For the next few days, Marulk took care of me. Everyday, whenever he's not running errands for Ozen, he's always right beside me.
[Author's Note: If you are reading this, I failed to retrieve the original manuscript. This part is just redacted and I think my past self failed to write it down??? Hopefully you don't read this, but if you do, give me a holler. Thanks]
…
And that's how Marulk and I found ourselves being left alone at the bottom of the second layer, at the opposite edge from the Seeker Camp. Armed with a pickaxe, a new machete, and my grappling hook gun; the two of us are forbidden to return until we get ourselves a third grade artifact.
"So uhh… that went out much differently than I imagined." I muttered to myself as the two of us took shelter inside a cave. "But hey! Consider this a chance to prove ourselves to Lord Ozen, so chin up. We'll get ourselves a third grade relic in no time!"
Marulk on the other hand seemed to be taking in the situation much more calmly than I imagined. Though, judging by how he's close to crushing my fingers, I'm just going to assume that he is pretty nervous.
"Let's go Haios-san…" Marulk said, leading me deeper part of the cave. "It's been a while since my last dive so it might take a while to find my bearings. Also, watch your voice, we don't know what's listening."
Now this is the Marulk I've been looking for. Calm, cool, composed, and fearless. A true apprentice of the Immovable…
"Aah!" Marulk suddenly hugged me tight and closed his eyes in panic. "I saw something!"
I looked at the thing that spooked him up. "It's a skeleton."
"It's a skeleton." Marulk replied, still freaked out.
"It's just a skeleton."
"It's just a skeleton…" Marulk repeated before catching his breath and opening his eyes. "You're right, it's just a skeleton. Sorry for overreacting."
I nodded understandingly. "No problem, still getting your bearings right?"
"Still getting my bearings…"
"Can you let go of me now?"
Marulk quickly let go of me and took a deep breath. "Sorry, let's continue."
"Let's continue."
With that little shock out of the way, the two of us ventured deeper into the cave. This time, I'm at front, hacking and slicing anything that are just wrong to look at. Which are basically every living creatures in this cavern.
Soon, the plant life around us starts getting more and more sparse. The dirt floor below us turned harder and smoother as if we're entering a building.
"Okay, this is new…" I muttered while gazing upon a gigantic double gate of a temple of some sort. "Has anyone ever raid this one?"
Marulk shook his head. "We're at the furthest part of the second layer. Even the bandits seldom scout this area," he walked closer towards the giant gate and noticed a lever near the entrance. "Lord Ozen should be strong enough to open this gate."
I smirked and crackled my fist. "Well she's not the only one with a superhuman strength." I grab hold of the lever handle and took a deep breath. "Here goes something!"
With my newfound strength, I tapped into the inner power of the artifact to move this lever. It budged a little before slowly turning down.
Soon, the loud mechanical whirring of an ancient structure filled the whole area. I quickly walked back towards Marulk and stood in front of him. "Okay, any idea what's waiting for us in there?" I asked him. "Aside from certain death of course."
Marulk shook his head. "I think we should go back. I've never raid a temple before…"
I shook my head and walked towards the gate. The flashlight on my hat illuminating a huge stone corridor that stretches deep into the cavern. "Wow, we are either very lucky or extremely screwed. In another words, let the adventure begins!"
The two of us held each other's hand and stepped into the temple. All around us are hundreds upon hundreds of small holes lining up on the walls.
"Hey Marulk, have you ever had that feeling when you feel fine but you're actually seconds away from death?" I commented as the two of us gets closer to the end of the temple.
Marulk shook his head in slight fear. "What are you talking about Haios?"
I pointed towards my chest area. "Look at my chest and do not panic."
The boy looked at my chest and he dropped his pickaxe in shock. He put a hand over his mouth and tears start welling up in his eyes. "Wh-what? Wh-when? How?"
A giant blade lodged itself from my back and pierced through my chest area. It stabbed through my spine and heart so I didn't feel a thing. Thankfully, it didn't hit my lungs so I can still talk.
"Now, don't worry, I still have a few minutes left thanks to the pins." I quickened my pace through the temples. "My hypothesis is that this temple is riddled with traps but most were old and jammed. I was lucky enough to get caught in one of the functioning ones."
"Wh-where are you going? We have to go back, you need help!" Marulk desperately pulled my arm, trying to stop me. "No! Haios please!"
I made it to the end of the corridor seconds later. Another double door stood in front of us. "Don't worry Marulk, I just have to figure out how to deactivate all the traps," I coughed up some blood and held on to a wall for support. "Look around, see if you can find anything."
Marulk took a deep breath and looked around. "I-I found something…" he said from behind me.
"Relative to the entrance, is it on the right side or left side?" I said with the last of my strength.
"Right…"
I smiled and let myself drop down to the floor. The giant blade on my chest hit the floor and shattered my centrum. "Okay Marulk, I know that… this will sound really… crazy, but…" I coughed up some more blood. "Can you please slit my throat with my machete? It's getting really uncomfortable…"
Marulk dropped down beside me. "N-no please, Haios…" he starts sobbing in grief and hugged my body tightly. "Don't leave me… please, I beg you… I can't…"
"I won't die… I can't die…" I whispered with the last of my strength. "That's my curse, so please, Marulk. Just end me here and…" I lifted my hand and gently wiped the tears off his face. "I promise, we'll meet again…"
The boy nodded and grabbed my machete. He lifted it up above my head and everything goes black.