《The Crimson Void》


 Prologue: In the Dark Depths

    "Hah... hah... hah..."


    My breathing is getting rough, and I''m starting to feel fatigue, my muscles ache and I''m also starting to get dizzy.


    But I can''t die now, I''ve already gotten this far.


    I prepare to charge at the 20 feet tall four-armedobsidian skinned cyclops as I grip my platinum sword enchanted with lighting damage.


    I dash forward and dodge anincoming downward slashfrom the cyclops by jumping on his arm.


    Without sparing a second I runup the arm of the cyclops who had his axe stuck in the stone floor trying to pull it out.


    I jump towards the cyclops eye and prepare to thrust my longsword.


    I put all my weight in the attack that thrust my sword deep into the cyclops'' eye, blood spurts out from the wound, I tightly grip my sword and pull it out before landing back on the ground.


    The cyclops screams in pain and holds his wounded eye depriving himself of his sight, I take the opportunity and use my little remaining mana and chant touse [Gust].


    I was propelled from the ground at an amazing speed by a powerful gust of compressed airtowards the cyclops.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    I aim my strike at the unprotected neck of the cyclops to deal the most damage I can in a single slash.


    I start tochant as I get closer to my target, I finish chanting and immediately my sword was covered in darkvioletflames as I felt my mana dry up.


    I put all my strength in the attack and slash horizontally at the cyclops'' neck, [Dark Flames]an advanced tierof dark magic combined with the strength of the slash from my platinum sword dealt damage many times more powerful thanany of my normal physical attacks could acheive.


    A fountain of blood erupts from the gigantic wound on the cyclops'' neck as the sword cleaved its way through the cyclops'' steel like skin.


    The cyclops started to thrash wildly as he knew that he was nearing death.


    As a result of my mana drying up, I felt nauseous and lost control of myself when I was about to land on the groundand ended up vomiting blood.


    Shit! I can''t move! The thrashing cyclops'' arm was heading straight for me, shit! I''m done for.


    An incredible amount of weight struck my entire defenseless body and sent meflying.


    Then my vision went black.


    .....


    I opened my eyes and look around.


    I was in a poorly lit room, made out of mossy stones, with a few magically lit lights to illuminated the hot and humid room.


    On my right was a small chest containing a rusty iron shortsword which was basically useless.


    I stood up an checked my condition, I was wearing nothing but rags on my body and I seemed to be in perfect health.


    Damn it! I died again!


    This just proves that I''m not strong enough yet.


    How long have I been here anyway?


    I don''t remember anything before the time I was in this dungeon.


    It doesn''t matter, all I need to do right now is to get stronger and leave this damned place.


    I look at the wooden door opposite ofme, I walked towards it and pulled the iron door handle and walked towards the dark abyss before me as I once again head out tochallenge the dungeon.

 Chapter 1: The Beginner Levels

    As the darkness in the thin corridor started to grow I started to chant and as I finished a small glowing ball of light appeared and started to float above me illuminating the path ahead.


    I continue to walk towards what would seem like an eternal abyss of darkness until I heard a faint sound up ahead.


    It was the sound of bones hitting the stone floor.


    There were probably quite a few skeletons close by.


    I continue walking forward and the sound starts to get louder, I must be getting close.


    The corridor finally ends and I find myself in a wide stone room which was infested with skeletons and was poorly illuminated by a few magically created light orbs.


    Tch! Why do they even come back everytime I return from death?


    Two skeletons notice my presence and charge at me while screaming, they were about five to seven feet tall made out of bones which were a bit yellowing and in their eye sockets was a faint blue light.


    One of the skeletons tries to use his sharp bony fingers to tear of my face, but their movements were far too slow and weak to even be considered an attack.


    I step to the side and immediately counter by using my elbow to strike the skeleton at back of his neck.


    The skeletons'' neck crumbled as the attack connected, the faint blue glow in his eyes disappeared and he dropped to the ground before turning into dust.


    The second skeleton tries to do the same attack the last one did and only ended up getting hit in the head by my fist before he could even attack making him turn to dust.


    Soon after that I made short work of the other dozens of skeletons in the room, soon the room wide room was only covered in dust and turned back into being eerily quiet.


    I press on and continue to walk towards another dark corridor which was five times larger than the last one.


    Inside the dark corridor I sensed multiple projectiles heading towars me and quickly move away from the projectiles path.


    There were poisonous dart traps in the corridor.


    I continued to make my way forward while dodging any poisoned darts that headed my way.


    The dart traps stopped after some time, I knew what that meant and started to running.


    The wide corridor started to get narrower and narrower at an alarming speed, but the speed it was shrinking in size was incomparable to the speed of me running and before the corridor could shrink down to half it''s original size I was already in a different room.


    I look around the room and spot one sleeping ogre in the far corner near a pile of bones.


    The ogre had green skin and was atleast 12 feet tall and carried a giant steel mace.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    I quickly dash towards the sleeping ogre and put all my strength for a punch using my right arm aimed at the middle of it''s forehead.


    Before the ogre could detect my presence and wake up my punch had already gphit him in the forehead, my strength easily smashed the skull of the ogre killing it instantly.


    I pull out my blood covered hand and started to look for anything useful in the pile of bones a few meters away from him.


    I continued to search the pile of bones until I found an old and dusty silver ring that had mana infused into it, meaning it was enchanted.


    I used[Appraisal]on the ring and a semi-transparent screen appeared.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Silver Ring (Enchanted)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Cast a Defensive Barrier on the Wearer (Intermediate)</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Hmm... It''s not much but i guess It will have to to for now.


    I slipped the ring into my index finger before moving on to the next corridor.


    I proceed to the next corridor which was only a quarter of the size of the last one and was covered in the stench of death.


    I continue to move forward into the dark corridor.


    While walking I smelled the stench of death drawing closer and closer towards me.


    A monster soon shows up, it was the cause of the stench of death, it was an abomination with a somewhat humanoid figure that was full of fat, his body stitched together in various places, in it''s left hand was a big two-handed steel battle axe, he could be classified as a type of unded because of the faint blue glow in the eye sockets it was a trait all undead shared.


    In the narrow corridor fighting it in close combat would be difficul so I casted a [Fireball]to make short work of the abomination which was weak to fire.


    As I finished chanting the fire spell flew out of my hands and struck the incoming abomination right in the head causing it to explode.


    Chunks of burned meat flew everywere as the head of the abomination exploded causing it to die instantly.


    I walk towards the abominations'' dead body topick up the battle axe before continuing on forward.


    I was careful not to activate any magic circles in various place in the floor which will activate a trap if I do, it was a good thing I already memorized the locations of the magic circles on the floorseveral deaths ago.


    I reach the end of the corridor without activating any traps and find myself in a small room which was more illuminated than the past rooms and had a steel shortsword in the corner next to the wooden door together with three books, there was also a bed frame in the left corner of the room beside is was asmall and rusty iron bucket full of dirty water, this place was one of the few areas of safety in the dungeon where I can rest before continuing further into the dungeon.


    I excitedly run up to the books and see the titles.


    Two of the three books were something I already read, one was about unarmed fighting while the other one was about herbs and their uses, while the third book was something I haven''t read before, it was entitled: Spatial Magic and How it Works.


    I excitedly opened the book and read its contents:


    Spatial magic, spatial magic is not just about instantly travelling distances in a blink of an eye like what other people would answerif you ask them about spatial magic, the truth is that spatial magic is much much more than that, rather than ampliflying speed to travel instantly as to what other claim spatial magic is nowhere as simple as that.


    Spatial magic while difficult to learn, let alone master enables one who is proficient in it to warp space and time itself, though there are few who practice the art of using spatial magic because of it''s large mana consumption and long incantations, spatial magic will increase the chances of escaping during a battle tremendously, there is also aspell of spatial magic which can create a pocket realm in which items can be stored...


    I continued to read until I reached about half the book, it was a very interesting book about magic I don''t know about.


    I guess I''m going to be practicing using spatial magic soon, if the information in the book is al true then spatial magic will greatly increase my chances of survival.


    But, before than I need some rest first, being in top physical and mental condtition is important if I really want to get out of this hell.


    I get on the wooden bed frame before casting[Sleep]on myself.


    .....

 Chapter 2: The Room of Plants

    I slowly open my eyes and stand up, I strech my body right after.


    I picked up the bucket with dirty water and then used [Purify]on the contents inside of it, and although the water was now safe to drink the quantity of the water was greatly deacreased as a result of removing the impurities.


    After quenching my thirst I pick up the battle axe, the spatial magic bookand the shortsword before opening the door towards the next dark corridor.


    The corridor this time was a lot smaller than the others I have passed, but unlike the others this one was not as long.


    This time it only took a few minutes before I found myself at the end of the corridor and inside another room.


    It was not as dark as the last ones and was unique as well, the massive room was overflowing with life, there were various plants all around the room, some of them glowed with different colors, there were some tall grass that glowed a light blue color, while there was a bush covered in flowers that glowed a fierce red color, vines that crawled up the stone wall which were glowing a in a calming green light and many more.


    This room which was over flowing with plant life was enormous and stretched wider than my eyes can see, the wind was also different than the other rooms, it smelled fresh and there was even a breeze that could be felt in the air.


    I walk forward like I always do, always alert with my surroundings while at the same time enjoying the scenery of the plants around me, it clears the mind and makes me feel calm.


    I continued walking in a straight path while still constantly alert, I feel something big heading right towards my position travelling at an abnormal speed.


    I quickly move towards my left and dodge a giant rock boulder that shook the earth as it hit the stone floor.


    I immediately scan my surroundings and spot a rock golem several dozen meters away from my current position.


    Without sparing a second I try to close the distance between me and the rock golem as I dash towards it, gripping the battle axe in my hands as I did.


    Dozens of boulders flew towards me as the stone golem tried to stop me in my tracks, I easily dodge the giant boulders in my way without slowing down and continued to close in on the rock golem.


    I get in range and jump up and prepare to do an overhead strike, the golem was not able to calculate my jump since they aren''t the brightest of monsters and was not able to defend.


    The power of the attack splits the rock golem in half and turns it into a normal pile of rocks and dust.


    The encounter with the rock golem reminded me that this dungeon could take your life in an instant if you get careless.


    Before I could get a move on I feel the presence of eight creatures surrounding me.


    The creatures pounce towards me at an astonishing speed which to the untrained eye only make them look like blurry figures.


    They were rabbit like creatures, the only bog differences was that they were atleast four times bigger than a normal rabbit and had two small horns on their head, purple skin and three menacing round eyes which seemed to glow.


    I drop my great axe for it''s weight will only be a hindrance on opponents which were speed oriented and instead I drew my shortsword which was strapped to my hip.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    As one of the demon rabbits came into range I quickly cut it in half, killing it instantly.


    Two more get in range and I kill both of them using a single horizontal slash.


    One of the demon rabbits was eventually able to get in range to attack me and a spark of discharged electricity could be seen on his legs, his speed suddenly spiked as he darted towards me woth speed many times faster than before.


    I was barely able to dodge the attack by bending my body backwards, the demon rabbits'' attack missed me by a hair''s breadth.


    I throw the shortsword at the demon rabbit hitting it at the back of it''s head and soon laid lifeless on the ground.


    Without a weapon to use I immediately get into an unarmed fighting stance, as soon as another one of the monsters got in range I kicked it the head with my right foot, stunning it in the air and I followed it with another kick as I spun around to get more momentumfor my next attack, this time my left foot hit the demon rabbit and sent it flying a few meters away before hitting the ground.


    The fourremaining demon rabbits were packed close to each other, they were probably thinking of overwhelming me using a numbers advantage.


    Instead this only made it easier to deal with them.


    I jump backwards adding distance between me and the monsters as I chanted.


    [Earth Spikes] a type of earth magic activated as I finished chanting and the ground shook as dozens of giant spikes of rock emerged from the ground, without enough space to dodge the spell peirced the monster''s flesh covering them in gaping holes, as a result all fourdied without any resistance.


    As the battle ended I went to retreive my great axe and shortsword since these two will be certainly be useful later on.


    I also pick up one of the dead monster corpses to eat later on, it didn''t taste good no matter how many times I ate monster meat but it was necessary to do so in order to survive.


    Before continuing on, I used magic to cleanse myself of the sticky and smelly blood all over my body that I gained while battling with the demon rabbits.


    I then move on and continue heading frorward the depths of the dungeon once again.


    Some other monsters appeared on the way but most of them were really weak like the giant green slimes which were capable of using a bit of earth magic, but they went down easilly when I destroyed thespherical core inside their transparent bodies, there were also giant waspthat had a neurotoxin caple of paralyzing whatever they hit with their stinger for a few minutes, too bad for them but I''m no longer affected by such weak a poison.


    So after a few hours of continous walking and taking out the monstersthat appear occasionally I decide to rest for a few hours.


    I look for a spot under a big beautiful tree which had leaves that glowed a gorgeous pink color and decide to rest here for the time being.


    I cast a detection spell with a 50 meter radius from the tree to alert me if a monster is nearby and also cast a spell to mask my presence from monsters just to be safe, before settling down as I leaned my back on the tree.


    I continued to read the book about spatial magic that I brought with me, luckily only a small amout of blood splatter reached the book''s cover, I was realily worried there for a second that the book might have had been bathed in blood that I would even be able to understand the writing in it anymore.


    After looking for the part where I left off I started reading the book while trying to fully comprehend the meaning behind every word written inside to get a grasp on how to use this so called spatial magic.


    I continue reading for a few hours before finally closing the book and decided to eat the demon rabbit corpse I got earlier because it may attract other monsters with it''s smell if I don''t or it may get spoiled, And I know first hand that eating spoiled monster meat is never a good experience.


    I go out and collect anything which could easily be burned in the surrounding area to cook the meat, I get back to the tree after a few minutes of scavenging for fuel to use for the fire and place all of it a small distance away from the tree making a small pile of twigs, leaves and other flammable materials, I casted a low tier fire magic to start the fire and soon the materials I gathered were set ablaze. And I used one of the longer sticks I found and sharpened the tip and used it to skew the demon rabbit which I had just skinned and remove the unnecessary parts from before putting it over the fire.


    After a few minutes over the fire I took the cooked monster meat, it was a bit burned but it didn''t really matter to me, I took quite a big bite on the still smoking meat, it was tough, chewy and tasted bitter, not because of it being burned it really just tasted bitter naturally, but it was essential to keep me sustained and energized so I had to deal with it.


    I ate every part of the meat that was edible wihtout wasting anything before putting out the fire which might only attract unnecessary attention, and with this I once again casted a sleep spell on myself.


    .....

 Chapter 3: The Hell Hound

    I immediately woke up and prepare for a fight after feeling something disturbing the detection magic I had put 50 meters around the tree.


    It was eerily quiet but something was off I could feel something enveloping the surroundings.


    Bloodlust, it was all over the place and a strong one at that, it was enough to make the weak willed monsters run away while the stronger ones stay away.


    Something with such a domineering aura should not appear here yet, there is really something strange right now.


    I look at the direction where the detection magic was triggered and see something in the distance, I could not make the figure out clearly, but I can see the three pairs of red glowing eyes full of killing intent, it was currently ripping another monster into shreds with it''s teeth as it tried to resist.


    I look at the creature for a while with weapons in hand, prepared for anything to come.


    The creature suddenly turns it''s eyes to me detecting my presence from such a far distance.


    Shit! the concealing magic I had on was so easily seen through, adrenaline started to make it''s way in my body as I prepared to face a powerful foe.


    I know a lot of monsters that could easily detect me from a father range with my concealing magic on, but even after dying countless times this is the first monster that was able to detect my cloaking magic in this room.


    It stares at me with it''s red glowing eyes for a while sending a tremendous amount of killing intent at my direction as if seeing how I''ll react.


    I continue to stare back at the beast while sending out killling intent of my own, after spending an unimaginably long amount of lite in this dungeon, I have learned to cancel out fear a long time ago, for panicking would only make me eaiser to kill.


    The monster makes the first move and prepares to dash, in an instant his figure disappeared from his last position and suddenly reappeared in front of me, I jump to the left as soon as it entered my field of vision hoping to dodge the attack.


    I was grazed by the attack but even that was enough to send me flying.


    In a split second I was able to get a good look at the creature, it resembled the dogs I saw in books I found before, but this one was much bigger, it was almost as big as the obsidian cyclops that killed me last time, also it had fur which was pure blackin color, it''s eyes were red like blood and on each of it''s three heads were two goat horns, the claws and teeth had a similar color to the eyes and looked sharp enough to rip through steel like leaves, it was like a hound from hell.


    "Gah!"


    Shit! I flew in the air as a result of being grazed and crash into a big rock a few meters away that halted the momentum from the strike.


    I get up from the ground without minding the numbing pain, my left arm was completely broken when I tried to use in to protect my vitals a split moment before the attack connected but the attack still managed to break some ribs.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    I immediately chant and cast [Heal]on by arm, for a short moment a golden light enveloped my left arm and mended part of the damage, soon I was able to effectively use my left arm once more.


    I look at the hound that dealt such a large amount of damage of me as I try to read it''s next move.


    The hound suddenly gave out a head splitting howl that shook the ground, I grit my teeth and shut my ears, but even after using my hands to cover my ears I was still only barely able to keep my consciousness.


    Seeing me disoriented the hound didn''t spare a second and opened it''s jaws, the surrounding air heated up and a reddish orange glow came up from it''s mouth.


    It shot out a massive burst of red hot flames towards me, burning everything in it''s path, leaving only ashes of whatever it touches.


    I jump to the left once again attempting to dodge the flames that cut through the air.


    This time I was able to dodge without taking any damage except for some charred rags on my body.


    The flames dissipated showing the smoke rising up from the intensely charred earth that tried to stand it''s way.


    The hound easily found me inside the smoke and charges, this time I was able to follow it''s movements and instead of moving to the side I jump above it.


    It''s swipes it''s baw in an amazing speed stroking the tree behind me, and as a result the tree gets uprooted and is blown dozens of meters away.


    I land behind the hound after just barely being able to dodge, I waste no time and create distance between the two of us by running way from it as fast as my legs could.


    The hound, like an angry incarnation of destruction charges after me while turning anything that dare stands in it''s way was turned to shreds.


    With only one chance left of surviving I take the chance and bite my thumb.


    Blood starts flowing out of the wound and immediately I use the blood to make magic symbols on my palm and aimed my hand at the quickly approaching monster.


    "Try and dodge this!"


    [Dark Burst]activates immediately because of the blood that was used in casting the magic which acted as a catalys, a blinding burst of concentrated purple light erupts from my palm.


    The hound tries it''s beast to dodge but still gets caught up in the blast.


    The purple light cut''s through everything in it''s path, trees, earth, stones and monsters alike were turned to dust as the spell came through like a raging storm.


    "Hah... Hah... Hah..."


    After a few seconds the light dissapears and the massive amount of destruction came into view, but I don''t let my gaurd down for a second to search for the hound''s remains.


    Shit! It was still alive! It was not able to fully dodge the attack and got it''s third head completely torn off from the body and was seriously injured on other parts of it''s body, but it was still alive.


    The hound once again open''s it''s mouth and the air starts to heat up, it was preparing to cast it''s fire breath once again.


    I need to to kill it now if I want to survive!


    I start using my blood to make another type of magic symbols as fats as I could, no longer caring about the little mana I still had remaining.


    Purple chains burst out from the ground and entangles the hound''s entire body rendering it unable to move, it struggles but it was of no use.


    I vomit some blood but continue to cast another spell knowing that the chains wont hold up for long.


    As I finished writing the last magic symbol, a burst of pure darkness erupts from the ground enveloping the chained hound making short work of it, not even dust remained of the hound.


    I did it!


    I suddenly felt a great sense of accomplishment after defeating the hell hound which was centainly much stronger than me.


    The excitement didn''t last long as I felt my body get enveloped in a numbing pain, blood comes up from my nose, ears and eyes, My vision became blurry and In started to lose balance.


    Shit! I was too careless and expended too much mana, blood comes up from my throat forcing me to vomit, my vision also starts to darken as I fall to the ground.


    I... Can''t... Die... Now...


    .....