The fall wasn't exactly quick or merciful, the sheer speed we fell at was enough to knock the air out of lungs although that wasn’t the case for me and perhaps some of the other Clans in their earthen cages.

However, Reiner, Xander and Astrid who were with me managed despite their quick breaths and the few injuries from impacts they were fine. Still, I didn’t think it was possible for part of the labyrinth floor to collapse and yet that seemed to have happened.

In a way it was almost like something wanted that to happen, after all I wasn’t going to believe this was a mere coincidence that a Dune Wyrm caused, not to mention the expression on Lilith earlier wasn’t one she had often, and it was almost like I felt a sense of anxiousness from her that stung my own core.

My moment of thought past as a brief shift in an indistinguishable Mana caused a mild pain in my left eye before the moment we landed with a solid thud in a mound of debris and earth from the entire section of the floor we fell from.

The earthen cage that protected us crumbled at my will causing my members with me to tumble out of the remnants.

"Tch. That hurt,” Reiner groaned while Xander and Astrid weren't in any better condition, but they could still move and that's what mattered.

Regardless the dust slowly cleared up and from the sound of groans or coughs everyone was alive if not in some state of pain.

“Kazu... Kazu! Where are you...” Lilith's voice echoed in the air as she ran toward me through the rubble practically bawling her eyes out, I had to assume the earthen cage that protected them did its job.

I merely glanced back at her before she threw herself against me and held on for dear life.

"I'm fine. there is no need to worry." I said but she stared up at me with an evident amount of anxiousness still on her face.

Regardless she found comfort in seeing me, although she clearly held in what was bothering her. Still there was nothing to worry about I was capable of dealing with anything the labyrinth threw our way. It wasn’t long after her usual antics my gaze shifted to the clans who were finally getting their bearings together after that fall.

The staggered movements of the Clans looked around in a daze, “... Is everyone okay? Anyone hurt?" Lyra asked as she searched her members for injuries.

"We’re fine but a few of us are a bit banged up." one replied as she pointed to some of the others who nursed their own injuries before Lyra began to hand out vials of liquid magical energy to her members, or rather a healing potion in the simplest term.

Eto and his Clan seemed to be in relatively better condition and laughed off the pain of their own injuries as they stood up to look around. "Looks like we all made it down in one piece." He remarked in a typical fanged grin before he continued on with a chuckle of amusement, "That doesn't seem to be the case for the Dune Wyrm though. I was hoping to obtain its core, but it looks like I won't be getting it," he said noting that the said creature that caused our fall was nowhere to be found, which added to my suspicion’s that things weren’t exactly what they seemed.

Of course, Clan Naria's Grayson scoffed, "What the hell are you even saying, we just about fell to our deaths and you’re thinking about loot!? you beastmen are literally the simplest race I've ever met," he snarled before he quickly turned his attention to me and my party. "If it wasn't for this cursed Trash none of this would have happened. Your kind brings nothing but bad luck." He sneered as if I was to blame for everything that happened, although I had to admit that he was smart enough to know things in the labyrinth were more than a coincidence.

Even if I was unaffected by his cheap words, I gave him and his spoiled attitude some of my attention. "There is no point in complaining about it now, what is done is done.” I said before I turned away with a remark of my own, “Don't you think we should move again instead of pointing fingers... Aren’t you supposed to be the leader of this expedition or something.” I added with little to no interest.

Grayson only scoffed apparently not finished displaying his petty complaints, "I don’t even know where we are. How the hell are we supposed to move anywhere when we have no idea where we're at," he sneered which caused Lyra and the few other clan members who seemed to agree to offer a few words of their own.

"Hey. We’re all in the same boat here, the fall was brief, so we have to assume we landed somewhere on the seventeenth floor even if we don’t have any clues of where. I suggest we split into two groups and go in two different directions to see if we can find either the next floors corridor or any clue to which way leads there. We should also meet back up here to report our findings." She suggested which wasn’t a bad idea simply because one group would either find the way forward or the way up to the sixteenth floor, whether our way back was intact or not remained to be seen.

Grayson scoffed clearly not happy about it probably because it wasn’t his idea, “Fine, I agree with your plan, but My clan won't be in any group with this cursed trash and these guilds lowlifes” he retorted without any other option or better idea. Regardless, Him and his clan pushed past everyone toward one of our two possible paths.

Lyra looked relieved her idea was accepted. "You won’t have to.” She said as herself and her clan began to follow behind Clan Naria.

Although that left myself and my party with the beastmen who were still full of energy after the fall. "Hah, looks like she basically threw us in a group with the Benefactor’s,” Eto remarked with laughter at the obvious. “… Oh well. We should start moving too, Xiao,” he said staring back at me with a fanged smirk as his members chuckled and murmured almost as if we weren’t anything to them.

I merely glanced away from them. I was well aware it was time to return my attention to the progress of the expedition. Still, I didn’t respond to their words but instead began walking down the other path without any hesitation with my party.

Of course, Clan Kemonozu led the way with Eto at the front, not that it overly mattered.

We walked down the path for quite some time before Eto spoke up amidst his rowdy members. “So far, I’ve seen you use three elements with perfect control. That is more than impressive. It's even rare to see an S-rank who has mastered two elements," he said causing some silence among his members.

I did give him a glance before I continued to walk forward, "Is it? Well, I’m not going to deny I can, you're not the first one to notice." I remarked knowing he had the same thoughts as Grayson and Lyra on the subject.

Eto's fanged grin only widened in reply, "then you are hiding your rank? Are ya secretly SS-ranked? That is the highest rank any Graced Clan member can reach, they are quite literally the strongest, a second to an Apostle.” He said but it was more or less a statement than a question.

I wasn't interested in answering as I glanced toward my party who simply kept moving forward, "I can assure you I'm S-ranked, and a barely decent one at that… but I suppose being a Xiao explains why I have a unique set of skills, if your so curious.” I said simply telling a believable lie with a fraction of truth, still that caused Eto’s fanged grin to grow on his face.

“You say that but when Daiki and the Beastmaster looked over your information the only magic listed was wind… not fire or earth, something like that is more than enough to put you on trial for hiding your capabilities.” Eto said with a snide smirk as if he was threatening me.

However, it wasn't something I wasn't aware of already and it was clear he was watching me during our previous battles. I knew it was a bad move on my part to reveal a third element but if I hadn’t our fall would have been much more brutal. “Is that so? I didn’t think your Beastmaster would be so interested in someone like me that you were sent here to watch me. Am I really that interesting?" I asked not exactly answering but keeping away his suspicions.

Still, Eto laughed in return. "You can say that… I’ve been wondering myself which one of us would win if we had to fight. You might have some advantages that might cause me some issues but to a Beastmen that is all the same, everyone has weaknesses," he said with his typical fanged grin as he turned his attention forward leaving his remark to settle.

I didn’t respond as I walked along even if the answer was quite obvious to me and if he thought otherwise then he was simply delusional. The beastmens thoughts aside, the search for the next floor continued. The once debris filled path caused by our fall had returned to the ancient marble floors and pillars, we had seen on previous floors.

The way forward was almost bare with the exception of the strange suffocating mana that remained strong enough to block my ability to sense anything and yet with each step it became more apparent.

I had to admit I found myself a bit frustrated with my own inability to understand the reasoning behind why this particular Mana Essence disturbed my very existence. That is what it was, and I couldn't shake that thought as each step forward on this floor felt more and more forced.

My expression didn't shift from the usual flat gaze as conversations passed in the back of my mind. It wasn’t until Eto’s voice rang out announcing our next discovery.

"Hahaha, this is it, ain’t it!” He said as his fanged grin practically shined as he praised himself while his members revelled with him. “It looks like we chose the right path,” he added with a laugh as we had come across the next corridor, or more accurately the entrance to the next floor of the Labyrinth.

However, my gaze wasn’t entirely focused on the corridor ahead of us, rather it was on the group of footsteps approaching from a path that shouldn’t have led here. “Hah, what a surprise. I thought there was only one correct route that led to the next floors in Labyrinths, but here you are,” Eto said showing off his fanged grin at the sight of Clan Naria and Grayson who approached us with Lyra and her clan in tow.

I could tell they were just as surprised to see us as much as we were them, but again it was getting hard to deny my own suspicion that we were being forced into a certain path.

I wasn't the only one to notice this as Lyra spoke up shortly after, "That is supposed to be the case. Although the late floors aren't fully mapped out, perhaps we followed another route here. that Dune Wrym really made it difficult for us to determine anything," she explained as if to ease her own suspicions.

However, Grayson scoffed. "We found the way forward, who cares how we got here. Let's just hurry up and get this over with. I'm sick of this labyrinth." he said in his typical impatience before him, and his members brushed past the Clans and headed to the entrance to the next floor.

The staircase spiraling downward waited for us and despite anyone’s question or concerns, no one hesitated to continue through the corridor ahead and descend the stairs onto the next floor of the labyrinth. Upon taking the last step down, I noticed a subtle change in the strange Mana that plagued us from the beginning of this expedition.

My ability was still practically useless but even without barely being able to sense anything. The floor felt a lot like I had stepped into a barrier of Magical Energy, the kind Safe Zones had. Although, it was drowned out in an immense amount of the strange Mana Essence that suffocated this place.

It was only a few steps forward when we saw a very unexpected sight.

"Are those Clan Guards...?" Lyra questioned as we came across two figures who stood in armor with blades sheathed at their hips guarding the way forward. Still Lyra's confusion spoke for everyone here, "Is it possible we fell through more than one floor and reached the labyrinth's twentieth floors safe zone?" she asked but the fact that the members of Clan Kemonozu or Clan Naria didn't respond told me they were just as surprised as her.

It wasn't until Clan Naria's Grayson spoke up, "Heh. It looks that way... I'm going to be the first to complete an Expedition in less than a week," He remarked loud enough for everyone to hear and summing up his impatient drive to complete this. "Let's get moving." He sneered as he continued forward with his Clan behind him.

To them it was probably reassuring that we finally came across an actual Clan Guard meant to be guarding safe zones, but the unanswered questions still remained.

My amber gaze watched as we all approached the guards. "We are the Clans heading for the Thirtieth floor. We'll be using the safe zone to recover and prepare for the final floors," Grayson said as he announced themselves to the guards who didn't even seem to acknowledge his words.

Instead, one responded like a lifeless husk almost as if he was devoid of awareness. "Pass... through." was all the guard said before Grayson and his clan moved past the Clan Guard with some annoyance at the lack of response.

"Well. There you have it. You heard them, let's keep moving." Eto remarked as he chuckled before he too passed through with Clan Aerith behind them.

My party and I stepped forward behind the Clans but even as I did my gaze focused on the guards that seemed to be devoid of life. I was curious but I couldn't ignore my reason for being here in the first place.

Regardless of my suspicions, my group followed behind the Clans and entered the safe zone we somehow arrived at.