The Hidden Chamber

After confirming the mercenaries were trapped in his formation; Kyle joined Rollins and Sif.

"It looks like they'll be trapped in the formation for a while," Kyle told his friends.

"How do you know?" Rollins asked. He wasn't nervous, just curious.

"It wasn't a mighty formation. If they had a level 1 formation master, they would have broken out of it already. I made it on the fly.

Usually, formations take more preparation, but I was able to use the natural materials available to set something up.

I honestly believed we were about to engage in a life and death struggle," Kyle admitted.

"You don't think we're strong enough after all of our training?" Rollins asked.

"Our chances of winning are only around 40%. They have about 20 warriors, a vicious pack of Wind Wolves, and a couple of their fighters are a level or two stronger than us.

The only advantages we have are my formations and talismans, Sif's strengthening pills, and your training as a strategist. I don't like our chances," he said.

"It would be better to avoid a battle for now," Rollins agreed and thought for a few moments.

"I don't think we should avoid fighting them. They're a plague for travelers. They're obviously up to no good. It will be a tough fight, but we have time to prepare. Before that, let's explore!" Kyle said.

"Explore?" Both Sif and Rollins reacted because what was there to explore in a hole in the ground?

"Yeah, just follow me," Kyle said confidently. Kyle stood and walked to the darkest part of the hole. Neither Rollins nor Sif could see anything but dark shadows.

Sure enough, when they approached the back there was just a wall. What was there to explore?

It was at that moment, Kyle punched the wall and it shattered revealing a tunnel leading down. Sif and Rollins looked at each other with surprise.

"How did you know this was here?" Rollins asked.

"Was it the red and purple light?" Sif asked.

"Yes, exactly Sif. The scan revealed this tunnel. Let's see where it leads." The group descended the steps to an unknown location. Sif and Rollins stumbled a few times going down.

Each was holding onto the sides of the walls trying to feel their way down. It was too dark and they couldn't see anything.

Kyle stopped them from proceeding. He pulled a couple of things from his bag of holding and handed objects to them.

"Here, put this on. Put a little energy in it to activate it." Sif and Rollins felt the objects and realized they were masks like Kyle always wore.

They put on the masks and put a little energy into them. They could now see everything around them as if it were daytime.

"Amazing, did you make this?" Sif asked.

"Yeah, I've been experimenting. I've actually made a few different types with different functions," he said.

"So this is how you can see in the dark," Rollins said realizing why Kyle was able to move so easily in the pitch black.

"No, I don't need the night function, I just send some energy to my eyes and I can see perfectly fine," he said.

There was a way to do that? They both knew you could increase your senses but to be able to see so easily in an environment like this seemed unreal.

"Can you teach me?" Sif asked.

"Of course, but maybe when we aren't charging into the unknown," he told her.

"What about me?" Rollins asked.

"Sure, I'll teach you both, but right now let's focus on the here and now," Kyle said a little annoyed. The two were making a big deal of something so small.

However, neither were focusing on the potentially dangerous situation they were in right now. The siblings sensed he was getting angry and stopped talking.

After about thirty minutes of descending, they exited the tunnel. They were now standing in a large chamber.

The room was dark at first, but lights around the room gently began to shine. "That's strange, how does it know we're in here?" Sif asked no one in particular. She was looking around the chamber.

"Oh, no! Everyone, run back up the tunnel, hurry!" Kyle said as he made a dash for the tunnel. The other two also started after him, but it was too late. A circle on the floor lit up with a red light.

None of them could move as its lights washed over them. It was like the floor suddenly became a red dense liquid. They all started sinking into the floor.

They struggled but still couldn't move. Eventually, they all disappeared into the ground. After a few moments; the floor returned to normal and the lights dimmed as if nothing happened.

Back on Earth, Gramps was sitting at his desk and enjoying some tea. He stopped drinking his tea as if he heard a strange sound, but then his face returned to normal.

"Oh, he found that place, I hope he survives," he said as he began sipping his tea once more.

Kyle felt like he was being ripped and torn, twisted, and stretched. It seemed like time was being stretched like a rubber band.

It was one of the most intense experiences he ever had. The pain was incredible, but just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore everything went dark.

When he opened his eyes, he wasn't sure how much time had passed. The sky was red with wisps of pink clouds overheard. A faint green sun peeked out from behind the clouds.

He realized he was laying on some kind of red rock. When he stood up, it looked like he was on top of a cliff.

There were a few sparse trees and bushes here and there. He noticed a drop-off, so he peered over the edge.

Two large eyes peered back at him! He was so surprised and scared he jumped back and screamed. It took him a long time to calm down.

Whatever the thing was, it didn't seem like it was interested in him.

He didn't see Sif or Rollins anywhere. He went around the area and found there was only one way down from where he was.

Unfortunately, in order for him to go down, he would need to get past the many Mandril looking creatures. He didn't know if they were harmless or not.

They had fierce colors and mostly appeared to be foraging for food. So far, none of them noticed him. Kyle sat back down behind a boulder trying to decide what to do.

That was when he heard what sounded like a girl screaming. "Could it be Sif?" He was worried and tried to locate where the sound was coming from.

The creatures also heard the scream and were looking towards their direction. A second scream was followed by a third scream.

Kyle tried to fly threw the air but was immediately pulled toward the ground. When he fell, he noticed he busted his lip. He felt very weak.

He opened his stat window and looked at his powers tab and discovered his superpowers were grey.

He still had his cultivation, but he wasn't used to using it to toughen his body. He focused his energy and made it run through his body and strengthen it.

He heard the scream once more and decided he had to act!

"I'm coming for you Sif!" he cried in his heart.

************************************************

Good news! our power stone count is 73. We only need 27 power stones to get an extra chapter released on Sunday.

Let's aim for 250 stones and get 3 extra chapters.

Today's power stone heroes: pfsingers, SuicidalFreddy, Eternal_D

Thank you all for your support! This book wouldn't be possible without you.

--Straythought