Alice had spent the last two weeks in absorbing her lessons taught by her evil Master. In fact, it became more ridiculous the moment the lessons' effects were brought to light.

Not only had Alice could easily wound a kobold which was well-armed, she even escaped from an angry Rusca. One which was accidentally woken up when the girl drooled over the possibility of cooking it like Yuuya did. It was a bitter feeling when she realized she wasn't strong enough to hunt down a luxurious meat but now she started to understand her ability spoken off by her Master.

First, Alice was small. In height or width, she was actually even shorter than average adolescent girls. Of course, it was all because she was living as a slave. This allowed her to be hard to hit by adversaries and her compact body allowed more flexibility in case of emergencies.

Secondly, there were many ways to fight, including the utilization of many weapons. Though she had inappropriate amount of muscles and strength to hold heavy weapons, Alice was becoming capable of using bladed weapons such as swords and short spears. For the starter, she was given a knife by Yuuya but after acquiring spoils from the defeated, the girl equipped a sword and a set of wooden armors. Decent enough to give her a peace of mind and increasing her survivability.

Also, Alice had found her way of fighting. Because of her weak strength and low stamina, she chose a fighting style which was to systematically land a swift and decisive blow on her enemy. She decided to attack when she was sure she could kill her prey and she did not waste her time in battling against her enemy. This fighting style of course, was invented by herself and taught by no one in particular. However, she had not realized that she was taking the path of Rogue and Assassin by using both agility and surprise element in her style.

In addition, her instinct had grown extremely sharp. Perhaps it was due to many life-death situations she was thrown in, but her intuition and sharpness when reading between the line especially when in battles became impossible to measure for. Unfortunately, Alice could never tell as she was not even blessed by any god to have the permission to see her own status window.

Even so, there were plenty of times to learn many things. Who cares if I will once again be enslaved by Yuuya? Who cares if he told me to not talk with other people? Who cares if he told me to not ask for help?

It was a foolish thing to trust someone's words in a whole. Because an individual had the right to decide by their own will, one could never be restricted with laws and limitation. As the girl contemplated further, she found that it was possible to find a mean necessary to break through Yuuya's defense. And it might be possible for her to kill him if she used her time very wisely.

(I can kill him how ever I want. And maybe requesting assistance of other Voyagers could be a good idea...)

Therefore, as dawn arrived, the girl who no longer hesitated in killing moved out from her hideout. Moving to strengthen herself. Desiring power until it was enough to kill her Master. Dreaming a distant life where she could finally become free. The girl stepped forward into the heart of the forest which deceived the sense of direction of anyone who was not a part of the forest.

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Was it intuition? Could it be a premonition?

Alice did not know the word to describe it. She learned from little sources and she recalled never being educated in a proper way. Although Yuuya clearly taught her the basic skills with iron fist but that was all. The girl knew nothing about the world. She knew nothing about everything that existed, and she doubted it was possible for her to become an ordinary person.

However—her sharpened sense told her something was happening. Something... was now in the Dungeon she was in.

(A monster? A trap? A person? But Yuuya hasn't returned. I've sighted kobolds and slimes but none seemed weird. And there was nothing that triggered the traps I laid beforehand.)

The girl wondered as she expanded her perception. To be aware of the surrounding while moving around made it easier for her to think up some tactics, and Alice was getting more anxious the more she stepped her foot deeper into the forest. It did seem as if something unusual was happening in the Dungeon.

The usual herd of Rusca was nowhere to be seen, the kobolds gathered in larger groups, and the slimes hid their selves as if running from their nemesis.

Even the air stilled. The girl lost in wonderland gazed up at the forest canopy. A sliver of fear ran down her back as she muttered after drawing a conclusion.

"...could it be... a large amount of people are invading this Dungeon...?"

At the next moment, Alice heard an inhuman howl. Roaring from the heart of the forest, the howl attracted the attentions of those who were a part of this forest. Naturally, the forest trembled but that wasn't all as Alice breathlessly gazing at a tree nearby.

It was a tree which did not look any different than ordinary tree. It had mosses growing on its bark and the leaves had bore fruits which seemed delicious. However, once the howl resounded throughout the forest, the appearance of the tree changed.

The leaves withered. The bark turned dark and grey as a pair of dull crimson orbs shot open. The roots were crawling out from the grounds as the branches distorted their selves by knotting together, turning them into arms with claws capable of piercing the flesh of human in a single lazy sweep.

Alice instinctively hid herself in the shadows of a giant boulder. Paralyzed in shock, she soon noticed that this abnormal transformation was not only affecting one tree. The one beside the monster turned tree, the one near Alice, the ones hidden by the shades of the forest.

Not even an hour passed by, and most trees of this forest became monsters which imitated the appearance of trees. The atmosphere darkened, and purple miasma was filling the floor of the forest.

Alice quickly escaped. She climbed the nearest unchanged tree and hid herself in the sea of withered leaves. The scent was foul but the girl had already adapted herself in a world where she could not pick a choice. Getting used to this much of odor was nothing but she was terrified as the inhabitants of this forest turned radical and aggressive.

There were kobolds with plates armors speaking if not saying gibberish to their comrades. There were Ruscas which had enlarged body sizes and large horns. And there were giant red slimes which could devour a house easily crawling in every nook and cranny of the Dungeon. Not only had the lesser Treants appeared, a howl followed after a pack of wolves with black fur and crimson eyes joined in with other monsters as if they were communicating.

What was odder would be the fact that these jumbled monsters were not hostile to each other, and they alternated their members as if employing human tactics by creating squads of knights. The thought of them imitating the intellect of humans was definitely frightening especially for Alice who witnessed the beginning of the monsters' changes.

(This... this is bad... this is bad......! I have to hide! I have to hide before I am devoured by this forest!!)

Cowardice... or rather, her intuition which clung to survival was not wrong. After all, the desire to live was an instinct all mortals could not escape from. However... Little did Alice know that the name Forbidden Labyrinth of Treant was not blunt rumors alone, and little did she know that she was already a part of the madness infesting this place.

The girl moved. Evading monsters which were beyond her league. Avoiding traps and suspicious mushrooms which seemed to explode once sighted. Dodging even the seemingly safe and silent paths.

(Deceit... everything is a mirage here. Don't be tricked by appearance. Don't expect hope in the interior of something. See through them all!)

Alice did not notice but she was actually becoming faster and elusive as she was nearly unable to be detected by the dangers in the Dungeon. Of course she believed that she was simply picking the shortcut in order to survive but her sharp intuition continued to develop. This talent which possessed wide array of usage was truly growing rapidly the girl suddenly halted her steps.

".......!" –holding her breathe, Alice hid inside the shadows.

What was it? What is this sound? Alice frowned as she heard the distant echo of ringing metals. Not only that, there were mixed voices where angry shouts and flashes of light painted the atmosphere with chaos. There was a battle going on, the girl thought.

There were a group of people. Made up by mostly humans in peculiar clothes, they were fighting a dozen of Kobolds with several wolves.

"Ha ha ha haaaaaaa!! Now become my exp points you bastaaaaaarrddds!!"

"Argh—Vane! Don't break off the formation as you please! Karen, send him support!!"

"Aye aye! Let flame runs through the barren land and burn my enemy—[Firebolt]!!"

The girl observed the battle. It seemed that they were humans or possibly humans from the looks of it. However, Alice's gut was telling her that they were different. Most probably--

(...Voyagers...! The same as Yuuya.....!!)

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Vane attacked and bashed around the enemies with a giant hammer. Was it even possible for a human already wearing heavy armor to swing that giant weapon around? All logics were blown away as Vane cackles madly.

"Small fries...! Take this—[Great Reaver]!!"

*BOOM!!* —smashing down the hammer on the ground in front of him, Vane's body suddenly exuded yellow light which ran to his weapon. Following after, the same light burst forth from under the ground and with a roaring sound a tremendous shock wave expanded around the battlefield.

The ground was cleaved and a dark bottomless pit was opened up. The rift expanded, tracing over the land which was then pursuing a group of Kobolds. Once it stopped right in front of them, the ground exploded and large chunks of sharp rocks pierced through the monsters.

"Ha ha haaaaaaa!! A bunch of weaklings like you aren't even enough to--"

The man's words were unfinished. A howl resounded from behind him and there was a leaping wolf opening it's jaws widely to rip off the head of the Voyager which-- did not happen as a lance pierced through the sides of the wolf.

"Your back is wide open you idiot!"

A young-adult female with pointed ears and blue eyes said as she threw away the wolf with the finishing touch done by the same magic from a mage who stood far behind them.

"Urgh—Ririan....?! That was unnecessary!" --Vane yelled at the girl named Ririan.

"Shut up or do you want to die? We haven't even found the Treant so don't waste your MP!!"

"Hell if I know the damn bar!! I'm still moving so I of course can keep going on for three hours straight!!"

Suddenly the two bickered. They gritted their teeth, frowning and glaring like wild beasts in a turf war. However, the clash between the elven girl and human warrior… was interrupted by the mage who said.

"Chill out you lovebirds~ At least we won another battle unscathed."

We're not lovebirds!! The boy and the girl shouted at the mage with a cape. Karen could only smile as she watched how dissimilar and yet similar the couple was but she did not voice her honest opinion. She wanted to get as many loot possible to boost her skills experiences. But once done, Vane commented

"Oh well... the level of the monsters are quite good for farming. And there are only traps and traps after the misleading mist. Well, there will be someone in the forum who will leak the information of the dungeon’s layout soon but I want to get a headstart."

"Huff.... it's not called Labyrinth for show-off. In fact, I am surprised how detailed can this game be. It’s so real as if I were transported into an entirely different planet."

"Yeap~ No health bar, no mana bar, no damage count and no precise walk through. But~ as long as there's a precise attack then it'll be certain kill. Isn't this more like western game?"

"Well, at least there are stats and levels. Even if there are a lot of complains but the game is more or less governed by AIs. Not people. And I heard kids below 17 are given assistance by the AIs to let them enjoy the game as mere game."

"A realistic game depending on the age of the players~ yep, I feel more like it when there's a true VRMMMO like this. It's just amazing how it can go down the details to the most trivial matter."

“Uh… sorry, but what are you talking about seriously…? I’m in the dark here…”

Half pouting and half sighing, Ririan raised a hand. Unlike her two friends, she was not one who touched game consoles for years and she was an alien to game industry. In short, she’s a technology klutz which made Vane to laugh at her. Once again, the three Voyagers bickered as they walked.

"But still... a C-Rank subjugation quest. And with an army of knights. I wonder what kind of reward will we get?"

"Rare items! I won't complain if I can get 400% Exp and rare equipment set!! Even more so if there’s some good drop items that can be used to increase my blacksmithing skill!!"

"Vane really is a game nerd~"

"Shut it. You should be happy that I invited you girls for a quest you beginners."

"But it's quite rare right...? A quest directly given by a noble. Usually Brigade of Knight would have stolen the spot."

"Come to think of it, who was the client’s name again....?"

As if struck by thunder, the three stopped moving. Vane who was the party leader tilted his head even though he proclaimed as a veteran player. It was true that he joined a powerful guild but he was not so ambitious he would join the Brigade. His level was also not so high and his experience in BWO could be considered as average. Obviously, he knew not everything but he was the one who dragged Ririan and Karen into his Quest.

"Hum...? If I remember correctly...." –the young man tapped on his temple. His frown became deeper the brows looked as if becoming one but Ririan suddenly answered in his stead.

"....Vagni... right? An old man in gaudy clothing with the title of Duke…"