Being trapped within this labyrinth, was an oddly calm, yet stressful experience. While tracking the passage of time had become almost impossible, due to our inability to observe the typical day and night cycles up on Solara’s surface, it had been approximately 2 weeks since Inari, Raya and myself, became trapped here, by Daemonium. Thankfully, having a handy all-powerful deity at your beck and command, made keeping track of the little things so much easier. I knew that deep down inside, if I wasn’t able to remember how long we had been trappe—
[Humph! I will have you know, mortal, that I am much more useful than a mere tool for communicating the passage of time! The nerve of yourself to think so little of me! Besides, you have much more... Pressing matters to attend to!]
...
Regardless, our leveling process was unfortunately beginning to slow, as our power gradually approached that of the usual goblin we had been luring to the 50th floor for experience. Truthfully, I had become rather fond of our green skinned demonic friend, for without his help, the unifying goal we held for reaching the surface, would be but a fleeting desire. During this time, we had managed to “farm” the goblin, which I had decided to name Francis, and reached level 45. All of us, could now easily eliminate a basic goblin from the 51st floor without issue. Additionally, we had also managed to train Raya in the usage of incantationless casting, where she was now able to cast all of her usual spells without issue. Furthermore, Coileene was able to share some of her limited power with the commander, such that her status values were now within an acceptable range of Inari and myself. However, we were now faced with an even greater problem for our survival.
Food.
I was initially hopeful that we would have been making actual progress deeper into the labyrinth by now, but, it seems that for how this world functions, it becomes exponentially harder to level up when you only slay creatures within a close power threshold to your own, even if you have the blessings from a god... Since the goblin we had been farming was level 51, and our levels were 45, the rate of growth had plummeted, such that we were only gaining 1 level a day now. As such, our rations of fried tofu dishes, had become exhausted.
[Come now Ko, it’s not that bad. After all, now you’ll finally be able to expand your palate to experience what I’ve been forced to suffer through during your... Survival plan...]
Look, just because you’ve been absorbing goblin essence for 2 weeks, doesn’t make me want to try it myself! It’s... It’s just...!
[Hahaha!]
Presently, Inari, Raya, Coileene, and myself, were huddled around a campfire we had built, staring at the deceased corpse, of Francis. While we had become rather methodical during our hunting practice, experimenting with several... Unique ways to keep mindlessly killing goblins... Fresh, we were all dreading what our next logical solution for our current lack of sustenance entailed. The world serpent, in her infinite wisdom to help us survive, had suggested we eat the flesh from the goblin we had been killing, in order to provide our bodies with the basic nutrients we required. All living things, require energy to survive, with the basic requirements roughly being: protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Without these 3, our bodies would struggle to continue operating our fleshy vehicles in an efficient manner. While I’m sure many within the field of biochemistry and nutritional science would be frothing at the seams for my gross oversimplification of this complex biological process, we clearly needed something to eat if we were to continue living down here.
“Ko... Do... Do we really... Have to...? I... I mean... I don’t want to eat goblin fles—”
“Oh please little fox, it really isn’t all that bad. If you cook any slab of meat long enough, it will be perfectly acceptable for even the most sensitive of palates.”
“But Coileene... That’s not what I—”
Yeah... While Inari was currently talking to Coileene in a very somber voice, I feel her thoughts clearly matched what Raya and I were also thinking. Eating goblins... Was this really our only option...?
Hesitant, and, repulsed at my actions, I carefully started using my sword to sever one of the goblin’s legs, isolating the thigh as best I could. Reddish and purple dark blood, oozed from the uncomfortable meat slab, as I slowly placed it on top of a thin rock grill, that Raya had managed to shape with her earth magic. Then, placing the improvised and crude grilling platform overtop of the campfire, we all stared in disgust as the meat slowly began to cook, changing from it’s raw red and purple colour, into a... Vaguely familiar brown sear...
...
After roughly 20 minutes of cooking and flipping the revolting piece of protein, it finally appeared to be... “Cooked”. All of our faces were filled with a sickening display, while Coileene was merely flicking her tongue at us, cackling lightly to herself. Then, waiting another 3 minutes to give whatever fats and juices remained inside the meat an... Appropriate amount of time to continue cooking and reabsorbing into our meal, I offered to be the first test subject in sampling our new delicacy.
Grabbing the cooked thigh, and, shakenly bringing it closer to my mouth, I closed my eyes, just as my teeth and nostrils were graced with the ominous meat’s... Refined flavour. Taking a bite, I calmly tried to convince myself that it was just an abnormal piece of chicken. Something sketchy, like a... Mystery meat deep discount package labelled “chicken”. You know, one of those questionable packages sold at 70% savings, which expired several days ago... Ya, that’s right Ko, it’s just chicken... Just a... Really... Weird... Piece of—
*Guag!*
Gagging violently to bring some sense of relief to my throbbing esophagus and gut, I was barely managing to keep the worst meal in existence somewhat inside of my stomach. While the flesh had been a somewhat crispy texture, any pleasantries of a refined meal ended rather abruptly once the actual meat’s flavour graced my cowering tastebuds. The goblin meat, for lack of a better word, instinctively reminded my body of rotting, decayed flesh. Something so unnatural, so unconsumable, that any sane being would immediately expel the contents of their stomach if this insult to culinary cuisine somehow managed to grace their lips. Finally, after gathering my resolve, I somehow managed to swallow the meat, ending my bite with another gut-retching cough.
Looking up, Inari and Raya’s face had become somewhat pale, probably due to observing my reaction to the, clearly appetizing meal. If... If this is how we had to compensate without any food, I was already starting to dread what would happen once our dwindling water supplies began to run dry.
...
...
...
Another 2 weeks passed by, and fortunately, my concern regarding our supply of water ended up being a non-issue. With magic, it appeared that we could simply conjure water on a whim, so long as we had an appropriate amount of MP to convert the typeless particles in our vicinity, into the water element. Truthfully, I was intrigued at the blatant disregard for something called the “conservation of energy”, but it appeared us being trapped on the 50th floor was not a closed system of sorts from a mana particle perspective. As it would appear, mana particles seemingly just... “Poofed” into existence, after some indiscernible amount of time had passed. When I tried questioning Coileene about this phenomenon, she simply told me that I shouldn’t bother trying to apply the concept of science to magic, and that I should just accept the universe she had created. While this annoyed me slightly, I was still somewhat relieved we had one less thing to worry about for our survival. As such, I made a note with Inari that we should investigate how magic functioned on a more scientific level, once we finally made it back to the surface.
...
...
...
Another week passed, and we had finally decided on a reckless action plan, partially driven by being down here for just over a month, and, wanting to potentially experience something else to eat besides goblin meat. We had finally, after an incredible amount of goblin kills, reached level 57 across the party, and were now eager to officially take on the 51st floor in earnest. While we could have probably attempted the floor at a much lower level, we wanted to eliminate any possibilities for failure. Based on our status growth, level 57 appeared to be the optimal status values for handling all of the various goblin variants that were present along the floor. At current, all of us were triple checking and reviewing the assault plan we had drafted together, after meticulously observing all of the goblins in excessive detail.
From our observations, there appeared to be no variation between respawns, even after we had eliminated some of the stronger variants. While this appeared to defy the known labyrinth rules from earlier, the working hypothesis, was that since this section of the dungeon was “technically” a hidden trial, it was designed to pose a consistent challenge at all times. This fortunately had the benefit of making our planning, that much easier.
Battle plan #777 – Hope, was to be our guiding force to show it was actually possible to make it out of this labyrinth. Essentially, our goal was to eliminate the weaker variants by utilizing stealth and images to “replicate” them, so to speak. Inari, would mask all of our presences with an illusion spell, then we would slowly eliminate all of the basic goblin guards, and replace their bodies with an image. Next, we would move onto the hobgoblins and goblin knights, which would ultimately leave just the goblin shamans and kings. Assuming everything went according to plan, we would only have to contend with 3 kings, and 15 shamans.
Once the main engagement was to begin, Raya would join me at the front, utilizing her earth magic affinity to draw the attention of the goblin kings, while I swiftly dispatched the goblin shamans in the rear. Inari, would be supporting us with barriers, heals, and hex magic where appropriate. Additionally, she would call out any changes needed based on the evolving battle scene. We had never actually engaged these stronger variants before, and there was very limited information regarding the combat capabilities of the goblin kings in particular, so her insight would be critical in determining if we needed to retreat from the floor to reevaluate our strategy. Assuming no unexpected developments, the remaining goblin kings would then be restrained by my chains, before finally being eliminated from the disk beam attack. Nodding towards the group, Inari covered us with her illusion magic, then we stepped into the 51st floor to begin our assault.
Even after experiencing her magic countless times, it continued to amaze me how versatile illusion magic was in its functionality. Looking at my hands, while disorienting, was internally a cool sight to behold. My entire presence had become translucent, yet my brain could still make sense of my limbs position in 3-dimensional space with ease, despite the visual discrepancy. Additionally, while the spell was typically used to mask one’s visual and mana presence, it could also alter what I had decided to call “surface values”, such as those obtained from an appraisal result. In a sense, concealment and modifications were only limited by your imagination, the believability of your adjustments, and the weaving capabilities of the caster. When all of this became apparent, it was suddenly very easy to become skeptical of all the information you were viewing about the world through appraisal, with the only counter being “just detect the illusion”.
Still slightly nervous, I decided to refocus my thoughts as we continued our cautious approach towards our first target; Francis. As expected, he was staring off to the side of the main goblin encampment with a bewildered look, oblivious to the countless deaths our party had become so accustomed to delivering to him. Not wanting to disappoint our goblin friend, I readjusted the grip on my blade, before creeping with striking distance. Glancing at Inari, and noticing she was prepared with her replacement image spell primed, I firmly clasp my right hand around the goblin’s mouth, activating a small sound nullification spell, while severing the creature’s neck from behind with my sword. A brutal assassination. Originally, I had assumed that such attacks would be most effective when severing the neck from the front, as with how most T.V. shows and video games portraited such take downs, however, it was actually more efficient when executed at the nape of the neck. In a crash course on anatomy from Inari, the “technical” explanation was that severing the throat would cause an explosion of blood, due to rupturing a major artery, resulting in death due to blood loss or decapitation, making for a very... Gruesome, messy, and noisy kill. Conversely, if one were to sever the target’s nerves from behind the neck, you would avoid this major artery, preventing blood from spewing everywhere, while still eliminating the target through decapitation. Both methods accomplished the same result, yet one was more efficient, produced remarkably less “mess”, while being considerably quieter. Truly terrifying.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Noticing I had completed my elimination, the spitting image of the goblin “replacement” appeared, as I cast my own illusion spell over the creature’s body to conceal it from the other monsters. Pausing briefly to ensure none of the goblins at the encampment had noticed, we continued towards our next target along the perimeter, repeating this process.
...
The assassinations and replacements continued without issue, and while the hobgoblins and goblin knights posed a slightly tougher challenge, all of them fell without too much trouble on our end. As expected, and well within our calculations, the goblin camp was now roughly 50% image replicas, with the remaining shamans and kings none the wiser as to their subjects... “Disappearance”. Thus, observing and mentally preparing for the upcoming “loud” portion of our plan, I began preparing mana for my magic nullification sphere, as I examined my upcoming prey in detail.
From a simple glance, the goblin shaman appeared to be the typical green skinned demon of its fellow kin, albeit with more tribal markings and attire. Resting atop it’s head, was a crude, white skull, which appeared to be from some type of bovine, horse, or other large hoofed mammal. Coiling around its body, were red and blue, paint-like markings, intricately swirling around into elegant, yet simple designs. On its wrists and ankles, were simple coloured feathers, accenting a matching neckless, which was adorned to the brim with bountiful “trophies” of various teeth and bones. Each shaman held a wooden staff with a tiny, shrunken skull affixed to the top. Presently, they were all dancing around the campfire with some... Impressive choreography in my opinion, as tiny specs of flames from the fire, joined them in their celebrations. Unfortunately, their celebrations were about to come to an abrupt end, as I separated myself from the group, skulking into position. Then, with one last final nod towards Inari and Raya, we began our countdown to begin.
Signaling the start of our encounter with the remaining goblin kings and shamans, Raya leapt into battle, slamming her fists into the ground, causing a rocky wall to violently erupt between our targets. Now separated from my allies, I just had to hope Raya and Inari could manage while I completed my end of the battle plan. Staggered from the sudden appearance of the cliff-like barrier separating them from their comrades, the goblin shamans squealed in anger, chanting and gathering mana to presumably lower the rocky wall, but I wouldn’t let them! Quickly firing my magic nullification sphere, I interrupted the casting from 7 of the shamans, while delivering efficient stabs through the chests of the ones nearby. Then, with the illusion magic having runs its course, the shamans leapt in anger towards me, attempting crude overhead smashes with their staves, while some continued to attempt casting spells to no avail. Knowing time was of the essence, I effortlessly dodged their haphazard blows, while delivering fatal ones of my own. In the span of roughly 30 seconds, I had already eliminated 10, with only 5 more to go.
Resolved to quickly wrap up the remaining casters, and, to the pleased hissing noises from Coileene, I flicked my wrist to release the sentry disks, while launching several flaming spear volleys through the heads of the remaining shamans. The spell’s impacts were subtle, yet brutal, as they left clean holes bored through each of the goblin’s skulls. Then, dashing around the rocky wall to contend with the goblin kings, I was left speechless as to the current state of the battle.
Turning the corner, I witnessed Raya, smash her gauntlet into the last remaining goblin king, crushing its entire face into a mushy pulp, officially ending our combat encounter. Examining the carnage, one of the kings was burned beyond all recognition, while the third appeared to be crucified from some impressive stalagmites which erupted from the ground. Seeing the remaining combatants fall so easily, almost made me question all of the obsessive, meticulous planning we put into challenging this floor. But regardless, the area was cleared now.
Recalling and, putting my floating disks and sword away, I continued to gaze at the campsite the goblins had been using, along with the lightly crackling fire. Since the encounter had ended in a... Less than climatic fashion, I began looking through their belongings that were nearby the “rave floor”, so to speak. Lightly scattered around the well-worn dirt site, were several wooden crates, pots, and sleeping cots. Not wanting to think too much into how these objects came into existence within the labyrinth, I decided to investigate the cowering crate next to one of the dead shamans. However, as I pried the lid off of the container, my eyes were overcome with relief and excitement as to the contents gracing their presence. Rubbing them slightly to ensure I was in fact not hallucinating, I yelled with exhilaration for Inari and Raya to join me in my discovery.
“Inari! Raya! You’ve... You’ve got to see this!”
Noticing my calls and joining me rather swiftly, their faces were equally overcome with the same joy I was presently experiencing as well. Resting within the wooden crates, nestled orderly along the bottom, was a pile of dried meats, potentially jerky of some sort. It... It was the first, actual pieces of normal looking food I had seen in close to a month. Tears swelled within my eyes, as my legs gave way from the relief coursing throughout my body. Finally, we had found some real food we could eat! If... If these contents followed the rules for respawning on a floor, then we have truly found a solution to our goblin meat dilemma!! Equally thrilled, Raya burst into tears as well with her remarks.
“By the gods Ko... It’s... It’s actually meat! Real, actual, meat!!!”
“Raya, Ko, that’s not all as well, look! Over here in this one! There’s some weird... Fruit looking things? I just finished casting appraisal on them, and they appear to be something called a... Sun melon?”
Looking over to my right to see a happily swooshing tail, Inari had carefully picked up a large looking fruit from the crate she was standing beside. It was roughly the size of a football, covered in a yellow and orange, thick waxy skin. The shape and markings kind of looked like a sun, as the fox rotated the mysterious fruit around her paws, lightly sniffing it with her twitching snout.
“It smells kinda sweet, with a very citrusy aroma! I wonder what it tastes like!”
Signaling my desire to try one of the mysterious fruits as well, Inari carefully tossed one of the sun melons my direction. Fighting the urge to spin the new found object shaped like a basketball on my fingertips, I gently broke the protective flesh of the fruit and offered up a bite to my watering tastebuds.
Wonderful and rich, juicy flavours, flooded my palate, as my mouth became overwhelmed with an array of utter ecstasy! While this sensation could probably be more appropriately attributed to eating the equivalent of rotting flesh for over a month, then finally having something reasonable, I was not one to complain! The sun melon, for all intensive purposes, was very reminiscent of a mango, orange, watermelon hybrid, filled with a whole world of juicy deliciousness! The fruits texture was soft, yet crispy, as my teeth happily sank into the liquidly and sweet meal. Losing myself to my instincts, after finally tasting something palatable, I ravenously began tearing into the fruit further to satiate my appetite. Inari and Raya, had also joined me in sampling the new found delicacy, with each of them happily eating their own sun melon as well.
Finishing our brief meal, I looked around again to the grim reminder that we were still on the 51st floor, surrounded by the corpses of numerous goblins. However, this victory had brought with it a new tide of emotions. Our faces which had become stained with rugged expressions during our struggle to survive, all held gleeful smiles as we continued to bask in our victory over the first trial floor of the labyrinth. In a sense, we had regained a portion of our humanity we were at risk of losing, and battle plan hope had graced us with the very name we had given it. Thus, filled with a mixture of energy from sugary carbohydrates and our renewed desire to survive, we placed our new found sustenance within our spatial storage spells, then calmly retreated back to our lodgings on the 50th floor. In truth, we had managed to find food, but we still hadn’t tested if these supplies would “respawn”, so to speak. As such, this was our next logical step in continuing to survive this hell. Thus, after waiting for the entire floor to respawn, we eagerly prepared for our next assault.
Once again, keeping with our battle plan, we stealthily eliminated the easy targets, while getting into position for our conflict against the kings and shamans again. Then, after eliminating our targets without issue for a 2nd time, cautiously approached the wooden crates by the campsites. Our steps, were filled with an unimaginable tension, threating to shatter our hearts, should the assumed respawn property be proven false. Noticing I was the first one to the wooden crates containing jerky, a smell bead of sweat, dripped from my brow, as I slowly opened the container. Inari had already pre-emptively covered her eyes, with her ears twitching in anticipation, while Raya looked several shades paler awaiting my findings. Then, peering into the crate again, I burst into joyful laughter, having successfully observed Schr?dinger’s jerky! Resting inside the crates, was another new set of dried meats for our party, ripe for the taking.
Excitement was too simple of a word to describe our emotions in this moment. We had not only started making actual progress towards our goal of clearing the labyrinth, but finally had conclusive evidence for respawning food supplies. This discovery, meant we could eventually begin building up our food rations, to provide an ample “failsafe” should we got stranded on a deeper layer. So, with a surge of energy, we happily collected our loot, and for the first time in a long time, held a celebration on the 50th floor, to commemorate our substantial progress!
Celebrating around our usual campfire, Raya, Inari and I, all danced around the flickering flames of the fire, cheering and laughing, while Coileene rolled her eyes at us from the side. In her view, we probably looked like idiotic children, finding joy over the simplest of things the universe could offer, but we didn’t care! This night, had managed to make us forget about our perilous situation, as we finally found the energy to enjoy each other’s company to it’s fullest, with smiles and laughter filling our conversations and thoughts as we chatted the night away. Today, we had finally felt like a team, with our goal of surviving, seemingly appearing within reach. As the night carried on, we had presumably lost track of time during our dancing, eventually passing out from the “drunkenly happy” atmosphere we had created.
...
...
As it would seem, the dark abyss of the labyrinth floor was staring back at me, having abruptly woken me from my slumber. While this disturbance in sleeping patterns could be the result of the leftover excitement still flowing within my body from our party, it was more realistically from the serpent rambling away within my mind, trying to rouse it towards answering some of her questions. I was still groggy, and my eyes filled with a blurry fog, where I could barely make out the image of the extinguished campfire ahead. Eventually, after a few more blinks and eye rubs, with my retina’s rods coming online, my brain began contemplating Coileene’s words.
[Really now, must you describe waking up in such a manner? Just focus on answering my questions Ko, and enough with this excessive “monologue fluff!”]
Yeah yeah Coileene. So, what was it you wanted to ask me? I didn’t fully understand what you were saying.
[It’s... I... You are just wasting so much time on these pointless trivialities, when it would be better suited progressing deeper into this stupid labyrinth! Celebrations?!? Rebuilding your food stores?!? I have more than enough power now to guide you to my imprisoned fragment, yet you’re choosing to exercise more caution???! And don’t even get my started on the horrid display of uncoordinated, sporadic limb movements I observed amongst your group!]
...
Well, Coileene, surely you would understand why us mortals would partake in something like this... Right? After all, you are the most powerful deity on Terra. And hey, I won’t have you insulting my dance moves, especially since you never cared to join us during our party!
...
An ominous silence filled my mind, as Coileene failed to respond to my comments. Looking around, I was able to see that Inari and Raya were still sound asleep, with my eyes finally having adjusted to the eery darkness permeating the floor. Eventually, in a rather somber tone, I heard the serpent’s response softly enter my thoughts.
[I... No, I do not understand why you would choose to waste your time celebrating, when it would be better spent recovering my power. My... My memories would probably contain more insightful information regarding your abhorrent behaviour, but without them, I cannot answer with certainty.]
...
You know... Coileene, I... I don’t think I ever asked you about your memories, and what you’re hoping to obtain. I mean, I know you want revenge on whichever god trapped you and sealed your powers, but even after over a month with you living inside my body, I feel like we barely know each other...
[As it should be Ko. You are simply a temporary vessel to house my power until it is regained. Noting more, nothing less. Mortals will never understand the goals and desires of us gods. In fact, even attempting to ask such a question would drive many a man mad upon hearing our answers!]
You... You don’t actually know... Do you Coileene? What you’ve actually lost and forgotten? What you used to be like?
[...]
Ok now, saying those ellipsis in my mind was really weird Coileene. Besides, if you don’t enlighten me yourself, I’ll resort to using my own “head cannon” for your backstory, which we both know would be messed up, but entertaining in it’s own right!
[I’m...
...
You’re right Ko. As painful as it is to admit, I don’t remember anything about who I was, or what I did. I know I was powerful, unimaginably powerful at that, and probably had the largest following of devout worshipers Terra had ever seen! It would be only natural for someone like myself... But... I just... This hole in my existence... I need my memories, and waiting literal galaxy lifetimes is far too long for a divine being. You would never understand.]
I’m shocked Coileene.
[Naturally! I told you mortals wou—]
Haha! No no no. I’m shocked, because you actually have a personality. I may not be a god myself, but the feelings of losing something important, and the empty void left within your heart... If you’ve merged with me, you probably already know what I’m talking about. Heck, you probably would know anyways because you’re a god, but nonetheless, I can at the very least... Relate with the emotions you’re probably feeling.
[...]
*Sigh*
[Applying your concept of emotions towards divine beings is futile Ko. We are all above such simple expressions.]
...
By the way... Thank you, Coileene... For saving me... I never really did thank you, even after all this time. I might not always agree with your methods, and I still haven’t forgiven you for abruptly taking control over my body at times, but you’ve still given me another chance to make a difference... Even if it’s for your own benefit...
[Humph! It’s about time your insufferable existence thanked me for my efforts! You truly are an ungrateful servant!]
“Haha”, why of course, Coileene.
Lightly chuckling to myself at the “somewhat” expected response from the god living inside me, I calmly rolled over to my side to once again, work on falling back asleep. We were still trapped untold feet below Solara’s surface in the labyrinth, but for once, our odds of survival seemed realistic. It was already obvious how our next several days were going to be spent, but I was glad to finally remember what it means to be alive. Not just surviving, but actually feeling alive again. Thus, wrapping up my thoughts, I uttered the words on my mind, to the proud goddess living inside of me, before drifting away again into the world of dreams.
“Good night, Coileene.”
