The First Descent Into The Labyrinth

Following their guide, the trio ended up approaching a large stone and granite construct that lay in the final corner of the Academy grounds, with the other three being taken up by the Academy itself, the housing complex and the bathhouses. It looked similar to a mausoleum in design, square in nature with the entrance resembling the jaws of a beast with strutting pillars contained within. One by one groups of students led by their guide walked into the structure before disappearing entirely from sight as they entered its depths.

Soon it was the turn of Cyrus and co. Following the guide, with their senses heightened to their max, they too walked into the clutches of the mausoleum. Passing the pillars that resembled teeth, they descended long tiered steps downwards into darkness that was only broken periodically by magical light. On the walls were ominous murals made of faded metals and carvings, completely incomprehensible as it resembled the drivels of a madman more than anything else.

"These do not seem to be of human origin…or if they are it is far too old for me to understand without careful study of this regions history and culture. Yet it was said that this was built…who built it then and when?" pondered Cyrus as they continued their descent.

As they trek continued, all three noted that the stream of other groups that had initially been both in front of behind them began to dissipate as if smoke to the wind.

"Where are they going? Falling through the floor perhaps?" murmured an astounded Imran.

"It is called a Labyrinth after all, there is more than meets the eye" replied Minerva in her usual cool tone.

The speculations ceased at once some time later, as they experienced firsthand what had occurred to all the other groups that had seemingly evaporated into nothingness. The guide stopped descending abruptly, raising one of his hands up to halt those behind him. In his other hand was a now glowing pendant, of which carved on it was a small maze underneath a hanging icicle. He held the pendant towards the wall to the right of the group whereas the closer the pendant was to the wall the brighter it glowed. Eventually the glow reached a peak, causing a reaction in the wall that resembled the one Cyrus' Quintus badge had with the door to his room. The outline of a hidden door was revealed as it vibrated, slowly pushing inwards and then to the side as a passageway was revealed.

"Come" commanded Caesar.

The trio obediently followed behind, curious as to what would lay ahead of them. Walking forward, they saw the passageway slowly open up more and more. What started as a somewhat cramped walkway ended up turning into a massive hall that would have allowed for a group 6 times as large as theirs to walk side by side. The area in which they now walked was so massive that the architecture of the hall itself had to be molded in order to support such an underground area, with supporting arches visible starting from the ground next to the wall and ending high above in the ceiling connecting one half with the other.

Suddenly, and without warning, the cool and somewhat damp air turned hot and scathing as if with each breath they breathed in fire itself. That was not the only change, as the dim and dark underground lighting went out with a popping sound which was immediately replaced by a single blinding light source up above that mimicked a hellish sun bent on melting all that dared to be below its radiance. As their walking slowed to a halt, due to the quickly changing circumstances, the rhythmic tapping of the soles of their footwear hitting the stone below them turned into a crunching nose instead which slowly turned into the sound of sand being packed against itself due to pressure from above. Torrented by the massive changing stimuli, the trio looked all around them before their eyes finally reached the ground that they were walking upon.

"Sand…?" said a confused Imran while his two counterparts crouched down and felt the sand with their own hands, to confirm what they were witnessing was in line with reality.

"Indeed, it is sand. The air, the sun and the ground are exactly the same as the climate of the wasteland…" said Cyrus as he processed all that which was happening before him.

"One moment we were in a cool underground area… the next we are in a desert? Were we transferred from one place to the next somehow?" wondered Minerva aloud as she examined her surroundings, which now looked exactly as if they were in the middle of a vast desert.

"We are still underground. Specifically, we have finally entered the true Labyrinth. I am a soldier through and through, thus I know more about killing and battle formations than anything magic related…but through the past few years of assisting Glacies I have come to know a few things about this place. Everything that we are witnessing here is a mass illusion of sorts, a trick on the mind induced by the Labyrinth itself. Assuming you have enough strength and knowhow, resisting it is not too difficult" explained Caesar without any emotion in his voice, as if reading a script.

The three's tensions were quickly relaxed as they heard this, taking solace in the fact that they were not suddenly transported to the middle of a vast desert whilst being woefully unprepared for such an endeavor.

"Do not let that fact mislead you" interrupted Caesar, his voice becoming somber.

"Your senses tell you that you are in a desert, thus your body will act as if it is in one. Take your surroundings lightly, and you will die."

His words caused the trio to reassess their situation, their thoughts moving towards survival…well all but one who was at home in the current element.

"You will now take the lead, where I will follow silently from a distance. The only advice I can give you is as follows: Each part of the Labyrinth is everchanging and full of both obvious and hidden dangers. The farther you go the higher the reward will be, but know this…the rewards are limited and the competition is everyone who has entered" ending with such cryptic words Caesar turned around and started to walk into the distance behind the trio, his figure growing smaller as the distance between the two groups grew.

Now left alone, two of the three members of the party looked upon the only member who seemed lost in thought. Noticing the stares of his compatriots, Cyrus gazed back and thought for a moment before saying

"We should treat this as if we are in a true desert, so I will take the lead for this one. My title of 'wastelander' is not for show by any stretch of the imagination, I am one who has survived in a climate that many in the Empire would perhaps consider uninhabitable by human life."

"Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, we will follow your lead" replied Minerva for the both of them.

With the issue of leadership established, Cyrus reached for his jeweled sack and pulled out three large sand cloaks out of it. Pure white in color, it resembled a cloak with a hood that wrapped tightly around one's face. The difference being while a cloak was heavy in weight, whilst being sleek and only loosely attached to ones person, the sand cloak was light but had several fastenings on it to secure it tightly to the one wearing it.

"Wear these. They will keep you cooler than the robes that you are wearing, especially you Imran. Wearing that dark color in the open desert will kill you as fast as any blade to the heart would, it is downright suicidal" said Cyrus in a commanding tone as he threw one to each of them.

Minerva caught the cloak, looking at it, then back at Cyrus.

"You want me to change here in the open, in front of you?" asked she, with a look of revulsion on her face.

Seeing the unexpected difficulty, Cyrus inwardly remarked at how difficult it is to have a member of the opposite sex around as he contemplated a solution.

"I do not know what we will face ahead…having a competent ally could allow me to gain more benefits. I suppose I will have to entertain her intense sense of shame…or should I put it as an intense fear instead? I wonder if she would have the same misgivings in a group full of women than men, even if one of the two is a close family member."

As he was considering such things, Cyrus pulled out the largest item contained within his storage much to the shock of his two companions: His tent.

It was quite a large tent, with enough room for one person to comfortably lie down and even sit up and stretch without feeling confined whatsoever. It was as white as the sand cloaks that Cyrus had handed out earlier, with three long straps where a stake could be driven through to stick it to the ground which allowed not the wind to carry it away.

With adept hands, Cyrus planted the tent on the ground and 'staked' it into the sand…much to his bemusement as he wondered how much of an illusion this truly was.

"There, you may change inside my lady" said Cyrus with enough sarcasm to drown an infant to which Minerva merely scoffed at before entering the tent.

Some time later, the trio had all changed from their uniforms to the sand cloaks that Cyrus had provided. With Cyrus at the head and the other two following behind, adopting an impromptu triangle formation, they looked towards the horizon and set off.