The scene with Nick fighting Rasheek played through my mind over and over. “Do you desire power?” A black mist swallowed the scene, I was standing in darkness.

“Who’s there?” I called out, there was no reply. I looked around, but there was no one around. Sigh

“You are in Danger, Dante,” a raspy voice called out to me again. This voice… is familiar. I call back my memories and think. The black figure who sent me here…

“What do you want with me?” I was confused.

A pain shot through my back and chest, What’s going on? I can’t see!

I collapsed from the pain, heaving in agony. Sweat dripped from my brow, the air was getting heavier.

“Dante,” a voice rang in my ears, my vision cleared. I was laying on sand, looking up I saw Fang and everyone else in the group. I patted my chest, there was no wound. Huh? Weird.

I sat up and looked around. Nick was being held up by james, he looked like he was in pain. Elizabeth was smiling, and James looked disgusted with me still…

Fang and his group were staring. “When are you going to get up?” Fang said with a straight face.

“Oh.. My bad,” I stood up, but stumbled a bit.

“Are you okay?” Elizabeth’s smile disappeared and she looked a little worried.

“Of course he’s okay, he’s just trying to get you guys to feel bad for him!” James yelled.

“Shut up, James,” Nick began to cough.

“Nick, you shouldn’t have used that skill. You know they told us not to in training,” James sighed.

“It was a last resort, wasn’t it? It was do or die,” Nick laughed.

“Enough. We need to check our group’s status and get out of this dungeon. This trip has been odd, there are things happening that shouldn’t,” Fang looked towards the next gate, “Strange.” One word was enough.

Putting my hand on my chest, I pulled out my ID Card.

ID CARDName:DanteRace:HumanHealth:500/500MP:300/300Alignment:NeutralEXP:85%Class:HeroLevel:9StatsStrength41Intelligence36Endurance28 (+8[36])Magic32Agility34Luck1Active SkillsBall of Light - (5 MP) : a ball of light is casted upon the area where the user resides lighting up the area around him.Passive SkillsA Hero’s blessing: Since you are a hero, you have a 25% experience boost.

Matching Armor Bonus: 1+ Endurance for wearing four pieces of the same armor.EquipmentApprentice Leather Helmet:

1 Endurance

Apprentice Leather Vest:

3 Endurance

Apprentice Leather Leggings:

2 Endurance

Apprentice Leather Boots:

1 Endurance

Wow, My level has gone up a lot! It must have been because of the fight.

“Dante, catch.” Nick tossed an object towards me.

Catching it, I noticed it was a dagger. The hilt was a skull, and the scabbard was dark and felt as if it was absorbing the surrounding light. It had an eerie feel to it.

“Haha, he got the worst drop!” James was laughing.

“Well, he wouldn’t be able to use the other stuff,” Nick sighed.

I swiped my hand over the dagger.

IdentificationWeapon Name: HarvesterType: ArtifactAttack Damage5 - 6This weapon, lasting for centuries, has gained some history. No one knows where it came from, and no one understands what it was used for.

Elizabeth was smiling, “Maybe some museum will give a lot of money for it!”

I sighed, “I guess I could try that.” I strapped the scabbard to my waist.

“Are you all ready to go yet?” Fang sounded upset, we didn’t even take that long?

Once again, we set off, but this time going back towards the surface through the darkness.

“God dammit! Why couldn’t we have just waited till morning to set out!” James whined.

A orb of light flew out from my hand and rose to about head level. The light spread out and covered the surroundings.

James looked toward me, “…”

-----------------

We walked through the darkness of the desert, the only light came from the orb of light that I had used earlier. Only what was near our group was visible. Fang and the other guards walked forward without a problem, they looked as if the chilling wind that swept over us was not even present.

“How far away are we from the gate back?” Nick asked.

“Not that far, it’s right up ahead,” Fang replied.

We walked a little while longer and found the gate, we all went through easily, eager to get back to the seventh floor. We continued through the gate, plopping out at the other side onto the seventh floor.

It was still dark out, but the seventh floor still looked a lot better than the desert after all that had happened. The moon on this floor covered the area, shadows casted down from the trees. The surroundings were illuminated from the orb of light that I casted earlier, it followed through the gate.

“If we keep it at this pace, we should arrive at the fourth floor in two hours or so.” Fang continued marching forward and we followed behind. I glanced back at the gate, it felt as if someone had been watching us. I couldn’t shake off the feeling. Oh well, it’s probably nothing.

-----

The sixth floor went easily, Fang and his group rushed at any incoming monsters that dared to attack us and put them down quickly.

As soon as we all arrived on the fifth floor, a spear shrouded by a red mist slammed into Fang’s blade. He parried it to the side, and it slammed into the ground. A cloaked figure stepped from the darkness towards our group. The guards pulled their blades, but this time they didn’t seem so confident. The spear that was sticking in the ground disappeared, and reappeared above the cloaked figure.

“Well, it seems that the fun and games are over,” the voice travelled through our minds.

“Why are you here?” Fang was angry.

“Well, we heard that you little humans were producing some heroes,” a laugh erupted from under the cloak, “I didn’t know that they were going to be so weak!”

“What do you mean we are weak?!” James yelled, he was furious. Everyone at the palace had looked up to him and Nick like they were angels that were given to them by their goddess.

The cloak was shifted down, revealing fiery skin , white eyes and grey, ashen hair. A Demon?

“I came to check for our Demon King, but you seem to be quite lacking in combat ability. You had to to even kill such a little wurm,” he chuckled.

Our group stayed silent, the only noise was the shifting of weapons coming out.

“Well, you wish to still fight even though our difference in power?” the demon growled, “So be it!”

“Escape,” The last words from Fang floated through our ears. A quick battle came about our vision, Fang shot out first with his broadsword in hand. The other guards followed suit and came in from the other directions.

“Foolishness!” the demon shouted, and a red mist covered him and the surrounding area. The guards that could step back did, but one guard fell into the mist and a scream erupted from his last moments. All that was left was a pool of blood.

“Tsk…” Fang looked at the pool of blood. If Fang was above level 50, what level was this Demon?!

I looked at the other heroes, their faces were pale. Shit, we have to escape like Fang said.

“Elizabeth, give us all buffs,” Nick said.

“Yes!” Elizabeth was shaken, shortly afterward we were all buffed by . Power coursed through my body, and my muscles tightened with strength. Fang looked towards our group and nodded. Without a moment more, we shot towards the right side of the battle.

The demon noticed this, “Trying to escape? Hmph.” He motioned with his left arm and the spear shot out towards us.

Fang noticed this and jumped towards us, the other three guards went in for close combat. Fang smashed the spear into the ground using the brute force of his broadsword.

“This is for Peter!” one of the guards yelled out raising his broadsword, but he was thrown away like a doll with a kick.

“You ants are really getting annoying,” we turned around to see the demon one last time before we ran through the tunnels of the fifth floor.

****************

Hello, once again and thanks for reading! This chapter was pretty interesting to write, hope you find it the same :d

Also a thanks for Son of Kasei for editing!