KREE!

A shrill cry rang throughout the cavern, sending my heart racing into oblivion. I glanced at the horde of goblins with their weapons drawn and eyes radiating my murder. To say that I was put off balance would be an understatement. The sheer pressure I was feeling made my knees grow weak.

"Fuck!" I mumbled a curse and, with my life on the line, bolted for the altar. It was still ways away, and the goblin horde was chasing after me. The only saving grace going for me was that my agility was higher than theirs. At least my Scout Origin finally decided to be useful.

Due to lacking mana reserves, though, I was unable to activate Sprint. However, the course did allow me to put some distance between me and the monsters.

I could've run inside a tunnel to hide or something, but I didn't. Before I was an unknown factor, a maybe in the dark. But now I was known. It didn't matter if I hid; the monsters knew me and were out for blood.

My only chance at salvation was to get that door open and bolt out. Thanks to the distance I managed to put between us, when I arrived before the altar, I couldn't see any monster behind me.

"Please, God, work." I muttered a silent prayer and logged the crystals in place. In but a moment the glow seeped through the rocky floor and surged up the wall. I was hoping against hope for a moment of respite.

At last my woes went to the dark, as I saw a monster peek its head from behind the corner. I rushed toward the door and banged against it.

It was already lit, but the door wasn't opening. I didn't understand what was happening. I did everything right; otherwise, it wouldn't be glowing like that.

"No, NO, NO!"

I wasn't going to die like this, not here, not now. I knew I was weak, and it was the fate of the weak to submit to the whims of fate, but I didn't. I had always struggled to find my place in this world, and if it lacked one, I would just carve my own. But I knew my limitations. I knew my pathetic strength could only push me so far.

An ugly thought reared its head at this time. I should've quit. I should've left when I could. Now I was doomed.

I knew the origin of this thought, and I hated myself for even feeling something like this.

"Gosh darn it! Open, you bastard!"

My fists pelted against the stony surface, the skin breaking and leaking blood. Anger surged within my being, and I pounded on the door harshly.

Dark crimson tinged the stony surface of the door, but it budged not. It's not going to open, I realized. I would die here.

The monsters filled every corner of the cavern, sealing any exit and my hopes with it.

I stood with my back against the door, hands broken and bloodied. Sweat and grime marred my face, and my clothes fared no better. I was breathing roughly, but my eyes sparkled with the light of defiance.

Oh, I would die. But damned would I be if I didn't take some of these bastards with me.

The monster bared their teeth, snarled, and righted their weapons. I pushed my dagger forward in response, and they rushed.

Letting out a mighty battle cry, I swiped my dagger to the left, taking the eye of one goblin. Then I felt a piercing pain spike to my left. I was stabbed.

I paid no heed to the wound; instead, my dagger took another monster right in his chest. The battle grew messy, wounds accumulating on both sides.

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Distantly I become aware of that long sought level up. I pushed all 5 free points into agility and experienced the difference instantly.

Even with my newfound prowess, I was no match for the swarming horde of monsters. A spear stabbed me right through the middle, and I wheezed as thick blood dripped from my mouth. My eyes were tearful, but the light of defiance burned ever brighter.

Another spear stabbed in the stomach. My weapon slipped from my hand, the loss of blood making my vision bleary. My breath came short and heavy, my body growing numb by the second.

I was dying.

Another weapon managed to find its place on my body, but at this point I was beyond caring. My back bled crimson against the door. Purples lines of mystic radiance stark against the flowing lines of blood.

At that time I didn't register the door creaking open behind me, nor did my body that was sucked right in. None of the goblins, however, dared to step foot inside, content at letting their prey escape.

Death welcomed me with its cold and hard hands. And peace finally took me in its embrace. And I knew no more.

***

The first thing that registered to my senses was the coldness. When I began to feel the first signs of wakefulness, only then did I register the wetness. Cold, hard wetness.

My ears were numb, and I kept slipping between consciousness and unconsciousness. My vision only registered dim and blurry shapes that made no sense to my mind.

Slowly my memories returned. Of betrayal and survival. Of my fight and my death.

Death.

I had died. Or felt like I died. I couldn't remember. Everything felt so hazy after that spear went through my heart.

I remember the door opening, though.

Pushing past the haziness, I tried to clear my fogged-up vision. The numbness was fading quickly, and I could finally make out the shapes in the dark.

Pillars, I realized. There were intricately carved pillars surrounding my prone figure.

"Ugh." My head felt heavy, as I if was experiencing the worst hangover of my life, and I wasn't even drunk. Pushing my body upright proved to be a challenge, but I somehow managed.

Glancing down, I finally realized where the wetness had come from. Blood. My blood, to be specific.

Recalling my fight from earlier, I quickly took stock of my body, noting no injuries except the faintest of scars to prove their existence. To prove that I wasn't delusional.

"How...?"

It made no sense. How could I have healed like this? In fact, how could I be even alive?

Or maybe I was dead?

Looking around at the chamber, I didn't exactly feel like calling it my afterlife. Except for the pillars, there was nothing but darkness.

Darkness so thick that I could feel its physical presence against my skin. The only reason why I could even see the pillars was because they were white.

"What is this place?"

First a mana crystal-filled cavern, and now a chamber with pillars so high and mighty that even a human craftsmen would've failed to accomplish the craft. Who built this? And why?

So many questions and no answers in sight.

Glancing around, I was about to start searching for an exit or at least a source of illumination when my eyes caught the sight of something glowing.

A faint yellow light.

But it wasn't static, instead growing increasingly bigger.

"What the—?"

The light grew into a ball shape and then blinked. And something stared back at me.

"Holy fuck!"

An eye!

It was a giant fucking eye!

It was looking at me. Judging me. Cold and detached, it watched me with almost a sense of amusement.

How did I know that?

Why did I know that?

What the heck is going on?

Oh god! I don't understand anything.

"Calm down, human." An inhuman voice boomed within the hall, and another eye blinked into existence.

I took a deep breath and let it out. There was something inside this chamber with me, and it could speak.

"Who—What are you?" I asked with a shaky voice.

This wasn't me. I had just stared death in the face and grinned back. I wasn't the fearful one; I never faltered. No, this was something else. Something pushing at my very mind.

"Very perceptive." The voice spoke again, low and guttural. "As for your question, let's just say I'm your savior."

My savior?

I don't understand—"Oh!" And then I realized.

"You healed me?"

"I brought you back to life, human." It replied. "You were already dead by that time. Though commendable effort, I must say. It moved my non-existent heart."

Brought back to life?

The words it spoke confounded me. How can someone be brought back to life? Was that even possible? Or maybe it was for this being, whatever it was.

"Why? Why did you save?" I asked.

"As I said, your defiance in the face of sure death moved me deeply. I couldn't stand by idly and let you die."

Yeah, I wasn't going to buy that. Honestly, no hunter would believe any bullshit that came out of a monster's mouth. Hmm? Wait, was it a monster?

"You're curious. Don't hesitate to ask."

I took a deep breath and asked the one question that had been bugging me since earlier but wasn't answered.

"What are you?"

And then the pillars around me brightened to an unnatural degree, and I finally had a look at the being before me.

"Oh my god!"