49 Underground Abyss

Fate jumped down off the scorpion and walked over to the next one. But before she could even reach it, the earth under her feet began to shake violently. Jean's face paled as she shouted out: "Shit! Master, get out of there!"

Unfortunately, it was already too late. The ground underfoot crumbled away as a Level 30 King Sand Scorpion appeared. Fate slid on the sand, unable to catch her footing as she was sucked into the hole created by the King Sand Scorpion. "Shit!" Fate yelled out as she began to fall. All fate could see below her was a black abyss.

Jean wanted to jump in as well but was forcefully stopped by the King Sand Scorpion as it cast {Sandstorm} blocking her path. By the time it died down, there was nothing in front of her except dirt and rock. "Fuck! Master!"

Jean ran over to where Fate had disappeared and began using her hands to dig at the sand, trying to find the area where Fate had vanished. Sadly, the sand scorpions are able to fill the holes they create instantly. This was no different from the King Sand Scorpion. Tears welled up in Jean's eyes as she continued to dig. She had no idea why such a high-level monster had come so close to the settlement. Normally they would be many kilometers away. Each monster usually had areas that they dominated that ranged for many kilometers.

The only time these areas changed was when the king of that monster was killed. The lower leveled monsters under the king would end up being swarmed by other monsters. Now, normally these kings would be in the middle of their territory, but for some reason, this king had come to the outskirts.

Jean could only look lifelessly at the spot in front of her. No matter how much she dug or how much she used her wind ability, she knew she would never find the King Scorpion's real tunnel, now that the hole was now filled.

As for Fate, she continued falling into the black abyss. She could only see the walls and not the floor. After almost five minutes of falling, Fate finally heard something. "Is that the sound of water?"

Fate squinted her eyes. She could now finally make out the ground below. "It's a river!" Fate grew excited. She had no way of actually slowing her fall since she couldn't get close to the wall. But if she could at least land in the water, her health should be able to sustain impact if she combined it with her {Wind Aura} and {Blood Shield}. Even though {Blood Shield} would use a good amount of her [Hunger] stat, she would prefer that than dying.

Fate cut open her wrist and let the flood flow out of her as she waved her hand, creating a three-layered shield made of blood underneath her. She then formed two handles on it so she could grip onto it.

[Hunger]: 100->80/100

Combined with her {Wind Aura} she could only hope it would work. As the ground came into clear view only a few meters away, Fate did her best to position herself in the air over the underground river and…

*Splash!*

Fate slammed into the water shattering the first two layers of her {Blood Shield}. She quickly held her breath as she was submerged underwater. To her surprise, the underground river was very deep. Even after sinking for many meters, she still could not see the bottom, even with her ability to see in the dark.

As Fate's descent into the depths of the bottomless river slowed, she suddenly felt an icy chill run through her body. The further down she went, the colder the water got. Fate noticed that the {Blood Shield} was beginning to freeze, which startled her. She quickly began trying to swim to the surface only to find that she was actually being sucked down! 'Motherfucker! What is with this planet!? Does it really wish to kill me?'

Fate felt very cold. Before her {Blood Shield} completely froze over, she encased herself inside it like an egg and cast a few fireballs, making them float around her to keep herself from freezing completely. She had no idea where she was. All she could see was darkness. There were no fish or any kind of lifeforms around her. Fate was starting to grow very nervous. She was doing her best to keep a level head in this situation and not panic, but she was still a sixteen-year-old girl. She could only stay calm for so long when faced with the unknown.

Fate curled her body into the fetal position and hugged her knees. Her whole body shivered non-stop from the cold. The fireballs around her were only providing a little bit of relief. She even had one between her stomach and thighs since it would not burn her. Fate had no idea how much time had passed when she suddenly heard a male voice entering her mind. "To think after all these years, someone would actually venture down to the depths of this place...."

Fate was not sure if she was just going crazy or not and really did not want to answer back, but if it was possible that there was actually a living being down here, she wanted to at least take a chance of seeking help. "Sir, I do not know who you are, but I do hope you can help me… I do not know how much more my body can take due to these freezing waters."

"Mmm… I can help you under one condition." The male voice replied.

"What is your condition? I will do what I can to help if it is within my power. But I will not become your woman, nor will I give up my life." Fate stated firmly. She would never do anything that would make her betray her soulmate, and she would also never give up her life for any reason. This included becoming someone's slave.

"Haha! Little girl, you are far from my liking, around a few thousand years too young. My condition is simple. You just need to help me break the bindings trapping me in this dark place. That is all."