Down within the Orcus Labyrinth with only small bits of light being shown, there laid someone, unconscious, yet still alive. The man's eyes begin to twitch, as his face crumples into a frown, then his eyes slowly open, though what he saw wasn't really much to look at, considering it was only the hard rocks of the cave he was currently in.
The man, named Sargon, had woken up from his fall into some of the deepest parts of the abyss.
Sargon sits up slowly, putting his right hand on the back of his head to rub it. Even though he fell from a great height, all he suffered from it was some minor pains in his back and head, but nothing too serious. He then looks around cautiously, checking his surroundings before getting up and dusting himself off.
He looks around one more time before making a decision 'Uncharted territory, unknown dangers, and lethal risks may end up awaiting me somewhere within this cave. I should probably try to avoid as many fights as possible in order to sustain both my energy and my life.' He then remembered that there was someone else who fell in with him, one of the friends he made since transferring to that school, Hajime Nagumo. He lowered his head and in concern and worry, hoping that he too survived the fall.
He then remembered the job class Hajime had gotten saddled with the moment he came into this world and frowned again. If there was any hand to be dealt with that was the absolute worst in this situation, Synergist would definitely be the one. It was a very cruel joke that had been made, by the one the church calls a god, no less.
Thinking about Hajime also reminded him of his other friend, Kaori Shirasaki. Sargon's face darkened as he thought of the one person who'd try to capitalize on both Hajime and his apparent disappearance and death, Daisuke Hiyama.
'I hope that Yaegashi girl can keep her safe and protected from him for the time being,' he raised his head with further determination. 'For now though, I must tread on while hoping my 2 friends end up making it. On another note, I'd also wanted to keep this a secret until I was able to make it back home, but it's either use it here and increase my chances of survival, or not use it at all, and die here.'
Sargon narrows his eyes, then makes a decision. He puts his left hand over his right wrist where a peculiar bracelet can be seen "Time to wake up, Excalibur," he says gently with a smile on his face.
He then grabs the bracelet, which turns its whole form white and deforms itself from a bracelet in his left hand. It then reforms into an extravagant looking cane with the handle taking on a spherical pommel covered in gold and blue that stretches down the shaft only a little before being replaced with the rest of the length being all black.
"Alright, time to march onward." Sargon walks forward with a cautious yet determined air around him 'I hope you're still alive Nagumo,' he thinks as he walks onward.
The following challenges and trials Sargon had faced were more than enough to send someone's heart into an acrobatic spiral. He was able to avoid most of his fights thanks to turning invisible and casting an illusion on himself in order to fool the monsters around him.
However, there were some monsters that proved to at least have greater intelligence or better skills of detection. In those instances, he had no choice but to fight, or be eaten.
Another problem that assailed Sargon was his intrinsic human needs, specifically the need to eat and drink. "*Sigh* Even with the little energy I actually spent, hunger and thirst still make their presence known. The only source of food I can find is that of the monster's flesh, but I don't know how poisonous their flesh is to humans."
Sargon then spotted a few monsters in his path. These monsters took the form of a giant bear, a rabbit, and 2 wolves. Separate monsters in one gathering, though it looked as though the last 3 were running away from the first one.
The bear extended its claws and swiped out, 5 sharp light green waves were sent, slicing through one of the wolves in the process. The rabbit was quick on its feet and was able to dodge the attack and get away. The remaining wolf, meanwhile, was stuck on either trying to avenge its partner or dip out.
This hesitation proved to be its end as the bear swiftly dug its claws into the wolf's head, ending its life.
Sargon watched on quietly and analyzed the aftermath of the battle 'Hmm, seems as though despite the bear's large size, it still has a way to attack his enemies at a distance through that claw attack.'
The bear suddenly stopped and raised his head with its nose pointed up. Sargon immediately tensed 'So much for subtlety'
When the bear turned and faced his direction, he knew he had been found, despite his invisibility and illusion still activated.
The bear let out a roar and started charging towards him. Although the bear wasn't as quick as the rabbit, it still moved well despite its large size. Sargon quickly leaped into the air, turning his body while airborne so that he could see the charging beast go right past where he was previously placed. He then landed gracefully on the ground, eyes narrowed in focus.
The bear looked back to where he currently was and extended his claws out again, swiping them horizontally, and unleashing the 5 sharp light green arcs that had killed one of the wolves earlier.
Sargon in response, held his cane in front of him and spun it clockwise rapidly. The light green arcs hit the spinning blockade and dissipated, not sharp enough to cut through the cane,
"That won't work on me, bear, I've already seen this move once. If you want me, you'll have to get me," Sargon taunted with a smile and a strange glint in his eyes.
The bear, seemingly understanding the implication, roared angrily and loudly before rushing towards him again. Sargon lowered his stance and gripped the gold and blue pommel with his right hand, his stance reminiscent of the japanese Iaido resting stance, before the draw of the blade. Before the beast could get too close, he was suddenly lifted up in the familiar glowing, pink threads.
Both its arms were caught up and wrapped in this thick, pink thread and the bear was caught off guard, looking around at both its arms, 'Chance,' was Sargon's last thought before closing his eyes and moving forward at blurred speeds towards the entrapped bear.
After a slicing sound, Sargon was found behind the bear, eyes closed. In his right hand outstretched like he just finished a horizontal sword swing, he held the top part of the cane that was composed of gold and blue, along with a silver metallic blade extending from the handle.
Then with no flair or extra twirls of his sword, he gracefully put the sword back into its sheath with a small but present click and opened his eyes. In the next second, 2 lines formed on the bear, one vertical, and one horizontal, then blood flowed out like a fountain as the bear was both bisected and dismembered in seemingly one sword stroke, its 2 arms that were wrapped and suspended now dangling lifelessly.
The pink threads then unraveled the suspended body parts and dropped them beside the other body parts. Afterward, a small spider, whose body was mostly black with the exception of the tips of its legs and eyes, which were pink, dropped on the bear's lifeless right arm.
Sargon looked back and smiled "Well done, Phantom."
The spider raised its front legs, as if celebrating the praise it got from its creator. Sargon then walked towards the body parts of the bear, crouched down, and inspected it. His growling stomach rudely interrupted the analysis, but Sargon patted his stomach, as if he was trying to soothe its anger "Easy now. I need to make sure this monster meat won't end up something that will kill me later on due to some unknown risk."
Sargon then narrowed his eyes a bit in focus as the spider seemingly melted into a dark and formless matter while 2 other creatures came out of that same, formless dark matter within Sargon's shadow.
1 was a big, dark blue bird that sometimes sparked with electricity, while the other was a small flying bug that could fit in the palm of one's hand. The bug, silently following Sargon's will, flew towards the center and released a pulse from its body that spread throughout the lifeless parts.
Sargon frowned, 'I knew it, these parts are poisonous to the human body. Looks like they'll have to be fried a bit in order to safely eat.'
As he thought this, the blue bird flapped his wings towards the body parts and 4 feathers flew out, hitting them. The feathers shone an ethereal blue cackling with electricity before the entire body part was electrified. After a minute or 2, the electrification stopped.
Sargon's face scrunched up due to the smell of electrified monster meat, "Ugh," he couldn't help but say out loud.
The bug pulsed again, this time Sargon didn't frown, but sighed, 'I hope that this will be enough to reduce the poisonous effects, considering I can't actually do that without making the bodies inedible.'
He placed a hand on his stomach and channeled strengthening magic within it just to be safe. He also converted his cane into its previous bracelet form, picked up the right arm of the beast, held it up towards his face, and took a bite.
He ripped the flesh off from the arm, blood dripping from the damage. He forced himself to take in the chunk he took off, chewed it for a little while, then, after nearly gaging and spitting out the meat, swallowed it while his face scrunched up in disgust.
"I imagine it'd be worse eating it raw, but it still doesn't taste good. Then again, what else could I expect from monster meat?"
Sargon frowned and put his right hand on his stomach, feeling a tiny ache. Though it ended a minute after it started, 'Well at least I won't have to worry about food poisoning from this thing thanks to frying most of it as well as reinforcing my body's metabolism. I have no choice but to continue eating, and hopefully I'll find something to quench my thirst as well,' he thought as he continued eating the corpse of the deceased bear monster.