Labyrinth Expedition #10: Themes

“Oh hey!” Takumi waved, smiling brightly as he greeted Akiro and Ayama, his two slaves doing the same, “I’m glad you’ve recovered, how are you feeling?”

“I’m good,” Akiro smiled, slowly scrubbing away the disgusting reputation Takumi held in his memory, deciding that the boy had turned a new leaf, “How are you? You were not well off either.”

“Nah,” Ayama joined in, stopping Takumi before he could reply, “This guy was getting busy with really freaky shit.” he jabbed playfully, making the weeb and the two of his party members blush.

“T-That’s an exaggeration!” The healer tried to mumble, fidgeting with her thumbs, her legs rubbing together.

“Forget I asked,” Akiro chuckled, “You two seem to have gotten closer,” he looked at Ayama and Takumi.

Ayama smiled, putting a hand on Takumi’s shoulder, “This guy’s a pretty cool dude, seems as though we were too hard on him– but still, you were one hell of a pervert.”

Takumi raised his hands in surrender, “I am quite aware of my lacking immaturity, but since I’ve graduated from that, I’m striving to be better.”

Akiro nodded approvingly, before frowning sharply, “Don’t start getting Sage-y on us, you just keep your desires in check now, buddha.”

“H-Haha– you got me there,” The weeb laughed heartily, relishing the warmth of comradeship.

The group traveled in caravans now, purchasing from the second to the last city as if they were beginning to reach the farthest stretch of human civilization in the labyrinth, allowing everybody to journey through the floors with relative ease.

The class had long since departed from the ninth floor, entering the tenth floor without worries after Haruto’s landslide victory. As Akiro and Ayama had theorized, they were truly a glass cannon, but it was effective anyway as the poor boss monster did not stand a chance at all.

To summarize the battle, Haruto monopolized the front line by keeping the minotaur busy with his newly-learned, still-developing swordsmanship and shield techniques, which allowed Maki and Katsumi to continuously dispense damage without worrying about their safety. Sango and Keiji were more or less obsolete throughout the fight, only occasionally providing buff enchantments to Haruto or his equipment, and Sango barely broke a sweat as she did not need to restore Haruto during the fight.

“Haruto’s team is certainly formidable when placed in the perfect conditions, however, that might not always work.” Takumi hummed, thinking about the battle, absorbing the knowledge that could be gleaned from it. “How are you feeling? It's been quite some time since you collapsed.”

Akiro only nodded at his words. “I’m alright now for the most part.” He assured him, “To think that you’d pass one floor per day! We were only on the second floor as far as I remember.”

“I know!” Ayama chimed in, “To think that we’d beat the floor guardians so easily! Honestly the only difficult one was the Goblin Emperor– to think that such a high-level boss would appear.”

The two other boys nodded grimly, Takumi speaking first. “Yes, that is correct. The Goblin Emperor was larger and stronger than what previous records have dictated. Compared to the other bosses, the rest were quite mellow.”

“I see,” Akiro understood, “Something is wrong in this labyrinth, ‘he’ warned me so. There must be something lying at the very end. I have a really bad feeling about this.”

The assassin returned to the present and looked at his new group, “Aside from being easy, is there a reason why we’re in such a hurry to get here to the ninth floor?”

The cultured magician smirked, “Well, obviously that we won’t spend too much time in this labyrinth— after all we have a deadline of ten years, or about…. nine years, five months, and three weeks.” He answered only after doing a mental abacus with his hands, “Also because there are other time-consuming things in the tower.”

“And what’s that?”

The mage and hero shared glances, leading Akiro down the stairs and to the exit. “Specifically, this floor has a ‘theme’ or mission,” he said, opening the door to allow Akiro to see the view.

It was a clean village, blessed with wealth and a growing population. The village was special, however, but the stone walls that surrounded it had enough character to give Akiro the basic gist of what was going on, or what is going to happen. The assassin looked at his shadow, which was almost non-existent because of the light source positioned directly overhead.

“Amazing isn’t it? Quite like an artificial world!” Takumi beamed, “We’re a survival game because the village is dead center on this floor.”

“And monsters will periodically swarm from either of the four cardinal directions, I understand the premise.” Akiro hummed, off put by the incredibly rare equinox produced by the light; but realization struck when the trio arrived in the center of the village.

“w-wait a minute! These guys! Are they–?”

“Yep!” Ayama nodded, not letting Akiro finish, “These villagers are either adventurers, permanent residents, visitors, or tourists! Odd, seeing them for the first time right? We thought they were non-player characters before when we arrived.”

“So do we just fight off waves?” Akiro hummed, “How do we proceed to the next floor?”

“That’s the simple part! We just need to repeatedly kill monsters until we reach the point requirement.” Takumi answered, “I had that same question.”

“Points? Like rewards for killing monsters?” The assassin asked, confused at the concept only found in games from Earth, actually existing here, “Is that what points are?”

The mage and the Hero turned to the centerpiece of the town, to which the assassin was pointing. A large spire bell tower in the center of town, the tallest building on the entire floor.

Some of the villagers were there, with most of the civilians laying their hands on it and muttering something. Suddenly, items materialized from the spire and into their hands! Satisfied with their purchase, the civilians left with raw meat or ingredients. Takumi pointed to the lady who just left.

“That was Miko-chan, the apprentice cook of the local inn, the place we’re staying at.” He informed, “Her grandparents are the head cooks, and she and her husband are the next owners.”

“So they exchange points from killing monsters for raw ingredients? Where do they come from the tower?”

“Yeah, this floor is pretty valuable to the kingdom, because you can also exit the labyrinth through this floor,” Ayama answered, pointing at the rest of the people in line. “With that system in place, the kingdom can benefit by sending personal soldiers and civilians to inhabit this place. Look over there, some soldiers are mass-buying ore.”

“Forming a trade route!” Akiro gasped in realization, lifting the ring he had on his hand. “Wow, that’s incredible. This is like a gold mine. I need to check the journal!”

Takumi watched as Akiro summoned the worn journal from the ring, and he was amazed, bursting with curiosity, “Is that the ring!? I’ve seen one before!”

Akiro only nodded, but Ayama poked his head, “What? Where? Who?! Something could make anyone’s life easier! You just happen to find one lying around?”

“Haruto has one!” Takumi shook his head, radiating jealousy, “He got lucky in one of the explored dungeons back at Oasis City. That’s why he doesn't have that much luggage.”

“Lucky.”

“I know, I’m so jealous...”

“Here it is,” Akiro thought, tuning out the other two, who were having quite a loud conversation. He turned the pages, skimming the material, until he found what he wanted. “Day 216, of the 17th millennium, our company has been reduced to five hundred men. Nearly a year and this tower still does not have an exit. We have been traversing this tower, losing friends and brothers, but we must press on. Today, we entered the tenth floor.”

“Day 300, of the 17th millennium, our company has discovered an exit! The tenth floor of the labyrinth allows us to exit! We are permitted to leave it! I, as leader, Tsutsui Uesugi, can finally give the deceased’s families my apologies. With this journal, I can report on the contents of this mysterious tower.”

“H-Hey, Takumi, what millennium is it?” Akiro asked, “Wait a minute, Uesugi– that’s Otome and Sume’s family name. I know they had an extensive line of succession because of the country’s system. Did it start with this guy?”

“Oh, it’d be the twenty-first! To be exact, it's the first week of the eighth month or the 21st Millennium.” He answered happily, “Their dating system is quite weird, but you’ll get used to it eventually.”

“Okay, thank you,” Akiro thanked, returning to the book, “it’s about the same timeline as the history of the Scavian Country, so I was right.”

Using the ring once more, Akiro took out a booklet, a cheap copy labeled: ‘Scavian history: The First King.’ “While I was recovering, I asked for copies of history and this guy was the first king. This journal must be at least four thousand at least.”

With a motion of his hand, the two items were returned into the ring, “This will be a good tribute to the King and Queen after we get back.” Akiro noted, looking up to the artificial sky overhead. “I’ll recuperate while observing how this floor’s ‘theme’ actually functions in action.”

[Next Wave: 00:02:59:34]

A week passed quickly for the newcomers, and after a routine had been formed of killing monsters and exchanging their points earned for supplies, the days seemed to sift through swiftly like sand in between fingertips.

However despite their strengths, gathering enough points for everything a party needed was quite the challenge, as they often competed with soldiers, other adventurers, or their classmates. Items from the Point-Exchange Centre, as it was dubbed, naturally varied in price depending on what that item was, with healing medicinal herbs or potions easily outclassing rations or bread– so the parties Class 1-A began to specialize in particular products, bartering or selling with each other to at least cover the necessities.

“I’m glad I managed to connect with that merchant, even though it was on short notice.” Akiro internally thanked himself and his past’s thoughtfulness. “The economy here is run on points instead of actual gold– which gave many of us quite a bit of trouble. It certainly didn’t help that the exchange rate between outside gold to points was unfair. Damn you, tower.”

“U-Uh… Isn’t this too much?”

“I don’t mind,” Akiro waved away, mustering as much of an act to be friendly with the Alchemist, “Think of it like a sign-up bonus, Matsuko-san.”

The alchemist stared at the bundles of herbs and other ingredients in his hands, neatly packaged, “A-Are you sure? You’re running on a loss here.” He questioned, still apprehensive to accept it, but seems willing to if Akiro insisted.

“Nah, break-even really,” The assassin replied, trying to find the words, “Think of this… like I’m trying to make amends. I was quite…mean…during the fight.”
The alchemist finally realized the assassin’s intentions, even as awkwardly as they were conveyed. He couldn’t help but smile, his original image of Akiro not accurate to what he just saw. “It’s okay,” He replied, lying, as the event did quite a number on his sleep, “I’m just surprised is all. I didn’t think you were this nice.”

Akiro beamed lightly at the compliment, “R-Really?”

“Yeah!” Matsuko gave a thumbs up, shining as he cradled the ingredients in his arms, “I thought you were edgy emo– but you’re a pretty cool guy! I’ll pass the word around. See ya!”

The assassin watched him prance away in glee, unaware of the arrows he had verbally inflicted in his heart. “Ouch…” Akiro complained, “But at least he doesn't think bad about me. That’s a win, I’ll gladly receive.”

“Takumi was right, speaking to them helps in forming friendly relations– and yes, he was right, I am at a loss with that trade.” Akiro turned away, holding another package in hand, looking around for another person to try to befriend. “But who cares, at least I got a new acquaintance, right?”

The boy strolled through the village, looking for a classmate, only for the blue sky to turn red, and the stable ground to rumble. "W-What the Hell!?" Akiro gasped, looking up to the large screen in the sky, aghast at was what written.

[Boss Wave / Stampede: 01:00:00]