Upwards

Finally, after their eyes suffered long enough from all of that light, Kim and Felix stepped out of the whiteness that now stood behind them, and as soon as they did the wall closed behind them, blocking their way back forever. The two were now placed in yet another room filled with vines, just like the one they woke up in back on the First Floor. Except, something about this one was slightly different – there was an actual door standing opposite of them.

Kim was the first to walk forwards, his hand steady on his sword's hilt. He slowly rose it out of its sheathe as he opened the door gently, before swinging both the door open and the sword at the hallway standing behind it – although he had swung at nothing, as there wasn't anything behind the door waiting for them. Kim slowly put his sword back in its scabbard as he waved Felix over, and the two started walking down the dark hallway – this time being extra careful, checking every nook and cranny imaginable.

They weren't taking any risks when it came to their well-being and just safety in general, and while it did slow them down significantly, it was better to be slow and safe than fast and sorry. A while later, the two realized that they didn't have anything to estimate the time with, so their best guess was that they've been walking for about fifteen minutes or so – and it felt about right. Finally, in the dark, Felix could make out another big rectangle, most likely a door. When the two reached it, and confirmed there wasn't anything in its immediate vicinity, Kim once again swung the door open aggressively, and was met with nothing but darkness. Suspicious about the silence, he lightly stepped into the room, not making a sound.

The moment his heel hit the stone ground, an arrow flew right at his head without any kind of warning. However, Kim just casually caught it with his left hand, and snapped it under his thumb, giving the place where the arrow came from a death glare. Kim let the splinters fall to the floor, his other hand reaching for his sword's handle as he spoke, "Huh, who would've guessed... This level thing does make you stronger."

The next second, Kim moved in a flash, diving head first into the darkness and whatever horrors lied behind it. His only source of light was his glowing Mana-Sword, yet it was more than enough to quickly cut down all of his opponents. Felix couldn't do anything but watch Kim massacre what he could only assume were goblins, as he saw a blue streak move beautifully through the darkness. As he sat there, admiring Kim's swordsmanship skills, he felt... something. He wasn't sure what, but he could've sword he heard...

["...A footste—?"]

Immediately as he had that thought, an axe swung down at his head with incredible speed. It just barely missed Felix, passing by his nose as he saw a tiny bit of his black hair fall down at the same time with the axe. As soon as he realized what was happening, Felix jumped back as his hand reached out for his... knife...? Where... exactly was it? When he realized that his knife didn't get teleported with him to the Resting Grounds, as only its sheathe stood at his hip, he couldn't help but chuckle nervously. The goblin who had swung at him just pulled out its broadaxe out of the ground, and he began creepily walking towards Felix, as its smile grew more and more by the second. The goblin's teeth were sharp and its tongue simply hanged out of its mouth, to which Felix couldn't help but gag at as he spoke, "Jesus, you guys are so fucking disgusting in the light!"

The goblin somehow seemed to understand what Felix said, as the smile twisted into a low growl in seconds. Felix's jaw dropped, but as Kim wasn't there to close it for him this time, he reached his hand out and closed it himself. Not very long after, the goblin raised his axe and swung horizontally at Felix, to which he couldn't do anything but jump out of the way with a loud scream. He was finally having his first real fight – or third, if you count Qaart and Kim too – and he couldn't do anything but jump, dodge and weave. As he ducked under yet another axe swing, Felix's mind was running at 120 miles an hour – wasn't there anything he could've used as a weapon? Anything at all? Wait... There might be. There might just be!

Felix waited for an opportunity, and the second the goblin swung down at him vertically, he kicked it and jumped back, gaining some distance. He didn't want the goblin's weapon... At least, not this goblins'. Felix raised his right hand, and he was gonna bet it all on pure luck. Remembering the hidden quest from the last floor, and that the rewards were gonna be distributed randomly... He had a fighting chance!

"Inv— Inventory!"

Immediately, a green square appeared right where his hand was. Jackpot. He reached in, as countless green sparks started flying all around his hand and the box, and he slowly but surely began pulling it out. The goblin just watched this scene, its eyes wide and the smile long gone from his face. It still hadn't recovered from the kick, the axe was somewhere to its side, and it couldn't do anything but watch as a somewhat confident Felix swung a similar axe at its face. A minute or so later, Kim came back to the door as he was sheathing his sword. When he saw the blood on the floor, he couldn't help but let out an annoyed "Tch." then he continued, "I let one get past me..."

In Kim's point of view, he could see Felix mumbling "Inventory." as he threw an old, beaten up axe full of blood into nothingness, and the next second it disappeared, probably within the Blank. Felix dusted himself off slightly and tapped Kim on the shoulder as he spoke, "It's fine. Let's go." then walked past him. Kim just nodded slowly, glancing at the dead goblin on the floor. He remained silent, as he turned around and went after Felix. The two were now walking, again, in a dark hallway – darker than anything they were used to. At one point, Kim pulled his sword out, just to illuminate the corridor slightly. As they were walking, the whole ground started shaking beneath them, as both of them grabbed onto a nearby wall, careful not to fall. Felix glanced at Kim, confused, "Can there be earthquakes on the Line?"

"That's what I was thinking, too..."

After this, they start quickening their pace a bit. Eventually, they start full on running – taking into their advantage the fact that they don't get tired outside of combat. After running for a bit in the dark, straight hallway, they begin seeing a light somewhere in the distance. Their speed increases even further as they start approaching an old, wooden door with dozens of holes in it. Kim takes charge, surpassing Felix as he runs forwards and kicks the door with his full strength, as it literally goes flying off its hinges. Behind it sits a relatively big wolf, and as it gets up growling ready to be all menacing, the flying door hits him in the head. He simply sits back down, whimpering. Felix is next to walk in the room, looking around. Soon enough, both of them get a Blank notification.

[Mini Boss – Fernerder

Wolf Of The Abyss - Lvl 10

Class - ×

Affinity - Beast/Dark

—

HP - 483/501

ATK - 89/89

ACN - 0/0

LUC - –7/0

AGL - 78/78

STM - 47/50

DEF - 37/37

DEX - 40/40

Skills - ×]

Felix asks confused once he's done reading, "Hah? Why's it hurt already? And why's it luck in the negatives...?" to which Kim replies, shrugging his shoulders, "How should I know?"

Fernerder gets up, angrily growling and barking at Kim, though – for obvious reasons – the two couldn't understand what it wanted or what it was saying. Kim simply grips his sword tighter, and doesn't waste any time. As usual, he starts charging towards the wolf, and he jumps over his head the second it goes for a bite. In mid-air, he starts spinning to gain momentum, and swings down at its back, landing somewhere to the wolf's side after he inflicted a wound. He slashes again, but is suddenly hit by the wolf's longer than usual tail. Kim just barely managed to block the hit with his sword, as he slid backwards a bit. Felix, once again, just stood back and watched this all unfold.

Kim, annoyed, sits up and swings the sword by his side, resetting his stance. He fixes his footing, prepares himself, and he charges at Fernerder once more. This time, though, he didn't plan on jumping. As the wolf leaped at Kim, ready to take a good bite out of him, he fell to his knees and slid beneath it, cutting Fernerder's stomach along the way. The second Kim was no longer under the wolf, he jumped back up and turned around – just in time, too, as he blocks a huge claw coming straight at him. He redirects the attack, and kicks the wolf in the head full force, then uses it as a stepping stone to get behind it. Apparently, Kim likes stepping on things. Fernerder, with his pride obviously quite hurt, tried to attack him again and again, to no avail. Kim either blocked his attacks or he simply dodged them, all with a straight face too.

Feeling that he was losing, the wolf jumped back to take a breather. As he did, he noticed Kim... wasn't coming at him? Why? Maybe... no, that must've been it. That was it! The human was scared, fighting against the almighty Fernerder! Finally, some respect around here! The wolf was basically laughing internally, as it began taking small little steps towards Kim. The human sitting opposite of him looked up at seemingly nothing on the ceiling, then started chuckling as he put his sword back in its scabbard. Fernerder was shocked... Shocked that the human was surrendering this easily! He kept taking small yet ready steps towards the human, as he could already taste the tender and juicy red meat he was gonna be feasting on, until he suddenly realized...

Weren't there two?

"Inventory."

The wolf froze in fear, shock, panic, and everything else of the kind. He physically couldn't turn around, but in both corners of his eyes, he could see – no, he could feel – a giant, green thunderbolt ready to strike him down at any second. Fernerder could clearly hear it crackle right behind him, and he realized that the human sitting in front of him didn't sheathe his sword in defeat – he did it because the battle was already won. The wolf could only let out one last growl, before it all cut to black... for itself.

[Mini Boss – Fernerder, Wolf Of The Abyss - Defeated!

MVC - Kim Jaehyun

LVC - Felix Fox

Reward - Abyss Daggers (Double Handed).]

[Distributing rewards randomly.]

Felix sighed and threw the shabby broadaxe back into his inventory, slowly walking towards Kim. The two high-fived, and they began walking towards the exit the wolf was guarding. Said exit were actually some big stairs, full of dirt and plants, while at the end of it sat a bright white, similar to the one from the Resting Grounds. Another shared Blank appears in front of them, asking them a question – an important one.

[Second Floor, Going Further, clear! Would you like to advance to Third Floor, Demon's Lair, or return to the Resting Grounds?

1/2]

Before Felix even went to speak, Kim responded for them – "Option one. We're going to the third floor." – to which Felix sighed, but nodded. He was gonna suggest that anyways as well. The message disappeared, and they felt like they knew – all they had to do was go up those stairs, and go on to the next floor. Felix was the first to step unto the stairs, and as Kim looked at him walk up, he couldn't help but remember...

He remembered waking up at one point randomly, and seeing Felix knocked out on the floor. His own sword was stuck in the ground, next to the unconscious man. Eventually, Kim got up and grabbed it. While inspecting its blade, Kim definitely knew... this sword was used recently, and not only by him. Did Felix... kill the Boss with it? If so, then... how? Kim noticed his leg was back, his stomach was fine, and that they were in an unknown, bright room. He stayed silent for a second, thinking about it all before sighing, and running his hand through his hair. He also remembers asking, "How'd you pull it off, Fox...?"

"Kim?"

Kim, suddenly woken up to reality, looked up at Felix, then he walked up the stairs too, shaking it off, grunting as he walked past Felix. Felix shrugged, and just thought that this whole thing was just Kim being Kim, so he quickly followed behind him, as they both walked into the light once again – upwards, towards the Third Floor... Towards the Demon's Lair.