Julie sighed then stood up. Her eyes shifted around her new environnt.
“For now, I should probably continue scouring this dungeon… How long did I last while trying to unlock my Soul Fra?”
Solomon answered, “About ten minutes or so.”
“I see…”
After miraculously surviving the previous room, she had no chance to look and see where she had ended up in. Even if [Arachnid Wisdom] had registered it as a safe place, there was no running away from the fact that this was a dungeon.
One that seed proactive in its thods of trying to kill her.
Julie reached for her belt and pulled out a flare. Almost instantly, the hall was flooded in crimson light that flickered far more aimlessly than her mood… It was a rather large hallway, filled with the somber stench of rotten corpses. Whether they belonged to a more ancient ti or ca from the remains of recent explorers was unknown… Determining that would be left to the research teams that will enter once every facet of danger was cleared.
In front of her, she spotted countless new walkways erging—splitting the path ahead into three directions. And above those ancient walls stood pillared arches that lead into just as many balconies…
Julie couldn’t tell if those balconies belonged to the second floor or not. Though, her instincts told her it was most likely the latter. Although dungeons were labeled by their “floors,” their structures almost always change. Without a way to fully chart the path ahead, what leads up could in actuality lead down, and the opposite could beco true as well.
Naturally, her gaze kept going up—she wanted to spot the ceiling of this newly found hall. And it was then that her body froze. Not in awe, confusion or shock. But out of utter fear.
No, it was an even more primal feeling…
“Calm down,” said Solomon in His usual tone. “Look at it more closely.”
Julie suppressed her terror and focused her gaze even more. Indeed, what she had witnessed was beyond sanity.
Hung from four colossal chandeliers that seed to have gone beyond rusting, was a giant humanoid creature whose skin wrapped tightly around its bones. From its head, thorns erged, as if its brain had once been the host to a vile plant. Each of the creature’s wretched four limbs was nailed to a chandelier—its body was hung there for those below to see…
Julie in that mont hesitated to even breath, afraid to awake the massive creature. The fact that [Arachnid Wisdom] had not even notified her of its presence terrified her greatly. But, it did lead to a logical conclusion…
“It’s dead?” She didn’t know whether to sigh in relief or to beco even more afraid of the path that lies ahead.
“Indeed,” Solomon answered. “That thing up there… Back in my ti, they were once called the Olden Species… Remnants from before the Age of Regression.”
The walls echoed in a distinct rhythm as Soren looked over the grand chasm beneath his feet. He was standing over a ledge—one that the pair had reached through a narrow crevice between two different sections of the ruins.
“Do you have anything to drop down there?” He asked Myrin who was standing behind him. The elven songster was holding tightly to his paintbrush as he drew another miniature bird.
“I can just send this little guy down there instead!”
Soren wiped the soot off his cheek and nodded. He waited patiently for Myrin to finish drawing. Once he did, the magical performance started once more. The ethereal paint ca to life as the tiny creature manifested itself into reality.
It was a tiny blue bird that seed to enjoy pecking the ground with its beak.
“Are you sure it will listen to your commands? It seems kind of dumb looking…” Soren crossed his arms.
Myrin chuckled, “Who do you think I am?” He glanced at the bird then transford his Artist’s Wand back to a flute. And with a single breath, the tune he played reached the painted creature. It imdiately flew off the ledge and dove into the dark abyss below.
Both of them waited patiently, unable to fully glimpse past the frigid darkness.
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In the anti, Soren decided to check on his map. His Soul Weapon had yet to change its designated route—indicating that the dungeon had not shifted yet.
“It’s back,” Myrin announced. Soren glanced up from the page and onto the ledge where the tiny bird had landed back.
“Did it find anything?” He asked.
Myrin shook his head, “It’s saying that there is a barrier blocking its descent.”
“Barrier?” Soren frowned. He glanced back at his Soul Weapon’s map. The path ahead was clear—they needed to drop down the ledge into the bottom floor. They could also theoretically try to cross the colossal chasm to reach the other side, but Myrin’s flower divinations already gave a bad result for that path…
“Should we just go down there ourselves to try?”
Soren shook his head then stood up. “Not yet, Let try using [Eyes of the Fairy] to grasp the situation first.”
As he said this, the smoldering pages within The Records began to break apart into tiny butterflies that rushed toward his eyes. Almost instantly, his vision shifted, showing him what he needed to see most.
Within the chasm, a frigid cloud of darkness spun chaotically, as if it was alive. Any attempt at grasping its aning within the Beyond failed. With his ability deactivating, Soren shook his head dejectedly.
“There’s an informational obstruction as well… But that is to be expected—even now, fully grasping the inner chanisms of this dungeon with these mystical eyes of mine has proven to be impossible.”
Myrin sighed. “Could the Naless Mist be involved?”
The ntion of that strange phenona froze Soren for a mont. Indeed, that hypothesis could be plausible. After all, the pair had been scouring through these ancient corridors for the past two days, and the only monsters they had encountered were remnant Soul Skinners.
After what happened in Camp Sebastian, Rodrick decided to assign them the task of finding and possibly taking care of the dungeon room responsible for the outbreak. In the anti, he had gone off with his own team of explorers to find out what happened in the safe zone.
“Should we just head back? Rodrick has probably already taken care of the safe zone. We can regroup with them then co back to tackle this place more readily.”
Myrin thought about it for a mont then shook his head. “If the dungeon shifts again, we would have to waste a lot of effort to find this place again. It might even beco impossible. Not to ntion, my divinations tell that its not as dangerous down there as we think it is.”
Hearing this, Soren couldn’t help but sigh. “I expected you to say sothing like that.”
“Why, were you hoping that I’d agree with your suggestion? He chuckled.
Soren scoffed, “Heavens no. I was simply confirming your resolve.” He smiled then slamd his Soul Weapon shut.
“If you had buckled under my suggestion, I would have been very disappointed. The Fellowship of the Runes does not yield to danger.”
Hearing that na be ntioned, Myrin couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Alright then. Let us descend into the depths of history.” As he said this, he drew a pair of wings on each of them that instantly manifested into reality. Soren couldn’t help but glance at their white feathers in awe.
Though, regardless of their beauty, he was disappointed to find out that he couldn’t actually control them. The wings simply fluttered on their own.
“How boring…” He said dejectedly.
Myrin shook his head, “Boring but effective. It will help to slow down our fall.”
As he said this, the Soothing Bard, Myrin Zinrie, leaped off the ledge as he waved goodbye to Soren.
How dramatic… He shook his head and followed after him, his harm holding tightly to his wand. The darkness below them imdiately enveloped them both.
“We’re approaching the barrier!” Soren shouted as he slowly glided down the abyssal chasm.
Myrin nodded, “I'll prepare a spell if we need to breach through it forcefully!”
However, rather than a solid surface, they were t with a cloud of darkness. One that continued past the supposed ‘barrier.’ Soren looked at Myrin then frowned, “We’ve supposed to have reached it already, no?”
Myrin smiled nervously, “Perhaps the barrier opened up for us?”
“Now why in the six divines would it do that?”
He chuckled, “Who knows…”
Soren decided to check on his map again. Indeed, they were following down the right path. The Records was showing exactly where their descent had taken them, but the indicator of their location within the chasm had stopped moving… It had run out of information.
Just when he was about to activate [Eyes of the Fairy] again, a hard feeling reached their feet. Sohow, they had found the bottom of the chasm. He glanced over at Myrin who had landed next to him.
“Is this the place?”
Myrin didn’t answer imdiately. He glanced around the circular hall. Two entrances were present from opposite sides, leading to different paths in the dungeon.
Myrin glanced at him for a mont then nodded. “According to the ledger Rodrick told us about, the last mission inside the Avalon Ruins led to this place. Likely, the team that went here to explore sohow failed to clear a hidden room which caused the Soul Skinners to escape to the surface…
“We have to get rid of the source. Otherwise, they will continue to plague the Avalon Ruins.”
Soren nodded. “Then let’s begin. Do another Flower Divination just in case.”
Just as Myrin readied himself to draw another flower with his Soul Weapon, a screeching wail was heard… Followed by a swarm of other screams that drilled fear into their hearts.
The monstrous howls ca from both entrances… But what amused Soren more was the fact they were familiar to him. He had heard these sa horrendous outcries for the past two days.
He glanced at Myrin and chuckled. “The Avalon Ruins… It really does hold true to its reputation.”
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