Races: Online (VR Smartphone App)

Chapter 141: Circles and Rounds

Within the depths of Kraelonia Academy lies a place unbeknownst to many people, forgotten in ages that had long passed before the war that brought the great hero to his mighty end. And yet until to this age and time, many are called to it but only few actually none have been chosen until this very time.

So the hidden treasure continued to be untouched.

And thus in one of the units in this place was an area that served as a containment cellthere were those who had sought but were instead brought to their ruin. Two of them were now in the cells, trapped behind bars and both carried in by the very slime that first attacked in this underground level.

"Er, you don't happen to have a flask of water on you or anything do you?" Some people had their priorities straight. When there were a couple of skeletons with you, it was easy to remember that the strongest of humans still needed to eat and drink at the end of the day.

Or perhaps in a couple of days.

It depended on the person

A soft sigh escaped Ellynn's lips as she shook her head. "No, I haven't had the chance to bring a water flask." She couldn't just stay here and hope for Timothy to come around and save her. Turning away from Theodore, she considered the cell barsand frowned, she was pretty sure that it was the slime who had put her here but it was impossible for them to contain much intelligence to form barriers.

And yet what was that curious thing?

She nearly fought back the urge to laugh. The Half Elf had already seen animals captured and trained by Beastmasters and somehow the situation they were in right now was the same. She was right, that black slime wasn't too intelligentand whoever was the one in charge of this place, well, they weren't that bright either.

Gathering the scarce winds inside this room into her hands. This kind of thing didn't exactly deplete her internal mana but it still required the consent of the winds and thankfully, it was still receptive to her call. She redirected it to the bars and watched it blast open. She heard a gasp from the other cell, "How did you open that?!"

.. .

Once again another searcher was on play right now, the observer could no longer ignore it anymore. And yet they were still unattached, if several searchers had passed through the years and found themselves unable to pass through the levelswhat were the chances of three consecutives actually arriving at the center of it all? Sooner or later, they would come to a place where they wouldn't move any further anymore.

It was amazing for Han Jing to say the least that they've stumbled upon a place like this through luck and effort on his part. And perhaps some information from a certain Wood Elf. But somehow it did make sense that someone like Ellynn would discover a secret librarya place where he and Timothy had been having trouble to find since the day they arrived here. And yet he knew where his priorities lay, despite the wonder of this place danger had come and brought her to danger.

Still he couldn't help but admire the puzzle that started with the very first entrance. Whoever thought of hiding blank books in the opposite sections and then interswitching itit was somewhat really cool. It reminded him of the games that he encountered in the past. 

Somebody cleared their throat, "Are you just going to keep staring here? You don't have much time, you need tomphp." The Mage paused for a moment, as if their lips had been zipped before continuing, "To do whatever it is that you plan to do here."

Danger surely awaited on the other side of this portal and it would really put him at ease and some advantage if there was someone with him to rescue Ellynn. Han looked at the portal in front of him and then back at the Mage, "You're really not going to come with me?"

"No." The Mage said it with a flat tone. 

"...then can you cast a Spell on me?" Han motioned to himself and waved around, "You got [ Featherfall ] or anything to use?" Looking at the portal and the wind flow, he had a hunch that it was going to be a long way down. Some kind of rabbit hole? He didn't know but it was where he was headed. The map that appeared behind the Mage made it quite clear.

The Mage gave him a dour look, "... I'm not some kind of caster for your personal use, Han."

It made him blink and he laughed sheepishly.

How embarrassing right?

His body hunched over for a moment, he doubled over as he continued to laugh but it was simply a ruse. Han pulled out the dagger from his inventory and whirled around to Mage, the blade landed at the Mage's throat. "I don't recall giving you my name."

Han may have only stayed in Kraelonia Academy for two days now, but it was quite obvious to pinpoint where the Mages were at their weakest. They were too slow to react and he took advantage of this, he dug the dagger deeper to draw some blood. His mind was clear and sharp in this momentwhoever this Mage was, be it Student or some other individual, their motives in helping him didn't make any sense at all.

.. .

Timothy went down the corridor with careful steps, the ball of fire in his hand allowed him to see but it wasn't enough to calm himself. His gaze darted once again wildly along the walls as his feet thumped on the floorhe wondered what the time was and how long had he actually been here. [ Firestarter ] lit up a small path for him, the walls were decorated with designs and arts that seemed to be ancient and much older than he could recognize.

Kraelonia Academy wasno. It wasn't the institution that was old. As far as he could recall, it was perhaps around two centuries old, but the place he was in now seemed far more ancient than that. He hadn't felt it earlier but now he was sure, this place that he was in now gave him a feeling that he was truly in a dungeon.

And yet there was no escape for him. 

He couldn't turn back at all so he moved forward. In hopes that he could find the exit? No, he needed to find the Half Elf and the title that Illusory Mage wanted. He couldn't go back empty handed. The corridors continued to stretch long and winding could he think his way through this? Where was the end of this damn thing!

"The first was that black blob slime, next we encountered a strange gas in the air and then it was that giant snake. What comes next? Was it all connected even?" Timothy chewed on his lip as he came to a halt. His situation right now, his heart pounded in his chest. 

It wasn't hard to admit that his senses had returned to normal.

His [ Class ] and [ Skills ] weren't suited for this kind of situation. He knew that very well, that was why he had wanted to have Ellynn with himand that was why he ran away in the Rockfall Village before in the face of the Gargoyles. He was no Hero. He had scorned Han for it before, for being so foolishly brave. Weren't they supposed to be at the same level? And yet it was their actions that made Han different. The way that he managed to overcome his weaknesses and lack of [ Class ] and [ Skills ], in the first place, Han had been in a much worse state than him but look where they were now?

Shouldn't Timothy be able to overcome this much at least?

The man continued to walk and ponder. Why did he exactly think it was a good thing to be here? Out of all the available [ Skills ] he had, it was only [ Firestarter ] that did him any good and that was only because his [ Class ] had risen to higher than average heights. But it had still been nothing in the face of the

He gazed up and stared at the corridors. If only to tear his mind away from his thoughts and to keep himself aware of his surroundings.The inscriptions and designs looked so old and yet they were familiar to him now. Why did it appear to him like that? He glanced behind him and found nothing but emptiness, the corridor contained nothing but him alone.

It was just him here.

What had he exactly been thinking? 

"Oh, it was about this corridor. I came here and there was that shadow slime thing and then it was the fog. Fog? No, it was a gas. [ Sharp Nose ] worked too well and I absorbed it all." He muttered to himself and he began to walk. Until he stopped and watched the fire in his hand flicker, his hand still kind of hurt. "I had forgotten about that snake. I missed the chance to cook it didn't I? Should I turn back?" He glanced at his left and right.

Both of them looked entirely the same to him. The inscriptions and designs on the wall were the same. His body was facing in this direction though so that was certainly the way. "Think and focus." He transferred the fire into one hand and slapped his face with another, "You were going this way to get the title. Concentrate."

Timothy began to walk again.