In front of the trio was a spacious expanse. There were three waterfalls from the walls surrounding them. Two on the right, one on the left.
There were many glowing blue gemstone above and on the walls around them, producing the light that led them here.
The water fell down into a dark abyss deep down.
But that wasn't important.
What was important is the presence of a lying skeleton. Wearing destroyed, very aged armor and holding a note in its hand. A dead human.
There was another, much larger skeleton of a monster that could only be classified as a boss monster up ahead.
It was four meters tall, but its length was three times that. Its tail was hanging off the edge above the abyss.
'This is a stupidly similar situation.' Max thought.
Except there didn't seem to be any threaths.
"Watch out for a surprise." Eliyah whispered.
The players approached the corpse.
Max looked at the note and slowly grabbed it.
He looked at the letters.
Virtonian language.
[Whoever's reading this, you were probably led here by the soul tied bracelet I left in the vault. I had no use for it since it conflicted with my earring. Before I bleed out, you're most likely the slayer of the Titan I created, therefore I hope that you will inherit my will and the will of my friend, Leas the Brave. I left his sword in the coffin with him. He's buried under the Relm Tree near Kasia. Please take the sword buried with him, and cleanse the Old World of the corruption, before it spreads here. I first wanted to rebel against the Emperor but Leas had told me the grave news.
Curse my exploratory instinct. I heard the story that exploring colonizers who jumped into the pool and those who went to rescue them never returned. Who knew it'd be an abyssal monster that sucked everything nearby from the sea and the cave waters around. You're lucky you didn't have to face this fucker. Please]
The text abruptly ended, suggesting that the writer perished at that moment.
"What does it say?" Eliyah asked.
"We're going to Kasia boys." Max replied.
[You have received a title: Inheritor]
"I got a title." Manuel said.
"So did I." Eliyah added.
The black haired Awakened looked around for the earring that the Maestro mentioned in the note.
"There's an earring somewhere here..."
Near the skeleton of the monstrosity that killed the Maestro, there was a red shine in the rock fragments and pieces that probably came from the fight they had.
Max went over to pick it up.
[Maestro's Ear]
[A masterpiece created by Edanel the Maestro. This item sharply improves your hearing ability when focusing and enhances your aura sensing range and strength if you are able to feel other aura.]
[Your Aura stat is permanently increased by 20 while wearing this item.]
'Damn.'
Max smiled widely.
"I'll keep this guys." He said.
"Not a problem. I'm very satisfied with the Inheritor title." Manuel replied.
"What? You got it too?"
"I did as well." Eliyah added.
"What does it do?"
"All stats are increased by 20, and all stats increase by 10% when fighting the Corrupted. Whatever that means." Manuel answered.
"Hah. I guess it wasn't so bad coming here after all."
Max started inspecting the skeleton of the slain monster.
"Hey. It's definitely a powerful boss monster, so let's take a few bones from it."
"Sure." Eliyah replied.
The three of them grabbed a few bones of the creature's extremities and stored them in the Inventory.
Max looked around the vast cavern expanse around them. No one has been here for many many years.
An empty, dead and unsettling place.
Three waterfalls came out of the holes in the high walls.
"Alright, let's head-"
Just then, wings were summoned in a waterfall and a player clumsily flew to the players.
He breathed heavily.
"Thomas?" Max's expression went ice cold.
"...They're here. I heard them."
"Did they see you?"
"No."
Max took a deep breath.
"Shit. We'll just have to wait it out for a while here."
"Half the kingdom will be here on this fucking island by tomorrow." Eliyah said.
Max flew up to check out the other two waterfalls. He thought of something. It's probably deadly, but it's better than sure death.
One waterfall was like the one they fell out of. All water, no breathable air space.
The other however, was different.
It was a river turning into a waterfall at the end of a cave.
Max swallowed hard and went back down to the squad.
"We can't escape now that the entire island is here, and we won't be able to escape the next day or any other day in the foreseeable future. We don't have enough food to survive. The army will come from other places and security will be tripled." Manuel said.
"So we're dead?" Eliyah asked.
"We need to go deeper into the cave and hope we get out at the bottom of the sea." Max answered.
Max pointed toward the waterfall that he last checked out.
Silence rang among the squad. They all felt unsettling dread.
If they're going towards a dead end, they will have no choice but to immediately go back into the cave and fight the entire island.
"Drink an aura potion boys. Just in case."
They all took out an elixir and gulped it down quickly.
"Let's go." Max said while grabbing Eliyah to fly him up.
Max equipped the newly acquired earring and flew up.
Manuel and Thomas followed behind him.
They landed on the stone beside the flowing cave river.
Max took a deep breath.
"May God help us." He said.
Just as they started walking deeper into the unknown cave, Max sensed something.
His eyes widened.
He felt powerful aura back in the cave expanse.
"Quiet." He whispered.
The Awakened approached the waterfall while crouching and looked down.
There, two pairs of wings flew out of the waterfall carrying two knights on both their sides.
They landed on the platform.
"What the fuck is this place?" A winged knight said.
The two winged knights had wings of pure aura.
'Awakened...' Max thought.
He felt fear.
Monsters were often large and unpredictable. But powerful humans are probably the most terrifying of monsters in this floor, excluding unique main boss level monstrosities hidden in this world.
But then came certainty.
"Manuel."
The spear knight approached Max and knelt beside him.
"We're gonna have to fight them right here. In the air."
"Are you ins-"
Then he shut up. Realizing why Max proposed this.
If they ran into the cave, then not only would two Awakened knights follow them, but also the four mundane knights they brought with them.
It had to be here and now.
"Hide for now." Max whispered. "Wait until they start flying here. Thomas and Eliyah, asisst us in any way you can."
Max stepped back with Manuel and both of them took out their weapons, fully charged themselves, their weapons and their wings with aura. This took a dozen seconds.
"I felt trace aura going into the water towards this place. They're here." One of the winged knights said. His wings were green. He had a red sword on his hand.
Then, they looked around.
They were also fully charged with their own powerful aura. They wore the red armor that was considered the strongest armor that a knight could wear in this kingdom. They had helmets on them.
'Aura wings. Just like Carsius...'
The green winged knight sensed the players up in the cave after he stopped talking with the others.
Then, they rushed here.
Max looked at Manuel.
They both nodded.