*Astrayal POV*
I opened my eyes.
A circular room.
The Floor was filled with grass.
A stone and circular table was in the center of the room. It had a statue placed on it.
It looked like a Dragon of blue color with green eyes.
"How marvelous", i said in an instant.
It was looking at me like it could see inside me. It felt familiar. I moved towards it. Placing my right foot forward, I moved towards it. When I came close to it , It glowed. It glowed right before my eyes.
I heard a sound.
"Show your worth, Become stronger. An eye for an eye , strength for strength, truth for truth. Come and show your worth right before me. Clear this hell and become the strongest."
My heartbeat became faster.
I moved my hand towards it.
The statue glowed and became an orb of green light.
It moved towards me. In an instant , It touched my body. It entered inside my body.
Suddenly, it felt everything was rumbling.
Everything disappeared. Only darkness , could I see before me.
Entire view before me was filled with light.
I opened my eyes.
A sword appeared before me.
It blade was dark blue. It's handle was red.
I grabbed it.
Then my body glowed. I then again opened my eyes.
Words appeared before me floating in the air.
"Clear 100 floors of this dungeon. Be reborn and become the absolute best. But if you die , you will die for real. The time spent here and the time in the outside world will be a ratio of 1:100 .But you won't age , when you stay here. "
"So do you accept this devil's challenge?"
My heart started to pump faster.
My hands trembled. An impossible task right before me. Don't know what dangers lie before me.
If I leave this place , I will definitely die.
A smile appeared on my face.
"I accept"
As a wise man one said :
"Seize any opportunity, you can get"
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"I will kill anyone that dare challenge me!"
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My body glowed again.
I closed my eyes.
I opened them again.
Words appeared again.
"Before you start, become worthy to enter this dungeon"
"Beat this scarecrow, If you can then you will be worthy."
I looked at what was in-front of me.
A scarecrow.
A black-colored scarecrow. No eyes, a wooden blade in his hand.
At my right was a fountain.
I looked at it again.
A screen appeared.
"Fountain of elixir. It can heal any wound."
"Incredible", I said.
I moved toward the scarecrow.
I charged at it.
It moved.
It dashed toward me with an incredible speed.
It slashed it's wooden blade.
I looked at my arms.
They were gone.
"Argh!!!", I said with pain.
I ran from it and dashed into the fountain.
My arms grew back.
I saw the scarecrow, It stopped chasing me.
I think it will attack me , If I attack it first.
It was useless , if I fought it now.
I was too weak.
I moved away from it.
I grabbed my sword tightly.
I did a slash.
Again and again.
I swung the sword.
I focused on swinging the sword.
Not focusing on anything else.
My mind stopped thinking.
I just swinged it again and again.
(I used to do kendo when I was young)
My breathing became heavier.
I imagined a shadow to be in-front of me.
A shadow of a sword master that has never lost.
I striked my sword with his sword.
As time passed , I realized.
I realized that a strong swordsman wasn't one who was strong physically.
Neither was it one which was prideful.
It was one who moved the fastest.
With every strike, the opponent in-front of me used his sword faster than me.
Time and time again. I lost.
But...
Finally, after battling for so long.
I won.
I won with a difference of a hair between his sword and my sword.
I grinned.
Fighting was fun. I loved it.
Battling an undefeatable opponent and coming on top.
Yes it was awesome.
I spent all that time battling my shadow with my eyes closed.
When I opened them, a screen appeared before me.
"Name : Astrayal
Age : 200 years old"
"Ahahaha", I started laughing.
That took me 200 years.
200 years just to beat a shadow.
I haven't even started the dungeon yet.
"Hahh", I groaned.
I stretched my arms a bit and then moved toward the scarecrow.
It once defeated me, but can it defeat me now ?