Chapter 11: Fresh air

Marcus looked at the starry sky in a daze. How long had it been since he had last seen it? He came to the realization that, in the past, no matter how much he had wanted to leave this place, he never found the courage within himself.

He only felt secure hiding in the darkest corner of the labyrinth. The sense of security it provided was like a small cabin in a very dark and eerie forest at night. The occasional growls and eerie noises of the night might scare him, but he found peace and calmness within the cold walls of the labyrinth.

This had gone on for so long that he had almost forgotten how the surface looked. If it weren't for the shock he received the first time he came to this world, he might truly have forgotten how the forest above him looked.

He had thought that once he was strong enough, he would leave this place. But was he strong enough to survive outside right now?

At this moment, his own contradiction hit him. He had defeated a greater basilisk, something that he never thought he would even encounter in his dreams. He was never afraid or hesitant during the fight. And yet, now he hesitated.

He had defeated his strongest foe thus far, and now, when it was time to step onto this stepping stone, he hesitated. He had never searched for opportunity; opportunity had always come to him.

And he knew the answer: he was biased towards this place. Even if this place was far more dangerous than the outside world, he felt he might feel more secure here and made up excuses to justify it. Maybe it was because of a subconscious fear, a fear of the outside world, or maybe even civilization.

Marcus finally let go of his complicated emotions and shifted his attention to the spoils of war. This was the first time something like this had happened.

Normally, a rotting carcass would be his spoil of war, but now there was not even a body left; the only thing left here was this crystal.

The moment he picked it up, a jolt of electricity struck him. It was painful but still tolerable. He felt the shock move directly from his hand to his head.

After this, a sense of calmness enveloped Marcus' figure. His entire demeanor changed. His eyes had clarity, his heartbeat remained steady, and his posture relaxed.

It seemed that the stone in his hand had triggered some changes in his body. However, just by looking at his appearance, nothing unusual could be found; only his eyes had a slight golden tint.

After coming out of the trance, he saw his foe in a new light. Not with hatred or revulsion, but with understanding. An understanding of its nature. He had never felt such closeness for another human, much less a beast.

At the same time, the crystal in his hand turned into light particles, infusing with his body. He saw nothing wrong with it, as if it was returning to the place it belonged.

Marcus stood there as if in deep contemplation. A few minutes later, tremors were felt in the labyrinth. It was not an earthquake, as he could hear noises. Something was coming, and it was causing the tremors.

In his vision, Marcus could see rows and rows of monsters with various appearances rushing towards his direction. Were they coming for him?

No, they weren't. One of the bats flew by him. But they were all going in the same direction, so it could be said they had a similar purpose. And Marcus knew what their purpose was; they were running away. After all, he had gotten fragments of the greater basilisk's memory, and he knew when this type of thing happened.

After all, he had destroyed a nest. Who were coming for his head could be logically guessed. But was he afraid?

If it were him in the past, he might have already run away. But things were different now. Weeks of staying in this place, combined with the absorption of the crystal, had drastically changed him. Now he had something in his eyes he didn't have before: arrogance.

He looked calmly at the crowd before him; when he judged they were close enough, he pointed his palm towards them. A glow of light engulfed his palm, and then it shot out, clearing everything in front of him. The ones who survived ran out from the sides as soon as they could.

After Marcus had absorbed the crystal, the knowledge of doing this wasn't like information he memorized in his head, but something engraved in his blood, like how we are afraid of the dark or falling. Knowledge that is not acquired, but we are born with. Marcus knew that he had obtained this power after killing his enemy, but it felt like he always had this power. He now needed no objects to aid him in his combat; now his mana alone had the power to unleash such destruction.

The ones which followed monsters were the basilisks; there were just too many of them. There were even some that stood out to him. Their scales shimmered in the dark, and the crystals on their backs gave them a myriad of looks. Marcus was not scared, but he didn't wish to continue this fight; the odds were not in his favor right now. So after letting out another blast of energy and killing a large number of lesser basilisks, he decided to leave this place.

After all, there were greater basilisks in their midst, and he was not confident in taking on them all right now, hence deciding to implement a hit and run strategy. The greater basilisks did not make their move at the beginning, but there was one that did, and it caught Marcus' eye.

As Marcus was blasting away the tides of the lesser basilisks, a pitch-black greater basilisk neared his location. Though Marcus didn't give it much attention at first, something happened that changed his opinion. It disappeared into the ground, not digging but just disappearing into thin air, shocking Marcus greatly. Soon enough, a claw stretched out of his shadow cast from the light from outside. Marcus had anticipated it after receiving the memory fragments; rarely was this greater basilisk present. And just by the time it disappeared, Marcus had already figured out which one it was. Now that the greater basilisks had joined the fight, he knew his playtime was over. Before the claw could attack him, Marcus had already prepared a stone platform beneath him, promptly flying away from the opening in the roof and sealing it with concrete.

It seemed that fate had already made a choice for him. Flying high into the sky, Marcus took in a breath of fresh air, gazing down calmly at the landscape before him.