Opening her eyes, she gazed at her mother's face looking down at her. Gaia' countenance was that of a proud mother…beaming with pride like one seeing their baby walk for the first time.
"What happened…is everyone ok?" Thalia asked
"Shhh…shhh…rest, its ok. We are all ok…you did great! I am so, so, so proud of you!" Gaia said in a comforting voice.
"While you were sleeping, I defeated the rest of the little guys!" Kesi exclaimed, clearly proud of himself and proud of his contribution.
Victory over the giant scorpion-beast was a bitter-sweet experience. Thalia had managed to secure a win and level-up but in the process, she severely damaged her cutlass. Thalia looked gloomy as she examined the condition of her weapon…that cutlass was the only memento she had from her father. After some thought, she decided to put her cutlass away into her System Inventory. After all, she had a pair of daggers she received when she defeated the Alpha Liger.
After a brief rest, the group continued into the canyon. The familiar mana shimmer emanating from a gate provided them hope…the finish line was within sight!
Standing before the gate, Gaia let out a deep sigh… "we finally made it…thank goodness."
"Wait!" Thalia exclaimed…startling the group.
"I umm…I acquired a new skill that I want to try…give me a second…" Thalia activated her newly acquired skill Lucidity.
It was like having X-ray vision…the normal colors drained away revealing deeper structures. Thalia could see beyond the canyon walls…she could see the mana signatures of bugs and crawling creatures burrowed in the earth miles away.
The sensation of this new vision was not painful…it was more like the sensation of remembering something…like a widening, deepening feeling.
Thalia turned her attention to the gate in front of her…and to her amazement she could see through the gate itself…like standing before an open door, able to gaze into the space behind the door.
The space beyond the gate appeared to be a massive maze-like structure stretching for miles…far beyond her field of vision. The corridors twisted into endless loops like spaghetti. Some appeared to be narrow…others wide enough to have their own biome with plants and vegetation clearly visible. An unsuspecting person could easily get lost and spend an eternity in there.
Thalia observed far into the distance mana signatures…she thought, 'perhaps people? Or perhaps magic beasts?'
"What do you see?" Gaia asked breaking the silence that had fallen onto the group.
"It's a maze…a labyrinth…a very, very, very big labyrinth." Thalia replied dryly.
"Is it safe?" Gaia asked immediately.
"Yes, I think so…but there are creatures deep inside…I can't tell if they are friendly or hostile." Thalia replied.
"Ok…then let's proceed with caution." Gaia said with authority and concern.
!ALERT!
[You have entered the Void Labyrinth. Proceed with caution]
'Great…the System is worried about me,' Thalia snickered as she read over the sudden alert that appeared on her holographic screen when she entered the labyrinth.
"Where are we?" asked Kesi…clearly amazed by the sudden change in scenery.
The corridor felt cold and dim…bioluminescent moss was spread throughout giving the corridor an ancient appearance. Thankfully, the moss gave out a friendly glow that provided dim lighting.
"We are in the void…the void between universes and dimensions…I can see hundreds of gates spread throughout the maze…they each appear to connect to different locations, different universes, pocket dimensions…some even appear to be fragments…" Thalia voice trailed off.
Inside the labyrinth, her vision was keener allowing her to see further and clearer. She noted that beyond the corridors was an endless void…this place somehow seemed to be a tunnel or bridge connecting…naturally occurring…connecting places together.
"In that case, we are definitely not alone in here…we will probably run into both hostile and friendlies." Gaia added.
"The labyrinth is too big for me to see through…but I'm sure that as we move forward I will be able to get a better picture of this place. Where should we go first? I see water this way, food that way, and mana signatures over there…" Thalia said as she pointed in different directions.
"Supply-wise, I think we are ok for now…we managed to stock-up thanks to the traveling merchant caravan…so perhaps we should follow the mana signatures…with some luck we will learn more about this place." Gaia commented.
The group walked steadily for 2-3 hours…the only noise were the faint footsteps of the children walking together through the dim corridor.
"Wait." Thalia's voice broke the silence. "There is something ahead."
As the group approached cautiously, a shimmer of light caught their attention…it appeared to be metal! They had stumbled upon human skeletons covered in armor…their hands were empty…swords, bows, knives, and other weapons still in their sheath.
Upon closer inspection, it appeared the humans were killed quickly…surprise attack…it seems none of them even had the chance to draw their weapons.
"This one has strange writing on his armor!" exclaimed Kesi with much excitement…like a person finding a hidden chest of gold.
Thalia looked at the writing on the armor…then the System started to translate and decipher the language.
!ALERT!
[Korean detected, writing translated as "White Tiger guild".]
"This writing is Korean," Thalia said loudly, "it says White Tiger guild."
"I don't know what that means…" Gaia replied in disappointment.
The group decided to gather the weapons and amor for their own use. Thalia was grateful for the find…after all her cutlass was badly damaged and she needed a replacement sword.
[Knight's Sword]
[Attack +50, HP +100]
'This looks useful," thought Thalia as she picked up the sword and strapped the sheath across her hips.
A sudden thought entered her mind…these people seemed well armed and prepared for battle…they were probably expert fighters but yet were killed without a fight…that probably meant the enemy used a stealth or camouflage attack…so then…
Thalia focused her gaze further ahead…she noticed a chamber ahead…invisible to the naked eye she saw figures suppressing their mana inside the chamber.
The System display showed above their shrouded figures the following in orange letters:
[Stalker]
Thalia turned to Gaia and said, "I will be back in a minute."
She dashed into the darkness.