I don’t really know how long a time has passed or how deep I have gone. But I have grown stronger as I have delved ever deeper.

The lack of light has forced me to use read so much, it has become a second nature. I have even managed to stretch the mana required to weave the spell real thin, and can practically use it constantly. In addition, I slowly noticed that not only a mere signal from monsters are returned. A far, far weaker signal is returned for any object. It helps, but only to a certain degree, like if you were exploring a cave and all you had to help was a lighter.

One reason for my losing grasp of time and space is that a few monsters seem to move my corpse. Most time, I will die somewhere and revive in the same place, but on certain floors, I will wake up somewhere completely different. Sometimes even a different floor, whether it be the previous or a new one. Monster don’t eat, so I wonder what they do with it?

I am constantly fighting monsters, and they increasingly get deadlier; Faster and stronger, larger and more sinister. I have been impaled by launched spikes, I have been trapped in thin wires, I have been struck down, crushed, burnt, sliced in two, decapitated and so on.

I have begun to develop a weird fondness of it. It reminds me of the burn one would feel after running practice in the old world. I wonder if I am a masochist? Or is it merely the human mind adapting to the situation? I did dive into here well knowing I would die many times, but it somehow just doesn’t seem a relevant factor anymore.

Once I had gone a fair bit further down, strange things started to occur. More than one monster started appearing at a floor, but the others were more… variations on the main monster of the floor. They seemed to have some special, unique characteristics to them, some even cast magic! I like it when I encounter those, as I think it increases my mana vessel, though not by too much. I tested it…. Recently? And I appear to have more than double the mana pool I had grown accustomed to, and that one was even significantly larger than the baseline for gift users.

I have hit somewhat of a brick wall. I have died so many times on this next floor that it is not even funny, and I always find myself on top of the stairs, leading down to that floor when I revive. I have thought many times about starting the climb back up, but I keep having this feeling that it is just about the end, due to the special nature of that floor.

There is only one single monster, in a circular, well-lit room. Or I say monster, but I am not really sure. I descend the stairs once again today to take a look at my foe of many times. I must have fought him more than two dozen times already.

Ahead of my, perhaps 30 feet tall stands a colossus. A man, made of silver-like metal, wielding a sword in one hand and a spear in the other. The spear has an insane range, maybe 90 feet, which he makes piercing stabs within. And if I evade past through those, the sword comes in, with wide arc slashes that are even harder to dodge.

I simply can’t block. Every time I have tried, I have been sent flying across the room, take damage and start all over again.

I have made it to him a few times, but he is hard as all hell. The few attempts I have had at attacking have been mostly completely ineffective. Yesterday, though, I manage to get in and actually dent one of the legs, right around the ankle. I fear it being restored, along with the rest of the monsters, but as I look from the safety of the stairs, I can clearly see it. It was not a wound inflicted by a sword, but one with my bare body. The sword broke a long time ago.

Even if I die a thousand times, I will still win. I am unbeatable. A smirk forms on my face.

But that isn’t really true, is it? I may have ended up being the one alive from the royal struggle that got me sealed, but I lost everything, even the chance to avenge my comrades. I lost bad.

But this is different. One giant against me, and I get to try as many times as I like. As long as I have the guts to continue, I will win this!

I run at him, preparing my new version of bestowal. My making a slightly malformed pattern in my legs, I can ready it for explosive bursts without sacrificing mana.

A stab from the spear, I straighten out the pattern and immediately dodge, running closer again.

Another stab. I jump up, using the spear’s shaft as a foothold for a split second, before crossing in again.

Next comes the sword. I do not keep my eye on it, but wait until it is within range of my permanent read’s ability to sense everything in a small radius around, and immediately jump and contort my body as it does. The sword passes right under me, delivering an incredible sound, as if a truck passed really close to me, but it doesn’t connect. My landing is less than perfect, but soon enough I am running again.

Another sword strike, this time from above. I try to twist and avoid it, but I saw it too late. My left arm is gone, no matter. I have never made it to him without losing something.

While the blood pours out and the pain is intense, I prepare for the final spurt. The bestowals in my legs are activate for a sprint, and at the same time, I build bestowal in my right arm. This time, it is the thickest one I have ever made, my entire mana pool will only be able to sustain it for a few seconds once it is finished, but I will need that power.

A stomp from his leg approaches. I kick from the ground with such force, that I am pretty sure I break a bone, and once his foot lands next to me, I give my all for this one strike.

The bestowal in my legs, my right arm winded up with a huge bestowal, colliding with solid metal. The pain is intense. It feels as if my entire arm splinters from the inside out.

But the result is obvious. I struck the wound from yesterday, and the giant collapses. He makes an incredible sound as he collides with the ground, so much so that my ears hurt.

He isn’t moving. Was that it? Did the fall do him in? I had thought it would at least take a couple of more attempts, but if this is fine, it is fine.

Suddenly, a shaking can be felt. Soon I see stones sink into the ground at varying heights. Stairs are formed… I should go in right?

I drag myself, with a slightly busted legs, one completely busted arm, and the other only half present. My head grows light as I approach the stairs, and not soon after I reach the first few steps, my sight starts to fail me. Have I lost too much blood? I surrender myself to the unconscious, hopefully letting my body tumble down the stairs.