Chapter 98: Distorted Labyrinth I

Adrian who accepted the quest turned towards the father and daughter duo and said, "So what should we name our party?"

Soleil immediately answered with, "Free Wraith-kun".

Vayu who heard that wanted to protest but saw Adrian giving a thumbs up. It seems Adrian was mindful of children's feelings. Adrian asking for a simple thing like the party name would put some importance for the task in Soleil's mind as she was the one who named the party. She would give her best since she would feel responsible. Vayu now knows that the young man in front of him knows how to deal with kids.

The party notification then appeared for the father and daughter duo. When they saw the part member's statuses, they were shocked. Their savior was actually twenty levels below them and his job class was question marks which means it is probably a hidden class or the extremely rare unique class. Vayu speculated that it must be a unique class as they were only able to see spirits or ghost entities because of the blessing of the Spirit King and even that would run out as time passed which is why they are in a rush to finish their mission.

Party: Free Wraith-kun

Name: EquinoxLevel:53

Job Class: ???? ????????

Name: VayuLevel:73

Job Class: Swiftblade

Name: SoleilLevel:73

Job Class: Pyromancer

"Wow! Big Brother is so strong! You are twenty levels below us but you could deal with a boss class monster!" Soleil said in admiration.

"The boss monster was just a bad match-up for you two that is why you could not deal with it properly. I also did not do it alone as I had my soulbounds." Adrian said as he gets shy when someone praises him genuinely.

"You are too humble young lad. It takes hard work and determination to be able to contend a boss monster." Vayu said as even he was astounded.

"Anyway, let us go to the Distorted Labyrinth. So how do we go to the labyrinth? Do we need to find the door or something?" Adrian asked the wraith.

"No worries o Guider of Souls. I can manifest the gate here in this location as only the key that I carry is tangible." The wraith said while taking out a rusted key and did an inserting motion in front of it and a door materialized.

Adrian was impressed because he did not expect that as in other games you have to usually look for a dungeon's entrance but this was different as you only needed the key. The party then walked towards the door to go inside as the wraith was the first one that entered. Adrian looked at Soleil because she has been looking at him for quite a while meaning she is curious.

"Is something wrong?" asked Adrian to Soleil.

"I know that you are not being weird or anything big brother but how could you understand what that wraith is saying?" Soleil finally asked.

"Can you not hear it utter words?" Adrian asked as he was not sure if the girl was playing a prank on him.

It was Vayu who answered Adrian's question by saying, "All we heard are incomprehensible whispers of three persons with an occasional ghoulish laugh."

"Is that so? Maybe it has something to do with my Job Class as I can communicate with lost souls and the like." Answered Adrian.

"There is one more thing bugging me though big brother. What is this Blessing of the Universe buff that our party has?" Soleil asked once more.

"That is just a two times experience multiplier. No biggie." Adrian said nonchalantly which made the father and daughter duo stop right at their tracks.

Even though Soleil was a little girl, she was informed with things related to Pandemonium as it was her favorite past time. Top guilds would scramble and probably beg Adrian to join them for a hunt just to experience a whopping two times experience boost. It was rare to the point that only a handful of streamers ever experience it.

"Uwah. I think my lucky star is in the night sky for us to be blessed with this luck!" Soleil said in a rather quiet tone.

"Powerful" was the only word Vayu said.

"What are you guys waiting for let's go!" Adrian beckoned to the father and daughter duo.

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The Free Wraith-kun party entered the door and was surprised because usually labyrinths were made of hedges but this was something akin to muscle. The walls were muscle like in nature and was even pulsating. Even Adrian was grossed out as it seemed life-like.

"To the developer whoever made this, who hurt you?" Adrian said in a small voice while a man inside a building suddenly sneezed.

"Are you not sick Director?" the female attendant asked.

"I am fine someone must be cursing me or something." The young director said.

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The wraith then started forming a spell which made runes that were smoky appeared and attached to the party member's forehead. They all received a notification indicating that they were applied with something.

[The Free Wraith-kun party members have been applied with Shroud.]

[Shroud: Disables the perception of the Distorted Labyrinth to mesmerize and toy with its trespassers.]

"This should keep you safe from the prying eyes of the labyrinth, Guider of Souls. It is not permanent as it would only last for four hours as my power grows weaker to keep it active. It will also not deter the mindless creatures inside the labyrinth so still be on your guard." The wraith stated.

Adrian only nodded and explained to the others what the buff was and its duration. The father and daughter nodded in agreement and became alert in their surroundings. The wraith then said to follow it as it will lead them to the middle of the labyrinth where its soul has been sealed. The walls were very eerie as it pulsated like a heart. When Adrian mentioned this, the wraith then explained how this labyrinth came to be.

"This labyrinth was made using the heart of a Dark God who fell in battle. The Mad Warlock used it and created this labyrinth. When he learned that there was still a little bit of consciousness in it, he used that to mesmerize and trap all the trespassers of the labyrinth. It would allure anyone and then the Mad Warlock would use them as lab rats for his experiments." The wraith said with visible anger in its tone.

When Adrian heard that this labyrinth was made using a body part of a Dark God, he was surprised as it would mean this place was extremely old. It would seem that the gods overlooked the fallen bodies of their opponents and the inhabitants of the various worlds did not bother to look for them as they thought that it no longer pose any kind of threat.

Adrian went into deep contemplation when he heard this and thought, "Doesn't that mean there are others who did the same or maybe even worse!? I should not think of this now as I am currently busy with this task but I would report this to the elders later."

"If your soul is sealed, how can you even be here with us?" Adrian asked suddenly.

"It will take a long explanation but you could say that this body that you see is but an apparition of me. A projection if you will. I will explain later but it seems that we have company." The wraith answered.

When the wraith said that Adrian looked in front of him, he saw huge mushrooms that had faces and limbs of humans. They were about four feet tall and released black spores whenever they moved. They did not seem to mind Adrian's party but they were blocking the way forward.

Adrian wanted to fly over them but the spores that they released corroded parts of the wall made of muscle which scared him a little. He then inspected what the monsters were and they were elementals. To be more exact, elementals that were corrupted.

Monster: Corrupted Earth Elemental

Level: 60

HP: 70,000/70,000

MP: 10,000/10,000

Description: Earth Elementals that were corrupted because of the experiments done to it by the Mad Warlock Cristobal. Due to them becoming corrupted, they no longer have the ability to freely wield the mana present in nature. The spores they release have great corrosive property that not only corrodes living tissue but the mana present in living beings as well.

Adrian then instructed both Kanlaon and Soleil to use their fire based attacks to take care of the five Corrupted Earth Elementals in front of them because they are pressed for time. Kanlaon then took a deep breath and spew red hot flames towards the corrupted earth elementals. He then diverted his attention towards Soleil as he saw her not even chanting.

Adrian was shocked because she did not even chant some words as five fireballs materialized right away and headed towards the five corrupted elementals. It would seem that Adrian was not the only special person in his party.