Into the Labyrinthine Maze City
Finishing up, there would naturally be opportunities to examine his eyes more closely.
Allen arrived at the public parking lot and climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV.
Magitech engineers were welcomed everywhere, so even without ID, it wasn't hard to make a living. He'd gotten his medical treatment and the car that way too.
Vito drove out of the city. The direction he headed was north—precisely toward the Saldos-Vega border.
Allen opened the passenger window and draped his arm over the sill. Whenever he spotted something novel in the landscape or a strange creature, his left eye would zoom in on command, expanding his field of view at the user's will.
The colorful dots, lines, and shapes he'd seen when taking down Nobak were gone.
It must've been overload from forcing on an unfinished eye. If it happens again, I can stabilize it with a mana essence stone. Or maybe the stone itself is the key to completion...
The eye had functions beyond just zoom.
Like the measurement devices he'd used as an assistant, it could detect mana flows or circuit anomalies. It consumed mana, but he didn't need to lug around extra gear.
Among artificial eyes for magitech engineers, only the top-tier line had this feature—so it was a win all around.
Uncharacteristically quiet, Vito swerved the wheel when the border checkpoint came into view.
Without a passport or ID, Allen couldn't pass through there legitimately. Even if he could, he'd face endless inspections and who knew how much wasted time.
That's why illegal entry existed. After a long drive, the SUV reached a mountainous area as dusk fell.
Allen and Vito clasped right hands. Warmth passed between them directly.
"Thanks for everything."
"I'm the one who should be grateful."
"We escaped together, so call it even."
"Fair enough. That's you all right. Be careful in Maze City—it's huge and vicious, swallows people whole. No joke. Don't lose your spine; hold your center. Not that you'd waver anyway..."
"Appreciate the advice. Where to now?"
"I'm originally from Vega—kidnapped young, but I remember the city name. Time to find family."
"Why not head straight there?"
"Had to see you off. Looks like they're gathering, just like the broker said. Get going."
As the smuggling broker had described, crowds swarmed the spot. Weak fish survive predators by schooling, and these folks followed the same strategy.
The classic "as long as it's not me" tactic.
After bidding Vito farewell, Allen quietly took position on the crowd's outskirts. Soon, armed brokers appeared and blasted a gaping hole in the border wall.
Before crossing, Allen glanced back. Far off, Vito waved. Allen waved in return and stepped forward.
Walking the dim mountain path, Allen quickly understood why they had to clump together.
Clop-clop-clop!
Horse hooves thundered deafeningly—and drawing nearer.
Whoosh! Boom!
Flare rockets lit the sky, turning the area bright as day in an instant. The flares, another magitech product, shone like miniature suns.
At the same time, a cavalry squad charged the smugglers. Saldos Federation border patrol.
Their mounts were hybrids blending unicorn or pegasus genes with ordinary horses—fierce-tempered but less finicky than the purebreds.
Needing to traverse varied terrain, they chose horses over vehicles. Smugglers' routes were always rugged like this.
Patrolmen whirled lassos cowboy-style, herding the intruders.
"S-save me!"
A lasso snagged a goblin. Its body shot upward, vanishing into the maw of a massive flying manta ray.
Not actually eaten—just stowed for handover to Vega authorities.
Some got trampled by hooves or tumbled to death down slopes, but the patrol ignored them.
"Hyah! Hyah! Run 'em down!"
"Please, let us through!"
"Shut it! You're all getting deported!"
"We just want jobs! We'll starve if we go back!"
"Think we're volunteers? Take it up with your own country!"
Bringing up the rear, Allen draped himself in cloth inscribed with [Camouflage]. The rune could serve many purposes, but here it needed to blend him into the surroundings.
Rune Letters were mystical script whose effects varied by engraver and intent, even for the same word.
Amid the muddy chaos of patrol and smugglers tangling, Allen vanished like a ghost.
Maze City (2)
Sitting in the passenger seat of the white SUV, Allen felt the dry wind rushing through the window and turned his gaze outward. Barren wasteland stretched endlessly, dotted here and there with green.
Unlike Ranka's hilly terrain, Saldos offered easy views to the horizon.
Straight-as-an-arrow roads abounded, and speedometers routinely topped 100.
"First-timers to Maze City always gawk at how vast the land is. You're no different."
A bushy-bearded man chatted as he drove.
At a motel doubling as a rest stop, he'd fixed a broken magicware tool for pay. A guest who'd witnessed it asked him to check their car's interior.
Luckily, it was a fixable issue for Allen. Conversation revealed shared destinations, so he'd hitched a ride.
The man was thrilled.
"Before the fix, the engine wheezed like an old nag. Now it's fresh as new. You've got skills."
"Thank you."
In response, the man flicked his eyes over, scrutinizing Allen's impassive face.
"Your expression never changes—I thought you were an android or golem under synthetic skin at first."
"I get that misunderstanding often."
"You should smile more."
"When the occasion calls for it."
Silence fell briefly. Sensing personal shadows intuitively, the man persisted anyway—not your average fellow.
"Then make occasions. Young, talented—you'll carve a spot quick. Once settled, explore slowly, find little joys. Or make new bonds."
"Appreciate the advice."
Mid-chat, the car slowed. A checkpoint loomed mid-road like a military gate.
A staffer in special forces gear checked the driver's ID, then sidled toward Allen's side.
"Driver checks out, but passenger... No passport or temporary permit?"
"Ah, almost forgot."
Allen slipped a wad of bills into the man's hand as he leaned in.
"Welcome to Maze City."
The human touch swayed him; passage granted instantly. As a self-governing city, it wasn't as tight as the border.
The SUV glided over the retracting barricade.
Soon, solar mana power plants clustered around.
Cloudy elsewhere, but climate-control magic had swept skies clear here—like a hole punched in the heavens.
They gathered sunlight, converted it to electric-attribute mana, and piped it to the city.
As Allen zoomed in to inspect, the man chimed in.
"Magitech engineer, eh? Aiming for Hextech or Chilseong?"
"No. Heading into the Labyrinth."
"Whoa... Chose the brutal path of labyrinth explorer. My boy's in puberty—always yapping about becoming the ultimate explorer."
"Dream big."
"Thinks EBI magic counts as his own power. Needs real skill, not gear. Kids don't get it."
Worry creased the man's face.
Labyrinth explorers drove modern civilization but faced mortal risks. Folks fixated on their fat paychecks, ignoring life insurance.
A father had to dissuade his son—and it was a fine sight to Allen.
"Hey, did you just smile?"
"I didn't."
"Nah, your lip twitched up."
Just then, cylindrical buildings rose into view, walls entirely transparent glass to catch the sun.
Allen shifted topics with a question.
"Vertical farms, right? Impressive."
Vertical farms stacked crops like apartments, controlling light, humidity, nutrients for perfect growth.
"Thought they were skyscrapers. Massive—can't see the end."
"Just a slice of the city. Get the scale now?"
"Knew it in theory, but seeing it hits different."
Maze City's Labyrinth dwarfed others worldwide—hence "Great Labyrinth," and the city's matching sprawl.
Floats and illegals swelled numbers beyond counting.
"Makes security iffy. Wall-jumpers everywhere... Not folks like you with legit skills, though. Dreamers with talent differ from money-chasers."
At the city outskirts, the man dropped Allen.
"Wanted to take you all the way, but got plans today."
"It's fine. Thanks for the ride."
"Fair trade. Anyway, nail your goals. If my boy pokes around the Labyrinth someday, give him a whack and talk sense, yeah?"
The man's artificial eye glowed blue—sign of transmission or comms.
It faded quick; he looked baffled.
"Huh? You skip neural expansion implants?"
Brain expansion surgery embedded magitechwear directly, bypassing eyes and ears for straight neural feeds.
Most got it young; pureists like orc docs or Allen were rarities.
Scratching his head, the man pulled a photo from the sun visor.
"Magitech engineer and no implant—weird. Anyway, here's my boy. Thoughts?"
"Felt the power of genes."
"Huh? Oh, spitting image? Haha!"
Laughing, he drove off.
Not a real plea—just his chattiness flowing naturally.
Kept Allen entertained the whole way.
Now, time for the true goal's first step. No wasting time sightseeing. Labyrinth-exclusive wonders awaited.
Walking the streets, a square window popped up before his left eye—visible only to him.
The vast comms network linking everything was called Myriad Phenomena. Nobak's eye research included access.
Allen skimmed public Labyrinth info as he entered the subway.
The entrance fell under city government control, so explorers needed affiliation.
No solid corp would take an ID-less guy, nor did Allen want employment. Next best: alternatives.
Plenty of explorer guilds.
Once in Maze City, becoming an explorer was easy. Rulers profited by stuffing the Labyrinth with as many as possible.
Allen's gaze lingered on the strongest, most skilled guild made for that purpose.
Breaker
Unlike easy-registration spots for the inept, Breaker tested skills—filtering mediocrity automatically.
Allen got off at the nearest station and stepped onto the escalator.