Round 1

Why didn’t I take a good look at the painting before I jumped into it like a goose diving headfirst? Maybe if I had, it would have been obvious that I’d end up in a labyrinth, and perhaps I could have found a way out from a bird’s-eye view much faster.

Anyway, I fell—just like in a dream where you feel like your soul is about to slip out of your body, and when it does return, you jerk awake. Except I didn’t jerk awake. I thudded straight into the dust. Lucky for me, my crossbow remained intact. I couldn’t say the same for my knees—or possibly my rear. Honestly, I don’t even remember everything I banged up back then.

(Vitality health -30%)

I looked around and realized I was in a massive room designed to mimic the illusion of an outdoor world. Except for one glaring detail: a chunk of paint had peeled off the ceiling of impressionist-style clouds, revealing gray canvas beneath. Oh, and there was also the tiny door through which I had tumbled. Trust me, even as an adult, there was no way I’d be able to climb back up there without magic. Could I have negated gravity back then? No, I couldn’t. Today, I’d probably just glide back up.

So, I looked around and saw walls, fences, and who knows what other obstacles. It was bizarre because some walls in the painted scene were reflective, like mirrors, but when you looked at yourself in them, you appeared like some clumsy cartoon character drawn by an artist who had one too many drinks.

On top of that, there was a ton of junk everywhere. To me, it looked like this painting served as a dumping ground for anything the Grügmans wanted to stash away. A sock, granny’s bloomers—gross! Nobody wants to see that. Empty bottles, torn books, a banana peel—wait! That peel wasn’t brown or dried out? Nope, it was strangely misshapen but still yellow. And it had been here for over twenty years! Based on that, I figured I had an eternity to figure out the maze.

The only thing that bothered me was one question: while I was stuck in here, was time still passing outside? If the banana was anything to go by, probably yes… At that moment, it didn’t even occur to me that I might never leave or that I might never see my mother again. (Sorry, I need a tissue. Sniff)

(I’m back.)

I just started walking down the first corridor that came to mind, brushing my hand along the wall as I went. A facade. The surface felt like hardened canvas with layers of dried paint, thickly applied. Completely unyielding.

I passed through several corridors, made a wrong turn, and had to backtrack. Then I saw it. Not its physical form, as that stayed behind, but the stain began to seep through the high bluish ceiling painted with faded streaks of sunset.

It was revolting, a disease eating into the canvas like a cancer. I ran as fast as my battered knees would allow. The clouds, now soaked with this filth, started to rain a stinking brown sludge that made me gag.

Fueled by rage, I tried to stop it. Somewhere in the gears of my mind, I understood what I had to do. I found that corner of my thoughts, summoned the energy radiating from my palms, and fire ignited above my hands.

“Shit! How do I put this out?” I muttered. Meanwhile, the stain advanced. It dripped from the ceiling like rotten, spoiled honey. I tried to shake off the fire, feeling its flames burn me, though the pain was manageable for a while. I blew on it, and the flames shot out like a flamethrower, covering the entire canvas wall in a blackened film.

“Alright, you bastard! You wanna play?” I taunted the stain as if that hundred-year-old decay was alive.

I aimed both hands upwards and blew as hard as I could, my cheeks practically cracking. The fire shot into the clouds, and I saw that it hit. The stain began to writhe and bubble like charred mucus.

(Elúvéris -12%)

But then it unleashed tiny larvae. They crawled out from its scorched edges, drinking strength from the white pus, and swarmed in every direction. They were coming for me!

I ran like my life depended on it, knees be damned. Screaming didn’t even faze me anymore. A few larvae dropped to the ground, and I stomped on them in fury. But against the swarm of writhing little bodies, I didn’t stand a chance.

Then I was trapped. A dead end. Bam.

One of those things bit into my arm, and I saw part of its head disappear under my skin. I yanked it out and crushed it between my fingers. The slime stuck to me, reeking of rotting meat.

What now? I wondered, “Do I go back, or try breaking through this damn wall?”

In the last second, I decided to bolt. I leapt over them, turned left, then left again, and finally found myself sprinting down a long hallway bordered by hedges. The mud made my legs slip as I struggled to catch my breath.

I burned the larvae left and right, and they popped like popcorn.

(Elúvéris -8%; Light resonance +1)

By sheer luck, I managed to ignite the hedges too. The fire roared to life, forming a barrier between me and the parasites.

But fire wasn’t the smartest idea—I had to run even faster, navigating paths that led nowhere. “I don’t want to burn alive!” I cried to myself.

I reached a fountain. Fountains are usually in the center of mazes, right? But nothing here made sense, so it was hard to get my bearings. There was so much clutter everywhere you’d think the place had never been cleaned.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I thought that if I piled up all the junk, I might be able to climb over the enclosing wall. I grabbed everything within reach, feeling the first signs of exhaustion.

(Vitality health -10%)

“Why is everything so heavy!” I lamented. Turns out the artist probably messed up the proportions, which is why a broken teacup without a handle was the size of a chamber pot.

The larvae had apparently gorged themselves on something because now they were as big as squashed American footballs. And they had yellow slime and hairs. “Gross!”

I climbed higher as they swarmed beneath me. The tower of junk shifted slightly when I stepped wrong, but I managed to steady myself.

Looking down, I remembered that tile in the bathroom I once smashed with sheer willpower. Think it worked here? I grinned maliciously at my foes and roasted them one by one with my gaze. They swelled and burst, spraying bodily fluids everywhere.

(Elúvéris -7%; Light resonance +1)

And then I screwed up. Big time.

As I climbed higher, I knocked over a box I thought was for a hat, but nope—it was an urn. And out came a demon. Great. I unleashed him. No chance of surviving now.

His ashen body materialized, and he charged at me with such a deafening roar I thought I’d die just from the sound. He knocked me down into the swarm of larvae.

They devoured me alive.

(Vitality health -60%)

Game over!

Round 2

Alright, so I didn’t make it the first time. Ta-da! As you can see, I’m still here! Breathing. Back in the dead end. I told myself this wasn’t going to work.

First, I had to learn how to manage my fatigue and injuries. Second, it would have been nice to know back then just how much energy blasting magic out of my hands actually consumed.

Fine, let’s try option two. Bam! I loaded my crossbow and, with all my strength—so much that the string nearly groaned—I fired an arrow straight into the fake wall. I have no idea what kind of warped reality the old hag had painted into this picture, but I managed to punch another hole in it. Placing my hand over the opening, I used powerful vibrations to break the wall apart. Sounds easier now, right? Trust me, it wasn’t!

(Elúvéris -20%; Light resonance +2)

This shortcut halved the distance to the fountain, giving me a nice lead over those bloated worms. Luckily, I had the bright idea to plug the hole behind me with some chewed-up gum I found in my pocket. Shame I never got to see what the final version of that painting looked like.

Do you think the swirling water in the fountain was drinkable? Surprisingly, it was—though honestly, I half-expected to swallow watercolor paint.

(Vitality health +10%)

And you know what I did next? I grabbed that moldy urn, the one holding some long-dead lover the artist had dumped into the painting after she got bored of him, and drowned it. The ashes swirled, churned, and bubbled.

What happened to the fountain afterward, I’ll never know because I quickly ran away. The fountain started to overflow as the poor dead guy drowned inside it. I even gave up on climbing the walls. Instead, I followed the only path available, which led to a tunnel with winding stairs.

I dimmed the flames in my hands, descended further, and used them to light my way. At the bottom, I found myself in an oily flood—knee-deep in some strange liquid. Now what? I stood there for a moment, pondering my fate and how absurd this situation was. Part of me suspected I was dreaming. But I wasn’t…

I was furious. So furious, I wanted to cry—or wake up! Then, from somewhere in my subconscious, a spark of electricity formed in my clenched fist. I hurled it into the damned liquid, and bloated, softened bodies of toothed fish floated to the surface.

(Elúvéris -10%; Light resonance +2; Progress – Level 2)

I was a witch! I finally admitted it to myself! Thanks to that amulet, I had become a Geomancer. And yet, I knew I hadn’t chosen this—it was the stone that chose me. The only problem was that it hadn’t yet been severed from the soul of the late Grügman woman. That’s why her spirit kept chasing me, trying to kill me.

I wasn’t sure who was manipulating the painting in the room, but I blamed it on her cold, stiff corpse dragging itself toward the fallen canvas. Somehow, she must have tilted it, and everything turned sideways.

I slipped and slid along the oily liquid onto a wall, watching as all those worms spilled out of the upper levels of the streets above me. Thankfully, I wasn’t hurt.

I rushed ahead, blasting the worms left and right as if my life depended on it. The air was thick with green smoke from their charred shells.

(Elúvéris -12%; Light resonance +1)

About three levels down, I saw a large, strange creature writhing under the worms. It was a Lupkin. Normally, as I later found out, they’re about as small as I was as a child. But here, the questionable artist had painted it as a giant—a figure more like a colossus than the small humanoid creature it should have been.

Its hairless, pale skin, oval face, flat nose, and large brow ridges made it look terrifying. It wore odd garments I’d never seen before—something my father would’ve called anarchist bohemian attire. I was already frightened by its size, and its overall appearance made it even worse!

It kept scratching and slapping itself like it had gone mad. There was no way I was going to take it on—not even in my newly anointed status as a great witch. A great witch… I can say that now, many levels later. Back then, I had no clue where this maze would lead me.

I crept around the creature as best I could, trembling with fear. Those blue eyes! There was something unpredictable, wild, and reckless in them. No! Get out of here, quickly!

If the painting hadn’t tilted, I’d never have gotten past it. As I discovered, it guarded the exit to this avant-garde piece of art. With the creature sliding down, the door was clear—but I still couldn’t reach it. My teeth clenched in frustration.

Then, by pure accident—yes, this was an actual accident—I stepped on one of the fattest worms you could imagine. It looked ready to spawn a fly that wouldn’t even be able to fly, so honestly, no great loss. The nasty thing burst like a revolting zit, covering me with its goo. I had slime all over my hands and face. But in that moment of horror, I realized the goo was sticky enough to hold me in place as I climbed up a slope so steep I’d never have scaled it otherwise.

That was my triumph! Using the sticky mess, I finally escaped the painting and discovered a world unlike anything in the wildest corners of imagination.

Profile

* Elúvéris (Magical Vitality): – 45%

* Health Vitality: – 70%

* Light Resonance (Magical Power): – 6

* Progress Level: – Tempter

* Aura (Mental Barrier): – 2

* Potion Crafting Skill: – 0

* Total Potions: – 3

* Rhodium: – 352 Rp

* Unlocked Items: – 1

* Tamed Creatures: – 0

* Overall Progress: – Level 2

+ Completion of Location: – The Painting of Alfonz Branibir – Labyrinth of Paths