The sounds of battle raged throughout the area as the Adventurers were engaging the enemies forces.

The enemies were skeleton warriors, as well as archers, carrying old and rusty gear, they fought viciously, slashing away at the Adventurers without fear in their eyes.

The skeletons had fallen out of the void in the sky suddenly, scaring and throwing everyone out of balance.

But that was only at the start, after everyone noticed they were only weak skeletons, ones even a weak adventurer could beat, they regained their composure and engaged them head on.

The tanks went into position and tried taunting as many of them as possible with their "enrage" skill.

This Skill allowed one to make the enemy furious with oneself and in turn force it to attack the caster of the spell. It was like taunting the enemy to attack you in theory.

Whilst the tanks were distracting the enemy, the mages and warriors were slowly getting rid of them one by one.

Additionally the Healers in the group were healing the Tanks and the fighters as they engaged in combat.

Everything was proceeding how it should be, Karl thought to himself as he stood face to face with a skeleton.

The lump of milk white bones was carrying a rusty sword, which was barely hanging together. The tip of the sword was brown and was probably crumbling away due to the rust which had overtaken it.

The Skeleton also wore some brown colored iron armor.

Which made Karl think it was probably a warrior of some kind before he became a monster.

'I finally get to fight.'

Karl pulled his short sword out of it's sheath with a smile on his face.

"You will become the first step I take towards my goal." he exclaimed as he raised his sword.

Without a second of thought, the skeleton rushed at him, lifting his sword up towards the sky and then slashing it downwards.

Karl raised his sword up, ready to block the downward slash.

'Bad Posture. Plant your feet on the ground. ' said Geist.

But the attack was coming too fast.

'Too late'

The attack hit Karl's sword and made his body wobble.

Karl tripped and fell down like this.

'Get up! Quickly!!' Geist told him, as the next attack was already underway.

The skeleton thrust his sword forward, intending to pierce Karl's flesh. However due to the quick warning Karl managed to crawl backwards slightly, and in turn avoid the attack.

The smile that was on Karl's face only seconds ago vanished, like it was never there, and was replaced by an expression of fear.

The Monster, without any hesitation continued to move forward and attack Karl mercilessly, every attack getting closer and closer to striking him.

'What are you doing?! Get up on your feet quickly!'

Hearing Geist’s orders, Karl quickly got up and gripped his sword again.

His hands were shaky and the sword was wobbling up and down.

Karl's legs were moving backwards slightly, as if trying to escape. But the monster did not let up.

'Brace yourself he's coming!'

Karl raised up his sword however meekly and tried blocking the attack.

'Not like that!! Get a hold of yourself! Hold that sword with more power!' Geist screamed at him.

However it was too late. The sword which Karl had been holding got knocked out of his hands by the monster, due to his weak grip on it, and the enemy slashed away at his forehead.

"Ahhhg!" he screamed as he fell backwards due to the pain.

Karl did not know the amount of damage he had taken, but due to the shock, it felt like he had been cut right through.

But the Skeleton wasn’t going to let it end there, he moved forward intending to finish this fight.

As he got closer he was getting ready to cut through Karl's body whilst he was on the ground.

'Quickly move away! Or you'll die!!' hearing these words, Karl's legs moved on their own, pushing himself backwards.

Nevertheless, the Skeleton managed to penetrate Karl's leg with his sword.

"Ahh!!" Karl screamed due to the pain.

The blood spurted out, painting the ground and the blade red.

'Get back up! This is your only chance!'

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Ignoring the shrieking pain which had befallen him, Karl quickly got up and limped over to where his sword had fallen.

His face only carried hints of fear and a want for escape, as the blood poured down it. However, his spirit did not allow him to give up. No, not this easily.

"I'm not giving up! I won't be beaten just yet."

Even though Karl was shaking and his legs were barely holding him up, his spirit managed to recover and allow him to persevere.

'That's the attitude. You're spirit is the only good thing about you, so you better put it to use. Now listen to me. Hold your sword with both hands tightly and make sure to put weight on your feet, so that they're planted firmly on the ground.'

"Understood."

Listening to orders blindly was the only thing Karl could do in this situation.

Even though his spirit had not given up, he knew he did not possess the power to beat the monster just yet. So, the only thing he could do was trust in Geist’s orders and try to carry them out.

He gripped his sword with all his might, rubbing his skin deep into the blades handle, until it turned red.

The Monster charged forward again without hesitation, it's bones crackling as it approached.

'I'll tell you which way to evade. You just follow my instructions.'

With a quick nod Karl confirmed and looked ahead with full focus.

His legs were shaky and his eyes hazy, but his spirit spurred him on, not to give up.

'Left'

As the skeleton swung his rusty sword, Karl moved to the left and avoided the attack.

The cutting of air reverberated in his ears, but he had to bear with it for now.

'Jump backwards'

He continued this with a jump and got out of the way of the skeletons follow up attack.

His lungs were practically out of air every time the monster approached him. But his spirit kept his mind and body in check, forcing him to move.

'Good. Now continue like this and let's counter attack.'

"Understood."

Not letting up, the skeleton rushed forward with all it's might and swung his sword downward, aiming at Karl's chest.

Karl however avoided it with Geist’s hints and, gripping his sword with all his might, he struck the skeletons head straight on with enough force to send it flying away.

The skull flew a couple of meters away, with the body of the skeleton left standing in place.

'It seems you still don't know how to wield a sword correctly. All you managed to do was knock the head away by pure force. There was no grace behind the strike.'

Even though Geist was only criticizing Karl, he could not help but feel a slight joy welling up inside of himself.

He had managed to take the first step forward. No matter how small, it was still an improvement from how he was before.

Then, as if to ruin the moment, the skeletons body suddenly made a move and Karl's shakiness instantly came back to him.

'There's no time to celebrate. The skeleton will continue to move until you destroy his skull.'

Knowing that, Karl quickly limped over to where the skull was and destroyed it.

Afterwards he moved closer to a Healer and asked to be healed.

***

'Why did this have to happen?'

The girl named Kristina thought to herself as she easily battled the low level skeletons.

She was gracefully blocking their hits and in the same second cutting their skulls in half.

'I'm in a group with an arrogant loudmouth, again....'

She couldn't help but look over at where the boy named Alex was dispatching of the monsters, with a smile plastered on his face.

He was also a fighter and just like Kristina used a steel Longsword.

'He reminds me too much of him.... I can't stand it.'

With a disgusted look she shifted her focus back to the skeletons and with pure anger, she started ending them faster and faster.

Her movements increased exponentially in speed and Power, yet her movements stayed just as graceful as before. A sign of a truly experienced person.

***

Managing to dodge the oncoming attack, Karl swung his blade and struck the head of a skeleton fighter.

Due to the armor he was wearing, the cut failed to break the neckbone and only ended up leaving a scratch.

However, not discouraged by this fact, Karl struck again and tried hitting the same spot.

With the successful hit, he managed the break the bone in two. And thus, the Skull fell down, where Karl was able to quickly break it and proceed on to the next enemy. However, the smile he had before was no longer present. Now only a concentrated face remained in its place.

"I see you've gotten better. How come you're this strong after such a short time."

Coming to support him was Markus, who started running next to him with his heavy armor.

"It's nothing really. I just started to take my training more seriously."

"Huh, you got this much stronger just by training a little harder. I somehow don't believe that. So, tell me the secret, I also want to get stronger."

Markus showed a genuine smile as he looked at Karl for a second.

"As I said, it's pure hard work. Nothing else. There's no secret shortcut to getting stronger. Sadly. But you don't need to get stronger anymore, you're plenty strong as is."

"If only that were true. Even though I am above average, I still am weak in the larger scheme of things. I'm only that, above average."

Looking slightly sad, Markus quickly looked in front of him and saw a skeleton approaching.

"I'll block the hit and you finish him off. Got it?"

"Understood."

Even though Karl had confidence that he was able to finish the skeleton. He did not know how Markus could know that, and why he would be able to trust him, even though he was so weak just a little while ago.

And just like that, Markus took out his mace and blocked the attack of the enemy skeleton with the spiky edge of the weapon.

Using the opening, Karl took out his blood-soaked blade and with full force, swung it at Skull of the monster.

He was able to penetrate the bones with easy, but when he tried pulling the blade out, he encountered a problem.

His short sword had gotten stuck, and he did not possess enough power to pull it out.

He put all his power behind it, but it did not budge.

"I would hurry up if I were you. More of them are approaching."

Looking behind him Karl saw 6 skeletons approaching him and Markus. All wearing broken down, rusted armor.

With newfound horror he once again pulled with all his might, but even though it looked like the blade had moved, it did not exit the Skull.

Karl kept pulling repeatedly, not giving up until he could so much as hear the bones rattling right behind him.

That's when Markus jumped in and kicked the skeleton away.

"In a Dungeon it's essential that we help each other out. I'll always try to help if I can, so don't be shy to ask."

He quickly broke the skull, in which the Blade had been stuck in and looked forward at the rapidly approaching skeletons.

"Sorry. I'll ask in the future."

Standing next to Markus, Karl also got ready to battle the encroaching enemy.

***

'I've always been talented. At least, that's what my parents said.'

Leo reminisced as he easily fought off the attacking skeletons.

'Ever since I was little, I had to come to this horrendous and filthy place. Filled with Death, Despair and Agony. I was surrounded by it at the age of seven. How could they do that to a child? How could they send him of to a place such as this at that young an age? What were they thinking? Questions like these were always swirling around my head. But I never seemed to find a fitting answer. Was it for money? Fame? Status? Or something else? I was never able to figure it out. But, I guess it doesn't matter.'

As the more and more skeletons approached him, he started picking up the pace as well.

With a single stroke he now managed to cut two skulls in half, all the while avoiding the blade strikes of the other enemies.

Such was the power of one talented in combat. One that was meant to be in a place like this.

But just because one was meant for something, doesn't mean one enjoys or even wants to do that thing.

'That's why, I'll show them. I'll show them how it looks when somebody with talent decides not to nurture it. They'll see how it looks when somebody wastes their talent.'

And thinking that Leo, the Rank D Fighter, continued to cut down the approaching mass of walking, geared up bones.

***

After eliminating every skeleton in the surrounding area, Karl could not help but fall to the ground in pure exhaustion.

His breaths were heavy as he looked at the nonexistent ceiling of the Dungeon.

"I could see that you've improved. But to this extent. Life sure is crazy sometimes."

Markus laughed as he looked down at the tired Karl.

"But, it seems your stamina is still quite poor. Getting tired after beating only five skeletons, it might still get dangerous in the future, even if you're more powerful now."

"You're right. I still have a lot to work on."

With a slightly pained expression Karl laughed as he stood back up.

"But, you really have improved drastically. A weak ago, you couldn't even beat one skeleton alone. And now you can handle multiple....There must be a secret. Come on, tell me. What is it?"

"No secret here. Just hard work."

"Huh, fine then, don't tell me."

With a jokingly pouting expression, Markus looked away, while laughing.

The suddenly a black fog started descending on the tired party.

The fogs thickness wasn't very high, as one could still see the other party members. But it still creeped everyone out.

"What's this?!"

Karl asked as he drew his sword.

"Are more enemies approaching?"

"No, it doesn't seem like it. But stay on guard, you can never know what kind of surprises a Dungeon might hold."

Markus readied his mace as well as he went to Karl with his back. Their teamwork was improving slowly but surely.

"Welcome Adventurers! I humbly welcome you to my Dungeon. A place that far exceeds the Depths of even Hell when it comes to suffering and horror. A wonderful place of my own design, that I have made just for the likes of you."

The people in the party all looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. They looked left, right, down and up, until everyone’s heads landed on the same spot.

They all looked at the same thing with gaping mouths and sweat drops flowing down the sides of their heads.

Their eyes open wide, awaiting the next second with nervousness.

The void.

Every single person's eyes were stuck on what should have been a nonexistent ceiling. A hole filled only with darkness.

That's what it should have been.

But in that pitch Darkness were now two rows of big, milky white teeth.

Their size humongous, they looked like they could fit at least 5 people in them.

And worst of all, it was smiling right at the Adventurers. A smile filled with twisted delight.

"Now that I have welcomed you all, you should probably get ready. In about two to three hours, I plan on releasing more of my skeletal minions to attack and eradicate you. This will all be done for my delight, so please put up an entertaining fight. But, that is all for now, don't forget, two to three hours. Be ready to fight by then. I wish you all good luck. Goodbye."

Just as fast as it came it disappeared as well.

And that all filling black void reappeared in its place.

"What the hell was that?" Karl asked.

"I don't know. But whatever it was, it wasn't on our side. We should probably stay on guard, even if it did say nothing would happen for two hours."

"I Agree. We need to be careful." Karl nodded.

"But, nothing will come of just standing around and waiting. Come on, let's just eat. But don't sheathe your sword yet. You may need it sooner rather than later."

With that the two Adventurers sat down and took their food out to eat.

Even in a Fear inducing situation like this, one cannot do much on an empty stomach.