image [https://imgur.com/Cm3iT2o.png]

He woke slowly. What was… James? Was that his... Xanther! His name was Xanther. He was a hero. He started up, eyes wide, head throbbing. Something horrible had happened. To try and think about it was like sinking his fingers into an open wound, and he recoiled mentally. He was in a stone cell. He blinked, the distance between things feeling odd, and then he touched his face. One of his eyes was gone, only smooth skin remaining. He groaned involuntarily. A thin clean white cloth mat cushioned him from the stone slab that served as his bed. There was a small hole in the corner, and a bowl of some kind of steaming curry or soup sat on a stone outcropping. He was hungry, but he had no desire to eat. His weapons were gone and he wore a simple black robe. His eye flicked to the door, and to his surprise it was open. He stood shakily. He had clearly been caught. He would escape, find his… he would escape.

He moved slowly and unsteadily towards the door. Through the opening he saw a long hallway made of smooth stone. Guttering small jets of flame along the ceiling provided light. He stepped out into the hallway cautiously. [EXPLORE THE LABYRINTH]. He clutched at his head. But yes, that would make sense. A labyrinth prison of some kind. He would need to be careful. He checked his stats. His [DIVINE ENERGY] pool was full, at 60 points, so he could use his most powerful ability [SILVER WALTZ] three times. It wouldn’t be as effective without a sword, unfortunately. And his other active abilities couldn’t even be used without a weapon. He gritted his teeth, his heart shivering and hammering in his chest. He felt like death was with him, cold hands around his neck. Chills ran up and down his body against his will. He realized that his previous battles, although potentially deadly, always had a sense of balance to them. Oftentimes even unbalanced in his favor. He thought he had been taking things seriously, but had he perhaps been “playing” this whole time? He slumped against the wall, the trembling increasing. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to be hurt anymore. [EXPLORE THE LABYRINTH]. He pushed himself off the wall. He had to try. For his friends. For his brother.

The stone of the Labyrinth was oddly warm against his bare feet. He moved forward slowly, hardly able to hear over the thundering of his heartbeat in his head. A door set into the corridor was up ahead and he moved towards it. The door was heavy iron banded wood. It looked like it had been made fairly recently however, the iron was oiled and the wood looked new. He touched it gently. It was odd to imagine someone constructing a place like this, repairing it. Most things in this world were so ancient you just felt they had always been there. Unchanging. He tensed, and pushed against the door. It effortlessly began to open, the hinges whisper quiet. He peered around the thick door into the stone room. Small boxes stood against the far wall. One of them was long and thin, the perfect shape to hold a weapon. Xanther shuffled to it, careful to look for any traps or triggers. The stones of the floor seemed perfectly uniform and solid, and he saw no wires, runes, or anything else that could arouse suspicion. He knelt by the long box and laid his hands on it. If this was locked, or rigged to explode, then it was over for him. He closed his eye, and then threw the lid open. The top of the box banged loudly against the floor, startling him, and his eye flew open. Inside the box was a simple iron banded cudgel. He let out a slow sigh. This was better than nothing, although definitely less than what he could have hoped for. He picked it up and swung it through the air. Heavy, straightforward. He couldn’t use his skill [SILVER SWORD SLASH] with this, but his passive ability [SILVER ARM] would still trigger, helpful in a labyrinth that could potentially have the undead or other monsters.

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The other chests in the room could also hold useful items, although he felt like each of them could also hold a trap or some other unpleasantness. Still, what choice did he have? He slowly moved to the leftmost box and tapped on the lid with his cudgel. Nothing occurred. Using the cudgel he levered the top open. A goblin uncurled from the inside of the box and screeched at him, its large eyes wide and fully dilated. Xanther cursed and brought his cudgel down immediately, quickly and brutally ended its life. He let out a shuddering breath, feeling almost like something was mocking him. He shook off the feeling and even more carefully inspected the rest of the room. The other boxes held bracers, leather boots, and a simple leather helmet. He donned them all, feeling a little more secure after, if even more flustered.

Xanther heard a wet sucking sound from outside the room, and he cautiously looked out into the hallway and started back as he saw a large gelatinous cube sliding down the hallway towards him. It was almost as large as the hallway, and everytime it moved forward the whole of its body would ripple. Small bones, likely belonging to an animal of some kind could be seen deep inside. It in turn seemed to sense his presence and sped up, the sound of squelching increasing. He shivered. He knew his depth perception was going to be off, and he couldn’t afford to miss. Stepping further back into the room he held up his cudgel, and as the monster entered and filled the doorframe he stepped forward. “[SILVER WALTZ]!!” He slid forward and around, leaping back from the cube as his attack ended. The creature paused, and then multiple large indents exploded against it, the whole of the jelly body shivering and trembling as chunks of it were blown off. Then it slid forward again. Xanther’s eyes went wide. A weakness… what was… inside the center there was a small floating blue orb, nestled next to the small animal bones. That was it. But his cudgel hadn’t been able to reach deep enough, the surrounding body absorbing the impacts. He glanced down at his weapon, noticing it was now gently smoking. Acidic body. Cursing he moved back even further, wrapping his arm with his robe. This was going to be awful.