BXBX NOVEL Chapter 50: Talking to the labyrinth
The salamander that shot the fireball receded quickly into the darkness after attacking.
This was the sixth floor of the labyrinth, and unlike other floors, this one had very little lighting.
Silva could still see, but his enemies thought otherwise. He was facing a pack of level seventy flame salamanders, and they were using hit-and-run techniques to fight.
Silva took the time to find out if there were any really strong ones amongst them, but it turned out that there weren\'t; all were right around the same level.
Since that was the case, he wanted to take them all out in one swoop.
He decided to make the best use of the enemies, and that was to grow stronger. Meeting his father, the Duke, and also that cloaked man had shown him that there was so much he was yet to know in this world.
"Gates of Hell." He activated the spell that consumed all souls. He took his sword and slashed his hand, pouring out blood that turned to gas and then disappeared.
The gate appeared and started sucking in all the salamander souls. They struggled, but against Silva\'s spell, it was futile.
[You have killed a flame salamander 300EXP 150SP]x10
[You have killed a flame salamander 300EXP 150SP]x10
...
He gathered a ton of EXP from killing them, but it still wasn\'t enough for him to get to level 42, so he decided to use "Consume" on the souls inside the Gates of Hell.
"Consume."
[You have gained 100 EXP]x10
[You have gained 100 EXP]x10
...
[Level up, 2 free stat points]
He finally leveled up, but that was not the main thing; it was the next notification.
[Consume has evolved to Gluttony]
[Gluttony: Consume the strength and abilities from the opponents. When Gluttony is activated, the urge to consume will get stronger and stronger over time]x10.
This skill was a double-edged sword for Silva. When he consumed a skill, he would get ten times the power of the skill when it was with the owner, but also, the urge he would feel to consume would be ten times stronger than it would normally be.
Still, it was clearly a powerful skill, one that would raise his power faster than before.
There was no better place to try out a skill called Gluttony except for the labyrinth, so Silva activated the skill and headed deeper with Fang.
"The upper floors are too weak," Silva said.
"No, Master, you are just too strong," Gnat responded.
"Fang, I noticed that your base strength is far too high for the place where I found you. What was that?" Silva asked.
"Hmm, the labyrinth spoke to me on a normal day. I think I was in a deep floor, and then I heard the voice.
It promised me my freedom as long as I went to a particular floor and waited for some days. I did as I was told and went there to wait, and after some days of waiting, you finally came by," Fang explained.
"Then you mean this labyrinth is alive? Not only that, but it can also see the future?" Silva asked.
"I don\'t know for sure, but that was what happened," Fang said.
As they headed deeper, they didn\'t come across any beasts, but then, all of a sudden, the ground began to shake.
The floor burst open, and seven dragon heads made of black-looking metal came out. Their presence was terrifying, and as they roared at the same time, the labyrinth shook.
They came out of the ground fully. Their massive body was like that of a dragon, but without any wings. All heads locked on Silva and Fang as soon as they appeared.
"Is that a hydra?" Silva wondered aloud. It wasn\'t a real hydra, though, and was some sort of mechanical hydra or metal golem.
The hydra opened all its mouths and immediately fired seven streaks of purple flame that all merged at the center to create a more massive blast.
Fang jumped in front of Silva, opened his mouth, and fired a powerful stream of lightning that collided with the hydra\'s blast and canceled it out.
Silva took the time to look at the stats of the hydra, and he discovered that the hydra had no levels, but it had an average stat of over one thousand.
"Something that strong shouldn\'t be on this floor," Silva said.
As he said that, he heard a cheeky giggle coming from all around the labyrinth. It seemed it was the labyrinth itself that made that laugh.
"Fang, is that the voice that spoke to you?" Silva asked.
"Yes indeed, Master. That was the voice," Fang said as he got ready to take another attack from the hydra.
\'Then the labyrinth must be watching us for some reason,\' Silva thought.
He looked around and then yelled.
"What do you want from us?" he asked.
"Kill the hydra, and you will find out," the little voice said again.
Silva was curious and wanted to know, so he decided that they would kill the hydra quickly.
"Fang, take him out," Silva ordered.
"With pleasure, my Lord," Fang said, and his body vanished, appearing behind the hydra. His claws crackled with lightning as he slashed into the base of the necks.
He decapitated all seven heads at once. The body of the hydra fell to the ground and then vanished, leaving a small crystal behind.
Silva walked to the crystal and picked it up.
[Teleportation crystal acquired. Destination has already been set. Do you wish to use the crystal?]
"Fang, come closer to me," Silva said, and Fang came close.
"Use the crystal," Silva said.
[Please pour some Mana to activate the crystal.]
Silva did that, and the crystal lit up brightly. A magical circle appeared under them, and their bodies started disappearing.
They vanished from the floor, taken to wherever that crystal\'s destination was set.
[If you readers would like a discord platform to talk about the book and also ask me questions, drop a comment on this chapter, thanks]