First Floor: Undead Warriors [II]

The clash of metal echoed through the dungeon's first floor as Ace skillfully parried an attack from a level warrior skillfully. 

The force of the collision caused the sword of the undead warrior to chip in lightly with a dent, sending sparks flying in a direction.

With a swift move, Ace lowered his head, leaning backwards carefully as he successfully dodged an attack from another undead warrior who had swung its sword from behind.

The extra's sword plunged into its teammate, chopping off its head with one single strike while Ace managed to sprawl on his feet, changing direction and swinging his arm at the undead warrior that had instigated an attack.

The chattering of bones on the uneven floor gave a little shrill, resonating through a short distance as the skeletal frame of the undead warrior fell to the ground helplessly.

"You're not lying to me, are you?" Armin's voice cut through the sharp chaos that was still raging like an inferno as the rift widened with a dark energy, giving room to spawn more undead warriors.

"About what?" Ace shot back at him, slashing an arc from his sword forcing a reasonable amount of mana energy out of it which immediately spun dangerously at the undead warriors rushing toward him and shatterung their being into tiny rubbles.

"Quit acting clueless." Armin retorted, pulling out his blades from the chest of the monster he had just wasted. With his breathing coming out forced and harder than the last, he continued. "When did you learn how to use a sword?"

Ace's eyes suddenly shot open in guttural surprise and without warning, he began to dash towards Armin, his sword ready to pull a string into him— no matter what.

"Cloud jump!" He alerted his system to activate one of his skills as he dashed towards Armin, his sword firmly tightened between his fingers.

A puffy cloud platform materialized a meter away from him immediately and without doubting this skill's proficiency, he landed his right foot on the first and immediately, another one appeared in front of the first, elevating him further like it was reading his moves and being controlled by his mind.

Armin could have concluded that Ace was after his neck in that moment if not for the sudden push Ace's hand did justice on against him that forced him to roll away from where he had been standing a second ago.

Regaining his balance, Armin couldn't hold his peace as his eyes surveyed what had just happened. About five undead warriors had slowly spawned behind him and just before they could strike their swords against him, Ace had appeared out of nowhere to them, sending their fragile empty skulls rolling in different directions.

"Give me some heads up, will you?" Armin wailed, accepting Ace's help as he got pulled up from the ground.

"You said you'd watch my back, but it seems you will be getting wasted first." Ace chuckled, taking a stance with their backs rubbing against each other as they surveyed the floor all over again.

Dawn was effortlessly casting a thick stream of green flames at the undead warriors as they launched their attack on her which burnt them into dust as they got hit by her mana energy. 

Their feeble bones clattering about and snatching into the walls of the dungeon as they tried to attack her, but they couldn't get close, as her attack mode was far ahead of them.

Her phoenix wings were still in place, helping her to drift effortlessly to launch an attack at the dungeon beasts. 

Damien was also holding up fine as if that wasn't his first lesson with the undead warriors. His dagger chattered their bones, dismantling their joints with one single stag. With thick streaks of sweat crawling down his face like tears, he holstered his attack harder but with time, he was getting— weaker as the rift continued to pour out more of its warriors.

***

[At The Academy]

The collective murmur of students of the Nirvana academy continued to ascend to the sky as they watched the academy's prodigy, Kaito, laid on the ground, bruised and defeated by the director— Kai.

The girls who were always hitting on Kaito could not contain their anger as they watched their masked sweetheart with a knee quivering charisma lay below Director Kai's feet.

Their anger rose to its peak as the boys they had always turned down began to take collective shots at the battle scene with their phones and cameras, sending the live updates into the students broadcast group chat for other students who were missing the live feed to see.

With a low crouch, Director Kai leaned towards Kaito, his mask slightly shifted from his face which revealed the mischievous smile he had on his lips, leaving him wondering why Kaito seemed a little happy despite being dragged to defeat.

Director Kai shook the feeling aside, wearing a slightly nonchalant expression as the academy wardens began to march into the battleground, dismissing the students to go back to their respective classes immediately.

"Why have you come here, Kaito?" 

"I'm obviously not here to do homework for school." Kaito replied calmly, sitting up from the ground and shifting his mask to cover the little opening left on his face.

A slight scoff escaped Director Kai's lips as he lowered his head a bit with a slight nod of deceit.

"To save the boy you say? Very well then, the wheels are already in motion and by now, he should be struggling to stay alive in that dungeon. You should accept his fate as it cannot redeem you for what is to come."

"You mean death?" Kaito said, chuckling a little under his mask. "There are fates far worse than death, Director Kai and I must say, you've made your first mistake by underestimating who Ace really is."

A slight frown formed over Kai's face, wondering what Kaito was suddenly on about— a first mistake?

"You never should have sent him into that dungeon, and the moment he comes out of it, you should be prepared for what is to come."

"You know something else, don't you?" Director Kai asked, his chest tightening at Kaito's words, but his demeanor showed a different view— a calm and collected façade.

***

Ace and Armin's backs slammed against each other in a defensive mode again, thich streams of sweat trickling down their faces as they watched the undead warriors they had completely shattered scramble back to life.

Their bones cracked up, meddling up with other dismantled parts in a rush. Their weapons which had fallen into different directions also began to reform, giving a true meaning to their name— undead warriors.

"Why are they not dying?" Damien growled, smashing the head of a beast into the dungeon wall, creating a crack as it bursted its skull into dust.

"Ahhh!" Dawn's scream drew their attention at once. She had been attacked.

With a look of concern washing over his face in a rush, Ace wondered what they had been fighting for all along. If their attacks had shattered the undead beasts, why were they coming back to life, a lot more stronger and fierce than the last?

Suddenly, his brows arched up, his mind spinning to a conclusion.

"Is this…"