The silence that followed the booming voice was suffocating, as if the air itself had grown too heavy to breathe.
"What the hell was that?" Mori stammered, his usual bravado stripped away. His voice echoed faintly in the eerie darkness.
"The door... I think it just locked us in," Arya whispered, her voice trembling.
Dera's heart pounded violently in his chest. The ominous voice, the oppressive darkness, the suffocating atmosphere—he couldn't shake the feeling that stepping into this cave had sealed their fate. This was no ordinary hunt. This was a death sentence.
"Dera..." Arya's voice broke through his spiraling thoughts. Her trembling hand clutched his sleeve as she pointed toward the massive gate they'd entered through.
"Those shadows... were they there before?"
"What!" Dera followed her gaze, his blood running cold. Two towering, grotesque shadows—each over eight feet tall, their forms vaguely humanoid with grotesque fins protruding from their backs—loomed against the gate. But there was nothing solid casting those shadows. They were alive, dark voids that seemed to ripple and shift with malevolent intent.
"Alright, I've had enough of this!" Udeh shouted, panic thick in his voice as he stormed toward the gate,
"I'm getting the hell out of here. You guys can keep the damn crystals for all I care!" he said.
"Me too, I think am gonna leave too" one of the potters chimed in.
"Yeah, me too" another potter said and the remaining two potters followed suit, leaving dera as the only potter. It's not like any one would stop him if he wanted to leave, he just wasn't sure if it was safe to leave yet, and that menacing voice that spoke out…..
"Wait!" Sir Ike called out, his voice firm but desperate. "You don't know what will happen if you try to—"
It was too late.
VHOOM!
A massive shadowed arm burst forth from the void, wielding a colossal axe formed of pure darkness.
"What the hell is—" Udeh began, but his words were cut off by the sickening sound of metal slicing through flesh.
SLASH!
In a single, merciless sweep, the shadow cleaved Udeh and the potters in two, their upper torsos severed cleanly from their bodies. Blood sprayed in a gruesome arc, painting the walls as their lifeless remains crumpled to the floor.
SPLAT.
"Ahhhhhh!" Arya screamed, collapsing to the ground in horror.
Mara clutched her head, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "We're all going to die!"
Dera stood frozen, bile rising in his throat. The air was thick with the coppery tang of blood.
"That's it," Mori growled, his voice trembling but defiant. "That thing must be the boss of this tomb!" He gestured toward the throne at the center of the room, where a dark figure sat shrouded in shadow, its form eerily still.
"What the....when did it!...? Sir ike exclaimed, startled by the sudden appearance of the shadow on the throne.
The shadow on the throne exuded an aura of suffocating malice. Its undefined features were twisted and wrong, but it radiated an unmistakable intelligence—a predator savoring its prey.
"I can handle this!" Mori declared, stepping forward. "if I know one weakness a shadow has, it's light. And guess what, my hunter techniques are light base magic" Mori concluded, his bravado rising to the roof.
"This thing's as good as dead."
"Y-yes....Mori can save us" Mara said with a silver of hope in her chest.
"No! Don't—" Dera shouted, but Mori ignored him, raising his glowing hands.
'Shadows can't exist without light. Giving them light is like telling them to come out' Dera thought...
"Light Aura: First Technique—"
VHOOM!
A shadowed hand erupted from the darkness beneath Mori's shadow, snatching him by the throat.
And...
KRAK!
In one swift motion, the hand twisted his neck, snapping it like a dry twig. Mori's lifeless body dropped to the ground with a sickening thud.
Arya shrieked, tears streaming down her face. Mara sobbed uncontrollably, trembling like a leaf.
"We're really going to die!" she wailed.
"Dammit....dammit all!" Sir ike yelled. Of course, he was frustrated. He is the leader of the party, but all he could do was watch helplessly as each of his party members gets slaughtered..
"Dera..." Arya whispered, tugging on his sleeve again. Her voice was hollow, broken. "I... I saw eyes. In the shadow. It opened its eyes."
Dera's gaze snapped to the figure on the throne. For a moment, it seemed motionless, but then...
Six crimson eyes blinked open, glowing with an otherworldly malice. They locked onto Dera, and the figure's mouth twisted into a grotesque grin, impossibly wide and dripping with malice.
The ground trembled violently.
BOOM! BOOM!
"What now?!" Sir Ike yelled, trying to steady himself.
The floor began to disintegrate, sand erupting from every crack and crevice. The tomb transformed into a swirling maelstrom of sand.
SFX: The sound of sand pouring.
"Where the hell is all this sand coming from?!" Kaleb, one of the grade 3 hunter shouted.
"It's trying to bury us alive!" Sir Ike bellowed.
Just as abruptly as it had started, the earthquake stopped, and the sand settled. The silence was deafening.
"Is it... over?" Arya whispered, her voice barely audible.
Dera's eyes fixed on the shadowed figure. Its smile widened even further, an unnatural, horrifying expression that seemed to mock their desperation.
"No, everyone it's not over yet!" Dera muttered,
Suddenly, the floor beneath them gave way.
POOF!
They were falling, tumbling into a blinding void.
THUD.
Dera hit the ground hard, sand filling his mouth and nostrils.
Mhmm ..Blegh!
He coughed violently, spitting out the gritty substance as he struggled to his feet.
When he opened his eyes, his heart sank.
They were no longer in the tomb.
Endless dunes stretched out before them, a barren wasteland under a scorching heat. The oppressive heat was unrelenting, sapping their strength with every passing second.
"What the hell is this!" Sir ike shouted gazing around, confused.
"What... where are we?" Arya whimpered, shielding her face from the blazing heat.
A chime echoed in the air.
CLING!
A glowing screen appeared before them
"What in the world…?" Kaleb murmured, gazing at the screen.
"isn't this like an Aura Grimoire we get when we awaken our Aura" sir ike said trying to touch it, only for his hand to pass through.
Dera was the only one who actually focused on what the screen said..
[First Trial: Tenacity of the Weak. Survive for Seven Hours.]
"Seven hours? That's it?" Kaleb scoffed. "We just have to sit tight and wait it out. Easy."
Dera's gut churned. 'Easier...no... Something's not right here'. Dera's mind raced and that's when it began.
The ground trembled again.
BODOMBODOM!
A massive shadow began to rise from the sands, its form insectoid and grotesque, chittering with unholy sounds.
KIEEEEK!
The creature burst forth—a monstrous, venomous ant with serrated mandibles and soulless black eyes. Its chittering grew louder, a haunting cacophony that seemed to echo from all directions.
"It's... it's a Venom!" Sir Ike shouted, his voice tinged with desperation.
And then the sands began to shift again.
More Ants emerged.
More Venoms.
And the trial began.