With one done, the left was the hostage situation mentioned.
Ryo, upon hearing Reina's announcement from the walkie-talkie, opened a door in front of him, revealing an empty room, filled with nothing but remnants of its past.
"So many rooms, yet all are empty." He cursed under his breath, as he scratched his head, clearly expressing annoyance. "What a hassle."
He closed the door, and continued on to the next door, hoping to find something.
He grabbed the doorknob and was ready to turn in, however, at that moment, he felt a wave of uneasiness.
Was there something behind the door?
He peered through the window but the tainted was too thick.
He carefully leaned his ear on the door and listened as to what the other side could hold.
There were some faint noises. It was like someone or something... Was there.
Could this be the hostage's room? He thought for a moment.
He summoned his sword and prepared his magic.
He laid his palms over the door, gathering energy. With caution, he blasted the door, causing an explosion that caused the door to come flying away. This also causes a thick smoke to manifest, blinding momentarily the probable someone inside.
He quietly sneaked through the smoke, and went inside the room, careful as to not make any footstep noises.
Then, he suddenly leaped out of the smoke, revealing two armed persons covered in black clothes.
They were surprised and unprepared. They hastily pointed their gun towards Ryo who was in mid-air, but he was faster.
As soon as he saw those two, he swiftly swung his blade, cutting their guns into two pieces.
Terrified of the sight above them, they shook in fear, unable to do anything.
And with a single slash, they were brought down unconscious.
Ryo smoothly landed on the ground. He began walking towards the two armed men, and crouched down, before taking off their masks.
They were... Mannequins...
The once-moving men were just mannequins after all.
"They are nothing but... Puppets. This means... I could do whatever I want." Ryo mumbled, his gaze cold and ferocious as a snowstorm. "However, it says that fewer casualties equals more points. Does this count?"
Suddenly, as if a ghost, Reina's voice spoke from behind him.
"I don't think it counts." She said. She was standing at the entrance of the room, which was at least 10 feet away from Ryo.
Ryo was surprised, yet he kept his composure. He stood up and turned around. He looked at Reina emotionlessly.
Yet deep inside, he was confused and was wondering.
He didn't sense her presence at all. He had his guard up at full. However, Reina passed right through like a ghost undetected.
In addition, his voice was low. It couldn't have been possible for Reina to clearly hear him from that distance unless Reina would come closer or even lean in towards Ryo.
"When did you get there?" Ryo asked,
"Oh, I heard an explosion. I was just from the nearby room." She explained.
She kept her playful smile. This annoyed, and at the same time, made Ryo more wary of her.
"I see." He replied,
"So... Mannequins. What happened?"
"That's what happens when you hurt or injure them."
"Oh... I see. We should search around them. Maybe there are some hidden things in their pocket.
Ryo agreed and crouched down to check.
And just like what Reina said, there was something there.
It was a green key.
Now in total, they have three keys: Red, Yellow, and Green.
"Green key... How interesting. I have yellow."
Ryo pondered while looking at the keys.
At this point, he already searched at least 3/4 of the whole facility, yet none was locked.
Then, something popped up in his head. He remembered something.
As they entered this exam, they were first greeted by the bunk bedroom.
In there... Was a bed, with green sheets. A wall painted red... And lastly, a table, where the weapons and tools were placed, Yellow.
And, from what he observed along the way, the facility was all monochromatic, yet in the room, there are colors that correspond to the key color they have.
Maybe there's a connection.
He promptly stood up and hurriedly went back to the bedroom. Reina stood and watched as Ryo rushed out of the room.
"Oh, he got it." She smiled in satisfaction as if she already knew the answer from the beginning. She slowly followed, tip-toing happily.
Ryo arrived in the bedroom.
And there, he was right. The rest of the colors were brown, and the objects he thought of were the only one with different colors.
Then, if that's so, there must be some hidden mechanism within these objects.
Ryo first turned to the green sheets on the bed. He ran his hand through the silky, and soft sheet.
And just as he suspected, he felt a hole underneath the sheets. He removed the sheets, revealing a keyhole underneath.
"Green..."
He held the key tightly, and inserted it deep inside. He twisted and turned it. Soon, the sound of mechanisms clanking was heard from above.
"Then, red wall..."
He turned to the red wall behind him. At first glance, it just looks like an ordinary wall.
He feels through with his hand, running through it gently, and inspecting it carefully inch by inch
"Something's there." Reina pointed out at the top-most area of the wall. The paint seemed slightly different in texture in that specific area.
Ryo pressed the area. Popping out was a panel, revealing another keyhole. Ryo inserted the red key, and triggered another mechanism.
Lastly, the yellow table.
Looking at it for the first time, nothing seemed wrong with it. But, upon closer look, there are marks, specifically scratches on the edges of the round table.
Ryo ran through those rough edges until he triggered a hidden comparment, revealing the last keyhole.
He inserted the last key, and triggered the mechanism.
With all three keys done, they wait in anticipation. Ryo looked around the room, thinking if they must have overlooked something.
As he was thinking, a hole opened in the middle of the room, revealing a staircase leading to a dark, underground basement.
"I hope there's not a monster down there." Reina remarked.
Ryo goes first, and down into the narrow, and dark stair.
Ryo summoned a fire in his palms, serving as a light as they descent down. Even with the light, it seemed endless.
During this journey down, he felt a little uneasy and paranoid, that something bad is waiting right at the bottom.
After a series of stairs, they finally arrived at the bottom. A foul odor greeted them.
"W-What the hell?" Both of them immediately covered their noses.
The foul smell instantly hit their nose, sending a plague of dizzyness towards their head.
"T-That's some foul smell..." Reina remarked, in a panicked, and disgusted voice.
The floor on the bottom was flooded with low water. On the other far side, was a dry, pathway.
It was dark, and the lights were flickering.
The pathway is wide, resembling an underground sewer system.
"What the hell is this place?" Ryo remarked, immensely annoyed.
"An Underground Sewer System. Beware of the water, it's stagnant water, and this place looks like it has been abandoned for a long time." Reina remarked as she examined the water on the ground floor.
The water was almost brownish and still, void of any movements whatsoever.
"Stagnant water?"
"Basically water with some disgusting and brain-eating Amoeba."
"Sounds like fun. So, how do we get across?"
"Fly. Can you do that?"
"Of course not."
"Then-" As Reina was about to speak, they heard a thud from about, as if the door they opened suddenly closed.
Realizing what had happened, they immediately ran upstairs.
As they suspected, the door was closed. Reina tried pushing it open, but it wouldn't budge. Even with her most forceful and strongest push, nothing happened.
"So, they trapped us in here." She remarked.
"I'll try with magic," Ryo attempted to bust it open with his explosive fire. However, it didn't work. The trapdoor was covered with anti-magic spells, rendering all magic attacks useless.
"Then, I guess off to the sewers it is." Reina jokingly remarked, remaining calm despite the situation.
But despite sounding like a joke, it is a legitimate suggestion. There's no other option but to continue deeper.
With no other choice, they descended down once again with Ryo's fire serving as a light.
As they walked down, Ryo pondered deeply as to how to deal with the stagnant water.
Several things come to mind. Of course, flying is out of the question. A solution could be by making a path, or even boiling the water to the point where the bacteria and viruses are killed.
They arrived. Ryo's gaze was fixed in his surroundings. He extended his arm out to further light up the area.
Leaning on the far, edge of the walls, were two, thick, wooden planks, its width enough to serve as a pathway over the stagnant water.
And upon his calculations, he found out that the length of the planks were just enough for them to get through.
That could work.
Concluding his thoughts, he crouched down, and lit a flicker of fire on the tip of his fingers. He dropped that light of flame onto the water.
But, surprisingly, the water was surfaced with anti-magic, which means that no magic would affect the still water.
"Damn this anti-magic." Ryo cursed under his breath, as he turned his attention towards the planks.
"Onto the plank it seems," Reina said, playfully, yet calculating.
"I'll take it from here." She added.
She stepped onto the edge beside Ryo, and fixed her gaze towards the planks.
Then, she raised her hand up, and launched a bluish force towards the wall behind the planks, causing it to stumble over towards them at a reachable distance, splashing some water all around.
Ryo, using his sword, reached out, and stabbed the nearest plank, pulling it towards him.
He set it in place and stood up.
"I'll go first." Ryo initiated.
He carefully stepped on. It was firm, and solid, and wasn't moving around.
Ryo signaled Reina that it was safe. Reina smiled and carefully stepped on.
Upon reaching the end of the plank, Ryo carefully pulled the other plank with great force and set it in front of them.
As he was about to finish placing the plank, a series of thuds, resembling loud, shaking footsteps echoed.
Reina and Ryo raised their guards up. And then, at the other end of the room appearing was...
"Damn this test." Ryo cursed again under his breath,
It was a giant, humanoid, naked figure, genderless and all.
Each step he takes is slow, yet echoes with a loud thud.
"This is gonna be interesting."
Reina's heart was filled with excitement, as she was unable to contain her smile.
Dealing with this freak, while maintaining balance is going to be good.