The room was void. Not white or black. It was colorless. I was there with it.

It was an enigma, a paradox that defied understanding. Unfathomable and mysterious, its existence seemed impossible. Yet despite this, it had always been there. Its being was felt in everything, and at every single moment.

It was the source of me and the reality where my presence unfolded. Its power felt limitless and its form was unknowable, an illogical being, something that cannot be described nor understood. It was untouchable and incomprehensible.

I was with it, I existed with it. But I no longer do, I was cast away...The next thing I knew, I stood in the depths of a never-ending void, searching for something that I could not quite name. As I traversed the darkness, I thought I saw a glimmer of light in the distance. I ran towards it, but when I arrived, my thrill quickly turned to terror when I realized that the 'light' was an alien being with a power that far exceeded my own. Despite the unknown emotion that I felt at that moment, I fought back, refusing to yield in the face of such unimaginable evil. But in the end, my strength was no match for its might and I hit the cold ground - defeated.

-Go to the bottom of The Abyss, confront and defeat Demiurge. Show that you are worthy of returning to the Pleroma-

Regrets seemed to come alive with menacing murmurs that filled my ears and made my heart pound faster. Everywhere I looked there were shadows, reaching out to me with their icy fingers, begging me to succumb to their will. I wanted to run, but fear had taken such hold of me that my limbs felt like lead and refused to move.

It felt as if the air itself was pushing against me, tightening its grip on my chest until I could hardly breathe.

-Do not climb to your human self, do not accept emotions, do not accept yourself-

My mind was spinning wildly as my heart raced faster than ever. I felt like I was about to blackout, the pressure around me intensifying with every passing second. Panic coursed through my veins as I tried desperately to take in air, but it felt like an invisible force was preventing it. I could feel myself sinking further and further away from reality. I couldn't take it anymore.

And then suddenly, it was over.

"A-are you alright...?" A blonde girl at my side looked at me with a semi-scared expression "You were sweating a lot... Did you have a nightmare?"

I slowly got up, not saying anything, and she stopped talking. She seemed to understand that I didn't want to talk. I can't believe I fell asleep... I was planning to stay all night awake in case she attacked me to see if she was someone to trust at least a little, I must have been very tired...

"...A-about what you said yesterday. About the fact that I was smiling even though I lost everything... I wanted t-"

I quickly held out my palm to signal her to stop talking. Despite no longer being that scared of other people and their emotions, I still found it uncomfortable to converse with people and preferred to steer clear of emotional conversations. I only talked to her yesterday because I wanted to try to understand emotions more deeply... My throat hurts now...

I grab my knife from below the pillow, then my bag from the bedside table and I checked through its contents to make sure everything was where it should be. Then, I stand up and made my way toward the door. The girl silently followed me.

I descended the stairs and reached the reception, close to 5 or 6 people were sitting while talking, they looked young.

"Where are we going...?" The girl on my side asked.

I looked at her, she had curly short golden hair that semi-covered her orange right eye. Her clothes consisted of brown pants and a black shirt, they were dirty.

"...Umm. Is something wrong with me...?"

... I don't trust her... I don't trust humans... But she might be a good investment. She said she was good at throwing stones so maybe I can buy her a crossbow, I heard they are easy to use. I'm planning on returning to The Abyss. From yesterday I learned that emotions aren't enough, I couldn't kill that gang even with 'anger'. I need power so I can avenge her... That is my primary objective- However, descending The Abyss is my primary objective and anything else is non-important.

I'll go buy that girl her weapon after getting information about The Abyss, then, we will descend.

"Soo... Mmm... Where are we going...?"

Can't she be quiet for a second? Whatever, let's get to work.

After getting out of the inn, I started walking toward the adventures guild, I'll ask the receptionist guy about a way to gather information about The Abyss.

The girl and I walked through the busy streets of The City, she couldn't keep her eyes straight and looked around all the time, I kept an eye on her in case she loses her way somehow.

"Wow..." she breathed, her voice filled with awe. "This place is incredible. How can it be right next to the slums? Seeing this on a broad day and without rain is simply crazy..."

After some moments of looking around, she moved her eyes in my direction "You don't look impressed at all, have you been here a lot of times?"

I shook my head.

"Woah... You seem like you know the streets already"

I have always had a good memory.

"Hey... About what you said yesterday..."

This again, does she want to talk about this that much...

"Mmm... I................ Forget it..." She looked away and began scratching her now clean golden hair.

Weirdo.

She sighed quietly and we resumed walking, the adventurer's guild slowly coming into sight. The girl on my side seemed to get excited all of the sudden upon seeing the logo of a sword on the top. As soon as we reached the entrance, I opened one of the wooden doors, allowing us entrance into the building.

Inside was filled with noise, the laughter of old men echoed everywhere, today were more people than usual.

"Hey, isn't that the scary lady from yesterday" I heard a voice murmur, I ignored it and walked towards the receptionist's counter. Thankfully, he hadn't changed shifts, which meant that my visit today would hopefully be shorter since he seems to understand me...suspiciously well.

"You two, uh" He noticed us "Do you need something?" He said while passing me a pen and a piece of paper. I thought for a moment then wrote 'join and 'research'.

"Mm... I see. Your name was Plotina, right? Come here, I'll inscribe you as an adventurer"

"Y-yeah" She looks nervous.

"Irena, you can search for information about The Abyss in that room over there" He signaled a big wooden door "There is only information about the first layer cause...nobles, but still useful"

I walked toward the room leaving the two behind. After arriving at the door, I opened it and entered the small room. It was filled to the brim with books, papers, and scrolls. Sunlight filtered in through the single window, casting an illuminated spotlight on an old wooden desk in the corner. I walked over to the desk and pulled out a large leather-bound tome that attracted my attention, its pages yellowed with age. After sitting down on a chair, I began flipping rapidly through the contents, I quickly recognized that it was a detailed account of the first layer of The Abyss. Its geography, inhabitants, and most importantly its dangers.

I carefully scanned each page, taking mental notes as I went. However, something interrupt me, I heard footsteps, the door opened and a girl entered.

"I finished" she said while showing a medallion.

I turned around, looked at her, and then returned to my attention the book.

The book's contents were very insightful. It talked about for example those orange butterflies, it seems that they are some kind of passive animal who is not dangerous at all. However, between them, there are those other butterflies that are bigger and aliment of practically everything. They attack weak-looking people and they are highly intelligent. They can remember people's faces and abilities.

The book also talked about the [Maledictus canis] which is that dog-like monster with a lot of eyes and three heads that I fought. It seems that it's a scavenger and it's very weird to find him in Orange Forest, he is mostly in the Caves. I'm very lucky...

Speaking of the Orange forest and the Caves, the first layer of The Abyss is divided into three sections. The Meadows, the Orange forest, and the Caves. Everything seems to share the color orange in common.

"Whoah... If you find one adventurer on The Abyss while exploring, there is a probability that you fight to the death for the loot... That place is brutal"

I gazed up and saw the girl sitting right in front of me, she was reading a book titled 'Adventurers Unspoken Rules'. I would like to read that, it might help, however, I don't think it will be that different from the rules of the streets. Simply put, don't trust anyone. I'm not planning on operating with other adventurers so I'll ignore it for now. I need to focus on learning all I can about the first floor.

I continued reading the book, and I memorized every point of interest and where should I be going if I want to reach the second layer. Once I finished I decided to read another one titled 'System, Skills and Levels'.

Basically, the contents of the book were about the way the System worked.

Every living creature started at level 0 and had stats of grade 'H', from which could be upgraded to grade 'S'. Once one reached enough exp, its level will augment when he decides so and its stats reset. However having the stats reset to 'H' didn't mean that you became weaker, in fact, augmenting of level gives more power.

Stats could be augmented by training and eco could be obtained by killing things. There was no other way. Exp is given based on how strong was the enemy and how hard was it to kill it.

A level 0 with 'S' stats is weaker than a level 1 with 'H' stats. The only thing that can decide a fight other than the stats and the level were the tactics, experience, luck, 'talents', and above all 'skills'.

'Skills' are very hard to obtain and most people only obtain one at level 2, so I got pretty lucky. I only had to die, go sent to some sort of hell, and get revived by something that calls itself the wrath's Archon...

Anyways, it's getting late, we better go and buy equipment for today's descent. Ideally, I would like to go tomorrow but I want to go with economize money by eating today and descending right away. I want all my energies full -why didn't I do this the first time?-

I stand up from the chair and looked at the girl, she understood my intention and get up too. We both left the guild. She followed me closely behind.

"You know, telling me where we are going wouldn't be that hard..."

I ignored her and kept walking, we were slowly reaching the commerce street. There was an air of sophistication as luxurious shoppers strolled past us, their outfits seemingly made of the finest materials and in the latest styles. My companion's eyes widened as she took it all in.

"People here are really... rich, have you seen that guy's clothes?" She said, awe evident in her voice. "I don't understand anything about fashion but that guy sure looked expensive"

I glanced at her before quickly looking away again, suppressing a sigh and keeping my face carefully emotionless. This girl talked too much, as long as she kept quiet I could pretend to be just another passerby. But with her eagerness to point out everyone who was dressed expensively, I had to keep a careful eye on her for fear of offending someone with high status. If someone gets mad at her, I'll just do as if I don't know her.

"Are you gonna buy something?"

I ignored her and walked into a weapon store, a bell ran as I entered and immediately I heard footsteps.

"Well, look who it is" I heard the voice of a man approaching me, I still don't know if he is a Dwarf or not "Do you need anything brat? Maybe you want to repair your clothes"

I looked down at my clothes, there were some scratches from yesterday's fight. I cleaned my attire so there wasn't any blood. I thought it looked good enough.

"Why are you so tiny?" The dumbass at my side said.

I fixed my gaze on the man, his green eyes narrowed in annoyance. Can she really talk about other people's stature when she's that tiny?

"Are the two of you together?" he asked, his voice emotionless and his gaze staring fixedly at the girl at my side.

I shook my head.

"Good. Then kiddo, you might leave"

"Eh?"

"Leave"

"Eh-h... Mmm... Sorry if I-"

"Leave now"

"A-alright"

He waited until she was out of sight before turning back to me. “So, brat, what can I get you?”

I looked around the store, my eyes sweeping past various weapons, shields, and armor pieces. After surveying the selection, I pointed to a steel-reinforced crossbow on the wall. It was the cheapest. I only had 5 silver and I wanted to buy food, I need to economize. The crossbow and the errors it came with were 2 silver, which was a lot... I only had left 4 silver and 5 copper...

Should I really trust that girl so much...? I know she isn't a danger to me, but giving her a weapon... Whatever, if I want to use her to kill that gang, I at least need her to be useful.

“Good choice, this one is very good” He reached for the crossbow and set it in front of me. “It is light enough that you won’t tire quickly but sturdy enough to take a beating in tough fights. It is also easy to reload, so you won’t have to worry about running out of arrows in critical moments.”

I inspected the weapon closely, admiring its craftsmanship and intrigued by its potential. Finally convinced, I handed the man the coins and walked away.

“Anytime brat, take care... Next time font arrive with blade cuts”

I left the store and the first thing I saw was a scared little girl who seemed lost.

"Did I do something bad...?"

I gave her the crossbow and the arrows on the quiver.

"Huh? This for me...?"

I ignored her and began walking, she followed me.

------

After buying the crossbow, we walked to another store where I bought canned food an two red potions. I put both in my bag. I may need to buy a new one soon.

We started walking again, and as we did more and more adventurers started being visible. We were reaching The Abyss, and the girl at my side got more and more nervous as we walked.

"Are we going there...?"

I nodded.

"I see..."

We kept walking. The massive hole in the earth started getting closer and closer. In minutes, we reached the elevator with the guard. Contrary to the other day, there were no people in the row.

"Your identification?" A soldier said.

I took the medallion from my bag and showed it to him, my companion with some hesitation also showed it to him too.

"Every 30 minutes we ascend the elevator, when you want to come back go to the same place, and make sure to memorize where you were. May fortune be with you"

We entered the metallic elevator and the door closed. It lurched and began its smooth descent into the depths. The exterior world was slowly getting further and further and the light disappeared and became darkness.

"Hey... A-about what you said yesterday. About the fact that I was smiling even though I lost everything... I wanted t-"

This again. Unbelievable.

"You see... I wanted to say sorry..."

Mm?

"I know that you are an orphan, and just like me you lost your parents and have no place to return... You were also pretty close to Maria... I'm sorry if me, looking alright, might have annoyed you..."

What? Why would I feel mad at her smiling? Humans are very good at hiding emotions, I just assumed that she was hiding her sadness and I wanted to know why.

"Also... Thank you for all you did, I thought I was gonna die... Even though you are quite scary, you have a very good heart deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down"

"....What are you...even saying....?" I don't like to talk, but this time is necessary, I need to unveil this mystery.

"I'm just...grateful..."

Grateful.........? Emotions are weird...