Levi lay on the floor, panting for air, the corpse of the goblin not far away from him. Its face was completely messed up from the beating and the spear still remained stuck in its shoulder.
"Fuck…ing Hell"
He cursed the goblin as he struggled to stand, his right leg still numb from the paralysis poison- he hadn't noticed it due to the rush of adrenaline but now that he was calm - he realized that he could no longer feel his right leg.
"This is bad," he muttered, trying to stand with the wall's support.
"If I face another Essence Monster..."
He had somehow killed the goblin due to luck but he knew that it would definitely not end well if he met another essence monster.
But he couldn't dwell on it. He needed to keep moving. With a bit of struggle, he stood up.
First, he freed his spear from the goblin's shoulder, and then, without hesitation, he stabbed the goblin in the chest and reached inside with his hand.
After a few seconds of searching, he pulled out a small, blackish-looking stone from the goblin's corpse— It was the Demonic Essence Crystal.
"Got it," Levi said, inspecting the crystal.
Essence Monsters like this goblin carried these crystals, which contained their corrupted essence. Humans couldn't use them directly, but at altars, they could be purified and used to enhance power.
Even though purification would lead to losing most of the essence energy, it was safer than using it raw, which would cause demonic energy to rampage inside the body of the user.
Levi pocketed the crystal after cleaning the blood on it with his shirt. He didn't have a way to use it now, but it could be valuable later. Many rich people would spend a lot of money just to buy a few essence crystals and increase their power.
Nonetheless, pushing those thoughts aside for now, he moved forward, dragging his right leg.
***
As Levi was moving through the maze, trying to find the exist. He suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Should I just use it?"
Levi recognized the voice and without even seeing, he understood what was happening.
The fat boy had the magical bell!
He carefully approached, moving closely along the wall without making any noise, and observed - Seeing if the tall boy was with him. But noticing that the fat boy was alone and even injured - Levi had a daring thought!
'It's not impossible.'
He thought for a moment and then, without hesitation, stepped forward from the darkness.
"So, you are the one who has the bell," Levi said with a menacing smile.
The fat boy jumped, taken aback, and quickly hid the bell in his pocket. "You! You commoner!"
Levi was getting tired of hearing the same words from him to the point that he was no longer offended.
With narrowed eyes, Levi directly revealed his intention. "Hand over the bell."
It was a daring thing to say—especially when you are just a slum boy and your opponent has been trained in schools to fight monsters. But Levi decided to take this gamble for two reasons.
First, the fat boy was injured. Like Levi, he seemed to have stepped on a trap and was limping. Though Levi was also in a similar condition, the fat boy's situation was worse because of his body proportions.
Secondly, it was because of his weapon. The fat boy used a bow, which could have been very advantageous if they were hunting a monster or if someone was protecting him, but being alone, there was hardly anything he could do with a bow.
But the fat boy didn't seem to understand that.
"Why should I?" he retorted. "You filthy commoner dare command me? Do you think I don't see you're injured?"
The fat boy had also noticed Levi's leg and realized that his right leg had been paralyzed. More than that, his pride wouldn't allow him to follow the commoner's words.
Levi, however, tightened his grip on the spear. "I'm warning you one last time. Hand it over."
The fat boy smirked, stepping back and reaching for his weapon. "Go fuck yourself!"
In a flash, the fat boy drew his bow and nocked an arrow. Levi, expecting this, deflected the shot with his spear, but his injured leg buckled, and he fell to one knee.
"Got you now!" the fat boy sneered, drawing another arrow and aiming for Levi's neck.
However, Levi rolled to the side, barely avoiding the arrow, and threw something at the fat boy's leg. It was the demonic crystal! The crystal hit the fat boy's other leg, making him stumble.
Seizing the moment, Levi pushed himself up with the spear and charged. The fat boy was not a pushover. He dodged and slashed at Levi's side with an arrow, grazing his ribs. Levi winced but didn't back down. He feinted with the spear, then punched the fat boy in the face, sending him reeling.
"You're dead!" the fat boy yelled, wiping blood from his nose. He rushed at Levi again, this time with his bow raised to strike.
Levi parried the bow with his spear and kicked the fat boy's knee, making him collapse. The bow fell from his grasp. Levi knocked the arrow out of his hand and pressed the spear tip to his throat.
"Give up and hand over the bell," Levi demanded.
"In your dreams!" The fat boy spat at Levi and tried to grab the spear, but Levi thrust it forward, piercing his throat.
The fat boy's eyes widened in shock. He gurgled, blood pouring from his mouth, and then fell limp.
Levi pulled out the spear and took a deep breath. "I warned you," he said softly, looking down at the fat boy's body.
This was the second time he was killing someone and just as he thought—it didn't feel good at all!
---***---
Lore Snippet 06 - Demonic Essence Crystal
A Demonic Essence Crystal is a stone that contains the essence of a monster, but it is corrupted by demonic energy. These crystals are very dangerous to use in their raw form, as the demonic energy can cause havoc within the human body. However, they can be purified at altars, allowing humans to absorb and increase their own essence. Demonic Essence Crystals are highly valued by humans. The higher the rank of the crystal, the larger its size and the more valuable it becomes.
[You have killed an ordinary human - Naaji Nason]
Levi looked down at the corpse with cold eyes as he heard the message of Providence. The fat boy had a hole pierced through his neck, his face frozen in shock. Blood still poured from the wound, and soon, the smell would attract nearby monsters.
Levi felt nothing as he watched his fellow team member's death. He wasn't new to seeing blood, and he wasn't new to killing either. His first kill had taken much more effort, and the mental trauma from that time still lingered.
Strangely, Levi didn't even feel sorry for the fat boy. He knew that if he hadn't killed him, he would be the one lying there instead.
"Rest well in Paradise," he said before moving to check the body. Since the boy was already dead, it wouldn't hurt to take any belongings he might have. Unfortunately, Levi found nothing but a bow, arrows, a ring, and a bell with runes carved on it. As he inspected the items, descriptions related to them popped up.
-----------[Path Finder]------------
Type: Artifact
Rank: Spirit
Description: A wondrous artifact that will show the way toward a set target.
-----------[Path Finder]------------
-----------[Spatial Storage]------------
Type: Artifact
Rank: Earthly
Description: An artifact that can store things - Locked.
-----------[Spatial Storage]------------
The description of the bell surprised him. Even knowing its functionalities, he hadn't expected it to be of Spirit rank.
'Seems like the bell is not so normal as the description says.'
Levi thought, sure that the bell hid some amazing abilities.
Since he couldn't do anything about it, he turned towards the ring. As it turned out, the ring was a spatial artifact although of earthly rank, but it was still valueable.
The problem however was that the ring was locked! Storage artifacts like this bind themselves to their owners, but it wasn't like there was no way to unlock it. Special magical runes can unlock them only that Levi had no means to unlock it now.
Deciding to keep it for now, Levi pocketed the ring along with the essence crystal and decided to leave behind the bow and arrows. He had no use for them and if he happened to meet the tall boy then that would surely be dangerous, as the tall boy would instantly realize that he had the bell.
Anyway, after taking everything he needed, Levi finally looked at the bell.
"What should I do with this?"
He had two options: ring the bell and risk danger, or leave everything to luck and move forward.
Considering his current state— with a paralyzed leg, blood dripping from multiple wounds, and an exhausted body—ringing the bell would be nothing but suicide.
So, he chose the only option left.
To leave everything to luck and move forward!
***
Two hours passed.
Levi had still not found the exit or any clues that might lead him out. He had encountered some ordinary monsters along the way, barely defeating them, but with every step, he was slowly reaching his limit.
His stomach grumbled so loudly that he could hear it scream. He wasn't a stranger to hunger, so he could hold on somehow. But the bigger problem was his blood loss. He had lost too much blood that he was getting dizzier with every movement. If he didn't find the exit soon, he might die in the maze.
"I will not give up… I will surely make a contract with the god."
The Lord of Smoking Mirrors. He didn't know which god it was, but since the trial was this hard, he was sure that the contract with the god would also reveal incredible rewards.
"Huff… Just a bit more… for my future."
Holding on by motivating himself, Levi moved, using his spear as support. And right in front of him was another dead end.
"Damn it!"
He cursed aloud, supporting himself against the opposite wall. His frustration had reached its peak, and he was on the verge of a breakdown.
He no longer remembered how many dead ends he had encountered. He was just moving ahead, sticking to one side of the wall. He didn't know how long it would take to find an exit this way but he surely knew that he didn't have much time.
Nonetheless, as Levi turned at the side of the wall, he suddenly came face to face with something unexpected!
In front of him sat the tall boy, cross-legged, his eyes now wide open, staring at Levi.
"You look terrible," the tall boy said, watching Levi from head to toe.
'Fuck my luck,' Levi cursed inside, trying to stay calm. He looked at the tall boy to see if he was exhausted or injured but luck wasn't on his side this time.
"And you look surprisingly fine."
Unlike Levi, who was in terrible shape, the tall boy barely had any injuries. His breath was calm, and his weapon—the axe—was sitting right by his side. It seemed as if he had been sitting there for hours.
They exchanged looks for a few seconds before the tall boy spoke again.
"I don't like talking in circles, so let's cut to the chase. Do you have the bell?"
His gaze was cold and menacing. Levi, however, didn't show any emotion and simply signed with empty hands.
"Does it seem like I would suffer this much if I had the bell?"
He lied. The tall boy didn't know who had the bell, so Levi took the risk and lied, hoping to make him think the fat boy had it. But the tall one was not as foolish as he thought.
"That indeed seems to be the case. However… that is even more suspicious," he said, taking the axe in his hands.
"You can check me if you want—I would have long used the bell if it was with me."
Once again, Levi lied through his teeth. It was almost believable, as he didn't show a bit of frustration. However, his words didn't seem to convince the tall boy.
"It's fine even if you don't have the bell," the tall boy said, getting up. "It just so happens that I need a spear."
From the start, he had no intention of sparing Levi.
---***---
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