The door gaped open with a little struggle and revealed the ruins of a city magnitudes more beautiful than the one he had just seen. Tall and exquisite buildings spread wide in front of Astolfo. The impeccability of their craftsmanship clearly visible in the tiniest of details. Wide roads polished with meticulousness weaved through the city to form a web of beauty. At the far center of the city was the unbelievably clear water of the fountain flowing towards the sky.

Astolfo dazedly went past the door and set through the streets. His mind was completely pulled in by the scenery around him, and so, he didn’t notice the small rock that came in his path. The rock made a short arc and hit a slightly larger bit of debris. The small sound erupted with a loud boom in the quiet place, pulling Astolfo from his daze.

Astolfo stuck his tongue out and hummed an ‘oops’ before setting his sight towards the fountain. Things were going well, he would ride on the momentum and confirm the way down right now.

“Awooo!”

Just then, a distant howl sounded in the air. Within seconds, Astolfo had pulled out his weapon and was in an alert stance. With his eyes closed, Astolfo focused on his surroundings.

“Ha!” Astolfo swung the branch down low and smashed it onto the creature attacking his left leg. The attack didn’t pierce through at all but was enough to throw the creature away. Without stopping, Astolfo flipped the branch in his hands and pushed it backward. The branch hit the creature in the jaw.

Astolfo jumped away and turned to face the enemies. Canines with jagged teeth and crazed eyes bore their fangs towards him. It would have been fine if it was just a couple of strong wolves attacking him, but these monsters had fleshy protrusions sticking out of various places of their body as if more of their kind meshed into each of them. Disgust welled up in Astolfo as soon as he saw them.

“Awrgg!” the monsters growled as they pounced on him again. Astolfo took a few steps back to lure them in. The monsters jumped to tear into Astolfo when an arrow of ice tore right pierced into their eyes. Astolfo unhesitatingly pushed his weapon into the mouths of the screaming monsters and brought them to their demise.

With a sigh, Astolfo wiped the sweat off the top of his forehead. “This is much easier than the ones above, huh?” He turned around and set off towards the fountain again when he heard another growl from behind him.

Astolfo slowly turned back and saw the corpse of the two monsters. No zombies. Then, he shifted his gaze a bit further to see six more of the disgusting canines staring him down.

“Tsk. Their numbers will be a pain…” He reached for the fountain water in his pants when he heard growls again. Astolfo stopped in his tracks. He carefully observed the place around him. From the top of the buildings to the road, in just the duration of a simple battle, Astolfo was surrounded by the monsters.

“Well, shit.”

Astolfo raised his hand high in the sky with unmistakable boldness. The gazes of the monsters followed his hands as they braced themselves for what he was about to do. Astolfo smirked as he observed the foolish beasts. ‘These things think they really stand a chance against my special technique?’

“[Wind Magic: Gale]!” Like a judge declaring their decision, Astolfo brought about a fierce gale that slammed right into the ground. A cloud of dust spread in the air, blocking everything’s sight. Without skipping a beat, Astolfo dashed ahead as he broke through the monster's formation. The secret technique, dust-up, and run were invincible!

Astolfo ran to a different street with all his might. He heaved a big sigh when he felt he had escaped their sights. “What problematic numbers. I’ll have to proceed carefully—”

“—AWOO!!” A loud growl interrupted and the boy snapped to his side. The canine monsters had appeared again.

“Already? How?” As the shocked Astolfo looked at the monsters, he noticed that they looked quite distinct from the ones he had run away from. “D-different ones?”

Before it got late, Astolfo geared up and dashed in the other direction. Soon, the disgusting monsters popped up all around him. From the front or sometimes from the side. The monsters were even inside the houses. Every corner of this floor was filled with these monsters.

Dozens, no hundreds of monsters were chasing after Astolfo. Pushed back, Astolfo eventually turned a bit of the water into the mist to make a gap and run through. A thread of hope appeared as Astolfo saw the great effect it had on monsters. But the thread was too thin as the effectiveness of the water was pushed down by the sheer numbers these monsters had.

Astolfo used the gale and the mist consistently to run away from the monsters, but their numbers refused to decrease. Scratches piled up as Astolfo’s mana and the water in hand were sharply decreasing. The fountain was the only place he could be safe at, but he was still a fair distance away from it.

“Graah!”
“Awoo!”

Astolfo bit his lips to the point of bleeding as he was cornered by the monsters for god knows which time now. The beasts slowly stepped towards him with slacking jaws as if mocking the young human that had walked in their territory so confidently.

The monsters were a couple of meters away now. Astolfo looked at the rising fountain water that was much closer than before. Just as the monsters were about to pounce on him, Astolfo upturned the canteen with the fountain water. Before the water could hit the ground, a magic circle appeared and the water turned into mist. It was barely enough to cover Astolfo’s lower body, but that would do.

In a desperate attempt, Astolfo jumped on his feet and made a final sprint towards the fountain. The mist of the fountain water kept the monsters away from his feet while he desperately fended off the ones above with his weapon that he could not shroud in mana.

With each step, Astolfo reached ever closer to the fountain and with the same step, his mana dropped dangerously. The monsters relentlessly chased after him and attacked at every chance they had. The hundreds of monsters had all come together near the fountain, but Astolfo didn’t stop. His mana was about to end alongside the mist he controlled, but the fountain was just a few steps away now.

Astolfo ground his teeth as he squeezed his exhausted body to the limit. Just as the last drop of his mana was used up, he jumped into the fountain.

Like a cold breeze on a summer day, the flowing crystal clear water of the fountain hit Astolfo before he crashed onto the statue of a mourning angel in the center of the fountain. The water only extended a foot from the rim of the fountain and not near the statue. He could breathe here.

Astolfo’s slightly bloodied eyes first fell on the small hole in the platform that showed way to a grandiose staircase and then on the madly grunting disgusting canine monsters growling at him from outside the fountain.

With a sigh of relief, Astolfo loosened up his body and fell limply in the laps of the mourning sculpture.

He needed a break.