After two months, I had managed to level to 68 while Aubrey was close behind at level 67. After today we would head towards the external labyrinth and once we finished exploring it we would head back to Vale. Bloom’s team had arrived about a month ago and they had bought three more carts with them. We had filled seven of the nine carts and just the other day members of the Guild had come by to replace the filled ones and replaced them. All in all, we had made a lot of money from what we had gotten.
Sitting in a tree, I watched over Aubrey as she fought with a monster. I had known about Aubrey’s pure physical strength, but watching it in use was another story. Slamming her shield into the giant boar's head, she crushed it easily. Even with my full strength I couldn’t manage that sort of damage, and I had tried. The head, or what remained of it, had become a pile of powdered bone and squashed meat.
Jumping down from the tree with Coffee, I made my way to her. Without a word, she handed me her knife and as usual I took the meat from it. I would take the meat from the last monster we killed to prepare our meals for the next day. Once done, I handed the knife back to Aubrey and she took the rest of the materials from it.
“Ah, it’s over now isn’t it?” Aubrey mutters as she stores the materials. “Well, we still have that labyrinth to explore, we should get a lot out of it. We’re travelling outside of the valley to get there aren’t we?”
“Yea, Summer wants to take three carts. We have a large group meaning we may end up with a lot of loot depending on where we explore. Summer did say only about ten percent of it has been explored since the nobles avoided the place. Apparently there are some dangerous monsters and traps there.”
“Thankfully Summer is here. As a Scout, she handles a lot of traps easily. Just remember to listen to her at all times.”
Aubrey got up and grabbed my arm as usual, we walked back to the cart with Coffee by my side and we unloaded everything we had gathered. As we pushed the cart back, we continued our conversation.
“You’re leaving Alice here, right?”
“Mm, I want her to keep Olivia company since we’ll be gone for a week or two.”
This was partly true. The other reason is because of the feeling of worry that had been building up. I’d spoken to Xia and Elizabeth about it but they said it’s likely my imagination. Bloom and Summer however took it seriously. When I had asked, they told me why.
“Cause it means yer sensing something is amiss.”
“Yes, it’s as Bloom says. Do you find anything familiar?”
I had told them I didn’t. From then on they had checked in on me to see if I found anything familiar. Bloom had asked if I remembered anything and after telling him I had lost my memories he simply patted me on the shoulder.
Shaking those past thoughts from my mind, I focused on pushing the cart as we arrived back at the houses. Over the last two months I had gotten very good at writing and other than some words I was now writing a lot more. I’ve also managed to get a lot of fruit and vegetable seeds from here that were in high demand in Vale, especially a few fruits that were popular with the nobles. I had spent a lot of time experimenting with these ingredients and had made some great food that I shared with everyone. My greatest accomplishment had been a soup that increased everyones stats by 10% for six hours, and a stuffed egg that was relatively easy to make that gave those who ate it 3% increased experience for twelve hours.
I had once again been told I should start a business, especially because of the eggs I had made. They were called ‘Heartily Stuffed Eggs’ and while the recipe had been rather easy, the infusion of mana and ensuring it didn’t fall apart had been the hardest part. The eggs belong to a bird-type monster and were about the size of my head. Summer and Bloom said they had never heard of food that gave a boost to experience, meaning I could sell them for a lot.
I truly did wonder what the point of a lot of money was, but according to Summer as we got stronger, materials became harder to get and required more money. By the time we reached level 100 we would need Diamond coins and past the crossroads we would start needing Jade coins. It was very difficult to earn that amount without constantly going out and fighting in dungeons or hunting zones. The hunting zone we currently occupy is one of the richest ones around Vale.
Entering the house, I met up with Olivia. She had been using materials we brought back to practise her weaving and had found high success, though she hadn’t successfully crafted anything enchanted, she had been able to fashion some clothing, though it had been rather basic. She had enjoyed it though, which made me happy. Olivia had also gotten a lot happier and had been able to fully accept what had happened and her goal was the same as mine, to earn Black Grade and return home.
After a night spent with Olivia and Aubrey, with Alice playing with Coffee, I got some sleep in and woke up, with Alice and Coffee once again snuggled on either side, I slowly got up and headed to the kitchen with Coffee to start making breakfast. I didn’t need sleep, but I still enjoyed it.
Pursing my lips while I cooked, I looked out the window in worry. That feeling still bubbled in my stomach and I didn’t know why. Elizabeth and Olivia had told me of the one time we had been outside of Crater Hell, to a city named Zalus. Since the terrain around here was snowy they believed it might’ve been causing me to recall Zalus and when I asked if we were in Zalus they said it was impossible since it was just a part of a Dungeon.
Throwing some hippo meat onto the pan, I sigh lightly. I guess it is just my imagination, probably because I was used to dangerous situations. Summer and Bloom however still took it seriously and had planned to take it seriously. As I started to prepare everything, I made breakfast and the Heartily Stuffed Eggs and Monster Mash Soup, so that everyone could get additional stats and experience. Once made, I could store it all into a box Summer had brought that would freeze the food, we would only have to heat it up later.
After everyone woke up and ate breakfast, we bid farewell to Alice and Olivia. Olivia had been concerned, but after learning that the labyrinth was more about exploring and didn’t have many monsters, plus the fact we had nine, ten including Coffee, people going, with all of us around level 68 or 69, Olivia had her worries alleviated. Instead, she gave us a patch. A hand reaching up to the stars, something that symbolises our party with Xeno, Summer, myself, Xia, Alice and now Aubrey, the Celestial Seekers.
“Missy, this is fantastic! I need to ask my husband to stitch it onto my armour!” Xeno looked very happy with it while Summer hugged Olivia. She had also made one for Bloom’s team, a fist punching into darkness surrounded by magic weapons and a tiny fire spirit on it. Bloom had jumped for joy upon seeing it and his party including Elizabeth, who had decided to join Bloom’s team permanently, which I encouraged her to do when she told me she wanted to, all thanked Olivia. While we couldn’t stitch them on anything due to a lack of time, most put them in their pockets.
“Alright, let's go. It’ll take us two days of walking to get there with the carts. Remember, unless we say otherwise, we’ll be taking turns on who fights what. We do not separate unless we’re looking for loot around a safe location and we must have people set up to watch over the party.” Summer and Bloom stood in front of all of us with serious expressions on their faces. “We are not aiming to fully explore the labyrinth, we’re simply going for two weeks and then coming back. We want to aim for the centre of the labyrinth where we believe the city's academic tower sat, that will be a goldmine, well Diamond mine, for this trip. Alright, let’s get going.”
The team I was a part of contained myself, Xia, Amelia and Leon. Amelia and I were the main fighters while Leon acted as support and Xia ensured our survival with her Arcane magic. We started making our way out of the valley and started walking on the cliff above it as we kept up our spirits as the others looked forward to seeing how much we would earn from our expedition out here.
***
After a day and a half of walking with no rest, instead relying on ration cubes and bottles of water, we finally see a giant wall that had eroded over time, a large hole could be seen from where we were, as if it had been smashed wide open while the rest of the wall had been slowly falling apart. As we got closer, we soon stepped into the boundary of the labyrinth.
Level 70 External Labyrinth, The City Lost to Time.
Quest Received: Lost to Time.
You have returned to a city lost in time and as the Aspiring Hero who experienced its fall shall now explore its ruins, the ruins of a city whose name the world has forgotten.
Explore 35% of the ruins.
“I got…a quest?” Turning to Elizabeth, she too looked confused and we looked towards Summer and Bloom. After a few seconds, we found that only us two had received a quest, no one else had. We came to a conclusion, the city before us is Zalus, a city that Elizabeth and I had apparently explored in a dungeon before. According to Summer and Bloom, we may have been here in the far past due to exploring the True Route of a dungeon.
Elizabeth explained to everyone of what had happened that day, saying that an army that worshipped the Blood God had invaded, destroying the city within a night. Aubrey mentioned she had read accounts of cities falling overnight and it was quite common for weaker cities to experience such a fall and as Elizabeth mentioned the Hero Party had in turn destroyed the army, everyone but Elizabeth and I smiled and said that it was to be expected.
Reminding myself to research this Hero Party when we got back to Vale, we proceeded towards the hole in the wall, where we would start exploring the city. We were aiming for the centre of the city but would take our time to explore it. Entering through the hole, we found nothing waiting for us. A Guardian should’ve been here, waiting for any to enter.
“That’s not right. Is there another group here?” Amelia looks around as if expecting another group to show up as she speaks. Looking around myself, I saw Bloom and Summer speaking to each other while the rest of us waited. We had been told a Guardian would be here, a level 72 months, and planned to fight it as a group.
Hearing a sigh, I turned to see Summer shrug her shoulders and look at us. “Well, an unexpected situation but good for us. Alisha, your group is to be ready to fight at a moment's notice.”
Nodding, I took up following Summer who scouted ahead of the group. She left blue stakes in the ground to indicate the path she was exploring while I followed them. A yellow stake meant possible danger and if the stake was red, it meant we were to stop until Summer returned. It meant there was danger in the form of monsters or a trap.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
As we moved slowly through the streets, we soon reached the end of the explored zone. The buildings had nearly faded, buried mostly in snow. When I asked about why the buildings hadn’t simply eroded away or been buried in snow, Aubrey told me why. Cities had hundreds to thousands of enchantments that were laid down when a city was built to protect them against the elements of the weather, and the materials used in the construction of houses were of high quality, meaning it would take several thousands of years for a city to be truly considered gone. From the state of the ruins in Zalus, it would take a few more hundred years before most of it was gone.
As we stopped, my group spread out to watch over those that started looking through the ruins for anything of value. As they continued, Summer came over to me, concerned on her face.
“Alisha, do you find any of this familiar?”
Shaking my head, I looked around. “The worry is still there, if anything it’s getting worse.”
Sighing, Summer looked around while crossing her arms. “I thought so. There are no monsters, no traps, nothing. I’ve checked ahead as well. There should’ve been traps, there had been a lot when others explored, yet there are none.”
“Why does a city have traps?” Summer shrugs.
“I don’t know, we just know they exist. Or at least did. At this rate we’ll reach the centre of the city tomorrow morning, afternoon if we take our time to explore everything, which I intend. Listen, if that feeling gets worse, tell me, okay? I’m also starting to get a bad feeling, something about this doesn’t sit right, but considering there is no immediate danger we’ll keep going. The first sign of danger we can’t handle we’ll leave.”
Agreeing with Summer, I turned to watch our surroundings as the others worked. Looking towards the city I frown slightly. I don’t know if it's my imagination, but I could sense something there. It was very faint, but it felt like…me? A pulse of mana possibly. Returning to watching over the party, I planned to search for it once we got there.
We slowly made our way through the ruins of the city and after exploring about 10%, at least according to the quest, we set up camp. We had found a lot of different oddities and gems, with the biggest find so far being an old magic book that was in good condition. The contents taught a fire spell called Backblast, and because of its age Bloom had been certain it would be worth a lot. A lot of spells from thousands of years ago were apparently more complex and sometimes far more developed, and were excellent research material.
I had found a motherlode of my own. In the basement of an old building I found seeds of all types that had been stored in a chest. A weakened seal had prevented me from opening it, and after getting Summer’s help, we managed to safely open it. There were about twenty pouches of different seeds, all with a scroll that explained that they were. Majority were fruit plants and some vegetable plants, causing me to feel excited. We had a rule in place that if it benefited someone they could keep loot that we found, if it didn’t it would be added to the carts and anything we sold would be distributed.
For example the fire spell, no one focused on fire magic and while Bloom had some understanding on fire, the description that it gave meant it would be useless for his style of fighting, so it was added to the pile of loot to share. Most ended up here, since a lot of what we found had broken or had their seals worn away, but each of us had found something to claim, including Coffee who now wore a nice leather and golden collar. It made him look more intimidating to enemies and more cute to friends.
After another day of exploring, we set up camp and relaxed for the night. Our biggest find for the day had been a box of rings, and while the enchantments on them had weakened they would sell very well for study. They had various effects, like making one more charming or giving a slight boost to stats, though it was rather small. After a night's rest, with Summer scouting ahead and returning, we headed to the centre of the city. We had yet to run into any danger, causing the others to feel relaxed. Summer, Bloom and I however remained on guard, all three of us agreeing that while it may be our imaginations it would be best to remain vigilant.
The centre of the city had various buildings, the main attraction being the collapsed tower that had several buildings surrounding it. I had told Summer about the faint feeling I had from the tower, and explained it wasn’t dangerous but it felt like my own mana. She couldn’t sense anything but agreed to help me explore where it was coming from, within the tower itself.
We set up camp here since we wanted to take our time to explore it carefully. According to everyone, most cities from the past had their academies or royal palaces in the centre, meaning there was potential that it would contain a lot of good loot.
I had asked why the city had remained unexplored for so long and Summer told me the reason is due to a general disinterest in exploration as well as the nobles mainly using this hunting zone. The nobles only ever kept themselves safe, not putting themselves in danger in the slightest and would hire others to weaken monsters so they could kill them safely. For some reason this resounded within me briefly but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why.
The biggest reason however is that most cities that lay in ruins were simply dangerous, many had ancient traps and deadly monsters. But we hadn’t seen a single one, and there had been no signs of others exploring this deeply in. We had originally planned to explore as much as we could, but now we decided to explore the centre of the city and get out once done.
Summer and I slowly climbed what remained of the tower before arriving at a collapsed room. Summer checked for any traps and then we dug out where I had the feeling. A chest laid under the rubble and we worked on digging it out safely. It was heavy and large, and pulling it out, we set it down. It had a seal on it, but instinctively I reached out and touched the seal and watched as the magic circle unravelled.
“Ah, excuse me?” Summer looked confused as did I. “Was it that weakened, or…” We shared a glance at each other. She didn’t need to finish that sentence, I knew what she was implying. The seal opened because of me, for some reason I could open it.
Opening the chest slowly, I found an assortment of books, clothing, a pair of gloves and a blue gem that I recognized as a memory stone. Summer sat next to me and looked over the contents, not taking anything but slowly looking at everything as I picked up the memory stone. Everything in here hadn’t been damaged at all, it had a bit of wear to it but otherwise everything in the chest was in mint condition.
“The seal used on this is incredible. Whoever made it knew exactly what they were doing. Do I sense Earth magic? Incredible…” Summer muttered to herself while examining the chest itself, her interest in how the seal had kept everything in good condition. Looking at the memory stone I held, she nodded. “Use it. Maybe it holds some ancient knowledge?”
Nodding, I crushed the stone as an image slowly appeared. A young girl sat there, with flaming red hair and matching eyes.
“Master, are you ready?”
A male voice replies “Yes, hurry it up, she will wake up soon.”
With a nod, the girl smiled and ‘looked’ at me.
“Hello Alisha. I hope you remember me, but in case it has been a long time, I am Ash Cinders, the Fire magician and if you’re watching this it either means one of two reasons. Firstly, you found this chest by sensing your presence on it after getting stronger while training with Anita, in which case I would’ve tried to snatch this memory stone away from you out of embarrassment. The second reason…”
Ash leaned in, her smile fading as a serious expression replaced it. “I’m dead and so is Zalus, meaning you would have returned to your era and discovered this chest in the far future. Master Jin, the man you encountered earlier today, or rather in the far past, had sensed that you were not from our time and he concluded that either you had simply been rewarded by the System to explore our city, or worst case to witness its final moments, which means you have explored the True Route of a dungeon connected to our city and its fall. While we hope that this isn’t the case, we also know it is likely that this is the case, especially with the Blood God’s army sweeping nations. As for proof that you’ve been here, well.”
Ash looked towards her right, and the images we were watching followed. A bed entered the frame, and in that bed laid a young girl with long black hair, sleeping peacefully. A raven sat on her chest, also sleeping, as if protecting the young girl. I felt my mind light up in pain as all sorts of images exploded, memories coming back to me in a flood. Biting my lip painfully, I looked at the image. I knew the raven, it was Alice. The young girl on the bed didn’t have fox ears but her face…it’s like I was looking at a younger me.
“That’s…!” I ignored Summer’s gaze as I took in the young girl's appearance, my mind peaking in pain. I remember…I remember Ash. I had first seen her sitting on a wall, curiously watching me as I faced a certain man. I saw another memory of her as we sat in an empty courtyard, it was no longer an image, where she taught me magic…Stardust Fist? Moon Glow? Did I forget those spells too? Another memory played, Ash’s back faced me as she fought with desperation against a hooded figure that held a large scythe. She tried to hold back, to avoid harming those that stood behind her. Suddenly the scythe wielder swung and decapitated Ash…and those behind her, including me.
Someone had been at my side during this moment, but I didn’t know who it was, I couldn’t see them, I only knew someone had been there. I tried to remember more of my memories, tried to push this feeling, not caring for the pain I felt, but it was like I'm being stopped from remembering more, as if a wall prevented me from doing so, furthering the pain in my head. Blood rushes out of my nose as I gasped in pain, I heard Summer’s worried voice.
“Alisha! It’s okay, you’re here!”
“I-I’m okay…” Wiping the blood off my face, I looked back at the memory stone as it returned to looking at Ash.
“In the case we have perished and Zalus has fallen, I have included about thirty books containing knowledge of our city, research on spellcasting, spellcasting itself and several other types of knowledge. Use it all if you want, but please do not sell it in greed. Share it equally. We leave this with you in the hopes that you spread the knowledge and let those in your era know of what Zalus was. It might seem strange that we’re entrusting you with this even though we do not know who you are, but if you are connected to this city then fate may bring you here. Please, keep our legacy alive, and if it has been forgotten, please remind those in the future that this grand city of Zalus once stood proudly. We will defend it to our last breath.
“Feel free to use our knowledge, we only ask that you preserve it and if you are to share it, please ensure those you share it with do not steal it from your hands. Please ensure they can preserve what we once were. If you’re seeing this in the future, I pray to the Seven that the Blood God’s army fails and that you are safe with little Alice. If you’re not actually from the future and we’re best of friends, please don’t tease me too much about this. Farewell Alisha. I hope to see you all grown up.”
The memory stone fades as Summer mutters “Holy shit…” as I put the reformed memory stone back in the chest and hold my head in my hands. I don’t remember much, only those memories of Ash, but I had been here, I had interacted with her. She had died protecting me and as I let the tears fall, I wondered what the hell happened back then.
“Alisha, I won’t tell anyone about this, but you should tell Elizabeth at least since she would’ve been with you back then. Holy shit, to think such a thing is possible.” Summer had disbelief in her voice. “Store this properly, it’s worth is immeasurable. Don’t let anyone know you have it except for those you truly trust, like Aubrey. I, Summer, hereby do swear on the System that I will not speak of this to any other.”
Seeing a message from the System come up, I smile and nod to her. I trusted her already, the oath wasn’t needed, but I appreciated it. After putting the large chest into my bag, I returned to camp and laid down, falling asleep quickly. My mind was tired.
***
Waking up, I knew only a few hours had passed. I felt a lot more refreshed and clearing my mind, I recalled the memories that I had of Zalus, at least those that I had of Ash. Heading out of my tent, I saw most had returned and one of the carts had been filled, while the second had started to be filled.
“All good?” Turning to Summer, I nod and make my way to Elizabeth.
“We need to talk, privately.” Elizabeth jumps to her feet and walks with me and after finding a spot away from everyone, I pulled out the chest and like before, crushed the memory stone. Elizabeth and I watched Ash’s message to me and after it finished, I told Elizabeth about what I remembered. She had visibly paled.
“So what happened back then…really happened?” She turned to me. “Alisha, I have a bad feeling about all of this.”
Putting the chest back into my bag and tying it to my hip, I nod. “I’ve been worried for a while, is it because we were close to Zalus?” We sat in silence for a moment while we thought, but before we could discuss anything, I heard hurried steps approaching. Turning, I saw Summer look at us both. Before I could speak, she did.
“We need to go! We’re being surrounded by armed people and monsters, they came out of nowhere!”