Behind the Door

The presence of that door was immense, so much so that the stones around it trembled constantly.

"It's terrifying..." Arthur muttered.

Safwane walked towards the door and said:

"There's no point in looking, we have to get this place something to eat."

'Why would he care about people?' Arthur thought confused.

Safwane pushed the huge door, as it opened, a cold and tense air came out through it.

"Let's go in." Safwane said as he entered.

'Why do I have to go in too?'

Safwane stopped and looked at Arthur.

"You don't want to go in?" he said in a threatening tone lightly unsheathing his katana.

Arthur felt a chill run down his spine.

'Why do I always meet these kinds of people...' he thought as he entered the door reluctantly.

After entering, the door slammed shut, darkness filling the vision of the two young men.

Suddenly a row of torches began to light up on both sides of the walls.

"What is this?" Safwane asked in confusion.

"You don't know this either? Do you have amnesia or something?" Arthur asked.

"What is amnesia?"

Arthur sighed.

"Upon entering the ruins, we will first find ourselves in an anteroom, where we can learn about the ecosystem of the ruins and its history through the runes." Arthur explained.

Safwane thought about the explanation.

"I see... So you are not completely useless since you can read the runes." Safwane said while scratching his chin.

"Well, people can study the runes too..." Arthur replied reluctantly.

"So your ability is something that others can do."

Arthur nodded.

"You are completely useless." Safwane said mockingly.

"Shut up..." Arthur replied embarrassed as he walked.

The two young men walked towards a kind of altar, where strange golden writings were present.

"A place where energy is pure and its creatures hide in it, like shadows that find refuge in the light. There, the winds murmur secrets from times past, and the rivers, with their eternal song, guard knowledge forgotten by men." Arthur read the runes with some terror in his words.

The young man gulped.

"Beings who do not live on their own breath, but depend on foreign energy, will fall under the oppression of the primordial beast, whose yoke is eternal and its fury without measure."

"What does that mean?" asked Safwane confused.

"I don't know, there has never been a separate phrase that deals with anything else..." Arthur replied nervously.

"If it is not part of the ruins we do not have to worry, let's go."

Behind the strange altar, there was a huge void.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Safwane asked as he looked into the void.

Arthur sighed.

"We must leave a drop of blood on the altar for each of the participants." Arthur explained after taking a dagger and lightly cutting his thumb.

When Arthur's blood touched the altar, a path began to forge through the void to finally form a strange door. The door emanated a strange whitish energy from it, resembling a portal.

"You have to do it, otherwise you won't be able to enter." Arthur said as he walked down the path.

Safwane without commenting anything went to the altar and weakly cut his thumb.

'It's strange...'

They finally entered through the strange door, and when they went through it they found themselves in a jungle.

"I thought so." Arthur muttered accompanied by a sigh.

"To get out we have to kill all the nightmares right?" asked Safwane.

"You could do that but it would take us too long. We have to kill the boss of the place, that will do."

When Arthur finished speaking, sharp claws appeared in front of him. Safwane stopped them before they could pierce him.

Following that, he quickly unsheathed his katana and cut off the creature's head.

Arthur began to sweat profusely.

"Why are you here if you don't know how to fight?" asked Safwane with a cold look.

'You forced me to do this!' thought Arthur annoyed.

The trees in front of them were full of creatures, which looked hungry.

'This is bad, there are too many...' thought Arthur. "We must escape, there are places where nightmares cannot enter." he said desperately.

"Escape? I swore that I would kill each one of them, the ones who should be afraid are them." Safwane said with hatred in his eyes.

'Is he crazy?' Arthur thought as he looked at the large number of nightmares.

But when he turned his gaze to Safwane he was not there. Shrill screams filled the jungle.

Safwane was attacking the nightmares.

The young emperor grabbed one by the head and crushed it with all his strength.

"Watch out, behind!" Arthur shouted.

A nightmare was heading towards Safwane from behind with its sharp claws, however the young man, not paying attention, threw the sheath of his katana with force, piercing it.

"What a monster..." Arthur stammered in disbelief.

In a short period of time, Safwane managed to put an end to quite a few nightmares, while others escaped.

'How is he so strong without using his singularity?' thought Arthur watching the young man descending from a tree.

Safwane clicked his tongue as he shook off his clothes.

"Damn rats, why don't they let themselves be killed?" said Safwane annoyed.

'I don't think anyone would let themselves...' thought Arthur. "Anyway, why don't you use your singularity?" he asked confused.

"What is that?" said Safwane sheathing his katana.

"You know, the skills that slayers have." answered Arthur.

"I don't have it and I don't need it either, I don't need to rely on strange abilities."

'What a liar...'

"So where is the boss, I don't want to be here too long." said Safwane looking around.

"According to what I've understood from the runes we should look for a river." Arthur replied.

"And where is it?"

'How do you expect me to know!' Arthur thought angrily. "...The runes mentioned something about the whispers of the wind..." he muttered thoughtfully after a sigh.

While Arthur was trying to figure out how to find clues about the boss's whereabouts, Safwane was staring at a tree.

'What is he doing? I can't concentrate like this.' Arthur wondered.

After staring at the tree for a few seconds, he quickly unsheathed his katana, cutting it down. But what was cut down was not the tree, but a strange lizard-like creature that fell to the ground.

"Be careful, there are some that camouflage themselves." Safwane warned.

Behind Arthur a lizard extended its jaw.

Safwane threw his sheath again with force, piercing the lizard. Arthur confused turned around, only to see the creature on the ground lifeless.

Arthur fell to the ground scared.

He had only entered low-level ruins, where nightmares could barely inflict serious damage. For him who had no skills, being here was suicide.

Safwane picked up the katana sheath, grabbed him by the shirt and placed him on his shoulder.

"Where is the boss?" the young man asked.

Arthur was speechless from fear, but gathering courage he said:

"I think that with the murmurs of the wind he means that we should follow its direction, so we should reach the river."

Safwane nodded.

Applying Arthur's words, he ran in the direction of the wind, cutting and evading the nightmares that stood in front of them.

'Please tell me I'm right' Arthur thought desperately.

In front of them the light began to filter through the trees more and more. The sound of flowing water and the deceptive chirping of birds were present.

Safwane continued to cut down nightmares that tried to get in front of him. And when they were finally about to leave the jungle, a huge creature that resembled an ogre stood in their way, letting out a powerful roar.

The young man grabbed Arthur's shirt and threw him into the air. The ogre followed him with his gaze and Safwane threw his scabbard at the creature.

However, the ogre blocked it with his huge mace. But that caused the creature to lose sight of Safwane.

While trying to find him, he received a cut on his heel. The ogre turned in anger towards the young man, unable to find him.

The painful cut on his heel caused him to fall to his knees, causing Safwane to be able to reach his neck, and with a powerful cut he ended his life.

The ogre began to fall completely, Safwane sighed and picked up the scabbard again.

"Do you want to kill me or what!" Arthur protested in a broken voice as he emerged from the river.

Safwane rolled his eyes.

But without any pause, the ground began to shake and the river began to flow rapidly.

Arthur ran after Safwane.

A huge shadow fell over them, causing the two young men to look up.

The roar of the stream grew louder, and the wind began to howl through the trees, blowing leaves away as if they were fleeing. Safwane stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes fixed on the immense shadow before them.

Arthur spun, his body frozen as a deep, almost guttural sound filled the air. It was as if the ground itself was groaning under the weight of something colossal.

"Really!?"