At the sound of the voice, Daz began frantically looking around, searching for the monster that would inevitably eat him.
"Hahaha, your kind truly are funny to watch. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already."
The voice sounded feminine but with the added inclusion of whispers murmuring words just out of comprehension.
"What do you mean my kind? Are you telling me that other beings exist?"
"You should be quite aware of that by now. Those men you encountered earlier weren't exactly human."
"Something did feel off about them, but that could just be magic or something else!"
"So magic can exist, but not other races; sounds plausible."
The sarcasm in the voice was unmistakable, almost rivaling that of those who lived in the cold islands in the west.
"Well, if you want me to believe you, show yourself."
"Ara, getting bold now, aren't we? Since it's your first time, I'll let it slide, but don't try ordering a demon about, it doesn't end well." Despite what the voice had said, a rift in space appeared in front of Daz, from which a red-skinned woman wearing a suit and tie emerged, her features almost perfectly matching Daz's preferences.
"Despite what you said, you still followed."
"Don't test your luck, kid. I'm doing this because you and I are going to have a special relationship going forward."
Daz gulped before continuing, "A special relationship? I could work with that."
"Not the kind you're thinking of, though that does sound quite... exhilarating."
Daz tried his hardest to hide his disappointment, though he knew that his thoughts had been far-fetched from the beginning.
"Well then, if not anything sensual, what will this relationship be?"
She looked at him as if he had asked the dumbest question in the world.
"I will lend you my power in return for something of my choice. Is that not how it works on your world as well?"
Now it was Daz's turn to look at her deadpanned.
"We don't have demons, or anything of the sort, and we certainly don't make deals with them, although it is theorized tha-"
"Don't care." She cut him off abruptly before he could get into the iceberg that was internet theories surrounding certain leaders and events.
"Listen, you really don't have a choice in the matter. It's either you take my deal." She drew a blade from the surrounding environment and began caressing its edge. "Or I make you a tasty meal for some rather hungry demons."
"Let me hear the deal, then I'll decide if it's worth being eaten or not."
She looked shocked to hear that a human hadn't immediately gone for her deal; most would.
"In return for, hmm, your luck with women, I will grant you the ability to use demonic power when necessary."
"That's not so bad...wait what, my luck with women?"
"That's right, you will NEVER have a girlfriend if you take my deal."
"Can I opt to be eaten alive by demons? I'd rather that than no girlfriend. It was bad enough being left alone back home when everyone else got girlfriends; I don't want a repeat of that."
Her shocked expression grew deeper.
"This is the deal of a lifetime, and you would willingly throw it away? Think about everything you could-"
"Do not attempt to stop me, foul mistress. I have lived the loner life for seventeen years; I am not willing to never have a chance to leave it."
"Well, it doesn't matter what you choose; the deal will go through regardless. But to think you would prefer being eaten alive by demons to never being allowed a girlfriend, perhaps the humanity I know is different to yours."
"You can't just decide this for me. Eat me; I don't want to live alone!"
While he shouted his objections at the demoness, she, and the world she inhabited, disappeared, leaving him back in the grimy medieval stone room that he had entered not even five minutes before.
Except this time the wall in front had opened into a never-ending expanse of grassland that showed all the abundances of life.
`Is this the same place? No, it can't be." He reasoned with himself, his hope of returning home coming back.
"You're finally out."
The hope that had welled inside of him dissipated like water into the ocean as soon as he heard Leon's voice.
"Yeah, I just got held up with talking to my...uhh...overseer?"
"Your guide?"
"Yes, my guide. We got talking for a bit too long; sorry about that."
Leon shook his head violently.
"No, don't be. Not all can say that they have a good relationship with their guide, so I'm happy that you do."
"Ah, it's nothing. I'm just a charmer. Now then, what do we do here?"
"No idea."
Daz stared at Leon.
"No idea?"
"No idea. I wasn't told how to clear this floor, or any of the others for that matter. Sorry."
"No, don't be...I've got an idea."
Leon's face lit up.
"We head North."
"Eh."
Daz looked at Leon like he had just questioned a master in his field. "I said, we head North."
"I heard you, loud and clear. It's just...why?"
"Because neither of us has any idea what to do, and I've always had good luck in games when I've headed directly North, so reasonably that should carry through to this as well."
Daz puffed his chest out in pride at his master plan while Leon gazed with amazement.
"Oh, I forgot to ask, what item did you receive?"
"Nothing special, just an automatic sewing kit and a knife."
"Hey, the sewing kit's useful, and so's the knife, so what's with the long face?"
Leon looked down, avoiding eye contact. "Well, neither of them are any rare, nor will they help against some of the monsters that live on this level...how about you?"
"A forced pact with a demon."
Leon's eyes lit up once again from their dejected standing moments before.
"A pact with a demon, oh what a romantic story-beat, what are its terms, you have to tell me now!"
"It's not romantic at all; in fact, it is quite the opposite. I will never love again, all for power," Daz's theater-level performance seemed to be lost on Leon who took no note.
"Psh, kids these days, no respect for the theatre."
"I don't understand, but never loving again, doesn't that make you a psychopath...Sociopath...Whateveropath? What's the difference between the two?"
"No idea, but no I'm neither of those. Instead, my luck with women has been taken away. Oh what a curse to be attached to."
"I would rather be eaten alive by demons than never be able to go out with a girl again," Leon said, looking horrified.
"That's what I said, but nooooo, I have to be forced into it and all I've got for it are these vague powers that I don't even know what they are."
For several hours, Daz ranted and raved about the situation that he found himself in while he and Leon headed further North into the ever-expansive plains of the first floor.
"Hold up, what's that?"
Daz pointed toward a lumbering beast that seemed a hybrid between a wolf and a Venus flytrap, its eyes existing in fours along the entirety of its cone-shaped mouth.
"It's a wolf-type beast. From what I read in the pamphlet, they like to hunt in packs and are incredibly dangerous to newer floor-runners. I think it would be best if we snuck away without fighting."
Daz nodded and started walking back slowly so as to not catch the attention of the beast, and any others while he made his getaway. Leon followed suit, putting extra caution into the position of his feet around the rocks on the floor.
Crack
A stone flew from the back of Daz's shoe into a bed of similar stones.
Time stopped flowing for the two teens as they waited with the beat of their hearts in their ears, both fixed their eyes on the beast, sweat forming on their foreheads.
After an eternity, they both felt it was safe to continue their escape from the area, managing to get out of sight over a small hill which was one of many that dotted the floor's topography.
CLICK CLACK
Before they were home safe, their weights combined dislodged some loose rocks that were perched precariously on the side of the hill. Like before, the two teens froze in place and waited.
"GRUOOOOH"
"Sh*t, RUN." Daz half-yelled and hurriedly half-told Leon as he dashed over the hill with all the might that his legs would allow him.
Yet Leon struggled with the climb; by the time he reached the top of the hill, Daz had already made it halfway to the next hill over.
Looking behind him, Leon noticed the pack of wolves closing the distance between him and them and took out his sword, ready to make a last stand.
"You alright, huh? WHAT ARE YOU DOING, RUN AWAY."
As Daz yelled, a purple energy flowed from his hand toward Leon who suddenly found himself just in front of Daz's outstretched hand.
"Eh?"