Mathew was utterly perplexed by what was staring him in the face. What did Last Son of unknown mean? Was it a metaphor, or was it referring to his birth parents? That wasn't his only issue, as far as he could tell, not only was this trait not a combat oriented one, it didn't fit into any other category of known traits. He couldn't possibly be so unlucky that the codex would saddle him with such a useless ability on top of being thrown into such a difficult trial, could he?
He stared in disbelief at the shimmering runes for a bit, he let out a long, exasperated sigh.
'What the hell do I do now?'
"Hello..."
"Do I try and find any survivors? "
"Can you hear me?"
"No, would there ever be any left..."
"Hello.... I'm talking to you!"
"What can I possibly do then?"
"Excuse me! I've been speaking for the past few minutes! Can you not hear me?"
Lost in thought, and unbeknownst to him, Mathew had been unintentionally staring at the beauty of a woman and was only to be jolted back to reality when she moved her face right in front of his.
"Can I help you?" he asked with a perplexed expression.
"What have you been staring at, you imbecile?"
Hurriedly dismissing the runes which were apparently only visible to him, he averted his gaze and said.
"None of your business."
From what Mathew had seen, she was nothing but a spoiled brat, and people like that were mostly predictable. And as he knew people like her well, he predicted that in the next few sentences, she was either going to say something rude or something just baseless.
"Lost in thought? How quaint. I suppose that's your excuse for gawking at me like some pervert, I presume?"
Right on cue.
While maintaining his calm, Mathew stared at the woman with an indifferent expression. He wasn't at all shocked by her slanderous words. In fact, he found them to be less insulting than what he had experienced in his world and almost felt bemused by her watered-down remarks. After a life in the higher districts, Mathew was used to and braced himself for something much, much worse. Staring at the woman for a few moments, Mathew felt an intensity in her gaze and frowned.
'Those eyes,'
Within her eyes was a gaze he was all too familiar with, a disgusting and spiteful gaze. And it was that of someone of higher birth, looking down on those below. It absolutely sickened him to his core. But compared to the intensity he was used to, the gaze of the woman was not as unwanted. In fact, Mathew felt an urge to toy with the woman. Doing such a thing had been unthinkable to him. Suicidal in fact. He averted his gaze as a slight grin tugged at his lips. The thrill of the very idea burned in him. Oh, what would it feel like to wipe that smug and entitled expression off her face, he wondered.
'Should I just play along?'
Wiping away his grin, he looked to the woman with a now indifferent expression and asked in his most aggravating tone.
"You're not beautiful enough for me to consider that, sorry."
Mathew's words seemed to shock the beautiful woman to her very core. She shifted her gaze, contempt and disdain filling her eyes as she looked him over and asked, her voice barely concealing the tremor of disbelief.
"Wh-what did you say?"
Mathew chuckled as he watched a flush spread across her cheeks.
"Didn't hear what I said, princess?"
"I asked you, what did you say?"
Mathew chuckled louder till his mocking reached a crescendo. Unable to further hold himself back, he burst into a fit of laughter and after nearly a minute, he calmed himself smiled politely, turned around, and walked forward. The woman's brows shot up, and her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
"Excuse me? Are you seriously walking away from me? Do you not realize who I am?"
Mathew paused mid-step and let out a quiet sigh.
"Not really." She was about to speak when Mathew interrupted her. "But, don't worry, I think I've got a pretty good idea,"
Tilting his head, Mathew knowingly rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a few moments, and then with a mask of calm indifference, he greeted her with a warm smile and said.
"Ah! That's right, I remember where you are now. You're an arrogant bitch right?"
Her expression went from shock, to irritated, to confused, to enraged. But the young cynic wasn't done. He pressed on with a mock-apologetic smile.
"Don't take it the wrong way, though. I mean, it's impressive in its own way, being that memorable for all the wrong reasons. You must be so proud of that achievement. But unfortunately, I don't share your enthusiasm for such things and have the time whatsoever to waste on you."
Without giving her a chance to respond, he offered a mockingly courteous bow.
"Goodbye, and have a lovely day."
Stunned to silence by Mathew's words, the proud beauty could do nothing but stare at his back as he strutted off. Unable to contain her rising frustration as her eyes became glazed over with fury, she yelled.
"You're nothing but a poor nobody! How dare you!"
Without turning back, he answered.
"I get that you're an entitled brat, but could you do that somewhere else? It's really quite sad to see you act like this."
Shooting him a look that practically carried pure venom, she spun on her heel. Their tips clicked sharply against the ground as she stormed off with long strides, her head held high despite the anger radiating off her with each purposeful stride.
Before disappearing down the path barely illuminated by gemstones, she said in a flat but hateful tone.
"I hope you suffer down there."
Mathew grinned darkly.
'I hope you don't, princess.
***
A few hours passed, and all Mathew accomplished was aimlessly wandered the seemingly endless cobblestone halls. Every corner he turned, on every path, all he saw were walls, walls, and more walls. Not a single door, room, or even hole anywhere to be seen.
This trial was nothing short of a nightmare for Mathew. Now, hours had passed without food or water, and the effects were painfully evident. His movements had become labored. Not enough to hamper his journey, but still enough to be noticed.
If nothing changed soon-no..., he couldn't think of that right now. All he had to do was keep moving.
Many more hours passed. However long it was, he had lost track of time a while ago. His vision grew hazy, and he struggled to remember what direction he had come from. The walls seemed to move and flow right in front of him. The lights flickered in and out of view, and the colors drained into shades of gray.
The hunger had gnawed at him for hours, twisting his stomach and thoughts into knots. At this point, reality almost felt like an illusion in his eyes.
Just when he thought despair would consume him, something shifted in his hazy vision. The outline of something came into view. He took a hesitant step forward. and as he moved closer, that faint outline took shape.
Revealing a door?
'What the?'
What the, indeed. Not only was the hunger getting to him, but now he was seeing things. Mathew rubbed his eyes and looked again. But the scene did not change. Which now begged the question. Was he actually seeing a door? Something about this felt strange.
Leaning against a wall, he began to wonder.
'Is my mind playing tricks on me now?'
Taking a cautious step closer, he squinted at the door. Despite his reservations, it was an ordinary door. From what he could tell, there weren't any signs of traps, signs of recent use, or anything unusual. Well, as unusual as something could be in this world, at least.
Yet, he could feel an invisible and inexplicable pull drawing him toward it.
It was clear that this door hadn't been used for many years. Perhaps even decades. And ever since it came into view, Mathew felt a nagging at the back of his mind. Someone, or something, was watching him. In fact, after thinking hard, he traced the strange feeling back to the moment he started his trial. It was the reason he was so careful while moving through the pathway in the first place. Back then, it wasn't strong enough to rouse any suspicion. It was nothing but a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. But now, it was too hard for him to ignore. He squinted his eyes and looked closer, confirming it was fine.
'So it's not the door.'
Then he let out a sly, disturbing grin and said.
'That means it's what's behind it.'
The question now was, should he open it? A rational person, which is what Mathew considered himself to be, wouldn't dare entertain the thought. Opening a strange, magical door in an equally strange and dangerous place crawling with monsters wasn't the brightest idea. But that nagging sensation of being watched was only getting stronger the closer he got.
'Should I just risk it?'
Well, whatever he did, he wasn't going to get any answers without opening the door. At least not in that empty and eerie cobblestone maze. He glanced around once more, took a deep breath, and collected himself. He took a deep breath, reached for the rusted handle, and pushed the old door open.
'Here I go.'