The maze was built starting with the mother skeleton replenishing its magic.

It took some time to explain the background to Martin.

What puzzled Lance was why Martin was in skeleton form after his resurrection.

He had only been dead for a short time; his physical body shouldn't have completely disappeared.

"It's ironic, really. I've been killing monsters all this time, but now I've become a monster myself."

Martin sat on the protruding rock, elbows propped on his thighs, and pondered for a long time.

It wasn't that he accepted it.

"Mr. Lance, may I ask you a question?"

"Ask away," Lance nodded.

"The skill you used to revive me... can it be used again?"

Martin's eyes were filled with anticipation.

"It's possible," Lance replied, then paused and added, "but this skill takes a lot out of me."

"I... I have a fiancée buried on the third level of the 'Labyrinth of Kings.' Could you please...?"

fiancée?

"I understand what you mean," Lance said. "Consider it payment for your work. I'll reunite you all after I conquer that labyrinth."

"Thank you! Thank you so much! I will work hard!"

Martin was so excited that he was almost incoherent, and he was just short of kneeling down on the spot to show his loyalty.

Martin never expected to reunite with Elena in this way, but even so, he is still full of expectations for the future.

For Elena, I'll stop being human!

"There's no time to lose." Lance stood up, patted Martin on the shoulder, and took out his bow and arrows. "I need you to teach me archery."

"And the task of training the dungeon monsters will also be entrusted to you."

"Did Mr. Lance build this labyrinth to take revenge on humanity?" Martin asked, his mind filled with mixed emotions.

Although he has decided to no longer be human, it may be difficult for him to kill humans as a monster in the short term.

Lance's answer surprised him.

"It's not that boring," Lance waved his hand.

The strange fish deep within the Starfall Maze made Lance realize that he and his maze were still too weak.

We must become stronger.

"By the way, Martin, do you have any in-depth knowledge of the Starfall Labyrinth?"

"The Starfall Labyrinth?" Martin pondered for a moment. "My level isn't high, and I've only heard about its depths from other adventurers."

"The deeper levels start from the fifth level. A huge waterfall runs through the maze, with stairs and corridors all around, allowing you to easily reach the ninth level without having to defeat a boss to unlock the stairs."

"The ninth level is a forest, and it is also the place where magic crystals are mass-produced. To this day, no one has found the stairs leading down, so the ninth level is the deepest level known so far."

The waterfall starts on the fifth level, while the magic crystal is on the ninth level.

Lance silently noted down this information.

"Alright, we can talk about that later. Teach me archery first."

"We need to find a target first, Mr. Lance."

"Isn't there a target there?"

Lance pointed to the tombstone with the name "Martin" written on it.

Martin's body creaked, and after a moment of stunned silence, he scratched his cheek and turned to Lance:

"That used to be my tombstone, after all. It's a bit much to use it as a target."

Lance, who had just tried to shoot an arrow at the tombstone but missed, turned to look at him.

"Huh? What did you just say?"

"It's nothing..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Damn it! There are fewer and fewer kobolds on the second floor of the Starfall Maze lately!"

Byrontin, the bulletin board of the Adventurers' Guild was bustling with noise.

A bearded warrior took a swig of ale and shouted to his companions:

"Yesterday our team circled the area three times and only found one nest! Turns out there were several times more cave spiders than usual, damn it, we almost got surrounded!"

"It's all because of that tremor in the deeper levels." The woman dressed as a mage sighed. "It's been five days, and the monster ecosystem on the first and second levels is completely messed up. The guild should issue a warning."

Amid the noise, Harvey carefully pinned a hand-drawn sunflower note to the corner of the bulletin board.

As the bottom-ranked member of the C-class squad "Platinum Unicorn," Harvey's job is to gather intelligence and handle logistics.

And the "daily tasks" assigned by my younger sister.

"Harvey! Here to check in for your little sister again!" a familiar adventurer chimed in.

That was a check-in marker made by Harvey's sister herself, which she stuck there to show that she had worked hard today and hadn't slacked off.

Harvey was tall, but he always hunched his back slightly, as if afraid of appearing too intimidating.

The armor was a bit old, but it was polished to a shine.

When the word "younger sister" was mentioned, a special light appeared on his face, and he straightened his chest:

"You're all just jealous that I have a well-behaved and adorable little sister!"

The adventurers laughed, but none of them refuted it.

Some adventurers who were even familiar with him started calling him "brother-in-law".

"Harvey, have you Platinum Unicorns been going into the dungeon lately?" the bearded warrior who spoke first shouted.

"Yes, I'm off." Harvey nodded. "The captain and the others are already at the maze entrance. I've finished checking in and I'm ready to go."

"Only your squad in Byrondin has the capability to explore the deeper levels."

"Not including me," Harvey sighed. "I was just a handyman."

The team distributes rewards based on merit. In an adventurer team with an average level of 40, it would be difficult for him, a level 30 laggard, to earn any battle merits.

If it weren't for the fact that he is a rare profession called "Alchemist," he probably wouldn't have been able to join this team at all.

He wanted to send his younger sister, Lena, to the Imperial Capital Magic Academy, which would undoubtedly cost a lot of money.

Unfortunately, my younger sister recently encountered a homeless girl and kept pestering Harvey to take her in.

The girl's name was Clara. She was only one year younger than Harvey. She was pretty and well-behaved, but she was too aloof and didn't talk much. However, she got along quite well with Rena.

Anyway, raising one younger sister is the same as raising two.

Who can blame him when he's the "super brother" his sister talks about?

Recently, due to a mysterious tremor deep within the Starfall Labyrinth, everyone in the guild, from adventurers to those at the counter, is talking about it.

The labyrinth's ecosystem is completely disrupted, and the number of monsters on the upper levels has drastically decreased, especially the kobolds on the second level.

In addition, the deepest "Starfall Lake" seems to have been flooded, with many traces of being submerged in water remaining on the third and fourth levels.

Even the monsters from the deeper levels were washed up by the lake, and now the labyrinth is full of unknown dangers.

The guild has issued an urgent mission to investigate the cause of the deep-seated riots.

The Class C team "Platinum Unicorn" has accepted the mission and is preparing to depart today.

Harvey checked the supplies and potions in his backpack again to make sure everything was in order before bidding farewell to the others.

In his haste, he bumped into an adventurer leaning against the side as he passed the guild gate.

Harvey stumbled and nearly lost his balance, but after regaining his senses, he immediately apologized to the other person.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"It's nothing," Ethan said with a smile and a wave of his hand. "I was just thinking about something anyway."

After exchanging a few more polite words, Harvey left.

Ethan leaned against the door frame and waited for a long time before Lilith and McKen, dressed in white robes, finally appeared.

"Aren't you two a little too slow?" Ethan teased with a smile.

"Have you found the target?" Lilith asked calmly, her brows furrowed with exhaustion.

"There it is." Ethan crossed his arms and gestured with his lips. "Hunter Bell, level 15, the only survivor of the squad."

Without any hesitation, the three of them went straight into the Adventurers' Guild and sat down next to the distraught Bell.

After a long while, Bell slowly raised his head, realizing that there were people around him.

"Who...are you?"

"Mr. Bell, I deeply sympathize with what happened to your team." Lilith's voice was clear and calm. "We are members of the Frey Church and would like to know what happened."

"There's not much to say." Bell shook his head blankly. "We got a lot of fine iron ore in the labyrinth, but then we were targeted by raiders who stole our money and killed my teammates. I escaped by using the hunter's [Feign Death] skill."

"Is there anything unusual about the raider?" Lilith asked urgently.

"No," Bell covered her face, "It's all because we were too greedy, too greedy..."

After saying that, he stood up abruptly.

"I still have unfinished orders, so I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, he downed the beer in front of him in one gulp and left the guild in a daze.

The three exchanged glances and sighed in unison.

"Two beers and a goat's milk, please, please, put it on Frey Church's tab." Ethan raised his hand to order from the waiter.

"Don't you have any money yourself?" McCann asked irritably.

"Public matters are public matters, and private matters are private matters."

Ethan chuckled.

After saying that, he looked at Lilith, whose face was full of worry, his smile disappeared, and he became serious:

"So many days have passed, if someone had been infected with the blood curse, it should have broken out by now."

"We've investigated all the major events that have happened around Byronden these past few days, but we haven't found any trace of a witch."

"All that's left is the deeper parts of the maze."

McCann frowned: "You suspect the changes deep within the labyrinth were caused by the witch?"

"I can't guarantee it," Ethan said, shaking his finger. "And I can't rule it out either."

"Mr. Ethan," Lilith suddenly interrupted Ethan, turning to look at him, "I want to go to Ross Town and investigate the maze where you got the diary myself."

"Now that you mention it... ouch." Ethan suddenly realized something.

The last time I went to the Kru Labyrinth, the labyrinth was behaving very strangely.

The maze's terrain has changed, and the monsters have become smarter.

In particular, is the diary delivered by the monster necessarily genuine?

What if it's intentional to divert people's attention elsewhere?

Thinking hard.

He'd been so focused on finding the witch lately that he'd almost forgotten about it if Lilith hadn't reminded him.

"Bishop McKen, you'll be in charge of the labyrinth." Lilith took a deep breath.

"Mr. Ethan and I will head to Rosstown immediately to investigate the maze."