„i have to make a proposal, we should start doing more dangerous missions. now that we finished with this it's clear that we can do more than we try and there is only so much more missions that we can take on our level that aren't dangerous. even with this we mostly avoided fighting and that will leave us stuck where we are"

„but we don't need more. now that i have pfause. and we also see so many other fun things all the time. but pfause and i need to see even more crazy places so we need to go to other places"

instead of eating herself was rinas priority to feed pfause who sat on her lap getting fed all kinds of vegetables, some he declined others he ate

„marth you say that every time, but in the end we always find enough to do. we don't need to become good fighters or anything as long as we can do for ourselves"

lüziel was pointing at marth with his spoon challenging his proposal that he had multiple times already once again

„i have actually looked it up, being concerned about it and all, and we can at best last 2 more years this way then we need to decide if we want to clear the 3rd act or not and we can't just let our head start go to waste. if you do the calculation with the average progression formula you get that we are ahead. if that keeps up we will be finished 10 or even 20 years earlier"

rina who halve heartedly heard what he said looked skeptical at marth

„you just made that up so that we believe you. what would a average progression formula be anyways pfause, he only want to sound smart with things we don't understand"

marth threw a thick book on the table making it shake enough that lüziel had to save his glass from falling over

„please why don't you do it more aggressively. throwing a lexicon on the table wont help your argument much"

when lüziel looked at the cover did he see the title ‚the path of gods'

„it's not a lexicon it's about the 4 act system and how it works in detail. there are thing in it like what happens after the end of the 2nd act and also a formula that gives you an idea what you should get in average per year to clear the 3rd act within the 100 years. there is the way of just training and catch up with how much more you get the higher level missions are but thats for one boring and we're not the people to do something like that anyways"

„even if you say that what would we do next. it's not going to be jump in the lions den and hope to survive and et stronger from the experience"

„ha, thats exactly our problem. you only think of the worst but these missions are rated for a purpose and going of the cp gives you a good idea if its doable now that we have concrete values how much we should get"

marth scream up like that startled lüziel enough that rina was the first to answer

„i don't like the idea to fight but we can still explore. all we do is so boring"

„i get it, and now stop staring at me like that. we'll look for something more interesting"

„yay, we're going to see fun places"

[pfause has retreated

time until pfause can be summoned 1:00:00]

„you need to stop treating him like a toy. he clearly doesn't like getting swung around"

behind them opened someone energetically the door making them all look that way. in it stood a figure with fedora and coat like only one person had in the camp

„time for a chat"

in his typical fashion he tipped his fedora in a dramatic way to greet them

„zenos we no longer work together, this mission is over"

„don't make it sound like we're stranger all of the sudden or i might get lonely"

„quit your jokes why did you come"

he took a stool standing on the side and placed it on the table before picking a piece of bread and eating it

„so you know how i am part of a smaller group. we very soon will do a mission that needs some extra brains. we do have all the fighters in the world but we're mostly composed of meatheads but we need some intellectuals as well for this. we where about to search for fitting people but you two are perfect and i have some grasp of your characters compared to a random person"

„whats with me, i'm also here"

„you can come as well if you want. one more horse isn't an issue"

rina looked a bit angry that she was treated as unimportant but lüziel stopped her tantrum right away. meanwhile did marth get excited

„that sounds interesting. tell me what exactly is this about when a bunch of ‚meatheads' can't deal with it but some rookies are supposed to be helpful"

zenos shrugged with his shoulders

„eh, we haven't gotten told much details. what i do know is that we don't need experienced people but witty people who are strong willed apparently"

„sounds great"

lüziel hit marth hand down as he was about to give zenos a handshake to confirm

„not only do we not know what this is about but also we have our own plans. isn't that exactly what we spoke about a second ago? so how does it pay out, it can't be that much when anyone is ok"

„oh you're underestimating them. torholt alone could make sure you don't get wet in a storm, well i guess defense is his expertise so this maybe was a bad example"

„but what about pay. we know that not all mission get payed per person and what keeps us from taking something easier we can do alone"

„no fun allowed and straight to the point. you're probably amazing at parties right. how about this fifteen hundred cp. you need to deal for your own food and sleep but thats 3 times the amount you should get at this point"

„that means it will be AWESOME. with no problem we can see something that lüziel wouldn't want us to go alone to"

„you have been outvoted funny man, i think the decision has been made without you needing to say a word"

„actually when is this. it sounded like it was still a bit away"

„2 years, but you should make yourself know now or someone may steal your spot"

„isn't that a bit to far away from now to care about this"

zenos shook his head

„first of all 2 years aren't that much to them. you learn that the hard way if they talk about soon and then let you sit there for a weak. in addition would it normally take a bit more than just convincing someone to join. after all are we not here to give a way a job but search for competent help"

„and we are the ones?"

while marth and rina where excited about this did lüziel keep his skepticism

„alright we get it, just come with me. maybe they take you, maybe they don't but if i put in my word that surely gives you some points"

before leaving did zenos take one of their duhgduhg fruits just to on the outside hear an amusing reaction

„blah, what the heck is this? it's pure sugar"

„serves you right for taking our food without asking. pfause really like those"

when they finished and where ready to go where most people already kicked out and when they saw them they as well got thrown out now that the mission was cleared. waiting for them was zenos

„so, let us go"

when they got to the gate they took tickets to a place that was quite a bit away even further than riastehc on gaime, a planet they didn't even hear about up until now. the station looked as usual like any other but coming out of it they saw street lamps being put weirdly high in the air held by three legs spanning over the walkway. the houses all looked like where windowless having a green facade towards the street side but a few had holes in them like open windows. populating the streets where mostly what looked like humans but really tall ones, with the average height being around 2,1m and faces that less round than looked normal. it was only when marth saw one nearby with long pointy ears that he realized

„ELLllff….. now those look awfully like that one fictional race"

„no, no go ahead, they are elfs. they are actually named exactly like how we know it from fiction. keep this under us but i heard that some snuck onto earth as story writers and thats why we have the same name. they are more stingy so the creative folk went over to the humans who eat up stories and look close enough to be mistaken as one. but it's forbidden for any grintß no matter race to enter earth for another 1000 years so it surely is just a coincident"

„whats up with the walls they are all green"

„it's a color that blocks light from one side. perfect for cities when you don't want people to spy in your rooms especially when you life right next to the station where all kinds of weird folk show up"

„you took longer than expected and why are there people with you"

approaching them was another person some already knew

„kellam do you not remember them, the one and only people that beat us"

kellam inspected them especially rina who backed of a bit from that

„i remember him, and then there was a girl but not her"

„you're right there is the big guy missing. what happened"

„you can do that later"

kellam turned around and went the way he came. they followed shortly after him

„but for real what happened to the big guy"

„split up. he does his thing we do ours"

„good for him, he wasn't fit for the 4th act. he should search something more fitting no shame in that"

„how would you know, you barely saw him"

„i have seen my fare share of people"

after a while they reached their destination a house that jut like all the others was covered in the green paint

„it's so… not green inside"

„that comes with the sight block. it's green on the outside so it isn't green on the inside"

walking up the stairs all the way to the top they slowly got used to the weird lack of green. they stopped when they reached the top floor that had only 4 doors spaced out over the floor. the door they entered had on the inside a small changing room followed by a large comfortable room filled with 3 couches that where inhabited by 2 people a bar where another person was mixing a drink, a tv that was turned on to some show and lots and lots of stuffed animals most being toys but some being trophies of animals. rina instantly threw herself on a mountain of stuffed animals garnering the attention of the three others in the room

„hey leave mister caption sparkle pants alone, he doesn't like strangers"

one from the couch jumped up running towards rina pulling out a teddy bear with an 80s disco style that was wearing a cowboy head

„THAT'S your first thought"

„howdy and who might you be barging in our apartment unannounced and uninvited"

„zenos brought them with him"

„oh, your back, nothing happened i hope"

„it was exhausting because this naganita couldn't cut them but i got through with no problem"

„we don't just give out crap so that had to be your fault for overusing it"

„nah, those jellyfish where for sure the problem. everyone struggled doing damage with the exception of that guy"

zenos was pointing at lüziel

„so i'm now that guy"

„what kind of weapon did ya use. it sure as hell ain't higher quality, guilds don't give out good shit to their newbies"

„first of all we are not part of a guild and second it doesn't matter anyways, it's broken now"

lüziel pulled out his ice dagger laid it on the counter of the bar

„that's not broken, it just needs to recharge. but what did you do with this, it didn't break over time but just from one very out wearing event"

„it was hot and here where a lot of leqaul"

as if struck by lighting the man who looked at his weapon suddenly had an epiphany

„no wonder steal had struggle cutting. leqaul are exceptional cut resistant, but take a bit of frost and their skin becomes brittle"

„a what? do you know any random ass animal?"

the other man from the couch now stood up going over to them

„they are a delicacy you usually only find on galminof but that doesn't really count for outbreak they could send you to the other end of the universe for all we know"

the last one came now too to the counter holding mister captain sparkle pants tightly having apparently found a truth with rina as she too was holding a teddy bear with cowboy hat but less fabulous pants. all the while without lüziel realizing it did the one at the bar take his dagger now putting it into the freezer right next to pre made ice cubes

„anyways whoa are you"

„there my friends and they also want to help with the mission"

„great more ‚party people'"

the one from the couch held down the arms from the one with bear

„wait, not anyone can be ‚party people'. to be ‚party people' you need that certain flare. wine or beer"

he was getting extremely close to marth face with his own pressing him slowly back

„äääh, ähm, ähm"

„mmh, mmh"

„ähm, äääh"

„mmh"

„ähm, beer"

„fine choice but wine is also ok. it all depends on who made it. these elfs are all light weights so their alcohol tastes like water"

„so this was a joke question. why did you pressure me like that, that made me really anxious to answer wrongly"

while laughing patted he marth a bit to strong on the back making marth fall over

„that was just a test. even saying you don't drink would be fine, all that counts is that you answer"

then suddenly the atmosphere got extremely tens with all three staring with serious faces on marth, rina and lüziel and the one behind the bar starting to talk

„so you want to be part of our mission. only if you can convince the council may you be allowed to join us"

„you will need to pass 3 trials, fail one and you fail us"

„you may use him as help as he is your friend and friendship is an important skill"

„number one hit any one of use within the next 2 years"

„number two get us something not within this room"

„number three prove your needing"

after going in circles talkin they said the last sentence in chorus

„the council has spoken, rules will not be broken"

after them speaking was rina looking over to the one next to her slowly moving up her hand but when she tried to hit him he turned around completely countering her

„high five!"

„don't even bother getting cheeky. they are masters of the art of cheekyness"

„well at least the second one is easy. there is no way you have this"

marth pulled out the books he stole in the last mission

„uh interesting, that looks fancy. where ya get that from"

„so we pass the second trial"

„does this look like it's not in this room. to me it clearly looks like it inside this room as i am holding it and stand inside this room"

„wait, doing that means there can be nothing that isn't inside the room as as soon we bring it it's inside"

„just a tip, they take everything literal and don't lie so whatever nonsense they spot has some meaning you simply have to figure out. for us it was a headache to get through the trials"

when turning to kellam he simply shook his head, stating ‚I'm not going to help'

„so you have anything fun other than books. they look nice but i can't even read them and they are books"

„hey don't talk ill on books"

„what cha gonna do about it, hit me?"

„you know what yes, yes i am"

when marth tried to attack he simply dodged and then held his shoulders making it impossible for marth to get a hit in

„you are so hospitable to us without even knowing our names. this is way overdue but it's time for introductions, lüziel"

„of cause, how could we forget. we are incredibly bad hosts. i am the leader of the group kjell"

„yo, håkan over here and you you i like a lot"

håkan, the one with mister captain sparkle pants, was pointing at rina

„you get me i can feel that"

„go bak to your corner håkan and play with your teddybear. i'm torholt, the iron shield so just say the word and will make sure you wont get a scratch"

as it was already getting late they said goodby for today as they at the moment had no resting place and lüziel was insistent on not freeloading in their apartment. right when they where about to leave did rina turn around and in her arms popped up in a puff of smoke pfause

„i totally forgot. pfause you need to see this"

„RINA, we are in a hotel put pfause back"

lüziel may was occupied convincing rina that she cannot have pfause inside the hotel but marth saw out of the corner of his eye how all 10 eyes from inside the room where gravitating towards pfause, then after a small bit of thinking while looking at the doorstep he realized something

„before you recall pfause i think there some people who would love to get to know him"

marth was turning their attention towards the 5 inside and where rina was to obviously on her way to glady show of pfause did marth hold her back

„why are you stopping me"

„psst, just go with it. so pfause what even is he anyways. going from the monsternomicon he is a mihcslihm kikarnelc but you barely find them mentioned in books. kikarnelc yes but mihcslihm kikarnelc that gotta be really rare"

it took lüziel a bit but he realized what marth was trying to do

„oh and his fur really is so unreal. we might still be new but i have never seen anything come close to this. it's almost as if he was a pice of sky that jumped down"

not being able to hold it anymore where now standing on the doorstep 4 people with kellam being the only one not seeming to be interested

„look at this, why would you storm over here, could it be that pfause is something you don't have in your room"

he was pointing down signalizing that they where clearly outside the room

„the council has spoken you have passed the second trial. and now show him"

„but you need to be very careful. pfause is really shy"

„move aside scum, let the expert handle this"

håkan was confidently moving towards pfause before slowly reaching out his hand from below letting pfause sniff it. when he was finished did håkan move his hand up petting pfause. seeing this where torholt and kjell eager to follow the example but as they where doing it to fast did pfause turn back tightly hugging rina

„you two really don't get it. you need to do it with elegance and stile"

when zenos was stretching out his hand he was lowering his entire body down to pfauses height. it took a bit but pfause did turn back around sniffing his hand and then also allowing zenos to pet him. after finishing in this way the first trial did marth now try to get another not so sneaky punch in as he was made a fool when he punched into complete air. it was already dark for a while when they finally found a small inn.

„real talk how do we get that third part"

„it makes no sense, that wasn't even a real sentence. what does proving need mean that is stupid"

„not totally. i get what they mean, while the first two are just physical deeds showing that we are not completely useless when it counts is the third one what they actually want from us. what can we give that they wouldn't have without us"

„you understood that"

„it's not that hard even if they are acting a bit chaotic"

„what we're gonna do, solve a rubics cube. how does someone even show that they are smart"

„in that case it would be harder to get than than actually solving it. what it's true"

rina was looking at marth like he was some kind of wizard making him question what he said

"putting that aside we still need to do something over the net 2 years and as the first part exists it needs to be here. that means we need to find where we can get our missions and we now deal with completely unknown situations for the first time"

„now that you mention it we really didn't step outside of earth range with the exception of 2 times visiting riastehc. speak alone about another country but another race, what even are the standards here. thinking of elfs i would think of proper behavior and higher class"

„you are just stereotyping even i know that thats wrong"

„well let's deal with that tomorrow"

the next day their first goal was searching the city as what was shown on the map didn't help their goal of finding work. while walking around it was obvious that this area was a tourist trap as there was an ridiculous amount of stands for food trinkets all all kinds of souvenirs that thinned down the further away they got from the gate. shattering marth believes was most in fact not nature based but instead there was a way higher level of technology used than anything earth related. while there where some things you would imagine from a fantasy story like light balls that had a special crystal in it that with the press of a button would start shining like a flash lamp but for every one of those where 10 neon signs and electric billboards. after a long walk they final reached something similar to the tower guild being the ecilahme center for adventurer and hunter. compared to the guild this was a bureau handling all those who where upcoming 4th acters. what it also was missing was any sense of human contact as everything was just terminals dealing with anything from basic information to sending out general messages to others.

„for some of this stuff you really have to ask are those even real words, i mean what is a rigucartul even supposed to be. i can't even make that out from context, is it a tool, is it a profession?"

„you really expect everything to be the same when we are on a planet completely out of human range"

„thats the great part i do not want to be it the same. but it does make some things more annoying"

marth was pondering in thoughts as behind him some groaning snapped him back to gaime. while they where discussing where behind them a few other people who wanted to use the terminal

„let's just take one and go. it's not like thinking about it makes it make more sense"

called to action did rina scroll through the options taking one at seemingly random and they where out. while she usually picks good missions was this a flop being just an errand to gather some herbs

„no point regretting taking it, but look at that cp tallon disparity. the system clearly sees it as not much worth while whoever send the request pays a lot of money for it."

Fleeting Herbs

Objective: gather rärukte

Reward: 5000 tallon for clear

10 cp

Achievements: 0/1 cleared

Description: faharaf needs rärukte for his pharmacy. gather 100 gram and deliver them

Place: rigegeb

Rating: for everyone

„for now we should just go there and look at the objective. rina usually doesn't miss"

as there was no gate going anywhere near rigegeb they needed to find another mode of transportation. this by itself was rather challenging as nothing went that way. in the end they needed to take a special plane flying over there once every week. during the time they had for the next flight they searched a bit for what they had to expect and it was the highest mountain on this planet located in the high north in one of the few snowy places there are. digging a bit more deep marth also found that elfs are bad with the cold and thats why barely anyone lives there explaining the problem in getting there. readied up with winter clothe they flew over there exiting into a blinding white snowfield.greeting them where elfs that looked compared to the others incredibly smal even if they where just a bit smaller then themself

„why do they shake this much, this isn't even that cold"

rina was referring to the elfs who flew in the plain and where now unloading the plain who despite their way thicker cloth shook like they where about to freeze to death

„really makes you appreciate being human. they really don't get along with cold at all"

„let's go, even if we can handle it better we shouldn't stand around here doing nothing"

the town was made up of some sort of stone that looked weirdly fluffy, not like it had fur but it looked like something you could cuddle. walking around the entire town was a matter of minutes as it was incredibly small only having 1 of everything. the one and only in was springily big for a place expected to have little tourism and the prices where even bigger than the house. now having arrived in a warm inside they checked their mission again but instead of stating something more specific like it usually does it still stayed the same rigegeb.

„how do we supposed to know where to go if it doesn't say us. speak, tell us your secrets"

„rina your talking to an inanimate object"

as if just to spite lüziel did rinas window change from the purple to the green window showing the map of the mountain with 3 locations marked

„ha, i won, take that lüziel"

„not trying to ruin your mood but what actually happened was that you hit the place swapping to the map. but 3 spots so we have to check all of them probably"

„going this high into the mountain is dangerous. we should take this slow"

„yea yea mister safety fetish. it is true that mountain and safety don't really belong in the same sentence but it is payed like 3 month so we have all the time in the world"

„but looking at all 3 spots will not be possible, looking at this one"

marth looked over lüzies shoulder seeing him point at the one in the middle

„thats 10 kilometers high. at that point the atmosphere is really thin"

„you dunduns, that is no problem. we now are way stronger and need to breath way less"

both lüziel and marth where looking at rina speechless

„so what exactly do you know, some times and with some times i mean all the time you are this ‚when i have this head why shouldn't i use it to bash in this wall' and then you say something like that. thinking back you are also able to hold your breath for minutes on end without a problem. we probably should not compare us to ‚normal' humans"

„we will see when we're there. it's a long way up and when it feels like breathing gets hard we turn around"

the next day they searched for a guid up the mountain and found someone who not only could guid them but also already knew where they wanted to go to as what they where searching is a rare flower only growing on this mountain with lot's of applications in medicine. the elfs in this town where already small but the guid was almost a dwarf being not any taller than 1,50. the first part of the mountain was no problem as there was an easy to follow path nearly all the way up to the first spot. to offset how easy the first part was was the last bit a nearly orthogonal wall they had to climb up using tools that where slightly to small. pair that with general inexperience and despite them being way stronger than what they would be as non grintß and it took them quite a while to get up long enough that getting down would mean they walk in the dark for a bit.

„with no way back there is only forwards left to go"

„look everything looks so tiny from up here"

„we aren't even a quarter of the way up but it already looks like this"

„just a bit further and we have reached our first destination. when we reach that we can set up a camp for the night"

their guid was waving them to pick up the pace. after a bit more of now halve climbing halve walking they reached a clearing in the form of a black flower bed

„a hundred gram of this, that can be done with just this"

when picking up one flower the information window showed that this in fact where not what they where searching

„you say that you do this more often. you surely know which one it is"

the guid who was already starting to make the camp shook his head

„i never bother with that part"

„so we're searching something that isn't this black flower when that is all we can see"

„found it"

rina was holding a black flower that had 5 layers of petals and a white stem. seeing it from above made it look similar enough to the other flowers but where the others had brown and almost bark like stems was this white stem a clear giveaway that it was not the same flower.

„so we are searching a black flower in a sea of black flowers"

„stop complaining start searching"

after searching for as long as their fingers would allow it in the cold they only found 5 totaling a weight of 31 gram. reaching the next spot was where it got difficult. where it was just a small obstacle having to climb to get here it almost exclusively was climbing from her on. they camped multiple times just to reach the next spot but where you would expect this to get harder the higher up they went but the only noticeable difference was the air getting colder. the next spot was way less filled as the first being just a few patches of flowers leading to only 4 rärukte being here. getting to the last spot was on a whole different level. now they finally felt how thin the air had gotten making climbing way harder even if they got used to it and the terrain let no error for mistake. lüziel who normally would call of something like this did in fact get extremely eager to reach the top pushing on but never completely losing his sense of safety. this continued without any issues until they reached the top standing 10 kilometers above the rest of the world seeing nothing but clouds underneath them and seeing stars in the sky clear as if it where night.

„wow this really is something else. you feel like you are the only thing that is"

„i wonder if we even could see anything down there if there where no clouds blocking the view"

„it feels like i could stretch out and touch the sky"

it took them a while to remember why they even got here but seeing the peculiar black flower in midst the white snow reminded them

„so how do flowers even grow up here. shouldn't they freeze over and it doesn't even rain, the clouds are down there after all"

„they are super flowers"

„probably not"

after finding an surprising quantity of rärukte here they could get the needed amount no problem now tarting to decent. this may sounded easy but getting down without falling down was equally or more difficult than getting up. while descending they could slowly see the town growing bigger and bigger the closer they came. when they saw their client for the first time he was overjoyed from them bringing the flowers clearing this mission without any issues returning back to searching for a new one.

„something i found while we where preparing for rigegeb was that elfs can do magic. we gotta find a way to see that"

„and how do you expect that to happen"

„we take a dungeon. we need to do these things in the end anyways so we can just take a dungeon quest now and see magic live in action at the same time"

„we have never done something like that, but even than i know that you would have other priorities that watching the others"

„that isn't a no, so you finally have broken"

„yay adventure"

„that means searching for an appropriate mission. you two still have to find something i will accept"

searching through the available missions only marth knew what to search for as his pondering through all kinds of books revealed to him that there are multiple types of gates. 2 they already knew the regular ones used for travel and the ones from outbreakes both being 2 sided gates but there are also 2 one sided gate equivalents of those called tunnels. by function they are mostly the same the only difference being where they lead to with the one type leading to planets with other gates and other to completely new planets that have no other entrance and sometimes additional tunnels leading to a chain of planets being one sidedly connected. something humans refer to as towers. as there is no normal way to exit a tunnel you either need a special item to return or use a one time gate which can't even be payed in the 3rd act while the first return item you buy during a mission has it's cost reduce by a massive amount making it a 1 time emergency exit.

„we need something where we have helpful abilities but also something that needs a bigger group and it has to be on a beginner level. thats a lot to ask for for something that is only randomly popping up in random difficulty. again with these weird wordings, there is definitely something we don't know but should"

„this sounds funny let's take this"

„your intuition may be good but taking something because it sounds funny when we are talking about taking for the first time a mission that could endanger us is even for me to much"

„then how about this, this sounds fun"

„what is the difference between fun and funny exactly in your mind"

„well something funny is funny but something fun is fun"

„not helping much…"

interrupting their discussion was lüziel looking at what rina picked

Gelatinous Cave

Objective: clear the tunnel

Reward: 3000 tallon for clear + 200 cp

30 tallon per killed Barkeb

10 tallon per killed Mimug

Achievements: 0/5 cleared

Description: A tunnel has opened in Lothlórien. Gather companions and clear it

Place: Lothlórien

Rating: Level 1 Tunnel

Add Mission?

„doesn't look that bad. simple description and nothing extraordinary in therms of difficulty"

marth now also looked at the mission

„a cave, thats a classic starting dungeon and going from the same gelatinous cave i suppose it's the classic monster slime. thinking about it your ice dagger will probably be very helpful here"

„slimes are gross!"

„just wait until they try to dissolve your clothe.."

the second lüziel heart that he hit marth on the back of the head and with the power difference he has thanks to level 0 it turned out to be quite the strong hit making him fly towards the ground only barely catching himself

„you know what i didn't intend to hit that hard but you know exactly why i did this"

it didn't take them long to get ready as they already where prepared from the outbreak only leaving restocking. after that they simply needed to find the way to the tunnel. going to lothlórien was but a matter of choosing the right destination at the train , saying that there was no gate in lothlórien forcing them to use other modes of transportation which only differed in the speed it took to get somewhere. arriving at the tunnel there was one other group waiting. with tunnels being more dangerous than any other type of mission it was advised to have at least a team of 5 so the 3 of them and the other group of 4 elfs was more than enough. the one thing that made them a bit uncomfortable was seeing the elfs having low level leather armor while they just used normal clothe but considering the outbreak they went to was level 3 and tunnels are usually seen as trice as hard as outbreaks there should be no problem.

„what do THOSE do here. why do we have to deal with some other race on our planet"

„as long as they do their job it doesn't matter what they are. i'm more concerned about their lack of precaution, striving up here like on vacation"

they clearly spoke loud enough for them to hear and while marth and lüziel where smart enough to just ignore it made these comments rina quite upset

„sorry that we don't have some fancy stuff, but we are well versed with caring for ourselves just so you know"

„just say one word and they immediately bark"

lüziel was rubbing his eyes while responding

„just let's move on with this it's only level 1. as far as we know that is not considered as outright dangerous, so may it be helpful, wearing armor is not advised"

„i guess no matter where you are people will always be people. no matter the race some are just assholes for the sake of it"

when entering they where fittingly greeted by a cave, which of cause had no lights and compared to a gate which would be on both sides and create some amount of light in the dark there was no tunnel on this side. this was nothing that couldn't be solved by a flashlight even so marth was upset that their fantasy setting was disrupted by modern technology, but even the elfs used something similar to a flashlight instead of magic so the illusion of a fantasy adventure was completely destroyed.

„this is not how the scriptures have foretold this"

„you just don't like that your fantasy stories aren't reality but we still have this cave"

„you're right rina, it's simply more efficient to not waist magic on something you can do without"

„whats up with that freak"

ignoring the down talk of the elves marched marth straight into the darkness followed by rina and lüziel and shortly after the elfs. walking through the cave they could here sounds of not only their steps but also other things echoing. they also could see where the name came from as the walls looked extremely slimy. the perpetrator of said slime became obvious very quickly when they face their first mimug, some weird amalgamation of star fish, slug and amoeba using 4 of it's 6 appendages to pull itself in on of the directions the other 2 pointed at with no discernible face or anything that would give some clue how or where it viewed it's surroundings. but one thing was certain in that despite it only being the size of halve a leg when fully stretched out was that you wouldn't want to get caught by it after seeing how it melted away part of a rock that was in it's way with some body fluid that came somewhere out of the tentacle even so they couldn't see in the dark where exactly.

„this may be a low level tunnel but don't get reckless. if that thing gets you you will still take serious damage"

with one command the elfs all readied for attack. on the other hand was marth mostly curious about the creature before them, rina being grossed out from it's sliminess and lüziel being the only serious taking out his dagger that was now back to new after following the tip he got from kjell. pulling out his dagger had quite the surprising response from the elfs

„an elemental weapon, how does he have something that expensive. no matter where you go those are expensive beyond what anyone could afford at our level"

„probably just a fake to pose of with"

„no that doesn't seem to be the case looking at it. a fake wouldn't have an aura of it's element"

„eye where did you get that from, who is sponsoring you"

„sponsor? i just bought it after having saved up a lot"

„IMPOSSIBLE! elemental weapons cost at bare minimum 100k or more. in no world would one simply save up for something like that as beginner"

„but it's the truth i saw it with my own eyes how lüziel bought it"

„don't lie to use what is the point of that"

„guys we really gonna do that now and not after dealing with the monster"

while they where pointlessly bicker did the mimug come a good bit closer

„you better show how real that thing is that you ‚bought'. i will even help you but only for that reason, [Paralyze]"

when he uttered these words started the mimug to jitter halting it's movement. despite not like how they treated them could lüziel not just simply stand there and do nothing so he when cautiously towards the mimug keeping an eye on the tentacles before stabbing his dagger inside. this had an immediate response with a layer of ice building at the wound and when he pulled out the dagger did the wound break open. at about the same time he struck did the paralyze stop making the small jittering turn to pain filled movements of the mimug before it curled up and just stayed that way afterwards. when the elfs looked at the dead mimug the one who was so hostile towards them was in disbelieve of what he saw

„you're convinced now. i told you it is elemental, the question now is how you obtained it"

they where all looking at him as if expecting some mind blowing story when in reality he really did just buy it. it was for marth to step up and be able to use his ‚knowledge' of this type of stuff to resolve this situation

„i wonder, you say elemental weapon but what does that even mean. shouldn't an elemental weapon be able to create its own elemental power?"

„of cause what are you stupid, otherwise it would be no different from a storage container"

„well this dagger does not create anything by itself, it even melted all the way down when we where for a longer time in the heat. to begin with it's description states that it's just a leftover of another weapon"

this finally made them realize the error of what they where saying

„so it's just some rough energy given shape, who would buy something that expensive when all it is is a throwaway item!"

„you are just saying that because you don't have a cool weapon to beat the star fish"

„star fish?"

„let's not waste time with pointless bickering. there is a lot more of this tunnel left"

continuing down the cave there where a few side path which they for now chose to ignore and some more mimug until they reached a spot where the slimy walls stopped being slimy. this was not obvious from the start as it is such a minute detail in the dark but it became obvious when something else approached them. it had a halve sphere as body with 6 long 3 parted legs coming out of the sides of which the first part was as long as the other 2 combined. the frontal 2 legs where split in 2 on the last part forming something between claw and scissor. in the middle of it's body where 2 humps out of which came 4 slug like tentacle eyes moving freely around as if searching the area but when it noticed them all moved towards them and it started hammering with it's claws on the ground in a rhythmical way. this sound after a short while was followed by additional clicking sounds echoing through the cave coming quickly closer only for 2 more to pop up.

„so this the other one. this will be way more challenging with them having armor and being mobile"

„he really like making everything sound impossibly dangerous"

„as he should when you don't want unnecessary risks"

„he is just like you, lüziel"

„maybe you're long lost brothers"

lüziel just blankly stared at marth for that comment before turning his attention towards the barkeb. the 3 where now all together hitting the ground moving in circles on the spot

„it seems that they won't attack for as long as we won't come closer. let's abuse that by using long range attacks to initiate the fight"

all 4 elfs said fire which made flames appear around the barkeb. but that didn't last long with the stone ground and all it did to the barkeb was that they retreated their antenna eyes into their body and backed a bit of before with the extinction of the fire charging at them in a surpassingly high tempo. when they where in range they tried using their claws to cut through their legs as that was he only part they could reach. even with the 3 of them attacking one person at once it caused no problems as all 7 could easily dodge the attacks. in the end it was just a matter of wailing at them longer than their shells could endure the hits ending them in a rather brutal fashion when the elfs set them through the cracks in the shell on the inside in flames. this made rina angry as she may learned to tolerate the killing but only if it was in a humane way.

„you can't do that!"

„what killing them? thats the entire reason we are here for, what else are we supposed to do"

„you can't just hurt them like that, that is too cruel and when you do cruel things bad things will happen to you"

„great we have a hippy"

despite rina being able to go on for longer they ended the argument with that and simply walked deeper into the cave

„like i get you, but this is how fantasy settings work, you gotta accept that"

marth was patting her on the back before following the elfs. going deeper in may have been not the best idea though as the came upon a nest of barkeb

„look at all theses eggs!"

„you should rather have your focus on the 20 barkeb. 3 was doable but when 20 attack i doubt we can deal with that. let's take another route"

„what are you doing, get back here. this is perfect to get tallon and one of the achievements"

„and you want to fight all of that simultaneously?!"

„of cause that are just some dum kresb. what are they gonna do, overwhelm us, we can always run and are way faster"

„let's at least not go all in. as long as we are near the exit that will stay true but in the middle of the room not so much"

„we are not stupid. that's basic rules"

their first action was to throw in a bomb that send out some sort of fume which from the looks of it make the barkeb dizzy as they started to hit the ground like they seen before but now it was completely chaotic. this however didn't last that long as it immediately started to dissipate

„what are you staring at, that stuff is harmless as long as you don't breath it in"

they immediately targeted a barkeb clothe to the entrance getting it away from the others before killing it with a combination of paralyze, flame and swords. at this moment did pfause pop up out of his usual puff of smoke before rina sniffing the ground. usually he just glistened a bit but here in the dark his fur had an unnatural small glow to it.

„pfause?"

„get back pfause it's dangerous"

rina tried to catch pfause to recall him but not only did her skill fail but he also straight through the barkebs somehow dodging all of their attack before burrowing at a wall on the other side

„hey i'm sure i saw something else just move back there. it almost looked like a cloud of stars moving along"

„what are you talking about. there are only 2 monsters in this tunnel and what is a cloud of stars even meant to be"

„no i'm 100% sure something was there"

„ehy what are you doing over there… fuck!"

being distracted by this did the lead of the elfs nearly get cut through his leg from a barkeb but he at least could still react for it to only be a surface level wound. rina far up front easily getting through the sea of barkeb trying to attack her, lüziel behind having some trouble to get past without getting hit and marth just completly giving up in folllowing them when he was greeted by the wall of barkeb that before tried to catch up to rina now all standing united did they follow pfause who had somehow found a spot where the barkeb didn't attack him or maybe the simply did saw him anymore now that he was still with his feather moved up making him almost impossible to spot in the dark when his glistening wasn't visible.

„what are you doing pfause, this is very bad of you. if you do this agin you wont get any food tonight"

„just grab him and run rina they are after us and don't look happy that we invaded this deep"

now that pfause was still it was easy for rina to pick him up and force him back leaving in her hand some weird plant. going back unharmed was now no longer an option as even for rina moving through this sea of barkeb was impossible. this made them retreat to a ledge on the wall high enough that the barkeb couldn't reach them despite their best attempts. being stuck up there they could do nothing but wait for the others to rescue them or the barkeb loosing intrest as lüziels dagger was not fit for attacking out of this distance. what they did not expect was marth silently approaching the horde from behind surrounding them by a wall of earth and or stone that when it would be able to be finished encase all of them at once. however he made it slightly to smal so that they got pushed together making them realize what happened trying to escape. marth could hold on long enough using his icarus wings as shields to trap some of them but he had to flee from the once that where able to get out soon after. they where still to 6 vs the 4 elfs and marth but now that from the original 20 11 where trapped and 3 already killed made the elfs feel confident to take on the other 6. after a while of exhausting hit and run trying to break through the hard shells of the barkeb while not getting attacked let them finish all 6 of. this would have een good news if not for the other 11 during that time trying to break out of their cage now having broken the wall. at least that made them get away from lüziel and rina who now could jump down and run through an opening with all 7 now retreating for as long as they where chased.

„WHAT was up with that! WHO said not to just run in!"

he looked very angry at lüziel but as rina knew that it was her fault for not containing pfause she stepped up

„i'm sorry he simply helped me catch pfause i will make extra sure that he won't run away another time"

„what even is a pfause and WHY does that matter. we are talking about you two risking us all. just because we don't particularly like you guys doesn't mean we will just let you out there to die. we have some honor to lose here when we can't even keep the entire party alive in the lowest level tunnel"

„he won't come out for a short while but i can show him after that"

„that's not really the point here rina. you need to keep him under control or we will get in danger"

„why did he do that anyways it seemed like he found something"

„he only got some dum plant. i even feed him recently but he still wanted more"

when rina was showing what pfause dug out one of the elfs looked closely at it before having an epiphany

„i know this. they sell something looking exactly like that at the herb shop and it cost a fortune. but looking at it this does look quite stunted and has bite marks. we need to get back in that room and search closely every centimeter. if we find a fully grown plant of this stuff we can make a lot of money"

„pipe down, first and foremost we are here for the tunnel not to make money. there would be better ways to do that"

„but the money"

„when we clear out something you can go look but we stay as a team so when we go you wont stay behind"

he looked quite sad for a while but also now had his eyes open to look for any potential plants. for a long time they searched through the tunnel finding other barkeb groups while mimug always wandered alone and thanks to the map not working in this maze like cave they needed to make one by hand taking up even more time. to begin with all of them didn't exactly know what they where even searching for exactly just that somewhere in this cave would be something different from cave walls, barkeb and mimug. what also happened over that time is that the one elf became friends with pfause as pfause was constantly popping up searching for that one plant even if outside of smaller ones they did find much. it was obvious that they found the end when they reached a man made walls poking out of the cave wall.

„finally"

„but where does it lead to, there should be some sort of boss on the other side if you follow common sense"

„you know that this is still not some fantasy novel"

„oh shush, let me have some fun this is the first time that we do the real deal"

„but there is no door. how are we supposed to get in?"

„it is to be assumed that this stretches out through the cave so you 3 go that way and we the other to more quickly find the entrance"

„got it. we will meet back here when someone found it"

while rina, lüziel and marth where walking further down the path where the elfs turning around taking the other path a bit further back. it didn't take long before they got the message that they found the entrance, a normal door in a frame that looked exactly like the other wall they found

„so what now"

while marth and lüziel where looking at the elfs for an answer where they equally looking back

„for this is also a first time so all we can do is go through"

„it's stuck. i need some help"

with 3 people in total all pushing against it it broke open showing the inside but not before tons of dust got flung into the air which was an unpleasant experience for the three who flew in with the door

„this looks like an office. papers everywhere a desk and even a solar system even if it isn't the one we know of"

„so someone worked here at something a long time ago going from the dust layer"

„it's exactly like with the outbreak. there to we found some old workplace of someone. really makes you wonder if it is truly random where these gates lead you to"

when they made steps inside they could see more clearly what was inside with bookshelves holding books in a language neither of them knew papers with equations for something related to the orrery and lying on the bottom of the shelve behind the desk what they where searching for. looking at it it looked like everything else in this room with the only hint being the menu popping up above it designating it as core.

„these books and especially these characters they look familiar, but comparing it's similar but not the same outside of these. numbers? maybe? that would mean it's still related"

marth held one of the books he got from the outbreak next to the ones from the shelf comparing what is on the pages

„really books, you couldn't find a single thing in this room more interesting than books"

„but aren't all things here just some science stuff?"

„still more interesting as some old books"

the elfs pushed the orrery which made it turn a bit before one of the rods holding the planets broke making the planet fall to the ground and break as well

„why did you break it. it looked cool but now it's broken"

„i just pushed it a bit. it's not my fault that it's so old that touching it breaks it"

„shouldn't we just take that core and be done with. i don't like standing in all this dust, it really isn't good for my lungs"

when they picked up the core light started to flow through a pattern on the outside followed by it twisting like it is a spherical rubiks cube. when it finished a gate appeared before it which threw up a dust cloud leaving them as only choice to go through if they didn't want to stay in this dust tornado. on the other side was where they entered the tunnel which was starting to fluctuate.

„it will still take a bit for this to finish but nothing we can do now. in the end you weren't halve bad. i really expected the worst seeing you come at this so casually"

the leader of the elfs stretched out his hand in a weird manner where he held his hand chest high to high for a handshake but also with bent fingers to make it impossible for a high five. it was quite awkward as neither lüziel nor rina knew what to do with this but be it intuition or simply ‚knowledge' was marth the one to pick up what to do answering in similar kind and shaking hands in this weird way.

„you where rude till the end but it seems that that was just a farce in the end"

„it's halve true halve not. still had rather just some other elfs. we can deal with other races later when we already know what to do"

„everyone his own. i though this would be more interesting but n the end are elfs and humans not so different"

„so you where humans. we tried to guess as you looked clothe enough to elfs outside of the ears being weirdly round and you being more fat and small"

„i'm not fat"

while rina was outraged over being called fat was marth more amazed about the first part

„wait you didn't know what we where up till now, but i guess it makes sense. why would you"

„anyways we will most likely never see again so believe in fate"

„well the world gets small by the day so who knows"

„but next time don't be rude or i don't want to meet you again"

as answer rina got some cheerful laughter

„indeed we may should be a bit more openminded but it still is weird to think about working with someone who isn't an elf"

with that they said goodby

Mission Gelatinous Cave cleared

Achievement: 2/5

Barkeb hunter cleared

Mimug hunter cleared

Advanced hunternot cleared

Core Destroyednot cleared

Speed Clearnot cleared

Reward: 3000 tallon

200 cp

500 tallon

150 tallon

0 tallon

0 tallon

0 tallon

Bank: 8165 tallon + 3650 tallon

Clear Progression 995 500 cp - 200 cp

„look at this we have completely made back up what we payed for last time. well i am still behind in exp but thats fine. doing these type of missions will get me a lot more"

„i can finally buy things from the shops again without lüziel complaining. there where so many thing i wanted"

„it is still a bad idea to buy stuff here. i can only assume that the prices are way to high"

„common let her have some fun"

„you're just saying that because you too want to go shopping"

„i would be lying if i said no but we need to abuse the fact that we are here. who knows when we would get here next time"

„but don't expect me to pay your bills."

„yay!"

wondering around they realized how large this city actually was with no sign of it ending in any direction but the further they got away from the gate the more it became mostly housing and shops for everyday needs. also the so common green walls disappeared completely at some point making everything looks just like your regular city you would have on earth. while mostly lazing of there were some failed attempts to clear of the other 2 trials but even sneaking up on any one of the 3 was not enough to hit these self proclaimed catch masters.

„why don't you help. you are the ones who wanted us to join"

as usual did zenos give his normal answer to rinain her attempts to get him and kellam to help them finish the trials

„you should know by now that i can't do that"

„but they allowed it. you're making fun about us don't you!"

„no i would never, you simply have to do this alone beeeecauuusssss hoooowww would you be ready for the mission if you can't do this by yourself"

kellam was standing up walking to them after zenos finished

„i think i had enough of you trying to play tough. he tried to come up with something but can't. in case of tagging them we really can't help you there but the other we really have no idea what that even means"

marth was now joining in

„you could simply make them stuck in a conversation that would make it easier for us"

to this zenos replied again

„nah, they know if we do that. they have that woman's intuition to realize when something like that is happening"

lüziel who was mostly just watching this now couldn't help himself but to say something

„you know that you could simply tell us when you're moving with them through the city and we can find a good opportunity to catch them. it doesn't need to be something artificial"

„that's not really happening much. they mostly just give us errands to do. they barely even act as a group unless they absolutely need to ‚have more time'. in the end it amounts to the same result as if doing something bigger as group so they really just have different interest to follow"

„they look so inseparable every time we see them"

„and you don't even have a hint how to catch them off guard?"

„we just need to hit them when they sleep. no one can dodge that"

lüziel looked angrily at rina for that comment but zenos dismissed that idea immediately

„that would be if you know when they even sleep. they only sleep every few days and all at random times. they have the worst sleep schedule you could imagine"

„then we simply have to capture them even if it doesn't last long even they would take a second to get out"

„how has this become to planing actual crimes. we are not going to break into someones room at night or capture someone"

lüziel looked quite angry so marth quickly changed the subject to the other trial

„there would also be the case of how do you look needed. i get that it's about showing that you have something they don't already have, but we don't even know what they need"

„what even is this mission. i f i don't know soon i will lose all interest. it sounded fun but now it's boring that they won't tell us"

to this kellam joined in again

„so what i could gather was that it's something in olympus. they have for a while tried to get some permission from there but not done anything with it as of now so it's probably for this"

„that may set the setting but doesn't really help all that much considering how much there is to olympus"

„you're think wrongly lüziel. not the part that it's in olympus is is important but the part where it needs permission. we could enter no problem so what does need a permission?"

„that doesn't help at all marth. there are so many thing you are not allowed to do"

„and you're thinking to broadly rina. it's a mission so it wont be just a random thing but instead something not everyone can do but that needs outside influence"

„the only thing coming to mind would be all those legends of monsters but why would someone make a fuzz about that"

marth was walking in circles while thinking about it before he came to some sort of answer

„maybe it's not an issue but rather a challenge. like clear this and you get something but the ‚this' is something they can't do alone as they are missing something"

„the easiest way to figure it out would be going there. it may be expensive but we did get a good bit of cash don't we?"

„as a matter of fact we do"

„whats thats all about?"

noticing the weird underlining tone zenos was a bit confused

„let's just say nothing important. it probably would be best to just go to olympus so we will be gone for a bit but it would still help if you could notify us when something is happening"

„of cause. it's a gentleman's duty to keep his friends well informed"

when they exited the olympus gate station first they went to olympus version of the guild being named the colosseum. compared to the other guild they had seen up until now this was clearly directed towards missions of the more offensive type. hanging from the roof in the middle of the room was a sign with the words ‚acta non verba'. unlike other guilds here there was quite a small amount of people who looked like they where new, not even mentioning that most where equipped like they where about to start a war

„i guess thats the spirit of the nation that conquered halve of europe."

„look these missions have all pictures"

„they look like wanted posters but also like those greek painting you see on vases"

„we are not here to look at art, i guess i can't really stop them"

after thinking about it did lüziel give up trying to get marth and rina come back and just let them run around doing their own stuff. he used that time to ask a bit around but didn't really get any helpful information with most not really knowing what he even wants.

„and"

„you know it would have been helpful if you also asked as you are the one who is more akin to this stuff but as far as i go i could find anything"

„in the end it is a mission so it's weird that there is nothing in the guild. i thought all missions are found in guilds and kamaron isn't any help as well. i tried contacting him when we came here but he still hasn't responded"

„we just need to look at another guild"

„you do know that there is only 1 guild in olympus"

„but there is that big building in the middle"

„now that you mention it what even is that. it's not where the olympian gods are as that is the one build at the top"

while marth was trying to find this out by simply thinking about it where lüziel and rina headed in direction exit and when marth realized he was left behind he quickly caught up to them. while the building was by no means ordinary did it still look somewhat pale compared to the main temple right behind it that was towering above the rest of olympus. it wasn't like it was closed of to the public but entering it still gave you the feeling like you really did belong here or more accurately like a place you didn't want to go to if you could avoid.

„this atmosphere is so suffocating"

„i don't like it here, can we go now"

„now? we just came in but i get you. it feels like something is piercing through me analyzing my every movement"

a voice was suddenly ringing through their heads completely skipping the ears being this weird experience like listening to your own thought but they aren't your own and talk directly to you

„what is your purpose for visiting"

„what the hell is this, it's a voice but inside my head"

„who are you or more importantly where are you"

„i am Θεμις and now state why you have come"

„why are you so rude we didn't do anything wrong"

„that is for me to judge"

„we only came here because we wanted to know what this place is. there is no sign on the outside yet it is open to everyone"

„this house of law is not a playground for lost children. if that is your only purpose of visit leave now!"

hearing this marth stopped lüziel and rina from going as he formed an idea in his head

„we where searching for something, something that cannot be found in other places"

„this is not a place for lost trinkets. if you have came to insult me be ready to bare the consequences"

lüziel quickly tried to stop marth before he made the situation worse but marth was completely ignoring him

„no no, wait, we are not searching for an object but information. as no other place was able to give us this information we had searched for special places and this is one of the few building apart from the temple which we could never enter which could lead to what we are searching for"

„what are you doing marth! stop it, we need to leave as long as themis still allows us to"

to lüziels surprise did the tension in the air loosen a bit and themis answered to marth

„then ask your question and i will listen to it"

„we where searching for a special type of mission a mission that can only be done with permission. we have only heard from it and it is no where to be found in the colosseum but we are supposed to take part in it soon nonetheless"

„you are speaking of the Λαβύρινθος. how would some child know of it moreover how would they come to take part in it"

„we where only searched as help to fill a missing roll but preparations require the knowledge about what we to take part in which we where not giving"

„show me the proof that your word is true and i shall give you the answer that you seek"

„doing so would be problematic at the moment"

hearing that rina immediately realized that marth was completely ignoring the chat function of the system so she butted in

„but can't we just ask them with the chat"

„rina i doubt a chat message counts as proof"

surprising both lüziel and marth did themis answer to rina

„as long as it is using the system. there is no known way to falsify the system, so it is to be treated as the truth so a clearly identifiable message of someone who is taking part denoting you as one of them will be seen as valid"

„well you could still force someone to say something…"

marth was now leaning in and whispering to lüziel and rina in the hope that themis was only able to speak to them from anywhere but not listen

„… but that aside what now? technically we are not part of the team at the moment so i doubt we will get a straight answer that says yes"

„but if we ask them nicely they surely will help us"

„and lie to a god?"

„it's not a lie if it's true"

disturbing their talk was themis speaking up seeming very annoyed

„what are you whispering about. was it not the thus that you have spoken and lead your lies you now into the pitfall dug by your own being"

„no it's just a bit more complicated. you know what we are sorry that we disturbed you and will now leave"

„i will let you go for now but next time you waist my time i will not be this forgiving"

while searching a spot to stay and think about the information they got marth got a new message from kamaron

‚how should i know, i don't care for what the olympians do'

„well it seems he sin't as omniscient as we thought. so what next, we can assume that getting good information will be impossible"

„you are the guy for that doubt you have any idea what labyrinthos could be"

„the only i could think of in therms of greek mythology would be the one that trapped the minotaurs. if that's the one we are talking about that would mean that they probably need someone to get through it while they can probably deal with the minotaurs"

„but it's so easy to get through a labyrinth. just follow the right wall and you find the way out"

rina looked like she just solved some world changing problem but marth shot her idea down immediately

„you think of a labyrinth of something that has only 1 wall where there are no loops but that is not given and if it was made by daedalus who is depicted as a brilliant person i doubt it is as easy as just moving along the right wall"

„i mean every maze gets easy when you just draw a map"

lüziel was now also starting to give this some though

„normally that would be true but there is also a depiction where it constantly changes shape

which makes makes obsolete"

hearing that made lüziel a bit suspicious about the viability of this task

„if the maze constantly changes how are you exactly supposed to get along, break the walls and go straight?"

„thats boring you can't just go through the walls"

„not only that but also would they really need help if the answer was that simple"

lüziel clapped with his hands get get both attention

„in reality we don't even know if this is the mission so we should be hung up on solving something we don't know if it even matters. we still have the other part so lets just return for know. i don't believe we will get much more out of staying"

„maybe we should just ask. let's see how they react to us bringing it up and then we can decide"

returning back the first thing they tried to do was meeting any one of them but all where out. as they didn't want to miss them coming back all they could do was waist time strolling around. as marth was the one most invested in being part in the mission he got quite impatient as the date when it was set to start came closer. the day before they returned the three got a message from zenos that they would be returning and this would be the best time to catch them.

„ok the plan is simple, rina you keep them busy doing your thing. lüziel you form a team with me that will constantly swap on the attack. zenos will help us singling out someone. it's all about aggression. if we throw enough at them something has to stick"

„it's time to show my best catch skill i ever had. pause are you ready do distract them with you fluffiness"

rina was looking quite serious at pfause which contrasted her actions of petting him eagerly. weirdly enough seemed it like pfause seemed to understand also having a serious look, or at least as serious as a rabbit could look while indulging in petting

„this is ridiculous, fine let's give it a shot. it's not like i have a better idea"

they set up at the exit of the elevator to the floor of their room. zenos who was informed about their plan send them a message right when they where entering. when the door opened there was in fact only kellam and kjell inside probably being split up by zenos somehow. when rina started her attack it was easy for kjell to stop her but what he did not expect was when pfause who was sitting on her head jumped at him covering his face with his fluffy belly. he couldn't hold on to anything so he immediately fell of getting caught by kellam who stood behin kjell just watching this spectacle. during the short moment kjells vision was hindered did marth start his first attack but even blid kjell could perfectly predict from where the attack came spinning around marth and with a ‚pat' on the back marth was flying towards the ground. but doing so let rina go free again going after kjells back. being as agile as rina is she was on par with the much stronger otherwise kjell a fact that he did not know so he had to hastily change tactics when being pinhcered between lüziel and rina. instead of trying to evade he instead chose to go on the attack after the unsuspecting lüziel getting him into a grappling match that he easily won swingin around lüziel at rina who to his dismay was still able to evade this surprise attack. bu t now that he had successfully moved past them all he had to do was retreat towards his room. a plan that would have worked if not for marth planing who had hung something over the door handle blocking the key hole and in addition a plank jammed between the handle and floor. it was not like it was hard to remove it but still took long enough for them to catch up. at the meantime did the others come up through the staircase bringing reinforcements than when meet up with kjell would make it impossible to win this battle. taking the last chance they had they surrounded kjell who had now no longer any form of escape leading to the inevitable end of this trial with marth and rina being hold down with his 2 hands while being completely helpless against lüziels final punch that despite his best effort to roll out of the way got cut to short from the extra luggage on him.

„see i told you it would be more fun to see if we are faster than the elevator"

„there he is out great leader not even being able to beat 3 children in a child game"

torholt and håkan looked at kjell with reproachful looks while kjell himself was lying on the ground defeated

„they where vicious, ambushing me, jamming the door and even throwing animals at me"

„the only reason you're calling it an ambush is because you don't want to make it sound as ‚despite knowing that someone much weaker is going to attack me when this door opens i was to incapable to stop them'"

marth struggling to speak as he was still held down in comparison to rina who found her way out of the grip somehow he couldn't oppose kjells strength

„wait you knew, how? we haven't even seen another in a long time"

kjell looked quite sad when he heard that

„i feel insulted that you would think that we don't realize such an obvious trap. who do you hold us for some scrubs that don't even know their basics"

„but there where literally no signs for anything outside of potentially what zenos did"

when marth was looking at zenos he just shrug

„if there was something that would have been outside of my control. i even betted my money to make them go with this split up. by the way i won you where slower than the elevator where is my money?"

„let's say thats your fee for us going with your game despite knowing what would happen"

zenos did look angry about this loss but before he could say anything did håkan continuo

„you almost had us but don't think we wouldn't notice if you try to secretively post something twice"

„but i did completely out in the open. i know that i couldn't easily hid something like that from you"

„i was indeed right not hide it but it was odd how much effort you put into us not seeing the screen. fool us once shame on you fool us twice shame on us"

„no matter the situation in the end they still did get me so we have no choice but to accept them having passed the trial leaving only the last one"

„by the way you still haven't told us what the mission even is"

„thats the great part, it will be an amazing surprise when we tell you but for that you have to earn it"

„could it be that this mission has to do with the labyrinthos"

hearing that all three froze in place staring at marth like they where about to attack him

„where did you get that information from. it is completely impossible for someone in the third act to get any information regarding this. most places can't even give you information about it period and we are in the elf region so going out of your way to search in olympus should be out of the question"

„we heard that you needed some permission from olympus so all we did was look there for any special mission that needs a permission"

håkan, kjell and torholt all gathered in a circle whispering before turning back to marth

„you wouldn't find that information in any guild and anyone who is a fourth would not give out that information that easily. it is out of the question that you could threaten or bribe someone so tell us where did you go to find this information"

„we just wen't to that one mean guy at the bottom of the mountain"

„mean guy eh!"

„she probably means themis. he always has a bad mood"

„but he is also all about enforcing order so he would be the last to leak something this important"

„and what if he did. we simply told him and he gave us the answer"

they then again went back into their circle and whispered before turning back

„just to make sure if we ask him he would be able to confirm that you came by. he hates liars so it's in your best interest to not get caught up on his bad side"

„i doubt he will remember some random people who shortly came by. he didn't even show himself to us"

„oh he for sure would remember someone bothering him without appointment but seeing how you where able to find out something like that on your own without us giving out any form of hint it is fair to assume that you are going to be helpful in getting us through that maze"

it took a bit before they realized what these words meant and lüziel doing the reassuring question

„so does that mean we have passed all 3 trials?"

„yup welcome in the team. the other guys we checked weren't really up to it anyways. the quality of thirds is so hard fluctuating that you can never know if it's even possible to find good ones"

hearing that lead to rina and marth having a celebration dance together while lüziel was more surprised over the fact that this counted

„so with all the effort we put into finding out what to do just figuring out what the mission was was enough"

„it's not that simply. it not something you would just stumble about and even with searching more thoroughly it was set on a completely different planet so itÄs honestly quite amazing that you got there"

„well the only reason why we even searched at olympus was because zenos told us you got…mmmhhh"

marth tried to stop lüziel from saying where they got the information in the fear that that might revoke their passing but in the end was he to slow to stop lüziel

„didn't we tell you that it's ok to use your friends for help. there is nothing wrong with using every available option. honestly i hate those guys who only use ‚50%' of their power because they only need that much just to realize that holding back was a mistake"

„it's not only arrogant but also disrespectful. and not only that but if you lose in the end it's just pathetic"

„coming back to the point it would be helpful to get a bit more information"

„so this a it awkward now. normally we would have this big reveal but you already know what it's about. first things first i guess we should just go inside"