6 Cardiac Arrest

Kang! Crack! Slice!

Several noises resounded across the room as the cries of poor oversized lizards were buried under them. The perpetrator was a boy barely sixteen years of age who carried a crazed expression on his face as he slashed his broke dagger at extreme speeds.

Thirty minutes had passed since the torture began, and Alex really felt the lizards were near death due to his atrocious acts. However, to cause cardiac arrest, he needed to force tremendous pain upon them at once, which was proving to be difficult due to their tough skin and adjustment to pain.

"Just die, idiots!" Alex screamed, obviously exhausted due to the prolonged battle that produced virtually no results. He sat atop one of the monsters' backs, resting his chin on the palm of his hand as he stared at his dagger while catching his breath. "I can't stand your hideous appearance!"

The lizards did not respond to the provocation, quietly staring at the ground beneath with tearful eyes. One of them winced in pain as Alex slammed his foot into its abdomen, but remained silent afterwards.

"How are the newbies supposed to kill these things if even I can't do so?" Alex spoke to apparently no one as he revealed his outrage. "Is this dungeon clearable? Well, maybe after a while when everyone adjusts to their surroundings, but that idiot caretaker can't assign something impossible, right?"

"Even though he's a douchebag, he's still in cohorts with the deities who wish to test us and decide if we're ready for Telos Dou Dromou," Alex rambled on and on. "So there has to be a way to kill you lizards."

As he spoke the last sentence, Alex brushed his hand along the tough scales of the monsters, unintentionally instilling even more fear into their hearts. Now, the tables had turned, and the lizards were absolutely terrified of the seemingly ordinary boy in a school uniform lathered in monster and human blood.

"What, are you guys scared?" Alex's ridiculous question along with his provocative smile nearly caused the lizards to try to attack, but even they understood who was in charge here. This caused a smile to blossom on Alex's face, but deep down, he was distressed.

'How do such low-ranked monsters have developed emotions?' It was a question he had asked when engaging in battle with the wolves. From what he remembered, only the monsters equivalent or superior to the fox family of monsters had intelligence, and even that was rare. 'Is it because of the absurd difficulty of this dungeon?'

"Tell me, is there a way to kill you guys?" Alex asked the lizards, who first expressed signs of outrage and confusion, but eventually shook their heads. Alex felt that there was no way these monsters were immortal, but began to regret his decision of entering the dungeon.

"Can I tame you?" Alex followed up with another question, narrowing his eyes at the slim possibility of something so ridiculous being a viable option. However, just as expected, the monsters only shook their heads in ridicule at such an option. "I guess we should continue the torture, then."

*

"Die!" A boy screamed at the top of his lungs as the knife he held in his dominant hand pierced the tough skin of a wolf, causing instant death. The boy was Maxwell Thompson, the son of the late leader of the biggest Mafia Group in Canada.

As he clumsily yet successfully avoided all lethal blows directed at him, he finally approached the last wolf of the pack before ending his life with a very unstable swing of his knife.

Clap! Clap!

Maxwell turned around at the strange clapping noise, only to see a fairly tall man walking towards him. The man had a light stubble and attractive, brown hair. He wore a suit and tie while carrying a cigarette that rested very close to his mouth. Behind him were several men in black jackets with arrogant expressions clouding their faces.

"What happened, Maxwell?" The man asked. "You've become exceptionally powerful in such a short amount of time."

"It's all thanks to someone I met recently," Maxwell replied. "What about you, brother? You've obtained a fairly large group of companions yourself."

The man who was now revealed to be Maxwell's brother snorted before rolling his eyes in an overly cliche manner. "They aren't 'companions', Maxwell. They are merely servants… freeloaders, if I may say."

Maxwell did not notice a change of expression on any of the men's faces, proving his brother's words to be true. It would have been a lie to say Maxwell was not surprised, but something such as this was expected from his power-hungry brother.

"Anyway, enough about me," Maxwell's brother mumbled. "Is there a secret to why you've become so strong recently? How many of those stones have you swallowed? 3? 4?"

"13 Stones of Soma," Maxwell announced, causing his brother's eyes to widen considerably. He was quick to recover, however, as he hurriedly put on a perplexed expression before asking what 'Stones of Soma' meant. "I don't really know. The person I met told me it was common terminology."

Maxwell's brother adopted a slight smile as he extended his arm. "Anyway, do you want to join me? I possess the largest group in all of Vancouver… maybe even the rest of the world. I currently have 97 members and counting."

Maxwell pretended to think for a moment before shaking his head regretfully. His brother narrowed his eyes, finding it ridiculous that Maxwell refused his offer. "I'll pay you in 'Stones of Soma', as you call them, and you'll be directly under me. Think about it; under 1, but above 97."

Maxwell's brother believed such an offer was irrefutable, and that he would definitely recruit his brother.

"It's a nice offer, but I'm sorry to tell you I owe myself to someone," Maxwell said with a deadpan expression. The weapons in the hands of the men behind Maxwell's brother tightened, and they were prepared to attack at any time.

Maxwell's brother was frozen as he stared at his brother. "Did you become a prostitute?"

Silence descended upon the area as everyone processed what Maxwell's brother had uttered. The people behind him held in their laughter, but it soon faded away as they witnessed the unchanged expression on both Maxwell's and his brother's faces.

The thought that lingered in their mind was, 'Was that not a joke?'

"No, brother," Maxwell sighed. "I was on the verge of death, but a certain man rescued me. I swore to serve him if he liked, and he told me to first collect 20 Stones of Soma before returning to him."

"Did you ask for his name?" At this point, Maxwell's brother was practically suppressing his rage as he grit his teeth.

Finding no shortcoming in revealing his benefactor's name, Maxwell finally relented and said, "Alex. His name was Alex."

"Locate all people with the name Alex in Vancouver," Maxwell's brother whispered before turning back to his brother. "Well, I'll be leaving now. Until we meet again, brother."

Maxwell only nodded, not bothering to respond.

*

"What about if I rip your scales apart?" Alex asked, petting the lizards on the head. "Can I rip some of your organs out? What about suicide? Can you guys commit suicide?"

The lizards were exhausted and filled with fear as they lowered their jaws to the ground. Instead of responding, they sat quietly, waiting for Alex's decision. By now, Alex had noticed something irregular about the two monsters.

"Hey, is there a reason you guys don't move around? I've seen your partner turn around and sweep its tail, and I haven't witnessed the two of you move from that specific spot," Alex noticed, causing cold sweat to form on the monsters' bodies.

Alex narrowed his eyes as he got off the lizard's back. As he tapped his chin, he stared at the lizard with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Whoosh!

Alex's eyes widened as he instantly moved from his previous location. About a second later, a puddle of lava appeared as the ground beneath faded into oblivion. Alex turned to glare at the lizard, but his vision was interrupted by the sneaky noise of the lizard's tail as it swept towards the boy's face.

Alex jumped as high as he could, but another tail appeared before him, forcing him to gently step on it before using it to propel himself back towards the wall. Before the lizards could make any other move, Alex jumped on their backs one by one, piercing the knife into their heads to cause pain.

"Now, what were you guys thinking!?" Alex reprimanded as he continued the torture. 'There's definitely something about their sedentary behavior,' he thought.

'Are they agitated because I noticed something?' He narrowed his eyes instinctively as he thought about his options. He had to do everything in his power to try to kill these oversized lizards, otherwise, he would eventually starve to death or be bitten and killed alive by the monsters.

'I don't think they can move from their position,' Alex concluded. Suddenly, a thought appeared in Alex's mind that caused a sinister grin to grow on his previously emotionless face. As the lizard beside the one Alex was sitting on prepared to strike using its tail, Alex quickly leapt from the monster's back, landing on the ground in front of it.

The lizard swept its tail, leaving behind an eerie noise as it charged towards Alex. The latter bent his knees and performed the motion of a squat to perfectly avoid the strike. The lizard he was previously standing on finally made its move, turning around before sweeping its tail as well. Alex avoided the tail by leaning back before performing the splits to avoid the claw of the other lizard.

As the lizards kept attacking, Alex dodged all the moves, refusing to back off. Eventually, after the lizards were exhausted, one of them decided to use its elemental powers.

The sizzling sound grew as the ground beneath Alex threatened to melt into molten rock. Alex quickly leapt towards the side as the ground finally ruptured, and when it did, one of the lizards' tails entered along with it.

The lizard that had accidentally let its tail into its own lava grimaced as it finally felt the pain. Its eyes became bloodshot as its tail turned into a mush of black liquid. A blood-curdling scream escaped its mouth as it suddenly collapsed.

'Cardiac Arrest,' Alex confirmed after noticing the sudden stop in the lizard's heartbeat. Alex leapt towards the second lizard as the latter desperately attempted to strike the former with its tail. However, easily avoiding it, Alex pulled as hard as he could to dip the tail into the lava, committing murder for the sixth time ever since entering the dungeon.

Alex sighed in relief at the fact that he wouldn't be dying due to starvation, but his joy grew faint when remembered the existence of the 'Boss' monster that rested beyond the door.

'Hopefully, it's a weak monster.'