CHAPTER 51: THE LABYRINTH SHROUD
Only one word came out of his mouth the moment he entered through the Dungeon Door:
“Fuck!”
His knees swiftly gave out as a strange aura weighed down on his body—goosebumps ran up and down his skin. Strangely, this aura wasn’t so much an energy, but a feeling.
A disgusting feeling.
It felt as if thousands of invisible maggots were crawling through every orifice of his body. He could almost sense them moving in waves, wrapping around his neck before slowly slithering into his throat and nose, before coming out of his ears. His eyes began to water as his gag reflex activated—throwing up the delicious meal he just had on the skyship.
Ugh! He painfully glanced around—Tina and Myrin were slumped to the side of a wall, panting heavily, though their situation was still far better than Soren’s.
Taking a deep breath, Myrin held his devilish grin as he glanced over at Soren, who was trying his best to get up from the ground.
“Didn’t I tell you the air was going to shift slightly?” He clicked his tongue mockingly, “you should have been more prepared.”
“How the fuck is this ‘slightly’?!” He tried not to choke on his own vomit.
Myrin burst into laughter. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to this feeling. Every dungeon explorer does.”
Tina stumbled forward and grabbed Soren by the shoulder. “Ignore that idiot. You resisted better than most—Myrin shit himself when he first entered a dungeon.”
“I was 12 years old at the time! And how the hell do you even know this story?!”
Tina grinned, “you told it to me yourself when you were drunk.”
“I said something this embarrassing?!” At that moment, Myrin didn’t mind dying in the dungeon and being forgotten forever.
Tina glanced over at Soren, who was still reeling from the experience. The sensation had not ceased at all, but he was slowly getting used to it… Somehow.
“Anyway, watch your steps. Although this area is cleared, it's still a dungeon after all.”
In between the nauseousness, he asked her a question. “What the hell is this… anima?” He couldn’t exactly identify what he was feeling, but the pressure from it… It was terrifying. He couldn’t be anymore thankful that his body was slowly adjusting to it.
“It is something that dungeon divers like to call the Labyrinth Shroud. It’s not fully understood, but out of the five main labyrinths of Yarian, the Avalon Ruins is filled to the brim with it. Many scholars suspect it to be the anima generated by the core of the labyrinth itself. Others on the other hand think that it’s the work of a 10th Circle magecraft spell that spans the entire continent.
“The truth doesn’t really matter though. All you need to know is one thing:
“Never ever venture into a dungeon alone!”
His brow lifted, “why?”
“Because a dungeon doesn’t just test your strength; they also test your mind.”
“The Labyrinth’s Shroud…” Myrin murmured. “This insidious anima’s biggest effect on explorers is mental erosion. The more you stay within a dungeon, the more it eats at your Heart’s Shroud. The effect is even more horrifying for mortals. Those who have not unlocked a Soul Realm or Soul Weapon will instantly become suicidal—and there is no fix to that.”
Soren didn’t doubt their words at all. Even now, he could feel his mind’s desire to scream. Though, he couldn’t tell if that was due to his initial reaction to entering the dungeon, or his previous anxiety regarding his life or death situation.
Myrin continued, “This is why dungeons and ruins are banned by the Aellora Kingdom unless one has a license. Though, that doesn’t stop many fools and other shadow guilds from going in them anyway.”
Soren’s eyes slowly adjusted—just to the right of him, a flickering flame could be seen; it was a torch of some kind. They were currently in a cobblestone corridor that lead toward the darkness in either direction. Behind him was the door they had emerged from—its frame was covered in a sheet of darkness that was flickering slowly. He assumed this was the spatial magecraft that gave the door its mystical effects.
“To think that a person could take one step through that door and immediately fall to their deaths… Who the hell designed these dungeons and their cruel traps?” He couldn’t help but be at awe and also somewhat afraid.
Tina laughed. “I am not sure who made it, but whoever it was, they had to be a massive asshole. Especially the person who created this trap—only a psycho would think of creating something like this.”
“I agree,” both Myrin and Soren nodded in unison.
She glanced over to their left—the corridor stretched out before her eyes. “I believe going west will lead us to the exit, if I remember correctly?”
Myrin nodded. While they were conversing, Soren took slow breaths to calm himself—the sensations had slowly dwindled away, though his anxiety was still growing by the minute, which he suspected was the effect Myrin was speaking of. While leaning against the wall, he foolishly decided to try using [Eyes of the Fairy] again in his currently delirious state. He didn’t know when the next opportunity to visit a dungeon would come, after all.
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Event Log
New Entry Failed: [Labyrinth Shroud] (Mystery)
New Entry Failed: [Dungeon Door #1] (Mystery)
His eyes blinked rapidly as he read the page. It failed? How was this possible? Although he had seen the failed message appear in the backlog last time, that was due to the information itself being filtered out for being wrong, not because his Soul Weapon itself was incapable.
“Interesting…” He murmured to himself. “My Soul Weapon is not omniscient. There are things I can’t [Record]...”
Although many would find this disappointing, Soren was actually excited. This meant that his ability might still have room to grow. After all, his status sheet did list both [Record] and [Eyes of the Fairy] as simply Rank 1. Logically, that would mean a Rank 2, 3 and even beyond must exist.
Though, more than that, he was much more fascinated by the prospect that there are things in this world that somehow prevent information about themselves from spreading. Even though he had heard about the wards some grimoires use to sense a person’s intentions, these were simply external methods to keep prying eyes away. What he was currently witnessing was different—it was a power that simply eclipses his.
Whoever designed this labyrinth must be extremely powerful.
Breaking his reverie, Soren witnessed many of the crew members of the skyship emerge from the Dungeon Door—many of them were holding crates and other items. Soren finally realized why Tina and Myrin were waiting around.
He walked over to Tina and asked, “what’s in the crates?”
“Supplies I had purchased…
“... As well as souvenirs…”
Myrin chuckled. “She means to say food. Her current calorie intake isn’t enough.”
Soren watched in fear as she glared into Myrin’s soul—it was fair to say he regretted saying that.
Sensing the awkwardness, he decided to change the subject, “I guess we should get going?”
Myrin nodded and walked (sprinted) down the corridor nervously. Soren and Tina followed behind him—the other crew members holding their belongings also did the same.
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After just a ten minute walk, the corridor ended at a large cobblestone hall. Unlike previously, there were several armed guards positioned here. Each one was plated in heavy armor that went down to their hips and ended with a tunic skirt. They each held on tightly to a purple-painted, large rectangular shield. In their other hand was a spear, each one adorned in countless golden decorations.
At first, it confused him. Why would the guards be posted here and not where the Dungeon Door was. It only made sense to him after Tina explained it.
“Those are the Custodes Aureum, loyal dogs that serve and protect the interests of the Brilliant World Church.” He could feel the salt rolling out of her tongue.
Sensing her mood, Myrin decided to continue on her behalf.
“What she means to say is, they are a group of Holy Phantasms nurtured under the graces of He Who Weighs the Scales, The Gold-Giver. Though the public largely doesn’t know that—they only see them as an elite group of soldiers. Phantasms aren’t something the public is aware of, as you may know.
“As for why they weren’t directly protecting the Dungeon Door—that’s because it's indestructible. No one has ever succeeded in even giving it a scratch, and this applies to everything inside the Dungeon.” He pointed at the nearby cobblestone wall, “even if you attacked this with a 5th Circle magecraft spell, all it will do is cause damage to your own ego, and not the wall.”
Soren almost couldn’t believe it, if not for the fact that not even his information scanning abilities were working on it. If it was enshrouded in near-unbreakable obscurity, then it should also be nigh-impenetrable to attacks.
“And also,” Myrin continued, “there’s no need to guard the Dungeon Door itself, since most who enter it only have two paths to follow.
“Either coming here, or heading deeper into the dungeon. And if you do the latter, your chances of survival are slim to none—none of the Aelloran officials will need to do anything when that happens—saves them the paperwork.”
“I see…”
While Tina ordered the crew members carrying the boxes around, Myrin approached one of the guards.
“Greetings gentleman,” his right hand reached underneath his robe as he bowed to them.
The guard squinted his eyes with a frown. “State your name, purpose, and affiliation.”
“Myrin Zinrie, me and my companions belong to a School of Thought from Luvinica. We are returning home from a long trip elsewhere.”
Myrin sneakily inched his hand closer toward the guard—several shiny gold coins were dangling in his palm shamelessly alongside an identification badge. Myrin smiled as he leaned in closer to his ear.
“Our trip has been very perilous—me and my companions are fairly exhausted and hope to return home quickly. May the blessings of wealth shine upon you.”
The guard smiled and took the bribe. “May wealth linger beyond your grave.” He stepped aside, signaling for them to pass through.
Trying to hide his shock, Soren walked through the hall toward the corridor the guards were watching over. Tina and the others followed from behind.
“So much for being Holy Phantasms… I thought they would be more honest…”
“That’s just how the Brilliant World Church operates,” Tina corrected. “You’ll see what I mean soon, all of them are nothing but pigs lusting for material gain.”
“Now, now,” Myrin chuckled. “Didn’t I tell you not to bad-mouth them? They are still a major orthodox religion. Almost forty percent of Aellora worship the Gold-Giver.”
“Hmph,” she was definitely not listening to him.
As they walked, slowly, a small flicker of light became visible. After a lot more walking, they had finally made it to the end of the tunnel. Almost immediately, he squinted his eyes as the blinding light of the setting sun became visible again. And yet, not even in his delirium could he choose to ignore what he was seeing.
Tina tapped him on the shoulder and smiled, “didn’t I tell you? The Nations of Disorder might have some amazing places, but so do us humans.”