Midas exhaled, his eyes closed.
’Power... strength. I will come out of this building with iron in my mind and fire in my body.’ Midas clenched his jaw as he fortified his mind.
’I must not doubt. I must not fear.’ He finally let out a long breath.
His eyes flew open, mirroring those of a hawk ready to strike.
After hopping over the burned front gate, Midas was met with a large and open floor tiled with gray marble.
Most of it was charred by ash and covered by debris, but oddly, not a single piece of grass or moss was in sight.
Midas’s eyes narrowed with confusion, ’It’s just like that pedestal.’ He noted.
Lining all three sides of the marbled floor were three large buildings.
At least, they must have been buildings before they were burned down to half of what they once were.
He saw many doors, many signs, outdoor halls, bridges above empty ponds, and gardens with stone benches still standing.
However, it didn’t take him long to decipher where he needed to go.
The building right in front of him--opposite the entrance--was the most structurally sound.
Most of it was still standing, only a few square feet of the roof caving in.
It resembled that of a Chinese-style establishment from Earth. It had many orange roof tiles that curved upwards.
The four corners bared the maw of a dragon breathing fire, while the entrance was guarded by several large red pillars made of beads the size of basketballs stacked atop each other.
The front door to this building looked intact. It was sealed shut with a wooden board.
’Looks like pathfinding isn’t one of the challenges of this place... that’s good. I didn’t want to waste time with tasks like that.’ Midas arrived at the front entrance.
Before pushing it open, he glanced at the bead pillars behind him.
"Blue..." He muttered under his breath, "They were... always blue, right?" He said, shrugging the thought off before reaching forward and pushing the two gates of the building wide open.
A loud creak echoed throughout the forest as Midas glanced above him. Crows fled from the trees and into the free sky.
Chills ran up his back.
He clenched his jaw hard, ’Let’s go.’ He said to himself as he entered the building.
Inside, it was pitch-black. He couldn’t see even a single foot in front of him.
’That’s odd...’ He mused, knowing the light from outside should have been able to illuminate the interior a bit more.
While thinking this, he noticed the spread of light on the floor slowly decreasing and moving toward the entrance.
Darkness was swallowing the light.
By the time Midas turned, the door behind him slammed shut.
Now, he really couldn’t see anything.
However, he did not lose his calm.
He closed one eye, allowing it to acclimate to the dark before opening it again.
Instantly, his vision became clear in that eye. Darkness still consumed his surroundings, but he could see the outline of everything within.
This wouldn’t have been possible normally, but Midas’s trust in his newfound sense enhancement paid off.
He brandished the two daggers on his belt, dual-wielding them as he scanned the room.
However... it was empty.
Apart from four large pillars spread seemingly randomly through the room, there was nothing. Not a table, chair, nor even a painting on the wall.
’Is this the wrong place?’ He thought for a split second.
"Death..." A voice suddenly whispered in his left ear, making him jolt his head left with surprise.
’And so it begins...’
Silence fell.
He didn’t move a muscle, his eyes wide with anticipation.
"Death will come..." Another whisper, this time, from his right side.
Midas began slowly circling the room, his head darting toward the whispers appearing seemingly within his own head.
’If it’s just this much... It’s not enough to drive me mad.’ He thought.
Just then, a cracking sound echoed through the room.
Midas glanced at the floor in the center and noticed a skeleton hand rupture through the ground as if it were cake and grasp for the sky.
A gloomy and musky green aura, barely visible to the naked eye, danced around the arm as it pushed the ground and lifted its body into the air.
Out came a skeleton in burned and battered robes that only covered the top part of its torso.
Its eyes were illuminated with circular green orbs that seemed to whisper words telepathically into Midas’s head every time they flickered.
It also gave slight light to the room, allowing Midas to just barely be able to make the creature out.
’If it wasn’t for my sense enhancement, there’s no way I would have spotted this thing.’ He mused, shocked at the perceived difficulty of the challenge.
The skeleton grabbed a sword that materialized in the air. It was made of a white steel that would have glimmered brightly had there been any proper light within the chamber.
It was long, its handle large and secure--imbued with delicate patterns of fine string made of a blue and purple gem.
This was no ordinary sword. It looked to be a masterfully crafted blade.
Midas stared the skeleton down.
"Sweet death is upon you..." A whisper radiated in his mind from the skeleton’s shaky eye orbs.
"Death will consume you..."
"Death..."
"Death is victory..."
"Death is your ally..."
"Death may consume you..."
"You have surrendered to me..."
"Death is righteous..."
"Bow to death..."
Every couple of seconds, another whisper sounded. It was slightly annoying, but Midas could give two shits.
Right now, he wasn’t focused on complaining about the bad of this place. Surviving and getting the technique was all that was on his mind.
Midas stared the creation down directly. After waiting a few seconds, he took a single step forward.
Just then, the skeleton jumped into a full-blown sprint toward Midas. It moved like a predator, its reflexes razor sharp. Its limbs extended like long-distance runners as it beelined for Midas.
Midas furrowed his brows at first, not expecting the thing to be so fast.
The skeleton raised its sword into the air with both hands as it arrived 10 feet from Midas within mere seconds.
Midas stood his ground, not moving an inch.
The skeleton reached attack distance, swinging its sword down with a flash of speed.
Midas’s eyes instantly expanded with surprise as he narrowly ducked under the blade and swung his daggers upwards into the chest cavity of the skeleton.
It was instantly blown to shreds, its aura dissipating as its bones scattered across the room.
’That... was fast.’ Midas thought, ’Way faster than I expected. If I had gotten hit by it, I would have surely died. No way am I strong enough to block such an attack.’