18. Cavern of Insight

"It's useless," said Reina.

"Explain," said Zane.

"The description says it's meant to give you 'insights into Law,' whatever that means. But we looked. There's nothing there. Just a few old scratches on the walls."

Zane perked up. "Law, you said?"

Yeah. He was definitely checking this out.

They agreed to meet back before evening.

"So it'll just be you two going up to fight that boss? You two together?" said another one of Reyna's lackeys—husky dude with a grizzled stubble, squinting eyes, and a few strands of hair desperately clinging to an otherwise bald pate. He seemed upset at the thought.

𝕁𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕪 ℕ𝕦𝕟𝕟 (ℂ𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖)

ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤: ℝ𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟙𝟙

"I don't like it either. We can fight too, you know," Trent grumbled. Zane was taken aback. Did they really think they could stand against a Level 48 boss? You'd think this world would've given them a reality check… then again. Most of the workers edged away from them, looking awkwardly at one another. They didn't say a peep. So they weren't all silly; it was just that the silly ones were the loudest.

"No," said Reina firmly. "All of you will stay here where you're safe. Let us take care of it."

He could tell they weren't happy about it, but they didn't dare say more. They settled for glaring at Zane. Zane sighed. Another thing he noticed post-Integration—there was this weird sense he got that some men felt very uncomfortable when he came around. They had a hard time meeting his eyes. Whatever it was, he didn't care to entertain it.

***

He made his way west, just as Reina said, and it wasn't long until they came across the Cavern entrance. It was a cave mouth burrowed into the side of a hill, and nothing would have marked it special except for the faint mist pouring out from it; it reminded him of the early morning mist he'd see so often around these parts.

ℂ𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

ℂ𝕒𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕨𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕕𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕠𝕟𝕤. 𝔼𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕤 𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖, 𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕞𝕦𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕙𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕃𝕒𝕨. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕧𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕤: 𝕒 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣, 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕧𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤, 𝕃𝕒𝕨 𝕥𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕠 𝕠𝕟.

As he stepped in, the air took on a dawn chill.

He was used to monsters guarding places like these, but they weren't here. They must've been cleared out before he came. His steps echoed down the dim, craggy tunnel. He couldn't tell outside, but here, against the gloom, he could see the mist was faintly glowing, spreading a corona of pale light.

Soon the tunnel opened up into a cavern.

At its center was a marble dais—other than the mist, it was the only thing there. Then he glanced at the walls and frowned.

Reina was right. There were only lines here. And they were just lines, lines running the length of the wall, one after another, seeming identical. At first. But the more he stared at them, the more his eyes started to unfocus.

He could feel it here, that tear in the fabric of the world. These scars had Laws etched in them.

He came up close, squinting at them, studying them one by one. They weren't the same; now he really paid attention he saw gradients. Each new line flowed a little sharper, a little cleaner—a little more effortlessly. Each line had a little more Law. He could imagine some old master sitting on that dais, alone, meditating on his Law—then practicing one by one, carving them until he made a full loop of the room.

At first glance, the last line was nearly identical to the first. But look deeper, past the surface, and it blazed with Law where the first twinkled. Look was the wrong term; it was just the closest thing he had. He felt it there with a sense he couldn't explain, a sixth sense, a sense of the soul.

Gently, he lifted a finger and touched that scar. Then pulled it away, hissing. Where he touched, his finger let out a stream of blood. Nothing had touched him physically. The lingering Law was so sharp it cut him anyways.

How long ago had this mysterious master sat here contemplating? Whoever it was, their Law was at a level he couldn't comprehend. When he came near those scars he felt the gravity of them, felt the way the universe bent to them… this Law was nothing Minor, like the one he had.

How'd this even get in the dungeon? He thought everything was freshly generated. Maybe not.

He paced the room, just admiring, like they were trippy sculptures at some modern art museum. He couldn't fully understand them. It wasn't like with Ignition or Burning—this Law, whatever it was, felt too far away. He could kind of-ish see how it manifested in the world, but he felt that wasn't enough to claim a Law. You had to find it within yourself too.

He'd known Ignition. Every time he fought, he ignited. And his Chains were Prometheus Chains: they were made to carry fire. But he didn't wield a sword or an axe. He had no sense of Sharpness. This must have something to do with cutting, but it just wasn't his style. It was somewhat frustrating seeing it right there but missing what he needed to grasp it.

Maybe if he got something to do with cutting in the future, he could come back to this. He made a note of it.

***

He met back up with Reina at the entrance. "You ready?" she said.

"Yes," he said.

That was it. No fuss, no frills with her. They were off.

There was a ladder near the back of the warehouse, stretching all the way to the ceiling and beyond. She threw her buffs on him—among them, her new skill, Essence Cloak, which dampened the effects essence of based attacks. He had a feeling it would come in handy very soon.

He went first.

They climbed fifty feet up rusted, clattering steel toward a square of black. Every so often it flickered blue-white, like lightning flickering the night. The closer they got, the more they heard this deep-throated humming, like generators working overtime.

This place must have housed the electricals once; exposed wiring decorated the walls, made up the ceiling. The ground was all steel and run over with thick black cables. It was humid and dingy and dark as hell.

There was just one source of light in the room, and it was the boss. A metal eldritch monstrosity. Its main body looked like one of those old-timey computers, whirring with gears, strung up with coiled wires and flashing lights. Four thick steel cables snaked out from it, sizzling with blue-white electricity, and they were what caught Zane's attention. They went on and on, looping around themselves, hugging its body. They took up a huge chunk of the room.

𝕃𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕂𝕣𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕟 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣)

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟜𝟠

𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝔸𝕦𝕣𝕒 (ℙ𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟]

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕂𝕣𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕥𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕥𝕪. 𝔸𝕟𝕪 𝕡𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕔𝕜, 𝕡𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕖 𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕒 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕤, 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕓𝕪 𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕗𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕤.

𝕃𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕙 (𝔸𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖) [𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟]

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕝𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕗𝕠𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕, 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕡-𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕒 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖.

That 'Electrified Aura'… oh, that would be a bitch.

Its weakness lit up red—its main body. To get to it, though, you'd have to get past those cable tentacle things.

The Kraken turned to face him as Reina nimbly hopped through. He nodded to her; she nodded back. And he charged.

As soon as he got up within twenty feet of it he felt static shocks rippling up his body. Reina threw up a shield as he ran, but it still stung. He lashed out at it with a Chain. It tried blocking with its cable tentacles, but it couldn't—his Chains were just too heavy. The tentacles collapsed right under.

But the beast was gone before his Chains could catch it. He'd blinked, and it'd vanished. How could something so big just be gone?

He heard Reina cry out—too late. He turned; he deduced what was happening, threw up his Chains—it still wasn't fast enough. The Lightning Lash ripped a molten line down his chest, and his body went rigid, spasming.

It was lucky his Chains could move on their own. The thing tried yanking him in, but he crushed the cords that held him. He wriggled out, panting, twitching all over, but free.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘: ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%!

Shit that thing's fast. Maybe he should have seen it coming, lightning and all. This time he prowled after it, but he kept his Chains close in a defensive posture. It blinked here and there, back and forth. He could barely keep up. It probed him with Lashes; he fended them off one by one—

Then a coil slipped right through his web of parries and lashed him in the chest. And he went down, spasming again, cursing. It kept hold of him, pouring its power into him. It took a tremendous effort to ward that cable away. Then—

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘: ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟝𝟘%!

Every time it got hold of him, a massive chunk of his health instantly vanished. It was ridiculous. At least now,

𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!

𝕍𝕚𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝟚𝟝%

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

He stopped probing for it. He just stood there panting. It was just too fast, and it had him on the defensive. If he kept on like this, it'd whittle him down to nothing. He needed something—a trick to crack it open.

It blinked back and forth, slowly drawing closer…

"It's going to hit me," he said aloud, not taking his eyes off the thing.

"Stop shielding. When it does, I need you to pour as much essence as you can into the healing spells, just keep healing me. Heal me till you're out. Got it?"

"Understood!" said Reina.

This time he saw the lash coming.

This time, he threw out his Chains. And dove to meet it.

It liked hitting him in the chest. Made sense—big target. So he put his hands right about there, and the chain slapped him right between his arms. He hissed; his whole body contracted at once. Including his arms, which firmed a vice grip around that damned cable.

Yes!

The Kraken seemed confused. Why did he want to eat damage? Until it saw his Chains arching for its main body. It tried throwing cables at it but they were too small, too light. It tried yanking out the tentacle but he had it clamped tight.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘! ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟟𝟝%!

𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕗𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕪: ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕋𝕠𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕀𝕀

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝔼𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥: ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟘%

He'd taken a page out of the Mechanical Sentinel's book. If you couldn't grab hold of it, grab hold of what it was attached to. And now the Kraken couldn't run! His Chains made a noose around the base of the tentacle, right where it was attached to the body. And burned.

The Kraken had no mouth, but by how it moved he could tell it was suffering. It poured in more power—

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘! ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟝𝟘%!

𝕊𝕒𝕧𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝔹𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕!

𝔻𝕖𝕩𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝟚𝟝%

𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟝%

He squeezed harder, letting that noose, white with seething Law, saw straight through the joint.

This thing had no Law. His attack did. You had to fight it on even grounds; only Laws could fight Laws. Without them…

He could sense this thing was made of tough stuff. If he tried strangling it normally he'd get nowhere. He certainly couldn't dent it with his fists. But once he'd locked his Chains tight, once he'd poured that fire in, the steel had no choice but to melt. The Universe commanded it to.

𝕎𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘! ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝟚𝟝%!

At almost the same time, the tentacle sloughed off the beast.