Chapter 14: Borderland
After resting for a few hours in the darkroom, Abium woke up and switched on the magic lamp. Then, he stood up with a tired face, moved towards the black metallic door, opened it, and went downstairs. After taking a few steps, he noticed the staircase led to some circular tunnel-like path.
It was an underground tunnel engulfed by complete darkness!
'Who built a tunnel here?' He furrowed.
It's a three-meter tall circular tunnel. Soon, Abium reached the end of the staircase, stepped on the cold tunnel, and looked around. After a slight pause, he took out the ink bottle from his space ring and made an 'X' mark on the brownish tunnel wall.
Then, he stored the ink bottle back into his space ring and stepped forward.
Although he didn't know where the courage came to explore the mysterious place, he thought of trusting the strange vision.
'If that vision is right, I might get to see a real magic tower and even explore it on my own.' He thought inwardly.
Then, Abium moved the magic lamp and walked forward. The way curled away coldly into an infinite dark, the light that showed the rough walls dwindling as it snaked away. As he walked further, Abium felt that the air inside the tunnel appeared denser, making it hard for him even to breathe.
Moreover, he found it more challenging for his body to move further.
'No, I feel the mana stored in my body is getting dispersed!' A frown appeared on his forehead.
He paused for a moment, checked for any other anomalies, and then moved further.
But even after hours of walking, he found no exit appeared ahead!
'What's going on here?' He narrowed his eyes.
'Am I walking in a circle?' He thought in puzzlement but shook his head firmly. He wasn't walking in a circle because he kept drawing some marks on the tunnel's wall from time to time.
'I already came this far. I can't back down now.' At that moment, he was damn sure that this strange tunnel was directly leading him towards the Forgotten Lands!
'There is no way I'm going to back down now.' He breathed harder as he thought to himself and moved on.
But suddenly, a wave of invisible power appeared out of nowhere and crushed him to the ground.
It was so sudden, which made Abium caught off guard.
He fell and soon noticed that heavy pressure appeared on his body.
'Magic?'
A second later, he noticed that he could still stand up but with much difficulty.
He felt that the gravity inside the tunnel became suddenly increased and got startled inside.
'Wait... Did I enter the area below the borderland?' A thought crossed his mind.
'So, that's it. The gravity magic caused anyone who tried to cross the borderland to suck into the sand! No wonder.' At that moment, he seemed to have found an answer to a mysterious puzzle.
Then, he shook his head, stood up with much difficulty, and walked further.
As more time passed, Abium's skin shuddered, and he could feel his brain starting to defocus, searching for a way out.
Only his walking footsteps echoed inside that abandoned tunnel.
The tunnel appeared to be so long, which caused Abium to groan in physical and mental pain.
'Where is it lead to?' He felt like wandering inside the underground tunnel for days but found no end at all.
He considered many times to change his plan and go back. But something else inside his mind was telling him to move forward.
Moreover, if he goes back now, he will regret it for the rest of his life.
'No use in thinking further. At least, I need to see the end of this tunnel.' A firm resolution appeared in his mind.
He let out a heavy sigh and advanced continuously.
After another few hours of walking, Abium suddenly felt his body back to normal!
The gravity force also disappeared suddenly, leaving him stunned inside for a while.
"I'm damn sure of it now." He muttered hoarsely and felt pain all over his body. Shaking his head, he moved forward a little, sat on the tunnel, and took a 5 minutes rest. Then, he once again stood up and moved forward.
After walking for another three hours, Abium finally saw that faint light appeared up ahead and widened his eyes!
Simultaneously, a radiant smile crept on his weary face.
He then hastily moved towards that light and soon arrived closer towards the tunnel's end.
As he got closer, he heard a water splashing sound from that direction and soon noticed his feet suddenly touched something.
He hurriedly looked below and soon smiled.
"It's water!"
He switched off the magic lamp, stored it back into the space ring, and shifted his attention towards the front.
At that moment, he saw waves of water flew a vertical direction.
'Waterfall? It seems this tunnel's exit opened right underneath a waterfall!'
He took a few steps forward and moved towards the edge to get a clear view.
It was not the gentle sort of waterfall one might find in a stately palace garden, but torrents of water poured over rocks hard enough to crack anyone's skull and mash their brains on the way down. Also, the swirl below the waterfall was deep enough to drown anyone in a matter of minutes!
The waterfall was awe-inspiring from the tunnel's edge, but it might appear brutal and terrifying from the top!
After glancing at the beauty, he moved towards the edge of the tunnel and peeked outside of the waterfall.
At that moment, an ancient-looking cylindrical tower surrounded by tall walls appeared in front of his eyes.
'Magic Tower!' He also noticed that the outside was still darker.
But the light radiated from the Magic Tower illuminated the whole surroundings and made everything brighter like daylight!
'Finally!' He felt both excited and nervous inside.
'I must be the first person to enter this Forgotten Land without using the borderland.'
In the past, he and other adventurers attempted to enter this Forgotten Land to investigate the frequent appearance of demons.
Some scholars, Mages, and even the nobles of the Peral Kingdom assumed that this Forgotten Land might have some connection with the Abyss Plane and sent them for surveillance.
But after they arrived near the borderland, they met their first obstacle. The adventurers' team was attacked by hordes of monsters continuously!
So, they had no choice but to retreat due to heavy casualties.
Barely 40 remained out of 100 members' team by the end of that mission.
After that defeat, the Peral kingdom first did a large-scale expenditure and sent an army to eliminate the Baxbron Woods monsters.
After five years of endless battles, they eliminated all the mutated monsters, newly arrived Abyssal Imps, and demons in the woodland and even reached the edge of the Mainland.
But they met with another obstacle.
It was the borderland!
They then noticed it was impossible to cross due to a mystical land obstructing their path.
So eventually, they gave up their mission.
'Well, the monsters will only appear after the 'Order of the Dead' members' action, though. They broke the twelve mysterious seals and caused great chaos everywhere.' He clenched his fist as he thought of their action and soon sighed.
'I need to focus on my current situation first.'
He nodded inwardly and turned his gaze towards the outside.
He heard many myths about this land; some people even stated these lands were home to mythological dragons, unicorns, centaurs, etc.
Myths? He knew there was no such thing as dragons or unicorns in this world for now.
Shaking his head, he went back to the underground tunnel and soon stopped as he saw there was no water under his feet.
Then, he sat down, leaned his back on the circular tunnel's wall, and closed his eyes.
Then, his wearied body made him fall into the dream world quickly.
...
Drip! Drip!
Abium heard a dripping sound from somewhere in the darkness and slowly opened his eyes.
He soon noticed he was standing inside a forest and furrowed at that moment.
Because of the dense trees covering the sky, he couldn't even get a clear look at the sky.
As he was about to move away, a few dewdrops fell from above and splashed on his face.
"Where am I?" He asked himself in confusion.
He couldn't remember where he was now and how he got here.
He searched his memories of where he was a few minutes ago but couldn't find the answer at all!
It was like his memories were clouded by something invisible. He shook those thoughts, searched for a way out in the deep forest, and soon saw a tall mountain up ahead.
At that moment, smoke, ashes, and even fire sparks came out of the mountain's mouth and spread towards the sky.
It was a tall smoky volcanic mountain!
There was no memory of that mountain in his mind.
It stood there like a giant almost touching the clouds.
Just as he took a step forward, Abium suddenly felt that his vision turned blurry all of a sudden and soon found himself on the top of that mountain.
'What the-?' He was perplexed by the sudden scene.
At that moment, sparks and dark clouds appeared in front of his eyes, making him realize that he was standing at the edge of the volcanic mountain's mouth!
He noticed that lavas were roaring from below and sending heat waves everywhere.
As he was about to turn around, the earth started to shake, and the volcanic mountain spewed out a gigantic ball of lava from its mouth.
The next instant, the massive lava ball flew upward in the sky and directly fell above his head.
As he saw such a reddish lava ball, Abium felt both panic and fright!
He saw a ball of fire smashed onto his face and devoured his face the following instant. He tried to wipe that lava using his hand and screamed in the dream and the real world!
A second later, he woke up from that strange dream and rubbed his face to see everything was alright.
"What the hell was that?!" His loud shout echoed inside the tunnel.
He was terrified because it felt so real!
At that moment, he noticed that the sunlight pierced through the waterfalls and reflected on his face, giving him a burning feeling.
He sighed.
'Thankfully, it was just a dream.' Still, he felt that dream appeared very real!
'I should explore the Magic Tower and leave this land sooner.' He suddenly felt something was off about this Forgotten Land for the first time.