"What is that dripping sound…Teacher?" Wine curiously asked as she shook the hand holding Ethan; she couldn't see and smell clearly.
Ethan looked at the bloody altar and the Dark hole, then answered with a raised brow, "Oh, it's nothing, just some unique waterfall inside the room."
"Waterfall?!" Wine exclaimed, "Like the one near the house?"
Ethan squinted his eyes and nodded, "Yes, just like that one."
"Can I open my eyes just for a peek?" Wine excitedly asked.
"But you will die if you open your eyes, though…." Ethan said, troubled.
"Is the reso…nance thing that dangerous?" Wine gulped in fear, her excitement doused in cold water.
"Ah, that's there too…huh?" Ethan muttered as he walked towards the altar.
Taking Wine's hand, he placed it on the bloody altar's sidewall. She felt warm, sticky blood flowing past her hands, accompanied by a chilling squelching sound. "Oh…Is that the waterfall?!" she exclaimed, she could feel the warm water
"Yes, it is," Ethan said, looking down at the hole with a frown.
"Can I drink some water from here?" she asked as she touched the wall with her other hand, too; she wanted to clean it out of sweat.
"It's fine if you touch it, but I advise you not to drink it…it tastes very weird for some people," Ethan said in passing as he put one of his hands into the hole; he could feel a hot sensation.
'The resonance is peak here?' he wondered.
Taking his hands out, "There is a hole infront of you, so don't walk around. It is dangerous," he warned and left her hands free, then started walking around the altar.
He looked up at the bodies above, every face distorted beyond recognition, and then looked around the room, the stone walls, and the stone ground. Nothing truly stood out. The atmosphere became unnervingly silent, save for a faint dripping sound that echoed from deep in that hole.
'Do I really have to try my luck again?' he mulled, but he was rather hesitant to do that, though.
'I may have to run away with a weaker start...' the room resonated with a heavy, disheartened sigh, that was a major bad start...
"T…Teacher!" Wine excitedly called out, not knowing his inner turmoil or seeing his ponderous face.
"Hmm…What?" he went to her side and asked, his brows raised, "What happened?"
Wine didn't say anything but showed him her small bloodstained hands; a black pearl shined dimly atop it. "oh it's a world bead!" he exclaimed in awe and gently took it from her hand, and examined it.
"Where did you get it?" he asked with a curious tone as his scrutinizing golden gaze scanned the pearl all over. He could feel his heartbeat quicken, 'a supernatural object!'
A dark bead with worm-like black things moving around inside its glassy confines.
"It was floating down in the waterfall and got stuck to my hand," Wine said, eager to know what it was; it was too round and perfect to be a rock, right?
Ethan chuckled and smilingly rubbed her head, "Maybe we don't have to worry about luck when we have you."
Wine smiled at his gesture and asked cutely, "Teacher, what is a World Bead exactly?" Subconsciously, she held the hand above her head with both of her hands; Ethan's hands got stained with blood.
He didn't mind the blood.
But It was the second time she was asking him this question, so he had to answer. "Mmm…as you are rather ignorant of this subject, Wine, it is quite hard for me to explain. I will show you rather than tell you," he said and walked towards the hole, then threw the pearl into it and waited for the sound.
'1,2,3…'
Tak, the sound of something falling on the ground echoed from below. Wine instinctively followed behind him and nervously clung to his white robes, further staining them with blood.
'3 seconds, so about 44 meters deep?' he concluded and then looked around at the torches that were blaring with fiery light on the four sides of the wall, and said, "Come on, Wine, let's do another jump!"
Wine nodded, and Ethan took her bloody hands. They were both just about to jump down when she hesitantly stuttered out and stopped, "Tea…Teacher!"
He frowned, "Hmm?" her body was trembling, and her bloody hands were sweating profusely, enough to stand out even in the blood: "Are you afraid, Wine?" he asked gently.
Wine shook her head and said, "I don't know Youn..Teacher, but sometimes when the dogs come near me, I also feel this, like I don't want to go near them," her teeth started stuttering as she continued, "But this time, the feeling is stronger, I…I can't...can't even move young master.."
She was so afraid; her gaze was shifting here and there, her forehead was sweating, and her jaws were cold. Ethan's frown deepened, 'Intuition?' he then looked down at the hole. Now he was even more hesitant. He silently gritted his teeth; his knowledge was far too limited.
"Then we don't have to jump down," Ethan suppressed his frustration and calmly said.
Wine nodded in relief, her lips trembling still.
He gently patted her on the back and pondered, 'How did the people before go into the totem storage? It's not like they are….' his inner monologue suddenly stopped, and he looked back at the dead bodies; they were each inside a glass vessel, and that glass vessel was floating two inches above the ground, unlike everything else that was merely one inch.
"Hha..hahha.." He chuckled in amazement and, "That's it!" he exclaimed, his voice twinged with realization. His fist pumping in the air,
Why was it the only one different?
Of course, because that thing had resonance marks of its own!
It was not something ordinary! it was something supernatural!