《Endless Dungeon》 Prologue The world wasn¡¯t always this calm and relaxed¡­ The 72 races across all the different worlds, who finally decided that this pus-stained existence of conflict and death has gone long enough, had finally found the peace and balance that they longed for. Where there was once war between kingdoms, there are now trade routes. Where there was hatred between races, there are now families and friends. Even the wretched monsters such as goblins and orcs have found some way to engage in peaceful interaction with other people. This, however, was not meant to last ... A few hundred years of idle wait and boredom rotted away the hearts and souls of most gods, and along with it, any sort of acceptance towards the other weak races. Their most reliable form of entertainment was now gone along with all the pain and struggles of war. Yet, they could not directly interfere with the very nature of such beings as the original creator had prohibited it. Slowly but surely, impatience turned them towards more sinister plans and complicated schemes. They never cared much about leaving their imprint upon the world, or interfering with how it worked, but immortality can always push a goal upon you. If they could not change the people, they would change their lives... The idea was simple. How to turn despair into entertainment. A game where survival takes over the meaning of living and living becomes just another word for breathing. Meetings upon meetings, full of sinister laughter and relentless bloodthirst seeping into the very essence of the Multiverse became a daily occurrence as they came up with new and innovative ideas. Those who didn¡¯t partake, did not dare interfere as they were surely outnumbered. These gods developed a peculiar way to make things more interesting for themselves, making it so the dungeon itself was alive, constantly building itself and generating new ideas for traps and events. The less time they spent managing this contraption, the more time to watch and laugh at other people¡¯s expense. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. After thousands of years of planning, they finally finished the greatest and darkest creation of all time. All they needed to do now, was bring all the living beings across the world together inside the dungeon. Not everyone that knew about it agreed to this plan, however. Two of the most powerful beings tried to stop this madness before it unfolded, as requests turned into sessions of begging and warnings turning into threats. Nevertheless, it was to no avail, as it only helped fuel their desire to see things through. As such, plan was set in motion. Yet, it did not all go to plan ... Blinded by their petty wishes, they only succeeded in sealing their own fate. As soon as they sent every living creature into the dungeon, the very balance of existence was broken. The different worlds started crashing into each other and with each small bang, the Multiverse shook and crumbled. Gods began scattering about, running away from the cracks that were forming around them, slowly closing in. Their very existences were soon going to be nothing but dust in the grand scheme of things. It was already too late to stop it¡­ ...but maybe not too late to change it¡­ The two last defiant gods rushed towards the now abandoned blueprints and plans, all in order to salvage what little pride was left of their race. The time they had was nowhere near enough to make any meaningful changes, but they were at least able to save the dungeon itself from destruction and those trapped inside of it from death, but not from the suffering that awaited them. Moments later ¡­ nothingness ¡­ Only a single endless world, floating in the void that was once known as the Multiverse, now rendered barren. Chapter 1: So far, so good CHAPTER 1: SO FAR, SO GOOD. My name is Regis and it¡¯s been six months since that horrible day. I still don¡¯t quite understand what happened, but I¡¯ve already gotten over it. No use living the rest of my days with questions in my mind that would probably never get answered. Well, if you can call this living¡­ I¡¯ve managed to survive my first day by hiding inside of a crack in the wall next to where I appeared. I was scared and trembling, but what would you expect from a 14 year old boy who suddenly woke up in a place that smells of death and despair. I stood there for a pretty long time, during which a lot of monsters and large beasts ran around searching for prey. Since I couldn¡¯t stay there forever, I decided to steel myself and try my best to survive. I wasn¡¯t planning on dying just yet... I checked my pockets and my leather backpack that I had with me when all this happened. I was pretty lucky considering I was coming home from hunting with my father at the time, so I had a nice supply of raw meat, six sticks to start a fire, three small rabbit pelts, a money pouch, a water pouch, a small huntsman knife, a bow and six arrows. The next few days after that were horrible. I even rationed my food so that I wouldn¡¯t end up starving to death, but there was almost nothing else to eat anywhere, and even the sticks were useless, since monsters were roaming around and could see the bright light in this dark place if I ever started a fire. In the end I had to eat the meat raw and just keep the sticks for something else. I did end up learning a few things along the way and i have survived until now. I realized that anything I could scavenge is a blessing. Even rocks were a commodity in this place, so I decided to fill my money pouch with small rocks and pebbles that I rarely found. It was pretty empty in the first place considering I only had a few copper coins. The walls in this place seem unbreakable, and even the cracked walls can¡¯t be chipped, so I assume they come from somewhere else. I even found two small branches, despite the hallways being almost devoid of vegetation. Sometimes, every few days of walking, and if I¡¯m lucky, I would find either some moss or vines on walls and I would try my best to collect as much as possible. It¡¯s not very sanitary, but it¡¯s possibly the easiest food I can procure without any danger involved. As for water, I do my best to extract all I can from the vegetation I gather, and on occasion I drink the blood from whatever dead beasts I come across. Even the bugs are a rare encounter. Not much sleep is available to me since I have to constantly be on the move. I¡¯m constantly tired and and out of stamina, but I make due. I barely get 20 minutes of sleep every now and then until something decides to lurk around. I always place 2-3 rocks around the corners in case something decides to sneak around, and they would end up hitting the small rock and make noise. This idea saved me on quite a few occasions. In extremely rare cases I find some cracks in the wall large enough for me to sleep in, so I rest there for 1-2 days at a time. So far I only got a chance to find three human sized ones. To counter the smell I used the pelts from beasts that I skinned to cover the entrance. I have yet to see any small animals that i can hunt, but about two weeks ago I saw two large beasts fighting between themselves, and as one of them died, the other ate a bit of it and then just left to search for prey elsewhere. I harvested all the meat I could and was able to get enough of the pelt to make a small hood to keep my ears warm. I guess that¡¯s where the occasional corpse comes from. It¡¯s always dark and cold in this place. I think there are seasons, considering that the temperature changes, but there is no sun or moon or stars in the sky. I know for sure however that there is no ceiling, except for the occasional rooms that actually have one. I found a few more interesting things, such as a half rotten corpse of some kind of horned man with leather-like wings coming out of it¡¯s back. I took his clothes and stashed them in my backpack, however he did not have anything else i could use. Instead, I tried to harvest the wings, but they ripped too easily so it became an useless attempt. There was also a time about a week ago when a skinny old man was running towards me and tried to steal my backpack, then run away. I tried to reason with him but all he would do is scream and cry while pulling on my clothes. Once he started running away from me with my belongings I shot an arrow in his back. I hit him in the spine so he was probably paralyzed, not dead, so I took back my stuff, pulled out the arrow and ran the opposite direction. If only he would have listened, both of us could have survived together. Not to mention, I now have a hole in my backpack. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. On occasion I still find some places where it looks like people tried to build shelters, but they are all abandoned and stained by blood. I salvage what I can, and I keep moving. If I¡¯ve learned anything since I¡¯ve been in this maze, is that staying in one place is a bad idea. Besides the fact that you run out of resources, most creatures tend to run towards sounds and lights, pretty much anything that gives signs of life. Most often I have to either sneak or fight my way past monsters. I tried to shoot arrows into a beast once, but they bounced off of it¡¯s back. I escaped death at that time by sticking my small huntsman knife into his neck when he pounced on me. I must have luckily hit an artery or something, but nevertheless I was scratched and bruised and my left hand had a very deep wound that took me quite a while to recover from. After I made sure nothing else was around, I patched myself up with some cloth from the horned man¡¯s clothes and tried to harvest the meat. It¡¯s back, however, was as tough as steel, impossible for me to even try to get it¡¯s fur. I should probably also mention the traps. Oh yes, the traps¡­ The ones I have encountered so far almost killed me on multiple occasions. For example, entire rooms would start getting filled with sand, or beasts would come out of the walls in the hallways, or other kinds that I generally escape by running away as fast as i can. Another type of traps would be the ones that full on try to kill you. Like how a wall starts falling down on you, without enough room to move away from it, or the classic spiked pitfall that comes out from a trap door in the floor. Those i can¡¯t say I expertly avoided, because it was pretty much luck that decided I should live. For example, during spike trap I heard the mechanism and gears moving, and immediately knew something was wrong so i ran and somehow reached the edge just in the nick of time. Whoever designed this place was a truly despicable person. All in all, I decided to stick to the shadows. The small rocks come in handy pretty often to distract whatever lurks around and slip past them. The ones that have a very acute sense of smell, however, are very hard to deal with.They mostly chase me around for days until I can finally shake them off. I don¡¯t see the same type of monster very often, on occasion i would see a type that i have encountered before, but the variety of creatures that lurk these hallways are too diverse. This maze, of course, comes with a large variety of rooms as well. I once found an extremely large one that was pretty much a giant forest. I thought I finally found a way out, so I ran through it. It was infested by a monstrous number of large beasts that started chasing me. It was all for nothing in the end. On the other side, just like the way I came from, was another hallway. That was the moment I truly felt helplessness. I also ended up regretting not picking up rocks, wood, or even getting the water from the puddle I had stepped on. But there was no way i could go back to that deadly forest. I¡¯m glad I have some kind of idea of on what this place is, but the chances of meeting my end around every corner is very high. Even being extremely cautious doesn¡¯t help much in a death trap such as this. Well, at least I¡¯m alive... as for home, I gave up on it a long time ago... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This first chapter is kind of an introduction and explanation on how the main character survived so far in the dungeon. The next chapters will be following the main character in his attempt to survive. Also don''t worry, there will be other people he will meet. Any suggestions are gladly accepted I would like to know what you feel about the length of the chapter. If it''s either too short or too long, and i will try to follow the general opinion. If you see any mistakes, i would appreciate if you point them out. I have no proof readers and I pretty much end up re-reading what i write around 5-6 times to correct as many mistakes as i can. And thank you very much for reading. *bow* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 2: The hunted CHAPTER 2: THE HUNTED ¡®I still can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve made it this far...¡¯ I¡¯m walking through a very tight hallway and this is the first time I¡¯ve come across one like these. It¡¯s big enough to barely fit one person, and I can¡¯t even turn around, so I really hope nothing comes chasing me from behind. I wouldn¡¯t even be able to run in this tight place, much less fight. It¡¯s extremely hard to understand exactly how this whole maze-like dungeon was built, considering all the walls are probably made of some kind of smooth obsidian. Even the cracks and small holes might have been placed there on purpose. The hallways are always different in width and length, like some random maniac just drew some lines on a piece of paper. There were no complex features like carvings of any kind, just a plain wall with no visible weak points at all. The floor had the occasional emblems, but they made no sense, most likely decorative in nature. The only real part that was different were the rooms, sometimes made of hard cave-like rock, sometimes made of indestructible wood, nevertheless I was never able to break or scavenge anything from the walls. ¡®Oh, there¡¯s the exit!¡¯ It took about a day of walking to get through, and I feel incredibly lucky to have made it. At one point I thought the walls were getting tighter, and felt like I just walked into a trap, but it was only my imagination playing tricks on me. How embarrassing would it have been if I had died crushed by walls. Before I get out into the open, I check very silently if there is anything outside. Right corner¡­ check. Left corner... check. Ok, I can finally take a break. I place the bow and my last arrow on the wall next to me, just in case something gets too close, and make sure I have all my things accounted for. I have about three cloth straps in case i get injured, a few vine strips, one small rabbit pelt, a small bag full of rocks, coins and monster teeth, and a few broken sticks and bone fragments. This is probably the least amount of gear I¡¯ve had yet. It¡¯s already beyond a dangerous situation. I sit down and take a bite out of a large maggot I found on the wall earlier that i stashed into my pocket. Tastes disgusting and a sour liquid invades my throat. I cough a little, almost choking, but food is food. Can¡¯t be too greedy. I still have a piece of meat, about 10 cm in size that I plan to eat before it goes bad, so maybe tomorrow. Then I take my flask out and drink one mouthful of the green water that I got from some vines earlier. Rather than calling it water, it¡¯s more like a green thick soup, but I only need enough to not die of thirst. Not much time passed and I can hear the sound of bones moving towards me from the left. Must be a skeleton. I have yet to find a way to deal with them other than running away. They aren¡¯t very fast but seem to be much smarter than other beasts that mindlessly charge at me. But then again, every time I see one, it¡¯s different in size and wears different types of armors and weapons, so I can¡¯t assume to know everything about them. I tried to fight one at some point, and I wasn¡¯t even able to get a hit on it. The shield it had was probably the most troublesome thing, and he could easily move it around. They definitely know how to fight... that¡¯s for sure. I get up and walk away slowly, being careful not to make any noise and picking up the small pebbles I placed for safety. I¡¯m in no condition to run at the moment since I¡¯ve gone so long without sleeping. I should conserve the little energy I have left. A few minutes later, and it doesn¡¯t seem like I¡¯m being followed. I¡¯ve passed through enough crossroads, so it wouldn¡¯t be that easy for it to follow my exact path. I should be safe for now. It¡¯s about time i take a short nap, so I sit down in my usual meditative position and close my eyes. Finally¡­ Rather than calling this sleep, you could consider it somewhat of a semi-unconscious state. I¡¯m resting, but at the same time staying as alert as I can. I used to always fall asleep completely when I first started, and I almost died plenty of times because of it, but I got used to it now. *HOWL!* ¡®What? Already? It hasn¡¯t even been 10 minutes yet. Dammit!¡¯ Whenever a beast howls, it¡¯s usualy because they either smell or hear something they don¡¯t recognize. I assume that they only do that because they like the thrill of the hunt. I can¡¯t think of any other reason as to why they would give away their position so easily. I get up quickly and I start running. Beasts aren¡¯t as easy to avoid as skeletons, since all they do is run around mindlessly looking for prey, and are very hard to predict. I just hope it didn¡¯t catch my scent and just met another creature. Though the possibility of that happening is rather low, considering I haven¡¯t taken a bath in ages. I run in a straight line as fast as I can, making sure to check behind every corner to not bump into something else. The last thing I need is more creatures chasing me. I used to be very paranoid when running around, since I didn¡¯t know when I would come face to face with a wall and end up in a dead end, but I have yet to have such an encounter. I just assume whoever built this place made sure there are only continuous paths, however I¡¯m not naive enough to be overconfident of that fact. I always find different types of rooms and hallways, and maybe one day I might actually find a dead end, but I won¡¯t lose time thinking about it in these kinds of situations. A decent distance away I slow down and walk quietly, checking and making sure I didn¡¯t drop anything from the previous sprint. In front of me a small room comes into view and It seems like someone¡¯s been here before. Inside the room there are some kind of weak looking tents, with green cloth on top and fur used as beds. In the middle, there is a small campfire that looks like it hasn¡¯t been used in a long time. There¡¯s a few backpacks and a small crate in the corner, along with four wooden wheels and a few stones and sticks. I assume the people that lived here were part of some kind of caravan. There are obvious signs of struggle and it doesn¡¯t look like anyone is here. Weirdly enough though, there are no bodies. ¡®I¡¯ve never seen so much stuff in one place before. And it looks like there were a decent amount of people that tried to live here.¡¯ I have to be quick. I start by searching the three backpacks in the corner hoping to find something of use. The first two sadly were a big disappointment. They were filled with meat that seems to have rotten, the smell almost made me lose consciousness. The third backpack, however, had quite a bit of small furs, so i decided it was time to switch out my own with this one. I didn¡¯t mind as much as I thought I would. I loved my old backpack that was hand crafted by my father, but it was already a mess and could break at any point. Not to mention it was rather small. I move everything I still had into the new backpack and throw it on my back. Perfect. Time to look around the tents. I wanted to take the large pelts that were used as beds, but they were too big. But an idea suddenly came to me. A perfect idea. I ripped out lines of cloth from the tent and turned them into short ropes. Then i rolled one large pelt around itself and tied it to the bottom of my backpack with the cloth. Now, the next time I find a place to sleep for a while, I won¡¯t have to do it on the cold ground, and like this it shouldn¡¯t slow me down either. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. I also rip up as much cloth as possible and fix my rugged attire, and stash the remaining ones in my new backpack. I was really hoping to find some proper clothes, and I¡¯d hate to have to end up running around naked. My clothes are filthy and full of holes, but that¡¯s probably the least of my worries. I¡¯m probably lucky I haven¡¯t gotten and of my previous wounds infected considering how dirty I am. I check the rest of the encampment but there was nothing else i could really use, except for the small sticks. I tried to break some of the large stones that were used to make the campfire, but i had no luck. I wasn¡¯t going to spend too much time trying. Just as i was about to leave, something caught my attention. Behind one of the tents in the corner of the room was hidden a small blade. I quickly grab it and leave without checking its condition. I¡¯ve been in one place for too long, and I could get ambushed from both directions if I¡¯m not careful. Loot is important, but my life more so. After a few hundred paces, I stop to inspect the blade. It wasn¡¯t long enough to be a sword, but not short enough to be a dagger. I guess it would have to be considered a dirk. It¡¯s in a fairly decent condition considering it stood there for so long. The grip was wrapped in leather and it seems to be made out of silver. The sword was bigger on the end of the blade, rather than the grip, but with a flat tip, so I wouldn¡¯t be able to use it to pierce anything. There were also small razors on one side, and a small hook-like thorn on the other side, right on the end. It looked barbaric, but I assume it was made specially for skinning. This is probably the best find so far. I jump up in joy at my new accomplishment, and then make a small prayer for the people that most likely died in that place. *HOWLLLL!* Suddenly another loud howl came from behind me, and it obviously caught my attention. It seems to have been directed towards me. ¡®Did it follow me all the way here? But¡­ something is different¡­¡¯ The howl didn¡¯t exactly sound normal, it sounded more like a war cry. This was dangerous. Most likely it fully caught my scent from the camp since I stood there too long, and it can now track me. I didn¡¯t get a good look at it before so I don¡¯t know how big it is, but from the way it sounded I assume it¡¯s pretty big. I need a plan¡­ Since the beast would probably hunt me until I¡¯m dead, I can probably lure it into another monster I bump into, and hope it will get killed or at least get hurt enough that it would give up. In worst case, it kills whatever I bait it into and continues to chase me. But even if that happens i can probably repeat the process and get a glimpse of what it is at the same time. ¡®Yes¡­ Let¡¯s go with that¡­¡¯ Not too long has passed and I found a giant imp like creature. Red skin, a large horn coming from it¡¯s forehead, a muscular tail with a very sharp pointy end and a human sized body. It¡¯s wearing some kind of leather vest with shoulder pads made of metal, and some metal plated leather pants. A large spear is resting on the wall next to him. It¡¯s completely white, probably made of bone or ivory, and a large red furball separates the tip from the rest of the long stick. Around the middle, leather is wrapped around it with two metal rings keeping it in place, most likely used as grip. Looks rather dangerous and I can see obvious dried blood on the tip. It looks like a demon of some sorts, but it will have to do. Lucky for me, it¡¯s just sitting there eating something a few steps behind the corner, right next to a crossroad. I can just bait the demon when the beast chasing me is close enough, then run in one of the other two safe directions, and the beast would most likely pounce on it, giving me a chance to flee. I can just hope whoever wins won¡¯t start chasing me. I wait a few minutes while constantly making sure the demon doesn¡¯t move from the spot, and that nothing else walks up to us from the other directions. So far so good¡­ *HOWWWLLLLL* ¡®Right on time¡¯ I can see a large wolf like creature with grey fur running towards me on all fours. It¡¯s about 4 times bigger than me and the sounds of claws hitting the smooth obsidian floor makes a most terrifying metallic noise. I turn around and just as I was about to throw a pebble at the demon to get it¡¯s attention, I notice that he¡¯s already slowly walking towards me with his weapon in hand, ready for whatever is coming. With no time to lose, i start running in the opposite direction of the demon, making sure he hears and sees me. I can feel the bloodlust in the air all the way over here, but I don¡¯t hear any fighting... I wonder what¡¯s happening... I turn around to check on the two and find out what¡¯s wrong. Then I see the two of them, just sitting there, staring each other in the eye. By the time I realize what''s happening, it was too late¡­ I should have kept running... Suddenly, the demon starts walking backwards slowly, and the wolf doesn¡¯t even make a move. I¡¯m not really happy about the result though. If anything, I couldn¡¯t be more terrified. It never occurred to me that this could ever happen. The large wolf turns around, completely ignoring the demon, sits up on two legs and shouts in anger while glaring at me. *RAAAARRRRRRR!* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In case you guys didn''t figure it out, *...* is Sound ''...'' is thoughts "..." will be dialogue I would also like to point out that chapter 3 might take a while since I''m moving to a different country, but I''ll try my best to do it this week. Thank you all very much for reading. On another note i already got a rating which i find kind of suspicious. Why would anyone rate something that doesn''t even have more than 2 chapters posted. But i digress... Thank you anyway for the 4 starts... that''s 3 more than i ever expected this fiction to get... Special thanks to those that give me creative criticism. I try to answer all questions, even if i''m busy. I also already copyrighted the story so yay for that?! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 3: Despair CHAPTER 3: DESPAIR The howling horror, filling the air with fear and anxiety, enraged by the petty tricks I tried to play on it starts running full speed towards me, throwing vile amounts of saliva around with clear intent to feast. Only, this time... it¡¯s much scarier than before. The seemingly quadruped suddenly decides to run on two legs, showing off it¡¯s immense stature. There¡¯s dried blood around its mouth, along with red stains that go down all the way to its neckline. An incredible amount of adrenaline rushed to my brain in that single moment and made the world around me seem like it¡¯s moving in slow motion. It doesn¡¯t really help as much as it could have, considering I¡¯m in a state of panic and can¡¯t seem to be able to muster the strength to move my legs. I¡¯m just standing in place, fully aware of my own shortcomings. ¡®Am I going to die?¡¯ Even the question that sits on the tip of my tongue doesn¡¯t want to come out, face to face with potential death. This, however, made me realize something. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m dead yet! And there¡¯s no way in hell I¡¯m going to give up now, after I¡¯ve struggled so much! By the time the monster shortened the distance between us by another half, I was finally able to break out of my trance. The first step is very important, because it should release me from my fear induced shock. And so it did¡­ I turn around and start running. I¡¯m not very fast, and I start raising questions in my mind as to how I should deal with this tragic turn of events. Running away isn¡¯t going to help much, considering I¡¯m much slower than my predator. I quickly reach for my bow and arrow that were strapped to my backpack. This might be a long shot, but if I¡¯ll be able to hurt it enough so it would slow it down, I¡¯ll have a better chance of survival. I¡¯ll even try aiming for it¡¯s eyes, so if everything goes well, I could even kill it. Maybe it¡¯s strong and I wouldn¡¯t be able to pierce its skin, but any living thing has a weak spot in the eyes. I pass the corner, then I kept running until I reached a decent distance away and started getting ready to retaliate. Failure... The moment I try to place the arrow on my bow, the large beast appears from around a corner. It comes out with a long and loud screech, caused by the large claws scratching the flat surface of the ground. I panic. My hands start trembling, and I drop my arrow on the ground. I look in horror as the small wooden arrow falls down slowly, while my life flashes before my eyes. My mind is turning black and it feels like I¡¯m being swallowed by a black hole. My field of vision becomes invaded by a black mist slowly creeping in towards the center and I feel nauseous. It¡¯s like a premonition of what¡¯s to come. My knees feel weak and I fall down on my ass. I¡¯m scared. I try to pick up the arrow, but by mistake I use the hand with the bow in it and I end up throwing the bow on the ground. It bounces off the ground and lands next to the wall on my far right. I start crying and sobbing, barely getting a grip of the arrow. But what¡¯s the point anymore? I just threw away my weapon. Thinking about my plain stupidity made me realise that in the end, I¡¯m nothing but a child thrown away in the jaws of a large monster that is this dungeon. I never had any way to prepare for this, and neither did I want to end up here. It might just be better to die and get it over with... I throw up, and little bit of food comes out... bits and piece of the small maggot i ate are still visible, but the worst part is, there¡¯s a little blood getting mixed in with my previous dinner. It didn¡¯t come from my mouth though, it came from my nose. At the same time, I end up peeing myself without shame, not even realising until it was too late. I took such a big psychological blow that my body is rejecting any kind of foreign substance in my body, in a desperate attempt to fix whatever is wrong with it. I look up and see the giant wolf a few steps away, slowly walking towards me with a large grin on it¡¯s face, showing off its large fangs that could even make iron crumble to dust. My mind is scattered and I can¡¯t even concentrate on one thing, before something else ruins my train of thought. Mostly memories of my past with my father, hunting. Now I understand how those poor creature¡¯s felt, trapped and cornered, when I was the one doing the chasing. The wolf stops a few steps away from me and stares in my direction... at the shell of my former self. No struggle, no attempt at survival, just acceptance for my fate. The grin from his face disappears... It looks around, probably to make sure nothing else is there to disturb its dinner, and notices the pitiful state of myself and my equipment. The small bow catches his attention and stares at it intently. Shortly after, with a look of pity he stares me down while breathing slowly. It was unexpected, and despite my fragile state I figure out that something is wrong. ¡®Why would it feel pity for me? Why doesn¡¯t it just kill me? Wasn¡¯t it trying to kill me earlier? Maybe he¡¯s worried about the demon? Did my attempt to kill it leave an impression? [¡­]¡¯ All sorts of questions without answers invaded my mind and i just stood there unable to comprehend the actions of a lowly beast. I¡¯ve always thought that monsters act on instinct, not on emotions. And even if it did act on emotions, the need for hunger should be much bigger due to the lack of food in this place. It¡¯s eyes change direction and stare down the corridor behind me. Interested in what it was that caught its gaze, I manage to turn my head around slowly, only to find emptiness. Nobody was there, and nothing worthy of note even present. Just walls and dust. I look back, confused as to why he was so interested in whatever was behind me, only to find it gesturing with its head. I¡¯m even more confused, and its becoming more restless and angry at my indifference. ¡®It wants me to run!?¡¯ Well, more exactly, it wants to hunt me... Most likely, the short time it took to catch up to me left a bitter taste in its mouth. And with just cause¡­ this has been probably my worst attempt at survival since I¡¯ve been sent to this place. My thoughts and emotions are still in turmoil, and a heavy headache takes over the back of my head. I¡¯ve been given a second chance... I wipe my face from all the spit, tears and snot with my sleeve, while getting up slowly. He looks pleased. The uncontrollable shaking of my legs almost made me stumble, but I quickly grab onto the wall on my left. I already know that my chances are probably close to none, but my body is screaming in pain, as it wants to survive at all costs. However, it¡¯s not about how to escape with my life intact, it¡¯s about how long i can keep fighting. I¡¯m disappointed in myself, but more importantly, I just found a way to get back at my soon-to-be killer! I pick up the arrow in a hurry, and start heading towards the bow. However, a deathly growl stops me in my path. It won¡¯t even give me the satisfaction of having a way of fighting back. It doesn¡¯t want to deal with bothersome things, it just wants to play with its food! The feeling of throwing up comes back, and i start gagging for a few seconds. As nothing else is left in my stomach, only air escapes my lungs in an attempt to compensate for my body¡¯s lack of nutrition. I give up on claiming the bow and start running, looking back to check if it plans on chasing. It¡¯s just standing there, ready to charge, but without any intention of doing so anytime soon. Good.. I still have a chance¡­ The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Running is hard, and my legs have never felt more heavy, making me stumble every few steps, forcing me to spend extra time maintaining my balance. My wet pants don¡¯t help much either, as the cold breeze lowers my body temperature, making me sneeze every now and then, snot flying everywhere from my nose. There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to find a place to hide with this trail of breadcrumbs leading straight to my location. At some point, without me even noticing, the arrow from my hand had disappeared. Most likely it slipped when i bumped on the flat ground earlier. Pathetic... I keep running until I reach a change in scenery, and I take a look to the right of a three way crossroad I just encountered. That¡¯s when I notice something interesting... there¡¯s a way to turn back without having to actually encounter the beast. Basically, if I keep going straight then take 3 left turns, I¡¯ll be right back to where I¡¯m currently sitting. A loop around the path... That gives me an idea. All I have to do is make the beast follow my smell, and lead it in a circle. Once it reaches the loop-around, all I have to do is run back and get my bow and arrows along the way, and try again. This might actually be my very last chance, and I have the resolve this time as well as a general idea of what to expect. I set my plan in motion, and I wait around the corner, just before the last turn. [...] Not much time passes, and it shows up, taking the bait and making a right turn, following my trail of bodily fluids. I wait a few seconds, then I start walking slowly, making sure I¡¯m not heard. Once I reach the corner, I take a peek to make sure it didn¡¯t suddenly decide to turn around. *HOOWWWLLLLLL* I was wrong in assuming it wouldn¡¯t... Just at the end of the corridor the large wolf looks towards my direction and I start sobbing again. I might really not make it this time. But the plan was still in motion. I quickly set my resolve to go back and get my bow and arrow. ¡®!!!¡¯ A large wall was present in place of the long hallway I had come from a few minutes ago. I¡¯m also pretty sure I didn¡¯t see anything preventing my escape when i came to check on the monster. It just suddenly appeared while i was checking around the corner. ¡®How?¡¯ I lose control over myself from the shock, as my legs move by themselves, and I end up running back around the loop. I take two right turns as I¡¯m still being chased from behind by the monstrosity. I take out my blade that was strapped to the bottom of my backpack. I take one last look behind to check on the beast and there it was, chasing me. All moves I make are now emotionless and calculated. I have confidence in my will to live, and I let it guide me. My body is completely out of my control. I don¡¯t even feel awake right now¡­ It feels like I¡¯m watching a show as someone runs around in circles. *AAAAAAARRRRGGHHHHH¡­..* Immense pain surges through my body and it wakes me up from my battle trance and forces me back into the physical realm. But... what caught me wasn¡¯t what was chasing me. I still had plenty of distance between us. I look in front of me and I notice I¡¯ve been grabbed by my waist, all the way to my chest by a large furry hand. My left hand is also trapped in its grip, and I begin furiously hitting my captor''s hand, trying to release myself. ¡®Two of them?¡¯ I look back and I notice that the one chasing me was gone. Then my mind quickly switched to the wall that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere earlier. Suddenly, everything made sense. ¡®An illusion?¡¯ The monster didn¡¯t look like a normal one, but having a special ability was probably the worst thing that could have happened. I¡¯m slowly being dragged closer to its face, as the large mouth opens wide enough to accept my body. I¡¯m going to get eaten. Just as I get close enough to feel its smelly breath, in a last attempt at escape, I shove my sword into its slimy tongue. *SQUEAL* In a panic I¡¯m thrown away like some pile of garbage. This was my chance to once again start running away, but all strength left my body and I became a puppet to my aching muscles. The monsters starts furiously clawing away at its mouth trying to make the new stylish piercing go away, ending up scratching itself until blood starts flowing out. Finally it spits out my blade with anger and makes sure nothing else is lodged in its mouth. A few drops of blood drop on my skin, right in the opening between my shoes and my pants. As to make matters worse, its blood has some kind of acidic properties and it burns like hell. I feel like my skin is being ripped apart. With no more patience to speak of, the monster gazes at me with killing intent seeping through its pores. The most I managed to do in the end is make it angry. I¡¯m still going to die¡­ I motion it to come get me with my right hand. ¡®At least I managed to hurt the fucker¡­¡¯ *SQUELCH* I watch in awe as a sharp stick came out of its chest, as thick as my wrist. Life slowly seeping away from the beast¡¯s eyes. "What!?" The first time after months of silence, a word escapes my mouth... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As promised, here is chapter 3 before the end of the week ... It actualy took longer than i had originally thought, but I''ve been pretty busy walking around the city trying to get my hands on different paperwork and finishing my move to this god forsaken country. The airplane ride was just as bad... I ended up throwing up twice on the way and it completely messed up my sleeping times. I tried writing a little while in the airport, but nevertheless I was completely exhausted. For any questions or tips on how i can improve you can either leave a post down below, or send me a message, they are always welcome... except for spoilers... I don''t like spoiling... Also pointing out mistakes in grammar is always nice. as I am not a native english speaker. As usual, thank you very much for reading. Please take it easy as it is the first time I try to write any kind of story. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chapter 4: Amputation CHAPTER 4: AMPUTATION The giant corpse eventually falls face down on the ground with a spear still lodged in his chest and a big silhouette appears behind it. I expected some kind of knight in shiny armor that came to my rescue, but this place never fails to disappoint. It was the fucking demon¡­ He¡¯s quite a large distance away from me, so I think he threw the spear. That would normally look like an impressive feat, if not for my terrified state of mind. The recent shocks I¡¯ve received still haven¡¯t gone away, and I¡¯ll most likely have nightmares for the rest of my life. He walks towards his prize with a large smirk on his face, occasionally glancing my way, but he doesn¡¯t seem to want to kill me just yet. He¡¯s just being overly cautious of the corpse. I¡¯ll laugh if it would come back to life and start killing us. His eyes seem to tell me that he is rather calm and calculated by nature, not a mindless beast looking to kill and eat everything in his path. Maybe I was wrong to judge him by appearance, and even if I wasn¡¯t wrong, my fate is pretty much in his hands right now. He finally reaches the corpse and grips the handle of his spear, ready to yank it out. ¡°WAIT!¡± I try to warn him by reflex, but it was already too late. The sudden outburst made him flinch for a moment, but he applied enough force to the spear and it was getting pulled out. He realised something was wrong, and he begins staring at me with a worried expression. *AARGGHHH* The moment the spear was released from the fleshy grips of the monster¡¯s chest, blood starts spraying everywhere, almost fully enveloping the demon¡¯s left arm in it. Sizzling noise can be heard as smoke comes out of the burning flesh on his body. He starts squirming in pain and falls on the ground. I try my best and get up, not wanting to waste this chance to get away from all of this mess. I gather my scattered belongings and my trusty dirk. I¡¯m strangely lucky to still have it, despite my continuous encounter with misfortune. ¡°Vol¡¯nur mas tiff es kull!¡± I flinch. Wait ¡­ those were words i just heard! I turn around and the demon is still on the ground, looking in my direction with his right hand pointing at me. They were words! I did not understand what he said, but this one is capable of speech. Which means it should be capable of thinking. At this point I¡¯m torn between the opportunity to run away, and the possibility to socialise after almost a year alone. I find it interesting that he can mumble words at me, but not understanding each other might be a problem. Though ¡­ in the state he is in I doubt he can do anything to harm me. I move slowly towards him, and he is still pointing in my direction while his blood starts spilling on the floor at an alarming rate. He will probably die soon enough due to blood loss but you can never be too careful. He¡¯s taken a big hit and it looks like it really hurts, but he has clear resolve in his eyes. It isn¡¯t resolve for survival, it¡¯s something different. ¡°Oh!¡± Now I finally realise. He isn¡¯t pointing at me, he¡¯s gesturing towards his finger. On his finger is a wooden carved ring with shiny imprints on it. It seems to give off a light blue glow. I move slowly towards him, making sure not to make any sudden movements. I point towards his ring and he nods intently at me. I get a grip of his hand to make sure he doesn¡¯t suddenly decide to strangle me to death, and i slowly pull out the ring. ¡®I¡¯m confused. Why would he give me his ring?¡¯ He keeps gesturing me that it¡¯s ok and I¡¯m a little baffled at his endurance for pain, despite his arm being slowly eaten away by the acid. ¡°Ah!¡± He wants me to wear the ring. But that might be a mistake, couldn''t it? What if some sort of spikes come out of it and suddenly cut off my finger? Well, that wouldn¡¯t really make sense since it wouldn¡¯t help him in any way. But it still seems a bit of a shady deal. Maybe he wants to capture my soul in this ring? I still can¡¯t see any way he would live even if he did. It¡¯s not like my soul has the capability of instant healing, or I would have been immortal. With half assed feelings i take the ring and put it on. ¡°Finally youngling ¡­ Agh ... I thought I would be dead until you *cough* decided to wear it.¡± ¡®What?! I can clearly understand it? What is happening?¡¯ His voice was incredibly hoarse, and it perfectly matches his aspect and bulky build. ¡°You can talk?¡± With a strained expression on my face I ask him, but I still have my doubts about trusting this man ¡°I cannot understand, youngling. The ring I gave you is what allows you to understand what I¡¯m *cough* saying¡± Ohhh ¡­ so that¡¯s how it was. Well i guess I¡¯m not going to lose my finger then. But ¡­ what should I do. He¡¯s clearly sentient and he doesn¡¯t look like he¡¯ll kill me anytime soon¡­ ¡°Youngling, I know ¡­ you¡¯re confused. But I could really use a hand here. hehe¡± He points as his now almost fleshless hand dripping with blood and full of pus and some sort of yellow liquid. This is hardly the time for jokes, but I guess that helped me trust him a little. But what can I even do to help him? ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as it looks. The wound is somewhat contained *cough* ¡­ only to my arm. If you would find it in your heart to ¡­ cut it off. I would be greatful.¡± ¡®Cut it off¡­¡¯ That could most likely solve the wound problem, but he would probably still die due to blood loss. And asking someone to cut it off, isn¡¯t exactly kindness. ¡°Don¡¯t worry lad. *cough* ¡­ for now, help me with this, will ya¡¯?¡± God dammit. If only he didn¡¯t look like a fucking monster, I could have asked him for help even back then. This is probably the worst possible way to meet with someone that isn¡¯t crazy or trying to steal from me. I don¡¯t have much time, and I do have a bit of experience myself with treating wounds, so I should really hurry it up. I take all the cloth strips that i had and try my best to clean the dirk with what little water I had left. I get close to his rotting hand and place my dirk just under his shoulder where the blood did not reach. It smells horrible, like rotting flesh, and this guy¡¯s arm is huge, I doubt I¡¯ll be able to cut it very fast. It¡¯s probably gonna hurt like a bitch, so I hope he¡¯s not gonna pummel me to death because of the pain. ¡°It¡¯s ok youngling ... I¡¯ve had worse.¡± ¡®I honestly doubt that ¡­¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. I grab a piece of cloth and shove it in his mouth to muffle a bit of his yelling and I start cutting away at his arm. As soon as I reach the bone, he screams his heart out and I can¡¯t help but worry that some other monster will hear this. The cloth in his mouth isn¡¯t helping much either. I¡¯m doing such a bad job cutting this, that I feel like a T-rex trying to play the drums. *MHHHHFFFFGGG* I finally cut my way through the bone and through the remaining flesh. A stump is left in the place where his arm used to be. I wish I could do more to help him, but for now staying here will only bring trouble. I try my best and patch up his stump with as much cloth as possible. Blood is still dripping and the makeshift bandage can¡¯t handle this big of a wound. I take out the ring from my finger and place it on his so he can understand what we need to do. ¡°I did what I could, but we need to move. We¡¯ve been staying here too long and I doubt nothing heard your screaming.¡± He nods in acknowledgment and gestures for me to come help him up. I take his right arm over my shoulder and start carrying him. I also take his large spear and place it in his remaining hand. It¡¯s much heavier than I expected it to be. We move towards where we came from so I can grab my bow, and I notice that he had placed a small backpack on the ground too, so i throw it over his spear and he grabs it with his hand. We walk for about 20 minutes, and his bandage is already not enough to stop his blood from coming out. I need to take care of that wound before he dies or something smells the blood. ¡°I need to do something about your wound. I¡¯ll let you down here for now, big guy.¡± Same as earlier he nods in agreement and i place him with his back on the wall. He obviously looks like he¡¯s in pain. I take out the small sticks and two small furs and i start making a fire. I normally wouldn¡¯t even think about doing something this reckless, but the smell of blood would probably lure something our way before they would even see the light. ¡°I need to burn out the wound to stop the bleeding. Not gonna lie, it¡¯s probably gonna hurt more than when I cut it off.¡± With an obvious displeased look he stares at me and glances at the fire i started, but nevertheless he nods. I guess he at least understand the necessity of it. I throw the tip of the dirk in the fire to heat it as much as possible. It will probably completely ruin it, but that¡¯s a risk I¡¯m willing to take right now. I¡¯d much rather have a muscular demon on my side than a fucking knife. Even a one handed demon at that¡­ Once the steel on the blade became a mixture of red and orange colors, I pick it up and get a good grip of his stump, removing all the red cloth. ¡°Sorry¡­¡± *ARRRGGHHHH* I place the heated steel on his fresh wound and his flesh starts burning away. I make sure to be thorough, and although he¡¯s screaming in pain I don¡¯t leave any spot open. Once I was done, his wound was a bit charred and the big guy looks like he¡¯s dead or dying, but visible breathing and movement of his eyes indicate otherwise. His face looks a bit pale despite his red skin, but other than that he seems unusually calm. I get what little cloth i have left and patch up the stump. ¡°The wound should be good for now, and as long as it doesn¡¯t get infected, you will live. But we can¡¯t stay here for long.¡± He looks very tired and about to faint, but there¡¯s clear will to survive in his eyes, so he should be good. I can¡¯t believe I lasted through cutting and burning a whole hand. I probably would have thrown up if this had happened in front of me a year ago. He once again gestures to his ring, wanting to say something, so I grab it and place it on my hand. It¡¯s a pretty awkward way of speaking, but it will have to do. ¡°You have ... my gratitude youngling. I¡¯ll be able to walk in a few minutes so ¡­ don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m glad to finally be able to ¡­ talk to someone.¡± He forces a smile on his face, making him look more fearsome than friendly, but I understand his intention. I feel the same way, so this could be a good chance to preserve my sanity. ¡°The name¡¯s Vol. I¡¯ll be in your care for a few days ... hope you¡¯ll not throw me as fish bait anytime soon.¡± I can¡¯t help but crank a forced smile myself. He knows that I would probably abandon him if the situation asks for it. I¡¯m not going to lose my life to protect him, and he obviously thought the same thing when he first saw me. His plan to kill the monster while he was focused on me worked wonders, but I almost died in the process. I would have probably done the same, so I¡¯m not going to judge him. Survival of the fittest as they say. Or in his case ¡­ survival of the luckiest. If I had just left and ignored him, he would have died for sure. I take the ring and I place it on his hand again. ¡°I¡¯m Regis. Hopefully you won¡¯t eat me after you¡¯ve recovered.¡± ¡°Hahah!¡± It wasn¡¯t the evil type of laugh I was expecting, but the type that you would have when someone said a good joke. Despite his horrible state, he¡¯s still able to somehow laugh it off. He doesn¡¯t seem like a bad guy either. I guess I finally found someone who¡¯s in the same situation as me. For now ... I¡¯ll take care of him, and pay my debt for him saving my life. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Had a few problems along the way with moving and college, but I was finally able to release a new chapter. He found a companion, but I guess it isn''t exactly what you guys were hoping for. But I guess a cripple is better than nothing, right!? Also don''t worry, the harem tag will come into play a bit later on. This guy is a bit special in what he knows though, so be prepared for that. Also contemplating if i should remove the need for naming chapters or not, but I just might make it a multiple volume fiction, so i''ll keep it like this for now. I also got to making a wordpress site, but I noticed it''s not exactly what I wanted, so now I''m looking to get a domain and have a bit more customization when it comes to my website. Look forward to it. I will also start posting my other works there once it will be up. I also have no real intention to post other works on this site anytime soon, maybe after i finish this fiction, but idk. Only the future will tell. I''ll keep you guys up to date, maybe even add a chatroom. As usual, please point out grammar issues or things you find wrong. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~