As Ery scanned the chamber, his senses heightened, picking up on the strange anomalies surrounding him.
The first thing he noticed was the stillness. Despite the violent water currents swirling outside, there was barely a ripple within the chamber. It felt like he and Klea were inside a protective bubble, where the crushing pressure from the deep sea was entirely absent. It was eerily calm, a stark contrast to the chaos beyond.
Looking closer, Ery counted 32 tunnels connected to the chamber. Each tunnel was filled with streams of water, but what caught his attention was how they varied in size and intensity. So currents were gentle, while others roared with imnse force, yet all of them sohow balanced perfectly within the chamber. The spectacle defied nature, as if this place had been created with an intricate design in mind—a pocket of tranquility surrounded by deadly forces. The realization dawned on him: the Supre Magus had not thrown them into this place without reason. The vortex outside, while perilous, was a pathway leading to this strange, serene space. But Ery also understood the challenge. Once soone entered this bubble, they would be trapped unless they could figure out how to escape.
The Supre's words echoed in his mind: 10 days. "Why ten days?" Ery wondered, piecing together the puzzle in his head. There had to be sothing more—so hidden purpose behind it.
As Ery pondered the Supre's cryptic challenge, Klea's eyes slowly fluttered open. Though still pale and shivering, her voice entered his mind, calm but laced with concern.
she conveyed telepathically.
Her words piqued his interest. Given Klea's deep comprehension of water and ice, Ery trusted her instincts. She explained that the water here resisted any change—it wasn't just cold, it was becoming colder with ti, and she couldn't seem to warm herself, no matter how hard she tried. The situation was alarming.
Determined to test this for himself, Ery activated his [8 Elents Transmutation Technique], channeling his spirit energy to generate heat into the space around them. As he did, he imdiately felt a strong resistance. The water seed to push back, rejecting his attempt to alter its temperature, confirming what Klea had sensed. The water wasn't behaving naturally—it was suppressing change, absorbing energy, and becoming colder in the process.
His mind raced with possible solutions. His next thought was to summon Killagragh, hoping the Khaos Guardian's fla could help them out of this strange predicant. But as he tried to tap into his waypoints, Ery was t with unexpected resistance. The imnse pressure from outside the chamber disrupted his connection, blocking his ability to reach the outside world. They were trapped. No way to summon assistance, or escape.
Though the pressure outside the chamber blocked him from external help, Ery still had access to his domain. He called out Livi, the Baphot known for her fire elent proficiency. Her task was simple—heat the freezing chamber and push back the relentless cold.
But monts into her attempt
Her voice grew more strained, frustration bleeding through.
Ery sighed. Even Livi's fire couldn't compete with the water's unnatural resistance to change, forcing Ery to pull her back into his domain.
Afterward, Klea spoke up, her voice tinged with realization. Despite the relentless cold, she had discovered sothing within the water itself. With her deep affinity for ice and water elents, she had not only sensed the anomaly but also gained so form of comprehension from it. It appears Klea had found one of the fortunes the Supre had ntioned.
Without further explanation, Klea pulled out her Lotus pen and began drawing intricate runes in the water. Ery watched as the shimring symbols spread like ripples, their aning cryptic to him. As she finished her work, she channeled her spell, and to Ery's surprise, encased herself in a layer of ice.
It was a startling transformation, but Ery knew this was Klea's way of adapting to the environnt. She had tapped into her newfound insight, using its essence to shield herself from the freezing currents. Ery, however, could not decipher the runes she had inscribed—his comprehension of the ice elent was limited.
Fortunately, Ery's Twilight physique granted him natural resistance to the cold. Though the freezing environnt was suffocating, his body could endure it, allowing him to survive the next ten days. Still, the suffocating chill gnawed at him, pressing on his lungs and sapping his energy. His breath ca in frosty clouds, but he steeled himself, knowing that he had to explore further.
"I need to find what other fortunes this place holds," he muttered to himself.
The most unusual feature of the area was undoubtedly the violent, swirling currents around the seamount. They seed to act like a maze of relentless, shifting tunnels. With this thought, Ery activated his [Light Soaring Wings], letting their power lift him from the bubble of safety. He allowed himself to be pulled into the chaotic flow of water once more.
This ti, Ery approached the challenge with a mixture of caution and curiosity. The currents seized him imdiately, spinning him from one tunnel to another with dizzying force. His wings helped him resist the pull slightly, but they couldn't prevent the turbulent ride. He tried to analyze the flow, searching for patterns or signs of an exit. Each ti he thought he found a lead, the current slamd him into another direction, eventually tossing him back into the chamber.
"I see… this is not ant to be easy," Undeterred, he dove back into the swirling vortex, this ti more prepared. Each trip through the tunnels bruised and battered his body, but he persisted. The maze twisted in ways he couldn't predict, and after a dozen more tries, Ery found himself back in the chamber, exhausted.
He allowed himself a brief mont to recover, replenishing his spirit pool and gathering his strength.
"Again!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers