Ground Goes Up and Down

"I figure that you know how to get there, right?" asks Niva as he already trusts Lynel until this point.

Lynel exhales loudly. "Here! I have some of the [Jumping Potion]. Four bottles for four of us. Just a sip and you can temporarily jump high in the air. However, the actual problem is not that."

"What is it then?" asks Lula at the back.

"Something is going to happen the moment we walk near the pillar," says the blonde haired boy as he inspects the statue from afar.

"From your experience, how near to the pillar that something is going to happen?" asks Niva, still skeptical as to how they are going to come up with a solution.

"Approximately 7 feet away from the pillar. We must brace for impact if this happens." Lynel points to a spot that is conveniently not far from the perimeter.

Niva is flabbergasted with his solution to the problem. He wanted to slap his forehead so much. Maybe he overestimates Lynel's guiding ability. Activating unnecessary mechanisms of course is not an option for Niva.

"How about this, we skim the floor as we walk near the walls and not come closer to the spot that you point to?" suggest Niva confident enough.

Lynel smiles and exhales loudly. "I can't believe you are the only one to suggest sticking with the wall. Those adventurer's guilds are really rigid fellows. Just so you know that I too came up with the idea, or maybe someone before me. But they always stick to the procedure."

'Yeah … right.' Niva silently teases Lynel in his heart. Unless Niva is not proactive.The three of them are going to go along with the outdated Adventurer's Guild procedure.

Something like that needs to be minimized. Why go through the usual route when you can go to the alternative route?

"Now is different. Let us all try to join hands first," declared Niva as he lends his right hand to the person in the front and left hand to the person in the back.

"I almost forgot. Do not try to enter one of the cave mouths except the one that I pointed out earlier," urges Lynel.

They all nods simultaneously.

"Why?" Niva asks an unnecessary question for the sake of fulfilling his own curiosity.

Lynel is grinning and can only hold a little amount of stupid questions. "Do you want to be the first tester?"

The blue haired boy does not continue.

"Is it okay for Shervo to come near me? In case something happens?" bargain Lula as Niva and Lynel separate the two.

"Sure, just for this time, okay?" decides Niva as a team leader.

Shervo immediately runs behind Lula. Leaving Lynel in front of the group.

Niva had his fair share of strange dungeon stories. Albeit not as often as Lynel. One where they run on a moving platform. Below them are nothingness. Pitch black with unknown depth. He saw one of his fellow volunteers fall into the unknown forever.

Casualties in dungeon expeditions are always the responsibility of the Adventurer's Guild. But the realm needs organization that can nurture a person's slate ability. As a result, both major kingdoms pay a regular fee to maintain the guild's income. Incomes such as material trading and auctioning also maintain the livelihood of the organization but not as much as the fund provided by the two kingdoms.

But now even with all the praise they did when the guild is absent, Niva cannot shake the anxiety he is facing when freestyling on a dungeon expedition. It is literally his first time doing this without proper guidance.

The blonde haired boy walks slowly to spearhead the movement. They hugged the wall with their backs at the same time chaining their hand to hand grip with one another in the form of a line.

They are occasionally standing in front of several of the caves on the wall. The pitch black darkness inside them seems inviting for the daredevil individual. He really thinks deeply if he succeeded to penetrate one of dozens in this hall. He might get an award for writing a report regarding The Cave Wall of the Seismic Whisper.

They walk and walk suddenly Niva feels something beneath his feet. The shaking of the ground is gradually getting stronger. The ground suddenly slices and goes up and down.

"Wait, Niva?!" Niva in reflex release his grip towards Lula. Seeing that the hand chain between those two is above the slice of the land. The frantic up and down movement accidentally releases his hand with Lula.

Taken aback, his grip with Lynel loosen up as well. The piece of land that the two originally step upon is again sliced into pieces. Separating all three. Niva can see there are more cave-like entrances underneath the previous ground elevation. And also the ceiling elevation is going up, revealing yet another formation of cave-like entrance above.

Suddenly the movement stops. He is now standing on his platform alone. Near him he can also see the sliced land higher than him. While at the same time, some spots are pitch black and hollow. Indicating that there are lower levels of sliced land.

"Where are you guys?" shouted Niva as he was desperate for help.

"Here!" Lula's scream echoed from the platform below. Her sounds come from the right side if the perspective is the entrance they come from earlier.

"I am here dumbass!" Lynel screams from the top platform and he sounds furious. "You let go of your hand on purpose didn't you?"

"No. Your hand might have slipped as far as I know."

Some uncontrollable swearing fiercely unleashes from the west of the central pillar if the perspective is from the entrance. He got some serious explaining to do.

Meanwhile Niva is stranded in the north west of the central pillar. And from the source of the sound, he might get a surprise attack from Lynel above but who knows. Death from above blow. He prays to The Nature to give him the longevity he needs.

He then stares at the pitch black cave mouth in front of him. Slowly entering the only way forward.

He smirks. Hoping that things still go according to his plan.