The Sword of The Past: 13

Blood and webs

No matter where I went, people looked at me with distrust in their eyes, like I was going to attack them any moment. I didn’t particularly mind it, but it was annoying. Especially when I went to a shop or to a blacksmith. Everyone would get quiet and still once they saw me.

It was fine, at least that was what I said to myself, but I knew I had no future in the Iron town anymore. That, too, was fine. I was planning to leave anyway. After I get something tangible of these ruins, I will be gone.

With those thoughts, I went inside the basement once again. After the floor with chests, I heard that a labyrinth lay ahead, but I couldn’t get more information about it. Nobody was willing to tell me about it, and I wasn’t shameless enough to demand them to tell me.

Passing through groups of hunters, I entered the labyrinth I had heard about. Just entering it, there were five paths to take. There was no way to know the right path, so I didn’t think about it much and went straight.

It was a mistake as I was at the dead-end after walking for half an hour and taking another two turns. Walking backward, I took another path and ended up against a wall. My luck was the worst, something that I knew long before. Still, it didn’t mean I would give up.

Thinking that the third time was a charm, I walked backward once more, but before I could reach the beginning of the Labyrinth, I was stopped by a party of hunters. They looked surprised at seeing me. From their expression, I could see they knew who I was.

“Isn’t this the hunter-killer?” One man of the party asked. He had a nasty scar on his cheek. That was as much as I will remember of the man.

“Isn’t he supposed to be a bronze rank? How could he kill Markus.” Another man, this time with a shaved head, asked.

“I heard it was because he had an artifact,” A short man commented.

“Are you done with this nonsense?” I asked. “If you not going to try and rob me, I would suggest for you to turn back.”

“Oh, look at this little bastard. He thinks we would be scared of him. Do you think we would just turn back because you said so?” The man with the scar asked.

“I think you should turn back because there is nothing but a dead-end in front of you.”

“If what you say is true, it is too bad for you. You see, we don’t like going back with nothing.”

I saw the scarred man reaching for his sword on the waist. I didn’t wait for him to draw his sword and stepped towards him, holding my palm at his face. I let him burn. The other two hunters seeing their friend being burned alive, rushed at me.

Jumping back, I drew my sword from the back and waited as a short man neared me. When he was in front of me, I swung my sword downward. He dodged it, but as my sword hits the ground, I let it go and drew my dagger. He didn’t see the dagger before It was embedded in his eye.

The third guy looked at his two fallen friends and at me. Without a word, he turned around and started to run. I was faster than him and caught up to him. He didn’t even try to defend himself as my sword crushed him.

After this ordeal, I already got tired. Even though they were silver rank, these guys were at the bottom. They could not compare to someone like Markus, who was trying to reach the Gold rank. Still, it was annoying. I knew more people would come seeking my artifact.

‘This is human nature, boy. Greed is what thrives people. They will ignore what harm they do to others, just to satisfy their desires.’

“I know that well enough,” I replied with a bitter smile.

In some ways, I was the same. I didn’t blame people for being human. As long as it doesn’t concern me, I don’t care. Looking at these fools laying dead on the ground, I burned their bodies to ashes after taking anything of value they had.

‘Soon, you won’t be able to ignore people like these. They will come for you for one reason or another. This is the path of the strong, annoying people who will come with their stupid beliefs to stop you with their flawed justice.’

“They will try, and they will fail.”

‘Yes, and afterward, they will proclaim you a demon to protect their own reputation.’

“A demon, a saint, it doesn’t matter what they call me. As long as I get to live as I want.”

I knew what the Heavenly Demon wanted to hear, so I said it. Even though there was truth in my words, I had no intention of walking the path of the strong. I will walk the path of the rich. I will enjoy the lavish life of the rich.

…

The labyrinth was confusing, to say at least. No matter where you go, the walls stay the same, floor and ceiling look the same. It was dark, yet I could still see like the darkness was just an illusion. For hours, I walked, yet I could not find any path leading to its ending. Now I couldn’t find the path leading to the beginning.

I had packed food and water, like always, but it only will last me for a week if I ration it smartly. This was some kind of trick. I know it is. Like the room with the chests, this was using some kind of illusion to make you more lost and disoriented.

The problem was that there was nothing I could think of doing even if I knew of it. So I walked and walked, leaving some bread crumbs or pieces of clothing at the turns where it led to the dead end. That was one thing I could do.

The other thing I did was train my control of the origin energy. I didn’t want to waste too much of my strength in training, so I trained in control. By now, I could coat my skin with origin energy. Strengthen my muscles and bones. Now I should learn how warm myself with the energy.

It requires great control to do so without harming myself. It is a great skill to know of. It could save your life in the travels. After learning that skill, I could coat my head with origin energy. After learning how to do that, I would be done with the basics of origin energy. The problem with that was that the head had too many sensors.

Everything that origin energy touches becomes in some way enchanted. If I made a mistake and pushed too much of my origin energy to my eyes or ears, at worst, I could go blind or deaf. That is something I wouldn’t want to do.

I felt a chill as I was infusing my skin with origin energy. The labyrinth was kind of cold, but I still felt the chill running through my skin. Stopping in my tracks, I looked around. The walls were the same, as always. But I could feel a chill that I didn’t before.

I decided that I should follow this sudden cold. It was the only clue I had to get out of this situation. After walking for an hour in the cold direction, I found a broken wall. There was a hole in this wall. I guess somebody was tired of walking around aimlessly and decided to make their own exit.

Walking through the hole in the wall, I felt the air getting colder. If it gets any colder, it would be a problem. Drawing my sword, I walked forward, breaking spider webs on the way. Once I went deeper into the hole, I could smell something vile.

‘I would run if I was you,’

Hearing the Heavenly Demon’s voice, I stopped. Taking a look around and not seeing anything, I didn’t know what he meant by his words. Still, I listened to him because he had no reason to talk nonsense.

Turning around, I was met with eight red eyes.

‘Well, it is too late.’

Without thinking, I jumped back. The spot I was before was pierced by two long legs of the massive spider. It was bigger than a horse, with eight long legs with spear-like ends. Its eigh red eyes looked at me.

“Damn, my luck.”

The way out was blocked by the spider. So I had to run deeper into the hole, into the darkness. The legs of the spider tried to spear me, and when it missed, it let out a low hissing sound. Before I could react to it, a web tied around my legs.

Once I fell to the ground, the spider was on top of me. One leg pierced my arm, which was holding the sword. Another leg pierced my leg, blood spilled from my wounds, and I couldn’t move. The spider got close to me, and I could see its fangs.

Looking straight at its eyes, I tried to concentrate air in my mouth and use fire breath on it. Before I could do so, a web covered my face. I felt myself being lifted and wrapped around and stuck on the cold wall.