The transition through the dimensional gate left Luis's body tingling, as if a powerful electric field had swept over him. There was a flash of light, a brief moment of disorientation, and then a sensation of falling.
"Woah!"
Splash!
Luis landed in waist deep, chilly water. He staggered from the unexpected impact, steadying himself before he toppled into the… wherever it was he'd ended up. Sunlight beat down on him from on high, the blazing daytime light far brighter than the dimly lit hallway they'd been in a moment earlier. Before he could get his bearings, something hard hit him from behind with a grunt. It was Jade, shoved against him by a forceful swell.
Were they in the sea? The smell of salt and brine hung in the air. It was warm, although the water was cold. Luis grabbed onto Jade's arm, steadying her, his eyes finally adjusting to the new environment. Ocean extended towards the horizon, the sun hanging low in the sky. A shimmering blue portal hovered just above the water beside them, hissing as sea spray splashed against it.
"There!" Naomi said, pointing behind them. Luis turned to see a shoreline nearby, some twenty yards distant. The beach was more rock than sand, gently sloping towards a series of tree-covered, rolling hills beyond.
"Where are we?" Jade asked, wading towards the beach.
"Do you think we're really back?" Naomi asked, following her and peering at the shoreline. "How would we know, for sure?"
"People would be a good start." Luis pointed out.
"Our interface is gone." Jade said, surprised. "No, wait…"
Luis noticed it at the same time. His health indicators, mana bar, and quest tracker were all missing from his peripheral vision. After weeks in the Labyrinth their absence left him feeling like he was exposed. Which was odd, since he'd lived most of his life without any of that information and been just fine. Then again, things hadn't been regularly trying to kill him for most of that time.
There was still one blinking icon tucked away in the corner of his vision, however. He pulled it up with a thought.
* System Notice:
* You have left the service area for your Labyrinth Interface. While outside of coverage zones, most features of your interface will be unavailable.
"Damn, sounds like someone cheaped out on our plan. Do you think we can upgrade?" Luis said, eliciting a snort from Jade.
"Probably, if we pay like a zillion coins." Naomi said, rolling her eyes.
There was more.
* System Notice:
* Your Labyrinth Interface has been set to 'Local' mode. While in 'Local' mode, you retain access to the following functions.
* Status summary page.
* Message history page.
* Interface identification*
* *Identification feature is less reliable outside of coverage zones.
* System Notice:
* Please note the following important details for activities outside of a coverage zone:
* You gain experience at a reduced rate.
* You cannot gain levels, assign stat points, or imprint new features.
* If you gained enough experience to advance in level while away from the Labyrinth, all levels will be applied immediately upon re-entering a coverage zone.
* While your wayfarer trial is still underway you may only be absent from the Labyrinth for a limited amount of time. Current time until translocation back to trial region: 9 Days, 13 Hours, 38 Minutes, 16 Seconds. Complete more quests to increase this time.
"So, what?" Naomi asked as they read through the prompts together. "If we're still away when the timer runs out, we just get pulled back into the Labyrinth again like we did the first time?"
"Sounds like it." Jade said. "Let's try and avoid that."
They were almost to the beach now, the water down to their ankles. Luis glanced back, seeing the shimmering doorway floating above the rolling swells. It was a bizarre sight, the magical portal just hovering a few feet above the sea. Was this happening everywhere? How many entrances were there? He hoped people would be smart enough to not just wander into them. Then he remembered that these were people he was thinking about. Of course some of them would see a magical door and want to walk through it. He probably would have.
"Okay, really. Where are we?" Jade asked, leading the way onto the beach. It was covered in large stones, rounded from years of exposure to wind and sea. Luis didn't see any distinguishing landmarks, but the wording of the system messages had given him an idea. He borrowed Jade's dimensional pouch digging through it until he found what he was looking for.
"Let's try finding out the normal way." he said, holding up his battered phone. Jade looked at the cracked, dented, and warped frame of his smartphone skeptically.
"There's no way that still works."
They'd all turned their phones off weeks ago, dumping them into their dimensional pouch once they'd acquired one. Before that, though, their devices had suffered no small amount of incidental abuse as their owners were variously stabbed, slashed, and bludgeoned by the monsters of the Labyrinth.
"Nah, they build these things like tanks these days." Luis said, pressing the power button. To Jade and Naomi's surprise the screen lit up, beginning to boot process.
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"Damn. You should sell that back to their marketing team." Jade said, shaking her head. "Mine died ages ago."
"Have anything?" Naomi asked, peering over his shoulder.
It took a minute, but eventually Luis's phone was able to pick up a weak signal. It was just enough to load some data onto his map app, revealing their location.
"Argentina." He said, studying the screen. "Near somewhere called… Claromeco?" He shrugged, pointing up the coast. "It's up that way."
That was as good a destination as any, and they started hiking up the nearby hill. The sun was slowly rising higher in the sky, the day warming further as they reached the top of the rise. From this vantage Luis could see some sort of resort nestled into a sandy cove on a beach below, small groups of people clustered around umbrellas sticking out of the sand.
"That looks nice." He observed. "Anyone down for a break?"
Jade immediately ruined his burgeoning daydreams of a peaceful, pleasant siesta by the sea.
"I don't think we're getting one." Jade said, pointing back the way they'd come. Her grim expression caught Luis's attention and he spun, quickly spotting the danger. A handful of long, sinewy shapes were emerging from the portal they'd transited from just a few minutes earlier, dropping into the sea. It was impossible to make out details from such a distance, but the creatures had feline forms and moved with speed.
And they were heading right towards them.
----------------------------------------
"Really?!" Naomi yelped as they barreled down the hill at a sprint, Luis leading the way towards the villa. "The monsters are following us here?!"
"Are you really surprised?" Jade asked, hopping off a rocky ledge and sliding down an embankment to land next to Luis. "When have things ever gone our way?"
"I thought we were due!"
"That's what my uncle Rio says every time he goes to the casino." Luis said, glancing back at her. "Don't be like Uncle Rio!"
"Yeah, but the world isn't rigged against us!"
"That's debatable." Jade muttered.
They made it down to the beach before the group of pursuing monsters crested the hill behind them, startling a group of tourists. Some of them looked like locals, and several more appeared to be Americans. The resort was small, and only a dozen or so guests were on the beach at this early hour of the morning.
"Get inside!" Jade shouted, skidding to a stop and spinning around to face the hill. "Hurry! It's not safe!"
A portion of the group was already backing away, apparently fearful of the trio of armed and armored men and women that suddenly sprinted into their midst. None of them ran for the shelter of the villa, however, many just staring at them in stunned surprise. A few of them had pulled out their phones, starting to record them. Luis was already so used to the Labyrinth's universal translation ability that it took him precious moments to realize that most of these people probably didn't speak much English.
"Hide!" He shouted in Spanish, gesturing towards the forested hill. Dark shapes were gathering at its peak, prowling back and forth and surveying the beach with calculated hesitation. "Those are monsters! They're about to attack!"
Luis wasn't sure if it was his words, the approaching feline monsters, or the huge sword he was carrying that clued them into the danger. Whatever it was, it was enough. The dozen men and women ran for the relative shelter of the villa, with several of the stupider ones pausing to gather belongings.
"Go!"
The beasts were advancing quickly, loping down the hill with lethal grace. They were close enough for Luis to make out details now. The creatures had black hair, and their backs were covered with plates of chitinous armor. Panther-like heads protruded from powerful shoulders, wicked fangs slicing down from their upper lips. Clear fluid dripped from their mouths, sizzling as it hit the sand beneath their feet.
That doesn't look good…
The three of them moved without speaking, their weeks of training proving its worth. Luis stepped to the front of the group and raised his shield, readying his curved blade. Naomi hung back, the first notes rising from her speed-enhancing spell as she swung her guitar into place. Jade dropped a rune trap in front of Luis and then fell back and to the side, positioning herself between the villa and the approaching monsters.
Before they engaged Luis focused on one of them, pulling up the creature's status window.
* Jungle Prowler
* Level: 11
* Creature Type: Magical beast
* Origin: Labyrinth-born
There was no time to wonder where these creatures came from, or how often monsters would be able to cross over into Earth using the new gates. All Luis cared about was that they were lower level than him. That meant he could take them head-on.
He charged into their midst, intercepting them before they reached the fleeing crowd. Rather than making the first strike he raised his shield, slamming it against the snarling fangs of the monstrous cat.
CLANG
He deflected the blow, bright runes flaring to life along the rim of his enchanted shield. It pulsed, channeling the force of the strike through his body and into his sword, which came alight with flickering energy. The impact drove him back a step but sent his attacker reeling, leaving it open.
"Haa!"
He channeled more power into his blazing sword, raising it high and activating his newest talent. 'Avalanche' was a low cooldown skill that packed as much punch as he poured mana into it, and Luis didn't hold back. His blade fell with the force of a thunderbolt, easily splitting the thick armor plating on the monster's back and penetrating deep into its body.
"Skchaaa!"
Black blood sprayed into the air and the beast collapsed, spasming. Planting his foot on the large creature's back he wrenched his blade free, finishing it off with a quick chop to the neck.
"Bad kitty." He grunted, quickly surveying the battlefield. One of the monsters was caught in a bundle of glowing chains nearby, snarling and pulling against Jade's rune trap. The other two were currently fighting each other, and Luis realized Jade must've gotten to one of them with her enchantments. She danced around the periphery of the battlefield as they fought, peppering the more wounded of the two creatures with daggers from afar.
Luis rushed to join her, boosted by Naomi's movement-enhancing melody. Her spell was affecting the tourists too, lending speed to their flight as they retreated up the boardwalk towards the resort. He spared them only a glance before returning his focus to the chaotic melee in front of him. Just before he reached the fight, he incanted another spell, summoning his bubble shield around him. The extra protection let him charge right into the midst of the tangle of claws and teeth, heedless of injury.
He ignored the one Jade had charmed, he couldn't risk breaking the effect by antagonizing it. She wasn't in her succubus form, so he knew her hold on the creature would be tenuous at best. Instead, he teamed up with it on the wounded one. Between him, Jade, and her new pet monster, they had little difficulty pinning it down and cutting it apart. Luis slew it with a clean strike, spearing it through the chest with a well-timed thrust.
"Look out!"
Luis spun in time to see the last of the hostile prowlers finally break free of Jade's binding spell. Rather than rush towards them, though, it started running away. Naomi's frantic cry drew his attention to a collection of boxes piled between umbrellas on the beach. A girl was huddled behind them, no older than twelve, watching in terror as the horrific monster barreled towards her.
The world blurred around him as he activated his movement power, his speed boosted further by Naomi's enhancement. He tore across the sand like a whirlwind, launching a crackling blade of force at the monster's back. It went wide, the nimble beast too fast to easily hit at any real distance. He cursed, pumping his legs faster. He wasn't going to make-
BOOM
Naomi was closer. She blasted the monster to the side with a powerful shockwave that sent a geyser of sand fountaining into the air. The beast tumbled into the surf, more disoriented than hurt, but giving Luis and Jade the critical moments they needed to close the distance. By the time it was back on its feet they were on it. The monsters were fast and agile, their claws and teeth sharp, but their only real defense was their armored backs. The three of them made quick work of the beast, tearing it apart with savage efficiency.
Luis planted his sword in the sand when it fell, wiping blood from a tear in his armor. Minor injuries barely hurt anymore. He didn't know if that was a function of his increased fortitude, or if he was simply getting numb to the effects of battle on his body. Even if he was, the warmth of Naomi's healing magic spreading through him was always welcome. He gave her a nod and a grin, then turned to the girl.
"Are you okay?" he asked, extending his hand towards the cowering child. He guessed that she was around ten, with tan skin and long black hair. "Where's your family?"
She just stared at him, eyes wide. Suddenly, and without a word, she scrambled away, running up the beach towards the villa. Luis just stood there, hand outstretched, feeling a little hurt. He cast a concerned look at the others.
"Is it something I said…?"