Darkness

In the evening, Thomas in his white robe stood in front of the imperial academy gate while both he and Zara had traveled for three days straight to reach the academy.

Meanwhile, Zara had already entered the academy three hours earlier than him.

Walking towards the guards, Thomas showed his identity token to the guard and entered the academy. The academy environment made him sighed and shook his head.

He looked at the numerous people in the academy that are not related to the academy moving to and fro. Ignoring the bustling of the people around, he walked toward the mission hall.

The mission hall had a lot of students checking out the mission boards. Thomas walked up to the instructor that sat behind the counter, he showed him the mission slip and gave him the flowers.

Receiving the items, the instructor transfers 100 academic points to Thomas's token. Without further delay, he quickly left the hall and went to his room.

Inside his room, after taking a quick bath, Thomas sat on his bed in a lotus position. Raising his eyebrows, 'Should I cultivate or sleep?' He thought with a sigh. 'I guess I will have to relax, the mental fatigue is getting too much.'

He lay on the bed, drifting off asleep.

Moments later.

"Si laaaa, Si laaa, Si laaa"

A frightening voice was coming from everywhere. It is difficult to discern, maybe it is a male voice or female voice.

"Si laaa, Si laaa, Si laaa"

The frightening voice repeated containing more enormous power.

Jotted by the voice, Thomas found himself in a seamless dark space, his eyes could not discern anything. The abnormal darkness sends out an eerie feeling that makes Thomas shivered.

"What!"

Thomas widening his eyes, "How did I get here!"

He looked around but everywhere he set his eye upon was in absolute darkness.

After a few minutes, various sounds began to come from everywhere, sounding closer to him.

Subconsciously, Thomas began to sweat profusely, all his cloth had been drenched in a cold sweat.

Thum! Thum! Thum!

The cold sweats from Thomas's head dropped into the darkness. However, where did the sweats fall upon to produce that sound?

No one knows.

Shriek! Shriek!

Hearing that sound, Thomas stood vigilant of his weird environment, suddenly he felt a sudden movement against his right leg.

Spontaneously, he jumped.

Thomas looked around with wide eyes, hoping to find something. However, there wasn't. Breathing heavily, his chest raised up and down.

'Where am I! What is this place!'

Thomas thought out loud.

Ah! Ah! Ah!

A frightening laugh comes from Thomas's left ear. Hearing this, he stumbled back. Quickly, he turned left. However, there was only total darkness.

The crazy torment of the darkness with all the bizarre things inside the darkness had almost broken down Thomas.

Checking the darkness for strange movement with absolute concentration. Thomas felt a scary presence at his back along with cold breathing from the unknown.

Thomas's hair stood up straight, he dare not breathe out loud. He was alarmed. All the regal of aloofness, the nonchalant attitude had been long disposed of.

Anyone seeing the current Thomas compared to the previous one would over laugh at his expression. His body trembling, his eyes were moving to and fro from his eye socket, his lips hitting each other while rows of sweats had a house over his face.

Quite hilarious in his misfortune.

Thomas in the dilemma of what to do, stay or run while the breathing was getting stronger every second.

'I got to escape from this damp place. There may be a way out.' He thought.

Taking a deep breath, Thomas summoned the last bit of courage in him to make a run. As if knowing his thoughts, every sound and breathing stopped. Every place remained silent like a graveyard while the gloomy darkness became thicker.

Breathing out, Thomas dashed out with every bit of strength in his body while running aimlessly in the darkness.

Ah! Ah! Ah!

The frightening laugh sounded again.

"Oh come on! Are you kidding me!" Thomas was frustrated.

Various unknown beings picked up their gear, making a diverse of inhuman sounds while chasing Thomas.

He never for once looked back, he ran with everything he had, trying to outrun the unknown beings.

But can he?

Thomas had tried multiple times to use his cultivation, but it turned futile. There was no essence energy in his body.

He could only depend on his physical strength. Meanwhile, the Hunter's families are sword cultivators, they solely depend on their sword in battle. Thomas followed their footsteps and was a sword maniac right from a tender age.

However, amid a pursuit where his physical strength is needed, he had none.

"If I had the chance to escape from this frightening darkness, I vow to strengthen my body." He murmured.

After running aimlessly for several minutes with the hope of escaping the pursuit, he realized that the darkness is endless.

All of a sudden, an unknown thing sprouted out of the darkness, it sent an attack with great momentum, hitting Thomas's chest.

Thomas was sent flying back while blood gushed out of his mouth and nose.

Everything stopped immediately, the chase and the strange sounds stopped while Thomas lay in the darkness with his breathing becoming erratic.

Thomas stood up after a few minutes, using his right hand to hold his chest, he stared at the unknown being in front of him.

The strange being looked like a tree root but it wasn't. It looked like a big snake but it wasn't.

Thomas looked at the animal that looked like a tree and a snake. He had never read about any animal like this one. The massive strange animal surrounded him.

Thomas stood there not sure of what to do. A smaller root-like snake detached from the big one while it approached him slowly.

Noticing this, Thomas was scared. His breathing became faster while he took a step back.

The smaller root-like snake attacked him, but he avoided the attack with his footwork.

Thomas's courage increased when he discovered he could avoid the attacks. He started using his footwork to the maximum.

Another root-like snake joined the assault, making it difficult for Thomas to invade the combined attacks. However, he continued to invade the attack by an inch.

Noticing another root-like snake had joined the assault, he gnashed his teeth frustrated.

Thomas had tried to use his fist to attack the root-like snake but it was clumsy. The root-like snakes easily invade the clumsy fist art. He gave up on his attack and focused on invading the joint assault.

Ah!

Thomas screamed, he failed to avoid an assault, he had been bitten by a root-like snake. Thomas's veins pop-out, gnashing his teeth, the agony he was passing through was so much that he was hoping to die.

Ah! Ah! Ah!

Thomas continued to scream in agony, the continuous bite from the root-like snake was tormenting beyond measure.

"Si laaa"

Hearing the frightening voice, quickly the root-like snake returned to the massive root-like snake.

Thomas lay in the darkness, he was covered in blood. The gruesome bite from the root-like snake covered his body with deep injuries. He was barely conscious.

"Give me your soul and you shall never experience this torment again" the frightening voice reverberated everywhere in the darkness.