The Great Orcus Labyrinth I

(Shirou's POV)

After the commotion that day, Meld told everyone to show him our status plate so that he could train us according to our job.

When I handed him my status plate, he looked confused when he saw my job, because it was unknown to him. He stated that he only knew [Mage], [Priest], etc, and not [Magus], which I've already expected, but I was really surprised that I wasn't the only one with the [Magus] job, Sakura and Shinji had it too. They were surprised too when they discovered that I was a magus too, but their reactions were different. Both of them were surprised, but while Sakura was happy, Shinji looked at me with jealousy and hatred after seeing my stats and at Sakura because our stats were a lot higher than his. When Shinji looked at Sakura, she flinched and diverted her gaze. I noticed that something was wrong with them so I approached her.

"Sakura, you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, senpai," She said, but I doubted that and glanced at Shinji, who clicked his tongue and walked away silently. Our relationship was always bad because we never get along and our way of thinking was different

(Timeskip - 2 weeks)

We were trained by Meld and the court mage during this time, and our stats were rising quickly. In regards to magic training with the court mage, I sucked at everything he taught us due to not having an affinity with any element, which made the majority of my classmates underestimate me. And every day I would train every magecraft I knew.

Then when I was training with Meld, the class was surprised when I chose to train twin swords instead of a bow, as they were sure that I would choose a bow since I was the Ace in the Archery Club, even though I have sword related skills.

Some boys, seeing that I sucked at magic and using swords instead of a bow, thought that I was being cocky and showing off, so they decided to "teach me a lesson".

(A/N: Why does this sound like I am writing Xianxia?)

(E/N: Well it's kinda everywhere, humanity's stupidity is endless)

Needless to say that I beat them easily as I practised the battle style I saw in my dreams at the same time, which I felt was very suited for me. Everyone was surprised, even Meld, who had fought countless battles, could tell that my fighting style wasn't something that an amateur could do. Then Shizuku asked where I learned it since her family owned a dojo so she was interested in where I learned it, to which I replied that I watched someone doing it and I tried to replicate it. She wasn't that convinced but she shrugged it off since she couldn't force me to tell her.

Currently, my stats are like this.

[Emiya Shirou | Age: 17 | Male | Level: 8

Job: Magus

Strength: 120

Vitality: 140

Defense: 150

Agility: 140

Magic: 200

Magic Defense: 120

Skills: Incarnation of Sword [+Weapon Appraisal] [+Swordsmanship] - Archery - Clairvoyance - Magecraft - Projection - Reinforcement - Structural Grasp - Magic Resistance - Language Comprehension]

Regarding Sakura, she had an affinity with water and "Hollow", which I don't know what it does. She could also use a beginner magecraft like [Reinforcement], etc. And she did the minimum when it was physical training because she didn't like doing exercise.

Meanwhile, Hajime sucked at almost everything, whether it's magic or in physical training, but he wasn't discouraged as he went to the royal library to study different types of ores and practised [Transmutation] every day or asking other people with similar jobs for tips and techniques. He succeeded in making a revolver, albeit it was very low quality in my previous world.

The magic system in this world was a little complicated. The caster needs to chant an incantation, so the caster can transfer their mana into a magic circle, and the spell inscribed within that circle would activate, thus casting magic. It was impossible for anyone to directly manipulate their mana, so each spell needed its own corresponding magic circle.

Additionally, the length of an incantation was directly proportional to how much mana one could pour into a magic circle, so the effectiveness of a spell was directly proportional to the amount of mana used to cast it. And the more complicated a spell was, or the larger an area of effect it had, the more inscriptions needed in the magic circle to complete the spell. Which naturally meant that the magic circle itself needed to be larger too.

For example, if the caster cast a normal fireball, it needs a magic circle to perform it, while chanting the incantation. After the incantation, the caster's mana will be transferred to the magic circle and then the fireball will be created.

However, everything has an exception, and that was magical affinity,

Magical affinity was basically a measure of how well one's natural constitution allowed them to shorten chants and the mana consumed. For example, someone with an affinity for the fire element would no longer need to chant the entire incantation and the mana consumption would be lowered as long as the spell was a fire-based one.

Most people had some level of magical affinity. However, I and Hajime had absolutely no affinity with the basic 5 elements, for me, to cast a standard fireball spell, would require me to make a bigger magic circle and use more mana than normal.

Finally, there are 2 types of magic circles. The first type and the more common was disposable one, which engraved a magic circle on a special kind of disposable paper, being one-time use. And the second one was more convenient, which engraved a magic circle into a specific mineral, being reusable and their effectiveness was better than the papers.

Because of not having magic affinity, I and Hajime spent most of our time in the royal library to increase our knowledge about this world and it was also a way to find clues to how to return to our homeworld, albeit the chances are very low.

After the training, we would normally do our things as it was our free time, but Meld held us back and ended the training earlier and announced.

"Tomorrow, as part of your practical training, we will be going on an expedition to the Great Orcus Labyrinth. I'll prepare all the necessary equipment you guys will need, but don't think this is going to be anything like the monster hunts you've been going on outside the capital! You guys better prepare yourselves! Get as much rest as possible tonight so you're ready! That's all, dismissed!"

After he said that, everyone was getting excited. Tomorrow would be our first time to explore one of the 7 famous labyrinths, and, unlike the monster hunting that we did outside the capital, this would be more challenging and at the same time more dangerous.

(Timeskip - next day)

After breakfast, everyone gathered in the training yard and Meld gave us food provision and equipment. I chose light armour, a bow and 2 spare swords.

After everyone was equipped, we went to the outpost town of Horaud, together with Captain Meld and a few of his knights. It was a small town that primarily existed to service the adventurers who travelled there to challenge the Great Orcus Labyrinth. There were also soldiers gathered at the entrance of the labyrinth.

We first settled in an inn in the town, and unlike the rooms at the palace, these rooms were more "Normal". And each room had 2 people in it and I was in the same room as Hajime.

Tomorrow we would all enter the labyrinth. The plan was to go no further than floor twenty. So I borrowed some books related to the labyrinth. After reading some books, we decided to rest as tomorrow we would go to the labyrinth. But suddenly I heard a knock on the door and I and Hajime looked at each other and shook our heads.

"Nagumo-kun, are you awake? It's me, Shirasaki. Can we talk for a bit?"

Hajime froze immediately and I grinned. I stood up and went to the door, grabbing the handle. Hajime tried to stop me but he was too late, I was already opening the door.

"E-Emiya-kun?" Kaori asked in surprise.

"You thought it was Hajime, but it was I, Shirou!" I shouted while pointing my thumb at me.

"..." There was an awkward silence and Hajime approached me.

"Ah!" I exclaimed as if I remembered something, "I remembered I have something to do, so enjoy yourselves!" I said as I was walking away.

""W-Wai—" Hajime and Kaori tried to stop me but I just waved my hand.

"I can't hear anything," I said with a smug face.

I walked away and just wandered around the inn.

(TImeskip - Next Day)

After checking everything, we were separated into groups. In the front was the combat-oriented jobs, such as Kouki's group and others were in the front, while I was placed along with Sakura in the middle group, which were the support-oriented jobs. Hajime was in the last group, which was non-combat oriented...

We encountered many monsters along the way. And after reaching the 20th floor, Meld decided that would be our end, but before returning, we would rest for a while.

Our class spread around to their own groups. When Kaori noticed a shining crystal on the wall where she was resting.

"Wow, how beautiful!" As she said that, everyone followed her gaze and looked at the crystal.

"Oh, that's a Glanz crystal. And a pretty big one to boot. How rare," Meld said.

According to Meld, Glanz crystals were basically a type of raw gemstone. Though they held no special properties, their lustre and radiance made them popular among the noble ladies and their daughters. They were often processed into rings, earrings, pendants, and other jewellery to be given as gifts. Apparently, most girls were overjoyed to receive Glanz jewellery as gifts. It was among the top three jewels used in proposal rings.

"That sounds so lovely...," Kaori blushed when she heard Meld's explanation and was further entranced by the stone. She then stole a glance at Hajime. It was so quick that it almost went unnoticed. However, I and some people most definitely did take note.

"In that case, I'll go grab it for us!" Hiyama suddenly ran forward after saying that. He swiftly climbed up the debris of the crumbled wall, heading toward the Glanz crystal as fast as possible, but I started to feel something was off. Then Meld hurriedly tried to stop him.

"Hey! Don't just run off on your own! We're not even sure it's safe yet!" However, Hiyama pretended not to hear, and he was standing in front of the crystal before long.

Meld chased after Hiyama in an attempt to stop him. At the same time, I looked at one of the knights, who pulled out his Fair Scope, which was an artefact that was used to appraise, mostly to detect traps, and scanned the area around the crystal. A moment later, his face went pale and I grabbed my bow in case something happened.

"Captain! It's a trap!"

"What!? Stop!" However, both Meld and the knight's warning arrived a moment too late.

The second Hiyama touched it, a magic circle appeared in the centre of the crystal. I looked at it and the magic circle glowed bright, then grew large enough to encompass the entire room. It reminded me of the day we had been summoned.

"Crap, retreat! Everyone get out now!" Meld's words spurred everyone into action, and we all ran for the exit... but we didn't make it in time.

Light filled the room, and before long white was the only thing I could see. Then suddenly I was assailed by a momentary sensation of weightlessness.

I could feel the change of the environment and opened my eyes, but at the same time, I fell to the ground.

I stood up quickly, ignoring the fact that I just fell in my ass on my ground and looked around. Most of my other classmates were still on the ground, but Meld and his knights, along with Kouki and the other vanguard fighters, were already on their feet, examining their surroundings.

I concluded that this magic circle from earlier must have contained a teleportation spell.

We were teleported to a massive stone bridge. It was around one hundred meters in length. The ceiling also towered a full twenty meters above us. Then I looked below the bridge and below it was not a river, but instead a dark abyss with no visible end. Though the bridge was ten meters wide, it had no railing at all, so if someone slipped, there would be nothing to catch their fall.

We were teleported to the middle of the bridge. One side of the bridge was a passage heading further in, while stairs leading upward were at the other end.

After confirming the situation, Captain Meld immediately ordered everyone.

"Everyone, get up and head for the stairs! Now!" His voice was very loud and everyone hurried to follow his orders.

However, as soon as we started moving towards the stairs, new magic circles suddenly appeared on either side of the bridge, accompanied by a swirling torrent of dark red mana.

The dark red magic circles resembled pools of blood and gave off an ominous feel. They pulsed once, and waves of monsters began appearing.

There were skeletons wielding swords, their empty eye sockets gleamed with the same blood-red light. Within seconds, there were hundreds of skeletons in front of us.

Then from the biggest magic circle that formed, a monster with four legs and had some kind of helmet on its head, with its eyes also glowing red.

Everyone stared at it in slack-jawed horror, and I heard Meld's terrified whisper resounded surprisingly clearly throughout the room...

"Oh my god... It's... a Behemoth..."

(3rd POV)

Everyone got more nervous as they saw Meld, who was the reassuring figure of everyone, starting getting cold sweats.

Kouki, acting as leader of the class, wanted to ask the characteristics of the Behemoth, but before he could speak anything, the monster roared so loud that everyone had to cover their ears.

*ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!!!!!!!*

"Huh!?" The roar brought Meld back to his senses and started giving orders to everyone.

"Alan, take the kids and break through the line of the Traum Soldiers (the skeletons)! Kyle, Ivan, Bael, create a barrier! We have to stop that thing, no matter what! Kouki, head to the stairs with the rest of the students!"

"Please wait, Meld-san! We'll help too! That dinosaur thing is really bad news! We'll also—", Kouki tried to help, but Meld didn't let him finish speaking and refused his offer.

"Idiot! If that thing really is a Behemoth, you kids don't stand a chance! It's a monster that shows up on the sixty-fifth floor! Even the legendary adventurer, who everyone called the strongest in the world, couldn't stand against it! Now get out of here! I definitely won't let you kids die on me!"

Kouki was taken back by Meld's decision, but he still refused to leave. Meld opened his mouth to yell at Kouki, but before he could say anything, the Behemoth roared again and charged at them.

The knights immediately casted a high-tier barrier type spell surrounding everyone, and when Behemoth clashed against the barrier, the entire bridge started shaking like an earthquake.

Everyone was in fear, but their fear increased more when the skeletons were approaching them. They gulped their saliva and entered the battle formation, albeit they were still shaking in fear.

In the panic, someone pushed one of the female students from behind, and she fell forward. She groaned in pain and looked up, only to see a Traum Soldier swinging its sword right in front of her.

"Ah!" At the same time she let out that gasp, the skeleton swung its sword down at her head.

'I'm gonna die,' She thought, when suddenly the ground under the skeleton suddenly rose, making it lose its balance and falling on top of other soldiers. Behind the girl, Hajime was panting heavily due to his low mana reserve. The girl thanked Hajime and returned to the barrier. Then Hajime also helped others by doing the same with other skeletons.

There were also other skeletons but their heads were immediately pierced by reinforced arrows.

'Shit, at this rate my arrows will run out soon!' Shirou cursed in his mind, then he looked at the Behemoth, who was still trying to break the barrier, making the bridge tremble at every charge it did.

Meld was supporting the barrier and noticed that it wouldn't last long, so he ordered a retreat.

"Agh, Blast! It won't hold much longer! Kouki, you need to retreat! The rest of you as well!"

"I refuse! I can't leave you guys behind! We're all going to make it back together!"

"Kuh, now's not the time to go on an ego trip..." Meld grimaced as those words left his mouth.

It was difficult to dodge the Behemoth's charge as the bridge was too narrow for his massive body. So the best option would be to run while the barrier was still up.

Unfortunately, though, Kouki, who absolutely could not accept the idea of "Abandoning" anyone. Plus, to make matters worse, he still thought that he could take the Behemoth head on. The glint in his eyes clearly showed that he wanted to fight.

Meld realized it was the overconfidence of someone who was still wet behind the ears. It appeared that praising Kouki and the others for their skills to make them feel more confident had backfired.

"Kouki! You have to listen to the captain and retreat!" Shizuku had grasped the situation, so she grabbed Kouki's arm, urging him to retreat.

"Eh, this isn't the first time we've had to put up with your dumb antics, Kouki. I'm with you all the way!"

"Ryutarou... Thank you," However, Ryutarou's words solidified Kouki's resolve. Shizuku clicked her tongue impatiently at the exchange.

"You're letting the situation get to your head, stupid!"

"Shizuku-chan..." Kaori worriedly looked over at the irritated Shizuku. It was then that a certain boy ran up in front of Kouki.

"Amanogawa-kun!" Hajime screamed.

"N-Nagumo!?"

"Nagumo-kun!?"

"You need to retreat! You have to go back to where everyone is! They need you! Now!" Hajime yelled angrily at the surprised party

"What do you mean? And more importantly, why are you here!? You shouldn't be here! Leave this place is to us, Nagumo, and—"

"Hajime is right," Shirou appeared and interrupted Kouki while releasing another arrow from his bow. "Look behind, everyone is panicking because they don't have a leader," Shirou said while shooting another arrow at a Traum Soldier.

Kouki saw his panicking classmates slowly being surrounded by the Traum Soldiers. Then he realised what he needed to do, as he was one of the people in class that had AOE (Area Of Effect) attack skills. He nodded then turned to Meld to speak to him, but...

"Get down!" Kouki turned to Meld, planning to say "Sorry for retreating without you," but at that moment Meld screamed out a warning as the barrier finally shattered.

A massive shockwave sent everyone flying. The Behemoth let out a huge roar and the dust cleared, revealing everyone on the ground while groaning in pain.

Shirou, Kouki and others collapsed too, but they stood up quickly. Then they decided to try to buy some time.

Kouki, Ryutarou and Shizuku charged to Behemoth, while Shirou stood behind them trying to support and Kaori healing Meld and other knights, who although were veterans in the battlefield, have less stats than the students.

Hajime, who was kneeling beside Kaori, stood up and went near them and used [Transmutation] on the ground, trying to shake the monster's balance.

But no matter how many skills they used, it wouldn't leave a single scratch on the monster and due to its massive size, moving the ground wasn't really effective either. Then the Behemoth let out a low growl and stomped on the ground, creating another shockwave and sending Kouki and others flying again.

Hajime created an earth wall immediately using [Transmutation], and it could resist it due to not being so close to Behemoth.

Then the Behemoth seeing Hajime was still near, it was preparing to charge at him. Shirou, noticing this, used [Reinforcement] on his body to its limit and rushed to Hajime, dodging in time the charge of Behemoth.

In the meantime, Meld gathered the recovered knights and Kaori together, and carried Kouki and others to a safe place, as they were blasted by the shockwave for the second time. The students who recovered from the impact were bombarding the Behemoth with spells while slowly retreating.

Shirou, who had Hajime under his arm, as he was somewhat small and light compared to him, tried to return to the group while dodging the charges from the Behemoth, but suddenly a fireball was coming directly at them and the Behemoth. Due to appearing suddenly and in mid-air, Shirou didn't have time to dodge and closed his eyes while bracing himself for the impact, Hajime was doing the same.

Then the fireball hit them and the Behemoth, who was on the ground and broke the bridge, which was at its limits, making all of them fall while the Behemoth let out one final roar.

*ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!*.

"HAJIME-KUN!"

"EMIYA-SENPAI!!!!"

Kaori and Sakura shouted respectively, while one redhead guy and another guy who had hair like seaweed were smiling evilly.