CHAPTER 72: THIRD FLOOR OF THE LABYRINTH

The Third floor of the Labyrinth was a dimension without sun or moon. Its sky was dyed a strange colour of constant dusky light.

It was a vast plain with an overgrown forest called Twilight forest. Its distinct feature was the mist curling around thick, gnarled trees, and strange violet mushrooms that glowed faintly.

That was the start for Max and everyone who came from Godshine City. Different portals opened at different locations, and the same was true for the Labyrinth.

Many groups entered before them and had already dispersed in the forest. The area of the floor increased the lower it was, so they might not even see each other.

Max stared at his surroundings for a moment, trying to remember the location. In the past few days, he had written down the things he could remember about the immediate future.

For example, a map of the Third Floor.

It was a very simple one, so he remembered it well and had drawn a very detailed map for it. The map contained not only details about all the locations, but also the loot he could find there.

It really took a lot of time to remember every single detail, and even then he had surely missed a few things.

He took it out of his backpack and unfolded it.

"Seems like we are near the Whispering Pines," Max said, rolling the map back to its original state. "Now, we need to decide if we’re going to Whispering Pines or Ebon Marshes."

The two ladies weren’t at all surprised when he brought out the map, as he was apparently a regressor in their mind. So, this much was obvious knowledge.

"Which one do you prefer?" Stelle asked, standing beside him.

As much as Max wanted to tease her, he remembered their promise, so he suppressed his urges and said, "It really depends on Char."

"Me?" Charlotte asked in confusion.

"Yes, what’s your Level?"

"I’m Level 7, Silver Rank," Charlotte responded, gripping her wand tightly. "I also have a few spells that can be useful in Ebon Marshes."

Stelle and Max both gave her a strange gaze, especially Max who couldn’t help but mutter, "Damnation! We have a prodigy among us. Just 19, and she can become a Gold-Rank Hunter."

"True! This dive should be enough for her to Level up to the Gold Rank," Stelle agreed.

Max nodded and said, "Anyways, let’s warm up in the Whispering Pines first and then we can head there to truly farm."

Most people avoided the Ebon Marshes because it was a swamp filled with poisonous insects and big-type monsters.

Just by stepping in that area, they would get a slowing debuff, not to mention the other debuff and poison they could get there, so unless they had a Healer or a Priest, or a class similar to that, nobody stepped into those lands.

But Max’s group had an exceptional Healer like Charlotte with them, who could remove their debuffs, making their battles much easier.

The three of them took off as they could sense another group entering behind them.

Their formation was the same as before, with Max at the front clearing any monsters and keeping their group safe from there.

Charlotte was in the middle to provide support to both of them, while Stelle was protecting the rear.

They travelled in the overgrown forest as fast as they could while avoiding smaller monsters.

This was a problem with lower floors. Just because a floor was suited for a Rank didn’t mean they would only get monsters of that Grade.

It only meant that the majority of monsters would be of that specific Grade and no monsters of higher Grade would be there unless it was some Hidden Boss.

But the lower Grade Monsters were still there and most people avoided them as they would just waste their time.

It was even more true for Max, who couldn’t even get EXP from them, so he sped up even more while keeping an eye on the surroundings.

In around thirty minutes, they were standing in front of a looming white forest of pine trees.

’Damn! I know I made it but damn this is creepy!’ Max thought, as a dark shadow slipped through his hand and turned into a dark, double-bladed longsword.

The forest felt both serene and solemn. Towering trees reached towards the sky, their needle-covered branches whispering strange voices in the breeze.

The forest floor was cushioned with a thick carpet of fallen needles, soft underfoot and often tinted orange-brown with a strange mix of white.

Shafts of sunlight pierced through the canopy in scattered beams, creating a creepy play of light and shadow.

One would expect peace and silence from such a place, but it was anything but that. Everyone who had ventured into the Whispering Pines knew about its horrors.

Conjured into existence by the Labyrinth, the forest held a strange ability to whisper sounds in a Hunter’s mind, making it impossible for people to block it through normal means.

Those sounds could drive a mundane human insane, breaking their mind until they either went completely mad or became a mindless husk.

So, many people avoided this area too unless they had some measure to deal with those sounds.

There were reasons why it was always suggested to dive the Labyrinth with a trusted team, rather than solo play. This was just one of them.

All of a sudden, Max began to sweat as he remembered one detail and asked in a hesitant voice, ’Hey, Big Sis, you said you added things I had kept as draft or even thought of, right?’

[Hehe, of course. Why, what happened?]

Max cursed, but he still hoped he was wrong, so he turned and asked Charlotte, "Hey, umm, what are the dangers of this forest again?"

Charlotte tilted her head slightly, obviously confused but still answered him calmly, "Aside from the sounds, which can even make you attack your teammates, there are also some monsters living in it. And other Hunters."

"That’s it? No zombies or undead beings?"

"Why would there be zombies in a High Mana area like this?" Stelle stared at him weirdly.

"Thank God!" Max heaved a sigh of relief.

[Hehe, no problem!]