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Chapter 194: Leap of Faith - Part 3
🕑 Added 2024-11-22 20:56:00 +0000 UTCAfter recovering from the harsh landing, I went on to check on Gil, who was a quivering mess beside me, clutching his knees as he muttered a string of curses.
I couldn't quite blame him. My hands were shaking, too, though I tried to disguise it as I hurriedly stood and adjusted my gear.
We found ourselves in a pretty precarious situation. Not only I had no idea where we were, but my flimsy roommate couldn't even cast any spells.
Luckily, the latter problem could be fixed quite easily. I was pretty sure Gil wouldn't like that particular solution, but convincing him shouldn't be that hard when the alternative was a certain death.
"There is a quicker way?" Gil blurted out with a mix of hope and surprise reflecting in his wide eyes.
"Of course there is! Well, it may be a bit tricky, but in your case, I think it should work just fine..." I said, trying to rein in his expectations a bit. "You see, back in my country, I knew a certain girl who was able to awaken her magic spontaneously."
"Really? And how did she do it?"
"Well, let's just say it was a heat of the moment kind of thing. Like if you are faced with a life or death type of situation, your instincts subconsciously take over and release your magic..."
"Why do I have a feeling that I won't like what you will say next..." Gil muttered under his breath.
"...Luckily for you, I think we're in a perfect environment for that; all we need to do is let you face a few monsters and see if you can do it, too!" I added, smiling brightly.
Gil's face paled a bit more if that was even possible. "Wait, wait, wait! Let's not do anything rash!"
"Relax," I said, trying to sound reassuring. "It'll be fine. I'll try to find something less threatening than a crawler, and I'll be right there with you to help you out if things go south."
"I still don't like it," Gil muttered, but I ignored him.
I peered over the edge of our little ledge, scanning the misty depths below. The eerie blue glow from the luminescent fungi provided just enough light to make out the vague shapes of the chasm's wall below.
I extended my magic sense, trying to detect any danger, but it looked like we were safe for the moment. More importantly, I managed to spot the contours of a cave some distance to the left. Sadly, there was no apparent way down from the ledge we were currently on.
"Okay, here's the plan," I said, turning back to Gil. "First, we're going to make our way down, nice and slow."
"W-wait, I don't think-"
'Is he perhaps afraid of heights?' I chuckled, continuing to ignore Gil's vehement protests as I carefully began climbing down from the rocky outcrop while motioning for him to follow after me.
With all the time I spent in the Labyrinth during the past few months, I wasn't a stranger to its mysterious depths. So, this current ordeal felt like nothing out of the ordinary.
Yet, the same couldn't be said about my roommate, who seemed to be down here for the first time. Granted, this was also my first time being so deep, but still.
We didn't have any source of light with us, but that could have been solved with a bit of magic. A more pressing issue was that we also didn't have any supplies.
Luckily, by now, I knew that most of the academy's food stock came directly from the Labyrinth itself, so we, too, had to go scavenge.
'If I'm going to be stuck down here, let's use this opportunity to explore the depths a bit and see what all the fuss is about.' I reasoned, trying to find a bright spot in this convoluted mess we were in.
I already got a glimpse of the resident monsters dwelling there, but there's no harm in learning a bit more about them. 'Let's take it as a neat little practice class...'
We had barely made it halfway down the ledge when a skittering sound echoed from below. I froze, holding up a hand to stop Gil. There was something moving down there, but it was impossible to tell what it was.
"I think this is a perfect opportunity..."
"What do you mean?"
"It's easy - you'll go down there and fight with that monster."
Before Gil could object, I sent a small flame dancing across the rocks, illuminating a lone crawler emerging from a crack. It was smaller than the ones we'd encountered above, but its mandibles looked no less deadly.
Gil let out a strangled yelp and nearly lost his grip. I grabbed his arm to steady him.
"Focus," I hissed. "You can do this. Actually, you must do this if you want to live. I can't fight them and protect you at the same time."
The crawler's milky eyes fixed on us, its mandibles clicking hungrily. Gil was trembling so hard I thought he might shake right off the cliff face.
"I-I can't do this," he whimpered.
"Yes, you can," I insisted. "Just focus and-"
The crawler lunged suddenly, scrabbling up the rocks with terrifying speed. Gil shrieked and instinctively threw up his hands. I thought I saw a faint shimmer in the air for a split second, but then the monster was upon us.
Realizing there was no more time, I cursed and sent a fireball hurtling at the thing, singeing its carapace. It recoiled with an unearthly screech, giving me just enough time to grab Gil and jump down onto another narrow ledge some distance below us with the help of my ar manipulation.
The crawler in question, losing its footing, then plummeted into the dark chasm with a pained shriek.
"Damn it," I muttered. "Alright, scratch that; this is too dangerous. We need a new plan."
Gil nodded frantically, still shaken from that close call. I scanned our surroundings, searching for any refuge from the dangers lurking in the shadows.
Wanting to preserve my essence, I brandished my dagger, its enchanted blade glowing dimly in the darkness surrounding us.
"Is that...?" Gil blinked, staring at it in awe.
"Yeah, it's an artifact..."
"Wow! Are you a nobleman in disguise or something?"
"Why do you ask?" I chuckled, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, you can use magic better than anyone I know, apart from the Masters, of course, and you even carry an actual artifact."
"Heh, I'm no noble. " I replied dismissively. "You can think of it as a spoil of war, I guess."
Carefully, we began scaling the cliff, my eyes darting constantly between our destination and the depths below, where more crawlers were surely waiting. The climb was treacherous, with loose rocks threatening to send us plummeting down at any moment.
Finally, we reached the crevice I saw from above, and I helped Gil scramble inside. It was a tight squeeze, but we managed to wriggle through into the cave beyond. I brightened the flame in my palm, illuminating the rough stone walls surrounding us.
"We should be safe here for now," I said, scanning the cave for any signs of danger. It appeared empty, save for a few luminescent fungi clinging to the far wall.
Gil slumped against a boulder, his face pale and sheened with sweat. "That was too close," he panted. "I thought for sure that crawler was going to..."
"Well, we made it. You'll have to get used to it. Now, how should we go about unlocking your magic?"
"I tried," Gil protested weakly. "Nothing happened."
I shook my head. "No, I saw something there briefly, but I guess it was just not enough."
I sighed, motioning toward the far end of the small cavern, where I saw a tunnel extending further. "Never mind, I'm sure we'll figure something out. For now, I think we should see where this leads..."
The cave sloped downward, the air growing colder and heavier with each step. The soft glow of the fungi receded, leaving only the dim, flickering light of my flame to guide us.
I glanced over my shoulder every so often, half-expecting to see a mass of white eyes and clicking mandibles bearing down on us. But for now, the only sound was our labored breathing and the occasional drip of water.
The deeper we ventured, the more alien our surroundings became. All around us were strange, twisted stalactite formations that seemed to defy gravity. Crystal spires jutted out at odd angles, their facets refracting the dim light into mesmerizing patterns.
The air grew thick with an acrid mist that clung to our skin and clothes, leaving a faint metallic taste on my tongue.
"Darian," Gil whispered, his voice trembling, "I've never seen anything like this before. Are we still on the same floor as before?"
I shook my head, unsure. "I don't know. We fell pretty far. This could be the fifth floor or even deeper."
The thing was - it was hard to tell when one floor ended and another started as there were no hard borders between them.
After all, the system of floors was an artificial invention created by ancient humans to differentiate between the various regions of the Labyrinth, and it had nothing to do with its actual layout.
We pressed on in uncomfortable silence. It looked like even Gil had lost his signature sense of humor, and no one could blame him.
The tunnel eventually opened into a wider chamber. The strange crystalline formations jutted from the ground everywhere I looked, their surfaces shimmering faintly in the dim light. The air buzzed with a faint, electric hum that made the hair on my arms stand on end.
Gil let out a low whistle. "Would you look at that? Bet these crystals are worth a fortune. Maybe this trip won't be a total loss after all."
"Don't touch anything," I warned, my eyes scanning the room warily. The Labyrinth was known for being full of various traps and other dangers, and I wasn't about to let my flimsy roommate get us both killed because he couldn't keep his hands to himself.
"Relax," he said, holding up his hands. "I'm not an idiot."
Before I could respond, the hum in the air grew louder. The crystals began to pulse with light, their glow intensifying with each passing second. A low growl echoed through the chamber, sending a chill down my spine.
"Oh, come on," Gil whispered. "What now?"
The growl deepened, and something seemed to be moving at the far end of the spacious chamber. I could now also hear distinctive cracking, like static electricity, and... 'Is that people shouting?'
Getting closer, I then finally saw it. At first, it was just a ripple in the darkness, barely noticeable. But as it came into the circle of light, I paused, and my blood ran cold.
It was a massive, wolf-like creature, yet its body seemed almost ethereal, as if made of nothing but shadows and purple arcs of cracking electricity.
Such a thing would be bad news on its own, but what was even worse was that it seemed like it was in the middle of a furious battle with a small group of people, and it looked like they were on their last leg.
Comments
John Doe
How did Gil make it into the Academy, again? He seems to have a heady combination of greed, ambition, laziness and cowardliness. It takes true skill to have all of those qualities in one person. Heh! :-)
John Doe
Gil is very, very lucky that I'm not his room mate. He is what the phrase "tits on a bull" was invented to define. "Here wolfy, wolfy! Have a dog treat." *Caber tosses Gil at the critter to distract it briefly.* :-)
