Jack Meyer
Level 17
Age: 26
Sex: Male
Job: Alchemist

Strength: 350
Vitality: 450
Defence: 350
Agility: 500
Magic: 450
Magic Defence: 450

Skills:
Transmute(Appraisal)(Precision)(Detect)(Isolation)(Fusion)
Mana Manipulation
Carnivorous
Lightning Field
Air Walk(Quick Step)(Aerodynamics)
Gale Claw(Flying Gale Claw)
Language Comprehension

With the bear dead, I was ready to move on. I knew going up was not going to be feasible, so going down was my best option. I could use Transmute much better now, so creating an opening in the walls was easy enough to go about exploring the floor. It stood to reason that I'd be able to move to lower floors by opening up the ground. And if the monsters were going to be tougher and tougher as I went, then I'd need to be more prepared.

The first thing I did was seal the holy crystal. There was more holy water in that thing than science would allow, but magic was bullshit, so I didn't think about it. I filled up two waterskins that I'd made from the bear's pelt, and then transmuted the hole in the crystal shut. The crystal was more durable than anything I'd seen thus far, so I wasn't too worried about it breaking and losing all the holy water, but I still covered it with some padding from the pelt, just in case. I then packed it into a suitcase I made, which I could strap to my back with one arm, but also attached some very durable wheels to it. It was also covered with the bear's belt, so I wouldn't have hard bone digging into my back as I went.

I'd also made a backup pepperbox, since having only one was going to be risky in my current situation, and I used the Fusion skill to reinforce the old one. Among other things, I made a poncho with the bear's pelt that would help keep warm, some more equipment to help along the way, as I didn't want to rely solely on the pepperbox or my bayonet. They wouldn't suffice for monsters stronger than the bear, not alone anyway. With some blast rock, I was able to make a couple of flashbang bombs that utilised my alchemical solution, since I only had a few flashbang vials left. I'd alchemically deactivated them before pouring the liquid into the new flashbang grenades that I made from bone, and once they were sealed, I reactivated the fluid. It was not a complex design, just a simple hammer mechanism, like the pepperbox, that would ignite the blast rock and consequently the flashbang fluid as well. I did the same with my remaining acid and methane vials, and even made a few regular grenades as well. I repurposed my bandolier to carry these grenades, and fashioned a second one to carry more. Getting that on with one hand was a pain, let me tell you.

With my stock of holy water, meat, materials, and all the remaining parts of the bear I thought I could make the best use of, I set off towards the next floor. My exploration of the floor I was on had proven fruitless thus far, so I opted to just crumble the floor beneath me with Transmute, creating a sloped tunnel that I slid down towards the next floor. Meld said we were on the 65th floor when we were attacked by the Behemoth, and if I fell at least one floor to the 66th, that meant I had 34 floors to go before reaching the bottom. Legend had it that the Labyrinth had 100 floors. I supposed I'd find out.

The 67th floor was completely dark. The floor I woke up on had numerous green stones that glowed in the dark growing around its caverns. I'd suspected I'd need something of the sort eventually, so I made a torch out of one of those stones. Nothing fancy, just a simple torch that they normally carry in caves in this word, but instead of cloth soaked in oil at the end, I put a glowstone at the end. Channeling my mana into it would make it glow brighter. Plus, if a monster got too close, I could just bludgeon it with the torch.

I was aware that, in a cave of complete darkness, the monsters that dwelled there would probably know that any source of light meant potential prey, but when the alternative was fumbling through the dark, I'd go with the torch. With that narrative in place, I continued down the dark cave. It wasn't two minutes after activating the torch that I saw movement. I immediately stopped and geared the torch towards the moving creature.

It was a giant lizard, almost gecko-like.

As it opened its horizontal, transparent eyelids, its eyes glowed brightly, and suddenly, the green glowstone's glow faded, its crystalline structure turned to grey stone, and it shattered. I immediately Quick Stepped back, hiding behind a large rock. I felt the light's effect immediately. The right side of my face and the stump of my right arm were hardening into that same grey stone material that the glowstone did. I immediately grabbed the waterskin of holy water from my belt, taking a massive swig and being sure to pour some on my face and stump.

"Petrification. Fuck!" I cursed as I stowed the waterskin and made to grab the pepperbox. This thing was a Basilisk. Suddenly, I heard a loud roar, coming from right behind me. Or above, rather. I Quick Stepped once more, narrowly dodging the jaws of the giant lizard. "Swallow this, Treecko!" I toss a flashbang at the spot where I was previously crouched.

Closing my eyes as the bright light burst forth, I heard a loud screech of pain. Made sense, a lizard that dwells in pitch black darkness would respond negatively to bright light. Digression aside, with my eyes shut tight, looking in the opposite direction, I raised the pepperbox, using the sound to aim, and I fired. Once the light died down, I carefully opened my eyes, seeing the dead lizard on the ground. I was honestly shocked I was able to make that hit using just sound. I made sure to grab some of its meat.

Skill: Night Vision, Petrification Resistance

Well, that takes care of the torch problem, at least.

The next few days looked much the same as the incident with the lizard. I'd explore a floor for a short while, looking for some kind of clue as to where I am, new materials to use, new monsters to eat, or just anything interesting or useful really, and if I didn't find an entryway to the next floor, I'd just Transmute a tunnel through the floor. Rinse and repeat.

Each floor got tougher and tougher. The terrains varied, as did the monsters. I was very tempted to grab as much material as I could from all of them, but with the number of monsters I was killing, it would have been too much. I didn't have the luxury of hoarding materials until I decided to use them like in the video games, so I made a point of not carrying too much with me, and only eating enough meat from each monster to get new skills from them.

I learned quickly that hoarding the meat was a bad idea, for obvious reasons. Reasons I should have foreseen. It would rot really quickly without some means of preservation, and with no salt or ice to make that happen, I resorted to transmuting the water out of it, creating monster jerky, and then filtered the water into a new waterskin, so I wouldn't have to rely on the holy water for hydration, which meant I'd have more for healing when needed.

As with before, I couldn't tell the difference between night and day, so I just slept when I was tired, using Transmute to erect jagged and misshapen walls around me for safety. Transmuting inorganic matter was still a pain, but I was getting better. Whenever I wasn't sleeping, I continued through the Labyrinth, exploring, advancing, and killing as I went. By my estimate, I'd been in the Labyrinth for about a week before something huge happened, but I'll get to that in a bit.

The monsters down here were really strong.

By the time I reached the 79th floor, going with the assumption that I fell one floor when I was pushed off the bridge, I was fighting large moths and frogs, and the 95th floor graced me with some massive sharks that swam in some kind of tar. Those guys could have swallowed me whole. It became apparent after 35 floors that I was NOT as deep as the Labyrinth could go. The legends and textbooks all say that the Labyrinth has 100 floors, but that was evidently bullshit. By the 110th floor, I was facing large swarms of massive centipedes ganging up on me like ants to a drop of honey.

And I survived it all.

After going through a couple more floors, I finally came across something that cut against the grain of the Labyrinth. Aside from the staircases that often connected two floors together, and the occasional bridge that crossed large chasms, there were practically no man-made structures in the Labyrinth. And then, out of nowhere, about 50 floors below where I started, I found a set of double doors, with two large Cyclops statues standing at either side, each with one hand over their hearts, and the other crossed over the doors.

I didn't go near them. I may have been letting the movies and books get the better of me there, but I couldn't help thinking that those statues would come to life if I got too close. So, with that in mind, I erected a jagged dome to rest for a bit and eat some jerky. I took some time to think about how to approach this situation. I made sure to make some extra bullets for the pepperboxes, knowing I might need them. Over the next few hours, I used the last of my Taur stone to do so. It seemed that with each use of metal or stone, I got just a tiny bit better. Not by much, the number of bullets I could make in half an hour only went from six to eight, but it was evident that I was progressing. Maybe with enough practice I'd be able to Transmute metal as well as I do plants.

Not likely, but a man could hope.

I also had an idea that would make taking holy water easier. Using small amounts of bone from the various monsters I'd killed, I made tiny horn-like structures that I poured a small amount of holy water into, and then sealed them with more bone. In the end, they looked like tiny viking drinking horns, each holding one or two shot glass' amount of holy water. Small doses and large doses. I'd Transmuted the tips of the horns open and then sealed them with tiny corks made from sinew. All one would need to do was pull out the sinew and then drink. And since the seal was air tight, the odds of them coming undone accidentally were slim to none. I made many of these, attached a few to my bandoliers, and packed the rest into my backpack. After a bit more rest, and a fuller belly, I was ready to approach the door.

"Pandora's box, here I come." I said to myself as I stood up, pepperbox ready to be drawn, just in case. "I wonder, do you too hide hope behind the evils of this world?" I asked the air as I approached the doors. Nothing. The statues didn't attack. Alright, good sign. Getting closer, I saw a disk on the door, with three circular indentations set in a triangular position. The top two looked like they could fit a perfect sphere in them, and they each had a sickle moon outlining them, but the third one, completing the triangle downward, didn't seem so perfect. "So, two keys then?" I asked mindlessly as I touched the disk. It suddenly ignited with a red light, and I Quick Stepped away from it.

"The fuck?" I asked as the stone statues started to crumble. Or, more accurately, the stone skins encasing the two Cyclops' crumbled, revealing two fully able bodied Cyclops, one with red skin and the other with blue. "Well, I saw that one coming." I drawl as I draw the pepperbox. The two monsters stepped off of their miniature pedestals, staring down at me. "So, are we going to fight, or are you going to say one only tells lies, and the other only tells truths?" I asked with a vulpine grin.

Immediately, the Cyclops on the right, the one with red skin, roared and attacked me. With a large backflip, a quick Aerodynamic disk, and an upwards Quickstep, I shot the beast right between the… I mean, right in the middle of its eye. I landed with no issue. "Yeah, not happening." I said as I aimed at the blue Cyclops. "I'm not letting two hulking beasts flank me." I said as I fired at the blue one. The beast covered its face with its forearms, like a boxer, erecting a barrier before it that blocked all five bullets. "Going on the defensive, eh?" I asked as I opened the barrel of the pepperbox, discarding the empty casings. I quickly tucked the open gun under my stump and retrieved more bullets from my pockets and reloaded them, one at a time.

Reloading was a hassle with one arm.

I was just barely able to grab the gun, flip it closed, and jump out of the way as the monster stepped forward and punched at me. Having put a bit of distance between the two of us, I emptied the pepperbox once again, and it blocked each shot as well. Cursing under my breath, I holstered the pepperbox and grabbed the spare, identical in every way, and emptied that one too. Each of those were blocked as well. As I quickly flipped the second pepperbox open and discarded the shells, intent on reloading again, I noticed something.

"You know, if there was ever a time to attack me, it would be now." I said, smirking as I filled the pepperbox barrels. It didn't take the bait. In fact, it actually stepped back, standing in front of the door. "So, purely defensive are you?" I asked as I flipped the pepperbox closed. "The exact opposite of your friend then. And it seems you can't venture far from the door." I grinned wickedly. "Makes me wonder just what exactly you have hidden in there." I emptied the barrels.

That cycle repeated numerous times. I would fire all six shots, discard the casings, reload, and fire again. He didn't move those first few times, the barrier he'd erected with his arms holding strong. But with my studies, I knew that a barrier could only take so much. So, with steady vigor, I continually emptied and reloaded the pepperbox, shooting several dozen bullets. I was beginning to worry I would run out before I would be able to break the barrier, but I was thankfully wrong about that.

The barrier broke, I was so taken aback by the loud crashing sound that I had to laugh as the beast charged me, all pretenses of defending the door forgotten as he raised both of his fists and brought them down on me hard. I jumped out of the way just in time, using Aerodynamics and Quick Step to raise above his eye level.

"Oi! One-eye! Up here!" I called out from an air disk above him. The Cyclops looked up at me, and before it could do anything else, I buried one last bullet right in the centre of its eye. I jumped off of the disk and landed deftly, just before the beast tipped over. "Now, then, I'm curious to see what you're protecting." I said as I approached the door. "Hmm." I give the triangular pattern a scrutinizing look. "I wonder…" I turned back to the Cyclops corpses.

With my bayonet, I cut into the chest of the two beasts, which is where the mana crystal is usually found. Based on my studies in the library, a monster is basically just an animal that accumulated enough mana for it to crystallize in their bodies, and thus they turn into monsters. Meaning that the bear that ate my arm was probably once a normal bear, but it collected enough mana to turn into that. I found the crystal in its chest when I butchered it, same for the wolf, rabbit, and every other monster I've killed thus far. I've made a point of collecting them. I had a nagging feeling I could use them, and in the case of the Cyclops' crystals, I was right.

I pulled the crystals from their chests, and made sure to grab enough meat from both of them for later consumption. With that done, I brought the two crystals over to the doors, and to no surprise, they fit perfectly into the spherical indents. They were even pulled in, almost like magnets, and when the second one was in place, the sickle moon outlines glowed bright blue, followed by the lines making up the triangle, and then two circles surrounding them.

The doors opened with a rumble of the ground, and with a deep breath, and two fully loaded pepperboxes, I stepped inside.

The room was dark, scarily so. Even with my Night Vision skill, I couldn't see much save for the bright golden glow coming from the giant spinning cube. Yeah, a giant spinning cube, on the far end of the room. There's a sentence I never thought I'd say. With the pepperbox raised, I approached cautiously.

As I walked, I became aware of the reflections of the golden light creating the illusion of the night sky, with golden stars, and even a bit of space gas. I wonder if that was intentional? Even stranger, along the roof, there were innumerable green tentacles, flowing about like an anemone in a reef. I almost thought I was about to get attacked in a particular manner exclusive to a certain category of anime, but that didn't seem to be the case. They were all peacefully retracting as I stepped closer to the tube.

"Who's there?" I heard a voice, making me freeze. I didn't think it'd been all that long since I fell, but I hadn't heard another person's voice in a while. It was small, feminine, and weak. It felt… foreign.

The giant spinning cube slowed its spinning, stopping as one the faces faced me, another sentence I didn't think I'd ever say, with the corners pointing vertically and horizontally, and the light died down. There, attached to the cube, almost as if crucified, was a young girl, with long flowing blonde hair, and an unhealthily thin frame. She couldn't have been older than 14. The lower half of her body had sunk into the cube, and her arms had been spread out, with her hand sinking into the cube as well, hence the crucifixion comparison. Not to mention the fact that she was utterly naked. At least her hair covered her nipples.

Her eyes weakly fluttered open, revealing two crimson irises.

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously, lowering the pepperbox, but not my guard.

"Please… help me…" She murmured weakly, a light cough leaving her.

"Forgive me if I'm reluctant." I said simply. "In my experience, when someone has been locked up like this, it's usually for a good reason." I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Though I can't imagine what someone your age would be able to do that warrants such imprisonment." I admitted.

"You're wrong…" She whispered, her voice hoarse. "I was put here… By someone who betrayed me." She said, making me freeze.

Looking up as I ran, I saw one of the bolts had changed course. Everything, myself included, seemed to move in slow motion as the rogue bolt barreled directly towards me. I could barely comprehend what was happening before it hit me right in the chest.

I relaxed myself, taking a deep breath as the memory flashed through my head. With my guard still up, I holstered the pepperbox and approached the girl closer.

"Please help me… I'll do anything." She begged, tears welling up in her eyes.

"A dangerous offer, given your state of dress." I said drolly, making her eyes widen in fear. "How about we start with an explanation?" I suggested, slipping my backpack off and sitting on the ground in front of her. "You were stabbed in the back, and the stabber locked you in here, I can buy that." I said honestly, seeing the hope welling up in her eyes. "But, fair's fair, this isn't exactly a typical prison cell." I went on. "This Labyrinth supposedly has 100 floors, and based on my math, I've gone down to the 115th, at the bare minimum." I continued.

"Labyrinth?" She asked.

"Indeed." I nodded. "In millennia of history, nobody's ever managed to go deeper than the 65th. And yet, here you are, claiming to have been intentionally imprisoned in a floor well beyond that, not to mention well beyond the supposed 100 floor limit." I recounted. "Is that about right?" I asked. She gave a weak, hesitant nod. "So not only did someone else know that there were more than 100 floors in the Labyrinth, and never told anyone, they were strong enough to get you down here, against your will. You must have scared the shit out of someone if they're willing to go that far to keep you locked up." I looked directly into her eyes. "Who are you?" I asked, again.

She looked at me with wide, bewildered eyes for a moment before answering. I waited patiently.

"The truth is, I'm a vampire. A member of the royal family. I was gifted with great power. A gift I used to protect my people." Her head fell slightly. "One day, my minister told me I wasn't needed anymore. My Uncle would rule in my stead, and honestly, I was alright with that." She said with a note of fatigue in her tone.

"I'm guessing the transfer of power wasn't so smooth then?" I asked, getting a small nod and a hum in response.

"They said the threat I posed was too great, and since I couldn't be killed, they locked me away down here." She went on.

"Back up." I said, holding up a hand. "You can't be killed? How does that work?"

"My body heals extraordinarily fast. Any injuries I sustained will repair themselves." She explained.

"Is that the 'great power' you mentioned before?" I asked, getting another nod.

"Yes. That, and I can manipulate mana… Without an incantation or a circle." She revealed, making my eyes widen.

"Holy shit…" I whispered. Mana manipulation on that scale was incredible. My mana manipulation skill allows me to skip the incantation in most cases, but I still need a circle to focus the mana through. To freely manipulate mana the way this girl claims to is unheard of. At least to me. "I can see why you wouldn't die easily." I frowned in thought.

"Will you help me?" She suddenly pleaded, looking right into my eyes. I could see the desperation in them, the despair, and the near complete loss of hope. It would be wise to just leave. By all accounts, I can't trust her; I have no idea if what she's saying is even true!

Damn it all.

"Please don't let me regret this." I sighed as I stood up. I wasn't even speaking to her. That sentence was more geared towards the universe, or just the air. A way for me to vent before what could possibly be the worst decision of my life.

I did a quick look around the cube, trying to find some kind of release mechanism. To no surprise, I didn't find anything of the sort. I didn't expect to, but it didn't hurt to look. With that done, it was obvious what the best course of action would be. With a deep breath, I placed my hand on the stone, activating Transmute. The purple circle appeared on the back of my hand, and my mana ignited.

I was shocked at what I felt. This stone was organic. At least, it had a greater percentage of organic matter to inorganic matter. With a frown, I pulled out my Status Plate, using Appraisal on the stone.

Sealstone
An ore that is able to dissolve mana, but limited in the amount it can withstand before breaking.
Hardness: 4
Toughness: 4

OK, interesting in theory, but not overly useful. I mean, sure there were monsters that used mana, like the Cyclops' for example, but any use I could make out of this would be limited. Sure, I could make bullets or grenades that I could throw to disrupt a mana attack, but I could achieve the same effect of not being hit with Quick Step and Aerodynamics. I suppose armour made of this stuff could be feasible, but that ran the risk of it sapping my mana, which was not desirable.

And since this stuff was so limited in how much it could take, it probably wouldn't hold up to anything as strong as what I've faced recently. All in all, interesting, but not something I could make use of right now. I made a note to take some with me in case I ever found a use for it.

Placing my hand back on the stone, I reignited my mana, the purple circle reappearing. With relative ease, I was able to will an innumerable amount of cracks into existence on the stone, which spread across the entire surface of the cube with no trouble. And with a small flex of my mana, the whole thing fell to pieces with no trouble.

"That was disappointingly easy." I said, looking at the girl, who was kneeling in front of me, her eyes wide as if she were unable to believe what happened. Before I could say anything else, she gently took my hand in hers.

"So warm…" She whispered breathlessly. I tried not to focus on the fact that she was very naked at that moment. "Will you… Will you tell me your name?" She requested quietly.

"It's Jack." I responded simply. "Jack Meyer." I introduced myself.

"Jack Meyer." She repeated. "Jack Meyer." And again.

"Are you going to tell me your name?" I asked expectantly. I was surprised when she shook her head, almost defiantly.

"I don't need my old name." She told me, looking at the ground. "I don't want it."

"So what do I call you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"You choose." She said, looking up at me.

"You want me to name you?" I asked, flabbergasted. She responded with an eager nod. OK, clearly this girl is a few rounds short of fully loaded. Ugh, now I'm making gun puns. I've been down here too long.

OK, names. What do I think when I look at her? Goldilocks. That's a no for obvious reasons. Christa? I get the distinct impression that she's sensitive about her size, so I wasn't going to suggest anything that relates to her height. Cersei? She looks like she could be a Lannister, and let's be real, Cersei did suck the lifeblood out of her people like a vampire. Probably best if we don't go that direction.

Hmm…

"Yue…" I whispered, getting her attention. Uh oh. Did not mean to say that out loud. "Uh, Yue is a word from a foreign language in my homeland. It refers to the moon." I explained.

"The moon?" She tilted her head.

"Well, when I came into this room, I couldn't help comparing the light of the night sky. And in the centre of it all, was you." I went on. "The moon was the next thing that came to mind, and I landed on Yue." The clumsy explanation made me a little self conscious. "So? What do you think?" I asked.

"The moon…" She mumbled. "Yue…" She gave a light smile. "Yue!" She smiled widely. "I love it!" She leaped and hugged me. I was taken aback, doubly so due to her nakedness, but it was definitely a wholesome moment. "Thank you, Jack."

"You're welcome." I responded, though I wasn't really sure why she was so happy. Surely something as mundane as a name change wouldn't make someone so happy?

Suddenly, I chill ran up my spine as my recently acquired Sense Presence skill activated. I immediately grabbed Yue and Quick Stepped away, right as a barrage of stone pins embedded themselves in the ground where we were just moments ago. I was just barely able to spare two of us from becoming pin cushions, but that didn't mean we went completely unscathed.

"Motherfucker!" I cursed out loud as a handful of the pins buried themselves in my back.

"Jack!" Yue shouted in fear as I quickly grabbed a large dose of holy water.

"Yue…" I breathed out, biting the seal off of the horn. "I need you to pull them out." I told her.

"Right!" She frantically scrambled to her feet, getting behind. I grit my teeth in pain as I poured half of the holy water onto my back, and did my best not to yell as Yue pulled the jagged pins out.

"Good God, that hurts…" I croaked out through a hoarse voice, downing the rest of the holy water. "That's what I get for letting my guard down." I growled at myself as I turned to face the attacker.

Lo and behold, crawling on the roof of this cavernous room, was a massive scorpion/crab hybrid, looking down at us with menacing red eyes, and two giant claws snapping about, as if demonstrating how easily it could crush us with those claws. It's spindly legs clung to the roof, and from its backside extruded two huge scorpion tails, from which large black stingers protruded.

"Let me guess, this is your guard dog?" I asked blankly as Yue and I looked up at the beast. She gave a single nod. "Well then, let's make quick work of it." I said, pulling off my poncho and draping it over her head. "Fighting naked won't help." I said with a wry grin as her cheeks puffed.

"Pervert." She said, pulling her head through the poncho.

"How does making you cover yourself make me a pervert?" I asked with a roll of my eyes as I knelt down in front of her. "Grab onto me and don't let go." I told her seriously. She complied, wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my sides. I tried not to think about her state of 'barely dressed' as I raised the pepperbox. Right as I did so, the beast let go of the roof, landing on the ground in front of us, causing a rumble of the ground. "Looks like it's crab for supper tonight." I grinned wickedly as I aimed the pepperbox.

I wanted to call Yue something different, like maybe Sol because her hair is so blonde you could compare it to the sun, a little opposition to canon, but I figured it would get confusing pretty quickly, so I chose not to.