Their battle was heavy. Their clash cracked the pillars and the walls, and a slight tremor shook the room.

I ran, following the trail just as the sage instructed.

However, the trail led to a dead end—a deep fall. Frantically, I looked around, trying to find a way, but failed to do so as all I saw was a large gap, an empty space between two rooms that could spell my end if I attempted to jump.

I looked back and saw that no one was following me. I didn't know what to do.

I still couldn't use magic to bridge my way there. My mind raced, trying to think how I should make this jump.

But I was too afraid to even attempt it.

This was no time to be just standing here doing nothing. With a smack, I slapped myself awake.

"Let's go," I said.

I prepared myself, backing some distance away and sprinting as fast as I could.

But as I was about to jump, fear overtook me, causing me to break and almost slide down.

"NO!"

I held onto a piece of rock, just barely saving myself from falling.

I climbed up with all my strength, but as I gripped the rock, it suddenly crumbled in my hand.

Frantically, I panicked and grabbed onto the walls like a certain spider hero. My fingers somehow carved in and dug deep into the walls, securing my hold.

"What?" My surprise was short-lived as I realized I had to move or risk being caught by the Guardian members.

Slowly, I climbed up like a spider, making sure my fingers dug in enough to support my weight.

Was this that strange feeling? I felt powerful after my body had lit on fire, and even now, I was still on fire. I didn't need a flashlight or a torch to light my way, but night goggles would definitely be helpful to see what was below this fall.

After managing to get back up, my heart was racing fast. I almost fell.

With shaky legs, I slowly stood up, peeking at the fall again. I brushed aside the idea of trying to jump again.

The trail was slowly dissipating anyway, and there wasn't much I could do if I kept hesitating. So, I ran back and found everything destroyed.

All of the Guardian members present were dead. The altar where I was placed was still there and hadn't suffered a single scratch, despite everything around it collapsing and being destroyed.

It seemed invincible. A question popped into my head: "What is that?" I had never seen anything like it.

There was no mention of an altar like this in the novel or the game.

I headed towards the path upstairs and ran up the long, winding staircase.

Finally, I reached the empty room where I was brought by the old man and where I met Duncal. Even its walls were destroyed by something. Maybe it was caused by the sage and Duncal as they fought?

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But trying to identify what happened wasn't a priority right now. I needed to quickly find a way to leave before I ran into more trouble.

As I ran ahead, the chaos from the battle filled every corner. Even outside the room was a mess, the guardian members and guards were all mangled or slashed by something.

I darted around, trying to find a way out, checking every room on this floor. But there was nothing, this place seemed like a maze.

Suddenly, Duncal burst through the ceiling, falling with wounds while holding the blade of the man he killed earlier. He swiftly got back up just as a ball of fire made its way toward him.

With his skills, he easily slashed the magic, dispersing it instantly. The area quickly filled with dust, and I closed my eyes against the accumulating dust flying in the air.

Then, a figure came rushing down, missing his left leg. Flying down with his wand pointed at Duncal, he silently chanted, "Thunder Sphere"

His wand glowed as a sphere of electricity shot out. It was like thunder, crashing instantly, followed by a deafening roar.

"GRARGH!!" screamed Duncal as the first thunder hit him. "OLD MAN!!" he bellowed in anger.

Steadying himself, he posed his sword in front of him. As the second bolt came, his blade seemed to absorb everything.

The sage landed on one foot and pushed his palm against the floor. Duncal dashed ahead, filled with bloodlust. "DIE!!" he screamed, his body mostly covered in blood.

The sage, although wounded, was not as severely injured as Duncal, who had slashes all over his body. The cuts looked severe, yet he stood and fought strong, seemingly immune to pain or driven by adrenaline.

In an instant, Duncal closed the distance to the sage, his blade crashing down at the sage's head. Suddenly, a long rock pillar pushed him from above, and another spike stretched down towards the rising pillar carrying Duncal.

A crushing boulder was all I heard as the attack collided.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" the sage yelled as soon as he saw me.

I didn't know what to say, but just as I was feeling safe, Duncal came again. His right arm was broken, hanging by a stick of flesh, his bone cut by the sage's earth magic attack.

The sage was about to cast another spell when, unexpectedly, a spike of ice shot toward him. Feeling the attack coming, he created another pillar, lifting himself up. The ice spike missed its target.

Duncal pointed his sword down, and as soon as he reached the new pillar, he cut it down, causing the sage to fall.

Before I could get caught up in all this, I quickly ran in a different direction, away from the fighting. Another staircase trailing down was in sight, my only way down. I had no choice but to go deeper, destroying every door open just to find a way out.

But there was none; every room led to more rooms, and it just went on until I eventually reached the end. Maybe I could dig my way up? I'm pretty physically strong right now, so that could work, but it would also be time-consuming. I didn't know what to expect above if I dug enough.

But I tried anyway, since I could reach the ceiling here. Finding something to step on, I began punching above. I repeated the action, climbing the small hole I made, then clawed my way in, digging through the rocks and dirt.

After a minute of digging, I finally reached the floor above. But this time, the ceiling was so high up, maybe 400 feet. I couldn't reach it.

Frustrated, I ran straight until I found a different-looking door. Unlike the others, this one was made of magic. A dark purple outline colored every edge, almost transparent and see-through, but blurry.

The peace I felt calmed me down, giving me time to think. How do I deal with magic? Then I remembered my body still glowing like it was on fire. Isn't this magic? What's happening to me now is probably magic; that's all I could come up with.

How did I do this? I had no idea. With that in mind, I tried my enhanced physical strength against the door. I breathed in, claimed a pose like a boxer, and prepared for a strong punch. I collected my strength in my right fist, confident with my current power, seeing how easily I was breaking hard rocks like they were mud.

With that, I released a strong punch. My fist cut through the air. I might be physically a child, but my striking power was that of a monster. And just like that, my fist landed silently with no sound, like I didn't hit anything at all.

But I didn't expect my action to hurt me. "AAAHH!!" I screamed, quickly closing my mouth. My punch did nothing. Not a single budge, no crack, no sign of the magic door dissipating.

On the second look, why did I even try breaking the magic door when I could dig my way inside by digging the stone walls?

As I did, it was like scratching a hard surface; my hand couldn't dig it. I tried digging in a different room and did fine, except for this one single room.

Just what are they protecting here? Or hiding to be this secure?