Lament of the Slave

Chapter 79: Thread

As the blinding light faded away, the green meadows and rolling hills under the false sky stretched before me. I was back, back on the first floor of the labyrinth, in a place where I had battled my first beast. It felt like a week since I've been sneaking through that calf-high grass covering the horizon when it was just yesterday that I stood on a small black platform with fading runes.

While a light breeze played with my mane, I looked down at my still bare feet, at the cold stone slab with etched runes beneath them. Was it just me, or was my mind playing tricks on me?

"Is it bigger?" I muttered out loud.

"What?" Deckard, already kneeling on the ground laying down some device, raised his head, puzzled by my question.

"I mean the platform. Does it get bigger when it moves the group?" I explained my query. My attention was already on the small shiny disc with the crystal in the center. "Now I'm more interested in that?"

"Yeah, it does, but wait..." He paused. "...are you telling me you came here without Thread?"

I pointed to the disk. "That's what it's called?"

"Traiana tits!" He scoffed and got to his feet. "You did. Are you dumb, girl?"

"Just, poor," I replied. On Earth, I'd be ashamed to admit it. Here? Not anymore. When you start from scratch, it changes your perspective. "I got a flyer at City Hall, but most of the things recommended there were too expensive."

"They are recommended for a reason," he said, reprimanding me, then looked off into the distance. "You must never forget where you are, in the labyrinth. It may not seem like it at first glance, but it's easy to get lost here."

My ears moved, slightly nodding. "Trust me. I'm fully aware of that. Last time, I had quite a hard time finding the way out."

Biting my lip, I remembered my first dive into these depths and my desperate search for the platform.

"Actually, I was wondering if anyone has ever got lost in the labyrinth, never found their way back?" I asked the question that had been on my mind a lot yesterday. The fear I felt when I thought I would be trapped here forever wasn't hard to recall.

"Hmm...they don't call life the best teacher for nothing. Don't forget the lesson because the danger of not finding your way back is a big part of being a seeker." He warned me, then sighed. "If you want to know the exact numbers of those who stayed in Fallens Cry ask at the City Hall. They'll even tell you what floor they didn't come back from."

"How do they know these seekers didn't just die?" Not that I wish they were dead, nor I was planning on dying here myself. I was just curious.

Deckard squinted his eyes, studying me. "Guess you didn't notice. When you got the mark, the cube produced a smaller one. Soul Dice. It's linked to you and unique as the mark on the back of your hand. When you die, the light goes out."

My gaze immediately fell to my hand, on the white tear on it. White tattoo, which faded as soon as I left the small platform. "Like when the mark went dark after I got the collar on my neck?"

"Yeah, exactly like that. It's not some all-powerful tracker. It has its flaws and limits, so do labyrinths. Magic tools, for example the slave collar you mentioned, are one of these flaws," he said, gesturing to the disk and then tapped the golden ring that appeared on his finger. "Thread exploits these flaws too. It's a basic magic tool seekers need..."

To sum it up, activation established a connection between the disk and the ring. It drew mana from its user to create a magic thread left behind as they moved through the labyrinth floor. Deckard's version of the tool had the option to hide this tether, which cheaper versions did not have. Generally, the higher the quality and the more expensive, the lower the mana consumption.