The light surrounding my body disappears, the surroundings are becoming more visible. Around me; Beth, Burke, Flaviana and Kalos are standing together, wiping their eyes. So this must be the first trial that I must face with my friends. I guess the trials are going to be sorted by families, but what is going to happen with the test subjects in our group? If this is all family-centred, that would mean that the test subjects are going to be in one trial together, or at least that makes the most sense. Burke looks over our surroundings and scratches his head.
"so this is what the dungeon is like, huh? All the others must be doing their trials now as well. Who would have thought that we would be the ones to have Lothar by our side during the trials" I wonder how each of them are going to react when they all learn I was present for all of their trials. That is, if I am able to survive this.
"I will help to make sure that we all survive this trial" I grip onto my battle axe and draw it from the straps that have been holding it. Beth and her family members respond by drawing their weapons too. Beth is using a bow and arrows, while Burke is using a large war hammer, Kalos is using a short sword and Flaviana is using a hard metal staff. As I turn to look towards the long stretch of the stone corridor in-front of us, a voice reaches us.
"the old fear the envy that is created by the display of their wealth, of which they have abandoned. The young one, like the others you know, wish to be strong like their leader. This girl who witnessed the destruction of that terrible place, wishes to fight by your side, Lothar" turning to Beth, I thought it was obvious that everyone I worked with wishes to stay in the group to help everyone, but her expression says there is more to know. Beth looks away from me, her silver hair shining in the darkness, the luminescent gems embedded into the walls reflecting off her. I look up towards the dungeon ceiling and point my finger towards it.
"what trials do you have planned for us? Dungeon of Trials" we wait in silence for an answer, a cool breeze blowing past my face as a sigh hits me.
"it is as I have already said. Those you are with, will face trials of jealousy, strength and a bond between two who know little of each other. From what I can predict, I am going to be having a lot of trials intended for shaking fragile bonds. Anyway, be ready for your trials, the first has already begun" the voice fades, and the way forward lights up one after the other. The long, straight corridor pushes on, almost endlessly. How far are we going to be walking? Is this trial going to take an eternity to face?
"we do not know how long these trials are going to last, so we should do our best to defeat the dungeon monsters as quickly as we can, without losing anyone. But at the same time, we should be cautious of what the monsters could possibly do as well. This is our first time in the Dungeon of Trials, and we do not know what we might face" I am expecting monsters like Dirt Goblins and Rock Pups, but we might still come across a powerful monster that we could not handle, so we need to be cautious. I take the first steps into the corridor, with everyone else following shortly behind me. Burke and Beth are the closest behind me, with Flaviana and Kalos following shortly behind. Besides the light the gems are providing us, only the torches on the dungeon walls are a source of light. This darkness is giving me an uneasy feeling, as if a monster is going to jump out of the darkness at any moment. Burke taps his war hammer on his shoulder and looks around our surroundings, narrowing his eyes at the spots of darkness.
"I am not sure how powerful our weapons are going to be against the monsters. We were not given information on how rarity works in the dungeons" we are going into this dungeon blind, so of course we would not know the details of the weapons, rarities and what we could possibly find down here. But I do agree with Burke, we could have at least been given some information on the higher ranking rarities.
"let's just assume that our weapons are the weakest versions and fight as if they do little-to-no damage" Burke nods, and positions his war hammer to be ready for an attack at any moment, instead of just resting on his shoulder. The disembodied voice from before returns once again.
"the first trial for all of you, is the trial of Jealousy. Before you face the powerful monster, face some weaker enemies" from the shadows on the ground, some small, brown humanoids emerge, pushing themselves onto their feet. From the few identifiable features of the enemies, I believe they are Dirt Goblins.
"it seems we have some Dirt Goblins to kill" I move my battle axe out in preparation for the fight, and move in-front of Beth to take the first few attacks. Burke also steps out so that we are the focus of the attacks. My battle axe and Burke's war hammer will deal enough damage to the goblins, the two of us are going to be enough to defeat them. Burke looks to his war hammer, and then turns his head to my battle axe.
"I am sure you already know that the power of our weapons should be enough for us to kill them" I nod to Burke and turn to face the Dirt Goblins. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Kalos, Flaviana and Beth stepping back to allow the two of us to fight the goblins unhindered. Each of the goblins charge towards us, five in total. I move to the side which has three, while Burke moves around me to position himself on the side which has the remaining two goblins. Placing my faith in Burke and his skill with his war hammer, I rush towards the three goblins, I trust that he will be able to defeat those two other goblins. The three goblins split up into a pincer attack, with one at each side and the last one attacking from directly in-front of me. These monsters seem to be formidable foes, considering they are supposed to be among the weakest monsters in the dungeons. It would be very embarrassing if one of us were to be either defeated or killed here. The first two goblins leap towards me, swinging their daggers at me. Because they are using such short-ranged weapons, they will not be able to block the attacks of my battle axe. The moment I swing my battle axe, the expressions on the two goblins' faces change to dread. My battle axe breaks past the first ones guard, carving into the monster's stomach and cleaving it in half. My battle axe continues to cut through the air, quickly coming into contact with the other goblin's neck. Before the goblin's head can hit the ground, I feel something pierce my belly. I look down to find the final goblin directly underneath me, between my legs, holding a spear which is lodged in my belly. While my battle axe swung through the air and cut through the two goblins on either side of me, the last goblin must have evaded it and took advantage of my open guard. The intense pain is not spreading through my body, but it is still present, and it is only remaining in the area where the goblin's spear is. I reach down, grip onto the goblin's spear, and snap it into two pieces. The goblin steps back in a panic, lowering his wooden rod. With no weapon to defend his body, I swing my battle axe towards him, cutting into his body and severing his left arm. The goblin falls to it's knees immediately, shaking violently and screaming out. In order to quickly end it's suffering and stop the monster's annoying screams, I swing my battle axe down onto it's head, shattering the goblin's skull. As the monster falls to the ground, I turn to see how Burke is doing. There is one goblin lying dead on the ground, but the other one must have attacked him while he was still recovering from swinging such a large weapon, because he is kneeling on the ground, while the goblin is running towards him. To think, we have almost been defeated by a few goblins. With a rage rising in my body, I throw my battle axe towards the goblin, who is paying no attention to me. My battle axe spins through the air and cracks into the goblin's skull the moment it reaches him. As the goblin falls, Burke's face comes into my view, showing a panicked face. I force out a laugh to calm the atmosphere.
"ha, how embarrassing" the strength in my legs gives out for only a split second, but that is enough for me to fall onto the ground. I can hear a set of hurried footsteps coming towards me. Two of them pass by me, while one stops at my side. I roll my body over to see who has decided to help me. Beth is standing over me, looking at the wound near my stomach that the goblin was able to land on me.
"you are hurt! We do not have anything that might be able to help you with that" I am ashamed of myself for not being able to defeat these weak goblins. I have developed too much of a reliance on my guns. That voice is ringing in my ear, but it sounds like it is only meant for me to hear.
"at the end of this trial, you will not have to worry about fighting monsters with a standard-level battle axe" the voice fades out, leaving me to speak with Beth. What was that supposed to mean? Leaving that for now, I turn to speak with Beth, who is looking around our surroundings and looking over the goblin corpses.
"I don't think those weak things had any items worth taking" Beth looks back to me with a worried expression on her face. Beth moves her hand over the broken top half of the spear which I still have lodged in my belly to stop most of the bleeding. Beth looks back up to me with her worried expression, her silver hair waving because of the quick movement.
"we still have to find something to dress that wound with, we can not just leave that spearhead in your body" we might find something for it soon, but right now we should focus on completing these trials.
"we still have the three trials that this dungeon has supposedly set up for us to complete" Beth looks over towards where the rest of her family members are, then looks back to me.
"it seems kind of strange that the dungeon did not speak about your trial to us" to them it would be strange, but Bengelon has told me about the leader's trial already, so I know what is supposed to happen.
"it should tell us in time. But for now, we should focus on fighting the trials meant for your family" Beth nods and holds her hand out for me. I reach out and grip onto her hand in response. I push myself up onto my feet as Beth pulls me up as well. Even though the pain is intense, I am able to stand up on my two feet. Ignoring the pain, I walk over towards Beth's family members, with Beth following behind me. I take a quick glance at each goblin corpse as we pass them, but I can't see anything worth taking. I reach Beth's family members, with her reaching us a moment later. Kalos moves over to stand with Beth, who is a few steps away from us. As Kalos reaches a certain distance from us, a circle appears below us, and begins to glow. I turn to Beth and Kalos, who are outside of the circle. Beth reaches out to move her hand through the magic circle, but something hits her hand away.
"Lothar, something has trapped you in there!" a bright light flows around Burke, Flaviana and I. The light is blinding, but is it quickly starting to fade. From what I know of bright lights surrounding us, I can guess that we have been teleported somewhere. I am starting to regain my vision, and the bright blur is beginning to fade. A moment later, I can make out the silhouettes of Burke and Flaviana. Burke waves over to me.
"Lothar, it looks like we have been separated from Beth and Kalos. We are going to have to find a way to reunite with them" I walk over towards Burke and give him a nod.
"yes, but I think this might be your trial. You and Flaviana should be ready for what ever the dungeon has in store for the two of you" a familiar disembodied voice reaches my ears.
"indeed, Lothar is right. This is where these two will be pushed to their limits. Now let's begin, with the fear of the jealousy which you feel is being directed at you from your neighbours" the dungeon walls shift around us, and houses start to rise from the ground. A large house rises in-front of us, it looks like the best one in the neighbourhood. Looking over it, the house reminds me a lot of Beth's house that we went to, to take her family with us. There is no way this is not that house. Burke walks up to the front door of the house, his bloodied wound is now clearly visible to me. Burke turns back to Flaviana and I.
"this is our house. The voice spoke of jealousy, so that must mean-" BOOM! A big explosion rocks the ground below us, and from out of the corner of my eye, I can see a black cloud of smoke rising from one of the other houses. A voice filled with a seething rage hits my eardrums.
"your family has always been one for spectacle. I find it absolutely detestable to watch those cheery celebrations you hold every year. Why was that comfy house not good enough? Why did you have to destroy that old house? The luck house stood for over two centuries, and survived the battles that were fought around it during the Great War. But that was not good enough, was it? You just had to go and demolish it, building your eyesore in it's place! You were never welcome in this neighbourhood, you had no right to make the changes that you did" out from the smoke, a giant man appears, with a bulging belly emerging out of the darkness before most of his body has. Burke gasps at the sight.
"Euwargen? Is that you!?" the large man shakes his head to Burke and slams his foot into the ground in an intimidating manner.
"I am the culmination of all that your fear. I am going to fight you on your neighbours' behalves, to make you pay for always flexing your wealth over the entire neighbourhood!" the large man charges towards us, forcing us to jump out of the way, resulting in the three of us being separated. A tall, slender woman leaps out of the smoke, landing near Flaviana. The woman traces her fingers over her pale, white, skeletal body.
"ah, my dear neighbour Flaviana. It is such a shame that you left your house without saying goodbye to us. But that is good news for the rest of us, we will be taking that house away from you" the tall woman rushes towards Flaviana, but she will not stand a chance against these monsters. I jump towards Flaviana and block the woman's attack. The slender woman leaps back, and frowns to us.
"my, my. Why must you stand in the way of justice? These two need to be removed from existence immediately" I lift my battle axe up towards the woman as a threat.
"they are the family of someone who is close to me. I am not going to allow any misfortunes to befall any of them" the slender woman leans in towards me, as if ready to charge towards me on all fours.
"my desire for their deaths far outweigh the importance they hold for you. I am going to kill them, and there is nothing you can do to stop me" the slender woman disappears, and a sharp pain pierces through my chest. I already know what this is, and I am going to take the risk without any hesitation. I swing my battle axe back towards the enemy I expect is behind me, aiming for their legs. I feel my axe hit something hard, and it has swiftly cut through whatever it just hit. My axe stops again, but just like last time, it cuts through the thing which is behind me. As the object that pierced my chest leaves my body, I turn back. The woman that disappeared was the one who attacked me, I was able to cut her two legs off, so she is shuffling away without her legs. I call out to Flaviana.
"this should be your chance to defeat that creature! I have weakened it to the point where you should be able to fight it on an even playing field" Flaviana nods, and my legs give out on me. I hit the ground while trying to soften the impact with my two arms, but the effort proves to be not enough. I push myself back up to see how Burke is doing, my chest is aching. I can see that Burke and the man with the large belly are fighting against each other with everything they have. I push myself back onto my feet at the sight, Burke is not going to be able to defeat something that powerful, without it being weakened first. I limp over towards Burke, slowly moving across the large room. I can feel the blood flowing down my back, but I can not allow that to distract me from the fight in-front of me which I need to join. I quicken my pace, replacing my shuffling with a brisk walk. I raise my battle axe, and dash towards the large man. As Burke's war hammer hits the large man, he falls off balance, giving me an opening to his belly. Since his belly is so big, an is one of the only details that came to mind when I first saw him, that must be his weak spot. I jump in and swing my battle axe into the fat man. The fat man's belly opens up, unleashing an avalanche of blood and his insides. The fat man leans forward, trying to hold back his vomit, his large belly has shrunk to normal size. Seeing this, Burke charges in and lifts his war hammer up, bringing it down onto the fat man's head as soon as he is close enough. Burke's war hammer pushes into the fat man's head, caving in his skull and sending blood flowing out of his every hole in his face and ears. But the fat man's eyes open back up, and he scream loudly.
"hey, hey! You have yet to learn anything from this encounter, let's keep this going. We will not need you here" the fat man swings his arm around, crashing into me, and sending my body flying. I fly through the air, crashing into the ground and tumbling across the dungeon floor. I am faced-down on the ground, I feel like my face has been scraped off by the rough surface of the floor. I push myself up from the ground, but the pain is immense, and without a chance to stop it, I hurl up what has been gathering in my throat. I was expecting some of the wheat biscuits from breakfast to come out, but it was the all-too-familiar liquid known as blood. I can feel my whole body growing weaker, I feel like I have failed as a leader. I was not able to defeat any of those two monsters, and now Burke and Flaviana are at risk of dying in this place. I muster up some of the strength I have left, and roll myself over, looking over to Flaviana and the slender woman who we were fighting. She is using her staff to the best of her ability, but is it enough? I can hear her screaming out.
"I sacrificed too much for that house! I will not be labelled as a privileged elitist by the likes of you! As I recall, you gambled your entire life savings on a single game of poker!" Flaviana leaps into the air and unleashes a flurry of attacks with her staff. The tall slender woman falls backwards, and Flaviana thrusts her staff into the woman's skull, with the staff emerging from the other side.
"my father traded his eyes, arms, legs and half of his jaw to help me with buying my dream home with my husband. I will not have you badmouthing him!" Flaviana walks over to the corpse of the monster that was posing as the woman. As she gets close enough, the body fades into dust. I roll over to my other side to watch Burke fight against his opponent. The fat man has no balance anymore, but he is still fighting hard against Burke. Burke slams his war hammer into the ground and roars into the air.
"you really think I didn't work hard to buy that house!? One of these eyes is glass, you know! I have fought through hell to earn enough to buy that house alongside my wife, and we had to leave it behind to save ourselves. No matter how much you taunt me, I will not care! The lives of my family matter more to me than that house ever will!" Burke swings his war hammer towards the leaning fat man, hitting him directly in his face. The force of the war hammer is too much, and the fat man's head is sent flying across the room. Since Burke is so close, the monster turns to dust. I am filled with relief, and my strength quickly fades. Flaviana swiftly appears at my side, and raises her staff into the air. A green and silver glow covers my body, and my strength returns. I push myself up and look to Flaviana, who is showing a face of relief.
"how did you do that?" Flaviana leans over, struggling to breathe for a moment. After regaining her breath, she turns to me.
"when I was looking at the dust pile that Karlie left behind, I found a strange orb. It went into my body, hence the ability"