Cautiously walking down the cracked cobblestone path, Konrad ducked his head to avoid a rotted wooden support beam bending dangerously toward the ground. The moist dark green moss scattered randomly across the carved stone walls felt like the only natural thing here as he brushed his palm along its smooth exterior. Broken statues and monuments of beings long lost to the annals of history littered the path around him.

“It seems they were in a rush to get out of here. Whoever ‘they’ were.” Konrad whispered to himself in a low voice.

The flame torch flickered dangerously as the darkness encroached hungrily into his small circle of light. Walking faster now, the pungent smell of decay assaulted his nose, forcing him to fight back the urge to vomit. Lowering the torch, he could see fresh rodent carcasses dispersed across the floor.

“Not a good sign.” He thought inwardly. He could sense this place hadn’t been visited in years.

Slowly moving now while keeping the torch extended in front of himself, he reached for the iron dagger resting in his leather scabbard, at the same time a deep primal growl sounded in the distance. Standing deathly still, beads of sweat slid down his neck while a shiver ran up his spine.

“Breathe.” He told himself unconvincingly. Panicking now would mean death.

Leaning against a narrow corridor he felt the ground move where he stepped, almost making him drop the torch in fright. Looking down a punctured set of rusted iron armour was sprawled on the ground.

Curiosity got the best of him as he crouched slowly, cringing as his boots scraped the ground, the sounds bouncing off the stone walls. An unrecognisable emblem faced toward him as he moved the corpse. Lots of colours, he mused. Must have been a high ranking noble house.

Suddenly he heard something sniffing the air close by.

“Grrr.” A guttural sound echoed off the walls and penetrated the darkness.

“Shit!”

He’d gotten sidetracked, completely forgetting the beast stalking quietly around the corner. Slamming his back against the wall he raised his dagger after putting the torch out. Now the darkness consumed everything around him. His eyes dilated quickly. Mind racing he cringed at the thought of what beast would sink its nightmarish curved teeth into him if he dared breathe too loudly.

“Breathe.” Old Jack’s incessant ramblings came to mind once again.

“Mana is everywhere. In high clouds and dark crevices. Feel it. Breathe it. Channel it.”

He had to admit, he might be an old peddler but he sure knew some great tricks for one. Focusing on his breathing now, he felt his senses heightened, from the musty air to the soft creeping of the beast around the corner. Its long tongue appeared around the corner. Like a snake, it tasted the air, twitching in quick bursts.

“This is it, I’ll either die in this dark corner of the world or I can live to see another day.” He sighed inwardly. Elongated teeth with fresh blood dripping from it steadily became visible.

“A true predator. I didn’t even sense it until I activated my ability. Even then it was almost too late.” He marvelled quietly.

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An eerie silence extended across the dungeon. Time moved slowly as he took one more breath, a blue light shimmered in his palms, in turn causing the dagger to vibrate and glow.

“Now!”

With a shout he swung the blade around the corner, slicing its tongue as if he were cutting through silk, freeing it from its mouth.

“Groor!” A sickening howl escaped its mouth.

Blood continued to flow out from its mouth like a fountain. Taking a good look at the beast now, Konrad felt relief as he saw it flail around. A young jet black direwolf with eyes as red as its blood glared angrily at him. If it was an adult direwolf, he would’ve been eaten before he could have blinked.

The young direwolf wasn’t done yet though. Its eyes glowed a deep red as its ability activated. With a deep growl it hungrily glared at Konrad, pure rage causing it to vibrate. This isn’t good, he thought worriedly. His eyes started to blur as his ability began to wear off. The blue light no longer enveloping his dagger, now reduced to a faint glow like a candle flame running out of wax.

Suddenly, the direwolf lunged towards him, mouth snapping as it looked to fill its mouth with his flesh, its curved teeth now producing singing heat. It was even quicker than before. Narrowly dodging to the side he evaded its vicious mouth but he couldn’t escape its extended claw grazing his chest. Causing three thin lines of blood to streak across his chest.

“Argh”. He moaned in pain.

His vision blurring now, he swore as he began to see three different direwolves draw close to him. Looking down at his adventurer belt he could somewhat makeout a small glass vial half full of a light pink liquid. As much as he didn’t want to, he reached for the vial, throwing the cork away and downing the liquid in one motion, simultaneously cringing as the liquid’s vile smell assaulted his nose.

“Ack! I’ll never get used to that. Now I’ll have to sneak into that bastard’s vault again.”

On one knee now, he glanced to his side, noticing a rusted roundshield next to the iron armour.

“It’ll have to do, no other way around it.” Konrad sighed in defeat.

The direwolf no longer jumped at the opportunity to kill him. Instead it walked proudly towards him, with whatever part of its tongue was left eagerly swaying side to side. The kill already confirmed in its mind it leisurely made its way towards him.

“Fine, I’ll play this little game with you.” he thought as his vision returned and the bleeding slowed on his chest.

While lowering his head to in turn lower the direwolf’s guard he reached for the shield, picking it up in his left, while resting his palms over the hilt of the dagger in his right. Now above him the direwolf opened its mouth, salivating rapidly in anticipation of its dinner.

With one final growl it pounced on his neck, but instead of flesh its teeth felt the brunt of the roundshield, the force of the impact causing the flimsy shield to burn and split in half. Dazed for a second was more than what Konrad needed, as he immediately stabbed the glowing dagger through the direwolf’s head instantly killing it as it let out a short whimper.

“Finally!” Konrad exclaimed excitedly.

Dropping to his knees extremely exhausted he breathed a sigh of relief. Silence extended across the dungeon once again as the short battle came to a conclusion. Resting his head on the wall behind him he surveyed the area around him while thinking back to how he went from studying for his economics final to fighting for his life in an ancient dungeon.

***

Cramming before an exam, a collective human experience. In the university library, behind the tall bookshelves and tucked away from view sat a small table. Piled high with textbooks and red bull cans. A bleary eyed Konrad sat hunched over his laptop.

Finishing off his last can he looked toward the ceiling. A short brunette, with deep hazel eyes, held two textbooks close to her chest as she peeked her head around the corner.

“Konrad! Go home and get some sleep. You’ll die at this rate. Look how many red bull cans you’ve finished. There's nobody here on all floors of this place!” She exclaimed with a frown evident on her face.

“And what’s waiting for me at home huh? You know my dad, he’s probably drunk as hell right about now. I’d rather sit here and make an attempt at studying for tomorrow's exam than dodging his fists trying to get a glass of water.” Konrad sighed helplessly.

Ever since he was a child, Konrad only had bad memories of home. Life was an endless uphill battle. It was a miracle he even got into his degree. He owed a lot to the free Wifi at Mcdonalds parking lots. He made it quite far, but loan sharks chasing him over his dad’s piling debts and increasing gang activity in his area dulled his enjoyment of life.

In fact, he was hard pressed to remember the last time he wasn’t constantly looking over his shoulder and took time off for himself. With a defeated sigh, he looked straight into Kate’s eyes as a question popped into his mind.

“If there’s no one here, then what are you doing here then?” He asked accusingly.

“N-Nothing! Making sure you don’t keel over and die at any moment you fool!” She shouted, a slight blush on her cheeks as she rushed away.

“Only weird things happen at this time.” He shrugged to himself absentmindedly.

Glancing at the analog clock hanging on the wall he decided to take a quick power nap. Though it was more forced instead, seeing as his eyelids refused to open up anymore without extreme effort. Lowering his head, expecting the hardcover of a textbook to land on, he kept falling instead. Not touching anything for what felt like an eternity. He thought he missed the table entirely.