Chapter 16: part 1

Skydiving…what a wonderful experience. Just imagine it. Sure it could be terrifying at first but gradually the thrill arises and the bliss assaults your very being. The peace that abounds from the beautiful scenery, the world below is wide and enchanting. The air rushing against your free spirit is mesmerising and you can't help but scream joyfully because the courage you mustered up to perform this feat of yours wasn't in vain. You conclude that you'll probably remember this experience for the rest of your life.

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"SHIT! THIS IS THE WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY EXISTENCE!!!!!!!"

      Alsi yelled out loud as he fell to his fiery doom. He just contrasted his memory of skydiving with this very moment and he suddenly missed his old life. This was nothing but a horrid nightmare that began the moment he woke up. Just imagine it, waking up to a nightmare. Now he fears waking up to some butt naked man-eating giants the next time he blinks.  The heat became more intense and Alsi had no idea what he had to do to get out of this situation. 

      He closed his eyes and said softly…

      "Take me away…"

      *SLAM!*

      Alsi collided with a hard surface. Confused as ever he exclaimed in pain. Serena stood on top of one broken part of the floor as a platform. Sweating heavily she said…

      "I can't hold it for long! My Earth kine still needs work!" She said as she had her hands raised out, her eyes shut tightly.

      Ceal used his abilities and blew a hole into the wall close by, he grabbed his sister and jumped into the opening he made. Alsi hurriedly followed behind. The moment he made it to safe ground, Serena let go of the platform of earth and it fell into the pool of lava. The three of them watched as it splashed into the burning pool. Panting heavily they sat down to take a breather…

      "-huff-,-huff-, now I know why normal adventurers don't deal with this kinda stuff." Said Serena.

      "What now?" Ceal asked.

      Alsi went and inspected the dead end in the small cave they sat in. 

      "Guess we die here." He said sarcastically whilst looking in Ceal's direction. Ceal ignored Alsi's taunting gaze and closed his eyes again. He took a deep breath and as he exhaled, the sounds around him became more defined and alive. He could hear Alsi kicking a stone around, he heard the lava boiling vigorously. He could even hear the skeletons who were still at the entrance of the booby trap. He listened harder and he could hear something behind Alsi, he heard different sounds, sounds he could not understand. It was like that of a dynamite about to go off. It sounded like its string crackled as the little flame followed it to the heart of the bomb… Bomb!

      "ALSI! GET DOWN!" 

      "Huh?-"

      *BOOM!!*

      The dead end that blocked any further progress was blasted apart. Ceal and Serena took cover to avoid the debris from the blast. Smoke arose from the hole caused by the sudden explosion, Alsi was laying on the ground with a grimacing expression on his face. He had enough of these surprise parties. Ceal rushed towards him to make sure he was okay. 

      "I'm fine, it's impossible for me to die." He said as he got up.

      "-sigh-, why do I even bother…" Said Ceal.

      Serena was narrowing her eyes at the hole that opened a way forward. Despite that, she knew she would regret it if she rushed through. She felt like something was there. Something was lurking in the darkness, waiting for them…

      "I have a bad feeling about that hole that just exploded…"

       "Yeah you're right. I can hear something…it probably must be what caused the wall to blow up in the first place."

       Alsi stood up on his feet. He drew both his swords and put on a bold look.

      "That's enough messing around! I came to clear this dungeon, and I WILL DO IT!"

      "Alsi, wait a minute before-" Alsi sprinted forward, totally ignoring Ceal and leaving his teammates behind. 

       "ALSI YOU-"

       "Let's catch up to him before something happens to him." Said Serena. They both began to dash after Alsi, following the glow of his fire coated swords. Alsi ran through the tunnel, convinced he was ready for anything. Suddenly, he slipped and fell. He ended up sliding downwards and his companions paid the same price for catching up to him. They all screamed as they slid against the dirt. They began to see a light at the end of this tunnel as they went deeper. When they finally came out, the brightness of the room forced them to shut their eyes. They barely managed to land on their feet. Alsi hit his head and after a moment he began to rub the back of it…

      "Ouch!" He exclaimed as he was on his knees and had his face to the ground. When he lifted his head and looked forward, he was met by quite a mysterious creature. The thing was weird to look at, but Alsi just couldn't take his eyes away from it. The red little creature stared at Alsi, crawling back and forth on its eight legs yet maneuvering like a tanker, turning its head first, then its body. 

      Ceal and Serena froze behind him…

      "Alsi…get as far away from that thing as possible…" Serena warned Alsi in a hushed but critical tone. Alsi, who was already cursing his luck today, tried to back away. He thought maybe assuring the creepy little creature that he wouldn't cause any harm would prevent any harm. Well too bad for him, the thing just didn't care. 

      The moment Alsi laid his hands on his blades, the creature took the liberty of detonating. Light started to emerge from within, until it exploded. The ignition was powerful enough to create a depression on the ground where it stood. Fortunately enough, Alsi managed to react fast enough this time and avoid harm.

      "Ha! You thought you could pull that trick on me?! How pitiful!" He said.

      "You have no idea, do you?" Serena said whilst she waved her index figure in a circular motion to direct his attention above. When Alsi turned his head to where Serena was pointing, he saw dozens and dozens of holes in the walls all around him. And out of these holes, red little creatures about the size of a toddler came rushing down the walls rapidly. 

      "Oh…my…Go-"

      "Don't let them get near you otherwise you'll be blown to bits!!" Serena warned her teammates as she pulls out a metallic stick that extends into a fighting staff. Alsi begins by coating his blades in fire once more and throwing arcs of fire at the enemy. However, the moment he makes a hit, the creatures split into smaller creatures with even greater speeds. This throes Alsi into a panic . 

      "What the heck are these things!?"

      "They're called spark crawlers! They're know to explode when they get to close to you. They also have the ability to divide themselves into smaller versions of themselves!" Said Serena.

      "Wait a minute, why didn't you give me this information before I decided to hit it!?" Said Alsi as he was trying to evade the crawlers.

      "Because there's nothing you can do BUT hit it!  We'll just have to finish them off right here!" When Serena said this, she lifted her staff…

      "Kine control…RIPTIDE!!"

      She pounded it to the ground and a wave of water emerged from all around her. It washed away the crawlers, drowning them in the process. However, the wave occluded Alsi and Ceal to their disadvantage. 

      "Do you mind playing 'little mermaid' somewhere else!" Said Alsi as he escaped the waves of water. He dashed around the wide open den of crawlers, incinerating them with his fire. Alsi moved with agility and speed, he scaled the walls and jumped off to get altitude…

      "Aaaah! Double cyclone!!" He flipped at a complete revolution with his swords, sending a great spiral wind that lifted the crawlers whilst cutting them ruthlessly…

      "ALSI YOU IDIOT!!" Ceal yelled as he evaded the wind.

      The crawlers suddenly started to detonate one after the other, until they caused a massive explosion that caused the crawler's den to unsteadily shake on its foundations. The den started to collapse on itself as the detonations continued. Finally the structural integrity of the place was lost as all its pillars were blown apart. Everything was covered by the massive falling rubble. The chaos went on for two more minutes until it ended with one big chunk of rock hitting the ground.

      The dust was flying vigorously through the air, there was a dead silence in the place. Everything seemed desolate. Until chunks of rock were pushed aside from their positions. There stood Ceal, covered in dust and dirt. He had a desperate look on his face…

      "GUYS!!...WHERE ARE YOU?!!!"

      He started lifting some chunks of rubble and throwing them aside. He then heard something moving in the distance. Before he could get a chance to look in the direction of the sound, a massive mass of rock just moved aside. It made a resounding crash as it fell to the side. Alsi and Serena were coughing intensively as the dust cleared around. Ceal ran towards them half pissed.

      "-cough-,-cough-, Man! That was really intense!" Said Alsi. He was unexpectedly met with a shove from Ceal…

      "Look what you've done you brainless donger!"

      " What's your problem!?" Alsi replied. 

      "Look around you and say that bullshit again! You almost killed us all!"

      "I was trying to help us all! What have you done so far eh!?"

      Ceal was up in ire when he heard Alsi say those words so arrogantly…

      "You little piece of crap! You think I have the time to waste on some arrogant, self centered imbecile who just threw us on the edge of death's door mat!?" 

      Serena, who was behind Alsi the whole time, suddenly froze. Alsi's expression suddenly grew stale as it seemed he was focused somewhere else. Ceal became even more infuriated at Alsi's sudden expression, he thought he was finally gonna beat the living crap out of him. Out of nowhere his ears twitched and he heard something behind him. When he turned his head, he was greeted by sinistrous purple eyes surrounded by a dark mass. 

      "....what the heck!?"