Chapter 81 Labyrinth Tower's First Floor, Aestian's Realm!
Time passed, and everyone's life became slightly easier and less hassling. New guilds stood up every day, and conflicts were decreasing because of the Duel function.
There was an emergency event once a day near the Labyrinth Tower, spawning a super-giant and powerful boss that thousands of people worked together to defeat to earn Mystic Coins and purchase powers and items from the Mystic Shop. When only three days were left until the opening of Labyrinth Tower's first floor, the people who were at the frontier of leveling discovered that their physical stats could no longer go past 200.
The answer they got from a monotone voice was that they must reach level 80 before their stats could increase again. But leveling had become slower, and no one had reached level 80 yet because there weren't many monsters at level 80 in the first place.
Of course, people could still increase magic and mana by absorbing cores, so everyone was focused on them while living a sort of leisurely life amidst the calamity.
And finally, the day that everyone had been waiting for arrived.
[ 00:00:02 ]
Everyone was waiting outside because people were kicked out of the first floor a day ago, and no one could enter inside after that as the tower's gate closed.
The sight was grandiose in the meadow, with a total of sixteen guilds built, twelve of them at level 2, including Unfettered Fate. None had reached level 3 yet, but the Heavenly Melody and Black Swan guilds were close to it.
Since the floor was going to open soon, all guilds were standing at the forefront. Their core members were at the front, and the rest behind them.
With a total of fifty members in the guild, Erix, Rin, and Isabella also stood at the front and their guild members behind them.
"One minute left," Erix muttered as he looked at the countdown.
Nobody knew what kind of phenomena awaited them past the closed gate of the first floor, but almost everyone present was eager and filled with anticipation. Although a tiny bit of fear of the unknown was present in everyone, It was overshadowed by the anticipation.
When the countdown finally hit zero, all ten towers in the world released a mystical unseen wave that everyone felt, and to their horror, everyone heard dumbfounded notifications that immediately affected them.
[The First Floor of the Labyrinth, Aestian's Realm, has been opened!]
[Your equipment and items have been destroyed, but you will get Labyrinth Points according to your destroyed items once you enter. Please use the points wisely.]
[Points can be shared between party members if you get together, trade to others in exchange for items, and use them to purchase things in Aestian's Realm.]
'If you get together? Does that mean we are going to separate?' Erix frowned.
The armor sets on people were still visible, but all of them had a tiny 'x' mark on them somewhere, and they no longer gave stat bonuses or set effects.
On the other hand, the weapons and items in their hands and inventory were completely destroyed as they vanished.
"My new Tier-1 armor set…" Rin muttered as she had just gotten a Tier-1 armor set yesterday by clearing a level 70 dungeon.
"ENTER!"
Someone from SkyKnight guild shouted as their members made the first move and entered the large gates of the first floor.
Nobody could see anything past the gates since a whirling black-blue phenomenon in the gate blocked their sight, but that didn't stop people from entering.
"Stay sharp, everyone!" Erix turned to his guild members and nodded. "Enter!"
"Let's go," Erix held Rin's and Isabella's hands as he flew up twenty meters and moved towards the giant gate.
"We might separate according to the notification we heard," Isabella said with a frown.
"Yea. That's why I am holding both of your hands and see if that prevents it."
"If we separate and don't have any clue on where to find each other, we'll focus on whatever is important instead of blind goose chasing, okay?" Rin said.
Isabella nodded before she helplessly smiled, "You two better be careful, alright? Don't be reckless."
At that, Erix arrived and entered the portal-like gate of the labyrinth tower.
Erix lost sensation of touch with Rin's and Isabella's hands and sighed. 'So we are separated.'
'And where's the light?'
Erix couldn't see, feel, or hear anything in the absolute darkness until a ding resounded in his ears, and the scenery changed before him.
His closed eyes opened, greeting a clear sky scenery with white clouds as he found himself under a tree on top of a hill while leaning against the tree trunk.
He could see a small town two and a half kilometers away from the hill with his talent <Zoom> that allowed him to zoom in to observe things as if they were within 20 meters of him, even if they were three kilometers away. "This world..." Erix was startled when he looked into the sky.
This world looked like some fantasy world since there were two suns in the sky and three faintly visible moons!
'This is not a floor,' Erix stood up and looked around.
'This is a whole damn world!'
[Welcome to the first floor of the labyrinth, Aestian's Realm. You cannot leave this realm until the main quests are completed, but you can get hour-based leaves to exit Aestian's Realm by completing tasks.]
[Please note that the main quests will change according to various situations and are shared among everyone who has entered the first floor.]
[Good luck and choose wisely, dear despairer]
'Despairer? Wtf,' Erix was speechless, 'and choose what?'
Erix opened his stats to see anything abnormal.
[~Erix~]
_Race: Hybrid Zombie
_Rank: Supra-Order
_Level: 72
_Class: Zombie Lord (SS)
_Life orb: [200/200]
_Labyrinth Points: 12,480.
_Stat points: 19
—> [ Strength: 200 ]
—> [ Agility: 200 ] —> [ Health: 200 ] —> [ Stamina: ∞ ] —> [ Magic affinity: Rank-A / Magic power: 225/ Mana: 650/650]
_Talent (3/3): <Muscle Enchant>, <Beast Potential Scope>, <Zoom Gear>.
"Alright, the stats are the same as before I entered the gate, except that I have labyrinth points as a new addition," Erix nodded to himself. He then checked his skills.
______Active Skills: [3/5]______
—> [ Metal Enchant (2nd Tier) ] —> [ Crimson Blood Flare (2nd Tier) ]
—> [ Nether Call (2nd Tier) ]
______Passive Skills: [5/5]______
—> [ Aura Gear (2nd Tier): Can see the aura of things and living beings, see their residual trails, and store a particular aura for detection.
—> [ Punch Force (1st Tier): Punch damage +50% ]
—> [Berserk Veins (1st Tier): Strength & Agility +5% each time you get injured. Up to 20%.
—> [ Furnace Belly (2nd Tier): Eating an item or a core will give you a temporary powerful buff. —> [Mega Flux (2nd Tier passive skill): Physical stats are increased by 20% of your current stats + 30, and senses are enhanced for 2 minutes when your Mana pool is emptied.
______Special Skills: [1/3] ______
—> [ Ignis Ad Intimacy ]
_________________Created Skills_________________
_Active skills:
—> Imposing Fist (1st Tier)
—> Metal Diablolicus (1st Tier)
—> Roaring Metal Cannon (2nd Tier)
_Passive skills:
_Metal Affinity (Alpha-realm)
"So, where are the quests and tasks?" Erix muttered in a low voice, hoping to get answers, and he got them quickly.
[ Main Quest(s) ] — 29 days, 23 hours left.
—> Find and Defeat the Abyss King (1 left) / Reward: ???
—> Challenge and Defeat a Lord (10 left) / Reward: ???
—> Earn a Faction Ticket ( Unlimited ) —> ??? (More to come). [ Tasks ]
—> Settle in a house and get Adventurer's ID. Reward: 1-hour leave card.
—> Kill 20 Abyss Servants. Reward: 2-hour leave card.
—> ??? (More will generate as you move)
"Okay," Erix stood up and stretched his limbs before gazing at the small town from the hilltop. "A house and an adventurer's ID? Alright, let's get it."
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