The first step.
The first dungeon.
A remote dungeon that was formerly operated and protected by the Glory Guild. An E-rank dungeon the Glory guild for resource mining and supposed "training", and one of the first dungeons that was publicly reported to have collapsed and caused the destruction of Alaskan grounds.
The media dubbed the dungeon as "The Garden of Beasts", however, whether or not this information was truly reliable was never confirmed. Andrew knew better than to trust public reports on dungeons and their raids.
Guilds would never openly share what they possess and found, rather they like keeping their hands closed and cards private. Andrew had to prepare for all possible situations.
He armed himself to the teeth with everything that was accessible to him, even if the weapon wasn't the most effective. From knives and daggers to his father's repaired hunting rifle, which he had used before. Even chose to bring things like fireworks, anything that gave him an edge and that he had access to he would use.
Once ready, he made his way to the location of the reported dungeon. The sun has just set beyond the horizon and night arrived to claim the day, providing cover as Andrew found the area where the dungeon is located.
In the middle of a forest, was a clearing where a glowing gate could be seen as the access point of the dungeon. Standing in front of the gate were about five guards, each with a different assortment of weaponry, however, all possessing the Glory guild's emblem. They wore light armor, chest and back plate, paired with cauldrons, with some wearing helmets as well. Their legs lacked armor namely due to its restriction on their movement.
In order to access, the dungeon, Andrew needed to find a way to pass the guards. Killing them wasn't an option, as he wasn't sure of their combat capability nor was he ready to take on the Glory guild yet.
Luckily, over the years of survival during the final years of the world, it was easy to run into conflict. Being in so many situations where he had become disadvantaged he had picked up a few tricks.
Finding a nearby spruce tree, Andrew perched himself atop, just as he had done before against the frost wolf. However, this time he wasn't going to use his hunting rifle.
Bringing one hand to his throat and the other to his mouth Andrew made a sound. A shrill warble could be heard echoing through the forest.
In an instant, the guard's attention was captured.
One of them began speaking to the others as he took off his helmet to continue to listen.
"Did you guys hear that, sounds like a Zalak?"
"Zalak, are you crazy? Why would a Zalak be here?"
"No it is! Can't you hear it, that's the call of a Zalak, a bird of fortune." The one who noticed spoke again.
"I heard that the last person who caught a Zalak struck it big and was able to increase their ranks to the next level." Another chimed in as he had listened before.
"So what you're saying is, we could rank up if we catch this Zalak, but we can't abandon our post Hep would have our asses."
"Dude, if we get this bird we would become stronger than Hep, you would be his superior, and you wouldn't have to care about what he thinks."
The one who first noticed call, tried to convince the rest of his colleagues.
"Everyone, once we catch this bird, our fortunes will change for the better. We would join the table of the highest executives of the Glory Guild."
Apprehension to interest and interest to greed.
Greed which could be seen to appear in the eyes of all the guards. They had been pushed around cause they were the lowest of the guild but not anymore because this was a chance.
"We gotta hurry before we lose the direction of where it came from"
"What about the gate, aren't we supposed to guard that?"
"Don't worry it'll be fine it's only an E-rank gate, the team inside has done this too many times to mess up."
All five guards left their posts and moved in the direction of Andrew who was making the sound. As Andrew saw this he instantly grinned.
"Jackpot," he thought to himself as he saw them move.
Zalaks were rare bird monsters, they usually appeared as a mix of a vulture and a crow, their feathers were a deep red color with dashes of green. They could also be identified by the same shrill warble Andrew made. They were well-known in the community as the bird of fortune said to bring great reward to those that possessed it.
They may sound like a myth to many, too good to be true, but the promise of riches and great fortune makes many believe it is true.
Andrew was able to imitate the call of a Zalak as he had met one before and spent long periods of time with it. During the end of the world, there was somebody who was said to possess a Zalak, a friend of his by the name of Adam. His Zalak was able to help Adam grow stronger breaking past his limits and surviving almost to the end.
As Andrew was drawn into his memories of his friends, the footsteps of the guards grew louder as they got closer.
Seeing this he quickly leapt off the tree to the next one, landing successfully but precariously on a branch. He continued to leap from tree to tree, circling around to the gate as the guards ran towards the direction of his former position.
crack
Andrew didn't react as his world began to spin. The branch that he had been standing on had snapped.
Recovering quickly, he reached out his arms out in an attempt to catch a branch.
𝘣𝘶𝘮𝘧
The tree shook and leaves rustled as the branch that he had caught onto seemed to bend under his weight, cracking ever so slightly.
𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩
Andrew released a breath as he hung onto the branch. Looking down he spotted the gate just a couple of meters away from his current position.
A large circular gate that glowed an ominous violet. The gate itself was large in size and seemed to crackle with energy.
With every step that Andrew took closer to it, the more he felt overwhelmed as memories began to swirl through his mind.
Every fight.
Every victory.
Every failure.
Steeling his heart, Andrew pulled out the knives he brought and finally walked in.
Closing his eyes everything in front of him began to swirl as he walked through the gate. Lights seemed to flash as Andrew felt like he was being pushed and pulled at the same time walking through.
Until silence.
Even with his eyes closed he could feel the changes. The air had a faint coldness, the Aether much more purer and denser than Earth.
His body felt heavy and light at the same time.
As he opened his eyes he was met with the site of a large Open field, the sky itself seemingly orange from the setting of what seemed to be a sun, that shined into his eyes.
Orange rolled over the field as his vision adjusted to the light.
The images within his vision cleared, as he looked on across the field. He was met with the sight of statue-like figures and shadows that lay spread across the field.
They seemed to be some sort of rock formation, many of which resembled statues of some sort.
Choosing to take a closer look, Andrew reaches a figure on the ground a few feet in front of him.
The color of the figure seemed to possess a rough sickly grey as vegetation seems to have mostly consumed and taken over the entire figure.
Andrew continued to inspect the statue-like figure and noticed something off. This figure was highly humanoid in resemblance. Continuing to inspect the figure, he started to notice human features.
Eyes.
Ears.
Nose.
Mouth.
It was a statue of a person, its mouth seeming agape in horror, as the statue appeared as if it were screaming.
Suddenly something caught his eye, an emblem seemed to have been carved onto the statue, one that closely resembled that of the Glory Guild.
Everything finally snapped into place for Andrew. He immediately stood up and he rushed to the other statue-like figures.
All humanoid, all possessing the Glory Guild's emblem.
These were not statues, no they were bodies. The bodies of the excavation and exploration team that belong to the Glory Guild.
A cold realization washed over Andrew, he wasn't standing on a field.
He was standing in a graveyard.