Once no one was looking at him from the covers of the monsters, Azaroth unleashed his chaos essence. He made it thin and sharp, then he spun with it.

Monsters fell around him, cut in two by his invisible chaos skill. He followed it with his own sword, and soon he was cutting with two swords.

Monsters fell around him like wheat. One swing and two monsters would fall. They all backed away from him as they felt fear, no longer taking power in their larger numbers.

They broke and ran, but Azaroth and the rest were behind them. Stallus was right there too, covered in blood and limping. Her sword was soaked with blood and fur clung to her bloody body.

"We should finish them off before they make it outside. We won’t be able to catch them if they make it outside!" Stallus shouted, doing her best to catch up to Azaroth.

Azaroth slowly withdrew his chaos essence, but before he could do anything else, a large rock flew above them and smashed into the cave opening, blocking it to the outside.

They looked back. Catena was breathing hard, his veins stood out against his body. "I barely did that."

Now, they took their time finishing off the rest of the monsters. The monsters put up a lot of resistance, but Azaroth and the others were tired and angry. They dealt with them quickly.

"Well...that...was intense. I’ve not used my whole core as I just did. Those things are too many, I wonder how much they breed!" Alex said.

Azaroth was breathing hard too, but he was controlling it by breathing slowly. He used his sword as a walking stick to hold himself upright.

Stallus flicked blood from her sword. "I can’t wait to get my hands on crystals. Time to show off my own skills too."

Alex gestured. "First, how do we get out of here?"

The stone Catena threw earlier had blocked the entrance, crushing some monsters while at it. Catena shook his head as he flopped to the ground. "I will try to remove it when I finish resting. I can’t believe I threw something that big. I’m impressed with myself."

They were too tired to care, and there was no monster threat, so they all fell down to rest. Azaroth went into the harvest position to start gathering essence. It was a two-way thing. He would gather essence and rest at the same time.

When they rested for some hours, they picked themselves up.

Stallus stretched. "I would like some water to clean the blood off me. Do you think I can melt some snow for water?"

"Maybe if the weather is still snowing. But I’m sure it’ll be sunny right now," Alex said with a yawn.

Stallus wanted to know, so they had to wake up Catena again. The tall boy could sleep like a rock, and it took some hammering to wake him.

"What?" he grumbled as he stood.

They told him his job and he grumbled some more. Azaroth and the others stood back and watched as the taller boy started swinging his chains.

Then he powered his skill that let him tear into the earth. But this time, it was almost in reverse. He started to push the rock that blocked the cave way out.

At first, nothing happened. It was like trying to push a mountain, but he put more essence into his skill, and it finally started moving. Bit by bit, he started to move the rock back, and in no time, it popped back.

Catena was breathing hard again. "That was tough and I’ve used up my core again. We should go."

Azaroth nodded, but he wondered at the power at Catena’s fingertips. It would come in useful, Azaroth thought. He stored it away in his mind.

Then they came out of the cave. And into a room.

"What now?" Alex snapped. "So we came out of the cave and into a room? Where are the mountains and the snow?"

Nobody replied to him. They all knew it was the training crypt playing tricks on them, but the room they found themselves in was a curious thing.

It seemed everything in the room was carved from the same rock. The solid stone chairs and table, everything was one and the same.

Azaroth told no one to step into the room, and they all watched from the edge of the cave. They sent their light spinning into the room, and it was surprisingly small.

"Guys?" Catena called. He pointed behind him where a solid wall was blocking them from behind. The message was clear: the crypt wanted them inside the room.

And so they entered. Azaroth drew his sword immediately, and the others did the same. They spread out behind him and pointed their weapons.

Nothing moved, and when they were finally clear of the cave, the stone locked into place behind them. Now, there was no way out of this strange room.

Azaroth narrowed his eyes. So the room that was promising death was...gone just like that?

Azaroth wasn’t satisfied. It seemed too easy. He had expected something that would try to take his head, but instead they ran into some pack of monsters too weak to stand against their swords.

And what is this room? Was it the true beginning of the door of death?

After making sure there were no monsters in the room, they relaxed a bit. But still, they didn’t let their guard down. They studied the room even more.

It was small but well made. Catena touched the rocks, and his face was filled with wonder. "This rock. It’s quality material."

"How can you know that?" Alex rolled his eyes.

"Since I began the earth elemental technique, I’ve been able to sense the earth around me. This one is of quality. And from what I know, it can only be found in crypts."

"Your guess is good. You are right," a strange voice said.