Arcane Innovator

After passing the checkpoint, I carefully began the long descent into the depths of the mysterious Labyrinth. Following the long line of people walking both before and behind me, I spent the time curiously observing my fellow labyrinth-delvers.

Most of them were locals, and to my surprise, there were even plenty of kids around my age as well as old folk. 'It sure is popular down here...'

It seemed that the Labyrinth provided ample opportunity for everyone around here to make a living, which was probably one of the main reasons for the unusual lack of beggars and poor people in general, which I noticed yesterday when I first got here.

The air grew colder as I slowly descended into the dark chasm, the steep steps leading me further into the unknown. The jagged walls loomed on either side, and strange shadowy mist floated all around, obscuring my vision.

Before long, I could no longer see the sky, and everything was plunged into utter darkness. The sounds of the bustling city above faded away as well, replaced by an unnerving silence broken only by the echo of many footsteps.

As my eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, I noticed a faintly glowing moss sticking to the chasm's wall now and then. However, its light was barely enough for me not to trip on the slick stone, so I had to move even more cautiously than before.

The atmosphere instantly turned eerie and tense, and I shuddered with unease. Still, knowing that dozens of regular people walked these steps daily allowed me to quickly regain my composure.

After about an hour's descent, I arrived at the bottom of the giant chasm. There was nothing here of note. The surface was rough and composed of uneven rock, making it difficult to navigate as there were no clear paths. The shroud of rolling mist that obstructed any view was much thicker down here, making it almost impossible to discern the true size of this place.

Not sensing any danger, I sighed in relief that I had safely made it all the way down - not very fond of heights. Still, I didn't celebrate just yet, as it seemed my journey was only just beginning. Following the slowly moving crowd with my eyes, I immediately noticed the wide mouth of a large downsloping tunnel that disappeared in the darkness below.

Not wanting to be left behind to figure things out on my own in this strange place, I hurriedly rejoined the others as we began descending to what seemed to be the true entrance into the Labyrinth.

I squinted my eyes, trying to see what lay ahead, but it was of no use. It would be quite easy to summon a bright flame to illuminate my path. But since I didn't know what was considered normal here in terms of strength for a newly awakened mage, I opted to maintain my image of a humble adventurer, deciding to stick behind the group of well-equipped warriors I saw back on the surface each of them carrying a flickering torch.

The spacious tunnel twisted and turned, making it hard to determine the direction we were going, the only constant being that it was always down and down again.

Suddenly, a faint glimmer caught my eye, and as I looked ahead to locate its source, the passage abruptly ended, and we arrived in what seemed like a different world.

I blinked, letting my eyes adjust to the surprisingly bright light as I looked at the surroundings. I had never been inside a labyrinth before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't anything like this. I stood in awe, my eyes wide as I took in the surreal sight before me.

The underground chamber I emerged into was enormous, illuminated by countless glowing crystals that bathed the cavern in an ethereal glow, creating an illusion of daylight. Meanwhile, the cavern's high ceiling disappeared in a thick layer of mist, making it almost impossible to discern its true height.

Taking a cautious step forward, I marveled at the beauty surrounding me. The air was unexpectedly fresh and tinged with a faint scent of damp earth.

The mist alighted by the crystals made it seem like there was an actual sky above and not a stony ceiling. With a bit of imagination, it almost looked like I was standing outside on a misty morning under a milky white cloud somewhere high in the mountains.

But as I continued to walk, my footsteps echoing softly in the vast expanse, I quickly noticed that was where any resemblance to anything I knew had ended.

Before me stretched a lush landscape full of small hills and valleys. Yet the colors were all wrong. A maze of tall crimson grass stretched as far as the eye could see. In place of trees, giant purple mushrooms as tall as a two-story building sprawled upward.

I also noticed weird glowing creatures that looked like giant fireflies fluttering about and hungrily devouring the puffs of spores the mushroom-like trees were periodically releasing.

Amid all this, small groups of people were busily tending to fields carved between the mighty stems. With their hoods raised against the spore-filled air, they seemed to be gathering those strange-looking gourds I saw on the market yesterday while being guarded by many vigilant adventurers.

For a while, I curiously watched the farmers cultivating this alien landscape and wondered about humankind's ingenuity in allowing it to thrive even in the most inhospitable of places.

Everything seemed oddly serene and quiet. Still, I didn't let the peaceful atmosphere fool me. Despite its mysterious beauty, I reminded myself I was still within a Labyrinth. As such, the environment was nothing but deadly, waiting for a single moment when I lowered my guard, and then it would strike.

In fact, there seemed to be twice as many "guards" as farmers, which left no doubt about the obvious danger such work entailed.

As if to confirm my suspicions, a swift shadow suddenly flashed on the edge of my vision, and the next moment, a small furry creature jumped out of the tall grass, going straight for my neck.

'Oh, crap!' Somehow, I managed to react in time, sending a short burst of essence into my legs and jumping out of the way at the last moment.

The creature shot past me, disappearing in the grass once again before rapidly turning around and preparing for the next lunge.

I took a few steps back, still reeling from the surprise attack, before my beast hunter training took over as I assumed a battle stance, "You want to take a bite out of me? Let's see you try..." I snickered at the tiny monster that looked like an overgrown squirrel as I swiftly took out my faintly glowing dagger and pointed its sharp tip forward.

As I was playing the role of an avid adventurer, I figured it was high time to finally test out the enchanted dagger I looted from Dominic back in Weisberg.

The squirrel shot at me again, but now that I could clearly see it, I readied myself to dodge while at the same time preparing to cut it down with my dagger. A rush of essence flooded my entire body as I didn't want to take any chances. I jumped out of the way, my dagger flashed... and missed.

'Damn! How come it can be so fast?' I cursed inwardly, quickly turning around so as not to lose it.

I had never encountered a monster so fast, and despite being able to move several times faster than any regular human, thanks to enhancing my muscles with essence, I somehow couldn't move my hand fast enough.

What followed was a several-minute dodging contest that left me panting from such exertion. But slowly, one step at a time, my body adapted to the rapid movements, and I managed to improve my dodges. Instead of jumping my whole body out of the way, I only needed to twist slightly to conserve my energy.

Meanwhile, I tried to discern the pattern of the squirrel's movement until finally... "squeak!" A pained cry reverberated through the surroundings as my dagger finally found a purchase, and a spray of blood accompanied by the smell of burned fur announced my victory.

I glanced at the glistening surface of the enchanted weapon only to find not a single scratch marred its pristine surface. ‘Wow, that’s pretty neat!’

The monster continued to twitch weakly for a short while, but then it grew still, and I carefully made my way closer, dagger at the ready in case it was only played being dead. However, my worries were unfounded, and I couldn't suppress my grin as I had successfully slain my first monster inside the Labyrinth. 'I wonder how it tastes like...'

I checked the corpse for an essence gem, which sadly it did not have, before proceeding to process it and pack the useful bits into my bag.

Previously, I was not able to detect the squirrel-like monster in advance because my most trusted helper—the magic sense—seemed to be strangely misbehaving.

The essence was so thick down here that all I could sense was a multicolored riot of colors, a giant smudge that didn't allow me to discern any details of my surroundings beyond what I could see with my own eyes.

It was also causing me a massive headache, so that's why I stopped trying to use it after a while.

That was not all; even the space itself seemed weirdly inflated. It wasn't noticeable on the surface level, but if one peered deeper into the surroundings, things became much more confusing.

It almost seemed as if the Labyrinth's interior was much larger than it ought to be based on its outside footprint.

'If it is already like this here on the very first floor, I can't help but wonder how it must look down on the lower floors.' I thought while I rested after the fight to recuperate.

The Labyrinth was apparently inconceivably vast—each floor larger than the entire city itself, and I also heard that the deeper you went, the bigger the floors became.

According to the history book I had read, the 71st floor was the furthest anyone had ever reached—which was the famous Eluvius' last expedition itself. Since then, nobody has dared to delve so deep ever again.

Granted, Eluvius himself may have descended even further than the 71st floor, but that was the last floor from which anyone from his expedition came back alive.

Nowadays, the mages from the Tower never delve below the 30th floor. I overheard some rumors in the inn last night that a local team of adventurers—hailed as the city's strongest—recently delved as deep as the 36th floor, but they offered no proof of their claim, so it was a bit iffy.

I personally had no interest in conquering the Labyrinth's unfathomable depths. All I wanted was to get rich while gathering the various resources to help fund my upcoming studies and to earn some experience battling the local monster population - which may come in handy during the Tower's various trials.

'And if I somehow manage to uncover some ancient treasures along the way, all the better...' I thought, smiling as I curiously walked toward what seemed like the heart of the first floor, where the lush vegetation appeared to be the densest. 'This will certainly be quite an interesting time indeed...'