Chapter 35: First Floor

Perseus POV

As I ventured deeper, the darkness seemed to thicken around me, and the eerie silence of the tunnels pressed in on me from all sides. With each step I took, the sense of foreboding grew stronger. 

As I pressed onward, the tunnels grew narrower and more treacherous, the walls closing in around me. Suddenly, a low growl echoed through the darkness, sending a shiver down my spine. I tensed, gripping my dagger tightly as I scanned the shadows for the source of the sound.

And then, with a sudden rush of movement, the creature emerged from the darkness, its eyes gleaming with feral hunger. Without hesitation, I raised my weapon struck a rat, and killed it.

Any creature in here is deadly, so I can't trust anything.

*****

With each rat I encountered, I dispatched it swiftly, my blade cutting through fur and flesh with ease.

But as I delved deeper into the darkness, I sensed a shift in the air, a subtle change that set my nerves on edge. It was as if some unseen presence lurked just beyond the reach of my torchlight, watching and waiting with bated breath.

And then, with a sudden rush of movement, it emerged from the shadows, a creature unlike any I had ever seen before. It was a rat, yes, but far larger and more feral than any of its kind. Its eyes burned red with a savage hunger as it lunged at me, its claws extended in a deadly arc.

I barely had time to react, with a swift movement, I raised my blade and met the creature's claw head-on, the clash of steel against claw echoed through the tunnel and alerted the other rats, who all charged at me.

I fought with all my strength, striking out at the creatures with ferocity. But for every rat I killed, two more seemed to take its place. I was quickly being overwhelmed, my strength waning with each passing moment.

I avoided magic as it was narrow and I didn't want the tunnel to fall onto me, so I fought my way through and created a path using wind magic to a bit of a clearing.

The giant rat lunged at me again, I sidestepped and I lunged forward, driving my weapon deep into the creature's side. It let out a deafening shriek of pain, thrashing wildly as I struggled to maintain my grip.

I then let out lightning magic and electrocuted it from the inside, killing it.

But I had no time to celebrate as the swarm of feral rats was still chasing me. I ran to an opening and turned back. With a swift motion, I conjured a fireball in the palm of my hand and hurled the fiery projectile toward the crumbling wall.

With a deafening roar, the wall collapsed inward, sending rubble tumbling down onto the swarm. I heard the startled squeaks and cries of the rats as they were buried beneath the avalanche of stone, their tiny bodies crushed beneath the weight of the falling debris.

Eventually, I see a stone staircase leading downward, what's described to be one of the many staircases to the 2nd floor. As I descended deeper into the abyss, the air grew colder, and a sense of foreboding settled over me like a shroud.

The air grew colder and colder until my breath hung in the air like a ghostly mist. Soon, I found myself standing on the threshold of a vast ice cavern, its walls glittering with frost and icicles.

But what truly caught my eye were the snow golems that roamed the cavern.

| A/N: the best description of what they look like is similar to the ice golems from Clash of Clans. |

Without hesitation, I broke into a run, using my wind magic to propel myself forward with blinding speed. As the snow golems launched volleys of ice shards in my direction, I dodged and blocked every one of the ice shards.

With each step, I could feel the chill of the cavern seeping into my bones, but I refused to let it slow me down. I focused all of my energy on evading the relentless barrage of attacks. I heard that this floor is easy as you can just do what I'm doing.

Once I saw a wall of them, I unleashed blasts of wind magic to clear a path through the snow golems, sending them tumbling to the ground in a flurry of ice and snow. But still, more of them emerged from the shadows, their glowing eyes fixed on me.

*****

3rd Person POV

In the southern empire, chaos erupted as the royal palace fell under attack as the sky was illuminated with streaks of fiery meteors, chaos erupted within the walls of the castle of the southern empire. The ground trembled beneath the relentless assault, and the air was filled with the deafening roar of destruction.

The culprits for this were men and subordinates of the recent criminals who just escaped and are taking revenge. Meteors streaked through the sky, crashing into the castle walls with explosive force, sending showers of debris all around.

But despite their valiant efforts, the attackers found themselves outnumbered and outmatched by the king's well-trained soldiers. Wave after wave of reinforcements poured into the fray, overwhelming the assailants with sheer force of numbers.

In the heart of the battle, the king watched and contorted with rage as he issued orders to his commanders, demanding that they crush the assailants at any cost. The king was beyond furious and questioned why disaster after disaster kept happening under his rule.

Not only that, his son was providing some sort of safe haven for criminals within his own property. it's already bad enough that with each passing day, the people's faith in their king waned, replaced by doubt and uncertainty about the future.

"I should announce the next heir soon...I should also go meet with the other rulers for their suggestions...yes..." the king thought aloud, "First, we'll have to solve the glimmerite crisis."