The group ascended the path leading up the pillar. Zane noticed a few dents in the path as if something had hit it.

Perhaps the forest golem . . . so someone must have passed here.

As they went up the path they reached the ceiling, went past the plate and finally reached the next floor.

They found themselves in the middle of a small room, a door at one end and a staircase at the other. Zane looked up the staircase and saw something bright shining from the top, which lit up the room.

"So do we just go up there? Is this the way to the next floor?" Rex asked.

Something's off . . .

Rex was already about to go up the stairs but Zane stopped him.

"Trap," Zane said.

"Ah yes, you are correct," Rex responded.

Zane looked around the room, when he tried to open the door it wouldn't budge.

Must be looked from the other side.

He let his hands glide across the stone walls. They were rough and had many cracks in them but there was nothing that could help them.

"Did you find anything?" Lovia asked.

Zane shook his head.

Guess the only way is up . . .

Zane began walking up the stairs, as soon as he stepped on the tenth he began to feel tired.

Knew it.

Zane felt how he fell backwards, down the stairs, and then his consciousness faded.

He could feel something cold pressed against his cheek, he was laying on the floor, alone, in some corridor. He got up and looked around. The corridor was lit up by torches placed on the walls.

Where am I?

There was no clue as to what might have happened and where he was, as far as he could tell there was nothing missing from his person. The others were nowhere to be seen. Going backwards was also no option, he quickly hit a wall so his only option was going forwards.

I guess this is going to be a real labyrinth . . . bloody hell.

Zane began walking along the corridor, studying everything he saw. On the wall were weird symbols that resembled those that were on the cloth pieces down on the first floor. But this time they seemed to glow faintly.

Alright . . . my guess would be that we have to return to that room . . . it was in the middle. And since that wall to my right is a lot smoother than the one on my left I can assume that its the wall of the tower . . . so I have to head inwards.

Having found a goal he continued. He quickly came across a place where the path split, his options were to either continue going forwards or going further into the middle of the tower.

My goal is going to the middle of the tower . . . and since this is basically just for the gods' amusement choosing the wrong path might end badly . . . but either of them could be the right one.

Zane sat down on the ground, his legs crossed.

I have no idea . . . this whole thing is just a gamble. There are probably a lot of enemies in here as well . . . I really don't want to fight in such a narrow space.

He sat there for a while, trying to find a way to decide which path he should take.

If this is going to be a gamble anyway I might as well choose the path I'm taking by chance.

Zane stood up and opened up his satchel, took out a gold and a silver coin.

So . . . silver coin is going in further, gold coin is continuing forwards. Whichever one of these is closer to me after they hit the ground is the one I choose.

Zane threw up the coins into the air. They hit the floor with a loud clink sound. The silver coin slid across the ground and hit his foot, whereas the gold coin hit the wall.

Alright, that way it is.

Zane picked up the coins and began following the corridor that led in deeper. It wasn't much different from the one he had been in up until now, although it was slightly darker. Besides his footsteps, the rustling of his clothes and his breathing there wasn't a single noise.

I wonder what happened to the others . . . they probably got taken to some random corridor as well.

He came across another split, threw up both coins again and followed the path chance had chosen for him. He tried to find some way to distinguish the corridors from one another but every time he entered a new one he realized just how impossible it was. Unlike the one that led along the wall of the tower itself, these corridors didn't have the symbols. All of them looked the same. Zane's torch was also reaching slowly burning out.

Shit . . . wait, why am I even using this? Dammit . . . I completely forgot . . . that idiot noble distracted me so much that I forgot I have a lantern.

Zane hit his forehead, opened his satchel, pulled out the lantern and lit it, leaving behind his torch on the ground. The lantern was a lot brighter than the torch but it still wasn't enough to see properly. It was almost as if the walls were swallowing the light. He continued to wander around the labyrinth without any clue as to where he would find the way to the next floor or the others. He came to another split, he again had to choose which one to take. The coins already at the ready he prepared to throw them but a sudden scream coming from the corridor to his right made him drop them.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

A woman? Lovia . . . she must be in trouble.

Zane immediately ran down the corridor from which the scream had come. Every so often he heard another scream, he followed it until he came into a room, much like the one they were in originally but with torches lining the wall and without the hole in the floor. Lovia was on the ground, crawling away from a large bear-like creature. It had antlers and walked on two feet, much like a human.

"H-Help me!" Lovia said with a shaky voice.

Zane rushed in, drew his katana and positioned himself in front of Lovia. The creature began to swing a massive claw at him. He managed to catch it with one hand and cut it off with his katana but he dropped his lantern.

Not that strong . . . she should be able to kill this herself . . . maybe it's the shock.

The creature let out a howl from the pain. He heard Lovia's heavy breathing behind him. She continued to crawl backwards, he now had more space.

Blood was spilling on the floor from the spot where Zane cut of the creature's arms. It began to charge at him, throwing him to the ground. With its remaining hand, it held down Zane's katana.

So it's intelligent . . .

The creature leaned towards him, opening its mouth. It had pointy teeth and breath that smelled nearly as bad as the ghouls from the second floor. Zane reached out with his free arm, feeling around the floor for his lantern. He finally found it and hit the creature in the head with it. It let out another howl and Zane managed to push it off him. He raised his blade and cut off the creatures head. The moment the head left the body the creature's body began to change. It turned into a small humanoid figure without a nose, pointy ears and small horns.

A shifter . . . good thing they can't fully transform.

Zane turned to Lovia who still sat on the ground.

"T-Thanks;" she said.

Zane just nodded. He walked over to her, there seemed to be a wound on her stomach, probably caused by the shifter. Zane got a bandage out of his satchel and lifted her shirt to apply the bandage. When he had wrapped it around her they both got up. She smiled at him.

Wait . . . didn't she have something on her back? There was this bulge I noticed back in Hirmal . . .

Zane walked around Lovia, looking at her back. There was nothing there. She just looked at him, confused.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Her voice sounds slightly of as well . . . could it be due to shock or . . .

Zane immediately drew his katana. He began to smile.

"W-What are you doing?" Lovia aked.

At that moment they heard footsteps from outside the room. Lovia ran behind Zane to hide.

What now . . . I was in the middle of something here.

A person stepped into the room. It was Lovia.

The real one . . . I hope.

"What's going on here?" the Lovia at the entrance asked.

"A shifter!" the one behind Zane said.

Before either of them could say something Zane beheaded the Lovia behind him. Once her head fell off her body she turned into one of the small creatures, just like what had attacked her. The wound remained.

Must have been Lovia's work . . . but what was it after anyway? Did it know I was around here . . . and even though Lovia was close as well it turned into her . . .

"Zane, are you alright?" the real Lovia asked, Zane could hear a bit of shock in her voice.

He nodded.

"H-How were you so sure that wasn't the real me?" she asked as Zane went past her back into the corridor.

"No bulge," he said.

"Buldge?" Lovia asked.

Zane pointed to her back.

She let out a gasp. "Shit . . . t-that's nothing alright," she said.

Zane just shrugged as he continued down the corridor.

"Do you know where Rex and our driver are?"

Zane shook his head.

"This is bad . . . if we don't find them some of them might . . . we might lose our employer," she said.

Zane chuckled at her words.

I really did underestimate her . . . not a newbie at all.

They quickly reached another split.

"What way should we take?" she asked while looking down both paths.

Zane noticed that he hadn't picked up the coins when he dropped them.

Damnit . . .

He took out two new ones from his satchel and threw them up. The gold coin landed right next to him so he continued down the one to their right.

"Really?" Lovia asked, not believing what had just seen.

They continued for hours . . . finding a few more shifters along the way that had transformed into knights and such.

Probably people that came through here before.

But no matter how long they continued there was no sign of the door nor was there any sign of Rex and the driver.

I really wish I had taken a pencil and paper with me . . . will have to remember that for next time.

After a while, their stomachs began to grumble.

"Do you have any food?" Lovia asked.

Zane opened his satchel and took out a small container, filled with dried meat. He also took out another small cylinder-shaped container filled with clean water.

"You really are prepared for everything," Lovia said.

Zane shook his head as he gave her a piece. The two rested in the light of the lantern for a while, eating dried meat and drinking water.

"How long will it take until we finally reach that room . . . I don't even care about Rex anymore, I just want to get out of this labyrinth," Lovia said after a short while.

Zane nodded in agreement.

"Ah, there you two are," someone said.

Rex, or is it another shifter? And how does he have such good timing?

Rex stepped into the light of one of the torches on the wall, following him was the driver with the cart.

Lovia stood up. "Who are we?" she asked.

"Wh-What? Do you two have amnesia? Zane and Lovia of course," Rex said confused.

"What's his nickname?" she asked.

"His nickname . . . he's the Reaper, what kind of questions are these?" Rex was even more confused now. Good . . . she does have some experience.

"Just wanted to make sure you're not one of them," she said.

"One of them? No, forget that . . . we need to talk about your behaviour misses Lovia!" Rex said angrily.

"You attacked us just recently and then you ran off!"

"That was a shifter," Lovia responded.

Zane stood up and nodded.

"A s-shifter . . . that would explain it. And if you have been with Zane the whole time then I guess you cannot be lying," Rex said, not wanting to start a fight.

Great . . . at least I now know where this idiot is . . . less chance of losing my money.

The group continued to look for the way up together now. Rex complained about how annoying this labyrinth was the entire time. At some points, they passed dead shifters.

So we've been walking in circles . . .

They continued for hours without any luck, finding nothing but the occasional shifter corpse which lowered their morale every time.

"We are going to die in here," Rex whined.

He had been sobbing for a while along with his constant complaining.

Why . . . why are all nobles like this?

But even Zane slowly began to get a bit desperate. He became more hectic and impatient with time, not wanting to die in a place like this without having found a purpose. Lovia was shaking a little as well. Only the driver seemed calm as if he didn't care what would happen to them.

I would probably not care if I had to work for someone like that as well.

And then they finally found it. The door that would lead to the room. Lovia jumped towards it, Rex sank to the floor and even Zane became a little faster as he approached the door. It had been shut with a plank from this side which explains why they couldn't open it before. Zane removed it and kicked open the door.

The room was just like they had left it. Light steaming inside from the top of the stairs and a faint humming coming from the hole in the floor.

"Finally, we can rest once we're upstairs, I just can't wait to get away from these dark walls," Rex said.

He began to run up the stairs. Zane was about to stop him but he was too late. Rex had already stepped on the tenth step. For a short second, Zane froze in anticipation but nothing happened, Rex just continued going up. Both Lovia and the driver sighed in relieve. Lovia went up the stairs as well and Zane helped the driver with the cart. Once they reached the end of the stairs Zane nearly dropped the cart back down in surprise.