1 Stuck in a Labyrinth

3rd June 2243.

Felix City, South Asia.

"Huh, I am late!"

Wayne had just reached a cluster of buildings when he found a bunch of people was standing in front of a high-security zone with barricades. The buildings nearby were already cleared up and there was no traffic to speak of.

Wayne ran as quickly he could and reached the security zone.

"Sorry, you had to wait because of me," Wayne added as soon as he reached the place where the people were standing.

"Why do we have to waste our time for an F-Rank porter like you?" an irritated voice sounded out from inside the group.

The voice was from a young man, he was a handsome guy with sharp features wearing high-rank Hunter equipment and was carrying guns on his back.

Wayne instantly knew that he was probably a high ranking hunter and so he humble replied "Sorry, I got stuck in some family matters and got late. I will not cause any more troubles."

This was a regular for Wayne; he was one of the trash hunters who are the trashiest of all that is F-Rank Porter. As the name, Porter suggests the porters were only the workers responsible for physical labor inside the Dungeon. They carry the loot of the party as electrical goods lose all their effect inside the Dungeon.

And Wayne was the trashiest of all an F-Rank Porter with the worst possible results out there. Thus he was accustomed to being treated like this every day, even if he was not at fault it would always be him who had asked forgiveness. This was an unwritten rule, because if all high-rank hunters request the authorities for F-Rank Porters to be excluded from Raids then he would lose all qualifications of ever running a raid again.

Wayne was in need of Money and Dungeon raids were the easiest source of money. Even the Special Forces which took care of humans were paid much less than F-Rank Porters, this was because of the risk involved in the dungeons.

"Okay, just get yourself equipped as fast as possible." That man added and turned away from him.

"Just leave it be. Sean is always like that though he is not bad from his heart." Emily came near Wayne just after Sean left him alone.

"Thank you. And do not worry, I am accustomed to it." Wayne said as he passed a smile to Emily.

Emily Wood, she was a B-Rank Healer and Wayne had been acquainted with her due to Raids from the Hunters Association. She was an important member of most low ranking raiding teams of the Hunters Association in Felix City.

"Get equipped quickly, we are about to just get going. By the way, why did you sign up for this Dungeon, you should have been informed that this Dungeon has a great possibility of being C-Rank instead of their estimated D-Rank?" Emily asked Wayne.

"With your strength, it should be more troublesome for you. You could have just skipped this Dungeon and joined in the next raid." She added.

"Thank you, Emily, but you know that Kaitlyn would be joining High School next month and I need the money for her School Fees," Wayne replied her about his sister's admissions to High School that starts from July.

"Oh I forgot, Kaitlyn wants to specialize in Core Technology right? That would really need quite a lot of cash. If required you could loan some money from me, I would be happy to help." Emily informed with goodwill.

Wayne knew that she would help if he asked but he did not like to ask for money from friends and acquaintances. And though Emily showed her goodwill he would never take on the offer, it would be against his ideals.

"You guys come fast and register your UICD for the Raid. The security members of the Association need them right now. Emily what are you doing, come fast" The slightly hoarse voice of Gary ordered from the front of the group.

Wayne could also hear it and thus proceeded to quickly equip himself. Every hunter needs good equipment if he wishes to live longer. Even though Wayne was an F-Rank Hunter but even he had used up a lot of his previous income to purchase good Hunters clothes which come with special defense.

He did not wish to purchase something like this because of the money, but Kaitlyn his younger sister nagged him for a month and finally blackmailed him that if he did not buy the equipment then she would not join in High School.

Wayne could not allow his sister to make such a mistake and thus purchased this with much of his saved up income, and this was also why he was seriously facing a shortage of funds.

He quickly moved towards the security personnel from the Hunters Association as soon as he was equipped. He got queued up and when his time to register came he took off his wrist watch which was detachable and gave it to the personnel.

This wrist watch was the UICD, it was a Unique Identification and Communication Device with many more features added which allowed it to be used as a mini computer. Though this was very good, the UICD would be temporarily out of use inside the Dungeon, and till date, the Hunters Association could not find a proper alternative usable inside the Dungeon.

Gary's voice came again as soon as the registration was complete. "All right guys, we are 18 people today, and I will be your Raid Leader for this Dungeon."

"All warriors will follow me as I will be the main Tank for the raid; Mages and Rangers will deal damages from a distance and will not get near until I order for it."

"As we are allotted Emily for this Raid so we do not need more than one healer and she would be enough for all of us. Porters will move quickly and pick up the loot as fast as possible, we do not have the leisure of being slow and if you have spare hands then help with first aid."

"Everyone be alert, the Association informed that there this Dungeon may have been miscalculated by them and maybe a C-Rank Dungeon instead of the D-Rank that everyone expects. So take care and try not to die or be a pain in the ass for the team." Gary finished with a warning. This was a routine which every leader usually does.

"Okay, let's go" Gary ordered and everyone started off towards the long skyscraper which was reported to be the Dungeon.

*****

Just as Wayne stepped foot inside the Dungeon through a translucent gateway made of Mana, he felt the dungeon gate changing. When he saw the others he found all were looking at the dungeon gate with panic showing in their faces.

One middle-aged couple was even clutching hands while praying. When Wayne turned towards the gate, he found that the gate was closed off. The thin layer of mana that usually shows a glowing surface to inform of the dungeons gate was gone. This could only mean the gate was blocked and the only way to leave was to defeat the Dungeon Boss.

"Why is this happening with me?" Someone shouted out loud.

Instantly a panic and loud shouts from everyone else started coming out. Everyone was afraid, and why shouldn't they be, the only dungeons that had their gates usually closed off were high-level dungeons like A-Rank, S-Rank or even special dungeons which are usually handled by the beyonders.

Some of the Porters even started screaming. But this was short lived as Gary to stop this mode of Panic duly shouted "Everyone calm down. Calm it down would you?" The last of the sentence was shouted out very loud.

Everyone stopped screaming or making noises, but there was still fear plastered over each of their faces. Even Gary himself was standing with a "frown".

Gary spoke to everyone with the frown still in his face "I know every one of you understands what kind of a predicament we are facing. I just want all of you to calm down. We are stuck in this unknown dungeon together and even though you are weaker than me, this does not give me any advantage in this unknown dungeon."

"As you know this dungeon might very well be an A-Rank or even S-Rank dungeon or even something more terrifying than that. I just request you to listen to me, if we work together then there is at least a small chance for all of us to survive this ordeal."

"I just ask every one of you to help out, if we have to survive than teamwork is absolutely necessary especially you porters, today is the day you guys need to fight too, the loot is not important our lives are. Just take some time and calm down everyone." He ended with his request.

Wayne saw that everyone was finally calm and stopped making noises. He was also afraid but he knew that their only way to survive was to clear the dungeon and defeat the boss. The thought of facing a Dungeon boss of an unknown dungeon which might be an A-Rank, S-Rank or even beyond them sent chills down his spine.

Wayne was still thinking 'what kind of shitty luck do I have, why is that this dungeon had to be such a high ranked dungeon? What would happen to Mom and Kaitlyn if something happened to me? No no, I can't let this happen, I have to live for them. And that too, me a virgin to die without even having a girlfriend... Uh this itself is giving me the chills.' A determined light suddenly woke in the deep brown eyes of Wayne.

Wayne had always been a filial child and since his father died four years ago, he was the only income generator for the family. His father Stephen Daniels who was also a Hunter had died in a raid, after this his and his family's life had changed.

His mother Martha Allen Daniels had fallen sick and would only look around in a daze while never speaking to anyone and also not doing anything other than sitting around and occasional moving about since his father's death. His mother's condition was the reason that Wayne was filthy poor right now other than the EMI's that were paid for their apartment which was purchased by their father a few years before his death.

Now that all the savings of his father were finished and he had taken care of his mother as well as his sister who would soon join a high school was the reason that Wayne was always in need of money. His mother's checkups in good hospitals cost a lot and after the doctor had informed them that he could have his mother cured by an S-Rank Healer, he knew that for this he needed lots of money.

Even millions of dollars would not be enough, as far as he knew S-Rank healers charged millions for just checking up on the patients and he needs the healer to cure his mother too. And now he was stuck inside this unknown dungeon that was beyond their current team's capabilities.

When all these thoughts were roaming around inside Wayne's head, Emily and Gary were consulting each other.

Finally, Gary spoke up "Okay everyone, we have decided on our future action, all porters are to be behind Emily our only healer all the time, do not make any mistakes. Also, all the Mages will be next to Emily and E-Rank Warriors will be on both sides of them for their security."

"All the Rangers will be in front of this line and the other Warriors and I will act as the Tank of the team. The second line of Warriors will help us give support and mages and rangers help with your ranged attacks. The porters will help with weaker enemies while Emily will be there to heal, got it everyone?" asked Gary

"Yesss" everyone answered together.

"Then let's start treading inside cautiously," Gary said while pointing towards the gloomy corridor that led to the interiors of the Dungeon.

The team had already formed the formation that was specified by Gary their leader and they were actually happy with these arrangements. Wayne was standing just behind Emily and that relaxed Emily too, she knew that Wayne may be weak but he was not a coward in front of fear. She had already teamed up with him on more than a couple raids and she could see his sincerity towards his team when he worked harder than every other porter.

When everyone was forming this formation, Sean the C-Rank ranger brought out his guns, they were actually cool. Each one of them was just bigger than his palms and they had a reddish monster core fitted inside. The moment he held the guns in both his hands, his aura had changed and seriousness reflected in his face.

Sean Brooks, he was one of the Hunters who took to this profession not for the money but for the connections it held. He was the son of a big businessman of Felix City and started this profession because of the profits his family would gain from the connections inside the Hunters Association.

He had been brought up in the most lavish conditions available in Felix city and had always been provided with the best equipment for his safety and these guns were also the same. They were Mana guns which are equipped with monster cores and having these meant that he would be able to handle even monsters which needed B-Rank Rangers; this was actually good for the team as they would have better support.

Just as everyone entered the corridor they could see large walls which had entrances in three directions, that meant either they had to split up or only choose one entrance while discarding the rest.

When everyone was frowning about this one of the two mages named Will spoke up "Um Gary, I think I might be able to solve the predicament about choosing the right entrance. I have a special skill which lets me create an illusory eye which can transmit me the images it sees. Though it can only be used for a small distance after which it will be unable to move any further."

"Will I am okay with this, well it is good to have something than nothing, is there anyone who has a better idea?" Gary asked everyone.

No one replied.

"Okay, go on with it," Gary ordered Will.

Will slowly formed a small eyeball using his mana and it started to float slowly and then flew off towards the direction of the entrances. When it reached the entrance it started to rise above to check out the corridors.

After a minute or two Will started to look pale. Everyone had been looking at him for answers and when they found him looking pale, they also became scared and did not wish to ask him about it.

Finally the other mage a woman went near Will and asked with care and concern "Will are you okay? What did you see?" Her voice was filled with concern and everyone could see that the mages were acquainted from before and most probably were a couple.

"Elena, we are doomed. We are really doomed." Will spoke while crying like a madman.

Elena and even Gary got scared this time and Elena asked him again to describe what he saw.

Will said with much difficulty "The, the dungeon is a Labyrinth. We are inside a Maze and the three entrances that we see before us are only the starting point. My eye could not go much further but the monstrous aura that I could feel inside was at least spread in seven different places."

"What, it's actually Seven? We are doomed, we are really doomed"

All of the B-Rank and C-Rank members instantly shouted out in fright while some of the lower ranks also cried out.

When Wayne saw them reacting so wildly he could not control but to ask Emily in a soft voice "Hey Emily, why are all of you reacting to the word seven in such madness?"