DRAGONBORN SORCERER-Chapter 54: Orion Labyrinth [Pt—4]: Conclusion

[Congrats! You have defeated the enemy]

[Level up]

[Level up]

[Level up]

[Level up]

[Level up]

Before the intense flash cleared out, the system interface popped with the notification. Skyler looked at it with surprise as if he couldn’t believe that he actually defeated Dairon.

’For real!’ he thought, ’Wasn’t he supposed to be stronger? Photon Strike is only mid level and it actually defeated him?’

The flash faded and everyone else got their vision back. The clash of those attacks were insane. However, Skyler’s attack was more effective as not only did it prevented Dairon’s Dimension Dismantle attack, it also pierced through him, decapitating his body into two parts.

Yet, he wasn’t dead. He was defeated, but for some reason he was alive— though hardly before reaching his death anyway.

He ran out of his dark mana and the demons he summoned stopped coming.

Skyler stepped forward with his passionate demeanour. He stopped near Dairon who was counting his last breath. Seeing Skyler standing next to his severed body, he smiled proudly as though defeated by any warrior; fair and square.

However Skyler’s feelings weren’t mutual. He felt pity rather than proud of defeating such overwhelming foe.

"That wasn’t your full strength, was it?" He said, having a slight disappointment, "Care to explain why did you hold back instead of going all out."

"HAA-HAA-HAA." He laughed, "You’re indeed a formidable foe— an worthy opponent to face in battle. But alas! It wasn’t like I intend to hold back, rather it’s the labyrinth that took all the mana I had been preserving for so long."

"What?" Skyler raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

"It’s..." he coughed blood, "It’s the reality of this labyrinth. It’s a cage that has been constantly draining out my mana. That’s the very reason I was trapped in here instead of facing my death a long time ago."

’That explains what I intend to ask.’ Skyler thought, still looking bewildered by Dairon’s statements. ’At least he’s not telling lies. Might as well ask him the last part too.’

"Say Dairon." He inquired, "Do you know what the purpose behind this?"

"Beats me!" He smiled, "If I knew I might have destroyed it long before."

"The Floating Capital Niondra." Unexpectedly Frey decided to speak. She forwarded a few steps and continued, "In order to remain in its floating state it requires a vast amount of mana."

"Yeah, but that mana is supplied by the Mystic Academy." Maya replied.

"That’s what I used to think too." Frey said, thinking deeply, "But the more I study hard the more it kept bugging me."

"What do you mean?"

"Just think about it. The Mystic Academy doesn’t have any Sandrium Orb..."

’Sandrium orb?’ Skyler thought but didn’t intervened with what Frey was telling.

"And the curriculums we students perform isn’t sufficient to supply that amount of mana for it either. It doesn’t seem logical. And that’s where the Labyrinths come."

"But Labyrinths are supposed to keep magical beast from intervening the mana supply." Leon added, "What else reason there possibly can be?"

Frey felt silent. She was reaching to some conclusions but whether they were accurate or not, she hesitated. It was when Vitra tried to add something that seemed reasonable.

"What if it’s the opposite." She implied, "What if it’s the magical beasts from whom their draining out that amount of mana. That’s pretty convenient, isn’t it?"

Other students felt silent. They had no idea what they were getting themselves involved into. They didn’t have any idea how the Sovereigns operated El Niora and everything else.

"That’s...." Dairon interjected, "That’s a fair point. After all magical beasts mana preserve is a lot higher than stage-5 grace wielders. Besides, there’s no other possible reason for keeping me alive because I happened to be a stage-10 demonic entity— someone who is far stronger than a typical sorcerer."

’Stage-10 Demonic Entity?’ Skyler raised his concerns, ’But he doesn’t even seem stag-5 to me.’

It was time for Skyler to give his suggestions. Triggering the correct statement, he could easily manipulate Maya and the others. But he took a different approach.

"Anyway." He sighed, "What’s going on under the labyrinth isn’t our concerns. We were here to finish an assignment and we achieved that. It’s time for us to return."

"Fair enough!" nodded Leon and the others. But for some reason Frey didn’t seem to be satisfy with them. Instead, she tried to oppose the suggestion.

"Wait! Aren’t you guys curious what’s the purpose behind all of these? Why a demon is trapped here and other stuffs? We cannot possibly overlook the circumstances."

It was rare for her to act like that. She always had been the calm type of a person. But right now, she wasn’t herself. It concerned her classmates.

"Even if there’s something, what’re you going to do about it?" Skyler asked, glancing at her enthusiastic face, "Do you intend to go against the Sovereigns?"

"That’s ...."

She almost felt silent, and lowered her head. Her impression was unreadable as if she herself didn’t know what to about it.

"Haa-Haa-HAAA" Dairon laughed again. Even though he was at his worst condition, he still managed to last that long and his words annoyed Skyler.

"She sure is an intelligent one." He continued, "I hope one day you shall be the one to explore the truths—"

"Scavenge!" Skyler couldn’t let him finish before turning him into his drop loot. And in next instant, they got teleported back to the point they had started.

[Item Received: Dairon’s Third Eye]

[Usage: Unknown]

[Item Received: Demon General Core]

[Usage: Unknown]

The system showed him the result along with the level up rewards which he received.

"Whoa! We’re back." Leon murmured, however no one noticed him. Everyone’s gaze was at Skyler.

"What did you do to him." Frey asked, looking at Skyler surprisingly, "He was saying something."

"Which isn’t important right now." Skyler replied, his gaze shifting at Vitra, "Deactivate Summoning Lord."

A small magic circle appeared beneath Vitra, which teleported her back to Rosevill. The others were stunned to see him doing something they’d never seen before.

"Listen!" He said before anyone could ask him anything, "What happened here, keep it a secret. I don’t want to make the professor worry about anything. She might not give us assignment anymore. I know you don’t want that."

"That’s true.. but..." Maya stared at him, "you sure about this. I think it’d be best for us to at least inform the trap on tenth floor."

"I don’t think that won’t be an issue anymore." Leon added, "Besides, the demons are gone too. It may function as usual."

"We don’t have to worry about the labyrinth anymore." Frey said, walking towards the giant door which just opened. She might hide it, but her impression was a bit off as though frustrated on what happened here.

She kept forwarding.

They couldn’t comprehend her behaviour. It was just how she used to be— self-depended.

**********

The day was hassle, and Skyler was extremely exhausted while they were returning. Frey was walking alone in frustration before them. And others were walking behind Skyler.

It’d take some times to reach the academy and repot about what happened back into the Labyrinth, and to pass the remaining time Skyler thought of something.

"Hay." He called out to them, "Earlier, Frey mentioned something about Sandrium Orb. Do you guys know what it is?"

"Why of course we know what that is." Maya replied, forgetting everything that happened back there.

"Care to explain?"

"Sandrium is actually a legendary metal." Leon spoke, "It’s very hard to acquire because only higher level magical beasts and monsters who required more mana than their body can actually produce, possess this metal as their body part— such as Horns of the Minotaur, Fangs of the Mystic Fenrir and some more legendary beasts like them..."

"Like the tail of the white serpent?" Skyler interjected.

"Yeah, that’s also Sandrium." Emily replied, "Have you seen one before?"

"No, just heard of it, that’s all." He chuckled, "What’s the use of it anyway?"

"Giving the proper requirements, one can preserve mana in it— more than their body’s mana reserve. With a Sandrium orb, a mere Stage-1 can even defeat a Stage-10 mage. But its hard to find a Sandrium orb nowadays."

"I see." He replied but didn’t said that he already had one in his inventory.

’Seems like a had my answer all along.’ He thought, ’It was just never really occurred to me. But why didn’t the system informed me about this. Didn’t it know the usage of Sandrium or what?’

But he let it slide. Instead of thinking about it further, he asked them, "Say, if you were to have a Sandrium orb, what’d you do with it."

"The question maybe odd, but the answer is very simple." Leon replied, "We’d have used it to partake in the tournament. It’s the only possible way to defeat those upperclassmen."

’Speaking of which, I still need to challenge a Mystic Scholar in order to participate in the tournament.’ Skyler thought again, ’Seems like I’ve got the perfect thing to gamble over a fighting seat.’ He grinned, rather sinisterly.