Chapter 45 - Haunted Sewers
Having rested, the trio broke camp. They finished getting ready and now needed to enter the sewers.
They mentally and physically prepared themselves for whatever lay below, knowing they would have to face it if they wanted to discover what lay at the end of this trail of signs.
"Hey, aren't you curious about what's inside the silo?" Lucan asked, but the girls just gave him a look.
"You're right, better not push our luck..."
The small redhead slung her bow, which was a bit too large, over her back. She also had a dagger in a sheath, which wasn't a card item but a regular dagger.
"Is that the dagger you found inside the Veil?" Luke asked.
"Yes. But I also found some arrows around. This dagger was in a chest; there was even food, but I didn't risk eating it..."
"Wait, there was food? This place must have been abandoned for thousands of years."
Alice listened and explained, "Magical chests not only protect the objects inside from the degradation of time but also preserve the food, though I wouldn't risk eating it. Inside magical chests, whatever is stored remains in the same state. This civilization may have fallen, but it's still possible to find these things in good condition. Besides, this city isn't very normal... I mean, it's more bizarre than usual. How does a city that rains all the time not flood? How are its structures not more degraded? The water hitting the same spot every day should, over time, start to wear down the rocks of the structures. I've even seen intact wooden houses..."
"About that," Anna reflected, "I don't know about the last part, but regarding where all the water goes… isn't there a sort of abyss in the middle of the city?"
"That's the problem..." Alice said. "The city isn't sloped, so there's no way all the water from this place naturally flows towards the abyss in the center of the capital. On the contrary, it would be strange if it didn't accumulate farther away, in the areas distant from the abyss. The city is relatively flat, and as you approach the abyss, the streets even seem to gradually rise. How does all the rainwater simply disappear into the ground? My suspicions are... exactly where we're heading."
"The sewers..." Luke understood what she meant.
"What's with that face? I'm still trying to get it, guys."
Alice decided to explain, "All this water needs to go somewhere, which means that at some point in the sewers, there's a massive constant flow of water rushing down. After all, it's the water from the entire city. This leaves us with problems because all this water might be heading to the abyss in a vast network of sewers below..."
Anna turned pale, and Luke completed the thought.
"It rains constantly. All the water from the entire city flows rapidly down here. If we fall into the water, we'll be swept away by the current to wherever that water ends up. So..."
"We could be taken straight to the abyss..." Anna finished.
Seeing Anna a bit slack-jawed, Luke reassured her, "That's just a theory. Remember, we're in a place where you found fresh food in a chest thousands of years old. We fought a monster that was a water spirit… logic doesn't really apply in this world."
"True..." Anna agreed, but she still didn't look very reassured.
They drank some water from the canteen and then headed toward the sewers.
In front of the large iron staircase that descended into a dark hole, the trio exchanged looks.
"Relax," Luke said as he took his torch and tossed it into the hole.
The torch fell and soon hit the ground. With the area below them illuminated, they could see it was a small cavern. They descended quietly, not wanting to attract anything that might be lurking below.
Looking in all directions, they realized they were in a network of tunnels.
"They're all dark..." Anna whispered.
"There are three tunnels," Alice pointed out, holding the torch.
The three tunnels sloped down like giant slides, descending deeper into the earth.
"Damn..." Luke stared at the three massive openings, unable to discern anything.
"We'll have to choose," Alice was the first to say.
"Can we come back?" Anna asked, glancing at the descent.
Placing his hand on the floor inside the tunnel, Luke reflected. "Maybe. The little moss here isn't too slippery. The problem is we don't know how steep it gets. I don't want to slide into a free fall into an endless abyss."
At another time, he wouldn't have dared to scare the small redhead, but here it was a matter of life and death.
Throwing the torch down the tunnel, it slid and began to fall, eventually hitting a curve far below. Before it disappeared, Luke dismissed it so he wouldn't lose it.
He repeated the process in all the tunnels, and each one had the same curve.
Alice drove her sword into the ground and tested it. "I can hold on if I need to come back."
Strong... definitely a Transmitter.
Anna drew her dagger and tried to stab it into the ground. She failed the first time, but on the second try, the dagger managed to go in a little.
Luke had his knife, but he pondered for a moment.
"We won't be able to do this if it gets steeper and we end up with a free fall."
Alice sighed and agreed.
She put her foot into the tunnel and started to slide down slowly.
"I'll go check until the curve... throw me the torch."
This could work; she's better than me, and using that thunder power of hers, she could come back easily... wait, it won't work.
"You can't do that; you plan to use the same method I did and throw the torch, right?"
She nodded.
"And how will I know when to dismiss the torch and pull it back into my prana? Plus, the curve is too far; it's already risky for me to lose the ability to dismiss the item... and you'll be throwing it down the tunnel at the curve. Too risky."
Alice thought for a moment and agreed.
Too bad I don't have a prana channel to transfer the possession of a card.
"Maybe... maybe I should go," Luke said.
"Are you sure? If you slip down the tunnel..."
My humble knife won't have the strength if I seriously slip into a fall... depending on the speed, of course. In general, with my strength, I could manage...
"I have my intangibility. As long as I'm near a wall, I can cancel my fall... I think."
Without further delay, Luke stepped into the first tunnel and began to slide down slowly. He descended carefully. It wasn't too steep yet, but he didn't want to risk going down standing. Taking advantage of the moss, he just let his weight slide, occasionally stopping with his foot.
Reaching the curve, he held onto the wall and braced his feet. Summoning his torch, he looked into the darkness ahead and threw it. The torch slid down, eventually falling into a hole. When he saw the torch disappear, he quickly dismissed it to avoid losing it.
"I'll be right back."
Luke, bracing himself against the wall, slowly slid towards the enormous black hole.
I must be going crazy…
His body shivered as he got closer. As a precaution, he drove his dagger into the ground and held on with all his might. Summoning the torch, as soon as he held it and leaned into the hole, he could hear something.
"Water."