A few nights ago…
Shinbreaker had just gotten off the phone with some friends from his homeland who had face-timed him to wish him a happy birthday as well as dish out all the corny age related jokes they had.
Unfortunately though, they weren't exactly the brightest of minds, hence they called two whole hours early before he officially turned 31.
Taking some time after the call to check up on his sleeping daughter, he kissed her on the forehead and left to his job for the night, guarding a warehouse full of guns, bullets, drugs and others, the typical goods a gang was known for.
Armed with an assault rifle, he and 9 others patrolled the perimeter, eyes sharp, jaws tensed and fingers ready in case of any sudden movements or attacks.
This was why he found himself at a loss when he was suddenly relocated to a dark tunnel with flickering torches lined on the wall, his fellow guards and the old warehouse nowhere to be seen.
With the absence of his trusty gun he switched into his muay thai stance, limbs and joints ready to deal damage to whomever was responsible for the unusual situation he had found himself in.
After some time passed and he started to feel a bit awkward, he eased out of the stance still keeping his guard up as he walked to the worn out looking wooden table in the center of the tunnel.
Glancing over the items displayed on the table, he settled for the spear seeing as it had the sharpness and stabbing ability of a dagger, and the range and blunt damage of a bat.
The moment he lifted the weapon, looking to test its weight and see how best to use it in any situation that may arise, the table as well as everything on it turned to dust and flew steadily before eventually disappearing, a cheap yet inexplicable magic trick in his opinion.
"Guess I'm stuck with this huh? Lucky me."
Proceeding with his earlier plan of getting accustomed with his new weapon, Sarawut began trying out some combos and attacks that looked good in his head.
As expected, reality was harsher than imagination and he gave up on the exaggerated moves he had come up with, choosing to go with the more generic ones like Thrust, Low sweep and Throw.
Semi- prepared, he continued down the dimly lit tunnel making sure to keep his distance from the purple gas which he naturally assumed was some sort of poison or a dangerous chemical.
Walking till he reached a dead end, Sarawut took his time to examine the choices on either side, studying them for a while as he tried to figure out what exactly he was looking at, and whether they had any weak points that would make dealing with them easier.
With the speed of the toxic cloud behind him, he was only given about 35 minutes to analyse the creatures on each side of him, knowing that the key to his survival and possible escape could be behind any of them.
His brief examination of the two creatures proved beneficial, teaching him how similar they were in their body structure and hhe defects each had that would make beating them easier.
Steadying himself with slow measured breaths to prevent him from freaking out, he turned to the left and walked towards the creature waiting for him, passing through a translucent object that felt like a light waterfall.
The creature standing before him resembled a pile of bones though he wasn't really sure since it looked to be standing without any visible support.
Half curious to find out if it was a puppet with strings, a unique lab- made mutant or a funky looking alien race he took a few more steady steps forward, unknowingly crossing a marking that signalled the start of the battle.
Faced with what looked to ne the skeletal frame of a midget running towards him, Sarawut did the most rational thing he could think off - CRACKK!!
Swinging the spear in his hands like a baseball bat, he smashed the skull with enough force to send it crashing against the stone walls, breaking it into pieces on impact.
Still jittery, he swung the spear some more, cracking the brittle bones with each swing until he felt comfortable enough to stop.
"The hell was that thing." He asked out loud as he frantically paced the tunnel looking for anything that resembled a camera or a hidden door.
After his search turned up fruitless he returned to the skeleton to search for clues, poking it a bit to ensure that it was truly dead this time.
Despite the common misconception, him being Asian did not guarantee that he had watched anime or knew what undead were, not everyone grew up with technology readily available for them to use, especially not when one was from a poor village like his.
Sifting through the powder and cracked ribs for a while, he eventually got up after finding no clue to help him escape.
Picking up the spear, he went in the opposite direction from where he entered since that was the only option available on account of the entrance had now been blocked by the toxic cloud of gas and all other sides being made out of solid stone.
Time flew by and soon he found himself 7 skeletons, his body being far from its peak condition after getting the left side of his torso scratched by one of the 6 midget skeletons he faced in the earlier test.
Resting against the rough wall he contemplated suicide, looking to end it all but he knew he couldn't.
Not because he was afraid of death but because he was afraid of the burden his daughter would have to carry in his absence.
A loan she would have to pay off because her deadbeat gambling addict of a father decided to take the easy way out.
Just thinking about the sort of cruel experiences the gang would subject his only child to was enough to send adrenaline flowing through his body, numbing the pain and tiredness he felt.
With renewed vigor he crossed through the barrier, his cracked spear swinging in wide arcs as he tried to take as many down with each swing as he could.
CRACKK!!
Emboldened by the sound of bones being crushed under the force of his swings he entered a frenzied state.
Swinging without form or pattern as he sought to erase everything in his path, a dire mistake when facing many opponents.
CHOMP
A lucky skull took its final chance and bit through his Achilles tendon, clamping its jaws shut firm around his left foot as a final act of rebellion.
"F***", Sarawut screamed as he collapsed on the floor in pain, the adrenaline leaving his system after realising that there were no more enemies left for him to defeat.
"Why me. Why do I deserve such a shitty life. All I ever wanted was to become rich enough to not worry about what to eat next. Was that too much to ask?"
Left to die alone, Sarawut lamented out in hopes that any deity would have mercy on him though he wasn't the overly religious type.
His vision started dimming as he felt the blood pour out of the various cuts on his body, his end drawing nearer with each passing second.
With his final breath he prayed that his daughter would be safe, hoping that her fate would be nothing dreadful as he resigned himself to his.
#"Finally, a capable slave."#