After swallowing my parent and siblings in cold blood (I'm exaggerating), I began heading out of the cave, my small grey feet stepping quietly across the uneven stone floor as I moved away from the now-empty sealed chamber behind me.
I was currently at the 1666th floor of the Labyrinth, and if my knowledge of labyrinths from earth was the same here in this new world...
Then only the most powerful and deadly monsters would live in a place like this, lurking in the deepest levels where weaker creatures rarely dared to venture.
Well, Shion lived here as the final boss, so that idea seemed to hold some truth after all.
Which reminds me; who was that poor skeleton my siblings kept occasionally munching on from time to time?
Some seriously powerful adventurer, perhaps, someone who had pushed their limits to reach such a dangerous depth.
I mean, to get all the way down to that point?
They had to be really strong and skilled, and determined beyond what most people could manage.
But yeah, I guess just being strong isn't going to cut it in the end, huh?
Strength alone clearly hadn't been enough to save them.
For now, I looked indistinguishable from a normal human androgynous kid walking through the tunnels...
Save for my grey skin that had a smooth, slightly unnatural sheen, and my sharp fangs that peeked out when I spoke.
Also, my claws that clicked softly against the rock with each step of my feet, and the complete lack of genitals that made the whole form feel even more off.
Ugh, I need some clothes to hide this thing properly.
I don't even have a butthole or any of the usual openings that a real body should have.
What an abomination I had become in such a short time.
I didn't feel human at all anymore. I literally felt like I was just wearing a human skin.
Like a costume that I could slip on and off, so I could still feel the slight discomfort of the disguise pulling tight in places, and the strong need to change back to my original monstrous self where everything felt more natural.
But yeah, that's not happening anytime soon.
What if I met an adventuring party on the way up through the levels?
Actually, I'm over here assuming adventurers are even a thing in this new world.
That may be wrong and I could be completely off base with the idea.
But if there's a labyrinth full of dangers, a champion like Beowulf enforcing seals, monsters roaming freely, and other folklore entities existing out there...
They could just possibly have an adventurers guild set up somewhere to handle all of it.
I can't wait to infiltrate it and act all weak and innocent as the party's healer, only to emerge at the perfect moment and save them when it really counts during a tough fight.
They'll end up sucking up to me afterward and becoming my loyal minions without even realizing how it happened.
Hehehe...
Ah!
My thought process is going in a direction of domination and hubris again, the ideas flowing too easily and feeling a little too satisfying for comfort.
***
Well... The walk was a long one, stretching on through twisting passages that seemed to never end.
Gabriel alerted me in its calm internal voice that I've been walking for about 20 hours already without stopping.
But I haven't seen a single monster during the entire time, the tunnels remaining strangely empty and quiet around me.
Could it be, like Shion, the powers here are just in some chamber sleeping, or are sealed?
Should I be glad about this quiet stretch?
I should, because it meant no unnecessary fights so far.
But the reality is different when I stop to really think about it...
I actually want something to show up.
Maybe because I'm so prideful now with all these new powers, I am refusing to admit that I miss Shion already.
The absence of her deep voice and gentle pats were leaving an empty spot in my chest.
Actually, I miss those gross siblings of mine too, even if they were a bit chaotic at times.
But the only way to access them right now is to enter my own stomach intentionally.
I haven't gotten such a skill or ability yet that would let me do that easily.
All I did now was walk the dangerous and treacherous paths, narrow bridges spanning deep chasms, and large junctions where multiple tunnels met in this massive cave world that stretched endlessly in every direction.
The cave itself felt immense and ancient, its walls rising high into shadowed heights that disappeared into blackness overhead.
In some places, clusters of glowing crystals embedded in the rock provided faint, eerie light — soft blue and pale green hues that cast long, shifting shadows across the uneven ground and made the darkness feel alive and watchful rather than completely empty.
The air carried a damp, earthy smell mixed with something sharper, like maybe ozone from the magic saturating the stone.
My footsteps echoed softly, the sound bouncing back from distant walls in a way that made the silence feel heavier.
Occasionally a faint draft brushed against my grey skin, carrying the chill of deeper tunnels.
While the crystals hummed with a low, almost inaudible vibration that prickled along my skin.
When I asked Gabriel how I was going to get out, I mean how I would actually KNOW I was getting closer to the exit and not just wandering in circles, it suggested in its usual computer-lady tone that I follow the flow of air and the subtle changes in magic lightness around me.
So, the air is thinner and colder over here in the deeper sections, but magic is extremely, extraordinarily dense, pressing against my senses like a heavy blanket that made every movement feel lively and more deliberate.
If I can sense and follow the path where air becomes much fresher and lighter while the magic grows noticeably lesser in intensity, then I will reach higher grounds and eventually find the way out toward the surface.
Which made me realize once more as I continued walking;
The air here was extremely thin, they might be zero oxygen in it...
Not to mention, I wasn't breathing at all.
Not until the moment I realized I wasn't breathing and then consciously started pulling air in and out of my lungs(?) like a normal human would.
But if I "hold my breath" for a long time, nothing happens — no dizziness or panic, and no urge to gasp.
How is this even possible in a body that still looks mostly human on the outside?
{Answer: Master is able to survive without oxygen as the phenomenon is not needed for your current form. Master is but a lump of sentient flesh that operates on different rules entirely.}
Am I being insulted right now by my own skill?
Gabriel just insulted me unintentionally with that blunt description, the words landing in a way that made my small shoulders tense for a second before I shook it off with a quiet huff.