The Selection Exam [2]

Arthur appeared in the dungeon after being transported by the demon. By his guess, everything had taken a wild turn thanks to the black book he opened a few days back. Though his memory of that night was still a blur—a few things were coming back to him. Things like the book disappearing.

He glared at his left hand curiously, and the mark she had placed on him was fading away and could almost not be seen at this point.

"A demon lord candidate, huh."

He squeezed his hand into a fist to confirm if it was still working, and when he clenched it, there was nothing different about it than before.

'The mark has done nothing, but why do I still feel different?' he thought while sensing the ominous presence of a demon hanging on to him.

He wasn't aware of how the demon race worked because he grew up knowing they were an evil race from another realm. His mother said nothing about his father except for the fact that he was the one good demon she had ever met. But Arthur didn't care about him at all. He blamed him for abandoning them and letting them live out the rest of their lives in misery.

Suddenly, a loud and vicious roar echoed from the upper floor. Arthur developed goosebumps over his body after hearing that. Then, the entire dungeon thundered as if a miniature earthquake had just happened.

He panicked and immediately drew his sword to defend himself, but froze when the thought of him fighting a monster strong enough to make the entire dungeon quake with just its roar crossed his mind.

"I can't fight something like that," he stuttered, then pushed his sword back into its sheath after making up his mind.

"A fight is happening on the floor above me," he noticed. "I need to get out of here. What if this place collapses?"

It was difficult to see since the cave he had appeared in was faintly dark. Touching the cold walls, Arthur sensed a strange form of mana coursing through the dungeon like it was alive.

Carefully, he made his way for the exit while trusting his eyesight and tingling senses.

Humans could sense danger, and lucky for him, his human side was the most active ever since he was reborn. The only demon aspect he seemed to have gained was the ability to drain mana from the air and nature. However, this ability was weak in his previous life, and he could barely use it.

And after walking for a few minutes, he finally started to see some light coming from the exit.

He sensed nothing strange, so he increased his pace until he finally made it out of the dark cave.

Surprised and relieved, he set his eyes on a beautiful garden of neon blue roses that grew from the dungeon's floor to the walls around him. They produced a calm presence that relaxed him from just looking at them.

"Midnight roses." He was happy to see that he had been transported to a calm place like this other than in a swarm of goblins or in front of the beast that had just made that noise. Pretty roses were what he needed after having a day that would go down in history as one of the weirdest days of his new life.

He crouched on his knees and pulled one of the roses from the surprisingly soft ground. Then, he studied the flower's structure with his eyes to confirm if this was exactly what he had read about a few days back.

"Midnight roses, a perfect healing remedy said to be capable of healing someone close to death. I might as well keep it for myself just in case."

Then, he shoved it into his pocket, plucked out a few more that he threw into his mouth, and chewed on them immediately before they could stop glowing.

They had a sour aftertaste that felt like he was chewing dirt and grass. But despite the horrible taste in his mouth, he could already feel his body gaining some strength from just consuming a few of them. Few because too many would kill him instantly.

***

Bairon yanked his short sword out of the goblin's body. Its purple blood oozed off its litherium blade which was still crackling with electricity from his previous attack.

"Maybe I've overdone it…" he mumbled after noticing the hundreds of dead goblins he had just slain on his own.

Bairon had butchered through all of them without leaving any of the weak monsters alive—he needed those points. And since they were low-level types, goblins could be taken down by anyone good with attack magic.

A few moments ago, he had just begun his quest to find the rest of his party after being transported to the dungeon alone. However, he found himself in an unfair battle against a swarm of goblins—the odds were on his side so the fight was definitely one sided in his case.

Bairon had never once admired becoming a dark knight despite being born with a divine skill like telepathy and the gift of magic. He wasn't like his older brother Lance, who had already made a name for himself in the academy and was even recognized by people like the King himself.

He didn't want to be like his brother. Following him would only turn him into another golden boy from the Crown family.

He wished to make his own path.

The Crown family of magic users was famous for its water and lightning magic. They were a knowledgeable family that passed its power down from parent to child over the past generations. And because of that power, the Crowns were known as the third great family of the Valron Kingdom.

Bairon was a genius in magic, and if he didn't have an older brother, he would surely be next in line as the heir of the Crown family.

"Tsk…"

He bit his lower lip as he marched forward, following the path the goblins had been using for travel. "They just had to put me on an empty floor. I don't even know where to go because every path looks the same. I wish I read for—"

He paused his pointless grumbling after seeing the human bones scattered across the narrow pathway along with equipment like armor, swords, and maps dropped by adventures exploring these parts.

'This part of the dungeon isn't supposed to be dangerous.' He thought

He felt the warm air coming from the far end of the path. And could already tell what was ahead.

"A magic beast."

He made it to the end of the narrow path and entered another section of the floor—and even though they were underground, the entire place was lit up by crystalline rocks on the ceiling. And immediately, he found himself standing in front of an oversized green ogre that seemed to have already been waiting for him as soon as he completed the path.

The beast was about twice the size of a regular ogre, with hot steam shooting out of its body as its tissues recovered from what looked like scratches after fighting against other monsters. Ogres were usually six feet tall with fat bodies but very tough skins that were famous for being able to absorb magic to some degree. They were intelligent carnivores that feasted on weaker creatures and sometimes humans and preferred hunting their prey.

This one, in particular, was taller and bulkier than the ones he had seen in textbooks; it wore bits of animal skin to cover its lower body, demonstrating signs of its intelligence.

But that's not why Bairon was shocked. "Ogres aren't supposed to be here."

Instantly, it sensed his killing intent and opened its mouth,

"RARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!"

Its roar was so loud that the entire floor rumbled from just the sound. Then showed him its claws.

"Finally, an opponent." Bairon scoffed, and his blade started cackling with blue electricity when his bright eyes flashed with magical energy.