Ishida leaned up against the wall, opening the book on the first page.
He let out a sigh at the sight of so many words, so instead of continuing to read he put the book in his inventory and began wandering around.
Ishida quickly found himself lost within the confines of the maze. Growing more and more bored by the minute.
Ishida wandered around a corner and stumbled upon a chest.
“Well this is odd, I’m sure any chests near the entrance would’ve been cleared out by the guilds already.”
Ishida approached the chest, opening it.
Glaive Lv.1
Iron ★☆☆☆☆☆
Damage type-Slash
Effect(s):Bleed
A standard glaive used by ancient soldiers.
Durability-▮▮▮▮▮
Ishida smiled and gripped the glaive, pulling up his interface and taking a look at his stats screen.
Before he could do so he was interrupted by what appeared to be a girl, she looked a few years older than he had been.
He covered his eyes as she hadn’t been wearing anything, he quickly stepped back and gripped the glaive.
As the girl stepped closer the pressure in the air thickened, as if her presence overpowered his own.
“ᚠᛟᛟᛞ?”
Ishida couldn’t make out what she was saying, quickly realizing she wasn’t human.
Ishida began to ready his glaive, he swung at the girl. The girl barely moved out of the way but just enough so that she didn’t get hit and she continued walking as if Ishida wasn’t even there.
“ᚤᛟᚢ ᚨᚱᛖᚾ'ᛏ ᚠᛟᛟᛞ. ᛁ ᚹᚨᚾᛏ ᚠᛟᛟᛞ.”
Ishida looked in confusion. His thoughts ran rampant as no monster had ever ignored a person before. They aren’t smart enough.
Ishida swung his glaive at the woman again but he felt weak, he quickly dropped to his knees, breathing heavily.
“You…Bitch.”
Ishida passed out on the cold floor of the maze.
“ᚹᚨᚴᛖ ᚢᛈ. ᚹᚨᚴᛖ ᚢᛈ. ᚹᚨᚴᛖ ᚢᛈ. ᚹᚨᚴᛖ ᚢᛈ. ᚹᚨᚴᛖ up. Wake up.”
Ishida shot up at the sound of a feminine voice.
“Oh it's you. How come I can understand you now?”
Ishida stood up.
“I made you able to.”
Ishida grabbed his glaive and pointed it towards the girl.
“Who are you?”
The girl stood up and began to walk off.
“Food.”
Ishida reached and put the glaive in his inventory and began to walk beside the girl, he reached into his inventory and pulled out a small piece of steak he had left over from last night's dinner
“You said food so I’m assuming you’re hungry. Right?”
The woman lunged at the piece of food and began eating it viciously, tearing it apart.
“Damn, how long has it been since you ate?”
The woman stood up and wiped her mouth.
“Food.”
“Not even a thank you?”
“Food.”
Ishida checked his inventory to see if he had any leftover food, looking at the slots, all he found was a half of a hotdog he had from two weeks ago.
He pulled it out and almost immediately she leaped at his hand tearing the food out and she began devouring it.
Ishida continued to look for food in his inventory then swiped over to his stat screen to see how he’s improved.
Name:Ishida Fujinuma
Nativitas★☆☆☆☆☆
Level:8
Proficiency:Light
----------------------------------------
Vitality:195 Arcana:627
----------------------------------------
STR:40 DEX:10
INT:10 END:10
LCK:10 AGI:10
Free points:10
Ishida got distracted looking at his stats and he hadn't realized that the girl had wandered off. He could feel her presence but couldn’t pinpoint it.
As he was looking around for the girl he felt the presence of another imp, which quickly made its location very well known as it leaped at Ishida.
Ishida pulled his glaive out of his inventory in enough time to shove the imp aside.
“ᚷᚱᚱᚱᚱ.”
“I can't understand you dammit. I guess the spell only works with that girl.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Ishida ran at the Imp, swinging his glaive and swiftly dispatching the Imp in one fell swoop.
[Level up!]
[Level up!]
Ishida swiped open his stats screen again. This time with the intent to use his free points.
Up until now Ishida had only cared to put stats into strength as that's all he thought he needed but something in his gut told him to invest into luck this time, so he did.
Name:Ishida Fujinuma
Nativitas★☆☆☆☆☆
Level:10
Proficiency:Light
----------------------------------------
Vitality:235 Arcana:1060
----------------------------------------
STR:40 DEX:10
INT:10 END:10
LCK:30 AGI:10
Free points:0
As he finished distributing his points a notification popped up in the corner of his interface. He clicked on it and a huge pop up shot out. He stepped back to read it.
<
The interface turned red rather than its usual white this time reading the words.
<
It quickly turned back to its usual white and prompted Ishida to hit the next button. To which he hesitantly did.
The system displayed ten messages. Ishida had always heard about them from his classmates who have reached level 10. Except something was off, he always heard that the messages would praise you in some manner, usually highlighting your strong suits to give you spells tailored to what you're good at.
But what Ishida saw right now could only be described as hate.
You are haunted by the mistakes you cannot undo. Your light is dimmed by the weight of your past, flickering as you long for what can never be restored.
You waited for the world to change around you, and now your light is faint, like a candle long forgotten. It sputters weakly, unwilling to push forward.
Your rage has corrupted your vision, and your light is a blinding flare, striking without warning. It burns not to heal, but to hurt.
Your heart is consumed by envy, and the light you wield casts shadows over others. It grows brighter with every comparison, but only serves to blind you to what you truly have.
You feared the darkness, yet now it follows your every step. Your light trembles, uncertain, as you run from what is inevitable.
Your pride made you blind to your limitations. Now your light shines, not to guide, but to show how little others matter in the face of your superiority.
You’ve hidden in the shadows, caring only for yourself, and your light has grown dim with isolation. It illuminates only your own path, blinding you to the needs of others.
You desired more than what was within your reach, and now the light that surrounds you burns with the hunger for all. It consumes without ever satisfying.
You are shaped by your flaws, and your light flickers, never steady, always wavering. Perfection is an illusion you chase, knowing it will never be yours.
You wove your truths from threads of falsehood. Now the light you conjure is but a reflection of your deceit. The truth fades in your presence.
He looked at the pop up in pure confusion, Liar? Imperfection? These are all flaws are they not?!
Ishida tried to put the pop up back as something was clearly wrong but everytime he tried he felt a burning sensation in his arm.
“Number ten.”
As Ishida spoke those words another prompt showed up, reciting his option.
You wove your truths from threads of falsehood. Now the light you conjure is but a reflection of your deceit. The truth fades in your presence.
[Confirm/Deny.]
“Confirm.”
[New skill unlocked!]
Light of the False Dawn
Virtuoso ★★★★☆☆
Arcana cost-320
[Cannot be upgraded.]
Channels a defined amount of mana into one point before releasing it out as a tiny point of light, this light attracts all enemies against their will and once close it explodes piercing through an enemies every atom. The light, as beautiful as it may seem, is a harbinger of pain.
Ishida was excited to get an ability for the first time in his life. For him this seemed like it was sent from heaven.
He chose not to immediately use the ability as he wanted to save it for when it was needed. Although he had no idea when that would be.
Ishida turned and checked the time on his interface, it read 2:59. With that he began to gather his things in his inventory as school would be out soon and he would finally have the chance to escape the hell hole he was so rudely dragged into.
By time he reached the gate it was 3:46 and he accumulated 4 levels on the way back.
Name:Ishida Fujinuma
Luminare★★☆☆☆☆
Level:14
Proficiency:Light
----------------------------------------
Vitality:345 Arcana:3028
----------------------------------------
STR:50 DEX:10
INT:10 END:10
LCK:40 AGI:10
Free points:0
“Hey! Is anyone out there??”
No one responded to Ishida’s yelling but he could hear people on the other side.
“Hello?? Anyone there?”
As he said this he hit the door with all his force, but to no avail. Ishida reached into his inventory and pulled out his glaive and began slashing at the door which audibly drew some attention.
With every slash the durability on his glaive began to lower.
Glaive Lv.1
Iron ★☆☆☆☆☆
Damage type-Slash
Effect(s):Bleed
A standard glaive used by ancient soldiers.
Durability-▮▮▮▯▯
Hit after hit, more and more people gathered around.
Glaive Lv.1
Iron ★☆☆☆☆☆
Damage type-Slash
Effect(s):Bleed
A standard glaive used by ancient soldiers.
Durability-▮▮▯▯▯
He could hear the confusion of the people near it, some were warning others not to get close as it was just a monster trying to escape while some began to question whether it was or wasn’t.
Until finally, his glaive shattered into pieces as it ran out of durability.
“I’m not a damn monster. Somebody open this damn door.”
As he said this, the doors finally began to open and the air on the other side felt a little lighter than when he was originally out there. Or rather he got significantly stronger than before.
As he stepped to the other side he was met with a few odd looks as there shouldn’t have been anyone in the maze at this time, so what he had done was illegal.
Quickly the police were called to the scene and were interrogating Ishida on why he had been in the maze, but overall they dropped everything since he was only a kid and the next day his school life was to return back to normal.
Back in school, Ishida was being praised as “The survivor” since he had been the only one of the current students that had survived the maze let alone see the inside at all.
Ishida loved the praise but his mind often drifted back to what happened inside of the maze. With his system, he assumed it to be a glitch but that hadn’t ever happened to anyone before. Glitches in the system was an unheard of concept so for it to be happening to him was quite puzzling.
More importantly, or rather more concerningly, his interface had a new tab that he could open. One no one had ever reported before.
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