Deep beneath the surface, in the depths of the ruins of the ancient city, on a isolated circular island connected to the main city of Ekeletas by a simple stairway, a large grey wolf raised its ear as it listened to the barely audible fighting coming from the floors above. The wolf looked up past the numerous platforms and cliffs at the area where the fighting is taking place. From here, the wolf could not see who was fighting, but having lived as long as he did, he had a general idea.

He yawned at the thought of Cleaver battling humans once again and laid his head down on his paws with its tail laying motionlessly behind him. Just like that, he sat there for a thousand years, guarding the arena behind him. He was fed by those Kobolds on the floors above, who brought him offerings in the form of food and drinks as if he was some sort of deity. He wasn't a deity. All that he was is only a loyal servant of his master.

The wolf raised its head and turned to look at the arena, and past the broken doors, it could see its master, standing there. The man in the suit of dark armor had been standing there for a thousand years, cursed by the darkness. This curse, led to his corruption, making him undying and undead. Despite the fact that he had been standing there in the center of the round arena for a thousand years, his skin was still as if he was alive. In fact, time itself appeared to have stopped for him, freezing his appearance.

The wolf whimpered as it laid its head down on his paws once again. He had only been a small little pup when he had met his master, and he had accompanied him since. He had been with his master through all his adventures, battling beside him. However now, with his master who voluntarily locked himself in the arena a thousand years ago, he had no where to go. The wolf doesn't want to go anywhere. It want's to guard its master. No matter how long it might take, but one day his master might just wake up again. These sort of hopes had allowed the big wolf to continue on its path of loyalty for the one thousand years.

However, the truth is there is just no sign of awakening on his master's part. Underneath the helmet, the man's eyelids remained shut despite the numerous years of slumber it had experienced. Despite this, the wolf remained. Even though it could've left this ruined city to venture the world, it decided to remain by its master's side, guarding it from those other humans with sharp metal.

The great, grey wolf yawned once again as the sound of fighting stopped from the above levels. He closed his eyelids and curled into a ball in order to prepare for a quick nap.

***

The tall Kobold panted as it eyed its motionless prey. The boy before him laid there limp. Blood and sweat had drenched his clothes, making it stick onto his body. After recovering from the battle, the Cleaver slowly walked over to him, dragging his crude, rusty weapon on the ground behind him, creating sparks as he moved.

When his dinner suddenly twitched its fingers, the Cleaver was caught off guard. It immediately backed up, bringing its weapon before him and in position to attack the struggling prey. Its eyes was fixated on the human, observing it with caution as it slowly rose once again, beaten and battered by the fighting they had engaged in. However, despite this, the human rose once again, as if nothing had happened. In addition, the Cleaver felt a fire burning within the human.

The Cleaver was cautious. It had survived numerous fights with humans and other Kobolds, earning it the title of the ruler of the ruins of Ekelestas, or at least the upper levels of the ruined city with the lower levels being the territory of the great grey wolf. However, on the upper levels, the Cleaver had faced off against numerous opponents, from other parties of humans to other Kobolds that challenged his position. The scars on its body serves as evidence of his numerous fights. However, because he is a seasoned veteran, he was extremely cautious. It was this cautiousness that had enabled it to survive until now, and this same cautiousness along with his survival instincts warned him of the human before him.

Damn this hurts, Loganel thought, slowly rising from the ground.

He grunted as the pain from within his body tortured him. Like a chain and shackle, it restrained his movements, limiting him to the slow and careful maneuvers.

Why am I getting back up? Why? Oh right, that dream...Where was that? That place seemed so familiar...Did I forget something?

A sense of irritation and annoyance burned within Loganel. It made him uncomfortable, which made him slowly lose his temper.

This feeling sucks...Look what you've made me experience. How will you pay for it? You look stupid as hell...Stop staring at me. I'll make you pay for what you've made me seen. You are the source of this irritation and if killing you will stop it then so be it.

I will kill you.

Loganel steadied himself, and then reached his hand to the handle of the small knife that he buckled to his belt.

This is my only weapon. How do I kill him?

Loganel carefully observed the Cleaver, scanning for weaknesses and anything he could use to weaken it.

There it is. Loganel smiled as his eyes came across the large, rusty cleaver that the Kobold was wielding. That should do the trick.

Slowly, Loganel began walking towards the Cleaver. Initially, his steps were wobbly. However, once he started accelerating, he gradually regained his balance.

In response of the Kobold's raised cleaver, Loganel sidestepped the punishing slam of the metal against the stone brick floor. He then lunged onto the arm of the big Kobold, grabbing on to its fur to stay on. Then, he pulled itself closer to the monster's face, and unleashed a spark of fire in its face by unleashing some fire element mana.

With the Kobold temporarily rearing from the surprising and sudden ember, Loganel hopped off of the Kobold's arm and landed near it. He then used his whole upper body strength to stab the blade of his knife into the Cleaver's wrist, forcing it to release the large cleaver that it used as a weapon.

Then, seeing that the Kobold has slowly regained its composure, Loganel decided that he needed a bit more time on his end if he were to be able to successfully kill the monster. Therefore, he concentrated electrical mana into his palms and brought it to the creatures fur, stunning it with electricity, causing the air to be filled with the unpleasant smell of burnt fur.

With the extra time he had earned for himself, Loganel picked up the large cleaver with both hands. The heavy blade caused a humongous strain on his shoulders, but he didn't care. All that mattered to him was ending the life of the beast before him. The beast had made him irritated, made him see things that he did not remember.

Loganel used all the strength left in his body to bring the cleaver up into the air and brought it down on the Cleaver's wrist, severing it from the Kobold's body and allowing it to bounce away as it landed on the floor, leaving trails of blood as it went. Fresh blood also sprouted from the fresh wound on the Cleaver's wrist. Its loud howls of pain caused the whole underground city to shake and vibrate. The sound hurt Loganel's ear drums, but he didn't care. He wanted the Cleaver to die. That is all he focused on.

Next, Loganel brought the cleaver up into the air once again and allowed it to drop on the Cleaver's head. The weight of the heavy lump of metal delivered a blunt impact to the Kobold's brain, leaving it dazed and confused. Loganel took advantage of this opening and jabbed his knife into the left eye of the Kobold, piercing the soft round ball and digging into the Kobold's brain.

The struggling body of the Kobold as it reacted to the pain merely made the pain that it experienced even more agonizing as the knife moved around in its eye socket and making contact with the bones and other tissue. Loganel held his breath as he forced the knife deeper into the Kobold's brain, and scrambling it around. He could feel the Cleaver's brain giving away as the knife's blade sliced it and mixed the mush around within the Cleaver's skull. Gradually, the Cleaver's struggling ended, leaving behind a limp body deprived of any signs of life.

***

In the depths of the ancient city of Ekeletas, beyond the moss infested ruins of the area of the city where no Kobolds dwelled, beyond the great grey wolf, and behind the large, iron doors that led into the arena, a figure stood in the center of the circular arena. This man, dressed in a dark suit of armor, had stood there for a thousand years now, motionlessly as it awaited for something. This forgotten hero of history stood there, preserving his last bits of sanity as the darkness and abyss corrupts him. However, just as the last bit of humanity decayed, the face underneath the helmet smiled, lifting the corner of his lips ever so slightly.

The great grey wolf immediately raised its head and turned to face its master. The wolf stared at the figure of his master in disbelief. It had felt the movement of his master's lips from the slight shift in the circulation of air.

With ears pointing up and tail wagging rapidly, the wolf approached the tall, iron doors of the arena and peered through the broken sections of the door at its master. The wolf barked in a joyful way as it anticipated its master's return.

It waited...and waited...and waited...There was no reply. Therefore, the great grey wolf barked once again, wagging its tail even harder in hopes that this gesture would awaken its master. After a few minutes, its ears and tails drooped down once again as it realized that its efforts were futile and that its master still showed no sign of waking.

However, having lived for as long as he did, the great grey wolf knows that someone had caused the sudden change in his master. The great grey wolf walked over to the stairway and sniffed the air. It concluded that the large Kobold that terrorized the upper floor had been slayed. And the one who had slayed him, it was the same human that the great grey wolf had concluded to be dead earlier. For some reason, the wolf felt that human is the key.

***

Loganel swayed as his strength was drained from his body. His legs felt like rubber and could no longer support his body weight, causing him to fall down face facing up. From here, Loganel could see past the upper level floors and at the shining crystals up above.

Weird. There's a hint of blue in there. That blue is like the color of the sky...

Suddenly, the light was blocked by something moving rapidly towards him. This object shouted in terror as it fell towards him. With a loud crash, the object landed, and to Loganel's dismay, it was a human boy around his age.

This boy had dark brown hair and facial features foreign to Loganel. However, Loganel felt that this boy isn't simple since he had survived a long fall with barely any bruises. From the corner of his eye, Loganel observed the boy, who panicked as he looked around until he finally discovered Loganel's body laying there.

"Hey!" Loganel heard the boy shout, "Are you alright? Where is this place? Where am I?"

Loganel tried to open his mouth and respond, but he was too tired to do so. His vision had started to blur and the boy's voice was becoming more and more distant. It continued until the world around Loganel became dark and the sound was no longer audible.

Author's Note:

Please vote if you've enjoyed. Sorry for not posting new chapters that past few days since it is near finals week.

Also, since this book's progress is so much more behind than my other book, I might post more on this book.