…now playing: DESERT STORM by Red Leather

…warnings: gore ; death ideation ; suicidal thoughts.

“Hear the clock ticking,

Tick

You're alone

Tack

You might die

Tick

Time is running out

Tack

Run with all your might”

Rowan

The man wakes up with his head ringing, he's on a cold hard floor again. Maybe I'll need to get used to this, he thinks as he gets up with a sigh. He's in a dark corridor, the ground and walls are made of stone, the material is similar to the ones of castles he saw in Scotland, in his trip the year prior. Behind him there is a wall, so he assumes that he must walk forward, but before he takes another step something appears in front of him.

A blue almost transparent window, similar to those in games, where information is displayed. 

Floor 1 

Objective: Escape the maze in one hour.

Time before the floor is active: 00:03:00

So the first floor is a maze? Rowan thinks, shoving his hands inside his pockets to search for something. He didn't think about it before, but his belongings were gone. His cellphone, wallet and key weren't in his pockets anymore, however his black hair tie was still there. His blonde hair isn't too long, it only reaches his ear lobe, however, depending on the situation it could prejudice his performance.

In a fight for example, monsters could grab his hair, or it could get stuck in some trap. So he pushes his hair up in a tight bun. 

00:02:28

Time is passing quickly, he still doesn't know which class he was assigned to, and there's no other information about the floor besides the time limit and objective. Escaping the maze could mean so many things.

In webnovels he read about these kinds of situations there was always a system window, where the main character would check his or other people's status. As Rowan thinks about it, suddenly it appears in front of him, exactly what he wanted: a status window.

Name: Rowan Emrys Lewis

Age: 20 years 5 months 12 days

Race: Human

Class: Low-class Spirit Summoner (Lvl. 1)

Spirit Affinity: Analyzing…

Title: Not acquired yet

Affiliation: None

Water coins: 0 

Fire coins: 0

Rowan stops for a second, it seems that he ended up in the “useless” class of summoners, as a Spirit Summoner at that. But what intrigues him the most is the two types of coins he's shown. He attempts to select them to see if there is more information, and he is successful.

Water coins are a fun way to buy advancements and enhance your equipment! They can be acquired through streaming.

Streaming becomes available at floor 2.

Streaming? The blonde man thinks for a while. That means we're probably streaming to the gods or something? How cliché. He thinks, selecting the other type of coin.

Fire coins are a necessity, you can buy all types of things with it, food, equipment, skills and other fun things! They can be acquired through streaming.

Streaming becomes available at floor 2.

Wait, if both coins are only available through streaming and you need them to buy food, it means that if you don't stream you don't eat? But why two types of coins? What's the real difference between them? All those things are important, but he can't have many answers before reaching floor 2 anyway, so the best option he has is to continue to read his status, as time is ticking.

Stats:

STR: 10  INT: 5  DEX: 10  LUCK: 6  CHA: 2  CON: 10  MANA: 9

It's not that bad, but when I don't have a comparative it's tricky. Attempting to ignore the low stat of Charisma and Intelligence, he proceeds with his reading.

Skills:

Basic Summon (Lvl. 0 / 0%)

Overanalyzing (Lvl. Max / 100%)

Soul Link (Lvl. 0 / 0%)

Three skills, and one of them at maximum level? But what the fuck is overanalyzing? 

Overanalyzing (Lvl. Max / 100%)

A skill exclusively crafted for you! Sometimes things are way simpler than what you give them credit to! Every time you find yourself in a dire situation, time will freeze for two minutes, allowing you to overanalyze the situation!

A reward for a stupid behavior, gods sometimes enjoy playing pranks on humans. It seems that you got a good skill out of it, though.

Required Mana: 30  Cool down: 2 weeks

Having 2 minutes to think in dangerous situations is a broken skill, however Rowan isn't sure if he's overjoyed by it. Since it is a mockery out of him. The required mana is way above what he has right now and the cool down also is scary, since if you use it recklessly… the blonde man shakes his head, it isn't the moment to overanalyze, the timer is already at 00:01:00. He needs to check his other skills.

Basic Summon (Lvl. 0 / 0%)

As a new summoner you're only allowed to attempt to summon a low rank spirit, however it all depends if the spirit will deem you worthy.

To summon a spirit, shout out loud “I summon thee”.

Required Mana: 3  Minimal Luck Required: 5  Cool down: 1 hour 

Soul Link (Lvl. 0 / 0%)

Some look for eternity, but you're lucky enough to have a skill to aid you! Having another soul link with yours is rare, as you fill up your skill, you'll be able to see your link more strongly.

Being close to your link will fill the skill %. When you're close to your link all your stats will increase by 20 points and your skills will have their cool down reset by physical contact.

Link Name: Not found yet.

Required Mana: 0  Cool down: 0 

Well, that's useless. Rowan thinks with a sigh, he spent 30 seconds to read both skills, to find out that out of three, he can only use one skill right now. And even if his other skills do sound like overpowered, he can't even dream of using them right now. I should read the rest of the status later and use the Basic Summon skill, since I'm running out of time. He thinks, thankfully he stopped his thoughts and closed the window in front of him.

“I summon thee!” He shouts with his ears burning out of embarrassment, he's glad that there isn't anyone around to watch him make a fool out of himself. After two seconds a green glow appears in front of him, and a window pops up.

You successfully summoned a nameless Low Spirit of Wind! Congratulations!

Basic Summon (Lvl. 0 / 0% → 10% ↑UP)

What happens now? He asks himself, becoming more nervous as the count begins to go below 00:00:10.

Low Wind Spirit [NAMELESS] wonders if you'll ask for a contract soon, as it grows impatient.

A contract?

“Would you like to make a contract with me?” He asks shyly, not sure if that's how you do it. The green glow becomes stronger before taking the shape of a small hummingbird.

I thought you would never ask! The spirit's voice echoes inside of Rowan's head, followed by another window.

You successfully formed a contract with a Low-class Spirit! Congratulations! 

Skill acquired: Bad Wind Archery (Lvl. 0 / 0%) and Song of the Southern Wind (Lvl. 0 / 0%).

Basic Summon (Lvl. 0 / 10% → 30% ↑UP)

Low-class Spirit Summoner (Lvl. 1 → 2 ↑UP)

Even if Rowan wishes to check his new skills that came with the spirit, the counter finally goes to zero, and the first floor begins. He awaits for something to change, but nothing does. He didn't attempt to go forward before the counter became 0, however he assumes that it was probably blocked.

What are you waiting for? The spirit asks. I'm waiting to see if any monsters will appear. He answers inside his head, waiting to see if that's how he should communicate with the spirit, and when it answers he seems to be right. I will scout ahead, wait. The hummingbird quickly flies ahead, Rowan eyes go to the screen, there is nothing besides the floor 1 timer right now. 00:59:34. Will he be able to do it in time?

The spirit takes two minutes to appear again. There aren't any monsters, but the maze walls are changing constantly. Rowan observes that the spirit's voice is similar to his mom's, why is that so? Wondering useless things won't make him reach the second floor, though. He starts walking, his mind wondering every useless thing. The man tends to do that when he grows anxious.

After a few minutes of wandering around, he gets himself to a dead end, however, before he can go back, he hits another wall that wasn't there. That's what I said! The walls are moving! The spirit rings inside his head. The walls moved silently, the only noise being heard is of Rowan's steps and the hummingbird's wings. So now he's trapped between four walls. There is a trigger or do they move at random? He wonders, touching the cold walls to see if he finds something. 

00:50:00

After feeling the wall for a while and hitting a dead end, he turns to his status window again. 

Bad Wind Archery (Lvl. 0 / 0%)

A skill to cringe every proud archer in the realms! A true shame of the gods. Your aim is terrible and your fire power is weaker than a toddler's. However you're still able to do quite some damage by summoning a bow made of wind with your Spirit Gauge.

Required Spirit Gauge: 1%  Cool down: 4 minutes

Song of the Southern Wind (Lvl. 0 / 0%)

Every spirit has their own power, by summoning the nameless low spirit you acquired this beautiful skill. By using this skill you can use the wind to send a message to an ally, or even an enemy! Spread your voice through the wind by singing your words.

Required Spirit Gauge: 30%  Cool down: 0

Spirit Gauge? That's new… Rowan thinks as he goes back to his main status window to check on the unknown new stat.

Spirit Gauge (Unique): 3%

There is a lot of new information that I can't possibly have the right amount of time to understand them all… The man thinks as his eyes twitch with anxiety. Even if he is somewhat used to being in stressful environments, it doesn't mean he's a good adapter.

Master, the wall is moving again. The spirit's observation makes him snap back into reality. Silently, the wall next to them moves, revealing a new path. With not much of a choice, Rowan walks towards the new opening. The hummingbird follows him quickly, sometimes even flying ahead into the darkness. 

There doesn't seem to be an end to it, he observes as he sees the timer running and he continues to walk in the same direction. The maze is chilly, just like a cold December night, the path is covered in darkness, making visualization almost impossible, and the cold walls are the same, never changing. 

Did you see something ahead? Rowan asks the hummingbird when he comes back from scouting for the fifth time. No, only darkness ahead, again. The answer isn't unexpected, but still hits him, making his heart race even more.

00:35:00

A loud ringing sounds inside his head, causing the man to stop on his tracks, the spirit seems to notice and lands on his master's shoulder. What 's wrong? The spirit's voice is muffled by the loud ringing. Rowan's hands cover his ears, trying to make the sound inside his head to just stop. But it doesn't.