As I traveled further down the dungeon, my surroundings gradually became colder. For now, the temperature was still at a bearable level. As I was walking in the dungeon corridors, the sound of my every footstep reverberated throughout the dungeon. This is the deepest I've ever gone into this dungeon.

 

I took every step with caution. No crevice, no corner, no corridor had gone unchecked by me. My hand grasped my sword's handle at all times just in case I was ambushed. Fortunately, I could still see my surroundings due to the floating particles that filled the dungeon and emitted a little bit of light.

 

I passed through another corridor, and now the path was becoming steeper and steeper, dragging me deeper into the unknown, away from safety. After another ten minutes of careful exploration, the first sign of danger finally appeared.

 

Standing at the end of the corridor stood a skeleton similar to the ones that dropped monster cores. Except, this skeleton wore armor that was of much better quality, and it covered more surface area of the skeleton. The skeleton held a circular shield in its left hand and a long sword in the other.

 

Unlike the previous skeletons, this skeleton immediately noticed me when I entered its line of sight. Seeing that the skeleton spotted me, I unsheathed my weapon and prepared for battle.

 

The skeleton walked toward me in solid and stable steps. Unlike the previous skeletons, this skeleton had more battle sense as it lifted its shield and pointed its blade toward me, clearly some form of battle stance. In reaction to the skeleton's battle stance, I got into my battle stance by holding my sword in front of me, pointing upward in a slightly slanted manner facing the skeleton.

 

In the battle lesson, Mr. Ding taught us that those who held control of the flow of battle were the victors in battles. To beat this foe, I couldn't allow it to control the pacing of the fight. I had to take the incentive. I judged that I wouldn't be able to kill this skeleton using the same strategy I used for the ones I've previously met. It probably wouldn't leave its vitals wide open for me like the ones before it did.

 

The moment the skeleton walked within two meters of me, I dashed forward toward the skeleton with my sword held low, close to the ground. The skeleton immediately swung downwards to where I would be if I continued to move forward after seeing me coming towards itself. In response to the skeleton's preemptive attack, I sidestepped to the right, effectively rendering the skeleton's attack useless and potentially fatal for itself.

 

By successfully closing the distance between me and the skeleton to only a few inches away, I nullified the skeleton's advantage of reach with its long sword. The long sword that initially would have served as an advantage for the skeleton became its weakness because longswords were wholly ineffective when the enemy was right next to you.

 

Abusing the skeleton's sudden drop in battle capabilities, I hurriedly swung my sword in the direction of the skeleton's neck. However, I underestimated the skeleton's battle prowess as it knew that its long sword would be ineffective toward me at this close of a distance, so it used its shield to block my attack and bash me at the same time.

 

The skeleton's quick thinking or battle instincts caught me off guard as the skeleton's shield crashed against my stomach before my sword can make contact with its neck.

 

I was pushed away by the skeleton's shield, thus creating distance between me and the skeleton, making it a favorable situation for the skeleton. The attack on my stomach made my stomach churn. I felt my breakfast climbing up my neck. I forcibly swallowed it back down, which left a burning feeling and a terrible aftertaste in my neck.

 

After successfully managing to distance itself and me, the skeleton immediately followed its shield bash by thrusting its longsword towards me. To avoid the pointed tip of the long sword, I jumped backward, effectively creating even more space for the skeleton to make use of. Now that I thought about it, the skeleton probably purposely did that to force me back, making more space for itself.

 

I was now in a life-threatening situation. My attacks couldn't reach the skeletons, but the skeletons' could. I needed to shorten the distance between us once more, but this time around, the skeleton probably wouldn't allow me to do that so easily based on its current actions. In short, the skeleton now had control over the flow of the battle.

 

I was forced to wait and see what the skeleton would do next as I had no tangible method to shorten the distance between the two of us as of right now.

 

The skeleton held its longsword and kept jabbing at me, never swinging. It probably knew that I wouldn't be able to shorten the distance between us if it only jabbed at me. With its attacks, the skeleton was slowly forcing me into a corner. I was running out of options. The moment my back touched the wall was when my head falls onto the ground.

 

I was stressed. I was gradually being pushed toward the wall, and I couldn't do anything about it. Dodge to the right; my left side is open. Dodge to the left, and my right side will be open. I was trapped. My brain was going into overdrive to think of a method out of this dangerous predicament.

 

I concluded that I wasn't able to survive this scot-free. I was going to be hurt whether I liked it or not. The next time the skeleton thrust at me with its longsword, instead of backing away from it, I let it pierce my left shoulder. With the skeleton's longsword stuck in my shoulder, I used all my might and slashed my sword at the skeleton's neck, successfully detaching its skull from its body, killing it.

 

Even though I managed to kill the skeleton, I was now bleeding profusely from the shoulder. The skeleton's longsword poked through one of my arteries. I had mistakingly pulled out the longsword from the shoulder, which worsened the injury. This was the most pain I've felt in my life. It felt like the entire left side of my body was repeatedly stabbed by thousands upon thousands of tiny needles.

 

I tore off a bit of my shirt and wrapped it tightly around my wound to slow down the bleeding. During the process, I was in miserable pain, and beads of sweat covered my face due to the pain I was feeling. After wrapping the wound in several layers of clothing, the bleeding finally slowed down, but it was still bleeding at a life-threatening pace.

 

Looking around me, I noticed a small puddle of blood had already formed around me. My blood had also dyed my clothing and armor red. I was feeling a little bit lightheaded, a sign of excessive blood loss. I knew that if I lost conciseness here, I would bleed to death. To stay awake, I bit down hardly on my tongue, putting me in more unbearable pain.

 

I didn't have much time left, and I knew that. I hurriedly rushed to the skeleton's corpse and harvested its core with the limited time I had. Without even examining the core, I started running toward the exit of the dungeon. What followed me was a trail of blood, my blood.

 

Every step was weaker than the last. My eyelids felt heavier with every passing moment. The world around me seemed to slow down, and the rocks and walls next to me started to blur, twisting in both shape and size. I was dying.

 

I was genuinely afraid. You never truly fear death until it is right in front of you. I started thinking about my past, what I could've done instead, what I regret doing, and what would have happened if I had lived a different life. Whether it be a life of wealth, vanity, or even one with parents; The last thought struck me the most. In school, I tried not to show it, but I knew, deep down, I always felt envious of my classmates who had a home to return to, filled with love, warmth, and caring parents.

 

I was losing faith in surviving, and I was losing it fast. My pace was becoming slower and slower. I was giving up. In my last moments, I thought that this was all fate's work. I was fated to die here, I thought. I was destined to be abandoned, live a lonely life, and never achieve my dreams and goals.

 

Screw fate! Screw it all! I wasn't going to give up. I will survive. I will survive and point a middle finger at fate or destiny, whatever it was! I don't care what fate has in store for me; I ain't following it! If my life was a boat, then I am the captain. I will steer my life to wherever I want, and no one can tell me otherwise.

 

With my newfound determination to live, I picked up the pace and continued running toward the exit of the dungeon. Even though I felt weaker with every step and every following step became harder. I didn't stop taking steps. I refused to give up.

 

From a distance, I looked like a demon. I was covered in blood, and my facial expression can only belong to that of a madman—a man who even hell cannot contain from accomplishing his goal.

 

After a grueling ten minutes of pain and torment, I was finally basked in the glory of the sun. I swore that the sunlight never felt so comfortable before. But that also marked the end for me. I had lost too much blood. I had no more steps to give, and civilization was nowhere to be seen. After all, this dungeon was in the middle of nowhere. This was the end for me, I thought to myself. Even though I was still fated to die on the bright side, at least it was not in the dungeon but instead in nature. And that was a small victory over fate. A small victory I felt proud of.

 

And that marked the end of the journey for Gideon Lenoir, an orphan with a foolish dream. The dream to become the greatest Hunter.