After walking for a few hours in search of one of the caches of magic items Sevi pointed him towards, something dawned on Rethys, like an epiphany descending upon him from high above.
'I really, really don't like it here...' He thought.
It might've seemed obvious before that he didn't like this place, anything in it or anything it implied or suggested, but it never felt as it did now, especially after going through that agonizing ordeal just to silence his stomach. Now, it felt as if his dislike of this place elevated to a deeper, more significant level, or so he'd put it.
Starting from the very beginning, he took his time to give rise to every speck of frustration and spite he had in him.
First, some grand elemental entity thought it was the most virtuous thing in the world to kidnap him, kill the only person he cared about, and then force him into its servitude as a glorified magic janitor cleaning up the mess of stupid mages that must've died centuries ago.
Then he was forced to act on its will until he was freed by a seemingly equally terrifying creature. He was then sent here and there by said creature, as it either tried to help him in the most unhelpful ways possible, or was subtly manipulating him for... some reason.
Even now the best clue she gave him was that she knew of so-called "stashes" around the catacombs that contained concentrations of ether that should corresponded to something magical, which she guessed to be magic tools.
And now Rethys was heading towards one of those locations, fully aware that he might find nothing helpful, or happen upon something harmful altogether. The only supposedly accurate piece of information she had on this particular location was that it was the camp of an expedition that was once made into the Yvtari catacombs, and thus had the best chance of containing anything useful.
But as he was done venting his grievances, he remembered that it was him that chose to trust Sevi's words, and that he could've just left at any time he liked to strike out on his own.
Still, he really didn't appreciate having to go through grueling trials just to earn the simplest things, like his free will or even food.
'It's fine.' He repeated in his mind. 'I won't rot here with them. I will get out of here.'
He repeated in his mind time and time again that he will get out of Yvtar, and that he will return home to Aldeno. He wouldn't make it known that he was attuned to the Origin element, since, knowing what he knew now, he knew that he would end up on the wrong side of someone's lab. No, he would instead use his element's unique powers to live the good life.
He thought of it many times, being able to transcend the struggle to survive that he knew during his years on the streets and that he was living once again now. He would attain it somehow, now that he could use magic. All he had to do was get out of this place first.
Setting down his satchel and sitting on a particularly clean spot he found, Rethys took a moment to recuperate his lost energy, both magical and physical.
The last few hours he had spent walking through the gray stone halls had not been uneventful, as he ran into quite a few creatures. He did his best to avoid confrontations but still had to get into a few fights, though these fights often consisted of him keeping his distance while using his element to wear down opponents, only rarely resorting to actually engaging them in melee, and always doing so at an advantage.
Still, he didn't expect to have to fight even a single time, let alone multiple. He figured that he would eventually have to face creatures much stronger than lethargic wretches and lumbering brutes, and would need to prepare himself somehow. He hoped with all his heart that he would find something that could ease the stress of this place.
Resting sufficiently, he grabbed his satchel and rose back to his feet, continuing the arduous walking.
At first, he grumbled about Sevi's room being located in the eastern end of the catacombs, meaning that it took a while to get anywhere, but then realized that the chamber's out-of-the-way position is what let him explore freely to begin with, as the closer he got to the center, the more terrifying the creatures wandering the halls were.
Now after hours of carefully travelling westwards through the sprawling underground halls, he was close to his goal. Yet as he got closer, he noticed his surroundings changing noticeably.
Gone were the old but still firmly standing halls of the catacombs, as this area had many halls and chambers that were very decrepit if not outright collapsed, blocking many passages and even forming what seemed to be a few paths upwards and downwards that were thankfully blocked by rubble.
Moving through these run-down halls, Rethys noted that the very clearly magically-built catacombs would not so easily collapse, as evidenced by the fact that the rest of the place was more or less completely structurally intact. The jarring difference between this place and the rest of the catacombs showed that something had affected it, and that he should prepare for the unexpected.
Regardless of his worries, step after step saw him eventually reaching the location of the stash. And true to its name, the so-called stash resembled a small, rundown camp, situated in a dead end surrounded by collapsed halls, though all that remained of it was the rotten wood that seemed to have once formed it.
Rethys' senses however instantly picked up on what Sevi had detected here, and what he had come for.
A small, enchanted container, made of gleaming, almost crystalline alabaster metal that stood in sharp contrast to the decay surrounding it. Approaching it, Rethys could feel a muffled but intense magical aura coming from it, disappearing from his senses when far away but shining like a beacon when in close range.
Scrutinizing the small strongbox, he noted that its aura was similar to the chains that bound Sevi's blade, except weaker and in metal form, whereas the chains were made of stone and possessed staggering power.
Thoroughly checking his surroundings for any signs of life as well as any disturbances in the ether, he slowly approached the gleaming chest while also making sure not to trigger any possible traps around him.
Just as he was getting ready to open the small locker, he heard rustling and then felt a disturbance in the ether around him. Quickly jolting upwards, he turned around just in time to see a something hurtling towards him.
Pushing himself to the side, he avoided the attack only to tumble to the ground. Before he could get back up however, he felt another attack falling down towards him and rolled to the side as fast as he could.
Quickly scrambling to regain his footing, Rethys stood up and leaped away from the direction the attacks came from, grabbing his knife and throwing aside his satchel.
Just as he thought he was now in safe distance, he felt a something moving towards him from behind, and even though he reacted to it in time and tried to quickly step away, his feet refused to move, and a hit landed squarely on his back, forcing the air out of his lungs and sending him hurtling to the ground.
Once again as he was sprawled on the ground, another attack came down on him, but its speed was still manageable, allowing Rethys to roll to the side and avoid it.
Standing up, he focused as hard as he could on his surroundings, trying to sense where the creature attacking him was, but felt nothing but the walls and air around him. And before he could make sense of his situation, another attack was moving towards him, and once again his legs refused to move, as if rooted to the ground.
His reflexes didn't fail him however, and he managed to tilt his body in time to avoid being struck while also swiping with his knife towards the creature's arm.
But instead of feeling the knife effortlessly going through the skin of whatever was attacking him, it was instead caught in some viscous matter, and he could hear sizzling noises coming from its sharp blade as it cut through.
And once again, before he could think twice about what just happened, he was forced to move his body to avoid another strike. Taking a moment after dodging the most recent attack, he took a look at the ground, only to realize his feet were sinking into it as if it were mud.
Realizing he was dealing with something he knew nothing of, he summoned the entirety of the power within him to release a thick wave of Origin ether than enveloped the whole hallway.
Before he could feel lightheaded from the exertion, he tried releasing his feet from the soft, muddy earth before realizing that all around him the stone that comprised the walls changed from solid to a viscous liquid form, with the floor gradually losing its structure as well. He tried to get away and return to solid ground, but no matter how much he struggled to wade through it, he continued to be met with the same malleable stone.
His attempts to get away however did cause the creature responsible for all of this to follow him, and sensing the movement through the ether around him, Rethys managed to get an idea of what he was facing.
Peering into the walls, he could see the faint outline of a tall, slender creature that moved through the stone of the catacombs as if it were water.
Now able to pinpoint where his adversary was, he could see tendrils of flowing stone extending outwards from it, trying to attack him. They moved slowly however, allowing Rethys to avoid them fairly easily now that he had a visual on his target.
The attacks didn't seem to have much force behind them either, seeing the stone's malleability under the creature's control, but Rethys realized that one slip-up is all it took to be completely immobilized.
After a few rounds of avoiding and dodging the creature's attacks however, he realized that he was in serious danger.
He could avoid its attacks, yes, but couldn't strike back at all, and moving through the difficult terrain was beginning to tire him out already. He couldn't run away either, as the creature slowed him down and kept up with him effortlessly.
'This is bad...' He thought.
He thought of trying to use his element to break down the creature's control over the liquefied stone, but dismissed the idea, seeing that not only was he already a bit spent, but that the creature also had more energy than him, much more.
'This is really bad...' he repeated as he realized he had to figure out something, and fast.