52. Fall

Noah was falling at high speed toward the foggy bottom of the gorge.

The pressure on his face was becoming impossible to withstand even with a rank 2 body, it was useless to say what would happen if he crashed on the ground with this speed.

Noah cursed in his mind and tried to thrust his sabers on the rocky wall of the canyon but the rocks were incredibly hard and only the tip of his blades managed to pierce their surface.

Two straight trails were left on the wall as Noah kept on falling and held on his weapons.

His speed was slowly lowering but then the rocks along the wall became even harder and his sabers came out from the groove they created.

Noah falling speed increased again and no matter how many times he tried, his sabers couldn't pierce the rocks anymore.

He looked below him and saw a small cavity a few hundred meters downward on his left side.

He steeled his determination and sheathed his sabers, then he pressed his hands and feet on the wall.

The rocks coupled with his speed rapidly minced his skin but Noah held on waiting for the best moment to act.

When the cavity was at the right distance he pushed against the wall toward his left side.

Noah fell diagonally and crouched mid-air to reduce his surface, putting his head between his legs to protect it.

His body smashed into the inner wall of the cavity and cracking sounds came from it but when he touched the ground he slipped again toward the gorge.

Both his legs and his left arm were unresponsive so he shot his right hand toward the edge of the cavity.

Noah felt an extreme pressure on his right shoulder but he never allowed his hand to lose its grip, he endured the pain he was feeling until the pressure disappeared.

He opened his eyes and found himself hanging on the edge of the hole with his other limbs swinging powerlessly toward the bottom of the gorge.

Noah pulled with his right arm and lifted himself into the hole, then he forcefully bit the ground and moved his arm deeper into the cavity dragging his body in the process.

His teeth did not pierce the rocks but could last long enough as a handhold for his hand to reach a rock deeper in the hole.

After repeating this process a few times, Noah's body was fully lying on the floor of the cavity.

'I'm alive.'

That was his first thought when he managed to stop his fall.

He used his remaining strength to check a place on his waist under his clothes and smiled a little when he took out a silver ring from it.

He relaxed at the sight of the ring and collapsed after one last thought.

'I can survive.'

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.

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Noah was woken up the next day by a wave of pain coming from his body.

He looked around him and remembered the events of the battle.

'I don't know if it would have been worse to stay there. Basil is probably dead so my fate should have been the same if I remained in the battle.'

He slowly moved his hand toward the silver ring on his side and wore it on his index, a cold sensation hit the scraped skin on his palm.

A piece of dried meat appeared in front of him and Noah hastily ate it.

Since he had obtained the space-ring he started accumulating provisions and useful items inside it as a preparation for his travel toward the academy.

While he was eating he looked around the cavity and checked the condition of his body.

The cavity was barely two square meters large and one meter tall, Noah lying in it occupied almost its entire space.

'Luckily it wasn't any smaller than this or I don't know if I could have centered it at that speed.'

Then he focused on his body.

'My legs are broken, so is my left arm. The skin of both my hands and feet is flayed, my right shoulder is close to being dislocated and I'm quite sure that some of my ribs are cracked.'

He looked outside the hole and saw only a faint fog lingering in the gorge.

'Adding the fact that I'm inside a place that a medium-size noble family could not claim I'd say that I'm probably dead.'

He thought again at the thunder that destroyed Basil's carriage and smiled a little.

'Well, probably dead is better than dead for sure. I wonder why Master allowed me to go in this suicide mission.'

He thought for a bit but then shook his head.

'No, if he knew all about the situation he would have surely stopped me. Yet, who could have the power to purposely keep him in the dark only to send me there?'

The face of his father appeared in his mind but he tossed the thought away.

'I'll think about it later, after all even if it was him I can't do anything about it otherwise my mother wouldn't still be suffering.'

Noah slowly straightened up, supporting himself on the wall and looked at his injuries.

'I need to recover before thinking of how to get out of here. The concentration of "Breath" down here seems even higher than on the surface so I should heal faster but I should still do something to speed up the process.'

Three weapons appeared on his side as he tore his clothes apart to make some rags.

He straightened his broken limbs and used the weapons from his space-ring as splints and tied them together.

Then another piece of dried meat appeared and he slowly ate it, then he closed his eyes and focused on the "Breath" inside him to prioritize the healing process rather than the nourishment one.

Days went by with Noah motionlessly lying on the ground waiting for his injuries to heal.

Sometimes he would open his eyes to eat and drink or to change the position of the splints but most of his time was spent directing the "Breath" on his wounds.

It was only two weeks later that he was able to move again.