"An impenetrable barrier of fluff..." I muttered while staring at a wall of Neritantan stopping us from progressing. "Uhh, Marulk, analysis?"
Marulk smiled and start petting the fluffy wall. "Can't we look for another way? They only do this when threatened so there might be something bad waiting behind them," he said.
I blinked owlishly for a moment. The fluffy barrier stood no chance against my punch obviously, but I decided to trust Marulk and look for another path. "There, what about that?" I asked him while pointing at a narrow hole beside us that's quite hidden in the dark.
Marulk looked at the hole through his goggles. "This hole is very deep, it is at least a two hundred meters down."
"Welp, what else are we waiting for?" I grabbed Marulk's hand and start dragging him into the hole.
"Wa-wait! No, Haios-san, it's too... AAAH!" The two of us dropped down the hole and descended deeper and deeper down into the Abyss. "Can't you at least tie a rope first?" Marulk exclaimed after regaining his bearings.
I shrugged and start dragging my pickaxe to slow our descent. "It's a waste of rope," I replied simply. "Besides, it's not like we're in any danger right?"
Marulk put on his goggles and looked down. "I guess you're right, there's nothing waiting for us down there." Then he looked at me with a deadpan look. "But you seriously need to stop this reckless attitude, there are fate worse than death."
"Fine, you're right..." I looked down for a moment. "Also, how long are we gonna..."
My words were cut short when the cave suddenly opened and we found ourselves plummeting to the ground below. I quickly embraced Marulk and positioned myself to the ground to break his fall.
'Thump'
We landed not-so gently at the bottom of the pit. Right in front of us is a hole that led back to the Great Fault. "We should be much deeper now..." I stood up from my position and walked towards the opening. "Hey, Marulk, look!"
I pointed at a huge ship that somehow stranded in the middle of the shaft. "What is a ship doing down here!?" I exclaimed in disbelief.
Marulk looked at the ship for a moment. "It's a common knowledge actually, this ship has been part of the third layer for so long that it's even written on the map," he explained. "As for the ship's origin and how it can get here, is still up for debate."
I aimed my grappling hook gun towards the ship. "Hey, let's go there, aren't you curious?"
"It's a Madokajack's breeding ground," then he looked up in confusion. "Or is it Crimson Splitjaw's lair? I can't remember, but it says so in the..." his words faltered when he realized that I already shot the grappling hook. "Why am I not surprRIIISEED!!!"
The two of us soared through the Great Fault once again. The winds are much more manageable than the one in the upper levels. All around us, the Madokajacks are already closing in but since the ship is pretty big, we managed to land on it before any of the beast can get to us.
Then I brandished my knife and lunged towards the nearest monster. I stabbed it between its eyes before jumping back to the ship. I can see Marulk waving at me from an opening on the ship deck and I wasted no time jumping into it.
With a resounding thud, the two of us landed inside the dark ship interior. All around us are broken egg shells and corpses of unknown creatures. There's also remnants of whistles and relics all around us.
"Haios, over here." Marulk called out behind me. I turned around and found him escaping through small opening that led to the cave system. "It's very dangerous here, we have to get out of here quick."
I was tempted to take his warning and do the opposite, but then he grabbed my hand and start pulling me into the Neritantan's crawl hole. "Okay, I'm assuming that this is a much bigger threat than usual?"
Marulk nodded hastily and quickly took out a vial full of Amakagame juice. "I just remembered, there's a queen Madokajack lurking this area..." He threw the vial and splashed it on the opening. A dozen or so Neritantans appeared out of nowhere and start blocking the entrance. "It can utilize human female as seedbed."
I looked at the fluffy barrier that just formed behind us. "Fate worse than death, a bit too soon don't you think?"
"Let's continue Haios-san, it's not safe here."
We continued our way deeper down through the third layer of the abyss. The pirate ship behind us left forgotten for the sake of our safety and sanity.
[LINE BREAK]
It's been two days since our descent and I am getting very, very bored. The goblets of giants are now just barely visible below us and I would've jump if it weren't for Marulk and his common sense.
"Look, it's only what? A few hundred meters down?" I asked as we crawled down the cave system with the fluffy army. "Come on! Let's hike down! You're a hiking expert right? I mean, I saw you hiking down a hundred meters rock in just five seconds!" I exclaimed, hoping that my flattery will get me somewhere.
Marulk wouldn't budge however he kept pressing on through the narrow crawlspace with his goggles. "Your curse is not an excuse to be suicidal," he stated in an uncharacteristically calm and stern voice.
I sighed in frustration. "I'm not suicidal! I have no intention to end my life, I'm just trying out all the different possibilities!"
Then, Marulk stopped moving. Slowly turned around and gave me a deathly glare that I've never thought he's capable of. "Haios, have you ever took a moment to consider why your power is a curse instead of a blessing?" he spoke in a tone that reminds me of who he has been living with his whole life.
"Umm... Because it sounded cooler that way?" that was an honest answer.
Marulk shook his head and sat down. "No, I've thought about it..." he motioned me to sit down next to him in this tight corner of the abyss. "Your power, it removes all sense of meaning in your life. The more you use it, the less you value your life in general..."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it Haios..." he sighed and took out his pickaxe. "How long do you think until you try to kill me out of boredom?"
I narrowed my eyes after hearing that. "I'm not gonna do that! You're my friend!"
Marulk looked at me dead in the eyes. "Yet here you are wanting to jump off a cliff out of sheer boredom."
"Well it's different..."
"A dozen more death and you'll throw yourself into the maws of every beast out of curiosity."
I had nothing to say about that, the act of losing in battle to see what happened has always been in the back of my mind.
"A hundred more deaths and you will lose all sense of commitment, connection, and value over things that truly matter," his gaze faltered and he slowly looked down. "Just... how... long... until you see me as nothing more but a subject of your amusement?"
Shivers ran down my spines after hearing that. For once in the longest time I truly felt afraid. Afraid of what I could truly become. Scared of what this curse will reduce me into. Horrified of what will happen to Marulk after all this.
"Okay, okay, I'm not jumping down."
Marulk shook his head, not finished with his nightmare fuel. "Haios-san... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for telling you this..." he held my hands and looked at me with that gentle stare of his. "I just realized why Lord Ozen wanted me to come with you. It's not because she wanted me to protect you. It's because she wanted me to protect everything else from you..."
My heart skipped a beat and I'm starting to fear for my life.
"Your power lets you grow indefinitely, who knows what will happen if you try descending down here on your own?" Marulk let go of me and wiped his tears off his face. "Just looking at you right now, killing everything that gets in your way, forcing your dominance over all creatures."
"What will become of you once you reached the bottom?" Marulk chuckled mirthlessly. "With your power, I imagine you took your time mastering every creatures and discovering every nook and cranny of the Abyss. Uncovering every secret that the Abyss has to offer."
"Then, when you're tired of the Abyss... Perhaps the world will be your next playground... You don't have to care about consequences, you're above consequences. You're above time, life, death, and the Abyss itself. At that moment, you don't have to think of anything else but having fun."
Marulk ended his speech, leaving me alone with a huge revelation that makes the prospect of continuing my journey sounds infinitely more terrifying. Just imagining myself turning into some sort of a twisted deity who thinks the world as nothing more but their playground.
"Marulk, I'm scared..." I took a deep breath and hugged him close. "No joke, I'm very, very scared..." I can feel something wet trickling down my cheek. I found myself close to crying, something that I haven't done in a long time. "You're right... I need you, I really need you to protect me from myself..."
A soft hand wiped the tears of my cheek. I looked up and saw Marulk smiling encouragingly. "Haios... I love you. No matter what happens, I promise I will keep you from descending even further. I promise I will remind you just how precious life can be," he gently kissed my forehead, replacing every feeling of terror with hope and comfort. "That's my promise Haios, so please, never stop trusting me all right?"
I took a deep breath and smiled at him. "Marulk, if my power is a curse, just know that your existence is a blessing."
With that, the two of us just sat there, enjoying each other's warmth in a dark corner of this bottomless Abyss.