Labyrinths are the house of beasts. A labyrinth provides a natural habitat for the Soul beasts who seek a specific kind of familiarity from their surroundings.
Like having the beast core of a Tank Bear in a cave would attract the beasts of a similar kind, and the place they call their homes becomes a labyrinth.
Soul beasts can solely survive on Soul energy which explains why they seldom leave their home. And the labyrinth which the Hunter's guild arranges, has a security field arranged at the entrances of each labyrinth so they could not escape from their dens.
In that way, the hunter's guild assigns the labyrinths to the hunters in exchange for gold coins and also takes a decent percentage of beast products as revenue. In the most probable case, hunters sell the rest of the beast products to the hunter's guilds, which allows them to maximize their profit.
'A decent idea for a business...' Alex deemed this profession to be quite tempting; however, he neither has the time nor resources to think about having his own guild.
Within a year, those trials would begin and Alex has to participate in the contest. After that, regardless of the results, he would be leaving this planet and ascending to goddamn knows where.
The last volume, which he wasn't able to read, included the later half of the battle and the introduction of the ascended realm. However, Ceaser never found the opportunity to finish that novel.
'...but still, is the upper realm the true ending?' There was no sequel announced to the story, and given the last volume was about the same size as the last one, it couldn't be said that some arcs in the upper realm were added.
...then, ultimately, Edric finds his happy ending after his ascension. Or is this world about to be doomed?
'Well whatever, not like I can rely on my previous world's knowledge forever...' With such thoughts, he continued to walk forward.
"Hey, kid," Hearing her voice, Alex glanced at the blue-haired who slowed down her pace to walk beside him.
They were still a little away from their destination, which allowed the assassin, who goes by the name Eve, to have a conversation with the addition to the team.
"I apologize for what Maria said. She, y'know, can be a little zesty at times..." She genuinely looked apologetic while saying that.
Alex shrugged, "I don't care, truth be told. I don't know her, nor care about her opinion." He bluntly stated but the most astonishing part, he looked genuinely uncaring.
"Wow...I mean, you are different from the kids I seldom meet during raids."
Alex raised his brows, "Aren't you yourself just around twenty-three or something?"
The lady chuckled, her sharp canines peeking as she said, "Thanks for the compliment kid, but I am two years apart from thirty."
Alex was genuinely surprised. Given how perky her breasts seemed and that flawless skin aside from those scars, made him believe that she was in her early twenties.
Well, the older the better.
"Checking my boobs?" The lady asked, completely nonchalant.
"Wondering how you move around....aren't you an assassin?" Since there were a few more minutes to get there, he decided to get involved in a little conversation.
The lady sighed, "It's a pain in the ass, and often I use tight clothing to bind them as tightly as I can so my. movements don't get hindered."
Alex raised his brows, "Why not today?"
The woman scoffed, "We are hunting ice golems. They are slow as heck. I won't have participated in the first place, given my necessity arrives only when the labyrinth is a forest type for navigation or the opponent possesses high agility."
Alex nodded in understanding. He really was curious to know about her past missions so he could get himself some knowledge about labyrinths. In the future, he might be coming here alone and doing solo raids.
However, before he could have asked another question, "We are here, "
Vlad announced in a quiet tone as they reached a den which didn't seem huge from the front. And upon closer inspection, it wasn't even long to even adjust a single golem.
That's where spatial sorcery comes in handy. Just like the skill which Alex possesses, the labyrinths are also made as a pocket dimension where a huge amount of monsters could be brought in.
'Is this soul energy....' A faint chilly sensation Alex could feel arriving from the den, which made the hair on his body stand up in attention.
"Alex, here have this." Edric stepped toward the silver head and handed him a flashbang in the shape of a torch, "Light it up if you get cornered or separated from us. There is nothing lethal in it, but it might damage your vision for a long time, so be cautious."
Alex nodded and took the torch from the guy before placing it inside his pouch.
"I will be the on-field leader. Any problem?" Vlad asked his party, to which no one went against. Although Valarie doesn't like to be told around, given she hasn't participated in raids much and Vlad seemed to be a veteran, she readily nodded.
"Okay then, let's go." Vlad turned around and, in pairs, with Edric on the rear, began to march in.
The entrance of the labyrinth had a very strange pattern, almost like a translucent glass sheet.
Vlad took out a parchment, and called out the password,
"Ohlem nei kehlob." It was an ancient language of dwarves who initially brought the idea of labyrinths and the one situated here was also a handicraft of theirs.
In this world, different species exist, but humans reign dominance because of their high birth rate. However, if compared based on strength, then wolfkins would be on top of the food chain.
A password only remains valid for once. Once this labyrinth gets cleared, new beasts would be lured, and new runes would be engraved so the same hunters wouldn't raid the dungeons without permission.
"It's cold in here, "Valarie muttered in annoyance as she rubbed her palms together.
"Well, ice golems we are facing today, so yeah. You will be quite useful today."
Hearing Edric's words, her mood was lifted as, with a huff, she said, "You can rely on me."
"Something is strange," Vlad suddenly spoke up and Alex wordlessly agreed with him. This was not what he was expecting from a labyrinth.
The inside of the cave was quite dark; however, thanks to the crystal blue soul stone attached to the walls, there was some illumination available for them not to stumble upon something, while walking.
"There is too much silence in here. Golems pretty much senses anything that enters their territory like a bear." Eve added, with a frown on her face.
"Maybe they are having lunch?" Maria nonchalantly asked with an innocent smile on her face.
"No....not that ...the ice golems are attracted here because of glowing red soul stones which radiate heat. However, all I can see is blue soul stones around...."
Suddenly a realisation dawned upon Edric and Alex at the same time as they paused.
Others also halted and looked at the duo before Edric began, "It's almost like...."
Alex finished, "All soul stones from the golems' have been extracted...."
Those were the last words the duo were able to utter before a bone-crushing aura descended upon the group.
They all fell to the ground at the same time with their face flat. And the last thing Alex saw was a huge beast with red eyes advancing towards them before he lost consciousness.
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A/N:- The end.