Please Stand by

 As the group slowly tried to pull themselves together and process the disaster that had just occurred. Back to the temple, at the bottom of the abyss. A bloodied Samir, with his legs twisted behind him with his bones exposed, regained consciousness.

Surprisingly he didn't die from the fall... at least not yet

He tried to stand up, only to find that his legs wouldn't respond to him. This time, not because of the command stone's orders, but because his legs were damaged to the point that such a thing wasn't even possible

"Urgh, I'm all broken. Damn, in the end, I failed… I couldn't kill that bastard"

The truth is that just as Jake suspected, Samir's smiling expression and lifeless eyes were just a facade. His true feelings were exactly the opposite, not only did he have a great desire to live, as he also held a large amount of anger within him. 

During the seven years he spent as a slave of the Torsten family, at all times he was alert to his surroundings, always looking for an opportunity to escape. Unfortunately, that opportunity never presented itself. Well, not only was he always surrounded by hundreds of trained and armed soldiers, led by an extremely powerful knight 

No matter how strong Samir was, under the restrictions placed on him, any attempt to escape would be frivolous, resulting in him only facing a quick and senseless death.

As if it wasn't bad enough, two years after his life as a slave began, Jake, the family's youngest, good-for-nothing son, set his sights on Samir. Making his horrible life even more unbearable, punishments that were once rare events, happening once or twice a month, have become daily events in the slave life. This caused the slave's desire to escape to slowly turn into a deep hatred for the noble family that took his freedom. 

During the years that followed, Samir continued to endure torture as he waited for a chance, but this time instead of a chance to escape, he waited for a chance to break free and have his revenge. And to achieve this wish, not only did he need to get rid of the knight who followed and protected Jake everywhere he went, but also needed to get rid of the command stones in the noble's possession that prevented Samir from attacking him 

Two very difficult things to accomplish

Things didn't look very optimistic for Samir, and it looked like he would spend the rest of his life living as a slave, that was until a few days ago when fate finally seemed to be smiling on the poor slave, when Jake found the entrance to the labyrinth

Contrary to what many believed, Jake, the useless prodigy of the Torsten family, was well aware of the horrible reputation he had among the nobility. Not only did he know this, he also always wanted to change the way everyone saw him, but even so he didn't have the will or the commitment to change his attitudes or habits, always finding excuses to not do so

Dedicate himself to sword training? Jake: Hell no, this is very tiring and painful!

Study and learn about finances, to help manage his family's territory and business? Jake: No way, this is very annoying and tedious!

Spend his time studying under the care of the family's wizards to increase his magical knowledge and control? Jake: No, thank you, this is very time consuming!

Stop spending his family's money on booze and women? Jake: Do you want me to die? That didn't make sense, bars and brothels existed for people with money like me to have fun!

Over and over again, Jake found excuses to not change. Always trying to find a shortcut or an alternative way to change his family's impression, without him having to abandon his addictions and expenses.Therefore, when he found a completely unexplored labyrinth, he knew the rarity and importance that such a place had. Instead of immediately reporting to his father, Matthew von Thornten, the viscount. Jake decided to explore the place by himself, believing this would be the best way to prove himself to everyone

With this in mind, Jake then hired the Dark Wolves mercenary group to accompany him, before fleeing Askelyn, under the guise of visiting a brothel. Carrying only a few supplies and his favorite punching bag, that is, Samir

Faced with this heaven-sent opportunity, no longer needing to worry about the presence of the knight protecting Jake, all Samir had to do was get rid of all the command stones in the noble's possession. Knowing this, all Samir needed to do was irritate and provoke Jake whenever he could, making him waste his commands and consequently the stones he had with him

And just as Samir expected, without the knight's presence to control Jake and stop him from wasting his commands, the spoiled noble didn't hesitate to use them to punish Samir. Breaking stone after stone in the process, thus removing the restraint that prevented Samir from hurting him

Unfortunately, Samir wasn't quick enough, allowing Jake to give his final command

"Sigh, seven years thrown in the trash, just like that. What a waste..."

Samir looked around, while trying his best to ignore his flesh being slowly eaten away by the laser and the deep pain coming from his spine.

As he did so, he realized he was surrounded by a series of ancient-looking murals with strange designs. He tried to see what was drawn on the murals, but he was weak and could not focus his eyes, causing him to give up on it.

He then turned his body into a more comfortable position, only to feel a handful of jewels and gold thrown in front of him.

Samir was confused by the presence of these items, but soon realized what was happening.

"Ah, that must have fallen with me"

At that moment, among the handful of gold coins, he noticed a strange iron pendant, linked to some kind of amulet. The amulet was shaped like an eye, with an hourglass in the middle. Despite it being something he had never seen in his life, strangely enough, he felt a sense of familiarity with the item. Using the last of his strength, he crawled up and grabbed the pendant

"Okay, now what? Hahaha, who would have thought at the end of my life I would become greedy"

Samir thought to himself, finding the situation amusing, as he lying down on the ground, holding the pendant with both hands over his chest, not realizing that the item was emitting a faint golden light since he grabbed it

«Æ!ß…. @♪… ßΦ»

"Huh? What was that?"

He heard a strange sound, the sound echoing throughout the empty chamber. No, paying a little attention, Samir realized that bizarrely, instead of echoing outside, the sound was reverberating internally, directly in his mind

«Æ!ß#♪@Œ §δ§@ΦΩ φ¦#!q §@♪+ ßΦ»

'Death is really different from what I expected' 

Thought Samir, as he disregarded the strange sound, imagining that they were just a hallucination, before his imminent end. Yet, to his confusion, as he felt his body being eroded, the strength left his body, to the point where his eyelids trembled, feeling heavier and heavier. At the same time, slowly but perceptibly the weird sound became more discernible

«I!ß#♪@g §δ¶@m φ¦#!q §@♪+d ßy»

Samir closed his eyes, as his thoughts became slower, no longer being able to feel his body, he could feel… his end was near. As this realization dawned on him, Samil realized that what was once just a weird sound to him, suddenly became a strange voice

Hearing this voice caused him contradictory feelings, because, even though this voice belonged to someone he had never seen or met, in some way, it seemed familiar and gave him a feeling of comfort

As the voice echoed in his mind speaking strange words in an unfamiliar yet strangely familiar language. Samir felt that if he tried a little he would be able to easily understand the meaning behind them

Just before his consciousness blacked out, a mechanical voice sounded in his head: «Installing System… please stand by»