The smell of steel hit Daniel as he moved toward the assorted weapons.
Some were on the ground, some against the wall, but mostly they were in racks attached to the wall.
'I guess, it's time I choose a weapon?' Daniel was a little nervous, he's gone shopping before, but as far as he knew, weapons were very important, akin to an unchangeable fate.
Kinda like when you've never played video games before, so you have to choose a console. Green or blue.
Daniel has his head screwed on correctly so he chose blue.
Daniel stopped in the middle of the room, it was dead silent with only the occasional popping & crackling of the fire to accompany his thoughts.
'I need melee weapons obviously, but also a long-range weapon.'
As he looked around he spotted dusty, rusty weapons.
Spears, Swords, Blades, Knives, Daggers, Hidden Blades, Maces, Hammers, Staffs, Shields, Bows, Crossbows, Slingshots, etc.
'This is some damn good luck, hopefully, it remains useful for a while. Even if it's old, surely it wouldn't be shit right?.. Right‽'
As his internal dialogue continued, he started walking around the room slowly, his ankle flaring with pain at every step.
First came hidden weapons & armor attachments, small reinforced shields that were worn on the forearm, & a hidden blade that was oddly similar to a certain weapon a creed of people were known for. Some belts held knives or needles.
He pondered over situations that would lead to his necessity for a particular weapon, in this case, hidden weapons.
'I'll take the hidden blade, in case I'm ever without a weapon.' The blade attached to the bottom of his wrist quite easily, in fact, it lived up to its function. You wouldn't realize there was a hidden blade there at all unless it was deployed.
'I wonder if I think about deploying the blade if it will do it?' Daniel put his theory to the test. He imagined the blade releasing its hidden blade.
*click*
Daniel opened his eyes & to his surprise, it worked!
'This is so cool!' The blade itself was pitch black, it was roughly eighteen centimeters long at a width of about three centimeters.
He touched the tip, & only the tip.
*snick*
Its sharpness was astounding! He barely skimmed its point, and a clean-cut was made on his finger.
He now stared at the open wound.
'Alright, not doing that again.' He was more than satisfied with the blade itself.
He continued to walk toward the next set of weapons.
He liked the Spears, as they were used to kill at a longer range than most melee weapons but also numerous enemies at the same time.
'I like its concept but, it doesn't feel right to me.'
Daniel has seen many movies & has read many comics about weapon masters. He was fascinated with what they accomplished in their respective specialties.
One of the biggest pieces of advice was; to find a weapon that feels natural; meaning no discomfort.
The discomfort can't be confused with inexperience, but it's just like when you drive a car, you know if you are good at it or not on your first try.
He walked a few steps forward where hammers littered every inch of the wall.
'It is good for blacksmithing but I've never thought of them as tools of combat. Plus I don't like the slow but strong concept much either.'
He continued.
Blades concentrate all their force on the cutting edge. Some of the blades even had serrated edges, further concentrating force on each tooth.
He grabbed the blade & started to play with it since he had no skills with it yet it was the only thing he could do.
'Blades feel better than the other weapons so far but let's continue.'
He set the blade down & continued.
He walked across many of the weapons.
Next, he came across unique weapons. Moon blades, curved daggers & swords, tower shields, dual blades, etc.
Then a set of weapons caught his eyes.
They were dual swords, black with silver inscriptions across the blade. The inscriptions resembled lightning storms.
The swords were double-edged, with handguards that covered the hand, but didn't limit their versatility, the bottom of the swords had serrated edges that faced towards the wielder.
The tips were also serrated, but not as pronounced. The swords were a meter & a half long with a three-finger width.
'I think I'm in love. They look amazing on top of feeling supernatural to me. I wish I had trained in using a sword, that way I could make proper use of such wonderful weapons!'
Daniel was ecstatic with the twin swords.
"I'll stand by my choice from on. I'll master the twin swords someday." He spoke to himself quietly with determination.
'Okay, now let's go to the ranged weapons.'
He walked across the room slowly, looking at the bows, crossbows & harpoons that lined the wall.
He grabbed a black bow that had similar inscriptions as the swords.
It was a compound bow, with three tiers of pulleys. Its string was silver-white, perfectly matching the sword's single white sliver line that ran down the middle.
'It feels great, now I gotta get the quiver with arrows & a belt for the swords.
He searched the room for a few minutes before finding everything he needed.
A black belt with clips for the swords lay on either side of his hips. A black quiver that had fifty arrows was on his back & the bow was in hand.
He now looked like an ancient guardsman!
'I feel so cool!'
He walked out of the room while looking to his right, down the hall the torches had ignited.
'Weird. I'm going to go the other way because I don't want to die nor be starred in some horror movie where a dumbass enters a place that any reasonable person would avoid. Goodbye!' He sprinted down the hall at his fastest speed.
*rumble*
The whole ruin shook with intensity, causing the ground to become unsteady, with loose rocks & stone littering every inch.
'Damn it!' Daniel's body wasn't fully recovered, already he had rolled his ankle a couple of times.
A couple of pillars in front of him fell, smashing the ground into forked peaks.
'What is this?! A parkour artist paradise‽' Daniel was frustrated, he doubted his bodily coordination was up to par while running at full speed.
'Well, shit... Let's see how it goes.'
He jumped a couple of feet before the first pillar that had collapsed, and using his hands to support the momentum that carried him, he vaulted over the pillar.
As he landed he rolled forward under a wooden beam, as his back landed on the ground the shrapnel & debris cut into the armor, causing it to dig into his skin.
He had no time for caution.
After he stood up he continued running, the wind & dust coated his sweaty skin, his forehead carried beads of sweat as he avoided obstacles & falling debris.
*, crumble*
*boom!*
Daniel panted with a laborious effort to breathe. The ancient dust & moisture clogged his lungs, causing a burning sensation to sear throughout his body.
He had no time to think, no time to ponder.
'Run. Run. Run.' His thoughts echoed.
He slid under a falling pillar, the flying rocks peppering his skin.
'Agh!' He tripped over a rolling rock, landing face-first into the crumbling ground.
He rolled forward again, only to see part of the ceiling falling right behind him, the air rushing towards him tore into his skin.
He got up and continued running, his legs beginning to feel heavy, the oxygen he was taking in was no longer enough to satiate his need for it.
He stumbled multiple times but kept pushing.
The entrance was but a few meters in front of him, as he ran the two supporting pillars crumbled into each other, bringing the main entrance down with them.
His heart punted frantically in anxiety.
*Boom*
Daniel stumbled as the collision made the world shake around him.
*crack*
His ankle was broken, and he stepped on a rock with only the left side of his foot, leaving all his body weight to linger.
The momentum carried his body forward.
'Fuck you!'
He slid precisely under the falling entrance.
"AGHHH!" He growled with all his might!
*BOOM*
*shrsssshh*
His muscles bulged & tore with the effort of catching the rock.
He trembled under the effort.
"Fuck, I can't hold this much longer!" He yelled, grasping for an idea to save him from being crushed.
Tears flowed out of his eyes as they stung from the dust biting into them.
The quiver of arrows lay barely strapped to his shoulder, its cover still intact. The swords hadn't been unclipped but the bow lay past the entrance.
He looked around but he couldn't find anything to help him.
'If I can roll fast enough backward with my legs over my head, I can probably dodge the collapsing entrance.' As soon as he finished the thought, all of the possible failures surged into his mind.
His head getting crushed, his body being in a pretzel position then being crushed, failing to keep the entrance up & getting crushed.
Adrenaline surged in his bloodstream.
'One chance!' He no longer hesitated, and with lots of pain & stress he rolled backward, as he did his arms lost the support to keep the entrance lifted.
*BOOM*
*GASPS*
Daniel laid in front of the collapsed entrance, his eyes were bloodshot, while his arms were a bit purple.
He made it out alive.
He panted heavily as his lungs worked overtime to sustain his oxygen level, he was a bit dizzy & his body was tingling.
'Why am I going through all this shit?.. Was I a horrible person in my past life?' He had only been in this world for a few days, yet he's had several life & death situations.
It was pitch black outside & the moon was absent tonight. Only strong winds & darkness prevailed in the night, like some sort of ominous sign.
'I hope I'm safe... Else I'll probably die without knowing how.'
He slowly gave in to the fatigue that plagued his every thought.