Chapter 18- Floor 1: The Dungeons Of Madness

Picking up the sword, Malice inspected it with his eyes for a few moments. The sword had a silver, shiny blade and a leather-coated handle. It didn't have anything special about it just like the armor.

{Beginner's Long Sword

Rank: Unranked

Attack: 10 (Physical)

Traits: None

Description: Beginner's long sword. No special abilities.}

"Ok, nothing special here too." He murmured as he picked up the bow next, expecting the same. Even though he didn't know how to use a bow, he knew it might be useful at some point. He had seen people use bows before and they seemed quite strong.

{Beginner's Wooden Bow

Rank: Unranked

Attack: 10 (Physical)

Traits: None

Description: Beginner's Wooden Bow. No special abilities.}

"Hmm, fair enough. They all seem to have the same numbers. I guess it's an entire package of the same type of weapons." He murmured to himself. He didn't know how strong these things were or how effective they would be against enemies but they certainly made him feel a little more confident in actually doing something.

Finally, he looked at the tree vials on the bed. Picking up a green one, he inspected it.

[Healing Potion

Rank: Unranked

Description: Heals minimal injuries once consumed.]

"Oh, healing!" Malice raised an eyebrow. "How much is minimal healing though?"

[Minimal includes small cuts, scratches, bruises, and other small injuries that don't put your life in danger, Marked Malice.] Avatar replied.

"Interesting…" 

'So I guess I have some room for mistakes here and there, but not deadly ones.' Pursing his lips, he picked up the blue one next.

[Soul Essence Potion

Rank: Unranked

Description: Restores a minimal amount of Soul Essence.]

"Well, I guess that's not too bad." He murmured as he finally put that down. Finally, he picked up the armor and started trying to wear it. It was a little more confusing than normal clothes, but he was able to figure it out quickly.

A few minutes later, he was wearing the black armor. Looking down, he raised an eyebrow. 'I like how it looks.' He thought to himself. It had an aesthetic look to it that he found quite unique.

Then, picked up the sword and strapped it to his hip. Its weight was a little on the heavy side but Malice wasn't as weak as before either so he could deal with the weight more or less. He also put the bow on his back and then pocketed the potions.

'I really need a Soul Pouch. I don't want to keep carrying these things around.' He thought to himself. He had a rather cheap pouch he had stolen before, but it wasn't anywhere near enough to fit all these things. The better ones are naturally way more expensive and harder to steal.

"Ok, that is done with. By the way, Avatar, do I have some kind of time limit before I have to leave this place again?" He asked.

[Of course, you have exactly 12 hours worth of time in this place. That is the equivalent of 6 hours in the outside world.]

"Oh, time is slower here… I don't even want to know how that works but it's good enough. What would happen once I hit the time limit?"

[You will be instantly teleported back to the real world.] She replied.

"Ok, got it." 

Finally, Malice looked at the door with a serious expression. Behind that door was the real deal. His very first step into becoming a Marked One. Behind that door, his future was going to be determined. Whether he can truly survive and become stronger, or die.

For some reason, that reminded him of the Skull Mark on his hand. The ominous thing was still staring at him the entire time as if it was mocking him.

'What are you trying to say, huh? That I'm going to die? Screw you.' He thought to himself as he clenched his fists. 'I won't die that easily. I didn't survive for 14 years in that hellhole just to die now. I still didn't get what I wanted!'

Malice was a greedy bastard, just like most other people. He wanted to harvest the results of his hard work. Death was just the exit. Why would he choose that over having a chance at finding the true treasure? Of course not, he was going to be greedy, and even more greedy if he had to be.

"One last thing, though."

[What is it?]

"If I want to come back here, how do I do that?" He asked. Malice was certain that he would end up in horrible situations out there, so he wanted to know if there was a way to save himself if he needed to.

[Well, you can certainly come back here. But, since the domain outside this chamber is out of my control, your request to return here will take some time to reach me so that I can actually bring you here. For the first area you are about to enter, it can take about 30 seconds for the teleportation to activate. The farther you go, the longer that will take. There are also particular areas where even if you request it, I cannot bring you here so bear that in mind.]

"... I see. Ok, that sounds like a lot of fun." He gulped.

He can already guess what kind of areas those are. Perhaps the restricted ones are the ones where he will be the closest to his own demise.

'Well, no reason to hesitate now, I have already committed to doing this, I might as well see it to the end.' Sucking in a deep breath, he finally took a step forward.

"Open the door, Avatar."

[Understood. Have a safe journey, Marked Malice. May darkness be with you.]

Then, slowly the door started opening, revealing a terrifying darkness behind it. The darkness seemed to be beckoning Malice to go in, take a look, and be curious. That made him even more apprehensive than before.

A few seconds later, he closed his eyes and walked into the darkness without thinking twice about it. Then, for a few more seconds, it was nothing but a lightless world.

The white chamber behind him vanished and all he could see ahead of him was… Nothing. He could feel the hard ground under his feet so he knew that he wasn't floating somewhere. A second or so later, he heard a fire ignite near him. Looking to the side, he saw a torch lighting up on its own.

Then, another one on his left lit up, then another one after it. In a matter of moments, torches ignited on both sides, revealing a long, dark tunnel ahead of him.

Malice stood there for a few seconds, taking the sight in as he tried to calm his heart. "Great, my vision is zero in this place. Very helpful."

[Welcome to the first floor of the trials: The Dungeons Of Madness.]

[In a world where light doesn't exist, Darkness prevails, and where darkness prevails, those who fear the light prosper. Loyalty is the weapon above all, and Madness is its sheath. What lies in a dark world certainly shall turn one into a monster.]

"..." Malice listened to those words being said by a robotic voice as he exhaled. "What does that even mean? What are you trying to tell me?"

The words sounded ominous and cryptic, almost like a puzzle of sorts. They were similar in nature to the description of his trait. That also made no sense to him but he knew that it had a purpose and it certainly wanted to tell him something.

'Maybe I will piece things together once I learn more. Well, I might as well just start walking. Standing here won't help.' Looking behind him one last time, he finally started walking. The tunnel he was moving in was made out of reddish rock that was uneven with many parts protruding out like sharp blades.

The place felt like a claustrophobic hellhole. The air there was thin and the weather was hot. Luckily, Malice didn't feel suffocated just walking there. But in a sense, the fear he was feeling at that moment was but another form of suffocation. He feared what could appear in the darkness ahead.

His hand was on the sword as he looked around him. Time passed slowly as he walked deeper and deeper into the tunnel. Each second passing pushed him more and more into the edge until... He became less nervous than before. At some point, he started feeling numb to the scenery. After all, a place is only scary for a certain amount of time before it turns into a monotonous scenery.

'Where are the monsters? I have been walking for ten minutes now.' He thought to himself as he wiped the sweat from his face. 'Are they hiding somewhere?' 

He was expecting countless abominations to attack him the moment he stepped in. But, so far, this place was as empty as his pockets. He even started questioning if he was really going the right way or if he missed something.

At that moment, he suddenly heard a noise coming from a few dozen meters ahead. That made him halt as he grabbed the sword.

'Something is up ahead!!' He thought to himself as he listened. The noise was incomprehensible, very close to the sound of someone splashing a puddle of water, except a lot more… Eerie.

Gulping a mouthful of saliva, he started slowly approaching the noise.