chapter 59-Message

"Huh?" both said, confused.

"Look at it this way, from the first trial to the current trial, everything from our abilities to the opportunities and rewards has been tested to the limit. I'm not undermining our quick thinking, but all of it is too much of a coincidence. There is a pattern, a meaning. I just need time, that's all we need."

"Huh?" both said, confused.

"Look at it this way, from the first trial to the current trial, everything from our abilities to the opportunities and rewards has been tested to the limit. I'm not undermining our quick thinking, but all of it is too much of a condensed experience. There is a pattern, a meaning. I just need time, that's all we need."

"Yeah, time to rest. We are spent," Max said. We were reminded that even using our breath to speak would be a disadvantage in this situation. We needed everything we got, that's a lesson that these trials have been telling us.

"Screw this, we need to finish this as fast as we can. Sure, we got supernatural abilities and skills, but that doesn't mean we are superheroes. I haven't changed; I'm still the selfish bastard as before. I only want to go back home to see if our friends are safe."

I was surprised that he didn't take the hint to hold our breaths.

"That's more selfless than selfish, mate. Don't worry, we'll get there soon."

Minutes ticked by as I was thinking, reflecting on how we could have handled that situation better. We weren't ready for that free fall, and the spiders were definitely not in our expectations. It seems like everything we countered and analyzed has been wrong so far.

"Guys, what's this?" Max said, getting our attention.

We saw him touching what seemed like a groove in the wall. I walked backwards, preparing for a hidden door with a monster to come out.

But with the moss and webs covering the floor, Max moved and brushed them aside. "What's this?" Shocked at what we saw, we started to help Max uncover the rest, as we kept removing the rot and mold from the walls.

An image was ingrained in the wall, an image of a blade, and what seemed like runic words on the side.

[Year 789 BA: I have not forgotten the betrayal. I was left alone; my brother and sisters abandoned me to suffer while they could finally live their dream, while I lived in my nightmare. Oh, save me, grant me the salvation that the binder horrors of the outworld could not.] The inscribed words translated.

What was this?

"Quick, remove as much as you can, further up the cavern."

We did so and kept seeing different images of blade symbols, glyphs some might say.

We kept doing this until it ended; there were no more.

I looked over to the far side; Tommy nodded his head in a firm 'no' answer, meaning that he had reached the limit, and there were no more.

"How many did you count?"

"I counted six, and each one was at a pretty decent distance apart from each other."

"I counted six as well, the total of thirteen of these messages engraved in the wall," I said.

From the looks and understanding, it seemed like each message was written or recorded by someone else, different years for each one. I looked beside me to read the last one.

[Year 988 BA: You are strong, and I was weak for leaving you, but I promise you that one day, our blades will gather once more, and we will pierce the veils of this realm and reach for the stars. Stay alive, I know that is the only thing you can do, but don't let the darkness swallow your soul. I will find you; I will not lose you again. Stay strong, brother.]

[Year 988 BA: You are strong, and I was weak for leaving you, but I promise you that one day, our blades will gather once more, and we will pierce the veils of this realm and reach for the stars. Stay alive, I know that the only thing you can do, but don't let the darkness swallow your soul. I will find you; I will not lose you again. Stay strong, brother.]

I furrowed my brows. Who would write that? Why would they write that? Why in these passages across these walls? And somehow we perfectly stumbled upon this, while up ahead and far back, there were no other messages. Was something at play here?

"We keep moving forward, remember what you can, but let's not forget our target," I said.

After that ordeal, we then went straight back to running.

Underneath my cloak, but further up, we kept feeling the wind pressure becoming stronger and stronger. The passage itself seemed to enlarge; the roof was at least thirty-nine feet high from the ground.

The wind suddenly gave a bigger hit of wind; the gale blowing my cloak away to show us underneath. It seems it isn't any use now. I shrank it back as it flowed, flapping in the wind.

"Damn it, our cover is basically useless now. Seems like we gotta trust fate in this one and trust the process and keep moving' forward," Max said.

But I didn't move a single foot forward.

I looked back; that wind earlier wasn't cold or dry but felt really humid, hot actually, like steam, pushing our backs.

Something was wrong. Did the steam reach us this far?

I focused my eyes behind me, looking in the dark, trying to find anything outlined or out of place.

My ears started, twitching. I finally heard something; from the sound, it must have just entered the cavern from the main nest. It wasn't loud but really quite faint, barely audible, even with my innate race trait. A spider is supposed to be large in this realm, yet why did it sound so light? That was the scary part.

The playing field has been tipped over. Then the sound of walking stopped, yet I didn't let my guard down; tension hasn't been this high, even when facing those previous beasts.

Silence, that is what scared me.

Equipping my daggers, I was ready to put my friends underneath the cloak again, even if that meant for us to retreat further back until the winds aren't strong enough to blow the cloak away.

Tommy watched me; he too got in a battle-ready stance. His armor started emitting heat as it flowed orange and yellow; his blade formed flames on the blade.

Max, surprisingly, lifted his robes up a little bit, and what came underneath was a tail, which he was usually uncomfortable showing around due to the immature comments me, Tommy, and Kahza make, so he gets self-conscious about it.

Yet his tail curled up, and what appeared within its grasped tight hold was a spear, which he just summoned, while his hands were praying. Golden light enveloped us; my body felt tougher, my blood felt more condensed, as well as my spirit and bravery.

His Pillar of Light spell may not be a healing spell, but it's just as useful, more of a boost or defense spell.

"Tommy, break the walls and ceiling, creating a makeshift wall. We need to buy as much time as possible. We keep moving forward, okay?"

As Tommy was about to slash at the walls, "Tommy, watch out! "It was too late; his body flickered in spot as a gale of wind pushed his body. We could barely react.

That wasn't wind, yet it felt like it. I didn't dare to look back behind us.

But the sound of blood dripping onto the floor was the only sound that was made. My body flinched at that sound; it must be Tommy's blood. Tommy hasn't learned to heal himself manually yet.

I felt the air vibrate.

My head turned, even when all my instincts said don't, yet I wanted to see my friend, at least his body.

What caught my eye was the bloodied corpse of Tommy, being pulled by the back of his neck.

A slash on his chest as blood poured out.

The thing that was grabbing him wasn't a monster.