章 98: Labyrinth (10)
Edited by: Kuro and Lille
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There was a long silence because no one knew what to say about the Holy Relics that were made from the bones of the Saint and the Fallen God. It made them shudder at the fact that the Gods were capable of doing something so cruel. Then again, these were Gods. Their morality was different from theirs, who were just mortals.
After a while, Grey coughed to get their attention. "Let's not talk about this right now. Let's rest a little longer before heading to the next floor."
Everyone agreed and helped Andrea with everything he needed before heading out.
There was nothing special about the floors between 31 and 34. The monsters were a bit higher level, but for them, it wasn't too bad. There was a dramatic increase in traps though with very few treasure chests.
Lamine was used to finding and disabling traps. She was a quick learner, making Grey, her teacher, quite proud. In time, she would pass him, but for now, the best he could do was give her pointers as she gained experience.
When they reached floor 35, everything seemed normal so they left the stairs and continued down the odd-shaped floor. This time, the floor was just a circle. The ascending staircase was to the north while the descending staircase was to the south. There were rooms in the northwest, southwest, west, southeast, northeast, and finally east.
Grey decided it was best to go east first. Ten steps away from the ascending staircase, the floor began to rumble. It was like an earthquake. Most of the group fell to the ground as they tried to stabilize themselves.
When the shaking stopped, Grey helped Micah and Reyner get off the floor and looked in the direction of the ascending staircase… or what was left of it.
Actually, the staircase was gone. It was nowhere to be found.
Grey grew alarmed and pulled up the map that System 225 had previously scanned. When he looked at it, both the staircases were gone and the rooms were the only ones left.
"I now fully understand why people haven't made it out alive," Grey said as he rubbed his temples. "On floor 30, it said, 'To find the helmet, one must reach out their hand and summon the light. If not, you will be trapped here forever."
"I can only assume that Andrea must use his 'power of light' on this floor, if not, we would be stuck here forever."
Grey was able to quickly deduce the situation, but he had no idea how or where Andrea would use this "power of light."
"I don't know how to use this 'power of light'." Andrea felt aggrieved. When he went on this journey, the only thing he was told was that he was the Hero and he was supposed to defeat the Demon King. Now he didn't even want to battle the Demon King, nonetheless, figure out how to use his "powers."
They all felt that this was deliberate. The Hero not knowing or understanding his power? Not being able to find most of the Hero's relics? The Gods were making sure that the Hero and the Demon King would suffer together! Most importantly, they made it so that the two could not garner enough strength to fight against them.
"This is too cruel… How are we going to get out of here now?" Felicia couldn't help but ask. She didn't say much after Andrea passed out a couple of days ago. Everyone had gotten used to her not speaking and for some reason, felt it was more normal than her previous behavior. Even Andrea felt that way and he had no idea why…
"Let's not get too hasty with pessimism and scout out the floor. After going through the floor and finding a safe spot, let's have a discussion then." Grey knew there were no monsters on this floor but there were traps and treasure chests. There was even a monster room, so they had to be careful.
The group agreed and they all continued to walk to the east side of the floor. They diligently went from room to room, checking for traps, and getting safe treasure chests. Eventually, they found their way to the south side of the floor where the descending staircase once was.
There was a slight indent in the wall that was different from everything else (except for the ascending staircase), so they knew this was where the staircase once was.
Grey put his hand on the indented wall and tried to feel around for a mechanism, but he couldn't find anything. "There's nothing here that could open up this wall…" It was already known that the walls of this labyrinth were indestructible, so they didn't even try to break them.
"It seems so. Let's keep going," Andrea said as he looked at the wall one more time before turning away from it. Maybe one of the other rooms had a mechanism that opened up the staircases that needed his power. How was he supposed to use his power though?
They continued through the rooms on the west side, but they found nothing of significance. Eventually, they came back to the north staircase. It took 2 hours to walk the full circle. After disabling the traps and checking all the rooms, it would take them less time, but it was still a large floor.
Seeing nothing at the ascending staircase, they went to a nearby room after Grey deemed it to be safe. They all sat down, set up their camp, and handed out food and water to everyone. They sat around in a circle while they ate and drank.
"Does anyone have any ideas on what we should do?" Andrea asked as he stuffed his face with bread and dried meat.
The only person that didn't shake their head was Grey who was thinking to himself about what to do. He had an idea but he didn't know if it would work.
After a long silence, Grey finally looked at Andrea. "Andrea, do you know how to use magic?"
"Magic? No, I was told I have no affinity with magic. Why?"
"Have you ever heard of Light Magic? Or Holy Magic? That could be the power they are talking about."
In this world, there were no records of Light or Holy magic. Edwin and Felicia could not use it and thus far, Edwin had never encountered anyone who could use it. They could only assume it had disappeared a thousand years ago with the Saint.
In most worlds with Saints that are called upon by the Gods, their magic attribute was Light/Holy Magic. He wondered if it was the same in this world.
"I never heard of it," Andrea said.
Andrea looked at everyone else but they shook their heads indicating that they also hadn't heard of it.
"When we are done eating, let me show you how to use magic. You may be able to release the 'power of light' even if you can't use magic at all."
"Understood."
After they finished eating, Andrea and Felicia walked over to where Grey, Micah, and Reyner were sitting. Felicia came along just in case because she was proficient in magic. Andrea was a little nervous. He had no clue how magic was produced in someone's body and he didn't want to seem like a failure.
"Give me your hands."
Andrea put his hands on top of Grey's. Grey didn't move to grip his hands so he just rested his hands.
"Close your eyes and take deep breaths. Focus on the feeling of my magic moving through your body." As he said this, Grey poured his magic into Andrea's body and slowly moved from Andrea's fingertips to his shoulders, up his neck, and into his head. Then he slowly moved down to his toes and back up again to the solar plexus where everyone's magic cores were.
"Remember this area. This is where your core is. All your magic is produced and released from here. Now I'm going to show you the pathway from the core to your extremities."
He went from the solar plexus to the fingertips and then followed the same pathway he had taken before.
Grey did this a few more times before he let go of Andrea's hands.
"Your core is quite large for someone who was told they have no magic."
"Really? Then can I use magic?"
"It depends. I would need to see how much MP you have and a part of your status."
Andrea paused for a moment before nodding. "I understand. Let me bring it up with the details you need."
He opened his status and showed his level, MP, affinities, and skills section. There were two question marks in his affinities and one in his skills.
His status looked a bit like this.
[Level: 45
MP: 300
Affinities: ???, ???
Skills: Sword, Shield, Two-hand sword, ???]
Affinities were used to show if the person had talent in magic. Depending on their affinities, they could use certain magics more proficiently than others. As long as the person had a sizable core, they could at least use neutral magic. Neutral magic could be used in everyday life but it could also increase a person's strength, defense, speed, etc. by a decent amount for a limited amount of time. It was shocking that Andrea didn't even know that. Who the hell told him he couldn't use magic?
"Apparently, all Heroes are told they are unable to use magic by the church. Also, the question marks in my status are because the Gods want me to defeat the Demon King first before letting me see the rest of my status."
"And you believed that?"
"I… I did. Now I know they are hiding things from me." After gaining some memories of the past Heroes, he knew that he could no longer trust the Gods or the church.
"Alright, I understand. Let's try to unlock those affinities and skills. They could be the key to getting us out of here."
"Thank you, Teacher Edwin!" Andrea was grateful to Edwin for helping him even if he didn't need to. Even if Edwin only knew healing and neutral magic, he was still an expert in magic. Being able to learn magic from a good teacher made all the difference.
"You should also let Felicia help you. She will be able to help you draw out your magic and use it."
Felicia, who was listening the whole time, sat straight up, but she bit her tongue so her sentence was slightly butchered. "I- ah, I will definitely help you, Andrea."
When Grey finished teaching Andrea and telling Felicia how she could teach Andrea, the two walked back to their spot to practice magic.
The group stayed on floor 35 for three days before Andrea was finally able to unleash Light magic from the palm of his hands. A ball of light shot out, hitting the wall in front of him and then disappearing. Luckily, no one got hit. He was so shocked he almost fell butt first to the ground but the wall was able to catch him.
"I did it! I really did it!" Andrea shouted while staring at the palm of his hands. Then he rushed over to Grey and Felicia and thanked them profusely. He had a giant grin on his face and couldn't contain himself.
"Congratulations, Andrea. Check how much MP you have now. If you have enough and you aren't feeling tired, let's try using your magic around this floor."
"Understood."
Andrea checked his MP and found that it had risen from his original 300 to 600. Clearly, the magic practice was doing him wonders. Even though he didn't have as much as Felicia or Grey, for a warrior like himself, it wasn't too bad. His ball of light that he shot out only took 8 MP so his MP dropped down to 592.
"I have enough MP and I'm not tired. Actually, I want to hurry up and get out of here!"
"Then let's get going."
Grey and the group left most of their stuff in their safe room as they were going to sweep through the floor once to see if they missed anything. It was also to let Andrea rest after using up his MP.
They went toward the western rooms first. When they got to the southwest room, Andrea used his Light magic and a click echoed through the room.
At first, they couldn't see anything change, but a large brick square in the middle of the room shifted downwards, creating a hole. Slowly, they heard a loud cranking sound. It was as though gears were moving, but it needed some oil.
An odd statue emerged from the floor and replaced the large brick square. The statue was large. It was 6 feet tall and two feet wide. It was a statue of a woman with her hands clasped. Her head was tilted downwards, and her eyes closed. The statue was completely grey, but they could see that she was a beautiful woman.
The woman was standing in the direction of the descending staircase.
"This… isn't she the Saint?" Andrea asked but he couldn't take his eye off the statue.
There were no documents of this Saint and only Andrea knew what this Saint looked like.
Grey took a good look at her features and felt that she was quite young. He could only wonder if she died around this age. "Her bones were used as material for the Holy Relics so I am not surprised this is her."
Under the statue, there was a passage that needed System 225's translation.
Original Sentence: Thou who has't unleashed thine power, hear my plea. Those who venture forth must proveth thy worth.
Translated by System 225: "They who have unleashed their power, hear my plea. They who venture further must prove their worth."
Everyone went silent, trying to think about the meaning behind this passage.
Genji scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Maybe it means we have to fight something."
"It may not be on this floor but on the last floor." He agreed with Genji. In most RPG games that had this kind of leveling system, the last floor of a dungeon usually had the big boss battle that made or broke a person and their team.
"We need more context so let's search the other rooms," Reyner suggested. He felt there was nothing else to see here.
Everyone agreed with Reyner and continued going from room to room. There wasn't anything in the west and east rooms but there were three more in the northwest, northeast, and southeast rooms.
The statue in the northwest room stated: Those who venture forth preparest thyselves, for they who seek the Holy Relic must learn to wield thine power.
Translated: "They who venture forward must prepare themselves. They who seek the Holy Relic must learn to wield their power."
The statue in the northeast stated: Those who struggle to find thy way must place trust within thyself and trusted companions, lest they suffer a miserable death.
Translated: "They who struggle to find their way must trust in themselves and their friends. They who do not trust their friends, die miserably."
Lastly, the statue in the southeast room stated: Those who sought the truth must accept it henceforth, for they who rebel shall not see the light of day.
"They who learn of the truth must learn to accept it. For those who rebel do not see the light of day."
All of the statues were pointed toward the descending stairs.
A loud cranking sound and a powerful rumble shook the floor when the last statue was found. After 20 seconds, the shaking stopped.
[Grey, the staircases came back.]
"Judging from how the staircases disappeared, it seems they have now come back. Let's head back to our restroom and let Andrea take a break. Let's also discuss the passages in the statues."
Everyone followed Grey's orders and made their way back to their resting room. They sat around in a circle, ate, and talked about the statues.
"The first three statues make a bit more sense, but it's that last statue that throws me off." Genji gave his opinion. "Why can't you rebel? If your treatment is unfair, why can't you fight back?"
Grey shook his head. "I think it's talking about Andrea and the other Heroes. Those who rebel against the Gods were punished, but that just means they were unsuccessful."
If the Hero and the Demon King were able to successfully rebel against the Gods, they could free themselves.
"This statue is meant to scare the Hero," Reyner gave his input. "These are supposed to give you hints, but they are more like fables. They teach you moral lessons."
"More means to control the Hero." Lamine scoffed. "But there's always a risk of rebelling. In this case, you will die if you fail. That's a pretty high risk to take so I am not surprised the Hero and Demon King are still reincarnating to this day."
Andrea was silent for a while. He had a lot of emotions learning about himself and his past lives. He felt that he wanted more than anything to free himself and the Demon King, but at the same time, there was this deeply rooted fear that was holding him back.
"Andrea, you don't have to make a decision now." Grey patted Andrea on the back because he noticed he was clenching his fists to the point they were turning white. "If you are too afraid, that's okay, too."
"It's a lot of weight on your shoulders to think that you are the one who is supposed to free the Saint and Zolous. That's why, take it one day at a time and when you feel that life is unfair, do what you think is best."
Andrea felt tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He didn't let them fall, but he felt relieved to hear Edwin say those words to him. "Thank you, Teacher Edwin."
"You're welcome. Let me know if you decide to go up against the Gods. I will be there to help you out."
Micah chimed in. "Wherever Doctor Edwin goes, I will go."
"Me too," Reyner said.
Lamine, Genji, and Felicia also shared the same sentiment.
Knowing that he had allies that would help him fight against the Gods, he felt grateful but also guilty. Most importantly, he was happy that he had friends who would go through hell and back with him.
クリエイターの想い 
MakusCorner
MakusCorner Lille: I always confused Andrea as a girl because of his name… but what if his name was actually a foreshadowing that the first Saint was a girl? /hj
GrandpaMarky: Two more chapters before this arc ends. XD Sometimes, I wish I could expand on the plots of each arc but I already decided that each arc wouldn't be too long. Well, good thing I won't be making another quick transmigration story. Coming up with names is a nightmare for me...
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