Questionable things happened every now and then in this dungeon, but none felt out of order to her. It was highly expected that she would find a note or at least a solid clue inside a run down car, but the it was odd enough to consider that it wasn't in a common place like inside the bonnet or stuck on the steering wheel.
Aefia picked out the piece of paper from inside the broken dashboard and read the bright yellow letters on the ivory paper. This contrast is killing my eyes. No person or Guardian in their right minds would do such a thing, even for themselves. She thought with a irritated face while tapping on the screen in front of her.
Knock, knock!
[Whose there?🥸]
Who else? I just need a work done because I am a bit lazy to.
[What is it?🥸 Hold on, let me get these glasses off.]
Read the note written in this piece of parchment. Its killing my eyes and I don't want to lose my vision at this age.
[I hate you! Seriously! I am not doing that.😠]
Then at least say what this thing even is. It says here, the bright yellow elixir.
[There are literally so many bright yellow elixirs. Which one is it? Maybe try sniffing? After that, describe to me what it smells like.😴]
You can't just think about sleeping, we are doing something important here! And oh! Right! How did I forget you are of no help! Nevermind, just go back to sleep. I can figure the rest out. Sorry, I was just a bit tired and lazy.
[Is that supposed to be a criticism or a statement? Anyway, good luck with your work.😴]
After the last message, Aefia shut off the screen and test the ink. She brought it closer to her nose and smelled an awful amount of scent at once. At first, the scent was so strong, it almost made her feel dizzy, but by time, it came down to a neutral tone and the ingredients were much more clear.
This is disgusting! It smells like rotting fruits! I will just leave her lady to find it out. My mental energy is useless. Even thinking makes my mind go foggy, I think I am just sleepy...but the only problem, I can't sleep and leave only two people to work on this stage, it would be considered cheating.
She looked up towards where the rest of the team members were. Helio was obviously unconscious and pale, her lady's son was also searching the place and her lady was making some sort of new potion or chemical.
That old lady really knows how to spend her time with the things she loves doing, despite it being quite the situation around here. If she is currently creating a potion which would be able to escort us all to the exit, I would very much appreciate her doings. But exactly how can a potion work like that? By infecting the ground and turning it alive?
She walked slowly and quietly, towards her lady to get a hint of what she was doing. Wait, there is a mother and son combo here...if I am to cause just anyone stress, the other is going to attack me. So why don't I let her do whatever she wants and I can select a new thing to pursue doing? This elixir or whatsoever, it isn't going to be able to boost mental energy, so why bother asking about it?
And...Aefia looked towards the hallway she and Helio had come running from. I have the freedom to look around. So maybe I will have a little exploration of this part of the dungeon before going to the next part.
Without hesitation, she took steps towards the entrance. Suddenly, a tap was felt on her shoulder and she abruptly turned around. "You are not going alone, are you?" Her lady asked with a test tube in one hand.
"No, I was going to go alone. I just wanted to check the entrance to this dungeon, the one which allowed us in this underground palace. Why? Would it be a problem?" Aefia asked back with beads of sweat appearing in her forehead. Shoot! Does she suspect me already?
"Oh...well in that case, are you going to leave us with your teammate here, to take a thorough look around?" Her lady asked with a pleasant smile while shaking the contents inside the test tube. "And I almost forgot. If you are gone, and your teammate is already up, do we send him to your location?"
"Thank you for your suggestions, but I will be having some things done in the meantime and it would be better done alone. But you can do a close search around this place while I am gone. And there is no need to send another person after me, it would be a disadvantage for both of our teams." She explained.
"Sure, I will make sure to do so." Her lady replied as she turned around to continue her chemical reactions. Aefia spun on her heels, and faced the dark passage that she had come running from. With a flick of her sword, a bright orange row of fire appeared and she walked out of the room. The darkness and void made Aefia slightly paranoid and the chill weather made her shiver, making her think whether this was a mistake to try and explore a haunted cave all by herself. But then, she remembered that there were swords and knives and bows in this reality.
The stone hallway was a very long and dark place that felt like it went on forever. The floor was made of old, gray stones that were uneven and had many small cracks. Tiny pieces of broken rocks were scattered all over the ground, making it look like no one had cleaned it in a long time. But then, Aefia thought, how would just anyone clean.
Everything was covered in a deep blue light that made the hallway look very cold and quiet, which was the reason she felt chilly. Huge spider webs hung from the tall ceiling and reached down to touch the walls. It was a place where the air was very still.
Tall stone pillars stood in a straight line along the left side of the hallway. These pillars had beautiful carvings at the very top, but they were mostly hidden by the thick white webs. Between the pillars, there were no walls, so Aefia could look out into the whirlpool of flowing unsettled magic, still taking affect over this place.
The whirlpool was formed by a waterfall, which flowed from a small crack in the dungeon floor. That waterfall, from the distance that Aefia was standing, felt like a wave of glitter falling. Apparantly, magic was supposed to be something as shiny as glitter, so she disregarded the fact. The odd thing was, a drop of magic was like a speck of glitter, so this stared that the dungeon had a continuous supply of magic from an unknown source.
On the right side, the wall was made of solid gray stone that looked very strong and old. There were no doors at all to be seen along the entire length of the hall, but she already knew there was a dead end. This made the long path feel like a strange tunnel with no way to get out.
Instead of a normal sky, like the once she had seen until now, the view between the pillars showed a deep blue space filled with stars. Bright blue lines connected the stars to make beautiful shapes like constellations. They gave off a soft blue light that reached into the hall and made the shadows look very dark. It was a very pretty sight, but it also felt very lonely because the stars were so far away and silent, making her aware about her surroundings.
On the stone walls, there were old metal candle holders that held small white candles. These candles did not have orange or yellow flames like a normal fire. Instead, they had tiny blue and green flames that flickered very slowly. The light from these candles were very weak and failed to make the hallway feel warm.
Until now, the flames looked more like magic than real fire, which explained why they didn't have the properties of a real fire. They cast a strange glow on the thick spider webs, making them look like soft silk curtains. Everything in the hallway seemed to be under a magic spell that kept it frozen, and it was obvious that it was coming from the whirlpool.
Many old things were left on the floor of the hallway as if they had been there for a few years only. There were several old suitcases made of brown wood and leather. One of the suitcases was wide open, and it was filled with hundreds of small gray stones.
A very tall wooden clock stood against one of the pillars. The clock was much taller than a person and had a round face with black numbers. The hands of the clock were not moving at all. It seemed as if time itself had stopped inside this long, blue hallway.
The hallway was very long and seemed to disappear into a thick gray mist at the very end. Because there were no visible doors or windows, the path just kept going and going. The roof was shaped like an arch, which made the space feel very big and empty.
Even though there were no people or animals, the hallway felt like it was full of old stories. It was a beautiful but very mysterious place that felt quite intimidating.
The air inside the hall smelled like old dust and cold stone, mixed with a faint scent of something better, like dried flowers.
There was a very strange sound that filled the empty space. Every few seconds, the sound of a single footstep would ring out against the hard stone floor. The sound was loud and clear, and it would echo back and forth between the walls and the pillars. Even though no one was walking there, the echoing footsteps made it seem like someone was following a long way behind. It was a lonely, tapping sound that never seemed to stop, and it wasn't Aefia's.
With the feeling of being watched or followed by an unwanted being, she sped up. The footsteps obviously didn't belong to Helio, her lady or her son, so it must mean there were spirits following her, curiously. She stayed calm and continued taking a closer look and suddenly, her eyes diverted to a small shimmering jewel at the corner of a pillar.
Greenish hues with bluish tones, an emerald? Or maybe a sapphire due to the lighting. But is it a necessasity to actually take a closer look? Well, I can try and see what it does. I am just curious, no one would bring their jewelry underground, or would they? Actually, it can't just be a jewel, it must be some sort of magic stone.
She picked it up and took a closer look at the sigil. It was a complex, luminous emblem, which supposedly would either belong to Guardians or Kings and Queens. Featuring a central roaring lion's head with glowing blue eyes and a flowing mane. Directly beneath the lion, a dagger was entwined by a coiled serpent, its body forming a rhythmic, braided pattern around the blade. This central imagery was framed by a double bordered circular frame, the inner circle consisted of sharp, thorn like spikes pointing inward, while the outer ring was a wide band filled with the seven virtues of the seven Guardians, inscriptions that glow with a pale celestial light.
At the very top of the circular border sat a radiant sun or moon symbol, casting thin rays of light downward to crown the lion. Which very indirectly stated, that this is the ownership stone for the new owner of this unclaimed world. Without thinking twice, Aefia pocketed the beautiful stone and walked away like nothing happened.
But then, the ceiling above her shook violently as she panicked whether to walk or run, whether to go back or run straight. She looked both ways, before continuing her way forward. A thought entered her mind, that shoke her nerves. What about the others? Am I going to leave them to die?
[I was thinking that your mind was still too foggy to think, but maybe you really are a little too lazy with the right energy levels.🙂 But let me tell you, do you feel like footsteps approaching?]
I can sense footsteps from both directions. But they all just could be from above! And could this be because of this stone?!
[The stone has nothing to do with alerting nearby entities. Just think clearly, do you feel like there are footsteps coming from your left or right?]
Aefia shut her eyes to concerntrate on the direction when the shakings stopped. Right, and I am facing the whirlpool.
[Then turn left. Do you hear sounds coming from your left or right?]
She spun around to face the exit of the passageway, the one where she came from while running towards the room earlier. Right from the front.
[Then here is a mission from me to you...stop them. Your time limit is exactly twenty minutes.]
Then what?
[Then you get the others out of here.]
Aefia stared at the approaching creatures. These are the smaller versions of the ones we faced in the first stage! So how do I stop them?! Killing them would transport them to the boss stage.
[Not everything has just one solution. You will be able to think up something, so just stop them. If you want, I can grant you extra strength.]
Just don't even try! Aefia threw a flying arrow at the ceiling above the first monster's head. Whether I stay alive or forget my memories like the last time, it's all questionable.