"Damn it all! Curse that cowardly, vile thing! Curse this place! Cur– Hhmm…"

Daru realized he was becoming foul-mouthed, which he didn't like, so he stopped mid-curse, exhaled slowly, and shook his head, still finding it difficult to believe that a Swordspawn could be so hateful.

"This won't do…I need to calm down…" he muttered.

He was in a perilous location, and if he didn't control his emotions, he would only end up in a dire situation.

He had to think again. Regrettably…

Daru looked around, deciding to climb a nearby gray tree of unknown species.

He approached it and scanned the branches for danger.

Safe.

'Is this an unholy tree?' he wondered as he proceeded to step on a tear on the bark of the trunk.

To his stupefaction, the tree moaned rather vulgarly.

Daru's brows furrowed, only weirded out in the beginning. He quickly looked around and scanned for danger.

Nothing.

So, he continued, stepping on yet another part he could use to climb.

"UGGHH!" the tree moaned louder this time.

However, Daru's inexperience with such matters allowed him to ignore the sound for a while longer, his focus on the potential danger rather than the weird noise.

Still nothing.

And so, he continued ascending to the top, not paying the noises much attention.

Until he realized what they were…

Women's voices of passion.

Daru's eyes widened, and he hurriedly jumped down, glaring in disbelief, bewilderment, and many other emotions. He also felt a bit of warm energy coursing through his body.

"Vile tree!" he cursed, storming away while shaking his head and muttering: "Why is everything in this place so…Aihh…"

Well, why wouldn't everything here be so unholy?

It was the underworld.

In the end, he could only settle for hiding behind a half-dying bush growing around a massive, oval-shaped stone slab planted deep in the ashen ground.

It wasn't the best of hiding spots, but it would do.

He just had to check his surroundings from time to time.

Daru planned to sort his emotions for now and wait out his remaining minutes in the Myriad Sword Realm.

He shall figure out what to do before entering again tomorrow.

So, Daru sat his emotions out. He didn't know for exactly how long he had been waiting already.

However, he should be kicked out any minute now.

Yes...

Any minute now…

But one minute turned to two, then five, then another fifteen.

Daru's brows furrowed. Still, he decided to continue waiting. Only after another hour did he sigh and accept the fact.

...He wouldn't be kicked out.

Daru was certain that his last hour had long ended, and that if the laws of the realm wanted to — or if it could — then it would've kicked him out already.

'Is it because I'm in the underworld?'

A heavy sensation swirled in his heart

It seemed that the usual rules didn't apply in the underworld, reinforced by his experience earlier of drawing putrid black blood from the Lost Damnedling instead of red cubic particles.

The fall earlier hurt much more than he expected, too.

His entire lower body had been sore earlier, though it seemed to have already recovered along with his hitpoints.

'Hmm…'

Daru pondered and pondered — lost in his thoughts. There were a few things he noticed and believed were the case.

For example, the pain and the exhaustion…

They were more realistic in the underworld. In fact, it was extremely realistic, given that blood was drawn instead of game-like particles.

He also felt it himself.

His lungs burned as he sprinted for half an hour straight, and his entire lower body was sore from the fall.

Another thing was the Swordspawns in this god-forsaken domain.

They were strong.

Far stronger than regular Field Swordspawns, proven by the fact that despite being level 48 — only three levels higher than him — the Lost Damnedling had such horrifying toughness, speed, and might in combat.

It seemed to be more cunning and shameless, too, willing to employ all tactics.

While he was yet to confirm whether all of them would flee when dying, he could at least be certain that they had somewhat realistic instincts.

After all, the hunched abomination wouldn't have thought of fleeing if it didn't fear death.

This naturally posed a problem to Daru, as gaining experience points would be very difficult if this was truly the case, and if he didn't level up, then not only would he be left behind by his peers, but he also likely wouldn't be able to escape this place.

There was one thing working in his favor, though: time.

He now had unlimited time compared to the others.

Once he managed to learn more about this misty, ashen domain, then there was a chance that this predicament would turn into a massive opportunity.

Daru took a deep breath, successfully recollecting himself by assessing the situation and seeing everything from a clearer and cleaner perspective.

It was up to him whether he could turn this into something good, and he was determined to make the tastiest and most refreshing lemonade known to mankind from the lemons the Damnedling hurled at him with utter spite and envy.

With renewed enthusiasm at his grim circumstance, Daru stood up, glancing at his trusty sword — his only comrade in the god-forsaken domain, and then at the direction of the distant mountains.

He had noticed the massive stone monument atop the highest mountain the moment he got here.

However, since it was too far, Daru didn't think much of it. He thought there wasn't a chance for him to explore the area much since he's on a timer.

But now, it had become his first target destination.

The portal and the staircases appeared from the hopeless heavens of this monochrome world.

Maybe there's a clue on how he could return to Valmaris there…

If not, then being in a high vantage point would also work to his cause, as he would be able to observe a good majority of this location from there.

With his enhanced perception attribute.

He could see farther and clearer, and while his eyes were still yet to achieve the sharpness and range of an eagle's, it had long surpassed a human's, too.

In any case, he felt he would learn something there and so began walking in that direction.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.