When I awoke, my face was pressed against the cold stone floor of a dimly lit cell.

Shackles were clamped around my ankles and the luxurious vest I was once wearing was now gone.

As my eyes adjusted to the lack of light, I trained my vision on the items outside of the prison bars that encapsulated me.

“So this is the dungeon, huh?”

Outside the cell, chains of various lengths dangled from the ceiling. An arsenal of swords and other sharp instruments were displayed proudly on a wooden rack right next to the whips and flogs. The glowing torches illuminated the dry bloodstains that scattered across the disgusting dungeon floor.

I suppressed a low growl and pounded the back of my head against the cell wall. I still hadn’t forgiven myself for making the stupidest decision of my life.

How the hell was I supposed to get myself out of this one? As time ticked by, my mind remained blank. I sat there alone in my shadowy prison, groveling in my regret.

Thanks to my moment of weakness, the one ticket I had that gave me any sort of a leg up to even damage the king had been stripped away from me.

Even if I was able to somehow free myself by some miracle, there would be no way to do it in a single day. I would also be subjected to ample amounts of torture while I tried to establish a plan and routine. So now, instead of Cathy dying, me and Cathy were going to die in this dumbasses fuck off castle.

What a great deal, Rae got two for the price of one.

I wasn’t one to normally self-sulk, but the more I thought about it, the more it pissed me off…

I slowly laid down on my back and turned over my palm, staring at it longingly. Thinking back to my fight with Claudius.

All of my attacks didn’t even graze him. What’s worse, I ended up revealing my trump card for nothing.

“If only I didn’t take out my Windchaser… Maybe I would still have it on me…”

Just then, a spark of light flashed in my hand.

“What the—!”

The bright flash startled me. I whipped my hand back and rubbed my palm against my pants, then lifted my palm up to inspect it again.

“...What the hell was that?”

I opened and closed my hand, flipping it around as if it were foreign to me.

My eyes narrowed, “...If only I had… the Windchaser?”

My palm lit up once more with a larger spark. I jolted my head backwards. “...No way.”

I scurried to my knees and focused my eyes on my palm with all the intensity of a brain surgeon, “Give me! Give me the Windchaser!”

A flurry of black and red energy danced around my hand, solidifying with bright flashes of light until I felt the cool metal of a blade settle into my palm.

I gasped sharply. The Windchaser had appeared, and laid steady in my grip.

My thoughts quickly jumped back to the bar where I had first picked up the Windchaser, and how it sent a sharp tingling sensation through my body when I had first made contact with it.

“Is this some sort of special ability that the Windchaser has…?”

Whatever the reason was, the sight of the blade pulled a wide grin across my lips.

I stared through the iron bars, making sure there were no guards watching me. Other than me, the dungeon was completely empty—all I heard was the sound of dripping water and crackling torches.

I moved my attention down to the shackles which imprisoned me. Both the shackles and the prison bars were made of solid black iron. I had never cut through something that dense before, but I supposed the only thing I could do was try.

I carefully sawed away at my shackles. It took about half an hour, but I eventually was able to whittle them down enough to where I could snap them off my ankles.

My face brightened.

I glanced up at the iron bars that surrounded me. My Windchaser was a powerful weapon, but I was unsure of its limitations.

I had only practiced with it a little bit when I trained in the forest—cutting down tree branches. If I was going to have any chance at defeating Claudius and his knights, I would have to be able to cut through solid iron.

My hand tightened around my knife as I looked on at the iron bars before me.

“I wasn’t expecting this spike in difficulty… but alright. Let’s see what I can do.”

—break—

[Shift]

“Here is the meal which you requested, sir,” a female servant said as she entered the room. She rolled in a cart topped with a roasted turkey on a silver platter, accompanied by boiled potatoes and garnishes.

She wheeled the cart over to the couch where Claudius was sitting. Next to him, Cathy sat staring blankly at the ceiling, bundled up in tightly wound chains.

With the motion of his hand, Claudius dismissed the servant.

“It is quite troubling that you refuse to bathe yourself. Before the meeting with the village elders is concluded, it is pertinent that you are washed thoroughly prior to copulating with His Majesty.”

Claudius pushed the tray of food over to Cathy, “You can eat as much as you’d like as long as you agree to cooperate.”

Cathy shut her eyes. “I’m not hungry.”

His face filled with an unbridled look of fury, “Your sins against His Majesty are great, however the method in which you perish is still undecided. I highly recommend that you do not anger me further.”

“You wish for me to bathe? Fine, I’ll do whatever it is you wish, as long as you promise to release Daymond.”

Claudius erupted in howled laughter, “That man sealed his own fate. He has no one to blame but himself for being so foolish as to try and attack the king.”

“But he did so only because I begged him to, otherwise he would have left. So really… this is all my fault.”

“The both of you make me sick to my stomach. If it were up to me, I would place your head on a spike myself,” he scowled. “However, His Majesty wishes for you to remain unharmed until later this evening. If you wish to remain defiant, then be my guest. I’ll see to it that your death does not come to you swiftly.”

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Cathy laboriously lowered herself onto the couch cushion, staring forward with clouded eyes before closing them gently and sinking deeper and deeper.

—break—

[Shift — Daymond]

“Airstrike Spear!” The air blasted from my blade as if it were launched by a cannon and crashed through the iron bars—sending the cage wall sailing to the opposite side of the dungeon. The bars crumbled on impact.

“Nice!”

It took a bit of time, but I was able to sharpen up my technique when using the Windchaser.

When I flicked my wrist with just enough torque right before releasing the gust of air, it would rip a strike hard enough to break through the iron with just one slice.

Not only was I able to break out of my cage, I had sliced through every single cage in that dungeon. When I ran out of cages to break, I started breaking everything else that I could see. Wooden tables, benches, other weapons… even the guillotine and doors… I may have gotten a little carried away, but I wanted to make sure I practiced as much as I could.

By the time I was finished, multiple hours had passed—iron debris, metal, and shards of glass covered the floor. Before I arrived here, I never would have thought that a stiletto dagger could be so powerful.

I rolled the knife around in my hand. The way I was able to summon the dagger at will fascinated me.

“I wonder…”

Looking at my blade, I commanded it to disappear in my mind. To my suprise, it flashed away, and my hand was empty.

My heart sank a little.

I quickly tried to bring it back, channeling all my willpower and attention. Praying that I didn’t despawn it for all of eternity. My hand flashed as black and red tendrils swirled around, solidifying the knife back into my palm.

I sighed, “This means I don’t have to carry it around everywhere…”

I figured that this meant I was its master now or something. The abilities of the blade never ceased to impress me.

…

I journeyed through the twisting corridors of the dungeon trying to find an exit back up to the castle. Surprisingly, not only could I not find an exit, I couldn’t even scout a single guard. I was hoping there would at least be a few so I could test out my attacks on them. But the only thing left in the dungeon was silence—except for the sounds of my footsteps.

An eerie feeling crept its way into my stomach.

The place felt like a giant maze. After walking for a while, I wouldn’t have been able to find my way back to my cell even if I wanted to.

I heard a low growl coming from deep within one of the dark corridors. It wasn’t a growl like any animal I had ever heard before. If anything, it reminded me more of the demon that I had run from in Tyler Baskin’s dream.

With that thought, a bead of sweat ran down my forehead. Whatever that thing was, something told me it was down there for a reason.

“The exit can't be this way… Can it?”

I couldn’t fool myself. I knew perfectly well that the exit had to be in that direction. Otherwise, why would anyone waste their time putting a giant ass monster over there.

After a quick self pep talk, I swallowed and walked down to the source of the noise.

The narrow dungeon walls opened up into a massive cave-like enclosure, and at the far side of the room was…

My eyes shot open.

A massive twenty-foot-tall humanoid beast, wearing a horned Viking helmet the size of a small boat, was napping against a pair of doors as towering as the castle's grand entrance.

Under the dim flickering candlelight, I could see that he had mounds of hair covering his face and body, similar to a gorilla. A pair of sharpened fangs poked out from the top of his mouth. In his hand was a giant buster sword the size of my body with tape and strings of cloth rolled sloppily around the handle.

“Of course… His big ass just had to fall asleep right in front of the exit.”

His eyes were shut, and the terrifying growls that I heard were actually just him snoring.

There was no way I was gonna be able to move him physically. I decided I would kill him and then try to move him with the air from my Windchaser.

I slashed quickly through the air sending a large gust of wind rocketing towards him. The sound made the beast’s eyes snap open. He swung his buster sword and dispersed my airstrike. The remaining wind brushed across his fur as if he were caught in a strong storm, before eventually settling.

His fluorescent orange eyes brought some much needed light to the shadowy cave. They stared back at me furiously—his dark pupils dilating.

“So… you find it honorable to execute me during my slumber.” His voice growled, akin to a lion trying to mimic human speech.

I was subtly surprised that he could speak at all. I smiled, “Yeah, killing things while they’re asleep is kind of my thing.”

“A coward’s trick… and a coward’s path,” he growled as his eyebrows furrowed.

I straightened, “A monster with a strong sense of honor?”

He was of course terrifying, but I couldn’t help but take a little bit of a liking towards him.

“I’m assuming that you won’t let me just walk through that door and leave you alone?”

The beast stood up on two legs, “I am Velbir, the guardian of this dungeon… I am the only one who is able to unlock the door before you.”

My eyes squinted.

His presence… it emanated the same chilling aura that I had felt from the Windchaser. I was upset with myself that I still didn’t understand what that feeling meant… or what it was.

The beast continued, “You being able to break away from the confines of your cell proves that you are much too dangerous to keep alive. As ordered from His Majesty, the ruler of the Kingdom of Raeville, I shall take your head.”

“I would have preferred to test out my weapon on a slightly smaller enemy…” I said.

“You see me as a test, do you? I’ll be sure not to disappoint.”

The beast raised his massive sword as if it were little more than a feather, and delivered a devastating blow which cracked the foundation of the earth beneath me. The ground vibrated and split apart as a violent earthquake ensued, throwing my balance unstable. I jumped away to avoid falling in the newly created rift.

Velbir huffed and rolled his giant shoulders, “If you have this much trouble with a blow such as that, you have no hope of defeating the king.”

“Trouble?” I said, holding on to the shaking floor below me.

“You can hardly stand, and your meager attacks won’t affect me,” he grumbled.

The ground steadied. And I raised myself to my feet again. “I admit, my attacks aren’t as powerful as yours. But your skin doesn’t look too tough.”

“My defense is more than enough for your air swipes.”

“So you’re saying your skin is as tough as iron?” Velbir raised his eyebrows. I lowered my stance and readied my hand behind my back, “Wanna bet?”

Velbir took a step back, “You can’t possibly—”

“Windchaser!” I yelled. The blade flashed into my hand with a dazzling light. I thrusted it forward, “Airstrike ultraspear!”

Air blasted off the blade and tore through the beast's shoulder with incredible force, splattering a geyser of gore on the door behind him.

Velbir leapt back in pain, a look of shock filled his face.

“Primal Blade!” he roared.

He unleashed a powerful scream that shook the walls of the dungeon. The ceiling began to crumble in on itself, sending boulders hurling down onto me. His blade sliced through the ground around me, creating more rifts in the earth with each one of his powerful swings.

I released airstrikes into the air to break apart the falling stones as I sprinted closer toward the beast.

“You think it wise to rush me?” he howled.

Slamming the butt of his sword into the floor, a cataclysmic earthquake rocked me.

My feet slipped beneath me, sending me crashing face first into the unstable ground.

The beast ran toward me, his thunderous footsteps crushing the ground beneath him. “You can’t attack well without balance!” he rumbled.

I crawled to my knees and launched myself upward. In the moment just before I fell again, I side swiped my blade, “Airstrike Slash!'' The air current shot off and cut through Velbir’s ankle, sending him crumbling down to his knees.

He roared mightily, his glowing eyes pulsating. Holding his sword in the air he swung it downwards toward my body with as much power as he could muster.

My vision snapped, “With that much force he’ll cut me in half!”

I flipped onto my back and thrusted my blade as hard as I could, “Airstrike Spear!”

My strike sliced through the air as if it were fired from a tank, gradually gaining speed as it traveled upwards to meet Velbir’s incoming blade. The clash between our strikes exploded into an earth-shaking shockwave that sent Velbir’s sword jerking backwards.

“HUH?!” Velbir screamed.

I leapt to my feet and readied myself for one final attack on the uneven floor.

“I hope this works…!”

“Airstrike Slice Whirlwind!” a spiral of sharp slashes launched out towards Velbir, trapping him in a tornado that cut through every inch of his flesh and sent him tumbling down onto his stomach. He writhed in pain and released a thunderous roar, a lake of blood rolled down his skin as if he were sliced by a million deep paper cuts.

“Come on!”

I gripped my knife’s handle and quickly stabbed it forward, “Airstrike Ultraspear!” Air blasted off exploding through Velbir’s head as if it were discharged from a gigantic shotgun. The floor below him became soaked in his blood as the inner matter of his head splattered the dungeon walls.

His knees buckled and his lifeless body slumped to the jittering floor with a sound similar to a detonated bomb.

As the puddle of crimson grew around him, all of his movement ceased.