I opened my eyes once more to complete darkness. I think I’m starting to see a trend I’m not quite sure I like. I mean, at least this time I can see through the darkness because it’s pitch black in here. Thank goodness for Darksight.

As I looked around, I noticed a very concerning lack of features… anywhere. The only prominent details around me were the four stone walls about twenty feet away from each other. Hoping against hope that I was just missing something, I frantically started searching all the walls. Nothing.

“Are you fucking kidding me! Am I really going to die of starvation? Right after deciding to not do that? Is this your idea of a prank, Iva, cause it’s not fucking funny!” I shouted into the abyss above me. Well, I say abyss, but it was really only about fifty feet above me, and wait a minute is that a ledge! I’m not fated to die! A quick problem though, how do I climb fifty feet with no handholds?

Solution, there are handholds! Just extremely shitty ones. The brick pattern was deep enough for my fingertips to get a solid grip, but that was it, and I mean the very tips only. Okay, I got this. I jumped to give myself a head start and…

*BOOM*

“Ow. I’m alright, I think.” I said to a very unimpressed Void entity.

*Pulse* Try this. It said in its jumbled emotional language.

A sudden rush went through me, as if I just went from a scrawny child to a world-famous athlete. My hands were more dexterous, my body stronger and more robust, and my eyes dialed in enough to see the detail on a brick from across the room. WOOOOO! I climbed that wall like a spider monkey on cocaine, and by the time I reached the top, I felt no worse for wear. Until my Void buddy dropped the roids that is. 5-pound weights hung from my eyelids, and my body felt like I had just done forty triathlons in a row. I managed to stay awake, and after two minutes I felt good as new. I need to be careful with that one.

I started to hear a strange buzzing in the back of my head after I reached the top of the wall. Focusing on it, caused a notification to appear

*Ding* Congratulations, you have earned the Skill –Climbing– I can’t believe you needed Void reinforcement for that climb! A Voidborn unable to climb a wall! This story would be hilarious if anyone would believe it! I guess a couple millennia is bad for your health, who knew!

+2 MAS +1 STR +1 DEX

Around me were, shocker, more stone brick walls, though they now led to the end of a short hallway. Exciting. Reaching the end of the hall, I opened the door to reveal an archery range. Fifteen feet wide, with a long table reaching wall to wall in front of me. There were targets ten, twenty, fifty, and one hundred feet down the range, directly in front of the wooden slab acting as a table. To hit these targets, I was given a stupid amount of bows, all haphazardly strewn across the table.

I picked up the first one I saw, a recurve bow. ‘Alright, I’ve got this’ I thought to myself.

I did not, in fact, got this. I was barely able to half draw the bow, and when I released the arrow I had nocked, it went straight into the ground. ‘Okay, that was just a little too heavy for me.’ I thought, trying to encourage myself.

So I went to the next.

And the next.

And the next.

Eventually, I had used all, but one, of the bows offered to me. Some I could draw, but my accuracy left much to be desired, and most I couldn’t use at all. The final bow offered was a mini longbow. Bright red. It looked like a toy. The arrow it fired had a bright orange suction cup stuck to the tip. Well, you know what they say, it’s Nerf or nothin’, wait, what the fuck is Nerf?

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Ignoring my questions that couldn’t be answered, I thought, well, I may as well try. I lined up the shot, took the most stable stance I could, focused my entire body on the target, released, and missed entirely. ‘I don’t think bows are for me.’

The moment the thought crossed my mind, I felt a rumble in my feet. Directly to my left, a brand-new door opened up. A sign to the side of the door said, ‘Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so bad at handling a weapon. Maybe something more simple would fit your skills.’

The walls in this new room were strewn with spears of all shapes and sizes, and I already knew deep down that these weren’t for me. I don’t know where I got that sense, so I decided to at least give them a shot. I vaguely recall that spears are one of the most effective weapons ever used in warfare. I mean, they are simpler than simple, just point the sharp end at the bad men, and let them impale themselves.

The spears themselves were tipped in blades that were darker than midnight and were supernaturally sharp. They seemed to absorb the surrounding light. This confused me, as this dungeon had no light at any point. I looked back at the blade, and yep, it still looks like it was absorbing light from around itself. Goddamn magic bullshit.

Picking up a short spear, I tried whipping it around in a vertical swing at a straw dummy and nearly cut off my toes in the process. Note to self: Keep the sharp end away from your body. I tried using several of the spears, but none of them felt right. Like, I know that anyone of these spears could probably be immensely deadly in the hands of even a peasant, but that was the thing, ya know? I didn’t want to use something that just anyone could use.

I don’t know where this weird pride was coming from, but It certainly wasn’t me. I don’t recall ever being a prideful person, hell I don’t recall much at all, but pride? No.

Anger? Sure, I don’t remember what at, but I do know that I had my fair share of anger at the world. But pride, I don’t mean to defeat the purpose of the word by bragging, but I was a pretty humble guy.

I thought about it for a second, and I could take a wild guess as to who it was coming from.

“Valin, buddy, are you the one against the spear, and if so, why? It’s a great weapon, and I’m sure we could do great with it!” I said encouragingly

*Pulse* ‘No, we are above all, we will not use a peasant’s weapon.’ Damn, that was a pretty complex impression.

“Buddy, I don't know where you're from, but pride is something we probably can’t afford right now, and a spear is an amazing weapon for someone with no experience. As you should have gathered by now, I have no experience with anything right now.”

*Pulse* ‘No’

Exasperated, I gave up. I’m starting from zero, might as well appease the little bastard. We are in this together, after all. I kind of owe it to him also, he did save my life.

“Iva, this isn’t it. Open the next one!” I shouted to the ceiling

A short rumble later, there was a brand-new room waiting to be explored. A sign next to it said ‘Oh, so now you're commanding me? Very well, brother, let’s see how long you’ll manage this then’

The next room was filled with daggers, but the training dummies were less than stationary. The moment I picked up a very simple dagger, I was hit in the back of the leg with a club. I tumbled down, and the dummies proceeded to beat the hay out of me, instead of the other way around.

“Hey Iva, first of all, dick move, but second of all, I’ll stop making commands if you stop calling me brother, fair?”

The room rumbled, and a new door opened, the sign next to it read ‘Fine. It was getting old anyway. I’m still going to fuck with you, though, you may not be my brother, but you are certainly my underling.’

Fuck it, I’m cool with this, I think it’s probably the best I’m going to get, all things considered.

The next room was filled with swords of every type. From western, eastern, ancient, modern, and everything in between. All of them had dark blades that were magically darkened.

The first thing that caught my eye was a saber. Now that’s a sword I can get behind. I picked it up, and it felt good in my hands. The best part about this sword is its simplicity. Do you want that guy dead? Slash. You want to engage in a fancy duel? Fuck stabbing and careful planning, just fucking slash em up. Sure, you can fight as complex as you’d like, just like you can stab with it, but I’m not a sword guy, so I’m gonna try and keep it simple.

I did not get a very happy impression from my Void buddy for that thought. In fact, he thought that we should pick the rapier. It had the vibe of a noble’s weapon with pearl inlaid patterns on the handle and a silver cross guard that looked ridiculously fancy. Even the blade, which was thin and made of what I’m gonna call voidsteel, had engravings on it. You couldn’t even see them if you didn’t have a Darkvision skill!

I tried both of them out, and as expected, I liked both. The saber was nicer for slashing, and the rapier was better at stabbing. Shocking. They could each do both, but they weren’t as good at it as the other. Once I was settled on taking one of the two, a new door opened that led to a pedestal with twin sheaths. Thank god they were simple leather, it helped hide the fact that the rapier looked like it could buy a small country.

Beneath the sheaths, there was a book called Swordsmanship for Dummies that had the basic knowledge of forms, and how to hold the blade for the optimal way to cut and stab. I went back to the sword room to practice the forms on the dummies and gained a skill after practicing for about fifteen minutes.

*Ding* Congratulations, you have gained –Swordsmanship– and all it took was a training dungeon specifically made for you to practice in. You are so talented.

+2 STR +2 DEX +1 VIT

I’m not loving Iva’s sarcastic streak, but based on their manner of speaking, I’m guessing it’s less of a streak and more of just the way they talk to people. I guess being a god-like being goes to your head after a while.

After a short rumble, It’s time to move on. I wonder what’s next.