[ New Area Unlocked: Treacherous Caves]
| Unfortunately, not everyone has a good night's sleep, in these cases the gates of dreams do not open, only the gates of nightmares.
| You don't want to be here.
| Exploration Progress: 0%
"Were you the ones who opened this?" Baal asked with interest, but was met with scorn and laughter.
"If we opened this?! Not in a thousand years would we manage that! "
"Just finding this entrance was hard enough and we aren't even adventurers, the only way we even find it as common people was because of someone else — creating it is way beyond what we could ever do."
He said briefly without even talking about the guild, who was certainly interested in something like this.
They soon entered the dark cave, its walls damp and unlit. Which forced the man to light a small lantern.
No matter how you looked at it, they didn't seem to be entering the Dungeon. Instead, it looked like an ordinary cave that should have been circling around and almost touching the Dungeon, but always avoiding reaching any of its actual caves.
The tunnels grew narrower and narrower as they walked through them.
'Whoever had built it, it was clearly done in a rush.' Baal thought.
However, after some walking, Baal couldn't help but whistle.
'Okay, I was deceived, now it looks more like that shy girl's asshole.' The apparently simple tunnel began to widen, and not only that — it revealed new branches, all interconnected.
From afar he could even see a few more people like him, walking with lamps in their hands and even some with horse-drawn carts full of goods.
Clearly, none of them wanted to be approached, as they walked with cloaks obscuring their faces and swords in their hands.
Baal didn't doubt for a moment that it was an easy place to ambush someone...
'It was certainly not a simple task to open these passages. It was almost as if a giant earthworm had dug these tunnels and people were making good use of it.' He thought to himself in awe of the mysterious place.
"This reminds me of the old time, you know? I reacted the same way the first time," the man suddenly said.
"People often look down on this place, but honestly this place is a rare gem for us. Believe me, you need a lot of people to create something like this. "
"Just as many deals happen here as on the other side, no, actually, far more and they are far more special." He then turned to Baal again and lightly tapped his chest with a rolled-up map. "If you know where to navigate, you can find many interesting things."
After a few more minutes, they finally reached a different area. A few pillars stretched up toward the ceiling. Around them were many large boulders, dust, and a single lantern hooked onto one pillar.
From behind one of the pillars emerged a large man in a plain cloak hiding his face. He was twice the size of the short man and at least two heads taller than Baal.
"Client?" he asked gruffly to the short man, who simply nodded, and then stepped aside with slow footsteps "Great, he looks wealthy. It's not every day that you get one of these"
"Wow! I can't believe it, a criminal dragged me to a dark place to rob me. Who would have thought?" Baal said without reaction.
"Sorry kid, that's how we survive here. So no bad feelings, ok?" The short man apologized. While Baal kept a cold expression and narrowed eyes towards the large man.
"Of course, no bad feelings." Baal said, feeling pity for them. While the big man approached.
"Look, boy, not everyone is as lucky as you. Not everyone came from good families and will become a great adventure like you... But I can at least teache you a valuable lesson—" His voice was slow in the dark, and only his sword and eyes seemed to gleam with the reflection of the lantern flames.
"That won't be necessary." Baal dropped his cloak and bag to the ground. He was unarmed, and those were his only possessions.
"Smart boy, you learn fast." The man laughed menacingly.
"You talk too much of yourself." But Baal looked at him nonchalantly. "So at least entertain me."
WOOSH
The large man heard Baal's voice — but in what felt like the blink of an eye, Baal closed the distance between them.
[ New Skill Acquired: Blink (C) ]
| Description: Instantly dash with short range.
| Uses your spirit to activate specific muscles.
| Causes damage to the user.
BANG
His eyes shone with blue flames as his fist drive into the man's stomach with supernatural force and speed, making him instantly double over himself and collapse under his own weight onto his knees.
"ARGHH! MOTHER—"His internal organs churned violently, leaving his mouth with the sour taste of bile and blood. His teeth clenched as he tried to recover.
BANG CRACK
He then looked up — and before he could gather himself from what had just happened, his opponent's foot came down on him, kicking him in the face.
His brain rattled against his skull, leaving him increasingly disoriented, as one of his teeth broke loose, flying away.
SHING
"You bastard! Don't think you can just do whatever you want!" The short man quickly drew a dagger and leapt onto Baal's back.
But Baal simply stepped nimbly aside, twisted his body in one motion, and kicked him, sending him crashing against the cave wall.
BOOOM
He bounced off against the wall, his eyes rolling back and turning white.
'That was easier than I expected…' Baal thought to himself.
He had known he would be robbed, but he still didn't expect his enemies to go down so easily. Especially considering that at this moment, he had only an ordinary mortal body.
"Damn… we didn't know you were so strong. Please, forgive us," said the large man in a cowardly tone, approaching with his body low and when he was directly below Baal he suddenly roared and slashed towards him with his sword as he got up.
WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH
"HAAAA! You think you can defeat me?! You think you can fight against me?!
I've killed dozens of boys like you!"
He slashed several times in succession, aiming at Baal's head, chest, and arms, his strikes descending with ferocious force.
It wouldn't be the first time he killed a man, but at least this time it would be for a good reason! This unknown adventurer must be very wealthy judging by the cloak he wore, and his bag didn't seem ordinary either.
"Damn it! Stop running and fight! What are you, a rat?" he roared, trying to provoke Baal, who stared fixedly at the sword, never letting it touch him and dodging with effortless calm.
His focus on the blade was simply superhuman and along with his footwork he was in entire another level.
Then under the whistles of death, for a single moment, he asked himself:
'Do I still remember how to do this? How to pre-dodge?' He felt an old excitement returning.
In the next instant, he was back in his youth.
In a time when his enemies were always faster and stronger than him, when death lingered, waiting for the slightest mistake
Then he took a deep breath, simply slowly closing his eyes, dancing with the blade.
WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH
[ New Skill Acquired: Pre-dodge (A) ]
| Description: Those who have fought many battles can boast of many achievements. But only those who have emerged alive from many defeats have learned this trick.
| You can predict your opponent's movements.
He still avoid every single slash with effortless calm.
In that moment, he was more focused than ever, a single wrong move and the sword would come down on him with lethal force.
He could die right there, without ever tasting his prize, without ever seeing Zeus's fall.
He felt death touch his skin for the first time in a long time.
It was so close.
But it was so exciting at same time.
It was good to be young again.