Four years Later....
The World was relatively peaceful. The constants emergence of the dungeon was the only problem which is commonly dealt by the human Association.
Nowhere was this peace more evident than in the absolute center of the human continent: the capital city of Voresia.
Voresia was nothing like the merchant city of Vane. It was the beating heart of the human territories. It was a massive, sprawling metropolis where the highest of nobles and the lowest of commoners lived together within the same giant walls. The streets were paved with smooth white stone. The markets were always bustling with activity, filled with merchants selling exotic spices, monster cores, and finely forged weapons.
But today, the city was busier than it had ever been all year.
The crowds in the streets were absolutely massive. The reason was simple: today was the beginning of the new admission cycle for the 'Nexus Academy'.
Thousands of young, awakened students from all over the continent were swarming toward the eastern edge of the capital. They carried heavy bags and staff, pushing through the dense crowds, all heading toward the main port.
At the edge of the sea, hovering just a few feet above the deep water, rested a massive Flying Ship.
It was a true marvel of magical engineering. The ship was so unimaginably huge that it looked like a small city floating in the air. Its hull was made from dark, enchanted wood, and massive glowing blue crystals lined its sides, keeping the heavy structure afloat. This was the vessel that would take the students across the sea to the isolated island where the Nexus Academy was located.
At the boarding ramp of the ship, a tall, strict-looking man stood with a clipboard in his hand. This was Instructor Varol.
"Have your identification papers ready!" Instructor Varol yelled, his voice booming over the noisy crowd.
"Do not push! Anyone caught fighting will have their admission instantly revoked!"
He pulled a golden pocket watch from his coat and checked the time. He frowned, his thick eyebrows pulling together.
"You have exactly five minutes until departure!" Varol shouted at the endless line of students.
"If you are not on this ship when the engines fully ignite, you will be left behind! Move faster!"
Panic erupted among the students at the back of the line. They started running, waving their papers desperately.
***
Meanwhile, deep inside the city, far away from the noisy port, a completely different scene was taking place.
The bright, sunny streets of Voresia slowly gave way to the darker, dark alleys of the slums. The crowds disappeared. The smell of fresh bread and expensive perfume was replaced by the stench of damp moss and rotting garbage.
Walking down one of these quiet, narrow streets was a young girl.
She looked entirely out of place in this dirty alley. She wore the crisp, pristine black and silver uniform of the Nexus Academy. Her hair was a beautiful, pure silver, falling in straight locks down her back. Her face was flawless, with soft, delicate features that made her look like a porcelain doll.
But the most striking thing about her was the black cloth wrapped tightly around her eyes. She was completely blindfolded.
A long, thin sword rested in a dark scabbard at her left hip.
She was calmly following a thin, nervous-looking man wearing a dirty brown coat. He was the guide her father had hired to escort her to the port.
"Excuse me," the girl spoke. Her voice was incredibly soft and polite.
"How far away are we from the port? I do not wish to miss the ship."
The man in the brown coat glanced over his shoulder. He looked at her blindfold, a dirty smirk briefly crossing his face.
'Stupid noble brat,' the guide thought to himself.
'Her family must be loaded. And they sent a blind girl to the capital all by herself? This is the easiest money I will ever make.'
"It is just a few meters away, miss," the guide lied smoothly.
"The main roads were completely blocked by the crowds. I am taking you through a shortcut. Just follow me into this tunnel here."
He pointed ahead. The alley ended at a dark, unlit stone tunnel that curved underneath the city's aqueduct system. It was going in the completely opposite direction of the port.
"I understand," the girl said, her tone perfectly even.
"Thank you for your hard work."
She followed him into the tunnel. The moment they stepped inside, the sunlight vanished entirely. The air was cold and damp. Water dripped from the ceiling, echoing loudly in the enclosed space.
Suddenly, the guide stopped walking.
He turned around and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. A wicked smile spread across his face.
"Well, well," the guide said loudly.
"We have finally arrived, miss."
The silver-haired girl stopped. She didn't look panicked. She simply stood perfectly still, her head tilted slightly to the side.
Suddenly, the shadows in the tunnel shifted.
The sound of heavy boots echoed against the stone. Several men stepped out from the darkness, completely surrounding the girl. There were six of them in total. They carried knives, heavy iron pipes, and swords. They looked like typical alley thugs, wearing torn leather armor and cruel expressions.
"Nice catch, boss," one of the thugs laughed, stepping closer.
"She is wearing the Academy uniform. She must have a spatial ring full of gold coins with her."
Another man stepped forward, looking the girl up and down with hungry eyes.
"Forget the gold for a second," the second man said, licking his chapped lips. "She looks incredibly beautiful under that blindfold. It would be a lot of fun to play with her before we sell her off to the underground market."
The thugs chuckled, closing the circle around her.
"Now, what should we do with her first?" the first man asked, tossing his knife into the air and catching it.
He confidently walked right up to the silver-haired girl. She didn't move and inch completely still.
The man smirked, thinking she was completely paralyzed by fear. He reached his big, calloused hand out to grab her face.
"Come here, little—"
*Click!*
It was a very soft, subtle sound. It sounded exactly like the metal guard of a sword hitting the rim of a scabbard.
Nobody saw the girl move. Her right hand was simply resting on the hilt of her sword, exactly where it had been a second ago.
But suddenly, the thug's extended arm went completely limp.
A perfectly clean red line appeared just below his shoulder. A split second later, his entire arm detached from his body and fell heavily to the wet stone floor.
A fountain of dark red blood sprayed from his severed shoulder.
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
The man fell to his knees, clutching the bleeding stump where his arm used to be. He screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing violently inside the narrow tunnel. "My arm! My arm!"
The other thugs completely froze. The smug smiles vanished from their faces, replaced by sheer, unadulterated shock. They stared at the bleeding man on the ground, then looked up at the blindfolded girl.
They hadn't seen her draw the sword. They hadn't seen her swing it. They hadn't even seen a flash of light. But the severed arm bleeding on the floor was absolute proof of what just happened.
The girl smiled.
It was a perfectly sweet, flawless smile. It made her look like an innocent angel, which only made the scene infinitely more terrifying.
"I am sorry, what did you say?" the girl asked politely, tilting her head again.
"I was too deep in my own thoughts and could not hear you correctly. Can you repeat it for me?"
The men's faces turned pale white. The guide in the brown coat pressed his back hard against the wall, his legs shaking violently.
But one of the thugs was not ready to give up. He was a massive man with a broad, muscular build. He gripped a heavy iron mace in both hands and stepped over his screaming comrade, trying to intimidate her with his sheer size.
"You little bitch!" the large man roared. "You used some kind of cheap magic artifact! You are completely blind, you cannot fight!"
He raised his free hand, stepping heavily toward her.
"Hey girl, you are going to be my plaything today! Let me eat yo—"
*Click!*
The soft sound echoed again.
Before the massive man could even finish his sentence, a thin red line appeared across his thick neck.
His body stopped moving. His eyes widened in absolute shock. A second later, his head simply slid off his shoulders and hit the wet stone floor with a sickening thud. His massive, headless body swayed for a moment before collapsing backward, spraying blood across the tunnel walls.
The girl let out a soft, elegant laugh.
"Hehehe..." she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.
"You are very funny. But I am afraid I am not in the mood for playing right now. I really have to hurry. I have somewhere important to go."
She turned her head slightly toward the remaining thugs. Even with the blindfold on, they felt as if she was staring directly into their souls.
"So, can you please lead me there?" she asked sweetly.
The remaining four thugs dropped their weapons instantly. They didn't care about the gold anymore. They didn't care about the girl. They just wanted to live.
They turned around and started running toward the exit of the tunnel as fast as they could. They didn't look back. They didn't know how a blind girl was accurately severing body parts without being able to see anything. Some of them even doubted if she was really blind at all.
But they would never find out.
*Click* *Click*
The sound echoed twice.
The four fleeing men suddenly collapsed to the floor, screaming in agony. Their legs had been severed clean off at the knees. Blood pooled quickly on the damp stone, mixing with the muddy water.
The girl didn't even look at them. She simply adjusted her pristine uniform, making sure not a single drop of blood had stained her clothes.
She turned around and slowly walked toward the guide in the brown coat.
The guide was Sweating heavily. He was trapped against the wall, staring at the absolute massacre that had just unfolded in less than thirty seconds.
She stopped right in front of him.
"Sir?" she asked softly.
"Y-Yes?!" the guide squeaked, tears of terror streaming down his dirty face.
"Will you guide me to the port or not?" she asked, her voice as polite and calm as it had been when they first met.
The man swallowed hard. He looked at her hand resting gently on the hilt of her sword. It was impossible to run away from her. If he tried, he would end up exactly like the legless men crying on the floor.
He nodded his head so fast his neck hurt.
"Ok... Ok, miss!" the guide cried, stepping away from the wall.
"Right away! The port is this way! Please, follow me!"
"Thank you," she smiled sweetly.
"You are a very good guide."
The terrified man scrambled forward, completely ignoring his dying friends on the floor. He ran out of the dark tunnel, leading the blind, silver-haired girl toward the docks as fast as humanly possible, praying to the gods that they would reach the Flying Ship before the five minutes were up.