Chapter 2- A Seemingly Endless Maze

After that encounter the full-blown paranoia came out. Checking behind me every fifteen seconds, camping behind walls, and looking out. I began to go over what I knew so far. 

No matter what hallway you go down it will either take you to a new one which you could either go left or right or it would be a dead end. Simple. I began using my dagger's leather sheath to begin mapping this place out.

I didn't run into anything else until I came upon another dead end, like clockwork, the sound of clawed paws running reached my ears.

I crouched and drew my crossbow and waited, a spare bolt already in my off hand in preparation to reload.

A few seconds later another giant rat appeared, this time I wasn't leaving anything up to luck.

The second I saw it from fifty feet away I shot, it landed perfectly and unintentionally into its front right paw.

The beast was running at full speed at that point so when the bolt landed it caused the rodent to trip into a roll. Showing a surprising amount of dexterity I managed to jump over the rat turned roly-poly before it slammed into the dead end. It seemed to be greatly stunned after rolling for forty feet and slamming against the wall.

Taking a blessing for what it was, I took the fifteen seconds I needed to pry the rail back and load the arrow in my hand. The giant rat just managed to start shaking it's head in an attempt to relieve it's nausea, I almost felt bad that I waited to get a clean shot in that moment.

Noting that the giant rat was less than ten feet away from me when the trigger clicked, its angry hiss was cut off as a bolt flew into its right eye. I wouldn't be getting that bolt back, it lodged deep into the rodent's brain cavity to the point I couldn't even see the notch.

It happened again, as soon as the light left the rats undamaged eye an ethereal glow enveloped it as modes of light flew into my chest. 'Could I be taking their soul? How can I use that?' More questions than answers rose but I was unperturbed and continued on.

'But I did learn something else' I began thinking as I watched the rat's corpse dissolve into the stone floor.

I've come to a dead end twice now, both times I was immediately attacked by a giant rat. I didn't believe in coincidences so that was probably a punishment for not going the right way. 

I've tracked my steps since the first encounter. At the last choice of right or left I took right. So with that in might I turned around and continued forward.

Realistically there was no way for me not to have to fight again, depending on the number of intersections there were, meant that my chances to choose the right diminished greatly. A decent comparison would be a coin flip.

A fifty-fifty, but what if you needed three heads and four tails to win a bet? I'm not a math wizard but it would be less than a five percent chance to get it perfectly.

Once again I arrived at an intersection, and instead of just going with my gut I decided to just test my luck. 'If the tip lands first I go left' I decided as I flicked a bolt into the air.

"Right it is" the decision was made. I picked up the bolt and continued forward, crossbow out and ready to be fired at the first sign of a dead end.

Luckily, I went through five more intersections before I came to a dead end. Before the patter of clawed feet reached my ears I turned around with my crossbow in one hand and my spear in the other.

I fired at the first spec of brown I saw. Deciding to be more proactive and save bolts I charged toward the stunned creature. 

It hissed in rage at me as I got within range, I noticed the bolt jabbed in its shoulder as I continued my charge. 

I stabbed it in the skull before it could start jumping around and take advantage of its speed.

Modes of light entered my chest after the giant rat seized on the floor with a gush of blood. 

Sighing I walked past it as it was swallowed by the floor. I continued past the intersection and came to another dead end.

'At Least that's one intersection crossed out of possibly hundreds' I noticed as I marked it on my daggers holster and turned towards my next enemy.

Thus my system was created and I continued forward.

"Fuck….. " I said to myself as I sat back against a wall of yet another dead end. It's been days and I've come upon one hundred and sixty-seven incorrect pathways. A pathway is a route that would end in a dead end on both sides. I've fought almost four hundred giant rats altogether.

The worst thing about this situation was that I didn't realize how much time had passed until now.

The human body gives signs at the passage of time, the usual ones being thirst, hunger and tiredness., bowel movement, etcetera. What happens when those are gone.

I'm not hungry or thirsty, I feel completely awake and don't even feel the need to sleep, the only feeling I really had was mental fatigue due to the frustration of being in the maze.

If it weren't for the scruff on my face causing it to itch..... Well surely I would've noticed something else. I've already lost track of time.

If somebody had asked me how long it's been, I would've answered a couple of days at most. But based on how much my facial hair has grown I'd say more like a week

But another question piqued my interest more than anything.

'If I don't hunger nor thirst or tire, am I even aging?' 

I'm sure eventually something else would've woken me from my trance, my tighter muscles, the dagger holster becoming more worn, my hair eventually falling over my eyes.