"Victory isn't found in a single moment but in every decision, every sacrifice, and every ounce of strength you pour into the fight."
Kael tightened his grasp on the handle of his crude weapon, the serrated edges slick with the blood of all those defeated creatures. While his own body shuddered with exhaustion, though, his own eyes burned with purpose. He had decided that no creature in this awful world would stand upright at the end of his toil. This dungeon had taken enough from him, and it would not take his life without a fight.
The first wave of foes was a horde of Carrion Crawlers, the disgusting, centipede-like beasts with rows of sawed-off teeth and slime-covered exoskeletons. They crawled in a disorganized fashion, their bodies contorting as they scurried across the walls of the dungeon. Kael watched them from the darkness, his breathing steady, his mind considering possibilities.
With a flick of his wrist, gravity slanted beneath the creatures. A burst of force slammed them to the ground, their bodies crunching noisily under the impact. They screamed in pain, their bodies thrashing wildly. Kael didn't hesitate. He leapt from cover, his sword sweeping in a wide arc. The head of the first crawler was cut off neatly, its black blood flowing around its body.
Two more assailants rushed at him, jaws wide and snapping with deadly force. Kael evaded their attack by ducking, then rolled to the side and focused his mana. The air around him appeared to ripple and then coalesce into a gravity well that formed beneath the beasts, holding them fast. He drove his sword into the soft belly of one beast, then turned and released a controlled burst of gravitational force at the second. The blast hurled its internal organs against the walls of stone.
As the hours passed, the number of defeated monsters mounted to staggering proportions. Kael fought with a precision and ferocity that even he was surprised by. When he encountered the Horde Gorgons—six-legged giants with a hide as hard as stone—he used the terrain available to him strategically. By distorting gravitational forces, he sent chunks of the dungeon ceiling crashing down on their heads, killing some and knocking others senseless.
When a Gorgon finally hit him, its claw bit into his side, cutting through muscle and flesh. Kael bellowed like an animal, his vision blurring from the agony. Blood flowed out of the gash, red and thick. He stumbled backward, holding his side with one hand. The Gorgon let out a feral roar and attacked again, showing its fangs.
Not today," snarled Kael between clenched teeth.
Summoning what energy was left in him, he stamped his foot on the ground. Gravity burst upwards, and the creature was flung out of the air. There was a moment where it hung suspended in mid-air, struggling. Kael lifted his hand, and the creature fell, its huge body folding like a ragdoll. He staggered but remained standing, chest heaving.
Not all encounters were successful. With the Razorbeaks—bird-like hunters with talons that could slice through rock—Kael's quickness and brains were put to the test. He could not employ brute force or his typical traps. These aggressive animals were flight-based in nature and hunted in groups.
He coaxed them into a thin hallway, where their sheer numbers worked against them. When they attempted to dive, he flipped the gravity, battering them against the walls. The narrow hallway was a whirlpool of feathers, screams, and blood. One managed to grab his shoulder with its claws, ripping through the muscle and nearly dislocating the joint. Kael screamed in agony, grasping its neck with his other hand and snapping its neck with a sickening sound.
As the last Razorbeak fell, Kael went to his knees. His body was held together with cuts, bruises, and roughly stitched-up wounds. He was gasping for air, his vision dwindling. But he did not let up. Not until it was finished.
By day four, the oppressive silence of the dungeon was beginning to unnerve him. Though he had cleared out entire sections, the deeper he delved, the more grotesque the enemies became. He faced waves of Bone Fiends, skeletal abominations that had spiked tails and jaws that unhinged to a frightening degree. They attacked him with a bone-chilling degree of coordination, surrounding him and attacking him from multiple sides.
Kael depended on his new ability to control gravity. He made pockets of warped gravity, sending the Bone Fiends stumbling and crashing into one another. He pinned some with their own weight, which snapped the fragile bones into powder. This came at a cost, though. One of the creatures was able to sink its jagged fangs into his thigh, biting hard. Kael's scream was heard in the cavern as he killed its skull with a gravity spike.
Wounded and limping, Kael stood among the few pack members left behind. He gritted his teeth, calling up the last remaining mana he possessed. The ground beneath the Bone Fiends gave way, a vortex of gravity energy swirling there. Their bony bodies twisted and shattered as they were sucked into the void. When the whirlpool dissipated, there was only a hole in the ground left behind.
Kael's hunger was intolerable. Spurred on by necessity, he resorted to cutting off slabs of meat from the creatures he slaughtered, broiling them over rough fires. The resulting meat was tough and strongly flavored, its taste unpleasant. However, it sustained him. His quest for water brought him to an underground stream, its cold waters a precious commodity in this desolate world.
But the price to his body was made clear. The wounds began to accumulate in great numbers. His mana stores were drained to a critical level. Regular breaks were needed, as he concealed himself in the shadows to heal. He placed a hand on his chest at one time, sensing the pounding of his heart. This was a poignant reminder of his survival and resilience.
On the seventh day, Kael stood at the end of the final corridor. The air was thick with a crushing tension, and the walls pulsed with a malevolent glow. At the end of the hall, he saw it.
A large entity was positioned before an elaborately designed entrance, its substantial physique partially hidden by darkness. Its eyes radiated a hue reminiscent of liquid gold, and it exhaled in deep, resonant growls. It bore a weapon that Kael had never encountered before—an instrument crafted from what appeared to be solidified blood, its blade glimmering with a deadly energy.
Kael's hand instinctively went to the hilt of his sword. His body protested, each muscle and wound reminding him of how much he wasn't up to. But his mind was unclouded, his will uncompromised.
The beast tilted its head, as if it sensed his presence. Kael stood still.
This was it. The last test.
Behind that door lay either answers or oblivion.