The lower level of the cave was completely different from the upper level. On the upper level, one might occasionally encounter faint light rays projected from cracks in the rock walls or torches hastily tossed into the passage by previous adventurers, almost burnt out. Add to this the light from their own torches, and despite being dim, the girls' Gold Rank physical constitution allowed them to clearly see their surroundings.
But upon entering the lower layers, everything was shrouded in darkness, except for the hazy luminance enveloping the few meters around themselves, just enough for them to see clearly. Beyond this, the silhouettes within a range of twenty meters were quite obscure, and anything further than that remained pitch black.
Now, all four of them huddled against the rock wall just inside the exit, but there was nothing in front of them. All they could see was the ground extending beneath their feet with no idea where it led. Looking left and right, it was all the same gloom. They had no idea whether it was a wall, a cliff, or hordes of bizarre creatures lurking and waiting for them to walk right into their trap.
Some people believed the greatest fear sprang from the unknown, a concept that was certainly very valid now. The dread of the obscured darkness made the girls' hearts race. They leaned tightly against the sturdy rock wall behind them, their only source of illusory sense of safety.
"What kind of place is this?" Lina's voice startled her. Her mild exclamation echoed eerily around the silent cave.
"Shh." Pannis hushed Lina with a low whisper, "Don't you remember what we said before we came? Try not to speak loudly. Be careful of falling rocks."
Pointing towards the darkness above, Pannis continued, "Some of those rocks up there are very sharp. If they fall from that height, they can pierce you from head to toe, even if you are wearing a helmet. Just a few years ago, I knew an adventurer who was fatally impaled that way."
"Really?"
"Of course not. There weren't just one, there are a few every year. Don't worry too much, though. The rocks make a loud noise when they fall, so you can usually dodge them. Here, take this." Pannis handed each of the girls a small paper pouch. "Sprinkle this over your clothing."
The girls did as they were told without hesitation. After sprinkling the powder from the paper pouch, Vivian sniffed it, "It has elements of deception potion. Is this the magic disguise powder? We haven't had to use it in the past."
"Yes, it is used to simulate the Demonized Energy, so that as long as we're not too close, the magical creatures won't notice our anomaly through energy sensing." Pannis, tapping the rock wall beside her, started to move forward, "This is a big cave but it's a pocket with only one exit. Few magical creatures can enter here, but once we venture out, we need to be vigilant. There's no safe ground anymore."
"You have to be very cautious when walking here. You can walk slower first if you're not used to it—there's no need to rush. Before each step, check the ground. Sometimes there are holes, the deepest ones nearly a hundred meters deep with sharp stalactites at the bottom. If you tumble in, it's a guaranteed death. Check above your head after the ground—the ceiling might have stalactites hanging. Unless you want to… Okay, unless you want to bump into it like Miss Lina, check before you proceed."
The shuffling sound of their feet echoed. The halo of light representing the four of them started to inch forward slowly. After covering a dozen meters, the girls felt like they were lost boats in an angry sea, surrounded by infinite emptiness. The boundary-less darkness was pressing down on them, an intense nightmare. Their eyes kept darting around, seemingly expecting frightening creatures to leap out at them from the darkness. Numerous times, they glanced back at the rock walls, wanting to retreat back to the superficial sense of safety. But their pride as professionals wouldn't allow them to back down. Only Pannis' figure under the hazy light was seen moving forward, without any hesitation or stoppage.
"Pitch-dark, without any light."
"A void of a world, without life, without elements, without sense of direction."
There was no music, just Pannis softly humming the Song of Yarra up ahead. The humming in the darkness slightly drove away the girls' unease, and the light that represented the girls' direction stopped pivoting. The group of four, stumbling and swaying, proceeded under the low hum.
"There's something coming at us." Catherine suddenly saw a huge shadow looming towards them in the gloom. She cried out and had her knight sword gripped in her hand.
"That's just a rock wall." Still undeterred, Pannis walked forward, "The wall isn't approaching us. It's just an illusion caused by the darkness."
"Phew." Catherine sheathed her weapon and wiped her forehead, "Sorry, I got a bit nervous."
Pannis shook her head without saying anything. She moved towards the wall, crouched down, and examined something for a moment before pointing towards a crevice, "We need to crawl through here."
"Here?" Lina exclaimed in shock, "How can we pass this narrow crevice?"
"We need to crawl through it." Pannis removed a few chunks of rubble in the gap, "We have a lot of crawling to do ahead, are you scared?"
"I...I'm not scared!" Lina retorted stubbornly, "I was just... just a little surprised. How could I be scared?"
Pannis ignored Lina's denial, leaned down, and wriggled like a snake to enter the gap. His voice came from inside, "I'll lead the way, Miss Catherine you go last. Miss Lina and Miss Vivian, you follow in the middle. You two are magicians; be really careful."
"Even if you worry about me, it won't make me happy." Lina hesitated for a moment as she looked at the gap. She turned to Vivian, "Vivian, you're smaller. You go first."
Vivian glared at Lina, probed a foot into the gap, and found it was actually rather roomy, allowing a person to crawl with ease. Reassured, she followed in, asking curiously, "Pannis, what if we encounter enemies?"
"If you have room to move, attack them," Pannis responded from ahead, "if you don't, activate your Magic Shield and crawl forward or retreat as fast as you can. If even that's not possible, pray to your deity."
"Pannis," Lina sounded a little irritated as she crawled into the gap, "does this route go downwards? We won't fall headfirst, will we?"
"No, it's not that steep," Pannis's voice grew more distant as he quickly crawled ahead.
"Mr. Pannis, you'd better slow down. Vivian is second in line and she can't crawl that fast," Catherine urged, "and Lina, speak less. I'll lift your reading ban in the cave. Choose a new book when we take a break, you are acting particularly abnormal today."
"What's wrong with you, boss?" Lina took some offence, "I think I've been acting rather normal."
"That's just an illusion in the darkness," Catherine retorted quickly, "You've never been normal, especially today. Now shut up, and focus on crawling."
Everyone fell silent as they followed each other through the narrow gap. It was tough but they initially felt more secure in the crevice compared to the open darkness. At least the walls were solid and close. But after twenty minutes of crawling, they started to feel agitated. Schist walls ahead or behind never changed, the monotonous environment stretched the passage of time, making them feel like they had spent hours in the crevice.
How far had they gone? How long did they have to crawl? Were they lost? Would they be trapped in this tunnel where they could barely sit up? Could they ever make it back to the surface? Was this tunnel leading to hell? Having undertaken countless adventures and braved numerous dangers, their wills were resilient, but even in the terrifying darkness, malicious thoughts would creep into their minds, gnawing at their courage.
"Be careful, everyone." Pannis's voice was the reassurance they needed, "We're almost there."
"Hahaha, thank the Goddess Denia." Lina surprisingly forgot Catherine's orders in her excitement and burst out laughing. However, she immediately reaped the consequences; she hit her head on an elevated rock before her laughter died out, "Ouch, dammit."
"Be careful ahead," Pannis cautioned, "there's muddy water in the next section of the tunnel. Hold your breath and keep your eyes closed. Within a minute, you can crawl out of the gap. The exit is at the bottom of a pool. The water won't reach past your chest. No need to panic."
"I'm not panicking. What's there to be scared of about water?" Lina rubbed her head and responded stubbornly. Unfortunately, she wasn't aware Pannis was already underwater and didn't hear her quip.
As the last one to plunge into the water, Catherine found the water freezing cold. Even with waterproof clothing, the icy temperature made her shiver and she had to pick up her pace. To her relief, the route started to level out and then go upwards not long after she closed her eyes and began to crawl. With a few more strides, she felt the gap freeing her upper body. She paddled a few more steps, finally escaping from the restrictive crevice.
Upon standing up in the water, Catherine pulled up the struggling Lina, who was waist-deep in the water. The first words that slipped out of her mouth were, "Finally, we're out. I thought we'd be crawling forever. I never want to do something like that again."
Her second remark came out when she surveyed her surroundings, "It's beautiful!"
It wasn't just Catherine who gasped in awe. The three girls of Nellie's Adventure Group did too, almost simultaneously. The environment they found themselves in was nothing like the darkness they left behind. Unfolding before their astonished eyes was an entirely new, beautiful, dreamy world.