'It feels this trip might not be as simple as Diana had made it appear.' Vritra looked around and saw the frown over his mother's face while Max and his group looked quite excited though a few of them were fidgeting around nervously, occasionally glancing at Vritra.
"Wait, I wish to be in the same group as my son, can't we-" Vanessa took a step forward without any fear or hesitation as she spoke to the king and the goddess.
"Sorry lady Vanessa, this arrangement is final. You don't have to worry about your son, as mentioned before this trip will be completely safe." The king spoke, maintaining an amicable smile.
"But-" Vanessa wasn't convinced though she paused as Vritra stepped in front of her.
"Mom, it is fine. We will only be separated for a short time." He spoke with a calm expression, they hold no power in this world so going against the king or the goddess will cause trouble for them.
She sighed and reluctantly nodded; her beautiful face filled with worry.
After being divided into four groups for their labyrinthine tour.
"Even though this is just a tour but all of you should bring some necessary items along." Diana spoke and gestured towards one of the servant.
And soon all forty two of them were holding a bag containing ten advanced healing potions and ten advanced mana recovering potion, along with special weapons of their choices.
Though most of them chose swords.
"These potions are very expensive and effective, they could heal most wounds and regenerate your mana within moments after consumption." Diana explained then she added: "But carrying these bags is a tough task, few among you should have obtained the inventory, right?"
'So not all of us have an inventory.' Vritra thought since he could only see a limited info in others' status window.
One of two member in each group raised their hands, in group four Vritra was the only one who got the inventory.
"It would be better to store your potions in the inventory to avoid losing them or accidentally breaking them, you can take it all back when you need." Diana spoke.
"Seems like our dear janitor has more than one trick up his sleeve—he can double as our porter. Not bad, you'll come in handy." Max sneered, his words dripping with mockery as the others in the group chuckled and handed their bags to Vritra who just stored them in his inventory.
Aside from Vanessa, no one had any problem with others mocking Vritra; it was obvious that the Goddess and the king didn't care about him at all.
If it was before, they would all have been beaten black and blue by Vritra but he was holding back right now since he had no control over the situation and he was the least favored by the people in power here.
Then they headed out together in separate carriages, along the way all of them observed the different culture though Vritra wasn't much interested so he just lay back in his carriage, resting.
It wasn't long when the carriages stopped and Vritra finally got up and walked out, he found himself standing in the midst of some forest, as he turned he saw a huge ominous looking mountain with a cave like entrance.
It was in the centre of the forest but because of the presence of the labyrinth even the forest seemed quite populated, there were a lot of shops and stalls; it was like a big market but they all stayed a safe distance away from the labyrinth, all the people were curiously gazing at the new arrival but didn't dare to get close because of the commanders and the royal guards.
All of them sensed the eerie energy lingering outside the labyrinth and instantly felt their excitement dwindle, but the presence of the four commanders and other warriors calmed them down.
"Let's head inside, there won't be anyone else entering for today so you can be relaxed." The first general spoke, as he then gave a few more instructions.
"Vritra, be careful inside." Vanessa said her brows knitted together, worry etched on her face.
"Yes mom, don't worry I will be fine." He replied giving a comforting smile, but couldn't give away the strange feeling he was getting.
Sighing Vanessa embraced him tightly, not wanting to separate from him after a few seconds she moved back and walked away towards her group.
As the groups separated and ventured into the labyrinth's first floor, Vritra fell behind the group walking vigilantly while tightly clutching the handle of the sword. The boys in the group eyed him warily but said nothing and just looked at him with mocking expressions.
The commander leading the group was wearing a shiny golden armor where aside from his eyes nothing else was visible, a sword was hanging around his waist as he ventured deeper into the labyrinth without any fear or hesitation; there were ten royal guards following the group.
The insides of the labyrinth appeared completely different from a normal cave, it was made of black stones and glowing stones were embedded in the wall.
"Alright, let's go find ourselves a demon," Max said, his voice dripping with bravado and a large grin on his face.
"You should know that the time inside a labyrinth moves slower compared, so a day outside will be longer inside but the difference is negligible at the first floor so you don't have to worry about it." The commander added.
They wandered through the maze-like corridors, the air heavy with tension. Vritra kept his senses on high alert, ready for any danger that might lurk around the corner especially from his own group.
Vritra walked silently behind the group, the commander occasionally pointed at different things saying a few facts while also praising his heroic deed of the past, the royal guards continued to chatter among themselves.
While the group of students laughed and joked without a worry while occasionally looking at Vritra and passing comments, the entrance was quite long they had to walk for over half an hour before they could even arrive at the entrance of the first floor of the labyrinth.
The labyrinth had ten floors, each floor going deeper underground and so far only up to ninth floor had been conquered since no one had been able to locate the entrance to the tenth floor yet, the commander even informed them about the types of demons that existed on each floor.
Even if all the demons on a floor are killed, more of them would appear after a certain period of time each floor was stretched over a large distance.
"And this is the entrance of the 1st floor of this labyrinth, there are other entrances too by which the other teams will enter. In any case the demons on the first floor will be quite scarce since we got it cleared right before arriving, therefore you can look around without any worry." The commander said as he pointed towards a large entrance.
As they walked inside, a stench of blood hit them; it smelled like rotten meat and the signs of blood on the ground proved that most of the demons on the first floor had indeed been cleared already.
Just after walking, all of them found themselves standing in a large space and in front of them dozens of paths were present. The commander walked in front of the group and then spoke in a heavy tone:
"Now, if you wish to look around by yourself you can go ahead, if you wish to walk in group then we will continue just like this and you can also bring one royal guard along to venture separately, but know that there is barely any demons left on this floor and even they would be at the lowest level so you won't have any trouble getting rid of them."
Several teenagers began to murmur among themselves, Vritra pondered for a few seconds; he did felt a sense of danger but believed that even if he and Max didn't have a good relation that bully still won't try to kill him, their moral values might change in the future but right now they still carried the same thinking as from the earth.
So he wasn't as worried about the other nine boys, as for the commander and the royal guards if they really tried to kill him, he won't be able to fight back so he came to a conclusion soon; hoping that his thoughts don't turn out to be true.
Taking a deep breath he stepped forward and spoke: "I would like to go alone."
The commander's gaze focussed on Vritra for a few seconds, then he nodded and pointed towards the various entrances, replying: "Sure, you can choose one of the path but be careful, there might still be lingering demons inside though if you wish you can take one of the guard along."
Shaking his head Vritra gazed at the entrances and just chose a random one since he couldn't get much information just based on that.
"It's alright, how long before I have to come back here?" Vritra asked as he began to walk forward.
"You can explore this place for over three hours and return by then, if you don't return by that time then I will send someone to look for you. Also don't go to the second floor, that place is still too dangerous for you." The commander instructed, then he moved his gaze back to the group.
The sound of their chatter and laughs became distant as Vritra walked through one of the entrance, he held the hilt of the sword tightly to draw it at any time even though this was the first time he was even holding one.
'The place is so quiet and the rotten smell just won't go away. I understand that it is important for all of us to get used to such an environment and to the sight of demons but is that the only reason behind this… adventure.' Vritra thought.
The corridor was lit with the glowing stones, making it as bright as outside.
After walking for some time he found himself standing in a large hall, there was not even a sound of a demon yet Vritra didn't relax as he cautiously observed the area around.
The hall was connected to dozens of rooms, halls and even a few corridor that could take him further.
'I guess I will just stay here in one of the rooms for three hours and then head out, even if the demons in this floor are weak I might be in trouble if they were to ambush me, plus there might be some traps.' After pondering for a few seconds, he pulled the sword out and held it tightly then he walked towards the first room and peeked inside.
The room was completely empty, there were no signs of demons but it was far from good enough for Vritra to rest since the whole floor was filled with blood and limbs of humans.
Frowning slightly, Vritra turned and decided to check the other rooms. He had fought so many times in the underground battles, many times even his life was in danger still this place was countless times more dangerous anything he'd faced before
The labyrinth's cold, damp air pressed against Vritra as he continued his solo exploration. He moved with slow and soundless steps, his senses on high alert, a constant watch for the unseen dangers that lurked within the stone walls.
Finally, after going through a few rooms and halls he found just the perfect place where he could stay for a couple of hours, and thankfully he didn't encounter any demons.
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Thanks for reading...