Lament of the Slave

Chapter 118: Cheating

Before I sat down a few meters away from the two dead beasts, just an arm's length from the black square stone, I checked my surroundings several times, ensuring I wouldn't be ambushed again by a hungry horned rabbit. Facing them head on was something I would be reluctant to do even as a test of my skills. However, there was no denying that the beast hitting me at full speed showed me how tough I was right now.

Though battered, there were no broken bones in my body. My regeneration had long since stopped the bleeding, and even the bruises were fading fast. Despite that, my injury or toughness wasn't what bothered me the most. After all, it was quite obvious what had happened. I became overconfident, let my guard down, and allowed my thoughts to wander during the struggle. The horned rabbit did his part, and my new skills did theirs. Simple to understand.

What I couldn't get my head around were Traiana's memories. I didn't even know if 'memories' was the right word for what I experienced. Perhaps more like some kind of imprint in the labyrinth block's rune lines.

No matter what it was, it did bring up the question of whether each of these square blocks scattered across the first floor bore the same trace of her emotions. What about the columns supporting the artificial sky? Did they hold it too? And if they did, was it the same...remembrance?

Since I was sitting so close to the block that messed me up more than the horned rabbit, I gave it a try and touched the cold black stone again. Yet, as I somewhat expected, nothing happened. The stone remained cold, as well as the runic lines stayed faintly glowing, not responding to my touch at all. Thus, much to my relief, no memories struck my mind, nor foreign emotions flooded my body.

Honestly...it was a little disappointing, too.

I thought I could learn more and find out what had brought an end to the Ancient Era. Wouldn't it be cool to discover something no one else had before I did? To be one of those adventurers who made history?

It didn't take me long to realize how foolish that idea of finding something like that on the first floor of the Labyrinth was. Simply ridiculous. What's more, Lord Wigram mentioned that what the labyrinth statues depict were most likely moments from the final battle that took place then.

It would make sense that he knew about this as well as any seeker.

I may not have been the chosen one, but it still made me wonder. Was it really a warning of an impending battle, or was Traiana trying to tell the others something else? Perhaps I imagined it, knowing my own suffering...her pained cry to the world felt to me like she was reaching out asking for help.

How to help a thousand-year-old statue, though? Moreover, as it seemed, it was not just a statue but a whole labyrinth that was infused with her memories as one big memorial.

How was it built, anyway? Who built it? Did they know Traiana?

Too many questions that only burdened my mind needlessly and distracted me from my misery. And it was a pain in the ass to deal with the skills. However, it was a problem I should solve before I threw myself into helping strangers with their issues, trying to be a hero.

With that, I gave the stone block one last touch, checking that whatever it was that toyed with my mind was most likely on the same cooldown as the crying aura of the statue up in the square.

With more than enough time wasted, I went back to what I came here to do in the first place. Fully focused and still under a tier two beast transformation, I hunted down three more horned rabbits enjoying the new strength, not the killing, before I decided it was time for a change of pace.

Or, to be more precise, a change of skill.

There were still a few I hadn't really tried, not in-depth. One of them [Ride of Ancestors], which I was too much of a coward to use. My fear was that the instincts would overwhelm me, and I wouldn't be able to come back. Sure, I could have been entirely wrong and misunderstood the skill. However, it was a risk I wasn't willing to take, not without Deckard present.