained diamond. Under these circumstances, the trio definitely had difficulties to see.
David was the person who got every one of the materials they required. Thus, David took the glowball from the sack and turned it on.
From the glowball, a yellowish light radiated out, illuminating the surroundings. After a while, the ball began to resemble a tiny sun.
The glowball had the power to illuminate the space surrounding its owner. Due to its high effectiveness, it was pricey yet available in all markets. Depending on how long it might survive, it cost anything from 900 bronze and 2 silver.
After an hour, they searched every square inch. They investigated shrubs, caves, and trees. Nonetheless, nothing nearby was discovered.
"Haf, I can't now. Can't we rest a moment?" Ellen said as she sat down.
"Fine. Let's rest for a while." Basil agreed as he also sat near to Ellen.
They were now situated on a lot more open ground than they had been earlier. It was first section free place, filled with small plants. With the help of their air magic, they were able to travel such absurd distance in a hours.
"Guys, I'll just check out nearby." David stated after taking a few glances here and there.
"Go ahead if you want. Don't go too far, though. The glowball has stopped attackers from coming our way." David spoke inaudibly while supporting the body.
"Gotcha."
David walked a little further than they were when he spoke. Even though the light was still there, only Ellen and Basil remained.
The cricket's sound was overwhelming, only deep silence was there.
Basil and Ellen were in very serious relationship and now it was almost three years of their relationship. The story dates back then, when they first saw their phase one breakdown in same-time in same place. They were in same place, but didn't met until they got registered as adventurers in the guild branch. Due to their lack of combat experience, young explorers like Basil and Ellen were generally not welcomed by the older guilds. In light of this, the amateur explorers had no choice but to establish a new club.
In 190/01/12 I.A( Illusion Age), a group of five was formed in which unexpectedly were Basil and Ellen. As they were strangers who knew nothing about them, they all only introduced each other as a friend. Nothing was really left out by guild to be ranked. Therefore, based on the level of danger they posed, jobs were likewise classified from E rank to S plus. The money likewise got bigger as the rank got bigger. A D rated job paid almost one silver while an E rank job paid 200 bronze. This was the huge difference between the missions. So, obviously, the group also wanted to earn more money. They accepted an E rank task because they had just recently formed their group. Killing the blue slimes, a globular jelly monster, was the task at hand. Because of how strong the gang was, they completed the goal in just one hour. They worked at E level for a month in this manner. The group ultimately opted to accept an E plus rank position two months later. Particularly in comparison to other ranks, the E rank's duty was the simplest. It was rather simple because the E rank was every amateur's first mission. Even an E plus rank mission was far more challenging than an E rank task. It belonged to the entire league. Therefore, the death rates were quite high. Despite being aware of this, the gang accepted Mushra's subjection because it resembled a monster. However, three mushra s' were enough to wipe out their entire party. If only the group had known that Mushra's vulnerability was to cover the region in a sweet odor, they would have known that they were weak monsters. Otherwise, even D+ adventurers could struggle to defeat these adorable beasts. Because to this hefty impact, only Basil and Ellen were able to flee. The receptionist had already informed them of their flaws, which the gang had ignored, therefore it wasn't the guild's responsibility. After experiencing such a terrible fate, both Ellen and Basil reconnected and made the decision to accept a mission. This took very little time to complete. A year passed by, both began to appreciate each other's efforts leading to enter into living relationship. Their life much started to be more happy, and joyful. They shared same pain, happiness, battled with the same monsters to their limit. Although it was illegal to do mission in a duo for them, the missions were particularly low missions. Therefore they weren't at the fault.
Considering that the guild forbade the usage of pair systems for ranks below D plus. It was against guild policy for a duo to have less than one member who is D plus. They could only create squads from this point forward. David, a teenager, joined them henceforth.
"So cold," Ellen said, rubbing her hands and exhaling warm air on her hands.
"Are you feeling cold?" Isn't this place scorching? We're literally close to a volcano." Basil exclaimed as he gazed into the night sky.
"Humph, I am.Then?" Ellen responded angrily.
"I'm kidding."
"Do you not want to give your jacket to your wife?" Ellen asked, turning her head towards him.
"Why should I?" Don't I get cold? What about you, wife? Hehehe"
"Blah, blah, blah." Soon"
"How about this instead of a jacket?" Basil continued, taking Ellen into his arms, "Isn't it hot?"
"....." Ellen blushed silently and didn't say anything due to her shyness.
While Ellen was in Basil's arms, Basil was staring at the sky. After an hour, someone was rushing to them. The sound was clearly heard of running in the ground. It was David. He came and hurriedly said, "Guys, I think I've found it." David let out a yell.
For energy restoration, humans slept at night. The trio's nighttime raid on the labyrinth, however, required a lot of energy. Ellen quickly nodded off as a result. Basil, who was accompanying her, fell asleep in a flash as well. He suddenly woke up though after hearing David's voice.
"Really?" Basil said softly, encouraging David to speak more quietly.
"Yeah," David replied softly, continuing, "Over there."
David motioned with his fingers to the right.
"OK, hold on a second."
"Oi." Basil whispered, and shook her.
"Hmm, let me sleep." She scowled.
David stood directly in front of them, disgusted. "OI...WAKE UP," he yelled. "DON'T DO THIS CLICHE MOMENT BEFORE ME," he continued.
Ellen awoke and stretched her hands while Basil was killing David. David became silent as he watched Ellen stand up.
"Really, bastard? You know how much this place is dangerous?" Basil exclaimed angrily.
"I know nothing." David said as he looked around.
The environment between them was very fierce. But both Ellen and Basil were following David's lead. The path was straight rather than curved. Because there were no humans present, the atmosphere was eerily similar to that of an abandoned house.
"Look, isn't that box same as box that we're looking for?" David quietly said.
Just above the shrubs, the box was there in front of them. The bushes appeared dense and robust. The trio sensed that countless monsters were spying on them. The party would be instantly annihilated by the monsters if the glowball were to go out.
"Yeahhhh, it looks same." Ellen responded.
"It is." Basil shouted and continued, " Let's go."
The trio dashed towards the box, which was floating in the air like a boat in a river while also moving forward. They walked through the bushes only to discover that the box was on the other side of the lake.
Each part was separated from the others by the river Dale. The lake was where the river dale ended. It was a sparkling, azure lake. The party and lake were only a few hundred meters apart. Then just
—GWAHhhhhh.....
An unexpected noisy commotion came from the mount pit; the weighty breeze came tearing across the spring of gushing lava, getting the mists free from mt. carter.
"What was that?" Ellen quavered.
"It sounded dragon." David responded in fear.
"No, ya fool. It is." Basil hurriedly replied.
On average, dragons were rated C and were difficult to locate. This case, however, was against Yggdrasil. There were simple dragons living in Yggdrasil. Not to mention, there was a lot of threat from individuals who could rival heroes like Ruby Arachnoid. The most potent monsters were the red-colored, ruby-adorned ruby monsters, which were the most numerous. The majority of them had distinctive abilities, such as the majority of weaker monsters like Morshu having the fire attribute. In fact, second only to space, the fire characteristic was the most deadly. Overall, monsters of ruby species were much easier to distinguish than others. The dragon also had a ruby on its brow, which shone brightly.
So, a shock of fear developed in them, and the throbbing heart became faster and faster. The heartbeat could be heard from the outside.
"Quick, check its wavelength." Basil shouted.
Opening the bag with his hand clenched, David toppled the other belongings and took the wavemeter out of the bag.
Wavemeter were also created by aura, grand master of the guild. It was specifically purposed to measure ones wavelength. As wavelength determined the threat of each individual creature, it was mass produced in the 170 B.I.
Chh, the worst luck is always on our tail, Basil thought to himself.
"If just this dragon was a year, then there would be no risk." Basil worried, without doing any motion.
David positioned the wavemeter in the direction of the dragon.
"16 trillion.....C plus." David shivered, and quickly got dropped to ground.
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