Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

Sena, the guildmaster of the Swordsmanship Guild, and Evelyn, the leader of the Silver Cross Knights.

I thought they were close enough after forming a party together after I discovered Sena’s true identity, but the atmosphere seemed to suggest otherwise.

“Why didn’t you show off your handsome disciple and bring him to the guild? You could have at least bragged a little.”

“Hmph. You’ve been showing off your disciple to me for a while now.”

Evelyn chuckled as she watched Sena’s playful smile.

“Yes, he’s tall and handsome, and he’s talented. I was going to wait until Ahren grew up a bit more and then show him off to you.”

“Oh, I see. My sister, the idiot, was being too hard on me, so I was just playing a little prank to give her a little breathing space. Do you think I really meant it?”

“You, I told you to call me by my name!”

Now I understand. They’re not just ordinary friends. I thought they might get into a fight, but it seems like I was worrying for nothing.

The relaxed atmosphere allowed me to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Phew, that playful personality of yours is hard to deal with.”

“Don’t mention it! By the way, your name is Ahren, right?”

Evelyn shook her head.

Sena walked over to her, put her arm around her shoulder, and looked at me with a mischievous smile.

“It’s a shame. I was hoping to convince him to become my second disciple, but we should focus on treatment first. We can talk about it later.”

Clink.

“Excuse me for a moment!”

“Huh?”

A soldier in full armor approached us.

The first thing I noticed about him was his youthful appearance, barely in his twenties, and his confidence.

I guess it makes sense that he’s already working in a public service job in a city full of low-level adventurers like the Dungeon City.

“Yes, that’s me. Is it possible for me to give a statement now? The other adventurers said it would be best for me to do it.”

“…”

Why me when there are stronger adventurers like Berthold and Gregory who are still able to move?

“The others are in bad shape, so we have to follow the procedure. We just need a couple of hours of your time, and we’ll provide you with potions. You can just sit and talk comfortably.”

I need to go and get treatment and meet Lumia right away, and they want me to give a statement for a couple of hours?

The procedure sounds complicated, and who knows if it will take more than half a day.

“All I know is that a disciple of the evil god possessed one of the members and interrupted the performance, and the name of the god associated with him is Tehelrum.”

I told them I didn’t have time to give a statement, but the soldier grabbed me.

“Come on, just come with me. It’ll only take a moment! We’ll provide you with potions, and you can just sit and talk comfortably.”

Why is this guy giving me such a hard time? Is he desperate for a promotion?

I wasn’t even wearing a helmet because I was just going around for healing purposes.

My armor was so badly burned that I might as well take it off, and my hair was also burned at the ends.

Fortunately, the Water Blessing had healed my internal injuries, but my external appearance was a mess. I wondered if they couldn’t see how bad I looked.

“You’re being pretty bold. Who are you?”

“Hmm. I’m curious who your boss is.”

Sena on the left, and Evelyn on the right.

Before I could show any signs of annoyance, a chilling aura erupted from both sides, suppressing the soldier.

“Huh?”

The soldier fell back with a loud thud.

“Hey, what the hell are you doing?!”

A man who seemed to be his superior rushed over, sensing the tense atmosphere.

He immediately understood the situation and bowed.

“I’m so sorry! This young man just started working here recently! I’ll discipline him, so please forgive him just this once!!!”

It’s sad that he has to deal with such a subordinate.

“We’ll do the investigation after the treatment, and we’ll go through the proper procedures if necessary.”

Sling.

“Do you understand? If you try to detain my disciple like this again, I won’t hesitate to cut off your head. You’ve been warned.”

“Yes, yes! It won’t happen again!”

I was surprised by Evelyn’s intimidating attitude, which was so different from how she usually treated the knights and Yeriel.

“Wow, the education level of the soldiers in this city is a mess these days.”

Evelyn placed her hand on her sword and warned the soldier, and Sena shrugged.

“The guards are like eels, slipping into places unnoticed, and a low-level soldier is causing a ruckus in front of high-level adventurers without any justification. Tsk tsk.”

“I have nothing to say. Follow me!”

The soldier, who had lost all confidence and was about to wet himself, was dragged away by the man.

He’s going to get a good beating. It serves him right.

As I watched them leave, Evelyn pointed to Shurika.

“I’ve been wondering about the woman leaning on you since earlier. Who is she?”

“She was possessed by the evil god and fought me, but she came back to her senses after the battle. However, she said she couldn’t move her legs.”

“Hmm… I don’t sense anything unusual, so I’ll let it go for now. I’ll carry her while we’re on our way. Hand her over to me.”

Squeeze.

“…”

Shurika, who had been silent until now, tried to hold on, but I had no choice but to hand her over. My master’s expression was serious.

“Okay, let’s go! Your colleague is probably waiting outside. We don’t need to stay here any longer.”

“Yes, let’s go. I’m sick of this place.”

I nodded weakly, and Sena gathered the adventurers.

“The Warp Gate isn’t far from here, so let’s just walk! Don’t lag behind, and make sure to take care of anyone who has trouble moving.”

We reached the exit gate without any issues, thanks to Sena’s leadership, and we were able to pass by the soldiers and go outside.

“Finally, we’re outside!”

“Haa… I’ll probably sleep all day when I get to the inn.”

Looking up at the dark pre-dawn sky, I realized that so much had happened in just a few hours.

“Ahren!”

“Dad!”

“Riena!”

As everyone emerged safely from the Colosseum, their loved ones, including Lumia, the families of the middle-aged instructor, the female thief’s lover, the archer’s mother, and the magician’s friend, called out to them.

Lumia jumped and wrapped her arms and legs around me.

I patted her trembling back as she rubbed her face on my chest without saying a word.

“I’m sorry for worrying you. It’s all over now.”

“…”

After releasing the hold on my body, she looked me up and down with a serious expression. Probably because my armor was a bit charred.

“It’s fine. I was going to get a new armor anyway, so I can just throw this one away. I’m not injured, so I just need to get the burns and peeled skin treated.”

“Really? Are you sure you’re not seriously injured anywhere?”

“Of course! I’m perfectly fine.”

As I watched Lumia jump and hang onto me with all four limbs, I couldn’t help but think back to our first meeting. At the time, I was just surprised and didn’t expect us to become so close. It’s true that you never know what life has in store for you.

“Come on, let’s go. We should get back to our normal selves as soon as possible, right?”

At Sena’s words, the other adventurers also calmed down and started moving again.

________________________________________

“Wow, this is my first time using a Warp Gate after spending four years in the dungeon. It feels so different from the dungeon portals.”

“Yes, it’s quite different from the dungeon portals.”

The Warp Gate was a massive magic circle created by high-level spells, carefully guarded by guards and officials in blue uniforms.

I wondered how Irmela managed to infiltrate this heavily guarded area without anyone noticing and disrupt the magic circle.

The Warp Gate was a privilege reserved for the upper class and high-level adventurers, mainly because of the high cost per person. I didn’t know the exact amount, but the woman thief’s jaw dropped when she overheard the conversation with the official, which said it all.

Perhaps because of this, after sending Lumia and the others back to their residences, only the adventurers who needed treatment were allowed to use the Warp Gate, courtesy of Sena.

We arrived at the Gate of the 3rd District with a strange floating sensation.

“Ahren, should we go to the Knights’ Guild?”

“Um, can I just come with you and get treated there too?”

I rubbed the back of my neck and continued slowly.

“It would be more convenient to go straight to the Knights’ Guild, but I think it’s better to say goodbye to everyone after we’re all healed since we fought together and risked our lives.”

Evelyn put her index finger on her lips as if thinking, then smiled and nodded.

“If that’s what you want, I won’t stop you. If my disciple wants to do this, I won’t force him otherwise.”

As we headed to the treatment center, Sena came over and put her arm around my shoulder, grinning.

“If you get treated elsewhere, you won’t have to go to the Knights’ Guild, right? Why don’t you just come to our guild this time?”

“What are you up to now? We’re just trying to have some quiet time together as master and disciple.”

“Is it really just a master-disciple relationship?”

“What are you talking about!”

Sena shook her head as if to say she was done joking, then whispered in a magical voice.

“Before that, Ahren and I have something to discuss alone.”

Ugh. She must have noticed that my Chaos Eye was blocked by the same trait that she possessed, the Martial God Eye.

It made sense that she would notice it since I was a low-level adventurer with an unknown name, a disciple of Evelyn, a high-level adventurer, and my trait was of the same level as hers, which canceled it out.

As an apostle, she must have been certain that I was also an apostle like her.

“Okay, I’ll come with you, so there shouldn’t be any problems. Let’s do that.”

After that, the conversation ended without any further disturbances until we arrived at the treatment center.

.

.

.

The treatment center was similar to a hospital, and after each adventurer was diagnosed, they received treatment from a priest.

“May the warmth embrace your weary body and heal it.”

[Advanced Blessing of Healing]

[The wounded area is significantly healed, and life force regeneration is greatly increased for a short time.]

Hmm. This refreshing feeling was like shedding all the weights on my body.

“Your treatment is complete. There’s no need for hospitalization, but please avoid any strenuous activities for at least a day.”

“Thank you. I feel like I could fly now.”

“You’re welcome. Well, goodbye.”

I turned around and looked at the other adventurers, who had all been treated and were now in good health.

“Ugh.”

To be precise, all except one.

“This is quite serious. Even as a high-level priest, I don’t think I can cure this in a short time.”

“Does that mean I need to be hospitalized for a long time? Can you guarantee that I will fully recover, even if it takes some time?”

“Well, to put it simply, your magic circuits, the paths through which your magic flows, are all cracked and not functioning properly.”

Even from a distance, it sounded serious, and Shurika’s expression crumbled.

“There’s a strong residual aura of unpleasant energy, so it seems like you were affected by a powerful curse or something related to an evil god. I can’t say for sure, but it looks like you’ll need at least two to three months of intensive treatment.”

“Oh…”

“In cases like this, many people can’t afford to pay a large sum of money at once, so we can put it on your adventurer’s guild account as a debt, and you can pay it back later. Let’s start with the procedure.”

“How much will it cost exactly?”

The gentle-faced priest awkwardly moved his hand.

“The exact amount will be determined when you register, but it will be around this much.”

“Ugh. Well, it’s a bit of a blow, but I can handle it. I’ll also pay the treatment costs for the others with my account.”

“I understand. I’ll keep that in mind.”

The priest left, and Shurika, lying on the bed, sighed and wiped her face.

The other adventurers, who had been completely healed, said goodbye to her with various words of encouragement, such as “Take care,” “I won’t thank you, it’s your fault I got hurt,” and “I’ll visit you later.”

After that, instead of leaving, they all came over to us.

Some of them bowed to me to express their gratitude, while others tried to impress the high-level adventurers with unnecessary efforts, irritating them.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Ahren. And you?”

“I’m a barbarian named Berthold from the Vesta tribe. Ahren, I’ll remember that name. I’m sorry for what happened earlier.”

“Why are you apologizing? Your method was a bit aggressive, but you were saying the right things from the beginning to the end.”

“Haha! If you think that way, I’m grateful. See you around!”

Berthold, the barbarian, left with a promise to greet each other warmly next time, rather than blushing.

“Thanks to you, we were able to prevent a massive loss of life. I want to express my gratitude for your courage and determination.”

“No, I should be thanking you. Thank you for standing at the forefront and blocking the attacks, persuading Berthold at a critical moment, and helping to save Shurika.”

“Well, if you ever need help, come to the Second Holy Knights’ Guild and ask for Gregory. I’m just an ordinary holy knight, but I’ll help you as long as it’s not something evil. Goodbye.”

Even Gregory, the holy knight, was a man of great character until the end.

After sending them all off, I finally approached Shurika.

She was lying on the bed looking gloomy, but when she saw me, she sat up and smiled.

“Thank you. I have so much to say, but…”

Again, her tears started flowing.

Was it because she was dominated by the evil god and went from being a promising adventurer to a cripple who couldn’t even walk, let alone use magic?

Or was it because she was grateful to me for saving her while her body was burning? Or maybe it was a mix of both.

Only she knew the reason.

“I’ll leave for now, but I’ll visit you again when I have time. I’ll also pass on your regards to the circus troupe you’re part of, so you’ll be able to see them soon.”

“Can you call me by my name?”

That’s fine.

“Shurika, we’re leaving too. Take care and recover quickly. Don’t get discouraged because your legs aren’t working. Goodbye.”

“Please, you have to come back and visit me again! I insist!!!”

What a surprise. I thought my eardrums were going to burst.

Unconsciously, I rubbed my ears and nodded.

“Are we done here? Let’s go to the 4th District quickly. I don’t want to leave these guys alone, or they’ll be sulking.”

With Sena’s playful laughter, we headed to the Swordsmanship Guild.