The battles that followed were both short and life-threatening.

The deeper Michael went, the higher the number of Forgotten he faced in each encounter, as well as the stronger those Forgotten were. He continued to cleanse Villages within the Consumed Territory, increasing the Curse's effects but also the amount of XP he got from each Forgotten. However, because those Villages were guarded by the Forgotten Leaders, who were even stronger this deep inside the Territory, he had needed to put his life on the line in every single battle in order to survive.

Having his flesh torn apart or his bones broken was a matter of course. The times he was hit by the light-and-darkness attacks were especially threatening. In the third battle and the first one against a Forgotten Leader this deep in, Michael lost his left eye. In the seventh battle, his Dragonheart was almost pierced straight through by an arrow. In the tenth battle, Michael almost died several times.

In such a fashion, the first day in the depths of the Consumed Territory came to a close.

Standing over the corpses of eight Forgotten, Michael heaved. He wiped the sweat on his forehead with his right hand and frowned, gritting his teeth. After taking a deep breath, he looked at the ground to his left.

"…Well, shit."

His left arm was lying on the floor, completely ruined. Michael stared at it for a few seconds, surrounded by darkness that started to overwhelm even the empowered Clear Sight. He sighed deeply and channeled Cleansing, then chanted.

"Heal. Heal. Heal. Heal."

Every Heal was cast through Twin Casting and supported by his new Passive Skills. Wave after wave of green mana flowed through him, instantly mending his minor injuries. However, he only frowned.

Come on.

He continued to cast the spell. It was then that he noticed a slight difference. The stump that used to be his left arm moved. Michael smiled to himself and continued casting. Bone and flesh crawled over themselves and regenerated, appearing almost out of thin air. After some time, the process ended. He clenched his left hand a few times and waved his new left arm around.

"Good enough," Michael mumbled to himself.

He sighed and looked between two small, wooden houses, toward the Abyss. The ravine was now much closer than before, allowing him to realize just how large it was. However, that wasn't Michael's concern at all. He frowned.

…What is this feeling?

He felt like he was almost being pulled toward the ravine. It wasn't the first time he'd felt like this; it had started shortly after the battle against the dwarven woman and male dark elf. With every step deeper into the Consumed Territory he took, the stronger the feeling became. Of course, it could be an ordinary trait of the Abyss, to draw in contestants toward its death zone. Nevertheless, the thing that confused Michael the most wasn't related to the Abyss' dangers.

It feels… familiar.

For some reason, whenever he looked at the Abyss, he felt like he was looking at an old friend or a family member. No, more accurately, like someone he once knew but had forgotten about. Someone who used to be important to him.

It was nonsensical. Why would he feel like this toward a complete death zone? It could be that this was merely one of the weapons the Abyss used to draw contestants, as he'd theorized. Michael slowly shook his head.

I need to move away. This is deep enough. I'll just farm the Forgotten around here and keep running around.

Michael turned his back to the Abyss and flexed his left arm again. It happened as he nodded to himself and took a deep breath.

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The darkness around him suddenly became thicker. Michael only had the time to blink before Clear Sight was completely overwhelmed. For the first time since his first delve into the Consumed Territory, Michael was left in complete darkness. In the infinite dark, Michael felt a chill go down his spine. He looked around in shock, his mind racing with possibilities.

What the fuck is going on?

Neither Tairy nor Sullivan had warned him about this. Had Clear Sight been overwritten? Or was this the work of a specific Forgotten Leader? Maybe there was another kind of creature this deep into the Consumed Territory? Why was this even happening?

"Calm down," Michael whispered to himself after a second, taking a deep breath.

Those questions were useless. Right now, he needed to think about what to do. One alternative would be to channel Illumination, even though that would make the Forgotten rush to his position like moths to a flame. He tried to think of what else he could do, but found nothing. The moment when Michael took a deep breath and was about to use Illumination, it happened.

The darkness around him roiled and changed. Michael widened his eyes. His surroundings were still dark, but he could feel it. 'Something' was in the darkness. The moment this thought struck him, Michael heard a man's voice.

"A Dragon? No, not even a newborn. How curious. A descendant?"

The voice was soft and strangely melodic. It sounded like a human man in his thirties. Michael shivered from head to toe. There was a creature capable of figuring out he had Dragon blood, just like that? If they were on the same side of the Gods of War…

Do I need to kill him?

He reached that question almost instantly. For the sake of everything he cared about, he needed to deal with this. How had he been found out? Why was this man talking to him like this? What was his goal? He was obviously the one responsible for the darkness in his surroundings, so why hadn't he attacked yet? While Michael's thoughts were stuck in the maelstrom that had suddenly appeared in his mind, the voice spoke again.

"Come to the place they call the Abyss, child. We have much to discuss. I believe the sad, fallen warriors won't pose much trouble. Know that I am your only shot at survival."

Michael blinked. Then, just as suddenly as it had arrived, the feeling disappeared. The presence was gone. Like it had been a lie, the all-encompassing darkness around him vanished into nothingness, making him able to see his surroundings again.

Michael stayed rooted to the same spot for several seconds before slowly turning around. He looked at the ravine in the distance. Now that he looked at it, the darkness around it was reminiscent of the one that had just surrounded him.

…A man in the Abyss who knows about the Dragons.

Above everything else, the voice's last sentence kept replaying in his mind. What did the man mean by that?

The seconds ticked by as Michael struggled to come to a decision. It was possible that the Abyss could somehow read his memories and create a voice based on them as a ploy to attract him. Since it was a complete unknown that not even Tairy knew anything about, Michael didn't know if it could truly do that or not.

It was a great risk. Right now, he only needed to run around and kill as many Forgotten as he could, all to Level up and become stronger in preparation for the end of the Tutorial. If he did so, he could somewhat guarantee his safety.

Mom has worried enough.

He had promised her that he wouldn't go too far, and he'd also promised Tairy that he wouldn't enter the Abyss. But what if the voice was telling the truth? Judging from the way the darkness had enveloped him, the voice could affect areas outside of the Abyss. Even after 'looking' at his current body, the voice had stated that it was his only chance to survive.

The only reason why Michael was actually giving this so much thought was because of a question he had already had from the moment he talked to Clyranth in his vision.

How am I supposed to protect myself from the gods after the Tutorial is over?

What would come after the Tutorial was a complete unknown. The 'NPCs' likely hadn't talked about it because they couldn't, but Clyranth also hadn't. Right now, Michael knew that he was probably protected by the System as a Tutorial contestant, but Clyranth had still managed to sense him, and the voice in the Abyss had realized the truth about him, too. In such circumstances, there wasn't a single thing that made him think that the Gods of War wouldn't instantly teleport to his location and destroy him alongside whatever world he was standing on and everyone he loved the very second that the Tutorial ended.

Michael gritted his teeth.

…Only shot at survival.

If it were a lie, he would enter a death zone and go through his most threatening challenge yet. If it were true, however, following the voice's advice could mean the difference between survival and the destruction of everything he cared about, including his future and family.

Michael stood in place for a minute, then another. He struggled with this choice for almost ten entire minutes before he rubbed the back of his head.

"Fucking hell."

Michael started trudging toward the deepest part of the Consumed Territory with a determined expression.

No matter what, he would survive.

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