The Labyrinth City (II)

Chapter 5: The Labyrinth City (II)

When he reached the edge of the roof of one of the buildings that were across the road from the Guild's headquarters, Izuku cheered silently to himself as he found the surroundings mostly deserted.

[Observed Status

Name: Pantheon

Durability: 100/100

Description: The headquarters location of the Guild in Orario. This late at night, the building should be mostly empty of Adventurers with only a few late-shift advisors waiting on standby to accommodate the rare few Adventurers that occasionally return from a nocturnal dungeon dive. Pantheon is also home to several Gods and Goddesses that serve to maintain the Guild and the infrastructure of the city of Orario as a whole.]

'Welp… It won't be getting any better than this, so…' Izuku jumped down to the ground and slowly approached the building.

…

When the door of the guild opened, I looked to see which of the usual suspects had come to save one of us from the boredom of having to account for all the paperwork prepared by the day-shift advisors. In the second between looking up from the work I'd been doing to gazing at the form of my potential savior, I saw that most of the advisors that were stationed closer to the Guild Entrance had the same idea.

I would have thought nothing of it, if not for the fact that Enna, the closest advisor to the Entrance that worked the night shift, immediately let out a whimper before she moved to cover her own mouth. She'd taken my attention from seeing who was entering the Guild for only as long as it took me to register the fact that the very same person seemed to be the cause of Enna's distress.

With my hands reaching for my sword as quickly as I internalized the fact that there might be an active threat present in the Guild. I shot up to my feet and was frozen in shock before I could even complete the unsheathing process.

Cold

It felt like my heart had stopped completely. I started sweating uncontrollably at just the sight of whatever monster had just walked into the Guild.

Evil

It looked human enough to my eyes, but it was definitely not. Not with the murderous aura that seemed to waft tangible traces of malice and corruption of from all over its body.

Death

Like most of the others in the room, I couldn't stop myself from gasping. I could barely keep myself from trembling as I fought to gather every ounce of courage I'd cultivated from my Adventuring career before I retired as a Level 4 Adventurer.

I'd gone through my share of life and death battles to Level Up three times throughout my life, but nothing could prepare me for this moment, where I was almost guaranteed to be staring at certain death. Never had my outlook on life taken this bleak of a turn.

No! I must at least do something! Anything!

I cut my hand deep enough that the pain overrode the fear I felt for the monster that had just stood and stared at us from the entrance. I gained enough control of myself to reach for the emergency summons button and pressed it so hard that my entire desk was left in shambles.

Now, I knew that even if I was going to be dying in the next couple of seconds. At least I'd managed to warn the Ouranos of the calamity that had somehow broken free from his grasp.

Hopefully, my actions would go a long way in stopping even a fraction of the death and destruction that followed the monster's wake.

…

"This is the Guild, right?" Izuku awkwardly asked after a full minute of just standing by the Guild Entrance.

He'd thought the people inside would get over their view of him if he just kept his distance to show that he hadn't come for a fight. But now that some of the people inside were literally fainting, he just had to say something.

He'd dismissed the long-eared man that destroyed the desk he'd been working in after checking his Status and confirming him to be the highest Leveled individual of the working advisors. At only Level 44, the man wouldn't be able to touch Izuku unless he had his own equivalent of Izuku's Draconification or Demon Dragon Transformation.

"W-what do you want?!" A woman suddenly screamed at Izuku. She was shaking uncontrollably as she tried and failed to hold a dagger in his direction.

"Right now, I just want to talk and… gather information," Izuku admitted.

"C-could you… Are you… If you are a Death God, s-sir… Could you please recall your Divinity?" A Dwarven man, this time, asked. He then went on to stare off into the space next to Izuku and mumbled, "H-he has to be a God, right? I've never heard of a humanoid monster that could hold a conversation, so he has to be. He has to!"

"Yeah, I can't do that. I'm also not a Death God," Izuku said and for the first time, he regretted the fact that his journey through Hell hadn't changed his impulse to be candid and sincere. It might have proven useful right about now if he had the power to lie to others to their face.

"Anyway… I've heard that this Guild is in charge of everything from regulating access to the Dungeon to the taxation of Familias. I'll eventually need to head into the Dungeon myself, so I'd like to know what the process is to register as an Adventurer," Izuku said.

"Hoh?" An old man hummed as he approached from further within the building. His lack of reaction to Izuku's Exposed Nature suggested he was below Level 9, so Izuku refrained from checking the old man's Status. "Young man, the Dungeon is free for all to enter all the way down to the Lower Floors."

"What if the things I'm looking for are deeper into the Dungeon?" Izuku asked.

"Technically you'd only need to be registered as an Adventurer of a Familia to delve deeper so that we can account for the status of all the city's High-Level Adventurers in case of an emergency."

"And what would I need to do to join a God or Goddess' Familia? That's actually in line with one of my goals," Izuku said. "I'm not from Orario, so I can only imagine each God will have a challenge or trial that I'll need to overcome to become one of their chosen."

"Hmm," The old man smiled knowingly, "You really aren't from here are you, Half-Demon?"

'What?! He knew? But—'

[Observed Status

Title: Guild Leader, Primordial God of the Sky

Level: ?

Name: Ouranos

Stats

Health: ?

Stamina: ?

?: ?%

Strength: 10 (?)

Constitution: 10 (?)

Dexterity: 10 (?)

Agility: 10 (?)

Intelligence: 10 (?)

Wisdom: 10 (?)

Will: 10 (?)

Charisma: 10 (?)]

"T-that's right," Izuku stuttered before he collected himself.

"How interesting," Ouranos commented, "I never imagined the day might come when I'd find the spawn of a Human and Demon. I don't know how members of those two races could have even tried to even make an attempt at conception, seeing no Demons have ever been detected crossing over to the Mortal Realm. But, I won't fault you for your existence. A Half-Demon you may be, no mortal can lie to a God and I can see that you've been completely honest in your intentions."

"That being said… Your inability to reign in your demonic heritage is going to be a big problem if you want to remain in Orario. Your mere presence is like a beacon of death to all that can perceive it, so I will have to impose a ban on you being able to go anywhere in public until you can control it. Even if I didn't, no God could afford to accommodate you in their Familia with you perpetually overwhelming everyone around you," Ouranos said.

"Do you… know of a way to, uh, deal with my problem?" Izuku was very much uncomfortable with the idea of just casually talking to a literal God who could probably wink him out of existence on a whim.

"I might know of a way or two," Ouranos chuckled, "But I won't share with you my methods for free. An exchange with me must be a transaction. The question is: Are you prepared to pay the price for my help?"

"...That would depend on what the price is," Izuku said. "So long as it's within my power or potential to accomplish, and… You're not asking me to enslave myself to you or do something along the lines of selling my soul… I'd be willing to consider paying just about anything."

"Very well, then," Ouranos said, "Follow me."

…

After following Ouranos into the Room of Sealing, where he spent most of his time casting his Arcanum to prevent a Dungeon Outbreak, Izuku and the Sky God sat down to discuss the details of their exchange away from the people who might suffer panic attacks from prolonged exposure to gazing upon Izuku's form.

"Now, I know you are a powerful man, but I must admit that without the brand of a Falna, I can't tell exactly how strong you are. If you would, please tell me the extent of your strength," Ouranos said.

"...I can't say for sure. So far, the strongest person I've come across was one of the advisors back at the Guild Lobby, and to be honest, I don't think I'd be threatened even if you put me up against an army of people with his strength," Izuku said.

"How curious," Ouranos said. "You aren't lying and yet I struggle to see how you could have grown to achieve such power outside of the tempering environment of the Dungeon."

"Would you believe me if I said I went to Hell and back to get this powerful?" Izuku shook his head in mild exasperation.

With his eyes widening, and a look of mild surprise, Ouranos said, "I would. You literally can't lie to me, and I can't sense even a trace of misdirection from that statement."

"Yeah… I hope that's powerful enough to deal with whatever you want in exchange for those methods to suppress my demonic presence. That's why you're asking about my strength, right? You need me to fight or kill something?"

"Not quite," Ouranos said as he stood up and began walking over to one of the dozens of bookshelves that filled the edges of the room.

Izuku waited quietly as he watched the Sky God pick out two books before returning to his seat. Ouranos then continued saying, "All I want from you is to make your way down to the 37th Floor of the Dungeon and seek out this object." The page he showed Izuku from one of the books he had opened up showed what looked like a perfectly spherical black ball.

"If you can manage to bring me back a piece of this Orb of Origin, before one of the other Gods' Familias destroy it after the Guild issues a search and destroy mission tomorrow morning, I will give you this—" He held up a different book for Izuku to see, "—Grimoire to solve your problem."

"...And if the task I've assigned you proves to be a bit too simple for you, I'll add in this Universal Grimoire… Provided you make your way to the 55th Floor and, find and retrieve a sample of the another Orb of Origin that's been gathering power since the downfall of the Zeus and Hera Familias."

[New Quest Detected!

Side Quest(s)

Ouranos' Exchange: The great Primordial God of the Sky has come to you with a most tantalizing opportunity. He desires a sample of the Orb of Origin detected on the 37th Floor of the Dungeon. He offers you a "Grimoire of Presence Suppression" if you manage to complete the task for him. You can also test your mettle by diving deeper to the 55th Floor to receive a "Universal Grimoire" as well. You should hurry though, as the time is ticking before a group of Adventurers are bound to take up the Guild's bounty for the destruction of the Orbs of Origin!

Progress 1: 0/1 Sample of the "Orb of Origin (37th Floor)

Progress 2: 0/1 Sample of the "Orb of Origin (55th Floor)]

"I… can do that. Probably… I can't say for sure until I see for myself how strong the monsters are as I make my way through the Dungeon." Izuku said.

"Good," Ouranos said as opened up the third book and started withdrawing an array of supplies from within it. After a moment, Izuku felt silly for being shocked by the display when he was in possession of the Inventory System; the concept of a Hammerspace pocket dimension was not foreign to him.

"Here, take this backpack and store the samples you manage to collect within these boxes. They'll be able to keep the samples in temporal stasis until the end of time if need be," Ouranos said. "The Guild will pay you back in full for any monster cores you bring back with you if you find yourself inclined to make a bit of money on the side. Be warned, the Space-Folding Enchantments that were placed on this backpack won't do much in the way of weight reduction, though."

"Uh… Ok? Thanks." Izuku said as tested the backpack.

When he unzipped the main compartment of the backpack it revealed a void of darkness that constantly swirled. After dropping the boxes into the void of the backpack, they vanished from sight. But, after he dared to stick his hand within to pull them back out, he managed to grab them not by moving his hands within the backpack but by willing the desired box to appear within his grasp.

"You may leave now. Although… Try to avoid people on your way in and out of the Dungeon. If an Adventurer attacks you out of fear, try not to kill them if you can. And, of course… If you find that over a month has passed and you've failed to complete my task, you can assume that a group of Adventurers have found the Orb of Origin on the 37th Floor and destroyed it. Come back and I'll re-evaluate what other tasks might be worth offering you a Defined Grimoire."

Izuku nodded before slipping the backpack on and making use of his extreme speed to navigate out of the Guild at speeds that he hoped would blur his features, and Exposed Nature by proxy, to anyone unfortunate enough to look his way.

He made his way from the Guild to the massive Tower of Babel that stood tens of times taller than any other building in Orario and slipped through the stairs that led to the Dungeon underneath. By the time anyone reacted to his presence the only trace of his existence that could be found was the swift gale that trailed seconds behind him.

…

After Izuku entered the Dungeon, he proceeded whilst exerting the utmost caution until he ran into a monster on the First Floor for the first time.

It was a lone, Level 1 Goblin.

The moment it took notice of Izuku it began its suicidal charge and Izuku even let it hit him. He literally couldn't even feel the attack.

Izuku flicked the Goblin's forehead as hard as he could and its head shot off from the rest of its pitiful body. Seconds later, the Goblins' corpse turned to ash that was absorbed back by the Dungeon's wall and floors, and a fingernail-length crystal was left behind.

[Update

Skills

Observe (Level 16 → 17)]

[Observed Status

Name: Monster Core (Grade I)

Durability: 100/100

Description: One of the worst quality Monster Cores imaginable. It can barely even be used to bring a gallon of water up to a boil. It can be used as a catalyst for alchemy or to supplement the cost of certain Abilities. This Monster Core could at best be traded in for 50 Vali.]

Unsure and uncaring of how many more Monster Cores he found on his journey to the 37th Floor, Izuku chucked the Monster Core into his backpack. He then went on to look for the stairs that led further into the dungeon whilst collecting the Monster Cores of all the pitifully weak monsters in his way.

When he reached the Second Floor, the only difference he could tell was that he began to encounter monsters every couple of minutes instead of once in a while. On the Third Floor, he finally started encountering groups, and after the Fourth Floor, the groups started getting large enough for him to move around a bit instead of just steamrolling his way through everything.

On the Fifth Floor, Izuku found a new type of monster called a War Shadow, but despite their intimidating appearance and significantly stronger Stats when compared to Goblins and Kobolds, their combat prowess was still utterly insignificant to Izuku. The Killer Ants he started encountering on the Seven Floor and onward were disappointingly pathetic in the same vain.

On the Eight Floor, the Dungeon corridors started expanding to accommodate the groups of seven to ten monsters that Izuku ran into on a minute-to-minute basis. It was only at this point that he could compare the monsters' strength to what he'd been facing during his time clearing out the UAC research facility of Possessed Demons.

…The very same Possessed Demons that by now would first drown or suffocate Izuku under the mountain of them that he would kill before they managed to so much as bruise him.

It only took a few hours but eventually, Izuku reached the Fifteenth Floor and found a Minotaur. Its appearance initially gave him hope of finding a monster that wouldn't outright die to one of his punches. Unfortunately, Izuku found just seconds later, that he himself had grown so monstrously strong that he could outright punch an eight-foot tall mountain of muscle to death with one hit; and that was just with his base Strength…

Upon reaching the 17th Floor, however, Izuku encountered a seven-meter-tall behemoth of a monster called the Goliath. Fortunately for his sanity's sake, it took more than a few punches from him to kill the thing. He wasn't sure what he would do if he found out that his still-very-much-human body could one-shot giants.

He didn't know how he felt about the fact that the Level 32 Monster hadn't been strong enough to force him into using his Draconification or Argent Energy-based Abilities. Sure, the Goliath was a strong and tough seven-meter-tall monster, but it had zero Agility and Dexterity. That got Izuku thinking that there was something weird going on with the power scaling of his Gamer System between the various worlds.

'It honestly makes no sense sometimes,' Izuku sighed as he blurred through the Safe Eighteenth Floor, which was free of monsters, and avoided any of the Adventurers that might have been resting or living there.

The Floor had a settlement from the residents of Orario that served to allow large parties of Adventurers to rest in between the large stretches of Floors that could spawn monsters from literally anywhere. Without them — the Safe Floors — the Adventurers of this world would never stand a chance of making any further progress into the Dungeon.

He'd decided to resolve the matter of the power scaling discrepancies between the Doom World and the Dungeon World he was currently in for after he was done with his first Side Quest. For now, he was still far from feeling any signs of exhaustion, both physical as detailed by his Status, or mental.

So, he continued to fight his way deeper into the Dungeon.