In the wooden rusty cottage can be seen a man in his teens, weeping on his straw bed. Dropped down on the bed, he cried and cried.
A clunking was coming from the door.
'why can't they just leave me alone on the final day'
The clanking continues on and on. He wipes his tears and decides to get off his bed. His feet surface the floor with a shaky stance.
As he walks to the old door he covers his face, embarrassed from anyone seeing his face. He reaches the door and undoes the lock.
The door slams open, revealing a young woman in a silky bed dress with clean and pure blond hair.
"Come on Duke, you can't hide in that room forever!"
she pouts before stepping into the room to console Duke. She grabs his wrist that was the remaining arm hiding his miserable face.
his tears start to run down even faster and his cheeks get even redder. He didn't like the fact that his older sister would see him this week.
"I know it seems terrifying but it will be a fun adventure."
In Duke's village a contribution would be paid every five years, to sacrifice a villager to undergo an adventure in the underworld. It was a whole world underneath in a cave, never ending. Unfortunately Duke was the sacrificial lamb this time around.
' I'm the weakest one in the village, she wouldn't even understand since she has had abnormal strength her whole life'
It was true, Elizabeth the oldest sibling was one of the strongest in the whole village since birth, it had seemed that an angel was always by her side leading her to the right path.
Duke wiped up his last tears while unbearably resting in Elizabeth's shoulder. He picked himself up one last time, an unearthly energy rushed in him.
"a-alright let's go then"
Duke and Elizabeth both walk to the exit of the village, where there could be seen a carriage with barrels covered in a thick cloth. Two men could be seen feeding the horses before the long trip.
Duke was shivering at the sight of the exit and while walking all the way to the carriage.
Elizabeth takes her final moments with Duke, a tear could be seen forming in her eye but quickly gets wiped away. She looks at him and tightly wraps her hand around his slim and weak wrist.
"There is only one thing that I can tell you, befriend everyone you see. Talk to them and be on their nice side, avoid combat and study every creature you come across."
Elizabeth's grip slowly starts to weaken and finally let go. Duke couldn't hide his doubt that he had on himself to survive, but quickly shows a smile to not worry her.
"Alright i promise, but can you promise to answer when i reach the midpoint"
She reflects the same smile that Duke had given her.
"I promise too"
It could be seen that a weight has come off Duke's shoulders, his fake smile started to turn into a real one.
"Alright kid, on your way now!"
One of the men from the carriage shouts at Duke with a sincere attitude knowing what pain he could be going through. Duke gives Elizabeth one last goodbye, duke reaches the carriage and enters the chamber where he would be sitting.
'I hated that village anyway'
Duke finally rests down to sleep but gets quickly woken up from one of the men leading the horses.
"Son, are you trying to go to sleep?"
The man on the horse belches shortly after taking a sip from his bottle. The horses begin galloping, the chamber had a sort of stabilizer to reduce the impale and make it a even smoother ride
"Yea will that be an issue?"
Duke says in an upset tone, staring directly towards him with little to no emotion in his face. Duke was distressed from leaving his home after not leaving for a long time.
The man starts to begin with a story: sacrifices to the cave who had fell asleep during the ride to the cave were known to die in their sleep due to the sudden increase in magic.
'almost like falling asleep while your actually falling'
Duke chuckles almost instantly, relieving the distress that he had from leaving home. He had felt a warm feeling deep inside that made him happy again, maybe something from his past?
After several moments the carriage had finally come to a complete rest. Duke peeks out the little window the chamber had accustomed to.
Outside the window you could see a towering mountain with sharp ridges, there were many buildings imbued into the mountain's deep rocks. The main attraction was the pristine tunnel that had buildings surrounding its exterior. It was as lively town that had shops and many other stalls and restaurants
'Is everything always going to be this huge?'
the carriage had parked in the parking spaces. The horsemen guided the sacrifice to the building that he had to enter to begin his long adventure.
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