Chapter 184: Besties
Hey Nauja, check this out! Salin held up a blue crab, moving its pincer from side to side. It says hi.
Salin, put the poor thing down.
But its happy. Its waving.
You are waving.
Fiiine. Salin reluctantly placed the crab on the floor. It then immediately skittered away, disappearing behind a turn. Goodbye, little one!
Can you focus for half a second? Nauja sparked. Youll attract the bone monsters. If an Elite shows up, we wont be able to escape.
Oh, dont worry about it. If worse comes to worst, you dont have to run faster than the bone monster, just faster than me. Which you can. He gave her a bright smile. Nauja rolled her eyesthere wasnt much she could retort to that.
They had only barely managed to escape the two bone monsters previously chasing them. Thankfully, the monsters were very slow for their level. Almost like theyd been designed to be escapeable.
Of course they were, Salin replied to himself, nodding. It makes sense. Hah.
What? Nauja asked.
What what?
You were nodding.
To myself. Im thinking smart stuff.
She glared suspiciously. Do I want to know?
Probably not.
Thank the System.
Salin liked this girl. She always responded to his craziness, letting him go on for longer. Maybe she saw silence as a form of weakness.
In any case, Salin was having great fun. Much better than staying in that silly backwater planet or, even worse, in the uptight Animal Kingdom.
Then again, the Animal Kingdom has female canines. Hmm
Suddenly, Nauja snapped up a hand. He instantly froze. Nauja was plastered on the wall, peeking from a corner with sharp eyes. He knew what this meant. A bone monster.
Which was pretty silly, in Salins humble opinion. Why bone monsters? Were they supposed to be disturbing and birth horror in the minds of labyrinth delvers? But they were so slow even he could outrun them. Hell, he was pretty certain he could get right past one if he had to.
These monsters were more like overblown annoyances than lethal predators.
Couldnt the makers of this place install, I dont know, larger crabs? Crabs are scary. And cool. They can even wave!
Nauja, her body still taut like a drawn bow, finally lowered her hand. Its gone, she whispered.
Good. I was totally paying attention.
There were times when Salin wondered if she would snap. Nobody was watching here. She could dispatch of him quickly and easily, and leave his body for the crabs to feast on. Maybe his twisted skeleton would rise in the future to haunt these empty corridors, a reminder of his inescapable mortality and sheer fucking stupidity.
But it wouldnt be stupidity if she didnt snap, right?
An icy moment later, Nauja turned around and resumed walking. Salin decided to take five minutes of silence. It wouldnt do for her patience to run out. He needed her in top shape to keep playing!
Not that he couldnt converse by himself, but he wasnt as easily frustrated. Plus, he always expected what hed say next. Speaking with others was much more fun.
The five minutes of silence turned into ten, then twenty. Salin found himself enjoying the mindless wandering. He imagined himself as a bone monster, haunting the labyrinth in eternity, feeding on blue crabs and careless cultivators.
Boo, he moaned under his breath. Much to his disappointment, Nauja didnt respond. Boo! he repeated, slightly louder.
I can hear you, she replied through gritted teeth.
Oh, okay. Just making sure.
You know, your stupidity will get you killed one day. For real.
But will it be this day? Probably not.
It might if you keep pushing me.
You wouldnt do that. You love me.
I barely even like you.
Aha! So you do like me. In that case, allow me to apologize for my overflowing charisma; as we belong to different species, Im afraid we cannot procreate.
...
Speechless, are you?
Mercy, please. For the love of the System, just keep your mouth shut.
Okay.
Yep, Salin was having a lot of fun. This was his favorite ring yet! Much better than the village one, where he was mildly tortured.
At the end of the day, he wasnt a mean individual. He decided to cut back on the insanity, for the sake of Naujas mental health and his physical one.
The hours flowed. Gan Salin and Nauja kept traveling through the labyrinth, heading ever deeper. The walls around them gradually took on a darker hue of brownwhether by luck or Naujas skill in navigation, they were heading in the right direction. And, as they did, the bleached bone monsters became even more terrifying.
There was a monotony to the journey. A monotony that exhausted even Salins vast reserves of witty remarks. Hour after hour, day after day, they walked through crampy stone corridors. It felt like they were standing still. Like they were trapped in an endless illusion.
The only breaks to the monotony came when they stopped to eat and drinkthey had their supplies when they were teleportedas well as when they encountered bone monsters. Those were intense moments. Most of the time, Nauja would hear or see them one corridor in advance, letting them wait the monster out.
Other times, the monster would round the turn before them, spotting them. Then, it was always a chase backward, through corridors they had already explored, which had the lowest probability of housing more monsters. After they escaped the bone monster after them, they could retrace their steps and keep going.
In these instances, Salins breadcrumbs were actually of assistance. The twin loaves hed stolen from the village tavern had long gone bad, but they were still good for marking their path. However, even they didnt have endless crumbs. Salin was slowly running out, so now he was only dropping one in every intersection.
To alleviate the boredom, he told Nauja stories of the outside world. She absorbed them wide-eyed, like a sponge drank water, and Salin was happy to see his friend excited.
He told her of the Animal Kingdom constellation, of the ninety thousand inhabitable planets they ruled. He explained how stars worked, the gas clouds in which they were born and the massive explosions in which they diedsome of them. He told her about black holes, space monsters, the nine B-Grade factions, the Hand of God, and the galaxys inner workings. He bragged about the exploits of his ancestorsa part that got her especially excitedand the wars of the Animal Kingdom. The myriad species that made up their constellation.
In return, Nauja also shared stories of her life in Barbarian Ring. She described their way of life, hunting in the morning and dancing by the fire at night. She explained how the various tribes of Barbarian Ring cooperated to maintain the balance, how they divided their territories and organized hunting trips deep into the jungle. How they sometimes exchanged members, and how young barbarians were allowed and even encouraged to travel the ring before settling down and getting married.
She even explained her tribes methods to raise triceratopskeeping the secret parts out.
It was an interesting trip for both of them. On Salins side, he was impressed by Naujas previous way of life. It felt like someone grabbed his eyes and forced them open. He had spent his entire life in the high-intensity environment of Animal Kingdom, spending most waking hours training and fighting.
Earth-387 was the first place where he could relax. Now, Nauja spoke of something similar, yet even better. Salin still wanted to train hard and become strong, but there was an argument to be made for relaxing occasionally, letting the stress slide off you like water in the shower.
Nauja was wide-eyed at his stories, as well. However, there was always something holding her back. A shadow behind her eyes. A mental barrier. Salin didnt know what it was, nor did he ask, but he could clearly sense it. It made him wonderand worry.
Deep down, Salin cared.
The journey was boring, but somewhat pleasant. As the days passed, however, and the walls got darker, the labyrinth got more dangerous. The bone monsters appeared at increasing frequency. Once, Nauja even spied an Elite monster behind a turn, clasping her hand over Salins mouth to prevent him from making the slightest peep.
Bone Lieutenant, Level 124 (Elite)
A creature made to endlessly wander the Labyrinth Rings corridors and fight intruders. Originally a Bone Sentinel, this monster has absorbed enough cultivators to fully augment itself by one level, evolving to a Bone Lieutenant.
It possesses low Mental and Will attributes, as well as low speed, but outstanding strength and durability. When a Bone Lieutenant slays an enemy, it either absorbs their skeleton into its own or raises the skeleton as a new Bone Sentinel. Therefore, their numbers are self-replenishing.
Compared to the normal bone monstersthe Bone Sentinelsthis one was far bulkier. If the others were like twisted humanoid skeletons, the Lieutenant was more like a heavyweight wrestler turned to bone. Additionally, it had clear facial features, with serrated knife-like canines stretching up from its mouth like a boars tusks.
Salin didnt see all those, but Nauja described it after. Thankfully for them, the monster didnt spot themthank the System for its lack of noseand went on its merry way to slaughter innocents.
The two of them waited several extra moments to make sure it was far away.
Shit, Nauja said after the monster was gone. That was scary.
Were approaching the core of the labyrinth, huh? Salin replied, chuckling. Look at the bright side. Were closer to the end.
Our end or the labyrinths?
Both.
They laughed. It helped melt the tension.
Lets go, Nauja said. And, from now on, we stay quiet. For real.
Yes, boss.
The hours kept passing, but they were tenser. Any bone monsters they met were striking white against the dark walls. The blue crabs were harder to spot now.
Until, at some point, the tunnel they were following opened up.
Is this the guardian? Nauja asked, looking around.
I dont think so, Salin replied. A Dungeon, maybe. Or a Trial.
A Trial?
Gan Salin swept his eyes around the room. It was an ancient-looking temple, longer than it was wide. Light gray stone made up the walls and ceiling, with polished white marble as the floor. Despite this place being in the labyrinth, there was not a single speck of dust to be seen, as if everything had been cleaned recently.
Flames burned on large plates across the side walls. Bow-wielding stone statues stood at attention between the fires, evenly spaced, while the space between the entrance and far wall was left empty. This emptiness didnt come across as simplisticinstead, it created a sense of awe.
At the far end was another statue, larger than the others and made of marble. It depicted a woman clad in leather armor, with a mantle fluttering behind her. She held a bow, half-drawn, with a thin arrow made of black crystal balancing on the string.
However, the most impressive thing about this statue was the motion it was in. Though the marble itself was still, the woman was carved in such a way that she appeared to be mid-fight. Her hair was flying, her mantle fluttered behind her, her legs were bent, and her fingers were in the middle of drawing her bow.
It was as if someone had taken a female archer, asked her to strike a pose, conjured a strong wind to blow at her, then snapped her into stone. She was beautiful, too; her features were sharp enough to be attractive, but there was a hardness there, a strictness.
Nauja gasped. Salin shared her sentiment. This was a Trial related to archery. It was perfect for her.
Salin she started saying, but he cut her off.
I know. Go.
She smiled and rushed into the temple. There were no traps in Trials. Nothing to be afraid of. As they approached, Salin scanned the statue, confirming what he already knew.
Trial Statue
A statue serving as the gateway to a Trial Planet Trial. Touch to enter.
Nauja was already reading a small inscription under the statue.
Veheil Maestro Cir. The sun killer.
Sun killer she muttered. Her hand rose to touch the inscription, then she lowered it again. I have never even seen a sun.
Well, what are you waiting for? Salin replied, a smile playing at the ends of his lips. Just go already.
But you
Ill be fine. Trial areas are usually safe from monsters. And, even if they arent, I can escape. Unless I get unlucky and an Elite waltzes in here, in which case, nastekala.
She chuckled. This was a phrase of her tribe.
Ill try to be quick, she said.
Just dont fail.
You got it. Thank you, Salin.
No problem.
With a final, heartfelt nod, Nauja touched the statue and disappeared. Salin was left alone in the empty temple; the weakest cultivator of their team, and the one who still hadnt found a suitable Trial.
He looked around, at the still statues, the calm flames, and the silent corridor beyond.
And now what? he asked. He then sat down and started carving on the marble with his nails.
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