Chương 24: Chapter 23 - The Dark Room (III)

He hit the ground hard, the impact sending fresh waves of pain through his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he rolled to his feet.

'Damn,' he muttered. Crouching low, he scanned the room with his EM perception, searching for any sign of another attack. And then he felt it. That small thing was still there. And... He rolled to the side, avoiding it again.

'A guided arrow? No, that does not make sense. Then... a dagger?' It was incredible how his mind could analyze things coldly despite the pain and heat of his thoughts. But he had no time to delve into that. He avoided it the first time as if it were an arrow, but now he needed to consider that there was one of the white creatures holding it. Probably the same one he tripped over. For the first time, the enemy was not wielding the typical sword. And this one was fast.

He rolled to the side again and quickly stood up. He then attacked where he felt the dagger holder could be, but he missed. The creature was agile, darting through the darkness... or so he guessed. He could only see the ripples caused by the moving dagger when it was in his domain, and blurry when it was outside of it. He could then predict where the creature holding it was, considering it was similarly humanoid like the ones he had been fighting so far.

He steadied his breathing, focusing on the EM waves that expanded from him like an invisible web. He sensed the dagger again, a sharp disturbance in the otherwise smooth waves. He pivoted, his sword swinging towards the source, but the creature was already moving. The ripple pattern shifted, the dagger weaving a complex path as the creature tried to outmaneuver him. He adjusted, following the shifting patterns, his mind processing the information faster than ever. Another lunge from the creature.

This time, he anticipated its move, swinging his sword in a precise arc. He felt the blade connect, a brief resistance before the creature darted away. The ripple from the dagger grew erratic, a possible sign of the creature's injury.

'Got you,' he thought, his confidence bolstered. He pressed the advantage, moving fluidly through the darkness, each step measured and deliberate. The pain in his shoulder was a constant throb, but he pushed it aside, focusing on the task at hand. He sensed the attack coming from the right, a sharp ripple in his EM perception. He sidestepped, bringing his sword up to parry. The impact sent vibrations up his arm, but he held firm, countering with a swift slash.

His blade cut through the darkness, connecting with his foe. Another erratic ripple—he got him again. The enemy's movements grew more desperate, the once sharp and precise attacks now faltering. Alonso pressed his advantage, each strike more deliberate and controlled. He sensed another attack from the left, the ripple in his perception warning him just in time. He pivoted, his sword meeting the dagger in a clash of metal. This time, he twisted his blade, disarming the enemy. The dagger clattered to the ground.

Alonso took the chance to strike. His blade found its mark, thrusting through whatever organs or similar matter these creatures had inside. After a couple of seconds passed, he felt the weight disappear. The creature had died. He sighed and started crouching down, motioning to absorb the orb. Yet... This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. A grin spread across his face as he sensed it again. The arrow. Just as he expected.

An unexpected arrow was dangerous, but an expected one was much less so. With his back against the wall and his body in a crouching position—a strategy he remembered from playing dodgeball—he had minimized his exposure, limiting where the archer could strike and making it easier for him to defend. His sword, already prepared, swiftly moved and deflected the arrow with ease. The metallic clang echoed through the room. But that was not all. He now knew where the archer was.

His muscles coiled and ready, he sprang forward following the trajectory of the arrow as fast as he could. The problem was he did not know how far the archer was. For that purpose, he constantly remained aware of any changes in his domain. If it was an archer, it should have more arrows, and the pointy ends were metallic. It did not take long; the rooms were not that big after all. He detected the pointy ends. He saw clearly how the archer was putting another arrow in the bow. But it was too late.

With a mad lunge forward propelled by the pain caused by the arrow still stuck in his shoulder, he slashed as fast and hard as he could, barely feeling any resistance as his sword passed all the way through. He sensed the blood spurting out in droves until there was no more. He stood there, panting, the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He looked down, his own pulse pounding in his ears. He crouched and absorbed the orb. Stage 1 - 0. 824% The room fell silent again, the oppressive darkness pressing in on him.

Alonso stood there, his breathing heavy but controlled. But a bit of worry started creeping over him.

'Why are the lights still off?' Something did not feel right. If the challenge was over, the lights should come on, right? And the stairs should appear, and maybe, if they were generous, some more food, even if he was not hungry after the last feast. In any case, he remained aware, with his domain slowly becoming something instinctive, a conditional reflex, or a new sense altogether. He slowly retraced his steps, always on alert. He then crouched and absorbed the orb from the dagger wielder. Stage 1 - 0.

864% These last two orbs had been rather generous, giving a total of 0. 040% each, four times more than what the last orb from the sword wielders had given. Was it perhaps because the more orbs from the same type of creature you absorbed, the less the effect? Were the archer and the creature wielding the dagger considered something different? He wanted to think more about this, but the constant pain in his shoulder and the fear of another enemy left in the room made it hard to focus.

'Should I just pull the...' Wait, something was weird. He touched his shoulder and there was nothing there beside a deep hole in his skin. The arrow had disappeared without him even feeling it! But it made sense. When the creatures died, everything from them—blood and weapons included—disappeared. Since the arrow was considered its weapon, it had vanished when the archer died. The transition was so smooth, he had been feeling as if it was still there.

Anyway, this was a relief for him, as he didn't have to go through the painful experience of pulling it out. Now all that remained was for the injury to recover naturally. He could feel his natural recovery had been greatly boosted. The fact that his injury in the shoulder was not bleeding noticeably meant that the healing had already taken effect. It was good.

'So how to finish this challenge? One last creature, I suppose? The floor boss like in RPG video games?' he mused as he focused on his sensory field. His domain had been greatly enhanced after absorbing all the orbs, comfortably extending to an accurate range of close to 2 meters, while he could detect objects up to probably 3 or 4 meters with a higher error margin. He passed around the room but noticed nothing… for a while. He got a glimpse of movement at the border of his sensory field.

It was too blurry and the object was not moving fast or in his direction. It felt… weird. In any case, he raised his sword high and started circling around its position. But nothing came. He then continued moving slowly forward for some time until he noticed an odd change. Was it him, or did the room get bigger?