Survive the labyrinth with EX-grade traits

Boom-

The Colosseum was filled with the deep sound of drums.

Two identical twins, with only a small mole on their faces as the only difference, walked slowly towards the stage.

“Hi-ya!”

Jump! Whoosh!

As they walked, they suddenly started tumbling, flipping through the air and capturing the audience’s attention with their flashy movements.

Two men, one playing a large drum and the other a small drum, followed them onto the stage, but they were already overshadowed by the twins’ energy and went unnoticed by the audience.

Boom, boom, boom!

The only thing indicating their presence was the passionate sound of the drums.

“The bald twins!!!”

“Look at their bodies! They’re like statues!!!”

The twins shouted back at the audience.

“Don’t call us bald or octopuses! We have names, Jas and Bas!!!”

Boom, boom, boom!

“Let’s go, bro!”

“Let’s go, bro!”

The twins warmed up to the rhythm of the drums.

They began to move in earnest.

Pat. Paba-bak!

Whoosh-

The older brother performed a backflip and landed on the younger brother’s hand, maintaining his balance and continuing to spin like a top.

“Hut! Cha!”

The younger brother ran away, and the older brother jumped high and landed on his head.

The older and younger brothers, still connected, performed different high-difficulty moves.

“Look closely!!”

Whoosh!!

Suddenly, the younger brother created a brown flame with his magic and spun around, creating a whirlwind.

“We’re ready, so throw it!”

As the twins said this, magic circles appeared throughout the stage, and large boulders the size of a human torso were shot at them.

The twins, with flames surrounding their bodies, performed an axel jump and smashed the boulders with style.

Thud- Kwack!!

It was like a Taekwondo performance where a practitioner jumps high and breaks wooden boards with their feet.

The audience was thrilled to see the twins smashing the boulders with their feet.

“The bald twins!!!”

“Jas and Bas! The best!!!”

“Show us more flashy moves!!!”

The twins, hearing the audience’s cheers, performed even more incredible acrobatics in the air.

They ended their performance by standing in front of a house-sized rock, mirroring each other’s poses.

“Hoo.”

“Haa.”

Ssss.

Perhaps due to a special technique, the twins compressed the flames surrounding their bodies into their fists and exchanged glances.

“Three!”

The audience, who had caught on, counted along.

“Two!”

Kudduk-

“One!”

“Wooooaaahh!!!”

The twins shouted and punched the rock simultaneously, with not even a hair’s breadth of difference.

Twakwaang!!!

A sound like an explosion filled the Colosseum.

It was a punch with all their strength.

Everyone expected the rock to shatter into pieces when the punch landed, but…

Psssh!

Even the audience was surprised… The giant rock, which was as big as a house, was now reduced to dust, with no trace of it remaining.

“Wooooaaahh!!!”

Clap, clap, clap!

The audience was thrilled by the intense performance.

“That was amazing. I didn’t expect the rock to disappear into dust so quickly…”

Even Lumia was surprised, her eyes wide.

‘I didn’t know her eyes were so big. She’s always so calm and expressionless.’

“Haha! If you were to choose the most memorable moment from what you’ve seen today, I think I’d choose the look of surprise on your face, Lumia.”

Of course, her usual face is beautiful, but her current face, filled with emotion and vitality, is also beautiful. I said this, and Lumia squirmed and didn’t know what to do.

“Ugh. Stop. I’m, I’m embarrassed…”

She covered her face with her hands, but her ears were flapping like a cat’s, asking for more.

What a cute girl.

‘Yes. This is a good sign. I can slowly replace her bad memories with good ones.’

“That was the twin martial artists, Jas and Bas! We hope you enjoyed the show!!!”

The twins’ show ended amidst the audience’s excitement, and everyone was still savoring the afterglow of the performance.

• Buzzing.
•
But just then, the orbs floating in the sky suddenly went dark, and the Colosseum was enveloped in pitch darkness.

“What, what’s going on! The lights went out??”

“Is this an accident?”

“What kind of amazing thing are they going to show us now?”

“Haha. I know because I saw it yesterday! This is how Asan’s show begins! It’s the blind swordsman, Asan, it’s his turn!!!”

The blind swordsman, Asan?

Yes, I remember hearing people shouting his name when the circus started.

Pat! Paat-!

“Ooooh!!!”

“Brother!!!

A little while ago, the orbs that had gone dark lit up again, illuminating the area, and most of the light was concentrated on the center of the stage.

There, a man in a black dobok, which was rarely seen in clothing stores, stood with his eyes covered by a blindfold, holding a sword.

He looked to be in his early thirties.

“Wow, he’s handsome in a cool way. Now I understand why the women are so crazy about him.”

“In my eyes, no, objectively speaking, Ahren is better.”

“Huh?”

I was surprised and flattered by her unexpected compliment.

I turned my head and opened my mouth, but Lumia was already leaning towards me with a pleading look on her face.

So I quickly patted her head and ears.

“Hehe.”

Her eyes slowly closed, and her smile widened.

“Ha!”

At that moment, Asan shouted on stage.

‘Oh, is the show finally starting?’

Clink.

Asan’s show began with a fierce draw of his sword.

Swoosh!

“Aah!”

The sword blade drew a graceful arc through the air.

The sword, reflecting the light focused on him, gleamed with a sharp aura, ready to cut through anything.

Asan swung his sword with a light and cheerful rhythm, but then took a serious step forward.

Whoom-

“It’s sword energy! Wow!!!”

“Even though he’s blind, he’s so skilled. You can see how much effort he must have put in!”

Sword energy?

‘Yes, this is definitely different from a sword with just infused magic energy. Is this the next level I should aim for as a swordsman?’

I had heard people talking about enlightenment at the next table, but I had brushed it off as just a game, thinking that such a grand thing couldn’t happen from just playing around.

But that was a mistake born from ignorance.

The sword, which seemed to have absorbed the clear blue energy of the sky, had a solid and honest presence, and its movements revealed the traces of intense training.

Whoom.

Ssseak-!

Advancing and retreating, sometimes twisting and turning lightly, Asan’s sword dance combined light footwork with heavy movements, and…

“Whoooaaahh!!!”

“Haaap!”

The sword dance wasn’t the end.

A shadowy figure, dressed in black with a mask covering their face, appeared with a weapon and began attacking Asan from various parts of the stage.

“Kyaaaah!! Is that a monster??”

“Calm down, it’s all part of the script! Look, Asan isn’t panicking at all, he’s still swinging his sword!”

That was true.

The sword dance continued, and the countless agreements in the performance created a thrilling atmosphere, making Asan’s sword shine even brighter.

I could see it.

The countless trajectories of the sword’s movements, one after the other.

The confident tip of the sword, and the footsteps that supported it all.

[Your understanding of swordsmanship is rapidly increasing.]

Ugh!

“Kwik!”

“Oh, Ahren!”

[Chaos says that you should close your eyes now, as you’re overusing the Chaos Eye to keep up with the Chaos Eye’s achievements, and it will become more and more painful.]

I focused on Asan’s sword dance, trying to absorb every detail, but I ended up straining my eyes so much that the blood vessels burst, and I felt pain as if someone was poking me with a needle.

I had unwittingly overreached, trying to grasp things that were beyond my current level.

‘Still, it’s very painful… But thanks to this, I feel like I’ve grasped something.’

[Chaos says that you should also take care of your body while you’re at it.]

Indeed, coming to the circus was a great decision.

.

.

.

“Ugh. I think I overdid it as the first performer. I’m so tired.”

Shurika slumped her shoulders and sighed.

“But everyone loved it, so it was worth it. Hmm, it’s always thrilling to be the center of attention, whether it’s in the dungeon or anywhere else! It’s so enjoyable!”

Shurika covered her mouth and laughed.

The circus troupe had rented out the Colosseum for a few days to prepare for a big performance, and everyone had gathered together for the first time in a while.

‘The result was very satisfying. Although we spent a lot of money, we’re not in a financial crisis, and the leader will take care of any minor issues!

Anyone who has lived in the Dungeon City for a while would know about the Colosseum in Sector 5, and today was no exception, with hundreds of spectators gathered.

‘Of course, our Lightitia Circus is also famous, which helped attract the crowd. Hmm… I should rest until my magic recovers. Let’s go back to the inn.’

Shurika glanced at the ongoing performance and then headed towards the inn that the circus troupe had rented along with the Colosseum.

Thud!

“I’m back! …Oh, are you all outside waiting? By the way, I don’t see Medea. Is she sick or something?”

Shurika, with her hair tied back, called out to Medea in a loud voice as she headed towards her room.

Click!

“The door’s open. I guess she got lost on the way. Let’s just go to bed, okay?”

As Shurika turned around, she noticed a beautiful woman with light-blue hair and sharp eyes standing behind her, quietly observing her.

‘Something’s off about her. What’s going on? She doesn’t seem like the Medea I know.’

“Medea! I thought you had left, but you were in the building? Are you sick?”

“Hmm. Sick? I just went to get something and came back. I need to go out again before my turn comes up.”

“Really? I thought something was wrong, but I’m glad it’s not! But…”

Bang!!!

‘Damn, I missed! What do I do now? I’m out of magic energy!’

As soon as Shurika heard Medea’s response, she realized something was wrong and lashed out with her whip, but Medea quickly dodged the attack.

The whip, which was meant to be a decisive strike, missed its target and dissipated into the air.

“What are you doing?!”

“You’re not Medea! She doesn’t talk informally to people. Medea always uses polite language with everyone, regardless of age or gender. She’s a crazy woman.”

Bang! Bang!!

“And even if I’m tired, you shouldn’t be able to dodge my attacks like that! If you were really Medea, you wouldn’t be able to dodge my attacks like this, as your physical abilities are pathetic!”

‘If I don’t escape this situation soon, I’ll be in trouble. I need to pretend to be pressured and try to get out of here.’

Flames erupted from Shurika’s whip.

“Whoever you are, I need to find out what happened to Medea. So…”

Whoosh!

“Let’s fight until one of us is knocked down!”

Bang! Bang!!

“Haaaah!”

“Aaaahh!!!”

Shurika’s whip, surrounded by bright red flames, whipped through the air with a menacing sound, faster than the speed of sound.

“Aaaahh!!!”

After a few misses, Shurika managed to hit the arm of Medea, or rather, the thing wearing Medea’s skin.

‘Now!’

As the thing’s arm fell off, dripping with blood, Shurika tried to escape from the inn to call for help, but…

“⋯Tehelrum Septens.”

Squeeze-!

The thing, with its head bowed, stretched out its arm and whispered a short incantation, and thin purple tentacles emerged.

Shurika struggled, but it was impossible for her to break free from the tentacles, as she had already exhausted her magic energy.

“Who are you?”

“Let go of me right now! Do you think you can get away with this? Let me go!”

“Shut up and listen.”

The thing whispered in Shurika’s ear.

“I am Irmela, a servant of the great Tehelrum, and a fallen one. Haha, don’t worry. I won’t kill you.”

As the words ended, Shurika’s body trembled.

“You, you’re… You’re a servant of the evil god! Those damn things! I thought you guys had disappeared for a few years, but you found another hole to crawl into, didn’t you? I won’t let you dirty trash like you stay in this city!”

Squeeze!

The thing’s words seemed to have struck a nerve, as the tentacles tightened around Shurika’s neck.

“Watch your mouth. I might change my mind about not killing you.”

“Kuk. Kkuk.”

Slick.

“Haha! Haha! Cough. Cough. Cough.”

“Well, it’s not much different from dying anyway.”

Irmela laughed sinisterly.

“Hmm, it seems like I was found out sooner than I expected after taking control of her body.”

Click!

As the thing clicked its fingers, the tentacles tightened around Shurika’s neck again.

“Since my plans have already been derailed, instead of keeping you alive⋯ Okay, I’ll use your cute little spirits.”

“You bastard!!! I’ll never leave you alone…”

Thud.