The Primal Hunter

The thirty-first floor felt different the moment they arrived. They walked out of the gateway and into a large chamber that looked out of some temple, with white pillars lining the walls and a large elevated stone platform in the middle. Towards the other end of the chamber was a massive gate with a glowing rune on it, emanating impressive power. Through his sphere, Jake also felt that outside of these chamber walls, only the void existed, meaning they were definitely not meant to try and go there. Not that he even thought they could, as the walls gave him the feeling they were nigh-indestructible.

However, none of these things explained why this place felt different. The explanation for that came from the mana in the air… rather than being the usual environmental mana, this was not in any way natural. Exchanging a glance with the Fallen King and feeling Sylphie shuffle a bit on his shoulder, they all felt it.

This was the domain of a living being, or perhaps they were even within the body of some creature, though that didn’t seem likely considering the void outside the walls. No, chances are, they were in a claimed domain akin to a world formed by a high-grade space mage.

As they all took in the environment, the introduction to the floor appeared.

Welcome to the Thirty-first floor of Nevermore: Minaga’s Labyrinth

Main objective: Reach the end of the Labyrinth.

Bonus objectives: N/A

Current progress: End reached (0/1)

Note: More hidden events, achievements, or objectives may be hidden on the floor.

Current Nevermore Points: 14622

Staring at the message, one thing instantly sprung to his eyes. This was the first floor without a bonus objective. Perhaps that meant achievements and bonus events were also limited on this floor. Seeing the name, though, Jake felt quite a bit more confident. Labyrinth… Jake was good at labyrinths.

Jake was about to speak but stopped himself as he faintly felt a new presence appear.

”Welcome, welcome, welcome! Oh, I am so excited to have some more visitors! Such esteemed guests too!” a jovial voice echoed as the entire chamber lit up. Lights of all colors of the rainbow lined the walls as an entire light show began, and on the central platform, a figure appeared as space warped.

Jake was instantly put on alert as he observed the being.

Blue skin, two legs, and two arms with a generally humanoid form, making Jake almost mistake them for a blue human. Yet the creature had four eyes on its head, a large mouth, no nose, and instead of hair, short tendrils that slightly wriggled every time the creature spoke grew out of its scalp. A loose-fitting blue robe covered its body, only held in place by a belt, but this did mean Jake couldn’t see if the creature had any other peculiar features hidden beneath.

“My name is Minaga, your glorious host. Truly a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” the creature spoke with a big smile as he looked at Jake and the others as the entire light show died down. Jake used Identify and was taken aback.

[Minaga – lvl 275]

He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this Minaga was more powerful than any C-grade he had ever stood before. Definitely stronger than anything in Nevermore… which did make Jake wonder why he – Jake was pretty sure the creature identified as male - had shown up at the beginning of this floor.

As Jake wondered this, he felt the Fallen King tense up at his side from the creature laying his eyes on him, and as the being spoke… he understood why.

the Fallen King for a few moments before shifting his gaze to Jake. “And a C-grade Chosen of the Malefic Viper? Even a Transcendent? Oh, is that a mutated version of Nature’s Attendant’s Bloodline? Interesting, interesting… but not quite as interesting as you, Sylphian Hawk! Never even heard of your race before! I know Sylphs, but… oh wait, too

shown up before us as an opponent,” the Sword

said with a grin. “As I said, then I am your host! It is your honor and your privilege to

“Do you perhaps work for the Wyrmgod and

the outside world, meaning he was likely someone who had existed on the outside before this. Perhaps

the Wyrmgod, but otherwise, your

told

this show on

the King asked, refusing to let the topic

I can give a small hint. I know who you all are, and you know so little about me, so it’s only fair. I am the creator of

you, but can you at least tell us what we are meant to do here? Seeing as the gate behind you is still

a bit too happy getting to the point,” Minaga said as he made an overdramatic sigh. “But you are right. See, I wanted to make this entire thing a bit more interesting,

from nowhere, each of the pillars having a giant floating rune

Apprentice – Adept – Mage

have there. That’s right, it’s, of course, different difficulties! A floor with multiple difficulty levels from the very beginning is quite innovative, eh?” Minaga rhetorically asked in

idea. I came up with it, after all. Alright, alright, it isn’t overly original, but you didn’t see it on any prior floors, now did you? So, any

exactly does it impact

quite an extensive makeover. Also, it isn’t just this floor. My labyrinth is kind of big, so I decided to just make it take up ten floors to make

was ten… wasn’t there meant to be a city layer after

a part of the labyrinth! Once more, innovation at its finest. Now, which difficulty do you all want? Do note that you can only lower or increase it by one level every time

wasn’t really any need to discuss it, was there? Jake quickly exchanged a glance with the others and was

Minaga asked as he tilted his head while looking at them. “If you didn’t, that would be pretty darn pathetic considering your party setup. Oh, and also, doing it all on the Archmage difficulty gives the best rewards, so I highly recommend it. Maybe

was particularly challenging before this. Wait, unless choosing the highest difficulty means

water theme here,” Minaga shook his head. “You know, I never even liked these water-themed floors? Yet the Wyrmgod insists on having them every damn era for some silly reason. Sure, you can argue it

select the difficulty?” Jake asked, glad that at least the Unique Lifeform had some

light before it exploded in a cascade of multicolored wisps, bathing the chamber. Their host looked damn proud of the display

it covered! Then again, I will definitely say the exact same thing to Ell’Hakan when he appears and tell him not to worry about you, but don’t let that take away from me encouraging you right now! You dying would also make a bunch of factions sad, especially the Endless

Jake stared at the creature while processing what he had just said and his clearly contemporary information. Minaga gave them a

high expectations! Oh, and of course, remember

and the path forward

Lifeform complained about the other

he was kind of funny…” Dina said,

what is happening in the outside world in real time,” the Sword Saint mused. “The level of 275 is clearly not accurate either, though he did register to me

a lot of explanations. Shit, maybe he just has an earpiece and has someone talking in his ear,

the voice of Minaga suddenly echoed through the