Tale Of Unknown: Hero From Zero

6. Towards the Labyrinth

The heroes who were disciples from other worlds, were gathered in the hall, not to mention Riyan. As usual, he put on his flat face and sat estranged from the rest. While sitting listening to what Alestein was talking about, Gilbert occasionally looked towards Riyan with an unpleasant and disgusted expression. Having gotten used to such a stare, Riyan ignored him.

"So, what you have to do this time is a real experience."

The sentence that Alestein had just uttered made the disciples shocked. It was only natural that if they were surprised, it was because they should have received the experience of fighting with some weak monsters. Confusion began to swirl around them.

"I want to ask, your honor."

"Hm? What is it, Gilbert?"

Before the confusion began, Gilbert swiftly asked what was confusing them.

"What does real experience mean?"

"Indeed you have become much stronger than you first came in this world, but you also need to train mentally."

That's right, all this time the disciples only trained their physiques in the palace, but not mentally. Of all the disciples in this hall, there was only one person who had had that experience. He is Riyan.

Gilbert and the others only practiced using the practice dolls and call monsters belonging to the royal warriors. There are some of the royal warriors who can use summoning magic. Even so, they never once killed those summoning monsters. In a dying state, the call monster instantly disappeared, returning into the owner's body.

"But what should we fight?"

With a worried face and tone, he asked Alestein that. Since this was their first murder, it was only natural that he was worried. The disciples also looked scared, even though they had trained until strong as they are now.

"Hm.. for your level, I think wyvern would be better."

While saying that, Alestein rubbed his chin with a scholarly style of thinking. Hearing that, the disciples were surprised. Of course, it was something that could shake their hearts. Faleon was similarly shocked to hear what Alestein had suggested.

A Wyvern is a dragon that has a pair of wings and a pair of legs. They have hard and thick scales, like dragons in general. However, wyverns cannot breathe fire, except for a few special wyverns. Unable to breathe fire, the wyvern is endowed with a spiked tail and wings that it can fire to kill its prey.

For the students who have been trained so far, wyvern is not too difficult, but the experience in the real fight will determine the victory. Since the disciples did not yet have any real fighting experience, conquering wyverns was a bad thing.

As the disciples began to look alarmed, Faleon walked to Alestein, then he knelt before him.

"Sorry interrupt your majesty, but for the heroes, it would be better to be granted a little leniency. They have no experience for it, unlike our soldiers. Although their strength was great, their experience was less decisive in their dead lives. Your Majesty, please reconsider."

With great hope, Faleon said that. Gilbert and the others were also eager for Alestein to replace their first opponent. A moment later, Alestein spoke straight away.

"How about challenging the Hexaphilia labyrinth? It should be easy if it doesn't go too deep."

"Thank you for the consideration and ease, your honor."

"How, Gilbert? Is that all right?"

Gilbert turned his gaze to the friends behind him. He wanted to ascertain what the disciples answered before answering. If he were to reply, the protest would instantly resound. But it seemed that the disciples agreed by nodding their heads.

Gilbert smiled happily and immediately turned to look at Alestein, then raised his voice.

"We accept it, your honor."

Hearing the reply representing the disciples from Gilbert, Alestein smiled in relief. He was pleased that his heroes agreed to his proposal.

"alright. Tomorrow you will all challenge the Hexaphilia labyrinth!"

""Ready!!""

Welcomed with a spirited cry from the disciples, Alestein was overjoyed. He did not expect that the heroes of this other world would soon face the labyrinth. For the sake of mental training, they had to get used to killing monsters like the royal army.

Then, the disciples dispersed and walked back to the building where they lived next to the palace. Riyan followed shortly after the disciples broke up. But before he exited the hall, he was stopped by Faleon.

"Riyan, wait!"

Hearing the call from Faleon, his steps automatically came to a halt and looked back. He did not want to show disrespect to Alestein, the king of Alivonia. Faleon ran towards Riyan while carrying something in his left hand.

'What is that?'

Riyan looked at what Faleon was holding. It was shaped like a small cross that was entirely wrapped in white bandages. Before he could ask, Faleon raised the object in front of Riyan's face.

"Take this, Riyan."

"Huh?"

That sentence was unexpected to Riyan before. He thought Faleon wanted to say something to him, but it turned out to be wrong. Riyan was still puzzled by what the great general of Alivonia was about to give him.

"What's this?"

He looked at it carefully, then came to a conclusion.

"This...sword?"

"Yes, this is my old sword."

The answer from Faleon made Riyan surprised. Why did Faleon give the sword to his useless self?

"Why did you give this to me, general?"

"Isn't it clear? I know that you don't have any weapons, so I want to give this to you."

"But, my status is too weak, I can't possibly be at the forefront. After all, that sword is your old sword, there must be a lot of memories stored there."

"There are many memories in this sword, but I gave you this sword not because you want to go forward, but to protect yourself. I know your sword ability, it is not something that is taken lightly. A sword ability that can overwhelm me in just 2 weeks, this sword will definitely be happy to accept you as its new owner."

Riyan was again surprised by Faleon. He did not expect that the great general in front of him was so confident in himself that even he did not believe. Because of Faleon's sincere intentions, he raised both hands and received the sword that was still wrapped in white bandages.

"Thank you, general. I'll use it and take good care of it."

Faleon only smiled gently as he handed his old sword to the black-haired youth.

After receiving a gift from Faleon, Riyan came out while holding the sword in his left hand. Faleon who saw Riyan walking out of the room while turning his back smiled with relief and satisfaction.

'Riyan, you're the one I really trust. May the old sword be of use to you, even if only a little.'

***

The next day, the disciples gathered in the front courtyard of the palace forming a neat row. In front of them were Faleon, Fileza, and Faizal. They were the three great generals of the kingdom of Alivonia, as well as siblings. Faleon was the eldest brother, the second Fileza, and Faizal the youngest son. Among the three of them, Fileza is the only female.

"Is everything here?"

""Ready, already!!""

The disciples replied to Faleon's question excitedly. Faleon smiled at the excited answers of the summoned heroes from the other world. He was more pleased when he saw that Riyan was also present in the back row carrying his beloved old sword on his back. His eyes flashed with great relief.

""Yes!!""

After a reply, Faleon and the two great generals of the kingdom of Alivonia set foot towards the entrance of the kingdom with full combat gear. Iron armor that covered the entire body, except for the head, a red robe attached to the back, as well as a one-handed sword hanging at the waist, were worn, they wore complete combat gear in anticipation of circumstances that the disciples might not be able to handle.

Indeed the disciples had enormous strength, but they lacked experience, which was why they were currently walking towards the Hexaphilia labyrinth to hunt monsters for real.

The disciples seemed enthusiastic about following the three great generals with their own combat equipment. Gilbert wore a light armor and a sword at his waist, and Typhania wore a loose long-sleeved green suit with a magic wand that he held.

Most of the disciples who had higher magic abilities used magic wand to strengthen their magic. The magic wand is usually made from oak tree wood or better known by the name of oak tree, and has a special magic stone at the end. There were only a few disciples who had higher magic abilities so as to be able to refer to as magicians, Typhania was one of them.

While the disciples were walking enthusiastically while talking about the results of the hunt and joking before the hunt, Riyan was seen thinking of something from behind. For the first time he carried the sword on his back like that, his standing position remained upright, perhaps that was the result of his regular training with Faleon all along.

'Can I help? With my status like this, I will only be a hindrance to them. I know that my sword skills are good, but I'm not sure I can help them.'

Riyan's head was filled with such thoughts. He had to choose two options, namely silence without helping at all so as not to become a hindrance or help little by little from the middle distance. That choice was difficult to take, given his extremely low status, even for the size of the inhabitants of this world.

After about 20 minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the entrance of one of the labyrinths in the kingdom of Alivonia, Hexaphilia. The labyrinth resembles a large cave with a faint bright green stone dome. Because it is covered in its entirety, sunlight can hardly enter, except through a certain transparent part of the roof of the labyrinth.

Near the mouth of the cave, there were two girls sitting at the table as well as several burly men with combat gear who seemed to be escorting the two girls. As soon as he saw the entourage led by general Faleon, the two girls stood firm, as did the men escorting them. One girl had short wavy blonde brown hair, and the other girl had long straight dark purple hair.

Seeing this, Faleon smiled wryly. He did not like the formality directed at him. He hurried to the two girls and said something.

"There is no need to be formal like that, this time I come not with your majesty."

""Good!""

Even so, still they could not eliminate the formalities against Faleon, because it had become a habit. Faleon breathed heavily upon hearing the formal response of the two girls. Fileza and Faizal only smiled wryly, while the disciples were only confused because they did not know what was really happening.

As usual, Gilbert immediately asked.

"General, sorry to interrupt, who are they really?"

"Ah right, I forgot that you've never met them both."

Faleon chuckled at Gilbert's question. His two brothers only breathed a long sigh of disappointment in response to Faleon's reply. The disciples stared at Faleon with flat faces, just like the expressions that Riyan used to wear.

Not wanting to linger, Faleon immediately introduced the two girls who were wearing standing in front of the table that was there.

"This short-haired girl is Francesca and the long-haired one is named Daela. The two of them were the guards of this Hexaphilia labyrinth entrance from the party of the adventurer guild that was in the capital of Alivonia ."

The disciples were shocked to hear it, but Riyan and the few others remained calm from having known this. It was not strange that every maze found would be guarded by people from the adventurer guild.

An adventurer union is a special organization established with the approval of the entire kingdom. Wh why? Because they bring huge profits. Adventurers usually receive a wide variety of requests from everyone and their members will work on completing these requests in exchange for the appropriate one.

Most of the requests were to hunt down a certain amount of monsters as well. Besides being able to reduce the monsters that roam the environment, the kingdom also got the materials needed from the guild that came from the monsters that were killed. This is why adventurer guilds are so needed in any kingdom.

"So, are you going to enter the labyrinth with them, General Faleon?"

"Yes. There's been a notice, isn't there?"

"Yes, we've received word from the chairman."

The two girls nodded slowly a few times. After that, they took something from a large bag like a sack of rice and placed it on the table. Faleon took three of them and put on one of them, and gave two more to Fileza and Faizal.

What was placed on the table by the two girls was a necklace with green stones and iron chains. After the three great generals of Alivonia wore the necklace, Faleon told the disciples to approach.

The disciples followed and moved their feet closer to them. Faleon gave a signal to Francesca and Daela, then the two girls from the adventurer guild nodded. Francesca took out a necklace and showed it to the entire disciple while explaining what the necklace really was.

"This necklace is a special necklace that must be worn before entering the labyrinth. This is the stipulation of the adventurer guild, that not wearing it is not allowed to enter."

The disciples nodded at Fransesca's explanation, including Riyan who had actually learned of it. He wanted to make sure that there was something wrong with the book he had read before about this.

"This canyon has a special magic that can detect the condition of the wearer. You see a number on the stone of these necklaces?"

The disciples nodded after examining the green stone that became the eye of the necklace.

"That's the necklace carrier number. For example general Faleon wears necklace number 1 and the ball has the same number as this blackened, then he has died in the labyrinth."

While saying that, he took out a small sphere the size of a watch made of blue-colored crystal and showed it to all of them.

"Hey, are you expecting me to die?"

Faleon who heard that felt annoyed at being a bad example. He looked at Francesca who was explaining with a sharp look. Fransesca was horrified to realize what he had just said.

"That's just a parable, general, I don't mean it that way."

In a panic, he tried to explain as well as calm Faleon down. Faleon breathed a little and allowed Francesca to continue her explanation. Francesca let out a heavy sigh, as if she had gained a meaningful experience for her life.

A moment later he lifted his head and continued his explanation.

"The canyon is equipped with magic that can detect the location of the wearer as well as theft warnings. If this necklace is outside the labyrinth for more than 10 minutes, then the warning magic for necklace theft is activated, then the wearer will get a light electrical magic that can make him faint."

Right after Fransesca finished the explanation, the disciples suddenly became goosebumps, of course except for Riyan and a few others. With his flat expression, Riyan listened to the explanation and summed it up to be brief in his head.

'The canalong is anti-maling, detects the life of the wearer, tracks the location of the user. I understand most of the point, but why does he extend the explanation of this necklace?'

Riyan was puzzled as to why Fransesca had lingered on explaining the necklace, whereas the information could be summarized as short as that. Perhaps subconsciously, because of the [Comprehension] skill, Riyan was able to understand Fransesca's explanation easily, whereas other such disciples had just understood what that long explanation meant. It can be seen from those who a moment ago painted the expression 'I understand'.

Then in addition, since childhood Riyan is good at summarizing something that he understands. For example, when the teacher explains at length about the large circulatory system, he can record it only in the form of four sentences.

"Do you understand?"

""We understand!!""

Francesca and Daela smiled satisfied at the excited reply from these young heroes.

After explaining all the functions, the two girls shared and dressed the necklace with them. For some reason, the disciples became even more excited, especially for the men. That's only natural, because Francesca and Daela have a very perfect face and body shape. If in their previous world, these two girls could easily become famous models.

Moments later, the disciples received all the necklaces around one neck each. This time Riyan did not miss, because he joined the march with others, although still keeping a distance of about 4 meters from the rear most disciple.

"Did everyone have a necklace?"

""Have!!""

"Good, let's go inside!"

""Yes!!""

In response to Faleon's call, they all ended up entering the Hexaphilia labyrinth through the mouth of the cave as the entrance. Faleon and his two brothers led in front, the royal soldiers also came to help during the emergency, the disciples in the middle, and Riyan in the rear row. With this, the heroes begin their first hunt.