Alvan, injured and alone, emerged from the Abyssmaw, his body aching all over and screaming in agony. He collapsed against the wall, his chest heaving with ragged breaths. 'Why did I survive?' He thought, his mind reeling with the horror of being trapped.
Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he gritted his teeth, his mind set on finding the others. He pushed himself up from the wall, his legs trembling with exhaustion. "I won't give up," he thought, his eyes fixed on the darkness ahead. "I have to find them."
As he struggled to stand, his legs trembled beneath him and buckled. He gritted his teeth even more, forcing himself to move forward.
The darkness seemed to press in around him, making his skin crawl. The cold, damp air enveloped him, and he shivered, feeling the weight of his exhaustion. He heard the distant sound of dripping water and creaking rocks echoing off the tunnel walls.
As he looked down at his attire, he thought, 'My Magma shroud is still intact, but my ethereal energy is dwindling.' He focused his mind, trying to sense the energy within him. 'It's faint, but I can still feel it. I need to conserve it until I find the others.'
He dusted himself off, trying to wipe away the sticky slime mixed with dirt from his Magma shroud.
Unfortunately for him, there was no Lyra around to offer him a sip from her nectary vial or Apphira the healer to help him heal.
So, he had to endure not only the pains all over his body but also wait for the spontaneous replenishing of his lost life force... just like the other male trio: Drake, Kael, and Thorne, who were yanked into a different part of this underground tunnel network.
Alvan, cognizant of his strange surroundings, lifted his head and gazed around to assess the situation.
Deep within the mountain, he stood in a one-way tunnel that snaked into the far distance. It was unusually cold here, with the air humid and pungent as well. He could feel it; the quality of oxygen in the air here was poor compared to the outside world, above ground.
As he looked around during the inspection, his eyes adjusted to the dim light, revealing the bioluminescent fungi. The soft, blue-green glow illuminated the tunnel, casting an eerie, ethereal light on the rough stone walls. The fungi seemed to pulse with a gentle rhythm, resembling a soft heartbeat.
In a sense, they were adorable and aesthetic. But considering the situation he was in, Alvan did not know what to think of them yet, other than as the only source of illumination there.
His thoughts were preoccupied as his focus shifted from the eerie fungi. He had to navigate the tunnels and find the exit out of this place. He was not only thinking about the urgency of leaving this place to liberate Etheloria on time but also about what had happened while inside the Abyssmaw.
'The High Priest was right about utilizing my emotions to enhance my abilities,' he remembered. It was the thought of Emelda and his mother that triggered his emotions, preventing him from giving up hope and inspiring him to strive no matter what inside the Abyssmaw. And it did work. It had given him hope to cling onto the delicate cliffhanger of life at that moment until he was yanked out of the beast.
Alvan's thoughts turned to his friends, and he wondered if they were still alive. He remembered the High Priest's teachings, "Whenever you are separated, find each other before continuing your journey."
That was one of the surviving and collaborative hacks that the High Priest taught them. "Now... the lesson taught by the High Priest will come handy. Let me find the others and get out of here."
Before he left to find the others, Alvan attempted to harness any of his powers. And fortunately for him, his ethereal energy was still accessible to him at the moment. He felt it; a special affinity with the energy faintly surging within him. At least, he would not be helpless here anymore.
Harnessing his elemental ability, he cleaned up the debris and dirt clinging to his body using the wind element. A small whirlpool rippled across his body. However, since the amount of air in here was limited, the intensity of the whirlpool created was not significant, and his body was not thoroughly cleaned.
Alvan accessed his surroundings once more, "Which way now? Going forward or backward?... Umm, which is which though," he muttered. Then he went off in the direction that he thought would be the nearest to the others, based on instinct.
As he walked through the tunnel, he kept himself preoccupied by cross-checking the items in his Astral Ring. Among his possessions were the Infernal Crystals, his mother's bracelet, the Telescope Mask, and the Book of Immortality, along with his father's sword that he had taken from the Basement Chamber. Even his solar telescope was there too, the very one he used to discover the Shadow Fort when Jaden pointed it out on the elevated plateau.
"Which of these things would be useful here, though?" he asked rhetorically as he looked down at the sword with a sigh. He drew the sword, feeling its weight and balance. "I've never used a sword before, but I've studied the theoretical way of using it. I hope it's enough."
"But theoretical knowledge is two worlds apart from their applications." He sheathed the sword, donned his mask, and continued walking.
Alvan tucked away the other materials he had taken out of the ring into its spatial store, except for one item - the tome. He had his guard up even though he didn't think there would be any beasts roaming within the mountain, especially since they encountered none at the mountain top.
He glanced at the ancient book's intricate design once again before finally storing it away as well. Only one thought lingered in his mind: if there is a special way he could control the essence of immortality residue inside him, refine it, and harness it for his use.
Unprecedentedly, he reached the end of the tunnel. Not the end, though, in a literal sense. It was a point where the tunnel divides into two tunnels—a junction.
However, something felt off. It was not about choosing one of the tunnels in order to continue searching for the rest of the team. But, with his enhanced senses, he could pick up a faint squishing sound, growing louder with each step.
Alvan's tension built, his senses on high alert. He could feel the vibrations of the sound through the ground beneath his feet, like a drumbeat warning of danger, slowly creeping towards the right tunnel.
Alvan, who was ready for anything, waited patiently to see whatever it was that was approaching him strangely. He held the hilt of the sword tightly as he positioned himself in a stance to strike the unknown.
…
Meanwhile, after Lyra and Emelda had taken the middle tunnel, they reached the spot where the previous tunnel had split into three. Navigating their own treacherous path.
"Are we ever going to find the others?" Emelda asked, her voice barely above a whisper, as if it had lost all of its vibes.
Lyra's expression turned grave, her eyes scanning the darkness. "Shhh, don't you hear that?" She whispered back, her hand on Emelda's arm.
Emelda strained to listen, her heart racing. "Hear what?" She whispered, her thoughts racing with worst-case scenarios.
Lyra's grip tightened. "That sound, it's getting closer. We need to be ready."
Emelda's thoughts flashed back to the Shadow Fort, with memories of shadow minions and dark magic still fresh in her mind. She knew they had to be prepared.
That was when she picked up the squishing sound rapidly approaching them. Obviously, they could not see the thing yet as the tunnel was not straight; it spiraled further into the distance.
"It's definitely another kind of nightmare on this mountain. So what now?" whispered Emelda.
"I don't know. Guess we have to fight this one..."
"It's best if we put on the mask… we don't know what it is yet. It can be a shadow minion or something similar."
"Okay," Lyra replied in a whisper as she donned her mask and gripped her wand.
'I haven't even mastered any advanced spells yet.' Lyra muttered to herself.
As they were waiting for whatever it was that was approaching to show up, Emelda already had her tendrils out. Ready to engage in a fight.
The slithering was becoming more and more audible and closer as the moments flashed by in milliseconds, but to these two, it felt as if they were waiting for minutes already.
Finally...
The beast came into their view…