Dungeon Practice (3)

Daemon sprinted forward, his steps swift and sure. With the traps behind him already dismantled, he had no need to slow down. Even if they had still been active, it wouldn't have mattered—with [Truth-Seeking Eyes], he could have seen through every attack, every hidden mechanism.

The corridor stretched on, but Daemon didn't stop. He crossed the distance quickly, and soon, the narrow passage opened into a vast space.

His momentum came to a sudden halt.

A maze.

"Damn it," Daemon muttered under his breath.

Without hesitation, he dashed inside, choosing one of the many entrances at random. He kept running, turning left, then right, then left again. But no matter how quickly he moved, the paths twisted unpredictably, leading him nowhere.

Then—

A dead end.

Frustration bubbled inside him. He had to be the first to finish. If he wanted the quest reward, there was no other option. He turned sharply, ready to retrace his steps, but then—

Something caught his eye.

Daemon stilled. Slowly, he turned back to face the wall. His [Truth-Seeking Eyes] glowed faintly as they analyzed the surface in front of him.

There.

A black spot—barely noticeable to anyone else, but to him, it stood out like a glaring weakness.

A flaw.

Daemon tightened his grip on his sword. Could he break through it? There was only one way to find out.

Gathering mana, he willed it into his blade. A faint blue glow wrapped around the weapon, growing stronger as he poured more energy into it. Then—

He swung.

The impact sent a sharp crack echoing through the maze. When the dust settled, a massive fracture had formed in the wall.

If any of the instructors had seen this, they would have been stunned. The walls of this maze weren't ordinary. Even the top-ranking students—those leagues above Daemon—wouldn't be able to leave a single scratch on them.

Daemon wasn't that strong. He wasn't a top ranker. He wasn't even close to the high rankers yet. But that didn't matter.

Because he had something else.

[Truth-Seeking Eyes.]

A hidden piece, a rare ability that allowed him to see the very weaknesses of the world around him. And with it, he had just done the impossible.

This just shows how much of a cheat the hidden pieces are.

Daemon stared at the fractured wall, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. The sight of the damage only fueled his determination.

Without hesitation, he raised his sword once more, the blade glowing with swirling blue energy. As he swung, the air itself seemed to tremble. A sharp arc of mana trailed behind the blade, illuminating the dim maze for a brief moment.

Then—

Boom!

The wall shattered into countless pieces, debris scattering in all directions. Dust swirled around him, but Daemon didn't falter. He took a step forward, then another, his eyes locked onto the open space beyond.

Who cares if there's no path ahead?

If one didn't exist—

He would make one himself.

Without looking back, Daemon sprinted forward, disappearing into the darkness of the maze.

***********

Amelia Emberfall—second-ranked student of Aegis Hunter Academy, heir to the prestigious Emberfall family, the future strongest Fire Archmage, the Flame Witch. Her titles were many, and so was her reputation.

Wherever she went, people showed deference. No one dared challenge her, let alone ignore her.

And yet, for the first time in her life, someone had done just that.

Daemon Gracefall.

Not a prodigy. Not a rival. The weakest first-year in the entire academy.

Amelia's fingers curled into a fist, her nails digging into her palm as frustration boiled inside her. The sheer humiliation was unbearable.

The moment I get out of this dungeon, I'll make him regret it.

It wasn't as if she couldn't stop him. A single spell would have been enough. But wasting her mana on someone like him? Not worth it. She was a mage—her strength lay in precise, controlled bursts of overwhelming power. And with the strange conditions of this dungeon already forcing her to use more mana than usual, she had no intention of squandering it on a nobody.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the thoughts of Daemon aside and turned to her teammates.

"Let's move. We've wasted enough time here."

"Yes, Miss Amelia," Lydia and Alex responded in unison. Though their voices were steady, their injuries told a different story. The traps had been far more dangerous than they had expected.

It was a chilling realization—if this had been a real dungeon, their chances of survival would have been slim.

Yet, Daemon—the one they had dismissed as insignificant—had handled the traps with ease. Not only that, but he had vanished into the darkness without a word.

Lydia and Alex exchanged uneasy glances as they joined Amelia.

************

Crack!

With a sharp, splintering sound, another wall crumbled before Daemon. He had long abandoned the idea of navigating the maze properly. Instead, whenever a wall blocked his way, he simply destroyed it.

Though it consumed a significant amount of mana, the trade-off was more than worth it. He had saved a lot of time with this method.

Stepping out of the maze, Daemon pressed forward. Compared to the previous challenges, the path ahead was relatively easier. The traps, while still present, were manageable. They slowed him down, but not enough to be a real threat.

But then, the third challenge appeared.

From the shadows, a group of creatures emerged—thin, skeletal figures with elongated limbs and razor-sharp claws that gleamed in the dim light. Their hollow eyes locked onto Daemon, glowing with an eerie hunger.

Daemon remained unfazed. He recognized these monsters from the information given by the teachers. This was the dungeon's final challenge.

One of the creatures lunged first, its claws aiming straight for his throat. But at the last moment, Daemon shifted his stance, stepping back just enough to let the attack miss by a hair's breadth.

In the same motion, he retaliated—his sword slicing upward in a clean, precise arc. The creature barely had time to register the movement before its body was cleaved in two.

But Daemon wasn't done.

Stepping back, he tightened his grip on his sword, channelling mana into the blade. A blue energy surged around it, crackling with raw power. Then, with practiced precision, he compressed the energy—condensing it into a razor-sharp edge before swinging his weapon in a wide arc.

A crescent-shaped wave of blue energy shot forward, cutting through many of the creatures in an instant. Their bodies were sliced apart before they could react, collapsing into lifeless heaps.

Daemon exhaled slowly, lowering his sword. A faint smirk tugged at his lips.

Perfect.

This was a technique he had refined through countless hours of training and with the help of his skill [Sword Mastery].

Growl!

The remaining creatures took a cautious step back, their glowing eyes filled with wariness. They had witnessed the power of Daemon's attacks and were no longer as eager to charge at him recklessly.

But they weren't the only ones feeling cautious.

Though his expression remained unreadable, Daemon was also on edge. He had expended a significant amount of mana, and his stamina was starting to wear thin. Still, he refused to show any weakness.

Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip on his sword and lunged forward once more. His blade sliced through the air as he met the creatures head-on.

Sensing his approach, the creatures roared and rushed toward him. Daemon's first strike cut cleanly through one of them, but before he could recover, another creature lashed out with its claws, aiming for his side.

Reacting instantly, Daemon raised his sword to block the attack, metal clashing against hardened claws. But the force behind the strike was greater than he expected. His balance faltered, and he was pushed back several steps.

And that was all the opening the creatures needed.

Seizing the opportunity, multiple monsters lunged at him at once. Daemon swung his sword in rapid succession, deflecting as many attacks as he could, but he wasn't fast enough to block them all. Sharp claws tore through his clothes, leaving thin, stinging scratches across his arms and torso.

This is getting tough.

His breathing grew heavier as he realized the battle was slowly turning against him. The longer this dragged on, the more injuries he was accumulating. His stamina was draining fast, and his mana reserves were running low.

And then—it activated.

A sudden surge of strength coursed through his body. His wounds still burned, his muscles still ached, but he felt something awaken deep within him.

[Tenacity]—a passive skill that required no mana, one that only activated under dire conditions.

The pain no longer mattered. The exhaustion no longer held him back. All of his attributes increased. Tenacity increases his physical attributes in proportion to the damage received.

With renewed vigor, Daemon roared and charged forward, abandoning all hesitation. His blade danced through the air, cleaving through the creatures with relentless precision.

One by one, they fell.

And then, as the final creature remained, it saw its chance.

With a swift, desperate strike, its claws slashed across Daemon's back, cutting deep into his flesh.

"Ugh…!"

Daemon staggered, his body trembling from the pain. Blood dripped onto the cold stone floor beneath him.

But instead of weakening him, the attack only made him stronger.

His grip on his sword tightened. His breathing steadied.

Daemon's purple eyes gleamed in the darkness, a fierce glow radiating from them as he surged forward. With one final, decisive strike, his sword cut cleanly through the last creature.

The monster let out a faint, gurgling sound before collapsing lifelessly to the ground. Silence followed.

Daemon stood still for a moment, his chest rising and falling heavily. The battlefield around him was littered with the remains of his enemies, but the fight was over.

Only then did he release a deep breath.

**********

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