Chapter 25: Bee Trouble

*****

[After 6 Hours]

Arthur finally opened his eyes and regained consciousness. The slanted rays of sunlight entered his eyes through the trees, causing them to squint as he adjusted to his surroundings. He got up and quickly observed his surroundings, realizing he was in a forest.

Everywhere around him, lush and green trees towered up to 10 meters long with vibrant leaves. The sky was bright with the sun high above in the air and there was a strong smell of honey in the air.

'Hmm, where am I?' Arthur thought, as he quite sure that he was not supposed to land here by using the teleportation device.

The memories of before flushed through his mind and that he had been thrown into the portal which was supposed to open to the Blade manor but at a glance one could tell, that this was not where he was supposed to come. And as if confirming his suspicions, the voice of his Guardianus came in his head,

[Hey kid. Good thing you're finally awake. Anyways, bad news, you have fallen into a labyrinth rather than the manor.]

His words caused Arthur's eyes to widen with shock but sensing the fragility of the situation, he quickly composed himself. Even though there was a sense of danger and awareness now, Arthur was also curious.

After all, this was his first time in a labyrinth,

'So this is a labyrinth huh?'

Labyrinths were portals that connected to a different dimension or world. Their ranks varied from F- to SSS+ with each rank corresponding to Fahr ranks. An F rank labyrinth would required a full party of Initiate rankers to clear it. A labyrinth cannot be cleared until the boss monster inside it was killed.

Upon clearing a labyrinth, it provided various rewards such as mana stones, skills and also the mana cores of monsters. All these things could be used for various purposes in the future.

Sometimes a labyrinth also rewarded a piece of equipment for the clearer instead of a skill scroll.

After analyzing the concept of labyrinths, Arthur decided that the best way to navigate through this would be to follow the scent of honey in the air. There was two problems for Arthur currently in this labyrinth.

First, he didn't know which rank this labyrinth was because after all, if this was an A rank labyrinth for example then he was as good as dead. Second, was that he was low on mana reserves and his body hadn't fully regenerated from that punch and kick.

There was also the fact that he didn't know why type of labyrinth this was. There was three types of labyrinths as categorized by the Labyrinth Department of the Fahr Association.

Authorized, which had been thoroughly investigated by the L.A and were safe to visit because if something went wrong then the L.A would be there to prevent any casualties. Unauthorized, which weren't found by the L.A and it was advised to contact L.A before entering them, so they could measure its rank and take the proper measures.

And lastly, Chaotic, these were very dangerous labyrinths as a single mistake could lead to a Labyrinth Break. These labyrinths almost always placed a limit on how many people could enter because a large number of people could disturb the space-time link that held the labyrinth together.

Eventually, he arrived in front of a humungous beehive, which was probably due to the influence of mana. It was pulsating with vivid and vibrant energy and then Arthur's gaze drifted to the other trees and he realized that there was not only one but numerous hives present in the area.

A buzzing sound reached his ears and his gaze moved towards the source of the noise up above. Hundreds of bees hovered in the sky, all of their crimson gazes fixed on him. Just like the hive, the bees were also quite large in size.

They also had quite a different structure from the normal bees even if one didn't include their size. They had eight crimson eyes and two metal pincers protruding from their mouth that Arthur felt could twist his neck in an instant.

'Bees huh? I suppose then the boss of the dungeon might be a queen bee.' Arthur concluded in his head.

Right now, he didn't have his sword with him because of the assassination and so he would have to make do with his two daggers of his bodysuit. He took them out and and flashed a hostile gaze towards the bees, causing them instantly to rage and swoop down on him from above.

Arthur shot forwards towards the nearest bee and quickly dodged its pincers, stabbed his dagger into its eyes and ended its life before quickly moving on. The bees started to circle him but he quickly and efficiently dodged their pincers before quickly using [Nightfall Blind] and blinding some of them.

He stabbed his daggers in their faces and blood splattered, ending their lives. As he was about to move on, a bee stabbed at his right arm causing him to momentarily lose his balance but he instantly reacted and killed it before quickly jumping back and increasing the distance.

Even though he had killed many bees, there numbers did not experience any significant decrease and seemed to increase more and more. It was fortunate that labyrinths had a time ratio of 5:1 and he had time to deal with them.

'If this continues, it will take a long time for me to deal with them.....In that case,'

'[Assassin's Apathy]' Arthur activated his skill and his aura grew indomitable and his eyes and presence colder and commanding at once.

The bees experienced a shudder looking into those dead and cold eyes but quickly remembered their purpose. Looking at the advancing bees, Arthur readied his stance with his daggers, ready to initiate an onslaught here.

"May thy knife chip and shatter."

Then he shot forwards once again.

*******

[After 30 Minutes]

The vivid, vibrant and lush green forest had been completely changed into a gory sight. The trees and the fresh grass were covered in a blanket of dark blood as if a war had been fought here between two armies, only that it was fought between one person and a hive.

Bodies of the bees were laid out here and there in the grass covered in slits with blood oozing out of them, their bodies limp and some even split in half. Some had their complete heads severed and some completely mashed to a pulp.

In the middle of the sight, a boy stood on one leg and his clothes torn from a lot of places, his body and the rest of the suit smothered with blood and flesh. His body was swollen from many places and his one leg was limp.

In both his hands were the heads of two bees and his flawless face was also covered in blood from one side. His hair disheveled and covered in grime and dirt, his face was heavily panting with his glowing deep blue eyes dead of emotions.

"Huff.....This was.....tough"

Arthur threw the heads of the bees towards the other corpses, and with one of his leg limp, he walked to one of the trees with a stuttering gait. Although this was just one of his theories, it might work.

He plucked one of the hive from the tree and sat down with pain. He brought the hive to his mouth and started drinking the honey from it. A warm and soothing sensation came over his body as soon as the honey went down his throat. The cuts started to close and bruises and swollen parts started to heal.

Arthur's leg also twisted with pain and healed itself. Soon the hive emptied but his body was still not fully healed so he took another and started healing it again. After 5 minutes, his body was fully healed and several hives had been emptied out.

Arthur stood up and plucked more hives from the trees and walked up to the bees with them. Using his one remaining dagger, he dissected some bees and separated their skin with their parts.

He took out some piercing threads which he had taken for the assassination and sewed the skin of a bee together to make a container in which he poured the honey for future purposes.

Now he thought of how to progress further in the dungeon, so he quickly climbed up the tallest tree in the vicinity to get a better sense of his surroundings.

It was then that he saw how wrong he had been in the measurement of the labyrinth, it spread far north with not only the forests but also the mountains, which with their snow capped peaks reached far above the clouds.

It was then that Arthur realized, that the mountains also served a purpose. He had read in the books in the library that some labyrinths featured mini-bosses that would grant even more rewards upon beating them. Defeating them was also necessary to spawn the boss sometimes.

And Arthur figured that was where the mini-boss was residing. Adamant about his next destination, he jumped down from the trees and started heading north. Towards the mountains. Towards the next fight.

________________________

Hello! Author here. I just wanted to let you know that the novel has finally been contracted thanks to all your guys support! Tysm for this! I hope you can further like this novel and point out my mistakes so I can improve alongside. That said, I hope you can further support this novel with your power stones and now gifts as well. Thank you :) :>

Discord : https://discord.gg/QpDrS7SC For the illustrations of gods and new characters!

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