Suddenly, Sylas' surroundings changed again. Instead of complete darkness, he seemed to be standing in a somewhat darkened room, lit only by a few glowing blue stones.
Sylas knew that time was of the essence. About 10 seconds of his lucky state had already passed. He could check his affinity later, it was time to abuse his luck.
Looking around, he noticed that he was in a closed cave that was expanding behind him, it seemed like there was only one way out.
On the ground, there were some glowing rocks that seemed to be emitting a high amount of energy, as well as a ring that seemed to be of high quality. Being extremely lucky right now, he knew he couldn't just walk past them, so he picked up everything he could see.
Eventually, he just ran in the only possible direction. The ground was relatively smooth and even, so he didn't have to worry about his footing. Along the way, he came across a few more of those blue rocks, all of which he picked up. Unfortunately, his pockets were only so big and he couldn't carry them all.
After about 30 seconds of running, there was a relatively large opening in the usually narrow tunnel. This whole room was so bright that Sylas had seen the light about 10 seconds ago. The reason for this were the walls, which were completely made of the blue stone he had picked up earlier.
He knew that if it had any value, he had basically just found a gold mine. As long as there hadn't been a human to claim this cave yet.
Suddenly, something else caught Sylas' eye, a white, perfectly round pearl in the middle of the cave. It even sat on a small pedestal and seemed to be calling out to him.
He slowly approached the object, looking out for any traps the owner might have set to protect it. But he wasn't completely careful, trusting in his luck, which was beyond the limits of this universe.
This turned out to be a mistake, as the ground beneath him suddenly caved in, causing him to fall at least two meters.
The moment he landed on the ground below him, it collapsed again, causing him to fall once more. The only problem was that he was now trapped inside a small tube-like structure, leaving him no room to stand up. Fortunately, the floor was extremely smooth, allowing Sylas to slide down, almost like on a playground.
At the moment he was trapped at least several meters underground, which made him feel slightly claustrophobic. He felt like one of those sick cavers from Earth who pushed their bodies through narrow tunnels only to get stuck and die. The whole ordeal was extremely frightening to him.
He slid down this way for at least 10 seconds, having no real control over his body, before he was finally spat out into a much larger room.
This room was slightly smaller than the last one, about 10 by 10 meters. As Sylas looked around, he could see a table with some strange contraptions and research equipment on it. There was even a small chair, almost as if a person lived here, or had once lived here.
"Ahhhh," Sylas suddenly screamed in fright as a human mummy sat on a meditation cushion in the middle of the room.
She looked like an old woman with white hair and age spots covering her face and body. Her skin was practically touching her bones, which made her look like a mummy.
"She probably passed away here a long time ago, resulting in her current appearance. But how come her body isn't rotting?" Sylas wondered aloud. He couldn't see any preservatives keeping the body intact, and it wasn't cold enough to freeze it completely.
As Sylas stepped closer to inspect the body, the mummy suddenly opened her eyes, sending a shockwave out of her body and hurling Sylas to the other end of the room. His body shook from the impact as he slowly slid down the wall, he could even feel his internal organs vibrating.
"The audacity of today's youth. Breaking into my seclusion just to curse me to death. Have you no respect for the elderly? Tell me your last words, for I will see to it that you enter the afterlife before me, mortal boy." An old female voice suddenly rang in Sylas' head.
"H-How are you speaking in my head? And how are you even alive with your body?" Sylas asked in confusion as the woman he saw before him defied all laws of science.
"So those were your last words? Prepare to die now!" The mummy spoke in a menacing voice as a huge fireball suddenly appeared in her right hand. Sylas could feel the heat burning his skin, even from a few feet away. The energy inside must be massive.
His mind was filled with fear and began to shut down, causing him to act purely on instinct. His will to survive was so great that he somehow caused the invisible mana particles of a certain element in the air to fly in front of him, almost as if he wanted to shield his body.
Of course, this would do nothing to stop or even hinder the immense fireball in front of him, but it was noticed by the old women.
‚Interesting, I haven't seen such a strong Space Affinity in a long time. But why does it feel slightly different than usual? Eh, it doesn't matter. This will be a good seedling.'
"I've changed my mind. I won't kill you." The old skeleton-like women suddenly said, causing Sylas to become extremely confused.
"You won't? Thank you very much. I'm sorry to have offended you. I will leave immediately." Sylas didn't quite understand why she had made this decision, but since he didn't want her to change her mind, he quickly apologized and tried to make his way to the slide.
"Not so fast. Of course there is a condition." Sylas face fell again. Of course there was a condition, why else would she let him go.
"Don't worry, it's nothing too hard. You just have to join my magic tower."
"What magic tower?" Sylas asked her, he hadn't even heard of a magic tower.
"It's called the Nightshade Tower. I'm one of their Supreme Elders and they are the largest organization on this continent.
When Sylas heard her offer, he immediately wanted to agree, but he held himself back. Of course it would be good to join such a great force, as they could protect him and allow him to grow stronger much faster, but he didn't know anything about them yet.
"Why do you want me to join your tower all of a sudden?" Sylas asked cautiously.
"It's obviously because of your high affinity for space. After all, it's a perfect match for the members of my tower. Of course, there will also be some benefits if you agree to join."
Sylas thought about it quickly. This offer seemed almost too good to be true. He didn't really know why she was offering this, but it seemed like he had gained the space affinity from the human affinity card.
"What benefits?" Sylas asked with an excited look on his face, but he was faking it. He wanted her to think that he was completely taken in by her plans.
"You may choose one of the three meditation techniques in front of me." She replied.
Sylas was about to question her sanity as there was nothing in front of him, but at that moment, three clear crystal balls suddenly appeared in front of her. They were all extremely beautiful and clear, but of the three, the one on the right stood out the most.
"These are high-level meditation techniques that I have acquired on my journey. From left to right, they are the King Grade Space Destruction Manual, which focuses on extreme attack power, the King Grade Space Movement Technique, which grants unparalleled speed, and the alleged Chaos Grade Void Scripture."
"The first two are my personal recommendations. The last one is a bit dubious, as I've never heard of the grade before, and it not only talks about an element I've never heard of, but also requires an impossibly high affinity to that element. I just picked it up somewhere one day, but it's still somewhat useful to get inspiration for the Space Element."
The old women continued to explain, but Sylas had honestly stopped listening. For some reason, he was inexplicably drawn to the last technique, his every instinct telling him to acquire it.
‚Is that why my luck brought me here? I can feel it, no matter what this mummy asks of me, I have to agree.'
"I choose the last technique. I feel like we are fated." Sylas said with a slight smile on his face.
"Are you sure? You may not know what King-Grade means, but the other two manuals are at the top of this world and actually work, unlike the one you want to choose." The old woman tried to convince him, but Sylas' mind was made up.
Seeing that he wouldn't budge, she simply let the crystal ball float towards him with a sigh.
"Such a shame. A high-level memory orb and a talent like yours, both wasted on this crappy technique. But it's your choice."
The moment Sylas held the crystal in his hand, the woman also threw a black card with golden inscriptions at him, which landed right in his pocket. Then she teleported him away again.
"Remember to come to my magic tower. You still owe me a favor."
With that, Sylas had finally left the cave.