Elend's hand tightened on his sword, the impossibility almost made him laugh. He took a step back, eyes scanning the clown.

  (Joya Lvl 5000)

  What is this? Some kind of special quest?

  The clown took a step closer, a long one with that leg.

  It takes another step. "Stop!' Elend shouted, flash of death playing across his mind. Level 5000 is an S-rank Hunter territory

  In a surprise, the clown stopped. It takes a step back. Elend blinked at this, still in a daze. Did it just obey him? A monster? Is it a monster?.

  The Clown bent forward, like a butler greeting, moving one arm across his chest, the other on his back. "As you wish," It said in a masculine voice.

  Elend's mind blanked for a moment. What is he supposed to do?

  First things first.

  He dropped his sword, it clanged onto the hard ground.

  "I've no intention to fight," He declared.

  The clown moved his head curiously, "I also have no intention to fight you. Ringmaster"

  "You're not?"

  "Of course not," He stood straight. Hand removing its six blades, letting it drop to the floor, they barely make any noise. "Please refer me as Joya, it's my name."

  "Are you a monster, Joya?"

  Joya tilted his head, his arm scratching the clown mask. That mask is not white with minimal drawing like Elend's, it's colourful with every color possible. It only has one eye hole, Elend could not make out his eye color from here.

  He tilted his head again, staring at the limelight.

  "Are you struggling to answer?" Elend asked.

  "It's a difficult question, I'm not entirely sure of what the answer is. But, it did not really matter, does it? My capability surpasses most in your world." He bowed in flourish. "I can offer you a good servitude"

  "Servitude?" Elend muttered. "Why?"

  "It's my duty," Joya answered.

  "Wha-"

  Joya gestures to him to stop. He pointed toward a clock.

  Elend's gaze followed it, the clock embedded on the wooden beam. It looks like a normal clock yet functions like a digital one.

  66.

  65.

  "We only have a minute left, it takes 30 seconds for Wheel of Fortune to spin," Joya said, as he moved toward the ring. "Ringmaster, this ring will grant you plenty of blessings. Please use your ticket."

  Ticket? Right, it's on his left hand the whole time. A bit crumpled because he grind it against his sword handle. Lifting it up, he pressed the ring of fortune drawing.

  In sudden motion, the huge wheel suddenly spins. The sound of a jingling bell chimed loudly.

  "What is this place, Joya?" Ask loudly.

  "This is your domain, the personification of your power. And I'm merely a guide for you," He answered over the chiming sound of bell.

  The spin grows weaker.

  "I have so many things to teach you," Joya mused.

  "Taught me?" Elend said. "Can I train here, Joya? With you teaching me?

  "Of course, but to stay longer. You need to level up more. We only have three minutes this time" Joya bowed. "Ringmaster, I will look forward to your progress"

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Why call me tha-"

  The sound of the bell stops abruptly, the wheel stops moving. An arrow stops across the section labeled A Grade Item.

  Just like the ticket, a spark manifested in the air. It buzzed loudly, forming a handle, then it stretched into a thin, long sword with a thread tied to its circle handguard.

  Elend grasped the sword from the air, its light unbelievably so.

  (Thread Sword. Grade A. +50 Dex. + 30 int. +20 Str)

  He jolted back, as a thread moving across his vision. The thread follows his eye, he can strangely feel it. Like a ghostly hand attached to him.

  The thread moved left and right, then he will it to form a hook, and it coiled into one.

  "Treat that thread as your third hand, it can also hold magic attributes, breathe fire upon it, and coil it around the steel. That is good use of it, of course, there are other ways too," Joya explained.

  Elend nodded, still trying to make sense of this all. Being awakened has been one of the most surreal experiences he went through, and now added this.

  15.

  14.

  "Thank you for this," Elend said, flourishing the sword.

  "There's no need to thank me." Joya stepped closer, he knelt on one knee before him. "I will look forward to our next meeting Ringmaster."

  Elend tapped his shoulder, he did not even need to bend. "Don't kneel, Joya, and call me Elend, it's my name."

  5.

  4.

  3.

  Joya raised "As you wish."

  2.

  1.

  _______________

  Elend opened his eyes, the bright theater greeted him. Pain ached mildly across his head, he sprawled against the red carpet. The Thread Sword lay across his palm.

  "Next time," He grumbled. "I will need to get into a comfortable and safe position first."

  His mind flickers to Joya. Does he have to go back there eventually? What would happen if he did not use the ticket? Joya doesn’t seem to be antagonistic, he could kill him easily if he wanted to. Yet, something deep inside Elend told him to trust Joya. He did not know where this came from. It’s strange, his whole body relaxes around the thought of going back there, only his mind still questioning it.

  He heaves himself up, it's time to test his skill before going up next floor. The Thread Sword did not come with a scabbard, but he can command the thread to cover it like a sheath. Quiet convenience.

  "Help.." A voice croaked.

  Elend's heart jumped inside. the only other person here is the mutilated body, unless...

  He ran up the stairs toward the voice. A girl probably his age, her blonde hair matted with sticky blood. A knife jutted to her stomach, and an apple fell with her bite mark on it.

  Elend kneel in front of her. "You.." He started, unsure what to say. Her face is ghostly pale. He took her hand, trying to check for pulses. It's very weak.

  "Raaa.." a voice groaned, it's not from her. Elend gazed to the end of the seat line. A guy he moved. His tongue grew slithering out like a snake.

  Then, in a blink, on top of him, the system blared.

  (Circus Blader Lvl 5)

  With a lunge, Elend grasped him by his clothes. He slams him down before it can do anything.

  Its tongue rushes forward toward his face. Elend moves the Thread to immobilize it.

  The Thread tied itself around the slithery tongue, pushing it down. Repulsion jolted inside him, he threw his stomach inside out.

  He wiped his mouth, his eye filled with tears. More so of disgust rather than fear.

  Angling his blade toward its heart, an idea struck him.

  He stood, stomping on the newly born Circus Blader. "Can you move your head?" He asked the dying girl.

  Her eyes light up dimly. She nodded.

  "Good," Elend repeated. "Good, have you awakened yet?"

  She shook her head.

  "I can save you, but I need your strength." Elend whips out a dagger, pushing it into her palm. "You know the most effective way to cure life-threatening sickness, right?"

  The recognition brought light to her eyes grew stronger, like a fire tasting firewood. "The doctor made them kill a monster to awaken or level up," She croaked.

  "Yes.. That's what you will do." Elend stabbed the Circus Blader across its shoulder. It roared in pain. He did it again across all of its limbs.

  Grasping its head on one arm, he brought it close to the girl. He held the Thread Sword, willing the Thread to be ready to pull the knife protruding from the girl's stomach.

  The Thread tied strongly to the knife handle.

  He is afraid that the moment she awakens, her hp will go down to zero, because of the knife. If it is possible, he wants to pull the knife out and have her awakened right after.

  "You might die," Elend said. "I don't know if this will work."

  The girl gazed upon him. Deep blue eyes lost it's light by the second. "I got no choice, do I?" She breathed out.

  Elend nodded, no point in lying. "Let's bet on pulling the knife, then your awakening right after, I heard the system would know if you got handheld too much for class awakening. But, first awakening might not count."

  The blue in her eyes shone despite her life fading away. "Do it."

  "The moment the pain comes, shove in the dagger as strongly as you can."

  Elend pushed the Circus Blader's neck with his elbow, the girl angled the sharp point, drawing blood, ready to thrust in.

  "Now!" He pulled the knife off. A sharp gasp accompanied, dagger speared through the Circus Blader's neck.

  Years seem to pass in that one second for Elend, he can hear his heart thrumming.

  The girl blinked. She stared at him. Her blue eyes had the color of bright ocean. It brimmed with life. She blinked again, a tear streaking down.

  "I'm alive," She gasped, eyes wide open, probably looking over the system.

  Elend let out a sigh, his thrumming heartbeat winding down

  She reached out to hold his hand, sobbing, bringing her head down. "Thank you.." She cried. Her blood-matted hair prickled his arm.

  "Your HP.. Is it full?" Elend asked.

  She blinked, wiping her tears. "Yes, it's ten out of ten."

  He let out a breath he had been holding. Sudden warm relief coiled around him.

  "Good.." He said. "You should take a breather, we need to move. It's not safe here. I can bring you to other survivors"

  "Yes, thanks." Her eyes examine him. "Are you fine, though?"

  "Me?"

  "You suddenly fainted."

  So that's how it looks from the outside. The ticket is quite dangerous, as he would need allies to watch over him in the dungeon.

  He grunted. The system should've warned him.

  "I'm fine, it's just side effects of my skill."

  "Skill.." She muttered, eyes widening in amazement. "I have those too.. Ice Crystal?" She tilted her head to him, as if asking about it.

  So you really can get magic as your first skill. Elend has been doubting the internet information since he has never seen magic this whole time in the dungeon.

  "I never used any magic-based skill," Elend explained. He wonders how the skill distribution works, it is a much-debated topic.

  Those who have trained with a sword their entire life do not guarantee to get sword-based skills. Some got a magic like this girl gets. But it does increase your chance, though. He remembers that Ron got an archer-based skill.

  "Let's move away," Elend said, pointing to the corpse sitting beside her.

  She stood, rushing down in an instant, hugging her body. He wanted to ask how she got here, but it might be too early. Elend notices her shiver is not from the cold.

  "Should we uh.." She hesitated, the word gnawed on her, she chewed her lips, "Kill them?".

  Elend looks at the corpse lying across. "I will check for survivor, just in case."

  "I will help," She said. Forcing down her trembling. Elend doesn't want to stop her, if she going to survive in the dungeon, this much will be a common sight.

  "All right, your hp is only ten. So let me examine them first, and you do a double-check."

  She nodded, gliding beside him.

  Five minutes later, Elend finished checking for a heartbeat at the end of the seat. "Let's remove these weapons, none of them are alive."

  He pulled a spear, blood churned down. This is a grade C common spear. The one that was used by Lizardos. Half of these bodies have a Lizardos spear jutting from their stomach.

  They could be victim from the very first attack.

  What concerns him the most is these fruits, the apple and the pear. What are they for? Is it just mindless cruelty by the monster? Elend did not even want to touch them.

  "Inspection did not show anything," He muttered.

  "All of them dead," The girl confirmed beside him, she had just finished double-checking the last one. "They're going to turn, are they? Just like the earlier one"

  "Probably," Elend said. He is not going to take a chance facing a dozen Circus Bladers, even with his new classes.

  He raised the Thread Blade in a swinging motion, "You might not want to watch this," He whispered.

  She shook her head, making her way to the other end of the chair line. "I will help," She said, drawing a sword embedded in one corpse.

  Elend nodded in appreciation, he decapitated a corpse's head. It rolled down, touching his boot.

  Thump..

  The girl's sword was stuck in a neck, she saw the head off. She breathed a deep breath. "My name is Lera." She said, each word came out shaky.

  "Mine is Elend".

  Chapter 7: -Allies-