First of all, I apologize for the lack of chapters, but I have been very busy this week. I will try to get out another chapter today and tomorrow but I might not be able to. I have had a bunch of papers and midterms this week and the previous week. Anyway, enjoy this chapter that I really quickly wrote.

P.S. Releasing chapters from class is not easy. You have to pay attention to what the teacher says and write at the same time. Really quite difficult.

Ryu walked into the room after opening the door. He paused, blinded by the sudden flash of light after opening the door. After a few minutes, he shook his head and his vision was restored to normal. Granted there were still some fuzzy dots in his eyes, he could still see for the most part. He looked inside the room and saw a pool of crystal clear water. The pool was about 24 feet in diameter and was 32 feet deep at its deepest part.

Ryu’s eyes sparkled, it was a bath. He could finally wash off the dirt and blood from killing the goblin and running away from the badger. Ryu hurriedly took off his clothes and put them to the side. He put his pouch to the side of the pool and walked in. He did not go in too deep and stayed around the edges. The depth around the edges was only about 2.5 feet so Ryu sat down comfortably and soaked in the water.

He closed his eyes and began to recall what had happened. He had gone into the forest to find the Jade Hydrangea for the girls’ birthday. He ran into a Mimic Plant and killed it. Then he encountered a Moonlight Badger and fled. He was lucky enough to find a tunnel and crawled to the very bottom. Then there was a flash of light and he felt dizzy. When he woke up he was in this cave. He walked forward, encountered a goblin and killed it.

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!!!!!

Why is he here? How did he get here? What was that mural on the wall with the books earlier? Ryu had no idea what was going on. However he knew one thing for certain. He looked down at his bracelet and mumbled, "I swear that I will get home. No matter what."

As Ryu swore this in his mind, he leaned back and relaxed in the pool. The water was not cold, neither was it hot. To Ryu, this water was perfect, cooling his body and wounds. He lay there for a few minutes. Suddenly, he started having an intense itching sensation. He started scratching the itchy spots. At first it was just a little, then it became full blown and Ryu couldn’t sit still. He jumped out of the pool and started itching over his arms and body.

After a while, the itching stopped and Ryu looked down. What he saw shocked him. His injuries had healed, he was back to his uninjured state. And that’s not all. Ryu felt stronger than before. His arms felt full of power, and power coursed through his body. Ryu threw out a punch and he could feel that it was a lot stronger than before. He frantically dressed himself and took his bokken. The bokken had a few scratches but otherwise it was fine.

Ryu took a few practice swings and felt that he had improved a bit. He started practicing the forms without any rest.

A few hours later, Ryu was back in the pool. He had discovered that soaking in the water reduced the stress and fatigue on his body. It also had the additional effect of healing his body. While relaxing, a comfortable feeling came over Ryu and he fell asleep.

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz…...zzz……...zzz……...zz….z……………..

The next day Ryu woke up and suddenly realized that this was the girls’ birthday. He had to hurry and leave this place so that he could get back in time. He threw on his clothes and packed his things. He held the dagger in his right hand and put the bokken and the goblin’s sword at his waist. He suits up and gets ready to go. He has a resolute look in his eyes.

Ryu left the room and went up the northern path. He creeps forward and spies 4 goblins. These are two patrols of 2 goblins each. They take turns walking up and down the tunnel. Ryu hides near a wall and observes the area. There are lots of rocks, but they are not very big. Ryu judges the distance between each rock and finds it to be about 3-4 feet. Deciding that using the rocks to get close is the only way to kill the goblins, Ryu lays down and starts crawling from rock to rock. He watches the goblins and moves only when he is in the goblin’s blind spot. Finally he makes his way to the other end of the tunnel. As he gets ready to kill the goblins, Ryu suddenly realizes that he can just ignore the goblins and continue onward. Deciding to take this chance he stands up, forgetting that 2 of the goblins are right behind him.

The Goblin let out a cry, "HUUUUUUMAAN!!!"

Ryu suddenly remembers that he forgot to check where the goblins were before he stood up. He turned around immediately and saw the 2 closest goblins rush at him. Luckily, the other 2 are at the opposite end of the tunnel. Ryu draws his sword with his left hand and runs forward. He aims the dagger at the goblin's eye, having learnt his lesson from his previous encounter. His dagger pierces the goblins eye, hits it’s brain and kills it instantly. The other goblin raises its sword and swings it at Ryu. Ryu brings up his sword and blocks the attack, not receiving as much damage as he had in the previous tunnel. He attacked the other goblin and and swung his sword and dagger at it. The sword hit the goblin’s sword and was knocked back. Unfortunately, he became unbalanced and hi dagger cut the goblin’s throat. The goblin did not die instantly and had enough power for one more attack. It swung its sword hard and sent Ryu tumbling away. Having used up the last of its strength, the goblin collapsed.

Ryu struggled up and saw the last two goblins approaching. He moved towards the 2 remaining goblins and stopped when he got to the dead goblins corpses. He quickly knelt down and picked up their two swords. As the goblins got closer, Ryu sheathed his dagger and held a sword in each hand. Once the goblins came within 5 feet of Ryu, he swung both swords at the goblins. The goblins dodged and swung their own swords at Ryu. However, what they didn’t expect was that Ryu actually released his grip on the swords, effectively throwing them at the goblins.

The goblins were sent flying back, but they were not injured badly. They recovered from their shock and rushed forward again. The goblin on his left side reached him first and swung its sword at him. Ryu used his dagger to block and thrust his sword into the goblin’s throat. The goblin gurgled something and the light in it’s eyes dimmed. The other goblin had reached Ryu by now and swung its sword at him. Ryu pulled on his sword to use it to block the goblin’s sword. But, the sword would not budge. Ryu turned his head and saw the goblin holding onto his sword with both arms and he could swear that the goblin sneered at him. Seeing this, Ryu shouted, "NO!"

Having no other choice, Ryu let go of his sword and jumped back. The remaining goblin shouted and ran towards him. Ryu gritted his teeth and decided that he couldn’t run away now. He moved forward while drawing his bokken. He thrust the dagger towards the goblin’s eyes while at the same time, swinging his bokken towards the goblins sword. However contrary to Ryu’s expectations, the goblin moved backwards and avoided both his dagger and bokken. As Ryu struggled to move backwards the goblin struck it’s sword at him. Ryu could only bend his body and avoid a fatal blow. The sword struck his side and cut deep. The sword cut all the way to his ribs.

Ryu screamed in pain, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Ryu screamed as the pain suddenly hit him. However not letting go of this chance, Ryu thrust his dagger into the goblin’s eye. The goblin managed to get his hand in the way and so the dagger only pierced its eye and did not kill it. The goblin shrieked in pain and moved away from Ryu. Ryu bent over and picked up a sword that the previous goblin was holding. The previous goblin had died by now and so Ryu was able to take back his sword. Ryu then looked at the goblin and rushed forward.

The goblin was still shaking in pain and the hatred in its eyes increased greatly. It also rushed forward and attacked Ryu. Ryu used his sword to block the goblin’s sword and thrust his dagger towards the goblin. However, the goblin managed to dodge and moved back. Ryu attacked again and this time his dagger managed to pierce the goblin’s chest.

Ryu shouted in joy, "YESSSSS!"

Suddenly the goblin grabbed Ryu’s hand and stabbed Ryu through the chest. Ryu screamed in pain, "I will not DIE!!"

However, reality did not conform to his expectations. His dagger did not managed to pierce the goblin’s heart and only managed to scratch it’s ribs. However the goblin’s sword pierced through Ryu’s chest and punctured one of his lungs. Ryu took in a deep breath and resolved himself, "If I am going to die then you are going down with me. DIE!!!!!!"

Ryu thrust his sword through the goblin’s eye. The goblin screeched and fell down dead. Ryu collapsed and watched as his whole world went dark. His vision went black and he thought to himself.

Ryu mumbled, "Sorry I couldn’t make it……… "

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Somewhere in pitch blackness a voice spoke out.

The second one from earlier said, "Hey look he died, should we kick him out?"

Hearing this, a different voice than before could be heard responding, "WHAAT? Already? Hmmm, didn’t we let the others live a couple times? Shouldn’t this one also be given the same chance?"

The second voice said, "Yeah, but eldest brother said that the test should be put on it’s ORIGINAL difficulty."

The third voice exclaimed, "WHAT!! But didn’t we agree to modify it a bit last time?"

The first voice said, "Yes we did."

!!!!!!!!!

The second figure said respectfully, "Eldest brother."

The first figure said, "However give this one another chance. Not all mortals are willing to stand in the face of death and resign themselves to it."

The second figure said, " As you wish Eldest brother."

The first figure said, "Next time we shall meet when he reaches the 2nd level."

Having said this, the first entity vanished. The second and third began to discuss in quiet voices.

The second figure was thinking, "Hmmm."

The third figure asked, "What’s wrong?"

The second figure voiced out his doubt, " Why did eldest brother seem so sure that this one would reach the 2nd level?'

The third figure shrugged, "Ehhh, who cares. I’m going back and gonna find something else to do. "

The second figure nodded, "Alright then."

The 3rd entity also vanished, though not as quickly as the first. The second one just sat there and did a few hand symbols before it also vanished.