Chapter 53 - Falling Sands

The pedestal had a large crack at the top. The crack continued until it reached a few centimeters above the bottom.

The entire hill was trembling ominously.

Osric furrowed his brows, Leon didn't seem to care, and Mark simply raised an eyebrow.

As for me, a few beads of sweat formed on my forehead.

What have I started?

Suddenly, the pedestal sank into the ground while my crystal began hovering and rotating.

The entire hill began to flatten out, becoming flat icy ground.

The ice on the ground retreated from the center, revealing a stone platform.

Once the ice had fully retreated from the ground, the platform suddenly started to fall.

Though it was abrupt, Mark, Leon, and Osric had no trouble with the ground suddenly falling.

As for me, my legs were stumbling. My physique would let me keep my footing fine but the feeling reminded me of how I first entered that cave.

It was because, like this time, the floor under my foot gave way, leading to a series of traumatic events.

As the platform fell, the icy walls transitioned into stone. It seemed this process would continue for quite some time.

Mark still kept his bright smile on his face.

"Well, that is a surprise. Your jewelry has one of the rarest abilities in existence, inhibiting mana."

My shoulders shrugged.

"Well it may be a bit difficult, but people can still cast a spell that does the same thing."

The corner of Mark's lip twitched.

"A bit difficult?"

Before I could reply, Leon suddenly raised his hand.

"Wait, where did those skeletons go?"

Osric rubbed his chin.

"The wind spell was holding them up, no?"

Mark rolled his eyes.

"Did you not feel the effects of mana inhibition? The spell was obviously canceled."

Osric frowned.

"...Ah."

Leon sighed.

"It seems they have already gone down before us. Perhaps we will have to deal with them."

Osric raised an eyebrow.

"They were so easily dealt with, how could they even pose a problem?"

Leon shrugged his shoulders.

A few moments of silence passed, where the only sound was stone rubbing against stone.

A loud bang rang out.

The platform suddenly stopped, causing cracks to form in the floor around us.

Other than a hint of surprise flashing across my face, nobody was shaken.

There were four pathways presented around us. Each way had a large opening and a particularly high ceiling.

The walls were made mostly of grey stones that were stuck together with cement. The only source of lighting came from high up above us, making each pathway hold a deep darkness.

My mind stopped my crystal from pulsating.

Leon briefly looked down each pathway.

"What way should we go down first?"

Mark laughed.

"There is no true difference between any of them."

My finger scratched the side of my head.

"I guess we can start with this way."

My finger pointed in an arbitrary direction.

Osric's eyes landed on me.

"Why don't you lead the way, it is your decision after all."

I nodded.

"Sure."

A ball of fire appeared on top of my hand, lighting up a few meters forward.

My steps echoed across the walls.

The other three walked behind me as my foot set down on the pathway, then sunk.

Instinctively, my foot pulled back. The trauma of suddenly sinking was still fresh in my mind.

The ground had sunk slightly, showing my footprint.

Right when the embarrassment of overreacting came to me, the floor suddenly gave way.

A small section of the pathway ahead had fallen as though it were sand.

My eyes peered down the hole left behind, seeing only darkness.

After a few moments, my mind cast the thunder spell and threw it down the opening.

The thunder spell snaked down for maybe seven meters, illuminating the walls. However, there was no indication of any floor nearby.

Leon had walked next to me and was also looking down the hole.

"Well, it appears falling down would be an unpleasant experience."

My head slowly raised.

"Leon, are you able to manipulate the surrounding walls?"

Leon shook his head.

"I do not know how this place was created, but it is not some form of stone or earth. My power will be weaker if the only material available to me is self-created earth."

A sigh escaped me.

"Well, that is unfortunate. I will try my best to not fall down this path."

My foot stepped down next to the hole in the pathway, then sunk down again.

My foot pulled back, leaving my footprint in the pathway, as though it were sand.

The four of us stood there for a few moments, but the floor did not give way.

My eyelid twitched.

"This is going to be quite the painful experience."

Leon sighed.

"Perhaps we should pick a different pathway?"

Osric snorted.

"We have yet to take two steps down this path, why should we concede so swiftly?"

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"Alright, alright."

My foot was set back down on the ground. The floor did not sink any further, and fully supported my weight.

My head tilted to the side for a few seconds.

My hand pulled out my cracked stake.

Osric raised both eyebrows.

"What are the special features of your object there?"

An awkward laugh came out of my mouth.

"It's just a piece of wood, more specifically a branch I broke off a tree and sharpened."

Osric's eyelid twitched, but he did not say anything.

Mark laughed.

"It may not be special, but can still be used."

After chuckling, my stake hit the floor in front of me.

The stake sank but was stopped.

I waited for a few moments and seeing that the ground did not fall, my foot was set down securely.

This process repeated itself a few more times and a decent amount of distance had been traveled.

Like many times before, my stake was confidently stuck into the floor ahead of me. After a few moments, both of my feet stepped down on the floor.

While my knees bent and my stake was raised, the floor under me suddenly gave way.

Almost the entire pathway ahead revealed its true nature to be sand.

My heart clenched as my body was freefalling into a dark abyss.

My eyes widened and my pupils constricted. Right as my back hit something, my figure disappeared.

After reappearing on the secure floor, my lungs pulled in a few deep breaths.

Leon chuckled.

"Ah, it seems you didn't need my help."

A small smile formed on my face.

"Oh, you made a platform for me to fall on? Thanks for that."

Leon nodded.

"Of course."

Mark narrowed his eyes.

"...You are able to manipulate space?"

My finger scratched my hair.

"Sort of? I can instinctively do it, but as for the principles behind it, I wouldn't know."

Mark was staring at me a little too intensely.

"I see..."

This time, the entire path forward had fallen. The light from the fire spell was unable to illuminate if there was a path further down.

Leon was staring off at the fallen pathway.

"The mana here is very thin, though I could make a pathway, I believe it's best we choose another path to use our resources properly."

Leon turned right to a new path.

"Let me lead the way down this path."

Leon made his way down the path and was quickly engulfed in darkness.

My face twitched.

"You can see in the dark?"

Leon's voice came from down the hall.

"Oh, I suppose something similar to that, yes."

I hurriedly followed after Leon, with the fire spell in hand.

This path had a different floor, having many tiles. Its colors ranged from brown, black, grey, and white. There didn't seem to be a particular pattern to the colors, but they were all the same size.

It did not take long to catch up with Leon. Osric and Mark were close behind as well.

Leon stopped moving.

My eyes peered over Leon's shoulder.

There was a large room ahead of us. There were two stone tables in the middle that could comfortably fit a human on top of them.

If a person were to lay down, they would find metal bindings right next to where their wrists and ankles would be.

The metal bindings were rusty and were bolted into the table. There was a latch that presumably opened and closed the bindings.

Leon had no reservations to explore the room, walking towards the right side.

My steps followed behind him. There were wooden tables at the edge of the room.

Leon frowned after he looked at the tables.

"The ravings of madness."

The wooden tables were roughly carved into, making countless messages of, 'IT IS POSSIBLE'. They were scrawled all over the table, exhibiting the thoughts of a madman.

The ceiling began shaking. Dust and small pieces of stone began falling from the middle of the room.

The hole was suddenly broken through, and a skeleton clad in armor fell through.