Chapter 600: The Labyrinth Beneath the Waters |
“Greetings, discoverer. My designation is CAD-047-MUS. I am one of many guides assigned to this event. But you may call me simply Cadmus.”
[Mission “Event Guide” has been completed]
“The guide is a floating ball?”
“Correct. Though the term ‘floating ball’ is inaccurate,” the male robotic voice replied from within the sphere. “I am an assistant created by the Collector, a model commonly used in many kinds of events and multiversal Towers.”
“Hey, hey, hey. I’m the guiding voice here, toaster-boy,” Artemis snapped. “The talking item. Me.”
“You may call me Cadmus,” the sphere repeated. “Analyzing participant. Very well. Luke Moon. You found me, and for that reason I am now bound to you until the end of the event.”
“There are more guides out there? And they’re all like you?”
“Correct. We are all part of the Cadmus series. I am unit 047. In truth, my full serial number is far too large to be spoken. But by the standards of your universe, I was the forty-seventh to be created.”
“This Collector made you for my universe?”
“Yeah,” Luke said. “I noticed. Still, you could’ve shown up on the first day we were turned loose in this world. Might’ve saved a few people.”
“Our numbers are limited. Participants must prove themselves worthy of handling the mission. That means finding a guide on their own. Not everyone has any intention of clearing the event’s challenges.”
The sphere floated in a slow circle around Luke.
“And do not concern yourself with me. I cannot be destroyed or eaten. The magical rules governing this place ensure that I remain near you at all times. That does not mean I will be useful in combat or defense. I am only an observing assistant.”
Luke narrowed his eyes at it.
“I’m guessing this Collector is watching through you somehow. Or worse, a lot of other people are watching me right now.”
“There is no need for concern. No one is currently permitted to observe what is happening to you in this event. And no, what I see and experience cannot be accessed by others. The system is keeping everything confidential. The great Collector guarantees total secrecy, which makes our series an excellent tool for dungeons, challenge towers, and even planetary guidance systems. For the right price, you too may acquire a Cadmus unit. Special discounts are available for upfront payment.”
Luke stared at the orb.
“Are you advertising your creator’s company right now?”
“Probably, yes.”
Luke turned and started leaving the building. There was nothing else there.
“Did you happen to come from the same universe as a god named P?”
“P?” Cadmus replied. “My database contains no information about other universes. So I cannot answer that.”
Luke glanced at the orb again.
“And how exactly does that database of yours work?”
“I will provide information about Sunken Realms. I will assist you, especially in navigating its biomes, fauna, and flora. However, I will only provide information when, and if, I deem it necessary. I cannot interfere with the natural progression of your development within the event.”
“In other words,” Artemis said, “this guy only talks when the plot decides it’s convenient.”
“Yeah,” Luke agreed.
Then he broke into a run. The orb followed beside him effortlessly. Luke dashed, leaped between trees, and cut through the forest in a series of fast, fluid movements. Even after a stretch of acrobatics and reckless parkour, the orb was still there, hovering right alongside him.
“If you are attempting some kind of test,” Cadmus said, “be aware that I can keep pace with you regardless of how fast you run.”
“All right. But there are times when I need to stay stealthy.”
“I’m undetectable whenever I want to be,” Cadmus said, vanishing from sight before reappearing a moment later. “I can guarantee, with one hundred percent certainty, that I won’t interfere. I’m still invisible right now, you can only see me because I allow it. And no, I make no sound for anyone but you unless I choose to.”
“Interesting.”
“I’m linked to your system. That makes things like this possible,” Cadmus said.
Luke jumped into the water. He dove until he was beneath the island again. When he reached the stone ring, he pointed at it.
“You want to know what that is, Luke Moon?”
Luke nodded.
“That is a Halo. A type of teleportation device. The system scattered them across the planet. They’re meant to help you move between locations, and more importantly, between biomes. You’ll understand better as the event phases unfold."
You can read my thoughts?
“Yes. And I can also choose not to read some of them. It all depends on your degree of mental acceptance,” Cadmus replied. “What I used is called telepathy.”
“Cadmus. Can I go to another volcano?”
“Another volcano? By that, you mean another region like this one? This planet has hundreds of these colossal volcanoes, each summit forming its own ecosystem.”
“Yes.”
“No. You cannot travel to another region. You and the other participants assigned to this region are bound to it for the event. The Halos only function within this region’s teleportation network.”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
“I see.”
“The only way out of the region where your stage is taking place is through the Abyssal Zone, and I strongly advise against that. No participant can survive it. Not even those in the coldest area of the planet, the region reserved only for Rank C individuals.”
“If I enter a Halo, can I come back?”
“Yes. You will exit through another Halo, and if you enter that one, you can return to the Halo you came from.”
With the information he needed, Luke returned to the surface.
“The biome you’re in is called the Giant Reef. Every area near the coast of the Main Island is part of the Giant Reef. And this is the biome where you will find the Beacon of Phase One.”
“I already found it.”
Then Luke started swimming toward the Beacon.
“Swimming takes too long.”
“If you don’t have magic that helps you move quickly through the sea, then yes, it will be difficult. That is precisely why the Beacon for this phase was placed in the Giant Reef. It is meant to be easily accessible for participants.”
“Which means the Beacon probably rewards people with an item that helps them travel faster in the later phases?”
“I am not authorized to comment on that.”
“Okay. You’ve already said enough,” Luke said.
He summoned his Spectral Beast. A massive octopus emerged.
“A very large sea beast is near you, but there is no indication of danger,” Cadmus said.
“If a sea beast dangerous enough to kill me shows up before I notice it, would you warn me?”
“No. Only in an extreme case, where you accidentally run into something that was never meant to interfere with the event. That is one of the purposes of guides.”
“But if that happens, there probably won’t be much I can do anyway, right?”
“No. Death would be certain.”
Luke climbed onto the octopus, and it immediately surged forward, diving fast into the depths.
*
It was night by the time Luke reached the Beacon. This one was a floating green cube suspended above a circular stone platform, with the platform projecting a column of white light upward. The cube turned slowly in the air. Luke dismissed the Spectral Beast back into its core. As he dove, he saw dozens of glowing halos spread through the water below.
There are a lot of them.
Luke made a mental note. Every now and then, finding a stray halo somewhere in the ocean might lead him to another Beacon, or at least close enough to one. When he surfaced again, he climbed onto a rock attached to the Beacon’s little island.
“This is a Beacon,” Cadmus said. “You must complete one Beacon per phase in Stage 2 if you want to progress in the event. In addition, each Phase has its own specific Beacons. The ones you find now belong to Phase 1. After that, they cease to exist, and the Beacons for the following phase are scattered throughout Sunken Realms.”
“Alright, nerd, we got it,” Artemis said.
Luke stepped closer to the Beacon.
Phase I Beacon discovered!
Beacons scattered across the ocean function as dimensional portals created by the System. Each Beacon contains a sealed marine dungeon, holding lethal dangers and unknown rewards. To activate this Beacon, Marine Artifacts must be offered as its energy source.
Marine Artifacts: 0/10
Objective: Reach the end of the Labyrinth
Participants allowed: up to 10
Difficulty: Automatically adjusted to party size
Reward: ???
Recommended level: 80+
Deposit artifacts into the Beacon?
[YES / NO]
“I only have three.”
“You may deposit the artifacts into the Beacon, and they will remain stored within it,” Cadmus said.
“But if I leave, someone else can show up and finish the process.”
Luke looked out across the ocean. There was no sign of any golden glow marking the location of more artifacts.
“Time for Stargate?” Artemis asked.
“Looks like we’re doing Stargate.”
Luke dove and swam toward the halos. When he got close, he entered one at random. The transition was instant. The moment he passed through, he emerged somewhere else. The temperature change in the water hit him immediately.
Much colder.
“We are in an underwater cavern region beneath the Great Reef,” Cadmus said. “It is known as the Crystal Cave.”
There were stalactites there, except they were not hanging from the ceiling. They rose from what passed for the cavern floor. Their tips were blue like sapphires, glowing softly in the dark.
Luke entered the halo again and reappeared near the Beacon. After that, he started passing through the others one by one, reaching different biomes each time. Cadmus gave brief explanations about every place they arrived in. The halos did not just move him across distant points on the surface. Some led deep into the ocean itself.
So the Beacon for this phase is on the surface, in the Great Reef area, to make it easier to find, right, Cadmus?
“Correct.”
Luke decided to return to the first halo he had entered, the one leading into the cavern zone. This time, he brought the octopus form. He thought it through carefully. In a tighter environment like that, the octopus controlled the terrain far better than it would in the open ocean. Dropping down to the bottom of the cavern beneath the halo, Luke left behind a teleportation circle.
If something goes wrong, I’ll place another circle and come back here.
Luke explored the cave on the octopus’s back. It was a network of tunnels, but eventually he reached a vast open chamber. Schools of fish drifted near him, then scattered. They were harmless, or at least not stupid enough to challenge the octopus. And there, at the center of the chamber, was a Marine Artifact. That made the second one he had found inside the caves.
The artifact was guarded by a giant swordfish. The moment it saw the octopus approaching, it shot forward like a torpedo. Luke hurled a knife downward with [Burst Throw], shattering the stalactites overhead. Then he pointed his hand and used telekinesis. The massive broken stalactites were dragged toward him. The octopus twisted aside, narrowly dodging the giant swordfish’s charge. Then more swordfish came in.
Time to attack.
The octopus let out a roar of agreement and snatched up the stalactites with its tentacles. Using [Jet Propulsion], it surged forward and began driving the stone spikes straight through the swordfish. One after another, the creatures were skewered. Another tried to ram the octopus, but Luke’s Spectral Beast folded its whole body around the strike and evaded it cleanly, sending the fish shooting past. Luke guided the octopus to catch the swordfish by the tail with one tentacle, then drove a stalactite through it with another.
[You have reached Level 82! Half-Demon (Rank E)] (+2 bonus points to all attributes, +5 free points)
The octopus roared, crushed the fish’s jaw, and tore off the blade-like length of its snout. Then it used that as a weapon. Each dead swordfish armed the octopus with another spear. They kept attacking, stabbing through anything that came at them.
One more.
Luke reached the Marine Artifact and claimed it. The octopus continued deeper into the cave network.
Then some kind of worm burst from a hole in the wall and lunged at them. The octopus drove its stolen swordfish blade into the worm and pinned it in place, locking the creature down with its other tentacles. Luke jumped onto the monster and activated [Crimson Fang] as he struck.
[You have slain an Ocean Worm - Lvl 91]
Your class [Demonic Predator] has reached Level 84!
Inside the cavern depths, Luke was in complete control.
*
*
*
Guys, we’ve reached 600 chapters.
Thank you so much for being here with me and being part of this journey. I know a lot of you would love to see some familiar faces return to the story, especially Charlie and Angie. And now that Luke is wandering the world, the chances of running into old characters again are much higher.
Either way, I just want to say thank you for reading, supporting the story, and coming this far with me.
Fun fact: to celebrate reaching 600 chapters on Patreon, I included artwork of Charlie wearing a maid outfit at the end of this chapter.
