Hurried movement falters as mere steps can be heard with fear and a sense of death lingers with every pound to the ground.
The room was pitch-black as if light never existed inside the room. It was large enough to house multiple large structures that were worn down and seem to crumble over time. Sturdy pillars are erected from each end of the hall as they tower themselves to support the room.
'It looks like a hall made for a king or something.'
Arthas carefully looked around for any dangerous traps, or hostile beings present in the area. With a sense of trepidation, he gently crossed across the room with ease.
A few minutes ago, when he entered the dark amethyst-like portal that Aislan made, it was oozing with belligerence and the unknown. Coming off as a threat to his existence would be a factor to the Red Dominion that it made him uneasy about everything.
Going through the portal, he thought about the past events that have happened within the span of a few hours. He wasn't even sure if the sun would set down as he never noticed it moving or displaced. It was even surprising that his recruitment happened so fast, Aislan threatened him to join them not as part of their circle but as someone who would obey orders and speak nothing.
Arthas once again felt angry at this and thought of a way for retribution, but as for now he isn't capable of anything, and appearance-wise, he looks much more stronger and capable than Aislan looks.
Silently he walked in and was greeted by skeletal raptors that made him think that this was the reward.
Arthas expected this but not to this extent. Though he prevailed and ran as fast as he could, the raptors were slightly taller than Maria, who was an Oviraptor that was the size of an ostrich which is larger than Earth's variant. They ran with incredible speed, Arthas who had a head start was still far from being caught, but they were gaining on him with their swift movement.
He ran towards the end of the corridor and saw a door that was ajar in its position.
Arthas was relieved that there was hope, but he was still worried about the undead dinosaurs that were chasing him at speeds that are closed in behind him.
Arthas felt his arms wringing from pain and exhaustion, even though Lia physically healed him, the mental capacity of someone who just experienced death and near-death situations would take a huge burden on an individual's mind, luckily for Arthas he still have some fuel to burn his determination for living.
'I'm almost there, Idiots!, one after the other is this another one of those test types where's the reward you were talking about?!' Arthas cursed in his mind as he ran through the moldy and cracked floors of the corridor.
Once Arthas was near the door, he firmly grabbed the handle and quickly slammed the door as he entered inside.
With the whole use of his body, he held the door with his weight and placed his back on the surface of the door.
Closing his eyes he prepared himself to be rammed by the skeletal raptors, he waited but nothing came, after a while, he opened the door and found that no raptors were in sight.
Arthas breathed a sigh of relief and even questioned how he managed to still be alive after everything that just happened, though ultimately he was just happy to be alive.
And that was the reason why he was now in a pitch-black room.
Going across the room with ambivalent feelings of happiness and fear he looked around, but with the room being naturally dark with no light at all he was barely able to see what was in front of him, his eyes adjusted to the dark as soon as he came through the portal it was even a miracle that he saw the door and noticed the raptors in this dark environment.
"What is this place, it seems too weird to be stock room..err..hall…"
Arthas reached the other side of the room and when he did, he saw something spectacular.
Just like before, a portal opened up but this time gently and slowly illuminated the room with a lush of green and yellow, it became the sun that burned the darkness.
He instinctively covered his eyes with his palms and tried to make sense of what just happened, it took him a while to gradually adjust to the light. Once he did he saw the room from another complete point of view.
Treasures and relics were scattered on the floor that was placed on the side, on the middle was a giant pathway that allowed anyone to walk freely.
The place was bigger than what he initially saw, the towers were higher and wasn't able to properly see the ceiling, it was as if it was made for enormous people.
Arthas looked around the treasures and relics that seemed to interest him, everything was sparkly, some looked strong, odd, weird, and alluring but overall they all looked magnificently beautiful.
"Who's there?! Show yourself!" Arthas shouted, quickly turning around to the sound of light steps approaching him from behind.
Where the light has failed to shine, a silhouette began to come out from the shadows as it made its appearance known to Arthas, it wore a red robe just like Aislan and the others, but this person was much shorter than the others.
What replied to him was represented in a dark hoarse voice that seemed to echo throughout the room with its loud voice.
"Welcome Arthas, the current champion of the Red Dominion. You must have succeeded and it looks like Aislan made a wise choice bringing you here to pick your reward. Mhm, mhm, mhm"
"Uh..yes, that's right it's nice to meet you"
"Again, It's nice to meet you again, Arthas. I'm surprised that you failed to realize that it was me the first time we met when decided to let you become our champion, tsk, tsk, tsk you arrogant child how could you forget someone who has such a big presence such as me!"
'Eh? Was she there when I was made their champion? Well now that I think about it, I didn't care who the others were, I was just looking at Aislan. But then again she is quite short to be noticed'
"What? Why are you staring at me like that? You're thinking of something stupid aren't you??"
"No not all, Mr. Midget, I mean sir, madam—"
Before he could make an excuse with the person in front of him, he was composed of a series of strikes that came from the ground. The ground rose and punched his stomach, then an uppercut and a low blow…
He fell on the ground as he suffered from pain from his stomach being pounded and rolled down on the ground as he furiously lay still, clutching his stomach.
It was even worse for the part that was below as it was crushed by the hard ground.
"Tch, respect, please? Alright, I won't hold you long. You succeeded so you can get your reward, take only one and go through the portal, it will lead you to the outside world."
"..." Arthas wasn't able to say anything and just glared at the mysterious person. On the ground, he tried to calm himself down and make himself respond but failed due to the pain.
It took a while, but he finally stood up and played dead silent as he looked at the person once more. In his mind, he would someday repay this kindness with justified reason and time but for now, it was better to just stay quiet and listen.
"I don't intend to say sorry for what I have done as you have deserved it" The person repeatedly flicked their hand, "So to continue where we left off, pick one and go."
"...That's it?"
"Yes"
"Do I get anything else?"
"No"
"Will you tell me your name?"
"No"
"Are you hear to guide me?"
"YES"
"Who are you?"
"No"
"Are you male or female?"
"No"
"No?"
"NO! Ugh bitch just shut up and pick already!"
"So who are you?"
"Ughhh, Fine then" she grunted and gave in to Arthas's annoying persuasion, "I am the curator, no name is required to be spoken, I am designated to ensure all the wonderful artifacts and treasures collected by the Board of Red Dominion be well kept in pristine condition. Assigned by Sir Aislan, the magnanimous benefactor of our society that prevented multiple world-ending incidents that would surmise a catastrophic ending to this world's story. With his precise and articulated accuracy in strategy and execution, he was highly hailed as a leader and hero. In the meantime, this small dialogue of mine is cooperatively inductive and would suffice. If you have further questions, refrain from asking as I have said enough."
"So why do I need to go to the portal? Can't I just get out on the surface by passing through the barrier?" Arthas persisted with his questioning.
"That's because the portal that was made by A...Lia, has made a very very very very special barrier that once you leave through the barrier in that way you would forget everything that happened inside the Red Dominion. And you sir, made an impressive achievement by blowing up something that was supposedly indestructible."