The sound repeated itself so many times that it started to get annoying, but what was more annoying were the people who were holding their heads and screaming.

"We get it, alright!? We get it!" yelled a man holding his head, his gaze directed at the roof of the dome.

I followed his gaze and noticed that there were no lights in the cave. However, it was still somehow bright in the cave. It didn't make any sense. Well, at this point, nothing made any sense. I just had to figure this place out a little before I started thinking about other things.

The man who yelled had sharp features, accompanied by blond hair and bluish-green eyes. His body seemed to be trained, and he seemed a bit abnormal. Earlier, when he had yelled, it seemed like he was doing it slightly comically, but what kind of person would joke around in a situation like this?

After the man's yell, the voice quieted down, and the man let go of his head with a satisfied expression.

I didn't pay any more attention to him, since I was trying to gather my thoughts.

Then I heard the voice again.

[The ruins are deep underground, and your goal is to ascend the ruins. If you get to the top, then you will have earned your freedom.]

[You will be transported into another area in 3 hours.]

[You will be facing physical and mental trials in every ruin, and you will get a soul weapon that will improve your physical capabilities as it evolves.]

[Summon your soul weapon by thinking of its name.]

'Thinking of its name?' I thought in a confused manner. After thinking for a little while, I came up with an idea. 'Akir's Dagger.' I thought firmly, as if I was naming the thing instead of just thinking of its name, and a dagger materialized in my hand. 'It's more of a short sword than a dagger.' I thought as I looked at the dagger.

The dagger was about 30 centimeters in length and had a golden guard and pommel. The dagger's grip was wrapped in black leather, and the blade was black with simple golden markings on it.

"Hey, he summoned his weapon!" some guy yelled and pointed at me.

Suddenly, every head in the cave turned to stare at me. I tried to figure out what I should do, as hundreds of gazes were locked onto the dagger in my right hand.

Then I felt someone grab my shoulder. "Hey, mind telling us how you knew your dagger's name?"

I looked at the man who had spoken and recognized the speaker as the man who had yelled at the voice earlier.

"Huh, I just guessed." I answered without too much thought, just to buy some more time and mull over my choices.

"You guessed? Me too. We all did. So tell me, what made your guess so special that you got your weapon?" the man asked in a pressure-inducing manner, but before I even had a chance to answer, the man continued speaking, "Oh, and, by the way, could you let me look at your weapon? Maybe those golden markings could tell us something."

He switched the topic smoothly to something that some were probably wondering about. His interest wasn't in the markings, though. They were in the dagger. He just wanted my weapon to be in his hands.

It was a question that forced me to either give up my weapon or make the people think of me as more of an enemy than an ally, since people usually have an instinct not to trust those who seem to suspect the people around them.

I looked into the eyes of the man, which seemed to be smiling, even though his expression was otherwise serious. He knew just what kind of choice he was giving me. He had purposefully made a situation that wasn't bad for me into one that would suffocate me if I didn't act correctly.

I had tried summoning my weapon even though this situation was a possibility since you needed to be a real maniac to challenge the only person with a weapon in a foreign environment. But even though the odds had been in my favor I was now faced with something that nullified my efforts. A maniac. And one that was already trying to feel out possible threats and get the upper hand.

However, doing so wasn't a very good choice at this stage. It was certainly not something I would have done.

Well, now that we were on this playing field in which I wouldn't survive without doing some things that put me in uncomfortable positions, I had to play along, or more like gamble along.

"What? Why do you need my weapon? Just summon your own weapon and inspect it," I answered, like any other person would.

"Come on, just give it here. I'll give it back right after," the man insisted, reaching for my weapon.

Could he afford to break a promise like that?

That was the question that decided my next action. Of course, it would be best to give it to him if he would have to give it back in order to earn people's trust, but people were dumb and would sometimes blindly follow the strongest, which meant it was possible for him to kill me, take my weapon, and still manage to form a group of people to ascend the Ruins with despite his eerie nature. And who knew what this man was capable of? If he had some sort of training in close combat, I would likely not be able to beat him while he had my weapon and I had nothing, so I could not give it to him.

Then there was the option of killing him. I could do it and become the leader of this group of people, but such a thing wasn't in my best interest. In a foreign place like this, it is best to learn a little more before taking action and making yourself the center of attention.

Because of that, my best choice was to rely on the opponent's character and settle things peacefully by not posing a threat.

"Just give it to him. We're all in the same boat here. We all just want to find out more about this place," said a fairly deep voice from somewhere in the surrounding crowd.

"No, summon your own weapons and inspect them," I said, pulling my weapon away from the man's reach.

Then my wrist was grabbed, and in the next moment, the man's left elbow was about to hit my face.

I moved back and rotated my head so that his elbow just grazed my cheek. In the heat of the moment, I was tempted to deliver a hard kick to his liver with my left foot, but I resisted the urge. Then, not long after the encounter was over, I noticed that my dagger was now in the man's hands.

I looked at the man with a blank expression as he inspected my weapon. The surrounding crowd seemed to be just fine with the man stealing my dagger. Perhaps they already viewed him as good because he represented their desires, and considered me an enemy because I disobeyed the man.

After a brief inspection of the markings on the dagger, the man moved on.

"Now that that's settled, let's talk about your guess. What was it? How did you get your weapon?" the man asked, pointing at me with my own dagger.

"I think we're supposed to give the weapon a name when we think of it, instead of just thinking of its name. I may have just thought about my guess in a more certain way than you and got it because of that," I answered with my honest conclusion.

"Oh," the man said, raising his brows and outstretching his hand.

Not long afterward, a marvelous, purely black broad sword appeared in his hand. The man grinned and walked towards me with two weapons in his hands.

At the moment, he had an opportunity to get rid of me. Killing me surely would have made him look like a cold-blooded murderer, but it wouldn't have necessarily weakened his influence.

However, I stood in place without taking any defensive measures as he walked over to me. I knew he wasn't that kind of ruthless and feared leader. He was the type to lead with his charisma and be admired by his underlings. That's why I wasn't surprised when he simply handed me my weapon back and walked past me.

"You know, I would probably have killed you if you weren't such a non-threat. Well, no need to thank me. After all, I've got a feeling you won't last long anyway." I glared at the man while gritting my teeth as he talked to me with a demeaning smile.

As he walked away with his back turned, my expression slowly changed into an unbothered one. He probably thought he had asserted dominance and made things easier for his future self in terms of leadership, but he didn't seem to realize the effect the enemy he had gained would have on him. Because if I ever met that man again, I was going to kill him in the worst way I could think of.

"Hey, are you okay?" a voice came from behind me.

I turned to see a man slightly taller than me with brown hair and hazel eyes. I could usually tell a lot by looking someone in the eyes, and this was no different. His eyes were like two little suns, so surely this person was some type of happy-go-lucky person who just wanted the best for people.

"I'm fine. What is it?" I responded sharply.

"Uh, I'm Adam," the man said, stretching out his hand.

I gave the man a disappointed look and said, "Get to the point."

"Right," Adam said after some silence, withdrawing his hand awkwardly. "Do you want to join my squad? We already have—"

"No, I don't."

"Ah, I see," the man said and walked off, leaving me alone.

I then walked to an isolated place somewhere and sat down, ready to be transported already.

***

After a couple of hours passed, everyone had settled into groups, and I seemed to be the only one who was still alone.

However, right when I thought I would get to be in peace for the rest of the time I was in this place, someone approached me.

"Hey, you aren't in a group yet, right?" the man with dark skin asked, meeting my gaze unshakably with his brown eyes.

"I'm not," I said, and I stood up in case there was a fight. The man's weapon was a mystery since he didn't have it summoned like I did and was almost a head taller than me, but I wasn't scared of a fight.

"You want to join mine?" the man asked straightforwardly, and before I got the chance to answer, he started listing his reasons for trying to recruit me, "I saw that you have good reflexes, and you approached the situation well back there. Your circumstances were just disadvatageous, and that guy you were against is clearly experienced at controlling crowds. We'll need to watch out for him."

I listened to the man's interpretation with a blank expression, and after he stopped talking, the man turned to look at the dirty-blonde-haired man, who was conversing with five other individuals while a crowd of people surrounded them.

As I thought, people had no issue with following that man, even with all the things he had done thus far. Everything unsettling about him was simply swept under the rug by all the people who saw him as a strong and reliable leader.

I then looked back at the man and thought a little before I gave my answer, "Sure, I'll join you."

After hearing my answer, the man smiled slightly and outstretched his hand, which I proceeded to shake.

"I'm Calvin," Calvin introduced himself.

"Akir," I stated my name.

"You want to tell me why you seem like you're not at all panicked about being here?" I tried prying into Calvin's mind since it seemed like he had observed the events very clearly from the beginning, which wouldn't have been possible, had he been panicked.

"The others want to go back home and are worried they won't be able to. I just don't have such issues."

"Why don't you want to go home?"

"I'm not on very good terms with my family, and my job isn't great. You don't need to know any more than that," Calvin gave his final answer.

"What about your weapon? Haven't you summoned it yet, or did you put it somewhere?"

"You can unsummon your weapon. There is a cooldown period before you can summon it again, though, so don't do it during a battle or something," Calvin answered, and right before I was going to ask another question, Calvin remembered something and said, "Oh, I should introduce you to my group."

Then he walked off, gesturing for me to follow. I did exactly so, and shortly after, we arrived in an area where there were about 30 people gathered.

Then I heard the voice in my head again.

[You will be transported in 10... 9... 8...]

"Huh, I guess we won't have time for introductions here," Calvin said to his group members, summoning two purely black battleaxes and preparing to get transported.

Many of the people in the cave were shaking, and some were even praying. I had no need for such things. My hands shook, but I didn't feel nervous. I was excited.

[You will now be transported.]

At the moment, freedom was closer than ever.