Maximus continued trying to swim upwards, but every effort was in vain. Despite the determination he had gathered after days of trying, his new body was incapable of floating. It was heavy, rigid, and every time he moved his limbs, the Inferi surrounding him reacted with unsettling movements, stirring at the touch. Panic overtook him at first. The desperation of being trapped there, surrounded by those corpses that seemed alive, made him want to thrash about wildly, but he knew that would only make things worse.
With great effort, he forced himself to calm down. He took a deep breath, though he didn't feel the oxygen entering his body the same way as before. It was more of a reflex, an attempt to steady his mind. As he concentrated, he tried to understand the limits of his new form. He began a deep introspection, trying to analyze his body. He knew he was no longer human, but he realized something else: his new body was incredibly resilient. Although his skin was pale and dead, the muscles underneath seemed hardened, as if death had given him a different kind of strength, superior to what he had in life.
That's when an idea emerged in his mind: if he couldn't swim to the surface because of his weight, maybe he could dig. Perhaps, beneath the lake, he could find a way out of this hell. Carefully, Maximus positioned himself on the lakebed, making sure not to disturb the Inferi around him too much. Slowly, he began to dig into the muddy, rocky ground beneath his feet. His hands, despite their stiffness, were surprisingly strong, allowing him to tear through chunks of earth with ease.
He advanced slowly, calculating every movement to avoid causing a collapse in the lakebed or awakening the nearby corpses. Every fragment of rock and soil he dislodged, he threw aside with precision, carefully covering the other inert bodies. He knew he couldn't allow those Inferi to awaken, or all his efforts would be in vain.
For what felt like an eternity, Maximus kept digging. He had no clear direction, only the knowledge that he had to keep moving forward. The tunnel he was forming was narrow, dark, and every movement was a physical and mental effort. Sometimes he doubted whether he had made the right decision, but he had no other choice. After a time he could no longer measure, his hands struck something different: a harder rock, an impenetrable barrier. He tried to break it with all his strength, but not even his death-hardened body could make a dent in that wall. Frustrated, he stopped.
With no other options, he decided to change direction. If he couldn't go down, he would have to go up. Slowly, he began digging at an upward slope. The process was just as arduous, but this time there was a new determination in him. He knew the only way out was on the surface.
Finally, after an endless effort, his hands broke through the upper layer. Small pieces of rock crumbled as his body finally emerged from the lake. He had dug a winding tunnel that led him to a small beach by the lake's shore. The air, though cold, didn't affect him. He looked around, observing the unknown, desolate landscape. A dark shore, with calm water, and beyond, only rocks.
At that moment, he saw the flash. It was the same light he had seen in the depths, the one that appeared only sporadically. This time, he saw it clearly, and as he looked up, he realized where it was coming from. He was inside a massive cavern, an immense space mostly covered by the lake where he had been trapped. In the center of the lake, he saw a small island, and in the middle of that island, a pedestal that seemed to be illuminated by the same flash he had been following for so long.
The glow slowly faded, leaving him once again in the dimness of the cavern. There was nothing else around that he could identify. Only the surrounding rock, the small beach, and the vast lake that had held him for so long. The water was calm, but he knew that beneath its surface rested the army of Inferi.
Maximus stood contemplating his next move. He had managed to escape the bottom, but now, faced with the vastness of the cavern, he wondered what his next step would be.