The clopping of horse hooves and the murmur of a lively town flowed in and out of the shaded carriage. Sitting on the floor of the carriage, leaning against a wooden crate, sat a figure hooded in a ragged brown robe. The smell of animals mixed in with the smell of freshly cooked food acted to accentuate the nature of the bustling town which the carriage came to a stop at.

  “Missy! We are here.”

  From the driver’s seat of the carriage a large man in his late thirties looked back towards his living cargo. The hooded figure stood, revealing the slender profile of a young women. Long black hair fell from the woman’s shoulders and swayed back and forth in front of her.

  “Thank you for the ride, mister.”

  The hooded figure dug into a leather pouch attached to her belt and walked forward, handing several coins to the large older man.

  “Thanks lass, you sure you will be okay here by yourself? There are lots of rough folks in this town.”

  The man seemed genuinely concerned for his young customer.

  “I appreciate it, but I will be fine.”

  The young women walked to the back of the carriage and jumped out. Disappearing from the man’s view. The hooded women looked around her. The busy town center was filled with merchants in their stalls, travelers finding inns, and guards patrolling the bazaars. Her eyes landed on one particular area. A large wooden building sat slightly off the road. Adorned across its large fa?ade was a coat-of-arms. Behind a large shield a dragon stretched out to the left. The symbol of the adventurer’s guild.

  The majority of power in the human world was concentrated into three areas: Magic Schools, Houses of Nobility, and the Adventurer’s Guild. It was not uncommon for these three primary areas to intermingle. Brookewood had many children of Nobility enrolled in its prestigious institution. Magic Schools had inherent limitations and restrictions. What the hooded women needed now was freedom. She walked forward across the muddled streets and up onto the wooden entryway of the guild. She stepped through the threshold and into a den of worldly entrepreneurs. The smell of alcohol and meat and sweat filled the air.

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  “Lily!” a familiar male voice called out.

  Lily traced her eyes towards the voice and found a table with two familiar faces. Manrin and Eisel sat at a round wooden table. Manrin was waving towards Lily while Eisel smiled idly. Lily walked over towards the table and sat down.

  “I got the permit.” Lily said with a smug look on her face.

  “Abusing your relationship to the almighty great saint Rel again?” Eisel said with a sly voice.

  “She caused us all a lot of problems, it’s only right that I get to abuse her name.”

  After the Great Labyrinth Outbreak that occurred one year earlier, Rel was recognized as a great saint, the fourth Divine magic user in all of history. Rel quickly took to purging the church and placing herself in charge of a subjugation squad which hunted down evil doers and demonic beings. As a Divine magic user her word was the word of God, and when she ordered the church elders to resign, they had no choice. Lily wasn’t sure what Rel was thinking anymore, but she was certainly caught in religious zealotry. At the very least, her name was useful. Lily wasn’t sure she could ever forgive her for chasing Meimei away.

  “With that permit we can get one step closer to becoming an advanced level adventure, and head back into the Labyrinth.” Manrin said, taking a bite of a piece of bread.

  After the Great Labyrinth Outbreak Ardi had left to seek his own answers in life. Manrin and Lily were all that were left of the original team. Eisel had been one of the main fighters on the front line against the outbreak and had suffered a serious injury. Due to that injury her use of her Dark Contract was limited. She had requested to Join Lily’s new team, in order to gain her strength back, and to challenge the Labyrinth again. After the labyrinth break it was discovered that the being who was imprisoned in the labyrinth had been sagaciously trying to escape – and had come close to succeeding. The Kingdom was putting together a team to fully clear the Labyrinth – something rarely done. Clearing a Labyrinth meant killing the Core-keeper. In some labyrinths that was merely a dragon or large beast. However, in this labyrinth, it would be a being capable of wielding an incarnation. Likely, a mythical monster.

  “The contract,” Lily began, “is for slaying undead in a nearby village.”

  Lily took a piece of parchment out of her leather bag and moved it towards Eisel and Manrin.

  “The Church believes that there is a necromancer acting in this area. They have requested it be neutralized.”

  “Necromancer…” Manrin trailed off.

  “Yes – a forbidden magic – where do you even learn something like that?” Lily eyed Eisel.

  “I don’t know anything about necromancy… sheesh, a girl makes one forbidden contract…” Eisel teased.

  The group finished their drinks and stood up, taking their bags and heading out of the guild hall. Their next step would be the nearby village.