"And then, the portal opened. Hell broke loose, almost felt like they genuinely tried to hurt me, if it wasn't for Sunder…"
He looked down at his mark, then at her.
She was walking alongside him, a behavior completely new for her, as she usually walked behind.
She was even a step ahead, her eyes always searching for his, especially as he talked.
The way she walked in a straight line without breaking eye contact was a wonder to him.
The path kept creating itself before them, as they walked over a void extending what must've been kilometers below.
Chunks of stone kept appearing, the path rapidly matching their speed as they walked toward a platform.
"I'm not too sure how to take this whole thing. We'll see once I'm out."
He then quickly added, "once we're out."
He laid a hand on her shoulder, while looking ahead.
She was hard to read, but not that alien. She didn't seem to mind being touched, he could pat her head, or grab her shoulder and receive no reactions.
The only thing he needed to be careful of, was reaching for the mask.
She had found a way to hold it at her belt, on the opposite side of him.
Alexander cleared his throat.
"We'll skip platforms. We'll go for the third before last, it would give us two platforms to test my spells."
He felt tugging on his sleeve.
Looking down, he could see she was lightly pulling.
"What?"
He raised his arm, he was holding the short sword.
She raised her opened hand palm up, her gaze focused on the sword.
"You want the sword?"
She didn't answer, but didn't move either.
Alexander scratched his head with his other hand.
I do have spells that could be helpful, there's no harm in seeing what she's capable of.
He put the sword in her hand, which she tightly clutched the moment she received it.
They must've been a quarter of the way toward the platform they were going for.
"This place is way too big. And goes too deep…"
He glanced down once more, that same pull was still there, faint but insistent.
His constant headache was back, pain he could withstand with ease. The contrast from being pain-free in the sanctuary did make the experience less pleasant.
"I always wanted an adventure like this one."
He could feel her gaze. It was hard to find topics to talk about, and impossible to tell if it was interesting.
"My father was a Dungeon Runner. He was quite the failure, honestly. Since my mom died, what he did couldn't be considered 'living'. Once he became a Dungeon Runner, it all changed."
Remembering the last decade of his life brought slight sadness to his tone.
"Not only was he sober, he was actually accomplishing things. People looked up to him, respected him. People counted on him. He wasn't home anymore, always out on missions. He hadn't left home in forever."
He shook his head, while chuckling to himself.
He remembered how his father would say there was nothing for him, outside.
"People looked down on how he handled my mother's death, and praised me, but truthfully I was doing no better. I spent most of my time playing games, working part-time to pay the bills. Hell, I was playing with my father, gaming our days away while we tried to forget. We just lived in the moment. We were two failures."
The negativity coming out of his own mouth was harsh to hear. Something he had never said out loud, even to himself.
"Don't worry," he added, patting her head.
They walked for what felt like hours, his legs handling the workout quite well.
There was a number of things he didn't know, one of them was how stats worked.
His profile showed no stats, it was impossible to see how he was affected by his class. Some people grew stronger, while others were quicker, so they did have some degree of influence.
Not only the 'typical' stats didn't appear, such as strength or dexterity, but so didn't mana and health points.
The way his vision and perception of reality fractured when he hit his limit could've been an indicator.
"We're almost there," said Alexander, out loud.
The platform was nearby, he could see the silhouettes drawing themselves against the background, thanks to his [ Darkness ] skill.
They slowed their pace, as they advanced as silently as they could considering the noise the stone bridge itself made.
The silhouettes turned into more goblins, something he did expect.
They all had the same greenish white skin, some of them with white facial hair which was a trait the first one didn't have.
"There's three of them. With my [ Witness of All Paths ], I think I should be fine dodging their attacks. Be careful, I can't guarantee that I can save you."
Her gaze finally broke away from his. She turned to the goblins.
Slowly, they reached the platform.
Quietly, they stepped onto it, the three goblins trotting in the middle completely unaware.
The platform was a sort of circle, with rough edges that looked slightly more like a square.
The three enemies all held weapons, three swords.
He inhaled.
Then exhaled.
His iris was overwhelmed by darkness.
Once the darkness reached its peak, it slowly turned into that cross, where the horizontal line grew larger.
The moment it did, it felt as if time slowed.
And now.
Alexander concentrated on his spell in the 'Fragments' category.
[ Reach Beyond ]
He extended his arm forward.
His gaze was dead-center on the nearest goblin.
Out of its chest, a hole opened in the same fashion an eye would.
No eye appeared, however. Out of that darkness, a tendril came out.
It stretched out, quickly heading up and swirling around its neck.
Its grip was tight, like a snake around its prey. The goblin let his sword fall, using both hands to try and take the tendril off its neck.
The control…
He could feel the tendril, its strength, its movement. It was almost an extension of himself. He could 'feel' as the goblin desperately clawed at it, trying to undo it.
Its shrieks and squirming alerted the others, who tried their best to help him, yet unable to.
Alexander slowly clutched his hand, the tendril's grasp tightening, until one loud 'crack' sound resounded.
As its neck snapped, it dropped to both knees and fell face forward on the stone.
Alexander stumbled forward, stepping forward to catch himself from falling.
He grabbed his own head, his eyes looking at the ground.
He could feel it coming, the fracture, as his vision started fissuring.
There's two more…
He looked up slowly.
Fae, who crept along the edge of the platform, had both goblins turned toward her.
She froze like a statue made of porcelain for what felt like a breath's moment.
They both started running toward her, screaming.
She moved faster than they could comprehend.
She was extremely graceful, every step she made looked as if she was floating, her clothes seemingly floating with her.
She was quick, in less than a second, she went from the edge to the middle.
The way she held the sword looked like it floated with her, as if they danced together.
She didn't smash the sword into them, didn't even swing it. It followed her movements, like an echo of her grace, rising and falling like a current.
Alexander raised both eyebrows, slowly letting go of his spell that kept fracturing his vision.
The goblin's neck weren't cleanly cut, but a heavy amount of blood was coming out of them.
She slowly approached them, as they held their wound with both hands, trying to keep the blood from pouring out.
In one slow move, she pushed the chipped sword through their chest, making them fall in one last shriek.
Her eyes instantly looked up left and right, almost panicked.
Until she found Alexander, bringing relief to her gaze.