Chereads / The Systems Challenge / Chapter 255 - Groping Around in the Dark

Chapter 255 - Groping Around in the Dark

The fact that Jonas had become incapacitated without getting injured was baffling to Elmo. When he'd checked Jonas' stats, the only thing that stood out to him was the fact that after his 'Shadow Sight' ability was the word 'overextended.' What that meant, Elmo couldn't be sure, but he had a feeling that it related to how Jonas was currently.

Whether it was related to how Elin would get when he to use up her MP past her available MP, or how he had been when he'd gone over his maximum MP, HP, and stamina, he couldn't really say. He suspected it was the case, though at the same time couldn't be sure if there was any way for them to find out.

If Jonas was going to ask his tutorial, Elmo suspected that he'd need to first recover a little. Otherwise he didn't see Jonas being in any state to ask, let alone understand any response he might get about it. Especially since Jonas didn't seem capable of even continuing on moving through the cave on their search for an exit.

However, as Elmo did his best to carry Jonas, he could tell that he was really wearing himself out as he couldn't lift Jonas very far, nor was he able to do that as quickly as he'd like, but he could feel himself getting close to running out of his stamina. He wasn't surprised that it was occurring, but it didn't help their situation out.

When they entered an open area in the cave, Elmo nearly didn't notice it. Primarily because he was in the middle of moving Jonas again. He estimated he was able to move Jonas five feet before he had to set him down. Then as he tried to lean against where the cave wall was, he suddenly found that it wasn't there.

Unfortunately for Elmo, he didn't realize that until he fell over. When he did, he paused for a moment as he climbed to his feet. He wanted to ask Jonas if there was anything that Jonas was aware of, but eventually dismissed the idea. Jonas didn't seem like he was capable of taking care of himself at the moment, so Elmo didn't think it would be likely that he'd be able to actually let Elmo know what this chamber was like.

So, Elmo started to feel his way around, wishing he'd thought of bringing some of the luminescent moss that had been growing around the chamber where the stellar bear was sleeping. When he'd left the chamber, he was still reeling from the size of the bear, as well as what he'd learned from checking its stats. Even now, he still felt rather uneasy even thinking about the bear.

Regardless of the fact that he wasn't able to see, he wasn't going to let that stop him from finding out what he could about this place. He wasn't going to just stop simply because he was on his own and out of his element. If he did, then he knew that he might as well kill himself now and spare himself the pain of the slow death that would be waiting for him while he waited and did absolutely nothing.

He had once tried using the window that appeared when he checked his stats to see if he could use the light that the window seemed to provide. Yet, whether it was a gimmick that was for the aesthetic value of the window or was because it was only in his mind, which would explain why only he could see it and the others were the only ones who could see the window on their own stats, the light wouldn't illuminate anything of his surroundings. Which meant it wasn't something he could work with on this endeavor.

As Elmo explored the chamber with his hands, he felt surprised to learn that there was a depression that went down several feet. Inside it, the stone had puddles that were a foot or two deep, but otherwise didn't have any water. Elmo wasn't sure what to make of this, but he had a feeling that this might have been another place that the water from the river had flowed.

The fact that it was dry now made Elmo wonder if something had happened to stop the water from flowing this way. Such as maybe a cave-in somewhere else. Which would also explain why the water level had started rising in the chamber that he and Jonas had first been in.

Sighing, Elmo continued his search, wondering if they had merely reached another dead end, or if they should travel down where the water used to be and hope that whatever had stopped the water would clear and send the water down this way again.

Putting that idea on the back burner as merely an option, Elmo continued to search the chamber, moving as slow as before. While he wished he could move faster, he knew he'd just increase the chances of him missing something important if he did so. He didn't want to take that risk, simply because he didn't want to miss anything that might get him and Jonas out of this cave. That if he missed something vital, it might even make it where he and Jonas wouldn't be able to get out in time before they ended up being trapped in this cave forever.

Elmo wasn't sure how long he took in exploring the chamber in the cave, but he knew he fell asleep at least twice, although he wasn't sure how long he slept either time. He just knew that he wasn't as tired after he woke up as when he took the time to sleep where he was. Not that it didn't make his body ache with the rocks poking his body in various places and the ergonomics of the places he slept in.

When Elmo finished exploring the chamber, on both side of where the water had flowed, he felt like the only way out was through where the water had flowed. The only real problem with that was the fact that Elmo couldn't be sure which way to go. One way he was certain would be blocked while the other likely led 'downward' when they would rather head 'upward.'

As Elmo sat down at the top of the 'bank' of the empty stream, river, or whatever it had been, he let out a deep breath as he considered what he should do about the problem. He knew that not doing anything would only leave him and Jonas in the situation they were in and wouldn't fix anything, just make their situation even worse as time wore on. If he chose the wrong way, he couldn't say if that would affect their chances of getting out of here. At the very least, he didn't like the idea of doing that, since he couldn't say if whatever had stopped the water was a permanent thing or if it would break, resulting in a flood of water down the waterways that were currently dry. Which wasn't a pleasant thought to him.

When Elmo was about to get up and pick one way at random, hoping he'd get it right, he suddenly heard something. He wasn't sure what he was hearing at first, just that the sound was faint. The sound wasn't growing louder, so he knew he didn't need to worry about it, but it was there.

Eventually Elmo decided it was the sound of flowing water, though he wasn't completely sure about it. It's just what it sounded the most like. He could tell which direction it was coming from, so he decided to assume that the sound was coming from the direction the blockage had occurred in. He didn't know what he'd find going in the direction the water had been flowing in, but he knew that whatever it was, it wouldn't be any worse than the situation he was in.

Unless it led back to the stellar bear. At which point he'd know he was pretty much screwed. No matter what he did.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Elmo slowly made his way back to where he'd left Jonas, only to find that Jonas was still as out of it as when he'd arrived in this chamber.

Elmo did his best to carry-drag Jonas along, but had to take frequent breaks just because his own strength and stamina weren't up to the task he was demanding of them. While he'd heard about people being capable of amazing feats of strengths when they were full of adrenaline, he didn't expect that to help him, since it wasn't like there was anything around that would help induce that sort of situation for him.

All he could do was to move forward, regardless of what he found as he did so.

When Elmo entered the water way, somehow he felt like he could feel a difference. He was sure that it was purely from his imagination, but it felt so real. Like he could reach out and touch it, making him half wonder what kind of texture it would have.

Whether he was able to make better time moving Jonas this way than the initial method he'd been using, he couldn't really say. He didn't have anything to help him tell the time, so it wasn't like he could use that to gauge the time that he spent moving along.

So, he couldn't say how long he'd been moving along the water way, other than how many time's he'd needed to take a rest, before he felt like there was an opening above him. He wasn't sure what it was, but he could tell that the walls of the waterway were too steep for him to climb out of.

He couldn't tell how high the walls were, but he felt like he should go up there. Not that he knew what the reason was. Just that something was calling to him from up there. Telling him that the way he was looking for to get out of the cave was up there.

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