Episode(7): Perception Activates
SOVEREIGN OF DEATH~ (7)
Nagisa had a dream.
His vision was hazy but there was a girl in a white dress reaching out her hand towards him while he laid in a lush patch of green land.
He couldn't see her face properly due to the evening sun blocking his view, but he was sure he knew who it was.
As he grabbed the hand that was outstretched, his eyes suddenly opened.
'Huh?'
Nagisa squinted and blink once or twice before sitting up.
He realized that he was on a rocky surface. It wasn't level at all and not to mention the ground was damp.
Not only that but, it was so dark around him.
It wasn't too dark thanks to the light coming from the strange glowing stones, but they were so dim that it didn't really help his vision at all.
Prick!
Suddenly a sharp pain pricked his head.
Nagisa held his head in pain with a grimace while caressing his burning temples.
It felt like his brain was splitting and unfortunately he had no pain relievers with him to stop the pain.
'Why does my head hurt so bad?'
Nagisa was in too much agony at the moment and he hoped for it to end.
It didn't make sense since he wasn't a sickly guy to begin with.
Nagisa had only ever gotten sick once in his life and after that he never once got sick again.
And that was when he was still four!
Nagisa didn't believe at all that it had anything to do with his physical body.
Then-
'Is it because I was warped through space twice in a single day?'
It would make sense.
The human body was such a fragile thing that even he who had specs surpassing normal people wouldn't think that teleporting would be an easy feat for a normal human body.
In fact, it was lucky that he didn't feel more than just a headache.
To be honest, the whole reason the students with normal human bodies were alright was because the teleportation then had provided a blessing of protection since the Gods were the one that created the teleportation circles.
This time however there was no protection meaning any other person would have either become an idiot or cripple just from teleporting.
Especially for a human body not yet used to magical particles it was a risky thing to teleport.
Nagisa wanted to throw a tantrum but sighed and gave up as there was no point.
But all that warping really made him want to puke.
After a long time, Nagisa sat down and regulated his breathing before he got his state under control.
His splitting headache was still slightly there but it was bearable. Luckily he didn't feel the need to puke again.
'And since I'm in a place that I might not have a way to replenish my food stocks I'd hate to drain myself by puking'
Anyway–
He stood up and glanced around in confusion.
[Where am I?]
Thanks to the glow stones he could somewhat see but nothing much than a huge wide cave passage met his eyes.
In an environment like this his eyes became a liability.
Honestly if not for his training from childhood Nagisa would have been scared shitless by now.
In times like this it was good to at least have a key flash or something.
At this rate if he was attacked he wouldn't know until he was crossing the bridge of forgetfulness in the afterlife.
Nagisa sighed.
He decided not to depend too much on his eyes and instead listen to the sound.
As he listened to the quiet cave devoid of any human life.
Only his thumping of his heart and the dripping of water from the sharp stalactites above entered his ears.
[This is...the dungeon of death?]
Truly, there was nothing but the sense of danger that kept creeping up on him making him put his guard up for any attack that might come.
Now he had two options, advance or stay here.
He didn't know anything about the cave so advancing all willy nilly could lead to his death.
But he'd die of hunger and starvation if he stayed here either way so it was honestly better for him to advance.
'Guess there's no choice'
He sighed reluctant to enter an unknown danger.
But as he felt his heart beat increase, a daring smile lit up across his face.
Here he was, in another world about to set out on his own adventure.
What hot-blooded male wouldn't be excited?
Nagisa was no exception as the thought of gaining strength made his smile grow even wider.
Plus sitting down and waiting for death wasn't exactly his style.
If he wanted to see the light of day again then it was better for him to get lost while making progress than laying around while his organs gave out one by one.
Living in a dungeon by himself? Yeah no, he'd pass on that no matter what.
[Still, there's a problem]
He looked at himself.
Nagisa only had his school bag and his two hands.
Right, there was no weapons at all.
He was literally a harmless little lamb waiting for slaughter at the moment.
If this was really a 'dungeon' like he recalled then there had to be bloodthirsty man eating monster as well.
As strong and confident as he was in himself to defeat regular monsters, could he win against the ones that used magic and skills?
He shook his head.
Misplaced confidence was nothing but a fool's demise. To win against monsters like that he needed a weapon.
However the Valkyrie wanted to kill him so much that she didn't even give him a single fork or spoon.
No, to begin with she didn't expect him to be alive after the teleport anyway.
Well, there was really no helping it.
With nothing but a pair of hands the most he could do was complain to the empty air.
He really wanted to rip those pigeon wings off that self-righteous old witch but that would have to wait until he was freed.
[Phew]
Agitation would only lead him to panic and that was never good.
What he needed now was a full grasp on his situation so he can at least find a way to get around.
'If I can make out the sounds then it shouldn't be too hard to picture my surroundings'
Thanks to his excellent perception Nagisa could somewhat tell his space by sound.
It wasn't as great as a bats echolocation but it wasn't too bad either.
With that thought in his head, Nagisa began to trace the wall with his hands while walking ahead.
He didn't care about his direction for now.
What he needed most was some kind of equipment for self-protection.
If he was right then all the people that died in this dungeon should have left something behind right?
Although he wasn't one to rob a corpse in this situation he couldn't exactly pick and choose either.
But there was a huge flaw in his plan. If he was on too high a floor then more than likely there would be no equipment.
The difficulty of this dungeon made it so that people would either die on the lower floors or be completely erased from existence at a high floor along with their equipment.
There was also a chance that even if he was lucky to find equipment at a higher floor it would have deteriorated with time.
All in all, Nagisa's survival solely depended on his luck.
But this was one thing Nagisa wasn't confident in at all!
If he was lucky then this whole situation should never have happened at all!
Just thinking about how he was used as some kind of martyr pissed him off so badly that he couldn't contain his expression.
But he hurriedly calmed down.
What use was there getting angry when it wasn't like cursing down here would help him at all.
Instead, he focused on walking while using the anger as determination to find a way out of this dungeon.
But soon he met with a problem.
[Ahhhhh! what's going on!? I've been walking for so long already so what the hell is this?]]
Nagisa felt like he was walking in circles.
He had no evidence but he felt like some evil entity kept playing tricks on him from above.
'Nah, that's impossible'
It was simple to deny that thought and he shook his head.
Firstly, he'd never once released the walls and he could tell that the texture of the walls at first had changed so he knew for sure he wasn't where he first started.
But no matter how long he walked, not a single corpse or monster was in sight.
He was beginning to think the woman just sent him into some underground cave without a way to the surface.
He wondered annoyed if that woman wanted him to go mad before he died.
'I bet she isn't popular with the guy's'
Nagisa mocked inwardly.
*Rattle*
A sound made Nagisa's ears twitch slightly.
[!?]
He turned his head curiously, but thanks to the darkness he couldn't see much at all.
[Hmm?]
'Was it my imagination?'
Nagisa was unsure of whether he had truly heard something or not. He couldn't sense any weird presences so it was hard to tell.
But the moment he faced the direction he heard the sound a wave of killing intent comparable to a wild beast made him jump back in horror.
'What's there'
Cold sweat trickled down his back and he unconsciously reached for a sword. Nothing was there.
He slapped his head recalling the days events.
'Of course I wouldn't have a sword on me idiot'
But-
*Rattle*
It happened again!
Nagisa cursed.
He didn't have a single weapon but he met a monster before anything else.
Why did you choose now to attack me monster!
He knew his luck was bad but this was something entirely different.
'Go away, shoo! Please just go away!'
Nagisa wished in his heart that whatever was within the darkness would find him uninteresting and just leave.
But unfortunately that didn't work.
Growling sounds echoed through the cave.
Nagisa hissed and drew in a cold breath desperately trying to become one with the air and hide his existence.
Yet, as if dissatisfied by the show, a wolf's howl echoed through the cave.
'Shit! I'm a lover not a fighter!
Why does the world want me to commit violence?!'
Nagisa sighed and bent his knees.
With his fist at the ready, he held a stance preparing to fight at any moment. Since it couldn't be avoided, then fight.
'I mean, just how many wolves could there be'
Nagisa thought for sure that he could deal with the wolves with his bare hands.
He thought so, but.
'Dungeon of Death'
A dungeon where even the strongest heroes faced their death.
Even at the lower floor there are evolved monsters and evolved monster variants. How could such a dungeon be taken lightly.
'Red…..'
In the darkness, countless pairs of red eyes locked unto Nagisa.
When he saw them, Nagisa felt a chill deep in his bones. There was too many, too much to even flipping count!
[On second thought, I hate violence so.....see ya!]
Nagisa gave a salute before leaving as fast as his feet could carry him.
Fight?
Are you crazy?
How dare he fight against that many wolves with his mere mortal body?
Not to mention these were all wolves in a magical word.
Who knew what abilities these abominations had?
Nagisa hated fighting battles that he had even the slightest chance of losing.
Just looking at the amount of eyes that was way passed the level of being a tribe Nagisa wouldn't fight no matter how many lives he had.
Who could fault him for running when the situation was so unfair?
Nagisa didn't care for anything and escaped with all his life.
Behind him, the numerous wolves rushed out of the darkness chasing him down.
As he ran, Nagisa slid on the ground scraping his knee.
He had no choice to stop when the moment he did he'd become dog food so he didn't care at all for his chipped knee.
Even as the pain stung his knee, Nagisa didn't care and ran with all his might.
'If I let up for even a millisecond I-I-I'm done for!'
Nagisa ran and the wolves sprinted along with him.
Anyone watching might have thought he was leading the pack but this was just a man running for dear life.
But Nagisa couldn't lose them no matter how fast he ran.
Although he was trained to the limits of the human body, Nagisa was still a human.
Compared to these magically created beasts how could his mere speed compare at all?
So all he could do was just maintain his pace.
Nonetheless Nagisa wasn't relieved.
It was because he knew that as this game of chicken continued he'd run out of steam and slow down.
By that time the wolves would close the distance and it'd be instant game over!
Damn!
He'd run of energy soon enough but at the moment all he could do was run.
If fighting back was a possibility he'd have done so long ago.
Nagisa was indignant.
He only had two options.
One was to fight and the other was to run. He'd die soon if he continued running, but-
He turned his head to look back and had a stupid expression.
[Impossible!]
Fighting?
It was an entire swarm.
Nagisa would be surrounded and killed the moment they caught up.
[haa….haaaa!]
But his fuel was running out faster than expected.
Maybe it was thanks to his agitation but he got tired faster than usual and wasted energy inefficiently.
The situation was getting worse by the minute.
Sooner or later Nagisa would become a snack for the wolves.
The possibility grew every second that went by making him push out every ounce of energy he had inside of himself.
Although he knew he couldn't keep it up for long, there was nothing else to do but struggle.
Struggle and find a way to survive.
Even if he tried to face them and find a miracle it would only be suicide.
'Shit!'
If only he had a weapon.
Nagisa believed he could easily take care of all of these Wolves if he had a weapon no matter whether blunt or sharp.
He wondered if there was no other way.
As someone who trained to hone his body he knew that his state was deteriorating and he wouldn't last for long.
Nagisa refused to be toyed with and die such a useless death.
His rage from before erupted and he decided that no matter what he was going to survive.
Survive and crush all those that put him through this hell!
A fire blazed in his heart and a warm surge of energy flowed into his body.
Ding!
[Skill 'Perception' has been automatically activated as the individual has been judged to be in a 'dire' situation]