Zachary stood in front if his cellar door, backpack on his back and stolen hatchet in his hand.

The handle creaked and the door opened. What lay behind was nothing like Zacharys cellar.

The stairway extended into pure darkness. The walls looked like uneven cave walls, and in the middle was another window.

“Enter Beginner Dungeon? Y/N“

He thought a „Yes", as the integration allowed, and suddenly the window disappeared, replaced by a strong cold breeze.

Zachary turned on his phone's flashlight and peeked into the abyss.

Usually there were only 4 steps before entering the cellar, now there were more than 20 within his sight.

Sweat ran down his face, and not all of it was due to fear. His backpack towered over his head, full with supplies to survive in the wild and not die.

From toilet paper to medicine. It was everything he could think of, and yet he was sure he forgot a few things.

Resolve braced, his first step took him into the dungeon.

The moment he crossed the doorway the door slammed shut and everything went dark but his phones light in his right hand

in the other were a few heavier supplies and he contemplated if he should just leave it at the entrance for now. So he took out a drink and a can of ravioli and left the bag behind.

Stolen Axe in one hand, reinforced by rope and duct tape, and phone in the other he ventured step for step, trying to make as little noise as possible.

„13 Days 23 Hours 45 Minutes“ „BD Type: Unknown“

The System sadly did not supply the type and neither did the (Epic) Entity.

There could be anything lurking down here, from a humongous mutated bodybuilder to ghosts.

The Guidebook explicitly said that the System provided dungeons are highly individualized.

He just hoped it wasn‘t something like a goblin daycare.

After snapping back to reality by a sound entering his ears, he turned off his flashlight and stopped his decent.

Standing in the dark made the sounds of metal easier to detect and after a moment, in which his eyes got accustomed to the dark, he saw an orange light.

It seemed like it was around a corner, which made no sense since his cellar had no such corner at the end of the stairs, but after waiting long enough for the sounds to subside so did the light.

Sadly there was no indication of his enemy. But armor and patrolling was an indication of a group or at least a General or someone intelligent enough to protect areas.

At the end of the stairs was strangely enough his normal cellar. Just a lot longer in both directions, and the water tank room directly infront of his entry way was shut of by… Blades?!

That was disturbing and a red flag if he ever saw one

There were no more lights in the right direction, it was completely dark. But on the left side was another small orange light, too far away for him to tell in which direction the corner went.

He decided the right side was better, no lights meant that no one should be there. Or at least not the intelligent enemies patrolling this area.

So he stepped into the dark path and occasionally turned his flashlight on to check for enemies and the storage rooms on each side.

Rusty metal bars instead of the pristine wooden gates blocked everyone of them, but after 5 minutes of walking, he found one with bend metal.

He got into a stance that allowed for a quick run back to the stairs, whatever that would do, and flashed his light into the room.

Usually these storage rooms were full of shelves and moving boxes, but this one was empty, nothing but a narrow hallway.

At the end were the usual windows peeking out of the cellar cells. It was daytime now, but the window only showed a creepy red light hitting the opposite building.

When he got closer he could see the sky. Blood red, filled with hundreds if not thousands of birds flying around, it made him shiver to the bone.

The sight was enough and he kept moving down the path. Until a shout from behind made him turn.

A small object passed by him. Flying so fast that the cry of said object was disturbed by the doppler effect.

He saw a Humanoid figure, almost looking like said mutated body builder, but with green skin, looking straight down the path, seeming almost like he made eye contact with Zach, but he was in complete darkness. There was no way for it to see him.

Luckily it turned around and moved to the right side at the light, answering his question to where the light followed.

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A small moan made him snap out of day dreaming. After he got almost crushed by a flying goblin?

Moans filled with pain and suffering that made his skin crawl and flashbacks of his tutorial fight made him act.

He slowly moved to the goblin with flashlight in hand, constantly turning around to check if someone was coming.

"System Slavi?" The half dead goblin moaned. "System Slavi, Please end Gagula! Gagula has nothing to offer, but please end his suffering!"

Zachary was completely mind blown, not only by a talking goblin but by being called a "System Slavi".

"Is Gargula that big guy?" Zach answered pointing his thumb back.

"No!! Me! I am Gargula! Please end me! Gargula in pain... Gargula can't move his body."

A last request by a dead enemy. His chunnibyou side wanted to honor the warriors code, but his human side was disgusted by the thought of taking yet another life. It was a conundrum.

But the imagine of the goblin changed his mind. They disfigured it, the only word that fit. Arms and legs bend in wrong directions, blood rolling down its crushed eyes. It was a miracle the goblin was alive, let alone talking.

"Okay i will "help" you out, but you have to answer a few questions about this dungeon"

The goblins broken visage turned into a mischievous smile.

"Of course honored System Slavi, This floor is out of our control, filled with lots of treasure. It also has the lever to unlock all traps in the layer, although Gargula sadly does not know how to enter the room. Boss is Gargol! Big Motherfucker that did this to Gargula and took Wife and child!!!!"

Bones cracked when the goblin finished talking. It was understandable, if he understood correctly then this Gargol boss guy.... a disgusting, power abusing....

Heart beats muted everything, his blood felt like it was boiling and cold sweat was accumulating all over his body.

Primal feelings of rage and hate ignited his Qi and his body enhanced.

"Stop Gargula. Its okay. I promise you, those will be the last 2 weeks of this guy's life. I know we are enemies. And i would probably fight you to the death in any other circumstances, but this I will promise. I Zachary Rubistone will murder Gargol, end your suffering and avenge your wife and child!"

Blood was replaced by tears, the mischievous smile broke and a gurgle escaped the goblin.

"Thank you, System Slavi"

Afterwards came an explosion, metal hitting rock echoing through the cave. A smoke screen filled everything, and then Zachary was moving out of it. He dropped his backpack mid sprint, fuming with rage, pain, and a craving for blood.

He had no idea why he was so primal right now, but one thing he knew deep down.

"Kill"

Almost at the light, a goblin appeared in the hallway, probably reacting to the explosion. It took one long look before it realised a mad human rushing at it. A moment too late and a fist hit the face, penetrating skull and obliterating goblin brain.

The sprint and two attacks had cost him almost half of his Qi, but it didn't matter. The Ambient Essence was so thick around here, more than his shower, and every breath was now almost 100% purified into Qi.

They fully connected his lungs to his core and cycled passively now.

Around the corner were stairs going down in a spiral. Looking down the middle showed that it was about 10 meters deep. So he jumped down, regretting it the moment he fell. He cycled all his Qi into his legs, in circles from hip to toes, enhancing them.

A crash announced his landing, and there were five goblins sitting around a camp in a round cave, blocked off by a thick metal gate. All of the goblins were unequipped, but weapons lay at a rock next to the campfire.

Almost out of Qi, Zach didn't hesitate and jumped forward. Three Days were not enough to learn how to fight, or how to use his Qi. But with his current rage boiling through his blood, it really didn't matter.

It took 3 steps to reach the still sitting goblin closest to the weapons. Left fist already mid swing. It connected with its head but, it didn't explode. He stopped using Qi to safe some, but it still kill the goblin. Then he turned around and stepped back to grabbed for the Two handed goblin Sword, or a normal broadsword for him.

The sudden death of a comrade and the appearance of a mad human completely baffled all of them.

It took only a moment before they move to action. No coordination, no formation, just three goblins rushing him like idiots, while one was still overwhelmed by what happened.

Before the first goblin reached him his Qi moved again. Into his left hand that was not holding his sword. He stepped forward with his left arm in front of him, and swung downward overhead at the first goblin.

It hit the goblin in the head and entered deep enough to cut into its brain. Instantly stepping back, the second one jumped him and the sitting one got up.

His left arm moved into the way of the jumping goblin by turning his whole body, and he swung again. His reinforced arm grabbed the goblin and it tried to scratch him, but its reach was too small and the sword was already penetrating the brain.

The last Goblins still moving was now mid jump, so he turned his body and released the corpse. Reinforced by Qi, the goblin flew through the air like a bullet, flesh broke apart midair, but enough remained to hit the goblin and splatter at the wall.

A beautiful mandela of patterns and colors of red and grey.

All his Qi spent he suddenly dropped to one knee before the last goblin reached him. It swung its clawed hand towards his face, but for some reason it was in slow motion. His sword was stuck in the ground, so he moved his left arm to intercept the attack.

Arm moving a bit faster than the goblin, he could grab the right wrist a pulse of his minimally replenished Qi allowed him to accelerate in the other direction and he riped the arm of, moving in normal speed even though his mind was still in slow motion.

The goblins left arm reached his face, but luckily missed eyes and chin, only cutting bone. But the sudden pain of loosing its arm instantly removed any pressure of its claw and Zach moved.

He returned the move the goblin did, grabbing its face and smashing it into the ground. Once, Twice, a third time for good luck and it crumbled.

After all of the goblins were stabbed once again, to make sure they were dead, he disinfected his wounds. Being a huge big brain, he left some emergency ratios in his pockets. Some bandages, the best snacks to survive starving, lighter, fire starters. Now that he thought about it, this was not so big brain... and a few more catnips and trinkets.

When fully taken care of, he sat down and just started crying. For killing, for loosing control, for being reckless, for it to be so easy, for what the fuck was going on, for relishing in it. There were so many thoughts inside his head, after some time he wasn't even sure why he cried.

He loved it, this fight was exhilarating. Killing, winning, being supreme over others. His powers were incredible. He let a head EXPLODE. He made a stone wall turn into a smoke screen. Of course it almost cost his live, but that was the worst part. Or the best, depending on how you look at it.

He was overjoyed when he almost lost his eyes. He paid for a mistake. Maybe his instinctive self, or something primal inside of him helped him at the end. Or just a defensive reflex by his mind, he had many occasions when he felt like time was slowing down.

When he felt his core strain because he cycled the whole time, he knew he just sat there for almost an hour doing nothing but pitying himself. Strangely enough, no one came here, or checked if these guys were doing anything besides sitting around a campfire talking and enjoying life.

That made him sick again and he was about to go back to pitying himself, when the metal gate was suddenly creaking.