“Hey there, handsome young man. Care to join our party?”
Early in the morning, not far from the entrance of the dungeon labyrinth, a bearded, middle-aged man carrying a shield blocked the path of a youth carrying a black greatsword, warmly extending an invitation to him.
Standing beside him were several of his teammates: a healer, a scrawny assassin, and a mage.
However, the atmosphere among them was somewhat distant, as if they had only just met.
The bearded man waved his hand at Xia De.
“My own class is Shield Guardian. As you can see, our party is missing a main damage dealer.”
“I saw that black greatsword on your back, friend. You look like a powerful expert, so I decided to swallow my pride and come over to invite you.”
The bearded, middle-aged man carrying the large shield wore a warm, friendly expression, his tone laced with a hint of flattery.
Any ordinary person facing such a friendly man would probably have readily agreed to his request.
After all, the monsters inside the dungeon labyrinth were stronger and more numerous than those outside. Having an extra hand meant having someone to watch your back.
But Xia De did not accept his invitation.
With a cold face, he quickly sidestepped them in a few strides and walked toward the labyrinth entrance, leaving them with a frigid reply.
“No thanks. I'm in a hurry.”
The bearded man scratched his head and smiled apologetically. “Hahaha, then I'm sorry for wasting your time, friend. My bad.”
Xia De didn't say another word. Carrying Starfall on his back, he quietly walked away.
Behind him, only after Xia De's figure had completely vanished from sight...
...did the previously friendly bearded man's expression instantly darken. A viciousness far exceeding that of an ordinary person flickered in his eyes. He spat casually onto the ground and grumbled to his teammates with dissatisfaction:
“Tch. That brat isn't very old, but he's surprisingly composed.”
His teammates also shed their previously distant act, speaking up one after another, their voices dripping with malicious mockery toward Xia De.
“Who does that brat think he is, putting on airs like that? ‘In a hurry’? I bet he'll be crying for his mommy the moment he steps inside!”
“Looking at him, he's clearly young. His strength probably isn't anything special either—at most, he's the type who wanders around the seventh or eighth floors. How dare he act so high and mighty!”
“If it weren't for that greatsword of his looking like an extraordinary treasure, I wouldn't have bothered talking to a cocky brat like him.”
“We'll let him slide this time. If we run into him again, let's just take it by force.”
The middle-aged bearded man spoke up to cut off his teammates' chatter, a dark shadow crossing his rugged face.
“Enough. We'll let the kid go for now. Switch to the next target!”
He then turned to the mage and said:
“Go call Wild Dog back, and then hide yourself. The next target will be a mage.”
“Alright, Bo—”
Before the mage could finish his sentence, his voice abruptly cut off.
As if something had sucked the flesh and blood clean out from beneath his skin, his shriveled, desiccated skin now hung loosely over his skeletal frame.
His teammates didn't react; they didn't make even the slightest sound.
For, if one were to look from a third-person perspective right now...
...in the empty corridor, the flesh and blood of several people had been completely hollowed out from within, leaving four paper-thin human skins draped over skeletons.
In the shadows not far from them, there was another human skin in the exact same condition.
The human skins collapsed, folding into deep wrinkles.
A gentle breeze blew by, and the skeletons draped in human skin collapsed to the ground without making a sound.
Instead, like people sinking into quicksand, they slowly submerged into the shadows they cast.
Once it had completely devoured them, the shadow on the ground did not dissipate. Instead, it coalesced into a black line resembling a venomous serpent.
The black line swayed back and forth, making a motion as if belching.
Then, it slithered casually into the nearby shadows, blending into them and vanishing.
On the other side, a black line like a venomous serpent emerged from Xia De's shadow and wrapped around him.
Its body squirmed and wriggled in front of him, constantly drawing pictures.
Though, well, the drawings left much to be desired.
To say they looked identical would be a stretch; in fact, they had absolutely nothing to do with each other.
They looked just like a child's scribbles.
Watching the squirming black line, Xia De nodded in agreement and smiled.
“Mm, not bad, not bad! Next time we play rock-paper-scissors, I'll let you cheat once.”
Having said that, he casually dispelled the shadow magic and arrived at the entrance of the dungeon labyrinth, spreading his hands helplessly.
“I told you I was in a hurry. I didn't just mean I was in a hurry to enter the labyrinth—I meant you guys were in a hurry to be reincarnated.”
“Be more careful in your next life.”
Toka City was different from Adewang Town. Not only did it have a large-scale labyrinth, but the surrounding monsters were also generally stronger than those in Adewang.
Thus, the adventurer party system was born.
Adventurers could form parties to take on quests. This not only greatly ensured their safety but also increased the efficiency of completing individual quests.
The ranking and promotion system for parties was the same as that for individual adventurers.
However, because of this system, there were also people who would pretend to have just met one another to deceive newcomers, seizing the opportunity during quests to murder them and steal their treasures.
The bearded man with the shield and his crew were exactly like this. They specifically targeted young-looking adventurers, flattering them to lure them into joining their party for quests.
If the target displayed powerful strength during the quest, they would honestly return to the Adventurer's Guild to turn in the quest and split the reward.
But if the target's strength was inferior to theirs...
Hehehe!
...then they were out of luck!
Their coffers would grow a bit fuller.
They had successfully lured and killed several young people this way, a method that had never failed them.
This time, seeing the greatsword on Xia De's back, they figured it was a valuable treasure and thus set their sights on him.
The very moment Xia De saw them, he had already activated his Perception Domain and Status Appraisal, detecting their accomplice nearby as well as the malice in their eyes.
In that case, too bad. Anyone who harbored malice toward him had to die!
“Now, it's your turn.”
A cold light flickered in Xia De's dark eyes as he expressionlessly shifted his gaze to his primary objective.
The cavern was massive—large enough for dozens of people to enter side by side. The gargantuan cave resembled the gaping maw of some colossal beast.
Though he was standing just outside the cave, the space inside and outside seemed to be partitioned by something.
The light from outside could not penetrate within; it was pitch-black inside, so dark that one couldn't even see their own hand in front of their face.
The moment Xia De stepped into the cavern, he frowned and looked back in curiosity.
The scene outside the cave was clearly visible to him, as if he had truly just walked from the outside to the inside.
“Is this the power of space?”
Xia De could clearly feel that the moment he stepped into the cave, the space was infinitely expanded.
The principle was the same as his magic storage bag—creating infinite space within finite boundaries.
“A labyrinth existing since the Age of Gods, with a history even more ancient than the Hero and the Demon King... Just what secrets do you hold?
If I don't figure it out, I really won't be able to rest easy.”
A faint smile played on his lips, but there was not a trace of warmth in his tone. With his eyes gleaming, he slowly walked deeper into the labyrinth.
Rate on N.U.
