Races: Online (VR Smartphone App)

Chapter 136: Hidden in the Secret Libary

And so once again, another searcher falls into the trap. Not too far from the first one. Though they weren't exactly reliable with the telling of the timesor perhaps they were mistaken about it. It didn't matter to them, simply an observer their days had already passed. 

A Student lay trapped within their chambers. 

Now the next searcher has come and this time there were two of them, a cloaked figure and a young man even less valuable than the first. They couldn't be bothered with that and grew unattached as the winds howled louder. The larger the number, it only meant that there were more who would crumble. In the hidden library there were two searchers who had already passed the simplest test of all. The only measure to it was their patience and they have already figured out the next part.

There was no love lost between the observer and the searchers.

Timothy beheld the portal in front of him with a frown, he hadn't noticed it but there had been the gust of wind that led to him to notice its presence. He hadn't stepped into itno paranoid man would step into the darkness without light but even as he produced the flame, the winds from within it blew it out. A shudder ran down his spine.

"There's wind there." Ellynn murmured.

He gave her a look, "I know that." The young man bit his tongue from snapping too much at her, he wasn't Han so there was no need for rudeness. Timothy was half-wondering if the Half Elf would push him into this darkness and call it the end of the day.

She shook her head. The cloak was still draping her features and so he could only see her green eyes. Glowing like a cat's. She motioned downwards, "The wind is coming up and so if we fall there I'm not sure if there's a way back up for you."

Did she really have to say it like that?

Timothy had his fair share of climbing up a tree, but this was a portal that led to somewhere else. He was no spider that could scale up walls with ease and he had no capacity for flightat least the Half Elf beside him could probably glide back up with the wind pressure. And yet he couldn't just back down and let her assume the role of the one who'd take the book, it was supposed to be his burden.

"If there's a portal back down, then there's surely one back up." Timothy bristled past her. Although the grave warning of the Illusory Mage came back to his mind, someone had already come to this place and hadn't returned at all. And yet he still had to brace himself, the bag across his shoulders felt heavy. The books would no doubt make him weigh more and he'd pummel to his death or something.

The Half Elf moved past him and perhaps there was a smile in her voice as she said, "I can go down first, perhaps I can use the winds to soften your fall."

Was that reassuring to him? Of course it was, but he still held onto his bag of books. This was his loot and payment the young man had to give it up for this mission of his. He grunted and gently placed it at a considerable distance away from the portal. "Alright, you can go ahead first." 

If she screamed then there was something there.

Looking at him one more time, the Half Elf stepped back towards the portal and then was gone. It was as if she had been consumed by the darkness, he couldn't hear anything come to his side. It seemed like this portal blocked more things than fire and light even sound. Was she already dead? It felt to him that the Illusory Mage had sent them towards a suicide mission, fully aware that there were consequences. The man tugged a couple potions away from his bag and stuffed it in his pockets. 

He gritted his teeth for a moment and then leapt towards the portal.

Bravely or stupidly that was a question that remained to be answered. He felt the wind and then the plunge as he fell for a few moments and then crashed into someone's arms. Timothy landed atop the person who had caught them, the Half Elf was no strong woman, and she had stumbled back into the groundher cloak had fallen over as he saw her face wincing. 

She had caught him.

"Why did you do that?" Timothy backed away from her and felt his skin prick up in flames. Perhaps someone like Becky would have thrown him around like a bale of hay but the woman in front of him was more blithe and willowy, she didn't have to do this. He was fine. "You could have hurt yourself you know?"

She grunted for a moment, perhaps a bit shook before she quickly pulled over her hood back. "T-The wind is dead around hereI mean, I barely controlled it. So I decided to catch you."

He wasn't going to feel too grateful about this, she was the one who owed him. Well, she owed Han the fact that she was able to get back in one piece after the incident at the city... but it would do him no good to feel indebted to her. He snapped his fingers and procured a flame in his hand, he looked around at where they were, "Thank you for catching me, but it's much better that we focus on the task we have on hand."

And where exactly were they? 

Timothy glanced at the winding hallway in front of them that cut to one clear path for them. He didn't like it one bit. He procured one more ball of fire in his other hand, the only Skill he had that was decent for attackshe probably should have brought some orange skins from the kitchen. "Let's go, but let's keep our eyes peeled open shall we."

"Okay," Ellynn answered him quietly.

The two of them travelled down the hallway with a streak of wariness that kept their gazes on every flicker that happened but there weren't actually a lot of them. It was only the two of them right now. The silence only made his heart throb louder in his eardrums. This place made him all the more wary, there was nothing alive here except for them. Not even the sight of any insects or rodents scampered across this place but it was also clean. There was something was keeping this place maintained and

Tendrils lunged for him.

He dodged and felt something cut at his cheek as he bumped towards one of the walls. A sting of pain seared his cheek as he shouted. "Duck!"

Ellynn dropped quickly as the shadowy tendril lashed above where her head was supposed to be. It would have lanced her head there and then. He bit back a curse and then threw a fire at the shadow looking object, it flinched back and revealed that it wasn't actually 'shadow' but some kind of gooey liquid thing.

It lurched towards him and then quickly recoiled as Timothy hit it square in the face with the small flame. Some of the gooey liquid dropped to the ground like a puddle. 

"Get away from there!" Ellynn shot a gust of wind above his head.

Timothy ducked away from the walls just before pure black liquid dropped down over the walls like a wave that would have swallowed him up. It was a huge mass of a black blob that had been attacking with its tendrils. He threw another ball of fire but watched it simply dissipate over its surface. He could only conjure so much fire. Did they need to make a run for? It lashed out at them and bounced backa shimmering barrier appeared in front of him.

And then it began to lash at the barrier. Pummelling it nonstop with its tendrils that now shaped itself like a hammer. 

But the barrier was holding for who knows how long?

He didn't want to know but he couldn't just sit here doing nothing either. Timothy pulled out the healing potion from his pocket and sloshed some on his face. He would try for one more fire

In an act of cowardice or something else, the thing moved into the actual shadows and darkness, quickly leaving Timothy and Ellynn together, "What was that?" He asked but he didn't need any answers as he moved slightly away from the Half Elf to give her some space. The barrier she had made was small and provided little elbow room.

That thing was a dark slime.

Timothy hadn't seen anything but the icky swamp slimes in the Enchanted Forest but it seemed pretty much like that. Now as for its elemental properties, he had not much of a clue but he wouldn't want it anywhere near him and his skin. Instead he glanced at his companion, "How long can you maintain the barrier?"

Ellynn eyed their surroundings warily, she stood up as the barrier reshaped around them. "This place isn't just controlling the wind but it seems to absorb mana here at a greater rate than other areas. I'm I think it's better to conserve mana while we're only dealing with that thing."

Only dealing with that. As if that black slime was the smallest of their worries. Well, she was far from wrong no doubtit was possible that they would encounter more. Timothy took a deep breath, what were the likelihood of this place being a dungeon? "This place there's probably no authorization from the Professors to come around here, is there?"

"I'm not sure," Ellynn answered him as she dispersed the barrier. "Perhaps? But if this was some kind of examination, then we're not supposed to be the ones taking it."

A usually quiet person was now making light conversation with him while they were stuck here. Timothy had half a mind to go all the way back up the portal but there was no turning back now the only way out for them was going forward. 

And so they did.