“I stand alone, consumed by the eternal darkness of my clouded mind.

A dreadful cage, with but a small opening.

A world of flames exists outside the cage.

Constantly expanding as it consumes everything within its grasp,

Sometimes, I dream of the Undercity.

Of its bridges and alleyways, and of those residing within.

I see it standing above the lawless city, a monstrosity the likes of which I cannot comprehend.

Keeping watch over that dreadful tower of lies.

The world will change.

And the tower will one day collapse.

And I too will one day escape this hell, this forgotten wasteland,” the darkness whispered. It’s tone soft and gentle, careful not to wake its slumbering child.

Zeke bit down, straight through his lower lip. His body shaking violently, grasping at the sword so hard that his muscles started to convulse. He opened his eyes. The dragon looked at him. And with a single swipe of its claw, he was dead. His brains splattered on the walls of this ornate chamber.

“A death trap,” he thought to himself.

Zeke bit down, slightly grazing his lower lip. His body was tense, and his muscles were necessarily tight. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. The dragon stood tall, looking at straight at him with its grandiose presence. Its body emitting a certain warm, luminescent glow. Zeke raised his sword in preparation for the dragon’s attack. The dragon swiped at him with its paw, disintegrating Zeke’s entire upper body into a red mist.

“How is that fair?” he thought to himself.

Zeke took a deep breath. His feet were planted firmly on the ground. Zeke opened his eyes. He lowered his sword and opened his mouth.

“Hey let’s-“ he said before being interrupted.

The dragon crushed him with its palm, smashing him into a red puddle.

“God damn it!” Zeke thought to himself.

Zeke opened his eyes, his gaze visibly angered. In a flash, he leaped back. But the dragon lunged at him, decapitating him with its claws.

“What can I even do?” he thought in frustration.

Zeke did not move.

“I have already died over a dozen times,” he thought to himself. “With every part of the competition, a different member of the contractor king’s team is sent to serve as the examiner. Fredric was here since before I came in, and he stopped following me after I left the chapel. So he must be here as an examiner,” He pondered before releasing a heavy sigh.

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Zeke died.

“Judging from what he told me earlier, his domain is time. This entire situation is somehow orchestrated by him. No matter how many times this dragon has killed me, each time I return to right before the fight started. Yet I am not able to do much about this thing.”

Zeke opened his eyes. He raised his weapon to defend against the dragon’s attack just as the creature swiped at Zeke. Zeke was split in half and eaten.

Zeke opened his eyes.

“This thing is too heavy,” he thought to himself, while looking at the sword. He impaled the sword into the ground next to him. The dragon looked on, confused, before smashing Zeke into pieces.

“It’s pointless,” Zeke thought.

Zeke turned around and faced Fredric.

“How is this fair?” Zeke yelled.

“Oh!” Fredric replied. “How many times has it been?”

“What?” Zeke asked.

“Since you died,” Fredric elaborated.

“About 14,” Zeke replied.

“You’re a quick one,” Fredric laughed, crossing his arms. “Oh, and by the way, I won’t remember this conversation,” Fredric smirked.

The dragon swallowed Zeke in a single bite.

“What can I do?” Zeke thought. “I have to fight,” He opened his eyes.

The dragon swiped its claw at Zeke. He attempted to dodge, by ducking past, but the dragon was able to collide with his head. Zeke died immediately.

Zeke pressed on, trying again and again to evade the dragon. And each time, he died mercilessly. Had someone else, someone more capable stepped into the room, it is likely that they would have been able to dodge the dragon’s initial attack faster. But Zeke was just too weak. He was but a human, weak and frail.

“Hey,” Zeke said, addressing Fredric.

“Yeah?” Fredric replied.

“Just how many of these restarts do I have?” Zeke asked with a worried expression.

“Good question! Technically, you would be able to keep this up as long as I don’t run out of mana. However, every time you reset, my mana resets along with you,” Fredric scratched his chin.” So, I’d say, until you either go insane or kill that dragon,” He stated just as the dragon attacked Zeke, ending his life.

Zeke pushed on. Failing miserably, over and over again. Until, eventually, over a thousand lives later. He was able to duck under the dragon’s swipe, twisting his body in a strange way, he accidentally avoided the dragon’s attack, diving below its belly.

Zeke stumbled, not expecting to succeed. He looked up at the startled dragon as it gently plucked his head clean off his neck.

The next time Zeke tried, he failed to replicate his maneuver with a sword in his hand. It proved to be a much more difficult task, as the sword forced Zeke to adapt to a new center of gravity, making the task much more difficult than before. This happened many more times until eventually. He did it again.

He dove towards the dragon, attacking it with the weapon but before the blade reached its body, the dragon impaled Zeke through the stomach with his claw.

“I can do it- no I must do it!” Zeke thought to himself.

Five hundred more deaths passed until Zeke was able to dodge the dragon’s initial attack every single time. Yet the second strike still proved too much for him to handle. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get away or dodge and seeing as blocking proved impossible it appeared like he wasn’t making any progress. However, with every single try Zeke grew more confident, as he was now able to see the dragon’s movements. And even if he could still only dodge one attack, he was confident that he would eventually be able to figure it out.

Two thousand more attempts passed. Zeke was finally able to dodge the second strike. At this point, his body had become used to the dragon’s speed. And even if he was yet far from being able to contest it, he could finally see it coming. He felt a great deal of pride associated with this accomplishment. Although his body couldn’t mature or grow, he could feel his brain and nervous system slowly changing molding itself into someone else.

"I wonder, will I still be myself when all of this is over?"