Alexander looked left and right, yet all he could see was hostility directed toward them.
Various guilds up the stairs, down the street or even on the other sidewalk looked straight at them.
"What are you doing?!" said Alexander.
"Yes, what the hell are you doing?!" repeated John, who was now several meters back.
Midas lowered his arm, and planted his large sword in the ground, while sighing. Gilded order followed his lead, relaxing their stance yet remaining in high alert.
The other guilds, however, remained the way they were, unsure of what to do.
John got his phone out, aggressively typing on it as if his life depended on it.
Sunder moved Alexander in front of him, still looking at the crowd around them.
"What's happening?! What are you doing?! Why are you fighting with them?" asked Alexander.
"It's not me they want, it's you," replied Sunder.
Alexander frowned and looked behind. Everyone's gaze was stuck on him, hatred flaring through their eyes.
"Alexander, right? Listen, no need to panic, I just need you to follow me inside…" said John further away.
Everyone's hostile, and all the sudden you want me inside the building?
Alexander looked at Sunder, who remained composed, yet concentrated.
"What is it?" he asked.
Without even looking back, he answered.
"It's your portal. No matter the class you'll receive in there, we can tell: it will be a forbidden one."
Forbidden class? Is that even a thing?!
"Nothing's set in stone, Alexander," continued John. "We need to secure you, inside. We can fix this."
Alexander's mind faltered. His heart skipped a beat, while the realization set in.
He took a step forward, stopped once more by Sunder.
"What?"
Sunder's grip on Alexander's shoulders tightened even more.
"If you go in there, you'll never leave. More importantly, they won't let you become a Dungeon Runner."
"I've done nothing wrong—"
"It doesn't matter."
Sunder finally looked at at him, his face still smiling.
Alexander could hear as some dungeon runners dropped to their knees, their weapons clinking against the ground as they dropped them.
"What are you doing to them?! Can't we talk this out?" said Alexander.
"I haven't done anything to them, yet, that's your inner path," replied Sunder.
Alexander confusedly looked around, his eyes settling on the portal.
My portal is causing this?
John took even more steps back, before turning away and running toward guild leaders.
Little by little, the area cleared of most guilds, only the biggest ones remaining around.
Sunder pointed toward the portal.
"We don't have much time. If you want to become a Dungeon Runner, now's the time."
John, who was now much further had to considerably raise his voice to communicate across the street.
"Sunder. You know what happened with the last cultist. We can't let that happen once more. This is beyond even you."
Sunder ignored the comment, yet the word echoed in Alexander's mind.
"A cultist?…"
I've heard this before, haven't I?
He didn't have time to focus on that memory. Sunder was shaking his shoulders, trying to be reassuring.
"Don't worry, I'll work something out while you're gone."
He pushed Alexander toward the portal, and pointed toward his chest with his index finger.
At the tip of Sunder's finger appeared a circle that shone bright white. It expanded, becoming wider with runes rotating around it.
Like a firearm, it left Sunder's fingertip and rammed into Alexander's chest, creating a circular hole in his shirt as the circle inscribed itself in his skin.
He could smell the burnt flesh as the circle slowly carved him, leaving behind a scar.
His ears rung, a constant high-pitch noised filled his head.
Alexander confusedly looked at his chest then back at Sunder whose white eyes were now concentrated elsewhere.
Tremors shook the ground under Alexander feet.
He felt like he was in the middle of a battlefield.
He looked behind once more, as Sunder's magic circles appeared in the sky, blocking giant flaming spheres from hitting them, each hit blasting out a shockwave that shook through the ground.
Gilded Order raised their weapons once more, the circles under them instantly detonating, the ground shook so much that it threw Alexander off-balance.
"Sunder?!"
He looked at sunder, but it was as if he was invisible. His gaze was locked in place, his concentration unwavering as more explosions reverberated through the ground they stood on.
Sunder was levitating a foot above the ground, his clothes floating in the air as he conjured magic circles left and right.
"Get Sunder first!" yelled a voice through the chaos.
"As if you could," replied Sunder perfectly still with a slight smile.
Alexander struggled back onto his feet, trying to keep himself balanced through what felt like a earthquake.
Flashes burst through the fog as spells detonated.
Dust filled the air and refused to settle; a battlefield trapped in chaos.
He couldn't even see where most attacks came from, some spells he could only see when they were stopped by Sunder.
While Sleeping Giants hadn't moved, Gilded Order had taken arms, dispersing through the chaos and advancing in a wide arc.
They're trying to get us from all angles?!
"Sunder! They're coming behind you," yelled Alexander.
An arrow whistled, Alexander's heart stopped as it was blown off-course by an air blast that dispersed the dust cloud around it.
"You're in the way," said Sunder, who's voice barely broke through the commotion.
Alexander looked around, yet there was nowhere to escape. His only chance was the portal that remained opened, several meters away.
"The rune on your chest should help you remain sane. Clear the first level as fast as you can, and get out. I'll be waiting for you outside."
Sunder's concentration went back to everything coming their way.
Alexander didn't even have time to look around, as an air blast that felt like a truck ramming him head-on hit his stomach.
Alexander braced for it, tightening his muscles as much as he could, yet the blast took the air out of his lungs.
He was propelled backward, the world around him becoming a blur as his vision darkened.
It shoved him inside the opened portal in one continuous motion.
He could see Sunder becoming smaller, the scene that looked like it belonged in a war movie from the amount of blasts was only visible through the frame of the portal.
On all sides crawled darkness, the portal slowly closing on Sunder who hadn't moved an inch from where he was.
Before the portal fully closed, he gave Alexander a single smile while waving.
The slit barely let any light through, until full darkness was all the remained.
The sound of crawling and skittering filled the darkness, eyes slowly opening everywhere Alexander looked.
He quickly got on his feet, unsure of what he was even standing on.
Whatever it was, squirmed everywhere. It lurked in the darkness.
It was like an infestation, irises meeting his gaze everywhere.
He turned on himself, locating a path where no eyes had opened.
"Fuck fuck fuck…"
He stepped forward, focusing on not losing his balance while walking in complete darkness.
He went faster, as eyes swarmed the through the abyssal fabric. He barely noticed the rancid smell as he kept moving forward, a path opening itself before him.
He stopped.
"Fuck! I need to step on that?!"
Eyes were now opening on the ground, tendrils slightly reaching-out in-between them.
His heart beat faster. In a decisive motion, he started running on the opened eyes.
Each step sank like he was stomping into rotten corpses. Something wet pulled at his shoes every time, trying to hold onto him.
Every unblinking eye that crawled around was fixated on him, as he struggled forward, following his movements as he desperately ran.
Is that a door?!
A rotting wooden door waited at the end of the path, barely upright.
Each step he took sunk further into the eyes, dark and clotted liquid seeping out each time, oozing up his pants.
Only one thought filled his mind, and it was going through that door.
Yet, that thought became distorted, fragmented. Like whispers echoing through his mind, with a void in-between them.
He struggled, falling on his hands and knees multiple times, barely paying attention to the liquid that covered him.
It looked as if the slime had a mind of its own, slowly reaching up his arms and legs, absorbing him. It slithered up, writhing around with a slight pulse.
Alexander's head was burning as much as his chest. He looked up, the door was in arm's reach.
He tried getting his right hand out of liquid that was still running up his arm.
He fell forward, his left shoulder hit the ground while his right arm dislodged itself for a brief moment.
He brought his hand forward, finally touching the door.