'God. This can't be happening.'
Standing several distances away from Blake, Aiden felt troubled as he grabbed the hilt of his sword.
"The match will end the moment someone scores one hit." Ben said as he stood beside the fighting ground.
'Actually, maybe I should have brought those swords to practice.' Aiden thought as Eden shrugged.
'Your fault for not thinking through.' Eden said as he raised the sword and pointed it towards the smiling Blake.
"START."
Swoosh
Aiden felt his blood rushing as he moved his sword.
Clang
"Oh."
'He ran straight at me!'
Fiery sparks appeared as Aiden blocked the small knife that Blake swung at him. Blake was holding a small knife in both of his hands as they slowly started to glow red.
"You are not bad." Blake said as he rotated his body to swing the knives at Aiden with even greater force and speed.
Swoosh
'Oh no.'
Aiden quickly jumped backwards as he dodged the knives from hitting him and distanced himself again.
'…That was close.' Aiden thought as he crouched down.
He wasn't sure if he would even block the first attack, but
"Now. Let's not run, young master." Swoosh
Blake said as he threw the knife from his right hand.
Clang Chsss
Aiden blocked the knife, but the heat from the knife made some noise on contact as Aiden started to worry.
'Wouldn't it kill me if it hits?' Aiden said as he frowned.
'…It definitely will.' Eden said as Aiden panicked.
'That's why you have to hit him before he can. That would end this duel.' Eden said.
'You're right.' Aiden thought as he looked towards Blake.
'Huh.'
But Blake wasn't there anymore, as Aiden quickly stood up and looked around.
'W-where is he?' He thought in panic.
…
'Hmm. He's losing his cool.'
Ben, who was standing beside the fighting ground observing the duel, thought as he looked at Aiden.
'He isn't as tough as I thought he would be.' He thought as he walked forward. The duel was about to end.
Clang
'Hmm?'
…
Ding
[Danger sense automatically activated.]
As soon as the message occurred, Aiden quickly acted upon it. The color from the surroundings disappeared as his senses became sharp.
'There.'
Clang
Deflecting the knife that was targeting the back of his head, Aiden immediately activated his other skill as he crouched down.
[Elemental sword coating]
Just like that of Blake's knife, Aiden's sword also became red hot with the fire coating as Aiden let
Swoosh
Bam
'Huh?'
Looking in front of him, the sword's tip was just in front of Blake's neck.
"The match ends here."
A finger was stopping it from piercing Blake's throat.
Ben, the one who stopped the blade, announced the end of the duel as the gray color from Aiden's pupil slowly disappeared.
'Wait what?' Aiden thought as he looked in front of him.
Blake had lowered his body to attack the crouching Aiden, but that almost cost him his life as the sword caught him even before he could react.
Clang
Blake dropped the knife he was holding on his left hand as he raised his hands.
"Hahahaha. You are strong, young master." Blake said as he burst out in laughter.
'H-he is just laughing.' Aiden thought.
The blade of his sword cooled down as the hot red color disappeared.
Ding
[Elemental sword coating deactivated. Please wait for 10 minutes of cooldown.]
"Wow. So, you can also coat the blades with fire." Blake said as he approached and put his hands on Aiden's shoulder.
"Uh. Yes." He replied as he fell silent.
'What took over me?' Aiden thought, as he couldn't believe what he just did.
He nearly took a life.
'Tsk. This is going to cause some trouble.' Eden thought as he understood what was happening.
Ben, who was standing behind them, raised his finger as he looked at it.
Drip
A small drop of blood dropped from it as he pressed on it with his other finger and stopped the bleeding.
'I was wrong. This kid is tough, but…' He looked at the silent young master.
'He is scared of his own power.' Ben thought as his ears perked up upon hearing something.
Clack
The door to the room opened up as a woman wearing a red hat and glasses walked in.
"It seems everyone of you has arrived. Please follow me to the meeting room." Lyn said as she looked at everyone of them and turned around.
"Blake. Let's go." Kate, the assassin woman, called out to Blake as Blake nodded his head.
"Let's go, young master." Blake said as he dragged Aiden with him.
Ben followed after them, lost in his own world.
…
"Good morning, everyone. Since all of us are finally here, I would like to start the meeting." Ann said as she sat on a round table with others around it.
"Before saying anything, I would like for you to take a look at these." Ann said as Lyn, who was standing beside her, walked away towards the wall and closed all the windows.
Swoosh
A ray of light suddenly emerged from a crystal ball as it started to display an image.
""Woah."" Blake and Noi expressed their surprise as they looked at the images.
"This is inside the dungeon we will be exploring." She said this as she also looked at the images.
The image showed a door. The door was colorful, which might have been the reason Blake and Noi expressed their surprise.
The colorful door was strange. It looked like it wasn't made out of metal, nor was it made of wood.
It appeared to be made of clothes as wool strings emerged from it. In addition to that, its door knob looked like a button.
The image shifted as a dark room appeared.
The room was so dark that it was difficult to make out what was inside.
'It's dark, but it gives off a cold vibe.' Aiden thought as he felt a shiver run down his spine.
The image changed again, as it showed another door. This door, unlike the previous one, was old and lanky. It looked like it would fall down the moment one touched it.
The image changed again, as it showed a round ground made of concrete. The round ground looked like an arena, as tourches were burning endlessly at the four sides.
The image kept shifting as it ended with an image of a fourth door. This door, unlike any other door, appeared grand and made of gold. It was huge as it emitted a golden hue from it.
'Among every door, this one looks the most dangerous.' Aiden thought as the image closed with the ray crystal ball, that was showing the image, turning off.
As the crystal ball turned off, Lyn opened the windows as the room became bright again.
"…So, this is a four-chamber dungeon." Blake said this as Ann nodded her head.
"Yes. The doors were the entrance to them. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture what was inside the fourth chamber.
"That must be where the dungeon ruler resides." Noi spoke up as others nodded their heads.
'What is a dungeon ruler?' Aiden asked.
He found himself falling behind in this conversation, as he was new to it.
Ding
[Dungeon ruler is an entity that holds control over a dungeon. Every dungeon has one. Once the entity is defeated or conquered, the dungeon is classified as cleared and disappears, leaving behind every treasure.]
'Disappears? Where do they even come from?'
Ding
[Dungeons were originally considered to be a natural phenomenon, but overtime, they started to become too bizarre to be called a natural phenomenon. The answer to their origin has still not been discovered. Hence, they are considered one of the wonders of the world.]
'I see.' Aiden thought as he lowered his head.
"Young master." Hearing Blake's call, Aiden raised his head as he looked towards him.
"Yes?"
"Do you also think the chambers seem weird?" He asked as Aiden just stared at him for a moment.
"Yes. They seem weird." Aiden said as he went with the flow.
'You are lacking behind.' Eden, who realized what was happening to Aiden, decided to speak up.
'I'm still trying to get over what happened earlier.' Aiden replied as an image of Blake's throat being pierced by his sword flashed through his mind.
'Tsk. Don't make shits up. Nothing happened.'