A demon ogre swung its great sword to cleave my body in half, but my speed proved too much for it. By executing a swift flip over its head and a smooth landing, I was able to cut through the tendons in its leg. A painful yelp was emitted by the ogre, and before it hit the ground, I shifted towards its front side and aimed a stab at its heart.
“You guys have these impressive weapons, but your movements are all too simple. I already memorized your patterns!”
The ogre collapsed to the ground with a forceful strike to its abdomen, and its eyes were clouded with the shadow of death. I removed my sword from the dead demon and wiped the blood off the blade. The sixth ogre's defeat proved to me that the ones I had already killed were no match. Despite my disappointment, I consoled myself with the thought that the journey was nearing its end; the ground had just begun to slope upward. Groaning to myself, I looked at my Status to check my progress.
Status Inventory Name: Isaac Rank: Undecided Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Durability: 8 Mana: 2 Masteries Marksmanship: Lvl 1 Swordsmanship: Lvl 1 Night Vision: Lvl 1 Energy Manipulation: Lvl 1
A quick look at my stats resulted in me nodding in agreement. Things were progressing smoothly at that end. Navigating through the cave over time allowed me to gain a new mastery of [Night Vision] and a level up in [Swordsmanship].
I turned my head back to where I came from. “I wonder how Laila’s doing on the other side. Getting kind of worried here but... Eh, I’m sure she’s fine. She can be quite stubborn whenever she wants to be.”
And I couldn’t let her get the one-up on me. My pride would be seriously damaged if she were better than me at this type of stuff.
Confirming that all the ogres were dead, I sat down at the nearest wall to prepare. After some experimentation, I figured out how to use mana. It took quite a while for it to manifest, but man, was it worth it! All I had to do was envision in my mind what power I desired and boom! My beautiful creation came to life, but something I hadn’t expected happened.
With a snap of my fingers, I summoned a small ball of flames and a sharp piece of ice. “No notable difference in size...”
Another snap later, they disappeared. That spectacle was called [Energy Manipulation]. The name came from the System itself. Initially, I was unsure about what qualified as energy, but after some reflection, mana could be classified as energy. I then converted mana into whatever I imagined, but there were two problems discovered during experimentation.
The development of my mana stat was painfully slow, making it hard to level up, and the more energy I used, the heavier the burden my body endured. I found that out the hard way when my heart felt like it would explode during an earlier fight. That was the reason for my mana training- to increase my proficiency and strengthen the body. For RPGs, I typically opt for a class that yields fast results, but I made a mistake by choosing the complete opposite and it backfired.
I leaned against the cavern wall, pouting. “Man, this sucks. I picked one that starts off weak AND progresses slowly. I made a mental list of powers I wanted to obtain, but you only allowed me to choose the first one that came to mind? Should’ve just done something simple.”
Think positive things. Think about the endgame, not the early game. Wait, is there actually an endgame? This is the reality we’re talking about…
I shook my head at the thought. “Screw it. Let’s just keep moving on ahead. I’ll deal with this problem later.”
I stood up from my spot and gave my body a good stretch before carrying on. More ogres appeared on the path, but they were quickly taken care of. Furthermore, there existed a team of gray-armored individuals consisting of five members, with a red mage possessing the ability to control the earth. When it spotted me, it tried to limit my movements by ordering the ground to trap my feet, but I was able to get out of it by using the hilt of my sword to smash the rocks. Knowing the mage was the problem, I sprinted past the four gray demons and cut the mage’s head off before it could cast any more magic.
“Always deal with the casters first.”
The demons were confused, but it only lasted a moment. Their eyes glowed with rage after witnessing their comrades’ death. They let out a collective war cry, somewhat rattling my bones.
“Bring it on, ya meatheads!”
Shoulders squared, I faced my foe’s head-on as their feet pounded the ground with a frenzied intensity. The first to arrive only had a silver helmet on its head for protection. Summoning some darts from my Inventory, I threw two toward its exposed eyes and stabbed my sword right through its chest. The next one appeared to the left of its dead comrade and swung its club at my right arm while I was in the middle of pulling out my blade.
In the nick of time, it was extracted, and my body instinctively arched itself backward to avoid the club. With the demon now off-balance, I crouched down and extended one of my legs to trip the demon. As it was flailing its arms, I wasted no time and pierced the back of its skull. The three that were behind the rest stopped dead in their tracks and all looked at each other with anxious expressions. Noticing that they were nervous, an idea came to mind just so my prey wouldn’t run away.
I donned a sinister smirk. “Hey now! Don’t start getting cold feet!” In addition, I let out an obscene gesture with my left hand. Would they understand what it meant?
The group's anxious expressions quickly transformed back into fury as they let out a deep, guttural growl together. They then began a joint charge.
“Maybe I should use this chance to test out some strategies?”
I imagined that the ground in front of me was frozen over, and soon I felt a chill as a shining sheet of ice appeared. Even though the affected area was small, they all stumbled and teetered, trying to keep their footing. With them in disarray, I avoided the affected region by going around the makeshift ice rink and speed-blitz the closest demon with a quick stab to the head. The remaining demons had already adapted to the ice and were now using their longswords to attack me. I aimed my sword at the next target, but it blocked my attack.
My eyes widened with surprise. “Oh? You know how to defend?”
After my retort, the other demon ogre took this opportunity to grab me, but before it could, I summoned ice in the form of a small nail to gouge one of its eyes. Grunting to myself, I pushed back the demon and sliced its head off in a swift motion. The one-eyed demon also fell to my blade with another beheading. Sighing to myself, I stored my weapon away after confirming they were all dead.
“I’m sure of it now. They are getting more organized and are showing some skills. That could mean one thing. I’m close to an exit, a secret area, or just a dead end. Wait, that’s three options...”
Before proceeding further, I wanted to take a short break to ensure my performance did not diminish. I made certain that the spot I selected was at a significant distance from the corpses. Following this, I slumped over to a nearby wall and seated myself. The bag of rations I prepared was removed from the Inventory.
“Food and water are getting low. This is not good. It’s best to find the way out soon.”
While I was having a snack break, my thoughts drifted toward Earth and how it was doing. Were we the only ones transported against our will? If not, where were the others? Why did only me and Laila show up here? Would the government look for us? Was this still Earth?
Those were the questions that plagued my mind. I just shook my head, suppressing those thoughts into a brain compartment. It was pointless to contemplate given the unavailability of questions, especially in such an abnormal situation. Being left out of the loop on that type of information was draining for the mind.
It felt like a mere moment had passed despite around ten minutes of thinking. With my break being over, it was time to push ahead. After walking for about thirty minutes, wandering through tunnels and retracing my steps, I finally reached the end. A musty smell filled the air as I stood in front of the old wooden gate that towered over me. It had two handles that I could reach, and some indistinguishable words carved into the middle. There was some mold here and there, and below the door were some scratch marks.
“Yep, I have no idea what the words say. Probably something important if there’s a wooden gate in a cave. This thing ain’t new, but it ain’t old either.”
Now the question was, what now? Laila suggested we wait if one of us found an exit, but is this really one? Is it some magical door that would magically wisp us away? Or maybe it was a boss room! I mean, before we were transported, the System mentioned something about a dungeon. It was between taking a peek or waiting, just like Laila had mentioned. I thought about what she would say if she found out I disregarded her warnings. Probably a lot of cursing and smacks to the head for being stupid.
I paced around the room for a few moments before finally reaching a decision. “I’ll just wait here. Don’t want her to get all crazy over me.”
I walked on over to a wall and sat cross-legged, waiting. Not even five minutes passed before my curiosity got the best of me. I got up from my spot and stood in front of the gate, arms folded.
“Okay, just a tiny peek. I’ll just creek open the gate a little, scan the inside without entering, and close it.”
With a newfound determination and outstretched arms, I pulled on the gate just so a crack appears. The moment it was opened, an unseen force grabs me and shoved me inside with the gate closing behind me with a loud bang. I stumbled across a dusty marble floor.
I groaned as I lifted my head. “Really? It wasn’t even open for a second and I just get shoved inside?”
What I saw first was a statue in the middle of what seemed to be a place of worship. Behind that statue was a door tall enough for an ogre to fit through. I saw two lines of stone columns stretching out before me, their braziers crackling with fire. When I looked up, there were glass panes. On a clear, moonless night, the sky was illuminated with thousands of shining points of light. When we were transported, it was morning, yet time had moved so fast that it didn’t feel like it.
“This place looks like a church- except all the benches and church stuff. Hold on, why is there a church in front of a cave? That seems weird and out of place. Second, what is that statue?”
Taking a closer look at it, it was only half a statue. Someone definitely used a sharp object to slice it in half, and they did it very well. The center was smoothly cut and as neat as butter. Was it done out of anger? The remaining half was adorned with a single wing, and in its grasp was a jewel-encrusted crown.
"What the fuck am I exactly looking at...?”
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“It’s a statue of one of the Pillars of course,” said a frosty voice. My muscles tensed instinctively, and I unsheathed my sword.
“And who might you be, mysterious voice?”
I was only met with silence. My body's tension escalated, and I sensed beads of sweat forming on my forehead. I shivered as an icy breeze chilled my neck. My sword whistled through the air as I swung it behind me, hoping to catch it off guard, but I felt the resistance of something blocking my movement. When I looked, a mysterious figure blocked my blow with only a dark sheath.
“My, aren’t you a feisty intruder?” the mysterious figure purred.
Red flag! If someone pulled up and blocked a sword with a sheathe, they were probably a big shot!
I hastened backwards, the sound of my shoes resounding on the ground in an effort to maintain some space between us. Two-handing the longsword, I glared at the figure before me, my concentration fully maxed out.
“And you seem to be a smart lad!” he said with wide arms. The man stood in place, with a smile plastered across his pale face. When our eyes met, I could tell from his gaze that he did not see me as a threat.
“Who are you?” I asked him calmly. I knew that even a small sign of fear against a skilled opponent like that would result in death.
The mysterious man raised a finger to his lips and made a hushing noise. “I’ll be the one asking the questions, and you will answer.”
It was hard to avert my eyes whenever he spoke. His eyes, which resemble that of an amethyst, made him quite an attractive guy. He was also tall as shit; maybe six foot four?
“First question; are you what they call a human?”
The way he emphasized the human part made him sound like he wasn’t from Earth. Throw in the fact that he didn’t look like a normal human; it was best not get on his bad side.
“Yes, I’m a human.”
The man shrugged and said, “I thought as much. You look exactly like what they described, yet I can sense some ‘similarities’ between us.”
My thoughts were clouded with even more questions. Who was this they the tall man was referring to? Also, what did he mean by similarities?
“Now on to the next one.” He took one step forward, this time expressing an unnerving smile. “Were you the one who freed the traitor?”
And once again, I had no idea what he was talking about. I assumed that someone was held captive in the cave and has just been freed. And that savior was no other than Laila as we were the only people sent here; but he didn’t need to know that last part.
“I assume your silence confirms that you have released her, although she is not in your company at present. Did she run? Or perhaps she’s still inside and there is another one of you humans?”
I tried my absolute best to keep a straight face and sound as convincing as possible. “Yea, I freed her! She dipped a long time ago. There’s still time to catch up to your prisoner so, go on.”
He looked at me suspiciously, his eyes narrowed and his expression grim, as if considering whether or not I was lying. “You are in no position to be resorting to deceit. Although I had the opportunity to end your life upon your arrival, I have chosen to grant you the opportunity to live. Now, I will not ask for a third time. Where is the prisoner?”
His eyes displayed a fierce intensity, conveying his complete seriousness. He also had one hand resting on the sheath. If he heard nothing good, a fight between us was inevitable. Although I was quite confident in myself, I doubted I could last even three minutes against this guy. If he were to go inside and meet Laila after having killed me...
I could feel a hard lump form in my throat as I spoke. “You’ll have to get through me first if you want to know where they are.” I clutched the hilt of my longsword tightly, feeling the weight of the weapon in my hand as I pointed it at the man’s head.
He cupped his hands over his face and released a deep, mournful sigh. “Do you intend to choose the difficult path? Very well, it would be appropriate for you to pray to the deity you worship.”
From the sheathe, he retrieved a black sword. The weirdest thing was that I felt mana radiating out of the blade. Comparing it to my sword, the blade in my hand felt small and insignificant.
The man then said, in a mocking tone, “I might as well enjoy myself while you struggle meaninglessly.”
Well, would you look at this prick? He thinks I have no chance. Just hearing it come out of his mouth makes me want to win no matter what!
Wanting to take the initiative, I rushed towards the smiling bastard. He demonstrated no intention of moving even an inch, as he stood there in a defensive stance. Now face to face, I wanted to test the waters, so I aimed my blade toward his neck as fast as humanely possible. I thought he was less capable than I had assumed when I saw no response from him. Though that feeling was fleeting as he blocked the swing faster than my eyes could process!
“You thought I would not block?” he sneered maliciously. “I was able to deduce your intentions based on your predictable movements. I wager that you have not had the chance to hold a sword in your life.”
He pushed back my strike with minimal effort and pointed a finger at me. “If you fail to take this fight seriously, it will result in a tedious experience. I want the first human I have come across by chance to give me a good battle.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “What about the prisoner that escaped? She’s getting further and further away.”
The man snickered at my bluff. “I am aware that she is still in that cave after interrogating you. You lacked confidence whenever you answered my questions. I shall attend to her after concluding my business with you since she is powerless at present.”
Feeling quite annoyed at the bastard’s cockiness, I ran toward the smiling man. I pulled out my last remaining claw darts and hurled them at his head, abdomen, and legs. He easily deflected all four projectiles, but that was what I expected. Right when he finished deflecting the last one, I had already closed the distance between us. I went for an overhead slash. The man, thinking I was going for his head, went for a horizontal slash against my body, but...
“Oh?”
At the last possible second, I changed direction and leapt into the air, my body soaring above him as I completed my pre-jump preparations. Behind me, an array of ice crystals came into being which I rapidly projected towards the man. At the same time, I landed behind him and aimed for his legs.
“Magnificently done!” he roared. “However...”
The ground beneath him rumbled, and a cube made from the marble floor enveloped the man like a protective cocoon. As my blade hit the marble, I heard the clink of metal against stone, and the ice crystals from earlier reduced to nothingness. A second later, the cube slinked back onto the ground as if nothing happened. The man, while smiling, gave me some applause.
“It hasn’t been long, but you already know how to harness mana. Your adaptability is also commendable! To think of a plan like that...” A hearty laugh erupted out of his mouth after the praise.
“Hey! Done enjoying yourself yet? I’m not done fighting, ya know?”
My opponent moved his eyes along my body like he was sizing me up. “I must admit that I didn't expect to derive so much pleasure from playing against a human. The longer we fight, the more intrigued I am by your growth!”
He let out another boisterous laugh. The laughter eventually subsided, and he transitioned into a new stance. “Let’s see how well you can defend against me.”
Without a sound, it seemed as if the man had disappeared completely. I glanced around, searching for any signs of him, and soon realized he was behind me when I heard a faint scuffing sound. In a split second, I turned around and felt my muscles tense as I positioned my body to block the attack aimed at my right shoulder. I winced at the sheer strength of my opponent. It’s like trying to stand firm against the thunderous charge of a raging bull!
The man smiled at my futile struggle. “I’m surprised you blocked that! Your reflexes are pretty good! Try blocking this!”
He unleashed a flurry of attacks that gave me no chance of counter-striking. It took all my concentration just to block. He was even getting faster with each precise strike, while my movements got sluggish. Slowly, gashes appeared on my body as time went on. I hadn’t even noticed I was backpedalling until I felt something solid on my back. Taking a quick glance, a pillar stood behind me. An idea had occurred to me.
The man kept up the momentum without letting me breathe for even a second. “Your backs against the wall, boy! What will you do now?!”
Not yet... The perfect opportunity will appear soon...
I kept on making micro-adjustments whenever I deflected his swings. Slowly but surely, I was detecting a pattern in how this man carried on his next move. Every swing he released was calculated, and I noticed this man wasn’t dead set on killing me just yet. He was fooling around, playing with his food. I would get angry at this sort of development if I wasn’t fighting for my damn life!
The moment I was waiting for soon arrived when he aimed his next attack at my head. With a desperate parry, I had him hit the pillar behind me. Upon impact, there was a dull thud, followed by the sound of small rocks bouncing off the floor. The structure, its walls riddled with sword marks, now creaked and groaned beneath its own weight. I took that chance to bash the pillar as hard as possible. Now crumbling, the debris then fell from above. With haste, I took that chance to run behind the next available pillar.
He wiped the dust off his white sleeveless shirt. “Even with your back against the wall, you still came up with a plan to escape from me. Despite all your planning, you only avoided the inevitable. Hiding behind there won’t be of use to you. If you’re planning on luring me, it will not work out the way you thought.”
With that statement, he assumed a new stance. With his legs far apart, he held the sword with both hands. His muscles bulged almost instantly and the sound of air rushing through filled the room. The column I was hiding behind was split in half almost immediately.
“Oh shit, oh shit! Definitely not getting hit by that!”
I moved on to the next available pillar. Every pillar I went to met the same end as before, getting split by this crazy son of a bitches wind slashes. Was he so strong that he can create enough pressure to slice at a stone? Just who the hell did I meet?!
Before long, I found myself latched onto the last pillar standing.
“You have nowhere else to go. Why not just face me head-on like before?”
“Alright, fine then,” I mumbled.
Right before he could unleash the next strike, it was time for the next course of action. Leaving my hiding spot, I ran straight at the assailant. He elevated his sword in a defensive posture, as if he anticipated my next action. I pretended to lunge for his hip, but quickly spun around him and aimed a thrust at his back. The man pivoted to face me and defended against the blow, but that was what I wanted him to do. Later, small balls of electricity appeared from the destroyed pillars and rushed toward the oblivious man, electrocuting him.
“Grahh!”
Direct hit! Since he’s decommissioned now, I can’t let this chance go to waste!
I brought my sword up high and then down quickly in a powerful slash, aiming straight for his head. Upon glancing at the man, I was surprised to see a sly smirk instead of nervousness.
“Fool!”
He clenched his fist and gut-punched me when his nonchalant demeanor caught me off guard. I was sent flying forward, sliding across the marble tiles and leaving a trail of dust in my wake as I landed in front of the statue. A sharp pain tore through my body, making it impossible to take a breath, and I found myself gasping for air. My fingers clawed away at the marble under me.
“I was told that you humans possess no mana within your bodies. That doesn’t seem the case anymore...” The man slowly marched toward me while talking in that disgustingly annoying tone. I could now breathe somewhat normally, but the pain was still there.
“While you possess mana now, it is still weak and fickle.” He squatted down and his hands, rough and calloused, grasped my head and made me look at him, his stare piercing. “Through closer observation, it has become visible to me. I can see a ‘core’ inside of you. It is the same as us Apithiens, but also different.”
What exactly was this core that’s inside of me? Is it the reason I could pull off all this crazy shit? So many questions, no time to find answers!
“I’ve decided!” said the man, springing upward. “You’ll be my first test subject, human.”
That did not sound good at all.
“I’ll pass on that wonderful offer...” I weakly murmured.
The Apithien merely chuckled. “That’s funny. I don’t remember giving you a choice. Now then, playtimes ove-“
He stopped himself mid-sentence and whirled himself, facing the gate. He drew his sword from its sheathe and the sound of metal on metal rang through the air as he deflected a blue katana.
“What’s this now... Another human?”
Soon as I heard him say that, I snapped my head around to see what he was looking at. When I caught sight of who stood there, my worries were suddenly gone and a wave of relief washed over me.
“Hey, you! Step away from the idiot,” Laila snapped.
That’s kinda harsh, ya know?
Laila looked as if she went through a blender. Her clothes seemed wet, and some parts of the fabric were torn. Bruises and scrapes were visible on her body, but she could still walk without wincing. When I turned to the man, the newcomer clenched his attention. Not wanting to make a sound, I quietly grabbed my longsword and went for a sneak attack.
“Don’t bother. I didn’t forget about you, boy,” the Apithien jabbed without even looking my way.
Instead of a sneak attack, I manifested some icicles and aimed them toward the man’s back while I ran for my sister. As expected, he sidestepped without even sparing a glance at them.
“Isaac! What did I tell you about waiting for me?!” She elbowed me in the gut when I stopped right next to her.
“Not-the gut-please.”
“Shut up and tell me what happened. Who is he?”
“Do I shut up or speak? Which is it?”
Her eyes were like daggers as she gave me an intimidating glare, as if she was trying to decide if she should strangle me.
I held my hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay... It was a joke. The thing is, I was waiting in front of the gate for a bit, until my curiosity got the best of me. I only wanted to take a liiiiitle peek, but something forced me inside. Then this guy showed up talking about Apithiens and some prisoner. We started duking it out, but I was getting my ass kicked most of the time. He didn’t even break a sweat talking about oh how-“
“I get the gist of it now,” she sharply cut in. Her eyebrows scrunched up as she rested her chin on her hand. “We have no choice, then. We’ll have to stall him long enough until she arrives.”
“She? Are you talking about the prisoner you freed?”
“Yes. I’ll tell you all about it later. Right now, we have a bigger problem in front of us.” She pointed at the man. He had his arms crossed, staring intently at Laila.
“Human girl; since you just came out of the cave, I’m guessing you’re the actual reason the prisoner was freed?”
“So what?” Pointing her blade with confidence, she faced the man. “Now that I’m here, it doesn’t matter. Your downfall is all but determined.”
“You say that, but you’re visibly shaking,” I thought. I wouldn’t dare share that out loud, so I kept my mouth shut.
Laughter came out of the man after hearing Laila’s bold statement. “My downfall? I like you, girl! Your arrogance knows no bounds for someone so little.”
He took one menacing step forward, unsheathing the black sword once more. “Let us see if you can back up that arrogance against I, Volken, leader of the Apithiens!”
Laila glanced my way. “Can you still fight, Isaac?”
“Of course I can!” I nodded.
We raised up our weapons in response to the fired-up Apithien.