Lifespan burning system
Chapter 33: Yuki
Rhys was stunned by the girl's request. Her floating head looked at him with teary, expectant eyes.
"Feed you?" Rhys asked. He felt completely bewildered.
"What does that even mean? Are we just going to ignore the fact that I just... no, that you tried to kill me, and so I defended myself?"
The girl's head sniffled. "But you said you forgave me," she said, her voice soft and a little shaky. \
"And you said you were a magnificent man. Magnificent men keep their promises. You promised to write off our enmity."
She was using his own words against him. Rhys felt cornered by his own clever trick. He had tried to manipulate her, but now he was the one being manipulated.
"That doesn't mean I'm your personal food supply!" he argued. He felt very foolish.
The girl looked genuinely confused. "But I am weak," she said. "My body is losing energy. If I turn back into... that... I cannot talk to you anymore. And you will be all alone." She said this with a real hint of sadness in her voice.
It made Rhys feel strangely guilty.
[You are under the influence of mind magic.]
A warm current rushed through his body, clearing his foggy mind. Only then did he understand that he had just been manipulated by the girl.
He did not show it on the outside, but he cursed mentally.
'What kind of element is this?'
[More like a Trait...]
Rhys stared at the floating head. Her teary eyes were expectant. If not for the System's warning that he had just been almost manipulated by her, she looked harmless; cute, if he had to say so.
Her face also showed confusion at his silence. He sighed. He knew he had to make a deal. Violence was not working. Arguing was not working. He needed a new plan.
'System,' he thought. 'Is there a way to make a contract? Something she can't break?'
[System analysing: We do not know her nature, form, or even if she is real, or just like every other monster here. A normal contract would be meaningless.
However, a contract bound by the Host's own life force could create a tether. She is drawn to your lifespan. We can use that attraction to create a rule she must follow.]
'So, a contract she won't want to break because it would cut off her food supply?'
[Precisely. A tactical manipulation based on her primary need.]
Rhys felt a new sense of confidence. "Okay. Fine," he said. "You want to be fed. I want to survive. Let's make a contract. A real one."
The girl's floating head tilted. "Contract?" she asked, the word sounding new to her.
"Yes," Rhys said, trying to sound very official. "A set of rules that we both have to follow. If either of us breaks the rules, the deal is off. And you won't get any more of my... energy."
Her eyes widened slightly. She seemed to understand. "Okay," she said eagerly. "A contract."
Rhys laid out the terms of the contract the System had sent to his mind. "First: You will not try to drain my lifespan without my permission. The feeding must be consensual."
She nodded.
"Second: You will never hurt me in this labyrinth." She nodded again, more eagerly this time.
"Third: You will answer my questions about this place when I ask them. No more secrets."
"I agree!" she said, her tears stopping instantly.
"But I have terms too."
"First," she said quickly, "you will provide me with life energy when I ask for it. If I run out of power, I will have to sleep again, and then I cannot protect you."
"Second," she continued, her gaze becoming sharp, "you will not try to kill me again. It was very rude. If you are rude again, our contract is broken."
Rhys nodded slowly. "Deal."
[Contract parameters confirmed,] the System announced in his mind.
[Binding the agreement to the Host's lifespan flow. The contract will remain active until the Labyrinth is completed. Any breach will sever the connection. The consequencess will be death.]
It was perfect. Now for the most dangerous part.
"Now," the girl's head said, her voice bright and cheerful, "release my body so you can feed me!"
Rhys felt a surge of fear. Deactivating the formation was a huge risk. The moment she was free, she could kill him.
He would be completely at her mercy. He looked at her floating head. Her expression was now one of pure, innocent expectation.
He had no other choice. He had to trust the contract. He took a deep breath.
[Host, you know a contract cannot be broken. You are safe from her, at least inside this labyrinth.]
'Why didn't you make it broader? Like, so she can't hurt me even when we are outside?'
[Every contract is valid only in the world where it is formed. A labyrinth is a new world, so contracts made here are valid only here.]
'So that's it.'
He made a small gesture with his hand. The invisible energy of the Soul-flow regulation array dissolved. The effect was immediate.
The girl's headless body on the ground glowed with a soft light. Her floating head drifted back towards it. It settled onto her neck seamlessly.
The deep cut from his dagger vanished. The hole in her chest where he stabbed her heart closed up. In a second, she was whole again.
She stood up, pulling the robe around herself more securely this time. The immediate threat was gone, but the tension in the air was still thick.
"The contract is sealed," she said happily. "Now, it is time for the first payment. I am very hungry."
She walked up to him. Rhys instinctively tensed up. Instead of grabbing his neck as he had imagined, she gently took his hand.
She looked up at him, her furry ears twitching.
"Is this okay?" she asked, her voice soft.
[You are under the influence of mind magic.]
"Y-yes," Rhys acted, as if affected.
'Why can she still use mind magic on me?'
[Well, it is considered harmless.]
She smiled. It was a genuine, beautiful smile that lit up her face. She brought his hand to her lips and gently bit his finger. Rhys felt a sharp prick.
'The fuck, she bit me!'
[It seems she is using seduction on you.]
The familiar, controlled draining of his lifespan began. It was not painful, just strange. He watched, mesmerised, as a faint, golden light flowed from his finger into her mouth.
After a few moments, she let go. She licked her lips.
"Delicious," she said, her cheeks slightly flushed. "You taste much better than the old man."
'I choose to believe the owner of this labyrinth was dried clean by this girl,' Rhys shook his head.
"We still need a name for you," Rhys said, changing the subject. "I can't keep calling you 'you'."
He looked at her snow-white skin and silver hair. "I'll call you Yuki."
"Yuki," she repeated, testing the name. She smiled again. "I like it."
"So, Yuki," he said. "Where are all the Feral monsters? I came here to hunt them." Yuki looked around the empty clearing.
"Oh, them," she said, her voice casual. "I wanted their life energy. So I killed them all."
Rhys stared at her. He felt his plans for evolving his profession core crumble into dust. She had wiped out every Feral in the area.
He had no choice.
"Then we have to go deeper into the Labyrinth," he said with a sigh.
They started to walk. On the way, as they reached the edge of the ash plains, Rhys saw something in the distance.
It was a shape on the horizon. It was huge. It looked like a mountain. But it was moving. It was a slow, lumbering shape made of black rock.
The ground shook with each of its heavy steps. It was a Golem, but it was bigger than anything Rhys could have imagined.
Yuki saw it too. She immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him back behind a large rock formation. Her face was serious for the first time.
"Do not let it see you," she whispered.
Rhys stared in awe at the moving mountain.
'System, what is that?'
[Ash Golem detected.]
[Bloodline: Titan.]
[Cultivation: Stage 1.]
Rhys felt his blood run cold.
'A Titan?' What kind of entity was that? Could a human even fight against it? But the System's next notifications were even more horrifying.
[Status: Deceased.]
[Warning: The entity is dead. The ash that covers these plains is the result of its body slowly decaying over centuries. The process is not yet complete.]
[Estimated time until complete decomposition and cessation of ash fall: 347 years.]
Chapter 34: New Skill Core fragment
Rhys stared at the giant, moving mountain. His mind was still trying to understand the System's words.
A dead monster.
A Titan.
'What kind of existence is that? It's a literal god!'
He was sure the mortal world could not contain its presence. So if such an existence came out of the labyrinth and into the outside world...
Rhys could not imagine the consequences. The probability of that was extremely low, as unlike dungeons, labyrinths never break after the failure of their challenge.
Yuki's face was serious. She kept her hand on his arm, making sure he did not move.
"That is the Guardian of the Ashen Plains," she said.
Rhys did not take his eyes off the Golem. The entire ash plains were just its decaying body. He felt very small and insignificant.
"Don't worry, it's not alive," Yuki muttered.
"How can it be walking if it is dead?" Rhys asked, confused. The System had been silent for a long time, probably trying its best to analyse the reason.
But for some reason, Rhys believed Yuki knew.
"It has no thoughts. No will. It just walks," she said. "It has been walking for thousands of years. Its body is so full of powerful energy that it will not stop moving until it has completely turned to dust."
She looked at the Golem with a strange expression. It was not fear, he could tell. It was something else. Pity... Loneliness...
'Sadness.'
"It never attacks. It never defends," she continued. "But no one can get near it. The energy coming from its decaying body is too strong. Anything that gets too close will have its life force drained away in seconds. They would be turned to dust, just like the ground we are standing on."
Rhys listened carefully to her explanation. He understood now. The Titan was not a monster to be fought. It was a natural disaster. It was a part of the environment.
"We must go around it," Yuki said. "The entrance to the next area is at the edge of the plains."
He followed Yuki. Neither of them spoke. They walked for a long time, moving in the opposite direction to the giant, walking corpse.
Finally, they reached the edge of the Ashen Courtyard. In front of them was a dark opening in the side of a rocky cliff. It looked like the mouth of a huge cave.
A passage led down into darkness. The world transformed. The grey, open plains were gone. They were now in a network of vast, echoing caverns.
The only light came from massive, glowing crystals embedded in the walls and the high ceiling. They cast a shifting, dream-like blue glow on everything.
The light made strange shadows dance on the cavern walls. The air was cool and damp. There was a constant sound of dripping water.
It would have been calming if not for another sound which made the atmosphere eerie.
Whispers.
They seemed to come from the walls themselves. They were meaningless or in a language that no one could understand.
'Can you translate them?'
[...]
Rhys slowly understood that the edge he thought he had because of the System was becoming less effective now that he faced things outside of the mortal world.
'Perhaps this will change after I reach Tier 3.'
That was the first point at which he could upgrade the System. From that moment on, he could create skills with the System. Not only that, he could evolve them too.
Even Skill Core or Profession Core evolution was possible. Rhys could not wait.
The possibility of not having to collect core fragments from higher bloodline monsters to evolve a Skill Core or Profession Core excited him.
'That will take a long time...'
His constitution was already saturated with Qi; he just had to choose an element and its property for him to break through to Tier 2.
However, he could not do that in this labyrinth. He had to get outside for that.
'Whatever, let's finish the challenge here,' Rhys thought, following Yuki.
They walked cautiously into the blue-lit darkness. Suddenly, something moved above them. A dark shape detached itself from the ceiling.
It dived down at Rhys with incredible speed. It was a bat, but it was larger than any bat he had ever seen.
Its wings were wide and leathery, and it let out a high-pitched shriek as it attacked.
Before Rhys could even raise his dagger, Yuki acted. She flicked her wrist. A small shard of black ice shot through the air.
It hit the bat in the chest. The bat froze instantly, its shriek cut short. It fell from the air and shattered into pieces of frozen flesh on the cavern floor.
Yuki looked a little tired after the attack.
"My energy is low," she said.
A small, purple lifespan crystal appeared where the bat had shattered. Yuki picked it up. She did not give it to Rhys.
She put it in her own mouth and swallowed it. The tired look on her face disappeared.
"I need energy to protect you," she said, as if explaining her actions. Rhys just nodded. He understood their deal.
Another shriek came from above. A second bat was diving at him. This time, Rhys was ready.
"I'll handle this one," he said. He moved quickly. Dodging its divebomb, he spun around and threw his dagger.
The dagger flew through the air and hit the bat in the back of its head.
Thud.
He bent down and pulled the dagger from its corpse, which turned into a lifespan crystal and a dark, stone-like object.
'A core fragment?' Rhys was excited.
[Skill Core Fragment (Shadowed Dive) has been acquired.]
[Type: Movement + Attack.]
[Description: A fragment containing the essence of the Shriek Bat's surprise attack. It allows the user to move with a burst of speed from a hidden position and strike in straight line.]
[Collect 100 fragments to form a complete [Ordinary-Grade Apprentice Shadowed Dive Core].]
Rhys also learned that not all monsters here had two or more revivals, like these bats. They had only the instinct to attack any movement.
They had a simple function, unlike the wolves and stalkers he had killed before.
'Anyway,' Rhys popped his knuckles, 'time to get a new Skill Core.'
He was about to take a step forward to start hunting when Yuki put a hand on his chest, stopping him.
"Be quiet," she whispered.
Rhys froze. He listened carefully. He could hear a faint rustling sound coming from the ceiling high above. It was the sound of thousands of wings.
All colour drained from his face. The whispers he had been hearing before were from them.
"The bats hunt by sound," Yuki explained. "Your fight was quiet. But any loud noise will alert the entire swarm."
Rhys understood. They had to be completely silent.
He was constantly in a highly tense state. He focused on every step he took. He could not use his active stealth skill because it used Qi and made a small disturbance which might be considered loud in this cavern.
He had to rely on his body alone. He moved slowly, placing each foot down with perfect care.
Occasionally, making sure there were not more than a dozen bats, they hunted them. Every skill core fragment was collected by him, while Yuki took the lifespan crystals.
Suddenly, a notification from the System appeared in his mind.
[Due to constant, focused practice under pressure, a new lifeskill is being formed...]
[Lifeskill [Silent Step] has been acquired.]
Chapter 35: Silent steps
Rhys felt a new understanding flow into his mind. It was the knowledge of the Silent Step lifeskill. He now knew exactly how to shift his weight.
He knew how to control his breathing to make no sound. He could walk across a floor of dry leaves and not make a single crunch.
This was more advanced than his Basic Stealth skill. He did not have to use Qi to activate it. Just like his other lifeskills, it was now a natural part of him.
It was a perfect replacement for his Ash Walker profession in this new environment.
The Ash Walker skill was powerful, but it had limitations. It only worked where there was ash. Silent Step worked everywhere.
He knew that once he obtained a profession core for this skill, it would become one of his major weapons for hunting.
The next few hours were spent hunting in the dark, blue-lit cavern. They explored the winding paths of the new area. A new teamwork dynamic formed between them.
Rhys was the hunter. He used his new Silent Step skill to move through the caverns like a ghost.
He hunted the Ordinary Shriek Bats one by one. His movements were quiet and efficient. He would sneak up below a sleeping bat, and with a single, quick throw of his dagger, the hunt would be over.
Yuki was his backup. She followed him silently, a few steps behind.
She was like a beautiful, silver-haired shadow. If Rhys ever made a mistake, she would act. Once, his foot slipped on a wet rock.
The small sound alerted a group of five bats. Before they could even shriek, Yuki waved her hand. Five small ice shards shot through the air, killing them all instantly.
She then walked over and calmly consumed their lifespan crystals to restore her energy. They were a perfect team. He was the silent killer. She was the powerful guardian.
Rhys collected more and more of the Shadowed Dive fragments. He was getting closer to his goal.
He felt a thrill of excitement with every new fragment he picked up. Finally, after a long and tense hunt, he killed his one-hundredth bat.
As the creature dissolved into purple light, it dropped the final piece he needed.
[100/100 Fragments collected.]
[Forging a Skill Core...]
[[Ordinary-Grade Apprentice Shadowed Dive Core] has been successfully created.]
Rhys took the new core in his hand. It was a small, dark sphere that felt cool to the touch. A smile crept onto his lips. He sat down on the cavern floor and absorbed the core into his body.
With his senses, he guided the new skill core into his internal dantian space. He led it to a specific micro-dantian where he had already placed his Ash Veil core.
He had made a decision to put cores of the same type into the same dantian. He would create specialised dantians for different types of builds.
In that way, he could avoid conflicts between his skills and the elements with which he would later bond.
He had 108 micro-dantians. That meant he could have 108 different types of builds. This was an unimaginable advantage. No ordinary cultivator could ever dream of such a thing.
The System confirmed his thoughts. Even if other cultivators learned the Meridian Opening method, they could not do what he was doing.
The strength and durability of the newly opened dantians depended on the cultivator's constitution. His constitution was at the pinnacle of the mortal world.
Even if someone else had the same quality of body, it would be extremely rare. Also, not everyone would waste their time building so many different dantians.
They did not have the ability to learn so many different types of skills. That problem did not affect him. He had the System.
After he had completely absorbed the new skill core, the speed of their hunt increased a hundred times. He was no longer just walking silently.
He was a blur of motion, using Shadowed Dive to teleport from one shadow to another, killing bats before they even knew he was there.
Rhys also noticed that even after his speed had increased so much, Yuki always kept up with him. She moved with an effortless grace that made him realise how truly powerful she was.
He also started to analyse her characteristics. She appeared to be cold and emotionless on the outside, but he thought she was shy on the inside.
Whenever he praised her for a quick kill, he noticed a faint blush on her cheeks.
But she also had no shame.
Once, he told her he needed to urinate and asked her to move a bit further away.
She just looked at him with her big, blue eyes and said, "We cannot be left alone in the caverns. What if one of us gets lost?"
She did not even look away.
When he asked her to at least not look at him, her reply was simple.
"What is there that I cannot look at? You also looked at mine. And you even touched mine."
Rhys felt his face turn red. He could not argue with that. Every action and word from her also pointed to the fact that she was not human.
But the System was adamant that this was not true. Its point was that only Divine monsters could shapeshift into a perfect human form.
He had asked the System about the probability of her being a Divine monster.
[There is no way for a Divine monster to be this weak,] the System had replied.
'Weak,' Rhys thought.
He leaned against the cavern wall, closing his eyes. They had been hunting for hours and had now decided to rest.
Yuki rested near him, her head leaning on his shoulder. It felt surprisingly natural.
'If she is weak, then what about me?' he sighed. He gently pushed her face a bit away from his neck.
Who knew if she would suddenly decide to bite his throat for a snack?
[She is strong, that is for sure,] the System said.
[But not as strong as a Divine monster. You remember that Titan, right? To a Divine monster, a Titan is just a small snack. Every Divine monster starts from godhood, after all.]
'If you say so... then what is she?'
[That... I do not know. She is bonded with the Water element. She saw 'freezing' as its property and chose it. And she has defined that freezing to a higher level, to the point she can even freeze time. She is special.]
'Okay, okay, stop glazing. Tell me what you have analysed from her.'
While they fought together, the System had also been analysing her. He had learned a lot about how to sense an element and how to choose a property.
He had already decided which element he would bond with first when he got out of the Labyrinth.
'Dark...' he thought. It felt right. It matched his style.
And the property he would choose...
'Shadow.'
Chapter 36: The amber hive
[The choice is logical,] the System commented. [It has the highest synergy with your current skill set.]
Rhys felt a sense of satisfaction. The System agreed with him. He had thought about it a lot during their hunt.
He was not just picking a random powerful element; he was choosing the one that would make all his other skills stronger.
His mind went over his abilities. His Shadowed Dive Skill Core was all about moving through the darkness. His Ash Veil Profession Core was about hiding his presence.
His Silent Step lifeskill was about moving without a sound. All of these skills were about stealth.
Then there was his weapon, the Shadow-Sting Dagger, and his fighting style, Viper's Kiss. Both were designed for swift, silent, and deadly surprise attacks.
Choosing the Shadow property was the final piece of the puzzle. Shadow is a form of darkness present in every environment, except in absolute darkness itself.
Bonding with the Dark element would neutralise that limitation. It would literally allow him to utilise his element without any drawbacks.
He could become a true ghost, a perfect assassin. Rhys explained his thoughts to the System, knowing it had already guessed them.
'This first build is not about raw power. It is about perfection. I am creating a specialised dantian just for being a thief and an assassin.
All my stealth skills will be linked to it. When I bond it with the Dark element and choose its Shadow property, it will become a perfect engine for that one purpose.'
[A sound strategy,] the System played along.
This was what he liked most about it. The System always gave value to his inputs and tailored its outputs accurately as per his thoughts.
[Focusing on synergy is more efficient than gathering random powerful skills.]
Well, it was not as if he was not getting powerful skills at all. Really.
[You can learn lifeskills through simple exposure to environments, though. Lifeskills can be as powerful as ordinary skills...]
'Yeah, I know.' Rhys smiled.
The main problem he had was not about having no skills, as he could get as many lifeskills as he wanted when exposed to the right environment.
Rather, it was about turning them into profession cores so the power of a lifeskill could reach that of ordinary skills. Monsters dropping core fragments were rare, after all.
He had been using Silent Step for half a day, yet not a single monster he had killed had dropped a core fragment suitable for it.
'Whatever, everything in its own time,' Rhys assured himself, turning to look at Yuki.
Did she think he did not know she was sneakily absorbing his lifespan?
He sighed. Apparently, after swallowing several lifespan crystals, the girl now thought they tasted horrible.
She preferred his own lifespan. Rhys could not help but shake his head.
He wondered why she wanted lifespan just to stay in a human form. Both he and the System speculated that she might be a creation of this labyrinth.
If that was the case, she could not go outside of here unless the labyrinth broke. Rhys was calmed a lot after learning this.
He did not have to worry about her becoming an enemy after clearing this place.
After their rest, they started moving again. They followed the dark, winding tunnel for what felt like hours.
Now, Rhys could fight against a group of bats without injuring himself.
[Lifeskill [Silent Step] has evolved into [Low-distance Jump].]
[[Low-distance Jump]: Anchor to an object within a twenty-metre distance and pull yourself towards it.]
'This is also possible!' Rhys was surprised. He turned to look at a stone in the distance, activating Low-distance Jump.
However, to his horror, the small stone he had anchored to was pulled towards him, hitting him straight in the forehead.
"Ouch!" Rhys fell to the ground on his backside and cursed silently in pain. Yuki stared down at him in doubt, then looked at the stone on the ground.
"Human, why did you throw a stone at yourself?" she asked, perplexed.
"Nothing, just checking something. Haha," Rhys pulled himself off the ground and laughed awkwardly as he walked ahead.
Yuki stared at his almost-running back and muttered in a voice he clearly heard, "Strange... this human is strange."
As they walked, the blue light of the glowing crystals began to fade behind them. A new, warmer light appeared in the distance.
The sound of dripping water and the strange whispers disappeared. A new sound replaced them.
It was a low, humming noise, like thousands of insects buzzing at once. They walked out of the tunnel and into a new area.
Rhys stopped, his eyes wide with awe.
They were in a vast, open space. It was like the inside of a giant beehive. The walls, the floor, and the high ceiling were all made of a beautiful, golden, amber-like crystal.
The entire cavern was built from perfect, hexagonal patterns. The warm, golden light was coming from the crystal walls themselves.
The air was warm and smelled sweet, like honey or tree resin. It was a complete change from the cold, dark, and grey worlds they had been in before.
It was beautiful, but Rhys felt a sense of danger.
They began to explore the new area cautiously. Soon, they saw the inhabitants of this strange, golden world.
They were ants. But they were not normal ants. Their bodies were made of the same amber crystal as the walls.
They had six sharp, crystalline legs that made a soft clicking sound as they walked. Embedded in the back of each ant was a glowing gem.
The gems were different colours; some were red, some were blue, and some were green. The gem seemed to be their core, their power source.
[Crystal Worker Ant] [Bloodline: Ordinary-Grade]
[Cultivation: Stage 1 (Low)]
[Description: A hive-based creature composed of magically conductive crystal. Its behaviour is dictated by the hive's collective consciousness. Highly social and aggressive towards intruders.]
The ants moved in long, organised lines. They crawled up the hexagonal walls and disappeared into dark, hexagonal tunnels.
They were like a perfectly disciplined army. Rhys and Yuki watched them from a distance. They were careful not to get too close.
But the hive was a busy place. As they tried to sneak past one of the main pathways, a line of worker ants suddenly stopped.
Their glowing gems all turned towards Rhys and Yuki. Then, a high-pitched chittering sound filled the air.
The attack was sudden and overwhelming. Hundreds of crystal ants poured out from the hexagonal tunnels in the walls.
They swarmed towards Rhys and Yuki from all directions. The air was filled with the loud clicking sound of their crystal legs.
"Here they come," Rhys smiled, activating Shadowed Dive. His body seemed to dissolve into a blur of motion as he moved through the swarm of ants like a phantom.
His dagger was a flash of black light. With every strike, a crystal ant shattered into pieces.
Yuki acted at the same time. She did not use a big, powerful attack. She knew she had to conserve her energy.
Instead, she waved her hands. Thick walls of black ice shot up from the ground, blocking the tunnels from which the ants were coming.
She trapped small groups of ants between the walls and then sent a wave of cold air to freeze them solid.
The fight was chaotic. The ants were not strong individually, but there were so many of them. They were a sea of sharp, crystal legs and snapping mandibles.
Rhys had to keep moving. If he stood still for even a second, he would be overwhelmed. He fought for what felt like an eternity. His arms ached.
He was breathing heavily. But the swarm of ants seemed endless.
Then, in the middle of the chaotic fight, a new ant emerged from the largest tunnel.
[Feral-Grade Crystal Lancer detected.]
Chapter 37: Feral Monster
Aiden Thorne brought his heavy sword down. The blade crunched through the amber crystal body of an ant.
The creature shattered into a hundred sharp pieces. He felt a sense of satisfaction. This was much better.
His group, a combined team of Thorne and Sterling disciples, moved carefully through the hexagonal tunnels of the Crystalline Hive.
They were hunting the crystal ants. Everyone was happy. The rewards were good. The crystal shards could be sold for a high price.
The glowing gems on the ants' backs were pure elemental cores. They were very valuable for a Body Tempering cultivator to sense an element and bond with.
If the labyrinth did not have a level cap, he would have already broken through to Tier 2. They were also very valuable for weapon smithing.
With the profession core their team had found, his uncle could become a true weapon smith. Aiden could hardly control his grin.
But the best part was that these monsters were easy. They were weak, and they attacked in predictable lines.
Most importantly, they did not revive. When they were killed, they stayed dead. Aiden felt a wave of relief.
This was a welcome change from the last area.
He cursed as he thought about the bat caverns. The Shriek Bats had been a disaster. They were not strong, but they revived again and again.
A single bat could come back to life more than two times. It was a battle of attrition, and they had lost a lot of good disciples.
He looked down at the simple, black band on his wrist. It was a device given to them by their families. It showed the total number of survivors in the Labyrinth.
The glowing numbers read 900/1002.
One hundred and two disciples were already dead. He felt a small pang of loss, but it was quickly replaced by a cold, practical thought.
'At least everyone else is losing members too,' he reassured himself. This was a competition. Every family that lost a disciple was a family that was falling behind.
"It's lucky there aren't many of those ants," a voice whined from behind him. Aiden turned. His older brother, Tiberius, was wiping sweat from his face.
He was hiding behind three other Thorne disciples. Those three disciples were trying their best to fight off a small swarm of ants.
Tiberius was just watching. Aiden looked at him with disgust.
What a coward.
His brother was supposed to be a leader, a proud warrior of the Thorne family. Instead, he was a useless piece of trash who hid behind others.
'If not for our shared blood, I would have abandoned him in those bat caves,' Aiden thought.
He felt a flash of cold anger. He knew Tiberius was only here because of his name.
He turned away from his brother. He did not want to look at him anymore. His gaze fell on Anya Sterling.
She was at the front of the group, leading them through the winding tunnels. For some unknown reason, she had become very silent after they had entered the ash plains.
She had not said a word for hours. Aiden frowned.
Her silence was strange, but he said nothing. He did not care if she was speaking or not, as long as she was leading them correctly.
Her 'Pathseeker's' ability was too useful to question. She was the reason they were finding the richest tunnels full of ants.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of hunting, they saw it: a bright light at the end of the tunnel. It was the exit.
A feeling of excitement spread through the group. They were finally leaving this strange, golden place. They started to walk faster, their steps echoing in the crystal tunnel.
They were excited to see what the next area of the Labyrinth looked like. That was when they heard it.
A horrifying shriek.
It was a sound of pure rage and pain. It was loud and piercing. It echoed through the tunnels and made the crystal walls vibrate.
Everyone froze. The excitement and relief on their faces were replaced with fear.
The disciples looked around nervously, their hands tightening on their weapons.
Anya stopped walking. She was staring at the exit of the tunnel.
"A Feral," she muttered. Her voice was low and tense.
Aiden felt his heart beat faster. A Feral. They had not faced a single Feral monster since entering the Labyrinth.
He had heard stories from the decoy team about how difficult they were.
"Someone is fighting it," Anya continued. Her eyes had changed.
A faint, green light was glowing in them. She was using her Trait.
"Is it another team?" Aiden asked immediately. He glanced down at his wristband and breathed a sigh of relief.
The device showed that no other family group was nearby.
"There is no one near us."
"No," Anya said. Her voice was a strange whisper. "Not a team."
She was staring into the distance, her eyes focused on something only she could see. The green light in her eyes grew brighter.
She looked confused, and then shocked.
"It's a single person," she said.
Aiden felt a sense of disbelief. A single person was fighting a Feral? That was impossible. It was suicide.
Anya continued to stare, her expression becoming more and more strange. She looked as if she was seeing a ghost.
"And a corpse," she muttered, her voice barely audible.
*
* *
[Feral-Grade Crystal Lancer detected.]
Rhys licked his lips, his body trembling with excitement as he stared at the monster emerging from the distance.
[Crystal Lancer]
[Bloodline: Feral-Grade]
[Cultivation: Stage 1 (Peak)]
[Description: An elite soldier of the crystal hive. Its body is composed of a more durable, blood-red crystal. It possesses rudimentary intelligence and can channel focused energy attacks through its core.]
It was much bigger than the others. It was easily the size of a horse. Its crystal body was not amber; it was a deep, blood-red colour.
The gem on its back was bigger than Rhys's head. It glowed with a fierce, pulsating red light. Its mandibles were larger and sharper than the others.
The Feral ant demonstrated its power immediately as it let out a loud shriek. His eardrums shattered instantly as dark blood flowed out of his ears.
The world went silent, replaced by a painful, high-pitched ringing in his head. The shriek was not just a sound; it was a physical force, a wave of pure vibration that slammed into him.
He felt his bones rattle and his organs shake. The pain was immense, and he fell to one knee, feeling dizzy and sick.
Yuki was by his side in an instant. She shook him, probably trying to see if he was okay. Rhys merely smiled.
'I am not okay, really,' his gaze turned sharp, looking at the ant. It would die horribly.
But then, something inside him changed. His Void-Tempered Immortal Body, in its constant effort to survive, reacted to the new threat.
The intense vibration was a unique and dangerous environmental pressure. His body began to adapt. The overwhelming pain started to lessen.
Instead of just feeling a destructive force, Rhys began to feel the frequency of the sound wave. His bones began to hum in a specific rhythm, matching the shriek.
His muscles tensed and relaxed, creating a counter-vibration that neutralised the attack.
His body was learning the "song" of the shriek and learning how to sing along in a way that protected him.
[Host has sustained critical damage from a high-frequency sonic attack.]
[The Void-Tempered Immortal Body is adapting to the vibrational frequency to prevent further structural damage.]
[A new lifeskill is being formed...]
[Lifeskill [Internal Resonance] has been acquired.]
Chapter 38: Feral Monster -2
Rhys was on one knee.
His ears were bleeding from the Feral ant's sonic shriek. The world was silent except for a painful ringing in his head.
He felt the new lifeskill, Internal Resonance, take hold inside him. It was a strange feeling. The painful, destructive vibration that had shaken his bones became a manageable hum.
It was as if his body had learned the frequency of the sound and was now vibrating along with it, cancelling out the damage.
His body's flawless regeneration kicked in immediately. He could feel the torn tissues of his eardrums knitting themselves back together.
Within seconds, the painful ringing faded. His hearing returned, though everything sounded muffled, as if he were underwater.
'System, what does this skill do?' he asked in his mind. A blue screen appeared with a clear explanation.
[Internal Resonance (Uninitiated): Allows the user's body to subconsciously match and neutralise harmful sonic frequencies, greatly reducing damage from sound-based attacks.]
[Burning lifespan to increase mastery...]
[Internal Resonance -> Perfection]
Yuki raised her hand, preparing to end the fight with one of her powerful ice attacks.
"Yuki, wait!" Rhys shouted, holding her hand.
Supported by her, he stood up. He felt a grim satisfaction. The monster's greatest weapon was now useless against him.
He looked at the giant, red Feral ant. It was still shrieking, but the sound no longer hurt him.
Yuki was watching him with a neutral expression on her face, but he could see the trembles in her hands as she held back from ending the monster in one strike.
Rhys took her hand in his.
"Mine," he murmured in her ear in a flirty tone. Ignoring the red on her face, he walked into the battlefield.
The fight began.
The Feral Lancer shrieked again. This time, Rhys felt the vibration wash over him, but it did not hurt.
He used Low-distance Jump, pulling himself towards a worker ant and activating Shadowed Dive to kill it before it could even see him.
Boom.
The place where he landed exploded as dust burst into the surroundings. The Feral Lancer thrashed around, its big head turning left and right, trying to find him.
'It seems it only detects with sound-based skills,' Rhys muttered to himself.
[Yes.]
'Then it's simple...'
Rhys continued moving, killing worker ants as he moved closer to the Lancer. When he saw an opening, he struck.
His dagger scraped against the hard red armour, making a loud, grating sound. Apart from a thin scratch, it did no real damage.
'Its defence is too strong...'
The Feral became frustrated. Its movements kicked up a lot of fine, golden crystal dust from the shattered bodies of the worker ants.
The air became thick with the glittering dust. Rhys saw an opportunity. He used his Ash Veil ability. The skill was not just for ash; it could manipulate any fine dust particles.
He commanded the golden crystal dust. It swirled up, creating a thick, golden cloud around the Feral ant.
The Feral became confused. Its vision was completely obscured by the swirling dust. It could not see him anymore. The Feral became desperate.
It unleashed another powerful sonic shriek, this time in all directions. It was trying to find him inside the dust cloud.
The perfected Internal Resonance skill protected Rhys from the blast. He felt the hum, but it did not affect him.
The battle fell to his advantage until the gem on the Feral's back began to glow with a bright red light.
"Fuck."
Rhys pulled himself to a corner and jumped behind a boulder as a flash of a red beam illuminated the entire opening.
For a few fractions of a second there was no sound, then an overwhelming shockwave yanked his body back into the hard walls.
"Cough."
Rhys coughed up blood, allowing his constitution to heal as he turned to look at Yuki. She stood among the falling debris of the attack as it all froze in mid-air around her.
She moved her hands, throwing all this debris towards...
"Yuki... fuck you!"
...him.
Rhys used Low-distance Jump on Yuki, and both of their bodies were pulled towards each other. He turned slightly, catching her in mid-air and putting her over his shoulder.
Then...
Spank.
"Human, why did you hit my ass?" she actually sounded wronged.
Spank.
"Y-you are a big bully."
Rhys delivered another spank as he felt warm tears on his shoulder.
"Why did you throw that debris at me?"
"I didn't mean it! You happened to be where I could throw it!"
"Still..."
"Skreee!"
"Ugh, let's finish this ant, then we can talk."
With another jump, Rhys reached a position above the Lancer. He used his Viper's Kiss dagger technique. He did not aim for the thick armour.
He aimed for the joints in the Feral's legs and neck; the small gaps where the crystal plates connected. He managed to chip away small pieces of its crystal armour.
He was damaging it, but it was a very slow process. The Feral was incredibly tough.
Rhys saw his chance. The Feral was momentarily off-balance after firing another energy beam into the empty dust cloud.
He looked up.
He saw a large, sharp crystal hanging from the hexagonal ceiling. It was directly above the Feral ant.
A plan formed in his head as he anchored himself to the crystal, his body pulling upwards with incredible speed.
He flew over the Feral's head, landing silently on the ceiling like a spider. As he hung in the air for a second, he pushed off the ceiling with his feet.
Twisting his body in mid-air, he landed forcefully on the crystal, breaking it off from the ceiling.
Bam!
There was a loud cracking sound. The crystal, together with him, fell upon the Lancer, squashing it to death. It was dead.
"Huff... finally."
The remaining worker ants became confused without their leader. They stopped attacking. They turned and retreated back into their dark, hexagonal tunnels.
The battlefield became quiet. Rhys was breathing heavily. His arms and legs ached from the long fight.
But he felt a deep sense of victory. He had defeated a Feral, alone.
"Human, that was too long for a fight."
Rhys's lips twitched. He knew it. Ferals were not easy to kill.
He was sure this monster might have been the weakest among Ferals, yet it still took great effort and factors other than strength alone to take it down.
'I am still weak,' Rhys sighed.
The Feral Lancer's body began to dissolve into a cloud of purple light. It left behind three items on the ground.
The first item was a thin, stone tablet. It felt warm to the touch. It was a skill scroll.
[Skill Scroll: Sonic Burst.]
[Grade: Earth (Low).]
[Allows the user to release a focused blast of sound to disorient enemies.]
'Finally, a skill...' And a earth graded one!
The second item was a blank, grey sphere. It looked like a simple stone, but it was what excited him most.
[Empty Skill Core detected. This item can be used to instantly convert a mastered lifeskill into an Ordinary-Grade Skill Core without the need to collect 100 fragments.]
It did not have any restrictions, meaning he could choose which skill should be turned into a Skill Core. This was an incredibly valuable treasure.
The third item was a small, swirling ball of clear energy. Rhys could feel a light breeze coming from it. The System analysed it.
[Element Ball (Wind) has been acquired. This contains a pure, unbonded essence of the Wind element.]
Chapter 39: He's too strong... My brea—no, my heart is itching.
The System explained how the ant had got its sound skill. It had bonded with the Wind element. But its simple mind could not understand the complex nature of wind.
It had perceived the wind only as "vibration" and "sound." That was how it developed its powerful shriek attack.
Rhys frowned.
"Wind?" he muttered to himself.
That did not make sense. What had been lacking in the caverns until now was wind. Even a small breeze was absent.
The air was still and heavy. Where did the ant find wind to bond with?
He felt as if he was missing a piece of a larger puzzle. He chose to forget that for now. He had more immediate problems.
"Juice Box," Yuki's voice said quietly from beside him. "Some other humans are hiding."
Rhys did not look surprised. He had already sensed them during the fight. With his heightened senses, he could accurately pinpoint their presence at the edge of the cavern.
He had fought while bloacking his appearance from them.
They had been watching the whole time. He slowly put his treasures into his spatial pouch. He then reached up and took out his Shadowcat Pelt Mask.
He calmly put it on. The ash-caked mask covered his face, hiding his identity. He turned around to face them.
*
* *
Anya stared from the shadows of the tunnel exit. She felt stunned. She felt horrified. And she felt a strange, thrilling fascination.
'He is that man,' she thought, recalling the man who had almost killed her.
Her hands trembled as she replayed the fight in her mind. The fight she had just witnessed was impossible.
A single person had taken down a Feral-Grade monster!
He had not just defeated it; he had dominated it. His movements were like a ghost. He used the environment, his skills, and his intelligence in a perfect, deadly hunt.
Like a true predator.
The more horrifying fact was that, rather than feeling fear, her heart fluttered with a thrill.
She remembered the words her grandfather had said before.
"The great Kaelon was a fearsome warrior. He was a man who could kill a spiritual beast with his bare hands. A man who was a terrifying expert. But that same man tumbled before a Feral and died under an Elite."
Yet he was called a prodigy who appeared once in a century. Whereas this man had just killed a Feral in ten minutes.
She made a mental note.
Never offend this man.
He was on a completely different level from them.
'Can he fight an Elite?' Anya shook off that absurd thought.
Still, the possibility of it almost took her breath away.
'How can I become acquainted with him?' she thought.
For the future of her family, she was ready to sacrifice her soul... no... body to...
Her face burned. Before she could return to her calm and collected state, a haughty voice sounded from her group.
"Boy, how dare you steal from our Thorne family?"
That was the exact moment the stupid Tiberius Thorne decided to open his foolish, smelly mouth.
Fuck.
Anya sharply glared at him, causing him to flinch. But rather than understanding her order to be silent, he added, "...and from the Sterlings."
A pin-drop silence commenced in the surroundings. Anya turned to look at Aiden. His face mirrored her own expression of shock and disbelief.
He seemed frozen, unable to even stop his foolish brother from speaking further. Tiberius seemed to like the attention he was getting.
He mistook the shocked gazes of the group as looks of awe. He puffed out his chest and continued, his voice full of arrogance.
"We men of the Thorne family are not bullies," he declared, taking a step out of the tunnel.
"Leave what you have taken from that beast behind, and you can save yourself."
He never wanted to let them go. The killing intent in his eyes was evident. She could guess his reasoning.
After all, these two people were not from any of the great families. Still, why did this fool not understand their situation now?
Anya cursed internally, unable to speak as she was terrified. She was going to slap the stupid boy back to his senses when she noticed how his eyes moved from the masked man to the beautiful, silver-haired girl—no, corpse—standing beside him.
The glint in his eyes was too familiar to her as a woman.
'No... no...'
Tiberius licked his lips with a disgusting expression.
"Also, leave that beauty behind for me t—"
He did not get a chance to speak further. A thin, red line appeared on his forehead. For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, the line split open. White brain matter and dark blood jumped out from the cut. His creepy grin was forever frozen on his face as his body fell lifelessly.
Every head turned to the silver-haired woman. She had just raised her hand for a split second. Now, she was slowly retracting it, her expression as blank and indifferent as ever.
Silence.
The entire cavern was completely silent.
The Thorne and Sterling disciples stared at the body of the dead heir, their faces pale with shock and terror.
"Well," the masked man finally spoke. His voice was a low, calm rumble, but it sent shivers down Anya's spine.
Her legs almost gave out. The sound of his voice was powerful. It was filled with a confidence she had never heard before.
'How wonderful,' she thought, a strange sense of awe filling her.
"Yuki," the masked man said, turning to the silver-haired woman. "I don't like violence, you know?"
He said it in a soft, chiding tone. It was like a man scolding a naughty pet.
The corpse, the terrifying being who had just killed a Thorne heir with a single swipe of her hand, stared back at him.
Anya saw an expression of accusation in her light blue eyes.
She gulped. A being so powerful was acting like a tamed beast in front of this man. How strong was he?
Wait. Anya's mind suddenly focused on a different problem. She wanted to ask how someone like you could enter this place with such strength, but what came out was—
"How did you enter here?" she asked. Her voice was a little shaky.
Fuck.
The masked man turned his head. His pitch-black eyes, visible through the mask, focused on her.
"I entered through the entrance," he said simply.
"You are ly-lying," Aiden Thorne finally spoke. He was smart; Anya gave him a thumbs up for that. Even after seeing his own brother die before him, he had not lost his senses.
Yet. She peeked at her own sister and shook her head, seeing the pale, mortified face. Luckily, Luna was a coward who froze in danger.
At least she would never offend him. Aiden swallowed hard, trying to make his voice sound less sharp and scared.
"Only those with an identification token from the five families can enter here."
"But I entered through the entrance," the masked man repeated. "And I did not have an identification token. It seems there is no real restriction, I guess."
His voice was calm, but Anya could hear the mockery in his words. Aiden clenched his fists. His face was red with anger.
When had he ever been treated like this? He was the proud heir of the Thorne family. But he could only suppress his anger.
He knew that if he acted, he would end up just like his brother.
"Are you the one who was attacked by the ancestors for intrud—" Aiden started to ask.
"Intruding?" the masked man laughed. It was a cold, humourless sound. "I just walked into a place that was open for everyone. How is that intruding?"
His voice suddenly turned cold.
"Or are you lot saying this labyrinth is monopolised by you?"
The dust in the surroundings started to churn. The fine, golden crystal dust on the ground began to rise into the air. Sharp particles seemed to form in the swirling dust cloud.
A shockwave, silent but lethal, was carried on his voice. It hit the disciples like a physical blow. The weaker disciples fell to their knees.
Blood started to trickle from their ears. They cried out in pain. Only Anya, Aiden, and a few of the stronger disciples managed to stay on their feet.
But even they staggered back, their faces pale.
"N-no... I-I am..." Aiden stammered. He was trying to apologise, but he was too scared to form the words.
"Enough of this chat," the masked man said, his voice cutting through the air like a knife.
"Drop everything you have collected."
"Wh—" a young Thorne disciple opened his mouth to protest.
"I said, DROP."
Chapter 40: The sunken city of Aethal
Rhys had already learned the skill Sonic Burst while the disciples of the two great families were deadlocked with him.
The System had upgraded its mastery to perfection. By simply activating it, he had applied the skill through his speech. Sure enough, it worked.
A simple word from him had made almost every disciple fall to their knees.
"I said, DROP."
His voice was not loud, but the sound blasted through the atmosphere and into their eardrums. It was a wave of pure force that made their heads spin and their bodies weak.
Anya Sterling did not hesitate. She quickly took off her spatial pouch and threw all of its contents onto the ground in front of her.
A pile of crystal shards, elemental gems, and a few old scrolls appeared on the floor.
"Oh, you are a smart one," Rhys praised. He did not need their spatial pouches. After all, he could not store them in his own unless he obtained a space ring.
The girl appeared to be intimidated by him. She swallowed hard, lowering her head. Seeing her actions, the other disciples of the Sterling family followed.
Although they were unwilling, they all emptied their pouches. He turned to look at Aiden, who was clenching his fists.
"Do you want to skip the tax?" Rhys raised his brows, his voice threatening.
Aiden lowered his hands. With suppressed anger and humiliation, he also emptied his pouch. Rhys knew an enmity had been formed already.
He preferred avoiding trouble if possible. Perhaps he could leave now and steal from them later, as he had done before. But he had other reasons.
'The great families have been friendly for a long time. It's time to break that,' he thought.
[How?] the System asked.
'Wait and see.'
He moved his hand. The dust on the ground responded to his will. Swirls of golden crystal dust rose from the ground. They wrapped around all the treasures on the floor.
The dust then flew towards him, carrying the loot with it. He felt a sense of satisfaction as everything disappeared into his own spatial pouch.
'Lucky mine isn't filled yet. But it will be in a few days,' Rhys thought.
He made a plan to get a bigger spatial pouch, or even better, a space ring.
He gave the group of scared disciples one last, cold look. Rhys actually felt no guilt. As he had said, it was their tax for monopolising the whole labyrinth.
He was doing free labour for the rest of humanity in the province. He turned to look at Yuki, who was now staring daggers at Anya Sterling.
Anya trembled under her gaze.
'What happened?' Rhys wondered.
[Does she want to eat her?]
'No way, right?' Rhys pulled Yuki's hand, motioning for her to turn.
Yuki tore her gaze away from Anya, a bit unwillingly, then allowed him to pull her along. Then, both of them melted into the shadows, disappearing into one of the tunnels.
As they walked along the tunnel, Yuki glanced at him from time to time without speaking.
"What is it? A bug on my face?" he tilted his head.
"Juice box, you seem so drinkable. Random bugs all want my share."
"Wait, what does that even mean?" Rhys was perplexed.
Yuki said nothing as she walked ahead. Rhys shrugged, walking behind her. They walked deeper into the tunnel.
He looked at the golden, hexagonal tunnels that seemed to go on forever. He could hear the low humming sound of the hive all around them.
They continued their hunt as they travelled. To Rhys, the ordinary worker ants were no longer a threat. They were just a source of materials and a way for him to practise his skills.
Rhys moved in front. His dagger felt like an extension of his arm, a black blur in the golden light of the cavern.
He used Shadowed Dive, feeling his body move from one shadow to another. He shattered every ant that came near them with a single, precise strike.
Yuki followed behind him. She was always watching, as if she was enjoying a picnic. Strangely, she had asked him for life energy more than two times in the last hour.
'Strange,' Rhys thought. He leaned against a wall, watching Yuki lean on his shoulder and absorb his life energy.
'Is she starting to get addicted to my life energy?' For some reason, it appeared she was craving his life energy more than ever.
The hunt continued. Rhys had perfectly saturated his constitution. Now he just had to bond with an element and break through to the next tier.
'Will there be a way I can break through here?' he knew it was impossible.
[Actually, you can bond with elements and choose their properties. But you cannot use them unless you break through and form a foundation. Also, you have to form 108 foundations, by the way.]
"What?"
His sound startled Yuki, who raised her head to stare at his face. For a moment, both of their faces were very close.
Rhys could feel the soft touch of her lips against his. He gulped. Just as he felt he was going to do something not suitable for work, she leaned back onto his shoulder, continuing her absorption.
Rhys breathed a sigh of relief.
'That was so close. She almost took my first kiss.'
[...]
Hours passed. Rhys had killed thousands of ants. He looked back at their path, which was littered with broken, amber-coloured crystal shards.
He could smell the sweet scent of resin in the air.
"Do you know what is next?" Rhys asked Yuki, breaking the long silence. He was getting tired of the endless, identical tunnels. He wanted to see something new.
Yuki looked ahead, down the dark tunnel.
"A quiet place," she said. "And a bit wet."
"Helpful as always," Rhys muttered to himself. He felt a familiar frustration with her simple and vague answers.
Finally, he saw an end to the tunnel. The warm, golden light of the hive faded behind them. He stepped out into another vast, open cavern. And he understood what she meant by 'wet'.
"Is this a bit wet to you?" he rolled his eyes, pointing at the large lake spread before him.
His eyes could not see its ends. It was that vast, almost like an ocean. He looked at the water. It was perfectly clear and still.
He looked up. The ceiling of the cavern was high above them, covered in glowing blue crystals that looked like stars in a night sky.
And at the bottom of the lake, shrouded in a dim, magical light were the ruins of an entire city.
He saw towers and bridges, draped in strange, glowing seaweed, standing silently in the crushing depths.
Soft light came from the bioluminescent moss and strange, glowing flora that grew on the old stone buildings.
It was beautiful, it was haunting. And it was terrifying.
"It wasn't underwater before. The city," the confused voice of Yuki sounded from behind him. She walked near the lake and knelt beside it.
"There were people... a lot of people. Where did all of them go?"
"People? Humans?" Rhys asked.
Yuki frowned. Confusion crept into her blue pupils as her brows furrowed.
"I-I don't know. They were people. People are people," she said, looking up at him as innocently as always.
Rhys sighed, patting her head.
"We have to go down there, don't we?" Rhys asked. He already knew the answer. The path forward was always through the most dangerous place.
"The path is at the bottom," Yuki said, confirming his fears. "In the City of Aethel."