I entered the gate.
No dungeon looks exactly like the others of its kind. There are two types of how a dungeon looks.
First, there are dungeons that have fancy walls—covered in patterns, codes that mean nothing but still feel ancient—and are made of real stone.
Second, there are dungeons that are literal caves, except they have some sort of light to illuminate just enough to not be blind. And they're obviously teeming with monsters.
This was the cave type. Steep rocks railed down, with fire torches on the side walls slightly illuminating the place—just enough to see. The dungeon was the same size as the gate.
I entered the dungeon. Still scared, I hurried, my steps echoing in the quietness of the dungeon as I moved forward. After a few steps, I yelled.
"Hey kid, where you at? This isn't some hide and seek game—it's serious. You're in danger and you can die. This dungeon has monsters that'll eat you alive. Come to me right this instant if you don't want to die," I said, scaring him so that he'd come out.
After five seconds, I heard nothing. He didn't respond. I moved forward, now actually going inside the dungeon.
There were gaps in the walls in which I saw ants as I moved forward.
"I wonder how these got in here," I spoke curiously.
As I took more and more steps, my heart started to beat faster. I wondered if the kid knew what dungeons are. Otherwise, why would he go inside knowing there are dangerous monsters here?
About a few meters in, I suddenly heard a scream. It was the kid. My heart dropped. I instantly started sprinting through these steep rocks as the dungeon went downwards and changed directions..
After five seconds of sprinting—going downhill and turning accordingly to the curves of the dungeon—I reached a large space opening from the small cave I was running in.
Right in the middle of the large opening stood the kid. He had brown hair and brown eyes. Wearing shorts and a green T-shirt with a cute look, he stood at 4'4.
I reached beside the kid; he was staring right into the large cave.
"Hey kid, I have a bunch of things to say to you, but first, let's get out of here," I said when I reached his side.
The kid stood frozen, drenched in sweat and scared to death.
In the large opening, it was complete darkness. There was no light, and I couldn't quite sense any monsters in there.
Now that I think about it, I've found absolutely no monsters at all. Usually, there'd be at least a few by this point, but there were absolutely none so far.
When I placed my hand on the kid's shoulder to speak into his mind to move back... I sensed two waves of mana—one was extremely intense, and one was from the kid.
"What the hell was that?" I questioned myself, scared.
The kid had mana as well—in fact, it was well-developed to the point where I'd believe the kid had an ability. It was shocking that a 7-year-old like this one had such well-developed mana.
I was now scared because the mana wave from inside the large space was immense. I could sense that there were multiple entities inside. The entire space didn't have any light, so I couldn't see anything. The nearest light source was a few meters behind me, barely illuminating enough to not be blind.
I then heard several sounds of growling with intense hostility, the sudden surge of intensely bad rotten smell. I knew they were coming for us.
Just as I was about to try and pick the kid up, he started slowly pointing his finger toward the space while shaking, sweating, and scared out of his mind.
"It... it was a bad idea... I'm... going to... d-die," the kid said, his body trembling like it had already given up completely.
I had a thought—this kid might have an ability to see in the dark. That's how he got here so far so quickly. The dungeon was barely illuminated, and a kid like this wouldn't be able to see enough to move forward. But if he had an ability to see in the dark, he might've not gotten scared. It made so much sense if this was the case. Damn it, this ability would be extremely useful, but in this poor kid's case, it could become the cause of his death—including mine.
I instantly picked the kid up. I didn't know what was in the darkness, but I knew it was closing in on us. I picked him up and began to sprint upwards. It'd be hard to climb the place, but considering the threat's speed behind us, I can say for sure that they wouldn't be climbing that place in an eternity.
Just as I moved a couple of steps, an intense gust of wind blew from behind me. I looked back and forth, the kid still frozen in fear.
The gust of wind was so intense that it literally pushed me a little from behind... but I know it wasn't an attack, since it was an attempt to extinguish the fire torches. Unfortunately, it worked.
The darkness swallowed everything. Not even my own breath sounded real anymore—couldn't see anything, couldn't predict anything, couldn't retreat, and most likely couldn't fight, even if I could before.
I moved a few steps forward to reach the wall, to get as far away from the threat as possible, until I hit something like a wall.
Obviously, I couldn't retreat because the cave was way too steep to walk in blind, especially with a kid in my arms.
I immediately put the kid down. I couldn't see his face, but I could sense his heavy breathing and his fear of dying.
"Kid, I know you're scared, but if you don't help me, we're sure to die. If you do help me, there's a chance we could survive," I said immediately.
For a couple of seconds... no reply. He didn't say anything—still breathing heavily and scared.
I didn't expect anything from a 7-year-old anyway, but there was absolutely nothing else I could do. Even if I somehow sensed the enemies, there was still absolutely no way I could beat them because of two reasons.
Reason one being it was like a 1 vs 100 or something. Reason two being I still didn't have any ability yet. Even if I somehow tore apart the enemy, more would close in on me. Not to mention I have to protect this kid whilst doing that. If I couldn't protect the kid, there would be no point in me coming here.
If I valued my life more than anything, then I wouldn't even have come here... but it's the damn Kuroto that was so kind in his life.
I was completely done for unless hope comes to help, or the kid somehow wakes up from his despair.
I didn't want to die—not here, not like this. I never should've tried becoming a hero…
That's what logic says, but this Kuroto—he didn't regret anything.
At this point, I knew how reincarnation worked… It was that both Kuroto and I, the God of Death, exist in this body. The decisions are influenced by indirect agreement, and Kuroto's feelings are my feelings. Kuroto is now me, and I'm now Kuroto.
Kuroto doesn't regret anything, and so do I. I definitely don't regret coming here either, because I wasn't trying to become a hero… I was trying to do what is right.
This wasn't an act of playing hero, it's an act of following the righteousness I wanted to follow, and so did Kuroto.
I'm not dying today, and I know it… Because a hero might lose a battle, but true righteousness will never lose—at least not in my dictionary.
I'm not gonna try to live, I'll live and it is for sure—I don't doubt myself, not even a little bit, because the moment I doubt that I wouldn't survive it'll only be a matter of time when l lose all hopes of survival.
"Come at me life, it's your choice how unfair you get, I'll beat you in every single game you play with me," I spoke to myself boldly.
I could feel the threat was close, like a few meters away. I could hear the growling as if they were zombies. If I were to estimate the number of enemies, considering the growling and the number of mana sources I sensed, I'd say it's easily 60 at the very least. But they seem weak—at least, that's what their mana says.
The kid was beside me—I should just call him Daiki, probably his name since his mother called him that.
I didn't want the threat to close in directly to the point where I'd be completely cornered, and also endanger Daiki. I rushed straight in—I started sprinting.
As I rushed, the better and more accurately I sensed the monsters. I was at a major disadvantage, considering I had no idea what these monsters are or what type of magic or weapons they use.
I closed in. A meter or so away, I sensed a gap between two of them. I rushed right into the gap and kicked both of them from the bottom with my leg in an anti-clockwise direction, hoping that where I kicked was their legs.
I was fast, very fast indeed. I'd already learned how to use mana and strengthen my body. With that, I was not only incredibly strong but also very agile.
I felt it—I hit their legs, and I faintly sensed a bone crack, although I wasn't sure if it did break or not, but they most likely fell to the ground. I hit them with such incredible strength that, unless they're strong monsters (which they aren't), it'd be a couple of minutes until they're able to get up even if the bones didn't break.
I sensed a swarm to my left and a few on my right, but there weren't any in front of me for a few meters. I instantly dashed there, making sure that none headed toward Daiki by attracting all of them to me.
I turned to the left, making sure I took care of the couple that were right on me before dealing with the ones behind.
There were three that were less than a meter away. I sensed all three swing something at me—probably their weapons.
Now, I didn't know what weapon it was, so I just anticipated it was a dagger-sized sword. So far, I didn't even know what their height was. Were they taller than me? Or were they shorter than me?
I was at a major disadvantage, because just anticipating the moves is not only an extremely big risk, but also extremely hard and inaccurate.
My heart was pounding, but this feeling… The feeling where I'm doing some damage and so far winning, it's an amazing feeling.
"This is what a fight with a big risk of being killed feels like… Guess if I survive this it wouldn't be a waste coming here and I'll have experience in fighting. That is if I survive." I thought to myself.
As the swings came flying at me, I jumped straight up, folding my legs. Still in the air, I sensed they had already swung their weapons. I instantly stretched my legs to hit two of them.
I felt it hit their skulls, and it was definitely a skull crack this time. They fell back a few meters, probably hitting a few others behind them and making them fall temporarily until they got up. I landed immediately. By kicking their skulls, I had a clear view of their height—it was almost one foot shorter than me, which is about 4'8".
Now that I grasped their height, hitting right in the face wasn't so hard. Just as I landed, I immediately went in for the punch. As I swung my fist at the monster, I sensed another one right behind me. I was within its attack range. As I hit the one in front, the one behind started to swing at me.
"Damn it, just sensing their mana is too inaccurate, and these guys have already figured out not to growl anymore, so it's way harder to anticipate their movement," I thought to myself worriedly.
Considering their height, they might not aim for my throat—instead, they'd go for my waist. I was too late to dodge it by any possible means.
Injury was now inevitable, but I needed to choose where.
Obviously, taking it in the leg would cause movement issues, which is an extremely risky option, so that just leaves me with my hands. My dominant hand was my right, so I decided I'd try to stop it with my left.
I instantly turned around in a clockwise direction... Just as the weapon was about to hit me, I grabbed it with my left hand—my thumb on top and the four fingers underneath. The weapon pressed in between, and the acceleration couldn't fully stop until it cut through my skin, injuring my left hand.
As the weapon stopped, I instantly went in with the kick, knocking the monster down and definitely making it go out cold.
I took hold of the weapon it used. I was correct—it was a short-sized, dagger-like sword.
This kick made me realize how strong my kicks and punches had been earlier, because before, I couldn't quite gauge the strength due to the position I was in. But now I had realized just how strong it was, and it was definitely enough each time to knock out the ones I hit directly.
The pain in my left hand was intense. It was bleeding, burning like fire. I wasn't used to getting injured—at least, this body wasn't—but I'll get used to it one day. That is, if I survive today.
I now held a weapon, which worked a lot in my favor, although it did cost me an injury that would hold me back quite a bit. There weren't any right behind me at the moment, so I decided to take care of the two in front.
I moved forward a few meters in almost an instant. I was now faster than before, and not only were my movements quicker, but I sensed things better too. Considering how I'm the only threat, if the monsters aren't completely mindless, then they'd definitely go for me instead of Daiki. Even if weak mana attracts monsters, they wouldn't ignore the threat right in front of them.
I dashed in an instant—extremely fast. I tried making the weapon stronger by inserting mana into it, and then, in a second or two, I had instantly beheaded them from swinging right to left whilst being a meter in middle away from them.
I turned around… Completely shocked out of my mind.
I sensed not 60, not 70, not 80 and not even 100.
I sensed almost more than 150 entities now.
They weren't the weaklings like before, they each were now at least 3 times stronger than they felt before, not to mention the numbers I sensed were almost tripled.
I was drenched in sweat, almost unable to move.
"Is this the end for me?" I questioned myself, this time I lost a fraction of true hope.
But what do you know, this Kuroto has more than enough hope to spare.
"I ain't dying today… At least Kuroto isn't." I said boldly.