LUKE P.O.V

Luke was surprised at how open everyone was. They didn’t really know each other yet, and here they were sharing big parts of their lives. He was suspicious of them at first, well everyone but Red. She had told him of her background and explained her situation. He thought he would be angry, but instead felt pity for her. Honestly, it seemed that Jill, Red, and Mash all had pitiable pasts.

Mash’s life became a mess rapidly and was powerless to change it. Jill was desperate to improve her family’s situation and was trapped within a dungeon. Red fled her family in fear, shaken by some dark secrets that horrified her. Luke wasn’t the same though.

He didn’t have an extraordinary or unfortunate past. His family lived well in the outskirts of the city, and he became an adventurer because he didn’t want to fight for the kingdom. With his class though he didn’t have many options. If he didn’t get into the guild, he would’ve been picked up by the guards. After the civil war, the kingdom didn’t let powerful beastmen roam free.

Despite that, he did have his own secrets. Well, one big secret. He took a second to gather his thoughts as he looked over the people before him. His friends, that’s what they were now. Honestly, they had been his friends since their first meeting. It was easy to accept that now since they were all so kind despite their unfortunate lives. He was worried that he was too trusting and tried to hold back around them. Now, he understood that they were even more trusting than he was.

It was a bad habit for him, and he knew it. Growing up as a beastman in a human kingdom had showed him how cruel people could be towards one another. However, these people had shown him no reason to doubt them. As he spoke, he felt relieved as he finally told them the truth.

“I’m sorry I have been hiding something from you guys. My class isn’t spirit druid, its soul druid. I am not a necromancer, and before you ask, this was my best option. I apparently have a high affinity with soul magic. As soon as I got my class, I knew that I had to leave the city. You all know how the churches treat someone with soul magic. The reason I want to go to Krall is because the beastmen cities would be more accepting of my class, and I wanted to try and find a house for my family there.”

He never wanted to talk about it and hoped that his next class would change his magic completely. It was a rare occurrence but could happen. His voice quivered slightly as he spoke, he still wasn’t comfortable sharing. He hoped they would take it well. Despite their kindness so far, he was a potential necromancer. He could avoid the class, but just the possibility was enough for imprisonment or even death.

He met their eyes, braced for whatever reaction would come. They were all staring silently, and he grew more tense as they processed his words. He sagged in relief when he heard Mash speak.

“Well, this is perfect. When I become an evil god, you can be my right-hand man. Mash the monster and Luke the lich.”

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling at that. Those were some of the least intimidating and most ridiculous names he’s ever heard. Jill and Red couldn’t help themselves and started laughing too.

“I genuinely think my younger siblings could come up with better names.”

Jill was laughing openly, and it sounded genuine now. They didn’t stop there and spent the next several minutes coming up with stupid names for all of them. Stupid nonsensical names, but with each one he found himself relaxing more and more. They had accepted him, even with the risks it intoned.

MASH P.O.V

Mash had read his fair share of history and knew why necromancers were so feared. However, he doubted that Luke would magically become evil. He was surprised to hear of the new class, but it just made him more excited. Soul magic was rare. Only five people in the past hundred years have been recorded with access to the magic. There were certainly more, and some others must have gotten the option too, but it was considered an evil magic and was often hidden or refused. So long as Luke kept leveling, he would become unbelievably powerful.

Mash considered how many lizards they would have to kill for their next class advancement. They would get their next advancement at level 30, and 10 levels wasn’t that far away. It would still be a lot of dead lizards though, and he didn’t know if the labyrinth would still shift with its current state.He sprung to his feet exclaiming his thoughts aloud.

“What happens if the labyrinth shifts? What if it doesn’t? Maybe, we should get moving.”

They were all silent now, the laughter being pushed back with concern. They moved franticly, cleaning up and getting ready. If they needed to talk more it could happen later, they had to move forward now. They got into formation quickly and started along the path.

They only encountered one more pack of lizards. It was the smallest by far, and with their new stats, had disposed of them smoothly. They didn’t stop to collect meat or other materials, instead focusing on making progress before nightfall. It was hard to tell the time of day, the sun inside the labyrinth was moving slowly. He couldn’t use it to judge the actual time.

After the last lizard pack, the path forked again and they went down the right path, the left having given them a bad feeling. The path had been filled with some kind of gas, and it made their movements slower when they tried passing through it. The right path was clear, and he expected that they might find some new monsters. Hopefully, it would help them level.

The path though was mostly empty. However, he found an item buried within the dirt at the edge of his mana sphere. It practically screamed to him, leaking mana around it suffusing the nearby ground. It was an oddly familiar kind of mana, one that seemed to feel strangely alive. He couldn’t place it though. He stopped his group motioning to the ground below.

“There’s something in the ground. I can’t tell exactly what it is, but I think we should dig it out.”

They looked at him excitedly, and he reciprocated the feeling. A dungeon treasure would be incredibly valuable. Even if none of them needed it, there was always someone out there that would want it. Mash formed some simple shovels and handed one to each of them. Red sounded only slightly annoyed as she spoke.

“To think that you would make a lady dig in the dirt.”

She stressed the word lady as she spoke sarcastically. Despite the complaint, she was the first person to start digging. The others moved quickly, clearly just as excited as her. They started chanting a popular treasure game as they dug. Jill starting with a simple beginning. Mash continuing where she left off and letting the chant move around the group.

A treasure worth a lot of gold.

A treasure to behold.

A treasure to be kept not sold.

A treasure for the brave and bold.

A treasure from a story retold.

A treasure to prevent the cold.

A treasure for when we’re old.

A treasure with no mold…

They stopped at that last line for two reasons. They were close to the treasure now, and that line was a bit ridiculous. They were looking at Red with eyebrows raised, and she blushed slightly.

“Well, what did you expect? That was my first time doing that, and I couldn’t come up with anything.”

Her embarrassment was mixed with irritation, but that only got them to start laughing. Mash made a mental note to play the game more often. If nothing else, it would be fun to watch her reactions. They would’ve continued teasing her, but there was something more important beneath their feet.

Mash dug up the last bit of dirt and noticed the smell of the treasure first. It smelled strongly of blood, and the dirt around it was damp from the excess liquid. He looked to Red, and she moved the blood out of the way, but realized that it wasn’t really working. It just kept generating more blood and he realized what the item did. Mash decided he would leave it to Red and stepped out of the way.

Red used her magic to grab the object and Mash finally got a good look at it. It was a seed that had small cuts along the outer shell. It was about the size of her palm, and continuously leaked blood from the cuts. Everybody knew that the item was perfect for Red. A seemingly unlimited source of blood was extremely convenient. It would solve a lot of the problems she ran into at the beginning of a fight.

She had to figure out how to store it though. Mash remembered his own attuned item and suggested that she try attuning to it. It took her a few minutes, but she managed to connect with the item. It took more mana to attune to more powerful items, and she struggled finishing the process. Once she succeeded, she realized that she could stop it from pouring out blood. It still took her a little time to figure out how to use it, and they took a small break to let her recover her mana.

No one complained when she received the item. They already established rules for items and decided that if they found something that one of them could use effectively, that person would receive the item. They wouldn’t worry about the price of the item unless they knew the item’s worth ahead of time. If they found a sword enchanted with an element, they would sell it because it was extremely valuable and none of them would need it.

They had paused for long enough and continued moving. After walking a bit further, they found a large clearing. It was a ring and was surrounded with six different paths. Other than the one they had taken there were another two that seemed like they were backtracking a little. The other three paths were in front of them and led deeper into the labyrinth. There was one obvious problem though.

There was an enormous snake blocking the paths across from them. It was big enough that it would have no trouble eating all of them, at once. It was easily over twice his own height and stretched for over three hundred feet. It scales were pitch black and it exuded darkness, seeming to cast unusually long shadows over the ground. It felt like the night given form, and Mash wanted to run away. Thankfully, the thing was asleep.

“We should take one of the paths next to us. I don’t think we can fight that.”

He sounded scared and didn’t try to hide it. It might just be a big creature, but Mash doubted that. Red responded calmly.

“You know as well as I do, labyrinth type dungeons always punish cowardice.”

He wanted to argue, but it was true. Most stories about labyrinths showed the reader how cowardly actions would lead to death, but this was just suicide. If that thing attacked, they would not be able to defend. He wanted to suggest running again but didn’t want to act cowardly.

“What do you suggest?”

“I think we should try sneaking by, and if that doesn’t work try communicating.”

Red sounded confident, but Mash was just staring at her. The others were too, and he couldn’t help but make a wild gesture at the snake. He just emphasized the thing, nothing more needed to be said. She responded to the obvious implication.

“Creatures within dungeons can be intelligent, and it usually relates to the power of the creature. That thing is probably strong enough to be intelligent. Hopefully, even if it notices us, it just ignores us.”

The creature was sleeping soundly, but they didn’t know how long that would last. They would have to decide soon, whatever they ended up doing would be harder if the creature was awake. Realistically they only had three options.

The most obvious, and probably the most correct, was to run. It was a risk to fight it, and he doubted that the risk of cowardice was worse than the snake. The next option was to try and sneak by, and hope that, if they were noticed, the creature would be capable of conversation. The last option was to try and kill it. Mash had come up with one strategy that he thought would work.

Mash could make an endless amount of wood with his persist skill. Far more than any other mage could manage, the only downside was that he would fall unconscious after making it. However, he thought that if he had enough time, he could make a large enough blade to kill the snake in a single attack. It would have to be enormous and would take a few hours to make, but theoretically it should be possible.