Inside An Active Gate...

Vincel glanced at the ladies Zay'in had left him with and he couldn't help but think back to the last time he was in a group and how that had not particularly ended well.

"Vincel," he told the purple-eyed lady.

She nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Vincel. My name is Delphyne" she said and then gestured to the other two with her.

"That's Alessia," she said.

Alessia was a brunette with brown hair braided down her back. She was dressed simply in a short skirt and a piece of clothing over her large breasts.

She gestured in greeting to Vincel with her head while her arms were folded beneath her breasts which jiggled at her every movement.

Her eyes were a warm shade of brown and there was every hint of adventure in them. In fact, with the way they were staring at him, Vincel would describe the eyes as well as Alessia's entire look to be aggressive.

If Delphyne looked graceful, Alessia looked powerful.

Vincel could see the wide blades of an Axe strapped to her back and that told him, even more than her impressive physique, that she was not to be messed with.

Her physique was lean and sculpted. Healthy with her skin having a mellow glow. Her abdomen which was out for all to see, was lined with a visible six-pac. A further show of her physique.

Alessia was beautiful. Maybe not as beautiful as Delphyne but oozing more sex appeal. Of course, the look on her face discouraged any naughty thoughts.

"Hello," Alessia said in greeting.

Her voice was just as Vincel expected. Sonorous and feminine but powerful.

Delphyne pointed to the third lady in the group.

She was leaning against a wall and had her hands together as though in prayer. In fact, Vincel could see her lips moving silently.

"That's Yvette"

Yvette opened her eyes the moment her name was called. She had a wide smile and used her prayer hands as deference in greeting.

"Welcome to the group."

Yvette was wearing a blue form-fitting robe with slits at the sides that showed off her milky thighs.

She had brownish-red hair she had styled backward so no lock of hair would fall and block her vision.

In terms of aura, she seemed in the middle of what could be felt from Delphyne and Alessia.

She had a nice figure she was not afraid to show off with her form-fitting robe and did not appear aggressive at all. Her black eyes were just warm and inviting.

Delphyne's voice pulled Vincel's attention back to her.

"So, now that introductions are done, let's get into the Gate. Other Adventuring Parties are already in," she said.

"Alright!" Vincel said enthusiastically.

"Remember, you're to stay back and provide support whenever we need it," Delphyne said.

Vincel instantly looked confused.

"Hold on, stay back? Why?"

Both Delphyne and Alessia looked confused at his question.

"You're a Mage," Alessia said like that explained everything.

"Mages keep their distance" Yvette added.

"None of us specialize in ranged attacks. We always pay either an Archer or a Mage to come in with us to provide support from a distance." Delphyne said.

"One time, we got an Archer Mage," Yvette said with a smile. "He was not that good and lost an arm."

"We had been finding it hard to get an archer or Mage to come along. Most are already in Parties of their own.

We would have gone in, only the three of us..." Delphyne said.

"We can handle it!" Alessia said with a scoff.

Delphyne pushed on.

"... But Miss Zay'in reached out to us with apparently just the right Mage to come with us.

We would ask you for a quick demonstration of your skills but we don't have much time. Hopefully, you're as good as she said"

"You better be. Or you'll be likely to lose an arm" Alessia said and then a scary grin split her face as she added,

"Or worse"

Vincel looked from one of the ladies to the other.

'So Zay'in lied to them then. Two spells as basic as 'Bind' and 'Repel' cannot be enough to qualify me as a Mage.

Anyway, there's no way I'm staying back. I have Arcane shards to get'

The ladies continued walking and led the way into the Gate and with a determination not to miss out on the beast-killing fun, Vincel followed them.

Walking through the portal felt much more chaotic compared to running out of the Forest Gate portal. Although to be fair, Vincel had been more focused on his injuries to really pay enough attention to the feeling of the portal.

On the other side of the portal, it was dark. Vincel couldn't see a thing and neither could the three ladies.

But he could smell an earthiness in the environment and could feel the fact that there was dirt all around them.

Vincel heard Alessia's voice call to him first.

"Hey, Vincel, are you a Light or fire mage?"

"Hmm? No. I'm neither"

"Disappointing"

Almost as soon as Alessia's disappointment sounded, light sparked on from a rune lamp now attached to the waistline of her short skirt.

'She has to be hiding a storage pouch somewhere in that Skirt' Vincel thought as the light of the Rune lamp showed them what was in front.

They were inside a cave and multiple openings led deeper into it.

"A Labyrinth Gate," Alessia said with excitement and Vincel could have sworn he saw the blades of her axe quiver.

"Which path should we take?" Delphyne asked.

At first, she seemed to just be thinking out loud but Yvette stepped forward with her eyes closed and her palms pressed together yet again, as though in prayer.

She pointed to the path farthest from them,

"We should take that one. Every other one reeks of other Adventurers. Unless we want early conflict over who should have the largest shares of spoils, we should stay away from them, right?"

Alessia scoffed.

"Really, Yvette? Already running from fights? Right from the start?"

"Every other path is filled with Adventurers?" Delphyne asked.

Yvette nodded.

"And they're close"

Delphyne sighed.

"Alright then, we'll take the one free of them," she said and stepped forward to lead the group toward it.

Yvette bounded after her with a smile while Alessia groaned in annoyance.

"Oh cheer up," Yvette told Alessia, "It's a Labyrinth. The paths cross into one another. We'll meet Adventurers soon enough"

"Doesn't really feel the same after we've tried to avoid them." Alessia huffed.

Vince just quietly listened to them bicker as he followed them through the path they chose.

They walked about two meters into their chosen path when they heard the sounds.

*Clack* *Clack* *Clack* *Clack*

The sounds first came from straight ahead and suddenly, they were coming out of the walls on each side. Not only getting louder but also getting closer.

Delphyne put a hand on her sword handle, ready to unsheathe it.

Alessia took her battle axe off her back as she took on a battle stance.

Yvette planted her feet solidly but she had no weapon in hand. Well except for a Rope that was now wound tight around her left arm.

"Step back," Delphyne told Vincel, "Here, they come!"

Almost as soon as she spoke, and before Vincel could even think to ask what 'they' were, the *clack* sounds got close enough for their makers to be illuminated by Alessia's lamp.

"Ants" Vincel mumbled and he instinctively took a step back.

The creatures making the clacking sounds indeed looked like ants but were the size of a baby hippo. They looked almost as heavy as well.

They had pincers that appeared to be made of solid steel. The pincers hitting into each other was what was producing the *clack* sounds.

"Remember, Vincel! Support from behind!" Delphyne yelled as she unsheathed her sword.

It had runes etched into its blade and the runes glowed and gave the blade an even sharper edge which Delphyne immediately used to decapitate one of the ants.

Another scuttled towards her almost immediately with its pincers ready to pierce but she parried it away and stabbed downward into its head.

Vincel reached into his Satchel and drew out his dagger right as he heard clack sounds coming from his sides.

Ants started to emerge out of the labyrinth wall and the first one out practically leaped at Vincel the way it emerged.

Vincel sidestepped and avoided the pincers before stabbing his dagger into the Ant's head to instantly end its life.

[One Arcane Shard recovered]