'I'm going to die!'
Izik's lungs were burning as he used every strength in his body to run as fast as he could. His face contorted in pain as he pressed his hand more on his upper arm. His blood seeped through the spaces of his fingers. He's damn sure he broke his arm as well. Not only that the mark that appeared on his neck was hurting too.
In short, every fiber of him was just in pain.
His body moved on its own, the adrenaline gave him the strength he needed to run when the lion found him but in his hurry, he fell into a shallow ditch and his arm was gashed by some sharp rock. He doesn't even want to think that fact that he could be bruising everywhere.
It allowed him to get away from the monster yet it also managed to throw him off his track. Izik cursed inwardly, now he doesn't know where he was or where the children were.
"Calm down, Izik," He reprimanded himself. "This is not the time to lose your composure."
He swallowed thickly. His forehead was sticky with his own sweat that strands of his black hair stuck against it.
Slowing down, Izik allowed himself to catch his breath. He eyed the surrounding and saw a small stream. Walking towards it, he dipped his fingertips in the water, shivering at its coldness. Another deep breath, he ripped the sleeve of his clothes and began cleaning his wound, wincing at the horrid sight of his flesh cut open.
Biting his lips, mentally ignoring the pain, he began to rip strips of his clothes, tying it all over his wound. Once satisfied, he allowed himself to sit down on the gravel, staring at the sky.
The sky still looked the same as they got there. He couldn't determine how much time has passed by. The thought of the fourth lion coming to life makes his stomach churn. Izik wanted to vomit.
With a sigh, Izik began walking again, trying to figure the way. When he heard loud footsteps, he began to run until he reached what seemed to be the edge of the forest. Or moreso the edge of the dungeon. Moving closer to the cliff, Izik looked down and saw nothing but infinite space similar to the color of the sky.
It looks... unreal. His brain refused to process it.
The whole place seemed to be floating in the sky, Izik concluded.
Looking left and right, Izik decided to follow the edge until he saw a huge gate made of gold. Inside the gate was a long pathway leading to a small island outside the main land. Izik moved closer to the gate to peek on what was on the other island.
The very moment he got closer to the gate, it swung open much to his surprised. Izik instinctively jump backwards. He was suddenly on high alert, waiting for some monster to appear before him. Few seconds past and when Izik determined that there was none, he peek at the island and saw it surrounded with numerous tall Corinthian Columns. In the middle was a huge marble statue of an angel.
With clenched fist, Izik entered the gate and walked towards the island. Every step made him want to run back and leave but one thing about Izik Arden was he was stubborn. His great intuition and his wits were nothing against his curiosity and stubbornness. In the battle of those four, his stubbornness and curiosity always won.
Izik stopped before the towering statue. The angel was looking up in the sky, hands reaching for it. Her face was decorated with a single line of golden tear. Long curly hair suspended in the air as her four wings spread wide.
His eyes then darted on the small display stand in the middle of the island. Moving closer, Izik saw two thin golden bracelet on it. Both bracelet had a ruby stone on it in a diamond shape.
Lifting his hand, he reached for it but stopped before he could touch it.
The reason why a lot of people wanted to be Hunters because the pay was not only high but because there are a lot of valuable materials that you can get in a dungeon. If a dungeon raid was successful, they could get not just jewelries, gold, and potions but even weapons and artifacts.
Out of all that, artifacts were the most important.
Artifacts were much rare and harder to find. After all they were items that give their user special abilities.
Izik stared at the two bracelets before him. Based on how he saw it and how it was placed on a whole separate island, he could easily tell they were no ordinary jewelry but rather an artifact.
His eyes landed on the huge statue of an angel before him. The last time he saw a statue, it moved and began chasing him to death. He looked back on the bracelet... he's sure the moment he grabbed them, something will happen.
However if his deduction was right that the bracelets were artifacts it would most likely help him and the kids to get out of the dungeon since the Hunters seemed to be taking their sweet damn time.
Izik turned back to see how long the distance was between where he stood and the gates. He'll make it if he run fast. He's honestly tired but being in the dungeon he had no business being tired. Stopping meant death. There was no time for rest. He can get all the rest he needed and wanted as soon as he get out of their alive.
The bracelet before him could be the help they need.
It could be their last hope.
With jaw clenched, Izik took a deep breath and grabbed the bracelets before him as fast as he could. He waited with bated breath to see what happens. When he was met by nothing but silence, he decided to slid the bracelets on his each wrist. The bracelets were loose and if Izik shook his arms, he was sure both will fly off him.
"Are they not artifacts?" Izik muttered.
Was his judgement wrong?
Maybe they were just another jewelry. That was honestly disappointing however he could still take them and maybe sell them later on.
Izik was about to take them off when it suddenly tightened around his wrist. "Augh!" Izik groaned. Pain burned in his wrists as the bracelet began to tightened more.
A floating window appeared before him.
[ System Starting... ]
System? What system?
And why was there a window before him?
What was going on?
[ Integrating... ]
Izik forcefully yanked the bracelet off but it just tightened more until he could feel it cutting through him.
[ System up in 10... ]
This was a mistake. Why in the world did he ever think this was a good idea?
Artifact his ass. This was a torture device.
"Angghhhhh!" Izik growled putting all his strength to remove it.
[ 5... ]
[ 4... ]
He watched in horror as the bracelet merged on his skin and disappeared leaving behind a thin line of tattoo.
[ 3... ]
[ 2... ]
[ 1... ]
The ruby implanted itself on his arm. It was like a cufflink but instead on being on his cuffs, it was embedded on his flesh.
[ System Activated ]
Izik was breathing heavily as he looked at the diamond shaped rubies with gold outline embedded on his skin. He debated if he should yank it off and just bleed but he was more bothered by the floating window before his eyes. He tried to swipe it away with a hand but it didn't work. It was still there.
Closing his eyes and rubbing it also didn't work. He could still see it as clear as day.
.
.
[ Welcome, Izik Arden ]
[ Profile ✧ Map ✧ Shop ✧ Bag ✧ 5,860 🪙 ]
[ Level: 0 / 99 ] [ Mana : 530 / 2500 ]
.
.
Seeing his name on it scared him shitless. But it also scared him how accurate the gold coins on it. It matched the amount of money he held in his name.
Also what does /level/ even mean?
Mana? Why would he have 530 mana?
He's a Laic. A civilian. And someone like him doesn't have mana because they were born with no mana path.
Another window popped up.
.
.
[ ❓TUTORIAL ]
[ Welcome to the system, Izik Arden. Do you want a quick tutorial? ]
[ YES ] | [ NO ]
.
.
Before Izik could make a choice, he heard a loud screech. It nearly made his head burst with how awfully loud it was. Taking a step back, he watched as the angel began screaming and weeping as if in pain. Her screamed filled the whole place.
Dread filled him as soon as the huge statue turned her head. Their eyes met. Izik felt every air left his lungs. Slowly, he was filled with terror.
The angel began screaming again. Loud, pained, unstopping.
Izik covered his ears and watched as the angel began falling apart. The island began shaking and crumbling.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Izik cussed as he found himself running again to reach the golden gate.
This dungeon managed to make him run all over the place. He does run to build some stamina however he can't continuously run like this.
Every step he take the land disintegrate to nothing, falling into the infinite space. It was as if the running was not tiring enough but the annoying cry was so loud as well that it was making his head hurt, his ear ring.
Izik was just so damn tired. He wanted to lie down and sleep for at least 10 damn years.
All of these because of what? Because he was trying to buy himself some food and now he was stuck inside a dungeon with no guarantee of safety.
Almost falling, he increased his speed and made a jump on the last step, diving to the gates. He barely made it on time. Turning back he watched the angel fall still screaming and crying.
Groaning in pain, Izik pushed himself to sit down, leaning against the gate post. His eyes darted towards the window before him.
.
.
[ ❓TUTORIAL ]
[ Welcome to the system, Izik Arden. Do you want a quick tutorial? ]
[ YES ] | [ NO ]
.
.
He doesn't have any idea what was going on and it's not like he could just take the bracelet off. Izik then reached for the yes.