Artenos was the first to bow when Leyda Lightweaver appeared. Marcus remained gaping at her for some time. Then he realized what he was doing, and he bowed down too.
Leyda said, “Oh get up. No need for gorking formalities.”
They both stood up. Leyda looked at Artenos with a frown on her face. Her entire focus was on Artenos. Marcus felt a little left out.
Artenos said, “I want to request that you free me from this labyrinth Lady Lightweaver. I have requested in the past, but my requests were not considered seriously. Even though I have defeated the earth elemental and the air elemental in the past.”
Marcus was surprised to learn this. He knew that Artenos had told him that he had tried in the past, but he had not told Marcus the details. Defeating two elementals, even though one at a time, individually was a major achievement. How strong was Artenos?
Leyda considered Artenos for some time. Then she looked at Marcus and said, “Would you give us some space, dear. I would like to talk with Artenos in private.”
Marcus walked away from Artenos and Leyda. When he was at a considerable distance, he stopped and looked back. Leyda cast something and Marcus could not hear what they were speaking. He felt insulted. He was at a distance where their voices would not have been heard. Even then Leyda had cast the spell.
Marcus waited as Leyda and Artenos talked. Artenos did a lot of gesturing while Leyda’s face alternated between a frown and deadpan expression.
Their discussion took about an hour. After that Leyda waved her hand and Artenos disappeared. Then she gestured to Marcus to come to her. Marcus walked up to Leyda.
“Marcus Blank”, purred Leyda, “The anomaly. The subject of fascination for my husband. It is indeed a rare pleasure for you to meet me.”
Marcus blinked at the statement. He said, “You think too highly of yourself.”
Leyda laughed, a pleasant sound to Marcus’ ears. She said, “And do you not?”
“What?”
“Think highly of yourself too?”
“What?”
Leyda laughed at that too. Then she composed herself and said in a neutral tone, “Enough with the pleasantries. Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
Marcus wondered how what they had discussed was considered as pleasantries but did not argue. He had an inkling that both the game masters were a bit eccentric.
Marcus said, “Yes. Let’s do that. But first, could you tell me what happened with Artenos? I am curious.”
Leyda sighed and said, “I fulfilled his wish. He is now not a boss monster of labyrinth. He is now a boss monster somewhere else. Well, not exactly a boss monster but… Let me not spoil it for you. You may very well encounter him in the future. I do not want to spoil any potential encounter.”
Marcus nodded and simply said okay. Leyda continued, “Now, what do you wish for Marcus Blank? What should be the reward for completing the labyrinth?”
Marcus frowned as he said, “What can I ask for? Are there any restrictions or rules or anything is alright?”
Leyda replied, “Anything that I can provide you with my power restricted to the game world’s systems can be asked for. Do you understand that?”
Marcus nodded. He said, “So I could ask for equipment, spells, experience, units or information related to the game world. Or some guidance or support from your side.”
“Depends upon the request, though.”
Marcus thought about what he wanted to ask. He thought really hard about it. One option he considered was asking for units. That way he could take care of his and Kyrie’s debts to NAIF. He could also ask for a high grade equipment. It would help him in his journey.
One idea stuck with him. He could ask for a large number of experience points which would help him jump a considerable number of levels. Considering the demon war scenario, he felt highly underleveled. He debated as to what he could ask for.
He finally made a decision. However, before he could ask about what he wanted something shifted in his mind. He felt a presence, a known presence.
Memory, thought Marcus and his eyebrows shot up. Memory spoke in his mind, Ask the dear fucking game master about their contract with the Umaru. Ask to read the original document. Not a copy. With magical signatures and all.
Marcus thought, Are you sure? Will it help me remember?
There was no answer. Obviously. Memory was the spell construct in Marcus’ mind. He was created by Marcus to give him amnesia and to help Marcus save Una. How he was going to save Una, Marcus had no idea. Marcus had interacted with him once and it had been a fucking confusing conversation.
Marcus repeated the request to Leyda. He could see her expression shift. Gone was the smiling and affable elf in front of Marcus. She was looking at Marcus with death in her eyes.
“Who told you about the contract?” asked Leyda softly. Marcus could feel the rage in the voice even though it was controlled and soft.
“Marbas”, Marcus lied.
Leyda narrowed her eyes and Marcus held his breath. He did not know whether Leyda bought the lie or not. He could very well not tell her about Memory after all. So, Marbas was a safe bet. He was a demon of knowledge and he traded information for a price.
“Very well”, said Leyda, “One month from now, I shall arrange for you to visit our palace at Melancholia. You shall get one day to read this contract. Then we are done. Is that okay?”
Okay, said Memory to Marcus.
“Okay”, said Marcus to Leyda.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Leyda extended her hand and Marcus shook it. He felt a sliver of magic pass through him.
Leyda said, “Well, that was that. However, I do not feel that it was sufficient recompense for defeating the labyrinth guardian. After all, there were only two of you and you defeated the fire elemental.”
Marcus said in a small voice, “It was mostly Artenos but I helped a bit.”
Leyda laughed at that and said, “No need to be humble Marcus. You are strong. You are not aggressive though. You approach each of your fights with caution. That does not mean you do not contribute sufficiently. I know what to give you. I shall give it to both you and Kyrie. It would help. There, done. Now I will teleport you to the exit of the labyrinth. You shall find some familiar faces there.”
Leyda disappeared before Marcus could ask her what she had done. His world shifted and he found himself standing on a grass field. What the fuck had happened. A voice called him, and he turned. He smiled at what he saw. It seemed that the adventurers had succeeded in killing the guardian too.
Marcus started walking towards the rest of the group. Hopefully, his adventure in the labyrinth was over.
***
Kyrie woke up with a gasp. She blinked and looked around. Everything was fuzzy and spinning. She groaned and lay back down, closing her eyes. A voice could be heard from far away. She could not quite make out what it was saying.
After some time, she heard the words clearly, “Are you alright, Kyrie?”
Kyrie opened her eyes. The world had stopped spinning. Her vision seemed to have cleared too. She looked to see Tamara and Tanniv looming over her.
Kyrie groaned, “Hurts.”
“Where does it hurt?” asked Tamara.
“Everywhere.”
Tamara turned to someone who Kyrie could not recognize.
Tamara said, “I told you to bring her back healthy. Not in pain.”
The unknown person sighed and said, “Do not use that fucking tone with me young woman. I did bring her back. Healthy. The pain should go away… now.”
And as the unknown person said now, the pain disappeared. Everything felt alright. Better than alright. Kyrie blinked. Then she stood up.
Kyrie said, “What happened?”
The unknown person said, “You almost disintegrated into the water. While trying to fight the water elemental, you pushed your water form too much. It almost killed you.”
Kyrie nodded. She understood what had happened. She said, “Thank you, whoever you are. It seems that you are responsible for my recovery.”
A sly grin appeared on the unknown person’s face. He said, “Finally. Some fucking appreciation. All I get is fucking disdain from my own champion.”
Tamara gave the unknown person a death glare and Kyrie looked confused. Then she looked closely at the person and gasped.
She said, “You are Lord Rauros Shadowfang!”
“I know!” replied Rauros in an excited voice, “I am the fucking game master of this world. Her superior”, he pointed at Tamara, “And what do I get in return? Fucking do this. Fucking do that. You fucking messed up Rauros, fix it. I mean, is this what I am supposed to fucking do?”
“And you swear a lot like Marcus”, Kyrie simply said.
“Noooo”, said Rauros, “Marcus swears like me. Always remember. It is the fucking way round. Always.”
Kyrie nodded even if she did not understand. It would do her no good to argue with someone who just saved her life.
Rauros clapped his hands together and said, “Well then. Now this business with Kyrie is concluded. I am glad you are alright now dear. Let’s get to giving you rewards. Each one of you will get rewards. The rarity of the rewards will reduce as per the rewards asked by the earlier adventurers. This means if Tamara asks for a legendary level reward, the next reward is going to be a rarity lower than that. Epic. I mean, the next person could ask for another legendary reward but then the next adventurers would have more lesser rarity rewards. The number of legendary, epic and rare rewards are limited. After that, it would be simply common rewards. Do you all fucking get it?”
Everyone nodded. Rauros said, “Fucking alright. We start with you Tamara.”
Tamara asked, “What about the spell?”
“What spell?”
“The spell which would help adventurers survive on the undead landmass Urtor.”
“You have to ask for it. It is not free.”
Tamara said, “How does the spell work? I mean do I have to learn it and cast it on everyone? Or do I use it once and every adventurer can now visit Urtor?”
“An excellent question”, said Rauros and started pacing, “I shall give you two copies of the spell. One would be for you to memorize and use as your own. The second spell you shall give to the High Priest of Hekana. He would spread the spell amongst the temples of Hekana and the adventurers who would like to go to Urtor would have to get the spell cast from their priests.”
Tamara nodded at that. It seemed that she had received a good enough answer for her question as she did not ask further questions.
They started with the rewards. Tamara got the spell. Tanniv got something which they could not quite catch. Then the rest of the adventurers got in line in the descending order of their level. This meant Kyrie was last. She did not mind.
The adventurers took their rewards one by one. Kyrie did not pay attention to them. She was thinking about her fight. She had almost died trying to help the adventurers. She was sure that they would have taken care of the water elemental without Kyrie’s help but she could not help it. She did not want her new friends to die. Well, some of them she considered as friends. But still, she could not simply stand down when others were in trouble. But did she have to take it so far? The battle of the wills with the water elemental, was it required? Was it required for Kyrie to take its water?
Kyrie blinked, startled. She realized something. When she had battled the water elemental, when she had almost become one with the water, she had done something. She had absorbed a part of the elemental’s water. What did that mean?
She checked her notifications. She had received 10,000 points of experience from defeating the water elemental. However, she had received something else. Something different too. A new spell. She checked it.
[Summon Water Elemental]
Summons a water elemental with level equivalent to the summoner’s level. The stats, damage and defence are adjusted accordingly. The water elemental would be a companion to the adventurer till dismissed or dies. Dismissal Cooldown: 1 day. Death Cooldown: 10 days. Mana Cost of Adventurer Level plus 100.
Kyrie liked the spell. It was a strong spell. And she did have a spell slot free. However, she would not be able to summon the water elemental with her current mana. She would require the blessing of Hekana before she could do so. She smiled.
She was so lost in thought that she did not even realize that it was her turn to ask for her reward. Rauros frowned at her as she stepped forwards.
“I am sorry Kyrie”, said Rauros, “But I cannot grant you a reward. I saved your life. That was your reward.”
“You do realize that if I had died, I would have simply respawned”, said Kyrie.
Rauros shook his head. He said, “You were not dying, Kyrie. You were becoming water. If I had not saved you, you would still have been alive, floating away as the water of this dungeon. I have no idea when you would have reformed or if you would have reformed without my help.”
Kyrie felt a chill as she heard his words. She simply said, “Oh!”
“I am not a bad Game Master though. Even though I cannot reward you, I can answer some of your queries. Keep it to one or two questions. I am busy, you know.”
Kyrie nodded. She thought a bit and said, “I was told my father was here on Una. Is that true?”
Rauros looked at her and sighed. She heard him mutter, fucking Marbas. Then he said, “Yes he is.”
“Is there a way for me to meet him then?”
Rauros said, “I will talk with Leyda. See what can be done. Continue on your journey. Maybe you will find him.”
Kyrie wanted to ask more but Rauros said, “Well, that is that. Farewell champions. Adventurers.”
And he waved his hand, and they were all now standing outside of the labyrinth, on a grass field. That was disappointing. Then she heard Selena shout, “Marcus. Over here.”
Kyrie turned in the direction where Selena was looking and saw Marcus walk towards them with a grin on his face. Their adventure in the labyrinth was over and Kyrie was feeling sad.