We all peered down the hole that opened up.
"...It's pretty dark down there." [Raon]
"10 mel for you to jump in right now." [Solace]
"Guys, please don't joke about this." [Wilharrow]
"Are you kidding? I'm a noble. I'm rich." [Raon]
"Thank the gods." [Wilharrow]
"So you're not gonna do it?" [Solace]
Raon looked me dead in the eye.
"Better have those 10 mel ready." [Raon]
Then he jumped.
"Wha-?! What's wrong with you guys?!" [Wilharrow]
Glancing between me and the hole, Wilharrow made the sudden decision to also jump.
"Okay, then. Are you guys going to jump too?" [Solace]
"...Can I ask for you to carry me?" [Fina]
"I'll jump myself." [Leon]
She crossed her arms and straight up dropped.
"Huh. Alright, Fina. Shall we?" [Solace]
I offered her my hand.
"You're going to make me feel embarrassed." [Fina]
She took my hand before jumping. Darkness consumed us as we fell and I switched the grip on Fina to a princess carry. We fell for a very long time. So much so that I worried that we'd die from the fall.
"Fina, do you have any levitation spells or anything?" [Solace]
"...I can't really say that I do." [Fina]
"Oh." [Solace]
So we may have made a terrible mistake. As I began to regret my actions, my feet hit solid ground.
"Urgh!" [Solace]
Don't mind the grunting. There wasn't actually much force behind the fall. It was a reflexive grunt, like how you say "ow" if you bump into something.
"Huh?" [Solace]
It was like all momentum vanished. It was strange because I was staring at solid stone ground.
"Fina? You alright?" [Solace]
"Y-Yes…" [Fina]
I let her down slowly while observing our surroundings. From the looks of it, none of our allies were here. We were stuck inside what seems to be a cube-like room, lit from torches burning blue fire.
"Fina, do you recognize anything here? Any lore drops you might know of?" [Solace]
I can't say that there was much decoration for Fina to figure out. It was all smooth stone, excluding the one large pathway that was practically screaming to go there.
"I have a small guess, but I can't be too sure right now." [Fina]
"Y-You do?" [Solace]
It was honestly just a joke.
"The blue flames are something that appears in legends and myths. It's only been used by only three people. It's symbolic. Maybe one of them made these ruins?" [Fina]
All that from just blue flames is crazy.
"I think we should move on. There's nothing left for us here." [Solace]
Fina agreed.
"I sure hope the rest are okay." [Fina]
We followed the path, which was also lit by a bunch of torches burning blue. The more we walked, the more I felt like we might've missed something. It was literally just a really long hallway. I was starting to get bored until I heard an eerie clicking noise.
"...What is that sound?" [Fina]
"Uh-oh." [Solace]
I've seen enough horror movies to know what was going on.
"Fina, we might have to run soon." [Solace]
In front of us appeared a doll-like… thing. It looked like a mannequin, but it actually moved. It also had a bunch of swords sticking out of it, so that was a bit freaky. The only good thing was that it had no face. It'd be more scary if it was staring at me with artificial eyes.
("|Analyze|.") [Solace]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Name: N/A
Race: Siyr
Class: N/A
Gender: N/A
Age: 2119
Level: 50
Health: 3000/3000
Mana: 10000/10000
Strength: 1000
Agility: 500
Intelligence: 10
Willpower: 0
Status: Worn out
Skills: N/A
Unique Skill: N/A
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Its stats were incredibly strange. Especially its status. It was like I was inspecting an item. Oh wait, it IS an item. An item called Siyr.
"Do you think it's going to attack us?" [Solace]
The Siyr approached us in an unsteady walk, its joints clicking as it moved. It used its rickety hands to pull out a sword, which basically answered my question.
"Fina, this doesn't have any historical value right?" [Solace]
"I'm sure it does." [Fina]
"Oh. Well, too bad." [Solace]
I immediately rushed up to the Siyr and tore its arm off before it could swing. Continuing on, I grabbed its head and crushed it.
"That was ea- wait, I don't want to get cocky." [Solace]
Then I heard more clicking sounds.
"Man…" [Solace]
Looking down the hall, several more Siyrs made themselves known. I could've sworn I cut myself off before setting a flag.
"I really don't want to deal with this." [Solace]
Since Fina was unable to use magic without the mana crystals, it was up to me to remove any threats.
("Guess I'm in it for the long run.") [Solace]
I charged in, receiving blows from all the Siyrs. Thanks to my sturdy body, all their attacks either bounced off, or broke. I mean it literally considering some of them were using super rusty swords.
"|Vortex Arts|." [Solace]
Twisting my body in odd directions, I shredded the Siyrs without much effort. The only annoying part was that more kept coming.
"You have gained |Experience|. |Experience| limit has been reached. You have gained a level." [Spirit Guide]
At least it was good for leveling.
"Fina! Make sure to follow at a distance!" [Solace]
I wasn't sure if she replied over the sound of me breaking a bunch of moving mannequins, but I assumed so. The path was endlessly long. I tore through tens, hundreds, maybe thousands if I was being generous. It was probably hundreds if I was being real. Either way, they only stopped when I reached the end of the path.
"Oh, come on! Another room?!" [Solace]
Just like the beginning, it was a cube-like room. This time, it had three paths excluding where we just came from.
"Alt? Is something wrong?" [Fina]
Fina approached from behind. Turns out she did listen.
"I finally got it, Fina. We're in a goddamn labyrinth." [Solace]
The number one thing I hated most in video games were mazes or labyrinths. They were just so annoying. Like, they're not even hard. Just time consuming.
"You know what? Let me try something." [Solace]
I walked up to a random wall.
"|Reinforce|. |Enchant Flame|." [Solace]
"Alt? What're you-" [Fina]
"|Explosion Arts|." [Solace]
I struck the wall, causing it to shatter upon impact. What was behind the wall appeared to be the middle of another path.
"Nice. It works." [Solace]
"Eh? What?" [Fina]
I could now put my grand plan in place. Just go straight.