They had made it out of the fountain trial safely, Jazmel and Sadé entered through the gate and came out right into a new city. This was a new phenomenon to Jazmel , every time they had used a gate to enter a new floor, it always led them outside the city. But this gate led straight into an alleyway of a bustling city and Jazmel came out into a street filled with people rushing in every different way.
DING!
THE CITY WILL BE ATTACKED!
…
SURVIVE THE ATTACK!
Jazmel groaned, was this another beast tide? Straight after a fountain trial? He was so tired, his body thrummed with fatigue, he had drank a health potion and though his body had recovered he just didn’t have enough in him to fight again, but he would if he had to. He had learned that it was truly life and death in this labyrinth and while away from the outpost; his faction base, anything could happen.
Sadé led the way and holding his hand she darted through the crowd and up onto a landing that led up to the city wall. When they reached the top he realised that the city had three outer walls and he and Sadé had climbed to the second.
“Hey, you guys!” a voice shouted, and Jazmel looked up to see the tower balcony filled with seekers waving him up.
“Come up!” one of them shouted and Jazmel followed behind Sadé as she rushed up to get a better view.
They reached the balcony and there were ten seekers there standing and waiting to see who had come up.
“Did you get the city system notice?” the one had called down to him and Jazmel told him yes.
“Yes, don’t worry about that. We won’t actually have to do anything this time, rest and watch the show.” He said and Jazmel looked at him perplexed but Sadé tugged at his hand before motioning to the third and final outer wall.
There were five seekers on the wall, standing and waiting for the beast tide to approach, but Jazmel studied them with his eyes and immediately realised why he wouldn’t have to do anything. They were master tier; all five of them!
Jazmel had only met one master since being in the labyrinth and that had been Baek, he had met strong rankers of course. But never another master tier, and here were five of them. He understood why the seekers beside him knew they weren’t going to have to do anything in this beast tide. The masters were already enough for all the monsters.
“Look at the tide, there must be something like one hundred thousand beasts down there.” One of the seekers near him said.
“Well that just means twenty thousand each for the masters then.” The man said who had beckoned Jazmel and Sadé up to the balcony, Jazmel looked at him and the guy offered a hand.
“The name is Lance, ranker tier III but even I am useless here.” he said with a grin, he was slim and about Jazmel ’s height, but his Mana core was so large Jazmel couldn’t tell just how powerful he actually was.
“I am Jazmel , and this is Sadé, both ranker tier I.” Jazmel introduced himself and Sadé, all those on the balcony waved and greeted them.
“Do you know who those masters are?” Jazmel asked, his interest more than piqued and he was curious now to see what they could do.
“Lucky for you, I have been here since last week. So I saw each of them come here; word had been spreading about a beast tide and these master tiers needed the exp and whatever they can get from the corpses. We are here to pick their bones after all.” Lance told him and Jazmel nodded, understanding that everyone here could reap the rewards.
The first-person Jazmel was studying was a single man who stood on the far left and closes to the balcony from where they all stood. He was shirtless and wore a kilt that was tied off at the front with a belt of what looked like leather from a beast, but nothing that Jazmel had seen in the labyrinth. He was tall, even taller than Jazmel and while he wasn’t brawny, he was muscular and athletic. His skin was bronze as if he had been in the sun all his life and his hair was dreads but tied back away from his face with a thick piece of cloth.
“The man on the left is Solas Amad, he is a master tier I. probably the weakest of the five, but by no means is he weak. He just became a master tier the last of them all. I haven’t seen him in action, but he is said to be strong in battle and I heard he survived a merging gate straight after his seeker trials.” Lance told them all and Jazmel and Sadé simply stared at the group of masters with awe.
The next one to him was a woman, clearly a mage or a witch as she wore a wide brim hat that looked too big for her and yet sat comfortably on her head. she was small; shorter than Sadé and her pitch ink black hair was tied back in a loose braid down her back. She carried a tall staff; it looked like a heavy branch from a tree; but the Mana stone imbedded in the tip of it was so bright that Jazmel didn’t even dare to look at it with his eyes. She was powerful, the Mana surrounding her was more than the man beside her and yet she was comfortable; she hadn’t even released her pressure yet.
“The woman with the witch’s hat and the wizard’s staff is Petra, she is the youngest master so far. She is 22 and probably the strongest of her age, that we know of anyway. She is a witch and tier II, I heard she has only been in the labyrinth for three years, so she made it to master in three years.” Lance said and Sadé whistled in awe, that woman was powerful. Jazmel had made it to ranker in less than six months, but he knew master was not going to come to him as quick as that.
Standing beside her to her right was a man who Jazmel couldn’t work out. He bothered him, he wasn’t sure why, but the way Mana seemed to imbue his body it made him anxious, like he was beastly. He peered at him, and he realised that the man didn’t have a Mana core, it was a beast core. Or the closest version to it, that unnerved him even more. The man wasn’t particularly tall, standing at maybe five foot ten. He wasn’t muscular either, he had quite an athletic build too, he wore boots and trousers; with a white short sleeved open shirt. His forearms were hairy, and his chest had hair on it too, Jazmel wondered if he was a wild man.
“The man’s name is Ban.” Lance started but the girl beside him interjected.
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“Oh that’s Ban, the werewolf!” she blurted, and lance looked at her and shook his head.
“He isn’t a werewolf, he’s a shapeshifter. He doesn’t turn into a wolf; he transforms into something else. It was a reward he gained from the system; I actually know this because he told me when I joined the guild. He is the guild master of the Beast fang guild, our guild.” Lance explained and Jazmel nodded, listening. There seemed to be many guilds, clans, and factions inside the labyrinth. He needed to be careful with who he made friends with and who he made enemies of, that could affect the black wing faction in future.
Next to the Guild master of the beast fang guild stood a woman. She wore war paint on her face; her eyes were masked with it. She held a glaive in one hand and a sabre in the other. She wore armour that was so well-made Jazmel actually felt a trickle of envy, the forging on it had been so details that the faces of pain and anguish told the story of countless battles. she was strong, experienced in battle and powerful. Jazmel could tell all that simply from the way she stood calm and ready, almost bored as she waited for the oncoming beasts.
“That is Cary Gale, she is strong. Probably one of the strongest masters of her tier. She lives for battle and hunts down beast tides, if she hears about one; she goes looking for them.” lance said and everything he told him, Jazmel could believe as he could feel the bloodlust from her.
Finally the last man on the furthest right from them was a monk, his head was shaved, and Jazmel could tell he was a martial artist. He held one hand up in silent prayer and seemed to be meditating.
“The final man is Hao Lin; he is the strongest of the five. He is a martial master of some renown; I haven’t seen him fight but I know he is incredibly strong.” Lance said and Jazmel listened.
“Look the beast tide has reached the walls.” Sadé said and they all looked to see how the masters would react.
The witch; Petra was the first to react. She raised her staff high and Mana from the stone in her staff began to form; rapidly. She was pulling all the ambient Mana around them into her staff and as the beast tide rushed the wall, she continued to prepare her skill. When they were almost at the wall she banged her staff down and uttered her skill. Jazmel heard all the authority and power in her mastery of her tier and skill and watched her attack.
Mana missile!
Thousands of Mana bolts shot up into the sky from her staff and when they were high above and almost in the clouds. They hurtled down and crashed into the oncoming beasts and blasted them. the bolts burst on impact and did even more damage where they landed. She killed thousands of the beasts from her first attack. Jazmel watched her skill diminish the tides first wave and wondered if Baek held this much power too.
The tide had been struck and shattered by her attack, but the beasts were not diminished, and they charged the walls still. Not stopping to help or check the wounded. They charged over them; broken bodies trampled and died and soon Jazmel couldn’t even see where the wounded laid as oncoming beasts overran them.
Hell flame!
The man called Solas spewed fire and flame from his mouth like a dragon, but it wasn’t the same fire that he had seen from Paldane; the fire was flecked with brimstone, and he could feel the chill of death. The fire cleared the beasts that had begun climbing the wall and turned them into ash, burning them and leaving nothing; not even the bones.
The beasts still didn’t stop, and Jazmel could see the stronger ones rushing the walls now and as they bounded up the wall; digging grooves into the wall with their claws and hands. But Cary couldn’t wait any longer, she leapt from the top of the wall and swinging her blades about her, she carved through the tier III beasts and cloven pieces of beasts rained down onto those who were trying to climb up after. She did not even used her skill and was simply wielding the might of her arm.
Beast form!
Ban bounded down the wall and as his skill took hold of his body he transformed; his brown hair became white, and stripes crisscrossed his body; claws stretched from his hands and feet. He tore the head off a strong looking ape and threw the skull at another while he ripped through the others, and he crashed into the ground; releasing a challenging roar that quelled some of the beasts around him. Some tried to swerve from him, but he charged into them. Using his hands to claw and rip through them.
Master tier was powerful, he hadn’t even seen all of them attack and yet just three of them had stopped a beast tide when it had taken almost a hundred seekers and rankers to stop the one Jazmel had been in. He wondered what their stats would look like and how far he was from them too. He settled in and continued to watch the show.
DING!
THE BEAST TIDE GENERALS ARE NOT WHAT THEY APPEAR
TIER IV GENERALS HAVE APPEARED!
DEFEAT THEM AND SAVE THE CITY
Jazmel gasped at the new information from the system, tier IV monsters were basically master tier. They were strong but he was more curious about the floors they had been through and the gates they must have been witness to. He wanted to seek more gates and new places, he wanted to see new things and things that he could not even dare to dream of. That was the things he was considering.
The air crackled with pressure Mana so powerful that it was affecting the elements seemed to be pressuring the wall. The tier IV general had begun its approach. Jazmel had never seen a creature like it before. He imagined it had been formed to look like an angel but instead it had twisted and become a winged monster instead.
Four wings protruded from its back, they buffeted the ground keeping it aloft and from where Jazmel stood, he could tell it was tall; large in size almost a giant. It wore blood red armour and clutched two burning white swords in either hand. It hovered across the ground towards the wall and Jazmel could suddenly hear his heart beating; thumping in his chest. He was worried and now he was wondering what the masters were going to do.
Hell Spawn!
Solas bounced forward as his skill covered him in fire and flame. Brimstone formed two curling horns at the crown of his forehead. He was also shrouded in brimstone as he shot across the ground and smashed into the winged beast. A sword struck out at him, and he blocked it with his shroud of brimstone, but Solas was not even moved; he struck out again. Punching with flame filled fists and bludgeoning attacks. The flying beast tried its best to strike back but it could only defend itself from his onslaught.
Another beast moved forward now; it was huge. It was bigger than anything he had seen before. The top of its head was equal to the top of the wall too. Jazmel had not seen a creature of this type before, and he studied it as he considered what he would do if he would fight it.
The creature was large and moved forward dragging its body towards the wall. It was huge, the circumference of its head alone reminded Jazmel of a globe; a globe with large eyes that peered unsightly at Hao Lin as he meditated and awaited its approach.
“Well are you going to move?” Sadé whispered but Jazmel ’s keen senses heard what she said quite clearly.
It was almost as if the master tier heard her because he stepped forward and bracing himself, he struck a kata form and then called his skill into power.
Six Arm Asura!
As he called it, Jazmel gasped. The skill formed four extra arms of yellow gold Mana and they sprouted from the master’s back and flexed with brilliance and power. The arms were linked in one mind and began clench as he stepped forward and quite simply punched the air.
The punch hit the air like a shockwave and the strike hit the beast that was far away with everything in between. Jazmel had never seen anything like it, but the punch knocked the creature back and opened a gaping wound on the side of its head. it wailed aloud and Jazmel couldn’t believe that it survived, but also in turn just how damaging the skill had been. He was sure of it now; he had a long way to go but at least he now knew what it looked like.
The other masters leapt into the fight now and Jazmel found that he was not interested in the battle anymore, he could tell the masters would win and the beast tide would be over. he reached down and touched Sadé’s hand and beckoned for them to leave. She left with him, he thanked the others and they stepped into the stairwell and made their way down the tower and back onto the street.