It slowly began moving towards him. All around him, the maze shifted and became more like an arena where the knight moved and shifted towards him, steadily walking with his blade.
Adam looked down at his wrist in utter disbelief.
"Are you insane?"
The amulet angrily whispered harsh words into his head.
"You have defied the wishes of Rain, the hero of this labyrinth and the proctor of exams here. You are a disgrace to those before you, so you will be taught a lesson. You will defeat this knight if you wish to proceed."
Adam angrily laughed in disbelief and said,
"Please don't talk about yourself in the third person, and if you have an issue you should have told me the damned rules, you fool."
Adam moved quickly around the room examining his surroundings. There was no fear in his heart. There never was. Fear did not drive his impulse to live. Curiosity did. Adam dashed towards the sides hoping to find some sort of answers, but there were none.
The knight slowly began to become faster, shedding away the cracked stone to reveal shining luminous armor hidden beneath it. The knight's eyes opened pale white eyes softly illuminated underneath the helmet.
"A challenger dares come to my arena? Does thou carry the seeds of a hero within thee?"
The knight stepped forward and his blade came crashing down towards Adam. It sang through the air as the stone fell off the blade. Adam jumped out of the way, landing on the bare stone, barely managing to avoid being cut in two.
He had to fight or it would spell his doom. His fists clenched and he swung. The sound of his fists pinging against the knight's armor made the knight look down. His white eyes peered down, but he said nothing. His blade readied once more to face Adam, swinging down with all his might.He angrily recovered before another sword strike sliced through the air. The knight far outclassed Adam but he refused to give up.
"A challenger? I'm no challenger, I just want to live."
The knight spoke nothing more as strikes whistled through the air again and again. Adam did everything he could to avoid being cut down, throwing himself out of the way of these blades as he continued to crawl and twist to avoid death. He wished to live.
He picked himself up even quicker this time. A cut grazed his face and blood splattered across the ground; even so, he moved forward. His fists slammed again into the knight's armor causing no harm. However, he saw no other choice.
Adam did everything he could to avoid. Again and again, he dodged death, and then he remembered the orbs. It was nothing but a gamble, but if there was anything to bet on, he would take it. He jumped forward and twisted his body, pulling out the crystal he threw at the knight.
The knight swung down and sliced the crystal in two. His eyes widened for a moment as the child with white hair tossed it. It popped and a word slowly sprung from inside it.
"Volatile."
It whispered out into the air, hissing before it unleashed havoc. Sparks of lightning and fire burst from inside the split ball. A massive explosion burst from the ball.
The knight stood there for a moment and watched as the boy with emerald eyes stared at him with child-like curiosity; his eyes gleamed and shone with happiness. It was as if he himself wanted to see what it would do.
It surged through the air and sent the boy reeling. He slammed against the wall and burns scorched the front of his body. His white hair smoked but adrenaline had taken over the pain. He fought against losing consciousness, and a joyous surprise took over his face. He was excited. The lexicon's power was more than he could have ever predicted.
The knight slowly rose from the ashes, smoke billowing around him and blood splattered across the man. He pulled himself up from his sword. His once luminous armor flickered.
"Challenger from across the bridge, does thou find amusement from pain or hast thou lost any semblance of sanity?"
Blood dripped from his head and he pulled off his helmet. His dark hair matted from the blood on his face. Burns singed his skin but yet he could not let go of his sword. Rain wished him to challenge those deserving, and that he would do. He charged forward at the young man, blade roaring. There could be no possible way that the young man could use another. The ever-shifting maze brought him countless monsters and dozens of seekers; this one, to be sure, was the most reckless of all of them.
Adam slowly lifted his head to see the knight charging him once more. The sword flashed and he just barely managed to shift his weight to move out of the way.
"Am I going to die here?"
Adam rolled to avoid another. He hated this world and he hated everything that continued to force him into these dangerous situations. He hated the amulet, he hated the woman in his head. He hated the council. He hated it all. He wanted it all to burn.
Adam laughed hysterically and with anger he spoke out yelling at the knight as his blade sank slowly into his stomach, blood gushing out and pooling around him.
"DAMN ALL OF YOU, AND DAMN THIS HORRENDOUS PLACE. YOU WISH TO END MY LIFE? THEN YOURS IS FORFEIT AS WELL!!!!"
He intentionally, with all his might, landed upon the crystals he had left. The words volatile floated around the air for a moment before they hissed into action. Sparks bounced and flickered across them before their eyes, and only one of them was prepared to die. The knight attempted to step back but it was already too late. Lightning struck and fire burst forth whitening out their vision.
A wave of pain washed through Adam and he smiled before waking up in front of a woman in white. A beautiful veil rested across her face and she opened a large book that held no words whatsoever.
She beckoned him to the book to pick.
"Is this The Lexicon?"
He was in awe and looked over, but more so than anything, he was angry. Angry at everything and frustrated that he died.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST GIVE ME A WONDERFUL THING LIKE THIS BEFORE SENDING ME OFF TO OBLIVION??!!"
DAMN YOU AND ALL THE PEOPLE THAT BROUGHT ME HERE!"
The woman kept her gentle smile but remained calm. She beckoned him over once more to pick a word from inside.
He stood there angrily and walked over, slammed the book to its cover, and pointed at "Words" from the lexicon's cover title.
"The Lexicon
Words of Power."
Adam spoke out once again.
"YOU THINK ONE WORD IS ENOUGH TO SATE MY ANGER? I WANT THEM ALL. I REFUSE TO TAKE ANY LESS THAN ALL WORDS!!!"
The woman's mouth opened and she stepped back, and it was as if the room had acknowledged his answer. It hummed and vibrated, and she fell to her knees and dropped the book. Just underneath the veil as she fell, her eyes were wide and pale white.
He stared at her for a moment.
"Send me to wherever you want now. Just get it over with."
The room began to brighten into a beautiful white light and he appeared back to where he had come from, standing in the remains of a massive crater left behind by the devastation he had caused in the maze.
He stood there perplexed for a moment. He knew that the words came to those deserving on the verge of death, but what had he done? It frustrated him that he had come back, and it frustrated him even more that he was oblivious to everything around him.
The amulet still remained on his wrist and blood was still wet on his clothing; they were ragged and torn.
A constant whispering flowed into his head as he looked around.
"I'm sorry, forgive me for what I have done. I have failed at procuring yet another. I have failed at selecting yet aga-"
Adam interrupted his little speech.
"Be silent, I need to think."
The amulet reacted.
"YOU'RE ALIVE!"
It hummed with shock but remained silent momentarily, abiding by the words of the angered boy.
The word he had chosen rang into his heart and imprinted upon him. Its power resided within him. It felt as if he knew what it did, but he was not sure what it meant. The terms of his capabilities perplexed him.
"What the hell am I going to do with this?"