Title Acquired: Labyrinth Explorer
Day One:
The first room I enter is a cave-like tunnel lit by glowing blue crystals and filled with a horrible smell of blood and rotten flesh. I can hear people screaming, crying out for help in the distance, but I can do nothing. If only I was closer, I could have saved them. One by one, the cries go out. Some just go silent while others give one last scream. This place is far worse than the first place I woke up in this world.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
I stop. Something is coming. Readying my sword, I prepare to fight.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
I face the direction of the sound I coming from, feeling the ground shake.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
It's here. I don't even know what to call this thing. It is tall, about three times my size, thin and humanoid in shape but with blood-stained pale pink skin. Its head is topped with countless eyes all over its head. I can't see a mouth, but somehow, it grows at me. Still, the most terrifying thing about this creature is its hands that end in three bloodied, razor-sharp claws. If this is the monster that killed those people screaming, I will make sure they are avenged. No matter how many times I need to die in the process.
It runs at me in a beast-like manner on all fours revealing a spiked spine. This thing looks like it was born to be a killer. Not that it intimidates me after everything I have been through. I run forward to meet its charge but duck at the last minute and slice open its belly. I might just be mistaken, but I swear I see shock in the eyes of this monster before it dies. Hopefully, the people it killed can rest in peace now.
I need to keep moving. Even as the monster's body turns to dust, I know I will not be safe until I escape this place. Unfortunately, it's doesn't take me long to find the sight of the massacre. It looks like a family was killed by that monster. The father died with a stone in his hand, the mother protecting a young child that lies lifelessly beneath her. If only I was closer, I might have been able to save them. I take their ID and valuables to return them to their relatives and move on. This place is worse than the cave I woke up in. There wasn't so much death back there.
I open my map a sigh in relief when I see the labyrinth has been fully mapped out. It doesn't tell me where the monsters and other people are, but I won't get lost. But my excitement doesn't last long. I may be down here for days with how giant the labyrinth is. I need to find food and water as soon as possible.
I keep walking steadily, fast enough to cover ground but not so fast as I will walk into an ambush. It is slow going as I have to take down three Skeleton Soldiers and twelve Rat monsters, but I make good progress this day. I even have three new iron short swords for my efforts. I also go some rat meat to eat if I get hungry, but I am not looking forward to trying it. But by the time I make camp for the night, I am still far from the exit.
Day Two:
It isn't so bad. I try telling myself that, but I don't believe it. I find a dead fat man not far from where I set up camp for the night. His body has been torn in half, nearly making me throw up, and his left arm is missing. I really wish I didn't have to see this. Like with that family from before, I take the man's Identification Papers and valuables to return to his family. This man must be rich. He had more money on him than that family I found, and he even had a cane topped with a giant ruby. I am tempted to keep it, but that wouldn't be fair for his family.
I have to keep moving forward. If I let myself freeze up at the sight of bloodshed, I will never escape this place. I follow my map through the twisting tunnels, I am glad I have a guide, or I would definitely have gotten lost along the way. If only it would tell me where the monsters are to avoid them. I have to take out a room full of those Rat monsters along my way. I won't be running short on rat meat any time soon, but I am still not looking forward to trying it.
