The spear tip never wavered.
Ceto kept his breathing steady, eyes locked on the polished point hovering above his throat. Panic would get him killed faster than the weapon itself. He had faced worse odds in darker alleys. Stay calm. Assess. Survive.
A soft chime rang in his mind clear, almost gentle.
[Trait Activated: Unyielding Will
Effect: Mental fortitude increased. Fear suppressed. Pain tolerance heightened for 5 minutes.]
The words were small comfort, but they steadied him. Whatever this trait was, it was doing its job. His pulse slowed. The world sharpened.
He tilted his head just enough to look up at his captor.
The man was enormous easily over seven feet tall, lean and corded with muscle that spoke of both power and grace. His skin was a deep, shimmering blue, the color of deep ocean trenches under moonlight. Webbed hands gripped the spear shaft with casual strength.
Matching webbing stretched between his bare toes. Slender gills flexed along the sides of his neck with each measured breath. Long, lustrous hair the color of midnight kelp spilled over his shoulders.
He was objectively striking beautiful in the way apex predators sometimes are.
But the sneer twisting his lips was anything but welcoming.
"You…" The voice came deep, resonant, carrying the faint echo of water. "What are you? You smell… human. But you look as if you could be demon kin?"
He tsked, the sound sharp and dismissive.
"No matter. If either of your kind has breached this place, then our kingdom has a problem." The spear lifted higher, poised to drive downward. "Perish."
"Wait!" The word burst out before Ceto could weigh it. Desperation, but also calculation. The man had paused to speak. That meant he was willing to listen at least for a heartbeat.
Surprisingly, the spear froze mid motion.
Ceto seized the opening.
"I don't know how I got here." he said quickly, voice level despite the sand grinding against his back. "My name-" He caught himself mid sentence, old habit almost slipping out the wrong name. "is Ceto Ageon. I mean you no harm. I swear it. I woke up on this beach minutes ago. That's all I know."
The blue-skinned man hummed low in his throat, clearly unconvinced. The spear remained raised, but he didn't strike.
"Your purpose then." he demanded. "Speak truth, or I end this farce."
"I have none." Ceto answered honestly. "I'm not here to spy, steal, or conquer. I just… appeared."
The man's eyes narrowed. He leaned in slightly, increasing the pressure of his foot on Ceto's chest not enough to crack ribs, but enough to remind him who held the advantage.
"Your status." he said. "Show me."
Ceto blinked. Status sharing was common? He filed that away for later. Useful information.
But there was a problem.
"I… don't know how.." he admitted.
The man's expression shifted from suspicion to exasperation.
"Even newborns know this." he muttered.
"Are you truly so ignorant, or merely playing the fool?"
Before Ceto could respond, a new prompt appeared in his vision.
[Status Exchange Request]
From: Thalassar Veyn, Crown Prince of the Abyssal Court
Accept? [Y/N]
Ceto didn't hesitate. He mentally selected yes.
Instantly, a new window bloomed in his field of view.
{Thalassar Veyn}
Level: 523
Race: Merfolk (Royal Bloodline)
Class: Tide Sovereign
Title: Crown Prince of the Abyssal Court, Warden of the Deep Veil
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Health: 12,840 / 12,840
Mana: 9,670 / 9,670
Stamina: 11,220 / 11,220
Strength: 1,480
Agility: 2,110
Vitality: 1,920
Intelligence: 1,650
Wisdom: 2,340
Charisma: 1,890
Luck: 780
Skills: [Redacted – 14 Active]
Talents: [Redacted – 9]
Traits: [Redacted]
Affinities: Water (Supreme), Shadow (Advanced), Royalty (Innate)
The numbers were monstrous.
Level 523, yet his stats rivaled if not surpassed the legendary grade players who sat comfortably above Level 1000 back in the old game.
This wasn't some mid tier NPC. This was a walking catastrophe.
Thalassar, meanwhile, had apparently received Ceto's status in return. His eyes widened fractionally. Then he barked a short, incredulous laugh.
"Weaker than my youngest niece.." he said, almost to himself. "And she is three." He lifted his foot at last, stepping back. "It should be impossible for something so… fragile… to even reach this shore."
Ceto pushed himself up slowly, shaking sand from his back and arms. The words stung, but he swallowed the pride. Pride was a luxury he couldn't afford right now.
"That's what I've been trying to say." he replied evenly. "I don't know how I ended up here."
Thalassar studied him, contemplation etching lines across his sharp features. After a long moment he spoke again.
"Even so… why do you smell human, yet look demon kin?"
Confusion hit Ceto like a second spear.
"What do you mean?"
Thalassar gestured with the butt of his spear toward the water's edge.
"See for yourself."
Ceto turned.
The sea was mirror flat, impossibly still, the surface so clear it might as well have been glass. His reflection stared back.
He froze.
Pointed ears. Sharp, protruding fangs. Skin the color of deep midnight purple, smooth and almost luminous. Hair white as fresh snow with crimson tips, braided in tight shoulder length rows. Eyelashes stark white against pitch black sclera. Irises an ominous blood red, sharp as blades, with stark white pupils that seemed to pierce straight through the water.
He looked… dangerous. Devilish. Beautiful in the way venomous things sometimes are.
And small,slender and frail looking Five-foot-five at most. The body he had built through years of survival, of hauling himself out of the gutters, was gone. Replaced by this.
"Fuck.." he breathed.
The word hung in the salt air like a confession.
Thalassar turned his back on Ceto without another word. The motion was final, dismissive, as though the strange purple skinned intruder had already ceased to exist.
"Human kind should not be here." he said over his shoulder, voice flat. "Let alone one as strange looking as you."
He began walking away, long strides carrying him toward the line where beach met the shallows.
The spear rested casually across his shoulders like a walking staff.
Ceto didn't hesitate. He scrambled to his feet and hurried after the merman.
"Wait hold on!"
Thalassar did not slow.
Ceto kept pace as best he could, bare feet sinking into the warm sand. Questions spilled out of him in a rush.
"Where are we? What is this place? Is there a village nearby? A town? Anything?"
Thalassar's only response was the steady rhythm of his steps.
Ceto pressed on.
"How do I get out of here? Is there a portal? A gate? Some way back to-"
The merman stopped abruptly and spun on his heel. In one fluid motion he planted the butt of the spear in the sand and leaned forward, towering over Ceto.
A webbed hand clamped down on the smaller man's shoulder firm, not painful, but immovable.
"Do. Not. Follow."
The words were quiet. Final.
Then Thalassar released him, turned, and resumed walking.
Ceto stood still for half a heartbeat.
Then he followed.
Shamelessly.
"I'll die out here on my own." he called after the retreating figure. "I don't even know where I am."
Thalassar snorted, the sound carrying back on the breeze.
"How do you not know?" he asked without looking around. "You entered the most dangerous labyrinth in the sea The Abyssal Labryinth of Erebos."
Ceto froze mid step.
The name hit him like cold water
The Abyssal Labyrinth of Erebos.
S-Rank difficulty. Level cap requirement of at least 800 to even attempt entry. One of the most infamous dungeons in Eternal Realms Online unconquered since its discovery years ago.
Streamers who treated the game like a full time religion had thrown entire raid guilds at it, only to be chewed up and spat out. The few who survived the outer layers came back with horror stories of shifting corridors, ancient guardians, and a core so deep that no one had ever reached it.
Legends whispered of drowned empires, primordial sea gods who wove reality into endless mazes of coral and shadow, time dilation traps that turned hours into centuries, and guardians that were echoes of lost souls infused with the labyrinth's wrath and growing stronger with every kill.
The Heart of Erebos, rumored to reside at its center, could command the oceans themselves… if anyone ever survived long enough to claim it.
And now he was inside.
Level 1.
The weakest Level 1 he had ever seen.
Getting out would be impossible.
At least… for now.
Ceto exhaled slowly, letting the realization settle into his bones like an old, familiar weight. Then he looked up and noticed the growing distance between himself and Thalassar.
He ran to catch up.
Thalassar huffed when the persistent human once again appeared at his side.
"Annoying." the merman muttered. "Your kind is always like this. Clinging to the stronger when the situation turns desperate."
Ceto shrugged, unbothered.
"I'll be on my way once you carry me out."
Thalassar's stride faltered for the briefest moment. He glanced sideways at the smaller figure, genuinely baffled by the sheer shamelessness.
The thought of simply striking the human down crossed his mind again quick, clean, merciful in its speed.
But he dismissed it.
The creature was far too weak to be worth the effort. Confused, too. And that appearance… had it not been for Thalassar's keen senses picking up the unmistakable scent of human beneath the demonic facade, he might have mistaken him for one of the surface born fiends that occasionally slipped through the Veil.
Thalassar stopped walking.
Ceto bumped into his back.
The merman's entire posture shifted tense, alert. His gills flared slightly.
Danger.
The sandy ground beneath their feet began to tremble.
Then, with a violent burst of sand and spray, a massive form erupted from the beach.
A giant crab easily the size of a small house loomed before them. Its shell was midnight blue and pitted with ancient barnacles.
Mandibles clicked together, sharp enough to shear through steel. Multiple stalked eyes swiveled toward them, glowing with predatory hunger.
[Level: 789]
Ceto's heart thumped hard against his ribs.
Old habit surged to the forefront.
He slid backward slowly, deliberately, melting his presence into the background. To Thalassar already coiled and ready the smaller figure simply… vanished from his senses for a split second.
A prompt chimed softly in Ceto's ear.
New Skill Acquired: Shadow Veil
Type: Active (Stealth)
Description: Suppresses your presence, making you difficult to detect by sight, sound, or aura. Duration and effectiveness scale with Wisdom and level. Cost: Low stamina drain.
He didn't have time to read the full details.
The crab lunged with a disgusting gurgle, mandibles snapping toward Thalassar.
The merman never flinched.
He huffed, a smirk curling his lips.
"Finally." he muttered "something worth my time."
Spear spinning in a blur, Thalassar met the charge head on.
The first clash rang like thunder metal against carapace, water mana surging in visible waves around the prince's form.
The Abyssal Labyrinth of Erebos had claimed its first blood of the day.
Thalassar danced around the beast, weaving spells that summoned razor sharp water blades to slice at its underbelly.
But the crab was no pushover. Its shell regenerated in real time, lore famed "Abyssal Armor" knitting over wounds like living coral.
A leg sweep nearly caught Thalassar off guard, forcing him to leap back as the ground erupted in a geyser of sand and saltwater.
The merman countered with a burst of shadow affinity, tendrils of darkness coiling from his gills to bind the crab's mandibles.
Tension coiled in Ceto's gut. One stray attack, and he'd be collateral smeared across the beach like forgotten loot.
The air grew thick with mana discharge, the sun above seeming to dim as if the labyrinth itself watched, hungry for more victims.
Thalassar's breaths came heavier now a pincer clipped his shoulder, tearing a shallow gash through scaled armor. Blue blood welled up, but the prince didn't flinch. Instead, he laughed a deep, resonant sound that echoed the labyrinth's own mocking whispers.
The crab pressed its advantage, burrowing partially into the sand and exploding upward in an ambush that sent shockwaves rippling across the beach.
Thalassar rolled away just in time, but the force knocked Ceto off his feet, his Shadow Veil flickering under the strain.
Another prompt dinged urgent, insistent.
[Trait Activated: Cynical Insight
Effect: Heightened analysis of threats. Reveals potential weaknesses in observed entities for 3 minutes.]
Ceto's vision sharpened further. Weak points glowed faintly on the crab, joints in the legs, a soft spot under the eyestalks.
But what could he do? Throw sand? He was a spectator in a gladiator pit, and the labyrinth's lore whispered in his mind guardians like this grew stronger with every near victory, adapting to their prey's patterns. If Thalassar slipped…
The merman roared, channeling a massive wave of mana. A tidal spear formed in his free hand, hurling toward the crab's core.
It connected with a crack like thunder, splintering shell but the beast retaliated, mandibles clamping down inches from Thalassar's throat.
Ceto swallowed hard. This wasn't just a fight. It was a test. And the labyrinth never left survivors.
As far as he knew anyway.