A tower-like structure had suddenly appeared while the prisoners were in the yard. Not even a sliver of noise was generated, not a single sign of disturbance. It was as though nothing had happened, as though it had always been there.
Neither the guards nor the prisoners noticed it at first. Most of the prisoners played while some exercised in the yard while the guards looked over them. The time passed and gradually everyone started registering the change in their minds and suddenly something changed. Everyone started rushing towards the tower.
"Stop!! Any that moves will be shot!"
The shouts resounded but the prisoners seemed to be entranced as they completely ignored the warnings. Then the first one touched the tower, disappearing. Panic spread among the guard, their throats hurting from the shouting and then in the chaos, one of them pulled the trigger.
The spell was suddenly broken. Most of the prisoners quickly stopped and raised their hands straight up. Some though did not stop and instead pushed themselves at even higher speeds.
***
A room, stone floor, and luminous ceiling. At the center of the room was a floating hologram. The change made no ripples just like when the black-colored tower had appeared in their midst.
Primary attribute selection:
Body
Mind
The major factor separating a human from other species was the mind. All the progress, all the superiority everything was because of the thing called the mind. He tried touching the option but nothing happened. He tried again but still, his hand passed through the hologram as though there was nothing there. He looked around but there was nothing within the room. As he was thinking about how to select the option the hologram suddenly changed.
Attribute selection:
Earth
Air
Water
Fire
Again the choice was easy. Fire. This time he focused on it. As he was thinking of selecting it, again his surroundings suddenly changed.
***
Dim light and a narrow path that was further divided into connecting paths. The walls on both sides went up until the ceiling where luminous fungi shined their light. Each moment caused the shoulders to nearly scrap by the walls. He turned slowly and even behind all he could see were multiple connecting paths.
One path to another, he moved through the maze-like structure that he had found himself within. The dim light, the narrow path, the stillness, and quietness all worked together to make him feel suffocated. It was bearable when compared to the rescue mission inside the collapsed Margalla tower. His hands twitched and he constantly looked front and back towards the paths that, due to the dim light, were covered unclear. He strengthened his resolve and moved onwards after all he finally got an opportunity after years of waiting.
Sometimes the paths were straight while at other times they tilted downwards coming back up only after a while. His heartbeat slowly increased as he felt a different kind of fear well up inside him. When dismantling a bomb he had felt fear. When facing off against the criminals and terrorists he had felt a different type of fear. The only thing that he knew was that he was in some kind of danger. His intuition that had been dulled still told him that much.
He kept wandering, unable to stop whilst repeating the du'a to keep himself occupied. After reaching its peak his heartbeat slowly started normalizing. No longer did he feel as though his heart would burst out and he could feel himself adjusting to the environment.
He selected the left-most corner of the multiple intersections that appeared in front of him and moved. It had been a while now since he had come in here but still, he encountered no one. While he was wondering where the others were he again selected one of the pathways, this one slowly declining. He arrived near the end of the tunnel and was again selecting the path when something collided with him from the back and then came the pain.
As the knife was being retracted, with a shout that echoed through the maze he violently grabbed the arm around his neck throwing the assaulter in front. He accelerated, his foot stomped on its head, one then twice, thrice while the other foot was on its hand thus robbing it of the ability to use the knife. After a few more kicks to its head, its body twitched. He scanned his back and then front quickly, scouting the surroundings. Nothing else was visible.
Long ears, a big nose, and a slim body that was perfectly compatible with this narrow, suffocating maze. Taking its knife, he struck it in the neck killing it. He jumped back unable to comprehend the situation as the body started to dissolve. A feeling appeared inside his head and when he focused on it he felt his senses connect with something.
He could feel something, a space, and within it was something. He focused on it and it appeared in front of him. A blue crystal radiating off soft blue light. As he held it in his hand he felt his exhaustion slightly fade away and his mind becoming serene. It felt as though he was being touched by the spring air. It was so comfortable that he momentarily blanked out.
The body below finished disintegrated bringing him back to the present. He quickly focused upon the space that he could still feel the connection to and placed the crystal back resuming the wandering with the knife in his hand.
He wandered the maze occasionally coming across the monsters. With each encounter, the next one came a bit quicker. He killed another one, his back hurting from the pain. Each movement caused the pain to reappear causing him to whimper. Cutting off a piece from his orange prisoner's shirt he rolled it up and placed it into his mouth biting on it with force.
Crossing another intersection he was going to move but severe pain caused him to stop. A monster dropped down with a thud where he would have been if he had not stopped momentarily.
His arms moved by themselves, the knife cut into its skull while it tried to orient itself. The pain washed over him causing him to bite even more strongly on the cloth. He continued onwards while thanking God.
Up, front, back he surveyed all his surroundings before moving. Sometimes his movement was fast and at other times it was slow. Sometimes he moved back and other times he jumped ahead. What was visible to him was but a small portion whilst most of the area was invisible from his sight forcing him to make his movement pattern complex. It allowed him to avoid many more jumps from the monsters.
As the encounters continued he felt more and more tired. The blood still flowed out from the wound and it felt like a lifetime ago when he had ever felt this exhausted. He shook his head, thinking those days were, even more, worse than this.
At least he did not have to fear a bomb exploding every day. These knives, though fatal were cute when compared to the devastation of a firearm, or the bombs. Looking at the disintegrating body before him the old memories resurfaced briefly, of the bodies torn apart so badly that it was difficult to even collect all of their pieces. Then multiply the body count to tens and sometimes even hundreds. Just the memory caused him to feel ill.
Slap! He woke himself from the past and moved forward to confront the present. He was not going to waste this opportunity to get power. There was a limit that steel will could accomplish when the body was exhausted. Each battle deepened the exhaustion within him, both mental and physical. The more he used his arm the more blood flowed out and slowly he started making mistakes.
Each mistake cost him something. At the start, his flesh got cut but as the exhaustion set in he had to pay with his flesh and bones to kill every single monster. It was difficult to even move his body, all that remained now was dull pain as his body was pumped full of chemicals so that he could survive for a second more. He tried raising his arm as the monster jumped on him, its knife pointed at him but as the dull pain became clearer the arm did not move as he wanted it to. The knife stabbed into his arm and he pushed the monster against the wall pinning it there with his body weight. When it tried moving he retrieved the knife in his arm and stabbed it in its eye socket.
As it slowly started disintegrating he felt another connection snap into his brain. It allowed him to go to the next floor of this tower. This knowledge was somehow present just like when he formed the connection with the storage space. For the first time, he sat down. It was difficult as his legs pushed into his chest causing another surge of pain but he bit down even harder on the cloth.
Without speaking he sat there occasionally looking around and then he focused upon the new connection, unraveling it. Again his surroundings suddenly changed as though he had always been there so much so that it took a while for him to notice. His surprise got even bigger when he stood up.
The wound on his back, the cut-off pieces of flesh across his body, the stabs on his limbs. All that remained of them were the marks that now riddled his body, other than that not a single ounce of pain could be felt. It was as though he had gained a new body.
Cobra stretch, jumping jacks, and other light exercises could be performed in these constricted pathways. He felt weightless, the previous exhaustion that had been tying his body was nowhere to be felt. Getting a full feel for his body he grabbed the knife and started wandering in the maze.
The encounter occurred soon after he started moving. The monster jumped but this time not from above. As he was moving towards an intersection, from the intersection on the opposite side a monster was crawling along the wall. The knife was in its mouth, pointed forwards as it jumped.
Just in time his body turned, the knife cut past his kameez and again his body moved, his knee hitting it in the stomach then his elbow struck the neck while his body was stuck between his knee and the wall. Picking up its knife he stabbed it into its eye, placing it into his storage afterward.
After regulating his breathing he resumed his wandering. The fights quickly increased. The monsters waited at most of the intersections, unlike the previous floor where he had to wander for quite a long while. His fights were quick but the speed necessitated sacrifice.
Just when he had finished a monster and started moving into the intersection another one jumped from above. He quickly jumped back waiting for it to hit the ground but it slammed its knife along the wall somehow changing its direction. He moved and it adjusted itself. A clicking sound could be heard from behind and it forced him to face the strike head-on.
His arm hurt but he had deflected the blow. The monster was again sent into the air but before it could do anything he jumped, a slash cutting its face. His feet swiftly carried him away but he could still hear the noises.
Each time he selected the path that was silent compared to others. It did not save him any time though as the monsters were waiting to ambush him. The constant pressure, the need to be at attention, the difficulty of moving in such a tight space, the mental pressure that constantly tried to suffocate him, all the weights were again being put on him and this time they started shackling much more quickly than the last time.