Having slept for longer than it could remember, the object that was once known as the door of souls by those in the know had awoken. In front of the old relic stood a young woman with dark brown hair and green eyes, covered in rags. In her hand was a mana crystal offering light to the otherwise dark hallway. She didn't look particularly strong to its perceptive gaze, but the being could sense something amiss in her.

Not that this bothered the door, whose last master had granted it the name Solus. It had been an extremely long time since anyone had graced it with their presence. Even longer since that person had been unaccompanied by another. Solus thought that the entire world knew of its power and that's why they now kept to themselves. Being beyond the scope of what others can understand, had somehow led the old door down the path of egomania. What other trait could the strange relic have picked up when the purpose of its entire being was and still is to prevent the unworthy from entering.

What lay behind Solus was probably not what the expectant girl before the door was looking for, but that didn't matter to old and hungry being. It would devour her soul with lightning as it had done to many others before her.

Performing a telepathic connection as she laid hands of the wood, Solus asked the girl the same question that it had asked so many others before her in what felt like a millenia ago to the aged magical soul. Laughing inwardly the door could barely contain its excitement. Solus could attack without her consent, but its old master had been a generous soul and some of that had rubbed off onto the old door. She responded telepathically, although Solus wasn't sure she even knew of the connection between the two of them as she spoke directly straight after. Still Solus asked again, still happy to wait and welcome her life force if she offered it.

The girl debated with herself for a moment. Solus watched and waited in baited anticipation, hoping she wouldn't leave. She was the first person to appear before it for quite some time. The slumber Solus had fallen into almost felt as though it would have lasted forever if left undisturbed. To Solus' glee, the girl finally accepted her death.

'Time to feast.' Solus thought and let his power run through her like wildfire absorbing everything he could. Once Solus was finished, it was apparent the girl wasn't very strong. Not that she didn't taste good, not that what Solus classed as taste was the same as what a human would define it to be, it just found her to be lacking.

Loosing interest and dismissing the possibilty that she would ever get passed it, even though she had arisen from death by her own mysterious means, and before itself no less, Solus shut its doors with a mighty bang and laughed the girl away after cutting the telepathic connection between them. The power it acquired from her was enough to rouse its face from its dormant state at least.

'She could have been bigger,' were Solus' thought as she turned the bend and moved out of its sight. 'I'm hungry after that.'

𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙𐄁𐄙

In front of the fountain that held the waters of sin, sweat dropped of Sarah as she held her position just above the stone floor. She had been experimenting with stat points again and had decided to test endurance by seeing how long she could plank for. With her hands flat on the ground and her body at the lowest point of a press up, the lost Lance Corporal opens her eyes.

'I've been holding this position for almost two hours now. If my timekeeping's correct that is. That's really good considering I'm only just starting to feel the burn kicking in. These stat points are something else. It's like I'm improving without actually having to do the work. The forces could do with these. But still, there's nothing wrong with actually putting in some effort.' After brushing herself off from the floor, Sarah took a large drink from the fountain and caught a glimpse of her sad-looking reflection before the light blue water rippled from her touch. 'The waters of sin, eh? What am I going to do when I go through that stupid door? It's not like I can take you with me.'

[You have drank from the water of sin. HP, MP and Stamina recovery are increased by 500% for the next 2 hours.]

Sarah thought about stag duty, but chalked it up as a wasted effort seeing as she was all alone. Instead, she decided to rest for a while. Sarah sat down and leant against the fountain. She closed her eyes and a dreamless sleep soon claimed her consciousness.

When she awoke, Sarah's mouth was dry and her back was stiff. Not as much as it usually would from a night sleeping against a wall, but enough to still feel it after getting up and stretching off. 'Maybe another five points in Endurance would sort that out.'

Sarah laughed at the absurd, yet undeniable, existence of skill points before she took another drink from the even absurder fountain. The magic water quenched her thirst and rejuvenated instantly. Sarah grimaced at her rough-looking reflection before giving the room another once over. She then let out a sigh because everything was the same.

With nothing else to do and time to kill, Sarah sat back down. With no desire to sleep any longer, she decided to give the whole status thing a good read. She needed to do something to pass the time. Doing just that, the Lance Corporal read the descriptions of her title and skills again. She didn't stop there, however, and continued to uncover more information that she otherwise wouldn't have known. Everything she could find had some type of information attached to it, even her name and empty class.

[Name: Sarah-Jane Kemp]

- The name given to her by the orphanage. She was abandoned at birth.

[Class: None]

- Classes are a reflection of who you are and what you do. Upon reaching level 100 in your main class, a subclass can then be accepted. Once a class has been mastered all skills that have achieved mastery can be used even if the class is switched.

Most of the descriptions were easily understandable, but their meanings still eluded her. 'How am I supposed to know what a subclass is when I don't even have a main class?' She thought after reading the class description. Subclass didn't come up on her status probably due to her lack of having the primary option. Some descriptions were a bit off and some where oddly mystical.

[Stamina]

- The rate at which you run out of energy. The more you have the longer you can last. Putting in more effort means you will exhaust your reserves faster. At your age, you should be able to do more. Get fit.

[Magic]

-The essence of creation and the elements of the world dwell inside all living creatures. Even you. Mastery of the elements is not an easy undertaking and only the thoroughly prepared will have any chance of grasping its secrets.

Some weren't too bad and could even be classed as inspiring or flattering.

[Endurance]

Every additional point increases the amount of damage you're able to endure. Strive to be Unmovable!

[Strength]

Every additional point increases the value of your own physical attacks. This means you do more damage, go you. Have you been working out?

'Or really cheesy catchphrases. Dorks!'

She guessed those two descriptions were down to the extra five points she had invested in them earlier.

Sarah was able to judge the concept of time by the cool down on her Immortality skill. Apparently, she had eight hours left to kill even after meticulously reading through her status menu twice.

"This shit blows!" Sarah, no longer afraid that anyone was lurking in her would-be prison cells, shouted out in frustration. With nothing in any of the rooms, except the one guarded by the talking murder door, Sarah was truly at a loss for something to do.

'Might as well work out for a few hours again. Training is never a bad idea.' She began stretching. First her legs, then her arms and lastly her core. Feeling the soft tingling sensation of nerves stretching, Sarah held each position for ten seconds. She then repeated the same movement on the opposite side before shaking it off. "Right, here we go!"

Full of determination - and a great deal of boredom, Sarah began jogging around the small room setting a steady pace. She always enjoyed getting a few miles in before starting a proper workout and with her pulse elevated to a higher level, it was guaranteed to be a good one. She always felt the burn after one of her sessions.

Sarah ran for over an hour without even realising it. Increasing and decreasing her pace as she pleased, the new-found endurance was something worth enjoying. Realising the benefits of what just a few points in Endurance could do for her, she kept going to her hearts content. Sarah ended up making good use of the corridors as well albeit only after getting slightly dizzy from going round the fountain in circles.

'Why did I think that was a good idea?'

As soon as she felt like she had done enough running, Sarah jumped straight into a full body workout. She managed to make good use of the fountain as well for her tricep dips and elevated press ups. With limited options due to lack of equipment, Sarah stuck to the basics. Press ups, sit ups, tricep dips, burpees and squats were what she used to strengthen her body.

Four hours later and Sarah was exhausted. Her efforts were not in vain, however, as she had earned a skill point in both strength and endurance.

'Is that because of how hard I trained?' she mentally panted.

[You have pushed past your limits. +1 Strength and +1 Endurance.]

'This place is weird. Kind of cool, pretty lonely and very fucking weird.' Sarah stood up and her belly began to rumble. The fact that she was only just now getting hungry after arriving many hours ago and working out for a longer period of time than usual was quite shocking to say the least. The woman who was openly called a glutton back on base by the other soldiers hadn't eaten in over 20 hours.

The small girl with dark brown hair who confidently stood tall at 5'2 was known to make her way through three full servings at meal times without even breaking a sweat, even more if those meals were following a session of physical training.

With no food on her, or anywhere around for that matter, Sarah slumped down to the cold ground in dejection. She dreamt of kneeling down in front of the fire, the one behind the murder door, all while eating to her heart's content.

Waking up after unknowingly drifting off, Sarah was unsure how long she had been out. The cooldown for Immortality had passed and the countdown to her next death was over. 'This is gunna suck.'

Begrudgingly, Sarah dragged her feet down the corridor kicking non-existent stones all the way to what she hoped would be the last death of her life. Until she grew old and drifted off peacefully in her sleep that was.

'I fucking hate this place so much.' As she approached the door, which had assumed its original form, the criss-cross pattern and golden circles formed into the same face that laughed her away last time she was here.

"Back again, Demon?" Its golden lips still not matching the timing of its words.

"Who are you calling, Demon? I'm not the talking murder door. That would be you." Sarah responded, unsure if the creature even understood her sarcasm.

"I am far from such. I am a magical artifact and not such a lowly creature as you would suggest." The door sounds disgusted at her rebuttal that it itself was a demon.

"Whatever, that doesn't matter to me. Are we gonna do this or what?" Wanting the ordeal to be over with, so she could move on and hopefully never have to go through this experience again, Sarah tried to hurry the talkative object towards the obvious conclusion.

"You have more spirit this time I see. As such I will be considerate this time and only take your legs. What do you think of my price?" The offer slightly caught Sarah off guard. 'As much as I really, really don't want to die again, I'll never get through in time with no legs. It will close after a few seconds and laugh me off again. Not today pal.'

"That doesn't quite suit me. Why is the price lower today compared to yesterday?" Sarah was still unsure how the Immortality skill worked completely. The fact that it could bring her back to life was amazing, but she was worried that it might not work on just her legs alone. 'Even if it did, how long would they take to heal?'

"I do not mind taking all you have, especially if that is what you desire. I have heard that some demons even enjoy that type of activity."

'Got ya,' Sarah smiled. "Come on then. I bet I can get through that door this time before you close up, you crafty corridor blocker."

"How dare you! Someone like you has no chance of entering the sanctuary, not as long as I am here. I will destroy your body and soul now. You will not be able to use your demon magic this time beast!"

Time slowed down and Sarah wondered why nothing was happening, until she remembered that another one of her awkwardly-acquired skills was responsible. When time resumed its usual flow, Sarah's body was once again burned, charred and destroyed by the doors' crimson lightning. Which had been increased tenfold due to her mockery. She screamed through gritted teeth as her sight disappeared and her body followed shortly after. Disintegrating on the spot due to the over-charged attack from her infuriated opponent, there was nothing remaining on Lance Corporal Sarah-Jane Kemp.

As soon as the doors had opened fully, they immediately slammed shut. "Stupid automated functions," the relic grumbled to itself before thinking of the small demon from moments ago. "Showed her. Nobody calls me a corridor blocker! Bitch."