The First Door Opens

Haze felt like a million needles were being raked across his lungs, he planted his sword on the ground and had to lean on it to avoid collapsing.

He looked around the room, he needed an exit from the hallway and he needed it fast. He limped towards the other end of the hall, just then a door opened to his right and Elena stepped out.

She had a pensive look on her face and she yelled. "Haze!", When she saw him covered in black liquid, walking stiffly while leaning on his sword.

"What happened?", She asked when she got to his side.

Haze winced. "It's a long story".

"I'm all ears", Elena replied.

"I followed the queen of witches here but she unleashed a shadow dragon on me, I just killed it", Haze said. They stepped out of the door and entered another corridor.

"Where's the dragon?", Elena asked.

"It's still in there", Haze replied and Elena peered into the hallway to check the dragon out.

"There's no dragon there", She replied.

"That's because I hacked it to pieces", Haze said.

Elena scoffed. "You're a psycho, you know?"

Haze smiled, he could feel some of his strength return to him.

"You're truly Hades' son", She muttered. "Only him does psychotic stuff like this".

"I took no chances, I don't want it reanimating and attacking me again".

They walked for a while in silence, the closest doors from them were still a few feet away, Haze wondered how large Mount Soho actually was.

"I think this mission is doomed", He said after a while.

Elena looked at him with curious eyes. "Why do you say so?"

"I just killed a beast", Haze said. "I've probably absorbed it's powers and soon I'll have to forcefully rest", He sniffed bitterly. "How will I fight the queen while I battle exhaustion?".

"But you didn't kill a cursed beast", Elena said. "You killed a spirit animal".

"Spirit animal? ", Haze replied, confused.

"You said it yourself, she summoned the dragon didn't she?", Elena asked.

"Well, yeah", Haze replied.

"Only spirit animals can be summoned", Elena explained. "They're not actual animals in the sense, just a temporary animation with the realistic features".

"I see", Haze said, filing the information in his mind.

"You can't get powers from killing spirit animals because they don't exist on the physical plane, they're from another world".

"So I won't be facing forceful exhaustion", Haze said with a smile, he felt a little better now.

Haze suddenly realized something that made him stop walking.

"Don't you think it's weird that we've been walking this corridor for a while now and we've still not seen any guards?", He asked Elena.

"Yes it is", Elena agreed. Guards were sprawling at the entrance, the throne room and even when the queen entered. So obviously they're big on security.

"Why does this place not contain a single guard then?", Haze asked.

"Do you think it because they're spread thin guarding other places?", Elena asked.

"I don't think so", Haze replied. He somehow doubted they would leave corridors leading to the inner rooms unguarded, plus his encounter with the queen had left him more calculating than ever, he wasn't going to be outsmarted by her again.

A sharp gasp from Elena made him turn around and what he saw made him blink in shock, panic began to flood his bloodstream.

A wall had appeared directly behind them and cut off the exit.

"What did I get myself into by coming here?", Haze thought bitterly.

There was a loud hissing sound and a door at the end of the corridor slid open slowly.

Haze watched as the silhouette of a man stepped out the room.

He was a slender man with pale skin, he had a feral grin on his face.

"I've been sent by her majesty to get rid of the annoying princeling and his friend", He said in a smooth voice and drew his fists.

[Enemy attack detected]

[You have a new quest]

[Survive enemy attack]

[Reward: +10 Exp]

"He has no weapons, does that mean he fights with elements?", Haze asked himself.

His question was soon answered when without warning he shot fireballs out from his fist. The fireballs headed straight for Haze who ducked out of the way.

"Fire huh?", He thought as he straightened up and held his sword.

Haze was in pain and he hadn't fully recovered from the fight with the dragon but he knew he couldn't afford to slouch. Besides he had Elena by his side to complement him.

As if she was listening to his thoughts, Elena responded back to the man with her own fire.

He moved out of the way to dodge it and Haze used this opportunity to pop up near the man and slash at him.

The man saw him a fraction too late but he managed to repel Haze with an outburst of fire that forced him back.

Haze landed on his feet and panted. He ran at the man again, slashing at him at an incredible speed, the man dodged most of them but some caught his body, the man yelled just then and sent a scorching ball of flame at Haze.

Haze flew back to avoid it but the heat was so great that it singed his hair.

The smell of burnt hair filled the room quickly, angering Haze.

"My hair will grow back, but your head won't when I cut it off from your neck!", He yelled.

The man fired two more flame balls at him but Elena jumped in front of him and stopped them with her own flame. She fired three fireballs at him in rapid succession, the man dodged the first two but the last one brushed his arm.

If the man felt pain, he didn't show it, he raised his hand to fire at her but Haze was quick, he descended on the man with a flurry of swings.

It was a delicate dance, like they were on stage and were entertaining an expectant audience. Haze slashed at the man multiple times, trying to hit him from every angle, the man dodged each attack, matching Haze's speed with a smile on his face.

They continued this delicate dance until Haze suddenly stuck out his leg and kicked the man, throwing him off balance.

This momentary lapse of concentration was all Haze needed, with two swipes of his sword, the man was divided cleanly into three pieces.

Haze stopped slashing and collapsed to his feet, panting hard as he watched blood flow out from the pieces of the man.

[Mission completed]

[Reward: 10 Exp]

[1 kill made]

[+2 status points]

Then there was a loud hiss and the second door opened.