Chapter 5 - Attempt at the Unknown

The darkness around my eyes washed away, as they opened to the room I had died in once before. The deafening whistle in my ears scattered, and the ability to feel my hands returned. Fear fled from my mind, and a sense of accomplishment flowed through. I had died, yet I had also killed the previously horrifying creature that served an instant death for me. I Scolded myself for feeling somewhat joyful at the positives of the situation, instead of feeling overwhelming defeat and fear. Unknowingly, my mentality cracked.

My choices had further expanded with my last life, and the areas I could now explore, could prove instrumental in my survival. The path to the right and around the corner where the Arachania currently resided, may be accessible. With my previous fail in the beast's lair, I had spun grounds for a plot. A plan to survive, but also in the back of mind, a potential source of revenge. Setting forth on my new journey in the same place, I picked up my hoodie, and opened the door.

Pitter, patter. The rain created soothing sounds against the wall, calming my heart of any looming fear. The stairs with their velvet carpet, seemed to stretch up forever, just like last time, and I reached the second floor. The previously chilly hallway, felt warm comparably to the last end. Deciding that I should check whether my facts from last time, still directly correlated, I opened both doors again.

The light, blue orb was dimly lit compared to my last arrival and upon injecting pure mana into the second sphere on the right, I was surprised to see the same light blue colour, as on the frozen ball. The orb then flashed and repeated the confusing blackish purple and then light blue, over and over. Something had changed yet I payed no attention to it, aware of time slipping away.

I opened the door to the opposite side of the room I was in, and was again greeted by the repugnant smell of a corpse rotting. Seeing myself in the old man, I quickly shut the door before I lost stomach in my endeavour.

The end of the hallway a hundred metres off showed no glowing lights this time, reflecting the darkness, directly back at me. I calmly walked in that direction and solidified my resolve. After a short minute, my hand extended for the library door, and. Click.

The door opened, yet the clicking sound gave me a false and brief heart attack. I looked up to a web of depressing memories, and unconsciously nodded at my inference of this place being the monster's nest. How could I make a sound loud enough for a large beast to come running? Looking around the library, I realised there was one thing easily able to provide a large sound in surplus amounts. Not the books, but the bookshelves. Many large wooden shelves crowded the floor, and invited I push them over. Unable to refuse I stood behind the nearest shelf to the door, and thrust a huge force into the palms of my hands.

Crash. Bang. Following the large disturbance many smaller crashes resounded. I ran at my top speed, and quickly heard a small earthquake approaching the library. Not making the same mistake and looking back I made it to the stairs, practically falling down the steps, and made it to the main entrance. A somewhat destroyed hallway and a mostly, good conditioned corridor, showed my two options, although my path was already set in motion.

I walked down the hallway, and listened to the sounds of an angry beast overturning the upper floors. At many times dust shook off the ceiling, bringing me under the illusion that at any point I could be toppled under a somewhat spider creature the size of a car and many planks of wood. I passed the room where each nightmare started, and continued on into the darkness.

The end of the wall stood in front of me, and a path that was off limits before, was now ready for the guest of honours arrival. I took my first step into the prized hallway I had died for, and fell flat on my face. My foot was stuck, in one of many dents that impaled the floors. So much for a grand reveal.

The dark hallway repeated the pattern of the other hallways in the mansion. Many doors were plastered onto the wall. The sheer size of the place, reflected the previous owner's magnitude of riches. The owner may still be alive, yet observing the state of the mansion, I assumed he had died a terrible fate by one of the many creatures.

Along my walk down the path, I opened each door in search for answers, still ever listening for the sounds of a specific spider. Most of the doors shared the same view of a bed, couch, bedside desk, and a bookshelf, yet some had an additional armchair, or a painting for the sake of a painting. Even rarer, two of the many rooms I checked had a shadowy beast taking bites out the place. Both of these rooms had their doors shut as fast as they were opened.

Reaching the end of the hallway I was introduced to a rectangular room showing: a grand and spectacular door leading to the centre of the mansion, a large plain door, and an exit that lead to an inevitable death. I went to walk towards the grand door, yet stopped and decided a quick peak at the plain door was fine. I would open them in order of flashiness.

Insides the door was the servants quarters. Many rows of metal framed beds acted as places to rest for the servants. The room was missing a large amount of bodies from what I could tell however. The entire room was showered in blood from left to right, with some of the beds tipped on the floor looking like they had been used as shields. The room was nothing less of a genocide case, and my pride of having never been sick was quickly dismissed after a few gags, and a lot of yellow, soggy liquid.

I shut the door to the servant's quarters and made my way towards the doors fit for royalty. I pushed the doors open in parallel, and walked into the dining room with a dangerously pale face. A table that stretched from the door to the horizon was well made with cutlery, as if it had been prepared for a grand meal to be placed upon it. I walked alongside the large table, and came across a chair fundamentally different from the rest. It rose much higher than all the other chairs, and was seemingly made out of gold encrusted with jewels and the highest quality leather.

I briefly paused at the throne, observing it for anything of use, but eventually continued walking after a while. Tap, tap. A light reverberating sound echoed from under my feet. The wood underneath seemed hollow. It would have been a great observation to make, if it had been before the boards of wood snapped and the darkness swamped around me. I screamed at the top of my lungs, and flailed my hands until the light from above no longer reached my eyes. I was surrounded by darkness, suffocating in an endless void.