Chapter 13.1: The Bloodline Continuation Ceremony (3)

"Before you enter, each of you should take one of these."

After making weapons for all the children, Lovellian then took out some necklaces with blue jewels hanging from them.

"These necklaces will be connected to your thought patterns. If the labyrinth ends up causing you too much stress, the necklace will react, and I'll know to intervene."

So it was a safety device in case of emergencies.

"Also, if you truly feel like you won't be able to make it to the center of the labyrinth, say 'help me' while tapping on the necklace's jewel. Then you'll be able to escape the labyrinth without any problems."

Hansen and the other dropouts nodded their heads in relief at these words. They were only here to do the bare minimum needed to satisfy the family tradition. They held no grand ambitions going into the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony.

"Well, then. Please start entering the labyrinth in an orderly manner."

Having said all that was needed to be said, Lovellian smiled broadly and moved aside, leaving the entrance to the cave free.

"While it might seem like you're all heading in together, from the moment you all enter the cave, everyone will be led down a different path. So don't get too flustered, and keep heading straight ahead, since there's only one path leading forward at the very beginning. From that point onwards, if you get the feeling that you can't go on, remember to tap the jewel."

The children began to walk into the cave. Eugene strode forward, keeping the shield he had strapped onto his left forearm at the ready.

Before they stepped into the cave's entrance, Ciel, who was walking beside him, gave Eugene a broad smile and said, "Do your best."

Gargith and Dezra silently glanced at Eugene.

Eugene laughed at their gazes and said to Ciel, "You too."

"Alright!" Ciel nodded her head vigorously at the casual encouragement he had tossed her way.

The nine children all entered the cave together. The moment everyone passed through the sole entrance to the cave, their surroundings disappeared and were replaced by darkness. Someone may have cried out in surprise, but the sound wasn't carried to the others.

Without the slightest bit of panic, Eugene took in his surroundings. Although he knew that he had just been transported into the maze through summoning magic, he hadn't actually felt any sense of discomfort during the process. Though it may have been that Lovellian was just that good of a wizard, living up to his title as an Archwizard, it might also be because Eugene's still growing body couldn't detect the peculiar sense of incongruity that came from having magic cast on it.

'Because I haven't trained my mana yet,' Eugene reasoned.

If that was the case, he could only rely on his body's other senses. Luckily, that was one of the areas that Eugene felt particularly confident in.

Eugene took a long, slow breath. Although he wasn't particularly agitated in the first place, both his body and mind calmed down even further. Then he started focusing on his senses one by one. First sight, then hearing, smell, and finally touch... And what about taste? Taste wasn't a sense that saw much use when exploring a labyrinth. However, by slightly chewing the tip of his tongue, Eugene at least made the taste of blood linger in his mouth.

Through this method, all his senses had been sharpened. Moreover, through his repeated long, slow exhalations, he had also heightened his awareness of his surroundings. The sensitive intuition aroused through this process could even be called his sixth sense.

This method to heighten his awareness came from the life experience of Stupid Hamel.

Labyrinth explorations? He had gone through so many in his past life that he had become almost bored with them. Most of the monsters who could burrow through the ground would make their lairs into mazes. Since even a mere ant could build their nest in such a fashion, goblins and the like were definitely capable of doing the same when digging their lairs.

And that wasn't even mentioning the demons. In modern times, the Devildom of Helmuth was said to have become a place where it was even possible to go on a sightseeing tour as long as you spent enough money. The Helmuth that Hamel had wandered through was a place that shouldn't be allowed to exist in this world, an unending and unrelenting hellscape.

How many times had he almost died in that place? Most of the skills he had once been confident in proved useless once in Helmuth. Even that foolish Molon had been scared out of his habit of charging forward recklessly. Sienna, who exalted herself as an Archwizard, couldn't even trust in her magic to keep her safe. Even Anise, who claimed that God would always take care of her, found herself calling more often on her companions, instead of her God, for help.

Only Vermouth had remained unmoved.

"..."

Eugene smiled bitterly. The hero Vermouth and his companions... That was the correct way to put it. Vermouth was always the center of the party. If it weren't for him, the rest of them would never have been able to make it into Helmuth. After all, when they first entered Helmuth, Hamel, Molon, Sienna, and Anise were all still young and inexperienced.

However, they didn't stay that way. People grew through adversity. Even if it wasn't to the same extent as Vermouth, all of his companions had at one point believed in the delusion that they were the best in the world. So they were all able to show explosive growth once sufficiently challenged.

After a certain point, despite still being in Helmuth, the companions began returning to their daily routine. Molon resumed charging ahead, Sienna regained trust in her magic, and Anise restored her faith in God.

As for Hamel, he hated that he was weaker than Vermouth. He hated the way his body shook in fear. He began to suspect that he could never be as good as Vermouth. So he started pushing himself even more. Since he couldn't be like Vermouth, then he needed to grow stronger in his own way.

Vermouth never felt fear.

Hamel, on the other hand, did feel fear. So he needed to get used to the fear and overcome it.

Vermouth was able to accomplish anything easily.

Hamel never had it easy. Even if it seemed easy at first, he would always end up running into a wall one day. As such, he would need to break through that wall if he wanted to advance.

And that went for labyrinths as well.

Even when Vermouth encountered a labyrinth for the first time, he didn't panic, and after some time, he found the way through. Yet, despite everything, he was still a human, so he couldn't always choose the right path.

Whenever Vermouth made a mistake or found the right path again, Hamel would always look for the reasons that led to Vermouth finding the right path and what mistakes led to him choosing the wrong path in the first place. Since Hamel didn't have an innate instinct for this like Vermouth did, he made up for his own shortcomings through this painstaking method.

And all of this experience was retained inside Eugene's head.

Eugene analyzed this labyrinth, 'This is a labyrinth made for children to be able to conquer it. The labyrinth isn't even designed with any intent to kill. Since that's the case... It should be blatantly simple to get through.'

Despite the lack of lighting, Eugene hadn't halted his steps. As Lovellian had said at the start, there could only be one way forward. His surroundings were still dark... But after progressing a certain distance, the darkness slowly began to peel back.

After a while, he could start to see the walls on either side of him. The distance between them was large enough that it shouldn't be difficult to swing a weapon. However, if you wanted to swing a spear to your heart's content, you would need to keep your own positioning in mind at all times.

That was why Eugene hadn't chosen a spear. Instead, he had gone for a sword and a shield. Although basic, it was actually a universal combination that would allow him to respond to almost any situation.

'So the ceiling is closed in,' Eugene thought with an upward glance.

This meant that he couldn't use the shortcut of climbing over the walls.

Among the senses that he had purposefully heightened, Eugene focused on his sense of smell. With the taste of blood still lingering in his mouth, he was able to first focus on the scent of blood, and with that as a backdrop, he was able to find any foreign odors that stood out against it.

Through this, he detected a slight oily scent. If he had been able to manipulate his mana, he would be able to sense it even more clearly. While feeling a little regret, Eugene pressed forward.

After walking for a short while, a fork came up in the road ahead. Both of the split paths looked identical. The oily smell was coming from the path to the left. Even though it was a trap created from magic, it still gave off an oily scent. This meant it had been purposefully made easy to detect.

However, Eugene still took the left path. He wanted to confirm that his judgment was correct. While pretending to walk as if he hadn't noticed anything, he was concentrating on the weight transmitted through the soles of his feet with each step.

The first step, second step, third step, fourth step... and finally on the seventh step.... As his foot touched the ground, it gave way slightly. And another count from here: one, two...

'Three.'

Thrum!

Arrows poured forth from the gaps in between the wall bricks. Without panicking, Eugene lifted his shield.

Tangtangtang!

The arrows couldn't pierce his shield and just bounced off. Then, without going another step further down the path, Eugene simply turned back.

'That was too easy,' Eugene grumbled.

It must have been because they had set the difficulty for a child's level.

Eugene grinned as he recalled something. Every time he had insisted on checking out the wrong path like this, Sienna would just about have a seizure. His past life's memories had brought back not just his adventuring experience but also the various fond recollections associated with it.

"Hah."

As Eugene felt his insides twist in longing, he returned to the fork and took the path on the right.