Roseth Evertin

I appeared as a demon, slaughtering the feline beasts with a massive grin on my face, blood splattering across my body. I felt happy and powerful as I decapitated the last remaining monster. At my feet lay the corpses of dozens and dozens of monsters, sweat dripping from my forehead. Satisfied with the battle, I sat down amidst the carnage.

The continuous battles had allowed me to refine my swordsmanship and improve my mana control. During the fights, I often used the last living monsters to train new skills, becoming stronger day by day. There was nothing that could stop me.

"You're frightening, Roseth," Arter observed with a laugh as he sat on the ground.

"It was fun, I want to do it again!" I exclaimed, amused.

"You sound like a child."

"Arter, how much farther to the center of the dungeon?" I asked, moving away from the corpses.

"If we continue at this pace, it will take us a week of walking," Arter replied.

"A week? But I've been fighting for almost a month now!" I exclaimed, annoyed.

"There's nothing I can do about it," Arter replied. "In fact, I'm surprised at how quickly we're progressing."

I clicked my tongue and turned to resume walking. "Come on, let's go," I said, gesturing for Arter to follow me.

As soon as I took a step, loud roars echoed throughout the tunnel, and I shivered, feeling small under the approaching imposing aura.

"What was that?" I asked, concerned.

"What a silly question, you're in a dungeon, what could it be if not a beast?" Arter began to dissipate. "Try not to die," he said before disappearing.

Well, I'm ready, come forward!

From the darkness emerged a lion-like beast with a mane of dark flames, its dark green scales covering its skin, and its red eyes radiating a clear intent to kill. The beast roared before charging me at great speed.

It's agile for its size, but not agile enough.

The lion opened its mouth and pounced on me, but I moved to the side, slashing a gap in its exposed side with a dagger made of pure mana that materialized in my left hand.

The beast let out a howl before turning back to me, its mane of flames growing larger, and its gaze filled with hatred.

It roared again, but this time the noise was too loud, and I was forced to cover my ears. The gash I had inflicted on its side closed up, healing completely in an instant, and the beast seemed to have grown even stronger.

Finally, a worthy opponent, but how should I kill it?

The lion extended its long black claws before swiping its paw at me. Thanks to my enhanced body, I evaded without any problem, but the lion continued with a flurry of blows. As I dodged each of its swings, I looked for an opening in its guard that would allow me to defeat it. But as I observed it carefully, its attacks sped up, scratching my left arm.

I thought it would be stronger, even though it wounded me, I could defeat it barehanded, using just my enhancements.

The lion scratched my cheek with a swing, drawing blood. That's enough.

The beast attacked me again with its right paw, but I blocked it with one hand, pulling the lion towards me and delivering a punch to its nose. My blow was so powerful that it made the beast lose consciousness, and it fell defeated.

"Congratulations, you never cease to amaze!" Arter exclaimed, reappearing beside me.

"I thought it would be stronger, I'm disappointed." I said, looking at the beast with a disappointed expression.

"But you were injured." Arter pointed out.

"I was just playing with the beast." I explained, lowering myself to decapitate the lion.

"Don't you think it's a bit dangerous?" Arter said ironically.

"Don't tease me, that lion wouldn't have been able to kill me even in my sleep." I plunged a dagger of pure mana into the beast's neck and severed its head.

"Don't you think you're overestimating yourself?" Arter asked.

"I'm not overestimating myself, I'm overestimating the beast." I replied, walking away from the tunnel.

"Roseth." Arter called.

"What is it?" I replied, annoyed.

"I wanted to ask you something about your parents."

"What's it about?" I asked with no reaction, as if the topic didn't concern me.

"Well, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about." he said, carefully observing my reaction.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't seem to care at all about your parents." he affirmed, looking ahead.

"It's been a month, it's normal," I said, kicking a rock.

"Don't you feel any hatred for those who caused their deaths? Don't you feel any hatred for the gods who unleashed those beasts, slaughtering your homeland?"

"No, on the contrary, I thank them. They gave me a reason to kill them." I said with an amused look.

"A reason, huh?" A smile returned to Arter's serious face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"No, nothing, it's just that you're a strange one."

Our journey continued, by now, we had established that the direction we were heading in was the right one. It was only a matter of time before I reached the center of the dungeon. Although excited by the battles, I had grown tired of the same monotonous tunnel. Continuing to live trapped underground became mentally challenging.

"Roseth, I think you should rest a bit." Arter advised, floating in front of me.

"Why should I? I'm not tired, but even if I were, we can't stop constantly, or we'll never get there." I explained.

"I have some information to give you."

"As I suspected, we're not allies, you're hiding several things from me." I noted, suspiciously eyeing Arter.

"Sit down, let's play a bit."

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Arter stopped, and I did the same. The god sat on the ground with his legs crossed and conjured a blinding light in front of him, which then took the form of a chessboard.

"Why should we play? Weren't you supposed to give me information?" I asked, remaining standing.

"I'll give you important information about the dungeon's structure, but only if you win."

Arter stared at me challengingly, and I smiled, sitting down in front of him. "All right, I'm in." Immediately, the black pieces appeared in front of me, positioned on the board, while the white ones appeared in front of Arter.

He was the one to start the game, attacking aggressively and making it difficult for me to counterattack. However, I executed a perfect defense, even though it seemed like Arter had the advantage. He found it challenging to play from that position. I waited for his mistake as the game simplified through piece exchanges.

We eventually reached an endgame that appeared to be completely even. We both had only five pawns and an equally active king, but after just a few moves, Arter realized that I had a positional advantage. I continued with flawless play, promoting my last pawn to a queen.

After being left with only one pawn away from promotion, he desperately tried to create a new queen, but I prevented him, finally capturing his last pawn.

"Enough, I surrender, you've won," Arter raised his hands and slumped back, exhausted from the game.

"You finally surrended, I've had a winning position for a while now." I said, stretching.

"Don't make me laugh, we were even until the end. Besides, I was the one who kept attacking."

"All excuses, now give me the information you promised."

Arter clicked his tongue. "Fine." he dissolved the chessboard and conjured a map.

"Are you giving me a dungeon map?" I asked, curiously examining the map.

"That's not the important part," Arter pointed to a spot on one of the hundreds of long tunnels drawn on the map. "We are here, just a week's walk from the center."

"I see." I studied the map carefully. The crystal was marked with a green light, right at the center of a huge circular area where all the tunnels converged. That was obviously the central chamber. But something else caught my attention. At the entrance of each tunnel into the circular area, there was a purple flame.

Arter pointed to one of these flames. "This is what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What does that symbol indicate?"

"That symbol represents a trial," Arter looked up from the map. "It's randomly generated by the crystal, and you'll have to complete it. You'll have a time limit, and if you can't finish the trial before the timer runs out, you'll be teleported back to a random tunnel, far from the center. In other words, you'll have to go all the way back."

All the way back, huh? I glanced down at the condition of my body. I had accumulated several scratches and scars over the past month, my clothes were tattered, dirty, and stained with the blood of the beasts. Can I really do this? So far, the creatures haven't been formidable opponents, but that doesn't mean the trial will be the same.

"What's wrong? No reaction?" Arter noticed, smiling. "I thought you'd attack me for hiding this information."

"It's not the only thing," I said quietly.

"What?" Arter looked puzzled.

I clenched my fists and confidently raised my head, giving the god a defiant look. "What else are you hiding from me, puppeteer?"

Arter seemed taken aback by my words but then started laughing.

"Enough, you're killing me with this!" he said.

"What's so funny?" I asked, annoyed.

"You really called me a puppeteer? I didn't expect that!" Arter's laughter subsided, and a diabolical smile appeared on his face. "Puppets don't speak unless I want them to."

There was a moment of silence as we stared at each other intensely, him amused and me irritated.

"I can't know how much of what you've told me is true, but one thing's for sure, if you're trying to control me like this, it means you can't overpower me by force."

Arter's amused look turned into one of concern and disbelief. "Where are you going with this?"

"In this month, I've carefully examined the mana you implanted in me. It's different from the pure mana of living beings. It's like elemental mana, but it's different from what I sense in nature. It's much more complex."

"I told you not to beat around the bush!" Arter yelled, slamming his fist on the ground.

Alright, I'll show it to him directly...

With a wicked grin, I stared confidently at the god. Arter met my gaze for a moment, looking terrified.

"You asked for it," I said.

Cracks appeared all over Arter's body, and a blinding light emanated from them, illuminating the tunnel. The god screamed in pain before curling up on the ground, hands clutching his belly. Arter continued to scream in agony.

"W-what have you... done?" Arter asked with a low, trembling voice. "St-stop!"

"As I said, in this month, I've carefully examined the mana you implanted in me, and by experimenting with it, I've learned how to rid myself of it." I explained.

"P-please, stop!" Arter pleaded. "I'll talk, okay? I'll talk!"

"Then tell me the truth about the dungeons."

"Alright, as I've already told you, the barrier distorts space, but I hid the most important part from you: it also distorts time. It speeds it up for those inside."

Time? Does that mean more than a month has passed outside? "How long does a day in here correspond to outside?"

"A month, it corresponds to a month." the god said, panting in pain.

A month? So, it's been two and a half years outside? I thought it could be worse, but two years are still two years.

"Continue. Do you know anything about my brother?"

"No," Arter said, smiling.

"Are you lying?" I purified some of his mana again.

The god writhed. "Alright, your brother is fine. I spoke with him some time ago, but I believe he's trying to find a way to get you out."

Marsal is trying to help me, I'm glad. He was very attached to our family, he must have suffered knowing about our parents' death.

"Do you know anything else about the dungeon? Like what kind of trial I'll have to face?"

"No, I don't know anything."

"Then one last question," I gave Arter a threatening look. "Is there anything else you're hiding from me?"

"Your... power."

"My power?"

Arter sat cross-legged. "Your direct use of pure mana is accelerating the deterioration of your core. In simple terms, if you continue using your power this way, in a few years, you'll lose the ability to use magic."

I was shocked by the horrible news I received from the god, wide-eyed and incredulous. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"It's not usually discussed among humans, as using elemental mana slows core deterioration by tens of times."

"I hope for your sake that you're not joking."

"I swear it's true; I've also discussed it with your brother."

I was incredulous. My only specialty had just become the cause of my downfall.

What should I do now? Should I go back to fighting, ignoring what I've just been told? No, I need to calm down first...

Arter in front of me seemed to revel in my suffering, but I didn't want to give him that satisfaction. So, I took a deep breath and smiled at him.

"Never mind, I'll hurry to acquire an affinity. Now, let's go."

"Of course, I can't oppose you anyway."

And so, we walked toward the trial at the center of the dungeon. Along the way, we encountered several packs of feline beasts and lion-like monsters, but they were no match for my abilities.

Since I fell into this dungeon, I had lived within the underground tunnel walls, but finally, something changed in that monotonous environment.

Turning the corner, we found ourselves in front of a majestic and enormous purple gate, adorned with a dragon's head at its center, crafted from black stone. The perimeter of the gate was decorated with gold and other precious stones embedded in it.

I stood there with my mouth agape, observing the gate. "W-what is this?"

"It's the trial room," Arter immediately replied.

"It's...gigantic. How do I open it?"

Arter walked up to the door and placed his right palm on it. A powerful light emanated from the point he touched, blinding my eyes accustomed to darkness.

There was a loud, distinct sound, similar to that of a lock being opened. The gate began to slowly swing open. Inside, it was completely dark. Initially, I hesitated, afraid of the mystery surrounding this trial. But I mustered the courage and entered, holding a sphere of pure mana to illuminate.

The faint light of pure mana barely allowed me to see around me. After a month in this dungeon, I had grown accustomed to dim environments, but this room felt different. It had a strange aura that weighed on me, causing my legs to tremble.

What's happening to me? Am I...afraid? I thought I was ready to die, so why am I trembling?

A series of purple flames ignited one after the other, illuminating the entire room. I found myself in the middle of a long corridor, surrounded by colossal statues of armored soldiers. Various purple runes were inscribed on the walls, but the most interesting part was at the end of the corridor.

An enormous purple rhombus-shaped stone was embedded in the wall, surrounded by colossal stone hands. In front of it stood a kind of altar, around which a strange circle was drawn in white chalk, containing runes of all kinds.

"Where is this trial you spoke of?" I asked, confused by the situation.

"Go to the center of the circle and place your hands on the altar, that will start the trial," Arter replied.

It could be a trap, or it could be...all orchestrated by Arter. I was torn whether to trust the god's words or not, but then I took a deep breath and reached a conclusion. No, I have to do it. Without taking risks, I'll never achieve anything. I'll try to trust him.

I walked toward the altar, my legs were still trembling from fear, and I began to sweat. But I couldn't stop, after all, this was the most exciting part.

I placed my first foot inside the circle, and all the runes lit up in purple. I felt my mana slowly being drawn from my body, but I didn't give up. I reached the center, where the altar was, and placed my hands on it.

A powerful wind and a strong purple light erupted from it, enveloping everything around me. I was blinded and forced to close my eyes; the powerful sound of the wind roared in the corridor. But then, slowly, the commotion subsided,and silence set in.

What's happening?

I opened my eyes, and the entire room had disappeared, replaced by nothing but purple. Then, beneath me, a kind of vortex appeared, and it began to suck me in. I struggled and screamed, but then I suddenly lost consciousness.