Leo was certain there was a suppressing presence deeper inside the tomb. Ethan, on the other hand, felt absolutely nothing.
That alone unsettled him.
He had always trusted his instincts, especially his sixth sense, the intangible awareness that had saved him countless tis. It had never failed him before. The idea that it might be wrong now sat badly in his gut.
Still, Leo’s reaction forced him to pay closer attention. When he focused, he realized sothing was off. His soul senses were not gone, but they were muted, dulled in the sa way light itself was swallowed by the walls. Whatever coated this place did not rely absorb illumination. It dampened perception.
His vision, sharper than Leo’s thanks to his race and stats, stretched roughly thirty ters ahead. But his intuitive awareness, the invisible radius he usually felt rather than saw, had collapsed to match that distance exactly. When they first entered the tomb, he had been able to feel things nearly seventy ters out. Now it was barely half that, and shrinking with every step forward.
That was not normal.
He had originally planned to stay in stealth, slipping past enemies and scouting ahead. But one look at Leo told him that plan was no longer viable. Leo was sweating despite the cold, his steps uneven, his face pale in a way that had nothing to do with fear alone. Whatever was affecting him was getting worse.
Just as Ethan’s perception compressed down to a re ten ters, they rounded a bend in the tunnel.
Swish. Swish.
Two streaks of white light tore through the darkness straight toward them.
Leo jerked violently, panic cutting through his haze, and barely managed a clumsy sidestep. A frigid Frostbolt grazed the tip of his nose, instantly frosting the sweat on his skin. The shock made him gasp, but it also snapped him partially out of his stupor. He staggered back, fumbling to bring his staff up.
Ethan was already in motion.
Panther Form took over in an instant, his body dissolving into a blur of shadow and muscle. One clean swipe of his claws opened the throat of a Berserker who had been lurking just around the corner, waiting for the ambush to land. This was not the Arena, where stats were normalized and gear equalized. Ethan was Level 63. The raw level difference alone was overwhelming, and even though his equipnt was low-tier, every piece was enchanted to plus thirty. The numbers spoke for themselves.
The Berserker collapsed, hands clutched to his neck, eyes wide with disbelief as his health vanished.
The Frost Mage who had targeted Leo froze mid-cast, terror flashing across his face. His frontline had disappeared in less than a second. He canceled his spell, magic flaring wildly around his feet.
"Blink? Not happening," Ethan said coldly.
As the mage’s form twisted and vanished in a burst of spatial distortion, Ethan activated Wild Charge.
The mage reappeared farther down the tunnel, but Ethan was already airborne, his body dragged along an invisible tether created by the skill. His trajectory curved like a predator pouncing through darkness, timing precise to a fraction of a second. Too early and the mage would not have moved. Too late and the distance would have broken the charge.
"Shit!" Leo cursed, adrenaline finally kicking in. He activated Energy Burst and shot forward, terrified Ethan would run headlong into more enemies with their visibility so limited.
By the ti Leo skidded to a stop, heart pounding, the star-furred Panther was already walking back toward him, claws retracting as he shifted back to human form.
"That’ll wake you up," Leo said, forcing a breathless laugh. "Sentries left behind by the main group?"
"Most likely," Ethan replied. "Which ans there are more ahead. And now they know we’re here."
If he had been alone, he would have vanished back into stealth and turned this into a slaughter from the shadows. But Leo could not hide, and in his current condition, he was a liability.
"Boss," Leo said suddenly, eyes wide. "I figured it out."
"Figured what out?"
"Why I feel like garbage. I’ve got a debuff."
Ethan’s expression sharpened. "What does it say?"
Leo swallowed and pulled up the interface again. "Suppression of the Grave King’s Bloodline. All attributes reduced by fifty percent."
Ethan stared at him. "Grave King’s Bloodline Suppression? Why would that affect you?"
The answer hit both of them at the sa ti.
Their eyes t.
"Because in the real world, you..." Ethan began slowly.
"Yeah," Leo said quietly. "That’s got to be it."
For a mont, neither of them spoke.
"Ethan," Leo said at last, his voice low and uneasy. "What the hell is Ethereal? How can it even know sothing like that?"
"Forget the how," Ethan said firmly. "Focus on what it ans. This place might be more than just dangerous for you. It could be an opportunity."
Leo huffed a weak laugh. "Good thing I tricked you into coming, then. I’d be dead weight on my own."
"Yeah," Ethan said dryly. "You’d still be out there playing gravedigger."
He gestured forward, and they moved on. They advanced more carefully this ti, every step asured.
Then, with a single stride, the world changed. The tunnel abruptly opened into a massive cavern flooded with light.
After so long in absolute darkness, the transition was brutal. Their vision flared white, their eyes screaming in protest as they stumbled forward, blind and disoriented.
’Move.’
Ethan did not think. He reacted. He slamd his foot into Leo’s side, sending him sprawling out of the tunnel’s mouth.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The ground they had been standing on detonated as multiple mines exploded in rapid succession, the blast washing past them in a concussive wave. Stone and crystal shattered outward, the trap triggered by those who had passed through before them.
Ears ringing, they scrambled to their feet as their vision slowly returned.
The cavern itself was not actually that bright. It mirrored the earlier junction, splitting into three separate passages. The difference lay in the material. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of crystalline, glass-like stone that refracted and scattered light in sharp, unnatural angles.
The transition had felt so violent because the tunnel they exited appeared to be sealed by so kind of barrier, creating a hard line between total darkness and sudden illumination, with no gradual adjustnt.
Whoever had co through first had clearly suffered the sa montary blindness and decided to leave a lethal greeting behind.
"Thorough bastards," Leo muttered, downing a health potion. Even with Ethan’s kick, shards of shrapnel had torn into him. A direct hit from that cluster would have erased his forty-thousand health pool instantly.
"Save the potions," Ethan said, already shifting into Tree Form. He cast Rejuvenation on Leo and layered several healing-over-ti spells on himself as well. He had taken damage too. Shifting to Bear first would have reduced it, but protecting Leo had co first.
Once the healing settled, Leo stared at the three identical, glittering tunnels ahead. "Now what?"
Another choice.
Leo crouched and inspected the floor, but the smooth crystal surface offered nothing. No dust, no scuff marks, no footprints. Ethan checked as well, then shook his head.
"Nothing," he said.
"Guess we do this the old-fashioned way," Leo said, shrugging.
He reached into his pack and pulled out a thin, oddly shaped object.
"By mountain’s coil and river’s fold, past gate of eight and story told, where light and dark in balance hold..." Leo intoned solemnly, raising the device like a ritual tool.
Ethan stared at him. "Is that a dowsing rod?"
Leo coughed. "Uh. Yeah."
"That exists in Ethereal?"
Seeing Ethan’s expression, Leo scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "I had a blacksmith make it."
"What does it do?"
"Well... mostly nothing."
"And the chant?"
"For atmosphere," Leo said quickly. "You know. To scare ghosts."
He paused.
"Hey. Wait."
The rod in his hand twitched, then slowly settled, pointing decisively toward the left-hand tunnel.
Leo grinned. "Looks like it does sothing after all."
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