In the depths of the Cavern, in a vast area filled with crystals that illuminated the place, Zayne walked with slow steps, dodging the corpses of dozens of deformed monsters worthy of creatures from hell itself.
He carried a sword made from a large bone, so polished that it could cut through these monsters like paper.
His body was covered in black blood that trickled down his clothes, forming a thin black thread behind him.
A few meters behind him, 3 young men followed him silently. The young men were battered, and some had ugly wounds all over their bodies.
Among them, Jaume Che carried a long, blood-stained bone. His eyes were lifeless, and he still limped with every step he took.
The other two young men who had been with them earlier were nowhere to be seen.
Zayne made his way to the end of the cave where a large dark blue crystal was beating like a heart in its final moments.
Zayne lifted his head and sighed.
"...Finally,"
Turning around, Zayne looked at the others with seriousness and indifference.
"Guard the entrance. Don't let anyone or anything in"
Zayne's words made their hair stand on end and they dared not refuse.
Turning his focus back to the large crystal, Zayne reached over and placed his hand on it. Slowly, the crystal's heartbeat began to slow, and it lost its color.
Instead, the veins in Zayne's arm turned completely black, spreading to his entire body.
Zayne groaned and fell to his knees from the pain he felt, but he dared not close his eyes and continued to stay awake as he absorbed the energy accumulated in the large crystal.
***
Elsewhere, far from the cave, a group of young men were defending themselves against horrible monsters very similar to the ones Zayne had destroyed.
In front of the group, a young man used his fists to beat down the creatures that came close enough to him. A young woman threw rocks at the creatures, aiming for their weak spots and almost never missing.
Donovan looked bad, his whole body was bruised, and his own blood covered his skin, giving him a horrible look.
The young woman he had once helped fish for piranha was called Alina. Like Donovan, the young woman was covered in wounds and one of her legs was bandaged with a makeshift bandage made from torn clothing.
Her eyes were nearly closed from exhaustion, and she barely had enough strength left to continue throwing rocks.
Beside her, two other young women did their best to keep the creatures away. But little by little, they were overpowered.
"Why do they keep coming?" Donovan shouted in anger and pain.
After Elisabeth, Kalen, Oliver, and Talika fell into the pit, Donovan was the only man left in the group of women.
Leaving them for dead, the group began to run, doing whatever they could to get away from the monster that had led them into an ambush.
For a week, nothing happened, everything was completely quiet, and the group limited themselves to exchanging a few words with each other.
The atmosphere was so tense because of the deaths of the others that everyone was almost ready to give up.
But one morning, after they had all finished breakfast, they suddenly heard high-pitched howling throughout the cave, which alarmed them as it was the first time, they had ever heard such a thing.
Fearing that the monster was near, they began to run, but a few minutes later the first creature appeared in front of them.
It looked like a dog, but its face was melted and some of its bones were visible because of the missing flesh on its body.
Without much time to react, the creature lunged at Donovan who, with luck and Alina's help, managed to survive.
After that, the creatures of the abyss began to appear exponentially for days, losing three of their companions and being trapped in a cave, where they were now.
With no weapons to defend himself, Donovan chose to use his fists rather than be eaten by the creatures. However, fatigue took its toll and one of his blows was not strong enough to take down the creature in front of him, which took advantage of Donovan's weakness and bit his arm.
The creature pulled back its jaw, taking a chunk of flesh from Donovan's arm.
"Aggggghhh!"
Donovan screamed in pain and Alina threw a piece of clothing that hit the creature's head. Taking advantage of the creature's confusion at the sudden blow, Donovan ignored its pain and stomped on its head, shattering it into pieces.
The creatures were not strong per se, their weakened flesh and brittle bones easily broken, but it was their numbers that complicated matters.
Donovan stepped back, holding his wounded arm with a pained expression.
Alina held him back as he nearly lost his balance before throwing another rock at the head of another creature.
The other two young women tried to stop the creatures from advancing, but to no avail. One of the melted dogs shoved the young girl, knocking her to the ground, and jumped on top of her.
It threw its jaws at the young woman's neck, but before it could bite her, the other young woman kicked it away, but as she did so, another creature jumped up and bit her leg, taking a large chunk of flesh from her thigh.
A scream of pain came from the young woman's mouth, and she fell to the ground, her leg bleeding profusely.
Tears began to well up in her eyes as she watched the dozens of creatures begin to close in on her, leaving them no escape.
She had given up, she had no strength left, her limbs ached, her throat was completely dry, the blood wouldn't let her see properly. She simply had no strength left.
Just like her, Donovan and Alina could not take it anymore, their bodies could not take it anymore.
A little over a month ago, they were just ordinary students who suddenly received a scroll inviting them to Urasis. Like many people, they decided to accept because they were simply bored and wanted something different in their lives.
But now that they had experienced pain and death up close, maybe everyday life wasn't so bad after all.
Dozens of creatures were about to fall before them and have one last feast. But just as the creature's teeth were about to bite into his neck, Donovan felt a light breeze and the next thing he knew, the creature was gone, now standing dozens of feet from him with a spear-shaped bone in its neck.
Kalen finished off the monsters closest to the group and then took it upon himself to stop any more from coming while Oliver, Talika and Elisabeth approached the group to help them.
As soon as Donovan saw the comrades he thought were dead appear before them to save them, his voice faltered.
"Y-you... you... are still alive!"
Oliver, who was helping him up, didn't look so good though.
"Barely... Can you walk?"
Donovan nodded as he stood.
"Y-yes"
Oliver looked at Kalen, who was looking more and more pressured by the dozens of creatures coming at them.
"Then start running!"
As Donovan, Alina and the other young women were helped to their feet by Elisabeth and Talika.
The young woman with the thigh wound had to be supported by Elisabeth and the other young woman while Talika started to run towards Kalen.
"We're ready now!"
Kalen heard Talika and started to build up elemental energy in his right arm, then he loaded his fist and threw it forward with all his might.
"Ughh!"
A small, concentrated storm blew the creatures away, cutting a path through the center, taking advantage of the badly wounded creatures.
The group ran from the scene.
Kalen led the way, slashing at the creatures with a sword made of bones.
He was unable to kill them, needing more precision, which was difficult to have while running, but enough to clear a path for himself.
Behind the group, Oliver and Donovan fought off the straggling creatures that managed to get up and follow the group.
Donovan drove them away with his fists while Oliver used a thick bone in the shape of a club.
Somehow, Donovan found strength from within that he didn't know he had, and like him, the girls ran, knowing that they had been given a second chance, a chance they would not waste.
That was the strength of humans, that they had the tenacity to survive.