Ripped from his slumber Donis awoke. Drenched in sweat and a the sweet sound of nothing serenaded him back out of that nightmare. His heart took a few moments to calm down as his mind tried to access what exactly he had seen. For some reason it was blocked, but the whispers of images remained.
'Thankfully the system isn't able to access anything here. If it would be able to see the dream I just had, I'd either be in trouble, or worse.'
Looking around and noticing that everyone was still asleep, Donis decided to take a walk around the area to clear his mind. From what everyone has said, the area is safe and clear of traps, so he has nothing to worry about.
He walked close to the rune littered walls and ran his hands across the indentations, feeling each and every word with his skin. The walls felt like they were made of course brick, with crumbly edges that didn't quite hurt, but left a sharp feeling on his skin.
The air felt fresh in here compared to that of his dream. The breeze was light and warm on his skin, drying up the sweat on his forehead quickly and gently. It relaxed him greatly just to be out of the tent. He knew that Variis wouldn't hurt him right now, but being in the presence of a god didn't do him any good mentally.
Donis decided that maybe he'd check out the waterfall since he's taking a walk, and with the ever present sound of the water rushing, it made him crave some clean water to wash himself with.
Getting closer to the waterfall he noticed that it had a small pool at the bottom to collect all the water and it looked divine. He took his shoes off and dipped his feet in there and found the water not too cold, but he didn't want to chance jumping straight in. He wasn't sure of this room already, and didn't want to jump into a seemingly bottomless magical pool all by himself.
He heard footsteps behind him, and his [Void Sense], which was still active, told him that it was Striga approaching him.
"Can't sleep huh?" she softly spoke, trying to not scare the boy.
"Nah, nightmares. Scary ones too," he sighed.
"Wanna talk about it?"
Donis had a momentary battle with himself trying to decide whether or not to tell her about the dreams. There were pros and cons to either decision, and she already knew a great deal about him. Though he was worried that she might still be someone he can't fully trust. There was no need for it anyway, he was leaving this place in 9 months, and there was a high chance they'd never meet again.
"Nah, thanks though. Why you walking around cap'n?" he asked with a forced smile on his face.
"Just getting some fresh air. Well, as fresh as it gets, ya know?" she smiled.
"Yeah," he said sighing.
"Hey, do you know when we're getting out of here?" he continued.
"Hmm, maybe 2, 3 days tops? I'm not sure, but this doesn't look like it's anything grand. I didn't actually expect there to be anything here. It looks just like any other temple," she said sadly.
"Even that?" said Donis pointing at the massive whirlpool of mana above them.
"Okay, maybe not like 'every' temple out there," she laughed.
"Any ideas though? Even with my abilities I can't quite perceive what that is," spoke Donis.
"Hmm, my guess is that this is some sort of generator for the mana required to fuel this pocket dimension, done by some dudes who wanted to protect this place from the Cataclysm," she said after stroking her chin wisely for a moment.
"Huh, it looks really grand though, I don't really wanna believe it's just that," he said looking a little dispirited.
"Don't look so down kid, just cause it's a generator, doesn't make it less grand though, right? It's a PRETTY generator! Hahah" she laughed.
The two amicably chatted for a while, before Striga decided to head back into her tent, finally feeling tired. Donis eventually followed suit and headed back into his own tent, finally able to sleep. It took him a while, and some nice company to process everything he had just seen.
Caerebar was a champion human, just like Tekkun. They were people blessed by gods whose powers continue growing the more champions they kill, or at least that's what Variis had told him.
'Wait, didn't he say "even with my gift" or something like that when we first me?' he mentally shook for a moment.
'Wait, am I a supposed champion? Oh fuck. Does that mean they'll be after me? Is there a way to find me? Wait, can they find me? Aren't they all blessed by the gods rather than the system? None of this is making any sense,'
'There's actually no point in worrying about this right now. I'm in a separate dimension, I can figure this out later, right now though, sleep Donis, sleep!'
After a few more hours of sleep the crew were woken up by Rona who had figured out that the runes around the waterfall were actually slightly different and a set of instructions!
"Alright, Rona what have you figured out about our current predicament?" asked Striga.
"Well it's just like the usual, there's a switch at the bottom of the waterfall pool," Rona said nonchalantly.
"Fantastic. Jimmy, up for a swim?" laughed Striga.
"Ah fuck you. Why is it always me doing the goddamn diving?" Jimmy pouted.
"Because the pout you give me is literally my favourite thing," smirked Striga.
After taking off most of his clothes, Jimmy dove right in there, creating little to no splash. Donis was intrigued about this. To him it sounded like these sort of puzzles were a common sight. If they are then they're probably just simple little things, no real need to buzz his head over it.
After a brief half a minute, a hidden door behind the waterfall opened up with Jimmy following suit not 20 seconds later.
Jimmy thanked Donis after he handed him his clothes, both getting ready to follow the team through the waterfall entrance.
"Alright Donis, since you're new, do watch your step okay? This is where the traps really begin, and since this place is more ancient than we thought, it's highly likely the traps are either more devious, or far dumber," Striga smiled.
Donis calmed himself and took a great stride forward with them, unafraid of the oncoming dangers.
The crew all walked slowly through the narrow cave tunnel that was spiralling into an opening before them. It was a cavern, dark and with a clear lack of runes on the walls.
The path before them took twists and turns, seemingly endless. It tapped on their nerves ever so slightly, though what was really tripping them out was the entire lack of traps through their whole trip.
"What sort of fucking dungeon doesn't have traps or monsters? This place is seriously giving me the creeps!" said Morick nervously.
"It's definitely not normal... how long is this tunnel anyway? We've been walking for hours and there's still no end in sight," asked Jimmy.
There was a moment of silence in between the crew, no one wanting to even think about what could possibly be at the end of this disgustingly long tunnel.
"Wait. Oh fuck. Oh we're so stupid oh my god," screamed Rona.
"What's wrong?" said Striga as she turned around.
"We've been in a trap this entire time! How did none of us notice it? This is a fucking Dimensional Corridor trap. We've just been walking in a straight line but never moving the entire time!" screamed Rona in frustration.
"Hah, some trapmaster you are," laughed Jimmy.
"Shut up, you didn't notice anything either!" belted back Rona.