They arrived at the guild a little before lunch. The last night had been enjoyable, even if Mash found that he didn’t like ale much. The flavor was a little awkward, but it was the dulling sensation of his mind that bothered him. It felt unnatural and was as if he lost stats. The food though was surprisingly good, even if most of it was rat meat. The village would be using most of the meat to replace what they lost from their farmlands.

The guild was busy in the afternoon, and he waited with Jill to register their party. Red and Luke were waiting for them to finish up. Mash wanted to finish quickly, so that they could head to the dungeon. Red already purchased a carriage that would take them to the labyrinth dungeon. They would leave as soon as they were done here and arrive at the dungeon just after nightfall. At the entrance to the labyrinth, a small town had been built for the adventurers to rest at.

They finally arrived at the front desk, and Mash noticed how organized the guild was. He had this rough image of adventurers, but the man behind the desk was wearing elaborate and fancy clothes. Not a thing on him looked out of place, and the desk itself lacked any form of clutter. As Jill introduced the two of them, the receptionist finally seemed to acknowledge them.

“Hello, I’m Jill, and this is Mash. We came from completing the entrance exam and want to form a team.”

“Yes, I have been informed by Edmund already. I believe you have two others as well. Well, this is simple enough, and, by the way, I am Larkin.”

Larkin spoke softly, but Mash had no problem hearing the man’s words. They sounded like he was whispering to them and wondered what skill he was using. Mash’s mana sense wasn’t picking anything up. Even with his mana sphere, Larkin just felt like a low leveled person. This obviously wasn’t true.

Larkin reached under the table, pulling out a piece of paper and four iron plates. He slid the paper across the desk and Jill immediately started working on it. Mash leaned over her shoulder, glancing at the contents of the paper. It was a general form that was asking for names and basic classes. His name for example, was written beside the word monk, while Jill was listed as a brawler. He also happily noticed his team’s name at the top of the list.

After several hours of deliberation, they had decided upon Conatum, an old word for effort. It fit them well, and he was just hoping that it was available. He thought it would be, as most people didn’t bother learning the old language, him included. Red was the only one who knew it, but everyone liked the sound of the word and its meaning. She was the best educated of the group and tended to be a treasure trove of odd facts and information. Jill finished the form in a few minutes and handed it back to Larkin.

Larkin looked it over for a second, before waving his hands over the metal plates. Mash watched as they were covered in an intricate design, the team’s name written elegantly on each. After finishing, Larkin passed them over, and Mash grabbed them before Jill could. His mana sphere hadn’t noticed a single thing. He looked over them as Larkin spoke again.

“If that is all, I hope you have a good adventure.”

With that Jill and Mash shuffled out of the way and let the next group through. Mash was just looking at the metal plates, turning one over in his hand. The design was the same, but on the other side Mash saw his name written on the metal. He ran his fingers across the engraving, enjoying the feeling of accomplishment. The plate was smaller than his palm, but it felt heavy. It was a reminder of his goals, of his effort.

He handed Jill hers, and eagerly made his way to Red and Luke, handing them their respective badges. Mash couldn’t contain his excitement.

“Let’s go!”

Mash yelled the words, stopping them from inspecting the badges more. He felt like nothing could stop him and didn’t want to stand idle. He started walking towards the gate, believing that they would be just as eager. They joined him quickly, and they started picking up their pace.

“Let’s make this a race, loser cooks.”

Jill yelled, before teleporting ahead of them. Mash sounded petulant as he complained but ran as fast as he could anyways. Jill arrived first with another well-timed teleport. Luke a quick second, his buffs had given him an unfair advantage. Mash’s own buffs wouldn’t trigger for such a short distance. He didn’t care, he would still beat Red.

At least that’s what he thought, except he tripped moments before the finish. Rather, he got tripped, a tendril of blood wrapping around his ankle. He pushed himself to his feet, glaring slightly at Red.

“That was not fair.”

Mash tried to sound like he was affronted but failed. He wasn’t really angry; he had been considering doing something similar to Luke the next time. Also, it wasn’t a big deal. He wasn’t a great cook but could figure something out. He would think about it later.

He walked over to the carriage, excited to get on. It was more of a cart than a carriage and was driven by bulls instead of horses. It would be slower for short distances, but faster for this trip since they would need to stop less frequently because bulls tended to be stronger than horses. The driver was a short bulky man, and from the look he gave Mash, was not interested in a conversation.

Jill moved ahead of Mash, telling him to get in the cart. She started a small conversation with the driver, and Mash understood why he was treated like that. The man was aware of Mash’s past, apparently, he was one of the people who had worked with the general. He was about to refuse them, but Jill forcefully pointed out that they had already paid, and he would be fined if he refused now. Grumbling the man gestured for her to get on the cart. It looked like they were good to go.

He wasn’t there when they purchased the ride and was glad that he didn’t inconvenience the group. Mash just looked at Jill, she apparently realized who he was. The city was big enough that most people wouldn’t recognize him, but the incident with Jason had spread his name around. Jill though must have known when she heard his name. She hadn’t said anything and didn’t seem like she would bring it up. Wanting to avoid the subject, Mash started a conversation on what he would do for dinner.

The ride itself took a couple hours and was uneventful. It was night now, and they would soon arrive. As they got closer to the dungeon, Mash contemplated on their future plans.

“What do we do after this dungeon?”

Mash asked the question with a little apprehension. He wanted to go further east, mainly to get closer to the capital, but wanted to hear their opinions first. He wanted to see his brother and sister after getting stronger. He already wanted to brag about his fast improvement and wanted to see the heart of the kingdom. Jill just shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she didn’t think that far ahead. Luke spoke though.

“Further to the east, there is the beastmen city of Krell. I would like to go there. My parents told me that I should visit.”

That was all Luke said, and he sounded hopeful. Luke was grinning, and Mash was interested in seeing the city too. He never saw Luke ask for something and was glad to see that he was opening up a little. Red added in her own words of encouragement.

“I agree with Luke, the city is also built on a dungeon, and only parties with beastmen are allowed to enter it.”

She spoke of the dungeon excitedly, and Mash was increasingly certain that Red shared in his curiosity. Dungeons were ancient and were the embodiments of the world’s history. Some people claimed that dungeons even had information from different worlds. Mash had always wanted to explore them, and it seemed like Red did too.

“Thank you.”

Luke spoke quietly, but Mash heard the excitement in his voice. They had only known each other for a short time, but Mash already felt comfortable with them. He hoped that everyone felt the same, but logically knew that they had only met a few days ago. The conversation ended as they saw the labyrinth town.

It was larger than Mash expected, and even had a sign that named the town. It was called Byrinth, named after the dungeon it was built on. There were only a handful of major buildings but was filled with tents or portable homes constructed by magic. Mash looked around eagerly as he jumped out of the cart.

The dungeon entrance was not what he expected. It was at the center of the town, but smaller than most of the buildings around him. The area was lightly fenced off, and there was a staircase that descended into the ground. That was all it was, a staircase. He left the cart and the group walking towards it.

He got closer trying to see how deep the staircase was, and finally saw something extraordinary. It seemed to descend endlessly, reaching into the depths of the world. The light of the moon getting swallowed by the darkness below. Mash felt afraid, but grew even more excited. It was like he was standing before an unknown monster. He didn’t know if he would survive but would try. He almost went down at that very moment but was stopped by Jill.

“And where are you going?”

She just looked at him, she seemed uncertain and worried. Mash didn’t want to worry them, a little happy from realizing that she cared about him. He tried to sound apologetic as he answered.

“I’m sorry, its probably nothing, but it felt like I was being drawn in.”

She raised her eyebrow at that but said nothing. They grew silent as Luke and Red made their way over. Jill spoke quickly as she replied.

“That won’t get you out of cooking, you know.”

Jill was grinning at Mash, but still sounded a little uncertain. Mash tried to embrace the joke and grinned himself.

“I would never. I will have you know I am a fantastic cook.”

Mash made a very exaggerated hurt expression as he replied, moving away from the entrance to head towards the camping area. They found a space that was big enough for all of them. And he used his magic to form a simple dome. It looked like a small fort, and he even included some push out windows. He added an opening in the roof to let the air flow more freely. There were more elaborate homes around, so he didn’t think much of it. His friends though seemed relieved.

They went inside and Mash took their things out of his storage space. They laid out their bedrolls around the dome, and Mash dug a small hole at the center to start a fire. Red stopped him and opened her own storage space. She had told them of it, and they got her to fill it up with some supplies. She passed him a small heater, it was powered by mana, and any of them could fill a charge. He activated the heater and proceeded to cook a simple stew.

It wasn’t the fanciest thing he had ever made. He had caught a wild bird earlier in the day. He prepared it now, by simply removing the feathers from it and letting Red drain the blood. She did most of the preparation work for the bird, but to be fair it was a lot easier for her. After that Mash put in some chunks of potato, and heavily seasoned it with salt, pepper, and a spice blend that his mother gave him. He filled it up with some water, and let it boil. As it was finishing, he added one final surprise. Two of his sugar cubes fell into the pot, much to the horror of his friends. He only grinned as he watched it finish cooking.

He poured out a bowl for himself and dug in, while taking bites out of a small loaf of bread. It was good, Mash always liked to add a little sugar whenever he cooked. His friends reluctantly joined him, but soon were eating it just as ravenously as he was. They looked confused but seemed to be enjoying it. He was glad to be eating his fill, tomorrow would be a big day.