∼ Day 211 ∼

*Drip - Drip - Drip*

Darkness, welcoming and embracing darkness.

*Drip*

In the darkness, there was the comfort of blissful ignorance.

*Drip*

Nothing can harm you in the eternal darkness.

*Drip*

Then why?

*Drip*

No... what?

*Drip*

What is that?

*Drip*

What is that fucking noise?!

My eyes sprung open.

The drowsiness from my sleep only stunted my senses for a few seconds before the sudden wave of realization hit me.

"The trials!"

I felt incredibly uncomfortable, much more so than unconsciousness would've let on. The main reason for said uncomfort was the thing I was laying on.

What appeared to be some kind of slanted slab of stone could be felt underneath the bare skin of my back, its cold surface sending shivers down my spine. Even eerier, were the metal cuffs bolted into the stone slab itself, digging into my wrists and ankles.

A surge of panic came down on me as the familiar situation dawned upon me, very similar to one I experienced at the hands of another.

Before I knew it, I was on all fours on the wet and slippery stone floor. I had ripped myself free from the cuffs with noticeable ease as they were seemingly made of nothing stronger than iron.

With the nerves of the reemergence of unsavory memories fizzling out of my system, I got to my feet as sounds of what could only be described as confused grunts and snapping metal reached me.

I tried to assess the situation as best as I could, scanning the narrow room that I was in. At first glance, it looked to be some kind of cell in a medieval prison dungeon of sorts. Large uneven bricks made of hard stone lined the walls to make a small oblong room. The stone was damp and had all sorts of moss thin and slippery growing over it, seemingly supplied by the dripping of water that made it through the cracks and seams of the brickwork.

The only discerning feature of the room besides just the slab of finely cut rock I had been strapped to, was the exit. Thick metal bars gave way for another, larger, room from where torchlight spilled in. Illuminating some of the damp cell that I was in.

The gate had been built into the bars and had seemingly been left open as it stood unlocked and ajar.

But it was not the features of the cell that robbed me of most of my attention, rather, it was the seven other powerful beings in my immediate vicinity.

With hesitant steps, I walked to the gate and placed myself at the exit so I could take in the room.

Rounded and dome-like, the large room had a series of bars leading to cells much like mine. There were eight in total, including mine, and only a single large tunnel that led further away.

In those cells, were the seven other beings that I could sense and most of them, like me, were standing by the bars of our respective cells.

The tension was thick in the air as each cell's occupant made their presence known in the room. I had no idea what the purpose of whatever the hell this was, but I took in the appearance of each individual nonetheless, gearing up for the worst to come.

The first person I laid eyes on was, in fact, a human. Outfitted in a streamline and padded black leather armor of a sort, the young man, who in his hands held two pitch-black daggers that dripped shadows like venom, had a look about him. He was positively roguish, with no pun intended.

Next were two figures, who surprisingly enough, were both beastkin of very similar nature. Both of them looked like humanoid lions and would've looked like twin brothers if not for the slightly different coloration in fur and characteristics. Nevertheless, they were both hulking monsters as their muscles strained against whatever armor they wore. Which was almost none.

Both the feline beastkin seemed just as confused and distant to each other as everyone else did, and there was nothing that immediately told me that they knew each other.

Turning my attention towards the second human in the room, I found myself staring at a tall woman with dark hair, fair skin, and eyes that somehow had me look away instinctively. I couldn't really get a read on her, but she made me uncomfortable as hell, and I had no real idea why.

The last three in the room were the most unique of everyone. Or at least, I've never seen anyone like them before.

A bonafide dwarf, in front of my eyes for the very first time with the long grey beard and stocky heavy armor, a dragonewt-like race with white and red scales linings its lithe and tall body, and lastly, a woman who quite literally made me forget how to even breathe for a few seconds.

Since coming to this world, I had seen amazing beauties, unlike anything my old world could've possibly produced. But this woman was like a candle to a bonfire in comparison to them.

Light rose in the skin and with patches of seemingly glimmering freckles decorating her face and body. Creamy golden blonde hair that fell in wavy locks over her shoulders. And a figure that somehow made its perfection known despite it being clad in a beautiful dress that had no place in this dungeon, or any hostile place at all as she looked like a princess straight out of a ballroom. She was stunning, but much differently than normal...

She was actually too perfect. To the point where I found that it wasn't attraction that I felt towards her, but rather... sheer adoration at her visage.

That creeped the hell out of me.

Besides merely her out-of-this-world appearance, she must also have had a ridiculous charisma to produce such an effect.

I tore my gaze from her, sharing looks with everyone else as the tension grew even tauter by the second. It seemed that no one was really inclined to make the first move as even the slightest action could probably descend into a full-scale battle between all eight of us.

The first to actually break the silence was both of the beastkin. They shared a brief look and seemingly came to some kind of understanding or agreement. The very next second, both of the feline warriors had brandished their respective weapons as they erupted into motion, dashing across the small space with frightening speed.

They had obviously teemed up as they both attacked the stout dwarf who met both their attacks with a swing of his war axe without even grunting a sound of strain.

The resulting boom of the head-on clash rattled the entire dungeon but somehow didn't seem to actually affect its structure at all. Causing no structural damage and inadvertently causing the dungeon to collapse down on us, making us spend who knows how long digging ourselves out. But that was probably by the courtesy of the system if I were to guess.

Luckily, the beastkins' sudden attacks didn't elicit any further intrusion from the other parties as we all remained passive at the scene unfolding.

For all we knew, this might just be some of the competition taking itself out without us having to do anything.

I took advantage of this to do what I couldn't have done before the fighting broke out.

-Codex!-

Codex - Amos Drater

Information Attributes

Traits. Titles. and Skills -Name- "Amos Drater" STR 298 Skills ??? -Race- Leonid VIT 187 Traits ??? -Sex- Male AGI 225 Titles ??? -Rank- C DEX ??? Resistances

-Level- 72/75 INT ??? Health 1520/1523 CHR ??? Physical Resistance 32 Stamina 1202/1285 WILL ??? Magical Resistance ??? Mana 0/0 MAG ??? Mental Resistance ??? Codex - Therod Morjoy

Information Attributes

Traits. Titles. and Skills -Name- "Therod Morjoy" STR 184 Skills ??? -Race- Leonid (Highlander) VIT 275 Traits ??? -Sex- Male AGI ??? Titles ??? -Rank- C DEX ??? Resistances

-Level- 63/75 INT ??? Health 2199/2254 CHR ??? Physical Resistance 32 Stamina 2821/2885 WILL 212 Magical Resistance ??? Mana 0/0 MAG ??? Mental Resistance ??? Codex - Bugnumli Onyxguard

Information Attributes

Traits. Titles. and Skills -Name- "Bugnumli Onyxguard" STR 252 Skills ??? -Race- Dwarf VIT 245 Traits ??? -Sex- Male AGI ??? Titles ??? -Rank- C DEX ??? Resistances

-Level- 115 INT ??? Health 2612/2625 CHR ??? Physical Resistance ??? Stamina 2590/2625 WILL ??? Magical Resistance ??? Mana 0/0 MAG ??? Mental Resistance ??? Class Tier -Main Class- Onyx Guardian 6 -Sub Class- Keeper 5

I took in all the information I could, trying not to boggle at the stats displayed even though it's heavily limited as to what I could see. Also, each individual here is without a doubt a Sanctioned Lord, so their attributes should definitely be the least of their powers.

Quite evident by what one of the leonids was doing right now. Despite him not being a magic user, a shimmering haze like that of transparent armor started taking shape around the leonid called Therod. Even his weapon was coated, and I couldn't help but feel like his very ancestors were fueling the power that he was channeling into this odd projection.

The skill or ability was cut short, however, when the human woman somehow just appeared in the middle of the three fighters duking it out. There were no blink, no shimmer, no flash, no nothing indicating her appearance. Just one moment, she wasn't there, and the next, she was. Not even I could do such a feat in the slightest as I hadn't the faintest idea or even clue as to how she did it. Couldn't figure it out at all.

A single look from the eerily deadpan woman was enough to instantly cease the fighting between all three.

"Enough," She said, the tone of her voice completely devoid of any emotion.

The two leonids took an unconscious step backward while the dwarf simply seemed to grow even more sourly than what he previously appeared to be. But realizing that they had just given a show of trepidation, they both tried to take one confident step forward again.

"Why should we listen to a twig human like you?" The one called Amos growled. "If you don't step out of the way, we'll snap you like we'll do to old stumpy over here."

"Damned kittens..." The dwarf spat, his voice somehow conveying that he was more annoyed than angry if anything.

"Because we haven't been given a task yet," A melodic, almost entrancing voice chipped in.

It was the dangerously beautiful woman stepping in. She seemed almost pouty as she interjected.

"Although I'm fond of the idea of just letting you filthy monsters die, what we're meant to do." She explained, not even deigning to look anyone in the eyes - her posture and way of speech speaking volumes of what exactly she thought of everyone else.

"And would that be, you damned pixie?" Amos asked, a growl hanging on each syllable.

"It is a test, you morose halfwit,"