Leo’s sense of time was gone, he had been inside of this room for some time. It could’ve been a day or a week. The only thing he could think about was his training. By now half the floor was already filled with pools of sweat, Leo had divided the room into two parts. The first and biggest one was to practice swords or magic the other was just a study place. There hadn’t been a lot of progress made in the time he was training, the only thing that Leo got better at was using earth magic.

He hadn’t slept for three days. He had only done it twice since entering this room and there was a reason for it. Every time he slept a memory played off in his mind. It would be so realistic that he could feel pain and touch things. Leo was afraid that if he went to sleep he would get a bad memory about his street life so he didn’t risk it. Leo was not in the mood to relive his past. After some hard physical exercises, Leo fell to the ground and collapsed. He already knew his body wasn’t able to keep it up without sleep so he gave in.

The memory that Leo feared the most started to replay in his head again:

I opened my eyes and looked around. It was a dark day and I was assigned by the Black Lions for my final exam.

My task was to go undercover as a noble and go with an elite team from the second platoon as an experience trip. The group was closer than most families were and they accepted me inside the moment I arrived. Even though they couldn’t see my face which was covered beneath a mask they treated me the same as the others. We left for an alarming location called Hercor.

There were multiple reports about the village being taken over by a demon so we went to check it out. We were only a scouting squad so we just had to check if the reports were true or not. We left early in the morning and arrived in the evening. The town seemed to be just like any other one the only difference was that the people looked at us with distrust.

We went to an inn and slept there. The stench of rotten flesh awoke me. I jumped up and grabbed my dagger which was hidden beneath my pillow.

Everybody else was still asleep, which was weird because they were trained to wake up the moment something was off. I went towards the nearest soldier to look at him but when I approached him a light stench of narcotics came into my sensitive nose.

The smell of it wasn’t new to me as it was used a lot on the streets where I lived. After noticing it I went towards the door and opened it to see who was on guard and if he was also poisoned to sleep. I opened the door and looked around but there was no sign of anyone. The stench of rotten flesh increased as I was walking down the hallway. After turning around the corner a gruesome sight was to be seen.

The rotten flesh I smelled before was not from an animal it was from a human. And not just any human, he used to be a soldier in our squad. The thing that was lying on the ground was nowhere close to being called a human. The man who was covered with blood all over him was whispering some moans of pain. All of the man’s organs and his two legs which were ripped from his body were lying a bit further down the bloody hallway. It was not something a human could do.

It was a disgusting sight seeing how the man was still trying to hold on to life while he just had been ripped apart. I felt a shiver going down his spine thinking about what could’ve done something like this. After doing a quick prayer to bid him farewell I noticed some letters were written on the wall: “We rise because of your fall” it said.

There was no time to waste anymore. I had to notify the main troops about what happened before they rushed in. The opponent they would be facing was not something they could carelessly kill with brute force as it had enough mind to create tactics and use narcotics. Then the pieces connected in my mind a monster that can think by himself to this point. That’s at least a seventh-grade monster.

This was not something half of a platoon could kill. I ran back, this was so urgent that the entire region could be in danger if they allowed it to get stronger by killing the soldiers. Grade monsters which go from the weakest grade one all the way to grade eleven can ascend ranks by killing people or other monsters the stronger the opponent is the stronger they grow from the battle. The monster must have kept the villagers as hostages to capture and kill more people.

A truly terrifying creature. I reached the door and went inside but something was wrong. It took me a while to realize that the repetitive breathing patterns from the soldiers were gone. I went towards the first bed but it was empty. I looked around too afraid to light a candle. It turned out that everyone was gone which shouldn’t be possible because they were all asleep with narcotics.

A scream of pain came from the closet. I ran towards it and opened it. The thing was filled, filled with bloody corpses and some organs. A few eyeballs rolled out of it right next to my feet. They were looking at me with a terrified expression.

Fear took over and I just wanted to run and leave all of these people here. “This wasn’t even my mission right I should just leave” was what came to my mind. But it went away as I realized that before I’d be able to leave this building I would’ve already ended up like the others.

Jonathan had taught me that fear was natural and should be used as a weapon. It sounded easier than it was because I could feel my arms and legs shaking out of fear.

I started thinking rationally, at the moment I only had two options: dying or trying to live. The answer was quite obvious so I kept going.

I can try to write a letter to the main forces which will arrive in a few days when I’m dead or I try to escape this hell of a town and inform the second troops who should be on their way to the town. As living was my priority this was also quite an easy question.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I started planning my escape like I used to when stealing bread from a vendor. The safest route would be by going through the window but I was on the third floor so that would be hard unless I got a rope.

I kept searching but there was no rope in the room. The only way to get a rope would be quite filthy and mentally challenging. I could try to tie the intestines of my fallen allies to create a sturdy rope. After considering it for a while I decided that it was the only way out. I went back to the closet filled with dead people.

I started to work on my rope but I could feel disgust starting to get to my head. I focused on other things whilst doing it. I was about to rip the last one out of the fallen soldier when he started screaming in pain. I was overwhelmed by him still being alive but I had to work quickly before the beast came back. I pulled it out of him blood squirting everywhere. When I was done I tied it to the bed and broke the window. The sound of shattering glass was very loud.

There was no time to doubt about my chances of survival. I jumped through the window and started abseiling down. I was unnoticed until halfway down the wall. It looked like the monster had heard the window breaking and returned to look. I could hear the beast growling above me. Fear took over the moment the beast stuck its head out of the window.

It was a horrifying monster, it had a once white scale pattern that was now covered in blood and two fangs as big as swords coming from his mouth. I couldn’t identify what type of monster it was so I waited for it to leave before I went down. I looked at the beast who knew something was wrong but still couldn’t find out what exactly. The monster stayed for a while but left eventually so I went down again.

After reaching the ground safely I started to run. I ran towards the town's exit as fast as I could. After passing the first two houses a villager spotted me. The man screamed something but I wasn’t bothered by it. A little later I heard the clock tower ringing the alarm signal. There was only one possible thing they were trying to do, they wanted to tell the beast that I escaped so they would be rewarded by it.

I started to run faster and faster but the village seemed endless. The pain started to appear in my muscles so I looked behind me if I could rest a while. After turning turning around I could see a white thing charging at me through the cold night. The thing was faster than I ever could’ve expected. Rest was not an option so I started running again. At last, I could see the village’s main gate. Hope and adrenaline took the best of me and started putting me in a state of overdrive. I didn’t dare to look behind me to see how far the beast was running behind me. My mind started to go in a trans.

There were only two things that I registered, the hopes of getting out of this alive and the beats of me running on the dirt road. Everything went perfectly but then I heard it, the monster had gotten so close to me that I could hear his footsteps. After listening to thousands of stamps coming from the beast, I concluded, it was a centipede monster.

They were known for ripping apart opponents they also have a huge advantage against large groups of enemies as they can spit balls of venom. I reached the gate and started going into the forest. I was nowhere near to be able to kill that thing so my only option was to hide. I climbed into a big oak tree with lots of leaves.

Time passed by slowly but I didn’t move at all. Had it been hours already, nobody knew. My only way of guessing the time was the first rays of sunlight starting to come from the horizon. The beast hadn’t given up, I could still his thousand legs tapping the ground. I was tired but I knew that I couldn’t sleep right now so I fought against it. In the end, I lost and sleep took over my tired body. It was a nice dream about a family without faces taking care of me. I woke up because I felt unusually warm. I felt a hot breath in my face. There wasn’t even enough time to think I rolled over as quickly as I could and fell down the tree.

I landed down without hurting myself too much. My eyes were finally used to the light so I looked to the tree where I had just slept. My suspicions were correct and I just saved myself from a horrible death. The centipede who found my location had tried to kill me while I was sleeping. It came down from the tree and I could now see its entire body. It was over seven meters long and was looking at me with glowing yellow eyes. The monster didn’t give me any time to rest and started to come at me.

My opponent opened its beak where he hid lots of fangs that looked like swords and lashed out at me. I rolled beneath it and grabbed my dagger. The monster who was probably just toying around with me wasn’t expecting me to strike back. I threw my dagger at him but it just reflected on the scales. The beast looked bored and came at me with his bloody teeth.

It started to attack and I knew that I couldn’t fully dodge it. My opponent opened and charged at me with his two long horns at the side of his head. I jumped up and avoided being pierced. My clothes and skin were still ripped open though. Two ugly cuts were made from my stomach to my chest. The centipede was furious that I was still alive and started spitting venom. This was all according to my plan as a monster who’s spitting venom or lava can’t move around carelessly.

I started to run in the hope that the main troops would already be near the village because they didn’t get their report. It was a gamble with my life on the line but it was also the only option I had. I ran even though I was close to bleeding to death.

My legs were tired from before but it didn’t bother me. After reaching the top of the hill my heart skipped a few beats. The main troops had already set up their base in the designated place. I ran down the steep hill but I sprained my ankle and rolled down the last part. I started screaming at full volume hoping for help.

It worked and the entire camp was informed within a minute. I had lost too much blood already so my consciousness started fading.

I awoke in a tent with multiple soldiers bowing over me. “Are you alright young sir?” One of them said. I nodded after realizing I was still alive. I mustered the strength to ask:

“D-did you defeat the thing”. Pain surged through me the moment I used my voice. “Yes young sir, thanks to your sacrifice we were able to prepare for battle. If you hadn’t done it then all of us would’ve died inside the village as the thing would’ve had a couple of advantages on us. I hereby speak as second in command of the second platoon that we will offer you help whenever you need young lord.”

He continued talking,” As an offer of gratitude I will let you eat the centipede’s core. It’ll surely help you later on. Please endure it” The soldiers handed him a big red stone which he put in my mouth.

Pain started to take me over as my body was taking the power into my heart. My surroundings started fading in black and white and with this, the hell of a memory was over.

Leo awoke on the stone-cold floor drenched in blood and sweat. He stood up and felt that he was shaking on his knees. He thought about him ripping out the intestines from his fallen allies just for his own survival.

The shaking started to get worse with his frame of mind. Even though the memory was a horrifying experience he remembered something important. The beast core he had eaten that day was still inside him untouched. Leo started processing the core which turned out to be filled with mana. The next week would become even worse and more painful than the ones before.