The sun was barely rising when Arjun stepped into his home, his steps lighter than they had been in days. The house smelled of cardamom tea and toast, and the faint sound of a news anchor's voice echoed from the living room.
"Bhaiya?"
Arjun turned. His younger sister, Ananya, stood at the hallway entrance, eyes wide. She wore her school uniform, bag half-packed, and hair still damp from a shower.
She blinked. "You… you look different. What happened to you?"
Arjun offered her a tired smile. "Did I? Maybe I just had a good night's sleep."
Ananya frowned, walking closer. "No, it's not that. Your eyes… they look sharper. And… you've got muscle. Like, actual muscle!"
He chuckled softly. "Don't exaggerate. It's just lighting."
She rolled her eyes. "Mom's going to freak out when she sees you. Breakfast is ready. Come on."
Arjun joined them at the table. Divya, still weak but radiant with a mother's love, smiled as he sat.
"Eat, Arjun," she said. "You look like you haven't had a proper meal in days."
He didn't deny it. He wolfed down the aloo parathas like a starved soldier, sipping hot tea in between.
As he finished, a translucent blue screen flickered into view.
> [ Gate Creation Ability Expires In: 8h 56m ]
Arjun's expression darkened.
He stood abruptly.
"Ananya, I need to go out for a while."
"Again? Where?" she asked, concerned.
He didn't answer. Just grabbed a worn satchel and headed out the door.
---
In a quiet alley several blocks away, Arjun placed his hand against the cold stone wall.
"Create Gate: C-Rank."
A roar of dark energy exploded from the wall as a swirling vortex opened—runes spinning along the edges like gears in a machine. The vortex pulsed like a living heartbeat.
He took a deep breath and stepped through.
---
The air on the other side was heavy—thick with the stench of iron and heat. He stood inside a massive, coliseum-like structure carved into black stone. Massive torches crackled on the walls. There were no spectators, yet the space felt haunted by thousands of eyes.
> [ Dungeon: Asura Blood Arena – C-Rank ] Survive Five Waves Reward: Stat Boost + Unique Item (Chance)
Arjun looked at his reflection in a shard of glass by the edge. No fancy weapons. No armor. Just his raw body, a satchel with some rations… and a broken dagger strapped to his hip.
"Guess we're doing this the old-fashioned way," he muttered, drawing the dagger. The blade was chipped, barely a foot long, and stained from his last raid.
A horn blared.
> [ Wave 1: Berserker Goblins x10 ]
The gates across the arena burst open. Green-skinned humanoids with wild eyes and crude axes charged at him.
Arjun didn't move.
He focused. Every instinct screamed at him to dodge, to duck, to run—but he stood still until the very last second.
Then—
He pivoted.
One goblin swung. Arjun ducked low and slammed his elbow into its gut, flipping it over. Before the others could surround him, he rolled and snapped the broken dagger into another's throat.
He fought like a man possessed—each motion deliberate, brutal, efficient. No style. No flash.
Just pure, adaptive survival.
> [ 10 Enemies Defeated. Proceeding to Wave 2… ]
His chest heaved. Cuts lined his arms. Sweat poured down his forehead.
> [ Wave 2: Ironfang Direwolves x5 ]
Larger than the Night Wolves. Their jaws were steel-lined, bodies thick with muscle.
The first lunged.
He sidestepped, using the creature's own momentum to drive the broken dagger into its jaw. It howled as the blade cracked further, now just a jagged stub.
The rest attacked.
Arjun fought with fists and fury. He used the environment—slamming one wolf into a stone pillar, tearing off part of a fallen spear and jamming it through another's eye.
He bled—but his eyes glowed with a fire that hadn't been there before.
> [ Wave 3: Flame Imps x12 ]
Tiny creatures with molten cores swarmed from above.
He grabbed the iron fang from a dead wolf's mouth and wielded it like a knuckle blade. Fire burned his skin as he weaved through the imp swarm, tearing them apart one by one.
> [ Wave 4: Bone Knights x3 ]
He was nearly spent now. His arms trembled. Vision blurred.
And yet, when the skeletal knights marched out in armor—towering and armed with glowing swords—he grinned.
"Come on, then."
They attacked in sync. He dodged the first, parried the second with a bone shield he snatched off the floor, and drove the jagged edge of his dagger into the third's visor.
A sword slashed across his chest. Blood sprayed.
He screamed—but didn't fall.
He pivoted, using his elbow to break a ribcage, and hurled a bone fragment like a dart through the last knight's eye socket.
> [ Final Wave Initiated: Blood-Touched Asura ]
The air turned heavy, thick with silence.
A low hum vibrated through the stone floor. Then the gate rippled—and it stepped into the arena.
A monstrous warrior. Eight feet tall. Crimson aura flaring like wildfire. Six muscular arms—each wielding a weapon of war: twin axes glinting with a cursed edge, a spear crackling with heat, a coiled whip, a curved executioner's blade, and a jagged hook carved from obsidian.
Its eyes—four of them, burning like twin suns—locked onto Arjun.
It laughed.
A guttural, echoing sound that chilled the blood.
Arjun stood still, his shirt torn, his chest rising and falling. He held only a broken dagger—its blade no longer than his palm, jagged and dull. His left hand bled freely, wrapped hastily with a strip of torn cloth.
Yet he didn't flinch.
He didn't retreat.
He grinned.
"Let's dance, freak."
The Asura moved first. A blur of motion.
Axe met dagger.
The force was like a thunderclap—Arjun was sent flying across the arena, crashing into a pillar that cracked on impact. Dust exploded around him.
He coughed blood, spat it out, and stood.
"That all you've got?"
He lunged forward before the dust cleared.
The Asura raised its spear—but Arjun was already inside its reach. He ducked, slipped past the blade, and slammed his shoulder into its gut.
It staggered back.
With a roar, it swung its whip in an arc—slicing a gash across Arjun's face.
Blood flowed into his eye. Vision blurred.
But Arjun used the pain.
He ducked under the next swing, grabbed a length of chain from the fallen arena debris, and spun it like a whip of his own.
The chain wrapped around the Asura's leg—and Arjun ran toward it.
The monster pulled.
So did Arjun.
And he flew.
Launched by its strength, he soared straight at its face.
Head first.
Crack.
His forehead slammed into the monster's skull with a brutal thud. Bone met bone.
The Asura reeled back. Dazed.
Arjun didn't stop.
Mid-air, he twisted, slammed his knee into its chin, then rammed the broken dagger straight into its heart—or where its heart should be.
The blade sank halfway.
The monster screamed.
Arjun landed, tore a shattered wooden beam from the ground, and drove it through the beast's abdomen with all his weight.
The Asura howled. Slashed wildly. Its hook grazed Arjun's side, spilling more blood.
Still, Arjun climbed onto its shoulders like a shadow, looped the chain around its thick neck, and pulled.
His muscles burned. His lungs begged for air.
But he pulled.
"Fall," he growled through clenched teeth.
"FALL!"
With a violent heave, the chain crushed through sinew and bone.
The Asura thrashed, gurgled, and finally—
Collapsed.
The crimson aura flickered.
Then vanished.
Arjun stood over the corpse, drenched in blood, one eye swollen shut, the chain still in his hands.
He looked up at the sky beyond the broken arena ceiling.
And grinned.
"Not bad for a guy with a broken knife."
The Asura thrashed, gurgled, and finally—
Collapsed.
Its crimson aura flickered once.
Then vanished into ash.
The silence returned.
Only Arjun's ragged breathing remained as he stood over the monster's fading corpse, drenched in sweat and blood. One eye was swollen shut. His body screamed with pain. The chain slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor.
He looked up at the sky beyond the cracked arena ceiling, then dropped to his knees.
[ Boss Defeated. Dungeon Cleared. ]
Level: 17 → 19
Strength +2, Stamina +1, Agility +1
New Skill Gained: [Heal Lv.1]
A warm pulse spread through his body, like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. He blinked in surprise as his wounds began to stitch themselves together—slowly, but surely.
He flexed his hand.
The pain dulled.
His breath steadied.
Arjun stood in the center of the ruined arena—barely able to breathe. His body was a map of wounds.
But he was alive.
He raised a bloodied fist.
And for the first time since the Abyssal System awakened…
He felt worthy of the power.
The vortex opened behind him.
He walked back through the gate.
He looked up at the sky, red clouds streaking across the morning light.
And whispered:
"Let's keep hunting."