I could see what he meant now. As we entered the curve, it became clear that it led back to where we had started. We hadn’t discovered a new pathway. We had merely completed a huge, gradual circle without realizing it due to our slow and cautious progression.

  The revelation disappointed everyone, but Rabbit’s comment brought an unexpected lightness to the moment. “You know, I agree with Sana. We should head back,” he quipped.

  His words, ironic given our unintentional return to the start, made me burst out laughing. As my laughter filled the air, everyone turned to look at me, their expressions a mix of confusion and exasperation.

  “Oh, come on.” I chuckled. “It’s somewhat funny, right? Especially since we spent all this time arguing about whether to go back.” I paused, glancing at Sana. “Looks like I finally agree with you, Sana. We should head back.”

  Though they were visibly frustrated, Kaylie’s mood lightened, and she remarked with a smirk, “Finally, he sees the light. Alf, you lead the way.”

  Jack laughed in response and playfully shoved me back toward the hallway. Thankfully, this section was free of traps. Sana, however, didn’t share in the amusement, her expression stern.

  “Should we discuss what the symbols mean?” Sana said with a straight face.

  “Yeah. Let me review the symbols we’ve found so far. The first symbol we encountered was three horizontal lines stacked on top of each other. The second and fifth symbols were both a single horizontal line. The third and sixth symbols were each a circle. The fourth symbol was a horizontal line connected to a vertical line. The seventh was two horizontal lines connected by a vertical line. The final symbol we saw had three horizontal lines with a vertical line on either side. Does anyone have any ideas?” I asked, trying to piece together the puzzle as I spoke.

  “Okay, here’s what I’ve been thinking,” Sana began. “I thought these might be directions for navigating a maze, but we haven’t found any branching hallways at all.”

  “I don’t think that would work, even if we did find a maze,” Rabbit countered, sharing his thoughts with me. “The presence of circles in the symbols makes it unlikely. It doesn’t make sense to circle back in a maze intentionally. You know my thoughts on this, though.” His thoughts on the subject were evident to me, but I didn’t know what to make of his solution, so I ignored it for now.

  I relayed Rabbit’s point to the group to include them in the conversation. “Good point about the circles. It’s unlikely we’d want to go in circles intentionally in a maze. Any other ideas?”

  Sana continued, “Did you notice the circles were engraved lower on the tiles? They might not represent circles. Maybe they mark a specific spot. It could be a place you want to reach, or a place where something valuable is hidden.”

  “I hadn’t considered that. It sounds logical, but let’s keep brainstorming ideas about what these symbols might mean,” I responded, attempting to lead the discussion, though I doubted I was the leader.

  Jack couldn’t resist a jab at my choice of words. “Brainstorming? Ha. You have some crazy sayings, Alf. Why don’t we lightning talk or rain sit while we brainstorm?” he mocked. I hadn’t thought about how those words might sound, but since I hadn’t coined the terms myself, his teasing didn’t touch any sore spots.

  I laughed off his jest. “Good one, Jack. But let’s stay focused on the symbols.” My nonchalant response seemed to take him aback. He was aiming to ruffle me, and my indifference seemed to irk him even more.

  Realizing he didn’t have a comeback ready, Jack echoed my earlier words, almost childishly, “What do you think they mean?”

  “Okay, here is what I think,” I spoke to the group. “They are numbers.”

  I started when Rabbit broke in and said, “You thief! You didn’t even like my number theory.”

  I was totally stealing Rabbit’s theory, but I still hoped it was wrong because I didn’t know what the answer meant.

  “You see, there are three groups that make three sets of numbers, totaling nine. The horizontal lines represent numbers one through three. The horizontal line with one vertical line represents the numbers four through six. And the horizontal with two vertical lines represents seven through nine. If we assume we went the correct way, the numbers are 31 041 059, which I have no clue what it means.”

  That was the biggest problem I had with Rabbit’s number theory. In practice, it was a better numbering system than we had on Earth if his guesses were correct. But I had no idea what to do with the numbers 31 041 059, and neither did Rabbit. He tried everything he could think of, guessing it could be some number-to-letter cipher, but without knowing the language, it didn’t help.

  When I was done explaining, Kaylie asked, “But what about the circle?”

  I replied with “That is zero. I’m not sure if you know about zero, but it is the absence of anything.”

  “We know about zero,” Jack snapped defensively.

  “I agree with your number theory, but I don’t think I agree with the zero,” Sana chimed in. “It’s a completely different type of symbol. If you were to use something like zero in that context, I would use a vertical line. It would fit better with the theme of the numbers.”

  “Well, either way, it doesn’t make any sense. I have no clue what 31 41 59 means,” I said. As I was saying it and considering Sana’s argument, a realization hit me. “Wait, 314 159,” I said these numbers slowly, as if they were falling into place. At the same time, Rabbit was screaming in my head as it became clear. “If you take out the zeros, it’s pi.”

  “Come again?” Kaylie said.

  Sana joined the confusion and stated, “We aren’t following you at all.”

  However, my mind was elsewhere. I was piecing things together and slowly figuring it out. I was even talking slowly, but sped up toward the end of my sentence. “I think I have figured it out, and we need to go back into the hallway.”

  “We aren’t going back in there, even if you have figured it out. It is going to be night soon, and we aren’t going to a trap-infested place while it’s dark. That is, even if it hasn’t changed to have monsters or something else going on in there at night,” Sana replied seriously to depict our situation.

  As I usually did, I ignored her and plowed on with my thoughts. “Don’t you guys see? It’s a circle.”

  “We know, we walked in a huge circle. Pfft, this guy.” Jack pointed his thumb at me while talking to the others.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “I know that, but the answer is a circle as well. Those circles aren’t numbers or symbols, but circles for when we figure it out. The numbers mean pi, which is pointing us to a circle,” I said, like someone knew what I was talking about.

  “We have no clue what a ‘pi’ is, so you’re going to have to take baby steps and explain,” Kaylie said nicely.

  “Okay.” Rabbit then gave me a technical definition, so I explained, “Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.”

  “What are you even talking about?” Jack exclaimed.

  I had to think about how to say it simpler. “The distance around a circle is always 3.14159 times the distance from one end to the direct opposite.”

  “Really? Always the same number, no matter how big the circle is?” Sana said.

  It seemed like she at least understood what I was trying to say. “Well, if it’s a perfect circle, yes.”

  “Well, I still don’t get it. Even if those numbers mean some type of circle, what does it mean for us?” Jack asked.

  “I am not sure, but I think it has to do with those circles in the middle of that area. I think the clue is pointing us to those circles. They have to be the clue. I think the way forward has to do with them. We should go back and check out one of the circles,” I insisted.

  “It’s late, though. I don’t think we should go back into the place until it’s morning,” Sana argued.

  “Oh, come on. It won’t take that long. Remember, I already mapped out a path, so I won’t have to take my time walking there,” I assured.

  In the end, the others agreed with Sana, and we decided not to chance this place at night. As dusk approached, we took shelter in the temple near the pillars, clearing the debris to make space for sitting and sleeping. After our last meal of the day, we were all sitting around, enjoying the remaining light. It wasn’t quite dark yet, and since we were ending early, I had my first chance to check out the books Sophia had given me.

  When I first received them, I did a quick speed read for Rabbit, who digested both books within ten minutes. I didn’t understand anything, just flipping the pages, but he kept pestering me about it, and I couldn’t handle it any longer. Sophia had advised me to study the basic primer book myself instead of relying solely on my ability to read quickly. She didn’t know about Rabbit, but she understood that while he could absorb information rapidly, I wouldn’t necessarily understand it myself.

  Nearby, Sana was immersed in her study, poring over the papers we had stolen from the Black Rock Islands. Mimicking her focus, I opened the primer book and began to read:

  In the beginning, God created the universe, the dimensions, and all the worlds. The worlds of all were now formless and dark. And God spoke, and the worlds had light. With light came darkness, and with good came bad. As with light and dark, so too with good and bad, and between them came the shades.

  God then spoke and gave the worlds their shape. The worlds were still incomplete since a shape without form is like a shade without color. So God then shaped plants, animals, and people, but it was still unfinished. God then spoke, and they all were alive. It was not enough, so God then breathed the soul into the worlds, and all was complete.

  Each world he breathed a soul into was as different as each person he created. Seeing this, he knew the worlds could not exist together as darkness did not survive in light, so he separated the worlds by vast oceans. The oceans were not only in the sky, but in the air itself. He also created natural bridges to cross the worlds so that his creations would stay connected despite living far apart. As this was done, the worlds filled with color.

  In all the worlds and all of creation, this world was given great power. He created beings of time and out of time. They did not age, and he let their potential be limitless. As with all things, there was good and there was bad. There was dark, and there was light, and all the shades in between. We now call these people the Ancients.

  The Ancients took after their creator and created. They spent eons constructing buildings of great power. They built the seven great cities on the great continent. These cities connect this world to the other worlds.

  “Wait! What? Rabbit, did you read that?” I asked.

  “Oh. Yeah, you’re at the part where the cities connect to other worlds. I’m not sure if that’s real or not. There’s more detail later on in the book about the cities. Do you want to know more about them?” Rabbit asked.

  “Do you know where they are?” I inquired.

  “Nope, there aren’t any maps or descriptions in the book, just the fact that there are seven on this continent,” Rabbit said.

  I decided to ask the others because this was more important to me than anything else. I wanted to get home, and this seemed like a real lead. Trying to make my place here and getting stronger was a good move if I was stuck, but if there was any chance to go back to Earth, I wanted to do that before anything else.

  “Hey, guys. This book talks about the seven great cities on the great continent. Do you know where these cities are?” I asked with such urgency that they all stopped their conversation and looked at me, but I didn’t care about the interruption.

  “Yeah. On this continent, there are six great cities,” Sana replied. “No one has ever found the prime city, but yes, all the others are well known. Why?”

  “It says in here that the cities,” I looked down to read the exact quote, “connect this world to the other worlds.”

  They looked at each other and back at me with something like sympathy. “It’s not exactly like what you are thinking,” Kaylie started. “The great cities are built into the Labyrinth, and they draw power from it. The Labyrinth stretches across the world, and while it is possible to get from one point to another, it is difficult.”

  “Okay. Is it possible to get from one world to another?” I asked.

  Kaylie looked at me with sympathy and said, “You have to understand, the doors between worlds are like an ocean. They are never constant, always shifting.” It sounded like something that was a saying or memorized rather than experienced.

  “But is it possible?” I insisted, clinging to newfound hope.

  “Yeah, but not for you. Probably never for you,” Kaylie replied. As night fell, the shadows around us grew longer and deeper. I fell quiet for a moment at her words. This couldn’t be entirely true.

  Jack jumped in, “She’s trying to be nice, but the truth is, you are too weak for the Labyrinth. Hell, we're all too weak to make it to another world. Saying the place is dangerous is an understatement. It’s also doubtful you will get strong enough to even venture in there, let alone get to another world. Moreover, reaching your world would be impossible for someone like you.”

  “It’s not made to pass from world to world easily,” Sana said. “They were purposely separated, so crossing from one world to another is more difficult than moving from one place to another. It’s like trying to swim across an ocean while being attacked by monsters or solving puzzles. It just isn’t happening.”

  “But if I got strong enough,” I said to myself.

  Kaylie put her hand on my shoulder. Despite the growing darkness, I could still see everyone’s faces, and Kaylie’s was filled with hopelessness. “You can’t build your skills,” she reminded me. “You could build your strength to the maximum and your combat abilities to their peak, and still, you wouldn’t even be the strongest in this region. Someone with magic could keep you away, and there would be nothing you could do about it.”

  I looked down at my hands and hated my circumstances more than ever. I was put in this world in a body that refused to have an affinity for skills. It wasn’t me. It was just the body I was in. No matter what I did, it seemed like it wasn’t good enough. I just felt so useless.

  “Hey,” Kaylie said in a comforting voice. “It’s not just you. Look at Jack here. He is an excellent fighter and probably has one of the highest affinities for the ax that I have ever seen. However, he would be in the same situation against a mage who can hold him off from afar. That’s why people work in groups. That way, people like Jack can get in close and then tear that mage apart. So you’re not useless…” She paused, and her eyes softened. “You just aren’t powerful either. You have to come to grips with that. You will be able to help, just not lead any charges.”

  Her words did make me feel a little better, but I wasn’t entirely there. I thought I could make it home, and that hope was swept out from underneath me.

  “Thanks, Kaylie. I’m a little drained. I think I’m going to sleep,” I replied. I stood up and walked over to my spot, trying to get comfortable. It wasn’t easy to sleep with so much on my mind. I lay there, thinking about everything. The world, or worlds as it were, and my place in them. The weight of my circumstances pressed down on me, making it hard to see a way forward.

  As I stared up at the darkening sky, I knew I had to find a new path. The hope of returning home might be faint, but I wasn’t ready to give up entirely. I would find a way to make myself more powerful, to gain strength in whatever way I could.

  Eventually, I drifted off to sleep long after everyone else, with thoughts of strength and the hope that this place would give me what I needed.