In a hidden place among eight-meter trees and three-meter bushes, there was a small hole in the trunk of one of the trees. Enrico grabbed the tree and pulled it up with its roots, which seemed deep, placing it on the ground beside him and revealing a small door that began to grow a little. Beside him, Liam's eyes widened.
"What monstrous strength—he didn't even use magic to increase his power."
"Friend Enrico is very strong; surely he is at the same level as us orcs."
"Let's go inside, guys, I've already opened the way."
Enrico looked at them as if it were nothing and asked them to follow him. He jumped into the hole that had stopped growing. Quickly, one jumped after the other, and when Elian, being the last, crossed, the portal disappeared so that no one could interfere.
All six appeared in a room with twenty floating cards in front of them that began to shuffle in the air, and behind them was a wall with five drawings of places. Elian approached and noticed something written on a stone. Sylvia, right behind him, stepped closer.
"What is this?"
"Let me see… it seems that each one of us will choose a card, and among these twenty cards there are five locations where we will have to go. It will be chosen randomly once we hold the card we picked."
"So this will depend on luck? That's bad. What if one of us ends up alone?"
"That means that person has bad luck."
Enrico in the back felt that somehow they were talking about him, so he was the first to pick a card, since this dungeon had no way to manipulate his luck—the cards always shuffled randomly, equalizing the luck of the six people, though it could still differ for each. Even so, Enrico picked the most difficult one according to the main story, just to be sure.
"Enrico, what did you get?"
"I can't see it, I think it'll only be revealed once everyone has chosen."
Looking at each other, they began to approach and pick from the nineteen remaining cards. When Caelan picked the last one, they all started disappearing into a green light.
"Wait, what's happening?"
"Don't worry, we must be going to the chosen location… see you later then, bye."
Enrico waved goodbye with a smile as he disappeared, while the others looked desperate. Behind the cards, names appeared on the wall in the drawn places, with some forming a team.
"So it seems we've become partners."
"Yes. What should we do?"
Caelan and Liam stood side by side, and in front of them stretched a corridor that seemed infinite. Behind them was only a wall, meaning they could only move forward.
"I guess we should take the only path."
"You're right."
The two began walking, while elsewhere Sylvia was alone, expressionless.
"I'm screwed."
Following a path, she noticed the place she was in had several stone chambers with pillars, each holding statues against them. Sylvia passed by them and nothing happened—at least until she entered one chamber and one of the statues moved, trying to strike her head.
"Shield of Vines."
A shield moved, covering her head. Raising her hand to touch it, she transferred magic into it, causing several sharp vines to pierce through the statue's body, breaking a Nartheis core.
"Looks like I'm in a trap zone."
She gave a bitter smile as she kept moving, choosing the opposite path from the one she was taking, preferring not to take risks since she was alone.
"Looks like the three of us chose the same one."
Enrico, Grakka, and Elian were in the same location, with the two looking excited while Enrico realized they were in the boss's area.
'Did I get lucky choosing this card to help them, or is it just my bad luck dragging them with me?'
[I'll go with the second one.]
They were surrounded by walls, and just by looking around they could see it was a labyrinth with many different paths, leaving them confused.
"Looks like we're in a maze. What should we do, Enrico?"
"If it's a maze, in my tribe they taught us to just break down all the walls until we reach the end."
Enrico moved to stop her, but she had already destroyed the first wall with ease, since it didn't have magic like other dungeons. Elian seemed to agree and prepared his spear, but both of them saw Enrico putting his hands on his face in frustration.
"Damn, my first plan failed."
"What's wrong, friend Enrico? Did I do something wrong? If I did, I'm sorry."
Both became worried, then started to hear a sound of something running. Enrico stood and grabbed them both by the hand, running in the opposite direction of the sound.
"What is that noise, Enrico?"
"The boss. He can sense any damage that happens in this labyrinth, and he will always chase down anyone he finds to the very end."
"Damn it, Grakka, you messed up."
"I'm sorry, friends."
It seemed Elian had forgotten he was about to do the same thing, but now they had no time to think about it, because when they looked back, they saw a red Minotaur with black lines across its body running at high speed.
"Try to keep up as best you can. Since we destroyed the labyrinth, he entered berserk mode and is stronger than usual."
Enrico used Charged Dash while forcing the other two to follow him. Both tried their best—Elian with his wind magic and Grakka with pure brute strength.
Name: Asterion
Rank: Phase Two
Magic: Earth, Stone, and Fury
Unique Ability: Living Labyrinth