[You killed a Skeleton Warrior! You gained 0 exp!]
“If I gained nothing, stop telling me!”
Exasperated, I spin and cut down another skeleton coming towards me coming from my left. So far, these skeletons have been easy to figure out and defeat. They’ll lightly walk towards us two to three at a time, and without trying to swing their sword they are just easy targets. Concerned, I keep cutting away, wondering why won’t change anything right now, I just need to focus on cutting them down.
Behind me I can hear Sally and Gray fighting, and from what I’ve figured out the skeletons here match our levels, even if we are looking at the same one it would be our level. Continuing to cut down skeletons that came my way, I started to notice something was wrong, but couldn’t put my finger on it. While wondering about this, I heard Gary yelp. Taking a quick glance, I see he has no sword in his hand and was using his hands to fight off a skeleton. Thinking he was aiming to take another sword, I continued to swing my sword and saw that my sword was breaking too. It was rusted and chipped before, but this was too quick.
“Sally, my sword is about to break, what about you?”
“Mm, mine broke earlier.”
Glancing, I see she too was using her hands. As I was about to ask why she didn’t grab another sword, I noticed what I thought was wrong earlier. When we defeated a skeleton, it disappeared, sword and all into particles of light. I move in on a skeleton and grab the hilt of its sword and yank it out. As I do, the sword starts to disappear in the same manner that the skeletons do once we defeat them. Seeing no prompt come up, and my sword close to breaking, I keep moving, cutting down as many as I can before my sword finally breaks.
Backing up, I raise my fists and try to figure out how to use my hands for this. However, the skeletons all stop moving. Looking behind me I see Sally and Gray’s opponents have also stopped. Just as I was about to ask what was happening, I saw the System prompt up with a new message.
[Beginning final phase of Trial of Strength.]
Moving again, the skeletons start moving differently. Some dropped their swords, others took up new stances, the sight of thousands of skeletons doing this at the same time was frightening, but also somehow amazing. Swallowing my nervousness, I steel myself, ready for what was about to happen. This time, they came at us in larger numbers, no longer one to three at a time, and aggressively too. Readying my fists, I move in on the closest skeleton and swing my right fist while dodging its sword, connecting with its lower jaw, popping the head off the body. Still moving, I then pull back my left arm and strike it in the chest area, breaking through the ribs while cutting my hand and snapping the spine in half. Checking my palm quickly, there are a few scratches, I pivot on my feet and move to the next skeleton.
Backhanding its sword hand with my left hand, I slam my right fist into its head, sending it flying into a skeleton behind the one I hit. Pivoting, I grab the skeleton's spine and throw it over my shoulder onto the ground, smashing all of the bones. Straightening up, I move once again onto another skeleton. My movements feel natural, much more so than they did with a sword. I start enjoying the feeling, this feeling of fighting with my fists and the feeling of facing so many opponents. Without glancing back at Sally or Gray, I continue weaving between the skeletons, doing my best to avoid their sword swings and punching out with my hands. The feeling continues to grow within me, seeing and ignoring a prompt from the system, I keep punching skeletons having the time of my life.
[You have discovered an affinity.]
Panting, I lash out and punch another skeleton. It’s been several hours since this so-called final phase started, my fists are badly wounded, but I’m still going. I can tell by the noise and by the lack of enemies coming from behind that Gray and Sally were still standing, using their own methods of attack. I don’t know how many skeletons I’ve defeated, my body has started going numb out of soreness, however I don’t have many injuries past those on my hands. It barely feels like we’ve made a dent in the number of enemies, there is more coming each time, I’m starting to slow down too, punching starts to hurt more and more. Taking a few steps back, I yell out “Are you two fine?”, take a breather, shake some of the soreness out and listen out for a response from either of my companions.
“I’m fine, stay focused.”
“I-I’m okay.”
Knowing they were still alive, I refocus my mind, however just as I’m about to re engage the skeletons stop and start to disappear.
[Trial of Strength completed.
Having shown the strength to keep standing in the face of an overwhelming amount of enemies, the next trial will begin.]
Looking around, I see that all the skeletons were disappearing. A bit confused, I turn and walk towards the other two.
“Strange, I thought for sure there would be more.”
Sally, shrugging, looks a mess, at least more cut up than I was. Gray wasn’t fairing well either, I was in the best condition compared to them. At least, excluding my fists, looking down at them I could barely make out that were my hands, covered in blood, with bone fragments stuck in, oddly they weren’t disappearing with the skeletons, and badly wounded. I see Sally also looking, and looking at her I see her walk over, gently grab my hands and without a word start taking the fragments out. Gasping in pain, I bite on my bottom lip bearing with the pain. As she removed the last of the fragments, and poured some of the leftover healing potions onto the worst of the wounds, I can feel my hands slowly recovering. Sighing in relief, I smile and thank her, nodding in return Sally turns to Gray and checks on him. After helping Gray with some of the more severe wounds, I move to help her as well and treat the worst ones. Once we were finished, the last of the skeletons disappeared.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Looking around, I see the grass and door have returned, however now there was a glowing circle on the ground. Walking over, I see the circle slightly pulsing, with strange symbols arranged in a circle. Seeing a prompt from the System I check the prompt.
[Trial of Strength completed.
The next Trial is available, please step onto the magic circle.]
[Emergency Unique Quest: Cerberus’s Trial rewards have been updated. Will be shown once trials are completed.]
Seeing the prompts, I check the one I received earlier and tilt my head in confusion. “I discovered an affinity?” Looking at Sally, she shakes her head, turning and looking at Gray, who looks away from me when our eyes meet he mutters “I-I don’t k-know”. Checking my status, I don’t see anything new. We haven’t received any rewards nor experience, and we have one medical kit left from Gray.
“Should we take a break before going on?” Asking this I consult with the other two, since we still need to continue with these trials, and hopefully either find a way out of passing them.
“We should hurry, the humans might be here soon as well.” Nodding at what Sally said, we turn to look at Gray.
“W-we c-can’t do this, c-can we? E-even if w-we survive, the h-h-humans will capture u-us again.” Looking frightened and embarrassed, Gray muttered while looking at his feet. Looking at Sally then back to Gray I shrug.
“Mm, it’s a level 16 dungeon after all. I don’t know if we’re being treated differently because we’re half-monsters and given this trial, but we either sit here and wait for death or we push on with the hope we can break the circle of fate all hybrids have had since we can remember. This is our only chance, let's keep moving forward. If we get stronger, we can help the rest of our kind, and take revenge on the humans who treated us like filth.” Saying it all in one breath, I do a double take and look at Sally.
“That’s the most I’ve ever heard you say.” Saying this to Sally, who tilts her head and shrugs, I smile. “I agree with Sally, chin up Gray, we’re free of the humans and we have a chance. Even if it leads to death, let's just go on. We’ll get stronger or we die, that’s how the world is for us.”
Shivering slightly, Gray looks at us, at first with some shyness in his eyes, but he nods with a more determined look.
“Good, let's push on.” Saying this, we walk towards the magic circle and step onto it at the same time. A flash of light and then a moment of darkness, entering my vision was some sort of roofing.
Hearing a System prompt, I attempt to read it and realise I can not open it. Trying to open my status, I find I can’t. Not having the System wouldn’t hinder me, so I ignored it. Looking around and finding myself in a strange building, laying down on some sort of bed. Trying to raise my hand, I see it is strapped down. Confused, I look side to side, and I can not see Sally nor Gray. Still unsure what is happening, I hear a door open and close somewhere close.
“You’re finally awake filth. Good thing we went back and found you, now I get to have some fun.”
Hearing a voice that makes me shrink in fear, I know it’s Gerald. Panicking, I try to get up, struggling with the bindings around my body, but I feel weak…weaker than I did in the dungeon.
“Now now, no need to get too excited, I won’t kill you just yet. After all, you caused me so many headaches, that silly little bitch thought she could escape with you. To think I didn’t get to kill her, I would have loved to torture her for trying to defy me!”
‘Is he talking about Sally?!’ We were just in the dungeon, what does he mean by not being able to kill her? Did the humans arrive and take us away, is that why I can’t see the System, because we left the trials and were punished?
“Now, don’t break too soon, I want to savior this.” Seeing Gerald now standing next to me, as he reached out, grabs a finger, and rips out the fingernail from it. Reeling in pain, he moves onto the next one before the pain fully registers and pulls out another one. Laughing, he snaps another finger. Letting out a gasp of pain, my eyes start watering, I don’t know why this is happening, but the pain was unbearable.
“This is the expression I was waiting to see, let's see how far you go down!” With a pin with some sort of green liquid on it, he moves it close to my eye. I try to turn my head away, but he grabs my jaw, and slowly inserts the pin into my eye. It hurts, it hurts, there is so much pain, screaming out, I want to die. Please, kill me, stop and just let me die! I feel the pin moving as I lose vision in my left eye, the pain intensifying more. After what feels like an eternity, he moves his hand away, I can still feel the pin at the back of my eye, he then laughs once again. With a twisted smile, he removes the pin…then reaches his hand out, feeling it grab the socket where my eye was he squeezes. Continuing to scream, I feel bile coming up as he moves the hand with what remains of my eye and stuffs it into my mouth.
“You must be hungry, here you go, eat up!” Muffled, I try to bite down on his hand to force him away, but he laughs and forces my mouth closed. Choking on the remains of my eye, I pray this kills me, anything to stop the pain. Still with that twisted smile, he grabs a short sword, covered with that green liquid again and places the tip at the top of my chest. “I’ve always wanted to know what you filth looks like inside, let's take a peek shall we?” Pushing down with the sword, he starts slowly cutting. The pain is again unbearable, that’s not normal a cut like this shouldn’t be more painful than what he died with my eye. Wishing I would pass out from the pain, I swallowed on reflex, not even allowing me to choke to death. Slowly he reaches my stomach and keeps cutting.
“Let me out, let me show him what a true monster looks like…”
Hearing a faint voice, I grasp onto it. I know who that is, if it can save me from this torture, if it can grant me death, I want it to take me. I hear the voice grow louder.
“Come, give in, I’ll free you from all the bad things…”
Closing my remaining eye, I give into my monster self, trusting them to take me out of this predicament.
[Trial Two Finished.
You have failed to keep a sane mind from the pain, however Cerberus finds your solution acceptable and will reward you, however your trial is over.]
Getting up and looking around, I’m laying on the grass near the doors to the dungeon. Gasping for air, I look around and see Sally and Gray also laying near me. Blinking I check my hands and eyes and find both are fine, my hands still healing from the first trial. Reading the prompt that I received, I wonder what it means. Wasn’t I being tortured? Where is Gerald?! Blinking, I look past the grass and see the same wasteland but this time, I see a huge three headed hound sitting there, looking down on us. I have to crane my head to take it all in. Gulping, even knowing who I was looking at, I prompted the System for its information.
[Level ??? Guardian, Cerberus]
Cerberus turns one of its heads towards me, and it flashes its teeth at me…