Thinking back on it now, Li couldn’t help but shudder at the experience. He really didn’t want to have to deal with another one of those scorpions. At least not without significantly more mana and a solid idea of how to break through their armor. Maybe Giant’s Punch could manage it if he got close enough, but no way his little throwing knives were doing the job.

Of course, based on one of his later experiences it seemed like slower creatures with powerful defenses were the norm in this dungeon. He had encountered his third monster, the second live one, about four hours after the first. Well, alive in the loosest sense.

A large square courtyard, maybe 30 yards a side, had been the home of the creature. The courtyard had been one of the areas that would change which paths opened and closed as time passed, giant pillars rising to block off routes or dropping to reveal new ones. The square itself was composed of a constantly shifting floor, a wave of tiny rising and dropping hexagonal tiles moving from one side to the other in unpredictable rhythms. The motion required you to constantly keep some part of your attention on maintaining your balance.

Statues were scattered around the courtyard, various figures in armor striking heroic poses with a range of weapons. The way they had been arranged; the statues almost seemed in constant battle with each other. Like Li had walked in on a frozen battlefield. Occasionally the shifting floor would move one statue slightly, resulting in a new layout for the hectic field of war.

As Li had slowly worked his way in amongst the statues, his Motion Sense was a constant itch in the back of his mind. Warning him of things moving behind him, tiny motions all around him, and a constant feeling of being under attack. Still, he had refused to turn off the additional sense that had saved his life more than once since entering Archimedes’ Labyrinth. He had been of the opinion that it was better to be jumpy then dead.

An attitude that proved itself right not long later. He had been passing between two statues apparently in the middle of an intense fight. On his left had been a masculine figure depicted with a long beard. The being wore little armor, just a leather chest piece and some kind of iron plated skirt. In both hands he held a massive double bladed war axe, captured mid swing as he brought it down from above his head. To his right had been a woman with a long braid hanging down her back. She had been armored in full plate mail, face barely visible beneath her helmet. In her right hand she held a shield above her head to deflect the oncoming axe while in her left was a sword sweeping toward her opponent’s side from below. While the armor and weapons of each had been carved in excruciating detail, the individuals themselves were only roughly detailed. More homunculus than human.

As he passed, a pair of waves crashed together from either side beneath his feet. The result was both statues being pushed closer together, finally within range to hit each other with their swings. And swing they had. Li’s motion sense had screamed at him to duck before he had even registered that the statues now hemmed him in from either side. As he dropped to the ground, he felt the wind of the woman’s sword passing through where he had been standing, only to be briefly deafened as it crashed into the axe wielder’s side. Then he had desperately rolled forward and under the still extended sword as the axe, deflected by the woman’s shield, had come crashing down toward him.

Li had to constantly be on his toes after that. Whenever he was forced to pass between two statues that were looking at each other, a similar event had occurred. Two waves shoving the combatants toward each other, only for Li himself to be caught in the middle. Occasionally he had been able to dash past the statues before they could begin reigning down blows, but more often the unsure footing kept him from moving fast enough to entirely avoid the trap.

The sheer number of statues had made it near impossible to entirely avoid them too. Even if he did manage to escape activating any traps for too long, he would find that the waves had moved the statues enough to entirely surround him with statues opposing each other. At one point he tried climbing onto a statue’s plinth, hoping to sneak around behind the warrior. That had been a terrible plan as the statue, a great bear of a man wearing nothing but a pair of pants and wielding a club the size of a small tree, had kicked him off the plinth. The blow knocked the air from his lungs and ended with him lying on his back staring up at the face of the statue. A face that had then glared at him as he lay there trying to catch his breath. Then the statue had brought the club whipping down at him with ferocious force, forcing Li to roll desperately to the side while gulping for air. Thankfully that was apparently enough of a punishment for the statue, as it returned to its original position - club raised in a warding blow against another man with a war hammer.

Eventually he had made it to the center of the courtyard, where a single statue bigger than all the others sat waiting. This was the only statue where the details of the man himself had equaled the care with which his armaments had been depicted. His lack of a helmet had shown a face just beginning to show signs of age. Cruel eyes framed by heavy eyebrows glared out at his surroundings. A short, square beard and well-groomed hair gave him an almost regal appearance. He sat on a crudely carved block of stone like it was some kind of throne, the king of this battlefield unconcerned with the threat surrounding him. His weapons, two long swords of incredible size, leaned against one side of his improvised seat. Each blade was covered with esoteric symbols that matched those marking his half plate armor and seemed to indicate each item’s enchanted nature.

When Li had broken through the last line of opponents to reach this point, the statue’s head had immediately turned toward him and its eyes had locked on his. The being had sat like that for a few moments. Studying him, measuring him, and apparently finding that Li did not amount to much. With a great shrug of its armored shoulder, the being had stood up and raised one of his blades - aiming the point at him in some kind of challenge. Then it grabbed the other sword and began walking toward him.

This statue had been different from the rest. All the others had seemed to be running in preprogrammed actions. Even the one that had kicked him had seemed…mechanical in its response. In comparison this being had moved fluidly and with seeming intelligence, adapting to the shifting floor as well as, if not better then, Li was. Its motions had lacked the rigidity of its fellows and it had incorporated motions that seemed almost like warm up moves to Li. Movements meant to test its range of motion and ensure nothing felt off.

At the time, Li hadn’t had more time to think about it, but in retrospect he suspected that while all the other statues had been traps, the warlord had been some kind of golem or gargoyle. And it had been merciless in attacking him. When it finally made its move, the charge had been strong enough to briefly break one of the floor’s waves. The thing had accelerated at a rate he would have had no chance at responding to without his force magic. He had only gotten away from the first attack by dodging back through the statues he had come through to get to the central clearing in the first place.

Those hadn’t protected him long. All of the weapons he had seen up to that point may have been shaped like various things, but each had, in effect, been a massive club as the stone couldn’t be sharpened to an edge. This had not held true with the warlord’s blade; it had cut through the statues like a hot knife through butter. Not a single crack appeared at the point of impact, only a clean cut into the stone. A display that had served as effective proof the mystic markings on the blades were not just for show.

The following moments had quickly devolved into a desperate game of cat and mouse for Li. Throwing himself through traps and doing his best not to stumble as the warlord slashed and smashed through the statues to chase him around the courtyard. He only made the mistake of trying to stop the warlord with his Force Wall once. The result had been the statue smashing through it with almost no resistance when Li realized the drain would be too much and he cut off the mana flow. The statue hadn’t even swung a blade at it, he had just bodily rammed the blue wall of energy and forced his way through.

In the end, Li had gotten lucky. About ten minutes into the warlord’s chase there had been a great rumble in the ground beneath his feet, followed by an extra powerful wave that even caused his colossal pursuer to pause. Around him the walls had shifted as the maze rearranged itself and a pathway opened up not twenty feet from his location. Taking advantage of the momentary lull in motion afterward, he had pushed hard to slip through the doorway. Being able to empower his armor and run without fear of losing his footing for a few seconds as the courtyard settled, combined with the relatively fewer traps between him and the exit, had been enough.

After he had left the courtyard, the warlord had been unwilling, or possibly unable, to follow him through the doorway. As he had watched from the other side, the statue had briefly glared at him before turning around and marching back to his throne. When the great golem got there, it had proceeded to put on a show of personal strength by turning its entire boulder throne to face Li’s doorway. Then it had sat down and laid its blades across its lap, waiting for Li’s return to his domain.

After shaking his head at the statue to indicate he would never return, Li had proceeded further down the path. He had only been able to breathe comfortably when he finally escaped around a corner and left the statue’s flinty gaze. The chase had been entirely too stressful and he had promptly fallen on his butt to allow himself a break. It hadn’t been entirely by choice either. He had almost exhausted his mana pool while fleeing, empowering his armor to some degree the entire time so that he had the physical abilities necessary to stay out of reach.

#

Damn. How am I supposed to get any stronger if everything I run into in this place is too heavily defended for my daggers to do anything to them. My magic may be really good at keeping me alive here, but something will eventually hit me if the only thing I do is dodge and run. Hopefully the next one will be something I can deal with.

As Li finally continued along the path, he couldn’t help but worry about how long he could survive at his current pace. Unless something changed, and quickly, he was unlikely to live for long. He needed a way to get stronger. Some way to gain evolution points. Then he kicked himself for forgetting to ask the system about that.

As soon as the thought of asking the System came to mind, a voice echoed in his head. “Hello Li. If you have any questions, I am available to provide answers within your clearance level.” The sound caused him to literally jump backwards, the day’s events giving rise to a retreat reflex whenever something unexpected happened.

What followed was an enlightening conversation with the system. For starters, that it was a resource he was free to take advantage of even after leaving the setup stage and that it could apparently operate entirely with psychic communication. After that he learned the three main ways a human could gain evolution points, and instantly was furious with himself for not purchasing the meditate skill.

His annoyance with himself would likely have continued if not for the fact that by now there were signs that the afternoon was beginning to draw to a close and he wanted to find someplace to wait out the night. So far, the Labyrinth had pretty regularly provided small alcoves and offshoots that could serve as an effective campsite, and he was hoping to find another nearby.

So it was that about an hour later he had found the perfect spot to set up camp for a night. A large clearing with a small pond filled with clean, clear water spread before him and fruit trees grew around it. A few berry bushes popped up here and there, though Li was reluctant to eat an unknown berry. Fish swam in the lake and looked like they would make an enticing dinner. The entire area had an almost vacation feel to it.

At first, he was absolutely sure that a place this nice had to be a trap. Some terrible monster in the lake or poison fog or something. A half hour of thorough searching revealed nothing though. Just an ordinary lake surrounded by ordinary trees, seemingly the perfect place for a weary traveler to rest their head.

Indeed, after settling down and eating he could practically feel the stress leaching out of his body as he observed the calming scene. Birds sang from the tree tops and a beautiful sunset was visible in the distance. The fruit turned out to be absolutely delicious, similar to an orange but more sour. Water was plentiful after he purchased a water purification canteen from the shop. He had even managed to make a fairly comfortable bed using the large fronds from the trees, some moss, and some spare clothes from his pack.

This is nice…Definitely what I need after running through the dungeon all day. Then his eyes snapped open as he came to a realization. There was only one problem. The far side of the clearing was a dead end of dense forest growth. There were no other exits besides the one he had come in through. Getting here had been a straight shot from the courtyard too. No branching pathways, and as far as he could tell no doorways that would open as time passed. The exit from the courtyard had led to a dead end. No wonder the warlord had been so confident that he would be back.

Staring at the sky above him, Li could only whisper, “Fuck.”