I couldn't help but blink and slap myself on the face, just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. I even checked the status log if I was in an illusion, but it was negative.
What I was seeing was actually real. An underground city. I activated the comm device given to us to communicate with the others, but all I got was static silence. I was shocked, because if my comm device wasn't working, then the other electronic devices for recording wouldn't work as well.
I was debating at this point whether to call the other espers outside to go in, since the surroundings were quite safe and no enemies could be detected in the system maps within 5 kilometers. The area I appeared in was situated on a mountain cliff, overlooking the whole area. When I turned back to head out and call the other espers to come in through the barrier, I was surprised to see that the space behind me was replaced with ragged rock, showing no difference from the other stone in the mountain side. Before I could process what just happened, the system sent a notification.
[Investigate, rank SS mission
Investigate the source of the tremors coming from the Marianas trench.
>>Discovered the lost civilization of Oz.
>>> Identify the problem with the civilization of Oz.
>>> Gain "Respected" status among the people of Oz.
>>> Bring back evidence of the existence of the civilization of Oz.
ALERT: The number of deaths must not exceed 1000 Espers.
Rewards: 10000 System points, Level-up Potion (Lvl 30) x5, 5 Karmic Luck.
Additional rewards would be based on the performance during the mission.]
Upon seeing the quest line, I couldn't help but receive a headache over the problem. Doesn't this mean that the quest would span more than a few months, if ever? I immediately contacted the main body. He also received the notification of the system as well as the changes in the quest. The main body just shrugged it off and said that I should do my best here. I rolled my eyes at his response, since that was my direct imperative anyways.
With that in mind, I faced the ragged rock wall behind me. I immediately pushed my hand towards the wall, and unexpectedly, it didn't pass through. My face darkened, realizing the barrier I saw was a one-way barrier. It could let things in, but not out.
If I wanted to leave, I have to escape either using Space magic [Long range teleportation], a 2nd-tier space element supportive skill, or find a way to escape back to the surface. But, another problematic thought appeared in my mind: What if this was a separate space? Given that communication wasn't working, and even my nano-camera failed to connect or record, this indicated something severed the connection. The only thing that could separate or sever a connection like that would be the space element magic.
Doesn't that mean I would have to break this space to return to the surface? I checked the offensive spell list of the Space element skill tree.
1. Space Bolt
2. Space Cutter
3. Space Shatter
4. Void Shift
5. Vacuum Imploder
6. Space Collapse
7. Space Decay
8. Reality Shift
9. Absolute Space.
10. Space Origin
The power to break the limits of space would be the 3rd-tier spell [Space Shatter] and 4th-tier spell [Void Shift]. The problem was that it required me to be at least having 30 elemental affinity to space, while the 4th-tier required 40 elemental affinity, and so on. I checked the list for the supportive-defensive spell list of the Space element skill tree.
1. Blink
2. Long-range teleportation
3. Interstellar teleportation
4. Shield of Space
5. Chains of Binding
6. Stone of Space
7. Space Isolation Barrier
8. Space Rift
9. Absolute Space
10. Small World
I had around 60,000 skill points left, and if I invested them to the 1st, 2nd and 4th tier of the supportive-defensive space-skill tree, I would be able to gain a maximum of 25 points worth of elemental affinity.
I tried it out, leveling the [Blink] to lvl 15, the max level, gaining me 10 Space affinity points. It costed me more than 10000 skill points to level it from 10 to 15.
I leveled next the 2nd-tier skill Long-range teleportation from level 1 to level 15, 5 level away from the max level, gaining me an additional 10 points in space affinity. This time, it costed me 25000 skill points.
I used my remaining 25,000 skill points to level [Shield of Space] to lvl 5, gaining 5 space affinity. Although I could have just leveled up the 3rd-tier skill instead of the 4th-tier, the [Shield of Space] was more functional currently than [Interstellar teleportation].
[Shield of Space, lvl 5
Creates an barrier of solidified space, causing one to be immune to all types of attacks. Must be used with [Air Creation] [Water Creation] [Fire Creation] to allow air circulation to allow the caster to survive inside a fully-enclosed space barrier.
Defensive strength: Base capacity 1000*Intelligence points
Can only summon 1 fully-enclosed barrier every 5 levels. Max number of barriers: 5.]
The requirements of the skill were quite simple to follow and complete. For now, I should probably explore the area and understand the kingdom.
Using Blink, I teleported down the mountain and began to check my surroundings. All I saw were trees. I began to explore the area and saw several wild animals, such as boars, rabbits, and snakes. I haven't seen any bears or tigers, but the wild animals I saw were larger, and way different to the wild animals aboveground before the apocalypse. If mutated beasts were 0-star, these beasts would be -0.5 to -0.1 star beasts.
An hour of exploration, a loud sound reverberated nearby, around less than a kilometer. I checked the map and saw that there was a cluster of white and red marks in the map, indicating a neutral party and a hostile party.
I was curious and decided to head there.