*Author's Note*

  I'll be taking a small break from progressing the story so that I can plan out the next arc, and in the meantime, I'll be re-telling previous and current events in the story from the perspective of different characters. I will likely write about ten to fifteen of these chapters before returning to the present and progressing the story.

  Hope you enjoy!

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  Point-of-View: Rai Rumel

  During: Introduction Arc, Goblin Maze

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  "H-Hey, your eyes are kinda scary, dude. Calm down, you're just being paranoid-," I began, placing a hand on Kuro's shoulder to try and calm him down.

  I couldn't help but flinch as he glanced back at me when I touched him. Woah, his expression……it sent chills down my spine as my blood froze. He seemed so……cold and murderous. We had just run into an Adventurer in this cave, and Kuro seemed very suspicious of this guy, he was on high alert and looked like he was itching to strike.

  Then, the man in front of us let out a sigh and chuckled with a shrug of his shoulders.

  "You sure are a suspicious one, aren't you? It's not as fun this way, but if you can see through me that well, I definitely can't let you live!"

  He then reached down for the ground as Kuro shot towards him, and the next thing I knew, the ground beneath us was rumbling and collapsing. I began to spring back, along with Key and Azyl, but we weren't fast enough to get to safety, the three of us losing our footing and tumbling down, the ground collapsing beneath us. I saw Kuro and Persia falling a ways ahead of us, Kuro flung his arm up, an explosion followed, and the light was rapidly fading as we continued to fall.

  I swung my sickle up, holding onto the chain as I did. The blade hit something, the whiplash nearly dislocated my shoulder, before slowing down my descend just enough, my back hitting the ground with a thud but nothing breaking. Pretty sure it was heavily bruised though. Ow……

  I got up with a groan and looked around as my sickle fell to the ground with a clang and I picked it up, but it was way too dark, I couldn't see a thing. I sparked up some lightning, just as an orange glow lit up a few meters away from me. I looked over in it's direction, to see Key and Azyl getting up, the ground around them was wet. Key had formed a small flame in her right palm to light up our pitch-black surroundings.

  "O-oh, uh……don't worry, guys, I didn't see a thing!" I assured them, looking away.

  "Huh, what are you……?" Began Key, before looking down and turning red, "Y-you idiot, this i-is water!"

  "Huh? U-uh, yeah, totally! It's definitely water-!"

  "No, seriously, it's water! Azyl uses Water Magic, he manifested some water to break our fall, stop jumping to weird conclusions, you idiot!" She snapped, standing up with a huff, before wincing as her right leg trembled.

  "Actually, I was just trying to break my own fall. I didn't know you were falling near me," Shrugged Azyl, before glancing at her leg, "Broken?"

  "No, I think I just sprained my ankle……," She grimaced, tenderly testing her foot but unable to put any weight on it.

  "Need a shoulder?" I inquired, walking over to them.

  "Huh, a shoulder……? Oh, you mean……no, it's okay, it's not that bad, I can still walk without too much trouble. Azyl, could you create some ice around my ankle to numb the pain?"

  "I guess so," He replied, encasing her foot in a block of ice.

  "Uh……this is too heavy, I can't lift my foot."

  "Fine……," Sighed Azyl, shrinking the block a bit.

  Huh, he did that pretty effortlessly……

  "Wow, you're pretty good, huh," I remarked with a raised eyebrow.

  "N-no, I'm not. So……where are we?"

  Oh, right……we'd fallen through the ground, I had forgotten about that for a sec.

  "It looks like we're in a passageway……maybe we can climb up these walls……never mind, they're too smooth, and I don't think I can chip any footholds into it, it feels pretty dense. Let's walk around, maybe we'll find an exit or a way back up," I suggested, seeing no other alternative.

  Half an hour later, it was clear that we weren't in a passageway, we were in a maze. And, right now……we were surrounded by about a dozen Goblins.

  "Hey, Key, stay in the middle and keep the area lit up……Azyl, let's take out these-!"

  "No, I'm, uh, not very strong. I'll, uh……make sure they don't attack Key and put out the light."

  He didn't sound very convincing……maybe he's just scared.

  "……alright, I guess. Back me up, then!" I exclaimed, dashing towards the Goblins and swinging my sickle at them, slicing across two of them before wrapping my chain around the neck of another, the first two disappearing into dust as I snapped the third one's neck.

  Even though they were monsters and would respawn, I still hadn't quite gotten used to killing them, it made me feel a bit conflicted, but I didn't have a choice.

  "You're so lazy, I cannot believe that you want to keep it hidden even in a situation like this," I heard Key sigh in exasperation.

  "Yeah, but……"

  "Maybe try expending just a little bit more energy than usual, or we're all gonna die!"……

  they sure got along.

  I streamed lightning through my sickle and slashed past the remaining Goblins as fast as I could. They may outnumber me, but these things are pretty weak, just like in most anime!

  Four more to go……

  I flung my sickle straight at one of them, striking it through the head, and began charging up lightning in my right hand. One of the remaining Goblins dashed at me, I quickly sprung up over it and tried to jump off its head, my foot landed at an awkward angle that broke its neck, and I just about managed to land without falling. That felt kinda ughh, I could feel its neck breaking just then.

  The lightning in my hand was sparking and crackling violently, I was letting it flow out freely so that it would look like a certain iconic technique……

  I then drove the mass of lightning straight at a Goblin in front of me, going through its chest.

  "Heh, Chidor-!"

  "Watch out, you idiot!" Exclaimed Key, as the last Goblin suddenly sprung up behind me with a rusty dagger raised over its head.

  Crap, I geeked out and got distracted……!

  It suddenly disappeared as its head got slashed off by a thin yet rapid blast of water, and I let out a sigh of relief as its dagger harmlessly fell to the ground with a clang.

  "Whew, that was a close one!"

  "What are you doing, you started off carefully but then threw that caution to the wind towards the end! And that last lightning attack, why were you wasting your Mana so much, you were just letting it leak out all over the place. In the event of the worst-case scenario, we would need to conserve as much stamina and Mana as possible-!"

  "Yelling takes stamina, calm down," Interrupted Azyl, earning a glare from Key.

  "Okay, that's it! Get us out of here, Azyl!"

  "……you're, uh, expecting too much of me."

  "Am I!? I've had it, I know you're holding back and saving your abilities as a last resort, well guess what……we're completely lost right now, so a last resort is our only resort!" She snapped, growing impatient and irritable.

  "Uh……what are you guys talking about?"

  "Nothing, she's just exaggerating and giving me too much credit. Well, I do have one thing that might work," He replied, seeming to get a bit annoyed the more he had to speak out loud.

  He then squatted down and placed a hand on the ground, water forming by his hand and rapidly spreading out like branches.

  "Whoa, cool……so, uh, what's he doing?" I whispered to Key.

  "Water Mapping, it's the sensory technique exclusive to Water Magic users."

  "Wait, can he, like……spread water throughout the entire maze? Does he even have enough Mana to pull that off?"

  "O-oh, uh……yes, that won't be a problem. It, uh, doesn't take up that much Mana."

  Woah, for real? It sure seemed like a super tricky and advanced technique to master and I would have thought it'd consume a ton of Mana……maybe I should have asked the reincarnation being dude about the specifics of each Elemental Magic type instead of impulsively picking Lightning Magic because I thought it was the coolest option.

  "That's a pretty ducking cool ability……ah, stupid autocorrect."

  "Huh?"

  "Oh, uh……never mind."

  A few minutes later……

  "Found the exit," Azyl informed us.

  "Awesome! Oh, did you find the other two?"

  "……"

  "……"

  "……do I have to?"

  "Huh, what are you talking about, of course you do!"

  "But I'm tired……"

  "Azyl……the sooner you get this done, the sooner you'll be able to get back home and sleep."

  "……good point."

  Wow, that actually worked. He continued spreading out his water with a sigh, and it didn't take him long to find them, but……

  "They're too far……"

  "You lazy little……," Groaned Key.

  "Hey, I know……can't they just follow your water streams and find us?" I suggested, "Wait, are you good on Mana, Az?"

  "……don't shorten my name. And, well……I'm, uh, running low on Mana, but I should have just enough left."

  After that, it was a waiting game. It took a while, but after some time had passed, we heard some footsteps approaching us.

  "They're here," Az let out a sigh of relief, cutting off the Water Mapping technique.

  They might be worn out or panicked, and they might be thinking this water stream is a trap, I should do something to let them know that they're safe and make sure there's no tension. I know, I'll go greet them……

  "KUROOO, YOU GUYS ARE ALIVE!!!!"

  I sprang at him, right as he lit up a spark of lightning, a look of alarm on his face before he narrowly dodged me.

  "Hey, you've got Lightning Magic too!? We totally match!"

  "Zip it……oh, try that again and don't blame me if I zap the shit out of you," He sighed irritably, glaring at me as I gave him a sheepishly apologetic grin.

  We then told them what happened after we crashed down and how we found them. Az then used his Water Mapping again to lead us to the exit of the maze, while Key used her flames to light the way. As we neared the exit, we passed by a couple of massive holes in the maze walls.

  "Wait, you made those?" I exclaimed in surprise.

  "U-uh, yeah, I kinda overestimated how much lightning I'd need to eradicate a bunch of Goblins……"

  "Overestimated? More like overkill……cool!" I exclaimed, staring at the holes in awe.

  Damn, I can't fire that much lightning in one go……I was kinda jealous. I noticed that he kept glancing back at Persia nervously when we passed by the holes……wonder what that's about. Ooh, I wonder if something happened while they were alone.

  After we continued moving, the two of them walked together at the back, Persia whispered something to him and he turned red, as she giggled softly. I averted my gaze before either of them noticed me……heh, I'm totally gonna tease him about this later.

  Not long after that, we finally reached the exit of the maze, leading back up. It was a long walk through the cave till we reached the outside, and man, did I let out a huge sigh of relief. We're free!

  Wait a second, what about the guy who attacked us?

  "So hey, whatever happened to the asshole who dropped up into that maze?" I inquired, as we began heading back to the Rustlands.

  "He fell down too, didn't he? I remember seeing Kuro toss some explosives at him as we fell down," Responded Key, thinking back.

  So that's what he did when he flung his arm up, he was throwing bombs.

  "Oh……we ran into him down there and killed him," Kuro replied indifferently.

  H-huh? Woah……he wasn't kidding, and……he said that so naturally, like it was second nature to him. Scary……

  "Y-you did? I mean, I don't really know how I would have reacted if I had run into the guy who literally tried to kill us, but……I don't think I could kill another human," I responded seriously, feeling kinda nervous.

  "During you entrance exam, your attacks against Admin Dile would have killed most people," He countered, raising an eyebrow.

  "Well……he was super strong, I had no choice but to go all out if I wanted to pass," I argued.

  I mean, I wasn't trying to kill him, I just wanted to make sure that I passed, and he was crazy strong so I had to go all out. Speaking of killing……I should probably find out what the others think of it, it's a good idea to get that out in the open.

  "Well anyway, I'm personally against killing another person. What about the rest of you?" I asked, looking at the others.

  "I'm fine with killing. Sometimes you come across people that the world would be better off without, like we just did. If the situation calls for it, I'll kill without hesitation," Kuro stated bluntly.

  I should probably try to avoid getting on this guy's bad side……

  "What about you, Persia?" Inquired Key.

  "I, uh……same as Kuro," She replied timidly, "A-and you?"

  "I believe that murder is justified under the right circumstances. For instance, killing a serial killer would prevent more innocent deaths. That being said, I don't know if I would actually be capable of killing someone if I was in such a position, I have never killed a person before. What about you, Azyl?" Said Key.

  "The Quest……" He began with his usual deadpan, letting out a yawn as the Rustlands' walls came into view.

  Huh, what was he talking about? The rest of us looked at him in confusion.

  "We……didn't collect a single green crystal."

  Oh, he was right……and we were all too tired to go back in, not to mention that it was getting pretty late. Today was a pretty eventful and tiring day, I was beat! It had been scary for a while, but also kinda thrilling……my old life had been so dull since I was sick and couldn't even leave the house, so this was nice……sure didn't want to get killed though, so I should get stronger. This was just the beginning!

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  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.